HAUNTED HOTEL | Overnight Haunt at The Read House Hotel Chattanooga, TN @RattledandShook (Ep 359)

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All of the alarms in the hotel go off. It's like please evacuate.

full evacuation?

Yeah. Find the nearest stairwell. Do not use the elevator.

You're staying in the haunted room, right?

Ooh.

I think someone wants the radio on. And the bathroom is where everything went down.

Right. This is not just any hotel. This is not just any haunted room. This is room 311 of the Read House Hotel in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Very spooky.

Hey.

Hello. This is Two Girls One Ghost.

Two Girls One Ghost.

And we are your ghostesses. That is Corinne.

Hello.

I'm way over here.

recording from room 311

1:00

And our ghost today, we have a real ghost with us.

Because

Yeah.

I am in the haunted Read Hotel in Chattanooga, Tennessee in the very haunted room 311, where there is a spirit of a woman who's very much here.

Uh-huh.

And might make an appearance in the episode.

[gasps]

Oh my gosh. This is the very room.

is like the first time that you're staying in like the said haunted room, right?

Yes. Cuz I feel like we've been to places and you've gone on location a few times before, but it's like usually it's just like we're in the the hotel not

Yeah, the general vicinity. No, you we're in the room where it happened.

And you spent the night there?

I did. And I have some stories and we're going to get to those.

Oh my god, did you sleep a wink? Or were you just terrified all night long?

I I dreamt a a about setting up the recording, can't like stuff. So, my sleep was me dreaming about

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working.

Oh, the anticipation of having to record in the morning.

we set it up? Like what's the best spot? Like what if the What if the ghost interferes with the audio and the microphones and the camera? Which could still happen, so stay tuned. But today's episode is celebrating two things. Two very exciting things. Well, one very exciting thing and one that I'm going to call the anti thing.

Oh, okay.

This is celebrating Friday the 13th because that's right, this February we have a Friday the 13th. Actually, in 2026, I think we have three Friday the 13ths.

Three? Is that normal?

Three.

I feel like we only ever get maybe two.

I know, we have a lot. So, [laughter] happy Friday the 13th to those of you who celebrate, including us.

Wait, oh, now I need to know which months they're in.

I'll tell you right

For my planning of life.

It's February, March, and November.

Oh, wow. Okay, so we've got two back-to-back.

Yeah.

Perfect time to go get that tattoo for all those Friday the 13th tattoo specials if anyone's been.

Or perfect for you to come stay in room

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311 because those are the only nights that room 311 is available to sleep in.

What?

Mhm.

I did not know that. So, it's only available on a Friday the 13th.

And then I think they have dates in October that they open it up for as well.

[sighs and gasps]

So, they just keep it empty the rest of the year?

Yes, so we're going to talk about that because and we have a special guest today, Meredith Stedman from Rattled and Shook podcast, join me cuz I was like, I can't be here by myself

[laughter]

cuz as daring as I may be, I was also a little chicken Um, and so at the end of the episode Meredith will come in and join us and we'll talk about some of our experiences we've had here since since being here.

Perfect.

But, okay, the other thing today's episode is celebrating is what comes after Friday the 13th. Saturday the 14th, which is Valentine's Day.

Oh. What were [laughter] you What you say?

Our half-year anniversary. Which is also Valentine's Day. What does that say about my obsession

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with you and our podcast that instead of thinking Valentine's Day, I'm like, oh yeah, it's halfway between our our annual anniversary.

I actually much prefer that because that was what I was going to be anti is I'm anti-Valentine's Day and also this episode's kind of like anti-love and maybe this should prove why

Oh.

none of us should be in love and all we should do is just become just spend times with our best friends and our girlfriends and that's the most important relationship of our life, you know?

I can't. I'm coming off of rewatch two of heated rivalry. I could never disagree with you more than I do in this very [laughter] moment. I love love.

Well, this story

I love men.

This story will make you realize why I'm saying that.

Okay.

Okay. So, every Friday the 13th, oh well, I I guess it goes without saying I'm covering this hotel and this room for this episode.

[laughter]

I was like, I didn't lead with that context. Yeah.

Okay. So, every Friday the 13th, this hotel in Chattanooga, Tennessee

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opens the doors to their most haunted room. And lucky or I guess maybe unlucky, no, it's lucky me, they opened it up for me last night to spend the night.

Dun dun dun. So amazing.

This is not just any hotel, this is not just any haunted room, this is room 311 of the Read House Hotel in Chattanooga, Tennessee. And it is gorgeous. Like, you can see just briefly how beautiful this room is and like the antiques and the wallpaper. Such a sucker for wallpaper, but the whole hotel

next to you work?

So, it doesn't, but this used to be the the like room service. Hello.

I love it.

Can I get caviar, please, and some champagne?

[laughter]

I need caviar off the seasoning. A little bump of caviar. Ooh. I think that's like a thing that people do.

ever done that. Never have I ever been been given the opportunity to do that.

Um I don't eat I think you

have to be rich, right?

Uh I guess. I don't know. Caviar does

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seem like a rich person thing, but

It does. Although, technically, is caviar just any fish egg?

Yeah, but I think the nice You want the nice eggs.

Oh, cuz I was like, "Well, we get it on our sushi sometimes."

[laughter] [gasps]

I've had the little tiny orange ones.

Oh. I'm a vegetarian, so why am I trying to answer this?

Anyway. Okay.

So

caviar, and then you slept in the haunted room.

Yes. This used to work. It does not work currently, but yeah, it used to be the hotel room phone. So this hotel is gorgeous, and it was a staple It's been a staple in downtown Chattanooga since it opened in the 1800s 1872. So well over a century, inching upon two centuries, and it has welcomed important business people, travelers from all over the world, a ghost girl from Two Girls One Ghost, and it has also housed a famous mobster from the 1920s who will get into in a minute. But,

Huh.

it has a lot of history. There's so many

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stories that this building can tell. Like truly, you walk in here I walked into the lobby, which is beautiful. It's like very grandiose, like beautiful chandeliers, lots of antiques, and you can just feel the history.

Where my mind just went was like I I know that we should be celebrating how wonderful and beautiful it was, but I just immediately went to the fear of tornadoes and how like beautiful old places like this

Mhm.

are in the tornado zone.

[laughter]

Well, you know where else this is beyond a tornado zone? Fricking

Where?

Appalachia.

Oh my god, double whammy.

This girl This ghoul drove through fricking Appalachia to get here. and I survived and I didn't see any creepy crawlers on the road.

That's good cuz you were driving in the night in the night.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay, so before Meredith and I talk about what we experienced in this room, I want to tell you the history of the hotel and of this land because I do feel

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like what makes this place so haunted isn't just what happened in this room, isn't just the people who stayed here, the people who built it, who poured their lives and energy into this place, but the land. The Read House Hotel has

the Read House Hotel

stood in downtown Chattanooga since 1872 and in the nearly two centuries it has collected stories and some souls.

Everything about it is super ornate. It actually reminds me a lot of the Driskill Hotel that we went to in

Oh, yeah.

Austin.

In Austin.

And it was I guess the construction of this building was inspired by different hotel in Chicago.

It has very like Gatsby vibes, like very like 1920s,

art deco. I mean, as you can see from the

Enter the mobster, like that makes total sense in this movie.

And a little like teaser, there are bars on the windows of this hotel room. Because perhaps a mobster stayed in here. A dangerous one.

Like as a prison cell for him?

Um like during transport. Yep.

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[gasps and sighs]

Oh Damn, why are they putting them in nice hotels?

[laughter]

Well, I shouldn't ask that. Pablo Escobar is a great example of getting whatever the hell you want even if you're [laughter] incarcerated.

Exactly. So this history goes way back,

history of the land - the Cherokee Nation

like origin stories, like circa like beginning of time.

[laughter]

The land

The land before time. The land that is now the city of Chattanooga was first inhabited by indigenous people as most of America is. Most notably the Cherokee Nation and this area sits along the Tennessee River which made it the perfect place for trade, for travel, for agriculture. It's kind of in the valley of a bunch of mountains, the Appalachian Mountains. So, it was a perfect place to travel between the mountains. And the mountains provided this kind of safety. You're in like the valley, you know? The Cherokee people called the region Tsatanugi. It's spelled t s a t a n g u i, but

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pronounced Chattanooga, which is similar to what it is now, Chattanooga. Chattanooga stood for rock arising point. And as I was explaining, it's the area where the ridge and valley of the Appalachians meet the Cumberland Plateau, which makes for beautiful scenery. And Meredith and I haven't like walked around outside of the hotel very much, but when you look up photos of Chattanooga, you see like the Tennessee River and the landscape and the rolling hills and the like bridges and and it has beautiful sunsets and stuff. So, I'll go catch some photos myself tomorrow.

All I'm thinking of is how beautiful someone gave us maybe like four or five years ago when we were at a show, someone from Chattanooga brought us magnets of Chattanooga. And I was like, "Damn, that place looks really nice."

It's stunning. But with most of our land, what started as land that belonged to the natives, slowly began to be colonized. In the 1540s, Spanish explorers passed through the region. Then in the 1700s, British

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colonials entered the area and began trade alliances with the Cherokee. In the late 1700s, after the American Revolution, the area saw some white settlers who began to illegally encroach on the land. But then in the early 1800s, a man named John Ross took control, and John Ross was the principal chief of the Cherokee Nation. He was of Cherokee and Scottish descent, and he wanted to like really reestablish Cherokee control of this land. So, he he made the area a commercial hub for Cherokee, and he called it Ross's Landing. So he did name it after himself.

[laughter]

You said he was Scottish, too?

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, it sounds like a white boy name.

Yes, but he was very like he was the Cherokee principal chief. So he was more Cherokee than he was

Right. Like deeply involved in the in his culture still.

Yeah. It was actually the last functioning Cherokee controlled site in the region until the Trail of Tears.

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God, I hate the Trail of Tears.

No, and it's pretty devastating especially because because of the location of Chattanooga and the Tennessee River, so many people who were forced along the Trail of Tears did stop in in Chattanooga at some point. So there was a lot of famine, death, harm

Yeah.

that happened on this land.

This is why the Nunnehi opened up their mountain and said, "Come here before all of the destruction."

I know. I actually was thinking about that a lot when I was researching this episode. I was like it does feel very similar.

Well, yeah, cuz so many of those stories with the Nunnehi like preceded and and was leading up to that moment of Trail of Tears.

Trail of Tears & white settlement

Yeah. So if you don't know, the Trail of Tears in 1838, the US troops and local militias rounded up and detained mostly the Cherokee people, but it was natives ripping them from their homes and forcing them into temporary camps. And due to the location of Ross's

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Landing and its proximity to the Tennessee River, many Cherokee people passed through this area before being forced west. And I'm not going to go full history class, but I just think it's very important to know that in context of the Trail of Tears, some 4 to 6,000 Cherokees died during the Trail of Tears.

Yeah.

Not all of them here. But like they were forced into cram situations, like the colonizers or gave them like terrible diseases, they were starved. They were Yeah, it was just horrible conditions.

You're bringing me back to middle school history class when we had the Do you remember the projectors where like you'd put

Yes.

in order to see something like on the wall. We had um like clear pictures but like the ink was printed and it would project onto the wall.

And that's like uh how our history teacher taught us about the Trail of Tears and showed us all of these illustrations of it. It was terrible.

Horrible. Horrible. So, while not all these people died here in Chattanooga, this land is undoubtedly stained by that

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history. And I think it's important context for understanding this hotel. So, once the Cherokee people were forced out of the land, Ross's Landing ceased to be a Cherokee place. The land was redistributed. It was sold or claimed by white settlers and developers. And within months, the white settlers took residence here. And in 1839, Chattanooga, Tennessee was officially incorporated as a city. And it became a bustling city because it had the river and it had the road networks through the mountains and then the railroad expanded that growth and everyone was traveling. I mean, the railroad The days of the railroad, I I simultaneously don't but do want to like go back and experience because it just feels like such a different life.

Like in ways it feels so exciting because of the innovation and getting to go and visit new places and like get dressed up and be fancy. But then when you think about like the people that it brought in and how much hardship was in all of those towns and it was like that's like the Wild West.

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It's

And people just being like enslaved to create the railroads.

Mhm.

And then Phineas Gage.

Yes. See, history class. We're we're we're kind of a history class.

We remember some things.

[laughter]

Some things.

Small bits.

But so, Chattanooga became this really popular big hub for the railroad and people who were traveling on the railroad. It was even nicknamed the gateway to the South because it connected people from the deep South to the Midwest.

Mhm.

And so it's around this time that when the railroad is bustling that people are like, "Oh, well, we need more commercial businesses, but we also need more hotels for all these people who are traveling to stay at." So in 1847, a man by the

the Crutchfield House & the Civil War

name of Thomas Crutchfield made an agreement with the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad and built a hotel just across the street. And it's called the Crutchfield House. So the Crutchfield House stood where the Reed House now stands. The hotel and Thomas became like they like become the center of

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Chattanooga community. The hotel's directly across from the railroad station. So many guests are spending their nights here. It becomes a place to gather for political, social, and economic conversation. Like I feel like hotels weren't just a place to go sleep in. They were a place to socialize. It becomes so popular that and like Thomas also becomes so popular. He becomes mayor of Chattanooga.

Oh, wow.

And then if you know anything about history, this is the mid to late 1800s, there's something a brewing. The Civil War. And the United States is fractured over slavery, states' rights, economic power, federal authority. States were voting for secession, and Chattanooga was a divided city. And I thought this was interesting. Like Chattanooga was like the one city that was really holding Tennessee back from seceding. In 1861, in the location that we are in, granted different building, Jefferson Davis gave an impassioned speech encouraging Tennessee to join the Confederacy, but Thomas Crutchfield's brother, so the mayor and the owner of the Crutchfield House, William

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Crutchfield, resisted. And it becomes this like duel. Like literally guns get drawn.

My god.

So kind of the Wild West.

I am kind of shocked cuz I feel like when we learn about it, it just feels like you know, here are the states that were

Mhm.

it just feels like such a clear divide.

Yeah.

And it I guess yeah, it does make sense. It's almost like voting today, where like there could be a state that's

Yes.

totally red, but then there's like a couple blue cities within it or something like that, you know?

History repeats itself.

Yeah.

We don't learn. So, Crutchfield, he was a businessman and a railroad investor, and so he rejected the secession more for economic reasons. But anyway, there's such a big disagreement, there's literally weapons are drawn. No one ends up getting harmed. Eventually, Tennessee does secede in 18 61 and becomes the last state to join the Confederacy. But we know how that turned out. The Union forces captured Chattanooga in 1863. They seized the city, and as they did in war, they were like, "Well, we seized it, but now we need a place to stay." And there's this beautiful hotel here.

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So, they take up residency in the Crutchfield House. The Civil War ended in 1865, and just 2 years later in 1867, the Crutchfield House was destroyed by a fire. Like nothing was left.

Damn.

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No. [laughter]

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post war & the Read House

So, now the land is empty and post-war travel among the railroad and business travel generally surged. So, more people are traveling, the city's running out of hotel rooms, and in 1872, there are two local businessmen who see this vacant lot, which is like literally right across the street from the railroad, like the entrance. They're like, "Oh, this is prime real estate. Let's build up some like business buildings." So, they build like a whole commercial

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building. But then, in 1872, a man by the name of John Thomas Reed sees these buildings and he's like, "They're destined to be something more than commercial buildings." So, he convinces the two businessmen to rent him, like lease him the building. And he turns it into the Reed House Hotel. So, in 1872, the Reed House Hotel is opened. And immediately, the energy from what was once the Crutchfield House seems to radiate through the walls and halls of the Reed House, and it becomes, similar to the Crutchfield House, the social center of Chattanooga.

Mhm.

It's a meeting place for politics, for business, for socializing, and prosperity. Railroad execs, business travelers, politicians, performers, they all decide to stay at the Reed House.

Also, what a great impression of Chattanooga. Like, imagine you're traveling there, it's your first time, and you get off of the train, and that is what you see. This like grandiose,

Yes.

opulent, like beautiful hotel. That would be such a good first impression.

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And also, how convenient. I'm for sure staying there. I don't want to go lug my carriage. Also, like, think about what people had to travel with back in the day is like they didn't have wheelie suitcases. They had these massive trunks.

Yeah.

What a burden. I don't think I'd travel.

[laughter]

Not that you travel much now, anyway.

No. Well, okay, but part of what what is You want me to travel with a a car seat? No [laughter] thanks. I'm not getting on a plane.

No. Okay, so eventually John Reed buys out the whole building from these businessmen and continues the Reed House rather than like renting the building. It's like now he owns it and it is the hotel. And John and his wife, Caroline, love this hotel deeply. Like they live here, they take up residence here, they do nightly rounds, like knocking on doors, checking on guests. They Granted, it's also like the late 1800s, like sometimes there were like dirty rotten scoundrels who would sneak into the hotel and they would go kick them out. But they were they were very much a part

22:00

of the hotel. They weren't just like the owners who didn't want anything to do with it. They would go have drinks, they would mingle with the customers, they were befriending the people who would stay here long-term. And in 1879, they sold the hotel to their son, Sam R. Reed, but they continued to live and manage the property. In 1880, the Reed House Hotel is extended. In 1884, Grover Cleveland's presidential victory was celebrated at the Reed House. In 1886, a fourth story was added and in time the Reed family ends up owning like the entire block that the hotel sits on, not just the Reed House.

Wow. Yeah.

In 1898, John and Caroline celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary here in the Reed House Hotel, which I think is beautiful.

That's so cute.

50 years. See, okay, this is

And you said you don't believe in love.

Well, you'll see, it's not that I don't believe in it, but I'm when we get to the the reason this room is haunted,

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this is why I'm advocating for friendship over romance.

Okay. Oh.

In 1900, John Reed passed away. His funeral was held at the hotel. Caroline lived for another 3 years before she too passed away in 1903 and joined her beloved John on the other side. You would think that those two would be seen quite a lot in the hotel, but I spoke to the people at the front desk yesterday and I was like, "Have you like have people reported seeing John or Caroline Reed?" And they all were like, "No, actually, not at all." And one guy joked [clears throat] that they had enough of the hotel. Or maybe they're just at peace because

Yeah.

they left it in the hands of their family and it they didn't need to stay.

Right.

But there are some hauntings and we'll get to it that like based on the way they sound, it does feel reminiscent of John and Caroline, but they've never been like seen or they're not very active if they are here.

Yeah, or maybe it's like residual or something.

Yeah, definitely.

24:00

It also You just made me think a thought that I don't think I've ever thought before with the paranormal, which is I wonder if especially with like a residual haunting, like if there's another spirit that's like actively haunting and their own memories can project like a residual haunting.

Oh.

Like it's like their memory of interacting with someone else makes the ghost of that person appear, but that spirit isn't actually there. It's just a part of another spirit's memory in their own haunting.

That's cool. I believe that.

Yeah.

We don't know what hauntings are.

Anything's possible. We know nothing.

So, their son Sam continues to operate the Reed House Hotel and continues his parents' legacy as if they never left. It's like their their legacy and their energy is woven into the foundation of this business and of the hotel. In 1904, you're going to love this, Karin. The hotel adopts a European plan, which meant room rates started at $1 and

25:00

up. And meals were served a carte. And they had, quote, "unusual, but the finest Turkish baths." What in the world?

god.

Room rates starting at $1.

That sounds nice.

crazy? Also,

in today's money? 20 bucks?

I didn't look that up. I don't know. It's a good question.

1904. Someone do the math for us.

Also in 1904, guess what's introduced into Chattanooga? Coca-Cola. And it is first introduced in

Back when they were using cocaine.

[laughter]

Literally, it was introduced

What a party, Chattanooga. You got Turkish baths and Coke.

Yes. [laughter] It was implemented in the Read House drugstore. Like that was the first place in Chattanooga that got Coca-Cola.

That's a fun fact.

Yeah. And the advertisement for it says, "It satisfies the thirsty and helps the weary." Yeah, nothing like a little cocaine in your bones.

That's literally because it was

[laughter]

That slogan today for Coke. It's like, "Do you do all that?" I feel like that's the marketing is wrong and people would

26:00

sue.

Did you try coca leaves when you were in Peru?

Yeah, I did. I was pretty dependent on them.

Oh. Oh, for the altitude?

Yeah.

Yeah.

We did a lot of hiking, a lot of hiking in Machu Picchu, and just like a ton of different elevation changes.

Yeah.

And I I did a lot of coke I tried it a couple times once or twice, but I I did a lot of

[laughter]

I did a lot of coca tea. And then uh I like to chew the tea

cough drops, like the lozenges.

Yeah. You didn't chew on the actual leaves, or did you?

I just a couple times, but it wasn't good.

Yeah, no. It's like dirt.

I think I was like so blind to what coca actually tastes like because I we all like needed it so badly on our travels cuz we were there for like two or two weeks or so.

Yeah.

Then I bought a ton of coca tea and brought it home with me as like a Here's my like

Yeah, your souvenir.

my family or whatever. And then they're trying it and they're like, "Oh, pretty plain."

Yeah.

like, "Oh."

Yeah.

Anyway.

Anyway, so now, yeah, everyone's doing coke in Chattanooga.

Mhm.

Around the 1920s, Chattanooga is a

27:00

full-blown bustling city. And but it's also 1920s. We know what's happening. Prohibition, Great Depression. And the Read House is not immune to the Great Depression. Also, it opened in 1872, so it's a little bit outdated. It's not like the center of the city anymore. People are choosing to stay at other hotels because there are other options. And the hotel's a little run-down. So, they decide to tear it down and build a brand new, even better, more luxurious Read House Hotel. The same Read House Hotel that exists today.

Wow.

But this is amazing. So, the way they must have done the construction, they must have done it in phases because not a single day during the like year and a half time that they did this brand new rebuild, basically, was the Read House closed. Not a single day was it closed. So, it was always open for business during the construction.

Yeah.

They must have done it like section by section, I guess.

Yeah.

Construction takes a year and a half plus, and by 1926, the Read House Hotel reopens and throws a or it's, you know,

28:00

does its grand reopening. There was a four-day event to celebrate their new 10-story, 400-room, elegant, modern, and fireproof hotel.

I hate the word fireproof hotel ever being used.

Well, I think it's because it's like more concrete than it is wood built. And And that's a lot of cities.

feel like that's been advertised a few times and then things go down in flames like 20 years later.

Well, the Crutchfield House burned down. And if you look at Chattanooga again, like we haven't done a ton of exploring, but when I was coming in, I did notice that a lot of the buildings are more concrete, and I imagine that's because a fire destroyed a lot of the city.

Right.

Which is common.

I also wonder if like, again, thinking about tornadoes, does that help? Is that the preferred construction?

I do not know. I feel like you're the tornado expert.

I well, I'm the I'm the one that fears it most.

the expert on being feared.

in a past life from a tornado because I have nightmares about

29:00

tornadoes all the time and I have never been in a tornado.

You never ended up in our

Nor did I grow up in in an area with tornadoes.

No, but that one time we were in Austin you did have a tornado warning and you were it was very scary for you.

Yeah, because I was coming off of decades of nightmares that I was going to die in a tornado.

No, that's terrifying.

I was like, this is it. Here it is. Here's the moment. You think you're going to die in a car crash, I'll die in a tornado.

Yeah, those might be past life things or maybe they're current life, who knows. Only time will tell.

[laughter]

Stay tuned and find out find out how we die.

Okay, so it reopens in 1926 and this hotel is built with a strong Art Deco influence, featured a massive lobby, grand ballrooms, meeting spaces, updated guest rooms. The renovations cost $2.5 million and once they reopened, they upped the room rates to $2.50 and up. Which inflation. But considering how much it cost for the renovations,

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I'm like, that's a modest increase. Yeah, true. Okay, so now when it reopens, the hotel reestablishes itself as the premier hotel in Chattanooga. Even Winston Churchill stays at the hotel in the 1930s. But also you want to know who else stays here during this time? Al freaking Capone. Damn. Because that guy was everywhere. How did he have the time? Well, so it was during his transport like his transportation to like different cells and stuff. Okay, yeah, so he wasn't doing mob business there. So according to the hotel and like the historians, Al Capone literally stayed in the room that we are in right now, the room that I am recording in and there are bars on the windows here in this room because like they say that they were installed for Capone to be able to stay here so that he wouldn't like run and escape.

Mhm.

But Meredith did some research and said that apparently it was common for like hotels on the first couple of floors to have bars on their hotel rooms, but

That makes sense just for like people trying to loot and break in and

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stuff like that.

Which I think maybe that made it a safe room for him to stay in because there already were bars.

Yeah. I feel like a lot of people hearing that Al Capone had stayed in that room might anticipate a certain negative or like scary vibe in the energy. However, when you and I were in Vegas

Yep.

and we went to Zak Bagans museum.

Yep.

There was a room that was basically a replica of like Al Capone's was it his like office or his library or something?

Mhm.

I can't remember what it was, but like it was the one room where we're like, "Oh, this feels really nice."

Yeah, and also we felt

We felt really

I've read a couple stories where people like believe they've had interactions with Al Capone's ghost and like they were kind of fun.

Yeah, it's such a confusing thing cuz like clearly action-wise not a good guy, bad guy.

Objectively bad guy.

Yeah, but it's weird that there's like the energy that is in the afterlife that comes with Al Capone is so different

32:00

from what you would expect based on the Yeah. the terrors he brought to his living life.

He's like He's like that like dad who's like really like militant raising his kids but like the same and he like retires, he starts like smoking weed and like gets a tattoo and just like becomes a different person.

Yeah, I guess.

Okay, so when Samuel Read passed away in 1942, the heirs of the Read family sold the building and the hotel. And then with World War II and the state of the world, a lot of travel lessened. The railroad and nationwide travel, like every business experienced loss during this time. But despite all of that, the Read House Hotel has remained. It has persisted through all of time. It's undergone various restorations and renovations, and and here it is today. Here we are right now doing a whole entire episode about it, staying in the hotel. It is still here, and it is beautiful, and it's it's a place that like you can really truly feel the history in the moment you walk in through the doors. And part of that

33:00

feeling that you feel when you walk in isn't just the history. It's something that's still alive, something a little bit otherworldly and paranormal. Because this place is haunted.

Da da da, is anyone surprised?

Yeah, surprise. We're doing a ghost story.

Surprise! Oh my god, it's a ghost story this week.

[laughter]

Can you believe?

hauntings & stories

Okay, so we'll talk about there's like a couple legends and hauntings that exist in like the hotel generally, but then we'll talk about this room. And then Meredith will come in and we'll talk about what has happened since being here.

I'm nervous, and I didn't even stay there. [laughter]

I have a smile on my face, so I'm not possessed. That's a good thing.

That's what they want you to think.

Okay, so I was fully expecting John and Carolyn Reed's spirits to be here. Like I thought for sure they would be the ones haunting it. But, like I said, there are no reports of their spirits being here. But, there are hauntings that I said like earlier that do seem in line with them.

34:00

Mhm.

Cuz people report cold spots or being watched in the lobby. They also report being followed in the hallways and upper floors. Like footsteps behind you, which is very creepy. And like you turn around and no one's there. People report like knocking on their door. But, then when they go to like look at the door, no one's there. Which that feels reminiscent of the Reeds, right? Like they would knock on the doors, check on the guests, and like

Right.

do their nightly rounds. Also, one thing I want to say is the door to this room is very creepy compared to all the doors of the other rooms.

Wait, why?

It's like the old original or it's actually not the original door, but it's like an old door. And like you have to use like a physical key to get in. Elevators will stop on floors at random like when no one presses the buttons, buttons will light up on their own. But, elevators I feel like traditionally good place to haunt if you're a ghost. There are general discussions, but like no documented reports that I could find of people seeing soldiers or people in period clothing in the hotel.

Mhm.

But, there are also so many antiques. Like even in this room, none of the

35:00

furniture in this room was original to the room, but they're all antiques. So, that adds like a whole other layer. And if you go like walk through the lobby, there's this like library room that is full of antiques. Again, like not antiques original to the building. So, it's like what's coming with those? Are there spirits attached to those that have nothing to do with the hotel and the history of this land?

Yeah, they have their own haunting past to bring in.

mystery

And then there's a mystery at the hotel. And it makes me really sad because as someone who like loves like old records, in 1994, the guest book that dated all the way back to the Civil War went missing. And it has never been seen again.

What? Who had access to the room where it was kept?

Isn't that so sad?

That is so sad. Oh my gosh.

Never been seen again.

You know what? I think it's going to be it's going to resurface sometime in the next like 50 years cuz someone's going to pass, a relative is going to get this

36:00

book inherited, and they're going to go

Ooh.

The Reed House.

onto the History Channel to see how much it's worth.

[laughter]

I'm I hope.

Yeah, that's when we're going to find it. I feel like that happens like a decent amount where someone will go and try to like get some something valued to see because they inherited some weird thing and then then it's like oh, actually your great-grandfather stole that from Egypt.

[laughter]

So, which also that happens a lot.

Probably should give that back.

Yeah. We should do a whole episode about like stolen Egyptian goods cuz I feel like there are a lot of curses. Like literally what and like what what was the story like people used to like snort mummified corpses as like a party trick?

In the Victorian era. That was a big thing.

Anyway, the real reason that we are here today and in the Read House Hotel is this room. It is also the reason that this hotel has such a haunted reputation. Room 311.

legend of room 311

The sad thing about this is there are no

37:00

confirmed records about what happened in this room. So a lot of what is out there, there's like so many different iterations of the story. But I will share with you the one that the hotel staff and like the historians of the Read House Hotel have shared. Also when I posted on my Instagram story, I was like recommendations for Chattanooga, everyone was like you have to go to the Read House Hotel and learn about Room 311. So if you have been to or around Oh, the light turned off. I was like what just happened? Okay, Room 311. As it is said, back in 1927, there was a woman by the name of Anna Lisa Netherly and her husband who lived in this room, Room 311. And Anna Lisa's husband was he traveled a lot back and forth from Chattanooga to Chicago for he was doing a lot of construction work. So he was like along the railroad

traveling a lot for business.

Mhm.

And as the story goes, Anna Lisa was a

38:00

bit of like a good time girl. Like she loved to go down to the lobby, have some drinks, have some cocktails, go into the billiards room, mingle with men. And

Oh.

her husband was gone for long periods of time and she started to get lonely and apparently, according to legend, she would meet men, bring them up to the room, and get her needs met.

Mhm.

Her husband learned of her antics, and tragically in 1927, while Anneliese was in the bathtub enjoying little me-time, her lover, her husband, came into the room and stabbed her to death. While she was in the bath.

Oh god.

Do you now understand why I'm anti-love?

The same thing happened to Was it Was either like Austin or Denver? I feel like we covered another hotel that had such a similar story.

It's like the jilted lover story.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Unfortunately, we don't have many

39:00

details, but I did look it up and during this time in the 1900s, like especially because businesses and hotels cared so much about their reputation, they would be very diligent and cautious about how they handled cases like this. Like they would basically like work very closely with the police, kind of like hush-hush, pay you off, can you handle this quietly so it doesn't get to the papers, and no one learns of it?

Like Disney World. No one dies at Disney.

Exactly. Exactly. So, that could be one reason. It's also the 1920s, maybe records weren't kept as well. But, whether you believe the story or not, it's totally up to you, but one thing is for certain, this room is haunted. People experience the water turning on in the bathroom by itself, lights will flicker. Um truly, like right before setting up the lamp to my right flickered.

There we go.

I did come into the room and said, "Good morning, Anneliese." So, I you know, I feel like we're on good terms.

Yeah, she's welcome to join the

40:00

recording if she would like.

Absolutely. People will feel watched. They'll become overwhelmed with sadness and unease. And most people do believe the hauntings are attributed to Anneliese's spirit. Some have even reported seeing her spectral body. Some people have seen something move behind them in the mirrors in the bathroom. And I will say this, the room is absolutely stunning and on their website you actually can do one of those like full 3D virtual tours of the room itself. Like, you know, when you're looking at real estate you can like virtual tour the house. Yes, they have that for this room. So, if you want to go check it out you can do that. It's beautiful. And there's a clawfoot tub, old wooden doors. The Like I said, the main door requires a physical key. We'll put pictures like side by side of the different room doors. Like this door you walk past it and you're like, "Oh, that looks creepy." Because it doesn't look like everything else. Yeah.

Oh my god, wait, this is crazy. When I checked in yesterday the woman at the front desk said like one of her first few weeks of working here they had to call the fire

41:00

department because this door sealed itself from within and they could not get it open. They had to call the fire department and the fire department literally had to like physically remove the door.

Oh my god.

Yeah.

And it's not like they can get in from the outside cuz there's bars over the window.

And I was like, luckily no one was staying in here, but they had to physically like cut it off the frame.

Yeah. Jeez, that's wild. It makes me wonder what was happening.

I I don't know.

Um morbid question.

Yeah.

The clawfoot tub is the tub the same?

It is not the original tub. Good question. It is not the original. So, like nothing in here

listed it in like the lovely things included in the room and I was like, "Ooh."

Yeah, and I have seen people who do stay in here take pictures in the bathtub, which I I don't think I would do. I just feel like it's a little bit disrespectful.

Yeah, I get Well, do they know? Is it just like

No, I think they know.

Cuz I feel like when you come across a claw a clawfoot tub it does feel so

42:00

unique. Like I could see myself not knowing anything and being like, "Take a picture of me in the tub. Like I'm pretending to be in my tub."

Yeah. And if you are staying here you and you need to shower like it's kind of the only option.

Yeah.

But it's definitely not the original and I will say people must know it's haunted because you can you have to like specifically reserve this room and it's available to book on Friday the 13th. So, like I said, there are three Friday the 13ths this year of 2026, February, March, and November. So, if you want to stay at room 311, you can at The Read House in Chattanooga and it's beautiful and um you can also you can request a tour of the room like during other times of the year. So, you can like

Oh, that's cool.

Yeah, they'll they'll give you like a history tour of the hotel and then you can see the room itself.

I like that.

Yeah.

Cuz otherwise I'm like, damn, what a it's like a little prized room.

Yes.

I would want to be able to see it.

But then I also wouldn't be brave enough to stay in it. So, the tour

43:00

[clears throat] would be perfect [laughter] for me.

It would be. Well, I I will say I was very adamant that we have another room to sleep in in case it got scary.

[laughter]

Hungryroot

You have heard Sabrina and I talk about Hungry Root before. It is so good. I have been ordering it for years now and they make all of my weekly meal planning so easy. And one of the things I love is that they're constantly adding new meals. In fact, they actually have over 50,000 chef-curated recipes to choose from each week and many of them are ready in just 15 minutes or less. And you know I order those ones a lot. Hungry Root holds all of its foods to high standards screening out over 200 additives including high-fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, and preservatives. And they also take your meal preferences and diet preferences into consideration. So, like I'm gluten-free for example, so I have that built into my plan. So, the recommended recipes each week are all gluten-free. They also have some add-ons. So, you

44:00

heard Sabrina and I

[laughter]

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Meredith & Sabrina's experience in room 311

Um but this is the perfect time to bring Meredith in to talk about our experience while staying here. Welcome, Meredith.

Thank you.

[laughter]

Thank you so much.

So you're like 12 hours in and you guys have already experienced the paranormal.

And for my first time.

This is Meredith's

This is my very first experience.

I'm shook. I'm rattled and shook.

You're rattled [laughter] and shook.

No one's more rattled and shook than I am. I had no idea that you hadn't experienced anything before.

45:00

No, I've

I just assumed.

I know. I read a lot of scary stories.

Yeah.

But I don't dabble in experiencing them myself typically.

Until last night.

Yeah, Sabrina was like, "I'm bringing all my equipment." I was like, "This is the first time I'm going to see any of that stuff."

Yeah.

In real life.

Were you nervous going into a little investigation?

Um yes and no. I think that not knowing too much about anything was my primary plan.

Yeah, cuz I was doing the research and I was like, "Meredith, do you want to know about the haunting or not?"

I said no. I said, "Maybe it's better if I don't." And honestly, like I think that I I was telling We haven't talked about You haven't said anything about what we've like heard so far, but

Mhm.

even the littlest bit, even the littlest kernel, I was keeping it cool, but it got my like it got my heart pumping just because I have so little experience with it.

Yeah. And it's just like the anticipation of something.

Yeah.

The unpredictable happening.

Mhm.

It almost felt like from to start from

46:00

the beginning.

Mhm.

It almost felt like the hotel didn't want us to be here.

Accurate. Or it was going to put on a show.

Yeah, like it or it was like you're going to work to to like be with me. Is kind of how it felt. Like getting here, there was a lot of travel delays, and then Meredith got here.

Yeah, well, your travel was crazy. Sabrina

Well, yeah, Sabrina was in a snowstorm traversing the earth to get here. Coming in a Boston snowstorm. But hey, it was worth it.

Yeah. But then I got here before her, and so I checked in and went up to the non-haunted room cuz I was like, I don't want to go in the haunted room before Sabrina's here. I don't want to like spoil it. I ended up doing that. I ended up going in the haunted room by myself before, but um I went to the non-haunted room.

Which also was room 313, which is

Right. I was like, okay, so we're we're staying in the room next to the haunted room and the non-haunted room.

a wall.

Yeah. Basically, you're like right there, and then it's also room

47:00

13 on this floor. So, I was like, all right.

Great.

Perfect. I sit down for about 10 seconds, and all of the alarms in the hotel go off. It's like, please evacuate.

full evacuation?

Yeah. Find the nearest stairwell. Do not use the elevator. I was like, oh. And it begins.

Yeah.

So, it has begun.

[laughter]

Oh my god.

Yeah.

Full on evacuation.

Oh, this makes me so curious if every Friday the 13th when they have people booked in here, if more stuff happens. If there are like more incidents, more reports, more just like things breaking, maintenance calls, because the room is trying to alert or like reject people.

So, this was our biggest debate yesterday cuz we did set up and like we know, like we lit a little candle, set intentions, and then we set up the REM pod. We We set up the ghost stuff. But one thing we have talking about is like if no one's really staying here except for maybe a couple times a year like

48:00

as a spirit do you stay in this room or do you find like do you find yourself going elsewhere and then also because last night wasn't a Friday the 13th was the spirit not prepared for us to be here you know was like oh wait you're this is not right you're not supposed to be here today like she has her calendar marked of like Friday the 13th okay I know to stay

Like does the staff go in every January 1st and say here are the dates I don't know marked throughout the year

I'm just going to leave this list on the couch you peruse it at your Yeah it's like I don't know if you guys watch Below Deck but they get the between new charter guests they have like the preference sheet meetings and it's like all the names of the guests like their food preferences and like the the crew goes through it all that's what I'm imagining for Anna-Lisa But it's Friday the 13th and then I think did you talk about how I think it's also weekends in October

Yeah leading up to to Halloween I think I don't know if that's new but that's what they told me

49:00

Well you got a story too about the last couple who stayed here

Right

us

Right so when I so eventually Sabrina's like I'm going to be really late and I was like oh shoot well maybe I'll just try to get a little bit of the story tonight while I'm here I came in and did like a little tour of the room with a very nice man named Mr. Kirby who was wearing a little bowler hat

delightful

[laughter]

was perfect and he told me like kind of the run of the room and where where the things happened and stuff about Al Capone and all that and then he said that the last couple that stayed here which was would be the last people before we were in this room because it was in October and I guess they were probably the Halloween weekend people they didn't last the night and they didn't end up staying in the room and they like were pretty shaken up and And think that they also then like the newspaper interviewed them. So, I think we can find that story.

Oh.

The local newspaper talked to them is what he said. So.

50:00

Huh. Well, I'm very surprised by that because given how few days and weekends the room is available, my thought is that people who book it are like extra brave, are super prepared for whatever happens in the room. And for them to be like, "No, we can't stay here." I'm so curious what actually happened to them.

Well, I think that's a really good point. But I will say too, I wonder if it was different because they were a couple and I think it was a woman and a man.

Right, which might be triggering to the lore of

of Anneliese.

That's a good point.

[clears throat]

Whereas we are just two girls.

Yeah. Which I okay, so all in all, we experienced very little. We've used ghost tube so many times, Gren. Not a single word. For over an hour, nothing.

That is shocking.

never had that happen. I was even explaining to Meredith like even when I'm at home and I turn on my ghost tube and I start to interact with the with the spirit world or whoever's around, at

51:00

least something will come through. Not a word.

like if there's a gap, it's like maybe 10 minutes and then something will come through and we'll hear a bunch of stuff.

Oh, that just gave me chills.

a little interference with that.

Yeah.

You did? What happened?

Yeah, but now it's gone.

Yeah, you were just as you were talking there was interference like static in the headphones.

[laughter]

So, you're going to have to say that again.

Yeah, wait. Yeah, what did you say?

Oh, no. I was just saying that like the when we've experienced gaps in ghost tube before, it's been maybe like 10, 15 minutes or so. But a full hour with nothing?

Not a word. But we did have the REM pod set up in the bathroom. So, we sat out here. We had a candle and then ghost tube set up and then we put the REM pod in the bathroom and it went off a couple times.

Mhm.

And then the candle, it felt like the spirit was communicating with us via the flame.

Mhm.

The candle did have the most kind of responsive nature.

Yeah.

52:00

And it really it fits the

the vibe.

the vibe.

Yeah.

So I'm not really surprised.

Right.

But when Sabrina told me that GhostTube doesn't normally do that, that like you get basically some sort of

Yeah.

some sort of messaging basically anytime you open it,

Yeah.

then the lack of it actually started to creep me out.

Which is when we like got into a conversation of like, well, was she not expecting anyone to be here? Is she even in this room? Like, does she wander the hotel?

Mhm.

And also we were talk then it got into a conversation about the antiques and stuff in the hotel and in this room. Like, it's hard to know, and I guess this is the issue with the paranormal or like partially the fun of it, too. It's like, you don't have answers. You don't know definitively if like a haunting is XYZ spirit specifically. But we found that like when we were

just like chatting and gabbing like girlfriends, the flame would kind of like go off like as if she was contributing. So tonight we're going to do like face masks and room service in the room and kind of just like hang out with Analisa and have a girls' night.

53:00

Oh, that's such a good idea. [laughter]

I think that's what she wants.

like that's Yeah, that's what brings and like Sabrina and I have been quite a few haunted places before and often bring that sort of energy in. And it does like the people who are with us, who been to haunted place like that specific place before, are always like, "Why is there so much more happening tonight?" And it's probably because it's like, if you just are there to have fun

Yeah.

and not provoke anything or like

Right.

set expectations where it's like you have to perform, you have to talk.

Then it works out better.

Yeah, otherwise it's like all the same thing. It's like, if you're a ghost in this room and the only people that come in are asking you the same questions, are you in the room with us? And like How do you feel about you know what happened to you? I'm sure that they're like, I just want to hear some tea.

Right. Yeah.

Like, I just want a good story to be told to me.

Yeah. What's new on Real Housewives of Salt City?

Wait, that's literally what I said. I said

There's no TV [laughter] in here though,

54:00

but I was like, we should just on my computer put on Real Housewives of Salt Lake City and like give her some new entertainment.

Oh, give her a taste. More interference. More interference.

It is interesting though, too. Because like Meredith, to your point of being asked the same questions, it's also one of those things where like you have no idea the last people that came in to investigate what their intentions were, or they went about it, if it was really scary maybe like for the spirits in the room too, where

Yeah.

Like you're the next one coming in and so there's this huge guard up in there just like rejecting anything.

I'm also so curious

what the cleaning and cleansing routine is because it There was one time when we were walking back to room 313 from like the lobby, which you had to pass 311 to get to 313. And as we were passing this door like I got like a woo, like like almost like a wooshy feeling like outside of this room. But inside this room I feel fine. Like

55:00

and I was like I wonder if they do any type of like routine cleansing or even just the products that they use like in cleaning the room. Does that kind of keep the energy at bay?

Does Clorox decrease your chances? [laughter] But like also outside of the room anyone can walk up to the door, right? So it's like you're walking through a like area, like a piece of energy where so many people come fearful or anxious. And kind of like project that energy. Right there. Yeah, in front of the door.

Yeah, so

Also, I will say we haven't mentioned this yet. And I think it could be relevant. We spent like the end of our night in this room.

Yeah.

Like that's what we did at the end of the night like after dinner or whatever. And we were both nauseous last night.

We were.

That's true.

And that's might be more regular for you, but it's irregular for me.

Yeah.

I like never get nauseated and I felt it all night.

56:00

Yeah.

For kind of no reason.

Wow.

And I know that I I blamed it on my like dehydration from the day, but it could very much be

Wait, so did you stay in the room last night or did you sleep in 313?

Confession, we slept in 313 and tonight we're going to sleep in 311 because my travel day was so crazy that I was like we did like an hour and a half investigation and just like hung out in here for a little bit, but we were like let's get a good night's sleep in the normal room. And then cuz also this bed Meredith and I will be spooning tonight cuz it is it is a small bed.

It is a small bed.

Um so I'm also curious if like sleeping here when we're not actively interacting like if she or any spirit will become more

Mhm.

more more active.

I think it was the good move though because you were just came in like so late and

like what is reality?

Yeah.

Well, and then you probably conked out so hard that if anything did happen you might not

I would not have noticed. So fair.

57:00

Yeah. Oh, I'm so curious how tonight will go.

We were thinking of doing a live stream too. So by the time this episode comes out there will be a link to that where if you can rewatch it.

Yeah.

Okay.

[gasps]

So crazy.

text me updates because you know I'm awake at all all hours of the night. I actually checked your location Sabrina at like 2:00 a.m. and I was like okay, good she's there.

She's

[laughter]

She's there, but she's in Appalachia. So who knows? I mean that's the thing about this hotel. It in Appalachia and I gave the the of the history here, the Trail of Tears, the Cherokee and like the Civil War, American Revolution, there's so much history. Al Capone on top of the tragic murder of Anneliese here that I'm like anything could happen.

Yeah, anything.

So, stay tuned.

Damn. I actually, you know what? I really respect that they don't have the room open to stay in every night because I feel like there's just to your point like so much has happened that everyone needs a breather, everyone needs a break.

Yeah.

58:00

It's a good move.

Yeah, instead of like harassing her constantly.

And now you guys have girls' night.

Girls' night.

Ghouls' night.

But yeah.

But I'll be a little bit nervous since this is still the first day.

singing.

When the REM pod went off that one time in in the bathroom.

Yeah.

Oh, it did go off.

Oh, that's okay. Yes, the REM pod went So, the REM pod's the one thing and the flame were like the only things that had activity. We were sitting in this room just talking and I had said like if you want us to go into the bathroom, like the REM pod's in there, you can totally just like activate it and it went off.

Do you want us to come into the bathroom? I feel like that's a yes.

We moved into the bathroom and it was going off like while we were sitting there. It was really loud and I was like, "Oh, maybe it was just like our energy, like it's us."

59:00

And it was absolutely not us. It It's you know like that like trying to rationalize something, but

Yeah.

clearly not us cuz it then it stopped and then never did it again.

That [bell] might be me.

Yeah.

That might be me though. Ooh, I tripped the flame. Oh, maybe. That would have been bad. Okay. It might not be you. And the bathroom is where everything went down, so

There was something there.

makes sense.

Are you setting everything up tonight, too, and you're just not interacting with it, but like letting things run?

Well, we'll do like a little if we do the live stream, which we will. We'll do the live stream investigation. So, we'll do an interaction then, but then after that, yeah, we're just doing some good snacks and Real Housewives or some or some or maybe Heated Rivalry, cuz

Yeah, I haven't seen it yet, and I really want to.

Oh my god, you I feel like she would love that.

1:00:00

I know. I'm like so behind [laughter] on the times. I'm like, I haven't done a paranormal investigation. I haven't seen Heated Rivalry.

[laughter]

I like don't even get me started on Heated Ri- My mom I tried to talk to my mom about it, and she interrupted me at one point and said, "Wow, you really have more to say about this, huh?" [laughter] Cuz I like couldn't stop talking about it. It's such a good It's so good freaking show, and you guys should definitely watch it tonight.

Annalise, do you want to watch it? I like posted on my Instagram that uh

That it's all you can think about.

Yeah. And a few people were like, "Oh, I can't wait to hear you and Sabrina talk about it on your podcast." And I responded to these people, and I was like, "Well, we attempted to, but I started crying pretty much immediately, [laughter] so you're not really going to get much."

And I also haven't I only watched the first episode, so I have to We can restart it

All my friends have been texting me about it. I just honestly haven't gotten to it, but one of my friends texted me, "I'm addicted to this Russian man's tears."

What is that? Is there someone who's Russian in it?

Yeah, yeah.

All right, I was like, "That's a very interesting text to receive." I'm

1:01:00

intrigued about this show.

[laughter]

And I think Annalise will be intrigued as well.

is going to love it. It is going to blow her mind when she sees it.

Yeah. This is the type of stuff that like you know when people turn on the TV for their pets when they leave for the day? Like I feel like they should have some type of entertainment for Annalise during the times when no No here. I know there's only a radio in here, but Does it work? Is that the radio?

I think so. It's an old-timey radio.

I guess we should try that.

Yeah, we'll put it on.

Oh.

Ooh. Is that a yes?

I think that's a yes. I think someone wants the radio on.

Wait, what just happened? I didn't hear anything. Again.

It's very like pointed interference.

It's truly the three times that we've had interference in the headphones has been the three times like we talked specifically about doing something with Annelise.

Mhm.

Oh, hell yeah. She likes you guys now. She's in.

Let's stand it again.

Wow.

Okay.

Crazy.

Amazing. We're We're going to do it.

Yes.

1:02:00

Heated rivalry and face masks.

Yes.

And ghosts. [laughter] Dream night.

And ghosts. Right. And ghosts. Yes.

She also has some opinions about Hudson and Connor.

Oh, or Ilian.

Shane. Their character names, yeah.

[laughter]

Yeah. Hudson and Connor. Yeah.

Yeah. Sorry, I'm too I'm too deep.

Yeah, you're so deep.

You're so deep you know their

Is that everyone's parents [laughter] like that?

But yeah, this is the Read House Hotel in Chattanooga, Tennessee and the haunted room 311, which again you can stay at on the Friday the 13th of every year, but 2026 it's February, March, and November, so you can reserve the room for yourself. And let us know if you have anything happen. And also check out Meredith's podcast Rattled and Shook. Um what else do you have going on? Where Where can they find you?

Um mostly I do audio stuff at YouTube, of course, and Instagram. Those are probably the two next best places besides Apple Podcast, Spotify, whatever.

Wherever you listen to your podcast.

Wherever you listen to your podcasts.

1:03:00

Thanks Thanks for joining me so that I didn't have to be here alone.

Honestly, I'm having a blast. Like I can't believe you guys have done this so much.

It's so fun.

It's It's It's the best. It's really thrilling.

I'm so excited for you that you get to have your first paranormal experiences here.

know.

And like in such a unique setting where not that many people get access to this place either.

I know. And when Sabrina texted me, I think I had just been like, my New Year's resolution is like to do more things I haven't done before. And then like a day later, you were like, you want to stay in a haunted room? And I was like, all right, well,

[laughter]

yes, I do.

Uh

Look at that, you're manifesting. You're speaking it into the universe.

So, when your friends text you, hey, do you want to stay at a haunted hotel with me? Always say yes.

[laughter]

Always say yes.

And that's why we are ghoul friends and girlfriends over jilted lovers this Valentine's Day.

[laughter]

Yeah.

Well, happy investigating tonight.

Thanks.

Thanks.

And happy Friday 13th to everyone who's listening.

Yay.

24 hours later

1:04:00

We're back.

Back so soon, Sabrina.

Because literally within the last 24 hours, so much has happened. And I obviously we were like, we need to update you. I texted Karen and I was like, we need to record an addendum to episode 359. And here we are because my gosh, have we learned some stories, have we experienced some things. And I feel like I have a whole hypothesis surrounding room 311 at the Read House Hotel now.

Oh, dang.

Yeah. Oh my god, a lot changed in 24 hours.

No, I thought

I thought you were just going to be like, we made contact.

Well, we did. Okay, so as context, we recorded the episode and Meredith and I told you Karen that like we really didn't have many hauntings happen. We had like little things. But nothing of note. And like it was the first time ever that Ghost Tube has been radio

1:05:00

silent, right?

Mhm.

I believe Anna Lisa was trying to like feel us out last night.

Yeah.

Because today, or I guess yesterday now, but when we immediately ended recording, we had campfire stories on Patreon. And we decided let's do like a little like impromptu paranormal investigation. Let's just see. And I didn't expect anything to happen because last night Anneliese was so quiet. Oh my gosh. She was responsive.

And it was very specific what she was responding to.

So specific. She told us to call her Ann.

Ann.

Ann.

Anneliese. It just said Ann and her name is Anneliese. Did you go by Ann? Do you want us to call you Ann?

She kept saying Mary and I really believe now like after everything that we learned because the story has been skewed so many ways. Like some people

1:06:00

called her a sex worker, all this stuff. I think she was really trying to emphasize like it was important for people to know that she was married. Like that she wants to get her story straight. She was married. Her husband murdered her.

because we were also [clears throat] based on some of the responses that came through during that investigation, we were wondering if some of her responses meant that her husband was having an affair and she was name dropping the women that he was having an affair with.

both is true. I think he was for sure he was traveling for work. He was in Chicago. Who knows what he was doing. And I think she believes he was having an affair as well or multiple cuz she said cheating.

This is not the bathroom. Kimberly. Is there a Kimberly here on campfire stories? Eric asked if Anna if that's

Andrea.

Andrea. What do you make of Andrea and Kimberly? Yeah, I don't know.

Cheating.

Cheating. He was cheating too.

1:07:00

And you can watch back the whole live investigation. It's on Patreon to rewatch. But yeah, she said cheating. She called him pathetic, weak, and a bunch of different things. And then later Meredith and I did do a tour with Mr. Spalding, which if you go to visit the Read House Hotel and you choose not to stay in haunted room 311, you can ask for a tour and either Mr. Kirby or Mr. Spalding will give you a tour and take you into room 311 and tell you the story, but Mr. Spalding told us that it's very possible her husband actually paid the cops off.

Oh,

Yeah. [clears throat] And I actually loved his turn of phrase that he used was to sweep it under the tub.

Oh, that's like brilliant and also so upsetting. [laughter]

But okay, so when we left campfire stories it seemed like she was excited for the girls night that was planned. Like she started responding to the idea of

[clears throat]

that.

Yeah. And this is the biggest takeaway. I'll say it now.

1:08:00

I think she hates men, rightfully so, and she wants to be respected. I think she views that room very much as her place. And I'll tell you another story that I learned, but I really just genuinely believe she just wants to be respected and doesn't like men. That I I think that is the

Yeah.

biggest takeaway.

Which like I do hope because she did have so the story goes, she entertained many different male suitors while her husband was traveling for work to satiate her needs and I do hope that like she found comfort

Yeah.

and like trustworthiness in some of those people and that it's not just like a blanket

Yeah.

every single man in her life has wronged her because that makes me really sad.

No, and I don't think they did, but I just think since then she just doesn't trust men. Which I don't blame her.

a weariness to it. It's like her husband killed her, cops

were bought off.

Yeah.

There's no reason to really trust the guy who married you, who's supposed

1:09:00

to care for you and and love you,

Yeah.

kills you.

And I did learn more context. So, Mr. Spalding told us that according to the historians at the hotel, her husband, so Mr. Netherly, was on the train in Chicago, and I guess there was some other man on the train talking very loudly about his amazing stay at the Read House Hotel and Miss Annelise and how he like can't wait to go back to see her again, and that's how he learned about the affair.

Oh, [sighs] damn.

Yeah.

That's such a bummer because it's like also like those things don't make it true just cuz someone said something.

I know. I know.

Like I I feel like a lot of people I've been on the receiving end of someone saying something happened between us and there's this whole story and I find out and I'm like, Who is this person? Wait, when was this?

I'm sorry. Where did this come from?

Yeah, like why?

But okay, so two other big things.

1:10:00

One, she asked for a brandy, which so later in the night Meredith and I did bring her brandy, but two, during our investigation on Campfire Stories, she said, "Baby." and protect. And she kept talking about this child, and we're like, "That's so strange cuz no record ever has her pregnant or having a baby, right?" And then this is wild cuz later in the night Mr. Spalding was giving us a tour and he goes, "A lot of people have caught photos of her that she looks pregnant, and she shows up to children a lot and is very protective of children."

[gasps and sighs]

Yeah.

Oh my god, I have chills.

And he showed us two photos. Oh, they were so chill. I wasn't allowed to take photos of them to provide the photos for you, but if you do the tour at the Read House Hotel, they will show you the photos as well, but

Mhm.

there were two. One of them was in the bathroom mirror, and she's like very much looking at the person, and I think it was like a bellhop who was giving people a tour.

1:11:00

And then the other one is she's standing kind of in the middle of the room and she has her hair in a bun. It's like dark hair and she's wearing this like whitish grayish dress and she's often seen wearing white in the building.

Mhm.

But the craziest story that Mr. Spalding told us and this was like one of the biggest reasons why I was like, "Oh my god, we need to we need to have an addendum." So, as the story goes, a couple was staying in the room. They had checked in and not like a couple hours later does the front desk get a call and the night auditor who still works there and is still the night auditor of the Read House Hotel picks up. And the woman is freaking out and she's like, "I need another room. My husband is acting in a way I have never ever seen before. I need to get out of here. I need another room." Obviously, they're like concerned. They send up two of the like the wait staff who are on duty to go like assist. I think one of them's name is Dylan. I can't remember

1:12:00

the other woman's name. But they get up there and they get to the room. The husband is literally writhing on the ground as if he is possessed.

I feel like it's at the point where they shouldn't let men stay there.

Right? But okay, so then the woman's like freaking out. She's like, "I've never seen him like this. He's only had a couple of drinks. I don't know what's happening." The woman on the wait staff goes into the bathroom, brings like a you know, a glass and fills it up with water and then she like sprinkles the water on the man's face like I don't know, trying to like help him. He literally starts weeping and says, "I can feel her tears. I can feel her tears."

[laughter]

Holy crap. I am so curious what this guy like once he fully came out of the room and that experience what he remembers.

Right. And I mean, there's no like end to that story.

Wait, so how does Okay, so Mr. We have two men who are giving the tours.

Mhm.

1:13:00

How does she respond to them?

Right. So, Mr. Spaulding, we did ask him that and he was like, "I really do think, and I hope she knows how much I respect her and appreciate her and I'm like trying to tell her story and I I think because he's trying to tell her side of the story, she respects him.

Mhm. And also, she probably is familiar with him, whereas these people who are staying the night in room 311, myself included, were strangers. We're new to her. We're only there for a short period of time. And her husband used to smoke a lot, so she doesn't like smokers. And I think probably is cautious about too much alcohol, too. So, I do think it was like really beneficial that it was just Meredith and I. It was two girls. And there was no romance, no romantic relationship. You know, I feel like for for Anna Lisa, she didn't have to fear for the woman. And I I like to think that she was in even in the story that I just told, I like to think that she was trying to be protective in a way.

1:14:00

Yeah. It It makes a lot of sense to me now, like knowing that she appears pregnant and that she appears so much to children. And then her even coming through saying like baby and protect.

Mhm.

You and Meredith were saying how how surprised you were, how silent it was.

Yeah.

It was like she had totally retreated and was not engaging at all.

Yeah.

And that does feel reminiscent of like a mom who's trying to protect her child.

Right.

It's just like there's no interaction, there's no risk taking. It is just like this is what I think is a safe route and this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to just not engage. I'm going to retreat. I'm going to protect me and my child. And if danger comes, which is a man,

Yeah.

I'm going to attack.

Yeah, and then I think because we we Meredith and I spent so much time in the room she started to realize like oh maybe I can hang out with them.

Yeah.

And we did. We hung out. And I learned Okay, so like the night

1:15:00

Well, actually one more thing about Al Capone cuz when we were did the live stream, we weren't sure whether or not Al Capone stayed in the room before or after Anna Lisa was murdered tragically.

Mhm.

Mr. Spalding told us so the murder happened in 1927. Al Capone stayed in the hotel in 1931. And I'm pretty sure I'll we'll have to go back and look at the live stream, but I think Anna Lisa made a comment when we were talking about Al Capone in the vein of like weak or pathetic. Like kind of making fun of him. And so I asked Mr. Spalding I was like is there any record of him experiencing any hauntings in this room cuz I imagine she would hate him. Like that's like the last person you want staying in your room if you're Anna Lisa. And apparently Al Capone went to say that he experienced no hauntings. Like very out loud said no hauntings which almost like is like oh you're trying to cover it up. Like why would you even address it if there were no hauntings?

Yeah, why would you declare only 4 years later I definitely did not experience hauntings in that room.

Right. And then he also apparently told

1:16:00

people he would never stay at the Read House Hotel again. Which makes me think he did have some experiences.

Cuz because why else would he think that? It's a beautiful place.

I know.

Yeah, that's a real suspicious. Yeah, I think Al Capone's a bad actor here. I think he definitely [laughter] encountered her spirit.

For sure. Okay, so then Meredith and I had a girls night with Anna Lisa.

You asked for two things earlier. You said brandy and beer. So, here's your brandy. You can actually have either glass, but what we were going to cheers with you and have some.

Ooh, yes.

And then here is your beer.

[laughter]

Cheers.

Cheers. Thank you so much for

Welcome to my into your room. Girls night.

Girls night.

ordered pizza, too, and it's going to be here soon.

And wings.

And wings, and salad.

And salad.

Because we're girls.

And we're healthy. Watching our figure.

1:17:00

We're watching our figures. No, we're not.

I'm not.

You think I am?

I I have like downed everything we

My diet candy.

[laughter]

Right, right, right.

Don't. Don't.

Don't. Don't watch your figure.

Girls girls.

Girls girls. [laughter]

[gasps]

That's unreal.

And I think, okay, two things. She loves her Brandy. She also asked We had gotten glasses of champagne, and she asked for the champagne specifically. And we were like, "Sure, here, have our champagne." She kept asking questions about Heated Rivalry. Like, "Who's that? What is this?"

Okay, so you did watch it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I wasn't sure if you guys were going to because I was definitely like pushing hard that you guys watch [laughter] it. I know.

For real.

But then on Campfire Story, someone was like, "Well, is that the best choice for her because of her her like views of men? Is she going to feel weird about that show?" I was like, "I think the opposite. I think this is

1:18:00

her her moment to see the tenderness and care."

Yeah. I will say though, it it was kind of like watching with your mom who doesn't stop asking questions.

[laughter]

But by episode two, she was very quiet and I think just sat back and watched.

Do you want to watch Heated Rivalry?

I do.

Agreed. Grant Cardone He's not here.

No, they're not here.

All right.

Great.

Who is that?

Uh, I don't know his name. I think that's Shane. And then Ilya's the Russian one.

He's not here.

He's not here.

He's not here. Okay, corroborating.

Please.

1:19:00

Or she did say at one point she said, "I'm leaving." So, maybe she got bored or maybe she like went to go somewhere else in the hotel, which is also around the same time.

Yeah.

Or maybe she maybe she just got a little too into it and she was like, "I I can't be here anymore. I got to go. Sit in my own thoughts and feelings for a minute." [laughter] But it was also around the same time that like so on Monday night when I first got there, we started to do like an investigation of the room around 11:00 p.m. And that was when it was like radio silent. And when she left last night was around 11:00 p.m. as well. So, I'm like I don't know if that maybe that's her like me time.

Yeah. Well, I mean cuz Meredith even made a comment

Mhm.

about how much more chatty she was during the day. Yeah, she seemed to be more of a day person and then maybe quieter and more restful at night. Which honestly I feel like makes sense because I feel like most people who are seeking out that room and like attempting to make contact or do some sort of like investigation of sorts,

1:20:00

Mhm.

it typically happens at night cuz that's when like ghost hunting happens,

Right.

I wonder if she's used to just kind of being more avoidant at night.

Yeah, she's like, "I don't want to deal with that."

Yeah. She was also very protective of her space. Like there were multiple times she she said disrespectful. Like we had ordered pizza and I my thought was like let's eat in bed and I like got on the bed with the pizza and she said disrespectful.

Home.

We're home. Does this feel like home to you?

Disrespectful.

Oh. We shouldn't put pizza on the bed.

Oh, that's fair.

That is Sorry, is that better? Do you want us to eat in the living room?

And then we moved to the living room and she was like, "That's better. This is my home."

That makes sense. And

she did confirm for us that there used to be some sort of like kitchenette

Yeah.

in her room. So, I wonder if like you moving into the living room is kind of like where the kitchenette

1:21:00

had been rolled in for her when she was staying there.

Yeah.

So, like that made sense to her. Like, you eat over here.

Yep.

This is the dining space.

Respect my place. Follow my rules. I also did have to go to the bathroom. I had to pee and I for before I did I asked her cuz the bathroom is where she lost her life, you know? Like, I just I didn't want to go One, I didn't want to go in the bathroom and get haunted. And two, I also wanted to like make sure she was okay with it. So, I asked. I said, "I have to go to the bathroom. Do you mind use your restroom?" And she said, "Leave." So, I went to go to pee in our other room.

[laughter]

Yeah.

Girl's night starts now.

I do need to pee. Is it okay if I pee in the bathroom with you?

Danger.

Oh.

Oh, so no.

Okay, we'll go. We will go in the other room. Honestly heard.

Okay. It's dangerous to go

Please leave.

So, don't pee in there. Oh,

Please leave to pee.

we will leave. [laughter]

1:22:00

We will not use your restroom.

leave. We will be No, we'll be back.

Noted. Wow.

Yeah, that's an interesting point where it's like, you know, like you had another room.

Mhm.

Most people who stay in 311, that's where they're staying. They don't book a separate room as backup.

So, just explain to her what you're doing and tell her you mean it in respect. You just have to use the restroom. You'll be You'll clean up after yourself. You'll wash your hands. You won't disrespect her place. I think that's the key takeaway.

It's also, I'm sure, very hard for her to like watch people, especially like couples who spend the night,

Mhm.

just like to go through their nightly routine. Like use the bathroom,

Yeah.

brush their teeth,

Mhm.

then get into bed with one another, and she's like, I would imagine that that does feel incredibly disrespectful. It's like, you're living a different version of a relationship in life that I didn't get to live, and you're doing it right where I was attacked and murdered.

And died.

In a place that she also views as hers.

Like this is my room.

Yes.

Cuz it's not like the hotel's open every

1:23:00

single night for people to stay in this room, and she's used to people coming in and out. It's like it's, I think, Saturdays in Octobers, on Halloween, and then Friday the 13ths.

Mhm.

So, not that often are guests coming into this room.

Right.

But the hotel does always have a backup room available just in case, cuz they they've had enough experience of people staying in room 311 and

Right.

[laughter]

needing another room.

Yeah.

So.

Ugh, amazing. Oh, I wish I could see those photos.

I know. I know I I know. I'll ask them if they will send them to you and I and so you can see them, but yeah, they're wild.

Some of the best paranormal footage is honestly like from hotels or like ghost tours, places like that where it's other people have captured the photos, sent them to the organization, the business running it,

Yeah.

and then they like show it on tours.

Right.

doesn't exist on the internet.

What? Which is so wild and

But one of the best pieces of evidence I ever saw of a shadow person was from

1:24:00

Bulldog Tours in um the old Charleston jail like five, six years ago. That is wild, but like you don't ever get to see it anywhere outside of

Ugh.

One of my favorites is the one we saw at the Lizzie Borden House, that video of the closet and the shadow.

Yeah.

Ugh.

So, if you want to see the photos, go visit the Read House Hotel in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Also, remember in the earlier in this episode, I did talk about how people experience hauntings in elevators. Meredith and I are leaving. We pack our bags. We get in the elevator. We press lobby. All of a sudden, we are all the way up at the top. The The elevator doors never open. It goes up all the way to floor 10, and then goes all the way back down, counts all the way back down, and brings us to the lobby. Randomly. Doors never open.

It was her little send-off. Her little goodbye to you guys.

believe it was. Yeah.

[laughter]

They were like such an incredible [clears throat] trip.

activity for the second night. Second

1:25:00

day and second night.

I know. Amazing.

Cuz there was still there was a lot coming through with that live stream.

Yeah. It was so cool.

So, we did you sleep in that room the second night cuz you guys said that you were planning to.

No, so we stayed in the room until like 12:30, and actually later. Meredith and I just we paused Heated Rivalry, and then she and I were just talking. And we went to lay on the bed, and she did say disrespectful, so we went to our other room.

All right. Well, yeah, you had the option to not be there, so.

Yeah. And then in our room, cuz it was the room like basically right next to 311, Meredith kept seeing little like movements in the corner of her eye as we were going to sleep. So, Annelise might have come to our room. I don't know.

Checking in on you guys, making sure you stay exactly where you are.

Or maybe just like curious about your friendship, too.

Maybe.

Especially cuz you just showed her Heated Rivalry.

[laughter]

That's true. She's like, "What's really going on?"

And then she's watching you guys get into bed together, and she's like,

1:26:00

"Hmm."

Oh, man.

This century's a little different than mine. [laughter] It's better to be a people.

Girls' night.

I think she enjoyed it. I think she liked it.

Oh my gosh, what a great stay.

It was so incredible. Loved it. And everyone at the hotel was so nice. Like just the the sweetest people.

Oh my gosh, well great. I hope people get to book it and stay there and experience it if they want or just like like you said do the tours.

Yeah, and if you do you have to tell us what happens. We need to know your experience.

Yeah, and if they show any new photos or new evidence when you get to take the tour cuz I'm sure they're always collecting stuff.

Mhm. Cuz Mr. Kirby I guess has a different tour than Mr. Spalding. I mean it's the same information but like they're different people and they give different theatrical performances. Yeah. Like an amazing amazing hotel and trip. So, thank you all of you for joining us for this little addendum to the episode.

Now hard cut back to the record.

1:27:00

[laughter]

Our regularly recorded episode. Thank you everyone for joining us. If you have any listener stories, if you've stayed in room 311 or have any haunted experiences in Chattanooga at the Read House Hotel or just any paranormal experiences at all, please email us at twogirlsoneghostpodcast@gmail.com. Go check out Rattled and Shook and check us on Patreon, you know, all the things.

Shoutout to Gemma.

Woah, you could buy the little couple there.

Jamie and Emma. Jamie. [laughter]

Gemma.

Jamie and Emma for producing our podcast. Shoutout to Gemma.

And thank you to all of you. We love you and we will see you on the other side.

Very spooky.