Monsters Among Us – S20 Ep21: Horror Around the Holidays: The 2025 Holiday Special

Host: Derek Hayes | Audioboom Studios
Date: December 23, 2025

Episode Overview

This holiday special of Monsters Among Us continues the tradition of ghost stories and supernatural encounters around the festive season. Host Derek Hayes curates chilling first-hand accounts—told in the voices of ordinary people—about Christmas trees as omens, haunted holiday toys, spectral visits from Santa and Mrs. Claus, terrifying elves and goblins, and more. Derek threads the listener through nostalgia, folklore, and first-class fright, unearthing the spooky side of the holidays.

Key Segments & Notable Stories

1. Introduction: The Tradition of Holiday Ghost Stories (03:00)

• Derek sets the holiday mood: “While you might think Christmas is a strange time to share spooky stories, you might be surprised to know that telling ghost stories at Christmas was once a very popular pastime. And I'll tell you, I'm doing what I can to bring that tradition back.” (03:26)
• Promise of content: A sack full of stories about “Santa, toys, elves, ghosts, creatures, and a whole lot more.”

2. The Haunted Furby – Beatrix’s Story (03:58)

• Location: Long Island (Beatrix now in Virginia)
• Summary: As a child, Beatrix receives a Furby. She tells it a joke, and the toy responds unexpectedly:
  “And it said people like that. It said people. I very clearly remember this... I like never played with that Furby again.” (05:08)
• Spooky Details: Furby turns itself on, makes noises, possibly a “channel” for something beyond.
• Derek’s Response: Notes Furby paranoia in the 2000s and frames the Furby as “the gateway to our new dystopian nightmare.” (06:19)

3. The Paranormal Christmas Tree Omen – Melissa’s Family Legend (10:59)

• Location: Upstate New York, originally St. John’s, Newfoundland
• Summary: In the 1970s, Melissa’s grandmother’s Christmas tree shakes violently and tinsel stands upright. Moments later, the tree tips, and the family receives a phone call: her great-grandmother died during a minor surgery.
• Family Interpretation: Seen as an omen from the other side; a message or warning.
• Melissa: “Every single one of them [the tinsel] were standing up on top of the tree. She said she couldn’t believe it. She had goosebumps.” (13:41)
• Derek’s Take: “Never heard of a spirit hitching a ride” on a tree, but loves the generational lore. (15:00)

4. Ghostly Santa and Mrs. Claus – Morgan's Encounter (16:51)

• Location: Hundred, West Virginia
• Summary: As a child in 1989, Morgan sees figures resembling Santa and Mrs. Claus on Christmas Eve. Decades later, he learns from a relative that these were the ghosts of the former homeowners (babysitter’s parents), known to knit and arrange presents every Christmas.
• Memorable Moment: “I come running around the corner. And I’m thinking, oh, my gosh, Santa Claus is real. And Mrs. Claus, she’s real, too...” (19:04)
• Later Realization: “...I had seen his mom and dad celebrating Christmas as ghosts.” (20:59)
• Derek’s Reaction: Finds the “Norman Rockwell sort of holiday ghost” nostalgic and unexpectedly touching. (21:19)

5. Real-Life Santa Bank Robberies (22:44)

• Derek shares a true crime news clip of a Santa-costumed robber who was never caught.
• Notable quote from eyewitness: “It’s a little unbelievable. He was. He was actually jovial, which is scary...he was robbing the bank because Santa had to pay his elves.” (23:23)
• Derek delivers trivia about “Santa crimes” for darkly comic effect.

6. Grandma’s Helpful Spirit – Autumn in Minnesota (27:12)

• Summary: After her grandma dies, Autumn desperately searches for a lost utensil. She “hears” her grandmother’s voice suggest she checks the dishwasher—she finds it there.
• Quote: “It wasn’t that voice, it was in my grandmother’s voice. And she said check the dishwasher.” (28:19)
• Connection: Links it to previous caller stories about helpful instincts, possibly messages from deceased loved ones.

7. Three Mysterious Men – Mirrored Men in Florida (30:35 & 35:47)

Holly’s Encounter

• Location: Florida, in a house with an unusual backstory and many doors.
• Events: Series of odd happenings (visions, hair pulling, blown-out candles), climaxing with an encounter:
  “I see three men... all facing each other with, like, their heads down and they had hoods on. I basically just froze. It was really, really silent, really eerily silent.” (33:35)
• Aftermath: Holly flees the house within two months.

Missy’s Dream (shared by Derek, 35:47)

• Similarities: Dreamt of “three footed beings” trying to enter her home, shrouded, tapping, menacing—but then protected by “glowing white” beings in a subsequent dream.
• Interpretation: Derek frames both stories as possible "mirrored men" phenomena—unexplained sightings of silent, synchronized humanoids.

8. Christmas Elf Nightmares – Arletta & Sabrina (42:23 & 49:03)

Arletta's Elf Encounter

• Recurring Events: Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Arletta sees a diminutive, grotesque elf with bells on shoes and a black/green cape, who creeps, sniffs, and terrifies her each year.
• Memorable Quote: “He would just smell all around. I could feel his breath on my face and he’d be sniffing around my eyeballs and in my ears and my mouth and I could feel his hot stinky breath on my face or whatever.” (44:17)
• How She Made It Stop: Decided to confront the elf—“if he comes, it's going to be a fight”—and the visitations ceased.

Sabrina Shares Her Mother’s Elf Story

• Details: Mother (aged 14) hears closet door open, a figure with clawed feet and jingling bells walks out, circles her bed, breathes on her through blanket, then leaves.
• Similarity: Creature is taller, but behavior and presence of bells match Arletta’s accounts.

Folklore Context: The Kallikantzaroi (52:40)

• Monstrum Clip: Mediterranean Christmas goblin; small, hairy, black creatures with red eyes; appear during the 12 days of Christmas “to wreak havoc” and torment people.
• Derek observes: The reports overlap with this lesser-known European cryptid and possibly inspired creatures like the ones in Gremlins.

9. Haunted Holiday Toys & Clown Dolls – James from Texas (55:00)

• Summary: James, as a child, sees his beloved clown doll turn its head independently. He destroys the doll, but strange phenomena follow: closet doors opening, knocking on walls, lingering sense something was released.
• James: “I think that once I cut that doll string and kind of made it fall apart, either I released something or something wasn’t happy with me.” (57:19)

10. The Creepy Deer – Anonymous (60:57)

• Location: Pennsylvania
• Summary: Observes a grayish-white deer with deformed front legs in a herd at night.
• Derek's Explanation: Likely a rare “piebald deer,” a naturally occurring genetic mutation, not supernatural, but still “quite rare.” (62:28)

11. Ominous "Not Yet" Call – Brianna (65:26)

• Location: Long Island, NY
• Incident: After a lost phone delays her and her boyfriend by a minute, they come upon a fresh car accident. Later, Brianna discovers she missed an unknown call at the exact time, voicemail simply says “not yet,” in a voice reminiscent of The Mothman Prophecies.
• Implication: They were potentially spared involvement in the accident.
• Derek ties to pop culture: “That voice, the stuff of nightmares.” (69:15)

12. Gremlins and Tokoloshe – TJ from England (70:52)

• Story: TJ's brother, living on the 19th floor in Johannesburg, sees a goblin/gremlin-type creature tapping on his window. Local coworkers identify it as a Tokoloshe—a malicious, child-sized Zulu spirit. Evidence: mysterious small hand and footprints on the glass.
• Cultural Note: Beds in the region are propped on bricks to deter Tokoloshe.
• Derek’s Conclusion: Yuletide reporting abounds with “small and sinister” creatures worldwide.

13. The Elf Who Stayed – Cindy from Indiana (79:51)

• Whimsical story: As children in 1961, Cindy and her brother encounter a sobbing elf in their bedroom, fired by Santa for being too slow and eating too many cookies. Their family adopts him; as an “invisible entity,” he still lives among Cindy’s toys.
• Memorable line: “He still wouldn’t stop crying. And he said Santa fired me and we all gassed. And they said that can’t be true. Santa would never do that...” (80:23)
• Derek's Response: Finds this tale charming—a mix between eerie folk stories and holiday humor, reminiscent of the movie Elf.

Notable Quotes

• “Years from today, when the robots have already revolted and taken over, many of us may look back and say that the Furby was the gateway to our new dystopian nightmare.” — Derek Hayes (06:15)
• “It’s the kind of tale you tell every year.” — Derek, on Melissa’s family Christmas tree omen (15:00)
• “A Norman Rockwell sort of holiday ghost.” — Derek, on Morgan’s story (21:19)
• “He was actually jovial, which is scary, but...he was robbing the bank because Santa had to pay his elves.” — Eyewitness of Santa bank robber (23:23)
• “But after I had that mindset...I never had the dreams anymore or the visitation. I wouldn’t say dreams. I’m 69 years old and I still can feel the hot breath...” — Arletta (47:39)
• “Children born on Christmas Day are at risk of becoming a Kallikantzaroi. Creepy stuff.” — Derek, on Christmas goblin lore (53:48)
• “I think that once I cut that doll string and kind of made it fall apart, either I released something or something wasn’t happy with me.” — James (57:19)
• “The only thing we could think is that we avoided something...something catastrophic.” — Brianna (67:43)

Key Themes & Insights

• Holiday Traditions and the Uncanny: The episode demonstrates how Christmas, with its liminality and recurring rituals, provides a potent setting for the supernatural and uncanny.
• Folklore Crossroads: Through stories of elves, goblins, Tokoloshe, and piebald deer, Derek draws connections between American, European, and African lore, showing how similar archetypes emerge in different cultures, especially during mid-winter.
• Personal Ghost Stories: Listeners share powerful, firsthand accounts—frequently involving childhood or family—wherein the supernatural intrudes on the coziness of the season.
• Mundane Meets Mysterious: Ordinary, beloved symbols (Furbies, trees, kitchen utensils, doll toys, elves) become vessels for unexplainable phenomena.
• Emotional Resonance: Several tales center on lost loved ones, family traditions, and the intersection of grief with hopeful or protective ghostly encounters.

Timeline of Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment Description | |-----------|------------------------------------------------------| | 03:00 | Derek’s intro to Christmas ghost story tradition | | 03:58 | Beatrix’s haunted Furby story | | 10:59 | Melissa’s Christmas tree omen | | 16:51 | Morgan’s ghostly Santa and Mrs. Claus | | 22:44 | Santa bank robbery news story | | 27:12 | Autumn’s grandma’s voice encounter | | 30:35 | Holly’s “three men”/mirrored men in Florida | | 35:47 | Missy’s black figures & white ring dream | | 42:23 | Arletta’s Christmas elf nightmares | | 49:03 | Sabrina’s mother’s elf/jester story | | 52:40 | Monstrum segment on Kallikantzaroi Christmas goblin | | 55:00 | James’s haunted clown doll | | 60:57 | Pennsylvania caller’s piebald deer | | 65:26 | Brianna’s ominous “not yet” voicemail/Mothman call | | 70:52 | TJ’s Tokoloshe encounter in South Africa | | 79:51 | Cindy’s adopted elf story |

Tone and Language

The episode balances eerie, personal, and sometimes whimsical tones. Derek is wry, nostalgic, and encouraging of skepticism, but always respectful to callers’ stories. The language of the callers ranges from conversational and candid to vividly descriptive and emotionally charged.

Conclusion

Monsters Among Us Holiday Special delivers a unique, nostalgia-soaked blend of warmth and weirdness. Derek Hayes guides listeners through a darkly festive catalogue: holiday omens, familial spirits, uncanny toys, cryptids disguising as Christmas tradition, and tales that unsettle and inspire in equal measure. The episode honors the sacred (and sometimes sinister) pastimes of sharing ghost stories and reminds us—holiday magic comes in many forms, and sometimes, it’s downright spooky.

For New Listeners

This summary captures the highlights and recurring motifs of episode S20 Ep21. Even without listening, you’ll get a sense of why ghost stories and the supernatural feel at home at Christmas—and how Monsters Among Us lets everyday people share their strangest holiday tales. Buckle up for a sleigh ride into the unknown—and remember to keep the fire burning through the dark midwinter night.