Hello, James.

John Bogle (0:02)

Astonishing Legends Network The views and opinions expressed by hosts and listeners on the Astonishing Deadletter Office are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Astonishing Legends Productions, the Astonishing Legends Network or any affiliated entities or guests.

Forrest Burgess (0:37)

When something unexplainable happens to you, it can make you feel isolated or alone. But trust us, you're not. For over a decade, you've been sending your strange stories to Astonishing Legends. And now it's time for our fellow Legenders to hear them too.

Join us weekly in Blanket Forteana as we dig through your intriguing messages to the Astonishing Legends' Dead Letter Office.

John Bogle (1:11)

Tonight's Episode Hello, James.

Forrest Burgess (1:15)

Tonight, we're returning to a cemetery. Well come on, it's October after all. What do you expect?

Well, this time, we're headed to an old Catholic parish cemetery on a bright summer afternoon. What could possibly be wrong in a day like this? Craig T. Nelson, Poltergeist. Anyway. But we got our mowed grass, we got a fence, a gravel drive, birds in the trees, some might say idyllic in a way.

Scott Philbrook (1:43)

Really, that's what most cemeteries are most of the time. People forget that they're workplaces too. Somebody's got to cut that grass, somebody has to know which plot is sold, which one isn't, where the paperwork on it went. We say paperwork because well, probably 98 percent of the cemeteries in the world, maybe more, didn't research it, were all established well before computers or the Internet were a thing.

Forrest Burgess (2:07)

Those are the best ones, aren't they? Well, yeah, you're right. You got to put people someplace, but you're right. There's a lot of history and a lot of it's very old.

We know it's hard to believe folks, but yes, the world ran fairly well before that weather balloon crashed at Roswell. They gave us all the tech, right? The transistors and the microwave ovens and all the stuff we enjoy. Kidding, but not kidding. But yeah, your average cemetery, right? You've all been to one probably, I would guess. They're like golf courses, that expansive lawn and just the gentle warm breezes flowing over them. Or even in the winter, if they're covered with snow, have a calming effect, let's say, and a rest in peace feel.

But here, yeah, now these days we all have computers, but odds are pretty good that a lot of people hit the dirt before those came along being entoured and all of their information might actually live on a piece of paper, in some paper folder, in some file cabinet somewhere, in a box perhaps gathering dust and mold and mildew. Well, marked important, they may not have been open since the 1960s.

Scott Philbrook (3:19)

Yeah, that's right. Those boxes are out there, mountains of them. A lot of the older parish cemeteries in the middle of the country are still run by the parish itself, which we bring up because that's what we're going to be talking about tonight. So whoever's in the office, that decade is the person who knows where everybody is. Kind of like the Anku we talked about last week.

Forrest Burgess (3:37)

Right, right.

Scott Philbrook (3:38)

So you're in charge of this paper data now. Don't let anything happen to it. Someday you can pass this responsibility along to whomever you wind up passing the torch to. Your replacement. So.

Forrest Burgess (3:48)

This is a poor choice of words perhaps.

Scott Philbrook (3:51)

The torch, yes.

Forrest Burgess (3:52)

The paper, yes. See paper, torch, they don't pass.

Scott Philbrook (3:55)

Valid point. I'll retract that analogy. But the Parish Cemetery at the heart of tonight's story is on the Upper Mississippi. And people have been burying their dead in that high ground along that river for thousands of years. And these cemeteries are just the top layer really, if you think about it.

Forrest Burgess (4:10)

Yeah, and our listener who asked us to call her TM worked at one of them, the office side of it, which includes records, plot maps, the day-to-day stuff, like a regular office. And what she's writing to us about what happened, much like last week's cemetery letter, in the middle of a workday, full sun, with other people around, that's when this thing happens. Which just goes to show, you don't need to break into the abandoned house of the vampires in the basement, Salem's lot and all, on Halloween night at midnight, to have a paranormal experience.

Scott Philbrook (4:43)

That's right. There is some value in that, though. It has a vibe. But to be clear, as Mr. Disclaimer says on Scared All The Time, don't break into abandoned houses to confront Kurt Barlow. Anyway, this letter is about a story that takes place on a Tuesday afternoon. Nobody's got a camera out, nobody was there looking for anything. In fact, the whole premise of what was going on was rooted in deep respect for the dead.