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TV show will feature local ‘haunts’

4 min read
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Courtesy of Erik Sprowls

Megin Harrington, the owner of the Century Inn at Scenery Hill along the National Pike, will be featured in the upcoming Halloween special of “Dead and Buried Treasures.” The show visited area places that are said to be haunted.

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Courtesy of Erik Sprowls

Ed Kelemen, the author of the “Haunted Pennsylvania” series of books, will be featured in the Halloween special of “Dead and Buried Treasurers.”

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Courtesy of Erik Sprowls

The Century Inn at Scenery Hill along Route 40 was one of the locations featured in the upcoming Halloween special for “Dead and Buried Treasures.”

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Courtesy of Erik Sprowls

Guests at the Mount Washington Tavern in Farmington have reported smelling food or coffee, despite none being made there. Tales about the tavern will be included in an upcoming Halloween special for the show “Dead and Buried Treasures.”

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Carnegie Free Library of Connellsville will be included in an upcoming Halloween episode of “Dead and Buried Treasures.”

Guests who spend the night at the Century Inn in Scenery Hill may find themselves with special turn-down service, as they’re tucked in by a ghost as they go to sleep.

And at the Carnegie Free Library in Connellsville, some won’t venture into the basement.

The tales of ghost soldiers at 3 a.m. are a bit too much.

Those tales, and more, will be featured on the Halloween special of the regionally produced “Dead and Buried Treasures.” Segments on the television show, created and hosted by Erik Sprowls, will feature video, images and interviews at and about different areas along Route 40, including Fort Necessity, the Mount Washington Tavern and Century Inn. The Carnegie Free Library on Pittsburgh Street will also be featured.

“I think Pennsylvania is notorious this time of year for scary stories,” said Sprowls, of Washington, who plays Captain Calico Drake on the show.

The idea to include segments of places with tales of hauntings came from Sprowls’ interest in local history with George Washington at Fort Necessity in Farmington.

“I heard there were ghost stories there,” Sprowls said.

So he asked around. That led to another story, and another, and, “It really expanded from there,” he said.

At the fort, Sprowls heard a story about a woman who took her family for a self-guided tour of the battlefield. There, she saw what she believed to be a reenactor portraying a soldier. The woman mentioned the reenactor to an employee when they returned from her walk around the grounds. The problem, however, was that no costumed soldiers were on the battlefield that day.

Just down the road is Mount Washington Tavern, where Sprowls learned that while there’s no food made on site, guests have reported smelling baking bread or coffee being brewed. Some have also heard children laughing and playing when, mysteriously, there are no children there.

The tales were some of the many Sprowls learned as he interviewed people for the special.

“There are some great ghost stories in there,” Sprowls said, adding he wanted to focus on places people can experience. “I wish we could do more – there’s so much more out there.”

The three-hour Halloween special, which airs at 9 p.m. on both Oct. 29 and 30, includes a presentation of the movie “Count Dracula and His Vampire Bride.” Segments on reports of local hauntings will be played during breaks for the movie.

“Dead and Buried Treasures,” which won a national award for the best horror host program in the country in 2021, was also nominated for a regional Emmy award for best syndicated show earlier this year.

While they missed out on the Emmy, Sprowls said he’s hopeful the show will be nominated again.

Christopher Pressley, of Cary, N.C., plays Jasper on the show. He joined the cast last year and records his scenes before a green screen and sends the footage to Sprowls.

“The show’s story is constantly evolving, and we’re getting more recognition, more stations picking us up and we’re being nominated for different awards,” Pressley said. “It continues to grow and continues to improve and people are noticing.”

Aleen Isley, of Pittsburgh has played Mirabella the Mermaid on the show since late 2020. She’s seen evidence of the show’s popularity with the expansion to other affiliates. That, as well as the awards, was a good sign of positive public feedback, she said.

In March, Sprowls received a request to have “Dead and Buried Treasures” syndicated on DBTV Network, which is a worldwide 24/7 streaming channel available through devices like Roku and Amazon Fire TV Stick. The network is also available on demand, and through its website, www.dbtv.tv.

“Dead and Buried Treasures” airs on DBTV Network every Saturday and Sunday at 9 p.m.

Regionally, the show can be seen on CUTV in Fayette and Washington counties, BPTV in Bethel Park and Pittsburgh, PCTV in Allegheny County and downtown Pittsburgh and MCATV in Moon Township.

The show can be seen nationally through an app on The Monster Channel (also found on Roku and Amazon Fire TV Stick), online at The Vortexx Network at www.horrorhost.net and on the “Dead and Buried Treasures” Facebook and YouTube pages.

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