Welcome to the History Tricks where any resemblance to a boring old history lesson is purely coincidental.

Hello and welcome to the show. Just a quick note before we go on. This is a retelling, a

re-recording of an event that we did in partnership with the local NPR station here in Kansas City,

KC UR and the live recording didn't translate as well to this audio format because we

referred a lot to our slideshow. There was a lot of applause if we do say so ourselves and it

was a lot cleaner just to re-record it and give it to you this way. So we'll put those pictures

that we refer to in the show notes and you'll see them there. Without further ado, on with the show.

And here's your 30-second summary.

And the silken sad and certain rustling of East Purple Curtain thrilled me.

Filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before, so that now, to still the beating of my heart,

I stood repeating, to some visitor and treating entrance at my chamber door.

This is it and nothing more.

Correct. The end.

So you, the tourist, arrive in San Jose, California after following those intriguing billboards you've

been seeing for miles and miles, you pull up to the front of a giant house. A round tower on the

side, there's so many angles and planes and dormers with red roofs, gingerbread everywhere.

It's already too much just from the front. Too bad you don't have your drone. From above, it looks amazing.

What is even happening? The tour guide is more than happy to explain to you.

He'll tell you there was once a woman named Sarah Winchester, aress to the Winchester rifle fortune

that suffered the loss of her child and her husband and fell into a pit of despair.

She consulted a medium who told her that the spirit world had it out for her.

For you see, her husband's fortune came from the Winchester rifle, the gun that won the American West

...