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In Kansas City, the strange and unusual are all around us. You just have to know where to look.
True crime fans may already know about the Kansas City Massacre of 1933. At Union Station, gangsters including “Pretty Boy” Floyd ambushed officers transferring a prisoner.
The resulting shoot-out ended with the suspect dead, along with four law enforcement officers. While some Union Station visitors try to spot bullet holes left over from the massacre, that’s been proven to be merely myth.
But it’s the myths that make the town.
Our area has also been a place where serial killers have hunted, like the Kansas City Strangler, The Angel of Death, and the Kansas City Butcher (Robert Berdella, who ran Bob’s Bizaar Bizarre in the Westport Flea Market.)
This is just the start of the eerie and creepy places around town.
You can take ghost tours if you don’t feel like adventuring yourself, or head to one of Kansas City’s many haunted houses for a good scare.
Here are some selections for a bone-chilling time.
The human finger bone at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Located near the suit of armor in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is the finger bone of St. John the Baptist, or so the story goes. On level one in the 106 alcove, the finger sits inside a piece of artwork that is known as a monstrance, or a receptacle used for the display of the consecrated bread of the Eucharist.
The gilded piece of Gothic artwork resembles a golden tower, and at its center is the finger. This is what is known as a reliquary, a shrine or container that holds a relic; you might be familiar with other well-known reliquaries like the Shroud of Turin in Italy.
This particular finger bone has quite a history that has seen world events since at least the 1100s. Originally inventoried in the Guelph Treasure in Germany (1482), the reliquary made it through the Black Plague that swept through Europe in the mid-1300s. The treasure was owned by the Dukes of Braunschweig-Luneberg, and in 1803 was moved from the city of Hanover, Germany, to Great Britain in preparation for the Napoleonic invasions.
Split from the rest of the Guelph Treasure, the monstrance remained in Great Britain until 1861 when it came back to Hanover. It changed ownership several times until the Nelson-Atkins purchased the finger bone in 1931. It’s been in the alcove ever since. Much of the rest of the Guelph Treasure ended up in the hands of Nazi Party leader Hermann Goring.
- 4525 Oak St, Kansas City, MO 64111
Glore Psychiatric Museum
In 1874, State Lunatic Asylum No. 2 opened in St. Joseph, Missouri. It had 275 beds, according to the Missouri Department of Mental Health, and was “pretty much self-sufficient.” After a fire forced it to shut down, the facility reopened in 1880 as “a sanctuary for the special people society didn’t want.”
The hospital filled well beyond its capacity — reportedly growing to a population of 3,000 — with very little actual treatment, before being turned into a state prison. Its legacy today lives on through the Glore Psychiatric Museum, known as “one of the most haunted buildings in the state."
The collection began in 1966, when George Glore, an employee of the Department of Mental Health, recreated some of the treatments and equipment that patients would have received throughout the history of psychiatry — things such as the Tranquilizer Chair, the Bath of Surprise, and the Lunatic Box.
These charmingly named devices are now displayed in the museum (part of the St. Joseph Museums) along with other oddities such as a collection of 453 swallowed nails that had to be surgically removed from a patient.
All of this history gives rise to stories of hauntings throughout the facility. Staff in the 1960s reported shadow figures throughout, apparitions, and the feeling of being watched. Paranormal investigators report capturing electronic voice phenomena (EVP) as of 2010. There is also an EVP of a male voice screaming “get out!” as well as the rumor of a male ghost who is seen near the elevator doors down by the morgue.
If you’re up for the experience yourself, American Hauntings Ghost Hunts is hosting a Night at the Glore Psychiatric Museum on Nov. 2 from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. For just $68, you can see the haunts for yourself.
- 3406 Frederick Ave, St Joseph, MO 64506
Metaphysical and spiritual shops around Kansas City
The sign on the door of KC Conjure states that shoplifters will be cursed. It’s probably best to not ask yourself if they are joking or not. Opened by Julie Valdivia in 2013, this Crossroads shop serves those who wish to explore their spirituality, and inside you’ll find an assortment of candles, Ouija boards, charms, tarot cards, and much more.
Willing to talk with all of her loyal patrons, Valdivia can guide you through her offerings: walls of herbs for potions, jars of sulfur, pennyroyal, and yellow dock, and sure, oregano too.
One of their truly unique curiosities is their collection of haunted dolls. Porcelain faces peak out between Cabbage Patch Kids dolls, and their lifeless eyes seem to follow you around the store. In the center of the store, hanging from the ceiling may be their best haunt: a trio of 200-year-old French dolls sitting in a swing. In order to keep the spirits inside the dolls, Valdivia says they must always remain tied together.
Not too far away is Aquarius, the Kansas City area’s largest metaphysical and spiritual shop. Owner Barbara Criswell opened the store 35 years ago. Then, “the pagan community was underground, but there was a huge need,” Criswell says. “Now, we are open, and the power is in the individual. We walk hand in hand.”
Renaissance Festival enthusiasts can find a large selection of capes, cloaks, and caps here as well as holders for their horned cups. Or perhaps you find yourself in need of a banishing spell? There’s a premade kit for that.
They also carry a large selection of stones and crystals. For example, lapis lazuli assists in gaining wisdom of sacred texts. Labradorite can release your magical abilities and help you find purpose in your life.
There are a few other spiritual and natural science shops in Kansas City to visit, including Spectrum in Gladstone, Crescent Springs in Overland Park, and Oracle in the Crossroads.
Strange cocktails
Fat Matt’s Vortex is a small bar located in the historic Strawberry Hill neighborhood. Originally a pharmacy, the building now has a crematorium in the basement, a remnant of its earlier use as a funeral home.
The building comes from the late 1800s, and opened as a bar in 1934. With the repeal of Prohibition in late 1933, the bar was destined for success, and possibly some hauntings. The current owners have operated Fat Matt’s Vortex since 2004.
Decorated like it’s continuously Halloween, neon beer signs and glowing TVs light the way for both their loyal customer base and other worldly patrons. Behind the bar, they hold the cremated remains of two former customers that didn’t have any family. Fat Matt’s Vortex paid for their cremation, and now those remains reside with the people whom they considered family in life.
As for hauntings, there are stories: the jukebox coming on unexpectedly, doors slamming shut, and customers reporting their shirts being tugged but finding no one behind them.
But rest assured, their famous Grog Shot is ready to give you liquid courage as you enjoy the atmosphere. The drink recipe is only known to a few, but has a rum base – co-owner Sam Houze describes it as tasting a little like banana Laffy Taffy.
Fat Matt’s Vortex has a Halloween Party scheduled for Oct. 26, and the decorations are up and waiting for their visitors.
- 411 N 6th St, Kansas City, KS 66101
Cemeteries
Kansas City’s cemeteries are always worth a visit — including the state’s oldest public cemetery at Union Cemetery, founded in 1857 in response to a deadly cholera epidemic.
If you’re looking for famous deceased residents, they can be found across the metro.
In south Kansas City, Mount Moriah Cemetery contains the gravesites of newsman Walter Cronkite and chocolatier Russell Stover – whose inscription is written in brown, to represent chocolate, while his wife Clara Mae Stover’s is written in red for cherry. Baseball great Satchel Paige is in Forest Hill Cemetery on Troost.
Up in Kearney, Missouri, you can find the grave of infamous outlaw Jessie James. Now buried at Mount Olive Cemetery, James’ original grave was on his farmstead. Like many outlaws, a legend grew around his death – that James faked his death and moved to Granbury, Texas.
A man named Jack Dalton claimed to be Jessie James and even had some of James’ ancestors believing. However, DNA tests in 2000 confirmed that the real Jessie James does indeed reside in Kearney. The rest of his gang, Younger Brothers, are buried in the Lee’s Summit Historical Cemetery, while Frank James is buried in the small Hill Park Cemetery.
To truly get off the beaten path, the Boone-Hayes Cemetery is for the more adventurous. At the dead end of a paved path, bracketed by trees that seem to push in as you walk, are the graves of Daniel Morgan Boone and his wife Sarah Griffin Lewis Boone.
The seventh son of famous frontiersman Daniel Boone, Daniel Morgan was one of the earliest settlers of Missouri, arriving in 1799 where he settled 25 miles west of St. Charles. Eventually, he would move to Jackson County in 1831. He had a prolific life on the frontier that included soldiering, shopkeeping, hunting and trapping, and teaching farming to the Kansa Tribe.
Or maybe you’re in for a good old-fashioned haunt? Pitcher Cemetery in Independence has a long history of ghost sightings, and has been the subject of several paranormal investigations over the years. Established in the 1830s, the small graveyard encircled by anemic trees gives off an uneasy feeling.
This is also the resting place of Lindstone Noland, a Revolutionary War soldier. Here you’ll discover mass graves of both Civil War soldiers (1864) and cholera victims (1849-1851). Much of the graveyard is also covered in what is known as prairie marker graves – about a foot high, thin, and without inscription, these types of headstones were typically used for settlers who died on the Oregon and Santa Fe Trails.
Another stand out is the epitaph of George W. Henkle: “Hear his groans of bitter anguish / see him raise his dying eyes / from the taunting throng around him / to his Father in the skies.”
