The Night Owl: True Ghost Stories

For decades, there’s been a place in Austin that people quietly point to when the conversation turns to the most haunted locations in the city.
Not just a passing rumor… but something that’s followed the building through generations—through different owners, different businesses… and the many lives that have passed through its doors.
Most people people today remember it most as the Austin Pizza Garden—where stories of unexplained voices, shadowy figures, and something lingering in the building became part of its identity. The kind of place spoken about in the same breath as Austin’s most infamous hauntings.
But today, that same building lives on in a new form.
A kava bar in Oak Hill—SquareRut Kava Bar to be exact —operating inside what’s known historically as the Old Rock Store of Oak Hill… a structure that’s stood here for well over a century.
And the stories… they never really died.
Now, for the first time, The Night Owl is stepping inside this historic landmark to investigate.
In this episode, we’ll take you on a journey through time—speaking with the current staff working within these walls today… while also uncovering voices and experiences from those who came long before them.
Because whatever people were experiencing  here decades ago…
hasn’t stopped.
Photo by Meg Blohm
GUEST LINKS:
TEXAS HISTORICAL RECLAMATION PROJECT
You can follow on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/atxhistoricalmarkerrestoration/
STRANGE TOWN
Click here to watch Strange Town's episode investigating the former Austin Pizza Garden - https://strange-town.com/episode-4/
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On Halloween night 2025, inside a packed room in Austin, Texas, members of the Night Owl community stepped up to the microphone to share something deeply personal… their own encounters with the unexplained.
In this special episode, we bring you three Campfire Tales recorded live at the Spirit Social 2025 — stories not pulled from books or legend, but lived experiences that have stayed with each storyteller long after they passed. 
“The Watseka Wonder”
Paranormal investigators Damian and Nicole of ParaPeculiar and The Real Ghosts… podcasts travel to Illinois to research one of the most infamous possession cases in American history. But what begins as a historical deep dive raises a far more unsettling question… did get more than they bargained for?
“The Shadow in the Headlights”
Decades before becoming a professional psychic medium, Elaine Ireland experienced something she still can’t explain. A late-night drive through rain-soaked Texas highways… a strange presence ahead in the darkness… and a moment that has stayed with her for half her lifetime.
“The Midnight Beat”
Paranormal detective Greg Lawson recounts his early days as a police officer working late nights in Austin, Texas. While reviewing old case files inside the city’s abandoned asylum, he begins to sense that some history doesn’t stay buried… especially in the dark.
These are the Campfire Tales of Spirit Social 2025.
STORYTELLER INFO:
Be sure to check out Damian and Nicole on their podcasts, The Real Ghosts of… and ParaPeculiar. You can connect with them on social media @therealghostsof and @parapeculiar

Elaine Ireland offers virtual readings and can be reached at [email protected]. You can also learn more about her most recent project at www.conversationswiththeancients.com.
And you can find Paranormal Detective Greg Lawson at www.theparanormaldetective.com or connect with him on social media @greghlawson.
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AG1
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Returning for one final overnight inside one of Austin’s oldest and most haunted locations, the Night Owl team pushes deeper into Moonshine Bar & Grill — testing what’s emerged so far and introducing new experiments designed to further interaction.
For the first time, a custom-built spirit communication device is brought into the investigation. Strange conversations unfold. A phantom smell suddenly begins to follow the team with no physical source. And multiple team members witness unexplained activity in real time.
As long-standing theories are challenged and new pieces surface, the mystery of Moonshine grows more complex than ever.
Some answers begin to take shape.
Others raise even bigger questions.
This is the final chapter of the Moonshine case — and nothing is what it first seemed.
Photo by Raymond Wallace
EPISODE SPONSORS:
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THE SECRET ROOM
Find The Secret Room, a podcast about the stories no one ever tells, anywhere you get your podcasts.

The investigation at Moonshine Bar & Grill continues as the team returns to one of Austin’s most storied locations. What began as fragments and impressions now deepens, as previous findings are tested, challenged, and expanded.
After documenting Moonshine through extensive interviews with owners, long-time staff, former employees, and contractors, clear patterns had emerged: unexplained footsteps near the upstairs offices, objects moving or breaking, sudden injuries, and presences tied to the patio, upstairs office, Kinfolk, and the Sunday House.
When the psychic investigation began, each medium was kept blind and separate. Despite that, overlapping impressions surfaced. An aggressive male presence yelling “get out.” A darker energy moving between the patio and the Sunday House loft. An intelligent, non-threatening man with glasses connected to Kinfolk. And a new, unexpected element—a chaotic teenage boy believed to be responsible for many of the accidents reported in recent years.
As the night unfolded, even more layers revealed themselves: a protective female presence near the office stairs, a shadowy figure watching from the Sunday House loft, and an Indigenous woman who appeared during a later session with imagery tied to protest, the Capitol, and a much more modern chapter of Austin’s history.
By the time the first night came to a close, the building was empty, the energy had shifted, and the most pressing questions remained unanswered. Were the psychics accurately tapping into the same experiences staff had described? Were they independently sensing the same presences? And was something still hiding, waiting to be understood?
This episode picks up exactly where the investigation left off.

EPISODE SPONSORS:
AG1
Go to drinkag1.com/nightowl  to get 3 FREE AG1 Travel Packs and 3 FREE AGZ Travel Packs plus FREE Vitamin D3+K2 and AG1 Welcome Kit with your first AG1 subscription order!
BETTERHELP
The Night Owl is sponsored by BetterHelp. Get 10% off your first month at betterhelp.com/nightowl
LUMI GUMMIES
Go to LumiGummies.com  and use code NIGHTOWL for 30% off your order.

Tonight, the team returns to one of Austin’s oldest and most notoriously haunted locations, Moonshine Bar & Grill.
After months of interviews, they’re finally handed the key and granted full access to the property.
For the first time, the full Night Owl team, including psychic mediums Jeffery, Kate, and the long-awaited return of Sara, arrive blind to the location to investigate Moonshine firsthand and search for what has unsettled staff and guests for decades.
Will this be the night that separates fact from folklore…or blurs the line even further?
Photo by Adam Lynch

EPISODE SPONSORS:
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LUMI GUMMIES
Go to LumiGummies.com  and use code NIGHTOWL for 30% off your order.
AG1
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