December 14, 2024 • 44 mins
It’s hard for him to enjoy the Christmas party, when he’s getting alerts from home. There’s a strange man at the door, and he’s creating strange patterns in the snow...
The New Ghost Stories Podcast is back to dial up the fear this festive season. But it’s a different type of festival chiller this year. A real-time story about how a life fell apart in just a matter of hours. So settle down, treat yourself to a nice warm drink, sit down by the fire and listen. And hope that only friends come to your door this Christmas.
Patrons help to keep this UK horror podcast going. If you'd like to become one, just visit https://www.patreon.com/newghoststories
Find more ghost story content on my Substack - https://newghoststories.substack.com/
The New Ghost Stories Podcast is back to dial up the fear this festive season. But it’s a different type of festival chiller this year. A real-time story about how a life fell apart in just a matter of hours. So settle down, treat yourself to a nice warm drink, sit down by the fire and listen. And hope that only friends come to your door this Christmas.
Patrons help to keep this UK horror podcast going. If you'd like to become one, just visit https://www.patreon.com/newghoststories
Find more ghost story content on my Substack - https://newghoststories.substack.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The story you're about to hear was told to me
in the strictest of confidence. Certain names, dates, and locations
have been changed to protect that confidence. Events that feature
in this story may be part of the public record.
If you believe you recognize any of the people, places,
or events that appear in this story, ask you not
to reveal any information publicly out of respect for the
subject's right to remain anonymous. Hello, and welcome to the
(00:30):
New Ghost Stories podcast. I hope you've been keeping well
as teased on our last regular episode. I've been holding
something back one last festive case to chill the heart
this Christmas. This is New Ghost Stories case number four
hundred and eighty eight and it's called Our Last Christmas
(00:52):
and I hope you enjoy it. All these times are
approximated using the best possible information that's available to me.
Five fifteen p m. I arrive back at the house.
(01:14):
My first impressions are that everything seems normal. The front
door is closed, and so are all the windows. None
of them are broken. I walk up to the door
and check the locks. I look through the letter box,
check the ring door bell. I put my key in
the lock and open the front door. I let the
door open all the way and listen to hear if
(01:36):
anyone moves inside into the house. I turn on the
hall light and go into the open plan kitchen dining room.
Then I go into the living room and then my office.
There continues to be no sign of a break in.
I check the back door and confirm it's also locked.
I check the upstairs and confirm that nothing has been disturbed.
(02:00):
There has been no break in five twenty five p m.
I reviewed the ring videos again. The first video is
about two and a half minutes long. The man with
the hood approaches the front door and he presses the
door bell. He stands waiting in the doorway for most
of the video, over two minutes. Then he crouches down
(02:22):
and looks through the letter box. He's on the ground
kneeling in the snow for close to twenty seconds. After that,
he stands up, turns around and walks away down the path.
The first video was from a few minutes before four o'clock.
I missed the notification and didn't watch it until approximately
ten to fifteen minutes later. I thought it was strange
(02:44):
and I became concerned. The second notification came at four
fifteen p m. And I became seriously concerned. In the
second video, which I watched live, the same man with
the hood was back at our front door. He looked
again into the window on either side of the door
to see if anyone was inside. He wore a thick
(03:04):
winter coat with something like a scarf or a face
mask underneath the hood, so it's impossible to see his face.
He had his hands in his coat pockets. He spent
a long time staring at our door. I can hear
my voice on the recording, and I'm saying, hello, can
I help you with something? What do you want? He
(03:27):
doesn't answer, and it's not clear whether he's heard me
or not. I repeat the questions, but he does not reply. Eventually,
he turns and walks away from the door and starts
to walk down the path. Then he stops less than
halfway along. He stays there, standing still for a long time,
(03:48):
like fifteen to twenty seconds. Then he turns right, as
if to walk around to the back of the house.
I go back outside, looking at the video, I walk
down the path and stop in the same spot that
the hooded man did. Looking to my right, I see
his footsteps in the snow. I follow them and they
(04:11):
lead me round to the gate at the side of
the house that leads into the garden. The back gate
is in a tall fence with overlapping panels. There is
no sign of damage to the gate, and it is
still locked, but it doesn't take much effort to undo
this type of lock. I slide my credit card in
the gap between the gate and the frame and use
(04:33):
it to easily lift the latch. I push the gate open.
I follow the footsteps. They continue around the side of
the house and into the garden. They make a wide arc,
coming off the path on to the grass, and then
back again to the other side of the house. I
double checked the back door and patio doors to make
sure there's been no sign of any attempt to break
(04:56):
in from the outside, even though there are no signs
of any footstep going there. I go back inside to
find the keys, which are in the far left hand
kitchen drawer as usual, and lock the shed and it
all looks normal inside. There's no sign of anything missing.
Five forty PM I locked the house up again and
(05:18):
return to the front garden. That's when I notice that
there are more footsteps. These footsteps lead up to the
spot where I saw the hooded man start his journey
around the house. He must have walked an entire lap
around the house. That isn't possible. There's no room to
walk around the shed, and there's the fence behind it.
(05:41):
But a trail of footsteps comes out from the fence,
as if someone has somehow walked right through it. And
when I look at this ring of footsteps, I can
see footsteps crossing other footsteps. This person somehow has made
multiple laps, going in a circle around and around the house.
I walked to the pavement in front of the house
(06:02):
and look up and down the street. There was no
one around. I check on neighbors on either side, but
no one appears to be home. Five forty five PM
I text Amelia to let her know I'm heading back
to her parents. I didn't tell her about any of
the strange things. I thought a lot about it, but
I thought she'd think I was being weird if I
(06:24):
messaged that kind of thing, and I didn't want her
to be spreading things in front of the family. I
don't want to be spoiling the vibe of the party.
I'd check the locks again and check there's still enough
power in the ring doorbell. I then start the drive
back to her parents place. Six thirty pm. I arrived
(06:45):
back at Amelia's parents place in good time, punch the
code in at the gate and park in the last
space on the drive. I was anxious to be there
not too late, as every year Amelia's father does a
big speech and it would have been bad to me
miss that. I kick the snow off my shoes before
I unlock the door with Amelia's key. The party is
(07:06):
in full swing inside. The lights are on low. There
are kids running around, a crowd of people are spilling
out of the family kitchen. ABBA's Greatest Hits is playing
on the stereo. Amelia has two brothers and one sister.
Both her brothers have two kids each and a little
sister has just had her first. The Big Man also
(07:26):
has two brothers, one with two kids, the other with three.
So there are lots of cousins, nieces and nephews, as
well as lots of people from the company in attendance.
I hang my coat in the cloak room. As I
go to find Amelia, I bump into Brett, who is
coming out of the downstairs bathroom. Brett is Amelia's sister,
(07:47):
Harper's husband. He says, hey, Jeffrey and shakes my hand,
wishing me a merry Christmas. I ask him how things
are going at the firm. He says, yeah, things are
going pretty great. You know I've been bumped to a
senior in sales. Really yeah, I'm working directly under Douglas now,
he says. Douglas is the younger of Amelia's brothers. Nice guy, Douglas,
(08:11):
I say, nodding, you're definitely making some noise there. Then congratulations,
thanks mate. Brett is practically a child. He seems smart,
but I had never pegged him as a shining star.
I can only deduce that he's done some serious work
on Douglas to get on the senior team so quickly.
(08:33):
Amelia is in the conservatory kneeling down next to a
coffee table. She's showing some of the younger kids how
to make snowflakes from paper and singing along to Gimmy, Yimmy, Jimmy.
Wendy is with her and she has one of her
faces on. Wendy is five was five. She has glowing
strawberry blonde hair, two pigtails, goofy gap, and her two
(08:56):
front teeth. She's wearing a red polka dot dress because
she loves anything that's in poker dot. She's the most
beautiful girl you've ever seen. She's upset about something. She
was fighting with Kathy again, Amelia says. Kathy is Ryan's
eldest daughter. Ryan is the order of Amelia's brothers. Kathy
(09:20):
is a real bully. What happened this time? I asked?
They are playing dodgeball upstairs. It got a bit competitive
and she got hit in the face and fell over.
I take a closer look, and I can see she's
looking a bit red. That's not right, I say. Kathy
is nearly ten. She shouldn't be playing rough with the
(09:41):
little kids. Why weren't you watching her? I can't be everywhere.
Ma'm put me in charge of arts and crafts. I'm
just trying to stop them from getting ink and glue everywhere.
A little boy I didn't recognize this one walks up
to Amelia proudly and opens out a roughly cut paper snowflake. Ah,
look at that, that is beautiful, she says to him.
(10:04):
I'm going to speak to Ryan. I tell her it
was just an accident. She tells me The little boy
stands in front of her and she helps him spread
glue on the back of the paper. She's much bigger
than the other girl. She shouldn't be playing rough with them,
or Wendy was supposed to be staying down here and
helping me, weren't you. Wendy huffs and shifts around on
(10:25):
a bum, looking away from us out the window. So
what happened at the house, she asks? I don't know,
I answer, Did you go into the garden this morning?
Not this morning? He didn't go through the back gate,
not this morning. She asks the little boy what color
glitter he wants on his snowflake? Why? What's wrong? It's
(10:47):
something weird, I say, But I decide it's best not
to go into it there and then I don't want
her to worry and spoil the evening. Everything looks fine,
Probably just some weirdo trying to ask for money or something.
Shall we call the police? Police won't do anything. Already
told you you're lucky if they even show up. Amelia
(11:07):
looks concerned, So I changed the subject. You hear the
news about Brett? What news about Brett? He's been promoted
to senior sales. Already all right, she says, not that interested.
It's quick. Don't you think he's not even been in
the business that long? She shrugs dead and Dougie must
raid him. Then she adds, you could still join the company,
(11:31):
you know, if you wanted to. It just surprised me,
that's all. There's a whole thing about me not taking
a job in the company that I won't go into. Here,
I hear a big commotion coming from somewhere. I stretch
to take a look down the hall, and I can
see that the big Man has made his appearance. I'd
better go. Say eloh to your dad, I say, haven't
(11:53):
had chance yet. Six forty p m. I go down
the hall and I see the big Man going into
the family kitchen. There's a whole crew of people going
with him. I know I'm going to have to get
my elbows out just to get some face time. I
push my way past some hangers on and get in
through the door. Someone is grabbing him a beer. He's
(12:14):
leaning up against the island in the middle, spinning one
of his yarns. Thank you, young men, the big Man says,
taking his bottle. So we're all waiting for it, we know,
Samuel we know he's not a man to lose gracefully,
and I I couldn't resist. When the final tally was official,
I put out my hand and I say to him,
(12:36):
good game, sam good game as measured and sportsmanlike as possible,
because I know that's going to drive him out of
his mind. And to his credit, he doesn't blow his
top right away, but he doesn't shake my hand. He
marches off with his clubs. We all watch him and
we wait for it. Five four three two one. He
(13:00):
screams and shirts, grabs his golf bag in both his
hands and he throws it in the bloody pond. I
was sure I'd heard this one before, and now they've
put money on it that half the people hanging on
his every word had heard it before too. Dozens of
dollars of claps in the water and they sink right
to the bottom. Samuel marches to the car park, gets
(13:22):
in his land Rover, and he's off. Now, even for Samuel,
this is a performance, a real showstopper. But the thing is,
we know he's not going to leave his clubs there.
So what I say to the boys is, let's turn
the lights down on the porch. He's going to be
back for those clabs. Let's sit tight wait for him.
(13:46):
It's after dark. When he dares show his face again,
we have someone on watch. He drives back, parks as
close as he can to the pond. Then when he
walks over to the edge, takes off his hues and
pens and starts going into the water. Me and the
boys we've already clocked him, and we're creeping across the green.
(14:07):
We've got a couple of torches, and just as Samuel
is dragging the bag up from the bottom, we turn
on him, put him in the spotlights and say, oh, Samuel,
you're back. Can we help you? San? Do you need
this to help you out? He leaps out of the water,
tries to run back to his car, but he's forgotten
his shoes and his decks. He goes back for them,
(14:28):
and my mate Pdy has his pants holds the man
and he snatches so hard he splits the bloody crotch.
He goes screaming and shedding off, throws his left shoe
at pe d drives off in his undies, and that's
the last any of us ever saw of him. I
join him with the laughter. The big man takes a
big swig. A skinny kid shouts him from the doorway.
(14:51):
Douglas wants to know if you want the mic on
for the speech. He doesn't need to be fiddling around
with all that. He puts down his drink and slaps
his ribcage with his hands. I've still got the pipes
for it. I see my chance and move in on him,
cutting off this guy with acne who I've never seen before.
He spots me and says warmly, Jeffrey, my lead. Havn't
(15:13):
seen you in ages. I got both a pat on
the shoulder and the handshake. Merry Christmas. Are you well
old Sport? Yeah? Good, I say, And how are things
in all the motive finance? Good? Really good? Shifting a
lot of those electric cars. Yet it's growing slowly, picking
up some pace. They're still too expensive. Upfront costs aren't
(15:34):
going down fast enough. They're gonna get there. There's a
number of new innovations coming. I mean, if you've got
a second sometime later, got something I'm working on it,
it'd be good to dad. Douglas has appeared in the doorway.
Mom wants to know when you're starting. You'll have to
excuse me, says the big man. He taps me on
the forearm. Judy calls and he shouts back, I'm coming,
(15:57):
my darling. He leaves this whole crew flocking after him,
leaving me at the back of the line. Six fifty pm.
Everyone starts to filter into the main living room. The
big panel doors are being opened up, combining that space
with a banqueting room. It's a huge space, but people
(16:19):
still crowd around the Christmas tree to get close for
the speech. Just by look, I happen to find myself
standing next to Ryan, so I take the opportunity to
address the whole Kathy situation. Johnny, you're right, mate, it's
Jeffrey Jeffrey Mantle. Oh yeah, right. I know that Ryan
doesn't like me much. He always looks at you like
(16:41):
you're something he wants to scrape off his shoe. At
least he seems sober. I just need a sect to
talk to you about Kathy. Why what's she been up to?
She was playing dodgeball with the kids early and she
threw the ball really hard in Wendy's face. And playing
a game sometimes kids get hurt. Yeah, but she's bigger
(17:01):
than most of the kids, and she plays rough. Where
was Amelia? Why didn't she do something about it? She's
looking after the other kids doing crafts on the infants table.
He's getting his back up. What he expect me to
do about it? Just tell her she can't play with
the other kids like that. You're a dad, Just be
a parent. You know he doesn't like that, And I
(17:23):
can see hez about to put his drink down and
have a real go When Douglas blows his vovou zeila,
the music has turned down and there's a big cheer
As the Big Man moves to his stage, which is
a large footstool in front of the fireplace by the tree.
He has to use a couple of members of the
audience for support as he climbs up on top. This
(17:44):
speech was long. This is what I recall him saying.
Why he isn't Gentlemen and household pets, Welcome and thank
you for coming to the annual Handsome family Christmas eveningees up.
The crowd cheers and there's some clapping. I'll try to
keep this brief, he laughs and points to someone in
the crowd. Don't look so skeptical. I can see you
(18:06):
all making eyes at the food so I won't hold
things up too much. It's a beautiful banquet, all courtesy
of my wonderful wife, Joe. Missus Hanson gets a big
round of applause and some wolf whistles as she takes
a little bow by the buffet table. It really does
smell good. They have a whole hired staff ready to
serve it. Now, my friends, it's important we have these
(18:28):
little talks, spend a little time together, because when we
stand together, there is nothing we cannot do. Everyone knows
it's been a tough couple of years, not the easiest
of times, and when the pandemic happened, it really looked
like the shit had hit the fan. They were saying
(18:48):
all over the place, no more offices, The work from
home revolution is here. These city centers, they're going to
be like ghost Hans. No one's ever gonna go back. Well,
I've said it before and i'll say it again. If
you're waiting for something to happen, you're not playing the game.
We could have been dozy waiting to see what happens next,
(19:11):
but instead we got cracking. We put the accelerator on
supercharged to our new hybrid working proposition, and we took
it to them. We said to them, we knew they
were going to bring the lazy bastards back into the
buildings eventually, just probably not as many. So we said,
you don't need all this space anymore. Do a new
(19:34):
deal with ass and we'll move you to a new
home that suits your needs better. Not like the old
boys hanging on to dear life, to old deals, squeezing
their tenants dry until the contracts expire, forcing them to
stay and burning their bridges. We took the initiative, even
if some of our clients were skeptical, and we had
(19:54):
to work hard to talk them around. And it's because
we fired first that we're not only back in the black,
but we're growing, growing, like it's the eighties again. There's
so many people, I think, but I really have to
hand it to Dougie Boy for his incredible work in
the sales team. The crowd Chance, Doug, Doug, Doug, and
(20:17):
you might have heard that we have some new blood
at the top of the sales team. Where is he? Brett?
You come up here? Brett squeezes through the crowd and
stands up next to the big man. Douglas brings over
a dining chair. The Big Man says, that's it, get
up where we can all see you. I wanted to
get young Brett up here, not just because of the
(20:39):
fine work he's been doing as our new senior sales executive.
It's because Brett's got a bit of fine news for us. All.
Heaving your son, Brett Nord's, the Big Man says, well,
spin it out, mate, Harper's pregnant again. We're having another baby.
There's a mix of oars and cheers, followed by some fause.
(21:00):
Brett gets a few slaps on the back from attendees
and shakes a few hands. There's two women standing in
front of me and they say to each other, Wow,
that's quick. Shuny just had the last one. I'm not
a lad for the tribe, roars the Big Man. Now
where is Harper? Come up here, my girl. The Big
(21:21):
Man jumps from the footstool to give Harper a hug.
That's it for me, folks, Let's all get some grab
A path is cleared for the Big Man to make
his way to the buffet. Ryan tries to make for
the queue, but he sees I'm still standing there. He
rolls his eyes and says fine, I'll talk to a
step mom about it when I get a chance. Seven pm.
(21:46):
As I'm about to go and find Amelia, I feel
my phone going off. It's a new notification from the
ring doorbell. I switch it on and the video shows
the man with the hoodies back and he's standing in
front of the door again. He's not doing anything. He's
not trying the bell or looking through the letter box.
He's just standing there. I can see steam drift through
(22:07):
his face mask. It looks like he's out of breath,
breathing quickly. What you want, I say into the phone.
I realize people can hear me. I slip into the gym,
close the door and yell, what the fuck do you want?
I know he must be able to hear me, but
he does nothing. I'm calling the police now, I shout,
(22:33):
get the fuck off my front doorstep or I'm calling
the cops. He does nothing until eventually he turns and
walks back along the path, and then, just like before,
he stops on the path, turns right on the lawn
to walk around the house again. I go looking for Amelia.
(22:54):
She's still in the conservatory. She asks if I can
watch the kids while she goes for food. I tell
her about the hooded stranger. You'd better call the police.
What are they going to do? It's Christmas Eve. They're
probably all pissed already. You're not going back again, there,
are you. It's our house, Amelia. I have to I'll
speak to dad see if I can get someone to
(23:16):
take care of it. It's my house, it's my responsibility
to protect it. You should still call the police. You
call them then, I can't wait around here. Seven ten pm.
I get back in my car. I've taken just my
coat on, my hat or gloves, and I'm starting to
(23:36):
regret it already because it's freezing. I turn up the
heating on the dashboard. It seems to take forever to
heat the car up. I want to drive faster, but
besides the ice, there's fog now too. I can hardly
see more than ten feet ahead of me. Amelia text
to say the police has said they'll be trying to
swing by and take a look at the house. Like hell,
(23:59):
they will back. Seven forty five pm. The first thing
I notice is that there's a light on inside the house.
I spring down the garden path and find the front
door is locked. It looks like the light is on
in the kitchen. I unlock the door and get straight
in there. There's no one in there. It's exactly the
(24:20):
same as it was when I left it. And then
I wonder did I leave the light on when I left.
I couldn't remember. I checked the back door, and that
two is locked. I turn on the light above the
back door. Something has changed. I walk and I look
at the strange ring of footprints in the snow. Only
(24:41):
there are three rings, three trails of footprints, with roughly
a meter between each ring. I walk closer and I
examine the first one. There are so many footsteps, someone
walking over the same path over and over. I think
to myself, who would do this and why? Then my
(25:04):
phone vibrates. I stand up and I get it out
of my pocket. There's a new notification from the ring doorbell.
Then I hear it myself from the house. There's someone
at the door. I go back inside. I can see
a shape through the front door window and the door
just opens because I didn't lock it. Behind me. The
(25:26):
figure standing there, it's just one black shadow. I can't
see a face or any features, or any clothing. It's
just all black. Bear with me this is where the
story goes really strange. I'm going to describe what I
felt was happening as honestly as possible. The floor seems
to slide away from under me. I start losing my balance.
(25:49):
I think I'm going to fall over backwards, as as
if something's trying to pull me forwards. I feel an
invisible force trying to drag me across the floor, and
I fight it. I try to walk backwards. The figure
lunges across the floor in my direction image to break
free of the pull, and I run un steady into
the garden. I feel like I'm drunk. The world sways
(26:11):
from side to side. I can't seem to go straight.
I'm still ahead of him, but when I go through
the first circle of footsteps, it's like I've passed through
something like I've belly flopped into water. There's a slap
across my whole body. And then I find I can't
run because it's like running when you're in water. And
when I pass through the second ring, it feels now
(26:32):
like I've got a bungee rope pulling me back. I
can't make the third ring. I can't stand up to
it anymore. The force finally pulls me off my feet
and throws me back into the snow. I slide on
the snow back to the patio. The air has been
knocked out of me. I'm on the ground and I
can hear the crunch of his footsteps in the snow.
(26:54):
I try to get up. I feel the howl of
air rushing past me. I'm nearly standing and I turn.
He is all blackness. There's no figure, no clothes or face.
He is just this void. And before I can cry out,
the void grows and I'm swallowed up. I disappear and
(27:15):
everything goes dark. I'm being dragged forward. I feel like
I must be traveling at a huge speed because I
can feel intense pressure across my chest, like centrifugal force.
I can feel it rippling across my flesh. My eyes
shut tight, I grip my teeth. The force is contorting
(27:36):
my body. I feel like I'm being pulled horizontal. My
arms are stretching and my chest is stretching, and my
legs are getting longer. And I'm panicking because it feels
like my flesh is going to be stripped from my bones.
I can't hold them against the force anymore. My eyes
come open on All I see is thousands of lines
(27:56):
of black, red, and white. My teeth come open and
I start to scream, but all I can hear is
an echo from somewhere behind me. When I think I
can't take it anymore, there's a snap, a sharp, deafening sound,
either crack of a whip or a flash of thunder,
(28:16):
the wind the force It stopped. Suddenly. I feel my
feet and legs come forward, my arms and hands drop back,
my head lifts up. It goes black, then white. I
get a sudden, sharp crack across my forehead. I tumble
backwards and land in the snow. Nine twenty pm. I
(28:40):
cannot account for the lost time. I do not know
where I've been or what's happened to me. I'm not
in the garden anymore. I'm in the alley that runs
behind the house. The snow has been falling thick. I've
been lying on the ground long enough for the snow
to start to cover me. I realize I'm freezing cold.
(29:01):
I stand up beyond the bruise on my forehead and
are ringing in my ears. I don't feel any different
than before. I almost feel normal, except for a splitting headache.
I check my pockets and I can find my keys,
but not my mobile phone. I look ahead at the
garden fence and I see that some snow has fallen
(29:23):
off it. There's a mark on the fence. I realized
that I must have run into it. That's what the
knock to my head was. But why did I run
into it? And how did I get here? I think
about climbing it to get into the garden, but I'm shivering,
and I decide to go around to the front of
the house. I try to jog in the hope I
(29:45):
can warm myself up a little. When I get there
a few minutes later, I see that the front door
is closed again and all the lights are off. I
go for my keys, but the keys to the house
are gone. I only have my car keys. I think
that they must have fallen off the keyring somehow. How
did they lock the door? Did they steal the house keys?
(30:08):
But why? I look into the windows. I can't see
anything wrong inside, but it's dark. It doesn't look like
anything's changed. I walk around the side of the house
to get into the garden. I try to open the
gate again using a credit card, but it won't shift.
There's something stuck there that's stopping the bolt from moving up.
(30:30):
I go back to the front of the house because
my phone is gone. I have the idea of trying
to use the ring doorbell to talk to Amelia and
tell her what's happened. I press the bell and I wait,
but there's no answer. I got to find my car.
It's parked further away than I remember. I'm so relieved
(30:51):
to find my phone there on the passenger seat. I
want to text Amelia, but when I try, I can't
find our chat on WhatsApp. It's gone. I try to
call her, but her number isn't there, neither of the
numbers for the rest of her family. I don't know
what's going on. My head is pounding. I'm confused, and
(31:11):
I'm starting to get really scared. I turn on the
engine and I head back to her folks house. I
can't seem to get warm, no matter how high I
turn up the heat. Ten oh five PM, I drive
up to the gate at Amelia's parents place, but the
entry code no longer works, so I part the car
(31:34):
up outside. The pedestrian gate hasn't closed properly, so I'm
still able to walk up to the house. My key
to the front door is also gone. I have to
press the doorbell and hope someone hears. It's noisy inside.
The party's taken off. I can hear people belting it
out to journey. I press the doorbell again about three
(31:58):
times after that, I knock hard with the knocker repeatedly
until I hear the lock being opened. It's Ryan. He
looks at me like he always looks at me. What
are you doing? He says, I had to go back home.
I saw someone was trying to get into the house.
I try to step inside, but he blocks me. Whoa, whoa,
(32:19):
Who the fuck are you? I'm trying to get inside, Ryan,
I don't know you. Who the fuck are you? Stop
messing around. I try to walk in again, but he
pushes me back. He's off his face. You stay the
fuck out. I'm warning you out of my way. I
try to barge past, but he shoves me back. Harder
(32:39):
I push him than He gives me a right hook
to the jawbone. I lose my balance and slip on
the ice and fall out of the porch. My head
is spinning again. I hear Douglas. Now he's standing in
the doorway with his brother. Who's this guy? I don't know.
He just tried to force his way in. I've had
it now. It just all boils over. I won't play
(33:00):
these stupid games with them. I get on my feet.
I go straight for Ryan and thump him right between
the eyes. He staggers back, grabs the rail on the
side of the porch. I try to plant another one,
but Douglas grabs me. He forces his arm under my
chin and drags me back while he tries to choke me.
I shout, let me fucking go, Doggie. Dougie throws me
(33:23):
and I stumble to the pavement. His brother comes from me,
but Douglas gets in his way, saying, don't not tonight.
It's not worth it. Well, let security handle it. Dougie
directs Ryan inside. Ryan spits at me before they go in,
and the door slams behind them. I'm fuming. I get
out of the snow and go back to the door.
(33:44):
I'm gonna start pounding on it again when I think
better of it. I go to the window to the
right of the porch to see if I can spot
anyone inside. The curtains are open, but the nets are across,
so it's hard to see anyone who's there. I go
to the windows on the other side of the door.
I can see better here into the breakfast room, but
it's still hard to recognize people. I tap on the window.
(34:08):
A couple who are talking glance at me, but they
decide to ignore me. I'm about to knock again when
I see someone walk through the room who looks like
they could be Amelia. She's the right height and he
looks like her hair, and she's going through to the hall.
I run back to the front door and hit the
knocker hard. I go on my knees and shout through
the letterbox. No one answers. Again. I bang on the
(34:31):
door with my fists. Amelia, let me in. This isn't funny.
Just let me in. The door opened. Suddenly it's Ryan.
He shoves something into my stomach. There's a crackle sound.
My stomach burns, my muscle's lot like iron. I jump
back and black out at the same time. It was
(34:53):
a taser. I was tasered ten fifteen PM. I wake
up quickly. There are hands under my shoulders. I open
my eyes and I can see my feet. I'm being
dragged along the path. Who the hell is he? It's
the big Man talking. It's Douglas who's dragging me? Fuck knows,
(35:15):
he says. I can hear the gate opening, Amelia, I cry.
He's shouting for Ames, says the Big Man. Probably some
online creep, says Douglas. I get my feet flat on
the ground and push myself up. Doug loses his balance
and I get free of him. Amelia, I shout again.
I try to run down the path, but Douglas is faster.
(35:37):
He jumps on my back and puts his arm under
my neck. Again. I struggle. I try to elbow him
in the chest. I must to get one good hit
in and get free of him, but I slip on
the ice and land on my knees. Douglas takes his
chance and kicks me hard under the chin, sending me
on to my side. I start choking. Douglas pulls me
(35:59):
by the back of my coat. I try to get
up to my feet again, but this only helps him.
He pulls me toward the gate, then pushes me through.
His Dad slams its shut. Did you call the police.
Let's not get Ryan in more trouble, answers the Big Man.
They start walking back to the house or keep trying security.
Maybe one of them sober enough to answer. I put
(36:21):
my hands on the gate and scream, I'll call the police.
I'll call them. You can't do this to me. You
can't get away with this. They get to the house
and I can see Amelia standing there in the porch.
I shout to her. She looks my way for a second,
then looks to her father. He puts her hand on
her shoulder, and they all go back inside. I don't
(36:43):
understand why are they doing this to me, but I
know that I'm not going to take this anymore. I've
been assaulted multiple times. I dial the police. They made
me do this. This is on them. Eleven thirty five pm.
It took a long time to convince the police I
(37:04):
wasn't some drunk. I had to play up the fact
that I'd been assaulted and I wasn't being allowed to
see my own daughter to make them take things seriously
enough to send people. There was two cops, a woman
and a man, who arrived. They get the family to
open up the gate and bring me back inside the
compound so everyone can talk. Douglas and the big man
(37:27):
speak to the woman while a man stands next to
me a few feet away, ready to stop things if
it starts to kick off. I don't know who this
man is, the big Man says, nane of us has
ever seen him before, and he comes up here, trying
to force his way inside, assaults my son. I yelled back,
he started it. He hit me first. You're trespassing on
(37:48):
my property. We have every right to protect our home
and my family. He adds calmly to the copper. He's
the maning to see my daughter. I can't let some
raving lunatic near her. I'm a husband and we have
a child. Man's out of his mind. My name is
Jeffrey Mantle. I married Amelia Hanson six years ago. I
(38:11):
say to the cop next to me, just let me
talk to her, just for a second. I don't know
why they're doing this, but she's my wife. She'll put
an end to this. He is not going anywhere near
my daughter, the big Man says. Perhaps just to settle this,
says the female cop, could she come out for a
moment and say whether she knows him or not. This
(38:32):
is insane. Daggie calls the big Man ask her to
come out for a second. You've got an it on you,
asks the male cop. I dig into my wallet and
hand him my driver's license. Slowly, out of the door
comes Amelia. I stare at her, straight into her eyes.
She looks scared and confused. Amelia, will you settle this?
(38:55):
Have you ever set your eyes on this man before?
She takes another look at me, a good long look,
and says, of course not. I've never seen him before
in my life. I can't believe it. I scream out
her name. The female cop asks me to calm down.
But I can't let this happen. Why are you doing
(39:17):
this to me? How can you say that? What have
they done to you? What did you say your name was? Again,
asks the male cop and Jeffrey Mantle. He shows me
my license. It says here your name is Nick Stoddard.
I snatched the license off him. That is your picture,
(39:39):
isn't it, sir? I start to feel sick. It's some
kind of fake. It must be with my face but
someone else's name and information. I feel faint. How did
they do this? What's going on? I think it's clear
this man is in need of help, says the big man.
Something's not right in the mental health department. I'm not lying.
(40:03):
My voice is strained. It sounds like a shriek. I
think you'd better come with us, says the male cop.
My daughter's inside there. What about that? You can't separate
me from my daughter? What's he saying? Says Amelia to Douglas.
Don't worry. We won't let him anywhere near Teresa, he says,
walking her inside, You're not walking away from me. I
(40:27):
push the cop out of my way. I run to Amelia.
Douglas gets in front of her to block me. But
then I see her. Wendy. She's standing on the doorstep.
I can see her with pigtails and her polka dot dress.
She's there and I look at her, and she looks
at me. Her face it's all wrong. Her hair was darker,
(40:50):
her nose was longer, and the gap in her teeth
is gone. She wasn't Wendy at all. A man appears,
Gas is back to me. He picks Wendy up and
takes her away inside. I want to reach out, but
the policeman is behind me. He pulls my arms back
and slaps on the cuffs. I have nothing to say.
(41:14):
There are no words. I was broken and I did
nothing As they dragged me down the path. All I
could do is stare at the house at the people
until they put me in their car and they drove
me away. My name is Jeffrey Mantle. Jeffrey Mantle. I'm
(41:38):
not Nick Stardard. I never met a Nick Stardard. I
don't know a Nick Stardard. I'm not a driving instructor
from Leeds. I'm from Lancaster and I work in car finance.
Both my parents are alive. I have a sister and
I have a brother. I don't care what anyone says.
This isn't my home. Live in a one bedroom flat,
(42:01):
I have my own house. I'm not divorced. I'm married,
I have a child. I'm an affluent, successful man. I
have a career and a family. This isn't my life.
I'm only thirty six years old. I don't know what
they did, but I will never give up. I will
never let them get away with this. I will get
(42:24):
back everything they took from me. They have my child.
I'm going to go back there on Christmas Eve, just
like last year. I'm not going to let them pretend
I'm not here. I'm not ever going to let them
forget about me. I may not be allowed to go
near them, but they're going to know that I'm still here.
(42:49):
This isn't over, and it's never ever going to be over.
My name is Jeffrey Mantle. Jeffrey Mantle Mantle. Thank you
(43:13):
for listening to the New ghost Stories podcast. If you've
enjoyed the podcast, make sure you give it a review
on any platform and subscribe to hear about new releases.
You can also get the latest updates on my substack
at new ghost Stories dot substack dot com. The show
has written, presented, and produced by me, David Paul Nixon.
(43:34):
If you want to keep up to date with me,
you can find me on Blue Sky Threads, Instagram, Mastodon,
and the website formerly called Twitter. If you have to
just search at New ghost Stories. I hope you have
a merry Christmas and a happy New Year
The story you're about to hear was told to me
in the strictest of confidence. Certain names, dates, and locations
have been changed to protect that confidence. Events that feature
in this story may be part of the public record.
If you believe you recognize any of the people, places,
or events that appear in this story, ask you not
to reveal any information publicly out of respect for the
subject's right to remain anonymous. Hello, and welcome to the
(00:30):
New Ghost Stories podcast. I hope you've been keeping well
as teased on our last regular episode. I've been holding
something back one last festive case to chill the heart
this Christmas. This is New Ghost Stories case number four
hundred and eighty eight and it's called Our Last Christmas
(00:52):
and I hope you enjoy it. All these times are
approximated using the best possible information that's available to me.
Five fifteen p m. I arrive back at the house.
(01:14):
My first impressions are that everything seems normal. The front
door is closed, and so are all the windows. None
of them are broken. I walk up to the door
and check the locks. I look through the letter box,
check the ring door bell. I put my key in
the lock and open the front door. I let the
door open all the way and listen to hear if
(01:36):
anyone moves inside into the house. I turn on the
hall light and go into the open plan kitchen dining room.
Then I go into the living room and then my office.
There continues to be no sign of a break in.
I check the back door and confirm it's also locked.
I check the upstairs and confirm that nothing has been disturbed.
(02:00):
There has been no break in five twenty five p m.
I reviewed the ring videos again. The first video is
about two and a half minutes long. The man with
the hood approaches the front door and he presses the
door bell. He stands waiting in the doorway for most
of the video, over two minutes. Then he crouches down
(02:22):
and looks through the letter box. He's on the ground
kneeling in the snow for close to twenty seconds. After that,
he stands up, turns around and walks away down the path.
The first video was from a few minutes before four o'clock.
I missed the notification and didn't watch it until approximately
ten to fifteen minutes later. I thought it was strange
(02:44):
and I became concerned. The second notification came at four
fifteen p m. And I became seriously concerned. In the
second video, which I watched live, the same man with
the hood was back at our front door. He looked
again into the window on either side of the door
to see if anyone was inside. He wore a thick
(03:04):
winter coat with something like a scarf or a face
mask underneath the hood, so it's impossible to see his face.
He had his hands in his coat pockets. He spent
a long time staring at our door. I can hear
my voice on the recording, and I'm saying, hello, can
I help you with something? What do you want? He
(03:27):
doesn't answer, and it's not clear whether he's heard me
or not. I repeat the questions, but he does not reply. Eventually,
he turns and walks away from the door and starts
to walk down the path. Then he stops less than
halfway along. He stays there, standing still for a long time,
(03:48):
like fifteen to twenty seconds. Then he turns right, as
if to walk around to the back of the house.
I go back outside, looking at the video, I walk
down the path and stop in the same spot that
the hooded man did. Looking to my right, I see
his footsteps in the snow. I follow them and they
(04:11):
lead me round to the gate at the side of
the house that leads into the garden. The back gate
is in a tall fence with overlapping panels. There is
no sign of damage to the gate, and it is
still locked, but it doesn't take much effort to undo
this type of lock. I slide my credit card in
the gap between the gate and the frame and use
(04:33):
it to easily lift the latch. I push the gate open.
I follow the footsteps. They continue around the side of
the house and into the garden. They make a wide arc,
coming off the path on to the grass, and then
back again to the other side of the house. I
double checked the back door and patio doors to make
sure there's been no sign of any attempt to break
(04:56):
in from the outside, even though there are no signs
of any footstep going there. I go back inside to
find the keys, which are in the far left hand
kitchen drawer as usual, and lock the shed and it
all looks normal inside. There's no sign of anything missing.
Five forty PM I locked the house up again and
(05:18):
return to the front garden. That's when I notice that
there are more footsteps. These footsteps lead up to the
spot where I saw the hooded man start his journey
around the house. He must have walked an entire lap
around the house. That isn't possible. There's no room to
walk around the shed, and there's the fence behind it.
(05:41):
But a trail of footsteps comes out from the fence,
as if someone has somehow walked right through it. And
when I look at this ring of footsteps, I can
see footsteps crossing other footsteps. This person somehow has made
multiple laps, going in a circle around and around the house.
I walked to the pavement in front of the house
(06:02):
and look up and down the street. There was no
one around. I check on neighbors on either side, but
no one appears to be home. Five forty five PM
I text Amelia to let her know I'm heading back
to her parents. I didn't tell her about any of
the strange things. I thought a lot about it, but
I thought she'd think I was being weird if I
(06:24):
messaged that kind of thing, and I didn't want her
to be spreading things in front of the family. I
don't want to be spoiling the vibe of the party.
I'd check the locks again and check there's still enough
power in the ring doorbell. I then start the drive
back to her parents place. Six thirty pm. I arrived
(06:45):
back at Amelia's parents place in good time, punch the
code in at the gate and park in the last
space on the drive. I was anxious to be there
not too late, as every year Amelia's father does a
big speech and it would have been bad to me
miss that. I kick the snow off my shoes before
I unlock the door with Amelia's key. The party is
(07:06):
in full swing inside. The lights are on low. There
are kids running around, a crowd of people are spilling
out of the family kitchen. ABBA's Greatest Hits is playing
on the stereo. Amelia has two brothers and one sister.
Both her brothers have two kids each and a little
sister has just had her first. The Big Man also
(07:26):
has two brothers, one with two kids, the other with three.
So there are lots of cousins, nieces and nephews, as
well as lots of people from the company in attendance.
I hang my coat in the cloak room. As I
go to find Amelia, I bump into Brett, who is
coming out of the downstairs bathroom. Brett is Amelia's sister,
(07:47):
Harper's husband. He says, hey, Jeffrey and shakes my hand,
wishing me a merry Christmas. I ask him how things
are going at the firm. He says, yeah, things are
going pretty great. You know I've been bumped to a
senior in sales. Really yeah, I'm working directly under Douglas now,
he says. Douglas is the younger of Amelia's brothers. Nice guy, Douglas,
(08:11):
I say, nodding, you're definitely making some noise there. Then congratulations,
thanks mate. Brett is practically a child. He seems smart,
but I had never pegged him as a shining star.
I can only deduce that he's done some serious work
on Douglas to get on the senior team so quickly.
(08:33):
Amelia is in the conservatory kneeling down next to a
coffee table. She's showing some of the younger kids how
to make snowflakes from paper and singing along to Gimmy, Yimmy, Jimmy.
Wendy is with her and she has one of her
faces on. Wendy is five was five. She has glowing
strawberry blonde hair, two pigtails, goofy gap, and her two
(08:56):
front teeth. She's wearing a red polka dot dress because
she loves anything that's in poker dot. She's the most
beautiful girl you've ever seen. She's upset about something. She
was fighting with Kathy again, Amelia says. Kathy is Ryan's
eldest daughter. Ryan is the order of Amelia's brothers. Kathy
(09:20):
is a real bully. What happened this time? I asked?
They are playing dodgeball upstairs. It got a bit competitive
and she got hit in the face and fell over.
I take a closer look, and I can see she's
looking a bit red. That's not right, I say. Kathy
is nearly ten. She shouldn't be playing rough with the
(09:41):
little kids. Why weren't you watching her? I can't be everywhere.
Ma'm put me in charge of arts and crafts. I'm
just trying to stop them from getting ink and glue everywhere.
A little boy I didn't recognize this one walks up
to Amelia proudly and opens out a roughly cut paper snowflake. Ah,
look at that, that is beautiful, she says to him.
(10:04):
I'm going to speak to Ryan. I tell her it
was just an accident. She tells me The little boy
stands in front of her and she helps him spread
glue on the back of the paper. She's much bigger
than the other girl. She shouldn't be playing rough with them,
or Wendy was supposed to be staying down here and
helping me, weren't you. Wendy huffs and shifts around on
(10:25):
a bum, looking away from us out the window. So
what happened at the house, she asks? I don't know,
I answer, Did you go into the garden this morning?
Not this morning? He didn't go through the back gate,
not this morning. She asks the little boy what color
glitter he wants on his snowflake? Why? What's wrong? It's
(10:47):
something weird, I say, But I decide it's best not
to go into it there and then I don't want
her to worry and spoil the evening. Everything looks fine,
Probably just some weirdo trying to ask for money or something.
Shall we call the police? Police won't do anything. Already
told you you're lucky if they even show up. Amelia
(11:07):
looks concerned, So I changed the subject. You hear the
news about Brett? What news about Brett? He's been promoted
to senior sales. Already all right, she says, not that interested.
It's quick. Don't you think he's not even been in
the business that long? She shrugs dead and Dougie must
raid him. Then she adds, you could still join the company,
(11:31):
you know, if you wanted to. It just surprised me,
that's all. There's a whole thing about me not taking
a job in the company that I won't go into. Here,
I hear a big commotion coming from somewhere. I stretch
to take a look down the hall, and I can
see that the big Man has made his appearance. I'd
better go. Say eloh to your dad, I say, haven't
(11:53):
had chance yet. Six forty p m. I go down
the hall and I see the big Man going into
the family kitchen. There's a whole crew of people going
with him. I know I'm going to have to get
my elbows out just to get some face time. I
push my way past some hangers on and get in
through the door. Someone is grabbing him a beer. He's
(12:14):
leaning up against the island in the middle, spinning one
of his yarns. Thank you, young men, the big Man says,
taking his bottle. So we're all waiting for it, we know,
Samuel we know he's not a man to lose gracefully,
and I I couldn't resist. When the final tally was official,
I put out my hand and I say to him,
(12:36):
good game, sam good game as measured and sportsmanlike as possible,
because I know that's going to drive him out of
his mind. And to his credit, he doesn't blow his
top right away, but he doesn't shake my hand. He
marches off with his clubs. We all watch him and
we wait for it. Five four three two one. He
(13:00):
screams and shirts, grabs his golf bag in both his
hands and he throws it in the bloody pond. I
was sure I'd heard this one before, and now they've
put money on it that half the people hanging on
his every word had heard it before too. Dozens of
dollars of claps in the water and they sink right
to the bottom. Samuel marches to the car park, gets
(13:22):
in his land Rover, and he's off. Now, even for Samuel,
this is a performance, a real showstopper. But the thing is,
we know he's not going to leave his clubs there.
So what I say to the boys is, let's turn
the lights down on the porch. He's going to be
back for those clabs. Let's sit tight wait for him.
(13:46):
It's after dark. When he dares show his face again,
we have someone on watch. He drives back, parks as
close as he can to the pond. Then when he
walks over to the edge, takes off his hues and
pens and starts going into the water. Me and the
boys we've already clocked him, and we're creeping across the green.
(14:07):
We've got a couple of torches, and just as Samuel
is dragging the bag up from the bottom, we turn
on him, put him in the spotlights and say, oh, Samuel,
you're back. Can we help you? San? Do you need
this to help you out? He leaps out of the water,
tries to run back to his car, but he's forgotten
his shoes and his decks. He goes back for them,
(14:28):
and my mate Pdy has his pants holds the man
and he snatches so hard he splits the bloody crotch.
He goes screaming and shedding off, throws his left shoe
at pe d drives off in his undies, and that's
the last any of us ever saw of him. I
join him with the laughter. The big man takes a
big swig. A skinny kid shouts him from the doorway.
(14:51):
Douglas wants to know if you want the mic on
for the speech. He doesn't need to be fiddling around
with all that. He puts down his drink and slaps
his ribcage with his hands. I've still got the pipes
for it. I see my chance and move in on him,
cutting off this guy with acne who I've never seen before.
He spots me and says warmly, Jeffrey, my lead. Havn't
(15:13):
seen you in ages. I got both a pat on
the shoulder and the handshake. Merry Christmas. Are you well
old Sport? Yeah? Good, I say, And how are things
in all the motive finance? Good? Really good? Shifting a
lot of those electric cars. Yet it's growing slowly, picking
up some pace. They're still too expensive. Upfront costs aren't
(15:34):
going down fast enough. They're gonna get there. There's a
number of new innovations coming. I mean, if you've got
a second sometime later, got something I'm working on it,
it'd be good to dad. Douglas has appeared in the doorway.
Mom wants to know when you're starting. You'll have to
excuse me, says the big man. He taps me on
the forearm. Judy calls and he shouts back, I'm coming,
(15:57):
my darling. He leaves this whole crew flocking after him,
leaving me at the back of the line. Six fifty pm.
Everyone starts to filter into the main living room. The
big panel doors are being opened up, combining that space
with a banqueting room. It's a huge space, but people
(16:19):
still crowd around the Christmas tree to get close for
the speech. Just by look, I happen to find myself
standing next to Ryan, so I take the opportunity to
address the whole Kathy situation. Johnny, you're right, mate, it's
Jeffrey Jeffrey Mantle. Oh yeah, right. I know that Ryan
doesn't like me much. He always looks at you like
(16:41):
you're something he wants to scrape off his shoe. At
least he seems sober. I just need a sect to
talk to you about Kathy. Why what's she been up to?
She was playing dodgeball with the kids early and she
threw the ball really hard in Wendy's face. And playing
a game sometimes kids get hurt. Yeah, but she's bigger
(17:01):
than most of the kids, and she plays rough. Where
was Amelia? Why didn't she do something about it? She's
looking after the other kids doing crafts on the infants table.
He's getting his back up. What he expect me to
do about it? Just tell her she can't play with
the other kids like that. You're a dad, Just be
a parent. You know he doesn't like that, And I
(17:23):
can see hez about to put his drink down and
have a real go When Douglas blows his vovou zeila,
the music has turned down and there's a big cheer
As the Big Man moves to his stage, which is
a large footstool in front of the fireplace by the tree.
He has to use a couple of members of the
audience for support as he climbs up on top. This
(17:44):
speech was long. This is what I recall him saying.
Why he isn't Gentlemen and household pets, Welcome and thank
you for coming to the annual Handsome family Christmas eveningees up.
The crowd cheers and there's some clapping. I'll try to
keep this brief, he laughs and points to someone in
the crowd. Don't look so skeptical. I can see you
(18:06):
all making eyes at the food so I won't hold
things up too much. It's a beautiful banquet, all courtesy
of my wonderful wife, Joe. Missus Hanson gets a big
round of applause and some wolf whistles as she takes
a little bow by the buffet table. It really does
smell good. They have a whole hired staff ready to
serve it. Now, my friends, it's important we have these
(18:28):
little talks, spend a little time together, because when we
stand together, there is nothing we cannot do. Everyone knows
it's been a tough couple of years, not the easiest
of times, and when the pandemic happened, it really looked
like the shit had hit the fan. They were saying
(18:48):
all over the place, no more offices, The work from
home revolution is here. These city centers, they're going to
be like ghost Hans. No one's ever gonna go back. Well,
I've said it before and i'll say it again. If
you're waiting for something to happen, you're not playing the game.
We could have been dozy waiting to see what happens next,
(19:11):
but instead we got cracking. We put the accelerator on
supercharged to our new hybrid working proposition, and we took
it to them. We said to them, we knew they
were going to bring the lazy bastards back into the
buildings eventually, just probably not as many. So we said,
you don't need all this space anymore. Do a new
(19:34):
deal with ass and we'll move you to a new
home that suits your needs better. Not like the old
boys hanging on to dear life, to old deals, squeezing
their tenants dry until the contracts expire, forcing them to
stay and burning their bridges. We took the initiative, even
if some of our clients were skeptical, and we had
(19:54):
to work hard to talk them around. And it's because
we fired first that we're not only back in the black,
but we're growing, growing, like it's the eighties again. There's
so many people, I think, but I really have to
hand it to Dougie Boy for his incredible work in
the sales team. The crowd Chance, Doug, Doug, Doug, and
(20:17):
you might have heard that we have some new blood
at the top of the sales team. Where is he? Brett?
You come up here? Brett squeezes through the crowd and
stands up next to the big man. Douglas brings over
a dining chair. The Big Man says, that's it, get
up where we can all see you. I wanted to
get young Brett up here, not just because of the
(20:39):
fine work he's been doing as our new senior sales executive.
It's because Brett's got a bit of fine news for us. All.
Heaving your son, Brett Nord's, the Big Man says, well,
spin it out, mate, Harper's pregnant again. We're having another baby.
There's a mix of oars and cheers, followed by some fause.
(21:00):
Brett gets a few slaps on the back from attendees
and shakes a few hands. There's two women standing in
front of me and they say to each other, Wow,
that's quick. Shuny just had the last one. I'm not
a lad for the tribe, roars the Big Man. Now
where is Harper? Come up here, my girl. The Big
(21:21):
Man jumps from the footstool to give Harper a hug.
That's it for me, folks, Let's all get some grab
A path is cleared for the Big Man to make
his way to the buffet. Ryan tries to make for
the queue, but he sees I'm still standing there. He
rolls his eyes and says fine, I'll talk to a
step mom about it when I get a chance. Seven pm.
(21:46):
As I'm about to go and find Amelia, I feel
my phone going off. It's a new notification from the
ring doorbell. I switch it on and the video shows
the man with the hoodies back and he's standing in
front of the door again. He's not doing anything. He's
not trying the bell or looking through the letter box.
He's just standing there. I can see steam drift through
(22:07):
his face mask. It looks like he's out of breath,
breathing quickly. What you want, I say into the phone.
I realize people can hear me. I slip into the gym,
close the door and yell, what the fuck do you want?
I know he must be able to hear me, but
he does nothing. I'm calling the police now, I shout,
(22:33):
get the fuck off my front doorstep or I'm calling
the cops. He does nothing until eventually he turns and
walks back along the path, and then, just like before,
he stops on the path, turns right on the lawn
to walk around the house again. I go looking for Amelia.
(22:54):
She's still in the conservatory. She asks if I can
watch the kids while she goes for food. I tell
her about the hooded stranger. You'd better call the police.
What are they going to do? It's Christmas Eve. They're
probably all pissed already. You're not going back again, there,
are you. It's our house, Amelia. I have to I'll
speak to dad see if I can get someone to
(23:16):
take care of it. It's my house, it's my responsibility
to protect it. You should still call the police. You
call them then, I can't wait around here. Seven ten pm.
I get back in my car. I've taken just my
coat on, my hat or gloves, and I'm starting to
(23:36):
regret it already because it's freezing. I turn up the
heating on the dashboard. It seems to take forever to
heat the car up. I want to drive faster, but
besides the ice, there's fog now too. I can hardly
see more than ten feet ahead of me. Amelia text
to say the police has said they'll be trying to
swing by and take a look at the house. Like hell,
(23:59):
they will back. Seven forty five pm. The first thing
I notice is that there's a light on inside the house.
I spring down the garden path and find the front
door is locked. It looks like the light is on
in the kitchen. I unlock the door and get straight
in there. There's no one in there. It's exactly the
(24:20):
same as it was when I left it. And then
I wonder did I leave the light on when I left.
I couldn't remember. I checked the back door, and that
two is locked. I turn on the light above the
back door. Something has changed. I walk and I look
at the strange ring of footprints in the snow. Only
(24:41):
there are three rings, three trails of footprints, with roughly
a meter between each ring. I walk closer and I
examine the first one. There are so many footsteps, someone
walking over the same path over and over. I think
to myself, who would do this and why? Then my
(25:04):
phone vibrates. I stand up and I get it out
of my pocket. There's a new notification from the ring doorbell.
Then I hear it myself from the house. There's someone
at the door. I go back inside. I can see
a shape through the front door window and the door
just opens because I didn't lock it. Behind me. The
(25:26):
figure standing there, it's just one black shadow. I can't
see a face or any features, or any clothing. It's
just all black. Bear with me this is where the
story goes really strange. I'm going to describe what I
felt was happening as honestly as possible. The floor seems
to slide away from under me. I start losing my balance.
(25:49):
I think I'm going to fall over backwards, as as
if something's trying to pull me forwards. I feel an
invisible force trying to drag me across the floor, and
I fight it. I try to walk backwards. The figure
lunges across the floor in my direction image to break
free of the pull, and I run un steady into
the garden. I feel like I'm drunk. The world sways
(26:11):
from side to side. I can't seem to go straight.
I'm still ahead of him, but when I go through
the first circle of footsteps, it's like I've passed through
something like I've belly flopped into water. There's a slap
across my whole body. And then I find I can't
run because it's like running when you're in water. And
when I pass through the second ring, it feels now
(26:32):
like I've got a bungee rope pulling me back. I
can't make the third ring. I can't stand up to
it anymore. The force finally pulls me off my feet
and throws me back into the snow. I slide on
the snow back to the patio. The air has been
knocked out of me. I'm on the ground and I
can hear the crunch of his footsteps in the snow.
(26:54):
I try to get up. I feel the howl of
air rushing past me. I'm nearly standing and I turn.
He is all blackness. There's no figure, no clothes or face.
He is just this void. And before I can cry out,
the void grows and I'm swallowed up. I disappear and
(27:15):
everything goes dark. I'm being dragged forward. I feel like
I must be traveling at a huge speed because I
can feel intense pressure across my chest, like centrifugal force.
I can feel it rippling across my flesh. My eyes
shut tight, I grip my teeth. The force is contorting
(27:36):
my body. I feel like I'm being pulled horizontal. My
arms are stretching and my chest is stretching, and my
legs are getting longer. And I'm panicking because it feels
like my flesh is going to be stripped from my bones.
I can't hold them against the force anymore. My eyes
come open on All I see is thousands of lines
(27:56):
of black, red, and white. My teeth come open and
I start to scream, but all I can hear is
an echo from somewhere behind me. When I think I
can't take it anymore, there's a snap, a sharp, deafening sound,
either crack of a whip or a flash of thunder,
(28:16):
the wind the force It stopped. Suddenly. I feel my
feet and legs come forward, my arms and hands drop back,
my head lifts up. It goes black, then white. I
get a sudden, sharp crack across my forehead. I tumble
backwards and land in the snow. Nine twenty pm. I
(28:40):
cannot account for the lost time. I do not know
where I've been or what's happened to me. I'm not
in the garden anymore. I'm in the alley that runs
behind the house. The snow has been falling thick. I've
been lying on the ground long enough for the snow
to start to cover me. I realize I'm freezing cold.
(29:01):
I stand up beyond the bruise on my forehead and
are ringing in my ears. I don't feel any different
than before. I almost feel normal, except for a splitting headache.
I check my pockets and I can find my keys,
but not my mobile phone. I look ahead at the
garden fence and I see that some snow has fallen
(29:23):
off it. There's a mark on the fence. I realized
that I must have run into it. That's what the
knock to my head was. But why did I run
into it? And how did I get here? I think
about climbing it to get into the garden, but I'm shivering,
and I decide to go around to the front of
the house. I try to jog in the hope I
(29:45):
can warm myself up a little. When I get there
a few minutes later, I see that the front door
is closed again and all the lights are off. I
go for my keys, but the keys to the house
are gone. I only have my car keys. I think
that they must have fallen off the keyring somehow. How
did they lock the door? Did they steal the house keys?
(30:08):
But why? I look into the windows. I can't see
anything wrong inside, but it's dark. It doesn't look like
anything's changed. I walk around the side of the house
to get into the garden. I try to open the
gate again using a credit card, but it won't shift.
There's something stuck there that's stopping the bolt from moving up.
(30:30):
I go back to the front of the house because
my phone is gone. I have the idea of trying
to use the ring doorbell to talk to Amelia and
tell her what's happened. I press the bell and I wait,
but there's no answer. I got to find my car.
It's parked further away than I remember. I'm so relieved
(30:51):
to find my phone there on the passenger seat. I
want to text Amelia, but when I try, I can't
find our chat on WhatsApp. It's gone. I try to
call her, but her number isn't there, neither of the
numbers for the rest of her family. I don't know
what's going on. My head is pounding. I'm confused, and
(31:11):
I'm starting to get really scared. I turn on the
engine and I head back to her folks house. I
can't seem to get warm, no matter how high I
turn up the heat. Ten oh five PM, I drive
up to the gate at Amelia's parents place, but the
entry code no longer works, so I part the car
(31:34):
up outside. The pedestrian gate hasn't closed properly, so I'm
still able to walk up to the house. My key
to the front door is also gone. I have to
press the doorbell and hope someone hears. It's noisy inside.
The party's taken off. I can hear people belting it
out to journey. I press the doorbell again about three
(31:58):
times after that, I knock hard with the knocker repeatedly
until I hear the lock being opened. It's Ryan. He
looks at me like he always looks at me. What
are you doing? He says, I had to go back home.
I saw someone was trying to get into the house.
I try to step inside, but he blocks me. Whoa, whoa,
(32:19):
Who the fuck are you? I'm trying to get inside, Ryan,
I don't know you. Who the fuck are you? Stop
messing around. I try to walk in again, but he
pushes me back. He's off his face. You stay the
fuck out. I'm warning you out of my way. I
try to barge past, but he shoves me back. Harder
(32:39):
I push him than He gives me a right hook
to the jawbone. I lose my balance and slip on
the ice and fall out of the porch. My head
is spinning again. I hear Douglas. Now he's standing in
the doorway with his brother. Who's this guy? I don't know.
He just tried to force his way in. I've had
it now. It just all boils over. I won't play
(33:00):
these stupid games with them. I get on my feet.
I go straight for Ryan and thump him right between
the eyes. He staggers back, grabs the rail on the
side of the porch. I try to plant another one,
but Douglas grabs me. He forces his arm under my
chin and drags me back while he tries to choke me.
I shout, let me fucking go, Doggie. Dougie throws me
(33:23):
and I stumble to the pavement. His brother comes from me,
but Douglas gets in his way, saying, don't not tonight.
It's not worth it. Well, let security handle it. Dougie
directs Ryan inside. Ryan spits at me before they go in,
and the door slams behind them. I'm fuming. I get
out of the snow and go back to the door.
(33:44):
I'm gonna start pounding on it again when I think
better of it. I go to the window to the
right of the porch to see if I can spot
anyone inside. The curtains are open, but the nets are across,
so it's hard to see anyone who's there. I go
to the windows on the other side of the door.
I can see better here into the breakfast room, but
it's still hard to recognize people. I tap on the window.
(34:08):
A couple who are talking glance at me, but they
decide to ignore me. I'm about to knock again when
I see someone walk through the room who looks like
they could be Amelia. She's the right height and he
looks like her hair, and she's going through to the hall.
I run back to the front door and hit the
knocker hard. I go on my knees and shout through
the letterbox. No one answers. Again. I bang on the
(34:31):
door with my fists. Amelia, let me in. This isn't funny.
Just let me in. The door opened. Suddenly it's Ryan.
He shoves something into my stomach. There's a crackle sound.
My stomach burns, my muscle's lot like iron. I jump
back and black out at the same time. It was
(34:53):
a taser. I was tasered ten fifteen PM. I wake
up quickly. There are hands under my shoulders. I open
my eyes and I can see my feet. I'm being
dragged along the path. Who the hell is he? It's
the big Man talking. It's Douglas who's dragging me? Fuck knows,
(35:15):
he says. I can hear the gate opening, Amelia, I cry.
He's shouting for Ames, says the Big Man. Probably some
online creep, says Douglas. I get my feet flat on
the ground and push myself up. Doug loses his balance
and I get free of him. Amelia, I shout again.
I try to run down the path, but Douglas is faster.
(35:37):
He jumps on my back and puts his arm under
my neck. Again. I struggle. I try to elbow him
in the chest. I must to get one good hit
in and get free of him, but I slip on
the ice and land on my knees. Douglas takes his
chance and kicks me hard under the chin, sending me
on to my side. I start choking. Douglas pulls me
(35:59):
by the back of my coat. I try to get
up to my feet again, but this only helps him.
He pulls me toward the gate, then pushes me through.
His Dad slams its shut. Did you call the police.
Let's not get Ryan in more trouble, answers the Big Man.
They start walking back to the house or keep trying security.
Maybe one of them sober enough to answer. I put
(36:21):
my hands on the gate and scream, I'll call the police.
I'll call them. You can't do this to me. You
can't get away with this. They get to the house
and I can see Amelia standing there in the porch.
I shout to her. She looks my way for a second,
then looks to her father. He puts her hand on
her shoulder, and they all go back inside. I don't
(36:43):
understand why are they doing this to me, but I
know that I'm not going to take this anymore. I've
been assaulted multiple times. I dial the police. They made
me do this. This is on them. Eleven thirty five pm.
It took a long time to convince the police I
(37:04):
wasn't some drunk. I had to play up the fact
that I'd been assaulted and I wasn't being allowed to
see my own daughter to make them take things seriously
enough to send people. There was two cops, a woman
and a man, who arrived. They get the family to
open up the gate and bring me back inside the
compound so everyone can talk. Douglas and the big man
(37:27):
speak to the woman while a man stands next to
me a few feet away, ready to stop things if
it starts to kick off. I don't know who this
man is, the big Man says, nane of us has
ever seen him before, and he comes up here, trying
to force his way inside, assaults my son. I yelled back,
he started it. He hit me first. You're trespassing on
(37:48):
my property. We have every right to protect our home
and my family. He adds calmly to the copper. He's
the maning to see my daughter. I can't let some
raving lunatic near her. I'm a husband and we have
a child. Man's out of his mind. My name is
Jeffrey Mantle. I married Amelia Hanson six years ago. I
(38:11):
say to the cop next to me, just let me
talk to her, just for a second. I don't know
why they're doing this, but she's my wife. She'll put
an end to this. He is not going anywhere near
my daughter, the big Man says. Perhaps just to settle this,
says the female cop, could she come out for a
moment and say whether she knows him or not. This
(38:32):
is insane. Daggie calls the big Man ask her to
come out for a second. You've got an it on you,
asks the male cop. I dig into my wallet and
hand him my driver's license. Slowly, out of the door
comes Amelia. I stare at her, straight into her eyes.
She looks scared and confused. Amelia, will you settle this?
(38:55):
Have you ever set your eyes on this man before?
She takes another look at me, a good long look,
and says, of course not. I've never seen him before
in my life. I can't believe it. I scream out
her name. The female cop asks me to calm down.
But I can't let this happen. Why are you doing
(39:17):
this to me? How can you say that? What have
they done to you? What did you say your name was? Again,
asks the male cop and Jeffrey Mantle. He shows me
my license. It says here your name is Nick Stoddard.
I snatched the license off him. That is your picture,
(39:39):
isn't it, sir? I start to feel sick. It's some
kind of fake. It must be with my face but
someone else's name and information. I feel faint. How did
they do this? What's going on? I think it's clear
this man is in need of help, says the big man.
Something's not right in the mental health department. I'm not lying.
(40:03):
My voice is strained. It sounds like a shriek. I
think you'd better come with us, says the male cop.
My daughter's inside there. What about that? You can't separate
me from my daughter? What's he saying? Says Amelia to Douglas.
Don't worry. We won't let him anywhere near Teresa, he says,
walking her inside, You're not walking away from me. I
(40:27):
push the cop out of my way. I run to Amelia.
Douglas gets in front of her to block me. But
then I see her. Wendy. She's standing on the doorstep.
I can see her with pigtails and her polka dot dress.
She's there and I look at her, and she looks
at me. Her face it's all wrong. Her hair was darker,
(40:50):
her nose was longer, and the gap in her teeth
is gone. She wasn't Wendy at all. A man appears,
Gas is back to me. He picks Wendy up and
takes her away inside. I want to reach out, but
the policeman is behind me. He pulls my arms back
and slaps on the cuffs. I have nothing to say.
(41:14):
There are no words. I was broken and I did
nothing As they dragged me down the path. All I
could do is stare at the house at the people
until they put me in their car and they drove
me away. My name is Jeffrey Mantle. Jeffrey Mantle. I'm
(41:38):
not Nick Stardard. I never met a Nick Stardard. I
don't know a Nick Stardard. I'm not a driving instructor
from Leeds. I'm from Lancaster and I work in car finance.
Both my parents are alive. I have a sister and
I have a brother. I don't care what anyone says.
This isn't my home. Live in a one bedroom flat,
(42:01):
I have my own house. I'm not divorced. I'm married,
I have a child. I'm an affluent, successful man. I
have a career and a family. This isn't my life.
I'm only thirty six years old. I don't know what
they did, but I will never give up. I will
never let them get away with this. I will get
(42:24):
back everything they took from me. They have my child.
I'm going to go back there on Christmas Eve, just
like last year. I'm not going to let them pretend
I'm not here. I'm not ever going to let them
forget about me. I may not be allowed to go
near them, but they're going to know that I'm still here.
(42:49):
This isn't over, and it's never ever going to be over.
My name is Jeffrey Mantle. Jeffrey Mantle Mantle. Thank you
(43:13):
for listening to the New ghost Stories podcast. If you've
enjoyed the podcast, make sure you give it a review
on any platform and subscribe to hear about new releases.
You can also get the latest updates on my substack
at new ghost Stories dot substack dot com. The show
has written, presented, and produced by me, David Paul Nixon.
(43:34):
If you want to keep up to date with me,
you can find me on Blue Sky Threads, Instagram, Mastodon,
and the website formerly called Twitter. If you have to
just search at New ghost Stories. I hope you have
a merry Christmas and a happy New Year
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