Monsters Among Us: S20 Ep9 — "Unfinished Business: Tales from the Bathroom"

Host: Derek Hayes
Date: November 11, 2025

Episode Overview

In this inventive, nostalgia-rich episode, host Derek Hayes draws listeners into an unexpected paranormal hotspot: the bathroom. Through a series of first-person calls, Derek curates chilling tales of ghostly encounters, poltergeist pranks, and lingering spirits—all occurring in restrooms, showers, and toilets both private and public. Each story is presented in the witness’s own voice, with Derek providing commentary, humor, and context, enhancing the storytelling atmosphere for his devoted community of “Monsters Among Us” fans.

Main Discussion Themes

• The ubiquity of bathroom hauntings: Even the most mundane, private spaces can become settings for chilling supernatural events.
• Recurrent motifs: Physical disturbances (spinning toilet paper, moving objects), unexpected apparitions, and bathroom-specific poltergeist phenomena.
• The personal impact of experiences: Witnesses detail the long-lasting emotional effects of encounters.
• Validation and skepticism: Derek, along with his community, weighs ordinary and extraordinary explanations.

Key Stories & Insights

1. Adam’s Spinning Toilet Paper (North Carolina)

[03:26] – [06:09]

• Story: At age 5, Adam’s Ghostbusters game turns real when he sees and hears a toilet paper roll spin uncontrollably in a bathroom of the family’s new, custom-built house.

• Impact: He runs to his mother, who dismisses it as "just the wind." Upon returning, everything appears normal—but the experience remains inexplicable and unforgettable.

• Insight: Adam speculates these early experiences may open—or close—the door to future paranormal encounters:

  “I think...most, if not everybody, has an experience to kind of open them up to something paranormal.” — Adam [05:15]

• Derek’s take: Jokes about cats as a normal explanation, but acknowledges the oddity if no pets were present.

2. Josephine’s Tiny Handprints & Flying Aerosol (Australia)

[06:46] – [09:05]

• Story: Josephine finds unfamiliar, child-sized handprints on her bathroom mirror (smaller than her own), then witnesses an aerosol can inexplicably thrown from a deep basket after cleansing the house with incense. Nightmares follow.

• Atmosphere: No initial sense of malevolence, but escalating disturbances and nightmares heighten Josephine’s concern.

• Memorable quote:

  "That mouse must have been the Hercules of all mice, because I just cannot figure out how that would have happened." — Josephine [08:19]

• Derek’s advice: Suggests spiritual cleansing ("add some sage"), acknowledges increased activity post-mitigation.

3. James’ Color-Changing Toilet & Bending Metal (Arizona)

[11:44] – [15:56]

• Story: Initially quiet, James’ rental goes active after he’s alone. The bathroom light flips on, blue toilet water turns red on two separate days, and a bedroom door refuses to close, only for him to find the strike plate bent backward—impossible to attribute to ordinary causes.
• Family reaction: Father flatly refuses to discuss the house ever being "haunted."
• Memorable quote:

  "You know those cloths you drop into the tank… turns the water blue? One day… the toilet was completely turned red. Not purple… a solid red." — James [13:00]

• Derek’s Commentary: Offers a mundane explanation (discoloration from cleaners), but leaves space for the unexplained.

4. Liz’s Bathroom Doppelgänger (California)

[17:29] – [21:29]

• Story: Liz, sensitive to spirits, encounters what she believes is her father slumped in the bathroom at 3:00 AM—the “witching hour.” In the morning, her mother reveals her father never left bed. Liz wonders if it was a ghost or doppelgänger.
• Emotional tone: Liz’s unease is palpable during and after the incident.
• Notable exchange:

  “If I ask what it is, I’ll get a response I don’t want.” — Liz [21:16]

• Derek’s take: Suggests best-case scenario is a dream, while hinting at more chilling possibilities if not.

5. Chloe’s Sad Shower Spirit (California)

[23:37] – [25:44]

• Story: Chloe's shower bottles are consistently swept off shelves "as if someone took their arm and swiped them all down at once"; there’s a persistent sense of an unseen presence. After learning a previous resident died tragically, she connects the disturbances to potential unfinished business.
• Tone: Not threatening, but consistently sad and unsettling.

6. Zach’s Prankster Shower Ghost (Georgia)

[26:48] – [30:00]

• Story: Zach shares two stories from his wife: a shower curtain pulled open twice while alone, and a whiskey bottle smashed with no explanation. Zach playfully warns the ghost to leave his whiskey alone, and the pranks stop.
• Memorable moment (humor):

  "…if you touch my whiskey again, you're no longer allowed in my house." — Zach [29:25]

• Derek’s Commentary: Highlights the vulnerability of showers, lightens mood by commending the wife’s protective approach.

7. Worldwide Haunted Bathrooms

[32:17] – [35:04]

• Derek shares: Case studies of haunted restrooms worldwide:
  • Frodsham Street Public Toilets (Chester, UK): Male ghost in 1950s/60s attire.
  • Bordhanagar Government Primary School (Bangladesh): Epidemic attributed to spirits.
  • Margate’s Theatre Royal (UK): Mischievous little-girl ghost.
  • Five Fishermen Restaurant (Canada): Former funeral home, haunted ladies’ room.
  • York Arms Pub (York, UK): Nun in the men's room.
  • Leads to: Call from Rebecca about a chain restaurant’s (Olive Garden) haunted bathroom.

8. Rebecca’s Olive Garden Apparition (Wisconsin)

[35:04] – [38:42]

• Story: Alone in the restroom, Rebecca witnesses a pale woman with long dark hair walk by—despite no door opening and the stalls being empty. The bathroom is cold, her hair stands on end.
• Notable quote:

  “I could see her like she was a human…there was nobody in the bathroom. I started freaking out.” — Rebecca [37:38]

• Derek’s playful conclusion:

  “Unlimited soup, salads, and poltergeist at your local Olive Garden. When you're here, you're at risk of seeing a spirit.” [38:42]

9. Anonymous: The Doorknob Drive (Vancouver, Canada)

[39:12] – [42:37]

• Story: Home alone, this caller experiences repeated, deliberate doorknob noises as if someone tries entering the bathroom—despite all doors being locked. Police find nothing. Incident stretches over 40 minutes and is meticulously documented by the frightened witness.
• Memorable quote:

  “Years from now, you will be able to brush this story off, but it is actually happening. You're actually hearing this.” — Anonymous [41:05]

• Derek’s Commentary: Suggests household mechanical explanations, but acknowledges fear factor and mystery.

10. Emily’s Diner Mystery Whisperers (California)

[44:31] – [48:47]

• Story: In a Bay Area diner, Emily hears persistent, unintelligible whispering and sees pant legs in another stall. Fueled by anger, she confronts the stall—only to find it empty, no way out. She feels terror replacing anger, flees without washing her hands, and checks for any accounts of overdoses or previous bathroom hauntings (finds none).
• Notable moment:

  “I’m not a particularly angry person…but this made me unbelievably mad…” — Emily [45:27]

11. Sean’s Haunted Holiday Restroom (Scotland)

[50:43] – [55:52]

• Story: As a child, Sean hears a little boy's moan echoing in an empty hotel restroom in Ibiza. He freezes in fear, unable to move until another person finally enters.
• Impact: Trauma leads him to avoid using empty bathrooms for the rest of the trip.
• Memorable quote:

  "I froze on the spot, I couldn't move…Absolute fear." — Sean [53:01]

12. Anonymous: The Phantom Pooper (Gas Station)

[56:22] – [59:18]

• Story: Waiting for a stall, this caller distinctly hears and smells someone using the bathroom, but finds the door unlocked and stall empty. All rational explanations are quickly ruled out.

• Memorable quote:

  “A ghost using the bathroom. So yeah, that's my story.” — Anonymous [58:58]

• Derek’s take: Entertains the notion of a “phantom flusher,” highlighting how common these public-restroom encounters have been on the episode.

13. Kathleen’s Hotel Room Intruder (Arkansas)

[60:08] – [63:40]

• Story: Alone in a hotel room, Kathleen finds an unflushed toilet (with a "gift"), then wakes up at 2 AM to see a hooded, faceless man staring at her from the other bed. He vanishes when she turns on the light, and her father finds no sign of an intruder.
• Lasting fear: The experience is so vivid and terrifying, Kathleen is still disturbed recalling it.
• Notable quote:

  “…that was not a dream, that it stayed there… Whatever that figure was stayed there long enough for me to be fully awake and still see it. That's what creeps me out.” — Kathleen [63:24]

Derek’s Commentary and Reflections

• Sense of Community: Derek highlights the “Monsters Among Us” Discord and Facebook communities, regularly gives gratitude to volunteer admins, and encourages listeners to share and support each other.
• Humor & Atmosphere: Running jokes about cats unspooling toilet paper, “phantom poopers,” and Olive Garden’s “spirit” side menu, while never minimizing the genuine emotional distress of witnesses.
• Skeptical balance: Derek sometimes supplies rational explanations (e.g., magnetic shower doors, water discoloration from cleaners) but frames these as attempts to comfort rather than debunk.
• Closing thoughts: Bathrooms—often overlooked and taken for granted—offer surprisingly frequent venues for the uncanny, perhaps because of their privacy and symbolic vulnerability.

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• Adam [05:15]: "I think that... every body has an experience to kind of open them up to something paranormal."
• Josephine [08:19]: "That mouse must have been the Hercules of all mice, because I just cannot figure out how that would have happened."
• James [13:00]: "Not purple, like as if red had been mixed with blue, a solid red, as if the blue had never been in the toilet to begin with."
• Liz [21:16]: "If I ask what it is, I'll get a response I don't want."
• Rebecca [37:38]: "I could see her like she was a human, like a person. And there was nobody in the bathroom."
• Zach [29:25]: "If you touch my whiskey again, you're no longer allowed in my house."
• Anonymous [41:05]: "There is no way this is in your head. Years from now, you will be able to brush this story off, but it is actually happening."
• Sean [53:01]: "I froze on the spot, I couldn't move…Absolute fear."
• Kathleen [63:24]: "...that was not a dream, that it stayed there... Whatever that figure was stayed there long enough for me to be fully awake and still see it. That's what creeps me out."

Key Segment Timestamps

• [01:53] Derek sets the theme: Paranormal events in bathrooms.
• [03:26] Adam's ghostly toilet paper incident.
• [06:46] Josephine’s tiny handprints and thrown can.
• [11:44] James’ color-changing toilet water & bent strike-plate.
• [17:29] Liz experiences a possible doppelgänger.
• [23:37] Chloe’s shower encounters.
• [26:48] Zach’s prankster ghost stories.
• [32:17] Derek shares global haunted bathroom case studies.
• [35:04] Rebecca’s Olive Garden apparition.
• [39:12] Anonymous: seven instances of doorknob rattling.
• [44:31] Emily’s diner restroom whispers.
• [50:43] Sean’s childhood Ibiza bathroom encounter.
• [56:22] Anonymous, the gas station phantom pooper.
• [60:08] Kathleen’s hotel room specter.

Closing Remarks

Derek wraps up the episode with a mix of light-hearted and sincere remarks, connecting the episode’s theme with the deeply personal vulnerability inherent to restrooms and the surprising frequency with which such places host the unexplainable.

"...stories like this will keep you on your toes and explain time you take a tinkle. All right, folks, that's gonna do it for tonight's bathroom special. I sure hope it didn't sound like crap, but I did have a lot of fun putting these stories together, so I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did." — Derek Hayes [63:40]

Listen to the Full Episode

To hear more chilling tales—and perhaps question what really lurks behind your own bathroom door—visit Monsters Among Us at monstersamonguspodcast.com.

Episode Summary by [Your Podcast Summarizer] — Keep it spooky!