Bobby Mackey’s Music World in Wilder, Kentucky, probably isn’t the first place that people think of when they hear the phrase “most haunted.” In fact, many people have never even heard of the legends surrounding this place, even some seasoned ghost hunters. Of course, that doesn’t stop tons of people who arrive in this small town, hoping for a glimpse into the paranormal.
Bobby Mackey’s Music World didn’t start out as a nightclub or a bar, but rather, an old-fashioned slaughterhouse. Built during the 1850’s, it provided meat for southeastern Indiana, southern Ohio, and parts of northern Kentucky. Animals were slaughtered on the upper floors, while tubes and a complex drainage system allowed the unusable pieces and blood to run into the basement. This trough that held the pieces still exists today, though the original building is long gone.
The slaughterhouse shuttered its doors during the 1890s, but people continued to whisper of the goings on there. There were stories of Satanic cults that used the building for their practice of the Dark Arts, which included animal sacrifices. Since the building was designed to slaughter animals, there’s no doubt that the cults found it quite easy to practice animal sacrifice there.
Some claim that the building was used by locals to practice their cult rituals and sacrifices in private, away from hidden eyes. It was even rumored that some high ranking residents participated in those rituals. In 1896 the real story of what went on there became public knowledge, and shocked nearly everyone in the area. The real story, and the one that spawned dozens of ghost stories, is the real story of what happened to Pearl Bryan.
Pearl Bryan was someone who my grandmother would have affectionately called “a looker”. She was raised in Greencastle, Indiana and was quite well liked by both males and females alike. It would seem that she was more popular with the boys, as she became pregnant in her early twenties. Being an unwed mother was less than desirable at the time, especially in a wealthy family such as the Bryan’s. Adding to that was the father, a Scott Jackson who had no desire to be a father.
Jackson was also from a wealthy family, and had been taking classes at a local dental school. When he learned that she was pregnant, he immediately told her that she needed to have an abortion. As abortions were highly illegal at the time, the procedure had to be done in complete secrecy. He told her that he had made arrangements for the abortion at a secret location in Cincinnati.
Pearl was five months along when she told her parents she was taking a trip with friends to Indianapolis. Instead she met Jackson in Cincinnati for the procedure. Bryan has no way of knowing that Jackson actually planned to do the procedure himself, using some items he borrowed from his school.
It is horrifying to imagine the different things he tried during those short hours; it must have felt like torture to the poor woman. He fed her different drugs and chemicals, including cocaine, to either cause an abortion or numb the pain. Later he attempted to use some of his tools for dental surgery, but that failed to work as well. Pearl had to be in an enormous amount of pain by then, but her horror was just beginning.
Jackson and a friend by the name of Walling eventually convinced Bryan to travel with them to a quiet spot in Kentucky. There the duo tortured the poor woman before cutting off her head. The medical examiner would later proof that this horrifying act was done while she was still alive. They dumped her body near the Alexandria Turnpike, taking her head with them.
Police were only able to identify the body based on a pair of distinctive shoes she wore. Police never did find the poor woman’s head, though they did find her hair hidden in a suitcase belonging to Jackson. It appeared as though he had scalped the woman, either before she died or after the decapitation. His partner in crime testified under oath that Jackson claimed he had plans for the head, which is why he left the murder scene with it. Both men were found guilty of murder, and hanged at the Newport Courthouse. The men had the option of revealing the location of the head in exchange for the location of her head, but they chose death instead.
Many of the ghost stories and legends surround Bryan’s missing head. Locals claimed that the head was used during one of the rituals at the slaughterhouse. Either accidentally, or on purpose, it was dropped into the trough and was never seen again. This is believed to be the reason why neither man would reveal its location to the police. If they had told the truth, they thought the cults would kill them anyway, or make their lives much worse. There are also rumors that one of the men threatened to haunt the area just before he was hanged, and his threat came through. Some of those who worked on the case suffered sudden and horrifying deaths in the years after his death.
The old slaughterhouse was destroyed, and a bar built on top of the old remains. It was a fairly popular bar, but also a rough and tumble kind of place. There were rumors that several men were killed in the bar mainly because of gambling disputes, though there is no proof that anyone was actually murdered there.
Buck Brady later purchased the building and turned it into a bar and casino, which became even more popular than ever before. Local mob bosses attempted to take over the business, and when he refused, they began roughing up the place. Eventually Brady was implicated in the shooting of a low level mobster, and sold the business.
After that it became the kind of place that normal people wouldn’t venture to after dark. There were several shootings, and the rumors of a pregnant woman who killed herself in the basement of the building. Supposedly she was the daughter of the owner, and began a relationship with his lounge singer. Her father disapproved of the relationship, and had the man killed after learning of the pregnancy. The woman killed herself in the basement a few nights later. The building was later closed down after several shootings occurred.
In 1978 it officially re-opened as Bobby Mackey’s Music World. That was when the stories of ghosts and hauntings began in earnest.
Workers noted that lights turned themselves on and off, usually late at night. There were also stories of an old jukebox repeatedly playing “Anniversary Waltz”, even when it was unplugged from the wall. Visitors have also heard strange noises coming from the basement, when that area is empty. Others have heard people laughing, voices talking, and things moving on their own. Many of these things happen when the building is otherwise empty.
There are also stories of full body apparitions that haunt Bobby Mackey’s Music World. One is an angry looking man who stands behind the bar. There were also reports of a female ghost, believed to be the ghost of the pregnant woman who killed herself in the basement. She reportedly leaves behind the scent of rose perfume. Others have claimed to see a headless female ghost, who matches the description of Pearl Bryan.
Bobby Mackey’s Music World is located in Wilder, Kentucky. The next time you take a trip to Kentucky, try stopping by this one of a kind nightclub. Stay for the great music and drinks, but keep one eye out for one of their resident ghosts!
Sources:
http://www.prairieghosts.com/bobby.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Mackey’s_Music_World
