Episode #21: Bobby Mackey's Music World

Join E.M. Moon as they talk about the creepy and haunted history and folklore behind Bobby Mackey's Music world from the perspective of other paranormal investigators and what the actual history has to say about the location and possible happenings there.

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Transcript

 Bobby Mackey's Music World

This particular episode surrounds the legend of a famous honky-tonk nightclub and despite the rumors and first hand accounts surrounding the hauntings of this place, there isn’t as much in depth information as you would think. Despite thorough research, information is rather scarce, so most of what I will be bringing you tonight in regards to Bobby Mackey’s Music World is based off of other paranormal investigators encounters as well as the information sourced from tabloid articles and what I could find on good ole’ Wikipedia. Because of this, there may be some duplicate information here and there depending on the account and the author of the articles being recounted here.

Regardless, I do what I can to bring you the most thorough information that’s out there on the world wide web. At the end of the episode, I even sourced some good TV show episodes and books for you to dig your teeth into for further information.

So, for now, sit back, relax, and enjoy the history and creepy tales of Bobby Mackey’s Music World.

Let’s start with Bobby Mackey himself and what Wikipedia has to say about his Music World.

Robert Randall "Bobby" Mackey (born March 25, 1948) is a traditional country music singer whose career has spanned over 40 years. His musical style can be described by his loyalty to Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, George Jones, Buck Owens, Conway Twitty, and Johnny Paycheck, and is the foundation for his musical success. 

Mackey opened Bobby Mackey's Music World on September 1978 in Wilder, KY along the Licking River, next to the same railroad track that he worked in his youth. Bobby Mackey's has been featured on network television shows such as Ghost Hunters, Ghost Adventures, Most Terrifying Places in America, My Ghost Story, and A Haunting. USA Today quotes Zak Bagans of Ghost Adventures as saying Bobby Mackey's is "one of the 10 most haunted places in America." 

Bobby Mackey's Music World is a nightclub and honky tonk located in Wilder, Kentucky, United States owned by country singer Bobby Mackey. Urban legends claim the nightclub is the site of hauntings, murders, and suicides; however, no credible evidence exists for such claims. The current location is closed and will be temporarily located to Florence, Kentucky while the site is demolished and a new facility is built. The infamous "portal to hell" and the concrete wall, dubbed the "wall of faces," that features water stains resembling human faces will be preserved for the temporary location and will be a part of the new building at the current site.

Folklore

Promoted in popular culture as "the most haunted night club in America", Mackey claims the site was originally used as a slaughterhouse in the early 19th century and later torn down for construction of a roadhouse that took on various names, such as The Brisbane, until he purchased it in 1978. Various urban legends and modern folklore claim that the site features a "gateway to hell" and is haunted by spirits including Pearl Bryan, whose corpse was found in a field 2.5 miles from the site in Fort Thomas, Kentucky. Other legends claim Bryan's murderers were Satanists who cursed the location and vowed to haunt everyone involved in prosecuting the case. There is also a legend that claims a pregnant dancer named "Johanna" committed suicide with poison in the 1940s after her father murdered her lover Robert Randall, a singer at the club, by hanging him in the dressing room. (Mackey even wrote a song with her name as the title.)

Investigations have failed to find public records of any such events, and research into property records, newspapers, and court files has failed to substantiate claims made regarding the history of the location. No connection between Bobby Mackey's and the Pearl Bryan murder has ever been established. According to science writer Sharon A. Hill, the nightclub is often publicized with tales of murders, curses, and hauntings, however "the current circulated legend has obviously enhanced and accrued additional details in the retelling over some 30+ years". Hill states that claims of supernatural activity and a "portal to hell" are completely unsubstantiated.

Haunting rumors and claims about Pearl Bryan are promoted in books such as Hell's Gate by Doug Hensley. Author Andrew Young speculates that such legends about Bryan are "a way to cope with the gruesome details of her death". According to the Campbell County Historical and Genealogical Society, the story of the murder of Pearl Bryan is continually exploited, and it is "highly unlikely" that her ghost haunts Bobby Mackey's Music World. Northern Kentucky Tribune reporter Ryan Clark investigated the rumors and took the $35 two-hour tour on two occasions, concluding, "there was nothing that happened on our tour that would indicate that Bobby Mackey’s was haunted"

Murder of Pearl Bryan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Pearl_Bryan

Born | c. 1874 Greencastle, Indiana, U.S.

Died | January 31, 1896 (aged 22) Fort Thomas, Kentucky, U.S.

Cause of death | Beheading

Resting place | Forest Hill Cemetery
 Greencastle, Indiana, U.S.

Nationality | American

Parent(s) | Alexander S. and Susan Jane Bryan
Pearl Bryan (c. 1874–1896) was a 22-year-old pregnant American woman from Greencastle, Indiana who was found decapitated in Fort Thomas, Kentucky, in 1896. Her head was severed below the fifth vertebra. Due to the murder's gruesome nature, it achieved significant notoriety at the time. More recently, there have been claims that her ghost haunts Bobby Mackey's Music World located in Wilder, Kentucky.
Background

Pearl Bryan was born to Alexander S. Bryan and Susan Jane Bryan. Her father was a well-respected farmer in the community. She was a graduate of Greencastle High School. At the time of her murder, she had begun working as a Sunday school teacher. Bryan had left her home in Greencastle on January 28, 1896, under the pretense that she was visiting a friend in Indianapolis. 

Convictions

Bryan's body was found headless just behind what is now the YMCA in Fort Thomas, Kentucky on February 1, 1896, by a 17-year-old farm hand named Johnny Hewling. According to the presiding coroner, Bryan was found with multiple wounds across her back and her hands. He also indicated that she was decapitated while still alive. She was five months pregnant at the time of her death. Her body was identified by the tag in her custom-made shoes from Greencastle, Indiana.[5] Pearl Bryan's headless body is buried in the family plot at Forest Hill Cemetery in Greencastle.

Scott Jackson, a dental student at the Ohio College of Dental Surgery, was soon arrested for the murder, and later implicated fellow student and roommate Alonzo M. Walling. During the trial, it was revealed that Jackson had carried on a secret romance with Bryan for several months prior to her murder. Allegedly, on January 31, 1896, Jackson and Walling slipped cocaine into Bryan's drink while they were at a saloon in nearby Cincinnati, Ohio and proceeded to murder her later that night. An analysis of Bryan's stomach showed that there was indeed cocaine present at the time of her death. In response to the location of Bryan's head, Jackson and Walling gave several answers, such as at the bottom of the Ohio River and in a sandbar in Dayton, Kentucky. The nearby Covington waterworks and parts of the Miami and Erie Canal were also drained in search of her head. However, investigations in these places turned up nothing. When interviewed in 1937, former detective Cal Crim of the Cincinnati Police Department theorized that Jackson and Walling burned her head in a furnace of the dental college that they attended. To this day, her head has never been located. Jackson's trial began April 21 and ended on May 14, 1896. Walling's trial began on May 26 and ended June 18 of the same year. Both were convicted of first degree murder and hanged in the morning of March 20, 1897 behind the Newport Campbell County Courthouse on York Street, just south of the Taylor-Southgate bridge. According to reports, both Jackson and Walling survived the initial drop that was supposed to break their necks and instead were strangled to death some minutes after. They were the last people hanged in Newport. The gallows located behind the courthouse were torn down following the execution. 

The case was very popular nationally at the time, provoking citizens to take souvenirs from the crime scene (even branches), and buy Pearl Bryan "merchandise" from a store near the Newport Courthouse. One report says the trial was "theatrical". Local newspapers dubbed the case "the trial of the century".[8] The actual double-hanging was urged to be done hastily due to the threat of a public lynching by friends and relatives of Bryan. Jim Reis, author, historian, and well-known reporter and columnist for the Kentucky Post, related in an article titled "Pieces of the Past" that even during a jail break at the Newport jail, the two men remained in their cell in fear of being lynched and were heavily protected. 

Popular culture

Music

In the 1910s and the 1920s, several folk songs surrounding the murder were created and popularized. The first to be recorded was by American country singer Vernon Dalhart in 1926. A year later, in 1927, folk singer Bradley Kincaid recorded a song named "Pearl Bryan" on the topic of the murder. Folk musicians Dick Burnett and Leonard Rutherford also recorded their own version in the same era. 

In 2001, San Francisco-based folklore band The Crooked Jades recorded a song that focused on the murder.

Web and TV shows

An episode of Ghost Adventures explored Bryan's murder and claims of supernatural activity at Bobby Mackey's Music World. The Ghost Adventures crew claim an Ovilus device allowed them to contact the spirit of Scott Jackson and hear him confess to the murder (2008).

The BuzzFeed Unsolved episode called The Ghosts and Demons Of Bobby Mackey's reviewed part of Pearl's murder (2017).

Produced by Karga Seven Pictures, the third episode of Travel Channel's Believers entitled Hell's Honky-Tonk dealt with an allegedly haunted country music nightclub, mentioning a 19th-century story of a pregnant woman's dead body that was found headless. Due to anonymization, names were seemingly changed and the murder was supposed to have been taking place in Tennessee (2020). 

Am episode on the YouTube channel Mystery Archives titled The Untold Story of the Demonic Bobby Mackey's mentions the history of Pearl and her murder (2023). 

According to the Ghost Adventures Crew

https://www.travelchannel.com/shows/ghost-adventures/articles/bobby-mackeys-haunted-history

The Slaughterhouse
On this same site in 1850, a large slaughterhouse and meat-packing facility was constructed to serve northwestern Kentucky and nearby Cincinnati, Ohio. In the lowest part of the building, a well was dug and used to hold the blood, guts and waste from the slaughtered animals.

Some researchers have speculated that after the slaughterhouse closed in the 1890s, Satanic cult activity took place in the building around the well. Animals, and possibly humans, were being slaughtered here for ritualistic purposes during secret meetings.

Headless Pearl Bryan
In 1896, the murder of 22-year-old Pearl Bryan, a small-town girl from Greencastle, Indiana, made headlines in the region. Pearl's headless corpse was discovered in a field less than two miles from the slaughterhouse.

Pearl was pregnant, and her boyfriend, Scott Jackson, a student at the Ohio College of Dental Surgery, urged her to come to Cincinnati where he could arrange an abortion. Jackson and his roommate, Alonzo Walling, attempted the abortion themselves, but something went horribly wrong. To cover their tracks, they put Pearl's body in an empty field and surgically removed her head so her body couldn't be identified. They would have gotten away with the cover up, if they hadn't left Pearl's shoes on her feet. While on the gallows waiting to die, Alonzo Walling vowed to haunt the area forever.

Pearl's severed head was never discovered. Some have speculated that Jackson had ties to a Satanic cult, so the head may have been used in one of the dark rituals held in the basement of the slaughterhouse.

Prohibition and the Mobster Years
The slaughterhouse was demolished in the early part of the 20th century, and the lot sat empty until the 1920s when a new building was erected that served as a casino, nightclub and speakeasy during prohibition.

When prohibition ended in 1933, E.A. "Buck" Brady bought the building and named it the "Primrose." After more than a decade of successful operation, his casino caught the attention of Cincinnati mobsters who tried to muscle their way into the operation. When Brady refused to sell, the violence escalated with fighting and threats to customers in the parking lot, until Buck drew a gun on a mobster named Albert "Red" Masterson, was charged with attempted murder, and left the casino business in 1946.

Forbidden Love and Tragic Suicide
The building reopened as a nightclub called the "Latin Quarter" in the 1950s. Johanna (whose was said to wear rose-scented perfume), a dance hall girl and the daughter of the nightclub's owner, fell in love with a singer, Robert Randall, who performed there. She got pregnant and intended to run off with the young singer, but her father forbade the romance and used his criminal connections to have the singer killed. When Johanna discovered what had happened, she poisoned her father, then took her own life in the basement of the building. (Note: Bobby Mackey's full name is Robert Randall Mackey.)

In 1978, after a series of fatal shootings at the rough-and-tumble nightclub, the local authorities were forced to close the establishment.

Bobby Mackey
Later that same year (1978), a young country singer named Bobby Mackey purchased the building and turned it into the music hall and tavern that still stands today. Paranormal phenomena have been present since day one. Though Bobby himself is skeptical, he'll admit that he doesn't doubt the word of family members, employees, police officers, and patrons who have experienced strange activity. Both the clergy and psychics have tried to help, but a dark force still seems to linger.

Paranormal Activity and Speculation
~ Some still believe the building's basement holds the gateway or portal to Hell itself -- a reference to the long-abandoned slaughterhouse well.
 
~ Stairs near the well in the old slaughterhouse have been deemed "the stairs that lead to nowhere." Phantom footsteps can often be heard on these stairs.
 
~ Some believe that spirits can't cross flowing water, so the rare northern current of the Licking River may be keeping the dark forces trapped inside the building.
 
~ A former caretaker, that lived in the apartment upstairs, claims to have been demonically possessed by the spirits. His exorcism was performed in the club by a minister.
 
~ A patron claims to have experienced suffocating heat, a flying trash can, and a man with a handlebar mustache repeating, "Die game, die game" (Latin for dying well/dying good) in the men's restroom.
 
~ Bobby's wife claims to have been overcome by the scent of roses in the basement, grabbed around the waist, picked up, thrown down, and pushed down stairs by a force, that resembled sketches of Alonzo Walling, screaming, "Get out! Get out!" She refuses to set foot in the club again.
 
~ Bobby Mackey claims not to be a believer, but he did write a song entitled "Johanna" about the young girl who committed suicide in the basement in the 1950s.
 
~ Bobby Mackey's friend Doug Hensley wrote the book "Hell's Gate," which connects the events of the past with the hauntings of the present.
 
~ Historic photos of Pearl Bryan match witnesses' descriptions of a headless ghost dressed in turn-of-the-century clothing, and photos of Buck Brady also match descriptions of often seen ghosts.
 
~ "Hot spots" in the club include: the spotlight room and catwalk over the stage, the well in the basement, the old china room, and the platform area near the kitchen. People have also claimed to see ghosts in the big pitted mirror in the main room.
 
~ The club manager claims that on several occasions she would go through the club and make sure everything was turned off and closed down for the night. Then hours later she'd find that the bar lights were on, the front doors were unlocked, and the juke box would be playing "The Anniversary Waltz," even though the juke box was still unplugged and did contain that song.
 
~ Another club employee has seen a dark, very angry man behind the bar and a spirit who called herself "Johanna." She would often speak to him and leave the scent of roses in her wake. 

Bobby Mackeys Music World According to the littlehouseofhorrors.com

 
http://thelittlehouseofhorrors.com/bobby-mackeys-music-world/

Here’s a little article I found penned by Sonja, a paranormal storyteller who runs littlehouseofhorrors.com amd the information she collected on the place.

If you’re a little into the paranormal, you’ve probably heard of Bobby Mackey’s. You can find the infamous Bobby Mackey’s Music World in Wilder, a town in Kentucky. It’s infamous because of it’s bloody and turbulent history. Ever since 1978 this nightclub and tavern has been owned by the country singer Bobby Mackey. But the former residents don’t seem in a hurry to leave the place. In fact, it’s loaded with ghosts.  

The history of Bobby Mackeys Music Club 

The location of Bobby Mackey’s used to be that of a slaughterhouse in the 50’s of the 19th century. When the slaughterhouse was terminated, 40 years later, the building was left vacant for a number of years. Well, at least, that’s what everybody thought. A group of Satanic worshippers occupied the building and ritually killed small animals there. They dumped the bodies in the slaughterhouse’s well. The well, which people believe to be a portal to Hell, was used to drain the blood from the butchered animals towards the river. The worshippers stayed under the radar for a long time until a gruesome murder was committed by two of their members.  

The death of Pearl Bryan 

Twenty-two year old farmer’s daughter Pearl fell madly in love with Scott Jackson, a young dentist-to-be. She got pregnant and that was a problem since the two of them weren’t married. Scott and Pearl decided it would be better to have an abortion. Pearl had no idea that Scott was a member of the Satanic group in the slaughterhouse. He would carry out the abortion with his friend, Alonzo Walling. Pearl, who feared her father’s reaction, agreed to the procedure. She was already 5 months along when she left her family home, never to return back.

At first, Scott and Alonzo tried to kill the baby with cocaine, but when that failed, Scott thought it was a good idea to use his dentist equipment for the job. All the blood probably aroused something malicious within both men, and it was no longer “just” an abortion for them. Pearl’s head was severed with a tiny sharp instrument. Autopsy later revealed that Pearl had still been alive during the procedure. Wow. Her headless body was found and identified based on her shoes. The men were quickly found and sentenced to death. Pearl’s head was never found. It was probably used in some sick ritual and then disposed of in the well. 

Illegal practices

After this horrible event the building stood vacant for a while until it was demolished in 1920. A café was built on the same spot. Illegal gambling took place and illegal booze was made here. People didn’t say “no” to violence, either. Multiple murders were committed, but to avoid questions by the local police, the bodies were dumped somewhere else. In 1933 the shady practices came to light and the café was sold to E.A. Brady, who turned it into a successful casino. 

The mafia noticed the casino’s success and wanted to get involved. They wanted to buy Brady out so they could take over. Brady refused and he paid a high prize for that. His casino was vandalized many times and customers were beat up in the parking lot. Brady knew he didn’t have a choice and sold his casino anyway. He took his own life in 1965, but right before that he cursed the location. He got his wish.  

The Latin Quarter  

When Brady sold his casino to the mob, they named it “The Latin Quarter”. Besides a casino it was also used as a nightclub. The police kept a close eye on the place and raided the place from time to time. At the final raid the gambling tables and slot machines were removed. The Old Brady got what he wanted.  

More deaths 

The new owner had a daughter named Johanna. Johanna was a dancer at the nightclub. She got pregnant by Robert Randall, who was a performer in the club. When Johanna’s father found out about the affair, he was furious! His criminal contacts came in handy and he made sure Robert never came close to his daughter again. His daughter, five months pregnant, committed suicide backstage by taking poison. Later, in the beginning of the 70’s, it shortly became a Hard Rock Café, but that didn’t last long because of a fatal shooting right in front of it. Then, in 1978, Bobby Mackey and his wife Janet bought the place. 

Strange occurrences  

Carl Lawson, the club’s first employee, was the handyman and lived in a small apartment right above the club. He started experiencing weird stuff. For instance, the jukebox started playing while it was without power and Carl saw a malevolent character behind the bar, who no one else saw. He even talked to Johanna. She would always leave a strong scent of roses behind. Everybody thought Carl was a crazy man who was talking to himself. Bobby Mackey wasn’t happy about Carl telling ghost stories all the time. He was a non-believer who feared his customers would stay away because of Carl’s nonsense. But that changed when Janet had a creepy encounter in the basement.  

A warning for Janet Mackey  

Janet was alone in Bobby Mackey’s basement one day when she was suddenly grabbed around her waist by an unseen force. She was even lifted and thrown back a bit. She felt that she was being pushed in the direction of the stairs while she heard a hysterical female voice shouting: “Get out! Get out!”. Janet was, like Pearl and Johanna, five months pregnant at that point. Coincidence? After Janet told the staff about her ghostly encounter, the staff members all told their share of strange events. It was like everyone kept the events to themselves because they feared to be labeled as crazy, like Carl.  

Roger Heath, a bartender, had once seen two small handprints on Carl’s back, as if he was embraced by a woman. Several employees had seen a headless woman. Paranormal research concluded that it had to be poor Pearl’s ghost. The experiences especially took place near the well. Carl, originally not a religious man, sprinkled holy water in the well on more than one occasion because somebody advised him to do so. But if that was such a good idea?

Angry spirits   

Instead of bringing the spirits at rest with the holy water, it made them agitated. All kinds of things flew off the shelves in the club, lights went on and off continuously and employees were physically attacked. There was scratching and there was hair pulling. An exorcism was performed in 1994, but that idea was even worse! The ghosts got really upset and started pushing customers and employees and scratched them until they bled. They just scared the crap out of everybody. From that moment, Bobby decided to live in harmony with the ghosts. 

Today, things are much better and the spirits are well behaved. Sometimes someone feels caressed by an unseen hand or gets poked in the side. Very innocent and friendly. But the ghosts have a rather critical opinion when it comes to music. When a band performs who they dislike, the throwing starts again to scare them away from stage. Bobby Mackey’s Music Club is much loved today, but would you dare to share your beer with a ghost? 

Bobby Mackey’s Music World

https://hauntedus.com/kentucky/bobby-mackeys-music-world/ By Mitch Goth

Mitch Goth has been a paranormal researcher since 2009. When not hunting ghosts, Goth writes HauntedUS.com articles and novels.

Here’s what he had to say regarding Bobby Mackey’s Music World

Tales of death and portals to hell make Bobby Mackey’s one of the most notorious haunts in the US

Terrifying Paranormal Claims at Bobby Mackey’s Music World

• Said to be home to a 'portal to hell' through an old basement drainage well 
• Spirits here are famously known to be aggressive, attacking and scratching people at times 
• Shadow figures and unexplained sounds are often reported 
• Reportedly haunted by a spirit named 'Johanna' 
• Also said to be home to the spirit of a local murder victim, Pearl Bryan 
• At least one demonic possession is said to have happened here 

Music and Mystery at Bobby Mackey’s Music World

A short drive from the Ohio border, on a thin strip of land between an old rail line and a dusty rural highway, sits a deceptively unassuming building that might look more like a rail depot than a locally lauded music venue. But if the look of the place doesn’t necessarily draw you in, perhaps the sounds of live country music, mechanical bull competitions, and all around raucous good times might.

Bobby Mackey’s Music World has been a hopping honky tonk for over four decades, but over time, it has become famous for things far different than music. For years, tales of intense and sometimes violent hauntings have leaked out of Bobby Mackey’s Music World, emanating much further than the sounds of live music ever could.

Timeline of Bobby Mackey’s Music World's History

1850

Long before the property at 44 Licking Pike was well-known for its music, it was known for something a little different: animal slaughter. Beginning in 1850, a small slaughterhouse was built on the land. Almost nothing remains of this slaughterhouse except for a few well-like drains in the basement of the current building, which were once used to drain animal blood out of the slaughterhouse. But, by 1930 the property’s life as an entertainment pub had begun.

1930

The 1930s club was named the Bluegrass Inn. But, a few short years after opening, it was bought by a local mobster, E.A. “Buck” Brady, who turned it into a tavern/casino called The Primrose. Another local mob in the tavern game, the Cleveland Four, soon tasked enforcer ‘Red’ Masterson with muscling Brady out of business. While no records remain of the negotiation methods Masterson used, one thing couldn’t be denied: they worked on Buck Brady. Brady soon sold The Primrose to the Cleveland Four and retired. 

1961

The tavern then turned into the Latin Quarter, and soon earned a reputation for violence. But, locals weren’t about to put up with the Cleveland Four’s influence for long, as lawmakers pushed in the late 1950s and early 1960s to expel organized crime. This made the Latin Quarter a target and devastated its business. The Latin Quarter closed in 1961, and a revolving door of new owners followed. But, one thing that didn’t change was the tavern’s violence. Locals came to know the pub as the “Bloody Bucket” thanks to the level of crime there.

1973

In 1973, the club changed names again to the Hard Rock Café, though it held no relation to the popular restaurant chain and operated as a biker bar instead. However, after several shootings at the bar, it closed in 1977. Finally, the building was bought by Bobby Mackey in 1978 and converted into Bobby Mackey’s Music World. Bobby Mackey spent the following years rehabilitating the club’s bad reputation and bringing in live music with popular regional acts to bring crowds back that had once been scared off by violent crime. 

 1989

Bobby Mackey’s endeavors succeeded, and against the odds, his version of the club prospered. He installed a large dance floor and a mechanical bull, and by the late 1980s, Bobby Mackey’s Music World was resurrected from its “Bloody Bucket” reputation. But, for many who visited the newly popular honky tonk, there seemed to be more than just music filling the air. As time went on, more and more patrons left Bobby Mackey’s with stories of strange and often unexplainable occurrences, bringing forth long-lasting paranormal legends.

Demonic Possession at Bobby Mackey’s Music World? 

Once locals and employees started examining the unexplained events at Bobby Mackey’s Music World, the reportedly paranormal happenings became more severe, and potentially even demonic. At one point, the then-caretaker of the club, Carl Lawson, was said to be possessed by a demonic entity that supposedly came from a history of satanic rituals held on the property.

Though Lawson was exorcised of this supposed entity, the demonic side of the story never truly abated. And, this event stoked more interest in the paranormal activity at Bobby Mackey’s.

Not long Lawson’s story came out, theories about the exact sources of these hauntings began to swirl. Two spirits were soon identified as local women with tragic backstories: Pearl and Johanna. The first spirit is that of Pearl Bryan, and Lawson claims he was told of her presence at the club during his possession.

Lawson explained that, during his possession, he learned she was sacrificed as part of a satanic ritual on the property and had her head thrown down a well in the basement, turning the well into a ‘portal to hell’. And, while pulling up a few basement floor boards revealed a well-like slaughterhouse drain from the original 1850s structure, not much else matched the true fate of Pearl Bryan.

Pearl Bryan & Bobby Mackey’s Music World

Pearl Bryan was a woman who once lived in the area who was indeed murdered in 1896, and was decapitated as part of the murder. However, there was not any connection with satanic ritual, nor did her murder take place near the current Bobby Mackey’s property. In fact, it occurred several miles away. The reality of Pearl Bryan’s unfortunate demise is much more straightforward than a sacrifice to Satan.

She was simply the lover of a man named Scott Jackson, who impregnated her out of wedlock and demanded an abortion. When all attempts failed, he opted to poison her with an overdose of cocaine, which also failed. Jackson and an accomplice, Alonzo Walling, decapitated Bryan and tossed her head not into any well or drain, but off a bridge into the Ohio River. Both were later convicted and executed for her murder. Despite this, numerous reports remain of patrons and employees at Bobby Mackey’s encountering Pearl’s ghost.

The Jilted Lover Ghost of Bobby Mackey’s Music World

The other female spirit at Bobby Mackey’s is Johanna, who has an equally unfortunate backstory. Johanna’s ghost has become so well known that Bobby Mackey once wrote a song about her and her uncertain past life. The song goes that, in life, she was Johanna Jewels (possibly a stage name) and was a performer at the Latin Quarter, along with the daughter of one of the mob-connected owners.

Johanna went on to start a secret romance with a bar patron, Robert Randall, who eventually got Johanna pregnant, and when her father found out, he had Randall killed. Johanna, in a fit of depression, took her own life in the building.

Fact & Fiction:

Bobby Mackey’s Music World

Much like the real story of Pearl Bryan, there are many inconsistencies between legend and life in Johanna’s story. None of the Cleveland Four mobsters nor any proprietors of the clubs before Bobby Mackey’s had daughters named Johanna. And over time, many researchers have identified the name Robert Randall as likely just a simple derivation from Bobby Mackey himself, as his full name is Robert Randall Mackey.

However, there is a record of a Johanna Ragan committing suicide by poisoning in the area. She is recorded as having died in 1914, long before the property’s use as a tavern, and did not die at 44 Licking Pike, but rather 44 Pike Road – several miles from the site of Bobby Mackey’s Music World. But, much like the entity of Pearl Bryan, visitors continue to report encounters with the spirit of Johanna, though which Johanna still remains in question.

Bobby Mackey’s Music World Paranormal Legend

Despite the established differences between local lore and historical record, reports of powerful hauntings continually come out of Bobby Mackey’s, and it gained a reputation as one of the most profoundly haunted buildings in the United States.

Since the 1990s, Bobby Mackey’s Music World has been featured on numerous television programs documenting its paranormal tales, including National Geographic’s Is It Real?, Discovery Channel’s A Haunting, Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventures and Most Terrifying Places in America, Destination America’s Paranormal Lockdown, Syfy’s Ghost Hunters, and the Buzzfeed Unsolved web series. 

Perhaps most famously, Bobby Mackey’s hosted the very first aired episode of Ghost Adventures and included a scene that showed host Zak Bagans being scratched by an unseen force in the basement, near the drainage well now reported to be the ‘portal to hell’.

So You Want to Experience Bobby Mackey’s Music World?

Along with being a regular stop for paranormal television productions, Bobby Mackey’s is an in-demand location for paranormal investigators and enthusiasts of just about every variety.

Private investigations and public events are common, and more stories of intense experiences with the honky tonk’s ghosts continue to come out all the time. Teams have captured potential EVPs, photographic anomalies, video footage of strange occurrences, and have had countless personal experiences while investigating through the building.

Though the lore and history don’t quite match up, some consider the tales just another layer of intriguing mystery behind Bobby Mackey’s Music World, using them as further incentive to keep investigating the ghost stories to learn what the full story might be. Regardless, the club continues to be a must-stop spot both for local fans of country music and far-flung investigators of all things spooky and scary

Carl Lawson, the Music World’s Caretaker and Purported Victim of Demon Posession

https://www.instagram.com/p/CNXqpViF19M/

The Ghoul Guide on Instagram posted a picture of Carl Lawson’s, the former caretaker at Bobby Mackey’s, apartment with this caption.

Sitting above Bobby Mackey’s is the shell of a small apartment that was once home to the caretaker. Within these four walls, the ghost stories of this bar came to life and sparked the strange activity that would land this property on the paranormal map. Welcome to Carl Lawson’s infamous apartment. 
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 After working on the property in the ‘Bloody Bucket’ days, Carl Lawson offered to help Bobby Mackey get his bar up and running once it was purchased in April of 1978. Throughout his time in the building, Carl began to realize that things weren’t quite right. He heard the phantom footsteps and the voices and tried telling Bobby about it, but the ghost talk was quickly swept under the rug. However, it wasn’t until the late 1980s when the ghost stories of BM’s became known to the world with a book and then a few TV episodes in the early 90s.
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 With the increased attention, more of Carl’s story came out in dramatic details. In this apartment, he’d toss and turn in his bed listening to what sounded like hundreds of people below him in the bar when he knew it was empty. He barricaded the door you see here and screamed “Go Away”— a phrase he’d later sticker to the door. Not only that, he felt compelled to sleep with a shot gun in his bed! Carl had also stated that not only did a ‘demon’ try drowning him in the bathtub, but that in his dreams the ghost of Johanna would appear to him. More importantly, she told him to dig—and dig he did, thus coming across the supposed portal to hell located in the basement. 
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 In 1993, the exorcism of Carl Lawson took place right below in the bar. While it turned out to be unsuccessful, it may have kicked up the activity that had been reported. While the exorcism may be a hard memory to swallow for those who have seen the disturbing footage, the screamed words still echo. 
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 Sadly in 2012, Lawson passed from cirrhosis. Some would suggest that he was fighting his own demons on top of the ones that were already there. Though, as much as this place brought out some of the worst moments, Carl had a special place in his heart for it. Some even believe he’s still around, sitting at his favorite spot at the bar watching over it nightly.. 

Books to read and Shows to Watch

Hell's Gate: Terror at Bobby Mackey's Music World

By Hensley, Douglas

The Exorcism Of Carl Lawson 

By Hensley, Douglas

Ghosts of Bobby Mackey's Music World (Haunted America)

By Dan Smith

Television shows

• On November 28, 1995, episode 3 of Haunted Lives: True Ghost Stories , which aired on UPN always featured 3 haunting stories; this episode included 'The Brotherhood', 'Ghost Watch' and 'The Headless Ghost'. The third, and final, story presented in the hour long episode highlighted Bobby Mackey's Music World and the paranormal happenings said to have occurred up until that point. Interviews with Mr. & Mrs. Mackey and caretaker Carl Lawson with included statements by Doug Hensley (author of 'Hell's Gate' -a book about the bar itself) who had spent 5 years researching the club, regular bar patron, Richard Lawson, who was a key character in the story the episode presented and pychic and medium, Patricia Mischell, who had performed a walk-through investigation of the establishment were also featured giving viewers the opportunity to hear reports via a first hand account. (The show was originally known as Real Ghost - although it can most often be found under its newer name - and was directed by Michael Levine and narrated by Stacy Keach. This specific episode featuring Seth Green.) 
• A 2006 episode of the National Geographic Channel's documentary series Is It Real? featured the nightclub. 
• The 2006 Discovery Channel's docudrama series A Haunting featured the nightclub. 
• The 2008 premiere episode of the Travel Channel's ghost-hunting series Ghost Adventures featured interviews with former caretaker Carl Lawson, and author Douglas Hensley. The network later released a 3-part web series called Return to Bobby Mackey's, and the nightclub was featured again on the program in late 2010. 
• On October 9, 2009, the nightclub was featured on Travel Channel's Most Terrifying Places in America. 
• On November 16, 2011, the nightclub was featured on the SyFy program Ghost Hunters. 
• The nightclub was featured on an episode of BuzzFeed Unsolved titled "The Ghosts and Demons of Bobby Mackey's" 
• The nightclub was featured on the TV show, Paranormal Lockdown on Dec 11, 2018, season 3, episode 4, on the Destination America channel. 
• The nightclub was featured on the TV show Portals to Hell on May 10, 2019, season 1, episode 3, on the Travel Channel.

After hearing all this information on the infamous honky-tonk, no matter how sparce or detailed it may be, what do you believe? Is it haunted? Did demonic forces lurk just around the corner? Did they possibly enjoy country music and a nice, dry whiskey? Or is this all just folkore, stories fabricated around true, horrific and sad events to entertain and scare the living? If you’ve never been to experience it yourself, all we can do is speculate and trust those that have. Or we can decide not to believe in it all together. I, myself, would like to believe on some level because proof of the paranormal is something that a lot of us aim to attain...but at the same time, I would almost rather that the spirits rest and the demons stay where they belong...not in the realm of the living.