Episode 595: Listener Tales 89
From the Morbid podcast, this episode explores a chilling range of paranormal and supernatural experiences. The hosts recount eerie encounters like growling noises, apparitions, and unseen forces. Listeners share haunting tales of communicating with the dead, chilling premonitions about harm and death, and encounters with spirits like succubi after using a Ouija board.
Beyond the realm of the paranormal, the episode also delves into creepy stories from listeners' lives. A spooky presence lingered in a house before a shocking murder, while other listeners felt overwhelming dark energies in their homes. Some heartwarming accounts suggest bonds between the living and deceased loved ones, with children interacting with spirits and family members finding comfort from beyond the grave.
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1-Page Summary
Paranormal/Supernatural Experiences of Hosts and Listeners
The hosts, Alaina and Ash, share eerie encounters like hearing unexplained growls, seeing apparitions like shadows and floating figures, and being tampered by unseen forces. Ash recounts the disturbing sensation of being watched by a spirit in the attic.
Meanwhile, listener Kaelin could communicate with the dead and had terrifying premonitions that came true, like an intention of harm and a suicide. Alaina's ex-boyfriend was taunted by a succubus since using a Ouija board, with nightmares and a sense of being mentally tormented increasing after his grandmother's death.
Creepy/Unsettling Personal Stories from Listeners
Listener Allie babysat for the Carters, until John murdered his wife Tracy one night that Allie had declined to babysit. She felt a haunting presence in their home even before the murder. Ash shares an eerie encounter of feeling a hand press against her back in an empty supply closet.
Another listener recalls moving into a house with an overwhelming dark presence - flickering lights, blaring TVs at 3AM, and a chilling mirror, leaving her utterly chilled.
Interactions Between the Living and Dead Family Members
Listener Caitlin's young nephew could communicate with their late grandmother's ghost, having "tea parties" with her and relaying comforting messages to his cancer-stricken grandfather from her.
Other listeners sensed deceased loved ones, like a grandfather comforting his grieving family, and grandmothers watching over grandchildren, suggesting bonds transcending death.
1-Page Summary
Additional Materials
Counterarguments
- Skepticism about the paranormal: There is no scientific evidence to support the existence of ghosts, spirits, or the ability to communicate with the dead. Experiences attributed to the paranormal could have natural explanations or be the result of psychological factors.
- Confirmation bias: People may be more likely to interpret ambiguous events as paranormal if they already believe in the supernatural or if they are in a context that encourages such interpretations.
- The power of suggestion: Hearing others' stories of paranormal experiences can influence individuals to perceive ordinary occurrences as supernatural.
- Misinterpretation of events: Unusual noises or shadows could be caused by environmental factors such as wildlife, structural issues, or lighting conditions rather than paranormal activity.
- Psychological distress: Experiences like feeling watched or having nightmares could be symptoms of anxiety, stress, or other mental health issues rather than encounters with the supernatural.
- Coincidence and pattern recognition: Humans are pattern-seeking creatures and may find connections between events that are actually coincidental, such as premonitions that seem to come true.
- The fallibility of memory: Memories can be distorted over time, and stories of past events can become exaggerated or altered with each retelling.
- Alternative explanations for children's experiences: Children have active imaginations and what they perceive as interactions with deceased relatives could be a part of normal play or coping mechanisms for grief.
- The influence of media and culture: Popular culture is filled with supernatural themes, which can shape individuals' expectations and interpretations of events in their lives.
Actionables
- You can document your own unusual experiences by keeping a detailed journal, noting dates, times, and specific details of each event to track patterns or frequency. This can help you analyze whether there's a logical explanation or if the occurrences might be paranormal. For example, if lights flicker at a certain time, check if it coincides with a power surge in your area.
- Start a meditation practice focused on inviting positive energy and setting protective intentions to create a mental barrier against negative experiences. Visualize a shield around you during meditation, which can be a calming exercise whether or not you believe in the paranormal. This could be particularly useful before bed to potentially ward off unsettling dreams.
- Engage in community storytelling by organizing a small, informal gathering where friends and family share their own mysterious encounters. This can be a way to connect with others and find common ground or explanations for strange events. It's like creating a live version of the podcast experience, where you might discover that a friend has also felt a strange presence or heard unexplained noises.
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Paranormal/supernatural experiences of the hosts and listeners
The hosts, Alaina and Ash, along with listeners, delve into eerie encounters with the paranormal and supernatural.
Hosts and listeners share stories of paranormal and supernatural encounters
Host encounters with ghosts and the supernatural
Bob's reaction to something he saw—jolting back into the couch with wide, unblinking eyes—signals a frightening encounter. Alaina and Ash recount their inability to physically interact with ghosts, despite Ash humorously remarking you might catch one in a jar. Ash's recollection of a TV falling on her head is cast as a potentially paranormal event. The presence of certain items in the room, Alaina ponders, could be related to spirits or ghosts, and she notes an instance where sage extinguished itself around her.
Alaina reveals being awoken by death-curdling screams in her ears, and noticing her companion "X" motionlessness as if paralyzed with fear. These screams recurred whenever "X" was away. Attuned to the supernatural, Alaina saw a shadow cross behind her in the mirror, despite the logical impossibility, and firmly told the presence it wasn't welcome. The presence seemingly tampered with a television, turning it off whenever Alaina tried to switch it on.
Ash humorously recollects the sensation of being watched by a man in an attic, which a psychic friend later confirmed to sense as well. Bob experienced a startling anomaly, hearing a growl right next to his ear with no reasonable explanation. Ash's sister heard the piano spontaneously playing during the night, and subsequently, Bob and Ash saw a shadow move in the dining room. The same archway brought sightings of a floating man by Bob, Karen, and Frank on different occasions.
On another chilling occasion, Bob thought he saw Alaina rocking in the window, only to find her asleep nearby. Alaina sensed more than darkness in this space—a malicious en ...
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Paranormal/supernatural experiences of the hosts and listeners
Additional Materials
Clarifications
- Bob's reaction of jolting back into the couch with wide, unblinking eyes suggests a sudden and intense startle or shock. This physical response is commonly associated with encountering something unexpected, frightening, or unsettling. It indicates a strong emotional and physiological reaction to a perceived threat or unusual event.
- Alaina considers whether specific objects in a room could have a connection to spirits or ghosts, suggesting a belief in the idea that certain items can attract or be linked to supernatural entities based on folklore or paranormal beliefs.
- Alaina seeing a shadow cross behind her in the mirror suggests a paranormal occurrence where a dark figure or presence was visible in the reflection but not physically present in the room. This phenomenon is often associated with ghostly or supernatural activity, where entities may manifest visually in mirrors or reflective surfaces. It can be a common experience reported by individuals who believe they have encountered spirits or otherworldly beings. Mirrors are sometimes believed to act as portals or conduits for spiritual energy or entities to manifest in our physical realm.
- Alaina's firm statement of unwelcome was a way to assert her boundaries and express her refusal to engage with the presence she sensed. This action is a common practice in dealing with paranormal entities to establish control over one's space and energy. By vocalizing her rejection, Alaina aimed to set a clear message to the entity that it was not permitted to interact or linger in her surroundings. This assertiveness is often recommended in paranormal encounters to maintain a sense of personal power and protection.
- Bob's experience of hearing a growl next to his ear without a reasonable explanation suggests a mysterious and potentially unsettling encounter with an unknown source of sound. This type of auditory phenomenon is commonly associated with paranormal encounters, where individuals report hearing unexplained noises like growls, whispers, or footsteps in supposedly empty or quiet spaces. Such occurrences can be attributed to various paranormal beliefs, including the presence of spirits or entities trying to communicate or make their presence known. In paranorm ...
Counterarguments
- Skepticism about the existence of the paranormal: There is no scientific evidence to support the existence of ghosts, spirits, or supernatural entities, and experiences attributed to them can often be explained by psychological, physiological, or environmental factors.
- Misinterpretation of events: Human perception can be unreliable, and people may misinterpret natural occurrences, such as sounds or drafts, as paranormal activity, especially in heightened emotional states or when primed by scary stories.
- The power of suggestion: Hearing others' stories of supernatural encounters can influence individuals to interpret their own experiences as paranormal, even when there are more plausible explanations.
- Confirmation bias: Individuals who believe in the paranormal may be more likely to notice and remember events that confirm their beliefs and disregard those that do not.
- Alternative explanations for premonitions: Coincidences and the tendency to remember hits and forget misses can make seemingly predictive dreams or feelings appear significant when they are not.
- Psychological explanations for experiences: Sleep paralysis, hypnagogic hallucinations, and ot ...
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Creepy/unsettling personal stories from listeners
Listeners have opened up to share some truly disturbing and unnerving experiences that are sure to send chills down your spine.
Listeners recount disturbing and unnerving experiences
A listener, Allie, shares the story of how she babysat for a man who later murdered his wife, and the haunting presence she felt in their home
Allie, a listener, babysat for the Carters and had a good rapport with the family, which included Tracy, a radio personality, her possibly occasionally unemployed but outgoing husband John, and their son Ben who was a good kid. She tells a harrowing story that one evening in early 2003, John acted frazzled and off when he came home, not walking Allie back as was his routine, and he hastily asked her to babysit again the next night, which she couldn't do. That last time with John proved ominous as the following night John murdered Tracy at home, shooting her multiple times with Ben present at the house, innocuously playing video games downstairs. John fed Ben a lie about the sounds, took him to relatives, left him there, called the police, and turned himself in. Allie reflects on the night before the murder when something felt seriously wrong and how Dart, her dog, had seemed to sense something amiss potentially around the time the crime occurred. Allie even had an eerie encounter with an older woman looking to collect flowers from the Carters' yard for a memorial wreath long after the murder, adding to the disturbing memory.
As if that story weren’t chilling enough, another unsettling episode comes from Ash Kelley, who once worked in an inpatient psychiatry unit and had a patient who had disturbingly painted their children purple. Kelley recounts an eerie encounter in a partially lit supply closet where she felt a full hand press against her back, but to her horror, she found no one when she turned around. Her haunted house tales intensified the eeriness, as s ...
Here’s what you’ll find in our full summary
Creepy/unsettling personal stories from listeners
Additional Materials
Actionables
- You can document unusual occurrences in your home to identify patterns or logical explanations. Keep a journal where you note the time, location, and nature of any strange event, like flickering lights or unexpected noises. This can help you determine if there's a mundane cause, like electrical issues, or if the events are more random, which might fuel your curiosity about the paranormal.
- Enhance your environmental awareness by practicing mindfulness in spaces that feel off. Spend time in different rooms, focusing on your senses and emotions. If a particular area makes you uneasy, like a mirror that seems to radiate a chilling energy, approach it calmly and observe your feelings without judgment. This can help you become more attuned to your surroundings and possibly understand why certain spaces affect you.
- Create ...
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Interactions between the living and the dead, especially involving family members
Listeners of the show share intimate and mysterious stories of encounters with deceased family members, suggesting an otherworldly connection that transcends death.
Listeners describe encounters with deceased family members
A listener, Caitlin, shares how her young nephew was able to communicate with and have "tea parties" with the ghost of their deceased grandmother
Caitlin's story stands out particularly: her nephew, H, who was born 11 years after his great grandmother's passing, was seen conversing with an unseen presence in a corner of the room. When questioned, he said he was speaking to "nanny Buckley," which would have been the name of his great grandmother. Alarmingly, H even relayed greetings to his mother from nanny Buckley. This habit took an eerie turn when the child announced nanny Buckley's presence to comfort his poppy on the same day his poppy was diagnosed with cancer.
Ash Kelley elaborates on Caitlin's account, noting that the nephew, who is now 12 and no longer sees ghosts or thinks his aunt is cool, previously held tea parties with the ghost of his deceased grandmother. Caitlin also sent in photos to corroborate her claims.
Listeners mention sensing the presence of passed loved ones, such as a grandfather who comforted his grieving family and a grandmother who continued to watch over her grandchildren
Other listeners share similar encounter ...
Here’s what you’ll find in our full summary
Interactions between the living and the dead, especially involving family members
Additional Materials
Clarifications
- An "unseen presence in a corner of the room" typically implies the perception of someone or something being there without a physical form being visible. This can suggest the feeling of a spiritual or ghostly presence in that specific location. It often describes a sensation of someone's energy or essence being felt or perceived without a tangible manifestation. Such experiences are commonly associated with paranormal encounters or spiritual beliefs.
- Poppy is a term used in the text to reference a family member, specifically a grandfather, in the context of interactions with deceased loved ones.
- To "corroborate her claims" means to provide evidence or support that confirms the truth or validity of what someone has said. In this context, it suggests that Caitlin provided additional proof or verification to support the stories she shared about her nephew's interactions with the ghost of their deceased grandmother.
- Paranormal experiences typically involve encounters or phenomena that cannot be explained by conventional scientific understanding. These experiences often include encounters with spirits, ghosts, or other supernatural entities. People who report paranormal experiences may describe seeing, hearing, or feeling the presence of these entities. Such encounters can challenge traditional beliefs about the nature of reality and the afterlife.
- Th ...
Counterarguments
- Encounters with deceased relatives could be psychological phenomena, such as grief-induced hallucinations or wishful thinking, rather than actual interactions with the paranormal.
- Children have active imaginations and could be inventing or role-playing scenarios with "ghosts" that are influenced by stories they've heard or their own creative minds.
- The stories shared could be subject to confirmation bias, where individuals interpret ambiguous events as evidence of the supernatural because they are already inclined to believe in it.
- Sensing the presence of a loved one after they have passed could be a manifestation of memory and emotional connections rather than an indication of a spirit's presence.
- The experiences described could be coincidences or misinterpretations of natural occurrences, ...
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