The Second Room in the Basement – Ep. 125

[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.

[00:00:30] Odd Trails

[00:00:32] Welcome to Odd Trails.

[00:01:00] We have a single story we're going to share with you this week.

[00:01:03] I'm going to start things off with Act 1, and after the break, Brandon will finish off

[00:01:07] with Act 2.

[00:01:09] This is titled The Second Room in the Basement by Highest Bounty.

[00:01:16] This happened when I was 17.

[00:01:18] I had left school that summer and had six weeks before starting college.

[00:01:23] It was baking hot in the small rural town where I lived.

[00:01:28] Situated pretty much in the middle of England is an old coal mining town and a bit of British

[00:01:35] history here.

[00:01:36] All the mines were pretty much closed down, which dissipated both the economy and job opportunities

[00:01:43] of the small pit towns throughout the country.

[00:01:46] Back in my town, if you're old enough or at least if you look old enough, you spend

[00:01:51] your time in the local pubs.

[00:01:54] If you're not, that means you have nothing else to do but roam the streets seeking your

[00:01:59] own entertainment.

[00:02:00] My friends and I were in the latter.

[00:02:04] On the main road through town, away from other houses, stood a dilapidated house known

[00:02:10] as the O'Brien House.

[00:02:12] It was a four-story six-bedroom mansion.

[00:02:15] An old couple had lived there, but they had passed away some years prior.

[00:02:20] They had two daughters who had moved abroad and they never claimed the house, so it just

[00:02:25] sat for years building up dust and rotting away.

[00:02:29] My friends and I saw this as the perfect opportunity to have somewhere cool, private

[00:02:34] and exciting for the six of us to hang out.

[00:02:37] The house had a big garden in the back which was just as ridiculously neglected.

[00:02:44] It was wildly overgrown.

[00:02:46] It took us the good part of a day to stomp down a pathway through the nettles and brush.

[00:02:53] Once we were through the garden, there was a garage that we could drop down into once we

[00:02:57] pulled up the roof panels to gain access.

[00:03:00] We spent nearly all summer in that house hanging out, graffitying the walls, drinking,

[00:03:06] smoking, etc.

[00:03:07] But there was one room in the house that eluded us.

[00:03:11] For this to make sense I'll explain the layout a bit.

[00:03:14] From the garage you headed through a kitchen, which only consisted of a broken window that

[00:03:19] had been boarded up in a damaged set of cabinets on the back wall.

[00:03:23] From there you stepped into a hallway that had the front door to the right and the bathroom

[00:03:28] and two large rooms on the left hand side.

[00:03:31] Also to the right were the stairs leading up to the second floor.

[00:03:36] The staircase was built against a wall that had wooden planks running vertically.

[00:03:42] The actually opposite the kitchen door built into the back of the staircase was a large

[00:03:46] metal door that had been painted white, but the paint had become a dusty, sickly yellow

[00:03:52] color and it was flaking.

[00:03:55] This door was locked.

[00:03:57] It simply wouldn't budge no matter how hard we tried to open it.

[00:04:01] And looking at the hinges, we could tell that this door opened inwards.

[00:04:07] The house was so big that we just kind of forgot about the locked door.

[00:04:11] We spent most days up in the two rooms on the third floor.

[00:04:15] We thought being up here was a good idea since we were far away from the road outside and

[00:04:20] this helped us to avoid any passerby from hearing us and calling the cops.

[00:04:25] One day as we were hanging out upstairs one of the lads decided for no apparent reason

[00:04:30] to light the moth-ridden curtain on fire with the Zippo lighter that he was messing

[00:04:36] around with.

[00:04:37] The curtain, dust-covered carpet and old wrinkled wallpaper went up in flames within seconds.

[00:04:44] We only made it out by smashing the top window and jumping onto a mound of dirt that was at

[00:04:49] the side of the garage.

[00:04:52] I think if adrenaline hadn't been coursing through us it would have been a hell of a

[00:04:56] painful fall.

[00:04:58] We hid in some bushes down the road as we watched the fire engine arrive on the

[00:05:02] scene to extinguish the flames.

[00:05:05] But before they had arrived the fire had engulfed the second and third floors.

[00:05:10] The second was usable once we got the courage to re-enter the house but the third floor was

[00:05:15] completely gone.

[00:05:17] All that remained on the third floor were the outer walls in what was left of the roof

[00:05:22] so after that we were confined to the bottom floor.

[00:05:26] The garage was too dark to hang out in and all that was in there was an old work

[00:05:31] table that was ordinarily used to apply paste on wallpaper but this was what we used to get

[00:05:38] in and out of the roof.

[00:05:40] The kitchen wasn't much brighter and the front room had a big window that overlooked the

[00:05:45] footpath and the road outside so that was the only room left for us to hang out in

[00:05:51] which got boring very quickly.

[00:05:54] Boredom led to curiosity so I quickly noticed that one of the wooden planks on the side

[00:05:59] of the stairs was loose and there was an open space behind it so we could finally see what

[00:06:05] was behind that metal door.

[00:06:08] What a mistake that was.

[00:06:11] They say curiosity killed the cat but in this instance curiosity questioned my whole

[00:06:17] belief system.

[00:06:19] The wooden panels were surprisingly hard to pull off even for six fairly athletic

[00:06:25] teenagers so we went out and brought back a few flashlights in a crowbar.

[00:06:31] It was still tough to get through with this additional equipment but we eventually managed

[00:06:36] to remove two and a half of the panels after we shined our light into the hole.

[00:06:42] It revealed another staircase that led downwards yet it looked as if it were decades

[00:06:47] older than the rest of the house.

[00:06:50] Cobwebs engulfed every surface and the stench of musk and mold attacked our nostrils when

[00:06:57] we got anywhere near the hole.

[00:07:01] After some giddy banter and some pushing and shoving followed by a six man game of rock,

[00:07:06] paper, scissors I grabbed a flashlight and slowly stuck my head through the hole.

[00:07:12] The room was darker than dark.

[00:07:16] It was so dark that the beam from the flashlight could be seen cutting through the blackness.

[00:07:21] I pointed it down the staircase first and it went down very deep.

[00:07:27] Four or five steps were visible from the hole that we had made and there were at least

[00:07:31] 25 more steps below those.

[00:07:35] At the bottom I saw that there was a wall and a doorway leading to the left.

[00:07:40] I swung the flashlight to the right towards the metal door which was still intact and still

[00:07:46] completely locked.

[00:07:48] I was not expecting to see what I saw.

[00:07:51] The metal door was locked tight with three separate dead bolts that ran down the side

[00:07:57] but what caught me by surprise was the small lip of the top step.

[00:08:02] There pushed firmly against the door was an outdated fridge.

[00:08:07] It was one of those fridges that were squared and only about waist high.

[00:08:11] I told the guys who were standing behind me about it and they laughed thinking that I

[00:08:15] was joking.

[00:08:17] One by one they stuck their head into the hole and checked out the bottom of the stairs

[00:08:22] and then the fridge.

[00:08:24] Each one was as confused as myself.

[00:08:27] I remember sitting down smoking a cigarette and debating how and why it would be there.

[00:08:33] The door clearly opened inward which meant that the door must have been locked from the

[00:08:39] inside then somehow the fridge was put up against it from the inside.

[00:08:45] We spent the rest of the day checking the garage and surrounding area of the house

[00:08:48] for a trap door or another entrance to the cellar but we couldn't find anything so

[00:08:54] we just went home.

[00:08:56] The next few visits to the house were spent with us trying to decide who would

[00:09:01] enter the cellar first.

[00:09:03] Nobody wanted to.

[00:09:06] No matter how many games of rock, paper, scissors that we played it was always best out of the

[00:09:11] next highest number.

[00:09:13] One day I'd had enough.

[00:09:16] The others were sitting in a circle in the other room messing with stuff and just

[00:09:19] chatting but me I sat and I stared through the hole into the dark void inside that

[00:09:26] wall.

[00:09:28] Finally I got up, I exclaimed my intentions, took the flashlight from my pocket and climbed

[00:09:33] inside.

[00:09:36] Everyone else quickly and very excitedly followed behind.

[00:09:40] The first few wooden steps immediately disintegrated under my feet.

[00:09:45] They turned into a mulch of damp splinters and clung to the soles of my shoes when

[00:09:51] I lifted my feet.

[00:09:53] It was worrying but the stairs seemed sturdy enough to continue.

[00:09:58] With each step I took downwards the temperature dropped rapidly and the air seemed to get

[00:10:03] thicker and thicker.

[00:10:05] The inches of dust that kept kicking up didn't help either.

[00:10:10] Admittedly, I was a little scared but I had five other lads behind me so it was

[00:10:16] impossible to turn back.

[00:10:18] I headed down and reached the second to last step.

[00:10:22] I could see the doorway which led to an open room so I paused so that I could regain my

[00:10:27] courage with a few deep shaky breaths before stepping in.

[00:10:33] The room was in a worse state than the stairs.

[00:10:37] Webs littered the rafters and floorboards above like moss.

[00:10:41] They hung from the ceiling and clumps all tarnished with dust.

[00:10:45] Weirdly, thinking about it now, we never saw any spiders.

[00:10:51] The floor was carpeted in a layer of debris from the rotting wood above dust and dirt.

[00:10:57] After seeing the deterioration from below, I realized it was a miracle that none of

[00:11:02] us had fallen through the floor above.

[00:11:05] This place was a mess.

[00:11:08] The cellar was huge expanding underneath the bathroom and both rooms on the first

[00:11:13] floor.

[00:11:15] It was completely dark.

[00:11:17] There was no other light source other than the flashlights that the three of us had carried.

[00:11:22] The room stood empty except for a wooden table smack dab in the middle.

[00:11:27] There weren't any chairs or anything else around but on the table stood a metal plate

[00:11:33] that was crudely bashed into shape with the remnants of a black goo on it.

[00:11:40] Next to the plate stood a tall uncorked green bottle.

[00:11:45] One of the guys went over to it and picked it up.

[00:11:47] It sloshed with a liquid of deep brown and layers of dirt inside.

[00:11:53] I never smelled it but according to the others, it was putrid.

[00:11:57] At first we didn't see the other doorway.

[00:12:00] It was in the corner directly opposite the one that we had entered.

[00:12:04] There were no doors, just total darkness.

[00:12:07] When we found the other doorway, we tried to shine our flashlights through the darkness

[00:12:12] but the light didn't seem to cut through.

[00:12:15] It's like there was a door there or something.

[00:12:18] For some reason, I didn't muster the courage to go into that room.

[00:12:22] Neither did anybody else.

[00:12:24] We simply turned and left feeling like we had had enough adventure for the day.

[00:12:31] Over the next week or so, we invited girls and other friends to the house but everybody

[00:12:37] refused to enter the basement.

[00:12:39] We found this hilarious so we would dare one another, more to show off than anything.

[00:12:45] We dared each other to go down there either on our own or in pairs, often without a flashlight,

[00:12:51] to see how long that we could stay down there.

[00:12:54] Not once did I get scared while standing in the complete darkness down there.

[00:12:59] In fact it was kind of calming but none of us ever got the courage to try and

[00:13:03] enter the other room.

[00:13:05] In hindsight, we should have been more concerned about why the door from the inside of this

[00:13:11] house was metal or why it was locked from the inside.

[00:13:15] We also should have questioned how the fridge got up the stairs from the cellar only to

[00:13:21] be placed in front of the metal door as a barrier from the inside.

[00:13:27] But full of excitement and immaturity, it never crossed our minds.

[00:13:33] After we started inviting people over, word of the O'Brien basement quickly went around.

[00:13:39] We fed all the rumors of it being haunted.

[00:13:43] Teenagers would ask us how to get into the house and for us to show them the barricaded

[00:13:48] metal door slash basement.

[00:13:50] So because we thought we were cool, we spent another day making a maze in the garden

[00:13:56] squashing pathways down that led away from the garage.

[00:14:00] We would invite people into the house, lead them through the maze in the garden, into the

[00:14:04] garage and show them the hole in the stairs.

[00:14:08] It got quite popular so we decided to cash in on the opportunity.

[00:14:13] We told people that if they wanted to see the basement then they would have to pass

[00:14:18] the initiation.

[00:14:20] As people came in, we would have one person sitting on the fridge at the top of the

[00:14:25] stairs and another at the bottom of the stairs, both with flashlights.

[00:14:30] Then we would send people to the first room telling them that they had to stay there for

[00:14:34] 10 minutes, with the flashlights turned off and then we would let them out.

[00:14:41] This went on for a while and it was fun at first.

[00:14:43] A lot of people buckled under the pressure as soon as the flashlights were turned off,

[00:14:48] but some stayed.

[00:14:50] We cheered for anyone who completed the initiation as they came back up the

[00:14:53] stairs.

[00:14:54] It was a cheesy little ritual that we created, but everyone refused to go into the

[00:14:59] other room.

[00:15:01] Whenever anyone was questioned as to why they just said that they didn't feel comfortable,

[00:15:06] until my little brother and his friend came.

[00:15:29] Bacteria can easily grow in your bedsheets.

[00:15:38] Pretty gross, right?

[00:15:40] Nobody likes clogged pores or breakouts.

[00:15:43] Check out Miracle Made for self-cleaning, antibacterial bedding.

[00:15:47] They use silver-infused fabrics inspired by NASA and prevent up to 99.7% of the

[00:15:54] bacterial growth.

[00:15:56] No more gross odors and your skin will be happier.

[00:16:00] Plus, Miracle Made sheets require up to three times less laundry than traditional sheets.

[00:16:07] I get hot when I sleep, but these sheets are also thermoregulating so they keep me at

[00:16:12] the perfect temperature all night long.

[00:16:15] They're extremely comfortable, affordable, and better than anything I've slept on

[00:16:19] at a fancy hotel.

[00:16:21] Go to trimiracle.com slash trails to try Miracle Made sheets today.

[00:16:28] And whether you're buying them for yourself or as a gift for a loved one, if you order

[00:16:33] today you can save over 40%.

[00:16:36] And if you use our promo code TRAILS at checkout, you'll get three free towels

[00:16:41] and save an extra 20%.

[00:16:44] Miracle is so confident in their product it's backed with a 30-day money back guarantee.

[00:16:50] So if you aren't 100% satisfied, you'll get a full refund.

[00:16:55] Upgrade your sleep with Miracle Made.

[00:16:57] Go to trimiracle.com slash trails and use the code TRAILS to claim your free three-piece

[00:17:05] towel set and save over 40% off.

[00:17:09] Again, that's trimiracle.com slash trails to treat yourself.

[00:17:17] Thank you Miracle Made for sponsoring this episode.

[00:17:38] Initially we refused to let anyone who wasn't our age into the house, but my brother and

[00:17:43] his friends were two years younger.

[00:17:47] We were constantly pestering from them.

[00:17:49] In the initial curiosity of others dwindling, we decided to invite them along.

[00:17:55] When my brother and his friends came, we made a big deal about it.

[00:17:59] We took them to the dilapidated fence at the back of the garden and then tied their

[00:18:04] sweaters around their faces as we led them through the maze of shrubbery and thorns.

[00:18:11] Then we got to the garage.

[00:18:14] There was a pretty decent drop from the hole in the roof down into the garage.

[00:18:19] My brother managed to land it, but his friend had to be lowered down by his arms.

[00:18:25] Once inside, they were met with the stench of smoke that lingered from the fire that

[00:18:31] happened on the floors above.

[00:18:34] We walked them through the kitchen and showed them the makeshift entrance to the basement.

[00:18:39] We told them the story of the metal door and how it didn't make sense, and gave them

[00:18:44] the option of staying in the first room in pitch black for ten minutes or going in the

[00:18:51] second room also in pitch black for five minutes.

[00:18:57] Second room they sat in unison.

[00:19:01] We all laughed, expecting them to change their minds immediately.

[00:19:06] Then one of the guys slipped through the hole in the wooden boards and turned right, heading

[00:19:11] up the stairs and positioning himself on the fridge.

[00:19:15] I went through next and positioned myself at the foot of the stairs.

[00:19:20] I'd just like to say, at this point all of us regulars felt complete comfort going

[00:19:27] down to the bottom of the stairs since we'd all taken turns bringing people down

[00:19:32] there.

[00:19:34] We had all done it numerous times, so this time was no different.

[00:19:40] There was a giddy, nervous atmosphere when the two youngsters entered the staircase.

[00:19:46] The flashlights we used were cheap ones we'd gotten from the market, so they casted an

[00:19:51] eerie yellow glow.

[00:19:54] Slowly, my brother and his friend made it down the stairs, clearly attempting to

[00:19:59] save face by acting unmoved by the state of the rotten, decaying wood around them.

[00:20:07] But as they trenched through the mulch, they stuck close together.

[00:20:11] They took their time, so much so that the guy at the top shouted for them to hurry,

[00:20:18] and they both nearly shit their pants.

[00:20:22] When they finally got to me at the bottom, I showed them the first room as I shined

[00:20:27] the flashlight around through the doorway.

[00:20:30] Then I told them that they were to go into the next one, and I aimed my beam through

[00:20:35] the darkness of the frame to the other room.

[00:20:39] As I shined the flashlight through each room, I remember taking notice that the beam

[00:20:44] would cut through the first room, but it never seemed to illuminate the second

[00:20:49] room at all, as if there was an object obstructing its path.

[00:20:55] My brother's friend walked into the room, and as my brother walked past me, I grabbed

[00:21:01] his shoulder and told him that he didn't have to do this, but if he decided to, that

[00:21:07] he could back out whenever.

[00:21:10] With a nod and a dismissive wave, he followed his friend into the second room.

[00:21:15] They crossed the room, passed the table, and disappeared through the second doorway,

[00:21:22] as if walking through a dark stage curtain.

[00:21:26] I hit the button on my watch to start the timer for five minutes.

[00:21:31] I then aimed the beam of my flashlight up the staircase.

[00:21:36] The guy sitting on the fridge smiled excitedly and looked at his watch.

[00:21:42] I need to piss, dude.

[00:21:43] I'll be right back, he said, jumping down and disappearing back through the gap.

[00:21:50] As I stood at the bottom of those steps for what seemed like forever, I could hear the

[00:21:56] faint giggles from across the room.

[00:21:59] They seemed muffled as if I was hearing voices from behind a door.

[00:22:04] How long do we have left?

[00:22:07] My brother's voice shouted.

[00:22:09] Three and a half minutes, I replied after confirming on my watch.

[00:22:16] Now in the basement, despite it obviously being underground, it was never an uncomfortable

[00:22:23] temperature.

[00:22:25] It was colder than upstairs but had no bite.

[00:22:29] There was never any chill.

[00:22:32] And while being down there countless times, not once had any of us felt any sort of breeze.

[00:22:39] And this memory still haunts me a little.

[00:22:42] I noticed that I had become very cold as I stood at the bottom of the stairs, to the

[00:22:49] point where I could see my breath when checking the time on my watch.

[00:22:54] Then I noticed the mumbles from the other room had stopped.

[00:22:59] I tried to focus and see if I could hear any movement or the nervous noises and

[00:23:04] giggling they had been making before.

[00:23:08] But I heard nothing.

[00:23:10] I remember getting freaked out at that moment.

[00:23:13] I didn't know what I was feeling so freaked out about, but I felt my heart beating faster.

[00:23:21] The hairs on my arms and the back of my neck stood on end.

[00:23:28] I turned on the flashlight and stepped into the room.

[00:23:31] Yo, you guys alright?

[00:23:35] I called out.

[00:23:38] No reply.

[00:23:40] I'll stop screwing around.

[00:23:42] Times up, I called out again.

[00:23:45] But still no reply.

[00:23:48] I shined the flashlight through the doorway of the second room.

[00:23:52] But just like before it was as if the beam cut through the room but then

[00:23:58] stopped at the doorway.

[00:24:00] I crept closer, calling my brother's name but he never replied.

[00:24:07] Then as clear as day so loud it hurt my ears after the silence, a voice deep

[00:24:16] in brash bellowed,

[00:24:19] Leave now.

[00:24:24] I froze on the spot with my eyes fixated on the doorway.

[00:24:30] Then emerging from the gloom ran my brother and his friend.

[00:24:35] Both were white as snow.

[00:24:39] They had tears and snot streaming down their faces.

[00:24:43] The look of pure terror on their faces is something I have never been able to get rid of.

[00:24:49] They bolted straight past me, which snapped me out of my trance and I followed suit.

[00:24:57] Before we could reach the doorway to the stairs, the sound of crashing came from the stairwell.

[00:25:04] Four ridiculously loud bangs and the sound of snapping wood, which was the sound of the

[00:25:12] refrigerator tumbling down the stairs.

[00:25:16] After falling, the fridge was embedded into the wall at the bottom of the staircase.

[00:25:23] Without skipping a beat, we all scrambled over it.

[00:25:27] The staircase itself was a complete mess, with large splinters of wood stuck up like spikes.

[00:25:36] I don't know how we managed to clamber back up on our hands and feet without injury.

[00:25:42] Halfway up I looked towards the hole in the wall, praying it would be in reaching distance.

[00:25:49] Both of the younger guys were in front of me, sobbing and screaming.

[00:25:54] They ran straight past the hole in the wall.

[00:25:58] The metal door that once appeared to be closed and locked stood open.

[00:26:05] Light from the kitchen spilled down into the basement, as if we were being shown the quickest way out.

[00:26:14] Instinct had set in by this point, so all three of us darted through the door and the garage.

[00:26:22] My brother's friend, who was too small to get out on his own, managed to do so without any help.

[00:26:30] Once we were out, we ran through the garden maze.

[00:26:34] At one point I had to grab hold of my brother to stop him from going down one of the many dead ends we created.

[00:26:43] And without a word, I took the lead.

[00:26:47] We raced the fence, squeezed through the hole and collapsed on the field behind the property.

[00:26:55] I looked around, and there, also sitting on the grass, staring at the three of us, was everyone else who had been in the house.

[00:27:07] No one said a word.

[00:27:09] Everyone looked just as scared as me, except for the two younger guys.

[00:27:16] They wept, for a long time actually, as we all just sat there in silence.

[00:27:24] Once they stopped crying, we all got up and went home.

[00:27:29] My brother said nothing to me on the way, or when we got back.

[00:27:34] He simply went into his room.

[00:27:37] I went into mine, and that was the end of that.

[00:27:42] No one went into the house again.

[00:27:45] It stood for a year or two longer before being demolished.

[00:27:50] One of the daughters had finally come to claim the land, only to sell it to some building firm.

[00:27:57] Now a group of houses sit where the garden and mansion once were.

[00:28:02] They are nice-looking houses, to be fair.

[00:28:06] My brother still refuses to walk past that estate.

[00:28:11] Nothing was ever built on the land directly above the cellar.

[00:28:16] For some reason, the builders refused to fill in the cellar.

[00:28:20] They just bricked it up and left it as open space,

[00:28:24] despite being able to fit a perfectly good house right there.

[00:28:29] Since then, we've only brought this up once within our friend group.

[00:28:35] They said that night they heard the voice and the loud bangs,

[00:28:39] which made them notice the metal door was suddenly open.

[00:28:44] After this happened, they bolted.

[00:28:47] I tried asking my brother about the room, but he completely shut down when I did.

[00:28:53] He also quickly stopped being friends with the kid who went down with him.

[00:28:59] All he would say about that was that they no longer had anything relevant to talk about.

[00:29:05] Whatever was in there clearly wanted us out of the basement and away from the house.

[00:29:12] But the voice had no feeling of kindness to it.

[00:29:16] It was pure hatred and malice.

[00:29:20] Whatever it was just wanted us gone.

[00:29:24] Something else that plays on my mind a lot,

[00:29:27] especially when I was writing this,

[00:29:30] was how if we were a few seconds faster,

[00:29:33] that fridge would have taken all three of us out while climbing the stairs.

[00:29:39] Whatever moved it and opened the door had no regard for our safety.

[00:29:45] I haven't spoken to my brother's friend since.

[00:29:49] The last I heard he'd moved away,

[00:29:51] and my brother has had no contact with him at all.

[00:29:55] I did ask my brother about him recently.

[00:29:59] He said the kid changed,

[00:30:01] became weird the final two years of school,

[00:30:04] just kept to himself and dropped out of every friend group.

[00:30:09] I suppose I feel a little guilty about that.

[00:30:13] My brother was never willing to talk about what happened in that room.

[00:30:18] He always shut down when I asked.

[00:30:21] He wouldn't even try.

[00:30:23] He would just get really angry very quickly

[00:30:27] and say he never saw anything.

[00:30:31] We obviously both heard something,

[00:30:33] and the door was opened by something.

[00:30:38] There are pictures of the mansion after the fire.

[00:30:41] You can see the smashed window from the fire brigade

[00:30:44] and black from the smoke around the top windows.

[00:30:49] There are also photos of the cleared land in the new buildings

[00:30:53] with the vacant patch of grass

[00:30:56] where the bricked up basement still remains.

[00:31:01] Hahaha

[00:31:20] Your dog is a member of the family

[00:31:22] serve them the top quality food that they deserve,

[00:31:25] serve them nom nom.

[00:31:26] Nom nom delivers fresh-made dog food

[00:31:29] personalized to your dog's preferences and unique caloric needs.

[00:31:34] Dogs love great tasting meals, just like us.

[00:31:37] Yet their nutritional needs are different than ours.

[00:31:40] That's why Nom Nom's nutrient-packed recipes are developed by board-certified veterinary

[00:31:45] nutritionists, freshly made and shipped for free to your door.

[00:31:50] It's made with 100% premium ingredients, which means 0% freaky fillers and funky

[00:31:56] stuff.

[00:31:57] Nom Nom has already delivered over 40 million meals.

[00:32:01] That's because the best dogs, like yours, deserve the best food, Nom Nom.

[00:32:06] Whether it's Chewy.com, PetSmartStores, or delivered straight to your door, Nom Nom

[00:32:11] provides your dog's favorite recipes whenever, wherever and however you want them.

[00:32:17] So say goodbye to boring dog food and give your dog a reason to run to their bowl

[00:32:21] with every meal every day.

[00:32:23] I love my dogs.

[00:32:24] They are my children, which is why I'm committed to only giving them the best.

[00:32:29] Nom Face assured or your money back guaranteed.

[00:32:32] By the way, Nom Face is Nom Speak for dogs deliriously excited about dinner.

[00:32:38] Nom Nom is available at chewy.com and your local PetSmartStores.

[00:32:42] Or for 50% off your no risk trial box, go to trynom.com slash trails.

[00:32:49] Spelled TryNOM.com slash trails for 50% off your first subscription order.

[00:32:57] Now back to the show.

[00:33:19] That was a really fun story, a bit different than our usual stuff, but I liked the long

[00:33:30] form delivery and the way that it was written.

[00:33:32] Just really atmospheric, you know?

[00:33:35] Yeah, I thought it was great for the same reasons.

[00:33:38] An old coal mining town in England that faced some hard times that sounds so gloomy and

[00:33:43] inviting, you know?

[00:33:45] Yeah, it's something you might see in one of the fallout games, you know what I mean?

[00:33:51] Oh yeah, that's perfect.

[00:33:53] Or Silent Hill.

[00:33:54] Yeah, I still need to play through those.

[00:33:56] I actually liked the Silent Hill movie a lot, which is also a setting that I thought

[00:34:02] about during this story.

[00:34:04] Yeah, that does suck for the people that live there though, just like all the remote

[00:34:09] coal mining towns here in America that aren't doing so well anymore or any industry

[00:34:14] for that matter, that tick a dive.

[00:34:15] Yeah, we have a lot of places like that.

[00:34:18] They look like ghost towns, except for people are still living there and trying

[00:34:22] their best to make a living, you know?

[00:34:24] Yeah.

[00:34:25] Definitely a huge bummer for the families.

[00:34:27] For sure.

[00:34:29] So I remember you saying you usually picture the same sort of house in your head

[00:34:34] for most of the stories that we share on here.

[00:34:35] Was that the same case for this one?

[00:34:38] Yeah, it's kind of like how most living rooms on sitcoms have a similar look,

[00:34:44] no matter what show that it is.

[00:34:46] Yeah.

[00:34:47] They always have like the two staircases, one in the kitchen, one in the living room.

[00:34:51] The couch right there and yeah, audience faces the back of the TV.

[00:34:56] The TV that doesn't exist.

[00:34:57] Yeah.

[00:34:58] Well, it's kind of like that when I read a story that takes place in somebody's

[00:35:02] house. I actually have a couple of houses.

[00:35:05] One is basically the layout of a childhood friend's home and that's used

[00:35:09] for let's not meet stories for some reason.

[00:35:12] The other is something that I just kind of made up where the staircase is always

[00:35:15] on the right against the wall.

[00:35:17] And then there's the living room on the left and you go through the living

[00:35:19] room and there's a kitchen in the back.

[00:35:20] I don't know why.

[00:35:21] I just always use that setting for supernatural or haunted house stories.

[00:35:26] I've always used the staircase on the left because I imagine like

[00:35:30] this sitcoms will actually know because all in the family when you walk

[00:35:33] in the staircases on the right, but in full house it's on the left.

[00:35:36] So it's all kind of similar, just a little mirrored.

[00:35:39] Yeah.

[00:35:40] Golden Girls is weird.

[00:35:41] They like always come through the kitchen on the left.

[00:35:44] Yeah.

[00:35:45] It goes right into the kitchen and then the living room's on the right.

[00:35:48] Yeah, it's weird.

[00:35:50] The O'Brien House made me think of House on Haunted Hill too.

[00:35:54] Oh, yeah, that's a good one.

[00:35:56] And even though this all took place in England when the author

[00:35:59] described it as dilapidated and building up dust.

[00:36:03] My mind visualized the whole thing taking place inside Edward

[00:36:07] Scissorhands mansion.

[00:36:09] Oh, yeah, nice.

[00:36:10] Also an unexpected Vincent Price double feature, I guess.

[00:36:14] Oh, yeah, that's right.

[00:36:16] Good call. Good call.

[00:36:17] Yeah.

[00:36:17] I never really appreciated how perfect he was for Edward Scissorhands

[00:36:21] until I saw more of his movies when I got older.

[00:36:24] Yeah, he's one of the best or was one of the best.

[00:36:27] Definitely Rip.

[00:36:29] Yeah.

[00:36:31] Yeah, that sounds so insensitive.

[00:36:34] Definitely.

[00:36:34] RIP.

[00:36:37] My bad, V. My bad.

[00:36:39] Rest in peace.

[00:36:40] You did great. We love you.

[00:36:42] Yeah, this is something about abandoned, neglected places.

[00:36:47] It doesn't matter where it is or what it is.

[00:36:49] I always just immediately wonder what sort of hauntings

[00:36:52] or spirits could be there, you know?

[00:36:54] Of course, yeah, even though those things can happen anywhere,

[00:36:58] I think that sort of setting just automatically sets a certain mood.

[00:37:03] I also see it as like if something has a lot of history behind it,

[00:37:06] that's just more time and opportunity for something paranormal

[00:37:10] to attach itself to it.

[00:37:12] Yeah, the story makes me want to climb on more roofs together.

[00:37:16] Just that whole forbidden exploring thing.

[00:37:19] I miss doing things like that.

[00:37:21] I know those are some good times.

[00:37:23] Now I think we're both just kind of like

[00:37:25] and the cops could get called.

[00:37:27] I'd rather not have to talk my way out of a petty misdemeanor, you know?

[00:37:32] Yeah, exactly.

[00:37:33] I also feel like if we got that wild hair again,

[00:37:36] I would just end up pulling a muscle trying to hop over a fence

[00:37:40] and you'd get, I don't know, too far ahead of yourself

[00:37:43] and just fall through a staircase or something.

[00:37:46] Why is that so accurate?

[00:37:48] Because it is very fair, very fair.

[00:37:52] Well, I guess we should touch on the story itself a bit.

[00:37:55] All this talk about houses that we love.

[00:37:58] The whole thing was like one big Pandora's box.

[00:38:01] It all just kind of unraveled into something bigger,

[00:38:04] but we still don't really know what was actually going on there.

[00:38:08] When they first mentioned the cellar

[00:38:10] with the dead bolts locking the door from the inside,

[00:38:13] it creeped me out more than it probably should have.

[00:38:16] The fact that it was still locked,

[00:38:19] it just doesn't make any sense how somebody could have locked it

[00:38:22] and left or even if they could, why?

[00:38:26] It's just too impractical to make any sense.

[00:38:30] Yeah. And the fridge being placed against it was obviously really intentional.

[00:38:35] I wish we could know for sure, like whoever did that

[00:38:38] must have been the same kid in school who would lock the bathroom stalls

[00:38:42] and crawl out from underneath.

[00:38:44] You know what I mean? You've done that right.

[00:38:45] Yeah, I was that kid.

[00:38:48] That doesn't seem like you.

[00:38:49] Yeah, I had a phase when I was little.

[00:38:51] Now, I get it. I get it.

[00:38:53] I was a bathroom misfit to not proud of it.

[00:38:57] But in the fourth grade, my best friend and I used to flush random things

[00:39:01] down the toilets at school.

[00:39:03] For some reason, it was just so amusing to watch

[00:39:05] string cheese and crayons spin down the toilet bowl.

[00:39:10] I know me and my cousin were bad.

[00:39:12] We used to do stuff like that all the time.

[00:39:14] Nice. The custodians must have hated us when we were kids.

[00:39:18] Yeah, that part didn't really cross our minds at the time.

[00:39:21] It was literally just toilet humor to us.

[00:39:24] Yeah, literally.

[00:39:25] Literally.

[00:39:27] But then the principal brought it up at an assembly that we had

[00:39:30] and we felt bad, so we just stopped.

[00:39:33] We had a good run, though.

[00:39:34] I do apologize for any inconvenience I may have caused, though.

[00:39:38] Well, that's good.

[00:39:40] Yeah.

[00:39:41] Anyways, what were we talking about?

[00:39:43] Oh, yeah, the who locked the door.

[00:39:45] Yeah. That's so that's assuming

[00:39:47] it was a regular person who did it.

[00:39:49] Yeah.

[00:39:49] I think the voice who told them to leave basically ran the whole show inside the mansion.

[00:39:55] Maybe it was some sort of trapped spirit or even a guardian.

[00:39:59] I know the author said he thought it was evil

[00:40:02] and that the falling fridge could have hurt them, but I still think it's possible.

[00:40:06] Maybe I'm just optimistic and like to think there's a

[00:40:10] less malevolent explanation at play here.

[00:40:13] I was actually thinking of a guardian two at first,

[00:40:17] you know, the locks and the fridge might have served as a barrier to keep people out

[00:40:22] or away from whatever force was in the cellar.

[00:40:25] Yeah.

[00:40:26] The basement suddenly turning extremely cold, being a more direct warning.

[00:40:32] And when they wouldn't listen,

[00:40:35] the guardian basically just got fed up and straight up told them to leave

[00:40:38] and chuck the fridge down the stairs.

[00:40:41] Yeah, I mean, that's how I'd probably respond to

[00:40:44] if it did have ill intentions, there was plenty of opportunity to cause some harm.

[00:40:48] Right? Right.

[00:40:49] So I kind of see the guardian, I guess that's what we'll go with

[00:40:54] as sort of a spiritual cousin to beast from Beauty and the Beast.

[00:40:59] Think about it, they both get pissed off when unexpected visitors show up to their mansion.

[00:41:03] You already left, so I know you got that immediately.

[00:41:05] I love that. Yeah.

[00:41:07] Yeah, that probably checks out in some way.

[00:41:08] I get it.

[00:41:09] Um, maybe if the author and his friend stuck around a bit longer,

[00:41:13] the guardian would have fallen in love with them.

[00:41:15] Oh, pretty much.

[00:41:17] Just a supernatural, polyamorous spinoff of the original story.

[00:41:21] Yeah, very romantic.

[00:41:24] But I still think I kind of air on the side of it being an evil voice.

[00:41:28] His brother was so traumatized and it seemed to really screw those kids up.

[00:41:33] That's a good point.

[00:41:34] Yeah, I figure anything paranormal could do that.

[00:41:37] But the fact the voice was so evil,

[00:41:40] that was probably unnecessary if it was something less than evil.

[00:41:45] So who knows?

[00:41:46] Yeah, who's to say?

[00:41:49] So to speak, give or take.

[00:41:54] Yeah. Well, now I feel like I need to watch Beauty and the Beast.

[00:41:57] I always felt kind of embarrassed as a kid for liking that one so much

[00:42:01] because at that time it was considered more of a girl's movie in the 90s.

[00:42:06] That's right.

[00:42:06] Yeah, it's so weird because so many pretty much all Disney movies have

[00:42:10] that whole princess element to it.

[00:42:12] But you're right for whatever reason, everybody at school was like,

[00:42:15] oh, that's a girl's movie or whatever.

[00:42:17] Like it really matters.

[00:42:18] I know, yeah.

[00:42:19] Even as a kid, I thought the whole boy-fiend girl thing,

[00:42:22] what we showed and shouldn't like was just so stupid, so stupid.

[00:42:25] Yeah.

[00:42:26] I don't miss feeling that way for liking what I liked back in the day.

[00:42:30] Same. It was kind of like that for music and it's different now too.

[00:42:35] I always wanted to tell people about how much I love to listen to bands

[00:42:38] like the Pixies, Pavement, built a spill growing up.

[00:42:42] And yeah, I loved them.

[00:42:43] I loved indie bands, but I also loved stuff like Linkin Park System of Down

[00:42:49] or like Corn, you know, bands that the cool kids at the shows

[00:42:53] used to make fun of you for liking.

[00:42:55] Yeah, it's finally become less of a stigma to like those like

[00:42:59] corny, no pun intended, like new metal bands.

[00:43:01] Like I remember it was considered not cool to like Linkin Park for a good while.

[00:43:06] Like there was like a big divide, but now I feel like everybody loves Linkin Park,

[00:43:11] which is great. It's just take a while to catch on.

[00:43:14] Yeah, yeah.

[00:43:15] I always just felt like I had to pretend that I didn't like them.

[00:43:18] I guess it also has to do with getting older and caring less about what people think.

[00:43:23] That's exactly right.

[00:43:25] I can honestly say I don't care at all anymore,

[00:43:29] maybe within the past couple of years.

[00:43:31] But there's no reason to care about what anybody thinks about.

[00:43:35] There's something called like, I think it's the three Fs,

[00:43:38] unless they're financing, feeding or effing you.

[00:43:43] It doesn't really matter what they think.

[00:43:45] I like that. Yeah.

[00:43:46] I was so worried about that stuff in my teens and my 20s.

[00:43:50] But listen, if you're a younger fan of the show,

[00:43:53] take it from a couple of old geezers.

[00:43:55] It's OK to be yourself and just like what you want.

[00:43:58] You don't have to conform and be like everyone else.

[00:44:00] And you don't have to agree with everyone on everything.

[00:44:02] And you don't have to do anything to be cool or be accepted.

[00:44:07] See, that's the PSA that we needed more of in the 90s.

[00:44:11] I don't know what happened.

[00:44:12] But yeah, totally there with you.

[00:44:14] Authenticity goes a long way.

[00:44:16] So I think especially these days,

[00:44:18] everybody tries so hard to be all different and unique and all that

[00:44:22] where everybody ends up kind of being the same or it's so weird.

[00:44:25] It's like some like 3D chess.

[00:44:28] No, 4D chess. That's the term.

[00:44:31] Everybody is trying to play to be more ironic and more or less self aware

[00:44:35] while still. Yeah, it's so exhausting.

[00:44:37] Like I do not like the whole social things.

[00:44:41] I don't do good with it at all.

[00:44:43] Yeah, I wish I could have figured out that I didn't like that stuff earlier on.

[00:44:46] I just thought something was wrong with me.

[00:44:48] Anyway, thanks so much, everybody for listening.

[00:44:50] We appreciate all of you.

[00:44:52] If you have a story to share, make sure you send it into stories

[00:44:55] at oddtrails.com so you can hear it on the show.

[00:44:58] And if you want to support the show and get ad free episodes,

[00:45:01] go to patreon.com forward slash odd trails to sign up and support the show today

[00:45:05] and make sure you check out the new episodes of my other podcasts

[00:45:07] like Let's Not Meet a True Horror Podcast and The Old Time Radio Cast

[00:45:10] at Cryptic County Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[00:45:14] We'll see you all next week. Everybody stay safe. Peace out.

[00:45:25] Don't let the ghosts and the ghouls disturb you, darling.