April 23, 2025 • 28 mins
In this true scary ghost story, Tori tells us her spooky story about The Girls, ghosts who seem to keep an ominous but protective watch over her family. Follow the podcast to hear more true spooky ghost stories and strange stories of the unexplained.
Thank you to Tori for giving me permission to read her true scary paranormal story.
❤ A huge, spooky thank you to my Patrons! TJ Hodder, Gmanmusic, Ted, & Keith! Welcome, Keith! ❤
➽Join My Patreon! Get an EXCLUSIVE sticker/decal to put on your water bottle or whatever! Also get your name read at the beginning of every episode! Also access to a guided sleep meditation and exclusive bonus content! Wow! Golly gee willikers! Join today at: https://www.patreon.com/madamestrangeways
➽ Send Me Your Thoughts or Theories on the Ghost Stories in this Episode and I may share them on a future episode: madamestrangeways@gmail.com
➽ Submit Your Own Strange Story: madamestrangeways.com or madamestrangeways@gmail.com
➼ Follow me on Instagram at @madamestrangeways
➼ Subscribe to my YouTube: @madamestrangeways
➼ Buy me a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/madamestrangeways
Produced by: Madame Strangeways
♫ Theme Music by: Marina Ryan at marinamakes.co
Cover artwork by: Andrea Giselle Roldán at @cultofteddy
Relax with some true spooky stories read to you by Madame Strangeways in a soothing, calm voice. Rain sounds accompany the stories for a bit of eerie atmosphere. And between the true scary paranormal stories, she shares her thoughts and commentary on each creepy story, but never in third person like she's doing now, because that would be weird.
So dim the lights, get cozy, and let Madame Strangeways guide you through these true strange stories. Who knows? You might just discover a new perspective on the supernatural or paranormal. Don't miss out on this thrilling episode—listen now and join the conversation about the unexplained!
Every true strange story narrated in this podcast was read with permission from the original author.
Follow the podcast and explore strange, spooky and true paranormal stories as narrated by Madame Strangeways.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
If you have a true strange storyof the unexplained you'd like to
hear read on the show, e-mail memadamstrangeways@gmail.com or
visit madamstrangeways.com. I can't wait to read it.
Welcome, strangers and strangelings and strange cetera
to Madam Strangeways, where I, Madam Strangeways, narrate your
(00:26):
true strange stories of the unexplained.
And as always, solicited or not,usually not, I share my thoughts
and observations and drag you down a slew of spooky rabbit
holes kicking and screaming. Today I've got one new true
strange story for you. But first, it's time to shine
(00:47):
the strange spotlight on my Patreon patrons TJ Hotter, G Man
Music Ted, and now Keith. Welcome Keith.
Thank you so much to My Fiendish4 for supporting the show.
Do you want to hear your name atthe beginning of every episode?
Or how about an exclusive sticker?
Join the Patreon today at madamstrangeways.com.
(01:13):
We interrupt this intro with twopieces of breaking strange news.
Number one, you may have noticedthe beautiful new cover artwork
by the talented Andrea Chiselle Roldan or at Cult of Teddy on
Instagram. Let me know how you like it.
And #2 there's merch. Now treat yourself to some
(01:35):
strange shirts and stranger mugsat madamstrangeways.com.
And now on to our true strange story here on Madam Strange
Ways. The Girls by Tori.
(02:19):
I remember growing up in the 90sand there were times that my
mom's sisters, who died in a fire before she was born, would
visit our house. They had died in another house
downtown, which is what caused my grandparents to purchase the
land we own and build a house onit to start over.
(02:43):
I want to give their back story,although it does make it a bit
spookier. Their names were Darlene and
Karen. It was rare to hear anyone say
their actual names because everyone referred to them as the
girls. They died when they were very
(03:03):
young. One was about 3 1/2 and the
other was almost two years old. In November of 1946 my granny
had gone outside to hang the laundry on the clothesline after
she had put the girls down for anap.
She started smelling smoke and when she was trying to get into
the house to get the girls she wasn't able to find them due to
(03:24):
the thick smoke and passed out herself.
The town was small and a neighbor had called for help and
the fire station responded quickly and put the fire out.
They were able to get my granny out but were not able to find
the girls either until they got the fire out.
(03:44):
By the time they did find them they had hidden in a closet
where they had died of smoke inhalation.
When I was growing up my mum would tell me that her sisters
or the girls were at our house and she would walk to the back
part where our bedrooms were. I would try to follow sometimes
(04:08):
out of curiosity, but I couldn'tget more than a few feet inside
the laundry room and never made it to the back hall or bedrooms.
I would get so cold that I couldn't move until I decided to
turn around and go back to the front part of the house.
(04:29):
I remember one time when I was probably about 11 or 12, so it
would have been early 90s, I wasgoing to my room in the back and
took maybe two or three steps into the laundry room and
couldn't move. I was so cold and so I turned to
(04:51):
go back up front but something felt different and I couldn't
move. I was home alone since my mom
was next door at my uncle's house and I got scared.
I had always been able to walk out before I knew something was
wrong and asked out loud if I needed to get Mama.
(05:16):
Then I was able to walk away. I tried calling my uncle's house
phone and no one answered so I figured they must be outside.
So I ran over and told my mom she needed to come home because
the girls were there. We went back to our house and I
saw my mom walk all the way to the back and could hear her
(05:37):
talking. She never saw or heard them, but
she said they would give her goosebumps if the answer was
yes. I remember her asking them if
something was wrong, then she asked if it was her Mama, and
then she asked if she was hurt. My granny was living in Taylor
(06:01):
at the time, which was just overan hour drive from our house.
My mom tried to call my granny and there was no answer.
She told me to stay home and keep calling my granny and then
she went to her car, drove to myuncle's house next door and I
saw them drive away. When my mom got home that
(06:22):
evening, she told me that when they got to my granny's house,
they saw her on the floor in thekitchen.
They got inside and called 911 and had her taken to the
hospital. The doctor told them that she
had a hernia and would have diedif they had waited much longer
(06:45):
to get her to the hospital. She had an emergency surgery and
smooth recovery, thankfully. I cannot explain how it worked,
but any time there was somethinggoing on the girls would show
up. My mom was the only one who
(07:05):
talked to them. I know several people who would
feel the cold in the back of thehouse, including myself, my
friends, my uncles, and even my granny, but none of us could go
back there. I don't know why they chose my
mom since they would have been the oldest of my grandparents
(07:26):
children and my mom was the youngest of a total of seven
children and they never met. My mom wasn't even born until
1953. All I can say is I never
hesitated when I felt them again.
If my mom was at work, I called her.
(07:46):
We felt them several times over the years, but that was the only
time they warned us about anything so serious.
I was just thankful they did. Tori, that was so scary and also
(08:13):
touching and also sweet. So Tori, thank you for allowing
me to tell you and your family'sstory.
I appreciate you trusting me with it.
Tori has also kindly given us more than one story.
You may remember a previous Toristory in an earlier episode, How
I Met Henry. Very foreboding, just the title
(08:36):
alone foreboding. So go back and listen to that.
I don't remember what number it is, but you know, there's not
that many. So it's in the title, How I Met
Henry. It's one of the two stories.
So those poor girls just, you know, God huddled together in
the closet. Like that's so sad.
You know, I mean, like, at leastthey had each other.
(08:57):
And then, you know, it sounds like it sounds like obviously
they're still together and that,you know, this traumatic death,
they're still together even in the afterlife.
But they're also looking out foryour family, looking out for
your mom. And, you know, I think you asked
the question in the story, like,why did they choose your mom?
Like she was the youngest of seven.
She was born after they were, you know, dead already.
(09:20):
Like why? Well, she's the baby of the
family. They got to look out for the
baby of the family and they got to look out for her.
So I think that's sweet. I think it's specifically sweet
that that they talk to her. It's it's stressful and it's
scary, but it's also, you know, really helpful, it seems because
wow, what if you hadn't decided to go to the laundry room when
(09:45):
you did, you know, like, so are they constantly?
How do they know? Are they, Is this like a Santa
Claus situation? They see you when you're
sleeping. They know when you're awake.
Like what? It's kind of scary, but also
very, again, it's scary, but it's comforting.
We'll say comforting. It's both of those things.
(10:07):
Here's another thing that reallystood out to me when you
specifically ask, like, do I need to get my Mama?
Like, Oh my God, that's so scarybecause you just knew like,
you're like, OK, you don't talk to me, but something's wrong.
Do I need to go get mom because you won't speak to me.
(10:29):
You'll just scare me. Oh, it's so scary.
But I'm so glad that your mom was able to.
First of all, I'm glad that yourmom was open to it and then that
your mom was able to, to get to your granny's house on time to
help her out. Because, you know, like you
said, if it had just been a little bit longer, that would
have been a much different story.
(10:51):
And so, so sad. But I'm, I'm so glad that that
turned out good for your, for your granny in the end of that
story. So if you're curious, for the
listeners that are curious, Smithville, TX is where this is
set. And it's, it's it's close to
Austin, apparently Smithville. How did I not mention this when
(11:13):
I told the story before, not this story when I told a, a
previous Tory story. How did I not mention this?
Smithville apparently is where Hope floats.
The movie Hope floats with Sandra Bullock was filmed.
Love a good Sandy Bullock film. You know, especially practical
magic, but still very interesting.
(11:34):
Fun fact about Smithville, probably not related to the
story, but just to I'm painting a picture.
And while we're on the subject of things that are not
technically related to the story, but have come up in my
research of the story, which should really be the name of the
podcast since we're talking about those things, this came up
(11:58):
in my Googling. Here it is.
Smithville also earned the Guinness Book of World Records
certification for. And I want you to guess, why
don't you just take a moment, take a guess.
What do you think Smithville, TXmight have won a Guinness Book
(12:19):
of World Records record for? OK, you got your guesses locked
in. All right, vote now on your
phones, okay? They won it for baking the
world's largest gingerbread man.I'm tickled.
It says the cookie. Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, this
should be my news. I'm sorry, let's start over.
(12:41):
The cookie creation, baked over hot coals during Smithville's
annual Festival of Light celebration in 2006 weighed
13108 lbs, eight oz and was 20 feet tall.
Not my gumdrop buttons. I don't think that was a very
good. Not my gumdrop buttons.
(13:03):
That might have been better. I don't really do that voice
very often, but you're welcome. I just had to laugh because this
is such a morbid and truly spooky story.
And I'm sitting here, like steeped in it.
And then as I'm Googling, it's like, oh, Smithville baked the
world's largest gingerbread man.And also it's 20 feet tall.
(13:25):
It's like, did it need to be tall?
I mean, I guess that is more impressive.
But like, to me, I feel like they could have made it bigger
if it didn't need to stand up. Like if they did it flat, I feel
like it would still count anyway.
OK, we're getting, I'm sorry, we're getting into the weeds.
Probably also unrelated to the story is the gingerbread largest
gingerbread man in 2006. Probably unrelated.
(13:47):
OK, so we're going back to the girls.
To the girls, which I like how it's just the girls.
Like it's so ominous, the girls,which I think is fair because
their names are Darlene and Karen.
So I feel like the girls is definitely it has more gravitas,
you might say. So coming back to the girls, you
know, they were giving the entire time they were giving me
(14:12):
the the image of the twins and the shining with their little
frilly light blue dresses and holding hands and just staring
ahead. So scary.
So, so, OK, so I was like, you know what?
Let me go down this rabbit hole because, you know, of course I
did. That's what I do.
And if you're listening, then you, you don't hate it.
(14:33):
So follow me down the rabbit hole.
So I'm looking into The Shining and the twins and I thought, oh,
they're twins for sure. They're twins.
They look like twins. But so I'm looking and
apparently the book Stephen Kingwrote, which because there's got
to be someone listening that didn't realize it in the movie
The Shining is based on the bookThe Shining written by Stephen
(14:57):
King. So in the book, the girls were
10 and 8. So they're just sisters.
They're not twins. But in the movie, Stanley
Kubrick, the director changed them to twins, which is
obviously scarier than just sisters.
So on On that note, I will say Ihope that the girls, although
they didn't appear to you, I hope they never appeared to
(15:20):
anyone wearing scary matching dresses.
And I also hope that they didn'tconjure rivers of blood.
So OK, sorry. So the girls.
No, the twins, not the girls, the twins, the twins and The
Shining. OK, so yeah, I ended up watching
this really interesting analysisof the twins in The Shining on
(15:42):
YouTube in preparation for this episode.
I I can't help it. So in the comments, though, in
the comments, people were arguing because of course they
were, because is it ever really a comment section of people
aren't arguing? So they were arguing and OK,
pause people argue on in commentsections, but people really
argue about The Shining and filmanalysis of The Shining.
(16:05):
I know film analysis in general people argue, but like The
Shining people feel very strongly about and they've had a
really long time to talk about it.
And if you have not seen Room 237, the documentary about all
of the explanations people have for The Shining, Oh my God,
please go watch it. Well, first watch The Shining,
actually watch it in whatever order you like.
(16:26):
But the documentary is really fascinating.
Anyway, I'm sorry, that was evenfurther off of topic than I
already was. So listen, listen, listen.
Trust me, this is going to come back.
So just trust the process. So I'm in the comments section
of this film analysis of the twins in The Shining and people
(16:46):
are going back and forth becausethey're saying like, were they
twins or were they sisters? Because, you know, the in the
book, they were sisters, but in the movie, they were played by
actresses that were twins. And then someone is saying that
like, OK, in the movie, you can clearly hear that this character
says that the girls were 8 and 10, quote, UN quote, when they
were murdered. But it's like, well, is that
(17:09):
like a detail that Kubrick is instilling, trying to use to
like instill feelings of confusion and unease in in the
audience because that's something that he does in the
rest of the movie? Or like, is it Kubrick playing
into the theme of mirror images in the movie?
Like hence? And I'm going to be honest, I
didn't realize this until I was kind of watching the film
(17:31):
analysis. I've seen this movie a lot and
I've seen a lot of theories about the movie.
OK, maybe I'm just not that smart, but apparently mirror
images is a theme in the movie. But that this is what made it
Click to me. Is that like, oh, because Red
Rum is murder backwards. OK.
And there's like a mirror. OK, All right.
I probably should have clocked that sooner.
(17:52):
Anyway. So I had to solve the issue,
though, because everyone is saying 8:00 and 10:00.
And then someone said, well, maybe, maybe I just misheard.
And it wasn't 8 and 10, maybe itwas 8 or 10.
So I go, I pull the script for the film, and the dialogue
clearly says 8 or 10, not 8 and 10.
So would I have included that little tangent if I was not
(18:17):
about to tell you what I'm aboutto tell you?
Probably. OK, if I'm being real, probably.
But listen to this when I was going back through Tori's
earlier emails to find the name of the city.
Smithville, TX. Her first story, like I said,
How I Met Henry, literally has the words 8 to 10 in it, like
(18:45):
quote, UN quote, the number 8 tothe number 10.
OK, it's not 8 or 10, it's not 8and 10, but come on, that's
weird. That's weird.
Like, right. That's so weird.
Like I've never gone down that rabbit hole before with The
(19:05):
Shining. And I've gone down some before.
I've gone down more than a normal person has gone down in
terms of The Shining. And I've never seen the
discourse about 8:00 and 10:00, eight or ten.
And then I go back and I look atTori's first story, which Tori's
first story story, which literally has the term 8 to 10.
(19:28):
She's talking about feet, not the age of children.
But how wild is that? Come on, that was weird.
OK. And that's also kind of like a
really perfect segue to one of the explanations that I have for
this story. So I've talked in a previous
episode and damned if I can remember which one.
(19:48):
I was even trying to find it. So if anyone knows which one I'm
talking about, feel free e-mail me mattstrangeways@gmail.com or
leave a comment on Spotify and let me know.
I talked about this in a previous episode, but it's
relevant here again. It's this concept called
simulpathy, which is this term that is coined by Doctor Bernard
(20:09):
D Beitman, a psychiatrist. And so in a nutshell, simulpathy
is it's it's combining the wordsof like simultaneous and like
sympathy, meaning like sufferingtogether.
And you mash those words together and basically what it
means is like you are experiencing something that is
(20:32):
telling you that a loved one is either in pain or has died.
And there's no way that you should know.
You know, one of the examples that he shares is his own
personal story, which I did share in that previous episode.
So I won't read it exactly as hesaid it.
But basically he was in his house and he was choking and he
couldn't stop choking and he didn't understand what was
(20:54):
happening. And then come to find he finds
out later that his dad had died at that exact same moment.
And it was due to, I don't remember the reason, but he,
his, his throat filled with blood and he was choking.
And then at the exact same time,his son is experiencing this
unexplained choking experience like halfway across the country
(21:18):
or fully across the country. Like how does that happen?
How does that happen? Like that's so scary.
There's other anecdotes that arealso scary.
Also scary where this lady said she woke up 1 morning and was
just like Oh my mother died. And then you know gets a call
later saying oh your mother's died, your mother died.
(21:38):
Or you know this man who had a dream one night and it was his
brother like in a velvet lined coffin.
And like he wakes up from the dream and like 5 minutes later
his sibling calls to say passed away just like he thought in the
dream. You know, crazy, crazy stuff.
And it's just anecdotal. So like, you know, is it real?
(22:00):
Did those things happen? You know, is some of this like,
you know, down to memory and andyou're misremembering and, you
know, because I've talked beforeat length about how infallible
memory is. But the story that Tori told, I
don't think has anything to do with being confused and, you
know, misremembering things because that it's just like that
(22:21):
feels like a story that is like part of a family's lore.
You know, there's multiple people that can corroborate the
story. Like there's the mom, there's
the uncle, obviously grandma, you know, so I mean, she wasn't,
they weren't all there to witness the girls, but obviously
the girls is a known phenomena in the family.
So OK, so really what I'm, I'm what I'm trying to get to is,
(22:44):
yes, those are just anecdotes. But apparently Doctor Biteman
was involved in a study that wascalled the Weird Coincidence
Survey, which, OK, I mean, it is, it's true, I guess it does
exactly what it says on the 10. And that was in 2009, and it had
more than 2500 respondents. And so the people in this survey
(23:07):
reported that they occasionally experienced the pain of a loved
one at a distance, which is basically exactly what happened
to Tori, except that the girls were the conduit there.
Like instead of Tori. Well, I mean, I guess Tori, I
guess you did kind of have like a physical reaction, like a
(23:29):
distress. You felt distress and you didn't
know why. And then, you know, obviously in
that case it was, you know, you did attribute it to the girls.
But like, you know, there's, I mean, there's something there.
This does sound very similar to what is it called semopathy.
I keep saying semopathy. I had to re record a few times
(23:50):
because I keep saying it wrong. So I'm sorry doctor Biteman, it
just doesn't roll off the tongue.
So this does kind of sound like semopathy.
That's just so crazy. Like even you know what?
Here's what it is. Even if it was a coincidence,
like, what are the odds? Like the coincidences that would
(24:10):
need to be involved in like, you, OK, you got yourself
scared. You thought maybe it's the
girls. And then you go get your mom and
then your mom calls Granny, and then Granny doesn't pick up.
And then coincidentally, Granny's on the floor and she
needs to go to the hospital immediately or she's not going
to make it. Like, that's crazy.
That's wild. I do not have a more
(24:33):
naturalistic or mundane explanation for it.
So I will land on this being mysterious.
It's mysterious. And like I said in the
beginning, you know, it's scary but also really comforting.
I do wonder, like, have the girls, do the girls still give
(24:57):
messages and like, will they ever talk to you?
It's kidding. I don't want to get too morbid,
but you know, like, do they staywith the family?
Is this going to be a generational situation?
You know, I don't know. Let me know how you feel about
it. Madam strangeways@gmail.com.
I know you have my e-mail. I don't need to give it to you,
(25:18):
but Tori, thank you again so much for trusting me to tell
your story and your family story.
So thank you very much. You know, if you're back at that
house anytime soon, tell the girls I said hey, I feel like
they're earning their keep way more than usual.
Ghosts. So good for the girls and if
anyone listening has a similar story or they also have some
(25:42):
kind of family lore that involves knowing when something
is wrong with someone else in your family or a loved one, I
want to hear about it. e-mail meat madamstrangeways@gmail.com.
And remember, it doesn't have tobe a really long form story, it
can be a quick one. So thanks in advance for sharing
with me. Thank you for joining me for
(26:14):
more true strange stories of theunexplained, remember that you
can feel afraid and not be in danger.
You're safe here in Strangeways space.
Please follow the podcast, leavea rating on Spotify or Apple, or
tell your friends and foes aboutthe show.
It would mean the world to me, the underworld, obviously.
(26:37):
If that wasn't clear, Madam Strangeways is produced and
narrated by me. madamstrangewaysthememusicisbymarina.ryan@marinamakes.co.
Cover art is by Andrea Chiselle,rolled on at Cult of Teddy on
Instagram. You can submit your own true
(26:58):
strange story at madamstrangeways.com or send in
your thoughts or theories on stories on the show to
madamstrangeways@gmail.com. See you soon, she said
ominously.
If you have a true strange storyof the unexplained you'd like to
hear read on the show, e-mail memadamstrangeways@gmail.com or
visit madamstrangeways.com. I can't wait to read it.
Welcome, strangers and strangelings and strange cetera
to Madam Strangeways, where I, Madam Strangeways, narrate your
(00:26):
true strange stories of the unexplained.
And as always, solicited or not,usually not, I share my thoughts
and observations and drag you down a slew of spooky rabbit
holes kicking and screaming. Today I've got one new true
strange story for you. But first, it's time to shine
(00:47):
the strange spotlight on my Patreon patrons TJ Hotter, G Man
Music Ted, and now Keith. Welcome Keith.
Thank you so much to My Fiendish4 for supporting the show.
Do you want to hear your name atthe beginning of every episode?
Or how about an exclusive sticker?
Join the Patreon today at madamstrangeways.com.
(01:13):
We interrupt this intro with twopieces of breaking strange news.
Number one, you may have noticedthe beautiful new cover artwork
by the talented Andrea Chiselle Roldan or at Cult of Teddy on
Instagram. Let me know how you like it.
And #2 there's merch. Now treat yourself to some
(01:35):
strange shirts and stranger mugsat madamstrangeways.com.
And now on to our true strange story here on Madam Strange
Ways. The Girls by Tori.
(02:19):
I remember growing up in the 90sand there were times that my
mom's sisters, who died in a fire before she was born, would
visit our house. They had died in another house
downtown, which is what caused my grandparents to purchase the
land we own and build a house onit to start over.
(02:43):
I want to give their back story,although it does make it a bit
spookier. Their names were Darlene and
Karen. It was rare to hear anyone say
their actual names because everyone referred to them as the
girls. They died when they were very
(03:03):
young. One was about 3 1/2 and the
other was almost two years old. In November of 1946 my granny
had gone outside to hang the laundry on the clothesline after
she had put the girls down for anap.
She started smelling smoke and when she was trying to get into
the house to get the girls she wasn't able to find them due to
(03:24):
the thick smoke and passed out herself.
The town was small and a neighbor had called for help and
the fire station responded quickly and put the fire out.
They were able to get my granny out but were not able to find
the girls either until they got the fire out.
(03:44):
By the time they did find them they had hidden in a closet
where they had died of smoke inhalation.
When I was growing up my mum would tell me that her sisters
or the girls were at our house and she would walk to the back
part where our bedrooms were. I would try to follow sometimes
(04:08):
out of curiosity, but I couldn'tget more than a few feet inside
the laundry room and never made it to the back hall or bedrooms.
I would get so cold that I couldn't move until I decided to
turn around and go back to the front part of the house.
(04:29):
I remember one time when I was probably about 11 or 12, so it
would have been early 90s, I wasgoing to my room in the back and
took maybe two or three steps into the laundry room and
couldn't move. I was so cold and so I turned to
(04:51):
go back up front but something felt different and I couldn't
move. I was home alone since my mom
was next door at my uncle's house and I got scared.
I had always been able to walk out before I knew something was
wrong and asked out loud if I needed to get Mama.
(05:16):
Then I was able to walk away. I tried calling my uncle's house
phone and no one answered so I figured they must be outside.
So I ran over and told my mom she needed to come home because
the girls were there. We went back to our house and I
saw my mom walk all the way to the back and could hear her
(05:37):
talking. She never saw or heard them, but
she said they would give her goosebumps if the answer was
yes. I remember her asking them if
something was wrong, then she asked if it was her Mama, and
then she asked if she was hurt. My granny was living in Taylor
(06:01):
at the time, which was just overan hour drive from our house.
My mom tried to call my granny and there was no answer.
She told me to stay home and keep calling my granny and then
she went to her car, drove to myuncle's house next door and I
saw them drive away. When my mom got home that
(06:22):
evening, she told me that when they got to my granny's house,
they saw her on the floor in thekitchen.
They got inside and called 911 and had her taken to the
hospital. The doctor told them that she
had a hernia and would have diedif they had waited much longer
(06:45):
to get her to the hospital. She had an emergency surgery and
smooth recovery, thankfully. I cannot explain how it worked,
but any time there was somethinggoing on the girls would show
up. My mom was the only one who
(07:05):
talked to them. I know several people who would
feel the cold in the back of thehouse, including myself, my
friends, my uncles, and even my granny, but none of us could go
back there. I don't know why they chose my
mom since they would have been the oldest of my grandparents
(07:26):
children and my mom was the youngest of a total of seven
children and they never met. My mom wasn't even born until
1953. All I can say is I never
hesitated when I felt them again.
If my mom was at work, I called her.
(07:46):
We felt them several times over the years, but that was the only
time they warned us about anything so serious.
I was just thankful they did. Tori, that was so scary and also
(08:13):
touching and also sweet. So Tori, thank you for allowing
me to tell you and your family'sstory.
I appreciate you trusting me with it.
Tori has also kindly given us more than one story.
You may remember a previous Toristory in an earlier episode, How
I Met Henry. Very foreboding, just the title
(08:36):
alone foreboding. So go back and listen to that.
I don't remember what number it is, but you know, there's not
that many. So it's in the title, How I Met
Henry. It's one of the two stories.
So those poor girls just, you know, God huddled together in
the closet. Like that's so sad.
You know, I mean, like, at leastthey had each other.
(08:57):
And then, you know, it sounds like it sounds like obviously
they're still together and that,you know, this traumatic death,
they're still together even in the afterlife.
But they're also looking out foryour family, looking out for
your mom. And, you know, I think you asked
the question in the story, like,why did they choose your mom?
Like she was the youngest of seven.
She was born after they were, you know, dead already.
(09:20):
Like why? Well, she's the baby of the
family. They got to look out for the
baby of the family and they got to look out for her.
So I think that's sweet. I think it's specifically sweet
that that they talk to her. It's it's stressful and it's
scary, but it's also, you know, really helpful, it seems because
wow, what if you hadn't decided to go to the laundry room when
(09:45):
you did, you know, like, so are they constantly?
How do they know? Are they, Is this like a Santa
Claus situation? They see you when you're
sleeping. They know when you're awake.
Like what? It's kind of scary, but also
very, again, it's scary, but it's comforting.
We'll say comforting. It's both of those things.
(10:07):
Here's another thing that reallystood out to me when you
specifically ask, like, do I need to get my Mama?
Like, Oh my God, that's so scarybecause you just knew like,
you're like, OK, you don't talk to me, but something's wrong.
Do I need to go get mom because you won't speak to me.
(10:29):
You'll just scare me. Oh, it's so scary.
But I'm so glad that your mom was able to.
First of all, I'm glad that yourmom was open to it and then that
your mom was able to, to get to your granny's house on time to
help her out. Because, you know, like you
said, if it had just been a little bit longer, that would
have been a much different story.
(10:51):
And so, so sad. But I'm, I'm so glad that that
turned out good for your, for your granny in the end of that
story. So if you're curious, for the
listeners that are curious, Smithville, TX is where this is
set. And it's, it's it's close to
Austin, apparently Smithville. How did I not mention this when
(11:13):
I told the story before, not this story when I told a, a
previous Tory story. How did I not mention this?
Smithville apparently is where Hope floats.
The movie Hope floats with Sandra Bullock was filmed.
Love a good Sandy Bullock film. You know, especially practical
magic, but still very interesting.
(11:34):
Fun fact about Smithville, probably not related to the
story, but just to I'm painting a picture.
And while we're on the subject of things that are not
technically related to the story, but have come up in my
research of the story, which should really be the name of the
podcast since we're talking about those things, this came up
(11:58):
in my Googling. Here it is.
Smithville also earned the Guinness Book of World Records
certification for. And I want you to guess, why
don't you just take a moment, take a guess.
What do you think Smithville, TXmight have won a Guinness Book
(12:19):
of World Records record for? OK, you got your guesses locked
in. All right, vote now on your
phones, okay? They won it for baking the
world's largest gingerbread man.I'm tickled.
It says the cookie. Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, this
should be my news. I'm sorry, let's start over.
(12:41):
The cookie creation, baked over hot coals during Smithville's
annual Festival of Light celebration in 2006 weighed
13108 lbs, eight oz and was 20 feet tall.
Not my gumdrop buttons. I don't think that was a very
good. Not my gumdrop buttons.
(13:03):
That might have been better. I don't really do that voice
very often, but you're welcome. I just had to laugh because this
is such a morbid and truly spooky story.
And I'm sitting here, like steeped in it.
And then as I'm Googling, it's like, oh, Smithville baked the
world's largest gingerbread man.And also it's 20 feet tall.
(13:25):
It's like, did it need to be tall?
I mean, I guess that is more impressive.
But like, to me, I feel like they could have made it bigger
if it didn't need to stand up. Like if they did it flat, I feel
like it would still count anyway.
OK, we're getting, I'm sorry, we're getting into the weeds.
Probably also unrelated to the story is the gingerbread largest
gingerbread man in 2006. Probably unrelated.
(13:47):
OK, so we're going back to the girls.
To the girls, which I like how it's just the girls.
Like it's so ominous, the girls,which I think is fair because
their names are Darlene and Karen.
So I feel like the girls is definitely it has more gravitas,
you might say. So coming back to the girls, you
know, they were giving the entire time they were giving me
(14:12):
the the image of the twins and the shining with their little
frilly light blue dresses and holding hands and just staring
ahead. So scary.
So, so, OK, so I was like, you know what?
Let me go down this rabbit hole because, you know, of course I
did. That's what I do.
And if you're listening, then you, you don't hate it.
(14:33):
So follow me down the rabbit hole.
So I'm looking into The Shining and the twins and I thought, oh,
they're twins for sure. They're twins.
They look like twins. But so I'm looking and
apparently the book Stephen Kingwrote, which because there's got
to be someone listening that didn't realize it in the movie
The Shining is based on the bookThe Shining written by Stephen
(14:57):
King. So in the book, the girls were
10 and 8. So they're just sisters.
They're not twins. But in the movie, Stanley
Kubrick, the director changed them to twins, which is
obviously scarier than just sisters.
So on On that note, I will say Ihope that the girls, although
they didn't appear to you, I hope they never appeared to
(15:20):
anyone wearing scary matching dresses.
And I also hope that they didn'tconjure rivers of blood.
So OK, sorry. So the girls.
No, the twins, not the girls, the twins, the twins and The
Shining. OK, so yeah, I ended up watching
this really interesting analysisof the twins in The Shining on
(15:42):
YouTube in preparation for this episode.
I I can't help it. So in the comments, though, in
the comments, people were arguing because of course they
were, because is it ever really a comment section of people
aren't arguing? So they were arguing and OK,
pause people argue on in commentsections, but people really
argue about The Shining and filmanalysis of The Shining.
(16:05):
I know film analysis in general people argue, but like The
Shining people feel very strongly about and they've had a
really long time to talk about it.
And if you have not seen Room 237, the documentary about all
of the explanations people have for The Shining, Oh my God,
please go watch it. Well, first watch The Shining,
actually watch it in whatever order you like.
(16:26):
But the documentary is really fascinating.
Anyway, I'm sorry, that was evenfurther off of topic than I
already was. So listen, listen, listen.
Trust me, this is going to come back.
So just trust the process. So I'm in the comments section
of this film analysis of the twins in The Shining and people
(16:46):
are going back and forth becausethey're saying like, were they
twins or were they sisters? Because, you know, the in the
book, they were sisters, but in the movie, they were played by
actresses that were twins. And then someone is saying that
like, OK, in the movie, you can clearly hear that this character
says that the girls were 8 and 10, quote, UN quote, when they
were murdered. But it's like, well, is that
(17:09):
like a detail that Kubrick is instilling, trying to use to
like instill feelings of confusion and unease in in the
audience because that's something that he does in the
rest of the movie? Or like, is it Kubrick playing
into the theme of mirror images in the movie?
Like hence? And I'm going to be honest, I
didn't realize this until I was kind of watching the film
(17:31):
analysis. I've seen this movie a lot and
I've seen a lot of theories about the movie.
OK, maybe I'm just not that smart, but apparently mirror
images is a theme in the movie. But that this is what made it
Click to me. Is that like, oh, because Red
Rum is murder backwards. OK.
And there's like a mirror. OK, All right.
I probably should have clocked that sooner.
(17:52):
Anyway. So I had to solve the issue,
though, because everyone is saying 8:00 and 10:00.
And then someone said, well, maybe, maybe I just misheard.
And it wasn't 8 and 10, maybe itwas 8 or 10.
So I go, I pull the script for the film, and the dialogue
clearly says 8 or 10, not 8 and 10.
So would I have included that little tangent if I was not
(18:17):
about to tell you what I'm aboutto tell you?
Probably. OK, if I'm being real, probably.
But listen to this when I was going back through Tori's
earlier emails to find the name of the city.
Smithville, TX. Her first story, like I said,
How I Met Henry, literally has the words 8 to 10 in it, like
(18:45):
quote, UN quote, the number 8 tothe number 10.
OK, it's not 8 or 10, it's not 8and 10, but come on, that's
weird. That's weird.
Like, right. That's so weird.
Like I've never gone down that rabbit hole before with The
(19:05):
Shining. And I've gone down some before.
I've gone down more than a normal person has gone down in
terms of The Shining. And I've never seen the
discourse about 8:00 and 10:00, eight or ten.
And then I go back and I look atTori's first story, which Tori's
first story story, which literally has the term 8 to 10.
(19:28):
She's talking about feet, not the age of children.
But how wild is that? Come on, that was weird.
OK. And that's also kind of like a
really perfect segue to one of the explanations that I have for
this story. So I've talked in a previous
episode and damned if I can remember which one.
(19:48):
I was even trying to find it. So if anyone knows which one I'm
talking about, feel free e-mail me mattstrangeways@gmail.com or
leave a comment on Spotify and let me know.
I talked about this in a previous episode, but it's
relevant here again. It's this concept called
simulpathy, which is this term that is coined by Doctor Bernard
(20:09):
D Beitman, a psychiatrist. And so in a nutshell, simulpathy
is it's it's combining the wordsof like simultaneous and like
sympathy, meaning like sufferingtogether.
And you mash those words together and basically what it
means is like you are experiencing something that is
(20:32):
telling you that a loved one is either in pain or has died.
And there's no way that you should know.
You know, one of the examples that he shares is his own
personal story, which I did share in that previous episode.
So I won't read it exactly as hesaid it.
But basically he was in his house and he was choking and he
couldn't stop choking and he didn't understand what was
(20:54):
happening. And then come to find he finds
out later that his dad had died at that exact same moment.
And it was due to, I don't remember the reason, but he,
his, his throat filled with blood and he was choking.
And then at the exact same time,his son is experiencing this
unexplained choking experience like halfway across the country
(21:18):
or fully across the country. Like how does that happen?
How does that happen? Like that's so scary.
There's other anecdotes that arealso scary.
Also scary where this lady said she woke up 1 morning and was
just like Oh my mother died. And then you know gets a call
later saying oh your mother's died, your mother died.
(21:38):
Or you know this man who had a dream one night and it was his
brother like in a velvet lined coffin.
And like he wakes up from the dream and like 5 minutes later
his sibling calls to say passed away just like he thought in the
dream. You know, crazy, crazy stuff.
And it's just anecdotal. So like, you know, is it real?
(22:00):
Did those things happen? You know, is some of this like,
you know, down to memory and andyou're misremembering and, you
know, because I've talked beforeat length about how infallible
memory is. But the story that Tori told, I
don't think has anything to do with being confused and, you
know, misremembering things because that it's just like that
(22:21):
feels like a story that is like part of a family's lore.
You know, there's multiple people that can corroborate the
story. Like there's the mom, there's
the uncle, obviously grandma, you know, so I mean, she wasn't,
they weren't all there to witness the girls, but obviously
the girls is a known phenomena in the family.
So OK, so really what I'm, I'm what I'm trying to get to is,
(22:44):
yes, those are just anecdotes. But apparently Doctor Biteman
was involved in a study that wascalled the Weird Coincidence
Survey, which, OK, I mean, it is, it's true, I guess it does
exactly what it says on the 10. And that was in 2009, and it had
more than 2500 respondents. And so the people in this survey
(23:07):
reported that they occasionally experienced the pain of a loved
one at a distance, which is basically exactly what happened
to Tori, except that the girls were the conduit there.
Like instead of Tori. Well, I mean, I guess Tori, I
guess you did kind of have like a physical reaction, like a
(23:29):
distress. You felt distress and you didn't
know why. And then, you know, obviously in
that case it was, you know, you did attribute it to the girls.
But like, you know, there's, I mean, there's something there.
This does sound very similar to what is it called semopathy.
I keep saying semopathy. I had to re record a few times
(23:50):
because I keep saying it wrong. So I'm sorry doctor Biteman, it
just doesn't roll off the tongue.
So this does kind of sound like semopathy.
That's just so crazy. Like even you know what?
Here's what it is. Even if it was a coincidence,
like, what are the odds? Like the coincidences that would
(24:10):
need to be involved in like, you, OK, you got yourself
scared. You thought maybe it's the
girls. And then you go get your mom and
then your mom calls Granny, and then Granny doesn't pick up.
And then coincidentally, Granny's on the floor and she
needs to go to the hospital immediately or she's not going
to make it. Like, that's crazy.
That's wild. I do not have a more
(24:33):
naturalistic or mundane explanation for it.
So I will land on this being mysterious.
It's mysterious. And like I said in the
beginning, you know, it's scary but also really comforting.
I do wonder, like, have the girls, do the girls still give
(24:57):
messages and like, will they ever talk to you?
It's kidding. I don't want to get too morbid,
but you know, like, do they staywith the family?
Is this going to be a generational situation?
You know, I don't know. Let me know how you feel about
it. Madam strangeways@gmail.com.
I know you have my e-mail. I don't need to give it to you,
(25:18):
but Tori, thank you again so much for trusting me to tell
your story and your family story.
So thank you very much. You know, if you're back at that
house anytime soon, tell the girls I said hey, I feel like
they're earning their keep way more than usual.
Ghosts. So good for the girls and if
anyone listening has a similar story or they also have some
(25:42):
kind of family lore that involves knowing when something
is wrong with someone else in your family or a loved one, I
want to hear about it. e-mail meat madamstrangeways@gmail.com.
And remember, it doesn't have tobe a really long form story, it
can be a quick one. So thanks in advance for sharing
with me. Thank you for joining me for
(26:14):
more true strange stories of theunexplained, remember that you
can feel afraid and not be in danger.
You're safe here in Strangeways space.
Please follow the podcast, leavea rating on Spotify or Apple, or
tell your friends and foes aboutthe show.
It would mean the world to me, the underworld, obviously.
(26:37):
If that wasn't clear, Madam Strangeways is produced and
narrated by me. madamstrangewaysthememusicisbymarina.ryan@marinamakes.co.
Cover art is by Andrea Chiselle,rolled on at Cult of Teddy on
Instagram. You can submit your own true
(26:58):
strange story at madamstrangeways.com or send in
your thoughts or theories on stories on the show to
madamstrangeways@gmail.com. See you soon, she said
ominously.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal
Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.