269: Grim Reaper, St. Mark's Hospital Shadow Figure & An Angelic Messenger

[00:00:02] Tonight, I'll be taking a look at two very different entities in a Salt Lake City hospital. The extremely active Murray City Cemetery, an encounter with the Grim Reaper, and a possible messenger from heaven. All coming up on this Friday the 13th edition of Paranormal Mysteries.

[00:00:37] Thank you for joining me and welcome. I am your host as always, Nic Ryan. Before we start tonight's show, I want to thank everyone for their support. Your generosity helps to make this show possible.

[00:00:50] And now, let's begin with our first listener story of the night, which comes to us from Cassandra. And Cassandra's first story is called Hospital Nightmares. Cassandra says, Hi Nic, it's been a while since I've been out and about as I'm still recovering from

[00:01:08] major spine surgery that I had back in February. Word of advice? Take care of your back. I only stayed in the hospital one night, even though I should have stayed longer. There was just this guy that wouldn't let me sleep.

[00:01:24] That being said, here's the first of my two stories. As I stated, I went to the hospital for major surgery, and fortunately I was the first patient of the day. Let it be said that I hate hospitals.

[00:01:37] St. Mark's here in Salt Lake isn't bad, but I lost my mother and sister there two decades ago now. Things have certainly improved, but I was still apprehensive about my operation taking place there. The neurosurgeon that did the operation is rated in the top five nationwide though, so

[00:01:55] that helped to set my mind at ease. After the surgery, I was taken to the recovery, where my family checked on me before heading home. The day was chaotic, with doctors and nurses coming in and out every few minutes, and rest was impossible.

[00:02:11] As it got later in the day, and most of the surgical staff had gone home, it got blissfully quiet. In hindsight, too quiet. I was sitting up, trying to eat the blah food that they served for dinner, when I saw a man walk by.

[00:02:27] At first, I paid him no mind, as people were still coming and going every hour or so. He was dressed in blue scrubs, indicating that he was a doctor or maybe a nurse. He was very friendly and had a kind smile.

[00:02:40] He saw me struggling to eat the cardboard that the pasta was pretending to be, and returned shortly with a sweet roll. It was warm and had cream cheese icing. One of my favorites. He introduced himself as Jackson, and told me that he was an overnight nurse for the

[00:02:55] fifth floor. He came in, pulled up a chair beside my bed, and spent the next hour just shooting the breeze. He said that he had been a nurse for the last twenty years or so, and he told me that he

[00:03:05] remembered being in the room when both my sister and mother passed away, in 2000 and 2003 respectively. He said that they both passed peacefully, and told me that my mom's last thoughts were about me.

[00:03:19] I couldn't hold back the tears, as I had been out of town when my mother passed, having been in a truck stop in Oklahoma. I hated that I hadn't been there, as I had dreamt of her passing just days before.

[00:03:31] But being a truck driver doesn't afford a lot of home time, though, and after I flew home from Albuquerque, I never climbed into the cab of a big rig again. Jackson handed me a tissue from the table beside him, and he told me that she was happy

[00:03:45] now, as my stepfather was a total douche that didn't love her, and treated her like garbage. She was finally free of him, which made her find peace that she had not had during life. She didn't blame me for being so far away. That was just my job.

[00:04:01] The statement confused me, as I couldn't figure out why he would say that. He didn't know her, or the hell that my stepfather had put her through, but I shrugged my shoulders, believing it was just the drugs.

[00:04:13] Narcotics suck, and I quit taking them as soon as the pain was tolerable. When the day nurses came on the shift the following morning, I told them to thank Jackson for me, as talking to him had really helped me to ease the grief I was feeling from the

[00:04:27] closure I never got with her passing. They both looked confused. They'd never heard of a nurse by the name of Jackson, and said the only nurses to check on me were both women.

[00:04:39] I was certain I'd spoken with the man, and still had the tissue and empty sweet roll plate on my rolling table. Again they said there was no one on the staff named Jackson, and began to look at me like I had lost my mind.

[00:04:52] It was then the realization hit me. Jackson was a spirit. He'd come to me to assure me that all was well with my mother and sister on the other side. For years I'd been beating myself up over their passing, knowing that if I'd just been

[00:05:06] there, that maybe I could have done something. In reality though, there wasn't anything I could have done. My sister passed from kidney failure after a doctor forgot to prescribe the dialysis that would have saved her life before leaving the country for two weeks, and my mother passed

[00:05:21] away of a heart attack. In both cases, there wasn't anything I could have done. And Jackson assured me of this. I'll always be grateful, even though I'm still haunted by their memories. At least I have a little closure. Which is better than none.

[00:05:38] As I mentioned before, my stay at the hospital wasn't my favorite experience. Jackson was lovely and helped set my grieving heart at ease. But there was another guy. I've heard the listener tales of large, imposing shadow figures.

[00:05:53] And while it's been ages since I've personally seen one, the entity at the hospital definitely brought that experience fresh to mind. As I stated previously, there was what I thought to be at the time another man roaming the hospital at night.

[00:06:09] But it turns out it was actually a shadow figure. It would come in and out of my room, creating that dense sense of dark danger that makes you wake up with a fright, trembling and looking around your surroundings just to make sure that you were safe.

[00:06:24] That feeling of terror never really goes away, even when you try to fall back asleep. And at one point, the terror was so bad that I just sat staring at the door, making sure that no one but the nurses were walking the halls.

[00:06:36] At one point, though, things came violently to a head. The shadow creature, large and darker than anything that could possibly be imagined, entered my room. It had four arms, each ending in silvery claws, a gaping mouth that smelled of rotting flesh,

[00:06:54] broad shoulders that would put to shame even the biggest, meanest sumo wrestler. And it was closing in on me. Breathing became difficult at first, and then completely impossible. It's like what one could imagine the prey of a large constricting snake would experience as it dies slowly.

[00:07:12] At one point, I actually lost consciousness. I was slipping from my body at one point. At least it felt that way. And I heard the alarms going off in my room. Nurses were there in less than a heartbeat, and I was brought back to a groggy state of

[00:07:26] existence. It was terrifying to say the least, and after that I was unable to return to the land of dreams, even while drugged for the pain as I was. I stared at the shadows for signs of movement, had the nurses leave the light on, requested

[00:07:41] as much coffee as they would bring me, and eagerly awaited the doctor so that I could get my discharge papers and go home. It was what I wanted more than anything. Given the history of the hospital, having been built in the mid to late 1800s, it wouldn't

[00:07:56] surprise me if something dark was inadvertently brought there by a dying patient. Interestingly enough, St. Mark's Hospital was actually Utah's first hospital, and has remained a steady place for the living as well as the dying to be treated for whatever ailment they suffered from.

[00:08:15] As the title of my next story states, I have a few encounters after being stopped in the cemetery after an attempt at walking farther from my home than I should have. Cassandra's next story is called Cemetery Spirits. Cassandra says, I live three blocks south of Murray City Cemetery.

[00:08:36] It's an old cemetery with some of the headstones dating back to the late 1800s. The first person to be interred there was a man named John Benbow in May of 1874. I'll include some of the articles about the place.

[00:08:50] During the day the cemetery is quiet and serene, with walking paths around the patches of headstones and large shady trees great for beating the heat in the summer. There's an old cannon from the Civil War era, and there are even a few Confederate soldiers in residence.

[00:09:06] There's even one grave that boasts a beautiful collie carved beside the headstone that's nothing short of beautiful. There's room for more residents, though all the plots are currently owned to my knowledge. It's convenient really, as south of me is a retirement home, and between my apartment

[00:09:23] and said community is a mortuary. When they die, move north for their funeral, and make a final stop in the cemetery north of my house. I mean no disrespect, I'm merely stating the line of progression between point A and point C.

[00:09:40] At night, the cemetery takes on a whole different feeling. The first recorded apparition was of a child back in 1904. A man was crossing through to go to see his girlfriend when he spotted a white figure rise from one of the graves.

[00:09:56] Facts are fuzzy, as no one from that time period can actually agree on the day this happened, just the year. Mormon pioneers, farmers, and locals from the area have all been spotted here, and many ghost hunters have caught various EVPs ranging from single words to short sentences.

[00:10:15] My story is a little different. As I stated earlier, I just had spine surgery, and the surgeon wanted me to walk to help strengthen the muscles and give the reconstructive site a chance to get better blood flow than if it was just stationary.

[00:10:29] I have a habit though of pushing myself beyond what I should, and a lot of the time, I regret it. This particular time just happened to be one of those instances. I was taking a walk in the beautiful sunny afternoon when my body decided that I had

[00:10:44] done too much too soon, and needed to rest. I sat on one of the benches and just took in the serenity of the place. It's always been calm and peaceful when I've been there, but this particular instance just wasn't.

[00:10:59] As the afternoon sun began to dip below the trees, I knew it was time to go home. Murray City Police are diligent when it comes to patrolling the place, and don't allow people without a permit to be there after dark.

[00:11:10] I obviously didn't have one, so I began walking the path on the other side of the cemetery toward the main sidewalk outside of the grounds. Now, I'm not a very fast walker anyway, but the surgery slowed me down more than usual.

[00:11:24] I began to get the feeling that I was being watched, and that's not a comfortable feeling in a place like that. Being a medium with both Native American and Druid blood, I definitely didn't want to know what some of the other people there had to say.

[00:11:39] I moved down one of the paths, and the sun was fully set by that time, and I was overwhelmed with great sadness. I saw a woman sitting on the grass, weeping heavily for her departed husband.

[00:11:51] This particular woman had stairs built beside her husband's grave so that she could walk down and visit his body. Creepy, right? After she passed, the stairs were filled in where her body now rests.

[00:12:03] She looked at me as I tried to hurry by, and started accusing me of not helping him, and not getting there in time to save him. Before I realized what I was doing, I apologized profusely, and tried to comfort the woman any way that I could.

[00:12:18] After she vanished, I shook my head to try to clear it of the cobwebs that had crept in. At some point, I lost track of who and where I was. I felt panic racing through my body, and I began trying to run away from something trying

[00:12:31] to catch me. By this time, it was pitch black outside, on a chilly and moonless night. My breath formed clouds as I looked nervously about. When I saw the large, dark shadowy creature moving toward me, I was overcome with fear.

[00:12:47] Now there's no record of anything dark happening in the cemetery as far as I could find, but this entity definitely wasn't good. It reached a cold, icy hand towards me, and I just knew that if it touched me, I wouldn't

[00:13:01] be found until the following morning, when the grounds crew came in to tend to the plots. I called upon the goddess to help me, and pressed on toward the main walkway. I desperately wanted out of there as fast as I could.

[00:13:14] Tears streamed hot down my face as I struggled. The pain of the cold settling into the rods and pins holding my spine together. Closing my eyes, I prayed desperately for the strength to press on. Now, remember how I said the cemetery is patrolled by the police? Right.

[00:13:32] Well, an officer appeared out of nowhere, shining his light on me to disperse the crushing and oppressive darkness that was closing in all around me. What are you doing out here at this time of night? he asked, walking slowly towards me. Trying to leave.

[00:13:47] I really don't want to be here, and I wasn't trying to sneak around in the dark, I answered sobbing. Let's get you out of here then, he said. Nodding my head vigorously, I followed him back to his car.

[00:13:58] His presence was warm and comforting, and helped to ease the terror that I was feeling. There was something odd though. Murray officers drive either souped-up Chargers or the new Ford Interceptor hybrids. This officer was driving an old Crown Victoria, way out of time by today's standards.

[00:14:17] I then turned my attention to the officer himself. The uniform of today's police department is solid black, with the bulletproof vest worn under their shirt. This particular officer though, wore a grey shirt and black pants that had a white stripe going down the outside of the leg.

[00:14:34] When I turned my attention to his face, he and his car sort of vanished. He had lit the way to the street, so I had no trouble finding my way home, thanks to that officer. As I arrived home, my daughter was freaking out.

[00:14:50] Instead of the hour or so that it had taken me to walk to and from the cemetery, I had been gone for almost four hours. She was calling everyone, trying to see if the hospitals had found me, or if the police had heard of anyone fitting my description.

[00:15:04] But obviously, there was nothing. After the ordeal, my daughter said that she's never letting me go out on my own again, especially at night, or anywhere close to the cemetery. And after that ordeal, I eagerly agreed.

[00:15:18] I look for the officer whenever I drive by after sundown, wondering who he was. Cemetery has a long history dating back to the 1800s, and there are plenty of places for the paranormal-hungry ghost hunters.

[00:15:31] There are several accounts of officers going down in the line of duty, so it's not inconceivable that there could be a few buried there. Personally, I'm staying home once the sun goes down, unless I'm in my car.

[00:15:43] I don't want or need a repeat of what happened that night. Thanks for taking the time to read this. I hope you and your family are well, and I look forward to the upcoming episode each week. Take care. Cassandra.

[00:16:00] Cassandra included pictures of Murray City Cemetery, and I have added them to our forum for everyone to see. Before we continue tonight's episode, please remember that if you have an experience to share, you may contact me through email or voice message at paranormalmysteriespodcast.com,

[00:16:20] or you may contact me directly at paranormalmysteriespodcast at gmail.com. And if you're interested in supporting the show, please consider following and sharing the podcast. You can also support the show through Patreon, BuyMeACoffee, or PayPal via the links in the show notes.

[00:16:38] And of course, every type of support is greatly appreciated. Now let's get back to the show. Our next experience comes to us from Shaxa, and Shaxa's story is called Grim Reaper. Shaxa says, Hey Nick, I've been listening to your podcast for over a year now.

[00:17:00] It gets me through work. I've been wanting to send an email for a while now, but just never got around to it, and finally got the motivation to do so today. I've had paranormal experiences throughout my entire life, starting from a kid to even now at 24.

[00:17:16] I want to share this one particular experience because it's still one that fascinates me, even though when I first went through it, I was mortified. I was around 5 to 6 years old. I woke up one night from a terrible dream. I can't remember what it was.

[00:17:31] It was storming outside, and I wanted to go and sleep with one of my two siblings, which I did whenever I got scared. I walked first into my older sister's room and saw through the lightning that she was not in her room sleeping.

[00:17:45] So I went to my older brother's room. I saw him lying in bed, a huge lump underneath a thick comforter. I made sure to crawl around him as not to wake him up, but when I got into the bed and went underneath the blankets, he wasn't even there.

[00:18:00] Now I know what I saw. I know that I even felt him while crawling around. I could feel the warmth coming from the sheets, and I felt the bed caved in like someone was laying in the middle of it. I swore to myself, he was there.

[00:18:13] When I realized it was just me all alone, I got up and walked out of the room in a hurry because something didn't feel right. Where were my siblings? None of them were in their rooms. I knew they had to at least be in my parents' room.

[00:18:27] My parents' room was down the hall, and there was a balcony next to their room that showed the front door as well as the living room. As I walked to the room, passing the balcony, I saw a tall 7 to 8 foot dark hooded skeletal figure.

[00:18:41] I was so shocked I didn't even know what to do, so I stood as still as possible, staring at it, walking across the living room. It looked like it came from the front door and was going to turn to walk up the stairs where I was.

[00:18:56] He had a long scythe, even taller than he was. It was so large. The blade was so big. His robe was black, and I could even see down to how it was woven and stitched. He didn't even turn to look at me, but I saw his face.

[00:19:11] The feeling of darkness, peace, and ice waited the room. As I saw him walk closer and closer to the stairs with each slow but insistent step, I broke out of my motionless shock and bolted toward my parents' door.

[00:19:26] I walked in, seeing my siblings in the center between my parents in their bed, and I was horrified at what I saw. They all looked like skeletons, all of them laying there looking dead. I ran back to my room and hid under my covers, crying.

[00:19:43] I heard and felt the entity walk up slowly, till it stood there in front of my door, staring at me. I didn't even peek out of my covers to see him. I just felt him there.

[00:19:53] I felt this eternal void a few feet away, but it felt like its presence engulfed every square inch of the house. I stayed under those covers until the morning light shone in, and the terrible feeling of darkness and ice went away.

[00:20:09] I didn't even know what to say to anyone, so I kept it inside. I rarely tell this story because no one believes in the Grim Reaper, but I do. Call it folklore, but I believe the stories are based on true events.

[00:20:22] I believe he is real, because he showed himself to me. I still don't know why he did, or why he was there. What was he insistent on doing? Why was he staring at me outside my bedroom door? And why did my family look dead?

[00:20:38] I know there's a reason, I just don't know what it is, and I think about this often. If anyone has had any similar experiences, I would love to hear about them.

[00:20:49] You can share my email with those who want to reach out, because I want to know more about him, and why he was there, and if others may have pieces to the puzzle. Thanks so much for reading, Nick.

[00:21:00] I tried my best to describe my experience with as much detail as I could, and I'm not scared anymore, as I've grown to accept and love the paranormal. I always welcome them. Blessings, Shaxa Our next listener experience of the evening comes to us from Mrs. Hargrave.

[00:21:24] And Mrs. Hargrave's story is called The Messenger. Mrs. Hargrave says, Hi Nick, I am fairly new to your podcast, but have fell deeply enamored with it. All the stories I listen to make me feel as if I am not alone in this paranormal, mysterious, shadowed world.

[00:21:42] So thank you for creating it. I have had many encounters with paranormal activity, but there was one instance that still has me in awe. It is fairly brief and not sure if it would count as paranormal, but it was definitely an encounter that left me with great wonder.

[00:21:58] When I was younger, I would walk myself to the bus stop every morning to go to school. It was a typical morning for me. I would wake up, get dressed, eat, and I'm off to the bus stop. But this day was different.

[00:22:10] The day was warm, getting to be summer soon, so the morning sun was shining quite beautifully. As I stood there alone on the bus stop, there was no one in sight.

[00:22:20] The street was not ever busy in the morning, and no one ever stood at the bus stop with me that early unless it was my sister who was not with me on that day.

[00:22:29] I remembered that I was staring off in the distance, watching the trees, because I love nature, when out of nowhere a hand holding something appeared in front of me. I looked at what this hand was holding out for me, and I reached out for it.

[00:22:43] The hand held out a pamphlet to me. When I looked up, I saw the most well-dressed and clean man I had ever seen in my life. I could not see his face, only his mouth, which held a friendly smile.

[00:22:55] He did not speak, and it was hard to tell if he was even looking at me with his eyes behind his sunglasses. He wore a spotless white suit so clean that he looked like he was going to a wedding or some fancy ball.

[00:23:08] I wondered what a man that looked like that was doing around here walking. I lived in the country part of the city, and no one around here dressed like that, so it

[00:23:16] was a bit odd, and I did not see him walk up to me from my peripheral vision, which I surely would have, since the distance he had to walk up to me was about ten feet from the corner.

[00:23:27] And if he had come from around the corner, which I'm assuming he did, since that was the only way to get to where I was standing, he would have had to come out of the thick forest-like brush behind me.

[00:23:36] But he would have been dirty from the brush for sure, and his suit was spotless. I would have seen him coming for sure, but I did not. So I received the pamphlet that he handed me without even looking at it, because I was

[00:23:50] so starstruck by this well-dressed man, and I watched him as he walked only a few steps away from me. I then took only a second's time to view what the pamphlet read, and it was a pamphlet about Jesus Christ.

[00:24:02] I then quickly looked back up to view the man who had handed me the pamphlet, but he was gone as quickly as he came. Now, I would have been able to see him continue walking down the sidewalk, because it was another

[00:24:14] twenty feet to the next corner where he could have turned, and I do not see a man that clean just running off into the brush wearing a dapper suit like he had been wearing, just to get away from me.

[00:24:25] He was nowhere in sight, and just as I looked for him in that moment, the bus pulled up, and I quickly got on. Now, as the bus drives off, I was sure that if this man ran to the corner, I would see

[00:24:37] him down the block passing out more pamphlets, since the next block was a dead-end roundabout. The bus drives past the block, and I anxiously await to see. And as I look down the block, he wasn't there either.

[00:24:50] And as the bus kept going, still no well-dressed man in white. I thought this strange because he did not drive up in a car, nor did I see or hear him drive away. I thought that he could have been a Jehovah Witness spreading the gospel, but I would

[00:25:06] have seen him continue knocking on the doors of that dead-end block, and I know that he did not live in them, as I had friends that lived down there and knew pretty much everyone that lived in that roundabout.

[00:25:17] That was the only block of houses for a few miles, so I wondered where he went to. The man had vanished into thin air, as it seemed. I believe I witnessed seeing an angel that day, doing his work and being a messenger of Christ.

[00:25:33] I hope that you share my story, and I would love to hear if anyone else may have encountered something similar, or have witnessed what they believe to have been an angel. Please send them my way. Thank you, Nick.

[00:25:50] As we come to the end of tonight's episode, I'd like to thank Cassandra, Shaxa, and Mrs. Hargrave for sharing their experiences, and I also appreciate each and every one of you for listening.

[00:26:03] Also keep in mind that if you have a story to share with me, or if you'd like more information on supporting the show, you can find links to our contact, support, forum, and social media pages in the show notes.

[00:26:16] Until next time, I hope you all have a great Friday the 13th. And please remember, don't wait for the unknown to come to you. Get out there and find it.