Lighthouse Horror Podcast - I work in a Museum. We collect DEAD MONSTERS | Scary Stories

Episode Date: August 14, 2024

We have proof monsters exist...  Scary Story exclusively written for the channel by Ryan Peacock More of the author’s stories at r/HeadOfSpectre  Cover Art from Ninerio More of the artist’s works at ninerioarts          Original YouTube link: I work in a Museum. We collect DEAD MONSTERS   Merch: lighthousehorror.shop For more stories like this one, check out my YouTube channel: Lighthouse Horror | YouTube  Patreon: Lighthouse Horror | Patreon Music: Lucas King - YouTube Myuu - YouTube  Incompetech Darren Curtis Music - YouTube  Thank you for listening to this scary story! If you enjoyed this new creepypasta story, please check out some of my other horror stories. We'll be uploading new episodes every week, featuring ghost stories, haunted encounters, mysteries, true stories, creepypasta, and anything supernatural and paranormal. Don't miss out on the thrill and suspense that await you in each episode!

Where do dead monsters go? Well, in Baltimore, they end up at the museum. I just started as the new assistant at the Baltimore Earth Science Museum today. I get to work with Dr. Jackson, who is known as the best cryptozoologist in the world. And unlike the average Cryptodhunter, who goes out into the woods looking for monsters, we have proof. But to get this job, I needed to be able to be. be personally selected by Dr. Mortimer Jackson himself. And he doesn't just pick anybody.

No. If you want to get hired by Dr. Jackson, you need to have some special experience in his special field. I enrolled in the university he teaches at and transferred classes just to get him as my professor. I turned in paper citing articles that should have been buried. I named-dropped experts that had worked on his controversial side projects. And when we did finally have a chance to talk in private, I showed him the evidence that I'd been hiding the past 15 years. The moment he watched the video footage I gave him, I could see in his eyes that he knew it was the real deal.

He saw that I knew just as well as he did what was out there, and that I was just as committed as he was to see. studying it. He didn't say much at the time, but a week later, he offered me the job. I said yes the moment he asked. Dr. Jackson greeted me when I arrived at the museum. He led me to the back, past all the exhibits on display. You've got initiative, Nick. I like that. Reminds me of myself when I was younger. He said, Dr. Jackson's official title is Professor of Byrd biology at the University of Baltimore. In that regard, he's fairly respected.

He mainly studies zoology. Nowadays, he mostly just teaches and works at the museum. To be honest, sir, I just want to understand what's out there. I've always tried to, I said. And I had the scars to prove it. You would not believe how many cryptids get spotted on the other side of barbed fences. So do I. And please, just Morty is fine, he said.

Giving a warm smile as we made our way to an elevator, he scanned a key card before it opened. So, you're a smart young man. Exactly how much do you know about our side project down here? His tone shifted to something more serious. Not much, I admitted. I know you've got an interest in cryptids, and I have heard some rumors.

Rumors? Dr. Jackson asked. Heading a button in the elevator is it took us down into the basement. About, uh, proof, I said. I noticed a slight twinkle in his eye. Wait, that can't be true, can it? You don't actually have them?

I couldn't believe it. Specimens? He asked. Why, yes, we do. Several. My heart skipped a beat as the elevator doors opened. Would you like to see one? He asked.

And I could not have said yes fast enough. The museum basement looked pretty normal at first. Clean linoleum halls, fluorescent lights, and beige walls. It looked like any other office space. although it was quieter down there than it was anywhere else in the museum. I wondered if Dr. Jackson and I were the only two down here. You know, when I first started working for the museum, I never dreamed that I'd actually be able to study these creatures, I heard him say.

After the things I've seen, I've always kept an open mind, but I also maintained a healthy dose of optimism too. Then, about ten years after we came across our first body, well, everything changed. Where did you get it? I asked. A local coroner, funnily enough. He began. It had been found during a search and rescue.

Some hiker got lost in the woods. While they were looking for him, They found this. They thought it was human at first, but at a closer look, there was just so much about it that, well, wasn't. So they called us to help figure out exactly what it was. He led me through a door and into a large room that kind of looked like a morgue. He put on a pair of gloves and went over to the large set of specimen cabinet.

that dominated the far wall, the sheer number of them. It made me pause. I began to wonder just how many of these creatures they'd found. Dr. Jackson unlocked the cabinets before carefully opening one of the drawers. He picked a larger one and slid it out slowly, almost reverently. It revealed several pieces of white bone arranged to show the skeleton of something that looked human. And yet it also clearly wasn't. For one thing, it was too big to be human. The skull was the wrong shape, looking more like a cross between a gorilla and a cat. I stared at it in quiet disbelief as I tried to process this. All my life, the only proof I had to had of these things existing was the video footage I'd shown Dr. Jackson.

The grainy cell phone footage I'd shot on the night of the accident. When my sister died and now here in front of me was concrete proof, real bones, a real skeleton. All I could do was stare. Briefly, I wondered what he'd killed a real skeleton. a monster like this." Dr. Jackson looked over at me and cracked a knowing grin. Incredible, isn't it? He asked. Once we started examining it, it became very clear that this specimen didn't belong to any

species we had on record. After ruling out every other possibility of what it could be, we were forced to accept that what we had here. had here were the remains of an entirely new creature. And you've had this for ten years, I said. You've had a body for ten years, and you've never published it. Bodies, Dr. Jackson corrected. By my count, we've identified roughly fifteen different species.

Some closer to human than others. Some close enough where the average person might not be able to know they're talking to something that isn't human. That's actually part of why we've been reluctant to officially publish anything. The humanoid passing ones seem more dangerous. They evolved to look like us, after all. And if our hypothesis is right, they did so to feed on us. He moved to a different drawer, and after a moment pulled it open. This one contained a collection of skulls, most of which looked human, except for the teeth.

Their teeth were too long, too sharp. Exposing these creatures could be very dangerous. dangerous for a number of reasons. Dr. Jackson said. At best, we'd turn ourselves into a laughing stock, even with hard evidence. The scientific community would take time to accept our findings without an in-depth investigation, and while they're doing that, we'd be painting a target on our backs. I doubt these creatures would appreciate being exposed to the public. Then of course, there's the question of what would happen to these creatures if we did. Judging by how rare these bodies are, it's likely there's not a lot of them out there, and their survival is heavily reliant on the fact

that nobody knows they exist. Change that. Well, might put them at risk. People are admittedly a little bit stupid. Tell everyone that monsters exist, and a lot of them will be all too happy to start up witch hunts. I nodded with understanding. Yes, these creatures were dangerous, but it'd be a shame if they were all hunted to extinction before we really got to even know them. Ah, that would be such a waste. Dr. Jackson continued to stare down at the skulls a bit more before closing the drawer. Excuse me, I'm starting to ramble, he said. My point is, there's too much that could go wrong. So while back, the rest of the team and I thought it'd be better to keep our research quiet for now.

study them in private, and learn all we can before deciding what to do. Have you ever encountered one that's still alive? I asked. Oh, not yet, I'm afraid. But I'd always hoped that one day we'd change that. He closed the drawer with the skeleton of the first specimen on it and lock the cabinet again. Well, come along now. I should show you where you'll be working." I nodded, and I followed him. The rest of my day, it was much less exciting. I met one of the other members of our small team.

Her name was Heidi. She was another assistant working under one of Dr. Jackson's colleagues. I'll mostly be working with her, since Dr. Jackson and the others have very busy schedules. She seemed nice enough. Actually, she reminded me a little bit of Marcia. Maybe it was something about the way she wore her blonde hair or the oversized, cozy-looking sweater she was wearing. My sister once owned a similar sweater.

She seemed no nonsense. She didn't really bother with small talk. Every time we spoke, it was pretty straight to business. I think the longest exchange we had was a little bit of the same. when she walked me through the emergency security measures. It's easy. In the event of an emergency, you can initiate a lockdown from your laptop. Really, all it does is shut off the elevator, lock the fire exit, and call the police, she explained. Have there been a lot of emergencies? I asked.

Nope, but Dr. Jackson insisted we have something just in case anything were to happen. He pulled some strings to get this all set up. He's even got a couple of officers he knows on standby. But I've been here for over a year now, and nothing's ever happened, she said with a shrug. Well, that was reassuring. When Dr. Jackson needed to leave for classes, I was left with Heidi. She was the one who taught me the finer details of our job. Stuff like how to assess any evidence we were left.

receive, how to categorize it, and how to file reports for Dr. Jackson on items of interest. Now I'll admit, these things were not as fun as staring at the bones of an actual monster. But it did feel good to be reviewing other evidence for the existence of these creatures. It felt, well, it felt validating. For 15 years, I'd been trying to understand what What happened that night? I poured over the evidence, comparing them to my own research notes. And slowly, I started putting the pieces together. I still have nightmares about the accident. I was only 12 at the time. My family was taking a short vacation at a cabin up north. I'd just got my first cell phone around that time, and I'd spent most of the trip playing with it. I'd take

photos and videos just because I could. I've still got most of them, actually. That's Sunday. We were supposed to spend the day driving back home, but the car battery died. Dad needed to have it towed to a garage to get it changed. So by the time we finally hit the road again, it was almost dark. We were still deep in the middle of nowhere when night fell. The world outside of our windows was completely black. You couldn't even see the trees anymore. I remember mom said we could stop off at a motel. She thought it was too dangerous to be driving through the back roads after dark. But dad? Well, he was stubborn. He said everything would be fine. And then we hit that deer. I'd been on my phone at the time. I'd been filming her when the deer ran across the road.

You can't see it on the footage, but you can hear my mom screaming about it before everything goes blurry. The video doesn't really show what happened next, but I remember enough about it to fill in the blanks. Dad swerved to avoid the deer, but he was going too fast, and we ended up hitting it with the side of a car before skidding off the road entirely. The car rolled as it went down an incline. and then everything was silent. In the video, you can hear my dad moving first, asking if everyone's okay. Then you can hear him fighting to get out of the car before going to get me and Marcia. In the footage, I can see myself picking up my phone again about ten minutes after the accident.

Dad was helping me out of the car by then. It's hard to see anything clearly in the video. the forest around us. It's way too dark. The only time anything is visible is when the camera focuses on the patch of trees lit up by the headlights.

You can still hear everything, though. You can hear my family trying to get their bearings after the accident. You can hear my mother calling for help on her phone. And you can hear the movement in the trees as something gets closer.

At some point, I realized my camera was salon. So I started to film the wreckage. Don't ask me why I did that. I don't really remember why. But in the footage, you can see Marcia and the rest of my family standing in the headlines. You can hear my mom on the phone. And you can hear the thud as the thing in the dark moved closer. Marcia sees it first.

In the video, you can see the look on her face when she realized that something followed us down there. It's a look of true, genuine horror. She starts screaming and stumbles back. And then my mom starts screaming. And then my dad. I remember seeing it too. It was just a shadow in the dark, massively tall yet skinny, humanoid, yet inhuman. It was hard to get a feel for the shape of it.

But I could see its eyes shining in the darkness. I remember turning the camera to look at it, and you can just barely see those eyes in the grainy footage. Two burning torches in the darkest. the dark. I remember the way that thing hissed before sprinting towards us. And as soon as it did, panic took over completely. Dad was closest to mom. I remember he grabbed her, pulling her away. You can hear him in the video screaming for me and Marsha too, yelling our names, telling us to get away. I remember scrambling back into the shadows. I remember Marcia running off.

You could see her turning to run in the footage taking off into the trees, and you can see the creature following her. For just a few seconds, you can see it. Some pale, vaguely humanoid thing with long, spindly limbs running into the light, then taking off into the woods after her. For just a few frames, the camera wasn't shaking, and you can see it clearly. And that's really the last thing you can see. The camera goes dark, and all you can hear is the second of me running, and the sound of

Marcia screaming. After a few minutes of darkness, the camera runs out of storage. and the recording ends. But in my memories, I can still hear her screaming. She screamed for our mom and our dad, and then there was silence. The police would find her body

about 20 feet from the scene of the accident. They concluded that her injuries were consistent with a bear attack. Their theory was that a bear had come to invent. investigate the accident and went after Marsha. In time, my parents accepted that too. I can't help but resent them for that. We all saw it.

We all know it was a monster that took my sister. I forced them to look at the footage over and over again to confirm it. I made them keep looking at those few frames until they threatened to set my phone. on fire. And that was when I had to find answers on my own. I didn't know what it was, but I needed to know. I needed to understand. I knew I should hate it, but hating it seemed like a waste of energy. Learning about it, though, understanding it. I don't know, that seemed like a better use of my time. If I could understand this thing, I might be able to make her death mean something. My sister was never coming back, but that thing was still out there.

And I have to admit, the work has been fulfilling. For the next few days, I began moving all my research from my dorm to the museum. I brought in boxes filled with books, maps, and printouts. I study as many of the specimens as I can in between sorting through samples set in by the public. Most of the evidence we get is bogus. It's either blatant hoaxes or misidentified animals. Usually animals with severe mange or some other illness. Other times, people submit blurry or distant photos of something.

There's not enough there to really say, what it is, but buried beneath all the noise are a few genuine photographs and videos. I've never seen a few creatures similar to the one I saw the night that she died. After so many years, I don't know, I finally feel like I'm exactly where I belong. And there's something else, too. Heidi tells me we're scheduled to get a new specimen soon. A couple of hunters shot it that afternoon

and contacted one of Dr. Jackson's colleagues, Dr. Vern. I've seen the photos they've sent us. Now, it's hard to say with any certainty, but what these hunters found... It looked really close to the creature I saw on the night that she died. This time... We're not getting a pile of bones.

We are getting something a lot fresher. That is one autopsy I would have loved to be a part of. The corpse arrived a few days later. Seeing it in person was surreal. The photographs, videos, and bones, they don't tell you how wrong these creatures are. And on top of that, the disturbing way they used to be human.

Keyword, used to be. Whether or not it still counts as human now, I really can't say. It still looks human for the most part. But there's so much off about it. What's left? It's something that you can't really consider as a person anymore.

The skin, well, it was too pale for a start. It was too tight in some places and too saggy in others. The limbs were skinny, to the point where they seemed elongated. But even with how skinny they looked, its arms were still covered in dense muscle. Its hands looked more like claws. The fingertips looked like they were chewed on until the exposed bone formed sharp talons. And then, and then, you were, you know, And of course, there was the face. It looked like a human face, but only just enough to be recognizable. The skull underneath, it was definitely human, but the eyes were sunken and beady.

The lips and cheeks were torn and scarred, as if this creature had mutilated its own mouth in order to better eat, as if all that mattered to it was to shovel meat into its jaws. Looking at its mouth, I imagined meat was its primary diet. It still had human teeth, but I could see the bits of rotten flesh stuck between them. The sight of it made my stomach turn. The memory of my sister's screams flashed through my mind, and I forced myself not to think about it. I looked away from the corpse before checking the notes that had come with it.

Heidi had left them on the table beside the body for me to review. It had been shot by a pair of local hunters. Brothers named Adam and Joey Winslow, they included a statement on how they'd found it. They had gone out on a hunting trip one morning. Joey had spotted a buck and taken his shot. They managed to hit the deer, but not enough to kill it. It had ran off, and the brothers followed.

They figured the buck wouldn't make it far, but this thing got to it first. It was just hunched over the animal, teeth digging into its throat. The creature was trying to drag the deer away. It hissed as it saw the hunters and was ready to attack. The Winslow's opened fire before it could move. They said it kept twitching, even after they shot three more rounds in it. So they didn't stop until they put a few more in its head. Even then, the brothers swore that the damn thing might still be alive.

I couldn't imagine how this thing could have so much. been breathing. I looked down at the body, examining the bullet holes. And for a moment, I thought I saw its chest move. But no, no, after all the damage had taken, it had to be dead. Nothing on God's green earth should have been able to walk away from three rifle rounds to the skull. I figured I'd get my answer, when and Dr. Jackson and Dr. Vern got around to examining the specimen themselves. Heidi'd mention they'd be coming by that evening to conduct an autopsy. I would have liked to sit in on that.

But I am still a student at the university, after all. I had homework to worry about. But with any luck, I'll be able to learn a little more about what Dr. Jackson and Vern would find tomorrow. They usually record their autopsies. I can't remember the last time I felt this excited to go to work. I wonder if I could get a video copy from myself. The next morning, I came into the museum to find that the specimen was no longer in the exam room we had left it in. Dr. Jackson must have moved it after the autopsy.

There was some blood on the exam table that the corpse had been on, as well as some blood. blood on the floor. They must have forgotten to clean it up. Heidi was already in, typing away at her laptop. I went straight to collect any notes that Dr. Jackson and Vern had left about the autopsy. But I couldn't find anything in the room, so I asked Heidi if they'd already been filed away. If there's no hard copy in the room with the specimen, they might have emailed them to you, she said. I went over to my laptop to check my inbox,

but there was nothing there. Huh, nope, nothing there. You happen to know what room they moved the specimen to? I'll check there, I said. But the moment I said that, she froze. I could see the gears and her head turning. What do you mean they moved the specimen?

She repeated. Uh, well, it wasn't. wasn't in the room, I said. She jumped out of her seat then and bolted down the hall to the exam room. She threw open the door and stared quietly at the pool of blood on the metal table. I could see the color slowly drained from her face. Heidi, they had to have moved it. That thing was dead.

I mean, you saw it. It was dead. She didn't respond. She just stood in silence. And then she took off to one of the other exam rooms, pushing open the door to peek inside before quickly moving on. She went through all six of them. All of them were empty.

The specimen was gone. But that thing was dead, I thought. That thing had taken three bullets. to the head. It was supposed to be Ted. It looked dead. Didn't make any sense for this thing to have gotten up and just walked away. Nothing should be able to do that. The moment she saw that the other rooms were empty, Heidi took off towards the office again. She got her phone out and ran. I followed her. I locked the door behind us and she dialed Dr. Jackson's number. She paced. uneasily as she waited for him to pick up.

A moment later, the muted ringing of his phone echoed through the halls. We stood silently. And then slowly, her eyes shifted upwards towards the ceiling as we realized where the ringing was coming from. She stared at the ceiling tiles. Her breathing growing more erratic as she did. Shut down the elevator, she said. Shut down the elevator right now. I scrambled from my computer, heart racing as I opened up the security program.

I clicked on it, and a notification flashed up on my computer screen, telling me that the elevator had just been shut down and the fire exit was now locked. I looked over at Heidi, and I saw her running over to a cabinet on the far side of the rum. She opened it with trembling hands, and she took out a small metal box. What is that? I asked. She never answered me, but I got my answer all the same when I saw the revolver nestled inside. And I understood then why it was there. Dr. Jackson was a lot of more paranoid than he let on. Heidi's hands trembled. I had to help her load the gun. She just stared at me, wide-eyed and anxious as I did so. Once I'd managed to load it, I looked up

towards the ceiling. Dr. Jackson's phone was still ringing. Heidi shifted uneasily. Do you think it's up there? She asked. I didn't know. I hesitated for a few moments. I considered whether or not to fire a warning shot, just to see if anything happened. I mean, if something was up there, maybe a warning shot might scared off. Or it might reveal itself. It also might attack, then, I thought. I closed my eyes for a moment.

The memory of Marsha went through my mind. And for just a single, horrible moment, I imagined Heidi screaming the way Marcia had. In a lot of ways, she was still a stranger to me. But I wasn't going to let her die that way. I've always been willing to risk everything for my research. But I don't gamble with other people's lives. No, I wasn't going to let her die.

I wasn't going to let either of us die. I'd come too far. I took a deep breath, and I fired a warning shot. Heidi jumped. She stared up at the ceiling as the phone went quiet. For a moment, everything was still. There was no sound, no movement, no indication that the creature was even up there. I stared up at the ceiling.

Before grabbing a nearby chair and pulling it under one of the ceiling tiles, What are you doing? she asked. I'm taking a look, I said. The longer I thought about it, the harder I found it to believe that this thing was just sitting pretty on top of the ceiling tiles. Logically, it should have reacted to the shot. I had to see for myself. I climbed up the chair and I carefully lifted one of the ceiling tiles. Heidi stood beneath me, watching as I peeked into the crawl space.

In the dim light, I could see a shape. I stared at it, but it didn't move. I reached into my pocket from my feet. phone, turned down the flashlight, and then I shone it inside. And in the light, I saw the twisted remains of Dr. Mortimer Jackson, staring at me with lifeless eyes. Beside him was the body of who I can only assume was Dr. Vern. That creature, it hid the bodies. Despite my horror, despite my horror, I couldn't help but be impressed by its intelligence. I pulled back away from the tiles, and I stumbled off the chair.

I think the look on my face told Heidi everything she needed to know. She glanced up at the ceiling in horror. Before deciding, it was better off she didn't see it. Did you see it? She asked. No, no. If it's up there. It's nowhere near us now.

We sat in silence for a few moments, listening for any sign that the creature was nearby. But we didn't hear anything. Not until Heidi's phone rang. The police had finally arrived. Heidi and I remained in the office while they conducted their search. Although, in the end, they found nothing. Nothing but the bodies.

There were the ones that had been stuffed into the space above the ceiling tiles. And the two joggers who'd been killed on a trail near the museum. The two of us gave our statements to the officers. Afterwards, she chose to stay at a friend's house. I don't know if she's coming back tomorrow. Me? I went home to get the things I would need. You see, I've been following police reports. There's a lot more reported animal attacks around here that just don't add up.

Torn up hikers, strange animal prints, creatures that are too human to be bears. Since we lost our only live specimen, it's only right I bring back another one. So I'm putting the word out, if you see anything weird around these woods, you know where to find. me.