Radio Rental - Episode 61

Episode Date: May 10, 2024

On today's tapes... >> Au Pair > Ghost Monk

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Listener discretion is advised. Take a break from the same old boring blockbusters and experience a new kind of movie night with Radio Rental. At Radio Rental, our videos come to life in your living room, defy all logic and reasoning, and make you question your own reality. This is not your ordinary video rental store. At Radio Rental, we carry one-of-a-kind videos so frightening, so mind-bending, you won't be able to sleep at night. You've

gone Radio Rental. Oh, hello, hello. Hello, join us. We'll close the door behind you. Don't want the rain getting in. Welcome to Radio Rental. I'm Terry Carnation, the shopkeeper here at this VHS rental house. And this little purr machine is my cat Malachi. Hey, hey, it's okay, Malachi.

Just a little lightning. Poor little guy. He's terrified of inclement weather. Ever since he saw the 1996 classic Twister. Which, by the way, did you hear there's going to be a sequel? Twisters. Yes, the sequel to Twister will be called Twisters.

My prediction for the movie is that there will be more than one tornado. They should have called it Twizzlers. That's a movie I would see. Twizzlers. Thank you for listening to Radio Rental, brought to you by Twizzlers.

We wish. I would love some Twizzlers. Thank you for listening to Radio Rental, brought to you by Twizzlers. We wish. I would love some Twizzlers sponsorship if anyone can get me the hookup. I just love the taste of Red 40. And by the way, screw Red Vines. I would never take a sponsorship from them. Twizzlers forever. Oh, wow, it's really coming down out there. Perfect weather for some spooky stories, am I right?

Well, let's just pop something in, shall we? Well, honestly, you're going to have to do the legwork yourself. I've got a cat on my lap, after all. Oh, look, he's so cozy. He's making biscuits. Oh, is the biscuit chef in today? Has the biscuit chef begun his shift at the biscuit factory? Oh, yes, chef. Yes, chef. Yes, chef.

Corner! Okay, that's all the culinary language I know. Now, have you chosen your tape yet? Yes, just you go ahead, pop it in right there. Pop it in. Put it in, press play. When I was 17, I really wanted to go and work as an au pair. I was done with school and I really wanted to do something new and travel. I thought that it was a good idea to do it as an au pair because I love kids, I love working with people.

It's something I wanted to do as well, you know, as an adult. I thought it was something I could be good at, doing it in a country where I could see some really good friends. That was really appealing to me. Since I was only 17, I couldn't really do that most places. I was very impatient, so I looked up places where I could go and work, and I found out that I could do that in the UK. Everyone recommended to do it with an agency where you would pay a lot of money for it. I didn't really have that much money.

So I was just thinking, that's fine. I'm just going to do it through this free website where everyone can apply for an au pair job in Birmingham, where I have a few friends living. I found this woman named Elizabeth. I was very happy when she replied back, because I felt like, you know, this was good. It was good, and it was going to lead to something. We started talking, and she seemed very nice. She told me that she had two children who she needed help with

since her husband was in Africa working. That sounded amazing. And the kids, they just seemed like sweet kids from the pictures. They were smiling and looking happy and just very cute kids. So they looked like this really nice family. I thought that it sounded legit.

You know, it could be good. I was a bit nervous talking to her. I really wanted to do it well, tell her the right things and give a very good impression. And then we started Skyping. It was always her laying in her bed. She just told me that she'd just woken up because she had been working night shifts. I remember her being really nice in a way that she always smiled and called me sweet names like hun and darling. I really liked her for that. I thought it was really really sweet of her since I'm not really used to that here in Denmark.

She just had this nice energy about her, asking me questions and, you know, curious about me. From then on, it was just us contacting each other a few times a week, just talking about, you know, asking how things were, asking each other questions about what we were doing, getting things settled on, you know, the contract. I never saw the children. When I was talking to her, we were just talking about what she expected of me

and she was asking me about myself. And then she told me one day that I should try and Skype the kids. So she gave me their Skype IDs. I tried to call the children a few times, but they never picked up. I was thinking, oh, that's strange. That's weird that I don't see the kids that I'm supposed to take care of. You know, that she's not bringing them in to talk to me.

And I thought, oh, that's okay. It's just a weird little thing. We were talking for a few weeks, and then we settled on the fact that I should come work for her. And we decided for me to fly over in the start of January 2017. I was really desperate to travel and work as an au pair, so I accepted it. I remember when I bought the ticket, I was very giddy, I was very excited about going. I was very excited to go to the city where my friends lived. I was just talking to them and telling them about it and we were getting excited together about it. We just talked about how good it was going to be. We were talking about the things we were going to do and I just got super happy and excited about that. It was a good feeling.

Up until flying out, I did a lot of research. I watched a lot of YouTube videos, and I read a lot of blogs about people working as an au pair. All of them had these pictures or videos of the families picking them up in the airport. So that was kind of what I was expecting, to see this welcome committee waiting, you know, with the mom and her kids. I was kind of looking forward to that, just to meet them. Since I have never really talked to the kids either, I thought that would be a nice way of meeting them.

When I arrived at the airport in Birmingham, there was no one there to greet me. I was honestly very confused and a bit disappointed as well. So I sent her a message where I told her, hey, are you here? I'm here. I'm just waiting to get my luggage. She told me that there was traffic, but that she would be there in about 10 minutes and asked me what I was wearing. I told her that I was wearing almost all black

and I had this brown bag with me. She told me to go to departure and she told me to wait at the bus stop. I was a bit confused, I couldn't really find it. She kind of guided me towards it. I was apologizing for not really knowing where it was. I told her that I found it. She told me to give her 10 minutes and then she would be with me.

I was waiting around for a bit and then I saw this woman waving at me, smiling. I was a bit confused because I didn't know who that woman was. This wasn't the woman I'd been talking to. She was just smiling really big, waving at me and coming over to me. I was getting a bit nervous, thinking that something might be wrong.

The second I saw that woman, I got a message from Elizabeth, woman I've been talking to, saying that's my cousin's sister and she'll take good care of you. And then another one saying, hi hon I'm so sorry I didn't want to disappoint you but I just thought since you had bought a ticket already you just come to my cousin's sister. My husband moved back home I want to want to disappoint you, but I just thought since you had bought a ticket already, you just come to my cousin's sister. My husband moved back home. I want to try to raise the kids and he thinks it's a waste of money to have someone when he is here and that's why. Find it in your heart to forgive me. The kids are sad. They wanted to see you too, but it's the same job. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask.

She only has one child and it's easier. I was kind of in shock. My head was just going 200 miles an hour. I didn't really know what to think. I was just adding things together and then, you know, the fact that I didn't see any kids and this wasn't the woman who I was supposed to talk to. This wasn't the woman I was supposed to work for. And I didn't reply to this.

I thought it was so weird that I got that message the second I saw the woman. I was almost looking around to see if she was standing somewhere or sitting in a car or anything, just looking. I just thought that maybe something very weird was going on and that someone was looking at me like someone else was watching me. While I was reading this message a woman came up to me like Elizabeth she seemed very nice she seemed very happy and she was smiling a lot and talking to me. She gave me a hug.

I was in shock. I didn't really know how to react to it. She took my luggage from me. She was very quick about putting it in her car, kind of trying to get my things in the cars we could leave. Again I didn't really know how to react to it all. I was just letting her, kind of asking her about what was going on. She told me again the story like Elizabeth had. I remember the feeling when your heart sinks, feeling kind of cold in your body, not really being able to say anything. I remember being kind of in shock in your body, not really being able to say anything. I remember being kind of in shock in that way and that was when it really hit me

that I didn't know what was going on and I got really, really scared. She was very insisting on me getting in her car, that I could just work for her, like I could work for Elizabeth, and that it was no problem. Put her hand on my back and guided me to her car. I didn't really get a chance to talk because she was talking so fast

and she was saying a lot of things about how she was happy to meet me and happy to have me here. I froze up in fear. I couldn't really say that much. I just kind of did what she told me to do. I got in her car. The second I got in her car and the door closed, I told her I didn't want to do this. I'm not comfortable with this. I don't feel safe. I just don't want to do this. So if she could please just let me get out and she could give me my luggage again that would be great.

She didn't really want to do that due to the fact that we were in a drop-off, no, pickup area and that she would get fined if she did that. I was kind of feeling stuck. I was like, OK, we can drive somewhere else. I kind of reluctantly agreed to that. This wasn't right for me to do. I told her, like, I really want to get out. If she could please just let me out so I can go. And she said, oh no, we can drive somewhere else and then I can drop you off and we can

think about it. I wasn't really sure where she would be taking me. I was hoping for her to just take me to the parking lot and just drop me off and that would be it. But I was freaking out on the inside, really scared that she would just take me with her and drive off. It was just all these insane thoughts just going through my head. The fear of getting trafficked. I've watched a lot of movies and heard a lot of stories about young girls going to other countries and

then they get trafficked or they get kidnapped or murdered or anything like that. I was just thinking the worst. She drove to this hangar a bit away from where she picked me up. It was just a few minutes, but I remember feeling like it felt like forever. When she parked, I got out of the car and I instantly just called my mom. I was bawling my eyes out. I was sobbing. I was so scared. When she heard me crying, I could just hear the fear in her voice when she asked me what was wrong. I told her about the woman, about her not being the one I had been talking

to. I told her that I was really scared. She advised me to not go with her and to get back to the airport. She wanted me to get away from that woman. We hung up and I called my dad and I told him the same thing. He was a bit more angry. I could hear he was very afraid as well. He advised me to call one of the good friends that I had in that city and ask her if she could help me. And I called her. She told me that her dad would pay for me to get a taxi to her place.

I was standing outside of the car. I was crying and I think I was talking really loud. I could hear a woman in the car. She was speaking on the phone as well and her phone was on speaker. I don't really understand what they were saying since it was in another language than English. But I'm pretty sure she was talking to Elizabeth. I got back into the car, and I saw that she was still on the phone, and then she hung up a minute after I got back in. I told her that I really wanted to go back to the airport,

and I needed her to drop me off. Every time I asked her, can you please drop me off at the airport, she said, oh, but I'm already, I'm going to go in the city. Don't you want me to take you with me? I can drop you off at the shopping center or I can drop you off in the city. She was going to go shopping anyway, so she could just take me with her. I told her, no, I really don't want to do this. I'm not comfortable with this. I just

wanted to drive you back to the airport. And it was kind of the same thing every time I asked her to please drop me off at the airport. And I think I asked her three times. In the end, she just relented. She told me that she would drop me off in the parking area where there was this shuttle bus that would take me back to the airport. I was just crying. I was really, really scared. I didn't know if she was just gonna drive off with me

somewhere else or if she was actually going to drop me off. On the drive, I was sitting next to her and she kept looking over at me while talking to me about going with her and getting dropped off somewhere else. I was just focused on where we were going and looking to see if I could recognize the airport. After a few minutes, she did drop me off at the parking lot by a bus station. We both got out and she took my bags out. She was looking very disappointed and told me that if I decided to come work for her anyways, that I could just send her a message or send Elizabeth a message. I took my stuff and I went up to the bus station and I just waited there for her to leave.

And then when she did, I just had this huge sigh of relief. Now that I was safe, I was thinking, oh no. Was I just being really rude to this woman who just wanted an au pair? I did not think that when I was talking to her, I was just seeing red flags. There was so much of it that didn't make any sense. There was so much of it that was wrong in a way that gave me a really, really sick gut feeling. I have this feeling that I avoided something dangerous. I don't even know what to say after that one.

People are so sketchy. You have to be careful out there, friends. The internet has ruined us. Everyone is hiding behind screen names and handles and avatars. Not me. I am always Terry Carnation. I am not hiding. At me. DM me. I am the real deal. There's no actor playing me. I am me. There's no one behind the curtain. Just me, I am the real deal. There's no actor playing me. I am me. There's no one behind the curtain. Just me, Terry.

Hi, it's me, Terry. How about we break for some ads? Metrolinks and Crosslinks are reminding everyone to be careful, as Eglinton Crosstown LRT train testing is in progress. Please be alert as trains can pass at any time on the tracks. Remember to follow all traffic signals, be careful along our tracks, and only make left turns where it's safe to do so. Be alert, be aware, and stay safe.

I am so dreading groceries this week. Why? You can skip it. Oh, what? Just like that? Just like that. How about dinner with my third cousin? Skip it. Prince Fluffy's favorite treats? Skippable.

Midnight snacks? Skip. My neighbor's nightly saxophone practices? Uh, nope. You're on your own there. Could have skipped it. Should have skipped it. Skip to the good part and get groceries, meals, and more delivered right to your door on Skip. And we're back. Let's get right into another story, shall we? I studied abroad at a small university called Queen Mary University of London. Oddly enough, it was like a few miles away from where the Jack the Ripper stuff happened.

The very end of my study abroad time, I was the only person left in the dorms. So I was the only one left there for about three or four days. That didn't really bother me too much. There was plenty of security on campus. It was the second day before I was going back to the States. I went to bed around like 10 or 11 o'clock. A few hours later I woke up and I just kind of felt like there was something going on in my room but I couldn't quite tell what was going on.

I remember like opening my eyes and I looked over into the corner of the room. It looks like there's like a shadow or something. At first, I wasn't doing anything. I was just sort of like standing there, almost like as a standing guard in the corner of the room. But I wasn't quite sure what it was. So I just kind of like closed my eyes. I was like, maybe I should just check this out one more time.

I look over and I see the same exact thing I saw the first time. This black figure with like a hood right in the corner where the door jammed at this bookcase. I knew right away what I was looking at. There was no question that there was a ghost in my room. And now I'm starting to panic. The next question was, is this a friendly ghost? I was trying to figure out if this ghost was going to possess me? No, this is not happening right now.

I was quite scared. It was worse knowing that I was the only one in the dorms and I had no one. I couldn't go next door to my neighbor. This has to be a shadow because there's a window directly across, like on the other side of the room from the door. But it's also the middle of the night, so there isn't too much light.

I don't remember there being a light in the courtyard or anything that was on that window. I close my eyes and I said, I'm gonna count to 10. I'm gonna open them back up and I'm not gonna see anything and I'm just gonna go to sleep. Close my eyes, count to ten. One, two, three, four, five. Opening my eyes real quick before I even get to ten.

Closing them and then just saying okay let's wait till I get to 10. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. I open my eyes, and I look over in that same spot, and I don't see anything. But that's only because this hooded figure is now 10 feet closer to me, in the middle of my room. Sat up in bed.

Could not have sat up any faster had I tried. Sheer panic. What the heck is going on? Am I having, like, a fever dream? Am I hallucinating? Have I been drinking too much? I'm sort of looking at this thing and it has some depth to it. I can make out a hood.

I can make out that there is a head. I can make out shoulders. I can make out that they have their arms sort of crossed like a monk would. And I'm just sort of watching this thing very slowly kind of glide through my room. That fight or flight mechanism is coming up and saying, if it's getting any closer to me, I gotta do something.

It's the middle of the night, there's no one around. I'm in my bed, it's between me and the door. I'm paralyzed with fear that I'm stuck here watching this thing this cloudy misty ghosty figure in my room it gets right next to me in my bed can I touch it this Is this just a shadow? Is this something else? I put my arm out, and I put my arm through it, fully extended my arm, and just kind of swept that all the way through. The cloud dissipates.

It just became like this blob. Maybe after five or ten seconds, I start seeing this thing come back to form, to this hooded figure form. I can see it turn and face me. I can see hood, shoulders, arms crossed, and I see this thing bow. The actual tip of the hood is getting closer to me, and then I can see it stand back up. And then it turns and starts gliding in the same direction it had been going

i i don't understand did it just bow to me what just happened i watched this thing bow to me turn and continue on i just turned the lights on and i was like what what did I just see? I have no idea what just happened. So I just sat up in bed, turned the lights on, grabbed my laptop. I was determined just not to go back to sleep that night. I watched movies, videos, anything that could keep my attention away from this for the next five or six hours until the sun came up. Why did this happen to me? What was this?

Has this been happening the whole time? Has this happened another night and I just wasn't awake? All the things you hear that ghosts are capable of doing or spirits are capable of doing, that's just all racing through your mind. So I'm exhausted. I'm like, I got to get out of this dorm room. So I went into central London, did some shopping, since I'm going home in a couple days, and I came back. I was so freaked out by what happened. Uneasy, just tried to tell myself, this didn't happen, this didn't happen. I decided to set up my camera and my microphone and my laptop

to try to catch this thing, audio and video in my room that whole night. I hit record, but I was like too filled with adrenaline to be able to actually fall asleep. Get up in the morning, I listened to all eight hours of it. The only thing I heard was

my fridge kick on about two minutes later. I'm flying out that morning, so I close my laptop, pack up all of my stuff, I head to Heathrow Airport, fly back to the States. My parents picked me up from the airport. And very nonchalantly, I just said, Oh, by the way, I'm pretty sure I saw a ghost in my dorm room.

And my mom is like a huge believer in the paranormal and whatnot. My mom shoots up and she's like, what do you mean you saw a ghost in your dorm room? So I tell her this story, and she's like, that's so fascinating. She's like asking me all these questions. You saw a hooded figure.

Where was it? How quickly did everything happen? Trying to recall those moments over and over again and trying to like prove yourself wrong that you didn't just see what you saw. A week or so later, she tells me, by the way, I've been doing some research on what your experience was.

Apparently this is a fairly common phenomenon. Well, in Europe, especially England, they call them ghost monks. And they're like a quote unquote unquote, a good omen. That someone's like watching over you during like a stressful period or anything. And it appears in a form that people understand. We think of monks as these very spiritual, good-natured people who lived a long time ago. And so it lends a hand for them to come in this forum

to show people there's no need to be afraid, I'm here to help you. For her, it really just kind of meant that someone was watching over me before I made this journey back to the US. She found there was actually a monastery hundreds of years before the university was built, like on or near that location that had burned down.

The fact that it's happened to me and I can't explain it tells me that there's more to this story than what I can even think of. A ghost monk in his room? Wow. Like the ghost of Tony Shalhoub's character wandering around his room, straightening out picture frames and ironing pants and stuff. Actually, that would be really fun.

I would like to see that. Oh, I have an idea. How about we play an ad? You've always wanted to be part of something bigger than yourself. You live for experience and lead by example.

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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 We'll see you next time. podcast crime writers on wherever you get your podcasts like probably right here well thank you dear patron for spending this spooky cozy evening with us here at radio rental malachi seems to have finally calmed down again from the last lightning strike. Oh, look. Yes, look. Biscuit making has resumed. Oh, good boy, Malachi. Okay, okay. Malachi, be careful. You're going to poke holes in my favorite chinos. Malachi! Ow! Ow! Okay.

Ah! Chill. My thigh is not a biscuit. I think you're going to break skin. Ow! Malachi, ow! Ah! Chill. My thigh is not a biscuit. I think you're gonna break skin. Ow! Malachi, ow! Gah! That's it. The biscuit factory is closed. I'm shutting it down. No more biscuits. No more biscuits.

Well, I'm sorry. The townspeople will just have to starve. I'll have you know my thigh is not dough. My thigh is not dough. Radio Rental is created by Payne Lindsay and brought to you by Tenderfoot TV. Lead producer is Eric Quintana. Executive producers are Payne Lindsay and Donald Albright. and brought to you by Tenderfoot TV. is Jaja Muhammad. Editing by Eric Quintana, Mike Rooney, Steven Perez, and Meredith Steadman.

Sound design by Cooper Skinner, with additional sound design by Steven Perez and April Ruha. Mix and master by Cooper Skinner, with additional mixing by Steven Perez and Devin Johnson. Original score by Makeup and Vanity Set, with additional score by Jay Ragsdale. Video editing by Dylan Harrington. Cover artwork by Trevor Eiler and Rob Sheridan. Special thanks to Oren Rosenbaum and the team at UTI, the Nord Group, Station 16, Beck Media and Marketing, and the team at Odyssey. 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.