There’s something uniquely horrifying about any place that requires you to wear color-coded robes “for optimal vibrational resonance.” Welcome to the Hollow Valley Spiritual Compound — home of spinning, chanting, dubious science, and more white linen than a Renaissance Faire at laundry day. Hollow Valley, according to the enthusiastically photocopied brochure I was handed at … Read more
Shudderton, Nevada — population 3,947 if you believe the sign, which I don’t — is one of those towns that clings to its ghost stories like they’re on the payroll. You can’t walk five feet without someone offering you a brochure for a haunted mine tour or a cursed saloon experience. So it’s no surprise … Read more
Cemetery ghost tours have a certain morbid charm, in theory. The promise of tragic love stories, unsolved mysteries, shadowy figures lurking just beyond the flicker of a lantern — it’s all very atmospheric if you squint hard enough and forget that ninety percent of cemetery ghost tours take place in cemeteries where the only spirits … Read more
Tarot cards are beautiful. Gorgeously illustrated, richly symbolic, dripping with history. A deck of miniature works of art, each whispering vague, universal human experiences. And yet somewhere between admiring the artwork and flipping the final card, we decided that these painted rectangles could predict the future. Modern fortunetelling with tarot follows a simple formula: you … Read more
Catfish Jack’s bills itself as “the most haunted watering hole on the Mississippi.” Based on the smell alone, that seems entirely plausible. When I visited, the building looked like it had been condemned twice and then lost the paperwork. Faded neon signs buzzed half-heartedly in the cracked windows, and the floor inside had the sticky … Read more
Of all the charming invitations extended to me over the years — psychic conventions, ghost hunts, aura detox seminars — few sounded more ludicrously promising than an overnight stay at Ironford Penitentiary, one of New England’s most notoriously “haunted” abandoned prisons. A place where, according to the marketing brochure, “the walls still remember the screams.” … Read more
Somewhere in the misty foothills of questionably named Mystic Valley, you’ll find the Crystal Caverns Healing Grotto — a site proudly advertised as “a rare confluence of natural energies, sacred vibrations, and ancient cosmic alignments.” What it actually offers is a damp cave, a thinly veiled gift shop, and an excellent opportunity to question your … Read more
Every town has its quirks. Greenfield, Georgia has the Blessed Gnome. According to the hand-painted sign propped up in Barb Jensen’s front yard (right next to a sun-bleached flamingo and a “God Bless America” wind spinner), this squat ceramic gnome has granted “over 400 wishes” since 2003. The ritual is simple: Rub the gnome’s nose, … Read more
The House of Eternal Echoes claims to be one of the oldest, most haunted mansions in the region. Which, in practical terms, means it’s a crumbling Victorian disaster filled with bad lighting, suspicious drafts, and a marketing team that believes any creaking floorboard is irrefutable proof of spectral activity. For a modest entrance fee — … Read more
Palmistry — or chiromancy, if you’re feeling pretentious — is the ancient art of pretending that the tiny, random creases on your palm contain the secrets of your personality, your future, and possibly your past lives, if the reader is feeling ambitious and the client looks like a good tipper. According to palmists, the major lines … Read more