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Texas Caller
It's.
Derek Hayes
Good evening and welcome to Monsters Among Us. I am your guide, Derek Hayes. But I'm not sure how it happened, but somehow we've found our way into summer already. I usually have a pretty firm grasp on our collective timeline, but this year it's flown by. Spooky season will be here before you know it. But truth be told, spookiness is already here in the form of tonight's stories. Now, given that it's summer, I've gotten a bit lazy because the common theme here tonight is that each of tonight's calls have come to us anonymously. Some folks want to share but do not want to be publicly attached to these stories and we're happy to oblige them. So I'm glad you're here with us tonight as we explore our first ever all Anonymous episode. And let's kick things off of the first of many. Please welcome Anonymous out of New Mexico.
Anonymous Caller (New Mexico)
Hi.
Anonymous Storyteller (New Mexico)
I would like to remain anonymous due to the fact that this is from a very small town in Gallup, New Mexico, and at the time everybody knew each other. So if this does get back to Gallup, some people may remember it and some people may not. It was definitely the mid-70s. I was 3 years old and my sister was 8. And we were playing in our house and we got bored and I had like a small little record player that my sister and I shared and I had a Donald Duck disco album. So I wanted to go dance. My sister was annoyed that she had to, you know, babysit me. She was 8. She was an adult. I remember she was pissed. But we went out in the front yard and that little record player was going, and my sister and I were just dancing up a storm and having a good time. Well, it was coming around lunchtime. My dad was always coming home for lunch, and my mom was like, girls, put the record player away. Lunch is going to be served soon. Your dad's on his way. We're like, okay. So you had to walk into the house, and then you turned right and you went in through the kitchen. We had a really big kitchen. I was also short, but it seemed very, very, very big. But on the other side, like past the sink, I remember there was, like a little step down and a door. So my dad converted the garage into a playroom for us. Like, extra bonus sprays. So it was all done up nice. And it was my sister and I's playroom. We had everything in there. It was crazy. I was a very spoiled child and very thankful. But towards the front of the room, there was a window that my dad put in, and it was not very big, but it was just enough to where you could see if we were in their plane. So my mother had the shelves put in. We had all our toys, and then we had lights above it, like hanging lights, I remember, like Christmas lights and all kinds of lights, because I loved lights. So when you turned on the switch, you know, the lights came on, all the Christmas lights. It was like a fairy tale for us. So my mother was like, put the record player up. Put everything away. If there's any toys on the floor, put them in your toy chest. We were required to put everything away. So the toy chest was open. My sister just slammed the record player back up, and she said, hurry up. And then I was one of those weird children that had to have everything ocd. So I put the record back in the sleeve, I remember, and then putting it back on the shelf meticulously. And as you walked out, you had to walk by the toy chest. Well, I looked down. One of my toys was there, my teddy bear. I picked it up and I put it into the toy chest that was really, really big and really open. Well, I felt two hands, like a push, like a force, push me in. Now, usually we had all kinds of toys in there, but for some reason, there was only stuffed animals. So I got shoved right into, like, a fluffy pile. And then the lid came down, and I heard, like, kind of like the snap. And you're just confused. What the hell's going on? I thought my sister pushed me in, and all of a sudden I was trying to push myself out because I was hiding there as a kid. And I couldn't open it. So I'm screaming, I couldn't open it. And I swear it was like I was in this bubble. I couldn't hear anything. I just heard you're okay in my head. You're okay. What felt like an eternity was just like this calm, serene. I'm okay. I'm okay. Don't panic. And I kind of just like, kind of cuddled in. And all of a sudden I hear banging on the outside, which seemed like forever, but it wasn't probably that long. And then it flips open and I just see smoke everywhere. And my dad picks me up, grabs me, and it's just smoke everywhere. And he's running through the house, come to find out that the tinkerbell lights kind of short circuited and fell down on that big, pushy carpet and caught fire. And if I wouldn't have been pushed into that chest, I would have been severely hurt. Now, I don't know who it was. It could have been my grandfather, But I just remember being deathly afraid, but also deathly calm. I didn't get that fear until I got pulled out and I saw the smoke. And there you go. There's my story. Thank you. Have a great day.
Derek Hayes
Thanks, caller. I almost saved this one for the holiday special toy box Toys, Santa Claus and Christmas. With episodes like that, we make a connection any way we can. But instead, I decided to play it here this evening, not only because it's a great story, but also because I thought it might inspire folks to share their Christmas winter holiday stories for our yearly special episode. It's never too late to share. Now, as for our caller story, incredible. Someone saved your life that day. Someone unseen, someone mysterious. Someone with abilities above our own. Now, whenever I hear stories like this, I always assume that the survivor is destined to go on to great things. They cure a disease or save many lives, protect precious places, perhaps. And I wonder that with our collar here as well. So it's interesting and amazing. Thanks again, caller, for ringing in. Now, as it turns out, I have one more short one before our first break of the evening. So let's lock and load this next one from parts unknown.
Caller with Daughter and Cat
Well, it was January 31st, my birthday, 2021. My daughter said I should tell you because I wear your hat. She got it for me. I like it. Anyway, I have a very old, partially disabled cat that I take out on my deck. Took her out, and instead of going down the steps like normal, she, like, stopped, which almost made me fall over her. So I'm looking at her and she's looking at something, I'm looking at her looking at something that I realized there was a, I guess what you would call an orb. It reminded me of when I was a kid and people blew those bubbles that shimmered and sort of sucked in on the edges and whatnot. That's what it looked like, but it was small. And I stood there and I watched it go through a rose bush by her and then up into the air, literally within 10ft of me. And I watched it and I watched it and it was a blue shimmering light that I can't even explain the color. It's like something I've never seen. It was self contained though, and it literally floated by me. And I just stood there, like not so much as an awe, but just looking at was a peaceful feeling. And it floated on through the trees. And that's my story. Thank you. Bye.
Derek Hayes
We appreciate the entry and we appreciate your daughter for sending you some merchandise. Monsters among us podcast.com and click on the shop tab if you'd like to check that out. Now, I'm always quick to think ball lightning when I hear a story like this, but even I admit that that's a boring explanation at this point. After all, science tells us that ball lightning is a rare phenomenon. So if it's so rare, why do I get so many calls about it? Could that suggest that the phenomenon that people like our caller here are discussing is something else other than ball lightning? Now, it could be something else natural, of course. Maybe those plasmoids or whatever they call those. Or I guess it could be something otherworldly as well. Or something from a higher dimension. Whatever it is, keep the calls coming, folks. These can't all be ball lightning. Thank you again caller for taking the time.
Caller from Ontario, Canada
It kind of feels like they're a
Derek Hayes
little bit far away now.
Anonymous Caller (Chicago Suburbs)
Yeah, yeah,
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Lady Luck Bretzky
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Derek Hayes
Now. Our next anonymous entry takes us out of the country, off to Ireland. We go for this one.
Anonymous Caller (New Mexico)
Hey there Derek and everybody else. I'm calling you from East Clare, Ireland. So a very rural part of Ireland. This is about 10 years ago, maybe 2016. My mom and I were driving to a very rural village called Tina. And it was not so late. But in Ireland in the winter it gets dark very early. So we'll say it's about 5 o' clock and we're taking the back road. So in America you would imagine, you know, a two lane road here, a one lane road, it's a two way road. So very small town. And we would be going to Domingo to support older people and to show up and to be friends. And we were meeting who I call my Irish grandparents at the time. And we came to a crossroads just before rising Tina. And there was this old man leaning on a lamppost and he had his thumb out and he had a patty cap on and a wool jacket and wellies. So very traditional country Irish dress. Mom, go on, pull over for him, pull over for him. You know, he's probably going to bingo. That's where we're going. There's nothing else to be doing out here. And she had kind of a weary feeling about her and said no, no, no. And my family, we'd always pick up hitchhikers, like especially old people, there's no harm to them like and no, no. So we go a couple hundred yards down the road. I said, mom, come on, it's stormy night, it's cold, it's winter, let's go pick him up. So she turns around and there's no cars ahead of us, there's no cars behind us. Again, imagine rural Ireland, there's no street lamps. Any illumination would be coming from the moon. And at that night there was none. He was gone, completely gone. There was nowhere for him to have gone at all. But he was so real. It was like a very, very real person and a very logical person to be standing there. Okay, there's an Irish farmer, there's cow field, there's a lamp house. Like he would be standing there. Bosh. There's no way anybody could have reached him before we did. Before I convinced my mom to turn around. And I remember we did turn around, he wasn't there. And we both kind of were just a bit silent, like there's nowhere for him to have gone. Anyway, thank you so much. I love your podcast. I love hearing stories from everybody. Thank you so much. Bye.
Derek Hayes
Thank you for the long distance entry. Now it sounds like a good thing you didn't stop and pick him up though I do wonder what would have happened if you did a shiver inducing scenario. And we thank you again caller for sharing. Now folks, if you too have a story you would like to share, give our hotline a ring at 888-608-NIGHT. That's 888608 NIG HT. Or you can email a waiver MPC to Monsters Among Us podcast gmail.com operators are standing by and we can't wait to hear from you. And coincidentally, we can't wait to hear from tonight's next mystery caller either. From the lands of the north, please welcome this unknown caller from Canada.
Caller from Ontario, Canada
Hi there Derek and listeners. In 1998 we bought a cute little home in a small town in Ontario, Canada. The home was built just after World War II and was never really intended to be long term, but here we are still. When the house was constructed, it did not have a subfloor, so the hardwood floors were very creaky. Whenever anyone was walking around, you could hear them coming. It was so bad that at late at night I would hear my cat coming into our bedroom and and it would wake me. After a while you could easily tell if someone was walking around and we just got used to it. So a few years after we moved in, I was working in our office. There was only my husband and I plus the cat in our home. The computer desk sat in the corner of the room so my back was to the door. My husband had been doing some repairs earlier and he had his big red metal toolbox on the floor. He had placed it on a blanket as to not scratch the hardwood floors. The box was in the open position, not closed, and I noticed that my cat had settled down on a corner of the blanket and was fast asleep. It was very late at night and my husband had already gone to bed. Suddenly I heard my husband creeping up on me. My guess was to startle me. When we first met, we found we had a weird side to us and on occasion we would jump out and scare each other. So I said, nice try bud, but I gotcha. And I turned around, there was no one there. So I looked at my cat and he was still fast asleep. Okay, I'm thinking maybe I'm tired and it's time to get to bed. So I turned my back to the screen to finish up what I was doing. Then bam. A loud noise of something that had crashed or fallen. I turned quickly, just in time to see my cat flying up in the air. He was so scared by the noise that he went vertical before fleeing the room. Once I finally got my brain around what was happening, I noticed that the toolbox lid was closed. I'm talking about a professional metal toolbox. Those lids just don't close on their own. I immediately checked around the house and all was in order. Doors and windows locked and my husband snoring away. I tried to recreate how it could have happened and the lid always stayed up in the up position. I have no idea what caused the creaking towards me and how the toolbox lid slammed down on its own. I have had no further weird experiences since. We eventually put in proper flooring and we no longer have creaky floors. So now we can sneak up on each other from time to time. Thanks for listening.
Derek Hayes
Thanks for calling. Now our cabin is also very old and it also has some creaky floors. After a while you learn where each and every one is and what they all sound like. But the falling toolbox lid, that's something I've not experienced, thankfully, fun and innocent, the way all hauntings should be. Thanks again caller for sharing the tale. All right, here's another from parts unknown. Welcome to the program. UNIDENTIFIED Color
Anonymous Caller (Chicago Suburbs)
Hey Derek, big fan of the podcast. Want to remain anonymous, but I'd like to tell a story that happened when I was either 13 or 14 years old. So to set up the scene. It was the summer of 2009, north suburbs of Chicago, in the house that I grew up in, where my parents actually live to this day. A little background on my parents house. It was built in 1928, which is an old house but not uncommon for the area. And they have these very rickety floors that I don't think have been replaced since the house was built. Like I mentioned, I was a teenager at the time. I had this thing called an ipod touch and very frequently at night I'd stay up late texting friends, listening to music, browse the Internet, you know, whatever a teenager does. My dad knew about this and he was very adamant on stopping me from doing this to get my sleep. So he would, you know, try to catch me or turn off the Internet. So I'd go to bed. So the night of the occurrence, I remember it was a very hot and humid night, pretty late because probably around midnight, one o', clock, my dad is a very Big timer guy, he likes having lights on timers both inside and outside. And those lights were off when this occurred. So the house was pitch black. So maybe I want to say around 1 o' clock at night this happened. And I was on my ipod and I can hear footsteps starting walking down the hall. And the distance between my bedroom and my parents bedroom is the longest between any two bedrooms. So heard footsteps coming and I immediately turn off my ipod and pretend I'm sleeping. I didn't have my eyes closed because it was pitch black and you couldn't see from across the room if somebody's eyes were open or not. So I pretend like I was sleeping. And when the footsteps stop, I see a figure at my doorway. I figured it was my dad. It looked like, you know, a man's outline. I couldn't see very well because it was pitch black, but I assumed it was my dad. And what I found really weird about this is nothing was said. Somebody just stood there in silence. Usually my dad would maybe stand there, look for a few seconds, and then say like, I know you're up, go to bed, you know, or try to trick me into saying like, okay, I'll go to bed. I was up. He tried to make it clear that he knew that I was up, but nothing was said. And I had this sensation, which I think a lot of people on this podcast can relate to when there's some sort of presence. It was a sensation where it kind of felt like I had like pretty heightened goosebumps and a very large rush of warmth and also like a really bad feeling in my gut and chest, like something bad was going to happen. So I chalked this up to being my dad, but I thought something was definitely kind of up. So what felt like 10 hours was probably 10 seconds. And then the figure went away from my door frame and I could hear the footsteps walking back. I stayed up for a little because I just felt like the whole encounter was kind of wrong. But eventually went back to bed. I knew I wasn't dreaming next morning because I had this weird feeling about what happened. I asked my sister, hey, were you at my door frame last night? Somebody came up to my room and just stood there and she said no. So I said, okay, that's fine. She usually doesn't do that. Went on, asked my mom, she gave me the same answer. And my dad was at work, so I had to wait the whole day for him to come home and answer the same question. So my dad comes home from work and I ask, hey, were you at my door last night and he said no. And I don't think he's lying because he still denies it to this day. And so once he said no, I was a little freaked out by this because there's nobody else in my family that it could have been. So the next few nights I kind of had that same feeling that I described earlier. And I actually slept on my parents flying for about a week until that feeling kind of went away. I have a sneaky suspicion that it was a certain presence that may reside in our house because we've had other encounters where our dog wakes up on my parents bed and starts barking at the door when nothing is there. Or we've had scenarios where we hang up Christmas bells as decoration during the holiday season and my sister has heard those kind of jingling, as in something was hitting him and nobody's home. And my dad has also had these quote unquote sleep paralysis episodes where a dark figure at the foot of his bed is strangling him and he can't do anything about it. So, you know, don't think it's a coincidence. We've had people come to our house, people's family who've actually lived at our house before, telling us sort of unsettling things. Like they've had a family member who had a wake in our living room where we, you know, attribute good memories to where we spend our holiday, our Christmas and Thanksgiving, in that living room. There's clearly been things that have happened in the house that I don't think we've been aware of, but I think that has rolled over into our experience in that house. So that's my story.
Caller with Daughter and Cat
Yeah.
Anonymous Caller (Chicago Suburbs)
Love your podcast, Eric. Please keep doing what you're doing. Hope you enjoy. Thank you.
Derek Hayes
Thanks caller. Sounds like the entity wanted you to go to bed as well. Sharing parenting duties with your father perhaps. And this sounds like another of these shadow entities if you ask me. That's about as specific as I care to get though, because frankly, I don't have a clue. But I do know that it was a fun story. So thank you again for sharing.
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without being able
Derek Hayes
to tear it down and rebuild and whatever and. Now this next one takes us to my neck of the woods. Please welcome Anonymous to the show.
Caller from Palisades Fire
Hey Derek, I was just calling to tell you about my time in the Palisade fire that day. I actually got stuck in the fire for most of the day trying to get out, but I had some something very strange happen and I'm actually curious to know if anyone else saw it. Once I was finally out of the fires, I think it was around like 3:30. I was in Brentwood, I was at seventh in San Vicente and I looked up in the sky and there was like this giant flying saucer shaped cloud. It was so intensely shaped like a flying saucer and it looked like it like poorly hit itself as a cloud and it was the only cloud in the sky. And where it was sitting in the sky it would have had a perfect view of the fire in the Palisade. And I remember seeing it and staring at it and being like, am I the only person really seeing this? And something in my head told me not to take a picture of it. I don't know why I did that, didn't do that. I should say. I wish I had because it was so crazy what I was witnessing. But I was mostly just calling to see if anyone else saw anything in the sky during the Palisades fire or the Eaton fire in Los Angeles. I tried doing some research, tried looking for pictures, tried seeing if anyone on Reddit had the same experience with me. I haven't seen or heard anything, so maybe someone here has. All right, thanks so much.
Derek Hayes
Thanks caller. Those fires were horrific. I know a number of people that lost their homes that week last January. And for those unfamiliar, the Palisades fire spread to 37 square miles, killed 12 people and destroyed 6,837 structures, making it the 10th deadliest and third most destructive California wildfire on record and the most destructive to occur in the history of the Los Angeles area. Coincidentally, I was picking Sarah up from the Ontario airport just a little further east of there the night that the fire started and we actually saw a Separate fire start When a semi truck was blown into a guardrail by high winds, the shower of sparks instantly lit the freeway median ablaze. Of course, we called 911 and they were able to get it out quickly. But the point here is that day was apocalyptic. And that's no exaggeration. But as for the cloud that our caller saw, it sounds like a lenticular cloud. They form in the lower part of our atmosphere and are often isolated and saucer or lens shaped. They also often occur over rugged or mountainous terrain, which perfectly describes that area in general. I've posted some photos up in the show, notes of these lenticular clouds. Our caller can take a look and tell us, was it just a cloud that you saw or did something more advanced than us take notice of the fires as well? Crazy stuff. And it's even crazier that many of those victims have yet to begin rebuilding. Red tape has hindered most efforts to start over. Now our hearts go out to those we lost and to those that lost everything. Thanks again, caller. Now for another from parts unknown. Welcome to the show, stranger.
Texas Caller
Good morning, Sir. It is 4:26am right now. My girlfriend woke me up about 3:45, something like that. What I do is every single time I take the dogs outside, when it's time for them to come back inside, I say, hello boys. And we live in a 26 foot trailer. And when I start waking up, getting ready for work, our cat will headbutt our glove and he'll start letting her know, like, freaking, it's time to go outside. But like I said, About 3:46 this morning, my girl woke up and she
Caller with Daughter and Cat
heard, oi, boys, boy, boys.
Texas Caller
Outside of the trailer. And I am dead asleep at this point, right? Like she woke up, she ran over to me and she checked me to go see if I was gonna go have a cigarette, you know, this and that. But I was dead asleep. Now also, I was having a dream at that point about running on all fours like a werewolf, you know, like I run faster on all fours than I do on two feet, you know. But in my dream I was running as fast as I possibly could, but I wake up and she is freaked out. We live in the outskirts of Converse, Texas, and we've got about 50 acres of land that we live on. And I was just listening to your last couple episodes. One episode was about the sw. We refused to say the words, you know, together, but sw. And it's a really big thing out this way. If you take a look at the lore out here in Texas, around the area that we live at. I believe my cat was talking to her, but she swears up and down the street that she heard it clear as day outside. All right, I'm dead asleep. And I say, oh, boys, to bring the dogs inside the house. Yeah, we're a little freaked out right now, man.
Derek Hayes
We appreciate your time, caller. That's mimicry. And we keep hearing about it week after week. It seems like a trick or a trap or maybe a little bit of both. Almost as if whatever is out there is trying to lure you away from the house, Perhaps over the first hill just across the road or into the tree line. It's best not to follow it. That's my advice. But we thank you again, caller, for ringing in and for making or skin crawl. Now let's run one more before we take ad break number three, and this one takes us to Tennessee. Welcome to the show. Anonymous.
Caller from Tennessee (Ripavia Plantation)
Hey, Derek, I was just listening to your podcast and I heard a story that was so similar to mine. I believe it was told by roxanne in season 17 on your little ghostly deep dive. And it just struck a chord in me because it was so similar to what had happened to me. I took it as my sign to call in and tell it. So back in 2017 or 2018, I worked at a old historical home. The home is located in Tennessee. It was Ricavilla Plantation. And the house has a very rich history. So we did weddings once upon a time, and I was hired to kind of watch the house during the weddings because unfortunately, we had some people that were disrespectful to the history of the house and would sit on really, really old furniture they weren't supposed to be sitting on, stuff like that. So we had somebody that would stay in the top part of the house and someone that would stay in the bottom part of the house because guests were free to roam and look at the history. And we had people there that would talk to them and give them, like, little tours. So I believe it was when I first got hired, I was told by one of the caretakers of the house, I was given some warnings before I started. And I just kind of brush it off because, you know, I'm just trying to freak me out. So there's spirits here, you know. But as I started working, you know, kind of get like a creepy feeling. It's an old house. It is a beautiful house if you have the time to go look it up. But I had had other co workers, you know, tell me certain things that they'd seen, like Oh, I saw the spirit at the corner of my eye and I was like, oh, yeah. Well, I'd never seen anything, so you don't believe it till you see it. So I unfortunately ate my words. So I was sitting downstairs and we were having a wedding outside. We would set up big tents and people didn't really come back in the house at that point in the night. So the wedding would already be finished and the reception would be held basically all outside. So there was not really a reason for any more guests to come in unless they were part of the groomsmen or the bridal party or, you know, parents or anything like that. So I would sit and, you know, watch the front door. And when people come in, I'd greet them and, you know, they would go about their business. So we had a grand staircase in the house, very beautiful, large staircase. And I was sitting at the base of that staircase, and I think it was just a plastic chair. I remember not wanting to go upstairs because it was dark up there. It was a little creepy. They have, like, you know, some dolls step on display and other things and always creep me out. So it's like, do I have to watch upstairs? They're like, ah, now you can just, you know, hang out downstairs and keep an eye out on things down there. So say, okay. So all of my other co workers went into the kitchen, and I was the only person on the bottom floor at that point. And I was bent forward and there was nobody there. So, you know, I was kind of just on my phone, you know, just waiting until it was time to leave. And my hair was up in a ponytail, and I felt a touch to my hair, like my hair was being caressed. And, you know, it's an old house. If someone's walking, you hear the creaking. Like it's old wood floors. They had been covering carpet, but you still hear all the creaking when I could still hear my co workers talking in the kitchen. And I knew that I was alone. So having my hair touched like that kind of, you know, was not expected. So I kind of got the chills and I stood up and I looked around and there was nobody there. And I was, like, trying to debunk it. Like, okay, did I get my hair caught in the chair? And I'm like, it wasn't a metal chair. It was just like a plastic chair. And I didn't see a way for my hair to get caught. It was pulled up at the top of my head, you know, like, I swore I felt somebody caress my hair So I walked into the kitchen, and immediately one of the other co workers who had claimed to have seen a spirit in the house looked me right in the eye, and he's like, something just happened to you? And I said, yes, it did. And so we kind of gushed over what had happened because it was really freaky. And, you know, the night just continued on. Nothing else had happened. We were like, maybe it was the ac, Maybe it was blowing, and it, like, brushed my hair. But wouldn't I have noticed that before? I'd been sitting there for a bit. Perhaps the static electricity or, like, the static may have lifted my hair. I really don't think it would have been static because I was leaned really, really far forward. Like, I don't even think my hair was close to the back of the chair. And the feeling that I had was as if somebody was grabbing, like, a lock of my hair and, like, running it through their fingers or their hand. That doesn't compare to, like, the static feeling of your hair at all. It just didn't make any sense. But later, as I was thinking about it, I remembered what one of the caretakers had told me. All the ghosts that they know have names, and I was told that a specific ghost named Thomas happened to like blondes, and I am, in fact, a blonde. So did Thomas brush my hair? I don't know, but I just thought that was a very interesting story. That's been the only ghost experience I've ever really had. But I just want to thank you for giving us a voice here, and I really appreciate it.
Caller from Palisades Fire
Bye. Bye.
Derek Hayes
It crosses a line when they start touching you. I think our caller can attest to that. Now, Ripavia Plantation is also known as Meadowbrook and the Nathaniel Shears house, and the history surrounding the place certainly lends to some sort of paranormal activity. The town saw an influx of Confederate soldiers during the Civil War, bringing many of their wounded and dead there. Many of the homes in the area, including Ripavia, were turned into makeshift hospitals that saw much death and suffering not only within the walls of Ripavia, but the entire town as well. Add to it slavery, smallpox, and natural deaths, and it's not hard to see that many had taken their last breath at Ripavia. So it's sort of amazing that all you experienced was your hair getting touched color. Not to belittle your experience in any way, but given the history, I think things could have been much worse. But we thank you for the history lesson, and we thank you again for the call
Caller with Daughter and Cat
every before that center the damn rat
Bluff
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Lady Luck Bretzky
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Derek Hayes
It's very easy, pretty much hands off. You know they picked up the ball and ran with it and how did well, this episode is taking us all over the globe here this evening. Up next, we venture to Sweden for tonight's next entry.
Caller from Sweden
Hi Derek, Greetings from Sweden. I'd like to contribute with something that happened to me recently. Wasn't too scary at the time, but I can't really shake it off my mind. So I was walking at night by my childhood home late this autumn. It's a scarcely populated area of Sweden, quite a small island, and the night was cold and clear and you could see the stars in the sky. The old dirt road was lit up only by the moon and you could see the details in the surroundings almost like in daytime. This part of the island is very flat with very little trees growing. That means you can see miles away. I'm a bit scared of the dark, and as I passed the old Bronze age graves just 50 meters or yards to my right, my mind was a bit weary, even if I've never experienced anything supernatural there before. I kept trying not to look too much at them and where I kept my eyes instead, there are windmills to the left with their red lights slowly blinking and then closer to the ground to the right and what to me looked like closer to the horizon. I saw what I first thought must be two fireworks, but they didn't shoot up high in the sky, but kept hanging there in the air. So I thought must be someone shooting emergency rockets. I wondered if there actually was someone at sea in need of help or just someone firing them for fun. And it's usually the ladder, so I wasn't too concerned about that. But usually the emergency rockets they are a red light and these were white or pale yellow. And that's odd. I realized one of them stood still and the other one started to bounce back and forth, leaping over the other. If I'd only seen the top of a windmill, the light would appear to start at one side only going one way to reappear and rise at the same side every time. So they must be drones. Then I thought, how else would they be able to move like that? Like if you imagine the tip of a metronome going back and forth, like left, right, left, right. But then again, at that distance, they must be at least 10 to 15 kilometers away. And that's about six to nine miles. I know estimating size in the air and at night is hard, but the speed of the drone must be high, like very high. So I really don't know what I saw. And Sweden has limited military resources and this island haven't any big Swedish military presence. There are sometimes the presence of Russian like air territorial presence. But honestly, I don't know what I saw. Do you have any ideas? I would love to hear any theories about what this might be because I really don't know. Keep up the good show. Thank you. Bye.
Derek Hayes
Thank you caller. What a peaceful place to see a ufo. A little chilly though perhaps. Now, I don't know that we've ever fielded a call from Sweden and I doubt we've ever shared a UFO call from there. And there might be a reason for that. For the large part, the country of Sweden is not a big believer in the UFO phenomenon. According to a study conducted by the Swedish Citizen panel, only 10.4% of the population believe in the existence of UFOs and only 6.5% claim to have had their own experience there. For some perspective, nearly half of Americans believe in the existence of unidentified flying objects. So thank you for sharing your story collar and thanks for being part of the roughly 10% of Swedes that actually believe. Our next mystery caller also hails from a mystery location. Here is their call.
Caller from Pittsburgh Suburbs
Hi Derek. This happened in the mid-1990s in the suburbs of Pittsburgh. My sister had just moved into a house, her and her boyfriend at the time. I myself would go over to her house on the weekends and stay with her on the weekends. Right off the bat from my sister moving in, she would experience unexplained activity. She would smell baby powder, experience lights flickering off and on, and other unexplained activity. I myself, when I would go over there, would also have experiences. I would also smell the baby powder experience lights flickering off and on, and if I was in the house by myself, I would always feel like I was being watched. The way this house was laid out, the first floor was one apartment and the second and third floor was a single apartment. Whoever had the second floor also had the third floor as well. And in my sister's apartment, the second floor was a living room, dining room, a small kitchen, and the third floor there were two bedrooms as well as a large bathroom. One night my sister came home from work, went into the kitchen to get something to drink, looked up the stairs to the third floor and saw that the hallway light was turned on, which she does not normally leave turned on, and her boyfriend was not home at the time. I was not at the house yet because I had not yet arrived. So my sister went upstairs just to make sure that no one was up there, and she goes upstairs to turn the light off, looks back down the stairs, sees the light in the kitchen flickering off and on, and then sees a figure of an elderly woman wearing a dress walk up the stairs, gets about midway up the stairs and just disappears. I do know that the mother of the gentleman who owned the house at the time, his mother did in fact die in the house. So it could have very well just been her spirit that was just making an appearance saying, hey, I'm still here, but I don't know, I never got an opportunity to see her. In fact, I don't know what I would have done had I seen her. But I figured this is a story you might be able to use for one of your episodes. You're doing a great job with the podcast. Keep up the great work. Absolutely love it.
Derek Hayes
Thank you sir. Now, I wonder caller, are you happy that you never saw her ghost or is there part of you that feels like you missed out on something? I think I'm in the latter camp, but how about you listener? Where is it? The Chew land.
Caller with Daughter and Cat
Or even a mid level exception?
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Derek Hayes
Este cuatro de julio and los ahoras ademas ahora ocenta Dola Parria Gas Selecta
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Derek Hayes
Now off to Virginia we go where our next unknown caller has a story to share about Maryland.
Caller from Virginia/Maryland
Hello, Derek and Monsters among us crew. I live in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Anonymous Caller (New Mexico)
Now.
Caller from Virginia/Maryland
I grew up in the state of Maryland. And when I was a teenager, about 15 or 16 years old, I had a really good friend whose grandmother had Alzheimer's. Pretty severe Alzheimer's and Alzheimer's. A lot of times the patients will do this thing called sundowning, where they're more active awake at night, often agitated. So sometimes I would spend the night at this friend's house, and when I did, she would sleep in her mom's room and I would sleep in her room. And I would always lock the door because the grandmother would pace up and down the hallway and she would repeat, please God. Please God, over and over and over. And it was really sad to hear. So one night while I was there, door locked, trying to fall asleep in my friend's room, and the grandmother was pacing up and down the hallway. Suddenly I realized she stopped talking and she stopped walking. I couldn't hear anything. It was just silence. Then I heard the doorknob jiggle and
Caller from Palisades Fire
my back was to the door.
Caller from Virginia/Maryland
I was facing the wall and I panicked, wondering, did I lock the door? I was certain I locked the door,
Caller from Palisades Fire
but I heard it open.
Caller from Virginia/Maryland
And then I heard padded footsteps coming across the room.
Caller from Palisades Fire
And I was absolutely terrified.
Caller from Virginia/Maryland
Every hair on the back of my neck stood up. I don't know why I was so scared of this tiny little old lady, but I was. I was absolutely terrified. So finally the footsteps stop, and I can tell that she must be standing right next to the bed, but not saying a word. So I gathered up all of my courage and quickly rolled over, fully prepared to say something or help her back out of the room or whatever I needed to do. Go get my friend, whatever. And there was no one there. The door was still closed and still locked. And then not long after that, I heard her start walking again and talking again. So that's my first story. Maybe somebody has an explanation, or maybe it was just overactive imagination. Thanks again. Bye bye.
Derek Hayes
Thanks for the call. What a terrible disease. My grandfather suffered from dementia. And to say that it was rough to see how it affected his mind is an understatement. But as for the opening door in the disembodied footsteps, it's a common theme here tonight. Completely coincidental, of course, believe it or not. But maybe that means that it's a common everyday occurrence, whatever it Was we. Thank you again caller for sharing the tale. Now folks, that takes us to tonight's final entry. I don't have any info about this one either, but don't let that fool you. This is a good one.
Caller with Shadow Story
Hello everyone, from Monsters Among Us. So when I was younger, I grew up in an old house. I don't particularly think that the age of a home or a location has much to do with things that, that are unknown and seen. But to kind of give you an image, it was an old Victorian style home. So you can kind of picture what it looked like. It was beautiful. A lot of big windows, a lot of big doors, a lot of natural light. And so when you would sit in a particular armchair in the living room, you could see out of your peripheral the slider that led to the backyard and it was through the kitchen. And so through this slider there was like a deck, and then beyond the deck was our grass. So whenever you would sit, or I would sit in this armchair and I would be watching TV that was right in front of me, I would see, I'm going to call it a shadow, cross past the slider door. So it would go from one side of the kitchen to the other. And what would catch my eye was it passing the slider door. Cuz it would block out light for a second. And so I remember being fairly young, maybe six or seven when I first started remembering it, and noticing would cause me to look over every single time. So I knew it was something there. But being a kid too, I kind of had an awareness that it may just be something I don't understand. It could be a bird flying past the window. We had bird feeders, you know, so I just wrote it off as you do as a kid. You know, grown ups understand that stuff, that's not me. And I would see that every day. Anytime I was sitting in that armchair, I just kind of subconsciously hardly sat in that chair. It was the last spot I would take. I would sit somewhere else unless every other spot was taken. And then I would resort to the chair because in the back of my mind I knew I was going to see this shadow thing every five minutes. So I grow up, you know, years go by, I've seen this thing and one day my brother and I have a bunch of friends over for a Halo tournament. And we're all in the living room, we're playing Halo, and one of my brother's friends is sitting in that armchair and I am observing that he's looking over every five minutes in my mind. I took note of that. I'm like, hmm. Like, I'm wondering if he's seeing what I'm seeing now. When we were playing Halo, it was like 10pm so there's no chance of it being a bird or sun. You know, like something casting a shadow across the sun. It's dark in the kitchen. Like, it's dark outside at that time of day. You could still see a shadow crossing past the slider door. And so he actually got up in the middle of us playing, and he just was like, I'm gonna sit on the floor. This chair is weird. And we're in the middle of a game. So we kind of chuckled, but no one really noticed what he said except for myself. I didn't say anything, but I was like, huh, interesting. Like, he feels weird in that chair, too. Like, whatever. You know, it's something we don't understand. And then about a year or so later, my aunt. My mom's sister comes to visit, and she's sitting in that chair, and we're all socializing and catching up in the living room, and she keeps looking over to the back door, and I'm noticing she's getting more and more annoyed. And then she just comes out and says it. She's like, there's something up with your house. And I look at her and I'm like, why? What are you talking about? Like, I'm kind of excited because I think she's seeing what I've been seeing for the past 10 years. And she's like, I keep seeing somebody walk past your back door. She's like, it's getting annoying because it's really distracting, and it's kind of weirding me out. And my mom was like, you see that, too? And then I look at my mom, and I'm like, you've been seeing that? And she says, well, yeah, I don't want to say anything, though. I don't want to scare you kids. I don't want to weird your dad out. But, yeah, I've been seeing that for years. And I was like, oh, my God. So it was weird because it would happen almost on the dot every five minutes. That's why it was so annoying and frustrating to sit in that chair, because it was so distracting from anything you were doing. And it was almost like it had a sense of it being on a time loop because it was the same kind of shadow. It was the same speed every time. And it just. It makes me think like something was stuck in a time loop, and it just happened over and over. And over again. And when I look back and I think about it like all our pets would act funny. They would always look over if they were sitting in that armchair. You know, friends, family would do it. And my aunt finally broke the ice and said something about it. So from that point on we talked about it openly. And just recently my parents sold their house, my childhood home, and they moved. So we had like one last big dinner to say goodbye to the childhood house and we were saying goodbye to our door shadow. And then my brother came out, said he noticed it, my dad came out and said he noticed it. So I didn't feel so alone finally. But it was just some weird thing. Nothing else really happened in that house. There were a few strange incidences, but that's for another story. But yeah, that was the most continuous. It was very reliable. Little Shadow. That's my story. Thanks.
Derek Hayes
We appreciate your time. Now our caller mentioned that age doesn't necessarily equal haunted and I do agree with that. But I think it does improve the chances. The more age a place has, the more history it's been exposed to, which means more opportunities for tragedy. The main ingredient many claim to a good haunting. Now that said, this story fascinates me and I wish I had access to something so predictable. I'd get my hands on some infrared cameras, some slow motion cameras, maybe motion triggered high speed photography. Any gadget I could find, I would use it to try to get to the bottom of this mystery. I just need to know who or what this thing was. Now it's too bad that your parents sold the place, but I can't help but wonder if the new owners have a chair in that same location and if they see that same shadow figure darting across the doorway, I hope that they do. And I hope that they're listeners of the program and I hope that they call in. But until then, thanks again caller for the awesome entry and thank you, dear listener, for meeting up and tuning in here tonight. If you're new here, welcome to the show. If you've been here a while, thanks for tuning in. Now Monsters Among Us podcast is written and produced by me, Derek Hayes. Copyright Red Crow Media. Additional support is provided by Sarah Carter Hayes, Delaney Bowers and Car Ryan. All media used in this production is done so under the protection of fair use. Join us on social media, join us on YouTube, leave us a rate and review and join our Discord server. Don't forget, you can catch the show every Saturday evening at 10pm Eastern on the Annex Digital Network. Simply visit on Xnetwork Dot com to tune in. Tonight's score was provided by Iron Cthulhu, Apocalypse Co AG Music and Carl Casey at whitepad Audio. Go catch our film Shadows in the desert. Visit borregotriangle.com to learn more. Be sure to check out Monsters Among Us Junior wherever you get your podcasts. And lastly but not leastly, don't forget you can get days worth of the Bag catalog by joining us in the beyond. Just visit monsters among us podcast.com and click the Patreon tab. Alright gang, catch me back here on Thursday. I have a brand new episode in the works and I sure hope that we see you there. But until then you keep it spooky and have yourselves a good night.
Texas Caller
Sa.
Caller from Tennessee (Ripavia Plantation)
Foreign.
Lady Luck Bretzky (Listener)
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Host: Derek Hayes
Date: June 23, 2026
Duration: ~65 min (excluding ads, intro/outro)
Themed as the podcast’s first “all anonymous” episode, Derek Hayes curates chilling, first-hand paranormal accounts told entirely by unnamed callers. Spanning the U.S. to Ireland, Sweden, and beyond, the episode explores diverse supernatural phenomena—from guardian spirits, mimicry, and poltergeist-like mischief, to encounters with classic shadow figures, orbs, and UFOs. Each story is presented in the caller’s own words, maintaining the eerie authenticity that defines Monsters Among Us.
Derek Hayes [01:53]:
“Each of tonight's calls have come to us anonymously. Some folks want to share but do not want to be publicly attached to these stories and we're happy to oblige them... let’s explore our first ever all Anonymous episode.”
[03:02–07:40]
Anonymous Caller [Gallup, NM, 07:12]:
“I felt two hands, like a push, like a force, push me in… I couldn't open it. So I'm screaming… and I swear it was like I was in this bubble. I couldn't hear anything, I just heard ‘you're okay’ in my head.”
Notable Host Response
Derek Hayes [07:40]:
“Someone saved your life that day. Someone unseen, someone mysterious. Someone with abilities above our own... Whenever I hear stories like this, I always assume the survivor is destined to go on to great things.”
[09:10–10:38]
Caller [09:55]:
“It was a blue shimmering light that I can't even explain the color. It's like something I've never seen… it literally floated by me… it was a peaceful feeling.”
Host Reflection
Derek Hayes [10:38]:
“I'm always quick to think ball lightning… but even I admit that's a boring explanation at this point… Could that suggest that the phenomenon… is something else?”
[13:12–15:52]
Anonymous Caller [Ireland, 14:24]:
“He was gone, completely gone. There was nowhere for him to have gone at all. But he was so real.”
Host Reflection
Derek Hayes [15:52]:
“It sounds like a good thing you didn’t stop and pick him up… a shiver inducing scenario.”
[16:51–19:27]
Caller [18:13]:
“I turned quickly, just in time to see my cat flying up in the air. He was so scared by the noise… I noticed that the toolbox lid was closed. I'm talking a professional metal toolbox. Those lids just don't close on their own.”
Host Reaction
Derek Hayes [19:27]:
“The falling toolbox lid, that's something I've not experienced, thankfully—fun and innocent, the way all hauntings should be.”
[20:09–25:56]
Anonymous Caller [Chicago, 22:53]:
“I had this sensation… like pretty heightened goosebumps and a very large rush of warmth and also like a really bad feeling in my gut and chest, like something bad was going to happen.”
Host Commentary
Derek Hayes [26:03]:
“Sounds like the entity wanted you to go to bed as well. Sharing parenting duties with your father perhaps… another of these shadow entities if you ask me.”
[28:02–29:42]
Caller [28:32]:
“It was so intensely shaped like a flying saucer and it looked like it... poorly hid itself as a cloud and it was the only cloud in the sky.”
Host’s Take
Derek Hayes [29:42]:
“It sounds like a lenticular cloud… but our caller can take a look and tell us, was it just a cloud that you saw or did something more advanced than us take notice of the fires as well?”
[31:59–34:18]
Texas Caller [32:44]:
“She heard, ‘oi, boys, boy, boys’ outside of the trailer… I was dead asleep… she is freaked out.”
Host’s Advice
Derek Hayes [34:18]:
“That’s mimicry… It seems like a trick or a trap or maybe a little bit of both. Almost as if whatever is out there is trying to lure you away from the house… It’s best not to follow it.”
[35:11–41:12]
Caller [Tennessee, 37:54]:
“I felt a touch to my hair, like my hair was being caressed… there was nobody there... I swore I felt somebody caress my hair.”
Host’s Note
Derek Hayes [41:15]:
“It crosses a line when they start touching you… given the [tragic] history, I think things could have been much worse.”
[43:53–47:44]
Caller [Sweden, 45:41]:
“The speed of the drone must be high, like very high. So I really don't know what I saw. ... I would love to hear any theories about what this might be because I really don't know.”
Host Context
Derek Hayes [47:44]:
“I don't know that we've ever fielded a call from Sweden… For the large part, the country of Sweden is not a big believer in the UFO phenomenon.”
[48:54–52:02]
Caller [Pittsburgh, 51:06]:
“She sees a figure of an elderly woman wearing a dress walk up the stairs… and just disappears.”
Host’s Reaction
Derek Hayes [52:02]:
“I wonder... are you happy that you never saw her ghost or is there part of you that feels like you missed out on something?”
[53:51–56:24]
Caller [Virginia/Maryland, 55:24]:
“Every hair on the back of my neck stood up. I don't know why I was so scared of this tiny little old lady, but I was.”
Host’s Reflection
Derek Hayes [56:24]:
“What a terrible disease... as for the opening door and disembodied footsteps, it's a common theme here tonight... maybe that means that it's a common everyday occurrence, whatever it was.”
[57:14–62:56]
Caller [61:17]:
“It was almost like it had a sense of it being on a time loop because it was the same kind of shadow. It was the same speed every time… from that point on we talked about it openly.”
Host’s Reflection
Derek Hayes [62:56]:
“This story fascinates me and I wish I had access to something so predictable... I just need to know who or what this thing was.”
“That’s mimicry… It seems like a trick or a trap or maybe a little bit of both.”
— Derek Hayes [34:18], on the Texas mimicry story
“It crosses a line when they start touching you.”
— Derek Hayes [41:15], Haunted Hair episode in Tennessee
“...as for the opening door in the disembodied footsteps, it's a common theme here tonight… maybe that means that it's a common everyday occurrence.”
— Derek Hayes [56:24], on the Maryland story
Callers’ Reluctant Validation:
Multiple stories feature instances where family or friends finally “break the ice,” admitting to seeing or feeling the same anomaly.
| Time | Segment Description | |-----------|-----------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:53 | Derek introduces the “all anonymous” episode | | 03:02 | Guardian spirit toy chest/fire rescue (New Mexico) | | 09:10 | Blue orb with elderly cat | | 13:12 | The disappearing hitchhiker (Ireland) | | 16:51 | Toolbox poltergeist (Ontario, Canada) | | 20:09 | Shadow man in the bedroom doorway (Chicago suburbs) | | 28:02 | Saucer cloud over Palisades fire (Brentwood, CA) | | 31:59 | Mimicry/mimicked voice outside trailer (Texas) | | 35:11 | Hair touched at Ricavilla Plantation (Tennessee) | | 43:53 | Bouncing lights, possible UFOs (Sweden) | | 48:54 | Elderly woman apparition + baby powder (Pittsburgh, PA) | | 53:51 | Unlocked door, invisible visitor (Maryland/VA) | | 57:14 | Shadow figure at the back door—lifelong, time-loop haunting | | 62:56 | Derek Hayes final thoughts and outro |
Derek maintains his familiar, slightly dry but empathetic tone, encouraging both skepticism and wonder. The episode stands out for its cross-cultural reach, repetition of “innocent” hauntings, and the recurring motif of the haunted home as a locus of shared, if sometimes unspoken, supernatural experience.
Derek Hayes [62:56]:
"I just need to know who or what this thing was... It's too bad that your parents sold the place, but I can't help but wonder if the new owners have a chair in that same location and if they see that same shadow figure darting across the doorway. I hope that they do. And I hope that they're listeners of the program and I hope that they call in."
Overall:
A globe-trotting, immersive entry in the Monsters Among Us series—compelling for both newcomers and long-time fans, full of eerie, relatable, and memorable tales, all shrouded in just enough mystery to keep listeners hitting replay (or perhaps keeping the lights on a little longer at night).