Podcast Episode Summary

I'll Read What She's Reading

Episode: SPOOKY STORIES VOL. III
Date: October 29, 2025
Hosts: Reggie (Rune Winters), Mikayla (Elspeth/Nightmare), Kennedy (Sybil)
Theme:
The annual Halloween special where the hosts, dressed as favorite bookish characters, read and react to listeners' real-life spooky stories—ranging from haunted coffee shops and creepy basements, to unsettling wilderness encounters and childhood visits from the supernatural. Expect chaos, laughter, jumpy moments, and genuine chills as the group unpacks everything spine-tingling submitted by their listeners.

Episode Structure

1. Opening & Costumes ([00:00]–[06:00])

• Hosts open with excitement for their favorite annual tradition: telling spooky, listener-submitted stories.
• Each reveals their literary-inspired costume and reasons behind their choices:
  • Mikayla: Dressed as Elspeth from One Dark Window—out of her comfort zone with "dark hair, yellow eyes," but "I love Elspeth, especially her character. I don't necessarily love her name. I've struggled to pronounce it so many times." ([02:59])
  • Kennedy: As Sybil from Night and Moth—comments on costume difficulties and listeners’ reactions: "I also thought that her costume would just be really cool and simple, but yet look cool. I'm not gonna lie to you guys. I can't see. But I'm committed to the bit." ([04:23])
  • Reggie: As Rune Winters from Heartless Hunter and Rebel Witch—picks character for being “an icon… just really cool. She’s a witch. And especially in Rebel Witch, when I read Rebel Witch, I was like, yeah, I love her.” ([05:00])

2. Listener Spooky Stories & Host Reactions

First Submission: Haunted Coffee Shop ([06:14]–[09:47])

Story Summary:
Val, a fan, recounts a disturbing series of paranormal events while working at a coffee shop next to a bookstore. Footstep vibrations, shadowy figures on security footage, unexplained whistling, objects moving on their own, equipment malfunctioning without cause, and a night-time spectral encounter cap off her haunting tale.

• Notable Quote:
  "Later that morning, before we opened, I was setting up the espresso machine, when I heard whistling... Dan whistled a lot, so I assumed it was him. But when I looked up, he was standing right behind me at the register, frozen." ([07:28])
• Hosts React:
  • "I would quit. Quit immediately. No first sign of paranormal. Not even a two weeks; out of there. I'm out." – Kennedy ([09:02])
  • “That’s, like, one too many instances of spookiness…” – Reggie ([09:09])

Second Submission: Man at the Window ([09:56]–[12:10])

Story Summary:
A listener describes spotting a silhouette through her bedroom’s back window, watching her from the deck in moonlight. The figure taps the glass; she screams, waking her parents. The intruder flees, but vanishes despite the yard’s enclosure.

• Notable Quotes:
  • “That is so scary because, as someone who has encountered a ghost before, people to me are scarier than ghosts... if that was an actual person, that's 10 times scary.” – Reggie ([11:33])
  • “Where are your curtains?” – Kennedy ([11:54])
• Hosts Ponder: Wonder if it was a real person or something supernatural, given the evidence.

Third Submission: The Green Bear Demon ([12:26]–[16:41])

Story Summary:
Sadie (and later her sister) witness a green bear-like figure—think Berenstain Bear—sitting at the bed, singing comfort but with a terrifying Cheshire Cat smile. Sadie's sister confirms years later, describing the identical apparition.

• Notable Quotes:
  • “I'm not laughing because this is kind of terrifying, but I'm having a hard time... just picturing a Care Bear.” – Kennedy ([13:32])
  • “What demon manifests as a Berenstain Bear?” – Kennedy ([16:41])
• Hosts React: Flip from skepticism to shock: “At first I was kind of like, okay, this is just a dream you had, but when someone else experiences the same thing, that's just weird. Like, that's freaky.” – Reggie ([15:01])

Fourth Submission: The Haunted Antique Shop ([16:57]–[22:10])

Story Summary:
Parents explore a Pennsylvania antique shop, both suddenly develop headaches and nausea, see an eerie old woman in a rocking chair who does not acknowledge them. Immediate relief on leaving. A later Google search reveals the store’s haunted reputation.

• Notable Quotes:
  • “See? That's why I don't antique. Because I'm superstitious about things. You know, Annabelle has quite literally haunted me since I've seen it.” – Mikayla ([19:40])
  • “Your body just knows, and that's kind of crazy.” – Kennedy ([20:44])

Fifth Submission: Jailhouse Spirits ([22:34]–[23:33])

Story Summary:
A female officer reports hearing a woman’s voice while alone on night shift, and a black shadow running into a locked cell. All inmates were secured.

• Host Chills:
  • “I just got chills... Quit.” – Kennedy ([22:56])

Sixth Submission: Rocking Chair at the Cabin ([24:00]–[25:34])

Story Summary:
Listener staying at a rural Utah cabin sees a rocking chair moving violently through the moonlit windows at 3 a.m. No one inside is awake; the scene feels eerily peaceful rather than malevolent.

• Notable Quote:
  • "At least you felt a peaceful presence instead of a spooky one." – Mikayla ([25:27])

Seventh Submission: Shadow Man in the Hotel Bathroom ([26:24]–[28:46])

Story Summary:
A listener’s mother sees a shadowed silhouette of a man in her hotel room’s bathroom; turns out her husband was in bed behind her. Her father saw the same shape separately. Reggie shares a similar personal story about seeing shadow-children after turning off the lights.

• Notable Quote:
  • “There's something about like seeing something darker than the dark.” – Reggie ([29:11])

Eighth Submission: Sleep Paralysis and the Sinister Mission Companion ([29:33]–[34:21])

Story Summary:
A missionary in rural New Mexico suffers from sleep paralysis—shadowy entities, an evil-feeling apartment, and a toxic companion blaming the 'spirit' on the narrator’s own "sins." Later, learning about sleep paralysis brings some closure, but the experience (and related nightmares) remain horrifying.

• Groan-Worthy Amanda:
  • “She said that I had brought it in with my disobedience and my sins.” ([32:19])
• Hosts React:
  • “Freaking Amanda. I have a lot of questions. Yeah. That's crazy.” – Kennedy ([34:18])

Ninth Submission: Kentucky House Intrusion ([34:25]–[36:49])

Story Summary:
Family staying at grandparents’ rural Kentucky home for the first time witnesses inexplicable flashes of light, thumping from the basement stairs, and ominous evidence: the basement exterior door is unlocked, with an axe propped by it. No one dares to stay another night.

• Notable Quote:
  • “If my dad was ever scared, I would be truly scared.” – Mikayla ([37:10])

Tenth Submission: Tall Faceless White Figure ([36:58]–[39:39])

Story Summary:
A listener, as a child, sees a tall, glowing white figure by the door. Unable to rouse her mother, she hides under blankets until morning. Spawns a discussion about children’s sensitivity to the supernatural, and ghosts versus old houses.

• Hosts Share:
  • Kennedy shares her mother’s revelation about a murder-suicide in their old house’s basement, explaining her own childhood fears.

Final Submission: The Mt. Timpanogos Skinwalker (The Timp Incident) ([41:01]–[53:13])

Story Summary:
A detailed first-person account (written by a listener’s husband) of a night hike up Mt. Timpanogos leads to a chilling encounter: ghostly hikers warn them, they encounter deer and then a being with nine-foot-tall, shifting, glowing green eyes feeding on something in the shadows. The animal disperses a herd of deer. Later, a man chants by a white van in the parking lot. After fleeing, the group compares notes—believing they saw a skinwalker, describing it as nearly identical to The Rake from online mythology.

• Staggering Quotes:
  • “Do you see those eyes back there behind the buck?... The eyes hovered nine feet off the ground, shifting up and down like it was feeding on something.” ([45:28])
  • "I'm not saying what it was until we're in the car." – Josiah ([46:00])
  • "That was a skin walker." ([48:00])
• Crescendo of Terror:
  • "Look it up so you can be terrified like we are." – Kennedy ([51:03])
  • “I think that might be the best story we’ve ever had submitted.” – Kennedy ([51:11])

3. Memorable Host Moments & Commentary

• Frequent, self-deprecating humor about being easily spooked:
  • "I am terrified. I'm actually terrified. Happy Halloween, everybody." – Reggie ([51:51])
• Recurring jokes about refusing to stay in old houses, antique, or hike at night.
• Running concern for the two girls hiking up the same trail:
  • “If you recently hiked Mount Temp on October 3rd of 2025 at night. Are you okay?” – Kennedy ([52:18])
• Giddy, nervous energy in reading the creepiest stories.

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• "I would quit. Quit immediately. No first sign of paranormal." – Kennedy ([09:02])
• "What demon manifests as a Berenstain Bear?" – Kennedy ([16:41])
• "There's something about seeing something darker than the dark." – Reggie ([29:11])
• "That was a skin walker." – Josiah (as relayed by story, [48:00])
• "I think that might be the best story we’ve ever had submitted." – Kennedy ([51:11])

Important Timestamps & Segments

• [00:00]–[06:00]: Costumes & Halloween intro
• [06:14]–[09:47]: Haunted coffee shop
• [09:56]–[12:10]: Mirror/Window visitor story
• [12:26]–[16:41]: Demon Care Bear/Green Bear story
• [16:57]–[22:10]: Antique store haunting
• [22:34]–[23:33]: Jailhouse ghost stories
• [24:00]–[25:34]: Rocking chair/shadow at the cabin
• [26:24]–[28:46]: Shadow man in the hotel bathroom
• [29:33]–[34:21]: Sleep paralysis in New Mexico
• [34:25]–[36:49]: Kentucky house/basement intruder
• [36:58]–[39:39]: Tall faceless white figure
• [41:01]–[53:13]: The Timpanogos Skinwalker incident

Final Thoughts

• The episode delivers a chaotic but heartfelt celebration of Halloween, blending humor ("I'm committed to the bit!") with genuine fright ("My heart is racing, you guys. Nine feet off the ground... shifting up and down...").
• The hosts’ willingness to be creeped out alongside their listeners, and their honest, playful personalities, make the spooky stories accessible and fun—while still delivering legitimate shivers.

For true-crime podcast fans, horror lovers, or cozy book club members wanting a dash of adrenaline on Halloween, this episode is packed with vivid, memorable tales and plenty of “Nope, I would be OUT!” banter.