WITCHES & MEDIUMS & GHOSTS, OH MY! 2018 Halloween Special

The Pendle Witches – Pearl DeVere – Bess Houdini – Lily Cove

Our very first Halloween Special brings back four of our most popular guests with four new stories of hauntings, mysterious deaths, witch hunts, and seances, to bring you many spooky returns of the season!

A 19th century engraving shows a stereotypical witch astride a broom, with a frightened-looking girl in a white dress riding behind. The two are flying over a dark river, with lightning and a raven or bat in the sky alongside them. — The Pendle Witches
From History of Lancashire, 1867

The Pendle Witches: In 1612, ten people were hanged as witches in Lancashire, England, sentenced to death because of the testimony of a 9 year old girl. The eight women and two men Jennet Device accused included her mother, grandmother, sister and brother, and the trial of Old Demdike and her “coven” would become infamous around the world.

Guest Mary Sharratt brings us the story of the Pendle Witches, retold in her novel Daughters of the Witching Hill. Thomas Potts voiced by Thaddeus Weiland.

A woman with red hair and a green, low-cut dress reclines in an armchair on gold cushions, eyes closed and sniffing at a golden rose in her hand. — Pearl DeVere
image from Old Homestead House

Pearl DeVere was one of the most famous and successful madams in the history of the American West. Her incredible business acumen (as well as her famed beauty and charm) ensured that her legend endures to this day in the historic gold rush town of Cripple Creek, Colorado. But according to museum curator Charlotte Bumgarner, her legend isn’t the only thing that lives on in her house.

Recorded on location at the Old Homestead House Museum in Cripple Creek, Colorado.

A man and woman sit beside one another. The man has light eyes and a striking expression, staring directly at the viewer. He wears a formal suit and waistcoat, pocket watch and bow tie. The woman wears a loose suitdress with white collar and brooch, pearl necklace and fashionable, early 20th century short haircut. — Harry Houdini and Bess Houdini
photo from the LOC

Bess Houdini: After her husband Harry Houdini’s death in 1926, Bess Houdini held regular seances to attempt to communicate with his spirit as part of a bargain the two had made while he was alive–he would contact her through a medium and give a secret code word that only the two of them knew to assure that it was really he. After ten years of attempts, she finally “turned out the light” on the Houdini seances, but her tireless efforts to keep his legacy alive assured that he is now the most famous magician in the world–more well-known than he was even in life.

Guest Paul Draper shares Bess Houdini’s fascinating and compelling life, with guest voice artist Dena Brady.

A tintype photo shows a woman dangling on a trapeze below a hot air balloon, her parachute attached to the side of the balloon and by cords to her back. She is not wearing a skirt. — Lily Cove dangles from a trapeze beneath a hot air balloon in the last photograph ever taken of her.

Lily Cove was just 20 years old when she fell to her death during a parachute jump from her hot air balloon on June 11th, 1906. Her short career as a wildly popular aeronaut came to a tragic and mysterious end when she somehow became separated from her parachute and crashed into the field behind Ponden Hall in Haworth, England. Though her death was horrifying and a huge shock to the crowd of thousands gathered to watch her performance, author and journalist Sharon Wright‘s book Balloonomania Belles, and her 2016 play Friller bring her to life again. In this interview we celebrate the “plucky young lady” who certainly earned her nickname Leaping Lily.

Anne Whittle (Chattox) and her daughter Anne Redferne
Illustration by John Gilbert from the 1854 edition of William Harrison Ainsworth’s The Lancashire Witches

A photograph of green fields in the foreground, villages in the middle ground, and a strikingly-shaped hilltop behind, wreathed in mist. — Pendle Hill
photo by D. R. Greg

A tall, imposing stone castle with two turrets, a large "drawbridge" style gate adn surrounded by green parkland and trees. — Lancaster Castle, where the Pendle Witches were held before their trial

A young woman in a black dress with wide lace collar and trim smiles confidently at the camera. Her hair is up and her eyes are bright, staring straight at the onlooker. — Lily Cove

A tall dark stone gravestone bears an image of a hot air balloon and the words "In loving memory, Elizabeth Mark Cove" and then smaller text with the names and dates of her parents' lives. — Lily Cove’s gravestone
photo by the Graveyard Detective

An imposing brown stone wall covered with moss masks a tall house and a garden. Only tall, bare trees can be seen against the blue sky. — Ponden Hall, where Lily Cove fell to her death in a hot air balloon accident.

A woman with curly dark hair and dark eyes look at an angle at the viewer. She is wearing a white lace gown with very high collar and a brooch at the throat. — Bess Houdini

A middle-aged woman with white hair and dark eyes smiles at an angle at the viewer. She is attractive and striking in a high collared black blouse and dark lipstick. — Bess Houdini
Library of Congress’s Prints and Photographs division

A tall grey gravestone bears a floral motif and the word "Houdini" in large type, with "Wilhemina Beatrice Houdini" and her birth and death dates beneath. — Bess Houdini’s grave in New York

A striking white brick two story building with grey and pink trim on porch, bow window, and upper story deocrations. A sign on the front of the building reads "The Old Homestead House Museum" — The Old Homestead Parlor House in Cripple Creek, Colorado
photo by Olivia Meikle

A group of people in black clothing walk in front of a black stallion and a horse and cart bearing a coffin down the main street of Cripple Creek, Colorado. — A midcentury recreation of Pearl DeVere’s funeral
photo courtesy of the Old Homestead House

A grey marble heart-shaped headstone bears the words "Pearl DeVere died June 5, 1897" — Pearl DeVere’s grave in Cripple Creek, Colorado

Mary Sharratt is the award-winning author of seven historical novels and is “on a mission to write women back into history.” Ecstasy, her book about the life of Alma Mahler, was published in April 2018. Born in Minnesota, Mary lives with her Belgian husband in Lancashire, England. Her books span women’s history from the medieval visionary Hildegard of Bingen to Elizabethan poet Emilia Lanier to the Pendle Witches. Mary’s articles and essays have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, Publisher’s Weekly, and Historical Novels Review. When she isn’t writing, she’s usually riding her spirited Welsh mare through the Lancashire countryside. She first appeared in Episode 19: THE COMPOSER on Alma Mahler.

Charlotte Bumgarner has been Executive Director for Gold Belt Tour Scenic and Historic Byway Association since 2001, and is one of its founding members. She first became involved with the Old Homestead House Museum as a tour guide in 1996, and is now the manager and protector of the museum. She has been awarded the Southern Colorado Conservation Friend of Open Space Award and the Mary Kiser Volunteer Service Award from Colorado Byways. Bumgarner is currently the Treasurer for National Scenic Byway Foundation. Preserving the culture and the land of Colorado is her passion. She first appeared in Episode 2: THE SINNER on Pearl DeVere.

Paul Draper is an Anthropologist, Mentalist, Comedy Presenter, Mind-Reader, and Speaker, who has appeared on the History Channel, A&E, HBO, Hallmark, the Travel Channel, HGTV, and shows like Hell’s Kitchen, Pawn Stars, Ghost Adventures, Mindfreak, and House Hunters. In Las Vegas, he has headlined for many casinos, including seven years as house magician for the Venetian Hotel & Casino. He has also appeared Off Broadway in New York and on the West End in London. He first appeared in Episode 8: THE DISAPPEARING WOMAN on Adelaide Herrmann. His website is www.mentalmysteries.com and you can find his Patreon here and access exclusive bonus content for as little as $5 a month!

Sharon Wright is a British author, journalist and playwright. She was born in Yorkshire and lives in South West London. She has worked as a writer, editor and columnist for leading magazines, newspapers and websites including the BBC, The Guardian, Daily Express, Disney, Glamour and Red. She is also the author of critically acclaimed plays performed in Yorkshire and London. Her first book Balloonomania Belles: Daredevil Divas Who First Took To The Sky was serialized in the Mail on Sunday and received widespread coverage, including on BBC Woman’s Hour and in the New York Post. Her new book on the Brontës will be published in summer 2019. She will also be a guest on an upcoming episode of What’sHerName.