BOBBY MACKEY’S SPIRIT WORLD

Just across the Ohio River in Wilder, Kentucky, sits Bobby Mackey’s Music World. It is regarded by many as the most haunted location in the Cincinnati Tri-State area. Nestled near the Licking River, the building exudes a sense of dread, and for good reason. Bobby Mackey’s is home to several ghosts from different time periods, and visitors sometimes experience more than a cold drink or a musical performance. The grounds of the club are forever linked with some of the most notorious characters and unsavory events the area has ever seen. Over time, the club has become extremely popular on the ghost hunting circuit and has been billed as the most haunted nightclub in America.

From the beginning, the site was a place where death was common. For more than forty years during the nineteenth century, a slaughterhouse stood on the site. The only remaining piece of the original slaughterhouse can be found in the basement. It is a man-made well that was used to drain blood and refuse from the animals on the killing floor. Animal remains have been found deep inside the well in recent years by employees. Several attempts have been made to fill in and cover up the well. The ominous hole, however, commonly referred to as the “portal to hell,” will not be contained. It’s as if the spirits within need to keep this connection open to our world. The well is a small opening with a much larger link to the club’s disturbing past.

The well itself is linked through legend with the most notorious northern Kentucky murder of the nineteenth century. On February 1, 1896, a headless corpse was found about two miles from the site of the slaughterhouse in Fort Thomas, Kentucky. The body was dumped on a farm and appeared to have been thrown down violently in the spot where it lay. The corset had been torn open during the struggle. The victim’s throat was slashed open widely. As the girl’s lifeblood poured from her body, she fought her assailant, as witnessed by cuts on her left hand that lay open to the bone. The head was then severed with a dull knife just below the fifth vertebrae. Because of the large amount of blood on the undersides of the leaves at the scene, the coroner concluded that the victim was alive during the beheading. The job was not easy and the cut was not clean, changing directions several times as the killer hit bones.

Warning sign to patrons at the entrance of the club. Courtesy Bobby Mackey’s Music World.

By the time police arrived on the scene, hundreds of people had trampled the area around the body. Morbid curiosity seekers took items from the crime scene such as bloody leaves and tree branches. Some even tore small pieces of the girl’s bloody clothing off to keep as souvenirs. The entire Cincinnati area was appalled, and the murder soon made national headlines. The story of a decapitated young woman was so shocking that many major papers around the country asked for a complete account of every detail with no limit on the number of words used.

After the body was found, it was taken to Epply’s morgue in Newport. A large crowd gathered outside, and anyone who had any knowledge of a missing person was allowed to view the corpse. Without a head, the identity of the victim remained unknown. The woman was eventually identified by her shoes. On the bottom of the soles was the imprint “Louis & Hays, Greencastle, Ind., 22-11. 62,458.” The number on the shoe indicated that they were size three. The sales record was traced back to a young woman named Pearl Bryan. Pearl was a twenty-two-year-old woman from Greencastle, Indiana. She had told her family that she was traveling to Indianapolis and hadn’t been heard from since January 28. When Pearl’s brother Fred sent a telegram to her friends in Indianapolis, they responded that she had not been there. The family began to panic.

Police brought the victim’s clothing to the Bryan home for identification. Authorities were unsure that the dress belonged to Pearl, because she came from a wealthy family and the dress was not of high standard. It was light blue and white with small checkered patterns. Through long episodes of sobbing, Pearl’s mother told the police that the dress was one that was made over for Pearl out of one that belonged to her dead sister. Pearl’s family held on to hope through the thought that perhaps Pearl had given her clothes to another girl. When police described the strange webbing of the victim’s feet, the family lost any hope they had left. The dead girl was their beloved Pearl.

Police issued an arrest warrant for Scott Jackson, Alonzo Walling and William Wood after uncovering a series of disturbing telegraphs. After being brought in for questioning, the men involved began painting a dark picture. Pearl had fallen in love with Scott Jackson, a dental student in Cincinnati. Pearl’s cousin William Wood had introduced her to Jackson. The Bryan family was one of the most respected in Greencastle, and Pearl had many admirers. She was beautiful, well educated and had a very likeable personality. After some months of dating Jackson, Pearl confided to her cousin that she was pregnant. She would later realize as she lay dying that trusting her cousin was a mistake. Wood betrayed her and contacted Jackson immediately, who was infuriated by the news.

Jackson was a smooth-talking, charming young man, but he also had an extremely dark side. In his home state of New Jersey, he was widely known as a con man and generally regarded as an indecent person. Before moving to Indiana, Jackson had worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad in the accounts receivable department. His boss devised a plan for the two to steal some of the company checks, cash them and split the money. Jackson eventually dodged all charges after agreeing to testify against his former boss.

Pearl Bryan. This is believed to be the only portrait she ever had taken. Courtesy Don Prout.

As the questioning in the murder investigation continued, the details became clearer. Jackson sent several telegrams to Wood describing different recipes of drugs and chemicals that would cause a miscarriage. These all failed. Jackson then wrote to Wood telling him to send Pearl to Cincinnati. He said he had all the arrangements in place for Pearl to have an abortion. While at dinner with Walling and several other dental students, Jackson openly inquired to the group as to what poison would kill a person the quickest. He was told that prussic acid was the quickest but that cocaine was the next deadliest. Cocaine was a legal substance and readily had, so Jackson purchased some at Koelble’s drugstore. Pearl arrived in Cincinnati, where she stayed at the Indiana House on Fifth Street. On the night of the murder, Jackson and Bryan were seen in Wallingford’s saloon. Jackson ordered a whiskey. He then drugged Bryan’s sarsaparilla, and they left in a carriage. From the beginning, it was unclear whether Alonzo Walling was with the pair the night of the murder. During questioning, Chief Dietsch made an attempt to learn the location of the head by taking the killers to view the headless corpse. The Headless Horror states that Pearl’s sister Mary Stanley made one last plea, “Mr. Jackson, I come to you and ask where is my sister’s head. For the sake of my poor mother and for my sister and for my brother I beg of you to tell me where my sister’s head is. It is my last chance and I want to send it home with the body. Won’t you please tell me, I beg of you?” Both men calmly and coldly stated that they did not know where the head was.

Because of the attention paid to the murder, crowds flocked to the farm to see the spot where the awful crime was committed. The farm owner charged ten cents to view photographs he took of the crime scene. Pearl Bryan memorabilia was sold in stores and at roadside stands. After a trial, the two men were sentenced to death by hanging. On the morning of March 20, 1897, the two young men ate a hearty breakfast and were told to prepare for the end. According to an article in the New York Times, Jackson told Sheriff Plummer that he wanted to clear Walling of any connection to the crime. He sat down and wrote a telegram to the governor. It read: “Walling is not guilty of this crime. I am.” The governor replied that he needed more details, but if Jackson made a confession on the scaffold, he would postpone Walling’s execution until further notice. As the execution neared, twenty-one-year-old Walling trembled with fear. He told a turnkey, “Jackson can save my life if he will, but he won’t. I have tried in every way to get him to do it, but he will not. He ought to save me.” The mayor asked Walling one last time where the head was. Walling replied, “Mayor Rhinock, before God, whom I shall soon meet, I do not know. I will not lie now.” Just before they walked the steps to the top of the gallows, Walling pointed at Jackson and said, “That man can save me if he will. I die an innocent man. I was not there when she was killed.” Just before the execution, both men were asked if they had any final words. Twenty-eight-year-old Jackson replied calmly, “I have only this to say, that I am not guilty of the crime for which I am now compelled to pay the penalty of my life.” Walling’s hopes of being saved were gone. As Walling trembled with his eyes staring down, he was asked if he had any last words. He said, “Nothing, only that you are taking the life of an innocent man and I will call upon God to witness the truth of what I say.” With that, the two men were prepared for death. The gallows dropped, and neither man died right away. Onlookers watched as the men slowly choked to death for eight minutes.

According to several newspapers, a skull was found near the farm in November 1900, but because of primitive science techniques, it could never be confirmed as belonging to Pearl. In Doug Hensley’s book Hell’s Gate, he claims that the two men were linked to the well by claims of satanic rituals performed near the well. Many people believe Pearl’s head may have been dumped in the infamous well at Bobby Mackey’s. Psychics who have visited Bobby Mackey’s have reported seeing a headless woman, as well as men who resemble Jackson and Walling. Our personal belief is that the ghost of Pearl may be a tulpa, something that has been created by belief in the minds of many people. A tulpa can manifest as a physical or spiritual being through sheer thought and willpower alone. This phenomenon is very real, and experiencing it firsthand can be frighteningly similar to seeing a ghost.

The days of gambling, drinking and entertainment started when Buck Brady bought a building on the site of the old slaughterhouse called the Bluegrass Inn. He soon reopened an upscale restaurant and casino called the Primrose. Prohibition had recently ended, and the new club was a giant success. Patrons enjoyed music, fine food, drinking and nightly floor shows. At that time, a mob faction of the Cleveland Syndicate was running several casinos in the Newport area, including the nearby Beverly Hills Country Club. The Primrose was regarded by many as the finest casino and restaurant in the area and was taking business away from several other clubs run by the mob. The Cleveland Syndicate wanted in, and they weren’t looking to become a partner. Red Masterson was an enforcer for the Syndicate. He was sent as muscle to persuade Brady to sell. The crime family began to vandalize the Primrose and intimidated Brady and his patrons in many ways. One especially grotesque form of harassment was “ding-donging”, when men would enter the club and relieve themselves on the floor of the club right in front of patrons. This infuriated Brady, who was trying desperately to maintain a positive image of his club.

Brady had been harassed for years and knew it was only a matter of time before the mob took his club, either by deed or by fire. He decided to end the harassment by taking matters into his own hands. On August 5, 1946, Buck Brady waited in the dark outside the Merchants Club Casino in Newport. Masterson exited the building and climbed into his new Cadillac. Brady pursued him, catching up with the Cadillac a block later. The sound of gunfire rang out through the streets of Newport as several shots flew into the Cadillac. An injured Masterson jumped from his car and hid behind another parked car. Both cars were wrecked. Brady and his accomplices fled on foot and disappeared into the night. Masterson survived the shooting but refused to identify Brady as the gunman, saying that he would take care of it in his own way. The mob now made Buck Brady an offer he couldn’t refuse. They proposed that he sell them the club and leave town forever or stay and be killed. He sold the club for less than market value and left town. His days running the club were over. To this day, the old safe that was used by Buck Brady when he ran the Primrose still sits in what is now a storage room and reads “Built specially for E.A. Brady.” He committed suicide in 1965 after fighting a terminal illness.

After the Cleveland mob took over, the building was renamed the Latin Quarter. The club now featured cabaret dancers putting on regular shows for the customers. Framed pictures of dancing ladies from the Latin Quarter days still adorn the wall next to the stage. One of the girls danced under the stage name of Johanna Jewel and was the daughter of the club’s owner. During that time, a crooner named Robert Randall would come to play at the Latin Quarter on a regular basis. Johanna was enthralled by Randall. She fell deeply in love with the charming, handsome young man and became intimately involved with him. Johanna feared her father’s reaction if he found out about her love affair with Randall. Her father was a well-connected man with ties to the mob. Whenever Randall was in town, the two lovers would meet in secret, spending time together on the banks of the Ohio River.

Soon after their relationship began, Johanna became pregnant with Randall’s child. She was able to keep the secret through the first few months of her pregnancy. Having a slender figure, however, a lump soon began to grow in her belly. When her father found out, he was infuriated. No man was going to impregnate his daughter with a bastard child. Randall was soon found dead. Details are sketchy, but her father had someone pay Randall a visit deep in the night, ending his life.

Johanna was devastated. She mourned her lost love, experiencing intense feelings of depression and rage. She harbored feelings of hate toward her father for what he had done. Not long after Randall was found dead, she devised a plan to kill her father. She attempted to poison his drink but was unsuccessful. Her despair grew deeper with each passing day. One night she climbed up behind the stage, walked across the catwalk and entered the spotlight room. She sat there for awhile feeling extremely depressed, at times sobbing uncontrollably. During investigations on the property, the sounds of a woman sobbing have been captured from this room when no one is inside. She wrote a poem on the wall, an emotional outpouring of her love and betrayal. To this day, the poem exists in the nearly inaccessible room. Her depression turned to thoughts of suicide, and she became deeply withdrawn. She went to her dressing room and took her life with a poison drink. Through unbridled sadness and intense pain, she slowly died.

Her ghost is probably the most well known in the club today. Bobby Mackey even wrote a song about the ghost called “Johanna.” People have reported smelling her rose perfume throughout the club. We often have encountered her presence in her dressing room in the basement during our tours. On several different occasions we have heard footsteps coming toward us and stopping in front of us. We have captured things on film in this room, including green-colored orbs circling around our heads. We have also had questions answered on electronic devices used to communicate with spirits. Often orbs will be seen in the chair in front of her mirror. The mirror in this room does strange things indeed. We have several pictures where we have been standing in front of a mirror but have no reflections. When photographing this mirror, a demonic face has appeared in some of our pictures. It looks to be skeletal and has a clownlike appearance. We have also captured on film a shadow person watching us in the reflection of the mirror.

Johanna’s dressing room, where she took her life. Authors’ collection.

Over the years, there have been many stories of mob killings on the site. In the basement there are still bullet holes left from shootouts that occurred. The basement still holds many artifacts from the mob days, including a card table with a seemingly unfinished card game, moonshine bottles, bingo spinners and many more neglected treasures. There is also a staircase to nowhere, which acted as a trapdoor in case of a raid. This would drop down into the basement to make for a quick escape.

The Latin Quarter used one of the rooms in the basement for interrogations, torture and murder. If someone was caught trying to cheat the casino, they were taken into the room and intimidated, beaten or worse. Hangings and shootings happened often in this room. Some patrons who were repeat offenders or became in debt to the mob were also given this special treatment. In order to dispose of bodies, the victims were given a “Newport Nightcoat,” also known as a “Newport Nightgown.” The victims were killed, their bodies were submerged in concrete and they were thrown into one of the nearby rivers. According to some local historians, if the bottom of the rivers were dredged today, many of these concrete crypts would be found.

One of the rooms of torture is known today as the “Room of Faces.” If you take a black light down to the room you will see that the walls are still covered with dried blood. Sometimes the blood shows up in photographs, too. The stains have created many faces on one wall in particular, and some believe that these are the faces of the people who have died in this room. It is highly active with ghosts who do not seem to be happy. Any attempt to move things in the room will usually stir up spirits. A cabinet was moved in an attempt to clean this room and a water pipe burst immediately after. On other occasions a meter has spun around violently, and the lights will flicker. These spirits have been known to be violent as well. On more than one occasion, people have been scratched, bruised and injured. These are evil spirits that can indeed do you harm.

The building sat vacant until the 1970s, when a bar named the Hard Rock Café (no relation to the famous chain of the same name) was opened. It was a rough bar shared by two rival bike gangs: the Iron Horse Motorcycle Club and the Seventh Sons. There were large group fights and several fatal shootings on the premises. Finally, the police shut down the bar about 1977 because it was a public nuisance. The building was vacant once more, until someone would come to bring this club life instead of so much death.

Today the site is known as Bobby Mackey’s Music World. For his entire life, Bobby Mackey has worked immensely hard, dedicating all of his efforts to doing what he loves most: performing country music. In the fall of 1966, Mackey boarded a train from Maysville, Kentucky, heading for Newport. He had a suitcase in one hand, his guitar in the other and seventy-five dollars in his pocket. He was on his way to begin work on the railroad. On the way, he passed over the Short Way Bridge. Through the rain and blowing trees, he saw the old Latin Quarter sitting near the banks of the Licking River. Mackey felt drawn to it from the first time he saw it. For a time, he regularly rode a bus that passed the building. He remembers the way the floodlights looked on the building, saying, “I could just see the people in there partying and having a good time.”

Bobby Mackey’s (at left) on the banks of the Licking River. Courtesy Bobby Mackey’s Music World.

Mackey worked on the railroad until 1970. In the fall of that year, he joined the band Red Jenkins and the Country Lads. Mackey loved old-fashioned country music from the time when he was a child. As a young man, Hank Williams Sr. was the first voice he recognized. For years, he played clubs like the Apple in Woodlawn, the Chuck Inn and the Boulevard. According to Mackey, the next step in his career was the decision, “Either move to Nashville or get my own club.” He bought the club on Licking Pike with his wife Janet and partners Jean and Norman Stamper, and within ten years he was the sole owner. The music he plays bridges a connection with people and their emotions, such as his song “Hero Daddy,” which went to number one in Cincinnati. Today he is a well-respected member of the community as a singer and business owner.

Many people across the globe believe Mackey’s club is haunted. After more than thirty years in the club, is Mackey a believer? “No,” he says, “I don’t believe in that type of thing. It can’t be proved or disproved.” When asked about his take on the believers, he simply offers, “Maybe they know something I don’t.” The resident spirits at the club are probably on Mackey’s side. “I’ve had a lot of good luck through the years,” says Mackey. When visiting today, patrons can expect the same things that Bobby Mackey’s has always had; good times, good company, bull rides and nightly performances by Bobby Mackey and the Big Mac Band. “I think people one hundred years from now will still talk about the place and how much fun they have had here,” says Mackey. Many people come to the club hoping to catch a glimpse of a ghost but find themselves staying for Mackey’s unique brand of country music.

The atmosphere of the basement is much more sinister than the dance floor above. As soon as the basement door is unlocked and thrust open, it is obvious why this place is known to be haunted. You can sense the death encompassing you, and the air is thick with the horrors that occurred here. These lost souls do not take kindly to visitors and can react very violently. We have encountered spirits on nearly every visit to Bobby Mackey’s Music World. This place is full of spirits that mean no harm, and those who loathe the living. On one occasion, we picked up a disturbing EVP (electromagnetic voice phenomenon) calling us “spirit stalker.” Many voices have been heard on our voice recorder calling us names, taunting us, warning us and responding to questions. Provoking these spirits will get you physically injured. Full-bodied apparitions have been seen here. One of the more photographed ones is the shadow person who walks along the back wall, always from right to left, wearing what appears to be a cowboy hat. There are countless souls that reside in this basement. Upon leaving the establishment, it is common to leave with more than you bargained for. Some people leave with intense headaches while others become physically ill. Spirits have been known to follow you home, plague your dreams, play tricks on your mind and affect things like lights and faucets. The slogan at Bobby Mackey’s is “The way it was is still the way it is.” These words hold so much more meaning when talking about the haunting that occurs here. At Bobby Mackey’s, you can always enjoy great country music, ride the bull and party with the ghosts.

The stage inside the club. Courtesy Bobby Mackey’s Music World.

HAUNTING ACTIVITY SCALE

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Intensity***

Type: apparition, poltergeist, intelligent ghost, nonhuman ghost, residual imprint, shadow people, tulpa