Episode 322 - Appalachia Horrors | True Stories from Reddit

Summary

Podcast Summary: Two Girls One Ghost – Episode 322: Appalachia Horrors | True Stories from Reddit

Release Date: May 18, 2025

In Episode 322 of Two Girls One Ghost, hosts Corinne Vien and Sabrina Deana-Roga delve into the eerie and enigmatic tales emerging from the Appalachia region, primarily sourced from Reddit. This detailed exploration unpacks a series of chilling narratives that underscore the region's reputation as a hotbed for supernatural and unexplained phenomena.

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1. Setting the Stage: Appalachia's Mystique

Corinne opens the episode by emphasizing Appalachia's atmospheric backdrop, a region steeped in legends and mysteries. She introduces the idea that Reddit serves as a rich repository for these spine-tingling stories.

Corinne [04:42]: "The Appalachian mountains are a place where legends linger like mist in the trees."

Sabrina complements this by highlighting the digital age's role in disseminating these local legends, noting platforms like TikTok and Reddit as modern storytellers of old folklore.

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2. Encounters with Bears: Realism Meets Horror

The conversation transitions to multiple accounts of bear encounters, blending genuine wildlife interactions with elements of fear and suspense.

• Tent Intrusions:

  Corinne recounts a listener's story about campers experiencing the terrifying presence of bears directly on their tents.

  Corinne [06:18]: "Only to wake up some hours later to something pushing down on their tent and bears sleeping on their frickin tents."

  Sabrina shares a personal anecdote from her childhood in Maine, where she narrowly avoided a bear intrusion, underscoring the fine line between reality and perceived supernatural threats.

  Sabrina [07:08]: "Almost got crushed by a bear in Maine."

This segment underscores the primal fear of wildlife in secluded areas, amplifying the region's natural tensions.

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3. Ghostly Apparitions: The Lady in White

The hosts delve into supernatural sightings, beginning with the haunting tale of a "Lady in White."

Corinne [07:55]: "So, this user wrote about seeing a young woman in a white nightgown appearing behind them near a burning house."

Sabrina speculates on the apparition's intentions, pondering whether she was a guardian spirit or something more ominous.

Sabrina [09:29]: "It was almost like I was thinking that perhaps she was there to grab this person if she needed to..."

This story exemplifies the classic ghost encounter, blending personal witness accounts with the eerie ambiance of a rural setting.

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4. Local Legends and the Cursed Woods: Aunt Kate's Tale

A pivotal segment features the lore surrounding Aunt Kate, a figure shrouded in mystery and alleged dark magic.

Sabrina [27:45]: "My mama was a Christian lady... and she swore that Aunt Kate was into black magic."

Corinne and Sabrina discuss how Aunt Kate's interactions, particularly her demand for beans, led to ominous repercussions, including apparitions and unexplained phenomena.

Corinne [27:36]: "Why do I feel like this is Rapunzel?"

The narrative weaves traditional folklore elements with localized myths, enhancing the region's haunted reputation.

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5. Alien Abductions and the Monroe Institute

The discussion shifts to extraterrestrial encounters linked to the Monroe Institute, a real-life facility known for its consciousness exploration programs.

Corinne [33:28]: "The Monroe Institute offers courses in experiential programs that help you explore your consciousness to achieve wellness."

One listener narrates an unsettling experience near the Monroe Institute, suggesting possible connections between their consciousness-altering programs and reported alien abductions.

Corinne [34:40]: "There are multiple documents, CIA documents, that have been approved for release... the Monroe Institute had a program called the Gateway Program."

The hosts express intrigue and skepticism, contemplating whether collective consciousness experiments might inadvertently attract otherworldly entities.

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6. Haunted Houses and Marital Discord: A Reddit Dilemma

In a unique twist, Corinne and Sabrina explore an "Am I the Asshole?" scenario from Reddit, where a woman confronts her husband over purchasing a potentially haunted house without her consent.

Sabrina [52:35]: "We were on the same page and that we just didn't care. Well, we were not on the same page."

The narrative highlights themes of trust, belief, and the strain paranormal experiences can place on relationships.

Corinne [56:02]: "And he clearly, it was such a conscious choice to not tell her because he thought she was gonna get irrational."

The hosts unanimously side with the woman, condemning the husband's dismissal of her fears and the subsequent impact on their family's sense of safety.

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7. Shadow Figures and Unseen Terrors

Another harrowing tale involves a child's encounter with a distorted silhouette during a stormy night in Kentucky.

Sabrina [46:51]: "It's like being hit with a lightning bolt. And I knew what had happened."

The story, rich with sensory details like the metallic taste and intermittent lightning illumination, paints a vivid picture of nocturnal terror and the ambiguity of the supernatural.

Sabrina [50:03]: "It's a horror trope... it can see. You can't."

The hosts discuss the psychological horror of shadow figures, where fear and uncertainty blur the lines between reality and imagination.

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8. Human Malevolence: A Bloodied Encounter

Shifting focus from the supernatural to human-induced horror, Sabrina shares a succinct yet disturbing account of a man wielding a bloodied machete encountered on a trail.

Corinne [51:03]: "Man with a bloodied machete limped his way past me as I was getting water off the trail."

This story serves as a sobering reminder that sometimes, the most frightening encounters come from fellow humans rather than spectral entities.

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9. Conclusion: The Interweaving of Belief and Fear

Corinne and Sabrina conclude the episode by reflecting on the myriad of stories shared, emphasizing how Appalachia remains a fertile ground for both legendary lore and contemporary ghost stories. They invite listeners to contribute their own tales, fostering a community bound by a fascination with the unknown.

Corinne [57:09]: "And we also have your Appalachia stories and your Monroe Institute stories, because we're gonna... We're about to dive in."

The episode wraps with a tease of future discussions, including an in-depth exploration of the Monroe Institute and its mysterious activities.

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Key Takeaways:

• Appalachia's Haunting Legacy: The region's dense forests and isolated communities naturally give rise to stories of both wildlife encounters and supernatural phenomena.

• Digital Storytelling: Platforms like Reddit and TikTok are modern vessels for age-old tales, allowing for a wider dissemination and diverse interpretations of local legends.

• Interpersonal Dynamics: Belief in the paranormal can strain relationships, especially when one party dismisses the other’s experiences or fears.

• Human vs. Supernatural Fears: While ghostly apparitions and alien encounters captivate the imagination, genuine human threats remind listeners of the tangible dangers in secluded areas.

Corinne and Sabrina adeptly navigate these narratives, blending storytelling with insightful commentary, making the episode a compelling listen for enthusiasts of the strange and spooky.

Transcript

[Corinne]

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[Sabrina]

I just mailchimped my marketing. You mailchimped your what? I mailchimped my marketing with AI to create an effective marketing campaign in minutes.

[Corinne]

No mailchimp and way.

[Sabrina]

Yes mailchimp and way. Now I can hyper personalize my campaigns across email and sms. You can do all that with mailchimp? What did I just mailchimp and say?

[Corinne]

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[Sabrina]

Hi, this is Two Girls, One Guest.

[Corinne]

Two Girls, One One Ghost and we're Hands free again. Still not used to it. We are your ghostesses. That is Corinne. I'm Sabrina. Your hair looks absolutely divine today.

[Sabrina]

That's what you told me. And that is weird because I did nothing to it so but that means I'm going to stop trying to do something to it.

[Corinne]

Oh natural baby.

[Sabrina]

Oh natural. This is touching my mic.

[Corinne]

Quite cheesy and I don't care if you all are rolling your eyes as I say this. I was driving here and this is my first winter to spring in 13 years and I just had this like beautiful moment just driving through the streets that like a month ago all of these trees and the grass was barren and dead and now springing life and I was like what a beautiful metaphor for life. Like you can lose your color, you can lose your leaves and feel bleak and gray. But that doesn't mean there's no hope that just around the bend there is life and color and spring coming your way. And I just was like and love.

[Sabrina]

To show you a video of some mating snapping turtles that were in my parents backyard for this spring. So much mating made away this spring made away. But no, that is a really beautiful sentiment. I'm glad that you said that because I normally don't think of spring that way. My seasonal depression starts to shed and I feel happier but my allergies make me have beef with the this.

[Corinne]

Out with the depression, in with the allergies.

[Sabrina]

Right.

[Corinne]

Shed something. Bring forth Something new or something new.

[Sabrina]

Another type of suffering.

[Corinne]

Which one would you prefer?

[Sabrina]

Allergies.

[Corinne]

Yeah. At least you can be outside.

[Sabrina]

Yeah. No, it is really pretty. If you look at my photo roll during spring, this is actually probably the time of year that I have the most photos taken outside.

[Corinne]

Yeah.

[Sabrina]

Because I'm constantly taking photos of every flowering shrub and tree being like, I'm gonna plant that in my yard because I wanna know like, what flowering looks pretty. And then I never ever go back to those photos again.

[Corinne]

Not yet.

[Sabrina]

But every year I collect more and more.

[Corinne]

You collect more and more.

[Sabrina]

I should make a coffee table book.

[Corinne]

I have thousands of images. Anyway, just a little message of hope if anyone is struggling because I've been there quite often and I get it. And I. It was just like a nice little sentiment that is really nice and moment. But we do have a nature Y episode ahead of us.

[Sabrina]

Guess what? We covered, you guys, you'll never guess.

[Corinne]

It's Appalachia again.

[Sabrina]

But this time we're doing. We're doing it a little bit different because we get lost in Appalachia online lore. We get lost in TikTok, we get lost in Reddit threads. I think that's where everyone gets lost. Right. Because that's where we hear all the tips, we hear all the horror stories from people. And so we decided to do a little bit of a Reddit focus on to find some of the creepy things people have taken to the Internet to try to explain away or just share.

[Corinne]

Their horrifying, terrifying experiences that they have had within the Appalachia region. And there are countless stories, so many threads dedicated to it. Countless threads. Yeah. And I just feel like Appalachia is abound with creepiness. It's a place where legends linger. I wrote a little intro.

[Sabrina]

Oh wow. If right into it.

[Corinne]

I like H with this. So hold on. Okay. Let her read Spotlight, please. Snap, snap.

[Sabrina]

Oh God. We should install one of those.

[Corinne]

That would be so cool.

[Sabrina]

But it's just a disco ball that comes down now. I want one. You guys.

[Corinne]

It took us how long to get microphone stands? We're never going to get that cue. Like a ominous little music. The Appalachian mountains are a place where legends linger like mist in the trees. And Reddit is an absolute gold mine for these eerie and chilling stories. From vanishing time slips to alien encounters. Not deer sightings, bears collapsing on tents, fugitives lurking in the woods, axe wielding strangers. Appalachia holds some of the most haunting and bizarre stories you'll ever hear. Today we are diving into some of these haunting stories that the brave souls have shared on Reddit. I do have an honorable mention before I get into the creepy ones and.

[Sabrina]

I have a little surprise at the end for me. Very Reddit appropriate.

[Corinne]

Okay. I love it. This is an honorable mention because we focus primarily on like the odd, the unusual, the paranormal, mysterious Reddit stories. But I was so surprised by how many people shared this one specific type of encounter. And I guess it makes sense if you're camping out in the woods in the wilderness and there are bears. But like multiple campers would go into their tent at night snuggling up into their sleeping bags, ready for a restful night or hoping for a restful night, only to wake up some hours later in the middle of the night to something pushing down on their tent and bears sleeping on their frickin tents.

[Sabrina]

Really?

[Corinne]

Yes. Full body weight on the tent because.

[Sabrina]

Everyone likes to co sleep.

[Corinne]

But how terrifying.

[Sabrina]

That is really terrifying. And it's also odd. Like is it because the smell of food is nearby and so they're just attracted to. I don't know. Now I need to understand bear psychic for them, right? Like why are they there? Although. Okay, I have one very fast bear related story. My grammy's camp that's on a lake in the Bethel, Maine area. I was at my, not my grammy's camp but across the lake staying at my other aunt and uncle's camp and it was really hot out and so my parents were like you should keep the window open when you sleep tonight. And I was like, I don't know, I don't feel comfortable. I bet. Like what if a bear. It was like an intrusive thought like what if a bear comes and like smacks the window? Because the bed is right below the window so my head is right next to the window and my parents were like, okay, like that's not gonna happen.

[Corinne]

Oh my God.

[Sabrina]

4:00Am no bear paw right on the glass window that I kept closed. What happened? It just kept walking.

[Corinne]

It just high fived the window and went away.

[Sabrina]

High five the window and went away because the way the window was, it was like maybe like a three foot clearing between the woods and the house right there. And so it just kept, kept on moving. It was probably like squish itself through the little alleyway, but yeah.

[Corinne]

Wow.

[Sabrina]

I don't know if that was a premonition or just wood smarts that my parents clearly lacked. Damn monoggin. Almost got crushed by a bear in Maine.

[Corinne]

Okay, well, glad you survived.

[Sabrina]

Would I survive on the Appalachian Trail though?

[Corinne]

I don't know, but you were called to it for years, so I feel.

[Sabrina]

Like there's still something in me.

[Corinne]

Dun, dun, dun. Stay tuned. Next episode will be live from Appalachia. So I have a couple different stories today. Alien abductions or potential ones missing time with like a potential CIA have their fingers in involved in situation, a glitch in time and a lady in white. So I'm gonna start with the lady in white. It's a shorter story and this user deleted their account. But it was posted two years ago. I lived in the partially secluded rural countryside and one midnight I woke up and the house behind mine was on fire with smoke filling the air. So I approached the house within a 15 yard distance and the only people I could see were the residents of the house. So I'm standing there watching and all of a sudden a young woman appears behind me dressed in a solid white nightgown with long gray hair. I turn my head towards the fire real quick and then back towards the woman. In that split second, that woman completely vanished. I'm not one to believe in ghosts, but it was a very supernatural experience.

[Sabrina]

I mean, how else do you explain it?

[Corinne]

It's a ghost 100%. And now like my brain wants to be like, well, what does she have to do with the fire? Did he, like, if this user had gone to talk to the couple that lived in the house and got out of the fire, would they have told him a story of waking up to this like, visage of a lady in white warning them or.

[Sabrina]

It was almost like I was thinking that perhaps she was there to grab this person if she needed to if the people didn't get out. Like she was going to be the interference or she was just a no spirit.

[Corinne]

Yeah, she's like, I want to see what's going on with the fire.

[Sabrina]

I mean, if you're in the middle of like the deep dark woods and you see fire and you're a ghost, are you not attracted to go.

[Corinne]

I'm attracted as a ghost. I want to see all of it.

[Sabrina]

Like, right, me too.

[Corinne]

I will be the ghost that watches you in the shower. I'm sorry, I concur.

[Sabrina]

Okay. This is from Blues with Beer and it was written in 2021. I'll make a shorter story for a longer one involving sensitive auras. But once I was with a girl on Big Frog Mountain at desk miles away from anyone. We decided to walk up a trail when right behind the car, I stepped in a mud puddle with odd looking light brownish water. So I pointed to this unusual color and then we kept on walking. Not far up the trail, she started getting scared. And so we went back to the car. And in the car we started making out while lying in the front seat and she had her hand draped out the window. I felt an odd sensation in my back. It had happened before when people were behind me and I told her, you should pull your hand in. Which she did. A few minutes later, I felt the sensation in my back again, but this time it felt more urgent. So I rolled her window up. But being a horny ass teenager, I continued with the makeout session.

[Corinne]

I have questions about the like, body layout here with like, making out while her hand is out.

[Sabrina]

Yeah, because otherwise, how are you?

[Corinne]

Yeah, yeah.

[Sabrina]

Can you draw us a picture? Send us a video of teenagers making out?

[Corinne]

No, I just meant just.

[Sabrina]

I know, I know, I know. I just bullying you stop.

[Corinne]

You know, like when you're a kid and you're getting like tickled or something and like all you can do is drop to the floor and just like, make yourself as small as possible. That's how I felt in that moment.

[Sabrina]

Oh, my God. All right, I'll get back to being nice.

[Corinne]

Thanks.

[Sabrina]

A few minutes later, it felt like someone had struck a live wire to my back. So this time I sat up, I started the car, and I headed back down the mountain. She was obviously confused and asked me what was wrong, and I replied, I don't know, but something was wrong somewhere. We went back to my parents house and was assured by them that my family was okay. So having calmed down now, we ate a little bit of dinner and then started to leave. After I opened the car door for her, I walked around the back of the car. And while walking, I glanced at the back of the car and I saw handprints. No, the same color as that mysterious mud puddle on the car. The last one was over the back window. And it was obvious that someone was watching us while inching their way to the front driver's side window.

[Corinne]

Holy shit.

[Sabrina]

When I saw high chills all over my body, when I saw the handprints, it was like being hit with a lightning bolt. And I knew what had happened. Cold chills ran all over me. I got her out of the car, and as soon as she saw the prints, she knew too. This story is the absolute truth, so help me, and I will never forget it.

[Corinne]

Terrifying.

[Sabrina]

And also it leaves me with questions because it does feel like there's some. Like they're indicating that it's like a person almost, right? But then like the mysterious mud puddle.

[Corinne]

I'm thinking it's blood.

[Sabrina]

Oh, Weird brownish color. So it could be blood. Because I was like, okay, something has to be someone or something has to be, like, dripping and oozing this substance.

[Corinne]

For it to collect here like a swamp monster. But it's creeping.

[Sabrina]

It's creeping.

[Corinne]

And that's like, such a local lore horror stereotype where it's like two kids making out by the woods or like at the overlook, and then like, the hunting terrible killer is lurking, watching them.

[Sabrina]

Yes. Oh, my God. So creepy, though.

[Corinne]

Thank goodness you had the feelings.

[Sabrina]

Yeah. Trust your intuition, Trust your gut. Roll up the windows.

[Corinne]

It's interesting because it's like, is that a person or is that something supernatural happening? And that's the thing about Appalachia. It's like, because it's such a big rural, some of the areas are really rural. Like, people are just as dangerous as the animals and the creatures and the unknown in the wilderness.

[Sabrina]

Although I want to say one more thing about the one that I just read.

[Corinne]

Sure.

[Sabrina]

The girl was feeling scared when they were walking down the path. So it feels like whatever it was was stalking them the whole time. And again, it does make me wonder, like, is this a person or is this a creature?

[Corinne]

Because you could get that feeling from both.

[Sabrina]

Right.

[Corinne]

If you're being hunted, it makes sense that that feeling of fear would come up.

[Sabrina]

Right.

[Corinne]

So my next story, it's actually two stories from the same user, and they both take place in West Virginia. And. And this was from a thread where someone was asking if people who lived in the Appalachia area verify whether the area is actually cursed or not. So this user, Cinnamon Soy, posted twice with two stories to back up the idea that the West Virginia Appalachian woods are absolutely creepy and that you are never going to feel alone in the woods. So the user wrote. Our friend group was usually about nine people, but on this one evening we were having a sleepover and only five from the group could make it. So we were seven total. Me, my sister, and my five friends. We decided it would be ballsy to go take a walk at 11pm and our house was super rural. And our driveway was this really long road that had two other neighbors down it. So our house was the first on the drive, and it was about one third of a mile of a walk before you get to our house, then another quarter of a mile to get to the neighbors, and then maybe after that another a thousand feet or so to get to the last house. This driveway is surrounded by thick woods. It looks like FernGully in the spring, and I'd say due to the neighbors, I always felt safe. But it was definitely still creepy. So all of us went out with our flashlights and our dog. And as we were going along, occasionally someone would duck into the woods, run ahead, jump out, and scare us. You know, middle schoolers. And after a while, that got old. So I stopped and I counted everyone to make sure we were all there. I counted eight, and another friend counted eight as well. We continued walking, and then we stopped and counted again. When we got within sight of our neighbor's house, we decided, let's turn around. We counted our numbers again to make sure we had everyone again, eight of us. Then we turned back to my house, and when we were almost back, we all got this feeling like someone had left the group. And we counted. There were seven of us now. And we noticed our friend A was missing. I felt like something was wrong, but the other girls were like, no, she's just going to jump out and scare us. They all said, let's leave. Head back to your house and she'll find us. But I had a bad feeling. So did another girl. I refused to go down the hill to my house without finding A. As I was about to turn around, I heard a faint. Help me. I took off in the direction of the call for help with one of my friends. We heard it again. It did not sound like our friend A at all. Then we saw a light flashing in the dark. We ran to it, and there we found A passed out on the side of the road, leaves strewn over her, her flashlight broken into three pieces. She came to and we sat her up, brushing the leaves away. She said she didn't call for help, that she had actually gone off the trail to jump out and scare us, when all of a sudden, something white brushed past her, causing her to trip on some rocks, fall, and pass out. By this time, the others had joined us with A, and we helped her back, all of us. Returning to my house, we were sitting around the dining room table and decided to count how many of us there were. Seven. Why did we keep counting eight? There was never eight of us. Who was the extra head? We kept counting.

[Sabrina]

Third man syndrome.

[Corinne]

We never saw anyone we didn't recognize. So who was number eight? And then when we noticed A was missing, we counted seven, meaning that mysterious number eight was still there with us.

[Sabrina]

Ew, ew, ew. I hate that.

[Corinne]

It was only once we found A and returned home that that that extra person vanished. We were all so confused by it. And when we counted eight we never really thought much of it because we're used to our larger group. But no, we were definitely only seven that night. And to this day, we've never figured out what happened. Imagine counting your whole group, not recognizing anyone unusual or weird. But it's eight people and multiple people were counting. So it's not like one person made a mistake, right?

[Sabrina]

And wouldn't you know, like, it's not a huge group. So I would know if I counted you twice, right? So it's not even like it could be a doppelganger situation. It's really interesting, bizarre. And then it's also like the help me, help me. It's like, well, is it the friend? Like, is it when she's passed out? Is it like her soul going out and asking for help somehow? Or is it this? Or is like the 8th person even the same thing? Is it even related to the white spirit?

[Corinne]

There's so many confusing aspects brushed by.

[Sabrina]

Because that makes me think that the spirit that, like, brushed by and accidentally knocked her over was like, oh, shoot. And went and was like, help me, help me, me. Then it's like, well, if they were counting eight, then that spirit should have already been with the group. I don't know. I'm confused.

[Corinne]

It's so confusing. Cinnamon soy is confused too.

[Sabrina]

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[Corinne]

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[Sabrina]

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[Corinne]

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[Sabrina]

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[Corinne]

This episode is brought to you by Nespresso Vertuo Coffee Machines Ready to enjoy the bold flavors of barista quality Nespresso iced coffee at home? Simply fill a glass with ice and press the brew button on your Vertuo pop machine to enjoy. Right Rich double espressos, roasted to stand up even when chilled. Refreshingly bold iced coffee, refreshingly easy to make at home. Visit nespresso.com to shop now. And that's not the only encounter that they had in the Appalachia region. And luckily for us, they shared another encounter. And this was posted eight months ago. This happened when they were 12 or 13. So cinnamon soy wrote. I was in middle school about 12 or 13, and my friend Jay had a sleepover birthday party at her house. It was a typical sleepover, except we were going to sleep in a big tent on the side of her front yard, not too far from the West Virginia Appalachia treeline. She lived in a cul de sac, but this neighborhood was still being built, so her family was one of the few that lived here at the time. The woods around her house were so thick and deep. I want to say we were close to the Kanawha river, which I have a photo. It's beautiful.

[Sabrina]

Oh wow. I want to kayak on that.

[Corinne]

So there we were outside in the tent as the sun began to set, chatting, doing middle school girl stuff. And I remember that this happened after dark. We could hear the voice of her neighbor, Mr. Pinkerton, as she called him, and he was all the way up the street on his back porch talking on the phone. My goodness, this guy was a loud talker. Nothing else seemed noticeable, just this neighbor talking really loud. We heard the bugs as normal, nothing unusual. So naturally we decided to start telling scary stories. Of course, we talked about the Mothman and Chief Cornstalk, who I've never heard of, so I had to pause and do some research. It seems like we'll have to do another episode of this later, but briefly. Chief Cornstalk was a Shawnee leader, and In November of 1777, Cornstalk, along with three other native members of the tribe, went to Fort Randolph on a peace mission. They ended up being taken hostage and then being Murdered. But before dying, Cornstalk was alleged to have pronounced a curse upon all lands taken from his people by the white man. There they are, all of them in the tent, telling creepy stories, talking about the creepy West Virginia legends and haints when they got a little spooked. So someone decided, let's not talk about scary stories anymore. They switched to lighthearted gossip and whatnot. And Cinnamon Soy said, I don't remember how much. Long after, but maybe an hour or so later as we're talking, suddenly everyone in the tent screamed. I looked at my friend Abby. Her and I were the only ones that did not scream. We had our backs to whatever everyone else had seen and was looking at. We were told that a large shadow of a man appeared on the side of the tent directly behind Abby and.

[Sabrina]

I. Oh, my God.

[Corinne]

As if it was coming closer to the entrance of the tent. Then all of them screamed, and the shadow disappeared. We sat there in shock for a minute, not moving, not breathing. We could still hear Mr. Pinkerton yapping on his phone. We debated what to do. Maybe her parents were pranking us. So we got up the courage to all get out of the tent together and go find her parents. We went inside to find they were fast asleep in their bed. They had not even stirred when we all screamed. It was all too creepy. We decided to grab our stuff and go inside. We locked all the doors, went and slept in my friend's room all together on the floor in bed with her bedroom door locked as well.

[Sabrina]

Good.

[Corinne]

What was even creepier was that the way a shadow could have been formed outside would not have ever been on that side of the tent.

[Sabrina]

Oh, God. Okay. Well, this is so appropriate because I feel like this is the story of people who live in Appalachia. It doesn't end with one experience. There's throughout their lives, continuously encounters with the paranormal with scary people where the paranormal is normal. Appalachia, where the paranormal is normal.

[Corinne]

It's normal.

[Sabrina]

Dang.

[Corinne]

Yeah.

[Sabrina]

Oh, I'm so curious what it was.

[Corinne]

That also reminds me, and this is kind of like your bear story, but more human adjacent. And I think I've told this on the podcast before, but I want to say it was the New Year's for 2000, and because it was such a big, you know, the new millennia, like, our whole neighborhood in Branchburg, like, one of the neighbors had, like, a massive party, and, like, all of the parents were like, we're getting fucked up. So us kids all were gonna have a sleepover at the house. And so, like, all the Parents were downstairs having the party, whatever. And a bunch of us kids were upstairs in one of the bedrooms. We're laying there. Everyone's, like, half asleep, going to bed. Like, we're not, like, talking and up. When all of a sudden we hear a loud smack on the window and see a gloved hand on the window. And we all screamed. I don't remember, like, what happened afterwards, but I think there was a ladder leading up to that window. And we all believe, like, a human had climbed up the ladder and was, like, fucking with us or doing something weird.

[Sabrina]

One of the drunk dads. Let's hope.

[Corinne]

I hope. But the parents didn't believe us. They were all like, no, that. That's not true. Like, that didn't happen. It was probably a bird. What?

[Sabrina]

Yeah, dude, that's messed up. And also, like, why would you leave a ladder leading up to your child's bedroom?

[Corinne]

But that's what I'm not clear about. I don't know if it was left there. Like, it almost feels like the person who did the creeping left the ladder there by accident or because they got caught.

[Sabrina]

They got caught because they slipped and slammed their body into the window, maybe. Oh, my God. Ew. This is from. They are out there.

[Corinne]

Terrifying.

[Sabrina]

75.

[Corinne]

Love it.

[Sabrina]

It was posted one year ago. I posted this before, but this is one of the scariest stories I have ever heard. So here it is again. This story was told in our family when I was growing up. It used to scare me so bad. Anyway, my maw Maw swore that it was the truth and she was not known to tell lies. Suddenly I'm like, I'm trying so hard to not adopt a Southern accent.

[Corinne]

Yeah, well, after Mama.

[Sabrina]

Yeah, okay. And she was not known to tell lies. And I should know because it was just me and her when I was growing up.

[Corinne]

The chair squeaking when I'm like. I'm, like, not letting a laugh out the chairs, laughing for me.

[Sabrina]

Anyway. She was born and raised in a very rural and poor area of West Virginia. Her and her seven or eight brothers and sisters were very poor. And because of this, and because it was what many country people did, her father raised a garden. Now, my mama nearly idolized her father and would go with him the distance from their house to the garden spot, which was a good piece off. This required that they push a wagon with wooden wheels past their neighbor's house. My mamaw was terrified of this old woman that lived beside them. Maw Maw said that they called her Aunt Kate. She was older and apparently she had cataracts because Maw Maw said her eyes were white.

[Corinne]

Ooh.

[Sabrina]

Maw Maw said that this particular summer was extremely hot and that she and her father had spent a good bit of time at the garden, tending the vegetables and picking up what was ready. As they were pushing this big wagon up and in front of Aunt Kate's house, the old woman came out and yelled, harrison, my great grandfather, Gimme some of them beans you got there.

[Corinne]

Why do I love Aunt Kate, right?

[Sabrina]

I like her a lot. She doesn't seem so scary.

[Corinne]

She wants beans.

[Sabrina]

She wants the beans. Beans make good ants, good fiber. My great grandfather responded, kate, we worked hard for them beans. We ain't giving them away. The old woman laughed and said that we would regret this decision.

[Corinne]

Why do I feel like this is Rapunzel?

[Sabrina]

Oh, my gosh. Is she gonna be stolen away because her dad didn't give beans?

[Corinne]

But it's like the reverse where Rapunzel's family stole from the old witch's garden.

[Sabrina]

Oh, my God.

[Corinne]

You're not giving me from your garden.

[Sabrina]

So they're out there. Always thought that this was her own garden with her dad, but really, they were stealing from Kate the whole time. So the two proceeded up the hill to their home and went about chores and other required duties. And then Maw Maw said that she thought nothing more of it until it was time to sleep. According to my mama, with so many kids, some shared beds and some on the floor where they slept with minimal coverings, Mama said that she was drifting off to sleep when she heard someone or something walk towards the room where she was sleeping. Knowing the sound of the home, she did not recognize who or what this could be. Mama always talked about how her father would tell them stories, mostly to scare them into being good. And due to this, she was easily scared. So as the walking got closer, she reported covering her head and laying still, terrified of who or what was standing in the doorway. Maw Maw reported that, quote, whatever it was would turn and walk out of the room and back down the hallway. And it did this all night long. Maw said it burn over. Mamaw said she laid there all terrified and scared to take her head out from under the blanket. The next morning, as the sun arose, the thing stopped. She stated that she then heard the familiar sound of her father moving quickly to get dressed. Once she bolstered enough bravery, she immediately darted down the hallway and into the kitchen where her father was placing green beans into a sack. The two did not speak, but just walked quickly out the door and down the hill to Aunt Kate's house with a sack full of beans. Maw Maw said old Aunt Kate was already out sitting on her porch as if she was waiting for them to arrive. Her father said, old woman, take your booger. An Appalachian term for spirit and demon. Old woman, take your booger back. And Aunt Kate started laughing and telling them, don't worry, Harrison. It won't bother you no more.

[Corinne]

I love Aunt Kate so much. She's powerful.

[Sabrina]

She's a witch in the woods. Yes. Mama told other things that Aunt Kate did that alluded to her being someone very familiar with the dark side. And Mama was very honest. She was a Christian lady. Like, we had to go to church every time the doors were open. And I never remember a time where I caught her in a lie or even heard her curse. And she swore that Aunt Kate was into black magic, and that's that.

[Corinne]

I love Aunt Kate.

[Sabrina]

Right.

[Corinne]

I really do. I get it. It's terrifying.

[Sabrina]

Give me some of them beans. Yes.

[Corinne]

If your mama and that family. Yes. Horrifying, terrifying experience. But it would be pretty sick to be Aunt Kate.

[Sabrina]

He had a ton of kids like, you need those beans, Aunt Kate? Because at first I was going to say, like, it's just a couple of beans. Give her the beans.

[Corinne]

Those beans, they're feeding the family.

[Sabrina]

They're feeding the family.

[Corinne]

But that's the other thing is, like, if Aunt Kate can use her demons to do things like this, why can't she use her demons to, like, plant her own garden?

[Sabrina]

Yeah. Grow your own garden. It's reminding me of that story that you covered where the woman gave her request of how she would die and be buried, and then they, like, brought her down. Hannah Krana, Hannah Cranna. Didn't she have, like, a magical garden? She would, like, help people with remedies, but then she also could reverse it and mess with people's crops if they wrong.

[Corinne]

Yes. Or that was the story.

[Sabrina]

That was the story.

[Corinne]

Yeah. That she, like, turned a man into a horse and then rode the horse through, like, I think that was part of the story. Your snacking routine can get a little dull. Time for an Oikos remix or Light and Fit remix. Like a crunchy storm of sea salt, praline pretzels, dark chocolate and butter toffee, showering down into a smooth, creamy Yogurt.

[Sabrina]

Yogurt.

[Corinne]

Enjoy. Six Remix varieties, three Epicomplete Protein Oikos Remix options, or three Craveable Light and Fit Remix options. See remixyogurt.com Lowe's knows that no matter your paint or stain project, saving is at the top of your to do list. Save now with buy one, get one half off. Select paints, stains and primers from top brands like Valspar HG TV Home by Sherwin Williams and Cabot via Visa gift card rebate. Find more Memorial Day deals now at Lowe's.

[Sabrina]

We help you save. Selection varies by location while supplies last. Discount taken at time of purchase. See sales associate for details.

[Corinne]

Offer valid 515 through 528. Okay, I have one that. Stay tuned. In two episodes time we will cover this in its entirety. And I've heard about it before, but I've never really looked into it and this, this story made me look into it and Holy shit balls. Okay, okay. So this user uno that universe wrote:2 years ago the following two of the people who were with me at the time have died. But this happened in 1989. I was in a car with some friends and something happened that I still cannot explain. Basically it fits in the category of alien abduction stories and I'm fairly skeptical as a person, but I really have no idea what happened. It happened in the area that is the location of a CIA facility called the Monroe Institute. Oh, naturally I wanted to learn more about the Monroe Institute and this is why I will do an episode about it.

[Sabrina]

I feel like it's come up in stuff that we've covered before, hasn't it?

[Corinne]

I think so. And there's a podcast called the Gateway Tapes.

[Sabrina]

Oh, maybe that's where I'm like, I feel like I know a bit about this and I don't know why, but if there's, if there's a conspiracy, I'm there.

[Corinne]

It's actually not a conspiracy really. It's the CIA documents have been released. I'll get into this more in two episodes time. But basically the Monroe Institute of Applied Sciences was founded by Robert Monroe in 1974. Online it states the Monroe Institute offers courses in experiential programs that that will help you explore your consciousness to achieve wellness. It is headquartered in Faber, Virginia, smack dab in the Appalachia Mountains. And there are multiple documents, CIA documents, that have been approved for release and are available online as of like 2003. But according to these documents, the Monroe Institute had and or has a program called the Gateway Program formed to instruct and train individuals in the art of switching perceptual modes.

[Sabrina]

Wait, isn't this the document that I went into to get the code when I was giving birth to try to cheat?

[Corinne]

Is it the same?

[Sabrina]

I Think it might be.

[Corinne]

Okay, so they do have.

[Sabrina]

I could be talking out my butt here, but I think it. I think that's it.

[Corinne]

Okay. Cause they do have, like, a thing where it's, like, supposed to help you with pain, but they have different. There's a whole intermediate workbook that's available, which we're gonna go through. We're gonna go through in the episode and talk about everything. It's a huge class, but, like, if.

[Sabrina]

This were a class I'd be signing up.

[Corinne]

It is. You can go to the Monroe Institute. I think you can sign up for classes.

[Sabrina]

I want a virtual class.

[Corinne]

Okay, well, I'll give it to you in two weeks. It's basically astral projection, remote viewing, reaching a second consciousness. And this intermediate workbook is 21 pages that I just briefly started reading. And I'll just read a couple of things from it. And there's some pictures in the YouTube video, but these are daily tools listed in the Monroe Institute Gateway Handbook. To go into normal, natural, restful sleep, lie down in a comfortable position, breathe deeply five times, and count from one to 20. Before you reach the count of 20, you'll go into a normal, restful sleep. To remember any part of your life experience, close your eyes and touch softly the fingers of your right hand to the center of your forehead. When you do this, you recall and remember immediately that which you consciously desire. Okay, this says to reduce pain signals. This is the. Yes, it is the number.

[Sabrina]

I was like, wait, why do I know this thing?

[Corinne]

Which is so weird that we just talked about this and then I happened upon it in this story, and. Yeah, so we have to cover it. But, yes, so to reduce pain signals, look with your closed eyes at the part of your body which is the source of pain signals. As you look, repeat in your mind the number 55515. When you do these two things, the pain signals will slowly reduce until they are no longer important. They have, like, to reduce emotional charge, to charge the body for great speed and strength, to receive fresh, new energy. For your total system balance any part of your body. There's, like, all of these different things. And in the.

[Sabrina]

Because we're living in a simulation and these are the cheat codes. Yes, but it's also one of those things where it's like, the mind is so powerful and, like, there are so many studies where, like, people can create bruises and ailments and injuries on themselves if they convince themselves they have it. So this is almost like the reverse. It's like, convince yourself that pain doesn't Exist, Right. And then fake it till you make it does work.

[Corinne]

There are all these different modules and images in the manual that remind me of Dark, the show.

[Sabrina]

I never. Yeah, like, you talk about Dark. I need to re. Go into it.

[Corinne]

Like, the clock orientation where it has, like, consciousness is here. But then if you turn the clock consciousness, like, it's basically talking about how time is fake in an image.

[Sabrina]

Does this not make you so mad that the OA wasn't renewed? I will never get over that. That was my greatest heartache. The greatest tragedy of my personal life was the. Oh, you should watch.

[Corinne]

Did you watch Murder at the End of the World?

[Sabrina]

I did.

[Corinne]

Brit Marling also wrote that.

[Sabrina]

Yeah, but it's not like the oa.

[Corinne]

I know, but it's. It is kind of.

[Sabrina]

It's good. There's twists and turns. But the OA is.

[Corinne]

I know.

[Sabrina]

Like this. It's all about, like, consciousness and time and what does. What do certain things mean?

[Corinne]

We'll have our own OA next week. Two weeks. Anyway, so that's just a little teaser for what the future episode's gonna be. But Uno, that universe had this experience, potential missing time, alien abduction right around this area, which is common. I think a lot of people lose time and have abduction like experiences in this area, which makes me think and wonder if all the work that is happening at Monroe Institute, all of these people together, mentally, remote viewing or astral projecting, like, does it create this bubble of weird energy that accidentally rubs off on people?

[Sabrina]

You know what? I'm gonna say with absolute certainty that the answer is yes. Only because there was a time that I went to a chiropractor when I was, like, young and I didn't go to a normal chiropractor. I went to this kind of woo woo chiropractor because I lived in Vermont, remember? And I told you this. And they would just, like, tap on different pressure points on my back, let me lay there for 10 minutes, and then suddenly my back would crack. And after going for like a month or two, as I started walking into the office without them even touching me, my back would just start to crack. It was like, from the energy, like my body knowing my brain knowing the energy around me and other people who'd been going so consistently for years. I've told you this before. Their spines. I think about this multiple times a year. Their spines. When you breathe, you go like this. If you look at someone laying on their stomach, these people, what?

[Corinne]

That freaks me out. Why does that make me feel uncomfortable?

[Sabrina]

I don't know. What the was going on with their spines. But it was like that if you unlocked like your full spine potential, you would get to be this kind of like breathing little dolphin in the waves. I don't understand what was going on.

[Corinne]

Oh my God.

[Sabrina]

I should see if I can find their contacts and like, yeah, literally ask them.

[Corinne]

Let's do a live recording of us.

[Sabrina]

Right. Well, they can give us. I bet they could do remote chiropractic work. Honestly.

[Corinne]

Oh my God.

[Sabrina]

It was Rushford. Chiropractors in South Burlington or Burlington, Vermont. They're going to be like, crin. Your memory is not accurate.

[Corinne]

No, your. Your memory is for sure accurate. So anyway, Uno. That universe literally put that like one statement that I had read earlier and kind of left it at that. And I like, I read it as this like really weird thing happened to me and I don't really know how to talk about it. So naturally, because I've now mastered how to use Reddit, I clicked on the username and then was like going into a deep dive of like everything that this user has post. They seem so fascinated with aliens and stuff now. Like they truly track flights and like different weird things that are found in the airspace. They wrote a lot and I think like after that one experience around the Monroe Institute, they began to have a lot of alien abduction like experiences.

[Sabrina]

Interesting.

[Corinne]

And they posted. I really don't know what it was that I encountered on my last trip. I think it's possible that the location is key to the whole thing. And Bob Monroe, Robert Monroe seemed to think that that place where it occurred is somehow different. Afton Mountain in Virginia has definitely been the location of most of my strange experiences. The weirdest part is it seems like the whole area is in on it and is too afraid to say anything. I wish I was joking.

[Sabrina]

Wow, that is freaky.

[Corinne]

I tried to send them a chat on Reddit but like, for some reason it said that user it like didn't go through. I don't know.

[Sabrina]

Oh yeah, Reddit has all these things where like, you have to interact and do so many things to be able to like, give so many permissions.

[Corinne]

I don't have Reddit credit.

[Sabrina]

Yeah, yeah, but that's the Monroe Institute. Okay, this reminds me, like the whole town being in on it. Doesn't this kind of feel like that.

[Corinne]

One story from the listener who her and her dad were on a road trip and they went to the mysterious town that they didn't know. Grilled cheese. What a grilled cheese sandwich was.

[Sabrina]

Yes. And I was just going to Say, like, because that story reminded me of another story, too, when we were reading it, about the people that thought they walked into it like a time portal. Because they walked into a diner and just everyone looked at them.

[Corinne]

Yes.

[Sabrina]

And this feels like that town. Right?

[Corinne]

It's very.

[Sabrina]

And it's like, are all these other experiences people accidentally astral projecting, getting, like, sucked into this one space? Again, if this energy is here. And the fact that this person is experiencing all of these, like, possible abductions or interest in aliens goes with the theory that we originally heard from Greg and Dana. But we were also kind of like, ruminating with for a little bit beforehand that alien abductions don't necessarily mean an abduction of your physical body, but it's some sort of abduction of your consciousness, of your soul.

[Corinne]

And we talked about this recently, but there was a TikTok with that trend where it's like, tell me your creepiest encounter in the woods. And one person, I think their username was, like, Rook R O O K. And they said that they fell asleep in the woods, like they were camping, and woke up three days later. Like, three days passed, no recollection.

[Sabrina]

What did their friends and family do? Were they missing?

[Corinne]

Well, I think that they were camping. Like, they were supposed to be camping for a while. So, like, it wasn't unusual. And they were alone, which also wild to go camping alone. Bravery and stupidity. Sorry if you do that. But, like, I could never. But yeah, three days. Three days passed.

[Sabrina]

How could you ever bring yourself to go camping again? You couldn't, right?

[Corinne]

I think partially you have to just ignore the reality of what happened. Do some code.

[Sabrina]

I would have to convince myself that I wasn't just, like, missing time and abducted. I would have to convince myself that I was always present and stepped through some sort of time portal and accidentally just, like, bleeped three days into the future. Not that I was missing memory.

[Corinne]

Yeah, it's all terrifying.

[Sabrina]

It's all terrifying. Yeah. I wonder if they've ever gone back to that one area.

[Corinne]

I should message Rook.

[Sabrina]

Let's just start dming all the people on Reddit with spooky stories like, hey, tell me more, tell me more, tell me more. Okay, well, this says, let me tell you what I saw in the Appalachian Mountains. Okay. This is from for grim P H G R I M. Okay. Hello all. Originally, I'm from West Virginia. Doesn't it all happen down in West Virginia?

[Corinne]

Multiple of our story is West Virginia and Virginia.

[Sabrina]

It's the creepiest area. Yeah, I moved around between the Appalachian and the Midwest. Some as a kid. But between the ages of 10 and 13, I lived in rural Kentucky at the foothills of one of the oldest mountain ranges on the planet. I lived with my dad and my grams. We lived in what we call a holler. Think of it like a cul de sac in between a set of foothills. Oh, my gosh. That just fully triggered a memory. Do you remember that reality show it was, like, about the holler or whatever.

[Corinne]

No.

[Sabrina]

There's a bunch of kids and they were just, like, getting drunk in the hall. Oh, my God, it was so. I love that show. Anyway, we lived in the middle of the neighborhood with nothing but family on both sides. No one lived across from us or behind us because of the foothills. And when I moved in, my grams had some rules that I had to follow. At the time, I chalked them up to hillbilly stranger danger. They were things like, don't mess around with wild animals. Don't go out into the woods alone. Then they got a little weird. Don't whistle. If you hear your name, don't answer. Don't go to it. If you see someone in the woods, you might know. No, you didn't just come home.

[Corinne]

Yikes.

[Sabrina]

This experience happened in August when I was 11 years old. My dad and I had mowed a path through the tall grass and the berry bushes to the left of the double wide that we lived in. We camped out there a lot because it was close enough that we could go check on my grams. Now, when you're in the woods, things are a little louder than you think. You have animal life, bugs, chattering wind through the trees and grass. There was a stream that ran along the road that you could easily hear. And that night, we added a campfire to that list. My dad decided to go back up to the house about a quarter mile to get some beer and to go check on Grams. And before he left, he told me not to mess around with the fire. After a few minutes of watching the fire, things started to get quiet. Like real quiet. The wind had all but stopped. Bugs and animal sounds were all gone. The stream now sounded like it was miles away. I was getting uncomfortable, even though I'd been left at the campground before like this. And then I started to smell and taste it. It was in the back of my throat and out of nowhere, this awful metal tang. And after a few more moments of dread, my dad finally came back. He was mad right away. Said he could smell burning metal coming up the trail. He accused me of tossing beer cans into the fire. I told him I didn't. I even pointed to the fire to prove it. He said there was a storm coming in, we needed to go back home, and he let it go. We then left the tent and we started our way back. Now, the very cool but very weird thing about lightning in the woods when it's this dense is that lightning hits and it lights up everything like it's the middle of the day, up until the front of the trees. After the first set of trees, it's pitch black. There are no street lights, and unless you have lights on your property, it is just completely black. So it is pitch black. It's lightly raining, and other than the dim lights from the house windows, there's literally nothing. I'm eating watermelon as one does in August in the mountains when the first clap of lightning hits and everything is as bright as it can be. After the second lightning passes, it goes pitch black again. Next clap of lightning comes, and that's when I see it.

[Corinne]

Uh oh.

[Sabrina]

On our porch, past the yard, over the stream, past the road and the ditches. On either side, just past the first line of trees, I could see a silhouette.

[Corinne]

My ears are so open right now. Like, I feel like I'm so hyper aware of everything around.

[Sabrina]

Like you're there.

[Corinne]

Yeah.

[Sabrina]

And then it goes dark. This is also when I can start to taste that same awful burning metal. And I'm not sure what I saw, so I just stay still. And after a few moments, the lightning hits again. The figure is now closer. It's standing side by side to the trees. And then it goes black again. I'm standing now and I don't know what to do. It's been 20 years to this day, and I've tried but could never fully describe what I saw. This thing's head wasn't proportionate to its body. The arms were too long, the torso didn't fit. It was like you asked a blind person to draw what a person looked like. It just didn't look exactly correct. And once the lightning hit again, the thing is standing in the middle of the road. Not wanting to see this thing get any closer, I go inside. My gramps is doing dishes and asks why I'm inside, and I tell her I think I saw something. She almost immediately gets my dad on his feet, telling him to shut and lock all the windows, shut and lock all the doors. And my dad, vaguely drunk, obeys. And that night I sleep with my grams. The next day we discover the tent door is torn off. It didn't look like an animal. These things Weren't cut or shredded. It looked like someone took and pulled it all apart. My uncle, who lived a mile or so up, had all eight chickens killed that night. Heads gone, no blood. The next few weeks, all of the kids had to wait for the bus with an adult. My dad had to be late for work almost three weeks in a row. Anytime I tried to talk about it, the subject would be changed. I just figured I was a kid and maybe it wasn't important, maybe it wasn't real. It wasn't until years later that I finally understood. I was in my early 20s and some cousins were in town for Halloween. And as I'm telling this story, my aunt got really irate with me saying, don't you tell them that. Don't you put that evil on them. After, I couldn't help but think, and.

[Corinne]

Now we're putting the evil on everyone. Right, Sorry.

[Sabrina]

Well, they put it on Reddit.

[Corinne]

That's true.

[Sabrina]

After, I couldn't help but think back on all the times I tried to talk about it and how I was shunned. My kid mind not realizing that it wasn't just as simple as a subject change. They were actively shushing me. Once I started dipping my toes on Reddit, I realized that there's a name for this thing. The same name that my aunt had called it the Day at the Party. And the other people who have seen it have called it the Goat Man. What bothers me most is how to this day, I couldn't describe any features, nor have I ever tasted that awful burning metal taste. So, friends, if you ever find yourself in the foothills of Kentucky, please remember my grams rules. And that's it.

[Corinne]

I, like, want to pee myself right now.

[Sabrina]

Right? It's so terrifying.

[Corinne]

The metallic taste in the air, too.

[Sabrina]

Oh, and like, how it was pitch black and every clap of lightning, you see it, it's illuminated and it's that much closer.

[Corinne]

It's a horror trope. Like, but it's a horror trope for a reason, because it moves in the.

[Sabrina]

Dark, it can see. You can't.

[Corinne]

And that, that's similar to, like, when people have shadow people experiences or sleep paralysis at night when they wake up and they try to blink it away, but every time they blink, it's closer to them.

[Sabrina]

Yeah. Oh my God.

[Corinne]

It's one of those things that makes me wonder, why is it that we can't see them move? Do they not want us to see the way that they move? Is there something?

[Sabrina]

Or is it so terrifying that our brain blocks it out every time or like, we can't make sense of, like, the way that it does happen.

[Corinne]

And so it breaks our brain.

[Sabrina]

It breaks our brain. It makes me wonder what would have happened. Thank God this person says something to Grams, right? Because, like, dad was a little drunk and was just like, whatever.

[Corinne]

But thank God they went inside too.

[Sabrina]

Yeah, thank God it was a storm.

[Corinne]

Yeah. Don't like it, but also love hearing about it.

[Sabrina]

But thanks for posting it on Reddit.

[Corinne]

I have a short one that will make us more afraid of humans than anything. 69 Achilles posted this two years ago, and it is straight to the point. Man with a bloodied machete limped his way past me as I was getting water off the trail.

[Sabrina]

Wow. Okay.

[Corinne]

Looked at me and said, bear. It was so weird. He just kept walking. It was getting dark, and I did not want to ask any other questions, so I just let him get his way ahead of me. And I was stealth camping and really did not want him to see where I was camping. I was so exhausted and I had my knife and stick with me just in case.

[Sabrina]

You know what? I actually do believe the old man, because he probably knew how it looked. I know how he looked.

[Corinne]

You're just telling yourself this.

[Sabrina]

He was also exhausted.

[Corinne]

Bear exasperated, bloody machete dripping blood off of it in his hand. Bear.

[Sabrina]

Can you hunt Bear? Is there a bear hunting license?

[Corinne]

I don't know.

[Sabrina]

Did he go back and do like.

[Corinne]

I don't know.

[Sabrina]

Was he gutting the bear?

[Corinne]

I don't like it.

[Sabrina]

No, no, no, no, no. That is very creepy. Yep. Okay.

[Corinne]

Okay.

[Sabrina]

All right, Great. Fantastic. Okay, so I have a little surprise for us, and it is an am I the asshole? Which we never get to do because when are there Am I the assholes regarding the paranormal?

[Corinne]

All those ghosts writing on Reddit. Am I the asshole for showing up in the shower while she was washing her hair?

[Sabrina]

Right. In my search for these stories, I found one. And I was like, oh, my God, this is our chance. We can do an Am I the asshole?

[Corinne]

It's a paranormal one.

[Sabrina]

It says, am I the asshole for being mad that my husband let us buy a possibly haunted house?

[Corinne]

Okay, let's hear it.

[Sabrina]

And this person created this Reddit account specifically to post this Am I the asshole? Because their username is House, maybe Haunt. We're in our early 30s with kids. We decided to sell our home and upgrade to a bigger one. We were looking for houses for a couple months and finding it frustrating, we got outbid in one we really liked. And then my husband told me that his coworker was selling his house and thought that we might be interested. Me and my husband went out for dinner. We had a good time and got a good look at the house and it met everything we were looking for. So we decided to go forward and enter negotiations about buying the house. And we moved in in July. Living in the house has been really nice so far. However, I recently ran into the co worker's wife at the supermarket and we were chatting about the house. I mentioned how I'm starting to decorate for the fall, and she said, ooh, the spooky decorations will make the ghosts feel at home. And then started to laugh. I was very confused. I asked her what she meant and she seemed really confused. She said that she and the kids had some really weird experiences. Some bad nightmares, door slamming, other weird noises, creepy auras in the house, and that they thought that it was haunted. She assumed my husband had mentioned that to me and that we were on the same page and that we just didn't care. Well, we were not on the same page. My husband never told me. For background. My husband is a very skeptical and rational man. So I confronted him and he said he didn't tell me because one, his coworker said that he'd never experienced anything, so it was just the wife and kids. And two, he knew I would get irrational and be scared. Even though the house is perfect for.

[Corinne]

Rude, don't ever say you think your wife's about to get irrational.

[Sabrina]

Right. And double rude for, like, the guy being like, well, I didn't. Only the women and children experienced it, so it's not real.

[Corinne]

Those irrational women and children.

[Sabrina]

And three, ghosts are not real anyway. All right, well, fuck you too. On behalf of all ghosts. Yeah, a big F you. He insisted that he did not withhold information about the house itself. It was just irrelevant information about the coworker's family and their beliefs. Wow, this seems like a really frustrating man to be married to. Sorry.

[Corinne]

I'm mad.

[Sabrina]

I was. I'm mad, too. I'm infuriated that he let us buy this house without telling me. I now feel scared in my own home. I don't feel safe here at night anymore. Every noise puts me on edge. I've been looking for a sale on cameras so that we can record inside of the house and see if we can identify if there are spirits visiting. And I also told our children about it so that they can be safe and aware. But my husband is now mad at me because now they're scared too. I'm hoping that the previous family Was either hallucinating, but both the wife and the kids or maybe the spirits traveled with them to their new house. I'm not really sure what I will do if they are actually here, but my husband is not being very considerate of my fears and just keeps insisting that ghosts are not real. He says I have no right to be mad and to throw our family into turmoil over this. I know. I know what he believes, but it's not what I believe. And he just put us into this situation. So am I the asshole?

[Corinne]

No, you are not. I do understand, from the husband's perspective, like, not wanting to worry her, but if, you know your partner is afraid of and very much believes in the paranormal and you get this information, it is common decency, good partner behavior, to share that information and, like, understand that.

[Sabrina]

People have different beliefs and interests, but it doesn't. Just because it's not yours doesn't mean it's not real. It's real to them.

[Corinne]

And he clearly, it was such an conscious choice to not tell her because he thought she was gonna get irrational. Like, yeah, he just made the decision for her. I really hope that you're not experiencing things. And, like.

[Sabrina]

And I hope if anything does happen, it happens only to him. And also, I'm just frustrated at that man and his conversations and being like, well, this is the way it is.

[Corinne]

So what is this, the 1920s?

[Sabrina]

Yeah.

[Corinne]

It's like, stop making decisions for women. We can make our own decisions.

[Sabrina]

Yeah, Live outside of your own brain for a second, bud. Well, this is why we can't really participate in Am I the assholes? Because anyone who believes in the paranormal, not the. Anyone who doesn't, we're gonna call the asshole.

[Corinne]

Yeah.

[Sabrina]

Yeah.

[Corinne]

100.

[Sabrina]

But yeah, we can lightly see both sides, but no, you're. We deem you not the asshole.

[Corinne]

The crystal ball says, not the asshole. Not the. Anyway, if you have any paranormal not the. Or am I the asshole stories, we'd love to have them, because we could do it. If you guys email them to us in that format. We could do an episode about it.

[Sabrina]

That would be so fun.

[Corinne]

Yeah. And if you never get to.

[Sabrina]

And this was a little treat for us. We just want to give us a little snack.

[Corinne]

Give us a little snacky snack. And also give us your Appalachia stories and your Monroe institute stories, because we're gonna. We're about to dive in.

[Sabrina]

I'm very excited for the moment.

[Corinne]

So excited. I think it's gonna be a long one because the manual is 21 pages. Like, I'm for sure gonna read the whole entire manual to you.

[Sabrina]

Well, as you should.

[Corinne]

And everyone close your eyes and we'll do it. We'll do like a. I'll say nothing. You'll just practice them and see what happens. Yes. 4417-455515-55515 might be four fives. 5, 5, 5 5, 1 5.

[Sabrina]

I don't know. But we have time to practice before our next migraine and birth.

[Corinne]

So please send us your stories. Your Am I the asshole? And your Appalachia. Your paranormal anything odd and unusual stories to two girls. One ghost. Podcastmail.com if you want episodes ad free and one week early, plus bonus episodes every single month, plus book club, plus campfire stories, join us on Patreon. It's $5 a month and you get lots of bonuses in addition to everything we just listed.

[Sabrina]

You can watch us on YouTube, you can follow us on social medias, you can tell medias. I know. I. I literally do see my brain be like, do I correct myself?

[Corinne]

We could just keep going, keep going. And then I added you.

[Sabrina]

Sorry, you know what I mean? This is not a corrections podcast. No, but yeah, just tell everybody about this podcast and then in turn, you might hear some creepy stories from them. And then in turn, you can email those to us. We appreciate it.

[Corinne]

It's a pyramid scheme.

[Sabrina]

We love you, we love our editor, Jamie, and we will see you on the other side. Very spooky.