Listener Stories: Vol. 113

Summary

And That's Why We Drink

Listener Stories: Vol. 113
Release Date: March 1, 2026

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Episode Overview

Hosts Christine Schiefer and Em Schulz dive into their 113th batch of Listener Stories, this time with a theme: Full Moons. The episode orbits the eerie intersection of murder, the paranormal, and eerie lunar phenomena, as listeners share tales of strange experiences during full moons and other celestial events. Expect everything from uncanny roadside encounters and possible alien abductions to shape-shifting cryptids, haunting hauntings, and even a poetic ode to the kelpie. As always, the hosts balance chilling tales with comedy, authenticity, and plenty of banter.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Introduction and Theme Setup (01:11–03:25)

• The episode kicks off with Christine and Em grappling with the passage of time, “It’s March. We are a sixth done with this year. Thank God." (01:11–01:19, Em)
• They discuss the peculiar feeling of the year truly setting in by March and riff about time’s confusion, setting a whimsical, relatable tone.
• This month’s Listener Stories theme is Full Moons, suggested by listener “B.” The conversation turns to favorite moon phases — waxing gibbous (Christine) and classic full moon (Em) — reflecting the quirky energy inside the podcast’s community.

2. Banter: Friend Dates, Quirkiness, and the Art of Being Weird (03:44–06:42)

• The hosts share stories about friend dating as adults and the challenge of finding someone who vibes with your quirks. Em: “I wanted a weirdo.” (06:21)
• The conversation is self-aware, playful, and sets a safe space for the weird and wonderful experiences to follow.

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Listener Stories

Story 1: “Everything Has a Ghost, Even the Moon” (by Ryan, he/him)

Timestamps: 07:51–20:04
Main Points:

• Ryan recounts a surreal drive home from grad school through rural Midwest cornfields under what appeared to be a massive, impossibly enlarged full moon.
• As he passes through a wooded area and over a bridge, the moon swells to five times its usual size, the surroundings darken unnaturally, and all cars and cell service disappear.
• He drives in this liminal space for 15 minutes; upon returning to normal reality, he finds he’s lost significant time, and his mom’s calls never came through.
• Twist: Upon researching, it wasn’t even a full moon night—it should have been a new moon.
• Ryan links the experience to a folk belief about a “ghost moon” from his friend’s Arizona grandparents: “Some type of ethereal cosmic presence that came out during new moons and played tricks on anyone going out under the night sky.” (19:24, Ryan as read by Christine)
• Em and Christine immediately jump to abduction/UFO theories and discuss “screen memories”—the idea aliens implant false memories after abductions.

Notable Quotes:

• “The moon had grown what seemed like five times its normal size. It was like if you took an apple or baseball and held it up instead of a coin.” (11:21, Ryan)
• “According to every source, last night... the phase was supposedly a new moon, not a full moon.” (18:42, Ryan)

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Story 2: “Little League Alien” (by Mare, she/her)

Timestamps: 23:01–33:50
Main Points:

• Mare tells of her rural New York hometown’s little league field—always a bit…off. At 12–13, Mare and her cousin both think they’re chasing each other in the woods, only to emerge from opposite sides, leading to a “doppelganger” scare.
• A decade later, Mare and a boyfriend spot a figure resembling a friend in the field during a bright full moon. Approaching, they see a humanoid with a “long... beak and enormous black eyes.”
• The entity morphs from friend, to signpost, right in front of them: “It changed shape from a human figure with a weird-ass face to a signpost.” (26:42, Mare as read by Em)
• Other weirdness in the field is recounted—unsettling noises, overgrown grounds, and stories about friends climbing on concession stands to escape night terrors.
• Hosts discuss theories: poltergeist, doppelgänger, puckwudgie, skinwalker, or ultra-trickster entity; suggestions that the field is a “portal” for the bizarre, especially during full moons.

Notable Quotes:

• “Every time I ever hung out with John ever again in my life, I’d be like, reveal yourself to me.” (27:25, Em)
• “It’s like inviting anyone…bad energy can probably get through there and just show up and like, scare you and harass you.” (48:12, Christine)

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Story 3: “Full Moon Spirit Capturing” (by Katie, she/her)

Timestamps: 34:17–37:01
Main Points:

• Katie shares a gentler story: after losing her beloved cat, she uses crystals, a selected rock, and full moon meditation to try to “capture” her cat’s spirit.
• After moving her ritual items to her room, she experiences signs her cat is present: the sound of self-licking, scratching at her door, purring as she drifts to sleep.
• The ritual seems to give closure and comfort: “It was comforting knowing that somehow I had allowed him to stay with me a little longer before he decided to go.” (36:16, Katie)
• Christine and Em are relieved for a “palate cleanser.”

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Story 4: “Laughing Ghosts and the Full Halloween Moon” (by Sarah, she/her)

Timestamps: 39:50–48:07
Main Points:

• Sarah lives in a 100-year-old house with intense paranormal activity—especially in her guest room—with wild spikes during the full moon.
• Leading up to Halloween 2020’s “blue moon/harvest moon,” activity explodes: footsteps, shadow figures, pacing, a knock at the bedroom door, scurrying under the bed, and even her own laugh echoed back through her speaker.
• Her mother, a spiritualist, helps her cleanse the house remotely—but struggles as “something” seems to interfere with even drawing the floorplan on paper.
• Mother suspects a “portal” has opened in the guest room during the full moon.
• Sarah eventually escapes to her mother’s for the weekend.

Notable Quotes:

• “As the week continued, things became more and more intense. One night, the sound of someone walking around was so loud...that I searched my home for an intruder.” (42:04, Sarah)
• “And two seconds later, my exact laugh came through the speaker like an echo. And this is where I drew the line because now it’s copying her.” (46:23, Em narrating Sarah)

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Story 5: “Wine Stealing UFO” (by D, they/them)

Timestamps: 49:30–56:45
Main Points:

• D recounts a secondhand experience from their grandmother, whose brother-in-law and friend were walking home by moonlight after a late train ride in the 1980s.
• A second full moon appears in the sky, grows rapidly, then abducts them in a flash of blinding light. They awaken hours later with missing time, missing clothing, and their homemade wine completely gone.
• Both develop a nasty rash after returning to the abduction site and refuse to speak of it again, convinced it will bring the aliens back.
• Parallels are drawn between D’s family’s story and Ryan’s: anomalous moons, lost time, and rural isolation all under highly unusual lunar conditions.

Notable Quotes:

• “A second full moon suddenly appeared low in the sky in front of them. It started growing bigger...and they realized it was coming at them at great speed.” (52:00–52:10, D as read by Em)
• “Maybe they were just flung somewhere in the fields. But I like thinking that the aliens developed a taste for homemade red.” (56:33, D)

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Story 6: Cryptids Unscripted Poetry Slam: “Seaweed, Queen of the Underworld” (by River, they/them)

Timestamps: 57:52–60:35
Main Points:

• River submits a dark, atmospheric poem about a kelpie under the full moon, luring a man to his watery demise.
• Christine and Em both appreciate the creative shift and haunting literary vibes, admitting it’s a welcome twist to their moon-mad lineup.

Notable Quotes:

• “Through the dark, murky waters, the kelpie swims, seaweed trailing through her mane, hooves and fins. The time to feed is ebbing near. The full moon will shine...” (58:31, River as read by Em)

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Other Notable Quotes & Moments

• Em on weirdness compatibility: “If you have a favorite moon and didn’t say ‘that’s not for me,’ then maybe you and Em would be friends.” (06:27, Christine)
• On portals and moon magic: “I do know the new moon is a portal—or, no, sorry, eclipse season is a portal, I believe. And we are in an eclipse season right now.” (48:41, Christine)

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Flow of Topics / Episode Structure

• [01:11–07:51] Intro riffing, moon banter, and listener story setup
• [07:51–20:04] Story 1 – Impossible moon, missing time, and “ghost moon” folklore
• [23:01–33:50] Story 2 – Little league field shenanigans, shape-shifter encounter
• [34:17–37:01] Story 3 – Full moon cat spirit ritual
• [39:50–48:07] Story 4 – Haunted house, Halloween, and echoing spirits
• [49:30–56:45] Story 5 – 1980s UFO abduction, parallel full moon experiences
• [57:52–60:35] Story 6 – Moonlit kelpie death poem

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Themes & Recurring Ideas

• Full Moon as a Supernatural Catalyst: Nearly every story features either a full moon or anomalous lunar event as the trigger for high strangeness or paranormal phenomena.
• Screen Memories and the Unreliable Senses: Hosts theorize about alien “screen memories,” doppelgängers, and altered perceptions—blurring lines between conventional ghost/cryptid/UFO experiences.
• Portals and Liminal Spaces: Whether abandoned fields or guest rooms, certain spaces double as potential paranormal gateways, especially under the right celestial circumstances.
• Validation through Shared Experience: Both hosts and listeners express relief/solidarity that others have experienced similar unexplainable phenomena, reaffirming the podcast’s community aspect.
• Playful Banter/Empathy: Hosts deftly balance humor with sincere empathy, making even the creepiest stories feel communal and cathartic.

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Memorable Moments

• Story 1’s chilling twist: “According to every source...the phase was supposedly a new moon, not a full moon.” (18:42)
• Signpost Doppelgänger: “It changed shape from a human figure with a weird-ass face to a signpost.” (26:42)
• Haunted House Echo: “Two seconds later, my exact laugh came through the speaker like an echo.” (46:23)
• Abduction Parallels: “A second full moon suddenly appeared low in the sky...it started growing bigger.” (52:00–52:10)
• Cryptid Poetry: “She offers her back to this doomed stranger, so unaware of the depth of this danger...” (59:41, River)

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Closing and Call to Action (61:06–61:48)

• The hosts encourage listeners to submit stories for upcoming episodes (“ghost pranks,” “pranked by a ghost,” etc.) via their website.
• Episodes release every Sunday and the hosts sign off, as always:
  “And that’s why we drink.”

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If you love chilling tales touched by lunar magic—and equal parts laughter and empathy—this episode is a must-listen.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

Girl, it's March.

[A]

What?

[B]

I know. We are a sixth done with this year. Thank God.

[A]

That's a sixth done. Oh, yeah. Okay.

[B]

Two twelfths.

[A]

Yeah, you're right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[B]

Very nice. Eight weeks. Eight out of 52, would you say, like.

[A]

Because I feel like there's a point in the year when you realize you're not thinking of the year as, like, the last. I feel like I always hit this point where I'm like, oh, it's 2026.

[B]

It's usually by March.

[A]

I feel like March is where it starts to really sink in, that we're stuck in. In this particular time, at this particular moment.

[B]

Agreed. Yeah, yeah. No, 2026. It's starting to feel that way. I think I. I'm almost there. So maybe by actual March, because we're obviously recording this in advance.

[A]

That's right. Yes. We're still in the thick of not understanding our time and place in the universe right now. So bear with us, please, as we read you these listener tales.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thank you to everybody who wrote something in. Whenever you chose to. Could have been yesterday, could have been nine years ago.

[A]

But that's the fun roulette of this particular game. We do.

[B]

We'll never. We'll never know. But luckily we did. We reached out to Patreon or to our. Our patrons. I always forget how to. How to actually say that. For a topic request. We Had. Thank you, Eva, for picking the request. Anyway, the topic this week or this month is full moons. Love that. And that was suggested by. Oh, my gosh. Who was it suggested by?

[A]

B.

[B]

Thank you.

[A]

Sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scream.

[B]

No, I couldn't. I couldn't find it in time. Thank you. Be. Great topic suggestion. I'm surprised we have not covered full moon.

[A]

I'm shocked we haven't done any sort of lunar cause. Well, as we record this, yesterday was the new moon, and yesterday signified the start of our entry into the year of the fire Horse. And so it was a big astrological time, and I just kept thinking about it, but it never occurred to me to do stories about the moon. That's so fun.

[B]

Yeah. Do you have a favorite phase of moon? Yes.

[A]

Thank you for asking. People don't ask that enough. I know.

[B]

If it were a first date, I would ask.

[A]

I'm really into a waxing gibbous is what I'll say.

[B]

I would be so basic and just say full moon.

[A]

Oh, I see. Well, I do love a full moon. I think the excitement of the waxing is that it's becoming a full moon, so it's like, oh, almost any day now. Here comes the full moon.

[B]

That's fun. I would have. I would have really respected that answer if it were a first date. I recently had a.

[A]

Imagine if it was on that MySpace quiz that we used to take.

[B]

You know what MySpace quiz? I would have been like, this is crazy. I love her.

[A]

Yeah. This is nuts.

[B]

No, I had of. I told you I had a friend date. A first friend date recently.

[A]

Yeah. How did that go?

[B]

Not good. And I. I asked questions like that, and I think that's not her vibe. That's okay.

[A]

Oh, no.

[B]

Honestly, f. I think I told you this already five minutes. And we both knew we did not like each other, so we said awkwardly,

[A]

no, you've not told me this. When would I have heard about this?

[B]

I. I feel like I said the whole thing on the podcast at some point, but, no, we realized when we last spoke.

[A]

Wow. No, when we last spoke, I believe that you were. You had just committed to the friend date. I don't think I even heard the aftermath at all.

[B]

No, I've had a few friend dates recently, and a lot of them have gone very, very well. And this one was a real stink fest, but neither of us liked each other, so it was fine.

[A]

Like. But. And. And I feel like part of that is like, oh, that feels like, okay, at least you're secure in knowing, like, oh, that's just not for me. Yeah. You know, like, it's not like it. Because I feel like when in your 20s, you're trying to figure it out and you're like forcing friendships or you're like, oh, this is the kind of person on paper I would. But like, if it doesn't work, it doesn't work.

[B]

I think it was one of those situations where I've never had this before. I'm sure others have and can say that this is a normal feeling. But we had incredible texting energy for like two weeks before we hung out.

[A]

That's a real thing. That's a real thing.

[B]

And then after the dinner, we both ghosted each other. And honestly, the only feeling I had was thank God because I did not want to have to like, play this out, you know? No.

[A]

Wow. Okay. So it's a mutual ghosting. Listen, I'm all mad respect for a mutual ghosting. In my humble Gemini flighty opinion, it's

[B]

because it was neutral. If. If I was really feeling it, but neither of us were, I knew I could smell it on her that she was not feeling.

[A]

And that's gonna just amplify it in your own, you know, it's just gonna be like a self fulfilling prophecy. At that point you're like, okay, we both know what's happening.

[B]

It was like, I'll never see you again.

[A]

Well, I'm sorry to hear that. That's a bummer. They can't all be winners, you know? And then also, like when you have something like that, you're like, oh, see, that makes like the friends I have made like that much more of a. Yeah, no, I. Legit connection.

[B]

The other friend dates I've been on, they went so well that I think this one didn't was fine.

[A]

It was bound.

[B]

All of them were like this. I'd start having.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. Then you'd be like, what's going on? Yeah, yeah.

[B]

But anyway, I did. I think one of the reasons she didn't like me is because I asked ass questions like that. I was like, what's your favorite type of moon? I think she was like, I don't know and don't care.

[A]

This is not for me. Wow. Really? I'm surprised by that.

[B]

She wasn't quirky. She was like normal. She was.

[A]

Oh, see, that's not for me either, you know, But I. I wouldn't.

[B]

The weird. The weirdo. I wanted a weirdo. Anyway, it's okay. You're not weird. I guess if you're Listening to this. Congratulations.

[A]

I guess if you answered with your favorite moon and didn't say that's not for me, then maybe you and Em would be friends. If not, seems like it's not gonna match. But that's okay.

[B]

That's okay. We learned a lot about each other. I learned you don't have a favorite moon, but I learned you have a favorite moon.

[A]

Thanks.

[B]

And that's why this works. I'm telling you, I. Anyway, that's. How did we get here? Oh, moons. That's the topic of today.

[A]

You know, the silly thing is you can just say full moon and you would have been like, that's a great answer. You know, it's not like you have to come up with something crazy like a waxing gibbon. Like you don't need to make a show of it. Like a spectacle, like I do. You know, about everything. So like you could just say full moon and then it's like. Okay, that's an open, open way to answer that question. I don't know.

[B]

What shape is a waxing gibbous? What does it look like?

[A]

So it's work. It's where the. Oh my God, my brain. I'm like trying to. Because I learned it where with the X. And then I think of it as prescription. Nevermind. It really doesn't make sense when I say it out loud.

[B]

It's okay, I'm with you.

[A]

It's where it's getting bigger. It's not waning.

[B]

It's like where it's almost a full circle, but there's like a little chip that hasn't.

[A]

Yeah, it's growing into a full moon, right? Yeah.

[B]

What's the toenail looking one?

[A]

That's a crescent.

[B]

I like her.

[A]

That's a crescent. A toenail one is really very like mystical too, I think. Yeah.

[B]

Yeah, I like that. Okay, good to know. Yeah. Would you like to tell the first story since.

[A]

Oh, thank you so much, man. You are just like such a. A gentleman today. Like really.

[B]

I feel like I just keep talking and not shutting the fuck up.

[A]

No, you're like, what kind of moon do you like? Hey, why don't you go ahead. I don't know, it's really.

[B]

Please listen.

[A]

Here I go on my red carpet. Okay. This is from Ryan. He. Him love that. For all of us, the subject of this is everything has a ghost, even the moon. Okay. I love this already so much.

[B]

This is what I wanted at that dinner. I'm telling you that.

[A]

Yes, exactly. And you know what?

[B]

A ghost on the moon.

[A]

Some people Just have no taste, you

[B]

know,

[A]

I hope you all are doing fantastic. Your stories have become a lifesaver on my commute to work every day. And I have a story I think you might be interested in. This happened a little under a year ago while I was driving home from grad school. The drive is about 3 and 12 hours and takes me through very rural cornfields of the Midwest. It was the dead of winter and the turn of the new year, so the sun was setting very early in the day. Oh, good. And you're in the middle of a cornfield. This is going to go.

[B]

Couldn't be. Couldn't be. Couldn't start the story better.

[A]

Couldn't. Yeah, nothing bad, nothing good can happen from here on out. On this specific drive, I was not able to leave until the sun had already set, so the whole drive was going to be in the dark. I had done this drive a good amount of times by now and knew the route by heart. But I still use a navigation app just to be extra cautious. Smart. Half an hour into the drive, the night was completely upon me and the moon was shining full and bright. I could see car lights in front and behind me. I passed a few cars every minute or so, and it felt good knowing there were other people on the road. Although ever since I left, I had this strange feeling. When people talk about having strange feelings, they usually say they feel it in their stomach or gut, but this was different. I felt it in my hands.

[B]

Oh, I've never had that. Have you had that?

[A]

I feel a lot of things in my hands, but over the years I've learned. I think it's like a trauma.

[B]

A circulation issue.

[A]

It's a circulation issue. I've got restless leg syndrome.

[B]

It's in my fingers. Yeah,

[A]

no, I think it's like a trauma response. So I don't know, but I remember when we first started doing the show, like, I would talk about how I would feel like my left arm would start yelling. You were like, you're having a heart attack.

[B]

See, it's medical, surely.

[A]

Anyway, it's just saying, okay, I've. I. But I. But I don't know where we're going with this. So I don't know if that's the same or not. But if it ends with him in

[B]

a hospital, then we know.

[A]

Yeah, that's true. With circulation issues. Yeah. Okay. I felt this in my hands and the feeling was heavy, like anchors trying to slow me down. I figured I was probably just getting a little tired and focused on driving while most of the Drive is straight through cornfields. There is one area where I have to drive through a patch of trees and over a bridge before taking a hard curve north. I remember it so well since it is one of the only spots where the road takes such a hard turn. I was approaching the trees and the feeling in my hands became heavier. I kept peering down at them and tried stretching out my fingers to make the feeling go away. Suddenly I was at the turn and had to focus on going around the curve. The trees blocked my view of the sky, and any headlights in front or behind me were cut off as well. As I came out of the curve and the last few trickles of trees, I knew something was wrong. I didn't know what it was at first, but I soon looked up at the sky and could not believe what I was seeing. The moon had grown what seemed like five times its normal size.

[B]

Oh, my God. So the sky is the moon. You're just in the mo.

[A]

Scared.

[B]

What is he like? Like space traveling?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Crazy.

[A]

That's freaky, dude. Okay. I don't know why that scared me so much. The moon had grown what seemed like five times its normal size. The color and shape were the same, but its heavy, bright presence sat in the dark sky, immovable. I don't know the best way of explaining it, but basically, if you took a coin and held it up to the sky at arm's length, you would see the approximate size of the normal moon. But the moon I was seeing was much larger than that. It was. It was like if you took an apple or baseball and held it up instead of a coin. I also noticed all the car lights behind and in front of me were gone. Stop. Doesn't that feel like simulation? Like, I don't.

[B]

That's. Yeah. I feel like you accidentally got dragged out of your.

[A]

Like into like a different.

[B]

It's like the Sim accidentally got picked up and brought to a different house and it's like, wait a minute, this

[A]

one's way closer to the moon.

[B]

Yeah. No, I would be. I would absolutely have a panic attack.

[A]

Like, maybe you ended up on like Mercury for a second, you know?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Wait, no, that's the wrong.

[B]

I understood where you were though, son.

[A]

I'm so sorry. I didn't mean that. My.

[B]

My thought, like, can you astral project outside of Earth?

[A]

You can? Yes.

[B]

Yikes. Okay.

[A]

Yeah. You absolutely can.

[B]

Yuck. No, thank you. For me?

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. That's a. No, dog. Thanks anyway. Hey, here we go. Okay, so. Yikes. All the lights were gone around. Let's see. The darkness surrounding me and the endless fields felt somehow darker than night. The only light I had other than the moon was from my headlights and the navigation app lit up on my phone. I peered down at the app and saw that I currently did not have any service. Oh, God. Oh, God. This is like a Twilight Zone episode, you know? Like, oh, my God. I.

[B]

Like, it's like there's no service in space. Like. And also, I imagine. Yeah, if your car headlights are on, what is it flashing on? Because it feels like you're so close to the moon that you almost can't even, like. Like, it would just hit the moon. Like, the lights wouldn't reflect on anything.

[A]

Five times the moon's normal size, I feel like, is like.

[B]

I feel like it takes up your whole vision.

[A]

No, no, I feel like if it were.

[B]

Well, like, I guess I'm thinking about, like, the biggest moon I've ever seen at a normal scale. And then, bop, bop, bop. I still feel like you're, like, driving down the road straight into the moon. Am I a crazy person?

[A]

Yeah. No, I think, like, I'm picturing it more like it's up in the sky, but it just appears a lot bigger and closer.

[B]

I. I just.

[A]

Because, I mean, I don't know.

[B]

Tell me he stopped the car. Is he still driving?

[A]

I don't know, girl.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

Maybe. I don't know. Yikes. Okay, let's find out. Let's see. The only light I had. Well, but also, he's going around this huge curve right in the middle of the night. The only light I had, other than the moon was for my headlights. And the navigation app lit up on my phone. I peered down at the app and saw that. Oh, and he also said it's like holding up a baseball. So it's like. Oh, yeah. Like. Yeah, so it's.

[B]

Okay. So you could still see other things,

[A]

but that's freaky, dude, to see, like, the moon that you see every single day. Like, suddenly. I had a nightmare like that once that a planet was coming towards us anyway.

[B]

I mean, yeah, I would think, like, a meteor crash or something scary. Is the moon coming to us or are we coming to the moon?

[A]

Neither one's really good, I think. Okay. The darkness around you. I didn't have any, sir.

[B]

Anyway, the darkness

[A]

speaking in tongues. Okay. The peer down at the phone at the app, and so I currently did not have any service, and my location had drifted into the middle of the fields. Okay, this is not great. So you think about the max. Think about the magnet of the moon and now your magnetism, your gravity, you're all up in that way. Like, you're. That's so creepy, dude.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

Oh, my gosh. Okay. I wondered if I should try to get off at the next exit and give myself a moment to figure out what was going on. But I realized there were no exits off the road anymore. What? Okay, so someone in the. Up in the room, in the control room is like, shit, we got to get him back in the, like, Right. Timeline.

[B]

Control.

[A]

Yes. Control Z. Control Z. Control Z. Like, don't let him get off the highway. Oh, this is so creepy, dude. Okay. I drove for maybe 15 minutes, and still no other cars, exits, or even poles or buildings. Oh, my God. All I had was the giant moon and the endless darkness. I was getting worried at this point, could not figure out the best move. Then, just as suddenly as before, this heavy darkness was gone. The normal night sky came flooding back in, and my eyes had to adjust. It was blurry for a few moments, and I had to slow down because it was hard to see the road. I blinked frantically for my vision to come back, and when it did, everything was normal again. The feeling in my hands was gone. The lights of other cars flickered around me, and the moon was normal size again. Yuck. The rest of my drive was uneventful, but I was so anxious to get home. I was too tired by the time I got home to try and figure out what happened. I just needed to get into bed. I looked at the clock and realized it took me way longer to get home than it should have.

[B]

Yeah, and I feel like the. Being incredibly tired happens after, like, being abducted or something. Yeah.

[A]

Ew. So maybe that was just like a sim. Like a. Like a screen memory that the aliens put in, like, here's your moon.

[B]

I feel like his car was a. Was in the middle of getting beamed up. And then one of the, like, supervisors on the UFO was like, oh, not that one. And they put him back down. Like, he was, like, half abducted, you know? It feels like he, like, has still kind of, like, the weird. Like. Like, that must feel really shitty, though,

[A]

to get, like, rejected from an abduction.

[B]

Like, I just know you'd write a whole book about it.

[A]

You'd be, like, willing to, like, a memo. Yeah, I think I'm gonna write one anyway, just in case.

[B]

No, I. But I feel like it's something. Something pulled him closer to the sky. It feels like. Yes, but he didn't go full abduction.

[A]

Yeah, but the fact that he was, like, for 15 minutes, the moon was so much closer. Is so weird too.

[B]

I don't know. I feel so.

[A]

I'm like. It feels like a screen memory, you know, which is when they say they abduct you and then they put a memory in, but it's like off. Like you think and you're like, that's like. That's weird though. Like I wouldn't. I wouldn't do that. Or that doesn't make sense. It's like how they perceive. They just like, oh, here's your moon and your fields.

[B]

Yeah. And they like the dimensions were off.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I like how that's like just a default video on their computer that they're

[A]

like putting it screensaver or something that they're just like putting you in for a minute.

[B]

Yeah. Interesting. Interesting.

[A]

Yuck. I don't know. Anyway, that feels kind of weird, but okay. The rest of my drive was unfavorable. It took a full hour and a half longer than normal. The drive. The next day my mom told me she tried calling me a few times, but I had no notifications of anyone calling me during the drive. Now with more energy, I decided to try and figure out what happened. I could not come up with any good explanation other than my tired imagination somehow getting the better of me. I searched online through forums to see if others had similar experiences, but nothing was coming up. The last topic I searched for was the current phases of the moon. And I was terrified when I saw the search results. According to every source last night, the phase was supposedly a new moon, not a full moon.

[B]

Oh, so you're totally. I feel like you're right about the screensaver. They're like, here's a moon. Don't ask.

[A]

I didn't even think about. Yeah. Oh, the fact that you find out it wasn't even a full moon. That is so sinister. Oh my God.

[B]

Totally an image implanted in some ways I'm not like a conspiracy crazy person,

[A]

but I feel that's my gut, man.

[B]

Makes Makes sense to me.

[A]

If it was a new moon, I should not have been able to see it at all. Yet somehow my whole drive home, I saw a full and bright moon hanging up in the sky. I was super creeped out by this discovery, but did not know what else I could do about it. It did remind me of a story I heard from a friend in college. Their grandparents live in Arizona, about an hour outside of Phoenix. They said their grandparents believed in something called a ghost moon. Some type of ethereum, ethereal cosmic presence that came out during new moons and played tricks on it. I've chills right now.

[B]

That's my new favorite moon.

[A]

I'm freaking out. That's a m. Change your answer and I. I'm gonna hop on the bandwagon because that's kick ass. Yeah, that's really gave me chills. And played tricks on anyone going out under the night sky. Oh, they said to have seen it twice before. And while I did not want to believe in a folk story, this folk story, I couldn't stop thinking about it for a few days after. It has been about a year since that night happened. And I try not to think too much about it even today. But there is one thing I know for certain. Whatever I saw in the sky that night, it was not the moon. Oh my God. Thanks for listening, Ryan.

[B]

Horrific.

[A]

That's just terrible.

[B]

Horrific.

[A]

Sorry. We immediately, immediately went alien. But that's just the only thing I could think of.

[B]

I wonder if full moon is going to accidentally become a little more UFO themed, especially because our next story is alien themed. So I feel like maybe just moon, lunar, space, UFO all kind of hold

[A]

on to each other. Interesting. Okay,

[B]

I know you've got three pets and I've got one, but I gotta take this one over.

[A]

You gotta take this one. Because I know this is Hank's whole whole deal these days.

[B]

It's his whole personality. It's so almost annoying. I'm like, we get it. It's like he has some secret deal with them. I don't know about the way that he's obsessed with Pet Stable. Pet Stable is a personalized dog food from the team behind HelloFresh. They offer both grade fresh and gently air dried options. Or you can mix both to see what your pup prefers. There's nine different recipes. They're all formulated with a board certified vet nutritionist. My dog is obsessed with the beef and berries. When you open that bag, Christine, it smells like candy.

[A]

I like, oh my God.

[B]

I've thought about one of these days,

[A]

m's gonna do a little taste test. I know it.

[B]

I've thought about it. I literally, I, I use it as a topper for his other food and he'll eat around his other food just to eat that and then he'll go to bed. He's like, I'm done. I've had this.

[A]

He's like, actually, you can have the rest. Here you go.

[B]

I've never seen a dog react the way that he reacts to Pet Stable. It's, it's beyond. So please, if you have a dog who is food motivated and wants to eat something that smells like candy, you got to try the best table.

[A]

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[B]

That's the PetStable.com code DRINK55. My mom and I did a a late Christmas this year and she sent me some very wonderful things. But one of the things that I have sent her way is a Lola blanket. If you've ever heard me describe my mother as a combination of Kris Jenner and Lucille Bluth, right. That type of person would like this blanket by standards.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

It's. It's so luxurious. You it is. She'll have no idea where where I got it from. Just know that I got it from Lola Blankets everyone. Everybody else, mom, don't listen but Lola is the world's number one blanket. It's crafted with ultra soft lu vegan faux fur. My mom's not going to know it's vegan or faux.

[A]

What animal did you kill for this?

[B]

Who did you poach this from? And a signature four way stretch that sets it apart. It's machine washable, which is even more wonderful. It's double hem for durability and stays flawless. No pilling, no shedding.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. I use it in Leona's room for when I have to sleep on the floor. I. I bet for a limited time our listeners can get 40% off select Lola Blankets products with Code Drink at checkout.

[B]

Just head to lolablankets.com and use code DRINK to get 40 off your order.

[A]

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[B]

Our next one is from Mayor who's a she? Her pronouns. Thank you for normalizing pronouns. And the subject line is Little League alien, which is precious.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And Mare says, I grew up in a rural area of upstate New York near Rome and we spent a lot of time being little degenerates at a little league fields about a quarter mile from my house and my cousin's house. My cousin, myself and other neighborhood kids always felt like something was kind of off there. One time when my cousin and I were 12 to 13, we were chasing each other through the woods around the little league field with airsoft guns. The sun was getting lower so I yelled to my cousin that we needed to get home and ran out of the woods. I thought he showed up right ahead of me, but he came out of the woods on the opposite side of the field. We were both so confused. Like, wasn't I just chasing you through the woods? And yet they came from different areas.

[A]

Yuck.

[B]

He and I both said we were chasing each other, but clearly not because we weren't anywhere near each other. Doppelganger Ghost children.

[A]

Yeah, that's not good. That's not good.

[B]

Can't stand that we convinced ourselves that maybe we were both chasing deer or something. That we never felt right or. But that never felt right because we had grown up in these woods and knew the difference between four legs and two legs.

[A]

I would think so. I would think so.

[B]

Four legged or two legged. Sounds sorry. Also probably different amounts of.

[A]

Also a deer and a person. Yeah.

[B]

About 10 years later, I was at the same little league field with my then boyfriend and we were just hanging out in a new relationship, being all cute and gross. And it was a full moon, very bright in an almost cloudless sky, which is rare in upstate New York. We were just bullshitting, looking at the stars, when we saw someone come out of the woods where there was an entrance to a little trail. It was around midnight, so anyone out, out and about was likely to be one of our friends. They looked like our buddy John. So we started shouting, hey, man, hey John, what's up? We didn't get any answer and we're getting a little creeped out.

[A]

Yuck. Yuck.

[B]

My boyfriend started walking towards the person to see who they were. Because in a rural area, everyone knew each other and the person still wasn't responding to anything we were saying. And I was kind of freaking out, so I grabbed a big stick and went towards with my boyfriend.

[A]

This is like how horror mov. Like I really. This is the most horror movie, like, don't go over there. But like in the moment you don't. You're like, it's John.

[B]

And you know what's even creepier about that too is that it feels like whatever this creature is grew up with them. Like, it's not. It's still not playing like little kid version of them. It's like it knows their new ages.

[A]

Okay, wait. Oh, I see what you're saying. Oh, that's horrible.

[B]

Because I feel like if 10 years ago you remember chasing your 10 year younger cousin and all of a sudden it looks like your friend who's probably the age you are now.

[A]

Oh, I didn't even put the cousin thing together. It just occurred to me, okay. Oh, that's bad. Em. That's just gross. That's gross.

[B]

And if it. So it must have known you were there and known to like to morph into something you would recognize and chase

[A]

after and walk towards.

[B]

Or maybe since this is a small town and everyone knows everyone, maybe he just picked a random person in town that day.

[A]

Imitate.

[B]

And you just happened to recognize the person. Anyway. Okay. We were. So we have a big stick. We're going with a boyfriend.

[A]

We have a big stick.

[B]

Good.

[A]

Good.

[B]

We were inside the little league field and the person was on the outside of the fence. We got to about 10ft away from them and there's this full moon just shining down on all of us. The boyfriend is asking the dude if he's okay, and we get no answer. They had on what looked like khaki shorts and a beige hoodie with the hood up. They look up and all we see is this dark face with a long curving nose that almost looks like a beak and enormous black eyes.

[A]

What?

[B]

We grab each other, totally freaked out, thinking, what the hell am I looking at? And while we're looking at this, it changed shape from a human figure with a weird ass face to a signpost.

[A]

Hey.

[B]

Hey. So I think I'm religious now.

[A]

Yeah, I'm upset. I'm upset.

[B]

Hey, so now every signpost I see in my. In my town, I'm gonna be like, I, I don't recognize you. I'm tapping it.

[A]

What about the sign you have in your house?

[B]

Don't even with me.

[A]

Just kidding.

[B]

Like a picket sign on a wooden stake. It literally went from a person to a street.

[A]

Not even a person. Like a person to a demon to a street sign.

[B]

Every time I ever hung out with John ever again in my life, I'd be like, reveal yourself to me. I don't know what's going on.

[A]

Reveal yourself, John.

[B]

Oh my God.

[A]

I know your secrets, John.

[B]

It never occurred to me that aliens, I mean, I. In my mind, they morph into people that we know or like critters. It never occurred to me they would also just turn into like inanimate objects that you would walk right the past.

[A]

That's like puck wedgie energy. Oh, it's like, oh, I'm gonna turn into a stop post a signpost and like turn you around and get you all mixed up.

[B]

Very few stories really freak me out these days. This one?

[A]

Yeah, that one got you.

[B]

We freaked the out and got out of there. Obviously we had to go on part of the trail through the woods to get.

[A]

Yeah, but the fact that they both saw it. Sorry. The fact, like, I feel like one person's brain can turn something into and, like, scare you and, like, make you misremember, but, like, the fact that two people both at the same time were like. Like, that just turned into a signpost. I would be like, oh, my God.

[B]

I would almost and. And yet still be afraid to, like. Because, like, if. If the boyfriend is someone, like, like, I'm dating Allison. Allison would find any logical reason to not believe what she just saw. I would still be scared to be like, you saw that, right? That thing became a fucking street sign because she would gaslight the shit out of me so that way she could protect her own sanity. Yeah.

[A]

I mean, a lot of us probably would try to fucking protect our own sanity.

[B]

So I feel like I. I wouldn't even say anything to my own partner. I'd be like, okay, I think I just snapped it. And nobody else saw that.

[A]

Would you run, though?

[B]

Yeah, I'd run, and I'd have to explain myself later. I don't know what I would do.

[A]

But no, I mean, I feel like if there was a person that your. That, like, your partner was talking to, and then all of a sudden, they were just gone and there was a sign there instead, like, clearly, yeah, wow.

[B]

I'll have to check with Allison, see what she would do in this situation. But that, like, truly, for the rest of time, I would. I. First of all, where's your phone? Take a picture. Take a picture. Because one day, that street sign's not going to be there. But then I guess people could say, oh, yeah, they just took the street sign out of the ground. I don't know. I have no idea what I would do. I'm panicking. I wasn't even there.

[A]

Honestly, though, and also, like, the threat that that would pose in the immediate moment, you probably wouldn't take a picture. You'd probably be like, true this.

[B]

And I wonder, was that, like, a silent warning of, like, you didn't see me. Stop talking to me, or could it not even hear us and thought it was just, like, going, like, why would it do that in front of you and not say anything?

[A]

Yeah, what was the point of that?

[B]

Like, wouldn't you just morph into a bird and fly away and get out of the situation? Like, why are you turning into something that's just gonna stand there in front of our faces and not say anything to us?

[A]

Maybe it's that thing we all say, like, oh, I want to crawl into a hole and die, or Like, I wish the earth would swallow me up. And he just, like, turns into a signpost. He's like, I just bury myself right here.

[B]

I like, what would have happened if she, like, tapped on the street sign and be like, am I crazy? I thought that was a fucking person for a second.

[A]

I never hear this story because she'd probably be gonzo. I don't know.

[B]

Yeah. I'm like, is this thing violent? Like, was this, like, your last warning to step away or, like, would it have hurt you? I have no idea.

[A]

I mean, it had, like, black giant eyes and, like, a meek nose. I feel like it can't be that lovely man. I don't like it at all.

[B]

We didn't even say a word to each other until we were about 10 minutes back into the drive back to our apartment. I know it sounds crazy and unreal, but I have never been so terrified in my life. That's not crazy or unreal. I would also be scared. And I would go to a third place first. Like how we went to Denny's. I'd be like, that thing's not following us home.

[A]

Just trick it.

[B]

Because for all you know, his best friend turned into your car. You know what I mean?

[A]

No, don't say that. Oh, my God.

[B]

It would make it. I would. That would be the first step into my journey in an institution because I

[A]

like to question your entire everything around you.

[B]

The TV remote when I got home. This microphone.

[A]

It's an alien.

[B]

This place was truly weird. There was another time that some of my friends were there late at night and heard freaky noises coming from the woods that scared them so much they climbed on top of a concession stand.

[A]

Jesus.

[B]

And they called my buddy's dad, who showed up with a giant flashlight. The dad said he heard the noises, like groaning and whispering coming from the woods and was so disturbed he couldn't wait to get out of there. The field is all overgrown now and no one plays there anymore. At least not kids and tree and teenagers. Anyway. I said trees because my thought was, of course it's overgrown. That's actually the whole family gathering. They're just all fake trees.

[A]

They're just weeds. Wow, that is crazy.

[B]

And I'll never forget you, Mayor. Thank you.

[A]

I know, right? Haunting. I wonder what it's. Is it just trying to scare you? You know, I don't think that's even alien. I don't even think that's even alien. I think that's like some sort of shape shifting ghoul. I don't know exactly.

[B]

I Don't even know what creature to blame it on. I have to assume alien because it like morphs into other things, which for some reason is in the alien category for me.

[A]

But I feel like it's very like poltergeisty, like trickster y alien behavior, like to doppelganger and like, not necessarily hurt you, but like scare the out of you. I don't know.

[B]

Could it be like a skin walker?

[A]

Yeah, maybe something like that. That's true. We did already have like a folk story in the first story of the moon, the ghost moon, which by the way, also gonna remember that forever.

[B]

I. Yeah, this actually. Wow. I. I would like to know about these woods. Part of me is like so sick and I want to like fly to those woods immediately. Like, I want to bring my own stop sign or something and just like post it up and be like, oh, this was your buddy. Like, I do something just to be like, turn into this right now. But I'm gonna walk away. And when I come back, there might be two stop signs, you know? I don't know. I don't know.

[A]

You're gonna tap on it and see what happens.

[B]

I would leave candy or something. I. I would try to appease them, but I'd be like. Like, show yourself. I've heard the rumors. Let's do this.

[A]

Interesting.

[B]

Why am I sick? Yeah.

[A]

I don't know, man. I don't know.

[B]

I don't know what's wrong with me.

[A]

Like, in an overgrown little league field. No, thank you. I don't want to be. I don't want to invite whatever energies are swirling around there. The fact that it's like this little league field and it's not even used by like, it wasn't even used 10 years ago when this happened. Like, clearly the energy is not right. You know, if like, people are not even playing baseball games or like, and it's just a bunch of teenagers hanging out like that, it's. Something's off.

[B]

Part of me is like, was there something like, in their small town, infrastructure wise? Like, did they get a different field and that's why they don't go there anymore? Or did everyone slowly feel like something was up and they just stopped opting to use it, you know? Like, I also curious about that.

[A]

Yeah, it feels like it. I mean, which I just read for the first time, so that's why it's on my mind. But like, the like parts of the city you don't really go to, but like, you know, the misfit kids hang out there.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It just feels very Stephen King to me. Okay, now what do we have here? This is from Katie. She her. It's called full Moon Spirit capturing. Okay. I mean, I'm fascinated by all of this. Okay. Good evening Christine M. Eva and all little friends. On the last listeners cast, you asked for full moon story.

[B]

Oh, oh, well then maybe we did

[A]

this November 2020, we asked for full moon stories. Or maybe B just remembered for us six years later and you guys never did this. Yeah, we'll see. On the last listeners cast, you asked for full moon stories. And I thought maybe I'll send mine in with the slim chance it'll end up in an episode. So where do I begin? I've always had the eye for spirits and things of that variety, including but not limited to auras, spirits, spirit animals, past people, and many more. I decided one day that I would try and capture the spirit of my dead cat. He died the day before in a rock which had called out to me, so. Oh. Which called out to me. So I found a rock, bathe my crystals and meditated in the full moonlight to try and see if I could bring him back. Safe to say I think it worked. Oh, gosh.

[B]

See this?

[A]

Why I don't mess not I'm saying that this person's messing with it, but I know I'm not equipped to handle shit like this, so I would I tread with such caution because I know myself, I would slip and do something wrong or say it out loud. 100 and then. Yeah. Mess it all up, you know.

[B]

100 a sneeze.

[A]

Yeah, totally. Totally. Okay, so let's see. Safe to say I think it worked. I'd moved my crystals and his rock inside but didn't have them in my room because I was keeping them close to moon water in the hopes it would do something. After a while, I decided to move them into my room. And that's when things started getting weird. I moved them probably a month after him passing. Oh, okay. So this is now a month later. Okay. After I moved them into my room, I noticed things happening which he used to do. Like the sound of him licking himself, the sound of him scratching my door, the pressure of him at my feet and purring noises when I was drifting off. It was comforting knowing that somehow I had allowed him to stay with me a little bit longer before he decided to go. He had to be put down unexpectedly, so he got to say goodbye properly like he wanted to. Oh, thanks for reading my story. I hope it gave you some kind of happiness. I have many other Stories about encountering spirits of dead loved ones. But that's for another time. Oh, just wanted to add that my 16th birthday was on a full moon, which definitely makes me some kind of a witch.

[B]

That's fun.

[A]

That is so fun. Thank you, Katie.

[B]

Very fun. No, that's a much better story than whatever the hell mayor made me read. No, that, that was very, very sweet.

[A]

Oh, yeah, it's like a palate cleanser for sure.

[B]

Palace clents are great way to put it. And thank you for waiting six years for that story.

[A]

I mean, really. Yeah.

[B]

Appreciate you.

[A]

Okay. I'm really excited about this sponsor Saily, because we, a lot of us have been there. You're looking for that sketchy airport WI fi that's just not connecting and wants you to put in all this info or you're waiting for a local SIM card in a long line somewhere where maybe you don't speak the language or you're new to the area. Saily fixes all this because you can ditch the roaming fees and significantly reduce or even eliminate those massive roaming charges with affordable local plans. But it's easy. It's not like those long lines. You install it once, you can travel everywhere. You only need to install a Saily ESIM one time. You don't need to set up a new one for every country you visit. So if you're a jet setter, the one time thing will make a huge difference.

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You used it in Egypt, you said.

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Yeah, it's huge.

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Download Salie in the App Store or by scanning the QR code on the screen. Use code drink at checkout to get 15% off your first purchase. The details are in the podcast episode description box. I was never one with the bank. As. As. As they say in my house. And luckily Chime is changing the way people bank because now it feels a lot easier. It's making my life a lot easier. There is fee free and smarter banking built for you with Chime and also with me. It's. It's been very, very for you and me.

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Yeah, you can forget overdraft fees, minimum balance fees, monthly fees. Chime turns everyday spending into real rewards and progress. And you know I love that dopamine rush of a little reward. A fun little treat. Helps you build credit history. That's another big thing that Em and I have had to cross hurdles regarding.

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Chime card on time. Payment history may have a positive impact on your credit score. Results may vary. See chime.com for details on applicable terms. This is from Sarah, who uses she her pronouns. Thank you for normalizing pronouns and the subject is laughing. Ghosts and the full Halloween moon.

[A]

Oh my God.

[B]

And Sarah says let's start off by saying my home is over a hundred years old and my guest room, particularly the closet at the front of my house, is where most of the activity occurs. So as soon as you walk in.

[A]

Yeah, right at the door.

[B]

I regular regularly smudge my home because things just get weird and after I do they tend to settle down. My dog also acts weird and chuffs and is on alert and there's activity where he is usually a sleepy loaf after a while. I noticed that the increase in activity coincided with the moon cycle, with the most activity being when the moon was full.

[A]

Oh my God. But this particular cliche. I love it.

[B]

I know. It's like what is this on a You want to live on a sound stage?

[A]

Werewolf. Yeah.

[B]

But this particular story takes place on Halloween of 2020. Oh bad year. Energy was crazy when the Moon was full blue and a harvest moon.

[A]

I remember that.

[B]

So one could say I was screwed from the get go. And you're stuck in your house because you're quarantining, I'm sure.

[A]

Oh, and probably children are showing up unannounced and you haven't even seen people, you know what I mean? Like trick or treaters.

[B]

Oh, God, that's totally right, Christine.

[A]

Oh God.

[B]

Nothing worse than just children appearing at your door.

[A]

Ah, I mean, we can all agree on that.

[B]

So the week leading up to Halloween slash the full moon, I started hearing stuff in my house that would make me wake up in the middle of the night. This was fairly typical, but usually at this point I would smudge my home and off I go. But a friend of mine who senses stuff was coming over for Halloween, so I left it to see if she noticed anything. I love that you're like, I'm gonna see if this girl has an opinion. I feel like I would do that with you.

[A]

I'd be like, yeah, you totally would. We both would, I think. And I would. I wouldn't be able to pull it off, but I'd mess it up. But yeah, that'd be kind of a fun experiment.

[B]

I'd be waiting non stop for you to go, what the hell is going on?

[A]

Yeah, you'd be like looking at me a little too intently, I think. And I'd be like, why are you staring at me? Yes, I'd probably notice your energy more than I would notice the energy of the house.

[B]

Yeah, I would be the weird activity. As the week continued on, things became more and more intense. One night, the sound of someone walking around was so loud and unclear that I searched my home for an intruder to find nothing.

[A]

I mean, and that's so scary because you're like about to call the police. And it's like, you'll be, you'll regret not calling the police if someone has broken into your home. Obviously, you know, but you'll regret calling the police if it's a ghost. And like, that's also a rough. I don't know, man, that sucks.

[B]

Then the next morning, as I was getting ready for work, I saw the reflection of a human shadow walk behind me in my window.

[A]

That's where I draw the line. Absolutely where I draw the line.

[B]

I. I am so lucky and I hope that it stays this way. Like this house came with like no bad vibes, which I love.

[A]

So good.

[B]

But like, like I never think that there's a ghost in the house, which is so wonderful. If you're out there and you're keeping quiet. Keep. Please keep being quiet.

[A]

Keep it up.

[B]

Keep it up. But if I moved into a house and all of a sudden, you know, every full moon or so, there's just humans walking around, I'd be like, this ain't gonna work for me. Like, this is not.

[A]

It's just. If I start seeing things in mirrors, like, that is where I. Absolutely. I think that's where I would freak. Like, that's where I would really freak out.

[B]

Agreed. And my favorite part is Sarah then said, but I was in such a rush, I just ignored it or tried to ignore it. I'm like, there's no way. I would be sitting in my driveway looking at all my cameras inside my house, being like, is it there?

[A]

Paranoid. Yeah, I would turn paranoid.

[B]

So it's Halloween Eve, and my friend leaves around 11. I was hanging out on my. I would ask your friend to stay through 3am I'd be like, 100%.

[A]

You're not leaving sleepover.

[B]

I was.

[A]

The vibes are weird, and I don't care. You're staying here for the rest of the night.

[B]

Maybe your friend intentionally left at 11 and was like, this is too fucking crazy.

[A]

I don't know about this anymore.

[B]

Yeah, I was hanging out on my bed with my dog with the lights on, and I start to hear movement in the hallway and kitchen, which was odd because it usually only happens after I've fallen asleep. So this thing's getting.

[A]

I don't like this. Yeah, it's expanding its own boundaries.

[B]

As time went on, the noises became louder. And after about 20 minutes, the sound of something pacing up and down the hallway outside my bedroom was continuous.

[A]

The fact that it was building up to that, like, it was like, here's what I want the end result to be pacing outside of this person's bedroom. And then it has to build gradually over time. Like that gives me the heat, like, momentum.

[B]

It's like, it's intelligent. And the dog, by the way, seems to just be goddamn chilling. Where is this dog? The array of noises coming from my kitchen and guest room were also increasing. And it was loud. Then all of a sudden, this loud scurrying noise came from under my bed and ran towards my closet. It. It sounded like a giant rat.

[A]

M. No.

[B]

My dog started freaking out. Thank you. But couldn't find or smell anything. And then 10 minutes later, there was a loud knock on my bedroom door.

[A]

This is a horror movie.

[B]

Needless to say, me and my dog had resolved to not sleep that night. Sitting Petrified in each other's arms. The walking and the loud noises continued. And after an hour, finally slowed down. It finally slowed down and came to a stop. I was able to turn out the lights without pooping myself. Why would you even try? I would never, never turn the lights off again. And me and my dog were finally able to fall asleep. The noises picked up in the middle of the night. But I was just trying to sleep because this, that's crazy because I would have gotten myself a dog friendly hotel that minute.

[A]

I. I don't know. I don't know what I. I don't know what I would have done, but I think I would be way too scared to fall asleep. But I don't know. I mean.

[B]

And I would have climbed out of the window too, because who's knocking on my door?

[A]

Oh, I would not have gone out the door, I don't think.

[B]

I imagine in that moment you have keys on you at all moments. Like you don't leave your keys in the living room on a night where you know they're gonna be knocking on your door. Oh, I hate this.

[A]

This is so scary. Dude, I'm freaked out.

[B]

So the morning comes and I immediately smudge my house. But I knew I would need to do it again because something still felt off. But I continued with my morning because I can't stop for every paranormal entity that walks into my life.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

You stand alone, babe.

[A]

Em's like, it would have taken over

[B]

if I ever texted Christine, I can't record today. I have to absolutely cleanse my house. That would be well understood.

[A]

I think I would be like, actually just FaceTime and I'll record it for us.

[B]

For Patreon?

[A]

Yeah, for the episode. Yeah.

[B]

I was listening to music in my room and on the shitty little speaker and I laughed at something. And two seconds later, my exact laugh came through the speaker like an echo. And this is where I drew the line because now it's copying her. Me and my dog got the out of there and went to my mom's for the rest of the weekend. My mom has spent an exorbitant amount of time studying different facets of spiritualism. And I told her what happened. She immediately went on to cleanse my house from afar, having me draw out of the. Draw out the rooms of my house. Even when I was drawing the house, I could feel like whatever was there was influencing me because for the life of me, I could not get the proportions or the layout of my house right.

[A]

No, it wants you to do it wrong.

[B]

Oh, God, weird. Especially considering it's a square house.

[A]

Oh, my God, stop.

[B]

That makes me think, like, it was almost like channeling you and making you draw the original blueprints.

[A]

Oh, interesting.

[B]

Because if it refused to let you draw what's currently there, and it usually stays in one part of the room and not, like, maybe an addition from

[A]

later, I was thinking it was trying to influence this floor plan so that the mom couldn't cleanse the space where it was hiding.

[B]

That's worse. Yeah, so it could, like, it could stay in the house.

[A]

Yeah, so it could, like, have its little creepy corner this big time. Dude.

[B]

Once I drew the house. Oh, my God. Once I drew the house, she said she was able to clear it, focusing a lot of time on my guest room. She said it felt okay and that she would check it again at night. Lo and behold, when she checked it that night, she said that activity had drastically picked up. Oh, mom did it wrong. And now she suspected there was a portal in my guest room.

[A]

Okay. Yeah, because the full moon is opening the portal. Duh.

[B]

Anyways, happy days. She cleansed the space again, and things have been fabulous.

[A]

Wait, that's absolutely. What was happening at that baseball field.

[B]

You're right.

[A]

They're just like. It's like, inviting bad energy. It's like. It's like, inviting anyone, but, like, bad energy can probably get through there and just show up and, like, scare you and harass you.

[B]

Sarah, that was a horrible story. I actually, for a moment, forgot about Mare. I. You know what?

[A]

Wow. Oh, my God. That was fast. Wow.

[B]

I don't like either of your lives. That sounds really, really scary. I'm so sorry you have to go through that. I really.

[A]

You leave us out of it.

[B]

Please, please.

[A]

Oh, my God. I'm really actually kind of creeped out. Okay. There's something about portals that feel so. Oh, and the full moon. The new moon, I do know is a portal, or. No, no, sorry. Eclipse season is a portal, I believe. And we are in an eclipse season right now.

[B]

Excellent. But I wonder if Sarah's guest room is doing okay.

[A]

No, no, not in that way, I hope. Yeah, seriously.

[B]

Imagine Sarah leaves and a new family moves in. They're like, oh, we have children. That'll. That'll. That. That old guest room will be the kids room. Oh, my God.

[A]

Those kids are going to a nursery or something.

[B]

They're going to write to us one day. I feel like, jeez, wouldn't it be crazy if after all these years, some two different people have written about the same location? They just both Happen to live there at different times.

[A]

That I wish there was a way to categorize that somehow.

[B]

I wish. We just have to read everybody's census records, that's all.

[A]

Yeah, that's easy.

[B]

Call the government.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Get them on. Hey, Eva, get the county auditor on the phone on the horn. Okay, this one is from D Pronouns They Them and it says wine stealing ufo.

[B]

Oh my God. Christine stole a ufo.

[A]

Ah, they better not come to my house because I need that.

[B]

That sounds. Sounds like xenon so far. Wine sure does.

[A]

Sure does. She's like, I'm not drinking it. I'm just taking it home with me.

[B]

Yeah, in my stomach.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah, in my stomach. Hello. And that's why we drink. Family. I've been listening to the podcast for years and it kept me sane through some long night shifts. I never had anything interesting to share, however, until M covered the Moringa and Mirasol abductions. I don't like all this abduction talk. It's really.

[B]

I told you the UFOs and the aliens were going to get involved in this.

[A]

You're totally right. I was talking to my grandma after listening and randomly asked if she believed in aliens since they were on my mind. And I got a very enthusiastic yes as a response and a story to go along with it. So now I'm telling you about how my grandma's brother in law got abducted sometime in the mid-80s.

[B]

Oh my.

[A]

She wasn't present at the abduction, but she witnessed the aftermath firsthand and it was enough to convince her that aliens are real.

[B]

Oh my God. That's crazy that you don't even witness an abduction but just the symptoms of one and you're like, the aftermath. Yikes.

[A]

Okay, but you know how you hear that when people say like, oh. As the police officer who interviewed him could tell, like he was really terrified or something was off. Yeah, something was actually wrong. Oh, that gives me the creeps. Okay. My grandma's sister lived and still lives on the outskirts of a small town. One day while my grandma was visiting for the summer, her brother in law and a friend of his took the train to the nearest city to go help a friend with house renovations. They stayed the whole day and only caught the last train home, arriving back in town well past midnight carrying a bag with two bottles of Homema wine and another with some food that they'd gotten as a thanks for the help. Food and alcohol as a thank you is common practice where I'm from.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And where I'm from, and I love

[B]

that for all of us same.

[A]

Now the trains. Now the train stop in that town is actually outside of the town. And there is about a kilometers walk to their house along a road surrounded by grain fields with no street lights on it. They put up lights later, but the 80s didn't care much about that. What happens next is my grandma's retelling of what her brother in law explained happened to them. Them. The night was clear and the moon was not full. But as they walked.

[B]

Girl, just say it.

[A]

A second full moon suddenly appeared low in the sky.

[B]

What?

[A]

In front of them. It started growing bigger.

[B]

Okay. I'm like now the sky is a simulation. I kind of believe that. Like maybe we're not in a simulation, but the sky is.

[A]

There's gotta be something happening here.

[B]

Don't like that's some Truman show. Or like.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Or like the aliens had a big projector and I think they were trying to cast something on the moon and they missed, you know.

[A]

Or it's like their UFO and they're like we'll just disguise it as a moon. They won't know any better. And it's like we're not that stupid.

[B]

You know, we're pretty dumb. You could have put anything else.

[A]

He could have literally put like a giant bird and we would have been confused. But the moon, I usually know where that is.

[B]

They honestly could have put. They could have just been a ufo. We would have been alarmed probably.

[A]

Yes. Than like the giant moon. That's a good point. That's such a good point. Ew. But like now I'm freaked out that this is thing happening multiple times. This giant moon showing up. I don't like this. I don't like this one bit. Okay. As they walked a second full moon. I hope we're not freaking out, Ryan. Probably we are. Okay. A second full moon suddenly appeared low in the sky in front of them. It started growing bigger and brother. And it again, it's not a full moon, but it A full moon appears. Yuck. They realized it was coming at them at a great speed. This is my dream. I had one time. The light coming got tre I I. Well okay, fair point. The light got so bright it hurt to look at. But he couldn't close his eyes. Then he felt something grab him by the shoulders and pull him up into the light. Last he sees in the light is a big X like shape, Xlike shape coming into view as he's taken. Next thing he knows, oh, I wonder if that's like underneath like the lights. I don't know. Next Thing he knows, he's waking up on the grass on the side of the road, covered in sweat and with his shirt missing but his vest on and buttoned. See this is, that I'm just throw up. Like that's, this is terrible. His friend was on the asphalt in a similar situation, although I don't know if he was missing any clothes. They were shaken and a little disoriented, but managed to get up. The bag of food was scattered some way down the road, while the only thing remaining from the bag with the wine was the bag itself. The bottles were nowhere to be found. The two made their way back home only to discover it was nearly 5am they had lost about three hours. Oh my God, just like that. Got just like Ryan lost an hour and a half.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

On a commute. Through grain, through fields, empty fields.

[B]

It's also weird that this is very similar to the. Oh well, the moon. Like a different image of a moon appeared or it's like. Yeah, it feels like the same computer file on that, on that last UFO 100.

[A]

It feels like 100. Same memory, same screen saver. Just like reappearing.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Oh God, this gets even creepier. Okay. They lost three hours. They told their story and my grandma's sister didn't believe it, claiming they were making up an excuse for finishing the wine and getting drunk. But my grandma swears they were completely sober and obviously very distressed. In the morning, the brother in law insisted on taking them to where it had happened, but only a few minutes under the sun made a nasty rash breakout on any exposed skin they had, so they had to go back in. The rash stayed for several days and he was feeling sick the whole time. I think that's like what, radiation poisoning. He never spoke about what happened after that first night, claiming he felt like if he did they'd come back. And I've heard that, yeah, I've heard that, that like they don't want to bring it up because it's going to draw them back. Back.

[B]

My fear is more E. T. Based where it's like I would be afraid that the government would come get me.

[A]

Oh yeah, that too.

[B]

And now I'm being tested on. But like I would, I, I, I feel like if I had a rash, I would love to know what the, what the medical chart said was the. Because if it wasn't radiation, if it was like some lotion they put on me or something that is not of this earth, like I don't know. That's so creepy.

[A]

I know, but it's hard to imagine a dude in the 80s going to the doctor and being like, an alien. Put this on me.

[B]

Yeah, right, right. Or like, hey, can you tell me where the rash came from? And hopefully they would be able. I don't know. I have no idea. But it's all horrifying.

[A]

The rash did for several days. Yeah. He. He didn't talk about it ever again because he felt like if he did, they'd come back. It was enough for my grandma to become a believer, though. She and her sister did go to look for the wine.

[B]

I like that.

[A]

I love it. They did go to look for the wine eventually, but found nothing. Maybe they were just flung somewhere in the fields. But I like thinking that the aliens developed a taste for homemade red. Thank you so much for reading and thank you for making an amazing podcast. Love D. Wow. That's quite a tale.

[B]

Shocking. I. And that's. I. That's very interesting.

[A]

This is the stuff that, like, entire movies are based off of. Like, this is a. Like, a story you've got here.

[B]

Sell your right, sell the. The rights.

[A]

So your grandpa, great uncle, brother in law, whatever.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Rights to his story.

[B]

I. I feel like we don't get a lot of people who witnessed, like. I feel like we get stories from people who either claim that maybe they had, like, a mini abduction happen to them, or they lost a lot of time and they don't remember what happened. But it's interesting to get a message from somebody who is, like, the second rung.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Like, I witnessed someone who was. I would love to hear more stories like that from people of like. Like, this didn't happen to me, but I saw firsthand how scary this can be.

[A]

And I witnessed, like, just how real the. In the aftermath. Like, how real it was for. Yeah. Ooh, that's intriguing. Em. I like that.

[B]

Yeah. Maybe a future topic. We have one last one, and this is very interesting, and I'm nervous to tell this one because this is apparently a submission from the Cryptids Unscripted Poetry Slam.

[A]

Oh, God. Okay. Which.

[B]

We did not have a Cryptids Unscripted this year.

[A]

This year we did not.

[B]

But I'm. I'm glad that this will be our little. Little taste of what could have been. This is from river, who uses they. Them. Pronouns. Think of normalizing pronouns. And the subject line is Cryptid Poetry Slam submission.

[A]

So love it.

[B]

And I. The reason I'm nervous to tell it is because I never know what, like, oh, the rhythm or pattern. They want me to say this. Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. So got it. I believe in you.

[B]

I don't believe in me, but I'm

[A]

gonna just channel it. Just.

[B]

It'll. It'll be bumpy before I figure it out. So 1. Anyway, this is called Seaweed, Queen of the underworld.

[A]

Whoa.

[B]

I don't know how the full moon plays into this at all. Here we go. Through the murky. Nope. Already messed up. Through the dark, murky waters, the kelpie swims, seaweed trailing through her main hooves and fins. The time to feed is ebbing near. The full moon will shine through the skies crystal clear. From the dark seas, she will rise to find a human fool enough to ride the back of this sleek, beautiful beast to join past souls sacrificed for a feast. She hears her victim walking along a path nearby, whistling along, not knowing he's about to die. Oh, God. She runs full tilt through the fields and trees, her seaweed mane whipping in the breeze. The target is finally in sight. He must be tired. It's nearly night night. She slows her gallop to a graceful trot. Despite her power, she's silent in her stock. When the time is right, she steps into the fading light. And the man stumbles and gasps at such a beautiful sight. He reaches out his hand to offer his smell, not knowing he's about to be taken to a watery hell.

[A]

Oh.

[B]

She offers her back to this doomed stranger, so unaware of the depth of this danger. He climbs on with a thanks and presses his legs into her flanks. But she turns with a buck into the air. And when he grasps her seaweed mane hair, he realizes his horrible fate. A ghoulish death he can't escape. His body has become fused to hers. He feels weak and his vision blurs. The salty seawater hits him like a knife. His final thoughts racing through his life. He thrashes in panic as his lungs begin to fill into the hellish realm of the kelpie. She swims down, down, down with her kill. Whoa. Wow. Very, very good river.

[A]

My goodness. That's spooky.

[B]

Man. I like that we at least got a little. A little poetry moment. I'm sorry that I had to be the one to tell it, but it was very well done.

[A]

I loved it. I didn't know. I didn't know where we were going. It got so dark. Oh, my goodness.

[B]

I. Big fan. Big fan of big fan creative writing. Because I certainly am not that, but well done, everybody. Thank you, everyone, for your stories. This was a wonderful way to start March. See. See you. April. April.

[A]

Our April Fool's episode, April Fools. Yeah. I wonder what that's going to be. Do we have a. I don't know. We don't have an idea yet. But yeah, right in. You can go to that's why drink dot com. And there we have story submissions there.

[B]

Maybe we could do for April Fools. We could do like if you were pranked by a ghost or something.

[A]

I think we did that.

[B]

Did we?

[A]

Maybe it sounds like something we did. I'm pretty sure. But if you have that, please send it in. That's a great story. I mean, it's still a great topic. Sorry, everyone. No, no. If we are. But maybe we didn't. But I think ghost pranks was definitely something we asked for, but feels like something we've done. Send them in again. I don't know.

[B]

No. Thank you, everybody. And then, as you just said, you can can submit things to our website. And that's why we drink dot com. Yes.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

And. And yeah, that's it. Thank you, everyone. We'll see you for our regularly scheduled programming every Sunday.

[A]

And that's why we drink.

[B]

It's tax season, and at LifeLock, we know you're tired of numbers, but here's a big one you need to hear. Billions. That's the amount of money in refunds the IRS has flagged for possible identity fraud. Now here's another big number. 100 million. That's how many data points LifeLock monitors every second. If your identity is stolen, we'll fix it. Guaranteed. One last big number. Save up to 40% your first year. Visit lifelock.com podcast for the threats you can't control. Terms apply.

[A]

Support is available 24. 7 with VRBoCare. We're here day or night, ready whenever you need help.

[B]

Help.

[A]

Because a great trip starts with the right support.