The Haunted Bar

Jim Harold's Campfire

This episode of Jim Harold's Campfire explores multiple paranormal experiences centered around haunted locations and unexplained phenomena. From a bar in Connecticut where missing shot glasses and

Key takeaways

• Haunted locations often have emotional backstories tied to unresolved grief or trauma, which can manifest as paranormal activity.

Main topics

• Haunted bars and their paranormal histories
• The Hat Man phenomenon

Notable quotes

"I'm so weak." – A voice heard by a medium during an investigation at a haunted bar.

Conclusion

The episode underscores the enduring mystery of paranormal experiences, suggesting that unresolved emotions and

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) A haunted bar. I'll drink to that up next on Jim Harreld's Campfire. Speaker 6 (0:15) Sit back, relax, and warm yourself by Jim Harreld's Campfire. Speaker 1 (0:20) You know, occasionally we have paranormal investigators on the show who have had stories to tell from their own investigations. And such a person is Karen from Connecticut, and we're so glad. She's been listening for about three years, and she's going to tell us about her experience at an extremely... extremely apparently haunted location. And we're so glad to have her with us. Karen, welcome to the show. And please tell us what happened. Speaker 3 (0:46) Thank you, Jim. I really appreciate the opportunity to be on your show. It's been wonderful listening to you for the last three years. I wish I had known before that about the podcast, but I'm certainly blessed to have found you. Many years ago, I joined a Speaker 3 (1:05) a ghost hunting team by the name of GONERS, Ghosts of New England Research Society. And I had a client by the name of Lynn who owned Riders on Main in Meriden, Connecticut. And Meriden, well, all of New England can be very haunted. But Meriden in particular, I found to have many haunted locations. And Lynn and her husband, Jason, bought a old bar by the name of Maury's and they renamed it Riders on Main. And the reason why Lynn came to me to talk to me about what was happening there is because all their shot glasses started going missing. And I kind of laughed and I said, oh, Lynn, you know, they all look like Harley Davidson glasses because they're kind of their marketing colors were orange and black like the Harley Davidson logo, Jim. Right. And, you know, I thought maybe people were pocketing the shot glasses, you know. Sure. Speaker 1 (1:58) Logical explanation. Speaker 3 (2:00) Yeah, it makes sense. And she said, no, Karen, she said, there's an extraordinary amount of them that are going missing, but there's so much more that's going on at the bar. And I said, okay, well, tell me what, you know, what's been happening. And she said, well, my dad comes and helps us. He was retired at the time. And his name is Barry. And he opened up the bar one morning and there were beer bottles thrown all around the bar. And when he locked up, the night before with Jason, her husband, there was no beer bottles on the floor, but they were everywhere. Apparently, they stored the beer bottles in the basement of Riders on Main, and they were strewn around as if somebody had come in and just dumped beer bottles everywhere. So at that point, I thought, well, that's interesting. So I looked in some tarot cards that I use. I'm a reader. And I said to her, I said, you know, I have a feeling the shot glasses are in the basement because I see them all piled up in the basement in this one area. I said, why don't you go and just see if that's true first and then we'll go from there. So Lynn went back to Riders on Main and she went downstairs into the very creepy haunted basement and she found all the shot glasses piled up underneath a box in a corner. of the basement. So at that point, she thought, well, maybe Jason's playing a trick on me or the bartender's playing a trick on me, wanting me to believe it's haunted. But there's more, Jim, much more that happened. So they hired a bouncer by the name of Tito. And Tito is a a huge African-American man. And he's just, you know, when you see him, you say to yourself, wow, you know, I'm not going to, I'm not going to take this guy on, you know. And inside he's, you know, he's as meek as a mouse, you know, but he looks foreboding on the outside, but Tito's a real love. Anyway, Tito started talking to Lynn about the fact that when he went downstairs to get new bottles of beer, one time he went down and a register tape got thrown at his head. You know, the big register tapes. Oh, Speaker 1 (4:21) yeah, Speaker 3 (4:21) yeah. Right? And so he got so afraid, he refused to go down in the basement. He just said, I'm not going down there anymore, Lynn. You're going to have to send Jason or somebody else. So Lynn came back to me, came back to my office, and she said, Karen, we got to get this figured out because it's getting too weird at the restaurant. So we set a date to go in. and kind of just see what was going on. It was myself and a co-founder by the name of Kurt and the ghost hunting team. And it was really a fascinating place to, to explore. So the first thing that we did when we went in, Jim, is we pulled all the plugs on the ice machines and the jukebox and, you know, anything that could make noise. Yeah. Makes sense. And so. went dark and started to investigate what was happening. And, um, Lynn had been hearing her name called. So I know on your show that I've heard many people say that they've heard their name called. That's a common occurrence, right? Yeah. And that was happening. People that were working there, Jason, Lynn, Barry, Tito, you know, the bartender, they were all hearing their name called. So I don't, you know, we've never figured out what that phenomena is. But I think it's to distract or just to let you know that they're there. So we went into the basement and I found an old mirror that was there. And it was just propped up with nothing else, just kind of a bunch of dust all over it. And when I took a picture of that whole area, I think I sent to you a photograph that was pretty telling. And it actually looked like a beam of light that was coming out of that basement area, not necessarily out of the mirror. through that area. And one of our investigative team felt that it was like a cold breeze that had shot right through him. So we knew we had something going on specifically in the basement. In the meantime, upstairs, the jukebox that we unplugged started playing. Speaker 1 (6:39) Oh, man, that's one of the things when when things are unplugged. And we've had stories like this before the electrical things unplugged and they start to operate. Go ahead. Yeah, isn't that strange, Speaker 3 (6:50) you know? And then the ice maker, you know, started up and we thought, oh, wow. The toilet started flushing in the men's room during the investigation. It was quite an evening, let me tell you. Doors were opening and closing. The TV over the bar went on and off. And I sent you an actual, like a video clip. of the bucket behind the bar. You know how the bartenders usually put tips in the bucket behind the bar? Nobody was behind the bar. The chairs were up that evening. We had gone silent. And there's a video of the bucket just kind of falling over on its own while we were there. So I think the most telling thing about this particular location is I am a medium as well. And I heard whatever it was say, I'm so weak. And I couldn't figure out what that was all about. But it almost felt like a game of hide and go seek in that whole restaurant. So it was an extraordinarily haunted place. I want to say that. In the end, what we came to was this, that there was a cue ball that was also levitating off of the pool table. And it would shoot particularly at this one patron and kind of then fall to the floor. So Lynn and I were trying to figure out what that was all about. And there's a backstory to all of this. There was a young man who's... wife was having a bit of an affair on him. And he hung himself because he was so distraught, okay, about the affair. And the wife and the new boyfriend, after he passed away, used to frequent Riders on Main. And so it was that man who was basically having a tantrum because he saw his wife with the new man at the bar. Speaker 1 (9:01) And Speaker 3 (9:01) he was throwing the beer bottles around and he was making the jukebox go off and he was doing all kinds of things. And so we were able to identify that what had happened was, is he hadn't thought it through. He hung himself. I was using tarot cards that night, got the hanged man. He had hung himself. Speaker 3 (9:24) Because of all of that, okay, he was just frustrated. He wasn't there by anything more than his want to be there. So we talk about earthbound spirits, right? But he wasn't bound by anything more than his anger at what had happened. And when his wife and the new boyfriend came into the bar, he would pitch a hissy and start acting up. So we know that that was at least one of the entities. I think it was the main one because after we were able to kind of – get him crossed over, calm him down, whatever. You know, and keep in mind that if somebody wants to stay somewhere, you know, people are people dead or alive. You can't make anybody do anything dead or alive, right? They either have to want to leave or they're not going to want to leave. This gentleman was tired of kind of witnessing, you know, his ex-wife at that point in time and this new person coming into the bar. That's why the cue ball kept... kept getting thrown at him. Wow. So, yeah, it was, it was extraordinary, you know? So, um, it was probably one of the most haunted locations I've ever been in. And I was personal friends with Ed and, um, and was a paranormal expert on The Conjuring, the movie The Conjuring. So I've seen a lot, but that, that was amazing. Um, you never know what the backstory is, you know, behind some of these hauntings. Speaker 1 (10:47) Well, it's true. Most of the time we get a story, most people say, well, I don't know who that was, or I kind of look something up and it might have been this person. But to have such a direct thread to it, that's kind of a neat aspect of this story. And so intense. So it's one of the more intense places you've seen, you would say. Oh, absolutely. Yeah, for sure. Speaker 3 (11:06) And a lot of people involved. And we also found out that Lynn had had an exorcism within her family. Okay, so there was a twist to all of that. Okay, so the Archdiocese of Hartford had been involved with some kind of an exorcism generations prior. So there was a real question mark, like, was Lynn creating the... Kind of the poltergeist activity around her in some way, like was she some kind of an attractant to all of this? And it turned out that that was not the case. And the I'm so weak, that comment, the way we were able to connect all of this is that Lynn knew this young man who had come in and he gave enough information that she placed who it was and she knew who it was. Speaker 1 (11:57) Yeah, that's really interesting to tie it back. Well, Karen, you're a lot braver than I am because I'm safely here behind my little mic. But good for you and others like you who are out there. Thank you for being out there and appreciate it very much. And thank you for sharing your story on Campfire and stay spooky. Absolutely. Stay spooky, Jim. Thank you. Welcome to the Campfire. I am Jim Herold and so glad to be with you. And now that we've gotten that summer nonsense out of the way, it's time for spooky season to me. American Labor Day, that is the kickoff for spooky season. We're all the way through Halloween. So here we go. We started off with some great campfire stories today. And to that point, we have a captive audience, friends. We have people who are thirsting. for spooky stories over the next couple of months. That means we all need to do our part. We need to spread the word about Campfire. So if you're watching this on Labor Day, after Labor Day, send a link to your friends. Say, hey, I know you're in a spooky mood. Maybe you're not usually spooky, but you're getting spooky this time of the year. Listen to the Campfire because I'm going to tell you, a lot of these people are going to tune into the Campfire and they're going to say, wow, this goes all year long. This is great. All of a sudden, they're telling their stories. All of a sudden, we have great stories like the ones we're about to hear. But it all begins with you sending that link, telling a friend. And it means so much. We don't have those big marketing budgets that they can go out and, you know, carpet bomb all these podcasts and stuff with ads. We can't do that. We don't have those resources, but we have you. So we're asking you, please spread the word about Jim Harold's Campfire this Halloween season. And it's going to be a lot of fun. And if you really want to get spooky and dig deep into the Campfire Archive going back to 2009, plus so much more, join us in the Plus Club. New episodes have no ads. It's a real bonus. We hope that you check it out. Jimherald.com slash plus. Jimherald.com slash plus. We have some great... money saving deals over there. So please check it out, jimherald.com slash plus. And now let's check out these great campfire stories. I love it on a campfire when we have a nice story, a good story, you know, and kind of a head scratcher. And I think this meets all those criteria. Annie is here from Utah. We're so glad to have her on the show. Annie, welcome to the show and tell us what happened. Speaker 7 (14:34) Well, thank you for having me. I love your show. So it's kind of fun to be on here. Not super fun to be on here. Speaker 7 (14:43) Um, so my story is about 13 and a half years ago. Um, we had trouble having kids. We had our first, he was about three at this time. And, um, his dad went to work early in the morning and he would, his habit would be to come in with me and lay in bed until it got bright outside. So. We're laying, it's probably six in the morning, and he said, Mommy, there's a girl. And I opened my eyes and looked around and was like, where? Where is the girl? And at this time, I was about, we knew we were having twins. Speaker 1 (15:29) I was Speaker 7 (15:30) about 12, 13 weeks pregnant. Speaker 7 (15:38) I said, oh, okay, where is a girl? And he said, in your tummy. And I said, oh, okay. And I felt so much better because I was expecting to see some girl in our room. And I said, well, what about the other baby? And he said, he's a boy and he looks just like you. He has blonde hair and light eyes. And I was like, oh, okay, well. What about the girl? What does she look like? And he said, she has brown hair and black or brown hair and brown eyes and dark skin. And I was like, oh, OK. So then when we had our ultrasound to see what the babies were, the first baby came up as a boy and my husband got super excited and he's like, oh. Our son was right. That's so wild. And then they ultrasound sounded the other baby and it was a girl. And we're like, that's crazy. No way that he's going to get exactly what they look like. So sure enough, we get to 36 weeks. We have the babies. The baby boy comes out. He's. light skinned like me and has blonde hair and light eyes. And our little girl comes out next and she has olive skin and black hair and brown eyes. I mean, what you could tell were going to be brown eyes. And we just looked at each other in the operating room and we're like, that is so crazy. But he predicted it exactly. Speaker 7 (17:27) Now he's almost 17 and we're like, do you remember that? He doesn't remember it. But we joke all the time, man, we should, you know, go win the lottery or try to win the lottery or something. But it was just such a cool experience that he was right on everything. There Speaker 1 (17:47) is something about. Speaker 1 (17:50) babies in utero and vice versa. You know, it reminds me of a story that was kind of the inverse of that. This was years ago on the campfire. And a woman recalled being a child. She called and she said, you know, I remember one time as a child and I can't remember how old she was, 10 years old or something. I said, Mommy, do you remember the time we went to the carnival and you were wearing a... polka dot dress. Do you remember that time? And her mom said, yeah, I do remember that time. I was pregnant with you and that was a maternity dress. Speaker 7 (18:30) That's wild. That's Speaker 1 (18:32) so wild. But I believe it. And she didn't go to the carnival any other time with her, I don't think. And I don't believe she ever wore that dress again or something. Yeah, that's the general gist of it. But there is something. There's something in that energy. And also, you know, I also believe, you know, I often say there's that golden thread between family members. There's a connection. And it makes sense to me that that connection starts, you know, in utero when the babies are there and then the loved ones are there. And it sounds like and your son being young. I also believe that the younger kids are the more connection they have to the other side. maybe including small children. So it all makes sense to me, Annie. It all makes sense to me. Pretty cool. Speaker 7 (19:21) Good. Well, thank you so much for the chance to share and to be on your show. Speaker 1 (19:28) And thank you because as I tell all the storytellers, if we don't have stories, we don't have a show. Thank you so much and stay spooky. Speaker 7 (19:36) Thank you. Stay spooky. Speaker 1 (19:39) When we're doing the campfire, some stories stand out. And we deal with a lot of stories of sadness and passing. And a lot of times, maybe it's an older person who's passed, like a grandparent, somebody in their 90s. And it's sad, but they've lived a long life and many times a good life. Speaker 1 (20:03) different than the kind of story that we have today because we have a story of a young family really dealing with an unspeakable tragedy. Layla is here from California, and she's going to share with us what happened just recently. And Layla, thank you for joining us. Again, my deepest sympathies, my goodness, you're just dealing with this very recent occurrence. Tell us what happened. Speaker 5 (20:29) Well, hi, Jim. Thank you for having me on. So a little background to kind of give everyone an idea. On July 27th of 26, my husband was tragically killed in a hit and run. So he was the pedestrian. And from what I understand, he was just killed instantly. There was no getting around that. And I know it sounds cliche, but... He truly was my soulmate. We got married after five months of meeting and our birthdays, except for the month that we were born, were identical. And we would have had our 11 year anniversary this year. And through all those years, we had only spent about eight days apart because we were just addicted to being together. And truly the honeymoon phase never ended. And what really, really hurts is that we had struggled 10 years with infertility. And the day he died, we were 20 days away from our first embryo transfer. So that really hurts, you know. But from a spiritual perspective, you know, I do practice Reiki and meditation. Speaker 5 (21:55) Just having listened to your show for years and everything, I didn't really expect to hear from Peter soon. I thought with the intense grief and the trauma and the shock and the sorrow and the loneliness that I wouldn't hear from him at all. And so it only took four hours after his passing to hear from him. What happened is that on his side of the family, they have a lady friend with mediumship. gifts. And so while I was still at the hospital, she texts me and she asked me if I was okay to receive messages. And of course I was like, yes, please. You know, I need to hear. And so she begins to tell me that my husband, that Peter was communicating to her. He said that one moment he was here and the next moment he was there like snap. Wow. He said that he did see his body and that it was broken beyond repair. And that even if he wanted to get back in there, it was, there was just no way back. And he said that his immediate concern was for, I had called my family on the way to the hospital after I got that horrible call. And I sat outside of the room where they were. trying to bring him back. And I was just sitting there alone with all these people staring at me. And it was horrible. It was the longest time of my life. And yeah, I guess, you know, he knew that and he just wanted someone to get to me as soon as possible. He did tell me through her that he was so sorry for the grief and the mess that this was going to cause. He also wanted to tell me to pay the bills. And she said that he said that in kind of a joking way because he was the one that paid the bills. And he is the main source of income for our family. So he kept stressing that I have to take charge and I have to do that. And then he also said that he's always going to be by my side and that All I have to do is keep living because again, I did tell him, I would say, if anything happens to you, like he wanted a motorcycle and I was like, no, no, no, no. You know? And, you know, I told him if something happens to you, if you die, then I died too. And I think in spirit that really bothered him because he knew,