All language subtitles for Hometown.Horror.S01E03.Three-Ring.Terror.WEBRip.x264-CAFFEiNE.English

A picture-perfect
wisconsin circus town...

We used to come down
to the river

And watch the elephants bathe.

...Where
mysterious things happen.

I kind of wondered, "what kind
of town did I move in to?"

Menacing figures
and violent spirits

Are lurking in the shadows...

I started feeling something
was just crushing me.

...Linked to a dark past...

I feel like somebody
had cursed us.

...That can't be shaken.

- Somebody go with dennis.
- Somebody go with dennis.

Give him some light.
Somebody go with dennis.

If you respect them,
they'll respect you.

If you don't,
you're gonna be in trouble.

Located in the american midwest,

The magical small town
of baraboo, wisconsin,

Is best known as the birthplace
of the ringling bros. Circus.

Like all local residents,

Mary schaefer grew up
among the elephants and clowns

And delighted
in the greatest show on earth.

I have lived in baraboo
for my entire life.

I worked here for four years.

But while working
at the al ringling theatre,

She discovered another side
of her beloved circus town.

One day, I was here cleaning up
after a show by myself.

I was up cleaning in the boxes.

There was popcorn everywhere.

I can feel eyes
on the back of my neck.

There's just a wall of dark
in front of me.

And I feel a hand...

...Reach up into my abdomen
and squeeze.

It was anger.

And, "this is my space,
and you can't be here."

So, I found out
that the spirit that's up there

Is locally referred to
as the shadow man.

Situated between
chicago and minneapolis...

Baraboo, wisconsin,
is a quiet small town

Where residents
take immense pride

In their exceptional history.

Baraboo is famous
for being the hometown

Of the ringling bros.

August ringling,
the father of the ringlings,

Brought the family to town.

In 1884,
they start their circus,

Ringling bros. Circus.

This was a great place to be.

There was abundant crops,
particularly if you had

Elephants as part
of your family,

Which eat 300 pounds of food
each a day.

The circus
is indeed in town!

We used to
come down to the river

And watch the elephants bathe.

What wisconsin kid says that
except if you live in baraboo?

But those who know the town well

Have discovered
that life in baraboo

Is not all acrobats
and balloons.

Beneath the big top, there is
a different kind of energy

That lurks in the shadows
of the community

And has unsettled
many of its residents.

When I first moved here,
I thought,

"what a beautiful town
that we have."

And then more and more people

Were telling me
their ghost stories,

And I learned about
a different side of baraboo.

I kind of wondered, "what kind
of town did I move in to?"

There is a lot
of spirit activity

Down in this
historic area of town.

At circus world,

A museum dedicated
to the town's big-top history,

Many employees, including
director scott o'donnell,

Repeatedly encounter things
that they cannot explain.

Our staff
has had numerous instances

Of being felt like you're
being watched or followed,

Phantom sounds that have
happened over the years.

And this strange activity

Isn't confined to circus world.

Other places throughout
the town of baraboo

Also have an eerie reputation.

I came to this hospital
around five or six years ago,

And we're walking down
this hallway.

It's pretty creepy
going down there.

And all of a sudden, I just hear
this unhumanlike growl...

...Come out from
I don't know where.

My whole body
kind of just went like --

A pins-and-needles numbing.
And couldn't move.

I was just so scared.

This is their place, okay?

If you respect them,
they'll respect you.

If you don't,
you're gonna be in trouble,

And I've seen that happen
over and over and over again.

Circus world employee
harold burdick

Has heard stories
about the shadow man.

There's talk of that all over,

But until I've seen stuff
and heard stuff myself,

Then I started believing.

It could be haunted.

One morning, I was in
cleaning the ring barn.

And I looked,
and I swear to god...

Dark shadow
come across that floor,

And it walked right across
in front of me,

Right through that door
into that tack room.

I ran out of the building
that day.

Could this shadow figure

Be the same menacing spirit

That attacked mary schaefer
in the al ringling theatre?

He was about 6 feet tall,
very slim,

And most people think that
he's the ghost of al ringling.

After her terrifying experience,

Mary is careful to respect
the shadow man's space.

He exists up there.

That is his box,
and that is his space.

For the most part,
if you leave him alone,

He leaves you alone,

But if you have to
encroach in his space,

He makes his presence very
known, or at least he has to me.

But the shadow man
is not the only ghost

Mary is afraid of running into.

When I was 6 or 7 years old,

My dad took me
to come see a movie,

And I was sitting in the chairs
right over there.

As I was waiting
for the movie to begin,

I was looking at the heads
of the ringling brothers

Up on top of the stage,
and as I followed it along,

I got over to where
the organ pipes were.

And there was this little boy

In a grandpa hat, suspenders,

A white shirt
rolled up to his elbows,

Pants rolled up to his knees,
watching the film.

And I'm like,
"dad, there's a boy up there!

There's not supposed to be
a boy up there!"

My dad looks,
and he doesn't see anything.

It didn't occur to me
that he might not have been

A flesh-and-blood human
at the time.

Working at the theater
a decade later,

Mary has forgotten about the
little boy she saw as a child.

I was cleaning up after a show.

Nobody was in the theater.

So I went in here
to go turn off the lights.

As I opened the door,
I looked back down the hallway.

And there was this boy.

And I thought,
"I'm so sorry.

Did I turn the lights off
on you?"

He keeps getting closer and
closer and trying to talk at me,

But I couldn't hear anything
coming out of his mouth.

It was terrifying.

Who is the boy,

And why is he intent
on stalking mary?

The birthplace
of the ringling bros. Circus,

The greatest show on earth,

Is practically embedded
in the town of baraboo's dna.

But amidst all
the magic and joy,

There are countless stories

Of frightening experiences
with shadowy figures.

And mary schaefer has had
several eerie encounters

With a mysterious boy at
the famed al ringling theatre.

He was trying to talk at me,

But I couldn't hear anything
coming out of his mouth.

He gets to be here
and is gone in a flash.

In two seconds difference --

Full flesh and body,
thought he was human,

And then gone.

I just left. I was scared.

Like, white shirt, grandpa hat,
suspenders, pants rolled up.

Where have I seen this before?

And that's when I realized
that little boy I saw

When I was 6
may have been a ghost.

Why is the little boy

Still roaming around the theater
after all these years?

Mary is not the only person
to come into contact

With the spirit
of a small child.

Across the street
from the theater,

At the al ringling mansion,

Joe colossa may have also seen
the same mysterious boy.

This is
the al ringling mansion.

He was the eldest of the seven
ringling brothers.

We purchased it in 2013.

Though joe and his wife, carmen,

Had heard some strange stories
about the mansion

Before they bought the property,

They didn't take them
very seriously.

I thought it was
very interesting,

But it certainly wasn't
a major concern at that point.

And all of a sudden, boom,
here we are, and it happened.

Joe and carmen were on
the top floor of the mansion

When they first discovered
that there might be some truth

To the rumors about their home.

So, the hooks that are here
in the ceiling

And the little bit of rope
that's hanging there

Is from the original swing
that was here

When the ringling kids
would play up here.

And a few years ago,
my kids and I went

And bought a new swing.

It was in the summer,
and it was about 100 degrees,

And yet all of us around
the swing were freezing cold.

It got so cold
that you almost felt like

You could see your breath.

Fearing that they
are not alone in their home

And frightened
of what could happen next,

Joe and carmen dig into
the history of the mansion

To see if they can
figure out the source

Of the unexplainable activity.

That is al ringling,

The eldest of the seven
ringling brothers.

Circus man al ringling
is the mansion's original owner,

And joe learns that he died
in the home in 1916.

So, one day,
I was looking in this direction,

And in the mirror
where I'm standing,

I noticed al ringling --
in a black suit

With a high white collar and,
it looked like, a mustache --

Went out the front door
of the house.

The door never moved.
There was no sound.

You don't really see
the spirits dead-on.

That's very rare,
at least in the mirrors.

We're pretty sure
that he is here still.

His presence is in the house.

But the mansion
isn't the only place

Where al ringling's
presence can be felt.

Is it possible that he is
the mysterious shadow man?

And could the young boy
that mary repeatedly encountered

Be the same child swinging
in the mansion's attic?

As joe continues
to learn more about his house,

He discovers
that there may be a reason

Why these spirits
are able to travel so freely

Between the al ringling theatre
and the mansion.

Al ringling had a tunnel
that went from his ballroom

Here in the basement
of the mansion

Over to the al ringling theatre,
which is across the street.

Somewhere along here,
there's a door that's bricked up

That goes to that tunnel.

Across the street,
at the theater,

Local historian mark tully

Has heard the same stories
about the tunnels

Linking the two properties
underground.

Al ringling put a tunnel in

So he could get back and forth
from his mansion to the theater

Without having
to cross busy broadway.

But despite all
the rumors about these tunnels,

Their exact location
remains a mystery.

Now, I've looked
at the blueprints,

And none of them have
any "secret" tunnels on them,

But if they're secret,
they wouldn't be

On the blueprints, would they?

While working at
the theater as a stagehand,

Mark gained a much greater
understanding

Of the strange and frightening
things that go on there.

I consider myself skeptical,
but every now and again,

You run into something
you just can't really explain.

You get a lot
of strange banging,

Knocking noises coming
from inside the walls.

There was always
weird noises that --

Doors slamming
and things like that

When there was nobody around.

It's just dark and creepy.

Fascinated by
stories and legends

Of al ringling theatre,

Mark is eager to unlock
the building's many mysteries.

He has heard about mary

And the colossas' experiences
with spirits

And wants to see if together
they can find out more

About these mysterious figures.

So, I've seen
a little boy in a white shirt,

Black suspenders,
and a grandpa hat

Twice in my life here.

Mary's encounter
reminds mark of a tragic story

That occurred in the theater
many years before.

I worked in the theater a lot,

And there were always
these scratching,

Banging sounds coming
from inside the walls.

And one of the ghost stories
that grew out of that

Was that there might have been
some young boys

That were looking
for an adventure

And waited until the movie
was done and everybody left

And then started crawling around

And got into one of these
little voids behind the walls

And were lost back in there,

Couldn't find
their way out again.

No. God.

That would be horrible,
thinking about dying that way.

My god.

The group wonders
if these lost souls are

Traveling through al ringling's
mysterious tunnels...

Continuing now.

...And search for any sign
of their existence.

- So, there's that spot.
- That's interesting.

This one.

As they explore the
theater, mary becomes concerned

That this mission
may aggravate the shadow man.

There's only one ghost
in this building

That I'm scared of --
the shadow man.

I don't like him.
He doesn't like me.

And it's not long
before her fears are realized.

I don't like that.

My left leg just got
really warm out of nowhere.

Was that a spirit?

The growing threat
of another encounter

With the shadow man is enough
to stop mary in her tracks.

I'd rather not
make him angry again.

I just don't want anyone else
to have that happen.

The group is convinced

That they need to respect
the spirit's space

And end their investigation.

The tunnels that are
around town, you know,

Maybe that's how these spirits
are moving around

And popping up in all
these different places.

But why do
spirits of the circus

Linger in these buildings?

And what do they want?

Tour guide shelley mordini

Believes that,
to answer these questions,

It's important to look
beyond the circus.

A lot of people
think that the spirits

That we have here in baraboo
are connected to the circus.

But we have more stories that
are connected to other things.

A new arrival
to baraboo with her family,

Laura jones
soon began to understand

Why ghost stories are widely
circulated around town.

I moved to baraboo
December of 2013

To a house on a street
called mound street.

Hi, sweetheart.

So, one day,
we're sitting on the couch,

And we're all relaxing,
baby's asleep.

The door
just blows right open.

We're from the city. We don't
keep our doors unlocked.

But it kept happening.

That was very odd.

We were living there probably
maybe a month and a half,

And there was definitely
an escalation

Of just weird things happening.

One night, I was laying in bed.

The tv just came on.

I started noticing a smell.

The smell was --
it smelled like death.

Best known
as the birthplace of the circus,

The al ringling theatre
and mansion

Are relics
from the show's heyday,

But in these
ornate old buildings,

A mysterious
and at times violent figure

Called the shadow man lingers.

And the horror
seems to be spreading.

The entire window burst.

That was beyond spooky.
I mean, it was beyond creepy.

Shh, shh, shh, shh, shh.

I had a newborn baby.
I had four kids to take care of.

And I was just being bombarded
in every direction.

Shh, shh, shh.

Shh, shh, shh, shh, shh.

Shh, shh, shh,
shh, shh, shh.

And then something bigger
happened

That kind of gave less room

For rational explanations.

One morning, I woke up
and get my kids up for school

And go into my daughter's room.

What's that?

She had scratches on her arms.

And, in fact, she had some
pretty deep, like, gouges...

Honey.
What happened?

...In places that she couldn't
reach that were bleeding, too.

That just freaked me out
to a whole different level.

It actually happened
three more times,

And there's no explanation.

There was nothing in her bed.

It was unbelievably terrifying.

I wanted to protect my daughter.
I just didn't know how.

I just wanted to know what
the heck was happening to her

In the middle of the night.

It's gonna be okay.

I feel like
there was a darkness,

That we had somebody
that, like, cursed us.

So I called a friend.
She came over.

And she smudged my house
not once, but twice.

Basically what smudging is,
is burning sage.

It cleanses the house
of spirits.

I was open to anything.

But nothing really
honestly helped.

And so then we moved out,
and then everything stopped.

Laura decided
to look for an explanation

That may help her understand
all that her family endured.

I actually
did not make the connection

That we were living
on mound street

Until after we moved
out of there.

I called the baraboo
historical society

And asked them
what the road was named for,

And they were able to confirm

That mound street
is in fact named

Because there's native american
mounds on mound street.

Laura learned that,
long before the circus tents

Staked the ground,
baraboo was home

To native americans
of the woodland tradition.

In these early centuries,

They developed a deep connection
to the fertile land

And, for hundreds of years,

Constructed elaborate earthworks
known as effigy mounds.

Here in the baraboo
area between 800 and 1200 ad,

There was a group
of native americans

Known as
the effigy mound builders.

There was over 300 effigy mounds
here built in the area.

All sacred spaces,
the mounds were built

In the shapes of animals
like bears, buffalo, and eagles.

Some were used
for ceremonies and rituals

While others served as burial
sites for members of the tribe.

And some extremely rare mounds,

Including one in baraboo,
were man-shaped.

Today, it is very significant
as it is the only one

Of its kind remaining
in the united states.

All right.
So we're heading west

On water street
toward mound street.

Okay.

Tourists come from all over

To see this rare earthwork.

We came to baraboo last year.

We knew that man mound was
a very special historic site,

And we decided that we
definitely wanted to go visit.

But when amelia cotter
and jonathan pollock

Arrived at man mound park,

They found themselves
feeling very unwelcome.

It was a very quiet morning.
It was very desolate.

There were no other people
around.

There were no other vehicles.

So, as we were walking
around, all of a sudden...

...We heard this loud,
high-pitched sound.

And it was coming closer to us.

I never heard anything
like that.

I immediately had the feeling
that we should get out of there.

I was spooked,

And then when we went
to start the car...

...The car would not start.

I don't usually have

Strong feelings and impressions
from places,

And this was a palpable feeling
that we were not wanted.

Amelia and
her partner, jonathan,

Are trying to get away
from a terrifying presence

At man mound,

One of baraboo's historic
native american effigy mounds.

This was a palpable feeling
that we were not wanted.

When the car finally started,
we were extremely relieved.

After we visited the park,

We took the time
to learn a lot about it.

These effigy mounds
would have served

As a place to go
and honor the dead

Similar to how we treat our
graveyards and cemeteries today.

As european americans
began to populate the area

That is now baraboo,

They basically destroyed

Most of the mounds
that were in this area.

When the settlers arrived,

They were focused on building
homes and farming the land.

Any edifices that got
in their way were plowed over,

And hundreds of mounds connected
to ancient burial grounds

Were swiftly desecrated
or wiped away.

Here I have
a picture of man mound,

And when they were doing
construction in the area,

They built a road right over
the mound, cutting his legs off,

Separating him
from the rest of his body.

They painted part of his legs
on the road there

And then
constructed plastic feet

Where the original mound portion
of his feet had been.

They could have
built the road anywhere,

But they built the road
through the mound,

Then named the road
man mound road,

Which is pretty incredible
to me.

Did the disruption of graves

Inside the burial mounds
at man mound

And other sites
throughout the town

Unleash the violent spirits
that haunt baraboo to this day?

From what I've been told,

The mounds on mound street
are burial mounds.

Anytime you unearth a cemetery,

That is just
unbelievably disrespectful.

Kind of freaks me out,
because I'm native american.

I would think that
whomever was buried there

Would be disrespected
and bothered.

Laura believes
that this upheaval is the reason

Why her family was under attack
while living on mound street.

Bad luck is an understatement

Of what we endured
in that house.

I mean, that was just insanity.

Perhaps also a sign
of the lingering wounds

That stem from the destruction
of the mounds,

Just a few decades
after the ringling brothers

First settled in baraboo,

The town came upon hard times.

The ringling brothers
make the decision

To leave baraboo

In the winter of 1917 into 1918

And relocate to
bridgeport, connecticut.

It was a move that was not
expected by this community.

It caught them
totally off-guard.

It really accelerates
this community

Into the great depression
almost a full decade

Before it comes
to the rest of the country.

Although circus world
museum would eventually

Bring the elephants and acrobats
back to baraboo,

At the time,
the ringlings' departure

Was a devastating loss.

During this dark time,
strange and unsettling activity

Continued to haunt the town.

We are here at the infamous
old baraboo inn.

Located near the railroad,

The old baraboo inn was a place

That everyone
from circus performers

To mobsters and tourists
have passed through.

It's a tremendously
historic building

Built in 1864
during the civil war.

It's seen every skirmish,
every battle,

Every war we've been in.

It was a brewery and a winery
when it was built

And a saloon on the main floor,
brothel on the upstairs.

There were numerous gunfights
in here.

A lot of people perished in here
unfortunately.

This back here
is a gangster back bar.

It was al capone's hangout
and his gang during prohibition.

He was a crook, you know,
but he brought in money.

He brought in alcohol.
He brought in women.

He was good to people's kids.

And people used to
hide him out here,

And he was kind of like
a little hero.

One of the oldest
buildings in town,

The construction
of the old baraboo inn

May have led to some of the
first mounds being destroyed.

Perhaps this is why b.C. Farr

Got a lot more
than he bargained for

When he bought the place
in 1998.

Any building that's been
vacant for a number of years

And is in disrepair,

A lot of people claim
that it's haunted.

They see this. They see that.

But this one really was.

Though b.C. Isn't shy

About the inn's
haunted reputation,

Local couple dennis and brenda

Didn't know what they were
getting themselves into

When they came to check out
the historic tavern.

First time we came in together
was probably late 2015.

There was maybe
four of us in the bar,

And I had the sensation
of someone picking up my hair

Back here on the left side
and, like, playing with it.

I looked.
There was nobody there.

But the bar is not
the only place in the inn

Where b.C.'s guests have had
unsettling experiences.

This is the downstairs.

This is the infamous basement
of the old baraboo inn.

There was a lot of murders.

There is a existing pole,
which is an execution pole

Where people were just put up
against the pole and executed.

There's so much negativity,

So much dark energy
happen in a basement,

And it tends to stay there.

From the initial
destruction of the mounds

That once sat
in this underground space

To the horrifying acts that
occurred there decades later,

The basement's energy is so dark

That b.C. Rarely allows
anyone else to venture there.

I was curious as to what
really was down there.

It's kind of off-limits
to people.

B.C. Let me down there.

Something was just crushing me.

Aah!

It felt like
my whole body

Was being just wrapped up
tighter and tighter.

In the town of baraboo,

Where strange
and unexplainable encounters

Are regular occurrences,

Several people have been
attacked by violent spirits

That feel they have been
disrupted or disrespected.

While visiting the basement of
the historic old baraboo inn...

...Dennis catencamp has provoked
one of these vicious entities.

Something was just crushing me.

Within just a few seconds,
I came upstairs,

And I was pretty shook up.

The basement is dark.
Bad things happen there.

Despite his
terrifying experience,

Dennis decides to return
to the haunted basement

Hoping to make sense of
what happened to him last time.

Well, look who's here.

But this time,
he isn't going alone.

Guided by b.C.,
dennis is joined by brenda,

B.C.'s sister, shelley,

And perry, a psychic who is
eager to try to understand

The dark entities who linger
at the old baraboo inn.

Dennis, after your experience,
you want to go back, really?

I'm a little apprehensive about
going back into the basement,

But, yeah,
I do want to go again.

All right.
I'll take you down there.

Lots of bad things happened
in the basement before,

And unfortunately there's some
dark energy trapped down there,

And we do not want
to disturb the dark energy.

- All right. Let's go.
- All right. Let's go.

Let's do this.
Watch your step.

I'm feeling pretty nervous
right now.

I can hear it in your voice.
I see you shaking.

I feel it, too. There is
death behind that door.

Anybody wants to go in there,
you can go in there.

I'm not going in there.

I'll lead if you
want me to lead.

Feel a sharpness in my heart

As if I just got stabbed
in the chest.

Like, I feel a sharpness
in the pit of my ch--

In the middle of my chest
right now.

That was an interrogation room

Where people
were tied to a chair.

Pushing past his anxiety,

Dennis follows perry.

- He's going in.
- That might be a mistake.

I feel, like,
heaviness in my head.

Like, a little bit
of a pressure in my head

That I didn't have upstairs.

I'm nervous about
turning the corner.

Okay. We're gonna
continue on over here.

All right.
Watch your head.

This is
the execution pole.

- Wow.
- I'm getting really tingly.

This is blood bleeding
through the pole.

I painted it and painted it
and painted it.

Just keeps
bleeding through.

- Bullets all over it.
- Bullet.

- Bullet, bullet.
- Bullet, bullet, bullet.

I feel like there's bodies
buried in this ground.

I was just -- I didn't want
to bring it up, but...

There is
definitely bodies

That's been buried
underneath this.

Whether it's
the spirits of the mounds

Or the souls executed
in the basement

Of the old baraboo inn,

The group is certain
that they're not alone.

I just want to make a note
that my flashlight just died.

I don't have any more light.
My flashlight energy's drained.

- It's dead?
- It's dead.

Okay.

I'm feeling very
anxious about proceeding.

Yeah, we need to
get out of this room.

And I'm feeling pain
throughout my entire body.

Dennis also has a
terrifyingly familiar feeling.

A lot of pain right now --
chest, back, hips.

Yeah, maybe it's time
to leave this room.

- Let's leave this room.
- Get us out of here, please.

We only have one
flashlight left.

- I want out.
- Dennis wants out.

He wants out now.

Go back to the steps over here.
Give him some light there.

Somebody go with dennis.
Give him some light.

Somebody go with dennis.
Make sure he's all right.

I want out.

Dennis wants out.
He wants out now.

Go back to the steps.
Right over here. He needs out.

The presence of a vicious spirit

In the basement
of the old baraboo inn

Has once again
overwhelmed dennis.

Give him
some light there.

Somebody go with dennis.
Give him some light.

Somebody go with dennis.
Make sure he's all right.

Somebody go with dennis.

As dennis
retreats upstairs to safety,

The others also feel
the urge to leave.

Get shelley out of here.
Let's get out of here.

Get her up the stairs.

I'm behind you guys.

That last part
was just too much.

relax. Breathe.

Let it go.

I don't need to go
down there ever again.

I started feeling pain
down there,

And as we started
to leave the room,

I almost felt like somebody
was trying to pull me back.

I feel like I'm carrying

Somebody else's weight
right now.

The overwhelming
dark energy underground

At the old baraboo inn
is impossible to dismiss.

In all places
where baraboo's land

And the ancient burial mounds
have been disrupted,

An often violent spirit
seems to be unleashed.

Sometimes lurking in the town's
underground passageways,

This terrifying manifestation

Demands the respect
that it was once denied.

I think it's the same energies
that are haunting these places

Because the stories we hear
and the eyewitness accounts,

They're all about the same.

I think any time
you disrupt a cemetery,

Burial ground, that you are
disrupting a lot of energy.

This energy tends
to reproduce itself,

And I think that is
a major contributing factor

To the haunting of baraboo.

There is
definitely bodies

That's been buried
underneath this.

I don't think we'll ever know

What truly we're experiencing.

There's a lot of theories
out there,

But when you explain
everything else away,

What's left is the unexplained.