1 00:00:21,320 --> 00:00:25,160 THERÉSA: Hello, Hello, my hauntos Therésa here. Welcome back to another 2 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:28,640 THERÉSA: episode of Haunting. The podcast where we share listeners submitted 3 00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:32,360 THERÉSA: stories of other worldly encounters with the great beyond. I'm 4 00:00:32,360 --> 00:00:34,680 THERÉSA: excited to gab with you girls today because I've been 5 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:37,800 THERÉSA: having a little encounter of my own. As some of 6 00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:41,120 THERÉSA: you may remember, I got saddled with a familiar, Merlin. 7 00:00:41,720 --> 00:00:44,680 THERÉSA: Only he's not the slinky cat I was expecting. He's 8 00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:48,519 THERÉSA: a massive, great horned owl. Anyway, I've been trying to 9 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:50,320 THERÉSA: make the best of it by accompanying Merlin on his 10 00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:54,480 THERÉSA: hunting expeditions in the mortal realm. As a familiar, Merlin 11 00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:58,000 THERÉSA: has access to both the physical and spirit world. It's 12 00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:00,720 THERÉSA: nice getting to look down on everything from a bird's eye view. 13 00:01:01,080 --> 00:01:03,400 THERÉSA: It reminds me of my dad's company jet, which we 14 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:07,600 THERÉSA: sadly lost access to after the indictment. So this one morning, 15 00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:11,759 THERÉSA: Merlin's flying through the Poconos and there's this adorable nature boy. 16 00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:16,000 THERÉSA: He's got his little binoculars and camera, clearly a birdwatcher, 17 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:18,360 THERÉSA: and he's like, obsessed with me. 18 00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:18,960 LEN: [MUMBLES] 19 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:23,840 THERÉSA: Well, if he's obsessed with Merlin, he's obsessed with me. 20 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:27,840 THERÉSA: I'm basically Merlin. The crazy thing is he's so not 21 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:30,520 THERÉSA: my type, but there's something about him that's just so 22 00:01:30,680 --> 00:01:33,679 THERÉSA: cute and wholesome. I can't explain it, but it might 23 00:01:33,720 --> 00:01:37,240 THERÉSA: be love. I usually go for trust fund DJs or 24 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:40,040 THERÉSA: guys who say bet. This could be a really good thing. 25 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:44,319 THERÉSA: The only challenge has been communication. I had Merlin follow 26 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:46,679 THERÉSA: him back to his apartment in Philadelphia, perch outside of 27 00:01:46,680 --> 00:01:49,160 THERÉSA: his window and tap on the glass. This seemed to 28 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:52,400 THERÉSA: really excite him, again because he's a huge bird nerd 29 00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:54,840 THERÉSA: so I might need to get a bit more explicit 30 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:58,120 THERÉSA: with my messages. But I have a little romantic gesture 31 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:00,720 THERÉSA: up my sleeve I think should do the trick. I'll have an 32 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:03,920 THERÉSA: update on that later. For now, let's get started with 33 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:06,920 THERÉSA: our first story of the episode. This one comes to 34 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:10,200 THERÉSA: us from Nicole, an LA native just like me who's 35 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:14,240 THERÉSA: had her fair share of disturbing paranormal experiences. 36 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:20,640 STORY A: I'm Nicole and I was followed by something sinister on 37 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:27,360 STORY A: a trip to see a friend. I am born and 38 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:32,280 STORY A: raised in Los Angeles. I have always grown up knowing 39 00:02:32,440 --> 00:02:36,799 STORY A: that my family has had a connection to the other side, 40 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:42,440 STORY A: whether it be psychic, whether it be seeing spirit, They've 41 00:02:42,600 --> 00:02:48,639 STORY A: all had interactions. My grandmother specifically would see spirit all 42 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:51,919 STORY A: the time. She would have a woman that would walk 43 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:57,079 STORY A: up and down her stairs at her childhood home. This 44 00:02:57,160 --> 00:03:00,680 STORY A: woman would sit on her bed and help my grandma 45 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:04,880 STORY A: brush her hair while she was sitting there. This was 46 00:03:04,919 --> 00:03:08,760 STORY A: then passed down to my mom, who has always had premonitions. 47 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:12,959 STORY A: My mom has even been approached in the supermarket by 48 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:17,586 STORY A: people saying, are you aware that you have psychic abilities? 49 00:03:17,586 --> 00:03:21,840 STORY A: These people are just drawn to her. That was also 50 00:03:21,919 --> 00:03:30,280 STORY A: passed down to me. I was in sixth grade. It 51 00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:33,360 STORY A: was the last year at my elementary school and there 52 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:36,680 STORY A: was a big Washington, DC trip that the sixth grade 53 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:42,280 STORY A: class would always take. Having been in LA this was 54 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:45,320 STORY A: cross country, it was far away, so it was the 55 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:49,120 STORY A: biggest deal. It was a class of thirty and every 56 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:51,520 STORY A: kid in the class ended up going on this trip. 57 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:59,640 STORY A: It was the trip. We were probably the most annoying 58 00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:02,400 STORY A: group of kids for the other people on the plane 59 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:05,600 STORY A: because a red eye, you know, there's business people trying 60 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:08,120 STORY A: to fly to Washington, D C. for their meetings in 61 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:11,520 STORY A: the morning, and none of us could shut up. We 62 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:15,800 STORY A: were talking the whole time, laughing, yelling. We were probably 63 00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:19,080 STORY A: driving everyone crazy. I don't think any of us slept 64 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:22,520 STORY A: on that plane because there was just this air of excitement. 65 00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:27,800 STORY A: This may be hard to believe, but I was so 66 00:04:27,960 --> 00:04:32,440 STORY A: excited for the history part. My grandpa was a history 67 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:36,159 STORY A: buff and my grandma was a docent at the Huntington 68 00:04:36,279 --> 00:04:41,279 STORY A: Museum out here in LA basically a volunteer leading tours 69 00:04:41,279 --> 00:04:44,920 STORY A: and everything around the Huntington Museum. So she just gave 70 00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:47,560 STORY A: me a love for history that was shining through in 71 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:53,040 STORY A: sixth grade. 72 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:58,520 STORY A: Once we landed, we went to the hotel, we checked in, 73 00:04:59,120 --> 00:05:02,600 STORY A: we were immediately shuttled to our bus. We went to 74 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:08,400 STORY A: the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, that whole area of Washington, D.C. 75 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:12,382 STORY A: We had a tour guide that lived there that would 76 00:05:12,382 --> 00:05:15,159 STORY A: take us to all these monuments and all these museums. 77 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:20,760 STORY A: She knew everything about everything and as she would speak, 78 00:05:21,279 --> 00:05:25,159 STORY A: I would notice that she'd always work in these tidbits 79 00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:29,400 STORY A: about ghosts or spirits and things that she had seen 80 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:32,479 STORY A: or things that someone on her tour group had seen. 81 00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:35,760 STORY A: I thought that was the coolest thing. 82 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:39,440 STORY A: One of the main highlights that we were all looking 83 00:05:39,480 --> 00:05:44,480 STORY A: forward to was heading over to Colonial Williamsburg. As our 84 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:48,120 STORY A: bus entered the area, it felt like we were in 85 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:53,159 STORY A: a completely different time in space, like we were being 86 00:05:53,240 --> 00:05:59,805 STORY A: transported into the seventeen hundreds. Our tour guide told us 87 00:05:59,805 --> 00:06:04,880 STORY A: there were so many different spirit encounters that she had 88 00:06:04,960 --> 00:06:08,000 STORY A: seen and that people that she led on tour groups 89 00:06:08,040 --> 00:06:14,760 STORY A: had seen. We spend the whole day in Colonial Williamsburg 90 00:06:15,240 --> 00:06:21,560 STORY A: churning butter, weaving baskets, making blankets, making candles. At the 91 00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:26,000 STORY A: end of the day, our entire group was absolutely exhausted. 92 00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:30,679 STORY A: It's dusk at this point, it's starting to get dark. 93 00:06:32,440 --> 00:06:36,200 STORY A: Our big group was walking back to our bus. As 94 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:40,520 STORY A: we were walking, there's a man standing at this fence. 95 00:06:41,839 --> 00:06:46,560 STORY A: He was in traditional colonial garb. He was wearing khaki 96 00:06:46,640 --> 00:06:53,960 STORY A: capris with white socks up to his knees, black buckle shoes, 97 00:06:55,480 --> 00:07:04,640 STORY A: a white blouse, a black overcoat, and a tri-corner black hat. 98 00:07:05,320 --> 00:07:07,560 STORY A: I thought it was odd that he was wearing a 99 00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:10,280 STORY A: black overcoat because it was the middle of May and 100 00:07:10,320 --> 00:07:14,040 STORY A: it was so hot and humid out. But I noticed 101 00:07:14,120 --> 00:07:19,000 STORY A: that this man was just glaring at me. Not just staring. 102 00:07:20,560 --> 00:07:21,520 STORY A: He's glaring. 103 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:25,920 STORY A: In this moment, I could not take my eyes off 104 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:31,560 STORY A: of him. I'm just feeling this overwhelming sense of dread 105 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:36,906 STORY A: and this overwhelming sense of guilt. He was making me 106 00:07:36,906 --> 00:07:40,800 STORY A: feel as though I had done something to disturb him 107 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:44,640 STORY A: or to upset him, and I could not look away 108 00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:55,320 STORY A: from him. As I walk past him, he is moving 109 00:07:55,600 --> 00:07:58,480 STORY A: his eyes along with me, but not turning his head, 110 00:07:58,920 --> 00:08:01,920 STORY A: just moving his eyes to follow me and to watch me. 111 00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:06,520 STORY A: As if I were the only kid in that entire 112 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:09,280 STORY A: group of people that were standing there. He just stared 113 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:12,880 STORY A: at me singularly, as if to say, I see you. 114 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:18,520 STORY A: My eyes are burning at this point. I've been maintaining 115 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:23,160 STORY A: this stare for so long. And then I blink, and 116 00:08:23,200 --> 00:08:28,240 STORY A: then he was gone. I have a million thoughts running 117 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:31,480 STORY A: through my head. Why did he show himself to me? 118 00:08:32,240 --> 00:08:35,719 STORY A: What did he want from me? Why was he glaring 119 00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:39,880 STORY A: at me? I described this person to the people in 120 00:08:39,920 --> 00:08:43,480 STORY A: my class. I told them what he was wearing. No 121 00:08:43,480 --> 00:08:47,320 STORY A: one else saw this person. I knew what I had 122 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:50,599 STORY A: seen was real. I knew it wasn't made up. I 123 00:08:50,679 --> 00:08:55,280 STORY A: knew it wasn't a hallucination. That feeling could never have 124 00:08:55,400 --> 00:09:03,440 STORY A: been fabricated. I knew I had seen spirit. It wasn't 125 00:09:03,520 --> 00:09:07,000 STORY A: until several years later that I had my next experience. 126 00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:12,080 STORY A: I went up to Oregon to visit my friend. I 127 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:15,120 STORY A: was so excited because I'd never been to Oregon before. 128 00:09:15,960 --> 00:09:20,040 STORY A: I couldn't believe how beautiful it was there. She pointed 129 00:09:20,080 --> 00:09:23,319 STORY A: out her house from down the street. It was a 130 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:27,679 STORY A: very cute cottage model, with lots of vines growing on 131 00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:36,160 STORY A: the sides of the house and a cobblestone driveway. Before 132 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:38,360 STORY A: we even got out of the car, my eyes were 133 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:43,559 STORY A: immediately drawn to something on the second floor. All of 134 00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:50,160 STORY A: a sudden, I felt ill. I was nauseous, my stomach dropped, 135 00:09:50,760 --> 00:09:54,679 STORY A: I felt feverish, but I had chills. I could feel 136 00:09:54,679 --> 00:09:59,960 STORY A: the goosebumps all over my body. We unload the car, 137 00:10:01,840 --> 00:10:07,359 STORY A: walk inside, and what looked very cute from the outside 138 00:10:07,679 --> 00:10:12,280 STORY A: ended up being very creepy on the inside. The house 139 00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:18,120 STORY A: had brick walls with nothing hanging on them, hardwood, creaking floors, 140 00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:21,560 STORY A: and the house just looked old. 141 00:10:23,240 --> 00:10:27,360 STORY A: We stayed in for the rest of the night, made dinner, 142 00:10:27,600 --> 00:10:33,840 STORY A: and just sat together catching up. About ten o'clock we 143 00:10:33,960 --> 00:10:38,800 STORY A: decided to go to bed. I fell asleep very fast. 144 00:10:39,840 --> 00:10:41,840 STORY A: At some point in the middle of the night, I 145 00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:47,160 STORY A: woke up and was very thirsty. I walked slowly down 146 00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:52,200 STORY A: the hall, make it into the kitchen, pour a glass 147 00:10:52,240 --> 00:11:00,920 STORY A: of water, and turn around to head back to the bedroom. Immediately, 148 00:11:00,960 --> 00:11:02,360 STORY A: I feel the energy shift. 149 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:07,080 STORY A: I start to feel a darkness surround me and a 150 00:11:07,200 --> 00:11:13,240 STORY A: very negative energy all over the room. I feel fight 151 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:17,120 STORY A: or flight take over, like my body is having this 152 00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:22,160 STORY A: visceral reaction to the shift. It feels like a physical 153 00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:26,680 STORY A: being is in there with me. It feels like someone's 154 00:11:26,720 --> 00:11:31,400 STORY A: eyes are boring into my back. But I refuse to 155 00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:35,719 STORY A: turn around because I didn't want to acknowledge that presence 156 00:11:35,840 --> 00:11:40,600 STORY A: because of the evil that I felt with it. I 157 00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:46,280 STORY A: can feel my adrenaline starting to pump, and I feel 158 00:11:46,440 --> 00:11:52,000 STORY A: this energy getting closer and closer to me, so I 159 00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:57,280 STORY A: start to run down the hall. I feel like I'm 160 00:11:57,280 --> 00:12:01,840 STORY A: in danger. I jumped into bed and pull the covers 161 00:12:01,920 --> 00:12:05,760 STORY A: up over me. I was thinking, do I need to 162 00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:07,800 STORY A: leave this house in the middle of the night and 163 00:12:07,840 --> 00:12:15,160 STORY A: find myself a hotel? Am I in danger still? I 164 00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:21,200 STORY A: pull out my phone to distract myself, and I eventually 165 00:12:21,360 --> 00:12:24,959 STORY A: feel the energy go back to being peaceful and calm, 166 00:12:26,280 --> 00:12:28,400 STORY A: and ended up falling asleep. 167 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:35,520 STORY A: The next morning, I was very excited because we had 168 00:12:35,520 --> 00:12:39,520 STORY A: a big day planned, going to tour Oregon State University, 169 00:12:39,960 --> 00:12:44,626 STORY A: going on a hike, and then going to breweries afterwards. 170 00:12:44,626 --> 00:12:48,840 STORY A: We're getting ready upstairs in the bathroom, and I mentioned 171 00:12:48,880 --> 00:12:52,000 STORY A: to my friend that something weird had happened last night. 172 00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:55,920 STORY A: I told her that I was in the kitchen and 173 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:59,400 STORY A: a dark presence came over and followed me back to 174 00:12:59,480 --> 00:13:03,800 STORY A: the bedroom. She's quiet for a moment and gives me 175 00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:08,360 STORY A: a look of oh no, this is happening to you too. 176 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:14,319 STORY A: She tells me there had been multiple experiences with this presence. 177 00:13:15,679 --> 00:13:19,319 STORY A: Her and a friend had seen a pen levitate above 178 00:13:19,360 --> 00:13:23,800 STORY A: the desk on its own, suddenly drop and roll onto 179 00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:28,640 STORY A: the floor. She'd seen the same thing happen with a 180 00:13:28,760 --> 00:13:31,080 STORY A: roll of duct tape at that same desk. 181 00:13:33,760 --> 00:13:36,360 STORY A: She also told me that she had been locked out 182 00:13:36,400 --> 00:13:40,440 STORY A: of her room before. Leading to the upstairs was a 183 00:13:40,600 --> 00:13:46,280 STORY A: very old wooden door with paint peeling and an old 184 00:13:46,360 --> 00:13:49,880 STORY A: style lock that required a skeleton key like you see 185 00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:55,440 STORY A: in movies to be physically turned. How was she getting 186 00:13:55,480 --> 00:13:59,320 STORY A: locked out when there was no one in the room? 187 00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:02,520 STORY A: She told me that a man had died in that 188 00:14:02,640 --> 00:14:08,320 STORY A: house a long time ago. They believed that that is 189 00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:12,040 STORY A: the presence that I felt that was stalking about the house, 190 00:14:12,920 --> 00:14:16,560 STORY A: and not to be too scared because they had been 191 00:14:16,640 --> 00:14:21,080 STORY A: living there for many months at that point and that 192 00:14:21,400 --> 00:14:25,360 STORY A: entity had never fully approached them before. 193 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:31,440 STORY A: I had a great rest of my trip and was 194 00:14:31,560 --> 00:14:36,240 STORY A: left undisturbed and believe that in my first night there, 195 00:14:36,640 --> 00:14:40,600 STORY A: this spirit wanted to test the limits and see how 196 00:14:40,680 --> 00:14:45,480 STORY A: far it could push me. Since my trip to Oregon, I 197 00:14:45,800 --> 00:14:50,160 STORY A: have had other encounters with spirit and the paranormal, but 198 00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:53,680 STORY A: nothing has ever come through again that has felt as 199 00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:57,440 STORY A: sinister and nefarious as that presence did. 200 00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:06,360 THERÉSA: I actually took the same field trip from LA to 201 00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:09,320 THERÉSA: DC when I was in elementary school. I didn't see 202 00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:12,280 THERÉSA: a ghost, but I did see my history teacher hit 203 00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:15,120 THERÉSA: on a Betsy Ross impersonator, which still haunts me to 204 00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:17,640 THERÉSA: this day. We've got to take a quick AD break, 205 00:15:17,760 --> 00:15:20,400 THERÉSA: but don't go anywhere because we'll be back in two secs, 206 00:15:20,840 --> 00:15:23,480 THERÉSA: well technically four minutes, maybe less. I don't know. Ads 207 00:15:23,520 --> 00:15:24,120 THERÉSA: are Len work. 208 00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:36,280 THERÉSA: Ugh guys! Huge drama with Toby. Oh, I've decided to 209 00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:39,360 THERÉSA: name bird guy Toby. I pulled up my social accounts 210 00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:41,040 THERÉSA: on his laptop and cut the power so I could 211 00:15:41,040 --> 00:15:44,400 THERÉSA: flash "Hey Cutie" in Morse code with the lights, but 212 00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:49,160 THERÉSA: he just started seizing. How was I supposed to know 213 00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:51,960 THERÉSA: that would happen? Once the paramedics left, I sent Merlin 214 00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:53,920 THERÉSA: to his window to calm him down, and he threw 215 00:15:53,920 --> 00:15:57,600 THERÉSA: ahead of garlic at him. Yeah, not cool at all. 216 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:01,440 THERÉSA: We're not vampires. Ignorant. Toby slept with the lights on 217 00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:03,280 THERÉSA: the rest of the night. But I'm hoping once he's 218 00:16:03,360 --> 00:16:05,240 THERÉSA: less on edge, he'll be curious enough to pick up 219 00:16:05,280 --> 00:16:07,800 THERÉSA: a Ouiji board or organize a seance so we can 220 00:16:07,880 --> 00:16:12,420 THERÉSA: have a proper rendezvous. I'm killer on a first date. Anyway, 221 00:16:12,420 --> 00:16:15,760 THERÉSA: let's keep things moving. Our next story is from Jade, 222 00:16:15,800 --> 00:16:19,040 THERÉSA: who spent an extremely unsettling night at the mercy of 223 00:16:19,080 --> 00:16:20,560 THERÉSA: a pretty pushy spirit. 224 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:25,360 STORY B: I was reading a book quietly and it was totally silent. 225 00:16:25,440 --> 00:16:29,240 STORY B: Everyone was sleeping, and I heard this thing running up 226 00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:36,440 STORY B: and down the stairs. And suddenly it slammed against the door. 227 00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:40,960 STORY B: The door actually shook, and I jumped up. What the 228 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:44,720 STORY B: fuck is this? Like why is this happening to me 229 00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:52,960 STORY B: right now? I am actually quite afraid. I'm terrified. My 230 00:16:53,080 --> 00:16:56,920 STORY B: name's Jade. When staying with my family, something was going 231 00:16:56,960 --> 00:16:57,680 STORY B: bump in the night. 232 00:16:59,480 --> 00:17:02,040 STORY B: I grew up with my mom in Washington State. My 233 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:05,120 STORY B: father lived in Las Vegas, and I would visit them 234 00:17:05,440 --> 00:17:10,440 STORY B: once or twice a year. The summer around the time 235 00:17:10,480 --> 00:17:13,720 STORY B: that I was seventeen, I was visiting my father and 236 00:17:13,720 --> 00:17:17,520 STORY B: my stepmom in Las Vegas. I didn't have my own 237 00:17:17,600 --> 00:17:20,040 STORY B: room in the house. The setup that we typically had 238 00:17:20,320 --> 00:17:23,000 STORY B: was that my baby brother would sleep with my parents 239 00:17:23,080 --> 00:17:25,160 STORY B: during the time that I was visiting, and I would 240 00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:27,920 STORY B: take over the nursery as sort of a guest room 241 00:17:28,359 --> 00:17:34,000 STORY B: for the duration of my visit. The outside of the 242 00:17:34,040 --> 00:17:38,439 STORY B: house was pretty common for what you might see in 243 00:17:38,480 --> 00:17:42,640 STORY B: a Las Vegas suburban area. It was a white stucco 244 00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:47,639 STORY B: one story house. There was an overhang of the roof 245 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:50,679 STORY B: that kind of cast a shadow on the overall house. 246 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:58,640 STORY B: The bottom floor was the entire living area. Kitchen, living room, 247 00:17:58,760 --> 00:18:02,760 STORY B: sort of a front room as well. In the middle of that 248 00:18:02,840 --> 00:18:05,080 STORY B: living area, t here was a staircase that led up 249 00:18:05,119 --> 00:18:09,880 STORY B: to a very small landing. The landing was surrounded by 250 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:14,800 STORY B: three bedrooms and a bathroom. But for being such a 251 00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:19,080 STORY B: hot and sunny place, the house did seem to be 252 00:18:19,359 --> 00:18:26,119 STORY B: a bit shadowy for some reason. The last night that 253 00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:29,600 STORY B: I was staying with them, I was up in the 254 00:18:29,720 --> 00:18:33,280 STORY B: nursery room and I was reading Brave New World by 255 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:37,920 STORY B: Aldous Huxley. Everyone had gone to bed before me around 256 00:18:37,920 --> 00:18:42,560 STORY B: ten o'clock. My father and stepmom were with my baby 257 00:18:42,560 --> 00:18:45,760 STORY B: brother in one room. My other little brother, who was 258 00:18:45,800 --> 00:18:48,960 STORY B: about twelve at the time, was in his bedroom. 259 00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:55,159 STORY B: They sleep with their doors open. I do not. I 260 00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:59,639 STORY B: had just gone to the bathroom. I returned to the nursery. 261 00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:03,600 STORY B: I closed the door behind me, and I'm continuing to 262 00:19:03,640 --> 00:19:07,480 STORY B: read my book. I'm up late. I'm seventeen years old, 263 00:19:07,800 --> 00:19:10,320 STORY B: you know, it was pretty typical of me to stay 264 00:19:10,400 --> 00:19:14,200 STORY B: up till one or two in the morning. Everyone was 265 00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:18,840 STORY B: sleeping and then from the bottom of the stairs, I 266 00:19:18,920 --> 00:19:24,880 STORY B: hear something strange, and I realized that the noise is footsteps. 267 00:19:26,359 --> 00:19:31,560 STORY B: The footsteps stop at the top of the stairs, and 268 00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:37,600 STORY B: I hear them go back down. This continues maybe six times, 269 00:19:37,640 --> 00:19:43,720 STORY B: back and forth. The nursery was directly next to the staircase, 270 00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:49,560 STORY B: so I could tell that the footsteps were coming from 271 00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:54,920 STORY B: the bottom of the stairs. This landing was quite creaky. 272 00:19:56,840 --> 00:19:59,760 STORY B: I would have heard someone kind of coming out of 273 00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:01,720 STORY B: their rooms and walking down the stairs. 274 00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:05,440 STORY B: This sound did not start at the top of the stairs. 275 00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:08,400 STORY B: This sound started at the bottom of the stairs from 276 00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:13,840 STORY B: the living area. The footsteps almost sounded like a child 277 00:20:14,359 --> 00:20:16,800 STORY B: barreling up and down the stairs, almost like when you 278 00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:20,640 STORY B: hear kids kind of running around the house, very clumsy, 279 00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:32,080 STORY B: very haphazard. So as a sidebar, my grandmother was very kooky, 280 00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:36,560 STORY B: and she told me that if anything unexplainable or paranormal 281 00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:40,719 STORY B: ever happened, the best thing to do is to ignore it, 282 00:20:40,840 --> 00:20:45,119 STORY B: because if you pay attention, you'll feed into the energy, 283 00:20:45,280 --> 00:20:50,399 STORY B: the activity will get stronger, or something like that. This 284 00:20:50,560 --> 00:20:53,000 STORY B: is the only advice I had ever gotten about how 285 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:55,399 STORY B: to interact with a ghost, so it is in my 286 00:20:55,760 --> 00:21:00,680 STORY B: head that I should just ignore these footsteps. Of course, 287 00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:03,840 STORY B: I can't stop listening entirely because I am freaked out, 288 00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:09,560 STORY B: but I'm choosing not to acknowledge it, call out to 289 00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:16,919 STORY B: my family, or interact with anything whatsoever. I did go 290 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:21,160 STORY B: through the logical checklist of trying to figure out where 291 00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:24,920 STORY B: this was coming from. I didn't think that it could 292 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:29,960 STORY B: be an intruder. The house had an alarm system, so 293 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:32,720 STORY B: if anyone had entered on the bottom floor through a 294 00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:35,880 STORY B: door or the windows, the alarm would have gone off. 295 00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:39,840 STORY B: I didn't think that it was anyone in my family, 296 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:43,040 STORY B: just because I hadn't heard them go down. Again, it 297 00:21:43,119 --> 00:21:46,960 STORY B: was totally silent. I was reading a book quietly. Everyone 298 00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:51,959 STORY B: was sleeping. When I was listening to this, I felt 299 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:55,960 STORY B: almost like a cat being up on its haunches, Like 300 00:21:56,320 --> 00:22:00,720 STORY B: my hair stood up and I got goosebumps a bit. 301 00:22:01,359 --> 00:22:05,439 STORY B: I think, honestly though, in situations like that, I freeze, 302 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:08,959 STORY B: and I'm kind of assessing the situation. I'm trying to 303 00:22:09,320 --> 00:22:12,720 STORY B: kind of have the body language that I'm ignoring this thing. 304 00:22:13,960 --> 00:22:17,960 STORY B: At the same time, I am listening carefully to track 305 00:22:18,560 --> 00:22:21,840 STORY B: where these footsteps are going, how often they're coming up 306 00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:25,880 STORY B: and down the stairs, just to A. figure out what 307 00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:29,280 STORY B: it was, and B. try to think of an action 308 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:32,880 STORY B: plan as well of how I was going to get 309 00:22:32,880 --> 00:22:35,200 STORY B: out of the situation, if I needed to take any 310 00:22:35,240 --> 00:22:35,960 STORY B: action at all. 311 00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:45,880 STORY B: The footsteps come back up and they stop, and I'm 312 00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:52,760 STORY B: thinking to myself, maybe whatever's happening is done, and so 313 00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:56,159 STORY B: I begin to relax. I go back to kind of 314 00:22:56,200 --> 00:23:00,444 STORY B: pretending that I'm reading my book, when suddenly I heard 315 00:23:00,444 --> 00:23:03,399 STORY B: what sounded like a grown man took both of his 316 00:23:03,560 --> 00:23:08,220 STORY B: fists and slammed them against the door of the room 317 00:23:08,220 --> 00:23:12,200 STORY B: that I was sleeping in. So hard that the door 318 00:23:12,240 --> 00:23:19,240 STORY B: actually shook. I jump up off the air mattress and freeze. 319 00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:22,159 STORY B: I have this thing in my head that I just 320 00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:27,760 STORY B: need to ignore what's going on and it will go away. 321 00:23:27,920 --> 00:23:31,560 STORY B: So I sink back down onto the air mattress. I 322 00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:35,679 STORY B: continue to pretend that I'm reading that nothing has just 323 00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:42,000 STORY B: happened and again, slamming on the door harder this time. 324 00:23:42,840 --> 00:23:46,960 STORY B: The door shook, the wall shook, almost giving me the 325 00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:52,600 STORY B: sense of don't ignore me. I'm actually quite afraid now. 326 00:23:54,560 --> 00:23:58,120 STORY B: I am terrified. I can no longer ignore what's going on, 327 00:23:59,119 --> 00:24:03,520 STORY B: and I decide to take action. I throw my blanket 328 00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:08,119 STORY B: over my head for protection. I felt like if I 329 00:24:08,119 --> 00:24:11,439 STORY B: were surrounded by something, I at least physically felt better 330 00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:15,240 STORY B: if I was going to leave this room into who 331 00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:21,240 STORY B: knows what's going on in the hallway. I flip on 332 00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:26,240 STORY B: the bedroom light. I swing open the door, and the 333 00:24:26,320 --> 00:24:27,360 STORY B: landing was empty. 334 00:24:29,280 --> 00:24:33,200 STORY B: I flip on the hallway light. The stairs are immediately 335 00:24:33,240 --> 00:24:37,240 STORY B: to my right, and I can see my family is 336 00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:44,639 STORY B: still sleeping in their beds. My twelve year old brother's 337 00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:50,213 STORY B: room is immediately to my left. His door's open, so 338 00:24:50,213 --> 00:24:54,760 STORY B: I walk in, shut the door behind me, flip on 339 00:24:54,840 --> 00:24:57,280 STORY B: my brother's light so that there's essentially a trail of 340 00:24:57,400 --> 00:25:02,560 STORY B: light following me. I shake him half awake, and I 341 00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:09,840 STORY B: tell him to scoot over because I'm sleeping in his room, 342 00:25:09,880 --> 00:25:12,960 STORY B: and he half asleep kind of just rolls over, makes 343 00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:17,000 STORY B: space for me. I get into his bed, pull his 344 00:25:17,119 --> 00:25:22,000 STORY B: covers all the way over my face. It's Nevada, it's 345 00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:25,800 STORY B: the middle of summer. I basically am suffocating myself, but 346 00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:28,600 STORY B: I don't care because I'm so afraid of what has 347 00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:33,480 STORY B: just happened. I'm laying in his room for about twenty 348 00:25:33,520 --> 00:25:40,800 STORY B: minutes and I hear the bang. It's softer than when 349 00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:44,159 STORY B: it was directly on my door, but it gave me 350 00:25:44,240 --> 00:25:49,760 STORY B: the feeling of I know you're in there. The fact 351 00:25:49,760 --> 00:25:53,600 STORY B: that it had followed me to my brother's room was 352 00:25:53,680 --> 00:26:01,240 STORY B: really unsettling. My first thought was, what the fuck is this? Like? 353 00:26:01,520 --> 00:26:05,119 STORY B: Why is this happening to me right now? And I 354 00:26:05,119 --> 00:26:09,240 STORY B: do remember texting my stepmom the words: Are you awake? 355 00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:13,960 STORY B: Which was unhelpful because then I heard her cell phone 356 00:26:14,160 --> 00:26:19,359 STORY B: go off from downstairs in the kitchen. Her phone was 357 00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:21,880 STORY B: charging on the kitchen counter. It wasn't anywhere near her, 358 00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:28,679 STORY B: so she couldn't save me. When I talked to my 359 00:26:28,720 --> 00:26:34,960 STORY B: family the next morning, nobody had heard anything. Nobody had 360 00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:38,640 STORY B: been woken up. By what was going on. I seem 361 00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:43,280 STORY B: to be the only person who heard it. I think 362 00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:46,640 STORY B: that they believed me, but I think that they kind 363 00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:49,160 STORY B: of brushed it off as maybe a one off thing, 364 00:26:49,359 --> 00:26:50,920 STORY B: or maybe I was scared and I was kind of 365 00:26:50,920 --> 00:26:55,920 STORY B: blowing it out of proportion. But in the months following 366 00:26:56,560 --> 00:27:01,320 STORY B: they started to have the same experience. The banging started happening 367 00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:04,200 STORY B: on my brother's door as well, so he would hear 368 00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:06,920 STORY B: the footsteps running up and down the stairs, and he 369 00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:09,480 STORY B: would hear the banging on his door when he slept 370 00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:13,359 STORY B: with his door closed. They also started to hear the 371 00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:16,760 STORY B: sound of muffled arguments coming from the top of the 372 00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:21,200 STORY B: landing upstairs, almost like you're hearing two people fight, still 373 00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:26,320 STORY B: in the house, but almost kind of far away. Because 374 00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:31,000 STORY B: this happened so frequently and the banging was so aggressive 375 00:27:31,200 --> 00:27:34,840 STORY B: and terrifying, they ended up leaving that house at the 376 00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:38,840 STORY B: end of the first lease term. So after they had 377 00:27:38,880 --> 00:27:40,960 STORY B: spent that full twelve months in that house, they moved 378 00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:44,359 STORY B: into a different house because the vibes were very bad. 379 00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:48,920 STORY B: Nothing has really ever happened in their new house. 380 00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:58,160 THERÉSA: Jade's grandmother is right. We spirits do feed off of attention. Well, 381 00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:00,920 THERÉSA: this spirit especially. If only I could get some from 382 00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:04,076 THERÉSA: my mortal boyfriend. Men are so afraid of commitment. 383 00:28:04,076 --> 00:28:04,116 LEN: [MUMBLES] 384 00:28:06,240 --> 00:28:07,460 THERÉSA: No Len, nobody cares. 385 00:28:07,460 --> 00:28:07,520 LEN: [MUMBLES] 386 00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:10,520 THERÉSA: All right, let's take a quick break to hear from 387 00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:17,640 THERÉSA: our sponsors. 388 00:28:19,240 --> 00:28:22,280 THERÉSA: You guys, I have never been so entertained in my 389 00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:26,240 THERÉSA: entire life or death. Toby or whatever his real name is, 390 00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:29,760 THERÉSA: hired a priest to perform an exorcism on his apartment, 391 00:28:29,800 --> 00:28:33,720 THERÉSA: like I'm some kind of Stage-five-clinger. But I realized from 392 00:28:33,720 --> 00:28:39,760 THERÉSA: the other side, exorcisms are hilarious. I'm just sitting there 393 00:28:39,800 --> 00:28:42,920 THERÉSA: watching this priest go completely insane with the Holy water 394 00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:45,520 THERÉSA: and the Hail Mary's, and Toby is curled up in 395 00:28:45,520 --> 00:28:48,320 THERÉSA: the corner whimpering. I thought about flickering the lights again, 396 00:28:48,400 --> 00:28:52,120 THERÉSA: just so they'd feel like they were accomplishing something. The 397 00:28:52,160 --> 00:28:55,000 THERÉSA: whole thing was a huge turn off. I was planning 398 00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:58,240 THERÉSA: to have Toby killed in a mysterious owl attack so 399 00:28:58,240 --> 00:29:00,840 THERÉSA: we could be together, but that whole charade just gave 400 00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:03,760 THERÉSA: me the ick. I'll leave you to your weird little 401 00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:07,720 THERÉSA: hobbies so you can die a virgin at eighty. Well, 402 00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:10,120 THERÉSA: that's all I've got for now. I'll be scouring the 403 00:29:10,200 --> 00:29:13,720 THERÉSA: underworld for more exorcisms to crash. If anyone has a 404 00:29:13,720 --> 00:29:16,440 THERÉSA: supernatural story they'd like to share, a better one than 405 00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:19,560 THERÉSA: Toby's who couldn't handle a few flashing lights, write to 406 00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:23,360 THERÉSA: us at HauntingThePodcast@gmail.com and you could be featured on an 407 00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:25,720 THERÉSA: upcoming episode. Till next time. 408 00:29:30,120 --> 00:29:32,760 STORY A: If you have a haunting story to share, please email 409 00:29:32,840 --> 00:29:36,520 STORY A: us at HauntingThePodcast@gmail.com, and if you like what you hear, 410 00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:39,120 STORY A: please like and subscribe. You can also follow us on 411 00:29:39,160 --> 00:29:43,640 STORY A: social media by searching for Glass Podcasts or by visiting glasspodcasts.com. 412 00:29:43,840 --> 00:29:46,480 STORY A: Haunting is a production of Glass Podcasts and partnership with 413 00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:50,640 STORY A: iHeart Podcast. Haunting is created and executive produced by Nancy Glass, 414 00:29:50,760 --> 00:29:54,080 STORY A: Andrea Gunning, Ben Fetterman, and Lauren Lapkus, and it is 415 00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:57,160 STORY A: hosted by Lauren Lapkuss as their character Therésa. The show 416 00:29:57,200 --> 00:29:59,680 STORY A: is directed by Aleah Welsh and produced by Trey Morgan, 417 00:30:00,160 --> 00:30:03,080 STORY A: written by Aleah Welsh, with additional writing by Nancy Glass, 418 00:30:03,200 --> 00:30:06,760 STORY A: Trey Morgan, and Ben Fetterman. Additional production support by Curry 419 00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:10,160 STORY A: Richman and Todd Ganz. Additional voice acting by Trey Morgan 420 00:30:10,200 --> 00:30:13,840 STORY A: as the character, producer Len Walker. Editing and sound designed 421 00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:17,160 STORY A: by Matt Delvecchio and mixed by Dave Saia. Operations and 422 00:30:17,200 --> 00:30:21,040 STORY A: production support by Kristen Melchiorre Haunting's theme and original compositions 423 00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:24,000 STORY A: were composed by Oliver Baines and Dorry Macaulay of Noiser. 424 00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:27,880 STORY A: Music Library provided by Mybe Music. Special thanks to Speakeasy 425 00:30:27,880 --> 00:30:31,200 STORY A: Sound Studios in Burbank, California for more shows from iHeart 426 00:30:31,200 --> 00:30:35,280 STORY A: Podcast and Glass Podcast, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, 427 00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:37,200 STORY A: or wherever you get your podcasts