November 23, 2025 • 51 mins
In this chilling yet heart-warming episode of Dairyland Frights, host John Radtke welcomes Shanena, the paranormal investigator and creator behind Sweet and Spooky. Together, they explore Shaneen’s eerie encounters, from playful spirits to chilling investigations at the Whaley House, Gettysburg, and Pennhurst Asylum.
Shanena reveals how she conquered her childhood fear of ghosts, what really happens when you open communication with the other side, and the importance of setting boundaries with spirits (especially in haunted jails 👀).
Plus—John dives into the haunted history of the McPike Mansion in Alton, Illinois, one of America’s most haunted homes, where ghosts still roam its crumbling halls. They discuss shadow figures, mysterious scents of lilac, moving objects, and the fascinating legends that keep the mansion alive.
From Ouija boards and haunted lighthouses to ghost hugs and creepy EVPs, this episode delivers the perfect blend of sweet and spooky!
👁️ Featured GuestShaneen – Sweet and Spooky 📸 Instagram: @sweetandspooky 🎥 TikTok: @sweetandspooky 🕯️ Paranormal Investigator | Event Organizer | History Lover
📍 Locations Mentioned-
Whaley House (San Diego, CA)
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St. Augustine Lighthouse (FL)
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Gettysburg, PA
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Pennhurst Asylum (PA)
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Queen Mary (CA)
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Preston Castle (CA)
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McPike Mansion (Alton, IL)
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker A (00:00):
Foreign,
the paranormal podcast that covers everythingspooky, creepy and mysterious in the Midwest
and beyond.
And again,
(00:21):
my great guest streak keeps on going.
I have Shaneen from Sweet and Scary.
Spooky.
She is sweet and spooky.
We'll have to talk about that.
And she is a paranormal investigator.
Welcome.
Speaker B (00:36):
Hey, thanks for having me.
Speaker A (00:38):
No problem.
I have looked at your stuff online and I was
like, she has some awesome stuff.
It looks like you have some fun and
everything, and I love it.
So I have to start out.
How did you get interested in this?
What inspired you to become a paranormalinvestigator?
Speaker B (00:55):
You know, I get asked that quite often and I think the paranormal has just
always been a part of my life.
I had a deep fear of ghosts growing up.
And now being in this field, I've kind of
learned that there was an intuition to it andI just didn't understand it.
I got really into the show Ghost Hunters and Ithought, hey, why can't I do that?
(01:20):
So I just started traveling and it became away that I could also have a reason to travel
and learn about a bunch of different places.
The stories of these places are amazing as
well as many of them are very important forhistory and to preserve that history.
I think the paranormal field does a great jobin funding a lot of these historical places.
(01:44):
You know, with our investigations.
I kind of face that fear, to be honest withyou, and just embraced it and loved it and
went with it.
Speaker A (01:54):
Yeah, exactly.
And the reason I always ask that basic
question because everyone has a differentanswer.
Some people are like, I was the goofy kid atthe library reading book on ghost, or, you
know,
my house is haunted, or my neighbor's house ishaunted, or, you know, I knew a buddy of mine,
he was a friend of the family and we talkedabout it.
(02:16):
Or.
Or my favorite ones were always.
Yeah. When moving out of the house,
by the way, it was haunted and everything.
You know, it's like, you don't want to tell
your, like 4 year old at the time, you know,
child,
hey, there's just crazy stuff.
And there might be demons and stuff, but when
they turn 18 or whatever you deem necessary asa parent, you're like, yeah, it's haunted.
(02:41):
Like, thanks a lot.
Speaker B (02:42):
Everybody has a story once it's open, right?
Once they open that lid, they're all like.
And I experience this.
And then I saw that.
Speaker A (02:50):
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
So let's get going right to it.
Let's talk about your.
Do you remember your first paranormal
experience and what happened?
Speaker B (03:01):
Yes, my.
My first paranormal experience that really had
an effect on me.
I was at my house, which is odd because myhouse isn't haunted or my childhood home, and
I just immediately felt a presence, and itcreeped me out so much.
I got out of that shower so fast, I don't eventhink I rinsed out my hair completely, and I
(03:24):
went into my room, and my ceiling fan juststarted going berserk.
It would go fast, fast, fast, fast, and thenslow.
So slow, fast, fast, fast.
And then I had an old TV in my room, the kindthat you actually had to get up and change the
channels, and it turned the channel 6. 6, andthen left another 6 and a dash on there.
(03:44):
Freaked me out.
Speaker A (03:47):
Yeah.
Speaker B (03:48):
Ran out, was terrified.
But I had a friend come over who was psychic,
and they explained to me it was someone thatkind of just clung to my energy and came home
and decided that they just wanted to play atrick on me.
It was nothing to be afraid of.
It was like a adolescent teenager that was
like, oh, this girl can sense my presence.
(04:10):
Let me have some fun.
So that also gave me a better understanding.
You know, where I'm at now when I investigate.
Just because something presents itself dark
doesn't mean that it is.
They may just be having a laugh at you.
Speaker A (04:23):
Exactly.
I love that.
Because again, hey,
ghosts are people once just like us, right?And sometimes they just want to have a little
fun.
Like maybe you play on your husband or your
children,
or, you know, something you might just, Idon't know, hide something from them just to
(04:43):
be.
Oh, I don't know.
I don't know, honey, where your book bag is.
I thought it was right there,
Mom.
You know.
You know, same thing.
Same thing.
Right?You're.
Again, I always ask, paranormal investigators.
Your present house is not haunted, you think,
or is it haunted?
Speaker B (05:01):
No, no. I think I grew up in a house full of very psychic people, and I think
spirits just clung to us.
Yeah, but like a specific haunting.
Speaker A (05:16):
Yeah. Okay.
That. That always interests me, too, becauseone of the things, too, teenage girls tend to
attract ghosts and sometimes not the best.
So, like, your spirit, were you a teenager at
that time, or how.
How young were you?
Speaker B (05:34):
I was.
I was a junior in high school.
I don't know if there's any connection to it,but me and my friends had just played for the
first time with a Ouija board at my friend'shouse, and my first and last time.
Now, there's a lot of people have differentopinions and feelings on the Ouija board.
So when it comes to the Ouija board or, youknow, for me, Personally, I played with it
(05:56):
once and I got scared, and I probably won't doit again.
Speaker A (05:58):
Yes, yes.
I mean, you know, I always tell people just,what's funny is it's just you can buy it like
a Target or a Walmart.
You know what I mean?
Like, you can just walk in, like, right afterthis podcast and Barnes and Noble sells it.
Speaker B (06:14):
I was surprised to see that Barnes and Noble recently.
Yeah.
Speaker A (06:17):
And it's the weird.
Speaker B (06:18):
The weirdest thing, tension with it.
Yeah, I. Cause I've looked at it also as.
I mean, one of the big things that people whoare very anti Ouija board say, it's, you know,
you're opening a portal, you're invitingpeople to communicate with you.
But so do we as investigators.
You know, we go into a location, we set up ourequipment, and collectively, with our energy,
(06:40):
we say, hey, we're here to communicate withyou.
Now, does that mean any spirit within thatarea can come in?
I mean, I just recently had an experiencewhere,
you know, a spirit who wasn't haunting thehouse came through during an Estes session.
So I really do think it's just the intent youput with it and also, like, boundaries before
(07:00):
you do it.
Speaker A (07:01):
Yeah, absolutely.
That's absolutely right.
You have to go in with the right attitude andthe right respect.
Am I correct on that, saying that?
Speaker B (07:11):
Yes,
yes. And I would.
I would say also,
just like with any investigation, kind of whenI introduce myself, I kind of explain where
I'm at, what I'm comfortable with, if I'm okaywith them touching me,
et cetera.
And it really depends on the location.
If I'm investigating a jail, don't touch me.
Speaker A (07:29):
Yeah.
Speaker B (07:30):
Because I have a feeling those spirits there, I don't want them to touch me.
Speaker A (07:34):
Yeah.
Speaker B (07:34):
If it's a child ghost, feel free.
Speaker A (07:37):
Right,
right.
And that leads me to my next question withthat.
First of all, that's amazing.
I've spoke to a number of female
investigators, and they've had their hairpulled,
they have been pushed, they have been pinchedin areas that maybe you shouldn't pinch,
(07:57):
just to be honest.
Has that ever happened to you?
Have you ever had a ghost that's been a littlebit, I hate to.
Speaker B (08:05):
Say, hand handsy or inappropriate? Yeah.
I was investigating the old jail in St.
Augustine.
Now, I don't believe I was touched, but therewas a lot of cat calling coming through during
Estes and.
Yeah, just during that, there was a lot of cat
calling.
And then I was investigating the Whaley housedown in San Diego,
(08:28):
and the spirit box was saying, all kinds ofinappropriate,
not so polite things.
And. But, I mean, who I believed I wascommunicating with during his time period,
women weren't respected, so I just.
I kind of laughed at it, honestly.
I'm like, hey.
My first paranormal investigation was actuallyreally fun.
It was actually.
I attended Amy Bruni's strange escapes in
(08:51):
Florida in St. Augustine,
and we went to the St. Augustine lighthouse,and that was my first ever investigation.
And then we went to the old jail.
So that.
That was my first time.
And just the entire event was fun.
We had a good group of people.
It was a smaller event than her other biggerstrange escapes, so it was a lot of fun.
So I was down in the basement of the housethere,
(09:13):
and Adam Barry was doing Estes, and suddenlythis.
I don't.
Okay.
So are you familiar with the St. Augustinelighthouse?
Okay.
One of the hauntings there, there was an
unfortunate cart accident.
So they do get a lot of children's spiritsthere.
Uh, when we're down in the basement,
we were getting through Estes.
(09:34):
These kids going, who's that?
They were, like, talking to each other.
And what I thought was so funny is that they
go, they're old.
And I was like, excuse me,
but we're still fun,
you know?And then I.
But they didn't really.
They were intrigued by us, which I thought was
interesting.
They're just like, who's that?
What are they doing?
I sensed a male presence around the cornerwhere we were, and so I went back there,
(10:00):
and I just immediately felt like he was like,this is where I hide, and I don't want you
here.
So I said, if you want me to leave, just make
a noise.
And then he knocked on the wall, and Icompletely obliged.
I'm like, okay, good to know.
I will let you be.
Yeah, no, completely.
Yeah, definitely.
And like I said, I think it.
Well, for me personally, it changes with every
(10:22):
investigation and the location and who Ibelieve I'm speaking.
Like I mentioned, if I'm at a men's jail, Idon't.
I don't want to be touched.
Does that mean that they listen to the
boundary?It's really at their discretion.
Right. We can't.
We can't make the spirits do anything.
But it.
At least, you know, you feel better stating it
(10:43):
and what you're comfortable with and.
And how they can communicate with you.
I have at Gettysburg, which was interesting.
It was about two weeks leading up to meleaving for Gettysburg.
I was randomly getting really emotional, and Idon't know if I was intuitively picking up on
anything, but Then I got to Gettysburg and.
(11:03):
Have you been to Gettysburg?Okay. Such a good place.
So I got there,
and obviously, I know the history.
It's where, you know,
all this. The Civil War and all the historythat goes with that.
But it was also such a beautiful town, and thepeople who worked there were so nice and
friendly.
So I was kind of.
What was I worried about?
(11:24):
And then we went and we investigated a housethat was turned into a hospital.
And I.
We were communicating,
and I just got overcome with sadness.
I had to run outside and compose myself.
And that's.
That's the one and only time that's ever
happened.
It took a minute.
It took a minute to kind of recompose myself,but I wanted to get.
(11:47):
We only had a limited amount of time toinvestigate this particular location, so I
really wanted it.
Get back in.
But, yeah, it was.
It was a. It was a little disconcerting
because it was.
It was a good cry, and I'm not a very big
crier, so I was just kind of took back bythat.
Yeah,
yeah, yeah.
And they.
And they thought it was a good thing, you
(12:08):
know, so that's.
That was hard.
I did get emotional at Pennhurst.
I was in the infirmary,
and I was in the room where they would performdental procedures, but basically they would
just remove the patient's teeth so theycouldn't bite.
And I got emotional, but I don't know if thatwas the spirits making me emotional.
I have a child with autism,
(12:30):
so I think it just hit a little closer tohome, because having autism in my life, I know
that someone with autism, if they can'tcommunicate and they're frustrated,
they use other means, you know, and then theywould just pull their teeth because they were
understaffed and didn't have the ability toensure everyone's safety, to be honest.
(12:50):
So it was really, really sad.
That has not happened.
However, I did just finish an investigationthis past weekend, and this week, I was taking
a picture of my son before he left school forHalloween.
Had to get him, you know, in the costume.
And I heard a laugh because I said, look
scary.
And I heard a TBD on that question because.
(13:15):
I don't know, I think I caught it in a livevideo, too.
So I need to go back and look at it and seeif.
If anything else is going on.
But nothing else has happened in the house.
Yeah.
What's interesting is one of the places Iwent,
they say is notorious for things following youhome.
I went to Preston Castle.
So, yeah, maybe.
Maybe something has.
(13:36):
Barry kind of depends Sometimes I do it with
friends.
Sometimes my husband will come with me.
I will never investigate all by myself,though,
just for safety reasons.
So. Yeah.
As the opportunity arises.
And who can come along?
Definitely bring.
Bring them with me.
Yeah.
Yeah,
exactly.
And I always tell people I'm more.
(13:57):
I'm more afraid of the people than I am of theghosts.
Right.
Especially as a female investigator, it's veryimportant you know who you're investigating,
and if you don't know them well, to bringsomeone along with you that you trust.
My scariest.
Oh, that's a. I would probably say the Whaley
house in San Diego.
I caught a shadow figure in the parlor room.
(14:18):
Now, the parlor room at the Whaley house is
where the gallows wood stood because it wasoriginally the county's first courthouse.
It kind of goes back and forth.
We don't know for certain.
But it said that Mr. Whaley had kind of a darksense of humor, and he used the gallows to
build an archway.
And I did capture a shadow figure going bythat archway, and I tried to debunk it so many
(14:41):
times, I couldn't.
I had people walking outside,
and I could hear the footsteps outside thatwould have casted that, but I. No footsteps
were heard.
When I saw the shadow along with it was.
We got a lot of, like, growling noises.
Yeah. Which was the first string investigationfor me, that was pretty.
It. I don't know.
(15:02):
It was animalistic, but it was not any animal
I've ever heard.
Very distinct, though, and it's very active.
I like to research.
I like to research because I want to know whatkind of questions I can ask them to get a
response.
Right.
Like, conversation is a great trigger objectif you know that.
Like with Pennhurst. If I had no idea thatchildren and adults with autism had been
(15:27):
there, I wouldn't know to do things like lineup a bunch of toy cars and see if they would.
If I moved one, if they would move it back,
or just.
I think knowing the history is important.
Some people prefer not to because they justdon't want to come with bias when
investigating and understanding theirevidence.
But I think it's important to know.
(15:48):
Yeah, I've had.
I've had quite a few of those.
The funniest to me is I was investigating the
Queen Mary, and it was kind of an unofficialinvestigation because we were there for my
birthday, and because it was my birthday, Ihad rented a really nice suite,
and the suite had a living room area,
and me was just me, my girlfriends, and wewere just hanging out, drinking champagne.
Eating our snacks.
(16:09):
And we just decided, hey, why not just put
some equipment around?And we got a lot of responses with the
flashlights going on and off with ourquestions when we were inviting them to party
with us,
partake, you know, like, do you want somechampagne?
Yes.
Flashlight.
Can you smell champagne?Yes.
Flashlight.
Can you drink champagne?
No.
Flashlight.
Do you miss champagne?Yes, Flashlight.
(16:31):
So I think that's really important, too, whenyou're in a haunted, like a haunted hotel or
anywhere that's haunted and you're justhanging out with friends,
just relax and let the spirits come to you andinteract in.
In their own way.
I mean, they could ask the same questions over
and over again.
And sometimes they just want to have fun.
Yeah.
(16:51):
And they'll start hiding their keys.
Yes.
Again, depends on the.
On the location.
Like with the Queen Mary, I don't like to useREM pods or anything like that because the
staff all use walkie talkies and so they canset things off.
Right.
Now, the dead bell, I think it's simple.
It looks just like a. Like a hotel bell.
And you can.
(17:12):
They can either manually.
The spirits can either manually set the belloff, or they could touch it.
It's kind of like a Ketu or REM pod.
Yeah.
It's really fun.
Really.
Okay,
I'll send you a link so you can see it.
But it's easy because the bell has been around
forever,
so everyone knows how to.
You don't have to really explain how to use a
bell.
Yeah, I do.
(17:32):
I do.
I think they're fun.
To me, the cat balls are more like validatingfor me.
If I have a piece of equipment going off andthe cat balls going off, it's fun.
I do think with cat balls, it's important toreally think about where you're placing them
because they're balls and they can move.
Right.
So the stands are a good investment too.
(17:53):
Have you seen the stands for them?
Yeah, they're just like a little platform thatyou can put the cap all on so it doesn't move.
So if it's slanted or stuff like that.
Yeah,
exactly.
My favorite.
My favorite piece of evidence to get though isan evp and they're very rare.
So I do like to have my recorder on as well ofboth because I've gotten a lot of EVP is just
(18:14):
not even intending on getting an evp.
You know, just recording or in live videos.
I think it's really important for people who
have the live video option if you're takinglive videos during any investigation or
anywhere really listen to the audio on thoselive videos.
They will shock you.
Yeah, definitely.
(18:35):
Try to persuade them.
Anyway, honestly,
I'm very proud of investigating and being inthis field.
It's fun for me.
It's a big part of who I am.
So if it gets brought up, I'm very open totalk about it.
And in those conversations, some have, youknow, convey that they don't believe in it,
(18:56):
and that's fine.
I'm not here to persuade them either way.
I just like to go to these places,
investigate.
If I have great evidence, I love to share it.
And if they don't agree that it's a spirit ofa ghost in a picture or whatever, that's.
That's up to them.
You know what's funny though?
Most of these skeptics who have told me Idon't believe in ghosts always have a but.
(19:21):
But I did have this one experience that Ican't explain,
and then they'll end it with, but then again,I don't believe in ghosts.
Okay, no, you do.
You just don't want to, you know, come full
circle to that conclusion.
Yeah,
yeah, definitely.
Speaker A (19:37):
So what they found is another question all together.
But simply based on a number of stories thatswirled about the place,
it was soon obvious that I could not refer tothe McPike mansion other than anything more
than one of the most haunted houses in thecity of Alton, Illinois.
So this Alton, Illinois, by the way,
(19:59):
is considered one of the most haunted placesin America.
The whole city is full of ghosts and differentspirits all over the place.
So it's pretty amazing.
So as with many other haunted houses, though,not many people know the history behind the
once grand structure.
So let me talk about that.
(20:20):
We love history, right?So here we go.
The house was built in 1869 for Henry GuestMcPike.
The McPike family can be traced back toScotland.
And Henry McPike's ancestry includes a numberof patriots who fought during the
revolutionary war, including Captain MoseMcPike of New Jersey and Captain James McPike,
(20:46):
both of whom were at Valley Forge with GeorgeWashington.
So again,
these said, yeah, these gentlemen go backquite a bit,
you know, of their family history.
So James McPike, we'll talk a little bit about
him.
He came to west to Kentucky in 1795,
(21:07):
bringing with him his sons John and Richard.
Henry McPike was the son of John McPike and
came to Alton, Illinois as a very young man in1847.
McPike soon became active in the business andpolitical community of Alton and over a period
of years was involved in a number of differentcompanies working as a real estate agent.
(21:31):
I love this box manufacturer.
You have to have boxes, right?
Speaker B (21:36):
Someone's got to make them.
Speaker A (21:37):
Someone's got to make a box.
We don't think about it, right?
We're like, what do we put things in this box?Well, somebody made it.
Along with other things,
he also became the president of the HalterCultural Society in Illinois.
His political aspirations did not give off,
(21:58):
did not get off to a quick start, however,
although he did have an interest in theabolishment movement.
So this is during, you know, Civil War, duringslavery.
His father had been the editor of the Whignewspaper.
So the Whig party later became the Republicanparty in the time of Abraham Lincoln and was
(22:20):
an early advocate of abolition of slavery.
So, you know, he's been involved in a lot ofdifferent things, right.
During this, McPike never sought politicaloffice,
although it was offered to him many times.
So I thought that was kind of interesting too.
So he's kind of an interesting guy.
So during the Civil War, he was called upon to
act as a deputy, and I don't know what thismeans, but provost marshal of the district.
(22:46):
So I'm guessing he's just kind of running thedistrict and everything like that.
And this was placed him in a managementposition in the war department.
After this, he's have said to begun acting asa representative of many conventions and with
the city council that would eventually lead toa stint as mayor of Alton from 1887 to 1891.
(23:12):
So this guy was involved in a lot of differentcool stuff, you know, being a politician
trying to end slavery.
So he sounds like a pretty good guy.
So I'm like,
huh, I wonder why this place is haunted.
Something going on here.
So any questions so far before I continue?
Speaker B (23:29):
Not yet, no.
Speaker A (23:30):
Great. So the McPike mansion was constructed as an Italiente Victorian style.
I don't know what that means,
but Italiante.
I just like saying that.
And Sansa is one of the most elaborate homes.
And again, I'll put it up there in Alton.
It contains 16 rooms and a vaulted winecellar.
(23:54):
It was originally built on a country estate of15 acres.
It's not bad that McPike called Mount Lookout.
Okay.
I don't know if it's like mount look out orMount look out.
You know what I mean?Like look out or.
No, it's Mount Lookout.
Anyway, thanks to Big Pike's interest in allthings horticultural, the estate was planted
(24:19):
with rare trees, shrubs, orchards, flowers,extensive vineyard.
The Owner became the owner of the McPike GrapeCompany.
Okay. Which became known across the country.
So McPike wine.
I'm not a wine guy.
Are you a wine person?
Speaker B (24:37):
I do enjoy a glass of wine, yeah.
Speaker A (24:40):
Have you heard of McPike wine?
Speaker B (24:42):
I've never heard of McPike.
I have not.
Speaker A (24:45):
Yeah.
So maybe it's out of business.
There's no question that this is one of the
most beautiful homes in the area.
The McPike family lived on the estate for some
time after the death of Henry McPike, butrecords are unclear about some of the dates.
It has been stated that they stayed in thehouse until around 1936.
So.
(25:05):
Wow.
So they built this in the 1800s and, you know,this has been around.
They lived there to 1936.
Other records say that the home was owned by
Paul A. Lassinger,
who purchased the house in 1908 and livedthere until his death until 1930.
Lassinger either lived in the house or rentedit out to tenants.
(25:26):
Really doesn't know if these McPikes livedthere for that long or they just rented out to
another person and had a different owner.
But despite some inaccuracies about the dates,
the house has been listed in the NationalRegister of Historic Places.
So that's good.
Hopefully will not be torn down.
However, it also has been listed on a not so
(25:49):
prestigious list, the Landmarks PreservationCouncil,
Illinois's list of 10 most endangered historicplaces in the state.
So the McPike mansion is having issues, likeall historical places, of keeping it,
you know, together and keeping it updated andkeeping it.
(26:12):
You know what I mean?
So this might be torn down, which sucks.
Speaker B (26:17):
So the years have tragedy.
Speaker A (26:19):
Yeah, I know.
The years have not been kind to.
The McPike mansion has been abandoned and indisrepair since the 19.
Since that time.
That's crazy.
And you.
You'll see.
I'll put, like, how it looked originally, the
way it looks now.
Okay. Socks.
Since that time, weather and vandals, of
(26:40):
course, have caused some pretty major damageto the structure the house once had.
This is terrible.
Had once a number of marble fireplaces andsome very extravagant woodwork, but all have
been stolen.
They have taken the extravagant woodwork andall this other stuff.
Windows have been broken, plaster crackdestroyed, floors deteriorated to the point
(27:02):
they are not safe to walk on.
And worse, the place is in desperate need of
repair.
That has an enormous price tag.
Estimates for the roof alone reach up to
$50,000.
So I don't know what you have to say aboutthat.
I mean, it's going to Take a lot of money torestore this place.
You know, I wish people would do that.
(27:24):
Right.
It's kind of sad that people won't.
I mean do you have any thoughts on that?
Speaker B (27:28):
And he's a good investor that sees the, the, the importance of the history in it
as well, you know.
Speaker A (27:35):
Absolutely, absolutely.
But don't fear.
Some hope does remain for the McBike mansionwill not become just a memory.
In 1994, Sharon and George Lutke purchased thehouse at auction.
As of this writing which that I got somearticle and information it's like from the
2021.
(27:56):
2020. So not too far away the continuedefforts to restore the home and turn it into a
bed and breakfast or historical attraction.
And I do know that they have done that because
like I said, I've had paranormal investigatorsinvestigate there and they would not let them
do that.
Obviously if you know there was a problem hasbeen an uphill battle.
But they have continued trying to bringattention to the house's historical site with
(28:18):
like I said, tours and outings and you can gothere and investigate it.
Sharon Lucky always believes the house ishaunted.
Her unusual encounters at the house carry muchmore weight given the time she is spent there
that the claims of trespassers and so calledpsychics and curiosity seekers who have come
to the house simply because it looks haunted.
(28:41):
And there have been hundreds of stories thathave circulated about the mansion from the
chilling to the downright silly.
But Sharon's claims that the ghost of Paul
Lassinger haunts the place seems to be themost credible.
So a lot of the stories that go with thisplace are people being pushed,
(29:01):
people seeing shadow people,
people seeing numerous apparitions,
lights turning on and off.
Kind of the standard stuff of things being
lost to.
One of the silliest things that they talkabout is like Sharon says like she'll talk to
the ghost because like they'll move her likepurse or her like clothes like she'll lay out
(29:25):
her clothes for the morning and then she'llcome in and they'll be gone and then she'll be
like come on John.
And then she'll go to like the bathroom tobrush her teeth or when it come back and the
clothes will be back on the bed.
That's kind of.
Speaker B (29:42):
Now does it mention when the, the reports of hauntings were coming about?
Like I wonder what time period.
Speaker A (29:49):
Yeah, so shortly after the.
It became abandoned in the 50s.
Now there's some tales before that, but it'smainly from you know, what I had off of Reddit
and Everything of people.
Oh, I was in there and I was messing around as
a kid, and I saw the shadows.
(30:10):
But usually after the 1950s, and especiallywhen the Ludkeys came in and started restoring
stuff, they, like I said, things would move,lights would turn on and off.
They would see shadows, they would hearvoices, they'd have goofy stuff.
Like I said, clothes move, purses move, thingsmoved around the house just because they felt
(30:30):
they were messing with the spirits and doingthe renovation and everything.
None of it so far has seemed evil.
It's just seemed like they sometimes don'twant them there.
Like, this is our house.
Like, could you please leave?
Or could you please stop renovating thishouse?
(30:50):
One of Sharon's claims.
Claims, you know, like.
Like I said, she believes that it's just thisreal historical connection exists with the
ghost and everything like that.
So Sharon says that her first encounter with
John Lassinger's ghost, and this is the mainghost she feels about six weeks after they
bought the house,
(31:11):
she was on the property watering some plantsand saw a man standing in the window looking
out towards where she was standing in thefront yard.
A chill came over her.
But she noted that the man who vanished waswearing a striped shirt and tie.
Sharon has.
Has a photograph of Paul Lassinger wearing the
identical off outfit.
(31:33):
So that's kind of scary, right, to look in a
window.
Has that ever happened to you, where you'velooked in the window and seen a spirit kind of
staring back at you?
Speaker B (31:41):
No. Just this weekend, I was investigating a friend of mine.
She owns a haunted Airbnb.
We had just gotten there, and we were sitting
outside, kind of like messing with our luggageand talking,
and I just saw a shadow go.
And that was about it.
But I didn't.
I didn't see a figure was our full body.
It was just a shadow.
Speaker A (32:00):
Yeah. Wow.
Speaker B (32:01):
And I was like, okay, great.
This is where I'm spending the night tonight.
Okay, let's do this.
I'm sure I'll get plenty of sleep.
Speaker A (32:08):
Yeah, plenty of sleep.
No problem at all.
So also, she's seen a ghost to a domesticservant named.
She calls Sarah, that has been around thehouse, like, getting ready for things in the
kitchen.
You know what I mean?
So, like, you know, she'll come in the kitchenand see Sarah there, like, making breakfast,
(32:31):
and then, you know, she'll be like,
you know what I mean?And then Sarah disappears.
She was like.
She said she was a little more of a presence
with,
you know,
than the other John, where he seems to be alittle more of a major presence.
One day a man.
Yeah. So one day a man came by the house andpresented Lutkes with some books that he had
(32:54):
removed from the house 17 years before.
One of the books,
and this is interesting, had the name SarahWells written inside of it.
Oh,
that was kind of interesting, you know, thatthey.
You know, they had Sarah and they saw her, andthen they got these books.
This guy just shows up with these books andsays, here they go.
(33:15):
And they looked at them, and it said SarahWells.
So they believe, you know, maybe she wasn't aservant, but they have a pretty good feeling
that she was a servant or maybe like a nanny,something like that.
Sharon.
Speaker B (33:30):
It's strange how they have these names for the ghosts or the spirits in there.
Speaker A (33:34):
Yeah.
Speaker B (33:34):
Like, I wonder if they got it during, like, an investigation or they did,
like, research on the house.
He knew a Sarah had worked there.
Speaker A (33:44):
Yeah.
Speaker B (33:44):
I was curious how that.
Speaker A (33:46):
Yeah, right.
Where.
Where you.
Where you've gone on.
I've gone on certain ghost tours, and theyshowing me, like,
a book. Oh, this James.
I'm just gonna say James Madison is paid a
name.
And they'll be like, james Madison.
And you're like, oh, and that's hishandwriting.
We had authenticated and blah, blah.
He lived here and he did.
You're like, oh, that's kind of interesting.
(34:07):
Now, this is funny.
I think you act.
Oh, go ahead.
What are you saying?
Speaker B (34:11):
No, I was like, old Juliet has a.
The old Juliet prison has a spirit they called
Eugene.
And I asked him if he liked that name,
and he said, yeah.
I asked him if it's his real name.
He said no.
And I just want to know how they came up withEugene.
That's such a random name.
It's not like a bob or a mark.
Speaker A (34:30):
Right,
Right.
That's awesome.
So you'll love this.
Sarah has touched Sharon and actually huggedher.
So by the.
By the spirit and her husband.
So she's a hugger.
She likes to hug people.
Speaker B (34:48):
Ghost hugs.
Yeah, that's fine.
Speaker A (34:51):
It's all right.
Speaker B (34:52):
Yeah, that's it.
I'd be okay with a ghost hug, you know, right?
Speaker A (34:55):
With the ghost.
Speaker B (34:56):
Fine. I'm a hunger.
Speaker A (34:59):
Also, they caught the scent of lilac on the third floor.
So lilac, as many people may or may know know,
was kind of like the perfume of the day forwomen,
you know, lilac smell.
Or women, you know, typically like to bring in
fresh flowers from the garden and have lilacsaround, you know, to make the house smell
(35:20):
nice.
As mentioned, there have been hundreds of
stories Which I can't get into all of them.
There's just two many told about the house,and there are those who claim that a legion of
spirits haunt the house.
The main problem with taking these stories too
seriously involves the fact that this housewas locally regarded as the neighborhood
(35:41):
haunted house for years and was a place whereteenagers would come out and hang out and
party.
So again, like.
Like I said,
you go on Reddit, you go different places,
and TikTok, Facebook, whatever.
A lot of the stories are just kids.
Oh, yeah, Me and Jimmy used to party there,
(36:02):
and we would see, like, you know, this femalespirit, and sometimes she would, like, yell at
us, and you're like, okay, you know what Imean?
Like, all right, yeah,
maybe that happened, maybe it didn't.
But I imagine if you're vandalizing this
house,
wouldn't you think the spirits would saysomething?
Right?
(36:23):
Am I right on that?
Speaker B (36:23):
Definitely, yeah.
Speaker A (36:25):
You know,
essentially stealing all that stuff.
You think that would really take a toll on the
spirits, seeing that this happening?
So in most recent times, the claims of mediumsand attention seekers have further muddied the
water.
So this is a very.
Pike Mansion, is a very interesting hauntedhouse because unlike the Whaley house,
(36:47):
unlike the Winchester house and so on and soforth, a lot of it is, yeah, this could be it.
The owners claim they've, like I said, beenhugged.
They have been kind of, you know, stared atand looked at, but there's nothing evil.
You know what I mean?But again, some people said there are a legion
(37:08):
of spirits in here because of just thedifferent things.
You know, I gotta remember, in the 1800s, theymay have done a seance there.
They may have you done.
Because, you know, spirituality and sciences
back in the.
Were a big deal.
You know, you would bring.
Speaker B (37:25):
Well, also, you wonder what those teenagers were doing when they were out there
as well.
Right.
Or any of them playing around or.
Yeah, you know.
Speaker A (37:33):
Right, exactly.
And like I said, this is, you know, considered
the haunted house.
It's one of the, you know, the generic.
You know, when you're watching a movie and thelittle kids are riding by with their bikes,
they don't go into the Bailey house.
It's like, don't go into there.
So there's a couple other interesting storieshere,
which I think is really nice.
(37:54):
Nice.
So some of these stories, again, like I said,I'm not convinced, but there is still more
than meets the eye here.
And one of the things I was looking up, and I
found this gentleman who was a paranormalinvestigator who has taken part in Some
investigations at the mansion.
And he has said, as a lot of them have seenthings on video where there's filmed in the
(38:15):
basement that remains unexplained.
One invent, one investigator managed to pick
up up a curious event that is worthy ofmention.
So there was.
This entire group was gathered in the wine
cellar of the house.
It's a little step down below the basement, I
guess.
So it's pretty low down there, obviously to
keep the wine cool, I guess.
(38:35):
One of the group members became uncomfortablein the small enclosed space and asked to go
upstairs.
She was accompanied upstairs by another woman
who was present.
And soon the group in the cellar was waiting
patiently for her to return.
After a few moments, the sound of the secondwoman's footsteps could be heard descending
(38:56):
the steps, descending the basement stairs andthen crossing the basement floor.
The steps are followed by a short pause.
And then the metal door to the wine cellaropen, scraping across the stone floor as it
did.
I don't have sound effects for there be like,
there's my sound effects.
Terrible. Sorry.
Yeah, there we go.
(39:16):
One problem though.
There was no one there.
Both of the women who left were still upstairsand no one had come down the steps.
The entire strange incident was captured on avideo tape which I have been searching for.
I will put up on the my social media.
(39:39):
It's kind of hard to see, but basically you
see these people, blah, blah, blah, blah,blah.
Yeah, okay, Gregory.
And then you see the door guard and everyone's
like, I want that.
Billy, Sarah, Molly, whatever.
Speaker B (39:51):
You know I love when that happens.
Speaker A (39:54):
Right? That's just unbelievable.
Now, what you said earlier, McPike Mansion wasfeatured on episode of Ghost adventures
entitled.
Well, McPike Mansion.
This aired as a special in 2019 on the travelchannel.
By the way, why do they call it the travelChannel?
(40:14):
Anywhere.
Anywhere you know, anymore.
Excuse me.
It's not the travel Channel anymore.
Yes, it's the paranormal channel.
Like, give me a break.
Speaker B (40:22):
The team travel to different locations.
Speaker A (40:25):
Yeah, but it's like every time I put it on, it's paranormal, paranormal,
paranormal.
It's called the paranormal channel.
The team of paranormal investigators explored
the home and its property, which is said, Ihave not watched this episode yet because
sometimes you got to go back and pay forthings.
And I'm like,
maybe I'll find something.
(40:46):
Who is said to be haunted by former
inhabitants.
The structure also appeared in the serious
scariest places on earth.
Do you know this, Shanine?
Speaker B (40:54):
I know the show, but I don't remember seeing that on there.
Speaker A (40:58):
It was Featured on Season 1, Episode 7.
There you go.
Speaker B (41:03):
Okay, I'll check that out then.
Speaker A (41:05):
Yeah,
there was a show, fact or faked?Do you remember that?
Paranormal Files.
That was.
My God, that's probably 10 years ago wherethey had, like an FBI agent, a paranormal
investigator, some scientist, and they wouldgo and debunk stuff, I think so.
It was on the Syfy channel.
It's like 10 years ago.
Speaker B (41:24):
Yeah, it rings a bell.
Speaker A (41:25):
Yeah. You gotta go back.
Speaker B (41:26):
Yeah.
Speaker A (41:27):
In an episode of Ghost Lab.
Ghostlab.
Doesn't sound familiar to me.
Ghostlab mean anything to you?
Speaker B (41:33):
No, I think they have a YouTube.
Speaker A (41:35):
Yeah, they must have.
Speaker B (41:36):
Yeah, everything.
Sure.
Speaker A (41:38):
So anyway, the McPike mansion, like I said, there's been hundreds of stories
related to how haunted it is.
I had some paranormal investigators from
Illinois who have gone into it and yes, havegotten.
EVPs have been touched, but they said nothingdemonic, nothing bad.
You know, they seen things move.
(41:59):
They've gotten some voices, you know, on EVPs,
basically, like, hey, what are you doing here?You know, it's our house, okay.
Speaker B (42:06):
You know,
we're their entertainment.
I think a lot of investigators go to these
places and enjoy the adrenaline rush of, youknow, having something spooky happen.
But I think we're the real entertainment to alot of the spirits.
They are just checking us out, going, what arethese people doing?
Speaker A (42:23):
Exactly.
I totally, totally agree with that.
So I have to ask, haunted or not haunted?What do you think?
Speaker B (42:31):
I think it's haunted.
Yeah, I do.
It's got all the.
All those spooks, the vibes, the history,
the reports.
I mean, I can't say for certain.
I'd love to go in there, investigate and know
for sure.
But if I had to bet on it, right now, I'm
staying haunted.
Speaker A (42:47):
So if you ever get around to the Midwest, there's two places and you can
research them.
Maybe you and your husband or family would
love to do a little vacation.
The first is Galena, Illinois, that is
considered.
Considered the most haunted place in theMidwest.
And it's stuck in a time war.
And what I mean by that is there are buildingsfrom the.
(43:09):
Especially you love history, like myself.
There are buildings that have not changed
since the 1800s.
Like, literally, you go downtown and you're
like, what the heck?
Like, am I just.
Like, am I in a time warp?
What's going on?Which I think is awesome.
It's a very touristy town, I have to warn you.
So if you go there, there's a lot of, you
know, okay, it's haunted, you know,
(43:32):
but it's still A great weekend.
They do numerous ghost tours.
Like a whole mess of places are haunted there,including a lot of bed and breakfast.
You can stay at different.
Different hotels,
different restaurants, different bars.
It's just crazy.
And it's a beautiful place.
Speaker B (43:50):
And how do you spell it?
Speaker A (43:52):
Galena. G A,
L, E, N A. Yeah. Okay, Galena.
And you know, so you could make a weekend outof it.
Absolutely.
And, you know, if you brought your kids.
I don't know how old your kids are, but youbrought your kids.
They get a fun.
Because there's places near their parks and
everything.
So you, you know, you.
(44:13):
If you're investigating with your husband ormaybe just going on a group tour.
And a lot of the group tours are not scary.
So if you wanted to bring your kids along, youdon't have to worry about them being freaked
out.
The other which McPike Mansion is in Alton,Illinois, which is considered again,
the Alton, Illinois and Galena go back andforth for who's haunted.
(44:36):
Like, they have a battle.
Like, we're more haunted now.
I think Alton, Illinois is more hauntedbecause they are built upon limestone caves
and like a river.
So if you know anything about conduits.
Yes, it's all the conduits.
Exactly right.
So they have a church there where a preacherhung himself.
(45:00):
Supposedly he thought he might have murderedsomebody.
There's a murder there.
You know, these are just stories.
Numerous ghost tours on there,
man, they got just buildings galore there.
Bars, hotels, beds and breakfast.
People say walking down the street they'll seeshadow people.
(45:20):
It's just that perfect conduit of thelimestone and the water running through that
makes it one of the haunted places.
Now it's not like Galena.
That's more touristy and more for families on
a nice little weekend, you know what I mean?It's got like the bed and breakfasts where you
can go and buy like a handmade quilt at alocal store.
(45:42):
This is a little more, yeah,
like, ghost tour.
Like if you just want to go for, you know,
maybe head over there, do a bunch of ghosttours, go do the bus investigation creations,
that's for you.
So that would be more you and your husband or
you and a group of people just go for aweekend and just like, okay, I'm going to go
(46:02):
to the church, I'm going to go to the thishouse, go in the bike mansion.
I'm going to go, you know, this bar, whatever.
So very, very interesting stuff.
One of these days I'm going to get out there.
And I've been to Galena several times and been
on tour.
And the tours are really great.
They have really nice goals.
Speaker B (46:20):
Do you know how far apart they are from each other?
Speaker A (46:22):
No, I don't, to be honest with you.
And I tried to, you know, look on, obviously
look at a map and see.
See what is.
Speaker B (46:29):
But so when it's doable to do.
Speaker A (46:31):
Both, yeah, that'd be awesome.
But I know Galena.
They have a lot of locals there who have beenliving there for years, so they know
everything.
So when you go on a tour, you hang out with,like,
a teenage kid that's just doing it for asummer job.
You're going out with someone who's livedthere, like, 30 years, and they're like, oh,
(46:51):
you know, this bar was haunted by, you know,the old deputy of the blah, blah, blah, and he
likes to do this and stuff.
And it's.
It's really cool.
Speaker B (47:00):
Most of the locals have their own stories, too.
Speaker A (47:02):
Yeah. And all the locals.
You go in a restaurant, you sit down, the
waitress will come up if she lives there, youknow, if she's not from overtown.
But if she's lived there, if you're lucky, youget a waitress there,
which I did,
and she would be like, oh, yeah, you want togo here, and you want to stay in that room,
and you want to go over here, and this placeis haunted.
And I'm like, cool, thanks so much.
Speaker B (47:23):
Get all the info.
Speaker A (47:24):
Yeah, yeah.
It was really cool.
And we saw some things.
I did see some shadow people.
I did feel watched at this bed and breakfastmy wife and I are at.
My wife found a little bit creepy in a room,
but she was like, I don't know if I'm creepybecause everyone keeps telling me stories or
this room is creepy, you know, because it's.
Speaker B (47:45):
Always the hard part.
Speaker A (47:46):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's always the hard part.
Speaker B (47:48):
So is it in my head, or am I picking up on something?
Speaker A (47:50):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So thank you so much.
This was awesome.
I absolutely loved it.
I hope you had a good time learning about theMcPike mansion.
Speaker B (48:00):
I had a great time.
So much fun.
Speaker A (48:02):
Yes. And I loved all your stuff.
Speaker B (48:04):
I definitely want to get out to the McPike mansion.
Speaker A (48:06):
Yes, definitely.
And, you know, anytime you would love to come
on again,
you can.
And we can talk about more stories.
Always love to have my paranormalinvestigators on, but for my spooky friend,
thank you.
Where can we find you?
What's coming up?What can they look forward to?
Speaker B (48:25):
You can find me on Instagram at sweet and spooky.
Also, TikTok on Sweet and Spooky where I posta bunch of videos about places I've been,
include a lot of the historical facts alongwith the location coming up.
Right now I'm in the planning stages helping afriend plan for gold country paracon May 1st
(48:47):
the 3rd of 2026.
So it's going to be a really good one.
It's an old town Sacramento.
I just went up there this past weekend,checked out old town Sacramento and it's kind
of like those towns you were telling me aboutthere.
It's just so haunted.
Everywhere you go and you.
Any building you go and walk into, there's
some kind of haunting.
(49:07):
So the history is fun and we're going to have
great speakers.
It's going to be a good time.
Speaker A (49:12):
I love it.
I love it.
I just have one more quick question.
If I won the lottery tomorrow and said,
hey Shaneen, I got money where you can justunlimited checkbook, where would you go to
investigate?You can go anywhere in the world.
Speaker B (49:29):
Pennhurst for sure.
Speaker A (49:31):
Nice.
Speaker B (49:32):
I love Pennhurst.
There's so much to explore there.
You need to go back and back and back to thatlocation.
Speaker A (49:40):
Yes, I've heard that.
I've heard that.
Really quickly for me is Transylvania.
Sorry, I'm just.
I just gotta go there because that place islocked in time.
Because they don't.
I mean they have modern things but they still
have like goat paths, you.
Speaker B (49:58):
Know what I mean?
Speaker A (49:58):
And like cobblestone roads because they're not as developed a country as.
I mean you can go to the downtown center,which I looked up and it, you know, there's WI
fi and you know, it's a nice little place butas soon as you get past it, you're like ****,
this is crazy.
You know, why is this.
Why is everything kind of look old and.
(50:19):
Which is great.
And then of course I would go to Dracula'scastle.
They.
That's their number one thing.
That's where they make their money.
That's the whole town's like economy from that
castle.
Speaker B (50:30):
It's a big hike to get up there though.
Speaker A (50:33):
I bet.
Yeah. Have you been there?
Speaker B (50:35):
Yeah. I see.
No, my friends went last.
I believe it was last Halloween they went to
Transylvania and went to Dracula's castle andjust kind of had a paranormal was a week week
there.
Speaker A (50:49):
So jealous.
So jealous.
Awesome.
Speaker B (50:53):
They might be doing it again this year.
I'll send you the link as well.
But Ireland would also be a place I really
want to investigate.
Speaker A (50:59):
Yes, Ireland.
Yes, that'd be awesome.
So again, thank you so much all the oldcastles.
Oh, the old castles.
And a lot of them are just kept in greatshape.
So wonderful.
So, again, thank you so much.
I truly appreciate it.
Speaker B (51:13):
Thank you.
This was so much fun.
Speaker A (51:15):
It was so much fun.
And stay spooky.
Foreign,
the paranormal podcast that covers everythingspooky, creepy and mysterious in the Midwest
and beyond.
And again,
(00:21):
my great guest streak keeps on going.
I have Shaneen from Sweet and Scary.
Spooky.
She is sweet and spooky.
We'll have to talk about that.
And she is a paranormal investigator.
Welcome.
Speaker B (00:36):
Hey, thanks for having me.
Speaker A (00:38):
No problem.
I have looked at your stuff online and I was
like, she has some awesome stuff.
It looks like you have some fun and
everything, and I love it.
So I have to start out.
How did you get interested in this?
What inspired you to become a paranormalinvestigator?
Speaker B (00:55):
You know, I get asked that quite often and I think the paranormal has just
always been a part of my life.
I had a deep fear of ghosts growing up.
And now being in this field, I've kind of
learned that there was an intuition to it andI just didn't understand it.
I got really into the show Ghost Hunters and Ithought, hey, why can't I do that?
(01:20):
So I just started traveling and it became away that I could also have a reason to travel
and learn about a bunch of different places.
The stories of these places are amazing as
well as many of them are very important forhistory and to preserve that history.
I think the paranormal field does a great jobin funding a lot of these historical places.
(01:44):
You know, with our investigations.
I kind of face that fear, to be honest withyou, and just embraced it and loved it and
went with it.
Speaker A (01:54):
Yeah, exactly.
And the reason I always ask that basic
question because everyone has a differentanswer.
Some people are like, I was the goofy kid atthe library reading book on ghost, or, you
know,
my house is haunted, or my neighbor's house ishaunted, or, you know, I knew a buddy of mine,
he was a friend of the family and we talkedabout it.
(02:16):
Or.
Or my favorite ones were always.
Yeah. When moving out of the house,
by the way, it was haunted and everything.
You know, it's like, you don't want to tell
your, like 4 year old at the time, you know,
child,
hey, there's just crazy stuff.
And there might be demons and stuff, but when
they turn 18 or whatever you deem necessary asa parent, you're like, yeah, it's haunted.
(02:41):
Like, thanks a lot.
Speaker B (02:42):
Everybody has a story once it's open, right?
Once they open that lid, they're all like.
And I experience this.
And then I saw that.
Speaker A (02:50):
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
So let's get going right to it.
Let's talk about your.
Do you remember your first paranormal
experience and what happened?
Speaker B (03:01):
Yes, my.
My first paranormal experience that really had
an effect on me.
I was at my house, which is odd because myhouse isn't haunted or my childhood home, and
I just immediately felt a presence, and itcreeped me out so much.
I got out of that shower so fast, I don't eventhink I rinsed out my hair completely, and I
(03:24):
went into my room, and my ceiling fan juststarted going berserk.
It would go fast, fast, fast, fast, and thenslow.
So slow, fast, fast, fast.
And then I had an old TV in my room, the kindthat you actually had to get up and change the
channels, and it turned the channel 6. 6, andthen left another 6 and a dash on there.
(03:44):
Freaked me out.
Speaker A (03:47):
Yeah.
Speaker B (03:48):
Ran out, was terrified.
But I had a friend come over who was psychic,
and they explained to me it was someone thatkind of just clung to my energy and came home
and decided that they just wanted to play atrick on me.
It was nothing to be afraid of.
It was like a adolescent teenager that was
like, oh, this girl can sense my presence.
(04:10):
Let me have some fun.
So that also gave me a better understanding.
You know, where I'm at now when I investigate.
Just because something presents itself dark
doesn't mean that it is.
They may just be having a laugh at you.
Speaker A (04:23):
Exactly.
I love that.
Because again, hey,
ghosts are people once just like us, right?And sometimes they just want to have a little
fun.
Like maybe you play on your husband or your
children,
or, you know, something you might just, Idon't know, hide something from them just to
(04:43):
be.
Oh, I don't know.
I don't know, honey, where your book bag is.
I thought it was right there,
Mom.
You know.
You know, same thing.
Same thing.
Right?You're.
Again, I always ask, paranormal investigators.
Your present house is not haunted, you think,
or is it haunted?
Speaker B (05:01):
No, no. I think I grew up in a house full of very psychic people, and I think
spirits just clung to us.
Yeah, but like a specific haunting.
Speaker A (05:16):
Yeah. Okay.
That. That always interests me, too, becauseone of the things, too, teenage girls tend to
attract ghosts and sometimes not the best.
So, like, your spirit, were you a teenager at
that time, or how.
How young were you?
Speaker B (05:34):
I was.
I was a junior in high school.
I don't know if there's any connection to it,but me and my friends had just played for the
first time with a Ouija board at my friend'shouse, and my first and last time.
Now, there's a lot of people have differentopinions and feelings on the Ouija board.
So when it comes to the Ouija board or, youknow, for me, Personally, I played with it
(05:56):
once and I got scared, and I probably won't doit again.
Speaker A (05:58):
Yes, yes.
I mean, you know, I always tell people just,what's funny is it's just you can buy it like
a Target or a Walmart.
You know what I mean?
Like, you can just walk in, like, right afterthis podcast and Barnes and Noble sells it.
Speaker B (06:14):
I was surprised to see that Barnes and Noble recently.
Yeah.
Speaker A (06:17):
And it's the weird.
Speaker B (06:18):
The weirdest thing, tension with it.
Yeah, I. Cause I've looked at it also as.
I mean, one of the big things that people whoare very anti Ouija board say, it's, you know,
you're opening a portal, you're invitingpeople to communicate with you.
But so do we as investigators.
You know, we go into a location, we set up ourequipment, and collectively, with our energy,
(06:40):
we say, hey, we're here to communicate withyou.
Now, does that mean any spirit within thatarea can come in?
I mean, I just recently had an experiencewhere,
you know, a spirit who wasn't haunting thehouse came through during an Estes session.
So I really do think it's just the intent youput with it and also, like, boundaries before
(07:00):
you do it.
Speaker A (07:01):
Yeah, absolutely.
That's absolutely right.
You have to go in with the right attitude andthe right respect.
Am I correct on that, saying that?
Speaker B (07:11):
Yes,
yes. And I would.
I would say also,
just like with any investigation, kind of whenI introduce myself, I kind of explain where
I'm at, what I'm comfortable with, if I'm okaywith them touching me,
et cetera.
And it really depends on the location.
If I'm investigating a jail, don't touch me.
Speaker A (07:29):
Yeah.
Speaker B (07:30):
Because I have a feeling those spirits there, I don't want them to touch me.
Speaker A (07:34):
Yeah.
Speaker B (07:34):
If it's a child ghost, feel free.
Speaker A (07:37):
Right,
right.
And that leads me to my next question withthat.
First of all, that's amazing.
I've spoke to a number of female
investigators, and they've had their hairpulled,
they have been pushed, they have been pinchedin areas that maybe you shouldn't pinch,
(07:57):
just to be honest.
Has that ever happened to you?
Have you ever had a ghost that's been a littlebit, I hate to.
Speaker B (08:05):
Say, hand handsy or inappropriate? Yeah.
I was investigating the old jail in St.
Augustine.
Now, I don't believe I was touched, but therewas a lot of cat calling coming through during
Estes and.
Yeah, just during that, there was a lot of cat
calling.
And then I was investigating the Whaley housedown in San Diego,
(08:28):
and the spirit box was saying, all kinds ofinappropriate,
not so polite things.
And. But, I mean, who I believed I wascommunicating with during his time period,
women weren't respected, so I just.
I kind of laughed at it, honestly.
I'm like, hey.
My first paranormal investigation was actuallyreally fun.
It was actually.
I attended Amy Bruni's strange escapes in
(08:51):
Florida in St. Augustine,
and we went to the St. Augustine lighthouse,and that was my first ever investigation.
And then we went to the old jail.
So that.
That was my first time.
And just the entire event was fun.
We had a good group of people.
It was a smaller event than her other biggerstrange escapes, so it was a lot of fun.
So I was down in the basement of the housethere,
(09:13):
and Adam Barry was doing Estes, and suddenlythis.
I don't.
Okay.
So are you familiar with the St. Augustinelighthouse?
Okay.
One of the hauntings there, there was an
unfortunate cart accident.
So they do get a lot of children's spiritsthere.
Uh, when we're down in the basement,
we were getting through Estes.
(09:34):
These kids going, who's that?
They were, like, talking to each other.
And what I thought was so funny is that they
go, they're old.
And I was like, excuse me,
but we're still fun,
you know?And then I.
But they didn't really.
They were intrigued by us, which I thought was
interesting.
They're just like, who's that?
What are they doing?
I sensed a male presence around the cornerwhere we were, and so I went back there,
(10:00):
and I just immediately felt like he was like,this is where I hide, and I don't want you
here.
So I said, if you want me to leave, just make
a noise.
And then he knocked on the wall, and Icompletely obliged.
I'm like, okay, good to know.
I will let you be.
Yeah, no, completely.
Yeah, definitely.
And like I said, I think it.
Well, for me personally, it changes with every
(10:22):
investigation and the location and who Ibelieve I'm speaking.
Like I mentioned, if I'm at a men's jail, Idon't.
I don't want to be touched.
Does that mean that they listen to the
boundary?It's really at their discretion.
Right. We can't.
We can't make the spirits do anything.
But it.
At least, you know, you feel better stating it
(10:43):
and what you're comfortable with and.
And how they can communicate with you.
I have at Gettysburg, which was interesting.
It was about two weeks leading up to meleaving for Gettysburg.
I was randomly getting really emotional, and Idon't know if I was intuitively picking up on
anything, but Then I got to Gettysburg and.
(11:03):
Have you been to Gettysburg?Okay. Such a good place.
So I got there,
and obviously, I know the history.
It's where, you know,
all this. The Civil War and all the historythat goes with that.
But it was also such a beautiful town, and thepeople who worked there were so nice and
friendly.
So I was kind of.
What was I worried about?
(11:24):
And then we went and we investigated a housethat was turned into a hospital.
And I.
We were communicating,
and I just got overcome with sadness.
I had to run outside and compose myself.
And that's.
That's the one and only time that's ever
happened.
It took a minute.
It took a minute to kind of recompose myself,but I wanted to get.
(11:47):
We only had a limited amount of time toinvestigate this particular location, so I
really wanted it.
Get back in.
But, yeah, it was.
It was a. It was a little disconcerting
because it was.
It was a good cry, and I'm not a very big
crier, so I was just kind of took back bythat.
Yeah,
yeah, yeah.
And they.
And they thought it was a good thing, you
(12:08):
know, so that's.
That was hard.
I did get emotional at Pennhurst.
I was in the infirmary,
and I was in the room where they would performdental procedures, but basically they would
just remove the patient's teeth so theycouldn't bite.
And I got emotional, but I don't know if thatwas the spirits making me emotional.
I have a child with autism,
(12:30):
so I think it just hit a little closer tohome, because having autism in my life, I know
that someone with autism, if they can'tcommunicate and they're frustrated,
they use other means, you know, and then theywould just pull their teeth because they were
understaffed and didn't have the ability toensure everyone's safety, to be honest.
(12:50):
So it was really, really sad.
That has not happened.
However, I did just finish an investigationthis past weekend, and this week, I was taking
a picture of my son before he left school forHalloween.
Had to get him, you know, in the costume.
And I heard a laugh because I said, look
scary.
And I heard a TBD on that question because.
(13:15):
I don't know, I think I caught it in a livevideo, too.
So I need to go back and look at it and seeif.
If anything else is going on.
But nothing else has happened in the house.
Yeah.
What's interesting is one of the places Iwent,
they say is notorious for things following youhome.
I went to Preston Castle.
So, yeah, maybe.
Maybe something has.
(13:36):
Barry kind of depends Sometimes I do it with
friends.
Sometimes my husband will come with me.
I will never investigate all by myself,though,
just for safety reasons.
So. Yeah.
As the opportunity arises.
And who can come along?
Definitely bring.
Bring them with me.
Yeah.
Yeah,
exactly.
And I always tell people I'm more.
(13:57):
I'm more afraid of the people than I am of theghosts.
Right.
Especially as a female investigator, it's veryimportant you know who you're investigating,
and if you don't know them well, to bringsomeone along with you that you trust.
My scariest.
Oh, that's a. I would probably say the Whaley
house in San Diego.
I caught a shadow figure in the parlor room.
(14:18):
Now, the parlor room at the Whaley house is
where the gallows wood stood because it wasoriginally the county's first courthouse.
It kind of goes back and forth.
We don't know for certain.
But it said that Mr. Whaley had kind of a darksense of humor, and he used the gallows to
build an archway.
And I did capture a shadow figure going bythat archway, and I tried to debunk it so many
(14:41):
times, I couldn't.
I had people walking outside,
and I could hear the footsteps outside thatwould have casted that, but I. No footsteps
were heard.
When I saw the shadow along with it was.
We got a lot of, like, growling noises.
Yeah. Which was the first string investigationfor me, that was pretty.
It. I don't know.
(15:02):
It was animalistic, but it was not any animal
I've ever heard.
Very distinct, though, and it's very active.
I like to research.
I like to research because I want to know whatkind of questions I can ask them to get a
response.
Right.
Like, conversation is a great trigger objectif you know that.
Like with Pennhurst. If I had no idea thatchildren and adults with autism had been
(15:27):
there, I wouldn't know to do things like lineup a bunch of toy cars and see if they would.
If I moved one, if they would move it back,
or just.
I think knowing the history is important.
Some people prefer not to because they justdon't want to come with bias when
investigating and understanding theirevidence.
But I think it's important to know.
(15:48):
Yeah, I've had.
I've had quite a few of those.
The funniest to me is I was investigating the
Queen Mary, and it was kind of an unofficialinvestigation because we were there for my
birthday, and because it was my birthday, Ihad rented a really nice suite,
and the suite had a living room area,
and me was just me, my girlfriends, and wewere just hanging out, drinking champagne.
Eating our snacks.
(16:09):
And we just decided, hey, why not just put
some equipment around?And we got a lot of responses with the
flashlights going on and off with ourquestions when we were inviting them to party
with us,
partake, you know, like, do you want somechampagne?
Yes.
Flashlight.
Can you smell champagne?Yes.
Flashlight.
Can you drink champagne?
No.
Flashlight.
Do you miss champagne?Yes, Flashlight.
(16:31):
So I think that's really important, too, whenyou're in a haunted, like a haunted hotel or
anywhere that's haunted and you're justhanging out with friends,
just relax and let the spirits come to you andinteract in.
In their own way.
I mean, they could ask the same questions over
and over again.
And sometimes they just want to have fun.
Yeah.
(16:51):
And they'll start hiding their keys.
Yes.
Again, depends on the.
On the location.
Like with the Queen Mary, I don't like to useREM pods or anything like that because the
staff all use walkie talkies and so they canset things off.
Right.
Now, the dead bell, I think it's simple.
It looks just like a. Like a hotel bell.
And you can.
(17:12):
They can either manually.
The spirits can either manually set the belloff, or they could touch it.
It's kind of like a Ketu or REM pod.
Yeah.
It's really fun.
Really.
Okay,
I'll send you a link so you can see it.
But it's easy because the bell has been around
forever,
so everyone knows how to.
You don't have to really explain how to use a
bell.
Yeah, I do.
(17:32):
I do.
I think they're fun.
To me, the cat balls are more like validatingfor me.
If I have a piece of equipment going off andthe cat balls going off, it's fun.
I do think with cat balls, it's important toreally think about where you're placing them
because they're balls and they can move.
Right.
So the stands are a good investment too.
(17:53):
Have you seen the stands for them?
Yeah, they're just like a little platform thatyou can put the cap all on so it doesn't move.
So if it's slanted or stuff like that.
Yeah,
exactly.
My favorite.
My favorite piece of evidence to get though isan evp and they're very rare.
So I do like to have my recorder on as well ofboth because I've gotten a lot of EVP is just
(18:14):
not even intending on getting an evp.
You know, just recording or in live videos.
I think it's really important for people who
have the live video option if you're takinglive videos during any investigation or
anywhere really listen to the audio on thoselive videos.
They will shock you.
Yeah, definitely.
(18:35):
Try to persuade them.
Anyway, honestly,
I'm very proud of investigating and being inthis field.
It's fun for me.
It's a big part of who I am.
So if it gets brought up, I'm very open totalk about it.
And in those conversations, some have, youknow, convey that they don't believe in it,
(18:56):
and that's fine.
I'm not here to persuade them either way.
I just like to go to these places,
investigate.
If I have great evidence, I love to share it.
And if they don't agree that it's a spirit ofa ghost in a picture or whatever, that's.
That's up to them.
You know what's funny though?
Most of these skeptics who have told me Idon't believe in ghosts always have a but.
(19:21):
But I did have this one experience that Ican't explain,
and then they'll end it with, but then again,I don't believe in ghosts.
Okay, no, you do.
You just don't want to, you know, come full
circle to that conclusion.
Yeah,
yeah, definitely.
Speaker A (19:37):
So what they found is another question all together.
But simply based on a number of stories thatswirled about the place,
it was soon obvious that I could not refer tothe McPike mansion other than anything more
than one of the most haunted houses in thecity of Alton, Illinois.
So this Alton, Illinois, by the way,
(19:59):
is considered one of the most haunted placesin America.
The whole city is full of ghosts and differentspirits all over the place.
So it's pretty amazing.
So as with many other haunted houses, though,not many people know the history behind the
once grand structure.
So let me talk about that.
(20:20):
We love history, right?So here we go.
The house was built in 1869 for Henry GuestMcPike.
The McPike family can be traced back toScotland.
And Henry McPike's ancestry includes a numberof patriots who fought during the
revolutionary war, including Captain MoseMcPike of New Jersey and Captain James McPike,
(20:46):
both of whom were at Valley Forge with GeorgeWashington.
So again,
these said, yeah, these gentlemen go backquite a bit,
you know, of their family history.
So James McPike, we'll talk a little bit about
him.
He came to west to Kentucky in 1795,
(21:07):
bringing with him his sons John and Richard.
Henry McPike was the son of John McPike and
came to Alton, Illinois as a very young man in1847.
McPike soon became active in the business andpolitical community of Alton and over a period
of years was involved in a number of differentcompanies working as a real estate agent.
(21:31):
I love this box manufacturer.
You have to have boxes, right?
Speaker B (21:36):
Someone's got to make them.
Speaker A (21:37):
Someone's got to make a box.
We don't think about it, right?
We're like, what do we put things in this box?Well, somebody made it.
Along with other things,
he also became the president of the HalterCultural Society in Illinois.
His political aspirations did not give off,
(21:58):
did not get off to a quick start, however,
although he did have an interest in theabolishment movement.
So this is during, you know, Civil War, duringslavery.
His father had been the editor of the Whignewspaper.
So the Whig party later became the Republicanparty in the time of Abraham Lincoln and was
(22:20):
an early advocate of abolition of slavery.
So, you know, he's been involved in a lot ofdifferent things, right.
During this, McPike never sought politicaloffice,
although it was offered to him many times.
So I thought that was kind of interesting too.
So he's kind of an interesting guy.
So during the Civil War, he was called upon to
act as a deputy, and I don't know what thismeans, but provost marshal of the district.
(22:46):
So I'm guessing he's just kind of running thedistrict and everything like that.
And this was placed him in a managementposition in the war department.
After this, he's have said to begun acting asa representative of many conventions and with
the city council that would eventually lead toa stint as mayor of Alton from 1887 to 1891.
(23:12):
So this guy was involved in a lot of differentcool stuff, you know, being a politician
trying to end slavery.
So he sounds like a pretty good guy.
So I'm like,
huh, I wonder why this place is haunted.
Something going on here.
So any questions so far before I continue?
Speaker B (23:29):
Not yet, no.
Speaker A (23:30):
Great. So the McPike mansion was constructed as an Italiente Victorian style.
I don't know what that means,
but Italiante.
I just like saying that.
And Sansa is one of the most elaborate homes.
And again, I'll put it up there in Alton.
It contains 16 rooms and a vaulted winecellar.
(23:54):
It was originally built on a country estate of15 acres.
It's not bad that McPike called Mount Lookout.
Okay.
I don't know if it's like mount look out orMount look out.
You know what I mean?Like look out or.
No, it's Mount Lookout.
Anyway, thanks to Big Pike's interest in allthings horticultural, the estate was planted
(24:19):
with rare trees, shrubs, orchards, flowers,extensive vineyard.
The Owner became the owner of the McPike GrapeCompany.
Okay. Which became known across the country.
So McPike wine.
I'm not a wine guy.
Are you a wine person?
Speaker B (24:37):
I do enjoy a glass of wine, yeah.
Speaker A (24:40):
Have you heard of McPike wine?
Speaker B (24:42):
I've never heard of McPike.
I have not.
Speaker A (24:45):
Yeah.
So maybe it's out of business.
There's no question that this is one of the
most beautiful homes in the area.
The McPike family lived on the estate for some
time after the death of Henry McPike, butrecords are unclear about some of the dates.
It has been stated that they stayed in thehouse until around 1936.
So.
(25:05):
Wow.
So they built this in the 1800s and, you know,this has been around.
They lived there to 1936.
Other records say that the home was owned by
Paul A. Lassinger,
who purchased the house in 1908 and livedthere until his death until 1930.
Lassinger either lived in the house or rentedit out to tenants.
(25:26):
Really doesn't know if these McPikes livedthere for that long or they just rented out to
another person and had a different owner.
But despite some inaccuracies about the dates,
the house has been listed in the NationalRegister of Historic Places.
So that's good.
Hopefully will not be torn down.
However, it also has been listed on a not so
(25:49):
prestigious list, the Landmarks PreservationCouncil,
Illinois's list of 10 most endangered historicplaces in the state.
So the McPike mansion is having issues, likeall historical places, of keeping it,
you know, together and keeping it updated andkeeping it.
(26:12):
You know what I mean?
So this might be torn down, which sucks.
Speaker B (26:17):
So the years have tragedy.
Speaker A (26:19):
Yeah, I know.
The years have not been kind to.
The McPike mansion has been abandoned and indisrepair since the 19.
Since that time.
That's crazy.
And you.
You'll see.
I'll put, like, how it looked originally, the
way it looks now.
Okay. Socks.
Since that time, weather and vandals, of
(26:40):
course, have caused some pretty major damageto the structure the house once had.
This is terrible.
Had once a number of marble fireplaces andsome very extravagant woodwork, but all have
been stolen.
They have taken the extravagant woodwork andall this other stuff.
Windows have been broken, plaster crackdestroyed, floors deteriorated to the point
(27:02):
they are not safe to walk on.
And worse, the place is in desperate need of
repair.
That has an enormous price tag.
Estimates for the roof alone reach up to
$50,000.
So I don't know what you have to say aboutthat.
I mean, it's going to Take a lot of money torestore this place.
You know, I wish people would do that.
(27:24):
Right.
It's kind of sad that people won't.
I mean do you have any thoughts on that?
Speaker B (27:28):
And he's a good investor that sees the, the, the importance of the history in it
as well, you know.
Speaker A (27:35):
Absolutely, absolutely.
But don't fear.
Some hope does remain for the McBike mansionwill not become just a memory.
In 1994, Sharon and George Lutke purchased thehouse at auction.
As of this writing which that I got somearticle and information it's like from the
2021.
(27:56):
2020. So not too far away the continuedefforts to restore the home and turn it into a
bed and breakfast or historical attraction.
And I do know that they have done that because
like I said, I've had paranormal investigatorsinvestigate there and they would not let them
do that.
Obviously if you know there was a problem hasbeen an uphill battle.
But they have continued trying to bringattention to the house's historical site with
(28:18):
like I said, tours and outings and you can gothere and investigate it.
Sharon Lucky always believes the house ishaunted.
Her unusual encounters at the house carry muchmore weight given the time she is spent there
that the claims of trespassers and so calledpsychics and curiosity seekers who have come
to the house simply because it looks haunted.
(28:41):
And there have been hundreds of stories thathave circulated about the mansion from the
chilling to the downright silly.
But Sharon's claims that the ghost of Paul
Lassinger haunts the place seems to be themost credible.
So a lot of the stories that go with thisplace are people being pushed,
(29:01):
people seeing shadow people,
people seeing numerous apparitions,
lights turning on and off.
Kind of the standard stuff of things being
lost to.
One of the silliest things that they talkabout is like Sharon says like she'll talk to
the ghost because like they'll move her likepurse or her like clothes like she'll lay out
(29:25):
her clothes for the morning and then she'llcome in and they'll be gone and then she'll be
like come on John.
And then she'll go to like the bathroom tobrush her teeth or when it come back and the
clothes will be back on the bed.
That's kind of.
Speaker B (29:42):
Now does it mention when the, the reports of hauntings were coming about?
Like I wonder what time period.
Speaker A (29:49):
Yeah, so shortly after the.
It became abandoned in the 50s.
Now there's some tales before that, but it'smainly from you know, what I had off of Reddit
and Everything of people.
Oh, I was in there and I was messing around as
a kid, and I saw the shadows.
(30:10):
But usually after the 1950s, and especiallywhen the Ludkeys came in and started restoring
stuff, they, like I said, things would move,lights would turn on and off.
They would see shadows, they would hearvoices, they'd have goofy stuff.
Like I said, clothes move, purses move, thingsmoved around the house just because they felt
(30:30):
they were messing with the spirits and doingthe renovation and everything.
None of it so far has seemed evil.
It's just seemed like they sometimes don'twant them there.
Like, this is our house.
Like, could you please leave?
Or could you please stop renovating thishouse?
(30:50):
One of Sharon's claims.
Claims, you know, like.
Like I said, she believes that it's just thisreal historical connection exists with the
ghost and everything like that.
So Sharon says that her first encounter with
John Lassinger's ghost, and this is the mainghost she feels about six weeks after they
bought the house,
(31:11):
she was on the property watering some plantsand saw a man standing in the window looking
out towards where she was standing in thefront yard.
A chill came over her.
But she noted that the man who vanished waswearing a striped shirt and tie.
Sharon has.
Has a photograph of Paul Lassinger wearing the
identical off outfit.
(31:33):
So that's kind of scary, right, to look in a
window.
Has that ever happened to you, where you'velooked in the window and seen a spirit kind of
staring back at you?
Speaker B (31:41):
No. Just this weekend, I was investigating a friend of mine.
She owns a haunted Airbnb.
We had just gotten there, and we were sitting
outside, kind of like messing with our luggageand talking,
and I just saw a shadow go.
And that was about it.
But I didn't.
I didn't see a figure was our full body.
It was just a shadow.
Speaker A (32:00):
Yeah. Wow.
Speaker B (32:01):
And I was like, okay, great.
This is where I'm spending the night tonight.
Okay, let's do this.
I'm sure I'll get plenty of sleep.
Speaker A (32:08):
Yeah, plenty of sleep.
No problem at all.
So also, she's seen a ghost to a domesticservant named.
She calls Sarah, that has been around thehouse, like, getting ready for things in the
kitchen.
You know what I mean?
So, like, you know, she'll come in the kitchenand see Sarah there, like, making breakfast,
(32:31):
and then, you know, she'll be like,
you know what I mean?And then Sarah disappears.
She was like.
She said she was a little more of a presence
with,
you know,
than the other John, where he seems to be alittle more of a major presence.
One day a man.
Yeah. So one day a man came by the house andpresented Lutkes with some books that he had
(32:54):
removed from the house 17 years before.
One of the books,
and this is interesting, had the name SarahWells written inside of it.
Oh,
that was kind of interesting, you know, thatthey.
You know, they had Sarah and they saw her, andthen they got these books.
This guy just shows up with these books andsays, here they go.
(33:15):
And they looked at them, and it said SarahWells.
So they believe, you know, maybe she wasn't aservant, but they have a pretty good feeling
that she was a servant or maybe like a nanny,something like that.
Sharon.
Speaker B (33:30):
It's strange how they have these names for the ghosts or the spirits in there.
Speaker A (33:34):
Yeah.
Speaker B (33:34):
Like, I wonder if they got it during, like, an investigation or they did,
like, research on the house.
He knew a Sarah had worked there.
Speaker A (33:44):
Yeah.
Speaker B (33:44):
I was curious how that.
Speaker A (33:46):
Yeah, right.
Where.
Where you.
Where you've gone on.
I've gone on certain ghost tours, and theyshowing me, like,
a book. Oh, this James.
I'm just gonna say James Madison is paid a
name.
And they'll be like, james Madison.
And you're like, oh, and that's hishandwriting.
We had authenticated and blah, blah.
He lived here and he did.
You're like, oh, that's kind of interesting.
(34:07):
Now, this is funny.
I think you act.
Oh, go ahead.
What are you saying?
Speaker B (34:11):
No, I was like, old Juliet has a.
The old Juliet prison has a spirit they called
Eugene.
And I asked him if he liked that name,
and he said, yeah.
I asked him if it's his real name.
He said no.
And I just want to know how they came up withEugene.
That's such a random name.
It's not like a bob or a mark.
Speaker A (34:30):
Right,
Right.
That's awesome.
So you'll love this.
Sarah has touched Sharon and actually huggedher.
So by the.
By the spirit and her husband.
So she's a hugger.
She likes to hug people.
Speaker B (34:48):
Ghost hugs.
Yeah, that's fine.
Speaker A (34:51):
It's all right.
Speaker B (34:52):
Yeah, that's it.
I'd be okay with a ghost hug, you know, right?
Speaker A (34:55):
With the ghost.
Speaker B (34:56):
Fine. I'm a hunger.
Speaker A (34:59):
Also, they caught the scent of lilac on the third floor.
So lilac, as many people may or may know know,
was kind of like the perfume of the day forwomen,
you know, lilac smell.
Or women, you know, typically like to bring in
fresh flowers from the garden and have lilacsaround, you know, to make the house smell
(35:20):
nice.
As mentioned, there have been hundreds of
stories Which I can't get into all of them.
There's just two many told about the house,and there are those who claim that a legion of
spirits haunt the house.
The main problem with taking these stories too
seriously involves the fact that this housewas locally regarded as the neighborhood
(35:41):
haunted house for years and was a place whereteenagers would come out and hang out and
party.
So again, like.
Like I said,
you go on Reddit, you go different places,
and TikTok, Facebook, whatever.
A lot of the stories are just kids.
Oh, yeah, Me and Jimmy used to party there,
(36:02):
and we would see, like, you know, this femalespirit, and sometimes she would, like, yell at
us, and you're like, okay, you know what Imean?
Like, all right, yeah,
maybe that happened, maybe it didn't.
But I imagine if you're vandalizing this
house,
wouldn't you think the spirits would saysomething?
Right?
(36:23):
Am I right on that?
Speaker B (36:23):
Definitely, yeah.
Speaker A (36:25):
You know,
essentially stealing all that stuff.
You think that would really take a toll on the
spirits, seeing that this happening?
So in most recent times, the claims of mediumsand attention seekers have further muddied the
water.
So this is a very.
Pike Mansion, is a very interesting hauntedhouse because unlike the Whaley house,
(36:47):
unlike the Winchester house and so on and soforth, a lot of it is, yeah, this could be it.
The owners claim they've, like I said, beenhugged.
They have been kind of, you know, stared atand looked at, but there's nothing evil.
You know what I mean?But again, some people said there are a legion
(37:08):
of spirits in here because of just thedifferent things.
You know, I gotta remember, in the 1800s, theymay have done a seance there.
They may have you done.
Because, you know, spirituality and sciences
back in the.
Were a big deal.
You know, you would bring.
Speaker B (37:25):
Well, also, you wonder what those teenagers were doing when they were out there
as well.
Right.
Or any of them playing around or.
Yeah, you know.
Speaker A (37:33):
Right, exactly.
And like I said, this is, you know, considered
the haunted house.
It's one of the, you know, the generic.
You know, when you're watching a movie and thelittle kids are riding by with their bikes,
they don't go into the Bailey house.
It's like, don't go into there.
So there's a couple other interesting storieshere,
which I think is really nice.
(37:54):
Nice.
So some of these stories, again, like I said,I'm not convinced, but there is still more
than meets the eye here.
And one of the things I was looking up, and I
found this gentleman who was a paranormalinvestigator who has taken part in Some
investigations at the mansion.
And he has said, as a lot of them have seenthings on video where there's filmed in the
(38:15):
basement that remains unexplained.
One invent, one investigator managed to pick
up up a curious event that is worthy ofmention.
So there was.
This entire group was gathered in the wine
cellar of the house.
It's a little step down below the basement, I
guess.
So it's pretty low down there, obviously to
keep the wine cool, I guess.
(38:35):
One of the group members became uncomfortablein the small enclosed space and asked to go
upstairs.
She was accompanied upstairs by another woman
who was present.
And soon the group in the cellar was waiting
patiently for her to return.
After a few moments, the sound of the secondwoman's footsteps could be heard descending
(38:56):
the steps, descending the basement stairs andthen crossing the basement floor.
The steps are followed by a short pause.
And then the metal door to the wine cellaropen, scraping across the stone floor as it
did.
I don't have sound effects for there be like,
there's my sound effects.
Terrible. Sorry.
Yeah, there we go.
(39:16):
One problem though.
There was no one there.
Both of the women who left were still upstairsand no one had come down the steps.
The entire strange incident was captured on avideo tape which I have been searching for.
I will put up on the my social media.
(39:39):
It's kind of hard to see, but basically you
see these people, blah, blah, blah, blah,blah.
Yeah, okay, Gregory.
And then you see the door guard and everyone's
like, I want that.
Billy, Sarah, Molly, whatever.
Speaker B (39:51):
You know I love when that happens.
Speaker A (39:54):
Right? That's just unbelievable.
Now, what you said earlier, McPike Mansion wasfeatured on episode of Ghost adventures
entitled.
Well, McPike Mansion.
This aired as a special in 2019 on the travelchannel.
By the way, why do they call it the travelChannel?
(40:14):
Anywhere.
Anywhere you know, anymore.
Excuse me.
It's not the travel Channel anymore.
Yes, it's the paranormal channel.
Like, give me a break.
Speaker B (40:22):
The team travel to different locations.
Speaker A (40:25):
Yeah, but it's like every time I put it on, it's paranormal, paranormal,
paranormal.
It's called the paranormal channel.
The team of paranormal investigators explored
the home and its property, which is said, Ihave not watched this episode yet because
sometimes you got to go back and pay forthings.
And I'm like,
maybe I'll find something.
(40:46):
Who is said to be haunted by former
inhabitants.
The structure also appeared in the serious
scariest places on earth.
Do you know this, Shanine?
Speaker B (40:54):
I know the show, but I don't remember seeing that on there.
Speaker A (40:58):
It was Featured on Season 1, Episode 7.
There you go.
Speaker B (41:03):
Okay, I'll check that out then.
Speaker A (41:05):
Yeah,
there was a show, fact or faked?Do you remember that?
Paranormal Files.
That was.
My God, that's probably 10 years ago wherethey had, like an FBI agent, a paranormal
investigator, some scientist, and they wouldgo and debunk stuff, I think so.
It was on the Syfy channel.
It's like 10 years ago.
Speaker B (41:24):
Yeah, it rings a bell.
Speaker A (41:25):
Yeah. You gotta go back.
Speaker B (41:26):
Yeah.
Speaker A (41:27):
In an episode of Ghost Lab.
Ghostlab.
Doesn't sound familiar to me.
Ghostlab mean anything to you?
Speaker B (41:33):
No, I think they have a YouTube.
Speaker A (41:35):
Yeah, they must have.
Speaker B (41:36):
Yeah, everything.
Sure.
Speaker A (41:38):
So anyway, the McPike mansion, like I said, there's been hundreds of stories
related to how haunted it is.
I had some paranormal investigators from
Illinois who have gone into it and yes, havegotten.
EVPs have been touched, but they said nothingdemonic, nothing bad.
You know, they seen things move.
(41:59):
They've gotten some voices, you know, on EVPs,
basically, like, hey, what are you doing here?You know, it's our house, okay.
Speaker B (42:06):
You know,
we're their entertainment.
I think a lot of investigators go to these
places and enjoy the adrenaline rush of, youknow, having something spooky happen.
But I think we're the real entertainment to alot of the spirits.
They are just checking us out, going, what arethese people doing?
Speaker A (42:23):
Exactly.
I totally, totally agree with that.
So I have to ask, haunted or not haunted?What do you think?
Speaker B (42:31):
I think it's haunted.
Yeah, I do.
It's got all the.
All those spooks, the vibes, the history,
the reports.
I mean, I can't say for certain.
I'd love to go in there, investigate and know
for sure.
But if I had to bet on it, right now, I'm
staying haunted.
Speaker A (42:47):
So if you ever get around to the Midwest, there's two places and you can
research them.
Maybe you and your husband or family would
love to do a little vacation.
The first is Galena, Illinois, that is
considered.
Considered the most haunted place in theMidwest.
And it's stuck in a time war.
And what I mean by that is there are buildingsfrom the.
(43:09):
Especially you love history, like myself.
There are buildings that have not changed
since the 1800s.
Like, literally, you go downtown and you're
like, what the heck?
Like, am I just.
Like, am I in a time warp?
What's going on?Which I think is awesome.
It's a very touristy town, I have to warn you.
So if you go there, there's a lot of, you
know, okay, it's haunted, you know,
(43:32):
but it's still A great weekend.
They do numerous ghost tours.
Like a whole mess of places are haunted there,including a lot of bed and breakfast.
You can stay at different.
Different hotels,
different restaurants, different bars.
It's just crazy.
And it's a beautiful place.
Speaker B (43:50):
And how do you spell it?
Speaker A (43:52):
Galena. G A,
L, E, N A. Yeah. Okay, Galena.
And you know, so you could make a weekend outof it.
Absolutely.
And, you know, if you brought your kids.
I don't know how old your kids are, but youbrought your kids.
They get a fun.
Because there's places near their parks and
everything.
So you, you know, you.
(44:13):
If you're investigating with your husband ormaybe just going on a group tour.
And a lot of the group tours are not scary.
So if you wanted to bring your kids along, youdon't have to worry about them being freaked
out.
The other which McPike Mansion is in Alton,Illinois, which is considered again,
the Alton, Illinois and Galena go back andforth for who's haunted.
(44:36):
Like, they have a battle.
Like, we're more haunted now.
I think Alton, Illinois is more hauntedbecause they are built upon limestone caves
and like a river.
So if you know anything about conduits.
Yes, it's all the conduits.
Exactly right.
So they have a church there where a preacherhung himself.
(45:00):
Supposedly he thought he might have murderedsomebody.
There's a murder there.
You know, these are just stories.
Numerous ghost tours on there,
man, they got just buildings galore there.
Bars, hotels, beds and breakfast.
People say walking down the street they'll seeshadow people.
(45:20):
It's just that perfect conduit of thelimestone and the water running through that
makes it one of the haunted places.
Now it's not like Galena.
That's more touristy and more for families on
a nice little weekend, you know what I mean?It's got like the bed and breakfasts where you
can go and buy like a handmade quilt at alocal store.
(45:42):
This is a little more, yeah,
like, ghost tour.
Like if you just want to go for, you know,
maybe head over there, do a bunch of ghosttours, go do the bus investigation creations,
that's for you.
So that would be more you and your husband or
you and a group of people just go for aweekend and just like, okay, I'm going to go
(46:02):
to the church, I'm going to go to the thishouse, go in the bike mansion.
I'm going to go, you know, this bar, whatever.
So very, very interesting stuff.
One of these days I'm going to get out there.
And I've been to Galena several times and been
on tour.
And the tours are really great.
They have really nice goals.
Speaker B (46:20):
Do you know how far apart they are from each other?
Speaker A (46:22):
No, I don't, to be honest with you.
And I tried to, you know, look on, obviously
look at a map and see.
See what is.
Speaker B (46:29):
But so when it's doable to do.
Speaker A (46:31):
Both, yeah, that'd be awesome.
But I know Galena.
They have a lot of locals there who have beenliving there for years, so they know
everything.
So when you go on a tour, you hang out with,like,
a teenage kid that's just doing it for asummer job.
You're going out with someone who's livedthere, like, 30 years, and they're like, oh,
(46:51):
you know, this bar was haunted by, you know,the old deputy of the blah, blah, blah, and he
likes to do this and stuff.
And it's.
It's really cool.
Speaker B (47:00):
Most of the locals have their own stories, too.
Speaker A (47:02):
Yeah. And all the locals.
You go in a restaurant, you sit down, the
waitress will come up if she lives there, youknow, if she's not from overtown.
But if she's lived there, if you're lucky, youget a waitress there,
which I did,
and she would be like, oh, yeah, you want togo here, and you want to stay in that room,
and you want to go over here, and this placeis haunted.
And I'm like, cool, thanks so much.
Speaker B (47:23):
Get all the info.
Speaker A (47:24):
Yeah, yeah.
It was really cool.
And we saw some things.
I did see some shadow people.
I did feel watched at this bed and breakfastmy wife and I are at.
My wife found a little bit creepy in a room,
but she was like, I don't know if I'm creepybecause everyone keeps telling me stories or
this room is creepy, you know, because it's.
Speaker B (47:45):
Always the hard part.
Speaker A (47:46):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's always the hard part.
Speaker B (47:48):
So is it in my head, or am I picking up on something?
Speaker A (47:50):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So thank you so much.
This was awesome.
I absolutely loved it.
I hope you had a good time learning about theMcPike mansion.
Speaker B (48:00):
I had a great time.
So much fun.
Speaker A (48:02):
Yes. And I loved all your stuff.
Speaker B (48:04):
I definitely want to get out to the McPike mansion.
Speaker A (48:06):
Yes, definitely.
And, you know, anytime you would love to come
on again,
you can.
And we can talk about more stories.
Always love to have my paranormalinvestigators on, but for my spooky friend,
thank you.
Where can we find you?
What's coming up?What can they look forward to?
Speaker B (48:25):
You can find me on Instagram at sweet and spooky.
Also, TikTok on Sweet and Spooky where I posta bunch of videos about places I've been,
include a lot of the historical facts alongwith the location coming up.
Right now I'm in the planning stages helping afriend plan for gold country paracon May 1st
(48:47):
the 3rd of 2026.
So it's going to be a really good one.
It's an old town Sacramento.
I just went up there this past weekend,checked out old town Sacramento and it's kind
of like those towns you were telling me aboutthere.
It's just so haunted.
Everywhere you go and you.
Any building you go and walk into, there's
some kind of haunting.
(49:07):
So the history is fun and we're going to have
great speakers.
It's going to be a good time.
Speaker A (49:12):
I love it.
I love it.
I just have one more quick question.
If I won the lottery tomorrow and said,
hey Shaneen, I got money where you can justunlimited checkbook, where would you go to
investigate?You can go anywhere in the world.
Speaker B (49:29):
Pennhurst for sure.
Speaker A (49:31):
Nice.
Speaker B (49:32):
I love Pennhurst.
There's so much to explore there.
You need to go back and back and back to thatlocation.
Speaker A (49:40):
Yes, I've heard that.
I've heard that.
Really quickly for me is Transylvania.
Sorry, I'm just.
I just gotta go there because that place islocked in time.
Because they don't.
I mean they have modern things but they still
have like goat paths, you.
Speaker B (49:58):
Know what I mean?
Speaker A (49:58):
And like cobblestone roads because they're not as developed a country as.
I mean you can go to the downtown center,which I looked up and it, you know, there's WI
fi and you know, it's a nice little place butas soon as you get past it, you're like ****,
this is crazy.
You know, why is this.
Why is everything kind of look old and.
(50:19):
Which is great.
And then of course I would go to Dracula'scastle.
They.
That's their number one thing.
That's where they make their money.
That's the whole town's like economy from that
castle.
Speaker B (50:30):
It's a big hike to get up there though.
Speaker A (50:33):
I bet.
Yeah. Have you been there?
Speaker B (50:35):
Yeah. I see.
No, my friends went last.
I believe it was last Halloween they went to
Transylvania and went to Dracula's castle andjust kind of had a paranormal was a week week
there.
Speaker A (50:49):
So jealous.
So jealous.
Awesome.
Speaker B (50:53):
They might be doing it again this year.
I'll send you the link as well.
But Ireland would also be a place I really
want to investigate.
Speaker A (50:59):
Yes, Ireland.
Yes, that'd be awesome.
So again, thank you so much all the oldcastles.
Oh, the old castles.
And a lot of them are just kept in greatshape.
So wonderful.
So, again, thank you so much.
I truly appreciate it.
Speaker B (51:13):
Thank you.
This was so much fun.
Speaker A (51:15):
It was so much fun.
And stay spooky.
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