Ghosts of My Parents' Home – Ep. 123

[00:00:00] Odd Trails is a true paranormal podcast. If you have a story to share, send it to stories at oddtrails.com. Enjoy the show.

[00:01:00] by Stella

[00:01:03] My best friend moved from California to Buffalo, New York to live with her boyfriend who inherited his

[00:01:10] late father's condo. She was homesick and invited me and a mutual friend to visit them

[00:01:17] and said we could stay in their condo for a couple of weeks while sightseeing in New York and Canada.

[00:01:24] When we pulled up to the condo, my jaw dropped because it was a huge red-bricked building with

[00:01:31] multiple stories. Nothing like I had ever seen in California before. It reminded me of the

[00:01:39] firehouse and the movie Ghostbusters in a way. We joked because it was so old and big but it

[00:01:47] really reminded us of it. A big building well known in Buffalo on 800 West Ferry Street.

[00:01:58] They lived with her boyfriend's brother and a cat on the seventh floor in a two-bed,

[00:02:05] two-bath condo with a balcony. I had the couch in the living room which was in between her

[00:02:12] bedroom door and the balcony door. She told us to use the restroom in her bedroom for showering

[00:02:20] and to remember to keep the bedroom door closed because that was the only room her cat was allowed

[00:02:27] to roam. This building is very old and the interior was not modernized. It had big, heavy,

[00:02:37] wooden doors and wood paneling everywhere, a marble fireplace and French doors that led to the balcony.

[00:02:47] The third night there, I awoke. It must have been two in the morning. Everything was quiet

[00:02:55] and dark so I closed my eyes to fall back asleep. Then I heard her bedroom door being pulled open

[00:03:04] as it made a loud creaking sound. It opened about 10 inches. I was looking at the door,

[00:03:13] waiting to see who was going to walk out but no one did. Everyone was still asleep

[00:03:21] so I thought nothing of it and was able to doze back asleep.

[00:03:26] The next morning I awoke to chatting sounds from the kitchen. I said good morning and my friend

[00:03:35] walked into the living room where I was and asked, hey why did you let the cat out? She's not

[00:03:43] supposed to roam around out here because of the wood and furniture. She could ruin it.

[00:03:50] I said it wasn't me. She said, well someone did because the door was open this morning.

[00:04:00] I told her what I saw the night before and that I expected her to walk out except nobody did.

[00:04:08] She said there was no way the door would open by itself because it's so heavy. You have to use

[00:04:15] your body weight to get it open because it dragged a bit on the carpet. There was no way it would freely

[00:04:22] swing open. I swore to her that's what I saw happen. She seemed to just stare at me,

[00:04:31] kind of wanting to say something else but just chuckled and said okay whatever.

[00:04:38] Two nights later I awoke in the dawn hours, light just beginning to creep in from the French doors.

[00:04:47] Everything was quiet. My friend and her boyfriend were still asleep. I closed my eyes

[00:04:54] to get some more sleep. Then I heard the latch open on the balcony's French doors.

[00:05:00] I opened my eyes and stared at the doors. They started creaking and slowly opening.

[00:05:09] They opened about eight inches and just stopped. It was odd but I mostly just thought it was in

[00:05:17] annoying inconvenience since I was comfy and now had to get up to close the door.

[00:05:24] The morning chill was suddenly all around me and my blanket was pretty thin.

[00:05:31] I got up and closed it, then turned the latch to click into the closed position.

[00:05:37] I laid back down on the couch and fell asleep wondering what could have caused that to happen.

[00:05:45] Later that day I was showering and thought I better hurry up

[00:05:50] in case someone else needs to use the restroom. I turned off the shower and reached for the

[00:05:56] towel when I heard what sounded like a male voice outside the door.

[00:06:03] I didn't make out what was said but I heard an older person's muffled voice saying something

[00:06:10] right outside the door. I stopped drying off and loudly said,

[00:06:16] hey I'm in here and I paused for a response. I'm almost done I'll be right out.

[00:06:25] I said again with another pause but heard nothing. I felt a creepy feeling all around me

[00:06:34] and couldn't get dressed fast enough. I walked out into the bedroom but no one was there.

[00:06:42] When I walked out into the living room where everyone was I asked, hey who was just in there?

[00:06:49] They all just looked at one another then at me kind of wondering what was the matter.

[00:06:58] My friend said, no one we've all been in here the whole time.

[00:07:05] I said that someone was just in there and that they talked to me while I was in the shower

[00:07:11] but didn't get an answer when I called out. She looked at me and said with a chuckle

[00:07:19] no one was in there I swear are you going crazy or something?

[00:07:25] I sat on the couch wondering what had just happened because I swear I heard someone talking

[00:07:33] to me outside that door. When we got back to California we were talking on the phone about

[00:07:40] our trip and adventures when she said, I didn't want to tell you anything when you were here

[00:07:47] so you wouldn't freak out but people say this place is haunted.

[00:07:53] My boyfriend's dad died in our bedroom and there are rumors that someone killed themselves by

[00:08:00] jumping off our balcony many years ago. I was in shock. I swore I wouldn't ever visit her there

[00:08:09] again even though she swore she had never experienced anything the entire time she lived

[00:08:15] there. Our mutual friend never experienced anything like I did and never felt uncomfortable

[00:08:24] which makes me wonder why did all of this happen while I was there?

[00:08:45] The Pale Lady in the Woods by Spooky Bitch

[00:09:00] I live a little ways out in the woods on a small dirt road with a few neighbors who also live on

[00:09:05] that small street. It's a quiet place we all know each other and get along decently. Given

[00:09:12] that we host these little bonfires sometimes and invite the neighbors around to grill and have a

[00:09:17] few drinks, we often discuss things that we've seen lately in our little patch of the forest.

[00:09:24] A group of lovely deer, a mischievous raccoon or the odd wandering bear are all often topics

[00:09:32] of conversation. However, inevitably we often end up on the subject of a mutual experience

[00:09:40] most of us have had with unexplainable phenomena happening around our homes. It's no secret that

[00:09:47] my woods tend to make people a bit uneasy. It's dark and quiet, this tends to make people tense.

[00:09:54] I'm not any different, I don't go outside in the dark if I don't have to

[00:09:59] and I get scared at times when an animal makes a ruckus. There are some things though,

[00:10:05] I just can't contribute to animals. To start, I have to go all the way back to when I was 13,

[00:10:13] when I first moved onto this property. I often felt like I was being watched at night. I was

[00:10:19] terrified to sleep without the lights on. I tried my best to ignore it, but I was honestly

[00:10:26] terrified to be outside at night or here alone. For my 14th birthday, I decided to face my

[00:10:34] fears so that I could pitch a tent outside and quote-unquote camp in the yard. I would do this

[00:10:41] with a few friends. One of them left us in the middle of the night because they were so anxious,

[00:10:47] another left in the morning after barely sleeping all night. The last friend stayed a couple of

[00:10:53] extra days but was creeped out the entire time. She claimed to have briefly seen the apparition

[00:11:01] of a pale woman with dark hair standing in our yard and felt something touch her at night.

[00:11:08] She was truly terrified and I could tell. When I tapped on her shoulder, she startled very easily.

[00:11:17] She almost hit me out of fright. This was very abnormal for her. I spoke to my uncle who lives

[00:11:24] next door about the woman that she saw and in my surprise he claimed to have seen the same

[00:11:29] apparition. He said he saw it multiple times. He wasn't even surprised when we brought it up.

[00:11:37] I moved out not long after this, but recently moved back. Since returning as an adult,

[00:11:44] I've heard several stories from my family and neighbors about weird phenomena like this.

[00:11:51] My uncle has seen the lady but also shadow figures and has heard some unnatural noises

[00:11:58] coming from the woods at night. As a man who has lived out there for over 40 years,

[00:12:04] he's very familiar with the usual sounds that animals and nature make and he didn't think any of

[00:12:11] these sounds were natural. His wife has also seen shadow figures and weird masses of black energy.

[00:12:21] She claimed to have been pushed over by an unseen force after witnessing one of these

[00:12:26] black masses of energy. She hasn't gone outside at night since. My grandmother claimed to have been

[00:12:33] chased by a shadow entity several years ago on this property while walking back from my uncles.

[00:12:41] I stopped at her front door and I watched while she cried and called my aunt and uncle for help.

[00:12:47] Understandably, they said no and told her to light some sage. A couple of neighbors have

[00:12:53] claimed to have seen similar shadow figures as well as the apparition of the lady on occasion.

[00:13:01] I still feel watched and I regularly cleanse my house to keep whatever is out there as far from

[00:13:08] my home as possible. A good friend of mine, when I first moved back in, called me with concerns

[00:13:15] over a dream that she had. This was before she had ever seen or set foot on my property.

[00:13:21] She described my house and property perfectly and described seeing the same pale woman that

[00:13:28] multiple people have now seen. I was understandably shaken considering she hadn't been to my home

[00:13:35] at the time and hadn't really discussed the weird happenings with her. She spent the night one time

[00:13:42] and refuses to do it again. My street is very creepy but I have come to accept that something

[00:13:48] more is here. With all of these shared experiences I can't deny that something is out there.

[00:13:56] It's been a long time and it seems to make itself known to anyone who spends enough time here.

[00:14:18] A

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[00:16:06] Alyssa's Tragedy by Jess

[00:16:11] I wanted to tell my story because I feel like it's just something I should get off my chest.

[00:16:17] My name is Jess. I'm a woman who has strong spiritual beliefs. Growing up my father was an

[00:16:26] atheist and my mother was spiritual. Both parents were extremists when it came to their beliefs,

[00:16:33] although not forceful with their opinions. Because of this I ended up in a gray area.

[00:16:41] I believe in the transference of energy, both while living and after death.

[00:16:48] I should preface this by saying yes, I believe in ghosts, positive energies and negative energies,

[00:16:56] but I also have to have solid reason behind what I believe in. What I believe has to be

[00:17:02] evidence-based based on what I've seen or is proven, but I digress.

[00:17:10] One summer I was traveling home to Ontario, Canada. At the time I lived in Alberta.

[00:17:18] My spouse and I stayed in a hotel that was close to the beach,

[00:17:23] and behind the hotel there were old train tracks.

[00:17:26] On the second night of our stay, we were spending some quality time together,

[00:17:32] and we were up late. It was about midnight, and I decided to jump in my Jeep to go get us some burgers.

[00:17:41] I told my spouse he could stay in the room, as he did all the driving across the country,

[00:17:47] and he was still exhausted. I made my way out to the back parking lot,

[00:17:54] hopped in my Jeep and began pulling out. This particular hotel has a huge field to the left of

[00:18:01] it, and it's not located directly in the city, and being that there was no one around, I started

[00:18:08] to speed out of the parking lot. When I rounded the corner, a woman appeared out of nowhere.

[00:18:17] She walked off the sidewalk that was at the front of the hotel,

[00:18:21] and crossed the pavement in front of my Jeep. I hit my brakes, and was very annoyed.

[00:18:29] I stared at her, and she looked vacant and in shock. I wanted to yell at her because of the

[00:18:38] basic fear that I thought I would run her over. Something in me knew though, that she was among

[00:18:46] the non-living. My immediate response was logic. I looked to the left, wondering why she was traveling

[00:18:56] towards the field that leads to nowhere, then looked to the right, looking for anyone else

[00:19:03] that might be trailing behind her. But when I looked back in her direction, she was gone.

[00:19:10] There was nowhere she could have hid out of sight so suddenly. Now the crazy part.

[00:19:18] The way this woman moved was seamless, like she wasn't using her legs, just gliding.

[00:19:27] She wasn't completely solid either. She was like a very dense fog with smooth skin,

[00:19:34] not completely transparent though, and consumed by tragedy. I could feel it emanating from her.

[00:19:45] I heard the name Alyssa in my head, and I knew this was the woman who was murdered when I was a kid.

[00:19:53] I also remember asking myself if that was a woman or a man, as my brain tried to process

[00:20:00] what I saw, but failed to do so. She was dressed shabbily. She wore a gray oversized zippa putty,

[00:20:11] black pants, and her hair was shaggy and shoulder length. But again, I knew with every fiber of

[00:20:20] my being that this was Alyssa. Since I was a child when she was murdered, I knew nothing about

[00:20:28] her. Nothing about her appearance, her age, not even her last name. I just kept trying to shake

[00:20:37] off this feeling of terror that overlapped all logical explanations. I've seen spirits before,

[00:20:45] and ghosts. My whole life actually. But I'm very good at blocking it out.

[00:20:52] They seem to show up when I'm relaxed, open and least suspecting it.

[00:20:59] I always gaslit myself, and convince myself it isn't real.

[00:21:04] And just a manifestation of my imagination. But her, Alyssa, she did not allow this.

[00:21:13] she needed to be seen. She needed me to know she was lost, confused, sad, and in shock.

[00:21:22] I still left and got food. I couldn't shake the thought of her though. When I returned,

[00:21:31] I parked, and I could see her in my mind's eye, standing beside my driver's side window,

[00:21:38] just glaring at me. I can't tell you how long I was paralyzed in fear,

[00:21:44] waiting for her to leave me alone. I begged her to go away, repeating,

[00:21:51] please go away, you're not real, this isn't real. When I finally mustered the nerve I ran inside,

[00:22:01] and immediately called my mother. We three-way called my sister to dissect what happened.

[00:22:08] My mom convinced me it must have been someone else's spirit, because from what she remembered,

[00:22:15] Alyssa was a blonde woman. She also said to me,

[00:22:20] sensitive people are like lighthouses to lost spirits, Jess. You have to manage it. Don't

[00:22:27] be scared. My mother and sister also did some digging and found some articles about Alyssa.

[00:22:35] My sister found an article that shook me to my core. The night Alyssa went missing,

[00:22:43] she was wearing a gray Zippa putty, black pants, and she had shaggy shoulder length brown hair.

[00:22:52] She then proceeded to share Alyssa's photo with us in our group message,

[00:22:57] and I felt the color drain from my face. It was her, undeniably her.

[00:23:05] It turns out she was murdered by someone she thought was her friend.

[00:23:11] He led her out to the train tracks and I'll spare the gruesome details here.

[00:23:18] My mother insisted I go out the next day and tell Alyssa what happened to her,

[00:23:24] as my mother thought she must not know she's dead. She was intoxicated and unconscious when

[00:23:33] she was murdered, so I agreed. I walked outside, terrified even in the light of day,

[00:23:41] and tried to call out to Alyssa. I did see her in my mind's eye again.

[00:23:48] I told her that her daughters were safe and living with her parents.

[00:23:53] I told her she was a victim of a horrendous crime, but the man who did this was brought

[00:23:59] to justice and that she was able to move on. I could see her in my mind,

[00:24:06] standing behind me, shaking her head no in denial. There was so much sadness that washed over me

[00:24:15] that it brought me to tears. So Alyssa, I wish you nothing but love and light.

[00:24:24] For the sake of you moving on, let's never meet again.

[00:24:36] I've had an odd experience that has lingered with me for a while. I can't seem to make sense of it,

[00:25:01] but I've come to accept that I might never understand what happened. It was a normal day off

[00:25:06] at home. I had recently bought my house about three months prior and was still getting accustomed to it.

[00:25:13] I sat down on my sectional in the living room and watched TV. I had just made some clam chowder

[00:25:20] and placed it right in front of me while I turned on South Park, my go-to comfort show.

[00:25:25] This was around noon on a bright day with sunlight filtering through the blinds.

[00:25:33] Next, something happened that still gives me goosebumps. I can't really recall what

[00:25:39] occurred next, but suddenly it was 7.42 pm as if time had leaped forward without me.

[00:25:48] South Park was still playing far from the episode I had started with

[00:25:52] and my food was untouched exactly where I left it. However, I found myself lying down on the couch

[00:25:59] in front of the fireplace, a spot that I would never lie down in, typically just used for sitting

[00:26:05] to tie my shoes before heading out or something like that. I can't fully explain the feeling,

[00:26:10] but I was overwhelmed with an intense raw fear from not knowing where the time went

[00:26:17] or what happened. There were no clues, no pieces to piece together and beyond that I felt somewhat

[00:26:25] sick and had an out-of-body sensation which I attributed to how agitated I had become.

[00:26:32] This had never happened to me before and hasn't since. There's no history of anything like this

[00:26:37] in my family. I'm truly at a loss about this one. To calm myself, I reheated my clam chowder

[00:26:44] and ate it. Now I'm sure you have some questions. Yes, I installed a carbon monoxide detector shortly

[00:26:50] after buying the house so it definitely wasn't carbon monoxide poisoning. When I quote-unquote

[00:26:56] woke up, besides the overall sensation, there were marks on my foot resembling those of being

[00:27:03] tied up with wire thread but these marks faded the next day. There is no history of epilepsy

[00:27:10] or blackouts in my family. Following this episode, I experienced shivers down my spine,

[00:27:17] not painful but random moments when the center of my spine would feel cold, sending chills

[00:27:23] up and down my back. This sensation still occurs, but much less frequently than right after the

[00:27:29] incident. I had missed calls and texts, but I hadn't contact anyone during my unaccounted

[00:27:36] time. Lastly, that couch is extremely uncomfortable. I do not like it. We mainly just place things on it.

[00:27:46] I have a fantastic sectional that I adore. I have no idea why I would end up waking up

[00:27:52] on the uncomfortable couch. I wouldn't choose to do that, not even letting a puppy sleep on it.

[00:28:09] Another man's soul entered my dad's body by Nick.

[00:28:25] For context, I am Slovakian and Vietnamese. My father is Vietnamese but lived in Slovakia for

[00:28:33] many years and is able to speak the language. My parents divorced and my dad moved away to Germany.

[00:28:41] One day, my dad went to visit his friends, a married couple, somewhere in Germany,

[00:28:47] and he stayed at their house overnight. Later in the evening, my sister got a phone call from

[00:28:53] my dad and he was crying in a complete panic. This was so unusual as our dad never cried

[00:29:02] in front of us. He's a very chill and positive person who never expressed any sort of sadness or

[00:29:10] negativity. My sister was in total shock. Moreover, she couldn't understand a word he was saying

[00:29:20] as he was speaking to her in Vietnamese. It seemed as if he forgot to speak in Slovak.

[00:29:27] My sister tried to talk to him in Slovak to find out what was going on.

[00:29:33] Mind you, my sister and I don't speak Vietnamese so she couldn't make out what he was saying.

[00:29:41] My sister was really freaked out at this point so she called our aunt who also lives

[00:29:47] in Slovakia and can speak Vietnamese. My sister explained the situation to her.

[00:29:53] My aunt has a thing for the spirit world but more on that a bit later.

[00:30:00] Anyways, my aunt quickly called my dad to find out what was happening.

[00:30:07] After translating what my dad was saying, she told us he said something along the lines of

[00:30:14] where am I? Where are my parents? I just want to talk to my parents.

[00:30:19] My aunt knew the people my dad was visiting that day as they were all part of a close-knit

[00:30:25] Vietnamese community in the area. She quickly called the woman my dad was staying with.

[00:30:33] Well, as it turns out, she and her husband lost their son some time ago. We believe

[00:30:39] that her son's soul had entered my dad's body and demanded to talk to his parents.

[00:30:45] The woman talked to her son through my dad and told him that everything is well

[00:30:54] and he should leave my dad's body. It lasted for about 15 minutes.

[00:31:01] My dad was so confused once it was over and didn't remember much of it at all.

[00:31:08] It was an emotional experience for everybody. Remember how I said that my aunt has a thing

[00:31:15] for the spirit world? She experienced something very similar years prior to this

[00:31:22] when a friend came over to visit her. All of a sudden, her friend felt like she was going to faint.

[00:31:30] Then she started talking as if she were a completely different person.

[00:31:35] She kept repeating, why didn't you want me? Why did you get rid of me?

[00:31:40] When she eventually regained her senses, my aunt told her what happened. Her friend then broke down

[00:31:49] and told her that she had an abortion which may explain what happened.

[00:31:55] My Vietnamese family members are all Buddhists and believe in reincarnation.

[00:32:01] We believe these spirits may have temporarily reincarnated through my father and my aunt's

[00:32:08] friend. Luckily, my family hasn't experienced anything else like this. Let's hope it stays that way.

[00:32:38] Ghosts of My Parents Home by Arakuta

[00:32:45] Before I share these stories, I want to provide some context.

[00:32:49] I have a certain sensitivity. I can sense when things feel off or just not right.

[00:32:56] I've encountered many strange occurrences, but I'll discuss a few from my parents' previous home.

[00:33:02] The earliest experience dates back to when I was around five or six,

[00:33:06] but that's a tale for another time. In 2019, a year before the pandemic began,

[00:33:13] we moved into my parents' most recent home. I've always believed in ghosts,

[00:33:18] so when we first stepped in and visited the basement during a tour, I immediately felt this

[00:33:24] not-for-me vibe, especially upon seeing the large metal table in the center of a stone floor.

[00:33:33] As we went upstairs, I heard footsteps behind me, but I didn't pay them any mind.

[00:33:38] I was tired from dealing with paranormal activity from the last house.

[00:33:43] Months passed with very little happening until about six months before I started dating my

[00:33:48] current wife. I heard a quiet sob from downstairs. Confidently, I asked,

[00:33:55] Are you okay? But received no response. I called out to my mom and sister,

[00:34:01] thinking that they might have stayed behind, but they didn't answer.

[00:34:06] So I did the next rational thing. I put my shoes on and left the house.

[00:34:12] I called my mom to ask if she or my sister were still at my grandmother's.

[00:34:17] She confirmed that they had both been there for most of the morning.

[00:34:21] When I mentioned the crying, she suggested that it might have been someone from outside,

[00:34:26] but I knew something was off. A few months later, after I moved out,

[00:34:32] my mom finally disclosed all of the things that happened to everyone since I had left.

[00:34:39] It started with a glowing light shining in my brother's window,

[00:34:43] which is a good 15 feet off of the ground and a tall shadow peaking into my sister's room.

[00:34:51] Then it was a little girl who would whisper mommy in my mom's ear in the morning.

[00:34:57] She also saw a small child in a white dress.

[00:35:01] She was open to letting the girl stay as long as she wasn't harmful, but I felt otherwise.

[00:35:08] I got my hands on some sage and rosemary, and I told her to sage every corner with every door

[00:35:14] and open window. After bringing this stuff to her, the activity slowed.

[00:35:21] Fast forward a few weeks, she texted me saying,

[00:35:24] The tall man was in my room. Your dad chased him out, thinking that it was somebody breaking in,

[00:35:31] but when he got around the corner, they were gone.

[00:35:34] Around the middle of last year, you could hear people walking upstairs and clicking keyboards in

[00:35:41] my brother's room, but the tall man never entered any rooms. Now to the present. I'm watching the

[00:35:50] house and staying the night to watch their dogs. The activity has been on the mild side with

[00:35:55] no major happenings until this morning. I heard my little girl make a sound as if she

[00:36:01] wanted to get up or get comfortable. I rolled over in bed and I heard her giggling downstairs

[00:36:07] with her favorite show on. I went back to sleep, assuming that it was in my head.

[00:36:14] When I got up later, I made it clear that the spirits could not mess with me,

[00:36:18] my wife or my little girl. Immediately, the pans hanging from the shelf in the kitchen began

[00:36:23] swaying slightly. I checked the door to the basement and the vents nearby.

[00:36:29] The air was off and there was no draft. As I made my way to the stairs,

[00:36:34] I saw a young child's head quickly dart into the room that I had slept in.

[00:36:39] When I got upstairs, I heard breathing behind me when I asked if it preferred not to be acknowledged.

[00:36:47] I left for the day and left all of the lights off except for the living room.

[00:36:52] When I got home after work, I saw that the light in the kitchen was on.

[00:36:55] I remembered turning it off because I grabbed my cat,

[00:37:00] set her outside while I was gone and turned back to shut it off. But now it was on.

[00:37:06] So I called my wife and told her somebody is here or the ghosts are trying to mess with me.

[00:37:11] She listened as I moved through the house and checked for intruders until I got to my mom

[00:37:15] and dad's room where the air felt sickeningly heavy. I grabbed my suitcase, started back

[00:37:22] down the stairs and left after turning off every light this time.

[00:37:26] When I got downstairs into the car, I felt sick, like an extremely nervous kind of sick

[00:37:33] and I told my wife I would not be staying overnight without everyone else being home.

[00:37:52] I don't have a whole lot to add about Stella's story, the first one in this episode.

[00:38:08] Other than it was kind of rude of her friend to gaslight her about the haunted activity,

[00:38:14] in my opinion.

[00:38:15] I know. Yeah, definitely. I mean, what friend not only doesn't share that sort of information,

[00:38:23] but then straight up calls you crazy for saying that you experienced something.

[00:38:27] Yeah, see, I don't blame Stella for saying that she won't be going back.

[00:38:30] You got to downgrade that friend to Sunday brunch.

[00:38:35] Yeah, at the most.

[00:38:37] So these pale lady and white apparitions seem to be really common.

[00:38:42] Not only on the stories that we feature on the show, but they're such a staple in popular culture,

[00:38:48] whether that be in movies, books or historical sightings.

[00:38:52] Wherever that's what popular culture is, you know what I mean?

[00:38:58] It always seems to be such an emotionally charged ghost too. Sometimes they're

[00:39:02] like extremely angry and sometimes they're extremely sad.

[00:39:07] Yeah, and in a lot of the stories or folklore, they tend to be victims of tragedy,

[00:39:12] a common pattern I've noticed.

[00:39:14] Yeah, totally. I did some reading on this specific kind of spirit and

[00:39:19] it's so insanely popular throughout history and almost always has some kind of tragic tale behind

[00:39:26] it. I was going to try and cover all of them here on the show, but there's just too many.

[00:39:32] And I mean from everywhere in the world, Russia, Philippines, Japan, you name it.

[00:39:38] They've all got tales of this pale lady and white.

[00:39:42] I've even had a story of a lady in white on Let's Not Meet.

[00:39:47] Oh, so you're doing supernatural stories on your other podcast now, huh?

[00:39:51] Trying to bogar odd trails and push me out? Well, guess what? You can't fire me.

[00:39:55] I quit.

[00:39:57] Yeah, bud, you're done. You have all the proto.

[00:40:00] At least let me finish this episode. And by the way, that was a missed opportunity for a poorly

[00:40:06] executed April Fool's joke in our last episode.

[00:40:10] Oh yeah, we'll never recover from that. But yeah, it's not technically a supernatural story.

[00:40:16] At least nothing supernatural actually happens in the story.

[00:40:20] Okay, gotcha.

[00:40:22] Yeah, so in that one, the author and his friend were visiting the friend's family cabin

[00:40:27] and they decided to hit up a casino on a Native American reserve nearby.

[00:40:31] So they went some cash and they're heading back to the cabin really late that same night.

[00:40:36] And about halfway to the cabin, they saw these two green orbs just off the highway

[00:40:41] and slammed on their brakes. And they realized that the orbs were the eyes of a deer reflecting

[00:40:47] in the light. Okay.

[00:40:48] And so they basically wait there while several deer cross the road

[00:40:53] and then they get back on their way. When they made it to the top of this hill and rolled to a

[00:40:59] stop, the friend screamed, holy shit. And right in front of them was this young woman in the

[00:41:05] middle of the road. And she was wearing a white nightgown, had pitch black hair and no shoes on.

[00:41:14] Yeah, no thanks. Nope.

[00:41:16] Yeah, definitely. So she's walking in a direction with this blank expression on her face.

[00:41:22] Yeah, that's a trope that'll never fail to freak me out. They did that in American crime,

[00:41:27] that weird dramatization of Sylvia Lichen's murder with Elliot Page. You seen that one?

[00:41:33] Yeah, that one was brutal. I'm officially traumatized from watching that.

[00:41:37] Yeah, the actual court documents and everything else. I don't want to get into it, but yeah,

[00:41:42] it's brutal. Yeah, it is. Yeah. Well, in this story, they wait to see if she's going to come

[00:41:48] up to the window to ask for help. Instead, though, she just slowly walks by the car and

[00:41:54] drags her hand across the side as she passes and continues this creepy zombie walk. Now,

[00:42:02] they look in the rear view mirror because they didn't feel right about just leaving

[00:42:05] her behind in that state. Yes, it's creepy, but also it's a young woman in the street alone

[00:42:10] out in the middle of nowhere. Yeah. So the author puts on his blinkers, gets out,

[00:42:14] and then walks to the back of the car. And it was so dark that he could barely see her at this point

[00:42:20] as she keeps fading in and out of view. He yelled out asking if she was all right,

[00:42:26] and she finally stopped, but she just stays facing away from him. She's not saying anything

[00:42:33] in response. Then the friend opens the door to join him outside when suddenly the woman

[00:42:38] starts screaming her head off, like screeching, and the guys jump back in the car and peel

[00:42:44] out of there. And they just basically spend all the way back to the cabin.

[00:42:48] Yeah, that's scary. I've just got to add that even if it is somebody in distress all by themselves,

[00:42:54] super common hijacking techniques. So just find somewhere safe and call the cops or emergency

[00:43:00] services that may pertain to the situation at hand. Yeah. And not to sound like a broken

[00:43:06] record, but that's also something that shows up on Let's Not Meet All The Time. People

[00:43:10] trying to trap you by pretending to be helpless on the side of the road, and then they drive off

[00:43:15] and some dudes jump out of the bushes like they were waiting for you to open the door and let the

[00:43:20] woman in distress in. Yeah, tried and true technique. Maybe I'll eventually start my own

[00:43:26] solo podcast and I can find an angle and talk about my show too. We'll see. But yeah,

[00:43:34] that's a cool story even though it's not quite supernatural. And it's neat because you

[00:43:38] can tell that story on either podcast and it totally work just depending on your frame of

[00:43:43] reference if you're expecting something paranormal or not. Yeah, it's definitely a gray area story.

[00:43:49] I like those. Yeah, I've always liked those kind of stories sort of like in The Shining was it

[00:43:55] really haunted hotel or was Jack responsible for going insane hurting Danny and trying to kill

[00:44:01] the family? Yeah, yeah, totally. I think that the only part in that entire movie where there's no

[00:44:08] other explanation, you know, other than the paranormal is when Jack gets let out of the

[00:44:13] storage room. He's clearly locked in but someone or something lets him out. Yeah, even Kubrick

[00:44:19] stated in interviews that Danny's imaginary friend wasn't some kind of spirit or ghost.

[00:44:24] It was just a plain old imaginary friend. Yeah, he was basically abused by his father and

[00:44:30] manages this trauma by creating Tony and it helps him rationalize his visions. Yeah, I don't think

[00:44:37] there's any kind of quote from Kubrick stating that there were any ghosts in the movie. And

[00:44:43] there's this really cool theory that a ghost didn't even let him out of the storage room.

[00:44:49] Oh, so what's the leading theory there? Well, Danny isn't even seen throughout that whole

[00:44:55] segment with Wendy leading up to it. Oh, so Danny let him out that little bugger.

[00:45:01] Yeah, that's the idea he basically was still in denial of being attacked by Jack and his dad

[00:45:07] basically sweet talks him into opening the door. That makes sense. Yeah, I love all the

[00:45:13] different theories about that movie. All the movies I like the most are ones that have some

[00:45:18] sort of open ended stuff left to interpretation. Yeah, and no, I won't mention the movie that rhymes

[00:45:25] with embarrassing micro. It's that's too soon. Yeah, we said we wouldn't. Yeah. Anyways, moving on.

[00:45:35] Let's see. Okay, what was up with Nick's story with those possessions or whatever?

[00:45:41] Yeah, see, okay, my knowledge of reincarnation as it pertains to Buddhism is admittedly pretty surface

[00:45:49] level. But same, I thought when you're reborn, you're reborn like until it's your time to go again

[00:45:56] and the cycle continues. I never imagined that a reincarnated spirit could temporarily house itself

[00:46:03] within an existing form of consciousness if that makes sense. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I mean,

[00:46:09] just because it doesn't really give karma a fair shake. Right, maybe they could have gotten caught up

[00:46:16] in some weird state of purgatory until their spirits found their next life. I don't know.

[00:46:23] You know, not in the literal Catholic sense, but you know what I mean, right? Yeah, yeah,

[00:46:27] I got you. I wouldn't be surprised if it even wasn't reincarnation all due respect to the

[00:46:33] author, but maybe they really were just momentary possessions where her dad and her

[00:46:40] aunt's friend had some windows open, so to speak that the spirits were able to crawl through.

[00:46:46] Who's to say? Either way, the things that they were saying seemed too specific to be

[00:46:52] some weird coincidence or any sort of mental breakdown in my opinion. I definitely agree.

[00:46:57] There was some actual metaphysical element to it all. Yeah, yeah. So that story about Alyssa that

[00:47:05] Jess shared was heartbreaking. I don't mean to sound condescending, it just sounded that way.

[00:47:12] No, yeah, no, I get it. When I said that I'll spare the gruesome details, that was actually

[00:47:17] me saying that Jess did not spare the details, but I appreciate being informed all the same.

[00:47:24] I just figured it'd be best not to plant any specific images and people's heads on their morning

[00:47:30] commute and ruin the rest of their day. Yep, I agree. And you know, hauntings are one thing,

[00:47:36] but some of the quote unquote real world stuff is better off being left out in my opinion,

[00:47:41] at least in some cases. Yeah. I don't want to give these people those kinds of nightmares.

[00:47:46] That's not really our brand. Exactly. There are other platforms better suited for that.

[00:47:51] But the fact Alyssa's spirit revealed herself to the author did remind me of another really

[00:47:57] sad murder case that was featured on here. Back in episode 77, I had to really dig through

[00:48:03] the archives to find that one. Yeah. The story about Sophie Surgey, the Alaskan native student

[00:48:09] who was murdered on her college campus. Yeah, that was a rough one. I went on a deep dive

[00:48:15] about Sophie's case after that. Yeah, I think most of us did. That was really sad.

[00:48:21] But to shift things into more optimistic light, I think between those two stories and really a

[00:48:27] lot of the stories we feature on here, it at least gives us a glimmer of hope that there's

[00:48:33] a chance of redemption and peace for when we all die. However, it might happen.

[00:48:38] Yeah, that's true. And even though the spiritual activity that we hear about seems to

[00:48:45] involve people who had ultimately, I'm digging. Yeah, yeah, that's true. Even though the spiritual

[00:48:52] activity that we hear about seems to involve people who had untimely or unpleasant deaths,

[00:48:59] it could at least mean it doesn't just stop there. You know what I mean?

[00:49:04] Right. If we have some unfinished business when we go out, maybe we'll just get to close

[00:49:09] the loop or something and then cross over to a place where everything is just perfect.

[00:49:16] I really hope so. The idea of being dead forever creeps me out.

[00:49:20] Same. I used to obsess about it way too much as a kid. Me too.

[00:49:25] Even through the context of imagining life before we were born and life after death

[00:49:30] being no different, it's still not a pleasant tale to swallow. But all we can really do

[00:49:36] is live in the moment and hope for the best. Yep, stressing will not help.

[00:49:42] Hey, Epictetus would be proud.

[00:49:45] Yeah. Yeah. Well, thanks everybody so much for listening. We appreciate every single one of you,

[00:49:51] especially the patrons. Listen, if you want to get access to ad-free versions of all of our

[00:49:56] episodes at a higher bit rate and support the show to keep us going, head over to patreon.com

[00:50:01] forward slash odd trails to sign up today. And don't forget to send in your stories to

[00:50:07] stories at odd trails if you want to hear them on the podcast. All of the stories you've heard

[00:50:11] this week were narrated and produced with the permission of their respective authors. Finally,

[00:50:16] make sure you check out the new episodes of my other podcasts like Let's Not Meet a True Horror

[00:50:20] podcast and the old time radio cast at crypticcountypodcasts.com. I guess that's

[00:50:25] it. We'll see you guys next week everyone. Stay safe. Peace out.