Episode 219: A Haunting at the Adelphi Theatre and Mysterious Death of Chuck Morgan

The girls are back, and this week’s episode is a perfect little haunted-theater, true-crime anxiety spiral. Cute? No. Creepy? Extremely. First, Monique tells the story of British comedian Jason Manford, who got cast in the West End revival of Sweeney Todd at London’s historic Adelphi Theatre. Every night after getting his throat slashed onstage, Jason would clean off the fake blood and FaceTime his wife and twin daughters before bed. How sweet. Until his three-year-old daughter asked, “Daddy, who’s that man behind you?” A tall man with dark hair, a mustache, and a soldier’s uniform: a description that matched William Terriss, the beloved Victorian actor who was stabbed to death at the Adelphi stage door in 1897 while wearing a Union Army captain’s costume. The theatre ghosts really said: yes, and? Then Amy brings us into the 1977 death of Charles “Chuck” Morgan, a Tucson escrow company president whose case is so suspicious it feels personally insulting that anyone tried to rule it as a suicide. Chuck disappeared, came home three days later missing a shoe, bound in plastic handcuffs, unable to speak and writing that he had been kidnapped and tortured. He hinted at a secret government identity, got paranoid (naturally), wore a bulletproof vest, carried a gun and told his family he had written a letter naming who was responsible if anything happened to him. Then he disappeared again. Nine days later, a mystery woman called “Green Eyes” phoned his wife with an ominous Bible passage and soon after, Chuck was found in the desert wearing his bulletproof vest, shot in the back of the head, with a $2 bill pinned to his underwear and absolutely no reasonable explanation. Police ruled it suicide. Monique and Amy, correctly, said: no, girl, no. If you take anything away from this episode, let it be this: when a three-year-old sees a crying soldier behind you, maybe believe the fucking child.

This week on Another Fucking Horror Podcast, Monique and Amy are coming in hot off their Paranormal Activity live obsession, which means this is now a theater ghost podcast.

First, Monique tells the story of Jason Manford and the ghost of William Terriss at London’s Adelphi Theatre. In 2012, Jason was performing as Signor Pirelli in the West End revival of Sweeney Todd, which meant that every night he got his throat slashed onstage, went back to his tiny dressing room, cleaned off the fake blood, and FaceTimed his family before bed.

Then his three-year-old daughter asked, “Daddy, who’s that man behind you?” Tall. Dark hair. Mustache. Dressed like a soldier. Crying.

And then Jason found out about William Terriss, the beloved Victorian actor murdered at the Adelphi Theatre stage door in 1897. The same stage door that sat directly beneath Jason’s dressing room.

GIRL.

Then Amy covers the mysterious death of Charles “Chuck” Morgan, and no one is okay. In 1977, Chuck disappeared, came home three days later missing a shoe, bound in plastic handcuffs, unable to speak and writing that he had been kidnapped and tortured. He claimed his throat had been painted with a hallucinogenic drug and warned his wife that calling the police would be a death warrant for the whole family.

Two months later, he disappeared again. His wife got a call from a woman called “Green Eyes”, who said Chuck was alright and gave her Ecclesiastes 12:1-8, which is a flowery-as-fuck way to say something terrible has happened. Then Chuck was found dead in the desert wearing a bulletproof vest, shot in the back of the head, with a $2 bill pinned to his underwear, cryptic names, Bible references, a map toward Mexico, guns, ammo, handcuffs, CB radios, a briefcase and no fingerprints.

And somehow, police ruled it suicide.

That three year old said “I see dead people” but the episode reminds us that all around us are just dumb people (peep the police).