Conspiracy Theories Podcast

Holiday Favorites: Otherworld – Andrea’s Shadow Encounter
Date: December 24, 2025
Host: Jack Wagner (via Otherworld, in collaboration with Spotify Studios)
Guest: Andrea Taylor

Episode Overview

This special holiday episode, shared from the "Otherworld" podcast, recounts Andrea Taylor’s chilling first-person paranormal experience in a hotel room on Christmas Eve during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Andrea, a principal supervisor at a particle accelerator in Berkeley, California, describes her unsettling encounter with a menacing shadow presence while reflecting on themes of science, faith, and our limited understanding of the unexplained.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Andrea’s Background & Context

• [04:51]
  • Andrea introduces herself as a principal supervisor at the Advanced Light Source in Berkeley, CA—a “specialized particle accelerator.”
  • Explains the facility's scientific work and how her upbringing balanced faith and a love for science.
  • Quote:

    “...the more science reveals, the more it reveals how expansive the universe is. And it doesn’t feel like it’s in conflict for me.”
    —Andrea Taylor [06:03]

  • Shares her perspective that faith and science are not mutually exclusive, and how her faith helps her manage fear and uncertainty.

2. Setting the Scene: Christmas Eve During COVID

• [07:55]
  • Andrea recounts the stresses of the pandemic: her husband was recovering from COVID and quarantined, she herself was exhausted after sleeping on a couch for days.
  • With strict precautions, she visits her family in Yuba City and books a hotel for a much-anticipated night in a “big ass bed.”
  • The hotel is nondescript, arguably in the “seedier” part of Marysville.
  • A mildly unsettling encounter occurs in the lobby: a drunk man follows her to the elevator; she manages to lose him.

3. First Impressions of the Room & Growing Unease

• [14:53]

  • From the moment she steps inside, Andrea senses something is “really off.”
  • Attempts to rationalize her discomfort but notes that the feeling “sharpened and became more specific”—she felt watched.
  • The sensation intensifies in the bathroom, especially near the shower curtain, invoking a "primal fear" that something was lurking out of sight.
  • Notices an odd, dark stain on the floor, fueling her anxiety.

• Quote:

  “It just… it was almost that, like, primal fear that, like, if I open this curtain, something might be right there looking at me.”
  —Andrea Taylor [15:44]

4. Nighttime Rituals, Distraction, and Return of Fear

• [19:00]

  • Andrea relaxes with TV and snacks, the unease retreating.
  • But as she settles in to read before sleep, the presence returns: “That sense of unease… now I’m laying in the bed… it felt like it was just emanating from there [the corner with the couch].”

• Faith as Comfort:

  • Andrea turns to prayer for solace and protection:

    “Even if none of this is real, praying will help me feel better because it’s inviting something else to be in this situation with me.”
    —Andrea Taylor [20:55]

5. The Encounter: Appearance of the Shadow Figure

• [22:50]

  • Upon turning off the lights, Andrea feels a suffocating presence, as if something is standing right at the edge of the bed.
  • She sees a “very big, dense, and tall, thick, very dark… vaguely humanoid-shaped” shadow figure, “like a big blob with what one might assume is a head.”
  • The shadow moves in “pops” around the bed, with an inky, blurry, whirlwind quality—never crossing onto the bed itself, as if repelled by an invisible barrier.

• Quote:

  “It was absolutely that feeling. And, oh man, my heart is starting to race talking about this. I was so scared.”
  —Andrea Taylor [24:21]

• Quote:

  “At no point was it able to go over the space of the bed. It was almost like there was a barrier right around the bed and it was coming as close to that barrier as it possibly could.”
  —Andrea Taylor [27:44]

6. Confrontation & Resolution

• [28:30]

  • Terror transforms into anger at the intrusion, fueling Andrea to verbally confront the shadow, invoking religious authority:

    “I’m covered by the blood of Christ. You cannot touch me. I’m not afraid of you. You need to fuck off… God has given me authority to trample on snakes and scorpions. Nothing will harm me.”
    —Andrea Taylor [29:46]

• As soon as she asserts herself, the shadow appears yanked into the corner, unable to cross a threshold, confined there, becoming less threatening.

• Despite the ordeal, Andrea surprisingly manages to fall asleep.

• Quote:

  “For some reason, I was like, yeah, I can go back to sleep.”
  —Andrea Taylor [32:30]

7. Aftermath and Family Reaction

• [33:40]

  • In the morning, Andrea feels “the room is still inhabited by more than just me” but without dread—she leaves for Christmas with her family.
  • Her family is supportive and not surprised by her account; her mother suggests, “That sounds like a demon,” though Andrea herself is noncommittal about labels, suggesting we lack proper vocabulary for such encounters.
  • Her husband, a skeptic, remains supportive:

    “I believe you, but I just, I don’t, I can’t explain it.”
    —Andrea Taylor [35:50]

• Science and Mystery:

  • Andrea draws parallels between advances in science and our understanding of the unexplained:

    “Many of these phenomena, we just don’t have the tools to examine them properly… Science just hasn’t revealed how these things connect, but it will eventually.”
    —Andrea Taylor [36:40]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the conflict between science and faith:

  “My faith is not something that is a gatekeeping system… creation is intentional.”
  —Andrea Taylor [06:00]

• Sensation of being watched:

  “It felt like there was something glaring at me… a sensation that almost has a tangible quality to it.”
  —Andrea Taylor [15:28]

• Description of the entity:

  “It was vaguely, very vaguely humanoid shaped. Definitely over 6ft tall… like a big blob with what one might assume is a head.”
  —Andrea Taylor [23:12]

• On confronting the presence:

  “I just kind of shot up on the bed… I started shouting, I’m covered by the blood of Christ, you cannot touch me. I’m not afraid of you. You need to fuck off.”
  —Andrea Taylor [29:46]

• On family reactions:

  “My mom said… That sounds like a demon. And I don’t really know if I believe… in demons or evil spirits. I just, I don’t think we’re really equipped to identify what these things are.”
  —Andrea Taylor [34:32]

Important Timestamps

• 00:00 – 01:02: Podcast host introduces the episode and premise
• 01:02 – 03:17: Jack Wagner introduces the story and Andrea
• 04:51 – 08:40: Andrea describes her work in science and upbringing in faith
• 14:53 – 20:55: First impressions on entering the hotel and growing unease
• 22:50 – 27:44: Andrea’s direct encounter with the shadow entity
• 27:44 – 32:30: Confrontation and banishing the presence
• 33:40 – 36:40: Morning after, family response, and reflections on science, vocabulary, and the unexplained

Tone & Delivery

Andrea’s storytelling is candid, vivid, and self-aware—at times humorous (“I was so desperate, like I was fixated, totally fixated on having a big ass bed to sleep in”), often reflective, honest about her fear, but also open-minded and intellectually curious about her extraordinary experience. Her account seamlessly weaves personal anxiety, scientific skepticism, religious conviction, and emotional vulnerability.

Summary

This episode delivers a gripping, relatable, and profoundly human tale of an unexplained, possibly supernatural, hotel encounter. Andrea’s unique background in science and faith provides a thoughtful perspective on the mysterious, highlighting how personal beliefs and lived experience shape interpretation—and ultimately, how science and faith can intersect in the search for understanding. The story is as much about a woman’s confrontation with the unknown as it is about how we process fear, uncertainty, and the limits of our own categories of knowledge.