Scary Stories and Rain – Ep. 240: “Blood Pumpkin”

Podcast: Scary Stories and Rain
Host: Being Scared
Air Date: September 26, 2025

Overview

Episode 240 of Scary Stories and Rain, titled “Blood Pumpkin,” offers a chilling selection of true and unsettling tales, narrated against a backdrop of soothing rainfall. This episode features personal accounts of terror and uncanny happenings, culminating in a long-form, original folk horror story that explores obsession, sacrifice, and the supernatural. The rain ambience and calm narration enhance the eerie atmosphere, perfect for late-night listeners seeking both relaxation and a good scare.

Key Stories and Themes

1. Lost in the Berkshire Mountains ([01:32] – [07:40])

• Summary: A woman in her 20s becomes trapped outside alone in pitch darkness after missing the strict curfew at a retreat center in the Berkshires. Navigating by touch and eventually crawling to avoid falling off a mountain edge, she spends hours terrified of bears and becoming increasingly disoriented until she spots a dorm window light at 3 am.
• Notable Quote:

  “I had to crawl like this for hours, fearing that I would fall off the cliff at any moment...praying like crazy. I honestly thought I was going to die.” ([06:10], Narrator)

• Themes: Disorientation, primal fear, survival, the indifference of nature.

2. The Camp Staff Stalkers ([07:40] – [13:46])

• Summary: Two staff members at a remote summer camp notice suspicious trucks with unknown men. Hiding in a cabin, they escape into the night woods chased by the men, cleverly using their knowledge of camp trails to avoid capture.
• Notable Moment:

  “Where’d they go? I saw them come down here.” — Overheard from one of the pursuers ([10:18])

• Themes: Stranger danger, rural vulnerability, using local knowledge for survival.

3. Four Faceless Figures ([15:15] – [19:12])

• Summary: A teenage boy walking home late at night is confronted by a hooded figure who apparently splits into four identical, faceless individuals who mirror his movements. Upon fleeing home, his mother reveals she’d been visited by an angel in a dream, intervening as a group of chanting teens tried to harm her son via ritual.
• Notable Quote:

  “The angel led my spirit into a room where...a bunch of teenagers...were chanting around a table with a picture of you.”
  ([18:16], Narrator's Mother)

• Themes: Paranormal protection, family intuition, ritualistic evil, dream-reality overlap.

4. The Hooded Follower ([19:12] – [24:46])

• Summary: After a night out, a young man is tailed by a suspicious hooded figure. The next morning, he finds the motion sensor light on his house had been deliberately disabled, indicating premeditated, possibly criminal intentions.
• Notable Reflection:

  “I felt a severe pain in my chest when I realized that the man had more sinister intentions planned for me.” ([23:53], Narrator)

• Themes: Unseen malevolence, urban unease, paranoia validated.

5. Park Encounter ([26:20] – [32:10])

• Summary: A dog walker, accompanied by his large but timid boxer, is approached in a secluded park after dark by a disheveled stranger who insistently tries to pet the dog, then pursues the narrator when rebuffed.
• Notable Quote:

  “I'll never forget the look in his eyes. I have never had anyone look at me like that. A look of killer intent. All for what? Just because he couldn't pet my dog?” ([31:26], Narrator)

• Themes: Dangers of solitude, intuition (including animal instincts), escalation of unwanted encounters.

6. Friendship Gone Wrong ([32:10] – [40:51])

• Summary: The narrator describes befriending a couple via Facebook, which soon spirals into toxic obsession, possessive behavior, and escalating threats when boundaries are set. After blocking them, the narrator remains fearful due to knowledge of the couple’s history of dark web use and hostility.
• Notable Line:

  “He said that Mike was leading him on as a friend...I learned the hard way that when it comes to friends, it's quality, not the quantity of friendships.” ([40:20], Narrator)

• Themes: Social media dangers, boundary enforcement, escalation of possessive relationships.

7. The Man at the Car ([43:17] – [46:15])

• Summary: A paranoid schizophrenic describes his surveillance cameras catching a wild-looking man creeping around his property, attempting to break into his car, and acting irrationally until the police arrive and taze him. The encounter leaves the narrator shaken, and he’s unable to share the footage due to the ongoing investigation.
• Notable Detail:

  “He looked up and then begins to stare into the camera with his wild looking face...he's still trying to get into my vehicle, then stops and just stares into my car with no regard to anything else.” ([44:00], Narrator)

• Themes: Home invasion, surveillance, vulnerability, mental illness and reality.

8. Blood Pumpkin (Feature Story) ([46:15] – [79:16])

• Summary: A folk horror narrative in which a competitive pumpkin grower accepts a package of mysterious “blood pumpkin” seeds from a local vendor. Initially skeptical, he discovers the pumpkin thrives when fed his blood, and later—much more. When his main rival attempts to sabotage the pumpkins, violence erupts. The pumpkin’s appetite grows ever more sinister, demanding greater sacrifices: first friends, then strangers, ultimately even family. The monstrous gourd swells to legendary (and freakish) proportions, becoming a local and then statewide tourist attraction as the deaths continue. The story concludes with the narrator, old and guilt-ridden, warning future generations about the pumpkin’s insatiable need for sacrifice.
• Notable Quotes & Moments:
  • “The blood pumpkin had grown. ...now it was almost as big as Samson, the smallest of my three entries. I had done nothing different. Nothing besides giving it my blood.” ([52:10], Narrator)
  • “He grinned. ‘Well, I'd heard that I might have a spot to worry about this year. Seems like you've got a real contender of a pumpkin on your hands. Might I get a look?’” ([56:00], David Decker)
  • “Its vines twined around him, long stalks wrapping around him like the coils of some monstrous snake. And all at once the earth began to writhe and churn as its roots came up to join its vines.” ([61:40], Narrator describes Decker’s fate)
  • “People will ask me why I didn't destroy it, didn't burn it to the ground. And to them I would ask how stupid they think I am. ...the bastard wouldn't burn. Any damage I did to it just healed. And all the while it laughed at me.” ([76:44])
• Themes: Rural horror, sacrifice, guilt, supernatural parasitism, folk bargains gone wrong, the cost of ambition.

Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “I kept walking into things and getting hurt. But finally my hand turned a doorknob that was heavier than the rest and I knew I had finally found the door to go outside.” ([04:53], Lost in the Berkshire Mountains)
• “I have seen my share of creepy stuff before that day, but nothing like that. Every instinct in my body was shouting for me to flee, and I decided at that moment that I wasn't as tough as I thought.” ([17:10], Four Faceless Figures)
• “No one reasonable would go that far just to pet a dog that clearly wanted nothing to do with him.” ([31:18], Park Encounter)
• “...let this cycle end with me. God help me. And let that damned thing wither in the field.” ([79:08], Blood Pumpkin, closing)

Timestamps for Notable Segments

• Berkshires Retreat Story: [01:32] – [07:40]
• Camp Stalkers: [07:40] – [13:46]
• Faceless Figures: [15:15] – [19:12]
• Hooded Follower: [19:12] – [24:46]
• Dog Walker in Park: [26:20] – [32:10]
• Toxic Friendship: [32:10] – [40:51]
• Security Cam Intruder: [43:17] – [46:15]
• Blood Pumpkin Main Story: [46:15] – [79:16]

Tone and Atmosphere

• Calm, steady, and deeply immersive narration accentuates the unsettling nature of each tale.
• The rain soundscape subtly intensifies the listener’s sense of isolation and anxiety.
• The host’s delivery maintains a lulling, almost therapeutic quality—even as the content becomes increasingly disturbing.

Conclusion

Episode 240 of Scary Stories and Rain weaves a series of true-life uncanny experiences with a standout feature in “Blood Pumpkin”—a chilling folk horror narrative. Across every story, familiar anxieties are rendered deeply disturbing through both narration and ambience. The episode closes as a meditation on the price of unchecked ambition and the cost of ignoring the dark undercurrents beneath everyday life.

Listening recommendation:
This episode is especially suited for late-night listening, ideally in the dark and with headphones, for maximum immersion in both terror and tranquility.