Podcast Summary: Otherworld – Bonus: The Night Before Christmas (December 22, 2025)

Episode Overview

This bonus holiday episode of Otherworld, hosted by Jack Wagner, features the story of Andrea Taylor, a supervisor at the Advanced Light Source particle accelerator in Berkeley, California. Andrea recounts a chilling and unexplained encounter she experienced on Christmas Eve while isolating in a hotel during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The episode weaves together themes of science, faith, and the unknowable, exploring the boundaries between the natural and supernatural in the context of extreme circumstance and personal vulnerability.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Background: Science, Faith, and the Pandemic

• Andrea introduces herself as an administrative supervisor at a particle accelerator, emphasizing her deep engagement with scientific communities but clarifying she is not a scientist herself. (04:02)
• She describes her upbringing as the daughter of a pastor who embraced scientific concepts, referencing how her father once introduced string theory into sermons as a way to reconcile faith and science.
  • Quote: “My dad has been a pastor... He really loves science, and he would try to incorporate it into his sermons as much as he could.” (05:00)
• Andrea expresses a worldview that sees no contradiction between scientific curiosity and belief in something greater, using her faith as a source of comfort during turmoil.
  • Quote: “…the more science reveals, the more it reveals how expansive the universe is. And it doesn't feel like it's in conflict for me…” (05:52)
• Context: The story takes place during the pandemic when Andrea’s husband is sick with COVID, heightening her stress and need for rest and family connection—all leading to her stay in the hotel. (07:25)

2. The Hotel Experience

• After social distancing with family on Christmas Eve, Andrea describes her relief over finally having a chance to sleep in a proper bed after days spent on couches due to COVID precautions at home.

• The hotel is described as a typical chain in Marysville, CA—slightly rundown, in a “seedier” part of town. She has a minor unsettling encounter with a drunk man in the lobby, which she dismisses after avoiding him successfully. (10:44)

• Upon entering her room, Andrea immediately senses “something is really off,” a feeling she tries to rationalize but cannot shake.

• She details the room’s layout and notes a large, dark stain on the floor that she tries to ignore. (13:35)

  • Quote: “There was just this feeling that something was really off. I've had this feeling before, you know, this is not a new experience for me.” (12:46)
  • The sensation of being watched intensifies, particularly as she prepares for bed.

3. Manifestation of the Presence

• The “sense of unease” grows sharper and more directional as Andrea settles into bed, initially distracted by watching the Jim Carrey Grinch movie and snacking. (21:55)

• Once she turns off the TV and tries to sleep, the oppressive feeling returns, centering on the couch area near her bed.

• Engaging her faith, she begins to pray, seeking comfort. The sense of suffocation escalates.

  • Quote: “It felt like suffocating, honestly. Like the room was shrinking. Like the bed was the safe place, the oasis, if you will. Right?” (24:20)

• Andrea begins to see a dark, humanoid “shadow”—solidly black, tall, shapeless yet vaguely humanoid, moving unnaturally around the perimeter of the bed. It appears to “blink” or “pop” rapidly from spot to spot, swirling around but seemingly unable to cross onto the bed itself. (27:10)

  • Quote: “This very big, dense and tall, thick, very dark ... It was a shadow. It kind of had form ... It kind of like a blob ... It was definitely a distinct thing. It's not like it was a ... Oh, that was just the shadow of my suitcase.” (27:42)
  • Quote: “It popped from the right side of the bed, and then it's at the … foot of the bed, and then it's at the left side of the bed. And then it's just kind of like popping. It was just like a blink, blink, blink, blink, blink.” (28:40)

• The phenomenon is described as a “whirlwind” effect, relentless and terrifying, but unable to breach the boundary of the king-size bed.

4. Andrea’s Confrontation & Faith Response

• Growing overwhelmed, Andrea’s fear transforms into anger—anger that her hard-won comfort and sleep are being intruded upon.
• She rises up in bed, shouting at the apparition and invoking Christian language and authority:
  • Quote (with attribution): “I started shouting. What I said was, ‘I'm covered by the blood of Christ. You cannot touch me. I'm not afraid of you. You need to fuck off.’... And as I started really getting into invoking those phrases and that belief and really calling on it, like, I really started to believe it.” — Andrea Taylor (30:54)
  • “Leave me the fuck alone. Go back to where you came from. Don't bother me again.” (32:20)
• The entity appears to be yanked back into the room’s corner, restricted and unable to approach further. Andrea still sees it peripherally, especially when looking at the corner with the couch.
• Despite the experience, she eventually falls asleep—later marveling at her own ability to do so given her sheer terror.

5. Aftermath and Reflections

• In the morning, little physical sign of the event remains; Andrea feels the “inhabited” sense linger but is not afraid. She promptly tells her family, who, surprisingly, accept her account without skepticism. (34:05)
  • Her mother suggests she encountered a “demon,” though Andrea is hesitant to label it, arguing human language for the paranormal is insufficient.
  • She reflects: “I just. I don't think we're really equipped to identify what these things are. So we reach for the language that we already have, you know...” (36:12)
• Andrea’s husband, a skeptic, remains supportive, affirming her experience even if he cannot explain it.
  • Quote: “Well, I believe you, but I just, I don't, I, I can't explain it.” (37:30)
• Andrea concludes with her belief that science will one day provide tools to better understand such phenomena, just as once-invisible aspects of matter can now be studied at the microscopic level.
  • Quote: “...many of these phenomena, we just don't have the tools to examine them properly.” (37:40)
  • “It is truly my belief that science just hasn't revealed how these things connect, but that, that it will eventually, and then we will collectively as human beings be able to develop better vocabulary to explain these things.” (38:04)
  • “The universe is more complex than our categories. Until we have better tools, things are just mysterious.” (38:35)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “There was just this feeling that something was really off. I've had this feeling before... I was familiar with the sensitivity.” — Andrea Taylor (12:46)
• “I saw this very big, dense and tall, thick, very dark... It kind of had form... It was vaguely, very vaguely humanoid shape.” — Andrea Taylor (27:42)
• “It was almost like there was a barrier right around the bed and it was coming as close to that barrier as it possibly could.” — Andrea Taylor (29:28)
• “I'm covered by the blood of Christ. You cannot touch me. I'm not afraid of you. You need to fuck off.” — Andrea Taylor (30:54)
• “I don't think we're really equipped to identify what these things are. So we reach for the language that we already have, you know...” — Andrea Taylor (36:12)
• “Until we have better tools, things are just mysterious, you know.” — Andrea Taylor (38:35)

Important Timestamps

• 04:02: Andrea’s professional/scientific background and spiritual upbringing
• 10:44: Arrival and uneasy interaction with lobby guest
• 12:46: First sensations of something being wrong in the hotel room
• 21:55: Attempt to distract herself with television
• 24:20: Suffocating sense of presence intensifies
• 27:42: Description of the shadow entity
• 30:54: Andrea’s confrontation and invocation of faith
• 34:05: Morning after and family reactions
• 37:40 - 38:35: Reflections on science and the inexplicable

Tone & Style

The story is candid, grounded, and colored by both practical skepticism and deep vulnerability. Andrea balances reasoned self-analysis with raw emotional honesty, infusing her account with humor and self-awareness (“I'm such a wimp. I have to have like, the perfect setting for sleeping.” - 25:55). The episode, like all of Otherworld, treats the paranormal with journalistic openness, allowing the emotional and existential weight of Andrea's experience to stand on its own.

For Listeners:
This episode offers a compelling intersection of science, faith, and the unexplained—making it an ideal listen for those interested in personal paranormal encounters that grapple with deeper questions of explanation and belief, especially during times of collective uncertainty.