Scary Stories and Rain

Episode 287: Scary Stories For A Rainy Night – The Basement

Host: Being Scared (Dane)
Date: November 12, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode features three chilling, true horror stories, delivered with Dane's trademark calm narration and the ever-present sound of steady rainfall. The tone is intimate, reflective, and quietly unnerving, ideal for listeners seeking unsettling tales to keep them company through dark, sleepless nights. The first and largest story is a haunting recollection from the narrator’s high school years about the mysterious disappearance of a troubled student and a cryptic “pizza lady.” The second story spins an urban exploration gone terribly wrong in a forgotten German bunker. The third is a subtle and increasingly disturbing account of being stalked by a seemingly normal suburban woman. Each story explores the uncanny that can lurk beneath the banal surface of everyday life.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Disappearance of Terrence Cook

[00:01 – 46:10]

Background: High School Setting

• Set in a mostly uneventful, small town in 2002.
• Terrence Cook: Notorious “latchkey kid” with a rough home life, poor, neglected, and the source of most trouble at school.
• Other notable characters: troublemaking friends Ethan and Otho; the mysterious, silent “pizza lady.”

The “Pizza Lady” Phenomenon

• Arrives unexpectedly at a local creek, selling pizza slices to teens for $1.
• Becomes a daily ritual for dozens of students, with the pizza lady remaining aloof, unemotional, and largely silent.
• Terrence makes himself her helper, securing extra slices and authority over the crowd.

Notable Moments & Quotes

• On Terrence’s behavior:
  “He was a real meet me at the flagpole in the parking lot kind of guy.” – Dane, [02:12]
• Describing the pizza lady:
  “She seemed to lack the ability to be nice or mean … she just kind of stood there smoking, staring off into space.” – Dane, [17:44]
• Pizza Lady’s confrontation:
  The only time she displayed action, she quietly tells Terrence, “I don’t like what you’re doing … You keep doing that, and you’re going to get—” [18:50] (interrupted, sentence never finished)

Terrence’s Last Day at the Creek

• After escalating bad behavior and growing tension, the creek scene dwindles.
• On his last seen day, Terrence appears subdued, ashamed, and fearful near the pizza lady. He is never seen again.
• Notable moment:
  “I distinctly saw Terrance staring up at me with a look of loneliness and shame … He seemed almost as if he desperately wanted to come with us. He did not want to be alone with this woman...” – Dane, [22:55]

Aftermath: Investigation and Unanswered Questions

• Terrence’s absence doesn’t alarm the school at first. Parents are indifferent and abusive.
• Police investigation stalls quickly; no one really noticed details about the pizza lady—her appearance and car elude memory.
• On collective guilt:
  “I was amazed at myself by how little of her features I never even took into account… she was about as nondescript as you could get.” – Dane, [29:40]
• Multiple area women are questioned but all have alibis; the trail goes cold.
• Community loses focus as other crimes arise.
• Years later, the host notes: as far as anyone knows, Terrence and the pizza lady both simply vanished. The case remains open and unresolved.

Reflections & Potential Lesson

• Host's reflection:
  “I don’t know if there’s a lesson to this or anything to learn from it. Perhaps never talk to strangers … Even if they are young and there’s a person who’s an adult, you do not have to trust them…” – Dane, [38:55]

2. Urbex Gone Wrong: The Bunker in Germany

[46:11 – 61:23]

Setup: Urban Exploration in East Germany

• Young urbex enthusiast explores an abandoned WWII-era bunker in remote woods, well prepared with gear.
• Finds ominous signs of both history and disturbing present activity—human hair in a pillow, modern food wrappers, signs of recent squatting.

Discovery and Terror

• Stumbles upon three decomposing bodies: an elderly man, a woman, and a young boy—clearly murdered, in appalling condition.
• Trapped by panic, the narrator photographs the scene but is forced to hide when an angry, knife-wielding man approaches.
• Escape becomes a desperate footrace through the forest; comes face to face with the killer at his car but narrowly escapes unharmed.

Ongoing Trauma and Aftermath

• The police are unresponsive, leaving the narrator to deal with long-term trauma and a lingering sense of danger.
• Memorable quote:
  “I have no idea if they actually did [anything]. Since then, I have given up Urbex and for a long time I couldn’t even go out alone. … the sound of this man’s voice, they haunt my dreams.” – Anonymous, [60:10]

3. Suburban Stalker

[61:24 – End]

An Ordinary Night Turns Unsettling

• Narrator describes working late at home, only to spot a woman standing outside the window simply watching him.
• At first, rationalizes her presence—possibly a neighbor or someone with a business interest—but her behavior and the late hour unsettle him.
• She returns several times, first in silence, then later in bizarre, child-like crouching positions and with odd, delusional statements.

Escalation and Bizarre Interaction

• Encounter intensifies: the woman blocks the narrator’s path, fixates on his dog, and delivers disturbing, romanticized non sequiturs.
• Notable interaction:
  She says, “I thought my love was only for you, but I see it’s because of your puppy too. Love is something you just know. You know. You just know. When it’s real, it’s meant to be. When it’s meant, meant to be. And I can tell. I can tell.” – Stranger woman, [67:00]

Paranoia and Ongoing Fear

• The narrator is left deeply disturbed, wary of further escalation, but feels powerless since the woman’s behavior hasn’t crossed the line into actionable crime.
• Conclusion:
  “If anything else happens, I’m really hoping she sets her sights on someone else soon and just goes away.” – Anonymous, [68:50]

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• “He was a real meet me at the flagpole in the parking lot kind of guy.” — Dane, [02:12]
• “She seemed to lack the ability to be nice or mean ... she just kind of stood there smoking, staring off into space.” — Dane, [17:44]
• Pizza Lady to Terrence: “I don’t like what you’re doing ... You keep doing that, and you’re going to get—” [18:50]
• “I distinctly saw Terrance staring up at me with a look of loneliness and shame.” — Dane, [22:55]
• “I was amazed at myself by how little of her features I never even took into account.” — Dane, [29:40]
• “I have no idea if they actually did [anything] ... the sound of this man’s voice, they haunt my dreams.” — Anonymous, [60:10]
• “I thought my love was only for you, but I see it’s because of your puppy too. Love is something you just know. You know. You just know. When it’s real, it’s meant to be. When it’s meant, meant to be. And I can tell. I can tell.” — Stalker woman, [67:00]

Important Segment Timestamps

• [00:01] – Opening, introduction to Terrence Cook
• [11:20] – Arrival of the pizza lady
• [18:50] – Pizza lady’s only significant interaction with Terrence
• [22:45] – Terrence’s last night at the creek
• [29:30] – School investigation, collective guilt and frustration
• [38:55] – Host’s reflection on lessons and trust
• [46:11] – Start of the German bunker/urbex horror story
• [58:00] – Encounter with the killer & escape recounting trauma
• [61:24] – Start suburban stalker story
• [67:00] – Creepy proclamation from the stalker
• [68:50] – Final reflection on the unresolved dread

Tone & Storytelling Style

• Calm, emotionally detached delivery: Enhances the ambience of dread; stories shared almost confessional in nature, without melodrama.
• Reflective, matter-of-fact, occasionally darkly humorous: The host recognizes the oddities and small ironies of his youth and others’ characters.
• Lingering ambiguity: None of the stories resolve neatly, leaving the listener with questions and a sense of unease that fits the podcast’s style and purpose.

Listener Takeaway

This episode stands out for its layered, slow-burn approach to real-life horror: misremembered faces, unassuming strangers, and the ordinary transformed into the nightmarish. At its heart are the chilling reminders that evil can wear a blank face, that sometimes people simply disappear, and that the scariest stories often never end with a satisfying explanation.