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Derek Hayes
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Derek Hayes
Prices vary based on how you buy.
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Derek Hayes
Sa. Good evening and welcome to Monsters Among Us. I am your guide, Derek Hayes. Welcome back to another eerie installment, an episode filled with thrills, chills and nightmares. And to prove that statement, let's launch right into tonight's first entry. Carrie out of Canada. Welcome to the program.
Carrie
Hey Derek, it's Carrie from Ontario, Canada. So this happened back in 1994 and I was on a trip with my aunt, my cousin and my grandpa to visit family in Tennessee. And we were staying in a very picturesque a frame cabin in the Douglas Lake area. The cabin was owned by my great aunt. Although quite isolated, there were other cabins around and a fishing camp nearby that was owned by my family. The cabin had bedrooms on the main floor and the loft area where my cousin and I were going to sleep. And to reach the loft you had to climb up a set of stairs. And at the top of the stairs there was a large window. The loft sleeping area was to the right. So on our first night at the cabin, my cousin and I set up our air mattress and settled in for the night. And I was laying closest to the staircase, so I had an unobstructed view of the window and the stairs. So during the night I woke up and my eyes were drawn to the window at the top of the stairs and I just focused on the window trying to get back to sleep. And I heard what sounded like a very loud, deep exhale of breath, so I thought it was my cousin. And then when it happened the second time, I realized the sound was coming from the stairs and not from her, who was sound asleep, like right beside me. So my gaze was drawn to the staircase from where I heard the sound. And I expected to see my aunt or my grandpa. But instead I saw something I will never forget. A black opaque mist slowly winding its way up the stairs. This mist was so black and so deep that I can only describe it as thick but fluid, like the darkest black I've ever seen. I was confused and thought I was dreaming. So I just continued to watch this darkness climb up the staircase. And then this mist slowly wound its way up the stairs. And when it came to the top of the stairs, it filled the window completely, blocking out any light in the room. And even though the room was pitch black, I could still manage to see the mist take on a semi human form as it stretched up. It must have reached at least 10ft tall. It did not have a distinct outline, the edges were wispy. I could not believe what I was seeing, so I closed my eyes, thinking I must be dreaming. When I opened my eyes, that figure grew arms, like long arms, long bony fingers stretching out, reaching towards me. There must have been at least 15ft between the dark mass and where I was laying. But the arms just were reaching out so slowly right towards me. So this is when, like the terror set in and I knew I was not dreaming. I was absolutely wide awake. So at this time, I reached out my right arm behind me to wake up my cousin, but I felt she wasn't there. So I turned over, turning my back on the black mass, which in hindsight maybe wasn't a great idea. That this is going to sound absolutely bizarre. The mattress that we were sleeping on appeared to me to have stretched out across the loft with me on my side, my cousin on the other side, and the gap between us, 15, 20ft. I could not reach her. I tried calling out to her, she didn't move. I was terrified, paralyzed in place. I closed my eyes. I recited the Lord's Prayer over and over. And after a few minutes I was able to move my body. I opened my eyes and the mask was gone. My cousin was beside me again. The mattress was normal sized, the window was as it should be. The stairs were empty. So we did end up staying in the loft for the remainder of the trip. I didn't sleep much, even though I had no other experiences after that night. Absolutely no. I was not dreaming. I was fully awake. And even now I can recall every detail I've only told my husband and my cousin, who by the way, had no idea anything was happening. She didn't hear me trying to call her name. She didn't seem to know what I was talking about. So this is something that I've carried around with me for quite some time and I'm really interested to know what that was. So thanks, Derek. My husband and I love your show.
Andrew / Mary / Mary (multiple callers)
Keep it spooky.
Derek Hayes
Thanks, Gary. You know, it's kind of funny that this should happen at Douglas Lake, an area known for its dead communities. You see, During World War II, massive amounts of electricity were needed for manufacturing, research, development, basically everything it took to win the war. And to create that electricity, groups like the Tennessee Valley Authority with dam valleys in order to create hydroelectric power, which is how Douglas Lake was formed. Now, the only issue here is that those valleys were previously occupied. Entire towns were located down there now sunk beneath the waters of the lake. Homes, churches, schools, and even cemeteries. So is it possible that one of these spirits, angered about their watery tomb, reached out to Carrie in that lakeside cabin? And could that explain the weird mist that seemed to form or the strange stretching of distances? Super creepy Carrie. And the perfect way to begin things here tonight. So thank you again for bringing in. All right, gang, I have to take a quick break to make sure the bills get paid, but when I come back, I have a situation straight out of a movie. Don't go anywhere.
Zach
Point has been made. With respect.
Derek Hayes
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Ad Interjector / Commentator
details very much don't
Ryan
care to come out
Derek Hayes
now. Our next stop here this evening takes us up to Iowa. Zach, the mic is all yours.
Zach
Hi Derek, this is Zach from Dubuque, Iowa. The home that my parents still live in is the home that I pretty much grew up in as a child from about the age of seven until I moved out. But my parents got this house and great house overall. Haven't experienced a lot of creepy things in it. But I don't remember and I don't recall this, but my mother told me about it and When I was 7, we moved in and I remember playing in the basement. Finished basement in the toy room area. Apparently. I came upstairs pretty distraught. There was a Batman toy that I was playing with and I guess I set it down in one area of the room and when I turned around to grab it, it was no longer there and it had moved clear across to the other end of the room. That really bothered me, I guess. And I came upstairs and I told
Sue
my mom about it.
Zach
She consoled me and believed me. I don't remember this very much, probably because she didn't make a big deal of it, but she sure remembered it. She said it didn't seem like I was making anything up because of how upset I was. So she didn't think too much of that. But I guess there was one other incident that could be related. I was going to go brush my teeth before bedtime and I went to go brush my teeth and I couldn't find my toothbrush. And I remember a little bit of this when mom said that I went in to tell her that I couldn't find my toothbrush and she just chalked it up to I'm not looking hard enough. So she said I need to go look again. And I said, okay, I will. And I said I still can't find it. And she went to go look for it and she said she couldn't find it either and then went to go look in a location that she had just checked and the toothbrush turned up. So it was either like on the bathroom sink or in the bathroom cabinet or something. And my mom said that kind of reminds her of the story with the Batman, just things disappearing, moving around. But the previous owners, they had an issue with a child of theirs that had died under questionable circumstances. And when my parents moved into the house, they were contacted by authorities to investigate some of the things in the house and to see some of the rooms. And of course, my parents didn't really let me know about this until years later. And there had been, I believe, some abuse of the child, but I'm not sure. I don't think there was any other events that happened at the household. I'm pretty sure they blessed it after these things happened. I don't think they blessed it because of this. It could just be celebrating a new house, wanting to bless it, start fresh new. But I just thought I'd share. So I really like your podcast. Keep it going. Thanks. Bye.
Derek Hayes
Thank you, Zach. You know, it certainly sounds like that home had a questionable past. And we all know that those locations with questionable past quite often are questionable in the present as well. And given the atrocities that you hinted at there, Zach, I'd say the activity you did experience was disproportionately calm compared to what one might expect from that sort of situation. So I guess that's a small win at least. Thanks again, Zach, for sharing. Now, what I have for you next might sound a little bit familiar. Stick around and I'll tell you why. But first, please welcome Anonymous from the desert.
Anonymous Caller
Hey, Monsters Among Us podcast. When I was 18 years old, I had left California. I wanted to get out of California, so I thought I was going to make a new life in Colorado. Well, that did not work out. So I left Boulder with my boyfriend at the time and we started heading back towards California. I think we were on i70, although it's so hard to know because that was so many years ago. But it was really late at night and there hadn't been an on ramp or an off ramp, nothing. No town for miles. And it's pitch black out there. And suddenly there's a single headlight behind me. And I thought, that is so strange. Where did that come from? I just assumed, okay, it's probably just a motorcyclist. So I didn't think too much of it and I thought, okay, well I'm glad he has somebody to follow. And the light starts getting closer and bigger and I keep moving my eyes to the rear view mirror to, you know, kind of size it up, check it out, and my heart starts beating really fast because something seems off about it. I told myself, just roll your window down a little bit. You're gonna hear the engine of the motorcycle, and you're gonna know that that's all it is. So I did just that, cracked my window a little bit. And it was quiet. I mean, even the wind seemed quiet. You know, normally if you're going at a high speed, you're going to hear that loud wind, but it was just so quiet. And I panicked. And in that moment, my eyes dart back up to the rearview mirror, and the light just swallows my back window whole. I mean, it was like blaring light that lit up the whole car. You know, I'm grabbing the steering wheel, like, what the f is happening right now? And I think I said that out loud. And I think my boyfriend at the time, he was just kind of half asleep. I don't even know how much he reacted. All I know is that I was super scared and I didn't want to lose control of the car. And suddenly it was pitch black again. I didn't see the light go around me. I didn't see it fly away. I didn't see anything. It went straight from full light up to just pitch black again. So, yeah, I figured that I was an uninteresting specimen that luckily the aliens had no interest in investigating. But maybe it was a ghost. I don't know. Thank you.
Derek Hayes
Thanks, caller. Now, this might sound familiar because we've received a story just like this several times over the years, but it was fairly recently on season 20, episode 26, that I shared a story from Alex, whom also had the exact same experience driving through the desert at night. You're cruising in your vehicle, but suddenly a bright light pops over the horizon in your rear view mirror. Within seconds, it's right up on you. It's seemingly trying to overtake your vehicle. Then, as suddenly as it appears, the light pulls back, revealing some sort of large craft slicing through the air. Now, nine times out of ten, this is where the object zips away or simply fades out, a series of events fitting for the silver screen. Now, before we move on here, our caller mentioned Interstate 70. And coincidentally, I actually grew up in the shadow of i70 all the way back in Ohio. But the western reaches of that highway in particular seem to be a hotbed for this sort of activity. Here is an example that Delaney dug up a report originally submitted to Newfork, an experience that occurred in 1997 somewhere along I 70 east of Denver. My boyfriend and I were headed east toward Denver, Colorado, on i70. We were just coming up on the exit for golden when a large bright white object, maybe the size of a car headlight. If it was a quarter mile away, it was going too fast to be a plane. It was coming from directly ahead of us and headed to the left. It was going at a 45 degree angle. It looked like it crashed behind the town we could see from the highway. About a minute later, I saw a flash of light coming from the same town. The flash was so bright that the mountain behind us lit up. Now, Delaney also dug up another entry that occurred a little further east on I 70 somewhere in Kansas. You'll have to check out the show notes for the full details on that one, but spoiler alert. It's almost the same beat for beat. I'm sorry I don't have answers for you here caller, but I do have a big thanks to delivery. This entry takes us one step closer to understanding the strange phenomenon, if such a thing is even possible. Thank you again caller for sharing the entry. And gang, if you too have a story you would like me to share here on the air, give the hotline a call at 888-6089. That's 888608, Nig HD.
Progressive Insurance Announcer
Or you can email me a voice
Derek Hayes
memo to monsters among us podcastmail.com now remember to call from a quiet place. One story per call only. Share a story once. Call back if you need more time. And of course, true stories only. This ain't no creative writing exercise. And don't forget, forget to have your young ones tune in and possibly even contribute to Monsters Among Us Junior. That hotline is 833-MA-KIDS. Or email us over there at Monsters Among Us jr Gmail.com and remember to tune in every other Wednesday. Now up next, we venture on up to Wisconsin. Please welcome Danny to the program.
Danny
Hey Derek, So this is Danny calling from Wisconsin. I just listened to your episode where you had asked about people who share dreams and it reminded me of the time that I was sleeping over at my friend's house and we were sleeping in the same bed and I woke up the next morning and I told her that I had had a stress dream where I was in this big building, this maze type building and I was calling out for my friend and I was looking for her and I could not find her. And then after I told her this story she's like what the heck? And she told me that she had a stress dream that she was in a maze like building and she was lost and she was calling for me to try to get her but she was lost in this maze type building and trapped. So, pretty short story, but I thought, you know, it was kind of interesting thing that me and her had shared, and, you know, she's like my best friend's soulmate. And so I think we kind of connect each other on, like, an intuitive
Sue
level a little bit.
Danny
But, yeah, that's my story. Thanks for listening.
Derek Hayes
Thanks, Danny, for that submission. Now, oddly enough, I just shared a similar story last week. A call from Anonymous in Texas back on episode 42, and that caller and her roommate shared a dream as well. More of a nightmare. According to her submission, they both got the sense that some strange man was attempting to enter their home, a dream they both had at the exact same time. So, you know, that makes this call pretty interesting, which is why I pulled it for this episode. And because this keeps popping up, we did a little digging on the subject. And as it turns out, there seems to be two different types of shared dreams. And to help me explain the difference between the two, I brought in an expert author, researcher, and founding member of the association for the Study of Dreams, Linda Lane Maguian.
Linda Lane Maguian
Well, the simplest way of thinking of a mutual dream is simply something in my dream corresponds with something in yours. That's the baseline. But beyond that, the correlations could be very vague or quite definite. And within that realm, there are two classics. One is that we seem to share the same dream. That is, the symbols are similar, the emotions, the themes of the dreams are quite similar, but we don't see each other in that dream. That first type is the one I call the meshing dream. The second dream is the meeting dream. And that's where I see you, you see me. We meet as we might in waking life, here in the studio.
Derek Hayes
No, that clip courtesy of New Thinking allowed with Jeffrey Mishlove. Now, I can't help but notice that the dreams Dani and her friend had sort of straddled the line between these two distinctions. They didn't meet in their dream, but they did seem to be aware of one another during it, calling out to each other, searching for one another. So a meshing dream or a meeting dream, whichever it was, it was certainly interesting, and it suggests that the human mind is more powerful than we can even conceptualize. We appreciate you giving us another opportunity to discuss this topic, Danny, and we thank you again for calling in. I do want to bring up a few compliments every day from around the world.
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This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. You chose to hit play on today's podcast. That was a smart choice. And Progressive loves to help people make smart choices. That's why they offer a tool called Auto Quote Explorer that allows you to compare your Progressive Quote car insurance quotes with rates from other companies. So you save time on research, which allows you to enjoy the savings. When you choose the best rate for you, give it a try after this episode@progressive.com, progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates not available in all states or situations.
Derek Hayes
Prices vary based on how you buy.
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Ad Interjector / Commentator
Really?
Derek Hayes
I'm gonna have another one.
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Derek Hayes
That maybe is on your mind. And that is art.
Amica Insurance Announcer
Service has been
Derek Hayes
now if you would please welcome Katie out of South Carolina.
Katie
Hey Derek and Monsters among us team, this is Katie from South Carolina calling again. This time I would like to talk about the house that I owned in Pennsylvania. So this house was built in the 80s and we lived there for eight years. And you know, I didn't really have anything weird happen for a while, but the last few years that we were living there, it was around Covid time actually some strange things started happening. My husband worked nights, so I was alone at night a lot. And I would put my kids to bed and just, you know, be in my room and listen to to podcast while I was crocheting or watch TV or draw or something. And out of the corner of my eye with my door open, I would see something peeking around the door jamb. And it was about child size, so I thought it was one of my kids. And every time I would look, nothing would be there. I checked the baby monitor. My kids were asleep. It wasn't them. So, you know, this happened a lot.
Carrie
A lot.
Katie
I thought I was going crazy because out of the corner of my eye I would just constantly see like a dark figure peeking around the corner at me. So one time I was downstairs in my office, which is directly underneath my bedroom, and my husband came to say goodbye because he was going to work and both kids were asleep in their room and I had the baby monitor next to me and I was just playing video games on my computer and my husband came in, he was talking to me for a few minutes and we both heard what sounded like a child running back and forth in our bedroom above us. And we both looked up and I looked at him. I was like, you hear that, right? And he was like, yeah. I was like, I hear that all the time. I hear running in our bedroom all the time when I'm down here. And it's so amazing that you're actually hearing this. So I know that I'm not going crazy. We checked the baby monitor. Both kids were out dead asleep and, you know, kept hearing the running. And he was just like, all right, well, I guess I'm gonna go to work. Like, great, I'll see you. I'll stay in the haunted house. So it wasn't too scary. The entity didn't feel bad. It just felt curious. I wasn't necessarily afraid. It was just, you know, kind of like shocking when these experiences would happen. So, yeah, just a short little story about my house.
Skeeter
Yeah.
Katie
Thank you.
Derek Hayes
Thanks, Katie. Shocking indeed. Now, I'm not sure if that's a strong enough adjective to describe what might be a child's ghost in your home. That is what it sounds like, though. The running sounds, the small entity darting around the room, and of course, the disembodied child's laugh. Now for some peace of mind here, Katie. You might want to have an exterminator swing by. Those running sounds could be squirrels in the attic. The laughing could be them fighting or perhaps their young squealing. That doesn't do much to explain the peeking figure, but you gotta start somewhere. Of course, that's a hindsight recommendation as Katie no longer owns the home, but it's still good advice for anyone else that might find themselves in a similar situation. Thank you again, Katie, for sharing the entry. Alright, join me in Arizona for this next one. Andrew, welcome to the show.
Andrew / Mary / Mary (multiple callers)
Foreign.
Ad Interjector / Commentator
This is Andrew from Arizona. So my parents were married in the 50s on December 29th. Turns out my mom died December 2002. She died on December 30th, one day after their wedding anniversary. And all us kids thought that was kind of neat that she held on and, you know, made it to the wedding anniversary, then passed away the next day. Well, fast forward, forward. Five years later, my dad calls us down in the nursing home that he's in. He got all of us adult kids there and told us that he had decided to die. And we're kind of like, you know, what's going on here? And he had a dnr, do not resuscitate. And he got a bed sore that had become infected with staph. And anybody knows that stuff. That's pretty nasty stuff. Sure enough, two weeks later, he passed away. And he passed away on December 31, which was five years and one day after my mom had passed away. So that was kind of a little love story romantic thing right there. But anyway, anybody that's been around that kind of a situation, it's kind of emotionally exhausting. And it was a long day, and I had gone home and climbed into bed, you know, by myself. My wife stayed up. And I'm laying in bed, reflecting on the day. And it's weird because I'm laying there, and on the nightstand right next to me, I can hear. The only thing I can liken it to is ice cubes in a glass. It's kind of like that tinkling, clinking, clink, clink. And I know that there's no glass in my mind. I'm doing a mental checklist. There's nothing there to make that noise. So I just listened to it. It was just for a couple seconds and listening. Clink, clink, clink, clink. And I'm like, that's just odd. Anyway, I drift off to sleep now. My wife was always kind of teased me because I'm that ghost guy, you know, ufo, you know, that kind of stuff. It's always possible. And so I decided to not say anything to her about this situation. The next day, my wife had gone to take a nap during the day, and I was up doing whatever you do. And my wife comes out, you know, an hour later, two hours later, and she said, that's the weirdest thing. I'm laying in there in bed, and I can hear this tinkling, clink, clink. And I smiled and I said, I heard the same exact thing, but I didn't want to tell you about it. I said, it's right there in the nightstand. She said, yes. I'm like, that's so weird. All right, so now we go into the next year, and this is 2008 now. So in April of that year, just four months after my father had passed away, my sister had gotten a bonus from her job, and she had taken it upon herself to make a nice necklace, almost like dog tags for the remembrance of our parents. And they were engraved with her name, birth dates and death dates, and nice little saying about both of them, and really super neat. She made four of them, one for each kid. She pulls out the first one, and it makes this ding, ding, ding, ding noise. And just like in those TV shows where they discover who did the murder or whatever, your mind goes, that's the noise that I heard next to my head on my nightstand was that tinkling noise. I don't know why it happened, but I will swear till the day I die. That's the noise that I heard was that tinkling. And when she pulled out that dog tag, it all made sense what that noise was. So that's my story. Love your show and keep up the good work.
Derek Hayes
Thank you, Andrew. Now that's the kind of story that gives you those goosebumps on your arms, the tinkling sound. But how exactly could that be possible? The sound was heard before the tags were even created. It seems like the cart might be before the horse on this one. But listen, I don't have to be able to explain all these calls to find them fascinating, so I'll just say incredible stuff. Andrew, we thank you again for deciding to share. Now let's keep things rolling here with another entry, this time from parts unknown. Maureen welcome to tonight's broadcast.
Maureen
Hi, my name's Maureen. I've really been enjoying your podcast. And this happened to me back when I was about 14 or 15 years old, probably mid-70s, and my brother was moving into his first apartment and my friend and I were helping him and we had been inside the apartment. It was I guess spring or summer because it was warm. And we had come around the corner into the pool area as we were leaving. And the first thing we noticed was everybody was kind of looking up. And so we looked up and we were standing right beside the pool. And over the pool was this football shaped craft of some sort. I thought at first it was an advertisement because it had lights going around it, colored lights. And I was trying in my brain to try to figure out what it said because I knew it had to say something. It was absolutely silent. There was no sound. It was probably only about 20 or 30ft above the pool, sitting still, except it would kind of lean right or lean left a little bit. And I think everybody was just in shock looking at it. And so my brother went and darted off back to the apartment to try to find his camera. And my friend and I just stood there in shock. I don't even know how long it was there. It was long enough to stare at it and just be bewildered. But then it raised itself up without any sound and then it like zoomed off, just shot off. And you could see it like in the sky, far in the sky. And we panicked, took off running to the car. My brother came out with his camera. Of course there was nothing to see at that point, but got in the car. People were talking around the pool, but we didn't talk. We just went straight to the car I started crying because I thought it was following us home. I was so scared. Never figured out what it was. You know, it was a busy area of town and more than one person saw it at least probably seven or eight. But I've never known how to like go back and research to see if there was anything in the newspaper or anything about it. I don't remember if there was. I kind of feel like there was, but don't remember from for sure. I've told some friends. You know, it was the only time in my life anything like that's ever happened. So anyway, hope you enjoy the story. Really enjoying the podcast and dog I'd share. Thanks.
Derek Hayes
We appreciate the call Marine. Now, Maureen did not leave her location and I wish she had. We could have pinpointed this a little bit better, but as it turns out, this craft, whatever it is, has been seen numerous times before and like Marine's experience, they all seem to have happened in the 1970s. Now we were able to dig up a couple very similar experiences. The first occurred in July of 1974 outside of Hagerstown, Maryland. Check out how similar these details are. While I was cleaning up the remains of an outside dinner, I saw this craft that was huge to a little kid just hovering silently. My view of the craft was slightly obstructed by the house, but I clearly remember it had different colored lights, red, blue, yellow, slowly revolving around its perimeter. I don't remember how long it stayed, but I remember just staring at it for what seemed like a long time and then it just sped away. And then there was this sighting of the strange craft in January of 1978 in Gloucestershire, Ontario, Canada in the late 1970s, around dinner time. I walked outside my apartment building with my dog and my friend and looked halfway up the building, approximately seven floors in the corner of the building, approximately 300ft from me, and saw a football shaped gray object that was huge, no wings, no windows, and multi colored lights where the wings would normally be. The object did not move and my friend was scared and ran away. I just stayed and watched it until it vanished approximately 10 minutes later. I called the Ottawa airport and reported it to the air traffic control tower, but they didn't see anything in the sky. Now both of those reports courtesy of Newfork. Now this is just what we had time to find. I imagine that if these exist there are other experiencers out there, so I'll keep my ears open for more details like this. Something strange was going on back in the 70s and if only your brother had been quicker with that camera. Thank you again, Maureen for the phone call.
Carrie
Two counts of first degree at some
Zach
point
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this episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. You chose to hit play on today's podcast. That was a smart choice. And Progressive loves to help people make smart choices. That's why they offer a tool called Auto Quote Explorer that allows you to compare your pro progressive car insurance quotes with rates from other companies. So you save time on research which allows you to enjoy the savings when you choose the best rate for you. Give it a try after this episode@progressive.com Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates not available in all states or situations.
Derek Hayes
Prices vary based on how you buy.
Anonymous Caller
Can you grab one more thing?
Zach
I'll come back up for you.
Amica Insurance Announcer
At Ameca Insurance, we know you'll always find ways to look out for the people you love. And with Amica Life Insurance, we'll help build a plan to make sure you always can. We're here to help protect the life you've built.
Ad Interjector / Commentator
Really?
Derek Hayes
I'm gonna have another one.
Amica Insurance Announcer
Amica Empathy is our best policy. Visit amica.com and get a quote today. Down to the area because there was a
Derek Hayes
Now our next creepy account sends us to California. Ryan, tell us what you experienced.
Ryan
Hey Derek, my name is Ryan. I'm in Southern California. I have a short story for you. It actually involves my son. He didn't want to call in for the junior show, so I figured I'd relay to you. He was five, this was a couple years ago and he co sleeps with his mom and I and he woke up before early morning, before the sun was up. Call it 5, 5:30am he's usually the kid that sits right up and is, you know, at an 11 out of 10 just waking us up, starting to talk and go on about stuff. This morning kind of woke up and realized he was awake, but he was looking over at a window that is on one side of our bedroom. Then we're up on a third floor of a townhouse. It was very quiet, which was unusual. And we asked him what he was looking at because we could tell he was looking at something towards the window. And he said he saw butterflies, what he described as butterflies, but they weren't really butterflies. And he thought maybe he was dreaming or he had kind of remembered a dream. But he described them as sort of lines. As he described it more, they felt like they were strings, that's what he said. But they were forming butterflies and they were different colors and they were kind of moving around and they flew out the window and about the same time that they flew out the window. He said a closet door that's at the foot of our bed and it has like a full length mirror. And he said that he looked down there and there was a face in the mirror. And that's when we probably woke up because he said he got really still under the covers and when he came peeking back out, he was looking for butterflies to get out the window, but they were all gone and the face was gone. I asked him to describe what that face looked like too, and he didn't want to. And when I kind of pushed him a little bit for details, the only thing he would tell me was he mostly remembered that the eyes were glowing red and then disappeared. And the face, he said it had a big O mouth, the mouth disappeared too and the face just disappeared into the mirror. He does like a lot of Disney villains, so it's not again impossible he could have imagined that. But it's not in his character to make up stuff like that. And he's kind of a big scaredy cat, so I don't think he would have seen something like that and just made it up to tell us. Have no idea what that was. Maybe a few weeks later he said he saw the butterflies again early morning and we were awake when he said we saw him. Neither his mom or I could see anything. No face in the mirror this time, but he for a good part of the next, probably nine to 12 months, had a lot of anxiety about getting in front of the bathroom mirror, which was adjacent to our bedroom, to brush his teeth and always was very adamant about having one of his mom or I stand behind him because he was afraid of something in the mirror. So I have no idea what any of that means. Maybe he's just a kid and with an active imagination, but it was very out of character for him and never saw anything else. But when I think about it, still kind of gives me creepy vibes. And I do have a little bit of pause when I look in our mirror sometimes thinking about it. Keep up the great work on the show. Thanks.
Derek Hayes
Thanks, Ryan. Well, what do you think here folks? Were these events the result of a child's overactive imagination? Or were there some sort of strange insects in the boys room and a face in the mirror? Now Ryan mentioned it here, but I just want to drive the point home. We do have a kids version of the show. A brand new episode just dropped yesterday in fact. Monsters Among Us junior Find it wherever you get your podcasts. Any big thanks to Ryan for sharing his son's strange experience. Now gang, don't forget to swing by the shop and pick up some officially licensed Monsters Among Us gear. You especially might want to check out the brand new design by artist Jonathan Dodd Dogman on Lovers Lane. To get your clawed hands on some of the finest wares, visit monsters among us podcast.com and click that shop tab. Now up next, we venture back to Wisconsin. Please welcome Skeeter to the program.
Skeeter
Hey Derek, long time listener all the way back to here There be monsters, but first time calling in. My name's Skeeter. I'm in Rice Lake, Wisconsin, and I'm a DJ that travels a lot at night. So I usually listen to your podcasts on my way home because, you know, I like that spooky feeling on the way home. But tonight I was heading from one town from doing my trivia and I was going over a big hill that's from the town south of Rice Lake. And I always see the same towers for radio stations, but tonight's kind of cloudy and I saw this one light that was bright and white and I'm like, well, maybe it's a star. So I'm looking all around. No, it's not a star. We do have an airport nearby, but so I pulled off to the side of the road quick and I was watching it for a little bit. I'm like, oh, that's not a plane.
Sue
It's not moving.
Skeeter
So I thought, well, I'll get my camera out, try to get a photo or video of it. And as soon as I grabbed my phone and I was about to take a picture, it zipped off just at a diagonal. It just zipped up and disappeared. We do see a lot of interesting stuff in Northwest Wisconsin, but love your show. Keep it spooky. And thanks to all your listeners out there for helping your program keep going on going later.
Derek Hayes
Thanks for the report, Skeeter, and thanks for tuning in from nearly the beginning. We appreciate that continued support. Now, like we do with all UFO stories, we cross referenced a few databases in search of a similar experience to what Skeeter just laid out, but we found nothing this time. In fact, that area seems to be void of reports, only 11 total for the Rice Lake area, none of which matching this account. But that doesn't mean strange things don't occur up there. In fact, Skeeter claimed the contrary. But it just might mean there aren't that many people in the area to actually report the strange activity that's taking place. Either that or they're just not the type to Say anything about it. Amazing stuff, Skeeter. We thank you again for making the call. Now gang, that takes us to tonight's final entry. A super strange experience out of the state of Maryland. Please welcome Mary from Virginia.
Andrew / Mary / Mary (multiple callers)
Hi Derek. This is Mary from Virginia. I grew up in the state of Maryland and when I was about three or four, my mom met and married my stepdad. We didn't have a lot of money back then and his mom decided to rent us her house, the house that my dad grew up in. She was no longer living there. We moved in there. I had a younger sister by the time I entered kindergarten, but she was a baby and she was still sleeping in my parents room. And her crib, my room was just
Sue
off from the kitchen.
Andrew / Mary / Mary (multiple callers)
And then when you walked out of my room and turned to the left, there was a hallway. And down the end of the hallway, which at the time seemed so long to my five year old little self, was my parents room. Their door was to the left, straight ahead of that was the bathroom. And then to the right was the stairwell to go upstairs. Every night before I'd fall asleep, I would lay in my room and listen to my parents in the living room
Sue
and the sounds of the TV and
Andrew / Mary / Mary (multiple callers)
them talking, it just was very comforting to me. And then as soon as I heard them go to bed, I would close my eyes and start to fall asleep. But before I could fall asleep, suddenly I would start hearing these strange growling, scratching noises. And the best way I can explain this is first it was arms would come out from under my bed and grab onto me, these long hairy arms. And then my closet would open and these creatures would come out from my closet. I managed to break free from the arms, run to the small piece of wall between my bedroom door and the hallway and they would be coming from out of the kitchen cabinets from the family room. When I peek around the corner from the bathroom, from the stairwell, the only place they were not coming from was my parents bedroom door. The best way I can describe these things. And there were so many of them, but they looked kind of like the body of an ape, but the face of a lion or a large cat. They had big claws. Just absolutely frightening. And I would stand there absolutely terrified, frozen in my spot, could never get to my parents room. And just as it would feel as though they were closing in, it would be morning and my mom would wake me up for school or whatever we were doing that day. I could never explain it. I had that dream. What I remember to be every night of my life living There. We lived there for about a year. We moved out. I never, ever had the dreams again. I forgot about it. And then one day we were down at my dad's grandmother's house. And he and some of the other adults were sitting around the kitchen table, talking, laughing, you know, having a good time. Us kids had been outside playing at this point, I think I was 10 or 11. I came in to get something to drink. And when I came in, I came in the middle of my dad again. This is my stepdad, but he's my dad telling this story. And he was saying how when he grew up living in that same house, he had gone out riding bikes with a friend of his. And they went to this wooded area. They laid their bikes down, there was a fence, they hopped over the fence and they went into the woods, just, you know, exploring, like kids do. I think he said he was around 12 or 13 at the time. And they suddenly heard this growling noise. And he said that they saw this creature. And he described it exactly the way the creatures in my nightmare looked. The body of what you can only describe as maybe gorilla like, but with the head and face of a large cat, lion, long, sharp claws. There was only one. And it started chasing them through the woods. So my dad ran, jumped over the fence. His friend, for some reason, decided to try to climb up a tree. And my dad was yelling for him to jump, jump. The kid finally did jump over the fence. They got on their bike and took
Sue
off as fast as they could.
Andrew / Mary / Mary (multiple callers)
So afterwards, a few days later, they were talking about it and they decided to go back, but not to go
Sue
over the fence, but to go back
Andrew / Mary / Mary (multiple callers)
just to make sure they weren't seeing things. And when they got there, they could see on the tree that his friend had climbed what appeared to be claw marks on the trunk of the tree in the bark. So he said after that, he had nightmares every night. His room at this time was upstairs, unlike mine, who was downstairs. But the nightmares were exactly the same. He would lay in bed, wait for everyone to fall asleep. No sooner would he close his eyes and his arms would come out from under his bed. And these things would come from everywhere. And he would get toward the bottom of the stairs. His parents room was also at the bottom of the stairs, like my parents when I was living there. They were coming from everywhere but his parents room. And he could never get to his parents room. And just as they would close in, he would wake up. So he shares this story with everyone. And of course, his brothers are kind of laughing and Teasing and all of that, but I just can remember feeling like my heart was in my throat. I had never heard him tell that story before. I did not know anything about it. And he swears that he never even shared it with anyone before because he thought they would all think he was crazy. So as a child, I had no idea that he had those nightmares that he saw this thing in the woods. I don't know how you explain that. I still to this day don't have any explanation for it, and neither does he. But that's it. That's my story. Thanks for listening and I love the show. Take care. Bye bye.
Derek Hayes
Thanks, Mary. Well, isn't this a strange one? And without the stepfather's cooperation, this might not be as powerful. A young child seeing something strange in their room isn't a guaranteed paranormal experience. But the fact that the stepfather did see the same creatures in the same place years before, well, that lends a ton of credibility to the story. Now, as for what it was that Mary and her stepdad saw, that puzzle was difficult to crack. And we've heard all sorts of bedroom visitors over the years. Dinosaurs, toad men, even a chimpanzee wearing overalls. That one goes way back. But these hair covered creatures thus far have evaded my radar. So we did some digging around and it turns out there's a bit of precedent for this sort of activity. In fact, several cultures warn of a very similar creature. But there is a huge discrepancy that just might dismiss these little creatures before I can even introduce them. For starters, we begin in Portugal, where locals tell of a creature that only comes out at night. It's dark, human like and covered in coarse hair. They call it the Pisadera and the Portuguese fear it to this day. In nearby Catalonia, a region in northern Spain, they share tales of the Pesanta. They say that the Pozanta is an enormous dog or cat like creature that sneaks into people's homes in the middle of the night and steps on their chests, making it difficult for them to breathe and causing nightmares. It also is described as being black and hairy with steel paws that have holes in them. You know, I'm starting to see a trend here. And finally, in South America, there's another hairy goblin like creature that's said to cause mischief. El Pombero.
Narrator of Pombero Legend
It is said that the Pombero is a rather short, stocky and attractive being with hairy hands and feet that prevent his footsteps from being heard. He looks ragged and often wears a straw hat and a bag over his shoulder. He lives in the woods or in abandoned houses. He walks at night, traveling everywhere. He announces his presence with a high pitched whistle in the middle of the silent night. Also, if you hear the birds chirping when the sun goes down, it is a way of knowing that the Bombero is very close. He is normally a mischievous goblin, full of witticisms. He can do little misdeeds like letting animals out of the pen, stealing eggs, or scaring horses. But he can also become very dangerous. He likes to throw stones and scare people to death. He can make himself invisible when he wants and let himself be felt by a touch of his hairy hands which produce a deep chill. He can also slip through the narrowest spaces, go through a keyhole, run on all three, imitate the song of birds, especially nocturnal ones, the hissing of men and snakes, and the howling of animals.
Derek Hayes
Now that clip courtesy of Draw the Life tic Tac on YouTube. Now you probably already discovered the issue with each of these unearthly explanations. Each of these legends originate far from the home in Maryland where Mary had this encounter. So does that rule each of these candidates out completely? Or could one of these creatures somehow have made its way to the old lying state? Or is it possible that Maryland has its own hairy bedroom intruders to contend with? Or further yet, maybe this activity is limited to that single household? Fascinating stuff, regardless of the explanation, Mary, and we can't thank you enough for sharing this unusual entry. And folks, that signals the end of the main portion. But don't duck out just yet. We still have lots of MAU to go. But before we can do that, Monsters Among Us podcast is written and produced by me, Derek Hayes. Copyright Red Crowd Media. Additional support is provided by Sarah Carter Hayes, Delaney Bowers and Connor Ryan. All media used in this production is done so under the protection of fair use. Be sure to like us on our social media pages, follow our Discord server,
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Derek Hayes
a rate and review wherever that sort of thing is possible. And if you listen on Spotify, drop down and leave us a comment. Let us know how you like the show. Now don't forget, you can catch the show every Saturday evening at 10pm Eastern on the ONX Digital Network. Now tonight's score was promoted by Iron Cthulhu, Apocalypse Code at AG Music and Carl Casey at Whiteboat Audio. Now don't forget to check out our documentary film Shadows in the desert. Visit borregotriangle.com to check tune in. Check out Monsters Among Us Junior every other Wednesday and join us in the beyond. I have more information on that coming right up after this last ad break. Now for those of you that have opted not to stick around, this is where I leave you. But for everyone else, I'll see you on the other side of this final ad break. Sam, Find your way forward at what
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Derek Hayes
I decided to skip the guesswork now gang. Tonight's secret story comes to us from Sue. Please join me in welcoming her to the program.
Sue
Hello, this is sue again from Northern Michigan. This happened to me when I was approximately two or three years old. I was born in Chicago. We lived in, you know, a north side neighborhood in what you would call a 2 flat where you have an apartment above, an apartment below. I was in a bedroom. My bed was against a wall. It was an old, old building. So one night I was woken up by something tapping me on the shoulder. I felt very, very, very cold. Just bone chilling cold. I can still remember it and kind of sick to my stomach. And I had my back to the outside of the room and I was just facing this wallpaper wall that the bed was up against and something was tapping me on the shoulder saying mama, mama repeatedly over and over again and tapping me hard on the shoulder. I was terrified. It seemed to keep me up all night. But I don't know. I remember the next morning I told my parents, they said, susie, you just had a terrible dream, a bad dream, no big deal. But after that point I was terrified and I had to have a nightlight in the room to go to sleep. So then fast forward about 25 years. I'm married and living in Flint, Michigan. And working there, and I'm with a bunch of co workers. It was maybe Halloween or something. We were all sitting at a lunch break and we were talking about sharing food stories. And one of my co workers, she was a young girl, about 20. She was young enough to be my daughter. She said, you know, this didn't happen to me, but this happened to my mother. When she was a little girl, she was sleeping and something woke her up, tapping her on the shoulder, saying, mama.
Andrew / Mary / Mary (multiple callers)
Mama.
Sue
I freaked.
Andrew / Mary / Mary (multiple callers)
Oh, my God.
Sue
I had the same thing. They all looked at me in disbelief, and I said, no, Really? I mean, it wasn't something I talked about. I had kind of forgotten the whole episode. But I just thought that was a very strange phenomenon. I mean, if it was a bad dream, do people have, you know, sleep paralysis and have the same bad dream? And during sleep paralysis, do you feel something poking you, touching you on the shoulder, tapping you repeatedly? So I don't know what that was, but I love the podcast. Thank you.
Derek Hayes
Thank you, Sue. Now, the only thing spookier than knowing that this happened is you knowing that it happened to someone else as well. And I also have to think that there was perhaps a doll involved. A talking doll, perhaps. But even if it was a doll, how was it moving on its own in the middle of the night, you might wonder. Well, I think some questions just shouldn't be answered, but a spooky little entry you've got there, Sue. Mighty kind of you to share with us here tonight. And, folks, this is where we shift things a bit, because we're going beyond the after show. We do each and every Thursday after the main program. We stick around, tell a few details, play a few calls. We kick it for what, 30, 40 minutes, and you can join us and get access to all the past beyond episodes, of which there are hundreds, all for the price of a quarter gallon of gas. Just visit monsters among us podcast.com and click that Patreon tab. Or you can hunt us down@patreon.com or hit the subscriptions button on our Apple podcast page. Any way you slice it, you'll want to join because it's in the beyond that we get to hear calls like the following out of the state of Tennessee.
Anonymous Caller from Tennessee
Hey, Derek and Monsters Among Us Family, I'm calling anonymously from Tennessee because I really don't want to make myself or my mom look crazy, but she wanted me to call and tell you about the light place. L I G H T I figured that if we were gonna find any other person that has been to this place. It would probably be from your podcast. So she's had psychic visions, I guess you could say through her dreams a couple of times throughout her life. And she's really like paranormal sensitive. When she was a kid, they were moving houses and she dreamed of the house they were moving into before she saw it, down to some clothes that were left in the upstairs bedroom closet. There was one time that she dreamed her oldest brother got into a car accident, down to the color of the semi truck that ran him off the road and the name of the company on the side of the truck. The only thing she couldn't see was whether or not he was okay. Just to give you some examples,
Anonymous Caller
they
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Host: Derek Hayes
Released: March 26, 2026
This chilling installment of Monsters Among Us delivers an array of firsthand paranormal stories as told by the witnesses. Host Derek Hayes guides listeners through tales of eerie black mists, UFO encounters on empty highways, shared dreams, ghostly apparitions, and cryptid bedroom invaders. The episode weaves nostalgia, genuine testimony, and expert insight into a spooky, atmospheric journey perfect for fans of the supernatural.
Caller: Carrie from Ontario, Canada (02:25)
Caller: Zach from Dubuque, Iowa (10:21)
Caller: Anonymous (14:06)
Caller: Danny (21:28)
Caller: Katie from South Carolina (26:57)
Caller: Andrew from Arizona (31:17)
Caller: Maureen (35:46)
Caller: Ryan from Southern California (42:27)
Caller: Skeeter, traveling DJ (47:08)
Caller: Mary from Virginia (50:02)
Caller: Sue from Northern Michigan (64:36)
Keep it spooky!