Behind the Screams: Nick Bushtna - Unmasking the Haunting Talent at The Hex House!

Behind the Screams: Nick Bushtna - Unmasking the Haunting Talent at The Hex House!

Hex House 2023 is located at 5610 D West Skelly Drive Tulsa, OK 74107.

The Hex House website is located at http://www.hexhouse.com.

For tickets go to https://www.stubwire.com/events/tulsahexhouse/.

The story of Carolann Smith - The Mistress of the Hex House

On Tuesday the 28th of March 1944 Carolann Smith was arrested. Carolann was held in custody at the Tulsa County Jail while Gilmer filed charges. Virginia and Willetta told the police that Meredith Fontane’s real name was Opal Mary Smith. A trial was set and by October of 1944 Carolann Smith was found guilty of state and federal charges. Opal Mary Smith was sentenced to prison and served one year at the newly established women’s prison in McAlester, Oklahoma.

Carolann Mary Smith was born as Opal Mary Carey on the 18th of May 1893 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Her father was Thomas Carey (1863-1934), and her mother was Eva (Mckee) Carey (1876-1902).

Opal had two sisters: Ethel Carey who was born on the 14th of November 1895 and Pearl Carey who was born on the 3rd of August 1898. In 1902 when Opal was nine years old her mother died, and the reason for her death is unknown. By 1910, Thomas Carey and his three daughters were living in Vann, Muskogee County, Oklahoma near Webbers Falls.

Opal met Fay Harold Smith (1892-1934) in Muskogee, and they married on the 3rd of February 1914, and she became Opal Mary Smith. They lived in Muskogee, Oklahoma at 307 Felix Street. Fay Smith worked as a shipping clerk at the Atlas Supply Company. In 1915 Opal gave birth to a boy, but he died a few days later. In 1917 Fay Smith received a deferment from the draft board for being recently married. In 1919 Opal gave birth to her second son, but tragic struck again and that baby died shortly after birth as well.

By 1930 Fay and Opal Smith were living in Casper, Wyoming. Fay Smith had started working as a salesman for the Williamsport Wire Rope company, which sent him and Opal to live in Wyoming and Oregon for a few years.

Later in 1930 Fay Smith was relocated by his employer to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Fay and Opal Smith moved into the Sophian Park Plaza at 1500 South Frisco Avenue. In the summer of 1933 Fay Smith was laid off from the Williamsport Wire Rope company. He did find another job as a life insurance salesman but was later found dead from suicide on the 24th of January 1934 on a road in Sands Springs.

Opal had a maid named Beulah Walker who died from being hit by a car near the Sophian Plaza in February 1934. The driver of the car was Charles C. Rains who was a captain at the Tulsa Fire Department and who also lived in the Sophian Park Plaza. Charles C. Rains later died from injuries in 1938 from a fire and explosion at an oil and gas field.

Opal had asked for her father to live with her after the death of her husband. Her father, Thomas Carey, died in 1934 on the 20th of September. According to the 1940 United States Census Opal Mary Smith was now using the name Carolann Mary Smith. She claimed her husband Fay Smith was still alive and that they had a child named Donall. Carolann Smith put her husband's occupation as District Manager for a Wholesale Steel Company. She claimed Donall was 17 years-old, and that she, Carolann, was 31. Carolann Smith was 47 at that time.

In 1937 Carolann Smith was using the alias of Meredith Fontane, when she met Virginia Evans at a Christian Science bookstore. They became friends and Virginia moved in with Carolann Smith. In 1938 Carolann Smith met Willetta Horner at a grocery store. They became friends and Willetta later moved in with Carolann and Virginia.

Later in 1938 the apartment manager at the Sophian Plaza Park raised Carolann’s rent, because she was a difficult tenant and had past due rent. Carolann and the two young women moved out after Willetta Horner found the duplex at 10 East 21st Street, which would later be dubbed the Hex House. Carolann had Willetta use the alias Janet Sherman to put on the rental agreement with the property manager. The three women then moved into the duplex at 21st Street and Main.

The other side of the duplex 12 East 21st Street had remained vacant until 1942. Andrew Milek, a Geologist, who moved to Tulsa after getting a job with Sinclair Prairie Oil Company started renting 12 East 21st Street on March of 1942. He had moved from Nebraska and was married. His wife, Dorothy, would be moving to Tulsa in the next few weeks.

Note to readers: We have made our best effort to provide the most accurate information about the history of the Hex House of Tulsa. We collected newspaper articles, researched genealogy, and historical documents like marriage licenses, census information, city directories, and draft cards.