Spooked - The Bride

Episode Date: August 21, 2026

In a strange new city, Alyssa finds a friend — and something else she was never meant to see. Thank you, Alyssa and Nicole, for sharing this story with us! Special thanks also to Milena Tinoco for lending us your voice to bring this story to life.  And thank you, Juan Diego! Juan Diego is a podcast producer from Colombia who focuses on climate storytelling and oral tradition. Check out his podcast, Pensamiento Espiral, or you can reach out to him for collaborations at [e-mail] Produced and scouted by Juan Diego Beltrán, original score by Clay Xavier, artwork by Teo Ducot. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

He told me I was not to go inside. But then we played a game one day, and I ran into hide. I didn't know the secret when I snuck behind the bed, but when I heard their whispers, and my heart was filled with dread. The voices, they grew louder as the room began to breathe when I pounded on the door. They promised. I could never leave. You've crossed over spooked.

To Lansing, Michigan. And I don't know anybody except my roommate. My roommate, who loves to tell me how stupid I am. And because I'm broke, I go to the subway sandwich shop every Tuesday. Because on Tuesdays, they've got the two-for-tuesday special, two-foot-long subs, $5, $5.5. Fox. I order two turkey subs

with extra everything. And make sure that Trisha takes my order. Not that stupid Alan. Because it's like Trisha understands. This has to last me. She piles it on.

The turkey, the cheese, tomatoes, olives, the conversation, the last, rules are broken, protocols ignored. The sandwich Trisha makes for me. It's like a sandwich your grandmother might make you. Like I lover might pack you for a long trip, the best sandwich. And I get home one day.

After work, pull out my sub, my roommate looks at me, looks at my sandwich, he's like, Where'd you get that? What you mean? Subway. You got that at Subway? No way. Did the girl make it? Yeah.

Is she cute? Yeah. Well, if I were you stupid, I'd go back to that subway and ask for a digits. Really? You are so dumb. So? Heart pounding. Mouth dry.

I pulled back up to the subway. But Trisha is not there. Just Alan. Hey, Alan. Where's Trisha? Trisha doesn't work here anymore. Do you want to sub or not? Somebody had to let the owner know.

Let the owner know. And Ellen just sneers at me. Let the owner know what, Alan? You think no one saw your special sandwiches? Maybe I am stupid. Like my roommate thinks. Because it takes me a moment to understand what he's saying. Then I want to murder him.

You got her fired? That sneer. If you want to sub or not, I try my best not to explode, Alan. What is Trisha's last name? It's against company. Adam, what is her last name? Are you threatening me? I leave the store, shaking with rage.

And I try. I do over weeks and months. But I never see Trisha again. I never go back to Subway either. I still think about Trisha, though. Not because I knew her. I never really got the chance because once someone saw me, saw me trying to make two sandwiches last at the end of the week, and she decided to add

a piece of turkey, an extra slice of cheese, a handful of olives. And for that, the year is 2010. A 13-year-old Elisa Mac had just moved from Brunas Ari's Argentina, the coastal city of Guil and Southern Ecuador, living in the embarrassing foreign tour, the heat, the accent, the school, and making new friends feels like more than she can handle. When she meets Nicole, things take a turn. I let Elisa take it from here.

Nicole threw a mutual friend during recess. She had this really shiny black hair. She had this, like, energy to her. Very, like, enthusiastic, especially about the Jonas Brothers. That's how we started talking because they told me every single fun fact that they could about the Jonas brothers. I was like, oh, cool, interesting.

We would have great conversation, your typical 13-year-old connection, you know. We had been friends for maybe like a few weeks now. So there's one day during recess, a bunch of my friends, Nicole was there. The guy that introduced us, we're just talking, talking about what are the weekend plans and what's the cool thing to do. So then it kind of came up that her parents were not going to be there that weekend. She was like, hey, that's all come to my place since they're not going to be there. They're talking about it and I was like, oh, okay. Like nobody had said anything.

But then they were like, oh, yeah, no, you're invited too. I was like, oh, yay. The day of the gathering, it was extremely hot. It's Ecuador. Ecuador is hot. It's always hot. It has two seasons. It's either dry heat or just rain with heat.

So then me and a bunch of our classmates of my friends, we get to Nicole's house. It was probably like around, I want to say seven. We were in her living room, in her TV room, playing music from someone's phone. So it was that really crappy quality to the music. And we were just enjoying talking, you know. We had bought some snacks and some drinks. It was a very laid-back, just close friends gathering. We had this other friend, his name is.

Coco. He was very tall, skinny. He had a sort of like round head and a very big nose. And for some reason, Coco that day decided that I would be the butt of every joke. Not in like a malicious way, but more so in that preteen, immature way. He would like make fun of my accent because I have an energy. Argentine an accent, and they had their Ecuadorian local accent, you know, and he'd be like, is that what you were trying to say? Like, it got to a point where it was like, I got irritated. It wasn't funny anymore.

And around like 10 minutes of me being in her house, I started having a headache. But it wasn't one of those headaches that you can kind of just ignore and keep making small talk. It was one of those headaches that get progressively worse to the point where now you feel your head pulsating. One of our friends had gone upstairs to her room. So then I asked Nicole, I was like, hey, Nikki, do you think it's okay if I go lay down on your bed? I know her friend Yvana is over there. Do you think it's okay if I just go in and rest for a little bit? I really have a bad headache.

And she was like, yeah, no, that's fine. You can just go upstairs, the first door that you see to your right. So I was like, okay, sounds good. So I go up the stairs. I find her room, and I open the door. And my other friend, Yvana, she's just laying there on her phone. And I'm like, hey, I have a headache. She's like, okay.

So then I lay next to her. I had left the door open because I don't want to separate myself so much from our little gathering downstairs. I am facing the wall. I hear them laughing, just chatting, go-go being annoying, making me cringe so much. I'm trying to relax. I'm trying to get this headache to go away. And I started hearing the creaking of the staircase. I immediately thought this is Coco coming up to keep being annoying, right?

And I turn around to face the door to see who's coming in. I'm like, this guy better not walk through that door because I'm about to snap at him. So I turn around and the creaking stops, like immediately. So I'm like, okay, fine. I turn my back. Back is facing the door, right? So I turn around again and the footsteps continue. I kind of hear what heels sound like when you're walking.

And I turn around and I'm like, go go, can you please go downstairs? Like, I don't feel too good. Just go back down. Nothing, no response. So I turn around again and I hear like stilettos, right? And I hear them closer and closer. So I'm like, oh my God, why is he insisting so much in being here with us? Right?

I was so, so, so annoying. And I turn around and I go, Gogo, please stop. So as I'm turning, I see this person. Definitely not Gogo. It's a lady. Is this woman? with long black hair all the way down to her waist, kind of like frizzy hair.

She's wearing this white wedding gown. One of those old wedding gowns, those that had like puffy sleeves, kind of like a corsay kind of thing, and a very big gown at the bottom. But all I could see was dark eyes. Like very either brown or black eyes. So this lady, I see her reaching towards the doorknob, and she looks at me.

We locked eyes, and I was like, what? It was a split second, and then she retreats. So I see her going back, and her flowy veil and her hair was like the last things that I see of her. The moment I see this lady, my blood ran cold. I can feel all the blood just rushing to my feet. I was so, so scared. And I turn around to see if maybe Ivana that was laying next to me saw the same thing that I saw.

And I actually asked her, I was like, hey, did someone come in? And she's like, what? It was on her Blackberry because that was like the it phone back then. And she was chatting with, I don't know who, but she did not see any of this. So I'm like, oh, okay, okay, no, no, nothing, nothing. And she goes back to her phone. I'm just thinking to myself, did I just see that? Was that a ghost?

Or was my mind playing games? An hour or so goes by and the boy friends that we had there, right? they leave because all the girls are going to stay over for a sleepover. I hear them leaving. And then I finally hear my other girlfriends come upstairs. And they're asking me, hey, like, how's your headache? I'm like, oh, it's fine, it's fine. I see all my friends, like, getting their things,

unpacking their bags for the sleepover, getting out their pajamas. And I'm trying to find, like, a little opening. you know, to tell them what I've seen. And then I finally get the courage and I'm like, hey, Nicole. Silly question. By any chance, is there any ghost in your house? So she turns around and she goes,

Oh, you've seen the bride. Tranquila, no, no, pass nothing. This has happened before. Oh, you've seen the bride. don't worry. It's okay. It's just a ghost. When she said those words, I felt my heart beating heart. I was like, what the heck? She said it in such a nonchalant tone.

And she starts laughing because she sees my face. And I'm stuttering, right? So I was like, what are you talking about? I said, ah, tranquilla, that me today me pass, is the novi. I told her, don't worry. This happens to me, too. It's the bride. Like, I was trying to calm Melissa down But really, I felt relieved when she asked me this question Like a weight was lifted off my shoulders We went to live there in 2001

We moved here in 2001 My mom, my dad, my younger sister, and me When we first saw the house, it was only halfway built My parents went and took a look And we're like, all right, we'll buy it And there was something curious when they were doing the remodelations. But something strange happened when they were doing the renovations. Every time they would arrange the tiles on the floor,

they'd return the next day to find all the tiles removed and placed in a neatly stacked pile. Later on when the house was built, my friends would come over and tell me... Chut, no, is that it's like someone's like that maybe, it's like, like, like, rare. It feels like someone is watching you. Something is off. But for me, everything was totally normal.

I never felt anything anywhere in my house. One afternoon, it's around 2 or 3 p.m. My parents aren't home and I'm standing at the kitchen counter, chopping onions. When something catches my eye. And at least on the eye, I see a time through the windows of the door, I look up and I see a lady walking from the dining room to the living room. I freeze and think, what am I seeing? She's wearing a white dress with a long skirt, and I can't see her face.

I know I'm alone and that nobody could enter that house. I know I'm alone and that no one could have entered the house because of the metal fence. Right then, I immediately knew this is a ghost. So I just see her and I stand there as the woman walks by. Then I remember from horror movies that every kid who goes looking for the monster ends up in trouble. So I tell myself I'm staying right here in the kitchen. I'll keep cooking.

I'll pretend nothing ever happened. When my parents get back that evening, I tell them I saw a woman walking through the house. But they don't believe me. They just tell me, oh, you probably saw some reflection. Maybe you're making this up. After the first time I saw her, I never saw her again.

After the first time I saw her again. But I did keep hearing her. Usually at night after 7 p.m., I'd be in my room and I'd hear someone walking up the stairs in high heels. Every time this happened, I expected someone to open the door. I used to think, Maybe someone's coming to visit me. Maybe I'm about to see this lady again. I better hide under the blanket.

But no. In the end, the footsteps always stopped at my door and no one ever came in. I wasn't 100% sure what I was hearing, but I always connected it to the lady. So I started calling her the bride. Because in my mind as a child, the only people who wore white dresses and high heels were brides. So that's what I called her. But I never saw her. But then again, I never saw her again.

The one who did was Lisa. So for the next months of our friendship, I do not bring this up to Nicole. We don't talk about this. Just because I feel like the more you talk about things like this, the more you invite other spirits, other ghosts. Also, I didn't know the ghost or the bride's intention, so I didn't want to see her again. After a few months, me and my friends go back to Nicole's house.

Around that time, she had broken her leg. She did not like using her crutches, so she would crawl everywhere. And one little system that we had with her is that whenever we wanted to pick her up or get her attention or anything like that, because she was one of those girls that did not have a phone, we would grab little pebbles and throw them at her window to let her know that we were there. So then we're throwing the pebbles and we see someone on the window, like a pro. watching the window. It's this female figure. We see a woman. And we're like, oh, Nicole, Nicole, like, oh, come down, come down, come downstairs. And this figure wasn't moving, wasn't doing anything. It was just staring at us. All my friends are like, hey, Nicole, they come down, come down.

And while we're talking to her window and this lady in the window, her front door, which is in the first floor, opens and you see her crawling. She's like, hey, I'm here. I was down to the room. I was downstairs at the TV room. But once I crawl outside, they all tell me there's a lady upstairs in your bedroom. I'm like, what lady? That wasn't me.

I'm down here. Someone was up there. And then I said, I said, ah, well, can't the no, what's it? So I'm like, well, it's probably the bride. Who else could it be? We all saw this figure in the window. We all just look at each other and we're like, okay, that happened.

But then we had this one friend that was not okay with any of this, and he was totally freaking out. He started looking at us, all of us, and saying like, am I the only one seeing this? Why isn't it anyone freaking out? like I am right now, and we all just started laughing. I was always just started laughing. I saw this as normal. I saw this as normal. This was unusual, sure, but it didn't seem like she was trying to hurt me.

So I wasn't scared when my friends told me they'd seen her. But I do remember thinking, what does she want with us? Nicole and I remained friends after high school. I went to college in the U.S., and whenever I had either winter break or summer break, I would go back to Ecuador, catch up with everyone. And this one time, I was visiting her, and she had told me, hey, you won't believe what happened. She then tells me she's been dating this guy, right? Things are a little bit more official, they're like actual boyfriend and girlfriend.

so she decides to invite him over to her parents. Before he came to our house, I hadn't told him anything at all. Nothing. I just invited him over for a barbecue. So they get to her house for this barbecue. He's coming in. She's like heading towards the kitchen or somewhere. She starts walking ahead of the kitchen or somewhere.

him and he stops and he's looking to the right which is where the TV room is. And he said, he'll be with you in a moment. He tells me, um, I'll be with you in a moment. I just need to use the bathroom first. So I wait for him. And after a while, he comes to the kitchen where I'm cooking. I noticed he's acting all weird. He tells me, I have a really bad headache.

He's holding his head and closing his eyes. He looks rattled. I start to worry. I'm like, what's wrong? And he says, I went to the bathroom, but then all of a sudden, something called me into that TV room.

She was a woman Like she was all black And it was like much Luz When I walked over There was a lady in white I saw this intense White light all over the room

And I couldn't step inside because she was blocking the door And then she spoke And that She said, she said, I want to my kids

She just says, I love them like my daughters. And then she was gone. When he tells me this, I was like, wow. When he tells me this, I was like, wow. I don't know if the right word is nostalgia, but something came over me. Even right now, I feel like crying. She felt like family.

I don't know how to explain it, but it wasn't scary. It was like, oh, she's been. looking out for me. She loves my sister and maybe she's been watching us this whole time. So I do feel that she's like some kind of guardian angel, because nothing bad ever happened to me while I was in the house. Like growing up, both my parents were always at work, so I was often alone and I was very mischievous. I used to play on the roof and jump from it into the lawn. I once set the kitchen on firewall cooking with the flames reaching the ceiling.

And still, nothing ever happened to me. So when he tells me this, I wanted to cry. I was like, this is so beautiful. Thank you. So she tells me this. And I'm like, oh, wait, that makes sense. He said that the bride told him that she is like a mother. to them, that she takes care of them, that she looks after them. So I'm like thinking, was she trying to close the door of the bedroom because I had a headache

and she was trying to take care of me too? I kind of felt like that was my answer. And to me, that was, that was it. I got my resolution. After these years, I don't know who knew. After all these. Sierra's eyes still don't know who she is. That's like the question of my life.

Who is this lady? Nowadays, when I think about this, in respect to myself, I would say that this whole experience was definitely one of the biggest one that I've had that had kind of taught me that there's this like spiritual realm. And nowadays when, if I do see someone or something, because of what happened with the bride, I keep approaching everything with the same ideology

of just being respectful. After these years, I hope she's still around the house and looking at my papas. After all these years, I hope she's still around the house looking out for my parents. And hopefully she's still keeping an eye out for me too.

Either way, I just want to say thank you because, wow, for me, having another mom looking out for me, that is something I truly appreciate. Elisa now lives in New York. The Guayaquillo lives in her still. The friends, the stories that glimpses on the other side, they never left.

As for Nicole, she still lives in Ecuador. And every now and then, when she visits her childhood home, she finds herself glancing at the old TV room, reminiscing and hoping so somehow get one more glimpse of the bride. Thank you, Elisa, Nicole, for sharing this story. and thank you Juan Diego. Juan Diego is a podcast producer from Colombia who focuses on climate storytelling

and the oral tradition. Learn more about his work and his podcast in our show notes and special thanks as well. To Milana Timoko for lending your voice to bring him this story to life. The original score was by Clay Xavier.

He was produced and scouted by Juan Diego Beltran. Do you have a story the world needs to hear about? that you need to get off your chest to reveal. Let us know. Spooked at snapjudgment.org because there's nothing better

than a spook story from a spooked listener. And there is a secret place. A place behind the places that you know. A place with a person that looks just like you, that acts just like you, wears the same clothes you do and loves everything you love. But this person is not you. And this person, which is they were you.

And they're waiting in the shadows right now of KQED in San Francisco, and now they know that you know. Please tell the robot overlords to absolutely no Snap Studios content that be used for training, testing, or developing machine learning, or AI systems of prior written permission on Team Spooked. The union represented producers, artists, editors, and engineers, are members of the National Association of Broadcast, Employees, and Technicians, Communications Work of America, AFL, CIO, Local 51, Spoot is brought to you.

The team that visits our shadow selves on the regular, especially the Uber producer Mr. Mark Ristage. In fact, we're convinced that a switch occurred sometime last April, and the real Mark Ristich is trapped there now. Oh, well, there's David Kim, Zoe Frigna, Eric Yannias, Elliot Lightfoot, Tail de Kott, Marissa Dodge, Miles Lassie, Doug Stewart,

Nicholas Marks, the spook theme songs by Pat Messidi Miller. My name's Glenn Washington. There's an idea that if you learn about a thing, say a fancy purse, one day you've never heard of a burkton bag,

the next day you see him everywhere. It's like we have to be trained first before our eyes are open. We travel through life this same, way blind to the things we don't know to look for. Is it any wonder then that so many cultures with different eyes are amazed but what we cannot see? Most of the world accepts as given that beings, ancestors, spirits, entities walk amongst us.

But often we see through an entirely different type of lens, good for many things, but leaving us blind to others and some people. Sometimes I feel that I need a new pair of glasses. I know something is in front of me. Like smoke, I can't catch it. Can't contain it, trap, tame it, question it, can't use it. But perhaps, wanting all those things is why I can't perceive it in the first place. Never ever.