WDET’s CuriosiD series answers your questions about everything Detroit. Subscribe to CuriosiD on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode of CuriosiD, we answer the question:

“Is the Main Branch of the Detroit Public Library haunted?”

Even long before “Ghostbusters” first premiered in 1984 with its iconic opening sequence, there’s been a popular perception that libraries are potential hot spots for hauntings. I searched the stacks of the Detroit Public Library’s Main Branch on Woodward Avenue to find the call number for ghost stories.

The short answer

Both long-serving staff members have submitted their own anecdotal evidence of firsthand accounts. True to the nature of librarians, they’ve also recorded reports in history books that suggest a few unique specters shuffle through the stacks of DPL’s Main Branch.

Included in our interview are recountings of a cursed book, a ghost cat, and — potentially — an inconspicuous gateway to hell hidden amid the lower level of the library…

But you’re probably wondering: Did I see any ghosts while I was there? Well, not this time, at least.

What better place to haunt, really?

Local retired librarian Anne Kabel asked this episode’s question. Kabel has worked for public libraries in Birmingham and Southfield and has made many visits to the beautiful Detroit Public Library’s Main Branch on Woodward. When we interviewed her in front of the library, she mentioned seeing yet another sequence involving a library ghost in the most recent “Ghostbusters” film, which partly inspired this question. She also described a phantom feline.

“I saw a video, probably on YouTube, of a ghost cat in the basement of this building! When I saw the video, you could see this almost transparent cat running across the floor and into the stacks…”

“I think spirits like to live on in their favorite places, and the library is one of the favorite places of a lot of people.”

—Anne Kabel retired librarian and WDET listener

Those stories would later be confirmed by some of the staff I met inside the library. But before we headed in, I asked Kabel why she thought a library might be a prime location for a haunting.

“I think spirits like to live on in their favorite places,” she said. “And the library is one of the favorite places of a lot of people.”

Inside, I met reference librarian Cully Sommers, who had some thoughts on why a library like DPL might be haunted.

“I think any old building like this, people tend to see it in that way,” Sommers said. “But also the collection of history, and the arcane knowledge that exists somewhere within the library. Somehow, these things kinda leave the pages and start to inhabit the building itself.”

I also spoke with Katie Dowgiewicz, DPL’s public relations specialist, who quickly identified herself as a “Ghostbusters” fan and was hoping to have an encounter of her own someday. She considered “…the number of people who have come through these doors and the different things they’ve been searching for or needed help with… There’s a lot of energy, and a lot of individuals who are coming through our doors constantly. Maybe that’s being picked up on or left behind.”

A gateway to hell?

Sommers has not only been working at the library for decades, but he also has an interest in the supernatural, so he has quite a few stories to tell. He spoke of a clerk who recently passed away and had worked for years in the Burton Historical Collection on B-level.

“She told me when I started here that there was a gateway to hell on B-level, and that her job was to protect that gateway and to stop everything from coming out into the world.”

This story was chilling enough without Sommers adding, for context, that this late clerk was also a self-described “witch” who once gifted him an evil-eye talisman.

I interviewed both of them on the third level of the library, where Dowgiewicz and Sommers confirmed that several stories and experiences had been reported by staff.

“Footsteps in the stacks, knocking sounds, feeling that someone is behind you…” Dowgiewicz said, listing examples. “Or seeing some figure out of the corner of your eye, and when you look, there isn’t anyone there.”

Naturally, these two librarians referenced a book, “Haunted Detroit” by Nicole Beauchamp, which details accounts of “the shadow of a little girl.” This was a story Sommers had already heard from his own colleagues in person.

“A story of the same kind of thing,” he said, “seeing a little girl with a bow in her hair, saying, ‘Where’s my doll?’… and then she disappears!”

I couldn’t resist asking whether there was possibly a “cursed book” on the shelves of the library, and Dowgiewicz had an answer. She confirmed with a docent from the Historical Collection that Benny Evangelista, a self-proclaimed “divine prophet” who emigrated to the U.S. from Naples in the early 20th century and got into real estate, donated a book to DPL in 1927. The book, ‘The Oldest History of the World Discovered by Occult Science in Detroit, Michigan,” is signed by Evangelista himself. Dowgiewicz said it might not be cursed, but it certainly was “a creepy coincidence.”

Liminal way station

But isn’t a library a sort of liminal space, or maybe even a way station of energies, personalities, and experiences — a corridor that the entire community passes through, sometimes for leisure, sometimes for study, sometimes even with urgency?

Whether you’re a college student cramming for exams or someone in need of a printer — or yes, even a fax machine — libraries are public services, welcoming everyone from all walks of life. Maybe some patrons just haven’t left…

“It could be that people just love the books so much that they want to stay by them,” Kabel said. “I could see myself haunting a library one day!”

It’s nearly Halloween, and as Sheriff Leigh Brackett said in the 1978 John Carpenter film: “Everyone’s entitled to one good scare.”

And remember, if you’re ever looking to learn more about ghosts, you can find it on the shelves of your local library. The Dewey Decimal call number, by the way, is 133.

Or, if you’re like Dowgiewicz, you might just want to hang around with your ears open and your eyes peeled, hoping to give yourself a good scare.

“I tell people when they ask, ‘So why did you want to become a librarian?’ I tell them, because of ‘Ghostbusters,’” she said. “And I’m still waiting for that experience!”

Meet the listener

WDET listener Anne Kabel is not only a Ghostbusters fan but also a retired librarian who, fittingly for the spooky season, wondered whether the Detroit Public Library’s Main Branch on Woodward is haunted.

We want to hear from you!

If there’s a burning question about Detroit you’d like the answer to, let us know here or fill out the form below.

More from CuriosiD:

• Behind the Scenes: Celebrating 10 years of CuriosiD
• Who was Thomas Mollicone? The story behind the naming of an east side Detroit park
• What is the history behind the Belle Isle Boathouse?

This week, MI Local was packed with several exclusive premieres of new tracks by local artists, including Taylor DeRousse, with “Ruins,” and the duo known as Dirt Room with “Solar Hits.” I also gave listeners sneak previews of songs that aren’t released yet (but will be soon), including punk trio The Idiot Kids, with their cover of Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid,” and the versatile rock band Rose St. Germaine, with their forthcoming 45 rpm vinyl release, “You’ll Always Love Me.”

I also had another in-studio guest this week! Detroit-based singer-songwriter Josie Palmer stopped by to talk about some of her recent releases, as well as premiere a new track, “Tuck Everlasting.” Palmer blends alt-folk and indie-rock to augment her subtle-yet-staggering vocal talents which wend their way into slow, swooning choruses that curl into catchy and dreamy melodies. Palmer’s new song, “Tuck Everlasting,” was inspired by the plot of the Natalie Babbitt book, and its film adaptation, regarding the difficult choice of forging one’s own path, particularly applied to breaking out of the cycle of emotional codependency in relationships.

Palmer’s father was a jazz musician who “could play every instrument,” and she quickly aspired to follow in his footsteps. Her parents eventually got Palmer her own guitar “because I kept dragging (my dad’s) guitar around the house as a kid, and banging it up.” After learning guitar, it was piano, then voice lessons, then violin, then youth symphonies and then “a lot of musical theater.”

So, with music being such a focal point of her life, I couldn’t resist asking Palmer what she loves most about it.

“It’s the closest thing we have to magic,” said Palmer, “that’s my best way to describe music.”

Palmer started releasing songs three years ago, but she’s actually been writing and composing for much of her life, in fact, aside from the “magic,” Palmer particularly loves the creative process.

“But I had a lot of inhibitions about releasing music, which is always in this headspace of feeling like I wasn’t allowed to, even though no one was saying that. So, it’s been nice in recent years, just writing more and feeling free to put it out in the world.”

Palmer is also in the band Vaega, a quintet which leans into dream-pop and shoegaze — with each member also having their own respective solo projects. Find Vaega’s recent singles here.

Josie Palmer will be performing live this Thursday Night at the Corktown Tavern.

See the playlist below and listen to the episode on-demand for two weeks after it airs using the media player above.

MI Local Playlist for Oct. 22, 2024

• “Ruins” – Taylor DeRousse
• “One Too Many Times” – Lauren Blackford
• “Big Sun” – Ingo Swann
• “The Enchanted Isles” – Deastro
• “Solar Hits” – Dirt Room
• “You’ll Always Love Me” – Rose St. Germaine
• “Talk To Me” – Neu Blume
• “Burn” – The Cult of Spaceskull
• “Paranoid” – The Idiot Kids
• “Tuck Everlasting” – Josie Palmer
• “REM” – Josie Palmer
• “Soft” – Vaega

This week on MI Local, I received another visit by a local artist/musician, so that they could personally share a new song with our listeners! R&B singer-songwriter C3 stopped by to premiere his latest song, “The Other Man,” which he spoke about during our interview.

“I really just wanted to write a record for the good guys,” C3 said. It’s about finding “a good-hearted individual” who can “protect you and love you, forever.”

It’s also a song that’s quite danceable, while also showcasing C3’s vocal talents.

Along with this premiere, we heard brand new music from Detroit rock trio Shadow Show, and Ypsilanti-based singer-songwriter Kylee Phillips. We also previewed WDET’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Horror Show II, hosted by Jon Moshier next weekend at the Cadieux Cafe.

Stream the whole show and you’ll also hear some great local tracks that capture a quintessentially autumnal vibe, including Kalamazoo-based artist Jordan Hamilton and Detroit’s own Zilched.

• “The Good Parts” – Kylee Phillips
• “Baba Yaga” – Shadow Show
• “The Other Man” – C3 (In-Studio Guest)
• “Graveyard Rockin'” – The 3-D Invisibles
• “The Morning After (The Monster Mash)” – Norcos Y Horchata
• “Dark Dance” – Detroit Riddim Crew
• “Mezcal” – Duende
• “Sun” – Windy & Carl
• “Like The Dead” – Carmel Liburdi
• “Halloween” – Misty Lyn & the Big Beautiful
• “Believe In” – Jordan Hamilton
• “Radio Tower Blues” – Raw Honey
• “Loveless” – Zilched

• “Different Animal” – The High Strung
• “Embankment” – Fred Thomas
• “Arcturus Beaming” – The Crane Wives
• “Gas Station Joe Jonas” – no problemo!
• “It’s Nice To Stand Outside” – Sunbather
• “Leto II Accepts the Sandtrout Onto His Body” – Olivia Kieffer
• “TV Star” – Mod Lang
• “The Box” – Deadbeat Beat
• “Thin Mirrors” – Low Phase
• “PTS” – Bivouac Cabs
• “Gold Lake” – Ki5 & Aviva Match
• “Morning Eyes” – The Morning Eyes
• “Mermaid” – Henry Walters
• “Where Are You Going” – Ally Evenson
• “To Say Goodbye” – May Erlewine
• “I’m A Fool” – Ménage Détroit

This week on MI Local, I welcome three local musicians to chat about football as well as music!

It turns out there’s actually a wide-ranging and very active fantasy football league comprised of metro Detroit musicians. Jesse Shepherd-Bates (Bad Magnets, Handgrenades) George Morris (Reggi Roomers, Handgrenades), and Jason Stollsteimer (formerly of The Von Bondies, Pony Show, and the Hounds Below), stopped by to talk about how their league started, how it all works, and why it’s proven to be a very satisfying way for friends and creative collaborators to stay in touch throughout the year(s).

Additional local bands represented in this league include The Beggars, Eck! Ronny Tibbs and Citizen Smile.

I also premiere new tracks from Josie Palmer (of the band Vaega), Rowan Niemisto and Tunde Olaniran — and take a look at the upcoming record release party by rock quintet The Hourlies.

See the playlist below and listen to the episode on-demand for two weeks after it airs using the media player above.

• “Berlin Hair” – Twinn
• “Goldwine” – The Lasso & The Go Rounds
• “Dirt” – Josie Palmer
• “Wiser Man” – Rowan
• “Wishing Well” – Mike Ward
• “Too Bad” – Tunde Olaniran
• “The Falcon” – Brizzle
• “AC Tarot” – Cracked & Hooked
• “Starz” – Carjack
• “Under Your Skin” – The Hourlies
• “Magnetics” – Bad Magnets
• “Lovebird” – After Dark Amsuement Park
• “Chancer” – The Von Bondies

This week, we listened to three artists with ties to a unique Detroit-based music collective/record label, known as Underflow Records, including Quells, Big Mess, and Of House.

Adam Fitzgerald records a blend of indie rock, shoegaze, and dream pop under the moniker of Quells, and we featured that band’s latest single, “Ice Temple,” on MI Local. It was Fitzgerald who, several years ago, first founded Underflow Records as a collective that could support and celebrate a variety of independent artists around the metro area music scene, but when he first relocated to Edinburgh for a few years — then later to Colorado — he began inviting more and more artists that he met along the way to join the Underflow family, turning into an international label.

Underflow Records’ raison d’être is ultimately to show “a love for under-appreciated artists who deserve more attention,” and that includes Big Mess, a five-piece band born out of the Livonia suburbs that’s been together for more than a decade, featuring longtime friends and musicians Scott Allen, Rob Carden, Pat Carden, and Mike Carden, with Scott’s father Brad joining earlier this year. Big Mess makes a cinematic composite of swooning, contemplative baroque-pop, and we heard “‘I Am Loved’ By The Losers” from their latest album …from Sheldon Hall to Wonderland Mall.

Underflow has several other artists who have recently released new music, or are on the cusp of doing so, including Pesky Kid, Almost and more.

Meanwhile, just about five minutes into this week’s show, we received a visit from the incomparable Detroit-based R&B artist known as Bevlove, aka Beverly Johnson, who stopped by the studio to chat with us and premiere, in person, her brand new single, “Remember Me.”

You never know what might happen during a live MI Local segment. And, along with that, you’ll also get a variety of genres from across the local music scene, including classic garage from the Gories, contemporary punk from 208, and even some dazzling indie pop from Ypsilanti-based quartet Tanager.

MI Local Playlist for Sept. 24, 2024

• “Stay Away” – Little Visits
• “Someday” – Rory Moon
• “Remember Me” – Bevlove (+ in-studio interview)
• “Haunted” – Tanager
• “Undead” – The Microplastics
• “Paris From Tokyo” – Late
• “DUDE” – Say Something Kind
• “Jim Roll” – For You
• “Gories” – Cry Girl
• “208” – Tantrum
• “Quells” – Ice Temple
• “Big Mess” – I’m Loved (By The Losers)
• “Of House” – Heart About To Give Out

It’s a busy week for new releases when it comes to the Michigan music scene, particularly around the metro Detroit area!

Let’s start with the incomparable Flint-based musician/artist Tunde Olaniran, releasing their latest album, Chaotic Good, celebrated by a performance next Saturday, at the Pyramid Scheme in Grand Rapids!

Too Bad by Tunde Olaniran

Meanwhile, Detroit-based electronic art-pop auteur My Brightest Diamond, aka Shara Nova, have released three new singles from her forthcoming album, Fight the Real Terror, which is out today!

We heard this song, “Safe House,” last week on MI Local.

Fight The Real Terror by My Brightest Diamond

Next, let’s bend our ears towards Kalamazoo to listen to an interesting new album featuring the versatile instrumental hip-hop producer known as The Lasso (aka Andy Catlin), paired up with the boundary-pushing indie-rock quartet known as The Go Rounds.

Catlin is a former member of The Go Rounds, which made this a natural collaboration. This new album by The Lasso (& The Go Rounds), released just yesterday, is titled Pedal Steel, and our favorite track from it is “Goldwine.”

PETAL STEEL by The Lasso, The Go Rounds

Back here in Detroit, a ’90s-vibed indie-rock quartet known as The Microplastics have released a catchy and dreamy little ballad that has just the right amount of spookiness to help us settle into some autumnal vibes; it’s called “Undead.”

Undead – Single by The Microplastics

Listen to “MI Local” with Jeff Milo every Tuesday from 9-10 p.m. ET on Detroit Public Radio 101.9 WDET.

This week on MI Local, I premiered several new songs by local artists, including indie-pop ballads from established groups like soundslikeotto and Reggi Roomers, plus a brand new dance track from a project fittingly called Dancepack.

But for the majority of the show, I directed a sonic spotlight toward two distinct music events scheduled this weekend featuring local artists, starting with Saturday’s Dally in the Alley performers Elephant Den and Olive and the Stoned Fruits.

This week’s in-studio guest is Justin Snyder, creative director for New Music Detroit — a local collective of musicians dedicated to performing groundbreaking musical works from late-20th century to the present day.

New Music Detroit was “founded by members of the DSO, almost 20 years ago,” Snyder said, “in order to fill a gap that they felt was missing in Detroit, which was bringing classical contemporary music to the city. We just wanted to be adventurous, and there’s an audience here for it. And this is year 17 for Strange Beautiful Music. We’ve done it before in different venues around the city, like warehouses, clubs [and] galleries.”

Snyder discussed the Strange Beautiful Music event, happening Saturday at Andy Arts in Detroit.

“Strange Beautiful Music is a smorgasbord of every type of music — and stuff that resists genre as well,” Snyder said. “We’ll have jazz, classical, techno…this year we have electronic music, art-pop, harp music and lots more.”

Strange Beautiful Music performers featured on MI Local include My Brightest Diamond, Ahya Simone and Dominant Hand. See the full lineup and ticket details here.

See the full playlist below and listen to the episode on-demand for two weeks after it airs using the player at the top.

MI Local Playlist for Sept. 3, 2024

• “All of Last Year” – Elephant Den
• “Born Day” – Olive & the Stoned Fruits
• “Up Late” – Dancepack
• “The Bog Bodies” – Rabbitology
• “Cry Without Shame” – Kind Beast
• “Silence” – Reggi Roomers
• “Bright Blue” – soundslikeotto
• “Cruisin'” – Fishfly
• “When I Left” – The Stools
• “Re(VS)olution” – Na Bonsai
• “G-Force” – Serenemoon
• “Safe House” – My Brightest Diamond
• “Frostbite” – Ahya Simone
• “Before It Turns” – Dominant Hand and Bora Yoon