0:02

Hello, I wanted to take a

0:04

moment to thank you for listening, and also

0:06

to explain why you might hear ads like

0:08

this before, during, or even after an episode.

0:11

We're a small but mighty team here at

0:13

Realm, and to help fund our shows, we

0:15

promote products or services that we think you'd

0:18

enjoy from a variety of sponsors. If

0:20

any of our ads interest you, one of the

0:22

best ways to support us is by visiting the

0:25

link or using the promo code in the ad.

0:27

It's pretty much a win-win since you can

0:29

get some great deals and we can keep

0:31

making awesome shows like this one. You

0:34

can also visit realm.fm slash partners

0:36

for more information about our sponsors

0:38

and how to access the different

0:40

promotions. Thanks again for

0:42

joining us in our corner of the universe. Listen

0:45

away. Hey

0:50

everyone, this is Fred, and today we have a

0:52

special episode in our feed, the first episode of

0:54

The Sheridan Tapes. In 2018,

0:57

famed horror writer Anna Sheridan disappeared, leaving

0:59

behind only a box of mysterious cassette

1:01

tapes. Detective Sam Bailey is

1:03

tasked with piecing together what happened to Anna

1:06

Sheridan from the seemingly impossible encounters she recorded,

1:08

but as the scattered pieces of the puzzle

1:10

come together, Bailey discovers that the picture is

1:12

even stranger and more dangerous than it seemed.

1:15

If you like what you hear today, hear the rest

1:17

of the story by looking forward to the Sheridan tapes

1:19

on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you'd like to listen to

1:22

your podcasts. Here we go. Detective

3:01

Samuel Bailey, Oslo County Police

3:03

Department, Homicide Division.

3:07

Recording on April 1st, 2019 at...

3:12

105 p.m. Before

3:15

I get started, there's just one

3:17

thing I need to say. I

3:20

have absolutely no patience for the

3:22

unexplained or the things people call

3:25

unexplainable, supernatural, or

3:27

paranormal. That's all just

3:29

a lazy way of saying that the real explanation

3:31

is too difficult or too horrible

3:34

for them to accept. I

3:36

don't have that luxury. My

3:38

job is to look the facts dead in the face

3:41

and find an explanation. One that

3:43

will hold up in a court of law. And

3:46

the simplest explanation is almost always the right

3:48

one. There's no place

3:50

for ghost stories and close encounters

3:53

and disinvestigation or any

3:55

other. Hopefully

3:59

that explains it. against my outburst

4:02

when I was assigned the Sheridan case.

4:04

I'm sure that's on my personnel file by now,

4:06

as if it could get any

4:09

more problematic. Anna

4:12

Sheridan, New York Times

4:14

bestselling author of, you

4:16

guessed it, Supernatural Horror.

4:20

Missing for nearly six months now, about

4:22

the coldest case I've ever seen. People

4:26

call her the Female Stephen King. I

4:29

haven't read any of his books either, so

4:31

that's probably true. It's

4:33

not like I hate her or anything, I'm not

4:35

one of those people who think she's the spawn

4:38

of Satan or something ridiculous like that. I'm

4:41

just not interested in her work. At

4:44

all. Which is entirely

4:46

irrelevant to my ability to solve this

4:48

case. It's actually better that way.

4:51

In the circumstances of

4:53

her disappearance and the subject

4:56

matter of her work, someone with a

4:59

more vivid imagination might decide she'd, well,

5:02

pierced the veil, so to speak. Found

5:06

a way to the other side and crossed over. Anna

5:10

Sheridan is dead, and that's all

5:12

there is to it. There

5:14

hasn't been a new lead on her case

5:16

in more than half a year, and the

5:19

sign on my door says, Homicide, Not Mysterious

5:21

and Unexplained Disappearances, so... Anna

5:24

Sheridan is dead. No

5:27

matter what her fans think. The

5:29

only questions that matter are who killed her, how,

5:32

and why. And without a

5:34

body, physical evidence, or any

5:36

record of her movements prior to October 20th,

5:38

I don't think any of those answers will

5:40

come easily. Or quickly.

5:45

What I do have, the

5:47

only thing I have, are

5:49

the tapes. Apparently

5:55

Miss Sheridan started using a cassette recorder to

5:57

make a kind of... On

6:00

Iran travelogues, she'd been using a digital

6:02

recorder, but as far as I can

6:04

tell, those recordings went missing around two

6:07

thousand and nine. And. If

6:09

she used it as much as use the

6:11

tapes, well. Publishers

6:14

probably out a few dozen novels worth

6:16

of raw material. They've.

6:18

Actually been hounding me for the tapes saying

6:20

that want to make an audio book or

6:22

some kind of podcast or the recordings before

6:24

they put out or last novel. Currently

6:26

have to publish in memoriam a very

6:29

carefully too soon and it seems like

6:31

grave robbing. Too. Late and

6:33

every one's already moved on Mass.

6:36

Add to tell the more than once that

6:39

as long as this investigation is ongoing is

6:41

any literary ambitions will have to wait. Six

6:46

months we'd. So.

6:50

Far as I can tell how they aren't in any kind

6:52

of order. The. Tapes are all labeled,

6:54

but I can't seem to make any sense

6:56

of shared it's filing system, See

6:58

even. Had once. They. All

7:01

have a label with five numbers on

7:03

them. maybe a date time samper based

7:05

on location or. Really?

7:08

I can tell if there's any logic

7:10

to it at all. This one is

7:12

the first tape in the first column

7:14

on the left, but it's labeled One

7:16

Six Eighty Seven. Eat for. Only.

7:20

One. Way to tell, I guess. Answer

7:26

shaking. The

7:33

nice guy really is beautiful out here. I

7:37

suppose that the universal constant. Name.

7:40

Of the only one. Matter

7:42

how far away from home you are. And

7:45

matter how different the constellations, my luck

7:47

somewhere you're standing. Isn't

7:49

always look up on a clear

7:51

dark nights and feel I care

7:54

about a sound bites into that.

7:56

the terrifying and less expensive

7:59

nothing this. Strange

8:02

how something so dead can be so beautiful.

8:05

Then again, I guess it's not. Dead,

8:08

that is. But

8:10

one day it will be. One day

8:13

all the stars will burn out. Go

8:15

dark and silent. At

8:17

least that's what all the math says. One

8:21

day everything will be so dark and so

8:23

cold that no new stars can ever

8:25

be born. The old

8:27

ones will blink out one by one

8:29

like candles going out. And

8:32

then nothing. Silence.

8:36

Darkness. Void.

8:41

I wonder if there will still be ghosts out there when that

8:43

happens. What happens when the

8:45

planet is gone? Or will the

8:47

earth linger too when it finally dies? A

8:50

shadow earth under a black and starless

8:53

sky. Maybe

8:55

that's what people mean when they talk about purgatory.

8:59

Or hell, maybe. But

9:03

that's just incidental. A

9:06

passing observation. The night

9:08

is beautiful everywhere, but especially here.

9:10

I thought I wouldn't

9:12

be able to handle mountains again after what happened in

9:14

Wyoming. But it seems

9:16

that wound healed faster than

9:18

I expected it to. Still,

9:21

I made sure I switched off my phone before I came

9:23

up here, just in case.

9:25

And I might have forgotten

9:28

to tell anyone where I was going. I know,

9:31

I'm being bad, but they just

9:33

insist on keeping tabs on me if I told

9:35

them what I was doing. Besides,

9:39

I can take care of myself. And

9:41

this isn't a business trip after all. I'm

9:44

just coming up here to clear my head.

9:46

To relax. Although... No,

9:52

no. I'll leave it alone. I

9:55

need to. I mean, I really should just

9:57

rest. My last book tour was

9:59

a goddamn nightmare. all to itself not

10:01

to mention what I had to go through to write it in the

10:03

first place. Still...

10:08

no sleep. Need

10:10

to get some sleep. I

10:18

can't sleep. I just can't. It's

10:21

past two in the morning now and the

10:23

moon... the

10:26

moon has set. The night's just

10:28

about as dark as it's going to get out there. Oh

10:34

screw it. I'm

10:39

walking towards the old mining camp now.

10:41

Haven't seen much yet. Just a few

10:43

rusted old cans near the trail. Historical

10:46

litter. If it

10:48

weren't for the Antiquities Act, I'd pack them out

10:50

and toss them at home. But they're

10:53

artifacts now. I wonder

10:55

what will happen to our garbage once

10:58

we're history. Plastic doesn't break down like

11:00

tin or iron. We'll just be left

11:02

there forever. Our

11:04

legacy. Look upon our

11:07

works ye mighty and despair. I

11:10

wonder how many unread Anna shared in paperbacks they'll

11:12

find in the rubble. Here

11:17

we are. Santa Lucia Consolidated Mine.

11:19

1869 to 1901. The town

11:21

sprang up about half a mile east

11:26

of here. It was pretty quiet,

11:28

at least for a mining town back then.

11:31

Even if it did end up burning to the ground. A drunken

11:34

blacksmith apparently. Or was

11:36

it the barkeeper? Might make

11:38

an interesting story if I ever want to write a Western.

11:42

Yeehaw! No,

11:47

that isn't me. There's

11:51

still a lot of old mining equipment around. A

11:54

couple of tall wooden frames with metal spokes running

11:56

from top to bottom. They

11:58

Almost look like giant guillotines in the. Dark.

12:01

A few tumbledown has mostly

12:04

just foundations. Though there

12:06

are so if you also standing. As

12:09

cement chimney? That must. The authors

12:11

such as A Form Of Cabin

12:13

and One Big Zam we'll have

12:15

varied and broken off attacks on.

12:18

Guess I got here. just have

12:20

the right time. Everything's roasted to

12:22

hell in falling apart, but nothing's

12:24

quite gone yet. Seizures.

12:27

else is placed the last. Know

12:39

magnetic the radio distortions on the scanner.

12:42

And it's chilly, but not anymore that

12:44

it was in the top of the

12:46

hill. A little warmer now

12:48

that I'm under. The trees actually. Damn,

12:52

I could have sworn I felt something strange

12:54

about this place in a high through this

12:56

morning. Or maybe it

12:58

was a different part of the mind. Suisse

13:01

is pretty spread out. For

13:04

to tell the say that my any way. To

13:12

me in the dark. Perfect.

13:17

Guess. I'd better get back. Wait,

13:24

No, that's not right. How did. How

13:27

did they get behind me? Okay,

13:33

I'm. Description A: Why

13:36

semi circular quay than trends

13:38

opening and the side of

13:40

elo hell that I'm sure

13:42

wasn't here before. It's

13:44

almost perfectly round and the keep inside

13:47

is just a straight shot back into

13:49

the hill from where opens up. I

13:52

can see would embrace his every couple of years,

13:54

holding the ceiling up. This

13:56

is definitely the mine. though

13:59

i I could have sworn it was on the far side

14:01

of the camp, not the way in.

14:06

Did I get turned around somehow? I'm

14:19

just gonna go back the other way. Oh,

14:27

you've got to be kidding me. Okay,

14:31

the cave is still in front of me. I

14:34

turned around 180 degrees, walked

14:36

off into the dark, and... And

14:39

it's still in front of me. And

14:42

looking back, it's not where

14:44

it was five seconds ago. Still

14:53

no change, but there's

14:55

definitely something going on here. I

14:58

never let myself get this turned around, especially not

15:00

at night. So

15:04

let's try walking backwards. Just keep

15:07

an eye on it. So

15:11

I see you. You think

15:13

I'm still scared of caves, huh? You

15:16

think you can freak me out? I'm

15:19

Anna goddamn Sheridan, you old tin-pant, and I'm not

15:21

going to be- Oh! Ow!

15:25

What the hell was- Oh,

15:28

great. I'm in

15:30

the mine now. Perfect.

15:34

Absolutely perfect. Looking

15:38

back the way I came in and- Yeah,

15:41

no sign of the cave entrance I was just

15:43

looking at. But

15:45

I'm sure if I walked that way long enough, I'd find it again.

15:51

Well, I guess the only way out is through. One

15:54

more cave, Sheridan. It won't kill you. Probably.

16:02

One, two,

16:05

three, four,

16:09

five, six, seven,

16:14

eight, nine, ten,

16:18

eleven, twelve, thirteen.

16:23

God, is this thing ever going to turn? Fourteen,

16:28

fifteen, sixteen,

16:32

seventeen, eighteen,

16:35

nine... What

16:38

the hell? Hello? Hello?

16:43

Hello? Hello? I...

16:52

I think I'm going to turn around now. Hold

16:57

on. Where are

16:59

the walls? Did

17:01

the cave widen out somewhere? Calm

17:06

down, Karen. Think. You're

17:09

just going to confuse yourself. The

17:12

map says the main tunnel ran straight west

17:14

into the mountain. You

17:16

have a compass, so just go

17:19

straight east. Okay.

17:26

Now we're in business. One,

17:31

two, three, four,

17:36

five, six,

17:40

seven, eight, nine,

17:45

ten, eleven,

17:49

twelve, thirteen,

17:52

fourteen, fifteen,

17:56

sixteen, seventeen. Okay.

18:00

18, 19,

18:03

20... No!

18:06

No, stop! That's

18:08

not possible! I

18:10

called this broken? I called it... Whoever,

18:26

whatever, was in that cave, it

18:28

definitely has a twisted sense of humor. Don't

18:32

get me wrong, I like a good practical joke

18:34

as much as the next person. But

18:37

it was just trying to mess with my head.

18:39

I don't see why it... I

18:44

listen back to the recording from the cave. For

18:47

some reason, it cuts out just before... Well,

18:51

just before things get really weird.

18:56

I kept walking in the direction the compass said was

18:58

east. I remembered the

19:00

main shaft of the mine ran straight

19:02

west. I must have read

19:04

it on a plaque or at the visitor center. But

19:07

thinking back to the map, I'm sure the

19:09

tunnel didn't go nearly that far into the

19:11

hill. A few yards, maybe, and then it

19:13

turned off. But not

19:16

as far as I went, and

19:18

definitely not as far as I walked when

19:20

I turned around and tried going back.

19:24

No matter how far I walked, I

19:26

couldn't find the way I came in. I

19:29

turned left, trying to find the wall

19:31

of the tunnel. I thought that

19:33

I could just keep my hand on it and follow

19:35

it out. I

19:37

walked for nearly a full five minutes before I gave

19:39

up on that idea. I

19:42

know I saw the way out of the mine when I first came

19:44

in. There wasn't much

19:47

difference between the darkness outside of the

19:49

cave and the darkness inside. But

19:51

there was a difference. When

19:54

you spend this much time working at night,

19:56

you learn to recognize those differences. But now,

19:59

I'm not. For

22:00

a minute, I wondered if that would

22:02

really be so bad. It

22:05

was a fitting way to go, given my, well,

22:09

everything. Personal

22:11

and career choices, I guess you'd call them.

22:15

At least it would be quiet. I

22:18

didn't mind that I'd be alone. I always

22:20

expected that to be how I went. So

22:24

eventually I just kind of accepted it. I

22:27

switched off my flashlight just to

22:29

see what it would be like. A

22:32

preview of my last moments in a way. Knowing

22:36

doesn't make things any easier, but

22:39

it does make them a little less frightening.

22:43

It honestly wasn't so bad. I

22:45

blinked a couple of times, and once my vision cleared,

22:49

I don't know why, but I almost

22:51

felt like crying. It

22:54

was the purest darkness I'd ever seen. I

22:58

knew I was still trapped underground. Of

23:00

course I did. The air was

23:03

thin and had a dusty, chalky taste. Even

23:06

so, I felt free. Almost

23:10

like I was floating, even

23:12

though I could still feel the solid rock beneath

23:14

my feet. Then

23:16

I started walking. Obviously,

23:19

I didn't know what direction I was going. I

23:22

couldn't see my compass in the dark. But

23:25

it just felt right. Honestly,

23:28

it felt like I was going on instinct. It

23:31

was about the only thing I could register at that point.

23:35

I don't know how long I was walking. I

23:37

couldn't see my watch, and honestly, I didn't want

23:39

to. At first, I didn't

23:42

want to disturb that total darkness. But

23:44

then I began to feel like if I checked it, or

23:47

stopped, or gave in to panic, I

23:50

could never make it out of that endless looping tunnel alive.

23:54

In the back of my mind, I heard

23:56

something. No,

23:59

it was me. more like I felt it, like

24:02

the shape of the words were being pressed

24:04

into my skin. Not

24:07

by sight. Not

24:10

by sight. However

24:15

long it actually took, it felt like I

24:18

was hiking for hours. But

24:20

as I walked, putting one foot in front

24:22

of the other and just trying to stay

24:24

on this one thin path to freedom, I

24:28

started to notice lights. I

24:30

never saw them appear. I'd

24:32

just look up every once in a while

24:35

and there would be another tiny point of

24:37

light shining from where the cave ceiling should

24:39

have been. They

24:41

were all pale and cold, though a few

24:43

of them had a faint color to them.

24:46

Blue or red or even

24:48

orange. Most of them

24:50

were white though and seemed to

24:52

be a long way away. It

24:55

took me longer than I should have to realize

24:57

they were stars. Probably because

25:00

there were so few of them at first. But

25:03

by the time I realized what they were, they filled

25:06

the entire sweep of my vision.

25:09

And when the Milky Way faded into view above me,

25:11

I almost cried again. Then

25:15

I stepped into something soft and warm

25:17

that crunched a little under my boot. I

25:20

jumped back and switched on my flashlight, horrified

25:22

that I'd just stepped through some half rotted

25:24

thing. That wouldn't be the first

25:26

time. I

25:28

breathed a sigh of relief as I realized it

25:31

was just the remnants of my campfire, still

25:33

smoldering. My tent

25:35

was a few feet away, right where

25:37

I left it, and that's

25:40

where I'm recording the snow. I

25:47

doubt I'll sleep much tonight. That's

25:50

okay. I just feel

25:52

like looking at the stars for a while. Not

26:03

what I was expecting. Honestly,

26:06

I didn't know what to expect. I

26:09

knew Sheridan was a bit more

26:11

imaginative than most, but still, I

26:14

hope the rest of these tapes aren't

26:16

just her philosophizing while stoned. I've

26:20

been to Santa Lucia a few times. It's

26:22

a pretty big park for this part of the state. Lots

26:26

of tall tales. And

26:28

more than a few ghost stories about the mines. One

26:31

of the rangers told me that the air currents

26:33

in the tunnels generate a lot of infrasound, which

26:36

probably accounts for most of them. And

26:38

given Sheridan was almost certainly high when she

26:40

recorded this... Yeah,

26:42

I wouldn't put too much faith in her story.

26:46

Not that it matters, anyway. Not to this case. I

26:50

just wish she'd mentioned the dates. I

26:52

have no idea if she recorded this right before

26:54

she disappeared, or years ago.

26:57

It is interesting to hear her talk about space, though.

27:00

I thought she only began dealing with the Isla

27:02

people earlier this year. I think

27:05

it was Dr. Ren... Yeah,

27:07

Dr. Ren Park. As

27:10

far as I can tell, he was one of the last people to

27:12

see her alive, but there wasn't

27:14

enough of a connection to establish any kind

27:16

of motive. Maybe

27:18

I should take a second look. This

27:21

tape shows what I already knew, though. Sheridan

27:25

lived a somewhat nomadic

27:27

lifestyle. Moved around

27:29

a lot. Lived out of

27:31

a van for most of her life, for some reason.

27:36

I don't know how much of it is on these tapes. I

27:38

don't know how much I'll be able to actually get out

27:40

of them. But ours is

27:42

not to question why. Ours is

27:44

about to digitize and stay the hell out of trouble.

27:48

I think that's why they really put me on this

27:50

case. Just something to keep me busy and to- Sam!

27:55

Yeah, they're ready for you.

27:58

Great. Thanks, Bill. Hey,

28:00

no problem. What's it

28:02

all about anyway? Commission

28:04

board some questions about

28:07

my last post. Oh Where

28:10

was that? I Get

28:13

sure Oh Right.

28:18

Yeah Oh,

28:22

hey Sam, I think you're still recording. Oh, right

28:30

You The

28:37

Sheridan tapes episode 1 the

28:39

world's perhaps of spirits

28:42

Starring Aaron Neely Chaconis as Anna

28:44

Sheridan Trevor Van Winkle as Sam

28:46

Bailey and Jesse Steele as Bill

28:49

Tyler with original music By Jesse

28:51

Hagen written and produced by Trevor

28:53

Van Winkle and made possible by

28:55

our supporters at patreon.com slash

28:57

homestead corner visit homestead on the

29:00

corner comm to view additional content

29:02

Rate and review us on Apple

29:04

podcasts and connect with us on

29:06

Twitter and Instagram at Trevor underscore

29:08

VW New episodes are released

29:10

every Friday at 5 p.m.

29:12

Pacific Standard Time on all

29:14

podcasting platforms I'm Trevor

29:16

van Winkle. This is homestead on the corner

29:19

and you're listening to the

29:21

Sheridan tapes you

29:57

you you