The Talegate Podcast

S2E1 - The Lady of White Rock Lake

March 15, 2022 Harrison the Florida Man & Aaron the Cheesehead Season 2 Episode 1
The Talegate Podcast
S2E1 - The Lady of White Rock Lake
Show Notes Transcript

WE ARE BACK! Welcome to Season 2 of The Talegate Podcast!! Oh, and please excuse that radio interference (it's the second time that's happened). Not sure what that was about or who SQX Monster Radio is, but it's something we are investigating. We've crossed the Louisiana state line into the Lone Star State -- Lake Worth, Dallas, to be exact.

We've picked up a mysterious hitchhiker who relays the haunting and tragic tale of The Lady of White Rock Lake. This local ghost story was first written by Anne Clark in 1943, published by Texas Folklore Society in their, Backwoods to Border anthology, and has endured centuries of scaring the pants off of Texans ever since; such as in Frank X's novel, Neiman-Marcus, Texas: The Story of the Proud Dallas Store which was published precisely one decade later. 

Kay-Leigh Hill, the Lady of White Rock Lake, is voiced by actress, Kate Brittain. You can follow Kate on Instagram @little.brittain. You can also catch Kate in March 2022 at the Imperial Centre in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, in the Andrew Lloyd Webber's Whistle Down the Wind.

You can check us out on Spotify, Apple, Listen Notes, Deezer, Podchaser, Audible, iHeart Radio, and other podcast directories as well as right here on our very own website. We encourage you to share our podcast with others, leave reviews on Apple Podcast, and catch up with any episodes you missed! It would really mean a lot.

Give us a follow on Instagram @thetalegatepodcast.  Tell us stories of your own encounters & any local legends you would like us to explore, or reach out if you would fancy a guest spot on our show or would like to feature us on yours by shooting an email to TheTalegatePodcast@gmail.com!

See you later, Talegaters!

Credits:

"Kay-Leigh, The Lady of White Rock Lake" played by Kate Brittain
“Cheese Head” played by Aaron Sherry
“Florida Man” played by Harrison Foreman
"Talegate Theme" by Mat Jones

Written by Harrison Foreman
Edited by Aaron Sherry

Support the show

THE TALEGATE

S2E1 - THE LADY OF WHITE ROCK LAKE


[SQX Monster Radio intro]


JOHNNY: Welcome back to SQX Monster Radio. I’m you’re host, the peachy keen ghost in the machine, Johnny Static. And with me is my partner in crime, with looks to thrill and fangs to kill, The fancy-dressed vampiress, Emma Fatel.


EMMA: Pleasure to be here, Johnny. If you’re human and hearing this radio broadcast, we kindly advise you change the channel. [whisper] This isn’t for you


JOHNNY: But, for all you lovely cryptids, spirits, and creatures of the Outworld who haven’t been keeping up, here’s what’s happened previously on Season One of The Talegate Podcast: Roll it…


[Clip of CH unleashing Ay, calling Abby; Pascagoula abduction and MIB chase; The Witch in the Woods]


EMMA: Will our heroes return Pharaoh Ay’s canopic jar and save their very own souls from eternal entombment, as Saint Germain foretold? 


JOHNNY: Will the Men in Black capture the Talegaters and interrogate them over the Pascagoula Alien abduction? 


EMMA: Will Cheesehead finally have his date with his shapeshifting alien admirer? 


JOHNNY: Let’s not forget the devilish dame, The Witch in the Woods. With so much at stake, our boys can’t choke now. 


EMMA: Must you really talk of stakes? You know what a wooden stake could do to me.


JOHNNY: I meant the abstract noun, not the concrete noun.


EMMA: If you say so, Johnny. And without further adieu, SQX Monster Radio proudly presents Season 2 of The Talegate Podcast.


[Theme Song plays; radio is cut abruptly]


CHEESEHEAD: Florida Man... You up?


FLORIDA MAN: [Snorts as awakens] What? Uh??


CH: Bad dream?


FM: Yea, it was crazy. They stopped serving Cheerwine in the Bojangles soda fountains. Why? What’s up? And were you talking to someone on the phone or somethin’, or was that all a dream, too?


CH: Oh, I had the radio playing.


FM: What you playin’?


CH: I have no idea. Had it on for whitenoise. Anyway, I woke you up because I got bad news. Bad news for you and bad news for all of our twenty listeners at home.


FM: They stopped serving Cheerwine in the Bojangles soda fountains??


CH: Ah… no. At least, not that I’m aware of. And I’m pretty sure 90% of our listeners have no idea what Bojangles or Cheerwine even is.


FM: Their loss. Wait, twenty listeners? That ain’t bad news. That’s like, double our normal amount.


CH: Walp, like I was trying to tell you, the bad news is that Granny’s crystal pulled towards the direction of this lake here, White Rock Lake, it’s called.


FM: White Rock Lake?


CH: Oh yah, we’re in Dallas, by the way. 


FM: What? You let me sleep plum from Baton Rogue to Dallas?


CH: You looked so peaceful, how could I not? 


FM: ‘Ppreciated. So what’d Granny’s dowsing pendulum want us to find by this lake here? 


CH: That’s just the thing. I’ve been parked here for a few hours nibbling on snacks, idly playing the radio, and patiently waiting for our guest, but… nada. Nothing. Nobody home. You’ve got me hooked on this gator-jerky though, by the way. Wasn’t sold at first, but those little gamey, protein-infused, meaty morsels really carried me through the long drive. Good thing you restocked back in Louisiana.


FM: I’m tellin’ you, man! Next thing you know, you’ll be putin’ peanuts in your coke bottles.


CH: Okay. Now you’re pushing it. 


FM: It’s pitch black out. Seems the perfect time for whatever monster, demon, or cryptid what lives out here to pop up and scare us shitless.


CH: That’s what I’m saying. Maybe we ought to just cut our losses and call it a night. The hotel isn’t too awful far a drive from here.


FM: You’re prolly right.


[Cranks truck and starts driving]


FM: Sucks we deviated all this way from I-10 for nothin’.


CH: Yah. On the downside, we leave completely empty-handed. On the upside, we aren't mangled or killed by whatever monster lives out there in the lake. Oh, by the way, I mailed Pharaoh Ay’s canopic jar back to your friend from the museum when we first reached town. So that’s also a plus.


FM: Abby Young?


CH: Yah! And you folks at home who haven’t been paying attention, we interviewed Florida Man’s old college mate and current Egyptoligist. In doing so we accidentally stole a canopic jar belonging to the ancient Pharaoh Ay and unleashed the Mummy’s Curse. But, by mailing the canopic jar back to the museum to reunite it with the other jars, the curse will be lifted!


FM: But you mailed it out! It’s sure to make it back to Abby and them other jars by the next Blood Moon, we’re good as gravy! Bye bye Curse! 


CH: Sayonara! Get it? Sssss-AY-o-nara? As in the Pharaoh AY-o-nora?


FM: I guess... Sarcopha-guess! 


CH: We suck.


FM: We do. But few things suck more than havin’ you and your best friend’s souls prematurely ripped out of your bodies and traded off to Anubis for an eternity of damnation. 


CH: True dat. You know, while we’re recording this episode, we may as well give our listeners some spooooky Dallas urban legends to chew on.


FM: Let’s start recordin’ then.


CH: Way ahead of you, good buddy!


FM: (Oh, well fuck me.) Howdy Folks, and welcome to the Talegate!


CH: For those of you just joining us, we’re on a roadtrip across America to uncover the mysteries behind tall tales, fairy tales, folktales, fishtales, & urban legends, one interview at a time.


FM: We inherited a truck from our late Granny May and discovered that the crystal hanging off the rearview mirror was more than decorative. It’s a Dowsing Pendulum leading us to the good folks behind the tales we all grew up with. With that, I’m Harrison, the Florida Man. 


CH: And I’m Aaron the Cheesehead, and today we’re on the road by White Rock Lake in Dallas, Texas. We ventured north to I-20 in hopes of finding some kind of fantastic creature or spirit by the lake here, but hey, you can’t win ‘em all.


FM: Yea, most these people and critters are pretty timid. Reckon we can’t expect ‘em all to just jump out at us, know what I mean?


CH: Sure do, buddy. Oh shit, LOOK OUT!


[Car swerve/break]


KAY-LEIGH: [panting] 


FM: That a girl out the window?


CH: Yah, a real cutie, too. 


FM: Soaking wet though, by the looks of it.


KAY-LEIGH: Lordy me, I didn’t mean to startle you boys!


CH: [rolls down window] Hey there, miss. It’s me who should apologize. I got my high beams on. I swear I didn’t see you crossing the street there. Is there any way we can make it up to you?


KAY-LEIGH: Actually, if y’all are headin’ back into town, I sure could use a ride.


FM: Uuuuuuuuh-Sidebar? Cheesehead?


[quick window roll-up]


CH: Yah, what’s up?


FM: Last time we had a feller tryin’ to hitchhike it were the literal devil; throwback to Episode 15. Really think we ought to trust another stranger like that?


CH: I mean, just look at her. She’s an absolute darling. A southern belle in need of our help. How could we say no to a girl like that?


FM: Like this, [clears throat] “No.”


CH: Ah geez, have a heart, why doncha!


FM: I gots one, and I plan to keep it beatin’ past tonight.


CH: Bah, we’ll be fine.


FM: You say so. [roll window] Guess it ain’t a problem, little lady. But look...you’re all dolled up but soaked from bib-to-boot. I gotta ask: you doing alright?


CH: Yah, maybe we outta take you to a hospital or something.


KAY LEIGH: Oh, don’t you worry none, I’m fit as a fiddle. And I don’t mind squeezin’ between you two boys one bit!


CH: Well then, We have the middle seat between us you could squeeze into. I’ll just toss a towel there for yah aaaand… vuala!


FM: What you waitin’ for, little lady? Hop in.


[Open truck door]


KAY-LEIGH: Sure thing!


FM: Allow me to step out for ya and... whoa!


[Truck squeaks as she crawls in]


FM: Wow, uh… just gonna crawl over me then and make my close all soggy. Great plan, Cheesehead.


KAY-LEIGH: There, all situated! Thanks a million for letting me bum a ride. Reckon Chivalry ain’t dead after all.


FM: Reckon not.


[rusty truck sounds; sliding window open]


CH: Sure you’re comfortable?


KAY-LEIGH: I'm finer than a sunday dress. You don’t have to worry about me one lick. Just got wet because my friends and I were out on the water of White Rock and the driver accidentally flipped the boat on us. 


FM: Sounds like a waste of a perfectly good boat.


CH: And some perfectly awful friends.


KAY-LEIGH: Haha. Ironically, the owner bought a boat for fishin, but now he’s fishin’ for a boat.


FM: Damn, left him back there huh?


CH: You know, for all the scary, strange, and bizarre encounters we’ve had throughout our road trip across America, it’s a breath of fresh air to have a good ol’, normal, charming, well-adjusted person to chat with.


FM: Yea, maybe we should just stay on I-20 for the rest of the trip out west.


KAY-LEIGH: Aw, why thank y’all kindly. Name’s Kay-Leigh Hill. Homegrown Texan.


FM: Floridian.


CH: Wisconsite.


KAY-LEIGH: Well then, welcome to the Lone Star State, boys! Home of Tex-Mex and the best BBQ west of Big Miss.


FM: ‘Preciate the warm welcome. I’m Harrison the Florida Man and that there is my cousin and bestie, Aaron the Cheesehead.


CH: Pleased to make your acquaintance. We’re on a road trip recordin’ a podcast on cryptids and characters from folklore, urban legends, and the like. Care to join us?


KAY: A “podcast”, you said? [genuinely doesn’t know what a podcast is]


FM: Sure, like an interview kinda thing.


KAY: Oh wow. It would tickle me pink to be interviewed!


FM: Awesome. But, before we get down to business, what we drinkin’ today, Cheesehead?


CH: The fuck? I’m driving, you know I can’t drink.


FM: Sorry, said that out of habit.


CH: I did snag us some non-alcoholic beverages for us to sip though, over in the cooler there.


FM: Heck yea! [cooler opening] Wait, what the hell is this... Big Red? Soda that tastes like cinnamon gum or somethin’?


KAY: Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit, if that ain’t Sun Tang!


FM: Sun Tang? 


KAY: Sure! Sun Tang Red Cream Soda.


CH: That is a mouthful.


FM: I’m pretty sure 90% of our listeners have no idea what Sun Tang Red Cream Soda is. Plus, label here says, “Big Red,” so...


KAY: Well, I weren’t born yesterday. I am a high-school graduate, I’ll have you know, and that there is Sun Tang!


FM: Hows ‘bout we settle this with our old friend, Google?


KAY: You mean there are more than just the two of you here.


CH: What? No, You don’t know what Google is?


FM: Got it. Says here: Big Red was called “Sun Tang Red Creme Soda” back in the day. Damn, you were right, Kay-Leigh. Sorry I doubted ya.


KAY: Apology accepted! And tell your friend, Google, he’s one smart cookie! Sun Tang is a really popular soft drink here in texas. Reckon they go by “Big Red” nowadays. Who knew?


FM: Google.


CH: Yah, but isn’t Dr Pepper actually invented in Texas though?


KAY: Yes. Dr. Pepper was first created in 1885 in Waco, Texas. 


CH: Wowzers, that makes D-Pep the oldest major soda manufacturer still in production!


KAY: You’d think Dr. Pepper would hold the crown here, but things changed when Sun Tang--ahem, Big Red went into production in 1937. 


CH: Wowzers. Red creme soda, you say?

 

FM: You mean like the Barq's red creme soda we had in Mississippi?


CH: I’m pretty sure 90% of our listeners have no idea what Barq’s Red Cream Soda even is.


KAY: Hah! Mississippians wish they invented Big Red. 


CH: Shots fired.


FM: Man, let’s do this thing then, cheers to Big Red!


CH: To Big Red!


KAY: To Sun Tang.


FM: Kinda tastes like Double Bubble.


KAY: Glad you like it. I’m so happy to be a part of your little podcast tingy. Now, where do I talk?


CH: Just into that microphone there.


KAY: [tickled] Ooo, so fancy. I feel like a big time radio disk jocky!


FM: Basically. Anyway, like I said, we usually discuss cryptids, aliens, and whatnot. 


KAY: Now, I don’t know a thing about cryptids, I’ve never seen UFOs, Aliens, or nothin’… but I do got a pretty spooky ghost story for ya!


CH: I’d love to hear local spooky stories! Plus, they say everything’s bigger in Texas, so that includes the ghost stories, er no?


Part 2: The Legend


KAY-LEIGH: Texas is home to countless ghost stories. Did you know that there’s said to be a haunting right here at White Rock Lake?


CH: I sure did not.


KAY-LEIGH: You’re in for a treat then. Anyone got a flashlight?


FM: Sure, you can use my smartphone. 


KAY-LEIGH: Smart phone?


FM: Sure, gots “flashlight” feature on it. They all do these days.


KAY-LEIGH: A flashlight on a horn, wacky. I’m gonna set the light under my face like this to set the mood! Ready when you are.


FM: Oh, we been recordin’.


CH: Yah, Kay-Leigh! Feel free to scare our pants off whenever you’re ready!


KAY: Before we begin, here’s a little backstory. This haunting little tale is called, “The Ghost of White Rock,” and was first written by Anne Clark in 1943, published by Texas Folklore Society in their, Backwoods to Border anthology. 


CH: Oh neat! 


KAY: Exactly one decade later, this story was retold by author, Frank X, in his novel, Neiman-Marcus, Texas: The Story of the Proud Dallas Store.


CH: That’s about as much a mouthful as “Sun Tang Red Cream Soda.”


FM: Yea, Neiman-Marcus, Texas: The Story of the Proud Dallas Store is basically the Sun Tang Red Cream Soda of novels.


KAY: Are you making fun of Sun Tang Red Cream Soda?


CH: I think he’s making fun of the novel, Neiman-Marcus, Texas: The Story of the Proud Dallas Store.


FM: Nah, I’m making fun of Sun Tang Red Cream Soda, not the novel Neiman-Marcus, Texas: The Story of the Proud Dallas Store.


CH: I think this is the Sun Tang Red Cream Soda of conversations.


KAY. Anyway, it happened on a night much like this one. The road was smothered in a thick blanket of fog while the sky above remained black as pitch. The stars, like a million eyes watchin’ in the darkness.


CH: I definitely don’t like where this is going.


KAY: A lone car, miles outta town, chugged along slowly, warily through the dense white mist. After all, you never can be too careful. Many a beast could be prowlin’ in the gloom.


FM: You know, ‘round 200 people die each year in the US by car accidents involving deer. We’re talkin’ a 1-in-116th chance of hittin ‘em. Addin’ fog to the mix? Now that’s a dangerous drive.


CH: Oh yah, my mom hit a deer back in Wisconsin. Took out her entire windshield.


FM: I watched a car clip a deer when I’d drivin’ the backroads behind Disney World.


KAY: If the idea of deer-crossing already has you boys shaken’, perhaps I should just end the story here. Would want to rattle you too hard.


CH: No no no no, you can’t stop now after building all that suspense! That’s like waving a hot, juicy Culvers butter burger in front of a starving man from behind a window. So close yet so gosh darn far.


FM: He could just open the window.


CH: Don’t you go ruining my analogy with your logic!


KAY: There was a couple in the car. A young man in the driver’s seat, white-knuckled behind the wheel, and his lady riding shotgun. The woman soothed the folds of her cotton dress to calm her nerves, peering hopelessly out into the endless white that enveloped their old beater, and unable to shake the feelin’ of being watched.

“No need to fall into a panic, my dear,” the boyfriend said.

“It’s just that I can’t see a thing. Even with the lights on, I can’t see a thing!”

“It’ll be alright, old girl, no need for hysterics,” he assured her.

Suddenly, a white figure appeared before their vehicle. The driver slammed the breaks and they screeched to a halt which echoed through the trees. He let out a scream, contrary to his own reassurances. 


CH: W-w-w-what was it that jumped out at them? 


FM: A monster?


CH: A demon?


FM: A very pale deer?


KAY: No. There are no deer in this story! 


FM: 10-4


KAY: Appearing before them was… a girl. She wore a white dress with a tulle skirt and blouse, the kind of dress you’d wear to a hop. But the poor dear was soaked to the bone.


FM: I thought you just said there were no deer in this story.


KAY: Oh hush.


CH: This girl in a white dress sounds suspiciously like you.


KAY: I ain’t wearin’ a soaked white hop dress, am I?


CH: Ah... no, no you are not. Just a regular soaked white dress.


KAY: Precisely. 


FM: That you apparently wore on a fishing boat. 


KAY: Because my fishin’ dress is in the hamper.


FM: Seriously?


KAY: [laughs] Of course not, silly boy. Now, you gonna let me finish my story?


CH: You betcha.


KAY: Then you hush up and let me get on! So the girl in white said to the couple, “I‘m sorry to intrude, and I wouldn’t under normal circumstances, but I must find a way home. My boat overturned out yonder, you see, and I might get a chill. The others are safe. But I best get home to papa.” 


Relieved to find it was only a harmless, frightened girl, the couple calmed themselves and took her in. The passenger led them to a house by Oak Cliff. It took them past winding roads of soggy clay before they finally arrived at her house. The kind couple turned to say their farewells to their little ridealong. To their shock and horror, there was no girl in the back seat. 


“Maybe we just imagined it,” the driver said.

“No,” replied his girlfriend. “Feel the seat!”

He placed his hand where the girl in white was sat, only to find it soaking wet with lake water.


[Moment of awkward silence]


Story’s done. Y’all free to talk now.


CH: That definitely gave me the heebie jeebies.


FM: Where we takin’ you, by the way?


KAY: Oh, of course, haha. Just make a sharp left at the next junction. It’s the house with the red mailbox.


CH: Roger that!


FM: So uh, since I ain’t sleepin’ tonight no how, where exactly did the girl in white have that couple drive her to?


KAY: Thirsty for more, are ya? Well, like a Red Tang Cream Soda on a parched throat, allow me to quench ya. The couple, it turns out, arrived at a house exactly like the one their ghostly hitchhiker specified and found an old, sad man on the front porch.


CH: OH! Here’s that junction, just like you said.


KAY: [say flatly] Sharp left. Red Mailbox.


CH: Sharp left, right onto Old Oak Cliff Road. Do continue.


KAY: [transition into a progressingly hollowed tone] The frightened couple explained to the man what had happened, that a wet young lady in a white dress led them here before disappearing into thin air. The old man replied, 

 “This is a very strange thing. My daughter was boatin’ on White Rock Lake in the very white dress you just described. That was three weeks ago. She didn’t make it back from that trip. The boat sprang a leak, the Policemen said, took in water. She drowned that night, her body never recovered. I believe she’s still down there, looking for her way home.”


[Telephone ring)


FM: Shit, that’s me. It’s Abby!


CH: Abby Young, the Egyptologist?


FM: Yep, my friend from the Curse of the Mummy episode. Uh, one sec there, Kay-Leigh.


[Inset pre-recorded conversation with Abby. Soft vanishing sound]


CH: Hey, I think we’re coming up to your house, Kay-Leigh. 


FM: Red mailbox, just like ya said, Kay-Leigh!


CH: Uh, awful quiet over there, Kay-Leigh.


FM: We at the end of the road now, Kay-Leigh.


CH: There’s only one house left so it’s gotta be yours, now, Kay-Leigh.


FM: Imma just hop on out for ya Kay-Leigh.


CH: You can go ahead and get out now, Kay-Leigh.


[Doors open]


CH: Uhhhh, Florida Man?


FM: Yea, Cheesehead?


CH: Kay-Leigh isn’t in the car.


FM: Wait what? She were just next to me two seconds ago, swear she was!


CH: Oh, and feel that! The seat in between us is wetter than a dog’s nose from where she was sitting!


FM: We ain’t imagine this whole thing, right?


CH: I can’t imagine that we imagined that. Unless we also imagined Red Tang Cream Soda.


FM: Hold up, there’s a older fella rockin’ on the porch, and lookin’ over at us mighty sad.


CH: Oh good. Let’s ask him! Hey old man, you didn’t happen to see a girl in a white dress soaked to the bone booking it away from our truck just now, did ya?


FATHER: White dress, you say? Why, my daughter was boatin’ on White Rock Lake in the very white dress you just described. That was thirty years ago. She never made it back from that trip.


FM: Cheesehead, I’m putin’ two and two together and it equals us gettin’ the fuck out of here.


[Truck door slams shut and they peel out]


FM: So between the Devil of Algiers and the Ghost Girl of White Rock, I think maybe we outta reconsider extendin’ kindness to hitchhikers from this point on.


CH: Agreed. But we WILL extend our kindness to you kind folk listening at home!


FM: That’s right. Y’all got any cryptic sightin’s, UFO encounters, or ghost stories of your own? Share them to thetalegatepodcast@gmail.com to have them aired right here on the show.


CH: Also, follow us on instagram @thetalegatepodcast for photos, cast info, updates, and more! Oh and Florida Man... pass me another Big Red Cream Soda, why doncha.


KAY: SOMEONE SAY RED CREAM SODA?!


FM/CHL: GAH!


KAY: [Giggle]...See you later, Tailgators!


 ... 


KAY: Thank you all for joining us on the latest episode of The Talegate Podcast! Kay-Leigh Hill is played by Kate Brittain. You can follow her on Instagram @little.brittain (feel free to add as many plugs as you’d like).


Aaron the Cheesehead is played by Aaron Sherry, you can check me out on my Youtube channel, So Can You! and on Instagram @aaronunabridged. Harrison the Florida Man is played by Harrison Foreman. Theme Song is performed by Mat Jones. This episode is written and edited by Harrison Foreman. [Alt] This episode is written by Harrison Foreman and Edited by Aaron Sherry.