Latoya Ammons would be living life seemingly happily with her three young children and her mother. They were up in arms because they had landed a 5-bedroom house in a quiet neighborhood on Carolina Street in Gary, Indiana, despite a recession and a housing bubble in 2011/2012. Things were frickin' awesome for them! But then....... Their otherwise quiet and happy life would literally turn upside-down........literally, that is, at least for one of the family members. There would be some levitation stuff, weird substances, shadow-ghost-men, some pretty scary ghostly footsteps in the basement and up the stairs only to stop right at the kitchen..... And now, we'll let you enjoy the rest in story-form. Enjoy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
I believe the youths of today say bumping them cuts.
I do know what you mean.
I don't do that, bro, but I'm really stoked you do.
But, you know, you don't have to make the rest of us.
Feel lousy because you're out there running like the average Olympian in your fancy Nike Vaporflies while the rest of us have the bottom shelf most basic new basics.
Uh, those Vaporflies were banned, just so you know, from the Olympics.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Something about, like, what, technological or mechanical doping?
Like, I mean, they're shoes.
How are they doping themselves?
They didn't see them shooting themselves up.
The shoes, like, on the rack.
I miss that part.
They come with little syringes.
They just, like, auto-done.
No, I don't know.
But, you know, they do have some cool technology.
I mean, there's this, like, full-length carbon plate thing in between Nike's patented ZoomX foam.
I mean, that shit's, like, baller, dude.
Yeah, it's a shoe.
But is it, though?
It's more like a second foot.
It's like an exoskeleton for your foot, you know what I mean?
It's a foot for your foot.
It's a better foot.
It's a better foot.
It's a better foot for your existing foot.
Well, I mean, how much better can this shoe really make you?
I mean, it's a shoe.
It's a freaking shoe.
Well, they say that these shoes, you know, with their rubber technology, help these elite runners run for longer periods of time and apparently experience less fatigue.
It's proven.
I mean, who doesn't want that, you know?
Yeah, sure.
I guess rubber technology has gone a long way.
Oh, yeah.
Thermoplastic elastomer materials and silicone.
Wonderful polymers.
It's good stuff, man.
Yes, absolutely.
And roboticist David Levy has predicted that by 2050 it will be, quote, perfectly normal for women and men to experience love and sex with robots, end quote.
Always goes from shoes to robot sex with you.
But yes, yes, he did say that.
But the futurist, Ian Pearson, went a step further, actually, with that prediction and made his own prediction by predicting that by 2050, both men and women will have more sex.
Get this.
More sex with robots.
Than with other humans!
What? I don't doubt that there will be considerable sex with robots in the future.
In the very near future, that is.
I mean, it's probably 100% accurate.
I mean, there are some obvious things that might be better.
You know, like sometimes you fight and get annoyed with other humans and you don't have to do that with a robot unless you program it to do that.
You know, just the right amount.
You know?
Except for I have this other...
I just think it's...
Funny, because eventually people will miss the human aspect and just, like, go full circle back to people.
Like, they'll start programming these robots to be so human-like that they end up just, like, missing humans and, like, they just make humans again.
Yeah, dude.
Just wait.
Yeah, that's a good point, man.
Long cycles.
That's all it is.
It's just gonna...
Right, it's cyclical, like, the pendulum swinging.
Like, we get away from it and then we go back to it and just, like, can't get away from it.
But I do know there are some...
People that take a more sexist, dark view about the whole situation.
Yeah, let's see what Kathleen Richardson actually says in her work.
The asymmetrical relationship parallels between prostitution and the development of sex robots.
Focusing on male users predict strong negative effects in terms of objectification of and violence against women.
Ah, jeez.
That's just...
Typical. Just, I mean, yep.
Sex robots are gonna make men more violent.
Yeah. Just like video games are gonna make children more violent.
Yeah. You know?
Yeah, the proof is in the pudding.
So the article this comes from is called Design, Use, and Effects of Sex Dolls and Sex Robots by Drs.
Nicola Doreen, Rohengis-Moseni, which is an awesome name, and Roberto Walter.
And it comes to us from ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
They go on to say, Marketing perfectly beautiful,
eternally youthful, and completely submissive female gendered sex dolls and sex robots.
Oh boy.
There's a lot to unpack.
There's a lot to that.
Yeah, there's a lot to unpack with that.
I mean, do people not use video games?
I'm just going to use video games again as an example and a metaphor.
But do people not use video games to escape from reality?
You know what I mean?
Exactly. I don't think having a sex doll is training someone to treat a human being as a sex doll.
Sure, there are some mentally unstable people out there that that probably will happen to because they're just not balanced chemically in the brain.
But that goes for everything in the world, not just a sex doll.
I don't know.
There's just a lot there that...
Like I said, this is just geared towards a sexist...
And, I mean, this is a counterpoint.
This isn't necessarily how I feel.
I'll make a disclaimer, but it's just an argument for argument's sake.
A lot of these terrorist acts have been committed by these quote-unquote incels, you know, like incelibate against their own volition.
These male figures who don't get to have sex, and so therefore they're very pent up and aggressive, and they take that real-world aggression outside of their own personal bubble and inflict pain on others.
I mean, it could be a sort of remedy for something like that, you know, if you think about it.
Like, maybe a release for these people and there'd be, I mean, less of that violence going around.
Could it have the opposite effect of what this woman is talking about?
And that's just a counterpoint, you know, being devil's advocate.
Might as well debate it, right?
There's this idea that it's only single men or these, like, weirdos, right, who want to have a sex doll.
But that's not the case.
Couples are buying sex dolls to have a third party because they don't want a stranger involved in their fun.
So they buy a sex doll.
Right. For trust issues.
You don't have to worry about comfort or just any number of things.
And I just will point out again that, yeah.
There are male sex dolls as well, not just female.
And yes, those male dolls are catered toward female customers as well as males.
And yes, there are non-binary or gender non-conforming sex dolls too.
There are literally sex dolls for everyone these days.
Yes, that's right.
It's kind of like, you get a sex doll, you get a sex doll, and you look under your seat, everybody.
There's a sex doll there.
You get to go home with your very own sex doll.
Nope. You already got one, Brittany.
Hey, come on.
Don't be selfish.
Give that to Rachel.
Now, I mean, what effect do you think this will have on sex workers, actually?
Like, prostitution, which, again, we hear support.
Yes, we do.
We do.
If, and only if, the person, typically a woman, is a freelancer who is her own boss and is not being controlled, abused, or harassed in any way by someone who thinks they own them and is entitled to the money that they make.
Exactly. And, you know, prostitution has been around since there were men and women, and I just don't think that's going to go away.
I mean, people think...
Because there's sex dolls like, oh, prostitutes will be no longer needed.
And there's always people that are going to pay other humans to have sex with them.
Oh, yeah.
It's the law of the jungle, man.
There's that fence right there.
They're going to be the people that will only have sex with people and the people who only have sex with sex dolls.
But the reason I ask that question is because there are these sex doll brothels in all over Asia, all over Europe and North America.
So I'm assuming Mexico, the U.S. and Canada.
But, you know, just like a regular brothel.
Customers can go in and pay an hourly fee to have a private room with one of these sex dolls of their choosing, or two, or three, or however many they want.
Dude, I did not know that.
That's fucking crazy.
Do not ask why I know that.
Wink, wink.
I'm just kidding.
Yeah, man, I was trying to get a hold of you the other day for hours and hours.
God, he's not picking up!
Almost called the cops just to, you know, come fish you out or wherever you were.
It's called research, ladies and gentlemen.
Oh, yeah.
Science! Science!
Yes. But hold on, Scott.
There is another side of this, as we were touching on.
It's the clinical and therapeutic side.
So clinicians and therapists say having a sex doll or a love doll, if you'd like to call it that instead, can be extremely helpful in any transitional period after a traumatic experience or simply for companionship purposes.
For those of us, as in humans, who aren't so much socially inclined.
Well, and I do know several individuals who lost partners, which is sad.
And at first there was grief.
And then afterwards there was, you know, a period of maybe hooking up with other people for a period of time.
I assume, because this hasn't happened to me, but to just like feel something other than pain and sadness.
And then they look back and think, God, that was, I regret that.
And, you know, a sex doll, or a therapy love doll, if you will, you wouldn't have to have those feelings of, like, bringing other people into it in a physical way that, you know, so suddenly you mesh your world with these other people in your moment of trauma and pain,
and then they're confused, or they feel some, there's just a lot more things that can go wrong, a lot, than if you have the companionship of, you know.
A doll or something.
It just sucks that people are being really judgmental of other people who use sex dolls.
Why? Who cares?
Why is it an issue with people?
Why is sex such a touchy thing for people?
Yeah. It's personal choice.
Personal choice, bro.
But you know, lifelike sex dolls have been around for over 20 years.
Abyss creations.
Was started in 1997 and is the leading manufacturer and probably making so much sweet, sweet cash.
Oh man, yeah, I'd like to see that portfolio.
I'm sure there's just like tons of money being made in that industry.
And I'm sure once the industry began, I bet it just took off, bro.
I can only imagine, dude.
But there are, of course, numerous other manufacturers now and an endless supply of sex dolls of every type, size, color, and shape, you name it.
And I'm sure there are life-sized pot roasts someone could get if that was their thing, you know?
Yeah. Just complete with the dinner, you know, that cozy house smell and everything.
There's a thermometer in there, too.
Yeah, right.
It's very interesting stuff.
And I think that this is the way that the powers that be will succeed with their population control.
Oh, yeah.
I don't even know it.
Yes. A little conspiracy.
That's actually AI's...
This is actually just a subplot of AI.
Oh, shit.
Just like wanting to distract, distract the humans and keep them from multiplying.
Yes. You know, like, it's like their version of the Matrix.
It's the, it's Matrix, Matrix Light.
Matrix Light, yeah.
Yeah, it's this paradisical relationship you have with an AI entity that's not real.
This is just the whole plan since day one, man.
This is all in the making, and it's all coming to fruition now.
And speaking of pot roasts, Scott?
Yes. What do you say you, yeah, what do you say you bring us some of that Trey Por Trey?
Oh! Thanks, man.
Well, thanks for that glowing introduction to everybody's favorite segment.
Yeah, it says Trey Portray here.
Oh, yeah, Trey Portray here.
Three for three, everyone's favorite.
Everybody keeps writing in, like, more three for three, but guys, there's three, okay?
Too many emails.
Yeah, stop with the Trey Portray emails, okay?
You get three every week.
Yeah, right?
This first story comes from beloved AP News.
Posted April 13th, 2023.
So I know it's kind of a vintage one.
But apparently thieves in Philadelphia broke into a truck filled with over $750,000 worth of...
What do you think?
I'm going to let you guess.
What do you think?
Oh, shit.
$750,000 worth of thieves in Philadelphia.
Oh, cream cheese!
Oh, man, that's a great guess.
I wish it was that.
But it was actually dimes.
Dimes. Yes, that's right.
The old ten-cent piece.
What the hell is that?
Apparently, these freshly minted dimes had just left the mint.
Thieves found an opportunity to break into the truck and make off with at least $100,000 worth, which is, that's a shitload of dimes, if you think about it.
Nobody knows.
How they carted off with all of those dimes and nobody saw it happen.
There are no video reports or video recordings of it.
It happened about 6 a.m. early in the morning.
And yeah, the authorities are looking into it.
Nobody knows how they left or what they left in or how they even knew what the truck contained because of course it wasn't marked like $750,000 worth of dimes in here.
So yeah, no arrests have been made.
That is incredible.
Quite a heist.
Yeah, it makes you wonder if it was like an inside job.
I mean, that's what you always have to wonder.
The first thing, it's got to be an inside job.
Right. I'm seeing a picture of an overhead view here of the truck they stole it out of.
Uh-huh.
And it looks like dimes are everywhere, spread about...
This parking lot.
It'd be so crazy if they were just carrying armfuls back to their car, just leaving a trail of dimes.
Not even in bags or anything?
Not even in bags?
Oh my god!
Just grabbing them with their bare hands and holding their shirt out and stuff.
Like, oh my god!
Somehow managed 15 trips before they were like, I think that's enough, bro!
Honestly, that's what it looks like happened, dude.
That's exactly what it looks like happened.
And since this is a nondescript semi...
They had to have known what was in there, right?
Exactly. Unless they didn't and they just happened to stumble upon dimes.
I mean, you gotta be desperate.
Like, if, yeah, you just, like, bust into some random tractor trailer, it could be nothing.
Right? Could be nothing.
You know, they could have already delivered their load.
So, they had to know.
They had to know.
That's really interesting.
Plus, that would be really hard to fence later.
You know what I mean?
Like, to move $100,000 worth of dimes?
Like, what are you just going to pay for everything in dimes?
Like, that wouldn't be obvious.
Well, I mean, dollar bills, things like that, easily traceable.
Coins, not so much.
So that's perfect that they can't trace the coins.
To your point there, they have those rolls that you just put all those coins in, and then you bring those to the banks.
That's true.
I don't even know if they still have those, man.
It's been so long since I've seen one of those.
But then you just bring, I don't know.
A roll of those dimes would be, what, $10, I believe?
Yeah. You gotta do a lot of rolls.
Damn. A lot of sitting.
A lot of sitting and packing.
What, you visit a thousand banks?
Holy shit, you're going to have to.
Yeah, because they're like, well, all these dimes are missing, so they're expecting a lot of dimes.
Exactly, that's what I'm saying.
I just feel like suddenly you start paying for everything in dimes, people are going to get real suspicious, you know?
Just giving handfuls of these rolls of dimes.
Oh, this 69-inch flat-screen TV.
Yeah, I'd like to pay for it all in dimes, if I could do that.
God. Anyways, yeah, so more on that.
We'll have to look into that and see if there was ever a resolution.
Our second story is also from AP News.
This was posted May 12th of this year, just a couple days ago.
Apparently, a Marine veteran noticed a disturbance on a New York City subway.
A man named Jordan Neely, who was a former subway performer and also known history of mental disease, was placed in a chokehold by the Marine veteran after acting erratic and allegedly threatening
some of the passengers on the train.
Unfortunately, the U.S. Marine veteran sustained this chokehold so long that Jordan Neely ended up dying as a result of a choked-off neck.
Stories about these encounters people have with crazy people.
I mean, that sounds rude, but just people with mental illness who stab or shoot or maim or injure the riders of these public transports from the East Coast to the West Coast.
I mean, it wasn't that long ago that the man who was dubbed a hero tried to defend several women from being attacked by a knife-wielding person on the Oregon, like the Portland City Max, and he was killed.
While he was trying to protect them.
So you're just like, I don't know.
I feel like you just don't know what's going to happen.
So did the Marine act as a hero or was he a villain?
Because he, you know, this man could have been easily overpowered in another way without killing him.
And that's just people are really back and forth on the subject.
You know, he was charged with a crime.
So apparently the district attorney of the city doesn't feel like he should have acted in that manner and doesn't feel like Jordan Neely posted a significant threat.
But more will come.
The veteran turned himself in.
His name is Daniel Penny.
He's 24 years old.
Turned himself in to face the charges, and he was freed pending trial.
And yeah, more on that as the story unfolds.
I did watch that video, um, and...
It's heart-wrenching.
Ah, man.
I wasn't there.
I didn't see what happened prior, because the video starts kind of in the middle of the choke, apparently, is what I saw.
But if Mr. Neely was, in fact, threatening people on this train, and this Marine who's trained in these sort of things, combat and intervention, sure, he was probably the one person there that could have, you know, stopped the whole thing from happening.
Because it does say here...
That Mr. Neely did say that he was ready to die while he was complaining about being hungry and about the people on the train.
He said he's ready to die, and that is when Penny came up and started choking him and fell to the floor.
And everybody just stands back, and there are actually two or three guys who go up and are helping him hold.
Mr. Neely down.
Yeah, there were several other passengers that were also restraining this person.
So maybe in the moment, he wasn't the only one that felt like it was a threatening situation.
In the video, Mr. Neely is not thrashing around.
He is not combative at all.
And the people that are trying to help him, whatever, quote, quote, help.
They're barely touching him.
They kind of just have their fingers on his knees and stuff.
Kind of like standing there.
But the dude, Mr. Neely, is not thrashing around.
He's not trying to get away even.
So it's really weird.
It's like he just gave up.
And that could be when the video started or at least the edit.
The one I saw could have been edited.
I don't know.
But that's what I saw.
The video starts halfway into it.
These three guys would ever kind of come up around and kind of like put their fingers on Mr. Neely as he's being choked out.
And they're kind of just standing there like not really caring about what's going on.
Yeah. And then that's all I saw.
Tough situation because something goes down and you sit there and you wish, why didn't I do something?
I was right there.
So I guess we'll see what the jury thinks, I suppose.
Our last story, speaking of spookiness.
Were we speaking of spookiness?
I don't even know why we're here today.
Who am I?
No, this last story is about AI, previously mentioned, but...
An interesting piece done on ABC News, which was posted recently, May 14th, yesterday, is an article about AI's potential to derail voters and just the whole political process in general for the upcoming 2024 elections.
I think if you and I had been talking about this a few years ago, it would have been more in jest, like, oh, ha ha ha, artificial intelligence, you know, you've seen the bullshit, like...
It's never going to be a thing.
And now, jump forward a couple years, and AI is so powerful already.
It's able to clone human voices, clone human speech.
I mean, AI can generate fake clips of famous people, well-known people, saying things that they never said and doing things that they've never done.
It's crazy.
So yeah, I could absolutely...
The worry is that...
AI could generate just all kinds of propaganda for or against certain parties or even other countries could use AI to basically subvert our election process, tipping the balance in favor of who they want to win.
Right. The election.
Like, who's going to be most favorable for foreign policy?
There's just a lot of facets to it, and who knows?
I guess we're just going to have to wait and see.
And I guess...
What do you think?
I guess it's kind of one of those things where it's like, we've already seen what can happen without the power of AI.
2016, anybody?
2016? Oh, absolutely.
Yeah. Right.
So, we can...
Man, the AI is just going to...
It leapfrogged everything.
This whole concept of artificial intelligence undermining human beings themselves and kind of perpetuating their own algorithms.
But we have to understand, like, these things were all programmed by human beings, right?
Like, there are codes and algorithms.
So it's still all going to be...
I mean, is AI literally...
Like, who...
How can I put this?
Is there any fence around this AI?
Like, are there leashes on the AI?
I mean, in order to generate one of these videos, these deep fake political videos, whatever, does a person have to push a button in order for AI to begin its process?
I think that's the worry.
I think nobody knows.
I think there are people that can push it down that course, and I think maybe the course has already begun.
It's just, I don't know.
That's for you and me to find out, unfortunately.
It's too late now.
It's too late because it's happening, I guess.
It's already happening, so these aren't –
These aren't far-fetched ideas that are a long ways off.
This is already starting to happen.
Celebrities are being impersonated.
People are being heard to say things that they never said.
I say, of course, it's going to be part of the political scene next year.
We're just going to have to work extra hard to do our research and vote responsibly and make sure you know exactly who is saying what and when.
And, yeah, just go by the facts if you can.
Yeah, and Vice President of Intelligence at the cybersecurity firm ZeroFox, AJ Nash, said, We're not prepared for this.
To me, the big leap forward is the audio and video capabilities that have emerged.
When you can do that on a large scale and distribute it on social platforms, well, it's going to have a major impact.
Oh, yeah.
Absolutely. Yep, we'll buckle up and we'll stay tuned and see what happens.
But that is all for this segment of Trois Pour Trois.
Deep thoughts, my friend.
Deep thoughts.
That was just incredible.
That segment always gets me in tears.
It's our viewer's favorite.
It's going to stir up some restless spirits, that's for sure.
Ooh, I like how you touch on spirits because that is what today's show is all about.
Oh, ring-a-ding-ding!
You hit that one.
And I just want to say, today's story primarily comes from IndyStar.com, but other sources include Mirror.co.uk, DailyMail.co.uk, InsideEdition.com, BBC.com, and InvestigationDiscovery.com.
And I just need to say that this was a major pain in the ass to piece this story together, because there are many different articles by publication, such as those I just listed in the storylines.
are all slightly different and each has its own facts, which is expected.
But the timelines are all different in each of them and things are all spread about wildly.
And so I had to piece together a linear story
Well, Coop, just so you know, the listeners, and myself included, all very much appreciate the hard work you do week to week, grabbing these stories up.
Beating the trail, getting to these towns, talking to these people, taking the notes that you take, reaching out and putting it all in a succinct, compact, digestible form that all of us can enjoy and which helps keep us regular.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Scott.
That hits deeply in my heart and my groin for some reason.
Well, about those robots.
Anyway. Shall we start this?
Yeah, let's get into it, man.
Sink our teeth into this.
Alright, so as the story goes.
In 2014, famed travel channel ghost adventurer Zach Baggins bought a piece of property in Gary, Indiana.
This property was located at 3860 Carolina Street in Gary, Indiana and had a house upon it which was reported to be extremely haunted.
Gary, Indiana was founded in 1906 by the U.S. Steel Monopoly.
And was named after its chairman, Gary.
Gary is situated 30 miles southeast of Chicago and is pretty much right at the tip of eggplant-shaped Lake Michigan.
The town was full of nothing but steel workers who worked 12-hour days for a paltry salary.
Oh, how much was it?
Oh, it was, uh, well, it was paltry.
Oh, okay.
Imagine that.
Imagine dusty pockets.
Ah, yes.
I guess I'll imagine and get back to you.
The environment there was horrible, and due to the low wages and poor working conditions, there would be...
The Great Steel Strike of 1919.
We got these national committees squabbling over all of this jurisdiction in the steel mills.
All of these committees and groups, strikers accusing one another of failing to support the strike.
And I tells you that by January 8th, 1920, the Great Steel Strike will collapse.
I love those old clips.
Yeah, it's great that we can get the rights to those clips just from old footage back in the 20s.
Well, this great steel strike affected factories all over the country and not just those in Gary.
But in Gary alone, there were 12 blast furnaces and over 16,000 workers.
This was the largest steel plant in the country.
World War II was closing in and they'd need steel for everything.
And as a result, steel...
Production went into overtime.
Gary became to be known as the Magic City, see?
Because it had state-of-the-art architecture, grease the wheels and attainment, reckless gambling till the early morning hours.
All the local businesses were booming.
Yo-yos and hoop trunnling everywhere.
The streets were bustling.
Tramps and scamps had every corner in a queue.
It was the Magic City, baby.
I just, I love it.
I love it.
Yeah, bring it up.
You know, if you can find more of that audio, just like, bring it to us.
I'm always searching.
Awesome. Just brings it to life.
Yeah. But aside from all those fun activities, there really wasn't much else to do in Gary.
And by 1970, there were about 32,000 steelworkers along with 175,415 Gary residents.
Not one more, not one less.
But as they say, Gary depended too much on Gary to produce steel.
Yeah. And it didn't help that competition was rising all around with the advancing technology.
Therefore... Damn.
Those are the hidden benefits of laying off workers.
That is what the CEO gets to do.
But by 1990, the factory only employed 6,000 employees.
By 2015, there were only 5,100 employees left.
So as time went by, businesses would crumble, the population would plummet, and the economy would fail.
And what happens when you have this sort of failing economy?
Two of the town's favorite things to do back in 1995.
In 1995, Gary went from Magic City, baby, to the murder capital of the United States.
This was due to the fact that there were 129 murders, a rate of something like...
111.91 out of 100,000.
As of 2023, they're doing much better than 20 years ago.
And today, the steel factory is still there.
But layoffs seem to be a regular thing.
Womp, womp, womp.
I'm about to lay you off, dude.
One more terrible pun like that.
That's Gary's favorite pun.
That really took some metal for you to do that.
Two can play at this game.
It's my air horn effect.
Okay, I was going to say.
But back to Zach Bagans.
He had purchased this property outright for $35,000.
He wasn't planning to move into this haunted house, though.
His plan was to film a documentary there with his large production crew in the hopes to capture mind-changing proof that demons and evil ghosts...
Do, in fact, exist with us in this realm and are in constant war against all that is good.
Being a devoted Christian of sorts himself, Zack started Ghost Adventures by first filming a documentary-style film with the same title and premise with Nick Groff and Aaron Goodwin back in 2007, which aired essentially as their promo on the Sci-Fi Channel.
The film was mildly successful there, and the Travel Channel would actually make a deal with the three of them to do a series in 2008.
The show was very successful on that network with those who had an interest in all things paranormal and who found that the show had the best quote-unquote proof of bona fide ghosts.
In 2021, the show was then moved to Discovery +, and Zack has also done numerous spinoffs with the Ghost Adventure title and a bunch of other work on various separate projects throughout the years.
Ghost Adventures itself is still going strong after like 26 years.
And they've traveled all over the world filming many haunted locations.
And I, for one, am a little jealous.
I gotta tell ya, I prefer to watch it on TV rather than go there myself.
So I am not a little jealous.
But I respect those that are.
Well, buddy, you better fucking get your knickerbockers on because we're gonna be going to a haunted house pretty soon here.
Oh! Always with the curveball.
Alright. All right, man.
We're going to keep it a little hidden for now, so it'll be a gem coming up.
For everyone who hasn't seen the show, Ghost Adventures, I personally recommend it, but I do admit it can be boring at times.
But what they do is that they go...
But what they do is they go into these locations that are reported to be haunted, just the three of them, and after going over the history and reports of the activity that people have experienced in these places, they then have the owner or groundskeeper or whoever lock them into the abandoned hospital or insane asylum or prison or ghost town or wherever they are overnight.
And they use all their nifty gadgetry, like a flashlight.
Oh, yep, yep.
Cutting-edge ghost-hunting technology.
Gotta have the flashlight.
Yeah, that's right.
And infrared thermometers to measure temperature changes, like cold spots or heat signatures.
And a digital voice recorder, which can pick up the ambient background noise that the human ear just cannot hear.
And these are said to pick up voices from the other side, from the deceased who are there in the room with you.
And an electromagnetic field detector, or an EMF.
Very popular tool.
It's an everybody's ghost chasing fanny pack, and if it isn't, then it needs to be.
Yes, that's right.
The EMF records any excess electromagnetic radiation around you.
The idea is that these things like, you know, smartphones or TVs, computers, maybe even a toaster, can emit these electromagnetic waves.
And so if there are no sources or obvious sources of electromagnetic energy, and the EMF picks some of that energy up, then you have to wonder, well, where is that energy coming from, right?
Yeah, because in that level of concentration, it kind of makes you think, like, oh, well, something has to be here.
Something. You'd think.
Right? And the last thing you need, probably the most important thing you need, is a good camera with night vision.
Yeah, if nothing else, I think a camera is probably the most essential tool in any ghost chasing activity.
I think...
I may be wrong, actually.
No, no, I think you're right.
At least.
I think you are.
But I could be wrong.
No. No.
I think you're right.
Oh. And then there is a ghost box.
And these are like the voice recorders, but these are constantly sweeping both AM and FM radio frequencies.
And according to the theory, while sweeping through all of these frequencies, it provides the energy for any spirit or ghost or whatever to send a verbal message, which is then interpreted by the listener.
Interpreted. By the listener.
Yes. So, those are your basic ghost-chasing apparatuses.
Apparatuses? Is that right?
Does that sound right?
Apparatuses? Yeah.
Yes? Hmm.
Apparatus. As.
Apparati. Apparatuses.
Apparatuses? That has to be right.
Apparatuses. That has to be.
Anyway, Baggins and the boys are locked into these areas, buildings, what have you, and they do an all-nighter where they essentially walk around poking and prodding for ghosts.
Sometimes you might get a reading on one of their devices, but honestly, pretty much every ghost chaser or ghost hunter will tell you this.
Most of the time, you don't get a reading on anything.
You don't see anything weird.
You don't hear anything strange.
Just most of the time, you're walking around hoping to pick something up.
And that makes sense because it's not like every third person you talk to has had a ghostly encounter.
But on the other hand, it just takes that one where if you catch any kind of proof, it's like, oh dude, suddenly the whole reality of everyone's existence changes.
Those guys, Zach Bagans and his boys, they've been doing the show for like 26 years.
So either they have done a really good job at doing their show and continuing to do a great job at it, as in fooling millions of people from all walks of life, or they are legitimately getting some real documentation of paranormal activity.
And to be clear here, I am a firm believer in the paranormal and ghosts and all of that awesome shit, but I'm also very skeptical, highly critical, if you will, of anything made for TV.
especially knowing full well that these high budget production companies or any budget for that matter will by nature dramatize the shows for views and ratings.
It's only natural.
Yeah, of course.
I mean, there has to be something in it for them.
They have to be getting viewers.
And so I'm sure they have writers.
I'm sure they have people that are like, okay, well, this is where we want you to go next.
Like, a lot of people know about this.
Like, you're really going to appeal to this and that.
And I'm just sure there's all kinds of chutes and ladders that they have to navigate.
Yeah, and we do not do that here at this show.
That's true.
We are publicity and sponsorship-free at the moment.
But emphasis on free.
We are free to make our own content.
We don't have anybody hanging over us telling us what we can do, can't say, can look at, can investigate.
So, man, the world is our metaphorical oyster, my bro.
Mmm, oysters.
And we have many pearls to deliver to you.
Mmm. Girls.
So in 2014, Zach bought that house and the property that it stood on, sight unseen and over the phone for $35,000 so he could film a documentary which is called Demon House.
And I'm sure that can be found on the internet somewhere for anyone that is interested.
Man, he really wanted that house, bro.
Yes, he did.
And for good reason.
And that is because it had gained the reputation for being the Demon House.
Ooh, Demon House.
But before it came to be known as the Demon House, it was briefly known as a portal to hell.
Oof, jeez.
Spooky. A portal to hell.
How does a house get that name?
Yeah, I want to find out.
Well, this house was reported to have so much paranormal activity that it became a media sensation starting back in 2011, only months after a certain family would move in.
The house at 3860 Carolina Street in Gary, Indiana was visited once by a pair of clairvoyants who were invited by the woman who lived there with her three young children, two boys, nine and eight, and one girl, twelve, and her own mother.
These clairvoyants were called there out of desperation, and upon their conclusion after their time there, they were adamant that there were at least 200 demons that called that house their home.
Jeez, that's like more than I could even handle mentally.
But before we trip over our unfastened Velcro straps, let's slow down a little bit and back up.
Yeah, yeah, maybe fasten those Velcro straps before we do anything else, bro.
In November of 2011, Latoya Ammons and her three children would move into that rental house on Carolina Street, which was lined on both sides with houses that some could say were eerily similar to itself.
Latoya's mother, Rosa Campbell, Would also stay there with them.
And almost immediately after moving in, some strange things would start to happen.
The first thing that LaToya and her mother would recount was that just a month after moving in, hundreds if not thousands of those large black houseflies started to swarm all over the inside of the front porch which was screened in.
And again, it is December.
And it can apparently get pretty cold there in Indiana.
Oh, yeah, man.
I was going through there once in December, and it was easily blow-freezing for a week straight while I was there.
Oh, man, did you go to the Indianapolis Museum of Art?
Man, that place is epic.
Or the Dunes?
Did you go to the Dunes?
No. No, man.
I was riding the smooth, cold steel rails.
Gay and straight Oklahoma, on over to Sweet Lips, and a bit more further to Lick Skillet in Tennessee, man.
Oh, that's interesting.
What were you doing?
Eh, not much.
Not much?
That's a pretty intense trip to make riding the rails.
Yeah. Bro, what?
Come on, man.
No, really, it was nothing.
I mean, really, it's just, those are my boxcar boy days.
You know what I'm talking about?
We've all been there.
Woody Guthrie, Doc Watson, Jimmy Rogers, T-Bone Slim.
I mean, come on, man.
You know what I'm talking about.
Louis L'Amour, even.
And even Carl Panzram.
Well, I don't want to dig in too deep there with all of that.
Thank you.
But I should point out to the listeners that the only important name he just listed there is Carl Panzram, who was an American serial killer, spree killer, mass murderer, rapist, child molester, arsonist, robber, thief, burglar, among other horrible things.
He was born in 1891, and he rode the rails from a young boy, often being raped himself, which, as he told it later, was the impetus for his own criminal lifestyle.
And his first crime was when he was only eight years old.
Jeez! Man, that is a hardened individual right there.
He was arrested and brought to court for being drunk and disorderly.
At eight?
Oh my gosh.
Where's this dude's mom?
Not in the picture, apparently.
But without getting too deep into Panzerham, he would be hanged in 1930.
But that is one crazy-ass story that we will certainly cover in depth in the future.
Yeah, that's pretty terrible.
Pretty fucking terrible.
But back to the story, when the fly thing was happening, Latoya's mother recalled thinking, Well, nah, this isn't normal.
And as she would later tell a reporter, We killed them and killed them and killed them and killed them and killed them some more.
But them sons of bitches just kept coming back for more.
Perhaps she should have just given them a tree fitty and maybe they would have gone away.
Yeah, well...
Maybe they should have gotten their own goddamn tree fitting.
You know what I mean?
Oh, man.
Now, Scott.
Scott. Oh.
Yeah, what's up?
Sorry, I was just doing this crossword.
Three-letter word for opposite bottom to spin.
Opposite bottom to spin.
Opposite bottom to spin man.
Man. Are you serious right now?
We're recording a freaking episode and you're over there doing a crossword puzzle?
Hmm. Yeah, yeah, I know.
Man, this is hard.
What's the clue?
Well, it says opposite bottom to spin with one of those little semicolon things in the middle there.
Opposite bottom to spin.
Yeah, opposite bottom to spin.
They really make these things hard these days.
Top. Top?
Top. Oh, yeah.
Nice. T-O-P.
Cool, man.
And that means nine down is...
Oh, yeah.
Duh. The part of a stage between the curtain and the orchestra is the proscenium.
Shit. Yes.
Proscenium. Oh, right.
Well, I'm glad you worked really hard to solve that.
Now, Scott.
Yes. Yes.
Sorry. I'm here.
Good. I'm very happy you are here.
Oh, yeah.
Me too, man.
Thanks. Alright, so what makes this story all the more interesting and intriguing, even if you don't believe any of this at all, is that this story of Latoya Ammons and this house of horror with 200 demons involves a full-on police investigation with over 800 pages of evidence,
a DCS intervention, and that's the Department of Child Services, numerous psychological evaluations on the family, religious intervention with multiple priests and a handful of exorcisms, I mean, that seems more official than most alleged haunted houses,
right? Because, like, we're not seeing that sort of intervention by police and these agencies with 800 pages of evidence in the vast majority of cases.
We're seeing nothing or hearing nothing.
Yeah, and these are the cases I like to read precisely because of that.
But that doesn't mean that this story doesn't have its moments where your bullshit meter goes off.
But again...
With the amount of attention the story got, it makes it pretty interesting.
I mean, you have to pay attention to it.
Just out of necessity and give it a chance because most of the other ones yield nothing and they're not shy about it yielding nothing.
They're like, oh, well, this time we didn't find anything, guys.
And this is the exact opposite of that.
It wasn't just the incident with the flies of what would be what is arguably Indiana's most famous haunting.
And according to IndyStar.com...
Which is one of Indiana's finest news sources.
The Zion United Church of Christ Cemetery in Bowling Green, Indiana is the most haunted place where there are a ton of reports of unexplained lights and sounds, disembodied voices and whispers, and all the usual eerie sensations and the feeling of not being alone or,
you know, being watched by something that you can't see.
It's scary.
I don't like it.
As for the House of Horror...
Latoya and her mother would hear the sound of heavy footsteps, which would start in the basement and make their way up the basement stairs and into the kitchen.
Sometimes, Latoya and her mother would be in a different area of the house when they would hear those footsteps, and when they would cautiously go to look, there would be nothing, or no one there.
And sometimes, one or the other, or both, would already be in the kitchen when the footsteps would make their way up the stairs.
And as they waited there in shock for whatever this was to appear from the dark stairway, again there would be nothing.
The footsteps would just stop right at the top of the stairs as if it was just standing there staring at them.
Man, could you imagine?
That's so creepy!
So creepy.
One night, when Rosa was sleeping in her bedroom, she awoke suddenly and opened her eyes.
As she peered out through the open bedroom door and into the dimly lit living room, she said she watched in fear as the shadowy figure of what appeared to be a man kept pacing through the living room.
She said that after watching this go on for a few short moments and allowing for the fear inside of her to dissipate a little bit, she then jumped out of bed and ran to the living room, but the figure was nowhere to be seen, but what could be seen.
were the wet blueprints left by whatever this shadowy figure was that was pacing back and
Just to see physical evidence after hearing something like that, I would have left in me.
I would have grabbed everything that I had that I could fit, and I would have peaced out.
I would have been like, I know.
Bye! Where is the liquid coming from?
You know?
Seriously. Ew.
So Rosa would later tell reporters that everything they had been experiencing up until March 10th, 2012, about three months of living there, was rather tame when compared to what would happen next.
On this night, the family had company over, consisting of a small group of friends.
They had been mourning the loss of either a family member or a friend that day, and this small group would be staying over at the house.
At around 2am, while most of them were still awake, Mama!
Mama, Mama!
Calling for her mama, Rosa.
Sorry. Rosa said she ran into the bedroom where they witnessed Latoya's 12-year-old daughter levitating above the bed.
Oh, well, this honestly is where my bullshit meter starts going off.
But, I mean, I have no choice.
I'm gonna try to be...
I'm gonna try to just dive in and embrace this right now.
And she appeared to be sleeping, Rosa said.
Both Rosa and Latoya would say that they and the group of friends all witnessed this.
And upon seeing it happen, they all surrounded the girl.
Latoya and Rosa...
Grabbed onto the girl and struggled to pull her down as the others prayed for her.
After some frightful moments, the little girl was back on the bed as if she was peacefully resting, at which point she woke up, but she had absolutely no memory of what had just happened to her.
The group of friends freaked out about this whole incident, and according to Latoya and her mother, those friends downright refused to ever go back to that house, and some refused to even speak to them.
I suppose that's understandable.
I mean, if I knew someone that eerie shit kept happening to, I'd be like, uh-oh, this family's not long for this world.
I mean, yeah.
If you saw something like that, you would be like, alright, I'm definitely gonna distance myself from this family.
Yeah, I'm not getting pulled over into the next dimension because of whatever that curse, that multi-generational curse is.
And seeing that the family had a background in Christianity, they decided to seek help by contacting several churches in the area, but none of them would take them seriously.
But they kept trying, and eventually they'd find a church who would listen.
Officials from this church would go visit 3860 Carolina Street in Gary, Indiana, and it was upon their recommendation that the family do a deep clean of the house with ammonia and bleach.
Yeah, like, that's really all it takes to get rid of the spirits, just lots of ammonia and some bleach, you know?
Yeah, I feel like it would actually have the opposite effect, and it would instead, like, you know, maybe induce hallucinations, maybe?
Or it would just, you'd just pass out from the fumes, and maybe that's what's creating all these ghosts.
It's just like, they're like, oh yeah, just douse yourself in ammonia and bleach, and they just become spirits themselves, you know?
Man. I don't know.
That's not good advice.
I personally don't think.
Just dousing the whole house with ammonia and bleach?
Yeah, I don't understand what that even would do.
I've never heard of that before.
Ever. Same.
In the world of paranormal and spiritual stuff.
It doesn't make sense.
But these officials would also suggest that after cleaning the house with buckets of ammonia and bleach, they should use olive oil to draw the sign of the cross on all of the doors and windows.
And did you know that the sign of the cross actually comes from the Constantinian cross, which was originally, yes, you guessed it, a pagan symbol, which is called the Chi-Rho, which Plato wrote about.
And the Chi-Rho is a symbol formed by the first two Greek letters of the word Christ, that being an X, which stands for Chi, and a P, which stands for Ro.
Ah, yeah.
Constantinian, because it was the Roman Emperor Flavius Valerius Constantinius the Great who really popularized the symbol with the people.
He also named one of his sons Crispus, and he killed his second wife, Fausta.
And it's said that his son Crispus was having an affair with Fausta, hence the old murder and stuff.
Oh, too much Faustus.
Oh man, yeah.
A whole 30-rack, I guess.
The church officials also had Latoya pour olive oil on all of her children's hands and feet, and also to draw a cross with the oil on their foreheads.
Well, alright, so did that work?
Are the demons excised?
Is the house cleansed?
Can the children sleep without being levitated above their beds?
Nah. Huh.
Well, that's interesting.
And this is when they got a hold of those two clairvoyants who said that the house was the home to at least 200 demons.
Oh, yeah.
It's kind of precise, right?
200 demons, exactly.
There aren't any ghosts or spirits, just straight-up demons.
It's like a paranormal sausage party up in there, but without the sausage.
Yeah, it is kind of interesting.
Good point there.
Yeah, you'd think there'd be, like, I don't know, maybe one ghost hanging out somewhere, or a lonely spirit standing over by the couch trying to fit in with all those demons.
You know, something.
Yeah, just a little bit more diversity, you know, like a low-level spirit, and then maybe a sprite, and then a demon, and then, I mean, how could, yeah, just 200 demons in general?
Unless demons and the taxonomy of it all is the overall, like, kingdom.
But I'm probably just reading too much into it.
Well, being of the Christian faith themselves, they listened to the clairvoyance and believed them wholeheartedly.
Well, why wouldn't you?
They would also tell LaToya and Rosa that the best thing they could do was simply move out.
But as, well, most who find themselves in this position would say, it just isn't financially feasible.
Well, yeah, sure.
I mean, they couldn't just pack their shit and move.
Plus, if anyone remembers 2012, there was a bit of a, I don't know, recession going on, you know, caused by immense government spending.
As usual.
And a so-called housing bubble.
So that only added to the hardship that the family was already experiencing.
So, instead of moving out, they would listen to some other advice that the clairvoyants gave to them, which was to build an altar in the basement.
Oh, jeez, I don't know about that, man.
The last thing I feel like I would want to do is create some kind of supernatural landing pad for whatever I was scared of happening in there.
And that's what they did.
So Latoya, and an unnamed person, would take some ordinary end table and cover it with a white sheet.
Then they put a white candle on top of that, as well as a statue of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus.
A Bible was then opened to Psalm 91, which is basically for reassurance, comfort, and encouragement.
Latoya and this other person then changed into white t-shirts and bound their heads with white scarves.
At that point, they burned so much sage and sulfur all throughout the house, beginning upstairs and working their way down to the basement.
Latoya said that it was so thick with smoke.
And it was very difficult to breathe.
Yeah, and imagine it all reacting to that ammonia and bleach that's already all over the walls.
All these fumes going on with ammonia and bleach and then just clam baking.
I'd be seeing and hearing shit too, you know?
Yeah, I'd be seeing all kinds of stuff.
I think they're just not getting enough oxygen, maybe?
Yeah, I don't know.
Might as well throw some embalming fluid in the mix, you know?
Oh, what do they call those sherm sticks?
Dipping cigarettes?
Yeah, shitty old sherm stick, yeah, dude.
Oh, hell yeah.
So, as per the ritual that they were conducting, Lotoya would draw the sign of the cross with the smoke as the other person would read Psalm 91 over and over as they walked around the house in an attempt to cleanse it.
Now, we actually have a very rare recording of Psalm 91, read by the one and only Marlon Brando, on the set of Apocalypse Now.
This has never been heard before, but we were able to obtain this piece of history through an unnamed source who is said, To have been very close to Mr. Brando.
Yeah, and Psalm 91. And now, we will play this to you.
You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.
Susan! Hey, Susan!
I've run out of toilet paper.
I found myself.
Oh, man.
No wonder why he is such a good actor.
And that is one incredible piece of audio history.
I believe the original is currently sitting in the Smithsonian?
Actually, two copies were made from the same original LP, Golden Plated.
One is at the Smithsonian.
The other one is at the Louvre in France.
Oh. Yeah, and now that I shouldn't really mention this, but we also have this copy as well.
Well, let's just say I know a guy who knows a guy.
Latoya! Latoya said that the ritual was a huge success.
Oh, nice, cool.
So everything worked out.
For three days.
Oh. Oh.
And then everything went to shit.
That's dark.
But that, ladies and gentlemen, our dear friends, our cherished listeners, is where we will end today's episode.
And next week, we will conclude with part two of Latoya Amon's House.
Man, that's like, got some major blue balls going on from that.
Yeah, I mean, we wanted to make this, you know, one episode, but it got too long, even after editing it two times.
Oh, well, where the fuck was I?
Fuck, either sleeping or doing crosswords, and you still haven't fucking vacuumed all that.
Peanut husk bullshit that just surrounds the couch over where you were in that perfect circle.
Oh, man.
Well, I believe that's Wayne Dale's job.
But yeah, yeah, I'll get to it.
I promise.
I do.
I mean, I promise.
Pinky swear.
Pinky swear.
I mean, there's a vacuum literally within reaching distance from where you were, literally on the wall directly to your left in plain view.
One can't miss it.
True. Yeah, that's...
Absolutely true, man.
There is!
Excellent. Well, thank you everyone for tuning into today's show.
We can't thank you all enough for tuning in, and we hope that you enjoyed this episode as much as we enjoy entertaining you.
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Yes, and take care of each other, and just know that at any moment, a fallen meteorite can take you out in an instant.
