The NoSleep Podcast – Season 23, Episode 13

Date: September 28, 2025
Host: David Cummings
Produced by: Creative Reason Media Inc.

Episode Overview

Season 23, Episode 13 of The NoSleep Podcast is a chilling anthology featuring a curated selection of original horror tales, all deftly performed and atmospherically scored. This episode explores the dark intersections of nostalgia, imagination, and escape as ordinary people confront the supernatural—or perhaps their own demons—through visits to hometowns, artistic obsession, childhood innocence, and the menacing mysteries of a haunted campground. Notably, the stories selected underscore how blurred the lines can become between reality and fantasy, as terrifying entities—both literal and psychological—lurk just out of sight.

Key Discussion Points and Story Synopses

1. Opening Remarks & Episode Theme (00:00 - 05:49)

• Host David Cummings opens with a blend of humor and horror, recalling local legends like Old Yellowtop and drawing an analogy to the way imagination creates monsters both delightful and dark.
• Cummings frames the evening’s selection: “We have for you this week tales in which people are using their imagination. Why deal with real life when you can use your mind to see the world differently?” (04:09)
• Main thematic insight: Escapism has its perils—sometimes, the things we imagine are more dangerous than the real world.

2. Story 1: “Calm Springs” by C.D. Vazquez (05:49 - 28:01)

Plot Summary

• James, a writer stifled by city life, follows his wife's suggestion to revisit his idyllic hometown, Calm Springs, hoping to revitalize his creativity.
• The bus ride becomes a tour through nostalgia, filled with encounters with old acquaintances like Sussy, Maxine, Coach Cruz, and even an estranged friend, Jimmy.
• As passengers bond over shared memories, odd patterns emerge: every one of them claims to hail from the same street—Sycamore Road—where “the sun rises and sets.”
• The nostalgia darkens as a distressed Jimmy proclaims, “Calm Springs does not exist,” suggesting that their “home” is a construct for lost souls seeking comfort.
• Despite Jimmy’s pleas to escape the bus, the journey presses on until James arrives at “Calm Springs,” suggesting a liminal afterlife or psychic retreat from reality.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “We are all going home to Calm Springs, drawn back inevitably to its small town charms, to the memories that had made us, one way or another, members of a very special club.” (13:27)
• “Everyone on this bus says the same thing. They're all from Sycamore Road, where the sun rises and sets. Don't you find that strange?” – Jimmy, (22:01)

Timestamps

• 05:49 – James boards the bus, meets Sussy
• 12:51 – “I'm visiting Robert,” Sussy reveals her grief
• 21:57 – Jimmy reveals the unsettling truth
• 28:01 – Arrival in Calm Springs

3. Story 2: “Lichen” by Kristin Kirby (32:21 - 41:32)

Plot Summary

• Emmy and her partner move into a house near the woods, where Emmy grows obsessed with sketching the lichen blanketing the trees.
• The lichen seems benign—until Emmy is found with it creeping over her body, growing into her flesh as if claiming her.
• Attempts to free her fail; eventually, Emmy vanishes, transformed or consumed by the lichen.
• The survivor visits the woods, encountering a lichen-formed, Emmy-like figure, erupting in a final, tragic acceptance that the one they loved is now something otherworldly.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “It grows on tons of surfaces or substrates. Trees, rock, gravestones, bones. And it lives, like, forever.” – Emmy, (35:10)
• “I watched in horror as the lichen's fibrous fingers grew along her skin, seeking new purchase.” (36:47)

Timestamps

• 32:21 – Introduction to Emmy’s artistic obsession
• 36:17 – Emmy covered in lichen; supernatural threat emerges
• 41:09 – Final confrontation in the woods

4. Story 3: “Coco the Clown” by Elsie Sullivan (44:33 - 73:06)

Plot Summary

• Nikki, a teenage babysitter, looks after six-year-old Danny, whose harmless-seeming imaginary friend “Coco” is a clown—and rapidly becomes disturbingly real.
• Parents dismiss the friend’s existence, but events spiral as pizza left for Coco disappears, and an actual clown is seen lurking outside, escalating to a tense and violent home invasion.
• Nikki manages to protect herself and Danny until the police arrive, but the terror lingers: Coco is still at large, and Nikki receives a chilling message—balloons and a note—at her home, hinting Coco isn’t done.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “Coco doesn't like the crust.” (56:05) – Heightens the dread as the pizza outside is partly eaten.
• “I couldn't breathe. He's mad because I didn't go on the seesaw with him.” – Danny, (60:07)
• “To my new best friend, I can’t wait to play. Love, Coco.” (73:04)

Timestamps

• 44:33 – Nikki begins babysitting Danny, “Coco” first mentioned
• 56:05 – Physical evidence that “Coco” is real
• 61:31 – Nikki arms herself; confrontation escalates
• 73:04 – Ominous aftermath: Coco’s message appears

5. Story 4: “Goat Valley Campgrounds, Season 2: Chapter 2” by Bonnie Quinn (73:06 - 99:17)

Plot Summary

• Kate, who manages the mysterious Goat Valley Campgrounds, discusses the responsibility of tending land that contains monstrous and supernatural entities.
• Kate’s neighbor calls for help with the Shalikin, Russian Christmas demons who should be hibernating, not riding the land.
• What seems a straightforward cryptid encounter devolves into betrayal—her neighbor lures Kate into a trap on his property, manipulated by more nefarious forces (hinted to be the man with no shadow).
• Kate nearly drowns but is saved through a desperate bargain with an inhuman being (“the man with the skull cup”).
• After a series of supernatural exchanges, Kate uncovers her neighbor’s possession and complicity, narrowly saving his life but now deeply worried that those trying to buy her land want to free something far worse.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “Christmas is something you hold in your heart.” – Shalikin, (84:47)
• “All those inhuman things will lose their home, but no longer will they be compelled to stay here. I think the man with no Shadow is trying to escape.” – Kate, (99:02)

Timestamps

• 73:06 – Introduction to Goat Valley Campgrounds
• 82:35 – Confrontation with Shalikin
• 92:46 – Betrayal revealed, violent magical climax
• 99:02 – Episode cliffhanger: threat of the imprisoned entity’s escape

Notable Quotes with Speaker Attribution

• “Why deal with real life when you can use your mind to see the world differently.” – David Cummings, (04:09)
• “Everyone on this bus says the same thing. They're all from Sycamore Road, where the sun rises and sets. Don't you find that strange?” – Jimmy, (22:01)
• “It grows on tons of services or substrates. Trees, rock, gravestones, bones. And it lives, like forever.” – Emmy, (35:10)
• “I just want to play with you.” – Coco the Clown, (63:43)
• “Christmas is something you hold in your heart.” – Shalikin, (84:47)
• “All those inhuman things will lose their home, but no longer will they be compelled to stay here. I think the man with no Shadow is trying to escape.” – Kate, (99:02)

Memorable Moments

• The revelation that Calm Springs might be a liminal afterlife, with all bus passengers sharing a manufactured hometown and a sense of loss.
• The lichen invading Emmy’s body and her final, tragic transformation, a metaphor for being irreversibly claimed by obsession or grief.
• The mounting terror as Nikki realizes Coco isn’t imaginary, culminating in a home invasion and unresolved threat.
• The supernatural politics and betrayals in Goat Valley Campgrounds, with Kate’s life put at risk through arcane contracts, monsters, and machinations—hinting at cosmic horror lurking amid rural roads.

Conclusion

In classic NoSleep fashion, this episode weaves together stories that are both intimately personal and universally horrifying. Whether haunted by nostalgia, consumed by obsession, or threatened by entities beyond comprehension, each protagonist is forced to reckon with dark truths about themselves and their world. Through evocative performances, atmospheric sound design, and sharp writing, Season 23, Episode 13 is a compelling (and chilling) listen for anyone drawn to the shadowy power of horror storytelling.

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