Monsters Among Us – Season 19, Episode 38:

Hellhounds, Time Slips, and a Phantom 911 Caller
Host: Derek Hayes | Audioboom Studios
Release Date: August 21, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode encapsulates the essence of Monsters Among Us: firsthand accounts of the paranormal, told directly by those who experienced them. Derek Hayes guides listeners through a patchwork of chilling encounters: haunted houses, doppelganger sightings, time slips, mysterious lights, cryptids, and spectral phenomena. Listeners are treated to a blend of modern and classic folklore, spanning dark country homes, mysterious bikes that vanish and reappear, encounters with black dogs (possible hellhounds), and even a story of a phantom 911 caller.

Key Discussion Points & Notable Stories

1. Haunted House & Chilling Presence (Canada)

[03:42 – 06:48]
Caller: Joseph from Montreal

• Story:
  • Joseph recounts frequent unsettling feelings at his cousin’s inherited country house in St. Gabriel de Brandon, a house originally built by priests in the 1920s.
  • Notable features: a chapel in the basement still containing priest’s garments.
  • His uncle's story: a Native woman at a party whispered, “We’re not alone. And there’s many of them,” adding to the air of dread.
  • Personal experience: While helping close the house for winter, Joseph and his father experience unexplained footsteps and a gust of wind, with no apparent cause.
• Memorable Quote:
  • Joseph: “The majority of the time that I went to this house, I preferred to stay outside. I slept there, I think, one time, and I think I slept sitting up on the couch.”
• Host’s Take:
  • Derek affirms the importance of trusting uneasy feelings: “Over the years, I've learned to trust those negative vibes you get for no reason.”
    [06:48]

2. Doppelganger Encounters (Minnesota)

[09:40 – 13:08]
Caller: Heather from Minnesota

• Story:
  • Multiple “living ghost” experiences:
    • She sees her husband in the bedroom window while arriving home, only to find him busy elsewhere and dressed differently.
    • Remembers her daughter’s boyfriend being sure he talked to her (when she was gone), and her daughter seeing people who weren’t present.
  • Common thread: family members see perfect doubles of each other, performing mundane actions.
• Memorable Quote:
  • Heather: “I'm like, I just saw you in the bedroom. And he's like, no, I've been out here. Well, I'm like, I saw your doppelganger then.”
• Host’s Reflection:
  • Derek muses on the eerie similarity between doppelgangers and “ghosts of the living,” suggesting the need for a taxonomy.
    [13:08]

3. Time Slips & Reality Glitches

[15:13 – 20:41]

The Missing Bike Reappears (Maryland)

Caller: Chris from Maryland

• Story:
  • As teens, Chris and a friend borrow a bike that seemingly gets stolen when they’re out for food; after reporting it to police, they return home only to find the bike exactly where it started, untouched.
• Host’s Insight:
  • “A slip in time is as good a guess as anything.”

The Returned St. Christopher (Arizona)

Caller: Chris Hutchinson (Arizona; story from Oregon)

• Story:
  • Dad’s treasured St. Christopher medallion disappears from truck dashboard, only to inexplicably drop onto Chris’s shoulder days later as he exists the truck.
  • Family suspects playful grandpa’s ghost or “aportation” (object disappearance/reappearance).
• Host’s Analysis:
  • Derek ponders if a mundane explanation—truck jostling—could account for it, but doesn’t dismiss the paranormal: “That doesn’t mean I’m dismissing anything paranormal though, as Chris had mentioned, Grandpa does seem to be sticking around.”
    [20:41]

4. Mysterious Lights: Orbs & Dancing Phenomena (Virginia)

[24:14 – 28:28]
Caller: Allie from Virginia

• Story:
  • Alone in a rural mountain home, Allie witnesses multiple orbs dancing above the treeline after a bright flash at 3am. Her phone dies as she tries to record them.
  • Experiences include odd animal appearances, phantom doorbell rings, and nighttime noises.
• Memorable Quote:
  • Allie: “Time almost stopped…I go to film it, and my phone dies. Yes, the cliche phone die thing happened.”
• Host’s Take:
  • Derek brings up “ball lightning” and classic UFO “orb” encounters, referencing the Brown Mountain lights and Maury Island Incident.
    [28:28]

5. Haunted Apartment & Mimic Phenomena (Ohio)

[30:04 – 36:03]
Caller: Jordan from Ohio

• Story:
  • Moves into an apartment with a violent past and soon experiences inexplicable noises, heavy items tossed without cause, and most disturbingly, something imitating both him and his girlfriend in routine domestic situations.
  • Neighbors confirm similar phenomena, with items being thrown in other units. All activity stops after moving to a new home.
• Memorable Quote:
  • Jordan: “…in my experience, it was almost something that was pretending to be her. And then in her experience, it was something pretending to be me…”
• Host’s Take:
  • Derek expresses real discomfort: “Having to worry that who you think is your wife is actually the entity. Ain't nobody got time for that.”
    [36:03]

6. Cryptids & Encounters in the Dark (Pennsylvania)

[37:58 – 39:56]
Caller: Dustin from Southwestern Pennsylvania

• Story:
  • While investigating an isolated cemetery, Dustin and a friend spot two orange-yellow eyes in the woods and experience classic cryptid phenomena: a wood knock and sense of being stalked. The area is known for Bigfoot and Dogman lore.
• Host’s Knowledge Drop:
  • Derek references the region's high strangeness: “That area sure is known for sasquatch sightings…the Chestnut Ridge, specifically…But it’s not just sasquatch, though. All sorts of weirdness has been witnessed over there.”
    [39:56]

7. UFO Orbs & Dripping Plasma (Michigan)

[41:16 – 43:46]
Caller: Savannah from Jackson, Michigan

• Story:
  • On Valentine’s Day, Savannah and a friend witness a bright orb trailing a light, emitting plasma-like material which briefly fills the sky before vanishing; a friend records odd “alien radio” noises the same night.
• Memorable Quote:
  • Savannah: “All of a sudden it emits this light like plasma…and then it releases a small one…when I…get my recording out, it’s gone. Just disappears.”
• Host’s Contextualization:
  • Ties the call to the Maury Island Incident (1947), where a craft released strange material—preceding Roswell—demonstrating persistent folklore on UFOs and physical trace evidence.
    [43:46]

8. Black Dogs with Red Eyes – Hellhounds or Hallucination? (Tennessee)

[48:24 – 51:26]
Caller: Megan from Knoxville, Tennessee

• Story:
  • Megan recounts encountering a huge black dog with red eyes in her driveway; her father can't see it but she observes a second dog—possible mate. She never sees either again.
• Memorable Quote:
  • Megan: “I was terrified…I remember thinking if I move it’s going to attack me…the dog was just completely frozen and it was only about 2ft away from me…”
• Host’s Theories:
  • Derek considers three options: a Dogman encounter, a very large mundane dog, or a spectral hellhound. Connects the tale to black dog phenomena in folklore, referencing a 1939 newspaper account and the enduring mythos of “phantom dogs.”
    [51:26]

9. Secret Entry: Phantom 911 Caller (California)

[58:18 – 60:27]
Caller: Anonymous from Central Valley, California

• Story:
  • Police respond repeatedly over years to 911 calls from a woman traced to the caller’s address, though no one in the house made the calls. The home’s creepy vibe, red walls, black carpet, and off-limits basement deepen the sense of unease.
• Host’s Advice:
  • Derek: “A call for help echoing throughout time…do some digging, see if you can find any tragic deaths in that area…”
    [60:31]

10. Patreon Bonus Entry Teaser: Poltergeist in a Boarding House (California)

[61:51+]
Caller: Joe from (formerly) Long Beach, CA

• Story:
  • Growing up in an old house with a violent poltergeist: on one occasion, a heavy chair is flung across an empty upstairs room, leaving a hole in the wall.
• Host’s Invitation:
  • Encourages listeners to support the show for access to “the beyond” and ad-free content.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Derek Hayes [06:48]:
  “Over the years, I've learned to trust those negative vibes you get for no reason.”
• Heather (Minnesota) [09:40]:
  “I'm like, I just saw you in the bedroom. And he's like, no, I've been out here.”
• Chris (Maryland) [15:13]:
  “We went back down the basement. We're hanging out for a while. And then my friend got real white, and he wasn't talking. And I asked him what was going on. He just pointed in the corner. There was the bike...like it had never been moved.”
• Jordan (Ohio) [30:04]:
  “…in my experience, it was almost something that was pretending to be her. And then in her experience, it was something pretending to be me walking across the room, the shadow figure.”
• Derek Hayes [36:03]:
  “…but having to worry that who you think is your wife is actually the entity. Ain't nobody got time for that.”
• Savannah (Michigan) [41:16]:
  “Then all of a sudden it emits this light like plasma. And…then it releases a small one…when I…get my recording out, it's gone. Just disappears.”
• Megan (Tennessee) [48:24]:
  “There was a huge black dog…it had a Doberman shaped head with a longer snout…red eyes…if I move it's going to attack me.”

Episode Structure & Flow

• Derek’s open explores how summer’s shift to outdoor living correlates with increases in strange encounters.
• Each caller brings a new dimension of the paranormal, tied together by Derek’s thoughtful commentary and the show’s immersive (often spooky, but empathetic) tone.
• The episode moves from haunted localities and doppelganger intrusions, through time slip mysteries and UFOs, before culminating in classic cryptid lore and a secret, haunting twist.

Final Thoughts

Derek closes the episode by inviting listeners to share their stories, connect via social media, and consider supporting the show for ad-free and bonus content. He keeps the tone spooky, warm, and slightly conspiratorial: "Keep it spooky and have a good night."

LISTENERS' TAKEAWAYS

• Trust your instincts. Creepy vibes and negative energy sometimes signal the genuinely strange.
• Doppelgangers and time slips are recurring mysteries with no clear, comforting explanation.
• Classic folklore endures. Black dogs, orbs, and lost-and-found phenomena bridge old local legends with modern experiences.
• Look up—and look deeper. Phenomena may only reveal themselves to the observant (and the persistent).
• You are not alone. Multiple calls show that weird happenings have a strange way of echoing across locations, families, and time.

For Further Exploration

• Consider researching the Maury Island Incident and the Brown Mountain Lights if the glowing orb stories intrigued you.
• If you have doppelganger experiences or stories of mysterious calls for help, call the Monsters Among Us hotline or email your entry.

Keep it spooky!