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Sasha
Hotels are weighted. Transient temporary spaces. People come and go. Often under the cover of night. Some come for holidays, while others. For intimate, sequestered acts. Hotels are places of love and death. One thing's for sure. Stepping into a hotel often feels like stepping into another world. And all too often, we can brush up against those who were there before us and remain long after their reservation has expired.
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Sasha
The following three stories were all recorded at my life. Ghost stories by the fire. Storytelling events at the Barrow's intense tasting room in Brooklyn, New York. The tales spanned three different states Florida, Georgia and Colorado, and they are as funny as they are spooky. We begin with someone you may have heard before on this podcast, psychic medium Heather Carlucci with Second Sight, recorded on September 14th, 2021.
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Sasha
Come to me with any lovely love.
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Sasha
So what I'd like to do is invite you guys tonight to share your stories. But before, you come on up, I always like to begin and end the evening with a featured storyteller. because what we're talking about really is the paranormal. All really are these liminal, in-between spaces. It's always my joy to bring my dear friend, Heather Carlucci, who is a medical medium.
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Sasha
She believes that all messages are sent with love. And the reason that the messages are coming through her are because they are met with love for the people who are receiving them. So I would like to welcome to the stage my very dear, wonderful friend Heather Carluccio.
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Heather
Tonight I'm going to read a story that was asked to write, sort of combining my old career and my new career. I do this full time now. but before that, I was a chef. Sasha, whenever I get off the stage, Sasha goes. Is that completely true, or did you write that? because she always said it can be true.
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Heather
It could be a story you wrote. It could be whatever. Right? And except for one where I was like, I didn't have an ending, and I added an ending. so far, all my stories are true. You know, it is very rare for two people to see a ghost or a spirit at the same time. That's true. In order for that to happen, it takes for those two people to be in the same space energetically at that one split second, and then it takes those people to be in the same space energetically as the ghost.
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Heather
Right? Because like energy sees like energy. And then it also takes an unusual circumstance to bring all of this together. Something that puts the body in an unusual space. Not not including the singing of the ghost, of course. But just so you're not your usual self using your usual defenses. If you ever noticed, if you've ever seen anything.
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Heather
It is almost like that. And if it if it if it is a longer moment, it's sort of sits right. Almost like time stops. So about six years ago, when I was leaving my last career as a chef, I took a three month long consulting job on Captiva Island off the coast of Florida. The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation had called and asked that I start a chef and residency program at the artist residency.
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Heather
For those of you who don't know, Rauschenberg was an American master of modern art around the same time as Warhol, and, like Warhol, had seen his fortune in his lifetime from his art. So he had on Captiva in a state right between the ocean and the bay, with many houses and artist studios. And upon his death it was made into a residency where chosen artists would come and work pretty much in Paradise.
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Heather
So Bob, as he was known in his passing, we all just talked about Bob because we were all there because of Bob was also a foodie even before the word existed, and I was hired to sort of create a patch of that legacy. So back to my eight year old and moved us down there and a house with the kitchen where I worked was called the Weekes House, and it was bought from an elderly couple just so Bob could have a house to cook and entertain in the front of the house was now the back of the house in use, and everyone would walk and round the back deck to the most heavy sliding doors
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Heather
I have ever seen. In order to get anything in, you get there. And you couldn't just do one arm and hold something you had to like, put it down and then open it and then bring everything in and then two arms again and slide the sliding doors. And through them was this open kitchen, where all the original cookware Bob had bought up from the Bowery before.
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Heather
It was a thing to do, and it was a room where a very young Wolfgang Puck would cook for Rauschenberg and his friends just had a lot of history. I was told when I got there that I would have an assistant named Lori, and Lori was helping out in cleaning the artist houses on the side and was really looking forward to working with me.
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Heather
And we got along famously. Freaking love Lori. And just so happens that she is also a psychic medium. so one day, while cooking and making spreadsheets, she told me that when she was in the Bay House, she felt Bob there all the time. And that didn't surprise me. My daughter and I had spent one night there when we arrived on the island, before a house was ready.
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Heather
And I got to tell you, it was occupied. It was a presence so big and so dense. I was surprised that when I woke up in the morning that it was a light and breezy like any other morning, I expected almost to wake up and like mud. Like that's how heavy it was. I kept checking in on my daughter in her bedroom, so we decided that one day, while work was light, we would go to the Bay House together, like just to see, and it was a wide open layout.
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Heather
It was more like a loft than a house. Along the bay side there were three bedrooms with bathrooms for each and a long hallway that connected them to the kitchen. And as I remember, and I was very chatty as we walked there, blah blah blah blah blah. We walked up the steps of the stilted house, walk into the living room and walked around and it was like huge.
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Heather
It really was like an artist's loft space, but had like manatees in the bay outside. It was extraordinary. I didn't really think much of anything. It was daylight and we were just talking and I was like, well, this is just fun. Let's just get out of the kitchen. So we walked in the start of the the hallway. I said to her, I remember the hallway and the second bedroom feeling the most dense.
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Heather
And Lori said, yeah, but he also just follows me around the house as I clean. And he walked into the hallway and as I looked down the hallway, plain as day, was Bob white pants and an untucked button up shirt come look on his face, walking toward. And then he was gone. He didn't fade or walk into anything or even disappear.
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Heather
The only way I can describe it is that, like, fold it up into another dimension. And he was gone. It was so vivid and so fluid. And then I heard Lori say to my left, oh my.
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Sasha
God, that was him.
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Heather
I snapped my head toward her and I said, you saw that too? She looked shock and she went white pants, and all I could say was excellent. We walked out of the house quickly, like a couple of teenagers in a bad movie, and we were so excited. Fucking Rauschenberg, right? A few weeks went by when Lori and I were in the weeks house, and we hadn't really thought about it much since then, because a lot of other weird stuff was going on while we were together.
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Heather
So, like, who could keep track? I suddenly asked Lori if she had seen Bob again since we were there, and she said no. But the energy in the house had lifted and it changed since we were there. And then the big sliding glass doors flew open and we turned to look at it and we just stuck. Shocked, we stayed still and suddenly the floorboards started to creak like footprints starting at the door, going to the kitchen in through the sitting area and out into the dining room.
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Heather
We looked at each other and then the glass door slam shut.
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Speaker 3
Thank you.
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Sasha
At our first Ghost Stories by the fire event, we had no idea who would show how it would go, and if anyone in the audience would be willing to get up and share a spooky story on the spot. Lucky for us, at our very first event, the following story teller happened to walk by. He hopped up to the mic and told the following tale and then disappeared into the night.
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Sasha
Here is Ed with mirrored soul, which was recorded on Tuesday, September 14th, 2021.
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Ed
All right, I got a real ghost story for y'all.
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Ed
I was about, I said I was about 12.
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Ed
Years old when this happened, right? I was I'll stand on at Ashburn, Georgia. We was at a hotel.
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Ed
Hotel called.
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Ed
The Quality Inn. Right. So I was sleeping in the bed.
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Ed
And I woke up.
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Ed
In the middle of night. And at the.
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Ed
Time, I was sleeping in the bed with my little nephew. He was younger than me.
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Ed
So if I was.
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Ed
12, he had to be.
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Ed
About.
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Ed
Five. Right? So.
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Ed
And my sister was in the other, you know, hotel room. You know how hotel room working here, right? So boom. Right. So I'm laying in bed with my nephew, and I wake up in the middle of the night. So we all let's let's let's try to visualize a hotel. You know, you got the little bathroom area over there.
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Ed
We got the sinks and stuff.
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Ed
With the mirror.
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Ed
And then you got the little desk here with the mirror, and then you got the TV area, right? We all.
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Ed
I hope everybody in the hotel, you know, it's a great experience if you have it.
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Ed
You know, I would advise everybody the try one one day. You know, it might work for you. But listen. So I woke up in the middle of the night, right?
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Ed
And the light over.
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Ed
There was on. And I saw an.
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Ed
Old lady with very long white hair, and she was.
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Ed
Just brushing her hair in the mirror over there.
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Ed
Right. And I saw this. Listen, when I went to sleep, the lights was off. That light was on. Just that light was.
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Ed
On when I woke up.
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Ed
And this lady was brighter. This is a real ghost. Story is real. I woke up, I.
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Ed
Really woke up. Y'all. Like, this is I was awake, all right?
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Ed
This is no dream.
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Ed
This thing floated from one mirror to remember. I told you I was another mirror.
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Ed
And that's here because everybody know how hotel rooms work, right? So another mirror.
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Ed
And that's here. This thing floated from that point to this point, right? I washed it, washed it. Now me and my normal mind as a normal.
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Ed
12 year old out of ran out the bed and jumped in.
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Ed
With my sister. But how? My nephew in the bedroom. So I couldn't leave him. I had to be like brave. So I. Had to watch this thing like this. So I watch this thing float.
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Ed
Across the.
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Ed
Room.
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Ed
And the thing sat down.
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Ed
At the other table. They started.
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Ed
Pushing her.
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Ed
I guess she wasn't done fixing herself up at the last mirror because I saw the other mirror. I thought she was. It just walked out and left. She didn't want to leave. She want to hang out. She doing her thing in the mirror and it's like I thought of looking at me through the mirror. So I put the covers over my head.
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Ed
I grabbed my nephew, who's like, you ain't gonna take him from me. Why are we in the bed together? And we went to sleep and I woke up, and I'm here today.
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Ed
And I think that.
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Sasha
Horror authors are an interesting bunch, and one of my favorite regular featured storytellers at Ghost Stories by the fire is the Bram Stoker Award winning novelist Robert Atone. Rob has authored dozens of books, including The Final Thing, We Created Short Stories, and He Delights in the creepy. Here is the story of the time he and his wife stayed at the real life Overlook Hotel that inspired Stephen King's famous novel The Shining.
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Sasha
Here's Rob Atone on October 5th, 2021 with Stephen King. Screamer.
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Rob
Everybody's told such wonderful stories tonight. But I was thinking I was like, what am I going to talk about tonight? Like one of my I'm going to read one of my stories and what am I going to do? And then I thought about Colorado. I went on a trip with my now wife. She was my girlfriend at the time.
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Rob
We drove because I'm terrified of flying. I'm a horror author whose only afraid of one thing. And it's not crashing because goodbye student loans. I don't give a shit. but it's like a control thing for me. I don't know, my shrink told me that, and I was like, whatever you say. I'm paying you. We drove to Colorado.
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Rob
She wanted to go to a Ween concert. Do you guys know Ween, the band Ween? I drove her to Red rocks, which is like, one of the most beautiful venues on the planet. So we go there, and I'm like, I have one condition. We're staying at the Shining Hotel, so I call. It's like months in advance. I get the fancy room that Stephen King had his cocaine fever trip in and wrote the book.
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Rob
And so we get in there, I get out of the car, and the air is so thin that I'm like. Like I'm. I'm dying, I'm die. I'm like, this is where I die. but nevertheless, I adjust. We check into the hotel and, we have dinner in the hotel. We have cocktails. I ordered the Red rum. It was terrible.
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Rob
And we go to bed. And that night, I'm in bed. She's. She's tired. She didn't do any of the three day driving. I did all of it because it was for her. So I was like, you relax. Whatever. She's wonderful to travel with. So we're driving, and we get there. She's tired. I'm laying there in bed because I'm still juiced up, because I'm like, this is the shining hotel.
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Rob
Like, I'm going to write a novel. Now I'm laying there and again, I sort of see out of the corner of my eye that this the room is relatively small and in the corner over to here. So like if you're laying in bed, you're like this over there is the bed, bathroom rather. I see what I think is a shadow, and I haven't really.
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Rob
I used to be a journalist. I used to go, like, ghost hunting with things and stuff, and it's fun. I love it, whatever. But I've never seen, like, a shadowy thing before. So I see that in the bathroom and I'm like, nope, I'm out. I'm not into this. She's out like a light. I don't know what her problem was.
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Rob
And so I basically stay up the whole night and I'm just like, keeping my eye in the bathroom. I only saw it for like, a split second. Go on. Whatever morning rolls around, we go to lunch, go to the concert, come back. Oh, we're doing a tour at midnight of the whole grounds. Nobody signed up for this thing except for me and her.
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Rob
so I was like, we're going on a tour, and she's like, it's midnight. And I was like, I don't care. I smoke some weed. It's Colorado. So she does, and I have a cigar. Then we go on the tour, our tour guide, and I'm not like an I don't look, you know, whatever. I'm a man. She had the largest but I've ever seen on a human being.
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Rob
It was bizarre. And she was wearing like 1920s attire, so it was like accentuate. And she, we were the only people. And then like, another couple came, they were older, they were fabulous. We go on the tour, we're doing all these things. She's telling us all these stories. I see this trapdoor that Houdini had performed and fell through.
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Rob
It was really interesting. My wife started playing. She wasn't my wife at the time, but she started playing the piano because the ghost in the Performing Arts Center loves when someone plays the piano for them. So I was like, that's going to be bad. so she's playing the piano, and I'm just thinking in the back of my head, it's like I write this stuff, like, what's going to happen?
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Rob
A ghost is going to be very into her. Now, lo and behold, we go down into the cellar of the facility, like the whole structure is connected by these underground tunnels, and the whole mountain is limestone. And the whole prevailing thought regarding, ghosts and stuff is that they attach to limestone because it holds memory and stuff like that.
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Rob
And, you know, it's interesting if you look it up, it's kind of cool. Any who were down there and it's us and another couple, and the tour guide is telling us the whole thing is going to come back in a second, I promise you. I didn't just mention that because I'm a creep, which I am. alright, so the, the tour guide telling you this, this fabulous story, it's different ghost haunting different parts in the underground tunnels is a guy, named Remy.
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Rob
Remy is a French immigrant. Came to the hotel once it opened. He was like a handyman situation. He did a little bit of everything. he died in the famous explosion that happened at the Stanley Hotel. Ever since then, he haunts the underground tunnels area. So she's telling us this story about Remy. And as she says, my wife has curly black hair.
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Rob
At the time, she had curly black hair. Now she's straight. She's got her whole life. It's. I love it. And, she's telling us the story about Remy prefers women with curly black hair as soon as she said I was over, like, looking this way, taking pictures of the limestone because I'm an idiot, I don't know, I was like, oh, rocks.
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Rob
as soon as she said curly black hair, something blew in my wife's ear. So much so that the hair moved and I saw it out of the corner of my eye. She spins around and punches me right in the chest and.
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Rob
She's like, asshole.
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Rob
She doesn't sound like that. Sort of. Maybe, she's like, asshole, what are you? And I was like, I was taking a picture of the rock. Like, what? I don't know what. And then the tour guide was like, what happened? Did something blow in your ear? And she was like, yes. And the tour guide is like, he does that to me all the time.
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Rob
I guess he likes you. I guess he heard the music upstairs because he's the same one that's in the same facility. So I was like, sucker! So as we're going up the stairs back into the the, main hotel proper, by the way, it's not true that the Stanley Hotel shies away from the idea of, like, over haunting.
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Rob
That's B.S. like they love it. Like they own it because that's bazillions for them. Anyway, we're going up the stairs and as we're going, it's the the older couple's like, we're out this is freaking us out. So they start up, then it's the tour guide, then it's us. As we're going up the stairs, the tour guides dress is pulled above her head and everything is on display.
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Rob
And I was like, I don't know what just happened. And she was like, yeah, he does that to me. And I was like, that's sexual harassment. You don't have to take that whether he's alive or dead. So we, you know, we leave or whatever. And she was wonderful. And, I was going to propose because I had the ring, the whole thing, and I didn't.
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Rob
I think there's another part of I don't want to fly with the ring. So I'm sitting there and, you know, she's going to bed and and you basically have full rein of the place when you're staying there. And we were staying in the guest house, which was for, bachelors back in the day, was only on unmarried men had to stay in the the guest facilities.
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Rob
They could not stay with the women, of course. so that's where we're staying. It was beautiful. And I'm out there and an older gentleman comes in, and I'm just, like, thinking. Because, again, I couldn't sleep. And he comes in and he's like, oh, is everything okay? You enjoying your stay? And I was like, oh, this is beautiful.
00;20;48;02 - 00;21;07;28
Rob
I'm looking at the Rockies. It's stunningly gorgeous. I'm having a cigar because it's like open. It's like the front porch. And it leads into like the dining room smoking a cigar, enjoying myself. And he's like, well, you know, why aren't you asleep? And I'm like, why am I? You know, my girlfriend's asleep. Whatever. And, I'm going to probably propose tomorrow and, before we start our way back to New York.
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Rob
So going from New York, that's. I love New York, New York Street, from the, you know, back east or whatever. And I'm like, oh, that's really cool. And, he's like, you know what mean? Marriage is like the best thing. You're going to love it. you know, having a true partner, through thick and thin is really fabulous.
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Rob
It's the best decision I ever made. He's an older guy, so I'm like, I'm going to listen to this gentleman. He has experience and I do not. And I was like, you know, thank you so much. And he's like, hey, I hope you enjoy your stay. And I was like, thanks, man. And he bounces out just like walks down the steps and back towards like the main building.
00;21;41;05 - 00;22;00;03
Rob
And I'm still sitting there. I finished my cigar and let it die like a proper gentleman would. And then I go back into the bedroom and I lay down, and again, we were going to stay one more night. So I go back to bed. I don't see the shadow thing. So I'm like, that's fine. I wake up the next day, the wife tells me the doorknob jingled in the night.
00;22;00;03 - 00;22;26;05
Rob
And I was like, that's weird. I didn't hear it. I was out like a light. So we go to dinner again, we go to the bar, I propose, and we were going to leave, you know, the next day. She's very happy. She said. Yes, obviously. And as we're getting ready for our final night, you know, we're we're relaxing, doing things that couples do.
00;22;26;08 - 00;23;03;16
Rob
I get up and I walk to the bathroom and I close the door and I'm like, not tonight. And I find out the next day I was like, you know, who's who's the the older gentleman that works here? And they were like, did you look like that? And I look around the corner and the older gentleman is the painting of the guy who built the place Mr. Stanley is in, Stanley Steemer the whole guy who literally built the place, it was identical, I don't know, like, is it an actor or I don't know, is it somebody they have on staff to be like, go talk to this weirdo, mess with them?
00;23;03;18 - 00;23;21;18
Rob
but nevertheless, I don't know, maybe I was tripping balls. I don't think I was, I don't smoke weed, but, the Red room might have had something else in it, but nevertheless, I proposed. Got a pep talk from a ghost, apparently. Close the door to the bathroom. So the freaky shadow thing couldn't look at us, and a ghost hit on my wife.
00;23;21;25 - 00;23;34;19
Rob
So that is all I have for you. Thank you all so much for all of your stories tonight. It was beautiful.
00;23;34;21 - 00;24;08;29
Sasha
Thank you so much for being part of Ghost Stories by the fire. Do you have a spooky story, near-death experience, or supernatural happenings you'd like to share? I'd love to hear it. You submit your story to Sasha graham.com with ghost stories by the fire in the subject line. You might just wind up on this podcast, and if you want to support it and keep the ghost stories coming, head on over to Sasha graham.com to check out my books and tarot decks, which are available for purchase at your favorite bookseller.
00;24;09;02 - 01;31;56;08
Sasha
The Ghost Stories by the fire theme song is titled lovely from the original motion picture score of The Deeper You Dig, a film about the lengths a mother will go to to find her daughter's killer. Thanks again for listening. And until next time, I'm saving you a seat at the fire.
Sasha
Hotels are weighted. Transient temporary spaces. People come and go. Often under the cover of night. Some come for holidays, while others. For intimate, sequestered acts. Hotels are places of love and death. One thing's for sure. Stepping into a hotel often feels like stepping into another world. And all too often, we can brush up against those who were there before us and remain long after their reservation has expired.
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Sasha
The following three stories were all recorded at my life. Ghost stories by the fire. Storytelling events at the Barrow's intense tasting room in Brooklyn, New York. The tales spanned three different states Florida, Georgia and Colorado, and they are as funny as they are spooky. We begin with someone you may have heard before on this podcast, psychic medium Heather Carlucci with Second Sight, recorded on September 14th, 2021.
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Sasha
Come to me with any lovely love.
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Sasha
So what I'd like to do is invite you guys tonight to share your stories. But before, you come on up, I always like to begin and end the evening with a featured storyteller. because what we're talking about really is the paranormal. All really are these liminal, in-between spaces. It's always my joy to bring my dear friend, Heather Carlucci, who is a medical medium.
00;02;02;07 - 00;02;26;08
Sasha
She believes that all messages are sent with love. And the reason that the messages are coming through her are because they are met with love for the people who are receiving them. So I would like to welcome to the stage my very dear, wonderful friend Heather Carluccio.
00;02;26;10 - 00;02;45;17
Heather
Tonight I'm going to read a story that was asked to write, sort of combining my old career and my new career. I do this full time now. but before that, I was a chef. Sasha, whenever I get off the stage, Sasha goes. Is that completely true, or did you write that? because she always said it can be true.
00;02;45;17 - 00;03;15;15
Heather
It could be a story you wrote. It could be whatever. Right? And except for one where I was like, I didn't have an ending, and I added an ending. so far, all my stories are true. You know, it is very rare for two people to see a ghost or a spirit at the same time. That's true. In order for that to happen, it takes for those two people to be in the same space energetically at that one split second, and then it takes those people to be in the same space energetically as the ghost.
00;03;15;18 - 00;03;40;29
Heather
Right? Because like energy sees like energy. And then it also takes an unusual circumstance to bring all of this together. Something that puts the body in an unusual space. Not not including the singing of the ghost, of course. But just so you're not your usual self using your usual defenses. If you ever noticed, if you've ever seen anything.
00;03;41;01 - 00;04;07;26
Heather
It is almost like that. And if it if it if it is a longer moment, it's sort of sits right. Almost like time stops. So about six years ago, when I was leaving my last career as a chef, I took a three month long consulting job on Captiva Island off the coast of Florida. The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation had called and asked that I start a chef and residency program at the artist residency.
00;04;07;29 - 00;04;30;12
Heather
For those of you who don't know, Rauschenberg was an American master of modern art around the same time as Warhol, and, like Warhol, had seen his fortune in his lifetime from his art. So he had on Captiva in a state right between the ocean and the bay, with many houses and artist studios. And upon his death it was made into a residency where chosen artists would come and work pretty much in Paradise.
00;04;30;15 - 00;05;04;24
Heather
So Bob, as he was known in his passing, we all just talked about Bob because we were all there because of Bob was also a foodie even before the word existed, and I was hired to sort of create a patch of that legacy. So back to my eight year old and moved us down there and a house with the kitchen where I worked was called the Weekes House, and it was bought from an elderly couple just so Bob could have a house to cook and entertain in the front of the house was now the back of the house in use, and everyone would walk and round the back deck to the most heavy sliding doors
00;05;04;24 - 00;05;22;01
Heather
I have ever seen. In order to get anything in, you get there. And you couldn't just do one arm and hold something you had to like, put it down and then open it and then bring everything in and then two arms again and slide the sliding doors. And through them was this open kitchen, where all the original cookware Bob had bought up from the Bowery before.
00;05;22;01 - 00;05;39;29
Heather
It was a thing to do, and it was a room where a very young Wolfgang Puck would cook for Rauschenberg and his friends just had a lot of history. I was told when I got there that I would have an assistant named Lori, and Lori was helping out in cleaning the artist houses on the side and was really looking forward to working with me.
00;05;40;02 - 00;06;05;13
Heather
And we got along famously. Freaking love Lori. And just so happens that she is also a psychic medium. so one day, while cooking and making spreadsheets, she told me that when she was in the Bay House, she felt Bob there all the time. And that didn't surprise me. My daughter and I had spent one night there when we arrived on the island, before a house was ready.
00;06;05;13 - 00;06;32;06
Heather
And I got to tell you, it was occupied. It was a presence so big and so dense. I was surprised that when I woke up in the morning that it was a light and breezy like any other morning, I expected almost to wake up and like mud. Like that's how heavy it was. I kept checking in on my daughter in her bedroom, so we decided that one day, while work was light, we would go to the Bay House together, like just to see, and it was a wide open layout.
00;06;32;06 - 00;06;51;14
Heather
It was more like a loft than a house. Along the bay side there were three bedrooms with bathrooms for each and a long hallway that connected them to the kitchen. And as I remember, and I was very chatty as we walked there, blah blah blah blah blah. We walked up the steps of the stilted house, walk into the living room and walked around and it was like huge.
00;06;51;19 - 00;07;16;24
Heather
It really was like an artist's loft space, but had like manatees in the bay outside. It was extraordinary. I didn't really think much of anything. It was daylight and we were just talking and I was like, well, this is just fun. Let's just get out of the kitchen. So we walked in the start of the the hallway. I said to her, I remember the hallway and the second bedroom feeling the most dense.
00;07;16;26 - 00;07;41;28
Heather
And Lori said, yeah, but he also just follows me around the house as I clean. And he walked into the hallway and as I looked down the hallway, plain as day, was Bob white pants and an untucked button up shirt come look on his face, walking toward. And then he was gone. He didn't fade or walk into anything or even disappear.
00;07;42;01 - 00;07;55;06
Heather
The only way I can describe it is that, like, fold it up into another dimension. And he was gone. It was so vivid and so fluid. And then I heard Lori say to my left, oh my.
00;07;55;06 - 00;07;58;08
Sasha
God, that was him.
00;07;58;11 - 00;08;23;02
Heather
I snapped my head toward her and I said, you saw that too? She looked shock and she went white pants, and all I could say was excellent. We walked out of the house quickly, like a couple of teenagers in a bad movie, and we were so excited. Fucking Rauschenberg, right? A few weeks went by when Lori and I were in the weeks house, and we hadn't really thought about it much since then, because a lot of other weird stuff was going on while we were together.
00;08;23;02 - 00;08;55;21
Heather
So, like, who could keep track? I suddenly asked Lori if she had seen Bob again since we were there, and she said no. But the energy in the house had lifted and it changed since we were there. And then the big sliding glass doors flew open and we turned to look at it and we just stuck. Shocked, we stayed still and suddenly the floorboards started to creak like footprints starting at the door, going to the kitchen in through the sitting area and out into the dining room.
00;08;55;23 - 00;08;59;24
Heather
We looked at each other and then the glass door slam shut.
00;08;59;27 - 00;09;08;03
Speaker 3
Thank you.
00;09;08;06 - 00;09;35;17
Sasha
At our first Ghost Stories by the fire event, we had no idea who would show how it would go, and if anyone in the audience would be willing to get up and share a spooky story on the spot. Lucky for us, at our very first event, the following story teller happened to walk by. He hopped up to the mic and told the following tale and then disappeared into the night.
00;09;35;19 - 00;09;49;03
Sasha
Here is Ed with mirrored soul, which was recorded on Tuesday, September 14th, 2021.
00;09;49;06 - 00;09;52;05
Ed
All right, I got a real ghost story for y'all.
00;09;52;06 - 00;09;55;23
Ed
I was about, I said I was about 12.
00;09;55;23 - 00;10;01;17
Ed
Years old when this happened, right? I was I'll stand on at Ashburn, Georgia. We was at a hotel.
00;10;01;17 - 00;10;02;20
Ed
Hotel called.
00;10;02;20 - 00;10;08;10
Ed
The Quality Inn. Right. So I was sleeping in the bed.
00;10;08;12 - 00;10;10;02
Ed
And I woke up.
00;10;10;04 - 00;10;12;10
Ed
In the middle of night. And at the.
00;10;12;10 - 00;10;17;07
Ed
Time, I was sleeping in the bed with my little nephew. He was younger than me.
00;10;17;09 - 00;10;18;28
Ed
So if I was.
00;10;19;00 - 00;10;20;07
Ed
12, he had to be.
00;10;20;07 - 00;10;21;16
Ed
About.
00;10;21;19 - 00;10;24;18
Ed
Five. Right? So.
00;10;24;18 - 00;10;44;00
Ed
And my sister was in the other, you know, hotel room. You know how hotel room working here, right? So boom. Right. So I'm laying in bed with my nephew, and I wake up in the middle of the night. So we all let's let's let's try to visualize a hotel. You know, you got the little bathroom area over there.
00;10;44;00 - 00;10;45;12
Ed
We got the sinks and stuff.
00;10;45;12 - 00;10;47;01
Ed
With the mirror.
00;10;47;03 - 00;10;54;22
Ed
And then you got the little desk here with the mirror, and then you got the TV area, right? We all.
00;10;54;24 - 00;10;58;11
Ed
I hope everybody in the hotel, you know, it's a great experience if you have it.
00;10;58;14 - 00;11;05;15
Ed
You know, I would advise everybody the try one one day. You know, it might work for you. But listen. So I woke up in the middle of the night, right?
00;11;05;20 - 00;11;06;18
Ed
And the light over.
00;11;06;18 - 00;11;09;21
Ed
There was on. And I saw an.
00;11;09;21 - 00;11;13;24
Ed
Old lady with very long white hair, and she was.
00;11;13;24 - 00;11;17;06
Ed
Just brushing her hair in the mirror over there.
00;11;17;09 - 00;11;24;00
Ed
Right. And I saw this. Listen, when I went to sleep, the lights was off. That light was on. Just that light was.
00;11;24;00 - 00;11;25;03
Ed
On when I woke up.
00;11;25;06 - 00;11;28;29
Ed
And this lady was brighter. This is a real ghost. Story is real. I woke up, I.
00;11;28;29 - 00;11;32;25
Ed
Really woke up. Y'all. Like, this is I was awake, all right?
00;11;32;25 - 00;11;34;26
Ed
This is no dream.
00;11;34;28 - 00;11;41;19
Ed
This thing floated from one mirror to remember. I told you I was another mirror.
00;11;41;19 - 00;11;47;01
Ed
And that's here because everybody know how hotel rooms work, right? So another mirror.
00;11;47;01 - 00;12;01;22
Ed
And that's here. This thing floated from that point to this point, right? I washed it, washed it. Now me and my normal mind as a normal.
00;12;01;22 - 00;12;04;06
Ed
12 year old out of ran out the bed and jumped in.
00;12;04;06 - 00;12;17;15
Ed
With my sister. But how? My nephew in the bedroom. So I couldn't leave him. I had to be like brave. So I. Had to watch this thing like this. So I watch this thing float.
00;12;17;15 - 00;12;17;29
Ed
Across the.
00;12;17;29 - 00;12;19;13
Ed
Room.
00;12;19;15 - 00;12;20;23
Ed
And the thing sat down.
00;12;20;23 - 00;12;23;04
Ed
At the other table. They started.
00;12;23;04 - 00;12;24;03
Ed
Pushing her.
00;12;24;05 - 00;12;42;01
Ed
I guess she wasn't done fixing herself up at the last mirror because I saw the other mirror. I thought she was. It just walked out and left. She didn't want to leave. She want to hang out. She doing her thing in the mirror and it's like I thought of looking at me through the mirror. So I put the covers over my head.
00;12;42;03 - 00;12;51;05
Ed
I grabbed my nephew, who's like, you ain't gonna take him from me. Why are we in the bed together? And we went to sleep and I woke up, and I'm here today.
00;12;51;07 - 00;13;01;19
Ed
And I think that.
00;13;01;21 - 00;13;34;18
Sasha
Horror authors are an interesting bunch, and one of my favorite regular featured storytellers at Ghost Stories by the fire is the Bram Stoker Award winning novelist Robert Atone. Rob has authored dozens of books, including The Final Thing, We Created Short Stories, and He Delights in the creepy. Here is the story of the time he and his wife stayed at the real life Overlook Hotel that inspired Stephen King's famous novel The Shining.
00;13;34;20 - 00;13;43;22
Sasha
Here's Rob Atone on October 5th, 2021 with Stephen King. Screamer.
00;13;43;25 - 00;13;57;27
Rob
Everybody's told such wonderful stories tonight. But I was thinking I was like, what am I going to talk about tonight? Like one of my I'm going to read one of my stories and what am I going to do? And then I thought about Colorado. I went on a trip with my now wife. She was my girlfriend at the time.
00;13;57;27 - 00;14;17;25
Rob
We drove because I'm terrified of flying. I'm a horror author whose only afraid of one thing. And it's not crashing because goodbye student loans. I don't give a shit. but it's like a control thing for me. I don't know, my shrink told me that, and I was like, whatever you say. I'm paying you. We drove to Colorado.
00;14;17;27 - 00;14;36;27
Rob
She wanted to go to a Ween concert. Do you guys know Ween, the band Ween? I drove her to Red rocks, which is like, one of the most beautiful venues on the planet. So we go there, and I'm like, I have one condition. We're staying at the Shining Hotel, so I call. It's like months in advance. I get the fancy room that Stephen King had his cocaine fever trip in and wrote the book.
00;14;36;27 - 00;14;56;28
Rob
And so we get in there, I get out of the car, and the air is so thin that I'm like. Like I'm. I'm dying, I'm die. I'm like, this is where I die. but nevertheless, I adjust. We check into the hotel and, we have dinner in the hotel. We have cocktails. I ordered the Red rum. It was terrible.
00;14;57;00 - 00;15;18;02
Rob
And we go to bed. And that night, I'm in bed. She's. She's tired. She didn't do any of the three day driving. I did all of it because it was for her. So I was like, you relax. Whatever. She's wonderful to travel with. So we're driving, and we get there. She's tired. I'm laying there in bed because I'm still juiced up, because I'm like, this is the shining hotel.
00;15;18;02 - 00;15;34;02
Rob
Like, I'm going to write a novel. Now I'm laying there and again, I sort of see out of the corner of my eye that this the room is relatively small and in the corner over to here. So like if you're laying in bed, you're like this over there is the bed, bathroom rather. I see what I think is a shadow, and I haven't really.
00;15;34;02 - 00;15;48;28
Rob
I used to be a journalist. I used to go, like, ghost hunting with things and stuff, and it's fun. I love it, whatever. But I've never seen, like, a shadowy thing before. So I see that in the bathroom and I'm like, nope, I'm out. I'm not into this. She's out like a light. I don't know what her problem was.
00;15;48;28 - 00;16;09;26
Rob
And so I basically stay up the whole night and I'm just like, keeping my eye in the bathroom. I only saw it for like, a split second. Go on. Whatever morning rolls around, we go to lunch, go to the concert, come back. Oh, we're doing a tour at midnight of the whole grounds. Nobody signed up for this thing except for me and her.
00;16;09;28 - 00;16;28;22
Rob
so I was like, we're going on a tour, and she's like, it's midnight. And I was like, I don't care. I smoke some weed. It's Colorado. So she does, and I have a cigar. Then we go on the tour, our tour guide, and I'm not like an I don't look, you know, whatever. I'm a man. She had the largest but I've ever seen on a human being.
00;16;28;22 - 00;16;45;24
Rob
It was bizarre. And she was wearing like 1920s attire, so it was like accentuate. And she, we were the only people. And then like, another couple came, they were older, they were fabulous. We go on the tour, we're doing all these things. She's telling us all these stories. I see this trapdoor that Houdini had performed and fell through.
00;16;45;24 - 00;17;06;24
Rob
It was really interesting. My wife started playing. She wasn't my wife at the time, but she started playing the piano because the ghost in the Performing Arts Center loves when someone plays the piano for them. So I was like, that's going to be bad. so she's playing the piano, and I'm just thinking in the back of my head, it's like I write this stuff, like, what's going to happen?
00;17;06;26 - 00;17;27;14
Rob
A ghost is going to be very into her. Now, lo and behold, we go down into the cellar of the facility, like the whole structure is connected by these underground tunnels, and the whole mountain is limestone. And the whole prevailing thought regarding, ghosts and stuff is that they attach to limestone because it holds memory and stuff like that.
00;17;27;14 - 00;17;52;14
Rob
And, you know, it's interesting if you look it up, it's kind of cool. Any who were down there and it's us and another couple, and the tour guide is telling us the whole thing is going to come back in a second, I promise you. I didn't just mention that because I'm a creep, which I am. alright, so the, the tour guide telling you this, this fabulous story, it's different ghost haunting different parts in the underground tunnels is a guy, named Remy.
00;17;52;16 - 00;18;14;28
Rob
Remy is a French immigrant. Came to the hotel once it opened. He was like a handyman situation. He did a little bit of everything. he died in the famous explosion that happened at the Stanley Hotel. Ever since then, he haunts the underground tunnels area. So she's telling us this story about Remy. And as she says, my wife has curly black hair.
00;18;14;28 - 00;18;34;02
Rob
At the time, she had curly black hair. Now she's straight. She's got her whole life. It's. I love it. And, she's telling us the story about Remy prefers women with curly black hair as soon as she said I was over, like, looking this way, taking pictures of the limestone because I'm an idiot, I don't know, I was like, oh, rocks.
00;18;34;04 - 00;18;49;07
Rob
as soon as she said curly black hair, something blew in my wife's ear. So much so that the hair moved and I saw it out of the corner of my eye. She spins around and punches me right in the chest and.
00;18;49;07 - 00;18;51;04
Rob
She's like, asshole.
00;18;51;07 - 00;19;09;03
Rob
She doesn't sound like that. Sort of. Maybe, she's like, asshole, what are you? And I was like, I was taking a picture of the rock. Like, what? I don't know what. And then the tour guide was like, what happened? Did something blow in your ear? And she was like, yes. And the tour guide is like, he does that to me all the time.
00;19;09;06 - 00;19;27;13
Rob
I guess he likes you. I guess he heard the music upstairs because he's the same one that's in the same facility. So I was like, sucker! So as we're going up the stairs back into the the, main hotel proper, by the way, it's not true that the Stanley Hotel shies away from the idea of, like, over haunting.
00;19;27;19 - 00;19;49;20
Rob
That's B.S. like they love it. Like they own it because that's bazillions for them. Anyway, we're going up the stairs and as we're going, it's the the older couple's like, we're out this is freaking us out. So they start up, then it's the tour guide, then it's us. As we're going up the stairs, the tour guides dress is pulled above her head and everything is on display.
00;19;49;20 - 00;20;10;13
Rob
And I was like, I don't know what just happened. And she was like, yeah, he does that to me. And I was like, that's sexual harassment. You don't have to take that whether he's alive or dead. So we, you know, we leave or whatever. And she was wonderful. And, I was going to propose because I had the ring, the whole thing, and I didn't.
00;20;10;15 - 00;20;29;19
Rob
I think there's another part of I don't want to fly with the ring. So I'm sitting there and, you know, she's going to bed and and you basically have full rein of the place when you're staying there. And we were staying in the guest house, which was for, bachelors back in the day, was only on unmarried men had to stay in the the guest facilities.
00;20;29;19 - 00;20;48;02
Rob
They could not stay with the women, of course. so that's where we're staying. It was beautiful. And I'm out there and an older gentleman comes in, and I'm just, like, thinking. Because, again, I couldn't sleep. And he comes in and he's like, oh, is everything okay? You enjoying your stay? And I was like, oh, this is beautiful.
00;20;48;02 - 00;21;07;28
Rob
I'm looking at the Rockies. It's stunningly gorgeous. I'm having a cigar because it's like open. It's like the front porch. And it leads into like the dining room smoking a cigar, enjoying myself. And he's like, well, you know, why aren't you asleep? And I'm like, why am I? You know, my girlfriend's asleep. Whatever. And, I'm going to probably propose tomorrow and, before we start our way back to New York.
00;21;07;28 - 00;21;24;15
Rob
So going from New York, that's. I love New York, New York Street, from the, you know, back east or whatever. And I'm like, oh, that's really cool. And, he's like, you know what mean? Marriage is like the best thing. You're going to love it. you know, having a true partner, through thick and thin is really fabulous.
00;21;24;15 - 00;21;41;03
Rob
It's the best decision I ever made. He's an older guy, so I'm like, I'm going to listen to this gentleman. He has experience and I do not. And I was like, you know, thank you so much. And he's like, hey, I hope you enjoy your stay. And I was like, thanks, man. And he bounces out just like walks down the steps and back towards like the main building.
00;21;41;05 - 00;22;00;03
Rob
And I'm still sitting there. I finished my cigar and let it die like a proper gentleman would. And then I go back into the bedroom and I lay down, and again, we were going to stay one more night. So I go back to bed. I don't see the shadow thing. So I'm like, that's fine. I wake up the next day, the wife tells me the doorknob jingled in the night.
00;22;00;03 - 00;22;26;05
Rob
And I was like, that's weird. I didn't hear it. I was out like a light. So we go to dinner again, we go to the bar, I propose, and we were going to leave, you know, the next day. She's very happy. She said. Yes, obviously. And as we're getting ready for our final night, you know, we're we're relaxing, doing things that couples do.
00;22;26;08 - 00;23;03;16
Rob
I get up and I walk to the bathroom and I close the door and I'm like, not tonight. And I find out the next day I was like, you know, who's who's the the older gentleman that works here? And they were like, did you look like that? And I look around the corner and the older gentleman is the painting of the guy who built the place Mr. Stanley is in, Stanley Steemer the whole guy who literally built the place, it was identical, I don't know, like, is it an actor or I don't know, is it somebody they have on staff to be like, go talk to this weirdo, mess with them?
00;23;03;18 - 00;23;21;18
Rob
but nevertheless, I don't know, maybe I was tripping balls. I don't think I was, I don't smoke weed, but, the Red room might have had something else in it, but nevertheless, I proposed. Got a pep talk from a ghost, apparently. Close the door to the bathroom. So the freaky shadow thing couldn't look at us, and a ghost hit on my wife.
00;23;21;25 - 00;23;34;19
Rob
So that is all I have for you. Thank you all so much for all of your stories tonight. It was beautiful.
00;23;34;21 - 00;24;08;29
Sasha
Thank you so much for being part of Ghost Stories by the fire. Do you have a spooky story, near-death experience, or supernatural happenings you'd like to share? I'd love to hear it. You submit your story to Sasha graham.com with ghost stories by the fire in the subject line. You might just wind up on this podcast, and if you want to support it and keep the ghost stories coming, head on over to Sasha graham.com to check out my books and tarot decks, which are available for purchase at your favorite bookseller.
00;24;09;02 - 01;31;56;08
Sasha
The Ghost Stories by the fire theme song is titled lovely from the original motion picture score of The Deeper You Dig, a film about the lengths a mother will go to to find her daughter's killer. Thanks again for listening. And until next time, I'm saving you a seat at the fire.
