November 27, 2024 • 30 mins
These true strange stories involve a national park and a haunted hospital, what do YOU think the people in these stories saw?
Thank you to Hawkeye and Ted for giving me permission to read their true strange stories. Do you want to hear your own true spooky story narrated on the show? Email me at madamestrangeways@gmail.com or visit madamestrangeways.com.
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Produced by: Madame Strangeways
♫ Theme Music by: Marina Ryan at marinamakes.co
Cover artwork by: Andrea Giselle Roldán at @cultofteddy
If you have a true ghost story or paranormal story you’d like to hear narrated on the podcast, you can submit it on madamestrangeways.com or email it to madamestrangewaysmail.com. Anything unexplained or supernatural is welcome, or just odd stories you can’t explain with reason or logic.
The first story takes us deep into the woods of Michigan, where a nature park worker, known as Hawkeye, recounts unsettling encounters that defy logical explanation. Imagine working the night shift in a secluded park, surrounded by the dense, dark forest. As the woods grow eerily silent, Hawkeye describes seeing a creature that defies description—a being that seemed to blur the lines between human and animal. Was it a cryptid, a figment of the imagination, or something else entirely? As Hawkeye grapples with the unexplainable, listeners are left to ponder the mysteries lurking in the shadows of the natural world.
The second tale transports us to the sterile halls of a hospital, where Ted, a clinical laboratory scientist, experiences a series of ghostly occurrences. While working in the hospital morgue, Ted encounters objects moving on their own and a shadowy figure watching him from the corner of the room. These chilling experiences challenge Ted's understanding of reality, leaving him to question whether he's witnessing the supernatural or merely the tricks of a tired mind. Madame Strangeways expertly weaves these elements into a narrative that keeps listeners on the edge of their seats.
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.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
If you have a true strange storyof the unexplained you'd like to
hear, read on the podcast, e-mail it to
madamstrangeways@gmail.com or goto madamstrangeways.com or just
check the show notes for a link.I can't wait to read it.
Well hello Strangelings, it's meMadam Strangeways, thank you for
(00:26):
joining me again, I'm always glad to see you.
Today I've got 2 new true strange stories for you and as
always, solicited or not, usually not, I share my thoughts
and observations after each spooky tale.
Now it's time for you to dim thelights and get while I read you
(00:51):
these true strange stories here on Madam Strange Ways breaking
strange news. You can now support me on
(01:12):
patreon@patreon.com/madam. Strange Ways.
Thank you so much to my very first patron, TJ Hotter.
And when you sign up under the Certifiably Strange tier, you
too can hear your name at the beginning of every episode.
(01:33):
You'll also get exclusive accessto polls and help me decide
which strange topics I'll discuss on future episodes.
Your support means so much to me.
Thank you and now on to the strange stories possible
(02:00):
encounters from a Michigan nature park worker by Hawkeye.
For my safety, I do not want to reveal which park system I work
for, but it is important to the story that I, female, 19, work
at a position at a Michigan nature park not entirely
(02:22):
dissimilar to that of a park Ranger.
My job duties usually include manning the entry booth and
locking up the buildings at night, and although not a usual
duty, sometimes they ask me to walk or take a park vehicle
through some of the trails. As I am on the younger side but
still have several years of experience at the park, I'm a
(02:45):
relatively experienced outdoorsman.
I've had some odd things happen to me while on the job that I
can't quite explain. I'm decently well versed in some
areas of the paranormal, and although not entirely relevant,
it's of note that I am also a Norse Pagan as part of a family
(03:08):
belief and often wear protectivesymbols as well.
And to be honest, I've started wearing them more since these
odd things have been happening. I've tried looking into it
myself, but overall I'm overwhelmed and not sure where
to look. So a friend suggested I ask a
forum like this about my experience.
(03:32):
There are two things in particular I want to ask about.
Thing one, I usually work the night shift, and this night in
particular it was raining a lot and the conditions were getting
unsafe. I was posted out in the booth,
which is multiple miles from theoffice, so when things took a
turn for the worse, my boss radioed me back.
(03:55):
Some people who don't spend a lot of time in the woods don't
realize how dark deep woods can get, much less in the dark at
night. But I had both a flashlight and
the light from the booth which gave me probably 30 feet of
visibility. And when I went to grab my stuff
(04:16):
so I can lock up the booth and get to my car, I swore I saw
something that moved very human like but moved in a really odd
way. Like the only way I can describe
it is if a horse deer hybrid tried to run like a person but
(04:38):
there were no people out there and it was most definitely not a
deer. I'm probably not describing it
in the best way, but it was veryoff so I got to my car ASAP and
it didn't start right away. A bit odd but not entirely out
(05:00):
of character for my car. But when I turned the key a
second time, I saw something outof the corner of my eye and it
looked like whatever it was had gotten closer.
The drive goes without incident,but I'm still off about what I
(05:23):
saw, and when I get closer I radio in to see if they need me
to pick anyone up and the radio doesn't work right.
Which was very out of character.These radios are designed to
work in awful conditions, and I was the closest I'd been to any
(05:43):
sort of signal in a while. I chalked it up to the weather
and pulled into the office, but as I do something runs past me.
I did not get a good look at what it was, but it was not a
person and I'm telling you, there's not an animal in that
woods that I know of that looks like either of the things I saw
(06:07):
and I just can't seem to shake it thing to.
This happened more recently and is what prompted me to finally
reach out to a forum of some kind.
I was walking the trails for security purposes close to
closing. We close around 11:00 PM and
(06:28):
start a final walk around 9:00 PM.
We do this to make sure no one'sstuck on the trail or hurt so
they aren't stuck overnight whenthere's fewer staff and none
that patrol those trails. So I was walking one of our
trails and I was pretty deep in woods already as I'm a fairly
(06:48):
fast hiker and this is a trail Iknow well.
I was already about a 2 miles into the trail when things start
to get weird. I hear a noise off in the
distance and at first I thought it could be a coyote or an owl,
so I pressed on. Coyotes stay off the trails
(07:12):
won't go after people unless they have dogs, and dogs are
banned in the woods here and they know when we do our sweeps,
so I was not concerned. But then the noises got weirder.
I'm used to the sounds of the woods and I know the area and
(07:32):
the wildlife very well, and I have never once in my life heard
that sound before. It didn't come from any animal I
recognize, and it most definitely was not human.
I've never aborted A sweep before, even when I've had
coyotes nearby, but it did not feel right and I got out of
(07:59):
there. We are allowed to use our
judgement in these cases. If anyone has any idea what
either of these things could be,please let me know.
I really appreciate it. Thank you, Hawkeye, for that
(08:29):
horrifying story. It's funny because I say
horrifying because that would not be a job that I would want
to do. But I bet there's people
listening that are thinking thatsounds like a good job.
Like, how do I, how do I get that job?
Where do I apply? Nope, I'm good.
It sounds like a horror movie, honestly, like it sounds like
(08:50):
the setting. I can just picture it.
Everything that you were describing I was picturing very
vividly in my mind, especially, you know, it's being so dark and
how you were saying like people don't realize how dark the the
woods are like the forest is. I believe that I I don't know.
I don't go outside unless it's absolutely necessary or, you
(09:14):
know, it's like there's a blood ritual that needs to happen and
it's a full moon. OK, that's different.
But I, you know, I, I don't needto know how.
I don't want to know how dark the woods get really, really far
out away from civilization. Although, see, now I'm talking
(09:35):
myself into it because that actually does sound.
That does sound good. That sounds amazing.
So in the story Hawkeye mentionsusing some protective symbols
and I wanted to know more about that.
So I deemed her and what she said was that personally she
uses OK, I'm trying. This is a Nordic word.
(09:58):
I feel like there's a lot of Nordic or at least Northern
European words that I end up stumbling across in this
podcast, so I'm going to try my best.
I did Google it, but I have two different sources telling me two
different ways, so we're going to try it.
Vague Visir, which is spelled V e.g.
(10:19):
VISIR, but that first I has a little accent going off to the
right, so vague V seer. And what that symbol is is a
Nordic compass. So it's Icelandic magical
tradition and the name translates to signpost or
wayfinder. And so Hawkeye uses that for
(10:41):
protection while traveling. Good for, you know, finding your
way. And I guess she's traveling all
the time in her job because that's what you do when you're
just hiking around outdoors. I would love to learn more, but
we're going to jump back to the story.
OK? So just knowing that those are
the symbols that she's using forprotection.
Hopefully they worked out for her and that's why she lived to
(11:03):
tell the tale. Hawkeye, this figure that you
see, and I love how you described it.
I say love meaning it's horrifying and super scary.
If if I had seen it, I hope I would have been half as good at
describing what you saw as you were.
So how it was sort of like a person but definitely not, but
(11:27):
more like a mutated horse slash deer, but not a deer.
And I bet that people listening or thinking, oh, it's a not
deer. I don't think so though.
I thought immediately I was like, people are going to think
this is a not deer because the story literally says not a deer.
But I don't think so. I don't think so.
(11:48):
And there was some conversation in the thread that Hawkeye
originally posted and there was back and forth, someone said, is
it Bigfoot, which spoiler alert,we have some Bigfoot stories
coming up very soon. But you know, they're going, is
it Bigfoot or is it this one particular bird?
(12:08):
Because this one kind of bird. And you know what, hold on.
I got to look up the kind of bird.
OK, the bird is a Wilson's snipe.
They said it. They suggested that it could be
the winnowing of a Wilson's snipe.
And so now you know what I got to do.
Now I got to go and see what does that sound like?
(12:28):
OK, I have to say, although thisis spooky, in no way does it
sound like what I was picturing from Hawkeye's description,
which is something like an owl crossed with a coyote.
Here it is spooky, but not right.
(12:52):
I feel like any outdoors woman worth her salt, which Hawkeye
seems to be, would absolutely know that that is a Wilson's
snipe. A duh, duh.
Everybody knows the winnowing call of a Wilson snipe, so
clearly that's not what it was, but people were speculating.
Is it this? Is it that, and you know, if
(13:13):
anyone, I don't have to even be an outdoorsman to kind of know
what that means when you say like I'm familiar with the
sounds about of of the outdoors where I work.
Because look, I'm going to tie this back to when you have a cat
or cats or dogs or kids, OK, Sure.
If you have something in your home that makes different sounds
(13:34):
than you do, you know them and then they kind of become
background noise, right? So if something is different, it
really stands out because you'reused to the noises that they
normally make. And now there's been a noise and
you go hold on a second, that's not my cat, or like, that's not
my neighbor, or that's not my dog or my child.
(13:56):
So I completely understand that what what she's saying in the
story is, I heard something and I know that it's not something
I'm familiar with. I'm very familiar with
everything around here. It's not like I'm
misunderstanding what a sound is.
So it's not something that she'salready heard before.
It's not something that is native to the area.
And she also went further in thepost to say it.
(14:20):
It sounded kind of like a dog, but like, not like a dog.
More hollow actually. OK, actually, she doesn't say
dog. She says canine.
And then I think that's specifically referring to a
coyote. So she's saying it didn't it
wasn't a coyote. It kind of sounded like a
coyote. And this is what's really spooky
is that it sounded more like something imitating a coyote in
(14:42):
a messed up way. And that's the sound that it
made, which is so scary. OK.
So OK, it's not a it's not a notdeer, but this takes place in
Michigan. And so today I learned about the
(15:03):
Michigan Dog Man. Now for those uninitiated like
myself, the Michigan Dog Man is also known as the Michigan
werewolf. Now I don't think it is a
werewolf, but you could be forgiven for thinking that it is
a werewolf. And I'll tell you why because
this is the description of the Michigan Dog Man.
(15:27):
It's described as 7 foot tall, blue eyed or amber eyed bipedal
canine like animal with the torso of a man and a fearsome
howl. According to legends, they
appear in a 10 year cycle that falls on years ending in seven.
Which so does that mean they showed up again like in 2017 and
(15:52):
then they'll go away again? And this is like cicadas.
Anyway, here's here's the key part.
The key part is that the Michigan dog man, or I guess dog
men can be deterred by clapping loudly.
So just, you know, maybe you don't need Hawkeye.
Maybe you don't need protective sigils.
(16:15):
Maybe you just need to clap really loudly.
I mean, maybe, maybe that's all you need to do.
And then you won't have to worryabout the dog man anymore.
You know, also, here's the thing.
I'm reading that description of.I'm reading that description of
what the dog man looks like. And all I'm thinking is like,
book talk would be a fan. Book talk is into it.
(16:38):
They're ready. I mean, yeah, I don't even
think, I don't even think you need to be a monster romance
girly to be into that. Because what is it?
You know, I mean, what? He's how tall is he?
He's over 6, but he's 7 feet tall.
So I mean, maybe, you know, maybe my true calling in life is
to be a matchmaker, like a supernatural paranormal
(17:01):
matchmaker. And Hawkeye, you know, are you
single? Are you, are you looking for a
Michigan dog man? Is that are you open to that?
Because if you're not totally understand, I'm sure someone
else will be. So if, if, if anyone's listening
and you're single and you're thinking, oh, Michigan dog man,
(17:24):
like, OK, I'm ready, then just go ahead.
Send me an e-mail at madamstrangeways@gmail.com.
And you know, I'll see you. I'll see what we can make
happen. In the meantime, though,
Hawkeye, you know, please stay safe.
I know that you're already very capable and that you take a lot
of precautions. And I trust that you know what
you're doing because you're a professional.
(17:45):
But do please stay safe out there.
And if anyone has any sightings of any sort of dog men,
regardless of whether they have romantic interest in them or
not, or if you have your own scary unexplained stories that
happen in a National Park, for instance.
Or if you just have any thoughtson this story, maybe you've seen
(18:06):
something similar and you want to just, you know, chime in,
please also feel free to e-mail me.
And Hawkeye, thank you so much for letting me Share your story,
(18:27):
My experience at the hospital byTed.
I am a clinical laboratory scientist working in the
hospital laboratory. I love my job working behind the
scenes to provide the doctors the data that they need to
diagnose and treat patients. I usually work the night shift
(18:51):
because I like the hours and I have more time for my family
during the day. One night I was in the pathology
grossing room cutting up a pieceof tissue.
The hospital morgue is also in this room.
I was concentrating on my work when suddenly a few plastic
(19:14):
slide holders and clamps came flying out of the cabinet behind
me across the room and hit the opposite wall.
I couldn't rationalize it to an animal because these things flew
out of the open cabinet instead of just falling down.
I couldn't leave in the middle of my work so I just said out
(19:37):
loud, I'm working here. I finished up as quickly as I
could and ran out of there. I was also a specialist in blood
banking and transfusion. It was a busy night and I was
having a checklist in my head ofwhat I needed to do next.
I was totally in the zone. I opened the refrigerator with
(20:01):
the glass doors to retrieve a unit of blood when I swung the
door closed. I saw a dark figure in black
scrubs sitting on the counter inthe corner behind me, crossing
his arms and looking down. I couldn't see his face because
his body was completely black. I was on autopilot mode so I
(20:25):
didn't process what I saw until a couple of seconds later.
I turned around and saw that there was no one in the corner.
In fact I was the only person inthe blood bank.
I ran outside to tell my Co worker what just happened.
(20:45):
The hairs on my arms were raisedand there were goosebumps all
over. Before this occurrence I would
see phantom lab coats in my peripheral vision, even
occasionally disembodied size orsomeone calling my name.
But I chalked it up to just me being sleepy and tired.
(21:07):
I was neither of those when I saw the dark figure.
I've changed a few jobs since then without any other
incidents. At my newest job however, a
month into it I saw and felt a male presence watching me work.
(21:27):
I thought it was my Co worker coming to check on me but when I
turned around to say hi there was no one there.
I am certain he will continue tomanifest himself to me in the
times ahead. Ted, as usual, thank you so much
(21:59):
for letting me read so many of your hair raising stories
because this one, you know, you just, you just ride out the bat.
You're working in the morgue. You know, it's like, oh, I work
in the hospital laboratory. Oh, that also happens to be in
the morgue. Like as if, Ted, as if you don't
(22:20):
see enough scary shit, you're going to go and you're going to
work in a morgue. Do you want to see this stuff?
I feel like I feel like Ted, I feel like parts of you want to
want to be experiencing this stuff or you would not take a
job in a morgue. Come on.
(22:41):
That's so scary. I have no interest in working in
a morgue. None.
You know, actually, the two jobsdescribed in this episode in
particular are two would be two nightmare jobs for me.
I'm good. I'm so glad that y'all like your
jobs so that I don't have to do them.
OK, so the first one when you'rein the morgue, stuff comes
(23:05):
flying out of the cabinet and hits the opposite wall.
OK OK, so you can rationalize like you were saying, like, was
it an animal? No, unless it's like super
strong animal that is also silent and invisible.
And then I guess maybe it could be an animal if that kind of
(23:25):
animal existed. I think I just described a
ghost, which is not technically an animal.
So like you, I'm I'm struggling to rationalize and I always do
when stories mention things thatfly across the room and hit the
wall. I feel like there's a lot of
different ways that you can explain things falling or like
(23:47):
maybe going a little bit of a distance, but like across the
room and hitting a wall. I know I don't know how you, I
don't know how you explain that.And I do love especially how
you're like, I'm working here and just to let them know I'm
working here, like don't make meleave.
I can't leave. I need my paycheck.
So please stop bothering me while I'm working.
(24:08):
Spirit in the morgue. Guess that's the message there.
The thing is, and I know I'm a broken record here, but here's
the thing, not everybody listensto every episode.
And this may be someone's first episode, in which case I am not
yet a broken record. So I am going to take the
opportunity to say one of the other ways that you could
rationalize something flying across a room and hitting a wall
(24:32):
would be that it didn't actuallydo that, that there was a
hallucination involved. And as a reminder, again, don't
worry, I'm not a broken record to some people, only certain
people. The thing about hallucinations
is that you don't actually have to be mentally unwell.
You don't have to be schizophrenic.
You can just be, you know, really tired, which I see is one
(24:54):
of the things that you've even thought about and you're very
mindful about, about those things.
Like, I guess I'm just tired if this is happening.
Maybe I'm just too stressed. Of course, those are reasons why
someone could hallucinate. Also, you know, carbon monoxide
poisoning. I don't know what's going down
in that morgue. Maybe there's other things you
don't mold. Maybe there's.
OK. Sure.
Sure. Sure.
Sure. But if those things were
(25:15):
actually on the floor and no onewas in there and no one was
pranking you. Yeah.
I don't know how you explain those things flying across the
room in a morgue. I can't get over the morgue.
OK. So in this this next part of the
story, though, you're not in a morgue, which is good, but there
is still something scary happening to you because these
things just follow you, Ted. So you're totally in the zone,
(25:37):
You're focused. And I know exactly what you
mean. Like you are completely wrapped
up in what you're doing, and yousee something out of the corner
of your eye and you're like, I will address this thing later.
Like you're seeing a person. They're sitting there.
They're watching you. You're even thinking, I can see
the outline of this person having their arms crossed.
Like that's how much detail thatyour brain is telling you you're
(25:58):
seeing. And OK, great.
And now you're done. And you turn around to see who's
sitting there watching you like a weirdo.
And oh, there's no one there. Oh, there's no one there.
Oh, in fact, actually, not only is there no one there, but
there's no one in the entire building.
I am alone. I'm alone here in the building.
(26:20):
What? That's terrifying.
How did you how did you stay? Like how how did you stay here?
I guess, like I said, if this ishappening to you, regardless of
where you work, I guess it doesn't matter where you go.
But I would have been completelyfreaked out as well, especially
you know how how you were sayingyou were even hearing people say
(26:42):
your name or like voices say your name or like disembodied
sighs like, or is it more like wistful or like longing?
Like like which one? But both are scary if they're
disembodied. Anything disembodied that you
don't know where it's coming from, also scary.
(27:05):
I'm glad that, you know, you haven't had these incidents
everywhere that you work. But then apparently at your new
job, at your new job, there's a presence and a masculine
presence watching you work, which is not ideal.
I think, you know, it's not. I don't have to tell you, you
know, selfishly it's ideal for me because that might mean that
(27:28):
I get a story about this presence if something else
happens. But for you, I kind of just, I
kind of just want to break for you, if that's what you want for
yourself. You know what, Ted?
This is what I'm going to say. If you don't want to break and
you actually, you know, you kindof enjoy this, then I hope you
have more experiences, so long as they're not dangerous.
(27:51):
But if you are sick and tired ofthis, then I really hope that
you don't have another experience like this ever again.
And for anyone listening, maybe this is your first time
listening. Maybe this is your second time.
Ted has submitted to me a wonderful collection of stories.
So if you, like Ted, have had a lot of weird stuff happened to
(28:14):
you and you fancy writing it alldown, then you too can have a
bunch of your stories read here on the show.
I would be forever undyingly grateful for that, like I am to
Ted. Thank you, Ted, and to every
single person who allows me to read their story on the show.
So if you're interested in submitting one or more stories,
(28:37):
you can just go ahead and e-mailthose to
madamstrangeways@gmail.com, or you can jump on my website,
madamstrangeways.com, and you can submit it there.
Thanks in advance. Thank you so much for joining me
(28:59):
for such a lovely spooky time. Remember, you can feel afraid
and not be in danger. If you've enjoyed yourself,
please follow the podcast so youcan get alerts when new episodes
come out. And if you've really enjoyed
yourself, it would mean a lot tome if you would tell a friend
(29:20):
about the podcast and follow me on Instagram at Madam
Strangeways or leave me a ratingor review on Spotify or Apple
Podcasts. Or I mean, just send me an
e-mail at madamstrangeways@gmail.com to
just say hello. I'd appreciate it.
Madam Strangeways is produced and narrated by me.
(29:43):
Madam Strangeways thememusicisbymarina.ryan@marinamakes.co
You can submit your own strange story at madamstrangeways.com or
send in your thoughts or theories on the stories in this
episode to madamstrangeways@gmail.com.
(30:05):
Thank you for listening. Until next time.
(30:31):
It seemed like a potential sort.
If you have a true strange storyof the unexplained you'd like to
hear, read on the podcast, e-mail it to
madamstrangeways@gmail.com or goto madamstrangeways.com or just
check the show notes for a link.I can't wait to read it.
Well hello Strangelings, it's meMadam Strangeways, thank you for
(00:26):
joining me again, I'm always glad to see you.
Today I've got 2 new true strange stories for you and as
always, solicited or not, usually not, I share my thoughts
and observations after each spooky tale.
Now it's time for you to dim thelights and get while I read you
(00:51):
these true strange stories here on Madam Strange Ways breaking
strange news. You can now support me on
(01:12):
patreon@patreon.com/madam. Strange Ways.
Thank you so much to my very first patron, TJ Hotter.
And when you sign up under the Certifiably Strange tier, you
too can hear your name at the beginning of every episode.
(01:33):
You'll also get exclusive accessto polls and help me decide
which strange topics I'll discuss on future episodes.
Your support means so much to me.
Thank you and now on to the strange stories possible
(02:00):
encounters from a Michigan nature park worker by Hawkeye.
For my safety, I do not want to reveal which park system I work
for, but it is important to the story that I, female, 19, work
at a position at a Michigan nature park not entirely
(02:22):
dissimilar to that of a park Ranger.
My job duties usually include manning the entry booth and
locking up the buildings at night, and although not a usual
duty, sometimes they ask me to walk or take a park vehicle
through some of the trails. As I am on the younger side but
still have several years of experience at the park, I'm a
(02:45):
relatively experienced outdoorsman.
I've had some odd things happen to me while on the job that I
can't quite explain. I'm decently well versed in some
areas of the paranormal, and although not entirely relevant,
it's of note that I am also a Norse Pagan as part of a family
(03:08):
belief and often wear protectivesymbols as well.
And to be honest, I've started wearing them more since these
odd things have been happening. I've tried looking into it
myself, but overall I'm overwhelmed and not sure where
to look. So a friend suggested I ask a
forum like this about my experience.
(03:32):
There are two things in particular I want to ask about.
Thing one, I usually work the night shift, and this night in
particular it was raining a lot and the conditions were getting
unsafe. I was posted out in the booth,
which is multiple miles from theoffice, so when things took a
turn for the worse, my boss radioed me back.
(03:55):
Some people who don't spend a lot of time in the woods don't
realize how dark deep woods can get, much less in the dark at
night. But I had both a flashlight and
the light from the booth which gave me probably 30 feet of
visibility. And when I went to grab my stuff
(04:16):
so I can lock up the booth and get to my car, I swore I saw
something that moved very human like but moved in a really odd
way. Like the only way I can describe
it is if a horse deer hybrid tried to run like a person but
(04:38):
there were no people out there and it was most definitely not a
deer. I'm probably not describing it
in the best way, but it was veryoff so I got to my car ASAP and
it didn't start right away. A bit odd but not entirely out
(05:00):
of character for my car. But when I turned the key a
second time, I saw something outof the corner of my eye and it
looked like whatever it was had gotten closer.
The drive goes without incident,but I'm still off about what I
(05:23):
saw, and when I get closer I radio in to see if they need me
to pick anyone up and the radio doesn't work right.
Which was very out of character.These radios are designed to
work in awful conditions, and I was the closest I'd been to any
(05:43):
sort of signal in a while. I chalked it up to the weather
and pulled into the office, but as I do something runs past me.
I did not get a good look at what it was, but it was not a
person and I'm telling you, there's not an animal in that
woods that I know of that looks like either of the things I saw
(06:07):
and I just can't seem to shake it thing to.
This happened more recently and is what prompted me to finally
reach out to a forum of some kind.
I was walking the trails for security purposes close to
closing. We close around 11:00 PM and
(06:28):
start a final walk around 9:00 PM.
We do this to make sure no one'sstuck on the trail or hurt so
they aren't stuck overnight whenthere's fewer staff and none
that patrol those trails. So I was walking one of our
trails and I was pretty deep in woods already as I'm a fairly
(06:48):
fast hiker and this is a trail Iknow well.
I was already about a 2 miles into the trail when things start
to get weird. I hear a noise off in the
distance and at first I thought it could be a coyote or an owl,
so I pressed on. Coyotes stay off the trails
(07:12):
won't go after people unless they have dogs, and dogs are
banned in the woods here and they know when we do our sweeps,
so I was not concerned. But then the noises got weirder.
I'm used to the sounds of the woods and I know the area and
(07:32):
the wildlife very well, and I have never once in my life heard
that sound before. It didn't come from any animal I
recognize, and it most definitely was not human.
I've never aborted A sweep before, even when I've had
coyotes nearby, but it did not feel right and I got out of
(07:59):
there. We are allowed to use our
judgement in these cases. If anyone has any idea what
either of these things could be,please let me know.
I really appreciate it. Thank you, Hawkeye, for that
(08:29):
horrifying story. It's funny because I say
horrifying because that would not be a job that I would want
to do. But I bet there's people
listening that are thinking thatsounds like a good job.
Like, how do I, how do I get that job?
Where do I apply? Nope, I'm good.
It sounds like a horror movie, honestly, like it sounds like
(08:50):
the setting. I can just picture it.
Everything that you were describing I was picturing very
vividly in my mind, especially, you know, it's being so dark and
how you were saying like people don't realize how dark the the
woods are like the forest is. I believe that I I don't know.
I don't go outside unless it's absolutely necessary or, you
(09:14):
know, it's like there's a blood ritual that needs to happen and
it's a full moon. OK, that's different.
But I, you know, I, I don't needto know how.
I don't want to know how dark the woods get really, really far
out away from civilization. Although, see, now I'm talking
(09:35):
myself into it because that actually does sound.
That does sound good. That sounds amazing.
So in the story Hawkeye mentionsusing some protective symbols
and I wanted to know more about that.
So I deemed her and what she said was that personally she
uses OK, I'm trying. This is a Nordic word.
(09:58):
I feel like there's a lot of Nordic or at least Northern
European words that I end up stumbling across in this
podcast, so I'm going to try my best.
I did Google it, but I have two different sources telling me two
different ways, so we're going to try it.
Vague Visir, which is spelled V e.g.
(10:19):
VISIR, but that first I has a little accent going off to the
right, so vague V seer. And what that symbol is is a
Nordic compass. So it's Icelandic magical
tradition and the name translates to signpost or
wayfinder. And so Hawkeye uses that for
(10:41):
protection while traveling. Good for, you know, finding your
way. And I guess she's traveling all
the time in her job because that's what you do when you're
just hiking around outdoors. I would love to learn more, but
we're going to jump back to the story.
OK? So just knowing that those are
the symbols that she's using forprotection.
Hopefully they worked out for her and that's why she lived to
(11:03):
tell the tale. Hawkeye, this figure that you
see, and I love how you described it.
I say love meaning it's horrifying and super scary.
If if I had seen it, I hope I would have been half as good at
describing what you saw as you were.
So how it was sort of like a person but definitely not, but
(11:27):
more like a mutated horse slash deer, but not a deer.
And I bet that people listening or thinking, oh, it's a not
deer. I don't think so though.
I thought immediately I was like, people are going to think
this is a not deer because the story literally says not a deer.
But I don't think so. I don't think so.
(11:48):
And there was some conversation in the thread that Hawkeye
originally posted and there was back and forth, someone said, is
it Bigfoot, which spoiler alert,we have some Bigfoot stories
coming up very soon. But you know, they're going, is
it Bigfoot or is it this one particular bird?
(12:08):
Because this one kind of bird. And you know what, hold on.
I got to look up the kind of bird.
OK, the bird is a Wilson's snipe.
They said it. They suggested that it could be
the winnowing of a Wilson's snipe.
And so now you know what I got to do.
Now I got to go and see what does that sound like?
(12:28):
OK, I have to say, although thisis spooky, in no way does it
sound like what I was picturing from Hawkeye's description,
which is something like an owl crossed with a coyote.
Here it is spooky, but not right.
(12:52):
I feel like any outdoors woman worth her salt, which Hawkeye
seems to be, would absolutely know that that is a Wilson's
snipe. A duh, duh.
Everybody knows the winnowing call of a Wilson snipe, so
clearly that's not what it was, but people were speculating.
Is it this? Is it that, and you know, if
(13:13):
anyone, I don't have to even be an outdoorsman to kind of know
what that means when you say like I'm familiar with the
sounds about of of the outdoors where I work.
Because look, I'm going to tie this back to when you have a cat
or cats or dogs or kids, OK, Sure.
If you have something in your home that makes different sounds
(13:34):
than you do, you know them and then they kind of become
background noise, right? So if something is different, it
really stands out because you'reused to the noises that they
normally make. And now there's been a noise and
you go hold on a second, that's not my cat, or like, that's not
my neighbor, or that's not my dog or my child.
(13:56):
So I completely understand that what what she's saying in the
story is, I heard something and I know that it's not something
I'm familiar with. I'm very familiar with
everything around here. It's not like I'm
misunderstanding what a sound is.
So it's not something that she'salready heard before.
It's not something that is native to the area.
And she also went further in thepost to say it.
(14:20):
It sounded kind of like a dog, but like, not like a dog.
More hollow actually. OK, actually, she doesn't say
dog. She says canine.
And then I think that's specifically referring to a
coyote. So she's saying it didn't it
wasn't a coyote. It kind of sounded like a
coyote. And this is what's really spooky
is that it sounded more like something imitating a coyote in
(14:42):
a messed up way. And that's the sound that it
made, which is so scary. OK.
So OK, it's not a it's not a notdeer, but this takes place in
Michigan. And so today I learned about the
(15:03):
Michigan Dog Man. Now for those uninitiated like
myself, the Michigan Dog Man is also known as the Michigan
werewolf. Now I don't think it is a
werewolf, but you could be forgiven for thinking that it is
a werewolf. And I'll tell you why because
this is the description of the Michigan Dog Man.
(15:27):
It's described as 7 foot tall, blue eyed or amber eyed bipedal
canine like animal with the torso of a man and a fearsome
howl. According to legends, they
appear in a 10 year cycle that falls on years ending in seven.
Which so does that mean they showed up again like in 2017 and
(15:52):
then they'll go away again? And this is like cicadas.
Anyway, here's here's the key part.
The key part is that the Michigan dog man, or I guess dog
men can be deterred by clapping loudly.
So just, you know, maybe you don't need Hawkeye.
Maybe you don't need protective sigils.
(16:15):
Maybe you just need to clap really loudly.
I mean, maybe, maybe that's all you need to do.
And then you won't have to worryabout the dog man anymore.
You know, also, here's the thing.
I'm reading that description of.I'm reading that description of
what the dog man looks like. And all I'm thinking is like,
book talk would be a fan. Book talk is into it.
(16:38):
They're ready. I mean, yeah, I don't even
think, I don't even think you need to be a monster romance
girly to be into that. Because what is it?
You know, I mean, what? He's how tall is he?
He's over 6, but he's 7 feet tall.
So I mean, maybe, you know, maybe my true calling in life is
to be a matchmaker, like a supernatural paranormal
(17:01):
matchmaker. And Hawkeye, you know, are you
single? Are you, are you looking for a
Michigan dog man? Is that are you open to that?
Because if you're not totally understand, I'm sure someone
else will be. So if, if, if anyone's listening
and you're single and you're thinking, oh, Michigan dog man,
(17:24):
like, OK, I'm ready, then just go ahead.
Send me an e-mail at madamstrangeways@gmail.com.
And you know, I'll see you. I'll see what we can make
happen. In the meantime, though,
Hawkeye, you know, please stay safe.
I know that you're already very capable and that you take a lot
of precautions. And I trust that you know what
you're doing because you're a professional.
(17:45):
But do please stay safe out there.
And if anyone has any sightings of any sort of dog men,
regardless of whether they have romantic interest in them or
not, or if you have your own scary unexplained stories that
happen in a National Park, for instance.
Or if you just have any thoughtson this story, maybe you've seen
(18:06):
something similar and you want to just, you know, chime in,
please also feel free to e-mail me.
And Hawkeye, thank you so much for letting me Share your story,
(18:27):
My experience at the hospital byTed.
I am a clinical laboratory scientist working in the
hospital laboratory. I love my job working behind the
scenes to provide the doctors the data that they need to
diagnose and treat patients. I usually work the night shift
(18:51):
because I like the hours and I have more time for my family
during the day. One night I was in the pathology
grossing room cutting up a pieceof tissue.
The hospital morgue is also in this room.
I was concentrating on my work when suddenly a few plastic
(19:14):
slide holders and clamps came flying out of the cabinet behind
me across the room and hit the opposite wall.
I couldn't rationalize it to an animal because these things flew
out of the open cabinet instead of just falling down.
I couldn't leave in the middle of my work so I just said out
(19:37):
loud, I'm working here. I finished up as quickly as I
could and ran out of there. I was also a specialist in blood
banking and transfusion. It was a busy night and I was
having a checklist in my head ofwhat I needed to do next.
I was totally in the zone. I opened the refrigerator with
(20:01):
the glass doors to retrieve a unit of blood when I swung the
door closed. I saw a dark figure in black
scrubs sitting on the counter inthe corner behind me, crossing
his arms and looking down. I couldn't see his face because
his body was completely black. I was on autopilot mode so I
(20:25):
didn't process what I saw until a couple of seconds later.
I turned around and saw that there was no one in the corner.
In fact I was the only person inthe blood bank.
I ran outside to tell my Co worker what just happened.
(20:45):
The hairs on my arms were raisedand there were goosebumps all
over. Before this occurrence I would
see phantom lab coats in my peripheral vision, even
occasionally disembodied size orsomeone calling my name.
But I chalked it up to just me being sleepy and tired.
(21:07):
I was neither of those when I saw the dark figure.
I've changed a few jobs since then without any other
incidents. At my newest job however, a
month into it I saw and felt a male presence watching me work.
(21:27):
I thought it was my Co worker coming to check on me but when I
turned around to say hi there was no one there.
I am certain he will continue tomanifest himself to me in the
times ahead. Ted, as usual, thank you so much
(21:59):
for letting me read so many of your hair raising stories
because this one, you know, you just, you just ride out the bat.
You're working in the morgue. You know, it's like, oh, I work
in the hospital laboratory. Oh, that also happens to be in
the morgue. Like as if, Ted, as if you don't
(22:20):
see enough scary shit, you're going to go and you're going to
work in a morgue. Do you want to see this stuff?
I feel like I feel like Ted, I feel like parts of you want to
want to be experiencing this stuff or you would not take a
job in a morgue. Come on.
(22:41):
That's so scary. I have no interest in working in
a morgue. None.
You know, actually, the two jobsdescribed in this episode in
particular are two would be two nightmare jobs for me.
I'm good. I'm so glad that y'all like your
jobs so that I don't have to do them.
OK, so the first one when you'rein the morgue, stuff comes
(23:05):
flying out of the cabinet and hits the opposite wall.
OK OK, so you can rationalize like you were saying, like, was
it an animal? No, unless it's like super
strong animal that is also silent and invisible.
And then I guess maybe it could be an animal if that kind of
(23:25):
animal existed. I think I just described a
ghost, which is not technically an animal.
So like you, I'm I'm struggling to rationalize and I always do
when stories mention things thatfly across the room and hit the
wall. I feel like there's a lot of
different ways that you can explain things falling or like
(23:47):
maybe going a little bit of a distance, but like across the
room and hitting a wall. I know I don't know how you, I
don't know how you explain that.And I do love especially how
you're like, I'm working here and just to let them know I'm
working here, like don't make meleave.
I can't leave. I need my paycheck.
So please stop bothering me while I'm working.
(24:08):
Spirit in the morgue. Guess that's the message there.
The thing is, and I know I'm a broken record here, but here's
the thing, not everybody listensto every episode.
And this may be someone's first episode, in which case I am not
yet a broken record. So I am going to take the
opportunity to say one of the other ways that you could
rationalize something flying across a room and hitting a wall
(24:32):
would be that it didn't actuallydo that, that there was a
hallucination involved. And as a reminder, again, don't
worry, I'm not a broken record to some people, only certain
people. The thing about hallucinations
is that you don't actually have to be mentally unwell.
You don't have to be schizophrenic.
You can just be, you know, really tired, which I see is one
(24:54):
of the things that you've even thought about and you're very
mindful about, about those things.
Like, I guess I'm just tired if this is happening.
Maybe I'm just too stressed. Of course, those are reasons why
someone could hallucinate. Also, you know, carbon monoxide
poisoning. I don't know what's going down
in that morgue. Maybe there's other things you
don't mold. Maybe there's.
OK. Sure.
Sure. Sure.
Sure. But if those things were
(25:15):
actually on the floor and no onewas in there and no one was
pranking you. Yeah.
I don't know how you explain those things flying across the
room in a morgue. I can't get over the morgue.
OK. So in this this next part of the
story, though, you're not in a morgue, which is good, but there
is still something scary happening to you because these
things just follow you, Ted. So you're totally in the zone,
(25:37):
You're focused. And I know exactly what you
mean. Like you are completely wrapped
up in what you're doing, and yousee something out of the corner
of your eye and you're like, I will address this thing later.
Like you're seeing a person. They're sitting there.
They're watching you. You're even thinking, I can see
the outline of this person having their arms crossed.
Like that's how much detail thatyour brain is telling you you're
(25:58):
seeing. And OK, great.
And now you're done. And you turn around to see who's
sitting there watching you like a weirdo.
And oh, there's no one there. Oh, there's no one there.
Oh, in fact, actually, not only is there no one there, but
there's no one in the entire building.
I am alone. I'm alone here in the building.
(26:20):
What? That's terrifying.
How did you how did you stay? Like how how did you stay here?
I guess, like I said, if this ishappening to you, regardless of
where you work, I guess it doesn't matter where you go.
But I would have been completelyfreaked out as well, especially
you know how how you were sayingyou were even hearing people say
(26:42):
your name or like voices say your name or like disembodied
sighs like, or is it more like wistful or like longing?
Like like which one? But both are scary if they're
disembodied. Anything disembodied that you
don't know where it's coming from, also scary.
(27:05):
I'm glad that, you know, you haven't had these incidents
everywhere that you work. But then apparently at your new
job, at your new job, there's a presence and a masculine
presence watching you work, which is not ideal.
I think, you know, it's not. I don't have to tell you, you
know, selfishly it's ideal for me because that might mean that
(27:28):
I get a story about this presence if something else
happens. But for you, I kind of just, I
kind of just want to break for you, if that's what you want for
yourself. You know what, Ted?
This is what I'm going to say. If you don't want to break and
you actually, you know, you kindof enjoy this, then I hope you
have more experiences, so long as they're not dangerous.
(27:51):
But if you are sick and tired ofthis, then I really hope that
you don't have another experience like this ever again.
And for anyone listening, maybe this is your first time
listening. Maybe this is your second time.
Ted has submitted to me a wonderful collection of stories.
So if you, like Ted, have had a lot of weird stuff happened to
(28:14):
you and you fancy writing it alldown, then you too can have a
bunch of your stories read here on the show.
I would be forever undyingly grateful for that, like I am to
Ted. Thank you, Ted, and to every
single person who allows me to read their story on the show.
So if you're interested in submitting one or more stories,
(28:37):
you can just go ahead and e-mailthose to
madamstrangeways@gmail.com, or you can jump on my website,
madamstrangeways.com, and you can submit it there.
Thanks in advance. Thank you so much for joining me
(28:59):
for such a lovely spooky time. Remember, you can feel afraid
and not be in danger. If you've enjoyed yourself,
please follow the podcast so youcan get alerts when new episodes
come out. And if you've really enjoyed
yourself, it would mean a lot tome if you would tell a friend
(29:20):
about the podcast and follow me on Instagram at Madam
Strangeways or leave me a ratingor review on Spotify or Apple
Podcasts. Or I mean, just send me an
e-mail at madamstrangeways@gmail.com to
just say hello. I'd appreciate it.
Madam Strangeways is produced and narrated by me.
(29:43):
Madam Strangeways thememusicisbymarina.ryan@marinamakes.co
You can submit your own strange story at madamstrangeways.com or
send in your thoughts or theories on the stories in this
episode to madamstrangeways@gmail.com.
(30:05):
Thank you for listening. Until next time.
(30:31):
It seemed like a potential sort.
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