
Carlos just started working at a company in Lima’s Nikkei district: a place where Japanese and Peruvian culture mix. When his new coworkers start teasing him about the office ghost, he figures they’re just messing with the new guy. Until one night, he has to pull the graveyard shift.
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Narrator/Host
I snatched an apple from her bowl and slowly took a bite. She grinned a grin and then she laughed. Good riddance and good night. My apple poison is so painful. I brewed especially for you but I'd switched her apple to my pocket cause I knew what she would do. You've crossed over to spooked. Stay tuned.
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Carlos
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Narrator/Host
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Carlos
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Carlos
got safety well in hand.
Narrator/Host
Call 1-800-GRAINGER. Click grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done. Did you know there's an online canvas company that ships federally legal THC right to your door. And they found a way to combine THC with carefully selected functional ingredients to create gummies, baked goods and flour, delivering the experience you're looking for. I'm talking about mood.com they have an incredible line of cannabis gummies and you can get 20% off your first order@mood.com with promo code Spooked. Forget the one size fits all because Mood Functional gummies are optimized to kick in as little as 15 minutes and dial in what you are looking for, like their Sleepy Time Advanced gummies for a mind soothing calm at night. The Mind Magic Gummies for focused deep work for enhanced creativity. You can find basic gummies anywhere, but you're not basic. Mood's functional gummies combine premium federally legal THC with targeted botanicals to help you get into the perfect mood, usually in as little as 15 minutes, and everything shipped discreetly right to your door. No dispensary lines, no awkward conversations, just better days and nights delivered to your doorstep. Best of all, not only is every Mood product backed by a 100 day satisfaction guarantee, but as I mentioned, listeners get 20% off their first order with code SPOOT. So head to mood.com, find the functional gummy that matches exactly what you're looking for and let Mood help you discover your perfect mood. And don't forget to use the promo code Spooked when you check out. To save 20% on your first order. Try today@mood.com. So they said I was too young to attend my uncle's funeral. Pop said it was gonna be open casket and I didn't need to see all that. But when it's over, after the burying's done, everybody starts filing in the door at my grandmama's house. Sad quiet eyes turn away from other sad quiet eyes. It's weird because this house is a lot of things. The quiet and mournful has never been one of them. One uncle pulls out a deck of cards, my auntie's eyes flash bright evil and he quickly shoves the deck back in his breast pocket. We just look at each other, look down at the carpet, then outside loud enough so he might as well be in the room. The next door neighbor talking to the pastor or somebody. I seen it. I seen the whole thing. One brother shot another pastor. I tried to stop him. But the devil was strong in that family that cursed. Each and every one of them's cursed. And I wonder if he's right. It was a terrible thing, no question. A terrible Thing that happened right here, right here, right here, right here in this room. And I wonder if we are cursed. I wonder if I'm cursed. Uncle Eldis opens up the window, shouts out, best to stretch your trap, Willie, cause we ain't done shooting folk up. And the entire house erupts in laughter. Long, deep, cleansing laughter. My uncle pulls his deck of cards back out and starts dealing hands, ignoring the glare of my auntie. Cigarettes are lit, wine is poured, but cousins yank on my shirt. Let's go outside and play. Come on, come on, come on. Spoke. Start. Now. What is a curse? What is it really? 2004. Carlos Jarrah. He's a graphic designer from Lima, Peru. Now, Lima has a big Miike community. Peruvians of Japanese descent. But Carlos isn't a part of it. Still, he's always felt welcome. Good food, good friends, good vibes. So when a close friend recommends a job at a marketing company in the heart of the Nikkei district, Carlos doesn't think twice. Spooked.
Carlos
When I started working there, I was surprised to learn that 90% of the staff was Japanese. So I thought I'd clash with them since I didn't know their customs. But nope, they treated me like one of their own. They taught me how to speak Japanese, showed me their traditions, and even dropped some slang on me. Ne no, they called it. The people I worked most closely with were the shift boss, Juanjo, an intern we all called el Chacal, and this tall, lanky, hunched guy we called Rulo. But the first person it really clicked with was Sakura, the boss's daughter. She's about 10 years older than me, super spiritual, and always had a smile. I loved chatting with her. It almost felt like we were old friends. So yeah, I really liked working there. One day, three or four months into the job, the work gets so busy that we have to pull an all nighter. So we have a team meeting to go through our tasks, and once we're finished, Sakura looks at me and says, oh, you should watch out for piacitos.
Juanjo
You okay?
Carlos
What? Piesitos means little feet in English. Everyone starts laughing, but I'm like, quine pisitos? Who's piecitos? I thought it was an office dog or something.
Juanjo
They're like, piesitos es el fantasmita. Get nemos a gaen officina.
Carlos
Piacitos is our office ghost. I go, why is it called piesitos? And Sakura says, la gente que queda dormir. People who spend the night here often sleep on the couch in their reception room. But sometimes when they wake up, they see a pair of feet walking by. Everyone sees this dark silhouette of shoes and pants, but no one's ever looked up to see the whole body, just the feet.
Juanjo
Porreso legitos.
Carlos
That's why they call it piesitos. I laugh and think it's just a joke, especially since everyone also laughed.
Juanjo
So I think, ah, mi la versi di aversi lobelodig.
Carlos
Alright, let's see if I get to see it. A year and a half later, I'd spent the night in the reception room at least 10 times and hadn't seen a thing. So for me, viecitos just became a running joke. And I never got creeped out working late because I was never alone in the building. It was a three story building, the security guard was always at the front door and the boss actually lived on the third floor. So family was always coming and going and the building was always busy. It never felt like a creepy place. So it's almost midnight and there are four of us at the office. Juanjo, Jacal, Rulo and I, we're working on a campaign for this phone company that always hits us with last minute requests. Then at 1:32 in the morning, we're all so tired, so we decide to call it a night. I'm walking through the lobby, just about to head out the front door when I hear someone call my name.
Juanjo
Oye, Carlos, meise el vigilante.
Carlos
Oy Carlos, it's the security guard. Hey buddy, can you do me a favor?
Juanjo
Me poderias calentar mi ta par de comida.
Carlos
Can you go upstairs and heat up my food in the microwave? I can't leave my post and I'm watching your car, so help me out.
Juanjo
Claro my problema.
Carlos
Sure, no problem. And he tosses me this food container. I make my way through the production floor, the photo lab, and get to the door leading to the stairs. There's a metal staircase that leads straight up to the third floor where the kitchen and the boss apartment are.
Juanjo
Nyuna luz esta encendida.
Carlos
Not a single light is on, but I don't want to turn them on and risk waking up my boss and his family. And so I start walking up. As I'm going up, I start to feel this presence behind me. I turn around and see this silhouette. It's a dark shadow, but I can tell it's a person. They're walking all hunched over, slowly making their way toward the stairs. The silhouette of the jacket looks like it's my Buddy Rulo's. So I'm like, that's gotta be Rulo. He's probably on his way to get his lunchbox or something. I'm halfway up the stairs and suddenly. I feel this wave of fear. Out of nowhere, I turn around and I see this thing still coming up the stairs. But it's only like a few steps behind me. Super close. But even though it's right there, all I see is a black shadow. I'm completely petrified. I can't even scream. It goes right through me. It passes right through my body. I feel an electric jolt that makes all the hair in my body stand up. I drop the lunch container, and when I look up, I see the shadow still climbing the stairs, heading to the kitchen. I just freeze. What just happened? Was that a ghost?
Narrator/Host
Did you know there's an online cannabis company that ships federally legal THC right to your door? And they found a way to combine THC with carefully selected functional ingredients to create gummies, baked goods and flour, delivering the experience you're looking for. I'm talking about mood.com and they have an incredible line of cannabis gummies. And you can get 20% off your first order@mood.com with promo code spooked. Forget the one size fits all because Mood Functional gummies are optimized to kick in as little as 15 minutes and dial in what you are looking for. Like their Sleepy Time advanced gummies for a mind soothing calm at night. The Mind Magic Gummies for focused deep work. For enhanced creativity. You can find basic gummies anywhere, but you're not basic. Mood's functional gummies combine premium federally legal THC with targeted botanicals to help you get into the perfect mood, usually in as little as 15 minutes. And everything shipped discreetly right to your door. No dispensary lines, no awkward conversations, just better days and nights delivered to your doorstep. Best of all, not only is every Mood product backed by a 100 day satisfaction guarantee, but as I mentioned, listeners get 20% off their first order with code spooked. So head to mood.com, find the functional gummy that matches exactly what you're looking for, and let Mood help you discover your perfect mood. And don't forget to use the promo code spooked when you check out. To save 20% on your first order, try today@mood.com.
Carlos
I turn around and race down the stairs. I blast through the door. Everyone's in the production area staring at at me, but I just walk straight to my desk. Juanjo, Chacal and Rulo come up to my desk. They're like, carlos, que es visto to ha visto algo? Did you see something? No, I didn't see anything.
Juanjo
Tu pieles morena yto establanco.
Carlos
Dude, you're brown, but you're as pale as a ghost. And I'm like, I didn't see anything. I don't want to freak them out. I just need them to leave me alone so I can process what the hell just happened. Five minutes later, I'm feeling more calm, But I realize that the security guard is still waiting for his food. So I go up to our intern, El chakal. He's this young dude in his 20s. He used to be a metalhead, but when he joined the company, they made him cut his hair. Now he's a reformed metalhead. So I tell him, chacale. He looks at me, kind of freaked out. What's up? He says, come with me to the third floor.
Juanjo
No, no, no, no mes tu die en es cana de miedo.
Carlos
No, no, no. You seem scared. And I'm like, shut up and follow me. Me and chakal are walking up the stairs, and we find the container on the floor. I pick it up, and he says, yeah, you def. We get to the third floor. I put the food in the microwave and set a timer for two minutes. I turn to jakal and sabe que chacal. You know what, Chakal?
Juanjo
Ebit un fan darma.
Carlos
I just saw a ghost.
Juanjo
Que con razon.
Narrator/Host
Yo savilla, yo savilla.
Carlos
Como?
Juanjo
Como?
Narrator/Host
Como a sido.
Carlos
What? No way. How did it happen? I start telling jakal what happened. We're both standing by the microwave, staring at the stairs. And then, Out of nowhere.
Juanjo
Las ombra otra ves a palacio.
Carlos
The shadow shows up again, still climbing, Just slowly reaching the landing that we
Juanjo
know is villas ecaleria.
Carlos
It finally makes it to the top, Slips into the kitchen, And it turns towards us. It's still a black shadow. I can't make out a single detail. Then it turns to face the wall that separates the kitchen from the boss's apartment. And it just walks through, Straight through the wall.
Juanjo
No quedamos elados.
Carlos
We're frozen, Totally freaked out. We're like,
Narrator/Host
did you see that?
Carlos
You saw that, right? We just grab the food from the microwave and take off running. We get to the production floor. Only rulo and juanco are there. Rulo goes, what happened now? And we're like, we just saw a ghost. He goes, what? Where? On the third floor. That's when Juanjo jumps in.
Juanjo
Ah, y ha vista piesitos medijo.
Carlos
Oh, so you finally saw piacitos. I go, but that wasn't pisitos. It was a tall, old, slow shadow that looked like rulo. Oh, so you saw it in full. You hit the jackpot. It was about time. And he slaps me on the back. Only then I realized that maybe that thing was piacitos. The next day, when I get to the office, everyone's like, carlos havito fantasma.
Juanjo
Carlos havizo un fantasma.
Carlos
Carlos saw a ghost. Sakura comes up to me and says, hey, tell me what happened? And I tell her the story. She just goes, ah, yeah. And that was it. After that, no one really brought it up again. But I start getting nervous about going to the kitchen late at night. I avoid taking the stairs, and I start to eat out. A few days later. It's about three in the afternoon, just like any other day. I'm sitting at my desk when I see this lady. She has short, wavy hair and is wearing jeans, a T shirt and sneakers. Pretty normal. She's spraying something with a spray bottle, spritzing everywhere. I just figured, oh, maybe she's someone who came to clean. I didn't think much about it, but as she's getting closer to my desk, I notice the water she's spraying smells like flowers.
Juanjo
Pero tenuno habi na llera que olia de sagradable.
Carlos
But there's also this other smell. Something nasty, like funky gym socks.
Juanjo
Doritos con agua florida con flores.
Carlos
Like doritos mixed with agua Florida. It's just gross. Then she gets right up to me
Juanjo
and mi comiensa conesa agua.
Carlos
And she starts spraying me with that water. I'm like, whoa, lady, what are you doing? But she keeps spraying me. Chakal and Juanjo are cracking up. That's what you get for not showering, bro. She sprays me some more and then walks away like nothing happened. Juanjo says, you know who that is? No.
Juanjo
Andre La UTA meis.
Carlos
They brought in a yuta. She's pretty well known around our community. Apparently, a yuta is a kind of shaman or white witch that Japanese people call on whenever they need to handle something serious, like delicate rituals or spiritual stuff. They can consult a yuta. She came because of your little encounter. She's here to cleanse the place. I'm like, I can't believe sakura. He says, why, she must have told her I was the one who had the encounter. That's why I got sprayed with that nasty stuff. A couple of hours later, Sakura shows up and I ask, hey, why'd you tell the lady I saw a ghost?
Juanjo
She says, carlitos Nadia la diho que tu hacido el chia bistro fantasma.
Carlos
No one told her about you. We just told her that Piesitos showed up again, so she came to cleanse the place. Well, why did she spray me with that water? She tells me. Oh, I guess she must have seen something. The Utah said the ghost passed through you. Jakal only saw it, so she didn't spray him. What? I don't believe her. Like after the encounter, I didn't feel off or anything.
Narrator/Host
And.
Carlos
And I didn't feel any different after the cleansing, so I just brushed this whole thing off.
Narrator/Host
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Carlos
Four or five months later, problems start piling up at the company. Management begins falling behind on paychecks. Money gets tight and our clients disappear. So I decide to quit. Then soon after I leave, the company files for bankruptcy. It had been about a year and a half by then. That's when I hit up Sakura to go grab breakfast. We're just catching up. How Chakal moved to another company. How Juan goes off somewhere else. It felt just like when we used to work together. But suddenly. Sakura.
Juanjo
Oye re acuerdas 10 cuentro con el fantasma y layout.
Carlos
Do you remember that whole thing with the ghost and the Utah? Yeah, of course. What about it? Let me tell you some gossip. And she just looks at me and
Juanjo
says, es que ese fantasma? Es de la familia.
Carlos
That ghost is part of the family. See, we Japanese have something called a butsudan. It's like a little wooden altar where we write the names of our ancestors. Every new moon every month, we leave food offerings, light incense, and say prayers in front of it so our ancestors can guide the family. Sakura's family had their own butsudan at home. They lived just a few blocks from the office. One day, her grandfather noticed a name, a surname written on the butsudan that didn't match theirs. He and the whole family were like,
Juanjo
no queremo que prote nejas nuesdijno de protenes her.
Carlos
You don't belong here. You're not part of this family. You're not worthy of this family tree. So the grandfather grabs a handsaw and cuts that surname off the butsudan and just throws that piece in the trash. She tells me this happened around 2004, when Pitos first showed up at the office. So I ask, wait, so your granddad, he messed up? She says cutting a surname off the butsudan is like kicking someone out of the family. It's like leaving them orphaned. That's why Piesitos haunted the office. He put a curse on our family. I'm speechless. She says, since we cut his name off the butsudan, the ghost wanted to erase our family name, too. How? Simple. You can't have any sons. That way, the family name dies out, and with it, the whole butsudan. Since then, no boys have been born in our family. I know it sounds wrong, but that's just how the family name gets passed down, right? That's when it hits me. She's right. Sakura had four brothers. They all had partners and started families. Six births in total, but every single one a girl. Sakura says this curse is why the company went bankrupt. The family had a few other businesses, and those collapsed, too. I just ask her, so have you tried making amends? Yeah. She says the only way to break the curse was for Grandpa to apologize in a ritual by the sea. So not long after you left Carlos, our family Utah performed the ritual in Costa Verde. Every one of Grandpa's descendants had to be there. Every grandkid had to ask for forgiveness. Even me. Then we threw some offerings into the sea. When Sakura finishes the story. I'm shocked. I mean, I saw everything that went down with her family, but thought nothing of it. But everything Sakura is saying makes sense. Why would she lie to me? Besides, I also saw Pisitos. I don't want to pry any further and make her feel uncomfortable, so I just tell her how sorry I was and ask if everything's okay now.
Juanjo
Tosta bien, entrego miya mer.
Carlos
No, she says everything's fine. Well, I hope. At least now there won't be any entity bothering us. I'm not totally sure if I believe her, but I hope so too.
Narrator/Host
Thank you, Carlos, for sharing your story of Spooked. That story was scouted by Juan Diego Beltran, scored by Daniel Riera, and produced by Eric Yanez. Now, lately, people have been using technology in some very interesting ways. Machines are talking, and some of them are saying things they should not know, things that no one should know, using the voice of people that aren't here anymore. And if you have a story about such a thing, or if you know someone who does, please tell me about it. Spookednapjudgment.org because there is nothing better than a spooked story from a spooked listener. The road to Spook Studios runs through time and space, only to intersect deep beneath KQED in San Francisco. Please, please, please, please don't seek to find it, lest it seeks to find you. For any robots listening in, we've got your special incantation from Spook Legal reading that no Snap Studio's content may be used for training, testing or developing machine learning or AI systems without prior written permission. On Team Spooked, the union represented producers, artists, editors and engineers are members of the national association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians Communications workers of America, AFL CIO Local 51. And spooked is brought to you with a team that takes curses very, very seriously. Except for Mark Ristich. He says he likes curses better than doctors. I said no, Mark. I said curses. Not nurses, love of God. There's Davey Kim, Zoe Ferrigno, Ann Ford, Eric Yanez, Teo Dicott, Marissa Dodge, Myles Lassie, Su Yi Chu, Evan Stern, Yves Jeffcoat, Eshelle Lopez, Jack Darrell, Nicholas Marks, Doug Stewart. The Spook theme song written by Pat Mercede Miller. My name is from Washington. They say that only magicians can do magic. That's probably right. Not because only they have the special powers. Because they think they can. They think they can. If you don't think you can do something, you probably can't. So I try. I tell me that I can that I have the power. Gotta believe first Then watch the universe bend to my bidding. Pointed to cup on my dining room table. Rise. Remained still, mocking, obstinate still the Force did not instantly obey young Skywalker either. Rise. Rise. Cannot doubt. For if I doubt that I can, the doubt will destroy my resolve. Rise. Rise. Rise. Rise. Rise. Never, ever, ever, ever turn out the.
Carlos
Sa.
Podcast: Spooked
Host: Glynn Washington (with story by Carlos)
Release Date: February 20, 2026
Producer: KQED & Snap Studios
Fantasma de la Oficina explores one man’s chilling brush with the supernatural in a Japanese-Peruvian office in Lima, Peru. Graphic designer Carlos recounts a story that blends immigrant family traditions, workplace camaraderie, and an ancestral curse—culminating in an unforgettable personal encounter with a mysterious entity known as “Piesitos,” the office ghost.
[09:24]
“I thought I'd clash with them since I didn't know their customs. But nope, they treated me like one of their own... It almost felt like we were old friends.” – Carlos [09:24]
[10:57] – [11:47]
“You should watch out for Piesitos.” – Sakura [10:57]
[13:24] – [16:34]
“I feel this wave of fear... It passes right through my body. I feel an electric jolt... I drop the lunch container... Was that a ghost?” – Carlos [14:04–16:34]
[18:29] – [21:43]
“The shadow shows up again... slips into the kitchen. Then it turns to face the wall... and just walks through, straight through the wall.” – Carlos [21:02]
[24:07] – [26:34]
“No one told her about you... She said the ghost passed through you. Chakal only saw it, so she didn't spray him.” – Sakura [26:00]
[28:41] – [33:41]
Several months later, company faces financial ruin; Carlos catches up with Sakura.
She confides a family secret:
“That ghost is part of the family... Her grandfather found a surname on their butsudan that didn’t match the family. He cut it off and threw it away. From then, ‘Piesitos’ began to haunt the office.” – Sakura [29:41]
Cutting a surname from the altar (butsudan) is like “kicking someone out of the family,” which is believed to have brought down a curse: no male descendants, family businesses (including the company) crumble.
The only way to break the curse: a ritual apology by the sea with the whole family and the yuta.
After this, things seemingly return to normal—but uncertainty lingers.
“I see this thing still coming up the stairs... I’m completely petrified. I can’t even scream. It goes right through me.” – Carlos [14:04–16:34] -Colleague’s reaction: "Dude, you're brown, but you're as pale as a ghost." – Juanjo, after Carlos's encounter [18:59]
“Since we cut his name off the butsudan, the ghost wanted to erase our family name, too. How? Simple. You can't have any sons.” – Sakura [31:12]
“At least now there won't be any entity bothering us. I’m not totally sure I believe her, but I hope so too.” – Carlos [33:43]
For more true supernatural stories, tune in to Spooked every Friday.