Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Do you want to hear a ghost story?
[00:00:11] Good evening, I'm Ben and this is do you want to hear a ghost story? The podcast where each Wednesday you and I will gather around the virtual campfire to share tales that raise the hair on the backs of our necks. So whether you're a seasoned camper or new to the unexplained, youre in for a hauntingly good time.
[00:00:28] You see, these stories come to me from people just like you. People who want to share their personal encounters with the paranormal, ghosts, monsters, or anything else that goes bump in the night.
[00:00:41] And while I might edit some of these stories to ensure narrative, all the events are portrayed faithfully to the original submission. So gather around and prepare your favorite scary story snacks as we get ready to dive into the unknown.
[00:00:55] And remember, if you have a story, I'd love to share it. You can find the submission email in the episode description, and while you're there, be sure to click the links and follow the show on social media.
[00:01:06] Also, a quick note before diving in. This week's episode is going to be audio only. I'm still trying to figure out what went wrong in my video last week. It is super choppy if you watched it on YouTube, I don't know what happened. So if you understand video editing or cameras, please reach out and let me know what you think might be happening. Your opinion would be very, very, very appreciated because I have no idea and I'm scourging YouTube and Reddit to figure it out.
[00:01:35] But anyways, this week's story comes from my hometown of Bloomington normal, Illinois, and it was sent in by one of my sister's close friends named Emily.
[00:01:45] Her story is one of a sort of sleep paralysis, and how sometimes, if you're not careful, you can accidentally pull your nightmares into the real world.
[00:01:55] Now, without further ado, do you want to hear a ghost story? I'm going to tell you about a time I thought I was going crazy. A few years back, when I had just moved into an old condo building. I began to have, let's say, strange dreams.
[00:02:10] These dreams usually involved waking up still in a dream, a little bit like sleep paralysis, but not quite the same thing.
[00:02:18] Usually when I woke up stuck to my bed, I would see what I thought were shadowy figures all around my periphery and sometimes even crawling up into the bed with me. But I could usually tell that I was still kind of asleep, if that makes sense.
[00:02:33] Now, all this was terrifying. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't. But it did, however, become commonplace.
[00:02:40] Until one night I had a different kind of experience, one that changed my perception of what is real and what is not.
[00:02:49] The journey began like any other. I was suddenly plunged into a story.
[00:02:55] I was house hunting with my mom in the northern backwoods of Pennsylvania. Up there its all little colonial homes with plenty of land and trails, surrounded by trees, nature and winding roads.
[00:03:07] We pulled up to the last house on the list, arriving before the realtor. As we waited, I decided to walk around the property. After all, it was beautiful and seemingly morphed into everything I ever wanted. The leaves on the trees turned a nice golden yellow and orange before my eyes. You know how they get in the autumn a few weeks before they turn brown and fall to the ground just like that.
[00:03:32] And I knew this is where I wanted to live.
[00:03:35] As I walked around the side of the house, I noticed a little stone path. My mom came up behind me suggesting that we check it out. We walked slowly along a little winding path as the light filtered down through the leaves and the birds chirped happily.
[00:03:51] After a little while, the light got brighter and brighter as the path opened up onto a meadow. I walked out into the warm sun, looked up at the sky and took a deep breath, enjoying the fresh air.
[00:04:06] When I looked down at the path, I noticed that there were buildings that looked like a barracks or some other type of military installation lining both sides of the path. About 100 yards ahead there was a fence surrounding the entire area, but an open gate leading in.
[00:04:21] As we walked towards it, I noticed a whole bunch of people milling around aimlessly inside, all seemingly in the same outfit. I assumed much like the buildings looked they were also part of the military.
[00:04:34] But it was still too far to make them out clearly.
[00:04:38] My mother and I were intrigued. We continued walking closer to the structure.
[00:04:44] As we got closer, I noticed the bird stopped chirping. When did that happen?
[00:04:50] Now. I stopped and for the first time I could truly see the scene before me. The gait of these people seemed off. It all seemed off. They didn't walk quite right. Like, I don't know, they just sat on a stone bench for 5 hours and both their legs were asleep. They were also a little bit unable to use their arms, just kind of swinging.
[00:05:14] Then a man twitched and turned his head without moving his body a full 180 degrees, looking straight back at me and my mother.
[00:05:24] All of a sudden alarm bells started ringing from the building and these people, these creatures started twitching their way towards us. My heart began to pound as they got closer, but I stood frozen for a moment. Zombies.
[00:05:39] I immediately turned to my mother and I told her to run, run as fast as she could. And we did just that. We turned and looked back towards this horde of rotting flesh chase after us. I was terrified. I didn't want to be eaten by zombies. I didn't want to see my mom get eaten by zombies. But then I remembered that this is a dream. I can wake myself up. I began pushing myself out of the dream. Now, I don't know if you have experienced this, but trying to wake yourself up out of a dream feels like you're laying at the bottom of a pool. A pool filled with honey. You keep pushing and pushing, telling yourself all you have to do is just break through the surface and you'll wake up. Pressure builds in your temples. Your ears ring, and you feel like you're never going to be able to breathe again when suddenly you're awake.
[00:06:26] I was awake. Oh, thank God.
[00:06:31] I cracked my eyes open to see the sun was just starting to shine through my window. That means it must be just before my alarm goes off. I laid there trying not to move and tried to calm myself down from what was again another horrible night's sleep.
[00:06:47] I heard some grunts and felt my dog jump up on the bed. So I rolled over to cuddle him. But as I turned, he wasn't there. And said someone was standing at the end of the bed. A rotting someone.
[00:07:00] A zombie from my dream. They had their hand on the bed and began to crawl onto it. My throat closed as I tried to scream and throw the covers over myself to protect myself. I am awake. This is reality, isn't it?
[00:07:15] Instead, maybe this is just another dream. I don't know. But that thing began to claw at my covers as I clenched them as hard as I could. Trying to think of a way out of this way to wake myself up from this fake reality. When it stopped, I waited a few minutes.
[00:07:34] I convinced myself to pull the covers down. As I slowly peeked out, my dog was just laying there staring at me, wagging its tail, waiting for me to wake up.
[00:07:47] This type of phenomenon had never happened to me before.
[00:07:50] I immediately thought I was losing my mind. I didnt think ghosts, paranormal, even sleep paralysis. I thought immediately psychosis.
[00:07:58] Needless to say, I went down a rabbit hole to try to figure out what it was that I experienced.
[00:08:04] And I learned that sometimes if you try to force yourself out of a dream, that even though you know that you're awake and you feel awake, your brain may not be. And in that state, sometimes your dream or nightmare may mesh with reality.
[00:08:20] So I tell myself that I'm not crazy and that this is the explanation.
[00:08:25] But the dreams stopped as soon as they started the day I moved out.
[00:08:30] So what if it was paranormal?
[00:08:32] What if there was something in that rental that I lived in?
[00:08:36] What if it was trying to reach me in my dreams? This question still haunts me. So, what do you think?
[00:08:43] Was it just a daydream from a dream I had just forced myself up from?
[00:08:48] Or is this paranormal?
[00:08:55] Jemily, I'm gonna be honest. I have no idea that.
[00:09:01] I'll tell you what. I'd piss myself if I woke. If I woke up and there was a zombie at the end of my bed, I'd piss myself. What the hell? Also, probably wouldn't trust my dog for, like, a good solid hour after that.
[00:09:15] Nuh uh uh. Shit, man.
[00:09:20] I have some questions. One, what apartment building was this? There's not that many in Bloomington normal, and I know one of them is, like, thought to be haunted.
[00:09:31] Also, have you never had dreams like this before? Did you only ever experience these dreams and this phenomenon in that apartment building? Because I feel like that's a pretty big key to this piece. Because if so, I would maybe think there was something going on at that apartment, and.
[00:09:47] I don't know. Do we know who lives there now? Can we reach out to them? See if they've experienced anything similar?
[00:09:53] Could be interesting.
[00:09:57] But, yeah, I don't know. I'd freak out if that happened to me. But I suppose that that's all for today's episode. So thank you for listening to do you want to hear a ghost story? If you enjoyed today's story, please be sure to share it with your friends. And don't forget to submit your own stories to be featured in a future episode. You can find all the links and contact information in the episode description. Until then, stay spooky.
