Spooked: “The Paperboy – Classic”
Podcast: Spooked (KQED and Snap Studios)
Host: Glynn Washington
Guest Storyteller: Dr. Ray Christian
Release Date: November 28, 2025
Overview
This episode of Spooked, “The Paperboy – Classic,” explores the chilling and mysterious experiences of Dr. Ray Christian as a young paperboy in a neighborhood where danger, abandonment, and superstition run high. Narrated in Ray’s own words, the story focuses on one strange house with an even stranger occupant. As Ray delivers newspapers week after week, his encounters escalate from uneasy curiosity to gut-wrenching guilt and horror—culminating in a supernatural ambiguity that haunts him to this day.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. The Rural Roots of Facing the Unknown
[02:56 – 07:02]
- Clem Washington shares childhood stories of farm life, illustrating how the night brings uncertainty, fear, and responsibilities that shape us.
- “My very first job was to do anything and everything that needed to be done to fight back the nighttime… the first lessons are the hardest lessons.” (06:45)
- Transition: Facing the unknown as a child is compared to facing both literal and metaphorical darkness in adult life.
2. Becoming a Paperboy in a Tough Neighborhood
[07:02 – 09:00]
- Dr. Ray Christian describes hating his paperboy job, especially in a neighborhood riddled with danger, crime, and abandoned houses.
- “Paper boys ended up being places they wouldn’t normally be…”
- His mother warns him: “Deliver those papers and get yourself back home soon as you can.”
- The paper manager cares only that the papers get delivered and the money is collected.
3. The House on North 25th Street
[09:00 – 13:29]
- Ray is assigned the route’s most notorious house—a local pariah for years, known for its darkness, isolation, and swirling rumors.
- “It was already big and creepy. And it had this reputation with just about everybody in the neighborhood. Because it was so big and so dark. And nobody knew anything about the guy who lived there.” (08:50)
- First experience: Ray knocks, sees an eye through the blinds, is summoned to the back, and struggles through a wild, overgrown yard filled with hazards.
4. First Encounter with the Recluse
[15:56 – 18:30]
- Inside, the house is hoarded floor-to-ceiling with newspapers, creating dark, claustrophobic paths.
- Ray finds the occupant: a gaunt, unkempt man living amid filth.
- “He’s wearing one of those wife-beaters… sitting on a single bed… the T-shirt he’s wearing looks the same as the mattress does in terms of its color… stained brownish yellow.” (15:59)
- “A sickening, sweet body odor…”
- The customer painstakingly counts out payment in coins, wraps it in a handkerchief, and orders Ray not to come inside again under threat.
- “Don’t bring your ass up in here no more. Cause I’ll shoot you.” (17:57)
5. A Routine of Ghostly Transactions
[18:30 – 23:52]
- Ray continues the route, never seeing the man again; each week, a handkerchief of exact change is left for him.
- He keeps up a one-sided dialogue, announcing himself, making jokes, expressing concern.
- “It’s me, paper boy. Raining outside. Smells in this house. Did you eat today? You hear about the news? Hello. Hello, sir, I’m dancing. It’s me. Woo hoo. Goodbye.” (21:23)
- He senses acknowledgment—a rustle, a shift of shadow, sometimes even faint laughter.
6. Signs of Decay—and Growing Dread
[26:11 – 29:00]
- Winter passes; by spring, Ray notices worsening odors and increasing numbers of flies.
- “Initially there were only but a few flies and then it was twice as many the next day. In about four or five days there were hundreds of flies in the house. I hated it. That was gross.” (26:17)
- The smell eventually subsides as summer comes, odd for something clearly wrong.
7. The Terrifying Discovery
[29:00 – 31:38]
- As fall arrives, Ray finds the house surrounded by police, medics, and neighbors. The front door is finally open.
- Authorities remove a body from the house; the crowd speculates the occupant had been dead for years.
- Ray is suddenly gripped by guilt, confusion, and supernatural dread.
- “I've been delivering these papers to this guy's house for almost a year. Who was I talking to?” (29:50)
- “Didn't I hear him? I thought I heard him. I'm sure I heard him. My money is there.” (30:19)
- The neighbors start to question who the paperboy is—Ray decides to stay silent, haunted by the ambiguity.
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- Facing Fear at Night (Clem Washington, 06:45):
- “Because the night does what the night will… The barn itself has moods. Some good, some very, very bad… it’s not the farmer facing the deep growls, the angry clicks, the silence in the middle of the night. It’s… the farm boy.”
- Neighborhood Dangers (Ray Christian, 07:30):
- “My mama had but one rule in terms of being a paperboy, and that was to be safe at all times.”
- The Threatening Exchange (Ray Christian, 17:57):
- “Don’t bring your ass up in here no more. Cause I’ll shoot you.”
- Routine with the Unknown (Ray Christian, 21:23):
- “Hello, sir, I’m dancing. It’s me. Woo hoo. Goodbye. I never heard any. No reaction. Cause I never saw him. But I would hear sounds or things that made me think that he acknowledged my presence.”
- Realization and Guilt (Ray Christian, 29:50–31:00):
- “I've been delivering these papers to this guy's house for almost a year. Who was I talking to?... I never thought that I had any responsibility to this guy. I never even thought about it.”
- “Didn't I see his shadow across the room when I told him I was leaving? But it was difficult to digest.”
Timestamps for Important Segments
- [02:56] – Clem Washington introduces the episode’s theme: facing the unknown as a child.
- [07:02] – Ray Christian begins his tale of the paperboy job.
- [09:00] – The creepy house on North 25th Street is introduced.
- [15:56] – Ray’s first interaction with the house’s mysterious occupant.
- [18:30] – The routine of collecting payment and delivering papers to the house.
- [26:11] – Evidence of decay and growing unease: the smell, the flies.
- [29:00] – The chilling discovery: the house attracts emergency services.
- [31:38] – Aftermath: Ray grapples with what he might have seen (or not seen).
Tone and Style
The narration is intimate, confessional, and thick with dread. Ray Christian’s voice is direct, tinged with humor, fear, and a child’s sense of responsibility and confusion. The episode masterfully balances the ordinary with the supernatural, never giving an answer, but leaving listeners with a profound unsettled feeling, true to the show’s promise to “be afraid.”
Final Thoughts
This episode exemplifies Spooked’s unique brand of storytelling: ordinary tasks (being a paperboy) set in extraordinary, chilling circumstances, with a denouement that lingers long after the narration ends. The supernatural is left ambiguous, creating an ever-haunting question—who, or what, was in that house all those months?