THERÉSA: Welcome back, Hauntos. You can probably already tell, but we're
THERÉSA: not in our usual digs today. We're in Hudson for
THERÉSA: my ex friend's wedding. Long story short, but I got
THERÉSA: invited before I died. Then after some unimportant drama involving
THERÉSA: a brand partnership with Mudwater, I was uninvited. I was
THERÉSA: going to attend spitefully as our mutual guy friends plus one,
THERÉSA: and now we're here. I tried to take today off
THERÉSA: from work, but because of my ironclad eternal podcast contract,
THERÉSA: I'm multitasking and I had to bring Len as my date.
LEN: I love weddings.
THERÉSA: The tuxedo T-shirt wasn't necessary.
LEN: [MUMBLES]
THERÉSA: I know, it seems insane to attend a wedding from
THERÉSA: beyond the grave, and I want to hate this, but
THERÉSA: the flowers are some of the best I've seen, and
THERÉSA: the venue is stunning, especially this time of year with
THERÉSA: the foliage. Merlin's having a field day in the woods.
THERÉSA: But whatever, we're just getting started. There's no way all
THERÉSA: the bridesmaids are pulling off a yellow floral. Here we go,
THERÉSA: and yup, that is an awful shade of yellow. Yikes!
THERÉSA: Okay, Len, keep an eye out for a groomsman, tall
THERÉSA: like six two, six three, green eyes. Him, him! We
THERÉSA: dated in college and oh wow, he used to have
THERÉSA: a lot more hair. Time has not been your friend, Mark.
THERÉSA: He didn't take our breakup well. And whoever's been spreading
THERÉSA: the Ozempic rumors does not seem to be the case.
THERÉSA: This feels good. I'm so glad we came. The best
THERÉSA: part of weddings is getting the scoop on everyone you
THERÉSA: knew in college. The friends you make in those four
THERÉSA: years really do last a lifetime, or in my case,
THERÉSA: even longer. And I was bounced out of USC after
THERÉSA: only three semesters during that college admission scandal. Obviously, I
THERÉSA: was never on the junior bobsled team. I grew up
THERÉSA: in Los Angeles. That's on them. But we've all got
THERÉSA: our demons, like Kat and her college friends, whose demons
THERÉSA: were yeah, literal.
KAT: I've never felt anything like that previously, and I've never
KAT: felt anything like that after the fact. Just all of
KAT: the worst feelings you can put into one. Instant fear, dread,
KAT: darkness just consumed me. I screamed bloody murder and ran
KAT: down the stairs, out of the house and down the block.
KAT: My name's Kat and in college I lived in a
KAT: really haunted house in Savannah, Georgia.
KAT: Stacy was my best friend at the time. The two
KAT: of us were really really close. Our families lived pretty
KAT: close to each other in Manhattan Beach, LA Area. My
KAT: freshman year of college, I moved into this house down
KAT: in Savannah, Georgia. We show up at the house and
KAT: it's me and Stacy. We had driven together from California.
KAT: At the time, Savannah was known as the most haunted
KAT: city in America. But I didn't really have any expectation
KAT: to see any of that. I'm going to art school.
KAT: I'm not even worried or bothered by any of the history.
KAT: I don't even know if I really believed in ghosts
KAT: per se. The first thing that our landlord said to
KAT: us was this place is haunted, but she's like joking
KAT: and laughing about it, Like, yeah, I don't know. It's
KAT: an old, historic Victorian house. It feels haunted, but who knows.
KAT: But we didn't really believe it. The house is two
KAT: stories and it has two beautiful old bay windows, and
KAT: then it's got a red porch, a little porch swing.
KAT: It's got that kind of Victorian roof style, which is
KAT: like pointy. There's a huge Spanish moss tree right out
KAT: front that has this moss hanging down on the roof.
KAT: The windows are covered in ivy and different plants. It
KAT: would be a place where my mom would look it
KAT: up on Airbnb and then be like, I think I'm
KAT: going to try and find a newer build just because
KAT: of spooks. But we didn't really care. We just were
KAT: so excited. It's four girls, one house, Like we are
KAT: going to party, We are going to have so much fun.
KAT: I already had been planning that I really wanted to
KAT: get a dog.
KAT: The first week we were there, we went to the
KAT: Animal Shelter and we adopted my first dog, Cookie. She
KAT: was so sweet. She was a Golden Retriever and the
KAT: happiest dog on the planet. We're there for probably a
KAT: month or two and we start noticing small things. Three
KAT: of us lived upstairs. Stacy lived on the bottom floor,
KAT: and she started complaining about hearing noise at night, swearing
KAT: up and down that she couldn't sleep. She described these
KAT: noises as like an old man grunting, walking on the floor.
KAT: She started getting pissed off because she thought it was us,
KAT: like what are you guys doing? Are you guys having
KAT: boys over? Like someone is screwing around at night and
KAT: I cannot sleep. We're all swearing up and down we
KAT: don't know who it is, we don't know what it is.
KAT: This is not us. It started to freak her out
KAT: a little bit, like I feel like I'm going crazy.
KAT: I swear this is happening. And we all kind of
KAT: were like, Okay, maybe she's really stressed out, homesick, whatever.
KAT: And then all of us start hearing these noises, both
KAT: on the bottom floor and on the top floor, really
KAT: just everywhere in the house. It almost sounded like muffled
KAT: voices or footsteps. We just kind of chalked it up
KAT: to this is a very old house. The windows rattle,
KAT: you know, the floor's creaked. It just is what it is,
KAT: and so we didn't really take much note of it.
KAT: But then, a few months down the line, all of
KAT: us are in a terrible mood, not being able to
KAT: sleep right. We are all at each other's throats, and
KAT: the four of us were best friends, so it was
KAT: really abnormal that our moods had shifted this drastically but
KAT: we were just completely drained. I remember having conversations on
KAT: the phone with my mom being like this is crazy,
KAT: like I don't understand why I feel so awful all
KAT: the time. And my Mom's going, well, you know, you're
KAT: living with three other girls. You guys are all young women,
KAT: like this stuff happens. Finally, we have a roommate meeting
KAT: because we're being absolute bitches to each other. We are
KAT: all sitting in the living room. All of us kind
KAT: of coming into it with a little bit of angsty energy.
KAT: We're talking about our feelings and kind of discovering that
KAT: we're having a lot of the same issues sleeping, and
KAT: we're all kind of looking at each other like something's
KAT: going on that is sucking the energy and life out
KAT: of us and making us feel crazy. And I was like,
KAT: are you guys having weird dreams? We figured out that
KAT: we are all having the same reoccurring nightmare. A man
KAT: in a white latex gimp suit with a mask over
KAT: his face crawls through the doorway and up to the
KAT: base of the bed and put his hands up on
KAT: the bed, and then he would pop his head up
KAT: and he'd be looking at you. It felt so vivid
KAT: and real. There were nights where I was like I
KAT: just won't let myself even go to sleep because I
KAT: don't want to experience this. Every single one of us
KAT: was having this dream with this man crawling in in
KAT: a white latex suit. We all were like, oh my god, Okay,
KAT: this is weird. We started talking about, okay, are you
KAT: guys getting bruises and scratches too? Because I'd wake up
KAT: and I have like a giant purple bruise on my
KAT: upper and inner thigh. I usually wore pants to bed,
KAT: so I didn't really know how that was happening. I
KAT: didn't think it was my dog accidentally laying on me
KAT: wrong or anything. On top of that, I had scratches
KAT: down the middle of my back, but they weren't human hands.
KAT: It was not five fingers scratching. It was always three scratches,
KAT: almost like a claw. We're all waking up with bruises
KAT: and scratches and we don't know where they're coming from.
KAT: We're really freaked out.
AJ: These were huge, black and purple, painful bruises. I don't
AJ: think we would be able to sleep through someone causing
AJ: that sort of bruise. It would have to be someone
AJ: punching us. On top of that, these scratches were always
AJ: three claw like scratches. We did our research later and
AJ: apparently three scratches in a row is a sign of
AJ: a demonic haunting. We were like, oh, that's not good. This
AJ: was something that was over our head. We need some help.
AJ: So we decided to go down to like a little
AJ: witch shop. It's a cool little shop that in the
AJ: middle of some random neighborhood in Savannah. While we're shopping around,
AJ: the four of us are really taking our time because
AJ: we don't know what we're doing, and the woman who
AJ: runs it is a very eccentric woman. She's like Savannah's
AJ: witch doctor, is what they call her. But she came
AJ: over to us and started asking us about the issue.
AJ: She sat with us for probably thirty minutes. Came up
AJ: with a plan, and then came over to the house,
AJ: did her ritual, and then set us up with exactly
AJ: what we needed going forward. She went through each room
AJ: yelling at spirits. She went through each corner of every
AJ: inch of that house, saltings and incense and chanting, and
AJ: then for us, she had told us, the main thing
AJ: is this salt that she had us make. We'd put
AJ: it on the outside of our front door on the
AJ: outside of our back door, and we'd put it on
AJ: all of the windowsills everywhere in the house. The house
AJ: was always covered in salt. If we felt anything, she
AJ: would have us shake our hands as if like wafting
AJ: things away from us. She was like, that's energetic clearing,
AJ: Like you're telling things that they can't come near you
AJ: and she would also just have us yell at any
AJ: spirits that we thought were nearby, just told them, no,
AJ: you can't be here, get out, you're not welcome. And
AJ: we're like, okay, We're feeling prepared and the house just
AJ: in general feels better and things are getting back to normal.
AJ: Until I was sitting in my upstairs office one night
AJ: with a friend, AJ.
THERÉSA: Sorry, pause! Len, I can't hear the ceremony and our
THERÉSA: listeners can't hear the story over your blubbering. You need
THERÉSA: to get it together.
LEN: [MUMBLES]
THERÉSA: You don't even know anyone at this wedding. We're gonna
THERÉSA: take a break so Len can collect himself. We'll be
THERÉSA: right back. Just take a lap or something.
THERÉSA: We're back. Len's regained his composure and to catch you up,
THERÉSA: the bride is in a gorgeous strapless drop waist dress.
THERÉSA: No surprise there. She's always had impeccable taste. The best man,
THERÉSA: on the other hand, is definitely drunk. He's uh, yep,
THERÉSA: he's wobbling. But the ceremony is winding down now. They
THERÉSA: just read their vows. She called him pooky and he said,
THERÉSA: I'm so glad I swiped right. Just when it seemed
THERÉSA: like they were losing the crowd, Merlin perched on the
THERÉSA: chuppah and everyone started freaking out, calling it a good omen.
THERÉSA: The photographer is going crazy. Even in death, I know
THERÉSA: how to steal focus. But anyway, when we left off
THERÉSA: with Kat, things were looking up, until they weren't.
KAT: We're like, okay, we're feeling prepared, and the house just
KAT: in general feels better and things are getting back to
KAT: normal until I was sitting in my upstairs office one
KAT: night with a friend AJ.
AJ: We were sitting in her upstairs studio office area, the
AJ: one that connects to the balcony in her room.
KAT: AJ had been a close friend of mine for a
KAT: while now. She was doing a class project and came
KAT: over to my house to work in our office space upstairs.
KAT: This office space was fairly small, and me and AJ
KAT: are seated together at my computer. It's late at night,
KAT: probably around ten pm, and all of a sudden of
KAT: the room gets really cold. It was like a bone
KAT: chilling temperature.
AJ: And out of the corner of my eye, I see
AJ: the trash can lid start to swing.
KAT: It was moving back and forth on its own.
AJ: And then I see on the floor that there's a
AJ: picture on the ground. In my head, okay, the picture
AJ: fell off the wall to hit a trash can. I
AJ: pointed at the picture on the ground and make a
AJ: joke like, oh, it's a ghost just kind of mocking
AJ: this situation. And Kat looks at me. She goes, oh, no,
AJ: that's been there. I've just been too lazy to pick
AJ: it up. Okay, but why is the trash can lid swinging?
AJ: It was super weird. I feel icky
KAT: AJ didn't really believe in ghosts. But she starts getting
KAT: really freaked out. She's like, Kat, can you do what
KAT: you do when this stuff happens? So I go in
KAT: my room and I grab some incense and I grab
KAT: a lighter. I'm trying to light this incense and it
KAT: will not light. No matter how long I hold the
KAT: incense with the fire, I can't get it to light.
KAT: I'm just standing there really confused. AJ is across the
KAT: room and AJ starts going,
AJ: Hey. Kat, Kat, what's happening to me? What's happening to me?
KAT: And AJ starts doubling over in the chair holding her head,
KAT: and I'm going, what's going on. I wasn't sure if
KAT: she was fainting. I didn't know if she was having
KAT: a seizure. I didn't know what was going on.
AJ: I'm freaking out at this point, I am scared.
KAT: AJ looks up at me, and the minute that me
KAT: and her make eye contacts.
AJ: I just get this horrible, horrible feeling rushing over my body.
AJ: I don't think I've ever been actually terrified in my
AJ: entire life until this moment. It was the definition of terror.
KAT: And the instant that the two of us made eye contact,
KAT: I have a feeling that goes throughout my entire being
KAT: that I have never felt and I hope I will
KAT: never feel again. It was the worst feeling in my life.
KAT: I felt dread, dying, anxiety, every negative feeling combined in one.
KAT: I feel dizzy, and I have this intense tunnel vision.
AJ: I could not speak, and I have tunnel vision. My
AJ: body went into a fight flight freeze and I froze.
AJ: I couldn't move. I felt like there was this tinglingness
AJ: behind me. I was so scared and I couldn't do
AJ: anything about it. So I think I'm gonna cry. I
AJ: don't know if I want to throw up. I just
AJ: feel horrible. The tingling behind me felt like an old
AJ: school TV static, or when you're in a science museum
AJ: then you're touching that orb and that statickiness is like
AJ: on your hands and it makes your hair stand up.
AJ: It felt like it was standing over me like that static.
AJ: That energy was right there behind me.
KAT: The only way I could describe it is a feeling of,
KAT: oh my god, you are in the most danger you
KAT: have ever been in. You're gonna die if you stay
KAT: in this room. You need to get out of this room.
KAT: I screamed, bloody murder, ran out of the room, and
KAT: my dog followed right behind me.
AJ: I hear Kat run downstairs and yell for her roommate.
AJ: So I'm stuck there all alone. I don't know what
AJ: to do. The most terrified I've ever been.
KAT: I'm screaming at Stacy, like I don't know what's going on.
KAT: Can you get to AJ? I can't go up there.
KAT: I don't know why I can't go up there.
AJ: Kat's roommate runs up the stairs and is trying to
AJ: help me. She goes, are you okay? And I just
AJ: couldn't respond.
KAT: Stacy picks her up out of the chair. I was like,
KAT: we gotta leave the house right now. I grabbed the
KAT: dog leash and we booked it. We ran down the
KAT: street frantically trying to get away, and at that point
KAT: we're kind of starting to feel better a little bit.
KAT: This feeling that we both had. Aj and I described
KAT: the same thing, just terrible, terrible energy, this feeling of darkness, dread, fear,
KAT: and particularly the same experience of tunnel vision.
AJ: And I'm trying to come to terms with what's happening.
AJ: I still feel like I have a brain fog. Kat
AJ: and I still feel like whatever just happened isn't over.
AJ: We walk around and we're headed back towards the house.
KAT: Me and AJ are still really really freaked out. I
KAT: did not want to go back, but we start crossing
KAT: the street to go to the house, and my dog
KAT: will not walk. She will not cross the street. We
KAT: are trying to pick her up. She's growling,
AJ: And Cookie is just standing there. She will not go,
AJ: no matter if you tug on her leash, no matter
AJ: if you're trying to bribe her. Cookie does not want
AJ: to move.
KAT: Stacy goes inside to do like the cleansing rituals that
KAT: the Savannah witch doctor had told us to do, and
KAT: when she came outside and said Okay, it's done, my
KAT: dog ran back inside totally normal, like nothing had happened.
KAT: I grabbed my stuff, even the dog, and slept over
KAT: at AJ's for that night. At that point, I was like,
KAT: never going back in that house I'm done.
AJ: Kat and I slept at my little apartment that night. We
AJ: tried to do like the cleansing rituals and just calm down.
AJ: I felt a lot safer than anywhere near a Kat's house,
AJ: but it still felt like it was attached to us
AJ: for days afterwards.
KAT: That was the worst feeling that I had ever had.
KAT: I decided that it was not worth my mental health
KAT: to try and put up with that anymore, so I
KAT: moved out on my own. I'm not a Christian, I
KAT: don't really subscribe to a religion, but that was demonic,
KAT: Like whatever it was was something really bad.
THERÉSA: They should have put the witch doctor on the payroll.
THERÉSA: Who has the time to clean their own home, let
THERÉSA: alone energetically cleanse it. Of course they were cranky all
THERÉSA: the time, but there's nothing like a little demonic trauma
THERÉSA: bonding between friends. Those girls will definitely be in each
THERÉSA: other's weddings. Let's take a break.
THERÉSA: Well, the ceremony is over. Turns out bringing Merlin was
THERÉSA: a huge mistake. Who was I supposed to know that
THERÉSA: after the kiss they'd be releasing a dozen white doves? Merlin,
THERÉSA: the apex predator that he is, snatched one out of
THERÉSA: the air and disemboweled it right there on the chuppah.
THERÉSA: Blood splattered everywhere, all over the bride's dress. Needless to say,
THERÉSA: the pictures are ruined and everyone is a little shaken up,
THERÉSA: but all in all, not bad for our first Haunting
THERÉSA: field trip, and Len's been having a great time.
THERÉSA: You guys know I love to dish, so if you
THERÉSA: want to share your musings on love and weddings, email
THERÉSA: us at HauntingThePodcast@gmail.com. And of course, if you've ever had
THERÉSA: to salt a demonic entity out of your home like
THERÉSA: Kat did, we'd love to hear about that too. I'm
THERÉSA: going to see what world of drama is going on
THERÉSA: in the ladies room and don't let Len have any
THERÉSA: more Champagne. He's a lightweight.
CREDITS: If you have a Haunting story to share, email us
CREDITS: at HauntingThePodcast@gmail.com, and if you like what you hear, please
CREDITS: like and subscribe. You can also follow us on social
CREDITS: media by searching for Glass Podcasts or by visiting glasspodcasts.com.
CREDITS: Haunting is a production of Glass Podcasts in partnership with
CREDITS: iHeart Podcast. Haunting is created and executive produced by Nancy Glass,
CREDITS: Andrea Gunning, Ben Fetterman, and Lauren Lapkus And it is
CREDITS: hosted by Laura Lapkus as her character Therésa. Producer Len
CREDITS: Walker is played by Trey Morgan. Haunting is written by
CREDITS: Aleah Welsh, with additional writing by Nancy Glass, Trey Morgan,
CREDITS: and Ben Fetterman. Editing and sound design by Matt Delvecchio
CREDITS: and mixed by Dave Saia. Operations and production support by
CREDITS: Kristen Melchiorre. Additional production support by Curry Richman and Todd Ganz.
CREDITS: Haunting's theme and original compositions were composed by Oliver Baines
CREDITS: and Dorry Macaulay of Noiser. Music library provided by Mybe Music.
CREDITS: Special thanks to Speakeasy Sound Studios in Burbank, California. For
CREDITS: more shows from iHeart Podcast and Glass Podcast, visit the
CREDITS: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.