Haunted hotels headline this week’s Campfire. Throw in an imaginary friend who is really dead and a host of other ghost stories you have a perfect episode for this spooky season! Enjoy and share with your friends.
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-TRANSCRIPT-
Jim (00:00:00):
A haunted mansion and more haunted hotels on this edition of Campfire.
Announcer 1 (00:00:20):
Welcome to our gathering tonight. Here we share stories of ordinary people who have experienced extraordinary things. Sit back, relax, and warm yourself by Jim Harold’s Campfire.
Jim (00:00:32):
Welcome to the Campfire. I am Jim Harold, and so glad to be with you once again. And Happy Halloween everybody. And if you are here to listen to some spooky tales, be it ghosts, be it strange, cryptid creatures, maybe even UFOs, haunted places and spaces, guess what? You are in the right place and I’d appreciate it if you would share this show in this spooky season with a friend. And with that, let’s not dilly dally any longer. Let’s get to the first Campfire story. Ashley is on the line from North Texas and we’re so glad to have her on the program. And she has a story that involves her son and boy, she’s got my curiosity peaked. Ashley, welcome to the show. Tell us what happened.
Ashley (00:01:19):
Alright thank you so much for having me today. I guess my story starts in about 2016. My younger son was born in 2014. Prior to his birth, the apartment I lived in, we didn’t have any experiences. And it started off as my younger son had this little boy that he would play with. He would tell me he was a little boy, and he was in our hallway. When I told people about him, they would assume, oh, it’s an imaginary friend. Which, I’m a skeptic. I try to debunk and rationalize everything, and I said, well, if it’s an imaginary friend, then why isn’t he anywhere else we go? He’s not in anyone else’s houses. He’s nowhere but the entryway of our apartment.
Jim (00:02:05):
That’s a good point.
Ashley (00:02:07):
Nothing was malicious, nothing odd happened. Now, there were times in that apartment where I was by myself where I would wake up at night. I don’t know, I’ve listened to a lot of stuff about sleep paralysis. I’m not sure if that’s what it was, but I would feel that there’s someone at the doorway. But I’d open my eyes and I wouldn’t see anybody, but I would feel compelled to just stare. I knew something was there, but I just couldn’t see. And that happened a few times. And let’s fast forward a year later, it’s 2017, I purchased a home just a little ways from where we had been living and no activity there, no talk of the little boy, from my son or anything. And this might’ve been a year and a half ago, 2021. I got woke up in the middle of the night and my son is screaming, shaking in my room, telling me there’s somebody in my room.
Jim (00:03:10):
Oh man.
Ashley (00:03:12):
So I run to the bedroom and I look, there’s nobody there. My ‘s high. So I calm him down and let him sleep with me. The next day I say, what happened? He said, “Mama, there was somebody in my bed. I could feel their breath when they were…”
Jim (00:03:30):
Oh my Lord!
Ashley (00:03:32):
He’s only six at this time.
Jim (00:03:35):
So poor little guy.
Ashley (00:03:37):
He said, “I could hear them. And they said, Hey!” but that’s all he said. So didn’t think much of it. It was probably six months or more later, I get woken up out of my sleep by somebody yelling, “Hey!” I look over to my husband in the bed and he’s dead asleep. And I look around and I was like, did I just hear somebody and I go back to sleep. The next day, I thought, well, Noah heard somebody say “hey” to him. Now I’m hearing it. And my husband has had experiences where both my husband and my younger son don’t really care too much for the closet in my bedroom. The closet wall is also the same wall that my son’s bedroom is on the other side of it where he had heard somebody talk to him. My husband has heard hangers moving in the closet when we don’t have enough air circulation to move anything. So both of them will shut the closet door at any chance they have. So my husband has also texted me at work one day and he was like, did you leave our sock drawer open? No. What are you talking about? He said, I’ve shut this drawer six times today.”
Jim (00:04:55):
Oh man!
Ashley (00:04:56):
We got woken up at 6:00 AM in the morning one time. And I guess it didn’t scare me because the sun’s starting to come out. It wasn’t really pitch black in the room, but the dresser drawer flies out of the dresser and hits the floor. We’re rational people. I’m thinking, okay, this is a third drawer up that’s kind of high. My husband’s like, I bet the dog, it was the dog. I bet his collar got caught on it and he ripped it off. But in my gut I’m like, that drawer is so high. But nothing has been scary. Nothing has felt malicious. And knowing I was doing this podcast, I thought nothing’s happened in a while. And I was in my kitchen and I could hear my older son who hasn’t had anything happen, say, “Stop! Stop trying to scare me. It’s not funny.” And I see him pop his head around the corner and look. And he goes, “Were you just by my bedroom?” And I told him, no, I’m right here in the kitchen. And he goes, “I kept hearing you say, ‘Hey!” at my door. “
Jim (00:06:01):
Oh boy. So like a doppelganger, like an audio mimicry.
Ashley (00:06:06):
He has claimed before too that he’s watched his door lock itself. And I would tell him, stop trying to scare me. He is like I, “I’m not joking, I’m serious. It locked itself.” And he was home alone that day. So there has been a time where I went through and I sage the entire house and although I didn’t personally feel attacked or anything evil, I told it, you’re scaring me. You’re scaring my family. You can’t do that. And what is, you need to leave. I don’t know if it’s left. I know whatever is around us isn’t malicious, isn’t really even playful. Part of me wonders if it’s something just trying to tell us something
Jim (00:06:53):
Interesting. Interesting.
Ashley (00:06:55):
That is all of our experiences.
Jim (00:06:57):
Wow, that’s something else. So you’re not afraid to be in the house, but you realize there’s something going on.
Ashley (00:07:05):
I think there’s something going on and something else has happened recently in our family that I’m wondering if stuff might get amped up. My older son’s biological father just died. He died of a drug overdose and my son hasn’t seen him in 11 years, 12 years. And there’s a lot of questions that he has and part of me wonders if maybe he’s sensitive too, maybe his dad will reach out to him or who knows. I don’t know. I know instances like this can amp up activity when emotions are high, so I’m very curious to see if anything will happen.
Jim (00:07:53):
Well, here’s wishing you the best and thank you so much for sharing your story on the Campfire today.
Ashley (00:07:59):
Thank you for having me. Stay Spooky.
Jim (00:08:01):
Stay Spooky. Next up is Lucy from Georgia and she heard about us from you guessed it, Astonishing Legends, Scott and Forrest. Make sure to listen to their great show. And Lucy is going to take us back to her childhood. She went with her folks on a trip to Europe and then strangeness ensued. Lucy, welcome to the show and tell us what happened.
Lucy (00:08:24):
Yeah, thanks for having me. So the year was 2000 and I was about eight years old. At the time, my dad was traveling a lot for work, specifically to Europe. And so we decided, my mom and I, to accompany him on one of his trips. We started off in Paris and then we went to London and eventually to the town of Bakewell. And when we were in Bakewell, we stayed at a place called Hassop Hall, which was this beautiful inn. The structure is still around, but I believe it’s been converted to a private residence now. And the structure was built around the 14th century. So as you can imagine, it was very, very old. So we got there. It was beautiful. I mean, just ornately decorated, lots of things that, me, as an eight year old, I was very aware I should not be touching. Things like fragile vases, antiques, stuff like that.
Lucy (00:09:21):
So I was trying to be very careful of myself when I was there. So we checked in, we were pretty tired, I think we just went to bed. I had a pretty uneventful evening. The next morning, the maids actually wake you up. They knock on your door in this singsong way, they go “Morning, breakfast!” and they come in with this little cart with all of your breakfast items, so scones and tea, coffee, all of that. And they brought it into the room and it was a pretty big room and had two sort of double sized beds and then this area for your tea. And so we sat at the table and I think I was just putting butter on my scone or something, and I noticed my chair was shaking a little bit and I said something to my mom and she said, it’s a pretty old building.
Lucy (00:10:09):
They have an elevator sometimes when big machinery like that runs, it can cause little vibrations in a place that’s this old. I kind of thought, okay, yeah, makes sense, no problem. Was going about my business and fixing my tea and everything. And the chair started to shake again, and then it started to shake more and more dramatically to the point that it felt like to me the legs were rocking back and forth and coming off the floor. It was so so violently shaking,
JIm (00:10:40)
Whoa.
Lucy (00:10:41)
And I stood straight up, started screaming, freaking out. My parents saw nothing. They saw absolutely nothing. They just saw me upset and they didn’t understand why. They got me to calm down. I told them what happened and they said, let’s just get out of here for the day. Let’s go do some sightseeing. We’ve been traveling, maybe you’re just tired. And so we go out for the day, we come back and I’m just, I do not want to be in this room anymore.
Lucy (00:11:10):
And the idea of spending the night in that room one more time is not super appealing to me. So I decide to sleep… I had my own bed the night before, but that night I wanted to sleep next to my dad. I was just really scared. And so the next part of this story is from his perspective. So he’s sleeping. He wakes up in the middle of the night with a start and he says that he just has this feeling that someone’s in the room. It’s like that visceral, parental protective feeling of someone’s here and he’s just kind of laying there trying to calm himself down. And me, fully asleep, I sit up and say, “Excuse me!”, as if someone was making noise and I didn’t like it. And then I lay back down, continue to sleep. My dad is super, super freaked out and he kind of lays awake there a little longer. And then he said all of a sudden it was gone. Whatever he felt just disappeared and he was able to go to sleep. So that was pretty much it. We checked out the next day. It seems like there are a lot of spooky things that happened there, but it was definitely a memorable experience.
Jim (00:12:28):
And was there any confirmation from the people at the hotel that the place was haunted or anything like that?
Lucy (00:12:35):
Definitely. When we were checking out, I think my dad told them what had happened, and they had said that they definitely felt like the place was haunted. One of the waitresses said that they had these big heavy leather bound menus in the restaurant area, and one night they were closing and she had them all stacked up and tidied up for the evening and just out of nowhere, they just flew across the room. Someone had just shoved the whole stack. And my dad also had a friend who had stayed at that same hotel and he had an experience where he woke up in the night and heard what sounded like someone’s long dress or skirts brushing up against the edge of his bed. So definitely seems like a very, very active place. And given its age, I’m not super surprised.
Jim (00:13:28):
Well, that was the thing only I’ve been to England once and the thing that really shook me, I know intellectually I knew it, but how old so many things were. You know here in America, if something is a century home, it’s like, oh, it’s a century home. And there it’s like, well, it’s just getting broken in. I mean, I think I was in a pub that I think was built in the 1400s, and I’m thinking, I’m sitting here having a beer in a place where people sat and had beers in 1400. It’s just crazy to me. And you just walked in a place, and maybe it was just psychological, but you felt it. I mean, I know you were young, but I don’t know if you had that experience, but you just felt the history.
Lucy (00:14:19):
Yeah, 100%. And I think in places like that too, whoever had lived there before, they’re protective of their space. And I think me being a little kid in this place that probably not a lot of kids visit, maybe someone’s just like, this is not a child that I would like to have in my residence.
Jim (00:14:37):
This is not a place for children!
Lucy (00:14:38):
Yeah, exactly.
Jim (00:14:41):
But the Campfire is a place for Lucy, and I’m so glad that you joined us. Thank you so much for being on the show and Stay Spooky.
Lucy (00:14:49):
Thank you, Jim.
Jim (00:14:50):
Next on the show is Karla from Texas, and I’m not going to spoil this one, but we’ve been hearing some stories like this lately in terms of this particular phenomenon. And I can’t wait to hear this one. Karla. I know you heard about us from Christine from, “And That’s Why We Drink.” And Christine and Em are always great about waving the flag high for the Campfire. So we appreciate that and check them out if you haven’t already. Karla, please tell us your story. Welcome to the show.
Karla (00:15:18):
Hi. Thank you for having me. So this happened about 10 years ago now when my little one was a brand new baby and I was doing some laundry and he was in his little baby bouncy seat doing fine until I had a few pieces of clothes left to fold. And then he starts getting a little fussy. So I’m like, “Hey, calm down. Just give me two minutes and I’ll pick you up and we’ll go on about our day.” And as soon as I said that this ball of light comes down from the middle of the ceiling, it floats down till about the middle of the room, and then it just dissolves. And as soon as it dissolves, the little one calms down and he is just relaxing in his little chair. So I’m just like, oh, okay. So I finish folding the clothes and as soon as I put that last folded piece of clothing down, he starts fussing again. So I wondered if it was somebody coming and just entertaining him for a little bit while I just finished up my stuff.
Jim (00:16:34):
Yeah, that’s amazing. So this was a golden light, a ball of golden light. So basically like a big orb.
Karla (00:16:42):
Yes.
Jim (00:16:43):
What would you approximate the size?
Karla (00:16:47):
Maybe about the size of a beach ball.
Jim (00:16:51):
Okay. Yeah. Huh. And that was it. Nothing else weird in the house, no other experiences,
Karla (00:17:00):
Nothing while we were living in that apartment, but a few years later we were living in the same complex, but it was a different building in the complex, and I was again putting clothes away and I walked into my room and I turned around and there was this little girl standing there in a shrouded and gold light. And so I think it might’ve been her who was coming down.
Jim (00:17:31):
That’s interesting because both times it was gold. It was almost a sign to you that they were connected somehow,
Karla (00:17:39):
And that was never eerie feeling or anything. It was real comforting.
Jim (00:17:45):
Yeah, we’ve had different stories. We’ve had a woman who was walking down a sidewalk and an orb was following her. We had a gentleman just recently on the Campfire who was in the woods and had a weird orb experience. And when I talk about orbs, these are not the orbs that you see supposedly in pictures, which I still, even though we’ve interviewed people on this, I still tend to be skeptical of, but we’re talking about fully formed orbs that people see not in photography necessarily, and they just do strange things. I hate to say this, Karla, but I have no idea what that was, but I think it’s a fascinating story. Has that really ramped up your interest in the paranormal?
Karla (00:18:30):
Oh, I’ve always been interested. My grandma was very interested in paranormal everything, so she would always be buying us the haunted Texas books or haunted roadmaps, and she fostered it.
Jim (00:18:47):
Sounds like a great lady. Thank you so much, Karla, for sharing your story and Stay Spooky.
Karla (00:18:53):
Thank you for having me. You too.
Jim (00:18:56):
Jim Harold’s Campfire is sponsored by BetterHelp and we’re so glad to have them as a sponsor because I think all of us have gone through difficult times. I remember back in 2005, just shortly before I started podcasting, I had a crisis of confidence. I was not happy in my career at the time, and my mind would just whirr, and my brain would keep working and trying to figure out what am I going to do? What am I going to do? I’m not happy with my career. I don’t feel like I’m supporting the family in the way that I want to. It was just a very tumultuous time and I kept a lot of it bottled inside, and I think it would’ve been so much easier if I’d frankly gone to therapy. And that’s why I wish that at that time I would’ve had access to BetterHelp because it turns out that one great way to make those kind of racing thoughts that we’ve all had go away, is to talk them through.
Jim (00:19:59):
Therapy gives you a place to do that so you can get out of your negative thought cycles and find some mental and emotional peace. And therapy can do so much for you. It can help you learn positive coping skills, how to set boundaries. It really empowers you to be the best version of yourself. And it isn’t just for those who have experienced major trauma, because honestly, all of us have our struggles at times. So if you’re thinking of starting therapy, give BetterHelp a try. It’s entirely online. It’s designed to be convenient, it’s flexible, suited to your schedule. I think that’s fantastic. I think sometimes that can discourage people when they can only go at this time. That’s not the case. With BetterHelp, it’s so convenient. You just fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with a licensed therapist and switch therapists at any time for no additional charge. Get a break from your thoughts with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com/jimharold to get 10% off your first month. That’s betterhelp.com/jimharold. And we thank BetterHelp for their support and sponsorship of Jim Harold’s Campfire. One more thing, before we get back to the great Campfire stories, please check out our limited edition Halloween Campfire merch at jimharold.com/merch. That’s jimharold.com/merch and thanks so much.
Announcer 2 (00:21:36):
If you love the Campfire, be sure to check out the Paranormal Podcast where every week Jim interviews experts and authors about strange mysteries. Find it for free wherever you listen to this podcast. Tune into the Paranormal Podcast today. Now we return to Jim Harold’s Campfire.
Jim (00:21:52):
You might remember a few weeks ago, Keriann from West Virginia was on the show and had that really creepy story about her mom’s friend who had a haunted house and just going to follow that up today with a haunted hotel story. Keriann, welcome to the show. Thank you for joining us and tell us what happened.
Keriann (00:22:11):
Thanks, Jim. So my cousins and I recently went to a concert together and we decided to stay overnight in a hotel. There were four of us, so it was a pretty large hotel room that we stayed in for the night. When we got back from the concert, one of my cousins had to work the next day, so she stayed in the room and the three of us went downstairs to the hotel bar just to have a nightcap. So we were gone maybe half an hour and then we came back up and my cousin’s asleep. So we’re getting ready for bed and we don’t really hear anything abnormal. The hotel was actually fairly empty, so we lie down, turn off the lights, and we’re getting, falling asleep, and then we start hearing upstairs, we start hearing these very random footsteps and they would be at one end of the room and then randomly they would be at the other end of the room. And so we all kind of were like, do you guys hear that? And so we’re like, okay, turn the TV off. Let’s see what’s going on up there. Initially we’re thinking is someone like it was, I mean, probably three in the morning. So we’re like, is someone like, I don’t know, what are they doing up there? Something’s going on, maybe there’s an argument or something, but it just sounded abnormal. So we’re listening in and it would go from being really quiet to very loud thumps.
Keriann (00:23:39):
And so we decided to call to the hotel lobby because in our mind we’re thinking this might be a fight or something, maybe something’s going on. So we call down and we’re like, oh, I think that there’s something wrong in the room above us. Is there any way that somebody can go up and check? And so they’re on their computer and then they say, oh, nobody’s staying in the room above you. Then we were like, oh my gosh, we get off the phone. And that was just like, I mean it set us off. We were like, no way. So then we go into the hallway, we go upstairs, we’re like, okay, they’re messing with us. We go and it’s just the hallway. The room was directly above us, so it couldn’t be anybody in the hallway. So then we kind of put our ear to the door and we hear nothing.
Keriann (00:24:30):
We’re like, okay, I really don’t think anybody’s in there. And so we go back into our room and we’re laying down again and it starts happening again. And at this point, my cousin who was asleep, wakes up and she’s like, I heard that too. And the second you guys left the room, it happened for 30 minutes straight. And then when you came back in, I was falling asleep and apparently we didn’t hear anything. So we are laying in the bed and we have the balcony door open and we’re like, okay, I want to hear this better. So it’s on the far side of the room by the entrance of the door, and our balcony is on the opposite side. My cousin gets up to close the door and this thing ran and it ran towards that door, I mean above us obviously, but it ran towards where she was going to close the door and she closed it and it was right above her.
Keriann (00:25:29):
And so she jumps back in the bed and we’re like, oh my gosh, what is happening? And so we’re sitting there, we’re sitting there, and then we’re just listening to it, walking back and forth and stomping, and then the AC kicks on and we can’t hear it. The bathroom is right next to where the AC is, and the door is just barely cracked. So I get up off the bed to turn the AC off, and when I’m doing that, I swear that I hear something in our bathroom.
Jim (00:26:01):
Oh boy.
Keriann (00:26:02):
And so I leap back into the bed and I can’t see the bathroom door, but my cousin can, and she’s like, “Keriann that door is wide open”,
Jim (00:26:14):
Yikes!
Keriann (00:26:15):
So we are freaking out. We listened to it, stomping back and forth. We just didn’t get off the bed again and just listened to it and eventually fell asleep. But that was it. Yeah, we went up the next day, we were like, there’s got to be somebody staying in there. We knocked, there was nobody staying in there. And we asked again at checkout. I was like, maybe the night person checked the wrong room. There was nobody staying in that room. So it was really fun for us. I mean, it was scary at times, but not too creepy.
Jim (00:26:51):
It’s one of those things where I would think, if I’m in a hotel room and I hear somebody in the room, my first thought isn’t a ghost.
Keriann (00:27:02):
Yes. Exactly.
Jim (00:27:03):
My first thought, there is a human in here. And that would be in many ways scarier than a ghost I would think. Because ghosts generally, they might scare you, but they’re not going to hurt you. If there’s a human, if there’s an errant human in your hotel room, that could be really bad. Yeah. Well, and are you the kind of person, because some people run towards this stuff and some people run away. Let’s say you had occasion to go back to that area and you had to stay in that hotel, would you ask for the same room?
Keriann (00:27:39):
I don’t know that I would, but I would stay in that hotel again, I guess. I mean, I am the type of person that if I have someone with me, I’m not as afraid, but if I’m alone, I’m a giant chicken. Yeah. Yeah. So everywhere that I went in that room that night, I had someone with me from then on out.
Jim (00:28:01):
Yeah, that makes sense. Well, Keriann, thank you for joining us today again on Campfire and Stay Spooky.
Keriann (00:28:08):
You too, Jim. Thank you.
Jim (00:28:10):
Next up on the Campfire is Geoff says he’s been listening to the shows while he works for years. So glad to keep folks company when they’re doing that hard work. We really appreciate it. Geoff has an interesting story and it revolves around William Randolph Hearst. Now, many of you may know who that is, maybe some of you don’t. But he was an extremely powerful publisher in America in the first half of the 20th century. Of course, he is the subject of the fictionalized Charles Foster Kane of Citizen Kane, which was directed and starred by the great late Orson Wells. And Geoff has an interesting connection to Hearst and maybe a paranormal one. Can’t wait to hear this story. Geoff, welcome to the program. Thank you for joining us. Tell us what happened.
Geoff (00:29:05):
Hey, thank you so much for having me. So this took place before my son was born, so it was about 2008. I was employed by California State Parks to be a tour guide at Hearst Castle, which meant leading groups of people around sometimes 90 minute tours. The property, the homes themselves make up, I believe it’s over 60,000 square feet. And after World War I, Hearst went on a spending spree. He bought all of these pieces of bombed out buildings and kind of decorative stuff from Europe and it’s kind of set up the main house looks a lot like a Spanish cathedral. So as our training was taking place, the way it was set up is we would come in, we would read about what was in every room, take an inventory, and then a couple of senior guides would lead us to each room so we could memorize what was in the room to be able to answer questions for guests.
Geoff (00:30:10):
We, on one occasion, my best friend and a group of, I believe it was about 12 of us, were up in Hearst’s private bedroom area that has a little antichamber that leads to his large private office. And I kind of like the fact that this is such a popular place. You can actually, if you did a Google image search for William Randolph Hearst office or Hearst Castle office about the first few pictures would give you an idea of what this room looks like. It’s a really long rectangle. At the end of probably two thirds to three quarters of the room, there’s a wall that separates what I believe, if I recall, was his secretary’s office. That wall has a couple of gothic archways, one on either side. We had gone through his bedroom and all tongue in cheek, say his mistress’ bedroom, which is at the front of the house.
Geoff (00:31:13):
We were, my friend and I, and a security guard who was chaperoning us through the building. So our group and the security guard were the only people in this building. We are standing in this little antichamber. I am looking into Mr. Hearst’s office and my friend happens to ask the security guard. He says, “You’re here late. You ever seen anything?” And we knew through our training, and because we’re both ghost nerds, our own private research, that no one had ever actually died in the castle, I believe it was in the fifties, about a mile away down the hill, there was a private airplane crash that I think killed two people, but check me on that. But nobody had ever died in the castle. At least that was documented. So my friend asked the security guard, had he seen anyone and the security guard responded with, “There are times when I’ve been walking through a hallway when no one is supposed to be there.”
Geoff (00:32:13):
Someone passes him kind of head down, he says ‘hi’, and a few seconds later it would click, oh, I’m the only person in here. And he was never scared. As he’s telling that story, I was looking through Hearst’s office in one of those archways, I saw essentially a shadow person I guess, or a shadow move from right to left. And it did not look like a human being at all. There was not a second where it had the gait of someone walking or bouncing up and down. It simply glided and we’re talking, those archways are fairly tall, but they’re really not much wider than your standard door. So it was super, super brief and I realized my heart started pumping and both of them had stopped talking. So I clearly do not have a poker face at all. It was very obvious I’d seen something and they asked what happened, and I said, I need to get into that room right now.
Geoff (00:33:19):
So unfortunately, we had to wait for the rest of the group and they finished doing their inventory of items. They joined us and I beelined it to the end of that room, to the little private office. And I had never been in there before, so I didn’t know there were no doors leading out of that office. So whatever I saw was very solid, but there was no escape. We were standing at the only exit of that room. So that’s kind of my story. And I had this moment, you’ve told the story or shared the story several times because it does stand out, of the young man that’s making a sandwich and he sees someone come out of his shower and then years later he’s coming out of his shower. That is a great story. And I had this thought the other day, I was listening to an episode where you’d repeated that and I thought, okay, no one died in the building.
Geoff (00:34:11):
What if that was me giving myself proof after I died, knowing I was so in love with being in that place? Am I setting up a paradox or am I, anyway, I don’t have a solid theory, but I really have listened to your show for so long. And I went, I don’t have any stories. And it clicked. I’m like, I got that one.
Jim (00:34:32):
Almost everybody has a story.
Geoff (00:34:35):
Yeah and some are blessed or cursed to have more, but I felt really lucky. And of course, nothing ever happened again. I worked there for two years, never saw anything. One other possibility that stone tape theory, because that building is built with pieces of private homes, castles, churches from all over Europe, Spain and Italy, maybe that’s it. And a lot of those buildings were destroyed during the war. And he would take what was left over, they would be sold because the family was in financial distress. The only other option that really dawns on me is that his office is almost like a library. It’s both sides of that long rectangular wall are lined with bookshelves. On top of those bookshelves, I can’t remember how many there are, but there’s a series of reliquaries. Reliquaries, a religious item that supposedly some of them are supposed to contain a piece of a Saint: hair or a bone or a tooth or whatever. Maybe it was a Saint that liked reading. I don’t know. That’s all I got though. That was my story.
Jim (00:35:46):
And it also strikes me that a place like that, along with the idea of a stone tape theory, which to me, and it seems like it makes some sense, but the other thing is that to me, there was probably a lot of emotion in that place, a lot of wheeling and dealing going on. And I don’t know a great deal about Hearst, but what I do know is I think it’s fair to say he probably had a very strong personality
Geoff (00:36:15):
That is more than safe to say.
Jim (00:36:17):
So my point is that maybe that supercharges an area when somebody with that kind of force of personality, it’s probably like Graceland. If Elvis is there, somebody who is just larger than life then they’re probably also in some ways, larger in death and create this environment for these kind of weird things to happen. Just me spitballing and just an idea.
Geoff (00:36:43):
Yeah, it was a place that, it really was the créme de la créme of power and entertainers, musicians, everybody. Hearst controlled, I think it’s safe to say, the media. He was a newspaper magnet and he’s credited with actually helping to start, is it the Spanish Civil War? I’m totally…
Jim (00:37:13):
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I think you’re right.
Geoff (00:37:14):
They called it yellow journalism, but I know I’m getting off track. But he really influenced a lot, from a private person, not a politician, to be able to essentially help send a country to war, our country to war. He was a big deal.
Jim (00:37:33):
He was like a Rupert Murdoch of his day, but bigger, I would say, as a part of…
Geoff (00:37:36):
Bigger. Yeah, because it was a smaller pool of power.
Jim (00:37:39):
Exactly. That’s exactly what I was going to say. And people have to remember in his day, there was no television. Newspapers ruled the roost. You’d have multiple editions. You had a morning paper. You had an afternoon paper. It was a totally different news environment, not even to talk about the internet. That was still Flash Gordon stuff, but just how powerful one man could be at that particular time with media. Well, very interesting indeed, Geoff. I love the paranormal, needless to say. I also love history, which maybe people don’t realize quite as much. It’s great to talk a little bit about both. Thank you so much for being a part of the show today and Stay Spooky.
Geoff (00:38:22):
You Stay Spooky too. And just as a side note, a personal note, I want to say hearing you talk about having your family work with you and taking the leap into doing this for a career, stepping away from, as you did, it’s very inspirational to see you succeed. And I just want you to know that’s something that means a lot to me, and that’s part of the reason I listen to, just, I don’t know. I just wanted to say that.
Jim (00:38:48):
Well, thank you and thank you for being, and all our listeners, for being a part of that journey because it wouldn’t be possible without you all. Geoff, thanks again.
Geoff (00:38:57):
Thank you Jim.
Jim (00:38:58):
Jim Harold’s Campfire is brought to you by HelloFresh, America’s number one meal kit. Fall is here. So kickstart a fresh fall routine with HelloFresh. HelloFresh handles all the meal planning and shopping to deliver everything you need to cook up a tasty meal right at home. They do the hard part and you get to take all the credit. Now, the thing is, is that, variety is the spice of life with HelloFresh. When it comes to options, honestly, more is more. That’s why HelloFresh’s menu includes 40 recipes and over 100 add-on items to choose from every week. And when you get HelloFresh, you know you’re getting top notch produce since it travels from the farm to your door in less than seven days. And I can tell you, we have been long-time enjoyers connoisseurs of HelloFresh, and we absolutely love it. We save time, you save money.
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Announcer 2 (00:41:12):
Want the entire Campfire archive going back to 2009 plus much more? Get in on Jim’s Plus Club at jimharoldplus.com. Now back to another great story.
Jim (00:41:23):
Delia is on the line from Phoenix, Arizona, and we’re so glad she is, thanks to her sister Abril. So Abril, thank you for spreading the word and Stay Spooky. And Delia says she’s a big fan of the paranormal. Her husband, not so much, but guess who has all the paranormal experiences, her husband. So she’s going to share a couple of his stories today. Delia, welcome to the program. Thank you for joining us and tell us what happened.
Delia (00:41:51):
Hi there, Jim. Yes. So I’m going to start with the Black Eyed Kid story. My husband did lift for a few years, I would say maybe eight years ago,
Delia (00:42:03):
And he was out far this one weekend. So we live in Phoenix, and he drove somebody out all the way, maybe around Mesa, Arizona. And he was very tired. I would say maybe it was around two or three o’clock in the morning, he decided to pull over and take a nap in a parking lot and he fell asleep. And then the next thing he hears is three knocks on his window. Sorry, he fell asleep in his car, of course he didn’t drive back home. And then he, so he tries to get up, looks to the left of the window and he’s half asleep. There’s a kid with black hoodie and there are two more behind him. And he looks at him and the guy is pointing down to the unlock button so that Luis or my husband can unlock the door and he just waves them off, go away in a sense, and then goes back to sleep and then they knock again.
Delia (00:43:29):
And then he basically just kind of doesn’t get up. He stays asleep. The next thing he knows, he wakes up and he remembers that someone was knocking on the door and it just freaks him out. Then he takes off as fast as he can, but he didn’t notice. I don’t know why he was half asleep and he didn’t know anything about the black eyed kids. So he comes home and tells me that they were creepy kids. They all had black eyes. And of course he doesn’t know anything about that. He, I’m the one that tells him those are the black eyed kids that he saw. And it just freaked him out. He didn’t know. Of course he was scared right after he woke up, but he didn’t know it then that they were kids. I mean that they appear everywhere and they’re creepy. I don’t know.
Jim (00:44:46):
Yeah, black eyed kids, I’m telling you, that is one of the most frightening things, period. I mean, to me that is just, oh my gosh. And I think it’s because we certainly and rightfully so, think of our children as innocent and they need to be protected and all that good stuff. And yeah, it’s really quite frightening, honestly, quite frightening.
Delia (00:45:15):
And just the fact that he didn’t think about it, then he didn’t think to wake up fully and say, well, that wasn’t normal. He goes back to sleep. I don’t know how he did that.
Jim (00:45:26):
So does he think he was dreaming?
Delia (00:45:30):
No. No.
Jim (00:45:33):
Wow. Wow.
Delia (00:45:35):
Yeah.
Jim (00:45:35):
Oh my gosh, that’s terrifying.
Delia (00:45:38):
So yeah, he’s here in the room with me and sorry, he kind of distracted me.
Jim (00:45:45):
That’s all right.
Delia (00:45:46):
Trying to tell the story.
Jim (00:45:47):
What’s his first name?
Delia (00:45:49):
Luis.
Jim (00:45:50):
Well, Luis, we give you a big spooky shout out and appreciate your stories. And I’ll tell you, the black eyed kid phenomena, that’s one of the most frightening things in all of paranormal. I think I’d rather see the Hat Man than, if you’re familiar with the Hat Man, recently had that on a show, than Black Eyed Kids, I think that’s the one I would least likely to see. You also had a UFO story, right?
Delia (00:46:14):
Oh yes. So the UFO story. We were in a cruise on our way back home from Costa Maya in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. It was the last night in our voyage. And my husband loves the casino, so he goes to the casino in the ship, and we have two boys. They’re both sleeping in the room with me, but he comes home, I mean, sorry, he comes back in the room and thank God he got a balcony because I don’t know if I would’ve liked not having a balcony in the room.
Jim (00:47:00):
Yeah, no, they’re nice.
Delia (00:47:02):
They’re very nice. But he gets in the room and something tells him to go outside and he goes outside, looks around. There was moonlight, of course it’s dark and he spots how many, three lights, three lights to begin with in the sky, and they’re somewhat zigzagging back and forth. So he stops and just thinks about it and he’s like, that’s not normal. They’re not stars. So he waits a little bit before deciding to wake me up. He knows I love that stuff. So he wakes me up, I am rubbing my eyes and looking at these lights in the sky, going up, going down, going forward. At one point that two met together, kind of like if they were talking, and I’m like, what in the world? Those are UFOs.
Jim (00:48:22):
Wow.
Delia (00:48:23):
So I’m super excited. I’m thinking, I want to take video, but I don’t think you’ll be able to see anything. So I’m like, my boys have to see this. So I go back in the room, I wake them both up, and we’re literally all four of us out there looking out the ocean at these strange lights, zigzagging back and forth. Eventually two go away, they just disappear. But there was one that kind of stood around and I think he or they knew we were watching because it was kind of toying a little bit, going in and out, getting really close to us. I would say two, three football fields.
Jim (00:49:19):
Wow, that close.
Delia (00:49:20):
Yeah, it still looked like a light. But when it came close, and I really, this is what made me call, it’s because I’ve heard someone say that they saw wings on these things and he sees a wing, and I mean really it’s a far, but we see something next to it and we’re like, that cannot be a bird. It was light and just a wing looking thing, and it just hovers for the longest time, just hovering there. And we think that it was going in and out of the water.
Jim (00:50:12):
Interesting. And that’s something that’s come up a lot lately. I think I heard Luis back there telling you it came out of the water. The thing is that now they’re talking about submersible, unidentified submersible objects in that they’re what they call transmedium. So they’re in the air and then they’re underwater. And they observed that with the famous Tic-Tac video that they appeared to come out of the water. And even Christopher Columbus, if you go back that far, he had reports in his, I guess ship’s log that they had seen weird lights under the water while sailing. So I mean, this goes back a long time, this idea that these things may not only be in the sky, they might be under the ocean as well.
Delia (00:51:06):
That’s crazy. We know this is real. My son, the oldest, he’s like, that is not a UFO. That could be anything else but a UFO. We were like, no, you can’t tell me otherwise. So yeah, we were very excited that we experienced that as a family, just looking out. So yeah.
Jim (00:51:32):
Very interesting indeed. Delia, thank you so much for being a part of the show. Enjoyed Luis’s stories and again, a big Stay Spooky to you and Abril, and thank you so much for being a part of the Campfire.
Delia (00:51:46):
Thank you, Jim.
Jim (00:51:47):
Another international caller. I love to hear from our friends around the globe. Diane is no exception from Northern Ireland and we’re so glad that she’s here. And she said, I think the first episode she ever listened to on Spotify, there was somebody else from Northern Ireland and she says, that was it. She was hooked, which is great. And Diane’s going to tell us about a special bond with her granddad and one that has survived his physical passing, but he’s obviously still around and still showing it. Diane, welcome to the show. Thank you for joining us. Tell us what happened.
Diane (00:52:25):
Thank you, Jim. So going back to 2008, this is my granddad, my mom’s dad in Northern Ireland. We all live very close with our family members, so I grew up just constantly around him. So yeah, going back to 2008, I was on the bus to work one day, had this feeling that there was just something not right, had no reason for it really, but just had a gut feeling, got to work and asked to speak to my boss and just said, I need to go home. My granddad is in the hospital. I dunno where it came from, but I opened my mouth and that’s what come out. And I just knew that it was true. And so my boss said, no, that’s fine, and I’ll take you to the hospital. So I got in her car and I was panicking thinking, what if he’s not in the hospital?
Diane (00:53:14):
I have no reason to believe that he is in the hospital other than it just come out of my mouth. So we get there and I kid you not, as I’m walking to the entrance of the hospital, there is my mom and my two uncles walking into the hospital and my mom is in an awe. She’s crying, and I just thought, oh wow, something has, I still didn’t know that was definitely my granddad. She said, come on. No one to this day has asked me why I knew. Why I ride there, why I need to go there. Just everyone was in such heightened state of emotion at the time that it probably never crossed their mind at the time. They never thought to ask after. So unfortunately he had a long illness and he passed in the September time a few months later.
Diane (00:54:04):
So I didn’t really think any more of it, of what had happened or how I had known. And then about a year later I had a dream, I suppose, I say dream, but to me it was more than a dream. And my mom and her two brothers, they worked a lot and they were worrying about looking after my grandma. And I heard in the dream as clear as day and in his voice, “sort like those meals on wheels”, and that’s something we have here. It’s for elderly people, well, you know, off the families. So then a few years later, I was on the bus and sitting on the bus come to my Granda’s bus stop and again, clear as day and in his voice, “Thanks driver.” And that’s something that we say in Northern Ireland, “Thanks driver” when we get off the bus, in his voice. I ran to the other side of the bus because I was convinced that it was my Granda, even though I knew it couldn’t be, and there was no one there getting off the bus.
Jim (00:55:04):
Wow. Wow.
Diane (00:55:06):
So fast forward then to 2011, I find out I’m pregnant with my first son. Another dream that to me was more than a dream. There was my Granda, my great grammy, his mom, and my other Granda at my mom’s table blowing party poppers and wearin hats and shouting, “Congratulations, it’s a boy.” And it was a boy. Then again, fast forward to 2016, so this is where it kind really got real for me. I was pregnant again in 2016 with my second son and I had a dream, but two weeks before he was due. And my Granda said, no matter what, I’ll always look after your boys. And we knew that it was another boy we were having. So I went in to have him in the hospital and in the delivery suite. I turned blind at one point and it was like no one else was there, but my Granda’s face and he squeezed my hand and I knew that something was wrong the whole way through the labor. When my son was born, he was very ill and I just knew that that dream that my Granda had come to me was to let me know that yes, he was going to be ill, but everything would be okay. And lo and behold, a week later he was home from the hospital. Absolutely fine. So to me it was just like he is my children’s guardian angel.
Diane (00:56:32):
So I actually have another little girl now, and he hasn’t really come around, I suppose you would say lately, but I’ve been in a much better place and I like to think that he thinks that I’m okay now and that he can move on, not that I don’t need him, but if ever do this, I know that he’s always around and watching over us.
Jim (00:56:58):
It certainly sounds like he is. That’s great. And I love the story of the dream with the party and him and your other elders who have passed on there saying, “Congratulations, it’s a boy.” That’s some great affirmation. The thing is that I just think that some people have a special connection. It’s obvious that you have that with your granddad. I mean, I don’t think there’s any question about it. Now, in your note to me, you said something along the lines of maybe you weren’t quite as much a believer into this until all this happened.
Diane (00:57:32):
Yeah, I did have. I wrote that then I thought, actually I did have experiences as a young girl, but I’ve shut them out and I made myself believe that they weren’t real, but it was only after I had loved ones who passed that I kind of opened myself to rely on these things and actually inviting them in and my husband would be very much the same. And we always feel loved ones around the house. We’ve had mediums tell us that different family members are around us, and I think that’s because we are so open to it, the two of us are so open to it.
Jim (00:58:13):
That is so cool.
Diane (00:58:14):
But yeah, it was hard to pick a story, but because I was so close with my granddad, I think that’s the one that jumped out. But I would love to call in again with other ones.
Jim (00:58:29):
Yes, please do. Please do. We love those. Those were great. And we thank you so much for joining us today all the way from Northern Ireland and just a great, great story. I love these stories.
Diane (00:58:42):
Thank you very much, Jim.
Jim (00:58:44):
Jim Harold’s Campfire is brought to you by Ritual and their Symbiotic Plus. Now we are going to talk about something more frightening than any ghost story. We’re going to talk about passing gas. Hey, it’s a reality, right? Let’s face it, we all do it, some of us more than others. But regardless, there are two types of people in this world. There’s people who openly pass gas in front of a partner and those who turn on the TV really loudly to try to cover it up. But luckily, there is a third option for the awkward gut stuff that we all deal with, Symbiotic Plus. Ritual created a clinically studied three in one prebiotic, probiotic, and postbiotic to help support a balanced gut microbiome. Now, I love Ritual and their products because they have a great supply chain. You know what you’re getting, you know what you’re taking, and I have faith in Ritual and take Ritual products every single day.
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Announcer 2 (01:01:23):
Follow Jim on Twitter and Instagram at THEJimHarold and join our virtual Campfire Facebook group at virtualCampfiregroup.com. Now back to the Campfire.
Jim (01:01:32):
Jane is on the line from Cincinnati, Ohio, O H I O, and I just noticed I have a little thing here that flashes up different info, and my Guardians, as we record this on August 15th, will be playing the Reds. So go Guardians. And I wish the Reds well when they’re not playing Cleveland. Well, Jane…
Jane (01:01:52):
Well, appreciate it.
Jim (01:01:54):
And I assume it’s vice versa.
Jane (01:01:57):
Yeah, absolutely.
Jim (01:01:58):
Jane actually has a very kind of touching story and appreciate her sharing it with us. Jane, welcome to the show. Tell us what happened.
Jane (01:02:08):
Well, a little background information. One of my best friends here lost a son as a freshman in college and it was tragic. And they had a second son. I mean, they have a second son, so just the three of ’em. Wonderful family. We were dear friends for many years. Clearly I never met the first husband, or I’m sorry, the first son so that’s important to the story. She didn’t even have family pictures in the house. That’s just not, that wasn’t her style to decorate. I didn’t know what he looked like. I’d never met him. The other thing is I am a neat nick and everything in my home, things go back and even down to the master bathroom, which sounds funny, but this is going to play into it. I have tile floor and just two rugs. One stays over the tub all the time unless grandkids are here.
Jane (01:03:01):
One is in front of our shower all the time, unless I’m mopping. And it’s about eight, nine feet from where you would use the restroom.
Jim (01:03:11):
Right.
Jane (01:03:13):
So lo and behold, my friend’s husband leaves her and she’s pretty sure there was an affair. It was awful. I mean, what she went through was terrible and it went pretty quickly. It was only four or five months, and their youngest child was a college graduate. They had their assets to split. It was a yo-yo separation. He’d come back. It was awful. So she was about two days away from signing the final papers. I was exhausted, went to bed early. I was going to her house the next day for support, and two in the morning I had to use the restroom. And I never turn on a light. I don’t want to wake up that much. So shuffle in over the tile cold Ohio morning, and all of a sudden it dawned on me in front of the toilet was a rug.
Jane (01:04:10):
And I thought, I’m the only one home. This is strange. My husband was traveling. That’s never where it is. So I thought, oh, somebody wants to talk to me. I was tired. I didn’t know who wanted to talk to me, but I was not afraid. I mean, I’ve had weird things happen all my life. So go back into bed, lay on my back, and just as I was about ready to say, telepathically, who was trying to talk to me there he was. He was not in my room, he was in my vision, and it was like a portrait. He, this very handsome 20 year old something, man, dark hair, all in white, white pants, white top very casually. I started to say, I think I know who you are. And he said, “They’re not getting divorced.” And I kind of said, “What?” And he said, “You have to tell my mom they are not getting divorced.”
Jane (01:05:15):
And I’m like, “oh.” I said, “It’s okay. Your mom’s going to be fine.” She was moving back to her home state. I said, “Your dad’s doing well. Your little brother’s having a hard time, but everybody is ultimately…” And he interrupted. “No, you have to tell her.” Now my friend and I have never talked metaphysically, paranormal. And I thought, oh, how do you say that to somebody who’s lost a son, losing her marriage, in the process of moving out of state? And I was like, oh, I can’t let this kid down. And I said, “Well, I really don’t know anything about you. Your mom never wanted to discuss it. It was too hard. So we just didn’t.” I said, “Can you tell me something about your childhood? I can share with her so she knows I spoke with you.” So the first thing he said, and it was absolutely rapid fire.
Jane (01:06:09):
I had a hard time keeping up with him. And he said, “Music, song, singing.” And I’m trying to remember this because again, I didn’t want to turn on the light and break our connection. So I was like, okay. And then he said something else that made absolutely no sense. It was almost like it was in a different language. But the third thing was “Tinker Toys.” I said, “Tinker Toys.” And he said, “You promise to tell my mom.” And just as I was saying, yes, he was gone. And I thought, oh, I don’t know how this is going to go over. So I go to my girlfriend and I had been there several hours and before I left I said, this is really hard, but here’s what happened last night. And I told her, and she kind of cocked her head and I said, the first thing he said was music, song, and singing.
Jane (01:07:04):
And her eyes got huge, and she said her and her first husband married in high school. It was never going to work. So after he left, shortly after her first son was born, she would play the piano and sing songs to him to get him to fall asleep. And she did it pretty religiously. The second thing didn’t make sense to her either, but the third thing I said,Tinker Toys. And she said he hated Tinker Toys. And I said, I don’t know. I’m like, I’m not going to make anything up. He just was adamant about Tinker Toys. And she said, “O”h no. His little brother loved Tinker Toys.” And the little brother would wait until he heard the school bus and knew his brother was coming home and he would beg his brother to play with him on the floor, Tinker Toys.
Jane (01:08:03):
And so I said, well, I know this was hard to hear. You’re going through a lot. I promised him, and that’s all I know. So lo and behold, they called off the divorce, they reconciled. That was four years ago. They’re two of the happiest people I know. And they had been married about 22 years, I think, when he left and came back and said, biggest mistake of my life. And since, well, that day after I left, she was going out for dinner with her girlfriends, and she called me panic struck. She said, “I don’t know what to do. All the lights in my bathroom are going crazy. My phone’s blowing up, my blow dryer turns on, turns off.” And I said, “It’s okay. It’s just your son trying to connect with you. Why do you think he came through me? He’s trying.” And my guess is he’s been trying to talk to her for a long time.
Jane (01:09:04):
And I said, that’s how kids communicate through electronics and electricity. It’s okay. He’s not going to harm you. He wants to talk to you. So she calmed down, they reconciled, they moved, and this was weird, about a year ago, she gets a package in the mail addressed to her son, and she’s telling me this. And I thought, what kind of a sick joke? I mean, they had lived in Georgia, they moved here, lived here for five, six years, moved back, and it was addressed to him. And I said, well, what was in the box? And there were a couple of things I don’t remember, but the one thing I remember was the movie “Pretty Woman.” And I was like, “Pretty Woman.” And my gut said, because he had some addiction issues that he saw this beautiful woman get out of a bad life and a bad situation and turned out okay. And I think he really wanted that for himself, which is why he liked the movie. But they reconciled and it was truly one of the weirdest nights.
Jim (01:10:29):
He really foretold the future basically.
Jane (01:10:33):
He did. He knew, and he dearly loved her husband. He adopted him legally after his biological father died. It was a weird night, but as hesitant as I was to say anything to her, I’m so glad I did. And her and I still laugh about Tinker Toys.
Jim (01:11:02):
Well, I think it’s great that he got that message to her. And Jane, thank you so much. I know you’re a Plus member. We thank you for that support and thank you for sharing this great story on the Campfire tonight.
Jane (01:11:13):
Thank you.
Jim (01:11:14):
Lesly is on the line from Arkansas. We’re so glad to have her on the line. And she actually found us kind of in reverse of how most people find us. Most people find the podcast. Then look at our other outlets, like our virtual Campfire group on Facebook now, 25,000 strong, I’ll mention. And Lesly actually found that Facebook group first, then graduated over to the podcast. So we’re so glad to have her with us today. By the way, if you’re not a part of that Facebook group, it’s free. We’ve got 25,000 plus members. We’d invite you to go on The Campfire goes on 24/7, 365 over there. It is easily found at virtualCampfiregroup.com. VirtualCampfiregroup.com. So Lesly has what I would just say is a very frightening story, and she’s going to share it with us. Lesly, welcome to the program. Tell us what happened.
Lesly (01:12:10):
Hey, Jim, thanks for inviting me. So I want to share this with, I’ve been wanting to share this with a large group of people for a while, I just didn’t know how, and that’s how I found your Facebook group. But anyway, so this happened back in 2019. So long story short, I was basically out in a country area. If anybody is familiar with Monticello, Arkansas, that’s basically where I was, but in the outskirts in a farm area. And I was walking basically. So I got to say I had my cell phone, but it was not connected, so I couldn’t make any phone calls, but I couldn’t use my cell phone, but I had it on me. So I’m taking a walk and it’s getting dark and I’m out. This is by the woods and area. So I’m walking and I can see in front of me, it’s nothing but woods and the road that I was standing on, but I can see a house, and it had its porch light, it was on.
Lesly (01:13:33):
So in my head, I was like, okay, so I can go ask them for a phone. Somebody’s there. So I sought out, and by the time that I’d made it onto the road where the house stood, it was already really dark outside at this point. It was probably like eight o’clock. And so I’m walking, I’m standing on the road, of course, I don’t just walk right next to the forest, basically, I was just trying to be safe. I suddenly started hearing what sounded like rustling in the woods. It wasn’t deep in the woods. It was closer to the outside, but it was still inside. And my brain automatically was like, oh, it’s probably a deer. And so I didn’t think much of it because my family back home, they hunt, they fish. I’m not a stranger to woodland creatures, habitats and habits and all of that.
Jim (01:14:48):
So it wasn’t your first rodeo, so to speak,
Lesly (01:14:52):
Right. So my head is filling in the blanks. I’m like, oh, it could also be something else that could be making those noises like a skunk or a possum or a raccoon. It could be just a handful of animals in my mind. But I’m not thinking too much of it because they’re not just going to come straight for me. And I know that. But I’m walking and I continue to walk, and at this point, I’m already heading away from it. And then, my mind, I’m paying attention to the noise. I’m just trying to, I think it was instinct. I was just trying to be safe, make sure that it didn’t harm me in any way. So I’m picturing where this noise is. So it ends up going from the inside of the woods to the edge of the tree line. And I’m just, okay, so it’s moving.
Lesly (01:15:44):
It’s fine. Standing between me, I was on the asphalt. I was on the road, and the forest, was a ditch of water, like a shallow ditch of water. And I could hear this thing go from inside the woods to the tree line, and it stepped into the ditch of water. And in my brain, once it stepped into the ditch of water, I’m just listening for, well, what is this thing? I didn’t turn around. I was still walking very slowly. And so well, it steps into the ditch of water, and my brain could hear, it’s very dark. My brain could hear that this thing suddenly, it wasn’t on four legs, Jim, my brain could hear that this thing was on two legs. And my head just, when my head put that together, when my brain put that together, my body, I just felt my body go into fight or flight. And it’s weird to explain this because my body started doing things that I didn’t think that I could normally do. I’m not a very fit person. I don’t really exercise a lot. And my brain starts to just kind of put together like, Hey, this thing is probably a threat. And I started feeling the sweat. I started feeling adrenaline, and I was like, oh my God.
Jim (01:17:18):
Yeah, that had to be quite terrifying.
Lesly (01:17:20):
Yeah, it was. Because there is not many things out in the middle of the woods that stand on two legs. So I was going crazy with thoughts of what could this possibly be? And because I was so afraid at that moment, I felt adrenalized, but I was also pretty terrified. I couldn’t turn around. Jim. I don’t know how to explain it, but I just couldn’t turn around. I was so afraid of what I was going to see, and it scared me that much. And in that moment, I could hear that this thing steps out of the water, across it, went into the ditch, stepped back out of it, but onto the asphalt that I was walking on. And I could hear this thing. I don’t hear boots, I don’t hear hooves. It just sounded like thuds. And my body decides to just, I don’t know.
Lesly (01:18:20):
I made myself smaller for some reason. I don’t know if that was just because what I was instinctively feeling, but I laid out a little bit. I was on my forearms and on my toes, so my body wasn’t touching the asphalt, but I was pretty horizontal. So in that moment, I could hear that it’s still walking towards me. It started to walk towards me. I could hear this thing, and my body’s doing this, and it’s walking slowly. It’s walking pretty slow. And I’m just, in my brain, I’m like, what is this thing? What is this thing? And then I guess it was at a fair distance, but it was close enough that I could feel if me and this thing could have a conversation, we could hear each other. That’s how close we were. So I just was like, I started getting frustrated because I didn’t want it to end that way, for lack of better words. I was just like, I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to just sit here. I can’t just stand here or lay here, or whatever my body’s doing. And I suddenly was just like, I’m going to face this thing. I’m just going to turn around and I’m going to face this thing, and whatever it is, I’m going to fight for my life.
Lesly (01:19:45):
So that’s what I ended up doing. But I did slowly. So I started to straighten out my body, to stand up and turn around and fully expecting something like furry with claws or something. I finally turned around. My heart is pumping. I could feel it in my head. And I finally turned around, and Jim, there was nothing there. There was just nothing there. My eyes are darting all over the place looking for evidence. I was like, okay, when somebody walks away from you, you can see them walk away from you. You can see people exiting a room type deal, and you know what I mean? And there was nothing, nothing. On Facebook, there was people commenting, messaging and saying, Hey, you mentioned that they went into a ditch of water. Did they leave footprints and stuff like that? And no. And that’s the answer. No, there was no footprints. There was no mud drug out.
Lesly (01:20:53):
When you step into mud and you leave footprints or you drag mud, there was no mud coming out onto the asphalt. There was no evidence of anything. There was nothing. I couldn’t hear anything. I could barely see anything. And I was just shocked. I didn’t know what to do because I stood there and I remember backing up a little bit. So I was backing up and I was backing up. But at this point, I was right in front of the house that I intended to go to ask for a phone. So when that happened, I’m looking back and forth from the front door of this house to the direction of where whatever this thing was standing at and looking for something, looking for anything. And I finally saw somebody peeking out of their curtains, and they opened the front door and they’re like, “Yeah, can I help you?”
Lesly (01:21:48):
And I was freaking out, and I was just like, “Yes, please. Can I borrow your phone? Something was following me”, and they quickly opened their door and they started just looking around and they couldn’t find anything. They couldn’t find anybody. They were just as puzzled as I was. And they come out and we’re standing in their driveway and he lets me use his phone. So I dialed my then boyfriend, and while my then boyfriend’s on his way, he asked me, he was like, “What happened?” And he, he’s looking at me and I’m still petrified. I’m still looking in this direction. He didn’t look like he was afraid of me. He didn’t look like she was nothing. He just looked like he was concerned a little bit. And I was still looking in the direction. And I tell him, I tell everything that just happened, and he’s looking at me. He didn’t have the most expression. He was pretty stoic. But he then starts to tell me and mind you, he’s this big grown man. He’s got this big old beard. He’s tall, and he’s very, very husky like broad shoulder. So he’s this big old man, and he’s very serious. And he starts to tell me the scariest thing. I’m just like, no way.
Lesly (01:23:12):
He says, about a week ago, he was tending to his fields, and it was basically what looks like his front yard and on the side to his house. And basically that he just suddenly heard this scream, blood curdling scream. That scared him so, so bad that all he could do was he had a pistol on his hip. And he said he put his hand on the pistol. He whipped it out. She aimed in that direction, and then he fired several times, is what he said he did. But that’s all he could think of doing. For some reason, that’s all his body could think of doing. Let him do. He did it, and it stopped the scream. He didn’t go near that area ever again.
Lesly (01:24:10):
But yeah, no, no, I think that was pretty terrifying. The scary part was that he told me that. He said, a young lady, I heard that it sounded like a woman, but I am telling you with every fiber of my being, I know that that was not a woman. And I just, Jim, something else. If I wasn’t already shook enough, it’s something else just dropped inside of me. When I heard him say that in writing, and I was just thinking, I don’t understand. How come this thing scared the everr deer lights out of me and suddenly just, there’s nothing, I don’t know how to explain it. And years of all of this happening, sorry, not all of this happening, but years of thinking about what happened to me, I can’t help, but I can’t shake the feeling that this thing, I think somehow it spared me. Maybe. I don’t know. I don’t know. But there’s nothing that tells me that it didn’t know what it was doing. It started hollowing me. There’s like something with intelligence is going to do something like that.
Jim (01:25:41):
Yeah, it’s quite a story. Certainly, Lesly, I hope that you can find closure on this. I don’t know what it was. I really don’t. But I thank you so much for taking time and sharing your story today on the Campfire.
Lesly (01:25:57):
Yep. Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for having me. It was a joy.
Jim (01:26:00):
Well, thank you so much for tuning into this edition of the Campfire, and we would appreciate it very much if you share this episode with a friend today, particularly this time of year, text them, show ’em, send them email, whatever you need to do, share it right from your app, that would be so helpful because we can pick up a lot of listeners and a lot of great Campfire stories right about this time of year, and we have some important business to attend to. We have some birthday shout outs. First up, Lauren says, my daughter’s third birthday was September 23rd. Her name is Willow, and she loves all things spooky, and that it would tickle her if I gave a spooky shout out and a happy belated birthday. So Willow, happy belated birthday and Stay Spooky. Next up, Sherry wants to give a belated birthday to her brother, Pete.
Jim (01:26:56):
His birthday was on September 24th, and she wanted to let him know that she thinks he’s a wonderful person and a great dad. He’s encouraging our love of all things spooky and kind of continuing it on with his generation, his daughter, Brie, and his son Ben. So Pete, happy belated, spooky birthday and Stay Spooky. And finally, we have Marsha. And Marsha is a big fan of the show. She’s always giving us a thumbs up and a like and support on social media. We appreciate it. And Marsha’s birthday is coming up on the 29th. So Marsha, happy birthday to you and Stay Spooky. If you would like to get your own video, personalized birthday greeting, anniversary greeting, graduation greeting, holiday greeting, whatever it might be, you can do that very affordably and very directly by going to cameo.com/theJimHarold. It’s cameo.com/theJimHarold, C A M E O.com/theJimHarold.
Jim (01:28:04):
And we’ve tried to make it very affordable and very accessible to everybody, and I really enjoy doing it and finding out about everybody’s birthdays and what they’ve got going on and giving some feedback, and just some nice greetings, some spooky greetings I even have taken lately to sing Happy Birthday to people. So check it out at cameo.com/theJimHarold to get your friend or family member a special video greeting from me. Thank you so much for tuning in this time. We appreciate it. We will talk to you next time. Happy Halloween, share the show. Stay safe and Stay Spooky. Bye-bye, everybody.
Announcer 1 (01:28:45):
You’ve been listening to Jim Harold’s Campfire. Tune in again next time for more stories of ordinary people who have experienced extraordinary things.
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