The Empty Chair

Summary

Podcast Summary: Spooked – Episode: The Empty Chair

Introduction

In the March 14, 2025 release of Spooked, hosted by Glynn Washington and produced by KQED and Snap Studios, listeners are immersed in a chilling firsthand account of supernatural encounters titled "The Empty Chair." This episode delves deep into the eerie experiences of Max, an 8-year-old boy from Santiago, Chile, whose family becomes entangled with unexplainable phenomena following the death of his grandmother. The story navigates themes of grief, guilt, and the thin veil between the living and the dead, offering listeners a haunting exploration of the supernatural.

Host’s Introduction

The episode begins with Glynn Washington setting a suspenseful tone. At [00:04], he introduces the concept of the show with a dramatic monologue that blurs the lines between reality and the supernatural:

"As I prepare my instruments... Oh, I'm not a doctor. You've crossed over to Spooked." ([00:04])

Glynn also announces exciting news about the upcoming Spook Live tour, inviting listeners to share their own supernatural stories for a chance to perform on stage.

Max’s Supernatural Story

Max, the central storyteller, shares his family's unsettling experiences with what appears to be the spirit of his deceased grandmother. His narrative is both personal and atmospheric, painting a vivid picture of the haunting events.

a. Initial Strange Occurrences

Max begins by describing the nightly rituals of his mother, a seamstress dedicated to her craft despite the late hours:

"It was probably around fall. Me and my family were having lunch... we heard the garden's gate was opened... no one was there." ([08:31])

The initial signs of paranormal activity start subtly with unexplained noises and movements, leading the family to attribute these events to ghosts in jest.

b. Mother's Encounters

The situation intensifies as Max recounts his mother's direct interaction with the supernatural:

"She was sweeping kind of to the rhythm of the song... but she just looks at us and she says, well, lately I've been missing my mom a lot, and for the past couple nights she's actually coming to visit me." ([14:17])

His mother begins to feel the presence of her deceased mother, Orieta, manifesting through sounds and apparitions. These encounters are both comforting and terrifying, as his mother perceives her late mother’s presence while grappling with depression.

c. The Family's Reactions

The family's initial skepticism evolves into genuine fear and concern. Max describes how his mother’s behavior fluctuates between depression and moments of eerie happiness, believed to be influenced by her mother’s spirit.

"She was hoping that it was her mother coming to visit her. It was almost the promise of making peace with her past." ([27:27])

The family's attempts to address these occurrences include spiritual rituals like burning palo santo to cleanse the house, which Max describes as both frightening and strangely reassuring.

d. The Climactic Apparition

The tension reaches its peak when the family witnesses a shadowy figure and experiences forceful door movements:

"I see this shadow pass between us and the light from the TV... we all saw it." ([27:27])

This climactic moment solidifies the reality of the supernatural presence in their home, leading to heightened fear and confusion among family members.

e. Aftermath and Theories

Following the intense episodes, Max reflects on the possible reasons behind these supernatural events. He theorizes that his mother, dealing with unresolved grief and guilt, may have inadvertently summoned the spirit of her mother, creating a persistent and malevolent presence in their home.

"I came up with the theory that maybe my mom let in this spirit to our house... She was hoping that it was her mother coming to visit her." ([27:27])

Insights and Conclusions

Max's story offers a poignant look into how grief and unresolved emotions can manifest in supernatural experiences. The narrative suggests that the family's interactions with the spirit were not random acts of malevolence but rather manifestations of his mother's internal struggles. This episode highlights the complex relationship between the living and the dead, and how the past can intrude into the present in both comforting and terrifying ways.

Notable Quotes

1. Glynn Washington:

   "I've been used to seeing her very depressed for so long." ([14:17])

2. Max:

   "I feel like my mom was coming back from where she was before. Nothing ever happens again." ([27:27])

3. Glynn Washington:

   "Magic is what happens when technology fails when we need to know." ([34:03])

Closing Remarks

Glynn Washington wraps up the episode by reflecting on the nature of the supernatural and the intricate ways in which it intertwines with our understanding of reality. He quotes Arthur C. Clarke to emphasize the thin line between magic and unexplained phenomena:

"Magic isn't what happens when technology advances. Magic is what happens when technology fails..." ([34:03])

Glynn invites listeners to share their own encounters with the "other," encouraging a community of shared supernatural experiences.

Conclusion

"The Empty Chair" is a compelling episode that blends personal narrative with broader existential questions about the supernatural. Through Max's detailed account, listeners are invited to explore the complex emotions surrounding grief and the possibility of life beyond death. The episode masterfully balances storytelling with atmospheric elements, making it a standout installment in the Spooked series.

Transcript

[Glenn Washington]

As I prepare my instruments, I tell the person lying on the gurney that I have done this procedure several times. Doctor, doctor, she asks. Will I be okay? I turn on the gas and pull the anesthesia mask over her face. Oh, I'm not a doctor. You've crossed over to Spooked. Stay tuned. Big news in Spook land because this fall we're going on tour. Spook Live. I can't wait. It's going to be awesome. And here's where you come in. Looking for amazing, mystical, magical storytellers who can rock their true story of touching the supernatural on stage in front of thousands of people. Do you know somebody who needs to be on the Spooked Live stage? Are you somebody who needs to be on the Spooked Live stage? Let me know spookednapjudgment.org tell me about your relationship to the Shadow, to the mystery unfolded over time. The twists, the turns, the shocks. [e-mail] because there is nothing better than a spooked story from a spooked listener. [e-mail] and don't turn out the lights.

[Hershey's Chocolate Ad]

Hershey's Milk Chocolate with Whole Almonds makes for a wholly amazing, wholly delicious experience that's well Holy Hershey's, everyone. To get to experience the satisfying surprise of a whole almond tucked inside creamy Hershey's Chocolate. So don't wait your whole life to try Hershey's Milk Chocolate with Whole Almonds. And if you've already had it, then chances are you're already a lifelong fan of this confectionary delight. Find Hersey's Milk Chocolate with Whole Almonds. Wherever candy is sold.

[Glenn Washington]

It's crazy to recall, but in another life before Spooked, I went to law school, walked the halls of power. And at this law school, there's a list. If you fight your way to the top of the list, doors are open, tables set, futures are promised. But land further down the list, these same doors slam shut. Understand the profession of law does not embrace people like me. I hear their whispers. To even have a chance, I must land on the top of their list. Yet I know pretending to belong here is a lie. A make believe mask still had me ate this. My grandparents picked cotton. Shoot. My parents picked cotton for this chance. So against my better angels, against my weeping inner voice, I make a bargain with darkness in exchange. Older than time, I gamble. But I can touch the shadow and remain unharmed. So instead of ignoring their barbs, I feed on every slight Every dismissal, every sneer, stoking the heat of rage. I hear them, how they get in here. Black bastard. Stupid. That smug laughter from those of the manner born. I stoke the storm. Because in the anger, in the fury, there is power. What, Chad? You think you can best me? Beat me? You don't know where I'm from. I will skate next to madness. Will you? My rage reads their books again and again. Rage whispers, they said you don't belong here. Rage does not sleep. Rage burns the midnight oil. Rage checks and rechecks. Rage knows each and every person is my enemy and treats them accordingly. Because each and every person wants what must be mine. The terrible, awful, really bad thing is, in the end, when I find I finally forced myself to walk alone, step by step, over to the judgment wall to see the final grades, I look up and find my name high on bare list. Not the very top, but high enough. Because rage works. Rage was right. Rage is a truth teller, a problem solver, but not a deed done. I need to put rage back in the bottle because I want light, companionship, laughter again. To feel something, to feel anything beside fury. But this rage, this new self, refuses to go. The broken, vanquished, better part of me wails, shrieking, screaming. I told you. I told you we should never have let this monster in. What? Who do you let in? Max is just 8 years old, lives in Santiago, Chile, with his three sisters, his dad, his mom and his mom's oppression. I'll let Max take it from here. Spooked.

[Max]

My mom, she's a seamstress. It was mostly for the community. If kids had to have costumes for a specific tradition, or like musical theater. Sometimes she would also fix clothes for us and other moms in the neighborhood if they needed something for their kids. She would, you know, do those things. So she was very good at that. She would stay up late sewing. Since it was a small house and the walls between each room, they were not very thick. In the dead of night, we would hear the sewing machine going off. It was a very old machine, very good quality, but very NOISY. Especially at 3am, 4am it became a bit frustrating if I had to get up early the next day. But at some point it also became a bit comforting. The sound of the machine. It was telling me that she was there, she was present. So it was probably around fall. Me and my family were having lunch. We were just having some small talk. We heard that the garden's gate was opened, which is very unusual because someone would need the keys to get in. But we didn't give any extra set of keys to any uncles or family friends. So that was weird. We looked at each other and after a couple seconds, we heard a knocking on the door. My older sister, Soledad, she made a joke about how it's probably the Mormons handing off, you know, Bibles or their. Their little pamphlets. My dad got up and walked to their door, opened it, and there was no one there. So he comes back to the table and he says, oh, it's probably just a ghost. We laughed about it because from where I come from, it's what you usually say when you cannot really find the reason why something happened. So a week or two later, we're having lunch again on a weekend. We're all sitting down and small talking. And then it happened again. We heard the garden gate open and then we heard the knocking on the door. I thought it was pretty weird. And I noticed that my sisters were a bit concerned because they exchanged looks. But my dad, he just distracted us, talking about things about the news that he didn't really agree with to just focus our attention away from that thing that we cannot really explain.

[Glenn Washington]

Big news in spook land. Because this fall, we're going on tour, Spook Live. I can't wait. It's going to be awesome. And here's where you come in. Looking for amazing, mystical, magical storytellers who can rock their true story of touching the supernatural on stage in front of thousands of people. Do you know somebody who needs to be on the Spooked Live stage? Are you somebody who needs to be on the spooked Live stage? Let me know spookednapjudgment.org tell me about your relationship to the shadow, to the mystery unfolded over time. The twists, the turns, the shocks. Spooked Snap judgment. Because there is nothing better than a spooked story from a spooked listener. [e-mail] and don't turn out the lights.

[Hershey's Chocolate Ad]

Hershey's Milk Chocolate with whole almonds makes for a wholly amazing, wholly delicious experience that's well holy Hershey's, everyone. To get to experience the satisfying surprise of a whole almond tucked inside creamy Hershey's chocolate. So don't wait your whole life to try Hershey's Milk Chocolate with whole almonds. And if you've already had it, then chances are you're already a lifelong fan of this confectionary delight. Find Hershey's Milk Chocolate with whole almonds wherever candy is sold.

[Max]

One night, the sound of her machine woke me up and I felt the need to go to the bathroom. So I just went out my room and I saw my mother's room. I saw the door open and I can see her from behind. She's looming over the machine. She didn't even notice that I was there looking at her. She was just completely 100% focused on her sewing. And next to her she has this old wooden chair placed as if someone was next to her. Looking at her work, I thought to myself, why is she working with an empty chair next to her? But I just brushed it off, went to the bathroom, did my thing, and then went back to bed. I remember a couple times, a couple nights doing the same route, you know, needing to go to the bathroom at 3, 4, 5am and my mom was. Would never close her door. It was always open. So every time I would walk outside of her room, I would see her and the chair. On Sundays, we'll do a general cleaning of the house. She would usually be on a weird mood, and she would like to do things the way that she does it and in a very specific way or. Or she didn't want to be bothered. But this Sunday, I noticed that she was playing music very loudly because she's in a good mood. She was sweeping kind of to the rhythm of the song. We have two dogs that would try to play with a broom, and she would usually tell them to piss off, but that day she didn't. And she was laughing with the dogs, like playing with the dogs, which made a big difference to me. It was curious to see her like that because I've been used to seeing her very depressed for so long. We all noticed it. My older sister Soledad, she asks my mom, hey, like, you seem in a better mood. Like, did something happen? Did something in particular happen? She just looks at us and she says, well, lately I've been missing my mom a lot, and for the past couple nights she's actually coming to visit me. I felt surprised because by this point my grandmother had died eight years ago. She says that when she's sewing, she can feel that someone is behind her and that she can feel someone softly breathing next to her ear and that somehow she knew that it was her mom. I felt like a tingle through my spine. I personally thought it was scary to even picture that, that you would be doing something at night by yourself and you would feel someone breathing next to you. But she said that she was not afraid. And then she said that. So for her not to get tired, I would put a seat next to me. So she can sit with me so she doesn't have to stand up. So after my mom says this out loud, I can see that my sisters are as shocked as I am. My dad as well. This awkward silence takes over. I think we all felt a bit bad for her. I thought that she was getting better, and it was actually just that she thought that her mom would come visit. No one really challenged her views. I think we all felt more comfortable with her having these moments of happiness than just plain old depression. My older sister, Soledad, she comments on how good the food is. She's oh, yeah, the food is very good. Like, thank you for making this and change the topic. So it's a few weeks later I came back home from the mall with my dad, and my sisters are in the. In the living room. I ask my sisters, where's mom? And they tell me that she's in her room. She spent in her room all day sewing, so I shouldn't, you know, go bother her. We turn on the tv. We were watching something. Then we hear her bedroom door open. And she comes crying, like, completely hyperventilating. She's freaking out, so she couldn't speak very clearly. I remember my dad grabbed her and hugged her. And we sat her on the couch, we put on some water to boil, and we made her a tea. And when she calms down, she tells us that she heard the phone ringing. My mom had a phone of her own in her room in her studio. And when she picked it up, she said, hello, Is anyone there? She cannot hear anything from the other side of the line. But then before she decides to hang up, she starts hearing a breathing, a very soft breathing. And then that breathing becomes louder and raspier and more labored. And that's when she tells us that it sounded exactly the way that her mom would sound, like at her last stage of her cancer. And then my mom asks, mom, are you there? Like, is it you? And then the breathing becomes louder and louder. It becomes very, very deep and loud and calls for her name. Orieta. Orieta. That's when my mom freaks out and throws the phone and leaves the room and comes to us. I'm petrified. I feel like my heart is racing because I can see my mom freaking out in front of me. I saw on her face a very special mixture of sadness and fear that I have never seen in anyone else. I also saw that my sisters and my dad were freaking out. He was walking back and forth in the living room, trying to get close to my mom, but also Taking a step back because he knew that she was very upset. So after this episode, my mom, that night, she didn't sew. She went to bed pretty early. She was very exhausted. It was one of the few nights in which I didn't hear the sewing machine. That made me very uncomfortable. The following days, my mom became very depressed again. She was not interacting with us as much. She isolated herself again. It was early in the morning, I would say 10 or 11am I was sitting on the couch in the living room reading a book about dinosaurs because I was obsessed with them. I hear my sisters talking in the dining room. And when I go to meet them, they are starting to burn the palo santo. My older sister Soleda tell me, like, oh, this is just, you know, a little ceremony. I thought it was exciting. So they start burning the palo santo and a lot of smoke is coming out of it. Like a lot. I've never seen so much smoke. They were walking around the house slowly burning the palo santo and I got a bit scared because I thought maybe the house is going to catch a fire. But then when I was just surrounded by smoke, I felt very safe, as if it was, you know, a screen to protect me and protect us from this thing, from this spirit. They start reciting these passages. We waited for the palo santo to consume itself. Nothing happens right away. After this ceremony, we do our things as usual. I don't remember that we even talked about it, but I instantly felt safer. To me, that was enough.

[Glenn Washington]

Craig here pays too much for business wireless, so he sublet half his real estate office to a pet shop. There's a smarter way to save Comcast business mobile. You can save up to an incredible 70% on your wireless bill, so you don't have to compromise. Powering smarter savings, powering possibilities. Switch to Comcast business Internet and mobile and find out how to get the new Samsung Galaxy S25 plus on us for the qualifying trade in. Don't wait, call, click or visit an Xfinity store. Today, big news in spookland, because this fall we're going on tour. Spook Live. I can't wait. Wait. It's going to be awesome. And here's where you come in. Looking for amazing, mystical, magical storytellers who can rock their true story of touching the supernatural on stage in front of thousands of people. Do you know somebody who needs to be on the Spook Live stage? Are you somebody who needs to be on the Spook Live stage? Let me know. Spookednapjudgment.org Tell me about your relationship to the shadow, to the mystery unfolded over time. The twists, the turns, the shocks. [e-mail] because there is nothing better than a spooked story from a spooked listener. [e-mail] and don't turn out the likes.

[Max]

After the ceremony took place, we were sitting in the living room in the couch. We were all cramped against each other watching this reality TV show. On the right side of the couch, there is the door to enter the house. And the lights were off. The only light that was on was coming from the tv. I feel this icy cold wind passed in front of us. I thought to myself, maybe I left the window open. But then I immediately remember that I closed all the windows earlier. It was very strange. After the wind passes, after a couple seconds, I see this shadow pass between us and the light from the tv. It's about a meter and a half tall and it doesn't really have a definitive shape. And when it passes between us and the tv, it doesn't completely block out the light. It's still semi transparent. What is that? And I noticed that my sisters and my mom also reacted to it. We all saw it. We all kind of stood up from where we were sitting. And then we saw the door open. It is an old door that makes a lot of noise, but this time it didn't. It opened very smoothly. I felt goosebumps all over my skin. We were all looking at each other. And before it even closed, we heard the garden gate open. And after a couple seconds of just silence and tension, the door closed very strongly. And then we heard the garden gate close again. My sister kind of jumped and screamed and my mom was just shocked. My sister turned to my mom and they said at almost the same time, like, did it leave? And to me that was what gave away that we were all thinking the same thing. After all that, I went to bed and I heard my mom get into her studio. She turned on the sewing machine and after a couple seconds she started playing music again. I heard that specific blend of the buzzing of the sewing machine and the music and it made me feel safer. I woke up again around 4am and walked up to her room and the seat was not there anymore. It was only her sitting by herself. To me, that also felt safe because I felt like my mom was coming back from where she was before. Nothing ever happens again. I personally think that there was this spirit and that was the thing that was opening the garden's gate. And then knocking on the door. To me, what made this spirit evil was that it slowly came close to my mom pretending it was my grandmother. This spirit, this entity, is scaring everyone on purpose. And my grandma, being the sweet lady that she was, she would never do that. She would never scare us. It wasn't till my mid-20s that I came up with the theory that maybe my mom let in this spirit to our house. My grandmother, when she started to get sick, my mom developed some sort of avoidance to, you know, the painful reality of what it's like to have a mom with a cancer. So she started going to their family house, much less. And when her mother died, she started feeling these very strong feelings of guilt and shame. I can see my mom just sewing for hours in the middle of the night. I always picture her just thinking about her mom, ruminating about their relationship, hearing the door and inviting it in. She was hoping that it was her mother coming to visit her. It was almost the promise of making peace with her past.

[Glenn Washington]

Thank you Max, for sharing your story with the Spooked. That piece was scouted by Elizabeth Z. Pardieu, was scored by Laleen Saint Just, was produced by Zoe Frigno. Now then, sages have long told us that we share this place with entities that are not us. Not angels, not demons, neither good nor bad, but other. And other wants other needs. Sometimes every once in a while, other wants what we have. And this is a very dangerous place to find yourself. And I wonder if I know someone who's interacted with the other. Perhaps that someone is you. If so, I'd love to know about it. Please send a message, a picture. A passenger pigeon [e-mail] because understand there is nothing better than a spooked story from a spooked listener. Spooked is brought to you but the team that doesn't need to touch the fire to know that it is hot. Except for Mark Ristich. Because to Mark, every day is a brand new adventure. There's David Kim, Zoe Ferrigno, Anne Ford, Eric Yanez, Teo Da Cott, Marissa Dodge, Miles Lassie, Doug Stewart, Paulina Creaky, Elizabeth Z. Pardu, Aditya Matu, Lulu Jemima the Spook theme song it's by Pat Masiti Miller. My name is Glenn Washington and you know Arthur C. Clarke, the brilliant writer, futurist, thinker. He once said that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. And he's kind of right. You flip a switch, light appears, tap an app, food arrives magic. But what about when you're lying in bed and you know with 100% certainty that someone is watching you from the corner of your room? What about when your 3 year old daughter points to an empty chair and she asks daddy why is that man crying? Technology doesn't explain the handprints that appear on the insides of your windows. Doesn't postulate why your dog growls at empty doorways. Doesn't suppose how sometimes you can smell your grandfather's cologne years after he's passed right when you need him most. Now mystery doesn't care about our algorithms because Clark had it backward. Magic isn't what happens when technology advances. Magic is what happens when technology fails when we need to know Someone else else has walked this valley. Someone else sees through this illusion and it might be a candle, it might be a torch it might be just the strike of a match but whatever you do, however you do it, never ever never ever never ever never turn out the lights.