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Ghost Town: Strange History, True Crime, & the Paranormal

218: Madame Sherri's Haunted Castle

Ghost Town: Strange History, True Crime, & the Paranormal

Jason Horton & Rebecca Leib

True Crime, Unknown, Paranormal, Weird History, Social Sciences, History, Science

3.7928 Ratings

🗓️ 17 August 2022

⏱️ 17 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The remains of a castle in a Chesterfield, NH forest has a very haunted past. More Ghost Town: https://www.ghosttownpod.com Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/ghosttownpod Instagram: https;//www.instagram.com/ghosttownpod Sources: https://bit.ly/3vYTKP3 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

House of lies. I'm Jason Horton. I'm Rebecca Leib. And this is Ghost Town.

0:20.0

In December 1911, the oceanic, not to be confused with the Titanic, which would sink in April 1912, arrived in New York.

0:28.0

The ship would bring decades of scandal, beginning with a famous vaudeville dancer named Andre Riella, who is returning from a trip to Paris.

0:36.0

But Riella wasn't alone. In Paris, he had fallen in love with a beguiling singer and actor 10 years his senior, named Antoinette Delielis.

0:44.0

The two had married, and Riella brought his new bride back to America.

0:48.0

There was drama with the new couple before the two even left the boat. Riella's Italian diplomat parents and sister were shocked and discussed it at the site of Delielis.

0:57.0

And caused commotion at the dock. Paparazzi immediately picked up on this flamboyant, dramatic interaction, and reported it to all the papers.

1:06.0

But the thing was, these people weren't Riella's family at all. They were actors paid to act like his family, for the tabloids.

1:14.0

Riella was a Philly fugitive, and Delielis herself, a French seamstress, turned struggling actor. From there, what was real and what was fake would converge, creating a tabloid power couple that were truly larger than life.

1:26.0

The two would have a strange and haunted legacy, with plenty of twists and turns along the way.

1:31.0

Today we're talking about the Sherry Castle, the culmination of the life and lies of Andre Riella and Antoinette Delielis.

1:39.0

Like I mentioned in 1911, young 18-year-old Andre Riella brings Antoinette Delielis back home with him and his fake parents are pissed.

1:48.0

Riella feeds the narrative to the press, also saying that his parents were strict and oppressive, and wants Riella to marry an American, someone they've already pre-selected, someone young, strategic, not some old woman, 28, from France.

2:02.0

Described a reporter from New York World of the very convincing Riella family of actors, quote,

2:07.0

The father frowned and looked with savage glances at the shrinking bride, his son, senior, and quite a mature and seasoned woman.

2:14.0

The mother was in hysterics. The bride began to cry, the groom embraced his love and dried her tears.

2:20.0

Reporters read these ships all the time, explains historian Lynn Borovsky, because things go on.

2:25.0

So they have this story of this young couple, Andre's parents are screaming he's too young for her, and just, it's just mayhem, it's great.

2:33.0

The two are already in the news for the age gap, the dramatic announcement of their marriage, and deeply upsetting their parents.

2:40.0

This media bump really got Riella and Delielis high profile life in America off to a great start.

2:46.0

After that, Riella moves his new bride into a Midtown Manhattan apartment, and the holidays have arrived, which means more time for scandal.

2:54.0

Riella tells a reporter that he brought his bride home to celebrate the holidays with his family, and it did not go well.

...

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