Cape Girardeau’s most haunted; Glenn House
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KBSI) – The life, legacy and death of a local family turned tragic lured our KBSI crew to the Glenn House sitting high above Spanish street in Cape Girardeau.
A home that now over looks an old seminary turned river campus. A home filled with stories of haunting whispers and strange laughter, cold chills, flickering lights swinging chandeliers.
Even featured on the A and E show ghost hunters in 2020 the rumors of paranormal activity attracting ghost hunters far and wide.
“Welcome to the Glenn House Holly, this is a 1880’s house museum.” says Christy Mershon Director of Glenn House.
We were lucky enough to have Christy Mershon give us a private tour one she likes to call ‘Dresses to die for’ showing the home in mourning period.
“You may notice by the black wreath on the door that something is amiss so every year for Halloween we have a death in the house” says Mershon.
Mershon explains the home was built in 1883 and it has seen its share of trouble and tragedy such as babies dying within its walls and funerals taking place in the parlor.
“Victorians did not have funeral parlors in the way that we do today so they would lay in state in their homes” Mershon explains.
The dining room table set up for a seance, the chandelier said to swing when the spirits awake hung just above the table.
Mershon explains David Glenn and his family lost three children here, just babies, the family ultimately went bankrupt.
Mershon, explaining she doesn’t like to be in the house after dark and for her the scariest room is the nursery
In fact, as we stood there our group noted hearing laughter, a gas light dimming each time Christy Mershon said, ‘dead baby’, a rush of cold air and an eerie presence coming from a doll in a small rocking chair, one that seemed to have an energy of its own.
In fact, Mershon explained ever since a descendent of the house Sarah Glenn Marsh discovered and visited the home
“She’s a young adult paranormal writer. She writes ghost stories for kids she’s writing a book called haunted that’s supposed to be about a Victorian mansion “ Mershon shares.
According to Mershon ever since Sarah reconnected with the home the number of sightings and bone chilling moments has only escalated that’s what indeed prompted her to reach out to ghost hunting experts.
For this spooky season we discovered plenty of people claim to hear the noises and the footsteps catching glimpses of ghostly figures, unexplained music and doors that open on their own.
Is it the Glenn’s still trapped tangled in sorrow of a Victorian time? They would lose three of their six children after going bankrupt.
They sold the home on the courthouse square.
Hardly the end of the home’s story however on the national register of historic places since 1979 it’s a living house museum and as far as Mershon and some visitors are concerned that title also includes the living dead.
