Ep. 11 | Personal Encounters on Lake Lanier, Part I

In Part 1 of this 2-part episode of Spirits Uncorked, we explore some first hand accounts and personal stories from those who call Lake Lanier home. From inspiring to chilling...don't miss these fascinating perspectives about the lake, its history, and its reputation.

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Thanks to our Guests for sharing their stories and perspectives!!!
-You can hear some of Zac's music here.
-Thank you Tina and daughter, @no_one_special1977
-And check out Alyse's fantastic TikTok content! @AlyseonTikTok

Tom Hanks discusses the Tulsa Massacre here.
"Blood at the Root" by Patrick Phillips

Digital artwork by Laura Horne
Theme song written/performed by Elizabeth Grimes
Theme song mixed/mastered by Billy Gewin

Transcript

Episode 11 Personal Encounters on Lake Lanier, Part 1

Elizabeth: [00:00:00] Imagine. Spending your entire life near the beautiful yet enigmatic waters of Lake Lanier, the sunrises and sunsets over the lake are part of your daily rhythm, while the dense whispering forest feels like a second home. You've had personal encounters, some puzzling, some uplifting, and others that sent an unexpected chill down your spine.

Today we explore some of these first hand accounts, peeling back the layers of mystery that surround Lake Lanier. Locals share their personal experiences, From eerie encounters that defy explanation to moments of inspiration sparked by the lake's haunting beauty. Join us as we uncover the stories of those who call these waters home and discover what lies beneath its surface.

We're getting to the bottom of the Lake Lanier mystery. Dive in with us.[00:01:00]

Hello everybody Uncorked. I am Elizabeth and I'm Erica and we are sisters in

We get together once a week to talk about creepy, weird, haunting things. But we, we're currently talking about Lake Lanier in Georgia. It's the most haunted body of water in the United States. And we've been talking about this for several weeks, and we've got a great show today. It's going to be part one of a two part series, and we're going to get some insight from locals who have lived at this lake their entire life, and they're going to tell us what the real deal is.

So I'm excited for this one. 

Erica: Yeah, this is going to be interesting. Yeah, 

Elizabeth: but before we do anything we are supposed to pour ourselves a glass of wine. But [00:02:00] I guess Erica is punking out on me today and she does not have wine. 

Erica: Going with a good old fashioned Diet Coke today. 

Elizabeth: Why? 

Erica: Because it's two o'clock in the afternoon, and I have to get stuff done later.

Oh. 

Elizabeth: Yeah, that's why. If, you know, if you were in Europe, that wouldn't be a problem. 

Erica: I know, but I'm also just really tired. Let's just say I had enough wine yesterday to really cover the rest of the week.  

Elizabeth: So stick with your diet Coke. Yes. However, I am drinking, it's from Josh sellers, but it's a kind that I've never had before.

It's called sea swept and it's a variety. It's a Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Grigio mix. Oh, isn't that interesting? Yeah. So it's kind of got you can taste both. You can taste like the, maybe the hints of [00:03:00] fruit in the Pinot Grigio. And then you can taste this I don't know, how do you describe Sauvignon Blanc?

How do you describe that taste? 

Erica: I mean, it's pretty dry. 

Elizabeth: Yeah. 

Erica: I would say there's Sometimes it can have a little bit of citrus, but I almost like kind of describe it as like floral almost, like it's not really like a fruit. Yeah. 

Elizabeth: I was gonna say herbal, but I didn't feel like that was the right word, but floral.

Erica: Yeah. Yeah. That's a good way. I think people do describe it that way. I don't think I'm making it up. 

Elizabeth: Yeah. Do you want to describe the taste of your diet coke? How does that taste? 

Erica: How does one describe brown soda? 

Elizabeth: Delicious. 

Erica: It's so good.

Elizabeth:  And diet too. Gross.

All right. So [00:04:00] We have some people that we're talking to like I said, this is part one of a two part episode. So for part one, we are talking to two locals of Lake Lanier. The first one we're talking to is Zac, and the second one we're talking to is Tina and her daughter, Makayla. We had put something out on social media about, you know, if you're local and you want to talk to us and give us your opinion on the haunting of Lake Lanier or your own personal stories to get in contact with us.

And so these are just some of the people who've gotten in contact with us, and they've been really, really fantastic to talk to. So I'm excited to share what they had to say about Lake Lanier. And Now, if you have not listened to episode one of our podcast, it's called Oscarville. I would go back and listen to that.

I would also go back and listen to episode two, which is the lady of the lake, because those come up quite a bit. So, if you are just joining us on this episode, please go back and listen to episode one and two, and [00:05:00] it'll make a lot more sense. All right. So the first person that we spoke to, his name is Zac, and he actually happens to be a musician in this area.

And he was raised near Lake Lanier, lots of experiences. So this is our discussion with Zac, and we're going to come back and talk about this afterwards.

 Elizabeth: Thank you for taking the time to come and talk to me. I really appreciate it. 

Zac: Oh, you're welcome. 

Elizabeth: So you are from that area. Do you want to just tell me about where you're from and where you grew up?

Zac: Yes. So I grew up a few miles away from the lake in Forsyth County near Sawnee Mountain, if you know where that is. 

Elizabeth: So you must have a lot of memories growing up in that area. What was it like for you? 

Zac: It was a small town feel when I was young. So in that sense, it was a very pleasant place to grow up.

Elizabeth: Do you remember hearing [00:06:00] stories when you were growing up about the lake or about the history or anything like that? 

Zac: Well, I guess for one thing, I did know that there were a lot of drownings in the lake because my family always had the Forsyth County News at our house. I I never heard about any haunting type stories, though.

Well, when I, when I was here I mean, when I was young, it was still mostly entirely white county. I did know a little about the racial history, but not as much as I knew as an adult after reading Patrick Phillips book, Blood of the Root. 

Tina: Yeah. 

Zac: Yeah, so when I read that, I just became really angry. That all the adults when I was growing up, nobody really [00:07:00] explained all of that in detail.

And maybe it's because they didn't know all the history themselves. 

Elizabeth: That's really fascinating because I also find that Not very many people in the local area want to talk about it at all. Really? A lot of the local people that I've talked to don't really like that I'm talking about it, is what I've found.

Not everybody, but I will say I've definitely got that sense. What are your feelings about that? I mean, you said that you were angry that you hadn't learned it before. How do you feel about it now? 

Zac: Well, I still feel angry that neither teachers or scout leaded First people never really talked that stuff, but I am heartened for the way that the county precise county has changed as far as the racial makeup and everything.[00:08:00]

I guess one thing I've noticed people seem to latch on to the fact that some communities were just sort of flooded over, but to me that that's not too unusual because I think that other lakes in Georgia. The same thing happened as well as cemeteries getting flooded over, like with Lanier. 

Elizabeth: Right.

That's a good point. I think if you do talk about it, it's important to talk about the historical facts of it. And then things start to make maybe a little bit more sense. Obviously the racial violence is never going to make sense because that's just evil. But as far as constructing the dam and the area and the reasons for making a lake, you know, to control flooding and things like that, that, that at least makes sense.

Zac: Yes, I did go to a 4th of July party on the lake. Now that I think about it, and that was a childhood friend, [00:09:00]and I asked him what he thought about people talking about haunted things about the lake. Yeah. And I said, is that something you've ever heard about much? And he said, no, but he did say a whole lot of people have died on the lake.

So he was like open to that idea. open to some sort of idea. Yeah. 

Elizabeth: Interesting. What's your feeling about hauntings or ghosts? I mean, not necessarily, not necessarily Lake Lanier, but just in general, do you have a opinion on it? 

Zac: I guess that a few things have happened in my life that I can't really explain that seems like they might be paranormal or just didn't make sense in some fashion.

Elizabeth: Yeah, 

Zac: that's only Two or three experiences in my life. I guess I'm just sort of open minded. I'm not really [00:10:00]convinced either way. 

Elizabeth: Yeah. Is there anything else that you were thinking about that you might like to share? 

Zac: I will say that I have been on the lake or around the lake, both during the day and at night.

So I guess one thing that comes to my mind is I don't think I ever want to swim in the lake, as an adult, knowing how many people had died there. And sometimes women. I've been out hiking around the lake. I've participated in the shore sweep event where people walk around and clean up trash. So I, I have been afraid of what I might find in some cases.

Elizabeth: Not necessarily ghosts, but maybe too much litter. 

Zac: Yeah. I also did shore sweep as a kid with the Boy Scouts. And when I was doing that, [00:11:00] I found a big wad of cash by a tree. Yeah, it was a little over 100 and I got to keep it. So that was like a big event in my childhood because that was a lot of money to me.

Elizabeth: Yeah. Some of the things that I hear most are When people are swimming, they feel something like a hand. Have you ever heard anybody say that? Or have you, have you felt anything like that? 

Zac: I have not heard or felt that myself. 

Elizabeth: Yeah. And have you heard of the, the lady in the blue dress? Have you heard of that?

Zac: I have not, no. 

Elizabeth: Two women in the fifties. Who were driving on the highway 53 bridge and they crashed and they both died. A lot of people have said they witnessed an apparition in a blue dress near that bridge. Had you never heard of that? [00:12:00]

Zac: No. 

Elizabeth: Okay. And you'd never seen anything in a blue dress wandering around.

Thank you so much for talking to me. I really appreciate it. 

Zac: Oh, you're welcome. 

Elizabeth: All right. So. That was our discussion with Zac. Erica, what are your thoughts? 

Erica: I think that it's definitely interesting that he has never heard any of this stuff before. It is really common for people to not want to talk about it, and it does feel a little bit hush hush.

I mean, there's a reason why. So you would have thought, you know, somebody would have filled him in. 

Elizabeth: Right, because it's not like what happened in Oscarville was taught in the schools. You know, I'm sure that was purposely left out. 

Erica: I think that's so ridiculous. Even just us talking about this on the podcast has caused some issues.

And I mean, history repeats itself. It's [00:13:00] important to talk about historical facts. 

Elizabeth: Right. He had no unexplained, you know, things that happened to him when he was around the lake or he never got a weird vibe or anything like that, which I think is so interesting because I'm not sure that I ever did either.

When we first moved here, I went to the lake many times before I knew the stories about it since I'm not from here, but well, let's go to our next discussion. And this is with Tina and her daughter, Michaela, and they actually have several experiences. with feeling, you know, paranormal activity or something that they couldn't explain.

So this was a fascinating discussion with Tina and her daughter, Makayla. Tell me about yourself and tell me about when you lived here and where you live now. And yeah, let's just start there. 

Tina: Okay. Tina, I have lived in Macon, Georgia for the last eight years, but before that, I, the majority of my life from the time I was 10 until then I lived in North Georgia.

I did live on Lake Lanier from [00:14:00] 19 85, 6 until about 2011, 12, somewhere in that area. Okay. I've been on Lake Lanier almost all my life. We wanted to go swimming, we went to Lake Lanier. We wanted to go on a picnic, we went to Lake Lanier, you know. 

Elizabeth: I would love to hear some of your stories and your thoughts.

Tina tells us when she was around 15 years old, she went night fishing with some friends on Lake Lanier. That was the first time she remembers feeling watched. 

Tina: I was sitting on the lake and I had my feet in the sand and, you know, and all of a sudden I just had this distinct feeling that someone or something was just watching me.

And I was just looking around and looking around. There was nothing there and the hair, you know, when you feel something the hairs on the back of your neck and your arms kind of just stand up and I'm like, okay, I'm just going to go right [00:15:00] on back to my car. I found my friends and we left. So nothing in the water happened that time.

Now fast forward about a year or so, maybe a year and a half later, me and aforementioned ex, we were there swimming. We liked to night swim. We didn't like to really go during the day when it's very, very crowded. So it was probably about, 8, 830 at night. He had swum over the ropes to the deep part of the lake.

I was not that brave. He was probably maybe 200 feet from me. He was pretty far out there and I was just, you know, floating along, scissor kicking my little legs and I felt something run their hand from my ankle up to my buttock. 

Elizabeth:Really? 

Well, I know that's not [00:16:00] him because he's about 250 feet that way.

Tina: There was no one else. around me. And I'm like, okay, did Casper just grope me? So, you know, I started swimming towards the rope barrier and I was going to call for him to, hey, let's go. And I felt something, it felt like hand, I hand to God, it felt like a hand. grabbed my ankle and just kind of didn't really jerk me hard just to let me know it was there not to injure me, not to try and drown me or anything.

And I felt something grab my ankle and just jerk me. And I'm like, okay, now is the time for me to get the part of my language out of here. So I screamed at the top of my lungs. Which is pretty loud. Charlie, we're getting out of here. Yeah. So I swam back up to the lake and this older gentleman, [00:17:00] I would say he was probably in his fifties.

He's like, are you okay? I saw you kind of, you know, I was like, Nope, no, I'm not. No, I'm not. Okay. I'm going to my car. If you see that idiot swim up here, you tell him I'm in my car. 

Elizabeth: I asked Tina when she became aware of the events of Oscarville. 

Tina: Now I grew up around a lot of African American friends. The high school I went to was a large portion African American, and I remember going over to a friend of mine's house and her grandmother, she lived during Oscarville.

Okay. I, you know, about 14, 15, I was over at my friend's house and her grandmother started telling me stories about Oscarville, you know, the, the town under the lake. That's what she called it. The town under the lake. 

Elizabeth: You don't have to say her name, but do you want to say her first name maybe? 

Tina: It escapes me. I just called her granny V. And granny V was [00:18:00] telling me she was a little bitty girl when this happened, she was probably seven or eight when all of this happened. So she was there for it. And, you know, this, I guess this is where I got my sense, sense of social injustice, you know, of everything I was told about this.

And I'm like, wow. city, this town was ran out because of that, this horrible thing that happened to this person, which, you know, I feel really bad for the lady that it happened to, I truly do. But, you know, back in those days, you just said the word black man and Lynch mob, you know, luckily she didn't lose any family.

She got very lucky. They were just chased out. Yeah. We've seen the Tulsa, Oklahoma massacre. We know all about that. We may not have learned about it in school, but we've learned about it. You know, I saw an interview with Tom Hanks where he was [00:19:00] speaking about it. 

Elizabeth: Know just what you're talking about. 

Tina: And it's you're this age and you just found out about this.

And I was 14, 15 when I found out this and I was like, you know, we were doing something in fifth grade about genealogy and my parents were older. They were 40 and 42 when I was born. So I'm like, okay, let me, let me learn for myself. And I found out some horrible things about my ancestors on my father's side.

And it's. Not pretty. It's, it actually embarrasses me that I have to say that my family owned human beings. Because before the Civil War, my father's family was very wealthy, and then they stupidly decided to put all their money into Confederacy money. So now we've been poor since. Not a single one of us can get a leg up.

I guess that's karma coming back for that part of the family. And I'm like, wow, [00:20:00] 

Elizabeth: It just really affected you. 

Tina: Yes. And to this day, I cannot stand seeing someone bullied. I cannot stand people calling other people, these horrible names. 

Elizabeth: So after these these things happen to you and you have those experiences, do you feel like the two are connected or do you, or do you not know?

I mean, how do you feel about it now? 

Tina: I believe that spirits. act out in a way to let you know that they're here. They may not necessarily be there to do you harm, but if it was a, you know, someone from Oscarville, a descendant of Oscarville, ancestor, whatever you want to call it, and they were, coming to me.

Maybe they were just trying to let me know, hey, we're still here. This is what happened to us. We're still here. Acknowledge [00:21:00] us. So now anytime I go near Lake Lanier, whenever I go to visit my father, anytime I go to Lake Lanier, I make sure that I say a prayer. And I just say thank you for your sacrifice.

Thank you for allowing me to learn your history. I mean you no harm. Please do me no harm. Yeah, I just want to enjoy myself here. Unfortunately, this is where this happened. Yeah, I'm sorry. Yeah. So, yeah, I believe my experiences. They, they were connected to something in the lake, whether it was Native American, African American, somebody got drunk and drowned on Lake O'Neill, I don't know.

There's all kinds. But trees don't grab your butt. 

Elizabeth: Yeah, that is terrifying, 

Tina: but it wasn't like a sexual grope, you know, I think it  was more of, [00:22:00] you know, Hey, I'm here. Let me, let me, you know, let you know, I'm here. Yeah. It wasn't like someone just grabbed a whole handful and said, you know, I look at it this way that everyone's going to have their own experiences on the lake.

Everyone's going to have their own version of what happens on the lake. People are going to believe or not believe. I've never felt anything malicious on the lake. It's never been directed towards me. And that's because I believe I've always gone there with a pure intention, pure heart. 

Elizabeth: Yeah. 

Tina: So when I go to the lake, I make sure that everyone, that the spirits there know that I'm not there to do ill.

Yeah. I'm there to swim, eat, have fun, and to maybe honor them. To let them know, Hey, I'm not here to do bad. I'm here to [00:23:00] have fun with my family. I'm here to, you know, I'm here to maybe tell somebody about your stories that are interesting. 

Elizabeth: Yeah. So I have a question because there I've, I've met a lot of people who are really upset with me and some of these documentaries and some of these other people, they're very upset with the lake getting a reputation of being haunted.

And they don't, they just don't want to recognize that that reputation exists. So how do you feel about that? 

Tina: I think it’s wonderful. I think it's great. And people need to be aware. I think people are that get upset over that. There are people that don't believe. People who are like, Oh, you're making us look like we're crazy or you're crazy or the crazy is a subjective word.

Okay. I think people need to be aware when they come to that lake. Number one, you can [00:24:00] have a good time on your boat on the water, whatever, where your life jacket. Yes. Don't get that drunk to where you, you know, you put yourself in harm's way. Yes. And like I said, yes, there's debris under there. There's trees and things of that nature.

Yes. But I think the documentaries, which I'm actually looking forward to purchasing the two that are on Amazon now, I really want to see those. I think they're informative. Now people can make up their own minds. I would, I don't look at it as, you know, Oh, well, this is horrible. You're going to make a reputation for the lake already has a reputation.

Elizabeth: That's why the documentaries exist. 

Tina: Thank you. The lake already has a reputation. You guys are just putting your perspective on that reputation. 

Tina: I think it's awesome. I think it's great. I think everyone should learn.

Elizabeth:  Next [00:25:00] I meet Michaela. Tina's daughter, and she tells us of a harrowing experience of her and her sister when they were just kids.

Tina: This is my daughter, Michaela.

Elizabeth: Hi, I'm Elizabeth. 

Tina: Yeah, her and her sister are about 19 months apart. 

Makayla: So we asked if us and a friend could maybe go down and do some exploring by the lake. You know, kid stuff. And she was like, yeah, sure, that's fine. Just, you know, be careful. Also We, we were walking through the woods and the trails just being kids, you know, picking up sticks and we found this dog.

So we, we figured this is like a fishing spot or something and us being kids, we saw the dog and we're like, Ooh, let's jump off. 

Tina: So dumb kids, they were being dumb kids. 

Makayla: Yes. We, we wanted to just swim, splash around and relax. So, So we, we were in the water and I turned around for a split second and [00:26:00] I heard her yelp and there was the sound of the water being disturbed.

So I don't know if she like found a drop off or, or what happened exactly, but. She, she was starting to drown. So me being the, the older sibling, I immediately went into, I've got to get her out of water mode, so I jumped in further and I went to grab her and try to pull her back some more. And we were kind of struggling and the life instinct where you're drowning and you push down the person trying to save you because you want to get up and take that breath that that's what happened.

And I, everything happened so fast but afterwards, I distinctly remember I felt a hand around my ankle. It felt like it actually went up and got to, I want to say behind my knee or the back of [00:27:00] my thigh, but it felt like something was pushing me. And I managed to get my arms around my sister and was kicking out with one of my legs.

And the same time I felt this push, my left foot found solid embankment and we Got onto that and we got out of the water and back on the dock and we were gasping and, you know, trying to catch her breaths and everything. But we, we didn't stay on the dock very long after that. Once we caught our breaths, we, we were pretty much okay, we've got to get back home.

Tina: Now, do you feel like they were pushing you towards the embankment? 

Makayla: I do, honestly, because in my head I was going, someone please help, we do not, we don't want to die here, you know, because we, we really were drowning and it was, it still affects me to this day talking about it. 

Tina: She doesn't go swimming very much.

Makayla: Looking back whenever [00:28:00] I do think about it, I, I honestly do think something hurt me. just in my head or they could feel what we were feeling, but I honestly think whatever it was, was trying to help could hear me or feel me or could even see or sense what was going on. And they knew that we were just kids.

Elizabeth: Yeah, that's amazing. So before that had happened, had you heard the stories about the lake? 

Makayla: We knew the lake had a reputation for, you know, there's trees and there's buildings and stuff under there. We knew that. And of course, the catfish the size of a school bus, and we heard that. The urban legends like that.

And, you know, we've heard stuff like that. But in terms of the ghost stories, or even Oscarville, like my mom mentioned we hadn't learned about any of that quite yet. And actually, after this did happen to us, I remember school started back up and I went [00:29:00] to the library in school and I started picking up book after book I could find on Lake Lanier and I just started reading and learning and And then I eventually did, you know, kind of connect what happened to me and my sister back with that.

Tina: now I've been on the, I've been on Lake Lanier before on a boat. And when we went out one time, it was very choppy. I do remember that if it felt like something didn't want us there that day, something didn't want us on the water that day. And we got on a tube behind the boat and they were, you know, flinging us around and everything.

And I remember I got flung off and smacked the side of my face into the water. And it, you know, it knocks you dumb for a second. I do remember, [00:30:00] Feeling a hand on my shoulder, kind of just, you know, gently pushing me up. I heard something. I, I don't know if it was words. I don't know what it was, but something told me to wake up.

They were like, you know, get up. And I kind of shook my head real hard, you know, and I had water in my ear, of course, from smacking like linear with my face and my husband. Now, my husband, he, he's are you okay? And I was like, yeah, I'm, I'm getting up. I'm getting up and. I got back in the boat and the people that we were on the boat with, they were like, Hey, you know, what happened?

You just kind of went down and then you just popped back up. I was like, 

Makayla: Oh, I think I remember this now. We were on the boat too. 

Tina: Yeah. You guys were with us. And 

Tina: I remember the  girls. We're crying. My son was still probably about two or three years old when that [00:31:00] happened. And he just kind of kept patting my face, mama, mama, you okay?

Mommy, you okay? And I just looked at it. I was like, we gotta go, we gotta get off this water. Something doesn't want us here right now. And I remember reading in the newspaper, you know, an actual newspaper that there was a drowning about two or three miles from where we were. That day, I can't remember what day it was.

He unfortunately had gotten too drunk, sun beating down on you. You get lethargic and he didn't have a life jacket on, which is why I screamed to everybody when you were going out on a boat, if you're going to go past those rope barriers. Please wear a life jacket. Yes, please be more aware of your surroundings.

Don't get so drunk that you can't pay attention to what's going on because that's when most of the accidents happen. 

Elizabeth: All right. So what [00:32:00] did you think about Tina?

Erica:  I thought that was really terrifying. Yeah. If someone grabbed my ankle in the water, I would actually, my soul would leave my body. That's I guess like the the hand like feeling up her leg or whatever, you know, you could call that like maybe a weird fish or something.

But like when she said that her ankle was grabbed. No, I would have flown out of that water somehow. Yeah. That is terrifying. 

Elizabeth: I've heard that from her, I've heard it from several other people about feeling something in the water that does feel like a hand. I mean, I cannot tell you how many times I've heard that.

Erica: That is super, super creepy. I mean, you think about all of the bodies that are in that water. I'm just imagining 27 at least. these 

Elizabeth: bodies reaching up. I was going to say, too, even with all those experiences She [00:33:00] never felt that anything was there to harm. You know, I thought that was interesting, too, because while it might freak you out and completely be unsettling, she's it didn't stop her from returning to the lake, and then she just said that when she goes back, she just makes a recognition of the past and her intentions, and I just, I really like that.

Yeah, that makes sense. So if if I go on TikTok and I go on, by the way, follow us on TikTok, we are at Linear Ghost Tours on TikTok and Instagram and Facebook. And there are quite a few comments. You know, people say I love it there. It's beautiful there, but I would never swim in the water. Let's see what else I can find.

Super close to my house. Love that spot. The lake is totally safe. The lady at the lake is quietly sleeping at the bottom. Oh man, this woman says, love this, my grandmother was [00:34:00] Delia's first cousin. They were close, but there is a much sadder story that we have not heard. Delia is the lady of the lake. She was, she died in the 1950s in a car crash.

Erica: You should respond to that lady and see if she can talk to us

Elizabeth: I did, I said please, I said please, DM me and tell me your story. She said she wanted, she needed to get permission from her grandmother and then she'll update. So hopefully we'll hear from her again. 

Erica: Yeah, that would be awesome.

Elizabeth: Yeah. Thank you for making this page. I live close by here in Dacula. I wanted to see, I wanted to go here and see if I could experience something but I'm afraid of Lake Lanier for some reason. Never been to it, but it scares me. Oh. So again, like it's, yeah, the scary reputation, I think it's going to keep people from having their own experiences.

But again, like we just said, we've never heard anyone feel like anything is out to get them. Yeah. [00:35:00] I've never heard that. 

Erica: Yeah, I've not heard it 

Elizabeth: either. I grew up in Marietta. We were always at the lake. I never knew the stories until I got older. I think these, I think the stories and the history is coming out now.

I think that's a very new thing. 

Erica: Seems to be. I mean, there is a lot Of contention around the history and. I mean, some locals are just in an uproar over it like the lake has a, we're talking about it giving the lake a bad reputation. The lake has a reputation, the books, the history, the newspapers. I'm sorry, but it already exists.

So it's better to acknowledge it. And maybe because people haven't been acknowledging it, that's why there's been so much activity. That's why people are getting grabbed. Because these, these lost Souls or energy or [00:36:00] whatever feel forgotten and they're just contained in this lake and everybody's just pretending like everything's okay when it's, it's not.

If you acknowledge it, you can start the healing. 

Elizabeth: Right. And then, and then we get these other comments. That's y'all don't know how to respect the dead. I don't feel like we're not respecting anybody. I feel like we. go out of our way to respect absolutely everybody past and present. Kind of 

Erica: talking about it.

That's the whole point 

Elizabeth: I live on the lake, nobody wanders the lake, good lord. It's, then this person says I've lived on Lake Lanier my entire life, it's certainly dangerous but haunted. 

Erica: Sometimes when you open your mind enough to like, allow ideas like that and beliefs like that, it's scary.

And so I think a lot of people who are closed minded about anything, it's out of fear. 

Elizabeth: Yeah, [00:37:00] I have been watching this really fascinating show on Hulu. It's called “out there.” Have you heard of it or seen it? You need to watch it. You need to watch the whole thing. You can binge it. Okay, it's very bingeable each episode takes place in a different city and the and it kind of talks about maybe that city or that areas main piece of folklore.

So I forget which city it is where it's the goat man. And you know, people there really think that a goat man is going to kill, it's going to kill people. And people will go out looking for the goat man. And guess what? They die because they go on a train track to fight. That's where he lives is on a train track.

Of course. Yeah. So they go on the train track, they get hit by a train and they, and they die. And so. The this, the one episode that I remember the most because it kind of reminded me of what goes on with Lake Lanier. So the people of that city just took control of the narrative of the Goatman. They made a [00:38:00] Goatman festival.

And they made, you know, they made it not scary. They made it into a story. And then people can learn about the story. Their little city gets some tourism dollars and people have fun with it because you don't have to believe in a story to have fun with it, you know, and then it takes away the scariness. Of what happened and it brings to light you know, these were kids who got on a train track.

And just talking about it in the right way, I think can be really helpful and healing. 

Erica: Yeah. 

Elizabeth: So that's where I think that's where I am on all of this with Lake Lanier right now. I mean, it's a journey and I certainly don't want to say or do anything that's going to be disrespectful. So that's what I mean.

I don't think it's disrespectful to talk about it. We, we really try to do so in the best way possible with facts and by bringing in other points of view you know, these two people that we talked to today. Next week, [00:39:00] we're talking to another woman who has a crazy. story, like the best story. I love this story.

So don't miss next week's for sure. And I love that Zach brought up the book Blood at the Root by Patrick Phillips. If you really have an interest in this subject of, of Oscarville and Lake Lanier, you absolutely should read that book from cover to cover because it is extremely well researched. And there's just, there's no better book about this subject than that one.

So if you really, really want to get in on this discussion, that's a good place. That's a great place to start. I've got that book downstairs. It was one of the first books that I ordered because I saw him do an interview with the BBC. And that's when I heard about his book and ordered it. So that it's such a good book.

It's a great place to start. Next week, we are talking [00:40:00] with Elise, who has an incredible story that happened to her on Lake Lanier. It's really riveting. You don't want to miss this story. It is October. So everybody , everybody is looking for Halloween events and I, if you're in the Atlanta area, book a tour, a ghost tour at Lake Lanier.

Go to www dots linear ghost tours.com and book your ghost tour with us. It's gonna be great. We go to all these locations that we've talked about on the podcast. It's on a boat. It's lots of fun, it's family friendly, it's educational. It's a little bit spooky. And it's a great day on the lake. So, book your tour with linear ghost tours and enter this promo code because we've got a 10 percent off discount running through Halloween, L G T, Halloween things, exclamation, and get 10 percent off.

Erica: Yay. 

Elizabeth: Well, thank you for joining [00:41:00] us. I hope you enjoyed these discussions and don't forget to join us next week when we have I don't know…

Erica: Join us next week. 

Elizabeth: Join us next week for another fascinating discussion. 

Erica: That was too excited, honestly. 

Elizabeth: You do it. 

Erica: All right, everybody. Thanks for listening and join us next week.

Elizabeth: End of sentence. 

Erica: It is awkward. Yeah.