All Episodes

October 28, 2025 84 mins

TXT us your feedback!! <3 your fayce!

Things got weird. And not just "spooky story time" weird. It was full-on haunted podcast chaos this week as Riva and her daughter hit record, thirty episodes in, and tonight was the first time the tech itself decided to get possessed. Microphones glitching, machines coming alive, random interference everywhere. Is that just October vibes or was something actually in the room with us? You won't believe what we caught in post edit!!!

In this special Halloween-season episode, Riva and her daughter share spine-tingling ghost stories of nursing from around the world, plus a few of their own. From Mexico’s La Planchada and Indonesia’s Crawling Nurse to the restless spirits haunting military hospitals and modern ICUs, this episode travels the haunted halls of global healthcare.

Whether you believe in spirits or think it’s just the night shift getting to you, these stories are part of nursing’s folklore, told and retold across generations of healers who have worked where life and death meet.

And yes, you’ll want to stick around for the “Coffee, Crystals, and Divination” segment, where Riva and her daughter reveal which herbs to brew when you want protection… and which ones to use if you dare to open the door to the other side.

What You’ll Hear in This Episode

  • The eerie legends of haunted hospitals across Mexico, Indonesia, Australia, and beyond.
  • Firsthand ghost stories from nurses around the world.
  • End-of-life visions, premonitions, and what science says about them.
  • The infamous “Rule of Three” and unexplained happenings nurses still whisper about.
  • Riva and her daughter’s own real-life paranormal experiences, recorded live before the Coffee, Crystals, and Divination segment.
  • A potential EVP (electronic voice phenomenon) caught during recording.

Featured Segment: Coffee, Crystals & Divination

  • Crystal of the Week: Black Tourmaline – for grounding and protection during spooky shifts.
  • Coffee/Tea of the Week: Choose your path, The Protector’s Brew (rosemary, sage, bay leaf) or The Medium’s Brew (mugwort). One shields you from spirits, the other invites them in. Choose wisely.
  • Divination Moment: A live card pull as usual

Behind the Mic

This episode marks the first time Riva’s daughter has joined her on the podcast. Together they dive into shared family ghost stories, laughter, and a few moments that will have you checking your call lights twice.

And about that EVP, follow The Ritual Nurse Podcast on TikTok and Instagram (@ritualnurse) to see and hear it for yourself.

Do you have your own ghost story from nursin

Support the show

Hey! Make sure you subscribe to stay connected. Love a nurse? Who doesn't! Share with all the nurses you know. The more we reach, the more we help. We feel like no one deserves center stage focus more than nurses and our mission is to reach the millions of superstars out there. We'd love to hear your stories, your adventures, your wins, and especially your needs and questions! Email us at hello@ritualnurse (dot) com. Also, you can send us fan mail! Use the link at the beginning of the show notes. The Ritual Nurse Podcast is part of The Code Team educational platform.

Follow for resources, classes, blogs, and podcast info:

Love your FAYCES!

Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker (00:12):
Hey there, my nurse besties.
Welcome back to the RitualNurse Podcast.
I am so excited about today'sspecial spooky episode because
we're diving into somethingcompletely different.
Bone chilling, and quitefrankly, yet another one of my
favorite topics.
Today, also, I have one of myfavorite self-made humans with
me.
My daughter.

(00:33):
My ride or die.
We actually have some real lifeghost stories that are wild.
So I'm so excited that youagreed to do this with me
because I love doing things withyou.

Speaker 1 (00:44):
Hello.

Speaker (00:46):
My love.
Today we are gathering aroundthe metaphorical campfire to
share ghost stories of nursing.
That's right.
We're talking paranormalencounters, unexplained
phenomena, and the eerieexperiences that nurses from
around the world have witnessedin the halls of hospitals,
morgues, and ICUs.
Whether you believe in ghostsor not, these stories will give

(01:10):
you the chills.
We've got tales from the UnitedStates, Indonesia, Mexico,
Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam,Australia, the UK, Ireland, and
more.
From the crawling nurse ofIndonesia to the Iron Lady of
Mexico, from children's ghostsin pediatric wards to gray

(01:30):
ladies haunting militaryhospitals.
This episode is packed withspine-tangling stories.
Perfect for your night shift,your drive home, or just to
creep yourself out.
So dim the lights, grab yourfavorite cozy blanket, maybe
some protective crystals.
You're gonna need them.
And let's dive into the shadowswhere medicine meets the

(01:51):
inexplicable.
Let's start with some of themost famous nursing ghost
legends that have transcendedborders and become part of
nursing folklore worldwide.
La Planchada, the Iron Lady,comes from Mexico, where

(02:14):
hospitals across the country,but especially in Mexico City,
are reportedly haunted by LaPlanchada, which translates to
the Iron Lady, roughly.
Legend says La Planchada was abeautiful, dedicated nurse named
Eulalia, who worked in ahospital from the 1930s to

(02:36):
1960s, kind of a huge gap.
She was known for herimpeccably starched and ironed
white uniform and herexceptional care for her
patients.
Eulalia fell deeply in lovewith a doctor at the hospital
and they became engaged.
Here's where the story turnsdark.
The doctor left for a week-longmedical training seminar.

(02:58):
And when he returned, Eulaliadiscovered he had met another
woman and married her.
Devastated and heartbroken,Eulalia fell into a deep
depression.
She began neglecting herpatients and herself.
One patient even died under hercare due to her neglect.
The guilt consumed her, and shebecame sick herself and

(03:19):
eventually died.
Some say from a broken heart,others from mysterious causes.
But death wasn't the end forEulalia.
Soon after she passed, hospitalstaff began reporting sightings
of mysterious nurse appearingin the emergency room at night.
Oh, that is the last place thatyou want a ghost.
She's described as wearing aperfectly ironed 1930s-era white

(03:45):
nurse's uniform, sometimesemitting a gentle glow.
Witnesses say she floats downcorridors without making a sound
or walks normally, butfootsteps are never heard.
The most remarkable thing aboutLa Planchada is that she
appears to patients who havebeen neglected by living nurses.
By morning, those criticallyill patients are suddenly stable

(04:08):
and recovering.
When asked what happened, theysay a nurse came in and healed
me, but no nurse was on duty,and no one in the hospital
matches that description.
In terms of no nurse being onduty, I don't know what
hospitals don't have nurses atnight.

Speaker 1 (04:24):
I feel like that's kind of a vital thing of a
hospital.

Speaker (04:26):
But I mean, maybe there's like a gap in a
schedule.
Or just one nurse over a ward.
I mean, in the United States,we have staffing challenges.
So I don't know what staffingis like in other countries.
If you're listening to this andyou're in other countries, let
us know.
Like send me feedback and letme know what your staffing is

(04:48):
like.
So many hospitals in Mexico,particularly Hospital Juarez in
Mexico City, have reportedsightings of La Planchada.
She's seen as a benevolentspirit, continuing her nursing
duties in death, making amendsfor the patient that she let die
in life.
Though there's a warning, whileshe's kind to patients, staff

(05:12):
are quietly advised never tochallenge or confront her,
because the fate of those whocross her remains unknown.
So the crawling nurse, thiscomes from Indonesia.
The crawling nurse.
It's like a new conjuringhorror movie.

(05:32):
I'm good.
So from Mexico, we travel toIndonesia, where another
infamous nursing ghost hauntshospital corridors.
I spelled her name and I don'tknow how to pronounce it, so
with all due respect, I don'tknow how to pronounce it.
So the first word that'sspelled S-U-S-T-E-R means nurse.

(05:53):
The second word, N-G-E-S-O-T,means crawling.
So it's not actually her name,but it's that's what she's
called.
What she's been called, yeah.
Right.
So no one knows her real name,but the legend goes like this A
beautiful young nurse wasworking the night shift in an
old hospital.
As she walked to thelaboratory, the doctor on duty

(06:14):
attacked and raped her.
To prevent her from escaping orreporting him, he brutally
mutilated her legs so shecouldn't walk.
She had to crawl using only herhands, dragging what was left
of her legs behind her.

Speaker 1 (06:29):
That's horrific.

Speaker (06:30):
She died that night from her injuries.
Now, this is purported as anurban legend.
Do you know what I mean?
But there's always that part ofyou, especially when it comes
to violence against women,there's always that part of you
that thinks there's urbanlegends don't come from nothing.
You know they don't.
You know they don't.

(06:50):
Something had to have sparkedit.
Right.
There was a kernel ofsomething.
There was a, you know.
Since then, she's hauntedhospital corridors across
Indonesia, especially oldhospitals from the Dutch
colonial era.
Most people believe thehospital was sitto-oh boy.
Okay, I tried looking this upand having Google Translate play

(07:15):
it for me, and I can't say theword.
Mengu Kuzmo?
Maybe?
Public hospital in Jakarta.
The last place that she wasallegedly seen alive.
But another version claims thatshe was a Dutch nurse who was
gang raped and the injuriescaused her feet to be amputated.
Witnesses describe seeing herwandering hospital corridors or

(07:38):
nearby alleyways covered inblood, dragging her legs behind
her as she crawls.
People believe that if I wish Icould pronounce her name.
Maybe it's a good idea, but I'mnot invoking it.
If the crawling nurse passes byyou, your body goes stiff and
you lose the ability to speak.

(07:58):
Think about what they'reactually saying.

Speaker 1 (08:04):
That's horrible.

Speaker (08:05):
Do you know what I'm saying?

Speaker 1 (08:06):
To be silenced and unable to do anything.

Speaker (08:08):
To be silenced and unable and powerless to be
unable to do anything.
So only after she passes doescontrol over your body return.
Recently, a janitor namedBudai.
B-U-D-I claimed he saw thecrawling nurse at a hospital in
Ban Nung.
Working the night shift as anew employee, he was cleaning

(08:31):
the morgue when he got thefeeling someone was watching
him.
The electricity suddenly shutoff.
In the darkness, he heard awoman crying in pain.
Trying to distract himself, heplayed music on his phone and
continued his rounds.
Who are these people with darknerves of steel?
Is what I want to know.

(08:51):
When he entered the operatingtheater to clean, he opened a
dividing curtain, and there,under the bed, was a pale nurse
looking straight up at him.
He dropped his mop.
That would be the least of thethings that I would drop.

(09:12):
His body froze completely.
The nurse moved on, draggingherself across the floor, and
only then could they move again.
That's terrifying.
Absolutely.
The with this urban legend, thestriking thing about it was
there wasn't much deviancybetween tales, sightings,

(09:37):
effects.
Like it was pretty, it waspretty um, what's the word I'm
looking for?
Consistent.
Thank you.
Yes.
It was it was prettyconsistent.
So that to me, and I don't knowwhether this is valid or not
when it comes to urban legendsand you know, but that to me,
when there isn't a lot ofwidespread differences, but it's

(09:58):
pretty consistent throughout,also kind of says something to
me.

Speaker 1 (10:02):
Yeah.

Speaker (10:03):
Okay.
Now we're gonna go to the graynurses, and these are military
hospitals, and there are reportsof these uh in the UK, in
Australia, and Ireland.
Okay.
So across the English-speakingworld, there's a reoccurring
phenomenon known as the graynurses or gray lady, ghostly

(10:24):
nurses in old-fashioned grayuniforms who appear in
hospitals, particularly militaryhospitals.
In the UK, the CambridgeMilitary Hospital in Aldershot
was has one of the most famousGrey Lady stories.
The hospital treated injuredtroops from the Boer War all the
way through the first Gulf War.
The ghost is said to haunt theupper floor between wards 10 and

(10:48):
11, often accompanied by thesmell of lavender.

Speaker 1 (10:52):
Hmm.
A calming scent.

Speaker (10:54):
Right?
Interesting.
The story goes that she was amember of the Queen Alexandra's
Royal Army Nursing Corps whoaccidentally gave a soldier a
fatal drug overdose.
Yikes.
Overcome with guilt, she threwherself off the upper floor
walkway.
Some believe she continuesperforming her nursing duties in

(11:17):
death, helping dying patientsmove on to the next life.
Sightings of her always seem tocoincide with a very ill or
dying patient.
Witnesses report the corridorbeing freezing cold.
No matter how high the heatingis turned up, one policeman said
the hairs on the back of hishead always stand on end when he

(11:37):
patrols that area.
So in Australia, the formerRoyal Adelaide Hospital had its
own gray nurse, a benevolentspirit who provided assistance
to patients and helped livingnurses during night shifts.
She was known for pressing callbuzzers for patients who
couldn't do it themselves.

(11:58):
One story tells of a patientnamed Carol who had complete
paralysis from multiplesclerosis from MS and couldn't
drink water herself.
One particularly busy night, anurse filled Carol's water jug
at 9:30 p.m.
and didn't get back untilmidnight.
When she returned, Carol hadonly half a jug left.

(12:20):
Carol said the other nurse hadbeen in several times to help
her drink.
But the nurse knew this wasn'tright.
She checked with the only othernight nurse on duty, who
confirmed she hadn't been in theroom.
When asked again, Caroldescribed the older agency nurse

(12:42):
in the old-fashioned graydress.
When the Royal AdelaideHospital moved sites in 2017,
many wondered what would happento the gray nurse.
A chapel service was reportedlyheld, and the gray nurse was
invited to leave with them.

Speaker 1 (12:58):
That's really sweet.

Speaker (12:59):
Nurses always stick together.
Okay, so now we're gonna lookat premonitions and visitors
when death comes calling.
So let's move into storiesabout the strange ways that
death announces itself inhospitals through premonitions,
ghostly visitors, and patientswho just simply know.
Can't tell you over the years.

(13:20):
I mean, in in critical care andin the ER, that's what we're
doing is stopping the unaliving,hopefully reversing the
unaliving, that kind of stuff.
And I can't tell you how manytimes personally I had patients
that when they looked at you, itwas like they were looking

(13:44):
through you.
They were looking at somewherepast you.
And I've had patients see lovedones that passed years before,
waiting for them.
Um, I've had patients know thatthey were gonna die, like say,

(14:07):
say at night, like, no, I knowI'm gonna die.
And I've had patients, I've hadpatients who have been
terrified at the moment ofdeath, at what they were seeing.
And it was always every patientthat I've ever had that was
scared at the moment of death.
I I, of course, obviously can'timagine.

(14:29):
I mean, you know, death comesfor us all, but death unexpected
or, you know, rapidlyapproaching unexpectedly is is
against your, you know,primitive will to live.
Like you're more indeed, youare mortified.
Um, but every time that I'vehad a patient that experienced
that, they were terrified ofwhat was coming for them.

(14:56):
Like every single patient thathas has been on the like
terrified in that moment rightbefore they died, every single
one of them, and I I I can counton two hands, like the number
of patients that I've had over adecade and a half of doing
this, that um, and every singleone of them could see something

(15:20):
that you know the rest of uscouldn't, but whatever it was,
all of them were terrified ofwhat was coming for them.
So I don't I don't know.
That's just a again, thoseconsistencies are things that
really kind of scratch myneurodivergent brain.
Okay, so the rule of three.
Many nurses will tell you thatdeath comes in threes.

(15:40):
It is one of nursing's mostwidespread superstitions, and
there are countless stories toback it up.
One oncology nurse shared thischilling story.
Working in adult oncology,where many patients transitioned
to hospice care, the nursingteam noticed a pattern.
Patients died in groups ofthree.
One night after two patientshad already passed, a beloved

(16:02):
patient in room eight, who wasespecially dear to the entire
team, died as well.
The next morning, a new patientwas admitted to room eight.
The nurse began orientation,starting to explain how the TV
remote worked.
Before she could finish, the TVturned on by itself and began
flickering violently betweenchannels at high volume.
Totally spooked, the nursetried to turn it off, but it

(16:24):
wouldn't respond.
Finally, she turned it offmanually.
The new patient didn't evenseem to notice.
Later that day, another nursewas looking for replacement
remote controls.
When asked why, she said theremotes and TVs were acting up
in rooms X and Y, the exactrooms where the other two
patients had also died the nightbefore.

(16:46):
The thing that I find weirdabout that in the tale is that
the new patient didn't notice.

Speaker 1 (16:54):
Yeah, that's weird.

Speaker (16:56):
Right?
Just the staff.
So the little old lady and hercall light is the next one.
This story comes from a nurseworking in long-term care.
So there was a sweet little oldlady with dementia who never
understood how to work her calllight.
Instead, she would tiptoe toher neighbor's room and politely

(17:18):
ask the lucid gentleman thereto ring his call light for her.
He was always willing to help.
Unfortunately, the old ladypassed away from a pancreatic
issue at exactly 1600 oneafternoon.
Just a few hours later, whileher family was saying their
goodbyes in her room, thegentleman next door turned on

(17:39):
his call light.
When nurses arrived at hisbedside, he told them, The old
lady is ready for bed now.
Remember, this man had nocognitive issues.
He was only there recoveringfrom a kidney infection.
When a CNA asked him toexplain, he said, the old woman
had just snuck into his roommoments before and pressed his
call light button herself.

(17:59):
He described her wearing awhite robe and holding her
rosary beads.
Here's the truly chilling part.
When the old lady's body wasmoved to the funeral home, the
nurses who attended the ceremonysaw her lying in her open
casket.
She was dressed in a whitegown, holding rosary beads.
So another one is tell thatlady to stop staring at me.

(18:21):
A CNA working in a progressivecare unit had a patient whose
heart rate monitor began goingoff, signaling cardiac arrest.
The CNA rushed to the patient'sbedside only to find the older
patient completely fine.
But the patient was upset andsaid, Can you please tell that
lady hiding behind the curtainin my room to quit staring at
me?
She keeps telling me I'm gonnadie when you leave.

(18:41):
Okay, so when we have patientsthat tell us these things,
there's usually a different kindof pathology that I'm worried
about.
Yeah, that's okay.
What do you mean?
What lady standing behind thecurtain?

(19:01):
Right now, like right now,she's looking at looking at both
of us, right?
She's still there.
Because some people don'tusually just stand behind the
curtain like that.

Speaker 1 (19:11):
No one else should be in here.

Speaker (19:13):
The CNA was spooked to the bone.
She left the room and told thepatient's nurse what had
happened.
Later that night, the patientcoded and died by the end of the
CNA shift.
The doctor's final rounds.
This story comes from apediatric nurse working in one
of the oldest wings of ahundred-plus-year-old hospital.

(19:36):
Children began reportedlyseeing nah, see, now y'all got
me.
Okay.
This the children ghoststories, like there was very few
selected for this thing.
Because every time I read them,if you don't know me, working
in Cardiac ICU in the ER as anurse, I actively, when I tell

(20:00):
you actively, as in with highengagement, I actively avoided
the pick you, the NICU, and PGR,if I could help it.
Um, I just adult anything, nota problem.
Like I can handle whatever.
Throw it at me, no problem.
Children?
No.
Hmm, okay.

(20:22):
So children began reportingseeing the doctor around 6 a.m.
A tall figure with gray hair,glasses, and always wearing a
white coat.
The descriptions werestrikingly consistent across
multiple children who had nevermet each other.
When nurses asked colleaguesabout this mysterious man, they

(20:43):
said nonchalantly, oh, thatsounds like Dr.
So-and-so.
He used to work here, but hepassed away some time ago.
We still do believe that hemakes his rounds checking on the
children.
One thing I will say about kidsis that there's just there's
something about them that ifparanormal stuff is gonna
happen, it does so withouthesitancy around kids.

(21:07):
It just does.
Because because I think kidsstill look at the world in terms
of I'm taking in everything asnew.
So you don't know.

Speaker 1 (21:19):
There's no standards for them to be breaking.

Speaker (21:21):
Exactly.
That, you know, like, no,that's not normal.
You know, they're still takingin things with that kind of
innocence, yeah.
Which is incredible.
All right, Nurse Bestes.
I need you to pause with me forjust a moment.
We've already covered someseriously spine-tingling
stories, some fun ones, somebenevolent ones, but from La

(21:42):
Planchada haunting Mexicanhospitals to patients who
predicted their own deaths, andkids being rounded on by their
favorite doctor still hangingout in the ward.
Trust me, we're only halfwaythrough, though.
If you're listening to this onyour commute, perfect.
If you're about to start yournight shift, well, I'm sorry in
advance for what's coming next.

(22:03):
Because we're about to diveinto the really scary stuff.
The night shift terror that'llmake you want to travel in pairs
and never go down to thebasement supply room again
alone.
So take this moment, breathe,get some water, stretch your
neck and shoulders, check inwith your nervous system, maybe
light that protective candle, orgrab your black tourmaline if

(22:24):
you've got one nearby.
And if you're listening to thisat work right now, look around,
check those empty hallways,make sure all your call lights
are in.
All right, welcome back.

(23:01):
Okay, are you ready?
What comes next includeselevator ghosts, cursed rooms,
phantom children in pediatricwards, and basement encounters
that will absolutely wreck you.
These are the stories nurseswhisper about on night shift,
the ones that make even theskeptics a little nervous.

(23:22):
So let's just dive back in.
So I do hope that you took themoment to ground yourself
because we're diving straightinto night shift terrors.
And this is what happens whenthe lights go down, the visitors
go home, and it's just you,your patients, and whatever else
might be walking those halls.
The next stories come fromnurses working the graveyard

(23:45):
shift.
And trust me, some of them willmake you understand why we call
it that.
So let's talk about Georgie.
The night shift is when mostparanormal activity happens in
hospitals.
Here are some of the mostterrifying encounters nurses
have experienced in the dead ofnight.

(24:06):
A nurse working on a neurologyward in an old building said
their elevator would come up totheir floor at least once a
night with no one on it.
The doors would open and closerapidly, over and over again,
until someone spoke to theelevator.
The nursing staff had taken avote and named their resident

(24:30):
ghost Georgie.
So when the elevator would comeup unannounced, and the doors
would spaz and open and close,open and close, as soon as
someone said, Hi, Georgie, theelevator shenanigans would stop.
Patients sometimes reportedseeing strange men in their
rooms.
There were no male staff onthis unit.

(24:52):
Call lights occasionally wentoff in empty rooms, even ones
that were unplugged.
One patient with completeparalysis from S from MS
reported that the other nursekept coming in to help her drink
her water during a busy shiftwhen the living nurses couldn't
get to her room.
The nurse said it was eerie,but I never got the sense that
Georgian friends meant any harm.

(25:14):
Now I have to tell youpersonally, working in a cardiac
ICU, we had a particular roomat the end of the hall near the
entrance.
That the call light, and myrationale at the time was that
it was electrical, that it was,yeah, something, that the call

(25:38):
light would go off.
And as busy as we were, youwould find yourself responding
to it before you realized likewhat room it was.
And you gotta understand, ourunit was a really large unit.
It's like 37 beds, kind ofbuilt like a ladder.
And then the crossbars werelike nursing station, med area,

(26:03):
next nursing station, et cetera.
So in the middle of the night,it was really kind of hard to
like not feel like you werealone in these empty hospital
quarters because they were solong that you know, and you
couldn't see except for thenarrow like wings of the ladder,

(26:24):
if you will.
So you'd find yourselfresponding to this room.
And of course, you get thereand there's no call light.
It's not plugged in, andthere's no patient in there.
So one time myself, uh, twoother nurses that I had gone to
nursing school with, and anothernurse that you know was already

(26:44):
working on the unit when we hadum been hired.
We're doing our thing, and calllight goes off, and we're kind
of chuckling about it, like, ohboy, you know, whatever.
So I'm like, you know, I'll godown and just see, like maybe
somebody, day shift, cleaningstaff, somebody, you know, maybe
EBS, somebody had plugged thecall light back in.

(27:04):
I'm gonna go unplug it becauseI don't want to do this all
night.
Go in there, I go to unplug it,I look up at the Welch Allen
monitor, which looks like a anold-fashioned, you know, TV
screen.
It's not like a fancy flatscreen, but it is a black screen
monitor that displays theheart, the O2, the you know, the
lines that go across thescreen.
Right.

(27:24):
So I look up at the monitor andit's reading sinus rhythm.
The readings in the roomsconnected to those monitors are
not remote.
The wires have to go from thestickers on the patient to the
box to show up on the TV in theroom.

(27:46):
You can't hype in rhythm.
It's not a it's not a receiver,like in terms of from another
room, or I can see remotelysomewhere else, or you know, we
may have that fancy technologynow, but believe me, we did not
then.
And I look up and I see normalsinus rhythm.
There is not, I am the onlyhuman standing in that room.

(28:11):
And I'm like, Oh, you lookgood.
No other, yeah, no otherreadings, no nothing.
I'm like, and I walked rightout.
I didn't touch the monitor, Ididn't touch a damn thing, I
walked right out of that room.
Goodbye.
Nope.
Room four, the cursed room.

(28:32):
So one cardiac, oh, this is notme, but one cardiac ICU nurse
swore that room four in theirunit was cursed.
Most patients assigned to roomfour were very ill and didn't
survive.
The nurse said, if I ever getsick and have to be admitted to
the CCU, do not put me in roomfour.
Another nurse told the story ofa nursing home resident named

(28:52):
Sam.
So it is weird that we do havethese rooms that are like death
rooms.
Where, like knowing, andthere's not, it's what it is, is
probably like proximity tosomething or proximity to a
nursing station.
But it's just weird thesuperstitions that nurses take

(29:12):
on when they're just constantlyaround death like that.
Yeah, it's hard not to think ofsomething when you're
constantly surrounded in thatenvironment.
Correct, like to come to comeor associate something.
Our brains make patterns.
Another nurse told the story ofa nursing home resident named
Sam, rumored to have been ahitman for a crime family who

(29:33):
spent years in prison.
One night while caring foranother patient, a nurse
suddenly heard a man screaming.
Both she and her patient turnedto the hallway and were
horrified to see Sam beingdragged down the corridor by two
shadowy figures dressed inblack.
She abandoned what she wasdoing and rushed into the
hallway, but it was empty.

(29:55):
The exit door at the endremained closed and locked from
the outside, and the alarmhadn't gone off.
Now, the first thought in yourhead is did she go check on Sam?

Speaker 1 (30:08):
Yeah.

Speaker (30:08):
Yes, Sam had done.
Earlier that day.

Speaker 1 (30:13):
Okay.

Speaker (30:13):
Oh, sorry, Sam.
Right.
The running water.
A nurse working in a long-termcare facility was walking down
the hall speaking to a CNA whensuddenly they heard the loud
sound of water running in thebathroom.
All the patients were in bedand the bathroom required a key
to enter.
They unlocked the door andturned on the lights.
The tub water was running fullblast.

(30:34):
No one was there.
The nurse turned the faucet allthe way until the water
stopped.
The CNA said strange stuffhappens in that bathroom all the
time.
Lights turning on and off,things moving around or turning
on.
What's weird is the nurse heardthe water turn on while
standing near the bathroom, knewthat no one had walked in, and
the handle had to be turned allthe way to the right to turn it

(30:57):
off.
So it's not like it was a likeleaky or exactly like the handle
had.
And those are the things whenpeople can cut like they
identify those weird, tangiblepieces that just makes it
different for me.
Yeah.
You know, like I think some ofour own ghosty experiences have

(31:21):
been stuff where it was like,no, no, no, no.
We noticed this piece for sureabout XYZ.
Yeah.
And like it wasn't.
I could think of excuses if ithadn't been for, you know.
Just weird.
Okay, the little girl in thebasement.
This one was, I'm yikes.

(31:44):
This story is absolutelyterrifying.
A Piku nurse went to thebasement storage unit at 0300 to
grab a new gurney after aviolent patient destroyed
theirs.
The hospital was on lockdownfor the night, no visitors
allowed.
The basement was packed withequipment, dimly lit and aerily
quiet.

(32:04):
When the nurse felt their shirtget pulled, they assumed that
it got caught on an object.
Then it happened again.
This time they heard a littlegirl's voice, crystal clear,
say, I'm lost.
Their heart was pounding, allthe hairs on their body stood

(32:26):
up, and they immediately calledtheir partner down to help with
the gurney.
They never went down to thebasement alone again.
No.
Multiple nurses, CNAs, and evenphysicians at that hospital
reported weird experiences,especially in the ICU and
hospice areas.
Obviously, areas where youwould have a high amount of
death.
I can't imagine, though, beinglike so focused on your task at

(32:54):
hand.
You know what I'm saying?
Like grabbing the gurney.
I gotta haul it all the wayback upstairs.
They took the one from ourfloor.
You know, now I gotta findanother one.
I gotta go down here.
Exactly.
Only to like, and then yourbrain registers like that your
scrub top got caught onsomething.
Like, ah, goddamn it.
Right.
Move, let go of me.
You know, and you're still, butthen it happened.

(33:14):
This okay, let me tell thesecond that that happened again.
I'm gone.
I'm out of late.
I would have with my trackrecord.
We know your, we know yourresponse.
Lay down.
It's like it's like a sleepinggoat syndrome.
Like immediately lay down anduh to sleep.
Um, no, the second that myscrub top was grabbed again, the

(33:39):
way my nervous system wouldhave immediately done that like
ice cold pause for a second,while my brain suddenly clicked
into gear and was like, excuseme.
Goodbye time.
Like, what is pulling on myscrub top?
The second I heard the voice,though, would have been like,

(34:00):
okay, all other processes exceptfor central nervous system
movement and fight or flight isis on go.
Like, absolutely on lock.
This one's called Two LittleGirls, and this one was a nurse
working on a night shift on ahospital unit that had
previously been a pediatricward, received a call from a

(34:22):
dementia patient at 2 a.m.
Those are always fun.
The patient said there werelittle girls playing in her room
and asked the nurse to come getthem.
Totally reasonable request froma dementia patient.
Get them out place kind ofcommon, yes.
The nurse played along, openingthe door and said, Come on,
girls, you can't play in here.
Let's go.
The patient thanked her.
Absolutely, as we do.

(34:43):
Okay.
The nurse was barely out of theroom when her phone rang.
It was a completely lucid,oriented patient on the opposite
side of the unit, screaming forhelp because two little girls
just ran into her room.
The nurse says her heart was inher ass.

(35:04):
Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (35:07):
I just told you you couldn't play in here.

Speaker (35:09):
But this is a totally different patient on the other
side of the hospital.
That is calling because now twolittle girls have run into
their room.
No time.
Later that same week, two morepatients on different parts of
the unit who had never met eachother both complained about a
little girl running and yellingin the hallway late at night.

(35:31):
One asked if the nurse couldplease ask her to keep it down.
Multiple patients sharing theexact same experience with zero
contact is what is so deeplyunsettling.
Alright, so let's travel aroundthe world and we're gonna focus
on some more of the mosthaunted hospitals and the
spirits that inhabit them.
We are gonna take a look at ahospital in Singapore.

(35:52):
So built in 1892, old, I thinkC-H-A-N-G I Changi Hospital was
captured by Japanese forcesduring World War II and used as
a healthcare facility forprisoners of war.

(36:13):
It's regarded as one of themost haunted places in
Singapore.
Known as the High Street GhostHouse.
Visitors report hearing a womancrying, loud booming sounds
emanating from the building,mysterious footsteps, and
recurring sightings of adevilish figure in traditional

(36:33):
Chinese costume bursting intoflames.
I wonder what that symbolizes.
Like I wonder what I don't knowenough culturally to be able to
connect that with either areligious symbol or a cultural

(36:56):
symbol.
Do you know what I mean?
Like I just wonder, I wonderwhat that relates to.
Specifically on the secondfloor, um, many visitors say the
terrifying encounters followedthem home.
Okay.
Now we're gonna go to SouthKorea.
Ganjam Psychiatric Hospital.

(37:18):
Probably also didn't say thatcorrectly.
This abandoned hospital wasnamed by CNN as one of the
freakiest places in the world.
While rumors claim it closed inthe 1990s due to murderous
patients and mad doctors, thetruth is it closed because of
economic downturns leading tounsanitary conditions and sewage

(37:39):
problems.
The owner simply fled, and thefate of the patients isn't
clear.
Even though it's closed to thepublic, roughly a thousand
people break in every year.
The building stand completewith rusted machines, filthy
mattresses, and trash scatteredeverywhere.
The hospital was demolished in2018, but not before it became

(38:00):
the subject of a horror film.
I tried to look up what horrorfilm it was, and I couldn't find
it.

Speaker 1 (38:10):
Might be named something not in English.

Speaker (38:12):
Fact.
Fact, fact.
Now we're at the Philippines.
So Clark Air Base Hospital inthe Philippines, so many of
these are military related.
You think about the horror,yeah, the horror of war.
Ghost Hunters Internationaldeclared this one of the most

(38:33):
haunted places in the world.
The base has a violent andbloody history, serving as an
evacuation point for woundedAmerican soldiers during the
Vietnam War.
Paranormal activity is rampant,headless apparitions,
mysterious voices, and violentspirits that have rendered the
area off limits.
It's one of the few locationsghost hunters examined that was

(38:55):
deemed truly disturbed.
One particularly disturbingstory involves Dr.
Morris, who worked at atuberculosis hospital unit
connected to the base.
Dr.
Morris could predict the exactday his patients would die.
These patients, many with noloved ones, were placed in a

(39:16):
separate building called MountKitanglad, about a kilometer
from the main hospital.
They would be found dead on theexact day that Dr.
Morris predicted.
Rumors circulated that Dr.
Morris was murdering hispatients.
After he died, investigationsfound equipment in his office
suggesting unethical medicalpractices.

(39:38):
Let me translate for youexperimentation, all that kind
of stuff.
Since then, cries and whispersare heard from Mount Kittingglad
at night.
And locals catch glimpses ofshadowy figures believed to be
the ghost of Dr.
Morris and his patients.
And in some of these places,these maniacs would have been

(40:04):
unchecked.
You know what I'm saying?
Yeah.
Like the patients in theirvulnerability were just the
perfect sitting duck.
Now we are at Cho Rei Hospitalin Saigon.
And this is Dr.
Than and shared multipleparanormal encounters.

(40:27):
The ICU has two eight-signcharms secured to the walls
because, according to belief,the spirits of those who die
inside the hospital cannot leavebecause of these charms
guarding power.
So one night at 1.20 a.m., agirl with long hair wearing a
white shirt approached Dr.
Than from behind.
She told him that she had aterrible headache.

(40:50):
He took her down, he took downher information.
Win I don't know how topronounce N G-O-C in Vietnamese.
And he pointed her to bednumber four to rest.
A few minutes later, he went togive her a medical checkup.

(41:11):
When he reached bed numberfour, no one was there.
She'd vanished.
Another story involved apregnant woman who died due to a
doctor's negligence.
He had been drunk and gave thewrong evaluation of her health.
Both the mother and baby died.
Since then, her spirit has beenlingering in Block C.
Many people have encounteredher, and the hospital invited
ghost masters to performworshiping and ghost busting

(41:32):
rituals, but to no avail.
No exorcisms, no appeasement.
Apparently, uh her resentmentwas too great.
Yeah, I would piss too.
Yeah, no kidding.
I really I couldn't find anyimages of like the charms that

(41:53):
are Why would they want to stoppeople who died from leaving?
I you don't know.
I don't know.
I don't know if that's a Idon't know.
I don't know if that's a thing.
That that didn't make sense tome either in terms of like
trapping them in there.
But I think I don't know whythe charms are there.
I think what they're saying isthat like the result of the

(42:15):
charms being there is that thespirits are trapped.

Speaker 1 (42:18):
Oh, not that they were put there for the intent.

Speaker (42:20):
To trap them.
They are there, and for somereason that is trapping the
spirits, and so that's whythat's normal.
Yeah.
So Aradale Asylum.
The asylum ones are alwayscreepy to me.
So this is Australia.
Once known as the Arrat LunaticAsylum, Aradale housed over a
thousand patients across 70 plusbuildings.

(42:42):
During its 130 years ofoperation, over 13,000 inmates,
patients, and staff members diedthere.
It's considered by many to bethe single most haunted location
in all of Australia.
Visitors walking past theformer superintendent's office
report a sudden bitter taste intheir mouth.

(43:02):
The superintendent becamedistraught and committed suicide
in his office after swallowingcyanide in 1912.
The woman's ward is haunted bya ghost named Nurse Carrie, who
watches over tour guides.
Her apparition and others havebeen seen wearing old-time nurse
uniforms and disappearingthrough stone walls.
In Jay Ward, visitors reportfeeling ill and suddenly afraid.

(43:26):
Some slip into a trance onlyreleased when they exit the
building.
Others have been bitten orpushed while walking through.
The ward is haunted by threeprisoners who were hanged and
buried on the property.
They're said to be restlessbecause they weren't given
proper burials.
Their graves are only markedwith three scratches on the

(43:47):
prison wall.
The Veil Between Worlds,end-of-life visions.
So some of our final storiesexplore some of the most
profound and comforting aspectsof nursing ghost stories, the
visions patients experience atthe end of life.
Hospice nurses report that 50to 60% of conscious dying
patients report visitations bysomeone who is not there while

(44:08):
they dream or are awake.
These are actually known asend-of-life dreams and visions,
ELDVs.
So it is a scientificphenomenon that we chart.
Patients report seeing deceasedloved ones, pets, spiritual
figures, beautiful gardens, ormeaningful places like their
childhood homes.
The theme of traveling andpacking frequently appears.

(44:31):
While some visions can bedistressing, like I was talking
about earlier, most patientsreport that these experiences
reassure them and make them feelconnected to the figures they
encounter.
McMillan palliative care nursesat Royal Stoke University
Hospital shared that manypatients can predict when they
will die.
One nurse said, We've hadpeople say, I'm 80 in a couple

(44:54):
of weeks and I'll have my 80thbirthday.
Do you understand?
No.
Do you understand in all thetime that I have been recording
this podcast the sheer amount oftechnological interruptions
that we have had, most of whichlisteners I probably have cut
out, but I'm gonna leave thisrant in because the second of

(45:16):
the two printers in thismultimedia studio just randomly
decided to make a whole bunch ofnoise and shut itself off.
Previous to that, you know, theDiscord is going off and
shouldn't be making any sounds.
Previous to that, the otherprinter on the floor was making
a ridiculous racket.
Literally had to unplug it fromthe wall.

(45:38):
Shuffling things.
Shuffling, I don't know whatit's shuffling over there.
This is the only, this is asingular only episode that we
have had.
Oh my gosh.

(46:04):
I don't want to be included.
Okay, so back to these visionsthat patients are having.
One nurse said, We've hadpeople say, I'm 80 in a couple
of weeks, and I'll have my 80thbirthday, I'll have my party,
and then I'll go.
And very strangely, we do seewhen that happens.
Is there another printersomewhere?

(46:25):
Do you hear that?
I didn't.
What the heck?
Okay.
Another nurse recalled apatient who said they had a
glimpse of heaven and it waswonderful, and they weren't
frightened to die.
There's another phenomenoncalled terminal lucidity.
Some patients experience what'scalled terminal lucidity, a
sudden return of mental clarityand energy just in the moments

(46:48):
before impending death.
Patients with dementia or whohave been semi-conscious
suddenly become alert, recognizefamily members, and have
meaningful conversations.
And this, we've seen this, Ipersonally witness this with
patients minutes before theydie, an hour before they die, a
few hours before they die.
Um we know when we have apatient who has been in a coma,

(47:16):
has been um, you know, onhospice, and we've been giving
them pain medication, you know,they've just been basically
unresponsive and in repose,leading up to their end of life.
And we know when those patientssuddenly become more active and
suddenly are alert or awake,even, or, you know, just a

(47:40):
sudden return of energy likethat.
We know, uh, any nurse willtell you, like, oh yeah, it's
gonna happen soon.

Speaker 1 (47:47):
I think pets have that too.

Speaker (47:49):
I I think so.
I I I it's obviously not likemeaningful conversation by eye
as I stutter.
We don't have a reason for itin terms of like evidence-based
research as to why the bodysuddenly like kicks on all
systems.
Many nurses also describepatients reaching upward with
their arms in their finalmoments as if reaching for
someone or something the livingcannot see.

(48:11):
This phenomenon, known as thedeath reach, is commonly
observed and deeply moving forthose who witness it.
Again, many times myself haveseen patients reaching towards
the foot of the bed, towardstheir side, or up.
And okay, so you know when youlook at someone and they're
looking at something and you cansee the difference between
disassociation, their, you know,that glassy-eyed kind of like

(48:34):
not connected look, and someonewho is actually like their
pupils are focused on an object.
Yeah.
Every time I've seen a patientdo this, they are actively
looking at something that we'renot looking at.
I can't tell you the amount oftimes that I've seen it.

Speaker 1 (48:52):
That's really cool.

Speaker (48:54):
One particularly profound story comes from the
Journal of Clinical Oncology.
A patient who had beendischarged home suddenly told
her care team, I'm ready to gonow.
When they explained that theywere preparing her discharge
paper, she said, No, home, I'mgoing to the other place.
The team thought she might beexperiencing mild delirium, but
she was fully oriented.
She emphasized that she did notwant her family around at the

(49:17):
time of her death.
After a few hours, she askedfor a priest who administered
the anointing of the sick.
Twenty minutes later, armscrossed on her chest, she
stopped breathing and passed.
The care team was stunned.
None of the typical signs ofimminent death were present.
She was comfortable, fullyalert, showed no physical or
spiritual distress, and was infull control until she took her

(49:40):
last breath and stopped.
To have cardiac death and braindeath happen simultaneously
like that is also a little bitmedically incomprehensible on
the face of it, just becausethat's rare for it to just, you
know, a patient like this withthis presentation.
So these experiences, like, wecan't prove or disprove the

(50:00):
existence of ghosts.
We can look at things fromneurology, from psychology.
They do think that when thebrain uh or when the body is
dying, that the brainexperiences significant changes.
Uh, there's decreased oxygen,there's a release of endorphins
and DMT-like compounds andaltered neurotransmitter levels.
And they think that that cancreate a level of lucidity in

(50:25):
hallucinations that is unmatchedby any other experiences that
we have.
You know how people say liketheir life flashes before their
eyes.
You know, like that's like aphrase that people think happens
when you die.
I think that's kind of wherethat sentiment comes from in
terms of these extremely lucidum hallucinations.

(50:47):
And our brains are wired torecognize patterns.
Most of these stories followcultural folklore and patterns.
And I think it's because of theenvironment.
Because when you think aboutthe typical spooky experiences
that people have, like, I thinkwe should talk about the lights
in our house.

Speaker 1 (51:06):
Oh, yeah.

Speaker (51:07):
Right?
So when my kids and I movedinto our house, so super
excited.
It was just us three, and thishouse, just gorgeous, gorgeous
little backyard, just precious.
It was just amazing.
My I got the key, and my sonwas in second grade, third

(51:28):
grade.
I forget what grade he was in.
I'd have to think about theyear and then I'd have to do
math.
But my daughter and I, um, Igot the key from the lockbox on
the door, took my daughter inthe house.
We'd just gotten it.
Like, just just gotten it.
Not a stick of furniture in thebuilding.
Brand new.

(51:50):
Brand new.
We walk in, and when you walkin the front door, there was a
huge open floor plan living roomto the right.
The ceiling went all the wayup, arched, you know, to the
top.
It was a two-story house, butkind of an interior split level.
Because in the middle was astaircase that went up, had a
little landing, went up to theleft, and then the second floor

(52:13):
started with my bedroom on theright, bathroom at the end of
the hall, and the two kids'rooms to the left.
If you went to the left of thestairway, you walked in between
the bathroom, the hall to thegarage, the laundry room area,
and then finally into thekitchen and den, which was off
to the left.
And then there was nothing butthe back slider and the
backyard.
So we walked in the front door,booing and awing over

(52:35):
everything.
Oh my gosh, we were so excited.
And I don't know.
Did we walk around it alldownstairs first?
Or did we go straight from likethe front door, like straight?
Because it was a straight shotfrom the front door to the back
slider.
Yeah, you could see it from thedoor.
Yeah, you could easily see it,you know.
Um, it was it was way downthere, but it was a straight

(52:58):
shot, you know what I'm saying?
Um, I mean, it was what, 1,892square feet, 1800 square foot
house.

Speaker 1 (53:05):
Um, and I don't remember if we walked around at
all.
I think we walked a little bitto the right in what was
eventually our living room, justbecause it was so open.
Correct.
And then, like, did we go fromthere into the kitchen that way?
Or did we go I think we wentunder the stairs, so left, not
up them.
I think because we were we hadlike the ceiling above us.

(53:26):
Correct.

Speaker (53:27):
And then we walked into the kitchen, and I remember
standing with the island to myright.
You were closer to the sliderthan I was, but you were kind of
like in the more towards theden.
I was still standing on a tile.

Speaker 1 (53:42):
Yeah.

Speaker (53:44):
And overhead, and I think we looked at each other,
we heard it at the same time.
And I just remember looking atyou, and immediately as a mom,
my first thoughts were like, andand I think I realized it all

(54:06):
at the same time.
Like, someone's in the house,that's a man.
The door was locked, thesliders like sliders locked in
the direction.
There was no way to get in.
So that means that this personwas in here, and we unlocked the
door and came in.
Yeah.
And I had to use the code inthe realtor's box to get the key

(54:29):
out to even unlock the doors.
And it wasn't like it had beentouched when we got there, like
all of it was just nothing.
Everything was locked up.
There was no cars, there was nonothing.
It was none of the windows weresmashed, it was nothing.
It was absolutely perfect.
And all of those realizationshit me in two seconds.
And my first thought was thatstairway comes down and empties

(54:51):
out in between me and the frontdoor.
And when we heard them walk, itwas from over your head.
Which is where your bathroomwas upstairs.
Uh-huh.
And this was something that wedidn't piece together until
later, because this isn't thefirst time this happened.
We heard footsteps start, andit was like one, two, three.

(55:13):
And I we hadn't been upstairs,so I didn't know the anatomy of
the upstairs.
I had no idea if this personwas on the hallway or top of the
stairs.
On the way down.
On the way down.
Like I had no idea.
We had, you know, we'd yes, welooked at the house before I
rented it, but I don't remember.
We didn't familiarize ourselveswith it.
Yeah.
And I just remember you lookingat me with this question on

(55:36):
your face, like, oh, like, whowas in this house?
Yeah.
And I think you were, well, youwere little, let's just say
that.
Not too little.
I think you were middle school.
Like 12, 11.

Speaker 1 (55:55):
Because I started high school in that place.
So I had to at least have beenyear 13.
Okay.
Okay.
Yeah.

Speaker (56:02):
Because then I dyed my hair, and that's when I dyed
your toes blue.
And that was that bad.
Yes, you're right.
That's right.
Okay.
So you're looking at me, and Itold you, get out the
backslider.
Yeah.
Move.
Run.
Get out the backslider.
Because I couldn't think it wasso viscerally real.
It was so real.
And I was like one, two, three,four, five steps and stopped.

(56:28):
And at the time, we didn'tknow, like I said, you know,
we'd been through it, we looked,loved it, whatever.
We didn't know the anatomy ofthe house.
And so she bolts out thebackslider.
And I'm standing there and I'mlike, I'm not going to run out
the backslider because I need toknow whoever is coming down the
stairway.
I need to know what directionthey're going.

(56:49):
Because if they're comingtowards me, I'm going to keep
them from going out where shewent.
But if I go out the backsliderand whoever this is comes down
the steps and goes to the frontdoor, they are now in between me
and you, or they're faster toyou to get to the door.
They can round that corner andget to me quicker.
Exactly.
So I was standing right there.
I hear nothing.

(57:10):
The house is you could haveheard an ant fart.
It was so I go upstairs.
That's really good.
I'm serious.
It was so nervous quiet.
You've never heard that?
No, really?
I heard like a pin drop, an antfart?
Okay, I don't I don't knowwhere that came from, but it's a
thing.
So I go upstairs.

(57:32):
I'm clearing the upstairs.
Like clearing it.
Who was I mean?
I have a CCW.
I'm not stupid enough to wanderaround unarmed.
So I'm upstairs, and there'sonly one way up.
There's no other way down.
And I was looking.
There, there was, unless theyvaulted over the side of the
landing, which I would haveheard the crash.

(57:52):
You would have heard somebodydo that.

Speaker 1 (57:54):
That was awful.

Speaker (57:55):
There was nowhere to go.
There was nowhere to go.
So I'm going through, looking.
There is not a soul in thishouse.
I go back outside.
I lock the slider.
Like I go back outside.
I get her.
We're sitting in the car, andI'm like, okay.
Like it is midday.

(58:16):
I still have pictures of thatday.
It was it was like two in theafternoon.
Like two in the afternoon.
Bright, beautiful day.
The windows were opening.
It was in spring.
It was, yeah, it was it wasamazing.
I'm like, okay.
That I don't have anexplanation for.
I don't.
So fast forward, we've movedin.

(58:38):
At the time, you spent moretime in my room than your own.

Speaker 1 (58:42):
My own, yeah.

Speaker (58:44):
Yeah, yeah, totally.
So this just still absolutelycracks me up.
All the rooms had, or my roomhad a ceiling fan.
We put ceiling fans in yourguys later.
But my room had a ceiling fan.
Yours, your two did not that Iknow of.

Speaker 1 (59:01):
No, it had a ceiling fan.
Mine, it was we had to replacethem.
Oh, that's right.
That's right.
Mine replaced them.

Speaker (59:08):
It got scary.
Oh my god, that's right.
I was afraid to the moment.
That's right.
It was gonna win me along.
But old ones.
So I think they're replacingthe part was the part where I
was like, I don't think they hadthem, but we're gonna be able
to get it.
We did get different ones.
Yeah.
But my ceiling fan was huge.
Gorgeous ceiling fan.
Yeah, fantastic.
Yeah.
So consistently on where thebed was, is it was over the end

(59:30):
of the bed at the foot of thebed.
Yeah.
A little over half the bed, Ithink, like from the foot of it.
Because the fan blades were sobig.
Yeah.
So we're laying there.
And I think the first time ithappened, it was sudden.
Because I remember being joltedawake and like, what the fuck?

Speaker 1 (59:49):
Yeah.

Speaker (59:50):
Yeah.
All of a sudden it comes on.
Flash.
It was like an interrogationlight hits you.
It was so bright when it wantedto be.
Shit.
Yeah.
When it wanted to be.
And I'm like, you and I areboth immediately awake.
I'm like, what the fuck?
Yeah, turn that shit right off.
Go to turn it off.
The switch is on.
Yeah.

(01:00:11):
And we're like, how does thatwork?
Okay.
So it had a remote, so weturned it off.
Didn't think of the other one.
Chalked it up so it being anold house.
Because it was an old house.
Or just like it's a remote.
The needs new batteries.
It's shorting.
It's something stupid.
It was blue, and now it's on.
Like, I don't know.
We've just fallen asleep.
Like 30 minutes, 45 minutes,something.

(01:00:32):
Bang! It's on again.
And I'm like, motherfucker.
Are you so sorry?
I'm serious right now.
So turn it off with the remote,take the batteries out.
Yeah.
Not again.
Yeah.
We didn't use the remote.
It stopped.
Didn't do anything for a while.
So I don't remember how long ithad been.
I mean, it was happening prettyregularly.
I want to say, like, I like atleast every other week.

(01:00:54):
Yeah.
Like it would come on.
We're laying there, and I'mawoken, not by bright light.
And we both woke up at the sametime.
And you and I talked about itbecause we were like, what woke
us up?
Yeah, what's going on?
There wasn't a sound, and itwasn't what the light was doing

(01:01:14):
wouldn't have woke woken us,really.
You know?
Um, we wake up and it is superdim.
I think that's how we found outit could dim.
Because we hadn't been toldthat there was no dimmer switch.
Oh, that's right.
It was just a remote, huh?
Exactly.
There was no dimmer switch.
I think that was us figuringout that it for some reason can.

(01:01:35):
It chose to.
Right.
Well, because remember whathappened.
It I woke, I woke up and likeyou're waking up at the same
time, and we're looking around,and then suddenly I realized
it's like it's like a dyingcampfire.
Like it's such a like it was sored.
Yeah.
And I was like, what the fuck?
Because my brain is trying toform sense words out of, you

(01:01:56):
know, my solitary brain cell.
And nonsensically, I'm like, ohmy god, fire.
And then I'm like, there's nosmoke.
And then the light gotbrighter.
Yeah.
It turned out.
And it slowly increased andthen immediately went back down.
Slowly increased and thenimmediately went back down.
And then a third time it slowlyincreased and went back down

(01:02:20):
and turned off.
And we were laying thereviolently awake.
Violently awake is the best wayto put it.
I was like, there's no way thatjust happened.
Singular fuck.
Like, is this for whom the belltolls?
What is happening?
For whom the dimmer activates?
Like, what is going on here?
Yeah, I had no idea.

(01:02:41):
I was like, what the fuck?
And then we went, we went, youknow, in the morning time when
we got up.
And I'm like, there's nofucking dimmer switch here.
Because again, it's just asingular switch to turn on off.
Electrical.
There's no fucking batteries inthe remote.
So I know it's not that.
It's not my cell phonetriggering the remote and it's
being dumb or whatever.
But then it didn't even havethe technology to do that at the
time.
Well, so we go to look at thewall, and I'm like, okay, if

(01:03:03):
there's some dimmer switch inhere, maybe there's moisture and
it slid down.
And then like the electrical itkept shorter.
If anybody electricallyengineeringly like is listening
to this, know I'm talking toyou.
Don't make fun of me.
I'm trying to, I was trying tothink of it.
I'm just trying to make senseof the nonsense here.
So I'm thinking maybe thedimmer switch is like bouncing
back and forth or you know,vibrations in trucks going by on

(01:03:24):
the freeway that's a way downthere, not next to the house,
really, but kind of uh is doingstuff.
Whatever.
There's not a dimmer switch.
It was just a paddle switch.
Yeah, it was just to turn onand off.
Right.
Um, we used to be downstairs,and where our living room was,
you could look up the stairwayand just see the top of the
landing, and you could see mydoor.
Yeah.

(01:03:45):
And from the dining room, youcould see your guys' just just
the very edge of your door.
Yeah.
And we would be sitting and Idon't know various times of day,
people over, not people over,and you'd look up and the light
would slowly come on.
Or you'd look over and it wason and it wasn't a couple
minutes ago.
Exactly.
And then you'd look at likeseconds later, whatever, and it

(01:04:06):
would be back off.
Back off.
It coming on slowly, though,was the weird part.
Now, the other thing about thishouse is we would be
downstairs.
I don't know how many times Idid this to you.
And Kyson, not just you.
But because it was a man, theheaviness of it was a man.
Um, her brother is a giant.
I think at the end when welived there, he he grew from

(01:04:27):
like six foot to like he's likesix foot five now.
But he was a giant and he was ayoung kid when we lived there.
And we'd be downstairs, I'd becooking, doing something,
whatever, and be like, hey, youknow, go tell your brother blah
blah blah.
And she's looking at me like,what when he gets home, you
mean?
Yeah.

(01:04:47):
There's no one upstairs.
And what we realized is thatthe footsteps had the same
pattern over and over again.
And it was so real that itwould catch you off guard, and
you'd literally like go to talkto, you know, like, oh, hey, you
know, my now husband, before uhwe got married, uh, you know,

(01:05:09):
we'd be doing stuff and and justinnately, because it was such a
heavy man step, you know, like,oh, hey, go tell Joe Dennis
Radio.
Like, he's not even here yet.
Like, yeah, huh?
What are you talking about?
Um, and it would just happenover and over again.

Speaker 1 (01:05:21):
Uh and once you memorized the house, you could
hear it go from your bathroom toyour room to out in the
hallway.

Speaker (01:05:26):
And it's it would never end right anywhere but the
hallway.
We Kyson walked it one timebecause I was like, my little
legs, I'm only five five.
My little legs, you're a littletaller than me, but you gotta
be stomping to make thosesounds.
That part, I mean, I'm a prettybig girl, but that part, but
also one, two, three, four,five, six, seven.
You know, I have these like allthese little steps or whatever,

(01:05:47):
you know.
And Kyson, it was like one, andit was weird because it started
on the footfall.
Yeah.
You didn't hear somebody pickup a foot or no, it was just
suddenly you're the footfall,footfall, footfall.
You know what I mean?
And it was like one, two, likeyou're out of the bathroom,
three, four, you're you're to mybedroom door almost.

(01:06:09):
Yeah.
And five, when you stepped outof my bedroom door, you your
feet were literally at the topstair of the landing.
Yeah.
And you could hear all of it.
Because that floor was creakyas hell.
Right.
And it would stop.
And you couldn't walk up anddown the stairs without hearing
it or back down the wall towardsthe bathroom.
Like effort.
Right.
The floor was consistently justcreaky and it was the house was

(01:06:32):
built in '95.
Yeah.
There wasn't a straight line inthat house.
No.
And it just got worse.
It did.
It the well, the lines and thehouse.
But um, one afternoon, thethree of us were sitting
downstairs.
Somebody else was there withus.
It was one of your guys'friends, and I don't remember
who.
And it was midday again, likeafternoon, and the way our

(01:06:54):
couches were set up, they wereparallel, like facing each
other.
And the right side of thecouch, like where the wall is
with the window, had a the glassshelving in the corner.
And on top of it, leaning backinto the wall, was a rectangular
picture of Santorini Grease.
Because we couldn't hang, itdidn't fit anywhere.
Right, it didn't fit anywhere.
And I just I loved it, wantedit.

(01:07:15):
Kyson was sitting on the couchin front of those the shelves,
which were just off to thecorner.
Yeah.
We were sitting on the othercouch.
I don't know what the hell wewere doing.
I assume wash.
Yeah, doing whatever.
Out of nowhere, the picturecomes crashing down.
It hits the floor, what, twofeet in front of Kyson?
Like it missed him completely.

(01:07:35):
Yeah, it didn't hit him.
No, it didn't hit him, and itdidn't bounce off the couch.
Like it went from leaning backinto the wall, back into the
wall, not straight up, notforward.
No, we didn't want it to fall,so we leaned against the wall.
Over the top of him, like over.
I mean, it was it must havebeen a distance of about 10 to
12 feet and landed in betweenthe couches on the floor, having

(01:07:59):
not touched anything.
Like the gained like a nastyrip from it.
Yeah, it got a nasty rip fromit out of nowhere.
There weren't cars driving by,nobody was touching door,
nobody.

Speaker 1 (01:08:10):
Even if it had been like an earthquake, it would
have just shuffled off of it.

Speaker (01:08:13):
If it had fallen.
It was leaning back.
It was canted back so much, itwouldn't have been able to clear
any distance.
It would have just tumbled.
Right.
It would have hit Kison, or itwould have it would have hit the
arm of the couch and likebounced into Kison.
Yeah.
It wouldn't have been.
It would not have vaulted in anarc over him to land in front
of us, having not touchedanything, anybody.

(01:08:35):
It actually would have gottenmore damage had it fallen
naturally than had it beenthrown.
Right.
Because it came up and over andlanded straight on one of its
edges.
Yeah.
Instead of sliding and rippingand whatever.
Wild.
Abs that house was absolutelywild.
Insane.
Yeah.
The new house that we have hashad nothing.
I think that's the first housethat we've ever lived in that

(01:08:57):
has had nothing.
Yeah.
Dead silence.
However, we're the first peopleto ever live in it.
That's true.
There's no mystery.
No, none.
The very first people to livein.

Speaker 1 (01:09:05):
That old house had a creepy like crossways too.
The old house had what?
A creepy crossways that wecovered with a very heavy.
Oh, no.

Speaker (01:09:12):
Yeah, not.
Because we didn't want to bedown there.
Not doing this.
Not doing that.
No, not at all.
Now that we've shared, youknow, ghost stories and like
truly creeping people out, weare gonna start off with coffee,
crystals, and divination towrap up our spooky episode.
In terms of coffee tea of theweek, there's two of them that I
kind of wanted to talk about.

(01:09:32):
So, which is choice to protector invite?
So I did some digging intohistorical folklore, and let me
tell you, our ancestors had somestrong opinions about which
herbs kept spirits away andwhich ones invited them in.
The best part, these are allsafe, common culinary herbs you
probably already have in yourkitchen.
No toxic plants, no sketchypreparations, just good

(01:09:53):
old-fashioned kitchen witchcraftmaking tea.
So, do you want to ward themoff or do you want to see what
they have to say?
So, if you want to ward themoff, the protector's brew is
rosemary sage and bay leaf tea.
If you're working a night shiftin the hospital that gives you
the creeps, brew yourself aprotector's brew before your
shift.
This is basically a drinkableshield made from the holy

(01:10:14):
trinity of protection herbs.
Rosemary has been used sinceancient times to ward off evil
spirits and negative energy.
The Romans actually believed itstrengthened travelers and
protected them from harm.
In medieval medieval Europe, itwas burned in sick rooms to
purify the air and keep demonsaway, which, let's be honest, is
what we're doing in hospitalstoday, just with different
methods.
Ancient Greeks wore rosemarycrowns to enhance memory and

(01:10:35):
mental clarity, and it was hungover doorways to present prevent
witches from entering.
In European folklore, rosemarywas burned with rue on May Day
to cleanse homes of ghosts andmalevolent entities.
So sage is probably the mostwell-known herb for spiritual
protection.
The Latin name salvia literallymeans to heal or to save.
So in Greek mythology, sage wasrevered as a powerful protector

(01:10:56):
cherished by the godsthemselves.
The ancient practice of burningsage in smoke cleansing is used
today everywhere.
You can find it, you can findsmoke clearing in Catholic
churches in mass.
You can find it in everydayhomes, secular practices,
agnostic practices, paganpractices everywhere to cleanse

(01:11:18):
spaces of negative energy andevil spirits using incense.
But consuming sage daily,medieval folklore claimed that
it would grant immortality,especially if eaten in May for
some reason.
And bay leaves are justabsolute magic.
It was used by the OracleAdelphi to enhance prophetic
visions.
So you're going to steep ateaspoon of dried rosemary, a
teaspoon of dried sage, and twobay leaves in hot water for

(01:11:40):
seven to ten minutes, strain andadd honey to taste.
Drink before your shift orcarry a small satchet of the
dried herbs in your scrub pocketfor portable protection.

And another folklore tip (01:11:49):
as you brew this tea, stir it
clockwise three times whilevisualizing a protective white
light surrounding you.
This amplifies the intention.
The other one.
So this is if you want to hearwhat they have to say.
The mediums brew the mugwortdream tea.
Now, if you're the type whowants to see what's on the other
side of the veil, maybe you'recurious, maybe you want to honor

(01:12:11):
the spirits, or maybe you justlike spooky experiences, then
you want mugwort tea.
So mugwort is Artemisiavulgaris, and it's been called
the mother of herbs and thewitch's herb for centuries.
It's revered across culturesfor enhancing dreams, lucid
dreaming, psychic abilities, andspirit communication.
The ancient Celts used to useit to connect with the spirit

(01:12:32):
world and aid in divination.
In shamanic cultures, it wasdrunk as a tea or placed under
pillows to induce propheticdreams and facilitate
communication with ancestors.
Interestingly, the Germans woregirdles of mugwort on St.
John's Eve to ward off ghosts,but here's the twist: it doesn't
keep all spirits away.
It creates a protectiveboundary while simultaneously

(01:12:52):
opening your third eye andintuition.
So it allows communication withbenevolent spirits while
keeping harmful ones at bay.
It's kind of like a spiritualbouncer at the door of your
consciousness.
So mugwort was associated withthe Greek goddess Artemis, who
governed the moon, women'shealth, and the hunt, as well as
the Anatolian goddess Hecate,who governs the moon, magic,
crossroads, and the liminalspace.

(01:13:14):
All thresholds beyond the veil.
If you're working night shiftin a hospital where death and
life dance together constantly,this is your vibe.
So steep one mugwort tea bag inhot water for 10 minutes.
Strain and drink plain or witha touch of honey.

Now, fair warning (01:13:28):
mugwort should never be consumed during
pregnancy or if you might bepregnant, as it is a uterine
stimulant.
It's also in the Artemisiafamily, same as ragweed, celery,
and sunflower.
So avoid it if you haveallergies to those plants.
Thhujone is a chemical alsofound in mugwort, which can be
dangerous in high concentrationslike essential oils and

(01:13:49):
tinctures.
So don't use those.
Get an already preparedcommercial bag of tea of mugwort
tea and use the bag version.
Start with a small amount totest your tolerance and make
sure you don't have allergies.
So according to medievalherbalists, if you inhaled the
scent of lavender while holdingmugwort, you could see ghosts.
So if you really want the fullexperience, brew mugwort tea,

(01:14:12):
light a lavender candle, and seewhat happens.
I take no responsibility forwhat you encounter.
My choice this week?
Honestly, I'm going with theProtectors Brew.
I've heard enough ghost storiesfor one episode.
I've experienced enough ghoststories in real life for many
episodes, and I'd like to sleepwithout any spectral visitors.
Thank you very much.
But I'm keeping some mugwort onhand for when I'm feeling brave

(01:14:34):
or when I need to connect withsomething bigger than myself.
So the choice is yours.
Now, let's start with ourcrystal prescription for the
week.
I've already talked about BlackTourmaline and Obsidian.
We know those are absolutelyphenomenal on deck, but I'm
gonna have you pull some crystalcards from our Oracle deck
while I also simultaneouslyshuffle the tarot, and you'll do

(01:14:59):
the crystal prescription andpull one, and then I will pull
divination.
And we'll see on this weekleading up to Soin, Halloween,
all Halloween, however it isthat you refer to it.
Are they like exploding in yourhand?
Not trying to shuffle them.
Oh, and that's not really no,those are huge cards.

(01:15:20):
Huge shuffle.
I'm trying.
I have to do it this way.
And the shuffling sounds thepodcast crew is used to hearing
because I always do live draw.
We've had so many like hauntedexperiences.

(01:15:40):
And it's funny when you try tothink of them, it's like it's
kind of hard to, but at the sametime, not really.

Speaker 1 (01:15:54):
What is this?

Speaker (01:15:56):
Uh the book, which we'll need to read from in a
minute.
Well, I dropped a card onthere.
Oh, on purpose?
What wait, what card was it?
Do you know?

Speaker 1 (01:16:05):
Okay, keep that one out.
It might have been on accidentbecause I didn't realize that
was on there.
Okay.

Speaker (01:16:14):
Okay, eight people.
How many am I pulling?
Well, three jumped out at me.
So however many decide to jumpout at you.
Okay, so let's see the crystal.
Uh, give me the book and tellme what yours are.
Go ahead and turn them over inthe or you hold them out.

Speaker 1 (01:16:36):
The first one I ended up shoving in there was smoky
quartz.
My favorite crystal.

Speaker (01:16:41):
It is your favorite crystal, and it is such a
protection crystal.
That is you have a massivesmoky or my gosh, she has a
massive smoky orb.
That is wild.
Okay.
Smoky quartz.
So smoky quartz, stabilization,grounding, resilience, and

(01:17:03):
purification.
You can weather the storm.
Smoky quartz serves as ananchor that helps keep you
steady in the midst of life'schaotic storms.
When the thunder starts rollingin, envision Smoky Quartz is
your anchor, gently calmingfear, stress, and anger,
dispelling the clouds ofdepression and fatigue, acting
as a protective shield againstnegativity.

(01:17:23):
This crystal nurtures youremotional stability and
encourages a shift towardspositive thoughts.
This card is urging you toembrace all the empowering
energy of Smoky Quartz, allowingit to infuse you with courage
and resilience.
Let this crystal be your anchorin life's unpredictable storms.
All right.
That's wild that that was yourfirst one.
That's crazy.
I people listening to thepodcast, um, I can't explain to

(01:17:47):
you.
It's as if she drew a card andit had her name spelled on it.
Like that's how pertinent or orrelevant.
I own a lot of that crystal.
Yes.
Smoky quartz is her specifickryptonite.
It's so beautiful.
So for her to draw that, in all30 episodes that I've been
doing this, not once have I everdrawn smoky quartz.
And I didn't even draw it, itgot stuck in the thing.

(01:18:09):
That's why I was telling you,wait, wait, wait, what is it?
Because that wanted to that youhad to have that one.
That's wild.
Okay, what's the next one?
Sapphire.
Reflection.
Oh.

Speaker 1 (01:18:21):
Okay.
I wonder if the mic just pickedup me running over my own foot.

Speaker (01:18:25):
Maybe, I don't know.
So reflection, sapphire, truth,wisdom, and spiritual
enlightenment.
This card invites you to lookwithin and reveal the wisdom
that resides in you.
Just like a mirror, sapphirereveals hidden truths beneath
the surface, empowering you toutilize this newfound knowledge.
If you're an overthinker or anover-analyzer, Sapphire brings
clarity and order to anyscattered thoughts.

(01:18:47):
Reflect inwardly and allow theenergy of sapphire to clear your
mind of any misconceptions andunwanted thoughts, leading you
to a crystal clear vision of howto express your truth
confidently.
Like it.
Yeah, lots of quartz happeninghere.

(01:19:12):
The card for this one's pretty.
Aren't these stunning?
Aren't these just absolutelybeautiful?
I love the colors.
So aqua aura quartz invigorate,soothing confidence, auric
cleansing.
The presence of an aqua auraquartz signifies a powerful
moment of revitalization andinner peace.
As the soothing and calmingenergy of this crystal washes

(01:19:34):
over you, this card invites youto invigorate your spirit and
renew your sense of calmness.
Just be still in this moment torevitalize your energy, release
stress, and connect with adeeper sense of peace within.
Allow the gentle energy of aquaor a quartz to cleanse your
spirit, uplift your emotions,and guide you towards a renewed
sense of vitality and serenity.

(01:19:54):
So these together, I'm gettinga lot of nervous system
protection, a lot of structure,calm.
A lot of clarity.
Tons of clarity, but not likenot like a nullifying or sleepy
or like dulling kind of calm.

(01:20:15):
It's like an invigorating,energizing clarity.
You know what I mean?
Like that's an incredible set.
Okay, so the first card that Iturned over that came out of my
hand was the hermit.
And it's sapphire.
Oh, wrong.

Speaker 1 (01:20:36):
Wrong book.

Speaker (01:20:37):
Sorry, I just hit the mic.
So the hermit.
Did we both pull sapphire?
Yes.
We did indeed.
These are so pretty.
I'll pass these over to you ina second to see this one.
Okay, so the hermit isintrospection, contemplation,
and solitude.

(01:20:57):
Sapphire, your inner guidance,wisdom, spiritual insight.
This is your cue to reflect andlook within yourself to find
the answers you seek.
You may need to disconnect fromthe crowds to gain a better
perspective by looking within.
We're sitting like six feetapart, five feet apart.
I don't know how big thesetables are.

(01:21:18):
How wide are these tables?
Oh, yeah, six feet apart.
And the fact that we're righton theme, simultaneously, like
live drawing cards is amazing.
Okay, the next one that I drewwas the Ten of Pentacles, which
is Parado.
Ten of Pentacles, wealth,family, security.

(01:21:44):
Parado is joy, abundance, andrenewal.
Spread the love.
This card comes to bring youwonderful news about wealth,
abundance, and connection tofamily.
And you're on the podcast withme.
Things are falling into place.
Share the wealth and abundancewith those closest to you.
Be proud of everything youachieved that got you here.

Speaker 1 (01:22:05):
That's a very sweet card.

Speaker (01:22:06):
I know.
That's amazing.
It's like a little moonpicture.
Sorry.
You're gonna hear a lot ofshuffling because I'm tossing
cards back and forth at her.

Speaker 1 (01:22:16):
Pentacles reminds me of Red Dead.

Speaker (01:22:20):
The tarot cards in Red Dead.

Speaker 1 (01:22:22):
Because you can collect the sets and then sell
them for a bunch of money.

Speaker (01:22:25):
Oh, were Pentacles a big deal?

Speaker 1 (01:22:28):
Pentacles of swords.

Speaker (01:22:30):
Um mage?
Hmm.
Something else.
Okay.
The last one was the Three ofWands, Serpentine.
Vision, Expansion, and Travelis the Three of Wands.
Serpentine is expansion,transition, and exploration.
Broaden your horizons.
This card indicates there aremany opportunities available to
you right now.
So it's time to think big.

(01:22:51):
This card is also assigned toexplore your adventurous side to
discover more about yourself.
Um, hello, amazing.
So inner clarity, wealth andabundance, and the unity of
family, and go on a trip.
Is there a snake on it?
No.
You said serpentine.
I did, but that's just thestone.

(01:23:12):
It's their really pretty ones.
Okay.
No snakes, I promise.
So I am arachnophobic,legitimately.
And while not snake phobic orwhatever that phobia is called,
uh.
I prefer not to look.
She prefers definitely not tobe exposed to them at all.
So that was a hell of a ride.
I hope these stories gave youthe chills in the best way

(01:23:32):
possible.
Whether you believe in ghostsor think that there's a logical
explanation for everything,these stories are part of our
nursing culture, passed downthrough generations, whispered
on night shifts, and shared overcoffee and break rooms around
the world.
They remind us that hospitalsare places where the veil
between life and death is thin,where miracles happen, where we
witness the best and worst ofhumanity, where we hold space

(01:23:54):
for the dying and welcome newlife.
Is it any wonder that theseplaces might hold more than just
the living?
If you have your own nursingghost story, I would love to
hear it.
We absolutely geek out on thisstuff.
So send it to me and maybewe'll do a part two of this
episode featuring listenerstories specifically.
So let's be honest, weliterally could talk about this

(01:24:15):
stuff all night.
Until next time, rememberyou're not just surviving,
you're thriving.
Keep crafting those rituals toheal the healer, and maybe keep
a light on tonight.
Sweet or spooky dreams, myfriends.
I love your faces.
Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know
Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

The Burden

The Burden

The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2026 iHeartMedia, Inc.