Twisted Vine

This 1892 former bank building in Derby houses a restaurant where a spirit named Sam communicates through a bar lightbulb, the jukebox turns on by itself, and Ghost Storm investigators captured a flashlight rotating 360 degrees on its own during a 2019 investigation.

Nick Grossman set his flashlight on the bar at 10:30 p.m. on February 19, 2019, and asked whatever was in the room to turn it. The flashlight rotated 360 degrees. Then it did it again. Grossman, lead investigator of Ghost Storm out of Norwalk, spent the next fifteen minutes talking to something that answered through the light. He asked if it wanted to play a drinking game.

The Twisted Vine occupies the former Birmingham National Bank at 285 Main Street in Derby. The bank was chartered in 1848 as the Manufacturers Bank of Birmingham, with Edward N. Shelton as its first president, and became a national bank in 1865. Architect Warren R. Briggs designed the current building in 1892, packing three architectural styles into one structure: Sullivanesque, Neo-Grec, and Richardsonian Romanesque Revival. Terra cotta molding, thick oak trim, stained glass windows. The original bank vault is still in the basement. The restaurant opened in July 2005, and downstairs the Birmingham Cellars lounge serves cocktails where depositors once stood in line.

Shelton ran the bank from 1848 until his death in September 1894. He took enormous pride in the building and reportedly never left. Staff and visitors report flickering lights, smoke moving across rooms with no source, and furniture shifting positions overnight. The jukebox turns on by itself. A male voice has been heard calling down to employees from upstairs when nobody is up there. Bartender Stacy has had sugar containers and glasses thrown at her.

The bar has its own resident. Staff communicate with a spirit they call Sam using the lightbulb above the bar as a yes-or-no signal. The attic has a different presence entirely: visitors report the spirit of a young girl up there, plus guests have spotted the shadow of a child moving through the building.

Grossman's Ghost Storm team investigated until 4 a.m. using digital cameras and night vision equipment. He told the Connecticut Post that the flashlight communication was the most compelling thing he encountered. Owner Michael Picone participated and has leaned into the building's reputation ever since. The Travel Channel's Kindred Spirits also investigated, filming an episode called "Vaulted Secrets" that focused on the downstairs bar activity.

The restaurant now hosts regular paranormal events. A monthly Paranormal Dinner and Tour includes a prix fixe menu, a talk from the owner, and a guided walk from the attic to the cellar. Paranormal investigators Chris Smith and Mike Goncalves, from Destination America's series, lead sessions where paying guests search the building for four hours after midnight.

The Twisted Vine works because the owner doesn't hide from the ghost stories. Banks are places where people put their most important things, where trust lives. Shelton built this place and ran it for 46 years. The idea that he'd stick around to keep an eye on things is less spooky than it is predictable. Order the pasta, take the tour, and ask Sam a question. If the light flickers, you decide what that means.