The Story Of Chad Channing's Time In Nirvana

May 2024 ยท 2 minute read

While it may have seemed strange that Chad Channing never got as much as a verbal "hey, you're in the band" acknowledgment from his new bandmates, that paled in comparison to what happened after one of his first rehearsals with the group.

According to Charles R. Cross' "Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain," Channing was given a tour of various spots in Nirvana's then-home base of Aberdeen, Washington, following one practice session. Things took a turn for the bizarre when Channing, Kurt Cobain, and Krist Novoselic made their way to an allegedly haunted house in the woods nicknamed "the Castle." 

As the band drove to the property, Cobain tried to scare Channing by telling him stories of people entering the house, never to return. Originally, the plan was for Cobain and Novoselic to enter the house, but the two Nirvana founders found themselves too scared to set foot in it, even as Channing encouraged them to do so. For his part, Channing thought this was some sort of hazing ritual, and he was all ready to go in ... before he realized Cobain was genuinely afraid, having seemingly bought into his own tall tales of scary clown paintings and people dying in the house. Ultimately, nobody entered the purportedly haunted property, but as Cross detailed, this was Channing's real introduction to Cobain's complicated personality. 

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