Spectral Homicide
If you love ghosts, gritty history, and true crime twists, you’re in the right place. Join my daughter and me as we investigate the paranormal, revisit haunting historical events, and break down chilling cases—together.
Spectral Homicide
Chicago Adventures Part 1
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This is part 1 of our Chicago adventures. We had to put it in two different episodes so that we could fit it.
It was so much fun and we had a blast.
Hey guys, welcome back. I am Vera.
SPEAKER_00I'm Mia. And we are Spectral Homicide. Wow, this is not my color.
SPEAKER_01Oh no, you look great. Um, do you want to share your artist?
SPEAKER_00Oh, Tom Larer. I don't have any of his stuff on CD or cassette, so I can't play it. So I'm gonna play it from my phone. Because it's public domain. I miss you, Tom Larer. Oh yeah! You gotta tell me who Tom Lair is. Oh! Um, satirist from the 1950s and math professor who worked at Cambridge. What? Thank you. Um he him and Lenny Bruce and Mae West all helped to combat censorship in the 1950s. He also invented the jello shot and attended Harvard at 15 years old. I miss him.
SPEAKER_01We actually spent my birthday floating in the pool listening to him. Because he died on her birthday. Yeah. So we have a pool in our backyard and we are just kind of floating around underneath the stars and like listening to Tom Lair and I.
SPEAKER_00I sent that man an invitation, my graduation. I told I told him I love you dearly, but you're so old. Please don't show up. Yeah. And then and then he died like a couple months later.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, he did. Um, from excitement that you graduated.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I guess.
SPEAKER_01That's naturally exciting. So uh today we're gonna be a little more organized. We're gonna try to be. Uh we're gonna talk about our Chicago trip. Um, do you want to talk about the first stop or no? You want to avoid that one?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, until the next episode. Okay, cool, cool. Uh and the second one because uh well, yeah, there's nothing really to tell. So, shameless, right? That show that takes place in Chicago. I'm a big fan of that show, and I know I I knew that, hey, that house is somewhere in Chicago. We'd never been to Chicago outside of the airport. Um, and so we tried to go look for it. Um we ended up going to a random fucking person's house.
SPEAKER_01And she got a picture taken in front of the random person. But we didn't know it was a random person's house until after she like.
SPEAKER_00I was like, that does not look like the house.
SPEAKER_01I didn't think it looked like the house. It's not. It wasn't. Um, but it was actually kind of funny because she was like so excited. You know, when you bring it up on what where did you bring it up on maps? Yeah. Oh my god. It was so funny. And we're like literally like I cannot tell you what a fucking nightmare it is to drive in Chicago.
SPEAKER_00Oh my god, especially that part.
SPEAKER_01Awful. So, anyways, um, but it was uh quite comical, yeah. So just for funsies, she got a picture in front of a uh random person's house. Yeah. Uh we actually got to ride subways for the first time. Oh my gosh. The subways were so much fun. I've never been on a subway in my life. I was stoked. Um, I have to admit, there is uh there's a definite unique odor on the subway.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, there was a guy lighting up a woody on there.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, like not like a it was a blonde. It was a marijuana.
SPEAKER_00Oh, marijuana.
SPEAKER_01He was smoking a joint.
SPEAKER_00He was smoking a joint.
SPEAKER_01On the subway. And nobody did a fucking job. I mean, subware. Ah, sub where were we going and why was he doing that? I don't know. Um but it was oh my gosh, it was terrifying though. Like we're sitting there and we are just on this subway, and then all of a sudden this crazy guy just comes barreling through and Yeah! Oh, and we were on like this high-ass bridge, like it was so high in the air. Um, is it called a bridge if it's a subway? It is somewhere. It's yeah, it's it's it wasn't on like the ground ground, like we are literally in the air, um, but obviously on something. So like a track, like a track bridge or whatever. And he's like barreling through this fucking subway. And uh, why don't you tell him what you did, Mia? Go ahead.
SPEAKER_00Um, so there's this emergency door at the end of it. I know that a bunch of people have ridden subways before. I'm not gonna man's plane. We are not those people. Um I like it a lot. It was funny. I love public transit. But this part was terrifying. So he opened the fucking door, stepped out. It said, do not open while train is moving, by the way. And this thing was rocking through, stepped through, hopped from train to train.
SPEAKER_01I thought he killed himself. I was scared. I was like, oh my god. And all these other people that are from fucking Chicago are just like normal. It's Tuesday. Yeah, it was wild.
SPEAKER_00I think it was a Thursday, yeah.
SPEAKER_01But no, was he he was the one that had the little the the marijuana joint?
SPEAKER_00No, that was not him, that was the guy with the bike.
SPEAKER_01Oh god, yeah, no. There was very interesting place. Uh we are actually from Tacoma, Washington, which is um kind of turning into like a mini Chicago from what I hear. But now we uh we live in the the Midwest. We're not gonna reveal our location. But I will tell you that it's definitely not a big city. Um, so we're not used to that shit no more.
SPEAKER_00Middle of fucking nowhere, Kansas.
SPEAKER_01Okay, so there's no oceans in Kansas, by the way. Um, so we're gonna talk to you about Graveface. We're gonna go into a little bit more detail this time and talk about some of the exhibits that we saw and some of the experiences that we had. Um, so when you first walk in to uh Graveface, the entrance has like the mortuary art, and we talked a little bit about that in our introduction about like the hair art where they twirl it into roses and everything.
SPEAKER_00And the acid bath album covers.
SPEAKER_01It was wild times.
SPEAKER_00Um, we should talk about the history of that band. Write that down.
SPEAKER_01History of Acid Bath, writing it down.
SPEAKER_00Acid Bath. So, but shout out to Shay, my my mutual mutilation on TikTok and Instagram. Um they made very good content deep diving on metal bands and stuff like that. And that's actually how I found out about the history behind Acid Bath's album covers. So yeah.
SPEAKER_01And so speaking of albums and album covers, that was Mia's like, she was locked in when we walked in. Locked in when we walked in! What? Um, so they had a record store in there, like a used record store.
SPEAKER_00They had worm in there!
SPEAKER_01So, you want to tell them about worm?
SPEAKER_00It's my favorite band.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I'm not wearing their shirt today, I'm wearing uh morbid.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. But um, it was a good time because she found what what record did you find there?
SPEAKER_00Um I got Holder's Forlorn Peasant Tale, I think. Um But they had they had Worm there, they had Sleep there, they had um Nile there, which was pretty cool. Um they had Darkthrone there. I did get a Darkthrone record there. I got um Astral Fortress, which was pretty cool. Um and I got Forlorn Peasantale. I don't know if that's the name of the album, but it's the one by Holder with a cool border around it, and she's in there and she's and she's Serving Cunt.
SPEAKER_01Serving Cunt's a good thing I found out.
SPEAKER_00Oh my god, our audience isn't that old.
SPEAKER_01Some of them are. So, but anyways, Mia has like she has like really she has a very diverse uh music collection. Like she loves Lenny Bruce and uh Tom Lair and Tom Lair and who's playing right now. Who's yeah, who's playing right now, and um and she loves like death metal bands and stuff. She finds out about these super obscure bands that I've never heard of before. And we've gone to a couple concerts, a few concerts now.
SPEAKER_00You I've gone to those concerts. You didn't want to go to those.
SPEAKER_01No, not those. No, that's not something about somebody screaming a lot, you know. I I'm a teacher, I don't want to hear any more screaming than I have to, and I certainly don't want to pay for it. Um, but you know, she always finds some really cool bands and she gets to meet some of them and actually becomes friends with them, so that's kind of cool. Yeah. Um wait, yeah, I shouldn't talk about that. We won't talk about that.
SPEAKER_00Um I'll I'll bring it up though. I I do have regular conversations with Scott Connor, so that's pretty cool. He's a he's a good friend of mine. I don't know if I'm his friend. I don't want to assume that uh Sam's in the corner, like, yeah, you are. Oh wait, no, he's from California. Yeah, no, not from the Midwesties. Yeah, not at all. Not at all. Nowhere, not even close. No. He might I think he lived in Texas for a bit.
SPEAKER_01Could be. Okay, let's lock in, bitch. Okay. Alright, so um, so then as you're going through, so it has like the the record store gift shop. Gift shop had some really cool looking books there. It was so cool. I love the gift shop.
SPEAKER_00Um they had this um I would love to work at Greatface. They had it was a cool place.
SPEAKER_01They had this exorcism kit, um, a crucifix, and on the inside it had like the holy water and stuff like that. It was hanging on the wall. Oh, speaking of holy water. Oh, yeah, we'll talk about that another time. But it was it was wild though. They have this this like taxidermist squirrel that is little tiny, little tiny paws are up in the little middle middle fingers, and he's like, fuck you! But you know I didn't know.
SPEAKER_00Oh no, I thought they had the disco nuts one, but that was something I was looking at for you for a Christmas gift. It was a taxidermy squirrel ass with disco balls for nuts. Oh my god, that's hilarious. I would have got the possum squirrel scarf.
SPEAKER_01Dude, like honestly, you guys spoil me. But it was cool. Then um, there's just a lot of neat stuff in there. Some of the books I saw in there was uh serial killers with head injuries. Um, and actually, I'm I think I'm gonna have to look that one up. I hadn't had a chance to yet. But then there's another one that said Children Who Murder Their Mothers by Alexandria Montclair. And I was like, damn, that's some deep stuff right there. So, um, but I mean, look at us, we're talking about just random shit. And some of it gets pretty dark, so I suppose, you know, who am I to point the finger? Yeah, but one of the kidney fingers.
SPEAKER_00My long creepy finger.
SPEAKER_01But uh one of the most interesting books, we're gonna talk a little bit about uh the one that Mia had seen there, uh the Anton Levy. Yeah, so um we're looking up some of I forgot to do my research. I did a little bit of research for that.
SPEAKER_00I can bring my book downstairs. I have his satanic Bible.
SPEAKER_01We're not Satanists, but I mean, are you a Satanist? I don't know.
SPEAKER_00I mean I'm pagan, but I'm wearing a very, very Catholic symbol right now.
SPEAKER_01I'm not pagan anybody, but um I do believe not yet! But um I'm I'm more of a spiritualist, but I do believe in uh Christ.
SPEAKER_00Um I have faith in Christ, so um Yeah, yeah, I have faith in Christ with that poster in the background and the palm palm reading and the the background and all that.
SPEAKER_01I am a believer in Christ. I do believe in Christ, and you know, he is my savior. This is a chill dude. This is spiritual stuff. This is spiritual stuff. He's a chill dude. Yeah, he's chilly.
SPEAKER_00I mean, I'm wearing a Catholic symbol that was worn by a nun for 70 years.
SPEAKER_01We try to be very accepting people, you know.
SPEAKER_00But anyway, you've got a rune henna onto your finger. I do your long, creepy finger. I'm gonna say that as one.
SPEAKER_01My long creepy finger I don't have very long fingers. So, anyways, my favorite room. So when you walk in and you go into the room, one of the first rooms that you come across is the sideshow exhibit. And uh they have like a w a lot of wild stuff in there. We talked a little bit about the demon baby, which looks like this like zombie infant thing. And it's that water. Uh yes, it is. Would you like some? Does it have Taylor's backwash in it? No.
SPEAKER_00I don't know if it's a water. It's flavored water. Oh no.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, okay. Well then swallow your spit, honey. So, anyways, but when you walk into like the sideshow room, there it talks about like a bunch of the different um actors that they had, some of their artifacts and articles about them. They had the Siamese twins that were um Yvonne and Avette, and they lived from 1949 to 1993. Their mom wanted to get them uh separated.
SPEAKER_00Is that what Evelyn Evelyn is based on? I don't know what the fuck that is. Oh, yeah, that's fair.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so um they talked about it.
SPEAKER_00You're on a very you were on a very different side of the internet. Yeah, it was.
SPEAKER_01So they talked about uh John Williams, he was the alligator boy, he was called the alligator boy because he had a skin condition. Um, this is just some of the people that you know they were considered circus freaks just because they had medical conditions.
SPEAKER_00Um so and his was just a skin condition, they didn't say what it was, but I used to think I was part reptile because of my eczema because I felt like I had scales. I just thought you should know that. You know what? And then when I got on the internet and I saw all that lizard people stuff, I was like, oh my god, it's legit. So I'm a fucking lizard. Why don't you? I'm like, what, seven or eight years old? Uh six or seven. Um I'm like seven or eight years old. And then I'm convinced. I'm like fully convinced that I'm a fucking lizard, and and and or a robot or something. I I remember that one guy that I was friends with in elementary school, and he was like, you know the those things in your wrists? Those are actually wires.
SPEAKER_01Veins. No kids are fucking weird, dude.
SPEAKER_00Oh my god, it's so weird.
SPEAKER_01You know, it's so funny. There was a show when I was like six or seven called uh V. It was a movie, and it was about like the lizard people, and I will never forget, it was terrifying. I wasn't supposed to be watching it, my parents were watching it, we were supposed to be in bed, but kids honestly, we don't stay in bed. Um, well, and and mine don't. So, but I do. I remember but I snuck down and I saw the part where they like ripped off his skin, and it was like lizard face. Oh my god. Terrifying, terrifying, so I can understand why that would be alarming to you.
SPEAKER_00It wasn't even alarming. I thought it was really cool. Uh well I was I was just like, oh my god, my mom fucking lied to me. I'm a lizard. I mean, like I don't have eczema, I'm a lizard!
SPEAKER_01Stranger things have happened.
SPEAKER_00Stranger things like the show. Oh shadow. Uh-huh. Not Shadow.
SPEAKER_01I haven't actually watched it, so so, anyways. So, Anthony, Anton, sorry. Anton LeVay. I keep calling him Anthony. Um Anthony LeVay. Sorry, dear. Anthony, the very one. Uh so anyways. That one. There's a there's one of the things that they have in there, so they we talked about like our um our EMF, you know, sensors up, and we had our little, you know, our digital recorder and stuff like that. And uh one of the things that it kept hitting on, and he told us he wasn't gonna tell us what was real in the room. And so we're looking around, and when you walk into this room, there is a lot of weird shit. This is a two-headed cow.
SPEAKER_00There is a oh no, like the poem. You know what I'm talking about.
SPEAKER_01Oh god. Can we move on, please? Fine. Okay, so so they had the two-headed cow, they had like this um, it's like just a bunch of taxidermid weird animals. They had like this baby that looks like a but it's not a real baby, guys. Um, but you know, seems how people are so used to like Hollywood and you know how they inflate stuff and everything, you know, naturally. That's gonna be the first thing people go, Oh, that's gotta be real. But um, he said, Yeah, I'm not gonna tell you what's real in here, I'm gonna let you find it for yourself.
SPEAKER_00Two-headed calf by Laura Gilpin. That's what I was talking about.
SPEAKER_01Oh, okay. So they did have a two-headed calf in there, but it wasn't a real one. Um they're very rare, but they are real. That I mean, I've never seen one, but I don't doubt that they're real, you know. I mean, again, you know, these things do happen. So they do have um a lot of artifacts in there, and some of them are authentic, some of them are, you know, some of them aren't. Um, but not all of them have like that spiritual energy attached to them. And he told us since he wasn't gonna tell us which one it was, we ended up uh finding it. We found all of the ones that people are like raving about. Um, but the one in that room was the Anton LeVay letter. Um so yeah, nice.
SPEAKER_00And his robe.
SPEAKER_01And his robe. Um, and it had his book and his pictures and all that other stuff.
SPEAKER_00And all the pictures of Xena LeVay, they they got a reaction of the EMF devices. They did. They were actually so hot. I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So anyways, I was like kind of looking about looking looking at the thing that they said about the satanic church and everything, um, because I was like, man, what did what was the big deal about him? And it was just because the whole like satanic panic and stuff like that, you know, that was like a big thing. But some of the stuff that it talked about was uh because I was like, why was there blood on the thing? You know, did he require people to sign, you know, their little membership cards or stuff and blood?
SPEAKER_00I think he did it just for the love of the game, honestly.
SPEAKER_01I uh for the love of the game. I think he just for the game. He did it for the fans, you guys. It was for the fans, for the likes. Uh so, anyways, like and follow. I'm just kidding, no. So, anyways, um, but there is blood on the letter. It could be wax, but they said it was blood.
SPEAKER_00But he likes it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, pretty much. So, but he didn't have anybody like take blood oaths or anything like that. It was like, hey, come or leave, or whatever you're gonna do. Um, so he did do some rituals. It says satanic baptismal rites for adults and children. There were ceremonies who felt for people that felt like they needed to transition from a spiritual or Christian background to something non-theist. What is it, non-the uh Atheistic? Yeah, there you go. So, anyways, um his thing was just like letting people like focus on themselves and how they felt and basically making themselves their own God. So, is that right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, because uh I'm pretty sure Satan in Hebrew translates to a self. Yeah. And yeah. So I don't know.
SPEAKER_01I mean, I don't know a lot about it. I'm not gonna shame people for their beliefs because I feel like it's not him! I think it's very important to allow people to um have their own beliefs, and you know, guess what? We're not supposed to judge anybody anyway. So, anyway, so we're in this room, right? And the in the sideshow room, and all of a sudden like this one, like kind of well, yeah, because I mean this is the room as well. But the room that we are in, um, my the little voice recorder, when we're listening to it, it kept saying doctor. Doctor, and it said Charlie. It said Charlie like three or four times, and I was like, Who's Dr. Charlie? Right.
SPEAKER_00Charlie, are you there?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, right?
SPEAKER_00And so then like the like the game.
SPEAKER_01I what is the I don't know?
SPEAKER_00The pencil thing. You're old. I'm very old. So well, I'm not that old. It was in the it was in the 2000s when you'd uh you put yes no yes no on each other two pencils, you'd say Charlie Charlie, are you there? And it would go to your if it moved. I remember distinctly you didn't let me play it because it was satanic. Yeah. That was unmedicated Vera though.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, medicated Vera's a lot more relaxed.
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_01So I love my meds and my meds love me. Uh so I love your meds too. Thank you. But we're in there and we're like, I said, Who's Dr. Charlie? So then the guy says, um, well, there could be one of two things that's talking about, so we're gonna go, we're gonna go out here and down the hall. And sure as shit, we get in the hallway, and I don't surgeon. Surgeon. Well, it did it did say surgeon, but it said Dr. Charlie. It said surgeon, it said Dr. Charlie. I don't even remember what surgeon it was talking about. That one guy, uh, yeah, that one guy.
SPEAKER_00I completely blank the second I opened my mouth.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, um, he was a surgeon though.
SPEAKER_00He was I am a surgeon! Oh fuck. Sam, you know what that's wrong. No, I don't. Oh my god, okay.
SPEAKER_01So my talent is wasted on you people. Okay, sorry. But we did find what it was talking about with Charlie, and what was that item?
SPEAKER_00Charlie Manson's pants.
SPEAKER_01Charlie Manson's pants. So, anyways, they were his sweatpants, you know, um, because sweatpants were all that fit him those days. I'm just kidding. They were actually, that's what he wore, and they were these pants that he wore, not just in prison, those were his formal sweatpants. So when he was getting interviewed by anybody, um, where it whether it be the news or you know, whatever, any kind of formal interviews that he had, he wore these pants too. And actually, there's some pictures of him when he's in court and he's wearing those pants.
SPEAKER_00So it was he he was scrawny. He was those were a size medium. That guy that was a little guy.
SPEAKER_01I remember being terrified of him when I was little.
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah, yeah. Do you feel blame? Are you mad? Do you feel like he was he's so funny, I hate him so much.
SPEAKER_01Nuttier than a fucking fruitcake. So yeah. Anyways, um, so that was kind of interesting, you know. So it was interesting to kind of hit on that, you know, because it's like we're finding all these things, and like it's this place looks really small on the outside, but it's actually really big, and there's so many things. I mean, it's a lot to see. We should do an episode on Charlie Manson. Oh, we will. Okay, I'll write that down. So, but while we're about him, but while we're talking about Charlie Manson, and we're sitting there staring at these like sweatpants and stuff, and they actually had like this thing, um, and John Bobbit. I don't think he's dead yet, but they had a picture of John Bobbit holding up like the picture of his little like penis head, the one that his wife bit off. Did you have not did you not hear no! Oh my god! John Bobbit, like his wife fucking lost her shit and bit the tip of his dick off. I mean, what did he do? I think he was a real asshole. I think he abused her. I was the kid who didn't have a dick off too.
SPEAKER_00Listen, she turned him into a bobbit head. And his last name was Bobbit Head because she did she because she bit the head off. She did bit the head off.
SPEAKER_01Oh, I I don't know. I'm not looking this up real quick so I'm not misspeaking. Um but anyways, so Elena Bobbit, that was his wife. Um, I do know that she she bit it off or cut it off. Let's find this out. Okay.
SPEAKER_00Um she bit it off.
SPEAKER_01So she in June 1993, after alleged physical and sexual and physiological abuse by her husband, John Bobbitt, she cut off his penis with a kitchen knife. She didn't bite it off. Okay, I was thinking, because I mean, honestly.
