Radio Rental - Episode 41

Episode Date: June 16, 2023

On today's tapes... >> Intruder Alert > Second Sight > Doll on a String

Thank you. stories we tackle next. Plus, you could win a nice prize just for sharing your thoughts. Head over to tenderfoot.tv slash survey and let your voice be heard, and you'll be entered to win a $100 Amazon gift card plus a Tenderfoot merch pack. It only takes a few minutes, and it makes a big difference. Thank you for being part of our community. We can't wait to hear from you. Hate waiting a week for the next episode of Radio Rental? Subscribe to Tenderfoot Plus to get early access to episodes, ad-free listening, and bonus scary stories. Visit tenderfootplus.com for details. The following podcast includes scary stories

with content that could be triggering to some listeners. Listener discretion is advised. It transcends time and space. It's a sound, like a radio, but it isn't a radio. There's actually no radios involved at all whatsoever. You come for the thrills. You stay for the memories. A man's soothing voice swells and seeps into your ear bones and says,

It's time for ads. This terrifies you. Soothing voice swells and seeps into your ear bones and says, It's time for ads. This terrifies you. You like. You comment. You follow and subscribe. It's Radio Rental. So what did you think?

I was told that my content was starting to sound a little lowbrow. Well, not on my watch, so... I'm getting a little more poetic with it, following in the footsteps of one of my favorite horror hosts, the legendary Mr. Serling. Rod, as his good friends called him. Short for... Rodney? Roderick? Rod? Jur?

I don't know. I don't really know. I don't really care. Anyway, this is about me and this is about us. Now that we've set the vibe all good and creepy, let's settle in for one of the creepiest episodes yet. Good work, Susie. That was actually quite well done. Very creepy.

Now imagine having to listen to that in the middle of the night. I'm getting no sleep around here. Help. First tape. In 2011, I had just graduated from college. I moved back home with my mom and my younger brother, who was about 15 at the time. We lived in a quiet suburb of Washington, D.C. Very safe place. Violent crime was extremely rare. One Thursday in the fall of 2011, we had just had dinner,

and we normally would sit down and watch TV, relax a little bit. Once we both were tired, we went to bed around 9, 10 o'clock. My mom and I both had to work the next morning. We're sleeping soundly until around 2 in the morning. My mom heard the sound of the side door, which happened to be directly below her room, shut. That's unusual. No one should be coming into the house right now.

She went to the top of the stairs and could hear someone walking downstairs. I woke up to the sound of my mom shouting down the stairs, Hello? Hello, who's down there? Once she didn't hear a reply, she thought that was strange. So I stand at the top of the stairs, and we both listen. I can hear that someone is walking downstairs. They're intentionally walking very quietly.

It was inconsistent as if someone stepped on the floorboard and heard it make a sound. Stop. And then take their next footstep. Very slow and quiet, but very distinctly human footsteps. I'm feeling confused because I'm thinking, no one should be here. This is very scary.

My fight or flight kicked in. I could feel my heart racing. My mouth got very dry. We go into her bedroom and lock the door, and we call 911. My mom and I had made it into her closet when we heard them walk up the stairs. Way more terrified. Why would this person come upstairs

when they know we're up here? We've already made our presence known. This person wants something to do with harming my mom or I. I watched a lot of slasher films as a kid, and one of my fears growing up was being stabbed. The 911 operator tells us she's going to dispatch the police to our house, but we needed to stay in the room with the door locked and wait for them to come. Our side door had a code lock.

You just had to enter a code and you could get into our house. The code happened to be 1379, which were the four corners of the code. The numbers were smudged. Pretty easy to guess the code. We told the operator that the door did have a code to it, and she had asked us if we had given the code out to anyone recently. My mom had given it out to a contractor who was doing some work in the house. While we're waiting on the phone with the 911 operator, I start to hear footsteps going up the stairs. It sounds like someone's intentionally trying to be quiet. We hear

the floorboards creaking towards my mom's bedroom. The person is walking up the stairs and across the hall. And I remember my mom holding her pepper spray, thinking, that's not going to protect us. I can tell my mom is absolutely terrified. She could barely make words come out of her mouth because she was so scared. That made me a little more scared. We grow up thinking our parents are protectors.

I had just never seen her so terrified in my life. The doorknob to her bedroom turns, but it's locked. The person walks back down the hallway and down the stairs. We tell this to an operator, and she tells us that the police have gone to the home. They've surrounded the entryways. They didn't have their lights or sound on as to not scare whoever's in the house. Once the police come into the house,

I'm thinking, okay, we're safe. Nothing bad's gonna happen. And I remember hearing them when they into the house, I'm thinking, okay, we're safe. Nothing bad's going to happen. And I remember hearing them when they entered the house, come out with your hands up. The police are here. Make your presence known. And at that point, a few officers came into the bedroom and let us know that we could come out.

That's when I saw my younger brother. My younger brother and his buddy, they had been at a party where underage drinking was happening. They got kicked out of the house and had nowhere to stay for the night. So one of their friends who could drive was able to take him and his friend to our house to sleep for the night. I guess my brother was not wanting to come clean about being at a party where underage drinking was, so he decided not to call or text my mom and try to come into the house quietly. I was extremely annoyed.

He had just put us through this extremely terrifying situation. The police were, I think, pretty frustrated that they obviously went through all this work to enter our home and it happened to be my younger brother. I remember them questioning him, like, have you consumed any alcohol tonight? And he hadn't, so he said no. My brother didn't have a lot to say. He was wildly apologetic.

Definitely felt bad for scaring my mom and I. We still talk about it to this day, how that was one of the scariest things we'd been through. I'll never forget it, he was in his boxer shorts, and I'm just thinking, oh my gosh, are you kidding me? You just put me and mom through the scariest 10 minutes of our lives. We literally thought we were going to die.

We interrupt this broadcast to bring you folks at home a few ads. From Coppertone, Palmolive, and Chatty Cathy, all your favorite ads in one place. But don't forget... That's right. Radio Rental. Your one-stop shop for horror. Stay tuned for more Radio Rental. We'll be right back after the break. is famous for when you play classics like MGM Grand Millions or popular games like Blackjack, Baccarat, and Roulette. Download the BetMGM Casino app today. BetMGM and GameSense remind you to play responsibly. BetMGM.com for T's and C's, 90 plus to wager Ontario only. Please play responsibly. If you have questions or concerns about gambling or someone close to you, please contact Connex Ontario at 1-866-531-2600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. Crime Writers On is the podcast where

authors and journalists talk about the latest true crime series, documentaries, and podcasts. Talk about what's on the charts and find those up-and-coming podcasts you'll be talking about. It's like a fun and smart book club discussing what makes good storytelling and teaching how to become a critical listener. Or not. And stick around for the Crime W thumbs up thumbs down reviews it's the

original true crime review podcast crime writers on wherever you get your podcasts like probably right here okay folks it's time for our next tape if you dare step inside of radio rental. I grew up in southwest Michigan in what I would consider to be a fairly rural area. We actually lived in like a old farmhouse that sat on about 20 acres of woods. The property on the right side and across the street were just vacant lots that were owned by the local power company.

They didn't have anything on them other than those really big transmission towers that you see that carry power lines to the power companies. I would have been almost 10 years old. It was the first time in months that it had been actually nice enough to go outside and play. Because of that, I had had a friend over after school. We were outside just playing, running around, being kids. My mom comes outside to let us know that dinner is ready. The three of us are just walking back towards the house, not really talking about anything in particular.

We're just laughing, talking. For whatever reason, one of the transmission towers to my right catches my eye. I don't know why. It's the same transmission tower that I'd seen every day for several years. Something just comes over me and it's sort of like just a trance-like state almost where I just remember I stopped dead in my tracks and I think, what would happen if I climbed one of those towers?

As I think that, I proceed to say it out loud. And my mom, at first, is really confused as to why I would ask that question, and she says, what? Why would you ask that question? You would get electrocuted. She looked at me and she grabs me and she says, if you go near one of those towers, you will get electrocuted and you will die. Stay away from those towers.

Okay, mom, way to overreact. God, it was just a question. My friend and I go sit at the dining room table while my mom's in the kitchen getting dinner ready. While we're sitting there, all of a sudden, the dining room light begins to flicker on and off. Not just flickering, but it's accompanied by that noise that you get when there's a power surge.

All the lights in the house were doing that. They were all making that noise. They were all flickering on and off. It lasted long enough that we knew it wasn't normal. I know my mom even made a comment. She was like, oh, looks like a critter chewed on a power line. No sooner than when she said that, the lights came back on, the power surge stopped. All in all, it lasted maybe 15, 20 seconds.

After that, she just came in with dinner. My friend, my mom, and I ate. We took my friend home. I went to bed, and then that was the end of the day. I wake up for school the next morning. You could tell something had happened because there were a bunch of teachers standing out front. Everything was just off. It wasn't a normal day. Like I knew something was up as soon as I had got there. My friend, who had been over at my house from the night before, starts running up to me

and she starts yelling, oh my God, you killed a kid, you killed a kid, oh my God, you killed a kid. She's saying this and I have no idea what she's talking about. And I'm mortified because what a terrible thing for one child to yell at another child with no context and not even understanding what's going on. I also was really confused and I started to become kind of embarrassed.

As she was saying it, she was getting louder. People were staring at us and teachers were staring at us and I remember I was just like, oh my god stop. Stop saying that, please. I don't know what you're talking about. Why are you yelling this to me? She looked really confused and she was like, oh you didn't hear? No, my mom took me to school. I didn't take the bus today. And I pulled her down the hallway towards the library.

Okay, just quietly tell me what you're talking about. She proceeded to tell me that the night before, there was a young boy who was in the grade above us, broke into the power plant that was at the bottom of my street, at the bottom of the hill, for whatever reason, tried to climb one of those transmission towers, and he was electrocuted and he was killed.

That moment at our dining room table when the power surge was happening and the lights were flickering on and off was the moment that he was being electrocuted. It was pretty shocking obviously, I mean I was just a kid and I didn't understand. That whole day in class, I couldn't think about anything else other than what had happened. I just kept replaying the events from the night before over and over and over again in my head, I quickly realized that from the time that I had had that weird trance-like state or that thought, from the time that I went and sat at the dining room table

and saw the lights flickering, was only a time span of maybe 10 minutes, which means that that kid and I had to have had the exact same thought at almost the exact same time less than a mile away from one another. Was I just picking up on, like, something was off, like, somewhere nearby, and it was just something that I was grasping onto?

I come home from school, and I'm waiting to tell my mom, and I run up to her, and I am saying to her the same thing that my friend said to me and I'm saying oh my god I killed a kid mom I killed a kid she was incredibly calm I remember the first thing she said was you can't kill people with your mind so stop saying that that is ridiculous and makes no sense

but then she proceeds to tell me ever since I was about your age I have had things like this happen to me too and I know that it's confusing and I know that it's scary and I know that you don't understand but what I want you to remember is that when this happens again And I know that it's confusing, and I know that it's scary, and I know that you don't understand. But what I want you to remember is that when this happens again, and it will,

is that you can't tell other people about it. No one else is going to understand. No one is going to believe you. They're just going to think you're crazy. I will always be here. No one is going to believe you. They're just going to think you're crazy. I will always be here. You can always talk to me. I will understand. Second sight is seeing something before it happens.

They are things that I've had happen my whole life. They come in all different forms. It is something that for a long time didn't share with people because I don't expect people to believe me. Unfortunately, my mother was killed in a car accident a few years later when I was 12. An accident that I fully believed she knew was coming based on conversations, you know, her and I had had prior to her death and she was a perfectly healthy 39-year-old woman. When it comes to the episodes of Second Sight, I've had three in my life. There's always a clear vision.

Two out of the three times, it's been corroborated by other people, and then there is a death. One thing that I've discovered from this is whether we like it or not, all of our days are numbered. Because if they're not, I shouldn't be able to see these things. Everybody has an expiration date, whether or not you want to hear that. Otherwise, this doesn't make any sense. Radio Rental will be right back after this quick word from our sponsors. Wow, how about all of those things you can buy and get and watch and listen to and subscribe to. Discount codes and free trials. Sounds too good to be true.

But you know what is true? The next story. 100% true. Let's play it. I was a freshman in college. It was the spring of 2008. I had a group of friends who, for our spring break, we were going to go hike onto the Appalachian Trail. The issue was, I had to hike in a couple days late. I couldn't get the whole time off and needed the money. I was going to get off work, drive through the night, not too late, start about nine o'clock and hit there about three in the morning or so. This was 2008, so MapQuest printed directions in my car. Driving through, probably on hour three or four, this back, like, wooded, windy road.

Completely pitch black. The only thing are headlights, and I hadn't seen headlights for probably an hour. Trees on all sides of us and almost canopying the drive. Just constant sharp curves. You can see the moon popping through from time to time, but super dark. I actually see something on the side of the road, but it takes me a little bit before I clock it.

As soon as my headlights hit it, it just lit up. I slam on my brakes. Oh, my God. There's a baby crawling on the side of the road. Heart starts racing. I can see the baby crawling on its stomach towards the woods. I have to get this baby help.

As soon as I parked the car, jumped out and started going towards it. I get a little closer. I realize that it's not an actual baby. It is a baby doll with yarn tied around its neck being pulled into the woods. You just saw the end of the string being pulled along. This was something wrong.

I couldn't hear anything. I felt like the trees got closer. My heart rate shot up. Sprint back to my car. Just take off driving. Got to the parking lot of a McDonald's. I finally had service. Immediately, like, called my dad.

As soon as he said hello, breakdown, crying. Called my friends. And the girls in the group, they were immediately called the police. I was always the class clown of the group. They knew that when this was a situation I wasn't going to make light of, that it was real. There had to have been someone who wished me ill.

I never even went to meet my friends on the trailhead. Because I was not going to spend any more time out in the woods, more than I needed to at that point. What was behind the yarn? What was pulling it into the woods? I think about how long a person would have had to sit there, waiting for the car to come by, in a very rural area. At 2 o'clock in the morning on a Monday night,

I hadn't passed a car in some time. Maybe someone saw me coming and went ahead to make this happen. It's still hard to think about, like, the what-ifs, the dot, dot, dots that make this happen. It's still hard to think about the what ifs, the dot, dot, dots that accompany this story. To make sense of it, I try to make it into a bigger operation than it actually was. I cannot wrap my head around the fact this happened to me at this time, in this place. How just crazy and absurd it was that this happened to me at this time in this place how just crazy and

absurd it was that this happened to me there could have been a hundred ways to get to where I was going I went this one way it could have been really bad. That last story may have had you on your toes. If you feel like you've lost your head, well, maybe you have. Maybe you've gone mental. That's right, completely and entirely radio-rental.

And it's only natural because that's what we promise to deliver here at our twisted end of the universe. Come back and join us once you've found your head. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. once you've found your head. Susie, stop squeezing Malachi that hard. You're hurting him. Have you never held a cat before? It's not a pincushion.

It's not a football. Thank you. by Rainn Wilson as his character, Terry Carnation. Written and produced by Meredith Stedman. Supervising producer is Tracy Kaplan. Associate producer is Jaja Muhammad. Editing by Eric Quintana, Mike Rooney, Sean Nerney, and Sydney Evans. Additional writing by Mark Laughlin. Sound design, mix, and master by Cooper Skinner. Additional sound design and mixing by Devin Johnson. Original score by Makeup and Vanity Set. and mixing by Devin Johnson. Original score by

Makeup and Vanity Set. Video editing by Dylan Harrington. Cover artwork by Trevor Eiler and Rob Sheridan. Special thanks to Oren Rosenbaum and the team at UTA, the Nord Group, Station 16, Beck Media and Marketing, and the team at Cadence 13. If you have a radio rental story that you'd like to share, please email us at yourscarystory at gmail.com or contact us via the form on our website, RadioRentalUSA.com. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter at Radio Rental. You can also follow the illustrious Terry Carnation

on social media. Just search at Terry Carnation. On behalf of the Radio Rental store, we'd love it if you'd subscribe, rate, and review. Thanks for listening. I'm Nadine Bailey. I've been a ghost tour guide for 20 years and have taken people into haunted places to uncover macabre tales and dark secrets.

On my podcast, Haunted Canada, I share bone-chilling stories of the unexplained. Search for Haunted Canada on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you're listening right now. Then join me if you dare.