Scary Stories For A Rainy Night - Ep. 256 - The Black Water

Podcast: Scary Stories and Rain
Host: Being Scared
Date: October 12, 2025

Episode Overview

In this atmospheric episode, host Being Scared shares a series of unsettling true stories, weaving together personal experiences, chilling childhood encounters, and a haunting true crime tale—all narrated against the backdrop of soothing rain. The episode’s theme centers on liminal spaces, unseen presences, and the real-life and supernatural dangers that can lurk just out of sight, culminating in the detailed account of the notorious Appalachian Trail killer, Randall Lee Smith. Each story underscores how terror can strike in the most ordinary places—public parks, childhood homes, daycare centers, and even the wilderness.

Key Discussion Points & Stories

1. Liminal Spaces and a Nighttime Park Encounter

[02:04 – 07:30]

• Host’s Background: The narrator is an aspiring actor and filmmaker, inspired by liminal spaces—transitional, often empty or abandoned areas that evoke unease.
• The Experience: Seeking inspiration for a film, the narrator visits a deserted park at 11 pm. While exploring, he becomes acutely aware of tension in the atmosphere—something common for such places, but this time, fear intensifies beyond normal.
• The Encounter:
  • Feels watched; hears mysterious noises.
  • Spots moving lights in the field, as if held by someone with shaky hands.
  • Fears for his safety and tries to stealthily escape.
  • As he moves, a light is suddenly flashed on him; the figures give chase, remaining eerily silent.
• Escape:
  • Reaches his car, locks doors, drives away; strangely, the lights stop pursuing as soon as his engine starts.
  • No explanation or news surfaces regarding the event.
• Quote:

  "Even though I was there hoping to get inspiration for a horror film, I never expected to have an experience like that… The only thing I know is that what happened back there will be an experience I will never forget.”
  – Host [07:25]

2. Childhood Haunting: The Woman in Black

[07:31 – 12:00]

• Setting: Nostalgic recollection of growing up in a Victorian house in a historic English town.
• Unexplained Memories:
  • The third floor held peculiar, forbidden rooms; one locked with a padlock—containing a servant’s bell.
  • A family conversation reveals a disturbing childhood incident: the host’s grandmother recalls witnessing him, as a child, talking to someone unseen in the garden.
  • Grandma’s memory:

    “Can you not see her, Grandma? It’s the woman in black who lives in the bottom of the garden.”
    – Host quoting childhood self [11:30]

• Nightmare Return:
  • Years later, the host suffers a vivid nightmare featuring the same woman:

    “She whispered in my ears, ‘Remember me? I’m the woman in black from the bottom of the garden.’”
    – Host [11:57]

• Theme: The way childhood encounters, possibly imaginary or supernatural, can haunt us into adulthood.

3. The Disappearing Friend at Daycare

[13:45 – 22:50]

• Childhood Story:
  • At six years old, the narrator describes going to a daycare near a cemetery.
  • Meets a strange new boy, “William,” who displays odd, lifeless behavior during a game of hide and seek in the adjacent graveyard.
  • William abruptly leaves, raising suspicion. After searching, the narrator and friends can’t find him and a supervisor says she’s never seen that boy before.
• Paranormal Implication:
  • After relaying the events, the daycare confirms there was never a William enrolled.
  • The haunting element: a sense that William was not a typical child—maybe not alive.
• Quote:

  “They told her there was no mistake and that if some kid found his way into the daycare center without their approval to contact them again and they will call the police. I never saw William again.”
  – Host [20:00]

4. Childhood Ghost Encounters: Bella’s Story

[22:51 – 27:30]

• Skeptic Parent: Initially dismissive of ghosts; daughter Bella begins seeing spirits at 18 months old.
• Series of Incidents:
  • Bella points out a ghost in the room during storytime; calms after mother prays.
  • During nap, insists a little boy with black hair is trying to take her cup and later claims he hit her, then cries in a closet.
  • Repeated sightings of the boy, including mention of him living in the attic and watching her at night.
  • Grandmother corroborates odd house sounds and door movements.
• Escalation:
  • Grandma and Bella flee the house after Bella, terrified, claims a “lady with crazy eyes, crazy hair and crazy fingers” repeatedly bit her leg.
  • Family asks a minister to bless the home.
• Quote:

  “She told her there was a lady with crazy eyes, crazy hair and crazy fingers that bit her on the leg over and over.”
  – Host narrating, about Bella [27:10]

5. Sleep Paralysis or Something Worse

[27:31 – 30:00]

• Personal Experience:
  • The narrator describes a potential episode of sleep paralysis, or a nightmare that felt overwhelmingly real.
  • Sees, via a mirror, a drenched, gray-skinned, inhumanly tall and twisted woman enter the bedroom and drop to the floor with a grotesque crack.
  • Frozen in fear, narrator hears the figure crawl rapidly toward the bed—only able to hear its heavy breathing.
  • The entity whispers:

    “Open your eyes.”
    – Whispered voice in the nightmare [29:35]

  • Narrator jolts awake, brother comes in, but the fear lingers.
• Effect: Sleep is impossible afterward, left shaken and unable to rationalize the experience.

6. Feature Story: The Real Monster – Randall Lee Smith, The Appalachian Trail Killer

[30:01 – End (~44:00)]

• True Crime Deep Dive:
  • The story traces the origins and crimes of Randall Lee Smith, a real-life murderer who haunted the Appalachian Trail.
• Key Events:
  • Early Years:
    • Smith was a loner dubbed “Lying Randall” in Pearisburg, VA, prone to outlandish stories and later reclusive behavior.
    • Would wander the Trail alone, a pattern since childhood.
  • The 1981 Murders:
    • Two hikers (Susan Ramsay and Robert Mountford) disappeared; their bodies found near the Wapiti Shelter, having been shot and stabbed.
    • Clues led police to Randall Smith (his fingerprints found, blood-stained evidence in his home).
    • Smith fled but was captured in Myrtle Beach after feigning amnesia.
    • Avoided the death penalty via plea bargain, serving only 15 years.
  • Release and Second Attack:
    • Smith returns to Pearisburg, lives in isolation. In 2008, he attacks two fishermen (Scott Johnston and Shawn Farmer), shooting them multiple times after they share dinner with him.
    • Both victims miraculously survive and flee to safety.
    • Smith is apprehended after crashing a stolen truck and dies in jail shortly after from natural causes.
• Analysis & Takeaway:
  • The episode closes with reflection on the existential horror of random, motiveless violence, noting that “real monsters walk among us, looking and sounding just like our friends, neighbors and family.”
• Quote:

  “Perhaps the most terrifying thing about Randall Lee Smith is that it seems there were absolutely no motives to his murders… Real monsters walk among us.”
  – Host [43:30]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Inspiration Turning Real:

  “While I was out, I did get the inspiration I needed, but I couldn’t think straight. I didn’t care about the film at that point and was glad that I managed to get out alive.”
  – Liminal spaces story [06:50]

• On Supernatural Childhood:

  “Can you not see her, Grandma? It’s the woman in black who lives in the bottom of the garden.”
  – Childhood story [11:30]

• On Real-Life Horror:

  “There was no rhyme or reason to his bloodlust, and not even those who were kind and generous to him were safe.”
  – Randall Lee Smith story [43:10]

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [02:04] Liminal spaces story – A filmmaker’s chilling park encounter
• [07:31] Childhood haunting and the woman in black (“bottom of the garden”)
• [13:45] The vanishing boy – Ghost child at daycare
• [22:51] Bella’s ghost encounters – toddler sees spirits, dangerous escalation
• [27:31] Sleep paralysis terror – the drenched woman whispers “open your eyes”
• [30:01] The true story of Randall Lee Smith, Appalachian Trail serial killer
• [43:30] Closing reflection on the nature of evil and “real monsters among us”

Episode Tone & Atmosphere

• Language: Calm, personal, gently suspenseful narration.
• Ambience: Consistent atmospheric rain throughout, lending a quiet eeriness perfect for late-night listening.
• Tone: Reflective, empathetic, and at times philosophical, especially when shifting from supernatural stories to real-world horror.

Recap

This episode masterfully blends personal, supernatural, and true crime horror. It explores how the most ordinary-seeming places hold the greatest potential for fear, and how sometimes, the real terror is not what’s imagined in the darkness, but what—and who—can be lurking quietly in the real world.