WEBVTT 00:00:00.900 --> 00:00:05.679 Some places don't let the past die. The Allendale 00:00:05.679 --> 00:00:09.060 train tunnel is one of them, a wound in the earth 00:00:09.060 --> 00:00:12.160 hidden deep in the woods behind Ellesmere, Kentucky. 00:00:13.039 --> 00:00:17.019 Some folks call it a drainage tunnel, just damp 00:00:17.019 --> 00:00:21.079 concrete and shadows. But them that step inside 00:00:21.079 --> 00:00:24.539 don't come out laughing. They come out shaking, 00:00:25.280 --> 00:00:27.940 swearing they weren't alone in there, swearing 00:00:27.940 --> 00:00:32.140 they heard it. the whisper in the dark, the voice 00:00:32.140 --> 00:00:37.520 in the water, the rope still creaking. You ever 00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:41.000 stood somewhere so still, so heavy, like the 00:00:41.000 --> 00:00:44.179 air itself was holding its breath, then you ain't 00:00:44.179 --> 00:00:49.280 been inside the Allendale train tunnel. Welcome 00:00:49.280 --> 00:00:52.679 to Kentucky Melodies Scary Stories from Kentucky, 00:00:53.280 --> 00:00:56.619 where we spin yarns about ghostly haints, creepy 00:00:56.619 --> 00:00:59.659 hollers. and spine -chilling legends from deep 00:00:59.659 --> 00:01:03.079 in the hills. So grab a chair, dim them lights, 00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:08.540 and let's dig into something spooky. Them woods 00:01:08.540 --> 00:01:13.159 behind Ellesmere ain't just trees and dirt. They 00:01:13.159 --> 00:01:16.599 got away a swallowing sound, making you feel 00:01:16.599 --> 00:01:19.239 watched even when there ain't nothing there. 00:01:20.099 --> 00:01:23.859 And nestled in that overgrown tangle is the tunnel. 00:01:24.599 --> 00:01:28.180 Most folks don't even notice it. A forgotten 00:01:28.180 --> 00:01:31.180 culvert letting Bullock Pan Creek trickle beneath 00:01:31.180 --> 00:01:35.379 the railroad. But the locals, they know better. 00:01:36.540 --> 00:01:40.180 That tunnel ain't just some drainage ditch. It's 00:01:40.180 --> 00:01:43.180 a place where something bad settled in long ago 00:01:43.180 --> 00:01:48.099 and never left. The air clings to you inside, 00:01:48.799 --> 00:01:52.299 thick and damp, like a breath from lips that 00:01:52.299 --> 00:01:56.219 ain't supposed to be breathing. The walls sweat. 00:01:56.439 --> 00:01:59.439 even in winter, and the water running beneath 00:01:59.439 --> 00:02:03.500 the tracks don't sound right. It gurgles and 00:02:03.500 --> 00:02:06.659 whispers, like it's trying to tell a story no 00:02:06.659 --> 00:02:10.599 man ought to hear. And then there's the hook, 00:02:11.580 --> 00:02:14.620 a rusted thing bolted high to the tunnel ceiling 00:02:14.620 --> 00:02:18.539 like it was meant for something. But nobody remembers 00:02:18.539 --> 00:02:22.400 what. But folks say it's where Jacob's base met 00:02:22.400 --> 00:02:26.889 his end. They say he hung there swinging slow, 00:02:27.409 --> 00:02:29.949 toes barely scraping the stone beneath them, 00:02:30.229 --> 00:02:34.310 breath choked out by the dark. Some say he done 00:02:34.310 --> 00:02:38.849 it himself, lost to despair. Others say he ain't 00:02:38.849 --> 00:02:41.650 had no choice, that someone strung him up like 00:02:41.650 --> 00:02:45.189 a hog and left him for the creek to claim. Ain't 00:02:45.189 --> 00:02:49.310 nobody rightly knows. But what they do know is 00:02:49.310 --> 00:02:54.419 this, he ain't ever left. Jacob's base weren't 00:02:54.419 --> 00:02:58.759 nothing special. No records, no grave. Just a 00:02:58.759 --> 00:03:01.860 name whispered through town, passed round like 00:03:01.860 --> 00:03:05.740 a warning. Some say he was a railroad man, hollowed 00:03:05.740 --> 00:03:09.699 out by hard times. Others say he was a drifter, 00:03:10.280 --> 00:03:12.900 a stranger caught in the wrong place at the wrong 00:03:12.900 --> 00:03:16.900 time. One night, they say, he found his way to 00:03:16.900 --> 00:03:21.199 the tunnel. Or maybe he was dragged there. The 00:03:21.199 --> 00:03:25.599 story splits in two. Some say he stood at the 00:03:25.599 --> 00:03:28.919 tunnel's mouth, staring into the black, hearing 00:03:28.919 --> 00:03:33.379 the creek murmur beneath his feet. Then he climbed 00:03:33.379 --> 00:03:37.639 up, found the hook, tied the rope, and stepped 00:03:37.639 --> 00:03:43.780 off. Others say he weren't alone. Maybe he crossed 00:03:43.780 --> 00:03:47.439 the wrong men. Maybe he saw something he shouldn't 00:03:47.439 --> 00:03:51.919 have. Maybe it weren't personal at all, just 00:03:51.919 --> 00:03:56.439 bad luck. They say he was dragged down that wooded 00:03:56.439 --> 00:03:59.620 path, beaten till he couldn't fight no more. 00:04:00.199 --> 00:04:03.819 Then hoisted up onto that hook, his killers making 00:04:03.819 --> 00:04:06.580 sure it looked like just another man who gave 00:04:06.580 --> 00:04:11.219 up. Either way, Jacob never left that tunnel 00:04:11.219 --> 00:04:15.819 alive. Ain't no grand feat of engineering that 00:04:15.819 --> 00:04:20.110 tunnel. just damp concrete cradling a slow trickle 00:04:20.110 --> 00:04:24.129 of water. Time's had its way with it, leaving 00:04:24.129 --> 00:04:27.449 the walls streaked dark with moss, the air thick 00:04:27.449 --> 00:04:31.370 and wet. It don't stretch far, maybe a hundred 00:04:31.370 --> 00:04:35.569 feet, but step inside and it feels longer, like 00:04:35.569 --> 00:04:38.610 the dark's got weight to it, like it don't want 00:04:38.610 --> 00:04:42.889 to let you go. The first thing most folks notice 00:04:42.889 --> 00:04:46.569 is the dark don't sit right. It ain't just shadows 00:04:46.569 --> 00:04:50.350 stretching where they oughta. It's thicker, heavier, 00:04:51.129 --> 00:04:55.689 and if you stare too long, sometimes, just sometimes, 00:04:56.149 --> 00:05:00.709 you see him. A shape, barely there, hanging from 00:05:00.709 --> 00:05:04.009 the ceiling, swaying like a body left too long 00:05:04.009 --> 00:05:08.569 in the breeze. Some say he just waits, still 00:05:08.569 --> 00:05:15.129 as death, till you step closer. Then, gone. Just 00:05:15.129 --> 00:05:19.949 empty dark. Then there's the whispering. Ain't 00:05:19.949 --> 00:05:22.870 loud at first, just floating up from the creek, 00:05:23.389 --> 00:05:26.750 like water trying to form words. Some swear it's 00:05:26.750 --> 00:05:31.370 Jacob, begging for help, voice raw, broken. Others 00:05:31.370 --> 00:05:35.269 say it's worse than that. Not words at all, just 00:05:35.269 --> 00:05:40.329 a sound. A moaning. Low. Wrong. And then the 00:05:40.329 --> 00:05:44.569 scream comes. It don't echo right neither. just 00:05:44.569 --> 00:05:48.110 hits the walls and dies like the tunnel itself 00:05:48.110 --> 00:05:52.250 don't want to hold it. Ain't no shortage of fools 00:05:52.250 --> 00:05:56.350 willing to test their luck. Paranormal investigators, 00:05:56.769 --> 00:06:00.850 ghost hunters, thrill seekers. Some walk away 00:06:00.850 --> 00:06:04.649 with nothing but a chill up their spine. Others 00:06:04.649 --> 00:06:09.110 don't leave so easy. Some folks swear they seen 00:06:09.110 --> 00:06:13.680 him, still dangling from the rusted hook. A shadow 00:06:13.680 --> 00:06:17.180 stretching long in the moonlight. Others see 00:06:17.180 --> 00:06:21.240 footprints in the damp, small and bare, stopping 00:06:21.240 --> 00:06:24.379 halfway through the tunnel, like whoever made 00:06:24.379 --> 00:06:29.120 them never walked out. The worst part? The thing 00:06:29.120 --> 00:06:32.019 that sets every hair on a man's neck standing 00:06:32.019 --> 00:06:35.740 straight? Some folks claim that if you listen 00:06:35.740 --> 00:06:38.899 real close, standing right there in the center 00:06:38.899 --> 00:06:43.209 of that tunnel, you can hear it. A slow, steady 00:06:43.209 --> 00:06:48.310 creaking, like a rope still holding weight. Step 00:06:48.310 --> 00:06:51.769 inside and the air turns heavy, like the tunnels 00:06:51.769 --> 00:06:55.569 breathing down your neck. Whispers slither through 00:06:55.569 --> 00:06:59.870 the dark, voices you can't quite catch, like 00:06:59.870 --> 00:07:02.550 the walls themselves are telling secrets meant 00:07:02.550 --> 00:07:06.589 to stay buried. Some say it's the wind playing 00:07:06.589 --> 00:07:10.089 tricks, others reckon it's the souls lost in 00:07:10.089 --> 00:07:14.740 there. trying to find their way out. Even in 00:07:14.740 --> 00:07:17.360 the dead heat of summer, there's a spot in that 00:07:17.360 --> 00:07:20.139 tunnel where the temperature drops sudden -like, 00:07:20.620 --> 00:07:24.120 cold enough to see your own breath. Stand there 00:07:24.120 --> 00:07:27.779 long enough and you'll feel it, a chill seeping 00:07:27.779 --> 00:07:30.519 into your bones, like something reaching out 00:07:30.519 --> 00:07:34.379 from the other side trying to pull you in. On 00:07:34.379 --> 00:07:37.579 nights when the fog rolls in thick, some folks 00:07:37.579 --> 00:07:41.740 claim they hear it. A train whistle blowing low 00:07:41.740 --> 00:07:44.980 and mournful. The rumble of wheels on tracks 00:07:44.980 --> 00:07:49.180 that ain't seen a locomotive in decades. They 00:07:49.180 --> 00:07:52.839 say, if you stand real still, you can see the 00:07:52.839 --> 00:07:55.660 light at the tunnel's end, growing brighter, 00:07:56.279 --> 00:07:59.019 the sound getting louder, till it feels like 00:07:59.019 --> 00:08:02.420 the whole tunnel's shaking. But just when you 00:08:02.420 --> 00:08:05.980 think it's gonna burst through, it all goes quiet. 00:08:06.560 --> 00:08:09.920 And you're left standing in the dark, Heart pounding, 00:08:10.620 --> 00:08:13.459 wondering if maybe you've been marked by whatever's 00:08:13.459 --> 00:08:17.600 haunting that place. More than a few have walked 00:08:17.600 --> 00:08:20.500 out of that tunnel with scratches on their skin, 00:08:21.139 --> 00:08:25.199 marks they swear weren't there before. Some feel 00:08:25.199 --> 00:08:29.319 a hand brush against theirs, cold and clammy, 00:08:29.519 --> 00:08:33.460 like a drowned man's grip. Others feel a tug 00:08:33.460 --> 00:08:36.399 on their clothes, like something trying to pull 00:08:36.399 --> 00:08:40.250 them back into the dark. A reminder, they say, 00:08:40.409 --> 00:08:42.830 that the tunnel don't like letting go of those 00:08:42.830 --> 00:08:46.529 who dare to enter. So, if you're thinking of 00:08:46.529 --> 00:08:48.950 testing your mettle against the Allendale train 00:08:48.950 --> 00:08:52.470 tunnel, remember this, the spirits there don't 00:08:52.470 --> 00:08:56.210 take kindly to trespassers, and some who go in, 00:08:56.509 --> 00:08:59.250 they don't come out the same, if they come out 00:08:59.250 --> 00:09:03.169 at all. Ain't no telling what truly lingers in 00:09:03.169 --> 00:09:06.629 that tunnel, whether Jacob's space is still there. 00:09:06.830 --> 00:09:09.389 Caught in the place that stole his last breath, 00:09:09.929 --> 00:09:12.710 or whether something older, hungrier calls it 00:09:12.710 --> 00:09:17.909 home now. Maybe it's both. Maybe it don't matter. 00:09:18.649 --> 00:09:21.230 What matters is the feeling that don't fade once 00:09:21.230 --> 00:09:24.590 you leave. That itch at the back of your neck, 00:09:25.110 --> 00:09:27.450 that prickle down your spine when the night's 00:09:27.450 --> 00:09:32.330 too quiet. What matters is the ones who go back, 00:09:32.629 --> 00:09:35.669 looking for answers, and don't come out the same. 00:09:36.139 --> 00:09:39.740 You reckon you'd walk in? Step under that rusted 00:09:39.740 --> 00:09:44.179 hook? If you do, just listen real close. And 00:09:44.179 --> 00:09:47.320 don't stop listening, because once you're inside, 00:09:47.779 --> 00:09:52.460 you ain't alone. Now, I gotta ask, what do you 00:09:52.460 --> 00:09:55.980 make of the Allendale train tunnel? Some folks 00:09:55.980 --> 00:09:59.120 say it's just another old story, the kind that 00:09:59.120 --> 00:10:01.559 gets passed around to keep folks from wandering 00:10:01.559 --> 00:10:05.419 where they shouldn't. But others, they know better. 00:10:05.720 --> 00:10:10.299 Maybe you do too. Would you step inside, let 00:10:10.299 --> 00:10:13.080 the dark wrap around you and listen for the creak 00:10:13.080 --> 00:10:17.159 of that rope? Or would you turn back before the 00:10:17.159 --> 00:10:20.559 whispers found their way to your ear? And what 00:10:20.559 --> 00:10:24.659 about Jacob's face? Did he tie that knot himself? 00:10:25.340 --> 00:10:29.279 Or did something? Or someone? Make sure he never 00:10:29.279 --> 00:10:33.360 left that tunnel alive. Ain't no shortage of 00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:36.059 folks who've walked that path and come out with 00:10:36.059 --> 00:10:38.820 their own stories, their own chills that won't 00:10:38.820 --> 00:10:42.799 shake loose. Maybe you've heard something before. 00:10:43.639 --> 00:10:48.240 Maybe you've even been there. Either way, I want 00:10:48.240 --> 00:10:51.200 to hear it. Let me know what you think down in 00:10:51.200 --> 00:10:55.019 the comments. Could be just another legend or 00:10:55.019 --> 00:10:58.519 maybe it's something else. If a good haunting 00:10:58.519 --> 00:11:02.279 keeps you leaning in close, then don't go wandering 00:11:02.279 --> 00:11:06.399 off just yet. There's always another tail waiting 00:11:06.399 --> 00:11:10.159 in the dark. Another voice whispering from the 00:11:10.159 --> 00:11:14.840 holler. Here at Kentucky Melody, we don't just 00:11:14.840 --> 00:11:17.860 tell ghost stories. We bring you face to face 00:11:17.860 --> 00:11:20.559 with the things that ain't supposed to be real. 00:11:21.179 --> 00:11:23.940 And if you've been listening to our Scary Stories 00:11:23.940 --> 00:11:27.759 podcast, we sure do thank you for listening too. 00:11:28.139 --> 00:11:31.259 But don't get too comfortable. There's always 00:11:31.259 --> 00:11:34.580 something watching, always another tale just 00:11:34.580 --> 00:11:38.120 itching to be told. Around these parts, the dead 00:11:38.120 --> 00:11:43.419 don't rest, and neither do we. So go on, watch 00:11:43.419 --> 00:11:47.259 the next tale, but mind yourself. The more you 00:11:47.259 --> 00:11:51.440 listen, the closer the shadows get, and some 00:11:51.440 --> 00:11:54.100 stories don't let go once you've heard them.