The Ghost Wanted a Shave – Ep. 161

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

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

[00:00:22] I think we accidentally summoned A Spirit in the Woods by D'Ordan99.

[00:01:04] This takes place in November 2022. At the time, I had drawn a special elk tag in the Beaverhead Mountain Range in central eastern Ohio.

[00:01:17] I had hunted in this area many times before over the years, and I knew the area like the back of my hand.

[00:01:24] It had become a place of comfort and good memories. It still is, but I haven't looked at it the same since the story I'm about to tell.

[00:01:35] I planned a week-long trip for the first week of November and took one of my best friends with me.

[00:01:42] We spent the first four days hiking up and down various ridges, chasing elk, and having a blast.

[00:01:49] The nights were spent storytelling and eating soup by the stove. Mind you, it was November in Idaho, so it was very cold.

[00:01:59] It was the fourth night of the trip. It had snowed during the day, and a fresh layer of snow lay on the ground.

[00:02:06] The sky had since cleared up, and a very cold but still and quiet air had settled in.

[00:02:14] My friend and I had gotten into a deep discussion about the Bible, spirits, cryptids, skinwalkers, etc.

[00:02:23] I should note that at the time, my friend had been experiencing a decline in his mental health, and it was not uncommon for him to sometimes behave erratically.

[00:02:35] This will be relevant for later in the story.

[00:02:38] During this conversation, I felt an intense fear settle on me.

[00:02:43] It almost felt like the air had become tense.

[00:02:46] I had the urge to change the discussion to something else, but that's when it happened.

[00:02:52] Within twenty or thirty yards of the tent, what I thought at first was a coyote began yipping and barking very loudly.

[00:03:02] I looked at my friend who became excited and told me to grab my gun so that we could go look for this thing.

[00:03:09] It was strange though, and something didn't feel right.

[00:03:13] The animal, whatever it was, didn't exactly sound like a coyote.

[00:03:19] It almost shrieked, as opposed to yipping the way that a coyote does.

[00:03:24] And it would occasionally bark, and at times, almost scream.

[00:03:30] I'm also an experienced outdoorsman, and any hunter knows a coyote would not approach a tent in the middle of nowhere and draw attention to itself.

[00:03:42] It would continue to vocalize for about three to five minutes at a time, circling the tent from a distance.

[00:03:49] I reluctantly grabbed my rifle and my spotlight, a very bright, intense flashlight, and started looking for this thing.

[00:03:58] As I stepped about ten yards away from the tent, I heard it again, directly in front of me, shrieking and barking.

[00:04:08] I shined my light directly at it.

[00:04:10] I could see probably two hundred yards in front of me, yet nothing was there.

[00:04:16] No eyes shining in the light, no outline of an animal or person.

[00:04:22] There was nothing.

[00:04:25] After repeating this same scenario three or four times, we gave up and went back to the tent to warm up.

[00:04:33] But the sound didn't stop.

[00:04:36] At one point, when it went silent, my friend poked his head out of the tent and yelled,

[00:04:41] Hey!

[00:04:42] Shut up!

[00:04:44] He was immediately answered with a scream from the animal.

[00:04:48] At times, it sounded like it came from above the tent, in the tree that we camped under.

[00:04:55] I tried playing it off as a coyote or maybe a hunting dog that got lost, but I could not convince myself that it was either of those.

[00:05:05] We ignored it for the rest of the time.

[00:05:08] It slowly started going further and further away from the tent until it finally stopped, about an hour or so later.

[00:05:15] The next morning, I looked around the area for tracks, yet to my surprise, I found nothing but our own.

[00:05:23] We didn't talk about it for the rest of the trip, and a few days later, we went home.

[00:05:29] Now, I don't know if this is all related, but about three months after this, my friend had a complete mental breakdown and has since never been on a hunting trip.

[00:05:39] Some of his family, a very religious family, questioned whether he was the victim of some kind of spiritual attack or something of that nature.

[00:05:49] I didn't correlate the two at the time, but in hindsight, I had so many questions about that night.

[00:05:56] Is it a coincidence that whatever that animal was appeared during that particular conversation?

[00:06:02] Could it have actually been a coyote or wolf?

[00:06:06] Why couldn't I see any eyes gleaming with the flashlight?

[00:06:10] Did this incident have something to do with my friend's mental decline?

[00:06:14] My friend would sometimes tell me and others about strange things that he saw or heard.

[00:06:20] Was this related?

[00:06:22] If anyone has anything to point out, please share.

[00:06:49] The Story of George by Blackbird

[00:06:52] I'm a 27-year-old woman, and I've known for most of my life that I'm incredibly sensitive to the paranormal.

[00:07:01] I even have a level of clairvoyance that has only gotten stronger since I started practicing as a witch.

[00:07:08] It was in my younger years when I first saw George.

[00:07:12] The story of how George became attached to my family needs a little backstory.

[00:07:18] I get my sensitivity to spirits from my mother, who has always been so open to them that they'll often mess with her.

[00:07:26] According to her, George first came to us one night long before I was born.

[00:07:32] She and her best friend, who would later become my godmother, were messing around with a Ouija board late one night.

[00:07:40] Admittedly, not the smartest decision.

[00:07:43] I don't know if they received any messages that night, but something strange and tragic happened.

[00:07:50] While they were at her friend's house, they suddenly heard a loud bang.

[00:07:55] When they went to investigate, they found her friend's cat dead.

[00:07:59] They were the only ones at the house at the time.

[00:08:03] After that incident, a much friendlier spirit began following my mom around.

[00:08:09] Because the cat's name had been Jorge, pronounced the Spanish way, she decided to call the spirit George.

[00:08:16] I was in elementary school when I saw George for the first time.

[00:08:21] My younger siblings were out with my stepfather, so it was just me and my mom at home.

[00:08:28] I was in the living room watching cartoons, when an older man wearing brown pants, a brown vest, and a matching hat crossed from the hallway next to the living room and into the kitchen.

[00:08:43] Curious, because I'd never seen this man before, I went into the kitchen to see who it was.

[00:08:49] But as you can imagine, the kitchen was completely empty.

[00:08:53] I knew what ghosts were by this point.

[00:08:56] This was coming from the kid who yelled at my mom for starting a Freddy Krueger marathon without me in kindergarten.

[00:09:03] But seeing this was terrifying.

[00:09:06] I ran to my mom's room and told her what I saw.

[00:09:10] That's when she reassured me and explained who George was.

[00:09:15] Apparently, after the cat incident, George started to appear whenever something was wrong or needed her attention.

[00:09:23] He had even warned her about high fevers my siblings and I had suffered when we were younger and kept watch over us.

[00:09:32] After that first encounter, I saw him more often.

[00:09:36] He would check in on us regularly.

[00:09:39] My mom always said I had a stronger connection to him than she did.

[00:09:44] She'd only ever seen him as a shadowy figure, never as a full apparition.

[00:09:50] The most memorable encounter with George happened when I was in middle school.

[00:09:55] It was just after the first bell rang, and everyone was finally inside the school building.

[00:10:02] Through the crowd I caught a glimpse of his signature vest and hat, before losing sight of him again.

[00:10:09] I knew it was him.

[00:10:11] No one else was that tall, and it was such a distinct look.

[00:10:16] At the time I didn't think much of it, but in hindsight, I realized it was a warning.

[00:10:23] The very next day I was riding my bike around the neighborhood, enjoying the crisp fall air, when a car came barreling down the street.

[00:10:33] It was going way too fast for a residential area, and I froze.

[00:10:38] I should have been hit.

[00:10:40] I wasn't moving fast enough to avoid it.

[00:10:42] But then, I felt a hand shove the seat of my bike forward, pushing me out of harm's way, just in time.

[00:10:52] Instead of being hit, I ended up running into a tree.

[00:10:56] I was shaken but uninjured except for a few bruises.

[00:11:01] The car, of course, didn't stop.

[00:11:04] After that, I haven't seen much of George, but I know he's still around, watching, protecting us.

[00:11:37] Odd Memory from Childhood That Couldn't Have Happened by PMW 1981

[00:11:46] So I was talking with my mom the other day about memories of childhood, and all the goofy stuff that happened.

[00:11:53] Everything was cool until I brought up a memory of my grandpa, her dad, doing repairs on his old house.

[00:12:01] It was two stories with a basement, and I told her how I remembered grandpa tearing out the stairs going to the second story because the steps were really bad.

[00:12:11] She gave me a funny look, and when I asked why, she replied,

[00:12:15] You hadn't been born yet.

[00:12:18] Dad fixed those steps about a month before I had you.

[00:12:22] I know because he painted the new steps with a gloss paint and didn't put any grip tape down.

[00:12:29] That's why I slipped and fell a week before you were born.

[00:12:34] She asked for details, and I laid it all out.

[00:12:37] How I watched grandpa working on the steps, the big hole that went straight down into the basement,

[00:12:44] even the signs and bungee cord that he used to close off the doorway so that nobody would get hurt.

[00:12:50] I described the exact layout of the living room, and how he had to move some furniture to make the space work.

[00:12:57] I even remembered him and my uncle measuring and sawing boards on the porch for the steps.

[00:13:04] Somehow, I even recalled crawling up the steps before they got fixed,

[00:13:09] and pinched my hands or feet by the cracked, warped wood.

[00:13:14] It was definitely surreal, and neither of us knows how it could be possible.

[00:13:20] I know for sure it wasn't a dream.

[00:13:22] It was just too detailed and vivid.

[00:13:25] I probably have more memories like that, but this one has always stuck out.

[00:13:30] She even confirmed that grandpa only ever fixed the stairs once,

[00:13:35] after I asked if he had to redo them when I was little.

[00:13:40] So did I somehow witness an alternate timeline or universe from the womb?

[00:14:02] The Ghost Wanted a Shave by Trisha.

[00:14:08] To start, let me give a little background.

[00:14:11] I'm 22 and have lived in the same trailer my whole life with my dad.

[00:14:16] I've always been a believer in the paranormal, especially after watching the Discovery Channel.

[00:14:23] Every time I got caught watching Ghost Adventures, my dad would just sigh dramatically and roll his eyes.

[00:14:31] I've heard all the usual bumps in the night, and doors that were closed would sometimes be found open.

[00:14:37] But there was only one incident that finally made my dad admit we might not be the only souls in the house.

[00:14:45] It happened about a year ago, on a weekend.

[00:14:49] My boyfriend and I were up late, playing video games and messing around, when I heard this vibrating sound.

[00:14:56] It wasn't like the usual creaks and bumps you hear at night.

[00:15:00] This was different.

[00:15:02] Being the only two people in the house, I poked my head out of my room,

[00:15:06] and the noise seemed to be coming from the opposite side of the house, in my dad's room.

[00:15:12] We were already hyped up from our losing streak on Call of Duty, so our senses were on high alert.

[00:15:20] My boyfriend grabbed the closest weapon, a sword, and we stalked down the hallway like we were going into battle.

[00:15:28] We checked the living room, the kitchen, the dining room.

[00:15:31] Nothing out of the ordinary, just pure darkness.

[00:15:35] Then we stopped outside the doorway, to my dad's room.

[00:15:39] The vibrating sound was louder now, coming from inside.

[00:15:44] My first thought was, what if it's the water heater?

[00:15:48] Did something break?

[00:15:50] I have the worst luck with things going wrong while my dad's away,

[00:15:54] and he of course always thinks I've been messing around and broke something.

[00:15:58] For context, the water heater is located in his closet.

[00:16:03] I was so determined to figure out what was going on,

[00:16:07] so I took a big step into the blackness of this room, basically just on autopilot.

[00:16:13] I hate the dark, so my first instinct was to yank on the overhead fan to turn on the light.

[00:16:20] Big mistake.

[00:16:22] There were no lights in the room.

[00:16:24] I had to fight the urge to pull the entire ceiling fan down out of frustration,

[00:16:29] so I just retreated to the doorway where my boyfriend stood,

[00:16:33] still gripping the sword like he was in a horror movie.

[00:16:36] The only light switch that worked was for the bathroom light,

[00:16:40] all the way across the room.

[00:16:42] What if there's someone hiding in the closet, or by the bed?

[00:16:46] My boyfriend pointed out, just as I was about to sprint for the light.

[00:16:51] Then come with me, I hissed through my teeth.

[00:16:56] Part of me was worried that something was broken,

[00:16:58] but the other part of me was worried there might actually be someone lurking in the dark.

[00:17:04] And in the back of my brain, a thought popped up.

[00:17:08] It sounds like an electric razor.

[00:17:11] Hand in hand, we walked into the room,

[00:17:14] creeping toward the bathroom light switch.

[00:17:17] When we got there, I slammed every button.

[00:17:20] I didn't care if I turned on the vent, the fan, or the whole house for that matter.

[00:17:25] I just needed some light.

[00:17:28] Finally, the room lit up, and I turned to the closet.

[00:17:32] The noise wasn't coming from there, though.

[00:17:35] Instead, it was coming from his electric razor,

[00:17:39] sitting upright in its charging holder.

[00:17:42] I grabbed it, flipped the button to turn it off, and slammed it back into the charger.

[00:17:47] My boyfriend and I stared at each other, wide-eyed, like,

[00:17:51] did we really freak out over a razor?

[00:17:55] I still had my phone flashlight on, so I quickly texted my dad,

[00:18:00] not funny leaving your razor on.

[00:18:03] Then we headed back to our room, laughing it off and playing video games for the rest of the night.

[00:18:09] The next morning, my dad texted me back.

[00:18:12] He was like,

[00:18:13] I haven't used my razor at all this week.

[00:18:16] Cue the mental gymnastics I had to do to figure out who or what turned on the razor.

[00:18:23] When my dad got back home, I told him everything.

[00:18:26] He just shrugged and said,

[00:18:28] Well, that's spooky.

[00:18:30] Maybe he just wanted to shave.

[00:18:33] For once, he didn't have a logical explanation,

[00:18:35] or try to blame it on me for watching too many ghost shows.

[00:18:40] That's the only time my dad has ever admitted that something strange might have actually happened.

[00:19:06] Tate's Hell Forest Encounter by %77

[00:19:11] An ex-girlfriend and I were late getting to Tate's Hell State Forest in Florida back in May 2021.

[00:19:19] It was around 11pm, dark out, and we were driving down an unimproved road for about 30 minutes.

[00:19:27] We then followed the GPS down a very narrow trail.

[00:19:31] I was driving a mid-sized truck, and the branches on either side of the truck were constantly scraping.

[00:19:38] As we were driving slowly due to the ruts and puddles,

[00:19:42] we saw something emerge from the left-hand side of the trail.

[00:19:47] It crossed, stopped, looked back at the truck,

[00:19:51] and then disappeared into the woods on the right-hand side of the trail.

[00:19:54] The whole encounter lasted maybe 4-5 seconds.

[00:19:59] It was on two lakes.

[00:20:02] It was so out of place because of the location.

[00:20:05] It was 40 minutes outside civilization and improved roads.

[00:20:10] Also, the conditions were so bad that it was late.

[00:20:14] I can't begin to describe the marsh-like conditions that we were driving through

[00:20:18] for this bipedal thing to just traverse with such ease.

[00:20:23] Its arms swung as it walked, its eyes reflected the headlights, and its body stood powerfully tall.

[00:20:31] The details of its skin or fur are a bit harder to describe due to the sprinkling rain and the 15-foot distance.

[00:20:39] However, it had very dark skin or fur.

[00:20:43] The biggest part of the story is definitely the fact that we were on the wrong trail.

[00:20:49] We got stuck on the trail just a few yards from where we saw this thing,

[00:20:54] and as I fearfully got out of the truck to dig my tires out, nothing happened to us.

[00:21:01] I was exposed out of my element, wet, knee-deep in mud, and alone outside the truck.

[00:21:08] I struggled for 30 minutes and could have easily been harmed or approached.

[00:21:13] However, nothing ever happened.

[00:21:16] But Tow Truck rescued us at 2am, and we gladly booked the hotel room for the night as we were extremely scared.

[00:21:24] The locals laughed it off.

[00:21:26] However, you know what you are seeing when it's right in front of you.

[00:21:49] Bunny Man Story by Turbo

[00:21:53] I recently recalled a strange experience my sister and I had as kids.

[00:21:59] When I went looking for information about it online, I found out that other people have had similar experiences.

[00:22:05] A Reddit post brought me to your podcast, and you were wondering if the Bunny Man was a cryptid of sorts.

[00:22:13] Well, let me tell you about my experience.

[00:22:16] I was about 10 years old and my sister was about 7, so this would have happened in around 1993.

[00:22:24] We lived in a very rural area, out in the country in Alabama.

[00:22:29] Our nearest neighbor was maybe an eighth of a mile in any direction.

[00:22:35] One day, my sister and I were playing outside.

[00:22:37] It was broad daylight.

[00:22:39] And for some reason, we were near the top of our long gravel driveway.

[00:22:44] It kinda sat up on a slope.

[00:22:47] But at the bottom of the driveway, we both saw this large, solid white rabbit.

[00:22:54] When I say large, I mean it looked to be the size of an adult male.

[00:22:58] Perhaps 6 feet tall or more.

[00:23:01] Especially to us kids, it looked massive.

[00:23:05] This is one of my most vivid memories, and I remember it like it was yesterday.

[00:23:10] The rabbit was actually hopping, not walking.

[00:23:14] It had its back turned to us, so all we ever saw was its back.

[00:23:19] It paused for just a moment, though, turned its head and looked directly at us.

[00:23:25] Then it hopped away into the woods.

[00:23:28] I remember that one of its ears stood straight up, while the other ear was floppy and bent over.

[00:23:35] I can't recall if it was wearing clothes, but I wanna say it was just solid white.

[00:23:42] I remember thinking at the time that it must have been my grandfather dressed in an Easter bunny costume,

[00:23:47] but my grandparents lived 20 miles away.

[00:23:51] And later in life, I asked him about it.

[00:23:54] He had no idea what I was talking about.

[00:23:57] To this day, my sister remembers seeing it, too.

[00:24:00] It's something neither of us will ever forget.

[00:24:04] We can't make sense of it.

[00:24:06] Could that have been the bunny man?

[00:24:31] The Tall Stick Entity by Daughter of Saturn 13

[00:24:35] I want to share a truly bizarre, terrifying, and unexplainable experience I had while growing up.

[00:24:44] My childhood home was a hotbed for paranormal activity.

[00:24:48] I could write a book with the number of stories I have, but this one...

[00:24:51] It was different from all the rest.

[00:24:54] We lived on a small stretch of secluded highway in a wooded area.

[00:24:59] Our home was nestled on a few acres of land, and the area surrounding us was federally protected wildlife refuge land.

[00:25:06] This meant that unless your house was grandfathered in, no one could purchase land or build in this area, so we didn't have any neighbors.

[00:25:14] Our house was a 300-year-old colonial home with a lot of history.

[00:25:20] There was knowledge of Native Americans once residing there and many stories about the Civil and Revolutionary Wars taking place on that land.

[00:25:29] There was definitely a heavy, negative energy in that house and on the property.

[00:25:34] You always felt like you were being watched from every angle of the woods.

[00:25:39] Many people who visited would immediately become uneasy, often stating their discomfort and need to leave.

[00:25:47] My family and I had countless experiences, some of us individually and others together.

[00:25:53] This particular experience was shared between myself and my two brothers.

[00:25:59] Like many nights after dinner, my dad would tell one of us to go out back and feed the dog.

[00:26:05] This was a scary task because it would be pitch black and our dog was kept near the tree line of the woods.

[00:26:13] That section of the woods always gave us an uneasy feeling, no matter the time of day.

[00:26:18] But especially at night, it was downright terrifying.

[00:26:23] So, no matter which one of us was told to feed the dog, we never left a man behind.

[00:26:29] We always went out in a trio because none of us wanted to go alone.

[00:26:34] On this particular night, I was probably around 11 years old, with my brothers being 10 and 7.

[00:26:42] We followed our usual routine.

[00:26:45] Whoever was told to feed the dog had to carry the bowl, while the other two huddled close, keeping the person with the bowl in the middle.

[00:26:51] We would walk extremely slowly, all of us looking in different directions to survey the property, while keeping our conversations lighthearted and silly to distract ourselves from the fear.

[00:27:05] When we reached our dog, it was tradition for the person holding the bowl to get pranked.

[00:27:11] Right before they had a chance to put the bowl down, the other two siblings would scream something like,

[00:27:17] Jeepers Creepers! or,

[00:27:19] The Jersey Devil!

[00:27:20] And then haul ass back to the house, leaving the bowl holder, standing alone before they could even run.

[00:27:27] On this night, my brother was the one holding the bowl.

[00:27:31] As we walked toward the backyard, something felt off.

[00:27:35] The air felt static and charged, like it did before a lightning storm.

[00:27:41] We could hear our dog barking like crazy, which was unusual.

[00:27:46] When we got close enough to see him, we saw him standing on his hind legs, with the leash pulled completely tight.

[00:27:54] Whatever he was barking at, he was trying with all his might to break free from the collar and go after it.

[00:28:02] That's when we heard branches snapping loudly.

[00:28:05] We looked in the direction which our dog was barking, and saw a giant black stick figure as tall as the trees.

[00:28:15] It was walking over a huge brush pile, which was why we were hearing branches breaking.

[00:28:22] The way that it moved was almost mechanical and its presence felt ominous, filling us with a dreadful feeling.

[00:28:29] At first, it seemed like it didn't notice us, and was just walking by.

[00:28:35] But then it turned toward us, and that's when we bolted for the house.

[00:28:40] My brother throwing the food bowl into the air.

[00:28:43] Our legs felt like jello as we ran.

[00:28:46] We all saw the same thing, and it scared us so badly that, unlike many of the stories that you'll hear, our parents actually believed us.

[00:28:58] Fast forward years later.

[00:29:01] I was having a conversation with my coworker about paranormal topics.

[00:29:06] During the conversation, she asked if I had ever heard of the Native American stick people.

[00:29:13] Now, I knew what she was referring to as soon as she said it.

[00:29:17] She told me about giant stick figures that had been seen in the woods that Native Americans supposedly believed were totems of evil spirits.

[00:29:28] According to her, if you encounter one, and it comes after you, it can possess you and cause you to do harm.

[00:29:36] I was so freaked out.

[00:29:39] But knowing the Native American history of that land does make me believe that the two are connected.

[00:30:11] So, what would you do if you were sitting in a tent and some unseen creature just starts shrieking and circling you in the middle of the night?

[00:30:21] I'd probably, like, grab a plane ticket to go literally anywhere else.

[00:30:25] The fact that he even stepped outside to look for this thing, I wouldn't have been able to make it past the first yip.

[00:30:32] Way too dangerous and creepy.

[00:30:35] Yeah, same here.

[00:30:36] But I guess what stands out for me the most is the timing.

[00:30:40] So, they're, like, deep in conversation about spirits and, you know, skinwalkers when it happens in perfect, odd trails fashion.

[00:30:49] We've totally covered this a million times, but it wasn't until we started doing this show that the paranormal started rearing its head into our personal lives, I guess you could say.

[00:30:59] Yeah.

[00:30:59] Um, it's just like using a Ouija board.

[00:31:02] You're really just inviting things in from the other dimension, so to speak, for some sort of party.

[00:31:08] Yeah, it's like, whatever this thing was, it wanted them to know that it was there, but there weren't any tracks.

[00:31:16] That's what really gets me.

[00:31:17] There was fresh snow, but nothing else.

[00:31:20] That's just something, I don't know, I feel like it's something that would probably scare even the most skilled outdoorsman.

[00:31:28] Yeah, no, that doesn't make sense.

[00:31:30] You gotta follow the tracks.

[00:31:31] Always follow the tracks.

[00:31:32] Like I know.

[00:31:35] I mean, plus it wasn't like, scared off by yelling or the spotlight.

[00:31:40] Coyotes or wolves don't just hang around like that.

[00:31:43] At least I don't think.

[00:31:44] Um, it's hard to just label this some wild animal.

[00:31:48] Nothing really adds up to point to that, I think.

[00:31:50] Yeah, and so many of these reports of, you know, paranormal creatures or, I guess, entities include this idea of them defying the normal rules of physics and biology.

[00:32:03] Like, as we mentioned already, they'll make noise but leave no tracks or they'll be visible for like one second and then they're gone the next.

[00:32:13] Mm-hmm.

[00:32:14] What if this thing wasn't a flesh and blood animal at all?

[00:32:18] What if it was some kind of manifestation or a projection of something spiritual or interdimensional?

[00:32:26] Right, and what if it had been following the friend around causing their issues and feeding off of that negative energy?

[00:32:32] People in those fragile states always seem a lot more susceptible to experiencing these sort of things.

[00:32:37] Yeah, yeah, you're right.

[00:32:38] And then there's the idea that this friend might have already been seeing or hearing strange things before this trip.

[00:32:45] It makes you wonder if the two are connected maybe?

[00:32:48] Mm.

[00:32:48] Was this just some one-off event or was it part of a bigger picture for them?

[00:32:53] Yeah, yeah.

[00:32:55] You know, this encounter actually lines up with, you know, some Native American lore from that region.

[00:33:02] Skinwalkers, for example, they're said to mimic animals and it's always just kind of off, you know?

[00:33:10] Like, the sounds are just slightly wrong or exaggerated or they do it to lure people out.

[00:33:18] Yeah, they only appear in specific regions too and we'll never really know for sure what the truth is behind the SWs, I shall say.

[00:33:28] Can't blame those who are in the know for not wanting to put it all out there, you know?

[00:33:32] Yeah, yeah.

[00:33:33] Yeah, I'm sure that the Navajo Nation isn't exactly jumping at the opportunity for Hollywood to capitalize on their lore.

[00:33:39] Yeah, or podcasters for that matter.

[00:33:41] Who are we?

[00:33:43] Yeah, wild story though.

[00:33:45] Those sounds coming from right above the tent.

[00:33:48] Love it.

[00:33:49] Yeah, yeah.

[00:33:49] I love the camping stories because they just make me feel a bit more vindicated.

[00:33:53] Yeah, there you go.

[00:33:55] Yeah.

[00:33:56] Yeah.

[00:33:56] Yeah.

[00:33:57] That old memory story really made me stop and think about how memories work.

[00:34:02] Like, do you ever vividly remember something that someone else doesn't but you know for sure that actually happened but they're positive it didn't because of this reason?

[00:34:11] Yeah, yeah.

[00:34:13] And it makes me feel crazy like they're gaslighting me.

[00:34:15] Yeah, exactly.

[00:34:16] I hate that.

[00:34:18] Yeah.

[00:34:18] This story is like that but times 10.

[00:34:21] They vividly remember their grandpa fixing stairs so vividly that they can recall the layout of the room, the tools, even pinching themselves on the floorboards.

[00:34:31] But their mom says it happened before they were born.

[00:34:34] How does that even happen?

[00:34:36] Yeah.

[00:34:36] And it wasn't just vague expressions.

[00:34:39] It's stuff like the signs from...

[00:34:41] And it wasn't just vague impressions.

[00:34:44] It's stuff like the signs and bungee cords to block off the stairs where the furniture was moved and even how the wood fell under their hands.

[00:34:54] It doesn't really sound too dreamy to me.

[00:34:57] Um, I just wonder where such specific memories like that come from.

[00:35:02] Yeah, yeah, I know what you mean.

[00:35:03] Have you heard of generational or genetic memory?

[00:35:06] Yes, but by all means do the honors.

[00:35:08] Okay.

[00:35:10] So for the listeners, it's the idea that certain memories or experiences can be, I guess, passed down through DNA.

[00:35:18] Like how animals instinctively know how to migrate or build nests, things like that.

[00:35:24] Suck on a nipple type of thing.

[00:35:26] Exactly.

[00:35:27] Suck on a nipple.

[00:35:28] Mm-hmm.

[00:35:29] Natural.

[00:35:30] Maybe this is like the human version of that.

[00:35:34] This ancestral memory of sorts.

[00:35:37] But we could also say that the author remembered the events like they were there.

[00:35:43] It wasn't just some instinctive action, you know?

[00:35:46] Um, if it's genetic, why would it be so specific?

[00:35:50] No, yeah, I guess you're right.

[00:35:51] I mean, this isn't just a general sense of the stairs were fixed.

[00:35:56] This was something more along the lines of deja vu.

[00:35:59] But it was impossible for them to have had that experience before they were born.

[00:36:04] Yeah.

[00:36:05] And deja vu is usually just a fleeting feeling though.

[00:36:08] Like, oh, I've been here before.

[00:36:10] I've seen this.

[00:36:11] And we've talked about before how like the deja vus that last for like 30 seconds to

[00:36:16] a minute.

[00:36:17] It's scary.

[00:36:18] It's really messing with your mind.

[00:36:20] But, uh, yeah, this feels more like the author somehow witnessed the event firsthand,

[00:36:25] which is where alternate realities or timelines come into play.

[00:36:30] What if they're tapping into a version of themselves from another timeline where they

[00:36:35] were already born when this happened?

[00:36:37] Ooh, yeah, yeah.

[00:36:39] Alternate timelines are always great.

[00:36:40] Uh, and honestly, we hear so many stories about people experiencing memories or events that

[00:36:46] they couldn't have possibly lived through.

[00:36:48] It makes you wonder if our understanding of time is a lot more flexible than we think.

[00:36:53] Yeah.

[00:36:54] Maybe we're not as locked into one linear reality as we like to believe, which by the

[00:36:59] way, some people pronounce my last name is linear, but whatever.

[00:37:02] I just wanna, every time I see linear, it, it's mildly triggering, but it's okay.

[00:37:07] Fair enough.

[00:37:08] Yeah.

[00:37:08] Fair enough.

[00:37:10] But I think you're right.

[00:37:11] But, and then there's the possibility of pre-birth memories.

[00:37:15] Oh yeah.

[00:37:16] Don't get me started.

[00:37:17] Love those.

[00:37:18] Yeah.

[00:37:19] It's so cool.

[00:37:19] People basically claiming to remember things from before they were born, like moments

[00:37:24] in the womb or even like spiritual experiences from before they even entered this life.

[00:37:31] I wonder if the author could have somehow been observing from the womb.

[00:37:37] Don't like, don't get me wrong.

[00:37:39] It's kind of out there, but I don't know on this show.

[00:37:41] What isn't true?

[00:37:43] Oh, true.

[00:37:43] Like, like everything else.

[00:37:44] Always worth considering though.

[00:37:46] When I was a kid, I used to think that I had a memory of being born, like coming out

[00:37:51] of the womb for lack of a better word.

[00:37:54] Um, but yeah, I was just like peering through this cave of light and there I was, but I'm

[00:37:59] sure it was just like some false memory that I had implanted as an imaginative five year

[00:38:03] old or something.

[00:38:04] Um, yeah.

[00:38:06] Do you, what was your, what was your first memory?

[00:38:09] I don't know if we talked about this.

[00:38:11] I think we have, but I know I actually back dated everything accurately with my dad and it

[00:38:16] was playing Legos with him, like the old, like Duplo sets of a zoo.

[00:38:22] And I w I had just turned two years old and I specifically remember playing with that set

[00:38:26] and the room that I lived in and this like townhouse apartment thing in our hometown,

[00:38:31] like getting this really big, like oversized balloon.

[00:38:34] I don't know what they're actually used for.

[00:38:35] People use them for, uh, for like whippets and hailing whippets, but I know that's party

[00:38:40] balloons, you know, the really big ones.

[00:38:42] Um, you know, back when childhood innocence was a thing, but yeah, I remember coming home

[00:38:47] from the store and having one of those balloons and having that Lego set.

[00:38:51] And yeah, sure enough, I had like just turned two years old.

[00:38:54] Yeah.

[00:38:55] I can remember being in the crib and looking through the bars.

[00:38:59] That was my earliest memory.

[00:39:00] I don't know how old I was had to be before three.

[00:39:03] Um, but yeah, nothing specific, just looking through the bars.

[00:39:07] That's it.

[00:39:08] Nice.

[00:39:08] Very nice.

[00:39:09] Yeah.

[00:39:11] But yeah, everything's out there, but always worth considering.

[00:39:13] There's, there's also the idea of residual energy.

[00:39:17] I was thinking before I went on that tangent about whippets, but if the grandpa's repairs

[00:39:23] were a significant event in that house, maybe the author somehow tapped into some kind of psychic

[00:39:29] playback.

[00:39:30] You know what I mean?

[00:39:31] Like, like the energy of that moment was still lingering and they were able to access it

[00:39:36] somehow.

[00:39:37] Locations do seem to hold a lot of energy from intense and important events.

[00:39:42] At least that's what I learned from ghost hunters.

[00:39:45] Uh, it's almost like the house itself had this memory imprinted on it and the author could tune

[00:39:53] into it like some kind of recording.

[00:39:55] Yeah.

[00:39:56] I always think of slowly cycling through radio stations with the dial and you occasionally

[00:40:02] find a station that comes in pretty clearly, but only if the dial is turned very specifically

[00:40:08] like one nanometer off and you're done, bud.

[00:40:12] Uh, I just imagine the whole paranormal realm of existence to be on some sort of frequency.

[00:40:18] That's just a couple of decimal points off of our own.

[00:40:22] So sometimes things can get weird, you know, just a little bit of overlap kind of happens.

[00:40:26] I appreciate you going so analog for that.

[00:40:29] Yeah.

[00:40:30] Thank you for your words of affirmation.

[00:40:32] You're welcome.

[00:40:33] You know, it's kind of crazy.

[00:40:34] I think about listening to the radio nowadays and like I'll put it on if you know, my phone's

[00:40:41] not working or something, or if my phone's dead or I don't have service and I can't stream

[00:40:45] something.

[00:40:47] I just, uh, I'll put on the radio and I'll be like, who's listening to this?

[00:40:51] Yes.

[00:40:51] I, I, the only reason I would ever listen to the radio in 2024 or soon to be 2025 is if

[00:40:58] something wasn't working where I couldn't use my phone.

[00:41:01] Weather alerts.

[00:41:02] That's literally it.

[00:41:03] Yeah, exactly.

[00:41:04] For news that you need to get right away.

[00:41:06] But even then you can use your phone cause you can access YouTube live.

[00:41:09] And I, it's just, why is the radio still make it?

[00:41:13] Are they making money on this stuff?

[00:41:14] What's going on?

[00:41:15] That's actually very good points.

[00:41:17] Cause I don't know that that would be a hard sell for me for somebody to like pitch an ad

[00:41:21] for us.

[00:41:22] Like, Hey, you should put your, uh, we should pitch odd trails on a KSFM 98.69.

[00:41:27] It's like, eh, no, I think we're good.

[00:41:29] No, it's only five bucks for one ad.

[00:41:31] No, even so, you know, I can, I can go to talkable for five bucks.

[00:41:34] Kind of like I'm good.

[00:41:35] Yeah.

[00:41:36] Yeah.

[00:41:37] Yeah.

[00:41:38] Well, anyways, let's hop into our next topic of discussion.

[00:41:42] Hop.

[00:41:43] Okay.

[00:41:43] That's my cue.

[00:41:45] So, uh, yeah, a six foot tall rabbit hopping around in broad daylight.

[00:41:50] What's up with that?

[00:41:51] Yeah.

[00:41:52] The imagery, I guess if that's what you want to call it really did give me the chills though.

[00:41:56] Like the fact both siblings saw it, that's not something you can just shrug off.

[00:42:03] Exactly.

[00:42:03] Like it's one thing if one person claims that they saw something, but when two people,

[00:42:09] especially kids who aren't likely to make up something so specific, both see it, it just

[00:42:15] makes you stop and think.

[00:42:16] Like in the detail about the rabbit hopping, not walking.

[00:42:21] That's what gets me.

[00:42:22] If it were a person in a costume, how could they pull off hopping like that without falling

[00:42:27] over on their face basically?

[00:42:29] Mm-hmm.

[00:42:29] And why would anyone even attempt in the middle of nowhere to do something like that?

[00:42:34] Yeah, I agree with you.

[00:42:36] It's kind of Lynchian.

[00:42:37] He keeps coming up in these, these, uh, talks of ours, but so many of these stories remind

[00:42:43] me of David Lynch imagery.

[00:42:45] Mm-hmm.

[00:42:46] I think that it's just more proof that Lynch was really tapping into something otherworldly,

[00:42:50] but that's, that's another, another conversation.

[00:42:53] Sorry.

[00:42:53] But it did make sense for them to think that it could have been their grandpa, but I

[00:42:59] don't know.

[00:42:59] That's, it's still just so weird, you know, like really think about that.

[00:43:05] Yeah, no, that's, that's right.

[00:43:07] They thought it was their grandpa.

[00:43:08] That's, I don't know.

[00:43:09] I don't usually think you're ever too old for whatever, but then you imagine your own

[00:43:14] grandpa hopping alongside the road in a bunny costume.

[00:43:17] That really puts things into perspective.

[00:43:19] Yeah.

[00:43:20] Yeah.

[00:43:21] So, okay.

[00:43:22] So what's also weird for me is that it happened in a rural area during broad daylight and nobody

[00:43:30] else was around.

[00:43:31] It's just not the kind of place that you'd expect something like that to happen.

[00:43:35] Right.

[00:43:36] Right.

[00:43:36] And it's just too elaborate to be a prank.

[00:43:38] I think.

[00:43:39] Yeah.

[00:43:40] If someone went through all the trouble of pranking the kids, I think they would have

[00:43:44] interacted with them a bit more than just looking at them to go through all that trouble

[00:43:48] just to be like seen and nothing else.

[00:43:52] Yeah.

[00:43:52] Just seen by a couple of kids.

[00:43:55] Anybody who owns and wears a rabbit costume in general would probably be the type to have

[00:44:01] some fun with it, I'm guessing, but you know, who even knows if it was a bunny man, maybe

[00:44:10] some sort of variant or a different species, I guess.

[00:44:13] Yeah.

[00:44:14] And you've got your, uh, Wendy Walkers and Hank Hoppers of the bunny men.

[00:44:19] Yeah, exactly.

[00:44:20] Bunny people.

[00:44:21] Yeah.

[00:44:22] Bunny people.

[00:44:23] I don't ever remember hearing about bunny men who hop though.

[00:44:27] I wonder if the bunny man is ever tied to places or if he's no different than the hat

[00:44:33] man, some kind of recurring phenomenon that seemingly just shows up in different forms.

[00:44:38] I guess, depending on who's seeing it.

[00:44:41] I wouldn't be surprised if we asked that same exact question the first time we ever even

[00:44:46] talked about bunny man.

[00:44:47] Oh, I'm sure.

[00:44:49] I'm sure.

[00:44:49] Well, anyways, thanks everybody so much for listening.

[00:44:51] Don't forget to send your stories into stories at odd trails.com to hear them on the show

[00:44:55] and send them in, just sentiment, whatever you're thinking about, whatever experience

[00:44:59] that happened to you, just write it out and send it to us.

[00:45:02] We'll read anything that we get.

[00:45:04] And if you want to get ad free versions of all of our episodes at a higher bit rate, go

[00:45:09] over to patreon.com forward slash odd trails to sign up and support the show today.

[00:45:13] And don't forget my other podcasts.

[00:45:15] It's like let's not meet cryptic encounters and the old time radio cast wherever you get your

[00:45:19] podcasts.

[00:45:19] We'll see you guys next time.

[00:45:21] Everybody stay safe.

[00:45:22] Peace out.

[00:45:43] The ghouls disturb you, darling.

[00:45:46] The ghouls disturb you.