Scary Stories and Rain – Ep. 290 – New York Minute

Hosted by: Dane ("Being Scared")
Release Date: November 17, 2025
Theme:
Chilling, real-life scary stories recounted with soft rain sounds, perfect for late nights or anxious minds. Episode 290 pulls listeners into a series of deeply unsettling tales: haunted houses, near-supernatural woodland encounters, inexplicable disappearances, and brushes with malevolent strangers. The tone is confiding and atmospheric, blending nostalgia with dread.

Main Stories and Key Discussion Points

1. The Uninvited Roommate in a Foreclosed House

[02:53 – 12:06]

Overview:

A narrator, firmly skeptical about ghosts but open to the idea of "good and evil spirits," recalls moving into a large, mostly-abandoned house with little furniture and sparse company. Most nights were spent alone, which gradually revealed the house’s disturbing secrets.

Key Points:

• Living Situation:

  • Four-bedroom house, cheap rent, semi-legal occupancy; roommates rarely present.
  • Narrator: “I was just starting to drift off to sleep and could hear someone walking around downstairs.” [05:24]

• The Encounter:

  • Sound of someone sprinting up the stairs at night.
  • The storyteller, armed with an unloaded pump-action weapon, attempts to catch the ‘intruder’ in the act but finds the house empty (“All the doors were locked, no cars outside. I was totally alone with no explanation for what I had heard.” [06:19]).

• Shared Experiences:

  • Later, both remaining roommates admit to similar chilling episodes.
  • Brad: “I heard someone walk up the stairs … then his door slowly swung open and then back shut. … he feels his bed do that lean that beds do when someone sits on it. … when he slapped, there was nothing there.” [07:06–08:00]

• Final Visit:

  • After moving out, the narrator returns with a friend. Friend waits outside, but “Right after you went in, those curtains moved to the side … I never told her about the stories.” [09:10]
  • Rationalizes it as wind, but there’s no power or moving air in the house.

Notable Quote:

“I’m glad I didn’t live there longer than I did because obviously we had a roommate of some kind that we were completely unaware of.” [11:31]

2. The Disappearance of Khalid

[13:37 – 23:45]

Overview:

A childhood recollection of exploring the woods with best friend Khalid turns into abject terror and lifelong trauma when a stranger armed with a butcher’s knife appears under their favorite tree.

Key Points:

• Setting:

  • Woods, summer heat, adolescent freedom and camaraderie (carving “Goku” into a tree, swapping jokes).

• The Stranger:

  • “Suddenly, a man spoke from right below us. ‘Hi.’” [15:11]
  • Disheveled, menacing, tries to coax them down with promises to “show you this cool thing I just got,” brandishes a large knife (“It’s so sharp now.” [16:46]).

• Khalid’s Courage:

  • Khalid shields the narrator (“He’s not getting down. We just got here and we’re just hanging out. We’re not being bad.” [17:45])
  • Ultimately, Khalid agrees to come down, clearly out of protective instinct (“I’ll come down and see it. But just for a second and then we have to go.” [19:07])

• Aftermath:

  • Khalid and the stranger disappear. The narrator runs home to alert adults, triggers a search—Khalid is never found (“They never found Khalid. They didn’t find any trace of him at all.” [22:08])
  • The trauma colors the narrator’s adulthood: “Not knowing has made my life black and gray, sadness and without faith in goodness… The only thing that helps is telling myself I was wrong. The strong and protective big brother never left him that day.” [22:56]

Memorable Moment:

“Khalid looked up at me one more time with pure fear on his face. That strong, protective big brother was gone.” [20:44]

3. Law Enforcement and Maintenance Horror Shorts

[24:56 – 35:01]

a) Deputy’s Night Watch:

• Deputy left to guard a home where a suicide occurred.
• Spooky rustling noises inside; a terrifying face at the window—turns out to be the victim’s cat (“For a quiet moment, man and cat eyed each other before both turning away, feeling stupid I guess.” [26:52])

b) Motel Maintenance Nightmare:

• Maintenance man discovers decomposing guest; graphic description of decomposition, clean-up (“The poor maintenance guy got stuck disposing of the mattress soaked with the man’s fluids.” [28:55])
• One day later, staff rents the same room to a young woman.

4. Parental Hypervigilance Haunting

[35:01 – 37:34]

Overview:

A new father describes his extreme alertness, especially after seeing, for a split second, a large man standing in his living room between himself and his infant son—only to discover no one is there.

Key Insights:

• “I saw the figure of a large man standing alone in my living room between the doorway and my son, seemingly staring down at him.” [35:35]
• Frantic, thorough search finds nothing; the sense of dread lingers.
• “The more I sit and dwell on it, the more and more I’m convinced that there may have been something more at work here that was not meant to be seen.” [37:29]

5. Mourning and Cemetery Vision

[38:09 – 42:19]

Overview:

Peter, a 90s stoner and guitarist, recalls the suicide of his bandmate’s younger brother Gary, and a twilight encounter with Gary’s spirit while high in the cemetery.

Key Points:

• Gary, troubled and “not deeply engaged by others,” gave Peter a prized guitar and Black Sabbath shirt with a noose motif.
• After Gary’s suicide, Peter sees Gary sitting against the cemetery wall: “He was just staring off into the cemetery. I was completely freaked out and did a double take. He was still there.” [41:07]
• An affecting example of grief, guilt, and paranormal experience: “Maybe I was the cool older dude who bonded with him when others weren’t listening.” [41:43]

6. Forest Guardian or Wendigo?

[42:32 – 51:29]

Overview:

Growing up on the edge of a tiny Wisconsin town, the narrator and sisters played with a mysterious, seven-foot-tall woodland “friend” wearing a deer skull—a benign presence—until a real threat arrived.

Key Points:

• Protective “creature” plays with children, coos, builds forts; youngest sister calls it “Stinky.”
• Grandmother’s alarm when she sees a man in the grass leads to increased vigilance.
• Narrator sneaks out at night, is attacked by a man, blacks out, but is inexplicably saved (“I could see a blurred black mass with my flashlight just barely lighting the edges of it.” [47:31])
• Police find the would-be attacker brutally killed and dismembered in the woods. Locals blame a bear, but narrator believes the forest creature intervened.
• Lingering trauma: “This whole experience made me into the homebody I still am today … I can’t handle being in the dark…”

Notable Quote:

“I have become obsessed with the Wendigo due to it having similar features of the creature that I remember.” [50:38]

Notable Quotes

• On Protection:
  “He was my brother and he protected me. I think he knew what would happen, but he made sure it wasn’t going to happen to me.” [22:56]
• On Grief:
  “I would rather know that he was killed than not know. Not knowing has made my life black and gray, sadness and without faith in goodness.” [22:38]
• On Unexplained Presences:
  “All I told her was, yeah, must have been the wind. But inside I knew there was no power to the house.” [10:12]
• On Paranormal Vision:
  “I saw the figure of a large man standing alone in my living room between the doorway and my son … My heart began to flutter to stomp as my vision began to narrow, my mind racing in response to this.” [35:35]

Episode Flow and Tone

• Atmospheric and Unsettling: Even mundane spaces like a suburban house or childhood woods are re-enchanted with terror.
• Confessional and Introspective: Many stories are recounted as memories; the narrators express vulnerability, regret, and deep emotional impact.
• Calm, Somber Delivery offset by the soothing rain, making the stories feel both comforting and chilling.

Timestamps for Segmenting

• Story 1: Haunted House: 02:53 – 12:06
• Story 2: Khalid’s Disappearance: 13:37 – 23:45
• Deputy/Cat Story: 24:56 – 27:11
• Motel Maintenance Horror: 27:11 – 35:01
• Parental Vigilance Haunting: 35:01 – 37:34
• Cemetery Vision: 38:09 – 42:19
• Wendigo/Forest "Friend": 42:32 – 51:29

Memorable Moments

• Khalid’s Final Sacrifice – A rare portrayal of childhood heroism and loss.
• The Bizarre Comfort of a Monster – A “Wendigo” as protector, subverting horror’s usual tropes.
• The Cat at the Crime Scene – A perfect release of tension, reminding listeners that not all fearsome moments are supernatural.
• Survivor’s Guilt in the Cemetery – “I still have that T-shirt Gary gave me … with the noose in the background.” [42:03]

For New Listeners

This episode is an evocative example of what makes Scary Stories and Rain so beloved—true stories told with eerily calm narration, set against the endlessly comforting tap of rain. It lulls with nostalgia and unnerves with the unknown; it’s for those who crave quiet horror, unresolved mystery, and human darkness softened only by reflection and memory.