The NoSleep Podcast: Season 23, Episode 11 (S23E11) Summary

Release Date: September 14, 2025
Hosted by: David Cummings / Creative Reason Media Inc.

Overview

This episode of The NoSleep Podcast explores the terrors of the old and the unknown. With themes centered on how age and history mingle with horror, listeners encounter tales where ancient objects, places, and customs bring forth darkness. Three original horror stories—each distinct in setting and fear—anchor the episode, with atmospheric narration and immersive soundscapes.

Key Discussion Points & Story Summaries

1. Introduction & Goat Valley Campgrounds Update [00:18–06:52]

• Host David Cummings takes listeners back to the unofficially haunted Goat Valley Campgrounds, teasing the start of Season Two for members, and reflecting humorously on the passage of time both in life and in horror.
• Notable quote:
  "In the world of horror, old things are often great sources of terror… whether it’s some antique device, an old haunted house, or some creepy old dude who claims to be the host of a horror storytelling podcast..." —David Cummings [05:01]
• Sets the thematic stage: the horror of things aged, from objects to places and even people.
• Braces listeners for tales dealing with the consequences of the past lurking in the present.

Goat Valley Campgrounds:

• Bonnie Quinn, creator of the Goat Valley Campgrounds series, is praised for her work; Season Two is available early to subscribers, with a wider release next week.

2. Story One: “The Chair” by AP Royal [06:52–11:02]

• Summary:
  A roadside chair, picked up as a bargain, becomes the catalyst for a family's spiral into tragedy. After their daughter dies from a fall involving the chair, grief and dread consume the couple, culminating in the mother's suicide—again with the chair as the silent witness. The surviving husband can’t escape its presence or the apparitions of his lost family.
• Notable quotes:
  • “Claire could never get that spot out of the seat cushion… I always wondered why Claire experimented with the placement of the chair for a long time.” —The narrator [06:52]
  • “The last place I found it was in the basement… Her limp body twisted and turned, her lips bloated and purple…” —The narrator [09:05]
• Memorable moment:
  The chilling realization that the narrator is now trapped with these ghosts (“…in the darkness, I know I can never get rid of it now.”) [10:49]
• Themes:
  Guilt, grief, and the inescapable nature of cursed or haunted objects.

3. Story Two: “The Camera” by Paolo Villegas [14:11–29:12]

• Summary:
  At a bustling market, a woman buys an old camera from a mysterious vendor. Upon developing the film, she finds disturbing images: a sequence featuring a frightened child, a dog, family gatherings, and then—a chilling twist—photographs of herself as a little girl sleeping. Even stranger, one image shows her adult self, in contemporary clothing, taking the picture. Attempts to track down the vendor prove fruitless, but the presence of the camera and the images lingers, blurring the line between past and reality.
• Notable quotes:
  • “There is nothing like the nostalgia for the future, the remembrance of things to come.” —The narrator [21:05]
  • “That’s me. It’s me as I am today. Even my clothes are the same… that’s me taking pictures of myself sleeping with the camera I bought today.” —The narrator [26:59]
  • “Ghosts, my dear, are around us, near us, living with us, within us. There is nothing we can do about it except to go on…” —Old woman at the market [28:17]
• Memorable moments:
  • The slow horror of recognizing herself in the photos and the haunting, cyclical logic (“Some things are better left alone and not meant to be understood…”) [27:02]
  • The final unsettling encounter with the mustachioed vendor’s smile through another character [28:42]
• Themes:
  Fate, the omnipresence of the past, ghostly intrusion, time loops.

4. Story Three: “At the Crossroads” by David English [30:46–72:38]

• Summary:
  A down-on-his-luck man, isolated and desperate, dabbles in ancient magic seeking protection from “bad luck.” Performing an improvised ritual to the goddess Hecate in the woods, he inadvertently unleashes something ancient—a monstrous, flayed dog-corpse guardian. After a night of supernatural terror and the brutal death of his friend Rod (for which he is placed on trial), the protagonist is acquitted, but his life is warped forever. The haunting—both literal and psychological—follows him, questioning the cost of seeking help from unknowable forces.
• Notable quotes:
  • “The bad stuff that happens to you starts to look like it was meant to happen. You aren’t slipping down that hole. God’s reaching his hand down from the sky and pushing you deeper…” —The narrator [33:06]
  • “Lady of the woods, lady of the crossroads, with hounds at your heels. Protect me from pain.” —The narrator’s improvised ritual [40:49]
  • “...A guardian. The moon wasn’t right. The words weren’t right, I don’t know. But I cried for help into the darkness and something came, something very old from a crueler time. I asked it to protect me from pain. And it dealt with the pain the only way it knew how…” —The narrator [71:32]
• Memorable moments:
  • Discovery of the crossroads and the horrifying, freshly-flayed animal suspended above him [47:40]
  • The narrator’s confusion and horror as the supernatural guardian extends its “protection” by murdering Rod [59:13]
  • The final confession: haunted by “the moist, leathery, slopping sounds of something moving through the halls, dragging most of what remains of its itself behind it” [71:38]
• Themes:
  Desperation, unintended consequences, supernatural bargains, the cycle of trauma.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “In the world of horror, old things are often great sources of terror…” —David Cummings [05:01]
• “There is nothing like the nostalgia for the future…” —“The Camera” narrator [21:05]
• “That’s me taking pictures of myself sleeping…” —“The Camera” narrator [26:59]
• “You aren’t slipping down that hole. God’s reaching his hand down from the sky and pushing you deeper…” —“At the Crossroads” narrator [33:06]
• “I asked it to protect me from pain. And it dealt with the pain the only way it knew how, whether I wanted it to or not.” —“At the Crossroads” narrator [71:32]

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:18] – Introduction and Goat Valley Campgrounds update
• [06:52] – Story One: “The Chair” (AP Royal)
• [14:11] – Story Two: “The Camera” (Paolo Villegas)
• [30:46] – Story Three: “At the Crossroads” (David English)
• [72:38] – Episode conclusion and credits

Tone & Language

Throughout the episode, the tone shifts from the host’s playful, self-aware humor to the somber, atmospheric, and unsettling narratives of each story. The language draws listeners in with a blend of everyday relatability, reflective horror, and chilling descriptive prowess.

Episode Takeaways

• The horrors of the past—physical or psychological—continue to haunt the present.
• Seeking refuge or connection with the ancient, unknown, or supernatural can bring unnatural consequences.
• Objects and rituals with history may bear the weight of unseen tragedies.
• The line between fate and agency blurs in the darkness, and some mysteries are better left unresolved.

This episode is a reminder to “brace yourself”—not just for the stories told, but for the dark echoes of those secrets, regrets, and old pacts that follow us long after the tales are over.