Mirror, Mirror

If you received an omen of your own death, would you heed it? Or push it aside as a hallucination or a paranoid, passing fancy?

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:04Speaker 00

  Mirror, mirror on the wall, pretending that you see it all. Yet if I ask, when comes the storm? You only riddle, but never warn.

• 0:20Speaker 00

  You're listening to Spooked. Stay tuned.

• 0:31Glynn Washington?

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• 1:13Speaker 00

  Do you like scary stories? Think you've heard it all? Well, you've never heard it like this.

• 1:21Speaker 00

  Radio Rental is a horror podcast featuring true scary stories told by real people.

• 1:26Speaker 02

  He's tapping, tap, tap, tap. He's tapping on the door. He wants us to open the door.

• 1:33Speaker 03

  Then the mirror light turns on, and then the mirror light turns on in the shape of a triangle. And I'd say it's probably about the length of a school bus, you know, right above my head.

• 1:41Speaker 02

  She had long, ratted hair. She was wearing a dress. Her ribs were showing. Her fingers were long. She looked shriveled, partially decayed.

• 1:52Speaker 04

  I'm starting to freak out a little bit. I'm pleading with them to just please let me out. Dee's eyes started opening. They were pure white, and I lose it.

• 2:05Speaker 05

  Radio Rental returns October 23rd. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

• 2:11Speaker 06

  From kickoff to the final whistle, trade the biggest moments in football with Kalshi, America's number one prediction market platform. Next Sunday, Tampa Bay takes on 5-2 Chicago. Tampa Bay is currently trading at 38% to win. A $100 trade pays out over $190 if they come out on top. Download Kalshi. Use code HOOPS to get $25 when you trade $25. K-A-L-S-H-I. Kalshi, trade what's next. 18+ only. Restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event contract trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Kalshi products are not available in all jurisdictions. Prices, values, and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see kalshi.com/regulatory.

• 2:57Glynn Washington?

  There's this guy kind of on the periphery of my social circle. A lot of my friends knew him. "Oh, you two should meet," folks would say. "You guys would get along so great." Okay, whatever, whatever, whatever. But finally, one Sunday morning at a backyard brunch, he comes through and they're all smiling at this guy, acting all happy and huggy when he spreads love. They introduce him to me. Firm handshake, eye contact, big grin, the whole charade. But I don't pay it any never mind because instantly, I know, deep down in my soul, I know that this guy is a monster.

• 3:40Glynn Washington?

  I know it. I know it like I know the sun's gonna rise in the morning. I know it. So, yeah, I shake his hand. "Nice to meet you." I don't say anything. I don't let him know I see his truth because I've got all the time in the world.

• 3:58Glynn Washington?

  He's gonna slip up. True color's gonna come out, so I wait.

• 4:03Glynn Washington?

  Some people even ask me, "Seems like you don't like him." "Whatever, give you that idea?

• 4:13Glynn Washington?

  I don't know what you're talking about."

• 4:17Glynn Washington?

  Then I go back to Michigan for an event. Go out for pizza and beer with some old friends from high school. And I freeze when I see a man working behind the counter. And I have a flashback. This is the same kid who shoved me in a garbage can in 7th grade. The guy who literally waited in the bushes to beat me up and take my lunch money. The guy who painted the N-word on my locker and jammed pencils into my lock in high school. So I couldn't get my stuff out right before a big exam. But that's not what's crazy. What's crazy is that this guy looks an awful lot like that dude back home.

• 5:01Glynn Washington?

  And now I know why I hated him at first glance. It wasn't him. It was me. Transference based on a superficial resemblance. My certain intuition, my premonition was wrong. And it almost cost me dearly because since then, this guy Cisco has become one of my best and closest friends. One of my deepest male relationships. And I almost missed out on our friendship because he kinda looks like my childhood tormentor. And I tell you this as someone who's learned to trust his inner voice.

• 5:45Glynn Washington?

  Someone that pays attention to signs that others might discard. Intuition, premonition, that sudden apprehension, the sixth sense. I listened to it. I heeded. Which is great. Until it isn't.

• 7:08Glynn Washington?

  Signs, wonders. We all want to know what the future holds. We all want this peak over the mountaintop. And our next storyteller has asked to remain anonymous. But let me just tell you a little bit about her. She was very close to her grandparents as she grew up. In fact, they lived right around the corner from the home she shared with her mother and father. Spooked.

• 7:51Speaker 07

  My grandfather was... He was very loving. He talked a lot to my mom because he would come over in the morning and they would sit at the kitchen table and have a cup of coffee before they started their day. Tuesdays, he would go to the local bread company because they would give away these little bread samples. And I liked cute little things and he'd always pick me up one. So Tuesday was bread day.

• 8:19Speaker 07

  I was sick a lot as a kid and I was in bed a lot. My bedroom was right off the kitchen and he'd pop his head in to see how I was doing. And he'd give me a nod and a thumbs up.

• 8:38Speaker 07

  We were very close and after he passed away, I felt a huge hole was just ripped out of my life.

• 8:52Speaker 07

  I would hide in the closet and not talk to anybody because there was nothing to say.

• 9:01Speaker 07

  I was just really sad and depressed. My mom was sad, my dad was sad. The world was just sad.

• 9:14Speaker 07

  One night, I just couldn't sleep.

• 9:22Speaker 07

  And then, I just felt something. I can't say if it was a breeze or just a mental feeling.

• 9:34Speaker 07

  But I looked up, and in the doorway was my grandfather.

• 9:45Speaker 07

  How he had always been, wearing his clothes, poking his head in.

• 9:52Speaker 07

  He had a smile. He gave me the thumbs up that he used to give me when he was around.

• 10:01Speaker 07

  And he winked, and then he withdrew. And I ran to the doorway, and there is nothing there.

• 10:13Speaker 07

  And then I felt better. I was still sad, but I wasn't depressed.

• 10:27Speaker 07

  I told my grandma. She said that she had seen him too. And she said that it was a good thing not to worry, not to be scared by it. But it was his way of coming back to let the people who are still here know that he was okay.

• 10:52Speaker 07

  After my grandfather passed, my grandmother moved in with my family. I was in first grade.

• 11:08Speaker 07

  And because we had a smaller house,

• 11:13Speaker 07

  she moved into my room and we shared a room together for several years.

• 11:21Speaker 07

  It was less an authority figure and a child and it morphed a little bit into girlfriends. Because at night, she would talk to me, talk about hopes, dreams.

• 11:43Speaker 07

  We kind of became just chatty.

• 11:49Speaker 07

  During the morning hours, she would ask me about outfits, what to wear. She would provide fashion tips. For instance, if you find a pair of shoes of one color that you like, it's better to buy all five. If you have a workhorse, it's always better to buy a backup. Or she would sit at the kitchen table and apply her makeup and always say, "Now, always wear lipstick. You may not feel good on the inside, but nobody wants to see that, so look good on the outside."

• 12:23Speaker 07

  By the time I was in my early 30s, I was already moved out of the house. I had been working. I got married. My husband lived in a different city. I moved to his city and I just didn't see her as much.

• 12:52Glynn Washington?

  This episode is sponsored by Vinted. Imagine opening my closet, looking for a shirt, and I see that jacket. That jacket, that jacket I got for that party I never went to three years ago. That jacket, it's still there. It's still mocking me. Well, it was still there. Because then I stopped and I reached for my phone because Vinted is a secondhand marketplace app where you can sell clothes that you no longer wear. Listing on Vinted is quick and simple. Once an item sells, Vinted creates the prepaid shipping label for you. And Vinted has no seller fees, meaning you keep every dollar you earn.

• 13:34Glynn Washington?

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• 13:51Speaker 06

  From kickoff to the final whistle, trade the biggest moments in football with Kalshi, America's number one prediction market platform. Next Sunday, Tampa Bay takes on 5-2 Chicago. Tampa Bay is currently trading at 38% to win. A $100 trade pays out over $190 if they come out on top. Download Kalshi. Use code HOOPS to get $25 when you trade $25. K A L S H I. Kalshi, trade what's next. 18-plus only. Restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event contract trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Kalshi products are not available in all jurisdictions. Prices, values, and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see kalshi.com/regulatory.

• 14:41Speaker 07

  We flew in to spend Christmas and New Year's with my family. And it was probably a day or two after Christmas. There wasn't anything scheduled or planned. Everyone was just sitting around talking, watching television. And I was sitting on the couch with my grandmother, and she was just different.

• 15:13Speaker 07

  Usually, she's the focus of the room. She's the family matriarch. She has opinions, she gives them freely. And people listen.

• 15:27Speaker 07

  But she was very quiet, very pale.

• 15:35Speaker 07

  She wasn't part of the conversation, she wasn't bubbling. So I asked her how she was feeling, what was the matter.

• 15:48Speaker 07

  She says that she's tired. And I said, "I'm sorry to hear that. Are you sick? Have you been getting enough sleep?" And she said, "No, not like that. I'm just tired, I'm done.

• 16:06Speaker 07

  I'm alone." She named off some of her friends who had passed away. She said, "I miss your grandfather, and I think it's time. I'm ready to move on."

• 16:29Speaker 07

  So I was very taken aback by that because I didn't want her to feel that way.

• 16:38Speaker 07

  And I asked her, "What do you mean? How do you know?" She looked at me and she said,

• 16:46Speaker 07

  "I saw myself.

• 16:51Speaker 07

  I had on your grandfather's watch, and I pointed to it, and I was happy.

• 17:03Speaker 07

  And I know that it's time."

• 17:14Speaker 07

  She saw herself in another room of the house where she was alone. She saw herself standing in front of her.

• 17:24Speaker 07

  My grandfather's watch, she had it, she was wearing it. It was a watch she had given to him, his watch he was buried with. She just saw it as that was a gift between them and that was a symbol for her.

• 17:42Speaker 07

  I was very scared of what would happen next.

• 17:53Speaker 07

  I didn't want her to do anything, to speed up or to take matters in her own hands. But I was just quiet.

• 18:07Speaker 07

  And it sat with me because I believed her.

• 18:17Speaker 07

  I didn't question it because I saw myself too.

• 18:37Speaker 07

  At the time, it's my last year of grad school. I am going to Germany to visit a friend. Part of me wished that he was a little bit more than a friend. So I was kind of excited that he had invited me to come visit him.

• 18:58Speaker 07

  So over the summer, I had booked into flights. I had found a flight that would have taken me first to Switzerland and then to Germany.

• 19:17Speaker 07

  I started packing three weeks before the trip.

• 19:21Speaker 07

  And I did some shopping and bought a new pair of shoes. I got an outfit for the plane. A pair of those Abercrombie boyfriend jeans. This white button-down shirt. And this black cardigan knit blazer. I thought it looked kind of funky. But it wouldn't wrinkle and I thought it'd make me a little bit more proper. Maybe I'd have a chance of getting an upgrade. But if I didn't, I could use it as a blanket. I kind of went about it strategic because I wanted to look good.

• 20:05Speaker 07

  It's two weeks before the trip.

• 20:09Speaker 07

  I generally went to bed 10 o'clock, 10:30. But just something was bothering me. I didn't know if I'd forgotten something for work. If I was worried about school.

• 20:33Speaker 07

  I was going through all the things that potentially could be in the back of my head that would cause me to not be able to sleep. And nothing.

• 20:46Speaker 07

  1 o'clock, 2 o'clock in the morning.

• 20:49Speaker 07

  I decided to get up.

• 20:54Speaker 07

  I left my bedroom. Finished the bathroom, splashed some water on my face. Had a drink of water.

• 21:04Speaker 07

  And I felt a little bit more at ease. I didn't feel so restless. So I thought, I don't know what it was. Let it go, count sheep.

• 21:20Speaker 07

  It's about probably four or five steps from the bathroom door into the bedroom. And when I walk into the room and I turn, I saw myself.

• 21:37Speaker 07

  Sitting on the bed was me.

• 21:42Speaker 07

  I was sitting on my bed.

• 21:55Speaker 07

  But more than that, it was a really weird, awful me because I was wearing an outfit, the one that I had bought to wear on the airplane.

• 22:09Speaker 07

  And I had never worn it before and I was wearing it, but it was wet. There were burn marks all over it. And then me, I was wet and my hair was all raggedy and my face was burned. And I was open in my mouth as if I was trying to talk, but no sounds were coming out.

• 22:41Speaker 07

  It was almost like a fish, you know, open, closed, open, closed.

• 22:54Speaker 07

  I was just hit by this wave of sadness and dread and regret.

• 23:05Speaker 07

  It was surreal.

• 23:10Speaker 07

  It was me, every part of it, just as if I was looking in a mirror, but a weird, twisted mirror.

• 23:24Speaker 07

  I was scared.

• 23:30Speaker 07

  I didn't know if my mind was going or what.

• 23:37Speaker 07

  Is this happening? But I wasn't dreaming.

• 23:46Speaker 07

  I took a step back, I kind of blinked my eyes, shook my head, and then over. Everything was back the way it was. It was just my bed.

• 24:03Speaker 07

  It was just my room. I looked all around too. I looked under the bed, looked behind the curtains. Was someone playing a trick on me? Was it a prank?

• 24:13Speaker 07

  I ran into the living room and the outfit was right where I had left it, on the edge of the couch, straightened out, tag still on it. Jeans, shirt, gazer.

• 24:37Speaker 06

  From kickoff to the final whistle, trade the biggest moments in football with Kalshi, America's number one prediction market platform. Next Sunday, Tampa Bay takes on 5-2 Chicago. Tampa Bay is currently trading at 38% to win. A $100 trade pays out over $190 if they come out on top. Download Kalshi. Use code HOOPS to get $25 when you trade $25. K-A-L-S-H-I. Kalshi, trade what's next. 18-plus only. Restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event contract trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Kalshi products are not available in all jurisdictions. Prices, values, and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see kalshi.com/ regulatory.

• 25:25Speaker 07

  One of the first things that popped into my head was, "Don't get on that flight." The flight I had booked, I knew that something bad would happen if I got on that plane. I thought it, and then I said it to nothing, just out in the air. I verbalized, "I am not getting on that flight."

• 26:03Speaker 07

  And once I said it, I felt better, because then I went to bed. I went to sleep, and I fell right to sleep.

• 26:16Speaker 07

  When I got up in the morning, there was no indication of anything that had happened the night before.

• 26:28Speaker 07

  I took a shower, made some breakfast, and I turned on my computer, and I started to book at alternate flights.

• 26:44Speaker 07

  And I priced out a new itinerary that had me leaving on the same day, flying pretty much the same hours. And with cancelling a flight that I had, rebooking this new flight, it was a $50 savings. I actually came out ahead.

• 27:18Speaker 07

  I called my friend, said, "Hey, I have a new flight." I explained it to him by saying, "I wasn't feeling the other flight, and this came up, and it's a lot less expensive." He said, "Oh, yeah. No, totally understand. We'll work it out. That's fine. I'm happy you're still coming. I was worried that you were gonna say you weren't coming." It's weird. I didn't think, "Don't go on the trip." My thought was, "Don't get on that flight."

• 27:48Speaker 07

  And I didn't think anything more of it.

• 27:58Speaker 07

  The day the trip starts, I had to take two planes. I had a layover in London. And when we get to London, you have the televisions at various spots.

• 28:23Speaker 07

  I noticed that there are some people who look upset, who are watching the television. The flight attendants are off to my side with their heads together, conversing. And I walk over to one of the televisions, and it's a report on a plane that had gone down while our plane was in the air.

• 28:55Speaker 07

  And it was the flight that I was supposed to be on.

• 29:05Speaker 07

  There was a fire on the plane when it lost altitude, and it crashed into the ocean.

• 29:16Speaker 07

  And that's kind of how I had left. My clothes were burnt, but I was wet, sitting on the bed.

• 29:28Speaker 07

  I didn't have a lot of time to stand there and process because I had to catch another flight that was in a different building.

• 29:48Speaker 07

  I watched as much as I could. And then I just hurried on to the bus or shuttle. I don't even remember what it was. That took me to the next terminal.

• 30:01Speaker 07

  Got in line, got on the flight and just was tired.

• 30:08Speaker 07

  Sad.

• 30:10Speaker 07

  Dumbstruck.

• 30:13Speaker 07

  What do you do? There's nothing you can do.

• 30:22Speaker 07

  And then when I got to Germany and my friend picked me up, I said, "Did you see what happened?" And he said, "No, what happened?" I said, "That flight I was on, it crashed." And his response was, "Wow. Your frugality saved you."

• 30:40Speaker 07

  I think people, you know, gave our gallows humor, tried to make the most of it.

• 30:48Speaker 07

  Once it was out in the open, there wasn't anything really left to say. He was like, "Well, I'm glad you're here." I'm glad I'm here too.

• 31:01Speaker 07

  Nine years later, my grandma, who was confiding in me, she saw herself. And I just understood that. I respected her privacy, that if she had wanted to tell someone, she would have talked to my mom, she would have talked to my sister. But for whatever reason, I was the person she confided in and I kept her confidence.

• 31:27Speaker 07

  She had a stroke two months later.

• 31:39Speaker 07

  It's as if she didn't fight it.

• 31:42Speaker 07

  Her vitals never got better. She was moved into hospice care.

• 31:50Speaker 07

  I sat down next to her bed, talked to her, you know, said goodbye. And she passed privately, which is what she wanted.

• 32:03Speaker 07

  I didn't tell anybody that I saw myself. They all think I was a cheapskate. I've never really, like, talked, talked about it. I told everybody it was to save $50. And that's a story that everybody knows. But it wasn't just to save $50. It was because of what I saw. And what did I see? What I saw, and no one else saw anything. Did people see it and ignore it? So I don't really bring it up because you want to make people feel uncomfortable. And I wasn't going to say, "Oh, I was really on the flight. I saw it happen." Because it doesn't make any sense to anybody but me, who it happened to.

• 32:54Speaker 07

  I like to say that in my interactions with people, it's made me a kinder person. But I don't know that it has. Or I'm going to take better care of my body. My addiction to Pop-Tarts probably would lead to a different conclusion. And you want to say that something like that changed you so fundamentally. But it doesn't. There's certain things you can change, certain things you can be mindful of. But life, things happen.

• 33:37Speaker 07

  Sometimes my grandma would say, "Stuff happens for a reason." And I always hated when she said that because what was the reason for it? I think it's more just, things happen and we don't have a good explanation for it.

• 34:00Glynn Washington?

  Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for sharing your story, folks. Today's storyteller is a Spooked listener who reached out to tell us her story. We love hearing your stories. If you have one to tell, reach out [email protected]. The original score for that story was by Leon Morimoto. It was produced by Chris Hambrick.

• 34:47Glynn Washington?

  Now, Spooksters, we walk this path together. Spooked, Season 6. Do you yourself possess an inexplicable power? Do you have contact with forces beyond the normal realm of experience and you can't tell anyone about it? Well, tell me, because I want to know. [email protected], because there is nothing better than a Spooked story from a Spooked listener. Let us know. [email protected]. And to tell the dark side that you're Spooked, best to do with some Spooked gear. The T-shirt of your dreams, available right now at snapjudgment.org. And remember, if you'd like your storytelling under the bright light of day, get the amazing,

• 35:31Glynn Washington?

  the stupendous Snap Judgment Podcast, because it's storytelling with a beat.

• 35:52Glynn Washington?

  Spook was created by the team that knows the future is a liar. Except, of course, for Mark Ristich. He believes anything the Magic 8-Ball says. There's Anna Sussman, Chief Spookster Eliza Smith, Chris Hambrick, Annie Nguyen, Lauren Newsom, Leon Morimacho, Davy Kim, Renzo Goryo, Theo Decot, Marissa Dodge, Zoe Fergno, Tiffany Delisa, Ann Ford, Doug Stewart, and Isaiah Sims. The Spook theme song is by Pat McEssidy-Miller. My name is from Washington, and you may have heard it said that not just people, but spirits, shades, specters, entities, jin are all attracted to a warm heart.

• 36:36Glynn Washington?

  Some go further to suggest that thoughts, feelings, memories, sensations can also travel of their own accord with their own agendas. There are very few means we have to filter out the benign from the evil. Which is why I suggest to use the most basic tool we do have. And never, ever, never, ever, never, ever, never turn out the lights.

• 37:10Speaker 06

  From kickoff to the final whistle, trade the biggest moments in football with Kalshi, America's number one prediction market platform. Next Sunday, Tampa Bay takes on 5-2 Chicago. Tampa Bay is currently trading at 38% to win. A $100 trade pays out over $190 if they come out on top. Download Kalshi. Use code HOOPS to get $25 when you trade $25. K-A-L-S-H-I. Kalshi, trade what's next.

• 37:36Speaker 08

  18-plus only. Restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event contract trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Kalshi products are not available in all jurisdictions. Prices, values, and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see kalshi.com/regulatory.