The Eddy Brothers and the High Life Ski Club

Episode of Morbid · October 1, 2026 · 46 min

Morbid hosts Ash Kelley and Alaina Urquhart recount the 1870s Vermont mediums William and Horatio Eddy, their Spiritualist fame, fraud allegations, and their haunted former tavern.

Summary

The October-opening episode began with the hosts joking about time passing quickly. Alaina Urquhart described renewed interest in the Salem witch trials, said she was researching a new horror book outside her existing series, and the two traded reading recommendations including Richard Chizmar's Boogeyman books and Leigh Bardugo's Ninth House.

Ash Kelley then told the story of William and Horatio Eddy of Chittenden, Vermont, who were said to descend from Mary Bradbury, a woman convicted of witchcraft at Salem. According to legend, their father Zephaniah beat and chained the boys over apparitions surrounding them and sold them to a traveling sideshow. By 1870 they ran the Green Tavern, hosting paying guests at seances featuring materializations, disembodied hands, and self-playing instruments, during the height of the Spiritualist movement popularized by the Fox sisters. Kelley described accusations of fraud from Maine Secretary of State Joseph Hall and Boston visitor L.A. Bigelow, who reported seeing Horatio playing a guitar himself.

Kelley recounted how skeptical journalist and attorney Henry Steel Olcott investigated the brothers for the New York Sun, became convinced of their legitimacy, wrote People from the Other World, met Helena Blavatsky, and joined Theosophy. The brothers' reputation declined after a damaging 1875 letter from childhood friend D.P. Westcott and their own infighting; they split by 1878. The episode closed with later reported hauntings at the house under owners Asa and Ellen Gee and the High Life Ski Club, which still uses the building. Kelley said she leaned toward believing the brothers may have been genuine.

Chapters

0:00
October opener
The hosts celebrate October and joke about time seeming to speed up.
1:59
Salem and a new book
Urquhart discusses her Salem witch trials fixation and a forthcoming horror book.
4:38
Reading recommendations
The hosts discuss Richard Chizmar's Boogeyman books, Ninth House, and their bookshelves.
7:41
The Eddy brothers' origins
Kelley describes the brothers' family legends, abusive father, and sale to a sideshow.
13:50
Spiritualism and the Green Tavern
Kelley explains the Spiritualist movement and the brothers' seance business in Chittenden.
21:15
Fraud accusations
Joseph Hall and L.A. Bigelow publicly accuse the Eddys of showmanship and fraud.
28:21
Henry Olcott's investigation
Skeptical journalist Henry Olcott investigates the brothers and becomes a believer.
35:12
Decline and breakup
Westcott's exposé and sibling infighting end the brothers' partnership.
39:15
Later hauntings and the High Life Ski Club
Later owners and the ski club report strange experiences at the former tavern.
43:29
Wrap-up
The hosts reflect on Spiritualism and the brothers' difficult lives.

Key points

What was said, by whom, with the exact words. Timestamps jump to the moment.

Alaina Urquhart
Urquhart said she had returned to her fixation with the Salem witch trials and wanted to revisit the topic.
“I've fallen straight back into my Salem Witch Trials hyper fixation”
Listen from 2:06 · Salem witch trials
Alaina Urquhart
Urquhart said her upcoming book, outside her existing series, is true horror rather than a thriller.
“And I can tell you it's really horror. It's like true horror”
Listen from 3:56
Ash Kelley
Kelley said she leaned toward believing the Eddy brothers may have had genuine abilities.
“I kind of think they might have been the real deal”
Listen from 8:01 · Eddy brothers
Linked moment · 8:26Skip to 8:26 using a listen link in the info box.
Ash Kelley
Kelley related the legend that the brothers descended from Salem witchcraft convict Mary Bradbury.
“They both descended from a long line of psychics going back to Mary Bradbury”
Listen from 8:26 · Eddy brothers
Ash Kelley
Kelley recounted that the brothers' father, unable to rid them of a perceived curse, sold them to a sideshow.
“He couldn't get rid of their curse, so he sold them to a traveling sideshow”
Listen from 12:51 · Eddy brothers
Ash Kelley
Kelley said guests paid $10 a week to stay at the Green Tavern and attend the brothers' nightly seances.
“So for $10 a week, which today would be about $250 a week, guests could check into the inn and watch or participate in the nightly seances held by the brothers”
Listen from 17:05 · Green Tavern (Chittenden, Vermont)
Ash Kelley
Kelley described Maine Secretary of State Joseph Hall publicly accusing the Eddys of showmanship and fraud.
“Joseph Hall, a notable spiritualist at the time and also the Secretary of State of Maine, wrote a letter to the editor of the Rutland Daily Herald”
Listen from 21:43 · Mediumship
Ash Kelley
Kelley recounted L.A. Bigelow's report that a struck match revealed Horatio playing the guitar himself during a seance.
“Mr. Horatio Eddy, the medium, could be distinctly seen in front of the circle, untied with the guitar in his hand, playing it vigorously”
Listen from 25:04 · Eddy brothers
Alaina Urquhart
Urquhart argued that people should study views they disagree with in order to rebut them, as Olcott may have done.
“I think that you should learn about the thing that you don't agree with so that you can counter argument”
Listen from 30:11 · Henry Steel Olcott's investigation of the Eddy brothers
Ash Kelley
Kelley praised Olcott for approaching the Eddys' claims scientifically.
“I think it's kind of cool that he's approaching it from, like, a place of science”
Listen from 30:48 · Henry Steel Olcott's investigation of the Eddy brothers
Ash Kelley
Kelley said Olcott, after examining Honto's cave and seeing a materialization, left his first seance convinced the brothers were genuine.
“So he left the seance that night convinced of the brother's legitimacy”
Listen from 33:49 · Henry Steel Olcott's investigation of the Eddy brothers
Ash Kelley
Kelley said Olcott compiled his Eddy writings into the book People from the Other World.
“A year later, he collected his writing on the Eddys, too, into a book called People from the Other World”
Listen from 35:37 · People from the Other World
Ash Kelley
Kelley said a March 1875 letter by childhood friend D.P. Westcott was the first major blow to the brothers' credibility.
“the first major blow to their credibility came in late March of 1875 in the form of a letter to the editor of the Rutland Daily Globe”
Listen from 37:00 · Eddy brothers
Ash Kelley
Kelley argued that the siblings' own conflicts, more than bad press, ended their business.
“it was actually their own interpersonal dynamics that ended up being the final nail in the coffin”
Listen from 37:46 · Eddy brothers
Alaina Urquhart
Urquhart suggested the brothers' estrangement stemmed from never being shown love by their father.
“It doesn't sound like they were taught love by their father at the very least”
Listen from 44:04 · Eddy brothers

People

In the conversation

Ash KelleyCo-host of the true crime podcast Morbid
Alaina UrquhartCo-host of Morbid, autopsy technician and author of the Butcher novels

Discussed

William Eddy19th-century Vermont medium, one of the Eddy brothers
Horatio Eddy19th-century Vermont medium, one of the Eddy brothers
Henry Steel OlcottAmerican journalist, attorney and co-founder of the Theosophical Society
Helena BlavatskyRussian occultist and co-founder of the Theosophical Society
Kate FoxAmerican medium and early figure of Spiritualism
Maggie FoxAmerican medium and early figure of Spiritualism
Mary Todd LincolnFirst Lady who redecorated the White House during the Civil War
Mary BradburyWoman convicted of witchcraft at Salem in 1692, alleged ancestor of the Eddys
Joseph HallMaine Secretary of State who accused the Eddys of fraud
Zephaniah EddyFather of the Eddy brothers
Richard ChizmarAmerican horror author and founder of Cemetery Dance Publications, author of the Boogeyman trilogy
Leigh BardugoAuthor of the novel Ninth House

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From the publisher

In the early-to-mid 1870s, as interest in Spiritualism and psychic mediums swept the United States, William and Horatio Eddy, two enterprising brothers from the tiny village of Chittenden, Vermont, made headlines for their supposed psychic abilities. In time, the brothers attracted the attention of the movement’s biggest names including Henry Olcott and Helena Blavatsky, until 1875, when allegations of fraud destroyed their massive popularity.

Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on October 2, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.

Categories: Religion & Spirituality·History·Spirituality