Real Ghost Stories Online
A Night in the Haunted Room | Real Ghost Stories Online
(dramatic music) - Today on "Real Ghost Stories Online," a night in the haunted room. - This is "Real Ghost Stories Online." - Thank you so much for listening, and if you have a "Real Ghost Story," we'd sure be happy if you would share it with us. If you wanna call it in, leave us a voicemail at 855-853-4802. If you'd rather write it in, do that, go to realghostoriesonline.com. And if you wanna be a premium subscriber, you get the advanced episodes, access to the archive all without the commercials. Sign up today through Apple Podcast, try it for three days free there. Check it out first, if you like it. You can also sign up through patreon.com/realghostories or at ghostpodcast.com. I'm Carol Hughes, Kathy Gordon. How is everything? - Well, it's pretty good. You know, I have to laugh because you would not make it through an entire night in a haunted room. - No, if somebody said-- - Like a more than one occasion, you have said that's it. You're packing your bag. We're out of this hotel. We go and find a best Western or a motel six or something. And like, it's, I'm not doing it. And I don't know, do you think it's because you had to spend so many nights in a haunted room when we were growing up? - Oh, I mean, how could you not affect me? - That you just refused to do it now. - But-- - That you just refused to do it now. - It's interesting because I'm obviously very fascinated by the paranormal. I always have been fascinated by it. Even when we lived in that house, I'd buy the ghost story books from the little, like anything that was ghost stories. Remember when you were kids, they had like, you could order books? - Yeah. - So I would get anything ghostly. Like, I loved all that shit. I still love it. But I just don't wanna live with it. And I don't, I'd rather just not have to experience it. And I have this weird thing in my head that something could follow me home and I don't want anything in my house. - I just don't. - That is true. But there have, I would say in your defense, there have been times within the last couple of few years, we have stayed at haunted places. - We have and nothing happened. - And nothing happened, but it was always kind of in the back of our mind that this place could be pretty creepy. But the one in Des Moines we stayed at, we, it wasn't in our room. It was in the elevator, we were having issues with the elevator. And, but we have stayed in other places that have been haunted and we've done okay. - Like last year we stayed at the, in Dallas at a haunted hotel. - Down town in a haunted hotel. - Now that said, I didn't sleep most of the night 'cause I'm like, what if, what if, what if? - Yeah. - But then we stayed, we went to Chicago and the Acme Hotel, which was an awesome place to say. Stay, we loved it. - We loved it. - But I could see it being very haunted. Got nothing from it. - So most of those old hotels, you know, I think carry something with them. Just so much has gone on in those hotels. It would just be impossible for there not to be some sort of residual effect of all of the things that have happened in them, you know? - So if, if somebody, if I was to stay at someone's house and they're like, do you want to stay in the room down the hall that's haunted? Or would you rather stay in the other side of the house? That is not haunted. Not haunted. Sign me up for not haunted. But the crazy thing is I know a number of people who would 100% do the haunted. - So many of our listeners would. - Oh yeah. - You know, would, would go with the haunted room. I don't know that I'd, I think I would give it a whirl. - And I'd be, I'd be on my own wing. I'd be like, I had the best night sleep last night, Kathy, in my non-haunted room. How did you do? And you'd be like, well, I didn't have a great night sleep. But boy, do I have some stories for you. - I got, I got some stories for the podcast. - Fun last night. Let me tell you about it. - Oh my goodness. So this is actually, it sounds like more of a house haunted room. - Okay. - So in the summer of 2013, my older brother was gearing up to leave our dad's house in Laguna Beach for a new career in San Francisco. Our parents, our parents had been divorced for five years. So I lived with our mom in Corona while my brother stayed with our dad. It wasn't about favoritism, just practicality. My dad's house was closer to his job and my mom lived near my school. At 20 years old, I never imagined the terrifying night I would spend at my dad's house. That is a really good sentence. My brother had recently moved to San Francisco and I had just been promoted to store manager at a new retail location near Laguna. To make my commute easier, my parents agreed, I should move into our dad's house. Excited about my new role in the spacious room, I'd inherit much larger than the room at my mom's complete with its own bathroom, I moved in. My brother, now three months into his new life, teased me about the house's eerie reputation. Don't let the ghost get ya. He laughed, referencing strange occurrences. We have both experienced in his old room. Before his move, my brother and I were inseparable. Every other week, I'd spend nights at our dads. And once around two a.m., I woke to a soft, persistent humming. At first, I thought it was my brother's snoring, but he later confessed, he'd been awakened by my nocturnal melodies. Another night, so I guess they're both hearing the same weird humming. And my guess is coming from neither of them. Another night, two picture frames fell off the wall, one after the other while we chatted about work. - Yeah, I've had that happen. - That's weird, you have. And during a packing session, his closet door creaked open slowly. We dismiss these as odd, but explainable events, neither of us believing in the paranormal. But everything changed, that sweltering summer night in 2014, I'd been living in my brother's old room for a year, Orange County summers are unbearably hot. And that night was no different, mid 80s, and suffocating. After closing my store at 10 p.m., I rushed home, showered, and went straight to bed. To stay cool, I slept in my boxers with no covers and electric fan blasting and the bedroom window slightly open. A few hours in, something jolted me awake. I lay there staring into the darkness, the faint orange glow of a street light seeping through the window. The house was eerily silent, save for the fan's hum. I couldn't explain why I woke up. No noises, no need to use the bathroom. Trying to drift back to sleep, I was startled again by the sound of my bedroom door slamming shut. My heart raced as I heard the metallic jittering of the door knob. The clock on the TV cable box read 2.30 a.m. Suddenly the power cut out. Total darkness enveloped the room. Every electrical device died instantly. The clock, the fan, even the street lights glow vanished. In the oppressive blackness, the door knob began to shake, slowly turning as if someone was hesitating to open the door. Rational thoughts tried to convince me it was my dad checking on me since his bedroom was next door because who else lived here? Panic surged through me. I grabbed the shaking door knob and flung the door open. Nothing, only darkness deeper than before. Some had encouraged, I whispered, "Dad, dad, what's going on?" Feeling around blindly, I found his closed door, hearing a soft snoring behind it. Confusion and fear tangled inside of me as I glanced down the hallway toward the living room. Gradually my eyes adjusted just enough to see the Venetian blinds rustling. There behind the patio doors in the couch stood a towering, thin figure. It was darker than the night itself. A shadow within shadows, my mind raced. Was this an intruder, a ghost? Frozen with fear, I called out again, "Dad?" The figure leaned forward, its long neck craning as if trying to peer into my soul. I felt its gaze cold and knowing, adrenaline kicked in and despite the terror, I felt a fierce determination. I grabbed my phone's flashlight and bolted out of my room, lighting up the hallway as I ran into the living room. The figure was gone. Heart pounding, I dashed to the kitchen, shining my phone everywhere. Fridge, sink, every corner, nothing. Desperate, I crouched under the dining table. The phone's light barely cutting through the darkness and I could feel something watching me, drawing closer. Terror washed over me, racing any remaining courage. I sprinted back, slamming my bedroom door and locking it, drenched in sweat and shaking uncontrollably. Breaking down, I cried and trembled, feeling utterly helpless. In a frantic attempt to find safety, I called my dad on his cell phone. He woke up confused, irritated that I was calling from the room next to him at 3 a.m. I poured out my story, tears streaming down my face. Surprisingly, my brother believed me when I called him later that night. See, I told you my room was haunted, he said calmly. We talked for nearly an hour. I stayed awake until dawn, the lights on and the lights on. Yeah, so I guess electricity came back 'cause it said the lights were on, the fear lingering. Life moved on, I moved to the Bay Area, got married and started a new job, but the memory of that night stayed with me. True fear isn't like the fear from a horror movie, it's visceral, haunting your very soul. I'm no longer skeptic, something exists out there watching us from the darkness, waiting. Thank you for listening to my story. It means the world to share this experience. I hope it stays with you long after you've heard it. My wife sends her regards, thank you again, Brian. I like that, my wife sends her regards. Thank you, tell your wife regards, best wishes. You know, there's some really profound thoughts in that too, that story that, and I think this is true, that sometimes people have a tendency to, what do I wanna say, diminish paranormal stories or say, oh, it's not that big a deal or, you know, no, I did. I'm telling you, when you have experienced something like Brian went through in this house, it is very, or shaking, and it is very life-changing. You just don't look at things the same as you used to, right? And you can feel that, how this just really, it scared him, frightened him to his core, right? That, and it is, what do you think about all of the power going up at once, even the street lights outside? And then he just happens to see that darker than dark figure, so it doesn't seem quits and dental. Yeah. And it is darker than dark because there's no lights, right? When the electricity goes out too, it becomes so weirdly quiet. Doesn't it? Yeah, I agree with that. 'Cause I sleep with sound on, 'cause I have ringing in my ears all the time, so I need a fan or something on to kind of distract me from that. But this summer there was a night where the electricity was off for eight hours, and I was doing okay for a while, but I'm like, then you just lay there and then you start hearing things that I don't even think I'm really hearing. What was that? What was that? Right. And so especially with all of the things that happened, I would be terrified too, and I think that kind of goes back to your question a little bit ago about staying in a haunted room because I remember as a kid having a lot of nights kind of like that, where I was just terrified, laying in bed, and I don't want to do that anymore. I don't want to experience that again, I did it enough. You know, and the other thing that I found pretty fascinating in the story, there's lots of parts to it. Like it was almost like it was building up or something big to happen. We've had closet doors open, we've heard things a little here and there. You know, he talked about some things happening, but nothing that would make you go, oh my God, you know, this is such a haunted house. But they kind of felt, and the brother did too. You know, something's up and just feels off, you know. I had to feel something similar happen to the brother, don't you? I do. Now, whether it was this bad, I don't know, you know, but it felt like, you know, the brother definitely sensed it too. And, but you know, what do you, what are your thoughts regarding the door, slam shut? And then you could hear it trying to, the door knob trying to open. Yeah, I don't like that. Opening, you know, you know, kind of trying to open it and to shake. And then from what I understand in the story and tell me if I'm wrong, that he somehow Brian gets his nerve up to go to the door and flings it open. And there isn't anything there. Yeah. Right. But I think there's got to be something symbolic about this door business in here. Because it doesn't have to be that way, right? Right. The door didn't have to shut. Whatever it was could have come in with the door open. It sounded like the door was open. But it's trying to scare him. Yeah. And so there's something here with this door business shutting and then the handle trying to open. Well, and remember the theory about things like that, feeding off fear and that energy that you're putting out, that fearful energy is what they want. So they're going to create a very frightening environment for you, shut out all the lights. Now you're laying there hearing things and then the door shut, slam shut, the door knobs rattling. It's like all of it. Just to induce fear is almost what it's like. Yeah, it was very brave. I don't know that I would be able to get up my nerve open to go fling the door open and see what was on the other side. And then to go back and get your phone and turn the flashlight on. I'd be like, I can't move. Although I would have gone back to get my phone and just stayed there in the corner. No, I'd be crying. And that was a scary ass story. And then something there, it just makes you wonder, you know, what if there is, how old is this house? Is there a history to this house? Is there any extra information about it? Or is it just, you know, one of those unexplained entities that's just there? And it's kind of like dad's not having any of it. Yeah, why are you waking me up? Come on. Sound asleep. Oh my God, poor guy. And I'm such a light sleeper, just the fan going off in the middle of the night, I'd be like, well, why do you fan off? Yeah, that'll wake me right up. You know, it's weird, but when the electricity goes off, I wake up because I can sense everything's, you know, not you, I guess I hear the low humming, you know, and whatever, and when that quits, I wake right up. But I think he's right. I think this kind of experience really does change you. Yeah. And he said, you know, now I believe I truly believe something. You know, there's more than we know, you know. Well, let's do another story from Illinois. So, okay, so Alton, Illinois, we've talked about that little town before. It's a very haunted little town. And there's a guy, Troy Taylor, he has, I think it's called American hauntings or something like that. But he does this Paragon, a paranormal conference in Alton, Illinois, every June, I believe, and you and I have wanted to go. So this is a story about Illinois, Alton, Illinois. So it says, "Hi, Sarah Bell here. A few years ago, I shared my unsettling experiences at the Haunted Springs Hotel in Southern Illinois and introduced you to the mysterious man in red who has shadowed me since childhood. I would like to find that story. I should see if I can dig that one out. Today, I wanted to recount another chilling encounter during the Haunted Alton Ghost Tour. Buckle up because this story still sends shivers down my spine. That's hard to say. It was the same eerie weekend we stayed at the Springs Hotel and booked one of the last Alton tours, haunted Alton tours. Anticipation was thick in the air as we arrived. The night cloaked in darkness saved for the dim glow of string lights adorning an emergent table in the front of the McPike mansion. That is a very well known haunted location, by the way, the McPike mansion. This mansion notorious for its hauntings had been the subject of countless investigations. Each team claiming to uncover more of its dark secrets. As Twilight faded in tonight, our tour group gathered outside the imposing facade of the McPike mansion. Every time I say McPike, it makes me think of McDonald's. It's the McPike. The guide began with a brief yet spine-chilling history of the house, setting the tone for what was to come. We followed him to the back where the entrance to the cellar awaited a place whispered about among locals and thrill seekers alike. The closer we got to the mansion, the more I felt an inexplicable presence lurking in the shadows. The air grew colder and an uneasy silence settled over us. We descended into the basement, the darkness swallowing us as we moved deeper into the heart of the house. The cellar was built entirely a brick, mirroring the mansion's foreboding exterior and exuding a damp, oppressive chill that seemed to seep into our bones. Our group settled into the rows of chairs lining the sidewalls facing the back where the EVP, electronic voice phenomenon, team prepared their equipment. The tour guide took his place at the front, his voice steady but tense as he explained the night's agenda. When everything was set, the guide signaled for the lights to be turned off, plunging us into near complete darkness. I don't know that I would handle that very well. About 10 minutes into the session, I felt a subtle breeze brush against my legs. At first I dismissed it after all, I was wearing capris and the cellar was undeniably chilly. But moments later, the breeze returned, this time intensified and creeping up my right leg to my thigh. It felt, I know, it felt as though a child's tiny hand was resting there, sending a shiver of fear through me. My heart raced as I sensed a cold spot beside my arm, the unmistakable presence of a little kid standing right next to me. I strained to catch the words of a faint whisper, but the sounds were too indistinct to decipher. Suddenly, my aunt let out a blood curdling scream. Panic erupted among the group as the team scrambled to restore the light. In those few frantic seconds, the cold vanished replaced by the suffocating normalcy of the cellar. When the lights flickered back on, the guide asked about the scream. My aunt recounted feeling a child's hand on her left leg, her voice trembling with fear. The group buzzed with theories, but the EVP team remained tight-lipped about their recordings, heightening my suspicion as something unexplainable had occurred. We were ushered back outside and almost immediately, as the crowd dispersed, I saw a moment of solitude to process what had just happened. Stepping away from the group, I wandered to the side of the yard, my mind racing with questions and fears, glancing up at one of the windows upstairs I froze. Their silhouetted against the darkness was a figure staring directly at me. My blood ran cold as I met the gaze of someone or something watching me from within the McPike mansion. To this day, I'm unsure if the EVP team found anything on their recordings that night, but the image of that figure remains vivid in my memory. The encounter left me yearning to return to uncover more of the mansion secrets and to perhaps finally understand the mysteries that haunted. I still have countless stories about the old farmhouse and other unexplained phenomena I'd love to share if you're interested. Yes, thanks for listening. I look forward to sharing more with you soon. That's Sarah Bell. - Ooh. - So I'm assuming you looked up the McPike mansion while I was talking right. - I did, of course. - 'Cause you always do. - But it is truly one of those places. When you look at a picture of it, that is even beyond the stereotypical haunted house. (laughs) - Now, this is not our first McPike mansion seller story. - No, I think we've had others. - Yeah, and I remember kind of a similar story that was told that a guy wrote in and he said that they, you know, started and he discussed that it went down into the cellar. And I do believe that was the only place like they weren't upstairs. And he, I vividly remembered that he said the same thing about that cool breeze and felt like something touched him. - And you know what? I just pulled up their page. The mansion isn't open to the public. So that's why they go to the cellar. - Mm-hmm. And I don't know if anybody's living upstairs or not. I don't know that, but it's fascinating that it was, I remember a very similar story from another listener about this house and what happened to them in the cellar. - See, and that's where, and if you were going to get something that obviously is where you would get it in the cellar because that's the only place you can go. - And they do, and this, I'm looking at a site called The Little House of Horrors. And it says that there are ghost children. - Mm-hmm. - That it says that some of the tenants complained of hearing children's laughter in the middle of the night. And this was strange because there were no children on the property. Perhaps these were the two children of Henry and Eleanor McPike who died at a very young age and now haunt the, their bodies are buried in the private cemetery, in the back of the house, I believe. - Interesting. - And they said that the wine cellar is the most active area in the house. Voices and footsteps have been heard. A mysterious mist tends to follow people around in the cellar, and there's a massive metal door that scrapes as if somebody's pushing on it. So lots of different things happening in there. - That is just some creepy stuff. - But I really do remember somebody else writing with a very similar thing that happened to them at the same place that they felt like it was a child. - And what I think's interesting about Sarah Bell is after, if you and I had gone, I'm sure I would have been the one screaming like the aunt. But I think we would have immediately gone outside and been like, oh my God, what happened, Kathy? You know, and this is what happened, you know, kind of debriefing. And so it's interesting that she kind of wandered off by herself and had that whole different experience of someone looking at her. - Well, and it says on this website that people say that there's pacing footsteps, vanishing objects, shadow figures, faces in the windows. - And she saw that. - Orbs and sensation of being touched are common phenomena. - I would not like that, but I don't know. - Well, I might be able to do that. - How would you feel if you were sitting in that cellar and you felt something and you really thought it was a child touching you, then your aunt screams and they say, what was it? She said a child touching you. It's not like you had the chance to tell her. That's what I felt, right? She says she had the same thing happen that you just felt. And I think she said it was on one left leg, one right leg. Or I might have just made that up. I was creeping up her right leg to her thigh and then the aunt felt it. I'm not sure, that's just creeping. - Wow, yeah. - But my God, if I'd be sitting next to my aunt who let out a blood curdling scream I'd have probably wet myself. I'd have been like, Aunt Helen. - Yeah. - But then for her to tell you the story that you just experienced. - Yeah. Yeah, it does say that she felt it on her right leg and her aunt felt it on her left leg. So it's almost like she was in between-- - And just reached over and touched him, yeah, yeah. - That's interesting. - Ooh, I don't know, I'd kind of like to go look at them. - I would love to go. - I think it would creep me out a lot though but it'd be kind of cool at the same time but I don't want any kids touching me. 'Cause I really, I really don't want to be the one doing the blood curdling scream on the tour. - Which would, yes, you would be the screamer. - But I wouldn't do blood curdling scream. I'd probably be like, Jesus Christ, what the fuck is that? - I know. - Everybody else fell out, Jesus, that would have been what I did. - Right, that would, yeah, unleash the cussing. - And then I'd be sorry, I dropped F bombs, people, it just surprised me. - Sorry, sorry, sorry. - I apologize. Yeah, that'd have been me. - Well, if you have a real ghost story, share it with us, we'd love to hear it. You can call it in at 855-855-84802 or write in a real ghost stories online.com and you could become a premium subscriber. Get those advanced episodes and access to the archive all without commercials, sign up through Apple Podcasts or patreon.com/sestralghost stories or gospotcast.com. - And for all of us here at real ghost stories online, thank you so much for listening. (dramatic music) (dramatic music) [BLANK_AUDIO]