Ghosts, Goatman & Gruesome History
Tonight on the Downtown West Bend Ghost Walk
Back in the mid-to-late aughts, I put out a call for writers interested in contributing weird Wisconsin things. I received an email from a paranormal researcher named J. Nathan Couch, who had recently moved to Wisconsin from Georgia. He submitted a fantastic example essay about the ghost stories from his hometown in Appalachia.
It was a really fun and fascinating read. He was a great storyteller.
I sent him to living dead puppet shows. He uncovered strange local legends. He even put on a zombie Santa costume for one of our events.
He soon started digging through the local historical archives, conducting interviews, and piecing together his first book, Washington County Paranormal.
That’s when he began the Downtown West Bend Ghost Walks, with tales of a phantom theater manager who still comes to work long after he died in the lobby, a violent sheriff who may have buried a body in the basement of the old jail, and the sinister Goatman that stalks the backroads of the Kettle Moraine.
Sometimes the ghosts even make an appearance during the tour.
Since we started working together, Nate published another fascinating book called Goatman: Flesh or Folklore?, he’s been on several History Channel and TRVL Channel shows talking about locals legends, he’s been a guest speaker at the Milwaukee Paranormal Conference, the Chicago Paranormal Conference, and this year for the first time he’ll be speaking at the Goatman Festival in Louisville, KY as one of the “few Goatman experts in the world.”
The 2024 ghost walk season begins tonight. I recommend checking it out if you need to spook up your summer.
Milwaukee Metal
Drummer Andy Martin of Conniption, Beatallica, and Brett and The Dandys joins us on the latest episode of Local Backstage to talk about the Milwaukee music scene, the cost of being a musician, what happens when the band gets “open bar” and more. Watch it here, and if you go to Summerfest this weekend look for host Jay Tamez running the WAMI stage.
FREE LIVE SHOW Next Sunday!
Join us for the filming of the next episode of Sonic Seedpod and be part of our live audience! Our musical guest will be the incredibly talented Milwaukee reggae artist Keshena Armon of Shuga Blu.
Monday is Flying Saucer Day
Read: Wisconsin’s Strangest UFO Cases
