20 Sept 2026
Dungeon Rock: Pirate Gold, Ghosts, and Obsession
This week on Between Myth and Belief, Michelle takes Beth to Lynn, Massachusetts, and the strange story of Dungeon Rock. According to legend, pirate Thomas Veal was trapped inside the cave during a 1658 earthquake, along with a fortune in stolen treasure. Nearly two centuries later, spiritualist Hiram Marble decided he was going to find it.
With help from mediums, messages supposedly sent by the dead, dynamite, chisels, and an absolutely unreasonable amount of determination, Hiram and his son Edwin spent decades tunneling through the rock in search of pirate gold that always seemed to be just a little farther away.
We talk pirates, buried treasure, Spiritualism, questionable historical sources, ghostly excavation advice, and the very human ability to keep digging long after most people would have gone home.
Was Thomas Veal real? Was there ever treasure inside Dungeon Rock? Were the spirits actually helping, or was Hiram simply very committed to the bit?
Grab a lantern. We’re digging in.
Calendar of the Weird:
September 19–20 — Mothman Festival, Point Pleasant, West Virginia. The annual festival commemorates the 1966 Point Pleasant sightings, with paranormal speakers, TNT-area activities, cosplay, music, vendors and other Mothman-related events. Mothman Festival official site
September 19 — International Observe the Moon Night. NASA’s worldwide lunar-observation event encourages people not only to look at the Moon, but to explore the scientific, cultural and personal connections humans have made with it—making it an easy doorway into lunar gods, monsters, omens and folklore. NASA — International Observe the Moon Night
September 22 — Autumn Equinox / Mabon. The equinox occurs at 8:05 p.m. EDT on September 22. Many modern Pagans observe the season as Mabon or Harvest Home, while equinox and harvest traditions have accumulated myths concerning balance, the darkening year, death and renewal; the Persephone story is one familiar mythological association. September Equinox information Pagan Federation — September festivals
September 26 — The calendar goes feral. The Harvest Moon is full that night, with Saturn appearing nearby. September 26 is also National Ghost Hunting Day, a modern paranormal observance held on the last Saturday of September. And in Van Meter, Iowa, the Van Meter Visitor Festival celebrates the town’s famous 1903 bat-like creature legend with monster walks, paranormal presentations and folklore events—which is particularly fun given that we just visited the Visitor on the podcast. NASA September 2026 skywatching guide National Ghost Hunting Day Van Meter Visitor Festival — Travel Iowa
September 29 — Michaelmas and the púca's war on blackberries. Michaelmas celebrates St. Michael, traditionally depicted defeating Satan or a dragon. British and Irish folklore also warns against eating blackberries after Michaelmas: some stories blame the Devil for ruining them after being cast from Heaven, while Irish versions say the púca soils or otherwise spoils the berries. The National Folklore Collection preserves accounts in which children were explicitly warned away from post-Michaelmas berries because the púca guarded them and eating them could bring ill luck. RTÉ — Michaelmas customs and folklore Dúchas — Irish National Folklore Collection account
October 2–4 — Bigfoot at the 40, Honobia, Oklahoma. Beginning October 2—so it falls inside your calendar window—the southeastern Oklahoma gathering combines Bigfoot research presentations with vendors, live music, camping and appropriately atmospheric campfire storytelling. Bigfoot at the 40 — Oklahoma Tourism
Sound attribution:
Rocky Road Instrumental by studioste -- https://freesound.org/s/819232/ -- License: Creative Commons 0
