Episode 146: Serbian Something

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Odd Trails is a true paranormal podcast.

[00:00:02] [SPEAKER_01]: If you have a story to share, send it to stories at oddtrails.com.

[00:00:06] [SPEAKER_01]: Enjoy the show.

[00:00:10] [SPEAKER_02]: Forget facts.

[00:00:12] [SPEAKER_02]: Forget logic.

[00:00:14] [SPEAKER_02]: Forget everything that seems real.

[00:00:19] [SPEAKER_02]: Trust.

[00:00:22] Believe.

[00:00:58] [SPEAKER_01]: Alabama Ghost Encounter by NowDeleteUser

[00:01:02] [SPEAKER_01]: My buddy and I were riding home through the woods in Alabama.

[00:01:06] [SPEAKER_01]: We were going down a rural patch of road on an old highway.

[00:01:11] [SPEAKER_01]: We had been hunting that morning and didn't end up killing a deer, so we decided to fish

[00:01:16] [SPEAKER_01]: and grab some food.

[00:01:18] [SPEAKER_01]: The morning hunt felt strange.

[00:01:20] [SPEAKER_01]: It was as if I were being watched in the woods.

[00:01:24] [SPEAKER_01]: Now, I'm a police officer and a retired Marine, so I don't get scared easily.

[00:01:30] [SPEAKER_01]: A pack of wild dogs ran through the area where my stand was, but I kept feeling

[00:01:35] [SPEAKER_01]: that burning sensation of being watched.

[00:01:39] [SPEAKER_01]: It prompted me to leave early.

[00:01:41] [SPEAKER_01]: The dark woods of Alabama are a scary place.

[00:01:46] [SPEAKER_01]: After the hunt, we fished at the pond for a while before returning home.

[00:01:51] [SPEAKER_01]: On the way back, we ran into something that I have struggled with ever since

[00:01:56] [SPEAKER_01]: that day.

[00:01:57] [SPEAKER_01]: It was exactly noon when we saw it.

[00:02:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Now, before I get into the incident, you need to know some history about Baldwin

[00:02:05] [SPEAKER_01]: County, Alabama.

[00:02:06] [SPEAKER_01]: The Battle of Blakely was fought along this particular highway.

[00:02:10] [SPEAKER_01]: It was a bloody onslaught that incurred at the end of the Civil War and resulted in

[00:02:16] [SPEAKER_01]: immense casualties.

[00:02:18] [SPEAKER_01]: Now, on to what happened.

[00:02:20] [SPEAKER_01]: We were around mile marker 18 and to the right, there it was, on a grassy embankment

[00:02:27] [SPEAKER_01]: in a curve in the road just past an old bridge that we had passed stood a tall

[00:02:33] [SPEAKER_01]: black horse with a rider wearing black armor.

[00:02:38] [SPEAKER_01]: The rider had black gloves gripping the horn of the saddle with a sword that was

[00:02:43] [SPEAKER_01]: sheathed.

[00:02:45] [SPEAKER_01]: The dark rider was a massive figure and it was missing a head.

[00:02:50] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, you heard me right, a headless horseman.

[00:02:54] [SPEAKER_01]: The horse was abnormally large and darker than night.

[00:02:58] [SPEAKER_01]: The rider sat stoically in his saddle facing the road as if he were waiting on

[00:03:05] [SPEAKER_01]: something as we drove past.

[00:03:07] [SPEAKER_01]: Like I said, I don't get scared easily and my buddy doesn't believe in that

[00:03:11] [SPEAKER_01]: kind of thing.

[00:03:13] [SPEAKER_01]: As we passed the horseman, time seemed to slow down as I took in every

[00:03:18] [SPEAKER_01]: detail.

[00:03:19] [SPEAKER_01]: I remember everything about it.

[00:03:21] [SPEAKER_01]: My friend also stared in disbelief as we seemed to glide past in the safety of our

[00:03:28] [SPEAKER_01]: truck like some sort of safari from hell.

[00:03:32] [SPEAKER_01]: Now here's where it gets weird.

[00:03:34] [SPEAKER_01]: After we passed it, I looked back in the mirrors and poof, just like that

[00:03:39] [SPEAKER_01]: it was gone.

[00:03:41] [SPEAKER_01]: The area is rural and the horseman couldn't have come from anywhere or

[00:03:46] [SPEAKER_01]: disappeared that fast.

[00:03:49] [SPEAKER_01]: My friend told me shortly afterward that he didn't want to speak about it again.

[00:03:53] [SPEAKER_01]: He was really shaken up by it.

[00:03:56] [SPEAKER_01]: It wasn't until later that he recounted the story and we both saw the same

[00:04:01] [SPEAKER_01]: thing, up until we passed the horseman.

[00:04:05] [SPEAKER_01]: His account was that the horseman was on the left side of the road and

[00:04:09] [SPEAKER_01]: slowly walked into the center of the road before disappearing.

[00:04:13] [SPEAKER_01]: I saw him clearly on the right side of the road.

[00:04:16] [SPEAKER_01]: Has anyone else seen him?

[00:04:18] [SPEAKER_01]: Please let me know.

[00:04:44] [SPEAKER_00]: Recurring Nightmare Creature by JustLadle

[00:04:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Growing up, my family moved from house to house quite often.

[00:04:53] [SPEAKER_00]: There was one home we lived in which was rather large for my family.

[00:04:57] [SPEAKER_00]: It was attached to the backyard of a local church and

[00:05:01] [SPEAKER_00]: was in an area that suffered from drug use and homelessness.

[00:05:05] [SPEAKER_00]: The town had a very dark and heavy feeling.

[00:05:09] [SPEAKER_00]: While living in this home,

[00:05:11] [SPEAKER_00]: I had a recurring nightmare that would go as follows.

[00:05:14] [SPEAKER_00]: My family and one of my best friends are sitting in the living room.

[00:05:18] [SPEAKER_00]: My friend and I are playing video games and

[00:05:21] [SPEAKER_00]: my family is sitting around on the couches.

[00:05:24] [SPEAKER_00]: We would always be playing the same portion of the game and

[00:05:28] [SPEAKER_00]: every time we got to a certain door in the game,

[00:05:31] [SPEAKER_00]: my family would suddenly get extremely worried and

[00:05:34] [SPEAKER_00]: tell us to turn the game off.

[00:05:37] [SPEAKER_00]: So we would, and my family would shut off the lights in the room.

[00:05:42] [SPEAKER_00]: Everyone would find a hiding place.

[00:05:44] [SPEAKER_00]: Every single time, I would hide behind this green armchair that we had.

[00:05:50] [SPEAKER_00]: As I hid behind the chair, the front door would open and

[00:05:54] [SPEAKER_00]: in would walk a large bulging shiny blue creature.

[00:06:00] [SPEAKER_00]: I never got a good look at its face, but

[00:06:03] [SPEAKER_00]: I knew that it glistened blue, almost like a beetle.

[00:06:08] [SPEAKER_00]: The dream always ended as the monster walked slowly to the armchair I was

[00:06:13] [SPEAKER_00]: behind just before it discovered me.

[00:06:17] [SPEAKER_00]: As soon as we moved out of this home, I never had the dream again.

[00:06:21] [SPEAKER_00]: It was gone along with the house.

[00:06:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Fast forward almost 15 years later, my family and

[00:06:29] [SPEAKER_00]: I are talking about strange encounters and paranormal experiences we've had.

[00:06:34] [SPEAKER_00]: My dad grew up in a giant home and had stories to last a lifetime.

[00:06:40] [SPEAKER_00]: When my mom starts, she immediately looks at me and says,

[00:06:44] [SPEAKER_00]: I remember back when we lived at our old house.

[00:06:47] [SPEAKER_00]: I used to have visions of something watching you.

[00:06:51] [SPEAKER_00]: My heart sank when she said this,

[00:06:54] [SPEAKER_00]: as it was the only home in my life that I've ever felt a presence.

[00:06:58] [SPEAKER_00]: She then said, there was one night that I was in the shower and

[00:07:03] [SPEAKER_00]: everyone else was asleep.

[00:07:05] [SPEAKER_00]: When I closed my eyes to put my head under the water,

[00:07:09] [SPEAKER_00]: I saw a giant blue creature standing over you in your bed.

[00:07:14] [SPEAKER_00]: I jumped out of the shower and ran to your room, but

[00:07:18] [SPEAKER_00]: obviously I didn't find anything.

[00:07:21] [SPEAKER_00]: I couldn't believe what she was saying.

[00:07:23] [SPEAKER_00]: I had never told her or anyone else about my recurring nightmare.

[00:07:28] [SPEAKER_00]: She brought this story up completely unprompted.

[00:07:33] [SPEAKER_00]: I told her about my dream afterwards, and we both came to the conclusion that

[00:07:37] [SPEAKER_00]: it was the same thing and that it was attached to me in that home.

[00:07:42] [SPEAKER_00]: But it hasn't followed me since, at least not to my knowledge.

[00:07:48] [SPEAKER_00]: I was worried that discussing it with her would mean that this blue creature

[00:07:51] [SPEAKER_00]: would return, but it has been five years or so since we had that discussion.

[00:07:57] [SPEAKER_00]: And I haven't had any dreams of it since.

[00:08:00] [SPEAKER_00]: I hope this streak continues.

[00:08:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Every town has its own eerie tale.

[00:08:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe it's a school playground where ghostly laughter echoes after dark,

[00:08:36] [SPEAKER_00]: or a haunted hotel where guests check in but never truly leave.

[00:08:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Hometown Ghost Stories explores so many of these mysterious locations,

[00:08:45] [SPEAKER_00]: revealing the events that may keep these spirits around.

[00:08:50] [SPEAKER_00]: Each episode dives into the haunted history of a different town,

[00:08:53] [SPEAKER_00]: uncovering the legends behind the ghosts.

[00:08:57] [SPEAKER_00]: Watch the show live on YouTube, Tuesdays at 9 p.m.

[00:09:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Eastern, or catch the podcast on Wednesdays wherever you get your podcasts.

[00:09:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Have a haunting story of your own?

[00:09:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Submit it at hometownghoststories.com.

[00:09:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Tune in for a bone-chilling experience this spooky season.

[00:09:33] [SPEAKER_01]: That is not a little boy by my remains.

[00:09:38] [SPEAKER_01]: Hardly anyone knows it, but Windfall, Indiana exists.

[00:09:43] [SPEAKER_01]: It exists in such a way that when you're there,

[00:09:46] [SPEAKER_01]: you feel like you're in a completely separate world.

[00:09:49] [SPEAKER_01]: No shops, no restaurants, no anything.

[00:09:51] [SPEAKER_01]: Just a gas station, a bar, a post office, and some dirt roads.

[00:09:56] [SPEAKER_01]: It has an energy to it,

[00:09:58] [SPEAKER_01]: like you can feel a thickness in the air that offsets your intuition.

[00:10:02] [SPEAKER_01]: It makes a human being's natural senses spike like an animal

[00:10:06] [SPEAKER_01]: who knows a predator is nearby.

[00:10:09] [SPEAKER_01]: At least, that's how I personally feel about it.

[00:10:12] [SPEAKER_01]: The entire place is off-putting.

[00:10:14] [SPEAKER_01]: The people aren't much better either.

[00:10:17] [SPEAKER_01]: I was only 13 when we moved there.

[00:10:19] [SPEAKER_01]: My older sister was 16 and my younger was 12.

[00:10:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Both of them did considerably better than I did socially at school,

[00:10:28] [SPEAKER_01]: and I was often left by myself at our new home.

[00:10:32] [SPEAKER_01]: Mom was working quite a bit and often stayed after hours.

[00:10:36] [SPEAKER_01]: She said that it was because we needed the money,

[00:10:39] [SPEAKER_01]: and I'm positive we did.

[00:10:41] [SPEAKER_01]: But I think it was more so to keep her mind off of the divorce.

[00:10:46] [SPEAKER_01]: The new house was small.

[00:10:48] [SPEAKER_01]: A three-bedroom, one bath with a dining room and a living room.

[00:10:52] [SPEAKER_01]: We had a fenced-in backyard and a muddy lawn with an old tree sagging over it.

[00:10:58] [SPEAKER_01]: It was the dead of winter,

[00:11:00] [SPEAKER_01]: and as a 13-year-old girl going through her first of many depressive episodes to come,

[00:11:05] [SPEAKER_01]: I was submerged in the internet.

[00:11:08] [SPEAKER_01]: I came home every day to an empty house and I made myself a snack

[00:11:11] [SPEAKER_01]: and planted myself on the couch to get lost in a YouTube rabbit hole until my eyes hurt.

[00:11:17] [SPEAKER_01]: We had only lived in the house for a couple of weeks,

[00:11:20] [SPEAKER_01]: but I was beginning to adjust to the new life.

[00:11:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Sure, I didn't like windfall, but I wasn't afraid of our house.

[00:11:27] [SPEAKER_01]: School was miserable, but I cherished my time to myself.

[00:11:31] [SPEAKER_01]: I felt as if I were getting a small taste of the adult life

[00:11:35] [SPEAKER_01]: that I was so eager to have when I was 13.

[00:11:38] [SPEAKER_01]: I wasn't scared to be alone until I caught sight of him.

[00:11:43] [SPEAKER_01]: Sometimes during my YouTube crusades, I would get distracted by the TV.

[00:11:49] [SPEAKER_01]: My laptop screen would fall asleep.

[00:11:52] [SPEAKER_01]: I'd look down, jiggle my mouse, and get back to it,

[00:11:55] [SPEAKER_01]: but this time there was a small shape standing behind me in the doorway of my mom's bedroom.

[00:12:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Just a short apparition with noticeably spiked hair.

[00:12:06] [SPEAKER_01]: He didn't move, but the hair on the back of my neck stood straight up

[00:12:09] [SPEAKER_01]: and my skin broke out in goosebumps.

[00:12:13] [SPEAKER_01]: As quickly as he appeared, he was gone.

[00:12:15] [SPEAKER_01]: I hadn't turned to face him, but I knew in my heart it had to be a little boy.

[00:12:22] [SPEAKER_01]: I wasn't afraid of him.

[00:12:23] [SPEAKER_01]: The house was old and I felt like maybe he was just curious.

[00:12:27] [SPEAKER_01]: I didn't get the feeling that he was bad or that I should fear him.

[00:12:32] [SPEAKER_01]: He had just surprised me, that's all.

[00:12:34] [SPEAKER_01]: It became normal to see him.

[00:12:36] [SPEAKER_01]: Most times he was in the reflection of my screen,

[00:12:40] [SPEAKER_01]: other times I'd look up and I'd see him leaning against the doorway of the dining room.

[00:12:45] [SPEAKER_01]: He was never in color, only a black shadow that faded away as soon as I blinked.

[00:12:51] [SPEAKER_01]: I didn't want to tell my sisters or mom.

[00:12:53] [SPEAKER_01]: I had been getting horribly bullied at school nearly every day and I felt

[00:12:57] [SPEAKER_01]: that if I were to say something, they'd make fun of me or simply call me crazy.

[00:13:02] [SPEAKER_01]: I didn't want them to think that I couldn't handle being alone.

[00:13:05] [SPEAKER_01]: Either way, he was harmless at first.

[00:13:10] [SPEAKER_01]: Soon he began to appear closer to me or things in the house would fall over mysteriously.

[00:13:16] [SPEAKER_01]: Cabinets would slam shut or the TV would turn off.

[00:13:21] [SPEAKER_01]: Curtains would sway as if someone had run their hand through them.

[00:13:26] [SPEAKER_01]: I would just blare my headphones and stay put on the couch,

[00:13:30] [SPEAKER_01]: staring at my laptop and praying that somebody, anybody, would come home.

[00:13:35] [SPEAKER_01]: I would see him and my face and palms would begin to sweat.

[00:13:39] [SPEAKER_01]: I started to feel like maybe the curious spirit wasn't so innocent,

[00:13:45] [SPEAKER_01]: like he was teasing me or pushing his limits just to see what he could do to instill fear in me.

[00:13:53] [SPEAKER_01]: I never tried to talk to him or communicate and quite honestly I had no interest in trying.

[00:13:58] [SPEAKER_01]: The first time I ever saw him in detail was when I was in bed.

[00:14:03] [SPEAKER_01]: My little sister and I shared a room.

[00:14:05] [SPEAKER_01]: I had the top punk and she was on the bottom.

[00:14:08] [SPEAKER_01]: I began waking in the middle of the night sweaty with my heart racing.

[00:14:12] [SPEAKER_01]: Each night I would look over the railing of my bed and I would see him standing

[00:14:16] [SPEAKER_01]: in the dead center of my room staring at my little sister as she slept.

[00:14:21] [SPEAKER_01]: He was only about seven years old by the look of it.

[00:14:25] [SPEAKER_01]: He was skinny.

[00:14:26] [SPEAKER_01]: He had a red plaid button-up shirt tucked into his pants.

[00:14:31] [SPEAKER_01]: He had spiked, bleach blonde hair and pale blue eyes.

[00:14:35] [SPEAKER_01]: What stuck out about him was how white his skin was.

[00:14:39] [SPEAKER_01]: He looked nearly albino yet his lips were a shade of deep purple.

[00:14:45] [SPEAKER_01]: I'd be too afraid to close my eyes or even breathe.

[00:14:49] [SPEAKER_01]: I would wake up in the nights to come holding my eyes shut because I knew that if I opened

[00:14:54] [SPEAKER_01]: them he would be there.

[00:14:56] [SPEAKER_01]: Some nights my sister wouldn't be in her bed because she was still young enough

[00:15:00] [SPEAKER_01]: to want to sleep in our mom's bed.

[00:15:02] [SPEAKER_01]: But he'd still be standing there staring, not acknowledging me or letting me know that

[00:15:07] [SPEAKER_01]: he knew I was there.

[00:15:08] [SPEAKER_01]: But I knew that he knew.

[00:15:13] [SPEAKER_01]: As I kept this secret, our household began to fall apart.

[00:15:17] [SPEAKER_01]: My sisters and I were constantly fighting.

[00:15:19] [SPEAKER_01]: My depression was worsening and self-harm crept into my daily life.

[00:15:23] [SPEAKER_01]: My mother began to drink heavier and in fits of rage or sadness,

[00:15:28] [SPEAKER_01]: she'd say things that she didn't mean.

[00:15:30] [SPEAKER_01]: She would change into a different person that was filled with anger

[00:15:34] [SPEAKER_01]: when she was a once loving and sweet person.

[00:15:38] [SPEAKER_01]: My family began to feel like strangers to me.

[00:15:42] [SPEAKER_01]: This led to even more time in the house on my own,

[00:15:45] [SPEAKER_01]: as my sisters used their friends' houses as an escape.

[00:15:48] [SPEAKER_01]: I had no friends at my new school, so the only thing I could do to get away

[00:15:53] [SPEAKER_01]: was to take walks to the gas station or play with the dog the next door neighbors

[00:15:57] [SPEAKER_01]: kept chained outside to a tree.

[00:16:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Every time I would see the little boy, I'd stop what I was doing and go sit with the dog.

[00:16:05] [SPEAKER_01]: I'd stay there for a few hours until someone arrived home.

[00:16:10] [SPEAKER_01]: Things hit their peak when it came time for me to bathe.

[00:16:14] [SPEAKER_01]: Now I loved baths, but for some reason,

[00:16:17] [SPEAKER_01]: when I took baths in this new house, I felt nothing but anxiety.

[00:16:22] [SPEAKER_01]: My chest would tighten up and burn when I'd lay back and wash my hair,

[00:16:26] [SPEAKER_01]: and I'd feel like I couldn't bring myself back up.

[00:16:29] [SPEAKER_01]: I'd scream for my mother because I often felt paralyzed with fear.

[00:16:34] [SPEAKER_01]: Even just looking at the bathtub gave me an uneasy feeling

[00:16:37] [SPEAKER_01]: and sent my heartbeat pounding into my ears.

[00:16:41] [SPEAKER_01]: Eventually, my anxiety over baths evolved into full-fledged fear of water,

[00:16:46] [SPEAKER_01]: swimming pools, baths, lakes.

[00:16:48] [SPEAKER_01]: It's all ruined for me.

[00:16:49] [SPEAKER_01]: Now when I think back on it,

[00:16:51] [SPEAKER_01]: it never felt as if the house had any happiness to it,

[00:16:54] [SPEAKER_01]: only darkness and that same energy that windfall emitted so strongly.

[00:16:59] [SPEAKER_01]: I was overcome with relief when mom let us know

[00:17:03] [SPEAKER_01]: that she and my stepdad had worked things out and we would be moving back home.

[00:17:10] [SPEAKER_01]: I couldn't have gotten out of that house fast enough.

[00:17:13] [SPEAKER_01]: The only thing I didn't want to leave behind was the neighbor's dog.

[00:17:18] [SPEAKER_01]: I had learned to shove those memories away.

[00:17:21] [SPEAKER_01]: The little boy's face still popped into my dreams from time to time,

[00:17:25] [SPEAKER_01]: but I had gotten over my anxiety of being home alone.

[00:17:28] [SPEAKER_01]: Mom got better and she eventually went back to being her old self again.

[00:17:33] [SPEAKER_01]: Time passed and the depression got easier to manage.

[00:17:36] [SPEAKER_01]: I had nearly forgotten about him.

[00:17:39] [SPEAKER_01]: We had all been drinking around the bonfire that night,

[00:17:43] [SPEAKER_01]: shooting the breeze and talking about old memories.

[00:17:46] [SPEAKER_01]: I was 20 now and I felt that I could bring up the boy

[00:17:49] [SPEAKER_01]: and handle whatever backlash I got from it.

[00:17:52] [SPEAKER_01]: I asked my mom if she remembered the house and if she ever saw anything there.

[00:17:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, for sure. That place was haunted as shit.

[00:18:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Those were her exact words.

[00:18:04] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, my sister chimed in.

[00:18:06] [SPEAKER_01]: There was a little boy there, but he was not a little boy.

[00:18:11] [SPEAKER_01]: I felt my heart drop to my stomach.

[00:18:14] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, he was evil.

[00:18:16] [SPEAKER_01]: I'd always see him running around the dining room table or standing in mom's doorway.

[00:18:20] [SPEAKER_01]: That's why I was always at Olivia's because I hated that fucking house, she continued.

[00:18:27] [SPEAKER_01]: I told them my story, all of it.

[00:18:30] [SPEAKER_01]: I told them why I suddenly became so afraid of water and why I hated being alone.

[00:18:37] [SPEAKER_01]: It wasn't just him.

[00:18:39] [SPEAKER_01]: There was an old woman there too, my mom said.

[00:18:43] [SPEAKER_01]: She would stand in the dining room and tell me to get out of the house.

[00:18:47] [SPEAKER_01]: I'd wake up in the middle of the night and she'd be standing at the end of my bed

[00:18:50] [SPEAKER_01]: staring at me, pissed as hell.

[00:18:53] [SPEAKER_01]: That's why I'd get up in the middle of the night and grab your sister out of bed so that she could

[00:18:57] [SPEAKER_01]: sleep next to me because I was so scared.

[00:18:59] [SPEAKER_01]: The worst time it happened, I woke up and I saw

[00:19:03] [SPEAKER_01]: that the boy was sitting on my dresser swinging his legs.

[00:19:07] [SPEAKER_01]: He hopped off at the dresser, walked to the side of my bed, and jumped at me.

[00:19:11] [SPEAKER_01]: He jumped straight at me and then disappeared, my mom continued.

[00:19:18] [SPEAKER_01]: When we left, I looked up the house and it turns out an old lady

[00:19:21] [SPEAKER_01]: used to own that house and she died there.

[00:19:25] [SPEAKER_01]: What about the little boy? I asked.

[00:19:28] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, the little boy died in the house back in the 70s.

[00:19:30] [SPEAKER_01]: He drowned to death.

[00:19:32] [SPEAKER_01]: Since leaving that house, I've returned to Windfall a handful of times to visit family.

[00:19:38] [SPEAKER_01]: The energy is still there, that heaviness, the otherworldliness.

[00:19:43] [SPEAKER_01]: As the years go on, more and more ghost stories emerge from Windfall

[00:19:47] [SPEAKER_01]: and the people who lived there.

[00:19:50] [SPEAKER_01]: Native American spirits and little children.

[00:19:53] [SPEAKER_01]: There's something about that place that falls just perfectly on a wave of paranormal possibilities.

[00:20:00] [SPEAKER_01]: It radiates with things that I don't know if we as a species

[00:20:05] [SPEAKER_01]: will ever be able to wrap our heads around.

[00:20:09] [SPEAKER_01]: Windfall, Indiana exists and so does everything else in it.

[00:20:33] [SPEAKER_00]: The scariest night of my life by Anonymous.

[00:20:38] [SPEAKER_00]: I want to share a story that has stayed with me for years.

[00:20:42] [SPEAKER_00]: It still gives me goosebumps every time I think about it.

[00:20:47] [SPEAKER_00]: My name is Marco and I am from a rural part of Serbia.

[00:20:51] [SPEAKER_00]: This incident happened when I was about 14 or 15

[00:20:55] [SPEAKER_00]: and it's easily the most terrifying experience of my life.

[00:21:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Back then, my friend and I used to spend our summers

[00:21:04] [SPEAKER_00]: riding our bikes all over the countryside.

[00:21:07] [SPEAKER_00]: We knew every path and road in the area, often biking over 50 kilometers a day.

[00:21:13] [SPEAKER_00]: That summer, our village was hosting one of its annual football tournaments,

[00:21:18] [SPEAKER_00]: which we attended every night.

[00:21:21] [SPEAKER_00]: The tournament took place in a neighboring village

[00:21:23] [SPEAKER_00]: and since we didn't have lights on our bikes,

[00:21:27] [SPEAKER_00]: we always took a shortcut through the forest to avoid the unlit and dangerous main road.

[00:21:33] [SPEAKER_00]: The forest route was peaceful during the day.

[00:21:36] [SPEAKER_00]: It was lined with headstones and a few graveyards,

[00:21:40] [SPEAKER_00]: which made it feel eerie, but we were never bothered by it.

[00:21:44] [SPEAKER_00]: There were local legends about strange things happening at the bridge we crossed on our way,

[00:21:50] [SPEAKER_00]: but we brushed them off as drunken stories.

[00:21:53] [SPEAKER_00]: Tales of people getting lost and reappearing days later,

[00:21:57] [SPEAKER_00]: bloody and scratched, claiming that something had attacked them.

[00:22:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Things started to change as the nights grew darker.

[00:22:06] [SPEAKER_00]: At first, it was subtle, just the sound of footsteps behind us.

[00:22:12] [SPEAKER_00]: We thought it was just an animal, but each time we stopped to check, nothing was there.

[00:22:18] [SPEAKER_00]: As the days went on, the footsteps seemed to get closer and closer.

[00:22:24] [SPEAKER_00]: Still, we shrugged it off and kept going about our routine.

[00:22:28] [SPEAKER_00]: But on the final night of the tournament, something happened that I will never forget.

[00:22:35] [SPEAKER_00]: Before we headed home that night, my friend turned to me and said something that sent a

[00:22:40] [SPEAKER_00]: chill down my spine. He said, whatever you do, don't look back tonight. If you feel scared,

[00:22:48] [SPEAKER_00]: just pray, and we'll make it home safely.

[00:22:53] [SPEAKER_00]: My friend was deeply religious, and even though I wasn't as devout, I trusted him.

[00:22:59] [SPEAKER_00]: He had never lied to me in all the years we'd known each other.

[00:23:04] [SPEAKER_00]: We started the long journey uphill, back through the forest.

[00:23:09] [SPEAKER_00]: The moment we left the lights of the village behind, we could feel it.

[00:23:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Something was following us. It wasn't the light footsteps that we'd heard before.

[00:23:20] [SPEAKER_00]: This was something heavy, and the ground shook with each step it took, like it had hooves.

[00:23:28] [SPEAKER_00]: But it wasn't walking on four legs. The rhythm was all wrong.

[00:23:33] [SPEAKER_00]: It was like something enormous walking on two legs was trailing us through the darkness.

[00:23:40] [SPEAKER_00]: We were terrified. The forest had gone completely silent. No animals, no insects.

[00:23:48] [SPEAKER_00]: Just the sound of this thing following us.

[00:23:53] [SPEAKER_00]: We didn't speak. We barely breathed. And for what felt like an eternity,

[00:23:59] [SPEAKER_00]: we just kept moving forward, too scared to look back.

[00:24:04] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know how long we walked like that, but every step felt like it was getting closer.

[00:24:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Finally, we made it to the first village. We stopped at a water faucet to wash our hands

[00:24:18] [SPEAKER_00]: and faces, trying to shake off the cold fear that had settled into our bones.

[00:24:23] [SPEAKER_00]: But we weren't safe yet.

[00:24:26] [SPEAKER_00]: The last part of the journey involved crossing the bridge that so many stories were told about.

[00:24:32] [SPEAKER_00]: And my friend warned me again, if we saw or heard anything,

[00:24:37] [SPEAKER_00]: we were to ride straight to the church without stopping or looking behind us.

[00:24:42] [SPEAKER_00]: We got on our bikes, crossed the bridge, and stopped at the church,

[00:24:47] [SPEAKER_00]: both of us exhausted from fear and adrenaline.

[00:24:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Just as we thought we were safe, we heard it.

[00:24:55] [SPEAKER_00]: A sound I'll never forget and have difficulty explaining.

[00:25:00] [SPEAKER_00]: It sounded like hundreds of voices, screaming and talking over each other,

[00:25:06] [SPEAKER_00]: coming from the direction of the bridge.

[00:25:09] [SPEAKER_00]: We looked at each other, eyes wide with terror.

[00:25:14] [SPEAKER_00]: I know we weren't supposed to look back, but I did. Nothing was there.

[00:25:21] [SPEAKER_00]: We stormed off and eventually parted ways back to our homes without saying a word.

[00:25:27] [SPEAKER_00]: We were pale as ghosts.

[00:25:29] [SPEAKER_00]: My parents woke up when I got home, and even they asked why I looked so white.

[00:25:36] [SPEAKER_00]: When I told them what happened, they just said that's what I get for being out in the forest

[00:25:41] [SPEAKER_00]: at 2 a.m., and that I'm lucky I didn't see anything. I didn't sleep that night.

[00:25:48] [SPEAKER_00]: The next day, my friend and I talked about what happened. He confirmed everything.

[00:25:54] [SPEAKER_00]: He had heard and felt the same things I had.

[00:25:58] [SPEAKER_00]: We never experienced anything like that again, even though we took that road many more times

[00:26:04] [SPEAKER_00]: afterward. But I know what we experienced was real. I believe that something demonic

[00:26:11] [SPEAKER_00]: was following us that night, and that God protected us from whatever it was.

[00:26:36] [SPEAKER_01]: This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. Kids are always learning and growing,

[00:26:40] [SPEAKER_01]: but sometimes we lose that curiosity as adults. I definitely did for a long while.

[00:26:45] [SPEAKER_01]: It took some rough terrain to open my mind back up to the wonders that life has to offer.

[00:26:51] [SPEAKER_01]: I know that probably sounds cheesy, but it's my truth, and it's something I learned

[00:26:56] [SPEAKER_01]: that has helped me grow. But this idea also applies to everyday schools.

[00:27:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Do you want to learn gardening? A new language? Or maybe how to finally beat your best friend

[00:27:06] [SPEAKER_01]: in bowling? Therapy can help you reconnect with your sense of wonder, because your

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[00:27:42] [SPEAKER_01]: Rediscover your curiosity with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com

[00:27:46] [SPEAKER_01]: Slash Trails today to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp, H-E-L-P dot com

[00:27:52] [SPEAKER_01]: slash trails. Now back to the show. My dad visits me in my dreams by Jade.

[00:28:24] [SPEAKER_01]: On May 6th, 2023, my father was found dead in his car.

[00:28:29] [SPEAKER_01]: He had been in the car for four days until the police found him. The cause of death was suicide.

[00:28:37] [SPEAKER_01]: After the service for him, my family had been in a depressing state.

[00:28:41] [SPEAKER_01]: I had always been a daddy's girl when I was young, and his death really destroyed me.

[00:28:47] [SPEAKER_01]: Three days after the service, I remember the night he first appeared in my dreams.

[00:28:52] [SPEAKER_01]: It started like any other of my normal dreams. Colors, cartoons, wacky physics,

[00:28:57] [SPEAKER_01]: etc. Then after a while, everything cut to white. It was quiet. Not in an eerie way,

[00:29:06] [SPEAKER_01]: but more of a calming light. After the peaceful light, I found myself on my grandma's back porch

[00:29:14] [SPEAKER_01]: where she had her pool. We go to my grandparents' house every family holiday,

[00:29:19] [SPEAKER_01]: or in the summer. It was empty and I was staring at the bright blue pool.

[00:29:25] [SPEAKER_01]: It felt like summer. The trees were lush green, and it was bright outside. It felt oddly real.

[00:29:33] [SPEAKER_01]: It felt so real that I could feel the warm summer sun and a light breeze.

[00:29:39] [SPEAKER_01]: It was quiet for a few moments until I heard the sound of a can opening.

[00:29:43] [SPEAKER_01]: I turned around and saw my dad in a lounge chair, bud light in his hand. He looked

[00:29:49] [SPEAKER_01]: healthier, like he used to look back in 2020. Before he died, my father had a critical case

[00:29:56] [SPEAKER_01]: of diabetes which made him unhealthily skinny. He was wearing his favorite pair of shades,

[00:30:02] [SPEAKER_01]: his black sleeveless top, and bathing shorts. He drank from his beer and pulled up a chair

[00:30:08] [SPEAKER_01]: beside him, inviting me to sit with him. His eyes started watering as I sat down beside my

[00:30:14] [SPEAKER_01]: dad. I could hear the distant sound of birds, my dad's breathing, and his occasional sipping

[00:30:20] [SPEAKER_01]: of his bud light. It felt calm. After a while of sitting with him there,

[00:30:27] [SPEAKER_01]: he turned and looked at me. He gave me a warm smile and a soft chuckle, telling me that it

[00:30:32] [SPEAKER_01]: would be all right. I remember him saying to me, I'm all right. It's peaceful here.

[00:30:39] [SPEAKER_01]: His hand gently rubbed my back. It felt real. He used to rub my back when I was upset or tired.

[00:30:48] [SPEAKER_01]: I couldn't stop my tears from falling, my breath caught in my throat as I couldn't

[00:30:53] [SPEAKER_01]: choke out a word. He wrapped his big arms around me giving me a hug,

[00:30:58] [SPEAKER_01]: still rubbing my back and telling me that he loved me. After he told me that he loved me,

[00:31:03] [SPEAKER_01]: I woke up with my eyes watering. It was strange, but it comforted me.

[00:31:10] [SPEAKER_01]: Maybe it was his way of saying his final goodbye. Ever since this happened,

[00:31:16] [SPEAKER_00]: I've never had another dream about him. Margarita by Gato Pulea

[00:31:48] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm someone who, as far as I know, has never had a single paranormal encounter.

[00:31:55] [SPEAKER_00]: But whenever I tell people this story, they seem to believe otherwise.

[00:32:00] [SPEAKER_00]: I was no older than seven when this happened. I was playing in my backyard during the day,

[00:32:06] [SPEAKER_00]: as usual. There's this concrete wall that separates our property from our neighbors,

[00:32:12] [SPEAKER_00]: who happens to be my uncle. The wall was broken down in one part, where you could

[00:32:17] [SPEAKER_00]: easily go through it. But you'd have to walk through almost half a mile of weeds and tall

[00:32:23] [SPEAKER_00]: grass to get there. I knew there were rats and some trash all throughout too, so I never

[00:32:29] [SPEAKER_00]: went there, though I did play near the wall a lot. One day, I was doing just that,

[00:32:37] [SPEAKER_00]: while my mom talked to my grandparents in the kitchen. I couldn't see them,

[00:32:42] [SPEAKER_00]: but they could see me and were close enough to hear.

[00:32:46] [SPEAKER_00]: I was near the broken part of the wall when this other little girl appeared out of nowhere

[00:32:51] [SPEAKER_00]: on the other side. She was super friendly and looked a little older than me.

[00:32:58] [SPEAKER_00]: I remember her vividly. She was wearing oversized bright blue jean overalls and a pretty straw hat.

[00:33:07] [SPEAKER_00]: I specifically remember describing her outfit to my mom as farmer clothes.

[00:33:13] [SPEAKER_00]: It made sense since this happened during the summer, but she appeared very out of the

[00:33:18] [SPEAKER_00]: ordinary. She looked like a Sarah K. illustration, and she was very pale, had freckles,

[00:33:26] [SPEAKER_00]: and straight hair that was about shoulder length. I have no recollection of what we talked about

[00:33:33] [SPEAKER_00]: or what we played, but that's what we did for several minutes. She told me her name was

[00:33:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Margarita. She was really fun to be around, but I remember feeling really weird about the

[00:33:47] [SPEAKER_00]: fact that she wouldn't come to my side of the backyard, yet was very insistent that

[00:33:52] [SPEAKER_00]: I went to where she was. Of course I wouldn't, partly because of the rats and trash,

[00:33:59] [SPEAKER_00]: but I was also very certain that I wasn't allowed to go there.

[00:34:04] [SPEAKER_00]: I remember explaining this to her. She looked disappointed and said I should still ask my mom.

[00:34:11] [SPEAKER_00]: I remember this next part very well. She insisted that my mom would be okay with it,

[00:34:18] [SPEAKER_00]: that there's nothing bad behind the wall, and that I shouldn't be afraid.

[00:34:23] [SPEAKER_00]: She didn't seem angry about my objections. She just seemed annoyed that I wouldn't trust her.

[00:34:30] [SPEAKER_00]: That made me feel self-conscious enough to say I'd go, but I said I'd still have to

[00:34:36] [SPEAKER_00]: tell my mom first. I don't remember her reaction to that, but I thought she would be happy that

[00:34:42] [SPEAKER_00]: I said yes in the end. I ran back inside and explained the situation to my mom.

[00:34:50] [SPEAKER_00]: She's understandably weirded out, since that wall isn't connected to the street,

[00:34:55] [SPEAKER_00]: nobody can get back there, and there were only a couple of other girls around my age in that

[00:35:00] [SPEAKER_00]: area, and none of them looked anything like Margarita. My mom paused and started talking

[00:35:09] [SPEAKER_00]: to me in an almost condescending, childish way. I knew she thought I was just playing around or

[00:35:15] [SPEAKER_00]: something, but I assured her, slightly offended, that Margarita wasn't imaginary. So we went

[00:35:24] [SPEAKER_00]: outside so she could meet her. I ran so I got there first. It took no later than a minute

[00:35:32] [SPEAKER_00]: for me to get there and back, but I don't see Margarita anymore. Of course I start calling her,

[00:35:41] [SPEAKER_00]: thinking she's behind the wall, shy to meet my mom maybe.

[00:35:46] [SPEAKER_00]: My mom then begins speaking like one does to a kid's imaginary friend,

[00:35:51] [SPEAKER_00]: talking to nothing in that condescending tone.

[00:35:56] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm annoyed again, even while writing this, because I know I didn't make her up.

[00:36:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Anyway, I kept looking around for Margarita, but my mom was growing impatient and didn't like

[00:36:10] [SPEAKER_00]: that I was about to go behind the wall. I expected her to come back the next day,

[00:36:16] [SPEAKER_00]: but I never saw Margarita again.

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[00:38:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Now back to the show.

[00:38:45] [SPEAKER_01]: Jade's story about seeing her dad in her dreams matches up to so many accounts of both like

[00:38:52] [SPEAKER_01]: near-death experiences as well as astral projection stories that I've read about.

[00:38:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah. What ways are you thinking about?

[00:39:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Just that in all of these stories, when the person sees a deceased loved one,

[00:39:06] [SPEAKER_01]: they're almost always in their prime.

[00:39:09] [SPEAKER_00]: They never look unhealthy like they did at the time of their death.

[00:39:12] [SPEAKER_00]: They're always just at their best.

[00:39:15] [SPEAKER_00]: I wonder if the universe or whatever just decides how we're supposed to look when we die

[00:39:20] [SPEAKER_00]: or not to be too skeptical.

[00:39:23] [SPEAKER_00]: We see our loved ones with how we want to remember them.

[00:39:26] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I'd like to believe that they're either appearing to us in that form to comfort us

[00:39:31] [SPEAKER_01]: or that we get to exist in that prime state when we pass on.

[00:39:38] [SPEAKER_01]: Regardless, I love these kinds of stories because they're a nice slice of hope and happiness

[00:39:42] [SPEAKER_01]: among all of the horror stories that we get.

[00:39:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, yeah, that is very true.

[00:39:47] [SPEAKER_00]: I've watched a handful of stories on YouTube people talking about these super elaborate

[00:39:52] [SPEAKER_00]: near-death experiences they've had.

[00:39:54] [SPEAKER_00]: It's not YouTube, but the book Heaven is for Real is worth mentioning.

[00:39:59] [SPEAKER_00]: It's the first book that I can remember really making it into the mainstream as far

[00:40:03] [SPEAKER_00]: as near-death experiences go.

[00:40:05] [SPEAKER_00]: But of course there's skepticism and allegations about it being a hoax or whatever.

[00:40:09] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah, I've been wanting to read that one actually.

[00:40:12] [SPEAKER_01]: If I remember correctly, a four or five year old kid died and went to heaven, right?

[00:40:19] [SPEAKER_01]: Then he told his dad a bunch of details that seemed to be too specific to be made up.

[00:40:24] [SPEAKER_01]: Something like that.

[00:40:26] [SPEAKER_01]: I haven't read it either, just the headlines.

[00:40:28] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah, maybe we can add it to the Discord book club suggestions.

[00:40:32] [SPEAKER_00]: There you go.

[00:40:33] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I love hearing people's stories when they share their NDEs.

[00:40:39] [SPEAKER_01]: I've had one on cryptic encounters, but I'd like to do some more.

[00:40:43] [SPEAKER_01]: You can really tell something otherworldly happened to them too.

[00:40:47] [SPEAKER_01]: Like I interviewed a woman named Betty Guadagno who came back from an NDE

[00:40:51] [SPEAKER_01]: and these beings that she encountered literally helped her get off of drugs

[00:40:57] [SPEAKER_01]: after like a lifetime of abuse.

[00:41:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Nice.

[00:41:01] [SPEAKER_01]: She said that she could see them in her head

[00:41:03] [SPEAKER_01]: forming these new neural pathways helping her kick the withdrawal symptoms.

[00:41:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Wow, that's a trip.

[00:41:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Nothing better than a recovery story, especially when astral entities are involved.

[00:41:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Somebody close to me started praying when they were at rock bottom

[00:41:18] [SPEAKER_00]: and it was like a switch flipped and they immediately sobered up in the midst of all of it

[00:41:23] [SPEAKER_00]: and from there lost all desire to ever start using again.

[00:41:27] [SPEAKER_00]: There's definitely some powerful forces out there

[00:41:30] [SPEAKER_00]: if there is an afterlife in the way we imagine it.

[00:41:33] [SPEAKER_00]: I just really hope there's a way to consult the oracle, so to speak.

[00:41:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Ask God whatever question you want, things that have been driving us crazy forever

[00:41:42] [SPEAKER_00]: and whether we like the answer or not, at least we get them.

[00:41:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, what would you ask?

[00:41:49] [SPEAKER_00]: I'd probably start with the conspiracy theories before the metaphysical stuff, to be honest.

[00:41:54] [SPEAKER_00]: But I mean after that, I don't know.

[00:41:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Hopefully we do become one with the universe

[00:42:00] [SPEAKER_00]: and there is no separate distinction between ourselves and what's around us.

[00:42:05] [SPEAKER_00]: So we would just know.

[00:42:07] [SPEAKER_00]: What about you?

[00:42:09] [SPEAKER_01]: Really, I just want to know about what comes before and after our lives here on Earth.

[00:42:15] [SPEAKER_01]: Are all of these NDE stories right?

[00:42:18] [SPEAKER_01]: Are these belief system territories real?

[00:42:20] [SPEAKER_01]: Do people that believe in heaven and hell go to heaven and hell?

[00:42:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Do people that believe in reincarnation get reincarnated?

[00:42:28] [SPEAKER_01]: Just kind of like how it all works.

[00:42:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I know that makes a lot of sense because that would be horrible

[00:42:35] [SPEAKER_00]: if you're an anxious person who assumes like,

[00:42:38] [SPEAKER_00]: oh I've been so naughty I'm going to go to hell for this

[00:42:40] [SPEAKER_00]: and then sure enough you stole that candy bar when you were 12

[00:42:43] [SPEAKER_00]: and you're in hell forever.

[00:42:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, exactly.

[00:42:45] [SPEAKER_00]: It just manifests in the worst way possible.

[00:42:49] [SPEAKER_00]: So on to your favorite topic.

[00:42:52] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know what the town routes look like in rural Serbia

[00:42:56] [SPEAKER_00]: but that's just crazy to me that those kids traveled through that same road again.

[00:43:01] [SPEAKER_01]: I know, they didn't specify if they went back to that bridge

[00:43:05] [SPEAKER_01]: or if it was during darkness but still.

[00:43:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah and it's not like cutting through the forest

[00:43:12] [SPEAKER_00]: to avoid the bridge would have been any better.

[00:43:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, especially with bikes if there aren't any paths.

[00:43:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, you sacrifice convenience in hopes of not encountering

[00:43:22] [SPEAKER_00]: some invisible screaming banshee.

[00:43:25] [SPEAKER_01]: Who also apparently walks on hooves and can duplicate herself.

[00:43:31] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean this may come as a shock but I'm not exactly the most

[00:43:35] [SPEAKER_00]: well-versed in Serbian folklore.

[00:43:37] [SPEAKER_02]: No!

[00:43:38] [SPEAKER_00]: I know, say it ain't so.

[00:43:40] [SPEAKER_00]: But I do know banshees have Irish roots.

[00:43:44] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know, I really have no idea what it could have been.

[00:43:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe just some local thing?

[00:43:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Any ideas?

[00:43:50] [SPEAKER_01]: Literally the only thing I know from Serbia is that god-awful abomination of a movie.

[00:43:55] [SPEAKER_01]: I knew it.

[00:43:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah and I hate that it's completely soiled any desire of mine to learn more about that

[00:44:03] [SPEAKER_01]: country because I know it doesn't represent the actions of an entire group of people but

[00:44:08] [SPEAKER_01]: just hearing the word Serbia triggers me, unfortunately,

[00:44:13] [SPEAKER_01]: because I know that it's a beautiful place with so much history.

[00:44:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I mean Kazakhstan got the short end of the stick with the whole Borat thing.

[00:44:22] [SPEAKER_00]: You know, it is what it is.

[00:44:24] [SPEAKER_00]: Exactly.

[00:44:25] [SPEAKER_00]: There's definitely a very fine line you gotta walk with any sort of

[00:44:29] [SPEAKER_00]: exploitation or shock type of film.

[00:44:31] [SPEAKER_00]: I had the great honor of watching Kids by Larry Clark when I was like 12.

[00:44:36] [SPEAKER_00]: And I know that movie gets a lot of hate or at least it did when it came out.

[00:44:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Leo Fitzpatrick, the actor who played Telly, people thought it was like a documentary

[00:44:45] [SPEAKER_00]: and he was getting death threats and all this but yeah even at the age of 12 I appreciated

[00:44:51] [SPEAKER_00]: it for not following the usual hero saves the day type of structure.

[00:44:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[00:44:56] [SPEAKER_00]: And then of course there's Gummo which I love you to death but in your early 20s

[00:45:01] [SPEAKER_00]: you reminded me of the kid who takes care of his grandma.

[00:45:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Remember him?

[00:45:05] [SPEAKER_01]: Vaguely.

[00:45:06] [SPEAKER_01]: I watched that movie one time.

[00:45:07] [SPEAKER_01]: I haven't rewatched it.

[00:45:08] [SPEAKER_01]: It's one of those movies that I liked a lot but I don't feel like I ever need to

[00:45:12] [SPEAKER_01]: re-watch just because it made me feel a type of way that I don't think I want to feel again.

[00:45:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Like Requiem for a Dream.

[00:45:18] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I don't think you ever need to watch those movies again unless

[00:45:22] [SPEAKER_01]: you know it is your favorite movie.

[00:45:23] [SPEAKER_01]: For instance, one of my favorite movies is Spotlight and that details all of the

[00:45:28] [SPEAKER_01]: child abuse that went on with the Catholic Church in Boston.

[00:45:32] [SPEAKER_01]: Yep.

[00:45:32] [SPEAKER_01]: That's a really dark subject.

[00:45:34] [SPEAKER_01]: It's a really disturbing movie.

[00:45:36] [SPEAKER_01]: Why would you ever want to watch that and why would you consider that to be one of

[00:45:39] [SPEAKER_01]: your favorite films?

[00:45:40] [SPEAKER_01]: But it is and for some reason I just keep watching it every year.

[00:45:43] [SPEAKER_01]: I watch it once.

[00:45:44] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know.

[00:45:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, that's how it is for me.

[00:45:46] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean I don't re-listen to it but Hunting Warhead, one of the best

[00:45:50] [SPEAKER_00]: podcasts I've ever listened to but I'm never going to listen to it again.

[00:45:55] [SPEAKER_01]: Never, never.

[00:45:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely not.

[00:45:58] [SPEAKER_00]: But yeah, the subject matter is bad enough in a Serbian film but to make

[00:46:02] [SPEAKER_00]: things even worse, the director just had to give it that title and represent his

[00:46:06] [SPEAKER_00]: country in the worst way possible.

[00:46:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it honestly pisses me off.

[00:46:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Seriously, it makes me wonder if the whole thing was some false flag

[00:46:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Psyop which apparently was successful since that's your main association

[00:46:19] [SPEAKER_00]: with Serbia now.

[00:46:21] [SPEAKER_01]: Fair enough.

[00:46:21] [SPEAKER_01]: Like if he actually hates his country and wanted to make it look bad

[00:46:25] [SPEAKER_01]: in some roundabout way.

[00:46:27] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, yeah like the people who have no lives and pretend to represent

[00:46:31] [SPEAKER_00]: some social political ideology they disagree with very poorly just to paint their

[00:46:37] [SPEAKER_00]: opponents in a bad light.

[00:46:38] [SPEAKER_01]: Hey, sometimes you gotta crack a few eggs to make an omelet.

[00:46:42] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, kidding obviously.

[00:46:44] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm kidding.

[00:46:45] [SPEAKER_01]: But I wish there was some kind of device that we could use to erase

[00:46:48] [SPEAKER_01]: memories of things that we've seen or experienced but then I guess you

[00:46:52] [SPEAKER_01]: have all those cautionary tales like Eternal Sunshine or Total Recall

[00:46:56] [SPEAKER_01]: that just show how terrifying that could end up being.

[00:47:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah and you'd mess up the whole butterfly effect thing too.

[00:47:03] [SPEAKER_00]: As soon as you said the word device I thought of those two movies because

[00:47:07] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean let's face it Men in Black would have been too obvious so good on you.

[00:47:11] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah all great movies including Men in Black.

[00:47:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Oh yeah, yeah they're fun.

[00:47:16] [SPEAKER_00]: So Myra Maine's story was really good this week.

[00:47:20] [SPEAKER_00]: The reveal at the end where her family connected all the pieces together with their

[00:47:23] [SPEAKER_00]: own admissions felt like the end of a really great horror movie.

[00:47:27] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah also great username.

[00:47:30] [SPEAKER_00]: I know I first saw it written out and didn't think much of it.

[00:47:33] [SPEAKER_00]: People have random handles sometimes but when I heard you say it out loud it all clicked.

[00:47:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Very clever.

[00:47:39] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah there's nothing like getting vindicated after years of feeling so alone

[00:47:44] [SPEAKER_01]: with your terrifying experiences.

[00:47:47] [SPEAKER_01]: That's how I felt when I began reading about shadow people and sleep paralysis.

[00:47:51] [SPEAKER_01]: It was like wait other people experience this too?

[00:47:54] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not crazy.

[00:47:55] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah that's one great thing the internet has done for us.

[00:47:58] [SPEAKER_00]: It'd be nice if it was still just a massive encyclopedia with chat rooms and message boards

[00:48:04] [SPEAKER_00]: but I won't beat that dead horse this episode.

[00:48:07] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah I know if I saw a Bart Simpson ghost in my house staring at my family members

[00:48:12] [SPEAKER_01]: as they were sleeping I'd immediately be blogging about it on the internet.

[00:48:16] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah everybody handles that kind of stuff differently.

[00:48:18] [SPEAKER_00]: I can sympathize with her for not wanting to feel like even more of an outcast than

[00:48:23] [SPEAKER_00]: she already was.

[00:48:25] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah you're right I really felt that story.

[00:48:28] [SPEAKER_01]: It's definitely going to get put in the best of vault for me.

[00:48:32] [SPEAKER_01]: One thing I did notice is that Windfall Indiana falls on the serpent ley line of

[00:48:38] [SPEAKER_01]: the globe and I don't know what significance that holds.

[00:48:43] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm just going to email my archaeologist friend who investigates that kind of stuff

[00:48:46] [SPEAKER_01]: and get back to you on the next episode My Red because I know it has some kind

[00:48:50] [SPEAKER_01]: of significance.

[00:48:51] [SPEAKER_00]: I'll reach out to my archaeologist friend too.

[00:48:56] [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah we talked about the Arcadian ley line a while back and how that goes through

[00:49:00] [SPEAKER_00]: the Appalachians.

[00:49:01] [SPEAKER_00]: That'll be interesting to hear about.

[00:49:03] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah definitely we'll catch up in the next episode.

[00:49:06] [SPEAKER_01]: Hey anyways thank you all for listening and last call we hope to see you all

[00:49:10] [SPEAKER_01]: at the Salt Lake City show this Thursday at Metro Music Hall.

[00:49:15] [SPEAKER_01]: It's going to be a lot of fun Brandon will be there with me.

[00:49:18] [SPEAKER_01]: And make sure to sign up for our Patreon if you want to get access to ad free

[00:49:22] [SPEAKER_01]: versions of all of our episodes that's patreon.com forward slash odd trails and

[00:49:26] [SPEAKER_01]: if you had a story to share send it to stories at oddtrails.com to hear it on

[00:49:30] [SPEAKER_01]: the show.

[00:49:31] [SPEAKER_01]: Finally make sure to check out the new episodes of my other podcasts like

[00:49:34] [SPEAKER_01]: Let's Not Meet, Cryptic Encounters and the old time radio cast at

[00:49:38] [SPEAKER_01]: CrypticCountyPodcasts.com.

[00:49:40] [SPEAKER_01]: See you all Thursday everyone stay safe.

[00:49:42] [SPEAKER_01]: Peace out.