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In tonight's dead letter, Keith takes us back to the spring of 1997, when he was a freshman at Rutgers living on the third floor of Clothier Hall, a brick dorm in downtown New Brunswick, New Jersey. Early one Saturday morning, with the first light coming in around the curtain, he opened his eyes and someone was sitting on the floor against his roommate's bed, six feet away, in a room he had locked the night before. Someone, or some…thing…that shouldn’t have been there. Relevant Prior EpisodesEp 26: Shadow PeopleAstonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Ep 338: Your True Halloween Stories IV, Part 3Astonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Ep 87: Black Eyed Kids Part 1Astonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Links and Further ReadingClothier Hall (Rutgers Residence Life) Weird NJ Shadow person (Wikipedia)Note: We call Benadryl's active ingredient pseudoephedrine in the episode. It's diphenhydramine. Hypnagogia and the hypnopompic state (Wikipedia) Hypnic jerk (Wikipedia) Jim Harold's Campfire Miyamoto Musashi (Wikipedia) Wild Talents, by Charles Fort (1932), free to read at sacred-texts.com We're looking for more stories! Send your Dead Letter to [email protected]!

We're back, and this time we’re lucky enough to have paranormal investigator, researcher and author Michelle Belanger join us to help answer the question connecting this week's stories: does this phenomenon have a name? At a Southern California shopping mall, Amy gets in line for food when two young women behind her suddenly fill her with an intense feeling of dread. In Los Angeles, Zee picks up two young women from an unlikely spot near a freeway overpass, and before long, an ordinary ride begins to feel anything but. Lastly, Mike takes us back to a Chicago suburb in 1988, where a routine walk near a cemetery leads to a passing encounter with two women he has never forgotten. Turn down the lights and join us for the final set of this year’s true Halloween mysteries. Visit our website for a lot more information on this episode.

In tonight's dead letter, we're in Cluj-Napoca, Transylvania in the 1990s, a few years after the revolution, where our listener Nadina, six at the time, had the run of a Soviet-era apartment block with her older sister and their best friend while their nanny visited a friend upstairs. They climbed past the last floor of apartments to the metal door at the top, and before anyone could touch it, something huge, aggressive and feral sounding on the other side began attacking it so hard they fled. Nadina still doesn't know what was up there. Relevant Prior Episodes Ep 49: Monsters Among UsAstonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Ep 116: Small Town MonstersAstonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Ep 183: Sam the Sandown ClownAstonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Ep 203: The Beast of GévaudanAstonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Links and Further Reading Hoia Baciu Forest (Astonishing Legends) History of Cluj-Napoca Systematization in Romania Transylvanian Superstitions, Emily Gerard, 1885 (Project Gutenberg) Pricolici Strigoi Tracing the Roots of Lycanthropy (Astonishing Legends) The Beast of Bray Road (Astonishing Legends) Blonde Venus (1932) Classic Sideshow Acts: The Girl into the Gorilla (Museum of the Weird) Pepper's Ghost We're looking for more stories! Send your Dead Letter to [email protected]!

Our Halloween tradition continues with three more listeners sharing encounters they still can’t explain. At a church summer camp in the mountains above Southern California, Ray and two fellow counselors spot a girl standing alone in the parking lot after lights-out. She silently returns to the bunkhouse when they call to her… but that won’t be the last time they see her. In San Luis Obispo, Brian and his wife move into a guest house with a long history and a curious warning from their elderly landlady: most tenants don’t stay very long. Soon they begin to understand why. And Terry takes us back to the night shift of a hospital coronary care unit, where a dying patient starts asking every nurse the same unsettling question: “Who’s that behind you?” Turn down the lights and settle in for Part Two of our Halloween listener stories. Visit our website for a lot more information on this episode.

In tonight's dead letter, our listener TM was the office manager at a Catholic parish in the upper Mississippi river area, and part of her job was digitizing the cemetery's paper records, so she'd walk the rows with a camera, say hello to everyone, and tell them what she was there to do. One marker sat outside the cemetery’s plot map entirely: a boy who drowned in the river in 1936, with fresh flowers by his stone and no file in the office. One July afternoon, someone or something unseen let her know it was there. Relevant Prior Episodes Ep 247: Massacre at Duffy's Cut Part 1Astonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Ep 317: The Screaming SkullsAstonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Ep 85: The Bell Witch Part 1Astonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Ep 123: The Sallie House: Ghost in the Machine Part 1Astonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Ep 4: Amelia Earhart Vanishes Part 1Astonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Links and Further Reading Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1032 (Vatican.va) St. John Chrysostom (Britannica) All Souls' Day (Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent) Columbarium (Merriam-Webster) Duffy's Cut (Wikipedia) Historic Bell Witch Cave, Adams, Tennessee Electronic Voice Phenomena: An Overview (Astonishing Legends blog) Stahl House, Case Study House #22 (LA Conservancy) Scared All The Time (podcast) We're looking for more stories! Send your Dead Letter to [email protected]!

Once more, our favorite Halloween tradition rises from the grave, as three listeners join us to personally share encounters they still can’t explain. In the North of England, district nurse Luke and a trainee see someone inside the home of a patient who lives alone. In Idaho Falls, Krystina tells us about small dark figures lurking at the edge of a woman’s vision and their attempt to get answers. Then, Jennifer takes us to 1980s Southern Oregon, where a childhood encounter with a blinding figure rushing into her bedroom became only the first of many visits. Turn down the lights and join us for three true stories, told by the people who experienced them. Visit our website for a lot more information on this episode.

In tonight's dead letter, Corey takes us back to Omaha, Nebraska in the year 2000, when he was the overnight host on a Top 40 station and a call-in topic about haunted places kept circling back to one private family cemetery. He sent a carload of listeners out there on a Friday night to report back live on the air. A few days later his boss got a phone call from the cemetery's caretakers. And, to paraphrase a Dateline episode…things got weirder from there. We mentioned a TON of old eps in this one! Relevant Prior EpisodesEp 48: Choose Your Own AdventureAstonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Ep 71: Pere Cheney: The Town that DisappearedAstonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Ep 87: Black Eyed Kids Part 1Astonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Ep 50: Mothman Part 1Astonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Ep 14: What's Gotten Into You?Astonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Ep 209: The Phantom Horse of GreensboroAstonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Ep 120: The Grim ReaperAstonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Ep 154: Lockdown at the Waverly Hills SanatoriumAstonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Ep 156: The Ax Murder House in Villisca Part 1Astonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Ep 49: Monsters Among UsAstonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Ep 310: The Rhine Research Center: Extraordinary EvidenceAstonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Links and Further ReadingChurch Grims, by Tess Pfeifle (Astonishing Legends blog) Strange Intruders, by David Weatherly G.N.M. Tyrrell (Psi Encyclopedia, Society for Psychical Research) Ghosts and Apparitions in Psi Research (Psi Encyclopedia) Phantasms of the Living, Volume 1 (1886), free at the Internet Archive Phantasms of the Living, Volume 2 (1886), free at the Internet Archive Jim Harold's Campfire The Mothman of Point Pleasant (Small Town Monsters, 2017) The Ankou The Case Against Reality, by Donald Hoffman A Game of Pool, The Twilight Zone (1961) On a Pale Horse, by Piers Anthony The Villisca Axe Murder House Live and Let Die (1973) Twin Peaks: The Return (2017) We're looking for more stories! Send your Dead Letter to [email protected]!

In 1933, a Scottish botanist watched a seemingly abandoned steamship drift past the Alaskan coast on an ice floe. It appeared upside down in a strange mirage, with no crew and no one at the wheel. This ship was the Baychimo, which was abandoned two years earlier, but refused to disappear. Having repeatedly resurfaced across the Arctic, it earning a reputation as one of history’s great ghost ships. In this episode, we explore the strange history of ghost ships from the the Baychimo, to the frozen Octavius, and the Ourang Medan, whose crew was reportedly found mysteriously dead shortly before the ship itself exploded and sank. Three ships, three enduring legends, and at least one vessel whose final resting place remains unknown. Visit our website for a lot more information on this episode.

In tonight's dead letter, our listener Ed and his wife are newlyweds, sharing the apartment he's lived in for about two years in Clay Center, Nebraska. One morning in early 2020, he hits snooze on his alarm and sees a figure walking out of their bedroom, silhouetted by the living room lights he'd set on a timer, and it looks just like his wife, but it’s not. Relevant Prior Episodes Ep 26: Shadow PeopleAstonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Ep 64: Electronic FogAstonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Ep 226: Boundless Remote Viewing with Lori Williams Part 1Astonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Links and Further Reading Ed's Floor Plan of the Apartment Clay Center, Nebraska, Wikipedia World's Largest Ball of Twine, Kansas TourismNote: We call it the world's biggest ball of yarn in the episode. It's actually a ball of sisal twine. I always mess that up! (Scott) Doppelganger, Britannica Hypnagogic Hallucinations, Cleveland Clinic A-Yokai-A-Day: Ikiryo, Matthew Meyer Alexander Cannon (psychiatrist), Wikipedia STAR GATE [Controlled Remote Viewing], Federation of American Scientists Astral Projection Hypnosis by Dr. Steve G. Jones Journeys Out of the Body by Robert A. Monroe Richard Hatem's Paranormal Bookshelf Beyond the Bermuda Triangle by Bruce Gernon and Rob MacGregor We're looking for more stories! Send your Dead Letter to [email protected]!

In tonight's dead letter, our listener named Mark is driving through western Michigan at two in the morning in 1978, working off a paper map and handwritten directions to a house he's never been to. He comes up a hill and into a curve on US 131, and there are four people standing in his lane. Two of them are waving him over to the right, and the other two have their arms raised above their heads in an X. Had they not been there he may have had a fatal collision, and when he went to find them shortly after, they had vanished. Relevant Prior Episodes Ep 102: Resurrection Mary Part 1Astonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Ep 116: Small Town MonstersAstonishing Legends · Spotify · Apple Podcasts Links and Further Reading Lydia: The Ghost of Jamestown Bridge, NCpedia A History of the Vanishing Hitchhiker, Beardsley and Hankey, 1943 The Bray Road Beast, Small Town Monsters Jim Harold's Campfire: True Ghost Stories, Books 1 through 6 Note: We call it the National Highway Transportation Safety Association in the episode. The ‘A’ is actually for Administration.  We're looking for more stories! Send your Dead Letter to [email protected]!

In tonight's dead letter, listener Mothmaiden remembers a time when she was four years old and an only child in a neighborhood with no other kids, and she had an imaginary friend named Cindy Cora who looked exactly like Betty Rubble from The Flintstones. Then on a sunny afternoon, in her own bedroom with the light coming through the window, she saw an elderly woman with white and gray hair piled high on her head, sitting in a rocking chair, calm and gentle and completely solid. Were these things connected? Relevant Prior Episodes Abduction at Devil's Den Devil's Den: The Reckoning Part 1 Chris McKinnell and the Warren Legacy Dan, Susan, Micah Hanks and Missing Time Links and Further Reading Two-thirds of school-age children have an imaginary companion by age 7, University of WashingtonNote: We say about one in three for the invisible-only friends. In the study, about two thirds of kids have had an imaginary companion by age seven, and about one in three have one at the time they are asked. The psychological significance of play with imaginary companions in early childhood, Learning & Behavior Childhood amnesia, Wikipedia Ghosts and Apparitions in Psi Research, the Society for Psychical Research's Psi Encyclopedia Phantasms of the Living (1886) by Gurney, Myers and Podmore, Internet Archive Strange Intruders by David Weatherly Devils Den: The Reckoning by Terry Lovelace Contact (1997), WikipediaNote: We say David Morse was one of the doctors on ER. He played Dr. Jack Morrison on St. Elsewhere. Sesame Street debuts, November 10, 1969, HISTORY Wall Street crash of 1929, Wikipedia The History of Bettys in Pop Culture, Refinery29 Natalie and Tara on YouTube We're looking for more stories! Send your Dead Letter to [email protected]!

Hey folks! We're gearing up to go to the Wet Hot Bad Magic Summercamp next week but after that we're back on our regular schedule! In the meanwhile here's a chat Scott and Richard had just a week ago about his new tour which is also CLOSE ABOARD! >>>>>>>>>> A special episode from our friend Richard Hatem. Richard is the screenwriter behind The Mothman Prophecies and a longtime friend of the show, and he hosts Richard Hatem's Paranormal Bookshelf. He invited Scott onto his podcast to talk about his upcoming Light in the Dark Tour 2026, a 10-day, six-city run of live shows in September that wraps up at the Mothman Festival in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. We liked the conversation enough that we're sharing it here on the main feed. Along the way, Scott and Richard get to such never-before-asked questions as: What scares our dogs? Where will Scott and Forrest be appearing live in September? Did Abbott and Costello get along? Can anyone find Scott's legendary "lost" appearance on Portlandia? Did Richard schedule too many shows on this tour, and will Susan ever forgive him? Find out the answers to these and many more questions on this episode. If you can make it to one of the tour stops, go. Tickets and dates are at the link below. LinksGet tickets to Richard Hatem's Light in the Dark Tour 2026 LIVE: https://www.richardhatemsparanormalbookshelf.com/eventsListen to Richard Hatem's Paranormal Bookshelf: https://www.richardhatemsparanormalbookshelf.com/Support RHPB on Patreon: https://patreon.com/RichardHatemCelebrate 2026 with 26% off all RHPB merch with offer code RHPB26. The discount is pre-applied at this link: https://richardhatem-shop.fourthwall.com/promo/RHPB26Need help with your personal writing projects? Richard is here to help. Get 20% off when you mention RHPB: https://www.richardhatem.com/NotesGet the answer to ALL of your Abbott and Costello questions here: Abbott and Costello Meet the PodcastIs your dog afraid of hiccups, just like Luna? Learn about your dog's weird fears here: Understanding Your Dog's Fear

In tonight's dead letter, listener Chris takes us back to the early 2000s, when he was the head brewer at a restaurant on the east side of Cumberland, Maryland, in a building so old it served as a Civil War field hospital. One night after close, he and three coworkers were having a beer in the basement bar when the loudest sound he'd ever heard slammed into the floorboards right above their heads, shaking dust from the ceiling and rattling every bottle behind the bar. Relevant Prior Episodes Nightmarchers of Hawaii Links and Further Reading The Battle of Folck's Mill: Maryland Historical Trust Battlefield Documentation (PDF) Battle of Folck's Mill, Wikipedia Folck's Mill (National Register of Historic Places site), Wikipedia The Battle of Folck's Mill, Western Maryland's Historical Library The Invasion, Aug 1864: The Cumberland Alleganian's Original Account, Western Maryland's Historical Library Folck's Mill Marker, Historical Marker Database The History of Puccini Restaurant, Cumberland, Maryland The Phantom Battle of Edgehill, Historic UK The Spectral Army of Souther Fell, Mysterious Britain and Ireland The Dieppe Raid Case, Mysterious Britain and Ireland The Drummer of Tedworth, Wikipedia Phantom Armies of the Night by Claude Lecouteux The Rosenheim Poltergeist, by Tess Pfeifle at Astonishing Legends We're looking for more stories! Send your Dead Letter to [email protected]!

Our friend Richard Hatem is taking his Paranormal Bookshelf on the road! The Light in the Dark Tour 2026 is an all new live show playing six cities in seven days, September 13th through 19th, and it winds up at the Mothman Festival in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Richard and Susan Lambert will be at the festival both days selling Mothman and podcast merch, and on Saturday night, September 19th, he's performing an episode of the podcast picked especially for Point Pleasant. Hear Scott and Rich talk about the tour in his most recent post on the RHPB feed:SpotifyApple Podcasts Tour Dates and Tickets Sunday, September 13: Storm Crow Manor, Toronto, ON Monday, September 14: Padraigs Brewing, Minneapolis, MN Tuesday, September 15: The Red Lion Pub, Chicago, IL Wednesday, September 16: B Side Lounge, Cleveland Heights, OH Thursday, September 17: Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA (FREE SHOW!) Saturday, September 19: Trinity UMC Community Center, Point Pleasant, WV (The Mothman Festival) More from Richard All Tour Dates and Tickets Richard Hatem's Paranormal Bookshelf on Apple Podcasts Richard Hatem's Paranormal Bookshelf on Spotify Paranormal Bookshelf Merch The Mothman Festival Tickets for every show but Carnegie Mellon (which MAY not require them, TBD)  are at richardhatemsparanormalbookshelf.com/events, or search Richard Hatem on Eventbrite. Come out and see Richard do his thing!

In tonight's dead letter, a teenager in rural Arkansas in the late 2000s goes poking around an abandoned schoolhouse and comes home with a mirror she likes the look of. Years later it's hanging in her first Los Angeles apartment, and one evening while she's in the bath she catches the towel on the back of the door swinging wildly but the moment she turns to look, it stops dead. But that’s only part of the story. Relevant Prior EpisodesThe Bell Witch Part 1The Scrying GameMel's Hole Part 1Abduction at Devil's DenNightmarchers of HawaiiThe Ghosts of Flight 401 Links and Further ReadingAmerican Hauntings — Troy Taylor's books, podcast, and live eventsReunions: Visionary Encounters with Departed Loved Ones by Raymond MoodyNote: We say 1933 in the episode — Reunions was published in 1993.Oculus (2013), dir. Mike FlanaganWhat is a "dybbuk" in the prologue of the Coen brothers' A Serious Man?Ghosts On A Plane? The Story Of Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 We're looking for more stories! Send your Dead Letter to [email protected]!