Bobby Mackey's Music World: Hell's Gate

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When I first heard of Bobby Mackeys Music World, I saw it on a show called Ghost Adventures. And it scared the living hell out of me. Which is why the nickname Hell’s Gate suits this place perfectly. This place has alot going on, which is why I thought it deserved a thread. Whether or not its all paranormal, is up to you. But there’s mounting evidence that something odd is going on in this little country bar and night club. Some say it’s the most haunted bar in America.

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History

You can find this place located in Wilder, Kentucky. About 8 miles south of Cincinnati, Ohio. The original building was used as an animal slaughterhouse back in the 1850’s. Though most of it has been torn down and reconstructed, only a well in the basement still stands, which was used to drain the animal blood. In the 1890’s, it was closed down, but the legends seem to say that the place was definitely not abandoned.

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It is said that a satanic group of locals met at the building to practice there rituals. In 1896, the cult was exposed, spawning one of the most spectacular murder trails in history. Least we can say, what happened there played a very important part in the history of Bobby Mackeys haunting.
Her name was Pearl Brian. Beautiful woman, and daughter of a rich farmer. She resided in Greencastle, Indiana in 1896. One of the most popular girls in her town, and youngest out of 12 siblings. But Pearl had a secret she was doing her best to keep from her friends and family. She was pregnant. Pearls close friend William and a cousin of hers introduced her to a man by the name of Scott Jackson. William was close friend’s with Scott, but had no idea that he was a member of the Satanic group that met at the old slaughterhouse. Scott was very wealthy just as Pearls family, so they saw him as a match made in heaven for her. Soon after them meeting, she became pregnant with his child.

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Back in those times, being pregnant young and out of wed lock would have gotten you shunned, which is just why Scott and Pearl decided on arranging an abortion just as Pearl was five months pregnant, and when they left to Cincinnati, little did anyone know, it would be the last they would see of Pearl alive.

Though Scott had went to school for Dental Surgery, his medical skills were not as great as he would tell everyone they were. With the assistance of his roommate and friend Alonzo, First he tried to use coc aine to induce labor, which was found upon autopsy of Pearls body. After that, he tried using dental tools, which resulted in another failed attempt. After an hour of botched abortion attempts, they had a bleeding and clearly injured young woman on there hands, and this, is where things start to take a very wrong turn.

All three of them decided to leave Cincinnati and head to into Kentucky, they drove to a secluded spot near Fort Thomas, and there, they both murdered Pearl. Using Scott’s dental instruments, they cut her head off her body. In which later findings would have, Pearl was alive during the whole things, from the amount of blood found at the scene.

Later, Pearls body would be found less than two miles from the old slaughterhouse. She had to be identified from her shoes, since the head was nowhere to be found.


At the trial, Alonzo said it was Scott’s idea to cut up her body and put the pieces through Cincinnati's sewers. The head was the only thing that was taken, which was later used by Scott. And in which they found locks of her blond hair in a valise in Scott’s bedroom.

Of course since Pearl’s head was never found, it was assumed that it was used in a ritual at the old slaughterhouse where the group would gather. And legend has it that it was dumped in that very same well in the basement, and lost. Both men were found guilty of the crime and sentenced to death. Pearls friend William was found as an accomplice, but the charges were dropped when he agreed to testify in court against Alonzo and Scott. Both men would have gotten off with only life sentences if they were to tell where Pearl’s head was located, but they both refused. And what would be the last public hanging in Campbell County, they were brought to the gallows.

Legend says the reason both men refused to locate the head was because they feared they would suffer the wrath of Satan, and ever since then the slaughterhouse was kept a tight secret within the cult, because if both men confessed, they would have all been exposed. A reported later commented that when they slipped the noose around Alonzo’s head, he said he would come back to haunt the area forever. It’s also said that they both cursed the case and all who was involved in it, including lawyers and police, because after the incident, many seemed to have fallen into bad luck, and met with tragic deaths.

The slaughterhouse soon after became abandoned yet again, and demolished. Then in the 1920’s, a roadhouse was built in the very same spot. It was used as a “speakeasy”, where mods and gangsters and illegal activity took place. Legend says many murders then happened in that place, but since the bodies were dumped far from the roadhouse to keep the attention away, none were ever solved.

Nightclub Years

Then in 1933, at the end of the Prohibition, A man named E.A. Brady, also known as “Buck”, bought the building and turned it into a tavern and casino and called it Primrose. It was a success for Buck for a couple of years, until mobsters found out about the action at Primrose and wanted in. Mobsters offered to partner up with him to run the place and even offered to buy him out, but he refused, and soon after the place was being vandalized and many customers were threatened to be beaten or murdered outside in the parking lot. The violence went on until Buck was charged in a shooting in 1946. He was then let off, and getting tired of dealing with everything, sold the place to the gangsters. When he left, he swore the place would never make it as a casino again. And committed Suicide in 1965.

And so as he cursed the place, it never did. Due to numerous police raids, the new owner was arrested on gambling charges. And during this period, another legend hangs in the balance.

Johanna

Johanna was the daughter of the mobster owner. She met a man one night singing at the club and quickly fell in love. She soon became pregnant with his child. Her father was anything but happy by the news, and hired men to kill him. Johanna in her fury then attempted to poison her father, and then killed herself. Reports of Johanna can be told by almost half the people who have spent time in the tavern.

Bobby Mackey's Music World

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Then in 1978, Bobby and Janey Mackey bought the building which was turned into a country music bar and dance club. Bobby Mackey was a well known musician in Kentucky, and had recorded several albums before purchasing the bar. He threw out his dreams of recording in Nashville just to renovate the bar and focus his attention there. And ever since then, it drew a crowd. But even though the bar was becoming successful and everyone enjoying there time there, it just couldn't shake the bad luck and dark air surrounding the buildings murderous history.

Carl Lawson was the first person hired at the tavern, who worked as a caretaker and a handyman. He lived in a little apartment upstairs in the tavern alone, and spent alot of time there even after hours. He started saying he was hearing and seeing very weird things in the club. Everyone thought he was insane until other people start reporting sightings and claiming they were hearing things also.

Strange Sightings and Claims

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The first ghost that Carl claimed to see was of a very dark and angry man behind the counter of the bar. Not too long after that, he started saying he was being visited by a spirit named.....Johanna. He said he could even speak with her and answer her questions, and soon began to carry on full conversations with her. He said he knew when Johanna was around, because she would smell of roses. Carl claimed the sightings and haunting were the most strong right by the well in the basement that was sealed off when the slaughterhouse was torn down.

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Lawson told author Doug Hensley "I’d double check at the end of the night and make sure that everything was turned off. Then I’d come back down hours later and the bar lights would be on. The front doors would be unlocked, when I knew that I’d locked them. The jukebox would be playing the ‘Anniversary Waltz’ even though I’d unplugged it and the power was turned off,"

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One night Carl brought in some Holy Water, hoping it would stop some of the activity, so he sprinkled it down by the well in the basement, but that only made it worse, and the activity escalated from there.

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May employee’s started having there own experiences. Objects moving on there own, disembodied voices, and even laughing. Bobby's wife Janet even started experiencing things. She claimed to see ghosts, sense presences, and even smelled Johanna’s rose scent in the rooms. And on one occasion, while in the basement, the rose scent grew strong and she felt someone grab her by the waist, picked her up, and threw her down. When she tried to run up the stares to escape, she felt like she was being pushed and heard a voice saying “GET OUT GET OUT!” At the time this happened, Janet was five months pregnant. Just as Pearl and Johanna at there deaths.

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When Janet began to share was she saw, others came forth as well. A man named Roger Heath who did odd jobs around the building was working alone one night, before lunch he came up from the basement and he noticed he had small hand prints on the back of his shirt, as if someone had been hugging him.

A hostess named Erin was laughing at Eric one day when he was talking to the ghost of Johanna, before she started smelling the rose scent too. She stopped laughing.

A writer named Doug Hensley decided to start hanging around the bar to write reports of the ghosts and see if any of the evidence held up, and if the place was truly haunted. At first nobody wanted to speak of anything, until Janet came forward, and then everyone started talking. Even witnesses who had seen the phantom gave matching descriptions, when they thought they were the only person who had seen it. Photos of Buck, the previous owner, matched the description of the ghost.

President of the US Psychotropic Association states, "In twenty years of psychic investigations into ghosts, haunting, poltergeists and demonic like possessions, I have never encountered a more malevolent or destructive case than that which I experienced at Bobby Mackey’s Music World in Wilder, Kentucky."

The Ghost Adventures Episode

I highly recommend watching these. Alot of stuff they capture on video.








So there you have it. Is it something paranormal or just hype? Can it be explained? Who knows. But theres alot going on over at Bobby Mackey's.









en.wikipedia.org...'s_Music_World
www.prairieghosts.com...
www.suite101.com...
www.bobbymackey.com...

I saw this on television a few months ago. I am very skeptical about anything I see on t.v., but I personally think that it is very possible that it could be an actual haunting.

reply to post by MadameAquarienne


I saw it on TV also! And the things that were happening, especially how it affected the peoples lives even after they went home from investigating, that was just insane.

reply to post by Jess_Undefined

its really awesome to see this posted here ive heard of bobby mackeys for a long time even sightings way back in the day went there if you can find it that was one of the places unsolved mysteries decided not to air but it was on youtube way back in the day you should if you get time come to ohio and check out the haunts really good ones i must say

I went to university in Cincinnati, I am back once in a while. Will have to check it out. It's strange that I have never heard of this place before, I thought I have been to every haunted place in the area. That's some damn good publicity though, that much is certain.

I've been to Bobby Mackey's a few times. It's just over the river from downtown Cincinnati, where I live. The last time I was there, I took a friend from Boston with me, and she suggested I take a camera. I took this photo while they were line dancing. I'm not a big believer in orbs, but who knows. It wasn't as if the place was dusty or had insects flying around at the time. Some of them people are a bit nightmarish though.

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To be hinest, I never "felt" anything in the place, but then I'm not a good judge of whether a place might be haunted. I've experienced paranormal activity, but it's always had to really pull out all the stops to get me to notice. I'm probably the least psychic person on the planet.

reply to post by NorEaster


Hey thanks for sharing! Nice to hear from people who have been there. And thats definitely alot of orbs.

I love Ghost Adventures, and although it is T.V I believe they are 100% real unlike other ghost shows. I mean, they go in alone no lights, complete darkness just to see if something happens. I saw this on A Haunting first, then Ghost Adventures and I believe it is really haunted. Funny thing is, my g/f just recently when to the Castillo de San Marcos castle in St. Augustine Florida, about an hour and a half from where we live, also where Ghost Adventures has recently gone, and she went into the dungeon, where they kept people chained up to the walls in complete darkness until they died from starvation, dehydration etc. Anyways she took some photos, and I asked here if it was really dusty, because there are orbs everywhere. A few actually have some color to them, not saying their spirits, but I just find it funny, considering I believe the place to be haunted. She also told me her "sister" who is actually her brothers ex wife felt very strange and weird when they were inside it. It wasn't until after she got back and showed me the photos until I told her about the place because she hadn't seen the episode. So im excited to go there in a week or two, just to take some photos and experience it. I would love to go to Bobby's as well, but that's quite far from here

Great job Jess!
I too saw the Ghost Adventures show. Another show had visited Bobby Mack's sometime ago, if I recall they had a very slightly differently story on the well. Maybe someone else can recall that show.

The other show had said the lover of a woman ,who if I recall was the daughter of a past owner of the building, was killed after he impregnated her. The head was supposedly disposed of in the well. And his body was buried headless. And apparently that kinda pissed him off. The woman may have tried to kill, possibly poison her father for her lovers death, then killed herself. Her diary was found by the handyman while doing some work. Man I wish I could remember that shows name.

The one thing I found interesting in that other show was that Bobby Mack refused to believe in anything paranormal. And he never once has any kind of experiences, though his wife and others around him had some wild stuff going on around them.

Thanks for the thread

reply to post by nocents


There was also something I heard about some weird coincidences of how Bobby Mackey is tied to the place, like he grew up exactly some odd miles from the place right behind the same railroad track that runs behind the building. Ill have to find it.

Here is something else they mentioned on the 'mystery' show.

Years ago, a late night car accident occurred in front of the closed bar. A young woman in a nightgown, gave the police a couple tablecloths to cover one of the injured. The cops went back to thank her only to find the place chained shut. From the show, the bar sits in a desolate area. But the red and white checked tablecloths were the type used ant the bar. It seems that she is a trapped good soul.

reply to post by Jess_Undefined


Great OP!

I havent watched the videos yet, though I assure you I will.
I don't really care for most ghost shows, but I do believe in them as my family and myself have all had our own experiences with them, especially when we lived in England.

Anyway, thanks for the story! A very well put together thread.
I look forward to the videos, and maybe, even, a trip there myself

reply to post by Jess_Undefined


Yea, the strange thing is, after his mother named him as a baby she decided to change his name to "Robert Randall" which was actually the name of one of the guys who chopped the girls head off at Bobby Mackey's. Pretty freaky and mysterious if you ask me. Maybe that does a little explaining on why the spirits do nothing to him.

reply to post by Jess_Undefined


Hey Jess, I could not create a thread to save my life. But I think I have a great idea for one in the paranormal realm, if you might be interested.

No PMs, I'll check back.

Sorry to be bring back old threads. I just watched the "A Haunting" episode (The mystery tv show nosents or whoever mentioned).


I also had to check the exorcism on youtube. I believe in the paranormal, have had many experiences myself, however it all seemed very fake to me. Of course, I wasn't there, it isn't my life story, and I'm sure most people wouldn't believe half the things that have happened to me. You really just don't know unless it happens to YOU. So who knows, I could be wrong.

Interesting though.

reply to post by FPB214


Robert Randall was the name of Johanna's murdered lover, not one of Pearl's murderers. Pearl's murderers' names are listed above in the OP.