The Iron Gate - Classic

Summary

Spooked – "The Iron Gate" (Classic)

Podcast by KQED and Snap Studios | Hosted by Glynn Washington
Episode Drop Date: July 10, 2026

---

Episode Overview

This chilling classic episode of Spooked, “The Iron Gate,” features U.S. Army veteran Dallas Sanchez recounting a harrowing, otherworldly experience during his deployment to Baghdad. What begins as a tale of war’s usual terrors shifts into something altogether supernatural, as Dallas and his fellow soldiers encounter what they can only describe as a malevolent, inexplicable presence within a war-torn building. With Glynn Washington’s signature atmospheric narration, the episode blurs the edges between psychological fear and genuine haunting, asking: Are some places simply unclean—marked by what has occurred within their walls?

---

Key Discussion Points & Story Beats

Setting the Mood: The Nature of Fear (03:36)

• Glynn Washington opens by sharing a childhood ghost story about playing “Bloody Mary” with his brother and cousin, capturing the universal vulnerability of being both skeptic and believer.
• This prelude introduces the episode’s motif: the potent mix of doubt, bravado, betrayal, and lasting regret when we cross boundaries—paranormal or merely psychological.
  • Notable quote:
    “I don't know what sprang out of that mirror. I don't know what it did. But 30 years later... I wish with all my heart, I wish that I had said no.”
    — Glynn Washington [06:12]

Enter Baghdad: Warzone as Haunting Ground (08:17)

• Dallas Sanchez begins his story, immersing listeners in the hellscape of Baghdad in 2006:
  • Death and danger are everywhere, with daily violence a constant.
  • Living quarters were “cocoon”-like spaces, decorated to remind soldiers of normalcy.
  • Modern war’s physical threats and psychological stress are paralleled with foreboding atmosphere.
• He describes the operations of a Small Kill Team (SKT):
  • Late-night missions, stealth, overwatch setup: tense, silent, relentless.
  • “Benny and the Jets” by Elton John becomes the unofficial mission anthem, a rare comfort before the descent into darkness.
  • Notable quote:
    “It's basically like being in church. Because any sound could compromise you and potentially get everybody that you love killed.”
    — Dallas Sanchez [11:12]

The Mission: The Unclean Building (16:38)

• The seventh or eighth mission: A building in Baghdad, seemingly routine at first.
  • Immediate feelings of dread experienced by several in the squad.
  • A strange, dissonant, “congregation of whispers”—a noise without clear source—permeates the building.
  • Dallas explores an upper room and realizes, via the trajectory of bullet holes (using the “pencil trick”), that the space has been used for executions: a “kill room.”
    • Physical and psychological claustrophobia sets in.
  • Notable quote:
    “It sounded almost like a broken radio... thousands of voices trying to communicate... completely nonsensical.”
    — Dallas Sanchez [16:38]

The Gate: Locked from Reason (22:17)

• The team turns to looting—a common, fraught pastime born of boredom, bravado, and denial of fear.
  • They enter a gated storage unit on the first floor—silent, pitch black, only red tactical lights shining.
  • Dallas finds some paintings, becomes distracted, and suddenly realizes he is entirely alone.
  • Trying to leave, he finds the iron gate inexplicably sealed. Panic rises; fear clashes with the need for silence.
  • Alone, powerless despite being heavily armed, Dallas waits. The gate won’t budge.
    • Notable quote:
      "Whatever was there, wanted all of us out... I stood there for maybe 30 seconds and I just gave up hope and just resigned myself to the fear. And the gate just drifted open."
      — Dallas Sanchez [32:13]

Aftermath: The Haunting Lingers (32:13)

• Escaping, Dallas confronts his friends but finds no one has played a trick. From their perspective, nothing strange happened.

• His interpreter, Sam, tells him: “That place is unclean. Very many people died in that building, so it’s unclean. And no one goes there.”

  • Notable moment: Cultural confirmation of the haunting, a moment that transforms irrational fear into a shared, if unspoken, reality.

• Dallas gives away the painting he looted, feeling its attachment is ominous.

• Reflecting years later, he speaks of newfound respect for the entity or force encountered:

  • Unlike war’s familiar terrors—IEDs, snipers—this force threatened something deeper: the possibility of a fate worse than death, a haunted, inescapable lingering.
  • Notable quote:
    “If you were to die in its presence, it would have a completely different set of consequences than if you were to die just out in sector. Like, you could become trapped.”
    — Dallas Sanchez [36:29]

---

Memorable Quotes & Moments (with timestamps)

• “The person who says they don't believe is always, always the person that screams the loudest...”
  — Glynn Washington [00:01]

• “We turn off every other light... line up in front of the mirror... 10 seconds. Say it. Say it. We gotta say it together.”
  — Glynn Washington (Bloody Mary story) [04:11]

• “Baghdad was really intense… It smelled like old death.”
  — Dallas Sanchez [08:17]

• “It's basically like being in church... any sound could compromise you.”
  — Dallas Sanchez [11:12]

• “The wall was pockmarked with bullet holes... this had to have been a kill room.”
  — Dallas Sanchez [16:38]

• “Whatever was there wanted all of us out. I stood there for maybe 30 seconds and I just gave up hope... and the gate just drifted open.”
  — Dallas Sanchez [32:13]

• “If you were to die in its presence, it would have... a completely different set of consequences... Like, you could become trapped.”
  — Dallas Sanchez [36:29]

---

Important Timestamps

• 03:36 – 06:12: Glynn Washington’s “Bloody Mary” story: childhood fear, betrayal, regret.
• 08:17 – 11:12: Sanchez describes Baghdad, the emotional landscape, and mission rituals.
• 16:38 – 20:34: The initial encounter with the haunted, “unclean” building; the chilling noise and kill-room discovery.
• 22:17 – 29:34: The iron gate episode—the supernatural terror of being trapped.
• 32:13 – 36:29: Aftermath, cultural confirmation, giving away the painting, lasting psychological and spiritual impact.
• 36:29 – End: Glynn’s wrap-up, Dallas’s final reflection on a fate potentially worse than death.

---

Tone & Style

The episode is told in a raw, personal style, with Sanchez’s matter-of-fact delivery lending credibility to his supernatural encounter. Glynn Washington’s narration is atmospheric and thoughtful, framing the story to highlight universal themes: the intersection of rational fear and irrational terror, the burdens of guilt and regret, and the unseen causes that haunt our lives.

---

Summary Takeaway

“The Iron Gate” is less a simple ghost story and more a meditation on trauma—personal, collective, and supernatural. Through Dallas Sanchez’s gripping narrative, we witness how, even amidst the horrors of warfare, there are certain places and moments “unclean”—where past violence seeps into the present, and forces beyond comprehension make themselves felt. Listeners are left with a sense of respect for the unknown, and a chilling reminder: some burdens, earthly or otherwise, are hard to put down and never fully explained.

---

Produced by Anna Sussman. Music by Lena Morimoto and others.
If you too have an inexplicable tale, contact Spooked at [e-mail]

Transcript

[Clem Washington]

Know this. The person who says they don't believe is always, always the person that screams the loudest from Snapchat to its underground lair. You're listening to Spooked. Stay tuned.

[Oregon Lottery Announcer]

Oregon Parks make an Oregon Summer but what makes an Oregon Park? Well, Oregon Lottery Gameplay helps no matter the game Megabucks, video lottery or Keno funds from lottery games help support parks projects across the state, ensuring they stay safe, accessible and open for all. In fact, Discover State Park Scratches are in stores now. It's the perfect way to put a little bit of Oregon's parks in your pocket. The Oregon Lottery Together we do good things. Must be 18 or older to play Lottery games are based on chance and should be played for energy.

[Plan B Advertisement Voice]

Human only Plan B Made over the counter emergency contraception legal more than 20 years ago, it's a safe, effective backup birth control option that helps prevent pregnancy before it starts by temporarily delaying ovulation. Plan B is the number one OBGYN recommended brand and the only one you can find at all major retailers in all 50 US states. There's no minimum age requirement and you don't need an ID to buy it. You can order it through DoorDash and other major delivery platforms too. That's freedom to be Use as directed.

[Clem Washington]

Nothing beats tradition like weekly game nights at Mom's house and Tostitos crafted with Masa made the traditional way, starting with whole corn kernels with flavors worth gathering around like a hint of lime and Mexican street corn and no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. That's the Tostitos way. Bring Tostitos to your next game night and you'll be winning.

[Dallas Sanchez]

Either way.

[Clem Washington]

Tostitos tradition matters.

[GoFundMe/Grainger Advertisement Voice]

This is a paid message from GoFundMe. Meet Juan Naula.

[Dallas Sanchez]

When his son was hospitalized for a

[GoFundMe/Grainger Advertisement Voice]

viral infection, Juan started a GoFundMe to pay for medical expenses.

[Juan Naula]

It was 5k to pay the bill for my son and I need only 22 hours. It was amazing. People really trust on GoFundMe.

[GoFundMe/Grainger Advertisement Voice]

How did Juan raise $5,000 in less than a day?

[Dallas Sanchez]

He posted a short video on GoFundMe

[GoFundMe/Grainger Advertisement Voice]

telling his story in 30 seconds.

[Juan Naula]

30 seconds. Be specific. Be quick and tell what are you going to be using the funds for? I was nervous to do it because it doesn't feel okay to ask money. But you shouldn't be nervous. Sometimes you just have to do it and see the results. We were able to save my son's life thanks to gofundme that we still have my son with us.

[Interviewer]

Start your GoFundMe today at gofundme.com that's

[GoFundMe/Grainger Advertisement Voice]

gofundme.com gofundme.com this message reflects one person's experience. Grainger knows. When you're a procurement manager for an office park, you're not managing one building. You're managing all of them. And to stay ahead, you need to see through walls and around corners. Lights about to fail, filters ready to clog H Vac on its last leg. If you wait until something breaks, you're already behind. Count on Granger for quality products, easy reordering and 24. 7 support. Call 1-800-GRAINGER click grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.

[Clem Washington]

My little brother is exactly one year younger than me. He always has been. My cousin and I are the same age. We go back to Granny's house and my cousin says, at midnight, let's call Bloody Mary. My brother says, no, no, no, we can't. And he looks at me for support. Me, his older brother. But I want to be cool like my cousin. So I tell my brother to stop being a baby. And we laugh.

[Kalshi Advertisement Voice]

No.

[Clem Washington]

He whispers that you can't. You can't. And I tell him at midnight we're gonna see Bloody Mary leap out of the mirror. And I tell him that if he doesn't help out, I'm gonna send Bloody Mary upstairs to his room while he sleeps. No, no, no. Then don't tell Granny. Cause I knew he was gonna tell Granny. He. He's gotta come. Cause we need three people to make it work. My cousin says. Look, I tell him, don't even worry. All you have to do is be there. I'm gonna hold the candle, all right? You just gotta hold my hand, all right? All right. And he nods. The night we wait, excited. After my grandmother falls asleep, after the Six Million Dollar man, after Hawaii five O, after the Rat patrol, it's time. My brother starts with his keening. Some boy. Quit it. Quit. My cousin lights a candle of Granddaddy's lighter from the kitchen table. We turn off every other light in the house and we file into the bathroom and line up in front of the mirror. We've only got 90 seconds on my brother's Casio watch. Shut up, Shut up, shut up. 30 seconds. I can see my little brother squeezing his eyes shut tight, tight, tight in the mirror. 10 seconds. Say it. Say it. We gotta say it together.

[GoFundMe/Grainger Advertisement Voice]

Say it.

[Clem Washington]

Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary.

[Dallas Sanchez]

Bloody Mary.

[Clem Washington]

And I don't see what happens next. Just something in the mirror and my little brother screaming. My cousin screaming, and I'm wondering, what have we done? When my grandmother burst open the door. What I remember. What I remember is the look my brother gives me. The look of betrayal, of shock, of hurt. I'm supposed to be his big brother, and I let something come out at him from this darkness. I don't know what sprang out of that mirror. I don't know what it did. But 30 years later, I wish with all my heart, I wish that I had said no. My name is Clem Washington. Some burdens are hard to put down. Spooked. Start now. Sometimes on our show, you hear tales of people being inexplicable in their own home, in the attic or under the bed. But this next tale that happens to our storyteller when he was very, very far from home. It takes place in Baghdad at a time when American troops were particularly unpopular in that city. A soldier named Dallas Sanchez has been deployed as part of a sniper kill team. Spooked.

[Dallas Sanchez]

Baghdad. Baghdad was insane. Baghdad was really intense. Baghdad was just a constant sensory overload. Tons of extrajudicial killings. You could not leave the FOB without finding, like, a dead body face down in a trash pile because there's no infrastructure. So talk about, like, the smell of the city. It smelled like death. It smelled like old death. This was the end of 06. The war had been going on for three years, and we were in a really hot area of operations.

[Interviewer]

Can you describe your. Where you lived normally? Did you have, like a room? Were you in a tent? Like, where are you living?

[Dallas Sanchez]

It was so close to the Green Zone that it was a super, super cush fob. We actually had, like, barracks. It's like a room, maybe a 10 by 12 foot rectangle. We decorated it. I had my little bed. Actually had a Lou Reed Live in Berlin poster. When you're in the service, not just downrange, I think that those little living spaces, it feels like a cocoon, you know, it feels like you're a little bit safer. This was around Christmas time in 06, and, like, the mission that we were out on was a concurrent skt. And what's an skt, Sorry, skt. Or a small kill team or sniper kill team. Like, the basic tactic would be we would leave the FOB very, very late at night in trucks, roll around the neighborhood with the lights out for several hours. The trucks would slow down to a crawl and we would try and, like, silently open the rear doors. Just a dismount from the truck without slamming anything or making any noise, walk through the Neighborhood as stealthily as you can. We reach like the target house basically from there you just break in and then set up a hide and just pull overwatch over the sector and just wait basically for someone to do something grimy like digging a hole to bury an ied and then we'd respond accordingly. Anyways, yeah, we would have probably at least six hours notice that we were gonna be stepping off.

[Interviewer]

Generally, before heading out on a mission, were there particular things that you would fear? Like, do you remember anything about those moments?

[Dallas Sanchez]

I can remember one time and it ended up becoming a pre mission ritual because Pelky had a really great sound system and he'd be like, dude, we're about to get pumped up for this mission. Press play. Benny and the jets at 50 decibels. Just cranking that out. Benny and the jets became our anthem. You pack up like you're £120 worth of kit and scramble to the top of the truck, get your weapon mounted. I was a gunner. I had my head up out the top just scanning, scanning like a maniac. When you're moving across open ground while scanning, sweating profusely. I mean, like, I know it's public radio, so this analogy would probably never make it on air, but it really is like just doing a fat rail. To have eight guys moving in a file through a neighborhood. It's the point of the mission where you're most exposed, where you're most vulnerable. You have to maintain almost complete silence because aside from the sound of the wind, maybe some dogs barking, there is no sound like so for 72 hours straight. It's basically like being in church. Because any sound could like compromise you and potentially get everybody that you love killed.

[Oregon Lottery Announcer]

Oregon parks make an Oregon summer. But what makes an Oregon park? Well, Oregon Lottery gameplay helps no matter the game. Megabucks, video lottery or keno funds from lottery games help support parks projects across the state, ensuring they stay safe, accessible, and open for all. In fact, Discover state park scratches are in stores now. It's the perfect way to put a little bit of Oregon's parks in your pocket. The Oregon Lottery. Together we do good things. Must be 18 or older to play lottery games are based on chance and should be played for entertainment only.

[GoFundMe/Grainger Advertisement Voice]

Grainger knows. When you're a procurement manager for an office park, you're not managing one building, you're managing all of them. And to stay ahead, you need to see through walls and around corners. Lights about to fail. Filters ready to clog H Vac on its last leg. If you wait until something breaks you're already behind. Count on Grainger for quality products, easy reordering and 24. 7 support. Call 1-800-GRAINGER, click grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.

[Kalshi Advertisement Voice]

The World cup champion will be crowned this week and you can trade the tourney through the finals on Kalshee, America's number one prediction market platform. Right now, Spain is trading at 58% to beat Argentina, meaning 100 trade pays out $166 if they win. On Kalshi, you're trading against other people in a live market. No house, no odds makers. For a limited time, download the Kalshi app and use code hoops to get $10 when you trade $10k a l s h I kalshi trade the beautiful game 18 only restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event contract trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Kalshi available in all jurisdictions. Prices, values and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see kalshi.com regulatory

[Grow Therapy Advertisement Voice]

Summer's supposed to be the easy season. So why are so many people quietly googling a therapist between summer Fridays? Because more daylight doesn't fix the hard stuff. Sometimes it just turns the volume up. Grow Does Therapy Differently Therapy is not only for when you're in crisis. Grow Therapy is here for all the moments when you decide you want more. More support, more clarity, more tools. Mental health isn't a destination you reach, it's something you build, and grow makes that easier. Grow connects you with thousands of high quality licensed therapists across the US offering both virtual and in person sessions, nights and weekends. You can search by what matters like insurance, specialty, identity or availability and get started in as little as days. There are no subscriptions, no long term commitments. You just pay per session. Grow helps you find therapy on your time. The therapist you want takes your insurance on. Grow grow accepts over 125 insurance plans. Sessions average $21 with insurance and some pay as little as $0 depending on their plan. Visit growtherapy.com booknow today to get started. That's growththerapy.com booknow growththerapy.com booknow availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plan.

[Interviewer]

Okay, at the moment that this story takes place, how long had you been in country or how many of these missions had you been on?

[Dallas Sanchez]

So this was probably the seventh or eighth mission that I'd been on. The mission started out typically it felt completely the same as any other mission. So it's probably like around midnight or one or two o'clock in the morning, we approach the building, and before I've even gotten like a chance to drop my ruck, like, my best friend comes up to me and he just looks really shooken up and he's like, dude, there is something wrong here. There's just something bizarre. So immediately walking in this place, the first thing that I noticed was the sound, This dissonant noise. It sounded almost like a broken radio in a room down the hall. Just completely atonal, an entirely disquieting, unwholesome sound. It almost sounded like a congregation of whispers, Like thousands of voices trying to communicate something, but in a completely nonsensical way. And that really was the point where I felt like something was really different this time. I decided that, you know, I was gonna look around some of the upper floors. So as I was walking around like that, the second story, I came into this one room that it was completely stripped bare. Simple cement floor. I don't know what drew my attention to it, but I turned to face the interior wall and just saw that the wall was pockmarked with bullet holes with rounds. So I was standing there looking at these pockmarked walls. It just seemed like something wasn't right, that these, they weren't typical. And my squad leader had showed me this like pencil trick. You can insert like a pencil into like small arms fire against a wall. It'll tell you, like the direction that the fire had come from. So this being the second story, I put the pencil into the wall and it's parallel to the ground, just sticking in. Like it meant that those shots had been fired straight across. As soon as I stuck that pencil in, everything fell into place. This had to have been a kill room. Like they had to have lined people up in here and just executed them. And I just felt a little heave in my stomach. Standing in a kill house. Instantly just felt like the walls just collapsed in on themselves. Felt really claustrophobic. And I just needed to get the out of the room. It seemed like there was a malign presence there that was trying to get somebody killed. And it was totally inexplicable. You have to imagine that all of this is under the backdrop, under the soundtrack of this just discordant noise,

[Juan Naula]

Just

[Dallas Sanchez]

this ever present aural presence,

[Interviewer]

this feeling that you were feeling. What were all the guys feeling that? And was that like a palpable kind of like anxiety in the air?

[Dallas Sanchez]

There's like a. There's an undercurrent of tension. It wasn't like we all huddled together in a Circle and are trading this back and forth. It was people would pair off with their best friend and be like, dude, you would not believe what just happened. Nobody's gonna talk about that because you're showing weakness. I think that if one person were to stand up and be like, guys, this is kind of scary. We would have ripped them apart. So we were left with all of this downtime. And so you have now like half a dozen 20 year old children. And one of the number one pastimes on these skts is looting. Someone is like, hey, there's a storage unit down on the first floor. And that immediately became something that all of us jumped onto because it gives you a chance, I guess, like to prove that you're not afraid of no ghosts. To prove that you're not scared. As soon as that call goes out, like, yeah, no.

[Clem Washington]

What?

[Dallas Sanchez]

Yeah, yeah. Hell yeah, man. I'll root through these peoples that I have no business in. It's almost like an affront to whatever was there. It was just like a gated off unit on the first floor and walked over there.

[Interviewer]

Like a gated off room. Would that be right?

[Dallas Sanchez]

Yeah, basically like a storage space. I mean, exactly like a storage space. And there's just a very simple, symmetrical wrought iron gate on front. Those wrought iron gates are so loud that three of us walked up and got really low to the ground and just grabbed the gate on the bottom and just lift a quarter inch and then quietly walk backwards so that the gate's not rubbing against the ground so that it wouldn't be loud at all. We had left the gate like propped all the way open. So I think about half a dozen of us go into this storage unit. Upturned tables, chairs, clothing, decorations, silverware, all kinds of things. It smells like dust, old and it's pitch black. And the only light in this storage area is coming from our little. Our little red tac lights. It's already like three layers of spooky. Like we couldn't even use our nods in this space. Our night vision goggles because it's so dark, there's so little ambient light. And nods are really for looting anyways because you know you really want to. Yeah, there's an art to this deplorable practice. The only sound is like a light rustling. I'd picked my way probably 2/3 of the way back into the storage unit and I find this cardboard box with a couple of cheap little paintings in it. One of just a pastoral landscape with a creek in it. Since I. Oh, these are gonna look amazing. In my room. Then I turned. After finding them immediately, I turned to my left to show off. My bounty was just met with pitch darkness. Just, just blackness. There was no one else in the room. I was completely alone and I didn't feel like I had tunneled out on these paintings. I mean, this wasn't like the Mona Lisa. It wasn't like I was, you know, just drinking in starry night with, with my eyes. I was just like, huh, these are neat paintings. Hey, check out the. Oh, I'm alone. Makes no sense as to how six guys were able to creep out of a room. You couldn't step on the floor because of all of this furniture, all the crap. Immediately I feel like a leaden weight in my stomach. I just steeled my nerves, put my paintings, tucked them under my arm and started trying to quietly move towards that gate. I'm climbing over this stuff meticulously, but the entire time I just want to run. By the time I got to the front gate, I had really worked myself up into a froth. I was really terrified. I just wanted to get out of there as quickly as I could. And I get up there to the gate and the gate is closed. I get low and lift and start trying to push it open and it just feels like it's sealed, like it's been like concreted in place. But I was not going to cry out. I stood there waiting for a solid two to three minutes, which probably doesn't sound like that long of a time, but when you're sealed in a foreign space with like pitch blackness behind you and the weight of the entire mission security hinging on you, forcing this gate open, it felt like an eternity. There was like a fear welling up in me because there's so many different layers of danger to this. Locked behind a steel gate in an extremely dangerous area and being muzzled like effectively muted.

[Clem Washington]

When we return spooked, the iron gate continues. Stay tuned.

[Plan B Advertisement Voice]

When you're a maintenance engineer in a beverage manufacturing plant, you keep production lines moving and quality on track because there is no room for slowdowns. With Grainger's vast selection of high quality motors, sensors, belts and hard to find parts, you can get what you need fast and all in one place. So nothing gets in the way of getting the job done. Call 184- Click ranger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.

[Kalshi Advertisement Voice]

The World cup champion will be crowned this week and you can trade the tourney through the finals on kalshi, America's number one prediction market. Platform. Right now Spain is trading at 58% to beat Argentina meaning 100 trade pays out $166 if they win. On Cauchy, you're trading against other people in a live market. No house, no odds makers. For a limited time, download the Kalshi app and use code hoops to get $10 when you trade $10 K A L S H I Kalshi Trade the Beautiful Game 18 only restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event contract trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Kalshi products are not available in all jurisdictions. Prices, values and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see kalshi.com regulatory.

[Clem Washington]

Dallas is the of part of an skt, a small kill team in Baghdad. He's out in the middle of the night on a mission in an abandoned building. In the passage of time, he and some of the guys on his crew are looting the place. Suddenly, Dallas finds himself separated from his team and trapped behind an iron gate. Spook.

[Dallas Sanchez]

The neighborhood where we were in Baghdad. Aldora they're like death squads basically roving the neighborhood and if they saw someone alone, they just yoke them up, take you to the nearest trash pile and put two rounds into the back of your head. But I caved. I broke. I was like, I don't care at this point. I'm gonna gorilla grod this gate open. I grabbed the gate with both hands and just shoved it as violently as I could and nothing. It felt like shoving on a brick wall. I remember shaking a little bit. I turned my light off and I stood there like at the mouth of that gate so I could see into the opening of the courtyard where there's a little bit of moonlight casting a shadow. And that's the only light source at this moment I can remember consciously not wanting to look back. I had like a sweat coming out of every pore in my body because you can't like pant, you can't like, like a dog be scared or whatever. In situations like that, like silence is so important. So it's like a controlled hyperventilation. The fact that I lost my nerves such that I would compromise our SKT just speaks volumes about how terrified I was. I was the alternate gunner for our squad and I had the squad automatic weapon. The casualty causing weapon on the Battlefield rode between eight and 1,000 rounds, armed to the teeth against any physical threat. But in this instance it's completely worthless. I felt really powerless. Whatever was there, whatever was lingering in that space, just did not want us there. Especially with us down there, rooting through all of their stuff. It was just wrong. Whatever was there wanted all of us out. I stood there for maybe 30 seconds and I just gave up hope and just resigned myself to the fear. And the gate just drifted open,

[Clem Washington]

Just

[Dallas Sanchez]

completely silently, just like on well oiled hinges. The gate just drifts open right in front of me. And I thought I had chills before. I thought that I was scared before. But in that moment, it just. I just could not explain what would cause that thing to drift open. It just wanted us gone. Like at the end of the day when we went in there, it's with a malicious intent. Like, we're set up in the building, just an invisible force waiting for someone to violate, like the rules of engagement so that we could kill them. So I came out of that gate in a mixture of rage and terror and immediately sought out like my best friend to just unload on him. And I get to him and. And I was like in a whisper, in whisper mode, like, what the hell is wrong with you, dude? Why would you do that? But he had no idea what I was talking about as far as he was concerned. We went in, checked it out, everybody came out all in together, and that was it. At this point, I'd been in the building for maybe eight hours. I'm ready to go home now. This has not been a pleasant experience for me. I imagine that for some people it would be really easy to dismiss this, like, as nerves or, you know, like the stress, like, of battle. Yeah, trauma, things like that. But the thing to keep in mind about that is this was one of maybe 50 missions that I went out on. But nothing ever like this. Nothing ever. That came so close, that was so blatant, like a force. So as the sun comes up, the gun trucks pull up and we exit the building. This is how just stupid you are at 20 years old. Those paintings, they stayed in my rook. I brought those things back. So I'm back in my room in the barracks and take these things out. And I'm like, hey, check out these cool paintings that I got. And Kagone, our platoon medic, is in there and he's like, I would very much like to have that. And I'm like, no way, dude.

[Clem Washington]

Nope.

[Dallas Sanchez]

This is my decoration. I went through the haunted house for this. This is my prize. I am keeping it. Thank you, sir. So KG leaves and Sam comes in, one of our terps, one of our interpreters, Sam. And I was like, what the hell is up with that place, dude? Like, it's really really weird. And he's like, oh, yeah, like, that place is unclean. I was like, what do you mean it's unclean? He's like, very many people died in that building, so it's unclean. And no one goes there. And when he said that, it really brought home to me what had happened. And it's such a thing to admit. It's like, such, such a bad thing. But I picked up that painting and I was like, hey, do you guys know where Kagone went? I want to, you know. And I found kg. And I was like, here, man. I know this is really special to you. I'd really like for you to have this. And I gave it away.

[Interviewer]

Did part of you, any part of you, feel proud of this force or this spirit for fighting back in a way that had no military weakness?

[Dallas Sanchez]

That wouldn't come until way, way later. Now, looking back all of these years later, I have a lot of respect for whatever that thing was. It was able to scare me. I felt like, anyways, like, I got my comeuppance five months after this whole episode in May is when I got hit by a V bed or car bomb. And even though the fear was not as scary as that experience, for the simple fact that I felt like if I caught a round in the noodle, I'd be dead. If I got ripped apart by an explosion, I'd be dead. But whatever was inside of that structure, it felt like if you were to die in its presence, that it would have, like, a completely different set of consequences than if you were to die just out in sector somewhere. Like, you could become, like, trapped.

[Clem Washington]

Thank you, Dallas Sanchez. Dallas also wanted to thank his family and Suzanne for encouraging him to share his stories. He's looking for a publisher. Dallas is a longtime Snap Judgment listener. We love it when listeners share their stories with us. And if you too, have an inexplicable tale to tell, make sure you drop us a line that's spooked@ stamp judgment.org. Now, if you dig it, and I know you dig it, let somebody know. Spookpodcast.org as we count down to Halloween, be afraid. The Spooked Ghost Hunter crew includes Mark Ristage, Eliza Smith, Jodie Collie, and Jasmine Aguilera. Original music for that story was by Lena Morimoto. The piece was produced by Anna Sussman. Our theme song was created by Pat Mesiti Miller. Additional original music by Pat Mesiti Miller, Leon Morimoto and Rizal Gorio. And if you like real stories from real people with no ghosts. Subscribe to the amazing Snap Judgment podcast and it goes without saying, but let me say it anyway. But friends, if you ever find yourself trapped behind an iron gate with undead creatures closing in, please remember, in this circumstance, the best thing you can do is to never, ever, never, never, ever turn out the light.