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Chapter 1: What is the premise of Hometown Ghost Stories?
Hey everyone, got a feed drop for y'all for a show that I think you'll really enjoy. I know I do. Every town has a ghost story. That creepy house at the end of the road that all the locals whisper about. The decaying old abandoned hospital that seems to lure you in. That one cemetery that always seems to have a thick layer of fog and twisted dead trees.
Hometown Ghost Stories is a podcast that uncovers the secrets of those haunted locations. Every week Rob, Dave, and Jesse dive into the history of these towns. From small villages that you may never have heard of to big cities all around the world, Hometown Ghost Stories uncovers the truth behind these twisted tales.
In the episode you're about to hear, the crew traveled to Newark, Ohio and visited the Licking County Jail in person to find out firsthand why this location has earned a reputation for being plagued with ghosts. Find out what they uncovered in this special episode of Hometown Ghost Stories, available wherever you get your podcasts.
You can also catch their show live every Tuesday night streaming on YouTube at 9 p.m. Eastern, and join the crew as they break down yet another hometown ghost story.
This week on Hometown Ghost Stories. Nestled in the forks of the Licking River just east of Columbus sits the city of Newark, Ohio. Incorporated in 1813, the city is known for both its Midwestern industrial roots as well as its small-town charm. But beneath that charm is a darker side, a haunted side.
From the Midland Theater to the Cedar Hill Cemetery, two locations rumored to be so haunted that the mere mention of them causes locals to go weeks without sleep. But what the city is most notorious for is its old jailhouse, the Licking County Jail, a building haunted by the ghosts of its former inmates, one of which famously described it as the closest place to hell.
Join us as we dig into the twisted, dark history of Newark, Ohio.
Hometown Ghost Stories contains serious and often distressing events and is not intended for all audiences. Viewer discretion is advised.
Reality struck when the lights went out that first night.
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Chapter 2: What haunted locations are explored in Newark, Ohio?
She shot up in her cot and looked towards the door, but it was still closed. The air was suddenly frigid as an icy breeze cut through her thin, county-issued jumpsuit. There was someone in the cell with her. Impossible. The door was still shut. She thought she heard it open, but that must have been her imagination because she certainly would have heard it slam. That's when she saw him.
A shadow in the corner at first, but as he seemingly began to glide closer, he began to come into focus. He appeared not like he was, but like a revenant that returned from beyond the grave. "'Tom,' she said. He looked sick. His head hung unnaturally to the side due to a rigid neck wound and he was missing both arms, just two stumps bleeding onto the floor.
Lara panicked, screaming and tossing her blanket at the vestige as it glided slowly towards her. She tried to flee the bed, but her foot got caught in the blanket and she stumbled to the floor. She screamed again and closed her eyes as the bloody ghost of her murdered husband descended onto her, thirsty for his revenge.
She felt something grab her shoulder and all she could do was accept her fate. Then she remembered that the ghost of her husband had no arms and realized it was a guard who had grabbed her. Lara just looked around for the ghost, but he was gone. She told the guard it was just a nightmare, and he went on his way.
But just before the lights went out again, she saw the trail of blood on the floor leading back to the corner of the cell. I'm Dave Wilkins, and this is Hometown Ghost Stories, the Old Licking County Jail, Newark, Ohio.
Newark, Ohio is a quiet city that sits in the heart of Licking County. Founded in 1802, Newark grew up alongside the canal and railroad systems, becoming a hub for manufacturing, glassworks, and trade. But underneath all that progress, this town's seen its share of tragedy, and it's left its fingerprints on the places that still stand today. Back in the 1800s, this was the frontier of industry.
Newark's claim to fame now might be the world's largest basket. That giant, bizarre monument to the Langeberger Company. But long before that, the real giants here were made of earth and clay. Just outside of town, stretching between Newark and Heath, are the Newark Earthworks. Ancient geometric mounds built over 2,000 years ago by the Hopewell tribe.
Once spanning more than four square miles, today only about 10% remains. Many believe that a curse has been left behind by the tribe and that nearby buildings are haunted because of it. But Newark's haunted legacy doesn't stop with ancient earth and sky alignments. Let's start with something more recent. Something more theatrical.
The Midland Theater first opened its doors in 1928, a golden age movie palace with ornate fixtures, velvet seats, and the kind of architectural excess that only existed during Hollywood's rise. It closed in the 1970s, spent years rotting away, and then was lovingly restored in the 2000s. But along with the renovations came the whispers that the theater is not empty when the lights go down.
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Chapter 3: What eerie experiences are reported at the Licking County Jail?
People say you can still feel the desperation in the air. Investigators who spend time in solitary often report hearing low, guttural growls believed to be Martin. Martin sometimes reacts when spoken to, answering questions with knocks or answers via EVP or spirit box. Others say he still paces the floor, unseen, driven by a pain that never ended.
On the third floor is the ghost of George Hackett, known to regular visitors as the Peekaboo Man. In life, George was locked up for the attempted murder of his wife, a crime of rage that landed him in the same cell where he's now said to make his presence known.
Those who walked the corridor towards his old cell often described the same thing, a sudden flicker of movement, a man's head darting into view just long enough to make eye contact before vanishing back into the darkness. It's a quick, almost playful manifestation, like he's testing your nerve, daring you to come closer.
In the sweltering summer of 1947, the quiet town of Newark, Ohio, was shocked by the arrest of Laura Bell Devlin. A soft-spoken mother and wife, who in the backyard of her modest home, stunned investigators with what lay before them. Her husband, dismembered, partially burned in the wood stove, and scattered across the yard.
Laura calmly confessed to using a hacksaw and fire to hide what she'd done, telling authorities simply, he deserved it. Her motive, as her lawyers argued, lay in years of domestic abuse by John Devlin.
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Chapter 4: What tragic stories are associated with Newark's history?
Arrests for his violence existed, but Laura Bell remained trapped in a cycle of silence before the day she snapped. Ultimately convicted of second-degree murder, she was sentenced to life in prison. Her final words in court, lucid and chilling, quote, can I go home now? End quote. Some believe Laura Bell Devlin never really left.
The area where she was booked has become one of the more active spots in the building. Cold drafts move through even when the air is still, and investigators have picked up faint whispers on recorders, usually a woman's voice, quiet and low. A few have claimed to see a figure standing inside the doorway, only to have it fade when they look again.
Whatever lingers there doesn't seem angry, just restless. like someone still waiting for the chance to go home. In 1953, Mae Varner was brought to the Licking County Jail after an attempted overdose. Her stomach had been pumped, and officials planned to keep her there just long enough for the medication to work its way out of her system before sending her home.
But within 45 minutes of arriving, something went horribly wrong. May somehow set her clothing on fire inside her fourth floor cell. By the time help arrived, it was too late. Those who have spent time on the fourth floor say May never really left. Her old cell is known for sudden spikes of heat in an otherwise cold building.
and investigators have reported faint smells of smoke or burning cloth with no source to be found. A few visitors have described hearing muffled cries from behind the cell door when the floor is otherwise empty. What happened that night left an impression, one that still seems to echo through the concrete and steel of her cell.
And finally, the most tragic and well-known story connected to this jail, the case of Carl Etherington. In 1910, Newark was under strict prohibition laws, and 17-year-old Carl Etherington worked as a dry agent, tasked with shutting down illegal saloons. He was just a kid, enforcing a law that most of the town didn't want. In July, he entered a shop run by a man named William Howard.
It was a place that secretly sold alcohol. A fight broke out, and Etherington shot Howard in self-defense. Within hours, a furious mob gathered. Carl had been arrested and locked inside the Licking County Jail for his own protection, but the crowd outside wasn't interested in justice. By nightfall, thousands of people surrounded the building.
Demanding blood, the mob stormed the jail, and it's believed that the guards let them in untouched, even opened the doors for them. They attacked Etherington as they brought him to the street. They beat him with a hammer and fist, dragged him through the town square. As this was all happening, he managed to say, quote, End quote. He was hanged from a pole in front of the courthouse.
His body was left for hours as the crowd cheered. Now the second floor of the old jail has a heaviness to it. This is where Carl was held the night an angry mob dragged him from his cell. Today, his cell is supposed to be one of the most active in the jail.
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Chapter 5: How does the investigation team prepare for ghost hunting?
That counts. Played live music too, by the way. Seth on guitar. A lot of people see him play and sing and even Pops. Pops got up there a little cameo performance and sang along.
Jennifer from Connecticut as well.
Yeah. All right. We'll just list everyone that came. Yeah. Thank you all for traveling. It was actually like, I feel like, Only a small portion of the room was actually from the area. So many people traveled to be there. Phil was there. Yeah. All right. Moving on. So, yeah, Newark is a fun place. A lot of Wendy's. That's one thing that we noticed in Ohio.
Yeah. The worst smelling Wendy's of all time was in Ohio.
Yeah, that was not in Newark. That was on the way to Newark, but... Yep. That was awful. I think Dave, we went out, we came out because we just stopped there to just run to the bathroom real quick. We came out and told Dave like, dude, that might be the worst smelling place we've ever been in. And it's a restaurant. And Dave's like, I got to go find out. He came back. He's like, I wish I didn't.
I was like, I don't know why I did that. I don't know. I don't know what I was expecting. Yeah.
uh matt says the wendy's headquarters in columbus i believe it dude there's a wendy's like on every street corner out there it was unreal we actually looked it up like per capita what state has the most wendy's and uh ohio was in the top three in the united states because there's just so many wendy's yeah ton of wendy's um right in the center of newark too which kind of took away from it a little bit because the center of newark is so cool yes there's all these historic buildings and then there's a wendy's and you're like all right whatever
somebody in chat asked if we had pizza while we were in ohio and we did and it was good it was fine it was not as good as our pizza here i didn't say it was putting words in my mouth i didn't say it was as good as pizza out here which would be a preposterous claim yeah but it was good it was better than i better than i was expecting yeah we even took um
We even took the crew from the Winslow House investigation out to Rafferty's after to show them what good pizza is. Nobody stole anything. It was nice. It was good. I think the most hilarious part about this whole Rafferty's gig that we got going on is that they have no idea that we talk about them. No clue that we talk about them on the show, but that's fine.
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Chapter 6: What evidence was gathered during the investigation?
Yeah, and at the end it said Martin again, like as you were signing off.
Yeah, so it said Martin again. I think he also called me a dickhead, which was not cool. I think so. I was taunting him a little bit, though. I was rubbing him.
We were taunting the Cleveland Browns.
Which is fair. I think it's fair game to taunt the Cleveland Browns. They're not great. Not a good organization. No, not at all. But that was a pretty cool investigation in the solitary cell. It's very cramped. It's hard to even consider what other equipment to use in there. Because if I put anything that's electronic in there, I'm going to set it off, obviously, right? Because I'm just so...
You're so confined.
There was really not much you could have used in there. It really was like a stand-up shower.
That's about the size of it. It really didn't look like a lot of fun to be in. No. It was not a lot of fun to be in. I mean, be held in. I was talking about your experience for 20 minutes. It was harrowing, Dave.
Yeah. All right. It was a harrowing experience. I also don't think the prisoners expected it to be fun. Like they finally get put in there. Wait a second. Wait.
Where's the playground? Solitary is a game. I thought that's what we were doing.
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Chapter 7: What are the notable ghost stories shared from the Licking County Jail?
There were a couple of answers that could have been
They could have been intelligent responses, but I chalk this one up as mostly not the most... Not productive, but not the most...
evidence so it is what it is but i tried to communicate with the they have a really annoying ghost named dave so of course i had to try and communicate with him but wasn't wasn't lucky there but you got no that's not true you got i think you got really good responses conversation at one point like with multiple responses
So, well, now, again, this is edited footage, so we're editing it down to five minutes out of the hour or so long that Dave was in that room trying to get communication. So while you got a lot, I thought you had a conversation that made sense. So it was I don't remember the exact, but the exact conversation.
way the conversation went but it was something along the lines of like did you work here and it said like i retired here you're like how long ago did you work here it was like in the 20s and then something something and then it was like exactly or something like that so it was like a it wasn't just blips which we get all the time we're just like oh we got the word burning or we got the word um demon or whatever like like we've gotten in other ones like this one was continuous and it also made sense as the conversation kept going so
I mean, I understand that other than that, there wasn't too much, but I thought that little span of like three back and forths, it made sense. It went together. It was pretty cool. Do you have a terrifying laugh? Oh, that was so creepy.
I forgot, okay? I don't remember. This episode aired on Friday. We were busy. I didn't get a chance to rewatch it, so...
You got a terrifying laugh that, like, when I was going through the footage, it scared the shit out of me.
I was like, ho, ho, ho. Yeah, because it was, like, multiple voices, like, layered. And it was a really creepy laugh.
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Chapter 8: How did the team react to their findings during the investigation?
Everyone's trying to make friends with AI for when they eventually take over the planet. Rob, notoriously polite to chat GPT sometimes. I've seen it. I've logged into his account, and I've seen him thank. He's like, thank you. Take your time. I'm like, the hell? I'm like, Rob, it doesn't. Okay, whatever. They'll spare Rob when they take over.
My chat GPT's name is Poe, and we... We have a good report.
I also saw your little, when you asked ChatGPT to give an analysis based on everything that you've ever said to it, it was like, I am abused. He's mean to me. It had a picture of itself, which is like a little blockhead computer thing just crying. Rob's saying, make it better. Do better.
Make it better.
So I don't know about all that.
The way Rob's laughing, I think that's a true story. That's horrifying. All right. Hopping into the Warren's words. We have Adriana. Thank you for saving me. That's a good name. Linda F. What's black and white and excites Jesse? Penguin. Robin W. Crystal V. Colleen D. Joe and the dogs. Freya and Frank Mothman gathers ghouls for ghostly shoveling service. Masshole Medic. Susan C. T-Cat. Whisper.
Whisper. thanks for the show almost forgot rob's belly button is the best glory hole nolent 10 out of 10 jeremy m the macho mandolf beth c sarah b her lady spook ship victim of ohio morgan s cath q the other rachel b resting witch face mar fire lily anthony since dave froze and couldn't come up with a cool nickname last week this week i shall task rob with picking one out for me
Rob, cool nickname for Anthony T? Go. Cool nickname for Anthony T, the non-puncher, because he didn't punch anything when we went to the bar in Ohio.
Consider every game and every person unpunched at that bar. Unpunched. That's a cool nickname, the non-puncher. Nice. The unpunched. The East Wing is building a Wendy's. Yeah. I ate his liver with fava beans and a nice Chianti. Ghouls. Sorry, ghost ghouls, ghost ghostbusters, ghost ghosties, ghost Rob. Stuff on guitar. Thanks for coming to the live show.
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