
Loading summary
Dr. Horton Sales Announcer
Now is your time to get into a new Dr. Horton home by taking advantage of its national Red Tag sales event. This Friday, July 10th through Sunday, August 2nd, stop by any of its participating communities and find select Red Tag homes at Incredible Pricing. So whether you're buying your first home or looking for an upgrade, you don't want to miss the Red Tag sales event. Starting this Friday, discover the Dr. Horton Difference. Visit Dr. Horton.com Dr. Horton America's Builder and equal Housing Opportunity Builder.
Spin Quest Advertiser
Hanging out at the pool is great. Relaxing and playing Vegas style games on my phone at the same time. Drink in one hand and a blackjack in the other. It's all at spinquest. Over a thousand games including your favorite slots and table games. Be cool with this summer special new players get 30 coin packs for 10@Spinquest.com
Spin Quest Disclaimer Voice
Spin Quest is a free to play social casino void where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more details.
Derek Hayes (Host, Monsters Among Us Podcast)
Good evening and welcome to Monsters Among Us. I am your guide. There it gays. No folks, camping has a way of reminding us just how small and vulnerable we really are. Strip away the comforts of society. No lights, no heat, no grocery stores and no walls. Just a thin layer of canvas or nylon between you and everything else that might be out there. Now, camping allows families to make lifelong memories, lets friends gather around a fire, and it gives you an opportunity for a little rest and relaxation. But it's also where every now and then something unusual wanders into camp. Now, by day you're making memories, spending time with friends and family or just getting some solitude and some peace and quiet. But at night, well, let's just say that sometimes a campfire isn't enough to keep you safe. And tonight we're gonna pack our bags and head to camp. Camp MAU. That is a week of fun, sun and terror. So drag a log up to the fire. Have a seat. We've got some stories to share and to kick things off. Tonight we begin in the woods in a tent. Please welcome Shannon to the MAU Camp Out.
Shannon (Caller from Los Angeles)
Hey Derek. My name is Shannon and I'm calling from Los Angeles, California. I'm calling to report a strange experience that I had about a year ago. Now, I've always been interested in the paranormal and the unknown. However, I never really had anything happen to me to make me feel like, you know, it could be real. Until I went camping in Ojai at Lake Casitas. So Lake Casitas is a big campground and my fiance and I went there. However, our camp spot was far removed from anybody else. It was Just kind of us up on that hill and maybe others were about a mile away. So it was very secluded. It was a beautiful night. We were in the tent getting ready to go to bed, and we heard footsteps. Like somebody was walking around our campsite, like very close or around our tent. So I woke my fiance up, and I was like, do you hear that? And he did. And he actually grabbed an ax that he had for wood cutting in the tent and got out and was prepared to, you know, kind of defend us as well as our campsite. However, there was nobody there. And, you know, of course, both of us were maybe like, okay, maybe we're overreacting. Could have been something else, I guess. We talked about how weird it was, and then we settled down again, and about 15 minutes later, it started again. Just footstep after footstep walking around our tent. And again, my fiance got up to see what was going on, and nobody. So I don't know any sort of logical explanation for what that is. You know, footsteps when you hear them, and especially on gravel and grass, you know, footsteps. So I am convinced it was something that I can't explain. So I think that that is the only paranormal experience I've ever had, and I'm happy to say that I finally had one. Big, big fan of the show, Derek. Been listening for years. Thank you so much.
Derek Hayes (Host, Monsters Among Us Podcast)
Thank you, Shannon. Now, I've backpacked up near Ojai numerous times, and I will say there is an abundance of wildlife found in that area, large and small. But it's also an area full of supernatural legends, like the Headless Horseman of Creek Road, the Oai Vampire, the infamous Charman, and not all that far from the stomping grounds of the Bigfoot like Billowack monster. Now, you can learn more about those tales and follow along tonight by visiting our show notes at monsters among us podcast.com and by clicking on the show notes tab there at the top. Now, I think someone needs to invent a ring camera for tents. Not only to put people's minds at ease, but. But more importantly, to give us a glimpse of what's roaming around out there. Had one of those been running on Shannon's tent, her mystery wouldn't be so mysterious. But as you're about to learn tonight, strange things happen when you're out in the wilderness. Just ask. Quiet. He's calling in all the way from Alabama.
Wyatt (Caller from Alabama)
Hi, Derek. This is Wyatt from Alabama. I'm calling in with a camping story. So it was late 2000s, maybe early 2010s. It was around then, me, my sister, and some friends we met at Rehoboth beach in Delaware. We decided to walk down at the beach late at night from the campground. So we left the campground and went on to the beach. We were walking around looking at the ghost crabs and the little sand fleas and all that. Just exploring, you know. It felt really creepy and eerie. Something was just off because we kept finding a bunch of abandoned things. Towels and books. Actually, there was a 50 shades of gray book that was all washed up in the water or whatever, so that probably dates the story already. We saw a boogie board my sister decided to take with her because it was abandoned. There was just a bunch of abandoned things there, and it just felt really off. You know, Obviously, people just left earlier in the day. There was nothing malevolent about it, I would assume, but it just made everything seem more weird. Anyway, we kept walking around, and in the brush, we saw something running, and so we stopped to look at it to see what it was. We were spooked out. There was this huge cat, obviously not a house cat. Its tail was very, very long, and I've never seen a cat's tail that long, unless we're talking about a big cat. And that's exactly what this was. It was a big black cat with a long tail, and it was just running around in the brush. You know, it looked like maybe it was spooked by us, but we were also spooked by it. It was huge and running around. We were like, yeah, we're gonna leave, because this is not a normal house cat, and this is really scary. Well, I'm pretty sure it was a black panther. So we decided we were gonna leave, and my sister and me kind of mutually agreed. Maybe she'd just leave the boogie board down at the beach. Because even though there was nothing connected to the big cat and the boogie board, it just felt eerie and off. And we just did not want to do that. So we were like, we're just gonna leave that. We're just gonna get off the beach. So my sister, me, the friends, we all went to find a park ranger there at the campground and tell them about it. He kind of was just like, okay, yeah, you know, maybe we'll look into it. Whatever. Kind of brushing off. I'm sure they never really looked into it much, if at all, and we never heard anything about it since. But, yeah, I think we saw a alien big cat or big black panther in Rehoboth beach in Delaware. Thank you. Hope you can use this. Bye.
Derek Hayes (Host, Monsters Among Us Podcast)
Thank you. Wyatt. Now, we don't get too many stories from Delaware. And I'll be honest, the last thing I thought we would hear from the first date is an ABC story. But here we are. Now, I love the response from the park ranger. He didn't seem all that concerned. Either that or he was already familiar with whatever this creature is, was doing his best to conceal his reaction. Regardless, there are very few reports of these things attacking people or even attacking pets. So I'd say keep your distance. But enjoy your sighting. Wyatt. Thanks again, sir, for sharing your experience. Alright, gang, we're gonna trek deeper into the forest, so you'd best reapply your bug spray. But first I have to take a quick break. Don't leave these coordinates. I'll be right back. Now they're just trying to get on the same page. Now, I'm a firm believer that the difference between a good cookout and a great one comes down to the quality of your meat. You can have the best grill setup in the world, but if what you're cooking isn't great, well, it shows. That's why I've been using Butcherbox. They deliver premium, responsibly sourced meat right to your door. So you're starting with the good stuff every single time. ButcherBox delivers over 100 premium protein options straight to your door. From grass fed beef to wild cod seafood, it's all raised and sourced the right way. No antibiotics, no added hormones and no fillers as clean, reliable protein. You can feel good serving to your friends and family. Plus, it's super flexible. You can customize your box based on what you're cooking and it all ships free. With recipes, grilling tips and exclusive deals, we can taste a clear difference between Butcherbox protein compared to what we find at our local chain store. I recently grilled up some New York strip steaks for our friends who were visiting from Ohio and they were a big hit even with their kiddos. As an exclusive offer, our listeners can get their choice between free ribeyes for a year or ground beef or chicken breast for life. Plus $20 off when you go to butcherbox.com forward/MAU. That's right, your choice of free rib eye for a year or ground beef or chicken breast for life. Plus $20 off your first box and free shipping always. That's butcherbox.com Maui don't forget to use our link so they know we sent you. There's also a link in the show notes
Gage (Caller from Connecticut)
and like I say, these are
Catelyn (Caller from Vancouver Island, Canada)
just a handful of examples.
Derek Hayes (Host, Monsters Among Us Podcast)
Now off to Western Pennsylvania. We Go for this next one. Another place known for its supernatural goings on. Please welcome Fritz to tonight's campfire.
Fritz (Caller from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
Hey, Derek. This is Fritz from Pittsburgh, and this is for the camping special that you're doing now. This took place approximately around 2010. I was camping with my family in the Laurel highlands Chestnut Ridge area, which is approximately our hour and a half outside of Pittsburgh. We had settled in for the evening around the campfire. It was pretty cool and clear, no wind or any notable weather. Several of us were were at the fire and others were in the cottage. I was in the cottage that we had rented, and suddenly someone began shouting, come outside and look at this, look at this. I came outside and my stepfather met us there at the door and shone a light over the roof line of the cabin. I was thinking that maybe it was a animal in a tree or, you know, maybe he saw a bear or something like that. But I was really surprised. What we saw emerge, and it was a cylindrical shape. It was about the size of a hot water tank or oil drum, and it was a glowing orange. And it was positioned vertically in the sky. So the short sides were at the top and the bottom. And just the color was really unique. Imagine if you took a piece of steel and you heated it up until it was glowing orange. That's what it looked like. It began to drift in our direction from left to right, and then it straightened its path and curved as it floated through the trees. This made no noise, had no sound of a motor, no propellers, no portals or windows or wings, any openings, nothing like that. It was solid, cylindrical shape, and it floated absolutely silently. I was probably 60ft from this, and really, if I had a rock in my hand, I was close enough that I could hit it with a well placed throw. That's how close I was. My initial reaction was to run after it, and I had to observe this as long as possible. I can't explain it, but I just had this overwhelming impression that this could be a once in a lifetime event. And I dare not take my eye off of it. So I began chasing after it and stumbling over large rocks and boulders and running through the woods after it just to observe it. I ran for maybe 30 seconds to a minute and then noticed that it was headed for an open field area. So I was familiar with this campground and I knew that ahead of me was this open area. It was wide open. I could get a much better view of this. So as I approached the field, I saw several other campers looking up and pointing, which was great because I Thought, well, there's going to be some witnesses to this event are also going to see the same thing. So as I was approaching the clearing, it slipped behind some overhanging tree limbs and then I entered the clearing and I couldn't find it. So I could finally caught my breath and asked the people that were there, you know, what they saw and did you see it too? Because they were pointing up and they said, no, we're stargazing. But we didn't see any orange thing that you're talking about. This is incredibly strange because just seconds earlier, seconds earlier it had slipped out of my view through the tree limbs and it entered that clearing. So at the same time, you know, there were a dozen stargazers who were intentionally looking skyward and they didn't see a thing. Now I know people will say, you know, why didn't you get your phone out and take a picture? Well, it was the era of non smart flip phones. And like I said, it was one of those things that I got the impression that if I looked down to take my eyes off of this, I would look back up and it wouldn't be there. So I wanted to observe it as long as I could. So the evening went on and from that point everyone was still pretty shook up and kind of just scratching their heads about what this was. As a side note, it wasn't a Chinese lantern. I've launched those before. I've stood directly below this thing that I saw and there were no openings at all. It appeared to glow from the inside, but at the same time it was really strange that the light didn't behave the way that you would expect it to. It didn't illuminate the tree limbs as it passed through them, as if the light source was only strong enough for a glow, but not to illuminate. Now everyone had headed to bed and we thought that the night strangest was over at that point. And then we were awoken in the middle of the night to a loud singular tone, kind of like an alto key on a keyboard, played for about two to three seconds and it echoed throughout the camp loud enough that it woke us up in the middle of the night. I can't say this is connected to what we saw, but it is highly unusual that in the middle of the night that in this campground with no PA system and you know, quiet hours and officers that would go around enforce quiet hours, that something like that would be echoing through the campground never saw anything quite this strange. And still to this day can't explain what it was or whether the noise that we heard later in the evening was connected to it, but quite strange. So, hey, you're doing a great job. Thanks for the podcast. Keep doing a great job.
Derek Hayes (Host, Monsters Among Us Podcast)
Thank you, Fritz. I like your tenacity. Chasing this craft down is stupid, but it's commendable. If you don't end up getting Travis Walton, you'll have one hell of a tale to tell. And as it turns out, Fritz here does. And again, another area known for its paranormal activity, Pennsylvania's Chestnut Ridge. But it's not just UFOs that are reported from that area. There are also reports of Bigfoot, ghostly activity, strange lights, and even alien beings. So it should come as no surprise that Fritz had his sighting there. Now, as we always do, we cross reference this sighting with others reported to the National UFO Reporting Center. And while we did find a few reports that seem to describe a similar craft, none were reported from the vicinity of Fritz's sighting, and none occurred around the same time period as his experience. Now, that doesn't really tell us much other than whatever this thing was. It's unpredictable. But if you find yourself in this region of the country, maybe stretched out in a sleeping bag, camping out on the ridge, keep your wits about you. There's no telling what might be out there. Thank you again, Fritz, for calling in and sharing the tale here with us. Now, folks, if you have a story you'd like to share here on the program, all you have to do is call. Call our 247365 hotline at 888608 night. That's 888608 NIG HT. Or record a voice memo and email it to me at monsters among us podcast gmail.com. we have operators standing by. Now, folks, there are other outdoor activities other than camping that might put you in a perilous situation. Hiking, hunting, fishing, running, biking. The list is lengthy. And throughout this special episode, I'll be sharing a few calls from those points of view as well. And here with our first example is Tyler from Illinois with a tale about the trail.
Tyler (Caller from Illinois)
Hey, Derek. This is Tyler out of Illinois. But my story today takes place actually in Wisconsin. So this actually just happened yesterday for me, which would be August 1, 2024. So I was in Wisconsin in the Southern Kettle Moraine Unit on a portion of the Ice Age Trail, which goes, I believe, somewhere around 1,000 miles all across Wisconsin. But in this area, kind of near Lagrange, is where I was hiking in this particular day. So on this portion of my hike, I had two Kind of weird things happen. So one, while I was out on the trail by myself, there was really nobody out there other than me on that day. It was just too hot in the summer, too many bugs, and if you tried going out in shorts, you'd be eaten alive. So there's one portion of the hike where I'm probably about two miles from the trailhead where out of nowhere I just get a crazy, crazy sound of what sounds like somebody running towards me on the trail. Just those heavy footsteps and quick footsteps you can hear, like when somebody's running through gravel because it's kind of rocky there. And I spun around and there was just nothing. The eerie thing is when I turned around, I also had that experience where most people will tell you everything just kind of went silent in the forest
Derek Hayes (Host, Monsters Among Us Podcast)
there for a couple minutes.
Tyler (Caller from Illinois)
I shook it off pretty easily. I'd go hiking all the time, usually by myself, and just figured the bugs are getting to me a little bit. Well, later when I got back to my car, I had my second odd experience of the day. When I got to my car, I noticed that there appeared to be tire tread marks from another vehicle that were not there when I had first arrived. When I first got to the trailhead, I was the only car there. I didn't see any markings from any other cars. It had rained the day before. Everything was pretty pristine in the mud there. But when I got back, I saw a pair of, like I said, tire tread marks that seemed, if you had to follow them, would have had some sort of vehicle literally pass through my car. And even more so than the noise on the trail, this, I'm gonna be honest, just really messed with my head because I was the only person at the trailhead when I arrived. There was no sign of people when I came back. But sometime while I was out for two hours on my hike, looks like maybe a ghost car drove through mine. No idea. Would have been right in the middle of the day, probably about 2 o'. Clock, but it's one of those things I just can't explain. Love the podcast, Derek. Not sure if you have a better idea than me, but would love to have some suggestions. Thank you for your time.
Derek Hayes (Host, Monsters Among Us Podcast)
Thanks, Tyler. Now, Kettle Moraine State park is another of these well known paranormal hotspots. That place is on record for being downright creepy. Sightings of Bigfoot, a Goatman, and even Wisconsin's infamous werewolf has been spotted in that vicinity. None of them drive a truck though, which sort of makes this call even weirder. Now I suggest thumbing through the books of the late and great Linda S. Godfrey. If you'd like to learn more on this area, her research is so thorough that you might even find a story exactly like yours, Tyler. After all, Wisconsin is a weird place, but I don't have to tell you that. Thank you again, Tyler, for taking the time to call. Now, folks, let's explore a ghostly legend about a summer camp. They make a lot of horror films that start with that very premise. Please welcome Gage, all the way from Connecticut.
Gage (continued)
Yeah, hello, my name is Gage. I'm from Connecticut.
I was talking to my brother, you
know, we're talking about the show, and he started swapping, you know, stories. And I remember one specifically from the summer camp I used to go to. I attended it from 2010 to 2016. The story always is brought up every year. And it's called Blue Boy. And Blue Boy was one of the three ghosts that camp knew about. And there's several of my friends I knew personally that had Blue Boy stories. Blue Boy was a kid that had supposedly died of Hypothermia, you know, 50, 80 years ago, and he was a ghost that wandered the camp from then on. And he would shape shift into your friend and talk to you just as a friend, you know, you try to talk to you as they would, and he really supposedly just wanted to have a conversation with you. But a lot of my friends who had these stories is that they would go to their friend that they thought they talked to, bring up whatever the conversation was, and their friend would have no recollection of it whatsoever. No idea what they're talking about until it always just ties that, oh, you talk to Blue Boy. Blue Boy wanted to talk to you, and so, you know, he got a chance to talk to you.
Derek Hayes (Host, Monsters Among Us Podcast)
Thank you, Gage. Now that might be one of the strangest ghost stories I've ever heard. The shape shifting ghost of a little boy that essentially steals conversations. I guess it all makes sense. I just never would have put all that together. And that's part of what makes these obscure legends so much fun. So before we move on, let's dive into a handful more of these spooky camp legends, beginning with the Beaver Creek Campground in West Yellowstone, Montana. Beaver Creek Campground sits on a bluff overlooking Quake Lake in West Yellowstone, Montana. The lake was formed by a landslide, which was triggered by a 7.5 earthquake that occurred on August 17, 1959. Millions of tons of boulders and gravel slid down the side of the mountain and into a campground, killing 28 campers in the middle of the night. What Remains of the campground, including the trailers and vehicles, is now under the waters of Quake Lake. Visitors to the campground report hearing disembodied footsteps, seeing anomalous flashes of light, and feeling an unknown presence lurking around the campsites. Then we have Hunting Island State Park. Hunting Island State park near Beaufort, South Carolina is a beautiful coastal ecosystem with white sandy beaches, marshes, a wildlife preserve, and many outdoor recreational activities to enjoy. But it's also home to a haunted lighthouse that was built in 1873. Many other visitors to the lighthouse have seen apparitions and heard ghostly voices. More than a few campers have experienced experienced high strangeness like loud bangs or knocks on their RV in the middle of the night. Others have reported seeing orbs floating in the woods, heavy footsteps around their tents, and hearing disembodied singing. And ghostly figures have also been known to haunt some of the old rental cabins. Then there's the Holy Ghost Campground in Torero, New Mexico. Holy Ghost Campground that sits within the Santa Fe National Forest is an isolated but scenic place to spend the night. But before you go, know that it's rumored to be the haunting grounds of a Spanish priest who was murdered there in the 17th century. Aside from a large number of missing persons cases connected to the campsite, visitors to the location have also spotted UFOs, seen strange shadows, and even heard disembodied voices. Reports that the campground is a cosmic doorway that invites different beings and different energies are also popular. And finally, a campground that sits barely 10 miles from where I'm currently seated and one I've camped at many times. Hokum Valley Campground in Big Bear, California. Holcomb Valley was once the site of a thriving mining town back in the 1800s, with Belleville becoming the largest town in San Bernardino County. Belleville was as rough as any mining town in the day and included its fair share of saloons, brothels, drifters, robbers and scoundrels. Some simple that there was at least a killing and hanging every week. The hanging tree still stands today and is located a short walk from Holcomb Valley Campground. It's close to this tree, and throughout the dark woods of the campground, the campers have seen ghostly orbs and have heard murmurs, whispers, and the occasional otherworldly screams during the night. So get out and camp, folks. What are you afraid of? And if you do, why not pick one of these highly reviewed venues? What's the worst that can happen?
Advertisement Voice (Factor Meals)
We identified seven major causes of the.
Derek Hayes (Host, Monsters Among Us Podcast)
No, I'm sure this is a familiar scenario. It's dinner time and you're starving, but it's been a long day and you're exhausted, so you just don't have it in you to stand over a hot stove and cook a healthy meal. When my schedule gets busy, I love getting Factor's fully prepared meals delivered straight to my door. It keeps me from turning to unhealthy, inexpensive takeout. Factor meals are designed by dietitians and crafted by chefs so you can eat well without the planning, cooking or cleanup. Factor has over 100 rotating weekly meals built around your goals, whether that's weight loss, overall nutrition, more protein or GLB1 support. They even have a muscle pro collection for strength and workout recovery. You can expect meals with lean proteins, colorful veggies, whole food ingredients and healthy fats. No high fructose cord syrup and no artificial intelligence, special colors or sweeteners, just nutrient dense food. I've been a big fan of Factor's high protein meals lately. The meals are all fresh, never frozen and I especially love the herb gravy, grilled pork chops with Yukon mashed potatoes and green beans and sweet corn cake. All of Factor's meals are really tasty and perfectly portioned. They're ready to eat in two minutes and you really we can't beat the convenience of having nothing to prep or clean up in the kitchen. To give factory a try, head to FactorMeals.com MAU50OFF and use code MAU50OFF to get 50% off plus free Daily Greens per box with a new subscription while supplies last until September 27, 2026. Again, that's factor meals.com mau50off. See website for more details
Gage (Caller from Connecticut)
and praise
Tyler (Caller from Illinois)
to consecrate themselves to the surface of
Catelyn (Caller from Vancouver Island, Canada)
their
Derek Hayes (Host, Monsters Among Us Podcast)
now folks, the sun might be down and the breeze might be crisp, but we'll throw a few more pieces of firewood on the calls because we're just getting started here this evening and we're even thinking of taking a few of the youngsters snipe hunting later. But for now let's get back to camp and meet up with Colin in California. He's tonight's next contributor.
Colin (Caller from Northern California)
Hey Derek, My name is Colin. I'm from Northern California, so I grew up and live still in a town called Red Bluff in Northern California, and it's in the valley surrounded by farmlands and everything like that. Me and my friends and my family were big deer hunters and one of my best buddies, Jesse, his dad have a cabin up in Hayfork, California, which is pretty deep up in the mountains in the west side of Cali and A bunch of different areas where we hunt up there. And I go up there year round, scout and look for stuff. And so there's a couple of short stories that interconnect. And one of them takes place first off Wildwood Road, outside of Hayfork, California. And this is like deep mountains, very uninhabited, small town. And this is one of those small towns that you don't mess with the locals. If you don't know people, you don't
Catelyn (Caller from Vancouver Island, Canada)
really go to the bar.
Colin (Caller from Northern California)
You kind of mind your p's and q's, right? So there's this road, natural Bridge Road. It's very desolate, like a log cabin road. And if you go up a couple miles off to the left, there's this giant rock formation that goes up on one side and it goes over and almost leans over the other side. And you can actually walk under it as a tunnel.
Advertisement Voice (Factor Meals)
It's pretty cool.
Colin (Caller from Northern California)
So there's this Indian burial site and there's this tree in this tiny little campground. No bathrooms, just a bench and fire pit area. And that's it off this desolate road in the mountains. And so me and my buddy, we're camping there. And there's this tree and it's got sacred Native American artifacts. And with this rock formation around the tree and it's got pictures and it's got this wood, wood engraved plaque that says here, like 150 Native Americans were slaughtered in a year. Like 1800 something. I don't remember the details, but anyway, unintelligently of me, I decided to taunt the spirits. And I stood over this, like, sacred little area that's been there for a couple hundred years. And I didn't say nice things, right? And I thought nothing of it. I should have known better because I have other stories I can call in. So we go for a walk to go look for some deer. We go under the natural bridge area, the tunnel. And as we come back, like I said, this is so desolate, if there
Advertisement Voice (Factor Meals)
was a car, you'd hear it.
Colin (Caller from Northern California)
And so there's no car to be heard, there's no one to be seen, no sounds besides the birds. And as we come back to the tent, my tent was fully put up and staked down and it was ripped up and thrown about a hundred feet. And there was no wind. So that was kind of weird and creeped us out because like I said, nobody was up there. Completely desolate and there was no wind. And to have it ripped up from stake thrown 100ft, it's a little weird. Anyway, two or three years later, the same area. My buddy is bow hunting and I'm not with him. And there's another road up there that we deer hunt on and he calls me freaking out, he's panicking, he's you know, like dude, we just called the cops, found a dead body. And I'm like whoa, okay. You know, I'm like that's crazy. Okay, tell me more. And so he's hiking, he's bow hunting, he's looking for some deer. And he comes upon basically what he described was human remains, like skull like was barely some flesh hanging off of little chunks of hair and with a like 10 foot radius. Dried blood circle, clothes ripped to shreds, bones coming out of the shoes. Him and his dad called the cops and got the cops on scene. I was like, you should have just got the heck out of there. That would have been me.
Derek Hayes (Host, Monsters Among Us Podcast)
Now Collins call sort of cut off there at the end but I think we got the gist of it and I think we've heard enough to know that Colin should also mind his p's and Q's, especially if you're unsure who the dead are that you're desecrating. Because in this case they're the victims of the Bridge gulch massacre in 1852. A well known citizen of Weaverville, J.R. anderson, was killed and a small herd of his cattle were driven off by a band of Wintu, a group of Native Americans that lived in the area. A few hours later, Trinity Sheriff William H. Dixon and a number of men were in pursuit. After several days of trekking through the rugged mountains, Dixon's party set up camp on Hayfork Creek while scouts were sent to locate the opposition. Under cover of darkness, the party quietly made their way up the narrow draw known as Bridge Gulch and surrounded the encampment. When the morning sun broke through the trees, Sheriff Dixon's men began firing at anyone they could line up in their gun sites. All that remained of the 150 Wintus were three children. I don't mind saying that you had it coming here, Colin. Never trust the dead, but don't disrespect them either. Hopefully lessons were learned that night. We still appreciate the entry Colin, but please behave yourself out there. Now, speaking of a native presence on a camping trip, Pistol is back with just such a story.
Pistol (Caller from East Texas)
Hi, my name for sake of storytelling is going to be my nickname growing up, which was Pistol. The location for this story is in East Texas. It's about 160 miles north of Houston. It was in the summer of 1995, I was around 8 years old and I decided that I was a big girl and I wanted to sleep outside in my own tent. So I pitched my tent not too far away from the house in a field that we had. We had 177 acres. So I was a little bit away from the house, but not too awful far. I could still see the house. And I had this dog. This dog was the best dog. He would follow me everywhere, anywhere I went, he was right by my side. So this particular night, he camped out right beside my tent and I had just fallen asleep and I kept hearing him growl. And we had another dog, a little cocker spaniel that kept pawing at my tent. So I decided to look out. I get out and my dog is staring off into the distance, just going nuts. And about that time, I heard this sound. Sounded like a herd of elephants running towards me. And as it gets closer, I hear horses and I hear Native American chanting. Now, this area was right in the middle of the Battle of the Neches, which happened back in the mid-1800s. And we would often hear Native American drumming. So the chanting wasn't too far off for me. But I turned and I looked and I see this herd of horses with war paint and Native Americans on the backs of the horses barreling at me. And they just ride right by me. And one of them looked at me, stopped his horse, said something, and then just took off. And I watched and they got about 20 foot away from me and then they just vanished. And I just remember not being scared, but just kind of like, holy cow, what just happened? I love your show. Just joined Patreon. Thank you.
Shannon (Caller from Los Angeles)
Bye.
Derek Hayes (Host, Monsters Among Us Podcast)
Thank you, Pistol, and thanks for joining us over on the Beyond. If you'd like to take advantage just like Pistol did, visit monsters among us podcast.com and click on the Patreon tab. All the info you need is right there. Now, as for Pistol's entry, she mentions the Battle of Natchez.
Historical Narrator (Battle of Neches)
By the early 1800s, Cherokee settlements began appearing in the Republic of Texas. As their initial settlements in Arkansas expanded. By 1820, the Texas Cherokees, as they were called, began to farm and settle the land near present day Dallas, Texas. Their leader was a Cherokee chief named Du Walley, or Chief Bowles, a key figure in Texas independence. Sam Houston proved to be an ally to the Texas Cherokees. Sam Houston and Chief Bowles negotiated a treaty allowing Texas Cherokees to stay on their land in East Texas. However, by 1839, Sam Houston was unseated as president and Mirabeau B. Lamarr became the new President of the Republic. Lamarr had no use for the Texas Cherokees or any tribe and swiftly demanded their expulsion from Texas. Chief Bowles in the Texas Cherokees Treaty was no longer recognized by Lamar's administration. The Battle of neches began on July 15, 1839 and lasted just two days. 500 Texas soldiers fought against 800 Indians, including Cherokees and allies from the Delaware, Shawnee and Kickapoo tribes. On the second day, Chief Bowles fought gallantly to advance the Cherokee position but was shot off his horse and killed in battle.
Derek Hayes (Host, Monsters Among Us Podcast)
A backlit courtesy of Osayo TV over on YouTube and this battle took place between current day Ben Wheeler and Tyler, Texas. And over 100 native warriors lost their lives that day defending their land. Now, if we were to believe that the apparition that she saw was an individual who fought in this battle, it could have been members of either the Cherokee, Kickapoo, Delaware, Lenape or Shawnee nations. Each of these groups participated in the battle and are known to wear war paint during engagement. Now, as a lover of history, I have a soft spot for stories like this, so a double thanks pistol for sharing this one here with us tonight. All right, everyone, it's time for another quick break, but there's still plenty more before the fire goes out. So save me a s'.
Advertisement Voice (Factor Meals)
More.
Derek Hayes (Host, Monsters Among Us Podcast)
I'll be right back.
Catelyn (Caller from Vancouver Island, Canada)
You know, during the last offseason that
Spin Quest Advertiser
maybe it feels like this he's been.
Derek Hayes (Host, Monsters Among Us Podcast)
Now I'm excited to tell you about the new hit podcast Strange and Unexplained with Daisy Egan. Do you believe in ghosts? How about Bigfoot? Do you think it's strange and fascinating that a four year old in Oklahoma could look at a black and white picture of a man from the 1930s and say, that was me before, and then provide actual verifiable details of the man's life? If so, Strange and Unexplained with Daisy Egan is about to be one of your favorite podcasts. Daisy is a Tony Award winning actor, writer and true crime fanatic, but she's also a skeptic. Each week she looks at real stories of hauntings, disappearances, UFO encounters, unsolved murders, and anything else that feels just beyond what we can easily make sense of. Daisy is your guide through these stories, but she's also like, show me the receipts. Strange and Unexplained with Daisy Egan is one of the most popular podcasts on the Internet. So what are you waiting for? Find Strange and Unexplained with Daisy Egan. Wherever you get Your podcast Thanksgiving, it says that. All right, up to Canada we go for this next entry. Catelyn, welcome to the show.
Catelyn (Caller from Vancouver Island, Canada)
Hey Derek, how's it going? My name is Catelyn. I'm calling from Vancouver Island, Canada. But this story takes place in Saskatchewan in the summer of 2001. I was working at a ranch at that point and there was this one pasture where we've always had evening games and activities. The ranch doubled as a camp in the summertime. Anyway, I was in the pasture the one day and just going out for a walk and just clearing my head and felt like there was something watching me. And it felt really eerie. And I remember turning around and probably 200 yards to myself. I just saw this big brown thing kind of move back into the tree line. I didn't see any faces or anything, but it just. When I turned around, I saw enough of a glimpse of this thing that it was a big brown body that moved back into the trees. And me being a rambunctious 16 year old, I was like, I gotta see what the heck that was. I thought for sure it was a deer. Actually, I thought was how tall it looked to me from where I was
Derek Hayes (Host, Monsters Among Us Podcast)
and maybe some moose.
Catelyn (Caller from Vancouver Island, Canada)
And I hadn't seen a moose down there. So being a, I ran at it and I got into the tree line. But if you know anything about southern Saskatchewan, there's not a lot of trees. And the trees that we do have are like these thin kind of birch trees, kind of similar to like a gray alder. And I got in there and I could not see this thing. And I wept and weaved through those trees all the way, kind of working my way trying to look for this thing. And then I would pause to hear like a crashing. I figured if there was an ungulate in there, I would hear it breaking through the branches with its horns or its rock or whatever. And there was nothing. And I finally came out to a path and it was worried like all the kids and the staff would also be. And I asked anybody was right there if they saw anything come through and they said no. So I thought that was kind of weird. And then fast forward five weeks and we get what's called a plow in that's kind of like a tornado on its side. And it ripped through and dropped like hail and just powerful, powerful rain for about maybe 30 seconds, which I know sounds dramatic. But in that time that wind was strong enough that it flew apart. Our rich shed was knocking. Staff and kids in Raleigh, it's pretty bad. And the ranch Director at that time, had asked me to go out into the pasture and check on the herd. So I threw on a raincoat and my rubber boots, and it went out to that same pasture and walked it. I couldn't find the horses. We had about 49 head. And I walked to the south end of that pasture, across the gate. And at that point, there's a little creek, and the topography changes. So instead of a little culvert, you start to rise, and you walk up into a higher elevation, and to your right there's a tree line Again, they're really thin trees, but pretty thick and dense. And I was walking past there with a couple of the ranch dogs, and suddenly I heard this really bizarre sound. It wasn't like a shriek. It wasn't a growl. It was like a mix of, like, both. Oh, man. I don't even know if I could do it, but it was like. It was really like a shriek. And it was freaky enough that the dogs took off and I just walked slowly away from the tree line. I didn't think anything supernatural at the time. I thought maybe it was like a badger or like a coyote that got caught out in the rain, and it was just disoriented and scared, and that was just, you know, what sound it would make when it was waterlogged. Anyway, I backed away, slowly, made it over the hill, booked it back to the ranch. And I was recounting all summer these two events that had happened. And everyone kind of laughed at me. And they said, you know, you got to bring back proof. Fast forward 10 years, same ranch, and I'm cleaning out one of the chuck wagons. It was a themed ranch camp. And I'm sweeping out one of the wagons, and I hear this weird, bizarre noise again. And it was enough that it crawled under my skin that I knew it wasn't natural. I hadn't heard an animal make that noise before. I remember running out of the wagon because I thought, you know what? Flip it this time. I'm going to get proof that there's something out here. So I ran out and I said, what are you. And then I heard this random, like, pitter patter of feet, and I freaked out. And all I had was a broom. So I got ready to, you know, swing away, Merle. And it was my buddy Dave that I worked with at the cab. But I said, well, why are you making these noises? And he's like, I wasn't making any noises. So it freaked me out. But anyway, I didn't find any creatures in this whole thing, but I recently found out from one of the guys who owned the ranch originally that apparently an indigenous Cree elder was buried somewhere near that ranch. And so now I'm wondering if maybe there was some sort of portal and spiritual beings going on that were kind of like warning me to stay away from the burial ground. Anyway, thanks for sharing my story. I hope everybody likes it. I hope I wasn't too loquacious. Thanks again, Derek. Have a good night.
Derek Hayes (Host, Monsters Among Us Podcast)
Thank you, Catelyn. Yet another brave soul running at the phenomenon. What did you plan to do if you caught it? Catelyn? I'm dying to know. Now, it sounds like we're talking about Sasquatch here. A Saskatchewan Sasquatch. I suppose it would be a large dark entity rushing into the treeline. Ape like vocalizations from the woods. If that doesn't seal the deal, it certainly sends us in a particular direction. Now I admittedly don't know a lot about the Bigfoot connection to this area, but the BFRO website claims that half a dozen have reported the creature from that province between 1995 and 2006. But there have been no new reports since then. But that doesn't mean the scent has gone cold. There aren't a lot of people in that part of Canada, and I imagine that number grows even smaller when you exclude those that would never report a sighting. So it is possible that there is something out there trapping the lands of Saskatchewan. Now maybe your story will jar a few loose. Catelyn, I'll keep my ears open. And thanks again for sharing the submission. Now gang, before we continue, I have something fun to announce, especially if you're liking these stories from the outdoors. I was recently commissioned by the talented author and fellow story collector Tom Lyons to read an audiobook portion for his latest book series, I Saw It Out There. Terrifying True Stories of Unexplained Encounters, Cryptid sightings, and Paranormal horrors in the wilderness. You can find it on audible or by clicking the link in our show notes. A full hour of yours truly reading some of the spookiest firsthand encounters out there. And if you like what you hear, there are other installments of this series coming as soon as I can get them delivered. So stay tuned for more. But until until then, search out I Saw It Out There. Terrifying True Stories of Unexplained Encounters, Cryptid Sightings, and Paranormal Horrors in the wilderness today. Now how about another horror story from the hiking trail? Please welcome Anonymous from Parts Unknown.
Gage (continued)
Hey Derek.
Gage (Caller from Connecticut)
This is for the camping episode Episode In November of 2024 co workers and myself kind of last minute decided we were going to go to the Talladega National Forest in Alabama and go hike the mountain there. This actually gets to the highest point in the state. So like this kind of last minute we packed up and went. Unbeknownst to us, while we were there, when we're coming down the mountain, it's
Colin (Caller from Northern California)
late in the afternoon.
Gage (Caller from Connecticut)
Well, I say late. It's November so it gets dark fairly early. We're making pretty good time getting back down, trying to beat the sunset. When we come out, there's literally hundreds of people out at this campsite and on the roadway there. We had no idea what was going on and apparently there was a hundred mile race of some sort going on. So we just kind of happened upon that on our way back to our campground. So while we're walking in, we're talking with people, you know, and it's dark outside and these guys and ladies are completing this hundred mile race that they're on. And we're at apparently about the halfway point for that race where our campsite is there. So as we're walking into our campsite on this trail, so we're talking to these people and most of them are pretty beat down from this race and they've got headlamps, you know, some of them have these really big like bar style lights that they're carrying and stuff, you know. So we get on our campsite, don't really think much of it, you know, throughout most of the night these people are coming through. And we're about 100 yards off the trail or so at a little campsite there by some waterfalls. And as the night rocks on, we're sitting there talking by the campfire. We see people come through, you know, we can hear them, you know, rustling through the leaves and stuff on this trail. Not, you know, really anything uncommon, you know, by this point. So at about 1 o' clock in the morning, I'm getting ready for bed, sitting there talking to the guys, you know, campfire's kind of going out and I notice out towards the trail, it looks like if you've ever seen one of those fans they use for like advertising, but it has like an image in it as a fan SW spins that will show an image. It looks like a fan system like that that's just sitting there spinning, but it's like a really, really bright, almost like fluorescent green. We were thinking it was something to do with that race, thought it was kind of an odd spot for it, that just all of a sudden came on over there. But it sat there for about 15 or 20 minutes, just spinning in one spot on that trail. Nobody's came by or anything like that. So I'm assuming all the people from the race had already passed through. So we didn't really think much of it. Was thinking it may have been something that was sat there with bats. So we didn't really think much of it. Went on about our business. We're getting ready to get in our hammocks and stuff for the night. Fairly chilly outside. My buddy says, hey, look, it's moving. So I look over there and sure enough, it's kind of floating left to right and all of a sudden it just shoots straight up into the sky and it was gone. Never made a sound, never made any kind of, you know, motor sound like a drone or anything like that. It was just sitting there spinning, you know, kind of face forward to us, like I said, for 15 or 20 minutes. And then it moved left to right along the trail, you know, maybe 20 or 30ft in each direction and shot straight up into the sky and it was gone. So, needless, it was a weird experience, you know, have no idea what it was. It was less than, you know, 100 yards from us or so. We didn't go investigate it because we didn't think it was anything to it other than something that may have been some type of marker or, you know, something for that race. We never thought it was anything out of the ordinary other than it was just kind of weird that it showed up and it was really weird when it took off. So that's all I got, buddy. Appreciate it, man. Have a good one.
Derek Hayes (Host, Monsters Among Us Podcast)
We appreciate the entry caller. Another green ball of light hovering over the ground. That description has been getting a lot of action as of late, at least here on this program. I haven't been keeping track of them, but I swear this is a topic that we preach quite often now. As for this particular sighting, Delaney was able to pinpoint the actual race that her caller mentioned, the Pinhoti 100, which took place on November 22 of 2024. And using that date, we were able to check databases for similar reports, but we found none. Delaney was, however, able to find one ghost story in relation to the Talladega National Forest. And the story involves the Blue Mountain Shelter on Pinhotee Trail, which is a three sided wooden platform used by overnight hikers. Some visitors have reported hearing strange scratching on the structure, while others have seen shadow people leering in the corners. One camper even scrawled, there are shadow people here into one of the logs. I'm not claiming any connection, just sharing some information that we found interesting wild stuff collar and we're much obliged to for the contribution
Fritz (Caller from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
number one for music, radio and podcast.
Lady Luck (Spin Quest Advertiser)
Hey everybody, lady luck here and we're celebrating America's 250th birthday. Now all summer long I'm going to be celebrating by playing on finquest.com which is an American owned social casino. It obviously features over a thousand slot games and and live blackjack, live craps, live bubble craps. Head on over to spinquest.com get yourself a $30 coin pack for just 10 bucks.
Spin Quest Disclaimer Voice
Spinquest is a free to play social casino void where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more details.
Arizona State University Advertiser
You can't predict the future, but you can prepare for it. Arizona State University is building degrees for what's ahead. Taught by world class faculty who are shaping our Future. Explore over 350 programs offered online at ASUonline. ASU.
Derek Hayes (Host, Monsters Among Us Podcast)
EDU. Now folks, next up, we set up camp in Big sky country. Please welcome Jeffrey from the state of Montana.
Gage (continued)
My name is Jeffrey Lottie. I live in Great Falls, Montana. At the time of this incident, I lived in Missoula, Montana. In Missoula, if you go south down Miller Creek Road about 16, 17 miles, there's a nice little campsite that's a little bit beyond the electricity towers. We were camping there one night because we would go there and we camp and I'd drive into town and go to work and come back out. So about the second or third night, we were sitting there around the campfire about 8 or 9 o' clock at night, and my girlfriend at the time says there's some kind of a weird hooting noise in the woods. And she grew up in rural, like in the middle of forest, Montana, so she knows the difference between all the different sounds. So anyways, I took my mag light and I shown it around and at one point I looked into the forest and about nine feet above the floor of the forest there were these two eyes. They were too close together to be an elk or a moose or something like that because you know, they have eyes on the sides of their head and if you're a predator, you're not going to be 8 or 9ft up in the trees. There was eye shine, it was more of a red eye shine, but the eyes were too far apart to be an owl or anything like that.
Pistol (Caller from East Texas)
Okay.
Gage (continued)
Thought nothing of it. About an hour later, a pine cone flew into our campsite, landed right next to the campfire. About 10 minutes later, a small rock flew into our campsite. About five minutes later after that, another pine cone. So we're looking around and we're like, what the hell? And I look a little bit south of our campsite, and there were still these big eyes in the trees. And we're like, what the hell is going on? And then, like, think a rock hit my foot. It wasn't a rock. It was just like a pebble. And then tink, here comes another pebble. Here comes a pine cone. We're looking around and we're like, okay, whatever. All of a sudden, off to my right, I hear a huge crunching through the bushes. So I swing my maglad around. I didn't see anything, but I could still hear it. And then all of a sudden, me and my girlfriend at the time actually got this huge feeling of what the heck? You know, I've worked at glacier national park. I've been in the desert, I've been in the forest. I've been everything. I've seen mountain lions and bears and stuff like that, but nothing actually gave me a sense of, like, all the hairs on my body stood up. My dog would not let us go into anywhere outside of the circle of firelight. Like, she wasn't like growling or anything, but she was alert. And every time I went towards outside of the firelight to get some more firewood and everything, she would step in front of me. Later on that night, we had pebbles hitting our tent. I said, hey, you know what? After everything that's happened, let's go. I actually pulled up my tent with everything in it, threw it in the back of my truck, and we got the heck out of there. And then a couple months later, I read on the bfro that down the same road that there was a sheriff and several other people that heard howling from the ridge above their house. So that's my story.
Derek Hayes (Host, Monsters Among Us Podcast)
Thanks, Jeffrey. Now, it's worth noting that Montana butts right up to Saskatchewan, the location of her last bigfoot story. And Montana is also one of those places with very few people and even fewer that would be willing to share that they saw a nine foot tall, hair covered man in the woods. So maybe the area is even more active than it seems. My radar has now been adjusted to look for these reports, and I'll circle back should my search pan out. But in the meantime, allow me to share this short soundscape to send us off into tonight's last ad break. The following was put together by our very own Connor ryan and was inspired by the call that Jeffrey just told. Please enjoy and we'll be right back.
Gage (continued)
It.
Derek Hayes (Host, Monsters Among Us Podcast)
Expanded the mission entirely.
Fritz (Caller from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
What's going on everyone?
Spin Quest Advertiser
It's Bluff here and we're driving through the states in the Bluff Mobile and the best thing that we can do is play our favorite casino style games on Spin Quest. They have over a thousand games including live dealer blackjack and craps. With tons of slots and unlimited options. You can get a $30 coin pack for just $10 for new users. Sign up today. Go to spinquest.com right now Spin Quest
Spin Quest Disclaimer Voice
is a free to play social casino void where prohibited visits BenQuest.com for more details.
Grainger Advertiser
When you're a maintenance engineer in a beverage manufacturing plant, you keep production lines moving and quality on track because there is no room for slowdowns. With Grainger's vast selection of high quality motors, sensors, belts and hard to find parts, you can get what you need fast and all in one place so nothing gets in the way of getting the job done. Call 1-800-100-granger click ranger.com or just stop by Granger for the ones who get it done.
Derek Hayes (Host, Monsters Among Us Podcast)
Contact with calls for this next story. We hop on two wheels and make our way to Europe. Please welcome Dan, all the way from France.
Dan (Caller from France)
Derek My name is Dan and I'm calling from a town on the west coast of France. I'm American and grew up in Arizona, but I moved over here in the late 90s to attend art school and I've been here ever since. The Experience All I could tell you about today happened late last fall at about 5 in the morning. My oldest daughter, who was 19 at the time, works at an open air market at a fresh fruit stand. She's really good at her job. Her employers love her and over time they've given her more and more responsibilities. One of them is to meet them at this wholesale market depot extra early once a week, about two hours before she'd normally clock in in order to help them pick up the fresh produce, pile it all into their truck, drive over to a nearby city, set up the stand and put the fruit on display before the customers arrive. Well, one night about six months after she got the job, she came over for dinner and mentioned to my wife and I that she'd been given this new responsibility and as a result had to get up a little before 5am every Friday and ride her bike to this wholesale depot which is a few miles away from her apartment in the dark along this long winding isolated path lined by trees which runs along a little canal or stream. Now there are no street lights or any kind of lighting whatsoever. She told us it was really spooky and she'd had to use the flashlight on her phone to even see where she was going. I'm familiar with that path and did not want my daughter riding her bike alone in the dark. So ever since, about once a week, depending on the season, I get up around 4.30am, ride my bike over to her apartment and we ride to work together. It's usually a lot of fun because we're both still half asleep, slap happy, and we crack stupid jokes on the way. However, once we reach that path, it's another story. It's about 12ish feet wide and in the daytime it's this beautiful shaded path, but at five in the morning, there's nothing beautiful about it. We tend to talk about funny or pleasant stuff to boost our confidence because it's creepy as hell. And I have a really bright LED light on the front of my bike which lights up the area in front of us really well. Although it's not a beam of light, it's more like area effect that casts enough light for us to see anything in front of us. We ride as fast as we can. I keep my eyes peeled for any serial killers hiding behind bushes or trees, and before you know it, we reach the end of the path, go under a bridge, turn onto this paved lit area, and two minutes later we get to the wholesale market depot where I drop her off, turn around and ride back home. However, the ride back home is kind of spooky. Now, I'm not scared of being jumped in the dark, but I'm definitely on edge and alert, you know, just in case. So anyway, early one morning last fall, I just dropped my daughter off and was heading back home. It was jet black outside, no moon, just my bike light. Since it was late November, all the leaves had pretty much fallen off the trees that lined the path. And it hadn't rained in a couple of weeks. So the leaves that covered the ground were really brittle and dry. So dry in fact, that they made this loud crunching noise as we rode our bikes over them. And I recall that morning they were so loud that my daughter and I almost had to shout over the sound to even hear each other. Anyway, I'm riding along the trail and all of a sudden this man appears out of nowhere, about 6 to 7ft in front of me, almost right next to me. He was tall, wearing what looked like a gray hoodie with the hood pull over his head so I couldn't see his face. There was like this black hole where his face should be. Like the Ghost of Christmas Past or something, you know. His hands were in his pockets and he was just slowly moving down the path. Didn't make a sound, didn't wave, didn't make any threatening gestures. Just slowly walked. And it was just eerie. When I saw him, I was so surprised, my breath caught in my throat and this chill ran down my spine. My bike light should have lit him up a long time before that, but it hadn't. One second he wasn't there and the next he was just right in front of me, off to my left. I could have reached out and touched him or vice versa. Of course I didn't stop or slow down and I sure as hell didn't look back. But a few minutes later, as the adrenaline rush began to fade and I exited the bike path, I started thinking and a couple of things really bothered me. Thing one was I don't recall seeing his legs or hearing his feet crunch on leaves, which I definitely would have if it had been a flesh and blood person. And thing two was I don't recall him casting any shadow. Now, I think I'm reasonably perceptive and I have a good visual memory and I'm absolutely sure there was no shadow behind him. Now, I kind of wish I would have looked behind me to see if he was still there, but at the time I didn't dare take my eyes off the bike path. As much as I'd like to think he was just some dude in a hoodie taking a stroll down an isolated path at 5 in the morning, I don't see how it could have been. I have no idea who or what he was, but I'm pretty sure I saw a ghost. I just have no logical explanation. I mean, I don't drink, I don't do drugs, especially not at 5am I. I was fully awake. Ever since, my daughter and I have kept an eye out, but we haven't seen him again. I just know what I saw and I hope it doesn't happen again. Thanks for your show and keep on keeping things spooky. Bye bye.
Derek Hayes (Host, Monsters Among Us Podcast)
Thanks. Dan. Can you put a dash camera on a bicycle? I'm asking for a friend. Talk about a jump scare. I can only imagine what stumbling upon this guy might have felt like. It's a wonder you didn't crash your bike, Dan. And boy, would that have been an even bigger nightmare. On your hands and knees, bloodied and bruised, right at the foot of whatever this thing was. Not a position you want to find yourself In, I imagine, spooky stuff, Tough Dan. And we appreciate the long distance submission. Now, folks, before we round out this episode, this year's MAU Campout is going to be a double episode. We'll continue on Thursday. But first, let me share with you one more story. But a mystery man and the fright of a lifetime. From the state of Texas, please welcome James to the program.
Catelyn (Caller from Vancouver Island, Canada)
Hey, Derek.
Advertisement Voice (Factor Meals)
James from Texas. I'm on season 20, episode 36, and you asked for calls about estate sales. So I'm not a estate sale person, but back in high school, I always was a big fisherman. Love to wet a line when I could. And one day I was driving around and saw a estate sale happening at this just normal house. I mean, it wasn't anything crazy. What caught my eye was mostly fishing rods sticking in the air. So I was like, hey, I'm gonna check in to see if there's any good fishing supplies that I could buy for cheap. So I stopped, and there was an old man there, and all he had were fishing supplies. He had run reels that were really, really old. They weren't even round. So they were, you know, really old rod and reels. A lot of lures and a lot of different pieces. But one thing that caught my eye was a tackle box full of old lures. And I said, hello. The old man, he said, hello. And I was looking through this tackle box of lures, and he's like, those
Derek Hayes (Host, Monsters Among Us Podcast)
are some good ones.
Advertisement Voice (Factor Meals)
He said, those are some of my favorite, you know, lures to use. And I was like, oh, yeah. And then we just were talking a little bit, and he told me about his favorite fishing spot on the lake and how he used to go there all the time and just was very, very sentimental about this spot. So we probably talked for maybe 15 minutes. And then he's like, I tell you what, he said, I'll give you the whole box for 20 bucks. And I was like, seriously? He's like, yeah. So I bought it and took it home. And inside the tackle box there were all kinds of old, old lures. A couple of them were probably handmade because they were wooden. But anyway, fast forward about maybe a month later, I was looking through classifiers because I was actually looking for a boat. And I came across an obituary. And a picture caught my attention. And sure enough, it was that old man. And I was like, well, I'll be darn. And not too long after that, because I had that tiger box in my bedroom. I kept getting these kind of eerie feelings every now and then. And then started kind of like getting these visions of this person in plaid. And I know you had the plaid man or whatever you called them a couple times, but as these visions kind of went forward, I saw that it was this old man. And he wasn't mad, he wasn't angry or anything like that. It was just this old man in this brown plaid shirt. And you know, the more it happened, I was like, I gotta do something here because it was kind of odd. And I remember he was talking about his favorite fishing hole on this lake. And so I decided to pay honor and respect to the old man. And I went to that fishing spot and put a couple rocks in that tackle box and sunk the tackle box there just out of respect for him and never saw him again after that. So anyway, that's my story.
Colin (Caller from Northern California)
Keep it spooky, buddy.
Catelyn (Caller from Vancouver Island, Canada)
Bye.
Derek Hayes (Host, Monsters Among Us Podcast)
Thanks, James. Now, I've seen some beautiful lore displays living next to a lake here in Southern California. It seems like everyone in every store up here has just such a display. And most of them are done really well. Those lores can be downright beautiful when they're cleaned up. Now, I can't speak to how they might look. Should they be haunted, possessed, or cursed? Or maybe even all three? Of course, sinking them in the lake is one way to ensure that they have no lasting effect. But before I leave you for the night, I must pose an obvious question here. James mentioned that the figure was dressed in a plaid shirt. Does that mean he had a run in with the infamous flannel man? A flannel man that just happened to look like the old man from the estate sale? Or did he see the exact same old man after his death, coincidentally wearing plaid? Now, I'll let you believe what you want to believe, but I'd say it's certainly possible. So a big thanks once again, James, for sharing the entry. And another big thanks to all of tonight's submitters. Now, like I said, I'll be back with the the second half of this two parter on Thursday. And if you thought tonight was great, you're going to really love that episode. But for 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 Connor Ryan. All media used in this production has done so under the protection of fair use. Be sure to give us a rate and review wherever you can do such a thing. Join us on our Discord server. Take some time to join us on YouTube. Leave us a like and comment there if you can and finally, join us on our social media pages. Now, don't forget, you can catch the show every Saturday evening at 10pm Eastern on the NX Digital Network. Just visit on xnetwork.com to tune in. And lastly here this evening, tonight's score was provided by Iron Cthulhu, Apocalypse Co AG Music and Carl Casey at White Bat Audio. Alright folks, I'm hitting the hay. That sleeping bag is calling my name. But make sure the fire is out before you crawl into your bunk tonight. We don't need to burn the fire forest down. And keep that flashlight on you as well. I swear I heard something over by the dumpsters last night. All right, sleep tight, keep it spooky and have a great night.
Gage (continued)
Sa.
Spin Quest Advertiser
Forget whatever plans you have this weekend because you're staying at home and playing on Spin Quest. And there's never been a better time to sign up than right now. New users get $30 coin packs for just $10. All the table games you love with hundreds of slot games and real cash Prizes. That's at spinquest.com S P I N
Shannon (Caller from Los Angeles)
Q.
Spin Quest Disclaimer Voice
Spinquest is a free to play social casino void where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more details.
Grainger Advertiser (continued)
Grainger knows when you're a procurement manager for an office park, you're not managing one building, you're managing all of them. And to stay ahead, you need to see through walls and around corners. Lights about to fail, filters ready to clog H Vac on its last leg. If you wait until something breaks, you're already behind. Count on Grainger for quality products, easy reordering and 24. 7 support. Call 1-800-granger click grainger.com or just stop by Granger for the ones who get it done.
Arizona State University Advertiser
Summer's heating up and so is the action with chumba casino and 2311 racing. Whether you're trackside with Bubba, Riley and Tyler or cooling off at home, the fun never stops at Chumba Casino, the online social casino packed with free to play games like slots, bingo and more. Jump into summer@chumbacasino.com and score your free welcome bonus. 2 million free gold coins and 2 free sweeps coins. No purchase necessary. VGW Group void where prohibited by law. CTNCS 21/ sponsored by Jumbo Casino.
Date: July 7, 2026
Host: Derek Hayes
Theme: First-hand Paranormal Stories from Campers, Hikers & Outdoorsfolk
In this special "Campfire Chronicles" episode, host Derek Hayes invites listeners around the virtual campfire for a nostalgia-drenched evening of chilling campfire tales. Focused on the supernatural found in outdoor settings—campgrounds, forests, hiking trails, ranches, and lakesides—witnesses from across North America (and even Europe) recount true, first-person experiences of eerie encounters, from ghostly phenomena and cryptids to mysterious lights and unexplainable beings. Hayes weaves in local legends, historical context, and his own commentary, creating a rich tapestry of wilderness weirdness. The spooky, inviting tone is peppered with humor, empathy, and deep respect for the art of storytelling.
This loaded opening to the “Campfire Chronicles” Camp Out delivers a smorgasbord of firsthand horror from the great outdoors: ghosts both benevolent and vengeful, enigmatic creatures, UFOs, and inexplicable events are all well-represented. Derek Hayes masterfully curates and contextualizes each story, empowering listeners to confront—or at least respect—the monsters among us, especially when camping.
Keep it spooky. And don't forget your flashlight.