Sightings - Halloween Listener Story Spooktacular

Episode Date: October 27, 2025

It’s Halloween AND our 50th episode! To celebrate, we’re bringing to life three of the creepiest listener stories we’ve ever been sent! Story Music tracks used by kind permission of CO.AG Sightings is a REVERB and QCODE Original. Find us on instagram ⁠⁠@sightingspod⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With Amex Platinum, you have access to over 1,400 airport lounges worldwide. So your experience before takeoff is a taste of what's to come. That's the powerful backing of Amex. Conditions apply. This episode is brought to you by Peloton. A new era of fitness is here. Introducing the new Peloton Cross Training Tread Plus, powered by Peloton IQ. Built for breakthroughs with personalized workout plans, real-time insights,

and endless ways to move. Lift with confidence. While Peloton IQ counts reps, corrects form, and tracks your progress. Let yourself run, lift, flow, and go. Explore the new Peloton cross-draining tread plus at OnePeloton.ca. Is it the matcha, or am I this energized

from scoring three Sephora holiday gift sets? Definitely the sets. Full size and minis bundled together, what a steal. And that packaging, so cute. It practically wraps itself. And I know I should be giving them away, but I'm keeping the Summer Fridays and Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez.

I don't blame you. The best holiday beauty sets are only at Sephora. Give sets from Summer Fridays, Rare Beauty, Way, and more are going fast. Get full-sized favorites and must-have minis. Bundled for more value. Shop before they're gone, in-store online at Sephora.ca. Halloween is the one night we invite fear in. When we tell ghost stories and laugh in the dark,

pretending the monsters aren't real. But the truth is, the strange and the terrifying often don't wait for October 31st. They can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time, and remind us that Halloween isn't just a holiday. It's a warning. Welcome to sightings, the series that takes you inside the world's most mysterious supernatural events.

Each episode brings you a thrilling story that puts you at the center of the action, followed by a discussion that dives into the accounts that inspired the story and our takes on them. I'm MacLeod. And I'm Brian, and it's not only the last Monday of the month, so it is listener story time, McLeod, your favorite. It's also a Halloween episode, and it is our 50th episode.

So I'm ready to be spooked this time. Yep. And our 50th episode, what should we do to celebrate? I think to celebrate, we should read three of the creepiest listener stories that you, our listeners, have sent to us. So pull those covers tight because I assume that you're in bed while listening to this. Make sure your doors are locked. And if you have some candy, unwrap it now before the lights go down.

Seriously, I don't want to be distracted while I'm reading these creepy stories. And I can hear you. I'm listening. Then ask yourself, can you survive Halloween with sightings? Ha ha ha ha ha ha. All right, and away we go down the dark tunnel of Halloween listener's stories. Will we escape out the other side? I don't know.

Let's find out. And my cat is clawing at my booth. Are you sure it's a cat, not a monster? I don't know for sure. It's been scaling the wall because my booth is covered in carpeting. And so it's literally been climbing up, like just straight up the wall. And I'm like, where is it? Where is it coming from?

And then I look up and look, oh, gosh, it's above me. And it's just peering out over the top. I think these stories are going to be a little scarier than the question of whether or not it's a cat or a monster climbing on your sound booth. But our first story is from Colton, from Pennsylvania. Okay. I'm not going to tell you anything more than that other than this is a spooky one. All right. And let's get some music going, like we always do.

I lived in a small town in Pennsylvania, about 25 minutes from Gettysburg, and I was about eight years old when this happened. It was a cold fall night. One of those nights where the wind whistles through the trees and everything feels just a little bit off. My mother was a hard-working single mom, and she needed a night off for once. So she dropped me off at my grandmother's house, gave me a hug, said she'd be back late, and drove off. My grandmother lived in a very old apartment building, the kind built back in the 1920s. It had that permanent musty smell, faded wallpaper peeling at the corners, and floors that groaned with every step. I visited her about twice a month, and even though I loved her, her place always creeped me out a little. Something about it just felt

heavy and still, especially the second floor. She never let me go up there, not alone. Sometimes she'd just glance at the stairs and quietly change the subject. I was wondered if she knew something was up there, or maybe she just didn't want a hyper kid knocking things over. That night, I was in the living room watching TV. My grandmother was in the kitchen, cooking dinner, humming quietly to herself. Everything was calm until suddenly it wasn't. I started hearing noises, soft at first, a strange scratching noise like something dragging its nails across the inside of the walls. Sorry, just got creeped out a little bit. Then came this weird screeching sound, like metal twisting or a cat in pain. Oh no. Even to my eight-year-old mind, it didn't make

sense, and I tried to tell myself it was just the wind or maybe something outside, but the sound kept getting louder, closer, and it quickly became clear it was crawling toward me. I went to the window to check, but everything looked normal, empty, silent, until I heard that scratching again and looked down, and then I saw her. This thing was climbing up the wall outside. A woman, but twisted. Her limbs were long and spindly, bent the wrong way like a spider. She moved fast, almost too fast, her fingers clawing into the brick. Her face was locked in a permanent snarl, like she was frozen in the middle of a scream. But the most terrifying part, she looked like a younger version of my mother. For five seconds, long, terrifying.

seconds, I stared at her in disbelief. My whole body locked up. My heart was pounding so hard it hurt. Ben, instinct kicked in, and I ran. I ran straight to the kitchen, tears streaming down my face, covered in sweat, stammering to my grandmother about what I'd just seen. She told me it was just my imagination, and to go back to watching TV. But the way she said it, it was like she'd heard it before. Still shaking, I crept back to the living room window. Part of me hoping I'd imagined the whole thing. I peeked through the curtain. She was gone. I still think about that night. I still wonder what that thing was, why it looked like my mother, why it chose that night to show itself. I don't know if it was something that mimics people you love or something

worse. I've never seen it again, but I've never forgotten it either. Okay. First question, how is your relationship with your mom now? Good first question. My first question, McLeod, for you, are you glad this is not what was crawling on the outside of your sound booth? Yes, absolutely. Kittens are much nicer. Yes, indeed. Oh, boy. Yeah, this one, this one creep me out. I mean, this should be a movie. Are you kidding me? Because Like, there's actually some, like, incredible, like, thematic structures here going on, like, that are a great jumping off point for, like, my imagination and, like, a bigger story, which is, like, first you have this establishment of the second floor and the mystery of the second floor and, like, what's on the second floor, which he doesn't really address here. But that leaves me to say, like, the fact that the two are, like, kind of vaguely tied together makes me feel like, okay, well, wait, the mom needed a break. she dropped off at grandma's grandma was like hey don't go up to the second floor and then later mom is like demon spider woman crawling up your wall out your window it like gives me like werewolf vibes in terms of the structure of the story of like your mom is going out for a drink but no she's going up to the second floor to transform and sort of like exercise like exercise like exercise

not with an O, but like actually exercise her demon. Oh my gosh. I hadn't thought of it like that. Now that made it just so much scarier for me. Right? There's some pretty compelling layers going on there. And it is unique. I've never heard that's a story like this where there's an entity or some creature that looks like a family member like that.

It's like I feel like your brain would just kind of shut down and be like, what is happening when you see this? Yeah. I again, I want some follow up. I want, like, I want to know how are things with your ma? Like, did you tell your mom about this? You didn't see this ever again, but did your mom start having monthly, I need to go have nights with the girls night out or something like that? Yeah.

So, Colton from Pennsylvania, you know who you are. Please email us and let us know what happened since this because I'm going to have nightmares and it didn't even happen to me. Yeah, that was a, that's some good Halloween. That's why I picked it. spooky story right there. Oh, my goodness. We'll give everyone a breather. We're going to jump to an ad break. I guess they're

going to sell you some blankets or some locks for your windows, things like that. Enjoy. What a run! This champ is picking up speed. But they found a lane. Monumental launch into the air. Absolutely incredible. Air Transat!

Fly the seven-time world's best leisure airline champions, Air Transat. You know what's better than the one big thing? Two big things. Exactly. The new iPhone 17 Pro on Tellis' five-year rate plan price lock. Yep, it's the most powerful iPhone ever, plus more peace of mind with your bill over five years. This is big. Get the new iPhone 17 Pro at tellus.com slash iPhone 17 Pro on select plans.

Conditions and exclusions apply. That's annoying. What? You're a muffler. You don't hear it? Oh, I don't even notice it. I usually drown it out with the radio. How's this? Oh, yeah. Yeah, way better.

Save on insurance by switching to Bel Air Direct and use the money to fix your car. Bell Air Direct, insurance, simplified. Conditions apply. Welcome back to this episode of sightings, brought to you by Iron Bars. Have you ever tried Iron Bars for your windows? Well, this second story here is no less creepy, I think. In fact, the person did not want to have their name associated with this story. So this is from Anonymous.

Oh, okay. From Indiana. That doesn't bode well. No. So, yeah. Okay. Let's get some music going. I grew up in a small town in Indiana

and a creaky old house with five kids, one tired mom, and a ghost we all just casually referred to as the friendly ghost. Because you know it's not going to be friendly, right? Oh, no. That house was always talking. What a good way of putting that. Footsteps in the attic, slow pacing on the stairs, the faint sound of someone, something moving through the upstairs hallway when no one was home.

But we were kids. We never felt scared. Not really. It was more like living with a quiet roommate who kept their distance. It wasn't until I was older that things shifted. I was in high school dating the boy who had become my husband My mom and younger brother were out of town

And he and I were curled up on the couch watching a movie The back of the couch faced the stairwell And somewhere in the middle of the film I heard it The unmistakable sound of someone sprinting Across the upstairs hallway And then pounding down the stairs toward us I didn't even fletch

But my boyfriend leapt to his feet, ready to defend me from whoever was about to round the corner. And then? Nothing. No one came down the stairs. He turned to me, panicked. What was that? Who's here? I shrugged. That's just the ghost. He stared at me white as a sheet. What ghost? Where's your brother? I reminded him they were gone. We were alone. He didn't take it well. Well, in fact, he left me there, just walked out, freaked beyond words. But I stayed. I wasn't scared. That was just how the house was. For a while, anyway. There was another night, also in high school. Mom was working late,

and it was just me and my little brother home. We were both in bed on opposite ends of the upstairs hallway. I always slept with my door open, my dog by my side, facing the hall. She was my furry guardian, silent, alert, always calm. But this night, something set her off. She stiffened, her hackles rose. A low, menacing growl rumbled from her throat, something I'd never heard from her before. She crept to the top of the stairs and stared down, teeth bared. My brother poked his head out, wide-eyed.

Are you seeing this? Yeah, I whispered. Something's down there. We started down the stairs together side by side, my brother gripping a BB gun like it was a bazooka. The house was dead silent, except for the dogs growl echoing down the stairwell. And then, boom, boom, boom!

Three thunderous knocks slammed directly beneath our feet from the ceiling of the bathroom under the stairs. We jumped, screamed, ran back upstairs and called our mom in pure panic. She sent the neighbor over. He checked everything. No footprints in the snow, no broken locks, no signs of anyone outside. He searched the entire house. There was no one, nothing, no thing.

And yet, we knew. Something had made those knocks. something inside time passed i graduated moved out got married but every weekend without fail my younger brother came to stay with us at first i thought he just missed me but eventually he admitted the truth he didn't want to be alone in that house anymore the friendly ghost isn't so friendly he said not anymore i didn't want to believe him, but he asked me to come to the house. I want to show you something. I met him in my old bedroom he'd moved into after I left. Sit on the bed, he said. Watch the hallway. I'll tell you when she's coming. She? I asked. When did the ghost become a she? Just wait, he said. You'll see.

I sat. Daylight streamed through the windows. It was late morning, not spooky, not eerie. And then he whispered, okay. She's coming. I turned my head slowly toward the hallway. At first I saw nothing. But then it shimmered into view,

like heat waves rising off hot asphalt. A distorted ripple of air moved down the hall, Closer, closer, until it entered the room. It paused in front of me. A thick, invisible mass, vibrating presence. What am I looking at? I whispered. That's her, he said. That's what I deal with every day.

She circled me once, inspecting me, and then vanished. He told me everything. It started with her walking the hallway at night, then sitting on the edge of his waterbed. He could feel the mattress shift, then came to pressure on his foot, then his leg, moving slowly up his body. He'd lie frozen, unable to move, paralyzed. That was why he started coming to stay with us, because the ghost wasn't just playful anymore. it had become something else. But the story didn't end there.

Years later, after he was married and had a home of his own, he told me something I'll never forget. She still visits me, he said. She followed me. But it didn't stop with him. My sister moved back into the old house years later with her teenage son, and he, without telling me, her started playing with a Ouija board. One night, his quiet, gentle friend suddenly lost it

during a session. He ran out of the house, never returned. My nephew vowed never to touch the board again. Then one afternoon, while my sister was alone in the house, working upstairs, she heard the front door open. Hey, Mom, called her son's voice. She smiled. Hey, I'll be down in a sec. She shut down the computer and walked downstairs, excited to see him. But he wasn't there. No car, no footprints in the fresh snow outside. Nothing. She called me, shaken. As she was telling me what happened, she stopped mid-sentence. Oh my God, she whispered. Something just screamed, get out in my ear. She ran outside, shaking, phone in hand, begging for my husband to come, calling the police. They served. the house top to bottom, nothing. After that, she shut off the upstairs completely, moved all her things to the downstairs front rooms, and lived like a squatter in her own home. She even let a friend sleep over one night, a friend who brushed off the haunting stories, until the middle of the night when she felt a heavy presence climb onto the bed and lean over her. She turned her head

and saw a dark figure inches from her face. It darted away through the wall. She ran from the house and never came back. Eventually my mom sold the house, but it's changed hands over and over again since then. I always wonder, did they feel it too? Because the friendly ghost we grew up with was never supposed to be scary, never supposed to hurt anyone. But something changed. Maybe it was always darker than we knew. Maybe we just didn't know how to listen. This one went a little darker, I feel like, than a lot of the stories we do, because there's just a lot going on in this house. And what was really interesting to me was that shift that happened at some point, I guess, where it went from. Oh, it's just the ghost that makes sounds upstairs

to, oh, this is the ghost that is tormenting us and crawling into our bed and terrifying visitors and things like that, you know? Yeah, I mean, I think this might be the first listener story we've had. It went beyond just kind of the, like, unexplainable kind of potentiality of something supernatural to, like, know it was, like, traumatizing us. Yeah, it went beyond creepy, I think, too. This scarred us for life kind of situation. Yeah, it was very, very scary. It was.

And I think another thing that stuck with me on this one is there was a whole scene where you could, see the ghost in this broad daylight, you know, it definitely elevated the horror in a way that stuck with me in a way that... Yeah, yeah, it wasn't about mood. Like, that wasn't part of it. It was just, like, middle of the day. And again, you know, I know this comes up in a lot of our haunted house stories, but why didn't they move sooner?

Yeah. They did, they did. It sounds like they put up with a lot. Great story. Not great situation, though. But this one was creepy and unnerving, and that's why I wanted to feature it here on, on this episode so yeah Halloween it's a warning right so I will say our third episode is going to be a little bit equally scary but a little bit more back to the kind of like fun scary that we we kind of normally

highlight but we should come back after another break this time I think we just need to advertise ghost busting services yes that's right so we'll be right back listeners check out the big stars big series and blockbuster movies streaming on Paramount Plus cue the music like NCIS Tony and Ziva We'd like to make up her own rules Tulsa King

We want to take out the competition The Substance This balance is not working And the naked gun That was awesome Now that's a mountain of entertainment Paramount Wolf

You lock the front door? Check. Close the garage door? Yep. Installed window sensors, smoke sensors, and HD cameras with night vision? No. I... And you set up credit card transaction alerts,

a secure VPN for a private connection, and continuous monitoring for our personal info on the dark web? Uh, I'm looking into it. Stress less about security. Choose security solutions from TELUS for peace of mind at home and online. Visit tellus.com slash total security to learn more. Conditions apply. Craving and escape. Bring the vibrant flavors of Mexican street eat energy to life in your kitchen with Tia Rosa tortillas.

Born in Mexico, Tia Rosa knows how to turn your next taco night at home and do the real deal. Find Tia Rosa tortillas at select grocery stores and get the good vibes going. And welcome back to that exciting commercial for cricket chips. What made you think of that? I don't know. I looked down into the story and saw the world. word crickets. Well, the crickets are in this story. We're heading to rural North Carolina for story number three. This one came in from Justin. Justin time for Halloween. Just in time.

Yep, yeah. We should give each of these people's stories. We should give them a pseudonym of like, you know, there's those gravestones in the Halloween that you see in people's yards that have like puns, like will be doomed. Love it. So let's get some music. is it going on this one. All right. And we're heading to North Carolina with Justin. The chill of the western North Carolina mountains had always felt like home to me. My name is Justin, and I've lived in these parts my whole life.

The towering peaks, the dense forests, the way the fog clings to the valleys in the early morning, there's a kind of magic here. But not all of it is good. It started last October, during a camping trip up near Table Rock. not far from spruce pine. My friends had all bailed last minute, leaving me alone to enjoy a weekend of solitude under the stars. I didn't mind.

I'd always preferred the quiet anyway. I set up camp at a small clearing off a lesser-used trail, far enough from the main path that I wouldn't hear the occasional hiker, but close enough to not get lost. As the sun dipped below the horizon, the forest came alive with the usual symphony of nocturnal sounds. crickets chirped, owls hooted, and the distant rustle of leaves hinted at deer moving through the underbrush. I settled into my camp chair, a cup of coffee in hand, and stared up at the blanket of stars above.

Around midnight, the forest went quiet. It was the kind of silence that presses on your ears, makes you aware of every breath and heartbeat. Then, faintly, I heard it. A sound that made my skin crawl. It was a soft, wet, clicking noise, like teeth chattering but unnervingly deliberate. It wasn't close, but it was distinct. I froze, straining my ears to catch it again. When the sound didn't repeat, I convinced myself it was a branch creaking, or maybe a small animal, and went back to my coffee. Minutes later, there was a faint rustling behind me. I turned, shining my flashlight into the darkness, but the beam revealed nothing but trees. The sound had stopped. Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched. The hair on the back of my neck

stood on end, and my gut told me something wasn't right. I stoked the fire higher, the flames casting long shadows across the clearing. As the night dragged on, the unease grew. Around two in the morning, just as I was considering retreating to my tent, I heard it again, that wet clicking noise. This time much closer. My flashlight swept the tree line, and for a split second I saw movement. Something pale darted between the trees, too quick to make out clearly. My stomach dropped. It wasn't an animal. It moved too fast, too silently. Gripping my knife tightly, I tried to tell myself it was just a trick of the light. But deep down I knew better. I retreated to my tent, zipping it up tightly and placing my knife within arm's reach. Lying there in the dark,

I strained to hear any sound, every nerve on edge. For a while there was nothing. Then, just as I began to relax, I heard soft, deliberate footsteps circling the tent. They were light but purposeful, and they paused directly in front of the entrance. My breath caught in my throat as I saw the silhouette of something crouched just outside. It was tall, even hunched over, but the details were impossible to make out. Its outline was wrong, blurred somehow, like it didn't belong in the world I knew. It didn't move, but I could hear its breathing shallow and ragged, as though it was testing the air. Then it spoke. Just dead.

The voice was low and rasping, barely more than a whisper, but it knew my name. How could it know my name? Summoning every ounce of courage, I grabbed my flashlight and flicked it on, aiming the beam at the shadow. There was a blur of movement as it darted away, faster than anything I'd ever seen. The forest erupted in noise, branches snapping, leaves rustling, and then fell deftly silent once more. I didn't sleep that night. At the first light of dawn, I packed up my camp and started back toward the trailhead. The forest felt oppressive, the trees crowding in around me as if trying to keep me there. Every few minutes, I would catch glimpses of movement in my peripheral vision,

but when I turned to look, there was nothing. The final stretch of the trail was the worst. The air grew colder, and the forest darkened unnaturally despite the rising sun. Then as I rounded a bend, I saw it again. It stood in the middle of the trail blocking my path. In the light of day, it was even more unsettling. Its outline was indistinct, like a shadow given form, and its features seemed to shift and blur when I tried to focus on them. Its presence felt wrong, as though it was bending reality around it. I took a step back, and it mirrored the movement, tilting its head in a slow, deliberate motion. My instincts screamed at me to run. but my legs felt like lead. Then, without warning, it lunged toward the trees and vanished.

I didn't wait to see if it would come back. I ran as fast as I could, my chest burning and my legs threatening to give out. When I finally reached my truck, I collapsed into the driver's seat, my hands shaking so badly I could barely get the keys into the ignition. As I sped down the mountain road towards spruce pine, I kept glancing in the rearview mirror. half expecting to see it chasing me, but the road behind me remained empty. Back in town, I pulled into the gas station and stumbled inside. The clerk, a man in his 60s who'd been working there as long as I could remember, took one look at me and asked what had happened.

When I told him, his face darkened, he leaned in close and whispered, you're not the first to see it. Folks around here say it's something ancient. Nobody knows what it really is. Some say it's not even alive. I left the gas station with more questions than answers. Even now, weeks later, I can't escape the memory of its shifting outline and the way it spoke my name. At night when the wind howls through the hollers, I swear I can hear that wet clicking noise outside my window. Sometimes I catch a glimpse of something at the edge of my vision, but when I turn to look, it's gone. The mountains have always held their secrets, but now I know some of them are darker than I ever imagined. Whatever I encountered that night, it hasn't forgotten me, and I don't think it ever will. A couple weeks ago. Hot off the presses, guys.

Whoa. Yeah. Uh, wow. There's this entity that I wanted to do an episode on called a hide behind. Have you ever heard of this, McLeod? I have not heard of a hide behind. behind. So it's this thing that originated in the Pacific Northwest from like bloggers apparently who constantly would see something out of the corner of their eye and like

turned a look and it wouldn't be there. And like they think it was, it's something that was like hiding behind the trees and following them basically. And I was getting that vibe a lot on this until he finally saw what it was. And it's like this weird, creepy, shadowy thing that I would not want to encounter something like this i don't know it's like a wendigo situation or a it reminded me a little bit of a few episodes back the hat man and that kind of shadow figure that shadow figure vibe yeah so yeah uh i guess they aren't confined to bedrooms guys so you're not safe anywhere is the moral of this story a hide behind wow uh uh guys uh listeners I hope you're all okay.

These were real scary stories. I wish this stuff hadn't happened to you. I think that's what makes it all the more terrifying is that this apparently happened to everyone who submitted these stories. Oh, yeah. You know what? I came out full of bravado saying, it's Halloween.

I'm ready for it. I'm not ready for it. I am not ready for it. This was too spooky for me. Well, 50 episodes in McLeod and you're still... I know, still a wuss. I thought I was getting... I thought I was building up my tolerance,

but apparently I was incorrect. But, yeah, as we've said before, you know, this is number 50 for us, everyone. Thank you so much for being here with us for all these episodes. If you're new to the show, we hope you'll join us for a lot more. but we're just so grateful that we can spend every week or every other week, depending on the season with you right here on sightings. But again, if you have a listener story of your own, do send them to us.

We'd love doing these listener stories episodes. Our email is Stories at sightingspodcast.com or find us on Instagram. Send us a message there with your story or just send us a comment. Let us know what you think of the show. You can do the same on Spotify. They have a great comments feature on there that a lot of people are using. And everybody out there, enjoy your Halloween, say hello to your neighbors, share a good smile as well as some candy, be safe, take care of each other. And Brian, after we come out on the other side of this Halloween portal, where will we be in sightings world?

We're going to leave the realm of spooky stories for at least a week and dive into probably the craziest story that I have ever encountered when it comes to aliens. Oh, okay. So we're heading to New Mexico. Okay. New Mexico. This one is wild. It reads like an action movie. If it's true, it is the most insane thing I think I've ever heard. And if it's not true, then kudos to ever made this up because it's a really cool story.

So going to New Mexico, and I hope you're ready for it because it's going to be a really fun episode to do. I'm excited. Happy Halloween, everybody, and thank you for the terrifying stories, but also no thank you for your terrifying stories. Thanks again, everyone. See you all, same time, same place. Next week, right here on sightings. They did the master do. It was the monster mass.

They did the master do. It was a graveyard smash. They did the mass. Sightings is hosted by McLeod Andrews and Brian Sigley. Produced by Brian Sigley, Chase Kinzer, and McLeod Andrews. Series music. by Mitch Bain. Mixing and mastering by Pat Kicklider of Sundial Media, artwork by Nuno Sarnatus. Sightings is presented by Reverb and Q Code. If you like the show, be sure to subscribe on your

favorite podcast platform, so you're first to hear new episodes every week. And if you know other supernatural fans, tell them about us. We'd really appreciate it.