CRYPT CLIPS: Octoberpod Around the World!

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
The sound you hear is howling Arctic winds. This is
the start of October Pod. I'm Amber Jordan, real life

(00:30):
witch and one of the writer co producers here at
October Pod. I'm also a co host of my own podcast,
which is Talking Taro and as you can hear, I'm
on location with my portable podcasting Mike at King William Island,
Northern Canada. I just turned in a draft of my

(00:52):
latest story to Edward October, but he's not around. He
owes me money. He's such a stinker, and so I've
been traveling the globe trying my damnedest to find ed

(01:14):
who was apparently skipped town. But this is nothing unusual.
He frequently disappears to go on unplanned pilgrimages to explore
spooky locations. Ed recently binged season one of The Terror,
so I thought he might come here to retrace the

(01:35):
steps of the Lost Franklin Expedition. Unfortunately, there's no sign
of life for Miles and Miles, like Edward. Octoberpod has
been all over the world with stories set in diverse locales.
While I book Passage back down South. Why don't you

(01:59):
listen to an Encore presentation of this international chiller. I'll
be back with you in a spell, just as soon
as I set foot onto my next destination. See you soon.

Speaker 2 (02:18):
Purgatory Labs written by Jane Nightshade, narrated by Nicole Ingelbrecht,
creator host of True Crime South Africa.

Speaker 3 (02:31):
I hadn't been back to Captan in twenty five years.
The last time I saw it was when I was ten.
It was just after Mandela was sworn in as president.
It was just my mom and me, living in a
dingy two room semi attached on the outskirts of Epping

(02:53):
and industrial area of Captan. Dead hadn't been around since
I was born. We used to get a few wire
transfers of money from him in England, but that stopped
when I was about four. Mom worked in a Epping
soda bottling factory. On her afternoon break, she'd cycle over

(03:14):
to my school, put me in the kiddy trailer on
the back, and then peddled me off to Epping Playhouse
daycare center. Most of the ladies who worked in the
factory sent their kids to the playhouse. Now it was
twenty five years later and I stood in front of

(03:35):
the building that once hosted the playhouse. It wasn't in
operation anymore. The stucco bungalow was still the same blue
color it had been back then, but the paint was
faded and peeling. The windows were covered in ugly plywood,
and the door was nailed shut with crossboards. I shivered

(03:58):
a little in the blistering sun, remembering my last days
at the center with Little Quercy, my only friend. He
was a boy of seven who had had some kind
of bone disorder, and as a result he was very
small for his age. Still he had the brightest smile

(04:20):
and the sweetest nature of all the kids at the playhouse.
The two of us labored happily in the sandbox outside
the center for ours, building an imaginary world of castles
and kings. The playhouse wasn't a terrible place. The minders
were for the most part kind and cheerful. But then

(04:43):
there was old Villi, who worked in a large potting
shed that occupied the other half of the bungalow. He
specialized in hybridizing and grafting plants for nurseries, seed companies,
and other customers who wanted their own custom designer plant, shrub,
or tree. His little business was called the Villains specialty growers.

(05:08):
But he had an old pealing sign up on the
back wall inside that read Purgatory Labs. He told kids
that the bungalow used to be a government research facility
during World War two, and that was its nickname. Old
Villy didn't like us kids at all. We were too loud,

(05:30):
even though we tried as hard as we could to
be quiet. Some of us, though, would peek through the
murky windows of the potting shed, trying to see what
was going on in Purgatory Labs. Billy really hated that
he'd come outside, steaming with rage. He tried to build
a fence around his side to keep us out with

(05:53):
the big trespassers will be prosecuted sign, but the landlord
wouldn't let him. Cursy was fascinated with the potting shed.
I used to pull him away whenever he tried to
look through the windows. We always avoided Lillie's wrath until
one day Cursey and I went inside the potting shed.

(06:16):
We knew it was wrong, but the shed looked deserted,
and we thought Lilly was away somewhere calling on customers.
We found the door unlocked, and the next thing you
knew we found old Villie snoring in a corner, stinking
of whiskey. We both hulled our noses as we crept

(06:38):
by him. Cursey almost giggled, but caught himself as I
gave him a stern look to shut him up. He
clammed up. After that, we passed long rows of plants
and shrubs and pots. Some of them looked really strange,
like a flowering tree that had tricolored blooms on it, pink,

(07:00):
white and blue. Then we came to a sidewalk where
the peeling old purgatory lab sign was posted. Next to
it was a door to another room. Of course, we
had to open it up and go inside. The small
room held a jungle of sorts, all moldy and wet.

(07:25):
There was moisture trickling down the plaster. Small greenish windows
also beaded with moisture, let in dim, sickly ray as
the sunlight. The potted plants in this room were much
larger than the ones in the big main room. They
loomed far above us and blocked most of the light out,

(07:48):
making the room dark and shadowy. Some of the plants
had long choots or vines that clung to the walls
and ceiling, and were intertwined with other plants. Some resembled
carnivorous plants, but much larger than I ever seen. They
all looked weird, and some even malevolent, as if they

(08:11):
had minds of their own.

Speaker 1 (08:13):
Course.

Speaker 3 (08:14):
He tugged on the bottom of my t shirt. He
told me he was scared and wanted to go. I agreed,
and we quietly crept out. We turned around toward the door,
and that's when I saw the biggest, nastiest looking plant
of all. It was in a corner near the door,

(08:34):
and we hadn't noticed it when we'd first come in.
It gave off such an air of menace and deformity
that I stopped dead in my tracks. It grew all
the way to the ceiling and spilled out onto the
floor as well. Big celery like stalks sprouted thick, hairy vines.

(08:56):
From some of the stalks hung several huge seed pods
or possible cocoons, wrapped all around in smaller vines, like
a spider wraps a fly in a silk. We were
trying to sneak by this hideous thing hand in hand,
like we were trying to go around a sleeping panther

(09:17):
or a coiled snake. And then quite suddenly, a ropey
vine snaked out from the giant plant and grabbed Pursy
by the ankle, wrapped itself around and around halfway up
his little leg. Coursey let out the most awful screams.
I squeezed his hand and began screaming too. I was

(09:40):
so scared that I had no idea what to do.
The door opened and an old villie burst in, red
faced and angry, murderously so he roared curses at us.
I didn't hear much of it because I blacked out
from fear, just as terrified by the sun to Willie

(10:01):
as by the plant that had seized Coersy. When I
woke up an hour later, I was on my afternoon
Napcot outside the playhouse. My mom and Missus Deruitt, the
manager of the playhouse, were hovering over me with worried faces.

(10:24):
After I made them understand that I wasn't sick, I
learned that Coercy was missing, and they wanted to know
what had happened so they could find him. I told
them about the grabby plant, but they dismissed it as
childish foolishness. I told the same story to the police
and scores of others. I was made to see therapists

(10:48):
and child psychologists for years after the event. They all
tried to convince me that the detail about the living
plant had been a child's hallucination, perhaps a defense mechanism
against the horror I felt over what time might have
rarely witnessed of Coursey's disappearance rubbish, I saw what I saw.

(11:13):
The police also questioned old VILLI, of course, but he
claimed he didn't know anything about Coursey's disappearance either. He
swore that he'd left Coursey with me after I had fainted.
He said he'd gone round to the front of the
bungalow to get missus derout. Courtsey was gone when they
returned to us. His story didn't change a whiff. After

(11:36):
endless repetitions, we looked for Coursey for months, Momina. We
joined police search parties and helped put up flyers. Nothing
panned out. Even after the fruitless official investigation ended, we
carried on for a long time. I was devastated the

(12:00):
loss of my only friend. I prayed every night, hoping
against hope that he would be found. I prayed for years,
even after Mom and I left for Australia. As for
Old Villy, the police eventually had to let him go.
That scoured every inch of the potting shed and his

(12:20):
house too, but the only thing they discovered it all
suspicious was a dog eared flyer for a four year
old girl named Gussie, who disappeared in Epping two years before.
The newspapers made a fuss about the discovery of the flyer,
but there was no real evidence tying Billy to either

(12:41):
of the disappearances. The case remained open, but Billy was
a broken man. Everyone suspected him. The landlord canceled the
potting shed's lease. The last anyone from the playhouse ever
saw of him is the day he came with a
big truck to move most of his exotic plants and

(13:02):
trees from the shed. Another grower took up his lease,
but soon left, complaining that Villi had left some plants
behind and that there was something wrong with them. Twenty
five years later, trembling with fear and grief, I walked
around to the back of the bungalow where the potting

(13:24):
shed had been. There was one thing I had to do,
even though I didn't really want to do it. I'd
prayed all these years to know what happened to Percy,
and one day I'd had a sudden idea, an idea
so powerful I'd flown all the way from Sydney to

(13:45):
check it out. The door of the potting shed was
padlocked tight with the big iron chain, but the wooden
door was quite rotted through out two lower panels, enough
for me to crawl inside on all fours if I

(14:06):
kept my head down. I made my way to the
room where that grotesque plant had stood. In the corner
near the door, the purgatory lab sign was still up,
wearing twenty five more years of fading. The plants was
still there. It haunts my dreams to this day. But

(14:28):
it was dead. Fortunately, the stalks, vines, and pods were
brown and desiccated. I crunched a few dried vine leaves
underfoot as I approached it, gingerly, half expecting a tendril
to grab me, just as it had done to poor Coursy.

(14:49):
But no, the plant was dead, really dead. I had
to touch it to prove it to myself. Trembling I
re start to touch one of the pods, part of
its skin broke away, under my prodding, something fell out,
fell through the hole in the skin, a mummified arm

(15:13):
with a small child's golden bracelet around the skeletal wrist.
My first thought was that it was Gussie's. My heart
pounded with dread and anguish as I poked the skin
of the other pods until I found the one that
contained my dear little Percy.

Speaker 2 (16:10):
Monsters do have their place in the zoo, in your nightmares,
in the deep, in your favorite horror movies, but not
on your phone during an ad break. Politically motivated interests
are seeking to influence you through the ads placed on
this podcast. Hi, I'm your host Edward October, reminding you

(16:33):
that we have very limited control over the ads you
hear on October Pod. Please remember that only the ads
and promos I read with my own voice carry the
endorsement of Edward October and October Pod. Furthermore, I and
the makers of October Pod repudiate any entity advertised which

(16:53):
seeks to promote hatred, anti American or anti democratic sentiments,
or the spread of misinformation. Now with that in mind,
October Pod will return after this brief ad break.

Speaker 1 (17:22):
Welcome back. I'm October POD's very own resident witch Amber Jordan,
and my search for Edward October, who's gone off on
one of his crazy horror pilgrimages, continues. In addition to
everything else, he owes me, I think I'm going to
have to file an expense report for all the travel

(17:45):
expenses I've been racking up. As you might have guessed
from all this background noise, I'm on the fog shrouded
shores of Lochness in the Scottish Islands. I'm speaking to
you thanks to this rather ancient looking portable podcasting mike
I picked up from Ed's studio. I had a hunch

(18:07):
that Ed might be tracking down one of his favorite cryptids,
the Lochness Monster, but alas, our humble horror host seems
to be as good at avoiding detection as old NeSSI herself. Well,
I have plenty of time before my flight leaves, and
I'm starving. I haven't had a bite since eating that

(18:30):
whale blubber burrito at the North Pole. I'm going to
hike over to the visitor center to eat a NeSSI burger.
Why don't you travel through the miracles of podcasting to
sunny Mexico City for an encore presentation of this October
Pod classic, starring October POD's other co producer m J McAdams.

(18:54):
I'll be back in a spell to check in with
you at my next destination and hopefully fine dead.

Speaker 4 (19:06):
The world began to unlock its doors and open its windows.
Signs of life sparked quickly with the resurrection of humanity,
the heaviness of five painful years rolling away with the
worst behind us. We all started reclaiming our lives, one
piece at a time. The bomb, the fallout, cut a
wide gash through society, claiming lives, poisoning the lamb. But

(19:31):
I made it through. I am a survivor.

Speaker 2 (19:35):
Templo Mayor, written by v Castro from her original story,
narrated by m J mccadams with YouTube's Chauncey K. Robinson.
Most of production tales from hell and.

Speaker 4 (19:48):
To think it was only a small war, only a
small bomb as nukes go. I lived most of those
five years in a community fallout shelter just outsid side
the Dover Silver Lake Exclusionary Zone. Lockdown had atrophied my
mind and will. Every night I prayed for this world
to be cleansed, that something or someone would hear my pleas.

(20:14):
Then I'd pass out on my fema cod in a
dark corner of an open dormitory, where the stink of
cabbage and the cries of fussy children were always present.
I was lucky. Once I was out and the radioactive
contaminants had reached acceptable levels again, I booked a trip
to see my family in Texas, followed by a vacation

(20:35):
for myself in Mexico. To stimulate public spending, flights were
cheap hotels, the ones that survived splashed grand deals to
lure people farther afield, at least those who could afford it.
I poured all my savings into this, three whole weeks
of hearing and seeing other people again, new people, people

(20:57):
I loved, not displaced strangers. Perhaps I'd meet someone, how
long had it been? My itinerary began in Guadalajara, followed
by Vera Cruz, the pyramids on the Yucatan Peninsula, and
finally Mexico City. Most of my time would be spent
there as I wanted the sounds of life to fill

(21:19):
my head, sirens, shouting, laughter, curses, the aroma of street food,
live music. I wanted all of this a fresh start
my own resurrection. It was my last day in Mexico City,

(21:48):
and only one place left to see them. Built by
my ancestors to declare their ingenuity and celebrate the blood
that appeased the gods. When the temple stood in its
time of glory, skulls of the conquered and the pious
decorated wooden stakes for all to sea upon arrival. This

(22:08):
was a monument intended to awe and in still fear,
a place of sacrifice and burial ground for its victims.
To day only the ruins remained a headstone to a
vanquished civilization, with its people absorbed by the ground or
dispersed like seeds blown by a strong wind. I am

(22:28):
part of that history, a fifty fifty mix of conquistodoor
and the conquered. According to one of those Male Order
ancestral DNA tests, I bought myself one as a Christmas
present the last Christmas before the bomb. My body pumps
Misthiza blood, and ever since I was a child, I

(22:49):
had a deeper desire to immerse myself in a culture
I knew I didn't fully understand. Years ago. Before the bomb,
I visited the catacombs in pairs which were just as
macab as this place. However, I didn't pre book a
tour and had to wait in a miserable, cold drizzle
for an hour. When I had the chance to finally

(23:11):
descend the staircase leading to the portion of the catacomb
still open to the public, I had to push past
other tourists to read the well lit signs telling us
the history. It was a unique experience, but too many
people to take your time for Timplo Mayor. I arranged
for a private archaeological tour with a small group. I

(23:32):
thought perhaps we could spend a few evenings together. If
we got along, maybe make some friends. Many of my
close friends were gone. A few of them died in
the initial impact, most succumbed to radiation sickness, another cho suicide.
My heart ached grieving those losses. As I waited for Gabriel,

(23:54):
a PhD student from U T. Austin working on opening
unsealed chambers of the temple, who would be my tour guide.
I scanned the black and remnants of the temple that
sits in the center of a busy city. I shuddered,
imagining what it would have felt like to be let
up the great stairs that would have been brightly painted
to be gutted and consumed. Or what if I was

(24:15):
a priest thinking blood was the answer to the world's problems.
He stood with the setting sun to his back. The
strawberry blonde hair highlighted his soft brown eyes. He was
better looking than the selfies on his outdated blog. Wonder
what his touch would feel like. I had lived in
desperation far too long.

Speaker 5 (24:38):
You made it.

Speaker 4 (24:39):
You won't believe it. But the others canceled too much
partying last night.

Speaker 6 (24:43):
It's just us.

Speaker 1 (24:45):
Hope that's okay, their loss.

Speaker 5 (24:46):
I suppose he looked so good.

Speaker 4 (24:49):
I didn't care that I'd be alone in the dark
with a stranger. Quite the contrary. In fact, my phone
was fully charged and I felt comfortable in this city.
I found it curious he was the only one offering
such an off the grid tour, but every city had
some element of that.

Speaker 5 (25:05):
Work stopped on the excavation recently they found something extraordinary.
These little tours provide us with extra cash while we're here.
Most academic research being done these days was funded under
the guise of cancer research for obvious reasons. Even one
of our grands contains a provision to look within the
ruins for a rare mold which may have cancer fighting properties.

(25:28):
We're going to enter the site through that cathedral.

Speaker 7 (25:32):
You see it.

Speaker 4 (25:32):
There, another monument to sacrifice in blood, an attempt to
explain what is unknown. Christ did tell the disciples to
drink his blood. Priests self flagellated until their backs ripped open.
The church lay as silent and still as a bedtime prayer.

(25:53):
Not a single person sat in the pews. The candles
flickered as we entered, with the faint scent of incense
cleaning to the air. I couldn't help but notice the
drop in temperature. This cold, it's uncomfortable. I should have
brought a sweater.

Speaker 5 (26:11):
I should have warned you to dress more warmly than
one normally would for Mexico City.

Speaker 4 (26:15):
He led me to the bolted wooden door at the
back of the church. He took a key attached to
the side of his red, white and blue backpack Quaker colors.
What's with the upin backpack? I thought you were from
ut Austin.

Speaker 5 (26:29):
Oh that eh. I grew up in the Alleghinies, So
all my friends went to Upan or Penn State, or
Carnegie melon. I was a black sheep. I hitched my
wagon west. Be careful going down the spiral staircase. It's
more narrow than you'd think.

Speaker 4 (26:45):
The stone steps looked ancient with a string of lights overhead.
I followed his lead through the cramped space. The air
felt warmer and wetter. The farther we descended. I could
smell the damp and a sour staleness in the air
that was too strong to ignore.

Speaker 5 (27:00):
Watch yourself. This tunnel is only about five feet high
at the bottom. I find the ie fit easier with
that backpack slung in front of me.

Speaker 4 (27:08):
I can fit easily, though, if I crouch more tunnels.

Speaker 8 (27:13):
Huh wow?

Speaker 4 (27:16):
Do you know how many tunnels connect to this chamber.
My mouth was open in wonderment, and I stepped farther
into the room. Stones carved with the images of gods
lined one wall. Skulls and bones neatly created adjoining walls.
You could see the jagged seams of the craniums, some
with large gashes from a head blow. Black pits that

(27:38):
once held eyes stared back at me.

Speaker 7 (27:42):
Sacrifice.

Speaker 4 (27:44):
I turned to see a flint blade with a bone
and turquoise handle in his hands. Those beautiful eyes that
drew me in were as black and hollow as the
skull's watching us. Now his body blocked the tunnel leading
back to the church. I was trapped beneath the city.
I had a temple used for this very purpose.

Speaker 5 (28:03):
You allowed yourself to be led to your own grave.

Speaker 4 (28:06):
There was only one way to go deeper into the tunnel.
I had nothing on me to fight with. I bolted
towards a light hanging by a wire attached to the stone,
all down one of the bone line tunnels until I
could see clothing crumpled.

Speaker 7 (28:20):
On the ground.

Speaker 4 (28:22):
The dirt surrounding the severed body parts glowed bright crimson,
but not wet. The flesh appeared freshly torn. My eyes
widened at the sight, fully understanding what I was seeing.
A physical representation of the great stone disc found here?

Speaker 5 (28:40):
Did you find it yet? One of the greatest finds ever?
Isn't it truly magnificent? I recreated it in flesh.

Speaker 4 (28:49):
The decapitated and dismembered parts of a woman lay in
a circle. It is the story of goylchok Wtlabochtli burst
from his mother's body as a full grown man. Wutti
la Pochtli killed his siblings and dismembered his sister. Her
head flung to the sky and became the moon. I

(29:09):
tried to control my gag reflex and fled because I
wanted to survive. The past five years had taught me that.

Speaker 6 (29:16):
I glanced back.

Speaker 4 (29:18):
Gabriel was following close behind, as if in a trance.
He knew I had nowhere to go. Panic and fear surged,
pounding in my head and neck. I don't want to die.
Give me the strength to live. Show me what I
need to do. The deepest trench in my heart acknowledged
this was most likely a futile ask. No ears listened

(29:40):
down here, just as I knew no one heard humanity.
It still made me feel better to utter the words. Ahead.
I could see the tunnel diverted into a dark space.
Perhaps I could hide, Maybe I could wait until morning
when work resumed. I ran towards the dark that was
beginning to consume the illumination from the single light. I
put my back to the wall, felling stone and bone

(30:03):
beneath my fingertips. I inched deeper down the dark tunnel
until my hand hit something hard wooden. I bent down
and grabbed it, bringing it to my chest. The top
felt metallic, both in spiked some luck. The only sounds
were his footsteps, his voice, and the distant din of

(30:24):
cars above my head. Sweat slid down my spine and
between my breasts. I couldn't tell if it was from
the ambient temperature or my fear, bringing a sudden fever,
followed by chills, A thousand breaths of the slain uttering
their last words upon my skin. A light approached with
his steady voice. He had a flashlight attached to his head.

(30:47):
I moved deeper until I hit another wall, a dead end.

Speaker 6 (30:51):
I would have to fight.

Speaker 4 (30:53):
Blood would be spilt, but it wouldn't be mine. In
the light, I could see I held a pick axe.
It was small, the kind you use on soft dirt
or rock. It would have to be enough. Come closer
and I will use this. He cocked his head with
a wide grin, exposing his teeth like a predator, for

(31:13):
rushing towards me daggerant hand. I raised the pickaxe, ready
to strike. My entire body tightened. Before he could reach me,
I swung with all my strength, screaming out my fear
and grief in the process. My heart burst at the veins,
and my screen didn't stop until it pierced his hole.

(31:34):
He slumped on the ground. Blood oozed from the wound
in a steady stream, and brain matter clung to the
tip of my axe when I yanked it out, but
it did not pull. The earth soaked the red liquid,
drinking it with vigor. As I watched, I could feel

(31:54):
breath against my neck and my skin turned hot.

Speaker 9 (32:06):
Mastiza blood.

Speaker 4 (32:08):
You have arrived, many thanks for the final sacrifice. You
shall be my new priestess. I turned to see a woman,
her skin as brown as mine, with glowing moons for eyes.
She looked like the relief found in the temple, naked
to the waist, her full breasts hanging low the moonlight,

(32:31):
and her eyes pooled me towards her like the currents
of a vast ocean. My thoughts were no longer my own,
and her eyes I saw the end of it.

Speaker 10 (32:41):
All.

Speaker 4 (32:42):
Death to the world, the war, the bomb fallout, all
the suffering we had experienced was but the first wave
of many. I fell to my knees in piety.

Speaker 7 (33:00):
Yes, may the.

Speaker 9 (33:02):
New cycle begin.

Speaker 11 (33:35):
Somewhere The sun shines, somewhere, the birds sing, the glory
of a new dawn. Somewhere it's spring again. But here, here,
it's always Halloween. It's the Rogue Transmissions Halfway to Halloween
Hulla Balloon. Rogue Transmissions, an unhinged antholic of indie podcasts,

(34:02):
is invading your streaming device to throw a hell raising
halfway to Halloween party, featuring all of your indie podcasting favorites,
including Rue Crime, chick Lid, October pod Our, True Crime Podcast,
Pitney and Amelia's Bitch and Boutique, Spine Chillers and Serial Killers,

(34:27):
Serial Knapper, Twisted and Uncourked, and Witches Talking Tarot. It's
coming Tuesday, April twenty ninth to this podcast. That's right.
The Rogue Transmissions Halfway to Halloween Hullabaloo is coming to
the podcast you're listening to right now on Tuesday, April
twenty ninth, twenty twenty five. Rogue Transmissions, Rogue Transmissions, Rogue

(34:54):
Transmissions Halfway to Halloween Hullabaloo. List of participating podcasts may
vary to the first turn Something Enjoy, Rogue Transmissions, Responsible
Quick Prohibity.

Speaker 1 (35:24):
Hello Again, I didn't see you behind all that tall
elephant grass when I didn't find Ed at loch Ness.
I thought I might find him at the home of
his other favorite crypti, the elusive brontosaurus like creature known
as moquele Bembey. I hope I'm saying that right anyway,

(35:50):
That's why I'm here in the Congo River basin. This
is quite the game of hide and seek we're playing.
I'm starting to think that Ed is paying off the
locals and telling them to throw me off his scent.
I'm worried that I'm now more likely to come face
to face with a living dinosaur before I'll ever bump

(36:11):
into Ed again. But I haven't given up on him yet.
There's a watering hole in a tiny village a few
miles down the river, and I have it on good
authority that it serves one of Ed's favorite cocktails. I'm
hoping to find him there. Meanwhile, we have one more

(36:33):
encore presentation of an international spooky story for you, and
with any love, I will have found Ed by the
time you are done listening to it. I'll talk to
you again in a bit.

Speaker 2 (36:51):
A haunting in Normandy a true paranormal encounter submitted by
the woman who lived it. Co host of Spine chillers
and serial killers and a British expat living in France.
Thank you for joining us today.

Speaker 6 (37:06):
Emma, thank you very much for having me.

Speaker 2 (37:08):
I understand you and your family have been experiencing a haunting.
Tell us about it, won't you.

Speaker 6 (37:14):
As most of you know, I have been in the
past quite fascinated by all things spooky. I was a
horror film buff, loved a good book about true hauntings,
and for many years I was a goth. And during
that time I learned something. Kids are creepy, especially little girls.
Although granted, Damien from the Omen wasn't exactly a ray

(37:36):
of sunshine, but generally speaking, if there's a little girl
in a horror film, you know at some point she's
going to be climbing up walls or projectile vomiting over priests.
That's just the way it is.

Speaker 2 (37:48):
I can vouch for them. That does seem to go on,
that really does seem to happen.

Speaker 6 (37:55):
Bearing this in mind, I can't deny that when I
found out I was pregnant with my eldest, somewhere in
the back of my mind I had that uneasy thought,
what if she turns out to be creepy?

Speaker 2 (38:06):
Understandable. I mean, what parent hasn't I know?

Speaker 7 (38:10):
Right?

Speaker 6 (38:11):
Of course, the second she was born, that thought vanished entirely,
and I was completely wrapped up in how frigging adorable
and perfect she was. She was quite possibly the most
beautiful baby in the world. Ever. Okay, I might have
been a bit biased, but you get the idea. Not
a creepy bone in her chubby little body. That is
until now. She's now coming up to four years old.

(38:43):
She's extremely bright and extraordinarily eloquent for her age. This
means that sometimes she comes out with things you wouldn't
expect a child her age to say. Up until now,
when she has said something surprisingly clever, I must admit
I do tend to be incredibly proud and secretly smug.

Speaker 8 (39:01):
Ha.

Speaker 6 (39:02):
My child is a genius. What good parents we must be.
But recently I have kind of been wishing she wasn't
quite so eloquent, as some of the random, clever things
she's been saying are truly terrifying. I mean, like stomach churning.
We're going to need an exorcist terrifying. It started maybe

(39:22):
a month or two ago she started talking about Leo,
her invisible friend, wonderful, I thought to myself. Imaginary friends
are creepy af and this is always how it starts
in the films.

Speaker 2 (39:35):
Captain Howdy from the Exorcist comes to mind, and Jody
from the Amityville Horror, Tony from The Shining Well. The
list goes on and on.

Speaker 6 (39:46):
Now I knew she had a friend at school, cord Leo,
so I just put it down to an overactive imagination.
Even when she would tell me that Leo had climbed
into bed with me and was hiding under the duve
by my feet, I didn't let it get to me.
It's just harmless play, I would say to myself, and
then I would give myself a mental pat on the
back for being so sensible and grown up about it.

(40:08):
There was a time I would have freaked out about
invisible little boys crawling into bed with me. But not now. No,
Now I was a fearless mum.

Speaker 1 (40:17):
Go me.

Speaker 6 (40:18):
After a few weeks, a new friend appeared to my daughter.
Her name was Sarah. Of course we couldn't see her,
just like that cheeky little bed stealing scamp Leo. So
now there were two fabulous But just like she had
an actual, real friend called Leo. She also knows as Sarah,

(40:39):
her dance teacher, So again we just put it down
to her imagination. All was one in the world with
Leo and Sarah. They would chase around the house or
have imaginary water balloon fights, and hardly do anything creepy
like perch on windowsills during the night to watch us sleep.

Speaker 2 (40:56):
Ugh, that is unsettling that that would bother me.

Speaker 6 (41:03):
Then, back in October, we had my husband's parents over
for dinner. We were enjoying a nice family dinner when
out of nowhere, my daughter starts talking about her friends.
Except now there are three. Now there is a Clement.
She does not know a Clyment. There is no one
by that name at her school.

Speaker 7 (41:22):
I checked.

Speaker 6 (41:23):
He's not a character from one of her books, nor
from any of the cartoons she watches. I have no
explanation for Clyment, and she is not sure who he
is either. Really, Leo and Sarah are brother and sister,
but Clyment is just naughty. That's all we know about him.
I would have much preferred him to be funny or silly,

(41:45):
but no, all he is is naughty. Great, and then
she just blurts out and you know, Leo is dead.
Sarah killed him dead, like your granddad, Mummy. My mother
in Laura and I just stared at each other, not

(42:07):
saying a word, but safe to say we knew what
we were both thinking. What the actual fuck? My lovely
husband censors my absolute horror at what my beautiful angel
has just announced at the dinner table and tries to
come to the rescue. But it's just pretend, Darling, isn't it.
He's okay, really he's not really dead, he says, No, Daddy,

(42:31):
he's really dead. Sarah killed him, she merrily replies, in
between two mouthfuls of chips. I felt a bit sick
at this point and was not looking forward to showing
my bedroom with my daughter and her new mates at bedtime. Yes,
my nearly four year old still sleeps in our room.
Long story for another time.

Speaker 2 (42:51):
Yes, I totally understand I had a cousin who up
through his thirties. Well that yeah, actually that's completely different situation.

Speaker 6 (43:01):
Here's another creepy bit. As we were getting ready for bed,
she starts talking about them again, this time adding that
we have an angry lady called Violet living in our
attic space. Violet is always cross and has purple lips.
A fun fact about our attic space is it's not
actually closed off by a wall. It just has a

(43:22):
sea through banister to stop anything falling out. So I
can see everything in our attic that overlooks my bed.
I now know I'm never sleeping again. Awesome, So I said, sweetheart,
can we not talk about them now? They're only pretend
they're not real? What she said next, and how she
said it will probably haunt me forever more. Her face

(43:45):
dropped into a scowl. She came very close to my face,
squinted her eyes and said they are real, then started
laughing and added, they're shouting, Mummy, always shouting.

Speaker 2 (44:08):
Pants change in aisle three.

Speaker 6 (44:11):
As my daughter grew up, we heard less and less
about her invisible friends. But I must admit, not a
night goes by that I don't look up in the
attic space and imagine an angry violet staring back at me.
My daughter never really spoke of her dead playmates again,
and we were blessed with another little girl a year after.
This brings the story to the present day. My children

(44:33):
are seven and four. A few weeks ago I heard
them chanting in the playroom I thought it was odd,
so I went to check on them. They'd made a
circle of toys and in the center of the circle
was their woody doll you know from toy story.

Speaker 2 (44:49):
Is that the one with Herbert Marshall in it? Or
is it the one with Van Heflin and Ida Lupino?

Speaker 6 (44:58):
I asked, somewhat they're up to. Youngest answered, Oh, we're
just trying to summon the wooded demon. I heard the
doll speak by himself a few days ago, and now
I want him to do it again. So it appears
we have a hornsed woody doll that speaks by himself,
and my daughters were trying to summon whatever demon inhabits him.
I repeat, my kids are seven and four. They shouldn't

(45:21):
know what a demon is, let alone how to summon one,
and how they knew what to chant pure gibberish to me,
But now I'm scared it was Latin or some demonic
shit is absolutely beyond me. My eldest is a sleepwalker.
No offense as sleepwalkers, but it's creepy and personally freaks
me out. But either way, she's our child and it's

(45:42):
kind of part of the deal that we look after her,
and so our bedroom door is always open just in
case she goes wandering at night. The layout to our
house is pretty basic, one big bedroom on one side,
a long hallway and another bedroom on the other side,
so if we leave both doors open, they can see
us and we can see them, and most of all,

(46:04):
hear them if they get up during the night. This
is exactly what my eldest did. One evening last week.
My husband got up and checked on her to make
sure she wasn't sleepwalking. She wasn't, she just needed the loop.
When she came out, she looked at him and said,
you know, at night, there's a black and white person
that paces in front of your bedroom door, right, and

(46:25):
also there's a brown haired lady that sits in the
bath all night. My husband just told us she'd probably
dreamt it, but she insisted she sees them most nights.
She wasn't frightened, just pointing it out to us in
case we weren't aware. Now, my lovely husband got pretty

(46:46):
freaked out by this and knew I'd hate it, so
I didn't tell me for a few days. But then
he thought he'd share that information with me at bedtime,
just before he'd turned over and went.

Speaker 7 (46:57):
To sleep mate.

Speaker 6 (47:01):
Since being aware of all this, I've heard loud banging
in my attic that I cannot explain. I've even filmed it.
It's on my phone. If you'd like to have a look,
I promise you it's not bollocks. It's all one hundred
percent true.

Speaker 2 (47:14):
I absolutely would like to see it. Ladies and gentlemen,
what we're about to show you is real, not a
work of fiction, not a hoax. If you are easily
upset by disturbing content, or if you are a spiritually
sensitive person, you may want to fast forward a bit
following this countdown five four, three two one role film.

Speaker 9 (48:39):
I don't like it?

Speaker 8 (49:01):
What is that? What's going on? What's happening? Look can stopped? Oh,

(49:31):
I don't like it.

Speaker 6 (49:36):
At first I thought it was a bird, but no
way that was a bird. Also fun fact, the cat
starts purring right when the loud bangs happen.

Speaker 2 (49:45):
You know, it's a common misconception that cats per only
when they're happy. They per to regulate their emotions.

Speaker 6 (49:53):
Exactly so, hurt kitties pur and scared kitties per.

Speaker 2 (49:57):
And kitties who've seen a ghost also per.

Speaker 6 (50:01):
Yes, it's something to do with the frequency of the
per having soothing or healing or restorative properties. I don't know,
but there it is. Make of it what you will.

Speaker 2 (50:12):
Thank you for sharing your experience with us, Emma. Be
sure to check back with October pod if the paranormal
activity becomes more severe. If you'd like to hear more
from Emma, you can find her and her friends on
spine Chillers and Serial Killers wherever you get podcasts.

Speaker 1 (50:31):
There you go, it's me again, Amber Jordan, the classiest

(50:55):
witch you know.

Speaker 7 (50:56):
Well.

Speaker 1 (50:57):
I've searched the globe for Edward October, who I assume
has skipped town on a pilgrimage to one of his
favorite spooky locations. I decided that if I'm ever going
to find ed I'm not going to be able to
do it with my detective skills. I'm going to have
to use magic. That's why I've taken my portable podcasting
mike here to the Brocket. It's the highest peak in

(51:20):
northern Germany and one of the best places in the
world for casting spells. Now, let's see. I have my
summoning circle arranged just so if this spell works as
I hope it should. The spirits will tell me exactly
where to find Edward October. Ghost, fiends and furies, old

(51:46):
friends and new I've searched the world over. There's nothing
left to do. Serpents and spiders. Tale of rats summon
Edward October on the wings. A beat knock on wood.
It's time to respond. Send us a message from regions beyond.

(52:09):
Goblins and goolies from last Halloween. Bring Edward here, make.

Speaker 7 (52:17):
Him be seen.

Speaker 1 (52:19):
Creepies and Crawley's odors that offend. Let my quest at
last come to an end. Wizards and witches, wherever you dwell,
give us a sign by ringing the bell. Well that

(52:40):
didn't work as well as I don't. Perhaps if I
speaking of magic, how did I get cell phones signal
all the way up here? I bet the international roaming
charges are gonna be murder? Hello, it's.

Speaker 7 (53:05):
What do you mean?

Speaker 1 (53:07):
I've been looking for you this whole time? Did you
even read my new script?

Speaker 7 (53:16):
Well?

Speaker 1 (53:17):
How the hell was I supposed to know? There was
a silent pe?

Speaker 10 (53:23):
Now?

Speaker 1 (53:23):
Wait one damn minute, where have you been all this time?
I've looked everywhere? Uh uh huh, awesome gravy you you're
making that up right? Uh huh uh huh okay, Okay,

(53:43):
I'll tell them sure yeapool means yeah, I'll jump on
the next plane, and don't forget to write me that check.
Smell you later, ed Well, you won't believe it. Edward
went to the International Gravy Festival in Paris, Tennessee. After

(54:05):
sampling the cutting edge of biscuits and gravy arts and sciences,
he returned to the October Pod Ranch in the Great
Smoky Mountains to recover from a food comer by binge
watching every vampire movie known to exist on VHS. I
would have found him when I was there, but he's
been hidden away in a secret chamber beneath the sub

(54:28):
basement of the ranch, which has fashioned into a vast
library for dead physical media formats. Legend has it that
you could get lost for days down there, and if
you do get lost, you must solve the riddle of
the maliceful thousand year old hermit who is rumored to

(54:51):
dwell there. Any who, I hope you've enjoyed this trip
around the world with October Pod at Night, as well
as all of our indie podcasting vesties. We'll be back
in two weeks with the rogue transmissions halfway to Halloween.
Hulla Baloo. It's sure to be a hell raising Halloween party,

(55:14):
well calculated to chase away the springtime blues for all
of us spooky people who make Halloween a way of life. Well,
I've got a plane to catch Until.

Speaker 12 (55:25):
Next time, Stay Spooky, Mays Mezsi Mason May, Sammy May
Sami a smellulator.

Speaker 2 (55:48):
Stick around after the credits for a brief word from
some of our fellow indie podcasters, creators and friends. There
may even be some bloopers, outtakes and bonus content as well.
You have been listening to Octoberpod. Octoberpod is produced, edited
and directed by Edward October. The series co producers are
m J McAdams and Amber Jordan. Logo and banner graphics

(56:12):
by Jessica Good Edward October character design by Nick Calavera.
Select still photography courtesy of unsplashed dot com. Select music
cues by Doctor dream Chip and various other stock music
and sound effects courtesy of freesound dot Org. Music from
Bigfoot Apocalypse and Thorax theme from Octoberpod composed by Nico Vittaesi.

(56:36):
All other images music and FX cues, except where noted,
are sourced from within the public domain. Follow us on
YouTube at Octoberpod, home Video, on Instagram and the app
I Still Call, Twitter at octoberpodvhs, and on TikTok and
Blue Sky at Octoberpod. Or find us and all of

(56:57):
our links on the world wide Web at October sobrapodvhs
dot com. For business inquiries or story submissions, email octoberpodat
gmail dot com. If you enjoyed this program, we'd be
very pleased if you told your friends about us, and
while you're at it, write us a five star or
equivalent review. Wherever you were listening, the man who spoke

(57:20):
to you was mister Edward October, a very gifted horror
writer who can scare you shitless. Her imagination is second
to none. Fantastic Victorian ghost stories. Jane Nightshade, the horror
author who's been called the Countess of Creep and the

(57:43):
Queen of Indie Horror, A Scream Full of Ghosts, Serial Encounters,
The Drowning Game, and coming later this year, Ghosts Never
Leave an hell Bound Highway. The horror fiction of Jane
Nightshade has been collected in more than three books. With

(58:04):
tales and over forty anthologies, magazines, and podcasts enter a
world of the macabre, the strange, and the quietly terrifying
with the horror fiction of Jane Nightshade, available wherever online
books are sold.

Speaker 10 (58:22):
Do you have to throw on your favorite true crime
podcast before bed in order to fall asleep? Same, and
it's the very reason that I created Serial Napper. My
name is Nikki Young, and I'm here to lull you
to sleep, or perhaps to give you nightmares with some
of the craziest true crime stories that you've never heard of.

(58:42):
Each episode of Serial Napper features a different true crime
story told succinctly the way that it happened, just the facts, ma'am.
My focus is on unsolved crimes that need more attention,
cold cases, and wrongful convictions. While true crime shows can
sometimes be graphic nature, I ensure that the story is
told in a way that is respectful to the victims

(59:05):
and their families. Now, when it's time for bed, you
can look forward to thirty minutes of well researched and
detailed case files while you get your beauty sleep. Find
Cereal Napper on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you like
to listen to podcasts sweet dreams.

Speaker 13 (59:22):
How many times you said I need a new podcast,
can't find one? Well, let me introduce you to Tis Yourself,
the podcast you probably never heard of, has some of
your favorite TV, movie and musical stars, like are you
a Friends fan? Kay Donovan came by to talk about
dating Jennifer Ansten and then breaking up with her while

(59:42):
they were filming. Not a Friends fan? What about Kiky Blinders?
I just want to know what it's like to be
Tommy Shelby's right hand man. Hackey Lee can Biden. He's
telling me all about playing Johnny Doggs And then, of
course everyone's a Brooklyn nine nine fan, you have to
hear what it's like to play Scully. Joel McKinnon Miller
is on this season Kids Yourself, So why don't you
swing by see if there's an episode you might like,

(01:00:03):
and it'll be the new podcast you've just discovered.

Speaker 1 (01:00:06):
Oh thank god, my dog didn't start barking until after.
I really liked that. Edward went to the International Gravy
Festival in London, Kentucky. I'm gonna do it one other way,
just to give you options. Horn Toads and this.

Speaker 14 (01:00:23):
That was pretty much the same. And my dog's still working. Okay,
we're gonna go see why he's barking. Come back maybe yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:00:34):
Purgatory lab place bagpipes and laughing lake sideways. Well, you
won't believe it. Edward went to the International Gravy Festival
in Scotland County, North Carolina. Horn toads and lizards fiddle

(01:00:57):
and smoked. I don't like that whole done flair. What
kind of flair? Horn toads and lizards fiddles and smoke? Nope, Okay,
one more time, I'm gonna get it right. That did
not flow well, much like gravy with sausage. Mokay, the

(01:01:19):
elusive brontosaurus like creature known as moke le m ben
Bay possum gravy. You you're making that up right, ew
really em Edward went to the International Gravy Festival in Vienna, Virginia.

(01:01:44):
Like is that where Vienna sausages are conceptualized? For the
gravy in the festival Vienna, Virginia. We're gonna try a
couple other things here. Hopefully you like all of these
things for the the clips show at the end. Oh
my god, I hope that doesn't make it to the

(01:02:04):
clips show at the end. How embarrassing for me. Any who,
any Who, I hope you've enjoyed so much for me
starting back at any who? Fuck that, geez, any Who,
I hope you've enjoyed this trip around the world with
October pod Ed and I and all of our indie

(01:02:28):
podcasting besties. We'll be back in two weeks with the
Rogue Transmissions. Halfway to Halloween Hullabaloo. It's sure to be
a hell raising Halloween party, well calculated to chase away
the springtime blues for all of us spooky people who
make Halloween a way of life. Well, I've got a

(01:02:49):
plane to catch until next time. Stay spooky, and thanks
for coming to sit with me for a spell or
run around the world with me for a spell. You
know you know how it is. Yeah, bye, Well, I've
got a plane to catch until next time. Stay spooky

(01:03:10):
and stay No, I don't I.

Speaker 7 (01:03:14):
Might cut that out.

Speaker 1 (01:03:15):
Shit, I guess I'm done ad libbing because I kind
of I like the fucking around with the maze on me.
I also like the time where I was trying to
say Mays on me and I fucked around with it too,
But anyway, do as you will. Thank you so much
for letting me be a part of this episode. Until
next time, stay spooky, and thanks for coming to sit

(01:03:37):
with me for a spell because you know we're your
favorite witches on Witches Talking Taro and we are the
classiest witches you know. No Merelli and not us that. No,
I'm just gonna I'm gonna stop here, I'm gonna stop
on mad bye.

Speaker 7 (01:04:04):
Yeah. The biggest.

Speaker 11 (01:04:22):
A d.

Speaker 15 (01:04:32):
N Steen years.

Speaker 16 (01:05:25):
Yeah, y M yeah love.

Speaker 15 (01:08:17):
Name?

Speaker 7 (01:08:28):
Did you M?

Speaker 15 (01:09:59):
Yeah,

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