Monsters Among Us Podcast: Haunted Prisons, Witch Hunters, and Devil's Footprints

Haunted Prisons and Local Legends

• ⛓️ A story from Vince details the haunted St. Joseph Correctional Center in Missouri, a former psych hospital, with tales of a little girl jumping from a window and visible footprints on the floor.
• 🐒 An anonymous caller from El Segundo, California, shares a legend of monkeys in the trees near Recreation Park, speculating they might have escaped from an exotic animal quarantine facility.
• 🐒 Another California legend, from Napa Valley, speaks of "Reebobs," half-monkey, half-robot creatures said to inhabit trees near a covert government installation.

Mysterious Footprints and Disembodied Hands

• 🐾 TJ from Devon, England, recounts the legend of the "Devil's Footprints" from 1855, a continuous trail of cloven hoof-like prints spanning approximately 100 miles across varied terrain.
• ✋ TJ also shares the tale of the "Hairy Hands of Dartmoor," disembodied hands that allegedly cause drivers and cyclists to lose control of their vehicles on a specific remote road.
• 🐾 The "Devil's Footprints" phenomenon is further explored with similar reports from across the UK and the United States, notably linked to the Jersey Devil sightings in 1909.

Ghosts in Theaters and Historical Hauntings

• 🎭 Aaron from Kalamazoo, Michigan, recounts experiences with "Thelma," a ghost at the Civic Theater, known for moving props, appearing as an apparition, and causing poltergeist activity during performances.
• 👻 The legend of Thelma is investigated, with the host suggesting the hauntings might be linked to Axia Strong Wells, who died on the property in 1900, rather than a fabricated actress.
• 💀 Nick from California shares a gruesome hometown legend about a Satanic sacrifice in the Eucalyptus Groves, and the subsequent lawsuit filed by the victim's parents against the band Slayer.

Haunted Locations and Cryptid Encounters

• 🏨 Alma from Houston, Texas, shares stories of the haunted Rice Hotel, with alleged ghosts of a woman in room 904, a mischievous employee named Charlie, and even former Presidents JFK and George HW Bush.
• 🍸 Alma also describes a haunted elevator at Dean's Credit Clothing (now a bar) in Houston, believed to be operated by the ghost of an elevator operator from the Prohibition era speakeasy.
• ⛰️ Jed from Virginia tells the legend of the "No Business Haint" from No Business Mountain, a large, shaggy figure with reddish eyes encountered by a hunter and his dogs, possibly an escaped orangutan from a historical wrestling event.
• 👻 Taylor from Illinois investigates Bloody Point Road and its cemetery, recounting an encounter with a shadowy figure believed to be a caretaker, after hearing stories of paranormal activity and a disappearing pickup truck.
• 🧙 An anonymous caller from the UK shares the tragic story of Polly Miles, a young woman accused of witchcraft in Essex and found dead in a stream, whose ghost is said to appear at the castle.
• ⚔️ Fraser from Suffolk, UK, details the history of Matthew Hopkins, the "Witchfinder General," responsible for the deaths of over 300 accused witches during the English Civil War, and whose ghost is reportedly still seen in Manningtree.