Morbid - The Crescent Hotel

Episode Date: July 14, 2025

Get ready to check in with us to the Crescent Hotel! Ash brings us to Eureka Springs, Arkansas where the opulent palatial property serves as a resort and spa destination for guests who don't mind the posibility of bumping into its spectral inhabitants! Ash dives into the history of this incredible place, and gives accounts of people's experiences with people from beyond the veil! Want to visit https://crescent-hotel.com/ to book your experience NOW!Also, don't forget to listen to the new podcast Papi Killed Mommy, which premiers on July 9th at 8 PM. be sure to follow the upcoming podcast by visiting https://open.spotify.com/show/4oAGV2etlX6XV1EuZfGI6T?si=2143aafa3b9c4294  Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash KelleyListener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra LallyListener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey, weirdos. I'm Elena. I'm Ash. And this is morbid. You all to know that I just sat back in my chair so carefully after hitting record so that it wouldn't go all up in your ears. You're going to have a squeak, squeak, squeak. But yeah, we're here. It's a rainy day. Gloomy. It's gloomy. It's spooky. It's foggy. It's beautiful. We are halfway through the week. Happy Jump day. I don't know. All of that good stuff. Halloween is right around the corner. Why does Halloween have to be on a Monday? Are we all in agreeance that Halloween should just be on the last Saturday of the year? Well, here's the thing. I think that Halloween should be on the day that it is, but I think trick-or-treating should be on the last Saturday.

That's what I mean. Yeah. But like the actual Halloween, I'm okay with keeping it there because it just extends it. Yeah, I'll watch like a scary movie and be at home. But you're right. The trick-or-treating, it needs to be on a Saturday. Yeah, because it's like, it stinks. If you have like little kids and they want to go out, you can't go out for too long. Exactly. You got to go to school the next day. It stinks. You got to go to school the next day.

It stinks to the high heavens is what it does. I feel like I'm going to be the parent that's like, let's just stay out trick or treating and like you can miss a day of school. Yeah. Or you just, you know, going late. You warn them ahead of time. You say you're going to be tired tomorrow. Yeah.

Just beware. Buy or beware, you know. But I'm excited. And it always kind of bums me out, though, because spooky season. feels like it goes too fast. This year it went by so fast. I feel like the last couple of years, it's just faster and faster.

Yeah. I don't need it. We've gotten busier and busier progressively, so I think it probably correlates with that. Yeah, maybe that's it. But I'm like, I'm always so sad to see it go. I do love Thanksgiving, though, and I love moving into the holiday season,

especially in New England. You take Thanksgiving to a motherfucking degree. I take Thanksgiving very seriously. You take Thanksgiving. to a space level. That's right. And I love it. I'm nervous about Thanksgiving this year, though, because I'm like, I'm not eating meat this year.

Oh. You make. I didn't think about that. Well, don't worry about me. I'll just eat what I can. Ooh. No, honestly, I can eat everything except for the turkey. Yeah, actually, a lot of your stuff I can still eat.

So that's good. I don't make anything else meat. You know what? I don't even really care about turkey. Your turkey is always absolutely delicious, like, but I. Really, but I don't really care. I care. She's a vegetarian. Actually, no, she's a pescatarian. Yeah, exactly. It's even more pretentious somehow.

No, but your turkeys is so, so yummy. So I will miss your turkey, but I don't tend to care about turkey in general. So you'll be fine. Yeah, I'm going to eat so much of that fucking pumpkin. Elena makes his pumpkin and sage pasta. Oh, yeah. That's a really good. I should post that recipe because I think I found it on Pinterest. I'm pretty sure. Yeah. Like a billion years ago and it's been a hit ever since. So catch my plate on Thanksgiving being half of that pasta. And then I also want to just eat those fucking cranberry bites that I made the other day. I found them on TikTok. They're like brie, cranberry, rosemary, and roasted walnut bites.

Oh, delicious. Or pecans, excuse me. Delish. But we're not here to talk about Thanksgiving because Halloween hasn't even happened yet. Who the fuck do we think we are? Who the fuck do we think we are? We think we're a couple of gals who are about to give you an. episode that is brought to you by you, for you from you, and all about you, baby, it's listener

tales. You're right. And you know what? I've just realized by the time this comes out, Halloween will have happened. So it's on to Thanksgiving, everybody. Not for Wondery Plus subscribers. Yeah, only for everybody else. So happy Thanksgiving, everybody else. We're on the way. Wait, no, no. I was like, wait, no, no. Thanksgiving will have happened. You're like, no, no, it will just be on to Thanksgiving at that point. All right, so this is listener tales. We decided to make it kind of a Ouija board theme a bit. But the first one, I don't think, has anything to do with the Ouija board.

I just thought this was a really great story and very well told. And there's cats. There you go. So it really works out for everybody here. So this story is from Joey, who said we can use their name. Yeah, Joey. And it is named Living Alone in all caps in a building. in a building named the Gothic, cool and normal.

Both of those things. I love all of that. I want to live at a building called the Gothic. All right, let's go. Hey there, my name is Joey. And yes, you can use my name. I live in Akron, Ohio and have been listening to your podcast since a co-worker of mine, shout out Sarah, told me about your show.

Hey, Sarah. It's been instrumental into getting me through my soul-crushing hours at my factory job. Oof. So let's get into my tale. The year was 2020. And honestly, that's all I'm. I really need to say to end this story. Am I right? Haunted, spooky, all of the above. 2020. I was living with some friends in a house with my cat, Fay. Oh, her name is pronounced like

Faye. Is her name Faye Resnick? I love that name Faye. I was working as a server and sometimes bartender at a swanky jazz club downtown before the world had to take a pause to get herself together. And then the manny, and then the panty monie. Panny money. I can't speak. Pan Amity money. There we go. And then the panty money came in and I was living my best socially distant life. I went on an epic road trip to Colorado with my bestie in June and got lost in nature. I never got the Rona and we were careful. I knocked on wood for you. There you go.

There are stories I could tell about that road trip, specifically about the horrifying wrong-turned gas station we had to stop at in Kansas, that if I hadn't been there, I'm pretty sure my friend Leo would be on a milk carton somewhere. Maybe another story if you're interested. We are always. interested. Always. Please send that in. After I came back from that trip, things seemed off with my one roommate, and not even a month later, I was forced to find a new place to live with barely any warning. Thanks, Guy. Cool and fucking normal. If you've been keeping up with the story, it was 20 fucking 20. How was I supposed to find a place to live in that hellscape of a time that was? Yeah, that sucks.

I was freaking out. I didn't know what to do. Thankfully, the owner of the jazz club I worked at also owned several other places in the city. And I was able to find a place relatively quickly. I wasn't picky at this point. I just needed somewhere that me and my home girl, Fay, could go without having to go back to my parents' house. That was a non-starter. I had to figure things out. The place I would end up living was named the Gothic. Obsessed. That is amazing. And they give us a nice little link to a tour. It says according to, and then a link. The Gothic building was constructed in 1902. Architect Frank O'Weary designed the four-story brick building. Wary was also responsible for preparing the drawings that would later become the Akron Academy of Music.

Wary also helped rebuild Chicago after the Great Fire of 1871. The property that the Gothic building is currently standing on was purchased in 1902 by Jenny A. Dobson and Grace B. McIntosh for $6,000. Whoa. The contract for the land stipulated that architecturally the building had to be a brick building with a front, harmonious and in substantial conformity with the Mill Street facing side of the Colonial Theater. The contract also stated that the building shall be finished by October 1st, 1902. I just looked and it's a beautiful building. It is.

Now, I can't find any information about the building having any specific hauntings, but it's been the home of several businesses, musicians, law offices, and restaurants. The floor level currently has a great Mexican restaurant with awesome margs and tacos. Ooh, what more could you want? But before that one was there, there was an empty shell of an old restaurant. That's what was there when I lived there. So an empty shell of a restaurant. Awesome.

In fact, other than the lawyer's office that was there, I was the only person who lived in the entire building. Let that sink in. Oh, my God. Once the lawyers left, I was the only one in the cavernous over century old building. My apartment was also on the top floor. and if I were to go out to the railing and look down, I could barely see the bottom. I've added a picture for reference. So spooky.

It is very spooky. Weirdly, I felt pretty okay with the setup. It was a secure building as I needed to use a key code to even enter the building. That's good. I felt so safe I didn't even lock my door. That's not good. And I would blast music and sing as loudly and gay as possible without any fear of anyone hearing me other than my cat, who didn't give a single fuck and was happy to be out of the house I was living in with the big dog.

she hated. Aww. And then I started hearing the footsteps at night. And the door slams. Cool and normal. My friend had told me when she worked at the now abandoned restaurant, they would experience phenomena that no one could explain. Doors would slam.

Food would be neat on the counter one moment and all over the floor the next. Oh, that's just rude. It was spooky, but they were all collectively accepted it as part of working in an oldest shit building. The restaurant eventually closed and became dormant. This is a little bit of a tangent. But have you ever wondered what spirits do when there's no one around to haunt? Do they go into a state of suspension where time is meaningless until the next spark of life appears?

And then they can go back to business? Well, that's what the thought I had when I first heard the spooky ass sounds at night while I was curled up in bed with Faye. I've always been somewhat sensitive to the paranormal. I have more stories about these two, including one that involves a ghost named Greg, who I conjured making a makeshift Ouija board. See, we connected it all. let's just say a ghost also can we go back for a second a ghost named gregg i love it just gregg i'm obsessed i don't know when i was little i used to pretend to be a ghost named glen and scare the shit out of my little sister to the point where i like actually got in trouble for it

a ghost named glen so all of a sudden i would just like do this like kind of like act like she's doing the wavy my body. The wavy body movements. And I'd be like, it's not me. It's Glenn. Glenn's here. We want to chat. My sister still talks about it to this day. I love Glenn. And I love Greg. Yeah. But it says, let's just say, I believe there are forces we can't explain. And that doesn't necessarily mean they want to do us harm. So at night, unless I absolutely had to, I stayed in my apartment. I feel that. Mostly the sounds would come at night when all the lights that were out in the hallway. Ooh. They would all turn off. I hear what sounded like footsteps below. and a door slam hard like someone was angry.

I would sometimes hear music too, like someone was preparing to play in an orchestra and they were rehearsing. Beautiful. Again, cool and normal. The creepiest thing that happened, though, was when I was coming up the elevator, yes, there was an elevator,

to go to my apartment. I lived on the fifth floor, so I clicked five and waited, humming to the music I was listening to in my headphones. Suddenly, the doors opened on the third floor for no reason. No thing. Because remember, this is an empty building.

Yeah. I stared out into the darkness and the window that faced the city with more than a little alarm. And when the doors closed and went down to the first floor. What? I about shot my pants. But when the doors opened, there was nothing. I'm pretty sure I said out loud, okay, this isn't funny. I have to take a shit.

And it finally went up to my floor and I ran to my apartment. Again, all cool and totally normal. Wait, I love that they were like respectful of your poop. Yeah, they were like, oh, you have to go the bathroom. They really go. You're prairie dogging? Yeah, let's go. A month goes by, and I felt pretty used to the goings-on at the Gothic.

It also had this cool windowed rooftop outside my door that when the rain would fall, it sounded way louder than normal. And I love that sound. Yeah. I'd be out like a light if it was raining. Me too. That's such a good sound. Then the law office downstairs decided to pack up and take their firm to a different building. I never asked why, but I assumed it was because this building was super empty, and to be honest, kind of creepy.

I'm sure their clientele would probably enjoy being in a newer building as well. Every morning they'd take more things out of the offices, and I'd hear them talking out in the echoey hallways about regular mundane law shit, and I paid them no mind. One morning, after one of those lovely rain showers, I was woken by Fay on my chest, seeming very agitated. I looked at my phone, and it was about four in the morning. That's when I heard it.

The sounds of people out in the halls. No. Two men and a woman laughing in. carrying on. Now remember, the only haunts I had experienced by then had been footsteps, door slamming, elevator fuckery, and occasionally faint music. I hadn't ever heard voices till now, and I was thoroughly alarmed. I shot out of bed and went to my door and locked it. Remember, I never locked my door since I felt very safe in my apartment. At that moment, the door handle started to jiggle like someone was trying to break in. Oh, shit. I was petrified. I didn't know what to do, so I did the only

thing I could think of. I reached into the very core of my soul and shouted as straight as I could possibly manage, get the fuck away from my door. Mind you, I'm a 5'8 gay guy who I classify as in the middle of the spectrum

of straight passing. When I let that out, though, I hope that I sounded like a 6'7 lumberjack with biceps the size of grown swine and hands the sides of dinner plates. Why do I just picture guest on? from Beauty and the Beast. Literally, that's what I pictured.

I digress. As soon as I did that, I heard a clattering of something on the floor and someone booking it out of the vicinity. And I called the cops. Oh. I'm terrified. The cops arrived and did a sweep of the building but found no one, except there was a spoon on the floor where it looked like someone was trying to jimmy the door open.

Nope. Cool and normal. Not cool, not normal. Needless to say, I was terrified to live there after. that. You were. Every noise I heard was someone coming to break into my apartment and strangle me in my sleep. A few days later, I saw someone in the hallways when I was going to take the trash out and I called the police again. They swept the building and found no one again. Ooh. I thought I was losing my mind, but there was clear evidence that someone was getting in the building. I stayed a few nights at my

parents and then the owner of the building called me and told me what had been happening. The empty shell of the restaurant had been broken into several times. They had set up a little nest of filth in the corner by one of the booths and had been living there for God knows how long. That's terrifying. The police found one of the intruders and arrested him, but I don't know what happened to the third. They boarded the windows, changed the locks, and made sure to try and keep me safe.

I did not feel safe. No way. At that point, every sound was giving me a heart attack. I swear I would hear someone knocking on my window that would face the hallway and laugh. I was crying myself to sleep at night. Oh, I'm so sorry. Knocking on your window and laughing. Yeah, like, what the fuck?

Also, why is there a window that faces the hallway? Oh, eventually the owner moved me to where I live today, and I'm much happier, and have actual real-live neighbors. Amazing. He was incredibly concerned for my safety, and I'm still thankful for the help he's given me thus far. Hell yeah, to cool landlords. Yeah. Let me leave you with this, though.

Was my experience at the Gothic ever haunted, or were the intruders the ones making the noise? is all along. I think like a little bit of both. Yeah, me too. Were they fucking with me when I was in the elevator, alone and helpless? No, I think that was ghost. I think that was ghost. Were they playing music off in the distance to scare me? We may never know. And I'm not sure what's more terrifying to think about. I think it was both, which is way more terrifying. And they're all terrifying. Thanks for reading my tale, ladies, and I hope this makes it to the pod. It did. And as always, keep it weird, but not so weird that you move into a creepy-ass building literally name the Gothic and are oddly okay living with spirits in an old building, but definitely not okay with real-life humans trying to break

into your apartment. Bye. Yeah, spirits, you can hang out. You were here first. Yeah. Other people get out of my house. I'm totally okay with ghosts. Yeah. Like as long as you're like nice. Be nice. You know, like don't, don't fuck with me. Don't go and hurt me or anything like that. But real people are way scarier. Way scarier. Way scarier. The scariest. But doesn't that mean ghosts are scary because they were ones real people? That's true. So you can never be too careful. You really took it totally around here.

It was pretty deep as well. That's why you're here to take it all the way around. Around down. But Joey, thank you for sending that. The Gothic sounds awesome if it weren't for people and ghosts being dicks. Yeah, we don't. So I apologize for that. We don't need any of that.

Yeah. But what we do need is another less in a tale. That's right. This one's called listener tales. Go, Swigabor, demon. Hello, little one. Ooh. Oh, all right.

Well, look at this little adorable little boy. Yeah, this little boy is so freaking cute. Oh, my goodness. I love. I love. I think there's two cute little boys. I just love. Oh, my goodness.

You guys are freaking adorable. Oh, my God. I didn't even see the second one. Little baby teeth are like so fucking cute. They really are the cutest. All right. Well, this one stats off by saying, Hello, ladies.

First of all, I love you both. And you are welcome to use my name all you want in this. which is Becca. Becca. Becca. Hi, Becca. You're Becca with the good hair. That's right.

I'm a stay-at-home mama to two little boys that are aged three and four, and I'm here to say, this is Ash Kell, that they're the cutest little boys in the whole wide world. The cutest. The oldest of which is a little champion who has both autism and type 1 diabetes. Oh, I know. I just want to smush them both. They're just like, oh, I do too. I loved him. His little brother is an angel and helps with him so much.

It is decently exciting, beautiful, exhausting, heartbreaking, and fulfilling, all wrapped into one tiny family, package, L.O.L. Your podcast gives my spooky little heart joy, though in some ways, I think I'm a bit of a poser because I'm such a freaking coward. No way. Me too. L.O.L. I think I'm more of the cutesy, creepy, like matching Halloween pajamas and pumpkin, chocolate chip pancakes with yummy soups, chills and stew. But every time a new episode pops up, I'm sneaking away from my kids to try to listen in my bedroom away from the little ears. I love that. All of that sounds great, by the way. You can be all of those things. That's what I feel like I'm all of those things. Yeah. I'm scared all the time. But this is a ghost and demon tale. And just to tell you how bizarre that is,

I was raised as a Baptist preacher's daughter who, until this particular encounter, did not necessarily believe in ghosts. Oh, wow. But it seems they're drawn to me, much like the dreaded Arachnus Dethicus, aka a spider. That's just what my brain will forever call them to try to avoid tears of terror each time I see one. I love calling spiders that. I'm going to call them that now. Arachnus deethicus. I like it. I like it. It's a mouthful.

But here's my spooky tale. It's a true tale, witnessed by my mama, Baptist Preacher's wife, and me Baptist Preacher's daughter. I apologize for my lack of brevity, but I figured Elena would understand. Of course I do. With all the love I can muster, you are wonderful. And Elena, I'm so freaking proud of you and your book. Guys, you're so nice. I can't handle it.

com slash the butcher and the Wren. Or you could go to a Target, Walmart, Kroger, airplane, plane. near you. Bye. Airplane, please. Yeah, figure that one out. Oh, I love you. I love you too.

Hello, little one. That's what it's entitled. I come from a pretty poor family. We grew up sipping on ramen noodles. I want ramen noodles so fucking badly right now. So good. Yeah. And thinking hamburger helper was a meal of the gods.

Same. So when my parents finally bought a house, it was a big deal. The first time we viewed the house, the site was one that probably would have sent most people running. The carpets had hundreds of. of stains on them. They used to be blue, but now they were red, black, brown, yellow, white, and whatever else the prior owners had thrown at it. Gross. The walls had a black muck glazed over the white paint, making everything seem a little dark, even with the natural light pouring

in. Ooh, there's something about the word muck. Muck. Yeah, and Les Anderson is saying a muck, a muck, a muck, that I'm not interested. But we lived in a small town in Idaho. The closest mall was about an hour and a half away. You had to be creative to have fun. And a lot of people chose drugs as their pastime. Mama said that it was pretty clear this house used to be that kind of house, but she got that glint in her eyes. I know so well and said, this is going to be mine.

Oh, I love that. That's the thing. You can take a house and restore it. You make it a home. Yes. Even now, I jump on Google Earth often to look at this house because it was Mama's pride and joy. In the end, she really made that house shine. Oh, hell yeah.

Oh, my God, I love that. It took her months of renovating. She knocked out walls, sanded and polished wooden floors, and painted the kitchen cabinets. She also painted every room in the house, and each of us kids got to pick the colors for our rooms. I regrettably chose a bright pink with gold sponging all over it. That's like the classic combo. That was the shit. When I was little, me and my mom moved into my stepdad's house, and I got like his daughter's room, which like, sorry Megan.

But it was pink with white sponge paint. And even then I knew that was a bad. choice. Spong paint was a real thing for a little while. Yeah, it was like of its time. Yeah, it really was. But Beth says, I promise you, my taste has improved. We moved in when my mom was mostly done with everything. And soon after moving in,

a drawing with a message began to pop up all over the freshly painted walls. Oh. Mom would paint over them and it would show up again. Oh. It reappeared everywhere. In places us kids couldn't reach. Places we could reach, places I wouldn't want to reach because of eight-legged freaks. This drawing clearly made

my mom unsettled, which was rare for her. My mom was and still is epic. She took us into haunted houses at three in the morning and not the kind you pay to get into, the kind that you sneak into. She hiked us into the middle of nowhere to camp by a remote lake and we'd hear gigantic footsteps bouncing off the trees and entering our ears as we cowered in the camp around Mama. Oh my goodness. She traveled to Thailand with her two teenage daughters to work to teach English to children in the slums. And none of these things phased her one bit. She's a badass. She just finished hiking 450 miles of the Appalachian. That's how I'm supposed to say that, right?

I always said Appalachian, but I think it's like a regional thing where you say it. Because we say Appalachian, but they say Appalachian. I'm pretty sure. It's one of those. That trail, that's pretty famous. By herself at the age of 50 with a bad back. Wow. Hiked 450 miles at the age of 50 and with a bad back. That's insane.

She's always been strong, adventurous, brave, and my greatest hero and best friend. Damn, Becca, your mom is my best friend. Your mom is also my best friend. She's my hero. What the hell? This lady's the tits. She's awesome. So when a little drawing of a stick figure girl with scraggly hair and the words inscribed under her, Hello, little one, made my mom a nervous wreck, I was quite curious.

But Mama would not tell me what made her so uneasy. I'm sorry. What? I have chills. What? A little... That is a horror movie. A stick figure girl with scraggly hair inscribed under her. Hello, little one.

Goodbye. Oh, I gotta go. Oof. Oh, my whole body did the womb. Yeah, I don't like. Oh, mine did now, too, because I'm gonna laugh. Whoa. I don't like it.

About a month after we moved in, my aunt came to visit. She's closer to a cousin than an aunt because she was born so late in my grandparents' lives. What's that like? Yeah, I don't know what that could be like. I would have no idea. So she stayed up all night playing video games and watching movies with us. One night, we were all downstairs in my room watching movies. When 3 a.m. rolled around. It was time for us to go to bed and we were deciding who had to walk up the stairs to turn the lights off. The lights to my room were controlled by a switch at the top of the stairs because my room wasn't originally a bedroom, but Mama made it one for me. I freaking love your mom. She's so awesome. She's like, you want this room? I'll make it your room. Mama made it for me.

As we were all sitting there discussing who would climb the stairs, we heard a loud bang in the kitchen. Oh. It was three in the morning. My mom had gone to bed hours ago, meaning it was kind of weird for someone to be in the kitchen at this time. But she was also a little bizarre sometimes. She could have woken up in the middle of the night and chosen to go clean the whole kitchen. You know what? I feel that because sometimes, especially when my littlest one wasn't sleeping and we would be up all the time in the middle of the night,

I would be awake for some periods where it was like, oh, I can't fall back to sleep. And I was like, should I just clean out my closet? Like, I was like, am I wasting good hours? No. That I'm awake. You should just lay your bed. Like, but it's, I get that. Like, I get the compulsion to just be like, you know what? Maybe I could make a pie. Like, it's just like, I don't know. Like, maybe I could do something productive here instead of trying to fall back to sleep. You're such a productive person. It, like, scares me. I like, I like, productivity. Yeah. I get very stressed out when I leave hours to like nothing. I like, I like, I like a good balance of like.

Well, it's necessary. Yeah, exactly. Like, you're, like, you're a smarter person that way. That's not true, but you need, like, to have hours of nothing. You got to, like, reset. And you don't get a lot of you time. No. Let me just have a quick second here to scold Elena for trying to be too productive.

Hold up. Me time. Anyways, we all continued to argue about who would go check on the noise and turn the light off. I being the consistent lucky number in my life, or is that one? No. I. I being the consistent number. lucky number in my life drew the short end of the stick and had to climb up the stairs.

I walked to the bottom of the stairs and called up, mom, no answer. Mom! There it is. Still no answer. We lived in the desert and when it's a full moon in the desert, you can literally see everything. It is the most beautiful... I know, seriously. It is the most beautiful part of living in the flat sandy, sage bush infested terrain because the

world almost never seems dark. That was a beautiful sentence. I also just looked out the window and saw one. single orange leave just fall to the ground. And I feel like we were together in that moment. We had a moment. Becca, that was a real moment. That was a moment. That was. This night, it was a full moon. And the back door,

which stood at the top of the stairs, had a large window with no blinds. The moon's rays came shining through. And most of the time, my poetic self would have found this site so beautiful. But seeing as the next noises I heard were what sounded like the avalanche of a thousand pans crashing down on our kitchen floor, I like wasn't really

thinking about poetry. As what sounded like an angry bull, kicking frantically throughout my kitchen continued, I stood at the bottom of the stairs, frozen. The crashing began to quiet as the pans winded themselves down, spinning relentlessly on the laminated floor. Oh. It was quiet again. This is my nightmare because a lot of sound freaks me out. Me too.

I get overstimulated really easily. Same here. And if I'm already nervous and then lots of sounds happen, that's going to send me into the stratosphere. So I feel you. Too much for me. But as the silence settled on the house and my aunt and sister sat crouched together on the bed, I called up one last time, wishing that I didn't have to make any noise at all. Mom?

Oh, no. Suddenly, in the brightly lit entryway of the full moon, a transparent girl, in a beautifully laced white dress that flowed around her as she ran and, ah, white dress that flowed around her as she ran and thin hair that whisked gently behind her, as if she was treading through water crossed from the kitchen to the dining room. I saw her clear as day. Her black eyes, her gray, wispy hair, her white, flowy dress. I saw all of it.

And everything I thought I knew came crashing down on me. Oh my God. I have such chills right now. I do too. Seeing that, oh. That also sounds like so beautiful. So beautiful, but fucking terrified. Do you know what that is?

It's hauntingly beautiful. That, like, black eyes, gray, thin, wispy hair that's, like, flowing and like, oh, yeah. Don't love that. No. I also, like, kind of have black eyes. So if I do come back as, like, a ghost someday, I'm going to fuck with some people. Yeah.

But I, being a Baptist preacher's daughter and not believing in ghosts, was shot, was in shock. My brain couldn't process what I saw as anything but frightening. And I literally became the football star any girl ever dreamed of being back then. And I tackled my aunt and sister. into my concrete pink and gold sponge wall, where we all fell to the floor and shook violently while they asked me, Becca, what's wrong? Becca, are you okay?

Oh, no. No, I was not okay. But I also didn't really want to tell my aunt, who was also a Baptist preacher's daughter to my beloved grandpa, that his beloved granddaughter just saw a freaking ghost. Oh, my God. So I told them nothing. Worked up my guts to go upstairs and turn the lights off.

And I flung myself down the steps into my bedroom and under my blankets, where I proceeded to not sleep for the rest of the night. The next morning, I told my mama what happened, and the same uneasiness came over her, along with a hint of terror in her eyes. That day, she went through every room in the house and prayed for 30 minutes straight in each one. Damn. After that, the drawings never showed up again. Whoa.

And I never saw the wispy girl. But that's not where it ends. Or that's not where it starts, I guess. After this happened, my mom pulled me aside and told me a story that happened when she was still in grade school. Mama was always made fun of in high school. She was a poor Baptist preacher's daughter who lived in the woods and wore the same clothes more often than not because she really didn't have a lot to wear. Oh, that's awful.

That's terrible. One day, she showed up to her art class and all of the kids were playing with brand new Ouija boards. And when my mom walked in, the idea of the Baptist preacher's daughter playing with it became quite the novelty. That's fucked up. Yeah. Like, that's fucked up. Let's respect people in their beliefs. Like, that's really fucked up.

Mom denied them all at first, but after incessant nagging, she gave in and walked over to, ask it some questions. At first, she asked it things nobody knew in the room. And one of those questions was about the color of her socks. At the time, boots were popular that stretched up to just beneath your knee and had metal brackets running up both sides that you laced your shoelaces through to tighten them at the top. Those sound rad as fuck. They do. Mom had these kind of boots on with bell-bottomed jeans. What a badass. My motherfucking queen. Underneath those jeans and those boots, mom had on a pair of white socks that were trimmed with rainbow stripes. They were unique, and they weren't worn by a lot of kids back then because mom snagged them as a hammy down from family.

The Ouija board got the color correctly, and so mom proceeded to ask it, who was the son of God? At that moment, the board shook and flung off the table. Damn. All of the kids were shocked, and mom picked it up and sat it on the table again. Who is the son of God? The board shook and flung off the table again. So mom picked it up and sat it down one last time. Who is the son of God? This time the board didn't shake. It didn't fall off the table. It began to move and it slowly said, Hello, little one. You do not know who you are talking to? Oh, I am a chill. I am a chill. I am a chill. I am a chill. I cannot feel my arms because they are. They are whamming so hard motherfuckers want to find them. I'm chilling over. Over. No, my arms are just warming, waming, waming. They're going to be fined for this.

The way that the Ouija board also was just like, you don't even know who I am, motherfucker. Do you know who I am? Like, I'm scared. No, I know. That night, when mom went home, she took off her boots for the first time that day, which was a process. And as she pulled out her feet, she found that they were covered in a nasty red slime when she never got out of those socks. What? I could tell there was more to me.

mom's story, but she wouldn't talk about it. I overheard her in the living room one night talking about it, and I barely made out the words, die by a gun. But she still won't tell me what else the Ouija board said. Thankfully, I never, that's it. That's it. Thankfully, I never saw the little girl again after Mama prayed through the whole house, but I have experienced supernatural, and I have seen exorcisms while visiting Thailand, and my dad has performed exorcisms. So I'm a firm believer in the supernatural. And I know there are things that you just can't know, but if I ever see the words on the wall of my house, hello, little one, I'm moving. Becca! That was a haunting story. My body is still chilling. I'm whoming as we speak.

There are very few times, Becca, oh my God, and I just got to see your cute little babes again when I like exited out of the thing. I love them. I know. That's what we needed. Thank you for sending those because I needed that immediately. I was like, oh, babies. Babes. Those cute little faces. Oh my God. But, like, my, very rarely does my body just go warm, warm, warm, wom. Like, it's just one after the other. Mine was going, who. Whom. Warm.

I just, oh. Whom. There's too much. I hate. I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, loads entirely. Loves and entirely. That's like my new thing. Ooh, okay.

Thank you for that, Becca. And also, your mom is a badass. And I think she's awesome. The fact that she just, like, sat alone in each room for 30 minutes and prayed, I would have been shitting myself. And, like, thinking about her seeing this house and being like, I can make this a home. Yeah. And then she made it like what you all wanted it to, like you couldn't even imagine it to be.

Right. Like, what a badass. That's a beautiful mom right there. And then hiking that trail. Jesus. Like, she's a. That's a lady. That's a lady right there.

I want to meet. That's somebody who was definitely, like, put here to do good things. To just be a cool chick. A cool chickadee. So the next one that I am going to read is called Boats and Demons. Oh, all righty. Question mark. And there's some pictures of boats here. I love boats. Luckily, there's no pictures of demons.

All right, let's go. Hello, ladies. I absolutely adore your podcast. Thank you. I adore you. Thank you. Me too. It helps me power through my long work days while creeping out my coworkers because I blast that shit next to whichever loud-ass machine I'm on that day. My name is Jordan. You can use my name, but I will be changing the names of my friends just in case they don't want their names attached to this madness. All right. Let me preface this by telling y'all I'm a six foot five mix. black, white, big teddy bear like man from Michigan. I'm from Michigan. You're six foot five. Like, that's amazing. John, six foot three and I think he's the tallest man ever. Six five is a very tall man's. A very tall man's. The size is quasi important for later. I promise I'm not just bragging.

Although you should though. Yeah. You should. Don't worry about that. Although not just bragging. Although what's really the point of being tall if you don't pat a short person on the head every once in a while? I'm saying. Can I tell you how many times? in my life. I've been pat pat pat pat on the head. Oh yeah, I bet many. Several, several, several. I, it's so funny. I like forget that you're short. I know. And I'm with you every day. I think that's why. Maybe that is why. Like, I forget that John is that tall. I do too. Until we're out somewhere or somebody sees a picture and is like, holy shit. And I'm like, oh yeah, he is tall, huh? Yeah. Yeah. You're right. That's right. All right. Anyways, to the story.

Every year, a group of friends and I would rent a big old houseboat down in Tennessee on Dale Hollow Lake. sounds amazing. All right. It's really fun. This particular year we went there. This particular year we went there was about 20-ish of us. So we had two big houseboats that slept 10 to 12 each. Dale Hollow Lake is one of those super creepy.

Used to be a town lakes where in the right spot and the right night, you can see a cemetery at the bottom of it. Or so I've been told. You didn't have to add that last part. No, just tell me that you saw it. Imagine if you were boating and then saw a mull. fucking cemetery at the bottom. I need to look this up. I need to find a picture. I need to see the cemetery in the water so that I can have nightmares for the rest of my life. Well, let me get to it, sister. Ashes grabbing the phone. I'm darn tooting. So Friday, we get our boats and sail on to out

to the spot we found on the lake that has slate covered beach with trees that start about 10 to 15 feet back. And it becomes very dense woods about another 15 to 20 feet back once you walk up the path. There is a fire pit close to the shore and you can walk up. the path and at the top of the hill there's a picnic table. We get our boats tied off and start the festivities. This sounds like really great. It does. Oh, did you find it? Did you find it? I think she found it. I don't even, is this the cemetery? I don't know what this is, but it's fucking terrifying. What is that? I don't think it's the cemetery. What the fuck is that? Jordan. I think is this, oh, I think this is the town. What is this like? It's like an overhead shot of the town. Oh, man.

I got to look into that. This aerial photo that reveals the foundation of an old schoolhouse on the bottom of Dale Hollow Lake, where the town of Willow Grove, Tennessee once stood before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers National District built Dale Hollow Lake Dam and the Lake Waters rose in 1943. Well, I know what we are covering on our next Spooky Lakes episode. Yeah. Thank you, Jordan. Holy hell.

I have never heard of this. That's amazing. Oh! Did you find it? No, but everything is so creepy. It's so creepy. All right. Well, Jordan says these boats are insanely dope.

They have a bottom area for seating and a barbecue with sliding doors that go inside where there's a main driving station, a living room and a kitchen. Then the bedrooms line the right side and two bathrooms on the right. Oh, yeah, and two bathrooms on the right. The top deck has a steering deck, then a plastic table, some chairs, some beach chairs, and a freaking water slide. Hell yeah. So you can only imagine how much dang fun us early to mid-20-year-olds had. Night one went off without a single problem. Uh-oh, for night two.

Day two, Saturday. We wake up, start day drinking, as I like to believe most young 20-somethings do on vacation, and just have the time of our lives. Hell yeah. Well, then night falls and my bright ass goes, so who wants to play with the Ouija board? I brought mine. I would have knocked you off the boat, my friend.

I would have just pushed you right in the old town water. I would have been like, eh, probably. Let's go. No. Don't bring your haunting to me, Elena. Well, lucky me, two of my buddies. whom I will call Big G. He's a 6'4 Rick Ross-like man.

He's a big guy like me. And James, a 6-2 country corn-fed-like guy. I love that you have Rick Ross and then a country corn-fed guy. This is a crew. They were in it to win it with me. Well, we went on to the top deck to do it in the moonlight. I love that. And my buddy Cole, who is also a 6-2 country corn-fed like man, decided,

heck, he'll join, even though he previously said he did not want to because he's extremely sensitive to the paranormal. Uh-oh. I think it's Cole's fault. I ever read this, but I think Cole did this. I ask him before he touches it if he's absolutely positive. His answer? Yeah, I think it'll be okay.

It may help you guys connect with the spirits better. Me being slightly, quote-unquote, intoxicated, decided, fuck it, Lego. We do the old startup ritual and start asking questions, and nothing for about five or so minutes. Then all of a sudden, Cole looks up at us and says, get the fuck away from me. I knew it was going to be cool.

I knew it. I'm sorry, Cole. I just knew it was going to be you. He's like Esteban and the Sweet Life of Zach and Cody on that episode where they do this. I don't know what that is. But yeah, I bet it's just like that. Get the fuck away from me, he said. Thinking he's just messing with us, I say, yeah, okay, bud, you got it with an eye roll.

And I ask another question. So he takes his hands off the board, looks at me and says, stop playing now. I'd say, say no more. My buddy Big G tells him, if you don't want to play anymore, go the fuck away then. And then laughs. Cole walks towards Big G and says in a low demonic-like voice, I'll never ever hear, I never ever heard him speak of in, sorry, I will fucking kill you if you don't get the fuck away now. But it sounded more like, I will fucking kill you if you don't get away now. Whoa. Wasn't that really good? Holy shit. If I did that, I would start coughing insanely, so I'm really impressed that you did that.

It's this weird thing you have to do where you have to go to like a... I make like a circle in my throat. I don't know how to explain that. I trust you. Okay. That was phenomenal. Thanks. Thank you for adding to that.

I'm going to take a sip of my pink drink now. I was going to cough. Me thinking the alcohol is starting to set in and tempers are starting to flare because Big G and James are now ready to fight. Cole, ready to fight Cole because he's being aggressive. I step in the middle and try to mediate the situation. I calm the two down and turn to talk to talk to. Cole, who is getting progressively more angry and anxious. I go to talk to him, and this guy,

who is six foot two, runs towards me, towards where the steering wheel is, jumps through a small opening in between the wheel and canopy over the steering wheel area, and jumps off the front of the boat, which is about a good 10-foot drop and dashes into the dark, dense woods. He just became an animal. Cole just jumped off the boat 10 feet down and then ran like an animal into the woods. I just picture him like at the end of split when he's just like running along like the railroad. Like what? Holy canoli. Holy shit. What the hell do we do now? I don't know, buddy. The rest of the group heard the commotion on the other side on the other boat and downstairs. So I run down and explain what happened. My buddy Brad, who is good friends with Cole, says we have to go

look for him. Pff. Fucking fat chance of that happening. I looked at him and said, my goodness. I said, not happening. I watch a lot of scary movies. I'm a black man in Tennessee and you see those dark ass woods. I know this script. Spoiler alert. I die first. Brad, well, we have to do something and you wanted to do the Ouija board. You're the biggest guy here. Let's go. Me in a sassy, high-pitched voice. I didn't put his hand on that board. There is exactly zero percent chance I'm walking into those woods with a possibly possessed man that just threatened to kill us. I don't give a damn how big I am. Yeah, that's not fair. Like, I didn't, I was built this way, okay?

I was born this way, okay? I did not ask to be. I'm just built like this. It's not my fault that I'm a tall drink of water, okay? All right. Brad visibly irritated with me. Fine. We'll go look for him.

Good luck with that, Brad. Good luck, guys. Four or five of the other guys grabbed a maglight and some weapons, mostly blunt, harmless objects, and set off into the woods. I'm on the shore by the woods just waiting for word, and they made it about 10 feet into the woods where they find this man, sitting against a tree murmuring gibberish to himself. Goodbye.

Before I knew this info, I walked up when they said they found him. I get to him and hear the gibberish and say, oh, hell no. And run back to the boat. That's that terrifying movie shit I'm talking about. So nope. Oh, hell no. About 10 minutes of them trying to snap this guy out of this trance goes by. And finally, he looks at Brad and yells, burn that fucking board right now.

Oh, my God. In his low demonic-ass voice. I don't know if I can do it again. Okay, that's okay. You did it once and I appreciate it. Brad comes to me now, sitting on the front desk, downing some, or excuse me, deck, downing some more drinks to calm his nerves and says, can we burn your Ouija board? I promise I'll buy you a new one. I looked at him. Hey, I'm, can we burn your Ouija board? We burn that. I will buy you another one.

I looked at him and simply said, absolutely. I'm done for the weekend with that shit. But aren't you not supposed to? I don't know. There's very conflicting things. There's so many different rules. We go upstairs, grab. and start a fire in the bonfire pit with it. And almost as soon as it sets on fire, it's like he snapped out of the trance and instantly asked what the fuck happened. Well, we explained everything that had happened

and he didn't even remember coming to play the game. Almost as if something drew him to it. He profusely apologized to us for the threats and whatnot, and we all turned in for the night since that was enough excitement for one evening. Morning time rolls around. We all wake up. Myself and a couple of the girls on the boat decide to start breakfast for the peeps.

Look at you. We walk out on the front of the book where the coolers are to grab a beer. And Holy Mother of God, the damn Ouija board is still burning. For six hours this thing was burning. What? So me over it, and let me tell you, I learned my lesson and never ever bought another Ouija board back with us, grabbed a tub of water and put out the remaining embers. What?

So that is my wild-ass, super spooky demon-filled boat trip. Yeah. love you guys and thank you for reading and as always stay weird but not so weird that use a Ouija board and your friend gets possessed by a demon that runs into a dark abyss and you have to send out a search party then burn the board to end the possession holy holy holy holy shit jordan holy holy holy what the fuck that's so scary i'm a cool boat though i was just gonna say oh and that's a that's exactly how i pictured the area here i'm really glad that you sent these because i was picturing this damn oh my good tennis jordan into the motherfucking

wilderness. Jordan. What the hell? Oh, my God. I love, and you know what? You were smart. You were like, I'm not getting into this. Yeah, you were like, no. I'm on this boat and I'll make you breakfast tomorrow. I did the Ouija board a little bit, but I am not taking responsibility for this. I did dabble in the Ouija, but I'm leaving. But you know what? He asked. He said, are you sure you want to do this? Because his friend Cole there was like, I'm very susceptible to spirits. But that's so weird that he didn't even remember agreeing to do it, because I feel like I have had that experience before, like, where there's been a Ouija board. And I, like, I'm so against it. I will never, ever do one. But there are times where I see them and I'm like, what if I did? Yeah. But I don't know if that's just like an intrusive thought. If you're just like,

yeah, like when you're on like a tall place and you're like, what if I just threw myself off of this? Yeah. Like we were saying it the other day, like on a cruise or something. Like I've only been like a boat of some kind. Yeah. But like you're just scrolling through the night and you're like, what if I just jumped off right now? Yeah, I would just jump into the abyss. Sometimes. And you're like, why do I think of this? My brain is like, just do it. We need to do a whole episode on intrusive thoughts. Yes. I want to know, I want to like research the what's behind that. Yeah, it's got to be like some weird psychology. Must be some like primitive, like primal kind of brain in there. You know what I mean like that like that way deep lizard brain kind

of feelings. Jump off so you prove that you are queen of town. Cave person stuff that's just like, hey, do this. Yeah. Yeah. Like you will be the man of the of the of the village. Jump off the boat. That's what it is. Yeah. I hear that. And I'm like, yeah, I want that. So. I don't want that. But, ah, but, ah, next listener tale. How I was saved by a Ouija board. I don't know. I don't know. I told you. I don't know. I don't know. It's a, hmm. My dead grandma and some demons from hell. All right. My name's Michelle. Feel free to use it. Hey, Michelle. And you just wrote, how I was saved by a Ouija board, my dead grandma and some demons from hell. My name's Michelle. And you're just like, hey, I'm Michelle. Oh, okay.

Michelle, my bell. Attached as a put-a-fa and of my shit so crazy I couldn't make it uptail. I love this. Enjoy. I was saved by Ouija board, my dead grandma, and some demons from hell. Sounds like a party. I don't know. Greetings, you gorgeous gals, you beautiful bitches of badassery and Massachusetts marvels of morbid.

Holy shit. I love alliteration. I'm putting that all on my resume. Michelle. Michelle is a maven. My bell. Michelle, my bell. It is with great nervousness and excitement I write to you today to

tell you this true tale of a wild story of how the most unlikely of beings banded together and saved me from an untimely and likely demise. Ooh, I am ready for this? Why all this out of my reading? Like, I'm like a librarian putting on like a circle time. That required it. And she set that up perfectly. I'm like, let's go.

Yeah. How did this happen? Fucking go. Tell me about this unlikely band of beings. I need to know. All right. I have made this as nameless as possible and I've taken the time to teach my ancient self the ways of setting.

double spacing and converting to PDF to make your lives a bit easier and richer. I love you. You're incredible. And I could already tell. I originate from the East Coast. Oh, that's why. That's why. Connecticut specifically.

Hey, I just did a Connecticut tale. Oh, yeah. And you probably heard it. Yeah. And being a child of the late 70s, I love you. I was raised to embrace all the spooky wonderfulness of the East that the East Coast offers, visiting Salem, doing rubbings at cemeteries. Oh, did you ever do that?

Yeah, I used to love doing that. So much fun. And like weird thing, but so much fun. So much fun, but weird. And visiting anywhere that had even the slightest chance of being haunted, I was there. I feel you. If some random old lady said that she saw a ghost 50 years ago, you could bet that my mother would load my little fanny up and drag me there to see if we can see the ghosts too. Your mother rules.

Yeah, she does. I hope to be that kind of mom. You are that mom. What are you talking about? I'm just waiting for them to come of age. That's all. I mean, they've seen some creepy shit. They have.

Yeah. They're down for it. They are so down for creepy shit. I love it. More often than not, we wouldn't find anything. But not always. Sometimes the creepy and haunted delivered. Damn life was fun before the cable and internet.

We got to get rid of the cable in the internet. Oh, yeah. Maybe not the cable because I fucking love the real house ones. And like we can keep the internet for like research purposes and finding out fun, cool facts. Yeah. Get rid of everything else. What if we just go to libraries again? Yeah.

There you go. Make libraries cool again. I love that. Yeah. Life was so much more, like, it was fun. I wish I knew. We were just talking about earlier and like, sorry for the digressing right now. Here we are. But it makes sense. So I got, my kids are like six. And they're going to be seven soon, which is wild. They're getting into like reading chapter books. So we're reading chapter books at night, which is fun because we just bought them this, this whole series called Star Friends. And it's like eight books. And it's about like these little girls and

they're magical and they have magical animals. And they, they fight against like the dark magic in their town. I would have loved this stuff. And it's really cute to see John read these things to them because he gets excited and wants to know what happens next. He's like, what's going to happen with Alice at the magic store? I love that. It's really fun.

But they're getting into that stuff. So we were talking this morning, all of us like with Drew about like all the books we used to read when we were younger. And I was thinking about it and I was like, I used to read. I used to read hundreds of books. I ate books for fucking breakfast. when I was little. I had every Nancy Drew, every hearty boys, every box car children, babysitters club. I had the Fear Street, the goosebumps. I read all of them. It was like a constant stream.

We were like a big reading family. Big book family. Yeah. But also I was thinking about it and I was like, that's also because there wasn't screens. Yeah. It wasn't like you could sit on a Kindle and watch something or play a game. No. Like obviously there was like TV cable. Yeah, of course. It's not like the dark ages, but like, we didn't have all that stuff when I was little, so you could, you just read. Yeah. Like, that was your, you could watch TV, but your mom wouldn't, you know, my mom wouldn't let me watch TV all the time. Like I had to read.

Yeah. And so you could read. So you had all this like imagination that came with it. That's the thing. I feel like, and I don't know if this is true yet, because I feel like we haven't seen enough kids with the internet. But I just feel like kids probably aren't going to have the imaginations that we used to. That's the thing.

Like, that's why, like, limiting it is. is a really good idea because it forces them into using. And I see when, because we limited a lot. And when they have to come up with their own stuff to do, they come up with these like cool games that you're just like, how the hell did you come up with that? And like worlds. Put together these outfits that they wear and stuff. It's like really fun to watch. Yeah. And I was like, see, if social media and all this bullshit wasn't around, people would be reading again. Like people would be come, you know what I mean? Yeah, and it's like, I feel like kids, and now, like, you ask them what they want to be when they grow up and they have all these weird answers now that you're like, what the fuck is that?

Yeah. And it's like, you ask your kids and they're like, I want to be a builder because they build shit and like, you know, like, you have cool kids. Thank you. I also think I have cool kids. You very much do. I want a parent like you parent. Oh, thank you. That's really nice of you to say. But it's not. And obviously, like, no one has it all figured out. I don't by any chance I would all figure out. No, those little shits are complicated. But they're very complicated beings. But it's more just that like, the understanding. internet and social media really, and I feel like lately it's like all I'm seeing is just like miserable people. It's also addicting. I sit there on TikTok and I'm like I could have read a whole book right now. Yeah, it's it really is once you really sit down with it. But I think it's just like, man, I want to get back to like a simpler time. I really do. I think things have become so overcomplicated.

Eventually the pendulum will swing. I hope so. I think. I'm ready for it. I think a lot of people are sick of the internet. Let's all be Ron Swanson. Off the grid, baby. No. But you know what, Becca? I'm back to like the first tale that I read. Michelle. I will never stop thinking about Becca. I will never stop thinking about Becca. But Michelle. Michelle, I will never stop thinking about you either. So when my mother, grandmother and I relocated to the Pacific Northwest, you can imagine my disappointment at the lack of spooky I had known and loved. I was always the weird kid in school, writing ghost stories, checking out every ghost book in the library,

and taking all things haunted and paranormal. Us too. Yep, that was literally me. As I grew older and was finally allowed to watch the movies I always wanted to have my blood pressure rise and fear of, I also got my first deck of tarot cards and my first Ouija board. Oh, you went for it, and I appreciate that. Ham sandwich. These to me were the true signs of me getting older and closer to my independence and adulthood. Same. I was 15 and home alone with my younger eight-year-old sister one day. When I decided the most wholesome activity I could do as a responsible caretaker of my younger sibling would be to use the Ouija board that I was.

I kept stored under my bed. It was the late 80s. And shit was not as entertaining back then as it is now. That's literally what we were just saying. Exactly. Everybody did that. As we sat upstairs in the townhouse, we lived in with our then single mother. We put the board between us on the floor and we sat with our legs crossed, hearts pounding and hands shaking as we placed our fingers on the planchette.

At first, everything was typical. Lots of swirling around and us blaming each other for moving the planchette with small words being formed here and there. When suddenly, the planchette forcefully moved to the edge of the edge of the edge of the edge of, of the board with the pointed end directly at the window that was behind me and my sister. W-I-N-D-O-W. It spelled out again and again. It forcefully moved to the edge of the board pointing to the window. W-I-N-D-O-W.

It spelled again and again, it pointed. Pretty sure this was not a normal interaction. And I told the board I was going to look. I'm not messing around with the lack of closing anything or giving instructions. that my ass would be back. And I got up and looked out the window. The window looked into our backyard where I saw a naked man with several knives at our backsliding door. That escalated. The escalation there was like, whoa. I couldn't even be prepared to read that sentence. I just got whiplash from that. The window looked into our backyard where I saw a naked man with several knives at our

back sliding door. I freaked. I didn't want to scare my sister, but I also couldn't remember if I I'd locked the backslider, and I knew we had to get the hell out of there. Our only phone was downstairs in the kitchen, so calling for help was not an option. I went back to the board, told my sister to put her hands on the planchette, and said, thank you, we got to go, and prayed that that was enough to close whatever was helping save our asses. Damn. I didn't want to scare my sister, but also needed her to know that this was a serious situation. So I told her that there might be a fire downstairs and that I needed her to run out the front door as fast as she could to her friend's house that was several.

blocks away. I told her not to look back, but that I would be behind her. Just go. Wow, you're a great sister. I know, and you're 15. I think on your feet like that. Trying not to sound completely terrified, I knew this was going to have to happen quickly, because not only did I know if the slider was locked, but it also looked directly across the house to the front door, and the man would be able to see us leaving. Quickly and quietly, we went down the stairs, and I opened the door as my sister made a dash outside, watching the slider to make sure she was able to leave safely without being noticed by the man. I had her make a good head start in case he saw me and chased after me. At least one of us had to outrun him. Oh. After about a minute seeing if, excuse me, after about a

minute seeing he didn't notice her leave, I too ran out of the house, caught up to her and got her and got to her friend's house safely where I told the parents about the man and they called the police. He was still at our back door, arrested, found to be in a mental health crisis and was taken to a nearby hospital. That is terrifying. To think what could have happened if you hadn't decided to use a Ouija board that day? That's, wow. Look at that. Weeager board saved. Yeah. You literally just said it. It did save. Think about what could have happened. Oh, no, no, no, it did save. Absolutely. I'm not doing it. It's not. But it did save. It was a saving moment. You know what? I have a simply safe, which also saves in the 80s. No, no, no, but I have it. No, I don't need to use a Ouija board. But you didn't. So your

Ouija board was your simple safe. There you go. That event scared the shit out of my, shit of my ancestors out of me, not just my shit, but the shit going on back eon of generations. I feel that. Of course, no one believed it was a Ouija board that alerted us, and everyone insisted that we must have heard something out back to alert us. I'm telling you, we heard nothing. It was the Ouija board. I believe you. The one person that did believe me was my grandma. And it was at the time I asked, you're her grandma. Her grandma. And it was at the time I asked her to promise me that when she died, she would visit me and give me a sign.

What kind of sign? She asked. A letter, I said. But I don't want to see a pen moving by itself. Make it not scary, but that I know it's you. She promised she would, and for several years, I would remind her of her promise. Time went on, and I met my first husband. He was an absolutely horrific abusive asshole and was cruel in ways I didn't know a person had the ability to be.

I'm sorry. That's terrible. He alienated me from my friends and family And because of him I grew distant from my grandma And the last three years of her life We didn't speak to each other at all At times in hurt and frustration I would tell him of the Ouija board

And my grandma's promise And he would always tell me I was full of shit And that Ouija boards and ghosts weren't real The only real ghost is the Holy Ghost He would say God what a dick wad he was Oof

One day I was cleaning And going through some old paperwork When I found several old cards and letters from my grandma. Some I had completely forgotten about and hadn't seen him years. Immediately, I knew she was gone and keeping her promise. Cards and letters and hands and tears in my eyes, I showed them to my husband, and I told him I thought my grandma was gone. He laughed at me and told me to fuck off. That shit isn't real. Oh my God. I, seriously. I want to punch him for you. I found out later that week, that was the day that my grandma died. Wow. I could see the news rattled the, I could see the news

rattled the skeptical asshole a bit, but he still was very doubtful. Several years in 2010, I was home with my former husband when he told me he wasn't feeling well. This was odd for a few reasons. First, he was talking to me nicely. And second, he was in fantastic shape, having worked in construction his entire adult life. After about 30 minutes of complaining of extreme achiness across his upper back and shoulders, he looked at me with wild eyes and told me to call 911. Wow. Trigger warning for blood and trauma. Blood began to spurt. from his nose and mouth as a weird jerking motion, as he begun a weird jerking motion, and he let out the strangest groaning, moaning, heaving sound I've ever heard. I called 911 and was

told by the operator that he wasn't breathing and that I needed to do CPR. For eight minutes, I did compressions, only CPR, oh my gosh, I know, while blood continued to pour out of his nose and mouth, and I waited for paramedics to arrive. How traumatic. I can't even imagine. My then husband suffered sudden cardiac death, not just a heart attack, but sudden death. That has a very, very low survival rate. Because I was there and acted immediately, he was saved, although he was put in a medically induced coma for about two weeks. The next day, he, excuse me, the day he was awoken from his coma, I was so hopeful that

maybe he would wake up a different, kinder person, a person grateful for life. Yeah. A person grateful for me. Yeah. As tubes and wires were removed by nurses, I had to ask him if he remembered what he experienced when he died. He told me that he did. At first he saw colors and what looked like fractals. Yeah.

Geometric patterns that would swirl and move that were the most beautiful he'd ever seen. And then suddenly his face changed and he showed me how the fractals went away and were replaced by something much, much darker. Again, trigger warning. He saw mountains of creatures that he described as the top of the top of the first of the fact of halves of people attached to one another. Oh. Just two top halves with heads on either end. There were animals that looked that way, too, but there were also bottoms of humans and

animals that were connected in the same way, butts and legs on either end. Oh, my God. The bottom halves were shitting while top halves devoured the excrement. What the fuck? I think he was in purgatory. He said that he watched for some time when suddenly he saw a giant wave of dark water. come crashing over houses and people and vehicles, washing it all away. He watched as this giant wave consumed everything in its path. But among the chaos and darkness, he saw one lone red truck

as it floated on the water and was carried away. The poor nurse that was removing his tubes and wires was obviously shaken hearing this. And in a shaky voice, she told him, you were in hell. Oh. She immediately left and I never saw her again. Oh, my whole body did that thing again. You guys are killing me. episode holy. Seriously, because this lady was like, what did you do to help in hell? She must have looked at him and like, you're in fucking hell.

Like, why were you there? Who are you? Mm-hmm. Oh. The experience seemed to terrify him for a short time. It seemed like it did affect him to become a kinder person. Then, a few months later, the tsunami in Japan happened. And as we watched the news, we both saw the very image he had described to me months earlier.

A giant dark wave of water washing away homes with a single red truck riding in the waves. Then the look on his face told me everything. He recognized what he was seeing and couldn't ignore it. I was in shock and, excuse me, I was in shock myself and told him, I think you saw that to confirm you really were where you were and all of that was real. I really think you did go to hell. Oh, my God. Now, you would think that realizing one had just experienced and escaped the literal shit show of hell

would make a person want to be a better person, right? You would think. Well, not that. dude. He became more violent, more dangerous, more unpredictable, and more unstable. I would contact his doctors who would chalk it up to oxygen deprivation during his time that I did CPR. You're lucky he's here in any capacity, they would tell me. Lucky was not the word I was thinking. I avoided him as much as I possibly could, even sleeping in a separate room at night, anything to avoid being alone with him. I'm so sorry. This is the most trauma. This is. All of this. All of it at once.

Geez. One morning about a year later, I woke up one morning to find him standing next to my bed with a hammer in his hand. His hair was wild. He was sweaty and shaking and he did not look anything like himself. In the 24 years I had been with him, at that point, I had never seen him look the way he was that morning. Wow. With his voice, oh my God, with his voice very deliberate and forced, he told me I needed to leave right then or he was going to kill me. His hands grasped. sping the hammer with white knuckles. I don't know if what I saw was real, but I need you to leave right now in case it was. Whoa. I jumped out of bed, called my friend to pick me up and left that day. That was nine years ago. Oh, I'm so glad you're out of that situation. Seriously. My like whole today, I'm happily remarried to my high school best friend. Oh, I needed that, man. I'm safe and happy and I laugh every day. I've told my story to the current husband and he always says I'm probably the only person that was saved by a Ouija board, a dead grandma and some demons, and it was his idea, I send you my tale. Oh my God, I love this. Michelle, I'm so glad that you

have like a happy, me too, like that you laugh every day. And then he's like, yeah, you definitely, that Ouija board was real. Yeah, like, you've got to send that in. You're validated now. I would, oh my God, excuse me, as per usual, as per the usual sign off, thank you for taking the time to read my story. Thank you for sending it. would say keep it weird but not so weird but Jesus Christ, what the fuck would Ash say to finish that? Girlie, I appreciate that because I don't know what the fuck I would say. I would be like, keep it weird but not so weird, not this. Wow. That, oh my God, these tales are rocking my world. These tales are the wild, wild west. Michelle, you just literally rocked my world. Seriously. I'm going to

need you to know that. You need to know that you rocked my world. But again, we are so happy that you were in a loving, validating relationship now because you deserve that. Yeah. Hell yeah, you do. Yeah. And you know what? A Ouija board saved your life and that's badass. And you were an amazing older sister and like saved your little sister.

Seriously. Wow. Wow. Wow, Michelle. My bell. Like truly my bell. Michelle everyone's bell. Truly.

Wow. Okay. Well, I guess let's top it off here. One final listen to tale. Wegeboard heirloom. Nah, I'm good. I feel that. Hi, weirdos, here's a put-a-fah for your spoopy enjoyment.

Here's a story about how to Ouija board became a family heirloom only because it won't leave us alone. Like, seriously, a restraining order wouldn't keep it away. Even burning it left it unscathed. Oh, mine. Enjoy. And then a winky page. Enjoy. Enjoy.

All right, let's see. Whoop. Hey, weirdos. My name is Angel. I did change my name because I don't need my mom's crazy family finding me. I am just an illusion. Woo, Scooby-Doo ghost sounds. I'm from the Midwest. Got a love changing your clothes three times a day to fit the weather pattern. Now I can say I'm originally from Ohio where all the weird stuff started with me, but not with my family. That started decades back. Probably my mom's KKK family members. Oh. They deserve to be haunted, though. Hell yeah. They were crotch goblins before birth. If we could know what kind of bad. bag of bones we were birthing, I would have Yides that fetus back to wherever and whomever it came

from. Amazon Prime, same day shipping that motherfucker. But hey, you can't choose family, shrug emoji. Yeah, isn't that the truth? Yetus that fetus. I wish I could say I am normal, but normal is boring, I guess. Except for when you are me. Normal would be a dream. See, my family, my mom's side to be exact, is what we call sensitive to the paranormal side of this world. I am also what I call a hedge witch. typically very sensitive when the wall is down to the other side. So I am emotional, irritable, and whatnot. So I do not do well when energies shift. You probably do not want to hear about all that.

You're here for the spoopy, scary stories. I do want to hear about all that. Very interesting. Because I actually found that weirdly relatable. There you go. Well, this story is from a long, long time ago, but I hope you like it. Now, I have dozens of ghost stories and encounters because my family is known for being sensitive to the energies, including spirits and the evil bitches that be lurking around. and I don't mean cairns.

My mom and I have accepted it more than the other family members and communicate with ghost friends when necessary. I love that. But usually we're all pretty cool roomies and no one pisses each other off. You know, manners and common sense. Now, my story comes from a long line of fucked up shit on my mom's side of the family.

A long line of fucked up shit my mom's side of the family attracts. This is a Ouija board tale, and I will tell you I don't have a problem with them. But this particular one can rot in hell. Oh no. Even though that's probably where it came from. Anyway, we have a Ouija board that has been in the family since my grandma was a teenager.

That's kind of cool. I think that's really cool. They have no idea where it came from. It just showed up in their house. Like it was going to pay rent, but it really just stirred the pot. That's like not cool. The Ouija board gave off terrible energy and feelings whenever you were near it. It even made people nauseous, sick, and anxious.

So many people didn't go near it. It was just there. Now, before you say, throw it. the fuck away. They tried for years. Yes, years to throw this demon board away, but it would always come back. That's the thing. No, I'm not testing my fucking fate like that. They burned it. It wouldn't burn. They threw it away and ended up back on their doorstep with an aggressive knock on the door. It would not be thrown away or cast out, so they knew it would be part of their lives forever. No. Soon my grandma got older and just shoved it onto my mom. It's safe to say my grandma isn't known for being

the best mom. My mom inherited this demon board for no fucking reason other than my grandma didn't want to have to deal with it, typical. So my mom started experiencing black shadows watching her, following her around, and even messing with her baby, my older sister. I love that. Your grandma was like, here, take this. Yeah, here have this. This might happen. My mom, again, is sensitive to things like this. So she knew something wasn't right with this demon board. So she again tried to get rid of it. When she even thought about doing it, she would hear you throw it away. It'll come back. You. You throw it away and we'll be back. But my mom being the confrontational woman she is, was like,

bet I dare you assholes to try me and did. And the next day, it appeared at their doorway at the same time her tree in the front yard caught fire. Yes, you heard me. The whole ass tree caught fire. No. Now before you think, oh, it was probably lightning that caught the tree on fire, it was a clear day, clear.

I wasn't even thinking that. My mom saw this and she then was like, oh, fuck, these bitches were serious. And immediately just left the board alone and put it under her bed. But you can't put it away completely under the bed or to the back of the bed where it can't be seen because it will move its ass all the way to the front so people can see it. It's a self-centered bitch. What's new? You should just frame it. Honestly, just give it its own little thing.

Here you go. Yeah. So it was time for my mom to want to start a full Brady Bunch family with my dad and blah, blah. My mom and dad moved and brought the demon board with her. and it didn't like my mom but loved my sister. This is when I tell you my dad did not believe in all this uga-boga and go-shit. He was straight-edged and everything had a meaning. There was no gray areas.

Errors. But back to it, the Ouija board loved my sister and only her. She would talk to it and laugh with it. You would think it was the new shoots and ladders, man. She loved that shit. My mom started to grow concerned because things would follow my sister everywhere she moved. Obviously the board didn't, obviously the Wea-Wi-Wi-Wed. board helped this being children being children are sensitive to these things it got to the point where my

mom was concerned this thing wanted to take my sister there was one day when my sister was talking to what seemed like nothing and kept saying no leave me alone mommy doesn't want me to go with you she said no and my mom stood by the doorframe and looked at her and asked what do you mean sweetie who are you talking to and then my sister turned around and slowly said run mom and the door shut in my mom's face Throw away the whole ass kid. Oh my god. Whole ass kid. Throw away the kid.

My sister screamed bloody murder and my mom did everything to try to get into the door, but she could not get in. My mom did everything, but my sister just screamed and screamed. And then it all stopped and the door just cracked open. That reminds me of in the sixth sense when he's in that little crawl space and you could hear the voice. And then the door shuts and locks. And you can hear him screaming and she can't get in the door and then it just opens. Oh, I hate that scene. And I hate that you just made me watch it in my head.

And he just falls out. Oh, that scene kills me. My goosebumps, goosebumps have goosebumps. Yes. My sister was sitting on the floor with her hands covering her head crying. My mom rushed in and asked what happened and she said, he didn't want me to leave. He doesn't like you, mommy. He doesn't like any of you.

And that's when my mom was like, we are cleansing this place. and getting the fuck out of here. My mom tried to explain this happening to my dad, but my dad said my sister was just acting out and throwing a tantrum. Right, dad, a small eight-year-old threw their mattress and desk and toys around the room. She must be the fucking Hulk.

My God, Dad, come on. What a revelation you made. Anyway, my mom left the Ouija board at the old house thinking this would be the last time she had to ever see it. Wrong. My family moved to a new state, still in the Midwest, sadly.

When my mom was unpacking, she heard the doorbell ring. She answered the door, nothing was there. So she thought maybe they got the wrong house. She went to put my oldest sister's clothes away in her drawers and guess what was in the drawer? The Ouija board. You heard me. It will not leave us alone, especially my older sister. What the fuck? My mom realized that no matter what she did, the demon board followed. And it had the hots for my sister, creep. She's a child, sir. Date within your age board. Yeah, for real. So we figured my sister would keep it under her bed. But any she moved it to where it didn't like being placed, it moved itself to where it does like to be

seen. It hasn't since caused my older sister problems, but we refuse to open it or even play it, because one, we have no idea where the fuck it came from and who or what touched it or had it before us. Uh-uh. And two, even opening the box seems to be tempting fate, and I'm too young to die. Agreed. But to this day, it is at my older sister's house somewhere where I refuse to touch it. But know this. Anytime you get near it, you feel a sense of safe. sickness, anger, nausea, and darkness. It's not a healthy object to be near. I think it belongs in the basement of Ed and Lorraine's demon collection next to Annabel. It definitely does. You got to call them. So that's my story. I have plenty more where that came from, from the haunted piano that plays by itself

and picks its own music, to the uncle that could quite possibly be the Antichrist, to the abandoned Girl Scout camps with a doll landlord that likes visiting cabins, but also in the back acreage of an already running camp full of ghostly friends that do not like change, but love gossip. I want all of that. So if you'd like to hear more, let me know. I'm letting you know. I want that. Yes, and consider this our request.

But that story has been sealed in my mind since I was a kid. Unseal it. Let's go. Let's go. Open the vault. Also, love your guys' show, and it always keeps me saying when I'm going through such a rough time. Like right now, it's been so hard, but you both have gotten me through it. Oh, I'm sorry.

So thank you ever so much. You're welcome. And I hope it gets easier. I know. But not so weird that you are a question. a stalker Ouija board that doesn't understand a restraining order, so it follows you across state lines, only to fall in love with your eight-year-old sister and become whipped by her, but not so whipped that it tolerates being the backup dancer. It is the Beyonce of the Destiny's

Child Dreamgirls, but you only wish it was a dream girl. It is the main character, if you will, and hates adults in your family, so it acts out whenever you talk shit on it, so you make sure to hold your tongue whenever you feel it's demon stare and act like it's an illusion, baby. That was great. If you want to hear more, shoot me a good old email. Oh, I will. Also, there's a picture of my girlfriend and I for you guys because I thought the love story I shared could use an actual successful love story to show. Yeah. Her and I have been listening to you too since I can remember and she loves the spooiness you all bring to your episodes. But she's a scarity cat, so you both do a good job at not scaring her too much, which I appreciate since we are a long distance and I cannot be there to comfort her.

She loves me and all my witchiness and goes seeing glory. So you could say she's the best. She is the best. So here's the most beautiful and resilient girl that I'm lucky enough to call my girlfriend and soon be fiancé. She's the one on the right. Thanks again, you goofballs. We both love you, girls. Oh, my goodness.

Oh, my God, you are both so beautiful. You are both gorge? Also, are these the Snapchat glasses or are these yours because I like them? I really like. If they're just Snapchat glasses, they look great on you. I think they're real. They look real to me. They look amazing.

Oh, also, I like your butterfly earrings. Wow, you guys are adorable. That story scared me, so I'm just focusing on all the things I love about you guys. Holy shit. Angel, I am not with the shits. I am astounded by that. That was absolutely fucking terrifying. That would be a story that you could like flesh out into a full ass, like haunted tale.

Ab's so fucking loop. I would watch that. I would read that. Let's go. Oh, my gosh. I still have goosebumps from all these stories, you guys. Wow. You guys brought it.

Whoa. You brought it. And I appreciate that. I'm like in my like a fight or flight position. I know. I'm like, ooh. I'm just in my like protective mode. Damn.

These ones really, you came with. it. You came with it. I appreciate that. You were all with the shits. You were. And we hope that you continue to be with the shits because I'm not really with the shits right now, but if you would like to, we really hope that you keep listening. And we hope you keep it weird.

But not somewhere that you terrify the shit out of me like you just did. That story really fucked me up, okay? I love you. Bye. Bye. That's scary.