Spooked Podcast — Skinwalker - Classic (December 5, 2025)

Episode Overview

In this haunting episode of Spooked, host Glynn Washington introduces the long-awaited “Skinwalker” story, delving deep into the chilling and largely unspoken legend of shape-shifting witches from Indigenous communities. Storyteller Lee recounts eerie, generational experiences with skinwalkers—supernatural beings said to possess the power of transformation and terrifying power over the living. Through vivid family storytelling, the episode explores both inherited warnings and hair-raising firsthand encounters, merging folklore, trauma, and fear into a powerful oral tapestry.

Main Themes & Purpose

• Unveiling Forbidden Stories: The Skinwalker legend is shrouded in fear and taboo; just speaking of it is considered dangerous.
• Intergenerational Folklore: Lee and their family pass down warnings, tales, and personal run-ins with mysterious, seemingly inhuman figures.
• Fear, Race & Curses: The episode weaves in personal, historical, and cultural perspectives on fear, marginalization, and otherness.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. A Prologue on Curses and Storytelling

“Lies are curses, and curses are lies.” — Glynn Washington (04:32)

• Glynn Washington opens with a personal memory: a preacher’s racist reinterpretation of the Noah story, delivering a curse narrative about blackness (02:37–04:32).
• Washington confronts this narrative, claiming his own power and beauty, setting a tone of turning fear into strength.

2. Introducing the Skinwalker Legend

(05:11–06:13)

• Glynn explains the long search for an authentic skinwalker story given the taboo surrounding these tales in Native communities.
• Emphasizes the gravity and danger perceived in even discussing skinwalkers.

3. Family Ghost Stories — Grandmother’s Fireside Tales

(06:19–14:16)

• Lee recalls childhood nights filled with ghost stories and the comfort of family (best frybread in the world), building suspense in safety (06:19–07:49).

• Key Quote:

  “Are they true?”
  “They’re all true.” — Lee's Grandmother (07:09)

• The narrative focuses on Lee’s great-grandfather, a sheep herder, who had conflicts with a neighbor believed to practice black magic (06:19–10:49).

  • The Encounter:
    • One night, Lee’s great-grandfather spies on his neighbor, finding him naked by a fire, chanting—known signs of witchcraft (08:35–09:29).
    • Understanding the threat, but emboldened by knowledge, he confronts the neighbor:

      “I know what you do.” (11:06)

    • The neighbor begs for secrecy; the revelation of his deeds results in his mysterious illness and death—a warning of “knowledge as power and danger.” (12:06–12:31)

4. Skinwalkers vs. Ghosts: Real & Physical Danger

(12:49–14:16)

• Lee explains that while ghost stories abound, skinwalkers represent a real, physical threat to the community (13:14).
• Warnings from elders included not traveling alone at night and never calling attention to these beings.

5. Transmission of Trauma — Lee’s Father’s Story

(14:38–16:51)

• Lee’s father, on a church mission in the Midwest, is gripped by unexplainable dread when a fur-covered man suddenly appears, looks him in the eye, and disappears—an encounter echoing the skinwalker legends.

  • Memorable Moment (16:14–16:21):

    “My dad said that he looked very sad, very tired.” — Lee

• The event leaves Lee’s father “messed up,” convinced it wasn’t an ordinary person, deepening the fear within the family.

6. Grandfather’s Ritual Rite & Shared Figure

(17:28–20:28)

• Lee’s grandfather, during a coming-of-age ceremony, also encounters a strange, fur-clad man with miserable, haunting eyes.
• The men share a brief exchange (“wanting to die”), and the grandfather flees, forever changed (19:10–19:38).
• Lee notes the uncanny possibility that this was the same figure seen by both generations, despite distances in time and geography.

7. Rules of Survival: “Stay Clear of Them”

(21:36–22:15)

“Don’t try to conjure them or call them by whistling at night... If you do, this skinwalker will make itself known. It’ll chase you, it’ll follow you home.” — Lee (21:36)

• Lee shares the common-sense warnings and superstitions passed down to avoid skinwalker encounters, emphasizing isolation, darkness, and the dangers of curiosity.

8. Lee’s Own Encounter — The Chase

(22:15–30:49)

• At 14, Lee is driving a truck at dusk, dropping off a neighbor. Returning home with their younger brother and dog, Lee sees what appears to be a sheep but soon realizes it’s a creature “uncurling, stretching out”—a tall, furred, humanoid figure (25:09).

• A chase ensues; despite Lee pushing the truck to 65 mph on a dirt road, the creature keeps pace. Abject terror—the dog barks wildly, Lee’s brother cries out, “It’s coming up on your side!” (27:35).

  • Key Quote (27:00–27:20):

    “I’ve never been so scared in my life… Is this thing gonna kill us?” — Lee

• Only when they pass another car does the creature vanish, leaving Lee and their brother in terrified relief and fundamentally changed.

• Grandma, notably unfazed, offers only:

  “Yeah, stuff like that happens around here.” (29:47–30:11)

9. Legacy of Fear — The Cycle Continues

• After the incident, Lee becomes afraid to visit their grandmother and avoids the outdoors at night, with the previously innocent joys now tainted by dread (30:26–30:49).
• Several years later, Lee overhears their father crying after spotting the same fur-clad man while driving through Arizona:
  • The father’s emotional response—crying, shaken—demonstrates the deep psychological toll these encounters extract (31:55–33:07).
  • Lee fixates on the pattern: great-grandfather, grandfather, father, and self—all encountering the same figure. Lee now wonders if their own children will someday be faced with it (33:33–34:06).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• On Curses:

  “Lies are curses, and curses are lies.” — Glynn Washington (04:32)

• On Truth and Stories:

  “I would ask her to tell us true ghost stories... Her reply is, ‘They’re all true.’” — Lee (07:09)

• On Confrontation:

  “I know what you do.” — Lee’s grandfather to neighbor (11:06)

• On Skinwalker Reality:

  “For me, that was scarier than a ghost. Because a ghost, I was always told, couldn’t hurt me, whereas a skinwalker could actually physically hurt you.” — Lee (13:14)

• On the Creature:

  “It was like almost like uncurling, crouching, stretch out and just stand up straight. It was tall, and it was very thin. And it had long arms, it had long legs. It had fur on its shoulders, had fur on its arms, had fur on its legs.” — Lee (25:19–25:51)

• On Intergenerational Encounters:

  “I wonder if it is the same person... If what I saw, what my dad saw twice, and what my grandpa saw... I wonder if it’s the same person.” — Lee (33:33–33:50)

Important Segment Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment Description | |------------|---------------------------------------------------| | 00:40–04:42| Washington’s prologue on curses & personal story | | 05:11–06:13| Intro to Skinwalker legend & taboo | | 06:19–12:49| Lee’s family stories: grandmother & great-grandfather’s skinwalker encounter | | 14:38–16:51| Lee’s father’s skinwalker encounter | | 17:28–20:28| Grandfather’s ritual encounter with skinwalker | | 22:15–30:49| Lee’s firsthand truck chase encounter | | 31:39–34:06| Lee’s father’s later-life encounter & emotional fallout |

Overall Tone & Impact

• Deeply suspenseful, reverent, and personal.
• Interweaves fear, skepticism, and awe with warmth and familial love.
• Intimate, oral storytelling both preserves and brings to life the dangerous reality of traditional legends, linking the supernatural with real-world trauma and intergenerational memory.

Closing

Host’s Final Words:

“Evil comes in different shapes and sizes. There is no foolproof method for keeping the dark side at bay. But you don’t need to throw out the welcome mat either... Never ever, never ever, never, never ever, never ever turn out the...” — Glynn Washington (36:00–end)

A chilling reminder: the power of these stories is in their telling—and their warning.