And That's Why We Drink - Listener Stories: Vol. 111

Episode Date: January 1, 2026

Hey Besties, Boozers and Shakers! We're kicking off the new year with our ParaPods pals Taylar and Morgan of Creeps & Crimes! They're bringing us Jack Frost cocktails aka a Christmas bruise in a cup and stories that may have gotten lost in our inbox but were thankfully sent to C&C as well. Join us this week for some beautifully emotional, festively creepy and borderline disturbing stories from our shared listeners. We love y'all! Shout out to all Kentucky mamaws... and that's why we drink! Announcement: We've gone fishin' (figuratively)! After eight years we're finally starting to build in some time off this year, starting this week Sunday, January 4th. Instead of releasing a regular episode we'll be giving ourselves some FLTs (fun little treats) and giving our staff some extremely well deserved down time. Thank you for understanding! If you think you or someone you know might be struggling with OCD, please don't wait to get help—go to https://learn.nocd.com/ATTWD and book a free call with their team to learn more. Visit https://quince.com/drink for free shipping and 365-day returns. Get 50% off Unlimited premium wireless this January—plans start at $15/month at https://mintmobile.com/ATWWD Get $10 off your first month's subscription and free shipping at https://nutrafol.com with promo code DRINK.Save 20% off Honeylove by going to https://honeylove.com/DRINK! #honeylovepod #ad Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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It is January 1st, if you're listening to this right away. it is now 2026 thank god i'm so done with 2025 me too god thank god and we have here unfortunately we are recording this right before the holidays a lot's going on so christina was not able to make it but we have our saving graces creeps and crime are here to do some listeners episodes listeners stories with me for our listeners episode so thank you for being here thank you for having us thanks so much we're so happy be back we missed it over here you really are our go-to people to a text now if we're ever in a crisis. So thank you for helping out. That melts my heart. Especially because we're so close to the holidays. So thank you for also taking time away from

your holiday situation. What are your holiday plans this year? Morgan. I am going to Pennsylvania. So I am still in Tennessee right now, but on Tuesday, because it's a Sunday before Christmas. On Tuesday, I'm going to my mother's house, my mother and father. I always... She only says her mother's house. And like, they're together, like, happily married, like, I have a great relationship with my dad, but, like, it's always just about my mom. Anyway, so, yeah, we're going to Pennsylvania. We'll be there until the following weekend. So hopefully, it is not freezing cold, but we'll see. I have a fear in an inkling that it might be.

Actually, it's going to be, like, 65 degrees down here on Christmas. And I'm definitely getting a Shorty's hot dog, so. Oh, that's going to be nice. For those who know, no, Morgan and I have a bit of a love affair. Our first common bond was over a Shorty's hot dog in Pennsylvania, so. That's true. And Taylor, Christmas, what are you doing? I'm just going to be, you know, dipping on down about an hour south of Cleveland,

and I'm going to go run around that town like I own it, meeting everybody, seeing everybody, seeing all the mammals, grandmas, and all the family. So it's going to be fun. And then we're going to come back. We literally only go down Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. But I think this year, we're going to spend the night Christmas. day because um my little sister she's 18 yeah i think we talked about her last time we recorded with you guys um but she she's it's her freshman year at uti up here so she's been home since

thanksgiving and i don't know if i've told you this yet morgan but she's getting her freaking tonsils out oh no i didn't know that that sucks yeah have you had them out no i i haven't they they always told me i should but then i was like just so old that i was like it's gonna kill me and kind of be horrible for my job so it it is I got them out as an adult as well I think I got them around the same age as her I was 20 it is they the reason they want you to do it when you're a kid is because it hasn't built its own like circulatory system yet or something or a vascular system and so as an adult it's much more painful and I've heard them say it's like one of like the top 10 worst recoveries uh which oh my gosh I don't know about all that but I will

tell you up until that point in my life it was in fact a really horrible because it's do you think oh sorry if your sister's listening but she's not gonna like this part um she's she's not trust me that much earmuffs earmuffs um but no the the first few days you actually are like this is not that bad you're talking normally you're like what was everyone complaining about it's fine and yikes so sorry everyone it's like day four or five where as you're sleeping a scab forms on the wound and then and then falls off and now it's a raw wound again and that's the painful part.

Oh no, hell no, a scab on the inside of your throat. Which you, I'm so sorry, how does it fall off? You, it goes, that is enough. No, oh my God. Don't tell your sister. That is going to need this brodo.

She's going to need it. Don't tell your sister. Give her my box. And we're going to have to give her a box of broth. So it's day four or five that sucks the most because it's now like reopened and it, That's the painful part. But then after a few days, it really goes away.

It's just that experience. That's the worst. Holy shit. That's going to be New Year's for her. It's today. Oh, girl, you're feeling it today. I'm so sorry. Oh, she's hurting today.

I'm going to be like, hey, by the way, we did foresee this coming. I just gave you no warning. Yeah, I'm not going to tell her. I'm just not going to tell her until after the fact. Oh, I know that's so gross. I'm so sorry, everyone. But if you've had your tonsils out as an adult, you know exactly what pain I'm talking about. It's an experience.

So I'm so sorry for your sister. That's terrible. Yeah. And her loss of the throat. Yeah. What are you doing for Christmas in? Are you staying in L.A.? Where are you headed?

No. I was told multiple years in advance that I was not going home for Christmas to see my family this year because Allison is hosting, she's the host of the entire family reunion. And so I heard back in like 2022, she was like, you cannot, you have to come home with me on 2025. That's my only request. So I've had a while to plan this. So I'm very excited.

I'm very eager to see what she's concocted because she made all of us, like, form teams, and there's going to be games and all this. And that's going to be fun. Teams with people that we don't usually hang out within the family. So I have Aunt Judy, who I don't totally know all that well. But I do know that she's a real firecracker. So I'm very excited to hang out with her. I mean, her name cannot be Aunt Judy without, like, having that Aunt Judy energy.

And it's giving, like, Judge Judy. Yeah. She's a dynamo. She's a full dynamo. Yes. Where is home for her? her uh florence south carolina but she is oh you'll be in our neck of the woods be low down baby i think we're doing it in charlotte though which is where some of the family

has moved to so um anyway very excited uh i'm actually i was supposed to meet her there next week but she actually surprised me a few days ago and so she's here and we'll be flying there together which i will say that's the reason i drink this week is um i did not know alison was coming home and if anyone has been listening since like August. So what I'm not sure on how much you know, Allison and I have been long distance since April. She's been with her sister and helping with the baby that her sister had. So since April, we've been long distance.

And I've been redoing the entire house to surprise her when she gets back in February. And then she surprised me the other night. And she showed up at my door. And I was like, you can't come in here. You have to leave. you literally the place doesn't you gotta leave it really caution tape it was the happiest i've been in a while and the most horrified because i was like this house actually arguably looks worse than when you left because it's in the middle of construction and there's like sawdust everywhere

and um so anyway the reason i drink is like she really knows how to ruin a like five month long surprise um the end happy new year um so why do you drink do you have a reason i don't mean to catch off guard here but oh no don't worry we came prepared i said yeah texas said don't forget you need a 10 minutes 10 minutes before actually it was 20 minutes it was 1240 you said ticto it's coming 40 it was 1240 it was 1240 but i had to clean this put this together yeah put some clothes on me at 1254 putting this together i was like you would have thought i haven't been awake all day like well why do you drink well i drink because it's It's the holidays and we, I always thought that like marrying somebody from the same town but living out of state would be easier because then you don't have to split holidays like, like say he lived in, say he was from Texas, I don't know.

Oh, yeah, Russia or Russia. You get it. Yeah, they're the same. Yeah. And you have to split it. But honestly, I think it's worse being from the same town. It is. Because then everyone's like, well, we got this plan, this plan, this plan, this plan, this plan.

And then for Christmas is one day, but then for four days, you're like, arms stretched out this house, then this house, then this house. And so I'm trying to mentally prepare for that. And that is why I drink. And what am I drinking, you may ask? Well, I really wanted a, like, Jack Frost sort of drink. However, it's turned a little purple. Oh, but by the neon light, it's giving a little Halloween. It's black and purple. Yeah. Yeah. What is that? It is vodka, pineapple juice. We're getting hammered? I didn't know. Blue Curso. Cureso? Yeah. Cureso. Yeah. Cursal. And then I was like, ugh, it tastes like pineapple juice. So I put, I had a little bit of that pomegranate left over at Taylor. So delicious. And I was like, I'll put a little pomegranate juice in here. And it went from this beautiful jack frost blue to looks like a absolute hangover in a cup. yeah it looks like where i'm gonna be dragging you off the floor of that studio i'm glad someone look at your dark blue black drink yum

um yummy look at my bruise this is my christmas bruise everybody it is it's actually not bad you could call it a lump of coal oh it's a lump of coal yeah um i love that you came here prepared to get drunk i'm so excited um really bringing back the og i'm only drinking that and I'll probably about halfway it Don't worry It's my top blue Join you

A little too It's a little blue She's showing signs What about you Taylor Why do you drink And what do you drink? Well M, you never told us What you drink

Oh I drink Okay I forgot to get a glass So I'm drinking an entire bottle Of a blood orange soda Oh yes Which I'm sure we go great In your little It was

Can you pass that to me Yeah Here you go Thank you You know that That like TikTok comment picture where it's like the hands coming through it's like escaping it's like escaping the fourth wall or it's like holding the hands and it's got like long acrylic nails and it's like i just want to

hold your hand right here babe i'm holding your hand would i say this yeah yes um i drink what i drink of course um ADHD more i have actually ADD i'm not as like hyperactive outwardly as i'm hyperactive interesting in this brain of mine my husband's very textbook ADHD like can't sit still And I would argue that, like, I have to move a lot when I'm talking, but it just helps me multitask and pay attention. But everything that's hyperactive is. Or your mouth is the hyperactive part. She just never. And I mean that with love.

I mean, that's how we're all here. And I take it with love. Don't worry. We all got here with that. So I have three drinks per yuzh. I've got three drinks. Three drinks. That is ADHD.

All right there was ADHD. Right here. I've got a Wawa. One for hydration. For hydration. Then I have a coffee. One for your crafty. And then I have a health.

benefit, which is my broth from Brodo, which our link goes live on the 6th, so come and hit us up over there, but I'm loving it. Not the sly ad placement. Yeah, and then if you want to try Bodo. Hey, at the end of the day, you know, M's our boss, everybody, if you didn't know. So M's acting like it's very kind that we showed up here,

but at the end of they are our boss. Oh, no, I promise. I promise it is truly out of just enjoying. The reason that we asked you to join us is because we like you guys so much. And we love you guys. So the reason why I drink all three of my drinks is because this morning,

yesterday I was feeling really motivated. So I was like, I'm going to go to a Pilates class. And I do Pilates pretty often, but I do reformer Pilates, which means you don't sweat and you don't really do that much because you just sit with, it's amazing.

It is amazing. You just like get your hand in like some loops or your feet and some, loops and you just pretty much go back and forth on a seesaw. Like, it's more fun to me than it is like a workout. It's a good stretch. So I really enjoy it and I'm never sweaty after. Like sometimes if I do like a high intensity class, but I don't like getting too sweaty.

Nope. But my girlfriend was like, hey, I went to this Matt Pilates class and it was really good. Like I, I'm really, I feel really good after I got really sore, but like it wasn't too much that I wanted to like throw up in the middle of class. And I was like, oh shit, I could do that. So I booked this class at this Matt Pilates place. and I thought I had this in the bag because I've done reformer Pilates for so long.

Guys, I couldn't even press the brakes in my car leaving there. Really? Sitting here, when we clapped, before we started recording, I had to put the mic between my knees. My knees are shaking. And now I'm like, why the hell am I holding this mic? Because I am getting a shake in the back of my arm right now and I'll never go work out again.

So that's that. And now you're done for two months. I'm done for the next two months. but I did the the lady was really nice and me and her just like chatted a little bit before and after class and she gave me two weeks of unlimited for like a discount and so I was like and I'm not going to be like no I'm not taking that so I was like yeah sure definitely and I'm crying because now I have to go back because I spent 20 bucks like I have to go get at least 20 bucks for this is you give you give that as a gift you give it to somebody you're so right am I'm going to

my girlfriend that told me about this it sounds like don't give it to me I would never, Morgan, I would never give this to you. Because I will not be there. Give it to someone with like upper arm strength. So being working out. Yeah, they had me doing push-ups. Like, when have you done a push-up in a class? Now, granted, I had the, like, I don't know if you guys know what a Pilates ring is,

but it's like an elastic ring that, like, bends in together. Like, you can put your arms on either side and push it in. It's like a big circle. And they had it. You put it between your boobs. I'm sorry, okay. And then you did a push-up like that. so you had help.

So I was able to do like a good 20, but then they kept going. And I was like, okay. I, you sound like such a like a jock bro just now being like, I did like a good 20. It's like I couldn't do a good three. What are you talking about? Yeah, I don't think I could clear like a solid, perfect form pushup.

Pushup. Yeah. For a billion dollars. I couldn't do it. Like, I don't think I could do too. I was on my knees. I had that thing between my boobs and that springs you back up. So you don't really have to, you're supposed to push against it.

Oh my God. I think I did. It, like, slipped out of the, the thing, like, slipped out of the other side. Like, the ring, like, was coming apart and I put it back together. That's so humbling. Okay. That's so humbling. Oh, I'm done.

I need to leave this class immediately. And then she announced to the class. Yeah, and Taylor's a true crime podcaster. Oh. And then a criminal defense attorney came up to me. Oh, well, okay. And that's why I drink. Yeah, that's why I drink.

And what do you drink? Oh, well, you have your three drinks. Sorry. I already, yeah, my three drinks, the trio. The triad, yeah, yeah. Yes. Well, I'm, thank you again for being here. And before we get into the stories, Eva will rip my head off.

If I don't mention this. I was about to remind you. Thank you so much. Yeah, so this upcoming year, we are building in some days off on the podcast, which I know a lot of people have mentioned in passing. Like, they would not be offended if we took a couple days off here and there. I mean, obviously, Christina's a mom, and we're all, very busy. So we are doing that. We're not going to throw too many days out there just yet,

but the first one that we're going to do is January 4th, which I think is this week, this week coming up. So in a couple days where there would be a usual episode, we are going to be taking a day off. I hope everyone's okay with that. We're just going to enjoy the holidays and get ready for our next recordings. And if we ever do another, when we do another episode, or if we take another day off, we will let you guys know in advance also. So I think that's the only thing I definitely needed to say. Everything else is just improv at this point. Well, I'm really proud of you guys for doing that.

That's a big move. That's something that's really important to do. Morgan's giving me mean eyes. Are you going to do that? If they do it, then we can't. I will say I fought Christine on this. Christine was the one who has always been a bigger advocate for this, and I always was paranoid that it would give the wrong idea.

Nobody would, I am aware logically that people would just be happy for us that we're taking breaks. Yes. And it's not that Christine and I don't deserve breaks or anything like that. But I know Christine for years has suggested it and I've always been really hesitant. And so, and then I realized that I really actually didn't have a good reason to keep fighting it. And so anyway, this is this is all for Christine rooting for like letting us have peace. Mental health days. Yes, you guys have to take them.

But once in the timeline that I have known you guys, I am Christine and you are Taylor. This is the first time it's ever switched. Wow. Well, no, I know. Well, I've always been paranoid that people would be like, what does it mean? What does that look like? I don't know. I was in my head about the negative comments we would get from it.

Me. And also because I thought like, well, we've been doing this for so many years and we've never missed an episode. Or if we have, we've had like, you know, we put a live episode out or something like that. And so I've always thought we've always put out content every. week. So if we're now breaking the chain this later, this much later on, like, I was always paranoid about what people would think or, I don't know. I was just in my own head about it. I mean, you guys had over 450 episodes. Like, you're well over. And I mean, that makes total sense. I mean, Morgan, when we get

into the 400s, I'll put, I'll put my shackles down. We're only in the twos. They've been, we've got years on us. Just come. We, we, we, we, we, I do, I know, I know your anxiety is on this, Taylor, because I had them for so long. And I remember there being a conversation. forever ago where I remember Christine and Eva who Eva was also on this side too I was I was the I was the villain here being like well I don't I don't I don't I don't know I didn't really have a good answer but I was just digging my heels in no so it's finally happening and I'm actually very happy but

they were right along so yeah 100% as a listener of you guys I really am grateful that you guys are taking the time to do that and I think the majority of everyone would agree that we would want you to come be your best selves and be rested and be able to you know research cases and come with energy rather than I mean, you guys have been doing this for so long. You got so many things there and play, I mean, two books. I mean, hell. Take a month off if you need.

Seriously. Yeah. And also, Christine, keep in mind, Christine has been touring for, I think, a full year. She finally just, she stopped in October. But, yeah, that's, I can understand why she'd be like, can I please have a fucking break? And so just one weekend, please. Anyway, so that, yes, January 4th will be our first time taking a day off. And there will be more.

We'll just let you know when it happens. Yeah, so that's it. On January 4th M, you need to put your computer, your cell phone. Any electronic you have, aside, you're not allowed to look at anything. Fine. Oh, my God. Press my mark. Okay.

I mean, I'll be needing my phone for TikTok, so. Okay. You're allowed to do you scroll. You're allowed to doom scroll. Well, other than that, we just got some stories to tell everybody. We have six. And again, shout out to the both of you for handling most of the source. stories. These come from your email. Yes. These come from your followers. And then we also have

two more that Eva pulled. So we've got a mixed bag over here. And you said they're Christmas themed. Is that what we're doing here? So we've got two or three of them that are Christmas themed. And then the majority of them are actually people who have written these exact stories into you guys. They're your listeners first. And so we were like, okay, we're going to mix this bag. We're gonna make it in everyone's favor so that way their stories get to be read that are lost in y'all's inbox that i've been going for what how many years so have you guys been doing this we've been doing this 2017 so yeah this year we were sophomores in college yeah i just hey now i'm 90 000 years old so that's how that feels we were just little girls in college me and morgan met that year actually

so yeah really oh well yeah you're just a twinkle in our eye i guess um look at your two daughters just walking out you know my mom's finally so proud of me. Desperate for me to give her grandchildren. I'll be like, I don't know. You've got Taylor Morgan. Deal with it. We can send her a Christmas card or like a holiday card or something. Very Christmas.

Happy holidays, Grandma. You could go like this and then we can Photoshop our heads into your arms. Leanna's and Christine's arm, and it's me Morgan knows. Do you know what my mom calls herself, by the way? She doesn't even have grandkids, but she's decided what her grandma name is. Her name is Linda. And given the

pop culture of the last few years. She's going with Glinda. Love. And she also already, unironically, owns three tiaras. And I would expect nothing less from a queen. What a queen. They're real one. So if you would like, I'm just giving you inspiration for if this Photoshop happens.

Just know that if you threw her in a bubble, she'd be very excited about it. I'm going to make it happen. Say less. I got it. I'll be on Canva all night. Well, so who wants to read the first? story. Would anyone want to volunteer? Not I. I can do it. Perfect. Okay. Unless you want to go, M.

I am happy to. I, as the host, I feel like I should offer you to go first. As the host, you should go first. Okay, fine. I'll go first. But I'm going to read one of your stories. Okay, do it. As people who are very, very proud to be mental health advocates, we do know that a lot of people are going through stuff and a lot of people that listen to the show, Christine included, go through some OCD. There's quite a range of experiences with OCD, but one of the things that people don't know about it

is that OCD is so much more than it's stereotypes. It's a serious and highly misunderstood condition that causes people to get stuck in a cycle of stressful, unwanted thoughts and repetitive physical behaviors. And those unwanted thoughts can be scary, disturbing, or completely out of character. It can be pretty rough.

And not every therapist understands OCD or is qualified to treat it effectively, which can make it even more difficult to find the right help. But OCD is highly treatable with a specialist type of therapy called ERP or Exposure Response Prevention. Christina has done it. She said it has absolutely helped her. And with no CD, you can do live virtual ERP therapy with licensed therapists who specialize in OCD.

No CD therapists are highly trained, so they really understand OCD and won't judge you no matter what your thoughts are about. And no CD therapy is covered by insurance for over 155 million Americans. Again, Christine has said that it has been so helpful to her. I know it's been helpful to other people that go through this. So if you are struggling with OCD or if you think you were someone you know might be struggling with OCD, please don't wait to get help. And go to an OCD.com and book a free call with their team to learn more. That's NOCD.com to schedule a free call and learn more. If you're going with the new year, new me vibe and you want to add New Year, New Me, new closet to that little mantra, then luckily we are partnered with Quince.

They are incredible. They have made any ability for. me to look fancy possible and not breaking the budget at the same time. I recently just got their cashmere Henley sweater and then also their cotton-ribbed crewnuck sweater. Love a texture. Felt very winter cozy. It was very, very wonderful. And Quince has all the staples covered. So from soft Mongolian cashmere sweaters that feel like designer pieces without the markup to 100% silk tops and skirts for easy dressing up. So really if you are trying to feel good about yourself and feel fancy and make yourself look really glam and you also don't want to spend

a million dollars go to quince i mean it the quality shows in every detail the stitching the fit the fabrics every piece is thoughtfully designed to be your new wardrobe essential if i were to go out on a fancy night tonight hands down no questions asked i would be wearing quince refresh your wardrobe with quince and don't wait go to quince dot com slash drink for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns now available in canada too hey canada that's q u i c e.com slash drink to get free shipping and 365 day returns quince dot com slash drink okay so this is from daniel who uses she her pronouns thank you for normalizing pronouns daniel and the title is my angel oh my god that's me that's my type of my my angle

you want me to you want me to read daniel's because she's an idiot no my 90 degree right angle Sorry, Danielle. I don't know who wrote that. I'm assuming Taylor. Okay. My angel that visits me every Christmas. And Daniel says, hey, Bessies, I wanted to share this with you. And I know you will immediately tell me to call Susan.

For those who are, and that's where we drink followers, Susan is their wonderful, wonderful medium. Which, does she prefer medium? I don't know. Psychic, angelic medium, white light only. And she is incredible. She has helped me and my own family stuff. The second that my aunt had some weird stuff going on, I was like, I know, just who to call so thank you for all this is constantly sending us uh connections there of course

so yes daniels apparently we're going to want to call susan after this uh daniel says you don't have to read oh okay so you can read this because it's what's funny about being on here okay you don't have to read this part on the pod but i've also wrote this into and that's why we drink oh for three years but i still shot my shot this year so each of you are getting the same story because you are my two all-time favorite podcasts well thank you and sorry um but it's finally happening it's happened my name is daniel i'm a huge fan of the podcast this year i asked my husband to become a patron uh or a patron on patreon as my gift so fingers crossed and this is pretty emotional for me as i'm highly sensitive and intuitive but honestly it's my favorite story to tell

okay hit it cool throw that shit on cruise control for that show i might be too thank you i was going to say i feel like i'm stealing your line here do you want to do it or should i give it a shot i'll get a I'm giving it your all give it give it your all okay hit it lady throw that shit on cruise control pour that shit up and let's get christmasy is that fair yes it is killing me hit it uh don't get one two one two three release them like oh shit i wish that heaven had it okay i'm so humiliated okay Okay. I come from a rather large close-ditch family, and every Christmas Eve would consist, every Christmas Eve would consist of my immediate family traveling about 45 minutes out to Chicago

to spend the holiday at my grandparents' house with all my aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, etc. And growing up, my family would go to my grandparents on most weekends, spending the night Saturday to Sunday. On Sunday mornings, everyone would get together for breakfast. My grandpa would make his signature apple pancakes, yum, along with bacon, eggs, sausage, and biscuits and gravy. What a chef. Biscuits and gravy really get me fucking talking, I'll tell you that. Me too.

The house would be filled with the aroma of hearty food, coffee, stories of the good old days, and laughter. Lots and lots of laughter. A Christmas Eve was the most special day of the year. As we would all gather at their house from breakfast to dinner, the adults would gather in the kitchen, chatting and laughing while as kids would run around playing, counting all the presents under the festive glow, radiating off of the Christmas tree and giggling when we would see our name on a gift. of course we would shake our perfectly wrapped boxes to guess what mystery items we would soon discover every year we would beg my parents to open presents and the answer was always the same is it dark out yet now usually on any other day of the year that statement would probably be terrifying to say the least coming from anyone else but on christmas eve those words were magical i'm sure is it dark out yet is it dark out yet is it dark out yet it would keep us an excited suspense all day long until we

we could finally unwrap our presents. Looking back, it was probably just an excuse to keep us out of the adult's hair so they can enjoy their brandy Alexander's. Hmm. And anyway, and once, I'm sorry, dirty charcoal drinks that Morgan makes or something. Easy. Anyway, once it was finally dark out, we would all hand out the gifts, tear them open one by one, and finally reveal their contents.

When a present would have a bow, we would leap over our grandpa and stick them onto his face and flannel until there were none less. left the precious so sweet joy would fill the room when he would take off each bow and chase us to put one on each of our foreheads the night would slow down as we ate desserts and the adults would sit around the dining room table and us kids would play with our newest toys until it was time to drive back home all the while searching the night sky for the glow of rudolph's nose and the sound of christmas songs lulled us to sleep my god magical i know and also hello writing like i really though and we're there we're here i'm locked the fuck in, actually. I am listening to the music and looking for Rudolph, so I'm here. The sky is right above me, yes. I'm looking out the window. I'm drinking Brandy Alexander's. Unfortunately, when I was a teenager, my grandfather was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, and watching this giant of a man during his fight was inspiring. Although he was 6-8, oh, really a giant, okay. Although he was 6-8 and built like a brick house, a shit-brick house. His personality was

even larger than his physical form. After a few long years battling, he succumbed to the illness, fighting all the way until the very end. For anyone who's ever lost someone, the firsts are always the hardest, the first Christmas without him, there wasn't as much laughter as before, and it was more somber, and the stories told were more so reminiscing of what once was, and talking of what it would be like if he was still there with us to celebrate the holiday. There was no one to tell us to wait until nightfall to open presents, no one to place

all of our bows and chase us to return the favor. And the whole night, I just remember waiting and wishing for him to give me a sign that he was with us on his second favorite holiday, his first being St. Patrick's Day, of course. Yeah, that is out mine and Morgan's favorite holiday. Is it? It is. We do an entire special where we get fucked up on a podcast. And we tell Irish lore every single St. Batty's Day.

It's our favorite holiday ever. Because the lore goes deep. Deep, deep. But was it your favorite before? for the podcast? Or is it just like, oh, drinking and drinking? You know what I mean? And unfortunately, it's drinking and I love Ireland. Okay. Taylor did it. Taylor did a study abroad semester in Ireland. Let me talk my tail. It became her entire personality for the next three years. Really? And for the,

well, actually more than that now because look where we're at and I'm still making my life all about it. I made an entire day dedicated to it on our podcast. Like I went in 20, what, 2018, 2019 and it was just so awesome and I loved all the lore like I got to go to like storytelling like seminars with like true Irish storytellers

that went into like mythological history it was the best so anyways we really relate with grandpa I'm obsessed with him love that my actually my grandma my gammy her favorite day was also St. Patrick's Day so I don't know if it's

you know that yeah Halloween's also an Irish holiday so like an Irish base so like two favorite holidays it fits if it fits if it's... It does. Good to know. Okay. The whole night, I just remember waiting and wishing for him to give me a sign that he was with us, but I didn't feel his presence, just his absence. No signs, no smells, nothing.

And the night when we got home, I was mentally and emotionally exhausted, and I don't even remember falling asleep. Then, out of nowhere, I was suddenly back at my grandparents' house in the guest room where I had slept countless nights. Confused, I peeked out of the room down the hall only to realize that it was now daylight. As I walked slowly through the hall to the top of the stairs, my sense of smell was heightened by something familiar, and it was the delicious smell of apple pancakes.

No. Cautious, I slowly walked down the stairs to see my entire family gathered and laughing around the table, passing my grandpa's famous food spread to one another, and as I turned to face the kitchen, I was downright floored by what I saw. There stood my grandfather

frying bacon with a warm smile on his face. I'm going to cry. I heard him give a thunderous, hearty laugh at something that must have been said around the table, but I was too shocked to pay attention to what was actually said. It was like I was watching my previous memories play out in front of me as if it were a movie, and I stood frozen in awe. And I stayed that way for what seemed like hours, watching the scene of the entire day play out before my eyes. I didn't even know how this was possible.

And from breakfast all the way until dinner, I watched my lively family go through the motions of the Christmas Eve's we've celebrated for so many years. beginning with breakfast all the way past dinner finally the kids slowed their play to ask my grandpa if it was time to open presents and he said yes I literally have full bone goosebumps casually everyone walked to the living room out of my view to flock to their seats

for gifts to be opened and I realized I was the only one left in the kitchen finally I willed myself to move the fact that you were standing there for arguably 12 hours maybe and now moving I made my way into the living room expecting to see the room full of people,

only to find it was empty except for my grandfather. Oh, oh, man. As I looked at the man I adored my entire life, he gently smiled and rose his arms out to his side, and a dim white glow radiated from behind him as he spoke. Oh, hang on. I love my family. It's all right, hon.

It's beautiful over here. Oh, God. That's when I shot up from my sleep, feeling hot tears streaming down my face. and although I realized it was all a dream it felt too entirely real like I had really relived that moment in time

as I looked over at the clock it was 4 a.m. And as hard as I tried, I couldn't get myself to go back to sleep so I laid in bed until about 8 a.m. My two sisters and I met in our own living room I could tell my oldest sister had already been awake and she looked exhausted. She grabbed us each a mug of coffee

which she rarely did. We sat down waiting for our parents to wake up and I could tell she'd been crying so I asked what was wrong. as the three of us sat on the couch as she said I woke up early and couldn't go back to sleep I had the weirdest dream and I can't shake it my other sister said that she had one too and I also shared that I had one as well

that's when each of us described the dreams we had moreover the same dream oh my god we each experienced the same exact dream in every single way from the smell of the pancakes down to the end when my grandfather spoke the same words as we should as the shock were off We felt a sense of comfort rather than fear.

It confirmed that he was there alongside us the entire night before. But here's the kicker. Every single year since, all three of us have had that same dream on Christmas Eve, except for the year we lost my grandma. That year, at the end of the dream, it wasn't just him covered in light. Oh, my God. In that dream, that year, my grandmother was at his side, head resting on his shoulder, sharing the same gentle smile.

And as you can guess, my sisters each saw the same thing as well. call it supernatural or sensitive intuition, but we are visited by the both of them year after year. I know it's crazy and hard to believe, but it happens every year without fail, and we look forward to seeing them each time. Now I have children of my own. It's always bittersweet to imagine how much they would have loved them,

and I'll always cherish the memories I have with my grandparents and continue to live every day hoping to make them proud of the mother I've become. Now I'm the one who makes apple pancakes for my kids on Christmas morning and place extra bows on every Santa gift. I'm sorry, this was so long, but I hope by sharing my experience, it brings some comfort to those missing a loved one a little extra this year.

I believe they're always with us, even if we can't see them, and I don't exactly know what happens when our time comes to an end, but if this has shown me anything, it's that there must be something or someone waiting for us on whatever the other side may be. Oh, my God.

That's, thank you, Danielle, and also, wow. Wow. How, first of all, just in a world of like, Christine and I are always talking about how we wish we could control our dreams. So just know confidently you're going to have the dream is so cool. That is. And to feel like you're really transported into a whole day. You get to experience a whole day every year with your grandparents. That's sick.

Because it's not just like, oh, I get a glimpse of him. It's from morning until night, I get to spend a whole day with him every year. Yeah. Like you get to actually do exactly what you guys would be doing that night. and you know it's so it's so sweet to think that he loved this holiday so much and so did grandma that like they save up so much energy to perform this for everyone i mean that must take a ton of energy and then you know it comes down back to we always get back to it at the very least somehow it's like what exactly is a dream what is going on like in our heads with these dreams and how does spirit

know how to manipulate them and it's so like powerful that they are able to put you there with the smell with the look of everything the lighting of everything like it takes so much energy and so much time it's such a beautiful story daniel thank you for that one that's incredible and it's also it's what all of us can only hope to experience if something would ever if there would ever be a tragedy exactly very jealous of you as well daniel and your whole family so um anyway someone else could someone else go thank you daniel okay the next one we have is from timber using they he pronouns and the title is mamma died mamma right mamma mamma okay mamma died on x-miss hey besties timber here I used to go by Jake. Does it say ankle or something or angle?

No, it doesn't. Okay. I have permission to say this. I used to go by Jake. I had the insanely creepy account and about being haunted in rural Indiana. All of this is fine to say out loud. Okay. I remember that. Okay. Okay. I remember you. I don't really feel really festive anymore as an adult due to some childhood stuff. But I decided last year to go spend Christmas with. my best friend and her husband's up in Chicago. I'm so sorry, guys. One of these has to come out because the way I'm hearing myself, talk. I'm going to rush out. Morgan has been trying on some new extra sectiony AirPods. And I think the voice in your head was a little too insane.

And my tongue's blue, so it's even worse. Okay, let me back the fuck up. Okay, sorry, Timber. Okay. I don't really feel really festive. anymore as an adult due to some childhood stuff, but I decided last year to go spend Christmas with my best friend and her husband's up in Chicago. They are my chosen family, and I love them to the moon and back. I'm moving there next year. A Timber. The morning I was going to leave after work,

I got a text from my mom at 7.30 a.m. saying, mamma is in the hospital. I responded asking if it's serious and if I need to leave work. The lady leaves me on Reed for an hour saying, yeah, I would, and then doesn't respond with any details. Is this Beth Ann? Timber, is your mom named Beth Ann Mounds? No, literally. My mother would be like, I mean, yeah, I would. Yeah, I mean, sure.

Why are you asking me? There's that, there's respond for an hour. There is that trend of, like, sometimes you just have to read your mom's text and keep moving on. Because, like, my mom would be like, oh, yeah, someone got hit by a car and is now, like, they're inside out. But I don't know. I don't know if that's important to you. It's like, yeah, girl. It's so is.

Yeah, mom, for sure. Yeah. So, okay, my mom would do the same thing. I'm going, if you want. And it's like, yeah, absolutely should. I call my brother, and he tells me the information that I need. I look at my boss and I say, my grandma is dying. I got a mosey on out of here.

And I drive like a speed demon to the hospital in Indiana, cursing and screaming at anyone who cut me off, probably looking insane as my face is red from crying. I get to the hospital. No one is there. So I find a nurse, and she kindly points to me, points me to where she is and gives me a few minutes with her. Mamma had some sort of infection, so I couldn't touch her to say goodbye, and she was unresponsive at the time of my arrival.

I stand there trying not to cry and tell her that I'm sorry for all the holidays I didn't come to and that I missed her and that I loved her. Obviously, nothing happened, so I leave and run into my aunt and catch up for a while before leaving for Chicago, crying the whole four-hour drive there, listening to M and Christine and y'all to get through the four and a half to five-hour drive through Indiana from Louisville to Chicago. I had a wonderful time in Chicago feeling a hair guilty enjoying my time knowing my mama was dying but I knew she'd be pissed at me

if I canceled fun to fuss over her in a hospital waiting room my mother also This is like your mama is such a Kentucky mama that like I'm reading her so like exactly she would be so pissed you're going to go so big because of us go

Timber what's you do in here wasting all that time of yours go hang out with your friends in Chicago I'll be all right She always said I was going to fuss myself to death If I didn't have a little fun now and then I'm her oldest The firstborn The golden child

I'm also her step-grand kid And whenever I'd get teased Or one of the nasty ladies on the hill Would bring it up She'd tell them to hush up She'd always tell me that I was 100% hers And that God just got me to her a little late It's Christmas double Eve

So is that Christmas Eve? And I drive back home so I can go back in on Christmas Eve as she still hadn't passed and I didn't have the day off. Cut to Christmas Day and I feel like shit still. So I lay around the house drinking Moscow mules, eating orange chicken and gingerbread cookies. What a fucking

mix there. Line up right there. Your tummy's going to feel crazy. Yep. I bought like 20 rolls of dough from Kroger the week before oops and watching whatever semi-trashy investigation discovery show I could find on HBO Max before just throwing it on Tooby to have some noise whatever. I didn't care. It was around

5 p.m. and I step out to start my Christmas night walk about getting to the back half of my route to come home when I hear her distinct laugh around me thinking I was just drunk and sad. I brushed it off. I come back home to my cat curled up on the couch and flowers in the attic playing on TV. Have you guys seen that movie? Yes. I've heard it of it but not I I don't know what was up with me as a child but I really loved those books and the lifetime movies especially when. What was up with you as you were meant for this to be a podcaster about your crime. You were born to do this.

Yeah, because it was like all about incest, flowers in the attic. And I was like, this is awesome. They're making into a lifetime movie, mom. And she's like, oh, that's great, honey. You know, when I was... When I was a kid, one of my most bonding experiences with my mom was watching the most fucked up Law & Order SVU episodes.

And if it wasn't incredibly fucked up, we wouldn't even turn it on that night. But we would... You know, it would show you like a little blurb about what it was about. If it wasn't about some, like, child ring, like, we would be like, Oh, boring. Like, boring.

Bo, boo, tomato, tomato, no. Next. For some reason, this was my mama's favorite movie. I am your mama. And she always made us watch it with her. Even though it's about a grandmother who locks her grandkids up in the attic, plots to kill them with rat poison, and then also the grandkids are, you know, having children. I checked my phone and there was a miss call in voicemail from my mom that had come in

while I was on my walk to tell me that mama had passed away. I knew then that I did hear her. laugh on the walk and that she had put the movie on in her own sense of humor to let me know she was here and thinking about me. Sorry, this is so long, I hope you both have a, hope you all have a very Merry Christmas. Much love from a Kentucky

and Maryland, Timber. Timber. Timber, your mama. I love your mama. And yeah, 100% I believe that she did like coming cackle. I was like, wait until you get back home and see what I put on the TV for you, bitch. You thought you were going to enjoy your

little walk? One last laugh. oh that was good thank you timber for sharing thank you timber by the way we never even talked about this thing exploded in my face he did what where'd you bring it from like Denver

like what happened I don't know what happened I got it from world the market I just I went to open it and then just oh my god blinded you

whatever you know what am how about I let you take Marygold and I'll take Lenny because Lenny's very long And you already did the longest one outside of this one. So I'll go ahead and do Lenny instead. Perfect.

Okay. So the next one we have is from Lenny using she her pronouns. And the title is, my decade long demon stalker and how I exercise my boyfriend. Love. And I've always said that.

So this one's not Christmassy. This is one of the non-Christmassy ones, as you can tell so far. So, Lenny says, Hey, Besties. I hate my name being on the internet anywhere. So you can just call me Lenny, she her obviously i have to start out by saying i love you guys in your podcast and i think i found

you from and that's why we drink i have been listening nonstop and personally love when you guys ramble at the beginning a 70 minute creepy account sign me up you know what i'm my favorite thing about the two of you is that you will never stop talking i will never stop we will never stop you need us to fill space we got you um anyways the title of this is actually not clickbait so side note for anyone who doesn't listen to our show we ask that you clickbait the hell out of us in all of your creepy account and your listener stories because like if it just if they all said creepy account we're like okay it's boring cool but if you say my demon stalker who and i had to exercise my boyfriend i'm in it like i'm on it i'm in it i'm all around it smartest thing you could

ever have asked anyone to do so that's why you hear a lot of us talking about like clickbait anyways um this title is actually not clickbait and is the decade long story of a demon that has been stalking me from 13 to 25 years old. So please bear with me because this will be a long, creepy account, and I really hope you guys read it, mostly because I'd just love to hear your commentary on everything. I'm also going to try and write this in a way that is pleasing to Taylor. So all of our ADHD friends, let's go. Love that.

So grab a drink because this shit is fried as fuck. Oh, shit. Okay, I'm scared. This section is called The Beginning. all this fuck shit started at an eighth grade sleepover can you guess what we decided would be a super fun idea that's right a good old Ouija board yeah it's a great idea every time it never fails oh it was my and three it was me and three other girls j k and a we got some cardboard a sharpie and a medicine bottle cap and we were ready to connect with whoever would talk with us we looked up

rules beforehand because we were that stupid and then got to it how to use wheegeboard how to make and use one and i'm sure it's like disclaimers yeah of course we started out asking as anybody there and to our surprise the bitch began to move we didn't believe that that shit though clearly one of us was just moving it to be funny so we thought the smart thing to do would go around taking turns taking our fingers off the quote unquote plan chat medicine bottle cap and asking questions only we knew so k took her fingers off and asked when is my mom's birthday and the board got it right then a took her fingers off and asked what brand of underwear am i wearing and it got it right okay freak odd question okay it's just a little freaky okay a little freaky shit um we all took turns

doing this and we're and we're decidedly convinced that we were actually talking to something from the other side now it was our turn to ask it some information about itself so we asked what's your name and yes friends it was none other than the infamous demon we all know oh shit i don't I don't say that name anymore because I believe it opens a door for it to reenter my life. So I'll just say Jojo. I know you know what that means. Oh, yeah. The one that M just said very openly on our podcast one time during the, what was that?

When we played Hot Ones, we did the Hot Ones trivia. And we were talking about demons and you were like, mm-hmm, yeah. Zippity-Zoot-A? And we were like, M? Hey. I would apologize. I guess I will if it helps but I like the theatrics I don't know what to tell you you do and we live for them I like the flare and if anything ever happens towards me that is that I'll take the karma

I'll take it so we stayed on with Joe for a little longer said goodbye and then went to bed well I can't remember the exact dream but I know I had a nightmare that night I woke up the next morning and told my friends about it my friend Jay said no away. I had a nightmare about you too. Oh, fuck me. Yeah. We pull that damn board back out and asked if it was in our dream last night. And it said yes. We then asked if it was attached to one of us. And that motherfucker spelled my name out for

everyone to see. I, first of all, hate it. Second of all, I love how Lenny, is their name Lenny? Lennie, yes. Went to their friend and said, oh, I had a dream, blah, blah, it was terrible. And they went, yeah, me too. you and I'm like oh okay like I thought we were sharing that we all have the same dream but I guess I'm the main character everywhere I guess it's me yeah character energy we said goodbye and we burned the bitch this next section is called sleep paralysis not long after my encounter with Joe I began having sleep paralysis the first occurrence I was laying in bed facing my door which I kept open to sleep and began drifting off next thing I knew I was paralyzed and a dark figure was at the

of the hallway, just standing there. And that's what he said. Jojo got me. Jojo got me. Oh my God. I was getting choked. I'm scared. Thank God you have all three drinks there.

I know. One of my three. Okay, so. Jojo, please fuck off away from me. Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye. Um, where was I at? Okay, standing at the end of the hallway, just it. I can't even say it.

choking what's the hell it feels a little real a little too it does um this figure was shorter a little heavier set and add on a short top hat i'm sorry all i'm envisioning is the little rat from um cinderella that's got gus gus is that gusgous like that's all that's all that's all that's that's all that i'm seeing at the end of your hallway just so you know and horrify i i always said that he kind of looked like al capone okay sorry i'm seeing like hat man's son. Yeah, like a little, like a short pudgy 10-year-old version of the hatman. Yeah. And the hat man. The next night, I was trying to fall asleep again. Same position and the same

thing happened. However, this time, the figure was in my doorway and was the more typical hatman that everyone sees. Tall, skinny, top hat. The figure began to walk into my room towards me. I heard something crinkled by my bed and then the figure began to climb onto my bed. placing its hands at the foot of my bed however the weight of the hands on my bed caused my leg to fall and I quote woke up

oh my fucking God I looked around my bed and that crinkling noise I heard was a plastic bag by the side of my bed that now had a foot-sized indent in it I knew I wasn't dreaming and I told my mom everything

but of course she said it was just a nightmare go back to bed babe you're fine mom get out mom the third night I thought to myself maybe if I fall asleep away from the door it won't happen so that's what I did it did not work besties I was paralyzed knew something was in my room and couldn't see what it was this thing crawled onto my bed got right behind me and it began to lick my ear bitch yes my mother fucking ear the fucking kink of hat man okay so everyone's got one um like please be respectful underwear hat man licking in okay okay no so i thought the worst thing you could possibly say is that she felt a climb back into the bed and then i thought well surely if that's the worst thing maybe it like tries to like spoon her or touch her we were going to do little spoon yeah

now but in the same moment that all of that is actually nothing compared to how bad it is i'm finding out he has a tongue and knows how to use it. You know what I'm saying? And guys, is it a pointy tongue? No, I'm thinking like snakes, snake. Like it's flat and thin and light air, yeah. Light is a feather. Do you think it was a slow lick or just like, do you think it was like a,

oh, God. That's what I think. I hate that. A drag up. Yeah, certainly. How do you, someone give me a cigarette? I need a break. I need a break.

I do have to ask, how do we know it was a lick and not. just like maybe his hands are like wet wet so what i'm thinking is that there had to be a sound effect by it for for lenny to know that it was a lick or feeling hot breath i was about to say i'm sick i'm sick i don't hate this and it happens again because the fourth night yes bessies i was tormented four nights in a row i didn't see anything i have since learned that people can have auditory sleep paralysis. And this is something I also experience. I was laying in bed, starting to drift off,

heard something clap twice right by my ear. It was us testing to get the mics working. Y'all ever seen the conjuring in that fucking clap game they play and the mom gets two claps by her ear? Yeah, it was exactly that. I'm sorry, we can't talk about the conjuring and sleep paralysis.

No. Like, no, we're not. No. after this I was terrified to sleep in my room and began sleeping in the living room I would stay up all night until the sun rose began until the sun rose began no until the sun began to rise and then would fall asleep on the couch this went on all summer and when my oldest brother went to college my mom moved me into his room hoping that it would help it did somewhat but I still needed melatonin to go to sleep every single night I was about

15 when all this began. Then the brother wasn't having any of this. I guess it was attached to her and she was the one who was playing with the board. From the Ouija board. But imagine being, I would at least team up with my brother and be like, all right, one of has an attachment. The other one doesn't. You have to play investigator and like, do you see anything from your end?

Is the door opening? Do you also hear licking? Like you have to be really, you have to be the objective eyes here. And like, did you see the indent on the plastic bag? Yeah. Like all that stuff. Or like, can you, can you stay up late one night and just watch the hall and see if you experience anything or anything i you know do you guys remember that um app called sleep bot

and it would record like anytime it heard a sound in the middle of the night yeah yeah so i had to do that in high school for like one of my health classes to like see if like how we slept at night if we talked in our sleep and i'm a very active especially when i was younger the older i get it kind of like little by little goes away but i the physicality of it but like i used to sleep walk and talk and like move all night like sit up and like clap and do all the things now I sometimes will sleep talk and sometimes I'll sleepwalk but it's very very rare for the most part

it's all just like very active dreams that I'm having and I roll around a lot but when I was younger and I had this sleep bot it was me talking in my sleep and I was saying like I don't want to I was talking like you know when you talk gutterly like when you're sleeping

like that's what it sound like and I didn't know it was me because it didn't sound like me so I was screaming in the middle of the night when I listened to it My mom came running up the stairs and she was like, Taylor, that's you, bitch. That's what you sound like when you talk in your sleep. So I just could only imagine what that lick would sound like on sleep bot. Anyways.

Something disgusting. Something disgusting. So this next section is poor PTSD. I know. Lenny's like, Jesus Christ. Lily has fast forwarded. Turn, burnt the phone. Although I would say back to the one.

I'm wondering if I'd ever, like, if on night three are getting licked in the ear, what's next? Like, what's, what do you assume day four is going to be? Like, you're wearing earmuffs. I'd have a whole parka on. I'd zip my face up. Like, I'd be like, nobody's touching me. Nobody's touching me. Oh, my God.

I'm gonna get one of those really expensive, like, camping sleeping bags that, like, you turn into a cocoon and only had your hat out, like, that way. Like, that way, but then am I trapped? Like, it might have to lay face down. Yeah, like, the horror movie is that even a, it looked like a straw out of my nose or something. The worst part would be, like, if the new horror is that he appears inside your jacket and, like, is in there with you, you know what I'm saying? Licks your ear inside the jacket. But if you see, if you could see an imprint on the ground, that implies you can do the flower on the ground Santa boots technique. Yes, you know, like, leave flower on a trail and see if, like, you see where he's walking from.

See if anything happens. That's a good idea, Lenny. So the next section is called interchurch. My sophomore year, we got a new assistant volleyball coach. I didn't know who he was or anything about him. We were on our way to a tournament one morning when I heard him talking to a few of my teammates about sleep paralysis. I wasn't involved in this conversation, but I overheard what he was describing, shot out of my seat and said, I have that. He listened to my experience and told me that there were some people at his church that could help me. So I went.

Sorry, Lenny, from my personal trauma, I'm a little scared. I'm a little scared. The following Sunday, I met with some people at his church who also struggled with sleep prowess. I just love this church, prayed over me and gave me a prayer to pray over my house in each room in it. So they're essentially teaching you how to cleanse it in like in whatever, you know, denomination or religion that says. They told me that I had what was called the gift of discernment, yes, which is one. And if you don't know what the gift of discernment is, it's kind of like what in Christianity specifically is like kind of like your gut instincts.

It's like when you get like a spiritual message, like a gift is like saying that, hey, like I know that something's off about this. Just trusting your God essentially, which is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit and why I was more in tune with spiritual things happening around me. They also taught me about how some things open doors for demonic activity like demonic movies or the fucking Ouija board for. The Ouichie board. Yeah, I would say that my eighth grade slumber party. Yeah. I cut all that shit out. out and I said a prayer from room to room,

stop watching scary movies, and still don't, and it worked. I haven't had sleep paralysis anymore. Well, congratulations, Lenny. I'm so glad that happened for you. Oh, my God. Finally. Okay, church. Like, maybe. Bye, about church. How about that?

Second guessing everything I've ever said. Okay. Since going through this as a young team, I have always been more in tune when something just doesn't feel right. And this is where the story gets really freaky. So the title of this section is called The Lead Up, Present Day.

I'm now 24 I just have to let you guys know that I have my legs crossed and they're violently shaking from house or they are and I will never be returning to that Pilates class so we're gonna keep going

Thank you for inserting a different horror into this horror I just I don't know what I was thinking I don't work out like that I'm now 24 years old and am with my boyfriend

of three years he recently moved into an 1800s house with his sister okay 1800s houses stand up me Christine, where I sit down

because that's terrifying I'm sad, yeah Say a prayer The first weekend staying there I had the house I said the house gave me a weird feeling

But I just didn't know why After about a month Me and his sister Started noticing things around the house I felt uneasy sleeping there And she had things Moving around her room

One night my boyfriend had left for work early in the morning like two or three a.m. And I got one of the dogs in the room so I could try and go back to sleep. As the dog and I were laying there, I began to hear footsteps walking down the hallway

to the closed door I was behind. I opened my eyes and was peering at the door, thinking maybe, I just imagined it all, until I looked at the dog and her head was also up and cocked at the door. Implying that she heard it too. Another time I was in the room by myself and my boyfriend was downstairs and something jiggled the doorknob like it was trying to get in. Finally, his sister and I began telling each other all of our experiences and told my boyfriend what was happening.

Boyfriends just always are so just like, what? I mean, just another opinion I have about men where I'm just like, can you please, for the love of God, believe me and also be scared? Or at least get it together. Can you save me since it's not a big deal? Can you just fucking act like you're scared? can you just like you know give me a little theatrics here because you at least admit that you're just pretending you don't notice because of how petrified you also are i'd like to not feel alone here thanks so exactly um while my boyfriend does believe the um in the demonic like his sister and i do he doesn't take it as seriously as we do we were all downstairs and he had had a cup i know where this is going he had had a couple of drinks and began provoking whatever was in the house Oh, my gosh. This is a man thing.

Men. Let us tell you this story briefly. I'll get it done in three minutes. Taylor and I were in the car with our husbands, and we were going to Helen, Georgia for October Fest. October Fest. And this is like through, what are those mountains called? That's a Blue Ridge.

Through the Blue Ridge Mountain. It's like Appalachian Blue Ridge, yeah. One lane road, it's dark outside. They have the windows rolled down, and they start screaming. Skin, walk, oh. me and Morgan are in the front seats I'm driving or if you're driving it's even worse I would have just stopped the car then I just stopped the car and been like

okay so we're going to be dead we we literally threaten them like you do like your cage actually this is funny then get out then get up and walk the rest of the way how about that you could take them and then me and Morgan are like they're joking they're joking they're joking we don't claim this we wash our hands of this goodbye yeah oh my god oh man no I couldn't tolerate that I'd be like I'm checked I've checked the fuck out we don't I'm done, and you're pulled over and you're walking the rest of the way.

If anything happens, I'd be like, if the car breaks down at all, you have volunteered to get out by yourself, I'm never helping. No, I know, I'm not getting out. I'm not getting out. Matter of fact, I'll hang blankets on the windows. So I don't even know what's going on out there. I'm going to put up those, like, baby screens that you do so they can't see. I'm going to, like, roll it up on the thing.

We were all downstairs, and he had had a couple of drinks. He starts provoking whatever was in the house saying things like, if something is really here, then just show yourself. I'm not really scared of you. That's Morgan, actually. Morgan, show yourself. I feel like Morgan could just be like this the whole time. Come on. Come on. Just throw up a pie. Show yourself. Show yourself. I dare you. At that moment, the drum in the other room led off one soft bang and then his phone began to play music in his pocket. He wrote it off as a coincidence, but his sister and I did not, because it wasn't. It was not a coincidence. I'd love to know the song, just out of curiosity.

Oh my God. If it's tip-tock. Just faint ukulele strump still you know it's coming. Yeah, you know that. Oh, man. I really have full-blown, full-blown chills because the second your phone starts playing music, just, I mean, it's too late. It's in the system.

It's in the main frame. Yeah, it's happening now. And the soft drum set, like, who the fuck touch my drum set? Like, in the next room over? It's like. Yeah. And then you can't even be mad about the drum. set because all of a sudden, boom.

What I would, like, it's in your pocket. What I would like to know that I feel like I'm not going to hear is what was his first response moments later? What did he say? Did he go, oh, shit, that was kind of creepy. No, I bet he was just like, oh, no, no, no, that's me. I did that on purpose. He doesn't seem bothered by it at all, like, at all.

Wild. Um, okay, this section is titled, the most fucked up shit I've ever witnessed present day. A couple of weeks go by, nothing crazy really happens. until I was staying the night with my boyfriend. He was laying on his back and said three separate lines that sounded like a language I hadn't heard before. I thought it sounded like Latin.

Oh, no. He is a pretty regular sleep talker and is not always coherent, so I just tried to write it off as sleep talking mumble. Okay, besties, I know this has been a long story, but it's about to get fucking crazy. the next week I'm laying in bed next to my boyfriend

and he's been asleep for about an hour by this point he rolls over to me and starts sleep talking however it wasn't like his normal sleep talk his voice was deeper and it was like he was it was like he was aware of his surroundings asking me why wasn't I asleep yet I'm sorry I thought that was about to go dark and I'm gosh aren't you asleep yet

Why are you a swing man? I began to get a really weird feeling. Grab my phone and started recording him because something didn't feel right. I have attached the video so you can play it now or at the end because I won't be able to explain it as well. Let's pull that up. I'll send it. Taylor, keep going. Yeah.

Okay. After he said the last line of the, okay, wait, we need it. We need it here. Yeah. I love your name, Lenny, by the way, L-Y-N-N-I-E is really cool. you i know it's not your real name but i really like it it's a good fake name it's also it's if you're going with the name that has nothing to do with your name and you just pick that out of thin air it's real enough i could believe it but it's also fake enough that i don't know you're

getting exactly what you want it is a very it could be like in a book you know what i mean it could be yes yes exactly let me Morgan play it and see if we can hear it through your mic because yours is actually no i can't guys i can't hear anything because i have noise cancellation on Was it crazy? Yeah. Could someone else play it? The fact that you're not reacting is like the most crazy part of those.

Wait, yeah, we could, hold on, this is stuck to my phone. Okay. Here we go. I'm scared. Why are you like an Irish sleep? Because I'm not tired yet. Vecna? You're pissing me off.

I'm not doing anything. You're pissing me on. You're scared. I'm not sleepy yet, Bob. I'm sorry. I'm laughing because that is terrifying. We're not even halfway through And guys, we're not even halfway through it.

We have 30 seconds left. Okay, wait, but I will clarify, it was, it was, why aren't you sleeping yet? You're pissing me off. Go to sleep. And then something else. Hold on, let me, I want to back it up in here

with that last part was. I'm really trying to keep it together. I promise I'm not trying to huff and puff through this, but that's the scariest thing I've ever fucking heard in my life. Yeah, Bob. Anything? I don't I don't like you stand or something I don't understand I don't understand or why aren't you scared why are you not asleep yet you're pissing me off I don't understand I think it's I don't understand and then I kind of hear why aren't you scared okay okay okay here we go I'm not sleepy yet Bob

Wait, what did he just say? Why don't you do that? I'm sorry. I had to throw in a leg. I had to throw in the leg. Okay, hold on. Let me turn that back up. Hold on.

Here we go. Computer? Computer. Computer? What did you say? What did you say? so okay okay wow I hated that um

hey so that was actually I've never heard I mean that's an actual demon point that came that came out of a movie hey so um no so that's actually a demon that was actually from the bowels of hell I mean so okay wait you might be the expert on site here though Taylor because with your sleep app and it sounded really crazy was it that level of could it have been that level of gutterol from like it sounded crazy to you when on your recording when it sounded technically guttural compared to your voice i wish i could hear his normal voice yeah do you think it could sound like a grown man just being guttural no because here's the thing it's the end of the words

and i don't know if you guys could hear it exactly but the end of his words are like like a different like a oh oh you know what i mean like the mouth is golf bald you know how like inquire where whereas mine was like my regular sleeping voice but just like real like like really vocal fry like I'm not opening my mouth and if I if I was sitting there beside him

it feels like he's like opening his mouth and like talking with like a lot for the hour you asleep yet yes and that's like not a sleep talk a sleep talk is mumble if that isn't proof of a demonic possession that I don't know what is

and you heard of it first folks Wow. I fully, I've actually never had chills quite like that. That was that, I didn't know how to act right. The way we were also, so, yeah, the way we all laughed because we were like, what? We hated it. That was, like we had no other reaction. That was, like, Margaret, when you were first playing it and you couldn't hear it, like, Taylor did me, like, I've never, like, our eyes, like, oh, shit. I'm like, wait, I heard nothing. Was it crazy? What do you say? Was that scary guys? You were like, can you hear it?

I'm like, yeah. Yeah. Do we hear it? Okay, so after he said the last line in the video, I got up, went downstairs, and played the video for his sister. She ran upstairs and immediately began trying to wake him up. He is a deep sleeper. So it took us a couple of minutes.

We woke him up and I played the video for him. He agreed that it was weird. We all stayed up for another hour praying over the house, praying over him and ourselves. This is a good spot to insert here that my boyfriend is the only one in the house who is not baptized. you know sometimes i think about getting baptized just to fucking avoid some stuff just like a you know just like a protection thing cautionary yeah just yeah i agree you know m technically anyone can baptize you so you could have alison just drown you for a second i was gonna say can you like you like yeah yeah i'll come more of waterboard you actually i feel like i feel like we all need it

yeah i would have to do just like like a company retreat where we just all go get baptized just in case just a little cleansing just a little cleansing ceremony for us here um And then when you come up, we do like 13 other versions of baptism. So we just cover everything 100%. We'll be the topic on someone's Reddit thread. If we're like in the mountains, they're like, came across this really weird cult that was drowning themselves in the creek bed. They were drown each other. And then they would come up and they had like sage and then they were doing like symbols.

I could see all of us. It's crazy. I could see all of us having a different like PowerPoint presentation on like a different religion and how we're going to protect ourselves from their views. And this is how we will baptize each other within that religion. yes of course so um he's the only one who is not baptized i kept praying over the house while also reaching out to that old friend from my church he provided me with some relief and told me to keep praying over the house and don't let whatever was happening scare me because that's the demon that's what the demonic does is trying to um instill fear i stopped being afraid and relied on jesus to protect us

this section is called almost done i was at his house one night and we were staying up late downstairs and talking in the kitchen. It was during this conversation that I once again began to feel weird. I noticed that, that's the discernment in you best thing, I noticed my boyfriend's eyes began to change into a more menacing look. Oh my God.

And he started to ask me, are you afraid of this house? You need to get rid of him, actually. I'm afraid of every living creature in this house, including you. Got to go. sorry and when I said no this house is covered and protected by Jesus

he said I like this house I'm not leaving this is my house at this point I knew I wasn't talking to my boyfriend actually you don't pay utilities so actually you don't fucking pay the rent so you can truly suck my dick on that point kind of fucking check and then maybe and then I was just like absolutely trolling the demon is like so classic like that's

It's so fucking funny that you said that, in fact, so. Okay, I'm sorry. I looked in his eyes and said, let's pray right now. I forced him to give me his hands and began to pray things along the lines of whatever is here if you are not of Jesus and bowed to Jesus. You are not welcome. Only spirits of the Lord and of heaven are allowed in this house and things that are not have no authority here.

And I demand you to leave in the name of Jesus Christ. I'm getting chills. Amen. I say that too. Amen. Me too, actually. Amen. We'll take that prayer here as well.

Thank you. I'll take any prayers I can get. Okay. I finished praying and looked up at my boyfriend. He looked woozy and said, I don't feel too good. And then collapsed onto the floor and passed out. I went over to him and I placed his head in my lap as he was whimpering and kind of moving back and forth.

He then woke up and asked what happened. I had no, he had no recollection of the past 10 minutes and went upstairs and went to bed, where I continued to pray over him and his soul. Okay. And since then, there has been no issues in the house. Okay, I know this took forever to write. And if you're, uh, actually read it all, God bless you. And I do believe that whatever was in him very well could have been Jojo, especially since referring, uh, it was referring to me by name. But yeah, that's sort of how I began being stalked by Jojo for a decade, exercise my boyfriend's house and then my boyfriend. Thanks, Vessies. Okay, Lenny, damn. It was really the case of like he was attached to you.

you got rid of him came to the next or like he couldn't get to you into a like a more possessive level so he just jumped right where he could. And that house is so old the energy in it would like allow for a demonic presence to take over. Man, oh my God. That is sickening. And you know for the rest of your life you get to hold that over your boyfriend

that you saved him from a gym man. Yeah, actually. So clean the gutters. I don't know if you actually owe me money because you had two people with you. Yeah. So splitting the rent. Yeah. Three ways. And you're, no, I'm just kidding. You're taking two. But that is crazy.

That is crazy, Lenny. I hated every single second of it. Truly. But, wow. Me too. Crazy, crazy story. Sorry. Thank you for submitting that and sharing that.

Yeah, Lenny. Love you. It's probably hard to write out, actually. Hope you're okay. Yeah. You sound okay, but you wrote us a book, and I think you should submit that to the Conjuring franchise. They might buy it off of you. Absolutely.

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through me and an instinct to run. Let's go. Marigold says, hi, guys, I've been listening for a while and I'm a huge fan. My name is Marigold. My pronouns are they, them, and I, you are totally free to use them. Oh, sick. Thanks. This is a dream come true. So thank you if you're even getting to me. I'm not on Patreon.

So pretty, so please, pretty please for my sanity put this on the main podcast. Surprise is on. That's what we drink. Surprise. Anyways, this takes place in my 100 year old childhood home. I was 9 to 12 when this happened. And as a child, they never believed in ghosts.

But even after the start of the, let's say, activity, I started to believe. Very Zach Bagan's. I didn't believe in ghosts. So I came face to face with one. So we had a closet full of children's toys. Problem number one. Yep. Red flag.

And one made a song like the ABCs or something. I can't remember exactly. Play music. Problem number two. Like I wouldn't. I guess there's a rocking chair nearby. I don't even let my dog have squeaky toys. Like I don't, if you make a sound, you're out of here.

You're out of here. In the middle of the night, I was trying to go to sleep, and I heard the song loudly from downstairs. Horrific. My mom came in and said it was probably one of the toys in the closet, and she checked, and yep, she turned it off. But the very next night, the same thing happened. This went on for six to eight nights

until my dad put it in the garage. This thing's a fucking Furby. Oh, my God. That's all it is. I don't, maybe... It took six to eight nights for dad to put it the hell away. I'm telling you with my Furby, it gave my dad.

five minutes. He was like, this thing has to fucking go. It's got to go. Were you of the Furby era, or do you need me to tell you how horrible it was? I was of the Furby era. I never had one. I never had one either, so the mom didn't fuck with that shit. It was a horrifying experience. The Furby wouldn't

shut the fuck up. My dad beat it with a baseball bat and put it in the freezer and you'd still hear it singing in the middle of the night and it'd go, nih ha, he ha, ha. And it's horrific. Horrific. It's like today's La Boo-Boo's they spoke. Yeah, but truly, there were stories across the map of dads trying to break these things

and they wouldn't shut the fuck up. And so then it turned into this whole lore of like, oh, they're demonic. And there's no Furby language they're speaking is actually Latin. And the Furbys were built to be able to, if you put a Furby next to another Furby, they would talk to each other. So then it sounded like we were like doing a ritual. It was horrifying. It's actually just me.

It's just the three of us sitting there. Me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me. Just talking. It was actually just like the first signs of a podcast. Yeah. so okay this went on for six to eight nights until my dad put it in the garage but when the activity continued after powering it off we donated it great this very nice the next prominent time was a year or two later and my mom experienced this one not me by the way so my mom has a bedside little digital clock and my mom went to bed as usual and was reading when the radio started playing super loudly on the clock like on the nightstand next to her oh my god got you she turned it off but key detail we haven't used the clock radio video in over 10 years. Ooh.

So my mom turns this thing off. It was just playing for the first time in a decade. This happened once more a few minutes later. And then somehow, crazy brave, she went to bed. Yeah, mom's crazy for that. I literally the same thing. Moms and boyfriends are the same. I'm like, how do you just rest your eyes now?

Like, I just don't know what we're going to be like. Like, what, as parents, like, what's going to happen? Because, like, I'm going to be like, oh, my God, we have to move. Like we sell the house. I got to move. I think it's for the best that I don't want kids because I'm going to be the reason the kid has to go to therapy because of the assumed demons that were never there. That were never actually there. Like if my kid comes to me and it's like, hey, something's under my bed.

I'm like, oh, well now guys, we can just put in noise canceling headphones. You don't hear anything. Well, she, so she goes to bed after the radio that never turns on, turned on twice. She woke up at, like, 3.15 that night when the clock's numbers just started going crazy and doing different numbers switching super fast. So now the clock is, like, I'd have a horror movie. And then started doing numbers that do not exist. And then no numbers at all. Numbers that don't exist, like symbols?

I guess so. I'm going to need help. Or like, I don't even know to imagine if they don't exist. Or like 363. Oh, yeah. like maybe it's military time ah um i don't know oh no i can't tell what that means woman numerals oh no no no no three like three 96 like 96 minutes yeah yeah if my digital clock started showing me roman numerals i'd like i i have to check out because i don't even know

i i know i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i it's a five wait do you guys know where it's like it's like no i want two and it's like no like two minutes you have to you know that trend on ticot yeah it's like my my two minutes you go on and like that's me with the with the roman numeral v so uh yeah so uh yeah so apparently the numbers then go to numbers that don't exist i can't even begin to fathom what that means and then no numbers at all and then just green since the numbers were always green like so it's a straight line as if

it just flattened itself out right um so the numbers they start showing numbers that do not exist, which I don't even know what that means. And then it goes to no numbers at all. And then it goes straight to just a flat green line as if it just stops. It just halts itself immediately. I heard the story, so I went up to the room and I clicked the radio button. And especially since I was doing homework on their bed and wanted to have a little music while doing it, since I didn't bring my phone up, I kept clicking it, but the radio would not turn on like it should have. So now it's just not working at all.

Right. well that's the end of my little mini story but a few days later i was home alone after getting off the bus and my parents usually got home from work around 530 and now it's six i went into the long hallway on the first floor and i was there just kind of walking around and i only had a light on in the kitchen which was connected to the very start of that long hallway but then i felt something cold wash over me and i froze like a deer in the road a hard a pure hard instinct to run as fast as i could toward the light happens and once I was in the kitchen I was super shook up just unhappy and it was 545 which was a little weird but I thought maybe my dad might be in a meeting and my mom might just

be closing up at her work so she had only one light on then she had this huge rush her parents are still not home when they should be one thing to know is the sun sets around like 520 in the winter here so it was already dark out and I was getting over it um like oh man that must have been our go I think that must be a ghost there. He seems friendly enough playing with children's toys and making noise. And I was still scared of him, though. But then I thought I heard footsteps and talking on the other side of the house. I was really scared and I don't know why, but unlike most 11-year-olds, just going and hiding.

I picked up a humongous kitchen knife. Are you anonymous cat? Who is that? Who is that? Who is that? I picked up at a humongous kitchen knife and started just. quietly scouring the home and then singing some sort of pop music as loud as I could as a distraction, I guess. Then once I got to the windows in the front of the house, I saw a bunch of joggers in a group wearing glowing vests and shouting, recognizing the voice I calmed down and my mom walked in pretty soon.

Now that I think about it, back to the first story, I should have checked. I'm sorry. Are you highlighting the words? I'm geeking out over here. No? Who the hell is doing that? Is it Eva? I don't know what's going on. Do you not see it on your end, M? On the Google Docs, it's like highlighting every word in purple. It's Eva.

It's Eva. Guys, who the fuck is it? Wait, Morgan. Someone is in here. No one's highlighting anything right now. It's exactly what you're reading. Look. Oh, it's happening right now.

Wait, everyone put your hands up right now. Wait, it was me. It was me. It was me. It was me. Oh. It was me. sorry sorry everybody okay it was me it was me everyone chill the fuck out sorry

i was like i am like it's here get the water it was me i'm so sorry we were like anonymous cat is highlighting everything in purple and like exactly what you were reading no okay i no i was not even i just wasn't even thinking about it and then by the time you mentioned it i'd clicked away and i was like no i'm not highlighting anything okay no it was me i'm so sorry am i'm so sorry okay no no no no okay it was 100% me okay anyway that was pretty much the end of it anyway I that was the end

the end holy shit I'm sorry I thought we were just about sorry we there was a lot going on within that and I just need to break it down so essentially this house is very haunted there's a lot of things especially with like digital clocks and stuff like that that are going on

just like a lot of stuff going on all the time and then So you kind of went into a time warp, I'm getting. It feels like a time warp. It feels like the electronics were all bugging out. And then the parents were at home. So during a super creepy moment, it felt like an immediate rush to have to run down the hall

like something was behind you. Yes. And that, yes. I mean, the thing that freaks me out the most is the radio obviously freaks me to fuck out. Yeah, especially like symbols, if that's what it was. Yeah. And especially...

Interpreting in that way. And shortly after the toys start, going off by themselves. Like, I don't like that it's playing with shit. That's the thing I hate the most. Everything else seems to be, like, feelings, which I are absolutely valid, and I've had them, and they're horrifying. But the proof of electronics freaking the fuck out, totally out of your control, hidden

in a closet, not working for 10 years, and now they're working. No, thank you. Oh, I forgot it. I forgot that the toy in the closet. Yeah, you know, in a hundred-year-old house, let's get rid of the toy closet. Yeah, I think that's fair. I think if you have, there's certain boundaries. If your house is from the 1800s, let's say, you just don't get to have an attic.

Yes. We're actually not allowed. You shouldn't have a seller. Unless it's completely finished, you shouldn't have a basement. You know what I mean? Yep, I hate that. Or a shed out back. No thanks.

If anyone builds a new home and you have a crawl space at an unfinished basement, you're not allowed to have it. You have to board it up. Well, the last two that we have are ones that Eva picked from our email, and they are both super short. So if you each wanted to take one to finish out the episode, that'd be great. Perfect. We gotta am. Why can't I get them to open? I just got them.

Oh, it's like a picture. Okay. Yeah. Okay, okay, okay. All righty. Am I up? Yes. Yep.

Okay. Sir, this is called a Christmas ghost story, and this is from Abra using she her pronouns. I'm not, I love this submission form that you guys have going on, by the way. Oh, it's on our website, and that's why you drink. And Eva's the one who made this. I think Eva, yes. I think he was one that made this. Our website submissions look crazy.

It's just a nice little submission form. It's very cutie. I love it. Love. I'm not sure how else to start this besides saying with no doubt in any of our minds, my mother's house is haunted as fuck, like poltergeist shit. And they've always loved me. I'm assuming the ghost and your parents.

I'm assuming. From the first time we stepped foot into what would be my room, great. We've heard a little girl. but in all the years I lived there I had never seen her until Christmas 2017. I was the first of my family to be done getting ready. A Christmas miracle, to be honest.

Truly. Sitting alone downstairs in our living room, which displays the staircase prominently, something caught my eye. There was a little girl sitting on our motherfucking staircase. She didn't seem to notice me at first and as I was sitting there trying to figure out if she was real or not, she looked up

at me with, in no exaggeration. the biggest eyes I have ever seen they weren't all black shout out VEKs but they were a special kind of dark against her pale skin and long dark hair

when our eyes met I immediately got violently ill vomiting for the rest of the night I would get the same random violent sickness for years after this no matter how healthy I was prior but only on

Christmas this is like a Christmas witch. Yeah, it is. It's like Prampus' daughter or something. Yeah. Literally. While this really sucked as I loved Christmas,

it did get me out of midnight mass a few times, so sleigh, as in reindeer sleigh. But our story doesn't end there. That next year, my partner at the time, Josh, he, him, came to live with us for a while. He went across the hall to our bathroom that was equally as

unsettling as my bedroom. When he came back, he looked shook as hell. I asked, what's the matter? And he said, I know this sounds crazy, but I swear to God, I just saw a girl in your bathroom. Ew. I asked what she looked like, he said. She had long, dark hair and she was really pale. But her eyes, dude, they were massive.

Okay, first things first, John passes our boyfriend list. Absolutely. His name is Josh, though. Oh, Josh, sorry. I literally looked back at it and I still read John. He's a good buddy, John. Josh is for the girls. He's for the girls, for sure.

for the girls 100%. And he's like, yeah, I saw that shit and that was creepy as fuck. Abert said, I never told him that story. Spooky Christmas to all and to all a good night. Oh, my God. Well, that's terrifying. And I don't like that you throw up every Christmas.

Like, you know, like December 23rd, 24th, she's like, oh, no, here we go. Here I go. I don't like that there's, she said somewhere in there that the bathroom was just as spooky as the bedroom. And I'm like, can you, I, there's nothing more horrifying than, like, having a drop trow in a bathroom that freaks you the fuck out. Like, right.

I, um, when Christine and even I investigated the Sally house, uh, I, the bathroom there, like, freaked me out and I made Christine stand in the bathroom with me while I went. Because I was so, I was like, something is in here. I would, like, I don't know what it was. Me and Morgan do the same thing. Oh, it's so scary. We did. We did that in L.A. actually. It's so vulnerable. I feel like a dog outside, you know, when they're going to the

bathroom they're like looking everywhere like terrified not something's going to get them that's how i felt the whole time there's a haunted bathroom really gets me anyway yeah no a haunted here's where like i really have to draw the line is like when i there's been a few times the last time it happened to me i was in savannah georgia and i had gone to like a really old building um there was like a speakeasy underneath and i had to go to the bathroom and like right like a year before i went me and morgan had read a creepy account on the podcast about um one of our listeners who like got on this elevator and got lost in this like in this Savannah Georgia like

speak easy and like they went upstairs to go to the bathroom and then they came out on their right floor and no one was there and their boyfriend was looking for them and it was crazy so I was already on edge but I got a little bit of liquid courage so anyways I had to open the hatch because I drink so much I need to go pee so I and I was in guys

like I am today because I stay in one a body suit so not only am I in a whole haunted tiny bathroom that's cold i'm getting butt naked fully fully nude i'm just titty's out on the toilet like seriously freezing my ass off and i'm scared to death and it was just like so so violating the entire time i just was going as fast as i could and when i came out like all my straps were all messed up and most was like are you okay like also like even if it's not a ghost if like someone wanted to kill you the most embarrassing way would be like on a toilet yes i you know i live in california we have to worry about earthquakes and I've always thought the most embarrassing thing would be a post body suit on a toilet and the earthquake hits and you're just splayed out nude and someone finds you that way like there's no escaping in time you know there's none oh that is so good yeah well love that story hate that you throw up every day so sorry I hate you guts but um no I do feel like it was a little girl that got like yes sick and or died right before Christmas or something like that yeah we're just all always

We're all having to experience the pain now. Yeah. She's like, I want someone to know what I went through. The last one we have is from, I'm sorry, okay, there we go. Teddy using they, them pronouns. And the subject is, where did he get the gun and the worst person to run into at a hospital kids' Christmas show? That is clickbait.

That would have got me a Teddy. Yeah, you would have got us, Teddy. Because what I'm intrigued. You already have me at the children's hospital on Christmas, but the gun? What? I'm really concerned here with the title. Not going to lie. Hey, squad.

My name is Teddy, they, them, shout out am. I've been, that's what Teddy said, not me. Another non-binary. You must know all of them. Yeah, I know, I know. Could you imagine if I said that? They then, you know all about that, don't you? Shout out of them.

I've been, I'm sorry, how we get it together. I've been a listener since the summer of 2021 when I was working at a haunted museum in rural Canada. Shout out him again. While this story is not about that lovely museum, if you're interested, I can send it in a later, I can send it later, along with my summer of ghosty experiences, but the story I will be sharing this time leans towards Christine and Tyler, hey, that's my, and true crime. This story takes place circa 1977 when my mom was a kid. She was raised in extremely rural Canada. I wish I could be more specific, but I don't want to out the lore I was given. And like many true crime cases, sadly, my great aunt was in a relationship with an abusive asshole.

I don't know a lot of specifics other than this story, but it was the 70s in the rural land. So I can't imagine it was great. So one day around Christmas time, this asshole comes home and sees another guy in the house with my great aunt. Long story short, the guy pulls out a shotgun. Honestly, I don't know where he got the gun. Maybe a shed. Who knows it was the 70s? And shoots the man in the house through the window into his chest.

What this asshole would have realized if he had waited 30 more seconds was the guy in the house was my great grandfrey. My aunt's dad. Oh, my God. Holy shit. Oh, shit. Well, as you can imagine, shit went south. Ambulance and police were called, and my great-grandfather was rushed to the hospital. And against all odds, he lived.

Wow. It's crazy because they lived over an hour away from the nearest hospital. And he shot at essentially point-blank range, it seems. Through the window directly into the chest. With a shotgun. During this time, a shotgun, which means it was like a butt shot. Yeah. Yeah.

Shit. During this time, my mom, who was around seven, was quite sick and was stuck in the hospital for Christmas. And that evening, my grandma took my mom down to see the Christmas show that was being put on for the patients at the hospital. Oh, how sweet. And who comes up to chat with my grandma like nothing happened? Oh, the guy who shot her down. Oh, my God. He comes up and talks to her like nothing happened. And my grandma quickly ushers my mom away. From what I've been told, there were no charges because he was deemed mentally ill and I'm not sure what happened to him after that. Oh, my God. I had never heard this story until I was in late high school talking about CT scans with my mom.

She told me the story of taking my great-grandfather to get a CT scan when she was in her first year of university and him showing her all the shrapnel still inside his chest from the incident. He passed away a few. few years later from what I understand was from something that was unrelated to the shooting while that side of my family is full of crazy stories this definitely is one of the most unbelievable thank you for reading I am currently on my second listen through as I've gotten a lot of time on my hands for the

first time in a while and appreciating the evolution of the pod thanks again good luck and I hope that if you ever get shot in the chest with a shotgun you also live cheers teddy teddy thank you for those good wishes. Thank you. I hope so too. And let's bring that energy into 2026. And we'll be taking that into 2026 with us, Teddy. So that's the new motto. If you get shot in the chest, I hope you live. You live. Yeah. Well, thank you everyone who submitted stories. And thank you again, both of you for coming on and telling the stories with me. Of course. It's so much fun, guys. We love coming over here and hanging out with you. Any chance that we get. Where is Taylor? Oh, over here. You all are broken. You got to do it the other way, girl. Oh, really? Are you in the middle? Oh, I'm in the

middle oh wait oh my god oh wow now m do it with m now morgan i where are we i we're all in that way now you're right no m go back to what you were now go up a little oh no no not the gin z one you're showing you're showing our like deep is really right you guys yeah that's right y'all are this just looks like c and cdb you have to point the thumb down so it does the little the little the thing my thumb doesn't go down like not all of us can do is that is that Why all of you people started doing this shit or whatever it is? Okay, but we never did that. I did the one with the fire.

The fire? Oh, my God. And by the way, for people listening and not knowing what's going on, we're trying to figure up between our generational gap, what the hell we make a heart look like with our hands. We're like five years younger than you. Like, okay, come on. You're on the cusp and you know it.

I can't put my thumb down, though. Like, that really hurts. You know, because you have to do it like this. That's the heart. Yeah. Is that, does that not look like a heart too? This is how I grew up doing it. Okay.

That's how I always said, too. But now what's your little, like, weird blood sign or whatever? Is that it? This is what people do these days. This is what my little sisters do. Which I get it. It looks like, no, don't do that, Morgan. M said it.

Morgan's like, well, I mean, I remember doing that too and thinking, wow, I'm so cool. I'm like, no, no, no, I'm scared. I'm scared of that, actually. I love that the true crime one's like, you better fucking knock it off. I'm like, please wrap it up. I don't want to be a part of that. Well, who taught us that? My middle school.

My fourth grade teacher, I guess. I don't know. My fingers can still muscle memory into that, which is the scariest part. I could just definitely do it if I was feeling like it. I'm really scared. So it's like saying the demonic name. I don't want any of that smoke. I don't even think it's like their symbol, though.

It's definitely not anymore. Not anymore at the very least. For sure, had a brand change after. No, once they realized 12-year-olds could do it, they were like, I think we should. It was like our 6-7 to do that. It was. I hate 6-7. It really pisses me off.

Well, man. I don't know how we got here. But anyway, I guess imagine a heart in your head, everybody, whichever way it looks in your head. Whichever when it looks in your head. That's what we were doing. No, thank you for coming on. Thank you, everyone who submitted.

Good luck, everyone in 2026. I just, I don't want to make any expectations. Just good luck to all of us. Yeah. And reminder that January 4th, where usually there would be an episode, we are going to be taking our first day off. And very excited about that. Thank you to everyone who is going to be understanding

and kind in the comments. And so my paranoia is not justified. Which is going to be everyone. Or Morgan and Taylor are going to come after you. And y'all, we don't play that shit. We really don't. Show yourself. Show yourself.

Power Rangers. I don't know how to do the and that's why we drink amongst three different people. But and that's why we drink. We are. Drink. Okay. Great. Thanks.