Scary Stories For A Rainy Night - Ep. 326 - Winter's End

Summary

Scary Stories and Rain – Ep. 326: Winter’s End

Podcast Host: Being Scared
Release Date: March 2, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode, "Winter's End," features the signature blend of calm narration, true unsettling experiences, and ambient rain sounds that fans know and love. The main theme centers on true accounts of terror—ranging from brushes with predatory strangers, eerie supernatural encounters, sleep paralysis, and unsettling family members—shared from multiple narrators’ perspectives. These stories are designed for listeners craving chills, especially during sleepless or stormy nights.

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Key Stories & Discussion Points

1. Halloween Gone Wrong: The Predatory “Old Man” (02:01-17:50)

• Narrator: Danny, Liverpool, UK
• Danny recalls a Halloween night from 2003, when teen trick-or-treating led to a dangerous and chilling encounter in a posh riverside neighborhood.
• The group, lamenting their poor haul, meets a friendly elderly man eager to give away his untouched Halloween candy.
• The old man invites them inside to access candy stored out of his reach, requiring their help.
• Two friends, Sam and Corky, enter the house. After a tense wait outside, chaos ensues:
  • Sam and Corky do not immediately return, prompting worry.
  • Suddenly, Sam frantically escapes over the fence, warning the others to run; Corky is seen escaping out of a second-floor window after a blood-curdling scream.
  • Corky reveals the “elderly” man, once inside, quickly became aggressive—brandishing a knife and a taser, and even stripped naked except for shoes and socks.
  • Corky was stabbed in the hand during his escape.
• The group debates calling the police but fears no one would believe teens “too old for trick-or-treating” (and drinking) over a defenseless-seeming old man. The man disappears, leaving the group shaken and without closure.
• Notable Quote:
  • “He pulled a knife on us, got us into the back pantry thing…” – Corky, (13:57)
  • “He was completely naked with only his shoes and socks on.” – Podcast Host, (14:49)
• Themes: Danger hidden behind friendly faces, adolescent bravado, and the chilling consequences of naïveté.

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2. The Unforgettable Friend: A Childhood Encounter with the Unknown (17:55-26:56)

• Narrator: Danny, reflecting on childhood in Baguio City, Philippines
• As a lonely child, Danny befriends a mysterious girl who never reveals her name, always wears the same outfit, and refuses to leave the boundary of a patch of bushes.
• The girl persistently invites Danny to her "house" behind a boulder, a place he knows to be empty.
• Danny’s brothers don’t acknowledge the girl's presence, and her odd behavior (including her inability to leave the brush) lends a surreal and ghostly air to the encounter.
• The friendship ends abruptly when Danny’s family moves away, but he’s left unsettled, unable to recall her face despite vivid memories of their interactions.
• Notable Quotes:
  • “I just realized that she always seemed to wear the same clothes. A dirty white dress, almost yellowish... But the face. I cannot remember her face.” — Danny, (25:59-26:09)
  • “Is she still alive? Or was she really alive in the first place?” — Danny, (26:20)
• Themes: Lost friendships, possible ghost encounters, and lingering questions from childhood.

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3. The Haunted Valley: A Family’s Creepy Property (26:56-31:55)

• Narrator: Unnamed, from “the Valley” near Lake Michigan
• After moving into a legendary family property, the narrator and their brother separately experience an identical, chilling episode: hearing sounds and seeing lights in the garage that beckon them outside, but finding the building eerily empty.
• The brother’s version introduces an additional layer: seeing a dark silhouette on the garage roof—the sense of being watched is confirmed and magnified.
• Notable Quotes:
  • “To his absolute terror, he saw a very distinct form on the roof. What appeared to be the silhouette of a man stood stock still…” — Podcast Host, (29:20)
• Themes: Haunted places, shared family trauma, and the fear of the unknown lurking at home.

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4. Sleep Paralysis and the Intruder (31:55-33:59)

• Narrator: Danny (presumed)
• A vivid account of sleep paralysis in which real footsteps and a malevolent presence blur the line between nightmare and reality.
• The sense of dread stays long after waking, highlighting the psychological toll of ambiguous, unexplained experiences.
• Notable Quotes:
  • “His voice is almost in my ear, even though his footsteps are on the other side of the wall in the hall.” — Danny, (33:16)
  • “But this one was too real. All the signs of an episode were there, but this was way too real.” — Danny, (33:45)
• Themes: Night terrors, blurred lines between physical and supernatural threats.

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5. Psychological Abuse: The Monster-in-Law (33:58-51:01)

• Narrator: Unnamed woman
• The story pivots from physical hauntings to psychological horror: a new wife recounts the insidious manipulation and escalating torment dealt by her mother-in-law, “Mrs. Psycho.”
• Early affection devolves as Mrs. Psycho reveals obsessively controlling and emotionally abusive patterns—culminating in overt threats and disturbing, possessive behavior toward the narrator’s newborn daughter.
• Harassment grows to include public smears and neighborhood intimidation; only physical and digital distance brings eventual respite.
• Notable Quotes:
  • “You have to share her, you know.” — Mrs. Psycho, (44:04)
  • “They even restricted me in bizarre ways, telling me that I was not allowed to refer to our daughter as my baby.” — Narrator, (46:26)
  • “I have since armed myself with knowledge so that I will be less naive about creepy behavior in the future.” — Narrator, (51:00)
• Themes: Psychological manipulation, the horrors of gaslighting, and the invisible wounds of non-physical abuse.

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:01] Story 1: Halloween Trick-or-Treat Gone Wrong — Begins
• [09:48] Suspense heightens, Sam and Corky haven’t returned
• [11:55] Corky’s dramatic window escape
• [13:27] The stabbing revealed, aftermath on the street
• [17:55] Story 2: The Girl in the Bushes — Begins
• [21:04] The girl’s invitation to her “house”
• [25:23] Final, enigmatic gesture from the girl
• [26:56] Story 3: The Haunted Valley — Begins
• [29:20] The brother sees the silhouette on the roof
• [31:55] Story 4: Sleep Paralysis Intruder — Begins
• [33:58] Story 5: The Abusive Mother-in-Law “Mrs. Psycho” — Begins
• [44:04] Mrs. Psycho’s chilling demand regarding the baby
• [47:09] Escalation and stalking, the couple blocks contact
• [51:03] Respite and reflection

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• “Closure is overrated. There’s a lot to be said for the power of just forgetting, you know?” – Danny, (17:42)
• “I cannot remember her face at all… I can still remember all the kids’ faces except for hers.” – Danny, (25:41)
• “His voice is almost in my ear, even though his footsteps are on the other side of the wall in the hall.” – Danny, (33:16)
• “You have to share her, you know.” – Mrs. Psycho, (44:04)

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Episode Tone & Style

The tone throughout is introspective, quietly unnerving, and conversational. Personal anecdotes are told with a subtly self-aware humor—especially in the Halloween story—balanced with moments of raw fear, vulnerability, and later, deep reflection. The rain ambiance is ever-present, enhancing the moody, subdued delivery.

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Takeaways for Listeners

• Everyday life can hold as much horror as any urban legend—whether the threat is physical, supernatural, or psychological.
• Early warning signs—ignored or rationalized—often precede more explicit danger.
• Scary encounters can leave indelible marks, even when resolved. “Moving on” sometimes means learning to live with the questions.
• Psychological horror, especially within families, can be as insidious and traumatizing as physical danger.

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For those unable to listen, this episode captures the breadth of “scary stories”—from near-true crime and ghost lore to the slow-burning terror of interpersonal manipulation—told with authenticity and a storyteller’s heart against a backdrop of serene, storm-soaked ambience.

Transcript

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[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

Hey, welcome back to the podcast. I really hope you enjoy this episode and if you'd like to hear more stories like these with a different background sound, please check the description to check out my other two podcasts. And if you want to get rid of all of the ads, you can subscribe for just $2.99 a month. Last thing, I really appreciate you being here and I'd really love if you would follow the podcast and come back again soon. Thank you so much. I hope you enjoy.

[Danny]

My name is Danny and I live here in Liverpool in the UK. I am 33 this year, so obviously my trick or treating days are well behind me, but the times I got to throw on a scary costume and head out into the night with my best mates are some of the fondest memories I have from my youth. That's even aside from the free suites. And we all know how stuff just tastes better when it's free. But Maybe I am looking back through

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

rose tinted glasses to a degree, because

[Danny]

I do remember one Halloween that was most definitely not all fun and games. In fact, what happened that night was probably one of the most terrifying things that's ever happened to me, even if it did take me a little while to realize the significance of it. So me and my childhood friends are all either 15 or 16 during the Halloween of 2003, right on the verge of being too old to trick or treat anymore. Saying that considering most of our voices had broken at the time, us turning

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

up at people's houses was less cute

[Danny]

kids begging for sweets and more like moody teenagers extorting people out of their Haribo minis under the threat of egging. People were generally pretty sound about it, and only once did we have to actually throw an egg in anger, but there were many, many occasions where a homeowner would take a peek through the living room curtains before just refusing to answer the door. And it's not like we could egg everyone, we only had a pack of six and had to use them sparingly. Fun fact, a lot of places around ours just refused to sell teenage boys eggs during the Halloween season. As one bloke said to me, you don't look like the type to take these home to make a Spanish omelette, do you ladies? Point being, there came a point during the evening when we were pretty dismayed at the pathetically low amount of chocolate we had managed to get our hands on, which is what directly led two of us to make a huge error in judgment. So later on in the evening, maybe about 9ish, we were in this fancier neighborhood near the river, knocking on house after house and generally getting the knock back from the owners until we come to this one house where an older guy actually answers the door with a smile. We give it the old trick or treat greeting, to which he responds by laughing warmly and giving us a little clap, which was unusual but not entirely unwelcome. He starts telling us how not a single set of trick or treaters has knocked at his house all evening, and since he finds Halloween a great deal of fun, it had left him pretty dismayed. We get into a casual conversation with him about our costumes, who we were

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

supposed to be and all that, and

[Danny]

although I don't think he managed to pick up on a single reference, he was very complimentary.

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

He then goes on to tell us

[Danny]

that since it's getting late in the evening and he was unlikely to get anyone else calling at his house, that we were welcome to as much chocolate

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

and sweets as we wanted.

[Danny]

He told us that he had stocked

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

up on like a shed load of stuff thinking that he was going to

[Danny]

get many more visitors than he ended up getting and since he was off to bed soon we could just help ourselves. Otherwise all the chocolate would just end up sitting in his cupboards for a year and he wasn't about to give

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

kids year old sweets come next Halloween. We had basically hit the jackpot thinking

[Danny]

that we could just rinse the old

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

fella of his sweets wheats and make up for the paltry amount that we had collected over what had been an unusually fruitless trick or treating session. Only he said there was one small problem since he was getting on in his years and didn't get out much. His oldest grown up son had come

[Danny]

by to drop off all the sweets

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

along with his usual weekly shopping. Then without having thought it through, his son had put all the sweets in the top cupboard in his back pan pantry, one that was way too high up for him to reach without doing his back in. If a couple of us were willing

[Danny]

to help him reach the cupboards and

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

take out a few tins of soup for him in the process, the sweets were ours. All of them. Now I know what you're thinking. Who is daft enough to just wander into a complete stranger's house in the middle of the night? Apparently we were and I'll explain why. Firstly, we were in the middle of our teens and most of us were big lads, hardly in a position not to be able to defend ourselves. Secondly, this fella seemed pretty old and

[Danny]

infirm, hardly a big threat to us,

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

especially since the two lads who volunteered to go inside to help him outnumbered him two to one. And thirdly, the fact that one of us had managed to pilfer a bit of peach schnapps out of his parents booze stash which was promptly shared as

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[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

As soon as we were able had seriously impaired our judgment. So pretty much as soon as the

[Danny]

old bloke laid out the terms, two

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

of us, Sam and Corky volunteered to go inside and help the fella get

[Danny]

his soup so we could get our sweets.

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

They went inside, the old fella shuts the door behind him after saying something about keeping the cold out, and we wait outside in the street buzzing about having hit the chocolate jackpot. Like I mentioned, we were all pretty tipsy from having shared that bottle of booze, so we're just sitting on the stone wall outside the bloke's house, chatting and waiting. A few minutes goes by. Sam and Porky haven't reappeared yet, but I think we were just in too high spirits to really notice. A few more minutes go by and we start getting a little bit impatient, wondering what is taking so Long.

[Danny]

It had gotten colder and colder as

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

the night went on and by that point it was actually starting to drizzle and none of us fancied getting soaked on the walk back home. So one of us gets their phone out and starts trying to ring Sam and Corky on their mobiles, to which there was no response. We actually start cursing them out now, so speculating that they are stashing some of the sweets away in their costumes or something so they don't have to

[Danny]

share with the rest of us. The lad who had tried to ring

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

them does so again, shaking his head and getting annoyed as the rain started

[Danny]

to get a bit heavier.

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

Then right at that moment we hear a bang of something smashing against the wooden gate at the side of the old fella's house. It was loud enough to make us all jump, so we stand and turn around, see what could have made the noise. That's when I see Sam climbing over the wooden gate at the side of the house, like scrambling over it as fast as he could, like he had seen a ghost or something. We are all like what is going on, mate watcher? And clambering over the wooden fence near the back gate before basically throwing himself over the other side and hitting the concrete driveway with a thud. The pure fear in his eyes when he started running down the driveway at us, shouting for us to run. We all started backing off like getting

[Danny]

ready to leg it.

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

When Sam stops turning back towards the house and saying something like oh, Corky's still in there.

[Danny]

Crap, crap, crap, he's still in there.

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

Everyone starts asking him what just went on for him to come running out like that, but he doesn't respond. He just looks up towards the second floor of the house with a gasp.

[Danny]

I turn to try to see what

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

he's looking at and watch as one of the top windows of the house opens up. It was one of those kinds that opens up by the rotating from the bottom. Like it doesn't open like a door, but like a hatch if that makes any sense. We can't really see what's behind it thanks to the darkness inside the room, but out of nowhere we just see Corki emerging from the window, climbing out backwards while gripping onto the ledge.

[Danny]

He's trying to edge out Tomb Raider style so we can drop feet first

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

into a section of flower beds that were very fortunately placed underneath the window. I say very fortunately because I am not messing around. It must have been a 15 foot drop at least from the second floor window.

[Danny]

At least 15ft.

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

Then as we're watching him do this, there's like a flash of movement in the room above Corky, who then screams

[Danny]

this proper horrible blood curdling scream before

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

crashing into the flower beds beneath him.

[Danny]

He fell so awkwardly too.

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

Like my first thought was that he had to have broken something having fallen that distance in such a way. So I start rushing towards him to help him up and get him moving, but to my surprise he just bounces

[Danny]

back up out of the flower bed

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

and starts legging it down the driveway towards us. That same horrible look of fear on his face that Sam had then, that was that. We just bailed, sprinting as fast as we could down this long dark road that led towards the river, not stopping until we reached the promenade which was lit up in this ominous pumpkin orange

[Danny]

street like glow Pretty opt for Halloween, right?

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

Not that it occurred to me until months afterward. Only when we were certain we were a safe distance from the bloke's house did we stop to catch our breath. But it didn't take long for those of us that had waited outside to demand to know what had happened. Only then did we see the blood pouring out of Corky's hand from a

[Danny]

cut so deep we could actually see

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

this pale bit of tissue in the orange light, which turned out to be one of his actual bones. The old fella had stabbed his hand as he had been hanging from the window frame and that's what caused him to scream and drop. I remember Sam just sitting down on the concrete near the railings, just with his head in his hands. Maybe he was trying to fight back tears, I couldn't quite tell.

[Danny]

But it was Corky that spoke up first.

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

He pulled a knife on us, got us into the back pantry thing and pulled a knife on us, he said, hands and his knees still panting. He had something else too, like his phone or it was a Taser, lad.

[Danny]

He had a Taser.

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

My auntie had one that looked exactly like it. I'd know it anywhere. Sam interrupted. We were all just in shock and listened as they went on to describe how the nice old fellow we thought we were dealing with turned out not to be so nice or so old at all. Corky told us as soon as he had gotten them into the back pantry he had risen up from being all hunched over and started to move a bit more limberly. Which is right when Corky said he

[Danny]

started to get the creeps.

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

Realizing that something wasn't right about the guy, the old bloke pointed at the cupboard where the sweets were, told Sam and Corky to help themselves, then just sort of disappeared after telling them he'd be back in a minute. The cupboard was apparently so high up that Sam had to give Corky a boost up to actually open it. And when they did actually open it, there was nothing inside at all. No soup, no sweets, no nothing. Then the next thing they knew, the guy was blocking the exit to the pantry, holding a knife and what was, according to Sam, definitely a taser, and was ordering each of them to go upstairs. But that's not all. Apparently when the fella turned up again, he was completely naked with only his shoes and socks on. We didn't get all the grim details out of them for a few months, but apparently the guy wasn't suffering from any dysfunction. If you catch my drip. They said they had listened to him

[Danny]

at first, heading towards the staircase before

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

they attempted to escape, with Sam heading out the back doors, into the yard and over the fence. But Corky was sort of trapped on the stairs with the guy blocking his escape. So as I mentioned, he had to run upstairs, find a front facing window and just climb out of it. We considered calling the police right then and there. I mean, he had obviously just stabbed one of my friends in the hand.

[Danny]

But Corky had other ideas.

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

Even with his adrenaline pumping, he explained

[Danny]

pretty coherently that there was no way

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

he could complain to the police.

[Danny]

That he could see the older fella

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

putting on that innocent old man act again and just telling the police that we had forced our way inside and tried to rob him. Then he'd defend himself and that's how Corky ended up with a wound on his hand. I remember the lad who was about to phone the police just stopping dead thinking about it for a second, then putting his phone away.

[Danny]

Five lads, way too old to be trick or treating. Stinking of booze versus the word of

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

one sweet old man who was apparently no threat to anyone at all. It'd be an open and shut case

[Danny]

for the police, or at least that's

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

what he got into our heads. I'm sure there's people who might hear this and disagree, knowing there was some way of us having evidence in our favor or, I don't know, something to prove that we weren't lying. But I suppose we'll never really know since we didn't act on it. To find out, we stayed away from

[Danny]

that neighborhood for years.

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

We eventually managed to get it together to enact some kind of revenge. But when we went back to the place, we found it was some young couple living there. The older fella apparently being long gone, we didn't get any closure at all.

[Danny]

But closure is overrated. There's a lot to be said for

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

the power of just forgetting, you know?

[Danny]

But yeah.

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

Anyway, this has gone on long enough, I reckon.

[Danny]

So I'll wrap it up.

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

The story of the scariest thing to ever happen to me or anyone I know during Halloween. And honestly, it's probably the most disturbing thing to happen to me in my entire life. I am now 36 years old and I live in the Philippines in Baguio City, a city that was built on top of the mountains. I remembered having a friend when I was around eight or nine years old. It was summer and all the kids were on vacation. As the youngest, my brothers and their friends rarely allowed me to join them whenever they were playing. I have my own set of friends around my age, but most of them are girls and I always wanted to be part of the big boy club. One time my brothers went out and I was the only one left at home with my parents. My mom allowed me to go outside and play. Unfortunately, all my playmates were out at the time with their parents, so I decided to play on my own.

[Danny]

Since we live in a city that

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

was built on the mountains, it is common to have bushy tall grass and mountains of dirt in the area.

[Danny]

I decided to play with some dirt

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

and do some digging, but before I do, I have to walk and make my way to the thick bushes to reach that small circular patch of land that is free from any vegetation. As I was doing some digging, this little girl who was also around my age approached me and asked if she could join. I politely accepted as I have no one else to play with. A few hours passed and she hadn't told me her name even though I introduced myself more than once. Whenever I asked her her name, she would always keep quiet and would change the subject. It was getting pretty late and I

[Danny]

had to say goodbye.

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

She asked me to meet her at the same spot the next day.

[Danny]

The following day all the kids in

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

the neighborhood are out to play, including my brothers. I decided to play with my friends and totally forgot that I was supposed to meet my new friend. But as soon as I remembered, I saw her from afar. Half of her body was hidden inside the bushes and is making a gesture that I should come with her. I waved back and made a hand gesture suggesting she should come and join us. Weirdly enough, she would not step out of the bushes and would just stand there waiting for me. I ignored her for a while, thinking that she was probably Shy and would come and join. Eventually, after playing, I decided to join her.

[Danny]

As I was about to approach her,

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

she went ahead but nodded at me, acknowledging that I am coming to join her. Upon arriving at the same circular patch of land surrounding by the bushes and tall grass, she asked me to come

[Danny]

with her to her house. I asked, where do you live?

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

She responded, just behind that big rock, pointing at the big rock that was covered in bushes and tall grass, but there's nothing there. I don't remember seeing any houses beyond that. I responded. And her response was, just come and

[Danny]

I will show you. As soon as I was about to

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

join her, I heard my brother scream my name, asking me to come up for a snack. I grabbed my friend's hands and asked her to join us instead for a snack. And as I was guiding her out of the bushes, she suddenly stopped just

[Danny]

a few steps away, back to the

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

pavement, and told me, I cannot go beyond here. I would just meet you back at the same spot when you're done. And she ran back to the bushes until I could no longer see her. As a kid, it did not occur to me the weirdness and the unusual behavior that she showed me. The next day, I decided that I would spend more time with my new friend. I went out and headed straight to the usual spot. And there she was digging as if she was continuing the hole I had dug a few days ago. I joined her. She held my hands and she asked

[Danny]

me to be closer to her.

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

Suddenly, my brothers and his friends decided to come to the same spot we were playing, not knowing that it was their hideout. Whenever they were trying to sneak for a quick smoke and drink some liquor, surprisingly, they allowed me to be there. So we continued to dig as if nothing happened, when suddenly my brother asked me, why aren't you playing with your friends? They came to the house looking for you. They're in there now waiting for you. It did not occur to me at the time that it was weird. They did not even acknowledge my friend's presence. But I told my brother that I would be there in a few minutes. After smoking, my brother and their friends left the area, so I was left alone with my new friend. Again, she held my hand and asked me to come to her house with her behind the big rock. This time, she was forceful and a

[Danny]

little aggressive, as if she was desperate

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

for me to go with her, like almost crying. I remember her hugging me three times while begging for me to join her. I still remember that moment when I was very uncomfortable with the situation because I know that there was nothing behind that rock. I have been there many times before and it just leads to another section of thick bushes. I insisted on not going and I held her hands and dragged her out of the bushes.

[Danny]

But she shouted stop.

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

I told you I cannot.

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[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

Britain go past this point. And I replied, why? What do you mean? She forcefully took my hands off hers and ran back to the bushes.

[Danny]

I felt really bad, as if I

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

should have joined her. But at the same time I was scared for my own safety. The following day I decided to spend more time again with her. I asked her to at least come with me and sit in between the pavement and the bushes.

[Danny]

She agreed.

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

We sat down. While watching the other kids play, we were approached by my friends. Joanna, one of my closest friends, told me, hey, let's go to Yvonne's house and watch tv. There will be snacks. Come on. But when I was about to introduce my new friend Joanna and Yvonne grabbed me by the hand in a hurry, dragging me away from my new friend. I could only look back at her and could not even say goodbye. A few months had passed. My family decided that we will be moving out and living in a different place. During those months, my friendship remained with that girl. Same spot, same time. The day we were about to leave,

[Danny]

I saw her just peeking from the

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

bushes, from inside the car. I was told not to go anywhere by my parents because everything was ready. I remember not removing my eyes off her until I could no longer see her.

[Danny]

As the car drove away, she did the same.

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

But she made a weird gesture.

[Danny]

Just when we were about to lose sight of each other, she pointed to

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

her head and pointed back at me. And it was the last time that

[Danny]

I ever saw her as a kid.

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

It did not occur to me that my situation was scary.

[Danny]

I remembered her.

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

Our unnatural friendship. The weird part is I cannot remember

[Danny]

her face at all.

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

It is as if it was wiped from my memory. And I am really good with faces. I can still remember all the kids

[Danny]

faces except for hers.

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

Also.

[Danny]

I just realized that she always seemed

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

to wear the same clothes.

[Danny]

A dirty white dress, almost yellowish.

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

Black shoes with white socks.

[Danny]

Hair always tied upwards. But the face.

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

I cannot remember her face. Up until now, I always Wondered what if I had joined her to go to her house? What would have happened?

[Danny]

It bothers me still today. What happened to her? Is she still alive? Or was she really alive in the first place?

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

I know this was not an imaginary friend because of the emotions, the sensation whenever I was with her, it was all real. It was not an imaginary friend because I was never sad when I was a kid. Whatever or whoever she was, I am just hoping that she is doing well.

[Danny]

When I was in middle school, my family moved into my mom's childhood home in order to take care of my grandpa. This property is located in the woods near Lake Michigan and everyone refers to

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

it as the Valley.

[Danny]

I grew up hearing all of my aunts, uncles and cousins scary stories about growing up in the Valley. Once my family moved in, we quickly learned why the Valley truly is the most evil place we have ever been. At the time, my mom was working third shift while my dad ran his own business out of our garage. One night, I really needed to talk to my dad, but he wasn't in the house. Knowing he was probably working in the garage, I popped my head outside to check across the yard. I saw all of the lights were on in the garage as well as what sounded like the radio blaring. Totally convinced my dad was in the garage, I decided to leave the safety of the house. I focused on the welcoming light of the garage and began sprinting across the 100 or so feet of pitch darkness. As I entered the light of the garage, a sense of relief washed over me as I called out to my dad. This relief proved to be short lived as I instantly realized something was very wrong. Now, standing in a deafening silence, I didn't see my dad anywhere. I know I heard something that sounded like the radio just moments ago, but now all I could hear was my panicked breathing. I would not have made the terrifying trip over if I had not heard that convincing sound. Before my heart had the chance to start beating again, I took off back towards the house. What previously took me maybe 30 seconds, I now covered in 10. I was so terrified, I decided it was best to solely focus on the door and getting my butt back inside. As I burst through the door, I found my dad in the living room looking as if he had been there for hours. Like so many horrifying experiences at that house, I just tried to not think too much about it and moved on. It wasn't until we moved out a few years later that I would be reminded of this experience. Like I have previously mentioned, my family often tells their Scary stories of the valley. And this is what we found ourselves doing one night. As it became my brother's turn to tell a story. It didn't take long for it to sound very familiar. My brother described the same instance of needing to talk to our dad. He saw the lights on and heard the radio blaring in the garage and was convinced he would find our dad working out there. He ran through the darkness only to discover exactly, exactly what I did. Nothing. No sounds of the radio and no dad. It was the next bit that had my blood turning to ice. While I tried not to scare myself any further and focused solely on the door, my brother did not. As he turned back towards the house, he made the mistake of scanning his surroundings. To his absolute terror, he saw a very distinct form on the roof. What appeared to be the silhouette of a man stood stock still right above the door he needed to use to get back inside. This outline was so dark it was contrasted against the surrounding woods. I have no idea how he summoned the courage, but my brother ran like a cross creature back to the house and through the door. Once hearing his version of events, I couldn't help but wonder if I had just looked up when approaching the door, would I have discovered that I was not alone either? So I've been having these sleep paralysis episodes way more often than usual. Last week I went to my parents house and fell asleep on the couch after getting off work. So I'm laying on the couch and I start to hear footsteps. But I know it's the middle of the night and no one should be up. Besides, it's pitch black. No one has turned on a light which is necessary as my mother is remodeling and there is stuff everywhere. You need to turn a light on. Also, I know what the footsteps of everyone in the house sound like, but these are none that I have ever heard. They are heavy. Like intentionally heavy. Almost as if someone is wearing boots and very deliberately walking heel to toe. I call out hoping it's my mother and maybe she can't sleep.

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

Sleep.

[Danny]

So she's heading to the basement to do some laundry. Maybe she's carrying a basket and couldn't balance it and turn the light on so that's why her steps sounded strange. When I call out to her, but there's no response. But the footsteps pause and then continue from the hall towards the kitchen. I call out to her once more and in response there is the creepiest voice I have ever heard. Hello. Just as casually and creepy as he wanted to be. Also, aside from the fact that whoever it was, he isn't supposed to be here. His voice is almost in my ear, even though his footsteps are on the other side of the wall in the hall. Obviously, I instantly freak out and scream out to my mother who is upstairs to let her know that there is someone in the house. And then I hear him moving faster throughout the downstairs, his steps coming closer to me the more I yell out. As I'm screaming, I try to get up but I can't move. Usually it takes me about a minute or two to realize that I'm having an episode and I can bring myself out of it. But this one was too real. All the signs of an episode were there, but this was way too real. He made his way around the corner to where I was on the couch, coming close to me and reached out to touch me in the center of my chest with his pointer finger and I finally awoke. I sat there heaving like I had just climbed 10 flights of stairs with chronic bronchitis as my body and brain attempted to catch up with reality. But I just couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't a dream and I felt like I was being watched. After a minute or two of trying to catch my breath, my phone rings and it's my mother seeing if I'm okay because she heard me screaming. This isn't unusual as we both suffer from the same sleep disorders and talking and making noise in our sleep throughout the night.

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

We are also too lazy to get

[Danny]

up or yell, so we usually FaceTime each other even though we are in the house together. She tells me she heard me scream her name, but she couldn't tell if it was real or if she had dreamt it. I was always a very naive, innocent kind of person. I was the type of optimist who believed there was a touch of goodness in every heart. A dangerous mindset to be in. I realize now that seeing the world through my rose colored glasses put a big flashing red target on my back. Often when you think of scary stories involving creepy behavior and psychological abuse, you think of an occurrence from a stranger. In my case it came from my mother in law. My husband's mother initially adored me, not for any reason other than thinking I could easily be controlled. I was meek with a passive personality, so it made sense that I would come across like someone who could be easily influenced. Looking back on it, I cringe at how creepy the situation really was. For the sake of this story, I'll call my mother in law by the name of Mrs. Psycho. At the beginning of my relationship with my husband. Mrs. Psycho and I were getting along great, or so I thought. She would take me shopping, give compliments about my hair, and girly stuff like that. As the relationship with my partner grew more serious, she would rant and rave to everyone in our neighborhood about how much she adored me and how I was like the daughter she never had. So naturally, I thought things were progressing positively. But certain things were just really off about Mrs. Psycho. I noticed little tidbits of her behavior. At parties and neighborhood social gatherings. She would sulk in a corner, and I would chalk it up to her being socially awkward or anxious. But looking back at it now, I noticed that she was always whimpering about something negative going on in her life. How she fell off her bike and hurt her elbow while riding through a construction zone, how one neighbor complained about her parking in front of his house, Losing her job because she couldn't get along with a co worker. The list went on and on. In every story, she portrayed herself as the victim of some unusual circumstances. One huge red flag that my simple mind didn't understand at the time Was the story she was always telling about her other son, my partner's brother. She'd say some really disturbing things about he had held her, my partner, and his dad hostage in their own home and how he had physically punched their father in the face. The way she described the story Made it sound like my partner's brother was a bully to the whole family. In all her wild stories and accusations about him, she always scolded her son in ways that I just can't imagine ever scolding my own child. What my husband and I didn't fully interpret at the time Was the underlying problem, which wasn't necessarily his brother, but the woman who had been a driving force for the insanity behind the behavior. Psychological abuse can trigger emotional responses in very unpredictable and disturbing ways. Mrs. Psycho's behavior became evidently creepy after our engagement. She showed signs of unhealthy enmeshment. First, she was angry that we didn't tell her immediately when we had gotten engaged. Then she was angry when we changed the wedding date without first asking for her permission. She expressed a desire for my future husband and I To live in the upstairs of her house and pay her rent. We told her that we can afford our own home and we want to start a family, so that wouldn't work out. The infuriation in her eyes was frightening. She would look normal one moment. Then if you told her something she didn't want to hear, her eyes would turn black. The memory of her eyes still sense right now.

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The wait is over.

[Danny]

Tron Ares now streaming on Disney we are looking for something, something you've discovered. Give me something to believe in and some of us will stop at nothing to get it ready. The countdown is complete. There's no going back. Our directive is clear. Hang on. Tron Ares now streaming on Disney plus rated PG13ME with a frightening chill down my spine. From there she became increasingly controlling. Mrs. Psycho and her husband, Mr. Psycho, would start showing up to our house every other day or so. I started counting how long they could

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

go without having to see us and

[Danny]

that number came to three days. There was no privacy and I felt that I had to close the curtains over our windows every night. I locked the bedroom door a few times before bed just to be on the safe side. Despite our relationship being pleasant in the beginning, I noticed that I was now feeling like I was trying to treading on eggshells around Mrs. Psycho, or rather, landmines. I realized I couldn't talk to her like I used to be able to when me and her son were just dating. I remembered when we would be able to have nice in depth conversations and I had allowed myself to be vulnerable with her. I confided in her about how I had a lot of social anxiety and that her son came into my life during a time that I was suffering from crippling depression. I talked about how he had brought a ray of sunshine into my life, thinking that speaking kindly about her son would please her, but she just had this unfeeling glazed look across her face. Hoping to mend my relationship with her, I decided to help her out one day with organizing her antiques. She had this hobby of going to auctions and buying and selling knickknacks, buttons

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

and stuff like that.

[Danny]

She would get very proud of her collections of things that I sort of thought were junk, but to be polite, I told her I saw beauty in these things, hoping to get back on her good side. There were some creepy dolls in the mix, including this horrifying looking vampire doll with piercing red eyes. She said she had had that doll for years and used to scare my husband with it.

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

He was a kid.

[Danny]

She laughed at this and the sound had an eerie satanical vibe to it. As if this wasn't enough to freak me out, she then told me this story about how a female coworker complained about her to the HR department at her company.

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

Mrs. Psycho wrote a letter that was

[Danny]

meant for the coworker's husband, telling him that she was cheating on him. To remain as anonymous as possible possible. She told me how she slipped on a pair of black gloves and drove the letter to a far away location so that her address couldn't be traced. I remember feeling very uneasy about her story, wondering how she could get angry enough to drive hours away just to cause emotional harm to another human being. There came a point after hearing this story when I didn't want to be left alone with my partner's mom anymore. He tried to talk to his parents about how I was feeling like I was on eggshells around them, but they flipped the narrative to say that they were the ones feeling like they were on eggshells around me. During this time, I painstakingly realized that psychological torture exists in the form of extreme invalidation. Not having your feelings acknowledged can really drive a person crazy. It was then when I felt a little more clued into what may have happened to Mrs. Psycho's other son. I can't be sure because I never met the guy, but I think he was driven mad by his mother's severe emotional neglect. Now she was pulling the same tricks on me and my partner, gaslighting us into believing that we were just too sensitive. When my husband and I started figuring out that something was off, things got even creepier. His parents started showing up to our house to corner us into submission. What I mean is, they would tell us stories to make them seem like victims so that we would give in to demands of what they wanted at the time. If we denied their requests, they would use psychological manipulation by telling us that we were uncaring or ungrateful. One example of this manipulation was when I became pregnant. I explained that the smell of pizza made me extremely sick, but this was ignored. When Mrs. Psycho insisted that we go to a pizza restaurant for her birthday, I was confused with why. I felt like I couldn't say no. My husband was in the same predicament. Somehow, I think we sensed that something bad would happen to us if we declined. This is also because Mrs. Psycho's husband and her sister had contacted us, telling us explicitly that they weren't allowed to say no to her dinner invitations anymore. They explained it like saying no hurts her feelings. But there was something else there that I can't quite explain. Something hidden beneath the surface that sounded really threatening. I had no idea why, but I just did not feel safe. Then, only two weeks after giving birth to our daughter, I had the creepiest interaction of my life. Mrs. Psycho caught me alone while I was on my front porch. The weather was really nice, so I was rocking with my baby in one of our outdoor chairs. She came up to the doorstep and assumed a seat in a chair next to me. Then in a quiet, ominous voice, she said to me, you have to share her, you know. Her black eyes flicked to the infant in my arms. I know what you might be thinking, but this wasn't said in a cute, excited new grandma kind of way. Her voice sounded cold and possessive, with certain passive aggressive intent behind the statement. I naturally clutched my arms around my daughter tighter, feeling a protective instinct take over me. Mrs. Psycho had expressed me before that she had always wanted to have a daughter but was only ever able to have sons. Maybe I was being influenced by the postpartum hormones or just overall feeling paranoid, but a disturbing thought occurred to me that she might want to get rid of me somehow to have my daughter to herself. I later told my husband about the bizarre interaction with his mom and how I couldn't keep up with the heavy psychological demands of his parents parents anymore. It was all taking a strange emotional toll on me as well as a strain on our marriage, and I still couldn't pinpoint exactly why. Nevertheless, they were causing us a lot of stress, which was impacted on me all the more. While I was trying to adapt to my role as a new mother, I felt like I was going crazy. They even restricted me in bizarre ways, telling me that I was not allowed to refer to our daughter as my baby. The stress was enough to make me physically sick. At first, my husband hesitated when I told him about my concerns, stating the usual spiel that was natural for him to say that they were his parents and he couldn't just drop contact with them. But something in his voice contained fear and it wouldn't take long before he would realize how screwed up the situation actually actually was. The incident that drove him to the point of cutting off his parents happened when they cornered us in our living room, demanding that we watch their aggressive dog while they went on vacation for five days. My husband almost caved, but stayed firm when he told them no, we can't. We have a two month old baby to look after. The murderous glare his mom then flashed at me was intense and enough to make me crawl out of my skin. I thought for sure she was about to lunge at me and wring her icy cold hands around my neck, causing me death by strangulation.

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

I was terrified.

[Danny]

Mr. And Mrs. Psycho eventually left our house, but they were clearly angry that they weren't able to convince us to conform to their will. My husband and I had a dark spot, suspicious feeling that something bad was about to happen. First, we received lengthy emails from Mrs. Psycho, mostly insulting me. She said she thought I was brainwashing her son and she went on to portray herself as a victim. She used the knowledge of my anxiety disorder to make an argument that I was mentally unstable and dangerous. She threatened to post about me on Facebook and mess up our lives if we didn't apologize for deviating from what she wanted. At the same time, she told me that I was dead to her and listed all the mistakes I had made in the past as well as my faults. We remained silent, not wanting to engage with her any further. My husband and I were scared, spending most of our days cooped up in our bedroom, not knowing what to expect. Respect. But we stayed strong through the process of separating from the toxic relationship. Mrs. Psycho proceeded to make good on her threat, posting about me publicly on Facebook. She said that I was crazy. She even went a step further saying that I had borderline personality disorder which was entirely fabricated. It didn't end there though. An active smear campaign against ensued as Mr. And Mrs. Psycho actually went door to door to everyone's house in the community posing as good citizens to warn everyone about their extremely dangerous, manipulative 5 foot tall daughter in law. My neighbors didn't react the way that was expected though. They were more weary of her than of me. Instead of ruining my reputation, which was the desired effect, most people in my neighborhood were majorly creeped out by Mrs. Psycho's efforts. They were equally creeped out by Mr. Psycho's willingness to go along with the whole thing. I guess after years of being beaten down with his wife's abuse, he was just an empty shell of a man, a flying monkey to his wife. There are a few doctors and therapists in my neighborhood who believed that Mrs. Psycho may have been projecting meaning that she is confessing that she is potentially dangerous and volatile while pinning it on me. This along with some stories of Mrs. Psycho's interactions with other people in our neighborhood confirmed that something was disturbingly off with this lady. This information made the situation all the more unsettling when Mr. And Mrs. Psycho showed up to our house for what we suspected would be a confrontation. My husband and I were watching Survivor in the living room with our baby when the doorbell rang. He crept to the front window to peer behind the curtain to see who it was. I could see the fear on his face. It's my parents, he said, and my blood ran cold. I immediately ran with the baby upstairs, pausing only to tell him that it was his choice whether to enter the door or not, since they are his parents, but that me and the baby would be hidden away. As I made my way up the stairs, my husband hovered by the front door, conflicted. He didn't know what to do. Meanwhile, I could hear jostling at the front door like his parents were trying to force their way inside our house with a spare key. I am thankful to this day that we had just changed the locks a few days before so they couldn't get in. I proceeded to run upstairs and closed the bedroom door behind me, locking me and the baby inside.

[Podcast Host/Storyteller]

I held my daughter close, my heart

[Danny]

thudding wildly against my chest. When there was a knock on the bedroom door, I reacted with a jolt. My husband's voice on the other side calmed me down. He told me he didn't answer the door. He was trembling. When I unlocked the door to let him in, his face was pale. He showed me a text message that said, anyone home? Followed by another text that said, you're a coward hiding behind your keyboard. I don't know what would have happened if my husband had chosen to answer the door, but I shudder to think about it. My husband and I both blocked them after that. Phone numbers, social media accounts, everything. Thankfully, they moved away to another state. We have since had no contact with his parents for almost two years and our daughter is growing in a happy, loving environment free of toxicity. I have since armed myself with knowledge so that I will be less naive about creepy behavior in the future. I have studied up on narcissism and the negative psychological impact that some people can have on others through gaslighting and invalidation. I hope everyone listening out there may be aware that not all abuse is physical.