Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign.
[00:00:06] I'm Ben, and welcome to the show where you and I gather around this campfire to hear some of our fellow campers scariest experiences. So whether you're a new or returning camper, I'm happy to have you. As we age, we tend to drift apart from our friends.
[00:00:20] Whether that's because we begin to move away or because our lives eventually start to get in the way.
[00:00:27] Some people say it's easy to make friends as adults, but many of us still struggle with it.
[00:00:34] Tonight we will hear a story about someone who, like many of us, has found himself struggling to make friends as an adult.
[00:00:42] And when trying to make new friends, accidentally invites an entity into his life from the other side.
[00:00:50] Now, without further ado, do you want to hear a ghost story?
[00:00:58] No one talks about how growing up often means growing apart. For many of the people in our lives, it seems like yesterday when my friends and I would all be hungover, walking to class together in the morning, recounting our last night's shenanigans at the bars.
[00:01:16] But after graduation, our nightly outings turned to weekend get togethers, turn to monthly meetups. Turn two annual gatherings turn two phone calls. One we could remember.
[00:01:34] I suppose it was easy to keep up with each other with social media and all. Yet something about the physical distance between us made it so we never really saw each other at all. And we actually began to see each other less and less.
[00:01:48] We had all gone to the University of Georgia. Go Dogs.
[00:01:52] And while no one stays in those college towns anyways, the first year after school, most of us had all found jobs in Atlanta. But one by one, we found better opportunities elsewhere.
[00:02:07] Now, a decade later, we live all across the world.
[00:02:11] Last getting together for a wedding years ago.
[00:02:17] This is the part of life no one talks about.
[00:02:21] Sure, we all gained new friends, new significant others, new communities.
[00:02:27] But there is something just so unsettling about growing apart from the people. You used to be so close with no ill will, no malice, just distance. And when you're around each other, you just fall right back in where you left off.
[00:02:44] I suppose when I said we'd all gained new friends, I was lying.
[00:02:49] I guess I can't really speak for anyone else, but I always struggled to make real connections in life. After those years, most people I interacted with I met through work. And I learned very quickly you always keep co workers, at least at an arm's length.
[00:03:11] I was never really unhappy, but also not really content.
[00:03:16] I did find solace in my solitude.
[00:03:20] I really began to know myself and became completely comfortable keeping myself company. Where others often shy away from their own thoughts, I embrace them. It's been good in many ways, really. I have worked through a lot of things that my younger self never thought possible, but it's also been isolating.
[00:03:44] The more I lean into being my own best friend, the more disconnected I feel from everyone around me.
[00:03:53] I'm happy that I realized this before it was too late.
[00:03:56] However, for anyone else who feels this way, let my story be a cautionary tale.
[00:04:03] Be careful where you go Looking for friendship it was almost 5 o'clock and it had been an incredibly long week.
[00:04:20] I began scrolling the no Sleep subreddit on my phone to see if there were any good news stories.
[00:04:27] Honestly, there hadn't been in years now, but my boss hated it when I left before 5, so I needed to kill some time.
[00:04:35] I ended up wasting the last few minutes of my day just looking for an interesting story to read when nothing caught my eye.
[00:04:43] I walked out of my office when Tim, a co worker, saw me and hustled to catch up, walking out of the building with me.
[00:04:53] Hey Justin, a couple of us are going for drinks tonight if you want to come, he said.
[00:04:59] I appreciate the invite, but I have a few errands to run tonight.
[00:05:05] I said the same lame excuse I have used almost every time Tim extended any hand of friendship to me.
[00:05:12] I wasn't lying.
[00:05:14] I had planned to go to Barnes and Noble after all. Besides, I always used my Friday evening drive home to call my friends. My real friends, not hang out with my co workers.
[00:05:33] On my drive to Barnes and Noble, I did just that. I called my friends Chandler first.
[00:05:49] Hello you Bridge. Please leave a message. Voicemail.
[00:05:52] That happens. Phone tag is pretty common these days. To be honest. It's fine. I'll just call Mike. He usually answers and honestly usually has the most to say.
[00:06:15] Voicemail again.
[00:06:18] I was almost at the store anyways, so I drove the rest of the way to Barnes and Noble in silence, thinking about how miserable of a time I'd be having if I got drinks with Tim and whoever else went.
[00:06:31] I didn't have anything in common with them. We just worked the same job.
[00:06:36] It wasn't like Mike and Chandler. We used to spend hours together talking about our favorite stories from the different horror subreddits, our favorite horror movies, and anything else spooky.
[00:06:53] But when I parked at Barnes and Noble, I looked around and noticed the empty parking lot, then at myself in the rear view mirror.
[00:07:02] Then I looked around at my empty car.
[00:07:08] Yeah, but at least I am doing something I Enjoy. Not just getting drinks and pretending to like my co workers, I was going to immerse myself in the horrors of a good book and enjoy. This time I had to myself.
[00:07:22] I didn't need to pretend anything. Doing this, I came across a book called Dangerous Games to Play in the Dark.
[00:07:32] It reminds me of my favorite no sleep story of all time, a post titled My Three Kings Experience.
[00:07:41] Mike Chandler and I went crazy over it in college. We even tried the game, but never had anything happen that even remotely resembled the poster's story.
[00:07:52] But I suppose that's expected from a fictional story.
[00:07:57] Still, our obsession over that and trying to have that same experience was a fond memory.
[00:08:05] So I decided to get this book. Maybe there would be a single player game and I could have an even more fun night than I anticipated.
[00:08:15] After getting home and eating dinner, I sat down with my new book and began skimming through it when a game caught my eye.
[00:08:23] The Midnight Man. A game of high stakes, hide and seek. Risk level, high objective. Survive. Reward your life.
[00:08:35] Well, this game was undoubtedly cliche from that setup, but something about it intrigued me.
[00:08:42] I kept reading the warning that preceded the rules.
[00:08:47] The Midnight man was used to punish those who challenged the gods. Perhaps the Midnight man is a God himself.
[00:08:54] It's said that he will show you your darkest fears during the course of the game.
[00:08:58] Yeah, very cliche. That's like every urban legend ever, right? The boogeyman, the devil at your door, whatever.
[00:09:07] But the rules were simple and the best part.
[00:09:11] It was meant to be played alone.
[00:09:15] I needed a piece of paper, a pen and a candle. Just before midnight, I needed to turn all of the lights in my house off, write my name on the piece of paper, poke my finger with the pin, and leave a single drop of blood on the paper. Place the paper on the ground in front of my closed closet door, putting the candle on top of it before lighting it. The final step? Knock on the door 22 times, with the final knock happening just as the clock strikes midnight.
[00:09:43] Then open the door, blow out my candle, wait six seconds, close the door, and relight my candle.
[00:09:51] From there the game is easy. Avoid the Midnight man until 3:33 in the morning.
[00:09:57] Easy peasy. Or so I thought.
[00:10:01] The only problem I saw now was staying up till midnight. I gathered my supplies and sat down on the couch. I set an alarm for 1157 so I remembered to start the game. But with some time to kill, I opened up Riding Meme Chat and started looking at some of the Tiktoks and Instagram posts they had sent me. I had to scroll up quite a ways to get to the top of the new messages.
[00:10:22] I didn't realize how long it had been since I checked this chat or sent them a meme myself. I scrolled through all the posts they sent me, laughing at most but confused by others. I guess I wasn't on social media enough to understand all the jokes in them, but I opened up my for you page on a mission to find some videos I thought they would find just as funny as I did. But I sat there scrolling while none of the videos I saw quite lived up to the perfectly curated videos they had sent in the chat.
[00:10:54] I guess I lost track of time because my alarm went off as I sat there scrolling.
[00:11:01] Had it been two hours already? I swear I'd just sat down, but I reached for my paper and wrote out my name.
[00:11:09] Justin Whiteman.
[00:11:12] I then pricked my finger, wincing as I let a drop of blood land on the paper.
[00:11:18] I grabbed my candle and lighter as I did one last walk through my house to ensure all my lights were off. I walked into my bedroom and placed the paper on the ground in front of my closet, putting the candle on top as I lit it.
[00:11:32] One final step. I began knocking, slow and deliberate.
[00:11:41] Ah, I should be counting. That was 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21. I stopped checking my phone to ensure I did my last knock at midnight. I stood there with my hand up, ready to complete the ritual, staring at my clock on my phone.
[00:12:16] Midnight.
[00:12:19] I opened up my closet door, picked up my candle and blew it out, counting to six in my head.
[00:12:27] I grabbed the door handle and closed it, but it closed a little too hard, almost like there was someone grabbing it from the other side, closing it at the same time I was.
[00:12:40] I lit the candle and set another alarm on my phone for 3:33 in the morning and started to just walk around my house, dropping my phone on top of my kitchen table.
[00:12:55] Hello Midnight man, It's me, Justin.
[00:13:02] Your old friend, I said.
[00:13:06] For a moment I thought someone was actually going to respond. I could feel it in the air, the electricity all around me.
[00:13:15] My candle flickered slightly in a breeze.
[00:13:18] It dawned on me that I was supposed to be playing hide and seek, so I eventually sat down underneath my kitchen table.
[00:13:25] I felt like a kid again, hiding in the dark, waiting for my friend to come and get me.
[00:13:31] I sat there for what had to be hours when I heard what sounded like talking coming from one of my bedrooms.
[00:13:39] I didn't live in an apartment I had no neighbors who might be talking, just out on the other side of the walls.
[00:13:45] But I don't know, it felt good to have something happen. Something I could tell Mike and Chandler about later.
[00:13:54] I got out from underneath the table and tiptoed over to the bedroom.
[00:13:59] I put my ear up against the corner of the door to see if I could hear.
[00:14:05] Hello Midnight man. It's me, Justin.
[00:14:11] Your old friend.
[00:14:15] What the. Was that my voice?
[00:14:20] I stood there for a second when I felt a breeze start to come out of the room. My candle blew out and instinctively I ran back to my hiding spot.
[00:14:30] Why? I don't quite know, but I relit my candle yet again.
[00:14:35] This time I stayed firmly underneath the table.
[00:14:40] I was actually hiding now from something.
[00:14:46] I was sitting there trying not to tremble, fighting the urge of having to pee.
[00:14:51] I stared out from underneath the table towards the bedroom, past the candle, through the flickering lights.
[00:14:58] There was more than something here. Someone is here.
[00:15:02] I could see their feet.
[00:15:05] They were moving through the house, hovering an inch above the ground, silently moving slowly, stopping randomly.
[00:15:18] My phone vibrated, the whole table echoing through my house. The figures zoomed across the room, room now hovering at the end of the table.
[00:15:28] I watched as the feet gently swayed as it stayed there before slowly rotating and heading towards my bedroom door in the opposite direction of the other bedroom.
[00:15:41] I reached my hand up without getting out from my spot and grabbed my phone.
[00:15:46] 3:25.
[00:15:48] I had eight minutes.
[00:15:50] I checked my notifications and saw a text.
[00:15:55] Call me asap. Chandler.
[00:15:59] I figured it was best to let my imagination stop running wild. Something clearly had to have happened for Chandler to text me that in the middle of the night. I called him.
[00:16:19] When he picked up the phone he didn't even acknowledge me. It was like he pocket dialed me. I could hear him talking to someone.
[00:16:26] I recognized the other voice too.
[00:16:30] Hey, have you heard from Justin recently? Mike said, presumably to Chandler.
[00:16:36] Yeah, he calls me from time to time but I don't answer it. Usually he's just. I don't know man, it's like he's going nowhere fast and like, are we really his only friends still? Chandler responded to Mike, but the last word hung in the air.
[00:16:54] It wasn't coming from my phone.
[00:16:57] It was coming from my bedroom.
[00:17:02] I shook my head and wiped my eyes. I could hear them laughing at me.
[00:17:07] I looked at my phone but I wasn't on a call.
[00:17:11] I was just staring at the clock. 3:30.
[00:17:15] Their laughter started to grow, bouncing off every wall in my house. I picked up my candle and turned towards the bedroom. Facing their laughter.
[00:17:25] It was back.
[00:17:27] He was back or never left.
[00:17:33] He was doing this. The Midnight man was doing this. He was standing in my bedroom doorway. I could only see him from the shoulders down.
[00:17:43] Everything else was above my door frame on the other side.
[00:17:47] How tall was he and why did he float like that?
[00:17:52] He began moving towards me as I backed up against the table, his upper body bending backwards as it scraped across the top of my door frame. I bent down and crouched under the table and just as I looked up, he was right there now, standing or hovering at the end of my kitchen table.
[00:18:11] In one swift movement, his hand swung and grabbed the table as if he were about to pull himself down to find me. I just stood there, unable to move, staring in disbelief.
[00:18:26] I jumped, my head hitting the table and accidentally blowing my candle out in the process.
[00:18:33] The Midnight man stopped in his tracks.
[00:18:36] I laid there feeling my head for blood as he slowly made his way to my front door and left my house.
[00:18:45] I crawled out from under the table, holding my head as I turned on every light in my house.
[00:18:50] Thankfully I didn't split my head open. It was just a lump.
[00:18:55] I sat on my bed. I didn't think I'd be able to sleep tonight. Not after that. I didn't even know what that was.
[00:19:02] I opened my phone and checked my text. I noticed that the text I'd gotten from Chandler was gone. Disappeared. Perhaps he never sent me one at all. When I remembered the warning that came with the rules of the game.
[00:19:15] He shows you your darkest fears.
[00:19:19] I guess he did and he wasn't wrong.
[00:19:24] I had kept myself isolated for so long I didn't want to acknowledge it.
[00:19:35] The next week came and went just as fast as my evening with the Midnight man did.
[00:19:40] I did get a lot done though, as I was too afraid to even check the no Sleep subreddit. I think I had my fill of spooky for a while.
[00:19:50] I closed my office up and began heading out. No different than the Friday before.
[00:19:56] Right on cue, I saw Tim get up from his desk and approach me.
[00:20:02] It was Mike.
[00:20:04] I looked back at Tim and he was standing right next to me now. I gave him a nod meant to say one second.
[00:20:11] Hey Mike, I'm glad you called, but we need a rain check. I'm getting drinks with my co workers tonight, I said as I smiled at Tim.
[00:20:24] Thank you all for listening to this story. It's another one I crafted just for you and this campfire, but it was grounded in a few experiences I found online and the book that inspired it all dangerous games to play in the dark is in fact real.
[00:20:41] But remember, be mindful if you play any. You never know who might join you with that. I will leave you here for the night, but be sure to check out patreon.com do you want to hear Ghost Story? To hear this month's bonus episode? It's a story sent in by a camp counselor about their experience at the St. Augustine Lighthouse.
[00:21:01] As always, I am glad to have you all as campers on this journey. Please keep sharing the show with anyone you think might like these stories or someone you're just trying to scare. If you are enjoying it, please go ahead and leave a review. I would love to hear from you. I will see you back here next week as we hear a story that can only best be described as a modern folktale. Until next time.
