Haunted Jukeboxes:
Just Press B-Scared
The spirits of the dead find ways to communicate with the living. They are not above trying out some weird ways to make that contact, either. According to paranormal researchers and spirit mediums, these messages can come through Ouija boards, the movement of objects, and the sudden presence of intense feelings and emotions. Sometimes, they’ll just show up and have a conversation.
Other times, they’ll just play you a song.
At several bars, clubs, roadhouses, honky-tonks, and restaurants, there are reports of jukeboxes operating autonomously. They’ll play songs inexplicably, when no one selected the song. Sometimes the jukebox isn’t even plugged in when it belts out a tune. In more extreme examples, these jukeboxes not only fire up unexpectedly, but they play tunes that are no longer on the machine.
We’ll start this exploration of paranormal jukeboxes with a visit to a familiar stop on our way through haunted country music: Bobby Mackey’s Music World.
Bobby Mackey’s And The
Anniversary Waltz Mystery: Wilder, Kentucky
As we discussed earlier in the book, Bobby Mackey’s Music World in Kentucky is one of the hottest—and most haunted—country music destinations. According to witnesses and experts on the haunting, a focal point of the honky-tonk’s haunted history seems to be the old jukebox in the ballroom.
Several witnesses—including ones who actually signed affidavits to their testimonies—said that they saw and heard the jukebox turn on spontaneously. In one case, two witnesses heard “The Anniversary Waltz,” a song published in the 1940s, crank up. When they cautiously walk toward the jukebox to investigate, the instant they step into the ballroom the song stops.
A police officer responding to a burglary alarm at the honky-tonk—false alarms happen with an almost preternatural frequency at the bar—said that as he entered the premises the jukebox was on, playing tunes from the 1930s and ’40s. Other witnesses corroborated these reports, saying that they, too, have heard 1930s-era music echoing from the building and also assumed it was the jukebox cranking out the old school tunes.
Even weirder, during several instances, the jukebox played even though it was either unplugged or the power was off in the building.
A manager of the bar has the best story. She stated that the jukebox started to play when she entered the building. Not only was it not plugged in, but the spindle was not revolving, there was no record on the spindle, and the song that was playing was not on the jukebox’s playlist!
One man said that the haunted jukebox even haunted his dreams. During a night of paranormal terror, he dreamed he heard a gunshot ring out. The echo of the shot was still reverberating when he heard the jukebox kick on and play “The Anniversary Waltz.” There’s no real information on why the song is connected with the haunting, which may involve several spirits, including the ghost of a murder victim.
Gathering Spot for the Supernatural
The jukebox at Bobby Mackey’s Music World seems to be a center for the haunting there in another way—it seems to attract ghosts. Several people have seen apparitions near or by the jukebox. One person said an apparition walked right by the jukebox, another saw an apparition standing near the machine. The obvious speculation is that these ghosts are the ones requesting the songs.
In another horrifying example of Bobby Mackey’s haunted jukebox, at least one club regular paid the paranormal price for standing close to the machine. A man said he watched in terror as a filmy white apparition drifted across the club toward the jukebox. At the time, a band member was standing next to it. The ghost approached the man and then, apparently, slid right into his body!
Filmy ghosts, ghosts on two legs, ghosts with no head, and at least one of their four-legged ghost friends seem to congregate around the jukebox. According to one story in Hell’s Gate, a book written about the haunting, a woman saw a huge black dog running behind the club’s stage. Then she heard someone shout her name. The instant she turned around to find the source of the shout, the jukebox began to blare. No one else was in the club at the time, let alone close to the jukebox.
Country House: Clarendon Hills, Illinois
While the jukebox played favorite songs of the 1950s, a young lady and her small daughter entered the establishment that most locals call the Country House, according to the legend. The pretty blonde woman cut like a knife through the dining room toward the smooth bartender pouring drinks at the bar. She was obviously on a mission. The bartender and the blonde had words.
While the legend of this haunting has few details on the conflict between the woman and the bartender, there is speculation that the two were involved in a romantic relationship—and that relationship was about to split irrevocably. Good love gone bad? That sounds like a good plot for more than a few of those tunes playing on the jukebox.
In any event, the words turned into an argument and the argument drew the attention of the tavern’s customers and staff. Feeling the public attention, the woman became embarrassed and spun around to exit the bar. She swept her little girl along with her, like a twig caught in a strong river current.
The story turns tragic. Just up the road from the tavern, the woman’s car reportedly careened off the highway and into the tree. Some say that both the woman and the daughter died; other sources suggest only the woman died in the accident, but most people believe that the tale did not end completely that horrific evening. They say that the spirit of this fate-crossed lover lives on—and the jukebox plays on.
Since the night of the accident, restaurant staff and patrons report that the jukebox is restless, playing songs when nobody has deposited any money. In some cases, the songs echo long after everyone has gone home and only a few stray employees are left cleaning up and preparing to close.
In one of the more frightening encounters, a worker was toiling away on a project to renovate the tavern. He took a bathroom break and just as he exited the bathroom, he says he heard music playing. The worker knew he did not play any tunes. He proceeded directly to the bar area. There, swaying in the dim light of the jukebox, was the figure of a gorgeous blonde woman, dancing under the spell of the music. Maybe the worker figured this woman slipped in from the street or that she somehow never left after last call, but he walked toward her to confront her and ask her to leave.
That’s when he got the shock of his life—as he looked down, the worker noticed that the woman was invisible from the waist down.
The jukebox isn’t the only thing that’s haunted in the restaurant. A wide range of paranormal happenings have occurred on the premises. The blinds open and close on their own. Pots and pans rattle. Sometimes, according to the legend, guys say they are drawn to the restaurant because they see a pretty blonde woman in the tavern window. She seems to be motioning them to join her.
Who could resist, right?
But when the men walk into the tavern, after desperately checking every stool and booth, every chair and table, they can’t seem to find her. They then ask the bartender where the hot blonde went.
The bartender smiles knowingly to himself, looks over at the seemingly empty spot by the jukebox, and wonders whether they really want to know.
Locals Bar and Restaurant: Pawnee, Illinois
What is it about Illinois and haunted jukeboxes?
Another bar in Illinois—Locals Bar and Restaurant—is also reportedly outfitted with a haunted jukebox.
According to one newscast, the bar has experienced some haunting activity for years. The activity was so intense that a group of ghost hunters were called in and said their investigations revealed at least two ghosts were stalking the premises.
At least some of the paranormal outbreaks center around the jukebox. If you know anything about bar culture, you’ll realize that jukeboxes help create the bar’s atmosphere. It’s a pleasant environment when everyone likes the song that is playing, but these music machines can turn that harmony into discord if someone plays an unpopular tune. Probably the biggest debate in the war on jukebox aesthetics is between country music fans and rock music fans. That seems to be one of the ongoing paranormal debates in Locals Bar and Restaurant, too.
According to one worker, the bar’s jukebox—which turns on by itself at odd hours of the morning—has a mind of its own. It also is played by ghosts with an eclectic range of musical interests, and, quite possibly, at least one country-loving ghost.
“It’s a very random genre—I’ve heard ‘Girls, Girls, Girls’ [by metal band Mötley Crüe] and then country,” one worker told a reporter from WCIA, an Illinois television station. “So, one is a rock fan and one likes country, apparently.”
The workers are stumped why the jukebox sounds at 3 a.m. In order for it to play, someone has to physically input the dollar and make a selection. It’s not as if the jukebox can be accessed online, for example.
In addition to the ghostly jukebox, people claim to hear footsteps and door knobs twisting. At least one person encountered an apparition walking down the stairs.
Earnestine & Hazel’s: Memphis, Tennessee
You can’t walk by the buildings of downtown Memphis, Tennessee, the home of the blues and the old stomping grounds of Elvis Presley, without wishing for those walls to somehow talk. Patrons, workers, and ghost hunters say that at least in one of the city’s bars, you don’t need the walls to talk, the jukebox is chatty enough.
Earnestine & Hazel’s is one of Memphis’s most storied bars. It’s also one of the city’s most “ghost storied” bars. Some experts on the haunting suggest that the—well, let’s call it—“unique” history of the operation is the reason for its ultra-haunted reputation. Over the years, a number of businesses were centered there, including an upstairs brothel.
According to several stories that have grown up around Earnestine & Hazel’s, not all the women who were employed at the brothel were happy about their situation in life. In fact, some were despondent. In one tale, a prostitute committed suicide in a second-floor bathroom. She continues to haunt the establishment. Some people who are walking near the area where she took her own life say they are inexplicably struck with a feeling of intense sadness. They were perfectly happy just seconds ago.
But it’s not just feelings that warn patrons of a spiritual presence—they say if you listen closely you can hear the ghosts. The bar’s jukebox turns on spontaneously—just like a few of the other haunted music machines we reviewed. However, the spirits may embed messages in the lyrics and song titles of the tunes they select. For instance, Michael Einspanjer, a Memphis-based paranormal researcher, asked for any ghosts on the premises to reveal themselves at the end of his investigation. The jukebox kicked on and began to play a song with the lyrics, “Can you see me? Can you see the real me?”
Spooky, for sure, but at least this haunted jukebox also seems to have a sense of humor.
Why Are Jukeboxes Haunted?
There are a lot of theories as to why jukeboxes are so haunted. Some paranormal theorists suggest that, as we mentioned, these music-makers help spirits communicate with fellow bar and restaurant patrons. Spirits use the device to say they are there and possibly add clues to why they remain attached to the establishment.
Another completely different school of thought proposes that the jukeboxes, themselves, are haunted. This theory is usually referred to as the haunted objects theory—or cursed objects theory, depending on the outcomes of the haunting. According to this idea, just as a house can be haunted, so can an ordinary object. In paranormal lore, there are haunted dolls, haunted chairs, and even haunted paintings. You can even buy some of these haunted objects on eBay. Why you would want to do that, I can’t even guess, but the opportunity is definitely there.
Similar to haunted objects, cursed objects appear to be haunted, but their presence creates negative situations for people who touch, handle, or own the object.
Finally, people in the paranormal community often debate whether a spirit is possessing these objects, or, oddly enough, the object has its own spirit. The advocates of this theory say that the jukebox itself is a spirit, which adds a whole new level of creepiness to this phenomenon.
Whether it’s a ghost by the machine, a ghost in the machine, or just a ghostly machine, we can conclude that haunted jukeboxes are—and will be—integral to country music and country music ghostlore.