And That's Why We Drink - Listener Stories: Vol. 97

Episode Date: November 1, 2024

Happy November, Boozers and Shakers! Well, happy early November, and while we’re on the topic, please go vote. We literally just Google “how to vote”, “where am I?” and “who am I?” so that should cover all your bases. But onto the stories! This month we have some fun and haunting tales about staircases to nowhere, hospital backrooms, invented cryptids and more! Join us before all the big family gatherings full of food and weird relatives, although, wait, we did just eat an entire rotisserie chicken in a cemetery… and that’s why we drink! Please go vote on Tuesday! Resources and info at vote.orgCut your wireless bill to 15 bucks a month at MINTMOBILE.com/drink. Blueland has a special offer for listeners. Right now, get 15% off your first order by going to Blueland.com/DRINK. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Some mysteries can be solved by looking at the facts, but in some cases, answers lie in the unknown. I'm Ashley Flowers, and each week on my podcast So Supernatural, we explore some of the world's most bizarre occurrences and unravel their possible explanations no matter how strange. Because sometimes, to get to the truth, you have to look beyond what we know to be reality and consider what else there could be, even if it forces you to reconsider everything you think you know. Listen to So Supernatural now,

wherever you get your podcasts. I'm gonna go to bed. I'm gonna go to bed. I'm gonna go to bed. I'm gonna go to bed. I'm gonna go to bed. I'm gonna go to bed. I'm gonna go to bed. I'm gonna go to bed.

I'm gonna go to bed. I'm gonna go to bed. I'm gonna go to bed. I'm gonna go to bed. I'm gonna go to la. I did it. Is that the one? That was the one. It's Day of the Dead though today, Dia de los Muertos.

So Happy Day of the Dead. Feels like a special day. Actually this day, Em, when this comes out, it just occurred to me, I'm getting my level two and three Reiki attunements. Look at you. I signed up last night. Good for you. my level two and three Reiki attunements. Look at you. I signed up last night.

Good for you. I'm very excited. Thank you. I'm excited too. And it's all virtual. So I don't know what it'll be like, but it's a start of a new month folks for all of us. Yes. And also by the way,

because we said this at the bottom of the last episode that we recorded, so we should do it at the top of this episode. Yes. And we have a few days left before the world is either at peace for a moment or it is terribly not. Please go vote. Please go vote. Yeah, I don't think we can promise peace

no matter what happens, because the world is sort of in flames right now. But you know what? We could at least throw a wrench into those gears, right? Like, come on, let's vote. Emma's right. You can just do a little, fill it out with a pencil. You know how to do that?

Well, scratch, scratch, scratch. Your edge, dot, dot, dot. Don't worry. Google it. That's what I did. Just Google, where can I vote? And who am I? Where can I vote?

Where should I go? And they'll tell you everything. It's easy. If you are above the age of 18, and you are a US citizen, please, please, please vote. It doesn't feel like much, but if you think about like everyone listening to this podcast,

if they all voted, that would be a tremendous amount. So just to brag about how many listeners we have. No, I'm kidding. Which means there's so many people to commiserate with if we don't all get together and vote and something happens. And think about how crummy you'll feel if it's really close and it goes in the wrong direction. Imagine if one day they say,

we were only one vote away. One vote, one vote away. And you could have been that one vote. You could have been, but you didn't want to pick up a pencil. Ugh, for shame. For shame. So anyway, please go vote.

Other than that, I hope everyone had a happy Halloween, happy Mary Samhain and happy Dia de Los Martos. What else are we doing? What else is going on? November, we're coming up on turkey season. We got some big holidays food related coming up. I'm amped. And our tour is coming up.

And when this comes out out we'll only have five weeks left to tour. We'll have two legs left I think. This is crazy. Anyway I hope everyone is get your tickets to our show. Have fun with your family. Good luck with your crazy weird conservative uncle who will probably be in attendance especially after the election. I weird conservative uncle who will probably be in attendance, especially after the election. I hope all of you are doing okay. Yeah, we'll be in Texas two days after the election. So good luck.

I'm aware. I'm aware. Oh, I'm telling them, not you. I know you're aware. I'm telling the audience. I'm also saying I wonder, based on how everything turns out, how everything shakes out, what being in Texas will be like at that moment in life.

We'll find out. At least we'll be surrounded by safe people that listen to our show. That's true. We'll all maybe have a really big reason to drink. We'll all cry together. Other than that, we've got some listener stories for you to warm you into the season because now it's officially autumn going into winter. Yeah, past Halloween, it feels like winter time already to me.

Cozy season, officially cozy season. So would you like to go first or would you like to go second? It's up to you. How about you go first while I try to open the link? Oh, beautiful. Okay. Well, for those of you who are new here, this is our listeners episodes.

We put out listeners stories at the first of every month. You can submit your own personal true crime and or paranormal story if you'd like at our website and that's what I drink.com. And we have a nice little handful for you this November 1st. This one comes from Katie who uses she her pronouns. Thank you for normalizing pronouns, Katie. And the title is, oh, the title is the time I Accidentally Became a Cryptid in My Small Town.

I love that you started with, oh, which feels like exactly the right, oh, the time I accidentally became a cryptid, oopsie. So in Massachusetts, in Salem, there's the Joshua Ward House, which you and I have stayed in as a hotel. Oh, right. At one point, it was an office and there was like an office party and someone took a picture of Someone took Polaroids of everyone at the party and when they ended up looking at the pictures one woman they were like We don't recognize her. She looks like a fucking witch

Can you imagine if you accidentally maybe this is your story Katie? Maybe you were the office cryptid because your hair just looked bad that day and the Polaroid came out weird. And everyone was like we don't know her. Well, yeah, she works in HR. Nobody talks to her It's just like she disappeared in the photos. We all thought she was a ghost, but she really works in HR. That's the only other version I've heard of someone becoming a cryptid in their small town.

But I think that was actually a ghost, right? They didn't determine who that was. They called her the witch of the Joshua Warfowls. Right, right, right. So that wasn't, it didn't actually end up being a person that we can pinpoint. We don't know, yeah. So at least we have confirmation from Katie on their story. So yeah, did you brush your hair that day, Katie?

Because it seems like that was a big part of the story. Are you in HR, Katie? Yeah. Okay. So here we go. Hello to everyone. This is the story of how my best friend and I sparked the legend of banshees in our local cemetery.

My best friend and I would have sleepovers all the time during high school. And as this was back in the early 2000s, it was still socially acceptable for two younger for two young teenage girls to wander around a small town at 3 a.m. I don't know if it was socially acceptable then, Katie, but I see what you mean that it was. I mean, it was maybe not socially acceptable, but I certainly partake. I certainly did it. So, yeah. Yeah, especially in the cemetery. Our favorite place to walk was a small nature preserve It's maybe not socially acceptable, but I certainly partake. I certainly did it. So yeah. Yeah.

Especially in the cemetery. Our favorite place to walk was a small nature preserve that had a trail leading straight through into a local cemetery. The cemetery is closed at night, but that never stopped us. I totally get your vibe, Katie. Same. Now, when I say cemetery, I'm not talking about a square plot of land with perfectly lined up headstones.

This cemetery is very old and built up in the sand dunes and is sprawling. Little nooks in between groupings of trees with a handful of headstones here, an open area with a large bunch of crips over there, a paranormal enthusiast's wet dream. There was even a rickety staircase built on the side of a hill that led up to where the founder of our town was buried with his family. I love the dramatics of that. I love the dramatics. I would also love to be buried on a hill

that requires a staircase. A rickety staircase. People have to work for it to come see me. Yeah, that's right. And then no one will just come see you and then you'll feel like crap. And then I'll feel at peace, but I won't feel like it's like my fault.

I'll be like, I'll be like, you know what? They could if they wanted to, but until then I'm just gonna do what I want. I'm just gonna be alone up here. Our normal nightly strolls would take us through the park and into the cemetery where we'd wander around for a bit, maybe sit on the steps that all the kids in town referred to as the staircase to hell

and consume an entire rotisserie chicken and some candy. That sounds like what me and my mom did all the time. I feel like this is weirdly familiar. Maybe all of us at that same age just also did those things. Katie, were you a child of divorce? Because I feel like- This feels right, yeah. Anyone I know who had a single parent,

a lot of times your dinner was just a full rotisserie chicken in a bag and you just picked that up like a vulture. Sometimes you just went and ate it somewhere. Sometimes you just ate it in a cemetery with your friend, brought some candy. Actually that might be what I do tonight when I go to Alice in the Skypulgare. I was going to say, that actually sounds like a good plan. Sounds great.

Yeah. This particular night though, when we got close to the base of the stairs with our chicken, we could hear voices coming from the top of the hill. Uh-oh. Which is where the founder is buried. Right. As we got closer, we were able to see that there was a faint light coming from the top of the hill as well.

My best friend and I decided to silently climb the stairs and see what was going on. You're brave. Ooh, let me tell you, we found what looked like three seventh to eighth grade kids and one who looked barely old enough to drive standing in a circle. They're trying to do some seance or something. Ring around the rosy or a seance. Or drugs. They were surrounding multiple black Yankee candles and what I'm guessing was supposed

to be a salt drawn pentagram but was actually a star of David. They were trying, this is literally you, me and Renee having a- Absurd, in like seventh grade. Yeah, this is absurd. A 12 year old sounds- Oh, black candles.

I think Linda bought some half price at the outlet mall, some Yankee candle. We have a licorice scented bath and body works candle. Oh my God. And I forget how to draw a pentagram, but this one might just be fine. I think this is right. Yeah.

They were trying to speak in tongues, but as a long time choir church kid, we knew our Latin and that was not it, my friends. These little kids were trying to perform some kind of seance in the middle of the night in a highly patrolled area with small town cops that are very bored. And needless to say, we silently looked at each other, grinned and quietly crept around the bushes to do to the opposite side of the group from the exit to the stairs. Correct. Correct. Once we got to the other side and the wannabe mediums chant, reach an epic

high. My best friend and I let out a deafening dissonant screech. Stop it. I have never seen someone run so fast. I'm pretty sure at least one of them may have wet themselves. They pissed their pants for sure. We got a good laugh out of watching them run away and got some nice yankee candles out of it as well. Oh hey! Mom was like, where did my yankee candles go? And her kid's like, I don't want to talk about it. I like how a robbery was committed here, but we're on the side of the robber. Yeah, big time. After we had finished brushing away the salt and gathering what items we could, we heard the sirens.

Apparently one of the houses bordering the cemetery heard the commotion and called the police. Oh my god. So we're actually accidentally on the run. Yeah. We didn't have time to run back to the car so we ended up running into the woods and hiding for two hours because we no longer, until we no longer heard the cops. You hid from the cops because you screamed so loud it scared a bunch of teenagers. This is so funny. For almost two years after that- By the way, what happened to the chicken?

Do you still have it? Do you eat it already? I hope you got to eat the chicken. I hope you didn't Scooby-Doo fling it into the air when you ran away. Me too. That's what I'm worried about. For almost two years after that- Okay, so this is how they became the local cryptids, remember? Yep.

For almost two years after that, you would hear stories whispered through the halls of our school. Don't go to the cemetery at night or the banshees will steal your soul. Wow. Thanks for reading. That just feels so good.

Thanks for reading my story and I hope it made you chuckle. Thanks for all your stories and General Tom Fullery. TLDR, rotisserie chicken is best eaten at 3 a.m. at a cemetery and don't draw six pointed stars for your seance because you might summit a banshee. Okay, so I thank you Katie for that. I love that maybe at this point in time, one of the teenagers doing that seance, because you know they told everyone they were like, no, we really conjured a Banshee.

I would love if they were a listener and they're actually hearing the behind the scenes. And they found out. I once made a salt Star of David on the ground. It's like, wait a minute. And I did smell rotisserie chicken behind me. Hang on. Yeah, that's weird.

The Banshee did smell a lot like Skittles and rotisserie chicken. But I mean, imagine if you found, this is how you found out that like that story you've been telling everyone was actually never true. And like, really good. But also, yeah, I would. If you're the other part to the story, please write in. If you know anybody who might have done this, please, I would love to hear the other side. I love that they were like, oh, they really like you leaned into it, like, oh, let's give them

a good story. Yeah, they wanted a scare. If they want to summon something, like let's give them something that they'll remember and our town will remember for years. I mean, really, you just started like an actual piece of lore, that's so cool. Beautiful.

I hope that your town starts with a B, so it's the Bb Banshees, you know? The Bb Banshees, yeah, yeah. The Barnstable Banshees. Oh, yeah. The Buxton Banshee. The Buxton Banshees. With big wireless providers, what you see is never actually what you get.

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forget to log into the venue Wi-Fi which is spotty at best sometimes I can just pull it up. I think it's a game changer. You would be shocked at how often Christine has forgotten the script. All right well we don't need to get into that. Thank you so much for your input. I really appreciate it. To get this new customer offer and your new three month premium wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month, go to mipmobile.com slash drink.

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All right, let's see, what do I have? Number two, yes. Number two is from, wait, wasn't, okay. This is from Katie, but a different Katie. That's why I got mixed up. I see, I see. Katie, she, her. It's called My Encounter with an Unknown Entity from the Home of the Hodag.

All right. Beautiful. Hey gang, so I'm only 100 episodes into the show right now, but when I saw that you did one on the Hodag, I get so excited I had to skip ahead because I'm from Rhinelander, Wisconsin. Excellent. I love that. I love when our silly little cryptid gets attention

outside of our small town. So seeing that was a really fun surprise. Anyway, here's my story. This happened to me about 10 years ago at the house I grew up in. I was watching TV in my bedroom at night when my dog started letting me know she needed to go outside. The neighborhood was small and our yard was lined with pine trees which made it feel private and a bit unnerving at night.

As my dog was going, I noticed a heavy breathing sound in the distance. Initially, because our town has a paper mill that makes noise sometimes, I thought it could be that. That is, until the noise started getting closer. This might sound silly, but honest to God, the best description of the sound is something like a bear mixed with Darth Vader. Oh my god. A bear mixed with... Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, like a more growly Darth Vader type.

I lived in this town my whole life and knew then that it wasn't the paper mill. It sounded more organic, if that makes sense. It's worth noting my dog also noticed and reacted to the sound as well. Whatever it was, I could tell it was moving like a disembodied noise. I couldn't quite pinpoint the direction of,

but could tell by the loudness that it was getting closer. At this point, I hurried inside because I was genuinely afraid of a large animal being nearby that could harm my small dog or me. I went back inside my bedroom and opened the window, which faced the backyard to listen. The noise had gone from sounding like it was distantly down the street

to being right in the backyard. That being said, I couldn't actually see or hear anything besides the breathing. Being October, there were crunchy leaves and twigs everywhere, but there was no sound of anything walking like you would expect with an animal. Even if it was a person trying to scare me, I would have heard some kind of movement. Maybe it was someone with rotisserie chicken sneaking around trying to give you a scare. A Buxton Banshee. You know what I mean? That's what made it so odd. It was a disembodied breathing that was moving on its own. I turned the lights off and whispered for my mom to come in.

Before I even said anything, she heard the sound, gasped, and ran out of the room. Now, my mother was chronically ill at that point, and I hadn't seen her move that quickly in years. She also grew up on an old farm surrounded by woods and came from a hunting family. So she absolutely knew what every large animal in the area sounded like. She told me she had never heard anything like that. I hate that.

That's a bad, that's a bad, you want the person in charge to be like, oh, that old noise. You know. Yeah, you want like an old, an old Nigel Thornberry who Yes. Knows the ins and outs. Yes. I stayed in the living room with her for a while, occasionally going back in to listen.

It stayed for some time and I would peek from behind the curtains occasionally, but never saw anything. Eventually, it just faded. This was also at a time where cell phones didn't have the greatest sound or video recording, otherwise I would have tried to get evidence. In the morning, I went outside to look around and nothing was different about the yard. No evidence of a person or animal like prints or droppings and nothing was out of place or messed with.

Time went on and eventually it went to the back of our minds. About 10 months later, however, I was again watching TV in my room at night. This time the window was open and I heard that same awful breathing getting closer and watched as my dog perked up to it again as well. But unfortunately this time I was home alone. I turned the lights off and sat out of view peeking through the curtains. Oh my god, this is so scary. I would be doing the same shit though.

Me too. Remember when you and I peeked through the curtains at the theater when we thought something... The literal theater curtains. Like the stage curtains. When you get scared and you're in your curtains, you're going to hide behind them. at the theater when we thought something. The literal theater curtains. Like the stage curtains. When you get scared and you're in your curtains, you're gonna hide behind them. A curtain is great in that situation.

I totally agree. I turned the lights off and sat out of view, peeking through the curtains. Again, absolutely nothing I could see with my eyes and no physical sound of movement, just a deep raspy breathing noise hovering around my yard. After a while, I just decided screw it and made sure all my windows and doors were locked and moved to the living room. There wasn't much else I could do. Same as before, I'd occasionally go

in my room to check if it was still there until it just stopped. To this day, I have no idea what that was, but it still gives me the chills. I don't know if it was supernatural, but it certainly didn't feel normal and I can't think of what it possibly could have been. Who knows? Maybe it was the hoedag. Sure, sure. Let's hope so. Let's hope so. Hope so, I don't know. Okay, wow.

Okay, feel a kinship with you both. Cause like, Emma, I grew up exploring abandoned homes and buildings and like Christine, I'm a fellow IBD sufferer. And there are some stories for another day. So wow, thank you, Katie. I know you said it was before time where things recorded. So I'm wondering if it was pre drones, because I feel like maybe back then drones had kind of a weird like,

I don't know. I don't know. I just think everyone's always blaming drones for everything. Honestly, maybe it was like some like guy with a like a broken leaf blower or something, you know? But like, why wouldn't he if he's like right outside the yard. Yeah. Oh yeah, you're right. I didn't, for a second I was like, maybe it was just a distant sound.

No. Yeah, I don't know what it would have been or it could have been, you know, what's what we always had a really annoying fucking frog. He had like a broken voice box or something like the way he would croak. It sounded like a machine. Oh my God. What if it was a frog? Do you imagine if it was just a frog that whole time? So,

I mean, I'm not trying to, uh, but maybe it was the hodak. I'm not trying to invalidate your story, Katie. I would be fucking terrified. So, but hopefully it was a frog. So you can sleep. I would like to tell myself that. Um, our next story is from Elizabeth who uses she, her pronouns. Thank you for normalizing pronouns, Elizabeth. And the subject line, vague, back rooms, stairs.

It's vague, but powerful. She's mighty. Yeah. Hello, fabulous, these and she's. Okay. So in October's listener stories, Gracie's story about the devil staircase. They were going downstairs and two hours had passed. Yes, I remember that.

I remember. Where we were like, were they just sitting on the stairs for two hours? Were they walking for two hours? We're just talking about if it's up or down or. Yeah, we were really struggling with that one. I had a similar experience of getting stuck in the back rooms stairs,

which is what I think it was. No. I was an older teen and performing in the corps de ballet. Thank you for writing out the pronunciation. Appreciate that. Of a civic company. We were performing at the Paramount Theater in Austin, Texas, where y'all have performed as well. Hey. Which means maybe that's where it's going to be. Maybe we should. I mean, we're literally about to go back to Austin. What was the theater called? The Paramount. Let me check. I know Eva somewhere is like, it's we're literally about to go back to Austin. What was the theater called? The Paramount.

Let me check. I know Eva somewhere is like, it's we're going to the state theater this time. Oh, OK. Maybe we should go to the Paramount anyway and just see if they have back room stairs. Hell yeah. Just see what happens. Anyway, I decided to explore while everyone else left to get dinner, and I went up to the second balcony and found a staircase at the very back of the top of the balcony. I started descending the stairs.

Oh God. One flight, two flights, three flights. Oh God. Four flights, five flights. No. Six flights. At this point, I'd be like, if I have to go up six fucking flights, I'm-

Forget it. Yeah, wait, yeah, now you're like cock omitted, but also the more you go down, the more you'll have to go up. I think I'm actually stuck now that I think about it. Where was I? The stairs just kept going down. No one knew where I was. Yeah, because they're all at dinner.

I had been determined to see what was at the bottom thinking it was probably just an emergency door, but the stairs just kept going. What? I turned back and went up a grand total of three flights of stairs and arrived back at the top of the second balcony. Only three flights, even though I went down six flights. Uh-uh. So I thoroughly believe I got trapped briefly

in the back rooms. And if I had kept going down, maybe I would have eventually found an exit, but I don't think it would have exited to the street in this world. Ew, that just gave me chills. And in the grand tradition, maybe I'll tell you about my encounter with the Hat Man when I was three years old, or maybe the city all my dreams exist in.

What? But that's a story for another day. No! You're always teasing me with this nonsense. Wow, yuck. To go down six, I mean, and I'm not good at math, I think we can all agree on that, but to go down six flights and then go up two or three and be in the same spot. Yeah. If I went down six flights, I'm prepared to be so out of breath. And if I only did three flights of stairs and I'm like, wait a minute, I should feel worse. Why am I already back?

You and I are like, oh, well, that's nice. Billy, at least you found the exit and then got to panic later. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. I'm so glad you didn't keep going. Ugh, gives me the shivers. OK, let's see. So this came in from Rebecca. It's called Actual Backroom Story, parentheses, Hospital. Oh my god, another back rooms?

Please, oh my god, and me. What do you mean? You need to knock on wood or something. Also, I do, I meant to say this earlier, I feel like to me, staircases. Yeah. Similar to elevators are kind of like a weird portal almost sometimes. Oh, totally. I mean, this does feel like it's a bit of a stairs themed episode so far. Yeah. Isn't it? Yeah.

Because there was there was the stairs at the top of the hill where they heard a noise and that's where the thing was going. The second one, the one that you told my curtains. What was that one again? Hodag. Oh, the hodag. Oh, she was high. Oh, the curtains. Maybe this is just a furnishings in a home. I was going to say furnishings. Very good. Very good.

Sure. Well, we'll always find a theme. All right. Let's see. This is from Rebecca. OK. This is a doozy, So let's crack into it I was listening to the episode on the backroom Siri when I suddenly felt like I had experienced this in reality Suddenly, I had a Jimmy Neutron like flashback. First of all, I love that because I feel like everyone says that's a raven Yes, thank you for the Jimmy Neutron is a good poll Suddenly, I had a Jimmy Neutron like flashback that my brain truly tried to suppress. I had been volunteering in my local hospital

when I was in high school. And since I don't like hospitals, blood, being sick, you know, things that make a hospital a hospital, I was usually placed at the front desk to help out. One day I walk in and my placement was being covered, so I had to go to an actual floor and do rounds and drop off food. I get up there and they asked me to go to the laundry room and get fresh linens for a patient. I'd never been to the laundry room but

had an idea of where I was headed. I get into a double-doored elevator and ride it down. Elevator stops, I get off. Only I realize it let me out the wrong way. No worries, I'll just get back on. Nope. Door would not open for anything. I figure, okay, there has to be another elevator or stairs down this hallway. Please picture, if you will, a long corridor that only has track lighting above a few doors and then turns to the right. I actually won't be doing that, but thank you. Thank you so much for the suggestion. I will not be listening. Thanks for the opportunity. I won't be taking it. I'll be passing on that today. I start walking down this hallway for what seems like eternity and realize I haven't even gotten to the turn yet. Oh, this is freaking me out, man. I continue on and begin to hear voices and

whispers behind some doors, but not enough to convince me anyone real was behind the voices. I continue down the hallway and the amount of doors doubles. The lights are starting to hurt my eyes and the voices seem to increase. Trying not to panic, I decide to just turn around and go back down the hallway. That's... Oh my God, help me. That's when I see the elevator I had exited right behind me. I beg your pardon. So were you just walking in place this whole time and hallucinating? Like the stairs. Like the stairs.

The two hour stairs. I told you, I thought the whole time I felt like they Like the stairs. Like the stairs. The two hour stairs. I told you, I thought the whole time I felt like they were just like walking left, right, left, right, left, right for like two hours. I think you're right. You must be right. Not down a never ending hallway filled with doors. It was right there.

Like she had just said, I'd gone down the hall for what seemed like forever. And then you turn around and it's right behind you. That's literally like some, that's truly out of a horror movie. That's like when you accidentally get into the part of the video game that hasn't been, it's still in beta testing,

and you weren't supposed to be there. Yeah, it's like glitching. Yeah, yeah. Ooh, that gives me the creeps. Okay. Right there. I press the button and the door opens right away. I step on and go back upstairs.

I felt like I had been down there for about half an hour, but it had actually been about two hours. I'm telling you, there's something about walking in place while hallucinating. Yeah, this is not good. Did anyone else go down there and accidentally walk, like see you just standing there like in a trance? Like, were you in a different reality?

And maybe those were the whispers you heard, someone trying to wake you out of it. They were all like talking and you were in a regular hallway but you were seeing it. Oh my God, good point. Oh, forget it. I just begged to differ. I begged to differ.

I felt like I'd been down there for about half an hour but I had actually been about two hours. My supervisor had assumed I just was pulled somewhere else so they sent someone else down to the laundry. I just agreed that yes, I was pulled elsewhere, finished my rounds and left. Well, what else do you say? Like actually no.

Yeah. I don't really know what happened that day, but I feel it's possible. It was a mixture of the back doors and back rooms series. It was possibly another space that also occupied the hospital. It's also completely possible that my anxiety turned me around.

All I know is that seeing that elevator right there, right away when I turned to go back was the most chilling yet calming sensation, probably when I opened. The whispers behind the doors were also incredibly surreal as were the lights, almost too bright. I've always had strange occurrences around me. I sat in a story about black-eyed witches a long time ago.

Still upsets me to this day. So I am no stranger to oddities, but this was one my brain absolutely tried to hide from me. Love you all. I met you both when you came to Long day. So I am no stranger to oddities, but this was one my brain absolutely tried to hide from me. Love you all. I met you both when you came to Long Island. We were, I remember, we were the whole family that came to your show as a family bonding night. Remember we got in the family photo?

Oh my God, it's so fun. Can't wait to see you guys again one day. Wow. Yikes. Well done. Well done. I got shivers again. So yeah, it does seem like there's a theme here of like hiding, you know, backroom staircases.

Maybe the curtain is behind the curtain. You know what I'm saying? Like a backroom. Oh, behind the curtain. Right. Like, yes. Ooh, okay. Oh, or it could be like also mysteries.

Like none of these really have answers. Well, I guess we know. Which you know I hate. You know I hate. I love a mystery I can maybe solve. Now, that's a mystery. Not so for the ages. I'll tell you that.

OK, this is from Caitlin, who uses she her pronouns. Thank you for normalizing pronouns, Caitlin. And the subject. Oh, my goodness is I pooped in a haunted bathroom on my honeymoon. Hey, that's on the bingo card for sure, that you can print out for Etsy, like... It is now. Bingo, honeymoon bingo.

So this says, hello, and that's why we drink family. Looking at you, nice lady at Christine's house on Halloween. Oh, it says, and that's why we drink family crew, pets and phantoms. The phantoms are the nice lady at your house. I was like, who at my house? Not me? I'm not the nice lady. Okay.

My name is Caitlin and I hope you are all doing well and I have a story for you. I was going to write the day it happened, but I was busy on my honeymoon, so I didn't. Okay, girl. Caitlin says, my husband and I had our honeymoon this past April in New Orleans and we had been to New Orleans once before and loved it so much that we decided to return. Despite being such a spooky city, neither of us had any experiences the first time we were there and all of our honeymoon except for this one experience. It was Easter and I had gone to Messina's Runway Cafe for Easter brunch.

Okay. I have never been there. It's a bit out of the way from everything else, but given that I realized Easter is a big deal in New Orleans last minute, it was a place I could find that was taking reservations and wasn't stupid expensive. Now this restaurant is located inside an old Art Deco airport called Lakefront Airport.

Cool. That's badass. Yeah. It has been renovated over the years to keep its Art Deo ways going and is absolutely gorgeous. It even had the phone booths that you see in old movies that I absolutely sat in and these beautiful paintings on the wall of the places planes can go with the special 1920s

flavor of other countries being uncivilized. Oh, yikes. Yeah. Anyway, we had had brunch so we were both in desperate need of the bathroom. So we went our separate ways to the toilet. As soon as I walked into the bathroom, I felt static. I felt this busy hum and I knew this bathroom was absolutely filled with people. I also, I know yuck, which I also desperately needed to use the restroom. So I tried to do the quickest poop of my life because it was uncomfortable in there. It felt like too many people were squished in to distract myself from all the

staticky weirdness. I texted my very skeptical science man husband and asked if his bathroom was haunted to which he responded vaguely, which if blaze said that that's all the confirmation I need that goes to real. And we've got a big story here. I don't know what it is yet. We're going to blow a wide open, yet. We're gonna blow it wide open. We're gonna blow this wide open. So yeah, she's feeling like there's a million people

in the bathroom, even though she's by herself. Mm-mm, and you're pooping. Like, that's not where you'd like that to happen. That is not the moment you want to feel like people are staring at you. Like, peeing is fine. I'll get out of your hair, but like, I'm really needing this privacy for a minute. Ugh. I washed my hands and got out of there as soon as possible back into the airport and just felt empty.

I asked my husband what he meant by vaguely and he said when he walked in, he had seen someone standing in the bathroom and then there was no one there. I like that that's like a very clear indicator and he's like vaguely. She's like, I just felt something was off and I knew it was haunted.

He's like, I saw a ghostly apparition but I'm still not sure. Jury's out. Nobody had walked out. There was just a man that he saw and then nothing. Part of the reason he does the skeptical thing is because the paranormal really freaks him out. So this is Blaze.

That's Blaze. And I could see he was a bit shaken by his experience and wanted to move on, so I let it go. Also, I think it's cool that they happened simultaneously, and that you even had the thought to text the skeptic husband, and he was simultaneously experiencing something. That's really cool. I wonder if he even thought about it being a ghost

until she said anything. I was going to say, I wonder if he would have even told you about it. Yeah, no, he certainly wouldn't have told you. He would not have, right? Absolutely not. We have had more than one paranormal experience while together, and if we don't calmly move on he gets a little Zach Bagan-sy, which is hilarious to watch.

But I end up getting pushed awake by ghosts all night and he sleeps through the majority of it. Ah! Okay, so I guess it's for the best that he keeps a wall up, I suppose. I guess so. I hope you enjoyed the story and that you have a wonderful November. Take care, Caitlin. Wow.

Blaze and I did our backup honeymoon in New Orleans because we were going on a vacation. I was like, I wanna, and it was right after we went on our actual honeymoon. And I was like, well, we're going there for six days. I'm just gonna check the honeymoon box on the hotel so that they give us some, some flowers or something. Yeah. But yeah, super cool place. That would be such a great place for a honeymoon. That's just. That was where I was just supposed to go to a bachelorette party and that was a

right. Talk about a great place for a bachelor party. Too bad. We got to figure something out to make that happen. I know. We'll figure it out. We'll do a Bachelorette bingo and we'll all poop on a toilet. Okay, you go first. Okay. Okay.

You go in the one where the guy disappears and then I'll, yeah, sounds good. No, thank you. I'll meet you afterward. Did you know we're eating and drinking roughly a credit card's worth of plastic a week? That's so gross. It is gross.

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for 15% off. That's blueland.com slash drink to get 15% off. Okay, this is our last story for November 1st. This is from Anna She Her, and it's called Visiting Hours in the Afterlife, and my friend the cowboy. Okay, I'm excited. Well, of course, Christine's gonna read this one. That worked out very well.

It did, it sure did. Howdy Eva, my fellow spooky Geminis and Lemon. My name is Anna, she, her, and I have two stories today that I think y'all will love. Sorry in advance this is long, but I didn't wanna be a that's a story for another day person. Thank you.

Yeah, hate to be one of those. Everybody else who's emailed in today. I'm just gonna... I guess let's crack into it. Here's a little backstory before we dive in. I moved to a ghost town outside of Big Ben National Park, and National Park. I know,, National Park in the summer of 2021 to work and live at a resort out there.

It was insanely remote. The closest McDonald's was 100 miles in one direction. And the closest Walmart was almost 300 miles one way. That's crazy. That, I mean, in modern America, that's really in the booties. You know, I was just thinking that when I was on the plane coming back here, I was like, I wonder where the point is in the world where if you stand there, you are the farthest away

from any other living creature. Because like the water doesn't count because right below, like if you were just plopped in the water, there's going gonna be fish underneath you or something. Where's the place where you could actually just lie down and not worry that a single living thing could hurt you? What's the thing that is the most remote and the farthest away from any other living person? I think you found it.

I would imagine Antarctica. Well, I'm sure there's lots of animals in these places though. Oh, that's true. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I know you mentioned fish, but there's also like bears. Yeah, I was trying to think like, where can I just lie down and go to sleep

and not worry about like anything approaching in the middle of the night? I mean, you'd at least not have to worry about people. So that's nice. That's true. This is certainly an option. Yeah, this is definitely up there on the list. Yeah.

Let's see the actual middle of nowhere. The town and resort have some dark history. The golf pro shop was the old general store and you can still see bullet holes in the stone from the shootouts that used to happen there. Christine's dream. Oh, I know, it's like killing me inside. My grandma on my mom's side passed away

right before Thanksgiving in 2021 at 79 years old. She had been declining in health for a little over eight years. She was living on the other side of the state in Houston, so I wasn't able to properly say goodbye to her. I also have been known to have dreams that are more than just dreams. I dreamt about my boyfriend for years before we ever met. Wow. Excuse me. That's crazy. I know. That's so cool. I predicted how my aunt would die. Can you imagine? Hey, Aunt Cindy, I also picture how you're going to die. Isn't that cool? The boyfriend one came true.

And Cindy, I also picture how you're gonna die. Isn't that cool? The boyfriend one came true. Oh, did Aunt Cindy come true? Well, yeah. I predicted how my aunt would die a week before it happened. Oh, yeah, you're right, okay. And many other instances. Enough backstory, let's get into the real stories.

These both happened on the same day exactly two years ago today, October 14th. I was working night audit for the hotel, which meant working 11pm to 7am in a creaky old wooden hotel all alone with the occasional, usually drunk, guest coming in. We'll talk about that more in just a second though, I'm getting ahead of myself. Okay, I'm sorry. Okay, take your time.

I had just gotten off a particularly long and awful night shift. All I could think about was going to bed. When I finally fell asleep, I awoke in an all-white room that had a pink glow to it. In the room, there were a bunch of tables and chairs. There were people sitting and chatting at all of the tables. I found myself sitting across from a woman who looked familiar, but I couldn't place her. She smiled warmly and said, what, you don't recognize recognize me anymore I guess I look a little different than the last time we saw each other and it clicked I was sitting with my grandma. Oh grandma. Okay, who had just passed. Geez Everybody around me was also visiting with deceased loved ones and the room was full of laughter tears and warmth Oh my god, this is like a waiting room like a meeting room

Yeah, this is so cool. That's pretty badass. She asked me about all that had happened in my life since she left. I filled her in on everything. Why I moved so far away, how I wanted to go to pastry school, the cat I adopted from a thrift store, my long distance boyfriend, and so much more. She told me how proud she was of me for going out and following my passions and doing what makes me happiest. She only asked me one more question. This boy you're dating, he's special, isn't he? I agreed with her and she told me, I visited him and I really like him. Keep him close. I love you and I'll visit you again soon. She hugged me tight and I woke up. I still felt her arms around me when I woke up and immediately started sobbing. When I finally collected myself, I was hit with a huge realization.

It was her 80th birthday that day. Oh, so it's like you got to have a little birthday party with her. I just got full body chills. Oh, my God. Wow. You know, that does kind of go against the idea of like that they're always watching. Like that definitely makes it seem like time is more linear and they've got other things to do than pay attention. Yeah, yeah, I agree.

I agree. Later that night, I had to go back in for another overnight shift. It was my first shift alone after my training period. It was an easy night for the most part. A few of my friends came up to the desk to keep me company during my downtime. We were all joking and laughing in the lobby

when something caught my eye. I saw a man peeking around the wall to my left My tallest friend was about six foot four and the entity was about a foot taller than him. No, I Don't like how these ghosts get taller when they die. It really makes why are you getting stretchy like fucking? Yeah, shut up shrink do that get back It was a man in an old-timey suit a cowboy hat and no eyes So he can't even see how fucking terrifying he is. Great.

Okay. Great. My friends watched me see the ghost, but didn't see it themselves, even though he was right next to them. Later on that night, I was actually doing my job, batching all of the receipts from the restaurant. Each server had their own stack of receipts that would get closed out each night. I would always line them up from first breakfast server to the final bartender for the day.

I remember specifically the server's names went Jeff, Linus, Mackenzie, Hannah, Zach, and Tony. When I finished printing the paperwork, I went to go grab the receipts. Hannah's stack was missing. It wasn't just an empty space though. All of the receipt stacks moved over to close the hole where hers should have been. Oh my god, I feel like this is an omen for Hannah. Poor Hannah. It's like she's out of the picture now. Are you OK, girl? Oh my Lord.

I searched all over the front desk, the copy room, the back storage room, the bin where everyone would drop their receipts, even broke into my manager's office in case they had slipped under the door somehow. I could not find them anywhere. So I just printed out the slip we used when people forgot to bring their receipts in. That's when I heard a flutter of receipt paper falling down behind me. Hannah's receipts were placed directly on top of the bin that I had just frantically searched. Oh my God. There is no way I would have missed them if they were there when I was searching for them. I spent the rest of the night jumping at every

noise and counting. And by the way, it was moved also. Like it was on the counter. It was missing. Missing, then was moved, wasn't there. If I were Hannah, I'd fucking quit. I'd be like- I was like, this is bad news. I was like, why me? Why'd he pick me?

You couldn't pick Linus, please? Come on, Linus is just asking for it with the name like Linus, haunt him. Okay, I searched all over the front door. I spent the rest of the night jumping at every noise and counting down the minutes until somebody else would be at the desk with me. When my manager came in that morning,

I had to tell her all about my encounter, obviously. She was shocked, but not because I had seen a ghost. She had seen the same seven to eight foot tall man walking down the stairs a few nights earlier. Old timey suit cowboy hat, no eyes. Oh my God. How is this something we are not all talking about with each other? I can't believe it.

I can't believe it. How is that like of all the things like people fucking email each other at a job, that's not a memo that is worthy. This isn't like the number one breaking news in this tiny ass town where nothing else is happening. Which I guess, can you imagine sending like an email out to corporate going, hey, quick little, just a memo for everyone. I did see someone with no eyes.

He was lurking. And they're like, well, you're 300 miles from the nearest Walmart. So, sorry, fend for yourself. I had a few less notable encounters with my cowboy ghost, including footsteps, doors slamming, and disembodied haze here and there. I ended up leaving about two months

after my main encounter, not because of the ghost, but because I moved across the state to live with my boyfriend. Well, grandma approved, right? So. Yeah. Okay, I'll take that. Fast forward to 2024. I'm still living in Houston with my boyfriend

and our three cats, Yodel, Violet, and Tofu. My manager from the resort is now my future mother-in-law. Are you serious right now? Get out. I graduate from pastry school in April and I still see my grandma from time to time in my dreams. And Hannah was never seen again. Yeah, Hannah, we're not even gonna go there.

Wow. Wow. That's weird. That is wild. Well, hey, grandma proves just like you said, Christine. Yeah, visiting hours in the afterlife. That's what she got it. I love that, visiting hours. That's so interesting.

My mom also sees her dad still in dreams, but she only sees him in really stressful times when she really, really needs him. Yeah. And so I don't know if she like conjures him, but he also strikes me as a guy who would go, Oh, like what? You're pulling me away from like fun things. Well, you know snooker up here.

I know. You know, snooker is. But so I wonder, I wonder if there really is a waiting room or like, why? Why did you see a waiting room versus her coming to you? Or like, I know, I wonder if certain people have access to that kind of room? I wonder if it's like different per person, like how you visualize it. Yeah.

Like they probably don't have the same material. Like it probably maybe just visualized it as a waiting room almost like, oh, this'll be. Also like to say like, oh, I look different since I was your grandma. So it's like implies like I'm not your grandma anymore. I'm a new soul or like I've graduated from that. I think she just said that I look different than, well, no, I think it's probably like, maybe she was younger or something. I mean, I don't

know. But she said she recognized her voice immediately. So I'm like, maybe she just looked younger. Like, you know how they say people like have a new, like they go back a few decades. I don't know. Yeah, I always wonder about that. I always wonder like, so how does the age get picked? Is it like when you were happiest? I've heard that it's when you're most like healthy, fulfilled, like you're at your peak physical.

That's what I've heard. Because I feel like it would also it could also be like whenever the most significant year for you was or something. Yeah, I don't know. I guess we'll find out when we get there. Hopefully. See you in the visiting room, Christine. You go first. I forgot to make an appointment. Sorry. Okay. Well, that was, was that our last one? I think that was it. Good job.

Thank you everyone for sending in your stories. And again, if you would like to send in your own stories, you can do that at and that's how I drink.com. And thank you for normalizing pronouns. Thank you for getting all the way to November 1st with us and telling us your spooky stuff. I look forward to our December 1 that is our very last listeners episode of 2024. Jesus. Yeah. Thank you also for voting.

As we go on. Oh yeah. Thank you for voting. Thank you for submitting your stories. If you wanna submit another story, please send it to and that's where we drink at gmail.com and Eva, you know, every month goes through and picks a few and we love to hear from you. We remember all the good times.

I guess we'll do the full song in December, and you can sing it since I sing it wrong. I already sang it on episode 400. I know it was the last time you're ever gonna sing that song. It's interesting. Well, now you know. I'm gonna make you do it for the next one. You have a whole month to prepare.

Warm up your instrument. I don't need to prepare. I've got it nailed. I've got it down. Perfect. Okay, I'll see you then. And? That's.

Why? We. Drink.