Episode 42: The Crone of Catskills
The reality is, you can never truly know what it is you’re bringing home with you. That is until it's too late…
Episode Transcripts
Every so often we hear a story that seems to stop us dead in our tracks. Whether it be a heroic tale that restores faith in humanity, or a harrowing reminder of the monsters who live among us, we all have that one narrative that sort of haunts us.
Pause
Throughout the course of this podcast, we have likely discussed a great deal of these haunts. I can honestly say that you guys have sent me some pretty killer stories and hopefully, I have done the same in return. But if I haven’t, well maybe today’s topic will be a nice change of pace.
I first heard this legend back in the summer of 2018. And since then, I’ve reflected on the circumstances surrounding it at least once every few months.
Mainly because it would be so easy for any one of us to find ourselves in this exact situation. In fact, if you listened to last week's episode, then you will likely see some parallels between this haunt and a story of my own.
I was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, acting in favor of a minor lapse in judgment, and within a matter of moments, life, as it was, took a dark turn. which is more or less exactly what happened to a pair of hikers who stumbled upon a rather sinister artifact in January of 2016.
Okay, I’ll level with you. This narrative may come off as a bit hypocritical coming from me. I mean, who am I to tell you not to make these mistakes, if I am guilty of making them myself, right?
Well, I guess I don’t blame you for being a bit cautious of my advice on this topic but hear me out for the next 20 or so minutes. Because even though it may seem hard to picture yourself in this sort of predicament, I know better than any that this storyline happens more often than you might think.
I guess what I’m trying to say, is that this story is one that may just stick with you. So let it serve as a warning that some things are better left hidden away.
I’m Courtney Hayes and you’re listening to haunts. Stay tuned…
Break for music
Our story begins where many great internet urban legends do. With a series of posts shared to a paranormal internet forum by an anonymous user.
It was 8 years ago, at the time of writing this, when wiggedhikerthrway shared makings of this story on the r/paranormal subreddit. And even though there is some skepticism when it comes to stories shared on this board, well it doesn’t change the fact that this post sort of went viral.
Now before we go any further, I feel as though I should mention that these posts are rather long. And to be honest, they are somewhat frantically written. I of course will have them linked today in show notes in case you want to read them in their entirety. But moving forward, I'll be paraphrasing a bit and for the sake of his privacy, I'll be calling this Reddit user by the name Steve.
Pause
It was an otherwise ordinary weekend and Steve was out hiking with a friend who we'll call Jake. They were trekking through an area of the Catskills called sundown forest when, at some point or another, the two companions stepped off the trail to explore a nearby cave.
That’s where they found it. There, sitting on the rocky ground, was a strange wood-carved statue. And took put it bluntly, this artifact looked rather menacing.
Quote: "It has nails in its eyes and a noose around its
neck. Looks like it might be old. I don’t think it's been there
very long…The statue really wigged me out but my buddy
decided to take it home with him even though I told him not to." End quote.
Pause
I know, by now alarm bells should be going off in your head. I mean, from the outside in, it’s not hard to see exactly where this story is going. But at the time, this seemed like an ordinary cave. And the statue, well it was just interesting enough to blur the lines between logic and curiosity.
And so the saying goes, it’s curiosity that killed the cat.
Break for music
In that initial post, Steve went on to describe how Jake's home had become an epicenter of sorts for strange and unsettling occurrences. These disturbances began shortly after they returned from their hike; starting gradually, and gaining traction as time went on.
For instance, Jake would find the statue in random places around the house—a fact that he attributed to having a dog who liked sticks. However, it soon became evident that the dog had developed an unusual aversion to the statue.
In fact, she seemed to be quite fearful of the artifact. She would cower from it and on a few occasions, she had accidents in the house, even though she was completely housebroken.
To make matters worse, there was a strange smell that seemed to be lingering around the statue. It was a stench that could only be described as old pond water.
And then, of course, there was the banging. Erupting from Jake's front door in the wee hours of the morning, this sound would wake him from a restless sleep. Leaving him even more confused and terrified than he was before.
Then on one particularly unsettling night, Jake mustered the courage to confront the source of the knocking—although as soon as he did, he knew that he had made a big mistake.
Quote: Last night someone knocked on his door at 3
in the morning but when he went to open it there was no one there. His motion lights weren’t on and there
weren’t any cars in his driveway. He said that he opened up the door to look outside and that's when he knew that he made a big mistake…he just felt like he shouldn’t
have opened his door. End quote
Pause
Now it didn’t take long for the companions to make the connection between the activity and the artifact. In fact, only a few days after this initial post, Jake had shown up at Steve's doorstep in the dead of the night, frantic and overwhelmed with fear.
Evidently, due to the unusual occurrences around his home, Jake had developed a growing suspicion that something had trailed him back from the hiking trip. And to make matters worse, it appeared that this mysterious presence had only grown stronger.
You see, since that night when he heard banging on his front door, the smell of pond water had become more potent. Not to mention that he was now encountering muddy footprints all over his house, coupled with the sound of heavy breathing.
It was these sights and sounds that sent Jake and his dog running from their home; ultimately prompting Steve to draft a secondary post. It was there that he begged the r/paranormal community for help.
Should they burn it? Throw it into a lake maybe? Try to return it to the cave? Simply put, the companions were at their wit's end and had no idea how to appropriately handle the situation.
Then just a few days later, Steve shared a third and final post.
Quote: "Things got worse yesterday night so we sent the statue to the guy in the comments today. So far so
good. Thanks to everyone who actually tried to help"End quote.
Break for music
Needless to say, the comments section of Steve's posts were quite active throughout this narrative. Of course, there were a myriad of well-meaning commenters scolding the companions for taking such a strange artifact from an otherwise secluded location. But mixed in with those comments were a few suggestions on how they should handle this predicament.
There were a lot of comments urging the companions to not under any circumstances burn the artifact. Doing so could potentially free this seeming malevolent presence, ultimately giving it the opportunity to attach itself to one of them.
Instead, most agreed that they should take the statue back to the cave and apologize to whatever may have been lurking there. Then, if they were lucky, the activity should dissipate and eventually stop.
Pause
Now in hindsight, I think it’s safe to say that returning the artifact would have been their best bet here. But Steve and his friend were more than a bit wigged out by the idea of returning to the cave. And fortunately for them, there was one commenter offering them a different option.
Not unlike ourselves, Greg Newkirk has a keen interest when it comes to haunted artifacts. In fact, he and his wife Dana own and operate the Traveling Museum of the Paranormal & Occult, which houses items such as Ruby the haunted doll and even a plank from the Amityville horror house.
In other words, the Newkirks share an expertise when it comes to haunted items such as this crone of Catskills. So when he came across Steve’s posts, Greg offered to take the artifact off his hands.
Quote: "If you're too nervous to take it back to where you found it (which is completely understandable), I'd be happy to handle it for you.
Your friend made a mistake, and honestly, it's not like he would know better, especially if he's a skeptic/atheist (or was, until he made a new friend). This kind of thing happens all the time and it gets fixed all the time. Don't freak out, don't burn it, and please don't throw it into a lake." End quote
Just two days later, Greg Newkirk received a response to this message via email, and within a matter of days the crone of Catskills arrived in the mail. Now it was up to the Newkirks to tame whatever was haunting the artifact. And while it may not have seemed like it a first, well that task would prove to be a daunting one indeed.
Break for music
Before we dive into the events that occurred after the Newkirks took ownership of the artifact, I’d like to circle back to the last day that it was in Steve's possession. Because as I had mentioned earlier, things had escalated somewhat after his second post.
You see, before they had made contact with Greg Newkirk, the men were staying exclusively at Steve’s place. Mainly because they were far too frightened to be in the same building as that statue. However, after seeing the comments urging them to return it to the cave, well even they had to admit that seemed like the best course of action.
So they jumped in the car, and together they drove back to Jake's house to retrieve the artifact. But when they walked inside, they were met with an unsettling discovery. The statue was no longer in the living room where it had been left the previous night.
Instead, they found it in the hallway, situated just below a conspicuous crack that had materialized in the wall. It appeared that the object had been hurled into the hall with such force that it struck the drywall.
As they confronted this bizarre turn of events, the pungent aroma of pond water became increasingly overpowering, making them second-guess their decision to return to the cave. While they deliberated in the hallway, they were startled by the sound of their dog barking out in the yard.
Already on edge, the men cautiously ventured out of the hallway, following the source of the dog's growls. That’s when they saw her—there crouching in the corner of the living room was an elderly woman drenched in what could really only be pond water.
Now this next part gets a little graphic so fair warning but as near as they could tell it seemed like this woman was completely naked. And according to Steve’s testimony, her eyes were glowing.
Pause
As you can imagine, the sight of this specter was all it took to send the companions running from the house. Only when they got outside, did they realize that they had left the statue behind in their panic—eventually they would have face whoever, or should I say whatever was lurking in the living room.
It took some time but in the end, they reentered the house. Whatever it was they had seen must have left, but they weren’t sticking around for it to come back. Instead, they grabbed the statue from the hallway and wrapped it in a pillowcase—apologizing to the entity as they did so. Moments later, the artifact was locked in the trunk of Steve’s car and by that evening he was recounting these events in an e-mail to Greg Newkirk.
So, now that we're all caught up, let’s focus our lens back on Greg and Dana. Because they too experienced strange activity in the weeks following these events. And as you can imagine, this new-found artifact sat at the center of it all.
Break for music
When Greg and Dana first laid eyes on the Crone of Catskills, they knew it was not intended for good. Sitting ominously on Greg’s desk, surrounded by bubble wrap, cardboard, and a stained pillow case, it was clear that the artifact was manufactured under an air of negativity. Although there were a few details that seemed a bit off.
Specifically, they noticed that the statue itself seemed quite old and weathered—as did the nails that had been driven into its eyes. But the noose around its neck was fashioned out of relatively new materials. Meaning that whoever had left it in the cave had done so recently.
Pause
It was a strange item, to say the least—one that didn’t match the typical description of a cursed artifact. But at the moment, the item seemed like it might fit in well with the other exhibits in their museum. Well, that is after a brief introductory period.
So after taking a few notes and photos for documentation purposes, the statue was locked away in their office. And with that, the couple stepped out to run some errands—leaving the crone of Catskills to get acquainted with its new surroundings.
Pause
Now it’s worth mentioning that Greg and Dana approach each item that they procure with a certain level of skepticism. Which, in my opinion, is entirely warranted.
I mean they had made a career out of collecting haunted objects; and in that line of work, they had encountered their fair share of hoaxes. Not to mention, in their experience at least, the items they acquired seldom lived up to their chilling reputations.
So to be honest, they weren’t expecting much from the artifact at first. But, of course, that all changed when they returned home later that evening and discovered that the crone of Catskills was already making its presence known.
Pause
It began while the Newkirks were engrossed in a movie night. They were both comfortably seated on the couch in their living room when—seemingly out of nowhere—they heard a commotion coming from the upstairs office.
Greg was quick to pause the movie, muttering to himself that their two cats must have been playing somewhere they shouldn’t be. But upon opening the office door, he discovered that the cats were nowhere in sight.
Now that fact alone had given him a twinge of anxiety. Beyond the shadow of a doubt, Greg knew he had heard something rustling around in the office. And yet, at that very moment, his cats were nervously cowering under the bed in a completely different room.
So, he wondered to himself, what exactly had he heard? If it wasn’t the cats, well then it must have been one of the artifacts he kept locked in that room.
Pause
Greg Newkirk didn't have to look very far to find the source of this strange noise. In fact, it was lying right there on the floor--a plastic figurine of none other than Jesus Christ. Specifically, one that until moments ago had been situated on the crucifix they kept in the office.
As he turned it over in his hands, Greg found that the figurine was missing an arm and that its remaining appendages no longer bore the small nails that usually held it to the cross. He looked up to where the crucifix was hanging on the wall. There, of course, was the statue's missing limb. But the nails on the other hand had disappeared entirely.
Yes, you heard that right. Something had pried the figurine from the crucifix—defiling a sacred object in the process. And what could that something be, you might ask? Well just beneath the now desecrated cross, Greg found the crone of Catskills, gazing up at him menacingly.
Break for music
After this first terrifying incident, the crone of Catskills continued to wreak havoc in Greg and Dana’s home. And all the while, the couple diligently documented the activity as it occurred.
On the morning of March 7th, for instance, the Newkirks captured an inexplicable anomaly on film. You see some weeks prior, they had installed a motion-sensing camera in their office in the hope that they record any unusual activity. Within its frame, they positioned their most active artifacts and patiently waited for something out of the ordinary to occur.
At first, their efforts seemed in vain as several weeks passed without any activity. That is until around 3:00 that morning when the camera’s motion sensors were triggered by the crone moving on its own.
Pause
Now a few weeks later, Dana Newkirk made another strange discovery. Only this time the activity had extended beyond the confines of their office.
Dana had been in the living room when she found a large wet footprint on the back of the couch. Perplexed, she called out to Greg, asking why on earth he had stepped on the couch immediately after showering.
Greg made his way downstairs, feeling just as confused as she was. Because he hadn’t stood on the back of the couch at any point in his recent memory. And for that matter, he hadn’t showered since that morning.
Pause
In the days that followed, the scent of pond water lingered throughout the Newkirk residence. To make matters worse, this odor was accompanied by an escalating sense of dread and paranoia that weighed heavily on Greg and Dana. So eventually they felt they had no choice but to make a stand.
Once again, the pair were sitting in their living room, trying to enjoy their evening viewing of paranormal lockdown. When all of a sudden, the entity’s presence became too overbearing to ignore.
So Greg stood up and called out to it directly— reminding it that its previous caretakers had intended to dispose of the crone, or even burn it. And that it was welcome to stay in their home as long as it did so with respect. Otherwise, he would be left with no choice and the crone would need to be locked away in the box.
Pause
For some context here, Greg and Dana have a very specific way of handling artifacts that come with let’s call them pesky energies. You see, each artifact is given its own dedicated lock box upon arrival at the museum. In the event that it acts out, then there is a place to store the item for safekeeping moving forward.
Now in Greg’s experience, using the phrase “in the box” around a malevolent object usually puts an end to any negative activity. So you can imagine his surprise when he heard the sound of running water immediately upon uttering those words.
Dana shot up off the couch and together the Newkirks began to search. They weren’t sure where the sound was coming from, but there was no question that the crone was to blame. Then, just as they set foot in the hallway, the noise ceased—replaced only by the sound of a heavy thud on the floor behind them.
Greg turned and retrieved the crone of Catskills from the floor where it had landed. “In the box, it is” he muttered before taking it back to the office.
Break for music
By now I think it should be apparent why I presented this haunt as a cautionary tale. I mean not unlike last week's topic, it’s stories like this that show just how easy it is to get in over your head with the paranormal.
Of course, Greg and Dana Newkirk know just how dangerous haunted objects can be. And not unlike myself, they feel a certain level of responsibility to educate others about these dangers.
It’s likely for that reason that the Newkirks eventually took the Crone of Catskills on the road with them. Alongside a warning that reads “Look don’t touch,” this artifact is now viewable to the public in the Traveling Museum of the Paranormal & Occult.
Don’t worry, I will have information on the Newkirks, their evidence, and their museum linked in today’s show notes at hauntscast.com. Although I should warn you that visiting this traveling house of horrors does come with a few caveats.
Specifically, visitors will often experience disturbing side effects while in close proximity to the crone of Catskills. These disturbances range from the physical—with spectators often reporting irritation of the eyes and face—to the psychological—with many citing the feeling of intense anxiety and dread.
Now as you can imagine, the occult museum has welcomed numerous mediums and sensitives over the years, and it's these individuals who frequently bear the brunt of this activity. In fact, many of these mediums believe the crone has been used to bind inhuman spirits or even summon them to our earthly realm. On the other hand, some think the artifact is cursed and carries the malevolent intent to blind or even kill anyone who comes in contact with it.
So yeah, I guess what I’m trying to say is consider yourself warned. Yes, cursed and haunted artifacts can be incredibly intriguing, but at the same time, they are often unimaginably dangerous.
And while it may seem tempting, if even innocent at first, taking strange items from secluded caves, or anywhere for that matter, can and often will end in disastrous circumstances. Because the reality is, that you can never truly know what it is you’re bringing home with you. That is until it's too late.
But then again, who am I to tell you that, right?
Sources