Monsters Among Us – S20 Ep34: Crawling creatures, another man in the woods and a child with no eyes

Host: Derek Hayes
Date: February 19, 2026
Podcast Description: Real first-hand paranormal stories, told by witnesses, curated by Derek Hayes in a nostalgia-rich, spooky atmosphere.

Episode Overview

This episode continues the tradition of spine-tingling first-person stories of the unexplained, centering on unsettling personal encounters with the paranormal. Highlights include a chilling run-in with a boy with black, eyeless sockets, crawling creatures in the night, mysterious men in the woods, poltergeist-like disturbances, and an eerie airline pilot UFO sighting. Encounters with haunting lights, shadow people, vibrating beds, and more round out an episode heavy on the unexplainable and atmospheric. Derek maintains a warm, open tone, and often provides folklore context and insight after each caller’s story.

Key Stories and Discussions

1. The Eyeless Boy – Jackie, Parts Unknown

[03:27-08:24]

• Story: Jackie describes picking up her daughter from middle school in daylight and seeing a boy in black walking home. When they pass him, he turns and looks at both with black, formless eyes—no whites, only a vacant, black void. Both mother and daughter feel a "gravitational pull" toward him, a terror mixed with inexplicable attraction, like falling into an abyss.

• Jackie initially rationalizes the sighting as blackout contact lenses but later doubts this after makeup professionals point out the practical impossibility of full-sclera blackout lenses for everyday use.

• Years later, when revisiting the memory, her daughter independently recalls the same details including the eye contact and unsettling pull, validating Jackie's experience.

• Notable Quote:

  • Jackie [04:38]: “He made eye contact with us, except he had no eyes...it was just blackness. There was no eye white...But when I made eye contact with him, it was like he became closer to me...The whole world had fallen away and I had this gravitational pull.”

• Host Commentary: Derek notes blackout contacts do exist ([08:24]) but wonders if this could be an encounter with “Black Eyed Kids” lore due to the strong, supernatural vibe.

2. Poltergeist-like Bang – Ally, Maine

[12:14-14:54]

• Story: Alone at home, Ally hears a massive bang from directly above her—a sound so heavy and sharp she likens it to a 300-pound person jumping off a bed. She rushes outside, finding nothing, and the event remains unexplained. She’s lived in old houses before, but insists this was different than typical settling noises.
• Notable Quote:
  • Ally [12:53]: “It sounded as if [my 300 lb husband] was standing on our bed and then just jumped as hard as he could onto the floor above me...I can’t explain to you how weird it was to me…It just didn't seem like a natural occurring kind of sound.”
• Host Commentary: Derek offers rational suggestions (house settling, a large bird) but acknowledges the feeling of acute fear escalates the mystery.

3. The Sharp-Dressed Stranger and His Dog – Ray, Pennsylvania

[17:10-23:02]

• Story: Ray and his girlfriend encounter a sharply-dressed elderly man in a suit and his eerily still, massive German Shepherd while walking in Stroud’s Nature Preserve. The man peppers them with personal questions. Later, as dusk falls, he seems to follow them out of the woods, getting closer each time they turn around, eliciting a “Michael Myers effect.” They bolt to their car, which is parked next to the stranger’s Rolls Royce, and flee. Years later, Ray’s wife reminds him the man called himself "Vladimir," fueling speculation he was a vampire or similarly odd being.
• Notable Quote:
  • Ray [21:06]: “Every time we turned around, him and the dog were like closer to us. He wasn’t running, but he was walking. It was like the Michael Myers effect...I don’t know if it was a vampire...or if we walked through some kind of time dimension and met some dude from the past. He was just so sharp dressed.”
• Host Commentary: Derek draws parallels to “Men in Black” stories ([23:02]), referencing Reddit threads about mysteriously dressed men in woods, and shares similar experiences from other users, amplifying the uncanny vibe.

4. Blue Floating Dots – Cassidy, Pennsylvania

[27:56-32:21]

• Story: Cassidy recounts growing up in a house built on a Native American burial ground in Towanda, PA. As a child, she sees glowing blue dots in her room that respond to her thoughts, sometimes multiplying or forming images. The experience ends when her mother sees the same blue light and is terrified. Cassidy now sees similar patterns during deep meditation.
• Notable Quote:
  • Cassidy [28:59]: “I would see two blue dots appear...I could play with these dots...I could make blue skies and white clouds and trees...it would follow what I wanted it to do, but make them better.”
• Host Commentary: Derek connects Cassidy’s story to similar phenomena in old, burial-ground towns and references a news clip about ancient remains in Augusta, Kentucky.

5. Vibrating Bed Mystery – Megan, Virginia

[35:04-36:27]

• Story: Megan and her husband experience their bed vibrating at night, even after moving to a new house. The sensation is subtle, like a small earthquake, and persists regardless of location or bed.
• Notable Quote:
  • Megan [35:31]: “A lot of the times our bed will vibrate to the point where I’ll ask him, are you moving? And he’ll ask me the same, and both of us will be like, no, we’re completely still…”
• Host Commentary: Derek suggests possible explanations: a shared psychological effect, a physical bed issue, or even (humorously) a “useless secret superpower.”

6. The Ghost Horse (or Mammoth?) – Ben, Oklahoma

[37:22-39:01]

• Story: Ben, a military veteran, and his girlfriend both see a massive, spectral horse—"the size of an elephant"—by the river on different occasions. Each sighting involves the animal vanishing suddenly, leaving them spooked.
• Notable Quote:
  • Ben [37:38]: “It looked like a broad horse by the side of the elephant, maybe...It walked behind a big chunk of grass, not nearly big enough to hide this thing, and disappeared.”
• Host Commentary: Derek muses whether the specter could be a “ghost mammoth,” and drops a trivia tidbit about Oklahoma’s famous horses.

7. Paralysis, Robed Shadow, and Cat Steps – Chris, Michigan (Event in California)

[40:32-43:14]

• Story: Chris, as a teen, feels watched in his room at night; sees a faceless, robed shadow. He hides under covers, feels the sensation of a cat walking up the bed and sitting on his chest, but nothing’s there—a sequence reminiscent of sleep paralysis. The feeling abates only after switching rooms.
• Notable Quote:
  • Chris [41:13]: “At the foot of my bed...a silhouette of like a robe or something just floating there...I pulled the blanket over my head. Suddenly I felt pressure at the foot of my bed, like a cat walking up, and it sat on my chest.”
• Host Commentary: Derek connects the description to the “Alp” from German folklore: a shape-shifting, cloaked night creature that causes nightmares.

8. Haunted Scottish Castle Confirmed – Psychic Medium Caller

[47:10-48:36]

• Story: A psychic medium corroborates a previous episode’s report about sensing a "room full of nonliving people” in Holyrood Castle, Scotland. She walks into the portrait room and feels it buzzing with spirit-party energy.
• Notable Quote:
  • Caller [47:44]: “I said, oh my gosh, this room is full of people—and none of them are alive. It truly was just so much energy...felt like there was a party going on.”
• Host Commentary: Derek wonders what it’s like to visit haunted locations as a psychic.

9. Shadow Man with a Burning Hot Floor – Jason, Tennessee

[49:24-53:47]

• Story: Jason stays overnight in a friend’s home haunted by her deceased husband. He wakes up paralyzed, sees a tall shadow man in a hat and coat (“neighborhood watch cartoon”-like) in the corner, and finds the floor beside the bed inexplicably “hot as the top of a stove.” The friend corroborates: she, too, experienced a visitation the same night.
• Notable Quote:
  • Jason [51:51]: “...I see a man in the corner...much taller than me, probably seven and a half, eight feet tall...He kind of looked like the neighborhood watch cartoon...So I...put my bare feet on the floor, and the floor was as hot as the top of a stove...Like, this shadow person did not want me getting out of the bed.”

10. Pilot UFO Sighting – T, International Airline Pilot

[55:04-57:49]

• Story: In the 1990s, “T” (airline pilot) sees an object at extreme altitude leaving a contrail, crossing much of Colorado in 25 seconds—calculating an estimated speed of Mach 24 (~18,000 mph). He speculates it was the mythical “Aurora Project” spy plane.
• Notable Quote:
  • T [56:20]: “I watched this object zip across the sky leaving a contrail...I measured the distance...and I calculated about Mach 24. That’s about what I’ve heard rumored the Aurora Project clips along.”
• Host Commentary: Derek gives background on the Aurora project, plays a European news segment, and muses if the sighting was secret military tech or something “from out of this world.”

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Jackie [Eyeless Boy, 04:38]: “He made eye contact with us, except he had no eyes... There was no eye white.”
• Ray [Woodsman, 21:06]: “Every time we turned around, him and the dog were closer to us. It was like the Michael Myers effect.”
• Cassidy [Blue Dots, 28:59]: “I could make blue skies and white clouds and trees.”
• Jason [Shadow Man, 51:51]: “…the floor was as hot as the top of a stove. Like, this shadow person did not want me getting out of the bed.”
• T [Pilot, 56:20]: “…I calculated about Mach 24. That’s about what I’ve heard rumored the Aurora Project clips along.”

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Jackie – Eyeless child: 03:27–08:24
• Ally – Giant bang in house: 12:14–14:54
• Ray – Man, Dog, Woods: 17:10–23:02
• Cassidy – Blue lights, haunted house: 27:56–32:21
• Megan – Vibrating bed: 35:04–36:27
• Ben – Spectral horse: 37:22–39:01
• Chris – Shadow man, cat steps: 40:32–43:14
• Psychic medium (Holyrood): 47:10–48:36
• Jason – Shadow person, hot floor: 49:24–53:47
• T (pilot) – Mach 24 UFO: 55:04–57:49

Episode Tone & Final Thoughts

Derek’s tone is both warm and skeptical, providing a steady hand of reason or folklore reference after each eerie call. The stories are delivered in the first person, making them intimate and unsettling, yet the host cultivates a sense of camaraderie and fascination rather than fear—inviting listeners to keep an open mind and “keep it spooky.” The episode is heavy on creepiness—haunted children, spectral creatures, and menacing strangers—but is also full of curiosity and wonder.

For Further Listening

• Show Notes and Links: Additional Reddit threads, news clips, and folklore references are provided for the curious at monstersamonguspodcast.com (see the Show Notes tab).

Summary prepared for those wanting a full walkthrough of monsters, mysteries, and memories featured – without facing the dark alone.