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Restrictions apply. See site for details. Absence

1:28

of company can suddenly terrify us.

1:31

We are stuck with ghosts or a

1:33

monster or some other scary situation we

1:35

have dreaded. And when we are alone,

1:38

no one can hear you scream.

1:43

First, a deadly challenge,

1:45

followed by a warm place in hell. Finally,

1:48

in our last story, the black

1:50

hole of despair. If

1:53

you haven't checked out our Patreon,

1:55

head over to patreon.com/snarled. Joining

1:57

our Patreon is a great way to support some people.

2:00

something scary in all the work that we do. And

2:02

before we get to our stories, I just

2:04

wanted to ask if you would take a minute to

2:06

rate or share this podcast. We are

2:09

incredibly grateful for all of our listeners. So,

2:13

want to hear something scary? No

2:20

one can hear you scream. Sometimes

2:25

it feels like you'll die of embarrassment if

2:27

you're called out for being wrong in front

2:29

of your phone. But

2:31

there are worse things that can happen out

2:34

there that can actually kill you. Like

2:36

in this story inspired by Lupin. Vic

2:44

had always prided himself on being rational.

2:47

He laughed at the mere mention of

2:49

believing in supernatural phenomenon. Ghosts,

2:52

magic, curses. They

2:54

were nothing more than tales told to

2:56

gullible people. But he

2:58

would not be fooled. He told

3:00

his friends how ridiculous they sounded whenever anyone

3:03

brought up such silliness. Or

3:05

was scared of something so make believe

3:08

as spirits and haunted houses. It

3:10

was a relatively warm evening for late

3:12

winter in San Jose when Vic's

3:15

friends issued him the challenge. Amidst

3:17

their giggles and banter, the

3:19

name Winchester House came up

3:21

in the conversation. The

3:24

infamous mansion was legendary. It

3:27

was filled with tales of hauntings

3:29

and spiritual encounters. It

3:31

stood as a beacon of the supernatural in their

3:33

city. Vic waved off their

3:35

warnings with a dismissive laugh. If

3:39

you think ghosts exist, I'll prove they

3:41

don't, he declared with a smirk.

3:45

I'll spend the night at the Winchester House

3:47

and show all of you just how

3:49

ridiculous your ideas are. His

3:51

friends exchanged knowing glances. Their

3:54

eyes filled with pain mischief. As

3:57

night fell, Vic found himself driving through the house.

4:00

the streets of San Jose towards

4:02

the imposing Winchester house. With

4:04

the house on his sides, he barely saw the other

4:06

car coming straight at him. Vic

4:09

swerved, just in time. With

4:11

his heart pounding through his chest, he

4:13

wondered if that was a good omen to start the

4:16

night, or a very bad one.

4:19

The air crackled with anticipation. An

4:21

eerie sense of doubt settled over him. Trying

4:25

to ignore his feelings, he pressed on.

4:27

Trying to expose the supposed ghosts

4:30

as nothing more than stories for

4:32

children. Arriving

4:34

at the mansion, Vic was surprised to find

4:36

the door unlocked, a silent

4:38

invitation to his challenge. With

4:41

a shrug, he stepped inside, his

4:43

footsteps echoing through the grand front

4:45

hall adorned with old, creepy statues

4:48

and spider webs clinging to the

4:50

corners. Settling into

4:52

the center of the room, Vic armed

4:54

himself with snacks and his digital video

4:56

camera for the night ahead. If

4:59

ghosts were to reveal themselves, he

5:01

would be ready to face them head on. Hours

5:04

passed in anticipation until the clock

5:07

struck midnight with a resounding chime.

5:11

Vic jumped at the sound, his nerves

5:13

rattled, before he laughed at his own

5:15

jitters. But then, he heard it,

5:18

the unmistakable echo of footsteps coming

5:20

near. At first, he

5:22

called out to his friends, thinking they were

5:25

there to prank him. But

5:27

when no one responded, panic set

5:29

in. He tried to run, but

5:31

it was too late. A

5:33

figure emerged from the darkness, dressed in

5:35

the clothes of an era from long

5:37

ago. Accepting a

5:39

confrontation, Vic was taken aback when

5:42

the figure offered a genteel bow

5:44

and spoke with an unexpected warmth.

5:48

We have been expecting you. His

5:51

voice carrying a hint of otherworldly

5:53

resonance. Dinner

5:56

awaits in the dining hall. Please,

5:59

follow me. Together, he

6:01

and the butler navigated the long

6:03

corridors of the Winchester House, each

6:06

turn leading them deeper into the maze.

6:09

Upon entering the dining hall, thick saws

6:12

seemed straight out of a nightmare. Guests

6:14

adorned in old-timey clothes sat in

6:17

silence, their gazes fixed upon

6:19

him with an intensity that sent

6:21

shivers down his spine. The

6:24

faces of the guests contorted and decayed

6:26

before his eyes, morphing

6:28

into grotesque masks of death.

6:32

Vic scrambled to escape. He fled

6:34

through the twisting corridors, but try

6:36

as he might, escape eluded

6:38

him. Each turn he took

6:40

led him deeper into the clutches of the house. As

6:43

dawn broke, Vic found himself exhausted

6:45

and trapped at the mansion's front

6:47

entrance, his desperate screams from

6:50

inside falling on deaf ears. It

6:53

was then that he glimpsed a

6:55

familiar figure approaching, a friend bearing

6:57

a somber expression and a single

6:59

flower. As he pounded on the

7:01

window, he started to hear his friend speak. I'm

7:05

sorry, Vic, his friend murmured, laying

7:08

the flower upon the threshold. I

7:11

never meant for this to happen. As

7:14

Vic looked around, he also noticed his car wasn't

7:17

parked in front of the house where he had left it. Where

7:20

was it? In that moment, realization

7:22

dawned upon Vic like a bolt of

7:24

lightning. The car that he

7:27

had seemingly missed hitting, well, he hadn't missed

7:29

it at all. He was

7:31

killed in the collision. His journey into

7:33

the realm of the supernatural afterlife had

7:36

already been underway, but

7:38

his soul wasn't ready to accept that and

7:40

continued on his journey to the house. With

7:44

a heavy heart, Vic watched as his

7:46

friends left, leaving him to confront

7:48

his fate alone. Tears in

7:50

his eyes, a comforting presence enveloped

7:52

him, a woman in black,

7:55

her eyes filled with understanding. Do

7:58

not despair. Dear Vic, Sarah

8:02

Winchester whispered, her voice

8:04

a soothing calm amidst the chaos.

8:08

You are not alone in this eternal

8:10

labyrinth. Together we

8:12

shall wander these halls until the end

8:14

of time. Have

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you ever been so sure of something

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and then been proven wrong? Did

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a-n-g-i.com It's

9:45

time to turn off the lights

9:47

and turn on the dark. This

9:58

is Chilling Tales. tales for Dark

10:01

Nights. Good evening, listener.

10:04

I'm Steve Taylor, your

10:06

host to a horror anthology

10:08

podcast, where we ask

10:10

you to depart from your

10:12

safe perception of reality, to

10:14

descend with us into the

10:16

frightening depth and dark corners

10:18

of twisted imaginations. With

10:21

carefully curated original tales of

10:23

terror each week, our deepest

10:25

rooted fears are brought to

10:27

the forefront by a diverse

10:30

cast of voice-gallon and masterfully

10:32

eerie sound design that bring

10:34

these stories to life. We'll

10:37

give you tales of unnerving encounters

10:40

with the occult, harrowing

10:42

hauntings, and sinister

10:45

seances that show

10:47

just how darkness knows

10:49

no bounds. If

10:52

you're like us here at Chilling

10:54

Tales and enjoy feeling your stomach

10:56

filling with dread as dastardly demons

10:58

dance in your head, make

11:00

sure to check out Chilling Tales

11:03

for Dark Nights on Apple Podcasts,

11:05

Spotify, or wherever you get your

11:07

podcasts. To subscribe now to always

11:10

be the first to enjoy The

11:13

Horror Show. Sometimes

11:26

the things that are creature comforts end

11:29

up being the things that suffocate us. Making

11:31

this story inspired by Nico. Finishing

11:37

up her last sit at the gym, Janie glanced

11:39

at her watch. If she went

11:41

home to shower, she would be late heading into the

11:43

office. She set a timer for 10

11:45

minutes. That should be good, she

11:48

thought. She hated being at the

11:50

gym around other people. People's

11:52

eyes on her while she worked out are

11:54

worse, having to share the locker

11:56

room with anyone. Thankfully,

11:58

her job started early in the morning. enough that she was

12:01

often at the gym all alone in the early

12:03

morning. Just how she liked it. Jeannie

12:06

walked to her rented locker and gathered

12:08

her contents. She liked the

12:10

local gym she attended. The owners were

12:12

a generous couple that gave new members

12:14

a duffel bag, water bottle, and shower

12:16

shoes when they joined. Jeannie

12:19

had the same duffel and water shoes with her

12:21

today. She had misplaced the

12:23

water bottle months ago. Jeannie

12:25

walked the short distance from the lockers to

12:27

the showers. There was an opaque

12:29

glass door for all the shower stalls. Beyond

12:32

the glass door was a dry room before

12:34

the shower curtain and then the shower.

12:37

The owners always stocked vacant clean showers

12:40

with a new warm towel. Jeannie

12:42

opened the glass door to the third stall and

12:44

saw a new towel. The

12:46

door behind her closed with a magnetic click

12:49

as she hung up her duffel on the open

12:51

hook. She opened it and

12:53

retrieved her shower shoes. She took

12:55

each shoe and sock one foot at a time

12:57

and slid on her slides, careful

12:59

not to put her bare feet on the

13:01

pre-shower room floor. Having

13:03

to shower there gave her the ick. She

13:06

undressed out of her clingy gym clothes.

13:09

She got her clean clothes and placed them on the

13:11

bench. Jeannie turned the shower

13:13

on to warm up before she stepped in. There's

13:16

nothing worse than a cold stream of water,

13:18

she thought to herself. She

13:21

held her fingertips under the water until

13:23

she felt satisfied with its temperature. When

13:25

she stepped in, the warmth overtook her.

13:28

The water felt like a blanket of summer, a

13:31

natural relaxer for her overworked

13:33

muscles. Jeannie zoned out

13:35

going through the motions of washing herself.

13:38

She reached for and replaced each

13:40

toiletry item as needed. Lather,

13:42

rinse, repeat, left arm and pit

13:45

done. Lather, rinse, repeat,

13:47

leg and foot done. Lather,

13:50

rinse, click. Jeannie

13:52

felt time stand still. Her heart sank

13:54

to her feet. and

14:00

heated her whole body while it dropped. Her

14:03

core tightened as she held her breath. That

14:06

was the door next to mine. She

14:08

convinced herself. She stood

14:10

completely still under what now felt like

14:12

scalding hot water. The

14:14

sudden heat gave Genie the courage she needed

14:16

to pull back the curtain. Nothing.

14:19

No one. She laughed out loud at

14:21

herself. No more scary movies

14:24

before bed, she chuckled. Genie

14:26

fixed the water temperature. See, she

14:29

whispered, your water turned hot when

14:31

they turned theirs on. No

14:33

one came into your stall, crazy girl. Shortly

14:36

after rinsing the conditioner out of her hair, she

14:39

heard her phone buzz from the dry room where she

14:41

was in her duel. Time's

14:43

up. Then she turned on

14:45

the faucet. She flipped her head

14:47

down and twisted her water-wade curls into

14:49

a spiral and rang out the excess

14:51

water. The alarm was

14:54

incessant. I'm coming, she thought.

14:56

Genie quickly wiped down her arms, legs, and

14:58

torso of any larger drops of water and

15:01

instinctively reached for her hooked towel. She

15:03

draped the towel around her shoulders and paused.

15:07

The warm, dry, comforting expectation

15:09

of what was supposed to be her towel

15:11

now felt like a cold and prickly skin

15:14

pressed up against her back. Genie

15:16

dropped the towel, but it was too late. The

15:18

freezing flesh material on the towel

15:20

transferred and morphed into her back.

15:23

She looked over her shoulder in a

15:25

panic to see scale-like chunks of something

15:28

embedding themselves deeper into her skin.

15:31

The scale felt like hooks digging into

15:33

her wet backside. Genie called out

15:35

in pain. Surely someone will hear

15:38

her and come to help. She

15:40

could feel whatever was gripping at her

15:42

skin and small, sucronic pinches, like

15:45

a tattoo gun sputtering irregularly, nicking

15:47

at every part of her back.

15:50

The substance on the towel was now attached

15:52

to her and tried to find its way

15:54

onto her, around her, inside her.

15:57

Genie reached back and tried to lift the dancer's leg.

16:00

flakes away from her. Hiled on

16:02

top of each other, she could not make

16:04

out where one entity ended and the other

16:06

started. Looking acrylic nail

16:08

on its last hour, she bent a scale

16:10

back, curious to see what was on the other

16:12

side. She felt the pull and

16:15

tear of her nerves already entangled with

16:17

this thing. From her peripheral,

16:19

she could see hundreds of little legs

16:21

with bits of her black flesh attached

16:23

to them. Jeannie gave one last panicked

16:26

scream before falling to the floor. She

16:29

rolled on her back and tried to shimmy

16:31

the organisms off of her. The

16:34

pain began to overpower her mind. The

16:36

last image she saw before succumbing to

16:39

the pain was two pairs of blurred

16:41

feet through the glass door, watching,

16:44

waiting for her to die. She

16:47

wouldn't be the last of the victims the gym

16:49

owner would lure in and

16:51

no one would ever know she

16:53

was on a long list of

16:55

trophies for the serial killer. Are

16:59

you okay with being in very public

17:01

spaces or does it give you anxiety?

17:04

What is your biggest fear? Is

17:06

it doing anything like what happened to Jeannie? Just

17:16

when you think your roommate is the most

17:18

annoying person in the world, you might

17:20

end up praying they were around when you need

17:22

them. Like in this story inspired

17:24

by Jonathan Pickle. When

17:28

I arrived home to discover that our power

17:31

was out, I was furious. I called my

17:33

roommate who had left earlier that morning for

17:35

vacation to visit his mother. He

17:37

assured me that the bill had been paid and

17:39

that the power would be restored in a couple

17:41

of hours. At that point,

17:43

I decided to go to a friend's house

17:46

to watch an NBA game, assuming that by

17:48

the time I returned home around midnight, the

17:50

power would be back. Later

17:52

that night when I returned from my friend's house,

17:54

I looked up at my apartment complex and

17:57

noticed that some apartments had a dim yellow

17:59

light. but mine remained pitch

18:01

black. There was a chance I still

18:03

had power. With my fingers

18:05

crossed, I headed up the dark

18:07

staircase to my door. I opened

18:11

the apartment door and peered into the

18:13

pitch black hole that was my powerless

18:15

apartment. The closet light switch

18:17

was 10 feet from the door, so

18:19

I would have to feel my way along the walls through

18:21

the darkness. As I made my

18:23

way, I realized it was much darker

18:26

inside than I had expected. Our

18:28

habit of keeping the blinds closed to keep

18:30

away nosy neighbors didn't help either. I don't

18:33

think I had been this freaked out of the dark since

18:35

I was a kid. It brought

18:37

back several visceral memories of being scared

18:39

as a child, having no

18:42

control, fearing what I could not see. I

18:44

took a deep breath. You're

18:47

a grown ass adult. You're fine. I must

18:50

have missed the light switch because the first thing I

18:52

felt in my hand was a door frame. My

18:55

bedroom door frame. I wandered

18:57

in, still hugging the wall, and my bedroom

18:59

door made a loud creak as I leaned

19:01

against it. I despised that door.

19:04

The slightest touch made it seem to

19:06

scream. Eventually, I found the

19:08

light switch. Flick. Nothing.

19:12

Damn it. No power. I muttered

19:14

to myself. I

19:16

left the switch on so that when the

19:18

power returned, I would know immediately. Deciding

19:21

to brush my teeth first, I felt along

19:23

the walls until I found my way into

19:25

the bathroom. The bathroom, with

19:27

no windows itself, seemed darker

19:29

than the rest of the apartment. Essentially

19:32

a black hole. It consumed

19:34

any light. I fumbled around

19:36

in the darkness, searching for my

19:38

toothpaste and toothbrush. Standing

19:41

in a complete void, brushing my teeth,

19:43

I listened to the noises typical of

19:45

my crowded apartment complex, footsteps

19:48

echoed from the apartment above, followed

19:50

by the unmistakable sound of the next

19:53

door couple arguing. It was

19:55

oddly comforting to feel like I wasn't alone.

19:58

Then I heard the creak of my bedroom door. My

20:01

initial thought was that the power was back on and

20:03

the air conditioner had caused the door to shift. However,

20:06

I realized the light in my bedroom was still

20:09

off. Someone was inside

20:11

my apartment with me. Suddenly, I

20:13

felt exposed in the complete darkness, as

20:16

if I was being watched. Remembering

20:18

stories of pirates wearing eye patches to adjust their

20:20

eyes to the dark, I

20:23

became increasingly weary. Sensing

20:26

someone had been in the apartment longer than me

20:28

and would be more adjusted to the lack of

20:30

light, I swallowed my fear and

20:32

focused on finding a solution. After

20:35

mustering up courage, I crept out of

20:37

the bathroom as I silently walked with

20:39

my hands outstretched, probing the dark. I

20:42

reached my nightstand and found the power

20:44

bank and necessary cords for my dead

20:46

cell phone. Determined to have

20:48

a flashlight, I pocketed the

20:51

electronics and continued on. I

20:54

moved back toward the bathroom with the power bank

20:56

and phone, using my other hand to

20:58

guide my way. I brushed upon

21:00

something unfamiliar. Did I

21:02

get lost in my own apartment? I thought. Reaching

21:05

out with both hands, my left hand

21:07

felt the right side of the hallway wall, while

21:10

my right hand confirmed my position. However,

21:13

I encountered an unfamiliar

21:15

object, a handful of hair. Someone

21:19

was standing in front of me. The

21:21

moment it registered, I bolted. Reacting

21:24

instinctively, pushing my way through the intruder and

21:26

rushing into the bathroom, knocking

21:28

myself inside, I pressed against

21:30

the door, listening intently. Despite

21:33

hearing noises from the neighbors, there was a

21:35

silence from my bedroom. Then

21:37

came a knock at the door, first polite

21:40

and louder and heavier. I

21:42

felt whoever was on the other side might break

21:44

through the flimsy door. I

21:46

waited anxiously, cursing the slow

21:49

charging of iPhones, recalling

21:51

matches and a candle above the

21:53

toilet. I located them and lit

21:55

the candle. As

21:57

the dim amber flame flickered, I noticed

21:59

a Rip Pound. I

22:01

whipped around deceased the tub. But.

22:04

Instead was met by a grotesque

22:06

looking creature with saliva dripping from

22:08

his mouth. He was in the

22:10

bathroom with me and it had

22:12

been the whole time. Panicked, I

22:15

realized they had to confront it.

22:17

With. Shaky hands finally turned on

22:20

my phone flashlight, revealing the

22:22

terrifying creature. On

22:24

was looking like a D C.

22:26

Good man, multiple roses, agger serve

22:28

teeth and assume this grand. This

22:31

is the monsters and lurks in

22:33

the dark as a screened. I

22:35

fled with my phone's. like a moonie. The

22:37

in their apartment? Really? Not

22:40

just one nocturnal creature, several.

22:42

All. With menacing grins flying at

22:45

the clothing erase towards the front

22:47

door Only the past my roommates

22:49

lifeless body in the hall as

22:51

I reached the moonlight just outside

22:54

of my apartment. Or I thought

22:56

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