WEBVTT - Short Stuff: The Call is Coming... FROM INSIDE THE HOUSE

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<v Speaker 1>Hey, and welcome to the short Stuff. I'm Josh, and

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<v Speaker 1>there's Chuck and Jerry's here too, and we are coming

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<v Speaker 1>to you from inside your house.

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<v Speaker 2>That's right. No, we're not trigger warning on this one.

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<v Speaker 3>By the way, there's some pretty violent content, including speak

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<v Speaker 3>of sexual assault at some point.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, this takes a real hard left all of a sudden.

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<v Speaker 2>It really does.

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<v Speaker 3>And we're talking about the sort of trope of the

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<v Speaker 3>call is coming from inside the house. And as a trope,

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<v Speaker 3>we want to thank TV tropes, dot Com, Tropedia and

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<v Speaker 3>a really good article from Chrissy Stockton on Thought Catalog.

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<v Speaker 1>Plus also Sean van Horn on Collider and the good

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<v Speaker 1>folks on the Straight Dope message Board.

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<v Speaker 2>That's right, and principal Seymour Skinner.

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<v Speaker 1>That's right. So the call is coming from inside the house.

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<v Speaker 1>Is also often called the babysitter and the man upstairs. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>and just the quick sketch of it. This is an

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<v Speaker 1>urban legend that probably back to the sixties and essentially

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<v Speaker 1>says that there is a usually a young teen tween

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<v Speaker 1>girl alone at home, or more often that she is

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<v Speaker 1>alone babysitting some kids who are younger than her, and

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<v Speaker 1>she keeps getting calls from some mysterious stranger who asks

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<v Speaker 1>her have you checked on the kids who are osensibly

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<v Speaker 1>asleep upstairs, and she just then you know, hangs up.

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<v Speaker 1>She thinks it's a prank call. And as time goes on,

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<v Speaker 1>these calls get more and more sinister.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, definitely more sinister because the you know, it's been

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<v Speaker 3>in quite a few movies. We're going to talk about

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<v Speaker 3>in different iterations, but the babysitter would usually like, I

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<v Speaker 3>don't know, put them off or not believe it or whatever.

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<v Speaker 2>Say you know, is this Johnny?

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<v Speaker 4>Is this my boyfriend?

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<v Speaker 2>Then hang up.

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<v Speaker 3>Then the caller calls back, The caller calls back again.

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<v Speaker 3>It's usually a few times, and eventually the babysitter is

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<v Speaker 3>going to call the police. They're gonna say, oh man,

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<v Speaker 3>we're going to put a trace on the call. She's

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<v Speaker 3>gonna say, you don't have to call me. I'm thirteen

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<v Speaker 3>years old, and they say, well, that's just how we

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<v Speaker 3>say things. And then the stranger calls the police trace

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<v Speaker 3>the call and then call back and say you've got

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<v Speaker 3>to get out of there. The call is coming from

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<v Speaker 3>inside the house.

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<v Speaker 2>I know.

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<v Speaker 3>It's genuinely scary to think about, obviously, and then once

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<v Speaker 3>she is out, the cops show up and the prowler

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<v Speaker 3>has murdered those kids upstairs already.

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<v Speaker 1>Yep. And one of the things that makes it so

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<v Speaker 1>creepy too, is that when this, you know, was passed around,

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<v Speaker 1>this urban legend like that, you couldn't really call your

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<v Speaker 1>own phone number. Yeah, and if you had two lines

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<v Speaker 1>in the house, maybe only the richest of your friends

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<v Speaker 1>had two lines in their house. There's a whole urban

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<v Speaker 1>legend surrounding how you could call your own line if

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<v Speaker 1>you did certain things. That's neither here nor there, it

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<v Speaker 1>turns out. But the fact that it's coming from inside

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<v Speaker 1>the house means that it's the last place you'd expect

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<v Speaker 1>somebody to be calling from, which made it even scarier

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<v Speaker 1>for the viewer who had no idea or the listener,

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<v Speaker 1>I guess, for the urban legend who had no idea

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<v Speaker 1>what was coming.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, and you know what, I remember hearing these stories

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<v Speaker 3>like around the campfire kind of thing, and it terrified me.

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<v Speaker 3>And it never dawned on me that that was a

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<v Speaker 3>near impossibility.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, did you have that the little legends that it

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<v Speaker 1>was like you could you could do something, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>like tap thing tap, like the receiver or whatever to

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<v Speaker 1>call your own line or was it just like you

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<v Speaker 1>just can't do that.

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<v Speaker 3>I don't remember hearing any of those, but I do

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<v Speaker 3>know they existed because you sent them to me, right.

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<v Speaker 1>But yeah, So that the fact that it was coming

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<v Speaker 1>from inside the house when you were it's really not

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<v Speaker 1>supposed to have been able to happen, just made it

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<v Speaker 1>that much scarier. And it makes it a little harder

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<v Speaker 1>to understand or grasp in the age of cell phones,

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<v Speaker 1>where you can call somebody from inside the house, like

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<v Speaker 1>it's entirely possible to call was coming from inside the house.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, And and it's uh, it goes along with some

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<v Speaker 3>of the great scary legends of the day, like the hook.

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<v Speaker 3>The Vanishing Hitchhiker was another one I remember. Drip Drop Maniac.

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<v Speaker 3>Do you remember that one?

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<v Speaker 1>No? Did he say we cause holes and teeth?

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<v Speaker 3>No? Drip Drop Maniac was some version of a thing

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<v Speaker 3>where there's a like a German shepherd that that sleeps

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<v Speaker 3>under the bed that you know the kid was scared,

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<v Speaker 3>and the reason and and the way they would not

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<v Speaker 3>be scared is they would put their hand down and

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<v Speaker 3>the German shepherd would lick their hand and.

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<v Speaker 2>So I'm sure you see what's coming.

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<v Speaker 3>Uh. It turns out the German shepherd they hear drip, drip, drip,

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<v Speaker 3>and the German shepherd is like killed and dripping blood

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<v Speaker 3>on the floor, and the and the person there was

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<v Speaker 3>a dude under the bed licking the person's hand.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh crazy, that was a good one.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, maniac. Yeah, terrifying.

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<v Speaker 1>Uh you want to take a break so I can

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<v Speaker 1>kind of recollect myself after that terrifying story.

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<v Speaker 2>You're never gonna hang your head hand off the side

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<v Speaker 2>of the bed again, are you?

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<v Speaker 1>Oh I don't already.

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<v Speaker 4>Okay, Yeah, we'll be right back. I'm still laughing, by

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<v Speaker 4>the way, that are you?

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<v Speaker 3>You got to be under the sheets and stuff still, Yeah,

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<v Speaker 3>I got over that at some point. I used to

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<v Speaker 3>be like that, like well into even my thirties. I

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<v Speaker 3>think I was probably in my thirties or forties when

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<v Speaker 3>I was finally like, you know what, I'm a hot sleeper.

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<v Speaker 3>I'm just gonna brave whatever's out there and sleep on

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<v Speaker 3>top of the sheet. You.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I've gotten better in my older But if I'm

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<v Speaker 1>watching like a particularly a good ghost.

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<v Speaker 2>Movie, horror movie, oh sure, yes, at.

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<v Speaker 1>Night and you me and MoMA have already gone to bed.

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<v Speaker 1>When I have to turn out all the lights, I

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<v Speaker 1>will basically run down the hall to the bedroom like yeah, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>and try not to and I just can't not.

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<v Speaker 4>No, I'm with you.

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<v Speaker 3>If it's something like that and I'm truly scared by

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<v Speaker 3>a movie and I'm up late by myself, the getting

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<v Speaker 3>back to the bed scene is truly ridiculous for a

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<v Speaker 3>fifty four year old man.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm also one of those people who if you jump

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<v Speaker 1>out and scare them, I go up like both feet

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<v Speaker 1>off of the ground, yeah, and make like ooh sound

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<v Speaker 1>kind of thing, like you can really get me if you.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah. I used to scare people like that on occasion,

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<v Speaker 3>and I finally learned that, like, that's just not cool

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<v Speaker 3>to do.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh, I think it's great after like about thirty seconds. Afterward,

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<v Speaker 1>I think it's hilarious and wonderful. But it takes me

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<v Speaker 1>a second.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh, oh gosh, do we have time? Yes, very quickly.

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<v Speaker 3>In college, after we saw the movie Misery, my roommates

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<v Speaker 3>and I at the Dollar Theater the Alps Theater in Athens, Georgia.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh yeah.

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<v Speaker 3>We had ridden separately and my one roommate and I

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<v Speaker 3>Chris raced home and he was a real sick twist

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<v Speaker 3>and he was like, let's scare Eddie. You know Eddie

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<v Speaker 3>because Eddie was right behind us. And Chris went home

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<v Speaker 3>and unscrewed all the light bulbs in the main room

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<v Speaker 3>and we hid in the closet and Eddie.

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<v Speaker 2>Eddie came in turned on the lights. No lights came on,

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<v Speaker 2>and he was like.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, you guys are pretty funny, and smartly turned on

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<v Speaker 3>the television to provide some light. And you know how

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<v Speaker 3>when you're like hiding in a closet and it's just

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<v Speaker 3>barely cracked, you see people kind of looking in at you,

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<v Speaker 3>but they're not focused on you because I can't see you.

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<v Speaker 4>That was Eddie.

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<v Speaker 3>He was coming closer and closer, and we jumped out

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<v Speaker 3>of the closet and got him pretty good.

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<v Speaker 2>I think he knocked a frame picture off the wall

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<v Speaker 2>and broke it.

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<v Speaker 1>You had frame pictures on your wall in college? Oh,

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<v Speaker 1>you know that's impressive. Yeah. Have I ever told you

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<v Speaker 1>my being scared from the closet story?

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<v Speaker 4>No.

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<v Speaker 1>I was just sitting there in my room. I was

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<v Speaker 1>probably like fourteen or something. I was just reading in bed,

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<v Speaker 1>and I noticed that the closet door was crackediced a

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<v Speaker 1>little bit, which was unusual. I didn't usually do that.

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<v Speaker 1>And I even made like a little joke to myself, like, oh,

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<v Speaker 1>it's probably something in the closet, right, And I looked

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<v Speaker 1>over a minute or two later, and the door was

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<v Speaker 1>open further than it happened, and I just immediately jumped

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<v Speaker 1>up and started running for the door, like I didn't

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<v Speaker 1>go to look. I didn't say like, oh, that's weird.

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<v Speaker 1>I immediately jumped up right, I would totally survive a

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<v Speaker 1>horror movie. And my dad came barreling out of the

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<v Speaker 1>closet like rah, and I just basically flipped on my

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<v Speaker 1>back like a turtle and started screaming. Even after he

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<v Speaker 1>was like standing over me like are you okay? I

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<v Speaker 1>was just looking at him. I couldn't stop screaming. My

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<v Speaker 1>mom had time to make it upstairs and into my

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<v Speaker 1>room and say what'd you do to him? And I'm

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<v Speaker 1>looking at them like talking, screaming, still on my back

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<v Speaker 1>like he got me that good, Like, oh God, definitely

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<v Speaker 1>shortened my life.

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<v Speaker 2>Poor guy. I feel so bad for you.

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<v Speaker 3>That is not certainly not something adached to to their Yeah, exactly,

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<v Speaker 3>all right, So we're back and we're going to tell

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<v Speaker 3>that the possibly what inspired this real story. I got

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<v Speaker 3>this particular version from Chrissy Stockton that I mentioned from

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<v Speaker 3>Thought Catalog, but I looked it up and it was

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<v Speaker 3>in plenty of other places.

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<v Speaker 1>So this is where it turns pretty dark.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it goes very dark.

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<v Speaker 3>So if you have kids listening, they may want to

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<v Speaker 3>tune out. In the nineteen fifties, in fact, March of

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<v Speaker 3>nineteen fifty, there was a young thirteen year old named

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<v Speaker 3>Janet Chrisman hired a babysit a three year old for

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<v Speaker 3>the Romax mister Gregory Romack and his wife, I, you know,

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<v Speaker 3>just like with her live show. I couldn't find his

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<v Speaker 3>wife's name because they didn't print stuff like that back then.

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<v Speaker 3>But she decided babysit rather than go to a school party.

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<v Speaker 3>At seven thirty, she got to their house. This is

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<v Speaker 3>in Columbia, Missouri, and before they left for the night,

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<v Speaker 3>mister Romac said, hey, by the way, see the shotgun.

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<v Speaker 3>I've got this shotgun and it's loaded and here's how

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<v Speaker 3>you shoot it.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, thirteen year old girl in Missouri.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I guess I mean nineteen fifty is going to nineteen.

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<v Speaker 1>Fifty nineteen fifty Missouri. I could see that being pretty

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<v Speaker 1>standard procedure. Yeah. He also very wisely said do not

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<v Speaker 1>open this door until you at least turned on the

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<v Speaker 1>porch light to see who it is knocking on the door,

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<v Speaker 1>right right, So you would think that little Janet was

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<v Speaker 1>probably going to be just fine. I mean, there was

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<v Speaker 1>probably going to be an uneventful night anyway, but she

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<v Speaker 1>had also been equipped with a shotgun by the people

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<v Speaker 1>she was babysitting for. The thing that gets me is

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<v Speaker 1>that she had chosen to babysit rather than go to

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<v Speaker 1>a school party because she had recently bought a dress

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<v Speaker 1>on installment and needed the money She's to pay for

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<v Speaker 1>a dress. It's like a responsible little thirteen year old. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>so shouldn't have even been there. I think at some

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<v Speaker 1>point around ten thirty, the police in her town got

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<v Speaker 1>a call from a girl just shouting come quick, and

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<v Speaker 1>then the line suddenly was cut off. The police didn't

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<v Speaker 1>have anything like tracing calls or anything like that at

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<v Speaker 1>the time. This is nineteen fifty in Missouri, and they

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<v Speaker 1>had no idea who it was. But it turned out

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<v Speaker 1>it was Janet.

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<v Speaker 2>Sadly, that's right.

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<v Speaker 3>The Romax called the house about thirty minutes later, but

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<v Speaker 3>no one answered, And I guess they didn't sweat it

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<v Speaker 3>because they didn't show up until one point thirty in

0:11:36.600 --> 0:11:39.120
<v Speaker 3>the morning. They weren't like we should rush home. They

0:11:39.160 --> 0:11:42.600
<v Speaker 3>opened the front door to find a pretty nasty, grizzly

0:11:42.720 --> 0:11:45.720
<v Speaker 3>murder scene. Janet was dead there in a pool of blood.

0:11:46.720 --> 0:11:50.320
<v Speaker 3>She had been sexually assaulted and strangled to death, and

0:11:50.800 --> 0:11:53.800
<v Speaker 3>it appears that she had struggled with her attacker. There

0:11:53.880 --> 0:11:58.080
<v Speaker 3>was no shotgunning, obviously, but that porch light was on,

0:11:58.240 --> 0:12:00.000
<v Speaker 3>which makes it even sadder.

0:12:00.240 --> 0:12:04.480
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. Yes, And the reason why that porch light seems

0:12:04.520 --> 0:12:09.440
<v Speaker 1>to be important is that the Romax and Janet's family

0:12:09.480 --> 0:12:11.920
<v Speaker 1>believed that a man that was known to her was

0:12:12.000 --> 0:12:15.680
<v Speaker 1>the person who murdered her. A guy named Robert Mueller. Yeah,

0:12:15.720 --> 0:12:18.000
<v Speaker 1>he was a friend of Ed Romax, and he also

0:12:18.080 --> 0:12:22.520
<v Speaker 1>knew Janet because Janet had babysat for Robert Muller's children before,

0:12:22.960 --> 0:12:25.360
<v Speaker 1>and he had actually asked her to babysit that night

0:12:25.400 --> 0:12:27.560
<v Speaker 1>and she said I can't. I'm I'm babysitting for the

0:12:27.640 --> 0:12:32.600
<v Speaker 1>Romax already. And he was an odd duck to say

0:12:32.640 --> 0:12:36.520
<v Speaker 1>the least, and enough of a creep. Essentially from how

0:12:36.559 --> 0:12:40.000
<v Speaker 1>the Romax and Janet's family put it, that he was

0:12:40.160 --> 0:12:41.600
<v Speaker 1>always suspected by them.

0:12:42.400 --> 0:12:43.120
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, for sure.

0:12:43.400 --> 0:12:45.600
<v Speaker 3>The other detail I didn't mention was that the phone

0:12:45.600 --> 0:12:48.199
<v Speaker 3>had been ripped from the wall, so that would explain

0:12:48.360 --> 0:12:50.400
<v Speaker 3>when she shouted come quick and the line went dead.

0:12:50.440 --> 0:12:52.400
<v Speaker 3>It seems, as you know, that was when the phone

0:12:52.440 --> 0:12:56.880
<v Speaker 3>was ripped away from the wall, possibly by Robert Mueller.

0:12:56.920 --> 0:13:00.719
<v Speaker 3>Although nobody was ever tied to her death officially, no

0:13:00.720 --> 0:13:02.160
<v Speaker 3>one was ever arrested as far as I know.

0:13:02.480 --> 0:13:05.640
<v Speaker 1>No, but there were some reasons why they suspected, and

0:13:05.800 --> 0:13:08.600
<v Speaker 1>one he apparently had groped missus Romack just a few

0:13:08.679 --> 0:13:11.960
<v Speaker 1>days before the murder. Mister Romack was like, I'm not

0:13:12.040 --> 0:13:13.240
<v Speaker 1>really down with that guy.

0:13:13.800 --> 0:13:14.079
<v Speaker 2>Sure.

0:13:14.679 --> 0:13:19.000
<v Speaker 1>He also had told mister Romac that he liked Janet,

0:13:19.559 --> 0:13:24.120
<v Speaker 1>and later on after the murder, he had told mister

0:13:24.240 --> 0:13:27.760
<v Speaker 1>Romack that he could have murdered Janet and then just

0:13:28.000 --> 0:13:31.720
<v Speaker 1>forgotten about it. So it was some weird stuff and

0:13:31.880 --> 0:13:34.560
<v Speaker 1>like they Yeah, he died in two thousand and six.

0:13:34.600 --> 0:13:37.560
<v Speaker 1>Will never know. Yeah, Janet's murder has never been solved

0:13:37.600 --> 0:13:39.320
<v Speaker 1>and probably never will at this point.

0:13:40.000 --> 0:13:44.920
<v Speaker 3>No, but supposedly that is the story that inspired the

0:13:45.000 --> 0:13:47.640
<v Speaker 3>calls coming in from the house, or at the very

0:13:47.720 --> 0:13:51.120
<v Speaker 3>least inspired. When a Stranger Calls was probably the most

0:13:51.120 --> 0:13:54.200
<v Speaker 3>famous use of the calls coming from inside the house

0:13:54.200 --> 0:13:58.320
<v Speaker 3>from nineteen seventy nine, also Black Christmas, a great great

0:13:58.360 --> 0:14:02.559
<v Speaker 3>horror movie, Halloween in nineteen seventy eight, and I'll even

0:14:02.559 --> 0:14:06.079
<v Speaker 3>throw scream and had a sort of version of this

0:14:06.280 --> 0:14:09.800
<v Speaker 3>with Drew Barrymore, but not exactly coming from inside the house.

0:14:09.920 --> 0:14:09.959
<v Speaker 4>No.

0:14:10.200 --> 0:14:12.880
<v Speaker 1>I saw the first instance of it on film though,

0:14:13.000 --> 0:14:15.800
<v Speaker 1>was a nineteen seventy three movie called The Severed Arm.

0:14:15.880 --> 0:14:18.440
<v Speaker 1>But it wasn't like a plot driver. It was just

0:14:18.600 --> 0:14:20.800
<v Speaker 1>one of the ways the person was murdered. The call

0:14:20.960 --> 0:14:23.240
<v Speaker 1>was coming from inside, like I think the studio they

0:14:23.240 --> 0:14:23.960
<v Speaker 1>were working in.

0:14:24.760 --> 0:14:27.720
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and now cell phones have kind of screwed this

0:14:27.720 --> 0:14:28.360
<v Speaker 2>whole thing up.

0:14:28.320 --> 0:14:31.600
<v Speaker 1>For sure. For sure. One other thing, real quick though,

0:14:32.320 --> 0:14:34.920
<v Speaker 1>When a Stranger Calls Back, the sequel to When a

0:14:34.920 --> 0:14:37.960
<v Speaker 1>Stranger Calls is one of the finest rift tracks you

0:14:38.040 --> 0:14:41.280
<v Speaker 1>can see. So you're looking for riff tracks to start with,

0:14:41.560 --> 0:14:45.320
<v Speaker 1>start with, I'll check it out. That's it, I guess

0:14:45.320 --> 0:14:47.920
<v Speaker 1>for the trope of the call coming from inside the house, right,

0:14:48.560 --> 0:14:48.960
<v Speaker 1>that's right.

0:14:49.040 --> 0:14:50.640
<v Speaker 2>I think it means short Stuff is out.

0:14:50.800 --> 0:14:55.280
<v Speaker 1>First rip Janet Christman for sure. Now short Stuff is that.

0:14:58.920 --> 0:15:01.240
<v Speaker 2>Stuff you should know is a production of iHeartRadio.

0:15:01.720 --> 0:15:04.960
<v Speaker 4>For more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app,

0:15:05.120 --> 0:15:08.040
<v Speaker 4>Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.