Ghosts in the Gorge, a Haunted Honky Tonk, and an Ohio River Curse, Proceed with Caution…..
My ceramic pumpkins are on my front porch (yes, I am lazy now that I am an empty nester), and the candy is bought and ready for trick or treaters. They better hurry up or the butterfingers will be gone by next week!
Fall is here, and Halloween is this week, can you believe it? Whether you live in Louisville or more rural areas – there is something to do for everyone. Halloween on Hillcrest is delighting audiences once again. Plus, I’ve seen a constant stream of pictures on Facebook with families heading to local farms for hayrides and pumpkin picking.
I asked my Frazier colleagues to send me pictures of their children in costume, and they didn’t disappoint. Some are recent, some are not, but these pictures made me smile and I hope they do the same for you. We even have entire families dressing up!
Most of this week’s Frazier Weekly focuses on the spooky, the supernatural or somewhere in between. I mentioned Halloween on Hillcrest, Leslie Anderson has an article on that tradition.
Our curator Amanda Briede focuses on a new dance floor piece in our collection, said to be from a haunted honky tonk bar in Campbell County, Kentucky.
Jason Berkowitz continues our Lesser-Known Legends of Kentucky series with an Ohio River curse.
We give you some reprieve with Simon Meiners and his fantastic series Exploring Kentucky, this time in Nicholas and Pulaski Counties and Kent Klarer is talking the blues.
But let’s begin this issue with Guest Contributor Bill Stark, someone I know and have interviewed before.
It’s the story of how a move to a cabin at Red River Gorge was going to be the perfect way for Stark and his wife to retire and get away from it all.
Nope.
Rachel Platt
VP of Mission
Frazier History Museum
This Week in the Museum
Dream Vacation Cabin in Red River Gorge Becomes Nightmare
It’s Halloween! Do you believe in ghosts? I didn’t . . . at least for the first fifty years of my life. I was open minded but not a full believer until 2012, when a strange sequence of supernatural events “hit me like a whip or some taekwondo,” to quote my favorite singer-songwriter, Jimmy Buffett. When the lines of reality are blurred by what you witness time and time again, it changes you—at least, it did me.
“Everybody dreams of owning a place where they can get away from it all but be careful what you wish for . . . be very careful.”
Those are the words I spoke in 2017, on the “GHOSTOBER” Halloween special Terror in the Woods for the Discovery Network. Truer words could not be spoken and remain so this Halloween 2024. After purchasing our “dream vacation cabin” deep in the Kentucky backwoods near the Red River Gorge in 2014, it quickly became clear we were not alone. A persistent paranormal presence plagued me and my wife Charisse. No cell service, no WIFI, no internet, no cable, no distractions . . . sounds great, right? In the beginning, yes. It was nice to reset and get in tune with mother nature both day and night.
The Stark's Haunted Cabin. Image credit: Bill Stark.
Bill and Charisse Stark stand next to a sign marking the Red River Gorge Geological Area. Image credit: Bill Stark.
Bill Stark's boot next to a mysterious footprint in the snow. Image credit: Bill Starks.
Within a few weeks of total bliss and solitude, our dream started becoming a nightmare. Suddenly, the vibe changed from paradise to paranormal, as strange ethereal mists began showing up on the CCTV monitor. First black then green mists began manifesting, not visible to the naked eye. Soon electronics like the TV and Playstation began coming on at 3 a.m. with no explanation. Fear filled the living room, ultimately running me out of the cabin scared and confused, only to sleep in my car. After the first snow at our cabin, unidentified footprints were found. Posting the prints online attracted Discovery producers, putting us in the national spotlight.
The series Terror in the Woods, episode “Haunted Cabin,” featured six supernatural events with video and photographic evidence. It is now streaming on multiple platforms including HBO MAX under the new name These Woods are Haunted. That was just the beginning!
Now, seven years after the show first aired, and a decade in our cabin, we have documented over one hundred disturbing paranormal events. Eyewitness accounts and bone chilling evidence support our claims. We discovered many disturbing facts researching the cabin’s history. Read in vivid detail how we have endured countless encounters with ghosts, legendary cryptids, angelic orbs, strange lights, guttural growls, disembodied voices, objects moving, and more! I was compelled to write this book to document our true “Haunted Cabin” story.
In Shadows Canyon Red: Our Haunted Cabin in the Red River Gorge is my first book. We self-published the book in May 2024 and completed a cross-country book tour spanning thirteen states in five weeks and 5,500 miles!
I am humbled and honored by the positive response of readers nationwide and my hometown, THE VILLE. After graduating the University of Louisville, I became known as “Bill from the Ville” and the CARDS #1 FANATIC. My heart soars with the support of local icons like the Frazier History Museum. Signed copies are available in the Frazier’s Museum Shop. Thank you, my hometown!
Follow us on social media and see the evidence for yourself. Visit our “Bill from the Ville” Tele-Vision website at BFTVTV.com. A podcast is scheduled for 2025.
Bill Stark
Author, In Shadows Canyon Red: Our Haunted Cabin in Red River Gorge
Guest Contributor
Museum Shop: In Shadows Canyon Red: Our Haunted Cabin in the Red River Gorge
A copy of In Shadows Canyon Red: Our Haunted Cabin in the Red River Gorge sold in the Frazier’s Museum Shop.
Bill Stark autographs copies of his books at the Frazier.
Want to learn more about Bill Stark’s haunted cabin in Lee County, Kentucky? Pick up an autographed copy of his new book In Shadows Canyon Red—now sold in the Frazier’s Museum Shop!
Curator’s Corner: Bobby Mackey’s Haunted Dance Floor
The Frazier recently made a spooky addition to our collection: a piece of the original dance floor from famed haunted honky tonk Bobby Mackey’s Music World. Bobby Mackey is a traditional country singer, best known for his 1982 single “Pepsi Man.” He opened his bar and live music venue, Bobby Mackey’s Music World, in Wilder, Campbell County, Kentucky, in 1978. Over the years, thousands have flocked to Bobby Mackey’s to dance to live country music and have a few drinks. Having grown up in Northern Kentucky, I visited the bar in the early 2000s to celebrate a friend’s birthday.
A small blue orb floats next to the bar at Bobby Mackey's. Image credit: Amanda Briede.
Kyle holds a piece of the haunted dance floor at Bobby Mackey's. A blue orb hovers by his foot. Image credit: Amanda Briede.
Bobby Mackey’s is perhaps more well-know, however, for being the most haunted honky tonk in the country. It has been featured on the television shows Ghost Hunters, Ghost Adventures, Most Terrifying Places in America, My Ghost Story, and A Haunting. Zak Bagans of Ghost Adventures has been quoted as saying that Bobby Mackey’s is “one of the ten most haunted places in America.”
Growing up, I remember hearing all the stories about how haunted Bobby Mackey’s is. When I was in the fourth or fifth grade, one of my friends brought a picture of his mom riding the bull at Bobby Mackey’s to school. The picture featured a ghostly orb floating over her shoulder. We were all amazed by the ghostly presence in the picture, and the image has stuck with me ever since.
Many believe the night club is so haunted because it sits on the site of a portal to hell. One of the ghosts that haunts Bobby Mackey’s is thought to the be ghost of Pearl Bryan, a twenty-two-year-old pregnant woman whose body was found decapitated in 1896, near the site where Bobby Mackey’s was later constructed. Some believe Pearl was murdered by Satanists who cursed the location, opening the portal. Various other tales of murder and suicide fill the history of Bobby Mackey’s and the clubs that earlier occupied the building. One such tale is that of Johanna from the 1940s. Johanna was a pregnant dancer who poisoned herself after her father murdered her lover, a singer at the club named Robert Randall, by hanging him in the dressing room.
Today, the original Bobby Mackey’s building is closed and being demolished. The bar has been temporarily relocated to Florence, Boone County, Kentucky, while a new building is built on the same site. Before the demolition of the building, an auction was held, selling off tables and chairs, beer signs, and even artifacts related to the haunting legends. Of course, I was excited to have the chance to add a piece of this haunted Northern Kentucky history to our collection, and we were able to purchase a piece of the dance floor. That meant I need to go pick up our piece of floor and that I had one last chance to go into the original Bobby Mackey’s, this time in the light of day. I have to say that going into the building in the day was perhaps even more unnerving than visiting it at night. You could clearly see all the additions that had been made to the building over the decades. Nothing seemed straight. The long wooden bar, the floor, the walls, the ceiling—all seemed to bend and turn around you. I wanted to capture this sense of uneasiness that I felt, so I snapped a few pictures. Though you can’t really tell how crooked and curved things are in the picture, a ghostly orb, the same as I saw in that picture nearly thirty years ago, appears floating near the bar. I took another picture of my boyfriend, Kyle, carrying the piece of floor through the bar. You can see an orb floating near his feet. When viewed as a “live” photo, the orb follows along as he walks. I honestly screeched when I went back and looked at the photos.
Though our piece of haunted floor is not yet on display, it is likely to be included as part of a future Cool Kentucky exhibition update. Speaking of hauntings, longtime employees have tons of stories of ghostly encounters at the Frazier. Have you ever had a ghostly experience while visiting?
Amanda Briede
Sr. Curator of Exhibitions
Lesser-known Legends of Kentucky: Captain Francis McHarry’s Curse, 1857–Present
Each week this October, we’re publishing an article in “Lesser-known Legends of Kentucky,” a spOoky series written by my dear colleague, Jason Boo-kowitz. This week, Jason traces the origin of an Ohio River curse to a mid-1800s steamboat captain whose peculiar request has gone unfulfilled.—Slimin’ Monsters, Communications & Research Specialist
Exterior of Captain Francis McHarry’s now-vacant tomb in southern Indiana, undated. Credit: JeffersonClark, Wikimapia.
Facing the Ohio River from inside Captain Francis McHarry’s now-vacant tomb in southern Indiana, c. October 2020. Credit: MosierWorks, YouTube.
The Irvin Mausoleum at Cave Hill Cemetery, the "final" resting place of Francis McHarry. Image credit: Mick Sullivan
Across the river, nestled in the woods of southern Indiana, lies an abandoned tomb. In addition to this curious location, the monument boasts a rather peculiar feature—a solitary porthole facing the Ohio River. As the legend goes, the corpse of a steamboat captain lies upright in what has come to be known as “the Captain’s Tomb,” hurling curses at passing vessels so that the river might claim them. Not merely a children’s fable or campfire story, the legend has been respected and feared for nearly two centuries, as steamboats and keelboats have historically blown their horns and sounded their whistles to ward off the dreadful curse. Perhaps you are curious as to why someone would commit themselves to an eternity of retribution and spite. Well, wonder no more, as therein lies the tale of Captain Francis McHarry—a highly successful, though quite cantankerous, steamboat captain and ferry operator from the 1800s.
Born in 1805, McHarry dedicated his life to the Ohio River. Not just a well-known and highly successful steamboat captain, McHarry worked construction on the river’s banks, ran a lucrative toll service, and owned (and operated) a popular ferry. Indeed, it was this last occupation which would plant the seeds of the eventual curse. Described by some as “fiery-tempered,” Captain McHarry was known as much for his fisticuffs as he was for his ferry. Some say his fellow steamboat captains were quite jealous of McHarry’s success and fortune. Others suggest Captain McHarry instigated most confrontations, resulting from his anger and frustration over the ever-increasing steamboat trade and the competition it brought. What we do know for certain is that as the number of steamboats sharing the Ohio River increased, so did McHarry’s confrontations with their captains. And nothing infuriated Captain McHarry more than the wakes the boats caused, frightening human and animal passengers alike, as he ferried them across the river.
Thus, it came to be that an embittered and spiteful Captain McHarry made the unusual (and possibly otherworldly) arrangement to exact his eternal revenge on every passing steamboat. As stated before, a tomb was constructed in the woods of southern Indiana, close to the Ohio River. Upon his passing, McHarry was to be placed upright in his tomb, so as to be able to observe the river from the porthole. In this way, no steamboat captain could ever escape his everlasting wrath. At least this is what Captain McHarry believed would happen upon his passing in 1857. And so it did . . . at least, for a brief time. That is, until his body was moved several years after his death—joining both his daughter, Florence, and her husband, Captain James Irvin, in their hilltop mausoleum in Cave Hill Cemetery. How McHarry would have felt about this change of venue is, of course, known only to those in the afterworld. But I have my suspicions and suggest one tread lightly, perhaps whistling, if visiting his final resting place in Cave Hill. For that matter, I caution all riverboat captains against ignoring the curse, regardless of where Captain Francis McHarry is buried. So blow your whistle and sound your horn . . . lest you find yourself sinking to the very bottom of the Ohio River.
Jason Berkowitz
Stories in Mind Facilitator
Blues in the Bluegrass: Frazier's Member's-Only Event a Sold Out Success!
If you’ve got the blues, I’ve got the cure. And now, so do our members. This past Thursday, the Frazier’s very first “More for Members” program took our audience through local Blues history with live musical performances by our house band, The Ox Breeches, historical presentations by Michael Jones and Mick Sullivan, and a 70-piece harmonica choir.
Before the program even began, the Brown-Forman Theatre transformed into something resembling an elementary school music room as guests opened the harmonica they received at the welcome center and tooled around curiously. The sounds of sporadic music mixed with ooh’s, aah’s, and giggles belied the typical dimly lit and respectfully silent environment of a history museum.
Mick and I opened with a brief performance of “Kentucky Oysters” by David Baker, a quirky blues tune that maintained the sense of wonder in the room while focusing the attention on what was to follow. Mick gave an engaging presentation centered around Louisville Blues man Sylvester Weaver, the history of Blues guitar, the Hawaiian influences of steel guitar playing, and played along on his own guitar to give examples. Then the full band came out to back up Mick as he wrapped up his presentation with a masterful performance of “Guitar Rag,” a slippery technical show de force of his instrumental acumen.
I was next up and took our audience through the basics of the 12-bar blues form. We listened to popular examples and variations, then we all got out our harmonicas and learned to play the blues together. Now, I’m no virtuoso harmonica player, nor even an adequate one to tell the truth, but I’m thinking some of our members had played before, because when we put all the pieces together and performed en masse, we sounded good! We got the band back together, this time with our vocalist, Hayley Harlow, to perform Rosemary Clooney’s “A Touch of the Blues.”
Finally, our guest historian for the evening and good friend, Michael Jones regaled us with stories from Louisville’s musical past. His expertly researched narrative took us from the earliest recordings of black artists in Louisville, through the rise of jug band music, and paralleled the timeline with another local musician, Sara Martin. He read passages from his most recent book with historical quips like T.O.B.A (Theater Owners Booking Association) really standing for tough on black asses. Michael is an engaging speaker who kept the audience laughing while providing great context that connected his presentation to Mick’s. And, of course, The Ox Breeches took the stage one last time to perform one of Sara Martin’s tunes, “Graveyard Dream Blues.”
This was just the beginning of a series of member-exclusive programs, with many more to come. If you’re getting FOMO from reading this, then now is the time to become a member. Our upcoming “More for Members” programs are shaping up to be sell-out hits as well. I absolutely loved sharing this program with you, and I hope to see you at the next one!
Kent Klarer
Grants Manager & Writer
Exploring Kentucky graphic.
As part of our 120: Cool KY Counties exhibit, we’re curating a list of 120 unique sites to visit: one site in each county! In 2024, once a month, we’ll share sites in ten counties, completing the list in December. For October, we’re sharing sites in these counties: Nicholas, Ohio, Oldham, Owen, Owsley, Pendleton, Perry, Pike, Powell, and Pulaski. I extend a special thank you to Kentucky Historical Society, whose Historical Marker Program has been a brilliant resource for this list!
WAVE-TV transmitter in LaGrange, Oldham County, July 2023. Credit: Google Street View.
Detail of article about New York Yankees centerfielder Earle Combs published on page 29 of the June 30, 1929, issue of the New York Daily News. Combs was born in Pebworth, Owsley County, Kentucky. Credit: New York Daily News.
Nada Tunnel in Powell County, August 30, 2010. Credit: Patrick Mueller, Wikimedia Commons.
Upper Blue Licks. (38°16’28.1”N, 83°55’49.8”W) On August 12, 1782, Capt. John Holder and seventeen militiamen overtook a band of Wyandottes on the Licking River six miles northeast of this site, now Moorefield, Nicholas County. The Wyandottes had captured two boys, Jones Hory and Calloway, near Boonesborough. Hoy would be held captive seven years; Calloway not so long.
Woosley’s General Store. (37°27’02.9”N, 86°44’28.0”W) In 1944, Edith and Everett “Red” Woosley opened a general store in Rosine, Ohio County. They had an old barn next door where they stored fertilizer and other supplies. On May 22, 1992, owners Hoyt and Eleanor Bratcher opened the barn for music every Friday night. The Rosine Barn Jamboree still offers free bluegrass music shows.
WAVE-TV Transmitter. (38°27’14.3”N, 85°25’25.9”W) Standing 1,739 feet tall—ten feet taller than the tip of the Sears Tower in Chicago—the WAVE-TV tower in LaGrange, Oldham County, is the tallest structure in Kentucky. It was built in 1991 at a cost of $5 million. Its height—which is seventy percent taller than the average TV tower—increased WAVE’s coverage area and broadcast signal.
Karsner Field. (38°23’48.7”N, 84°50’58.8”W) By 1946, devout Christian and returning WWII pilot Harry Karsner (1914–71) had built an airstrip in Monterey, Owen County, lit up by a neon “CHRIST IS THE ANSWER” sign. From his gospel plane Messenger to Ninevah, he flew over Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio broadcasting sermons. The hangar was razed in 2018, but the neon sign remains.
Earle Combs’s Birthplace. (37°29’59.9”N, 83°43’41.9”W) Born here in Pebworth, Owsley County, Earle Combs (1899–1976) played centerfield for the New York Yankees, 1924–35. He batted leadoff for the Yankee’s famous 1927 team, whose “Murderers’ Row” lineup also featured Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth. Combs helped the Yankees win nine World Series—three as a player; six as a coach.
Bird’s War Road. (38°40’41.0”N, 84°19’46.0”W) In June 1780, British Col. Henry Bird landed near here in what is now Falmouth, Pendleton County, with 200 Canadian rangers and 600 Shawnees, Ottawas, Hurons, Chippewas, Delawares, Mingoes, and ’Taways to attack Kentucky’s frontier forts. However, news of George Rogers Clark’s approach cause Bird’s army to retreat with 400 captives.
Buckhorn Log Cathedral. (37°20’51.9”N, 83°28’32.9”W) In 1902, Presbyterian minister Rev. Harvey S. Murdoch (1871–1935) founded the Buckhorn Children’s Center in Buckhorn, Perry County. Thousands of Appalachian children attended the K–12 school. By 1935, Murdoch and his wife had grown the campus to include a gym, a farm, and a hospital—but only the church remains.
Site of Killing of Asa Harmon McCoy. (37°33’27.1”N, 82°11’30.1”W) On January 7, 1865, the Logan Wildcats, a Confederate guerilla unit led by “Devil Anse” Hatfield, fatally shot Union veteran Asa Harmon McCoy at a cave near this site in Ransom, Pike County. McCoy had mustered out of service December 24 after breaking his leg. His killing foreshadowed the Hatfield-McCoy feud.
Nada Tunnel. (37°49’01.3”N, 83°40’55.0”W) In 1911, Dana Lumber Company finished building a twelve-feet-high, 900-feet-long tunnel through the mountain ridge at Martin’s Fork in Nada, Powell County. Trains hauled 30,000 board feet of lumber per day from the mills to the nearest L&N junction until timber was exhausted in 1925. The railroad tracks were fully dismantled by 1942.
Mill Springs. (37°03’20.5”N, 84°44’21.8”W) On January 19, 1862, Union forces fought Confederates at the Battle of Mill Springs near Nancy, Pulaski County. Due to poor visibility in dark woods, Brig. Gen. Felix K. Zollicoffer, in a white raincoat, approached the Union Fourth Kentucky Infantry, believing them to be Confederates. He was shot dead, possibly by Col. Speed Fry.
Simon Meiners
Communications & Research Specialist
History All Around Us
Halloween on Hillcrest Avenue
Green lights illuminate a spooky, decked-out Hillcrest Avenue home in celebration of Halloween. Image credit: The Courier Journal.
A pumpkin king waves to visitors walking along Hillcrest Avenue. Image credit: The Courier Journal.
For well over a decade, the Hillcrest neighborhood has embraced the Halloween spirit with Halloween on Hillcrest—a beloved, family-friendly, spooky season walking tour that draws crowds from all over the community. Each year, participating homes go all out, transforming their front yards into frightfully entertaining displays inspired by pop culture, history, local legends, and original horror stories. Some homes are known for their interactive features or special effects, turning a simple stroll into a thrilling adventure.
While Halloween on Hillcrest is a self-guided walking tour that runs throughout October, the excitement peaks on Halloween night when children are invited to trick-or-treat, with many homes offering not just candy but also unique surprises—some spooky, some sweet!
What makes this event even more special is that it’s completely free. Families can enjoy the vibrant displays, which range from whimsical and fun to spooky and eerie, all without worrying about admission costs. For those with young children, it’s the perfect way to get into the festive spirit—just be sure to dress up and visit before the season ends!
Whether you’re looking to make memories with the little ones, enjoy a unique date night around Louisville, or simply enjoy a festive neighborhood outing, Halloween on Hillcrest has become a can’t-miss fall tradition. Some neighbors even host small gatherings, offering hot chocolate and cider to make the chilly evenings more enjoyable, adding to the event’s charm and sense of community.
Leslie Anderson
Partnership & Membership Manager
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