Smosh Mouth Podcast #116 – "Let's Read Some Scary Stories"

October 27, 2025
Hosted by Shayne Topp (A), Damien Haas (B), and guest Courtney Miller (C)

Episode Overview

In this Halloween-themed episode, Shayne, Damien, and Courtney gather to share and react to scary stories, both personal and from the internet. Along the way, they discuss their relationships with fear, haunted houses, costumes, and the inherently creepy aspects of everyday life and technology. The trio's banter is playful, self-deprecating, and honest, with an overarching theme of what truly scares them—whether it's jump scares, ominous unknowns, or the existential dread found in modern life.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Spooking and Being Spooked – Halloween Traditions

• Courtney’s Love of Scaring People
  • Courtney recounts scaring coworkers, and the group ponders alternate careers as a scare actor or horror film actor.
    • “My purpose in life is to emotionally impact people. And so, like, that’s just like a really quick one, for sure.” – Courtney [00:52]
• Halloween Horror Nights Experiences
  • The hosts discuss VIP vs. general admission, the anxiety of crowds, and their jadedness after years of filming content at exclusive events.
  • "I love Horror Nights, but I feel like a blood cell in a clot—it's so crowded." – Courtney [02:10]

2. Halloween Plans and Costume Woes

• Costume Planning
  • The group laments the challenge of planning for multiple events.
  • Courtney reuses her "Weird Barbie" (Kate McKinnon) costume, Shayne admits to last-minute decisions, and Damien reminisces about being Astarion from Baldur’s Gate.
  • “Anything I need a costume for, that’s going to be that for the year.” – Damien [05:46]
• Comic and Game Characters as Costumes
  • Brief talk about Mortal Kombat characters and how hair and appearance can dictate the costume decision.

3. Haunted Attractions, Real Hauntings, and Personal Fears

• Frightening Events
  • Damien expresses his discomfort with haunted houses and crowded places, more for the crowds than the monsters.
  • Shayne and Courtney discuss the psychological side of fear—being more scared of eerie, subtle horror over cheap jump scares.
    • "I like being creeped out in, like, paranormal ways... where fascination and fear meet.” – Shayne [08:25]
• Courtney’s Real-Life Haunting Experience
  • Courtney details feeling a "hot, wet breath" on her neck in the Smosh studio, followed by a colleague having their necklace pulled—odd occurrences attributed to possible hauntings.
    • “It was a hot breath, like, you know that feeling, and that was like... that's my first time having that.” – Courtney [23:04]

4. Reading Internet Scary Stories

• Reddit Horror: The Infinite Space Goat & Haunted Hotel Room
  • Shayne reads chilling stories submitted by listeners or found on Reddit:
    • TV and computers turning on by themselves and playing disturbing content, especially when animals react (dogs and cats sensing paranormal events).
    • A hotel room where a murder occurred containing mysterious "help me" notes under a door—revealed to be a worker trapped inside.
      • “See, that stuff is scarier to me because it’s like, what if no one comes? What if you just get locked in a room and no one checks and you’re just gone?” – Damien [25:41]

5. Favorite Types of Scary Stories & SCP Foundation Deep-Dive

• SCP Foundation Explained
  • Shayne introduces the SCP Foundation: a collaborative online collection of faux case files describing paranormal entities and phenomena.
    • The group listens as Shayne reads about SCP-1733—a recorded basketball game where every replay causes the people in the recording to become more aware they're in a looping video, devolving into chaos over time.
      • “If you play [the recording] a hundred times, everybody in that recording has lived through that a hundred times.” – Shayne [30:48]
  • Cosmic and Analog Horror
    • The discussion shifts to cosmic and analog horror—stories with unknowable or reality-bending threats.
    • Creepypasta and indie horror games are highlighted, especially those that evoke unease by messing with electronics or media.

6. A List of Everyday Scares

• Courtney’s Personal List of Fears
  • Courtney shares a list of things that scare her, from whimsical to existential:
    • Waiting in a paper gown at the doctor [38:10]
    • Her cat’s sudden, loud “hellooo” at night [39:11]
    • Cybertruck trunks closing on people [40:39]
    • LA's underground subway systems [41:55]
    • Subway sandwiches (“They’re just cold in there.”) [43:22]
    • Fear of being abandoned by friends [44:02]
    • Getting a bag snatched (which almost happened to her) [44:29]
    • Cars and trucks—catalytic converters getting stolen, haunted cars (Stephen King's "Christine") [46:46 & 47:46]
    • Foods that never expire [48:33]
    • Data centers and techno-horrors like brain organoids [49:20]
    • Employees Only doors, unused or blocked-off doors, crawl spaces [54:25]
    • Furniture or stairs in strange places, like a full living room setup in the middle of a forest [56:00]
    • Matt Rife as legal guardian of the Annabelle doll [56:54]
    • The eerie feeling of being or seeing someone in a window, especially at night [59:54]
    • Teenagers (the group agrees: “Teenagers scare the living shit out of me.”) [62:03]
    • Being stuck (e.g., cave diving videos) [62:22]
    • Deep ocean or thalassophobia [66:05]
    • Uncanny tech glitches (e.g., Pokémon "MissingNo." glitches) [67:52]

7. Tech Horror, Creepypasta, and Existential Dread

• Modern vs. Supernatural Fears
  • The group debates what’s scarier: ghosts/demons or the unpredictable nature of modern technology, AI, and data privacy.
    • "No, we're unfortunately, like, I'm not scared of ghosts much anymore because we're entering sci-fi horror." – Shayne [49:20]
    • Brain organoids and the unknowable futures of digital technology become an almost comedic, but real, sticking point of fear.

8. The Power of Imagination

• Why the Unknown is Scariest
  • The most haunting and memorable stories, films, and games are the ones where not everything is explained or fully visible.
    • “Seeing just a little bit of something is really scary... When you only see [part of it], it’s really scary. But if you see the whole thing, you’re like, all right." – Shayne [58:55]

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Courtney on Emotional Impact:
  “My purpose in life is to emotionally impact people. And so, like, that’s just like a really quick one, for sure.” [00:52]

• On Crowds at Horror Nights:
  "I feel like a blood cell in a clot—it's so crowded." – Courtney [02:10]

• On What Scares Shayne:
  “I like being creeped out in, like, paranormal ways... where fascination and fear meet.” – Shayne [08:25]

• On Animal Reactions to Haunted Events:
  “If we can tell our cats aren’t freaking out about something... so, like to know that those dogs, it’s like, oh, you’re hearing it too.” – Courtney [16:59]

• On Doors with “Employees Only” Signs:
  “There’s an energy pushing me away when I see those.” – Courtney [54:31]

• On the True Modern Horror:
  “I’m not scared of ghosts much anymore because we’re entering sci-fi horror.” – Shayne [49:20]

• On Why Analog Horror Works:
  “The most haunting stories are when not everything is explained or visible.” – Shayne [58:55]

• Teenagers:
  “Teenagers scare the living shit out of me.” – My Chemical Romance, cited approvingly by hosts [62:03]

• Concluding Gag after a scare:
  “Sorry if I scared you.” – Courtney
  “You did scare me, actually.” – Shayne [71:44]

Timestamps for Major Segments

• [00:25] – Courtney introduces her love of scaring people
• [01:41] – Discussion of Halloween Horror Nights and fear of crowds
• [03:41] – Halloween costume talk and party planning
• [06:17] – Recapping haunted attraction experiences, haunted ship story
• [08:02] – Fear vs. fascination, paranormal vs. jump scare philosophy
• [12:22] – Different childhood coping mechanisms for fear (singing, befriending monsters)
• [15:19] – First Reddit scary story ("Infinite Space Goat" – computer turns on by itself)
• [23:04] – Courtney’s real-life haunting at the Smosh studio (hot breath, necklace incident)
• [25:41] – Second Reddit story: maintenance worker trapped in haunted hotel room
• [26:16] – Introduction & reading of SCP Foundation “basketball game in a time loop” story
• [38:07] – Courtney’s personal list of strange and silly fears
• [44:29] – Real-life bag snatching attempt and street smarts
• [46:51] – Story of Shayne’s car airbag being surgically stolen
• [54:25] – "Employees Only" and creepy, unused doors
• [56:00] – Furniture and stairs in the woods: “off” placements as horror
• [56:54] – Matt Rife now legally responsible for Annabelle the doll
• [59:54] – Fear of seeing (or being) someone standing still in a window
• [62:22] – Claustrophobia and cave diving horrors
• [66:05] – Thalassophobia and deep sea dread
• [67:52] – Tech glitches in games and real-life analog horror
• [70:07] – “Doom House Wad” and the horror of unknown internet creations
• [71:13] – Wind-down and reflection on how truly scared they are

Real-Life Comedic/Spooky Exchanges

• Courtney's Cat Birdie Making Haunted Noises:
  “We hear hell. Hello. That. Just like that. Terrifying.” – Courtney [39:11]
• Joking about Haunted Cars:
  “I’ve never heard of a haunted car.” – Shayne
  “Stephen King wrote a book about one.” – Damien [47:46]
• On the “hot dog theory” of safety:
  “I feel like nothing can go wrong when I’m holding a hot dog... You would never attack someone holding a hot dog.” – Courtney [58:15]
• Classic Smosh Energy:
  *“I pooped my pants.” – Shayne
  “I should have been peed.” – Damien [71:50]

Overall Tone and Takeaways

• The hosts keep the conversation spirited and accessible—even their creepiest stories and references have a comic undercurrent, poking fun at themselves and the world.
• There’s a nostalgia for classic haunted house scares but a clear-eyed dread about modern electronic and technological horrors.
• The episode cycles between personal vulnerability (“Are my friends waiting to leave me?”), absurdity (Subway sandwiches), and deep dives into horror lore (SCPs, analog horror).
• Listeners both laugh and empathize, experiencing both second-hand chills and the comfort of communal commiseration about the things that go bump in the night—and in our heads.

For anyone who hasn’t listened, this episode is an entertaining blend of stories, comedy, existential dread, and friendship, perfect for Halloween or whenever you’re in the mood to explore what it means to be truly, deeply creeped out—on the wild spectrum between a haunted cat and a haunted hard drive.