149: The Merchant of Misery

Well, well, well...if it isn’t the consequences of one’s own actions rearing their heads. At least two people in this story are getting their just desserts.

In this episode, we head to Seattle to revisit one of The Dead Files’ early cases—

This time, Amy and AP dive into "Burned Alive", where a bar owner is dealing with vengeful mist creatures, a bathroom ghost, a possibly syphilitic protector spirit, and a religious woman ghost named Mary whose touch can literally kill you. So, that’s fun.

This Dead Files episode (S5 E7) originally aired June 13, 2015.

We talk about the Merchant Cafe and Saloon—one of Seattle’s oldest bars—and the heavy energy tied to its long, sometimes tragic, history. Highlights include:

• A wine rack catastrophe that even Steve can’t rationalize.
• Some early 2000s mood lighting choices and Top Chef nostalgia.
• Theories about sepsis, pneumonia, and why paranormal illness may not be all that paranormal.
• And yes, the horrifying realities of mob justice in the 1800s. (Spoiler: it’s not the fun kind of mob.)

Also discussed: haunted dolls, ghostly health risks, Empress Gin color science, and a little behind-the-scenes peek on the making of our show.

So grab your shaky lime and haunted barware, and join us—where The Activity Continues.

 

Chapter Markers

00:00:00 Intro

00:05:31 Hello!

00:05:41 Overview

00:09:10 Segment One – The Set Up

00:45:26 Segment Two – Diggin’ Tru

01:04:07 Segment Three – The Reveal

01:20:12 Outro/Disclaimer

Content Warning:

 In this episode we talk about a horrific hanging that took place around the area. Also there were several fires and some people were likely burned alive (we don’t go into much detail).

 

Also, while Amy and Steve's swears are bleeped on TV, ours are not.

Episode links:

The Dead Files Official Podcast: https://pod.link/1642377102

Info on Sepsis: https://www.sepsis.org/sepsisand/bacterial-infections/ 

Some trouble she got into: https://seasol.net/blog/2024/10/06/seasol-starts-fighting-darcy-hanson-at-merchants-cafe/

Closing: https://www.seattletimes.com/life/food-drink/seattles-historic-merchants-cafe-and-saloon-closing-but-will-return/

Panic of 1893: https://www.historylink.org/file/20874 

The Activity Continues is a paranormal podcast where soul friends, Amy, Megan, and AP chat about true crime, ghost stories, haunts, dreams, and other paranormal stuff including the TV show, The Dead Files. Our recaps are full of recurring jokes about recurring tropes.

We also occasionally do interviews with people from the paranormal world, with the goal of learning from others. We think you’ll really benefit from the things these people have to say.

Sometimes we get a little scientific. We enjoy trying to come up with possible explanations for some of the things that the clients experience. But this by no means indicates that we do not believe the clients or are invalidating their experiences. We do believe.

This episode was recorded on June 2, 2025 and released on July 10, 2025.

 

Disclaimer:

This podcast is in no way affiliated with Warner Brothers, HBOMax, the Travel Channel, Painless TV, or the TV show The Dead Files or any of its cast or crew. We’re just fans who love the show and want to build a community of like-minded people who would enjoy hanging out and discussing the episodes and similar content.

 

Credits:

Hosted by: Amy Lotsberg, Megan Simmons, and Amy Piersak

Production, Artwork, and Editing: Amy Lotsberg at Collected Sounds Media, LLC. https://www.collectedsounds.com/

Theme song. “Ghost Story” and segment music by Cannelle https://melissaoliveri.com

Background music: “Beyond the Stars” by Chris Collins

 

Engage!

Our website, https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/ 

Leave us a Voicemail: https://www.theactivitycontinues.com/voicemail/ (mi