What's Behind the Scare? When Staged Scares Meet Reported Hauntings

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hey everyone, on this week's episode of Whispers from the Mists, Conversations from the Spiritual Byway. Today Bonnie and I are talking about what happens when staged scares and reported haunting share the same space. We recently watched an episode of Ghost Adventures that left us wondering how you sort through it all when the whole place is designed to scare you. So grab a cup of coffee, get cozy, and we'll take this conversation just a little bit further down the spiritual highway. Hello everyone and welcome to this week's episode of Whispers from the Mist. We have made it to November, and I'm here today with my very good friend Bonnie DiAngelo. Hi Bonnie, how are you?

SPEAKER_00 0:46

Hi, Michelle. I'm doing really well. How about you?

SPEAKER_01 0:49

I'm doing well. I'm so happy you could join me today. And I think we have something fun we're going to jump into. But before we do, um, the other day you reached out to me, and I hope you don't mind that I'm sharing this, and you shared an experience that you had in your home. Would you mind sharing it with our listeners?

SPEAKER_00 1:08

Of course not. I love sharing all the experiences. So this was pretty scary, actually. So to just begin, I had bought two of those zero gravity chairs because I'm going to start doing reflexology, and that's the kind of chair I'm going to use for reflexology. And I had taken them out of the box and leaned them up against a wall at my entry door. And I was going to take care of them later. So they sat there from the time, you know, they were delivered around five. I went to bed around 8:30, 9 o'clock. And I started to fall asleep. And, you know, when you're in that state of not quite sleeping yet, but not quite awake, and it's that really dreamy, yummy state. And at one point I became aware of a spirit or a ghost or a presence. And in my head, I said, there's a spirit here. And after I said those words, one of the chairs fell over in my entry doorway and scared the living daylights out of me. I swear I felt the adrenaline rush from my toes all the way up to my head. And I was frozen. My cat bolted out of the room to see what was going on. And I laid there for maybe like five minutes, just frozen. I was frozen still. I couldn't move. And I'm like, I better go check and make sure no one is broken into my house. Cause I think that was the initial fear for me is to think it's a human. I live, you know, alone and and you never know. So I get up, all the doors were secure, nothing had been touched. And then I I just said, okay, keep it down out here. Because I knew and I remember that I said spirit in my head, I remember that happened, and I I just knew that it was something paranormal. I don't know what. And I couldn't tap into what I felt that energy was because the fear was still there.

SPEAKER_01 3:00

Um you're holding it in your physical body at that point too, and everything was on alert. And there are so many thoughts racing through my mind right now. The first one is that initial instinct of, is there someone in my house? And I've always said that. So I think a lot of my fear comes from that. And the second one is that totally feels like confirmation. I know that we so easily step into discernment and doubting ourselves, but the timing of it, the universal timing, definitely confirmation. There was something there.

SPEAKER_00 3:47

I agree. And I do agree that you kind of try to think rationally for a moment. Then I step back and I'm like, nope, this happened, this happened, and it was connected. And I just know it in my whole being. So it was, it was a pretty wild experience. And now I I wish I was able to tap in to see what the energy was. Was there a message? What was this for? Why?

SPEAKER_01 4:11

Are you still feeling kind of blocked in that area right now where that particular presence is concerned, or you just haven't done it yet?

SPEAKER_00 4:19

I haven't done it yet.

SPEAKER_01 4:20

No.

SPEAKER_00 4:21

I haven't had time. I've been so caught up with life stuff. So, I mean, that's a thing that happens. And I'm really into human stuff.

SPEAKER_01 4:32

Yeah, you've got a lot going on and you're getting ready to finish the program for massage therapy. So congratulations. You've been going and working hard towards that for a while.

SPEAKER_00 4:41

Definitely.

SPEAKER_01 4:42

Yeah, it's almost funny. And still having your other experiences and being a grandma and all that fun stuff.

SPEAKER_00 4:49

All of it's fun. I love it. Wouldn't change anything. I'm so happy right now. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:53

And when you shared that story initially, my mind went right back to when I was in Japan and we were walking through that old castle. And all of a sudden I heard in my head, there's a spirit here. And then I started doing exactly what you did. I started questioning myself, doubting myself. And the voice inside my head said something along the lines of, just because you're thinking it doesn't mean it's not true. Like give yourself some grace and credit. And then the tour guide said, There is a spirit associated with this well right here. So kind of the same thing, kind of.

SPEAKER_00 5:28

Yeah, I totally remember you telling me that. And I felt very much you were in tune with that space. Definitely. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:34

Well, thank you for sharing that story with us. And, you know, you did mention fear, and we just finished our October After Dark series. But in that very first episode in October, we talked about fear and intuition a little bit. And Stacy brought up haunted houses, but the type of haunted house that she brought up were man-made and created, like those jump scare ones, which I absolutely hate. And I was talking more about like the Warren House, the Belisca Axe House, truly haunted spaces. And we talked a little bit about the difference. Well, lo and behold, Ghost Adventures with Zach Begins and his entire crew started their 31st season talking about a haunted place that is not only supposedly truly haunted, but they've made that space into two escape rooms based on terrifying movies. And I was so unsettled that I'm like, surely there's an episode here. Surely there's something here that we need to talk about.

SPEAKER_00 6:40

And it was a very weird sensation of knowing you're going into a haunted place where horrible things happened and death and torture and all kinds of things. And then you throw in the theme of the Blair Witch Project and saw. And I remember watching those movies and terrified out of my head over them. Like Blair Witch Project 2 scared the crap out of me. So that was weird watching that episode. It was kind of pulling me in a couple different directions.

SPEAKER_01 7:13

Well, talking to you about it today is holding me accountable because I couldn't make it through the first time, but I did sit down and watch it the second time because I knew we were we were recording this. So I've done a little summary on the episode, and I'll probably pause as I read it if you want to add anything or correct me or we can have a little discussion in that part, just so people know what we're talking about. So again, this episode is called Factory of Fear, and it was released just recently, September 30th, 2026. It is episode number one in their most current season, which is 31. And interestingly enough, I've never followed Ghost Adventures. After visiting a space, I always go to see if they have an episode about it. But this year I'm like, I'm going to try and keep up with the season. So this is something new for me. So in this episode, Zach Bagans and the crew visit a warehouse in Las Vegas, Nevada. Now the warehouse is home to two horror-themed escape rooms. One is based on the movie Saw, which I never saw, but you did. And the other is based on the Blair Witch project, which again, I've never seen it just because I heard so many terrifying things about it. So people who are coming into the space are going there to be scared and try to find their way out. They are intentionally walking through these rooms, wondering what's waiting for them around the next corner. So going into one of these haunted houses, I'm talking about the man-made haunted house right now, and you're walking around. What is going on in your physical body when you know that there's something just around the corner? There's no ability to relax. You're uptight mentally, you're trying to prepare, but how do you prepare? Have you been to any of these man-made haunted houses? And how are you feeling walking through them?

SPEAKER_00 9:04

I have, and I absolutely love going through them.

SPEAKER_01 9:06

You do? Okay.

SPEAKER_00 9:07

I do. I do. I love the jump scare. I always have one of the scariest ones that I've ever gone in was at Universal Halloween horror nights, and it was a Michael Myers house. And there was a Michael Myers around every corner. And it felt like I was in the actual movie. Like it it was terrifying. I think I peed my pants a little bit, but I I absolutely love the the rush of it, I guess. The just adrenaline. It was very fascinating to see like how it's so real and how you can actually place yourself into that space and feel what it would have felt like, which is kind of morbid in a sense, but I just enjoy that. It's kind of crazy.

SPEAKER_01 9:51

And where do you feel like you carry it in your physical body?

SPEAKER_00 9:54

Okay, that's that's an interesting question. Let's see. More so in my lower half, my lower extremities. And I'm guessing it's it's gotta do with that feeling of feeling safe and needing to run. Yeah. Fight or flight. Fight or flight. That's that's exactly what it is. All those, all those hormones are being released and it it's a crazy thing.

SPEAKER_01 10:13

And what are you thinking mentally? Are you just preparing yourself for what it could be? Are you going through the movies as you know them or Yeah, when there's when there's something that I can relate to.

SPEAKER_00 10:25

If it's a house that I know nothing about, I just I'm really fascinated with the decor and the costumes. And so that's another part of going through those places, just seeing how they set them up. And then the jump scare within it all is kind of cool. So I just go in like just expecting to be scared and open to see what what I witness and how it comes through.

SPEAKER_01 10:50

Well, thank you for sharing because again, I don't put myself in that type of situation. I don't even watch the movies because they make me so uncomfortable. So I couldn't really relate because I can't even get my foot in the front door.

SPEAKER_00 11:03

So we're so different that way, aren't we? We are.

SPEAKER_01 11:06

I didn't know that until just this very minute. Well, continuing on about the episode. So, of course, this is a man-made escape room, but imagine working there and you know how all the scares work, but there are still things happening to you that you can't explain. And that's what employees were saying about this space. And that's what brought Ghost Adventure to this haunted warehouse. There are stories about its history or the warehouse's past, including alleged connections to organized crime. We don't know how much of that history has been confirmed, but those stories add another layer to what the team is exploring. So there's a lot going on there. So employees seem especially uneasy about the Blair Witch side of this escape room. Some referred to a presence that they call the witch. A night watchman describes seeing a transparent figure rush towards him. And another employee, her name was Sarah, says she felt something grab her ankle before she lost her balance. The owner's name is Jason Egan. He wanted to understand what was happening in that space. And he was also wondering whether, if something is there, is it possibly upset by the fact that the horror scenes are now being recreated in that space? Which I would think so. It tracks. Yeah. So once the investigation gets underway, the uncertainty keeps building. Batteries drain unexpectedly. We've experienced that before in a real haunted location, which that's what we're talking about now, the real haunting. And recording equipment has problems. The crew's trying to document what's happening, but even the equipment becomes another part of the mystery. There are sounds and images coming through. The team hears what sounds like footsteps on a grate, cameras capturing unusual shapes, including a dark anomaly that appears to follow the outline of Aaron's body. A camera system also maps what looks like a figure close to him. And watching it unfold, there is a lot to take in. What someone feels, what someone hears, and then what the camera seems to show. So as they're doing this investigation, they're of course bringing in all this equipment to see what's actually coming through. But I honestly couldn't get past the fact that the background looks so terrifying. I don't know if the setting disturbed you at all or what allowed you to focus. I could not focus.

SPEAKER_00 13:28

I feel like the setting amped up the fear, and it brought me back to what happened in the movies. So I had it was it was a pull from okay, the real hauntings, and then what happened in in the movies. It felt like a lot of overlapping. And I'm not sure if I'm explaining that the right way, but it was a weird sensation seeing it done in the setting of the scary movie. Right.

SPEAKER_01 13:55

So I'm taking this all in because again, I'm getting like uncomfortable even talking about it because I'm starting to feel overwhelmed a little bit. But the crew did a very good job. They didn't use every strange thing that they saw as evidence. At one point, something they initially thought could be a small child turns out to be an ordinary explanation when they go back and check. And that moment really does matter because in this building, you have to look twice because when you do, it could change the whole story. And that's what makes the investigation so difficult to shake. The whole setting is designed to make people react. A sound, a shadow, or an unexpected movement could belong to the attraction, yet the employees believe they have experienced things that go beyond these effects. The team gathers recordings and shares its interpretations, but the episode does not establish a paranormal cause for what happened. And by the end, the question is bigger than whether this particular warehouse is haunted. How do you make sense of an experience when everything around you is built to blur the lines between what is real and what is make-believe? You might react to something staged as though it were real, or you might dismiss something real because you assume it's just another part of the attraction. And that was the conundrum of it all.

SPEAKER_00 15:07

Exactly. And that's how I felt too watching. I'm like, wait, okay, but wait, what's going on here? I felt it was a very layered type of experience for me.

SPEAKER_01 15:20

It just got messy that way because I mean, I can't even explain it in words trying to. You have the man-made and then the real or presumed or alleged. And how do you differentiate the two? And when I was sitting there, I went back to thinking about my own intuition and learning to work with it. And it really does take me a moment to filter everything out. If there's any noise in the background, I have a harder time tapping in. And that space just felt loud because I wouldn't know where to start. I wouldn't know how to trust myself and how to listen to the intuition that I know works for me.

SPEAKER_00 16:04

I totally agree. And I feel that as well. And then it that brings me to the fact that the employees felt they were seeing a witch. So there were no witches involved in the mob. Why is there a witch present during their experiences and just on the Blair Witch side? So what does that mean?

SPEAKER_01 16:23

Right? I don't know because like attracts like, and maybe if you have a whole space dedicated to that, a passing by energy was drawn to it because it could be there and maybe have a sense of something familiar. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 16:39

I know. And another part of the experience was when the employee was standing and got touched, she was standing on the symbol that was connected to the witch in the Blair Witch project. So that was the space where she was touched on her ankle and where they saw the anomalies on the camera, was right at that. So that's where I'm like, well, how? And the fact that yes, other energies are attracted, that that makes sense. But it, yeah, interesting.

SPEAKER_01 17:09

I know. I go back to some of our investigations that we've done. I mean, going into the Zach Begins Museum, also located in Las Vegas, Nevada, quite the experience. I would go back, but I would go back during normal business hours probably. But going into that space, and everything there has a haunted history or a connection to true crime. And it was just a lot of noise. But I trusted myself in there, as crazy as it sounds, because I could put my brain around why it was so loud in there and why I was being pulled in different directions. Do you remember going through the Begins Museum? Can you compare the two?

SPEAKER_00 17:54

I remember going in. I don't feel as though it's comparable. It was very different. And I I feel like there was a lot of noise in there, yet it it all seemed like it, I'm not sure how to put this to words, but it it wasn't the same energy. It wasn't the same thing at all.

SPEAKER_01 18:10

And I I would agree with that. And I'm just putting myself in there. The only way I compared it, it was just loud. And I'd never been in a space before where so many items were intentionally placed in a small space. And that messed with my mind a little. And then you take it one step further, you have these escape rooms, saw, which is gruesome and bloody. And just seeing that just made me a little bit sick to my stomach. And I knew physically I could not relax into that space. I knew mentally my thoughts would be, how the hell do I get out of here? And spiritually, just unsettling. But again, that could be a difference between you and me because I don't like those movies. They don't speak to me. Yeah, that that's a major difference. How do you think you start pulling out what is truly haunted and what is just man-made? I mean, how would you go into that space and be able to ground yourself enough to tap in?

SPEAKER_00 19:12

I'm I really don't know if I I could. I because I like it would be easier if I hadn't seen the movies, if I hadn't had that initial fear. I feel like it would take an awful lot for me to to differentiate.

SPEAKER_01 19:26

And that totally makes sense. I think I would have to do a lot of the work before going into the space. I would have to meditate in, I would have to call in my guides, I would have to ask for some assistance in where I should go, what I should do, what am I looking for, what am I feeling for? And, you know, I'm not a person who likes to go into anywhere with expectations because I think they keep you small. But in this case, I would have to go in with a little bit of guidance from the universe because to just put me in there, I think I would go a little bit crazy. I really do.

SPEAKER_00 20:03

I understand. And asking, yeah, I mean, taking a moment to tap in before entering the space would definitely help because you're not physically there. You can differentiate, you can tap in a lot easier if it's not in the exact same space. However, to meditate into that, you're gonna be in the space anyway. So it's interesting.

SPEAKER_01 20:24

Right. So maybe you just go into the experience human and just take it for what it is, because I don't even know if I was in that space, if something out of the ordinary happened, if I would even believe them when they said, Oh, this doesn't always happen. This isn't part of the escape room. I don't know that I would believe them. I would be like, okay, you're just trying to get me. Like, is this even for real? Are you just hyping it up?

SPEAKER_00 20:49

Like Yeah, there's a sense of that too, for sure. I mean, not everyone's honest. You just never know. And you just gotta be cautious of that. But I can I understand the the thought process of going in and just wondering, hmm, sure, okay.

SPEAKER_01 21:04

So have you ever watched the show Elspeth? I haven't. Okay. Well, last October 30th, um, so of 2025, they created kind of this scenario. Kind of, where there was a true element put in there that people didn't recognize as true until the next day. And the episode was called Ick, a bod. And I thought that was so clever because it took place in Sleepy Hollow. But it was about a lady who I don't remember all the details, but she didn't like one of her neighbors who was hosting this haunted house jump scare for the kids. So she ended up cutting off her head and putting it as part of the display. So people would walk by and be like, Oh, that really looks like only to find out it was a real head. And I'm like, I don't like stuff like that. And I mean, it comes from somewhere.

unknown 21:59

I'm

SPEAKER_01 22:00

have to watch that now. I know it was very interesting. Like I watched the whole thing, but it it was pushing on that boundary for me as to I don't like to think about real props in haunted houses, like real physical bodies or things like that.

SPEAKER_00 22:19

No, that's not right. That would definitely be a little bit a little bit crazy. I need to watch that episode so I can really feel into the experience that you felt. See.

SPEAKER_01 22:29

Yeah, and I know like the movie poltergeist that was a favorite of mine growing up. So that is a horror movie that I did watch multiple times on VHS, probably maybe DVD. I'm aging myself. But I didn't find out until years later that the bodies that came out of the pool were real bodies. No. Yeah. Yeah, it's been confirmed. It says real human skeletons were used in the muddy swimming pool sequence. Joe Beth Williams told Vanity Fair in 2022 that she assumed they were manufactured props and learned afterwards that they were real.

SPEAKER_00 23:08

Oh my goodness. That's a shock.

SPEAKER_01 23:12

Yeah I still watch the movie but I would look at it a little bit differently. And interestingly enough the house where they film poltergeist is now an Airbnb that people can rent and go into.

SPEAKER_00 23:27

What? Okay, why have we not talked about or have we talked about this?

SPEAKER_01 23:30

Because I don't I don't think we've talked about this before because again originally in my mind this was a place where a haunted movie was recorded. I didn't know if some of that energy, again like attracts like, could transform into the house. So I didn't know if it was just going into a house that they used in a movie or if there was that haunted presence. Like a year ago I probably would have said I wouldn't stay there but I probably would.

SPEAKER_00 23:59

Yes we would yes we would yes we would what do you stay in the Warren House? We can stay there.

SPEAKER_01 24:04

I know nothing like can scare me like that. Well I'm not gonna say that I'm not challenging you universe I'm not challenging you.

SPEAKER_00 24:11

Careful what you say.

SPEAKER_01 24:13

I know yeah be very careful with your words but would you stay in the poltergeist house? Totally would. And do you think that it's possibly haunted because it was the location of a very dark movie.

SPEAKER_00 24:27

I believe that the land is the sacred ground and I believe there's a lot of land connection to that space. The movie yes is is going to bring in some form of spirits I agree they're a swinging door and like you said it it'll attract others so yes and yes yes and yes and I think because I did do a little research and again it was like a year ago that they offer enhanced experiences like they might don't quote me on this they might have someone come in and give you a little more history or maybe a medium or something.

SPEAKER_01 25:04

I'm gonna have to go back and research but I feel like in the description they offered other things to help you enjoy your experience. That's why people wouldn't think that's very enjoyable. I personally would think it's very enjoyable.

SPEAKER_00 25:18

Agree. That would be interesting yeah look that up I think that might be on one of our lists. Okay and that one's in California.

SPEAKER_01 25:25

Nice. Yeah and before we leave this real versus not real man-made versus actual truth I do want to share one more documented case in which a real body was used in an exhibit and nobody realized it was real. And this is a case of Elmer McCurdy and it took place in Long Beach, California in 1976. But his preserved body passed through sideshows and ended up in a fun house where it was mistaken for just a dummy a crew filming the six million dollar man discovered it was human when an arm broke off during handling exposing a bone. So a real person's remains was blended into the stage setting. So it sometimes happens to us it's not giving man made a really good spot in my mind. It's not me wanting to rush in there and go into one of these haunted houses for sure.

SPEAKER_00 26:22

Yeah no that's that's a little disturbing to me.

SPEAKER_01 26:26

Kind of crazy a little macabre or just unsettling to know. It's enough well that's kind of what I wanted to talk about today. Do you have any other thoughts or anything on a man-made space versus a haunted space and how it would mess with your mind or how you would make your way through it.

SPEAKER_00 26:48

Well I'm up for any experience so I think it would be kind of a neat experience to see how that comes about. I have honestly no idea how I would feel in a space like that. I mean I'd love to experience it though and see exactly what I'm feeling what my guides and and my helpers are gonna help me with and where it takes me you just never know all all experiences are amazing and yeah I would do it I would do it and I think it would be fun.

SPEAKER_01 27:20

And they somehow find us like what we're supposed to do somehow finds us. But I think if you're thinking about going to this escape room which you haven't said you are but you said you're open to all experiences I might wait for you in the comfort of my hotel. But I couldn't let you do it by yourself. So I probably would come but I wouldn't like it. I get it yeah but no man left behind and a team when we go on these experiences. Always yes always well I do have three listener questions. Let me just grab them really quick. And the first one has to do with trusting the staff if you were to go into one of these locations and the staff says that wasn't one of our effects would you believe them the second question is if a place is already said to be haunted why turn it into a horror attraction that isn't the real story enough and the third question is would you investigate somewhere like this just for the experience or would all the stage scares take the enjoyment out of it for you? I know my answer to number three.

SPEAKER_00 28:32

I think I do too oh yes.

SPEAKER_01 28:35

Well thank you so much for being here Bonnie and I know next week you're going to be joining me also and we have a really fun discussion about how to have that haunted experience that you're looking for.

SPEAKER_00 28:49

I'm excited for that too and thank you for having me. This is great thank you. So with that shall we close out the episode stay curious trust but you know and we will meet you along the spiritual byway.

SPEAKER_01 29:03

Until next time everybody bye so much other two other time to be here with us wherever you are on your journey right now. Just know you're not alone we're here for you and we're all in this together.