Listener Stories: Vol. 100! (The Lost 16th Listener’s Episode)

Summary

Summary of "And That's Why We Drink" Episode: Listener Stories: Vol. 100! (The Lost 16th Listener’s Episode)

Release Date: February 1, 2025
Hosts: Christine Schiefer & Em Schulz

In the milestone 100th episode of "And That's Why We Drink," hosts Christine Schiefer and Em Schulz celebrate by diving into a special compilation of their favorite listener-submitted stories. This episode, humorously titled "The Lost 16th Listener’s Episode," merges chilling ghost tales with true crime narratives, staying true to the podcast's unique blend of murder and the paranormal.

Celebrating 100 Episodes

Christine and Em kick off the episode by expressing their disbelief and excitement over reaching 100 episodes. They humorously reminisce about previous milestones and playful moments, setting a celebratory tone.

Christine [00:35]: "We’ve been doing this for a hundred weeks. Wait. Oh, yeah. That’s so much worse."

Behind the Scenes: Listener Engagement

The hosts commend their team members, Katie and Eva, for diligently managing and curating listener stories. They acknowledge the vast number of submissions over the years, highlighting the challenge of recalling every single tale.

Em [02:20]: "We think that’s been part of the lore that I had totally forgotten about."

Best-of Compilation: Highlighting Top Stories

To honor the 100th episode, Christine and Em present a curated "best-of" selection, featuring some of the most memorable and spine-chilling listener stories from previous episodes.

Black Eyed Kids

One of the standout themes is the eerie phenomenon of Black Eyed Kids. Multiple listener accounts delve into encounters with these unsettling figures, blending fear with fascination.

Abby’s Nightmare

Abby shares a vivid nightmare involving a Black Eyed Kid infiltrating her household, leading to a harrowing confrontation that leaves her with a lasting fear.

Abby [05:22]: "I can’t say the same."

Shadow Figures and Haunted Mirrors

Elena narrates an unsettling experience with shadowy figures and haunted mirrors, linking her encounters to deep-seated familial connections with the paranormal.

Elena [38:34]: "I saw my mom’s reflection move independently in the mirror."

Time Travel Glitches

A listener recounts a bizarre experience resembling a time-travel glitch, where past and present collide in inexplicable ways, adding a layer of sci-fi horror to the paranormal narrative.

Listener [52:17]: "I saw myself in bed sound asleep."

Deer with a Dark Presence

Another chilling story involves a supernatural deer with an otherworldly presence, suggesting encounters that blur the lines between reality and the unknown.

Listener [54:22]: "I can’t explain it or rationalizing it, but I saw a deer with glowing eyes."

Host Banter and Personal Anecdotes

Throughout the episode, Christine and Em engage in their signature playful banter, sharing personal anecdotes and humorous reflections on past episodes and listener interactions.

Christine [04:39]: "I was like, what’s happening right now?"

Sponsored Segments: Apostrophe & FAY Nutrition

Interspersed within the listener stories are brief segments promoting partnerships with Apostrophe for dermatology services and FAY Nutrition for personalized dietitian support, offering exclusive discounts to listeners.

Em [11:38]: "Get your first visit for only $[e-mail] Drink."

Interactive Moments: Live Reactions

The hosts occasionally step out of the narrative to react live to the stories, adding authenticity and a dynamic feel to the episode. Their genuine reactions amplify the tension and horror of the shared tales.

Em [17:28]: "Guys, we never read this in our entire lives."

Conclusion: Gratitude and Looking Forward

As the episode wraps up, Christine and Em extend heartfelt thanks to their listeners, acknowledging the role of listener stories in the podcast’s success. They encourage continued story submissions, hinting at more thrilling content in future episodes.

Christine [147:37]: "We wouldn’t have 100 episodes without all of you. Thank you."

---

This 100th episode not only celebrates the podcast's journey but also reinforces its commitment to delivering captivating and terrifying stories. By featuring a "best-of" compilation, Christine and Em provide both new and long-time listeners with a rich tapestry of narratives that showcase the best of what "And That's Why We Drink" has to offer.

Transcript

[A]

I can't believe we're here.

[B]

Oh, what a celebration we'll have today. Thank goodness. It's. We've been doing this for a hundred weeks. Wait. Oh, yeah. That's so much worse.

[A]

I was like, haven't we been doing this for 400 weeks?

[B]

A hundred months of my life have gone to reading all your creepy tales. And Today on the 100th, we get to do it again.

[A]

Okay. I'm so excited. Also, Eva made a very funny note that apparently people still write in about The Lost episode 16, but apparently that was our April Fool's episode. I think it was the one with Allison. However we did it back then. I don't know.

[B]

Or maybe we had Blaze and I did one. Blaze, Sandy and. And Allison all played different characters of us, but not.

[A]

That couldn't have been the first ever April Fools, because that would have been. I mean, 16 episodes in was like 2017, and I was still living in that weird apartment. So I don't know what. I don't know what April Fools we did, but apparently we didn't call it 16.

[B]

Oh.

[A]

And so we skipped a number. So when people look like in the thing, it doesn't say. It looks like we skipped 16. Anyway, so apparently Megan was like, oh, let's call it like the lost episode six. Like episode 100. Lost episode scene. Anyway, so apparently that's been part of the lore that I had totally forgotten about. I'm sure whatever we did 18 weeks in or 16 weeks in was very. Oh, no, I'm sorry. I did the same thing you did 16 months. I'm so dumb. Okay, so 16 months. It would have been the Allison Blaze.

[B]

Yeah, I think it was where we had them.

[A]

You're really right.

[B]

You and I were downstairs watching Bob's Burgers while they recorded on our equipment, and we were like, this is the life.

[A]

And now I'm like, is that how they feel every. Every.

[B]

Every. Every single time I leave them alone? Yeah.

[A]

And Blaze is like, driving Leon around town. Like, no, it's not how I feel every day, but thanks for asking.

[B]

Oh, man. Well, a hundred months of this. I almost want to say weeks or years, but a hundred months.

[A]

It feels like years. Yeah.

[B]

Of reading people's listener stories. And because it's the 100th, we decided that we were going to double up this time and give you twice the amount of stories that we usually do. And not only that, but they are a best of compilation throughout the several months. And we're gonna. Several.

[A]

A handful of. Yeah. Months. Just a hundred of Them.

[B]

We're gonna. We think. And this is where we give total applause to, like, Katie and Eva for going through and looking at the backlog and asking all of you what your.

[A]

Favorite Megan apparently put posts. I know we try to ignore Megan as much as possible. It's the name, you know, it just happens.

[B]

But it just doesn't feel right to like her.

[A]

It doesn't feel right to give her accolades. She, like, these people, like, run our lives.

[B]

Megan's, like, cracking her knuckles some, ready to beat me up.

[A]

So scary. I'm so scared of Megan. We're just kidding. But anyway, yeah, they did a lot of work to. To compile these stories, and Eva claims that Em and I will remember most, if not all of these. And somehow I'm starting to think, no way in hell am I going to remember all of them. But I don't know, because if you.

[B]

Think about it, a hundred episodes of this and at least six stories each time, that's 600 stories. So hard to remember all of them. And I feel. I feel bad when people come forward or come forward like they're in trouble.

[A]

A shadowy podium appears. Eva says, here's your mics.

[B]

When they've approached us at meet and greets or in public. And they're like, oh, you read one of my stories. It's like, I'm so sorry, I don't remember 600 stories.

[A]

But no, no, it's. Emma always says that. Em goes, I'm so sorry, I don't remember 600 stories. And then they start crying and it's. And then they step forward to the podium. No, no. Yeah, we don't. I mean, I don't know, maybe there will be some that are, like, ones we talk about behind the scenes. I don't know.

[B]

We'll see. Our memories will be jogged, perhaps.

[A]

Yeah, maybe we'll pretend we know. Do we know who goes first? M. Or anything like that.

[B]

We can rock, paper, scissors it.

[A]

You're gonna say we can. Never mind. I thought you'd say, we can raw dog it. And I was like, I don't know why you should say that again. You already said that earlier today. Okay, there's only one update. What's happened?

[B]

Rock, paper, scissors.

[A]

Oh, my God. I thought you were trying to punch me.

[B]

I'm not, Megan. Okay, so I need to lotion my hand. God damn. I do too.

[A]

I'm not. Not putting mine that close to the screen. You know what else I thought you were trying to do was set up another, like, apple reaction on the screen. Like, you Keep doing. So I was like, is this a new one? Like you're gonna punch me through the computer.

[B]

Okay, wait, are you a 1, 2, 3, shoot or just go on 3?

[A]

I'm a shoot. 1. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Okay. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot. Oh no, we're both scissors. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot. Oh no. Rock, paper, scissors, shoot. I wouldn't. Okay, anyway. Oops, I just turned them all upside down. Hold on. Okay, here's episode.

[B]

Oh, okay.

[A]

What?

[B]

Never mind, never mind. I'm sorry. I was just gonna be myself, that's all.

[A]

I told you to stop doing that.

[B]

I was gonna say we should have a rock, paper, scissors. That's like paranormal themed.

[A]

We've. So I was just gonna be myself. Imagine that's like out of context. This one on Reddit is like, yeah, one time Em tried to be themselves and Christine said, stop doing that. We don't get to make fun. Cool. Rock, paper, scissors hand games.

[B]

And that was the day I stopped listening.

[A]

Yeah, that was the day I stopped listening. Me too. Okay, so this is called Black Eyed Kids. B E K. Spooky nightmare. That feels like maybe something we'll remember, but I don't know.

[B]

Before you crack into this, what do you drink?

[A]

Oh, oh, oh. So I have a liquid death, of course, because it just fits the vibe and it's the sparkling kind that you're not a fan of. Oh, and you have the white one. Look at us.

[B]

Yay. Ebony and ivory working together in harmony. I also brought a London frog. A fog on purpose.

[A]

London frog.

[B]

Ribbit, please go. I have to really stop.

[A]

No, I think what they do is they go like, ribbit. Eh, Rip, what's the thing that British people say?

[B]

Is this a British frog?

[A]

Yes, you said a London frog.

[B]

Oh, you're right. That's funny. Now that's comedy.

[A]

Thank you. Well, I tried. It obviously was too elevated for your taste. It went right over your head. Okay, here we go. This is from Abby. She her a hundred months. Dear God. Okay, this says, hi friends. I'm currently on a re listen of the early days. Oh no. And came across the Black Eyed Kids episode where it triggered a memory of my most frightening nightmare. At the time of the nightmare, I had no prior knowledge of Black Eyed Kids and actually had not learned about them until five years ago through podcasts. Hey, thanks. You're welcome. To set the scene before the nightmare begins, we lived in a two story house with my bedroom on the second floor. Just below my windows is where a first floor addition was. Therefore I could easily crawl through A window and be on the flat roof of the addition. There wasn't an easy way to get up or down without a ladder, though. Trust teenage me, I certainly tried. Okay, cue the nightmare. It's evening. I'm in my room, where, by the way, everything is normal throughout the dream.

[B]

Thank you for that.

[A]

I can't say the same.

[B]

I was. I was imagining something incredibly abnormal. I'm glad that we got here.

[A]

Well, you're in a dream. I mean, it could be like I was in my childhood bedroom. Not my normal bedroom. I don't know. I'm in my room. Okay, cue the nightmare. It's evening, I'm in my room, where, by the way, everything is normal. Which immediately, again, makes me think something's totally abnormal.

[B]

But anyway, if you had. If one day Leona goes up to you and goes, mommy, everything's normal.

[A]

Everything in my room is perfectly normal, in case you're wondering. And I didn't try to get off the flat roof without a ladder. Oh, God. Okay, throughout the dream, my house is exactly as it should be, which isn't typical, at least for me. Usually there's sort of some sort of wild dream extra room. I'm always finding an extra room in my dreams, but I've talked about that before. Anyway, there wasn't. So I'm in my room and I hear a tap on my window. I hesitantly walk over and move the shade just enough to peer out. I see a young girl with black hair and black eyes. I quickly step back and attempt to scream, but this is dream world, so I can't. And I'm very aware that I can't. In a panic, I run for the door and find my mom. I hysterically explain my fear and she, being the kind mom she is, replies, we have to go. Let her in immediately. I begin sobbing and protesting her horrible plan. Sadly, she won the fight and went to the wind window to let the girl in. New dream scene. I am now in our perfectly normal living room with my mom, dad and scary Black Eyed Kid girl. I'm pleading with my horror movie and novel loving dad to understand why she cannot be here with us. I love that. It's like, I'll turn to dad. He knows the horror movie tropes.

[B]

He knows to never open the door. At least I think he would be on your side. You would have.

[A]

He knows about cameras home, you know, he's heard it all. It's so obvious to me that this is the beginning of some sort of horror story. And I couldn't believe my dad wasn't on my side. While I'm begging for help, Bek girl is sitting with my mom, staring at me with her black void eyes. I'm so terrified and angry that they won't believe me. My dad finally speaks and says, you need to get over this. She's staying. Now go and give her a hug.

[B]

Dad. What the. What the. I thought you were my homie in this. What's going on?

[A]

Whose team are you on? Despite my heart beating nearly out of my chest and my brain screaming to run, I obliged. I slowly walk toward Bek girl as she rose for the hug. We embrace, and as we do, she digs her nails into my back and forcefully drags them all the way up to my neck as I scream and writhe in pain. I wake in the dark of my room, sweating and terrified. I never open that shade again. And that summer, while repainting my room, I accidentally painted that window shut. Yeah, it's been about. It's been about 15 years since the dream, and it still gives me goose cam ick. I've tried to find any meaning, psychological or otherwise, behind it, but nothing really tracks. I really hope it's not an omen, though. Thanks. Love you. Bye. The end.

[B]

Thanks, Abby, so much. Thank you so much. Yeah, Dad. I would be mad at him the next. You know when you wake up after a dream where you're like, your partner cheated on you, and then you, like, obviously have the right to be mad?

[A]

So. Hurt. Yeah, I'd be.

[B]

I would never speak to my dad again.

[A]

Yeah. And then they always, inevitably do that thing of, like, well, it's your subconscious. It's like, that's besides the point.

[B]

Oh, man. And also, like, I feel like painting your window shut. I like to think that that would help. But then there was that scene in Hocus Pocus where Bette Midler just used her long nail and just cut through the glass. I'm like, oh, well, I thought you.

[A]

Were gonna say cut through the. The dried paint.

[B]

No, just paying through the glass. Which is even worse because.

[A]

Yeah, that's worse. So that's the window. Doesn't even matter. Just open. Open the windows. Okay. I've always had very, very, very dry skin. And I always felt like all the little algorithms were being like, oh, skincare tips for oily skinned girlies. And I was always like, doesn't work for me. But I found apostrophe, and thankfully, they were able to help me get some expert care. And. And now I'm excited to say we're partnering with them.

[B]

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[A]

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[B]

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[A]

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[B]

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[A]

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[B]

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[A]

They're like, there for you, which is just so cool.

[B]

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[A]

Amazing.

[B]

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[A]

That's feynutrition.com backslash drink one last time. That's Faye F a Y nutrition.com drink and make sure you use the URL so they know we sent you.

[B]

Well, this one is from Nicolette, who is a she. Her pronouns. Thank you for normalizing pronouns. And the title is My Mom. My late Mom Saved Me from the Black Eyed Kids. Okay, did everyone just request Black Eyed Kids?

[A]

I mean, I probably would have voted for that if it were on a poll, so.

[B]

Oh my God. Okay, well, here we go. Hi, you guys. Just to start off, y'all are the best. The best thing to happen to podcasts. Oh, my God. I didn't even know how to read that. That was so nice. Ghost criminals, Baby babies, which is Geo and Juni at the time, not even moonsh, Moonshine, milkshakes, wine. What more could I ask for?

[A]

Well, apparently we brought you a lot more stuff like moonshine and lemons and. Etc.

[B]

Lemon hadn't even hit the scene probably. Okay, here I go. It's short, sweet, and spooky. To give a little background, my mom passed away suddenly last December, leaving me shocked and sad. Since she wanted to be cremated. That's what my family and I chose for her. I got one of those necklaces you can put loved ones ashes into. And this is important for later. Fast forward nine months and my fiance and I are in our first home together. He works a lot, leaving my puppy, Piper and I home by ourselves a lot. One evening I was watching Hill House with Piper and there was a knock at the door. Yeah, no thanks. Since I was home alone and a little on edge from the show, I chose not to answer the door. But Piper went crazy barking and whining at the door. Anyway, I looked out the window, thinking my fiance may have gotten home from work early and Piper usually just knows when he's coming home. No one was at the door. I shrugged it off and went back to watching the show. And not even 10 minutes later, there was another knock at the door.

[A]

No, no, no, no.

[B]

This time more like banging than knocking.

[A]

That's that.

[B]

Police. Police. Time. I jumped off the couch and looked out the window and two boys were standing on my porch. Please time. Please time.

[A]

This is all of it's bad if they're real boys. If they're not real. Like, it's just already so bad. This is my nightmare.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Even if they're just normal middle schoolers asking for money or something. I don't know, being new to the.

[B]

Area, I thought maybe they were boy scouts or something. Okay, Nicolette, yes, very nice of you to think. Not. Maybe those are seven year old murderers.

[A]

I'd be like, they're boy Scouts. AKA seven year. I'm afraid. As afraid of them as I am of seven year old murderers. They're equal threat in my eyes, 100%.

[B]

I opened the door, bent over to hold back Piper, and they immediately said at the same time, can we rub your dog? I don't like that. It said, what? I don't like that. It was rub, not pet.

[A]

Sorry, can we rub your dog?

[B]

I was taken aback, but said, sure. And then in all caps it says bad decision. I know. Em, don't even say it. Okay, drag me. But also, you're the one who let it happen. So they stepped a bit inside to pet her. I stood up straight and that's when I saw their eyes. They were pitch black and I felt my legs go numb. Like the staticky feeling when you've been sitting too long.

[A]

Oh my God, you had a physical. This is so bad. This is so bad.

[B]

Out of habit, I reached up to touch my necklace and they both stopped touching Piper and took a couple steps backward and she went to touch her mom's ashes.

[A]

Oh, the ashes, right? Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.

[B]

And like they recoiled from that. One of them said, who was that?

[A]

No. How do I not remember this story?

[B]

It's literally like a brand new scene. I've never experienced this in my life.

[A]

Eva's gonna have like such a renewed sense of anti faith in us. What's the opposite of faith? Like, such a loss of faith in us. She was like, no, you'll remember.

[B]

I don't know.

[A]

Don't worry. Yeah, despair. Holy shit. That's fucking. Was that. Did we read this? Are you sure?

[B]

Guys, we never read this in our entire lives.

[A]

I'm traumatized.

[B]

Do I have a head injury? Like, there's no way we've read this.

[A]

I wonder if we go back and listen if we re like, how? I don't know. It's probably so embarrassing to play them side by side. Like, probably had the exact same reaction the first time.

[B]

I wonder if I got dragged twice.

[A]

I'm sure you did. And I'm sure you took it very personally both times.

[B]

I. Okay, where were we?

[A]

Oh, I'm so freaked out right now. So he says, who was that?

[B]

Truly, like, the hairs on my everywhere are Standing up.

[A]

Horrible.

[B]

Okay. And they took a couple steps back and they said, who was that? No, I was confused and said, what do you mean? My necklace. They looked at each other and said, yes, ma'am, we will leave now. No, they walked off my porch.

[A]

No, they're aliens.

[B]

No. The moment they left, the feeling in my legs came back and I felt strange, scared, and confused. After thinking about it, I came to the conclusion that my mom scared away those things because who were they calling me ma'am? And why did they ask, who is that? Since then, I wear my necklace religiously. Thank you for reading. Sorry it became long and sweet. No, don't feel. Yeah, F you for being sweet. Keep on crying.

[A]

I don't know.

[B]

I'm scared.

[A]

Wish it were sweeter.

[B]

Oh, this is like one of the first. I'm saying I'm team Milkshake all the way.

[A]

Hey. Hell yeah. You probably said that back then, too.

[B]

Probably. But anyway, that. Nicolette, thank you for giving me a reason to have a nightmare tonight. Thank you so much.

[A]

Wow. Thank you for ignoring the part that says, still love you, Christine.

[B]

I. Sorry, I didn't see that. I don't think that was in my copy.

[A]

Yeah, it must have got. I must have added it to my. By myself because I was sad maybe.

[B]

I don't know.

[A]

Wow. So. Oh, my God. Just the idea of who. Who was that? Do you think that they could. A spirit? Or do you think that they just knew that the ashes belonged to somebody? You know what I mean?

[B]

I don't know. But somehow, like, the. Like, they connected to us.

[A]

They knew there was a soul there. Wow. Wow. Nicolette, that's. First of all, I'm so sorry for your loss. I know that, you know, this is years later now, but I'm sorry all over again, but. Wow, wow, wow, wow. Ooh. I have just total.

[B]

I mean, as someone who believes obviously in all the spooky, it's like, yes, I feel terrible that you lost your mom, but to know that she is very, very strongly still. There she is with you, girl. That's craz.

[A]

And Piper's like, what about me? Also. Yeah, also rub your dog. I can't. This is all of it so bad. That's why.

[B]

Do you have any. Do you have any ketchup for my apple or something? It's like, rub your dog.

[A]

It's like if you have a telegraph of like a mobile telegraph. It's like. Wait, what did you just say? Are you 13 or not? Like, that's not what it's called. It's just so creepy.

[B]

Well, let's remember, like, whether or not they were blackhead kids or, like, just blue eyed kids, I would have had a fear of them being at my door. But the fact that they like for them to. Okay, you know what the real creepy part is? When they go, yes, ma'am, we will leave.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Like, what was your mom saying to them to get them that scared? Like, that shaken?

[A]

Yes. And, like, what threat was there to them that was, like, exactly so not worth staying. Even though they were clearly insistent and persistent and kept knocking. But something was, like, too much.

[B]

The banging. I beg to differ.

[A]

And the fact that they weren't there the first time knocked, and what, then they just materialize the second time? Like, this is all just so bad. I'm getting freaked out.

[B]

Also, isn't it, like, once you open the door, do they still need to be invited in?

[A]

Or is opening the door invited in? I think they need to be invited over the thr. Like, into the home.

[B]

I'm curious. You know what? I actually rescind my congratulations to Piper for being a good dog. Because, like, that dog let the kids pet her.

[A]

Well, the dog can't decide. What is it?

[B]

Yeah, but the dog should have gone, you know.

[A]

Oh, I see.

[B]

You know what I mean?

[A]

Don't blame the dog.

[B]

Piper, I got a bone to pick with you.

[A]

Wow, that's. That's a good one.

[B]

And I. And I mean that. So if Piper would like to chime in and. And defend herself, she can, but I don't know if she's gonna, so.

[A]

Well, I'm gonna defend her on her on everyone's behalf and say, you keep it down. You knock it off. Okay, My dad used to say, knock it down instead of knock it off, or instead of knock it off, he would say, knock it down. And so when we were really feeling. Feeling. What's the word? Antagonistic. And he would say, knock it down. We would just start, like, knocking stuff off the table. And it made him so mad. I said, you told me to knock it down. Oh, my God. Okay, so anyway, here is a story. This is called Black Eyed Kids, and my new. Are they all Black Eyed Kids?

[B]

I thought we were doing a best of, but apparently Eva tricked us.

[A]

Well, maybe that is the best of. Maybe that's all anybody wants.

[B]

All right, well, that lets me know what we should be covering every week then.

[A]

No, I scrolled forward. There's some mirrors and some time travel, so don't worry. I think they're just maybe chapters, you know, which is kind of Nice.

[B]

Categorized.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. The filo effects. Okay, this one is from Allison. She, her, and it's called Black Eyed Kids and My New Ring Doorbell. Oh, no. Hello to Eva, Lemon, Avocado, Geo Juniper, Christine and M. In no specific order. First, may I suggest someone somehow get you guys a petrified vegetable in the spirit of Inclusivity Empire, Christine Chapel and the boozers and shakers all over the world. You know what to do. No. Do not start a rallying cry five years after you apparently started a rallying cry to send me stuff. Okay. I had just listened to the episode about the Black Eyed kids, and though I knew about their existence beforehand, the stories and hearing Christine's reactions sent me over the edge into okay, I'm thoroughly terrified of this now territory. So anyway, I listen to that episode in my car alone at night around 2:30am Coming home from work. Oh, gosh. I work in a veterinary emergency clinic, so hours are long and random. That was my first mistake. And I think they me. I think she means listening, not being emergency vet.

[B]

Oh.

[A]

Because at first I was like, oh, sorry about that. But I think she just means listening to you at 2:30 in the morning was the mistake.

[B]

Gotcha.

[A]

The second mistake was apparently trying to fall asleep in my own home after listening to these stories at exactly 3:33am Q Collective, of course, from those with paranormal experience. Our doorbell range. Absolutely. Absolutely not. There are a few reasons this is weird. One, it was 3:33 in the morning. Two, the doorbell rang, but the motion activated light on our porch did not turn on. See, it's the same thing. Oh, God. Three, our doorbell has been broken since we moved in three years ago. Did we just black out this whole episode because we were so scared?

[B]

That's like. That's straight up. Like, she died 40 years ago and.

[A]

It'S like, oh, And I love the storytelling of, like, first things. That's weird. Second thing, that's weird. Third thing, it's impossible. Like, what? You know, that's such a tension building, man. You're a good writer, Allison.

[B]

Well, so. Okay now. So my first thought, though, would be, oh, if they're. If the doorbell is broken and I'm lying in bed, my first thought would be, oh, I'm not getting up. The doorbell's like, on the fritz because it's broken. And like, maybe it's just like, maybe there's a wiring thing. I wouldn't even thought to check because I would have been like, oh, that's broken. It shouldn't be doing that.

[A]

Really? Even at Three in the morning, you hear, like, ding dong, like, reverberate through your house.

[B]

I'd be like, that's when I would be talking to the ghost. I go, no, thank you. I don't want this.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

You see?

[A]

Yeah. You would think it was haunted, especially.

[B]

When the light didn't go off. I'd be like, oh, because the doorbell's like. Which is on the fritz. Like, no one's actually there. But reading this, knowing something scary is going to happen. I hate it.

[A]

You're 100, right? And also, it sounds like Allison didn't live alone. In my mind, if I were alone, I absolutely would have just stayed in bed. But Allison has a fiance or had a fiance, and I don't know.

[B]

Hopefully, who knows?

[A]

But as a time of writing, February 18, 2020, she did have a fiance. And it says, so my fiance clinks engagement ring against glass and offers some. Some advert advertisement for the Zola app. Okay, so you know what? I'm getting roasted too. And don't worry about it. All right, let's see. Clinks ring against glass. I offer some in advertisement for the soul app. So my fiance springs out of bed and runs to the door. I threw on some real pants and cautiously followed him to the hallway. I watched him hesitate before peering out the peephole. I'm already scared. Then he held there for about, what.

[B]

Literally, someone just knocked on the door.

[A]

I heard that.

[B]

Hang on a second.

[A]

Don't.

[B]

Oh, hang on.

[A]

Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

[B]

This is an actual person. Just.

[A]

Oh, my God. What if it was oh, my God. Oh, my God. What's happening? Oh, my God. Okay, well, I'm putting out the call for a new co host. Must. Must be six feet tall, laugh like a dolphin, and have a deep, unwavering interest in pronouns. This is why you don't answer the door. This feels like the ultimate test. You folks. Like, we're reading a thing about how you never answer the door. And Em goes, I would never answer the door. If someone knocks on the door, Em opens the damn door. I'm just realizing, like, the irony in this is just. It's not even irony, because it's, like, too obvious to be irony. Well, it's been real. This poor person, whoever they are, they're just. Didn't even make up a fake name.

[B]

Worst timing in the world. Christine. Oh, my God. It was the last person's realtor. Oh, my God.

[A]

Or was it worse?

[B]

Or was it.

[A]

I cannot believe.

[B]

No, I know. It was because it was also. It Was a strange man. He was in a suit. And so I fell for the authority.

[A]

That's how they do. What do you think men in black are? Hello.

[B]

No.

[A]

He literally just failed the ultimate test. I can't believe we just witnessed, we all witnessed that in person. It was the most amazing thing you just said, I would never have opened the door. And now you're like, well, he had a suit on, so I opened the door.

[B]

It's like, no, to be, to be honest, I've seen, I've seen him a few times here, so I, I, he seemed pretty nice. I've walked past him on the street a couple times, so I think he lives in the neighborhood. Anyway, he, I know that he was the last person's realtor because he like used her name directly. And I went, oh, yeah, I know that girl.

[A]

So it's 3:00 on a Monday. Why is he knocking on your door?

[B]

He was, I think, doing like some sort of, he gave me his card and everything. So at least I have a phone number in case if something happens to me.

[A]

You can call, you call the number on this phone. Okay, great. Oh, I call it. Okay, gotcha.

[B]

Or let the police know to call it.

[A]

I can't believe that just happened. I really was narrating the whole time. Like, wow, Em even gave their real name. I can't believe this is happening right now in front of our very eyes. And then I put out a call for a new co host. So I am sorry if you start getting some emails if you hear about that, don't worry about it. It's nothing. I really thought you were a goner anyway. Okay, so the fact that m, I literally said he peered out the peephole and then you jumped and somebody knocked. Somebod. He knocked on your door. As I said, he peered out the people and you went, hang on a sec, let me go get the door. I mean, it's just like, I feel like.

[B]

Do you know why I opened the door though? Because I thought it was today's the first day that we're using the laundry service you told me about. And so I thought that they, it might be like he was, I didn't know how it worked yet, so I thought that's why I answered the door.

[A]

They don't knock on the door, don't answer, and they don't probably wear suits, but I don't know, maybe they do.

[B]

Oh God, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. This whole story just got totally messed up by me.

[A]

No, I actually think it really elevated the experience. It was like an immersive experience for all of us, you know? It was so. Like, nothing so meta, I don't think, has ever happened on the podcast.

[B]

It's like I was reenacting for you how it was gonna go.

[A]

I was narrating. I was commentating it because I was like, we all know what's about to happen. It's like the real story, you know?

[B]

His eyes were weirdly black.

[A]

I know. I'm telling you, we all felt the horror happening in front of our very ears. Okay, so anyway, after they threw on some pants. So she throws some pants. She follows her fiance to the door. He hesitates before peering out the peephole. Then he held there for about a minute, which feels like a long time. People for a minute? Well, you didn't stare at the people for a minute.

[B]

No, no, wait.

[A]

You stared at it for 0.5 seconds and said, come on in. Okay, so it says, I watched him hesitate before peering out the peephole. Then he held there for about a minute before jogging up the stairs to look out the second floor window. And you know, Allison, at least, if she's anything like me, was like, what? What is it? What do you see? What are you doing?

[B]

Of course.

[A]

And he's, like, just running away upstairs.

[B]

Oh, forget it.

[A]

Oh, my God. Okay, so he runs upstairs before jogging upstairs to look out the second floor window, then book it to the living room to look out the back windows, then check every door and window in our house to make sure they were locked. After a long wait. Oh, so she's not like me. After a long wait, I finally got up the courage to ask what he had seen. This was my third mistake.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

My totally rational, serious, logical, adult male fiance, with whom I have investigated multiple haunted locations without so much as a word about a sighting, who humors me by letting me listen to the podcast while dueling, while doing daily chores, but doesn't listen on his own time, looks me in the eyes and says, I don't know. Oh, my God. Okay, so she said. The question, by the way, was, what had you seen? What did you. Sure.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

He says, I don't know. What do you mean, you don't know? I mean, I saw something, and I don't know what it was. This is not a sentence I expected to hear, at least not from him.

[B]

I. I mean, can you imagine hearing Blaze say that to you?

[A]

I don't know what I saw. And then compiled with the fear that this person has of locking all the Windows, like they saw something, but they don't.

[B]

I mean, sprinting. First of all, this is why you don't have multiple floors, because there's nowhere else to sprint to.

[A]

Jogging. Yeah.

[B]

Jogging is not a thing in my house. But I. Like, I can't imagine if Allison did that. Oh, I would be petrified because there's just no one in the world who would react less. Yeah.

[A]

And, like, for.

[B]

For that reaction to have.

[A]

And I think what scares me, too, is, like, the silence. Not like. Like, what the is that? But just like, complete and utter silence of like, I'm gonna lock every door before we even speak about this. Oh, God. Okay, so it says. I mean, I saw something, and I don't know what it was. This is not a sentence I expected to hear. Not from him. It seemed like nobody was there. But I waited a long time, and then suddenly someone walked away. I'm gonna throw up.

[B]

I have nothing to say.

[A]

I didn't see them walk up. They weren't standing there, but I saw them leave. What the. This is such a mind, dude. That's why the porch light didn't go off. And that's why earlier, when she checked out the window with Piper the dog, there was nobody there because they hadn't materialized yet or whatever. The. I don't like it for sure.

[B]

On the arms.

[A]

Things are getting bumpy. Okay. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. So the way our porch is set up, there's nowhere to stand that isn't seen via the peephole. If you were truly desperate, you could press yourself up against the door itself, like, full body press, and maybe we wouldn't see you. But this person, question mark, walked out of the frame like nothing happened. Well, that's not great. I managed. At least there was only one of them. No such luck. Mistake number four had just been made.

[B]

Just stop talking like you're just manifesting the worst of everything.

[A]

Says what? Says M. Who? Earlier, we already said we would be like, what was it? What did you see? Show me. Why are you running up the stairs? I want to see. I mean, we would have been such a. Maybe. Maybe just me. Maybe just me. So. Okay. At least there's only one of them. Mistake number four had just been made. He tells me. No, that the first person walked out onto the sidewalk where a younger kid was walking. Remember, this is 3:33 in the morning. Also, I'm gonna throw up. Okay. Where a younger kid was walking. Met up with each other in perfect sync without either kid having to speed up or Slow down to meet the other one. And then they straight up disappeared. The way he said it to me was this. They, like, ran right into each other. And I lost them. Like, lost them. Like they weren't. Aren't visible anymore. I asked what they looked like. Keep in mind he had no knowledge of Black Eyed Kids and still doesn't. Well, I beg to differ. I think he actively has more knowledge than most of us about Black Eyed Kids, but we won't. We won't tell him that. According to him, they were teenagers, one much older than the other, wearing matching jeans and hooded jackets. That's all. I feel like that's always in the description open with white or light gray T shirts underneath. They didn't have the hoods up and they didn't have sharp bangs. But he told me for some reason he couldn't remember their faces. I didn't prompt him. He just described them calmly. Got a weird look on his face like he was trying to figure something out. Then told me for some reason I can't remember what their eyes looked like. I could describe the face, but no eyes.

[B]

No eyes. How is that worse than. I don't know, actually. Is it. I don't know, black eyes or no eyes?

[A]

I don't know. So I went back to bed and bong, ripped some sage and cried for the rest of my life. The end. Someone made me a bracelet with it. Yay. Someone made me that bracelet with the. With all those letters. I'm gonna go bong. Yeah. Hope it was as spoopy for you guys as it was for me. Thanks for everything. You all worked so hard to make this podcast amazing. Can't wait to see you guys if you come back to Charleston. Allison. Wow.

[B]

Wow. So the only thing I remember from this, though, is I'm gonna go bong rip some sage. That was one of our very first little catchphra that took over because of.

[A]

No, I think Theron was the first person to say it. And then I read it in an email and it, like, took off and everyone subscribed it to me because I had read it out loud, but I never coined it, but it is in the like. And that's why I drink coloring book and everything. I love that saying. And somebody recently gave me a friendship bracelet with all the initials, yeah, I be whatever. And I still have it on my nightstand. And every time I'm like, I dreamy, it's like really long sentence. Wow. Okay, this one. These are. Are actually very scary, Em, I'm afraid.

[B]

Yeah. Also, side conversation never had one before. I don't know how we're gonna.

[A]

How will we get to the other side?

[B]

I think, like, do you, do you think Black Eyed Kids are always wearing jeans and a hooded jacket? Because that was what was in for like, 30 years.

[A]

Like, when does the most.

[B]

When does the style change? Like, do the Black Eyed kids ever end up in, like, joggers are now really wide flared pants and, like, Right. You know what I mean? Like, are they in neutrals now?

[A]

Are we in 70s zone? And then are they in. Are they in neutrals? Do they have a core, A core wardrobe? Some core basics? No. I wonder if, like, the idea that maybe they're in, like, 70s outfits and then soon we'll see them in, like, Jenko jeans and we'll be like, wait, okay, the aliens are like 40, 50 years behind us? I don't know. But it's so weird because it's like, if you can manipulate time and space, then how come you can't figure out what the fuck clothes to wear? I don't know.

[B]

I know. I don't know.

[A]

Okay, but my other question to you is, like, what do you think is the importance, if any, or the significance of the 333, like the angel number or like the, the, the demonic number, whatever you want to call it, that 333 in the morning? I feel like, why would they ring at that exact second? Is that something that's, like, easier for them? Is it just, like, for shits and giggles to make it scarier? Like, I don't know. Why 333? It's so weird.

[B]

I have no idea.

[A]

Is it just by chance?

[B]

I don't know.

[A]

Maybe. I don't know.

[B]

Yeah, I don't know. I, I. Because I would also not put Black Eyed kids in the same category as, like, knowing things about, like, the witching hour, 3 o'clock, being more powerful.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I don't know. I don't know.

[A]

Maybe they're all connected, as astonishing legends always says.

[B]

So this is from Elena, who uses she. Her pronouns. Thank you for normalizing pronouns and the topic change. This is called the man and my Mirror.

[A]

Oh, I thought it was going to get better. It's only getting worse.

[B]

So Elena says hello, my spooky friends and Gemini allies. Oh, my God, allies.

[A]

Yeah. We do need a whole team on our side.

[B]

I am dyslexic, so this may be a whirlwind to read. All right, well, we'll be on that road together. That's fine. Yeah. I am a new listener. And Christine Requested mirror stories way back when.

[A]

Mira, give me a mirror story.

[B]

And it was a while back. And although it was a while back, I have always wanted to share the story with you. This mirror wasn't ancient or handed down generationally. My mom bought it at Marshalls. Okay, good.

[A]

It says be yourself with a little bumblebee.

[B]

It has a dorm essentials frame.

[A]

No, it's a sticker. Like you try to peel it off, but part of it never came off, so there's still all the sticky residue. Yeah.

[B]

You know what's funny though? Our mirror, which we didn't bring a lot of furniture with us from the last apartment to this house. One mirror that I got it from Marshall's to this day, best mirror I've ever had.

[A]

I have a mirror from Marshalls too. And I brought it from LA over here. Yes.

[B]

And it was cheap as shit. Do you know how expensive mirrors are? And this one was.

[A]

Yeah, I sure do.

[B]

This one was like 30 bucks and I was like, this is nice. On any other.

[A]

Yeah, buying a mirror is not an easy thing to do online. So Marshalls, I feel like, is the place to do it because you can just put it in your car.

[B]

Oh, it's beautiful. Although I had to walk at home. It was very obnoxious.

[A]

Oh, wow.

[B]

Yeah, long stories. Okay, so Marshall's mirror. We are very pro Marshalls here currently.

[A]

Unless let's Google it first. Don't take what we say, but to heart, please.

[B]

I'm pro the mirror because I currently have one until further notice. And I have to get rid of my mirror. It has. Oh, so speaking of your mirror, Elena, it has a matte black swirly square rim and at the time I was 8 years old and was always in touch with spirits due to my native American heritage on my mom's side and my dad's supernatural prone family on his side.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

So double whammy.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

I told my mom right off the bat that someone was staring at me. Oh, hang on now, I skipped a sentence. I told my mom right off the bat that the mirror made me uncomfortable and she told me to suck it up. And that night I Woke up at 3am and felt like someone was staring at me. I slowly turned my head to the mirror to find a middle aged man staring at me.

[A]

No, the worst person to be staring at you. I think I could argue absolutely.

[B]

You had me.

[A]

Yeah, if you're gonna pick like, that's not choice A for me.

[B]

He had brown buzzed hair, a clean shaved beard, slender face and dark soulless eyes.

[A]

Oh, No, I was hoping at least he was grandpa, or at least he.

[B]

Had somebody green jolly eyes or something.

[A]

Yeah, just loving tenderness.

[B]

No, once he noticed I could see him. He grinned a crooked smile and motioned his finger to come closer.

[A]

No, no, no, no, no. Again, if you're gonna ask what this man does, that is again, the last possible thing you would want him to.

[B]

Do when I tell you I'm clocking out. Like, there's no way, like. And also, what was going on where he noticed you? Like, how. Where wouldn't. How was the realization made that he noticed you noticed?

[A]

But do you think he was like, let me wake you up real quick, you know what I mean? Like, she woke up right at 3:00. Because probably somehow they can make that happen.

[B]

I don't even know.

[A]

Maybe that's when the veil is thinnest and that's why these things tend to happen.

[B]

Well, let's see, that seems to be the thing with like the witching hours. Like, that's.

[A]

And I hadn't really put Black Eyed Kids in that same category, but I feel like that would make some sense too if, like. I don't know, I probably sound so crazy, but I guess that's what we're here for.

[B]

Only to our partners.

[A]

Yeah. Only to the stable ones in our lives.

[B]

To the people who chose us.

[A]

So. Yeah, well, that's on them. Honestly, you're right. That's way more unhinged than actually think.

[B]

Alison's worst feature is that she picked me. So. Okay. So I quickly turned away from him. Good. And grabbed my dog for support. Good. And also, what's going on with this dog? Not noticing what's going on with the dogs in these stories?

[A]

Stop blaming the dogs. They're just dogs. Leave them alone.

[B]

I waited an hour before the man finally left my mirror. An hour. Can you imagine him watching you check the.

[A]

And then you have to keep checking to see if he's still there. Oh, God.

[B]

After like minute four, I'm like. Like I have to sprint out of this room.

[A]

I would be like, this has been eight hours and I can't. I can't live like this anymore.

[B]

Like, is he just staring at you for a full hour?

[A]

Is he doing the whole time? Or did he change? Did he stop?

[B]

You know, I feel like that information should have not been left out of this.

[A]

I know. And that's why I wonder sometimes if we should ever do a. Do like a. Like a listener call in. And then I'm like, we would get through like half a story in one Episode because we would never stop talking about it and like asking questions.

[B]

They'd be like, I just want to tell my story. Well, I have 10 follow up questions.

[A]

Yeah, and off of those branch, lots of unrelated to the story questions.

[B]

Oh, I told my parents about the encounter in the morning, but they disregarded my fear, telling me it was just a bad dream. How do you have indigenous family and like supernaturally prone families and neither of them are hearing you right now. What is that?

[A]

Because they probably are like, I don't want to be part of that. That, you know, they're probably like, yeah, I've seen them from it. Yeah, exactly. I don't know.

[B]

The man continued to come to my mirror.

[A]

No.

[B]

Every night.

[A]

Forget about it.

[B]

And he would. Christine, he would slowly become more and more creepy.

[A]

What do you mean? How is that possible?

[B]

For example, he would write down my biggest secrets and fears and blood next to him and tap on the glass, screaming, inaudible scream I'm so sorry.

[A]

I beg your pardon. I fully beg your pardon. Okay, well, I do regret asking that question. I do regret saying, please tell me how he could.

[B]

I like how that was a for example, not like the whole thing.

[A]

Yeah, that's just one thing. One little. One little side quest he took every now and then. Was writing my worst fears in blood on. I mean, I'm sorry. And tapping on the glass. Are you kidding me right now? Now. This is insane. Also is his worst fear. Is your worst fear not him? Is he not just pointing at himself like, this would be my worst fear.

[B]

All of a sudden just to say c'est moi, like in blood. I. I mean like my big. Can you imagine? Just a scary man just in blood, writing fish.

[A]

Yeah, actually, that feels like I'd be like, oh, that. Okay, you can stay. This is fun.

[B]

Which like, even then it's like, how does like, so where are you connected? Ment that he knows this about you?

[A]

But is it even a he or is it just some like weird projection of something? You know what I mean? Like, maybe it's just some like really dark thing projecting, like tapping on the.

[B]

Glass and screaming inaudible screams. So just this just like, ah, okay.

[A]

It is very frightening while also writing death or whatever.

[B]

I don't know, it feels like, I mean, I can't imagine actually.

[A]

Maybe he's just trying to play hangman and he's like, why are you not playing along?

[B]

This is, I have to be honest, the worst thing I've ever read in my life.

[A]

Yeah, this is horrible.

[B]

It got to the point Where I refused to sleep in my room. Got to the point. Day one was the point.

[A]

You are way bolder and braver than I. I mean, maybe that comes from being from these families.

[B]

I will say at some point, though, this is when you get your friend who believes in ghosts to come have a sleepover with you. And then, like, because if this is happening every night, can you not, like, videotape this and, like, finally get proof? Like, million dollar proof about stuff? Like, I'd at least exploit the shit out of this guy, you know, it.

[A]

Seems like that don't us though. Like, that's never worked. There's a reason.

[B]

In which case I'd have a sleepover every night so he wouldn't come back. Yeah, okay, so he's screaming and blood. Okay. It got to the point where I refused to sleep in my room unless my mirror was covered. My mom didn't agree to the mirror being covered until a medium told us, a man watches over her daughter in her sleep because he is waiting to take her to take over her due to her high sensitivity.

[A]

What? Okay, so then she's like, all right, fine, you can cover it.

[B]

Yeah. Why is mom listening to a stranger and not her kid who's freaked the fuck out?

[A]

And why is a mirror not even gone? Like, why is it still there?

[B]

And. And why is mom telling you you can't cover it when it's in your fucking room? I would just not tell her and cover it every night.

[A]

Well, some moms are very strict. Cough, cough mine. And I was certainly not allowed to make bold choices like that or have sleepovers. Only. Only Friday nights I was allowed to have a sleepover.

[B]

I think if I. I think my mom, if I acted that freaked out, I think I would be like, okay, well, then I'm moving in, stranger. Like, here you go. I'm your roommate now.

[A]

But she's not even as freaked as we are. Like, it seems like she's taking this in much different stride, maybe because she was a kid. And it's like you don't know what's normal and what's not. I don't know.

[B]

Or maybe because it was happening so often. I wonder if on like, day nine, you just roll over and you just, like, look at them and just go, write, write me a new letter.

[A]

What are you doing? You know, write me a po. Write me a haiku. I wonder too. Like, because we hear about that term paranormal apathy, where it's like, in the moment, you kind of get in this haze. And like, when it's over. You wake up and you kind of forget. It's like you get almost brainwashed in this way. So it could be something like that, too, where you just feel trapped in, like a sleep paralysis thing every night, but you can't get it out of the pattern. I don't know.

[B]

Terrifying. Well, then Elena says even while it was covered, I still knew he was there watching Jesus. The mirror stayed covered for the next nine years. Like, just get rid of the mirror. Oh, my God. It was from Marshalls. It wasn't even expensive. I know. You know? Yeah.

[A]

You would know.

[B]

I'll give you 30 bucks.

[A]

You and I both have kept our mirror.

[B]

That's true. Mine has no men. Bloody men in there.

[A]

Last time I checked, there wasn't a bloody man in mine either. So maybe that is the difference.

[B]

Yeah, I think you need to return yours and get a full refund, girl.

[A]

Yeah, at least.

[B]

So then. Then Elena says, In September of 2019, all my dad's sisters came down for my sister's baby shower. And as we were exchanging ghost stories, I told my aunt Renee about my mirror. And she immediately believed. Finally, by the way.

[A]

Yeah, finally.

[B]

Finally believed me and forced my dad to help us cleanse the mirror. As we headed upstairs with sage in hand, we uncovered the mirror after a long nine years and chill instantly entered the room.

[A]

Oh, God.

[B]

They began to pray and sage the mirror, asking the spirit to leave. After they finished, I instantly felt sick and knew there was something wrong. The spirit had not left.

[A]

No, of course not. It's just been getting more pissed off over the years.

[B]

My aunt and father could tell I was sick and decided to move the mirror to the basement and continue the cleansing. We held the sage under an open. Oh, this is important. Apparently this is. We held the sage. It says important. We held the sage under an open flame for five minutes to ensure that it would stay lit during the cleansing. And as we walked down the stairs, my dad holding the mirror and my aunt holding the sage, the sage went out as if someone placed their hand over it. My. We played this game of chicken for 20 minutes as my aunt cussed out the demon. And after the sage relit successfully, we placed the mirror in the basement. I stood far away from it and watched, anxiously pulsing my hands. After I realized the man has no control over me, I stopped pulsing my hand and instantly the lights in the basement started flickering at the same rate my hands were pulsing.

[A]

Oh, my God.

[B]

I looked over to the mirror and could see a small glimpse of the man darting back and forth. Ugh. I Instructed my aunt where to Sage. And we knew we had finished. He had finished and we had finished. Once the lights stopped flickering, we covered the mirror and headed back up the stairs to my Aunt Colette ushering us outside because they had seen a man rocking in one of the patio chairs.

[A]

No, no, no, no. I do remember this story.

[B]

After I stood outside, I felt a hand on my neck and instantly felt sick again. We contacted my aunt's medium and said we unproperly cleansed the mirror which allowed the spirit to be free.

[A]

No. Oh my God, no.

[B]

So now the demon that was stuck in a mirror can now follow me wherever I go. And I'm. Excuse a moi, but apparently that's the end of the fucking story.

[A]

I'm sure we got mad about that. Yes, and I'm now mad all over again that we didn't get an update.

[B]

I may have to write in again to tell you about my guardian angel. Yeah, that would be good.

[A]

Apparently. Just this is where I tell you. Eva wrote back to every single submission today. Or like wrote to every author of these stories and asked if there were any updates. We only have one update out of all of the 12 stories and this is not one of them. Which, like, it's not it.

[B]

So now you've got a demon running around. Since when did. When did we do this story? This was in 2021. For the last four years you've had something running around with you.

[A]

I'm sc. Scared. Are you okay?

[B]

Are you okay? Do you listen anymore? Is your guardian angel you want to tell us about Is probably just like a lot of people for four years.

[A]

Eva said a lot of people responded and just said like, no change all everything's hunky dory. Just same on, same old, same old. Keep it on, keep it on.

[B]

Everyone do a shot for Elena today because that girl needs it. Oh my God. Anyway, that's the end of that.

[A]

Wow. Okay, well, I have another plot twist here. This is called time travel. It has three question marks and it says help please.

[B]

Oh, no. Okay. I hope we helped.

[A]

Apparently I'm sure we didn't. This was from December of 2023. Lily, she her sent this in. Alrighty. Oh, wow.

[B]

Okay. Sounds like you don't need help.

[A]

Wow. You can take. Sounds like you can take care of yourself. Yeah. Alrighty. Settle in. It's gonna be a doozy. Love you guys. Love the podcast. Okay, so I live in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. In Hobart, there a massive river that runs straight down the middle of the city, connecting the suburbs on either side is the Tasman Bridge. So my story starts when I was a kid, like 10 or 11 years old, and my class. Oh, I remember this one. And my class went on a little excursion to walk across the bridge. Yay. What fun for a grade 5 kid. Anyways, when we walked across the bridge, we would signal to all the cars that drove past to beep their horns. I remember very clearly that no cars were falling for our meticulous manipulation to get people to honk to entertain a group of 11 year olds. Except for one. It was a beat up white Toyota. And I remember feeling very excited because the same car had J, L and O in the number plate and that meant I could sing Jenny from the block obnoxiously loud for the rest of the day. Okay, so fast forward to a few days ago. Okay, wow. So a few days ago. So we went back like now like 20 years. Well, 20, 23. So.

[B]

But fast forward.

[A]

Sorry to. But the original email says fast forward to a few days ago. And I'm on my drive to work going over the bridge and I see a group of kids wearing my old school uniform on an excursion walking across the bridge. I remember I beeped my horn at them. Then it hit me. I drive an old white beat up Toyota with J, L and O on the number plate. I quickly had a look in my rearview mirror and I you not a little. Lily was walking along all happy that someone beeped and probably singing Jenny from the block. I have no way of explaining it or rationalizing it. So if you have any idea, let me know.

[B]

Oh my gosh.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

I remember that one.

[A]

Yeah, that's. That was a good one's a wild one. Wow, Lily, Jesus, that's crazy. So you're like, I didn't even hit you that you had JLO in your license plate.

[B]

Glitch in the matrix. Yeah.

[A]

Crazy.

[B]

That's so cool.

[A]

And I love that you went to like make yourself happy, you know, just give yourself like a little boost.

[B]

Thank you for that palette cleanser, by the way, Eva, because, wow. I was really not enjoying some of these stories.

[A]

I was fully enjoying them, which is how sick I am.

[B]

I was terrified. That was. I remember that one. That was a great one. The J.

[A]

Good one, man. JLo.

[B]

This next one is from Jamie and I feel like I should remember this from the title alone, but it says A deer stole my soul, so let's see where that takes us.

[A]

Yeah, I'm not getting the reaction I should be if I remember this from any past experience.

[B]

Well, it's from 2018. So this is.

[A]

Oh, so it's oldie.

[B]

So Jamie. Jamie doesn't even tell us their pronouns yet. I don't even think we were doing pronouns yet.

[A]

No. So Jamie says we weren't doing pronouns. It just a thing.

[B]

They. I mean, they don't really exist. You know what I mean? Yuck. Yeah, I don't do that mess. Okay. Jamie says. Hi, Emma, Christina, and little baby Gio. Before I get started, I just want to say that I love you all so much. Very sweet. I've been trying to get caught up with episodes. You're very spooky. Your podcast keeps me awake for my whole drive when I drive from Montana to Colorado, and I'm lactose intolerant and I can't drink because of medication, so Team Geo.

[A]

Yay. Oh, that's nice. Oh, and by the way, a deer stole my soul. Apparently, this was also Eva's staff pick. So she got. She had everyone kind of pick their favorite favorites. And so just side note, I. I'm even more disturbed. I don't remember this because apparently Eva remembers it. But anyway, sorry. Maybe it was like the dawn of her job with us and that's why she remembers it.

[B]

That's what I'll tell myself.

[A]

But anyway, sorry. So just side note, this is Eva's staff pick. Fun.

[B]

Oh, you know what we should do on the website? We should have, like, a. Like, a staff pick for each, like, episodes and stuff.

[A]

Oh, yeah. Well, we were talking about that because Megan said something. Megan. Megan had a great idea, as usual, and was like, hey, we should put little bios and have the whole team and, you know. Yeah, I think put. I think that's a really good idea to have, like, their favorite topic or.

[B]

Like, suggested episodes or whatever.

[A]

It's really cute. I think. I think Megan's been working on some sort of bio page for the team. Of course. She's one step ahead of the game.

[B]

I know. All right, here we go. This is the story of the time me and my roommate probably met some sort of winter spirit and got hucked into another dimension for a month. 10th.

[A]

What?

[B]

Damn.

[A]

Wow. I certainly don't remember this. I really thought maybe it would click.

[B]

During the winter in Montana, where I live, it gets really, really dark and depressing. The sun goes down super early, and it gets so cold, you would not believe it. This, coupled with the stress of school, used to make my roommate and I so stressed out that we would take long drives out into rural areas near our apartment to cathartically scream where no one would Hear us. I fucking love. My school used to have a group scream during finals and it was lovely.

[A]

So cathartic.

[B]

So one night during an unusually dark and cold spring, we were driving around doing this on the outskirts of town. And when we found a place we thought would be far enough away from people, I pulled over. As we stopped, the headlights of my car caught a pair of glowing eyes. About 10ft in front of us was a deer. I've seen a lot of deer before. I know how they act and how they do the deer in the headlights thing when they stop and look at you and move or whatever. But this felt different. This thing is. Felt otherworldly. Oh, this really raw energy and emotion washed over me and I teared up instantly. And I'm crying now just thinking about seeing. Started walking towards us confidently, confidently. Can a deer be confident? I don't know. Its eyes were haunting and terrible. My roommate and I looked at each other and we were both so freaked. Freaked out. I'm not sure we said anything to each other, but we got the out of there. We were both crying and one other thing that strikes me went up when thinking about that deer was that it had really large antlers, which was unusual because it was late February, early April and they usually drop their antlers before then. I really cannot convey how on earthly this animal felt. I will remember how it felt when it looked at me for the rest of my life.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

How so? Anyway, my roommate and I are rattled but still ready to scream. So we keep driving. Still, I'm always telling now more.

[A]

Yeah, I was gonna say right now. Double ready to scream.

[B]

Still on the outskirts of town, we're driving down a country road and we see this weird little shack with a glowing Coke vending machine on the side of the road. We're surprised because it felt like that machine really shouldn't have been there. Like an uncanny thing. But hey, we're thirsty from the screaming, so we stopped to get a drink. Drink. I hop out of the car and find that the cans only cost a quarter, which is weird, but I bought one and we keep driving. I got. I. I drive us out on a road that only goes one way. It has no turnoffs. My roommate and I don't see any turns at all as we're driving down this road. To reiterate, this is a straight road with no opportunities to turn off of it. Okay, so we find a spot, do some stress relieving screaming and get back in the car. We turn the car around and not a quarter mile down the Road, there's an inter intersection. We have to choose either right or left.

[A]

What?

[B]

Which, if you remember, is a little bit different than how the road we drove there on was. And I usually have an excellent sense of direction, so I was really freaked out. I turned left, and the road started curving. We probably drove on it for a good 10 minutes until we got to an intersection with stoplights. Civilization. Thank God. It turned out we were about 20 miles out of town in a direction we hadn't even been driving, which made absolutely no sense, considering we had originally been where we had originally been going. We got home very rattled and went to bed. You know the drill. But I you not. For a whole month after that, everything just felt really off. I can't describe it. I just felt persistently uncomfortable and wrong the whole time. It was unsettling. It only stopped when we went on another nighttime, cathartic screaming trip. We were outside of town again when I saw something on the road, slammed on the brakes, and it was the deer.

[A]

I thought it was a vending machine. I was like, yes, quarter, Quarter straight.

[B]

Honestly, I would have tried to like. I. I know this was 2018, so they didn't have probably this technology. I would have dropped a pin on that quarter can of Coke. I would have been like, I would have dropped like a. Oh, yeah, I.

[A]

Thought you meant, like, on Yelp. And I was like, no, no, don't share it. Yeah, I would have dropped pin.

[B]

So I always knew where to get the cheese down.

[A]

And I would have written home or work.

[B]

I would have written, oh, dear. Yeah, dear confidence and big antlers and horrible glowing eyes and same deer.

[A]

Oh, my God.

[B]

This deer looked at us, and we felt the same rush of emotion and energy as the first night.

[A]

And by the way, it's a month later, and this deer still has the antlers. Just. Side note.

[B]

Yeah, it just walked right into the trees on the side of the road, and we immediately lost sight of it. But after that, the uncomfortable feeling pretty much resolved itself. So to the best that we can make it, it, we entered another dimension. For about a month, the deer was some sort of winter spirit thing. And though seeing it was scary, it didn't feel particularly malevolent. Maybe it was giving us a warning about where we were going to go. Maybe it was guiding us in and out of other dimensions. I don't know. But either way, a few weeks after we got back, I found a wire deer sculpture near the dumpster of my apartment and saved it. We keep it in our living room now, and it's nice to have a reminder of that time, but I'm honestly too freaked out to also get rid of it. My roommate and I can't do cathartic nighttime screaming trips anymore. And I drove past the Shack recently and the Coke machine is gone, but now there's a Pepsi machine. So what does that mean? Oh, management change.

[A]

Do not put a quarter in there. You never know where you'll end up. I don't think it's gonna go well.

[B]

Oh, man. Anyway, sorry. Spooky Winter. Appreciate you guys so much. Wow. So.

[A]

Damn.

[B]

Yeah, I don't know. That's. I.

[A]

You know, I don't think we give winter enough credit for being scary. And I know they do in other countries, but I feel on, you know, the tradition of reading ghost stories on Christmas. But I just. I feel like, yeah, there's something so chilling about, like, being in the woods and an animal, like, looks at you and you have him. Oh, I don't know. It just all feels very, like, dead and creepy.

[B]

Well, so what I will say is that this is the story that has an update.

[A]

Eva's story has an update. Yay.

[B]

No wonder it's Eva's pick. It's the one. It's the one that had an update. So Eva reached out and asked, is there anything else you'd like to after all these years about this? Is this deer.

[A]

And Jamie, when was the original. 2018.

[B]

You said 2018.

[A]

Wow. So this is 2025. Like, forgot what year it was that we're writing back. Okay.

[B]

After all this time, which, by the way, I love that Elena still listens. That's wonderful.

[A]

Well, does she? Or is she just responding to the email?

[B]

I love that Elena responds to emails.

[A]

Doesn't hate us enough to ignore our emails.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. Elena, says Eva. Holy. I must tell you, my jaw simply hit the floor when I saw this email. I am very touched that you thought of me. I hope you're doing well, and I'm wishing you and everyone on the and that's why Drink Team the best. I guess my addendum is that this experience was a true oddity in my life. The degree of unreality that pervaded the whole thing has haunted me ever since.

[A]

This is the kind of feedback we need, folks. I love it.

[B]

And with such flowery writing. Too beautiful. Because of this whole thing, I've kind of made a joke out of asking my friends, have you seen any omens or prophecies lately? Honestly, it's a question.

[A]

What a great question, though.

[B]

Like, it's A question that's silly in tone, but I do think the way we interpret odd experiences can be pretty insightful. I think some people use tarot and astrology to process or interpret things in a similar way. A cheeky example. I'm trans. Oh, okay. So yay for not using pronouns. And the last one.

[A]

Yeah. Now you're not allowed to bully anyone.

[B]

Well, now we don't. Now we don't know if you know, it kept us in the air. So congratulations. Now you're still a mystery. A cheeky example. I'm trans. I had top surgery a few months ago, and like, 15 minutes before I left for surgery, my cat caught a mouse that my wife and I had to wrangle and release. When we got the mouse unharmed outside, there was this beautiful moment where it gracefully leaped into the nice autumn foliage of our backyard. I've held the image of it suspended in its sleep to freedom, free very close. During recovery, I'm like. I feel like there's symbolism in all kinds of things, and may we all leap to freedom.

[A]

Oh, my God. Okay, here's what I'll say. That's beautiful. Wait. Oh, it's not over.

[B]

But anyway, that's not the dear thing. That just felt real direct and freaky. As I'm kind of at a loss as far as interpretation goes, I'm very pleased that I haven't had any similar experiences. A sense the visceral reaction I have thinking about this remains, though, and it still makes me cry. Wow. Hope this is beautiful. Hope this is what you were looking for. I'm honored that my freak ass experience seven years ago haunted you too. All the best, Jamie. Wow.

[A]

My lord. Wow. Jamie, right? Is that what you.

[B]

Jamie. Y. Yeah.

[A]

Wow. Okay, first of all, I will say I think Eva's picked the story before the update, so I want to. I want to at least give her credit for that. But also, that's exactly how I feel now, looking back at a lot of my life of, like, wow. It's just about how we perceive it. That's what make, like, wow. Like, you look at a deer and you're like, it's either just a deer or like, it means something. I don't know. It just feels like that was so profound, and you can't really explain it in a. Well, also, with Jamie.

[B]

Jamie being so profound, too, it's like, well, I. Maybe of all people, you were meant to have this experience because you would appreciate it.

[A]

Maybe you were exactly. Maybe you were the one who. Who read it a certain way or, like, perceived It a certain way and that was just how it was meant to be. I. Wow, that's powerful. That's beautiful. And I love that message also. So thank you for the update and also thank you everyone else. I don't mean to, to, you know, I don't respond to my emails within six months, so I don't know why I expected anybody to respond within like a day, which is probably how much we gave you.

[B]

Honestly, Jamie's the real MVP for even responding to.

[A]

Yeah. And with so such like, you know, interesting info, but I think, I think that is pretty creepy. So I'm not gonna, I, I'm. I like to think I'll actually remember these now.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I don't know. At least two times hearing them.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay. Wow.

[B]

All right, it's your turn.

[A]

Okay. So Skims has this new Fits Everybody collection. And they suggested, you know, why don't you show the product on. On camera? And I was like, oh, sure. Except it's on my ass right now and I don't think that that's appropriate. I am wearing them and I promise I am. I can prove it, but I don't think M wants me to. And I got to say, the Fits Everybody collection. Collection, it's where it's at. Okay. I'm very picky about my underwear. I was like, let's see if this is the real deal. It's awesome. And the Fits Everybody collection is available in sizes XXS to 4X. You can shop now at skims.com and skim stores.

[B]

My mother is obsessed with skims. The Fits Everybody collection, I think it was all she wore when I was home for an entire month. So thanks, mom, for that visual. And Allison also loves Skims. Everybody.

[A]

In my world, really comfortable.

[B]

Never met a person who said skims. Yuck. Never heard that.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So if you're like my mom or Allison, then this is how you can get your own Skims. After you place your order, be sure to let them know that we sent you select podcast and the survey and be sure to select our show in the drop down menu that follows.

[A]

And if you're looking for the perfect gift for your valentine or for yourself, Skims just launched their best Valentine's shop ever, available in sizes for women, men and and kids. So I feel like life insurance gets brought up a lot of times in my stories, but it's something I actually did not know much about until recently when I started, like, looking into it for my own family. And it's very illuminating. I feel like it's hard to navigate those waters without some help. And that's why we're really excited to be working with Select Quote today.

[B]

Select Quote is one of America's leading insurance brokers with nearly 40 years of experience helping over 2 million customers find over 7,700 billion dollars in coverage since.

[A]

1985 billion with a B, A B, B. That's amazing. Other life insurance brokers offer impersonal one size fits all policies that may cost you more and cover you less, while Select Quote can help find the right policy for you. That's awesome.

[B]

Yeah. And have you been concerned about the cost of life insurance?

[A]

I have. Thank you so much for asking.

[B]

It is more affordable than you think with Select Quote with some policies costing less than a dollar dollar a day.

[A]

Damn. Get the right life insurance for you for [e-mail] drink go to selectquote.com drink today to get started.

[B]

That's selectquote.com drink.

[A]

So this next email is from Alex. She her and it is called Kids are scary and oh, it came in on June 4, my birthday I think this was. Oh, of the year Leona was born. That was when I was pregnant and we were talking about like, oh, Christine's having a baby. We want scary parenting or kids stories. I do vaguely remember that. Hello Christine. I said my own name wrong. So embarrassing.

[B]

Oh no. Oh man. I sleep over that five minutes ago.

[A]

I was trying to be so profound and deep like Jamie was and then I said my own name wrong.

[B]

Okay, dummy, dummy, dummy.

[A]

Hello Christine. M. Eva and crew. My name is Alex, she her and I am a mom of two wine loving, loving. Wait, oh, I thought it said I am a mom of two wine loving like children. I was like, okay, do you live in Paris? Maybe. I don't know. Okay, sorry. Let me. Let me put the comma in there where it already is. I just didn't read it. My name is Alex and I am a mom of two wine loving parentheses. Soon to be forensic psychologist and I look forward to your podcast every week. I have considered writing this story into you several times but always hesitate because of how long it is. But now that Christine is expecting a little baby of her own, I feel like it is the perfect time to share as this has to do with my firstborn daughter. And knowing you're all's link to the paranormal, I have a sneaking suspicion that Christine's new baby will say or do some goose cam worthy things as well.

[B]

Absolutely.

[A]

I can't wait. It's happened only once or twice, but.

[B]

I don't know Remember when she thought the ceiling was hilarious? I. I'm still convinced was just beings crawling all over your ceiling.

[A]

I forgot about the ceiling. Stop it. Ew. Let's start with a little background to my family history. I grew up close with my mom's side of the family and was lucky enough to have my great grandmother in my life until I was 18 years old. All my life, we would go and visit her, and she had quite the fantastical stories to share with me. It was rumored that her mother, my great great grandmother, was considered a witch in her small town growing up. Wow. Wow. Great great grandmother. My great. That is really cool to even know that. My great grandmother seemed to inherit some abilities as well. She lived in an apartment on the 11th floor and swore she saw her oldest son come to visit her one afternoon years ago. He told her goodbye and then walked out of the window again, 11 stories up in the air. Later that day, she received a phone call letting her know that her son had passed. Oh, gosh. She also had a dream of her sister laying in a casket and woke the next day to find out her sister had passed. There were many other stories, but those two always stuck with me the most. My grandmother would also tell me stories of seeing shadow people at the foot of her bed all the time as a little girl.

[B]

Oh, my. That's a no for me, dog.

[A]

If my daughter came home and was like, great grandma told me there's shadow beings at the foot of her bed every night. I'm like, yeah, great grandma.

[B]

Just not possible for me, actually.

[A]

So sorry. We're actually. We're not seeing great grandma anymore. She's cutting her out.

[B]

She's gone.

[A]

She's not part of the family anymore. Oh, my gosh. Okay. Then there was my mother, who had claimed to see reflections of people who are not actually there in mirrors on several occasions.

[B]

No.

[A]

No. As for myself, I would get gut feelings about things, but nothing as extreme as the rest of the women in my family tree. Until I became pregnant with my first daughter. Aha. I hope that would happen to me. But it kind of didn't.

[B]

So I. I'm sure I said this the first time I read it, but one of my, Like, I think. Cause I watched Charm growing up, and one of my favorite seasons was when Piper was pregnant and her powers were just all over the goddamn place. Because now she had a magical baby also developing his powers in her womb.

[A]

So you get, like, erratic almost.

[B]

Yeah. And so, like, she would try, like, her thing was always, like, freezing time or blowing things up. With her hands. But the baby wouldn't let her like blow things up. And she used to like explode demons, but now it would just be like she would do the hand signal and like flowers would show up and she'd be like, damn it, there's a demon coming. Help me.

[A]

And it's. It's like your hormones messing with you, but your magic powers. Oh my God.

[B]

Totally.

[A]

Yeah. That didn't happen when I got pregnant.

[B]

Damn, I really wanted that for you.

[A]

I know. I did too. I'm sure I bitched about it the entire pregnancy. Probably more than like anything else.

[B]

The one good thing that comes out of that.

[A]

I know, right? I was like, at least I'll have some cool dreams. Nope. Anyway, okay, so let's see. Until I became pregnant with my first daughter. Fast forward to 2013. I was about three months pregnant and my husband and I had moved into our new home in Kentucky. It was a split level house and on the upper level was the baby's new nursery. It was midday and the sun was shining bright as I was upstairs painting the new nursery a cute mint green with a white stripe accent wall. Thank you. This is the info I like to have. That's adorable.

[B]

I also want to know that all.

[A]

Of a sudden the doorbell started to. Okay, so these. We have mirrors already.

[B]

Time travel glitch in the Matrix.

[A]

But I mean, in this story alone, we already have doorbell. We have reflections in the mirror, we have shadow people. We have. I mean, okay, wow. It just doesn't.

[B]

Gut feelings.

[A]

Gut feelings. Feeling. All of a sudden the doorbell started to ring over and over and over again. I set my brush down and went to answer the door, wondering why someone would be ringing the doorbell so aggressively. I pulled the door open and mid ring it stopped. No one was at the door. I played it off as maybe a wiring issue with the doorbell. But I had that gut feeling that something was very wrong and that someone was watching me as I opened that door. After this all was quiet and seemingly not normal. My baby, Stella was born in December of that year. She was a happy, smart, loving baby and we enjoyed our new family and home so much. Fast forward again to when she was around a year and a half old. She was an early talker and could communicate very well. She nightly would walk to the front of the house and look out the windows to point and say, ghosty man outside.

[B]

No thanks.

[A]

Now I love a good horror movie. Occasionally would indulge in some ghost adventures episodes. But I was sure shocked still that she knew the word ghosty as I normally would wait to watch those types of things until after she was in bed. Also, Zack Bacon doesn't say ghosty. You know, just saying. Too tough for that.

[B]

Yeah, certainly.

[A]

Let's see. It sent chills down my spine. Every time she would do it, I would look out the window and no one would be out there. We kept assuring her nothing was out there, but she would get more adamant and more descriptive as time went on. She started patting her head and saying, ghosty man hat, as if someone out there was wearing a hat. She would say, ghosty man eat apples with ketchup. No, I'm kidding.

[B]

No, but still, like, I mean, if you're seeing something clear enough to know that it's eating an apple, that thing is in 4K in your kitchen.

[A]

It's right. It's having. It's. It's putting on a show for you there. She would say, ghosty man eat apples. We had apple, pear, and cherry trees in our front yard. At this point, she was close to two and could walk very well. I had gone out front to check mailbox and she came following behind me. As I was about halfway down the driveway, she started screaming. Oh, God. Run, mommy, run, ghosty man get you. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

[B]

Oh, my God. Oh my God.

[A]

Oh my God. Oh my God.

[B]

Put the whole kid away. Absolutely not. God.

[A]

Put the kid in the mailbox.

[B]

Bye. Bye.

[A]

Put the flag up. Somebody thank him. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Okay, forget it. Okay. Run, mommy, run. Ghosty man gate you. Oh my God. I turned around to assure her I was fine. Fine. And then watched as she got what I can only describe as shoved down. Oh, gosh, this is horrible. I saw.

[B]

I remember this now.

[A]

I do, too. I do too. Suddenly, like all flashback, I saw her little back arch forward as if something had pushed her right in the center of her back. I ran and picked her up and said, f the mail and rushed back inside, locking the door. Then came the awful day. I was changing her in her room and she started thrashing around screaming and crying, crying. And she said, clear as day, ghosty man inside me. And pointed to her chest. What the.

[B]

I got nothing. And also, like, I know you can wing a lot of stuff when you're a first time parent that, like, what do you do? What do you do?

[A]

Okay, that's literally what it says. It says again. That gut feeling came rushing that this was more than I understood and more than I could help help her with, which is like, yeah, that must be so helpless and scary. Like, you Want to help your baby. And it's like you just don't know what to do.

[B]

Inside me. Okay.

[A]

Wow. I don't know what I would do. I don't know.

[B]

I mean, I don't know. I would just cry. That's all you can do. Yeah.

[A]

I wonder if I would just say, like, get out. I don't know. I don't know what would work. I don't know.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

At this point, everything had been outside, and I started to piece things together that maybe the doorbell incident when I was pregnant and had just moved in was this ghosty man trying to get inside. It was inside now and letting itself known to all of us. So, like, you almost accidentally invited it in by opening the door. Oh, probably like, horrible.

[B]

This is like, so like, I feel like it could. It could smell new life coming or, like new. A new soul or something. New energy.

[A]

Well, and think about, like, again. Veil. The veil is sinner. You're painting your nursery. You're, like, inviting new. New life. You're, like, connected to the spirit world somehow more than usual. Yeah. That's so sick. Oh, God. Oh, God. Okay. At this point, nothing was quiet again. Literally. So this was like, basically the moment she pieced it together. Almost like the moment she realized, oh, I think I invited him in when I was pregnant. And it. The minute it clicked, it says, at this point, nothing was quiet again. Literally. Chairs scooting across the floor, Cabinets opening and close. I have full body chills right now. Cabinets opening and closing. Toys in the playroom going off. What sounded like a whip cracking at the foot of my bed in the middle.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

What the. Experiencing night terrors, hearing a man's voice occasionally in the kitchen. There was one night my husband came home early from work and I was in the kitchen with my back to the stairs. My husband said, who do you have here? I just saw a man run up the stairs. He really.

[B]

Oh my God.

[A]

Thought I was hiding a secret lover.

[B]

I'd be like, actually, it's worse.

[A]

Yeah, I wish. I wish I were having an affair. Oh my God. Okay. Who do you have here? I just. I thought it was like, who do you have here? But I think it was more like, what do you have here? Here? I just saw a man run up the stairs. He really thought I was hiding a secret lover or something. Haha. He checked the whole house and no one was there. Oh, God, that's. I mean, to see someone run up the stairs and then, you know they're still in your house. Forget it.

[B]

And also, like, that just truly confirms it all. Like, okay, so now he's. Now it's showing itself in different ways. Or it's getting stronger.

[A]

Or husband sees scared and thinks it's a real person. Like, oh, it's. Yeah, yuck. I was really terrified for my daughter, but felt powerless. And despite my husband experiencing these things as well, he denied the possibility of something paranormal. Really, after all that, whatever. I felt alone and scared to bits for my kid. When she was around three and a half, I was pregnant again with our second daughter. We decided to move to a different town, and I was so looking forward to escaping our current house. That's sad. Thinking that a new house would rid us of this bad energy. Slash ghosty Man, I was wrong.

[B]

Which followed you. Oh, my God. I would be. I would. I honestly don't know what I would.

[A]

Do with that night.

[B]

Meltdown.

[A]

This is my nightmare. It's probably all of our nightmare. We moved into our new home, and almost immediately, I started catching Stella in corners of the house having full conversations with nothing. This is a three and a half year old. That's how old Leona is. And if she does not do this. So I. Because I always wonder when people are like, well, that's just kids. It's like, no.

[B]

Right, right.

[A]

It's not always just kids.

[B]

Like, is this just a developmental thing?

[A]

Right, exactly. Like, I mean, it could be, like if they have an imaginary friend, but, you know, if they really see somebody, you should believe them. It wasn't normal play type conversations either. Like when kids play with dolls and voice both roles of the conversation. It was her pausing, then responding, then pausing, pausing, then responding. I kept asking her about it, and she would say that she was, quote, talking to her dead brother, Daniel.

[B]

What?

[A]

Parentheses. She had no dead brother named Daniel.

[B]

Huh.

[A]

Or there was one time she had set a chair facing a dark corner, and when I questioned her, she said she was playing hide and seek with them and that they like the dark.

[B]

Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

[A]

And then she writes. Literally living in a horror movie.

[B]

Yeah, that's exactly. Call Blum House.

[A]

Yeah. Oh, and by the way, don't back down. You could probably get good money out of those people for this story. There is.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

There's an entire franchise here, I think. Okay. This kept going and going. She started to get irritable when I would ask her about it, and her conversation seemed to get more and more hostile. I would hear her scream to them, no. I said, I don't want to do that. Oh, my. My God. This is so scary.

[B]

Which, like, okay, setting boundaries, but also, what the hell are they asking her to do? Exactly.

[A]

You shouldn't have to be in your own house.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

Especially not repeatedly.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And then, like, you feel like your kid's not safe or they don't feel safe. I mean, it's just horrible.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Now, my second child was born, and I was in the family room one night breastfeeding her at like 1am all of a sudden, the entire house shook and I heard a thud from Stella's room. Okay.

[B]

Nightmare.

[A]

Nightmare. I ran back to see what the hell was happening.

[B]

She was out of bed.

[A]

Yes. She was on the floor bawling and said that they had pushed her out of bed.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

Oh, my God. This is horrible. M. At this point, I snapped, I have two babies to protect. Right. 1am With a breastfeeding mother. Like, forget it. Nice try, ghost.

[B]

And also, you're like, am I actually losing my mind? Like, did this happen or am I just tired?

[A]

Like, that must be, like, so such a mindset.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

At this point, I snapped. I have two babies to protect, and I felt like I was failing. If these things can physically hurt them, I had to intervene. I got online and started researching every ghost slash paranormal group close to me. I reached out to several and got a response back from one. I believe it was the paranormal investigators of Central Kentucky Pick. I received a phone call from their medium. Her name was Crystal. We spoke for a bit on the phone, and she said something that shook me to the core. She said, your daughter is a very strong empath and she has been protecting your family this entire time. This all stems from your grandmother's side. I almost pooped myself. Yes. She asked to come to my home to cleanse it in the name of God, even if I was not a believer and asked to be able to speak to my daughter, I agreed. Anything to help. Well, my husband found out and called me crazy for agreeing to let a stranger come in in the home. I had to call Crystal back and cancel our meeting. She laughed when I called and said, no worries. Those malicious spirits already know that you have reached out and almost had them banished. They will be quiet for a while, so you will let them stay. Just know that while it may be quiet, it will come back worse. And then it says, so. Yeah, good job. Sure enough, though, after that call, things did quiet it down. A few months later, I was home one night alone, no husband, no kids. I was sitting on my back porch and I heard Stella scream, mommy. I went to Run inside. But realized she wasn't even home.

[B]

The mimicking has to go. Has to. Simply has to go. Oh, my God. My God. This is my staff pick, by the way.

[A]

Okay, see, I already. Yeah, okay. Wow. Okay, so. And it's like, okay, listen, as somebody.

[B]

Does it end?

[A]

Like, as somebody I know? No, I guess not. And I'm. I'm hoping this gets a response at some point too. God, like a. Like an update, I mean. Okay, so I run into my house. I realize she's not even home. Whatever is in our house was mimicking her. A month or so after that, my husband was home by himself. Yeah, that. This is what we need more of. He invited our neighbor over to watch football. Our neighbor heard Stella scream from her bedroom. Daddy. But Stella wasn't home then either. So this is horrible. This thing is not even just mimicking. It's like intentionally changing what it says for, like, the audience.

[B]

Oh, my God, you're right. And doing it in a way that knows we'll get a reaction. Like it's doing it not to terrify.

[A]

You, but not from the dad, which is so weird. He still can't hear it. Just his friend heard it. Oh. So I wonder if it's that thing you always see where the dad just grows more and more detached from the family because they don't believe it or whatever and it, like, almost drives that wedge. Anyway, maybe I'm reading into it. I'm sure I said this, like, whenever we got this five years ago, three years ago. Anyway. Wow. So it changed to daddy now from her room, which is awful because it means it's all coming from her room still. And my husband didn't hear it, only our neighbor spooked him two bits. And once, I mean, if I were the neighbor, I'd be like, show me her room. Yeah, I want to make sure she's not actually here. That's so scary. Scary.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And once he told me about it, I was extra freaked because it was almost identical to my experience. Aside from that, there has been nothing. I'm waiting for the moment they decide to rear their ugly face again and to mess with my babies. I also worry for my oldest and the responsibility she must be feeling to help keep these spirits at bay and to protect us. She is seven now, and if you ask her about any of it, she gets a strange glossed over look in her eyes and will act like she has no idea what you are talking. Talking about. If I ever had any doubts in the existence of the paranormal before, those are long gone. There is much more out there than we know and can control. Sorry this was so long, but it is our story and something we cannot share openly with a lot of people without judgment. Christine, best of luck with your little one. Just pay close attention if they start talking to your cursed church stairs or estate sale couch. Kids are scary sometimes, especially when they see and talk to ghosty people. Love you all so much and wishing you all the best.

[B]

Alex, Please, please, God, I, who I hope they listen still. And I. Or I just. I. We need an update. I got to know that that family's safe.

[A]

Yeah. The email says, hi, Alex, Eva here. We're doing a retrospective. Love that word. Of all of our favorite, scariest listener stories, yours is one of them. Do you have any updates or additions? And nothing yet. So maybe. Maybe someday.

[B]

What a shame.

[A]

But I hope all is okay.

[B]

Yeah, I hope you're. You know, Man. Wow. That.

[A]

That's a doozy. That. I started to remember it in bits and pieces.

[B]

I remember the kid falling.

[A]

Yes. Pushing out of the.

[B]

And the pushing.

[A]

Oh, pushing on this driveway. And then the bed. Yeah.

[B]

Okay. Well, unfortunately, there's more stories, so here's. This is from Jennifer. This was back in 2017. So pronouns didn't exist yet.

[A]

So back a better time. Simpler time, you know, A simpler time.

[B]

Yeah. So this one is called Growing up with Gettysburg Ghosts. Oh, that perfect for you. Jennifer says. Hi, guys. I am a total fan of all things paranormal, true crime and wine. And your podcast is something my dreams are made of. I've been listening for a few months now, which lol. In 2017. It only existed for a few months. Our podcast.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

In that wild.

[A]

Yeah, for a few months. So you just found. I mean, this is a time capsule. Indeed.

[B]

Truly. And figured it was about time to share my own story. I grew up in a town four miles south of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The house we lived in was built in the late 1850s as the parsonage to the old. The super old sorry church across the street where my dad was the pastor.

[A]

Oh, my Lord. Okay. Literally, I guess.

[B]

Yeah. And at the time, the mid-90s, our family was just my mom, my dad, me, and my younger sister. So I was 8 or so and some stuff went down. I was sleeping pretty soundly when something woke me up. I realized my closet door was open, which is something I don't allow to this day because my closet is always so messy. So I sat up to turn on a light and see what was going on.

[A]

It's like. I'm sorry. I know. I Keep interrupting.

[B]

But like you good.

[A]

When it's something so simple and it like doesn't like, it translates. If you think, think like it starts so subtly. Yeah. And if your closet's always closed and you wake up, that's like alarming to you. Even if somebody else might be like, oh, oops, I left the closet open. Anyway, sorry, I'm already freaked out, that's all.

[B]

Well, it gets worse because. So she looks in the closet. I see this guy peek out and step out from the closet.

[A]

Vomitus. Indeed, the most vomitus.

[B]

He was all gray.

[A]

Soldier. I remember this. I remember this. Oh no, this is horrible. This story scared the out of me when we first read it. I must have picked it by mistake. Hell, maybe Megan did it. Miss me?

[B]

I love when you go, help, help.

[A]

Nobody ever comes.

[B]

He was all gray. All gray. All of him was gray. I don't see color though, so I wouldn't really know. But according to Jennifer, you don't see.

[A]

Oh, I thought you meant like you're colorblind. I was like, dude, what is this?

[B]

Well, I am. If you, if you think about it, we're all colorblind. We should be okay.

[A]

Michael Scott.

[B]

Okay. He was all gray. He had a funny looking mustache and was wearing some weird ass clothes with these big, big buttons. Dumbfounded, I watched this guy move his head from side to side.

[A]

Oh, what like he's like trying it for the first time. Oh, that's what I picture.

[B]

Then he slowly walked back into my closet and closed the door.

[A]

It's like it's a better or worse? I don't know, it's like both of.

[B]

You had social anxiety.

[A]

Yeah, it's like, sorry, wrong room. I don't know.

[B]

Well, I wonder because she said that she was 8. I'm sorry, I'm assuming she her pronouns but Jennifer said they were eight. So maybe this guy did see an eight year old went, oh, like maybe you weren't. I don't want to scare you. That's the hope. Yeah.

[A]

I wonder, right? Like maybe if they see each other, you know, it's like, oh, it's one of those creepy like wrong, something's wrong.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. I being an 8 year old girl, began screaming at the absolute top of my lungs until my parents came running. I tried to explain what I saw, but my parents were adamant that I just had a bad dream and needed a drink of water before going back to sleep. I drink water so I can piss my pants. No thanks. Yeah, being. Being the bombass 90s kid I was and certainly after watching Harriet the Spy.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

I decided to write everything down in my journal and try to take a picture of the guy the next night. Oh, she knew. She. The fact that you knew he was coming back, though.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

I set my radio alarm clock to go off around 2 the following morning.

[A]

Oh, my God. You were committed to this, like, booby trap or whatever.

[B]

I like, you were like, I'm gonna make sure I'm awake to see this. I would have got him asleep.

[A]

Yeah, I know. You're, like, inviting him.

[B]

I sat up with my journal and disposable camera waiting for the guy to return. Make sure you have flash on. Make sure you have flash on.

[A]

Good point.

[B]

He didn't return. And I like how Jennifer's the only person on Earth who's upset about that. Yeah, I did the same thing every. Every night for a week, but still didn't see the guy again. Nothing happened again until maybe a week or two later. That night, I woke up to see my closet door opening. You can see it starting.

[A]

No, no. Of course, when you don't have a camera.

[B]

The same gray man, that's when you hear, like, trying to crank the disposable camera.

[A]

Oh, that horrible sound. And it's, like, not subtle at all. You know how they have the blank, the blank photo, and you're like, hold on, that one didn't count.

[B]

The same gray man walked through, looked around, and then walked back into my closet. And again closing the door behind him. So now maybe it's a residual thing.

[A]

Yeah. Whoa. Oh.

[B]

Instead of making any noise, I just sat and watched. An absolute horror. This time, I wrote down exactly what I saw in my little journal. Tall man, but shorter than my dad, so my dad can take him if I need him to. Wearing a jacket with big buttons down the front, big belt buckle, baseball cap that had a flat top, rarely hairy mustache face. Wow.

[A]

Okay. This is so interesting.

[B]

The next night, I camped out on my plastic inflatable chair. Okay, PB Teen.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

Because my dresser, or beside my dresser, determined to get a picture of this guy living in my closet.

[A]

It was limited to I.

[B]

You know, wherever it was, it was inflatable, and that was what made it.

[A]

That's what mattered.

[B]

Sure enough, I woke up to hear my closet door opening. This is when you put a bell on that damn door.

[A]

It sounds like they don't need a bow.

[B]

Yeah. So I took a picture of the door, wound the disposable camera, and tried to take another. The camera malfunctioned after the first photo, so I hightailed it to my sister's room.

[A]

We do remember this. Somehow, subconsciously, maybe.

[B]

So I hightailed it to my sister's room, thinking the gray man would come after me for taking his picture.

[A]

Oh, no.

[B]

I like how we didn't think that part through until it. The damage.

[A]

Until it actually happened. Yeah.

[B]

Tui. Also, what would happen if you took the door off its hinges? Would he just.

[A]

Oh, do you think he would go like this? Yeah.

[B]

Do you think you'd see his arm?

[A]

Yeah. Maybe there was a door there. Wait, back when.

[B]

That'd be crazy. If. Yeah. I don't know. Two weeks later, my mom got a bunch of film developed. 10 of my photos were just random ones of me and my friends at school and playing outside. Eleven were totally black, and they were. After the camera stopped working.

[A]

No.

[B]

And one was on my closet door. It was slightly a jar, and in it you can see the hand, arm, and shoulder of a man.

[A]

No. No.

[B]

My. My mom, wanting to see what I was so excited to get developed, took the photos. She flipped through. Stop. Stopping. When she came to the one in my closet. And she asked who was playing in my closet and why I would have taken a random photo of it. Finally, I confessed that it was the gray man, that I had seen him again and again and tried to take a picture to show the police, and that I had written down exactly. I'd written down exactly what he looked like and that I didn't want him to live in my closet anymore. My mother. Can you imagine if that was Leona, though? You'd be, like, a break in the case. I finally get to do something.

[A]

Well, if she's like, well, don't worry. I'm Harriet the By. I'd be like, me, too. Let's get do this together. It's like all my dreams coming true.

[B]

Leona, let me show you. Premium white pages, Premium ancestry dot com.

[A]

Listen, I have M's passwords. Don't you worry. My friend Funkle M doesn't know Funkle.

[B]

M is on the case with you. My mother, completely freaked out by all this, asked me to get my journal and bring it to her so she could see what I had written. That night, she sat down with me and my dad and asked me to talk to them about what I was seeing. I explained that I thought this gray guy was living in my closet and was probably gonna murder us all and steal my beanie babies.

[A]

Oh, honey. Oh, my God. You know when you, like, blow something so out of proportion, and then your parents find out and they're like, why didn't you say anything? And you're like, I don't know. I spiraled.

[B]

Also, like, to. To have a life of innocence again where my biggest fear is, what if he steals my. And kills us?

[A]

Oh, and kills us. That part's not great. Yeah. Yeah.

[B]

You know what I. I know you would have done if. If you were the mom in the situation, you'd have been like, so you've been doing a. Yeah, I'm actually, like, upset.

[A]

If you've been Harriet the Spying without me, I would be, like, devastated.

[B]

But since it seems residual and like, you can't get it on footage, that's the second you put, like, a camera in there and you just get the whole experience on camera.

[A]

Well, how old are. This is like, old time.

[B]

Like the 90s.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You could use, like, a video camera that lasts 16 minutes. I guess.

[A]

She got a photo. What more do you want?

[B]

My dad took a closer look at the photo and asked me for more questions. Very calmly, he explained that he thought it wasn't a person limited having in my cl. In my closet, but thought it was a ghost in the house. He pointed out that the hat I was describing was one worn by Civil War soldiers, that the. And that the shoulder in the picture had badges and pins on it. I love that they're, like, really identifying this picture.

[A]

Like, they're really looking cool.

[B]

It had badges and pins on it like an officer would. And that the mustache, which I pretty. Which I described pretty well as matching my uncle's giant one, has a. A sty. Was a style worn back then.

[A]

Sideburns, maybe.

[B]

Sideburns.

[A]

A Civil War thing.

[B]

I think the only reason my uncle wore his mustache like that now was because he's a Civil War reenactor.

[A]

I like, clearly we've read this before, so I'm just parroting what I said probably back then.

[B]

Well, not sideburns, but apparently he had mutton chops.

[A]

Oh, yeah. Sexy.

[B]

And he styled his mutton chops after the photos he found of an officer from the Civil War.

[A]

Oh, my Lord.

[B]

Here's where things get a little weird. Girl, it's been.

[A]

Sorry. Where have you been, ding dong?

[B]

Welcome to your own story. Yeah, my dad's a pastor, meaning he went through years of seminary and religious training long before I was born. He's seen some crazy, which is another email or five altogether. So he's dealt with some paranormal things like this before. It took him two or three days to pull things together. But that weekend, my dad had our family perform a whole House blessing and Sage ceremony. We walked through the house. My dad sprinkling holy water while blessing the rooms, my mom anointing every doorway and window with oil while saying the Lord's prayer, me holding the smoldering stick of stick of sage and standing in every corner, and my younger sister just following us like we were a parade of crazy people. When we came to my bedroom, my dad spent a few extra minutes in front of and even inside the the closet talking to the spirit, explaining that he was free to go and move on and that he had no longer was stuck in that space or time.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

We finished everything up. My mom gave us. Oh, Throwback Flintstones Push Pops.

[A]

Oh, I love those.

[B]

Those are good that those got like through kindergarten.

[A]

Oh my God. Those were good when they got.

[B]

My mom gave us Flintstone.

[A]

Oh my God. And you're like, now I get another. Need another one.

[B]

They, they were in every gas station back then.

[A]

That's tough.

[B]

We had a push pop and then we went to bed that night. Nothing happened. A week passed, nothing happened. Two months pass. Absolutely nothing happened. And the following summer, maybe eight or nine months after all that craziness went down, my sister was playing in the basement and ran upstairs to the kitchen to show my mom what she found. Hold on to your pants. Because my six year old sister came running up to my mom wearing a navy blue keppy hat, the slouchy kind of baseball cap with a flat top, saying that the man gave it to her while they were playing.

[A]

No. Oh, I was hoping it was just like a relic or something found in the basement, but he's still there and now he's interacting and also like, you're.

[B]

Able to physically like, you know what I'm saying? Like that the hat can cross dimensions.

[A]

Oh, ew. Or what if he like, oh, wait, hold on. What if that hat was still there and that's why he was still lingering there and he needed to like have someone find it so that finally he can move on. I don't know. That feels very Hollywood esque.

[B]

I think you're a genius. I think that's totally right.

[A]

But like, it's interesting that like, oh, he'd have to give the hat. Maybe it was like hidden somewhere on the property. I don't know.

[B]

Well, Jennifer says my first of all in all caps. What the? Then, yes, my sister found a genuine union soldier's hat in our basement and talked to the ghost. Months after I saw him last.

[A]

Jesus.

[B]

My mom bugged out and made my sister take the hat off. Like, get that off your head.

[A]

But don't. Don't let me touch it.

[B]

Yeah, but also, it's like, actually should be in a museum. So let's be gentle with it.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And leave it. And had them leave it on the desk in my dad's study. Later, my dad and uncle were able to research the name they found inside the hat, which, you know. You know the personality of all dads and uncles. Imagine getting a mission like this of like, you get to now investigate the Civil War hat. Oh, my.

[A]

To find the identity of this soldier who lived on your property. I mean, this is what. This is like a dream.

[B]

This is true. This is what they were begging for. Sure.

[A]

This is what I'm begging for now. Please. As the resident stepped out of the podcast. Please give me a mystery.

[B]

Well, so this is what they found out. After enough research. The soldier's name was Albertson. He was part of a Union scouting unit, and he was injured in the battle of Gettysburg. He was shipped to a field hospital, treated, and later moved to a larger hospital near D.C. where he died from his injury. Turns out our family's house was used as a Union field hospital immediately after the battle of Gettysburg. And both sides were treated from our home, the field behind our house that the church owns and never allowed anyone to build anything on. So now we use it as a kickball field. Growing up.

[A]

Lol.

[B]

And it was used to bury the dead. And our living room was the surgery room.

[A]

Jesus Christ. Okay, Gettysburg is crazy seat, man.

[B]

My uncle found a bunch of photos of our house from that time. And there was a second story balcony way back then. Want to know where the door to that balcony was originally located? You guessed correctly. My closet was originally the doorway out to the balcony, which apparently is where a number of her soldiers jumped to their deaths because they couldn't live with their injuries. So, homeboy, maybe. Either he did or that could have.

[A]

Been his last moments.

[B]

I don't know.

[A]

Maybe that's a leap. Oh, sorry. God damn it. That was not on purpose. I swear, I swear, I swear, I swear, I swear, I swear, I swear.

[B]

No, but, like, I mean, it's a.

[A]

Worse for a pun, but for your.

[B]

Closet to be the door out to the balcony where people jump to their death. Like, and then you put your little kid in there. Oh, my God.

[A]

Well, not on purpose, but still, like.

[B]

Right out of a horrible horror movie.

[A]

It just feels like. Yeah, it feels like just, wow. You can't make this up. Like, life is stranger than fiction to have pictures of. I mean, you know, I Love an old house. But, like, it would be so startling to be like, oh, this CL. This closet. It used to. It used to have. Used to be the. Or was the final place for several soldiers who died. By suits, I mean, what the.

[B]

Oh, my God. We always had odd things happening in the house. Lights and radios would turn on and off. Doors and drawers would open and close on their own. We would always hear footsteps walking up and down the wooden staircases and the long hallways. Honestly, none of that ever bothered any of us. But if my mom couldn't find something in the kitchen, she would take a moment and say, okay, boys, where'd you put my. Whatever she's looking for? Then whatever she. It was she needed would either be sitting beside the sink or in the middle of the kitchen table.

[A]

Oh, that's. That's handy.

[B]

I like that. If you're gonna live, like, basically on an army camp, it's like, okay, let.

[A]

The soldiers, like, please lend me a.

[B]

Helping hand versus against them.

[A]

Also, I realized I. I made a little faux pas because he was clearly, they said, died in D.C. or near D.C. after a. Shipped to a different hospital. So he. He may have just been going out for a smoke on the balcony. I don't know. Maybe.

[B]

Or maybe he was like. For all we know, like, maybe his best friend jumped in for him or something.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, either way.

[B]

Or maybe he contemplated. And then when, you know, who knows?

[A]

Maybe that's just where they went, you know, to.

[B]

Anyway, we moved.

[A]

We moved.

[B]

Moved to P. PA Pennsylvania when I was 13. My sister was 11. But growing up in that house gave us both the knowledge and respect for the unknown. Sorry this is so long, but it's a pretty cool story that I don't often share, so. That's from Jennifer.

[A]

You know, I got it mixed up with a different story at first that I. I thought I remembered this one. I remember the soldier part, but I. I had forgotten how just totally validating their story was. Like, I didn't realize they got all those just, like, actual facts and evidence, you know? But the one I was thinking of was that one where the little boy kept coming out of the closet and was, like, playing on the floor or whatever. Do you remember?

[B]

Oh, yes.

[A]

That's, like, what I thought at first when I heard the closet door opening. But yeah. Okay. This one is called. This is from. Oh, my God. This one's from Tiana.

[B]

Tiana.

[A]

February 9, 2017. I almost brought this up at the beginning of this episode that we used to have our friends write stories in for Us because we didn't have any listeners yet, and so we needed to kick.

[B]

Oh, this is my tiana.

[A]

Yes. Oh, February 9, 2017. That's crazy.

[B]

Yeah, we did. We were like. Before we had people writing in, we were like, can you send a story, please?

[A]

Well, we realized we had a listener episode to record. We were like, with what? Like, with what stories? Like, we didn't want to blatantly, like, make them up, obviously. So we were like, well, we have to get our. Our spookiest friends to send their stories in.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I love this. Okay. Oh, wow. This one's actually a crime story. I can't believe I forgot about this. But the title, the subject is swat, Arson and Chili Fest. Oh, my. Also, if I recall, I think we pretended they weren't our friends in that episode. I'm like, pretty sure we pretended they were just like, submissions from strangers or something.

[B]

You were like, oh, thanks, Tiana.

[A]

Thanks for writing Tiana. Wink. And I was probably like, who's Tiana? Because I didn't know any of your friends yet, you know?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay. So Tiana says, I have two hometown murders for you. Number one. This murder happened in 2014 while I was living in College Station, Texas. And the victims were the husband and daughter of the school counselor of the school I was teaching at, student teaching at. This murder hit the community really hard and still stays with me to this day. So do you know the story offhand or.

[B]

Not really, No, I have. I don't remember it at all. And also, the last time I heard it was probably the very first listeners episode. So.

[A]

Yeah. Okay. Okay. Wow. Around 4:30am, 911 started to receive calls about a fire and explosion at a local residence. The house was completely engulfed in flames by the time firefighters arrived. They put the fire out and determined that Noel Devon owned the house. They called her cell phone, no answer. They finally got in touch with her mom who drove to the scene. She told police that her husband had driven to Noel's house at about 5:30 the previous evening to return her dog and never, never came back. She had fallen asleep, so didn't notice his absence. His truck was still parked on the street with the dog still inside, safe and sound. Praise the Lord, says Tiana. Agreed. When police searched the truck, they noticed white stains and a very strong bleach smell. Noel's SUV was also missing. Police found. Oh, dear. Police found two burned bodies inside inside the house. One in the front living room and one in the rear bedroom. They turned out to be Noel and her father Mac, who were stabbed to death.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

There was also evidence of sexual assault.

[B]

Oof.

[A]

Remember her missing suv? It was found later the same day at a nearby hotel outside room 18, along with gasoline, bleach, and some of Noel's clothing and jewelry. The man renting the room was Dennis Wayne Brown iii, who, guess what, has just been released from prison on Friday. Friday?

[B]

Well, there you have it.

[A]

Literally three days prior, he had served 15 years for aggravated robbery. At first, there were a lot of theories circulating that Noel had met Brown at Chili Fest, a gigantic festival with music, chili, and beer that weekend, which is what set off the whole chain of events. Hello, victim. Blaming it. Later came out that it was a completely random attack, a crime of opportunity, basically. Brown waited until Noel was alone, broke in, assaulted, and murdered. Murdered her. Her dad arrived at some point either during or after the attack, which is horrible.

[B]

And to try to save her. Or ended up trying to save her, I'm sure.

[A]

I assume was just horrified. He then burned down the house to try and cover it all up. Brown was indicted on capital murder, arson, and burglary. The state was planning on pursuing the death penalty, but the case was never tried. Brown was found dead in his cell in May 2015 after an overdose on of anti. Antidepressants. Wow. Jesus. Okay, well, that's dark. I guess we started off. Yeah, thanks a lot, Tiana. Also, I feel like we must have started off strong with these episodes. They must have been. But, well, it's like, oh, let's ask our friends for episode. They send the most horrific stuff.

[B]

She's like, I know just the thing. Yeah.

[A]

Oh, I've been waiting to tell you this story.

[B]

M. Wow.

[A]

Now, this is number two from Tiana. In April 2016, April teevers entered. Oh, I remember this story. I covered this on the podcast years later. I mean, years ago now. But it was in this house, so it must have been like. I certainly didn't remember Tiana sending a story about it.

[B]

Wow. Well, thanks, Tiana, for the foreshadowing.

[A]

You know what? I bet there's so much weird, like, in that episode where I talk about whatever. College Station, Texas. You're probably like, oh, Tiana lived there. Like, I bet you there was some comment. So I did cover this story. I don't know what episode it was off the top of my head, but that Em and Megan have created a wonderful database on the website for you to search. Okay. April 2016. April teevers entered a local church in Midlothian, Texas, to set up for her gladiator boot camp. Fitness class. She got there early. We're talking 4am early. By 5am her boot camp class members arrived and found her body. The report says she died of puncture wounds to her head and chest. So here's where it gets crazy. Surveillance video from the church shows a person entering the lobby dressed in police swagger, SWAT gear.

[B]

Yes, I remember this story now.

[A]

Carrying a hammer. Wasn't that like horrific? We talked about that being like the worst thing to be carrying.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

The video shows the person walking around the church, opening doors and breaking things with the hammer. It is impossible to tell who the person is from the video or even if they are male or female. The still from the surveillance video is so creepy, I've attached it. During police investigation, they found that Teevers had ongoing financial and marital difficulties, including flirtatious and familiar messages to someone else. Both Teevers and her husband were engaged in relationships outside their marriage. Her father in law had turned in a bloody shirt for dry cleaning. So they tested that and it turned out to be dog blood. I don't know if you remember that.

[B]

I know I don't remember that.

[A]

Law enforcement investigated all these leads, but as of today, the murder is still unsolved. I mean, this was way back when. I think it was definitely still unsolved. I believe when I covered it, there are conspiracy theories about the in laws committing the murder. And there's an entire Facebook page dedicated to figuring out who killed her. Some believe it was a hitman. Others believe a serial killer. Some believe it was just a random attack. IDK. Wow, Tiana, thank you. Years ago.

[B]

Wow. I'll.

[A]

February 2017, I'll text her and let.

[B]

Her know that she. She's still making it on and that's why we drink.

[A]

She knows because I'm assuming Eva responded and said, hi, we're covering your story, Tiana.

[B]

Interesting that she didn't text me then.

[A]

Wait a minute. Interesting she didn't respond to Eva's evidence. Female. That seems pretty effed up. Interesting. It says you've been blocked from this I.

[B]

You know. Okay, that makes a little sense. Anyway. Okay, well, thanks, Yana. Okay, the next one we have is from Nicole, who I don't know their pronouns these days because this is an early. An early email, but the subject line is, you're gonna want to read this.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

All right, Nicole, let's see how true that is. Nicole says, hello, my sweet, sweet. And that's why we drink. Family. I'm a big fan of the show. My friend Jess got me into the show when I Lived in Portugal, and now I'm hooked. My fiance's gotten into it as well, and. Which is kind of funny because we live in a ham. Oh, I skipped a line. My fiance has gotten into it as well, but now he thinks every noise we hear is a ghost or serious serial killer, which was kind of funny because we live in a fraternity house, so there's a ton of college boys making noise all the time. So.

[A]

Great.

[B]

Anyway, the roller coaster I'm about to take you on isn't my personal story, but I'm going to tell it in first person on behalf of my friend Hannah. So we're pretending Hannah is saying this to us. We were driving back to my cousin's house in Stafford Springs from Hartford, Connecticut, after her theater show went night. Their house is. Hannah's house is kind of out in the country. So it's a heavily wooded area with the houses set up off the roads. And it's me, my cousin about. Who's about my age, my younger sister and another younger cousin. And I'm in the passenger seat.

[A]

House. Or is it her house?

[B]

One of their houses.

[A]

Confusing.

[B]

One of their houses. And I'm in the passenger seat.

[A]

Sorry.

[B]

And I'm in the passenger seat. We are driving and just passing time on the drive with music and talk about the show. We slow a bit when we see a deer in the road that had been hit by a car. Okay, whatever. Not a big deal. We avoid the wreckage and come back up to speed. I'm doing what most passengers do until I think I see something on the side of the road. I think I see a hand.

[A]

What?

[B]

I brush it off because why would it be a hand? After a second, my cousin driving asks, did you guys see something back there? Before I can answer, the car in front of us stops in the road and the driver waves us forward and we pull up. As we approach, I can see the driver, a girl about our age, is hysterically crying. I saw something back there, she says. I think I saw a hand.

[A]

You all saw it at the same.

[B]

Time, which is wild. I feel like homegirl in the. In the car ahead of you looked in her rearview mirror to make sure that you were all like, girlies the same age. Because. Because like wilds would you pull? Like, I would be scared to pull. Wave anyone over to me. But, like, maybe she was like, oh, we can all be in this together, you know?

[A]

My weird instinct was that she was saying, pass me. And they just like. Because she needed to pull over and was just like, pass. You know, because like, you wouldn't know the difference between pass by versus, like, pull up to me. So maybe it's like, oh. And then they were able to connect because they were thankfully all the same page. I don't know.

[B]

Coincidentally, I had just taken a bystander awareness class, so I. So of course I suggest we have to go back. So both of the cars turn around and make the short drive back to where the mysterious hand was cited. We stop in the road and I get out. Turns out the hand was attached to a body. No, the body belonged to a girl, probably in her 20s. No, she was. She was wearing a white dress that was covered in blood.

[A]

Oh, my God.

[B]

She was. She was just so bloody. Her joints and limbs were bent at weird angles and her eyes were open and glazed, raised over. And this chick was dead.

[A]

This is so traumatizing.

[B]

I turn back to the car and say, call the police. But before I could finish, I see this resurrect. No, I'm talking. Her limbs and joints come back together. She starts breathing. She stands the up. Stands right up, like she was just chilling on the couch and not lying on the side of some random backcountry road at midnight. And at this point, the chick in the other car is screaming, yes, duh. The dead girl is not standing and completely ignores me. She turns and just starts walking down the road the direction we had just come from. I yell at her, ma'am, Ma'am, are you all right? Nothing. She just keeps walking. So. Which honestly, in my mind, I'm like, she has adrenaline. She's just, like, trying to fight for her life. So I get back in the car and we call the police. They show up with an ambulance and ask some questions and look around. I tell them what I told you. That girl was dead. And by the way, earlier in the notes, it did say dead and then spelled out D, E, a D, dead.

[A]

Okay, got it. Important note. Dead.

[B]

Dead. They thank us and tell us to head on home. Like this was a normal casual encounter that you just head back home after. So the screaming girl in the other car wants to follow. Wants us to follow her to her house because she's so freaky. I like that you've just become instant friends in this.

[A]

Trauma bonding.

[B]

It's on the way. So we say sure and follow her while recounting the story a million times in the car. She pulls off into her driveway and we keep going. Eventually, the woods thin and a field opens up to the right. Sounds chill until we see the dead girl standing alone in the middle of the field.

[A]

I'm sorry.

[B]

With a troop of cop cars forming a semicircle around. Around her, pointing their headlights at her. What? She's just standing there, barely even acknowledging them. Starting past the. Staring past them into the night.

[A]

What I have an apocalyptic hellscape is this.

[B]

This is so.

[A]

I'm afraid of this.

[B]

I, of course, instruct my cousin to pull over so we could watch the show unfold. Yes. Yes.

[A]

Thank you.

[B]

An office, a poor crying girl.

[A]

It's like, what? I just want to go home.

[B]

An officer comes running up to our car and tells us a frantic to leave. Get out of here. We can't be here. I tell him that we're the ones who called the called them in the first place. But he just keeps repeating himself until we agree.

[A]

I'm a bystander expert. I took a class.

[B]

But he keeps repeating himself until we agree to go. Leaving dead girl still standing in the field. I wish I could tell you we she shot up into the air or transformed into a giant lizard or something super sick, but I don't know. I don't know what happened. I see a girl come back to life and leave her standing in a field, and I have no idea what happened. So many people. So many people have combed over the Internet with me trying to find something, but there's nothing out there. This feels like some stranger things that they stumbled upon.

[A]

It does. It does. It does.

[B]

I should honestly, in hindsight, I'm sure they've thought it too. I would have been like, get in the car. Like, what's going on? Like, get in the car.

[A]

Hell no, don't get in the car.

[B]

I'd be like, get in the car, Cuz like I would bones just like rebuilt.

[A]

You would not. Come on.

[B]

You're right, I wouldn't. No one from the area.

[A]

You wouldn't even want the blood on your seats.

[B]

I just want someone else to do it that I know who can tell me about it at Chili's the next day. Yeah, no one. No one from the area has ever heard of her. It's like some. Some kind of massive secret. We have our theories, including some kind of trafficking, kidnapping, ploy, drugs, possession. But we'll never know about the dead girl in Connecticut until maybe now. We've got. We've got a much bigger following now. Maybe someone's heard something.

[A]

Please, somebody reach out. Remember that the tight subject is, you're gonna want to read this, so if you have any info, maybe put that in your subject.

[B]

Yeah. And so this is from Nicole, so thank You, Nicole for.

[A]

Wow. Oh, my God. Okay. Wow. Wow. Was that the end?

[B]

That was the end. So you got. You have one last one, and I have one last one.

[A]

Man, I. Okay, that was a doozy. I'm already freaked out by that. This is number 11. It's called my Body Almost Got Snatched in the Astral Plane. Oh, no. I had just forgotten about this one.

[B]

I have forgotten about it. I'm excited to hear about it again, though.

[A]

Rocky, she. Her. My body Almost Got snatched in the astral plane. I'm mad now because I'm like, damn it. This scares me every time I try to astral project. Dear Christine M. Eva and the amazing crew of. And that's why we drink today. I want to talk. Oh, this is. Wait. Oh, yeah, sorry. February 2024. I'm losing it. I thought it said 25. I was like, that hasn't happened yet.

[B]

Okay, we're in the astral plane.

[A]

What's happening to me? Okay, today I want to talk to you about my first time astral projecting and the very creepy message I got from someone in the astral plane. But first, I want to thank you for everything you do. I've been a long time listener and I love your banter. Oh, I've just told everyone I know about the history of celery. I love that your podcast has helped me through my commute to work, folding laundry, the bane of any ADHD's existence, and all the mundane chores that would put me to sleep. Okay, now let's crack into it. A few months ago, I asked or projected for the first time out of of nowhere. I have never tried to astral project before. I've never kept a dream diary or even had a lucid dream. Okay, that's already wild. I came home from school in the late afternoon and went to bed early, absolutely bone tired from the day. I don't remember falling asleep or. What have we got? Breaking into Wallace.

[B]

You haven't broken into Wallace recently? That's crazy.

[A]

Sounds like she broke into Wallace Jr. Or Wallace somewhere. Evil twin or something. I don't know. Okay, suddenly. Okay, I don't remember falling asleep, just getting in bed and suddenly waking up again. I jolted up in bed as if I had just woken up from a bad dream. And I got out of bed quickly in a little bit of a panic. When I turned around, I saw myself in bed sound asleep. And that is how they say you're supposed to get out of your own body, like sit up quickly.

[B]

You know, the very first time I ever. Probably the Only time I've ever astral projected was projected.

[A]

I'm sure I've said this before.

[B]

I was a little.

[A]

Oh, flying around.

[B]

Flying around. And I remember peeling out of my body and going back in my body.

[A]

See, I knew you were genius at this. You're like a prodigy. You're like a prophet.

[B]

It only happened once, but I remember it vividly. And I remember being like, this is the best fucking thing.

[A]

Were you just not able to do it again?

[B]

Yeah, I didn't have a. It was totally not something I tried to do either. At five. It just happened.

[A]

Oh gosh.

[B]

You remember flying around my kitchen? I remember just like. And I remember like, it wasn't just kind of like going straight across. I remember like doing the Woo.

[A]

Like under the. Yes.

[B]

Like, I remember having to, like. I remember having to in my mind, like mentally generate energy to go back up. And then it was like flappy bird or whatever.

[A]

That's like kind of how you do it when you're angry bird lucid dreaming. But yeah, to be astral projecting is so wild. I don't have any conscious memory of doing that. That would be so cool.

[B]

It was a great feeling. It only happened. Happened once though.

[A]

How did. Do you remember getting back to your body or you just like, you do. How did you do it?

[B]

I mean, I remember leaving my bed floating and like in my room and seeing myself lying down and I just hear we. And pretty much I. I had. I was not scared at all. And I remember just going down the stairs and then doing a couple laps around my kitchen and then thinking, oh, I need to go back upstairs. I need to be. I think in my child brain. I was like, my mom's gonna be mad if I'm not sleeping.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So then I went back up the stairs and I went back to myself and then plop, right back in.

[A]

You know, it's so funny. You hear people talk about, I think this is that story. Maybe, I'm not sure, but one of the stories where it was like, I can't get back into my body. And it sounds like kids just like, are like, they just accept it. Like, oh, I'll just pop back in. And then it sounds like when you get fearful and are like, oh my God, I'm out of my body, that's when it's like harder to kind of reconnect. Well, at least that's what I've learned.

[B]

The. The whole premise of that movie Insidious is that like a kid accidentally was astral projecting when he'd go to Sleep. And he couldn't get back in his body. And it looked like he was in a coma. And he was. It was just his actual body was.

[A]

Certainly not ever watching that.

[B]

Okay, okay. That's the whole.

[A]

Off with that.

[B]

That's the whole thing, though, is that like, he. His. His soul can't get back to his body because he got trapped by, like, other spirits. It was basically like. Well, when he was astral projecting, he left his body open as a vessel. And so something else took over his body.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And blocked him from being able to get back in his own body. So it looked like he was in a coma, but he was just stuck.

[A]

You guys are safe. Astral projection. I promise. I promise. It's just. It can. It's like Ouija boards. Like, you just. You know, if. Just love and light. Love and light. Here we go. Okay. I'm already scared. When I turned around, I saw myself in bed, sound asleep. I didn't know what was going on, and I started freaking out. I tried to wake myself up, but when I tried to touch my body, my hands went right through my torso. Not knowing what to do, I went to look for my mom. I live with my mama, and we have a really close relationship. And I thought that if anyone could help me, it would be her. I was honestly so panicked and freaked out that it hadn't even occurred to me yet that I could be dreaming or astro projecting. I walked. That would be my first thought, but I guess I think about that a lot. I walked out to the living room to find my mom eating popcorn and watching television in her pajamas. I remember she was wearing a blue nightie I hadn't seen her in before. And watching one of her stories. I tried to talk to her, but she didn't acknowledge me at all. Which doesn't that make you wonder how many are, like, close to you and you just don't even even hear that?

[B]

Yeah. Who's trying to talk to me right now?

[A]

Forget it. I stood in front of the TV and waved my hands, but she looked right through me. At this point, my panic had started to subside, and I came to the conclusion I must be in a dream. I remember making the decision to explore the house and walking to the kitchen. The kitchen in our house has a door that slides open and closed. And when I approached, the door was shut. When I slid the door open on the other side, I was shocked to find there was a very large green fence field filled with people picnicking.

[B]

What?

[A]

When I opened the door, all of the people in the field turned and looked at me all at the same time.

[B]

Oh.

[A]

And just continued to stare.

[B]

Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

[A]

Oh, my God.

[B]

And it's also the feeling like, when you're, like, the last. Like, you're late to class and all your classmates, like, turn and stare at you at the door.

[A]

Oh, and suddenly the spotlight's just on you. Oh, my God.

[B]

Like, either you're not supposed to be here, or why are you here? Or. Oh, my God. Speaking of which, Allison just peaked her little head through. Allison looks sick. I love you, Alice. The poor little girl. She. She also just woke up, I think from a really deep nap. So she looks like she was just on another astral plane.

[A]

Oh, maybe that's not. Maybe that. Maybe she's astro projecting. She's sick though, right?

[B]

Like, yeah, she's definitely sick.

[A]

Okay. Okay, so we know what's wrong in. It's not just mystery. Okay. Good few. Okay, so the pick people picnicking. At this point, I freaked out again, ran back to my bedroom and laid down over my own body, waiting and hoping to fall asleep in the dream and return to reality.

[B]

Oh, that's so awkward. Just lying on top of yourself, hoping that you'll. You'll like.

[A]

Does this do it? Is this. Is this doing anything? You know, not okay. Sorry. Eventually, after some time, I woke up in real life and was happy to find there was only one of me. I ran out to the living room to tell my mom about my dream and stopped dead in my tracks. Not only was she watching the same episode of her show on the television, she was also wearing the same blue nightie from my dream that I had never seen before, and munching on her popcorn. I asked when she had gotten those pajamas, and she said she had literally just bought them from Walmart. And that's when I realized what had happened hadn't been a dream at all. There was absolutely no way I could have dreamt what my mom was watching, wearing, and eating. Thinking about it still gives me chills. The next night and every night for the next few days, I was really afraid of astro projecting again. But night after night, I went to sleep without incident. It got to the point where I thought that it would never happen again and I was safe. I even began to dismiss my own experience as a coincidence and just a really vivid dream, though I couldn't explain how I had known what she was watching, eating, and wearing. Then one night, a few months later, it happened again. I woke up and was sitting inside my own sleeping body. Like, literally something Straight out of of a movie. This time, when I went into the living room, there was no one home. And for some reason, I felt much braver than I had the first time I had Astro projected. I was determined to figure out what was going on. I opened up my kitchen door, expecting to find the field full of people, but inside was just my kitchen again. Well, I thought, if there was no one home, I'll just have to go outside and ask someone, what is going on? I left my house and began to walk down my street, determined to find someone to pay attention to me and tell me what was happening.

[B]

Someone explained. Help.

[A]

There were people I didn't recognize on the streets, but they all just gave me weird, suspicious sideways glances and wouldn't talk to me if I approached them. I tried talking to a few people, but every time I said anything, they would walk right past me. Ew. So it's like some people could sense you were there even though it was just your spirit.

[B]

Which is. I guess that's like when people have a gut feeling or.

[A]

Yeah, or psychic or mediumship abilities or something. I don't know.

[B]

Like when you can sense someone is nearby. Yeah. But you just can't see them. Oh, that's so creepy.

[A]

Ways from my house, there is a bus stop. This is what I remember vividly. And I noticed there was a red bus pulled up to it with people getting on. I don't know what gave me the gall or bravery, but I remember thinking I could get answers if I could get on the bus. Try walking away from me if you're stuck on a bus sitting next to me. But before I could board the bus, I felt someone grab my arm and pull me out of the bus doorway. I turned around to see a man I had never met before looking at me, super worried. Worried. He looked at me like he knew me and said very gravely, what are you doing here?

[B]

Oh, I remember this now.

[A]

I just got chills. I asked if I knew him, but he ignored my question and kept talking. You shouldn't be here. You need to go back to your body or they will take it. Oh my God. Oh my God. I was shocked and super freaked out and asked him again, but he just shoved me away in the direction of my house. You need to go back to your body now. After that, he got on the bus and suddenly I lost all my determination. Thank God. I decided to run back to my house into my bedroom. My body was still there, sound asleep, and I laid down in myself just like I had the time before. This time, when I woke up, however, I had sleep paralysis. I was awake in my body, but yeah, I feel like it's a lot of the same processes in your body that happen. I was awake in my body, but I couldn't get myself to move around my room. I could see shadowy figures floating above my bed and staring down at me. I wanted to scream and run or do anything to make it stop, but I couldn't move. I stayed like that for what felt like hours in full blown panic mode, until finally I felt like I was released from what felt like a living nightmare. I know sleep paralysis is just your mind hallucinating and muscle paralysis, but I'm still convinced today that the shadowy figures I saw floating around in my room staring down at me were the things the man in the astral plane was trying to warn me about.

[B]

God. Oh my God.

[A]

Ever since then, whenever I've astral projected, I've never left my room afraid that something is going to try and snatch my body. I still don't know if I completely believe in Astro. Are you serious? I still don't know if I completely believe in Astro. Projection.

[B]

Are you an idiot? Come on, what is wrong with you?

[A]

Or if what happened to me was more dream than reality. But I can tell you one thing. I'm never going to leave my room again when I'm in the astroplane. Stay safe out there, folks, in the real world. And the Astro one. And beware of the body snatchers. Cheers, Rocky. Oh, God.

[B]

I mean. So like, for the people who are more curious, would you mind teaching us how to do it though? Because, I mean, I don't know, I've.

[A]

Never done it before. I do, I do know that. Like there.

[B]

I mean, would Rocky teach us?

[A]

Oh, Rocky. Oh, I thought you were asking me. Yeah, well, it sounds like. Oh. Oh, I see. How are you doing this? Well, it sounds like they're trying not to. Maybe that's the key.

[B]

Maybe that's the key is to try not to. Yeah, right, man. Yeah, I definitely remember that man on the bus going, how did you get here? Or like recognizing.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Oh my God. Ah. Cause it's like. So were you just like one of the good ones who wouldn't do that? Or have you been here before? Were we both astral projecting at the same time? They seem to like understand that sounds.

[A]

Like a spiritual guide. More because they knew her. She didn't know them.

[B]

The fact that it, it recognized you too. Yeah. So it must be someone that watches.

[A]

Over you pretty often and that you didn't recognize. Oh, My gosh.

[B]

Okay, well, everyone, this is just about the longest listeners episode we've ever done. We have one final one for you to. To round us out. And this is from Hughes. Nope. It says hello from Houston, the town. Okay, so who is the person? The person maybe is.

[A]

Which is what you did say.

[B]

Nicholas. Nicholas.

[A]

So quick note, quick note.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Was this the bonus or no? Oh, no, there was no bonus. It was just a bonus update. Sorry. Side note. And then I was gonna say one more thing. Never mind. Forget it. Sorry. Go ahead. M. I cannot remember what me felt important.

[B]

You're good.

[A]

Oh, wait, I remember.

[B]

Let me see. Seat. What?

[A]

So I'm hoping, em, that with the rule of thirds, that a third person knocks on your door and this time it really is a black eyed kid because it feels like two have happened. We won't feel like the narrative has completed until the third. So maybe I should text even now and say, go knock on M's door. Just to kind of round out the whole experience, you know?

[B]

Yeah, it feels like every fourth story I have gotten a knock.

[A]

So yeah, yikes.

[B]

Maybe that'll happen again. But every time so far it's been quite a lovely interaction. Unless I'm inviting something in I don't know about. So. Okay, this is from Nicholas. This is from 2018. So we. We're not asking for pronouns yet. So I don't know what's going on with Nicholas, but this is the subject line. It's a long one. Listen, the universe is out to get me, including the Matrix and Black Eyed Kids, and I just need someone to tell me I'm not crazy.

[A]

Oh, okay.

[B]

Okay, Nicholas, I like how you told the whole story in the subject line. Great. So here's the rest of it. Hello from Houston. I've been a listener since early this last school year. And as soon as I heard about the listeners episode that mentioned the glitches in the Matrix, I was astonished. I didn't know that anyone else had experiences like this, and I figured I was just somewhat insane. Oh, look at us, validating people's experiences. I want to go over everything that's happened to me, but that would take forever. So I'll just go over the juicy one. Thank you, Nicholas. First I was born. Okay, List. Just kidding. Now that would take forever. I've rewritten this email like three times trying to shorten this down and make it somewhat short. But listen, life's hard. I think the best place to start my story is during, say the best.

[A]

To start shortening is the subject line because that one's pretty long. But, you know, I like it long. And most people, most listeners like. Sorry, I didn't mean to say that. I mean, I like the longer episodes or the longer stories, so don't worry. I think other people. Never mind, forget it. Just kick me out. Just go on without me. Leave my husk behind. I give up.

[B]

It's okay. Christine likes it long and just like, just like, just like Nicholas's subject line. So here we go. I think the best place to start my story is during my freshman year of high school. I am not going to get into all the paranormal stuff I saw at my house, but let's just say it wasn't easy to sleep at night. I had tons and tons of crazy, crazy dreams. One day, everything stopped. I don't know how or why, but it was amazing. I was so happy and everything started going great in my life. I skipped the whole part about how my friends and I always talked on the phone while we sat in bed to summer. But to summarize, from around seventh grade, my little squad was very close and would Skype call every night to help everyone calm down before bed. Oh, it's precious. Back to the main story. One day, one of my friends introduced me to this girl over Skype. He said he had a weird feeling that we would be perfect for each other. And even though she lived a couple states away, he was so right. Throughout the rest of high school, me and this girl had a great relationship. And both of us had saved money throughout high school so we could meet after we graduated. Oh my God. The long con.

[A]

The long con.

[B]

It was like. It was like a long. No, sorry. It was like a dream come true as I met the love of my life for the first time. And we both lost our first kiss the first time we saw each other. Other. We moved in together as we both attended the University of Texas in Austin where I was a computer science major and my girlfriend was a civil engineer. Sadly, things started happening. Oh, like things like picked up again, spooky wise. Is that what he means?

[A]

Oh, I don't know.

[B]

Sadly, things started happening. Well, let's read on and find out.

[A]

Another thing I certainly don't know.

[B]

Okay. Another thing I totally skipped to save time was how my family has a weird connection with aliens.

[A]

Oh, God.

[B]

Every man. Every man on my father's side of my family has a story about aliens. That is every. That is every single one but me. At first I figured maybe I'm too boring for them or something, but boy, was I wrong about that. Back to the story. I'm not liking the teasing. Yeah, you're gonna have to just say it all.

[A]

Yeah, we like it long.

[B]

Yeah, we like it long and strong. Down to get the friction on, you know, so. Okay. The first thing I started noticing was how my girlfriend and I were asleep. It was always dead silent. This wouldn't have bothered me if we weren't living in the middle of a city. The second thing was that whenever I looked at my reflection in the mirror, it was never quite right. It almost looked more sad than it should. No skip forward a year and nothing has really changed. Except my girlfriend and I were closer than ever. And I was actually ready to propose to her. But the same day I was going to. I looked in the mirror and my reflection wasn't just off, but there was a tear rolling down its cheek.

[A]

What?

[B]

Its cheek. I figured it was a trick of the light, even though I was a bit shaken. Then I heard the doorbell ring. Normally I liked when people came over, but this time, for some reason, that sound gave me a feeling of dread.

[A]

Dread?

[B]

Naturally. Since I was in the bathroom, my girlfriend decided that she would go see who it was. And my dread worsened as I heard the door creak open through the house. I thought about calling to my girlfriend and telling her to shut the door, but I was frozen in fear. I heard a young voice ask if they could use the telephone. These words gave me shivers down my spine. They did. They did, however, also shake me enough to get me moving again. And the first thing I did was fly out of my bathroom and right beside my. My girlfriend. Sadly, this wasn't before I heard her say sure. So she invited them in.

[A]

What the dude?

[B]

So it's almost like his. Like the tear is like. Is like a premonition, like warning him of like, something bad's about to happen.

[A]

Yeah. Or like your higher self knows or something.

[B]

Yeah. Something dark's coming. When I ran into the room, I felt like I was going to die. It was the scariest feeling I've ever felt in my life. And right as I got into the room, one of the kids. Kids looked up. Their eyes were like black holes, sucking in all the joy, happiness and life that I had. Quickly, my vision also turned to black and I passed out. When I woke up, I felt awful. I woke up in bed with my soon to be wife and everything was back to normal. Except for one thing. Neither of us were smiling. I figured I would wait to propose until we both seemed a bit less sad. And a couple months after that, we Went to the doctor as we both didn't feel good at all. We both had cancer. What? Mine was testicular, and my girlfriend's was breast cancer. And upon hearing this news, I looked at my girlfriend and we both burst into tears. There had to be some mistake. How could this happen to us? We were so young. Then I woke up.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And I'm okay. I'm writing this at the end of my freshman year of high school.

[A]

Yes, I remember this.

[B]

Wow. So all that was like a premonition from a dream or like you actually lived the life and now, like, you've flipped back into freshman.

[A]

I'm, like, so freaked out right now.

[B]

I recently talked to my friend who first introduced my girlfriend and I. But when I mentioned her last name, he looked at me like I was crazy because there's no way I could have known about her.

[A]

Oh, no.

[B]

Of course. That was totally what I expected. I called her and talked to her, and we clicked again just like before. The only problem is she's different. And not just kind of different. The girl that used to always cheer me up and brighten my day has depression and is suicidal. I don't know what happened, but she always talks like she's going to inevitably die. And when I asked her how, she answered with one word. Cancer. Oh, my God.

[A]

My God.

[B]

Anyways, who knows where this universe will take me next? But whatever it is, I'm sure I. I sure hope Yalls podcast is in it. Oh, thanks. I guess.

[A]

I don't. I'm just kidding.

[B]

I know this was a long story, but I need to type it out. It's really been a burden on me, and it has haunted me, too. The paranormal stuff that happened to me before I met this girl the first time has all come back and won't go away again. Wow.

[A]

It's like, so before I met her the first time. I mean, that's how real it feels.

[B]

And also, so, like, there was. It's like all the paranormal stuff stopped just for you to have this, like, one massive paranormal experience.

[A]

Right, right. And then once that was over, back to the beginning.

[B]

And then once it was over, it's like, okay, well, now we can go off pause and go back to our normal.

[A]

Yeah, like all hell breaks loose all of a sudden again. Wow.

[B]

Wow. One of the weirdest parts is that I still retain my computer knowledge I had in college.

[A]

That was my first question. I was gonna say, do you remember all the. Because that would be great if you could just whiz through college like that. That.

[B]

Yeah, this is the only proof I have that any of this happened. But recently, I programmed a scaling algorithm for different kinds of charts from memory. And even my teacher in high school programming doesn't understand completely how it works. Which just goes to show that it's not something a high school kid would know. Unless you were just, like, programmed with knowledge immediately. Maybe that was the alien experience, right? Like, now all of a sudden, you've got all this information.

[A]

Whoa. Yeah, good point. They were like, go to college information.

[B]

I think I've typed enough for one email. But I just wanted to say that you guys have seriously helped me also. Like, well, you're until Geo High for me. Go team wine. Even though I can't legally drink it anymore. Oh, because you're not 21. Yet again.

[A]

Oh, my God, yet again. So sorry. Hey, the good news is you're probably 21 now because this was 20. You're right. Right?

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

Oh, here's what I wrote. Here's what I wrote. June 19, 2018. Nicholas. Oh, wow. That's so sad and creepy. Oh, wait, no, this is Eva, obviously. I can tell when it's Eva. She's a lot nicer, I think, than me.

[B]

And then Nicholas did say in an update years ago, I actually. My life is getting so much easier. I've already gone through school. Everything is super easy. Not to brag, but I just skipped a year of English by finishing both semesters in six days each. Okay, Nicholas.

[A]

Damn.

[B]

Okay, so it sounds like Nicholas is doing okay now, but, I mean, honestly, if that taught me anything, go to a doctor now and start getting tested for stuff, right?

[A]

Because, like, if you feel off, at least, or if you.

[B]

If you feel off or if you feel like that maybe there are some overlaps to that world you experienced, you know, like, maybe just check. I would be terrified, though, to look in a mirror every day and wonder if my face looked a little contorted.

[A]

You know, if it doesn't look, look like me. And what could it all Freaky.

[B]

And what could it all mean about, like, the. The person that you were supposed to or that you ended up with in another world? Like, she does actually exist, but she's not the personality you remember. So, like, why are. Why is only. Why are there only half truths to this?

[A]

Well, do you think when you're coming back to. Do you think that both of them were in this alternate experience together and this was her response to it, and she wakes up and she, like, is just now in this deep, dark place, and maybe, like, Nicholas just has been able to move past it. And maybe it fucked her up more than. You know what I mean? Like, maybe. I don't know, maybe it was like a residual experience.

[B]

You know, It'd be interesting, too, is like, this would feel a little too much like a movie ending, but, like, maybe she also remembers everything and she's. Yeah, like, faking knowing him to, like, to keep him from ever having to, like, get hurt.

[A]

Or maybe it just. I don't know, maybe it wasn't even the. Maybe she doesn't remember the details or. But just, like, if it was just, like, a bad experience and she woke up, like, feeling like she had a premonition of her death, you know, like, maybe she just remembers that life like it's like a dream. Like, you know what I mean? Like, maybe it's just really vivid to Nicholas, but not to her. And she's like. Has it like a sinking feeling that there's, like, cancer. I don't know. It's just weird. I wonder if we talk. If you talk to her now, Nicholas, if she would be, like. If she would have, like, changed kind of more into the person you knew or not. I'm curious.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, both of you seem to have, in different ways, knowledge of, like, maybe a health thing in the future. So maybe that actually saves you, you know?

[A]

Yeah, saves you.

[B]

I don't know. But, you know, at least you both have information to work.

[A]

You should at least forward her this email. Or not this email, but you should at least forward her an email about Black Eyed Kids so she doesn't open the damn door whenever that happens. You know, maybe it's just to save her.

[B]

That's a good point too.

[A]

You know, maybe just teach her not to open the door.

[B]

Maybe she listens to this podcast more.

[A]

Yeah. And then she hears you opening the door every five minutes and is like, oh, okay, I'm safe.

[B]

Well, man, that's certainly a scary, juicy one to.

[A]

Wouldn't it be wild if I had Jack add some knocking right now in that post?

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

And then we're like.

[B]

I would. I would be curious, Nicholas, if you still listen to the show. Um, I would be interested for. If you could finally send those other stories. That'd be great because you've been leading us on for years.

[A]

Stop leading us on. You're such a tease.

[B]

Well, that was pretty good. That was a pretty good hundredth episode. Slash lost 16th episode. Being reclaimed, finally.

[A]

I hope we made up for that because it sounds like we did double the work that when we made Alice in Blazen that's true.

[B]

Well, thank you everyone. I hope everyone enjoyed the 100,000th Listeners episode. Those I can't believe that. I can't believe we've done this. That's incredible.

[A]

It feels really long. Like I like just how I like it.

[B]

Certainly. Hopefully other people appreciate that. But this was just a smattering of our favorites throughout the years. And thank you to everyone who has ever written to us and and not only just like the several hundred that we have read and have made it on the show, but to the several thousands people who did and still write to us and give us their stories. We appreciate all of it.

[A]

Right. We wouldn't have one episode without some of our friends. We wouldn't have 100 episodes without ever all of you people. So thank you.

[B]

And just like that, I guess we'll see you in March for our regular listener stories programming.

[A]

Yes, keep sending in stories and we might pick yours for future episode.

[B]

Thank you 100th and that's why we drink.