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Halfway to Halloween - Spooky Story Time | #JY S3E33
64 Plays1 year ago
This week we are bringing back the spooky stories to celebrate Halfway to Halloween! We hope you enjoy this more chill, but creepy and fun episode. Get cozy, turn off the lights, and get spoooooky <3
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Transcript
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00:00:00
Speaker
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00:00:27
Speaker
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00:00:52
Speaker
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Hashtag Judging You Series Introduction
00:01:33
Speaker
Hello everybody. Hello. Welcome back to another episode of Hashtag Judging You.
00:01:45
Speaker
Yeah. Hey guys. Hey guys. We're doing spooky so grab a blanket and turn off the lights and get ready. And some kind of stuff for you because it's cozy because it's going to get spooky over here.
00:02:06
Speaker
Again, it's been a hot minute. It always always sorry if I spat on you. No, I'm just projectiles Okay, nothing hit me. Um Today we'll just get into it. I guess it's halfway to Halloween everyone. We're gonna do another spin
00:02:22
Speaker
Booktacular episode of Spooky Stories. I hope they're fun. I hope so too. Most of the ones I've found are claiming to be true stories. So that's, yeah, I know, right? But the first one I've got is real, real good. And I don't know if I should, if we should start off with a good one or if we should end on a bang.
Spooky Jokes & Personal Experiences
00:02:44
Speaker
Yeah. Cause this one I heard legit gave me like, ooh, that's spooky.
00:02:49
Speaker
I mean, we could maybe I'm hyping it up too much. So yeah, but whatever you want to do it. I don't know. Maybe, maybe I'll do my other ones first. Cause I know you have a couple. So yeah, we can go back and forth and everything. But yeah, I don't know.
00:03:01
Speaker
Because if I tell the first one, it'll be like, ooh, put us in a good mood. But then is the rest of it going to be a letdown? Yeah, I think the other ones are not as good. So I think I'll say this one for last. OK. So. Well, before we get started, as always, I found some jokes. Spooky jokes. Spooky jokes. I love how it started off as me finding them. I mean. You find a better one. You're the one who loves the puns. So it's fun if I present them.
00:03:27
Speaker
um what do ghosts wear when their eyesight gets blurry? i don't know. spookticles? i was like spectacles? but that sounds horrible. let's see where's the more? yes.
00:03:50
Speaker
What do you get when a spider, no, sorry, what do you? What do you get, I can read a promise, when you put a spider on an ear of corn? I don't know. A cobweb? I was like eight legged, I don't know, legs. What do you call a spider with 20 eyes? A normal spider. Spider.
00:04:38
Speaker
Adam has this little joke book that's Minecraft themed because he loves Minecraft and one of them isn't Minecraft related at all actually but in the book it's like what do you call a pig with three eyes pig and he laughed so hard when he heard that joke so I'll have to tell him the spider joke
00:04:47
Speaker
Look, I'll be done now. I'll be.
00:04:57
Speaker
I'm gonna love it. Anyway, here we are. It's halfway to Halloween and we have found some spooky stories. So it is time to do it. Do you want to go first? Do you want me to go first?
Ghostly Christmas & Family Oddities
00:05:08
Speaker
I can go first. I have a really short one at first. So, okay. This is called, I just kind of labeled them myself so I can tell the difference between them. So I should have named it like Doppelganger at my house, but I named it Ghost at my house. So like, I don't know, it could be a ghost. I don't fucking know.
00:05:23
Speaker
Anyway, so she starts off, um, she is currently 15 years old and this took place when I was around 8. During Christmas time, my parents liked to wrap up the presents in my living room on the second floor. As I'm sure most kids do, me and my sister, who is a little bit older than me, were too eager and impatient to wait for Christmas to know what we got for Christmas.
00:05:44
Speaker
Now it should explain how my living room is set up. There is a hallway which you enter as soon as you walk up the stairs to the second floor. There's a door on your right but if you do a 150 to your right you will see another door. This door is the door to the study or which if you enter the living room and walk a bit further down there will be another door which if you also enter the study room so it has to... I'm like I can't imagine what this looks like but okay. So it's like door study door living room? I guess? I don't know. Or it's like
00:06:14
Speaker
like hallway door door to the I don't I have no fucking clue okay so I keep imagining it like how our house was set up how there was two entrances to the kitchen okay okay okay
00:06:27
Speaker
I think it's wrong but like that's what I keep thinking because it's like the living room and then there's the study so like but it's a kitchen it like I don't know okay so um this means there are two doors to the study room anyway me and my sister were peeking out of the door which connects to the living room and we saw my uncle wrapping a present me and my sister closed the door and tried to talk about what it was
00:06:50
Speaker
About 30 seconds later, we saw the door handle rattle, so we bolted out to the second door, which connects to the hallway. As we ran downstairs, the toilet door opened, which my uncle came out of. My whole family was on the first floor. This really creeped me out to this day.
00:07:06
Speaker
And in the comments, people were like, did you tell your family? And they were like, we tried to tell them and they thought we were being stupid and asked why we were peeking on the kids, the stuff. But who was rapping present? Yeah, that's weird. Or who was going to the booth. Right. So that's a real question.
00:07:23
Speaker
Speaking of ghosts in the house, you know how I've had weird things going on with me? Is there anything else? Today Adam was in his bedroom working on his homework. I was on my computer doing my work and from in the living room I heard what sounded like a paper like fly off the table and like flutter to the floor. Seriously? But I went and looked and I could not find nary a paper that would have made that noise.
00:07:48
Speaker
Nothing was displaced. My, the hotel does that sometimes. Like it sounds like, like paper just like, yeah. Mine sounds like, like, like, hang on. Sounds like this, like, yeah.
00:08:02
Speaker
It was just one though. It was just like, and then it sounded like it hit the floor. Like it did the like papers like shuffling and stuff. And like, I was talking to one of my housekeepers one time and we heard the paper shuffling and I was like, who the fuck's in the office? And I look in there and there was no one there because I've had many a time where I've looked and there's the breakfast supervisor being like, they like sneak in, sitting in the dark being like, hi, you know, working on the computer and stuff. But like I look in there expecting to see a breakfast supervisor
00:08:29
Speaker
And I was like, and I immediately was like, okay, maybe it was just the air on, but then I realized the air wasn't on because I would have heard the air on. It's loud as fuck. I was standing in the room where the actual unit is. I would have heard it running and I was like, Oh, and the dogs were locked in our bedroom.
00:08:52
Speaker
so it was i don't know and like i could maybe see like mistaking the sound of the shuffling part but i specifically also heard it like land you know how when it lands on the floor like on the edge it'll like make that like sound yeah it did that it was like
00:09:08
Speaker
like it landed on the floor. But I could not find- Tell everyone else what else is going on. Okay. The other day I was home alone in the middle of the day because I work at home and my neighborhood had just gotten home. And so when I heard a little kid say, what? I thought it was his kid. I don't know if I told you that part, but I looked out there and his kids were not outside. Cause usually they'll like open the garage and run outside and stuff, but his kids were not out there.
00:09:36
Speaker
um but i heard a little kid say what and it i i don't i don't know it was very weird that's so spooky this was all in the last three days too is there some kind of like event going on or something like um and then yesterday out of fucking nowhere my echo
00:09:53
Speaker
just said now playing blah blah blah blah song and it was i think it was actually indian not spanish but it was in a completely different language with words that i don't even know and it just started playing this random ass song and it was really weird yeah it's been a weird few days in my house there's like nothing going on right now what's the current moon phase
00:10:15
Speaker
I think we're like getting close to halfway. It shouldn't be anything weird. Yeah, today should be halfway. Yeah. So I don't know what's going on. Yeah, because like halfway is nothing. But Adam has been touched twice in our house.
00:10:28
Speaker
Yeah. That's so spooky. Yeah. We were just at Disneyland, my husband and I. Oh yeah. And we were walking past the steamboat, right? Or the, not the steamboat. The big paddle boat, the dinghy? Yeah. Paddle boat. Paddle boat. I can't remember what the boat's called. But anyway, so we were walking past the boat and I felt not like a full, like it was more just like a...
00:10:50
Speaker
Okay. Just a little tug. Not a hard tug, not enough for me to just thought like my hair was falling over or my backpack caught it or whatever. It felt like a tug, but not a yank. Yeah. And so I looked, I turned to Zach who was on my left and was like, hmm, what? And he goes, hmm, what? Right? And I was like, what do you need? And he was like, nothing? Right?
00:11:16
Speaker
No reason. And I was like, you just pulled my hair. And he's like, no, I didn't. My husband never pulls my hair. He's not a, hey, he's not getting my attention out. That's a weird, yeah. It's the weirdest way. It's not like I have hair flowing behind me that he could just grab and go, hey, hey, look at me over here. No, he would go, hey, hey, over here. Touch, touch, touch my shoulders under my arm or whatever. I walk like this. He's touching the arms faster than he's getting to my hair.
00:11:43
Speaker
It was just so weird. It was so weird. And I've never had anything like that happen at Disneyland before. And I'm, I was immediately like, okay, maybe it was my backpack. Nope. And I've been wearing this hairstyle all day. And it hasn't done that all day. And it didn't do it again later either. Like nothing, but anyway.
00:12:00
Speaker
Okay, so those are our couple of spooky star I keep telling Shannon she needs a fucking record don't want to know what's in my house. I have a new house New ish. It's we it was built in 2017 seriously. Yeah, I mean it looks newer obviously like I was hmm Yeah, it's not that old. It's not that old. Maybe it's just something passing by maybe the ley lines are crossing weird or something Yeah, like so but if I have recording in my house, you have to record in your house. Yeah
00:12:27
Speaker
So there. Okay. Shannon's turn. Okay. So I got all of these off of Reddit. So I don't think any of them are anywhere near true, but they're fun. Did you do r slash scary stories or r slash true scary stories? I did no sleep. Oh, I love no sleep. Yeah. You're great. So.
00:12:46
Speaker
okay i went with true ones shannon went with good ones so we'll see we'll see i don't know i kind of just like skimmed them so hopefully they're okay my entire family is doing their chores without me asking and i'm freaking the fuck out okay my husband was first when i came home from work i found my husband in the kitchen dish rag in hand wiping down the counters hi babe he said giving me a kiss then he went right back to wiping
00:13:12
Speaker
Look, I love my family. They're wonderful. But 99% of the time when I get home from work, the kids are on the TV and my husband is on his iPad. Thanks for cleaning, I said uneasily. And then that little thought wormed its way into my head. He's cleaning because he expects something in return. Well, that was fine by me. I was tired and I'd happily trade sexy time for a clean kitchen.
00:13:35
Speaker
But things got weirder when I walked into the living room. My two kids weren't parked in front of the TV, watching YouTube videos of toys being unboxed and cars crashing violently. Layla was putting her stuffies in a toy bin, and Ben was actually doing his homework. I stood there in shock, staring at them. Hi Mommy, Layla said with a big smile. Did you have a good day?
00:13:56
Speaker
No, no, no, no, no. My daughter, who is usually using the sofa as a jungle gym and scribbling on the walls, she was asking me if I had a good day. It was fine. Was it so clean in here? Did daddy take you out to the park for the day? She shook her head. We've been drawing and stuff.
00:14:13
Speaker
She reached over to the pile of paper and pulled out a drawing. It depicted, in crude stick figures, me holding her hand. I drew this for you, Mommy. I grabbed the drawing. It said, I love you, Mommy, with a smiley face across the top. Thanks. That's very sweet of you, Leila.
00:14:29
Speaker
Things got weirder from there. Dinner time is always a fight. My kids are picky as hell and someone always spits out food at some point. But Layla and Ben ate their dinners like two normal kids without complaint. And then after, my husband started doing the dishes without being asked. Cue the Twilight Zone music. This was getting too weird. Had they joined a cult? Had they watched some YouTube video about kindness and discipline?
00:14:55
Speaker
Was it another fake social media holiday like daughter's day or son's day but honoring mothers or was it just a good day? Occasionally my kids will or were this well behaved. It was just the confluence of their behavior and my husband's that was super strange. Around 7 p.m my husband offered to watch the kids while I took a shower but when I got out I heard them talking in the family room in low hushed voices. I didn't even know my kids could talk at that volume.
00:15:24
Speaker
I started for them, but I stopped in my tracks when I heard them say my name. My name. Layla called me Kate, not mommy. My blood turned to ice. I stood there frozen just beyond the doorway. I gave Kate my drawing, Layla said with vocabulary and diction that seemed far too mature for a seven-year-old. She seemed to like it. I did all my homework and cleaned the bathroom, Ben added.
00:15:48
Speaker
It's spotless in there. Okay, good job both of you. We need to keep this up, okay? This is what husbands and children do. With that, I heard footsteps coming my way. Heart hammering in my chest, I darted back for the stairs. As they came around the corner, I pretended I had just come down. You guys doing okay? I asked through my- oh, though my voice shook. What the hell is going on here? Layla ran up to me and grabbed my hand. My heart dropped at her ice cold touch.
00:16:14
Speaker
I want a bedtime story, Mommy. She singsonged, her voice a completely different intonation than before. I want a bedtime story, too. I glanced up at my husband. He shot me a warm smile.
00:16:26
Speaker
Oh, could you put them to bed tonight? I'm not feeling great. Sure, honey. I listened to their footsteps pounding up the stairs. Then I got the fuck out of there. I ran out to the car, sat there for a moment, and my entire body was shaking. Where are my babies? Suddenly, my heart ached for Layla's tantrums, for Ben's ear-splitting shrieks as he played Minecraft, for the messes and spills and chaos. Tears running down my cheeks, I started the car and began to back out of the driveway. Beep, beep, beep.
00:16:57
Speaker
The rear collision alert. I stomped on the brakes and glanced in the rear view mirror. My husband, Layla, and Ben were standing motionless in the darkness, blocking my way out. They were no longer smiling. Their faces were set in stone as they stared me down, scowling at me in the mirror and their eyes. They were pure black. Instinct shut in. I flipped the car into drive and pulled over the grass and peeled out of the neighborhood.
00:17:23
Speaker
It's been an hour now. I called the police but they don't believe me. I don't know what to do next. My family isn't acting like my family. I'm terrified and more than anything I miss my babies and my husband. The good and the bad. What do I do?
00:17:39
Speaker
That's it. That was pretty good. That was spooky. I like it. The beep beep beep. Oh, that one freaked me the fuck out. No thank you. No thank you. It's like the adjust the rear view mirror and then they like come into view kind of thing, yeah. Spooky.
00:17:56
Speaker
That's one thing I really like about technology advancing is that they can use things like that to make scary movies. I love things like that. Bird Box, did you see Bird Box yet? I enjoyed the hell out of that one. But yeah, they have one point where they're driving and they obviously can't look out their car windows because if they see whatever the creatures are, yeah, they go crazy and try to kill themselves or become crazy and try to get other people to see them and stuff, right?
Hotel Hauntings & Camping Chills
00:18:24
Speaker
And so at one point they will like,
00:18:26
Speaker
tape over all of the windows with their car or like with like newspaper and duct tape and everything and they use the car's drive sensor to drive to the grocery store so they can go get be great to have a Tesla for that right
00:18:41
Speaker
And, but as they're driving, like it keeps showing that there's like people figures coming up to it and stuff. And, but it's not people calling out to them. It's just the car shaking and stuff. And they're like, like, it was, yeah, it was spooky. So I enjoyed the hell out of that. I thought it, I thought they did good. So Sandra Bullock always doesn't mean that. Oh, she's great. She's great.
00:19:03
Speaker
Okay, there's another, it's kind of long. It's not as long as the, oh, I don't know. It's kind of comparable, I guess. But this all goes back to when I was about 10 years old. It was my nephew and niece's birthday. My niece is about four years older than me. I don't know how, but she is. So her sister had kids and then...
00:19:26
Speaker
her his parents have more kids okay yeah so i mean like that happens it happens yeah i'm only like five years older than my nieces and nephews because
00:19:35
Speaker
of the age difference. Yeah. So my nephew is about one year older than me. My niece and nephew's birthdays were close in January and their birthdays were, oh we're both, sorry, we're both in January and their birthdays were pretty close together. So my sister and her fiance decided to do a hotel for both parties on the same day. It was me, my nephew, Jared, Anthony, and Jay.
00:19:57
Speaker
We were all in one room at the beginning of the hall and towards the middle of the hall was my sister and her fiancรฉ with the two little kids. Then at the end of the hall was my niece and like four of her friends. Me and the guys were at first just hanging out talking since we hadn't seen each other in a while. About an hour in of us just hanging out we hear loud footsteps and giggling and then a bunch of knocks on our door.
00:20:21
Speaker
Of course we assumed it was my niece and her friends and we were right. They would keep coming back and knocking just to get our attention but we would ignore them. But as they started to knock more and more it got quieter and quieter. We were a little weirded out and then Jay asked us if we thought it was still the girls knocking on our door.
00:20:38
Speaker
That sentence gave me chills. The possibility of someone else knocking on the door other than the girls freaked me out. But I pushed it to the side and said it was still probably one of them and we shouldn't worry about it. But of course, we were wrong. Anthony called my niece to be sure that they weren't still knocking on my door. My niece said that they had stopped doing that a while ago. Me and Jarrett looked at each other in disbelief. We didn't buy it.
00:21:00
Speaker
That's when Jay signed at us to be quiet, and then he pointed at the bottom of the door that enters our room. As usual, you can see the hallway light from just the tiny crack under the door, but something was wrong. You can see two shadows under the door, which I'm assuming were feet. At this point, I was really freaked out, but of course Jay adds to my stress when he goes over to the peephole and says, nobody's there. Ooh.
00:21:23
Speaker
After Jay said that there were chills down my spine, I went over to the peephole to see for myself. Jay was correct and nobody was standing there, but yet it still showed the foot shadows under the door. Jay was whispering that it was either a ghost or somebody ducking down. The somebody ducking down thing scared me because, well, who would do that?
00:21:43
Speaker
Clearly that somebody ducking down didn't want us to see their face, which weirded me out. I dwelled on it for a bit, not paying attention to the shadow under the door when all of a sudden the shadow was gone. Anthony pointed out that it was gone, but we didn't see when it left. We were all pretty confused and nervous to this point, so we called my niece and told her what we just saw. She was freaked out too, so we knew this was serious. For some reason, my sister and her fiance said the boys needed to stay in the boys room and the girls needed to stay in theirs.
00:22:10
Speaker
We ignored that rule because we were all pretty scared, and my niece had invited us over to her room since we were experiencing weird stuff. We got our important stuff and headed over to my niece's room. Although I noticed that we were walking down the hall, you could hear people talking in their rooms since not everybody's door was completely shut. But once we got to the end of the hallway where my niece's room was, it was dead silent. I knocked on the door with Jay, Anthony, and Jarrett behind me, but nobody answered.
00:22:36
Speaker
Anthony checked the text message my niece sent him and we were at the right room. Then I wondered if this was just some big troll. It wasn't. Anthony called my niece and it went straight to voicemail. Then all the lights in the hallway flickered at the same time. Me and the guys looked at each other for about a second and a half and then we booked it back to our room. When we got back to our room we were all shooken up. All I made as a 10 year old with no experience with ghosts and weird light flickerings, I had some tears in my eyes.
00:23:03
Speaker
Anthony called my niece and she asked why we weren't over there. Anthony explained what happened and even my niece was worried and dumbfounded. My niece said to come back over one more time so we did. This time there was no dead silence, no lights flickering, and when she opened the door on the first knock. The weird thing is that we didn't get the wrong address the first time we went out into the hall. We thought we had the wrong room, but my niece opened the door to the same room we knocked on twice before.
00:23:29
Speaker
that weirded me out but we went in and sat down and retold them everything that happened and then we all got and that all got the girls spooked but they weren't scared for long because eventually they were bugging Anthony and Jared and the and that got the boys so mad they said that they were going to go walk around the halls for a bit
00:23:44
Speaker
Me, Jay, and my niece and her friends all just hung out until Anthony and Jared came back about 30 minutes later. Anthony comes back looking uh looking trembled while Jared had tears in his eyes. What happened? I asked because I'd never seen Jared or Anthony so spooked. They said that they were talking at the same time and I or they were talking at the same time so I simply said one at a time.
00:24:06
Speaker
They calmed down and told us what happened. When they were walking around for the first five minutes, they decided to go down the stairs. When they went down the stairs, they encountered a girl with baggy black pants and a baggy black hoodie. When Anthony saw her eyes, he ran back up the stairs and Gerald followed with him. The girl called after them asking, why are you running? After they went up about two flights of stairs to our hallway, they stopped and caught their breath.
00:24:31
Speaker
Anthony said that her eyes were super big and red and it looked like she had been on drugs. He said he didn't know people's eyes could get that big. He said while they were catching their breath, the girl walked up the stairs and stopped on our floor. She walked over to the elevators and said, want to go in the elevator with me?
00:24:47
Speaker
Anthony and Jarrett ran down the hallway to my niece's room as fast as they could. And that's how we got where we are now. The rest of the night after that was kind of peaceful besides everyone being nervous. The problem was that Jay pointed out that we can't stay in the girls room all night because we weren't supposed to be in there. Eventually we got the courage to go back to our room. And then after that, nothing else happened for the rest of the night. But I'm like, could you imagine as a 10 year old,
00:25:12
Speaker
like 10, 11 year old walking around a hotel in a strange place that you don't know that you shouldn't be walking around because you're not with your parents. Running into a drug addict, having the lights flickering in the hotel, like, you know, having someone- That adds them to a bad time. Yep. Zach said one time they were at Disneyland and they were staying at one of the hotels. It was an indoor hallway hotel, right? So he said that he and his sisters, or he and Tyler were sharing one room and the sisters were in the other room with their parents because they were little, little.
00:25:40
Speaker
And they said that they kept hearing some weird sound on their door, like, right? You're like, what the fuck is that? So they go over and they peek through the peephole and they keep seeing someone like sticking their finger against the peephole. And they're like, what the fuck? So they watch a little bit longer and they see it's some homeless man pulling spit out of his mouth and wiping it on the peephole. And so they had the connecting doors. And so they went running through the connecting door over to the other room.
00:26:09
Speaker
and told their parents and Mark pulled his gun out and chased the guy down the hallway because he's like, it's the fuck away from my kid's room. Like he chased the guy out of there and stuff because he was like, obviously he's not getting in the room, but still still
00:26:24
Speaker
still stay away from my kids. And I'm like, that's so creepy. Like it's not ghosty, but that's creepy. Like there's so many of these that I hear that I'm like, some people are like, Oh, this is a ghost story. And then other people are like, yeah, no, I was fucking stalked. And I'm like, that one scares me way more than this ghost story over here. You know? Yeah. That real life shit that can really happen. Yeah. Yep. So anyway, your turn. Okey doke.
00:26:49
Speaker
This one little story about a camping trip. Okay, there were bright flashes of red in the sky. It's as if someone was waving around a flare light from space. We all made UFO jokes and laughed as we nailed our tents into the ground. I knew for sure that there were five of us. We have all been friends since early middle school and we're celebrating our high school graduation with this getaway camping trip.
00:27:14
Speaker
The flashes of red must have stopped randomly as we made conversation while fixing up our tents. Dave managed to put his tent together the fastest and told us that he was going to find some branches for the fire. I remember how he had worked with me at the local gas station last year.
00:27:30
Speaker
We used to do the night shift together and it had made working at a desolate gas station much more fun than it was supposed to be. There was also Eric in the corner still reading the tent manual fidgeting with his signature round glasses. I wasn't as close with Eric as I was with the others but I still remember sitting with him in math class and copying his homework one time.
00:27:49
Speaker
Ava was also there, talking with Sally, my cousin. Both had decided to team up and work on one tent at a time. I also have clear memories of them, hanging around at school in our usual places. In fact, I even knew Ava's younger brother as he used to beg to go with us wherever we went. I bring all this up because I'm sure there were five of us.
00:28:12
Speaker
including me, and that I knew everyone in the group. So Dave had gone to get some branches as we pulled out some foldable chairs and set them up around the fire pit. I remember feeling uneasy as the sunset and darkness began to consume the forest. The shadows of trees elongated around us as the minutes ticked by. Eric went to get a flashlight from his bag while we wondered what was taking Dave so long. He appeared soon after, the harsh rustling sounds of the bushes signifying his return,
00:28:38
Speaker
We were all buried in our chairs at this point covered by our jackets. The temperature had dropped quickly and a slight breeze was beginning to pick up. Geez, you guys weren't even bothered to pull out a chair for me? Dave said as he arranged all the branches in the pit. We had set up five chairs around the fire. I tried to rationalize the situation, but no matter how hard I focused, my head felt like it was underwater. I had perfect clarity up until that moment.
00:29:01
Speaker
But when I tried to focus on why five chairs were occupied, when Dave hadn't sat down yet, my head seemed to just stop working, as if something was reaching in and pulling out my thoughts. Instinctually, I felt more uneasy now and I hadn't placed why. Oh no, I had placed why. The whole forest had gone dead silent. I looked around at the faces of the others and could tell that they had felt the same.
00:29:24
Speaker
Eric was fidgeting with his fingers, trying to scan around the group and spot the extra person, but it was futile. I scanned every face, each etched in worry and frowning in frustration, except for... "'It's alright, I'll grab the chair myself,' Dave said, breaking the silence, and somewhat alleviating the tension. I got up and offered to help him. He looked into my eyes and nodded knowingly. We headed away from the fire pit toward the tents, but I kept my eyes glued on our group.
00:29:51
Speaker
How many people are here?" I whispered to Dave, as he looked around and realized that we had indeed only unpacked five chairs. In fact, every person had brought with them their own chair. They were heavy to carry, and we wouldn't bring any extra needlessly. There's five, right? I mean, there's five chairs, Dave replied. His voice wavered as he spoke.
00:30:10
Speaker
No, I just think maybe one of us forgot our chair," I said. My mind was struggling to address the issue, and now sought to find rational excuses instead. I didn't quite feel in control of my thoughts. It felt like swimming in a dream, and if I tried to force myself to think about who the sixth person was, my head would begin to throb.
00:30:28
Speaker
Yeah, that sounds about right, actually, Dave said, relaxing and heading back to the group. When we walked back to the fire pit and the circle of chairs, two chairs were empty, one for me and one for Dave. Everything was adding up now, even though we all agreed that it wasn't before. Sally suggested we were all probably tired after the long hike to get here.
00:30:47
Speaker
and probably just needed some sleep. She could have been right. We were all sleep deprived from waking up very early today to make it on time. Ava brought out the drinks. The whole six pack was emptied. We all moved closer to the crackling fire for warmth as we took sips from our cans and reminisced on memories of last year. Ava was in the middle of telling us about that one time that she was home alone with weird things happening in her house. When I got these sudden chills, despite the pleasant warmth of the fire, what felt cozy and safe moments ago felt wrong now.
00:31:16
Speaker
all because I realized there was a crucial detail I missed. Who started the fire? I asked, completely interrupting Eva in the middle of her story and breaking everyone else's immersion. Everyone looked momentarily annoyed until they realized they had no answer. Once again, I scanned the faces staring back at me, all barely illuminated by the light from the fire, all familiar and pale with fear. Wasn't it you, Dave? Eric asked. Dave shook his head.
00:31:43
Speaker
I think the person standing behind Jenny did it," Sally said, looking over at me. I whipped my head around so quickly it hurt. My heart was pounding in my ears. There was nothing behind me, except for the encompassing darkness of the woods. Staring at those tall dark trees behind me made me feel exposed. I felt like a lost bird in a vast field. Wait, I mean, I don't know, Sally said.
00:32:07
Speaker
Her eyes had gone wide and she was shaking visibly. She continued to look around frantically as Ava moved over to her, placing her hands on her shoulders and trying to calm her down. I think we should leave this place, Ava said. Yeah, something just doesn't feel right, but I can't put my finger on it, Dave said. But it's so dark out in the forest now, we'd probably get lost if we leave now, someone else said.
00:32:29
Speaker
Yeah, I think we should stay the night and leave as soon as we can tomorrow, Eric agreed. I tried to protest, but realized Eric was right. The woods harbored an oppressive darkness within which navigation would be near impossible. Let's not sleep in our separate tents just to be safe, Sally said. We all agreed. We only brought one person tents with us, but we could squeeze two in if we tried. That way, no one would be alone tonight. Following this conversation, we all got off. He's sleeping in the cars. They hiked in. They hiked in? Yeah.
00:33:00
Speaker
Following this conversation, we all got up and made our pairs. I'm sorry. No, okay. One person carries the big fucking tent. The other people carry in the chairs. The other person carries in the stuff. You know, like, it's fine. Oh no, indeed. Oh no, indeed.
00:33:24
Speaker
I just, okay. Following this conversation, we all got up and made our pairs. I went with Dave and Sally went with, like always went with Ava. Eric kept complaining that he didn't have a pair, but we assured him that he did. He wouldn't accept it. I feel like at some point we all realized there were only five of us and suddenly we were all huddling up in the middle of the clearing. Why don't we keep thinking there are six of us here? Eric asked. Sweat was dripping down his face despite the cold.
00:33:53
Speaker
We had nearly left him all alone, on his own, under the assumption that there was another person. My stomach turned as I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to mentally recap everyone here. My head throbbing, but I kept pushing. There's me, Dave, Eric, Ava, Sally, and...
00:34:09
Speaker
I was pointing at each of them as I said the name. I retched and emptied the contents of my stomach on the ground when I got past Sally. The left side of my head felt like there was a knife stuck in it. My vision was blurry. Dave held me up to stop me from collapsing and we all wordlessly started to move toward the tents as someone put the fire out. Dave helped me into the tent while the four outside discussed what to do.
00:34:31
Speaker
I could only focus on snippets of the conversation as the excruciating pain beating against my skull came and went in waves. Sally had the brilliant idea of arranging three tents together so their openings faced each other at right angles in sort of a u-shape so we could all sleep as close as possible and limit the entrance to our tents. Dave was about to go help as they worked outside but I clutched his hand and asked him to stay with me.
00:34:55
Speaker
The tents took some time to arrange. I started to feel a bit better once everyone got settled into their tents. A quick headcount confirmed there were five of us. Eric would have to sleep in his tent alone, but he was more comfortable with it since all the tents were very close now. Looking back now, I think he was just trying to put a ram in.
00:35:12
Speaker
Like, I'd be cramping. Just face to face. Yeah, no, I don't care. We're snuggling. I don't even think I could sleep. I would just be like... It was all sit in one tent. One tent. It was all together and we just... One person tents are that small. No! No, it's fine. Oh, they're not that small.
00:35:32
Speaker
Looking back now I think he was just trying to put a brave face on for us. I regret that moment deeply, letting him sleep in his tent alone. He was always less integrated in our group and I knew that none of us would pair with him. Just before going to bed we all agreed to leave as soon as the sun rose in the morning.
00:35:48
Speaker
I remember taking one last look outside the tent into the forest before trying to fall asleep. The wind had picked up and the tree branches were swaying gently. Beyond our clearing was just pure darkness. It felt like the trees were closing in on me. With the faint moonlight illuminating our clearing, I turned my head to look over at the two tents we had left out and saw someone standing next to them. Despite the circumstances, sleep came quickly and easily.
00:36:16
Speaker
Ava and sleep. Ava's shrill scream woke me up in the middle of the night. Dave and I ripped our tent door open to find Sally and Ava looking into Eric's tent. We pushed them aside. Eric's sleeping bag was rolled up and he was still inside of it. His head in the center, face contorted in utter agony. The rest of his body rolled around it with the blue fabric now dripping with dark blood. Dave zipped up the door of the tent. Ava was in shock. Her eyes had become glassy and unfocused.
00:36:45
Speaker
Sally was shaking her repeatedly, tears streaming down her face. Dave picked up his torch and yelled at us to get up and run. We left the campsite behind and entered the trail we had come from. The five of us huddled together. Dave leading in the front as he cast his weak flashlight over the path so that we could see it. All we had to help us get through this two hour trail. I would burn that mountain to the ground. Everybody's like, no, we gotta get out of here. Burn it, burn it all.
00:37:13
Speaker
Burn it all. Gotta go. I don't care. All we had to help us get through this two-hour trail was a small white circle of light. Even the moon failed to illuminate our surroundings through the dense foliage. Ava tripped and fell, twisting her ankle. We came to a stop. Someone said they knew how to splint it so we could keep going. They dragged her into the woods instead. No! It happened too quickly for any of us to process.
00:37:37
Speaker
Sally was about to run after Ava when Dave held her back. She struggled and managed to free herself running into the trees to follow the echoes of Ava's screams. I was about to run after her, but Dave held me by my shoulders and shook me hard. We need to get out of here, Jenny. Please, he said. I hesitated, but jolted into motion again when Sally's voice was cut off abruptly. She had been calling out Ava's name as she ran after her. Dave and I continued to run down the trail trying to get to our car so we could get out of here.
00:38:03
Speaker
There was nothing we could do. At some point, there were three of us running down the trail. Dave and I, shoulder to shoulder, while someone followed us closely behind. Dave, who's behind us, I gasped. My heart was threatening to burst through my ribcage and my lungs burned. He turned to look at me. Confusion transformed into fear on his face, and then into rage. You keep running, he told me, as he produced a pocket knife from his pants.
00:38:26
Speaker
He handed me the car keys, which I nearly dropped. Then he turned around suddenly and jumped at whoever was behind us. I continued to run in fear as the sounds of struggle grew behind me. I tripped and tumbled through the trail for what felt like hours. I didn't allow myself to stop.
Warehouse Woes & Lakeside Terror
00:38:41
Speaker
I almost cried when the trail ended and I walked out into the familiar car park. Not wasting a second, I ran to the car and started it up, accelerating out of that forest and onto the highway within mere seconds. I'm typing this post out at a rest stop.
00:38:55
Speaker
My phone has finally regained service and I called 911 to try to explain the situation. I don't think they believe my version of events, but they sent a car my way regardless. As I wait, the sun is finally starting to rise. After I hit the post button on this, I'm going to check why the person in the back seat has been so silent the whole time.
00:39:12
Speaker
The end! That one was spooky. I liked that one because when I was reading the comments, everyone was like noting all of the little pieces that are slipped in there. Someone said that, someone said that, yeah. Like the five of us did this, the six of us, yeah. Yeah, that was good. I like that. Yeah.
00:39:31
Speaker
That was pretty good. I love when like little stories like that are really, you know, like, so, okay. Here's my good one. Are we ready? This one I'm just gonna call a warehouse. And the funniest thing about this is that I first heard this on TikTok. And then I went to find it anywhere else because I was looking for the text of it. I can't find the text. I Googled this a dozen billion different ways and stuff, right? So I don't know if this was like a listener sent in,
00:40:01
Speaker
video. So I'm sorry if I'm stealing anyone's content and stuff, right? But I went and I was able to find it on YouTube. Um, and so I had my iPad playing it and my phone sitting next to it listening to the word. Yeah. And then I went and read it and like updated the words that it missed because I was like, I can't, I can't like it's so, yeah. So, but that did it a lot faster. And then I listened again and fixed it. So then, okay.
00:40:27
Speaker
This tales is an oldie in my family. One of those stories you hear around holidays or birthdays. It feels special once you're finally let in on it and like you're part of some exclusive club with its own secrets. Now I won't claim it's any scarier than your typical ghost story but let me tell you I was scared stiff and it had the same effect on everyone I've seen hear it since.
00:40:48
Speaker
me cut to the chase. My uncle, who's not really my uncle, more like a buddy of my mom's dad, worked back in the 60s at one of those giant depot warehouses. You know the ones where they stash boxes and stuff before shipping them off? He was strapped for cash at the time and took a gig as a night security guard there. The depot was a couple of miles from his town off the freeway surrounded by thick woods.
00:41:12
Speaker
Massive place with separate warehouses and storage rooms all centered around a parking lot or a big parking lot. My uncle's office was tucked away in one of those warehouses and he always stressed how massive it was. He'd say at night it felt like you were walking through endless shelves of boxes disappearing into darkness.
00:41:29
Speaker
So every night my uncle would show up at a quarter to midnight, patrol every aisle and every warehouse, then chill in his office for the rest of the shift. Keep an eye out for any trouble. Easy job, easy money. He'd mostly play poker with himself.
00:41:46
Speaker
One night, he pulls into the parking lot right on schedule, under a clear sky with a bright full moon. He took a moment to lean on his truck, admiring the stars. Out here away from the city, you can actually see them properly. The air was crisp and clean, so my uncle spots Vinny by the warehouse door. Vinny's a decent guy, but a bit off if you know what I mean. He's been doing security there forever, always with these weird sayings. Like when it rained, he'd say, fish will come a-walkin', or the government was putting zinc in cornflakes.
00:42:14
Speaker
My uncle didn't take Vinnie too seriously. He walks up to Vinnie, says hi, and notices something's up. Vinnie whispers, there's something behind that tree, peeking. My uncle looks, but sees nothing. He tells Vinnie to chill and heads inside, thinking Vinnie is just paranoid.
00:42:31
Speaker
He patrols the huge warehouse with Iles from A to Z. It's a lot to cover, but he's used to it. Nothing strange. Then the words spook my uncle big time, ticking him off for rattling his nerves right at the start of his shift. I think this got a little mixed up. I'm not entirely sure, but this is how it was, like how they read it, how it was posted anyway. He tells Vinnie to cut it out and Vinnie heads to his car. Brushing off Vinnie's talk is paranoia or senality. My uncle heads into the warehouse to start his patrol with six warehouses.
00:43:00
Speaker
Each with Iles A to Z. It's a hefty task armed with only his torch. He's accustomed to the routine. Nothing seems out of place. Back in his office, he turns on the radio and passes time playing solitaire. Hours pass uneventfully, but around three in the morning, a loud clang echoes on the other side of the warehouse.
00:43:19
Speaker
my uncle startles imagining a heavy box or shelf toppling over ignoring the thought he tries to focus but then the radio blares tiptoe through two lips oh no my tiny tim oh no the song's creepy vibe adds to his discomfort right
00:43:38
Speaker
despite his reluctance by Uncle No's duty calls. Stepping into the warehouse, the eerie melody follows him as he reluctantly walks down the aisles while you would not shut off the radio, but at the same time I feel like having some kind of music feels better, like- Can you imagine that just echoing through the warehouse around-
00:43:58
Speaker
Like no, why is that song so creepy though? I don't know. Maybe because it's just been used in creepy words? Probably. Like it's supposed to be so... So sweet. Like happy and upbeat. Yeah. Probably doesn't help that like the guy that sings it like he sounds so high like he's singing in a higher pitch. Yeah. So it's slightly off-putting to you know. It's true. Like you're normally used to you know masculine voices sounding lower and stuff so that's maybe what it is. Could be. But...
00:44:23
Speaker
The eerie melody follows him as he reluctantly walks down the aisles, the world's trail behind him. Finding nothing amiss, shifting left, he ventures to Isle B, yet again finding nothing awry. This routine continues with him traversing the aisles by the beam of his flashlight, scouring for the source of that unsettling clang. In the precise moment, Vinny's earlier words resurfaced. Timing couldn't be worse. Typical of my uncle, he must have been on the brink of losing it.
00:44:53
Speaker
Upon reaching aisle T, he directs his flashlight down its length, initially perceiving that everything is normal. Just as he's about to move on, he catches the sight of something at the far end of the aisle. A shape protrudes from behind the shelving. Small and elevated, a few meters above the ground, initially perplexed rather than frightened, he watches as it begins to stir, unable to discern its nature. His body tenses instinctively as he begins to move.
00:45:19
Speaker
However, he remains puzzled, unable to discern its identity, only its subtle motion. He fixates on the shape until suddenly, like pieces of a puzzle fitting together, realization dons, and he dislikes what he sees immensely.
00:45:34
Speaker
It's an arm, an arm waving at him. He cannot discern the owner or the arms owner, only observing it protruding horizontally from the isle's end, the rest of the figure concealed by the shelving. Its slow, exaggerated waving resembles something out of a cartoon. In a surprising moment, even to himself, my uncle shouts,
00:45:54
Speaker
Hey, who's there? His voice falters on the there, hoping to conceal the fear within him. The figure remains hidden, retracting its arms slowly behind the shelf, out of sight without hesitation. My uncle walks, half walks, half runs towards the arm, or where the arm had been, but now there's no trace of anyone. He hurriedly scans the adjacent aisles amidst parcels and packages, yet the intruder eludes him while scouring the aisles. He constantly picking up
00:46:24
Speaker
noises emanating from the adjacent aisles. No matter what aisles he's in, there's always sounds just beyond the shelves, obscured by boxes of darkness. He catches faint, hurried footsteps nearby, just out of sight. At this point, he's probably wishing he could just wake up from his nightmare, with someone sprinting barefoot through the warehouse in the dead of night. Returning to aisle A outside his office, the absence of footsteps sends shivers down his spine.
00:46:51
Speaker
Fearing he's let an intruder slip away as he turns to resume his search. His flashlight illuminates something at the far end of the aisle A. Now it's not an arm, it's a head peeking around the shelf. The face appears half hidden, forcing him to squint to confirm its presence in the dim light and distance. He discerns only three features. The disheveled hair leaves him unable to discern the gender. They said discern a lot. You use a lot of fancy words here.
00:47:18
Speaker
I'm like, but if this was my story I'm telling people, I'd be throwing so many fancy little words in and being like, yeah, you ready? Sit around the campfire, kids. Like, you know? He's unable to discern the gender. The sickly pale complexion sends chills down his spine and he can't shake the dreadful feeling as he can make out a mouth grinning at him.
00:47:38
Speaker
Reportedly, my uncle muttered the word, nope, under his breath before bolting into the office and securing the door. He wedged his desk against the door, then hurried over to the small landline to call the office corner. Oh, in the office corner. He dialed his boss, who wasn't thrilled about being roused at 3 a.m., and subsequently contacted the police, as per his boss's instructions. As he made these calls, my uncle claimed to hear faint tapping.
00:48:06
Speaker
and scratching on the office door, intermittent and subtle, more suggestive of a presence than an attempt to gain entry. The police arrived, combed through the depot, but found no one. More police were summoned and more. The depot remained shuttered for weeks, all because of what they found in the displaced box on aisle Z.
00:48:29
Speaker
Inside was a small note, penned in cursive. I have no mouth, yet still I bite. I have no nose, but I can smell. I frolic when the moon is bright. You'll frolic with me down in hell. Nestled alongside was a decomposing arm and a separate head. My uncle resigned.
00:48:51
Speaker
yeah he sure did right oh so i heard this one and i was like dude like if that's a true story like there's no way there's no way but i had a cool like little thought you know um i'm sure somebody's done this in a movie but it'd be really fun to have like a lights out type of movie and so i what movie is it
00:49:14
Speaker
i think it's the conjuring where like throughout the movie you can see like if you're paying attention you can see ghosts like in the background of the haunting of hillhouse no no it's the one that i can think of is like a little boy he's like a 12 year old boy who's like standing in the background of like the laundry room as she like walks through
00:49:33
Speaker
I think it's one of the Conjuring movies. It might be. But anyway, it would be kind of like that, but like have the face is what made me think of it, but like have that kind of like hidden in the back of like random scenes throughout the movie of just like a smiling face that you don't see unless you're like really paying attention and you've watched it three times or something, you know? That'd be fun.
00:49:55
Speaker
Anyway, I want to do more when it's getting late. So yeah, I think I thought you did three because you told us about what's going on at your house I think that's I was like, no you did three
00:50:13
Speaker
but you see if i have one that's not as cool i'm giving myself the heebie jeebies right now like like i want to turn on the light is that weird like you're that creeped out i don't know but i'm not i don't know what it is i have no idea maybe i'm just getting old okay i have two that are about the same do i'm gonna like redo the title and then you can pick sure um so one is called my roommate has been in the shower for more than four hours oh okay and this one is called my husband and i have been playing a game of tag for five years okay
00:50:43
Speaker
Gosh, I don't know guys. What do you want to hear more? What do you want to hear? I don't know. What did you which one did you enjoy more? Um, I didn't fully read either of them. I just was like skimming. What did you kind of like more? I don't know. That's why I'm asking. Let's do the tag one. Okay, the husband away. Okay, so you tag. There's a little bit more to the title. Okay. So my husband and I have been playing a game of tag for five years, but the rules have turned into something terrifying.
00:51:11
Speaker
It all started after we saw the comedy film called Tag in 2018. For those of you who are unaware, it's based on a real story about a group of friends who played an endless version of the children's game. I think I enjoyed the film at the time, but I can't remember now. After years of this gradually worsening hell, I shudder every time I remember the concept that inspired my husband, Elliot. Let's do it, he said. Sorry, I replied smirking, right here?
00:51:38
Speaker
Right now? No, he laughed, rolling his eyes. Not that. Tag. A never-ending game of tag. We live in the same house, so I mean, it probably wouldn't be as thrilling as the film, I said. We'd just end up sitting on the sofa constantly tagging each other in a back-and-forth slapping match. Elliot pondered at my point, tapping his lips thoughtfully. He was always a passionate person. Once he became hyper-fixated on something, it was hard to deter him. But I loved watching his face scrunch up. I feel you, bro. Right?
00:52:08
Speaker
as the cognitive cogs whirred away. But this time, my amusement at his fixation would be short-lived. Okay, Elliot eventually said as we hopped into the car, we can make the game interesting. Only one person can be tagged per day. The game pauses until midnight, at which point whoever's it can tag the other. I laughed. Midnight. Well, I think we both know that the tagging's going to happen when we're both in bed, don't we? My husband smiled.
00:52:37
Speaker
It wasn't an unpleasant smile to my eyes, but everything seemed different in retrospect. Who's saying I'd still be lying next to you, he said. Even then, when I still thought his suggestion to be light-hearted, the way he said that sentence set my hairs on end. No, we're not going to be an old married couple with separate beds. Why don't we make the starting point 6 p.m., I asked.
00:52:59
Speaker
Okay, want to start?" Sure, I said. Who was it first? You, Elliot replied. I'll be a gentleman and tag. You're it, I squealed, laughing as I tapped his shoulder playfully. Elliot smiled, keeping his eyes fixed on the road ahead. And it's 8pm. I guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow to get you back. You're going to be so easy to catch.
00:53:19
Speaker
And the next day, at 6pm on the dot, my husband silently emerged from a hiding spot behind the sofa and tagged me. I yelped, clutching my pounding chest. I didn't even hear you come home! I didn't go to the office today, Elliot giggled. I've been hiding here for hours.
00:53:34
Speaker
Gosh! When I arrived home the next day, I waited for my husband to walk through the door so I could have my revenge. 6pm came and went. At 7pm, I texted Elliot to ask when he'd come home. He responded that he was sleeping at the office to avoid being tagged, and when he didn't show up the day after, I told him that tag might cost us our relationship if I were never to see him again. His response infuriated me. Nice try. Ultimatums won't work. I don't want to be it.
00:54:03
Speaker
When I told him that he'd better come home, his response sparked a ripple of shivers across my body. Oh, but I am home, darling. You just haven't seen me yet.
00:54:14
Speaker
Then I heard the slightest creak from the cupboard beneath the sink. When I opened the double doors, there was my husband. And ordinarily, that would have been a funny sight, wouldn't it? Just a game of tag that had reached dizzying heights of ridiculousness. But you didn't see his face. That wasn't Elliot, not my Elliot. Bulging, unblinking, bloodshot eyes. Unhinged smile, frothing at the lips. That giggle. Ever since he suggested we play tag, the man I knew was gone.
00:54:44
Speaker
Throughout lockdown, given that we were living in such close quarters, the game did become slightly easier, but Elliot lost a piece of himself with every passing day. I tried to get him to hyperfixate on something else. No use. Still, whenever one of us had been tagged and the game paused, my husband returned to his normal self. That was when I decided I was going to stop playing. It was the only way to get him back. So Elliot tagged me, and I didn't return the tag on the following day.
00:55:11
Speaker
For months, things returned to normal. But then one day, at a local restaurant, he brought up the top again. "'Lisa,' Elliot started. "'What?' I asked. "'I'm right in front of you,' he said. "'Why won't you tag me?' "'I sighed. "'You were making me uncomfortable, Elliot. "'You weren't yourself when you were it.'
00:55:29
Speaker
A fleeting glint in his eye sent a weighty lump of fear cascading to the pit of my stomach. It was a glimmer of cruelty that had been burgeoning beneath the surface of his cold, unfeeling eyes for three years. For three years? Okay. The look that I'd hoped would go away if I were to stop playing his haunted game. I guess that would make sense. Would lock down and stuff, but it should like months later.
00:55:55
Speaker
I mean, months or years. How many months is months, you know? The true horror had yet to begin. This won't do it all, Lisa, he whispered, in a voice hardly his own. I've been patient. I thought you were planning the ultimate move. I'm going to have to make a new rule. When someone is it, they must make an effort to tag the other player. Otherwise, the other player becomes it.
00:56:24
Speaker
I scoffed. Look, I'd happily play the game if you could be normal about it. Elliot smiled. Of course. I won't take it too seriously. It's fun, Lisa. That's why I want to play. This was a little over a year ago. It was anything but fun after that. I couldn't decide whether I feared hunting Elliot or being hunted by him.
00:56:44
Speaker
On one hand, the thought of Elliot lurking around any corner in my home filled me with an unyielding sense of horror. On the other hand, whenever he was chasing me, I felt genuine terror at what would happen when he tagged me. And one day, my fear was justified. Elliot! I screamed. I was lying on the floor, shivering after my husband had tagged me. But tagged doesn't even begin to cover it. Elliot thumped me in the arm with a cricket bat. Thumped it so hard, I couldn't move it. I would later find out it was broken.
00:57:13
Speaker
New rule, Eliot said, cracking his neck in a horrid, inhuman way. Every tag is more creative than the last. Shaking uncontrollably, I finally snapped. I'd given the man so many chances, but physical abuse? That was the line, and he had crossed it, and there was no coming back from that. It was finally time to abandon the marriage.
00:57:33
Speaker
You hit me. It's over," I said. I'm moving out. You're not the man I married. He never would have hurt me. Elliot froze and something inexplicably horrifying happened. His eyes blackened. The newly darkened pupils merged with the whites of his eyes.
00:57:49
Speaker
Do you think the game ends if we end? Elliot asked. You're still it. And if you don't make an effort. What's happened to you, Elliot? I wailed, clutching my broken arm and sliding away from the unhinged figure that loomed above me. We're not playing tag anymore.
00:58:04
Speaker
Oh? Okay. New rule, he said. When I next tag you, the game's over. No, you can't tag me ever again. I'm it, I whispered. Ah, ah, ah. Remember the rule. You only stay it if you make an effort. Elliot gleefully said, striding toward me, are you going to make an effort?
00:58:25
Speaker
I ran out of the house, left arm hanging limply by my side. I used my right hand to scoop up my phone out of my pocket and called my sister from the side of the busy road. She urged me to call the police, but Elliot had fled when officers reached the house. I couldn't stop thinking about the blackness that spread across his eyes, so I ended up on an online forum talking about the blackened eyes and changed personalities. One user's comment set chills down my body.
00:58:51
Speaker
He's got the black bug. He'll only stop playing when one of you dies." Terrified beyond words, I decided that it wasn't safe for me to live with my sister. If the anonymous commenter were correct, then Elliot's talk about the game being over would surely have spelled my end. I moved to a lakeside cabin under a different name, intending to stay far away from Elliot until I could figure out the next course of action.
00:59:12
Speaker
I woke up at 4 a.m. one particular wintry morning in December. The sound of giggling filled the lakeside cabin and I trembled. Walking to the edge of the upper balcony, I looked below to see a horrifying sight in the middle of my living room, a head peering back over the sofa. Peek-a-boo, Elliot chartled. I screamed and hauled my half-frozen body toward the stairs, barreling toward the front door, but as my hand clutched the handle, something clutched me.
00:59:38
Speaker
I turned to see Elliot on the floor, propped up by his hands and legs in a low crouching position. No. The fingers on one of the hands were curled viciously around my ankle, and he was grinning that awful grin. Tag, he whispered. Game over. His mouth opened, revealing numerous rows of unnaturally jagged, janky teeth. Poised to pounce with a vehement look in his eyes, Elliot chuckled again.
01:00:04
Speaker
I screeched, swinging my foot squarely at his jaw. As the demonic man recoiled, I fled from the lakeside house and drove far away. That was months ago. I know Elliot's still out there. The game is not over. And like the online forum user said, he'll only stop playing when one of you dies.
01:00:21
Speaker
Yeah
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01:00:22
Speaker
Yeah, that was creepy. Yeah, so imagine no no no No, I'm good. I don't want to live in fear for the rest of my life. Thank you I already do that as like many other things. So good. May anxiety would kill me, right? No, I would just die my soul would leave my body. Yep Absolutely it would oh So anyway
01:00:49
Speaker
Well, I hope you guys had a spooky good time. Yeah. Happy halfway to Halloween. Oh, dude, we should put a little insert in the beginning to like, oh, sit in the dark with, you know, a light candle. Yeah, we should. Dang it. So. Hey, guys. Hey, guys. We're doing spooky. So grab a blanket and turn off the lights and get ready. Yeah. And some kind of stuffy. Yeah. Yeah. Get cozy because it's going to get spooky over here.
01:01:22
Speaker
Editing Shannon, put that up front. Anyway, well thanks for joining us everyone. We love you so much. Have a great time. If you're anything like me, you're not drinking nearly as much water as you should. As much as we want to be healthy, sometimes it's hard to pick up that water bottle full of boring plain water over and over again.
01:01:43
Speaker
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01:02:08
Speaker
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