Episode Transcript
[00:00:07] Good evening. I'm Ben and welcome to the show where you and I gather around this virtual campfire to share our scariest experiences. So whether you're a new or returning camper, I am happy to have you.
[00:00:21] Driving at night can be pretty dangerous between sleepy drivers and the lack of light, it often demands your attention.
[00:00:30] Tonight we're headed to Kansas to hear John's encounter with a tale that adds yet another layer of peril to driving at night.
[00:00:41] So without further ado, do you want to hear a ghost story?
[00:00:46] Hi Ben, I'm a new listener and I am very happy I found your show.
[00:00:51] I am interested to see how you bring my experience to life for others.
[00:00:55] To preface it, im not entirely sure its paranormal, but it is an experience that still terrifies and bewilders me years later. My story begins the summer after my first year of college. I was back home in Topeka working as an Uber driver to make extra money for the upcoming semester. I would often drive to Kansas City because they had way more people and a lively bar scene, at least compared to Topeka anyways, meaning there were always plenty of rides to make that hour trip to and from the city worth my time.
[00:01:29] It was honestly a really good gig. The roads were always empty, I could listen to music and I wasnt much bothered by anyone except the occasionally hammered person who would almost throw up in the backseat of my car. One evening when I was driving into the city to begin my night, I was coming up to the downtown exit. I turned Uber on when almost instantly a notification popped up for a rider at the airport.
[00:01:55] I checked the ride and saw that it was for all the way out to Emporia, which, according to the map was a straight two hour shot down the interstate.
[00:02:04] The exit for downtown was just a mile ahead. I needed to make a decision and I needed to make it now.
[00:02:11] Now a half mile. I didn't know whether or not to take this trip because this would mean a three hour round trip that would be my entire night.
[00:02:20] Now a quarter mile.
[00:02:23] Now. I was at the exit to downtown.
[00:02:26] Screw it. I said out loud as I found myself driving right past the exit to the next one for the airport.
[00:02:34] I confirmed the ride and headed towards the Kansas City International Airport.
[00:02:47] When I arrived, it was just a regular looking guy in his mid to late thirties.
[00:02:54] Hey, are you Aidan? I said as he got in, watching through the rearview mirror as he just nodded an acknowledgement.
[00:03:02] I turned on some music and followed the directions out of the airport parking lot. Hey, if you have any preferences of music or anything or the ac temperature, just let me know, okay? I said back to him.
[00:03:14] It's fine, he answered quickly as he closed his eyes and laid his head back.
[00:03:20] I guess he wouldn't be much of a talker. And hey, I get it. He probably just had a long flight and just wanted to be home.
[00:03:28] I eventually made my way to the interstate and settled in for that two hour journey to Emporia.
[00:03:35] As we got further and further away from the city, the night became darker and darker around the road. As both streetlights and headlights became fewer and fewer, the road to Emporia became increasingly long and desolate, the kind of road where you really didnt want your car to break down.
[00:03:55] Aidan remained silent, occasionally shifting in his seat but never speaking.
[00:04:01] I would glance back at him through the rearview mirror from time to time.
[00:04:06] I couldnt shake the feeling of being watched, which is not unusual for Uber drivers because our passengers are often overbearing.
[00:04:16] But this feeling felt different, as if the darkness outside my car was pressing in on it or like I was on display for anything lurking out within it. Thats when I saw a pair of glowing yellow eyes from the side of the road.
[00:04:31] I gulped. As I approached it, the silhouette of a deer began to appear as my headlights lit up the figure around the eyes.
[00:04:42] I hesitated as I thought about taking my foot off the gas pedal when the deer jumped into the road right in front of me. Shit. I screamed and swerved into the fast lane, narrowly missing the deer.
[00:04:56] I looked back at Aiden, but he was still asleep at least. Maybe this little hiccup wont impact my driver rating.
[00:05:06] Emporia was only a few minutes away at this point and the rest of the ride went fine.
[00:05:12] When we arrived at Aidens home, I had to wake him up. I reached back and nudged his knee. He flinched and then stared at me for a second.
[00:05:21] Uh, yeah. Okay. Sorry. Have you been trying to wake me up for a while? I can be a bit of a heavy sleeper.
[00:05:30] I felt a smile run across my face with the confirmation that my almost ill fated run with the deer went completely unnoticed.
[00:05:40] No, we actually just got here. We're all set. Thanks for riding. I watched to ensure Aidan entered his house before setting my next destination, which was a much needed gas station. Not only did I need to fill up, I also needed to use the restroom and hopefully get some caffeine. However, when I pulled up to the gas station, the store was closed, so while I could fill up my tank, I couldnt get any caffeine or use the restroom. I decided to pull over to the side of the parking lot next to a wooded area and relieve myself there. After all, no one was around and it didnt hurt anyone.
[00:06:15] While peeing I noticed a lot of rustling in the forest before me. I saw another pair of eyes staring at me.
[00:06:23] I assumed it was just another deer, but these eyes seemed to glow red instead of yellow. When I turned back around to get into my car I realized that there wasnt enough light coming from behind me to reflect off an animals eyes.
[00:06:37] I turned around to see if I could get a better look but the eyes were gone. I brushed it off, got in my car, and headed north on the interstate for the first half of my drive home to Topeka. I was one of the only cars on the road, but as I arrived to the halfway point I noticed many more cars and the faint red glow emanating from down the road.
[00:07:00] I soon realized it was brake lights and I was now trapped in standstill traffic.
[00:07:05] The police and ambulance rushed to the front of this jamden as I waited with everyone else. It wasnt long after the cop got there that they started squeaking traffic by.
[00:07:15] My maps app was rerouting me through the backroads via an exit on the first half of the traffic jam.
[00:07:21] The exit was sort of up on a hill and as I got closer to the exit I could see what looked like a one car accident up ahead and what looked like a deer carcass on the road too.
[00:07:34] Jesus, there are a lot of deer out here, I thought to myself as I followed my maps directions off the interstate.
[00:07:43] 47 minutes to home. I turned my music up and I started jamming out.
[00:07:57] Just about ten minutes into this little detour I came to a four way stop, which is pretty standard for backcountry roads.
[00:08:06] I noticed a beautiful white church on the left corner ahead of me. I stopped at the intersection for a minute just looking at it when I noticed another set of glowing red eyes in what looked like the silhouette of a man standing in the corner of the road between me and the church.
[00:08:26] If it werent for the starkly white church behind this figure, I probably wouldnt even have seen anything other than the eyes.
[00:08:34] I turned my brights on, hoping to get a better look at him, but all it did was light up everything else around as if no light could be reflected off this figure.
[00:08:44] I could now see the church as clear as day with this human like void standing in front of it with glowing red eyes.
[00:08:55] He or whatever it was took a step towards me onto the road.
[00:09:02] I pushed the gas to get the hell out of there because whatever was happening here, I had no business finding out.
[00:09:10] This thing just cocked its head sideways, watching me drive away, when all of a sudden I heard heard footsteps coming from the road. Thump. Thump thump.
[00:09:23] Slow at first, but speeding up.
[00:09:28] He caught up to my car, head still cocked, staring right into my driver side window. From the other side of the road I pushed the accelerator to the floor. 40 looked out my window and he was still staring straight in. I was barreling down this back road, being chased by whatever this was, when another set of eyes lit up in front of me. I slammed on my brakes and swerved, narrowly missing yet another deer hitting my head on my steering wheel. I sat there dazed as the deer ran off.
[00:10:10] I looked around but there were no glowing red eyes or light consuming figures to be found.
[00:10:19] I found the fastest path to the interstate.
[00:10:22] I got home safe and sound and there were no more deer either.
[00:10:30] The next morning my mother and father were concerned with the gash on my forehead, assumed that something had happened while I was in the city Ubering.
[00:10:41] I thought of any number of stories I could tell them that would be more believable, but in the end I told them what happened.
[00:10:49] While they didnt necessarily believe me. I mean who would? My father does think he has cracked the case. Apparently there is an ostrich farm in the area where I was driving and according to him they arent very reflective and can run very very fast.
[00:11:09] Whether he is right or this was something paranormal, I cant say.
[00:11:13] But whenever I drive at night I feel a chill, as if those unseen red eyes are watching me again.
[00:11:21] Its a feeling I cant shake. A lingering reminder that some secrets I guess are best left undisturbed.
[00:11:30] I still do Uber to this day, day being the key word. I now at pretty much all costs avoid driving at night. Thank you so much and I cannot wait to hear the next episode of your show. John thank you John for sharing your story.
[00:11:52] I would first like to say that I too avoid driving at night, but thats because I have astigmatism and im not sold on your fathers theory. I feel like ostriches are pretty recognizable birds, but he is right about one thing, they are quite fast.
[00:12:10] I have the image of a figure immune to light burned into my head after reading this, almost like someone is covered in that fanta black paint.
[00:12:19] I am at a loss on this one John. All I know is that I would have likely crashed my car had this happened to me. This is a truly horrifying story, so thank you for sharing I want to extend a warm hello to all of my new listeners and express my deepest gratitude to everyone sharing my show. I hit a milestone this week that I had not expected to hit a until, I don't know, next year. 1500 downloads in the podcast world. This is not necessarily remarkable, but to me it is humbling and it provides me a lot of motivation moving forward.
[00:12:59] I know it is a long way away, but I have already lined up our first Halloween special.
[00:13:05] That show I will be producing a fully embodied audio drama of a submitted story.
[00:13:11] While this story will be fictionalized to a degree to fit within an audio drama format, the story will faithfully reflect the original authors submission. And yes, I have her permission to do this. In fact, it was her idea. So thank you Jessica.
[00:13:27] I believe it will be a fun way to really bring one story at this campfire truly to life and the beginning of a very fun yearly tradition.
[00:13:37] So lastly, please keep sharing the show with anyone you think might like these stories or someone you are simply trying to scare. If you have a story, please send your submission to do you want to hear a ghoststorymail.com? you can also follow the show at want to hear a ghoststory on Instagram and TikTok, but all that information is also in the episode description.
[00:13:59] I will leave you with this one question to ponder in preparation for next week's episode.
[00:14:04] What would you do if a poltergeist haunted your daughter?
[00:14:08] Thank you for listening to this episode of do you want to hear a ghost story? Until next time, stay spooky.
