Episode 621: Fan Favorite: Bobby Mackey's Music World

The history of the property that Bobby Mackey's Music World occupies is marked by a series of dark and sinister events that have fueled rumors of hauntings and occult activities.

The property's origins as a slaughterhouse and meat packing plant in the 1850s led to rumors of the area being haunted or used for occult rituals.

Originally a slaughterhouse and meat-packing plant built in 1850, the property was later abandoned, leaving behind legends of hauntings and occult rituals. The presence of a well, used to collect animal fluids including blood, was believed to be a site for dark activities and has become part of local lore.

The 1896 murder of Pearl Bryan, whose decapitated body was found near the abandoned slaughterhouse, added to the property's dark history.

The grim past of the property was further cemented by the 1896 murder of Pearl Bryan, whose beheaded body was found near the former slaughterhouse, in a field close to Fort Thomas. The coroner established that Bryan had been decapitated while possibly still alive, after being drugged with cocaine. Scott Jackson and Alonzo Walling were identified as her murderers, having last been seen with Bryan. Jackson was involved with Bryan and was unhappy about her pregnancy. They initially attempted to induce a miscarriage with cocaine before deciding on murder. Authorities never found Bryan's head; Jackson and Walling provided different accounts of its disposal, but neither led to its discovery. It was speculated that Jackson might have destroyed her head in a dental school incinerator to prevent identification.

Some employees of the club, like Carl, feared that the site was haunted by malicious spirits, possibly the souls of Bryan’s killers, Jackson and Walling. They worried that these spirits were responsible for attacks in the club and were intent on driving everyone away. Doug Hensley, a friend of Bobby Mackey and paranormal researcher, was drawn to the murder story during his investigations on the club and found out about the killers' vow to haunt the trial participants and the location of Bryan's head.

Alaina Urquhart highlighted the brutality of the murder circumstances, drawing attention to the historical weight of the property. Ash Kelley and Alaina Urquhart marveled at the possibility of occult connections to the murder, including theories that Bryan's head was sacrificed as part of a Satanic ritual or disposed of in the well on the property.

The property changed hands over the decades, operating ...

Janet Mackey and Carl Lawson, a longtime employee, believe in spirits at Bobby Mackey's, a nightclub notorious for its supernatural happenings.

From the moment Janet Mackey first visited the property, she sensed an uneasy, unseen presence.

Janet reported that the very first time she laid eyes on the property, she was startled by a figure she saw moving in the doorway and noticed the front door close on its own. While cleaning the office on the second floor on a different occasion, she felt a man's hand grab her arm and saw the shadow of a man on the landing, which quickly disappeared. These experiences left her extremely frightened and eager to leave the property.

Over the years, various people associated with the club - owners, employees, customers, and workers - reported paranormal phenomena.

Patrol Officer Larry Hornsby thought he witnessed a break-in at the club but found only unexplained voices and a radio playing from the backstage area when he investigated. Customers, including a regular named Mike, experienced strange phenomena like the mechanical bull behaving uncontrollably. Even workers, like a carpenter named Johnny France, reported paranormal experiences while at the club alone.

Janet felt a presence pushing her toward the sink, which started filling with a red liquid that resembled blood. Carl Lawson also experienced phenomena, such as watching chairs fall over in a domino-like fashion without any visible cause.

The club's longtime employee, Carl Lawson, became convinced the property was haunted by malevolent spirits, including those of Pearl Bryan's killers.

Carl not on ...

The Mackeys, after a series of perilous supernatural incidents at Bobby Mackey's Music World, reached out to paranormal experts and religious figures in an effort to address the haunting which had begun to overshadow the club's country and Western music fame.

After Janet's traumatic fall down the stairs that threatened her and her unborn baby's life, the Mackeys sought help from a paranormal researcher and a local Pentecostal minister.

Janet Mackey experienced a violent push down the stairs when she was six months pregnant, which threatened both her life and that of her unborn child. Following this event, she vowed never to return to the club. Concerned for his pregnant wife and his friend Carl Lawson, Bobby Mackey agreed to find help in the form of an exorcism.

Patricia Michelle, a psychic medium, was brought in and claimed to sense the presence of Johanna's spirit and also the spectral remain of Pearl Bryan's severed head near the well of the club. According to her, the only way forward was through a blessing of the space and an exorcism for Carl Lawson.

The minister, Reverend Glenn Cole, performed multiple exorcism rituals in an attempt to rid the property of the malevolent spirits.

Reverend Cole, after being introduced by Larry Kidwell, visited the club and felt an immediate and unsettling sense of evil, declaring it the most sinister location he had ever encountered. After visiting with Carl Lawson, he believed Carl to be demonically possessed.

Despite previous incidents such as a kitchen fire which they believed to be a reaction from the resentful spirits, Reverend Cole proceeded with the exorcism. Accompanied by a reporter and three cameramen to document the event, Reverend Cole performed the exorcism. Carl Lawson exhibited physical symptoms consistent with possession – jerking, spasming, and changing body language – that continued until he fell limp, appearing to be released from the possession, at least temporarily.

Subsequent exorcism sessions proved to be taxing and prolonged, with Carl experiencing weeks of agony. At the conclusion of one session, Carl noticed a sudden outbreak of hemorrhoids, a condition some suggested may be tied to the exorcism.

Despite the attempts at cleansing the property, the supernatural activity continued, culminating in a lawsuit from a patron who claimed to be attacked by a ghost.

In the fall of 1993, the c ...