(A) Woodland Spirits, Missing Time & a Haunted Nursery | Archive Ep157

[00:00:02] On today's episode we'll be talking about woodland entities, a mother's missing time, and a haunted nursery. These stories and more on this edition of Paranormal Mysteries. Thank you all for joining me and welcome once again. I'm your host, Nic Ryan.

[00:00:33] I hope everyone's been having a good week so far, and before we start today's episode, I'd like to thank everyone for their support and generosity. And if you enjoy the show, please consider following, sharing, and reviewing the podcast.

[00:00:46] This supports us by helping new listeners to discover the show. You can also support us by becoming a patron at patreon.com slash paranormal mysteries, or by donating at buymeacoffee.com slash paranormal. And if you'd like to have your paranormal encounter shared on the podcast,

[00:01:02] please write to me at paranormalmysteriespodcast at gmail.com, or by visiting our website at paranormalmysteriespodcast.com. Or if you prefer to record your experience and send it to me, you can now do this on our website as well. You can also visit speakpipe.com slash paranormal mysteries,

[00:01:21] and record your story there. And don't forget that all of these links are in the show notes. And with that in mind, our first listener story comes to us from Josh. And Josh says, Hi, I'm currently 35 years old and have been married for 16 years.

[00:01:40] When my first son was born, we moved into a two-bedroom apartment so we could have a nursery. We never ended up using it, and my wife didn't even finish decorating it. We lived there for a year, and after we moved out, one night we got to talking.

[00:01:55] Now my wife is a major chicken and gets scared of everything, and she told me that she never finished the nursery, because she had seen a boy, maybe 9 years old, walking from one room to the other, and she always felt an unnerving presence.

[00:02:09] That's when my face went pale, because I had seen and felt him as well. She described the exact same thing, and during the year we lived there, both of us were too nervous to mention it. And to this day, I'm still not allowed to talk about it.

[00:02:27] Our next story comes to us from Rachel, and Rachel's story is called, Mystery Recording. Rachel says, Hi Nick, I am new to your podcast and catching up on old episodes. I love your work and the respect you give to people sharing their stories.

[00:02:42] I am in Sydney, Australia, and I used to visit Hong Kong quite often for a holiday. On one trip in 2007, I visited the Nokia shop to buy a new mobile phone. The shop had display models all around for people to test out and try.

[00:02:58] After chatting with my husband, I chose a Nokia smartphone. The assistant then took us to the cashier desk to wait while she went out back and brought out the phone in its box. She opened the seal before me to show me that all the contents were there.

[00:03:12] I paid and we left. On returning to the hotel, I put the phone, still in its box, in the safe. I didn't use it, charge it, or even look at it until we returned to Sydney two weeks later. And nothing unusual happened until six months later.

[00:03:29] Sitting in my lounge room with a cup of tea, I noticed a red light on the phone out of the corner of my eye. Thinking it needed charging, I lifted it and noticed it was on voice record mode, and it had recorded 20 minutes.

[00:03:41] I hadn't touched the phone for over two or three hours, so this was odd. But I brushed it off thinking, well, I must have bumped it. Curious, I stopped the recording and played it back. It was 20 minutes of the conversation between my husband, myself,

[00:03:56] and the assistant from the shop in Hong Kong, discussing which phone to choose, etc. I sometimes tell people this story. It is clear from their faces that they don't believe me. It was not a particularly spooky experience, but I still think about it quite a lot.

[00:04:11] If there is a technical explanation, I would love to hear it. I hope you found this story interesting, and thank you again for a very enjoyable podcast. It gets me through the night shift at a job that I loathe. Best regards, Rachel

[00:04:29] Our next story comes to us from Kaylin, and Kaylin's story is called The Ghost of My Grandfather and the Sliding Glass. Kaylin says Dear Nick, While I am still young, I have my fair share of paranormal experiences. My first was when I was six.

[00:04:46] I had just gotten back from my grandfather's funeral. I was in my parents' room when I called to my mom. I told her that I saw a man rising out of the floor. My mom turned on the lights but saw nothing.

[00:04:58] We turned the lights off and tried to go back to sleep, and five minutes later I saw the man again, but this time he was getting closer to me. This happened a few more times, and my mom was starting to get freaked out.

[00:05:11] The final time it happened, the man was fully standing. He had my grandfather's face, and he winked at me. I was no longer scared, but happy. My next and final story was not mine but my mom's.

[00:05:24] She was having a friend over who had lost her brother and father in a plane crash. They were talking about that and the loss of my grandfather and uncle, and just then a wine glass slid on the wooden table.

[00:05:36] It was not threatening, but more like a reminder that they were still there. We all know it was them, and it helps me to remember them. Thanks for your time, Nick. Our next story comes to us from Caleb, and Caleb says,

[00:05:53] Firstly, thank you for creating a safe place to tell stories. So I haven't talked about this with many people. Even my wife does not really know how in tune I can feel with the spiritual world at times, which is the precursor to this story.

[00:06:07] When I was around five, a random man dropped a painting off at the church that my grandparents and I frequented, and the painting was of a child that was around my age with the same

[00:06:16] physical characteristics, laying in a bed with an angel standing guard with a sword on fire. I had always seen or felt things that others couldn't, but it wasn't until I was around eleven that I had my first negative encounter.

[00:06:31] I came out of my room in the apartment that we lived in at the time, and right in front of me on the way to the bathroom, a dark figure with glowing red eyes stood there. I was frozen in fear and partial curiosity.

[00:06:42] I tried to scream out for my mom and stepdad, but nothing came out. I tried to run and couldn't move except for my hand. At this point I began to recite scripture that I should not have known at such a young

[00:06:54] age, and I felt a burning sensation flood over me, and I noticed the blackness was moving further away. I continued with the verses that I have no idea how I knew to this day, until it completely left.

[00:07:07] Fast forward into my young adult life, I am now almost thirty and have been held down into the bed, and again, verses that I do not regularly read nor recite will flood from

[00:07:18] my mouth, even when I can barely speak, and the same burning sensation comes over me until the pressure or darkness completely leaves. I am not sure what any of this means, but I am drawn into the spiritual world.

[00:07:31] I know that I have been in many situations that I should not have survived as a first responder, and I have never doubted that angels or demons exist among us, but now I am questioning what my role in this world plays into that.

[00:07:45] I apologize for the lengthy story, but this is the first time I could ever express this. Sincerely, Caleb Our next story of the night comes to us from Lucy, and Lucy's story is called Mom's Story. Lucy says, Hi! Long time listener, first time contact.

[00:08:06] I love hearing your podcast because it shows me that people have had similar experiences with the unknown and unexplainable. It's some type of validation for what our gut feeling tells us. I usually discuss the episodes with my mother, because our family, me included, have had

[00:08:22] our fair share of paranormal events. The latest episode that I discussed with her was about the loss of time stories in the woods, and she wanted me to share her story with you.

[00:08:33] My mother is a young woman in the late 70s who was traveling cross-country with her two older brothers. She would sleep in the truck with the family dog after dinner while my uncles would camp. My mother loves traveling but hates sleeping on the ground.

[00:08:47] She started to notice that late at night, the dog was whining or crying. My mother thought that she had to use the bathroom, so she opened up the door, but the dog wouldn't go outside.

[00:08:57] All of a sudden it was daytime and my uncles were loading the truck up to leave. My mother told my uncle that something was wrong and that she had lost time. My uncle, who was an honorably discharged army engineer, told her that nothing had happened.

[00:09:11] They were out all night and they would have heard something. But then all of a sudden she saw the windshield of the truck. Tiny air bubbles had formed within the windshield, and my uncle explained to my mother that it

[00:09:22] takes a lot of heat to do that to glass. She believes something did happen, but they don't know what. Unfortunately the dog had to be put down sometime later because she never acted normal after that and she was very erratic.

[00:09:37] I will keep sharing your listener stories with her. Thanks. Lucy Our next story of the night comes to us from Sarah, and Sarah's story is called Woodland Spirits. Sarah says Hi Nick, I have another story for you if you'd like to share it with your listeners.

[00:09:58] This incident occurred in May of 2020 while one of my friends and I were out biking on an abandoned railroad line, and I apologize if it's a little long. In my last email I mentioned that I was an avid hiker.

[00:10:10] A lot of places I hike to involve abandoned mines, buildings, and old railroad beds. I love history, exploring abandoned places and learning about them. Luckily my home state of West Virginia is filled with such things.

[00:10:24] Anyway, I don't want to give the location for this story because I'm unsure if it's on private land. The last time I visited this place a few months ago there were private property signs posted

[00:10:34] that I had not seen there before, and I want to respect the landowners if so. Before I officially begin the story, I'd like to share a little history. This particular railroad was constructed in sections by various companies, beginning in 1893 and going into the 1900s.

[00:10:51] There are a few tunnels along the way, with the date on one being 1930. I believe its primary use was for logging, though coal mining was also prevalent in the area. Like many other places around it was eventually abandoned.

[00:11:05] The railroad was taken up, and parts of the trail was designated as a rail trail. In 2016, we had massive statewide floods that damaged a section of this line, taking out part of a trestle and halting the progress of the conversion. I'm unsure when it'll be finished.

[00:11:22] People also use a large section of the trail for ATV and four-wheel drive off-roading. There isn't too much to see other than some small bridges, a few larger trestles, some equipment and the tunnels, one of which is caving in from what I understand.

[00:11:36] There were old homesteads on top of the mountain, along with small family cemeteries of those who lived in the area, and the tunnel in this story was named after one family that lived nearby.

[00:11:47] I first found out about this trail four years ago from another hiker who had posted his hike from the area. Seeing the abandoned tunnel sparked my interest, but I was afraid to go alone since it is so remote and there's no cellular service in that area.

[00:12:01] My friend agreed to go with me by bike to explore the area, so we loaded up and went. We were the only ones out that day, and it was on the cool side and a little rainy.

[00:12:11] We rode about two or so miles until we came to the tunnel. This particular tunnel is a little over a half mile at 3,164 feet in length and leads to a beautiful trestle crossing the river.

[00:12:23] We hung out at the mouth of the tunnel for a bit before trying to go through. As we started in, we didn't even make it a quarter of the way in when we saw what looked like bearscat, so we decided to head back out.

[00:12:36] We also didn't have the best lighting and felt incredibly creeped out walking inside of the tunnel. Once out, we decided to sit on some large rocks nearby and have lunch while keeping on high alert.

[00:12:47] While eating, we kept looking toward the other end where the light is barely visible. I asked her if she could see three strange figures at the other end, and she agreed. The figures looked to be floating in a diagonal line, starting at the top left and descending

[00:13:01] to the bottom right. It was the strangest thing. They would disappear and then reappear, and this went on for a good length of time. Once we finished our lunch, we stepped closer to the tunnel again where she shined her headlamp into the darkness.

[00:13:15] We didn't see anything until something caught our attention. She describes it as light reflecting off the fur of a dark-colored animal. It appeared to me as a transparent green streak of light.

[00:13:27] It was brief, but it creeped us both out to the point that we got up and immediately left. We kept constantly checking behind us until we were a good distance away from the tunnel.

[00:13:37] Not quite a half mile back from the tunnel was a beautiful little stream that drained under the trail into the river. We stopped there briefly to talk about what we had seen, and were looking back towards the tunnel.

[00:13:48] We discussed how we felt like we were being watched and followed, and we kept seeing what we thought were those figures floating in the trees at a distance behind us. She referred to them as being woodland spirits.

[00:14:00] I don't really know anything about those sorts of things, so I can't say for certain. I have tried looking up woodland spirits since the incident with no avail, and I'm curious if any other listeners have had a similar experience with such figures.

[00:14:14] Once we put some distance between us and the tunnel, the strange feelings eased up, and we didn't see anything else strange. We have visited the area a few more times since the incident, though each time since we have been in a vehicle and drove through the tunnel.

[00:14:28] We have had a couple of small strange things happen in that area, though nothing like that day. I absolutely love the area for its beauty and history, but I will never visit alone and without the safety of my vehicle.

[00:14:41] I attached two photos of the tunnel, one of the trestle, and one of the river from the trestle if you wish to share. Thank you for taking the time to read and consider my story, and I hope you all continue to stay safe. Sarah

[00:14:59] Our next story of the night comes to us from Red, and Red's story is called Visited by a Brother I Never Met. Red says Hi Nick! I've been binge-listening your podcast for about a month now in my new job.

[00:15:13] I can switch off to my repetitive job quite easily and focus all my attention on the spooky. I'd like to share my experience with the paranormal, one that I found quite warming and welcoming rather than the typical scary story.

[00:15:26] Now to give my tale some background, I will say that I am the youngest of four sons, and we had another brother after my eldest brother who was born some three months premature, and he only lived for six days.

[00:15:39] This was in 1981, and we will call my brother Harry, as I respect his memory and our privacy as a family. Fast forward to May 2011. It was Harry's 30th birthday, which, as a family, we always acknowledged and raised a glass in memory to him.

[00:15:56] I had a mild case of the flu, and so I was off from college that day. My parents were at work, and my other brothers had all moved out by this point, so I was home alone except for my dog.

[00:16:08] I was in the living room watching some history documentary as was standard for me, and my dog was on the sofa next to me. My living room is near the rear of my house, with an approximate 50-foot walk from my front

[00:16:20] door through a winding dining room and kitchen. While watching the television, I heard an incredibly happy and joyful time being whistled briefly in the entrance hallway to the house, which caught my attention straight away as

[00:16:32] I knew that I was home alone apart from my dog, whom I haven't caught in the act of whistling as of yet. I figured it must have been me hearing my neighbor through the adjoining wall between our houses, which were semi-detached, and I waved it from my mind.

[00:16:47] Then all of a sudden, my dog lifted his head quickly and turned to the doorway to the living room, standing up and looking alert, though not threatened, as if acknowledging a presence. I turned to the doorway myself and saw nothing and went back to the TV.

[00:17:02] I then felt a sudden sharp tingling go over my whole body, at which point my dog sat back down and relaxed. I know this was Harry. He came in to say hi to his younger brother, just to let me know that he's doing okay,

[00:17:15] and then he went on his way. I told my family when I saw them, and they were all very pleased and warmed by my story. My mom and my brother who was born after Harry have both gone to mediums over the years.

[00:17:28] They have been told that Harry spends most of his time with this brother and watches over him. I got a view of what that meant when I was looking after his house one time, but that is a story for another day.

[00:17:40] I hope this email finds you well, and please keep up the great work. Take it easy. Red. Our next story of the night comes to us from Sahaj, and Sahaj's story is called A Mysterious Story. Sahaj says, I hope you're doing well.

[00:18:00] I'm going to share a story that happened to my mom when I was little. One windy night, my mother was doing something in the kitchen at our farmhouse. I believe she was doing the dishes. As she was working, the window right next to the sink swung open.

[00:18:14] She then closed it and continued to do her work. But a few moments later, the window swung open again, and she again closed it, as she thought the wind was causing this. This window was not just a piece of glass.

[00:18:27] It was a wooden structure which had a glass window in the back which opened outwards, and another window with mesh that stops insects which opened inwards. The first two times, it was the inwards window that swung open.

[00:18:39] The third time, the outward glass window, which my mom was sure was closed, swung open with such a force that it crashed into the wall, and it blew the glass. Now, my mom got scared and shouted for my sister who came running.

[00:18:52] She told her what had happened, and they saw that the lock on the inside of the window was unlocked again. They then closed it again, but a few moments later, it unlocked itself right in front of their eyes.

[00:19:05] Right outside of the kitchen, there was an open field, and my mom peeked out into the field and saw what she described as two old men, wearing white clothes, pacing very fast in the fields. This got them so scared that they started shouting for everyone.

[00:19:19] All the family members came, but when they peeked outside, the old men were not there, but they saw that the window was broken. Right next to the field where my mom saw those things, one of my ancestors was buried, and

[00:19:32] my family had built a little monument at that place, and maybe that's why the spirits were attracted to that place. Many of my other family members also told me about their creepy experiences that happened around that monument.

[00:19:45] This was a very scary story for me as a kid, and as I am writing this, chills are running down my spine. Luckily, I didn't stay in that house for very long as my family moved to the city, away from farm life. I hope you like this story.

[00:20:00] Wishing you success and good health. Best regards, Sahaj Our next story of the night comes to us from Derek, and Derek says, I am a recent listener to your podcast, and I am enjoying listening to all the strange paranormal stories so far while I'm doing my 9-5 job.

[00:20:21] I have had a fair share of strange experiences in my lifetime. In fact, I have a strange feeling I may have a special gift. I don't know if it was given by God or not, but whatever, I guess.

[00:20:33] When I was about 7 years old, I remember being alone for a few minutes while my mom was doing laundry and my dad was at work. The phone rang and I picked it up.

[00:20:42] There was some static on the line, and a voice came over the receiver and told me, Get out of my apartment. Get out. I think there was something in that apartment, because I remember both of my parents being stressed out and always talked about weird things happening.

[00:20:58] We eventually moved out, and we owned our first house in North Dakota, and this was the moment I knew I was seeing things not of this world. I used to play outside all the time with my dog and the neighbor's dog.

[00:21:11] We had a garage that was rather old. I loved exploring the garage. It was a pretty big garage with a second level, and the door was barricaded by a table. As I was little, I wasn't strong enough to pull the table away and get into the second

[00:21:23] level, but I was able to open the door just slightly, enough to only see a set of faded yellow carpeted stairs. I routinely looked at those stairs, wishing I could go up there and see for myself what was upstairs.

[00:21:38] My dad came in the garage one day when I was doing this, and he pulled me away, saying that it was not safe for me to keep doing what I was doing, and he berated me for wanting to explore.

[00:21:48] I remember him saying something about why the room was sealed off and that it was dangerous, but that didn't stop me from continuing to gaze into that area of the garage.

[00:21:57] One night I was able to open the door a bit further and get a better look at the stairs, but this time I saw a shadow on top of the stairs. This shadow moved slowly down the stairs as it approached the fourth stair to the bottom,

[00:22:09] and I freaked out. Whatever was in that room was not human at all. I heard a low groan and a growl, and a masculine voice told me, Get away from this door. I never went back to that garage.

[00:22:24] As I had stated, I have had other brushes with the paranormal, ranging from seeing my doppelganger turning the faucet on in the kitchen, to seeing a lizard-like figure staring into the kitchen area. Freaky stuff, that's for sure. Again, thanks for your podcast.

[00:22:44] Our next story of the night comes to us from James, and James' story is called, Creepy Happening at My Work. James says, I worked at Spencer Gifts in a mall where I live for a year and a half, and some strange things happened to everyone who worked there.

[00:23:00] When we closed at night, we would make sure everything was put up and there was nothing on the floor, but the next morning when we opened, there would be things that were on the floor.

[00:23:08] At first we just figured that stuff had fallen, it happens, but it started happening too often to be an accident. I always felt uncomfortable being there by myself in the morning because I always felt as if someone was watching me.

[00:23:22] One night one of the closing managers said that she felt a hand on her back, and when she turned around, no one was there, and the only other employee was on the other side of the store.

[00:23:31] One night I was closing with my co-worker, and everything was fine, but when we went to close up and walked out, and I took out my keys to lock the door, my key was bent at a 90 degree angle.

[00:23:43] These keys were in my pocket all day, and I would have felt if I somehow bent the key while it was in my pocket. Also, have you ever tried to bend a key? It takes some strength.

[00:23:53] I don't even know if it's possible to bend it while it's in your pocket. The scariest thing to happen was when my head manager was opening up the store. If you've ever been to a mall, when the stores close, instead of doors we have a metal gate

[00:24:06] that comes down and we lock it at the bottom. Now Spencer's door is solid at the bottom and the top is see-through, so if you bend down to lock or unlock the door, you can't see until you stand up.

[00:24:18] So my manager comes in to open up, and she unlocks the gate and stands up to lift the gate. When she stood up, she saw a man in a green jersey in the back of the store, looking at clothes.

[00:24:28] She then lifted the gate up and after the solid part passed her head, the guy vanished. She proceeded to check the whole store, and no one was there, and it's impossible to get in or out without a key.

[00:24:40] She went back and checked the cameras, and nothing was where she saw the guy. Turns out a few years before I worked there, some guy killed himself in one of the stores in our mall. We just assume it's his ghost wandering around and messing with things.

[00:24:56] Have a great rest of your day, buddy, and I'm eagerly awaiting the new episode. Our last story of the night comes to us from Sarah, and Sarah's story is called The Red Lady. Sarah says,

[00:25:10] My boyfriend and I listen to your podcast every night to help us go to sleep, and after listening for about three months, I have finally gotten up the courage to share my story.

[00:25:19] I would like to preface this by saying that I have done an extensive amount of Google searches for my issue, and I have never found anything even remotely close to what I have experienced.

[00:25:29] So if anyone has seen what I've seen, I would really like to hear from them. Ever since I was little, I have struggled with night terrors. My mom used to tell me that when I was a toddler, around one or two, I would stand in my crib

[00:25:41] at night and scream for hours on end while still asleep, and nothing could calm me down or wake me up. They became less severe as I got older, but occasionally these horrible nightmares have

[00:25:52] triggered panic attacks that were so bad, I had to go to the emergency room and get muscle relaxers through an IV in order to calm me down. Though the attacks happen less often, as I am now 21 and haven't had one for about six

[00:26:06] months, every time I have this nightmare, it's the same. I am lying on my back unable to move my body except for my head. If I turn my head to the right, I get the illusion of a frozen, dark, calm, snowy wasteland.

[00:26:19] It's peaceful but freezing, and I can never turn my head that way for long because I get too cold. If I turn my head to the left, I am put into what I can only describe as a red-tinted warzone.

[00:26:31] There are flashes of light, screams, and smoke, and it's burning hot and stings my eyes. In the background of this warzone, there is the Red Lady. She is dressed in a fancy deep red Victorian dress with red gloves and a red parasol.

[00:26:47] She wears a large, wide-brimmed red dress hat with a black net veil so I can never see her full face. All I can ever see is her lips, painted the same shade of red, smirking at me from under her veil.

[00:27:00] I know somehow that she is what causes the warzone, and that the cold, peaceful place is where I can go to escape for a few seconds before getting too cold and eventually having to turn my head back to her side in the warzone.

[00:27:12] She feels malicious, and I know she enjoys hurting and terrifying me. After these attacks are over, I always wake up the next morning feeling like I ran a marathon, and I am sore all over.

[00:27:25] I hope this all makes sense, as it is hard to fully explain dreams because I don't always see everything clearly. Thank you for what you do, and for helping those of us with strange experiences to not feel so alone.

[00:27:40] As tonight's edition of Paranormal Mysteries comes to a close, I'd like to thank all of you for tuning in, and a special thank you goes out to Josh, Rachel, Kellen, Caleb, Lucy, Sarah, Red, Sahaj, Derek, James, and Sarah for sharing their experiences.

[00:28:02] If you've witnessed something that you can't explain, please write to me at paranormalmysteriespodcast at gmail.com, or by visiting our website at paranormalmysteriespodcast.com. Or if you prefer to record your experience and send it to me, you can now do this on our website as well.

[00:28:18] You can also visit speakpipe.com slash paranormalmysteries and record your story there. And of course, don't forget that all our links are in the show notes. And we'll see you back here on Friday, as we uncover more experiences involving paranormal mysteries.