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Bretzky
Hey everybody.
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Derek Hayes
Good evening and welcome to Monsters Among Us. I'm your guide, Derek Hayes. Welcome back to the program, everyone. I hope you don't have anything planned for tomorrow morning because tonight's stories are gonna keep you up all night. And in the interest of getting started, let's launch right into tonight's first tale from the state of Maine. Please welcome Grant to the program.
Grant
Hey, how's it going? My name is Grant. I love the show and I just want to share an experience that I had last year. So I live in Portland, Maine, right in the city and I'm on an apartment building on the third floor and my girlfriend was visiting family in New Jersey. So I was home left alone and I was watching a movie and it was pretty late at night, so I had the lights dim in the room and the couch that I was sitting on faces the tv. Right behind the TV is a wall. On the other side of that wall is our bedroom. And the door to the bedroom is just to the right of the tv and the door opens inwards towards the room. And mind you, the light in the bedroom was turned off and so it was very dark in there. And all I could see was basically just a sliver of the door, the silhouette of the door with just darkness behind it. The door was almost entirely open, so I could only see that shape and out of the corner of my eye I see this shape that's sort of protruding from the side of the silhouette of the door. And I can't figure out what the shape is. It's like circular and around head level, and I'm trying to figure out what I'm looking at. I can't see any features because of how dark the room is, but I could see the silhouette of this shape. And I'm trying to think, maybe it's my laundry bag that hangs on the back of the door. Maybe one of the clips had broken or something like that. I couldn't figure out what it was. Maybe it was a shirt hanging on the back of the door. I was confused, and as I was staring at this shape, all of a sudden it moved and ducked behind the door. So I immediately jumped up, ran to the kitchen, grabbed the biggest knife I could find, and ran to the bathroom, lock myself in the bathroom. I had thought that someone had broken into my apartment and that they were hiding in the bedroom for hours while I was just in the next room watching movies. And I had accidentally left my phone in the living room. Otherwise, right then and there, I would have called 911 for a break in. So I'm in the bathroom, and I'm making sure to be completely silent because I want to hear the footsteps, the door unlocking, and someone leaving my apartment. So I'm in there for about 20, 30 minutes. There's two exits in my apartment. One is the front door, which is right next to my bathroom door on the left. And the other one is our fire escape door, which is to the right of the door. And so you can very clearly hear anything happening with either of those two doors from where I was. And so I was very carefully listening and also looking under the door to see if anyone walked in front of it, any locking mechanisms opening, any footsteps, any creaks of the door, which the doors were very creaky, so I would have heard any of that stuff. After half an hour, I heard nothing. And I was terrified that this person was still in the bedroom. So I eventually worked up the courage to confront it. So I leave the bathroom, I go to the kitchen again, grab another knife. So now I have a butcher's knife in one hand and a giant carving knife in the other. And I start yelling, and I'm trying to sound as intimidating as possible, saying, I already called 91 1. The police are on the way. I'm gonna give you five seconds to exit peacefully right now, and you can get off scot free as long as you leave in five seconds. Otherwise I'm gonna come to this bedroom and I'm gonna slice you to pieces, Just trying to sound intimidating as I could, even though I was terrified. And so I'm on the other side in my living room, counting down. Five, four, three, two, one. Nothing happens. Mind you, the light switch for the bedroom is on the outside of the room, right behind the TV on the wall. So I say, okay, that was your last shot, here I come. I got two giant knives in my hand, just really trying to play it up. And I turn on the light and I bust in the bedroom and nothing's in there. It's a small room, no closets, no under the bed space. There's nowhere to hide. And so I freeze and then sprint back to the bathroom, lock myself in again, still dual wielding these knives, like that's gonna do something at this point. And realize that calling 911 wouldn't help me in this situation because whatever was in there was not human. And so I was in the bathroom just swearing up a storm, just saying, what was that?
Bretzky
What was that?
Grant
What was that? Over and over again for probably an hour. I ended up staying in there for maybe two hours total. I wanted to sleep in my apartment that night. I didn't want to try to find an alternate place to sleep that late at night. So I had to use some mental gymnastics to make it seem okay. So I told myself, all right, I've been in this apartment for nearly 10 years and I've never seen anything out of the ordinary like that. And in that 10 year span, if whatever that creature or being was, if the most egregious thing that they did was accidentally let me catch a glimpse of its silhouette, then I'm probably safe. It's probably not going to hurt me. It doesn't really want anything to do with me. It doesn't even want to be seen by me. It just messed up, right? And so I used that logic, calmed myself down, and decided that I'm gonna go try to befriend this thing. And so I put down the knives, went back to the living room, apologized to whatever this thing was for freaking out and yelling at it and threatening it, and said, okay, I understand that you're in there, that's okay, you can have the bedroom tonight. I'll sleep on the couch. Just so you know, I'm at peace with you, and it seems like you're at peace with me. Let's just keep it that way. So I turned the movie back on and eventually went back to sleep. And later on, I told my girlfriend about this. And I don't know if she thought I was crazy or just didn't believe me or something, but she didn't really have much of a reaction to it and life kind of just went on. But I think about that all the time. I'm still in the same apartment and I'm looking at the door right now imagining what I saw that night. And anyway, that's my story. Love the podcast. Keep up the good work. Peace out.
Derek Hayes
Thank you Grant for the call. What a way to kick things off here tonight. And I'll tell you, these sorts of experiences are the worst when something like this is seen inside your home. As I say all the time. In that scenario, a ghost is more desirable, I would think. It sure beats the alternative, a strange living human inside your home. I should also say that this is likely the very first time someone has counted down a ghost. I guess that means it's now in timeout. I also love that you later apologized to the Spirit. Quite the emotional journey this story had and I'm happy to hear this seemed to be a one off experience for you. Granted, maybe for your sake it was just something passing through. Incredible stuff regardless of where it went. We thank you again Grant for getting us started.
Bretzky
Either way, we'll find out one way or the other.
Derek Hayes
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RJ
Hi, Derek, this is RJ from Owyhee County, Idaho. I saw your post about lights in the sky, six of them, and I wanted to comment on it. So, I'm from Owyhee County, Idaho, and we have a lot of lights in the sky out here south of a town that starts with a K. And then where I go out and I hunt over at a place called Jordan Valley just outside of it, you know, up on the dirt roads. But we see a lot of lights in the sky. A lot of them disappear, they reappear, and then a lot of them kind of multiply. So, like, one goes into three, three goes into six, but that's what it looks like. It's crazy. I don't know, it's weird. Like, you can set your watch by it. And they do that every single October. Anyways, thank you for listening.
Anonymous Caller (New York)
Bye.
Derek Hayes
Thank you, rj. Now, it's worth pointing out here that Owy county is not only the largest in the state of Idaho, but it's also the least populated. But it does have some interesting neighbors. Less than 100 miles away sits Mountain Home Air Force Base. 100 miles, in military base terms, is relatively close. That means one of their fighter jets can reach you in about five minutes if they're scooting. So perhaps that's all this was, some sort of exercise that the base puts on each and every October. Perhaps these are flares, floating targets, or some top secret gadget we haven't yet heard of. Stranger things have happened. I will say, though, rj, if it comes back this October, you'd better have a camera ready. We all need to lay eyes on these things. Well, it's wild stuff. And we thank you again, rj, for taking the time to share. Now, gang, if you have a story you would like to share, call our hotline at 888-608-night. That's 888608, Nig HT. Or you can record yourself using the voice memo app on your phone and email the file to me at monsters among us podcastmail.com and don't forget about the simple guidelines we have in place. Call from a quiet place. One story per call. One call per story. Call back if you need more time and true stories only. So again, that's monsters among us podcastmail.com or call 888-608-night. The truth is on the line. Know our next caller is also on the line. So please welcome Lisa all the way from Maryland.
Lisa
Hi Derek and fellow monsters among us listeners. My name is Lisa, and although I live in Maryland now, this experience took place in Virginia, where I grew up. It must have taken place somewhere between age 7 and maybe 9 years old. So this would have been the late 80s. And I've never heard anybody else having experienced this sort of thing. So I'm kind of hoping that someone out there hears this and if they've had something like this happen, maybe we'll hear about it. I woke up one morning and I'm a stomach and side sleeper. And I woke up and I was face down. And it was that sort of lazy wake up where I'm sort of getting myself together in my mind before I actually get up. And I heard what sounded like feedback or reverb that you would get. If you get a microphone too close to the speaker, it makes that sound. And it started off faint, but it kept getting louder and louder, like it was coming towards me. The sound was above me. And just as I'm starting to sort of push up to figure out what's going on, it feels like something punches me in the back. Like just bam, right between my shoulder blades, which knocks me back down and knocks the wind out of me. And everything is silent now. And I was trying to catch my breath and terrified, I look over my shoulder and there's nothing there. And I think I got up very quickly and ran out of my room. And that's all I remember of that. And I never told anybody because it made absolutely no sense. I have no idea what that was. I don't think it was sleep paralysis because I could move like I was trying to turn my head when I heard it originally. And I don't think it was a dream because I was sore and it hurt when it hit me. Whatever it was, I'm still not sure. So if any listeners out there have had any kind of experience like that, I would love to hear about it because I'm still at a loss as to what the heck happened. Thank you so much, Derek. We appreciate you and all the work you do and your wonderful team. Hope to hear from you soon.
Derek Hayes
Thank you, Lisa. Punched by a ghost in the back, no less. How rude. At first I'd wondered if it weren't just some sort of muscle spasm. But when Lisa said that it hurt afterward, well, that made me second guess that theory. And I also wondered if Lisa has a cat, because our cats pounce on me all the time. And I could see how that sudden force could be perceived as some sort of punch. Especially if the animal ran away immediately after. Or like I said, it could have been something supernatural. Whatever it was, you did the right thing by reporting it here, Lisa. Perhaps someone listening can help crack the code. Until then, thanks again for sharing the phone call. Alright, gang, this next entry comes to us from the state of Georgia. Please welcome Anonymous to the platform.
Anonymous Caller (New York)
Hey Derek and Monsters among us crew. I live in Atlanta and this story happened actually in New York City. I really never thought that I would call y', all, but I was just listening to season 20 episode 27 a lady was talking about, you know, how something had told her, you know, I'll go check on the baby. And I know you said that, you know, a lot of people call about the same thing, so I'm going to go ahead and add to it. So it was a time in New York City. My mom was working for fema and you know, she was there for about six months and you know, it was time for us to go visit. It's six of us, I have two brothers and three sisters. Anyway, so we go to New York and we were living in a hotel. So everybody's like in the living room or whatever. And my two brothers, which I don't even know why they were in there by itself. One was about three, the other was one. So you know, they're in a tub or whatever and you know like the tub is very, very low, maybe like to that light shift and stuff like that. So they're just in there. So something was telling me, go check on your brothers. And I'm like, and like, go check on your brothers. So I get up and I go inside of the bathroom. One of my brothers, the three year old, he's like just splashing around, having like the time of his life. But my one year old brother is literally like straight, like laying back on the tub. Like his face is covered. The only thing that is up, like the tip of his nose is up and he's just looking up at me, like trying to breathe. So I freaking ran, I grabbed him. He started coughing, coughing, coughing, coughing. And I'm like, oh my God. Like that was like the craziest thing. And I'm just like, thank God. Like I came in here, he would have died. And like I said, that would have been traumatic. First of all, it would have been traumatic anyways, but like I said, we have a big family. We all got the same mom and dad and everything. So it was just crazy. And I'm just like, wow, I gotta add my story to this, like I said. I know you said it's a lot of stories, but I just had to add on that. Yep, that's my story.
Tas
Thank you, Derek.
Derek Hayes
And monsters among the crew.
Tas
Keep it spooky.
Derek Hayes
We appreciate it, caller. Incredible stuff and nearly tragic. We all hear voices in our head from time to time. Well, most of us do anyway, and I assume most of us ignore them, like I do too often. But the point here is that it's a good thing that our caller didn't ignore the voice in her head. And just maybe we should let that be a lesson to us all. If you hear it, eat it. I like to think this phenomenon is actually naturally occurring. We just haven't learned to harness the power yet. Intuition, psychic ability, the sixth sense, whatever you want to call literally saves lives. So thank you again for taking the time to share your tale, caller. What an incredible one it was. Now, for another strange occurrence that loosely fits in the same category, please welcome Marie from parts unknown.
Marie
Hey, Derek, it's Marie again. This one is concerning my grandmother, and this is my father's mother. When my grandmother was younger, she had a clock. I've never seen this clock, but my mother did. She had a clock in her kitchen that was shaped like a ship. And I've actually attached photos. With my mom's help, we were able to find one that looked like it on ebay. And this clock was from, I think, like the third 30s or 40s, but it was shaped like a ship and it was a plug in. It was not battery operated, and it was in her kitchen. And it used to stop when someone died. And I've heard stories of clocks stopping before somebody dies, but this one actually would stop at the time of death, which I thought was very interesting. And I asked my mom, well, how did she know that it was the time of death? And she said, well, what happened is let's say the clock said 10am and she got a call and she heard, you know, that Aunt Mimi died and she died at 10:13. And she'd look at the clock and it would actually be, you know, maybe 11:45. And the clock had stopped at 10:13. And I thought, okay, that's kind of cool that it stopped at the time of death, but it wasn't like, you know, a harbinger of death. Like, oh, gosh, somebody's going to die. Just stopped at the time that the person died. But this happened five times. And my grandma had enough and it scared her and she got rid of the clock and threw it out to my Knowledge. One of my aunts stole it out of her garbage can and I have no idea where it is now, but I don't have any explanation for it. My mom did see the clock. It did exist. Why it stopped continuously at the time of death with somebody in the family, I don't know. And it wasn't consistent. It wasn't every time somebody died. It was generally the elderly in the family that when they died. So not like a freak accident where somebody, you know, one of my cousins OD'd or something like that. Was generally like an elderly person that had been in a hospital for a while. Anyway, thought it was interesting. Talk to you later. Bye.
Derek Hayes
Thanks, Marie. Now, Marie did send in the photos of the ship clock from the story, or one just like it, I guess. And I must admit, there's something kind of spooky about this clock. Spooky enough that I wanted to buy one of my own. But the few I found available on sites like ebay and Etsy weren't nearly as imposing as the particular model the Marie sent in. Now, maybe it's because the one Marie sent in was the only one available with a solid black face. Either way, the item pictured is a vintage mid century Mastercrafters Yankee Clipper ship clock from the 1940s or 50s. And these clocks are typically powered by an electric sessions movement, so there's nothing special about them that should grant them the ability to either sense death or predict it. But it's not the first time something like this has been reported. On September 1, 1715, the clock in the monarch's chambers at Versailles stopped exactly at 8:15am, the precise moment that King Louis XIV passed away. It's said that the clock has never run since, or so the story goes. And in 1933, after the death of inventor and man of questionable ethics, Thomas Edison, the clock in his library stopped as well, some say exactly three minutes after he took his final breath. The hands of the clock were later pinned down to help preserve the event. Now, there are traditions that encourage survivors to stop clocks after death and to represent time running out, only to be restarted again after the burial. And there are some watches that only run by the centrifugal force from a swinging arm. And you can't swing your arm if you're dead or you shouldn't. At least that scenario could appear supernatural if you don't know how watches work. But what I'm getting at here is that stories like this are floating around all over out there, if you know where to look. And our show notes are a great start. Monsters among us podcast.com and click on the Show Notes tab. So thanks again Maria for taking the time to share and for making me want to buy a clock I have absolutely no use for, And that's being renegotiated. Sometimes edibles can be just a little too intense. If you're looking for something that makes you feel great instead of too high, check out Lumi Gummies. Consistent, mellow, and super delicious, Lumi Gummies are specifically designed to make you feel good, not stoned. Whether you're looking for an end of day de stressor, a midday mood boost, or help getting the best sleep ever, Lumigummies has a strain that's right for you. Sometimes when I'm having one of those stressful, anxiety filled days, I have a really hard time winding down at the end of it. But I take one Lumi Gummy in the evening and about an hour later I'm feeling relaxed and watching reruns of Unsolved Mysteries in peace. Lumi Gummies are available nationwide. Go to lumigummies that's L u m I gummies.com and use code MAU for 30 off your order. Again, that's L u m I gums.com and use the code M a u lumigummies.com with code MAU
Bretzky
in the middle of the night designation to be on the 14th.
Derek Hayes
Now join me in the graveyard for this next one. Emily from Indiana, welcome to the airwaves.
Emily
Hey Derek and crew, this is Emily from Indiana. I have a few stories to share, but for today we're just going to do this one and it's about missing or distorted time. So I am from a small town, it's about 1500 people and there's a cemetery just south of town. It's maybe a mile or two. It's not very far. And to get there if you're driving you would take the major highway running through town, you know, just a little state highway and go. But if you're walking, you don't want to do that. So you take these two county roads. It's straight down and then over and it's really simple. So one day when I was in maybe high school, I think I was about 14, I wanted to walk to it.
Emily (continued)
So I decided one day I was
Emily
going to get off the bus and drove. So I got home about maybe 3:15 to 3:30 is when I normally get home. So I went inside the house and I grabbed a snack, I got a drink of water, whatever, and I left. So all in all it was maybe five to 10 minutes in the house. So I walked across town to get to the county road.
Emily (continued)
As I'm walking down the county road, I have my ipod with me. So I've got my headphones in, and I'm just listening to music to obviously help me get there faster. And if you've seen one farmhouse, you've seen them all in the Midwest, they're kind of the same. And as you get further out from town, they get more and more spaced out. So they can kind of help you figure out how far along you are. And I know there's one farmhouse down at the intersection of where I need to turn to go to the cemetery. And I see it way off in the distance.
Emily
No problem.
Emily (continued)
We'll get there in time. Like I said, it was only about a mile or two south. It doesn't take that long to walk that far. So, you know, I'm just having a good time. I see some rain clouds out to the west, but nothing's coming in yet. It's, you know, partially overcast, partially sunny day in the spring. So it was nice and warm. And after a while, I noticed I wasn't really getting anywhere. I would pass some farmhouses, I would be walking. I could see myself walking. But I never got to the end, like where I needed to turn. And it's not something you can miss because there aren't that many roads that are paved out that way. Past the one where you have to turn to get to the cemetery. It's pretty much all gravel roads. And I never came across any gravel roads. So at some point I just decided, you know what? I don't want to be out here when the rain hits. So I'm just going to turn back and head home. I'll just do this another day. So I'm on my way back, and the rain clouds are moving in, and it's getting darker, but it's getting darker a lot faster than it should. And it's not from the clouds. It's like evening sky almost. So I thought that was weird, but I just chalked it up to the weather. And I would alternate between walking and jogging because it was taking me so long. And like I said, I didn't want to get caught up in the rain outside. So I'm making my way back to town. And eventually I do hit the edge
Emily
of town, and I walk home.
Emily (continued)
And as I hit my street, the rain opens up into an actual rain instead of just sprinkles. And I no more than get in the door Close it behind me and do like the stereotypical Scooby Doo kind of pose when they close the door and it's. They've got their arms behind them, pressing on it. I did that just because I was so tired from. I don't know what. I felt like I'd walked a lot farther than I had. And I noticed as I had gotten inside that it was dark outside, like full nighttime dark. And it hadn't been when I was just walking through town, you know, seconds earlier. So I go and I look at the clock and it's just after 9pm and I have no idea how it could have possibly taken me from just after 3:30 to just after 9:00'. Clock. I mean, it does not take that long to walk, you know, not even the full mile or two. I never made it to the cemetery. So to this day, I have no idea what happened. I have no idea how time warped the way that it did. Yeah, that is probably my weirdest experience to date. All right, thank you. Bye.
Derek Hayes
Thanks, Emily. Well, folks, how do you see this one? What caused Emily's missing time? Did she simply lose track of it? That seems hard to do, especially when being chased by a rainstorm. Or maybe Emily simply didn't realize what time it was. Though I find that hard to believe as well, given our constant connection to technology. Plus, we're talking hours here, not minutes. And that's a tough discrepancy to overlook. So maybe it was something supernatural. Maybe there was a time slip of some sort and she was launched forward or backward. Or maybe aliens are to blame here. After all, there are thousands of stories out there suggesting that these things have the ability to bend time. Or perhaps it was our old friends, the mirrored men. Missing time is one of the main symptoms of a mirrored man sighting. After all. Whatever it was, we're glad to hear you made it home that night, Emily. Be sure to let us know if it ever happens again. Thanks again for the phone call. Now, gang, this next entry can best be described as nightmare fuel. Nick from New York, welcome to the program.
Nick
Hey, Derek. And friends at Monsters Among Us. My name is Nick. I'm calling from New York City. So what happened was one night I was out with a friend. We were at our favorite little gay bar. We were hanging out, and we were there for trivia. And one of the prizes was a Ouija board. So we actually ended up coming in third place, which entitled us to a prize. So I chose a Ouija board. And I noticed when the hosts came over with it that it was opened. And I jokingly said to them, I was like, oh, it's open. Is this Ouija board haunted? And they kind of made, like, a weird face at me, which, you know, whatever. So I went home. I just tossed the board on my dining table, probably watched some tv and then went to bed, you know, going about my business as usual, not really concerned with the Ouija board. So this was the first night of a series of very bizarre dreams slash nightmares. On this first night, I had a dream. Cannot remember exactly what happened in the dream. I. What I think happened was that I was just in my bedroom and then slowly made my way out of the bedroom, down my hallway and into my dining area and was looking down at the Ouija board. And that was the end of the dream. And that's what made me be like, oh, I'm having this dream because of the Ouija board. I'm like, that's weird. Now, the next two nights, I had just crazy nightmares. Now, the other thing, too, is I don't really have nightmares very often. So the fact that I had nightmares two kind of three nights in a row was unusual. Now, the third night, this is when it gets spicy. On the third night, I had gotten into bed and I was awake. I had my eyes closed. And I know you've actually discussed this on the show before, that sort of phenomenon when you're, like, in bed with your eyes closed, but you can still see the room. I have that. I noticed you don't see the room clearly, but, like, the outlines of furniture and the outlines of doorways and stuff like that. So I'm in bed, my eyes are closed. I am awake. And I'm kind of looking in the direction of the door with my eyes closed, and I see a shadow figure. It's made of static. It's like dark, dark TV static. And it walks from the door toward the center of my bed, and then it looks at the bed, and then it does, like, the worst possible thing that it could do, and it walks toward the bed, gets on the bed and crawls right up into my face, like, inches away from my face. As soon as it does this, I immediately open my eyes and the room is empty. There's nothing. And I basically told it to off. I was like, I don't want to be bothered while I'm sleeping. I was like, I don't care what you do when I'm awake, when I'm trying to sleep, I don't want to be bothered. So cut this out. So I, like most people, just fell Back to sleep, no problem. And that morning, I woke up to something really loud, very close to my face. And it said, get out of my bed. My eyes open, I shot up. And I once again made it very clear when I am sleeping, don't bother me. I don't want you messing with me while I'm trying to sleep. So I'm also a practicing witch, and I have done this before to help me sleep, where I make, like, a little concoction. I keep it next to my bed, and it helps me sleep, but it also has ingredients in it that are protective. So I was like, you know what? Let me make this, and I'll keep it next to my bed. Basically, it's just water, lavender, salt. That's it. Now, the last night, I am lying in bed, the lights are off, my eyes are open during this part of the story. And once again, I look toward the door, and I notice by the door, up at the ceiling, there's, like, this black, undulating, like, cloud or like a mist. And I don't really know how else to describe it. That's really the best way. And I was like, oh, my God, I don't have time for this. So I was like, know what? Maybe this is a trick of the light. Maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me. I'm gonna just go to sleep. I close my eyes. A few minutes pass, I never end up going to sleep. But I open my eyes again, and I look up toward the door by the ceiling, and I'm like, nope, it's definitely still there. That is not a trick of my eyes. I was not imagining that. And I just kind of watched it for a couple of minutes, and I was like, you know what? It's not coming in. I guess this stuff is keeping it out of the room. It's not gonna come bother me. So I manage again, don't understand how. Managed to go to sleep. And that night, this was the last nightmare that I had. I had this really intense nightmare about my mom dying. And my mom is not dead, but in the dream she was. And I don't remember exactly what happened. I just remember the dream was kind of intense. It was a pretty bad nightmare. And I woke up, and I decided. I was like, okay, I need to be a little bit more direct because this thing isn't getting my message. So basically, I took the Ouija board, I put it on the table, I sat with the Ouija board, and I was like, listen, I don't mind you being in this home. You're not to mess with me when I am trying to sleep. And if you keep this up, I will be getting rid of you. It will be in a much less pleasant way than me just letting you hang out in my apartment. And that was basically stopped bothering me. I still have it. It lives in a hundred year old cabinet. Yeah, so that was pretty much it. That was how it ended up playing out and it hasn't bothered me since. Hopefully this won't stir anything up. I don't think that it will because I've talked about it before and nothing has happened. But thank you so much. Have a great day.
Derek Hayes
Thank you Nick. That'll teach you to be good at trivia. Seems like you brought something home with you that night other than the Ouija board. And speaking of the Ouija board, I have no doubt that it was the cause of all these strange dreams and experiences. Now was that because it's possessed and infested with the souls of the damned, or was it simply because it was fresh in Nick's mind and the opened box suggested that the item had been returned? Maybe that's a detail that's hard to overlook, and maybe all of this was simply psychological. But it sounds like Nick has it all under control. But if things do get spicy again down that way, you want to offload that thing. I know a certain podcaster that likes to take risks and I already have one Ouija board here that so far has been behaving itself. So fun times Nick, and a fun story. And we thank you again for ringing. All right gang, it's time for a quick break, but when I come back, a real life alien being. Hold tight, we'll be right back. This stretch of Westwood.
Bretzky
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Bretzky
But you're on the other side
Derek Hayes
now. For those of you that love food and ghosts, you're going to really enjoy this next one. Please welcome Tas from the State of Washington.
Tas
Hi Derek, My name is Tas and I am calling from Seattle, Washington. I've lived in Seattle for over 20 some years, but before that I went to college for the first time in a small Town in West Virginia called Shepherdstown. During that time, while I was going to school, I worked part time at a bakery there called the Shepherdstown Sweet Shop. I worked there from 6am to noon most days before I'd go to class, I would get there about an hour earlier than anyone else. First it would be me at 6am and then about 7 or 7:30 the baker would show up. We'll just call him Mix. So I went in one morning and I was setting everything up, getting the coffee ready, bringing out all the donuts and muffins and all of that. And then I brought out the tills. And I was counting the tills. And there's two registers in the sweet shop. One of them was to the left at the end of sort of like an L shaped counter. The other one was in the middle of the longer part of the L. And it was directly in front of the door that led into the bakery part. And there were these plastic strips that hung down between the front of the bakery and the back. Well, I was standing directly in front of that door counting the till. And I felt someone walk up behind me. And you know how you can just sort of tell when someone walks up behind you? And I could sense that they were. I felt like it was someone much taller than me because of a, I don't know, like a change in the light maybe or air current. Something made me think that they were definitely taller. And the baker, Mick, he was very tall, over 6 foot. I assumed he got there earlier than normal. And I said, give me a second, Mick, I'm counting and I'll be right with you. And then I went back to counting and I finished counting the till and I turned around and he wasn't there. I looked everywhere. I assumed he had gone back to the freezers to get like the baked goods. And he wasn't there. No one was there. I'm positive someone walked up behind me. I was so positive that I spoke to him. It scared me so bad that I went outside and I sat on the steps and waited for him to actually arrive.
Anonymous Caller (New York)
I couldn't finish.
Tas
And I mean, of course all of us have heard stories about it being haunted. The sweet shop supposedly used to be a Civil War hospital. They even said that they would throw severed legs and stuff out the window into like carts outside of it, you know, I didn't see anything, but I would swear that someone was behind me. I've never been that positive of anything. Never. Someone was behind me. That alone makes me believe in ghosts. I know me and my friends got a great laugh out of. There's actually a shoot show that was made called Ghost of Shepherdstown and the Sweet Shop is in that. I think it's the first episode that shows a little over the top, but I can guarantee you that the Sweet Shop is haunted. Anyway, thanks for your time. I love the podcast.
Derek Hayes
Thank you Tess. Ghosts and Bread. I love a good local bakery, especially if it's haunted. Though it sounds like these ghosts might be a little too rowdy for the bakery scene. Now I did dig up a clip from the episode of Ghosts of Shepherdstown Tess had mentioned in her call and she's right, it is very over the top. But you can get a pretty good idea of what this location looks like by watching the short segment. You can find it over in tonight's show notes, but it's great stuff tas. We thank you again for sharing it. Now folks, don't forget about the merchandise shop. Every purchase goes directly back to the program and helps keep this train rolling. Visit monsters among us podcast.com and click on the Shop tab to get your hands on something spooky tonight. Now this next one would have been right at home on Tuesday's Tales from the Road special episode, but I like to think it fits even better right here. Please welcome Jake out of the State of Pennsylvania.
Jake
Hi Derek, this is Jake from Philadelphia. I'd like to tell you about something I experienced in November of 2019. I was driving alone from Gainesville, Florida to San Antonio, Texas. It's about a 16 hour drive and I had given myself two days to do it. I'd been driving all day and found myself at a rest stop on a desolate stretch of I10 in southwestern Louisiana. I got out of the van to stretch my legs, planned on driving to the next rest area I came across to sleep for the night. I got back in the van and began to drive when out of the corner of my eye I see a silhouette of a person jogging toward me from the trail tree line. As I'm approaching highway speed, the figure appears to catch up with my van and run alongside. I can see it in both the mirror and through the passenger side window. It never seems to sprint, But I'm driving 60 miles per hour and it is keeping pace with me for 10 or 15 seconds, then vanishes. I could clearly see the shape of a person running, but didn't appear to have any recognizable facial features, just a grayish haze where the face should have been. I have no idea what I saw, but it scared the hell out of me. And I decided I'd rather drive until I got to Texas rather than see what Louisiana had in store for me. I love the show. Hope you can use this. Have a nice night.
Derek Hayes
Thank you, Jake. Now, I don't think anyone would blame you for driving on, Jake. Some might even question your judgment if you happen to have stayed. Self preservation, if is key. But as for the creature, another pale humanoid creature keeping pace with a vehicle. But you might be quick to suggest the infamous skinwalker here. We've heard several accounts of them chasing vehicles over the years, but that legend is deeply rooted a thousand miles west in the Four Corners area. But this encounter does, however, remind me of the Pale Crawler, Specifically, the North Carolina Pale Crawler. For more background on that, see season 19, episode 50, an episode all about a creature in the Tar Heel State that attacked a moving vehicle, resulting in one of the creepiest 911 calls of all time. But, you know, it's worth noting that the region in which Jake had his experience has long been rumored to be home to a creature that at least vaguely fits the same description, Louisiana's rougarou.
Louisiana State University Narrator
The rougarou is a very old idea or belief about people who can change shape. It's referring to a human that transforms into a creature, often a dog or a wolf, especially in Louisiana, for some reason. And I think this is probably unique to Louisiana. Sometimes it's a white dog. Most of the time it's not an identifiable animal. It's just something that looks scary. There were stories about the rougarou as early as the early 1500s. So it's been around a long time. The usual kind of story is somebody is going home late at night and they see this animal that comes up and tries to bite them, and they throw something at it and hit it in the hand or break the hand. And the next day they run into a neighbor whose hand is hurt in the same place where they threw something at the animal. So they realized that it was their neighbor in disguise.
Derek Hayes
Now, that clip courtesy of Louisiana State University. And I can't say for certain that this was what Jake saw out there on that lonely highway, but I can say that I enjoyed hearing about it. So thank you again, Jake, for sharing this gnarly call. Now, gang, that takes us to tonight's Closer, when I bet at least a few of you have been waiting for since I first teased it earlier in the episode. So put on your tinfoil hats, this one's about to get weird. Mike from Texas, the airwaves are all yours.
Bretzky
Hey, Derek, this Is Mike from Dallas. This was a place back in 2003. I grew up in Arizona. I spent a lot of time in the northern woods there. This one specifically took place near Walnut Canyon near Flagstaff, Arizona. I'd gone out there for a weekend of camping and it was in June, so the weather was warm during the day and cold at night. So that nighttime fell and the first night that I was out there and I realized very quickly I was under prepared, meaning gear wise, it got a lot colder than the forecast I suggested and I didn't have the proper gear with me. So night went on. It was probably three, four hours after sundown. And I realized, like, I might be some danger here because it's a lot colder than it should be, so. And it was very moonlit. And if anyone's familiar with that trail near Walnut Canyon that goes towards Lake Mary Road, it's pretty wide open on the trail, but then you have forests and mountains on either side of you. So I'm walking through and I get to a point where I have to go through the woods to get back to my car. And in the woods just pitch black. And I know there's lots of cracks and everything. So I'm sitting here and I'm like, oh crap, I'm not going to do this in the dark. I'm going to break a leg and die or something. Right behind me there was a pretty good sized, like little meadow up against a pretty sheer rock wall. So I sit down there, use what little gear I have to try and stay warm, and I sort of doze off. You know, that kind of hazy zone when you're half asleep but you're still kind of aware of your surroundings. I had a large camp night with me, and the reason I say that is it's relevant to the story. So I'm kind of half asleep and I'm listening to the bugs and whatnot. And I hear the bugs and like, you know, just the night noises just kind of stop. And if anyone's ever camped before, whenever you hear noises of the forest that you're expecting to be there and they suddenly stop, it's usually a sign that something bad is probably gonna happen or there's a predator nearby. So the sound stops. I don't move because I'm like, okay, if there's something near me, I don't want to move. I don't want to startle it. But my consciousness comes into like full force, right? I realize the bugs have stopped and I'm fully awake right now, Even though I'M sitting still and about 10ft behind me to my right, I hear the telltale sign of my camp knife slowly being pulled from his sheep. So I'm like, oh, there's somebody behind me and they got my knife and they're about to stab me. So I looked up, turn around and I see like my knife hit the ground and running away from me a good 10, 15ft behind me. Best thing I could describe is it reminded me of how Gollum looked in Lord of the Rings. It was about 3ft tall, had this like pale ish gray skin, no fur, no hair, nothing like like that. It might have looked pale as gray because it was a fullish moon. It's pretty bright out, no clouds. But it was clearly something bipedal running away from me that was only a few feet tall. It looked completely naked, no clothes, nothing like that. And I saw for a good three solid seconds I got to look at it. And it might not sound like a long time, but I challenge anyone listening to look at your dog and count to three. And that's plenty of time to get a good look at something. You know, granted it was nighttime, it was bright moon and everything, but it was in the open. And then it ran into the tree line. That freaked me out so bad that I ran over and picked up my knife from where it was dropped like 10ft away, stuck it back in sheep and I literally stood on my feet the rest of the night just standing there like walking in place so I wouldn't die of hypothermia and just like hyper aware until there was enough light that I could make the trek. That was probably one of the scariest experiences I. So thank you.
Derek Hayes
Thank you, Mike, for sharing this insane story. All right, hear me out here. Could this have been an alien gray? The description seems to fit. Smallish in stature, 3ft tall or so, bipedal, with gray palish skin, no clothes and no hair. Now the reason I jumped to alien has to do with the location in which this account took place, the Grand Canyon State. The state has a long history with this sort of thing. In addition to the Travis Walton abduction case, the Phoenix Lights flap, And the Kingman UFO crash of 1953, you have a bizarre case about a ranch in which strange things happen. Unearthly creatures patrol and things get violent. I'm talking about the Stardust Ranch in Buckeye, Arizona.
John Edmonds
Down a lonely desert road sits the Stardust Ranch.
John Edmonds' Wife
Almost immediately from the day we moved in, we began to have strange experiences.
John Edmonds
John Edmonds and his wife purchased the property in 1995, with home of it being a peaceful place to operate their hopeful hooves, horse rescue and live in the country.
John Edmonds' Wife
This ranch has been just about anything
John Edmonds
except that John first started seeing mysterious lights in the sky followed by orange orbs. That's when the uninvited guests arrived.
John Edmonds' Wife
Literally gray aliens that attacked animals. They were in the house.
John Edmonds
John recalls one unforgettable experience involving gray aliens attacking his wife.
John Edmonds' Wife
Actually levitated her out of the bed in the master chamber, out into the parking lot and tried to draw her up into a craft.
Derek Hayes
Now that's segment property of KPNX NBC News 12 out of Phoenix. And you know the connection doesn't end with gray aliens in the deserts of Arizona. Both cases also involve a weapon, a blade. More specifically, Mike mentioned the hunting knife the bean was trying to snatch. And as you may remember from the clip, John Edmonds of Stardust Ranch fame defended his wife from these creatures, injuring several of the bug eyed entities using a blade as well a three foot long katana sword. Now you can learn all about that from visiting the show notes, but I think I've made my point here. There are several similarities between these two cases. Enough for me to sit up and take notice, and enough for me to wonder if aliens might not have invaded Arizona. Of course that does little to explain exactly why, what these things are, where they come from, but at the very least it's a fun jumping off point. Now the Flagstaff area is a magical place. I love driving through there and have done so many, many times. So maybe that magic extends to outside our solar system. Or perhaps something in the area is attracting these beings. A huge thanks to Mike for his harrowing tale. Makes me wonder what else might be skittering around the city in the pines, but I guess we'll have to find out at a later date. And gang, this is where I leave you for this evening with a potentially armed alien. So good luck with that. But I highly suggest you stick around because I'm about to share some more strangeness with you. But first, Monsters Among Us Podcast is written and produced by me, Derek Hayes. Copyright Read Grow 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 and follow us on social media. Do the same on YouTube, leave us a rate and review, wherever that sort of thing is possible. Join our Discord server and be sure to share the show with friends and family. Now don't forget, you can catch the show every Saturday evening at 10pm Eastern on the Unex digital network. Just visit on xnetwork.com to tune in and tonight's score was provided by Iron Cthulhu Upon Apocalypse co AG Music Carl Casey at whitepad Audio. Now go watch our film Shadows in the Desert High Strangeness in the Borrego Triangle. You can find it on Amazon prime or Tubi. If you love the show and you want to hear more, be sure to join us in the beyond. Visit patreon.com and search for Monsters Among Us podcast or simply click the subscribe Descriptions button over on Apple Podcast. And lastly, don't forget about Monsters Among Us junior. You can find it wherever you find your podcast now gang. It was great spending time with you here this evening. And you know it doesn't have to stop here. Meet me after the outro for more Monsters Among Us. But until then
Lily
sa.
Derek Hayes
Because we knew improvements were needed.
Bluff
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Bretzky
Unless this is just too and I
Derek Hayes
believe that this was.
Bretzky
This is what it is now.
Derek Hayes
Now it's time for tonight's secret submission, which is sort of like that secret track on your favorite 90s CD or cassette tape. And this clandestine phone call comes to us from Lily all the way from Missouri.
Lily
Hey, it's me again. Lily from Missouri. So I don't know if this was a dream or if this was something that actually happened. This night in my bed we have a whole basement and there's a curtain separating my bedroom from my living area, I guess. And I was dreaming about this cloaked figure and I could barely move. I had to will my eyes to open and I woke up and the figure was right above me and I shut my eyes. The figure was so terrifying when I opened my eyes. So every time I opened my eyes it was just. I don't know, the face just be there but there was no space. It was just a cloak ahead, a cloak shoulders, then skeletal hands and arms. I will not forget it. It was very terrifying. I didn't scream. I didn't want to make a sound because I knew my sisters would not believe me. It was like a ghost, but no temperature changed. It could have been my imagination. I've got a very strong imagination. But I swear it looked real. It looked so real. Anyways, that's my story. Keep up the wonderful work you do amazing. And bye.
Derek Hayes
Thank you Lily for your time. You know, my vote here is sleep paralysis. All the telltale signs are there. But what do you say, dear listener, Perhaps you have another supernatural suggestion. Creepy as hell, whatever it was. And for that Lily, we thank you. Alright everyone, grab your ticket and steady your nerve. We're going beyond the after show. We produce each and every Thursday where we explore 25, 30, sometimes 35 additional minutes worth of calls. Spooky stories like this one from Donovan here in California. Now to hear the remainder of this call and the rest of this episode, simply visit monsters among us podcast.com and click on the Patreon tab.
Donovan
Hey, my name is Donovan, calling from Clovis, California. I have a paranormal experience this year. It was around summertime, normal day. I was throwing out the trash. While walking out to my dumpsters, I happened to walk upon some pop figures. I don't know if any of you guys out there are familiar with pop figures. A lot of people collect them. Some might be worth a lot of money.
Lily
So there were some.
Donovan
Yu gi oh pop figures. Someone threw out in the dumpster and I happened to bring them in. So when I brought them in my girlfriend was like why would you bring those inside? Those are probably dirty or something. I didn't think any of it. Anyways, a couple days later I started having some weird dreams. Some nightmares. I would wake up in the middle of the night and look into the darkness and I would see something staring at me. Like I could clearly see a face staring at me.
Bluff
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Date: June 11, 2026
Host: Derek Hayes
Episode Theme: Alien Greys, Static Figures, and a Super Fast Entity
This episode of Monsters Among Us brings a collection of chilling first-person accounts, delving into the eerie intersection of the paranormal and the mundane. Eyewitnesses share experiences with alien greys, mysterious shadowy entities, missing time, haunted objects, and cryptid-like creatures—each story serving as a window into the supernatural as it disrupts everyday life. Derek Hayes curates these tales with his signature blend of empathy, humor, and insightful commentary, inviting listeners to confront the unknown.
Caller: Grant from Portland, Maine
Timestamp: 02:26–08:53
Caller: RJ from Owyhee County, Idaho
Timestamp: 12:03–13:14
Caller: Lisa (Maryland/Virginia)
Timestamp: 15:24–18:20
Caller: Anonymous (Atlanta, story in NYC)
Timestamp: 19:27–21:21
Caller: Marie
Timestamp: 22:38–24:43
Caller: Emily
Timestamp: 28:59–33:17
Caller: Nick from New York City
Timestamp: 34:52–41:32
Caller: Tas from Seattle, WA (event in Shepherdstown, WV)
Timestamp: 43:48–47:26
Caller: Jake from Philadelphia (event in Louisiana)
Timestamp: 48:48–49:57
Caller: Mike from Dallas (event near Flagstaff, AZ)
Timestamp: 53:03–56:33
Caller: Lily from Missouri
Timestamp: 63:46–65:21
| Segment | Caller | Start / End | |--------------------------------------|---------------|--------------| | Silent Intruder in Maine | Grant | 02:26–08:53 | | Idaho Multiplying Sky Lights | RJ | 12:03–13:14 | | Attacked by Unknown Force | Lisa | 15:24–18:20 | | Urge to Check Siblings/Bathroom | Anonymous | 19:27–21:21 | | Haunting Ship's Clock | Marie | 22:38–24:43 | | Cemetery Time Slip | Emily | 28:59–33:17 | | Ouija Board & Shadow Static Figure | Nick | 34:52–41:32 | | Sweet Shop Ghost | Tas | 43:48–47:26 | | Superfast Humanoid Entity | Jake | 48:48–49:57 | | Arizona Alien Gray | Mike | 53:03–56:33 | | Secret: Cloaked Bedroom Figure | Lily | 63:46–65:21 |
Season 21, Episode 10 of Monsters Among Us is a diverse showcase of supernatural phenomena—ranging from the introspective and psychological (time slips, sleep paralysis, intuition) to classic monster and alien lore (gray aliens, static figures, cryptid encounters). Derek Hayes maintains a respectful, open-minded, yet playful tone that draws listeners into these intimate, unsettling stories while encouraging both skepticism and belief. The episode closes with a signature “secret submission,” reinforcing the communal, confessional spirit that makes the show a staple for fans of the paranormal.
"Keep it spooky!"