Haunted Pub in Jefferson City, Mo.

The three-story brick building on West Main Street in Jefferson City hasn’t changed much in the past 138 years – it’s a bar. Although the building was constructed in 1863 to house a tack and saddle shop, it became the West End Saloon in 1870.

“It’s been a tavern since that time,” said Allen Tatman, owner of what is now Paddy Malone’s Irish Pub. Tatman and his wife Marilee bought the building in 2000 and moved into the top floor apartment in 2003, knowing the tales that the building was haunted.

“We’d heard stories about a lot of them before we came here,” Marilee said. “Doors would shut and things like that.”

The first night they moved in with their dogs and cats, Marilee and Allen found those tales were true.

“We heard someone running and playing,” Marilee said. “Somebody (was) running across the floor and we knew it wasn’t the dogs.”

The dogs were in bed with them. Allen slid out of bed to find out who was running through their apartment. No one was there, but something was still wrong.

“Allen got up and stepped on a squeaky toy,” Marilee said. “It wasn’t there when he went to bed or he would have stepped on it.”

The resident spirits of Paddy Malone’s were, as Marilee said, “pretty positive” … until they started talking back.

Marilee bought a Ouija board from a local toy store and one night she and some friends tried to contact the unseen residents in the Tatman apartment.

“When we first moved in we had a couple of séances,” Marilee said. “The main one that talked to us was like a 13-year-old boy, so we figured he was playing with the dogs.”

The spirit spelled the initials FAZ through the board, “So we just call him Faz,” Marilee said.

A week later they conducted another séance downstairs in the pub. A different spirit tried to finish spelling the boy’s name.

“It was Frederick Andrew, and the last name started with a Z,” Marilee said. “We got freaked out.”


But that wasn’t all. The Tatmans found their building had more residents than the unseen boy. One spirit was a prostitute from the early days when the third floor was used as a brothel – she referred to herself as “bitch.”

“Some of the older people said that’s what they called the women who worked upstairs,” Marilee said. “I was going to do the research on the building but I’ve never had the courage to go do it. I don’t want to know too much.”

The Tatmans have found their personal objects places impossible for their dogs to have put them, a man’s greasy handprints appearing high on their apartment wall and water faucets turning on by themselves. But none of that compares to what a cleaning lady experienced.

“A woman was cleaning upstairs and she felt someone was behind her,” Marilee said. “She turned around and didn’t see anything, but she walked into the living room and saw a man sitting on the couch. He wore an old-time white shirt. It freaked her out.”

The woman simply turned and left the room and that was the only time Marilee knows the apparition has shown up.

“When she told me that, I was a little bit jealous,” she said. “Why didn’t they show themselves to us?”

Patrons haven’t reported anything ghostly, and employee reports are minor, like doors slamming. But if someone doesn’t ask about the ghosts, the Tatmans don’t bring it up.

“Allen doesn’t really like to talk about it,” Marilee said. “It really freaks him out. He tries to ignore it.”

You can find more about Paddy Malone’s at www.paddymalonespub.com.

Copyright 2008 by Jason Offutt

Got a scary story? Ever played with a Ouija board, heard voices, seen a ghost, UFO or a creature you couldn’t identify? Let Jason know about it: Jason Offutt c/o The Examiner, 410 S. Liberty, Independence, Mo. 64050, or jasonoffutt@hotmail.com. Include your name, address and telephone number. Your story might make an upcoming installment of “From the Shadows.”

Jason’s book of ghost stories, “Haunted Missouri: A Ghostly Guide to Missouri’s Most Spirited Spots,” is here. Order online at: tsup.truman.edu, www.amazon.com, or visit Jason’s Web site at www.jasonoffutt.com.