0:04

I'm Liz sour and this is ghost in the burbs.

0:06

A podcast of ghost stories from Wellesley massachusetts.

0:10

A warning adults who use adult language told me these frightening tales,

0:15

these ghost stories aren't for kids. There is a snoring dog in here with me again.

0:28

So if you hear snorts, I assure you it is not a demon.

0:33

This autumn is the autumn easiest autumn I've experienced in years.

0:38

It's been chilly and leaf peppery,

0:40

all gray skies and pumpkin carving,

0:43

hocus pocus two was perfect.

0:45

There's a new live action monster high movie out that I admit to fully enjoying and the new ghost adventures episodes are brilliant.

0:54

If a little bit cringe at times,

0:56

I just still love it.

0:58

I'm all in so happy High holy season.

1:02

Now the story or rather stories I'm about to tell you are truly all over the place.

1:07

We've kind of hit a point where I have to admit something and I feel stupid but maybe admit isn't the right way to put it something as we've discovered something and you need to know about it and it's spooky so we're gonna wind our way around a bit,

1:24

but we'll get there eventually for better or worse Now we're on a ghost story # 68.

1:30

Your guess is as good as mine. I'm not going down there again.

1:42

Well, someone has to, I made it about five minutes before I turned back Tim offered.

1:48

Its got to reach all the way down to the lake. You've already been down there once.

1:53

Betty pointed out, don't pressure her,

1:55

Her husband admonished. She's the one who sees ghosts.

1:59

What's the point of a normie going down there?

2:02

Right, I laughed. And now I'm definitely not going to do it.

2:07

I really didn't see anything but dirt and spiderwebs when I checked it out,

2:11

said tim. What if it caves in?

2:14

Hannah suggested, doubtful,

2:17

muttered Betty. How can you possibly know that?

2:20

I snapped again.

2:23

You're the only one here that can see ghosts and whatever the hell else might be down there.

2:27

Sure we could go. But all we'd see is spider webs and dirt like tim.

2:33

I sighed, knowing she was right,

2:36

I'll go with you. Chris finally offered,

2:39

but I need a hat. If there are spiders,

2:43

you don't have to do that. I protested.

2:45

Video. Come with me. What if there's an animal down there?

2:49

He countered like anesta raccoons or something or rats?

2:53

Suggested Betty. I shuddered.

2:57

Tim opened the closet door beside us,

2:59

reached into a basket and pulled out a winter hat.

3:02

Here you go, he said, offering it to chris.

3:06

Can I have one too? I took my hair up into an orange wool ski hat with a hot pink pom pom,

3:12

then grabbed the mag light from Betty's outstretched hand.

3:17

Let's get this over with,

3:19

I'll go first, said chris. No,

3:21

I'll do it, I grumbled. Just have your phone out to call the paramedics if we get attacked by a pack of rats.

3:28

Mischief, said Hannah.

3:31

Sorry, what chris asked.

3:33

A pack of rats is called mischief,

3:37

she said, Betty and her husband began giggling.

3:42

I got down onto my hands and knees awkwardly.

3:44

No worse than what you're imagining. And began the descent to the tunnel beneath the Branson's home.

3:51

Then stood with my back to the wall and waited for chris to meet me at the bottom of the ladder.

3:55

Ready. Ready?

3:58

We tapped our flashlights together and I started down the tunnel.

4:01

Chris close behind. Claire is here,

4:04

right, I'm here.

4:07

She's here. I replied. You sure you're okay doing this?

4:12

No, I hate it, but it's kind of fun.

4:15

Better than our usual date night. I like our usual date night.

4:19

Me too. Why in the hell did someone dig out this tunnel?

4:24

Your guess is as good as mine. We slowly made our way for about maybe five minutes or so.

4:30

When Betty's voice rang out,

4:32

You guys alive? No,

4:35

I yelled back. How much longer do you think this goes?

4:38

I whispered, claustrophobia creeping in.

4:42

I bet we're about halfway there.

4:44

I hope there's some sort of exit so we can just walk back up to the house from the lake.

4:48

You want to trade spots? I really don't mind going first.

4:52

Chris continued talking, but I wasn't really listening because I was so focused on not touching the walls or running into a spiderweb or tripping.

5:00

Suddenly my flashlight flickered and I froze just a little further.

5:05

Said claire as chris bumped into me,

5:08

knocking me forward and onto my knees.

5:10

The flashlight flew out of my hands and landed so it was facing us momentarily blinding me.

5:15

Shit! Sorry, are you all right?

5:18

Yeah, I'm fine. Why did you stop?

5:21

He whispered, his voice tinged with panic.

5:25

My flashlight flickered. I got scared that it would go out.

5:29

I left out Claire's prompting, not wanting him to be as frightened as I was working off the ridiculous logic that if he wasn't scared then maybe we were fine.

5:38

He bent down and brushed dirt off my knees.

5:41

You sure you're okay? Yeah,

5:44

but maybe we should come back tomorrow morning.

5:47

It'll still be dark down here, he reasoned.

5:50

We've made it this far. Let's just get this over with.

5:53

I only made it a few steps when my flashlight lit onto what could have been a big black rock leaning against the wall up ahead.

6:01

I took a few tentative steps forward when the black not a rock lifted its hooded head,

6:07

Chris nearly knocked me over again, but I caught myself on the wall,

6:11

scraping the hell out of my hand, but managing to hang onto the flashlight for dear life!

6:16

Who the funk is that chris whispered.

6:19

You can see her too! I screeched if you're wondering how we ended up in that tunnel.

6:28

Well, I'm sure it's no surprise that I would end up in that situation.

6:31

But poor chris ended up down there with me because as luck would have it,

6:35

he knew Hannah's husband, tim,

6:38

Hannah told tim all about our chat about the trouble in their house and he texted chris,

6:42

you wouldn't have to be married to a woman named Liz who can see ghosts would you?

6:48

The guys knew each other somehow through work and then by running into each other in town.

6:52

Over the years though, Hannah and I had never made the connection.

6:55

We worked together in the library anyhow,

6:58

tim and chris got texting and he asked if chris and I would like to come over for a drink some evening tim assumed that I'd told chris what was happening in their house which of course I had not.

7:10

The poor guy already checks the locks and windows every night before bed.

7:13

I don't need him worrying about hidden tunnels beneath their neighborhood.

7:18

So chris did not know what was happening in their home and he accepted the invitation.

7:23

I told him what Hannah told me and we hemmed and hawed about canceling but we didn't want to be rude and then I mentioned the coincidence to Betty and it turned out she and her husband were friends with the Brinson through kids sports and Betty sent a text and the next thing you know were gathered in the Brunson's kitchen discussing their hooded figure problem,

7:44

you know, I know I've mentioned this before,

7:46

but I hear a lot of stories that never make it to this podcast.

7:50

People tell me the craziest things in passing,

7:52

it's fantastic some of the stories are of the the night my grandfather died.

7:57

I woke up at like three in the morning and he was sitting next to my bed or my mom was in a motorcycle accident when she was 17 and she was declared legally dead for over two minutes.

8:07

She said she went into this really bright light and saw her great aunt who died when she was little and the woman told her to go back because it wasn't her time to cross back over yet.

8:17

And those stories are super cool and kind of comforting,

8:21

hopeful. But that's not why any of us are here.

8:25

We are here to get freaked out.

8:27

My very favorite stories are still the ones that chill me to my core.

8:32

That instead of offering comfort and hope,

8:34

they offer a touch of dread and despair and some of the spookiest appear when I least expect it.

8:42

For example, at a recent school event I got talking with some acquaintances and one of the dads realized that I was the woman who writes ghost stories in town.

8:52

So he grew up in the neighborhood that backs onto Woodland Cemetery.

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Yeah, the same one that sat behind the west Scots and Darvish's old houses.

9:02

He said that the neighborhood kids would play sardines among the tombstones by flashlights on summer nights.

9:08

One night when he was 10, it was finally his turn to be the one to hide First.

9:12

He knew exactly where he wanted to go. It was a spot he had scouted out a few nights earlier and had planned to use when his turn came.

9:20

The 47 acre cemetery is all rolling hills,

9:23

twists and turns. I wasn't able to determine how many graves there are in woodland,

9:28

but admittedly, I conducted only a shallow google search though I did find a recent swells.

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The report article stating that the cemetery owner is prepping space for an additional 2500 plots.

9:41

All that to say the place is big.

9:44

Absolutely. The last place I'd ever want to play sardines.

9:49

So the guy, let's call him, john told me he hid in a spot at the edge of the cemetery,

9:54

quite close to the surrounding woods where the lawn dipped and two toppled gravestones created the perfect hiding place.

10:02

He said the kids didn't like going near the woods,

10:04

but he didn't believe any of the urban legends.

10:07

Until that night. He'd been hiding for about 15 minutes,

10:11

which he assured me was quite the accomplishment when the first kid found him,

10:16

a boy named Jack. He didn't know anyone by that name,

10:19

but that wasn't that strange. It was summertime and the kids always had cousins or friends visiting who join in.

10:27

So they exchanged a few whispered words,

10:29

then sat listening for footsteps. After a couple of minutes,

10:33

Jack suggested they venture into the woods.

10:35

Just a little ways you've been here for almost 20 minutes.

10:38

He insisted They'll never find us in there,

10:42

john told him that was against the rules, but Jack wouldn't shut up about it,

10:46

and john was afraid he'd give them away if they kept talking.

10:50

Neighborhood rules had it, that if everyone didn't find you within 45 minutes,

10:54

then Isabel Garcia, the girl with the Timex glow in the dark,

10:58

stopwatch would call out dead man walking.

11:01

And the hider one, which didn't mean anything really other than a night of short lived fame.

11:07

But john knew he had a winner of a hiding spot,

11:10

and he had to get Jack to quiet down.

11:13

After some back and forth, he agreed to at least look at the spot.

11:16

Jack wanted to show him. They crawled on their hands and knees.

11:19

Jack leading the way. When john made it to the edge of the woods,

11:22

he'd lost sight of Jack. He sat on his heels unable to see a damn thing,

11:28

and feeling increasingly frightened.

11:30

The old stories of evil forest creatures and restless spirits creeped into his mind.

11:36

He didn't want to call out and give himself away,

11:38

and he didn't want Jack to get lost in those woods.

11:41

He took a guilty glance back at his hiding spot and saw a flashlight beams roaming too close for comfort.

11:47

So he crawled a short distance into the underbrush,

11:50

intending to find Jack and get back to his original hiding spot as quickly as he could,

11:55

Jack! He hissed into the inky black woods.

11:59

I'm going back, Jack! He whispered as loudly as he dared.

12:03

You're not going anywhere. A low voice rasped beside him.

12:09

A hand grabbed him by the neck and began dragging him forward.

12:12

He tried to pry the ice cold hand away,

12:15

but it held fast. He couldn't scream,

12:17

but his thrashing around was enough to call attention to himself and soon there were flashlights on him and he was lying on the ground gasping for air.

12:25

No one saw the other boy,

12:28

No one fessed up to knowing anybody by the name.

12:31

Jack john's parents took one look at his neck and called the police and that was the last night anyone played sardines in the cemetery.

12:40

Can I share your story? I asked him,

12:43

Yeah, sure. Just changed my name. Neighbour,

12:47

Lucy Williams asked me to change her name to for reasons that will soon become obvious.

12:53

She grew up in Connecticut in a farmhouse and when she was 12,

12:56

she woke up in the middle of the night and there was a woman sitting at the end of her bed.

13:01

The woman told her that she needed her help.

13:04

Lucy would soon learn something horrible about her father and Lucy had the power to do something to write some of her father's wrongs.

13:11

All she had to do was go into the attic,

13:13

get a shoebox hidden beneath the eaves and hide it in her closet,

13:18

but lucy wasn't allowed in the attic. So she hid under her blankets and waited for the sun to come up but the woman was still there.

13:26

She followed her into the bathroom and downstairs for breakfast.

13:29

Lucy did her best to ignore her presence but she couldn't,

13:32

the woman didn't say a word to her, she just tagged along with her the whole day.

13:36

Lucy dreaded bedtime. Her parents were very strict,

13:40

no phone calls after seven PM, no makeup,

13:43

no revealing clothing, no going on dates until she was 17 and bedtime at nine p.m. Every night,

13:49

no exceptions. The woman took her place again at the end of lucy's bed and again said that lucy could do the right thing but she was running out of time.

14:00

She had to go get that box. But at that point anyway lucy was more afraid of breaking one of her dad's rules than she was disobeying the ghost.

14:10

So she pulled the covers up and waited for morning.

14:14

The following day was the same with the ghost trailing her everywhere she went.

14:18

But that night the ghost became more persistent,

14:21

there wasn't much time if lucy missed her window of opportunity then the bad things her father had done would never be resolved.

14:30

The woman vowed that if lucy didn't get the box that very night then she would haunt her forever and lucy couldn't live another day with that spooky woman.

14:40

So she snuck up to the attic and got the box without getting caught the next morning.

14:45

The ghost was gone that afternoon when lucy got home from school.

14:49

There was a police car in her driveway and her father was speaking with an officer.

14:54

A young woman who worked in her father's office,

14:56

hadn't been seen in over a week. Had her father any idea where she might be sorry officer?

15:02

No, that night lucy lay in bed listening as her father stomped around the attic looking for a box he'd misplaced and she missed the ghost.

15:13

I'm sure you can guess what happened. But what was in the box?

15:18

Two sets of keys, a tube of chapstick and a Stephen king paperback.

15:24

The ghost woman hadn't been his only victim.

15:27

So yeah, people tell me wonderfully weird things and it's great.

15:33

I shared those two little spooky stories with you because safe way in the past scares are fun.

15:39

That's why I'm here. But I'm stalling all right back to the present.

15:46

Back to that tunnel. You can see her too.

15:51

I said more loudly than I'd hoped.

15:54

Unfortunately, Chris responded,

15:56

pulling me behind him and calling out who's there?

16:00

The small figure stood slowly and took a step forward.

16:03

Its face hidden beneath the hood. Stop.

16:07

Chris demanded the figure stilled,

16:10

then lifted its hands and pushed the black hood back,

16:12

revealing a familiar face. Hi,

16:16

Liz kate delivers said as though we just run into each other in the grocery store.

16:21

This must be chris, are you all right?

16:25

Chris asked, concerned. She's fine,

16:29

I snapped, attempting to move in front of him though he wouldn't let me,

16:32

resulting in an awkward little tussle. She's far from fine,

16:37

Clarin toned. What the hell are you doing down here?

16:41

I asked. I could ask you the same thing.

16:45

Who the hell is this person? Her name's kate and she and her husband are weirdo creeps who are obviously obsessed with harassing their neighbors.

16:55

You're in the neighborhood, right? I've been meaning to drop by,

16:59

she said, stay away from us.

17:01

You need to leave the Branson's alone and stay the funk away from their house.

17:05

You'll be lucky if they don't call the police.

17:08

The police can't really protect them from what's coming bullshit,

17:14

I spat. Keep your creepy little devil cult parlor tricks to yourself.

17:19

Careful, whispered Claire. I'd listen to your guide if I were you kate warned.

17:26

That stopped me cold. She could hear Claire,

17:30

You're not the only one in touch the other side,

17:33

Liz, She's hiding things.

17:35

You should watch your back. You don't know the half of it.

17:38

Watch it, Claire hissed.

17:40

I'd never heard her so angry. I pulled on chris's arm.

17:44

Let's go back. There was movement in the dark.

17:47

Behind kate, shadows ruled and twisted behind her.

17:51

We need to go now, see you soon kate called as we hightailed it back to the Brunson's call the police?

18:00

I shouted, scrambling up the ladder back into the small mud room.

18:04

Hannah and tim just stared. Did you find a body?

18:08

Hannah's thrilled. What?

18:10

God! No, it's your next door neighbor kate dildos.

18:13

She's down there. She's the one causing all your problems the night played out as expected.

18:21

The police came. We told them our story,

18:23

but kate was long gone by the time we'd explained everything to them,

18:27

we went home too. Amped to sleep and spent the night going over and over what had happened in that tunnel.

18:33

Betty showed up at our house the next morning right after we got the kids off to school.

18:38

It wasn't kate del vision. That tunnel,

18:42

it was, it wasn't.

18:45

I've never met her in person but I know who she is.

18:48

I insisted it was definitely her Her sister is ill and she's been in Connecticut helping to care for her kids since October five.

18:59

No. Yes,

19:02

he replied firmly. The wellesley police confirmed her story.

19:07

What the fuck? Yeah,

19:09

totally freaky. But what has me worried is what she or it said to you.

19:16

I side is Claire here now but he asked.

19:20

I nodded. I'm kind of surprised.

19:23

She didn't tell you that it wasn't really kate that night was a blur.

19:28

We had to get you guys out of the tunnel. Claire insisted before.

19:31

I could say anything. Has she seen different lately depressed.

19:37

That caught me off guard. What do you mean?

19:40

I'm gonna facetime, Judith, Betty pulled out her phone and Judith picked up immediately,

19:46

are you at her house? She asked.

19:48

We're here, Betty affirmed Judith side.

19:54

My gifts are touch and go right now.

19:57

And that is the same for every medium psychic and every other looney tune.

20:01

I know, but you've been at the top of your game since you made a deal with that banshee.

20:07

I considered what she had said and what she was implying,

20:10

my eyes slit, declare who'd been standing beside me?

20:14

She has no right, Claire said in a low voice,

20:17

Judith stared at me through Betty's phone screen,

20:20

her eyebrows raised. I'm just saying that things aren't what they seem right now.

20:26

There might be a chance that she trailed off.

20:29

You see me? I'm right here,

20:32

Claire through her hands out. This woman doesn't know what the funk she's talking about.

20:38

I tensed up, taken aback by her outburst.

20:41

What's she saying? But he asked quietly,

20:44

She's upset. Ask her something.

20:47

Only Claire would know. But he suggested like what?

20:52

I don't know, she's with you all the time. There has to be something.

20:55

This dumb bitch has no right to question me.

20:58

Claire screamed, She's just jealous because she doesn't have the psychic ability you have in your little finger,

21:03

tell her to leave, make her leave your house.

21:07

I just stared at her. She was scaring me.

21:10

I'd never seen her like that. I thought back to the tunnel to her reaction when the not kate had warned me that she was hiding something.

21:19

What was Vanessa's favorite song in high school?

21:23

Who? What? Your old friend Vanessa?

21:28

What was her favorite song when you were teenagers?

21:31

You're letting them get in your head. Claire Wind,

21:35

You don't know, I said quietly,

21:39

Claire opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again.

21:42

She pursed her lips and covered her face with her hands,

21:46

then we'll do it the hard way, she said,

21:49

her voice muffled. What's happening,

21:53

Judith asked, Shut the funk up Claire or the thing that was pretending to be Claire snapped.

21:59

She dropped her hands to her side. She transformed,

22:03

her face turned pointy and gray,

22:06

long flowing black hair swirled around her shoulders as if she were in a storm.

22:11

Her emaciated body twitched and her tiny black eyes were filled with a hatred I'd never seen before.

22:19

Who the fuck are you?

22:22

I whispered, I've made a commitment to keep our space ad free.

22:41

But if you are interested in doing something priceless to help the show,

22:44

please consider following me at ghosts in the burbs on instagram.

22:48

You're clicking that follow button is more valuable right now than I can express the choice to keep this podcast independent is intentional.

22:57

And your interaction with this podcast helps other people find our spooky little nook and as always,

23:03

while you're helping me please please do the same for all the podcasts,

23:06

shows, books,

23:09

every bit of content. You enjoy wherever you enjoy it.

23:13

I donate ghost in the burbs merch proceeds to various charities,

23:17

charities. Excuse me, october's donation will go to heading home an agency that provides emergency transitional and permanent housing and support services to extremely low income,

23:29

homeless and formerly homeless Children and adults primarily in the communities of greater boston.

23:35

You can find out more about them at heading home inc dot org and check out ghosts in the burbs dot com For all the links to the Autumn March that helped to raise money for that great charity.

23:47

Now tis the season to read your favorite cozy mystery and or brutal horror story.

23:53

I'm reading Halloween Party by agatha Christie.

23:57

Um it's the next one. They're turning into a movie which I'm really excited about and I'm also reading The Exorcist House by Nick roberts.

24:05

It's a tale about a demon infested home and I love it.

24:09

And then if you haven't yet, please,

24:12

I'll give this one more shot. Listen to claire and lilith by me on audible and finally watch Hell House LLC.

24:20

It's one of my very favorite found footage,

24:22

horror movies. It's truly spooky and then watch broken lizard's club dread because it is silly and super inappropriate and an excellent slasher mystery actually.

24:34

So until next time,

24:36

Good night, Sleep tight.