And That's Why We Drink: Listener Stories Vol. 107 – "Haunted Thrift Store Finds"

Podcast: And That's Why We Drink
Hosts: Christine Schiefer, Em Schulz
Episode: Listener Stories: Vol. 107
Date: September 1, 2025

Episode Overview

In celebration of the unofficial start of spooky season, Christine and Em dive into their latest listener submission episode centered around the brilliantly eerie theme: Haunted Thrift Store Finds—a topic suggested by Patreon listener Clarissa. The episode is a lively, joke-filled, but ever-creepy journey through tales of haunted dolls, cursed furniture, spectral children, and thrifted treasures that should maybe have stayed on the shelf.

The hosts read and react to several listener submissions, each involving paranormal encounters or unsettling vibes linked to secondhand purchases—and, true to the show’s spirit, get repeatedly distracted by their own haunted thrifting habits, pet stories, and occasional technology failures (suspected, of course, to be the work of ghosts).

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Welcoming Fall & Listener Episode Theme

• Christine and Em excitedly declare it’s fall in their hearts and begin the episode by bantering about the start of spooky season ([02:01]).
• Theme announced: haunted thrift store stuff, as suggested by Clarissa from Patreon ([02:43]).
  • Em says: "She haunted. She haunted our hearts. She suggested haunted thrift store finds. Oh, my God, that's so good." ([02:47])

2. Haunted Thrifting: Hosts’ Personal Tales

• The hosts reflect on their own most-haunted thrift finds: Christine’s collection of creepy pictures, Em’s suspiciously old and possibly moldy doll trunk from 1895 ([03:38–06:12]).
  • Em: "If you own anything and it's dated the 1800s, I'm just gonna have to assume at this point. You know what I mean?" ([06:05])
• Christine laments her lack of thrift luck compared to Em: "Your ability to sense when you shouldn't buy something. Your ticker is off." ([25:02])

3. Story 1: The Classic Haunted Thrift Shop (Katie)

• Katie recounts her experience working at a thrift store on an Air Force base, formerly a commander’s house ([09:25]).
  • Spotted the ghost of a little girl darting behind a couch in the break room ([10:17]).
  • There was also a man who haunted the manager’s office—vanished when the walls were painted pink.
• Christine: "There’s something about the ducking and the darting. It’s just, it’s not for me." ([10:24])
• Em: "Maybe he was like, please bring it back to the way I like it. Turn it pink. And then maybe it turned pink and Yeah, I love that." ([11:29])
• Sent in December 2023; the hosts note the episode lag between submission and reading ([12:00]).

4. Story 2: Thrift Store Ouija Board (Megan)

• Megan’s mother, a thrift store employee, finds an old wooden Ouija board in toys ([13:19]).
  • Store manager snaps the board in half, releases supernatural chaos: a hand mirror in her (always locked) office is mysteriously smashed ([15:12–16:34]).
• Em: "It’s gangster. But you just released all the demons. That’s what I see." ([15:14])
• Christine: "Eye for an eye, babe. Like, we’re both here, dude." ([16:47])
• Hosts debate the best way to dispose of haunted objects—with “love and light” versus violence ([17:34], [17:39]).

5. Personal Tangent: Dogs & Ghosts

• Christine shares that her dog, Hank, is inexplicably attracted to a roadside memorial, attempting to chew the cross every time ([17:59–19:47]).
• Discussion of whether pets sense or invite paranormal presences, leading Em to muse: "Now, I’ve never seen Pet Cemetery, but that seems like it could be a plot." ([20:27])

6. Story 3: Don’t Buy Wind Up Porcelain Dolls (Alo)

• Alo, a witch, buys a porcelain wind-up doll from a thrift store despite feeling ill at the sight of it; doll later plays music on its own at midnight ([23:04–31:10]).
  • Alo performs a cleansing ritual, wrapping the doll in black twine, eggshells, and black salt until they can bury it the next day.
• “My best friend half jokingly says, ‘Watch it start playing music tonight…’” ([26:44])
• Em: “If something makes me feel gross, like a bad vibe, I will not buy it. Even though I buy all sorts of crazy—” ([24:53])

7. Witchcraft Tangent: Simmer Pots & Eggshells

• Christine and Em discuss magical home cleansing methods like simmer pots and the witchy symbolism of eggshells ([33:57–39:59]).
• "If it’s all about manifesting anyway, it certainly gives me some good vibes." — Christine ([39:01])
• "I feel like you can write, like, a little, like, what you want. And you put that in the pot, too." — Em ([40:14])

8. Story 4: Clowning Around – The Haunted Clown Cabinet (Maddie)

• Maddie, in Canada, adopts a terrifying clown cabinet to store cassettes. Over the years, it shows a mischievous, almost sentient streak ([41:48–53:01]).
  • Knocks items off if not acknowledged, dislikes costumes, plays music at midnight, causes nosebleeds, hides phones in dryers.
  • Standout: “He also likes to remind you that he cares. On the night before my birthday... he started playing 'Happy Birthday.'” ([45:39–46:32])
• The hosts oscillate between horrified and charmed, then review photos of Clarence the clown cabinet, ultimately admitting “I would have bought this” ([52:50–53:01]).
• Maddie’s niece cryptically claims to be talking to a ghostly friend—“Not mine. Yours.” ([49:26])
  • "Auntie, your friend says they’re okay and you will be too." ([50:19])

9. Story 5: The Armchair Story (Kendra)

• Kendra receives a thrifted armchair from grandma ([57:12]).
  • Dog barks and avoids chair, plant stalks break mysteriously, whiffs of men’s cologne sensed, sometimes only when alone.
  • Vivid dream at a doll-filled mansion reveals the attached spirit: an elderly man in ‘60s–‘70s attire, who sits in the armchair and disappears ([61:41]).
• Christine: “Facebook Marketplace—you can even write haunted chairs. Someone will probably pay double for it.” ([59:30])
• Kendra swiftly sells chair (“It’s out of here”), weirdness ceases ([62:14]).

10. Story 6: The Town of My Dreams (Jenny)

• Jenny recurs a detailed dream for years: a town with a lighthouse-style water tower, a cottage-turned-thrift-store, always entering and exiting ([64:41–66:12]).
  • Years later, husband identifies real place: Cape Charles, Virginia, which matches the dream’s details exactly ([67:24]).
  • Upon visiting, Jenny feels “eerie... enveloped by a feeling” until they leave ([69:30]).
• Em: “It’s like you were not lucid dreaming but, like, astral projecting to a different time.” ([68:45])
• Christine: “I was driving normally. The sky would be blue. Salt of the ocean.” ([66:12])

Notable Quotes, Funny/Bizarre Moments & Timestamps

• “[The] theme... haunted thrift store stuff. I’m very excited.” — Em ([03:04])
• <em>“If you own anything and it’s dated the 1800s, I’m just gonna have to assume at this point.”</em> — Christine ([06:05])
• “There’s something about the ducking and the darting. It’s just... it’s not for me.” — Em ([10:24])
• “It’s gangster. But you just released all the demons.” — Em ([15:14])
• “He also likes to remind you that he cares.” — Maddie ([45:39])
• “Auntie, your friend says they’re okay and you will be too.” — Maddie’s niece ([50:19])
• “Facebook Marketplace—you can even write haunted chairs. Someone will probably pay double for it.” — Christine ([59:30])
• “It’s like you were not lucid dreaming but, like, astral projecting to a different time.” — Em ([68:45])

Listener Story Summaries with Timestamps

• Katie: Ghosts in Military Thrift Store ([09:25–12:07])
  • Ghost of a little girl, a man who vanishes after a paint change—creepy thrift employment!
• Megan: Ouija Board Chaos ([13:19–17:18])
  • Manager snaps board, releases chaos, mirror smashes itself.
• Alo: Possessed Porcelain Doll ([23:04–33:22])
  • A wind-up doll plays music on its own; intense protective ritual ensues.
• Maddie: Clarence the Clown Cabinet ([41:48–53:01])
  • Sentient clown stuff, hauntings, nosebleeds, lost phones, plus photos included!
• Kendra: The Haunted Armchair ([57:12–62:14])
  • Dogs avoid it, phantom cologne, dreamtime spirit visitor—chair rapidly rehomed.
• Jenny: Haunted Dream Town Realized ([64:41–73:07])
  • Prophetic dreams about an exact real town and house, culminating in a deeply uncanny real-life visit.

Episode Tone and Conclusion

The mood is classic ATWWD: cozy, irreverent, conspiratorially spooky, and inclusive. Christine and Em riff off each other as they weave jokes and personal superstitions with the chills and confessions sent in by their loyal audience. They encourage more haunted object stories for “official” spooky season next month, and leave listeners with laughter (“Happy September!”) as they plot which haunted items they’d totally buy next time they’re at the thrift shop.

End of Summary