Haunted Houses - Part 2

When I was eight years old, my family moved into the house I grew up in. It wasn't an old house, and no one had died in it, and it didn't even feel creepy. Just an average suburban house in your average southern suburbs.

The way the house was set up, when you came in the front door, there was a hallway with two bedrooms and a bathroom to the right, the large living room in front of you with a half wall separating it from the dining room to the left, and the kitchen on the other side of the dining room. Where the kitchen and the living room met, there was another small hallway, and the master bedroom, a bedroom that was used as an office, and a bathroom, and then breakfast nook leading to a laundry and utility area at the end of the kitchen. My room was to the right of the front door and down the hallway past the bathroom with the other bedroom on this hallway used for storage mostly as I was my mother's only child, and my half brother and sister didn't live with us and rarely came to visit.

Story 1

Story 2

Thanks so much for listening and we'll catch up with you again next week for some more true, scary stories.

Sarah and Tobie xx

Join us on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thewhisperingwoodspodcast/

Join us on Twitter - https://twitter.com/thewhispwoods

Join us on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/thewhisperingwoodspodcast

Visit our Website - https://www.thewhisperingwoodspodcast.com/

SURVEY

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Haunted Houses - Part 1

A description of the house for a bit of content, its a 2 story, brick/stone house in city limits but still surrounded by nothing but woods. You have to go through a garage that leads into the kitchen with the first bedroom to your left. Past the kitchen is the main living room and to the right is the hall that is very open. In this area you will find the main dining room and 2nd living area but if you continue straight you will see the staircase to your left and even further straight is my parents bedroom and bathroom. Going up the stairs you will come to the 3rd living area (yes this is a huge house) with 2 sets of french doors side by side that lead to the outside balcony. Going straight, the a sharp left leads you to the other 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. This is where the story takes place.

The first time I stepped foot into this house, I immediately felt "off". Like something just wasn't right. I felt a presence but I didn't know what or who it was. I brushed it off thinking I was just reading too much into it. I continued to feel this for the next couple of years and because of this I didn't much enjoy visiting them. My parents like to gamble a lot back then so they would ask me to babysit my baby brother and sister one day on the weekend. My boyfriend (now husband) loved them so he would always babysit with me. The first few times I really didn't pay attention to the feeling I would get because we would be busy playing or eating with the kids. After that, things kinda chilled out and we would end up watching movies until it was time for the us to go to bed.

Story 1

Story 2

Thanks so much for listening and we'll catch up with you again next week for some more true, scary stories.

Sarah and Tobie xx

Join us on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thewhisperingwoodspodcast/

Join us on Twitter - https://twitter.com/thewhispwoods

Join us on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/thewhisperingwoodspodcast

Visit our Website - https://www.thewhisperingwoodspodcast.com/

SURVEY

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

SPRING-HEELED JACK

It was London in October of 1837 when a young lady by the name of Mary Stevens was walking back to work in Lavender Hill where she was employed as a servant. After a visit to her parents in Battersea, she was making her way through Clapham Common, when a figure suddenly leapt out at her from a dark alley. He quickly immobilised the poor girl with a bear like hold and than began to kiss her upon her face, ripping at her clothes and touching her flesh with his sharp animal like clawed hands. Letting out a horrified scream, Mary's attacker quickly ran from the scene as several residents rushed to her aid. Mary would later described her aggressor's grip as 'cold and clammy as those of a corpse'

The following day there was another sighting near Mary's home. A coachman severely injured himself as the entity that would later become known as Spring Heeled Jack, jumped out in front of him, causing him to loose control of his carriage and crash. There were several witnesses who testified to seeing the figure escape by jumping over a 9ft high wall, letting out a high-pitched, ringing cackle as he went.

Resources -

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring-heeled_Jack

https://non-aliencreatures.fandom.com/wiki/Spring-Heeled_Jack

Thanks so much for listening and we'll catch up with you again next week for some more true, scary stories.

Sarah and Tobie xx

Join us on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thewhisperingwoodspodcast/

Join us on Twitter - https://twitter.com/thewhispwoods

Join us on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/thewhisperingwoodspodcast

Visit our Website - https://www.thewhisperingwoodspodcast.com/

SURVEY

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Promo - Spooky Island Radio

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/spooky-island-radio/id1618679119

https://open.spotify.com/show/6GeEyA2zafWp2KzoAyFzT4

Mimics - Shapeshifters

This happened around 8 years ago but it's something I'll never forget. My grandpa told me never to speak of it but if I don't get it off my chest, I don't think I'll ever be able to move on and live a normal life. My grandpa and I were travelling up to our holiday home in Shizouka, Japan. As my parents were on a business trip, we were carrying on ahead of them and they would join us once they had returned. Our holiday home was in a very remote area, we didn't have any close neighbours and it was situated in a wood. I always enjoyed the vacation as it was close to a river with a waterfall which looks straight up to the Garden of Eve.

My grandpa collected me at about 2pm and we began our approximate 3 hour journey which was heavily delayed due to a traffic incident on the road. Evening soon drew in but we were only about half way there. Eventually it began to grow dark as we travelled along the windy roads, but we could now see the mountains so knew we were close to home. The roads were surrounded by trees that met in the middle so it felt like driving through an endless tunnel, it was unimaginably dark. A loud thud broke the silence as my grandpa had hit a rock in the middle of the road. It was like someone had put it there on purpose, in order to anyone travelling any further. The car began to smoke and we later found out that it was because the clutch had become too hot.  But it quickly became apparent that we were stuck, there was no hope of anyone passing us in this really remote area. We decided to stay the night in the car as my grandpa admitted he was tired and wasn't great at driving at night.

Story 1

Story 2

Story 3

TV show we were talking about is called From https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9813792/

Scary 'Help Me' YouTube video https://youtu.be/h-4u52wLC8Y

Thanks so much for listening and we'll catch up with you again next week for some more true, scary stories.

Sarah and Tobie xx

Join us on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thewhisperingwoodspodcast/

Join us on Twitter - https://twitter.com/thewhispwoods

Join us on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/thewhisperingwoodspodcast

Visit our Website - https://www.thewhisperingwoodspodcast.com/

SURVEY

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

OUIJA THE TALKING BOARD

It was February of 1891 when first advertisements for 'Ouija, the Wonderful Talking Board' first began to appear in printed publications. The board was promoted as a magical device that would answer questions about the 'past, present and future.' and would provide “never-failing amusement and recreation for all the classes,” it also purported to offer a link “between the known and unknown, the material and immaterial.” In 1848, Spirtualism (the ability to communicate with the dead) hit America, largely due to the Fox Sisters who claimed to receive messages from spirits in the form of knocking on walls in answer to questions. And with these stories, and that of other spiritualist mediums, hitting the national press in the late 19th Century, the US became firmly clasped in the grips of a spiritualist movement that would sweep the nation. With average life expectancy of 50 years, and women frequently dying during childbirth, children through disease and men in war (particularly the American Civil War) people wished to communicate with their lost loved ones. 

Resources:

Introduction

Introduction

Story 1

Story 2

Thanks so much for listening and we'll catch up with you again next week for some more true, scary stories.

Sarah and Tobie xx

Join us on Instagram

Join us on Twitter

Join us on Facebook

Visit our Website

SURVEY

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

KRAMPUS & YULE

In central European folklore, Krampus is a Christmas devil who visits on the eve of St Nicholas Day, to punish naughty children. He's also known to drag an unfortunate few back to hell with him in a basket carried upon his back. Some children are merely whipped with birch tree branches known as switches whilst others serve as supper to St Nicholas' rather unconventional companion. The name Krampus may have evolved from the German word Krampen which means claw and this half goat, half human, demon monster is thought to have been part of the Pagan rituals performed around the Winter Solstice, with legend saying that Krampus is the son of Hel, the Norse god of the underworld. 

Yule is one of the oldest winter celebrations and with Norseman being hunters, who spent much of their time outdoors, they worshipped the Sun and saw it as a wheel that changed the seasons. The word for this wheel was Houl and it is from this word that Yule is thought to have derived from. At midwinter, the Norsemen would sacrifice cattle, gather around bonfires, drink sweet ale and tell stories as the long nights would again, begin to shorten.

Resources:

Introduction

Yule

Story 1

Story 2

Minehead Hobbyhorse

The Devil's Footprints

Thanks so much for listening and we'll catch up with you again next week for some more true, scary stories.

Sarah and Tobie xx

Join us on Instagram

Join us on Twitter

Join us on Facebook

Visit our Website

SURVEY

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

KNOCKERS, GOBLINS, GNOMES AND ALIENS

Imagine you rarely saw the sun, and most of your short existence was spent deep underground, 10 hours a day, 6 days of the week. That was the life of a tin miner in 18th and 19th century England with many not living past the age of 30. The mines could reach out for some 2.5km under the sea, 640m deep, and miners would hear the thundering roar of boulders tumbling across the seabed above their heads. Devon and Cornwall's landscape is shaped deeply by its mining heritage and the fortitude of its mining communities.  The work was hazardous and arduous with arsenic being a biproduct of the mining practice and children as young as 9 would haul out the barrows full of tin ore. Given scant respite and seeing very little of the sun, is it any wonder that reports of paranormal creatures, who lived deep in the twisted tunnels, have been spoken of by miners not only in the west of England but across the world.

In Devon & Cornwall, these subterranean spirits are known as the knockers, and no doubt when mining communities traversed the Atlantic Ocean to America, they took their tales with them and the Tommyknockers were spawned. In Wales they are known as the Coblynau, in Germany Kobold, in the Ukraine they are known as Shubin and there are variations of these small, goblin like beasts in many of the mining countries.

In the UK miners would take precautionary measures and leave offerings for the knockers to keep in their good favour, often a portion of their Cornish pasty, as if they became irritated, they would steal and hide your tools or lead you deep into the cave system, never to be seen or heard of again. The knockers could be heard prior to a disaster, banging on cavernous walls inside the mining shafts, perhaps in warning that a mine was about to cave in but according to some legends however, the knockers are malevolent spirits and if their banging is heard, it is not to warn the miners, but the sound of them sabotaging the mine supports to bring the ceiling down.

Resources:

Introduction

Cornish Mines

Story 1

Story 2

Thanks so much for listening and we'll catch up with you again next week for some more true, scary stories.

Sarah and Tobie xx

Join us on Instagram

Join us on Twitter

Join us on Facebook

Visit our Website

SURVEY

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

SHADOW PEOPLE

Have you ever caught a glimpse of a dark figure out of the corner of your eye, only to turn around and it has disappeared? Well, this could be a shadow person. In 2001, Art Bell from the Coast to Coast AM radio show, interviewed native elder Thunder Strikes, who purported that the beings had been recorded by indigenous Americans way back in 1153bc. He stated that they were interdimensional beings that fed from the emotional discharge of human energy and would attach themselves to those feeling anxious, worried or in chaotic situations to feed from them much like vampires.

Shadow people, at first, will appear fairly allusive quickly darting out of view when they sense they've been spotted, but once they have established a foothold into this plane, it has been reported they become bolder in their advances, and some will even attack those who are asleep; much like a sleep paralysis episode. Some report them to be benevolent watchers who assist us when needing guidance, others believe them to be malicious entities who will sometimes get physical by pulling hair. Some say they are tall and some small, some have claws or vicious, sharp teeth whilst others have seen them with glowing, red eyes. These darker than dark silhouettes will quickly dash behind doors, into closets and behind bushes to avoid being seen, leaving observers questioning themselves and their own eyes.

Whether evil or good, if you sense something watching from the corner of the room, don't just dismiss it as you may have a visitor from another realm.

Whitehouse Investigations YouTube

Talking Paranormal interview

Brocken Spectre

Resources:

Introduction

Story 1

Story 2

Story 3

Story 4

Thanks so much for listening and we'll catch up with you again next week for some more true, scary stories.

Sarah and Tobie xx

Join us on Instagram

Join us on Twitter

Join us on Facebook

Visit our Website

SURVEY

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

GHOST LIGHTS

A variation of ghost lights exists in many cultures, in parts of the UK and America they are known as Will o' the Wisps and these spectral lights are said to be ghosts that haunt the moors and boglands, captivating, lonely travellers and leading them to their doom. The classic tale of Will o' the Wisp (meaning Will of the torch, as a wisp is a small bunch of twigs or paper used to light the way) tells the story of a blacksmith Will who was so evil, that at the time of his death; Saint Peter sent him back to earth and gave him a second chance at life to right his previous wrongs. Unfortunately, Will was even more vicious the second time round and Saint Peter banished him to earth where his ghostly form will remain for all eternity. The devil, liking Will's wicked ways, fashioned him with a single piece of coal to keep himself warm but he used it to frighten people and lure them to their deaths.

The name Jack o' lantern originally referred to Will o' the Wisps and in Irish folklore Jack (or Stingy Jack/Drunk Jack) was an incorrigible alcoholic who upon the time of his death, tricked the devil into turning himself into a coin so that Jack could buy one last drink. Instead, Jack popped the devil in his pocket next to a crucifix which prevented him returning to his natural form. Jack bargained for another 10 years and after the 10 years had lapsed, he again tricked the devil by making him climb a tree. He then carved a crucifix into the wood and the devil was stuck. In exchange for Jack removing the cross, the devil forgave his debt but when it was time for him to leave this life, no one as bad as Jack was allowed entry to heaven and, out of revenge, the devil wouldn't allow him into hell, so his fate was to roam the realm between life and death with other lost souls. The devil, however, did gave him an ember from the fires of hell to light his way and Jack put into a carved turnip to use as a lantern.

Resources:

Introduction - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will-o%27-the-wisp

Story 1 - https://www.reddit.com/r/freehorrorstories/comments/5cob9z/the_laughing_choldren/

Thanks so much for listening and we'll catch up with you again next week for some more true, scary stories.

Sarah and Tobie xx

Join us on Instagram

Join us on Twitter

Join us on Facebook

Visit our Website

SURVEY

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Smiling Man

As a night person, Riley would often take walks to pass the time and in the early hours of this particular morning, he was taking one of his usual jaunts around the city. Being a weeknight, the streets were quiet with very little traffic and turning down a side street, something caught his eye down the far end of the street on the same side as the paceman. it was a man, well more of a silhouette, and the silhouette was dancing. A waltz like dance, but with an additional forward stride, a kind of dance and walk at the same time and he was heading in Riley’s direction.

Thinking the dancer was drunk, he attempted to give him plenty of space to pass by, but the closer he got, the more he realised this person was not in fact drunk, his dancing was extremely fluid and purposeful. He was dressed in an old suit and was tall and thin and continuing to pace towards Blue, his face slowly came into focus. His eyes were wild and wide open, and his was head tilted back as if looking up at the sky. But it was his mouth that really gave pause for concern, it was 'painfully, cartoon wide' a real grin from ear to ear. 

Taking his eyes off the spectacle before him, Riley quickly crossed the street and glancing behind him he saw the man had stopped dancing and was standing as if to cross the road, one leg poised outstretched, standing directly opposite. He was positioned facing Riley but wasn't looking directly at him, his face was still tilted towards the sky and his wide smile was still present.

Resources:

Introduction - https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/sp9vo/the_smiling_man/

Story 1 - https://www.reddit.com/r/freehorrorstories/comments/74rl16/true_the_grinning_man/

Story 2 - https://www.reddit.com/r/TheSmilingMan/comments/vdkhx9/i_think_saying_hello_was_a_mistake

The Grinn - http://www.thegrinn.com/

The Somerset Gimp! - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-63393521

Thanks so much for listening and we'll catch up with you again next week for some more true, scary stories.

Sarah and Tobie xx

Join us on Instagram

Join us on Twitter

Join us on Facebook

Visit our Website

SURVEY

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.