Lore 259: Where the Heart Is (ad-free)

Often the places that are closest to our hearts are the most vulnerable to being haunted. Which is why, even in folklore, there’s no place like home.

Narrated and produced by Aaron Mahnke, with research and writing by GennaRose Nethercott, and music by Chad Lawson.

Sources:

• “3,500-Year-Old Babylonian Tablet May Contain Earliest Known Depiction of a Ghost.” Smithsonian Magazine. October 22, 2021. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/3500-year-old-babylonian-tablet-may-hold-earliest-known-ghost-image-180978923

• “Do We Have To Tell Them the House is Haunted?” JSTOR Daily. October 27, 2018. https://daily.jstor.org/do-we-have-to-tell-them-house-is-haunted

• “From Gothic mansion to haunted house: what makes a building spooky?” Financial Times. October 29, 2021. https://www.ft.com/content/e0cae41e-35fd-4c72-9d5d-8f383aefc855

• “History of Ghost Stories.” History. October 29, 2009. https://www.history.com/topics/halloween/historical-ghost-stories#section_2

• “How Victorian Mansions Became the Default Haunted House?” JSTOR Daily. October 16, 2018. https://daily.jstor.org/how-victorian-mansions-became-the-default-haunted-house

• “Huntingford, G.W.B. “55. Ghosts and Devils in East Africa.” Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. Vol. 28 (May, 1928), pp. 76-78. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2789197

• Nickell, Joe. “Amityville: The Horror of It All.” Skeptical Inquirer. Volume 27, No. 1 (Jan/Feb 2003). https://skepticalinquirer.org/2003/01/amityville-the-horror-of-it-all

• “Plautus’ Mostellaria (“The Haunted House”).” St Olaf College. 2008. https://wp.stolaf.edu/classics/st-olaf-ancient-plays/mostellaria

• “Pliny the Younger Letters.” Bartleby. https://www.bartleby.com/lit-hub/hc/letters-pliny-the-younger/lxxxiii-to-sura

• “The First Ghosts: Most Ancient of Legacies.” The Past. December 13, 2021. https://the-past.com/review/books/the-first-ghosts-most-ancient-of-legacies

• “The Haunting.” The Amityville Murders. https://amityvillemurders.com/the-haunting/capitalizing-on-a-tragedy.html#

• “​​Winter Book Club: The Amityville Horror Part 1 with Jamie Loftus.” You’re Wrong About. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/winter-book-club-the-amityville-horror-part-1-with/id1380008439?i=1000545473416

• “Yūrei.” Yokai.com. https://yokai.com/yuurei/

• Ignoffo, Mary Jo. Captive of the labyrinth : Sarah L. Winchester, heiress to the rifle fortune. (University of Missouri Press, 2010). Page 6. Via Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/captiveoflabyrin0000igno/page/n7/mode/2up

• “Everything you think you know about the Winchester Mystery House probably isn't true.” SF Gate. February 6, 2018. https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/real-story-of-sarah-winchester-mystery-house-12552842.php

• “History.” Winchester Mystery House. https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/sarahs-story

• “The True Story of the Winchester Mystery House, the Creepiest Mansion in the U.S.” House Beautiful. September 15, 2023. https://www.housebeautiful.com/design-inspiration/a27481666/winchester-mystery-house

• “The Truth About Sarah Winchester.” The Truth About Sarah Winchester. http://thetruthaboutsarahwinchester.com

• “Timeline” Winchester Mystery House. https://winchestermysteryhouse.com/timeline

• Nickell, Joe. “Winchester Mystery House: Fact vs. Fancy.” Investigative Files. https://cdn.centerforinquiry.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2002/09/22164739/p20.pdf