We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kay Gray a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Kay thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What were some of the most unexpected problems you’ve faced in your career and how did you resolve those issues?

My co-host and I started doing research for our podcast, Haunted Mitten, in summer of 2019. Our first episode premiered October 31, 2019. You can probably already guess where I’m going with this. We were just finished with our first season when COVID-19 shut down the world.

You can imagine that this put a damper on our paranormal research. We had such big plans! We wanted to go out to locations, ask the people who know the buildings best about their experiences, maybe explore the place ourselves, and really come to the podcast with first-hand knowledge of where we were talking about. Alas, in March 2020 Crysta and I had to completely change the way our podcast would be produced.

I think this turned out just fine, and maybe even better than we originally planned, but in the beginning it was tough. Websites can proliferate the same stories over and over regardless of the truth, and before the libraries and Michigan E-Library Service were lending again, we were kind of stuck. Because of this, my paranormal shelf expanded ten-fold because I just decided to buy all the books. I’m not complaining. But for a while it was just us, the internet, and hopeful emails we still rarely get replies to.

Thankfully we can now talk to people in person, and we have access to the Historical Society as well as getting old books from our library. But we never imagined our pet project to quite look like this!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Hey! I’m Kay. I’m from Los Angeles, I moved way, way north, and I consider my pets my children. Oh, and I research old buildings to find out both their histories and their hauntings. I have a few short stories published in ‘Punk anthologies (“Queen of Clocks and Other Steampunk Tales,” and “Fairy Tales Punk’d”), and an upcoming book on the paranormal (hush hush), but mostly I write and record a podcast called Haunted Mitten with the insanely-talented Crysta K Coburn.

We talk about all the spooky places in Michigan, my chosen homeland. Turns out this place is really strange! We have four seasons under our belt, and are just beginning our fifth. We’ve got a website, a Patreon, cool merch, and some really lovely fans!

I think we’re fairly unique in the paranormal world. It’s not often two women research/investigate high strangeness and post it on the internet. We’re really proud of the work we do, digging up the real history of people and places, and finding out the truth behind some of the more famous legends of Michigan. We also find lesser-known stories, especially of women and PoC, and help bring them into the light. Not to mention we dive into the really important questions like, “is Bigfoot an alien?” and “Why are ladies’ bathrooms always haunted?” We’re obviously an incredibly important podcast.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Yes and no. I don’t have some grand goal in mind about changing the minds of the masses, or proving ghosts and aliens are real. What I’m ultimately aiming for is to make just one person go, “huh. I guess the world is weirder than I thought.” It really doesn’t matter to me if anything I’m studying is “real.” I’d like to talk about ghosts, and spirits, and aliens, and witchcraft and have a great time doing it. I love when my friends are on the podcast, and we can just chat about Bigfoot and all the weird that surrounds it. Or go to conferences and talk with fans about their experiences. I want people to feel heard, to feel like they’re not crazy. Like someone out there is listening, and has experienced (or at least studied) the strangeness they’ve been a part of.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I am not joking when I say destroy capitalism. It’s one of the biggest, if not the biggest, detriment to art. Art doesn’t make millionaires unless you get really, really lucky. Art doesn’t create CEOs, or own skyscrapers. Art doesn’t charge $1000 for insulin when it costs pennies to produce. Art makes life. It makes soul. It makes humanity. And it’s been stifled and strangled by the absurd need to make money. You know what doesn’t live on long after you’re gone? Your position in a company. You know what does? Just take a walk through the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.hauntedmitten.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hauntedmitten
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HauntedMitten/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/hauntedmitten
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK8N6G0kWKWIwYbgr9Mea8Q
• Other: My personal twitter/Instagram/Bluesky: @KGrayWrites

Image Credits
all images taken by Kay Gray