Three knocks in the night. A wailing cry. A figure in white seen from the corner of your eye. Across cultures, these omens carry the same chilling message—someone will soon die.

In this captivating exploration of supernatural death harbingers, folklorist and author Steven J. Rolfes takes us deep into the mysterious world of banshees and their counterparts across different cultures. With his book Beware the Banshee's Cry as our guide, Steven reveals the fascinating complexities behind these ethereal messengers.

What exactly is a banshee? Steven presents three possibilities: the ghost of an ancestor with either loving or vindictive intentions, a fairy from the ancient Tuatha de Danann, or perhaps most intriguingly, a transformed Celtic goddess. The name itself—"bean sí" or "woman from the fairy mound"—connects these entities to pre-Christian Celtic traditions that have survived centuries of cultural evolution.

From Lady Fanshawe's encounter with a floating red-haired apparition at an O'Brien castle in 1649 to a mysterious black cat haunting a Cincinnati hospital in 1879, these stories span continents and centuries, demonstrating how banshees follow Irish families wherever they travel. We also discover similar traditions worldwide, including Germany's White Lady (Weissefrau) and Mexico's weeping woman (La Llorona), showing how humans across cultures have personified death's approach.

The folklore contains surprising elements—banshees' treasured combs that shouldn't be stolen, the protective power of iron against supernatural entities, and the specific families traditionally haunted by these harbingers. Stephen's storytelling brings these traditions to life with both scholarly insight and captivating narrative.

Listen now to discover whether your heritage comes with its own supernatural warning system, and consider: if you heard three knocks at your door tonight, would you answer?

Tired of websites that have been Frankensteined together using subpar body parts? Check out Becky and Diana's digital media and web design company, The Concept Spot, and let's make some digital spookiness together! theconceptspot.com

Support the show

What happens when an astrologer's meditation on birth charts opens unexpected doorways to the spirit realm? Susan Reynolds never planned to communicate with the dead—in fact, she was once so terrified of ghosts that she would leave the room if anyone mentioned them. Yet over her 40-year journey as an astrologer, the veil between worlds kept thinning until she could no longer ignore the messages coming through.

Susan's remarkable story begins with a routine pre-reading meditation that unexpectedly revealed a client's past life as an Irish farmer's wife with seven children. Though hesitant to share what seemed like a "boring" vision, Susan watched in amazement as this revelation transformed her client's life, lifting the burden of guilt the woman had carried about choosing career over family. This pivotal moment taught Susan to trust the information coming through, regardless of how it might be received.

The spiritual downloads didn't stop with past lives. During readings, deceased loved ones began appearing with urgent messages for her clients. "I'm not a medium," Susan insists, explaining that unlike professional mediums, she can't summon spirits at will—they simply show up. One particularly moving encounter involved a father who had passed just weeks earlier, desperately wanting his daughter to know he loved her one last time.

For years, Susan maintained a double life—corporate professional by day, intuitive astrologer by nights and weekends—until her spirit guides abruptly announced it was time for her to pursue her calling full-time. This dramatic career shift allowed her unique approach to astrology to fully bloom, combining traditional chart analysis with spiritual insights that address the soul's journey across lifetimes.

Whether you're a skeptic, a spiritual seeker, or somewhere in between, Susan's experiences offer a fascinating glimpse into what happens when analytical practice meets intuitive gifts. Her story reminds us that our greatest strengths often emerge from embracing the very things that once frightened us most.

Ready to explore your own cosmic blueprint? Visit ExploreAstrology.com for Susan's free monthly predictions and intuitive guidance.

Tired of websites that have been Frankensteined together using subpar body parts? Check out Becky and Diana's digital media and web design company, The Concept Spot, and let's make some digital spookiness together! theconceptspot.com

Support the show

Chris from The Wandering Road podcast shares his family's terrifying experiences in both his childhood homes in The Bronx and Queens, NYC, where mysterious entities threatened and terrorized them for years.

• Childhood encounters with small shadowy creatures called "duendes" in their Bronx apartment
• Strange phenomenon in their Queens home including doors slamming and electronics turning on by themselves
• Heavy footsteps in the attic and mysterious knocking on doors with no one there
• A growling entity outside Chris's bedroom door at 4am
• Chris's sister's "imaginary friend" named Andy who wore a 1920s sailor suit
• Chris's aunt being thrown out of the bathroom
• Chris's mother getting attacked while blessing the house
• The spirit of an old woman threatened to kill Chris's family in his mother's dream
• Family members' voices would call family members' names when no one was home
• Nazi paraphernalia found in the attic seemed to confirm the rumor that previous owners practiced occult rituals
• These terrifying experiences led Chris to a spiritual awakening

You can find The Wandering Road podcast on podcast platforms, YouTube, and social media @TWRpod

#hauntednewyork #paranormalpodcast #paranormalactivity #ghostadventures #ghosthunting #spookystories #realghoststory #hauntedapartment #hauntednarratives #storytelling #ghoststoriespodcast #ghoststories

Show notes for this episode live at https://homespunhaints.com/paranormal_NYC_mysteries

Tired of websites that have been Frankensteined together using subpar body parts? Check out Becky and Diana's digital media and web design company, The Concept Spot, and let's make some digital spookiness together! theconceptspot.com

Support the show

URGENT: Our friend Courtney from this recent episode needs your help; all you have to do is click on this link to her IG post, "like" the IG post (not THIS post, but the IG post at the link below👇), so she can win her pitch contest and secure funding: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIRODSRsQdP Thank you!

Courtney, the mutual friend who originally connected Becky and Diana, joins us from Munich to share her unexplainable telekinesis experience. Her story bridges the supernatural with the power of manifestation, showing how intense emotions might literally move objects—and lives—in unexpected directions.

In this episode, we:

• Speculate on the neurological basis for Courtney and Diana's telekinesis phenomena,
• Hear about a mysterious (angelic?) encounter at New York's lesbian bar Cubbyhole after another frightening (demonic?) encounter prompted her first visit there,
• Examine manifestation as a way of life—from moving objects with her mind, to moving to another country, Courtney's manifestation game is suspiciously efficacious,
• Develop the signature "Have a Spooky Day" cocktail, to be served at Courtney's new business, Frau Bar, Munich's only dedicated space for the FLINTA community (female, lesbian, intersex, non-binary, transgender, agender).

Please consider supporting or sharing Courtney's crowdfunding campaign to open Frau Bar at https://www.startnext.com/flinta-bar-munich/ds/d/sn-erlebnisse/sn-events/vip-soft-opening-i435890.html.

Keep up with developments by following @Frau_Bar_MUC on Instagram or visiting fraubar.de.

Show notes for this episode live at: https://homespunhaints.com/telekinesis_manifestation_in_munich

Tired of websites that have been Frankensteined together using subpar body parts? Check out Becky and Diana's digital media and web design company, The Concept Spot, and let's make some digital spookiness together! theconceptspot.com

Support the show

JJ of Southern Demonology shares his fascinating journey from growing up in a haunted log cabin in rural Tennessee to encountering far more sinister spirits in Japan. His experiences reveal striking cultural differences in how ghosts and demons manifest across different parts of the world.

• Growing up in a 200-year-old log cabin with a ghost named Patrick who would mysteriously open the attic door
• Visiting Aokigahara (Japan's "Suicide Forest") and hearing an unexplainable sound that his companions couldn't detect
• Encountering a terrifying entity in Tokyo that demanded entry by repeating "hairu" directly into his mind
• Explaining the differences between Japanese spirit categories (yurei, yokai, and tsukumogami) and Western demonology
• Sharing his academic knowledge of Judeo-Christian demons, including the evolution of Lilith from Akkadian wind goddess to Jewish folklore
• Experiencing precognitive dreams that predicted future events, always appearing in black and white

If you'd like to learn more about demonology and paranormal experiences from around the world, check out JJ's podcasts: Southern Demonology and Paranormal Rundown.

Have you had a paranormal experience you want to tell a story about? Apply to be featured on our next episode: https://homespunhaints.com/submit-real-ghost-stories

Help support what we're doing and get all content ad-free plus bonus content: www.patreon.com/homespunhaints

Diana's notes, details, musings, and links for this particular episode:

Tired of websites that have been Frankensteined together using subpar body parts? Check out Becky and Diana's digital media and web design company, The Concept Spot, and let's make some digital spookiness together! theconceptspot.com

Support the show

What if your soul originated from somewhere beyond Earth? What if consciousness isn't limited to human experience? These are the questions artist and author Jordan Harcourt-Hughes has been exploring through her multifaceted creative practices.

Jordan of New South Wales, Australia, practices several distinct arts, including writing, metal sculpture, painting, installations, and creative workshops. She started with writing as a child, but abandoned it at 19 when words felt inadequate to express deeper truths. Part of what inspired this artistic blossoming were extreme out-of-body experiences, which led her to believe she may be an extraterrestrial or "star seed." Since then, she uses her artwork to connect with other-dimensional energies and frequencies. Nowadays, Jordan has come full circle: revisiting writing to explore the cosmic themes in her life. Perhaps it's no surprise, then that her novels star a metalsmith who tunes metal to other-world frequencies. As of this writing, Jordan just published the second novel in the series, "High Country."

Show notes at Homespunhaints.com

Check out Jordan's latest work or sign up for one of her mindful art courses at jordanharcourthughes.com.

Tired of websites that have been Frankensteined together using subpar body parts? Check out Becky and Diana's digital media and web design company, The Concept Spot, and let's make some digital spookiness together! theconceptspot.com

Support the show

Eddy Specter isn’t afraid of anything, which is a good thing as he runs the ghost tours and serves as a paranormal consultant for Galveston, Texas. His only stipulation? The ghosts aren’t allowed to follow him home.

Because one day, they did.

Permalink to the video and show notes for this episode: https://homespunhaints.com/haunted_galveston_ghost_tour_guide

Today, we interview Eddy Specter, a paranormal consultant and ghost tour operator who has dedicated his life to helping the ghosts that haunt the island of Galveston. We met Eddy through our previous guest, Jennifer. Follow Eddy Specter on social media at facebook.com/eddyspecter.

Learn about his services for haunted locations in and around Galveston, or book a tour with him at his website, eddyspecter.com.

Tired of websites that have been Frankensteined together using subpar body parts? Check out Becky and Diana's digital media and web design company, The Concept Spot, and let's make some digital spookiness together! theconceptspot.com

Support the show