A night of ghostly tales

Oct 16, 2024 By Paul Paterra 4 min read

Gather ’round the campfire at the Bradford House Museum in Washington Thursday for an evening of ghost stories told by Washington’s own pirate, Captain Calico Drake.

The captain is one of several characters portrayed by Erik Sprowls, host of the television show, “Dead and Buried Treasures,” featuring monster movies.

“I know they used to do ghost tours at the Bradford House, but they don’t do them anymore,” Sprowls said. “I volunteered to do a fundraiser for them where I read ghostly tales and campfire stories for Halloween. They will be ghostly tales that have happened in this town or legends and tall tales. I kind of embellish a little bit, because pirates don’t really tell the truth all of the time. It’s all angled toward the town or (Washington & Jefferson) college or Bradford House.”

Sprowls, 59, outfitted in his Drake garb, will host programs at the museum on 175 S. Main St. in Washington at 6 and 8 p.m. Thursday. All funds raised will benefit the Bradford House Museum.

Sprowls, a 1984 graduate of Trinity High School, holds degrees in communication arts from California University and Robert Morris University, and has taught at several colleges, including California, Clarion, Bloomsburg, Bethany and the Art Institute of Ohio in Cincinnati.

He created “Dead and Buried Treasures” about five years ago.

“I taught television classes in the past and just loved it,” Sprowls said. “I had a friend say to me, ‘Don’t you get tired of making other people famous?’ It kind of stuck with me. The following year COVID happened and there was nothing on TV. I have a green screen at home and thought I could probably do something on local TV just like I used to do with students for years.”

Thus, the show was born, with Sprowls initially producing the entire program out of his home on public access. He said he still shoots some scenes in his home.

Captain Calico Drake is joined by a cast of characters, including “Davy Bones” and “Jack,” a cockatoo who is his co-host. Sprowls voices many of the characters.

The show has won a number of awards locally and nationally.

“Dead and Buried Treasures” can be seen on various cable channels, including CUTV channels 17 and 62 in Washington and Uniontown, PTCTV channel 21 in Peters Township, BPTV channel 21 in Bethel Park and ANCTV in Connellsville on channels 20 and 100.

It is also available nationally on The Monster Channel, DBTV and the Vortexx Horror Host Network, on which Sprowls was named Best Host.

But Thursday night, Captain Calico Drake will be seen at the Bradford House Museum with some tales from beyond.

“It’s going to be a beautiful backdrop,” Srowls said. “Their courtyard in the back has a nice little log cabin and a nice campfire area. Hopefully, it will be a fun evening of me telling these really, really bad ghost stories that may or may not have happened. It will be a lot of fun for Halloween – ghost stories around the campfire.”

Tickets for the Bradford House event are $10; children 10 and younger are admitted free. The event will be recorded for a Halloween episode of “Dead and Buried Treasures.”

In between sessions, guests are welcome to get the captain’s autograph or have their picture taken with him. Tickets are available at bradfordhouse.org/events or at the door.

There will be free hot chocolate and popcorn, plus the ticket is good for 10% discounts at Vocelli’s Pizza and Big Shot Bob’s House of Wings that night.

Courtesy of Erik Sprowls

Erik Sprowls of Washington will tell tales around the campfire at the Bradford House Museum as his character Capt. Calico Drake.

Courtesy of Erik Sprowls

A character voiced by Erik Sprowls on “Dead and Buried Treasures” is “Davy Bones.”

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