1 00:00:19,520 --> 00:00:23,239 THERÉSA: Hello, ghouls and girls, Welcome back to another episode of Haunting. 2 00:00:23,640 --> 00:00:26,280 THERÉSA: For all you newbies out there, I'm Therésa, your ghost 3 00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:29,080 THERÉSA: host with the most, and this is our producer, Len 4 00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:30,120 LEN: [MUMBLES] 5 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:34,760 THERÉSA: and my familiar Merlin. We're coming to you from the 6 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:39,160 THERÉSA: Great Beyond with listeners submitted stories about mortal paranormal encounters. 7 00:00:40,120 --> 00:00:44,280 THERÉSA: And you know what that means. Someone listening right now 8 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:47,839 THERÉSA: could be our next victim, or guest. Kind of exciting 9 00:00:47,880 --> 00:00:50,480 THERÉSA: when you think about it. Here's a fun fact. I'd 10 00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:54,640 THERÉSA: never seen a ghost until I died. Well, I thought 11 00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:56,240 THERÉSA: I did once when I was twelve, but the shadow 12 00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:58,240 THERÉSA: figure in the corner turned out to be my brother's 13 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:01,360 THERÉSA: sleep peeing. It happens six more times before he grew 14 00:01:01,360 --> 00:01:03,960 THERÉSA: out of it, so that doesn't count. Len, did you 15 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:06,399 THERÉSA: ever have a supernatural encounter when you were alive? 16 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:13,760 LEN: [MUMBLES] 17 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:16,480 THERÉSA: You're saying in school you were possessed by a Satan 18 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:19,720 THERÉSA: worshiping rock band and turned into a demonic entity who 19 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:23,120 THERÉSA: ate half your grade. That's the plot of Jennifer's Body. 20 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:27,040 THERÉSA: The movie wasn't based on your life. Let's move on. 21 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:31,440 THERÉSA: Unlike Len's little performance, today's stories are one hundred percent real, 22 00:01:31,840 --> 00:01:34,840 THERÉSA: and we have the traumatizing first hand accounts to prove it. 23 00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:42,039 THERÉSA: Both come to us from America's heart land, the Windy City, 24 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:50,960 THERÉSA: Chi Town [CHICAGO SOUDTRACK] Len, I don't, I don't. No no, no, 25 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:53,800 THERÉSA: that is not your cue to play the Chicago soundtrack 26 00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:59,120 THERÉSA: and you've upset Merlin. He hates a brassy overture, Oh Merlin, Merlin, 27 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:00,980 THERÉSA: It's okay, It's okay, baby. 28 00:02:00,980 --> 00:02:02,640 LEN: [MUMBLES] 29 00:02:03,680 --> 00:02:05,960 THERÉSA: What? There is no way you were in the original 30 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:09,560 THERÉSA: cast of Chicago. You got the stage presence of an acorn. Seriously, 31 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:14,240 THERÉSA: what has gotten into you today? Now where was I? Okay. Yes. 32 00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:18,560 THERÉSA: Our first story is from Stephani, a leasing agent from Chicago. Don't! 33 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:25,880 THERÉSA: whose building tour was interrupted by an unexpected guest. Damn it, Len! 34 00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:26,400 THERÉSA: Listen to me. 35 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:32,680 STORY A: We meet with the leasing agent to see the apartment building. 36 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:36,880 STORY A: We get into the elevator, and then this woman walks in. 37 00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:44,680 STORY A: Everything got cold. It was instantaneous. Meanwhile, the leasing agent 38 00:02:44,919 --> 00:02:48,440 STORY A: is so freaked out staring at the numbers going down 39 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:52,600 STORY A: the entire time, she looked like she was having the crisis, 40 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:57,760 STORY A: and it all like everything was moving so slow, and 41 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:03,880 STORY A: then the elevator just suddenly stopped. My name is Stephani, 42 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:08,480 STORY A: and I had an unsettling encounter with a ghost on 43 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:16,400 STORY A: an elevator. In 2022, I was working as a luxury 44 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:20,680 STORY A: leasing agent in Chicago. When you think of luxury leasing 45 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:23,440 STORY A: agent in Chicago, most people think of the high rises 46 00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:27,011 STORY A: and the skyscrapers, which is mostly what I worked with, 47 00:03:27,011 --> 00:03:29,520 STORY A: but once in a while we would get clients that 48 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:33,640 STORY A: would be like, we want a historic building lumped in 49 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:40,080 STORY A: with all of these modern glass skyscrapers. So I got 50 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:45,200 STORY A: this client. She specifically wanted to know if I had 51 00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:49,360 STORY A: any connections with this one building. She really wanted to 52 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:53,120 STORY A: see this building because she was from Europe and it 53 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:55,960 STORY A: was built after the First World War for the German 54 00:03:55,960 --> 00:04:00,960 STORY A: American Cultural Society members to gather to promote German American heritage. 55 00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:04,080 STORY A: She's like, I just want to go to see this 56 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:09,320 STORY A: older building, and that was like amazing. The tower apartment 57 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:13,560 STORY A: building is in The Loop. If you're not familiar with the 58 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:18,960 STORY A: Loop area of Chicago, there's breweries and bars and restaurants 59 00:04:18,960 --> 00:04:22,520 STORY A: and a lot of really old buildings that were built 60 00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:25,679 STORY A: around the time of the World's Fair, and there's also 61 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:30,080 STORY A: a lot of sad stuff that happened. Chicago's famous for 62 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:33,240 STORY A: our river that runs right down the middle separating the loops. 63 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:37,760 STORY A: A couple of years after the Titanic sank, there was 64 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:44,080 STORY A: a huge, huge, huge boat disaster, hundreds of people died. 65 00:04:45,080 --> 00:04:49,240 STORY A: That's probably six blocks away from this building. And then 66 00:04:49,279 --> 00:04:55,120 STORY A: there was the Iroquois Theater fire, which was devastating, hundreds 67 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:59,520 STORY A: of deaths there too, that also is not far from 68 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:03,240 STORY A: this apartment building. The Loop area just has a ton 69 00:05:03,279 --> 00:05:08,200 STORY A: of haunting stories. It's a very interesting area. 70 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:11,960 STORY A: So we go to this building. My client and I 71 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:15,680 STORY A: were chatting. She's like, oh wow, this is just what 72 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:21,320 STORY A: I wanted. This is tall and it has character, but 73 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:27,120 STORY A: it's not like a soulless glass tower. We walk in. 74 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:33,080 STORY A: The lobby is just stunning. It looks like if 1920s 75 00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:38,920 STORY A: met a modern interior designer. It was just gorgeous. It's 76 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:43,440 STORY A: decorated very funky inside. It's very very cool, very modern, 77 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:48,520 STORY A: very hip. The way that it works, there's a leasing 78 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:50,680 STORY A: agent assigned to the building that shows you the unit. 79 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:59,960 STORY A: They show you everything, amenities, units, the gym. The leasing 80 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:03,440 STORY A: agent went into the history of the building and was like, 81 00:06:03,760 --> 00:06:07,560 STORY A: we're in the National Register of Historic Places. I was sold. 82 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:12,120 STORY A: My client really was just obsessed with it. We started 83 00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:14,840 STORY A: with the tour and we come to the elevator bank 84 00:06:15,279 --> 00:06:17,919 STORY A: and there was a portrait on the left of a 85 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:19,760 STORY A: man and a portrait on the right of a woman, 86 00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:25,520 STORY A: and I was like, okay, this is really cool. We 87 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:31,320 STORY A: started with the unit. We get in the elevator, We 88 00:06:31,400 --> 00:06:35,600 STORY A: walk in and there's lots of light. They preserved most 89 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:39,800 STORY A: of it, like the rounded windows, really cool, like old doorknobs. 90 00:06:40,839 --> 00:06:45,680 STORY A: My client thought it was really really interesting. So we 91 00:06:45,839 --> 00:06:51,080 STORY A: leave the unit and we take the elevator up to 92 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:59,200 STORY A: the pool, which was on the top floor. And this 93 00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:03,719 STORY A: pool is just insane. It looks like a Turkish bath house. 94 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:08,120 STORY A: It's just like stepping into a time capsule, perfectly preserved 95 00:07:08,200 --> 00:07:12,440 STORY A: historic 1920s pool. It's not like any pool you see 96 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:17,520 STORY A: anywhere in Chicago. And then we get in the elevator. 97 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:22,160 STORY A: We go down to the ballroom. It looks the same 98 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:25,800 STORY A: as it would have looked a hundred years ago. They've 99 00:07:25,840 --> 00:07:30,240 STORY A: just moved gym equipment into the ballroom. My client is 100 00:07:30,280 --> 00:07:32,280 STORY A: just like going insane. She's like, it's like a high 101 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:37,080 STORY A: rise with character. So as we're finishing the tour, we 102 00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:40,360 STORY A: get into the elevator. It was me, my client, and 103 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:44,160 STORY A: the leasing agent. We press a button to go back 104 00:07:44,200 --> 00:07:46,840 STORY A: down to the lobby, but the doors are still open, 105 00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:52,240 STORY A: and at the very last second, this lady just comes 106 00:07:52,320 --> 00:07:57,680 STORY A: into the elevator. I was shocked. There was nobody on 107 00:07:57,760 --> 00:08:00,680 STORY A: the floor with us. She just sort of appeared. 108 00:08:03,200 --> 00:08:06,320 STORY A: When this woman walked into the elevator, the temperature dropped 109 00:08:06,320 --> 00:08:10,840 STORY A: twenty degrees. I mean, it was a freezing wall and 110 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:14,520 STORY A: it was instantaneous. My client even said it's getting cold 111 00:08:14,520 --> 00:08:16,520 STORY A: in here. It was as soon as she was in 112 00:08:16,560 --> 00:08:20,680 STORY A: the elevator car, everything got cold. It was a big change. 113 00:08:24,640 --> 00:08:29,600 STORY A: There was just something about this woman. She was very short, 114 00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:34,640 STORY A: probably five feet tall. She was wearing this vintage maroon 115 00:08:35,160 --> 00:08:39,880 STORY A: buttoned down jacket with like the button cuff, very reminiscent 116 00:08:39,920 --> 00:08:43,000 STORY A: of like the thirties. And then she had a pleated 117 00:08:43,040 --> 00:08:47,199 STORY A: skirt that went down to like mid calf length. It 118 00:08:47,240 --> 00:08:50,880 STORY A: was like a dark brown. She was wearing shoes with 119 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:54,960 STORY A: a really small thick heel with a rounded toe. But 120 00:08:55,600 --> 00:09:00,440 STORY A: the kicker was the hair. She had very short hair. 121 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:06,040 STORY A: It had finger waves. It's like the very shellacked down 122 00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:11,120 STORY A: bang that looks like a wave. That's not anything you 123 00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:14,400 STORY A: see now. It was a hairstyle that I would best 124 00:09:14,400 --> 00:09:16,800 STORY A: describe as you would see on your grandmother's portrait from 125 00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:21,480 STORY A: the thirties. And then her lipstick. It was like heart 126 00:09:21,559 --> 00:09:24,040 STORY A: shaped with a really defined cupid's bow and hella a 127 00:09:24,160 --> 00:09:29,119 STORY A: dark lipstick, almost flapper style. She was just an interesting, 128 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:34,600 STORY A: kind of harsh looking woman. And she doesn't hit a floor. 129 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:39,160 STORY A: We asked her what floor she was going to, and 130 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:42,000 STORY A: she did not answer, so we did not hit a 131 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:44,680 STORY A: button for her. We hit the button for the lobby. 132 00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:50,200 STORY A: So the elevator doors closed, and my client starts talking 133 00:09:50,200 --> 00:09:53,160 STORY A: to her, asking like, how do you like the building? 134 00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:55,920 STORY A: And then I'm like, yes, how do you like the building? 135 00:09:56,640 --> 00:10:00,160 STORY A: Because I'm like, you know, all weirdness of this put aside, 136 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:03,320 STORY A: what does she think about the building? And she's just 137 00:10:03,360 --> 00:10:07,520 STORY A: staring straight ahead. She's not talking, she's not responding to 138 00:10:07,520 --> 00:10:10,760 STORY A: any of our questions. I'm just thinking this is really odd, 139 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:13,400 STORY A: but I'm asking our questions. I'm just like, do you 140 00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:18,120 STORY A: like the neighborhood? No answer, She's just staring straight ahead. 141 00:10:18,960 --> 00:10:24,000 STORY A: Like okay, cool, how long have you lived in the building? 142 00:10:25,040 --> 00:10:29,720 STORY A: No answer, literally, not really registering that I'm in the 143 00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:33,640 STORY A: elevator with her. I ask her what she does on 144 00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:39,839 STORY A: the weekends. Just nothing. She's not looking at me, just 145 00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:44,520 STORY A: looking straight ahead. And then she did turn her head 146 00:10:44,600 --> 00:10:49,520 STORY A: slightly towards me, but it wasn't like a full turn, 147 00:10:51,040 --> 00:10:52,160 STORY A: and then it went right back. 148 00:10:55,960 --> 00:11:01,400 STORY A: That was when I noticed her skin. It was almost 149 00:11:01,440 --> 00:11:08,440 STORY A: like an oil painting, like gray, kind of waxy. It 150 00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:12,840 STORY A: did not look like living skin. It didn't have the 151 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:17,560 STORY A: coloring that like a person would have. I couldn't see 152 00:11:17,640 --> 00:11:22,079 STORY A: through her, but she also wasn't solid. It was just unsettling. 153 00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:27,079 STORY A: I look over to the leasing agent and I can 154 00:11:27,120 --> 00:11:30,440 STORY A: see that she is visibly freaked out. She was not 155 00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:33,920 STORY A: making eye contact with me, but she looked like she 156 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:38,520 STORY A: was having a crisis. She's looking straight ahead, watching the 157 00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:41,560 STORY A: numbers go down, and it just felt like everything was 158 00:11:41,640 --> 00:11:46,520 STORY A: moving so slow. It felt like every floor was a mile. 159 00:11:47,360 --> 00:11:53,120 STORY A: Time just slowed down. And then the elevator just stopped 160 00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:58,280 STORY A: on this random floor and the doors open, which was 161 00:11:58,320 --> 00:12:00,960 STORY A: weird because we hadn't pressed a floor aside from the lobby. 162 00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:04,000 STORY A: It stops on the ninth floor, and then the woman 163 00:12:04,040 --> 00:12:07,120 STORY A: gets out of the elevator. She just like walks out, 164 00:12:07,360 --> 00:12:11,131 STORY A: but it was like a glide. I take a beat 165 00:12:11,131 --> 00:12:14,120 STORY A: and I decide that I want to follow her. I 166 00:12:14,160 --> 00:12:15,480 STORY A: was like, I have to get to the bottom of this. 167 00:12:15,840 --> 00:12:19,280 STORY A: So I walk out of the elevator right behind her. 168 00:12:19,960 --> 00:12:25,079 STORY A: She turned right. I turned right, but she's gone. There 169 00:12:25,120 --> 00:12:29,960 STORY A: was no one there. There's not a single person in 170 00:12:29,960 --> 00:12:33,400 STORY A: the hallway. This woman has vanished. There wasn't like an 171 00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:37,200 STORY A: exit staircase, and there was not enough time for her 172 00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:41,257 STORY A: to have unlocked an apartment door and gone in. We 173 00:12:41,257 --> 00:12:45,479 STORY A: would have heard a door slam. This woman was just gone. 174 00:12:46,080 --> 00:12:50,800 STORY A: I walked back to the elevator. My client is like 175 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:55,680 STORY A: chattering away. She's like, ah, like that lady was really quiet, 176 00:12:56,640 --> 00:13:02,400 STORY A: and I was like, yeah, she was. I get in the elevator. 177 00:13:02,559 --> 00:13:06,120 STORY A: The leasing agent is still like traumatized in the corner, 178 00:13:07,840 --> 00:13:09,520 STORY A: and the temperature is back to normal. 179 00:13:12,720 --> 00:13:16,000 STORY A: Before we hit the first floor, the leasing agent was like, 180 00:13:16,400 --> 00:13:19,439 STORY A: I am so sorry about that woman. You know, people 181 00:13:19,480 --> 00:13:23,839 STORY A: sometimes see her. She's harmless, she doesn't do anything, but 182 00:13:23,960 --> 00:13:27,840 STORY A: sometimes people see her outside of their doors, like she 183 00:13:27,960 --> 00:13:31,040 STORY A: just kind of wanders around. When we walked out of 184 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:35,120 STORY A: the elevator, I see those portraits again, the pictures, and 185 00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:37,600 STORY A: I'm like, oh my god, I think that's the woman 186 00:13:37,679 --> 00:13:42,720 STORY A: I saw in the elevator and I'm looking at these 187 00:13:42,760 --> 00:13:47,240 STORY A: portraits of this man and this woman. The leasing agent 188 00:13:47,480 --> 00:13:51,560 STORY A: is like, that's John Dillinger and his wife. Have you 189 00:13:51,640 --> 00:13:55,079 STORY A: seen the movie Public Enemies? And I was like, oh yeah, 190 00:13:55,120 --> 00:13:59,320 STORY A: because I'm all about history, that's my thing. And she's like, okay, well, 191 00:13:59,800 --> 00:14:03,960 STORY A: the scene where Johnny Depp's character, John Dillinger, met his 192 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:08,960 STORY A: wife in the movie, that scene happened in real life 193 00:14:09,160 --> 00:14:13,480 STORY A: at our building because he was a German American citizen 194 00:14:13,640 --> 00:14:16,880 STORY A: and he was part of the Steuben Club and they 195 00:14:16,960 --> 00:14:19,840 STORY A: met in the ballroom at this building. So we have 196 00:14:19,960 --> 00:14:22,080 STORY A: the pictures here because he liked to hang out here 197 00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:27,360 STORY A: a lot. And I was like, really, that was just 198 00:14:27,400 --> 00:14:32,320 STORY A: like my aha moment, that's exactly who it was. The 199 00:14:32,440 --> 00:14:35,560 STORY A: lady in the elevator was John Dillinger's wife. There was 200 00:14:35,600 --> 00:14:37,680 STORY A: like not a question in my mind. It was the 201 00:14:37,720 --> 00:14:43,840 STORY A: same lady. It was the same lipstick, same eyes, same hair, 202 00:14:44,840 --> 00:14:52,520 STORY A: same aura, same person. My client is like, oh my god, 203 00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:55,600 STORY A: Oh my god, I didn't Oh my god. She's like, 204 00:14:55,680 --> 00:14:59,280 STORY A: that's why she wasn't talking. I'm like, okay, this makes 205 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:02,040 STORY A: sense that she would hang around here because this was 206 00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:04,680 STORY A: kind of their home and they did have an apartment there. 207 00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:10,520 STORY A: I do personally believe that John Dillinger's wife does still 208 00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:14,760 STORY A: roam the halls of the building. My client called me 209 00:15:14,840 --> 00:15:16,960 STORY A: later that night, obviously to tell me her decision, and 210 00:15:17,440 --> 00:15:21,000 STORY A: she did not go with that building. I think she 211 00:15:21,120 --> 00:15:22,720 STORY A: was a little freaked out, but I don't think it 212 00:15:22,760 --> 00:15:25,880 STORY A: was ultimately would cause her to not rent there. But 213 00:15:26,440 --> 00:15:28,680 STORY A: I would move there. I still would. It was a 214 00:15:28,720 --> 00:15:32,440 STORY A: great building. It has a ghost. If it was the 215 00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:39,440 STORY A: freaking conjuring ghost, it would be another story. 216 00:15:41,640 --> 00:15:44,160 THERÉSA: You know, I never went to Chicago when I was alive. 217 00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:47,520 THERÉSA: The Midwest just didn't seem relevant, but now I'm starting 218 00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:49,960 THERÉSA: to think I was wrong. I mean, mob wife was 219 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:53,600 THERÉSA: a micro-aesthetic only like two trend cycles ago. Of course, 220 00:15:53,640 --> 00:15:56,720 THERÉSA: now we're in more of a sleepy Marionette girlfriend coastal 221 00:15:56,760 --> 00:16:00,200 THERÉSA: proletariat winter era, but still fairly relevant. If you ask me, 222 00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:03,640 THERÉSA: John Dillinger's wife sounds like an influencer of her time, 223 00:16:03,840 --> 00:16:08,080 THERÉSA: which I can totally relate to. You keep aimlessly drifting 224 00:16:08,080 --> 00:16:11,960 THERÉSA: through time and space, you beautiful, tortured soul. Now, like 225 00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:14,560 THERÉSA: any good influencer, here comes the part where I try 226 00:16:14,560 --> 00:16:20,400 THERÉSA: to sell you things. 227 00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:25,720 THERÉSA: Ah, what I wouldn't give to participate in capitalism again. 228 00:16:26,280 --> 00:16:28,560 THERÉSA: But there's no time to dwell on it. Well, I 229 00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:30,760 THERÉSA: mean there's infinite time to dwell, but we're not doing 230 00:16:30,800 --> 00:16:33,800 THERÉSA: that today. Now. I find this next story to be 231 00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:37,240 THERÉSA: just as, if not more relatable, than the last. See 232 00:16:37,280 --> 00:16:42,680 THERÉSA: if you can guess why. 233 00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:45,280 STORY B: She's like, it's time to go. I don't like what 234 00:16:45,320 --> 00:16:48,840 STORY B: I'm seeing. I can't take this. I said, well, why 235 00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:52,880 STORY B: what's going on? And I'm looking in her direction thinking 236 00:16:52,880 --> 00:16:57,360 STORY B: I would see something. I see nothing, but I can 237 00:16:57,400 --> 00:17:02,840 STORY B: tell that she was terrified. It's turned into something out 238 00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:07,840 STORY B: of a horror movie. I'm Pierce. I had a jealous 239 00:17:07,880 --> 00:17:14,520 STORY B: ghost in my basement. I live in the Metro area 240 00:17:14,520 --> 00:17:17,520 STORY B: of Chicago, but in the oldest house on the block 241 00:17:17,560 --> 00:17:21,480 STORY B: and probably the oldest house in the neighborhood. It has 242 00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:25,679 STORY B: three different floors, one being a basement apartment as well 243 00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:29,840 STORY B: as a coach house that used to be stables. This 244 00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:34,280 STORY B: house is very, very old, and with that there's probably 245 00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:38,720 STORY B: many stories, many things that happened. My whole family down 246 00:17:38,760 --> 00:17:42,680 STORY B: the line are all musicians, so naturally, with the basement 247 00:17:42,720 --> 00:17:46,400 STORY B: apartment being vacant, I turned that into my own studio 248 00:17:46,480 --> 00:17:51,080 STORY B: when I was in college, so I would go down 249 00:17:51,119 --> 00:17:54,040 STORY B: there to practice and compose, but a lot of times 250 00:17:54,040 --> 00:17:55,960 STORY B: I would just go down there at to chill, watch 251 00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:59,960 STORY B: some movies. But I noticed that during the day, especially 252 00:18:00,800 --> 00:18:07,520 STORY B: when I was alone down there, I never felt truly alone. 253 00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:10,960 STORY B: At first, I kind of brushed it off, but I 254 00:18:11,080 --> 00:18:14,320 STORY B: noticed this trend as time went on, and then I 255 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:18,760 STORY B: realized that after kind of sitting with this odd feeling, 256 00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:26,000 STORY B: I felt as though something was watching me. I come 257 00:18:26,040 --> 00:18:29,880 STORY B: from the Romani culture, more widely known as the Gypsy culture, 258 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:35,320 STORY B: which is very much in tune with supernatural. We are 259 00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:40,800 STORY B: descendants of an ancient culture from India that, through diaspora 260 00:18:41,080 --> 00:18:45,560 STORY B: and just through many centuries, we were nomadic people that 261 00:18:45,640 --> 00:18:50,600 STORY B: eventually landed in Eastern Europe and at least with my 262 00:18:50,720 --> 00:18:53,880 STORY B: family in particular and the majority of Roma today, they're 263 00:18:53,920 --> 00:18:58,480 STORY B: all very creative and musically inclined. We're also very much 264 00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:03,040 STORY B: in touch with our spiritual side. We believed in the 265 00:19:03,080 --> 00:19:08,040 STORY B: ability for people to sense positive, neutral and negative energies 266 00:19:08,160 --> 00:19:12,520 STORY B: from an unnamable amount of entities that may cross our paths. 267 00:19:13,320 --> 00:19:15,639 STORY B: Although we're Catholic, we do believe that there is the 268 00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:19,280 STORY B: ability for spirits to sort of linger family members to 269 00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:23,840 STORY B: visit things like that, and when I was in the basement, 270 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:29,040 STORY B: I felt the presence of a young girl that essentially 271 00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:32,719 STORY B: was just sitting there watching me. I just kind of 272 00:19:32,760 --> 00:19:36,400 STORY B: figured this is just a passing individual on a very 273 00:19:36,400 --> 00:19:39,080 STORY B: old plot of land, and if it just happens that 274 00:19:39,119 --> 00:19:41,480 STORY B: I have somebody who's just listening to my music as 275 00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:47,520 STORY B: I play, hey great. It didn't necessarily register as like 276 00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:52,720 STORY B: something to be worried about. For the next few months, 277 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:56,160 STORY B: whenever I would go down there, I would feel that presence. 278 00:19:57,200 --> 00:20:01,080 STORY B: And then one night I happened to be at a 279 00:20:01,240 --> 00:20:05,440 STORY B: jazz jam session with a friend of mine, a wonderful singer. 280 00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:08,520 STORY B: She and I got to a point where we agreed that, 281 00:20:08,600 --> 00:20:11,119 STORY B: you know, we should become like a singer songwriter duo 282 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:16,080 STORY B: of sorts. I'd play guitars, she would sing, and I 283 00:20:16,240 --> 00:20:20,160 STORY B: decided that we should get cracking and start recording something. 284 00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:28,320 STORY B: So I brought her over to the house. As soon 285 00:20:28,359 --> 00:20:32,040 STORY B: as we got everything set up, guitars tuned, mics set, 286 00:20:33,119 --> 00:20:36,000 STORY B: I was grabbing us some water. She looks at me, 287 00:20:36,359 --> 00:20:40,919 STORY B: and she looked very off, and she says, I have 288 00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:45,040 STORY B: like this really weird headache. I don't feel comfortable right now, 289 00:20:45,800 --> 00:20:48,560 STORY B: and she told me, I feel like we aren't alone. 290 00:20:51,560 --> 00:20:54,760 STORY B: I didn't want to tell her that I thought maybe 291 00:20:54,760 --> 00:20:57,960 STORY B: there's a ghost down here in the basement, and I 292 00:20:58,000 --> 00:20:59,960 STORY B: didn't want to spook her, so I just kind of 293 00:21:00,119 --> 00:21:02,919 STORY B: played it off. I said, let's give it a few minutes. 294 00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:05,159 STORY B: Let's maybe see we could get a song in, and 295 00:21:05,200 --> 00:21:07,120 STORY B: if it comes to the point that you still feel 296 00:21:07,160 --> 00:21:12,480 STORY B: this way, we'll go upstairs and figure something out. So 297 00:21:14,680 --> 00:21:17,119 STORY B: we try to get through one song, but I noticed 298 00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:20,680 STORY B: that what started as just a look of uncomfort turned 299 00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:26,520 STORY B: into a look of fear. At that moment, I realized 300 00:21:26,560 --> 00:21:36,440 STORY B: that what I thought was a neutral presence suddenly became negative, 301 00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:43,280 STORY B: but it was just directed towards her. I decided to 302 00:21:43,320 --> 00:21:48,520 STORY B: grab everything. We ended up going upstairs, set the whole 303 00:21:48,520 --> 00:21:48,966 STORY B: thing up. 304 00:21:50,119 --> 00:21:52,439 STORY B: Somehow we get through a song, and I remember she 305 00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:58,080 STORY B: basically says, yeah, I'm not feeling this whatsoever. Something doesn't 306 00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:05,399 STORY B: want me here. It's a very like negative presence. So 307 00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:08,520 STORY B: I took her home, but she made it very clear 308 00:22:08,880 --> 00:22:12,560 STORY B: that although she had fun, she would not ever come 309 00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:18,439 STORY B: back to that house. She never came back, and I 310 00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:24,000 STORY B: started to question whether me being comfortable with this presence 311 00:22:25,359 --> 00:22:34,240 STORY B: was a smart idea or not. But being sensitive to 312 00:22:34,320 --> 00:22:38,840 STORY B: these energies, I wasn't afraid. It just felt very neutral, 313 00:22:39,080 --> 00:22:42,800 STORY B: felt like if I was sitting down on stage performing 314 00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:45,800 STORY B: to like, you know, a couple, or maybe one particular 315 00:22:45,840 --> 00:22:48,840 STORY B: person in an audience. You know. I didn't mind her, 316 00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:51,359 STORY B: she didn't mind me. So I never really thought anything 317 00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:54,840 STORY B: about it. But that is until a couple of years 318 00:22:54,920 --> 00:23:02,120 STORY B: later on Halloween. My girlfriend and I decided to go 319 00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:06,639 STORY B: bar crawling. It happened to be a very cold and 320 00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:11,520 STORY B: rainy night, so we weren't out long. We decided we'd 321 00:23:11,640 --> 00:23:15,399 STORY B: rather grab a couple of burgers and just sort of 322 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:17,720 STORY B: spend the rest of the night watching some scary movies 323 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:22,879 STORY B: at my place. We walk in the house head to 324 00:23:23,040 --> 00:23:27,520 STORY B: the basement and I'm starting to get the TV set up. 325 00:23:28,600 --> 00:23:34,960 STORY B: She was sitting on the couch and as I'm messing 326 00:23:35,359 --> 00:23:42,280 STORY B: with the TV, she tells me, Pierce, I don't want 327 00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:48,040 STORY B: to be down here. I don't feel comfortable. And then 328 00:23:48,280 --> 00:23:54,439 STORY B: she says, there's a little girl with us. That just 329 00:23:54,480 --> 00:23:58,439 STORY B: gave me goosebumps because she's also a Romani. She just 330 00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:00,320 STORY B: happens to have a little bit more of a heightened 331 00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:04,679 STORY B: sense than I do. And I said, well, tell me, 332 00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:07,800 STORY B: what are you feeling? What are you seeing? She says, Pierce, 333 00:24:07,840 --> 00:24:13,040 STORY B: I see this little girl with dirty blonde hair, and 334 00:24:13,119 --> 00:24:17,280 STORY B: she's wearing a white linen dress with like a black 335 00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:21,639 STORY B: bow in the front, but it's dirty, little disheveled. She 336 00:24:21,800 --> 00:24:26,280 STORY B: has bruises up and down her arms and legs. She said, 337 00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:28,960 STORY B: she had like these very sunken in eyes, and the 338 00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:35,400 STORY B: pupils were a glowing yellow. She said, she doesn't want 339 00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:39,480 STORY B: me here. She doesn't like when you bring other girls here. 340 00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:47,440 STORY B: Then she describes to me what she's seeing. She tells me, Pierce, 341 00:24:47,480 --> 00:24:52,159 STORY B: this girl is on the ground now and she's contorting. 342 00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:56,120 STORY B: Her limbs are up like spider legs, but they're twisting. 343 00:24:57,040 --> 00:25:02,199 STORY B: Her head is facing directly towards me, and she's smiling 344 00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:08,120 STORY B: with these glowing eyes. The way she describes is that 345 00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:13,359 STORY B: this girl does not want her there anymore. And I 346 00:25:13,400 --> 00:25:18,160 STORY B: can see that my girlfriend is completely petrified at this point. 347 00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:21,320 STORY B: She says, Pierce, we have to leave, and seeing the 348 00:25:21,440 --> 00:25:24,239 STORY B: sheer terror on her face, I start to feel that 349 00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:29,520 STORY B: same amount of terror that she does. So I grabbed 350 00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:35,119 STORY B: the food, packed everything back up, took her home, and 351 00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:37,520 STORY B: even on the car ride home, I can tell that 352 00:25:37,640 --> 00:25:44,439 STORY B: my girlfriend was physically and just mentally terrified for what 353 00:25:44,640 --> 00:25:49,000 STORY B: she saw. So I get pissed. 354 00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:53,600 STORY B: I'm mad now. I head back, and my first thing 355 00:25:54,240 --> 00:25:57,600 STORY B: that I did is I went back to the basement. 356 00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:04,040 STORY B: But I still did not see this girl. All I 357 00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:07,320 STORY B: know is that the presence was there, and I lashed out, 358 00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:11,960 STORY B: screaming my head off, like in anger. I talked to 359 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:14,879 STORY B: her like a little girl, and I basically told her like, 360 00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:18,200 STORY B: shame on you. Why are you doing this? These girls 361 00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:20,520 STORY B: aren't here to harm you. I do not want you 362 00:26:20,600 --> 00:26:23,359 STORY B: here no more. You are not welcomed ever again. I 363 00:26:23,359 --> 00:26:32,840 STORY B: don't want you on this property. Be gone. This past August, 364 00:26:34,720 --> 00:26:38,879 STORY B: it was my twenty eighth birthday. I'm sitting down with 365 00:26:38,880 --> 00:26:43,600 STORY B: the family and my brother happened to be going through 366 00:26:43,840 --> 00:26:48,280 STORY B: my TikTok and stumbled upon this video that I made 367 00:26:48,320 --> 00:26:51,920 STORY B: telling the same exact story. He looked at me, he said, 368 00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:54,720 STORY B: what is this video about a ghost girl in the basement? 369 00:26:56,119 --> 00:26:58,719 STORY B: So I looked at him and I told him, you 370 00:26:58,760 --> 00:27:01,960 STORY B: don't want to watch that. Just ignore that because he 371 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:07,520 STORY B: spooks easily. He's not like me. Warned him, it's pretty intense. 372 00:27:08,760 --> 00:27:14,600 STORY B: He doesn't listen. He finishes the video, his mouth agape, 373 00:27:15,760 --> 00:27:19,840 STORY B: and he says, why didn't you tell any of us 374 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:23,720 STORY B: about this little girl? The way you described her, with 375 00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:27,720 STORY B: the dirty blonde hair, the white dress with the bow. 376 00:27:28,960 --> 00:27:32,679 STORY B: I've seen this girl pass my bedroom in this house, 377 00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:40,439 STORY B: and I looked at him stunned. As we're sitting there 378 00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:45,480 STORY B: and talking about this, my father chimes in and says, yeah, 379 00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:49,120 STORY B: I've seen so many different things in this house. That's 380 00:27:49,119 --> 00:27:51,760 STORY B: why I keep the picture of Jesus near the archway 381 00:27:51,800 --> 00:27:56,520 STORY B: that leads from our living room into our kitchen, because 382 00:27:56,600 --> 00:27:59,359 STORY B: I think that that archway, for some reason, is a 383 00:27:59,400 --> 00:28:05,000 STORY B: portal between our world and theirs. And he says, I 384 00:28:05,040 --> 00:28:08,480 STORY B: can't tell you how many times I've seen different people, 385 00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:12,879 STORY B: different shadow figures, and a little girl walking in the house. 386 00:28:15,800 --> 00:28:19,720 STORY B: We all just kind of stood there, just realizing that 387 00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:23,280 STORY B: we're not the only ones who live here. A lot 388 00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:26,160 STORY B: of people say this ghost had a crush on you 389 00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:30,120 STORY B: and took a liking to you, because anytime there would 390 00:28:30,160 --> 00:28:34,520 STORY B: be a girl around, she would make her presence known 391 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:36,879 STORY B: and it would be malicious. 392 00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:45,160 THERÉSA: So I said, I find this story to be relatable, 393 00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:46,960 THERÉSA: and for all of you who guessed it's because of 394 00:28:46,960 --> 00:28:51,560 THERÉSA: the jealous ghost girlfriend trope. You're wrong. I don't get jealous. 395 00:28:51,960 --> 00:28:56,880 THERÉSA: It's relatable because musicians are also my weakness, so I 396 00:28:56,920 --> 00:29:00,440 THERÉSA: feel for this spirit, but unlike her, I get what 397 00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:03,880 THERÉSA: I want. In my opinion, Pierce got off lucky. There's 398 00:29:03,880 --> 00:29:07,800 THERÉSA: a fine line between possessive and possession, but not to fear. 399 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:16,320 THERÉSA: Let's bring those heart rates down with some ads. 400 00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:21,400 THERÉSA: Well, haunto's that's all we've got. I don't know about you, 401 00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:24,840 THERÉSA: but this episode got me inspired to venture Midwest. Maybe 402 00:29:24,840 --> 00:29:27,640 THERÉSA: pop by a little ghost town or abandoned speakeasy and 403 00:29:27,720 --> 00:29:32,720 THERÉSA: see who or what is lurking about. You guys know 404 00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:35,560 THERÉSA: the drill. If you've ever found yourself in a haunted 405 00:29:35,600 --> 00:29:39,000 THERÉSA: love triangle or a spooky scenario of any sort, write 406 00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:43,520 THERÉSA: to us at HauntingThePodcast@gmail.com and you might be featured on 407 00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:46,600 THERÉSA: an upcoming episode. And if you haven't been lucky enough 408 00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:48,880 THERÉSA: to be graced by a ghost, then send me your 409 00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:51,600 THERÉSA: best looks for Coastal Proletariat Winter to add to my 410 00:29:51,720 --> 00:29:54,400 THERÉSA: Q-1 mood board. See you next week. 411 00:29:57,800 --> 00:30:00,200 CREDITS: If you have a haunting story to share, email us 412 00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:04,000 CREDITS: at HauntingThePodcast@gmail.com, and if you like what you hear, please 413 00:30:04,080 --> 00:30:06,520 CREDITS: like and subscribe. You can also follow us on social 414 00:30:06,600 --> 00:30:11,040 CREDITS: media by searching for Glass Podcasts or by visiting glasspodcasts.com. 415 00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:13,640 CREDITS: Haunting is a production of Glass Podcasts in partnership with 416 00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:18,325 CREDITS: iHeart Podcast. Haunting is created and executive produced by Nancy Glass, 417 00:30:18,325 --> 00:30:21,000 CREDITS: Andrea Gunning, Ben Fetterman, and Lauren Lapkus, and it is 418 00:30:21,040 --> 00:30:24,560 CREDITS: hosted by Lauren Lapkus as her character Therésa. Producer Len 419 00:30:24,600 --> 00:30:27,640 CREDITS: Walker is played by Trey Morgan. Haunting is written by 420 00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:30,920 CREDITS: Aleah Welsh, with additional writing by Nancy Glass, Trey Morgan, 421 00:30:30,960 --> 00:30:34,120 CREDITS: and Ben Fetterman. Editing and sound design by Matt Delvecchio 422 00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:37,440 CREDITS: and mixed by Dave Saia. Operations and production support by 423 00:30:37,480 --> 00:30:41,520 CREDITS: Kristen Melchiorre. Additional production support by Curry Richman and Todd Ganz. 424 00:30:41,720 --> 00:30:45,120 CREDITS: Haunting's theme and original compositions were composed by Oliver Baines 425 00:30:45,160 --> 00:30:49,120 CREDITS: and Dprry Macaulay of Noiser. Music library provided by Mybw Music. 426 00:30:49,480 --> 00:30:53,200 CREDITS: Special thanks to Speakeasy Sound Studios in Burbank, California. For 427 00:30:53,280 --> 00:30:56,640 CREDITS: more shows from iHeart Podcasts and Glass Podcasts, visit the 428 00:30:56,680 --> 00:31:00,680 CREDITS: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.