Scary Stories For A Rainy Night - Ep. 364 - "Phantoms"

Podcast: Scary Stories and Rain
Host: Being Scared
Date: April 13, 2026

Overview

This episode of "Scary Stories and Rain" is themed around "phantoms"—vanishing people, ghostly presences, and unsettling encounters with the unexplained. The host, Being Scared, reads a chilling, rain-backed series of true tales that blend urban legend, unresolved mysteries, and surreal horror, perfect for late-night listeners seeking that eerie, reflective tension.

Story 1: The Disappearance of Terrence Cook – The Phantom Pizza Lady

(00:00–~37:30)

Setting & Main Characters

• Year: 2002, small-town high school
• Key People:
  • Terrence Cook: Troubled, infamous student, victim and perpetrator, living in poverty.
  • Pizza Lady: Mysterious woman selling pizza to kids by the creek, becomes a fixture.
  • Ethan and Otho: Terrence’s reluctant friends.
  • Dustin: The narrator’s close friend.

Key Discussion Points

• Terrence’s Reputation & Background

  • Known for troublemaking, violence, neglect at home, poverty, and intimidation.
  • "So yeah, Terrence was a real piece of crap. As I stated earlier, I felt a little bad for him. He seemed embarrassingly poor and grossly neglected..." (04:55)

• Pizza Lady’s Emergence

  • Arrives offering slices for a dollar—unusually cheap, unassuming, silent.
  • Quickly becomes a legend among students; "Pizza Creek" becomes a hotspot.
  • Terrence assists her, gets free pizza, and asserts dominance at the site.

• Atmosphere of Pizza Creek

  • Grows from a few students to a chaotic scene of 40+ teens drinking, smoking, eating.
  • Pizza Lady remains expressionless, aloof, unaffected by teen antics.
  • "She seemed to lack the ability to be nice or mean. Every day she would park and say, hey, guys, and that's about it." (13:01)

• Tensions with Terrence

  • Terrence becomes aggressive, fights increase, students depart one by one.
  • The only time Pizza Lady intervenes: "I don't like what you're doing."—spoken quietly but with unexpected effect, causing Terrence rare shame. (16:55)

• The Final Day

  • On November 7th, the narrator sees Terrence subdued, Pizza Lady silent; last sighting of Terrence.
  • "I distinctly saw Terrence staring up at me with a look of loneliness and shame. ... He did not want to be alone with this woman who was whispering something under her breath..." (18:45)

• Aftermath & Growing Mystery

  • Terrence vanishes—no school, no word, parents unconcerned, police get involved.
  • Police question students: No one knows the Pizza Lady's name, car, or appearance. Realization that no one remembers reliable details.
  • "I mean, putting her in my mind's eye, I couldn't recall what color eyes she had, no real sense of hair color, no tattoos. ... She was as nondescript as you could get." (20:10)

• Community Response & Fading Interest

  • Search continues; Pizza Lady and Terrence never seen again.
  • Investigation fizzles. Other crimes in town (serial killer, missing students) quickly overshadow Terrence’s disappearance.

• Reflection & The Unsettling End

  • Years later, the narrator and Dustin note that the Pizza Lady was never identified or even mentioned in follow-up reports.
  • "You know what's interesting? ... The article doesn't mention her at all. And there you have it." (~36:45)
  • The host reflects on the lesson: "Never talk to strangers... Mind your surroundings. ... Listen to your gut if it's telling you something is not right." (37:15)

Story 2: Urbex Nightmare – The Bunker in the Forest

(~37:30–49:43)

Setting & Main Characters

• Year: 2018, East Germany, deep forest
• Narrator: Young urban explorer enthusiastic about abandoned places.

Key Discussion Points

• Searching for Lost Places

  • Narrator describes urban exploration (“urbex”), safety precautions, and drive to new untouched sites.

• Discovery of the Bunker

  • Finds a WWII-era bunker after hours of searching; manages to break inside.
  • Surprised by lack of vandalism—feels triumphant, but something is off.

• Clues & Escalation

  • Finds disturbing relics: a pillow stuffed with (apparently) human hair, piles of garbage, new food packaging.
  • "What began to freak me out was in one of the sleeping quarters I found a pillow which was slightly ripped open and when I picked it up I realized it was hair. Human hair I'm guessing." (42:11)

• The Horror Unfolds

  • Stumbles upon three decomposing bodies: an older couple and a child.
  • "Their bodies were swollen and their skin was pretty purple and waxy. They didn't even look real."
  • Experiences overwhelming dread, fear of the perpetrator’s return.

• Brush with Death

  • Hears someone returning, hides; "I was not expecting visitors," the unseen man says in German.
  • Flees toward car as the murderer chases, keys barely found in time. "His eyes were blue. I started the ignition and drove over 140 km an hour..." (47:50)
  • Escapes, reports to police—who never get back to him. Emotional trauma and lasting nightmares result.

Story 3: The Woman at the Window

(49:43–End)

Setting & Main Characters

• Present Day, North American suburb
• Narrator: Middle-aged man working from home, late-night deployments.
• The Lady: Oddly normal, suburban-appearing—her behavior, however, becomes increasingly bizarre and unsettling.

Key Discussion Points

• First Encounter

  • Notices strange woman silently staring up through his window at night.
  • "She looked normal suburban mom looking lady just standing there staring into my window." (50:23)

• Escalation

  • Finds her crouched in a neighbor’s driveway during dog walk; she stares but says nothing.
  • Later, finds her standing in front of his house; she finally asks to pet his dog.

• Chilling Interaction

  • Once permitted to pet the dog, she becomes conversational, but then unnerves the narrator with a chilling declaration:
  • "I thought my love was only for you, but I see it's because of your puppy too." (53:52)
  • She continues, muses bizarrely about love: "Love is something you just know. You know. You just know when it's real, it's meant to be. When it's meant to be. And I can tell. I can tell."

• Lingering Fear

  • The woman continues to stare into his window for weeks; narrator is left unsettled, unsure if he should involve the police.
  • "It's just the look in her eye and her weird behavior and the way she talks that freaks me out." (End)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Terrence:

  • “Terrence was a real meet-me-at-the-flagpole-in-the-parking-lot kind of guy.” (02:16)
  • “...There was no way I wasn't going to check this out. I mean, a dollar for a reasonably sized slice of hot, fresh pizza. Even in 2002, this was a steal of a deal.” (12:10)

• Pizza Lady’s Rare Words:

  • “I don't like what you're doing. ... You keep doing that, and you're going to get—” (17:17)

• The Disappearance:

  • “[Terrence] did not want to be alone with this woman who was whispering something under her breath that I could not hear.” (18:45)

• Police Investigation Frustration:

  • “I mean, putting her in my mind's eye, I couldn't recall what color eyes she had, no real sense of hair color, no tattoos... She was about as nondescript as you could get.” (20:10)

• Urbex Horror:

  • “As soon as I entered the next room, I physically folded at the putrid smell that instantly made me feel sick...” (44:25)
  • “I saw three bodies. ... They didn't even look real. The older man was lying on his back, his stomach mutilated, only wearing khaki trousers.” (45:20)
  • “...I was not expecting visitors in German before stanching into the bunker...” (46:39)

• The Phantom Stalker:

  • “She looked normal suburban mom looking lady just standing there staring into my window.” (50:23)
  • “I thought my love was only for you, but I see it's because of your puppy too.” (53:52)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Terrence’s Introduction: 00:40
• Arrival of the Pizza Lady: 08:17
• Pizza Creek’s Peak & Chaos: 13:50
• Pizza Lady Confronts Terrence: 16:55
• Terrence’s Last Sighting: 18:45
• Police Question Students: 19:58
• Reflections on Disappearance: ~36:45
• Second Story (Urbex Bunker): 37:30
• Discovery of the Bodies: 45:20
• Escape from Bunker: 47:50
• Third Story (Phantom Woman at Window): 49:43
• Final Chilling Conversation: 53:52

Tone & Style

The narration is measured and somber, understated even when recounting events of cruelty or horror. The rain ambience adds an atmospheric, dreamlike quality. The stories mix empathy, regret, and a resigned fear—most notably when the real horror remains unresolved and lingers in the shadows of memory.

Summary

Episode 364 delivers a trio of "phantoms": the mystery of a problematic boy and the unknowable pizza lady; a traumatizing encounter in a forgotten Nazi bunker; and a surreal stalker whose normalcy masks something less than human. Each story blurs lines between the mundane and the supernatural, ultimately leaving listeners unsettled, introspective, and keenly aware how little we can ever truly know of the shadows around us.