Radio Rental – Episode 87 (August 22, 2025)

Podcast: Radio Rental
Host for this episode: “Jared” (guest host, filling in for Terry Carnation)
Created by: Payne Lindsey, Tenderfoot TV, Audacy

Overview

Episode 87 of Radio Rental continues its tradition of immersing listeners in chilling real-life tales, told with the show’s trademark blend of suspense, reality-bending horror, and dark humor. With Terry Carnation (Rainn Wilson) missing in action, the store’s handyman, Jared, steps into the spotlight, reluctantly guiding listeners through another evening at the surreal 80s video rental store. In this episode, two haunting tales unfold: one of a nightmarish, déjà vu-filled date and another of a unsettling encounter with a possibly supernatural police officer. As always, the stories blur the boundary between true crime, the paranormal, and the existentially odd.

Host & Framing Narrative

Guest Host: Jared

• Situation: Jared, usually the handyman, is unexpectedly left to run the store after receiving cryptic instructions from Terry Carnation.
  • “Yeah, I don't usually do this kind of thing. Usually I just come here like twice a year to fix the AC. Upwards of 10 times for the plumbing and Terry had me seal up some hole in the floor a while ago. He said the hole was void or something. Void of what? I have no idea.” (04:19)
• Comic elements abound as Jared appears out of his depth, fumbles through Terry’s instructions, and notes his lack of payment for constant repairs.

Memorable Moment:

• Jared tries to play “Groundhog Day” but accidentally finds a horrifying true story cassette instead.
  • “Oh, wait. This one says Groundhog Day. I love Groundhog Day with Bill Murray. Oh, this is a classic, y’. All. You're gonna love it. Jeez, that does not sound good. Something's grinding in there. I could probably. Nope, not fixing anything else. Still unpaid.” (06:37)

Key Stories

1. "Groundhog Day" – Date Night Horror

Narrator: Unnamed story contributor
[07:24 – 19:04]

Story Summary:

• The storyteller recounts a date gone awry after meeting a man through a dating app.
• After dinner and a movie, the narrator feels increasingly sluggish as the evening progresses in the date’s car.
• Events begin to loop, à la “Groundhog Day”: the man keeps asking, “Do you want me to change the radio station?” and “Is this your exit?” The sequence cycles with the phone clock reading 10:29 and darkness each time.
• Escalating terror: The narrator tries to break the cycle by grabbing the man’s arm but fails.
• Finally, the cycle ends abruptly at the narrator’s apartment complex.
• The next day, the narrator receives a video from the date showing themselves in the car undergoing seizure-like symptoms — with the man laughing sinisterly.

Key Insights:

• The man had laced the narrator’s cigarette with the synthetic drug K2 (Spice) without their knowledge, inducing the terrifying time loop and blackout experience.
• The date’s behavior suggests malice and intent, not a misunderstanding.

Notable Quotes:

• Narrator:
  • “Everything around me was going at a normal pace, but it just felt like I was slow. But I looked over to him. He was just having a conversation, you know, acting like nothing's wrong.” (08:03)
  • “That’s when the cycle started...He looked at me and asked me if I want to change the radio. And I looked at him, but I was like, wait, did he not just ask me this? Like, it kind of felt like deja vu.” (09:26)
  • “He took a pack of cigarettes and laced them with this synthetic drug called K2 or Spice...It felt sinister. Very sinister. He knew that this was going to happen. Like a sick entertainment for him.” (18:40)

Most Chilling Moment:

• The video proof of the incident, coupled with the man’s mocking message:
  • “You were epic last night.”

Thematic Resonance:

• Betrayal of trust in seemingly ordinary situations; the horror of losing bodily agency; the reality-warping effects of synthetic drugs.

2. "The Ticket" – A Ghostly Encounter

Narrator: Unnamed teacher
[23:03 – 28:55]

Story Summary:

• The storyteller, a schoolteacher, is pulled over by a tall, athletic police officer without understanding the reason.
• The officer issues a ticket for not having a child in a safety restraint, despite the storyteller being alone in the car.
• In court, a clerk mistakenly asks if the narrator was born in 1953 (he was 24 at the time), furthering the confusion.
• The judge dismisses the ticket since the officer does not appear.
• Later, the narrator’s mother connects the event to a ticket given to his own father for a similar offense 22 years ago — when he himself was the unrestrained child.
• When the narrator investigates, he learns that the officer’s name corresponds to a retired policeman, and no current officer matches that identity.

Key Insights:

• Uncanny synchronicity or possible haunting — a time-warped or echoing event linked with his childhood.
• The inability to reconcile official records with his lived experience adds a layer of existential unease.

Notable Quotes:

• Narrator:
  • “I looked at the ticket, and the ticket was actually for not having a child in his safety restraint or car seat. That's weird, because I was the only person in the car.” (24:22)
  • “My mother said, in 1988, your dad got a ticket for the exact same thing, and the child that was in question was you.” (27:04)
  • “They said, well, we don't have an officer by that name. The only officer we had by that name retired like some years ago. That was even more bizarre.” (28:26)

Memorable Moment:

• The mother’s revelation directly linking the current event to a ticket received in 1988 concerning the storyteller as a child.

Thematic Resonance:

• The inescapability of the past; doppelgängers and official records that contradict reality; the possibility of ghostly intervention or time-slip phenomena.

Host Interstitials & Comic Relief

Jared’s Comments:

• Remarks on the strangeness of Terry’s tape collection and the warped outcomes of “watching” the store’s “movies.”
  • “Hey, that was not Groundhog Day with Bill Murray. Is that what's going on back here? Terry's got some kind of freaky collection he's been stashing...What's next? I'm gonna pop in the Breakfast Club? It's actually a snuff film with cannibalism.” (19:04)
• Regularly laments his unpaid handyman work and Terry’s ominous instructions.
• Lighthearted banter and confusion over the store’s stock (only Goobers, broken electronics), keeping the episode’s tone quirky and offbeat between segments.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Jared, on the futility of his efforts:
  • "I fixed the rolling chair. Look. Rolls smoothly now. Isn't that nice? Just a little WD40 and I tighten the screws. But no more fixing things pro bono, Terry. No more until I get paid." (05:39)
• On the mystery of Terry’s disappearance:
  • “I don't usually do this kind of thing...Terry had me seal up some hole in the floor a while ago. He said the hole was void or something. Void of what? I have no idea. That guy's kind of, you know.” (04:19)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:39] – Jared takes over as store host
• [07:24 – 19:04] – "Groundhog Day" (Sinister Date / Synthetic Drug Loop)
• [19:04 – 20:02] – Jared’s reaction & transition
• [23:03 – 28:55] – "The Ticket" (Haunted Traffic Stop / Time-Slip)
• [29:05] – Ads and outro sequence

Tone and Atmosphere

The episode maintains Radio Rental’s trademark blend of nostalgia, chest-tightening paranoia, and sly, satirical humor. The framing device (Jared as stand-in host) adds levity and a fish-out-of-water vibe, while the real-life stories are delivered with matter-of-fact honesty, making their eerie qualities all the more unsettling. The episode’s structure, oscillating between levity and existential horror, underscores the uncomfortable notion that nightmares can lurk in the most ordinary interactions.

Closing Note

Radio Rental’s Episode 87 delivers two unsettling true stories, each playing with the concept of time loops—one literal, induced by synthetic drugs and malicious intent; the other, spiritual or supernatural, echoing family history and impossible records. The host’s bumbling presence offers comic relief, but never dispels the underlying dread that these stories so effectively conjure.