Stories of ghosts and the afterlife were a popular obsession during the Victorian Era. This was particularly true for the residents of New York’s Hudson Valley. On this episode of Listen with the Lights On, we sat down with Gardiner Town Historian A.J. Shenkman, author of Wicked Ulster County, to discuss another supernatural Victorian Era legend from Ulster County. document.createElement('audio'); https://wamcpodcasts.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/LWTLO_Rose_Shenkman1.mp3 (more…)

Every year, during the first weekend in December, a small Hudson Valley town carries out an old tradition. We traveled to Rhinebeck, New York, to see it unfold. The annual Sinterklaas festival is a  celebration that’s based the Dutch celebration of St. Nicholas Day. Dutch settlers brought it to the region over 300 years ago. Today it’s a colorful parade featuring costumes and puppets and paper lantern stars that draws crowds of...

Around the turn of the 20th century, the lumber industry spanned the continental United States, and lumber camps dotted the countryside. https://wamcpodcasts.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/lwtlo_ep042_lumberwoods.mp3 When they weren’t harvesting timber to feed the booming post-Civil War industrialization, working lumberjacks could often be found sitting around campfires together, telling tall tales of creatures that supposedly lurk in the dark woods. (more…)

With more than one hundred thousand guests each year, the 27-year-old tradition of Terror Behind The Walls is scarier than ever. It is a fundraiser for Eastern State Penitentiary, located in the Fairmount neighborhood, in the historic city of Philadelphia, for the nation’s first penitentiary. https://wamcpodcasts.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/lwtlo_esp_final.mp3 (more…)

Every theater has a story to tell. And not just onstage. Theater legends abound worldwide, from ghosts in the wings to phantoms of the opera. In this episode of Listen with the Lights On, we step into the historic Proctors Theater in Schenectady, New York. https://wamcpodcasts.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/lwtlo_ep_039_proctors_web.mp3

The Original Albany Ghost Tour founders Maeve McEneny Johnson and Paul Nooney join us at the Olde English Pub in Albany for a seasonally appropriate discussion of Albany legends and lore. We touch on the Shadow People of the Lincoln Park Gully, the ghosts of area theaters and get a surprise story from an audience member who grew up in a certain legendary local house that has been featured on a previous episode of Listen with the Lights...

Every theater has a story to tell. And not just onstage. Theater legends abound worldwide, from ghosts in the wings to phantoms of the opera. In this episode, we step into the Cohoes Music Hall. https://wamcpodcasts.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/LWTLO_Ep038_Web.mp3 Built in 1874, it’s the fourth oldest operational Music Hall in the country. The 475-seat theater stands in the heart of the Spindle City’s historical district. In it’s early days, it played host to many a famous Vaudevillian....

Hearing a good scary story can send shivers up your spine. And when it’s billed as a true story, the chills can be even more intense. We talked to novelist and writing instructor Barbara Chepaitis during a previous episode of Listen with the Lights On, in which we discussed the elements that make a story scary. She returns to the podcast now to share a terrifying tale that she experienced firsthand. https://wamcpodcasts.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/LWTLO_Ep037_Chepaitis.mp3

The pair of ill-fated star-crossed lovers… is a tale as old as time. One Hudson Valley legend tells such a story… that of a English explorer in the new world and a Native American woman named Manteo. Once again… Master Storyteller Jonathan Kruk joins us to discuss the Legend of Manteo. https://wamcpodcasts.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/manteofinal_NEW.mp3 You can subscribe to Listen With The Lights On via wamcpodcasts.org or via iTunes, Stitcher, or the Google Play store.

A bull. An animal known to most as a stalwart of toughness and resilience. As anyone who has tried to move a stubborn animal can tell you… it’s no easy task. Master Storyteller Jonathan Kruk joins us to discuss the Hudson Valley tale of a farmer, a bull and a hill, in the Bull of Bullhill. https://wamcpodcasts.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/LWTLO_Bullhill.mp3 You can subscribe to Listen With The Lights On via wamcpodcasts.org or via iTunes, Stitcher, or the Google Play store.

Starting in Washington D.C. on April 21st the funeral train carrying President Abraham Lincoln’s body for his last journey around the nation left Union Station northward bound where it cut through Philadelphia, New York, Poughkeepsie, Hudson, Albany, Utica, Buffalo, Cleveland, Columbus, Indianapolis, Chicago, before arriving in Springfield Illinois on May 4th. The presidential procession traveled across the country so mourners from all over could see the President’s final ride. Just days...

New England Folklore blog author Peter Muise joins us for a few witchy tales from Central and Eastern Massachusetts, and to discuss the significant role that witch lore has played in New England history. https://wamcpodcasts.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/LWTLO_Witches_Muise_Web.mp3 You can subscribe to Listen With The Lights On via wamcpodcasts.org or via iTunes, Stitcher, or the Google Play store.

Perhaps the most recognizable of monsters in legend and lore is the witch. You probably already have an image of what a witch is in your head right? But the story behind this witch in the Hudson Valley describes one closer to a trickster, almost poltergeist character. Sit down and listen as Master storyteller Jonathan Kruk tells us the story of the Catskill Mountain Witch. https://wamcpodcasts.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/LWTLO-Kruk-Witches-Final.mp3 You can subscribe to Listen With The...

The seat of New York state government is marked by a series of iconic, landmark buildings that stretch from north to south Albany, atop a hill that slopes gently down to the Hudson River. From the ornate Capitol to the stately governor’s mansion, it has played host to legendary figures like Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt. It has served as the epicenter for major events in New York State politics for hundreds of years. It also has its share of legends. On this episode of Listen With The...

Along the banks of the Hudson River, roughly halfway between New York City and Albany, lies one of the country’s most famous centers of culinary learning: The Culinary Institute of America. Countless chefs have passed through its venerable Roth hall, a signature behemoth of a building dating back to the early 1900s. Roth Hall houses a variety of classrooms, kitchens, dining rooms and administrative offices. And like many universities, it is home to its share of...

Today we bring you part 2 of Tales from the Tavern, our live event recorded at the great Olde English Pub in Albany, New York. In this episode you’ll hear us talk to live audience members about the stories from their childhood and around the region. We wanted to specially thank Maeve McEneny and Paul Nooney of the Original Albany Ghost Tour for joining us for the live event and Mark Graydon from the Olde English Pub for providing the space and his own story. If you missed Part 1 go back and...

This week we bring you the first of a two-part special broadcast from our first-ever “Tales from the Tavern” live event. We hosted a two-hour panel at the Olde English Pub in Albany with special guests Maeve McEneny and Paul Nooney of the Original Albany Ghost Tour. We discussed regional lore both new and old to this podcast, including legends from the New York State Capitol building, tales from the days Alexander Hamilton frequented Albany and stories from the Olde English Pub...

It’s an urban legend you’ve probably heard before in some form. You saw it play out in a movie, or read it in a book. It’s the one about the innocent couple who goes “parking” one fine summer night. They pull up to a discreet spot at the edge of a wood, a spot with a romantic reputation among locals, where the stars light the skies above and love is in the air. Suddenly, the scene is shattered by the crash of something impossibly heavy dropping on the car roof. The terrified lovers cower as...

Much like the protagonists of the short stories that run in The Strand Magazine, managing editor Andrew Gulli likes a good literary mystery — and he has built a reputation as a man who can solve them. Periodically we check in Gulli after he has unearthed a new story from long-gone master. Today, he joins us to talk about “The Haunted Ceiling” by H.G. Wells, which runs in the latest issue. https://wamcpodcasts.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/lwtlogullihgwells.mp3 You can subscribe to Listen...

Every year on Christmas Eve, millions of children around the world go to bed with the expectation of waking up to a house full of presents on Christmas morning. The bearer of gifts? A portly, white-bearded old man in a red suit with a cheery disposition and a herd of magical flying reindeer. Santa Claus. Father Christmas. Kris Kringle. Jolly Ole’ Saint Nick. He’s a legendary figure with many names in many cultures, and the star of many a Christmas story. The figure of Santa Claus, as we...

Why is a baker’s dozen 13? There are multiple theories as to how it started. Some say it was a 13th century thing, when English King Henry the Third was annoyed by small loaves of bread. Some say the convention has more modern origins. Master Storyteller Jonathan Kruk joins us once more to offer another take on the origin of the Baker’s Dozen, in the old Dutch colonial town of Beverwyck, just in time for the...

There are historical markers all over the world. They are typically signs, placards or statues denoting some important bit of history that occurred in a particular place. But in some places, history and lore are heavily intertwined. New York State is trying something new to reflect this powerful connection. If you’ve traveled across New York State, no doubt you’ve seen at least some of the blue and yellow signs peppered across the region. Now, you may have the good fortune to see similar...

It hasn’t been a great season for those with a fear of clowns. What with the slew of typical horrifying clown masks parading around town on Halloween, and also with a remarkable number of creepy clown sightings making headlines and circulating on social media.  On this episode of Listen with the Lights on, we wanted to get to the bottom of this fright…So we talked to a clown. Coulrophobia is the fear of clowns. It’s not an official phobia—it’s not recognized by World Health Organization or...

  According to an Associated Press Survey from 2008, 34 percent of Americans say they believe in ghosts. Other surveys, like a Gallup poll from 2005, report similar results–about one third of America thinks ghosts are real. But given the immense popularity of “ghost-hunting” reality series that have hit TV ad the internet in the last decade or so, it seems that it’s no longer enough to just believe in them. Seeing (or hearing) is believing. Why are we as a culture so obsessed with finding...