Episode 151: The Geisha Lamps

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_03]: Odd Trails is a true paranormal podcast. If you have a story to share, send it to stories at oddtrails.com. Enjoy the show.

[00:00:10] [SPEAKER_02]: Forget facts. Forget logic. Forget everything that seems real. Just trust. Believe.

[00:00:23] [SPEAKER_03]: A Creepy Experience in Japan by Hot Sauce Fire

[00:01:02] [SPEAKER_03]: I had a pretty creepy experience back in the early 2000s in Japan. For a little background,

[00:01:09] [SPEAKER_03]: I grew up as a biracial military brat and I spent the better part of two decades growing up in Japan.

[00:01:17] [SPEAKER_03]: Having spent years growing up in Japan and the US, I can confidently say that there is something

[00:01:23] [SPEAKER_03]: different when it comes to talking about paranormal or strange experiences. I imagine that many

[00:01:31] [SPEAKER_03]: of you may be familiar with how popular scary Asian stories have become in the last 20 years or so. So,

[00:01:39] [SPEAKER_03]: read on to hear about some of the strangest occurrences that I've encountered.

[00:01:44] [SPEAKER_03]: During my late teens to my early 20s, my social circle and I had a naive obsession with exploring places in Japan

[00:01:53] [SPEAKER_03]: known for paranormal activities or urban legends. We would investigate these creepy areas and this was

[00:02:00] [SPEAKER_03]: before the advent of reality television blowing up, like ghost hunting shows. In Japan, shows like this are

[00:02:08] [SPEAKER_03]: broadcast regularly in the summer. October is the witching season for Western cultures. In Japan,

[00:02:15] [SPEAKER_03]: it's the month of August. This was our motivation for partaking in these excursions. So, here's my story.

[00:02:24] [SPEAKER_03]: As a military brat who grew up in Japan while attending school on a US military installation,

[00:02:30] [SPEAKER_03]: I graduated in the early 2000s. Following graduation, most of my graduating class moved back to the US to pursue

[00:02:40] [SPEAKER_03]: college or start their adult lives. Most would leave and never return to Japan. My parent is Japanese, so I had every

[00:02:49] [SPEAKER_03]: reason to return. It was December and I had just returned home to Japan after my fall semester at college. To my relief,

[00:02:57] [SPEAKER_03]: a couple of my friends chose to remain in Japan after high school, so I had friends to hang out with while at home

[00:03:04] [SPEAKER_03]: on vacation. One evening, I was out joyriding with my buddies. We had nowhere important to be, just driving

[00:03:12] [SPEAKER_03]: around aimlessly. Occasionally, we stopped by a popular hangout spot for young adults, helping to meet some

[00:03:20] [SPEAKER_03]: cute girls to flirt with. As how else would a couple of young 19-year-old dudes want to be spending an

[00:03:26] [SPEAKER_03]: evening? My friend, who we're going to call Jay, had a 90s Nissan Sylvia. 2040 SX outside of Japan for

[00:03:35] [SPEAKER_03]: the car folks, and he was obsessed with drifting. Truth be told, he wasn't good at it. He really

[00:03:43] [SPEAKER_03]: couldn't fault the guy for trying, though. That evening, he suggested that we head to a park near

[00:03:48] [SPEAKER_03]: our hometown. It was a large public park and it had many parking lots scattered throughout its grounds.

[00:03:55] [SPEAKER_03]: The lots were prime locations for him to practice whipping his car around without causing damage or

[00:04:01] [SPEAKER_03]: fender benders. Without hesitation, we all agreed and headed in that direction. About 20 minutes later,

[00:04:09] [SPEAKER_03]: we passed the main entrance to the park. During the day, this is a pleasant public park that many

[00:04:16] [SPEAKER_03]: people visit. Japan, in comparison to other countries, is a relatively safe place, and this

[00:04:22] [SPEAKER_03]: park was no exception. However, some unfortunate events had happened there. I'll elaborate on this

[00:04:28] [SPEAKER_03]: later. After driving into the park for about seven minutes, we reached the first parking lot.

[00:04:35] [SPEAKER_03]: It was around 10 o'clock at night. We pulled in and parked. I hopped out of the car, pulled out a

[00:04:41] [SPEAKER_03]: fresh pack of cigarettes, and lit one up. The evening was brisk. I gazed around, letting my night

[00:04:47] [SPEAKER_03]: vision calibrate as the lights far off in the distance twinkled. My other friend, Roberta, also lit a

[00:04:54] [SPEAKER_03]: cigarette, and we proceeded to have a conversation about whether Jay would even be able to get his

[00:05:00] [SPEAKER_03]: car sideways. Jay pulled out and began whipping his car around the parking lot. As Jay's car spun

[00:05:07] [SPEAKER_03]: counterclockwise, the wailing of his tires trying to grip the asphalt broke the silence of the evening.

[00:05:14] [SPEAKER_03]: Even now, I can close my eyes and still remember the smell of the burning rubber. Adjacent to the

[00:05:21] [SPEAKER_03]: parking lot, there was a tree line that led into some thick brush and a wooded area. The park was known for

[00:05:27] [SPEAKER_03]: its green belts scattered throughout. I remember looking over my shoulder a couple of times that

[00:05:33] [SPEAKER_03]: evening because I felt this feeling that we were being watched from the woods. But each time I scanned

[00:05:41] [SPEAKER_03]: the tree line, I saw nothing out of the ordinary. What happened next caused me to jump so hard that

[00:05:48] [SPEAKER_03]: I laugh even now when thinking about it. The cell phone in my right pocket started ringing and vibrating.

[00:05:55] [SPEAKER_03]: I jumped. The fact that the light paranoia had set in from just watching the tree line

[00:06:02] [SPEAKER_03]: didn't help with the anxiety I felt from the unexpected phone call. As I was attending college

[00:06:08] [SPEAKER_03]: in the States and only back on vacation, I no longer had a cell phone in Japan. In fact, my younger sister

[00:06:16] [SPEAKER_03]: had lent her phone to me so that I could be reached if necessary. I pulled the phone out, thinking that

[00:06:22] [SPEAKER_03]: she or my mother were calling for some reason, as none of my friends even had this number.

[00:06:27] [SPEAKER_03]: I looked down at the early 2000s green backlit LCD screen, and I saw that it displayed a restricted

[00:06:35] [SPEAKER_03]: number in Japanese. I thought that it was strange, but figured maybe my sister was calling me from a

[00:06:41] [SPEAKER_03]: public phone. Yes, those were a thing back then. I answered the phone and said,

[00:06:46] [SPEAKER_03]: Moshi Moshi, that's how you answer a phone in Japanese. There was nothing but silence for her

[00:06:52] [SPEAKER_03]: response. I remember hearing a bit of static and then finally hearing the voice of a Japanese girl.

[00:06:59] [SPEAKER_03]: My immediate thought was, this must be one of my sister's friends, so I explained that I was her

[00:07:05] [SPEAKER_03]: brother and I was borrowing her phone for the evening. I told her that if she needed to get a hold of my

[00:07:11] [SPEAKER_03]: sister, she could call the house. She apologized. I reassured her that there was no harm done,

[00:07:17] [SPEAKER_03]: and then I quickly ended the phone call. I put the phone back in my pocket and I focused on the noise

[00:07:23] [SPEAKER_03]: coming from Jay's car. It couldn't have been 10 minutes later when the cell phone in my pocket began

[00:07:29] [SPEAKER_03]: to ring again. This time, I was sure that it had to be my sister or my mother. Earlier that day,

[00:07:36] [SPEAKER_03]: I had left home without saying where I was going or when I planned to return. It wasn't uncommon for

[00:07:43] [SPEAKER_03]: my mother or sister to call and ask if I had eaten dinner or if they should leave food out for me when

[00:07:49] [SPEAKER_03]: I returned. I pulled the phone out and once again, it was a call from a restricted number. I answered.

[00:07:57] [SPEAKER_03]: It was the same Japanese girl on the other end. Before I could even ask why she was calling for my

[00:08:03] [SPEAKER_03]: sister, she cut me off. Based on the previous call, I thought a couple of things were odd.

[00:08:09] [SPEAKER_03]: I knew most of my sister's friends and I recognized their voices over the phone.

[00:08:14] [SPEAKER_03]: This girl, however, I did not know. Additionally, my sister had never mentioned any new friends

[00:08:21] [SPEAKER_03]: and her circle was pretty tight. She wasn't very social, but perhaps I was wrong. My sister was

[00:08:29] [SPEAKER_03]: three years younger than me, so I figured this girl was probably her age too. Far too young for me.

[00:08:36] [SPEAKER_03]: I had little interest in engaging in conversation with her. As she asked me questions, I kept my

[00:08:42] [SPEAKER_03]: answers vague. I don't even know why I continued to entertain the conversation, but hanging up just

[00:08:48] [SPEAKER_03]: felt rude. Suddenly, she asked what I was doing in a park so late at night. I almost answered when

[00:08:56] [SPEAKER_03]: it dawned on me. I hadn't mentioned anything about being in a park or anything about what I was doing.

[00:09:04] [SPEAKER_03]: I told her this. She lightly giggled and then tried to play it off, insisting that she thought I

[00:09:12] [SPEAKER_03]: said I was at a park. I told her this was weird and then I had to go. I then hung up.

[00:09:19] [SPEAKER_03]: Jay grew tired of his drifting in the parking lot. He then pulled up to us and, from the driver's side,

[00:09:25] [SPEAKER_03]: suggested that we change the scenery. Roberta and I hopped back into the vehicle and off we went.

[00:09:32] [SPEAKER_03]: Now, at another parking lot, we hopped out and Jay continued to do his thing. This parking lot had

[00:09:38] [SPEAKER_03]: a soccer field not too far from it, and the lamps from the parking lot cast an orange hue which was

[00:09:45] [SPEAKER_03]: somewhat comforting. Oddly enough, the feeling of being watched returned. I swung around to my right

[00:09:52] [SPEAKER_03]: and I stared at the empty field on the other side of the parking lot fence. There was nothing.

[00:09:58] [SPEAKER_03]: At this point, Jay parked his car and shut it off. Then there was silence, and a thin film of burnt

[00:10:05] [SPEAKER_03]: rubber veiled the parking lot. Roberta started asking me what was up with the phone calls.

[00:10:12] [SPEAKER_03]: I started to explain the situation to Jay and Roberta. They both agreed that it was strange but

[00:10:17] [SPEAKER_03]: speculated that maybe my sister had mentioned to her friends that her older brother was back in town.

[00:10:23] [SPEAKER_03]: Jay teased me, saying that maybe I should start talking to the girl. But I protested because I

[00:10:29] [SPEAKER_03]: had no interest. Suddenly, my phone began to ring. Same deal. Restricted number and same girl.

[00:10:37] [SPEAKER_03]: This time, she sounded a bit more aggressive.

[00:10:40] [SPEAKER_03]: How come you left? What was wrong with the last spot? She asked. I then asked her what she meant.

[00:10:48] [SPEAKER_03]: She replied, You left the last parking lot that you were just at?

[00:10:53] [SPEAKER_03]: I remember the hair on the back of my neck standing on end. I had been vague and never even mentioned

[00:10:59] [SPEAKER_03]: what we were doing or where I was, yet somehow this girl knew that we had left the first parking

[00:11:05] [SPEAKER_03]: lot. Something didn't feel right, so I hung up on her. A moment later, my phone started blowing up.

[00:11:13] [SPEAKER_03]: I answered again, this time irritated. What do you want? There was silence. And then I heard light

[00:11:20] [SPEAKER_03]: static. In a hushed voice, I heard her say, I'm at the field. I see you. I spun around, facing the field,

[00:11:30] [SPEAKER_03]: looking for any sign of a person. My heart was racing as I tried to figure out what was going on.

[00:11:38] [SPEAKER_03]: What do you mean you see me at the field? She told me that she saw me standing with my friends,

[00:11:44] [SPEAKER_03]: wearing my gray jacket next to my buddy's car. She said that she was coming over to hang out with us.

[00:11:52] [SPEAKER_03]: And then the line went dead. I looked at both Jay and Roberta, and I told them what she said.

[00:11:59] [SPEAKER_03]: They both had these strange looks on their faces. I know them well enough to know when they're lying

[00:12:06] [SPEAKER_03]: or messing with me, but they both looked genuinely clueless. My phone rang again.

[00:12:13] [SPEAKER_03]: Hey, I'm almost there. Will you wait for me? The girl asked. Huh? No. What is going on here?

[00:12:22] [SPEAKER_03]: Why do you keep asking me questions? How do you know where I'm at? Who are you anyway?

[00:12:28] [SPEAKER_03]: I know all of my sister's friends, but I don't recognize your voice. I exclaimed. I never said

[00:12:35] [SPEAKER_03]: that I knew your sister, she replied. At this point, I didn't know what to do. I looked back at the field,

[00:12:43] [SPEAKER_03]: and I didn't see anything. Still on the phone with her, I asked her where she was. She said that she

[00:12:49] [SPEAKER_03]: would be with me shortly. I'm sure my friends sensed the panic in my voice. Jay mentioned that

[00:12:57] [SPEAKER_03]: nobody knew that we were out there. How did this girl know our location? Remember, this is in the

[00:13:04] [SPEAKER_03]: 2000s. Social media and smartphones weren't a thing yet. People couldn't just get your location like

[00:13:11] [SPEAKER_03]: that. And we were a few kilometers out of the way. You don't randomly run into people like that.

[00:13:17] [SPEAKER_03]: The evening was getting later. It was past 11pm, and I had no explanation for what was happening.

[00:13:24] [SPEAKER_03]: My phone rang again, and before I could even say hello, she asked if I could see her.

[00:13:31] [SPEAKER_03]: At this point, I was spinning around, looking like a laundry machine agitator. My friend had enough.

[00:13:40] [SPEAKER_03]: Roberta yanked the phone out of my hand and spoke to her. I should mention that we all spoke Japanese,

[00:13:45] [SPEAKER_03]: so even though I'm telling this story in English, all of the conversations were in Japanese.

[00:13:52] [SPEAKER_03]: Roberta, feeling like this was a joke, decided to toy with her a bit. She asked her what she was

[00:13:57] [SPEAKER_03]: wearing. She began explaining something, but then we asked what color her undergarments were,

[00:14:03] [SPEAKER_03]: and she abruptly hung up. Roberta told me that she thought she had annoyed her enough that she

[00:14:09] [SPEAKER_03]: wouldn't call again. We all nervously chuckled, not fully understanding what,

[00:14:15] [SPEAKER_03]: had just transpired. My phone blew up again. Same deal, restricted call.

[00:14:22] [SPEAKER_03]: I answered now upset, but before I could speak, she cut me off. Her voice was much louder now,

[00:14:29] [SPEAKER_03]: and I could hear the wind in the background. She began saying that she was quickly approaching us,

[00:14:36] [SPEAKER_03]: yelling not to leave her, that she wanted to be with us.

[00:14:40] [SPEAKER_03]: All of a sudden, Jay dropped a soda can as he faced the field.

[00:14:45] [SPEAKER_03]: What the fuck is that? Jay said in disbelief. I hung up the phone. I looked at both of my friends,

[00:14:52] [SPEAKER_03]: and Jay motioned for us to jump into the car. We all jumped in, and he stomped on the gas,

[00:14:58] [SPEAKER_03]: making our escape. My phone rang again. I looked at it, and although I didn't want to answer,

[00:15:04] [SPEAKER_03]: I felt like I had to. I picked it up, and I heard her voice. It sounded slightly huskier.

[00:15:11] [SPEAKER_03]: She casually said, It's a shame you left before I could reach you.

[00:15:17] [SPEAKER_03]: Jay was driving frantically away from the park. At the time, I had no idea where he was taking us.

[00:15:24] [SPEAKER_03]: It was quiet in the car as I held the phone to my ear. Oh, well, I guess I'll just need to follow

[00:15:31] [SPEAKER_03]: and find you at the family mart you're going to stop at. She said this with a creepy laugh.

[00:15:38] [SPEAKER_03]: I replied, What the hell do you mean by the family mart we're going to? Before I realized it,

[00:15:46] [SPEAKER_03]: Jay had cut the wheel hard and pulled to the side of the road, throwing on his hazard lights.

[00:15:53] [SPEAKER_03]: Roberta nearly hit the dashboard in the front seat. Jay turned around and looked at me.

[00:15:58] [SPEAKER_03]: I still remember the white look on his face. He asked, How did she know I was taking us to family

[00:16:05] [SPEAKER_03]: mart? Family mart is a Japanese convenience store. It's found throughout Japan. I hung up the phone and

[00:16:14] [SPEAKER_03]: powered it off. We sat in silence for a moment. It felt like a weird dream or something. I told Jay,

[00:16:21] [SPEAKER_03]: let's go somewhere else. Shortly after, we drove to a 24-hour restaurant. It was where many of our

[00:16:28] [SPEAKER_03]: other Japanese friends frequented. We wanted to go somewhere brightly lit and somewhere that was

[00:16:34] [SPEAKER_03]: crowded to chill out. As we walked up to the entrance, we could see some friends sitting at a booth.

[00:16:40] [SPEAKER_03]: We walked in and joined them. After we ordered some coffee, we started explaining the strange

[00:16:46] [SPEAKER_03]: occurrence. Initially, everybody listened with excitement. But as I explained, the excitement in

[00:16:53] [SPEAKER_03]: their faces faded, and it got awkwardly quiet. Another female friend of mine, A-Chan, who sat across

[00:17:00] [SPEAKER_03]: the street from me, looked at me and asked where in the park we had been. As she asked, I could see

[00:17:08] [SPEAKER_03]: her make contact with her boyfriend, who pulled out a cigarette and lit it, just as I began to explain.

[00:17:14] [SPEAKER_03]: He said, you guys, you know what happened at that park, right? We exchanged blank looks. Continuing,

[00:17:24] [SPEAKER_03]: he said, there was an accident at that park one evening where a girl was walking through the park

[00:17:29] [SPEAKER_03]: at night. Someone approached her, dragged her into the green belt, assaulted and strangled her.

[00:17:35] [SPEAKER_03]: I heard rumors about some bad juju associated with the area. In disbelief, I scoffed. You're choking,

[00:17:44] [SPEAKER_03]: right? Without hesitation, he looked at me and said, nope. But we need to go to a shrine. Her spirit may

[00:17:52] [SPEAKER_03]: have attached to you. My friends and I definitely thought that something had taken an interest in me.

[00:17:59] [SPEAKER_03]: I didn't receive any further calls. And as you can imagine, I had no desire to return to that park to

[00:18:05] [SPEAKER_03]: test any further theories. Not even during the day. It was just too bizarre and unexplainable.

[00:18:12] [SPEAKER_03]: It really frightened me. I was just an 18-year-old kid at the time. I went and visited a local shrine,

[00:18:19] [SPEAKER_03]: explained what happened, and said that I was concerned that I may have attracted a Japanese ghost,

[00:18:25] [SPEAKER_03]: one that was unable to pass into the afterlife. The priest performed a purification on me,

[00:18:31] [SPEAKER_03]: and I got a protective amulet to carry.

[00:18:35] [SPEAKER_03]: After seeking help from the shrine, I never received another phone call. My sister never

[00:18:41] [SPEAKER_03]: received a call from a restricted number either. I avoided the park for the rest of the time at home

[00:18:46] [SPEAKER_03]: during that vacation. I did return to the park a few years later. It's funny because,

[00:18:52] [SPEAKER_03]: although I had forgotten or maybe even suppressed those memories, they came back to me when I returned.

[00:18:58] [SPEAKER_03]: This time it was during a pleasant afternoon, and no, I never received a call. Perhaps the spirit

[00:19:05] [SPEAKER_03]: passed on. Or perhaps it sought another unfortunate person. Who knows?

[00:19:11] [SPEAKER_01]: The House on Saddle Drive by A. A. Vaco. I grew up in a ranch-style home built in 1960

[00:19:44] [SPEAKER_01]: on a quarter-acre lot off a Saddle Drive. My family, seven of us in total, lived in that home

[00:19:53] [SPEAKER_01]: for my entire childhood. I am the oldest of five siblings. At 2,400 square feet, you were rarely alone.

[00:20:02] [SPEAKER_01]: We occupied every space this home allowed us to exist in. And as you've likely guessed,

[00:20:09] [SPEAKER_01]: since I am writing into this show, something else did too. Here's some quick background first.

[00:20:16] [SPEAKER_01]: From a young age, I'm talking three or four years old, I remember things happening in this home that

[00:20:23] [SPEAKER_01]: I was never able to fully explain, hearing and feeling things others couldn't. My parents conveniently

[00:20:31] [SPEAKER_01]: chalked it all up to my imagination, but my siblings had similar interactions and experiences.

[00:20:38] [SPEAKER_01]: In fact, my youngest sister, who was well into her twenties, still sleeps with the lights on because

[00:20:44] [SPEAKER_01]: of that house. My family lived in the Midwest Bible Belt in the 1990s and practiced a strict and pious

[00:20:53] [SPEAKER_01]: faith. Our home had statues of Jesus, Mary, and various saints. We had an altar with candles, prayer cards,

[00:21:03] [SPEAKER_01]: crosses, relics, you name it. The framed pictures that hung on our walls were also religious-based.

[00:21:11] [SPEAKER_01]: It wouldn't be unusual to walk into our living room and see our family praying the rosary together,

[00:21:17] [SPEAKER_01]: or reciting a litany of prayers. This could be challenging to explain to a new friend or partner

[00:21:25] [SPEAKER_01]: stopping by for the first time. Oh, and spoiler, praying harder didn't make the dark less frightening,

[00:21:32] [SPEAKER_01]: or cause the paranormal activity to stop. At least, not in this case. Trust me, I tried.

[00:21:41] [SPEAKER_01]: Alright, you get the idea. Huge family, small old house, a sensitive kid with an imagination

[00:21:47] [SPEAKER_01]: experiencing creepy, unexplained events, and no diagnoses to attribute things to. Even though

[00:21:55] [SPEAKER_01]: these occurrences happened well over 20 years ago, I remember them like yesterday. I'll kick us off by

[00:22:03] [SPEAKER_01]: saying that the house on Saddle Drive frequently had noises, creaks, footsteps,

[00:22:09] [SPEAKER_01]: you name it. Adding to the ambiance, the piano would periodically send out a few notes during the

[00:22:17] [SPEAKER_01]: night as well. Therefore, I'll give you the most memorable of these events. The unexplained activity

[00:22:25] [SPEAKER_01]: in the house, though, is not limited to just these happenings. I had a bedroom at the end of our long

[00:22:33] [SPEAKER_01]: hallway until I was about 10. That room, and the den on the opposite side of the house, had the most

[00:22:40] [SPEAKER_01]: activity. One night, when I was about five, I remember struggling to fall asleep, per usual.

[00:22:48] [SPEAKER_01]: I kept hearing different noises that would cause my eyes to fly open. I'd sit up, look out into the

[00:22:56] [SPEAKER_01]: hallway through my open door, and reassure myself no one was there. Lying in bed, trying to keep my

[00:23:04] [SPEAKER_01]: eyes closed. I felt it. Three distinct taps on my shoulder. Slow, deliberate, and rhythmic.

[00:23:16] [SPEAKER_01]: I nearly fell out of bed to get away from whatever caused that sensation. But when I looked, there was

[00:23:23] [SPEAKER_01]: nothing. These taps were firm. It was more than clothing moving, or a cover from the bed sliding off of me.

[00:23:32] [SPEAKER_01]: And I knew this. My parents disagreed, though. And after spending more time than I'm sure they cared

[00:23:40] [SPEAKER_01]: to, they got me back into bed. Moments later, trying to keep my eyes shut once again, and hoping to just

[00:23:49] [SPEAKER_01]: fall asleep without any further theatrics, I felt several strands of my hair move gently from one side

[00:23:57] [SPEAKER_01]: of my head to the other, like fingers grazing over my face. One lock of hair dropped the other side of my

[00:24:06] [SPEAKER_01]: face, followed by another. I lost it. Fear filled me to the brim. I flung off the covers and tore down the

[00:24:16] [SPEAKER_01]: short hallway towards my parents' room. And of course, amid my panic, I managed to look back and see that

[00:24:24] [SPEAKER_01]: no one was there. My appearance that my hair was statically charged, and had just been adhering to

[00:24:31] [SPEAKER_01]: the middle headboard, makes total sense. To this day, I don't believe that theory. Nevertheless,

[00:24:40] [SPEAKER_01]: that headboard and footboard were removed from my bedroom the next day.

[00:24:45] [SPEAKER_01]: My best friend from school lived down the road from me. We had a lot of sleepovers, and would often stay up late

[00:24:52] [SPEAKER_01]: at my house. Our most memorable sleepover was when we were about nine years old. I was still in that same

[00:25:00] [SPEAKER_01]: bedroom, and shared it with my younger brother, who somehow, for the entire duration of this encounter, was and

[00:25:08] [SPEAKER_01]: remained asleep. My friend and I had put down some blankets, and positioned our heads near the doorway,

[00:25:17] [SPEAKER_01]: basically at the entrance of the room. My parents already turned in for the night.

[00:25:22] [SPEAKER_01]: The house was dark, except for the always illuminated hallway and open bedroom door.

[00:25:30] [SPEAKER_01]: As we laid there, chatting and giggling, we heard footsteps. It sounded like the noise came from the

[00:25:39] [SPEAKER_01]: kitchen. The floor creaked in the familiar way that it did when someone walked over it. Then we'd hear the

[00:25:46] [SPEAKER_01]: creaks of the floor in the living room adjacent to the kitchen. It was similar to the way we would

[00:25:52] [SPEAKER_01]: usually hear a person pace between those rooms. I knew old homes like ours made noises, so I also knew which

[00:26:01] [SPEAKER_01]: noises came from what. And I knew walking from room to room caused those specific sounds. I even wondered

[00:26:09] [SPEAKER_01]: if my parents had gotten back up and were moving around. Initially, we were too scared to investigate.

[00:26:17] [SPEAKER_01]: I bolted to get my mom and dad, who had in fact not been awake. After several times of us running into

[00:26:24] [SPEAKER_01]: their room, checking out the house with them and not finding anything, my mom finally told us we had to

[00:26:31] [SPEAKER_01]: shut the bedroom door. And if we woke them up again, no more sleepovers forever. Nothing dramatic.

[00:26:40] [SPEAKER_01]: Defeated and unsettled about needing to keep the door closed, I laid back down next to my friend.

[00:26:47] [SPEAKER_01]: I hate keeping doors closed because they make rooms darker.

[00:26:51] [SPEAKER_01]: Because of how we were positioned though, I could see under the door and had a clear view of the

[00:26:57] [SPEAKER_01]: hallway. The light stayed on, giving me at least the ability to see if anything moved past the door.

[00:27:05] [SPEAKER_01]: My friend and I were quiet, hoping we would fall asleep before anything else happened. But you're in

[00:27:12] [SPEAKER_01]: luck because we didn't. The creaking started again, distant, beyond the hallway.

[00:27:21] [SPEAKER_01]: At least we were able to talk ourselves down from this, as homes do creak. But then comes the part that,

[00:27:29] [SPEAKER_01]: to this day, neither of us can explain. The hallway had a wooden floor that created a

[00:27:36] [SPEAKER_01]: damn successful echo chamber. Starting from the kitchen came the clearest and most distinct sound

[00:27:43] [SPEAKER_01]: of footsteps. They sounded slow and calculated. It sounded like a person walking in heavy boots.

[00:27:52] [SPEAKER_01]: Each step thundered as the hallway amplified the sound. There were about six steps total,

[00:28:00] [SPEAKER_01]: the final one landing just outside my bedroom door. My heart was in my throat. I was shaking and could

[00:28:10] [SPEAKER_01]: barely get out the words. Please tell me you hear that. I was stunned when my friend hissed back,

[00:28:18] [SPEAKER_01]: no, now go to sleep, and turned over without saying anything further. I peered under the door, convinced I

[00:28:28] [SPEAKER_01]: would see the looming shadow of what I imagined was a large man in boots, standing outside the bedroom.

[00:28:36] [SPEAKER_01]: But, on par for the night, nothing was there. The hallway appeared empty, and nothing moved in front of the door.

[00:28:46] [SPEAKER_01]: There were no shadows, and nothing blocking the light or the view of the vacant hallway.

[00:28:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Somehow, my mother's threat of no sleepovers forever was enough to keep me from leaving the room.

[00:28:59] [SPEAKER_01]: I shut my eyes. I guess I managed to fall asleep, because when I opened my eyes again,

[00:29:06] [SPEAKER_01]: sunlight peered around the corners of my window shades, and my friend was already awake.

[00:29:13] [SPEAKER_01]: We talked about whatever nine-year-olds talk about, got dressed, and laughed about how scared we felt the

[00:29:19] [SPEAKER_01]: night before. Then, a serious look crossed my friend's face. Hey, Elena? She asked.

[00:29:28] [SPEAKER_01]: Remember when you asked me if I heard those footsteps? I nodded, and started to say something to the effect

[00:29:36] [SPEAKER_01]: of, they were so loud I can't believe. She cut me off. I heard them too. I just knew if I told you,

[00:29:44] [SPEAKER_01]: you'd freak out and get your mom. Guess my mom's threat was dually effective.

[00:29:51] [SPEAKER_01]: We had more sleepovers like it, but to this day, that one was our most memorable.

[00:29:58] [SPEAKER_01]: Back to the echoing in the hallway. Glad you asked. So yes, I did experience things beyond footsteps.

[00:30:05] [SPEAKER_01]: I can't remember exactly how old I was, but I was still in that bedroom.

[00:30:09] [SPEAKER_01]: I fell asleep, but woke up sometime in the late night, early morning. I could see clearly down the

[00:30:17] [SPEAKER_01]: hallway since it was lit, but the rest of the house was dark, and of course the door remained open.

[00:30:25] [SPEAKER_01]: As I tried to fall back to sleep, I heard it. A low, long, intense growl.

[00:30:34] [SPEAKER_01]: It was guttural and unnerving. The growl increased in vehemence as it was released,

[00:30:42] [SPEAKER_01]: seeming that whatever it was coming from was moving down that damn hallway.

[00:30:48] [SPEAKER_01]: Nothing was there that I could see. I can still hear that sound when I think about this,

[00:30:54] [SPEAKER_01]: and recall that paralyzing fear from seeing nothing but darkness at the end of the hall,

[00:31:00] [SPEAKER_01]: unsure of the growl's origin. I had also experienced shatter and murmurs from time to time.

[00:31:09] [SPEAKER_01]: Compared to the animalistic growling and occasional scratching noises behind the walls,

[00:31:15] [SPEAKER_01]: the sounds of blending voices had little effect on me. I never knew what to make of it all,

[00:31:22] [SPEAKER_01]: but my parents often reassured me I was dreaming, and that my dreams were so vivid that they felt real.

[00:31:30] [SPEAKER_01]: While I am an active dreamer, I can assure you that these occurrences played out while I was very much awake.

[00:31:38] [SPEAKER_01]: After several mentions about how much your listeners love dream stories, I will limit myself to saying this.

[00:31:45] [SPEAKER_01]: While I have had a lot of nightmares in this home and others, one of my sisters had a recurring nightmare at that home,

[00:31:52] [SPEAKER_01]: and she said I could include it. There was a den at the back of the house near the garage.

[00:31:59] [SPEAKER_01]: My parents converted this to be my room in my high school years. When I moved out to go to college,

[00:32:05] [SPEAKER_01]: my sister moved into it. We both had our share of experiences while living in that space.

[00:32:12] [SPEAKER_01]: She said she never realized how poorly she slept in that house until she left for college, and then

[00:32:18] [SPEAKER_01]: returned home over breaks. One recurring dream in particular stuck with her. She would dream of a man

[00:32:25] [SPEAKER_01]: standing at the foot of her bed. She said she thought she would wake up and see him standing there,

[00:32:32] [SPEAKER_01]: staring at her. She felt paralyzed with fear every time this happened, only to actually wake up in a

[00:32:39] [SPEAKER_01]: panic, free from paralysis, and needing to turn on all the lights to calm herself down.

[00:32:46] [SPEAKER_01]: She doesn't remember anything description-wise about him, other than his eyes. His eyes were black.

[00:32:55] [SPEAKER_01]: When she mentioned this to me, I asked her more about him, because I also had interactions with a

[00:33:01] [SPEAKER_01]: male figure in that same room. I say figure because, while I never had a full apparition, around this time

[00:33:10] [SPEAKER_01]: I started to recognize that when I would sense something, a visual of what I was sensing would

[00:33:15] [SPEAKER_01]: pop into my head. Now, I know this is a stretch, but hear me out. One of the few times I was extremely

[00:33:23] [SPEAKER_01]: fearful in my later teenage years involved this man. I remember almost being too afraid to speak,

[00:33:32] [SPEAKER_01]: tears in my eyes and trying to keep it together, when I told my mom that I kept imagining a man

[00:33:38] [SPEAKER_01]: slowly wrapping long, slender fingers around my doorframe and peering in at me. He was tall,

[00:33:48] [SPEAKER_01]: almost sickly, and possessed a sinister smirk. He would linger there, just watching. The very thought

[00:33:57] [SPEAKER_01]: of him would send me into fight or flight. My mom's response was to pray for protection.

[00:34:04] [SPEAKER_01]: I never mentioned him again. Well, that is until my sister, years later, told me about her dreams.

[00:34:12] [SPEAKER_01]: She said it so matter-of-factly. Yeah, there was a man who came into the den, and he was terrifying.

[00:34:21] [SPEAKER_01]: My other sister, who used the bedroom in the finished garage, also claimed to see him back

[00:34:26] [SPEAKER_01]: there a few times. I wonder if he also happened to wear boots. The den was off the family room,

[00:34:34] [SPEAKER_01]: a small room that led to the attached garage. A heavy storm door guarded this entrance,

[00:34:41] [SPEAKER_01]: as it used to function as an actual garage before being converted into a room.

[00:34:46] [SPEAKER_01]: They didn't change out the door, though. My sister staying in the den recalls many times when she would

[00:34:52] [SPEAKER_01]: hear that storm door open after specifically closing it before bed. She would then hear the

[00:34:59] [SPEAKER_01]: creaking sound of steps being taken across the family room floor. It was always around 2am,

[00:35:07] [SPEAKER_01]: no one else was awake, and each time she would investigate, she would find an empty room,

[00:35:13] [SPEAKER_01]: a sleeping household, and a wide-open storm door.

[00:35:18] [SPEAKER_01]: The house still stands today. My parents don't live there anymore. They told me multiple families

[00:35:26] [SPEAKER_01]: came and went before they bought it back in 1984. I sometimes wonder if the current occupants experience

[00:35:33] [SPEAKER_01]: anything unusual or reoccurring. Even with all the unexplained activity, when I look back on living

[00:35:41] [SPEAKER_01]: there, most of the memories are positive ones. We had some amazing neighbors, and all of us felt sad to

[00:35:48] [SPEAKER_01]: say goodbye to our childhood home when my parents finally moved out. I've entertained a lot of

[00:35:55] [SPEAKER_01]: theories about the house, since these experiences embedded themselves into my early years. The conclusions

[00:36:02] [SPEAKER_01]: I've drawn, at least thus far, is whatever is there is some form of residual energy. Hopefully no one

[00:36:10] [SPEAKER_01]: soul is trapped, but that's not a concept I'm completely sold on. I'm a mom now, and wouldn't you know,

[00:36:19] [SPEAKER_01]: living in a 2400 square foot ranch-style home. My son has vivid dreams, sleepwalks, and is inexplicably

[00:36:28] [SPEAKER_01]: terrified of the dark. But at least I know how he feels and how to make things less frightening for him.

[00:36:34] [SPEAKER_01]: Thanks for listening, and stay safe out there.

[00:37:05] [SPEAKER_03]: The Geisha Lamps by As Above So Below 75

[00:37:09] [SPEAKER_03]: Back in the day my parents had an authentic Japanese motif for their bedroom.

[00:37:14] [SPEAKER_03]: My mom was an interior designer and spent all of her free time antiking for different pieces, as she called them.

[00:37:22] [SPEAKER_03]: I remember a huge Buddha statue, made from solid brass at the foot of their bed, and a silk room divider depicting different scenes from an ancient Japanese dynasty.

[00:37:35] [SPEAKER_03]: There was a lot more to it all that I'm not remembering, but I was very young at the time.

[00:37:40] [SPEAKER_03]: At some point, my mother came home with two beautiful antique clamps that had come straight from Japan through a client of hers.

[00:37:48] [SPEAKER_03]: The lamps were carved and painted porcelain, and like the room divider they depicted scenes from a long-ago simpler time in Japan.

[00:37:58] [SPEAKER_03]: The main design on the lamps was a geisha woman holding a fan, partially obscuring her face.

[00:38:05] [SPEAKER_03]: Each lamp had one, but each geisha was slightly different.

[00:38:09] [SPEAKER_03]: They were very delicate, highly detailed, and very beautiful.

[00:38:13] [SPEAKER_03]: My sister, who was very young at the time, dubbed them the sisters.

[00:38:18] [SPEAKER_03]: This story actually centers around my sister, who we'll call Elle.

[00:38:23] [SPEAKER_03]: One night, our parents were out to dinner with some friends, so they called in a babysitter, Doris.

[00:38:32] [SPEAKER_03]: At the time, the TV channels in our den were restricted, but our parents got all of the cable channels in their bedroom,

[00:38:38] [SPEAKER_03]: so we would all hang out there when they were at home.

[00:38:41] [SPEAKER_03]: On this particular night, we were all watching something that was R-rated and scary, and it got late.

[00:38:48] [SPEAKER_03]: My brother and I went to our bedrooms, but my sister stayed up with Doris to watch the rest of the movie.

[00:38:54] [SPEAKER_03]: My sister said that Doris was dozing off, and she was left to watch this scary movie by herself.

[00:39:01] [SPEAKER_03]: Trying not to look at the screen during a particularly scary part, Elle looked at one of the lamps on the nightstand.

[00:39:09] [SPEAKER_03]: Glancing at it quickly, she said that it looked like something on the lamp moved.

[00:39:14] [SPEAKER_03]: Staring at it now, she swore something was moving on both of the lamps.

[00:39:20] [SPEAKER_03]: She couldn't believe what she was seeing.

[00:39:23] [SPEAKER_03]: She said that the geishas on the lamps were moving and fluttering their fans while whispering and giggling at each other.

[00:39:32] [SPEAKER_03]: Petrified and in total disbelief, Elle screamed and woke up the babysitter.

[00:39:38] [SPEAKER_03]: Doris, who was awakened, I'm sure thinking that the house was on fire, rushed to her.

[00:39:44] [SPEAKER_03]: My sister pointed at the lamps.

[00:39:46] [SPEAKER_03]: Doris, still a bit disoriented, saw the geishas moving their fans back into position and freezing for a second.

[00:39:55] [SPEAKER_03]: She calmed my sister down, telling her that it was only her imagination.

[00:40:00] [SPEAKER_03]: Elle then fell asleep.

[00:40:03] [SPEAKER_03]: After putting my sister to bed, Doris waited in the den for my parents to get home.

[00:40:09] [SPEAKER_03]: She never mentioned anything about the lamps, but anytime my mother called her after that,

[00:40:13] [SPEAKER_03]: she was quote-unquote busy, and she never came to our house again.

[00:40:19] [SPEAKER_03]: Years later, when I was already an adult, I ran into Doris.

[00:40:23] [SPEAKER_03]: She asked me how everything was, and if I still lived there.

[00:40:26] [SPEAKER_03]: I told her no, and that my mother had a fire shortly after we moved and lost almost everything.

[00:40:33] [SPEAKER_03]: When I asked her why she never came back, she said,

[00:40:36] [SPEAKER_03]: You're not going to believe this, but the last night I was there, something very strange happened.

[00:40:42] [SPEAKER_03]: She said that, that night, while she was the only one left awake, she kept hearing voices coming from my parents' room.

[00:40:49] [SPEAKER_03]: At first, she thought it was my sister pretending to sleep and pranking her, but

[00:40:53] [SPEAKER_03]: she realized that Elle was fully asleep, and then she became truly afraid.

[00:41:00] [SPEAKER_03]: She said the only thing that kept her from running out of the house and never looking back was her responsibility to my parents.

[00:41:07] [SPEAKER_03]: She added that before my sister went to bed, she saw something she would never forget.

[00:41:11] [SPEAKER_03]: I asked her,

[00:41:13] [SPEAKER_03]: Was it the Japanese lamps?

[00:41:15] [SPEAKER_03]: She said,

[00:41:16] [SPEAKER_03]: No one would ever believe me, but I saw them move.

[00:41:20] [SPEAKER_03]: I know what I saw, and Elle saw it too.

[00:41:23] [SPEAKER_03]: This was many years ago, and I never saw Doris again.

[00:41:27] [SPEAKER_03]: And my brother had his own experiences with those lamps while we lived there.

[00:41:32] [SPEAKER_03]: Time passed, my parents divorced, and my mother sold the house when I graduated from high school.

[00:41:37] [SPEAKER_03]: She had a new house built in the country where she planned to enjoy her early retirement.

[00:41:43] [SPEAKER_03]: She transported all of her beloved pieces there when it was completed.

[00:41:48] [SPEAKER_03]: Within five years, another freak fire broke out while she wasn't home.

[00:41:53] [SPEAKER_03]: The house and everything in it burned to the ground.

[00:41:56] [SPEAKER_03]: The firefighters said that they'd never seen a house fire that burned so hot.

[00:42:00] [SPEAKER_03]: It was so intense that, on the following day,

[00:42:03] [SPEAKER_03]: the top of the refrigerator was touching the floor like a rainbow.

[00:42:08] [SPEAKER_03]: Later on, my mother told me that, although the fire was devastating in many ways,

[00:42:13] [SPEAKER_03]: she said it was liberating.

[00:42:32] [SPEAKER_01]: First and foremost, I'm really excited about the show Wednesday.

[00:42:35] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh yeah, so if anyone missed it,

[00:42:37] [SPEAKER_01]: the Let's Not Meet show in Salt Lake City was rescheduled for this Wednesday, the 23rd.

[00:42:44] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, yeah, and it'll still be at the Metro Music Hall.

[00:42:46] [SPEAKER_03]: And if you buy your tickets online from now until the day of the show, they're two for one.

[00:42:51] [SPEAKER_03]: Hell yeah, buy one, get one free, baby.

[00:42:53] [SPEAKER_03]: Plus, you get Brandon.

[00:42:55] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah, double bonuses, cool.

[00:42:57] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, yeah, so you really have no excuse to skip this one.

[00:43:00] [SPEAKER_03]: And of course, Brandon will be there.

[00:43:02] [SPEAKER_03]: He's going to do a story with us.

[00:43:04] [SPEAKER_03]: He's going to do a Q&A.

[00:43:05] [SPEAKER_03]: And then he'll be there for the meet and greets for the VIP tickets.

[00:43:09] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh yeah, it's going to be a ton of fun.

[00:43:11] [SPEAKER_01]: I just hope that your flight doesn't...

[00:43:12] [SPEAKER_01]: I might even say that because that's going to jinx things.

[00:43:14] [SPEAKER_01]: You're going to have a flight and that's going to be it.

[00:43:16] [SPEAKER_01]: You're just going to fly and that's it.

[00:43:18] [SPEAKER_03]: But I don't have to worry about it because I booked it the day before.

[00:43:21] [SPEAKER_03]: So that gives us some wiggle room in case I need to catch like another last minute flight

[00:43:24] [SPEAKER_03]: if that happens.

[00:43:26] [SPEAKER_02]: There you go.

[00:43:27] [SPEAKER_02]: There you go.

[00:43:28] [SPEAKER_02]: Good thinking.

[00:43:29] [SPEAKER_01]: So I guess we'll go ahead and leave that link in the show notes one last and final time.

[00:43:34] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah.

[00:43:35] [SPEAKER_01]: So I don't know if we'll actually get around to talking about the long story that I did,

[00:43:38] [SPEAKER_01]: but I did want to ask if you planned a Japanese theme for this week's episode.

[00:43:44] [SPEAKER_03]: No, actually, it's weird.

[00:43:46] [SPEAKER_03]: Those just happened to be the two stories I picked at random and they ended up both having

[00:43:51] [SPEAKER_03]: a similar theme.

[00:43:52] [SPEAKER_01]: So that's actually a really fun coincidence.

[00:43:55] [SPEAKER_01]: Something similar actually happened to me over the weekend.

[00:43:58] [SPEAKER_01]: What Japanese theme did you explore?

[00:44:01] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know what you mean by that, but I mean, it really was Japanese themed though.

[00:44:06] [SPEAKER_01]: So I watched Ju-on or Ju-on, I guess that's the proper way to say it.

[00:44:11] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:44:12] [SPEAKER_01]: And I guess that planted a seed because I finally got around to watching the anime of Uzumaki

[00:44:18] [SPEAKER_01]: as some sort of double feature.

[00:44:20] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, yeah.

[00:44:21] [SPEAKER_03]: Those sound like they go well together.

[00:44:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, they went so well together.

[00:44:25] [SPEAKER_01]: So well.

[00:44:26] [SPEAKER_01]: I think I'm going to throw in a rewatch of Tetsuo, the Iron Man.

[00:44:30] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh yeah, that one's really cool.

[00:44:31] [SPEAKER_01]: Like if Cronenberg directed Transformers.

[00:44:35] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:44:36] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, that's fair.

[00:44:37] [SPEAKER_01]: I sometimes like watching without the subtitles because it's already so out there and there

[00:44:42] [SPEAKER_01]: isn't a ton of dialogue.

[00:44:43] [SPEAKER_01]: So the language barrier adds to the experience, I think.

[00:44:47] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:44:48] [SPEAKER_03]: I can only imagine a non-English speaker watching some David Lynch films as their first

[00:44:53] [SPEAKER_03]: American movies, like in English without subtitles.

[00:44:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:44:58] [SPEAKER_01]: Kind of like how some people listen to podcasts to learn English, start telling people Inland

[00:45:03] [SPEAKER_01]: Empire is not only a true documentary, but every person thoroughly understands what it

[00:45:08] [SPEAKER_01]: all means.

[00:45:09] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:45:10] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:45:11] [SPEAKER_03]: We all just use David Lynch as a measurement of basic language fluency over here.

[00:45:17] [SPEAKER_03]: So you mentioned Juwan.

[00:45:19] [SPEAKER_03]: Like most people, I watched the third one first since that's what The Grudge in America was

[00:45:25] [SPEAKER_03]: based off of.

[00:45:26] [SPEAKER_03]: Did you do the same or did you start at the beginning?

[00:45:28] [SPEAKER_03]: Okay.

[00:45:29] [SPEAKER_01]: So I had every intention of watching the third movie first just to more immediately compare

[00:45:35] [SPEAKER_01]: it to the remake.

[00:45:36] [SPEAKER_01]: But I somehow ended up watching the first movie without even realizing it.

[00:45:40] [SPEAKER_01]: I loved it, but I remember thinking, yeah, they definitely took some liberties with the

[00:45:45] [SPEAKER_01]: remake.

[00:45:45] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:45:47] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:45:47] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:45:47] [SPEAKER_03]: I honestly enjoyed most of the remakes as well.

[00:45:50] [SPEAKER_00]: Mm-hmm.

[00:45:51] [SPEAKER_03]: The American Ring movie actually scared me a lot more than the Japanese one for some reason.

[00:45:56] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.

[00:45:56] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.

[00:45:57] [SPEAKER_02]: They did a really good job with that one.

[00:45:58] [SPEAKER_02]: I agree.

[00:45:59] [SPEAKER_01]: The Grudge remake probably worked so well because it was the same director as the original.

[00:46:04] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:46:05] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, exactly.

[00:46:06] [SPEAKER_03]: Also, it was produced by Sam Raimi.

[00:46:09] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:46:09] [SPEAKER_03]: I think I like The Ring more because I have this unbridled crush on Naomi Watts.

[00:46:15] [SPEAKER_03]: And going back to David Lynch, I blame that on him.

[00:46:18] [SPEAKER_02]: There you go.

[00:46:19] [SPEAKER_02]: There you go.

[00:46:20] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:46:20] [SPEAKER_03]: I didn't do a ton of digging, but I did find that the park from the Japanese story is associated

[00:46:27] [SPEAKER_03]: with hauntings, which I guess has been attributed to there being a bunch of shrines nearby, like

[00:46:34] [SPEAKER_03]: the one that the author went to after the events happened.

[00:46:37] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, I mean, if it's appropriate, I think that park will have to be the first haunted

[00:46:42] [SPEAKER_01]: location we actually go out of our way to visit.

[00:46:44] [SPEAKER_01]: But since, I mean, let's face it, the state side logistics are apparently really difficult

[00:46:48] [SPEAKER_01]: for us.

[00:46:49] [SPEAKER_01]: So let's just go all out and go somewhere that requires a passport and other things that

[00:46:55] [SPEAKER_01]: could go wrong.

[00:46:56] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:46:56] [SPEAKER_03]: It's funny if Japan actually ends up being the first one that we actually do because

[00:47:01] [SPEAKER_03]: we are planning a future trip there.

[00:47:03] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:47:04] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:47:04] [SPEAKER_03]: It seems reasonable.

[00:47:05] [SPEAKER_03]: But before I forget, speaking of remakes, I watched the Uzumaki adaptation.

[00:47:10] [SPEAKER_03]: What did you think of it?

[00:47:12] [SPEAKER_01]: I like how it was.

[00:47:14] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it had some narrative to it, but I like how it was more of like an experience that you

[00:47:19] [SPEAKER_01]: just kind of sit through.

[00:47:20] [SPEAKER_01]: You don't really have to think too hard about any sort of deeper meaning with the story and

[00:47:24] [SPEAKER_01]: catching dialogue.

[00:47:25] [SPEAKER_01]: I enjoyed it.

[00:47:26] [SPEAKER_01]: I think having already read the manga helped a lot, but I think most people would be able

[00:47:31] [SPEAKER_01]: to appreciate it.

[00:47:32] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:47:33] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:47:33] [SPEAKER_03]: It's like they pretty much just abandoned the tension from the manga and all of the

[00:47:38] [SPEAKER_03]: story and the buildup because I also read it as well.

[00:47:41] [SPEAKER_03]: And they just went for, let's just throw in all the scary stuff and just make it like a

[00:47:46] [SPEAKER_03]: music video almost.

[00:47:47] [SPEAKER_03]: And yeah, I hated it at first, but then I actually kind of liked it because of that.

[00:47:52] [SPEAKER_03]: I like it as a separate entity from the books.

[00:47:54] [SPEAKER_01]: For the people that only read the book or the manga or whatever you want to call it for

[00:47:58] [SPEAKER_01]: the sake of like the horrific imagery, I think the anime would be perfect for them.

[00:48:04] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:48:04] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, definitely.

[00:48:05] [SPEAKER_03]: Especially the first episode because the first episode was a completely different kind of

[00:48:09] [SPEAKER_03]: production.

[00:48:10] [SPEAKER_03]: If you watch it over again, they use like rotoscoping on a lot of the animation and it was really

[00:48:14] [SPEAKER_03]: fluid and well done.

[00:48:15] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.

[00:48:16] [SPEAKER_03]: But then the episodes that are coming after that, it seems that they're just like basic

[00:48:21] [SPEAKER_03]: anime.

[00:48:21] [SPEAKER_03]: anime and I don't mean like, I guess just like the basic cheaper anime that you see that's

[00:48:26] [SPEAKER_03]: more like moving pictures.

[00:48:28] [SPEAKER_01]: Interesting.

[00:48:28] [SPEAKER_01]: So I definitely noticed the quality in that first episode, but maybe I wasn't paying

[00:48:32] [SPEAKER_01]: attention close enough for the second one.

[00:48:34] [SPEAKER_03]: I think I was only paying attention because a lot of people pointed it out to me beforehand.

[00:48:38] [SPEAKER_03]: I probably wouldn't even have noticed, but when you watch the first episode and then go

[00:48:41] [SPEAKER_03]: to the second immediately afterwards, it's a pretty stark difference.

[00:48:45] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm going to be so angry.

[00:48:46] [SPEAKER_03]: Thanks.

[00:48:46] [SPEAKER_03]: But it's all right.

[00:48:47] [SPEAKER_03]: It also kind of seems like the Watchmen where people seem to like it more if they read it

[00:48:53] [SPEAKER_03]: first.

[00:48:54] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:48:55] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:48:55] [SPEAKER_01]: That's a fair comparison.

[00:48:56] [SPEAKER_01]: It's actually always, I think it's always nice when video adaptions actually work out.

[00:49:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I agree.

[00:49:02] [SPEAKER_03]: I recently finished reading Batman Long Halloween and I watched the DVD of the animated movie

[00:49:09] [SPEAKER_03]: that they made in like 2021.

[00:49:12] [SPEAKER_03]: And they changed a lot of details and having read it, I got mad at first.

[00:49:17] [SPEAKER_03]: I was like, why'd they do that?

[00:49:18] [SPEAKER_03]: And then I remember like, dude, every single adaptation does this no matter what.

[00:49:22] [SPEAKER_03]: It's always going to happen.

[00:49:23] [SPEAKER_03]: They take liberties and it actually made a lot of sense.

[00:49:26] [SPEAKER_03]: Some of the changes that they made.

[00:49:27] [SPEAKER_03]: So yeah, it's funny because when a movie based off of a book does poorly, we all find

[00:49:34] [SPEAKER_03]: out real quick how much better the book is.

[00:49:37] [SPEAKER_03]: You know what I mean?

[00:49:38] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh yeah, I know.

[00:49:39] [SPEAKER_01]: And when the movie is just as good or better, we sometimes never find out that a book even

[00:49:45] [SPEAKER_01]: exists.

[00:49:45] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it's a true shame.

[00:49:47] [SPEAKER_01]: It really is.

[00:49:49] [SPEAKER_01]: I've also always been surprised that screenwriters don't get more accolades, like unless they

[00:49:54] [SPEAKER_01]: also happen to be the director or something like that.

[00:49:57] [SPEAKER_01]: They're not really a household name.

[00:49:58] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:49:59] [SPEAKER_03]: Maybe they just like it that way.

[00:50:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:50:01] [SPEAKER_03]: You know, getting to work in the shadows a lot of the time, just selling scripts and

[00:50:06] [SPEAKER_03]: going about their lives like podcasters.

[00:50:10] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:50:10] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:50:10] [SPEAKER_01]: There you go.

[00:50:11] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:50:12] [SPEAKER_01]: Sell the script.

[00:50:12] [SPEAKER_01]: My work here is done.

[00:50:14] [SPEAKER_01]: Wow.

[00:50:14] [SPEAKER_01]: Wait.

[00:50:14] [SPEAKER_01]: So that means as narrators, here we are as the actors on the big screen.

[00:50:19] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't like that.

[00:50:20] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, it's all made possible by the writers of these stories.

[00:50:23] [SPEAKER_01]: That's what I'm trying to say.

[00:50:24] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:50:25] [SPEAKER_01]: Speaking of these stories, thanks for sending them in and for listening.

[00:50:29] [SPEAKER_01]: That's a convenient segue.

[00:50:31] [SPEAKER_01]: I like that.

[00:50:32] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.

[00:50:33] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.

[00:50:34] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:50:34] [SPEAKER_03]: If you want to hear your story on the show, as always, make sure you send it in the stories

[00:50:38] [SPEAKER_03]: at oddtrails.com.

[00:50:40] [SPEAKER_03]: And if you want to get access to ad free versions of all our episodes, go to patreon.com forward

[00:50:44] [SPEAKER_03]: slash odd trails and sign up today.

[00:50:46] [SPEAKER_03]: All the stories you heard this week were narrated and produced with the permission of their respective

[00:50:50] [SPEAKER_03]: authors.

[00:50:51] [SPEAKER_03]: And what else do we have?

[00:50:52] [SPEAKER_03]: What's the rest of the crap that I say here at the end?

[00:50:55] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know.

[00:50:56] [SPEAKER_01]: You have other podcasts and stuff.

[00:50:57] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, I do have other podcasts.

[00:50:59] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:50:59] [SPEAKER_03]: Make sure you check them out.

[00:51:00] [SPEAKER_03]: Let's Not Meet, Cryptic Encounters, Old Time Radio Cast.

[00:51:03] [SPEAKER_03]: You can find them all at crypticcountypodcast.com.

[00:51:06] [SPEAKER_03]: I guess we'll see some of you Wednesday.

[00:51:08] [SPEAKER_03]: And the rest of y'all, we'll see you next week.

[00:51:09] [SPEAKER_03]: Stay safe.

[00:51:10] [SPEAKER_03]: Peace out.

[00:51:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Listen, the ghouls disturb you, darling.