Podcast Summary: Spooked – "Kokogi: The Crossroads"

Date: October 24, 2025
Host: Glynn Washington
Producer/Interviewer: Elliot Lightfoot
Primary Storytellers: Chrissy, Hayden
Setting: Kitigan Zibi, Quebec, Algonquin Territory

Episode Theme & Purpose

This chilling episode of Spooked, “Kokogi: The Crossroads,” explores a true tale of supernatural terror from the Algonquin community of Kitigan Zibi. Through first-person accounts—mostly from Chrissy and her friends—we unravel the ordeal of a group of teenagers who become hunted by a shapeshifting entity known as the “Kokogi” (monster in Algonquin Anishinaabemowin). The episode delves into the intersection of Indigenous culture, spiritual beliefs, and collective trauma, blending personal experience with folkloric depth.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introductory Parable: The Monster’s Origins

• The episode opens with a mythic fiction sequence paralleling Frankenstein’s monster, setting up the theme of creations, outcasts, and how monsters are perceived or made. (02:34 – 09:00)
• Parallels are drawn between literary monsters and the “real” monsters of folklore or experience, quietly foreshadowing the main story.
  • Notable Quote:
    "You are what happens when someone achieves perfection… You are unnatural." – Scholar to Narrator, (05:28)
  • Sets the tone for the exploration of ‘monsters’—literal and metaphorical.

2. Background: Life in Kitigan Zibi—A Place of Spirits

• Chrissy, a 16-year-old girl, returns from school to her Algonquin home and is told by her father and cousin (both police officers) that the “rez is haunted.” (15:50)
• Start of the haunting: a series of mysterious knocks at windows, reported by various community members.

3. The Hauntings Escalate

• The “Knocking” Reports:
  • Multiple calls about persistent, inexplicable knocking around homes and windows, escalating from a possible prank to something much more sinister. (17:36 – 21:00)
  • Neighbors begin seeing a shadowy, five-foot-tall figure with yellow glowing eyes and sharp teeth that appears, moves unnaturally fast, and smiles at witnesses.
  • Notable Quote:
    "…it peeks its head out, and it looks directly at him, and it smiles at him. The teeth were very small and sharp, and he described it as having these yellow, glowing eyes…" – Chrissy, (19:30)

4. The Fateful Night at the Cottage

• Chrissy goes to a party in a sunroom surrounded by windows, deep in the woods. Tension rises as friends share stories about recent supernatural encounters (“Kokogi”).
• Hayden sees a figure perched on a rocking chair outside, describes monstrous glowing eyes and a predatory posture. (24:26)
  • Notable Quote:
    “It was like leaning in, looking, making like eye contact with me. I'll never forget the eyes... eyes lit up... I know people's eyes don't do that. Felt wrong to make eye contact with it.” – Hayden, (24:26)
• Chaos: Yan screams after seeing the entity directly behind her. The group hears banging on all the windows, and panic erupts as they hurry to escape. (25:27 – 28:33)
  • Memorable Moment:
    “Those two tough guys, they were crying at that point. One of them ran into the kitchen and grabbed a knife and was standing at the windows. And I was like, great, you're protecting all of us. Like, yeah, good job.” – Chrissy, (28:35)

5. Aftermath: It Follows

• The terror follows the group home; Hayden, especially, is targeted. (30:20)
  • Hayden describes feeling a “heavy, dark feeling,” hearing the knocking intensify at his house, and taking up a shotgun to defend himself.
  • Notable Quote:
    “We're pretty shook up. And then we hear something knocking on this house. It was the same thing, but it was more aggressive… It was just taunting me.” – Hayden, (30:20)
• The community is beset by ongoing reports: more knocking, more sightings, even at the police station.

6. Community Reactions and Spiritual Logic

• Some elders suggest protective measures: hanging cedar over doorways and windows.
• The “kukoudjee” gradually stops appearing in Kitigan Zibi, with rumors it moved northward.

7. Personal Impact & Interpretations

• Chrissy reflects on how the encounter traumatized the group, especially her friends Hayden and Yan.
• Hayden copes by “hunting” the creature, venturing into the woods to confront or chase what haunted him.
  • Notable Quote:
    “At that point, you know, I just was fed up, kind of just like... I ain't gonna be chased. I'll be the chaser.” – Hayden, (35:16)
• Yan is so shaken that she withdraws completely, and only years later, in a place far from home, recounts what she saw: in addition to glowing eyes and sharp teeth, she subtitles the being as having antlers—the classic sign of a wendigo.
  • Elders confirm the wendigo can appear in any form, that it’s a shapeshifter, and may reveal its “true” self to some individuals only.
  • Yan believes her encounter was a warning to live more seriously, to avoid attracting bad spirits.

8. Lasting Effects

• Hayden continues to feel the lingering presence and occasionally has experiences that shake even his strong resolve. At least once, he calls for help, immobilized by fear and the entity's presence (39:37–42:01).

  • Notable Quote:
    “...that was the only time I've ever said I need help.” – Hayden, (41:49)

• Chrissy ponders why the creature targeted Hayden and Yan, theorizing it might have been attracted by the energy of those who challenge or “face” it, or those going through turmoil.

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• “You are what happens when someone achieves perfection. Who is my mother...? He smiled at me again and again, remained silent.” – Narrator/Host (06:12)
• “It looks to be about 5ft tall. It’s just... It looks like a shadow. And then it runs around the house...knocking on every single window... peeks its head out, and it looks directly at him, and it smiles at him.” – Chrissy (19:30)
• “It was like leaning in, looking, making like eye contact with me. I’ll never forget the eyes... I know people’s eyes don’t do that. Felt wrong to make eye contact with it.” – Hayden (24:26)
• “Our head snapped towards the sun room and we see her just running across the sun room. My other friend Hayden running opposite directions at the same time.” – Chrissy (25:27)
• "We heard something banging on windows. One knock, two knocks, and then several, like in different places." – Hayden (27:53)
• "Those two tough guys, they were crying at that point. One of them ran into the kitchen and grabbed a knife and was standing at the windows. And I was like, great, you’re protecting all of us." – Chrissy (28:33)
• "We're pretty shook up... Then we hear something knocking on this house. It was the same thing, but it was more aggressive... It was just taunting me." – Hayden (30:20)
• "She saw the glowing yellow eyes, the sharp little teeth in a smile, but she saw big antlers... they suggested that it was a Wendigo... elders said that that's normal, that Windigo is a shapeshifter." – Chrissy, recounting Yan’s words (36:21)
• “At that point, I was just fed up, kind of just like... I ain't gonna be chased. I'll be the chaser.” – Hayden (35:16)
• “I got to like this point where it just didn't feel right to keep looking around for this thing that I feel is with me. So I just put my head down... Then I hit the ground. I can't let this thing touch me... Maybe 10 minutes later... it was my dad.” – Hayden (39:37)
• “Sometimes I feel like it was trying to humble him in a way, like, because he never wants to admit that he's afraid, like, ever, you know, I wasn't scared.” – Chrissy (42:01)
• "I was more defensive or ready to have conflict with it... I kind of understood that of being, like, the reason maybe why it followed me here and, you know, was attached to me." – Hayden (42:48)

Key Timestamps by Segment

• (02:34–09:00): Frankenstein/Monster allegory prologue
• (15:50–21:00): Chrissy recounts hearing about haunting from cops and first encounters
• (21:37–25:27): Party at the cottage, first visual encounter, group fear
• (27:53–29:39): Terror peaks at cottage—everyone flees
• (30:20–32:02): Aftermath, haunting follows the group
• (36:21–39:14): Yan’s years-later retelling and elders’ spiritual interpretation
• (39:37–42:48): Hayden’s final confrontation, emotional impact

Overall Tone & Style

• The storytelling is intensely personal, emotional, and tinged with both fear and respect for the unknown.
• Chrissy’s narration is candid, youthful, sometimes humorous, but always colored by lingering trauma.
• Hayden is plainspoken and stoic, yet clearly affected by the ordeal; the story is honest about vulnerability in the face of the supernatural.
• The episode also honors Algonquin spiritual beliefs, weaving together community knowledge, elder wisdom, and contemporary experience.

Closing Thoughts

“Kokogi: The Crossroads” is a gripping portrait of a community’s brush with supernatural horror, but also of resilience and communal reckoning. Through the personal growth of its storytellers, it touches not only on the power of Indigenous myth and belief but also on the unseen forces—both spiritual and emotional—that shape our lives, our bravery, and our connection to one another.

For supernatural tales, firsthand terror, and respectful exploration of Indigenous spiritual reality, this episode stands out as a chilling high point for Spooked.