January 24, 2024 • 34 mins
Known as one of the most haunted locations in Iowa, Malvern Manor has been the location of over 100 deaths. With a potential link to the Villisca Axe murder house, it's no wonder legends of hauntings here go back decades.
Special Guest: Josh Heard
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Haunted Road, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim
and Mild from Aaron Minky.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Listener discretion is advised.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
The very first episode of this podcast covered a haunting
that I find to be very emotional and traumatic. It's
one I feel close to, even though there's absolutely nothing
about it that connects me to it other than emotion.
I'm talking about the Veliska House where, in June of
nineteen twelve, eight people were brutally killed with an axe
(00:33):
as they slept, two parents, their four children, and two
other children who had been sleeping over. I've investigated the
house a few times, and it's incredibly hard to reconcile
what happened there and the fact no one was ever
held accountable for the crimes. But along with the haunting
that exists there now and the fascination with the true
(00:56):
crime element, there are many theories that the murder made
a few stops on their journey to Veliska, and even
some evidence suggesting it wasn't his only axe murder. That
being said, there is a building also in Iowa that
many feel has some sort of connection to the Velliska murders,
(01:17):
though it has seen plenty of death in trauma and
its own right. This large home, now called Malvern Manor,
sits just thirty eight miles from Velliska and has some
very interesting stories to tell. Let's pay a visit, shall we.
I'm Amy Bruney and this is Haunted Road. The small
(01:40):
town of Malvern, Iowa can seem like the embodiment of
rural heartland life. In fact, in The Devil's Coming to
Get Me The Haunting of Malvern Manor by Richard Estep,
the community is described as a classic American small town.
For the past one hundred and fifty years, its population
had held fairly steady, around one thousand people or so,
(02:03):
give or take a few hundred in either direction, and
perched in the outskirts of Malvern's downtown neighborhood. One strange
old home looks like a child took a bunch of
pieces from different toy houses and wedged them together into one.
The ten thousand square foot structure is two stories tall,
not counting the basement in attic It has a peaked
(02:25):
roof on one side, which abuts more industrial looking blocky
wings on the other side. Its twenty eight interior rooms
feature abandoned furniture before it grew worn and began peeling.
The floral wallpaper may have once been cheerful, but it's
hard to imagine the winding, narrow hallways and unfinished smokescuarred
(02:46):
attic feeling anything but ominous. The reason the structure Malvern
Manor looks so haphazard is because it has grown in
fits and starts, with many new additions over the course
of its existence. It was originally built in the nineteenth
century as a home for lumber magnate Isaac b Ringland.
(03:07):
He and his family lived there until their deaths, at
which point it was sold to a hotel year named
Julia Betts. After she acquired the home in eighteen ninety,
she spent a year or so renovating and expanding the
building to transform it into an inn. According to reporting
in The Malvern Leader, at some point during this round
(03:27):
of construction, workers unearthed a Bible inside a cornice molding.
It's unclear how the book ended up there, but the
Paranormal Warehouse website suggested this may have been evidence of
an earlier Masonic ritual from the time the building was
first erected. This didn't slow the renovations, and in eighteen
ninety one, the business opened its doors, then called the
(03:49):
Cottage Hotel. The inn didn't just host travelers for the night.
It was also a social hub and the site of
numerous weddings and funerals. Although Malvern was still a rural community,
the Cottage Hotel was at least the town's fourth lodging house.
This was because Malvern sat near a major railway, and
travelers would stop there for the night during long train journeys.
(04:12):
Nancy Hendrix wrote in Haunted Histories in America that the
manner specifically courted traveling salesmen for their client base. We
can only imagine how many people spent the night there
over the years. According to some speculation, one particularly notorious
individual stopped at the Cottage in for the night, the
unidentified killer who committed the Veliska ex murders. The unsolved
(04:37):
multiple homicide happened in June nineteen twelve when an unknown
perpetrator slaughtered an entire family in Velliska, Iowa, which is
about forty miles from Malvern. Now, as we don't even
know their identity, there is no record or proof that
the killer ever set foot in the town of Malvern
or the Cottage hotel, but it's possible investigators believe the
(04:59):
murderer took the t so the lodging would have been
a reasonable place to stop for the night. Today, the
site of the Veliska Axe Murders employs Johnny Hauser, friend
of the show, as a caretaker. Johnny claims he's somehow
drawn to the Malvern manner, and he sees this as
evidence that the two houses are connected. As reported by
Richard Estep, Hauser has also alleged that a large quartz
(05:23):
vein runs between the homes, supernaturally linking them. While we
can't verify any formal connection between the Malvern manner and
the multiple homicide, it's possible the killer contributed to some
of the eerie energy that seems to permeate the grounds
Throughout the early nineteen hundreds. The hotel changed ownership numerous times.
(05:45):
During that period. It also underwent numerous renovations and expansions,
creating that patch together esthetic I referenced earlier in an
article A Brief History of the Malvern, John D. Paddock
speculated the hotel might have been suffering from bad luck
due to Whodo. Regardless, in nineteen fifty six, the facility
(06:05):
stopped operating as a lodging and was converted into a
nursing home, but it wasn't much more successful now than
it had been as a hotel. While the residents were
initially pleased with the clean, well maintained facility, it soon
had to be shut down when government officials discovered the
hallways were too narrow to wheel beds down them. In
(06:26):
June nineteen seventy six, the manner transformed once again, this
time to a hospital for people with physical and mental disabilities.
Reporting in a local newspaper suggested the staff went to
great lengths to make patients feel safe and comfortable. One
client described how they dined, worshiped, and explored their hobbies
with the other residents, forming a makeshift family. The Devil's
(06:49):
Coming to Get Me The Haunting of Malvern Manor by
Richard Estep, tells a different story. In this book, Richard
discussed one resident who was said to be highly aggressive
and murdered at least two people. He chased staffers down
the hall when they were performing checks, and many employees
were afraid to interact with him at all. They'd refuse
(07:10):
to help him dress or put his shoes on in
the morning. There are also accounts which are unverified, of
another patient named Grace, who stayed in a room on
the first floor. Rumors suggests she suffered from multiple personality disorder.
The American Haunting's Ghost Hunts web page titled Night at
the Milevern Manor discussed how staffers would often walk by
(07:33):
Grace's room late in the evening. They'd hear a man's
voice repeating the Devil's coming to get me, The devils
coming to get me. When these employees would open the
door to investigate, they'd find Grace alone, speaking in the
deep male voice to herself. While the residents sought treatment
at the hospital, history repeated itself once more. The state
(07:56):
had to intervene and shut the business down. This time
it was because, as Clark Kaufman wrote for the Des
Moines Register, the structure's electrical system wasn't up to code. Additionally,
they weren't maintaining the proper records on their employees or patients,
adhering to food safety and preparation procedures, or taking proper
(08:17):
steps to prevent outbreaks and spread of infectious disease. In
two thousand and four, the hospital was shuttered. Afterward, the
Malvern Manors spent one year as another care facility called
the Heritage House before it was finally condemned for good.
Today the building belongs to private owners with an interest
(08:38):
in the paranormal. They gave the facility its current name,
Malvern Manor, and they host haunted tours on the premises
because supposedly it's a hub for supernatural activities. It's been
estimated that roughly one hundred people have died in the
building since its construction, so it's almost to be expected
that the house has halways echo with disembard moans, footsteps,
(09:01):
and voices. Visitors say they hear heavy dragging sounds like
someone unseen as moving furniture around. Others have seen balls
roll or rocking chair shift without being pushed. Partial shadow
figures sometimes appear, and guests should expect to be touched
or groped as they pass through the house. Many have
(09:22):
pointed at one possible source for all these disturbances in
the house. A display case holds a doll named Rose,
who is said to be haunted. Reportedly, Rose often moves
around on her own. Some speculate that Rose's influence extends
beyond her enclosed case and she can cause disturbances throughout
(09:42):
the house, particularly on the second floor. Rose has been
linked to another spirit called Number One. Richard Estep highlighted
this connection in the text in his book. He also
reported that Number One has a deep male voice when
he speaks and growls a aggressively at visitors. But Rose
(10:02):
and Number One don't seem to be responsible for everything
that happens at Malvern Manor. The still unidentified perpetrator of
the Veleska axe murders has reportedly made contact with investigators
at the Manor, and earlier I discussed one former patient
from when the building operated as a mental health facility,
the man who chased terrified staffers in the halls. His
(10:23):
six foot seven inch specter still appears in the second
floor hallways, charging at guests the same way he bore
down on employees so many years ago. Visitors have also
reported instances associated with Grace, the woman who allegedly spoke
in a deep male voice while alone late at night
in her room. At times, the overwhelming sour scent of
(10:46):
urine will fill her former chambers. In room seven, A
spectral spirit screams in terror, believing her family left her
unloved and forgotten at the facility, and another ghost in
the lobby has been identified as had Harry, who lived
at the manor when it was a nursing home. Richard
Estep reports that Harry was wheelchair bound in life and
(11:07):
enjoyed humming along and whistling to the radio. Today he'll
push seemingly empty wheelchairs around, still whistling and humming all
the while. Particularly dark energy seemed to permeate rooms seventeen
and eighteen. It's hard to say exactly what happened there
as reports are contradictory. It said that while Malvern Manor
(11:29):
operated as a mental health facility, two men lived in
the side by side rooms. Reportedly, late at night after
checks were complete, the man in Room eighteen would slip
into Room seventeen and possibly sexually assault the other resident.
But in an interview with Richard Estep, paranormal investigator Dustin
Perry said he connected with the spirit that still remains
(11:52):
in Room seventeen. When he asked about the abuse, the
spirit told him that never happened. I loved him. Visitors
have also seen the spirit of a young girl lurking
in the house, particularly in one second floor room. Investigators
have captured audio of the phantom introducing herself as Inez
(12:13):
Gibson now Ainas Gibson is a real, historically documented person,
a Malvern local who died at the tender age of twelve.
She was the adopted daughter of a grocer who took
her in after her mother and father divorced and neither
parent was willing or able to care for her. In
December nineteen ninety, Ainez tragically died allegedly just before she
(12:36):
was supposed to move back in with her birth mother.
While her demise was initially believed to be a suicide,
further investigation revealed it was actually a horrific freak accident.
The Daily Non Parell described the deadly incident in an
article titled was Not a Suicide. Reportedly, Inez wrapped her
(12:57):
jump rope around her neck before digging through her closet
for some gifts she'd bought to give away on Christmas.
Somehow the jump rope got on a clothing hook it
tightened around her neck, forming a makeshift noose and strangling her.
Now to be very clear, Inez did not pass away
at Malvern Manor, but at her house a short distance away,
(13:18):
but according to some speculation, After her house was demolished,
her spirit sought a new home, one that was already
full of other ghosts to keep her company, and so
she ended up at the Manor. Another explanation is that
some other spirit is impersonating Inez Or. Perhaps visitors to
the Manor have essentially manifested the spirit they expected to
(13:42):
interact with the little girl named Ainez, and the power
of that anticipation actually brought this entity into existence. But ultimately,
it's almost impossible to guess where a spirit came from
or what it wants. Now, that's true in any haunted location,
but particularly in Malvern Manor. Throughout its history, the structure
has been locked in a cycle of new beginnings and condemnations,
(14:05):
followed by even more fresh starts. It's hard to pinpoint
where the facility story begins or ends, let alone the
narratives of those who now linger in its halls. But
up next, we'll chat with Josh Heard. He is a
co owner of Malvern Manor, and he'll explain why destiny
brought him there, and he'll also dive into the many
haunting experiences he's had there over the years. That's coming
(14:29):
up after the break. All right, So I am now
joined by Josh Hurd, who is one of the co
owners of Malvern manor really not anyone more perfect to
speak with about this, so welcome to the program.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Josh, oh, thank you so much for having me, of.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Course, And how did you get involved with Malvern?
Speaker 2 (14:56):
You know, it's weird, Like I was, actually I had
no idea that this building existed. I was actually filming
a documentary across the street at this really cool restaurant
called the Classic Cafe, and they have their own slew
of paranormal happenings and they were kind enough to say,
bring your cameras, do all that fun stuff. And we
(15:16):
went over there and I didn't realize there was a
bar that's attached to the Classic Cafe. It was a
Friday evening, and apparently it had been a pretty rough week
for a lot of people because they were very loud
and boisterous. But we really couldn't investigate at all and
give it really a fair shake, just from noise contamination
and all that. So I went outside and I met
this guy who was like, what's with all the cameras, dude,
(15:39):
And I told him what we were doing, and oh
my god, this guy's going to think I'm crazy, you
know what I mean. But he was like, oh, that's
kind of cool. He goes, I really don't believe in
this stuff. However, He's like, I got this building and
it used to be, you know, basically a hotel, and
then it was a group home or a nursing home
(16:00):
and then like a group home for mentally handicapped people,
all that stuff. And he's like, yeah, the place is
like ten thousand square feet. I'm like, where is this place?
And he's like, right there across the street. I'm like, wow,
pretty sure. We just became best friends, you know. I'm like,
hey man, he let us in, and I mean we
had more happened to us in the first two hours
than we had in the last two years. So it
(16:21):
was it was absolutely mind boggling, like what was happening.
And I'm like, I don't think you realize what you
have here, you know what I mean. And so it
was that point that I was like kind of talked
him into opening the doors to the public because the
building was just sitting here completely vacant, right, and so yeah,
(16:42):
and now we're lucky enough to keep the building doing
what it's doing.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Yeah, that's great. I mean, it is kind of one
of those situations where it seems like the paranormal kind
of keeps history alive, you know, And I really like
that because sometimes there are these buildings, especially kind of
in the Midwest, where if someone wasn't looking for ghosts
in them, there probably wouldn't be a whole lot else
happening inside of them, if that makes sense. And so,
(17:08):
you know, weirdly you breathe new life into it, which
I really like. The history to me is fascinating. We
cover that in the first half, but you know, I
can't imagine you know, having those experiences so quickly and
then convincing him to open the doors to going on
to be you know, part owner of the location. Has
this place just kind of become like your life in
some ways?
Speaker 2 (17:29):
My god? Yeah, Like I feel like I'm married to
the place right Like It's one of those things where
it's like, I'm I'm very similar in the respect that
I really enjoy history, and when you can correlate historical
fact with paranormal happenings like that, to me is the
good stuff. When those two things can kind of come
(17:51):
together and momentarily shake hands, you know, it's like Wow,
very very interesting stuff. And so I became obsessed with
this place more in a healthy respect. My wife may argue,
I don't know, but still like it's amazing to me.
Like like one of the first things that I did after,
you know, acquiring this building then for ourselves, is I
(18:13):
invited the former nursing staff back here, like walk me
down memory Lane, like I wanted to know what the
day to day was like here. It's fascinating stuff to me.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
That's a great move. I love that. You know, not
a lot of people have that opportunity, which is is
so that's valuable information to have when you're investigating. Now,
when you first went in there, where was the moment
when you were like this is something special, Like when
something happened, you know, paranormally speaking, like when were you like, oh,
there's something to this. You know?
Speaker 2 (18:45):
It was honestly, like within the first forty five minutes
of getting into the building, we were upstairs on the
second floor, and I remember specifically hearing footsteps coming down
the hallway, which it's an old building and you're certainly
going to hear footsteps coming towards you. But everybody was
accounted for. Everybody was in the room, and so I'm like, well,
(19:08):
that's interesting. But then we heard a very audible, disembodied
like female voice, and it couldn't make out anything that
it was saying. It almost sounded like a like a
moan or a hum or something similar. But it happened twice,
and I was like, what in the world is going
on here? So it really left me like scratching my
(19:28):
head because again, like, no females were present with us
that night, and everybody was accounted for, so I'm like,
I don't understand. There were numerous things that happened just
that night that that really made me scratch my head
and think, Okay, this place is something special.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
You know, do you think that most of the activity
there seems to be kind of more on the intelligent
side or do you think it's a lot of residual activity.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
I would say there's a fair amount of both going on.
A lot of what I seem to capture does seem
to have some form of intelligence to it. It's answering
questions and things like that. Then there are other times
where it's almost as if and I don't even know
how this is possible, if it is something that's intelligent,
(20:17):
I don't know, maybe they just think I'm a resident,
but that I've been told numerous times to get back
in my room.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
Strange now, Mike.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
So if I'm walking around in the middle of the night,
you know, and it's like get back to your room,
it's like, oh, you think I'm I'm a patient here.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
Yeah, So they know they're like, you're up and about
when you are not supposed to be, and you're either
getting in trouble or someone's looking out for you. Both
very interesting, I think so too.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
So I'm like, gosh, is this something that's intelligent or
something that's residual, or is it somehow a mixture of both,
Like I have no idea.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
Have you been able to kind of verify activity and
link it to people who were, you know, who lived
in that location at some point?
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Definitely, And that was one of the biggest things of
why I wanted to invite some of that former nursing
staff back, is to see if we could correlate specific
names without giving them any information whatsoever. Just again walk
me down memory lane. And it was fascinating. One of
the first rooms that we came to, we had been
(21:21):
getting the name of this woman calling herself Gracie. I'm like, oh,
that's a pretty name, you know, all that stuff, And
I would go into Gracie's room often, and it wasn't
then until we had that group of nurses kind of
walking with us. They're like, and this over here was
Grace's room, or Gracie's room as she liked to be called.
But now Gracie was also she had schizophrenia, but she
(21:42):
also had the idea or what they used to refer
to as multiple personalities, So Gracie had a lot going on.
One evening in particular, three nurses sat with Gracie for
an hour and documented thirteen separate distinguishable personalities, which is
I mean almost medically un of like the wheelhouse is
like two to five, so it's certainly tipping the scales.
(22:06):
But that fascinated me because I was like, I'm sorry, what, like,
say again, what what was her name? Because that's the
name we're.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
Getting now when you interact with Gracie, do you feel
like she's taken that with her, like that kind of
personality disorder for lack of a better term, you think
that that is showing itself in the afterlife, or do
you think she's like whole and healthy and herself.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
See, that's the way I want to imagine her in
her afterlife. I can't imagine taking something like that with us, right,
because it's a horrifying thought. But so every time that
I've seemed to have an interaction with her, it has
been her. I will say that. Now. I will also
say that I've had numerous conversations with friends, you know,
(22:51):
those weird late night conversations where you've had one too
many glasses of wine. Had a few of those, Yeah,
and you go down rabbit holes, right, I mean, that's
what happens. But numerous times we've talked and we're like,
my god, like, what if those personalities do transfer on
to the next life or what have you. It's like,
(23:11):
what if Gracie is just the antecedent of the haunting?
What if she's haunting this place and it's just an
offshoot of different personalities and things like that, which is
also a terrifying thought to entertain.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Right, And then it also makes you wonder like where
does that actually come from? Is that our brain or
is it our psyche? Is it our soul? You know,
I don't know. It does raise a lot of questions
but now when you had the staff there, did they
ever claim that they had experiences when it was operating?
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Absolutely, which I also found fascinating because they like, oh,
They're like, gosh, this feels just like before. What do
you mean by that? They're like, it just feels like
eyes are on me. And I have had numerous people
that were former staff members here that have come through,
and they they always say, oh, this was the best
job I ever had, or this was the worst job
(24:03):
I've ever had, And it's interesting to me just how
how that dichotomy works, right, And they're like, oh, I
remember specifically this one time, like I went upstairs and
I was trying to fix a residen's bed and all
of this stuff was happening around them, but nobody was around,
(24:23):
and so I was like, this is fascinating to me
that they were having different pieces of activity happened that
they couldn't themselves just explain away. And some of them,
I mean Gracie for an example, some of them were
so terrified of Gracy because she would speak sometimes in
a weird, growy kind of a male voice and say
(24:46):
things like the Devil's coming to get me, you know,
things like that. It freaked them out. So I'm like,
turnover here was almost laughable, you.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
Know, really, right, having gone through this, I mean, I
imagine you investigate other locations as well, Right, do you
ever feel like, I don't want to say that you
compare them, but do you? I mean, how does that
feel to be so kind of connected to one location
but then occasionally branch out to others? Does it feel different?
Or do you ever? I mean, honestly, do you ever
(25:14):
feel like part of Malvern comes with you elsewhere? If
that makes sense?
Speaker 2 (25:17):
It does. It's super weird. One of my favorite places
to go is obviously the Veliska Axe Murder House, which
is just thirty minutes down the same stretch of road.
And Johnny over there at the Veliska House is one
of my best friends.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
I love Johnny.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
Yeah, he's one of the best, you know, And so
it's it's just good people and good fun. But it's interesting,
like going into another location and separating yourself from what
you already know to be the normal. Right, So it's like, oh,
I could go and investigate the Queen Mary for an example,
or someplace like that and have to mentally say to myself, Okay, dude,
(25:56):
This is not going to be what you're used to,
you know what I mean, this is not going to
be And I think, honestly, as weird as this sounds,
the spirits here are more familiar with me. Oh that's
the guy that wipes down the counters, that's the guy
that annoys me with the vacuum cleaner, you know, things
like that. But they see me as more of, like,
you know, a caretaker of the place, and so I
(26:18):
think they're more familiar with me and more willing to
mess with me a little bit more than maybe anybody else.
But yeah, it's interesting.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
I was going to ask that actually, like if you
felt like you had kind of built up a camaraderie
with some of the spirits there, or if there are
some there that might not like you.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
You know, there's that like Gracie, for an example, is
one of my favorites. She's become my built in therapist,
you know what I mean. Like, I'll just go into
Gracie's room and I'll be like, You're never gonna believe this,
and I'll just word vomit for a half hour and
I'll feel great and she's probably annoyed. But regardless, like
there is one gentleman upstairs, and his name is Hank
(26:58):
or Henry, and it kind of depends on the day
and what he wants to be called. He's your very
stereotypical grumpy old man, and he just doesn't seem to
enjoy company. He certainly doesn't enjoy the company of female investigators,
that is for sure. But like he's just a crotchety
old dude, and like he would sit out on the
front porch and like throw rocks at children and things
(27:20):
like that. So he's just kind of a butt heead.
I also kind of aspire to be this man one day, right.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
But yeah, this right, you might be.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
Maybe maybe, but no, he's honestly like one of my
favorites too, because he will just kind of flip you crap,
you know what I mean. But I'm also flipping it
right back. But it's almost like a buddy thing. But
I do think that I get on her nerves more
often than not.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
Do you really think there's a connection between Malvern and Fliska.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
It's it's fascinating again, one of those conversations that happened
after too many glasses of wine with Johnny House, Right.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
But I can only imagine he's so much.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
Oh my god. Yes, but it is interesting because there
does seem to be some kind of correlation, some kind
of a tie that we're not quite privy to yet,
things that I don't quite know, Like we're getting EVPs
here for an example, that would suggest Veliska. However, they're
(28:22):
also getting EVPs and Velliska that are suggesting Malvern. It
makes no sense, like I would give my left arm
to see a ledger from the hotel right back in
nineteen ten in June specifically, or.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
Excuse me, well, no, yeah, exactly. And what also makes
you wonder too, because obviously Feliska was huge news, and
so sometimes even just a news story can be enough
of triggering information to get a spirit to speak with you,
even if they weren't necessarily involved in it, it's enough
for them to be like, oh, yeah, I remember that.
Clearly everyone who was at Malvern knew about that. Obviously
(29:01):
we could go down the rabbit hole. But but that's
a possibility too. I find that connection to be very interesting,
and Johnny brought it up to me when I was
at Veliska last He was like, you got to go
to Malvern, and I still can't believe I haven't been there.
To be honest, I have this very weird draw to Iowa.
So like I've always, like every time we've gone there
to investigate or whatever, I've always had this kind of
(29:22):
draw to it and can come to find out like
I was half adopted and all bunch of my birth
families all from Iowa, like I descended from Iowan's. So yeah,
so strange, but well.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
That's interesting, yeah, I mean honestly, like what you guys
go to Belvoir a lot, yeah, which I mean that's
just two hours away, give.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
Her and a half. Yeah. When we were filming at
Veliska for Kindred, the owner of Belvoir, so Jesse is
one of my best friends, and so he came out
and hung out with us, and so personally, like, do
you ever well, first of all, do you live in
Malvern or are you just like there all the time.
Speaker 2 (29:59):
I'm just overcoming it feels like I live in Malverne.
I live like ten or fifteen minutes away, which is
like just close enough and just far enough away, you know.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
Yeah, no, that makes sense. Now do you ever regret
the decision to be so heavily involved in it?
Speaker 2 (30:15):
Sometimes? I guess like it's weird, right, Like I can't
imagine doing anything else now, like I honestly can't. I
feel also very fortunate to be doing what I'm doing,
because I know a lot of people that would die
to do this, you know. But there are certain times
like I mean, I remember one time giving an interview,
(30:36):
sitting in the main room over here, and somebody asked
that question, does anything ever follow you home? And I
said no, not really like and right at that moment,
my wife called me and I was like, sorry, guys,
I gotta take this real quick. And I asked if
everything was okay. She goes, I don't know what you
guys are doing over there, but you need to knock
it off. I'm like, what do you mean. She's like, like,
(30:57):
the kitchen cabinet doors are opening. The dog is like
going absolutely batcrap crazy. He's like. My wife was like,
something is going on over here. Please stop. I'm like,
we're not doing anything, we're just talking.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
Yeah, your Malvern friends were like, oh, that's something we
can do. Let's explore this option exactly.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
It's like, oh and now they heard that, yes.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
Well, hopefully you set some boundaries since then, so that's
not happening.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
Definitely.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
Well I love that now, I know. So Malvern is
open for tours and investigations, is that correct?
Speaker 2 (31:29):
Absolutely?
Speaker 1 (31:29):
Yes, Okay, and how does that work, like if people
want to come visit and check it out?
Speaker 2 (31:34):
Yeah, So malvernmanor dotweeble dot com is the website. And
on that website, I mean you can check out the
calendar with available dates, you can request a date and
from there it just emails me directly and we get
you on the calendar and off you go, you know
type of thing. So it's it's super fun. I love
(31:56):
meeting new people and seeing people's approach to an investigating
and all that stuff.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
I'm sure you have boundaries and things, and everybody's super
respectful and I can only imagine.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
Yeah, you know, for the most part they are. It's
there's obviously your your outliers, right like once in a while,
but no, like for the most part, ninety nine percent
of people come in here very respectfully, which I also
say is probably the only way that you're going to
get legitimate interactions because absolutely if you come in kind
(32:29):
of like what I call guns a blazon, you know,
where you're like kicking indoors saying show yourself and all that, tiff,
it's really not going to get you very far. But
if you take an hour or you take ninety minutes,
and you go and just sit in a room and
you just ask very generic questions, what did you do today?
You know, what are you doing tomorrow? How is your day?
(32:50):
You have things like that, like it seems to really
elicit a response from these people.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
Yeah, I agree completely. So well, I'm going to have
to pay a visit clearly next time I'm in Iowa
exploring my heritage, and I will. But I really do
appreciate you taking the time. It's been a lot of
fun chatting with you, and like I said, hopefully I'll
be visiting soon.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
That sounds great, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
Malvern Manor has left behind its old role as care
facility and now caters to supernatural enthusiasts and paranormal investigators.
It's oddly appropriate that the facility still straddles the line
between looking forward and looking back. Its business model is
different from anything it had before, but any interaction with
(33:38):
mysticism and spirituality will always involve some engagement with the past.
So while spirits from long ago continue to dwell there today.
We can only hope they'll find a pathway forward as well.
I'm Amy Bruney and this was Haunted Road. Haunted Road
(34:05):
is hosted and written by me Amy Bruney, with additional
research by Cassandra de Alba. This show is edited and
produced by Rima Alkali, with supervising producer Josh Thain and
executive producers Aaron Menke, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. Haunted
Road is a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild
(34:26):
from Aaron Menke. Learn more about this show over at
Grimanmild dot com, and for more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows.
Welcome to Haunted Road, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim
and Mild from Aaron Minky.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Listener discretion is advised.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
The very first episode of this podcast covered a haunting
that I find to be very emotional and traumatic. It's
one I feel close to, even though there's absolutely nothing
about it that connects me to it other than emotion.
I'm talking about the Veliska House where, in June of
nineteen twelve, eight people were brutally killed with an axe
(00:33):
as they slept, two parents, their four children, and two
other children who had been sleeping over. I've investigated the
house a few times, and it's incredibly hard to reconcile
what happened there and the fact no one was ever
held accountable for the crimes. But along with the haunting
that exists there now and the fascination with the true
(00:56):
crime element, there are many theories that the murder made
a few stops on their journey to Veliska, and even
some evidence suggesting it wasn't his only axe murder. That
being said, there is a building also in Iowa that
many feel has some sort of connection to the Velliska murders,
(01:17):
though it has seen plenty of death in trauma and
its own right. This large home, now called Malvern Manor,
sits just thirty eight miles from Velliska and has some
very interesting stories to tell. Let's pay a visit, shall we.
I'm Amy Bruney and this is Haunted Road. The small
(01:40):
town of Malvern, Iowa can seem like the embodiment of
rural heartland life. In fact, in The Devil's Coming to
Get Me The Haunting of Malvern Manor by Richard Estep,
the community is described as a classic American small town.
For the past one hundred and fifty years, its population
had held fairly steady, around one thousand people or so,
(02:03):
give or take a few hundred in either direction, and
perched in the outskirts of Malvern's downtown neighborhood. One strange
old home looks like a child took a bunch of
pieces from different toy houses and wedged them together into one.
The ten thousand square foot structure is two stories tall,
not counting the basement in attic It has a peaked
(02:25):
roof on one side, which abuts more industrial looking blocky
wings on the other side. Its twenty eight interior rooms
feature abandoned furniture before it grew worn and began peeling.
The floral wallpaper may have once been cheerful, but it's
hard to imagine the winding, narrow hallways and unfinished smokescuarred
(02:46):
attic feeling anything but ominous. The reason the structure Malvern
Manor looks so haphazard is because it has grown in
fits and starts, with many new additions over the course
of its existence. It was originally built in the nineteenth
century as a home for lumber magnate Isaac b Ringland.
(03:07):
He and his family lived there until their deaths, at
which point it was sold to a hotel year named
Julia Betts. After she acquired the home in eighteen ninety,
she spent a year or so renovating and expanding the
building to transform it into an inn. According to reporting
in The Malvern Leader, at some point during this round
(03:27):
of construction, workers unearthed a Bible inside a cornice molding.
It's unclear how the book ended up there, but the
Paranormal Warehouse website suggested this may have been evidence of
an earlier Masonic ritual from the time the building was
first erected. This didn't slow the renovations, and in eighteen
ninety one, the business opened its doors, then called the
(03:49):
Cottage Hotel. The inn didn't just host travelers for the night.
It was also a social hub and the site of
numerous weddings and funerals. Although Malvern was still a rural community,
the Cottage Hotel was at least the town's fourth lodging house.
This was because Malvern sat near a major railway, and
travelers would stop there for the night during long train journeys.
(04:12):
Nancy Hendrix wrote in Haunted Histories in America that the
manner specifically courted traveling salesmen for their client base. We
can only imagine how many people spent the night there
over the years. According to some speculation, one particularly notorious
individual stopped at the Cottage in for the night, the
unidentified killer who committed the Veliska ex murders. The unsolved
(04:37):
multiple homicide happened in June nineteen twelve when an unknown
perpetrator slaughtered an entire family in Velliska, Iowa, which is
about forty miles from Malvern. Now, as we don't even
know their identity, there is no record or proof that
the killer ever set foot in the town of Malvern
or the Cottage hotel, but it's possible investigators believe the
(04:59):
murderer took the t so the lodging would have been
a reasonable place to stop for the night. Today, the
site of the Veliska Axe Murders employs Johnny Hauser, friend
of the show, as a caretaker. Johnny claims he's somehow
drawn to the Malvern manner, and he sees this as
evidence that the two houses are connected. As reported by
Richard Estep, Hauser has also alleged that a large quartz
(05:23):
vein runs between the homes, supernaturally linking them. While we
can't verify any formal connection between the Malvern manner and
the multiple homicide, it's possible the killer contributed to some
of the eerie energy that seems to permeate the grounds
Throughout the early nineteen hundreds. The hotel changed ownership numerous times.
(05:45):
During that period. It also underwent numerous renovations and expansions,
creating that patch together esthetic I referenced earlier in an
article A Brief History of the Malvern, John D. Paddock
speculated the hotel might have been suffering from bad luck
due to Whodo. Regardless, in nineteen fifty six, the facility
(06:05):
stopped operating as a lodging and was converted into a
nursing home, but it wasn't much more successful now than
it had been as a hotel. While the residents were
initially pleased with the clean, well maintained facility, it soon
had to be shut down when government officials discovered the
hallways were too narrow to wheel beds down them. In
(06:26):
June nineteen seventy six, the manner transformed once again, this
time to a hospital for people with physical and mental disabilities.
Reporting in a local newspaper suggested the staff went to
great lengths to make patients feel safe and comfortable. One
client described how they dined, worshiped, and explored their hobbies
with the other residents, forming a makeshift family. The Devil's
(06:49):
Coming to Get Me The Haunting of Malvern Manor by
Richard Estep, tells a different story. In this book, Richard
discussed one resident who was said to be highly aggressive
and murdered at least two people. He chased staffers down
the hall when they were performing checks, and many employees
were afraid to interact with him at all. They'd refuse
(07:10):
to help him dress or put his shoes on in
the morning. There are also accounts which are unverified, of
another patient named Grace, who stayed in a room on
the first floor. Rumors suggests she suffered from multiple personality disorder.
The American Haunting's Ghost Hunts web page titled Night at
the Milevern Manor discussed how staffers would often walk by
(07:33):
Grace's room late in the evening. They'd hear a man's
voice repeating the Devil's coming to get me, The devils
coming to get me. When these employees would open the
door to investigate, they'd find Grace alone, speaking in the
deep male voice to herself. While the residents sought treatment
at the hospital, history repeated itself once more. The state
(07:56):
had to intervene and shut the business down. This time
it was because, as Clark Kaufman wrote for the Des
Moines Register, the structure's electrical system wasn't up to code. Additionally,
they weren't maintaining the proper records on their employees or patients,
adhering to food safety and preparation procedures, or taking proper
(08:17):
steps to prevent outbreaks and spread of infectious disease. In
two thousand and four, the hospital was shuttered. Afterward, the
Malvern Manors spent one year as another care facility called
the Heritage House before it was finally condemned for good.
Today the building belongs to private owners with an interest
(08:38):
in the paranormal. They gave the facility its current name,
Malvern Manor, and they host haunted tours on the premises
because supposedly it's a hub for supernatural activities. It's been
estimated that roughly one hundred people have died in the
building since its construction, so it's almost to be expected
that the house has halways echo with disembard moans, footsteps,
(09:01):
and voices. Visitors say they hear heavy dragging sounds like
someone unseen as moving furniture around. Others have seen balls
roll or rocking chair shift without being pushed. Partial shadow
figures sometimes appear, and guests should expect to be touched
or groped as they pass through the house. Many have
(09:22):
pointed at one possible source for all these disturbances in
the house. A display case holds a doll named Rose,
who is said to be haunted. Reportedly, Rose often moves
around on her own. Some speculate that Rose's influence extends
beyond her enclosed case and she can cause disturbances throughout
(09:42):
the house, particularly on the second floor. Rose has been
linked to another spirit called Number One. Richard Estep highlighted
this connection in the text in his book. He also
reported that Number One has a deep male voice when
he speaks and growls a aggressively at visitors. But Rose
(10:02):
and Number One don't seem to be responsible for everything
that happens at Malvern Manor. The still unidentified perpetrator of
the Veleska axe murders has reportedly made contact with investigators
at the Manor, and earlier I discussed one former patient
from when the building operated as a mental health facility,
the man who chased terrified staffers in the halls. His
(10:23):
six foot seven inch specter still appears in the second
floor hallways, charging at guests the same way he bore
down on employees so many years ago. Visitors have also
reported instances associated with Grace, the woman who allegedly spoke
in a deep male voice while alone late at night
in her room. At times, the overwhelming sour scent of
(10:46):
urine will fill her former chambers. In room seven, A
spectral spirit screams in terror, believing her family left her
unloved and forgotten at the facility, and another ghost in
the lobby has been identified as had Harry, who lived
at the manor when it was a nursing home. Richard
Estep reports that Harry was wheelchair bound in life and
(11:07):
enjoyed humming along and whistling to the radio. Today he'll
push seemingly empty wheelchairs around, still whistling and humming all
the while. Particularly dark energy seemed to permeate rooms seventeen
and eighteen. It's hard to say exactly what happened there
as reports are contradictory. It said that while Malvern Manor
(11:29):
operated as a mental health facility, two men lived in
the side by side rooms. Reportedly, late at night after
checks were complete, the man in Room eighteen would slip
into Room seventeen and possibly sexually assault the other resident.
But in an interview with Richard Estep, paranormal investigator Dustin
Perry said he connected with the spirit that still remains
(11:52):
in Room seventeen. When he asked about the abuse, the
spirit told him that never happened. I loved him. Visitors
have also seen the spirit of a young girl lurking
in the house, particularly in one second floor room. Investigators
have captured audio of the phantom introducing herself as Inez
(12:13):
Gibson now Ainas Gibson is a real, historically documented person,
a Malvern local who died at the tender age of twelve.
She was the adopted daughter of a grocer who took
her in after her mother and father divorced and neither
parent was willing or able to care for her. In
December nineteen ninety, Ainez tragically died allegedly just before she
(12:36):
was supposed to move back in with her birth mother.
While her demise was initially believed to be a suicide,
further investigation revealed it was actually a horrific freak accident.
The Daily Non Parell described the deadly incident in an
article titled was Not a Suicide. Reportedly, Inez wrapped her
(12:57):
jump rope around her neck before digging through her closet
for some gifts she'd bought to give away on Christmas.
Somehow the jump rope got on a clothing hook it
tightened around her neck, forming a makeshift noose and strangling her.
Now to be very clear, Inez did not pass away
at Malvern Manor, but at her house a short distance away,
(13:18):
but according to some speculation, After her house was demolished,
her spirit sought a new home, one that was already
full of other ghosts to keep her company, and so
she ended up at the Manor. Another explanation is that
some other spirit is impersonating Inez Or. Perhaps visitors to
the Manor have essentially manifested the spirit they expected to
(13:42):
interact with the little girl named Ainez, and the power
of that anticipation actually brought this entity into existence. But ultimately,
it's almost impossible to guess where a spirit came from
or what it wants. Now, that's true in any haunted location,
but particularly in Malvern Manor. Throughout its history, the structure
has been locked in a cycle of new beginnings and condemnations,
(14:05):
followed by even more fresh starts. It's hard to pinpoint
where the facility story begins or ends, let alone the
narratives of those who now linger in its halls. But
up next, we'll chat with Josh Heard. He is a
co owner of Malvern Manor, and he'll explain why destiny
brought him there, and he'll also dive into the many
haunting experiences he's had there over the years. That's coming
(14:29):
up after the break. All right, So I am now
joined by Josh Hurd, who is one of the co
owners of Malvern manor really not anyone more perfect to
speak with about this, so welcome to the program.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
Josh, oh, thank you so much for having me, of.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Course, And how did you get involved with Malvern?
Speaker 2 (14:56):
You know, it's weird, Like I was, actually I had
no idea that this building existed. I was actually filming
a documentary across the street at this really cool restaurant
called the Classic Cafe, and they have their own slew
of paranormal happenings and they were kind enough to say,
bring your cameras, do all that fun stuff. And we
(15:16):
went over there and I didn't realize there was a
bar that's attached to the Classic Cafe. It was a
Friday evening, and apparently it had been a pretty rough week
for a lot of people because they were very loud
and boisterous. But we really couldn't investigate at all and
give it really a fair shake, just from noise contamination
and all that. So I went outside and I met
this guy who was like, what's with all the cameras, dude,
(15:39):
And I told him what we were doing, and oh
my god, this guy's going to think I'm crazy, you
know what I mean. But he was like, oh, that's
kind of cool. He goes, I really don't believe in
this stuff. However, He's like, I got this building and
it used to be, you know, basically a hotel, and
then it was a group home or a nursing home
(16:00):
and then like a group home for mentally handicapped people,
all that stuff. And he's like, yeah, the place is
like ten thousand square feet. I'm like, where is this place?
And he's like, right there across the street. I'm like, wow,
pretty sure. We just became best friends, you know. I'm like,
hey man, he let us in, and I mean we
had more happened to us in the first two hours
than we had in the last two years. So it
(16:21):
was it was absolutely mind boggling, like what was happening.
And I'm like, I don't think you realize what you
have here, you know what I mean. And so it
was that point that I was like kind of talked
him into opening the doors to the public because the
building was just sitting here completely vacant, right, and so yeah,
(16:42):
and now we're lucky enough to keep the building doing
what it's doing.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Yeah, that's great. I mean, it is kind of one
of those situations where it seems like the paranormal kind
of keeps history alive, you know, And I really like
that because sometimes there are these buildings, especially kind of
in the Midwest, where if someone wasn't looking for ghosts
in them, there probably wouldn't be a whole lot else
happening inside of them, if that makes sense. And so,
(17:08):
you know, weirdly you breathe new life into it, which
I really like. The history to me is fascinating. We
cover that in the first half, but you know, I
can't imagine you know, having those experiences so quickly and
then convincing him to open the doors to going on
to be you know, part owner of the location. Has
this place just kind of become like your life in
some ways?
Speaker 2 (17:29):
My god? Yeah, Like I feel like I'm married to
the place right Like It's one of those things where
it's like, I'm I'm very similar in the respect that
I really enjoy history, and when you can correlate historical
fact with paranormal happenings like that, to me is the
good stuff. When those two things can kind of come
(17:51):
together and momentarily shake hands, you know, it's like Wow,
very very interesting stuff. And so I became obsessed with
this place more in a healthy respect. My wife may argue,
I don't know, but still like it's amazing to me.
Like like one of the first things that I did after,
you know, acquiring this building then for ourselves, is I
(18:13):
invited the former nursing staff back here, like walk me
down memory Lane, like I wanted to know what the
day to day was like here. It's fascinating stuff to me.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
That's a great move. I love that. You know, not
a lot of people have that opportunity, which is is
so that's valuable information to have when you're investigating. Now,
when you first went in there, where was the moment
when you were like this is something special, Like when
something happened, you know, paranormally speaking, like when were you like, oh,
there's something to this. You know?
Speaker 2 (18:45):
It was honestly, like within the first forty five minutes
of getting into the building, we were upstairs on the
second floor, and I remember specifically hearing footsteps coming down
the hallway, which it's an old building and you're certainly
going to hear footsteps coming towards you. But everybody was
accounted for. Everybody was in the room, and so I'm like, well,
(19:08):
that's interesting. But then we heard a very audible, disembodied
like female voice, and it couldn't make out anything that
it was saying. It almost sounded like a like a
moan or a hum or something similar. But it happened twice,
and I was like, what in the world is going
on here? So it really left me like scratching my
(19:28):
head because again, like, no females were present with us
that night, and everybody was accounted for, so I'm like,
I don't understand. There were numerous things that happened just
that night that that really made me scratch my head
and think, Okay, this place is something special.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
You know, do you think that most of the activity
there seems to be kind of more on the intelligent
side or do you think it's a lot of residual activity.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
I would say there's a fair amount of both going on.
A lot of what I seem to capture does seem
to have some form of intelligence to it. It's answering
questions and things like that. Then there are other times
where it's almost as if and I don't even know
how this is possible, if it is something that's intelligent,
(20:17):
I don't know, maybe they just think I'm a resident,
but that I've been told numerous times to get back
in my room.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
Strange now, Mike.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
So if I'm walking around in the middle of the night,
you know, and it's like get back to your room,
it's like, oh, you think I'm I'm a patient here.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
Yeah, So they know they're like, you're up and about
when you are not supposed to be, and you're either
getting in trouble or someone's looking out for you. Both
very interesting, I think so too.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
So I'm like, gosh, is this something that's intelligent or
something that's residual, or is it somehow a mixture of both,
Like I have no idea.
Speaker 1 (20:50):
Have you been able to kind of verify activity and
link it to people who were, you know, who lived
in that location at some point?
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Definitely, And that was one of the biggest things of
why I wanted to invite some of that former nursing
staff back, is to see if we could correlate specific
names without giving them any information whatsoever. Just again walk
me down memory lane. And it was fascinating. One of
the first rooms that we came to, we had been
(21:21):
getting the name of this woman calling herself Gracie. I'm like, oh,
that's a pretty name, you know, all that stuff, And
I would go into Gracie's room often, and it wasn't
then until we had that group of nurses kind of
walking with us. They're like, and this over here was
Grace's room, or Gracie's room as she liked to be called.
But now Gracie was also she had schizophrenia, but she
(21:42):
also had the idea or what they used to refer
to as multiple personalities, So Gracie had a lot going on.
One evening in particular, three nurses sat with Gracie for
an hour and documented thirteen separate distinguishable personalities, which is
I mean almost medically un of like the wheelhouse is
like two to five, so it's certainly tipping the scales.
(22:06):
But that fascinated me because I was like, I'm sorry, what, like,
say again, what what was her name? Because that's the
name we're.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
Getting now when you interact with Gracie, do you feel
like she's taken that with her, like that kind of
personality disorder for lack of a better term, you think
that that is showing itself in the afterlife, or do
you think she's like whole and healthy and herself.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
See, that's the way I want to imagine her in
her afterlife. I can't imagine taking something like that with us, right,
because it's a horrifying thought. But so every time that
I've seemed to have an interaction with her, it has
been her. I will say that. Now. I will also
say that I've had numerous conversations with friends, you know,
(22:51):
those weird late night conversations where you've had one too
many glasses of wine. Had a few of those, Yeah,
and you go down rabbit holes, right, I mean, that's
what happens. But numerous times we've talked and we're like,
my god, like, what if those personalities do transfer on
to the next life or what have you. It's like,
(23:11):
what if Gracie is just the antecedent of the haunting?
What if she's haunting this place and it's just an
offshoot of different personalities and things like that, which is
also a terrifying thought to entertain.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Right, And then it also makes you wonder like where
does that actually come from? Is that our brain or
is it our psyche? Is it our soul? You know,
I don't know. It does raise a lot of questions
but now when you had the staff there, did they
ever claim that they had experiences when it was operating?
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Absolutely, which I also found fascinating because they like, oh,
They're like, gosh, this feels just like before. What do
you mean by that? They're like, it just feels like
eyes are on me. And I have had numerous people
that were former staff members here that have come through,
and they they always say, oh, this was the best
job I ever had, or this was the worst job
(24:03):
I've ever had, And it's interesting to me just how
how that dichotomy works, right, And they're like, oh, I
remember specifically this one time, like I went upstairs and
I was trying to fix a residen's bed and all
of this stuff was happening around them, but nobody was around,
(24:23):
and so I was like, this is fascinating to me
that they were having different pieces of activity happened that
they couldn't themselves just explain away. And some of them,
I mean Gracie for an example, some of them were
so terrified of Gracy because she would speak sometimes in
a weird, growy kind of a male voice and say
(24:46):
things like the Devil's coming to get me, you know,
things like that. It freaked them out. So I'm like,
turnover here was almost laughable, you.
Speaker 1 (24:53):
Know, really, right, having gone through this, I mean, I
imagine you investigate other locations as well, Right, do you
ever feel like, I don't want to say that you
compare them, but do you? I mean, how does that
feel to be so kind of connected to one location
but then occasionally branch out to others? Does it feel different?
Or do you ever? I mean, honestly, do you ever
(25:14):
feel like part of Malvern comes with you elsewhere? If
that makes sense?
Speaker 2 (25:17):
It does. It's super weird. One of my favorite places
to go is obviously the Veliska Axe Murder House, which
is just thirty minutes down the same stretch of road.
And Johnny over there at the Veliska House is one
of my best friends.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
I love Johnny.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
Yeah, he's one of the best, you know, And so
it's it's just good people and good fun. But it's interesting,
like going into another location and separating yourself from what
you already know to be the normal. Right, So it's like, oh,
I could go and investigate the Queen Mary for an example,
or someplace like that and have to mentally say to myself, Okay, dude,
(25:56):
This is not going to be what you're used to,
you know what I mean, this is not going to
be And I think, honestly, as weird as this sounds,
the spirits here are more familiar with me. Oh that's
the guy that wipes down the counters, that's the guy
that annoys me with the vacuum cleaner, you know, things
like that. But they see me as more of, like,
you know, a caretaker of the place, and so I
(26:18):
think they're more familiar with me and more willing to
mess with me a little bit more than maybe anybody else.
But yeah, it's interesting.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
I was going to ask that actually, like if you
felt like you had kind of built up a camaraderie
with some of the spirits there, or if there are
some there that might not like you.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
You know, there's that like Gracie, for an example, is
one of my favorites. She's become my built in therapist,
you know what I mean. Like, I'll just go into
Gracie's room and I'll be like, You're never gonna believe this,
and I'll just word vomit for a half hour and
I'll feel great and she's probably annoyed. But regardless, like
there is one gentleman upstairs, and his name is Hank
(26:58):
or Henry, and it kind of depends on the day
and what he wants to be called. He's your very
stereotypical grumpy old man, and he just doesn't seem to
enjoy company. He certainly doesn't enjoy the company of female investigators,
that is for sure. But like he's just a crotchety
old dude, and like he would sit out on the
front porch and like throw rocks at children and things
(27:20):
like that. So he's just kind of a butt heead.
I also kind of aspire to be this man one day, right.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
But yeah, this right, you might be.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
Maybe maybe, but no, he's honestly like one of my
favorites too, because he will just kind of flip you crap,
you know what I mean. But I'm also flipping it
right back. But it's almost like a buddy thing. But
I do think that I get on her nerves more
often than not.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
Do you really think there's a connection between Malvern and Fliska.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
It's it's fascinating again, one of those conversations that happened
after too many glasses of wine with Johnny House, Right.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
But I can only imagine he's so much.
Speaker 2 (28:00):
Oh my god. Yes, but it is interesting because there
does seem to be some kind of correlation, some kind
of a tie that we're not quite privy to yet,
things that I don't quite know, Like we're getting EVPs
here for an example, that would suggest Veliska. However, they're
(28:22):
also getting EVPs and Velliska that are suggesting Malvern. It
makes no sense, like I would give my left arm
to see a ledger from the hotel right back in
nineteen ten in June specifically, or.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
Excuse me, well, no, yeah, exactly. And what also makes
you wonder too, because obviously Feliska was huge news, and
so sometimes even just a news story can be enough
of triggering information to get a spirit to speak with you,
even if they weren't necessarily involved in it, it's enough
for them to be like, oh, yeah, I remember that.
Clearly everyone who was at Malvern knew about that. Obviously
(29:01):
we could go down the rabbit hole. But but that's
a possibility too. I find that connection to be very interesting,
and Johnny brought it up to me when I was
at Veliska last He was like, you got to go
to Malvern, and I still can't believe I haven't been there.
To be honest, I have this very weird draw to Iowa.
So like I've always, like every time we've gone there
to investigate or whatever, I've always had this kind of
(29:22):
draw to it and can come to find out like
I was half adopted and all bunch of my birth
families all from Iowa, like I descended from Iowan's. So yeah,
so strange, but well.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
That's interesting, yeah, I mean honestly, like what you guys
go to Belvoir a lot, yeah, which I mean that's
just two hours away, give.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
Her and a half. Yeah. When we were filming at
Veliska for Kindred, the owner of Belvoir, so Jesse is
one of my best friends, and so he came out
and hung out with us, and so personally, like, do
you ever well, first of all, do you live in
Malvern or are you just like there all the time.
Speaker 2 (29:59):
I'm just overcoming it feels like I live in Malverne.
I live like ten or fifteen minutes away, which is
like just close enough and just far enough away, you know.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
Yeah, no, that makes sense. Now do you ever regret
the decision to be so heavily involved in it?
Speaker 2 (30:15):
Sometimes? I guess like it's weird, right, Like I can't
imagine doing anything else now, like I honestly can't. I
feel also very fortunate to be doing what I'm doing,
because I know a lot of people that would die
to do this, you know. But there are certain times
like I mean, I remember one time giving an interview,
(30:36):
sitting in the main room over here, and somebody asked
that question, does anything ever follow you home? And I
said no, not really like and right at that moment,
my wife called me and I was like, sorry, guys,
I gotta take this real quick. And I asked if
everything was okay. She goes, I don't know what you
guys are doing over there, but you need to knock
it off. I'm like, what do you mean. She's like, like,
(30:57):
the kitchen cabinet doors are opening. The dog is like
going absolutely batcrap crazy. He's like. My wife was like,
something is going on over here. Please stop. I'm like,
we're not doing anything, we're just talking.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
Yeah, your Malvern friends were like, oh, that's something we
can do. Let's explore this option exactly.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
It's like, oh and now they heard that, yes.
Speaker 1 (31:19):
Well, hopefully you set some boundaries since then, so that's
not happening.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
Definitely.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
Well I love that now, I know. So Malvern is
open for tours and investigations, is that correct?
Speaker 2 (31:29):
Absolutely?
Speaker 1 (31:29):
Yes, Okay, and how does that work, like if people
want to come visit and check it out?
Speaker 2 (31:34):
Yeah, So malvernmanor dotweeble dot com is the website. And
on that website, I mean you can check out the
calendar with available dates, you can request a date and
from there it just emails me directly and we get
you on the calendar and off you go, you know
type of thing. So it's it's super fun. I love
(31:56):
meeting new people and seeing people's approach to an investigating
and all that stuff.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
I'm sure you have boundaries and things, and everybody's super
respectful and I can only imagine.
Speaker 2 (32:07):
Yeah, you know, for the most part they are. It's
there's obviously your your outliers, right like once in a while,
but no, like for the most part, ninety nine percent
of people come in here very respectfully, which I also
say is probably the only way that you're going to
get legitimate interactions because absolutely if you come in kind
(32:29):
of like what I call guns a blazon, you know,
where you're like kicking indoors saying show yourself and all that, tiff,
it's really not going to get you very far. But
if you take an hour or you take ninety minutes,
and you go and just sit in a room and
you just ask very generic questions, what did you do today?
You know, what are you doing tomorrow? How is your day?
(32:50):
You have things like that, like it seems to really
elicit a response from these people.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
Yeah, I agree completely. So well, I'm going to have
to pay a visit clearly next time I'm in Iowa
exploring my heritage, and I will. But I really do
appreciate you taking the time. It's been a lot of
fun chatting with you, and like I said, hopefully I'll
be visiting soon.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
That sounds great, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
Malvern Manor has left behind its old role as care
facility and now caters to supernatural enthusiasts and paranormal investigators.
It's oddly appropriate that the facility still straddles the line
between looking forward and looking back. Its business model is
different from anything it had before, but any interaction with
(33:38):
mysticism and spirituality will always involve some engagement with the past.
So while spirits from long ago continue to dwell there today.
We can only hope they'll find a pathway forward as well.
I'm Amy Bruney and this was Haunted Road. Haunted Road
(34:05):
is hosted and written by me Amy Bruney, with additional
research by Cassandra de Alba. This show is edited and
produced by Rima Alkali, with supervising producer Josh Thain and
executive producers Aaron Menke, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. Haunted
Road is a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild
(34:26):
from Aaron Menke. Learn more about this show over at
Grimanmild dot com, and for more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows.
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