Episode 311: Your Urban Legends LXXII - Cheetos as a Supernatural Explanation
/What was that noise? Just the pipes, right? WRONG! We talk about cleaning up paranormal messes, clearing up a haunting by flushing a toilet, and of course, the supernatural explanation: Cheetos.
Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of colonization, body image, home invasion, divorce, and pregnancy.
Housekeeping
- Recommendation: This week, Julia recommends buying from your local small businesses!
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Transcript
[Theme Song]
AMANDA: Welcome to Spirits Podcast a boozy dive into mythology, legends and folklore. Every week we pour a drink and learn about a new story from around the world. I'm Amanda.
JULIA: And I'm Julia.
ERIC: And I'm Eric.
AMANDA: And this episode 311, our Hometown Urban Legends for November baby.
JULIA: It's so weird coming off a month of Urban Legends and then being like, Alright, and now we're back to Urban Legends. I love the Urban Legends episodes. So it's like a little treat after we've had a big meal of treats.
AMANDA: Me too. And it's like leftovers Julia, the day after a big feast. Maybe a day where you know, colonists depressed on Native people, and now we have turkey instead. But seriously, this is a time of year when a lot of us are either going home or beginning to go home or making trips to see family and friends. And I especially love doing these hometown episodes in liminal places and times of the year where it's— listen, it's dark early, going home, gotta deal with your parent's food and body shit. That's just me, but it seems like a good time to tell some ghost stories about where we grew up.
JULIA: Speaking of returning home and experiencing your childhood town, usually through a different lens. I have an email from Eva titled Yet Another Creepy Childhood Haunting.
AMANDA: Yay.
ERIC: Yet another creepy childhood hunting has kind of become the premise of Hometown Urban Legends Episodes. I feel like we got another one.
AMANDA: Yeah. But guys, it's so good. And man I say it too, if you are traveling to your childhood home this weekend, I sure would love a photo of the creepiest thing in your childhood bedroom. My parents no longer have a time capsule of the room I grew up in. But I would love to see yours, so just—just tagged us at Spirits Podcast.
JULIA: Yeah. I also want to point out that Eva in describing how to pronounce her name said like in Wall-e, eee-vah.
AMANDA: That's a good one.
JULIA: Alright, so she writes, “ Hi, Julia, Amanda, and Eric. Firstly, love the podcast. I've been listening for quite a while and I love the Hometown Urban Legends episodes. I've been wanting to share the story for a long time and I finally come up with a semi-cohesive, quote-unquote “plotline.’’ So I'll start with my dad. He was actually the first one to bring up that our house was haunted after we moved out, I was kind of shocked. I didn't think that was really a possibility until one of my parents said that it was. He had issues with the basement. He talks about feeling watched and just unsettled while being down there. Most of our basement was completely underground, but he says he definitely felt a presence. My mom hated the laundry room. And that's why- TO THIS DAY, she hates doing laundry. Also, she ran a daycare for 10 years. The playroom was also in the basement. And often she would get up really early to deal with the mess. Both her and my dad felt watched in the basement, especially when my mom would get up in the literal witching hour and do chores and stuff. Although both my parent's experiences are honestly kind of boring. But my sister and I—well, you'll see.” Such a little tease there. Thank you, Eva.
AMANDA: I know I love the signposting. The storytelling, Incredible.
JULIA: “ I have the less scary story. It revolves around my sleeping habits and the stairs to the basement.” This is why I picked this one Amanda.
AMANDA: Thank you. Which we found out from soup dumplings in the Multitude Discord by the way are called Open Rises Stairs, which makes total sense.
JULIA: Yeah.
AMANDA: But I think that name—we—we can go a little creepier to sort of describe how they actually feel.
JULIA: So Eva says “ I had sleep paralysis when I was a kid. I feel like it's a common occurrence in kids but now that I look back on this, I realized how creepy it was. The big thing to remember is that these were NOT dreams. I was awake for these and I was so scared I couldn't move. Almost every night I lay in bed trying to sleep but then heard footsteps-loud-footsteps walking up the stairs to my bedroom. They stopped right outside my door and then I heard them turn around and go all the way back down to-you-guessed it- the laundry room. As a side note, I was deathly afraid of the basement stairs. I would run up to them when I was a kid because I was so scared of what might be following me. As I got older it stopped, but thinking about It still freaks me out.”
ERIC: Do you think part of the reason that like stairs are so creepy is because they're also like tight corridors? Like there's something about stairs that like—hallways are also creepy in a lot of instances. But I feel like the fact that stairs you have to like climb up them and you're contained. I feel like when I'm on a staircase that is open. I never have any—any—any fright there. If it's in that—it is not a thin hallway you're like, uhh, something could—it's behind me because you know, that's where it has to be.
JULIA: I think also part of it too is the vulnerability we have when we're on stairs. Because, you know, you do one trip and you're falling down. You make one false move and you're in a lot of pain, you know.
AMANDA: Yes. There's only one way to negotiate stairs that don't end in complete disaster and it's use them and don't fall. And whether it's an open staircase, then my fear is going over a railing. If it's a closed staircase. I hear your point, Eric, it's very claustrophobic.
ERIC: Yeah.
AMANDA: There's only one entrance in and out, at least in the hallway. Like the fear is sort of stuff coming from behind the doors. But if we're being chased down a hallway and nightmares are in your imagination, at least you can like a duck into a room at any given time.
ERIC: Yeah.
AMANDA: But the stairs are really like that is the only sort of purpose-built like one way in one way out, no other options, space that I feel like we negotiate really regularly.
JULIA: Yeah, that's true. So stairs creepy, indeed.
ERIC: But also cool. It's great to get up a level.
JULIA: It really does kind of, at least in my mind, activate that part of my brain that like my monkey hindbrain where it's like, gotta be up high. Gotta be tall. You know what I mean?
AMANDA: Yes.
JULIA: I'm short. I love being tall in other scenarios. Standing on counters, sitting on counters, climbing trees, all about that.
AMANDA: Exactly, like a goat, I want to be perched on the highest place.
JULIA: Exactly Amanda, exactly. So Eva continues. “ My sister on the other hand, well, she had an imaginary friend. Yes, you read that, right? Honestly, it was more like an imaginary bully. She called him the Orangey Guy.”
AMANDA: Ooh.
ERIC: I know this guy.
JULIA: Yeah.
ERIC: I know a bully, that's an orangey guy.
JULIA: He quote-unquote, “ tormented her in her dreams. During the day, in her thoughts. All. the. time.”
AMANDA: Wait, is the orangey guy, anxiety?
JULIA: I mean, maybe, I don't know. “ She had nightmares of running from him but never getting away, and he became so disruptive to her day that she would have full-on meltdowns because of his antics. I don't remember much else since I didn't experience him. But I do remember something my sister told me about him when we were kids. His favorite room is the laundry room.”
AMANDA: Ooh.
ERIC: Hmm.
JULIA: “ It still really freaks me out. My family's theory is that a previous owner died in the house and was left alone by their spouse after the spouse moved out. The Spirit then grew resentful and angry and wanted to push us out of their safe spot which was the laundry room. I think after a while it got used to us and left us alone a bit. But the first five years of living there, we know the spirit was definitely miffed that we had moved in. Anyways, that's my story. I know. It's not much but I figured you all would enjoy it. Keep up the awesome work. Stay creepy. Stay cool. Eva.”
ERIC: I have a theory.
JULIA: Hit me with that.
ERIC: About why the orange guy.
JULIA: Yeah.
ERIC: Like the laundry room.
JULIA: Okay. What is that?
AMANDA: Ooh.
ERIC: Here it is. Cheetos. He's a big Cheeto eater. He's turned orange. But then—but then he—he's got the—the Cheeto-ee fingers. He puts it out his clothes, though he's got to wash his clothes constantly.
JULIA: Interesting.
AMANDA: Oh, no.
ERIC: I think it's the only solution.
AMANDA: He's so old-timey handkerchiefs had not been invented. And not new enough to know about the chopstick hack.
JULIA: Yes. Eva, I want you—next time you talk to your sister about the orangey guy. I want you to ask them to describe this guy to you.
AMANDA: Yes.
JULIA: Because I'm very curious kind of physically what this spirit or creature or whatever looked like because I don't know. Now I'm really intrigued by Eric's Cheeto theory.
AMANDA: I was thinking, this guy is Gritty.
JULIA: Oooh.
AMANDA: And the household appliance that is closest to the sound of the Zamboni, it's got to be a washing machine. And that is what really makes Gritty feel at home. Maybe it's an unfinished basement. Maybe it's kind of wet. Maybe there are stinky clothes in there, like a hockey locker room. And that is where Gritty feels most at home.
JULIA: Amanda you're coming off of a vacation. You're coming in hot today and I really appreciate it.
AMANDA: Woooh.
ERIC: I was gonna say rarely do you dive into the depths of stupidity that I often [9:18]. Whenever it's a lot that you just come up with just a theory that was like, that's something, that's definitely something.
AMANDA: Yeah, we're recording this a couple of weeks after my wedding where I took probably about 7 days off without checking my email for the first time in 5 years. And, A. Thank you both so much. I said—I know I said it already for helping me do that. B. You both had excellent experiences and stories at my wedding that we're going to go into on the Patreon.
JULIA: That's true.
AMANDA: If you'd like to join. It was in the—it was in the end of the October Urban Legends episode, God it was good. And finally turns out to rest and vacation. Good.
JULIA: Woah.
AMANDA: Gives you ideas and energy and thought. And so, if this is what I'm bringing after a vacation, either never let me vacation again. Or let's plan on this again next year, because good God, I feel—I feel animated and ready to go.
JULIA: Hell yeah, dawg.
AMANDA: I actually have Julia, a story that's as characterized by blue as yours is by orange. Do you want to hear it?
JULIA: Ooh, yes, please.
AMANDA: This comes in from Michaela, she/they who writes in about Haunted Candles.
JULIA: Ooh. Okay.
ERIC: Hmm.
AMANDA: So Michaela writes, “ My mom lives in Halifax, Canada, in an old house that was converted into apartments. The house was built before 1910 and was one of the few buildings that withstood the Halifax explosion.” Not a thing I'd heard of, by the way, but what a name!
JULIA: Oh, yeah.
AMANDA: “ The second floor had a big hallway down the middle separating it into two apartments, but they will be shared one bathroom at the far end of the hallway.”
JULIA: Oh, I hate them.
AMANDA: Very early 20th century where they're like, you're lucky to have bread, much as a private bathroom, not real.
JULIA: A nightmare.
AMANDA: “ The layout was really strange because it was clearly never meant to be more than a single-family home. The apartment my mom lived in, opened into the kitchen and living room and the bedroom was off to the side. As my mom does, she washed the floors and cleaned up, unpacked her things, and settled in.” When I moved to my first two apartments, by the way, my mom and grandma came over and we were like, nice apartment, enjoy moving, I'm going to clean the floors. And I was like, excuse me? But whatever reason I have also inherited it. And the first thing I do in a new apartment is like, you know, hands and knees less oil, scrub those floors.
JULIA: Wow. Dang.
AMANDA: So the floor washing is important because “ a few days after moving in, my mom noticed light blue wax on the floor, leading from the hallway door into the middle of the kitchen that she thought, weirdly she must have missed while cleaning. She's pretty meticulous, but it was light blue and could have been easily missed, she guessed. So regardless, she scraped up the wax without thinking much of it. A few days later, she noticed the same blue wax in the floor leading from the hallway door to the kitchen and so she cleaned it again ... and again ... and again.”
JULIA: I don't like that It's like a specific material every time, like if it's mud sure, like people get mud on their shoes, even ghosts, but what is this wax?
AMANDA: I know dust plaster from the ceiling that I totally get leaves coming in from a window, no, no, this is a light blue wax.
JULIA: What is that?
AMANDA: “ She worried that maybe someone had been coming into her apartment. ”
JULIA: That's what I thought.
AMANDA: Yeah, but her door always remained locked. Whether she stayed home or came home, unlocked the door, and found it there, " the door had been locked every time. After a month or so she was laying in bed when she heard her front door creak open. Terrified, she lay awake all night frozen in the fear head under the blankets too afraid to look into the kitchen ” [12:37] I hope you're enjoying this victory here.
ERIC: Yup. Mmm. Yeah. Well, we'll see if it's a victory. We got it—we got to see what's the victory.
AMANDA: That's fair. That's fair.
ERIC: We're in the not fucking around the stage.
AMANDA: Yeah, yeah.
ERIC: And we will find out if they find out.
JULIA: I need to find out if they find out.
AMANDA: True. “ In the morning, she noticed her front door was locked and the same blue wax was on the floor again. She cleaned it up. A few days after this incident, It happened again. She heard the front door open from her bedroom but this time she could see the warm light coming in from the hallway. Eventually, the light dimmed as if the door closed.” So from her bedroom, she saw as if the front door was open because there was like a shadow of light on the floor, and then it closed. The door closed and she slept. So she did not get up to investigate this— this happening.
JULIA: Okay bold move, but we respect it.
AMANDA: But then she had an idea. “ She decided to tape the bottom of the door, so if someone did open it the tape would break.”
ERIC: Classic.
AMANDA: Some real Harriet the Spy situation happening. “ With the tape in place, she again heard the familiar creaking of the door in the night and saw the warm light from the hallway spill across the floorboards. But the next morning the tape was intact, the door locked and wax on the floor.”
JULIA: What the fuck.
AMANDA: “ After this, she at least stopped worrying that someone was coming into the apartment. She said that she felt like nothing was trying to hurt or scare her. She just assumed it was the lingering presence of a mother checking on her children as they slept through the night. The best part though there were never any footsteps just the drops of wax crossing the room. And at the end of the path, there was more wax, as if whoever was there had lingered for a few minutes to peek into the bedroom before leaving once again.”
JULIA: Cool, cool. Just casually watching you sleep. Nice.
AMANDA: No nothing to worry about or anything.
ERIC: It's all good. It's all good just leaving some blue wax behind.
JULIA: But it's leaving physical presence behind.
AMANDA: My thing is like just the wax build-up, like a votive candle as it building up.
JULIA: Yeah.
ERIC: Yeah.
AMANDA: And like suddenly you have like a ridge or a minor hill or a minor mountain range of wax in your hallway.
JULIA: I don't know. I don't like it.
AMANDA: But Michaela just signs off by saying “ hope you enjoy these stories and the fact that my mom is completely nonchalant about the paranormal.”
ERIC: Oh no, no solution.
JULIA: No solution, just like oop, I guess it's just a thing that happens here. No solution.
ERIC: Just sometimes there's a bunch of wax.
AMANDA: Just the thing that happened. Hmm.
JULIA: I'm curious if she like asked neighbors whether they were experiencing that too. Was the wax also in the hallway or was it just in her apartment, because it was opening the door to the apartment presumably? So wouldn't it also be outside in the hallway?
AMANDA: I would love for Michaela, to follow up with your mom.
JULIA: Sure.
AMANDA: And there was also another story about Michaela's mom's years working in the oldest jail in Canada.
JULIA: Woah.
AMANDA: So that one I'm gonna save for our November Patreon bonus. So, awesome you gotta join. Gotta get on it.
JULIA: Dang.
ERIC: Well, I've got a story from Ingrid titled, Shower Ghosts, Falling Chairs, and Laughing Men. These are three different stories. We're gonna do one before the refill, one after, and then one on the bonus episode.
JULIA: Ooohh.
AMANDA: Oooh.
JULIA: Eric, can we vote on which of the stories is going to be in the bonus episode and which ones we hear now?
ERIC: Sure. So we've got, Falling chairs, Laughing Man, and Shower ghost.
JULIA: I think Laughing Man should be the one that we put in the bonus.
ERIC: In the bonus? Okay.
AMANDA: On the bonus, we tend to go deeper into tangents than we do on the main episodes. So I think that'll give us the most sort of food for conversation.
ERIC: Yeah.
JULIA: Heck yeah.
ERIC: Alright. Well, we'll start with Falling Chairs. “ I'm gonna preface this by saying I don't actually believe in ghosts, spirits, or any type of supernatural entity. But for someone who doesn't believe in it, I've had a lot of unexplainable shit happen to me. In this message. I'll stick to three stories, but I have even more creepy tales if you want to hear them.”
JULIA: We always want to hear more.
AMANDA: Always.
ERIC: “ Although I spend my summers and most Christmases at a 200-year-old cottage in the Swedish countryside.”
JULIA: Woah.
ERIC: “ And even though on my side of the family we used to own an old castle from the 1500s.”
AMANDA: Excuse me, excuse me?
ERIC: That just you know, owning an old castle.
JULIA: Casually owning an old castle from the 1500s.
AMANDA: Do you need new owners? We're only 6200 patrons away from buying a castle in Ireland. So just reminding you that— that—that goes there.
JULIA: Get on it.
ERIC: It's always there. “ However my ghost stories all take place in relatively new buildings. I do have some stories from the castle as well, but they're mostly my dad's, and granddad's as I've never lived there myself.”
JULIA: I still want to hear them.
ERIC: Yeah. We don't get a lot of listeners that own castles or have lived in castles or have had like members that have lived in a castle. So I'd be—where—we're will happily accept your castle tales.
JULIA: I mean, statistically there aren't a lot of castles in the world anymore. So, I guess like you know the likelihood of one of our listeners also owning a castle or being associated with owning a castle is also statistically [17:25]
ERIC: Yeah.
AMANDA: Okay, but unless there is like a castle housekeeping today podcast, name a podcast whose listeners are more likely to have lived in the castle or have relatives that do than me.
JULIA: Fair.
ERIC: Oh. I—I got one.
JULIA: Oh.
ERIC: Megan and Harry's.
JULIA: Ooh.
AMANDA: No, they wish. They wish but conspirators are more likely to be like, yeah, my parents umm at some point in their childhoods lived in a castle and were very nonchalant toward ghosts. And now I'm rediscovering that in my adulthood and listening to Spirits.
JULIA: Yeah, they wanted to renovate it, but then it was really haunted, and like everyone was getting bad vibes.
AMANDA: Yeah. So we,—we decided just to like live with it. That sounds like a conspirator to me.
ERIC: Sure. “ I grew up in what I think you'd call a row house. Though I've never heard the term in English before.” I think that's what we would generally call them.
JULIA: Yeah, probably.
ERIC: “ We had two main floors, an attic, and a basement. But we shared walls with the neighbors on either side of the house. I always thought it was a creepy house, the stairs creek, the basement always looked too dark. And there were a lot of weird sounds at night when I was trying to sleep. But as I've gotten older, I've been able to find explanations to almost everything that scared me as a kid. There is only one thing I haven't been able to explain away even to this day.”
JULIA: Incredible.
ERIC: “ I would wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of falling chairs. Not just any chairs, though, it was very specifically the kitchen chairs. I knew exactly the sound these chairs made when they hit the stone floor in our kitchen. As I was one of those kids who would weigh on the chair balancing back and forth until I got pulled off by my mom or until I with the chair fell on the floor. So I knew the sound very well as did my family. And this is what I would wake up hearing multiple times throughout the years. Only to come downstairs the morning after with the chairs standing where they had stood the day before. I used to think that this was just some weird nightmare. This was until one day many years later, when I told my sister she used to wake up to the sound of our kitchen chairs falling on the stone floor as well. I stared at her and asked her what she meant. And she repeated I know what those chairs sound like when they fall on the kitchen floor. And that is what I would hear. When I told her I used to hear the same thing. She just kind of nodded and said, yeah, well that house was haunted.”
ERIC: Just your casual—your casual sister knowing that the house is haunted. A tale as old as time.
JULIA: Why?
AMANDA: I will never get tired of the family nonchalant, is like mmm, yeah, that was haunted.
ERIC: Yup.
JULIA: I just would— have these discussions with your family members.
AMANDA: I know, I know.
JULIA: Why not?
AMANDA: Exactly, you start with the haunting and then you start unpacking generational trauma. It's a great lead into the conversations you gotta have.
JULIA: It makes me so mad. I don't know why. It makes me so mad that you guys don't talk about these things. Talk about these things!
AMANDA: Unless your parents habitually every morning we're like, hmm the ghost knock the chairs down last night, got to put them back. Like both of those situations are still unresolved. Like, even if the logical explanation is oh, yeah, my parents put the chairs back, that's why I heard them fall. But they were still righted. I would have more questions than, not fewer.
JULIA: Yeah, And I guess. But like, those are questions you guys can answer together rather than just like stew in your own brain. I feel like this is going to be the hill that I die on now in Urban Legends Episodes. Where it's just like, just talk, just talk to people.
AMANDA: Talk to your family!
JULIA: This is not a romance movie. This is not a rom-com, you know, you guys can just talk.
ERIC: I feel like you—you need a hill to die on, because I have team ignorant, Amanda has animal-human hybrids.
AMANDA: Yes.
ERIC: And you now have this.
AMANDA: And smells being the creepiest scent to be haunted via.
ERIC: Of course.
JULIA: Yes. Nach nach.
ERIC: Well, let's go, make sure none of our chairs have fallen over in the kitchen, and grab a quick refill.
AMANDA: Yes.
JULIA: Let's go.
AMANDA: Let's do it.
[theme]
JULIA: Hey, it's Julia. And welcome to the refill. I am in full preparation for Thanksgiving here because I'm hosting my first Thanksgiving ever and it is both that good kind of anxiety and also that bad kind of anxiety. So I hope that if you're preparing a meal if you're having people over if you are stressed out about that, take a deep breath. Let's relax together. And let's welcome our newest patron Joseph. Joseph joins the ranks of our incredible supporting producer-level patrons like Uhleeseeuh, Anne, Brittany, Cicuta Maculata, Daisy, Froody Chick, Hannah, Jack Marie, Jane, Jessica Stewart, Kneazlekins, Lily, Megan Moon, Nathan, Niki, Phil Fresh, Rikoelike, Captain Jonathan, MAL-uh-kye, Cosmos, Sarah, Scott Spooky Lore, and Zazi. And of course, our legend-level patrons who—hey, just relax on the couch right now. No big deal. I'll serve you your food. It's gonna be great. Arianna, Audra, Bex, Chibi Yokai, Clara, Ginger Spurs Boi, Morgan, Sarah, Schmitty, and Bea Me Up Scotty. And you can join those ranks at patreon.com/spiritspodcast. And as a reminder, our Patreon is now monthly. That means when you sign up your tier is what you pay each month. It is simpler for you, it gives us more tools too. And if you want more Urban Legends each month, all patrons now have access to our monthly bonus episodes plus the dozens that we've posted over the years. You can enjoy new benefits like Tarot drawings, bonus video advice, podcast, and even more chances to connect with us. And if you want to get a whole year of Patreon support at a discount, you can now sign up for an annual plan. All that and more at patreon.com/spiritspodcast. Now, this is the time when I usually give you guys a recommendation, and here's the thing. I am already thinking about buying gifts for the holiday season and I want to recommend to you, check out the local businesses in your area. Check out the Instagram, see what they have for sale, and start looking to buy locally. Your money goes further when you buy locally and it is super super important to support small businesses, especially during the holiday season. So find a business near you, think about how much work they put into that business, and support them with your dollars and also get someone an incredible gift. I really recommend it. I love buying locally personally. I also want to recommend a new show here on the multitude network. I know we are constantly putting out new shows, but this one is one that I am super super excited for, Pale Blue Pod is an astronomy podcast for people who are overwhelmed by the universe, but also want to be its friend. Guest to the show. Lovely person and incredibly smart person astrophysicist Dr. Moiya McTier and comedian Corrine Caputo, demystify space, one topic at a time with open eyes, open arms, and open mouths, you know, from so much laughing and jaw-dropping. By the end of each episode, the cosmos will feel a little bit less, ah too scary and a lot more ooh, so cool. They have new episodes every Monday, wherever you get your podcasts, check it out. This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Now, here's the thing. It is going to be a stressful time probably in your life going into the holidays. I don't know how on top of the ball you are, but I know the holidays are always really stressful for me. And I really do wish that life kind of came with a user manual. You know, there's no real answer to how to get things done and survive the holidays. But I feel like talking to a therapist is the closest I ever get to a user manual for my life. And therapists are trained to help you figure out the cause of challenging emotions and learn productive coping skills. Which makes therapy the closest thing through that guided tour of the very cool engine that is your brain. 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Blueland is on a mission to eliminate single-use plastics by reinventing cleaning essentials to be better for you and for the planet. And this holiday season, Blueland is having its best sale of the year so you can save and shop sustainably for your friends, family, and even yourself. It's a super simple idea, you grab one of their beautiful forever bottles, really they are beautiful. You fill it with warm water, you drop in a tablet, and you get cleaning. Refill starts at only 2.25, and you don't have to keep buying new plastic bottles every time you run out. You can even set up a subscription so you never run out of the products that you use the most and you save even more when you buy in bulk. I would recommend trying their clean Essentials Kit. I am going to use it a lot this holiday season. I can tell already. It has everything you need to get started. It has their signature scents like Iris agave, that's my personal favorite. Fresh lemon, eucalyptus mint. Plus for a limited time, Blueland's hand soap is getting even more festive with a beautiful chocolate box-inspired gift set with cozy scents like evergreen, winterberry, and peppermint. So take advantage of their best sale of the year, go to blueland.com/spirits. You won't want to miss this. blueland.com/spirits. That's blueland.com/spirits. And if you're like me and you're thinking about giving gifts all ready for the holiday season, look no further than Storyworth. Storyworth is an online service that helps you and your loved ones preserve precious memories and stories for years to come. It is a thoughtful and meaningful gift that connects you to those who matter most. Every week Storyworth emails your relative or a friend with a thought-provoking question of your choice from their vast pool of possible options and each unique prompt asks questions you never thought to ask. Like what's the bravest thing you've ever done in your life? Or if you could see into the future, what would you want to find? After one year, Storyworth then we'll compile all of your loved ones' stories, including photos into a beautiful keepsake book that you'll be able to share and revisit for generations to come. I know that it's kind of nice to have something like full of pictures and stories just hanging out on your coffee table. You could just peruse it at your leisure and remind yourself of, you know the great memories that you have with your loved ones. Reading the weekly stories will help you connect with those loved ones no matter how near or far apart you are. So with Storyworth, I am giving those I love most a thoughtful personal gift from the heart and preserving their memories and stories for years to come. Go to storyworth.com/spirits and save $10 on your first purchase. That's storyworth.com/spirits to save $10 on your first purchase. And then finally a great gift for any conspirator this year is I think the incredible book from NYU press mid-century cocktails history, lore, and recipes from America's Atomic Age. It is part of Cecilia Teaches Cocktails Trilogy. And this is an incredible trilogy that includes stuff like Gilded Age Cocktails and Jazz Age Cocktails. It is perfect for anyone who is looking to up their cocktail game, kind of visit stuff from history which I know most conspirators love. And each book shares the best cocktail creations of the 20th century using period recipes to better understand the lives of people in the past. If you're a Spirits fan, if you're a cocktails fan, I know you're going to love Mid Century Cocktails and you can get 30% off and free shipping when you input code SPIRITS-FM on NYUpress.org That is Gilded Age Cocktails, Jazz Age Cocktails and Mid Century Cocktails. Check them out. And now let's get back to the show.
ERIC: Well, we are back and I recently tried out some new whiskey. I was at the liquor store and I said let's—let's try— try something new. And I picked up two bottles of stuff, but the one I want to talk about is the Basil Hayden Dark Rye?
JULIA: Oooh
AMANDA: Ooh.
ERIC: And I was gonna say it's like trying whiskey again for the first time but that's inaccurate. Because the first time I was here, like ah, I'm gonna die. But it is the first time you're trying whiskey for the first time again if you've loved whiskey from the start. It is an unbelievable flavor profile that I— it's kind of hard to describe, it's obviously darker. It's called Dark Rye, but it's smooth and has a sweetness to it. And I—I often drink whiskey straight. But sometimes I mix it with stuff. Sometimes I add a little splash of water in there, but this stuff is just phenomenal. It adds a flavor profile that I've never had because you got a lot of whiskies that are like smoked or other things and this is just a really unique flavor. So if you see it at your liquor store, I highly recommend it and all of Basil Hayden's they've been around for years. All of their stuff is good, but this stuff really, really blew me away. And I'm gonna probably pick up another bottle next time I'm in the store.
JULIA: Yeah, Jake really likes Basil Hayden. So if I see it in the store, I will pick that up for him. That sounds awesome.
AMANDA: Oh, delish. I love that.
JULIA: I recently when I was at my local brewery, The Blue Point Brewery. I had a new beer they have on tap.
ERIC: Not sponsored, supposedly.
JULIA: Not sponsored.
ERIC: Supposedly.
AMANDA: We wish. We wish, were open.
JULIA: But they had a Bananas Foster Brown Ale, that tastes exactly like it sounds and it was freaking delicious. Not gonna lie. Usually, I'm not even like a banana-flavored kind of person. But didn't taste like artificial banana, tasted like real fucking banana and it was delightful.
AMANDA: That's so good. I recently had something banana flavor to Julia. Ben and Jerry's had like a vegan Bananas Foster flavor. And I was like, what's this gonna be like? Delicious. So good.
JULIA: There you go. There you go.
AMANDA: After my wedding, Eric, now is my husband and I drove.
JULIA and ERIC: Ooohh
JULIA: Jump in the husband card. We see how it is.
AMANDA: I know. I know. I gotta do it. We drove upstate, we went to the Adirondacks. And then we went over into Burlington, Vermont, which is one of our favorite cities to spend time in. For the first time spent the night in a hotel there, normally take a day trip from where my grandma lives. But instead, we were like, let's like go to a couple of breweries, you know, see a place. We went to a great barcade called The Archives. Their machines were so beautiful. The cocktails were so good. But for me, my favorite place that we visited was the Tap Room of Zero Gravity Brewing, which I have drank their beers for a long time, never visited. It was such a fun place to hang out. We had cauliflower wings, like you know, cauliflower, you know. It was so good, my God. But the beer I enjoy the most is the Black Cat Porter, which really is like a such a drinkable Porter. Sometimes those kinds of beers are very heavy. You want to have like, you know, a 6-ounce pour or a 10-ounce pour. But this one was so drinkable, so nice. I had a pint and that was like the perfect amount. And it really also got like even more malty and chocolaty flavors as it warmed up, which I really appreciate. As I've gotten from crisp to room temperature. So if you see the Black Cat Porter around you, try it.
JULIA: Yum, that sounds so good.
ERIC: I—I mean, I—I've said on the—on the program that I've been drinking less beer generally. But every so often, I decided to get something. Man climate change, it's messing up when to switch to what beers, because you're like, ah, it's time for a stout and then you like, and then it's like.
AMANDA: It's not.
ERIC: It's 75 degrees, time to do some yard work you weren't expected because you can it's like, damn it.
JULIA: Yep. Damn. Let me have my stout, let me be chilly.
ERIC: I think in like a week. We've got our last warm day coming up and then it stopped time.
AMANDA: Yeah, I actually woke up this morning. And I was like not taking the air conditioners out until Thanksgiving. Now, because there's always that those couple weeks.
ERIC: Exactly.
AMANDA: In late September, early October where you think it's time, but it's not time.
ERIC: Left our windows open the last two days.
AMANDA: It is currently 69 degrees.
ERIC: Well, let's get back to Ingrid's story. We're gonna read a story number three. Story number two, the Laughing Man will be on the November bonus episode, but this is the shower ghost.
JULIA: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
AMANDA: Yay.
JULIA: [sings] Nothing more vulnerable when you're naked in the shower.
AMANDA: Oh, yeah. Oh my God. Have you guys ever had to like run naked out of the bathroom and grab a towel? Imagine if you had to do that up or down a set of stairs. That'd be the worst-case scenario.
JULIA: While a ghost chase you.
AMANDA: Yeah.
ERIC: We've added a lot of details. But yes, that will help me very bad.
AMANDA: I'm tying it together, Eric.
ERIC: I know. I know you— I know you are. I know you, it's very good. It's very good. So Ingrid writes “ my third and final story happened in my mom's apartment. And to tell this I need to explain the floor plan a bit.” A lot of floor plan explanations in this—this episode.
JULIA: Floor plans are important. You gotta visualize.
ERIC: You do.
AMANDA: Our listeners have done a very good job of only describing floor plans when they're necessary. And when they have to describe it. They do a good job. So like we're all doing great here.
JULIA: Yeah, yeah.
ERIC: “ The way the apartment is designed, is with an open floor plan where the kitchen and living room is only separated by the kitchen island.” It's much like my house. “ You would be able to see both rooms in their entirety at the same time if it wasn't for the fridge and freezer next to the island, which may kind of like a pillar clouding some of the view from the kitchen into the living room. So if someone was walking from one side of the apartment to the other through the living room, they would disappear for a second behind the fridge, before reappearing and continuing past the kitchen.”
AMANDA: I can see where this is going.
ERIC: Yep, Yep, definitely. It's going to be one of those things where the person does that funny, funny thing where they pretend they're stairs behind the—that's obviously what's going to happen.
JULIA: And the escalator.
ERIC: Yeah the fake escalator, fake.
JULIA: A funky—funky elevator.
ERIC: That's where it's—that's where it's going obviously, nothing spooky. “ About a year ago when my sister still live with my mom. I was visiting for a couple of days. I was standing in the kitchen washing dishes. While my sister was taking a shower. My mom wasn't home, so I knew I would be alone until my sister got out of the shower. I started standing with my back to the living room and not really paying attention. When I caught something moving in the corner of my eye, disappearing behind the fridge freezer pillar.” The fridge-freezer-pillar, you know, everyone's got a fridge for you to fill. “ I assumed it was my sister. So I didn't lift my eyes or look at her. I just kept working. I then said something to her and waited for a response. But she didn't say anything back. So I repeated and when I didn't get an answer, I finally looked up and realized I was alone. Confused. I rounded the kitchen island to look behind the pillar. And there was no one there. So I called for my sister wondering how in the hell she moves so fast. That's when I realized the shower was still on. Freaked out, I called for her again. This time I could hear her turn off the shower yelling “ what??? ” I don't know who the fuck I saw walking through the living room. But my sister assured me she had been in the shower the whole time. The weirdest thing is, this has now happened multiple times.”
JULIA: Oh no.
ERIC: “ Each time I've seen someone walking through the living room disappearing behind the pillar, and then never turning up on the other side. Hope you enjoyed some or all of my weird stories. If you can think of an explanation. I would love to be a bit less creeped out and a bit more cool. Thank you for being amazing.” Now, Ingrid, you're cool enough for sure.
JULIA: That's true.
AMANDA: Yes.
ERIC: But let's see if we can figure out what's going on here.
AMANDA: You got a shower ghost. That's all I have to say.
JULIA: I think it's interesting because I don't think it's necessarily tied to the shower. Maybe it's just using the shower as an upward like, as cover, or as an opportunity.You know what I mean?
ERIC: Yeah, we don't know when the other instances happened.
JULIA: Yes. So I'm curious if it's actually tied to the shower or not. Otherwise, I would say that maybe you have a doppelganger situation happening here.
AMANDA: That's definitely possible. Especially because they love to just go in a direction and not really interact with you.
JULIA: Yeah.
AMANDA: And simply make you confused. Does the ghost live in the pipes? And when the shower turns on, like Cyberchase.
ERIC: Oh.
AMANDA: Or Scooby Doo. The ghost is sent out of the showerhead and must find a place to roam until the shower gets turned off.
JULIA: I love that theory so fucking much. That's hilarious. I—that's great. And now I'm curious if you see the ghost also while you're like washing dishes or something like that because that also could be an option then.
AMANDA: Yeah.
JULIA: Gonna have to really test that one out.
AMANDA: You know what, that gives me a better idea than Gritty. Which I can't believe I said that sentence.
JULIA: A better idea than Gritty. Amanda, impossible.
AMANDA: I know. Maybe the washing machine ghost also lived in the pipes. And when the washing machine went on drawing water from you know, from the home's plumbing connection, it's got to go somewhere.
JULIA: Hmm.
ERIC: Hmm.
AMANDA: Does anyone get haunted when their toilets flush? Because like every other flush right? The tank has two flushes worth of water in it. Maybe every other flush if you are getting a haunting, consider it. That might be the answer.
JULIA: Now this kind of raises an interesting question because as I've learned from Jake and him watching any sort of horror movie. He does agree that usually when you think something is haunted, it's actually just the pipes making noise. But what if the pipes are the things that are haunted? Amanda, you're breaking the case wide open.
ERIC: Haunted pipe.
AMANDA: You know what could cover the sound of a ghost groaning with existential fear? Better than like your hot water heaters struggling to keep up with your shower?
JULIA: Maybe that's why the ghosts are groaning in fear, is because you just flush that pipe out and now they're like, Oh, nooo.
AMANDA: Yeah, exactly. It—especially if the home was like, you know, disused and they settled in, they're like great, cozy space, mason metally. I don't know if ghosts like metal or whatever. But you know, cozy private one way in and one way out, easy to keep an eye on the entrance. And then suddenly it's getting used multiple times a day. I'd hate that. I've grown.
JULIA: Yeah, yeah, that's fair.
AMANDA: Consider it.
JULIA: Consider it.
AMANDA: Consider it.
ERIC: Consider it.
AMANDA: Well, Julia, I'm happy to tell you that I actually have a generational haunting tale here for the back half of this Urban Legends ep.
JULIA: Yes. Dreams do come true.
AMANDA: Dreams do come true. Rhiannon is who is writing in today. She/her with uh, who said for her name. Ree-Ann-in like the Fleetwood Mac song. Thanks, Rhiannon.
JULIA: One of my favorites.
AMANDA: I heard a [39:50] by the way, say that her name is pronounced Sertia like inertia and I'm like Sasha, that isn't helpful for almost all people. Like that is also a confusing word. Okay. So Rhiannon says “ are you interested in some generational haunting? ”
JULIA: Yes.
AMANDA: “ Psychically sensitive children? SWEET SANDALS? Well, strap in and get ready for my family's ghost tale.”
JULIA: I get it because it's strapped like sandals.
ERIC: Yeah. Hmm.
AMANDA: Hmm.
AMANDA: “ For a few years when I was a toddler, we live with my grandparents in their home where my dad had grown up. From the start of our time there. My mom, a generally sensitive person to energies and vibes, was uncomfortable being in the home alone. If everyone was at work, and she was watching us by herself, it would start to get to her and freak her out a little bit. Nobody else seemed to have issues in the house, so she assumed that she was being paranoid and try to ignore the sensations that she felt. Especially those of being watched while doing the laundry in the basement.”
JULIA: Ohhhh.
ERIC: Uh-oh, we're back.
JULIA: We're back at it.
AMANDA: We're back.
JULIA: They're in the pipes.
ERIC: We're back to laundry. We're back to basements. We're back to basics.
AMANDA: Let's see if my pipe theory holds true. “ It wasn't long, however, before things escalated. But with me at the center.”
ERIC: Escalate like an escalator. Like stairs.
JULIA: Oh shit. Oh shit.
AMANDA: It's all coming in.
JULIA: We've connected the dots guys, we've connected the dots.
AMANDA: 300 and checks watch 11 episodes in we cracked the code. “ I was about 2 at the time, but apparently already very adventurous.” No one loves to tattle without fear for their physical well-being than a toddler. It's true.
JULIA: That's true.
AMANDA: “ One day when my mom was downstairs doing laundry, she came up to find that I was strapping on my pink light-up sandals and trying to open the front door. She asked me what I was doing. And I said to her matter-of-factly, “I'm going for a walk with the man.”
JULIA: Good. Good.
AMANDA: Yep, solid.
ERIC: Just going for a walk with the man, you know.
JULIA: Naturally.
AMANDA: Oh, Eric, are you gonna like go with a walk with the man and punch him in the face?
ERIC: Oh—I'm not going with a walk with any man.
AMANDA: “ My mom looked around the house and indeed saw no one else was there. So she had me take my shoes off and go back to playing with my sister. This happened a couple more times. But my mom thought maybe I just had an imaginary friend and decided to let it be.”
JULIA: Sure.
AMANDA: “ A few weeks later, however, she was down in the laundry room again. When she heard the front door creak open. She rushed upstairs and again I was in my light-up sandals with the front door wide open. The man wants to go for a walk I explained.”
JULIA: Keep your doors locked. Don't let the children out.
AMANDA: Well, Julia. “ I was technically just tall enough to turn the doorknob if I really put my mind to it. But my mom had only been downstairs for a second when she heard the door swing open. After investigating again and finding no one there. She shut the door and sent me on my way. The next time though she learned and locked the front door taking the key with her, next time she had to go into the basement. When she heard the door creak open yet again, she almost had a panic attack.”
JULIA: Yeah, I would too.
ERIC: No.
AMANDA: “ I was there shoes on, door and deadbolt wide open. There was no extra key and I was definitely not tall enough to reach the top lock. So my mom didn't even ask what I was doing. She just grabbed me and my sister, and went to the neighbor's house, and begged the lady who lived there to come to stay with us until my dad or grandparents came home from work.”
JULIA: Maybe your mom just fucked up locking the door, like I don't want to accuse your mom of being unable to lock a door properly. But like first of, the fact that it locks from the inside like that, where you have a key to lock it, that's wild.
AMANDA: I was thinking that too, Julia, but I—I do think that especially if there's a deadbolt like it's really clear if it— it's not like you can sort of turn the key in the lock thing, get locked, and then it actually didn't like a deadbolt. You can really see it either slide home or not. So I would also be freaked out in the situation.
JULIA: Interesting.
AMANDA: “ So at this point, my mom was done with pretending she was imagining it all. She told my dad that night and was shocked to learn that he wasn't at all surprised to hear this.”
JULIA: Why?
AMANDA: “ He told her that soon after moving into this house when he was a kid, he would wake up and hear what sounded like footsteps around his room though no one else was awake.”
JULIA: Much like—okay, another hill we're gonna die on. Much like how when you're dating someone and you're getting to know them. You have a conversation about like, how many kids do you want to have? You know. What are your thoughts on marriage?
AMANDA: Do you want to live in the city forever? Yeah.
JULIA: Yeah. One of those things should also be, hey, before you move into this house, it's haunted. I'm pretty sure it's haunted. I grew up here. Pretty sure it's haunted. You'll have to tell people these things.
AMANDA: Yeah, Julia. I've been married for checks watch, uh two weeks, but I think even I know that you don't move into your old childhood home with your spouse without disclosing that the house was definitely haunted.
JULIA: You fucking half do, that's bullshit. It sounds like you forgot.
AMANDA: I know. He certainly didn't forget because he was like, oh, yeah, that makes sense. So Rhiannon continues. “ The sounds when my dad was a kid came way more frequently as time went on. And one night he looked at the foot of his bed and saw his recently deceased grandfather standing there smiling at him.”
ERIC: Oh, wow.
JULIA: Ffffi—file for divorce. I'm so mad.
AMANDA: “ Thinking that he was dreaming or having a sleep paralysis situation. Dad closed his eyes and went back to bed, but began noticing shadows and other signs of movement in empty rooms of the house from that night on.”
JULIA: You're allowed to be team ignorant, but when your ignorance starts impacting the other people in your lives, unacceptable. I'm feisty today. I'm mad.
AMANDA: Good. I think I—I summed it by mentioning gritty, but I'm here for it.
ERIC: Gritty will do that, every time.
AMANDA: “ Over time my dad began to wonder if maybe what he saw was real. But what really cemented it for him, was when his cousin came for a sleepover. And the next morning said, oh, did you see grandpa last night? I think I saw him walking around the house.” Julia is mad. Julia is mad.
JULIA: Communication is key to keeping a relationship together. And I just feel like your husband failed you here and I'm sorry. I'm sorry he did this to you.
AMANDA: Well, Julia, there is a—there is a conclusion and a denouement to the story. So we'll—we'll get there now.
JULIA: Great.
AMANDA: Just to conclude the childhood experience, Rhiannon's dad's cousin had never been told like this was— like she independently came up with this idea. So “ the kids kept quiet about the sightings.” She says, “ and eventually, the activity quieted down, until me. So with this new manifestation, when I was a baby, my dad finally confessed to my grandma, that he had seen her father way back then when he was a kid and thought I was seeing him now as well. Grandma didn't want to believe it. So later, she asked me alone who the man was, I described an older man wearing a short sleeve button-up shirt, loose pants and flip flops. That was the same outfit my dad remembered seeing his grandpa in. So they immediately took me down to the family room and asked if any of the people in the many family photos in the room reminded me of the man. I immediately pointed to the picture of my great grandfather, even though in the picture he was younger than I described, and was wearing a full suit, not the linen shirt and sandals. Needless to say, my grandma was not pleased about the situation. The next Sunday, she got some holy water from her church and sprinkled it around the house asking her father to please move on and leave us alone.”
JULIA: I have mixed feelings about being like, you know what, dad, I'm gonna sprinkle holy water. I think that's usually used to like banish demons and shit. Like unpure things to get you to leave.
AMANDA: I reminded Julia that not everybody has the same hangups around drinking holy water as we did.
JULIA: Oh yeah.
AMANDA: And having grown up and like, we know, The Conjuring era. So holy water could also just be like, hey, God lives here. Don't—don't come in, I suppose.
JULIA: I guess.
AMANDA: “ It seemed to work because I stopped trying to go for walks with the man after that day. I don't remember any of this. Of course, I was too young and only know the story through reports from my parents after I grew up. But I spent my whole childhood, but the low-level sense that there was something else living with us in that house. Even when we moved out, I only came by for visits or sleepovers to see my grandma. I was aware that there was some manner of presence in the basement. And one of the upstairs rooms which I later learned had been my dad's childhood bedroom where that first sighting happened. My grandparents no longer live in that house. But I wonder if the man is still watching over us in some way. I'm expecting my first child in February and I look forward to seeing if they end up meeting my great-grandfather someday, too.” There are worse things than going for walks with a relative after all.
JULIA: Well, unless the relative—unless you're going for a walk and the relative you know is a ghost and people just see a small child walking on their own through the neighborhood.
AMANDA: Yeah, very true.
JULIA: Yeah.
AMANDA: But Rhiannon, good luck with your pregnancy. I hope you have a baby as spooky or not spooky as you're prepared to handle. And if they're born on February 28, you got to give them the middle name Amanda. I'm sorry, that's just necessary.
JULIA: That's true.
ERIC: That's the law.
JULIA: Amanda has decreed it as the law now.
AMANDA: Well, Rhiannon thank you for unintentionally drawing together all the narrative threads of this episode as well, much appreciated. And conspirators sound off, please. Tell us your opinions about pipes, water hauntings, and flushing showers. What do you think it has to do with ghosts? We—we want to know.
JULIA: Yes, and remember next time you flush your toilet for the second time, stay creepy.
AMANDA: Stay cool.
[theme]
AMANDA: Spirits was created by Amanda McLoughlin, Julia Schifini, and Eric Schneider with music by Kevin MacLeod and visual design by Alison Wakeman.
JULIA: Keep up with all things creepy and cool by following us @SpiritsPodcast on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Tumblr. We also have all of our episode transcripts, guest appearances, and merch on our website. As well as a form to send us in your urban legends and your advice from folklore questions at spiritspodcast.com.
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JULIA: We are a founding member of Multitude, an independent podcast collective, and production studio. If you like Spirits you will love the other shows that live on our website at multitude. productions.
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JULIA: Thanks for listening to Spirits. We'll see you next week.
AMANDA: Bye!