Creepy Shit

Discover the chilling true story of Marshall Field’s Death Elevator in Chicago - a fully functioning elevator that was permanently sealed after multiple deaths and relentless paranormal activity. This isn’t urban legend; it’s documented history.

Between 1943 and the early 1950s, three people died in connection with one specific elevator at Chicago’s iconic Marshall Field’s department store. What followed were decades of unexplained phenomena: elevator operators feeling unseen presences, the smell of phantom perfume, doors opening onto blank walls, and machinery that malfunctioned despite being mechanically sound.

The corporate response was unprecedented: Marshall Field’s permanently decommissioned the elevator, sealing it behind walls. But even decades later, employees report hearing the elevator moving, doors opening, and footsteps where no elevator exists anymore.

Explore documented accounts from the Chicago History Museum’s oral histories, newspaper archives, and corporate records that prove this haunted elevator’s terrifying legacy. From 1940s elevator operators to modern-day Macy’s employees, the Death Elevator continues to make its presence known.

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Okay friends, buckle the F up because this episode is WILD. We’re diving into your stories this week and let me tell you—our listeners do not disappoint.

We’ve got haunted roads that’ll make you never want to drive at night again, ghostly apparitions that showed up at the absolute worst possible times (because apparently ghosts have zero chill), and—I’m serious when I say this—a crematory story that legitimately left me sitting in stunned silence for like five minutes after I read it. My jaw was on the floor. You’re gonna lose your mind.

This is what I love about listener tales—these aren’t some recycled campfire stories or tourist trap legends. These are REAL experiences from REAL people who trusted me enough to share their most terrifying moments. And honestly? Some of this stuff is so bizarre and specific that you literally cannot make it up.

So grab your headphones, maybe turn on a light or two, and let’s get into it. Fair warning: you might wanna save that crematory story for daylight hours. I’m just saying.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

For Early Access to the podcast, Merch & More, head over to patreon.com/creepyshitpodcast

What if I told you Stranger Things wasn’t just inspired by the 80s - it was inspired by actual government experiments on unwitting citizens?

Project MKUltra was the CIA’s decades-long program testing mind control, psychic abilities, and psychological torture on people who never consented. We’re talking LSD dosing, sensory deprivation, electroshock therapy, and attempts to create actual telepaths.

This isn’t conspiracy theory bullshit - this is documented, declassified, admitted-to-by-the-government history.

Join me as we dive into the real Hawkins Lab, explore why the Duffer Brothers were obsessed with this story, and uncover just how deep the rabbit hole goes. Spoiler: it’s way darker than anything Netflix showed you. Are we ready? Let’s get into some truly creepy shit.

Content Warning: This episode contains discussions of non-consensual human experimentation, psychological torture, suicide, and government abuse. Listener discretion is advised.

Sources Referenced:

∙ Church Committee Hearings (1975)

∙ Declassified MKUltra documents (available via FOIA)

∙ “The Search for the Manchurian Candidate” by John Marks

∙ Testimony of CIA Director William Colby

∙ Frank Olson case files

On April 20, 1989, 37-year-old Patricia Meehan crashed her car on a remote Montana highway, climbed out unhurt, and walked into an empty field—never to be seen again. Or was she? Over 5,000 people reported seeing her in the months and years that followed, always at truck stops, always alone, always talking to herself. But she was never found.

This deep dive explores one of the most bizarre and potentially paranormal missing persons cases in American history. Patricia Meehan’s disappearance defies conventional explanation: her footprints vanished into thin air, massive searches found nothing, yet thousands of witnesses swore they saw her wandering the Pacific Northwest for years.

Discover the haunting details: the silent stare after the crash, the footprints that led nowhere, the verified sightings across multiple states, and the heartbreaking search by parents who died without answers. Was Patricia suffering from amnesia? Did she intentionally disappear? Or did she walk into something paranormal we can’t explain?

35 years later, this case remains unsolved and deeply disturbing.

RESOURCES & REFERENCES

Primary Sources:

∙ The Charley Project: Patricia Bernadette Meehan

∙ NamUs Case File

∙ Doe Network Case #1071DFMT

Media Coverage:

∙ NBC’s Unsolved Mysteries, Season 2, Episode 6 (November 1, 1989)

∙ Wikipedia: Disappearance of Patricia Meehan

∙ The Seattle Times (September 1990)

∙ Associated Press reports (1989)

Additional Resources:

∙ The Trail Went Cold Podcast

∙ True Crime Time: “The Baffling Disappearance & Sightings of Patricia Meehan”

∙ Medium: Multiple articles by various true crime writers

Contact Information:

McCone County Sheriff’s Office: 406-485-3405​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Discover the dark history of Wisconsin’s most haunted abandoned mansion—the Alexian Brothers Novitiate in Gresham, Wisconsin. This true paranormal story features everything: a mother’s tragic grief, a peaceful monastery turned battleground, an armed standoff that made national headlines, and all the potential for some serious hauntings.

In this episode of Creepy Shit Podcast, I investigate a fan-requested haunted location right in our own backyard. Built in 1939 for a disabled daughter who died before ever seeing it, this 35-room limestone mansion became a Catholic novitiate before being seized by the Menominee Warrior Society in a violent 34-day armed occupation in 1975. The standoff featured gunfire, the National Guard, and even Marlon Brando. After suspected arson destroyed the interior, the mansion sat abandoned for decades—but paranormal investigators believe the spirits never left.

Listen Now & experience the heavy, watchful energy that still permeates this tragic location. With restoration currently underway and plans to convert it into an Airbnb, this haunted mansion may soon be open to ghost hunters and paranormal enthusiasts. Could you handle spending a night where monks prayed, warriors fought, and a young girl’s spirit may still be waiting?

This documentary-style investigation covers:

- The heartbreaking death of Jane Peters and her mother’s grief

- Life inside the Catholic monastery (1950-1972)

- The Menominee Warrior Society’s “Deed or Death” occupation

- Gunfire, National Guard intervention, and negotiation with Marlon Brando

- The mysterious fire that gutted the mansion in 1975

- Current paranormal activity and restoration efforts

- Why this location has every element needed for a genuine haunting

**Perfect for fans of true ghost stories, haunted history, abandoned places, Wisconsin paranormal activity, Native American history, and well-researched supernatural investigations. If you love shows like Morbid, And That’s Why We Drink, Spooked, or Lore, you’ll love this deep dive into one of the Midwest’s most haunted and forgotten locations.

REFERENCES & RESOURCES

Primary Historical Sources:

- Alexian Brothers’ Novitiate - Wikipedia

- Gresham Novitiate Official Website (greshamnovitiate.com)

- “The Abbey and Me” - J. Patrick Rick (2011) - Documentary & Book

- WTMJ News: “Deed or Death: The 1975 Alexian Brothers Novitiate Standoff” (February 2025)

Historical Documentation:

- Milwaukee Journal Archives (1941, 1975)

- Shawano County Historical Records

- Recollection Wisconsin: Novitiate Takeover Collection

- College of Menominee Nation Archives

Paranormal Investigation:

- “Mission Terror” - GRAGG Team Episode (2015)

Photography & Visual Documentation:

- Al Bergstein Historical Photos (1975 standoff)

- American Urbex: Alexian Brothers Novitiate Photo Documentation

- Star’s Visit Photos: @CreepyShitPodcast (Instagram/TikTok)

Location Information:

- Status: Currently under restoration (CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC)

- Future Plans: Potential Airbnb/wedding venue/retreat center

Related Topics:

- Menominee Tribe Termination Era

- Second Vatican Council reforms

- American Indian Movement (AIM)

- 1970s Native American activism

- Wisconsin haunted locations

Deep in Lithuania lies a hill covered with over 100,000 crosses - a place so psychologically intense it defies explanation. The Hill of Crosses has mysterious 14th-century origins, survived three Soviet bulldozings, and continues to affect visitors in ways that challenge rational thought. This isn’t your typical ghost story - it’s something far more unsettling.

Join us as we explore the true history of Kryžių kalnas, from its unknown medieval beginnings to its role as a symbol of resistance against Soviet oppression. Discover why people risked everything to secretly place crosses on this hill, why it resurrected itself after being destroyed, and what happens when 700 years of human desperation gets concentrated in one location.

No fabricated hauntings needed - the documented reality is disturbing enough. This is the story of a place where faith, trauma, and defiance created something that operates by different rules than normal geography.

**RESEARCH & REFERENCE

- Hill of Crosses located near Šiauliai, Lithuania

- Origins traced to 14th century, exact beginning unknown

- Conservative estimate: 100,000+ crosses

- Bulldozed by Soviets 3 times (1961, 1963, 1973)

- Each time crosses returned within months

- Pope John Paul II visit: September 7, 1993

- UNESCO recognition as cultural heritage site

- Still active pilgrimage destination with daily additions

What if England’s most terrifying plague was never really a disease at all?

Between 1485 and 1551, something stalked through Tudor England that made the Black Death look like child’s play. The Sweating Sickness could kill you in two hours flat – and you’d be conscious for every agonizing minute of it. It didn’t care if you were rich or poor, young or old. But here’s the fucked up part: it seemed to *choose* its victims.

This wasn’t your typical medieval plague. It targeted intellectuals and nobles while sparing peasants. It appeared out of nowhere, terrorized the kingdom, then vanished completely – only to return decades later like some kind of supernatural boomerang from hell. And when it finally disappeared for good? It left behind a trail of paranormal activity that still haunts England today.

From the black hounds with glowing red eyes that prowled London’s streets during outbreaks, to the fever ghosts still seen wandering Greenwich Palace, to the cursed manuscript that killed every scholar who tried to read it – this is a medical mystery that defies every rule of science and ventures deep into occult territory.

Was the Sweating Sickness a natural disease that science still can’t explain? Or was it something far more sinister – a supernatural weapon wielded by the Tudor dynasty to eliminate their enemies? And if the legends are true, the knowledge of how to summon it might still exist today, hidden away and waiting for the right moment to unleash hell once again.

Join us as we dive into one of history’s most disturbing unsolved mysteries, where medicine meets the paranormal and the line between disease and curse becomes terrifyingly blurred.

**Warning: This episode contains discussions of death, disease, and potentially disturbing paranormal content. Listener discretion advised.**

One more thing: if you want this show ad-free and early, I’ve got a Patreon - $2.99 a month.

You get episodes on Friday instead of Monday, zero ads so there’s no interruptions during the creepy parts, and I drop bonus episodes quarterly that are only for supporters.

Go to: Patreon.com/creepyshitpodcast to sign up today.

REFERENCES AND RESOURCES:

Primary Historical Sources

- John Caius - *A Boke or Counseill Against the Disease Commonly Called the Sweate* (1552) - The definitive contemporary medical account

- Raphael Holinshed - *Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland* (1577) - Contains outbreak records and eyewitness accounts

- Tudor State Papers- Official government records of outbreak responses and death tolls

Academic Sources

- Bridson, E. - “The English ‘Sweate’ (Sudor Anglicus) and Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome” - *Journal of the History of Medicine* (2001)

- Taviner, Mark - “The Sweating Sickness and John Caius” - *Medical History* (1997)

- Dyer, Alan - “The English Sweating Sickness of 1551: An Epidemic Anatomized” - *Medical History* (1997)

Paranormal & Folklore Sources

- Westwood, Jennifer & Simpson, Jacqueline - The Lore of the Land: A Guide to England’s Legends (2005)

- Underwood, Peter - Ghosts of Greenwich (1973) - Documents supernatural activity at Greenwich Palace

- Clarke, David - Supernatural England (2018) - Includes accounts of plague-related hauntings

Modern Investigations

- British Museum Archives - Restricted Tudor occult documents collection (Access by appointment only)

- Cambridge University Archives - Medieval manuscript collections and student records

- National Archives (Kew) - Tudor court records and physician correspondence

Online Resources

- The Sweating Sickness Research Project - sweatingsickness.org (Academic database of outbreak records)

- English Heritage - Greenwich Palace historical records and paranormal reports

- British Library Medieval Manuscripts - Digitized plague treatises and medical texts

*Note: Some resources mentioned in the episode (particularly modern paranormal investigations) are based on reported incidents rather than publicly verified academic sources. Always approach paranormal claims with healthy skepticism while appreciating their cultural and historical significance.

Why was Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories Scarier Than Halloween - I’ve got the Evidence-Based Paranormal History for you in this Holiday Bonus Episode.

Think Christmas is all warm and fuzzy? Think again. Before Santa and consumerism took over, Christmas Eve was THE night for telling terrifying ghost stories designed to scare the absolute shit out of your family. The Victorians understood something we’ve completely forgotten: December is objectively creepier than October.

In this bonus episode, we’re diving deep into the dark origins of Victorian Christmas traditions, exploring why our ancestors gathered around fires during the longest nights of the year to tell stories about the dead. We’ll cover real, documented Victorian hauntings—including the Cheltenham Ghost (one of the best-recorded paranormal cases in history), and the infamous Cock Lane Ghost that captivated all of London.

Discover why Charles Dickens didn’t just write A Christmas Carol—he was obsessed with Christmas ghost stories and wrote some truly disturbing tales. We’ll explore the psychology behind why winter makes us see ghosts (spoiler: carbon monoxide poisoning played a role), Victorian death culture and mourning jewelry made from human hair, and why the commercialization of Christmas killed this incredible tradition.

This is evidence-based paranormal history at its finest—well-researched, genuinely unsettling, and factual. No speculation, no bullshit, just documented cases and the fascinating cultural history of why Christmas used to be scary as hell.

One more thing: if you want this show ad-free and early, I’ve got a Patreon - $2.99 a month.

You get episodes on Friday instead of Monday, zero ads so there’s no interruptions during the creepy parts, and I drop bonus episodes quarterly that are only for supporters.

It’s patreon.com/creepyshitpodcast. Link’s in the show notes.

**Perfect for fans of:** Victorian history, ghost stories, paranormal research, Christmas folklore, Gothic literature, Charles Dickens, M.R. James, haunted houses, evidence-based paranormal investigation, dark history, and anyone who thinks Halloween gets too much credit for being spooky.