300: The Demon in Room 232 - Part 1

[00:00:04] Tonight, I'll be talking about extreme demonic activity that occurred in the dorm room at a Christian college in Kentucky, which deeply affected everyone that was involved. So stay tuned, as I begin Part 1 of The Demon in Room 232. Thank you for joining me and welcome.

[00:00:42] I'm your host, Nic Ryan. Before we start tonight's show, I'd like to recognize Adrian, Amber, Christina, and Lils for their contributions on Patreon and Buy Me a Coffee. Thank you so much for your support and your generosity.

[00:01:00] And of course, the show wouldn't be possible without all of my amazing listeners around the world. Thanks to all of you for listening. Also I have extended the costume contest voting period through this Wednesday the 9th, so

[00:01:13] be sure to follow the link in the show notes in order to vote. You can also see the submission pictures on all of my social media pages, and there's a link to vote there as well.

[00:01:23] I'll be revealing the winner on Thursday the 10th, and I look forward to having you all there. And now, let's begin with Part 1 of tonight's experience, which comes to us from Jesse. Jesse's story may be too intense for some people, and listener discretion is advised. Jesse says,

[00:01:45] Hello there. I am telling my story today to heal some old wounds from my past. It will all probably seem like a cliche scary story, but every experience I and my roommates went through was genuinely terrifying.

[00:01:59] I will need to keep the names of places and people anonymous, but besides that I will keep the facts straight. To preface my story, I must explain some important details. My background is strictly Christian.

[00:02:13] I was raised going to a church three times a week, and even attended the private Christian school at the church. Although rules were abundant and very strict, I was never bothered by them. I simply accepted the rules as normal.

[00:02:27] Even after all I went through, I would still say I had good upbringing because I know that my parents did their best to give me a good life. By the time my high school graduation came around, I decided to attend a small Christian college in Kentucky.

[00:02:41] Being from California, this decision sounded ridiculous. However, I wanted some freedom, and there weren't many church-approved colleges from which to choose. If freedom meant moving 2,000 miles away from home to go to an acceptable college, then so be it. Everything about moving to Kentucky was so different from California.

[00:03:02] The terrain, the weather, the people, the food. It was all so new for me. I loved it. My freshman year consisted of meeting new people, learning how to live on my own, and just living a chaotic lifestyle to the fullest. It was an adventure.

[00:03:18] However, my college experience would soon slowly end in absolute madness. My story begins in the fall of 2019, about a week before my sophomore year started. Since I worked on the college campus, it was required of me to arrive one week before

[00:03:35] move-in day to prepare the college for the first few weeks of the school year. This was convenient for me since I could move into my dorm room before the other students arrived. I felt confident starting the year.

[00:03:47] I knew how the system worked, and I knew how to survive without being overwhelmed. The college, like my church, had strict rules. Did I follow them all? No, but I understood that if I kept a clean record and a low profile, I would have no issues.

[00:04:02] Plus, I had a good reputation around campus, so I was trusted by the staff. This would come back to bite me later, but at the time, it was a good thing. I was assigned the position of room captain to my room.

[00:04:16] Therefore, I knew who my roommates were before move-in day. Two of them were returning students, both sophomores, and one was a freshman. One of them, let's call her Ray, was already living in the dorms since she was working a job in the area.

[00:04:31] I gathered my belongings and moved into room 232. Room 232 was a fairly nice room compared to all the other rooms. It had brand new bunk beds and brand new carpet. It smelled and looked fresh.

[00:04:45] I did not have any bad feelings upon entering the room, but it was probably because I was distracted with my new roommate, Ray. Ray and I were already friends before we were roommates, so it was easy moving in with her.

[00:04:58] We enjoyed our free time together and mentally prepared for the year ahead of us. Move-in day arrived and it was a breeze. The campus was bustling with new and returning students. I spent some time walking around campus, greeting friends, and meeting new students.

[00:05:14] Sometime during the afternoon, my second roommate arrived. I have to admit I was nervous to meet her. Her name was Diane, and she was more of an acquaintance than a friend. However, I was pleasantly surprised with how well we hit it off.

[00:05:28] We spent the rest of the afternoon and evening moving her belongings into her room. My third roommate did not arrive that day, but would arrive within a few days. The first night was exciting. The three of us celebrated the new school year and bonded instantly.

[00:05:44] A few days passed until my third roommate arrived. All of us were nervous about our last roommate, but were relieved when she was very sweet and easy going. Her name was Jen, and she was only 17. Finally, the anxiety of having new roommates was over.

[00:06:00] I understood how lucky I was to have a great room. In fact, looking back now, I truly do not believe I would ever have made it through the year without them. The school year started and we all had our separate lives.

[00:06:13] However, we were roommates so we all ended up in the same place at the end of the day. Room 232. It all began for me on the first Tuesday night of the school year.

[00:06:24] I was lying in my bed, dozing off to the sound of the dehumidifier in my room when I felt something pull on my leg. I wasn't startled, surprisingly. In fact, I was more annoyed than alarmed. I pulled my leg back and rolled over to my previous position.

[00:06:41] Almost instantly, I was jerked off my bed by my leg and dragged across the room, over to Raze and Diane's bunk bed. To say that I was scared would be a crime. I was horrified.

[00:06:52] The next thing I remember was being lifted midair next to the bunk bed and hearing an unrecognizable scream leave my throat. I gasped into consciousness and was covered in sweat. It was just a nightmare. I have always had vivid dreams. However, nightmares were extremely rare.

[00:07:10] I didn't worry about it though. Besides, the school year had just started and it was probably my subconscious interpreting the stress from the last few days. I took a few deep breaths and I slipped back into unconsciousness. The next day, another oddity happened.

[00:07:27] I was getting ready to attend church that evening when I got a very deep, depressed feeling. I hesitated a moment and tried to think about something else. I figured it was probably just hormones messing with me. But then things got weird.

[00:07:41] Out of nowhere, a gruesome image appeared in my head. It was a very graphic scene of my lifeless naked body laying in the room's bathtub with slit wrists. It was comparable to watching a violent scene of a slasher movie over and over, but not

[00:07:56] having the luxury to look away. I was disturbed to say the least. Nothing like this had ever happened to me before. I went to church that night, but in reality I wasn't there at all. I couldn't shake the sadness and I couldn't shake that vision.

[00:08:12] The rest of the night was somewhat of a blur. All I know is that I woke up the next morning completely fine, so I dismissed the troubles of the previous night. School activities began to take shape over the next week.

[00:08:27] The campus became quiet as more students found jobs. For me, my job was running the shop on site, so I didn't need to leave the property very often. It worked out because I didn't have a car at the time. When Saturday came around, all my roommates had jobs.

[00:08:42] Ray and Diane worked off campus, and Jen worked in the cafeteria on campus. Although we were busy, we wanted to get to know each other better, so we planned a mini party for that Sunday night. We spent that evening talking, laughing, and eating all kinds of junk food.

[00:08:59] Near the end of the night, we asked different questions like, what's your favorite food, and what's your background? After answering a few of these questions, the question of, what's your biggest fear, was asked. When Ray answered, she said that the idea of being forced into the human trafficking

[00:09:15] system scared her the most. It was a very specific fear. The night then went on, and eventually we went to sleep. The next morning, we were getting ready for classes when Ray approached me.

[00:09:29] She said that she had scratches on her private area, and she wasn't sure how they got there. I figured that she accidentally scratched herself in her sleep, but when she showed me her nails, they were short. Not rounded short, but cut to the edge of her skin short.

[00:09:44] I really didn't know what to think, but I figured there must be some sort of explanation. Ray mentioned that there were rumors that this room was haunted. I too had heard the same rumor, but I didn't pay it any mind.

[00:09:56] However, I couldn't help but think of the nightmare and the suicide image from earlier in the week. I was comfortable with Ray, so I didn't have any trouble telling her what happened. We kept the events to ourselves, but didn't forget them.

[00:10:12] The next day, we woke up in a bit of a shock. None of the alarm clocks had gone off, and we were frustrated. As I hurried to get to class, Ray mentioned that she had heard voices next door when she got home from work the night prior.

[00:10:25] This may have not seemed like something out of the ordinary, but the room next door was the dorm supervisor's apartment, and she lived alone. But the worst part was that she was out of town for personal business until the spring semester.

[00:10:38] Now, to keep this story straight, I will need to describe the construction of the dormitory. The dormitory was a renovated motel from the late 1990s. The motel was a two-floored building with a left and a right wing, connected by a lobby area.

[00:10:54] Once the motel was renovated, the right wing was transformed into the ladies' dormitory, and the left wing was made into the men's dormitory. The lobby area that connected the two wings had several different areas. The snack shop, the cafeteria, the mail room, and the social area.

[00:11:11] Although the building was old, the building itself was almost completely made of concrete. Therefore, its walls and foundation were strong. Our room was located at the far corner of the right wing, which was right next to the supervisor's apartment.

[00:11:26] The apartment was originally two motel rooms, but were renovated into a single unit. The supervisor, let's call her Ms. Thompson, very rarely let anyone into her apartment, and honestly, I didn't blame her. She most likely just wanted her privacy. However, the voices next door were still a mystery.

[00:11:45] I figured the college was having maintenance fix something in her room, but Ray wasn't convinced, and she had every right to doubt that explanation. Ray would get home at around 1245 to 1 o'clock in the morning, so it would have been odd to have maintenance working at that hour.

[00:12:03] Our lives continued, but unexplainable events kept happening. One afternoon before work, I heard thumping next door. Maybe it was rats or pests. I didn't know, and I didn't have the time to think about the possibilities.

[00:12:16] Frankly, I didn't want to believe it was something that was paranormal, nor did I want to worry about it. It was just thumping in the walls. That was it. Nothing more, nothing less. But things weren't so easy for Ray.

[00:12:31] She had new scratches, and this time they were on her hand. When she showed it to me, the best I could have described it as would be like an animal scratch. There were three parallel scratches on the top of her hand.

[00:12:44] I looked at her nails again, but alas, they were still very short. There was no way she could have done it in her sleep. It was also unlikely that it had happened at her work. She worked a desk job and didn't move around very much.

[00:12:57] She would have known if she had scratched her hand, right? I didn't know what to think. I didn't want to believe that something was going on. But something deep down knew something was very wrong. Before we continue with Jesse's experience, please remember that you can share your experience

[00:13:18] with me through email or voice message at paranormalmysteriespodcast.com or at paranormalmysteriespodcast at gmail.com. And if you're interested in showing your support, please consider following and sharing the podcast. And by giving me a 5 star review on Apple Podcasts, you can help new listeners find the show.

[00:13:38] You can also support me on Patreon, buy me a coffee, or even on PayPal by making a one-time donation. Or become a member and listen to every episode, ad-free. If you're looking for additional ways to get involved, please visit our website and join the forum.

[00:13:53] And be sure to follow me on social media for show updates and future content. And links to all of my contact and support information can be found within the show notes. Jesse goes on to say, I started noticing that our room didn't feel the same.

[00:14:11] It felt like someone was always watching you. At this point, my sleep started getting uncomfortable. I'm naturally a long, deep sleeper, and I usually can sleep through just about anything. One could blame it on college stress, but this was different.

[00:14:26] I felt nervous when I went to bed, and I couldn't get to sleep. Even if I had a busy day, I couldn't get to sleep or stay asleep. When it finally came time to lie down, I would hear rustling in the closets.

[00:14:38] We had two sections in the room that were designated for closet space, and my bunk bed faced outward towards the center of the room. I was exposed to both of them, one on each side. I could hear movement, but I didn't dare look.

[00:14:54] Even if I wanted to see whatever was making the noise, I physically couldn't see because it was dark and I didn't have my glasses on. Sometimes I would feel as if someone was tapping on the bottom of my mattress.

[00:15:06] I slept on the bottom bunk, so I knew it wasn't a roommate playing some joke. The tapping would always be where my head was resting, and it would last for a long time. It became normal to hear noises next door in the supervisor's apartment, even though

[00:15:21] she wasn't back. I ignored it most of the time. However, things started to get worse. Ray and I began talking about the weird events with Diane, but Diane wasn't convinced. I didn't blame her. I didn't think anything was happening either until I started paying better attention.

[00:15:40] We discussed the topic a bit more over the following weeks, but Diane didn't believe anything unusual was happening until one night. Diane claimed that she was in bed when she heard someone whisper her name. Thinking that it was Ray, she called out, but got no answer.

[00:15:58] The next morning, Diane confronted Ray about it, but Ray denied it. It was weird, but it could be explained by someone talking in their sleep, which in our case was most likely Jen. We sleep talked almost every night. We would all joke about Jen saying strange things.

[00:16:14] I even brought it up in a conversation with Jen halfway through the semester, but strangely, Jen said that she had never been told that she did that before. Being from a family of ten siblings, it shocked me that this was news to her.

[00:16:27] However, I didn't sweat it, but it was weird and creepy. Jen was on the top bunk of my bed, so I could hear her talk, but I couldn't see her. Ray and Diane both claimed that on several occasions, Jen would sit up in the middle

[00:16:42] of the night and face towards Ms. Thompson's apartment wall, and would talk for long periods of time. Sometimes they said that she would be talking in another language. I had heard this as well, but I couldn't identify what language it was.

[00:16:59] All of this just added to the uneasiness we felt from living in Room 232. I started getting curious about our situation. Some people claimed the room was haunted, but I wasn't having any luck with the history of our room.

[00:17:13] First, I looked into the motel itself, but had no luck. Then I started casually poking around just to see if I could get in touch with previous students who lived in that room. Even if I could get in touch with them, what would I say?

[00:17:26] I had very little success, but I didn't give up. I wanted answers, and I was determined to find them. At this time, my mood started to deteriorate. I was more blunt and less friendly. The drained feeling was so overwhelming at times that I couldn't perform my everyday tasks.

[00:17:45] My roommates started feeling the same symptoms. We all still loved each other and got along surprisingly, but it was obvious that we were very tired. One night, Ray got home and decided to take a bath.

[00:17:58] The rest of us were already asleep in bed, but she swore that someone shut the doorknob to the bathroom, trying to get in. That must have been very scary, and I felt badly for her. It seemed like it was affecting her the most out of all of us.

[00:18:12] She already had underlying health issues, and she needed sleep, but wasn't getting it. I could just feel that it was weighing on her. Another night, Diane heard her name whispered in the night again. However, this time she knew it wasn't Ray or Jen.

[00:18:29] The next morning she told me about it, and she became nervous. Me, Ray, and Diane were convinced there was something wrong with room 232. Jen, on the other hand, was the only one who didn't give the idea much thought.

[00:18:43] We talked about the weird things that happened, but most of the time we didn't tell Jen. She was only 17 after all, and if she didn't notice anything strange, then it was a blessing in disguise. We didn't want to scare her.

[00:18:56] Even if she didn't talk about the weird things that happened, it didn't stop them from happening. One day, Jen couldn't find the kitchen keys. All of us helped her and literally looked through everything trying to find those keys.

[00:19:10] After about 15 minutes, I heard Jen gasp in surprise when she called us over to her desk. The keys were delicately sitting right in the middle of the empty desk. There's no way any of us could have missed them.

[00:19:24] The end of the semester was now approaching, and I was eager to go home for Christmas. At this point, I truly felt my mental health starting to decline. I started feeling impulsive, depressed, and downright crazy. I felt my discretion and character starting to slip.

[00:19:40] Nightmares and visions plagued my brain. However, I kept my reputation normal. After work one night, I was getting ready to take a shower when I noticed something on my chest. It was a bruise. I stood there staring at it, desperately trying to think of an explanation.

[00:19:57] But I knew this wasn't my doing. As I stood there, I realized that this was no longer something that could be dismissed. We needed help. I felt responsible for my roommate's well-being.

[00:20:08] I was only the room monitor, but I felt as if it was my fault that they were being hurt by this thing. Stupidly, I had nicknamed the presence and continuously disregarded their pain. This needed to stop.

[00:20:22] I decided that the next day, I would do the best thing I knew to do to get rid of an unholy presence. I fasted and prayed with all that I had in me. One needs to understand that I was never taught how to handle anything like this.

[00:20:36] I was just doing my best. My roommates prayed with me for a few nights to help me stay strong. The fasting period lasted six days, and by the end, I felt peace. The end of the semester came, and we all went home for Christmas.

[00:20:52] I thought it was over. Little did I know, it was far from the end. My second semester was about to start in January of 2020. All of my roommates arrived back, and we started to get back into the hang of things.

[00:21:08] I had almost forgotten about our room after such a nice holiday. But as soon as I stepped back into the room, I could feel something was wrong. I was confused. I fasted and prayed, and everything was better, right?

[00:21:22] It felt stronger than before, and the heaviness was thick enough to cut with a knife. Ray sensed it too. What in the world was going on here? I began thinking through the options until one seemed to be the most logical one. Witchcraft. It had to be the answer.

[00:21:39] I thought through my roommates. No, it couldn't be one of them. I see them live their lives with a deep love for people and for God. When I was alone, I searched through some of the room to see if there was anything suspicious. But alas, there was nothing.

[00:21:55] I couldn't put my finger on it. After a few weeks, my roommates and I decided that we needed help from someone who was more experienced in this sort of thing. We all worked together and put together a list of everything that had happened to us.

[00:22:09] Of course, I kept the list crystal clear and logical. I put a list of what each thing could have been along with what happened. We agreed as a room that we would take this to the administration and try to get help.

[00:22:22] I got us an appointment with the vice president, and Ray and I prepared for the meeting. I would have liked us all to have been in the meeting, but our work schedules were all too different.

[00:22:32] Before the meeting, Ray and I discussed a few things in my room by ourselves. We were busy discussing when I noticed something. The flame from a candle we had been burning on the dresser was acting strange.

[00:22:44] There was absolutely no movement in the room, yet the flame was almost dancing. It was hard to explain, but the flame was at least two times as big as it should have been, and it was whipping around intensely like someone was playing with it.

[00:22:58] Ray and I looked at each other and decided it was time to leave. We arrived at the vice president's office and began the meeting. I did most of the talking, but Ray gave her input when she wished. I was extremely nervous, but the vice president listened intently.

[00:23:13] By the end of the meeting, both of us felt heard and were confident that he would get us help. He was sincere and said that he would get back to us about getting the issue solved. Until then, we had to endure.

[00:23:27] We were relieved after we left the office. Finally, this would all be over. Even though I was relieved that we were getting help, the presence in our room did not lighten. All of us were absolutely exhausted, mentally and physically. Diane started having panic attacks and started missing classes.

[00:23:48] Ray started missing classes completely just to get some sleep. Jen was sleep talking and tossing in her sleep more than ever. I overall felt like I was losing my mind. I wasn't sleeping well, and I was missing work and school.

[00:24:03] One night, I had something very scary happen to me. It's not scary in perspective of what I remember. It's scary in perspective of what I don't remember. All I can say is that I remember walking back from the lobby one night, and then my memory blanks.

[00:24:19] The next thing I remember is Diane shaking me and waking me up. I was sitting on the concrete in the cold right outside my door. I was completely disoriented. Diane and I were obviously terrified from this, and I still can't remember what happened to this day.

[00:24:36] This wasn't the only time when a situation could not be remembered. There was another night when Ray, Diane, and myself were all up late talking on Ray's bed. According to Ray, she specifically remembers me being too scared to even put my feet on

[00:24:51] the floor to get back to my bed. I have no recollection of this. In fact, I do not have any recollection besides staying up late, talking, and then just all sleeping in Ray's bed. Now of course it's not uncommon for girlfriends to sleep together.

[00:25:06] However, three girls in a single twin bunk bed is a little excessive. Diane believes it had something to do with Jen, who was already asleep in bed at that time. Nevertheless, none of us remember the details of that night. But one thing is certain.

[00:25:22] Something terrified us enough to all sleep together in Ray's bed. And even now, as we recall it years later, we wonder what happened. What horrible event made our brains protect our sanity by forgetting and pushing out the entire night? I suppose we will never know.

[00:25:43] Now as creepy as Jessie's experiences have been, she had a lot more to share with me. And trust me when I say that things get far more terrifying. And as part one of tonight's show comes to a close, I'd like to thank Jessie for sharing

[00:25:57] her and her roommate's experiences. And I hope that all of you will join me in our next episode as we listen to the second half of Jessie's horrifying story. Also remember that if you have a story to share with me, you can find links to all of

[00:26:11] my contact information in the show notes. Until next time, thanks to all of you for listening, and I'll see you back here in my next episode of Paranormal Mysteries.