Podcast Summary: This Is Actually Happening

Episode 381: What if you opened a portal to the world next door?

Date: October 28, 2025
Host: Wit Misseldine
Guest/Storyteller: Emily Lemire

Overview

In this gripping episode, Emily Lemire shares her deeply personal and unsettling experiences with what she believes to be a supernatural entity that haunted her through several years and life transitions. The episode explores themes of trauma, belief, the boundaries between science and the supernatural, and how confronting the unknown can impact both mental health and personal growth. Through Emily's candid storytelling, listeners are invited to question the thin veil between our world and another, and to examine the enduring effects of childhood actions—specifically, a teenage experiment with a Ouija board that may have opened a doorway to something sinister.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Childhood Innocence, Shyness, and the First Encounter with the Ouija Board

• Emily’s Upbringing:

  • Grew up in a safe, supportive home in San Diego, the youngest of three.
  • Extremely shy, rule-follower, cautious not to get in trouble.
  • "I was very much a rule follower. I did feel pressure... I was just terrified of getting in trouble at all times." (03:31)

• Initial Brush with the Paranormal:

  • Around age 10-11, frequently played Ouija board with a friend in her closed bedroom.
  • Early sessions were light-hearted; later sessions felt notably sinister.
  • Remembered being warned that failing to close the Ouija session could "trap spirits." (06:03)
  • "It just changed the whole mood in the room. I definitely got scared and anxious. It just felt wrong." (06:01)
  • That memory of potential danger stuck with her and framed how she interpreted later experiences.

2. Early Adulthood & The First “Visit”

• High School and Relationships:
  • Began dating, including a meaningful relationship around age 17.
  • Night before a Disneyland trip at age 17-18, Emily had her first unexplained physical encounter—a sensation of something crawling behind her in bed, sniffing her, though nothing was there. (08:34)
  • "I could feel this pressure behind me, the sniffing continuing. Finally I was able to turn myself over onto my back to see what it was and there was nothing there." (08:53)
  • Boyfriend dismissed the event as a dream, so she moved on.

3. Moving to San Francisco & Intensification of Events

• New Beginnings:

  • Relocated for nursing school, started new relationships, and began independent adult life.

• Escalation:

  • A few years after the initial incident, a recurring experience began—a presence entering her room late at night, speaking in a foreign language, appearing just at the edge of perception but always physically sensed.
  • Vivid sensory details: gaunt, pale figure, black eyes, unkempt hair, sense of being immobilized (possible sleep paralysis). (09:16–10:15)
  • "I could see a face out of the corner of my eye...really pale, gaunt-looking...and I could just hear it saying something to me in a different language." (09:44)

• Impact on Well-being:

  • Trauma and sleep loss affected her mental state and relationships.
  • Became increasingly isolated and fearful, "a shell" of her former self.
  • "It was like my worst nightmare, waking up to something or someone being in my bedroom." (10:15)

4. Shared Paranormal Experiences

• Boyfriend’s Validation:

  • New boyfriend revealed his family's history of spiritual communication.
  • He began experiencing the same entity, describing it identically to Emily (without having heard her account).
  • Both saw a "black orb" and experienced intense negative energy. (13:23)
  • "I woke up to him...repeating some sort of protective prayer over and over...I saw this, like, black ball...a black, dense form of energy floating in the corner of my room." (13:40–14:00)
  • Validation was both comforting and horrifying for Emily.

• Physical Manifestations & Hauntings:

  • Flickering lights, unexplained passage of shadows, heaviness in the air.
  • Entity seemed to “want to make itself known; it didn’t want me to forget its presence.” (16:04)
  • Experiences continued regardless of location—at home, in her apartment, even when traveling.

5. Seeking Help & Spiritual Interpretation

• Visiting the Boyfriend’s Aunt:
  • Boyfriend’s aunt, a reputed spirit communicator, sensed the negative presence attached to Emily but declined to interact further, warning that seeking its name could strengthen it. (17:25)
  • "It is a negative presence, but it's not going to hurt you...But I don't want to give it more power." (17:58)
  • Emily felt relief and fear in having her experiences acknowledged by an uninvolved third party.

6. The Struggle to Rationalize

• Conflict with Science:
  • As a nursing student steeped in logic and physiology, Emily desperately sought rational, scientific explanations (night terrors, sleep paralysis, mental health breakdown).
  • "Everything is very cut and dry...everything has a reason. But for this, there wasn't." (26:10)
  • The shared experiences and external validation defied purely scientific reasoning, leaving Emily psychologically adrift.

7. The Psychological Toll and Strategies for Removal

• Progression from Terror to Indifference:

  • Prolonged haunting led to numbness, emotional detachment, and depression.
  • "It was very strange, this shift that happened from being scared all the time to just kind of existing." (28:04)
  • Entity also seemingly affected her relationships, causing distance and doubt.

• Reclaiming Agency:

  • Extremely fearful of directly addressing the presence, but over time and out of desperation, Emily gradually confronted it, starting quietly and eventually speaking forcefully:
    • "You need to leave me alone. You are not welcome here." (29:10)
  • Turning point: forcefully demanded the entity leave during a final visit to her childhood bedroom, felt a shift in energy, and the experiences finally subsided.

8. Uncanny Validation & Aftermath

• Final Chilling Confirmation:

  • After moving out, a new tenant who had never been told about Emily’s experiences asked, “Have you ever felt a spiritual presence here or had any kind of experience with the paranormal living in this apartment?” (32:40)
  • This triggered a strong fight-or-flight response; Emily never entered the apartment again.

• Recovery:

  • Gradual healing from trauma—sleep slowly improved, mental health returned, but lingering effects (e.g., cannot sleep with her back to the room, lingering sense of being watched).

9. Meaning-Making & Reflection

• Possible Explanations:

  • Emily speculates the entity might have attached itself during the Ouija board experience in childhood.
  • Wonders if the entity’s appearances coincided with her romantic relationships to "protect" her, and notes she has been free of experiences since marrying her current husband.

• Personal Growth:

  • The experience has made her more compassionate and empathetic, especially as a neonatal nurse—recognizing the unseen struggles people carry.
  • "I think going through this experience has just opened my eyes to all the different things that people can be going through or have gone through and has made me just a much more compassionate, empathetic person." (36:36)
  • Maintains deep respect and caution toward the idea of the spiritual world.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Emily on Fear and Communication:

  • "The thought of speaking to this being...absolutely terrified me...What if it speaks back?" (01:00, 28:23)

• On Rationalizing the Unexplainable:

  • "I wanted to be able to explain it away scientifically. I would make it something I could fix. There is a reason for everything, but for this, there wasn’t." (26:47)

• On Spiritual Caution:

  • "I fully, wholeheartedly believe in the spirit world and that we need to be careful with interacting and we need to be smart about it.” (34:44)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Emily’s childhood and first Ouija experiences: 03:01–07:17
• First haunting experience before Disneyland: 08:23–08:53
• Major encounter in San Francisco (entity speaking in foreign language): 09:16–10:15
• Boyfriend's shared experience and the black orb: 13:23–14:00
• Visiting the boyfriend's aunt for help: 17:25–18:05
• Struggle to reason vs. supernatural: 26:06–26:47
• Emily commands the presence to leave: 29:10–30:30
• Validation from a new tenant: 32:40–33:05
• Meaning made from the ordeal, application to real life: 34:44–36:36

Tone & Language

The episode maintains a raw, candid, and highly personal tone, empathetically narrated by Emily. Her language is introspective, vulnerable, and at times clinical, reflecting both her scientific background and her emotional turmoil. The narrative moves between fear, confusion, and eventual empowerment.

Conclusion

Emily’s story in this episode is a chilling and thought-provoking exploration of the boundaries between the known and the unknown. Through vivid details and honest reflection, she illustrates how one unexplainable event can ripple through years, impacting relationships, mental health, and worldviews. Her journey from terrified skeptic to compassionate believer underscores the mysterious ways in which our past—and perhaps forces we do not understand—shape our realities.