Haunted Towns – Vicksburg – S01E04

For this episode of Haunted Towns, we pay another visit to Vicksburg and the McRaven house. Again, it’s noted to be the most haunted town in America with people hearing phantom gunshots, period music out of nowhere, disembodied footsteps and full bodied apparitions.

At the MacRaven house they meet with Kendra who gives a little more detail about John Bobb, one of the previous owners. He supposedly found soldiers digging up his flowers. This prompted him to throw a brick at them, which lead to multiple threats. John Bobb sought protection from General Slocum, who said he would take care of the matter. This went nowhere and John Bobb was trapped by soldiers who shot him in the abdomen and face. Or so the story goes.

We also have another interview with Jai, who says she saw Mr. Bobb in his changing room and saw his apparition clear enough to make eye contact. She also says there is the strong odor of perfume and cigar smoke in the rooms, clearly the presence of Mr and Mrs Cobb. Or it could be the odor trapped in a porous material like wood that comes out from time to time. Take your pick.

The investigation begins with Chris and Brandon on the first floor while Doogie and Porter taking the  second floor bedroom. Nothing happens on the first floor, but Porter believes he captures the outline of a figure on his thermal camera. This blob could easily be a reflection and they spend quite a bit of time making sure you see the outline of it, so you can get adjusted to the matrixing. Next is a blip on the meter up to 4.8, which is still negligible, but it’s better than a “high” reading of 1 that we’ve seen before.

They also have the half unscrewed flashlight trick, which goes off as they talk about different subjects. But since it won’t commit to an answer and obey their commands, the entity isn’t willing to share it’s identity. When they capture “evidence” it’s the entity. When they don’t, it’s the entity being difficult. It’s an entity either way.

On the second day, they head to the Cobb House, where the stories very much start with, “According to local legend.” And that’s something to keep in mind as the team starts to piece together their evidence to fit this alleged story.

It’s said John Cobb was a gambler, got himself into debt, committed suicide and that he “likely” died in the house.

After Cobb was gone, nuns took over the house, but were afflicted with yellow fever. Morgan Gates says he’s sure five nuns died from the outbreak. Again, as they get on with their investigation, they say, “a nun may have died in this room.” Then again, maybe nothing of the kind took place.

On the first floor, Doogie and Porter believe they capture a gunshot when talking about John Cobb. They believe they get two gunshots when talking about John Bobb. When Doogie and Porter sit down in the side room, they hear what they think is music. They believe they trace it to the piano. There is some sort of noise like wind through a small opening, but nothing that sounds like music.

Up on the second floor, Chris and Brandon get the words, Liberty, Porch, Demand and Soldier. All of these get conveniently woven into the story of John Bobb smoking a cigar on his porch, demanding the soldiers stop their activities and him ultimately losing his liberty.

For the last part they head to Stout’s Bayou where John Bobb was shot. Doogie claims his meter jumps to over 100 and shows multiple spikes over 70. And while we never actually see any of these readings, it leads them to a tree where they believe John Bobb died. From there, the spikes lead them back to the main house. This creates the story that John Bobb is stuck in a loop, repeating his last day by having a cigar on the porch, heading to the Cobb house, then being shot at the tree and making it back to the house.

There are a lot of events that, “allegedly”, took place in and around the area. And the evidence they capture is molded to fit these “local legend” stories.