This is one of the original Tell Me A Ghost Story calls from the early days of the show. Short, raw, and exactly where it all started. This call was later incorporated into a longer compilation episode with full host commentary, if you want the complete experience.
Hey, it's Michelle, and this early episode belongs entirely to Beth from Kentucky, who called in with a true ghost story rooted so deeply in the landscape and culture of Appalachia that it could not have come from anywhere else. This is a story about a baptism, a whole town gathered at the water, and something that showed up in the photographs that nobody had invited.
Doug's baptism was a community event, the way baptisms tend to be in small Appalachian towns. Everyone came. The whole town turned out to witness it, which means there were a lot of eyes on that water and a lot of cameras capturing the moment. When the photographs were developed, something was in them that had not been visible to any of those eyes when the pictures were taken. Something that had apparently decided to attend as well.
Eerie photographs documenting paranormal phenomena have appeared throughout Appalachian history in numbers that researchers find difficult to dismiss as coincidence or photographic error. The region has one of the richest and most distinctive supernatural traditions in American folk culture, shaped by centuries of Scots-Irish spiritual belief, Cherokee and other Indigenous traditions, and an isolation that allowed those belief systems to develop on their own terms without being smoothed out by outside influence. When something shows up in a photograph in Appalachia, the community tends to know exactly what it is looking at, and Beth's town was no different.
Everyone came to Doug's baptism. Everyone and everything. This is where Tell Me A Ghost Story began
If you have a real ghost story of your own, a haunting experience, something you heard, something you cannot explain, I want to hear it. Call 1 (701) 484-2666 or visit tellmeaghoststory.com to share your story.
You might end up on the show.
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Theme music is Sexy Sax by Cool Cascade.
Production by Newman Media.
[00:00:02] Welcome to Tell Me A Ghost Story. The late night call in podcast where we delve into the world of the supernatural and explore the eerie and unexplained. I'm your host, Michelle Newman. This podcast features true stories from our callers that will send shivers down your
[00:00:32] spine and leave you questioning the existence of the afterlife. So grab a cozy blanket, turn down the lights. Hi Michelle, this is Beth. This happened in rural Kentucky, early to mid-80s when I was in high school.
[00:00:54] A friend of mine, his uncle, his name was Doug, he was like the town drunk and rural Kentucky, like near Hazard, Kentucky. And he was horrible. He was a thief, a womanizer, didn't have any kids, you name it horrible. So he decided to be saved.
[00:01:18] He wanted to be baptized. And at that particular church, her church wasn't my church and I wasn't there. They would do the baptism in a creek. And the creek was pretty big. It was actually a small river. And the whole congregation was there.
[00:01:35] So part of the congregation was on one side and it was such a momentous occasion that they actually hired someone to take photos. But everybody was poured back in, so the pictures that they used, or the camera that they used was one of those instant photo things.
[00:01:52] And she brought the pictures in to show us. She said they were pretty interesting with a cheer for her. She brought these pictures in. Her name was Amy. She showed me these pictures and I saw them myself.
[00:02:07] And keep in mind this is in the early 80s before Photoshop. And you see like 15, 20 people on the far bank and then in between the cameraman and the, whoever's taking the photos, and the congregation was Doug being baptized with two preachers. And you see him and he's there.
[00:02:31] There's one photo. And then there's another photo where he's going backwards and you see this really tall person who is a good foot and a half above everyone else in like back to over, probably, front on the left hand side.
[00:02:49] And then he goes under the water and then you see the person and he's moved. He's like back towards the back row. And then you see Doug come up and you see the preacher with his hand on his head.
[00:03:09] And then the guy, whoever this was here, really long hair was off to the right. And then you see him, Doug, with his head down. And the funny thing is no one in a congregation remembers seeing this guy
[00:03:35] dressed in white, long, long hair moving around and at least a foot, you know, ahead taller than everyone else. Thank you, Beth for your story. I wonder if the tall man was part of Doug's damnation or part of his salvation. That's all we have this week, folks.
[00:04:02] Do you have a ghost story? Call 701-484-2666. That's 701-484-2666. Or go to tellmeagostory.com and leave your story there. Go ahead and leave me a five star review wherever you get your podcasts. Was something particularly scary in this episode? Or maybe you've had a similar experience.
[00:04:36] Leave your comments via our Spotify page. Thank you to all the callers who left messages this week. And as always, I'm your host, Michelle Newman, signing off. See you next week.