The NoSleep Podcast S23E09 – Detailed Episode Summary
Date: August 31, 2025
Host: David Cummings
Podcast Theme: Horror anthology series featuring original stories, atmospheric music, and chilling performances.
Main Theme of this Episode:
Warnings—ignored or unheeded—run through each story. The episode explores what happens when people dismiss clear signals of danger, both supernatural and mundane.
Episode Overview
- Introduction by David Cummings [00:00-06:47]:
- Cummings critiques the commercialization of cryptids, warning listeners to take supernatural dangers and warnings seriously—a theme that weaves through each story in this episode.
- “If we're training our kids to think of cryptids as cute little characters worth hunting, well, we're gonna have a lot fewer kids around and plenty of fat cryptids with their bellies full.” (David Cummings, 00:41)
- Sets the tone: Horror is about heeding warnings; the tales tonight involve characters who don’t.
Story 1: Nightmare Mom
Performer: Danielle McRae
[06:47-16:58]
Story Summary
A mother awakens from a nightmarish vision about her son, Toby, and is overwhelmed with dread. Ill and exhausted, she searches the house for her son, fearing the nightmare may be an unheeded warning. She finds his room empty, but his sky journal details his observations of mysterious lights above the nearby mountains and forests—UFO-style. As she investigates, she spots shattered glass and blood smeared on the frame of his skylight, implying Toby has been taken, perhaps snatched into the sky by the strange lights.
Notable Quotes & Moments
- "Something was very wrong. I just knew it. My maternal instincts kicked in as I remembered the nightmare." (Nightmare Mom, 07:44)
- Toby’s sky journal:
- “2:25am—the lights are getting bigger and brighter. I can make out the main object better now. It looks like a pill. It's heading this way. I'm going to dim the lights.” (Nightmare Mom reading Toby’s journal, 14:52)
- The chilling discovery:
- “I looked at that same skylight, now broken open, the jagged edges of glass dripping crimson. Tears formed in my eyes as I looked at the frame where bloody handprints lay smeared upward as if my son, my Toby, had been dragged up into the night sky.” (Nightmare Mom, 16:53)
Story 2: The Reading Room
Writer: Callum Gracey
Performers: David Ault, Erica Sanderson, Ash Millman
[20:17-42:40]
Story Summary
Roger Moonshade, a fraudulent medium, conducts a seance for a grieving woman (Laura). He manipulates her for money and admiration, but after her reading, Laura produces a mysterious ornate box. She insists he open it to learn the truth about life after death. When he does, Roger descends into a vivid, personal hell: plagued by terrifying visions of those he's abused and hurt, his victims appearing before him. He learns Laura is both deceased—and a previous victim of his predatory behavior.
The story twists as Roger confronted by his many “conquests” and victims, suffering a supernatural comeuppance delivered in the most fittingly ironic way.
Key Moments & Quotes
- On his scam:
- “The usual drivel seems to work... It took me a long time to learn how to throw my breath like that to disturb the flame, but well worth it.” (Roger Moonshade, 20:34)
- The box and the warning:
- “Once you open it, there'll be no undoing it and no taking it back. There'll be no unknowing." (John/Laura, 30:08)
- “No, you don't [know the answer].” (John/Laura, 30:53)
- The horrific revelation:
- “I open the lid, peer inside, and am gripped by the unspeakable terror set on the bumpy red velvet lining.” (Roger Moonshade, 32:49)
- “You don't always settle things by paying though, do you?... Sometimes they threaten the police and then that's when you get really nasty.” (John/Laura, 35:17)
- The devastating twist:
- “Your one o' clock didn't show up... Her brother phoned this morning to cancel... He said his sister killed herself.” (Rebecca/Harriet Connors, 39:22–39:41)
Story 3: Live From the End of the World
Writer: Frank Orito
Performers: Sarah Thomas (Harriet Connors), Dan Zapula (Pete), Aaron Lillis, Graham Rowett, Jesse Cornett, Mary Murphy
[44:42-75:13]
Story Summary
Behind-the-scenes news producer Harriet Connors finally lands her big break: reporting from the frontline of Hurricane Francis. With an eye for a unique story, she and cameraman Pete seek out locals riding out the storm at The Getaway bar. They find a group preparing an occult “ceremony”—Wanda, a bartender haunted by apocalyptic visions; Roy, her violent, delusional partner; and the DeBoers, a zealous couple obsessed with mythic prophecy.
Chaos erupts as violence breaks out over the ceremony. Wanda kills her companions, claiming it a “mercy.” Outside, as the storm calms, the sky fractures “like cracks in a mirror.” Something colossal and otherworldly crosses into the world from beyond.
Harriet insists on doing her live broadcast as an eldritch horror emerges from the sea; as reality crumbles, she embodies her lifelong dream—“the whole world was watching” (70:16)—as the apocalypse unfolds on live television.
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- Harriet’s ambition:
- “Everybody needs a dream, Pete... In front of that camera is where I want to be.” (Harriet Connors, 46:25)
- The dangerous locals:
- “We're gonna need you to stay here with us until we perform our...ceremony and become lords of the earth.” (Wanda Reed, 54:31)
- The occultists’ zeal:
- “The convergence of humanity's mythologies, both greater and lesser, hint at a great coming. Not some banal messianic savior, but something beyond mere godhood, an entity truly worthy of worship.” (Cheryl DeBoer, 58:34)
- Wanda’s vision, after killing her co-conspirators:
- “People don't like bad news. And that's all I ever gave them.” (Wanda Reed, 65:31)
- “They were my only friends. I've had the sight my whole life, but I only ever see bad things.” (Wanda Reed, 66:20)
- The otherworldly event:
- “Red fissures appear in the slate gray sky. The fissures spiderweb out...like cracks in a mirror. Through it all, the world remains quiet but for the wind's low and constant moan. This is the fact I can't get past. How can the sky shatter above my head and not make a goddamn sound?” (Harriet Connors, 69:16)
- Harriet’s final broadcast:
- “The world, after all, is watching. This is Harriet Connors coming to you live.” (Harriet Connors, 75:11)
Themes and Connections
- Heeding Warnings: Each story centers around warnings—whether cryptid alerts, premonitions, or the honest truth people refuse to hear. Ignoring these warnings always leads to disaster.
- Truths Unwanted: The episode raises a chilling idea: sometimes knowledge itself is the ultimate horror, and those who try to deliver warnings are isolated or destroyed.
- Irony and Fatalism: Each protagonist, in their quest for knowledge or glory, contributes to their own undoing.
Timestamps for Important Segments
| Timestamp | Segment | Description | |------------|-----------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:00-06:47| Introduction & Theme Setting | David Cummings sets the “warning” theme | | 06:47-16:58| “Nightmare Mom” | Maternal warning dreams become reality; chilling abduction | | 20:17-42:40| “The Reading Room” | Fraudulent medium confronted by supernatural vengeance | | 44:42-75:13| “Live From the End of the World” | Newswoman’s live reporting at the apocalypse; the end made visible to all |
Episode Tone & Style
- Atmospheric, dark, and wry.
- Blends dry humor (especially in monologue/narration) with existential dread and body horror.
- Dialogue often switches between the everyday (coughing fits, banter, professional ambition) and the uncanny (apocalyptic visions, abduction, supernatural justice).
Most Memorable Quotes (with Speaker & Timestamp)
- David Cummings (host): “Take us and our warnings to heart before yours gets ripped from your chest.” [01:25]
- Nightmare Mom: “Toby, the lights are about—the page flapped in my face. A cool breeze starting up from seemingly nowhere.” [14:55]
- Laura/John: “Once you open it, there’ll be no undoing it and no taking it back. There’ll be no unknowing.” [30:08]
- Roger Moonshade: “I open the lid, peer inside, and am gripped by the unspeakable terror...” [32:49]
- Wanda Reed: “Only tired people don't like bad news. And that's all I ever gave them.” [65:31]
- Harriet Connors: “The world, after all, is watching. This is Harriet Connors coming to you live.” [75:11]
Conclusion
The NoSleep Podcast S23E09 is a masterclass in suspenseful storytelling centered on warnings unheeded and truths too terrifying to bear. Each tale is a different variation on how ignoring—or delivering—messages of danger can lead to horror. Bold, atmospheric, and grimly funny in moments, the episode is essential listening for fans of supernatural fiction and psychological terror.