What do you want to do next? What's the next big thing you
want? The next thing I really want to
start is my the windows. I need to replace all the
windows. Yeah, it's it's 130 year old
windows and they're wooden framed and a lot of them just
are like need replaced I. Thought you were going to say
something like we were to turn the basement into a dungeon of
some kind. No, no, no, I just keep.
The windows assessed dunge it where people get shot.
Hey everybody, do us a quick favor and hit follow and smash
that like or Subscribe button wherever you're listening right
now. It'll help us keep getting great
guests and make it so you don't miss the next episode.
Now out with the show. Welcome to splintered spirits.
I'm your host, Gary, along with my nephew John Santa from Santa
Paranormal. And today we're checking into
one of the most famously haunted places in America, the Shanley
Hotel. This place has lived several
lives, built in the 1800s, burned to the ground in 1895,
rebuilt in six months, then reborn under the Shanley family
with a little Irish Mafia lore baked into the walls.
It's been a boarding house, a bar, a brothel, and a second
home for generations of locals, prison guards, and now ghost
hunters. Inside there, more than fifty
reported spirits, a child named Rosie who loves teachers, ladies
of the evening Anna and Maddie with very specific types.
One of them likes John's beard, a bouncer named Frank who
sometimes goes for the Throat, and a ghost cat called Sweet
Thing who still prowls the halls.
Guests capture disembodied voices, screams, full body
apparitions and Evps while ITC sessions spit out card values,
dice rolls, and critique boring guests.
Our guest is the person who couldn't stay away.
Kelly Hammerling first walked into the Shanley in 2011 just as
a guest, felt instantly at home and never really left.
After the previous owner passed, she stepped in, took over, and
now lives there full time as its caretaker, historian, and
adopted family member of the spirits that call it home.
From portal rooms and a scrying closet to bury treasure rumors,
and a mysterious missing Ledger that might tie back to mob
secrets, the Shanley is less a single haunting and more a
living, breathing eco system of afterlife consciousness.
In this episode, we talk about what it means to share your
everyday life with the dead, how intelligent these haunts really
are when you start playing games with them, and why this boutique
hotel in small town New York might be a beacon on the Ley
lines for whatever spirits are. Let's check into the Shanley
Hotel. Hey, everybody, do us a quick
favor and hit follow and smash that like or subscribe button
wherever you're listening right now.
It'll help us keep getting great guests and make it so you don't
miss the next episode. Now on with the show.
Kelly, welcome to Splendored Spirits.
Thank you. Thanks for coming in and showing
everybody support and we appreciate it.
Well, thank you for doing this. I'd appreciate it.
And I don't like cameras. And she'd rather be with ghosts
in a haunted hotel than a camera with the living.
We're going to get in all that Kelly, because it's your story
is a fascinating 1 to me. And look, for anybody who was
watching this, they're probably fans of the paranormal and
they've certainly heard of the Shanley hotel.
I mean, it's you've had multiple guests there from the O GS like
Jason Hawes to the young hot influencers like Sam and Colby.
Been through there for anybody listening who or watching who
doesn't know what it is what is the what's the 90 the 60 to 92nd
version or pitch in the Shanley what is the history of this
place quickly. The history how do you sell it?
Original hotel was built in 1845, burned to the ground in
1895, rebuilt in six months and it got started Getting his
notoriety from the Shanley family.
The Shanley's took over in 19 O 6 and a little bit of Irish
Mafia involved in that and always a hotel, though always a
boarding house, always that transient energy.
Back in the 90s, nineteen 90's, the house went dormant went the
bar that was there went out of business and it sat on
unattended and vacant for a close to 15 years.
And then the former owner, Salad Salvatore Nicosia, purchased the
hotel at a tax auction. And he always said the building
called to him and the place was destroyed.
It was just gutted and destroyed.
He had a lot of work ahead of him.
And I started coming to the hotel in 2011 as a guest and I
guess I never left. And then Sal passed away in
2015. I stepped away for a couple
years after he passed and the place went back up for tax
auction. And I ended up getting the the
Long story short, I ended up getting the hotel from the
person who bought it at tax auction.
And I there this the spirits have become my second family.
And that's my second home. Now it's my first home because I
live here. But it's it's always calls to
you. There's a lot of people that
come back a time and time and time again that feel like it's
home. Wow.
Do you remember that first time you walked in?
Did did you get AI mean in terms of the sense of any sort of
feeling or in the building? Yeah, I did.
The very first time I came, I came as a guest, not a non
sleep. It was a non sleepover.
I just came by myself and they had an event going on and I just
walked in and went, this is this feels like home, you know?
And I met Sal the time and I just kept coming back.
I was hooked. I was hooked.
What do you think kept pulling you back weekend after weekend?
I don't know the energy, the energy just spirits and were.
You an investigator? Were you like doing that kind of
thing or were you? Just I always had the, I always
had the pull, you know, to go paranormal or I always like
spooky stuff. I always was into all that
stuff. I always had an interest in it,
but it was the first time I ever, ever really did a parallel
investigation was that night in 2011.
And did you? Get anything good?
Yeah, I mean, I was just observing.
I was just watching everybody else doing this stuff.
I didn't have any equipment, you know?
I just, you know, it's an event that psychic mediums were there
and a lot of people had equipment, but some really cool
stuff had happened. But, you know, I was hooked.
I kept coming back again and again and.
You didn't get freaked out. Nothing scared you.
You're just like, that's great. Well, I lie, there was something
in the very, very end before I left at 2O clock in the morning.
Just it was just me and one of the investigators and we had
gone up, up to the upper level and into one of what they call
the portal rooms. And something really, really
strange happened up there. And I was like, OK, I'm out of
here. Was that the room when we first
walked up in there and I told Brian, I'm like, don't enter
that room? There is.
The second one is a different one, yeah.
But yeah, it's some really creepy stuff happened.
Well, we were running a spirit box.
We were running an SP7 spirit box.
And then just two of us standing there, He also had a millimeter.
And that is when there's a digital readout of temperature
and your EMF. And the temperature was holding
at about 72 when we were up there.
And all of a sudden, through the spirit box, this voice came
through and and it was a good four or five sentences.
And I can only tell you it sounded like Klingon.
Yeah, it was in a tongue, that deep, deep voice.
And I'm like, what the hell was that?
And the investigator goes, I never heard that voice before.
And he goes, who's here? It happened again.
And he goes, OK, I said, I'm out.
I'm out. I'm down the hallway, and when
we got to the end of the hallway, he said.
Well, I didn't want to tell you. Just as that voice was coming
through, the temperature gauge went from 70 something to 666.
Wow, 60. 666 point. Six, I assumed.
I assumed you didn't burn up. That's.
Big ups for the Star Trek. That's I think that that now
Kelly, have you have. You.
I can do it, but it hurts my throat.
Have you ever? Heard.
You know what? Imitate what I heard.
It was not not fun. Have you ever heard that again?
That room does. That room does throw off some
really weird energy. There's people that go in there
and feel nauseous immediately. There's people that go in there
and feel fine. It depends on the night.
Have you ever heard that voice again since or?
No, no, have not. And is that a room?
Guest has even tried actually. Oh wow.
Gone back there with that it was and tried to go, hey, you back.
Wow, we're getting. Sad again?
Now that was a little scary. That was that was different.
Is that a room that guests can sleep in?
No, no. OK, Yeah.
Do you think that the entity that you heard may have been
something you later identified here?
I don't think so. I've never, this was not a void,
a language that I knew like it was Klingon or, or, you know,
like that, you know, or. Talking in tongues or something
Weird, right? Yeah.
So yeah, it was a tongue that it just, it was, I didn't like it.
Now that's amazing because this. Was using the SP. 7SP7 you.
Know for obviously for the most you know the SP7 that's the you
know off FM and AM radio so to hear.
Yeah, and it was not human. It it was just not 2 words.
It was a full two or three sentences each time.
And I'm like, no, no, I'm out. And that's when I went back down
the hallway, but it's, I've been in that, that room after that,
obviously, but and I, I felt like heaviness and I felt chest
pains and were really bad headaches sometimes, but nothing
I didn't, I don't run equipment in there.
I just get in and out when I have to and.
You still went and bought this place, which is, which is, I
mean, it's amazing to me. Yeah, well, most of the spirits
here, we have what we call an intelligent haunt.
Most of the spirits here, it's not residual energy.
They have their own characters, their own personalities.
Most of them I would follow. My second family.
Well, I seem to miss. Tell me, tell me the main cast,
who are the main characters in this in this family?
There's so many little Rosie, she's three years old.
We have ladies of the evening, Anna and Maddie.
We have Frank the bouncer who likes to strangle me sometimes
and I he says I like it. Wait a second.
Let's stop. Let's stop, he said.
He, he strangles you sometimes. You feel you, you you're
telling. Are you saying?
Are you saying you physically feel?
I do. I feel like Tom's on my Adam's
apple. Yeah.
And but I, I was explaining it one night and I do have the the
evidence on that. I, I was explaining that to one
of my guests. I said, yeah, Frank's the
bouncer. He doesn't like the women, and
he's actually. With the chair upstairs.
Right at that, with permission with the Frank is up in the
brothel. Up in the brothel, all the those
sheriff's upstairs is Joe. Yes, yes, yes.
OK. But he he right through the
machine. I said yes.
And Frank has strangled me a couple times and he goes, well,
you liked it and the the guest goes, you liked it.
And I get, I joke about, I guess, I guess I talk about it a
lot. So he thinks I do, you know, but
it's not, it's not, that's not scary to me.
That's an experience. I've gotten scratched a couple
times. And that's I think a little bit
of a warning, like don't get too cocky.
You don't own the place. We do type of thing that I that
that this is their, this is their home.
I'm the caretaker and I remind people as they come in as
guests, you're walking into their territory, you're walking
into their home. Just respect that.
From the history of this building, as you said it was
built in the mid 1800s and there was a fire in the in the late
1800s, what parts of the early history do you feel most
directly connect to the current hauntings?
I've gotten some of the spirits saying 1855, so that was the
original building. But most of them I would say is
the 1895 of, you know, there was a lot going on.
I believe that when you're dealing with mafia secrets,
there's probably not a lot that can be even validated.
But what we get is incredible stuff.
You know, you're never not going to know.
You're never going to know the real stories behind a lot of
that stuff that goes on. Yeah, yeah.
Where do you feel, where in the building do you feel the story
of the Shanleys the most 'cause they had some personal tragedies
correct with? Their they did.
They're all, I mean, nobody's locked in a room.
They can go anywhere. So, you know, the Shanleys,
Beatrice and James are here. Absolutely, absolutely.
Are they here all the time? I don't know we don't hear of
them every night. Are they observing?
Are they watching over their their their home?
Probably, you know it's and we have over 50 spirits, you know,
known to us, you know, common commoners that you know we.
That's our being modest. We had spirits come and go,
we'll hear a new name, get their little bit of a story, and
they'll hang around for three or four days and then we never hear
from them again. Now, whether they just get
pushed to the side, you know, and they're just still here and
observing, I don't know. I guess we'll never know.
Who's the most active? Which spirit?
Ends on the night. It depends on the night.
Yeah, we have Adam, who? Who claims to be a serial
killer. Adam's not his real name, but we
have Frank, We have Anna. Is there something happening
though, that might bring out a particular spirit when they're
there? Or is it?
I think it's the energy of the guests.
I think it's whatever attracts them.
They're like, oh, this person's interesting.
John, for instance. It's.
Interesting, somebody who's a fan of his already.
Already from the second. Who's?
The fan from the second John walked in.
Who's this over there in? That corner, No.
There's not far for I am Anna. I am Anna.
Holy shit. Hi, Anna.
Dude, Anna.
I said SEC. The second John walked in, I
said Anna's going to love you. Yeah, and she was.
Kelly was 100%. She couldn't be more correct.
John is handsome. Oh dude, is that Anna just said
John is handsome. So wait, so Anna is one of the
ladies of the evening you mentioned earlier?
Yes, but she worked here. She was a a call girl in the
brothel here. Yep, and she's.
Right. She wants Judd.
Did you tell her you have money or something?
Like, what is she? You know what's going.
It's just that, listen, it's that spiritual risk.
I get it. I.
Got it everywhere I go, you know?
That's true. Now, Kelly, you said you told
them ahead of time. How did you?
Why did you think that was going to happen?
I just know they're per type. You know, beard is one thing.
Facial hair is an absolute. Like you have to have facial
hair for her to to cap an attraction and you know they
don't. And she'll say, she'll say right
through like the Estes meth and we stuff.
The man will hear. I like your beard, you know?
So yeah. And then Maddie's the opposite.
Maddie likes the younger clean cut guys.
So yeah, yeah, they all have their types, I said.
Their personalities shine. I know their voices.
You know when you've been here so long and they become part of
you or part of your family? And that's, and that's one of
the things I find so interesting, Kelly, is you've
been here for a while, even before you own the place you
were here and you have such an amazing rapport with these
spirits. You know, you, you really do.
And I find that very interesting.
And just touch on something else that she said about this place
drawing people. I've already been doing this my
third time in what, in less than two months is my third time
back. And I'm going to keep coming
back. So it's true.
There is this, you get drawn here and, and every time I've
come here so far, it's been a different experience.
So, and I guarantee tonight's not going to be any different.
I'm gonna have a completely different experience than I did
the first two times. So Kelly, you know, have you
ever been surprised by anything with in terms of like the
behavior, as in the consistency of the behavior?
You said now you know, Anna likes guys with beards.
That's pretty consistent. You can call on it.
Have you made any of other discoveries like that with some
of the other regulars or secondary spirits?
That you've Rosie loves, loves, loves teachers.
We can have four or five people in a room and all of a sudden
she'll come through and I'm like, none of you are teachers
are you? And, you know, two of them will
be, you know, she's just drawn to that energy or it doesn't
even have to be teacher. That's just working with
children, whether it's, you know, kindergarten teacher or,
you know, working in a social, social children with children,
you know, nursery school, something like that.
Yeah, she's really very drawn to that.
We also have because I guess it's because it's Irish mafias.
A lot of the spirits are very aware when somebody walks in and
is a police officer or law enforcement.
Yeah, it's they call them out. I mean, I'll have 20 people in A
room, don't know anybody. You know, it's a public event.
And all of a sudden through the machine you'll go, he's a cop.
And I'm like, that was weird. And they'll just keep saying it
and I'll go, OK, who is the police officer or security
guard? It doesn't have to be in police
officer. It could be security guard.
You know, anything that with that official and one guy will.
I am. How did they know that?
And I'm like, they just know. They just know.
And yeah, it's, it's crazy. They'll know.
And we, the one guy asked one night, they called him out and
he's like, how do you know that I'm a police officer?
They responded. It's your vibe.
It's crazy. Yeah, it's nuts.
So it's. That's that it.
That explain you know, the stuff that has happened.
We've had many times loved ones come through for our guests that
just, it's crazy the stuff that has come through.
I've had and I don't want to get into it too much, but I had one
time a group of ladies that came that their community had been
affected by TWA Flight 1 of OK. Yeah, yeah.
The one that exploded in the city.
OK, yes, correct. Yeah.
So that, that, that wasn't a really amazing experience.
It was very moving. So it that was, it's incredible
stuff. Is there is there a area within
the hotel where the personal experiences happened?
Seance Room. I was about to and I was just
about to say I don't say. Why?
Maybe it's because that was their formal dining room when
the Shanleys opened it and it was destroyed and undone for.
Most of the entertaining happened in the.
But I just renovated that a couple of years ago because it
was just all storage. Sal Houston Park is riding lawn
mower in there. It was bad and I redid the whole
thing and now it's called our SEANCE room.
And maybe it's because I designated the SEANCE room, or
it's just a general meeting area for people to get together
because it was their formal dining room.
They probably had dancing and musicians in there.
Yeah, that's where most of the personal experiences come
through. Where what did you get the most
of in the hotel? Is it EVPITC or is it through
mediumship? Like where is the most evidence
usually generate? I would say ITC, but EVP, we
have phenomenal EBTEVPS the the Shanley is known for EVP S but I
and I encourage anybody who comes here, even though it's
like a public event, I said it's their event and it's their
investigation. And but we have a lot of people
that are newbies that have never done this before.
But we asked people, you know, our hint is before you come,
make sure you have a recording device, whether it's your phone
or a digital recorder. And I tell them while they're
here, do not, do not stop recording.
Maybe break it up a little bit so it's easier to listen to
later on. But I said, you never know when
they're talking to you. We've had people go home, go
out. It was quiet, Nothing happened.
And then they'll listen to their evidence and they'll say, I was
walking down the hallway by myself and you hear right behind
you, you know, So you just never know.
Well, we had a little. Experience before I started
streaming when I was setting everything up I remember I think
it wasn't here at the table right?
Did that happen where something was like, oh, we might need to
check the cameras I. Can't remember.
I think it was the second time I
was here. OK.
Yeah, we had. So I wasn't streaming yet, so,
you know, nothing was recording or what not, right.
Like, I was actually firing everything up or I was showing
you what I was using that even I can't remember exactly, but it
was something, you know, it was like, yeah.
You never know. You never know talking to you.
So you know we, we have disembodied voices, we have
screams, we have, we have the gamut.
Full body preparations. Is it, does the room sort of
dictate the experience? I know you said a lot of things
happen in this seance room, but are there other rooms where
you're more apt to get a certain type of thing or a certain you
know that it might be scarier here or it might be this there
because. Of yeah, the upper floor, upper
floor is a little scarier. I feel that's the where the more
the darker energies lurk. The basement is a little is, you
know, the basement. I'll go down the basement and
there's kids down there. There's a lot of times there's
the kids down there, whether they're hiding or they're
playing. I don't you know, but it's
crazy. We have a we have at least
probably 7 or 8 children spirits here.
Why the hell are they in the basement?
What were these kids doing in the basement?
About a lot of times we're getting an EVPS, what are you
doing? And I will ask what are you
doing here? We're hiding, so there is a
character couple character spirits here that they may be
hiding. Has anyone asked what are you
hiding from? Yeah, well, we have we have a
couple darker energies. So I and we have James Shanley
we feel is like they call them pops, the spirits, the kids
spirits call them Pops. So and he says he protects the
children. So because he he had tragedy
both of his own, he lost. Do people get experiences here
from outside the spirits that are there?
Like do people get their family coming in when they do seances
in this hotel or is it mainly they're communicating?
In the dining room, the seance room, we get a lot of personal
experiences, but their own loved ones coming through have.
You ever had a? Have you ever had a shut a
session down? Set we had.
I'm sorry, Mike, what was it? Have you ever had to shut a
session down like things were getting too intense or you're
worried about your guests? No, not really.
There's been a couple times that we've had guests affected that
we took them out of the room, you know, personally, but we
haven't actually shut the session down.
Well, we probably have taught a couple short.
We said OK, that's enough. You know, let's matter of fact
that happened the other other night that I wasn't in the room,
but it was in the basement and we had some teenage girls and
there was some stuff coming through the equipment that was
starting to get inappropriate. And she just said, OK, we're not
dealing with that, you know, and then cut, cut, cut it short.
All right, look, the Shanley's been featured on on a lot of
shows as well, not just the ghost hunters coming through for
their own YouTube channels, but like ghost hunters, ghost labs,
right? It's a, it's a, it is a state a,
a, a real stop for, for ghost hunters and investigations are
there. What do you think those
portrayals get right? Have they ever missed anything?
Have they ever have? When you've watched the
portrayal of your hotel on TV, is there anything they're
missing or they're not saying? No, you know, they they've told
their experiences here, you know, and not, and not every
night is really active. I mean, some nights we have
quiet nights that are like, come on guys, please come out.
You know, the whole film cruise here, come on, don't get camera
shy now. But there's times that, you
know, it's like you don't get much.
You never they're they're intelligent haunts.
I always tell people when they come in, it's not like ATV show,
it's not that you're filming here for an entire week.
We're trying to cram that in just a few hours and you might
not get much. But you know, we just say they
don't have to talk to us. They they don't have to say
anything. It's their home.
They don't they don't feel like talking to us.
And I always tell people their good energy, their good vibes
coming in, good questions, intelligent questions.
You know, we've had, we've heard through the devices boring
guests like they're done with them.
Everybody's a critic. Could you imagine?
It's like you're sitting there trying to do a ghost hunt, and
the ghost is like, this guy's putting me to sleep and I've
been dead for 100 years. Like could you help?
Me, they, they had listen, they it's incredible what they'll
come up with. It's just dry humor.
I can't believe that just can happen.
I've done this since 2011. People go, don't you get bored?
And I'm like, well, some nights, you know, I feel like I have to
get out my tap shoes and entertain the guests because
they're not. But you know.
Some people are boring. It's it's just the way it goes.
I get it. But I, I, it's, it's whatever
they want to put to us, you know, and I always tell people,
the more you put into the investigation, the more you're
probably going to get out of it. If you sit over there in the
corner on your phone and you expect them to engage with you,
They're not. They're not, you know?
Kelly, what are the locals think about the hotel?
Some of them. Some of them, you know, think
it's haunted, some of them don't.
But not too many of them actually have been in the hotel,
unless they're the old timers from the 70s and 80s.
I call them old timers, but that's my age.
But, you know, it was a bar. But back in the 70s and 80s, it
was a big bar. You know, this was just the
hangout and. Have you ever heard any stories
from when it was a bar? Yeah, I've heard quite a few
stories of, you know, people sitting at the bar and seeing
the lady in the white walking down the hallway.
Oh. That's awesome.
And like, but some of them never believe I I never saw anything
while I'm there. Well, we don't see anything
every night. So, you know, there's a lot of
you got to you're not in a loud environment, you're not
recording, you're not doing this.
You know, they're not a lot of times they're not going to come
out and go Boo, you know, You know, so it, I, we have a lot of
people that love the hotel from, from the people that live here,
because it's a cornerstone of the community.
It's like one of the last big, you know, buildings around that
were from the original, original 1800s.
What do you do on Halloween? Do you like paying out candy to
kids? They come by and knock.
And are you the lady who owns the haunted hotel?
Are they afraid of you? Yeah, some night that we we turn
off the lights a little early because a lot of nights on
Halloween night we have our own event.
But, you know, I do, we do set a bowl out there and the kids come
up and, you know, if we are opening the door, they're
peeking in like, Oh my God. Right.
Well, that's a that's a big thing, the events you guys host
a lot of events a lot like from. Can you tell us so?
So we have just basically when you can rent it the hotel as a
private, so you can have the whole hotel to yourselves.
There's no other guests. Or you can rent it at, during a
room at our public events. Because we have public events
though you book an individual room, you come in, there's other
guests you don't know because everybody's booked an individual
room. And we, we do a full paranormal
investigation from 8 PM to 12 midnight.
And then after that it's free time where they can, they don't
have to go to bed. They can wander around all
night, not in everybody's room, but you know, in the open areas
that we leave open for investigation.
And that's our public ghost hunts.
And then we have special events. We have Scotty, the New Jersey
Medium coming in with Cindy Casa in July that they're going to do
a medium event and do a ghost hunt dinner with us.
And then we just had My Bloody Valentine event that we, you
know, they're exclusive small events that we only book 5 rooms
and we do a little dinner and, you know, a little bit of, you
know, investigating and some special activities.
So we have special events throughout the year that we do
with celebrities and our own stuff.
Got it. If you had unlimited funding for
for one major project in the on the chandelier, what would you
do first? There's so much I I have Patreon
memberships because that's goes directly to repairs.
I just in the last two years I have probably repaired 2 side
porches, some signing the roof. I've probably done over $300,000
in repairs here in the last just four or five years.
What do you want to do next? What's the next big thing you
want? A repair I have 3 stormers that
dormers need repairs. But the the next thing I really
want to start is my the windows I need to replace all the
windfows. Yeah, it's it's 30 year old
windows and they're wooden framed and a lot of them just
are like need replaced. I thought you were going to say
something like we were to turn the basement into a dungeon of
some kind. No, no, no, I just keep.
Replace the windows. A cess dungeon where people get
shown it's a brothel for Christ. I know he's like, I'd really
like to get the brothel going. Again.
You know what? I mean.
We want to get that brothel up and running.
I need to hire some girls and like, no, what does she say?
The windows. I want to read you the windows.
Well. I.
She's thinking like a businessman.
I know. I know, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, I'll be. The place is huge, by the way.
My it's $900 every 10 days. So yeah, yeah.
But the big project I did was the the SEANCE room that was
from gutted. No heat, no electric, just
broken lath and plaster to. I'm pretty proud of the way it
has. $900 every 10 days. Yeah, I put in that waiver.
You're going to freeze your ass, so I'll bring a jacket.
I do say some of the places do become chilly.
I would have the whole place chilly.
But I also like, I would think, I would think like, you know
what, I'd like to put fixed rig cameras in all the public rooms
right to always. Cut.
I have. I already have security cameras
on in all the public areas. Like you could have this place
like a subscription, right, To just like live like, oh, you do
do that. So like John, remember how you
used to have it where you would have the camera and if you want
to watch the basement, like you could always log into the
Shandley and watch and see if you see or hear anything.
So that's that's what my Patreon is.
We do do live streaming from the security cameras and we also
have virtual ghost hunts where my Tracy and I will go around
and do a live. OK, tell everybody the link real
quick because I'll put it up when I.
Well we have Patreon is the Haunted Chandling Hotel through
Patreon, we have TikTok, the Haunted Chandling Hotel, we have
Facebook, the Haunted Chandling Hotel.
But Patreon is rarely where it starts at $2.00 a month and it's
just you get a lot of perks. You get a discount on any
purchases you get. We do a prize wheel every week
so they can win it like a Rampod one week or digital recorder the
next week. So we do a spin of a giveaways
for our Patreon members to get on a prize wheel depending on
the level, how many entries they get and all that money.
Like I said, we have security cameras where I can say, OK,
Patreon, we're having we sending you a link and you can watch the
basement all night and I'll set up some equipment, you know.
That's cool, that's very cool, smart.
That's really cool. All right, if I had never been
there and from everything you said, I doubt I'll ever go there
because it sounds terrifying, but it's terrifying.
I mean, it's you know, the odds of me I'll be doing it during
the day with an army if. All things happen during the
day. Great.
All right, so if you're going to give the when when you tell
guests like, OK, like we're going to do the Estes method
here or something, or you know, what room would you choose to
someone who's never been there before?
It's like, OK, you're going to you.
This is the This is the room you're going to do this in for
your first time here. We do the Estes method a lot in
the SEANCE room with like two or three people and the yeah, the
Bend basement. We have one area that we put
them down this lone tunnel by themselves in the dark and.
With the children. With the children, the.
Hiding children. You know, by themselves, we call
it the portal down there and. Why do you call it the portal?
Yeah. And we have people who say, no,
not going down there, no. And we go, well, you did sign a
waiver. We can do anything we want.
I know a lot of people. A lot of people are good sports
about it and they will try it. Why do you call it the portal,
Kelly? The energies, we've had many,
many mediums come through and say you've got portals in this
hotel and we have, we know at least we probably have 4
portals, meaning like a vortex where there's a like a doorway.
I can only just say, you know, it's like experience can come
and go. I don't know that.
I mean, that's the only way I can explain it because.
No, no, I get it. I get it.
Side. No, no, I totally.
Get what's it? What's wild?
I've already done. I've done the s s method three
times here, the two times I've been here and I did the brothel
and I did the stride. I hate that room.
Why do you hate that room? I the energy in there.
I went into a, I mean, I haven't gone back to the live and looked
at it yet. We don't know if it was 40
minutes, we don't know if it was over an hour.
But I was under for a long, long time and it was wild.
Like I don't drink coffee, I don't drink coffee.
I came out of there. I came out of there and I downed
all a whole cup of coffee, you know, and, and it was weird.
And was it, it was James that was talking about saying he
wanted coffee and I came out and I had a cup of coffee.
I was like, why don't I just have this?
It was an experience. Yeah, I don't like that room.
It's just like a little closet, basically.
With with a mirror. And Sal always said that mirror
was donated to him by two mediums that bought it at a flea
market, and they had it in their own apartment.
And they like, Nope, Nope. Because they kept saying spirits
come in and out. They felt it was like a haunted
portal. And it's funny because we had a
psychic medium. I haven't seen the episode yet,
so I don't want to say anything. But she was talking about this
like a window where they can come in it, like when you look
through. So yeah.
And this is the scrying the room.
Frying room and I, I it's a little closet where there's a
chair, there's electric candles and you look so you stare into
the mirror, which is supposedly haunted yeah, I don't like that
room I'll reach in and kind of turn the candles on without
trying to go in at all It's. Very tight too.
It's. Small, yeah.
It's very small. And then there's one other room
that I don't like, which is one of our portal rooms up in
Kevin's room. OK, yeah.
So that's that's the one. Is that the one upstairs when
you first came? Is that the room you're saying?
No, that was a different one. That was a different one.
That one, I kind of don't go in either.
There's so there's I guess there's 33 rooms I don't like.
What's the other room? What's the basement?
And who the hell is Kevin? Kevin.
Oh my gosh. Kevin is a prison guard.
We've, we've gotten Evps that you know, where did you work?
And he'll say cellblock 7 and we have a full blown operational
prison right across the street from us, maximum security
prison. So.
Is that what that building? Is.
Yeah, yeah, it's. So that is a prison.
That is a prison built in the 1900s.
It was originally like a boys reformatory and then it turned
into a prison in the 1920s or 30s every.
Time I'm out there having a cigarette, meet Brian, look at
each other and I go, Brian, that's got to be a present,
yeah. There's got isn't there a great.
Oh, it's OK. So what's the building across
the? St. building across the street
used to be like a post office and then a Firehouse I think.
Oh. OK, OK, OK.
Isn't there a great movie in this where like like prisoners
escape and then to hide out they pick this house?
Like let's just hide out here and then you know to to while
the cops are looking and then all shit goes bad and like the
ghosts get them or something I feel like.
It's a so when we jump around with the the cause we've kind of
locked down here. When when we're have guests, we
say, you know the door, the door gets locked.
Don't leave the door open because, you know, we have
people 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning trying to get, hey,
let's go into the haunted hotel. You know, so we, we already
allowed the guests in. So when they're in, the door
gets closed and it locks automatically.
But we also joke, you know, Hey, if they're wearing orange
jumpsuit, don't let them in. Oh my goodness.
Yeah, it is a maximum security prison, but that that's where we
think Kevin probably worked because I looked at 1930s and
40s census, New York State census from the Shanley Hotel.
And when you look at the census, they had to write their name,
who was occupying the building at the time.
And then the old census, they'd have to write what their
occupation was. And I found old census that
would say their name and then prison guard, prison guard,
prison garden. So they used to rent rooms to
the prison guards. So when you've when you've
looked at the history of the place, based on what you've
heard in Evps and ITC's here, did anything, does it tend to
match up a lot or have you found things that are giving you more
detail, like where have you ever found a discrepancy or like
something that made you dig deeper?
Oh, there's so much stuff that we end up like trying to find
out. Dig deeper.
What has surprised you the most? Like what is something that
you've discovered that was like, Oh my God, that must be what
this means. Well, we've had, we've had
spirit and mediums talk about buried treasure.
So we're, we're still looking into that.
We've had a little bit of a pinpoint of somewhere in the
basement. So at some point we'll probably
dig around a little bit down there.
Every medium that comes through talks about a very important
journal that's hidden somewhere in this hotel and that it's a
big journal or Ledger and all that.
I can think of. It has to do something with
possibly the mafia or something like that.
I don't know but you. Think it's like a Shanley?
You think it was a Shanley journal or?
Like, I think so. I think so.
I don't know. I don't think why would somebody
hide just a journal of guests at entries.
No, I think this was more important and probably.
Boring. It's probably just like, you
know, numbers. Yeah.
Counting. Right.
You know I'm saying. Yeah, right.
Somebody running numbers, you can keep track of numbers woes.
What? You're talking about prohibition
maybe, and then like running numbers and and it's from.
Well, James Shanley, James Shanley was a bootlegger.
Even in the in the history book, he was arrested with John
Powers. He was a bootlegger and they're
arrested for bootlegging back in the 1930s.
But it helps to know the Roosevelts.
They got off pretty easily. Yeah, no, yeah, knowing the
president is pretty good stuff for for seasoned investigators
who think they've seen it all done at all.
What what challenge would you issue when they come to the
Shanley to try, you know, that they might that they might not
have done elsewhere. What should or would you make
sure they try like this is what you.
Well, I like to have them try games.
The intelligence of the spirits. A lot of nights you'll find some
of the spirits willing to play a dice game.
We roll the dice. We actually have.
We play a card game in the gentleman's quarters and we'll
have a guest pick a card out of a double deck, not show anybody
the card, only he knows the card.
And then we'll run like FM Spirit Box and ask the spirits,
the gentleman to tell us what that card he's holding.
And there's a high percentage that we get that number and
card. Yeah.
And the other night it was funny.
The other night they kept saying 3333 of clubs.
We all heard it very perfectly clear.
And the guy's like, it's not a three of clubs.
So I said, OK, sometimes they'll just tell us the second card.
So I had the other person pick a second card and normally it is
that second card, but it wasn't. And I'm like oh I'm really
surprised because we all heard it so clearly and they just kept
and then the bell rang 3 times and the one of the guests said
why don't we pick a third card? They keep saying three.
I was like all right, just I've never done 3 cards but go ahead,
pick a card. It was the three of clubs 3.
Clubs. Wow.
And the other night I had a person under Estes.
Now that person didn't even know he they were in other room with
the door closed. And I picked up, I have a dice
in there and I picked up the dye and a second I pick up the dye,
she yells die and everybody goes, oh die.
I said no die like I picked up the dice.
They want to. Play.
They wanted to play, so I said, OK, what number am I going to
roll? And the other guy on the Diesta
said 1 and I rolled it and it was a 1.
So you, it happens so often. Sometimes they're rolling, I
mean when they're guessing before you roll it.
I mean, that's, you know, the chances of of that.
Sometimes they won't tell us until we roll it.
Well, you know the fact that you still hear a number even.
That's. That's exactly what I was.
Saying you know what? I mean, it's, it's, it's amazing
that you even hear a number. Sure, it's amazing when they get
it right, but the reality is it's just as good as a guess as
me or you. It's amazing that they're even
saying and umber playing along to the game, which I've
experienced here. In fact, I'm releasing a video
tonight of that so. Well, that sounds fun.
Like that's different, but that's really different.
I have of a lot of the people we talk to like playing games with
the spirits is not something we hear a lot and that's fun.
That's really great. The other night we did, we have
a tic Tac toe board that Tracy and my staff said why don't we
number the squares on the tic tac toe?
So we tried that as a as a game on our My Bloody Valentine's Day
event and we said we were running equipment.
What number do you want? What not what square we were
getting numbers. They didn't win, but we were
getting numbers. And I'm like to the everybody
you, you have to say this is it's an intelligent response.
It may not be the right it's response.
So it's intelligent response. Wow.
Yeah. And you know, it's it's pretty
wild. I forgot, I forgot to tell you
this. After we played the dice game
here, I went back to the breakfast state.
And now back in the day, I used to play the dice game with the
spirits and a pair of skull dice.
Right. And I was just thinking to
myself, wow, you know, I had to play, you know, dice with the
spirit. Such a long time.
That was fun. What do you know, I get back?
I'm going through stuff because I'm, you know, still going
through things and moving things around.
And I look in a cat cup and they're the dice.
The dice are just in there. And I went bringing this back
into the fold. You know it literally almost
every night since then we've been playing with.
That's fun. I like that.
That's interesting to me. Kelly, I have to ask you this.
We ask all our guests this question.
What do you think spirits are who?
What do you think is? What do you think is going on
there? I think, I think it could be a
number of things. Now, nobody's an expert.
I always say, you know, if somebody claims to be an expert,
walk away. But it's consciousness.
I feel that we're all connected somehow.
I feel their energy. You know, we were just talking
about this just. When you say, when you, I'm
sorry to interrupt you, when you say energy, I just want to be
for clarity because a lot of people look at energy and they
say in like a woo woo way, like the soul religious way.
Are you saying energy like in a scientific way, you know, like
these synapses in our brains are electric and that's what it is?
Well, you can't kill energy, so I feel that.
And I believe we do have souls. I mean that I think, I don't
know. I just, I believe that if some
somebody wants to, we have people that go, well, why would
my loved one be here? I said, they're always with you.
They're, they're, they're, they're connected to you through
consciousness. So, and then we were just
talking about this, you know, is there a heaven?
We don't know, but I think spirit finds their own heavens,
like if, if they loved fishing, they're going to be fishing
every day with a beer in their hand.
You know, if and when their loved ones need them, they're
called on. They're right there, they're
right with you. So I, you know, I truly believe
that in my heart of hearts that, you know, that's why we have
spirits here that I don't know if any of the spirits truly here
at the hotel are stuck. I believe that a lot of them
call this their home and or feel like they have to be here for
some reason or another. I'm, you know, we never get the
full story of all of them, but I'm hoping that if they want to
leave, they can leave. Well, that's that was that was
my follow up question. It's like, why do you think the
Shanley is that magnet for this, for consciousness you?
Know it's funny because we have a lot of mediums that go.
We feel that the Shanley is like this beacon like, and there's so
many scientific stuff that you could look at.
There's landlines. I don't know if you're familiar
with that. There's energy lines in in the
the ground that all run through here.
We have the Shiwong Gong mountains or crystals.
You know, there's all Shiwong Gong crystals.
I heard that too, by the way. Yeah, I heard that.
What was that? I have no idea, but it sounded
very strange. It was like, yeah.
It almost sounded like it could have been, yeah.
So and then we have an underground stream that runs
through underneath the Shanley. So I think it's this whole
combination to get really weird about it.
I mean, just one minute from here is is Pine Bush.
Pine Bush is known for their alien encounters, UFO sightings
and stuff. So but.
What do you think that? Well, all right, let's ride this
wave for a second. When you, when you, when you
bring that up. Ley lines of stuff too.
So what when you, I mean could look, you brought it up.
What do you think there's? What do you think that means
when if you bring up UFOs or aliens in regards to spirit,
would you think there's a connection there?
I don't know so much there might be a connection on that I but I
believe that these Ley lines can be a connection between why
these energies are are here. I see.
Yeah, I mean, I've heard through my machines though.
I've heard, you know, contact spaceship, you know, and we have
had sightings, not me personally, but residents of the
town have seen a UFO come over top of Main Street.
That was a big article one time, so you know.
I don't even know. It's like I'm trying to get my
head around spirits and it's like I don't know if I am ready.
I don't know if I am ready for adding aliens into the.
What was it? What was it a couple of days
ago, you know, President Obama did an interview, Yeah, he did,
where he straight up dropped the bomb.
He goes, yeah, aliens are real, But, you know, I've never seen
him. And you know, Area 51 doesn't
exist. You know basically what he says.
Then the next day he backpedals, right?
And he was like, well, I don't know if aliens are real or
however he worded it, but it's just like, all right, we know
aliens are real at this point. We just don't know what they're
about, right? We that much?
That much we know at this point, right?
They have, they have, they have evidence.
What do you say? Like there's evidence of things,
they don't know how these things.
Put a little plug in for my friend.
He runs the Pinebush UFO and Paranormal Museum in Pine Bush,
NY, and it's a nice little, great little museum that that's
because the Pine Bush is known for that.
So, and we're only 25 minutes from there.
So when they talk about the Ley lines and they talk about why
this area, maybe it's the, you know, the gravity, the gravity
is actually less in this area than some other areas of the, of
the country. Oh, that's interesting.
Yeah, really. So is that that area coming in
like when we when we're driving in here, it is about 2025
minutes. It's it's a beautiful view.
That's OK. So that's what that makes sense.
Oh, it is so big when we're driving, you know, it's on our
left and it's just beautiful. Like it's just a huge open
scenic view. Yeah.
You go over that mountain and you come down in about 25
minutes. You're right into Town of Pine,
yes. OK, that makes sense.
So I could see someone seeing an Elliot over there, you know?
Listen, aliens like a good view just as much as the next person.
They like to relax, right? Yeah, I have.
To assume listen, Kelly, this is really fascinating.
I mean, I really appreciate the time you've taken with us here
today. Tell us about your amazing
hotel. You know, it's, it is a cool
spot. I mean, it really is.
And I love I love how specific it is.
I love hearing from a person who can speak to something over time
as opposed to we were there for one night and oh boy, did we get
a lot of great stuff. It's like, listen, I've been
here, I know what this is. And you could probably tell the
difference between like, no, no, I just forgot the WD40 that door
versus I don't know what that I'm telling you.
There's so many nights that I know I had great guests and
they'll come in and they'll get so excited and I'll go.
I hate to tell you this, but you know you.
Did it for us the night the heat kicked on and it was making a
bunch of weird noises and I was like, wait, what's going on?
You know when it happens? And I have to say this, Kelly
has been so incredibly awesome when it comes to just
everything. Sure, this is a business, but
you have a love for the business and it shows.
The way she takes care of the people that come here though,
how interactive and how helpful she is with everything, it is
awesome. I love watching you guys on
TikTok when I. I don't.
I appreciate that. I appreciate that, but that's
just, it's just it's. Holy moly.
That's nothing wildlife tonight. You know what she can, she's in
the chat and let me tell you something.
What night, what night we were, we were up in the brothel and
right it was the brothel. And then all of a sudden that
what they say, they said sweet thing is here and I went Oh,
sweet thing was that another girl and I was about to go all
right, sweet thing, you know what's your.
I've been as fast as I can. It's the cat.
It's the cat, jump. It's the damn it.
And I'll be like, it's the cat. Oh, that's hysterical.
You love some? Ghost Cat.
Yeah, the ghost cat, which I see.
Name is sweet. Which I've seen a picture of
like I've seen a picture of this cat like it's not like and it's
not like a smudge. It's not like you're going to
look Gary when should get if you can send.
It I can send it. When you see this, you're going
to go, Oh yeah, that's a cat. Wow.
And it's also there's a clip on YouTube on on YouTube if you
just type in Shanley ghost cat with with Sal being interviewed
and they they have a video of the cat in the hallway.
It's a see through cat. It just walks right.
Through Wow. Yeah.
This place is. Wild, but it was so funny I
couldn't type fast enough. It's the.
It's the cat it. Was.
It was. You should have struggled.
You should have strung them alone for a little bit, yeah.
Yeah, no, I was about to get. I was about to just go right
into it and be like, all right, it's got to be one of the girls.
You know what's? That sweet thing.
You know, and then I would have got nothing and then and I would
have got pissed. I have so many inappropriate
jokes I could make, I just won't.
I'll just hold on to. That I'm like fine, just going
there and I'm like Nope. Yeah, I'm like so many about how
I would have played them up. Listen, this is great.
I got. I have no other questions, John,
unless you have any more like Kelly.
Thank you so much for your time. Yeah.
Thank you. Thank you for this.
Awesome so awesome. This place is incredible.
It's all my like. I'm as long as I am doing this,
I will keep coming back. Here thank you like it is.
Support. Yeah, it is just.
And I appreciate you supporting my documentation.
Thank you. Well, that's it for another
episode of Splintered Spirits. Be sure to like, share, and
subscribe to our YouTube channel, Spotify, or wherever
you get your podcasts. Until next time, stay curious.