March 19, 2025 • 28 mins
Send us your strange and spoopy stories and it might be featured on an episode!
The innocent question "What's your favorite childhood memory?" takes on a haunting significance as we step into the shadowed past of a Gettysburg orphanage where childhood itself was a nightmare for many.
Our adventure begins with strange experiences in town – mysterious tugs on my jacket with no one there, and somehow hearing my friend Jane's voice ask "Where's Nikki?" when she hadn't spoken a word. These unexplained moments foreshadowed our main destination: a haunted orphanage with a history darker than we ever anticipated.
What we discovered wasn't just another ghost tour, but a heart-wrenching journey into institutional cruelty. While the first headmistress created a safe haven, the second – Rosa T. Carmichael – transformed it into "hell on earth." We witness the remnants of her reign: a wooden cradle that rocks by itself, a blue door where a soldier's spirit appears, and most chillingly, a dungeon where children were beaten, chained, and tortured for the smallest infractions.
The narrow staircase leading down to the dirt-floored dungeon creates immediate claustrophobia, but nothing compares to the emotional weight of the space itself. Here, in pitch-black darkness, we roll marbles across the floor, trying to engage with a spirit named Tommy while EMF detectors spike around us. Nearby, a small hole in the wall – barely large enough for a child – still contains toys that mysteriously break overnight, crushed by some unseen force.
I leave behind a small red firetruck for the ghost children, a gesture that feels simultaneously futile and necessary. How do you comfort spirits trapped in trauma for over a century? This orphanage experience transcends ordinary ghost hunting, becoming instead a witness to suffering that refuses to fade with time.
Join us for this powerful exploration of Gettysburg's darker history, where the true horror isn't in jump scares or floating apparitions, but in recognizing the very real human cruelty that created these hauntings in the first place.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Nikki (00:00):
What is your favorite memory as a child?
For me it's a lot of differentones.
There's a reason I asked thatquestion today, and it's because
we're going to be going to ahaunted orphanage.
Hello and welcome back to theSanctum of Strange podcast.
(00:28):
My name is Nikki and I'm yourhost, and today we're going to
be continuing part two ofGettysburg.
This one, I realize, is goingto be a little bit longer, so
I'll break it up into anotherpart.
Don't worry, it'll still be asexciting.
So let's continue on with ourstory.
(00:48):
Saturday we did some windowshopping in town.
We went to a few shops becausewe had some time.
Before we had to go to Phillyto see Mr Ballin, which, by the
way, was absolutely amazing.
He was funny, he was kind, hewas everything you see on his
videos or his podcast.
I highly recommend him.
So we go into one of theseshops and start walking around.
(01:15):
I pick up one of the shirtsbecause it looks like something
my father would wear.
I like buying gifts when I'mout for people my mom, my dad,
my brother, his girlfriend, Ithink.
I bought them shot glasses andI bought my mom these cute
little doilies that we'll getinto a little later as I go to
put it back on the rack, I feltthis tug on my jacket on my
right-hand side.
(01:35):
It was like a small childpulling on a parent's shirt to
get their attention.
I look over to my right side,half expecting a kid to be
looking up at me, but nothingwas there.
From what I could see, Ithought maybe it could have been
Jane or Emily, but they weretalking to the shop owner.
So I put the shirt back on therack and I make my way over to
(01:55):
where Jane and Emily were.
I didn't say anything aboutwhat just happened because some
people still get freaked outabout that stuff and I respect
those situations.
We bought a few things andcontinued on.
Our next store was a halfchocolate shop, half Christmas
shop.
It was a very unique store.
(02:16):
We started on the chocolateside first.
Obviously we tried somechocolate samples and they had
some ice cream as well.
So we tried a few samples ofthat so we could decide on what
kind of ice cream we wanted forlater.
If there's one thing you needto know about me and my friends,
we love ice cream A lot.
I loved the coconut vanilla andso did Jane.
(02:40):
Emily liked a fruitier flavor.
We finished our samples andheaded into the Christmas side
and I'm so excited for this icecream later on in the story.
It was such a beautiful store.
It had so many Christmas thingsI didn't even know existed at
the time Ornaments, trees, treetoppers, halloween Christmas
(03:02):
ornaments, gnomes, glassornaments, calendars, christmas
decorations of every varietythat you can think of.
It was awesome.
We wandered around the storesmiling and talking about
Christmas time with our families, bringing up those happy
memories and sometimes those sadmemories.
(03:24):
I made my way to the oppositeside of the Christmas store.
There was a bunch of Christmasstuff that blocked the sight
between Jane, emily and myself.
I kept looking around and Iknelt down to take a photo of
this Christmas ornament.
I love taking photos.
It was a pink ornament with oneside open and appearing in the
(03:45):
middle was a little pink flower.
The edges had silver glitterand the outside of the ornament
there was silver glitter andswirls.
It was so pretty.
I kind of wanted it.
I was thinking about buying itand all of a sudden I heard
where's Nikki?
I popped up and I said I'm here.
Both Jane and Emily looked atme confused from across the
(04:08):
store.
Jane said how did you know whatI was going to say.
I said, because you asked whereI was, I said in a questioning
tone.
She said no, I didn't.
And I was like very confusedbecause I clearly heard her.
But Emily backed up what Janehad said.
(04:29):
She said that she didn't say aword about where I was.
I asked them both if they weresure.
They both nodded.
I asked again because my braindidn't want to comprehend
anything.
Sometimes brains don't bebraining.
Yes, jane said.
I wanted to ask again, but Ireally believed them.
(04:51):
But then how did I hear Jane'svoice?
It didn't make any sense.
I think about this moment everynow and then.
The only solution I come upwith for this issue or problem,
whatever you call it.
It was a strange scenario, man.
I know it sounds crazy, but theonly solution I keep coming
(05:15):
back to is maybe somehow I readJane's mind.
But stranger things havehappened in my life and I can't
disregard it.
So we kind of went back toshopping, bought some stuff and
I bought a little star doily formy mom.
It was very cute, it's like athree-tier doily and it was just
phenomenal.
(05:35):
I have to say she loved it whenI got home and I got myself a
cat doily, because my life wouldnot be complete without
anything, cat.
It was time to get ready to seeMr Ballin.
After we've checked out andeverything, of course, we didn't
just run away from the store.
We paid for our stuff, westopped by the cabin, packed
some snacks and we headed outthe door.
(05:57):
It was going to be a very longtrip, but it was going to be
worth it.
We talked and laughed in thecar ride.
We grabbed lunch in the citybefore the show.
It was actually a very goodspot.
I had a burger and fries.
If I remember correctly, ourfriend Emily had never been to a
bigger city before and she sawthe subway.
(06:18):
And she goes is that a subway?
And Jane and I look at her.
And then we look at each otherand we start laughing.
We're like what do you mean?
Is that a subway?
And she's like well, I grew upin a really, really small town,
so we didn't have one of those.
And we're like you have a validpoint.
(06:39):
I just, we, we just weren'texpecting someone to have that
reaction to a subway before.
Side note, in December we tookher to New York City.
We rode the subway, we saw thetree, the big, ginormous
decorative tree and we saw aplay.
(06:59):
The play was kind of likeCirque du Soleil and Emily had
the best time of her life, atleast I would imagine so.
She just kept smiling from earto ear and it was absolutely
phenomenal, although it was verycold.
It was super, super cold in thecity.
If you ever go in the city inthe wintertime I suggest
(07:20):
doubling up, bringing hats,gloves, your parka, whatever you
need.
But also I get cold very easily, so I wouldn't go off of what I
said, but it was super cold.
Emily bought one of those viralDubai chocolates.
It was good.
I've had one of those before.
I suggest it to people just togive it a try.
(07:42):
They are a little on theexpensive side.
I try maybe waiting or makingyour own and seeing how it
tastes.
It was a good time, anyway,back to Gettysburg.
So after the live performanceit was time for us to go back to
Gettysburg.
So we were all tired.
We got home.
It took us like three or fourhours to get back to the cabin
(08:04):
and we passed out.
Oh, we were so exhausted.
The next day was Sunday.
Our plans were to check out theother side of town, lunch and
or dinner, and then we'd go on atour to the orphanage.
We woke up a little later, wentto this cute place for lunch
and dinner.
The food was awesome.
(08:26):
Okay, the food was great.
I had saw this lemon gingerdessert on the menu and I was
like, oh, that sounds reallyinteresting.
I kind of want to try that.
Mind you, I was waiting forthis lemon gingerbread dessert
thing for like 45 minutesbecause I was so excited for
(08:49):
this thing, like so, so excited.
If you've ever been excited foranything, just imagine me with
a huge smile on my face waitingfor this dessert.
And, of course, waiting forthat dessert led to very high
expectations on my part.
I don't know if it was the highexpectations or if the thing
(09:11):
just wasn't really my cup of tea, because it was just not for me
.
The lemon part was great.
The ginger part was also.
Okay, just don't try and putlemon and ginger together,
because it is definitely not mycup of tea.
Jane and Emily also didn'treally enjoy it.
So then we went back to thecabin and Jane and Emily fell
(09:33):
asleep.
Because you know all that food,I decided to enjoy the
beautiful day outside.
There was a little picnic benchover outside our cabin and the
squirrels were running aroundand people were walking and
talking.
So I decided I was just gonnasit down, read a book, play some
video games and just enjoy theday.
(09:54):
It was my birthday and Idefinitely would not have spent
it any other way.
It was very peaceful and, likeI, I read a little bit of my
book, which was Percy Jacksonand the Olympians.
It's one of my favorite seriesby Rick Riordan.
So once Jane and Emily woke up,we decided it was time to go to
the orphanage tour.
(10:14):
The drive took maybe a half anhour.
Once we got to the headquartersof our tour, we had to check in
and, before we knew it, it wastime for the tour.
Jane had told us that she'dbeen wanting to do this for a
very, very long time.
She told us that this orphanagehas a backstory tied to the
(10:35):
wars.
I was expecting, well, anorphanage that possibly haunted
by soldiers.
You know like, yeah, I'll gowith that.
That's not what I got.
What I got, uh.
So I got that plus way more.
We had to walk a little to theorphanage.
(10:58):
Once our tour guide unlocked thegates, we had all shuffled into
the courtyard.
Our tour guide unlocked thegates, we had all shuffled into
the courtyard.
The gates were like a regularsteel gates with a padlock and
stuff.
So I assume they didn't wantpeople going back there on times
that were unacceptable.
And, you know, they obviouslyhave to make a little bit of
(11:21):
money because, you know, ghostsneed to pay their bills too.
So the first thing I noticedwere these houses.
I wasn't expecting that.
I just was expecting, like youknow, an orphanage.
I did not expect houses or well, apartments, I should say,
which.
(11:41):
They are someone's houses.
Anyway, I was not expectingapartments to be there, and
those apartments can get hauntedtoo, which is actually kind of
awesome.
Those apartments can gethaunted too, which is actually
kind of awesome.
The tour guide opened the doorand told us to go in and have a
seat.
We all walked in and sat downon what felt like a church pew.
It was very weird.
(12:02):
Half of the room we weresitting on did look like a
church, but we were supposed tobe in an orphanage and I was a
little confused.
The other half of the room hada white door and some stairs in
front and on the side, and onthe side there was a blue door.
It felt I felt a little uneasy.
(12:25):
I didn't know why.
It was just like a guided ghosttour like any other night.
It was like something wasputting pressure on my chest.
I couldn't I still can't putwords to it.
The whole place felt superweird.
(12:46):
Remember we were going on thisghost tour because we thought
that hey, ghosts, awesome, cool.
We weren't expecting the sad,sad backstory of this orphanage.
So our tour guide told us aboutsome of the history of the
(13:07):
orphanage.
It was not a good place and Iknow that this tour was going to
be heartbreaking.
Along the history of theorphanage, it was not a good
place and I know that this tourwas going to be heartbreaking.
Along the walls of thechurch-like area were old photos
of how orphanage looked many,many years ago.
We were all encouraged to lookat them.
Once our tour guide was donetalking, she pointed to the blue
(13:28):
door that had a window and toldus that recently a new ghost
was appearing in the doorway.
She then pointed to a child'scradle.
It was an old and wooden.
She said that sometimes itwould move back and forth on its
own and sometimes people wouldhave heard crying sounds from it
.
Next to that was this purpleporcelain doll.
(13:51):
The history behind that wasthat it was in the dungeon down
in the orphanage and somethinghad crushed it and broke it.
Still don't know what it couldbe To this day.
A chill went down my spine andI looked over at Emily and Jane
and I could feel that Janewasn't taking this well.
(14:13):
She is a teacher and she loveschildren.
So, like I said, we weren'texpecting this trip to be as
emotional as it was.
Our tour guide had finished hertour in this church-like room
and told us to look around.
Finished her tour in thischurch-like room and told us to
(14:34):
look around.
Jane, emily and I looked at theolder photos of the orphanage
because there were peoplealready going up the stairs to
check on this new ghost.
They were old black and whitephotos.
We waited for our turn to climbthe stairs and make our way to
the next location.
We stopped by the blue door withthe window.
It looked like a storage room.
(14:54):
I bought out my EMF detectorand turned it on.
It slowly started to go up.
I had bought a little red truckfrom the gift shop on the tour
headquarters.
I figured, since we were goingto an orphanage, I would buy a
toy and leave it there for theghosts to play with.
Jane, emily and myself startedtalking to the door ghost.
(15:16):
Let's call him Lyle for fun.
Lyle made my EMF and Emily'sEMF go up.
I showed the toy and turned thewheels on it.
Then I pushed down on thebottom of the toy and it made a
firetruck sound.
I put it up to the window.
(15:37):
Side note by this time most ofthe people on our tour were
already in the room past thewhite door.
We're a little slow, but wealso really want to check
everything out.
I put the firetruck on theground and rolled it a few times
.
I told Lyle that this was nowfor him and I hope he has fun
with it.
We asked him a few otherquestions, but I think Lyle got
(16:01):
a little bit shy and quiet andso we figured it was time to go
to the next room.
The next room looked like anold-time lunchroom.
It had a few wooden tables andbenches and a fireplace in the
corner.
The air in here felt reallyheavy, much worse than the
church that we were just in.
It had a fireplace in thecorner as well.
(16:23):
While the tour guide wastelling us about this room, we
heard footsteps in the roombehind us.
I looked to Emily and doubledback to see what it was.
I poked my head into the oldchurch, looking around the room
that we just left.
I didn't see anything, but itdid take a few photos and
checked on Lyle on the firetruck.
(16:44):
It didn't move and I didn't seeLyle, unfortunately.
I popped my head back in to theroom that we were in and
started to listen to the tour.
The tour guide explained thatthe headmistress was a rather
cruel person.
She would dress little girls upin men's clothing.
(17:05):
Nowadays that's not a big deal,but back then it was very
humiliating for them.
That's not a big deal, but backthen it was very humiliating
for them, although I still lovemen's pockets as a side note.
Our tour guide said that thefirst headmistress was really
great and everything was fine,but the second headmistress she
when she took over, it was likehell on earth for these poor
(17:27):
children.
She explained that the dungeonwas the worst place in the
orphanage.
In the old-timey room the doorthat everyone used to come
through would sometimes slamshut or open with a crack, which
is very interesting.
They wanted to have controlover this door, so if you closed
it it would sometimes go open.
Or if you opened it sometimes,it would sometimes go open.
(17:49):
Or if you opened it sometimesit would go closed.
Don't mess with the ghost'sdoor, is what I realized.
The second headmistress' namewas Rosa T Carmichael.
The tour for the lunchroomconcluded and it was time to go
into the dungeon.
Well, before the dungeon, thedungeon is the creepiest part.
(18:11):
But before we got there in theroom, we opened the door and
there were paths to the leftwhich led down the stairs to the
dungeon.
On our right-hand side, beforegoing down the stairs, there was
this hole in the ground andthere were chains attached to
(18:34):
the.
I don't know why I'm getting soemotional, I'm so sorry.
Um, there were chains attachedto the walls and there was a
doll.
Thank goodness the dollrepresented the little child in
from the old times, and so thatchild was put there to be
tortured if they misbehaved.
(18:55):
She was not a very nice personat all.
Zero percent nice person.
I have been in creepy placesbefore, but this one is, hands
down, the creepiest.
It was a single file stairwelland the stairs were added later
on.
I believe they were woodenstairs but over time they
(19:18):
probably got moldy and they wereold and they needed to be
replaced, so they were concretestairs.
Each person from our tour groupwent down one at a time and I
was one of the last to go downthe stairs.
Each person from our tour groupwent down one at a time and I
was one of the last to go downthe stairs.
These stairs were very, verythin.
The whole narrowing like goingdown into the dungeon, was
(19:45):
probably the freakiest thing.
It was so narrow that if youwere not paying attention you
might accidentally hit something.
Thank God it was only justconcrete on your left and on
your right and just a narrowpath Like the alleyway that we
went to in our last episode.
(20:05):
That was actually bigger thanthis stairwell.
Like when I say it was skinny,it was so skinny and so narrow
that it just it was not.
For the claustrophobic friendsin this, you know, who are
listening to this.
I got to the bottom of thestairs and it definitely looked
(20:28):
like something out of a horrormovie.
My chest felt really heavy andI put my hands on my knees and
tried to take some deep breaths.
After a few seconds I lookedaround the dungeon.
Behind me were the stairs thatwe'd just come down from.
To my right was a big room.
It was kind of more like a bigroom that we were in anyway,
(20:50):
with a dirt floor and benchesalong the outside so we could
sit.
On the left-hand side was awhite door it was very old and
there was a chair next to thedoor.
Our tour guide told us that thechildren were beaten, starved
and had very severe punishmentsfor the smallest issues.
(21:12):
In the center of that room wasa small wooden table with all
different types of kids toys.
There had been gifts that othergroups had left them, all
different kinds.
I saw some marbles and so Imade my way over.
The tour guide told me to callout to a little boy named Tommy.
(21:35):
As I was picking up the bag ofmarbles.
It was never opened.
So I obviously decided to openthem because why not, figured?
You know, if ghosts are thereand they might want to play,
they might want some friends andI was friendly enough.
I, you know Casper the friendlyghost, who knew?
Tommy the friendly ghost, maybe, who knew?
So I took the marbles, I openedthe bag and knelt down on the
(21:57):
ground and started to play withthe marbles.
Bless you.
Sorry, that was my cat.
After a few moments nothing hadhappened and our tour guide
offered to turn off the lights.
Here's the issue with thelights.
If one person in that room saidthat they didn't want the
lights turned off, she would nothave turned it off.
No one said a word and I don'tknow if it was because they were
(22:21):
too scared to say please don'tturn off the lights, or if they
just didn't want to fall to peerpressure.
They just didn't want to fallto peer pressure, so no one said
anything and she turned off thelights.
It was pitch black.
Now imagine you have nighttimecurtains in your room.
(22:42):
I don't know how to explainthat.
It's darker than that, but itis darker than that.
It was so dark, so creepy.
Emily used her phone flashlightand shined it on the marbles
that we were playing with on theground.
Tommy, I called out and startedrolling one of the marbles over
(23:02):
and over again.
I just wanted to play withTommy.
If I'm being honest with you, Ididn't realize at the time, but
everyone who was in the roomwas watching me, emily and the
marbles.
I still felt uneasy, but Ididn't say anything to anyone.
I know I've had more experiencethan a lot of people I know,
(23:23):
and some of them do still freakout, and that's well within
their rights.
I sometimes freak out as well.
It's regardless of how preparedyou are.
In these scenarios, in thesesituations, sometimes you just
can't be as prepared as you wantto be.
After a few minutes the tourguide turned the lights back on.
(23:45):
We all squinted until our eyesadjusted to the light.
Our guide said that if anyonewanted to go into the dungeon
room or the hole then we coulddo so.
That was the room with thewhite door.
It was an old wood door and itwas on the left stairs.
Once you got into the basement,door creaked.
(24:08):
It was a small concrete tunnelappeared behind the door.
It was like something out of ahorror movie.
Again, this whole place is ahorror movie where you would
tell the main character not togo down, but for the plot they
would do it anyway, because theplot matters.
The floor was dirt, like therest of the dungeon.
(24:29):
On the right were pipes alongthe walls and a few paces
forward was a hole in the wallon the left.
Our tour guide said we could goin if we were wanted and if we
were brave enough.
I definitely didn't go in.
So in this hole in the wall wasa very small, was very, very
(24:50):
small, height-wise, width-wiseit was about half the size of a
standard room, maybe less.
There were toys on both theleft and the right-hand side of
this hole in the wall.
Basketballs were on, like theright side, and Barbies and
other things like trucks were onthe other side the other side.
(25:11):
Our guide, when we were in thechurch, like area in the
starting area told us about thepurple doll and how someone had
dismantled it and crushed it andbroke it and the caretakers put
the doll upstairs in the hole.
(25:31):
So well, the next day the dollwas broken and crushed, like I
said before, but something liveddown there and they don't know
what it was, if you can call itthat.
I'd rather not tempt fate andgo into a hole, uh, where
something might you know, uh,break me or abuse me or
accidentally come with me to myhouse back in New Jersey.
(25:55):
I did take a photo of the holeand it's very cool.
I'll post it up on thesanctumofstrangecom website.
Everyone wrapped up lookingaround the dungeon and we all
headed up the stairs.
The last room in the orphanagebefore heading outside wasn't as
entertaining as the dungeon,but it also had some apparition
(26:16):
and ghost stories From there.
We went outside, which was thestarting area of our tour.
There was a wooden outhouse andsome apartments, like we saw in
the beginning.
The outhouse was said to behaunted.
I feel bad for that ghost, butthe tour guide was talking about
(26:36):
it being haunted.
Emily went over and took asneak peek inside and jumped
back.
She thought she saw a ghost.
Unfortunately, it was a stuffedhuman-sized doll that tour
guides use as a joke in the hallfor like laughing and for
halloween and stuff like that.
Emily used her evp on theouthouse and she started talking
(27:02):
to the I'm going to call himthe bathroom ghost.
The tour guide told us a fewstories about the gift shop
right next to the orphanage andhow the third floor uh, there
was paranormal encounters upthere.
With that our tour ended andsome people stayed to ask some
questions.
Jay and Emily and I did as well.
I asked the tour guide if thelittle fire truck I had bought
(27:25):
could stay so the little ghostkids can play with it, and she
happily obliged.
We talked for a few moreminutes and our guide told us to
go to the famous bridge and thebattlefield.
Next time will be part three ofour Gettysburg trip.
I'll be telling you of ouradventures, about this bridge
(27:48):
and the battlefield, and we'lltalk about more in depth about
some of the other paranormalthings that have happened at
this orphanage, as well asfinishing up the last leg of our
trip.
Thank you very much forlistening and I hope you have a
very fantastic and spooky day.
This is Sanctum of StrangePodcast.
I'm your host, nikki, and ifyou ever have a funny or spooky
(28:12):
story you would like me to knowor tell on the podcast, you can
always go to sanctumofstrangecomor you can visit this page's
feed and DM me as well.
Have a fantastic, fantastic andspooky night.
What is your favorite memory as a child?
For me it's a lot of differentones.
There's a reason I asked thatquestion today, and it's because
we're going to be going to ahaunted orphanage.
Hello and welcome back to theSanctum of Strange podcast.
(00:28):
My name is Nikki and I'm yourhost, and today we're going to
be continuing part two ofGettysburg.
This one, I realize, is goingto be a little bit longer, so
I'll break it up into anotherpart.
Don't worry, it'll still be asexciting.
So let's continue on with ourstory.
(00:48):
Saturday we did some windowshopping in town.
We went to a few shops becausewe had some time.
Before we had to go to Phillyto see Mr Ballin, which, by the
way, was absolutely amazing.
He was funny, he was kind, hewas everything you see on his
videos or his podcast.
I highly recommend him.
So we go into one of theseshops and start walking around.
(01:15):
I pick up one of the shirtsbecause it looks like something
my father would wear.
I like buying gifts when I'mout for people my mom, my dad,
my brother, his girlfriend, Ithink.
I bought them shot glasses andI bought my mom these cute
little doilies that we'll getinto a little later as I go to
put it back on the rack, I feltthis tug on my jacket on my
right-hand side.
(01:35):
It was like a small childpulling on a parent's shirt to
get their attention.
I look over to my right side,half expecting a kid to be
looking up at me, but nothingwas there.
From what I could see, Ithought maybe it could have been
Jane or Emily, but they weretalking to the shop owner.
So I put the shirt back on therack and I make my way over to
(01:55):
where Jane and Emily were.
I didn't say anything aboutwhat just happened because some
people still get freaked outabout that stuff and I respect
those situations.
We bought a few things andcontinued on.
Our next store was a halfchocolate shop, half Christmas
shop.
It was a very unique store.
(02:16):
We started on the chocolateside first.
Obviously we tried somechocolate samples and they had
some ice cream as well.
So we tried a few samples ofthat so we could decide on what
kind of ice cream we wanted forlater.
If there's one thing you needto know about me and my friends,
we love ice cream A lot.
I loved the coconut vanilla andso did Jane.
(02:40):
Emily liked a fruitier flavor.
We finished our samples andheaded into the Christmas side
and I'm so excited for this icecream later on in the story.
It was such a beautiful store.
It had so many Christmas thingsI didn't even know existed at
the time Ornaments, trees, treetoppers, halloween Christmas
(03:02):
ornaments, gnomes, glassornaments, calendars, christmas
decorations of every varietythat you can think of.
It was awesome.
We wandered around the storesmiling and talking about
Christmas time with our families, bringing up those happy
memories and sometimes those sadmemories.
(03:24):
I made my way to the oppositeside of the Christmas store.
There was a bunch of Christmasstuff that blocked the sight
between Jane, emily and myself.
I kept looking around and Iknelt down to take a photo of
this Christmas ornament.
I love taking photos.
It was a pink ornament with oneside open and appearing in the
(03:45):
middle was a little pink flower.
The edges had silver glitterand the outside of the ornament
there was silver glitter andswirls.
It was so pretty.
I kind of wanted it.
I was thinking about buying itand all of a sudden I heard
where's Nikki?
I popped up and I said I'm here.
Both Jane and Emily looked atme confused from across the
(04:08):
store.
Jane said how did you know whatI was going to say.
I said, because you asked whereI was, I said in a questioning
tone.
She said no, I didn't.
And I was like very confusedbecause I clearly heard her.
But Emily backed up what Janehad said.
(04:29):
She said that she didn't say aword about where I was.
I asked them both if they weresure.
They both nodded.
I asked again because my braindidn't want to comprehend
anything.
Sometimes brains don't bebraining.
Yes, jane said.
I wanted to ask again, but Ireally believed them.
(04:51):
But then how did I hear Jane'svoice?
It didn't make any sense.
I think about this moment everynow and then.
The only solution I come upwith for this issue or problem,
whatever you call it.
It was a strange scenario, man.
I know it sounds crazy, but theonly solution I keep coming
(05:15):
back to is maybe somehow I readJane's mind.
But stranger things havehappened in my life and I can't
disregard it.
So we kind of went back toshopping, bought some stuff and
I bought a little star doily formy mom.
It was very cute, it's like athree-tier doily and it was just
phenomenal.
(05:35):
I have to say she loved it whenI got home and I got myself a
cat doily, because my life wouldnot be complete without
anything, cat.
It was time to get ready to seeMr Ballin.
After we've checked out andeverything, of course, we didn't
just run away from the store.
We paid for our stuff, westopped by the cabin, packed
some snacks and we headed outthe door.
(05:57):
It was going to be a very longtrip, but it was going to be
worth it.
We talked and laughed in thecar ride.
We grabbed lunch in the citybefore the show.
It was actually a very goodspot.
I had a burger and fries.
If I remember correctly, ourfriend Emily had never been to a
bigger city before and she sawthe subway.
(06:18):
And she goes is that a subway?
And Jane and I look at her.
And then we look at each otherand we start laughing.
We're like what do you mean?
Is that a subway?
And she's like well, I grew upin a really, really small town,
so we didn't have one of those.
And we're like you have a validpoint.
(06:39):
I just, we, we just weren'texpecting someone to have that
reaction to a subway before.
Side note, in December we tookher to New York City.
We rode the subway, we saw thetree, the big, ginormous
decorative tree and we saw aplay.
(06:59):
The play was kind of likeCirque du Soleil and Emily had
the best time of her life, atleast I would imagine so.
She just kept smiling from earto ear and it was absolutely
phenomenal, although it was verycold.
It was super, super cold in thecity.
If you ever go in the city inthe wintertime I suggest
(07:20):
doubling up, bringing hats,gloves, your parka, whatever you
need.
But also I get cold very easily, so I wouldn't go off of what I
said, but it was super cold.
Emily bought one of those viralDubai chocolates.
It was good.
I've had one of those before.
I suggest it to people just togive it a try.
(07:42):
They are a little on theexpensive side.
I try maybe waiting or makingyour own and seeing how it
tastes.
It was a good time, anyway,back to Gettysburg.
So after the live performanceit was time for us to go back to
Gettysburg.
So we were all tired.
We got home.
It took us like three or fourhours to get back to the cabin
(08:04):
and we passed out.
Oh, we were so exhausted.
The next day was Sunday.
Our plans were to check out theother side of town, lunch and
or dinner, and then we'd go on atour to the orphanage.
We woke up a little later, wentto this cute place for lunch
and dinner.
The food was awesome.
(08:26):
Okay, the food was great.
I had saw this lemon gingerdessert on the menu and I was
like, oh, that sounds reallyinteresting.
I kind of want to try that.
Mind you, I was waiting forthis lemon gingerbread dessert
thing for like 45 minutesbecause I was so excited for
(08:49):
this thing, like so, so excited.
If you've ever been excited foranything, just imagine me with
a huge smile on my face waitingfor this dessert.
And, of course, waiting forthat dessert led to very high
expectations on my part.
I don't know if it was the highexpectations or if the thing
(09:11):
just wasn't really my cup of tea, because it was just not for me
.
The lemon part was great.
The ginger part was also.
Okay, just don't try and putlemon and ginger together,
because it is definitely not mycup of tea.
Jane and Emily also didn'treally enjoy it.
So then we went back to thecabin and Jane and Emily fell
(09:33):
asleep.
Because you know all that food,I decided to enjoy the
beautiful day outside.
There was a little picnic benchover outside our cabin and the
squirrels were running aroundand people were walking and
talking.
So I decided I was just gonnasit down, read a book, play some
video games and just enjoy theday.
(09:54):
It was my birthday and Idefinitely would not have spent
it any other way.
It was very peaceful and, likeI, I read a little bit of my
book, which was Percy Jacksonand the Olympians.
It's one of my favorite seriesby Rick Riordan.
So once Jane and Emily woke up,we decided it was time to go to
the orphanage tour.
(10:14):
The drive took maybe a half anhour.
Once we got to the headquartersof our tour, we had to check in
and, before we knew it, it wastime for the tour.
Jane had told us that she'dbeen wanting to do this for a
very, very long time.
She told us that this orphanagehas a backstory tied to the
(10:35):
wars.
I was expecting, well, anorphanage that possibly haunted
by soldiers.
You know like, yeah, I'll gowith that.
That's not what I got.
What I got, uh.
So I got that plus way more.
We had to walk a little to theorphanage.
(10:58):
Once our tour guide unlocked thegates, we had all shuffled into
the courtyard.
Our tour guide unlocked thegates, we had all shuffled into
the courtyard.
The gates were like a regularsteel gates with a padlock and
stuff.
So I assume they didn't wantpeople going back there on times
that were unacceptable.
And, you know, they obviouslyhave to make a little bit of
(11:21):
money because, you know, ghostsneed to pay their bills too.
So the first thing I noticedwere these houses.
I wasn't expecting that.
I just was expecting, like youknow, an orphanage.
I did not expect houses or well, apartments, I should say,
which.
(11:41):
They are someone's houses.
Anyway, I was not expectingapartments to be there, and
those apartments can get hauntedtoo, which is actually kind of
awesome.
Those apartments can gethaunted too, which is actually
kind of awesome.
The tour guide opened the doorand told us to go in and have a
seat.
We all walked in and sat downon what felt like a church pew.
It was very weird.
(12:02):
Half of the room we weresitting on did look like a
church, but we were supposed tobe in an orphanage and I was a
little confused.
The other half of the room hada white door and some stairs in
front and on the side, and onthe side there was a blue door.
It felt I felt a little uneasy.
(12:25):
I didn't know why.
It was just like a guided ghosttour like any other night.
It was like something wasputting pressure on my chest.
I couldn't I still can't putwords to it.
The whole place felt superweird.
(12:46):
Remember we were going on thisghost tour because we thought
that hey, ghosts, awesome, cool.
We weren't expecting the sad,sad backstory of this orphanage.
So our tour guide told us aboutsome of the history of the
(13:07):
orphanage.
It was not a good place and Iknow that this tour was going to
be heartbreaking.
Along the history of theorphanage, it was not a good
place and I know that this tourwas going to be heartbreaking.
Along the walls of thechurch-like area were old photos
of how orphanage looked many,many years ago.
We were all encouraged to lookat them.
Once our tour guide was donetalking, she pointed to the blue
(13:28):
door that had a window and toldus that recently a new ghost
was appearing in the doorway.
She then pointed to a child'scradle.
It was an old and wooden.
She said that sometimes itwould move back and forth on its
own and sometimes people wouldhave heard crying sounds from it
.
Next to that was this purpleporcelain doll.
(13:51):
The history behind that wasthat it was in the dungeon down
in the orphanage and somethinghad crushed it and broke it.
Still don't know what it couldbe To this day.
A chill went down my spine andI looked over at Emily and Jane
and I could feel that Janewasn't taking this well.
(14:13):
She is a teacher and she loveschildren.
So, like I said, we weren'texpecting this trip to be as
emotional as it was.
Our tour guide had finished hertour in this church-like room
and told us to look around.
Finished her tour in thischurch-like room and told us to
(14:34):
look around.
Jane, emily and I looked at theolder photos of the orphanage
because there were peoplealready going up the stairs to
check on this new ghost.
They were old black and whitephotos.
We waited for our turn to climbthe stairs and make our way to
the next location.
We stopped by the blue door withthe window.
It looked like a storage room.
(14:54):
I bought out my EMF detectorand turned it on.
It slowly started to go up.
I had bought a little red truckfrom the gift shop on the tour
headquarters.
I figured, since we were goingto an orphanage, I would buy a
toy and leave it there for theghosts to play with.
Jane, emily and myself startedtalking to the door ghost.
(15:16):
Let's call him Lyle for fun.
Lyle made my EMF and Emily'sEMF go up.
I showed the toy and turned thewheels on it.
Then I pushed down on thebottom of the toy and it made a
firetruck sound.
I put it up to the window.
(15:37):
Side note by this time most ofthe people on our tour were
already in the room past thewhite door.
We're a little slow, but wealso really want to check
everything out.
I put the firetruck on theground and rolled it a few times
.
I told Lyle that this was nowfor him and I hope he has fun
with it.
We asked him a few otherquestions, but I think Lyle got
(16:01):
a little bit shy and quiet andso we figured it was time to go
to the next room.
The next room looked like anold-time lunchroom.
It had a few wooden tables andbenches and a fireplace in the
corner.
The air in here felt reallyheavy, much worse than the
church that we were just in.
It had a fireplace in thecorner as well.
(16:23):
While the tour guide wastelling us about this room, we
heard footsteps in the roombehind us.
I looked to Emily and doubledback to see what it was.
I poked my head into the oldchurch, looking around the room
that we just left.
I didn't see anything, but itdid take a few photos and
checked on Lyle on the firetruck.
(16:44):
It didn't move and I didn't seeLyle, unfortunately.
I popped my head back in to theroom that we were in and
started to listen to the tour.
The tour guide explained thatthe headmistress was a rather
cruel person.
She would dress little girls upin men's clothing.
(17:05):
Nowadays that's not a big deal,but back then it was very
humiliating for them.
That's not a big deal, but backthen it was very humiliating
for them, although I still lovemen's pockets as a side note.
Our tour guide said that thefirst headmistress was really
great and everything was fine,but the second headmistress she
when she took over, it was likehell on earth for these poor
(17:27):
children.
She explained that the dungeonwas the worst place in the
orphanage.
In the old-timey room the doorthat everyone used to come
through would sometimes slamshut or open with a crack, which
is very interesting.
They wanted to have controlover this door, so if you closed
it it would sometimes go open.
Or if you opened it sometimes,it would sometimes go open.
(17:49):
Or if you opened it sometimesit would go closed.
Don't mess with the ghost'sdoor, is what I realized.
The second headmistress' namewas Rosa T Carmichael.
The tour for the lunchroomconcluded and it was time to go
into the dungeon.
Well, before the dungeon, thedungeon is the creepiest part.
(18:11):
But before we got there in theroom, we opened the door and
there were paths to the leftwhich led down the stairs to the
dungeon.
On our right-hand side, beforegoing down the stairs, there was
this hole in the ground andthere were chains attached to
(18:34):
the.
I don't know why I'm getting soemotional, I'm so sorry.
Um, there were chains attachedto the walls and there was a
doll.
Thank goodness the dollrepresented the little child in
from the old times, and so thatchild was put there to be
tortured if they misbehaved.
(18:55):
She was not a very nice personat all.
Zero percent nice person.
I have been in creepy placesbefore, but this one is, hands
down, the creepiest.
It was a single file stairwelland the stairs were added later
on.
I believe they were woodenstairs but over time they
(19:18):
probably got moldy and they wereold and they needed to be
replaced, so they were concretestairs.
Each person from our tour groupwent down one at a time and I
was one of the last to go downthe stairs.
Each person from our tour groupwent down one at a time and I
was one of the last to go downthe stairs.
These stairs were very, verythin.
The whole narrowing like goingdown into the dungeon, was
(19:45):
probably the freakiest thing.
It was so narrow that if youwere not paying attention you
might accidentally hit something.
Thank God it was only justconcrete on your left and on
your right and just a narrowpath Like the alleyway that we
went to in our last episode.
(20:05):
That was actually bigger thanthis stairwell.
Like when I say it was skinny,it was so skinny and so narrow
that it just it was not.
For the claustrophobic friendsin this, you know, who are
listening to this.
I got to the bottom of thestairs and it definitely looked
(20:28):
like something out of a horrormovie.
My chest felt really heavy andI put my hands on my knees and
tried to take some deep breaths.
After a few seconds I lookedaround the dungeon.
Behind me were the stairs thatwe'd just come down from.
To my right was a big room.
It was kind of more like a bigroom that we were in anyway,
(20:50):
with a dirt floor and benchesalong the outside so we could
sit.
On the left-hand side was awhite door it was very old and
there was a chair next to thedoor.
Our tour guide told us that thechildren were beaten, starved
and had very severe punishmentsfor the smallest issues.
(21:12):
In the center of that room wasa small wooden table with all
different types of kids toys.
There had been gifts that othergroups had left them, all
different kinds.
I saw some marbles and so Imade my way over.
The tour guide told me to callout to a little boy named Tommy.
(21:35):
As I was picking up the bag ofmarbles.
It was never opened.
So I obviously decided to openthem because why not, figured?
You know, if ghosts are thereand they might want to play,
they might want some friends andI was friendly enough.
I, you know Casper the friendlyghost, who knew?
Tommy the friendly ghost, maybe, who knew?
So I took the marbles, I openedthe bag and knelt down on the
(21:57):
ground and started to play withthe marbles.
Bless you.
Sorry, that was my cat.
After a few moments nothing hadhappened and our tour guide
offered to turn off the lights.
Here's the issue with thelights.
If one person in that room saidthat they didn't want the
lights turned off, she would nothave turned it off.
No one said a word and I don'tknow if it was because they were
(22:21):
too scared to say please don'tturn off the lights, or if they
just didn't want to fall to peerpressure.
They just didn't want to fallto peer pressure, so no one said
anything and she turned off thelights.
It was pitch black.
Now imagine you have nighttimecurtains in your room.
(22:42):
I don't know how to explainthat.
It's darker than that, but itis darker than that.
It was so dark, so creepy.
Emily used her phone flashlightand shined it on the marbles
that we were playing with on theground.
Tommy, I called out and startedrolling one of the marbles over
(23:02):
and over again.
I just wanted to play withTommy.
If I'm being honest with you, Ididn't realize at the time, but
everyone who was in the roomwas watching me, emily and the
marbles.
I still felt uneasy, but Ididn't say anything to anyone.
I know I've had more experiencethan a lot of people I know,
(23:23):
and some of them do still freakout, and that's well within
their rights.
I sometimes freak out as well.
It's regardless of how preparedyou are.
In these scenarios, in thesesituations, sometimes you just
can't be as prepared as you wantto be.
After a few minutes the tourguide turned the lights back on.
(23:45):
We all squinted until our eyesadjusted to the light.
Our guide said that if anyonewanted to go into the dungeon
room or the hole then we coulddo so.
That was the room with thewhite door.
It was an old wood door and itwas on the left stairs.
Once you got into the basement,door creaked.
(24:08):
It was a small concrete tunnelappeared behind the door.
It was like something out of ahorror movie.
Again, this whole place is ahorror movie where you would
tell the main character not togo down, but for the plot they
would do it anyway, because theplot matters.
The floor was dirt, like therest of the dungeon.
(24:29):
On the right were pipes alongthe walls and a few paces
forward was a hole in the wallon the left.
Our tour guide said we could goin if we were wanted and if we
were brave enough.
I definitely didn't go in.
So in this hole in the wall wasa very small, was very, very
(24:50):
small, height-wise, width-wiseit was about half the size of a
standard room, maybe less.
There were toys on both theleft and the right-hand side of
this hole in the wall.
Basketballs were on, like theright side, and Barbies and
other things like trucks were onthe other side the other side.
(25:11):
Our guide, when we were in thechurch, like area in the
starting area told us about thepurple doll and how someone had
dismantled it and crushed it andbroke it and the caretakers put
the doll upstairs in the hole.
(25:31):
So well, the next day the dollwas broken and crushed, like I
said before, but something liveddown there and they don't know
what it was, if you can call itthat.
I'd rather not tempt fate andgo into a hole, uh, where
something might you know, uh,break me or abuse me or
accidentally come with me to myhouse back in New Jersey.
(25:55):
I did take a photo of the holeand it's very cool.
I'll post it up on thesanctumofstrangecom website.
Everyone wrapped up lookingaround the dungeon and we all
headed up the stairs.
The last room in the orphanagebefore heading outside wasn't as
entertaining as the dungeon,but it also had some apparition
(26:16):
and ghost stories From there.
We went outside, which was thestarting area of our tour.
There was a wooden outhouse andsome apartments, like we saw in
the beginning.
The outhouse was said to behaunted.
I feel bad for that ghost, butthe tour guide was talking about
(26:36):
it being haunted.
Emily went over and took asneak peek inside and jumped
back.
She thought she saw a ghost.
Unfortunately, it was a stuffedhuman-sized doll that tour
guides use as a joke in the hallfor like laughing and for
halloween and stuff like that.
Emily used her evp on theouthouse and she started talking
(27:02):
to the I'm going to call himthe bathroom ghost.
The tour guide told us a fewstories about the gift shop
right next to the orphanage andhow the third floor uh, there
was paranormal encounters upthere.
With that our tour ended andsome people stayed to ask some
questions.
Jay and Emily and I did as well.
I asked the tour guide if thelittle fire truck I had bought
(27:25):
could stay so the little ghostkids can play with it, and she
happily obliged.
We talked for a few moreminutes and our guide told us to
go to the famous bridge and thebattlefield.
Next time will be part three ofour Gettysburg trip.
I'll be telling you of ouradventures, about this bridge
(27:48):
and the battlefield, and we'lltalk about more in depth about
some of the other paranormalthings that have happened at
this orphanage, as well asfinishing up the last leg of our
trip.
Thank you very much forlistening and I hope you have a
very fantastic and spooky day.
This is Sanctum of StrangePodcast.
I'm your host, nikki, and ifyou ever have a funny or spooky
(28:12):
story you would like me to knowor tell on the podcast, you can
always go to sanctumofstrangecomor you can visit this page's
feed and DM me as well.
Have a fantastic, fantastic andspooky night.
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