The Shadow Guest Pt. 1

Angelo and Jason could just trade a few words and they would get each other. But one night on Blackfeet territory, Jason got quiet. Too quiet. Part 1 of 2.

• 0:05Speaker 00

  I stole a look inside the book. It said exactly what the monster took. By hook or crook, I told the cook, but she mistook. Said I was full of gabbering.

• 0:20Speaker 00

  You've crossed over. The Spook, Field Guide to the Shadow. Stay tuned.

• 0:34Speaker 01

  Why have so many crop circles appeared around Britain? How did thousands of people demonstrate powers of telepathy? Can the dead suck the life from the living? Join me, Tim Harford, for a trip into the paranormal throughout Halloween month on Cautionary Tales. Listen to Cautionary Tales on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

• 1:02Speaker 02

  If you're a NASCAR fan, chances are you don't make a lot of decisions without doing a little homework first. You check the stats, the standings, the lap times. You compare the field before race day. Buying a car is no different. You want to compare your options, do your research, and feel confident before making such a big decision. That's why I was surprised to learn you can buy a car online on Autotrader. At first, I thought, wait, really? But the more I looked into it, the more it made sense. Autotrader gives you access to an extensive inventory, so you can compare vehicles, explore your options, and find the right fit, all in one place. And when you're ready, you can start the buying process online, test drive at the dealership, and finish wherever works best for you. Your information stays with you, so there's no starting over.

• 1:47Speaker 02

  The best part? You have support from a person whenever you need it, giving you the convenience of buying online with help that's there when you want it. So if you're looking for your next vehicle, check out Autotrader and see what buying a car online can really look like. Buy your car online on Autotrader. Really, visit autotrader.com.

• 2:15Speaker 00

  Thirteen years old. I'm up in church and the pastor's preaching. He says, because of his love,

• 2:23Speaker 00

  his sacrifice. If you repent your wicked ways even a second before you die, all your sins will be forgiven.

• 2:36Speaker 00

  What?

• 2:38Speaker 00

  This gets my attention. That's right, Reverend. If you truly repent, even the most desperate sinner will be allowed passage into paradise.

• 2:49Speaker 00

  Whoa.

• 2:52Speaker 00

  You can just be evil and say, my bad. And your slate is wiped clean?

• 3:00Speaker 00

  This is news, and I have questions. So later, after services, I ask him, you know, if he has any other loopholes or tricks like that that I can use to, I don't know, kind of slide by with all the fuss and everything. And pastor's face turns purple. Forgiveness is not a trick. All right, okay. I just mean, like, do you know of any other schemes like that? Last minute switcheroo you were talking about? Do you make mockery? Make mockery? No, sir. I am all sincerity. Just trying to work the system. But I decide maybe I'm supposed to keep my questions to myself for a while. I start to read books instead and pretty quickly

• 3:45Speaker 00

  discover that I am not the only one to ever search for shortcuts. That there are rules for entering the final paradise. Rules for escaping curses. Rules for speaking to gods. Rules for calling things up. And rules for sending them back down.

• 4:11Speaker 00

  And wherever there are rules, someone, somewhere, is looking for the trick. The back door, the escape from consequence.

• 4:23Speaker 00

  Come to believe that this is what the Book of Shadow is. A list of loopholes, of shortcuts, tricks in order to avoid at all costs getting what you truly deserve.

• 4:41Speaker 00

  Dangerous knowledge indeed.

• 4:46Speaker 00

  Spook, the Field Guide to the Shadow.

• 4:51Speaker 00

  Starts now.

• 5:38Speaker 00

  See, before you can game the system, you have to understand what the system is. It's 1989, and Angelo and his new wife, Leanne, they just bought a big piece of land on the edge of the Blackfoot Reservation in Montana. They move in with her three kids. And now they're in the process of turning it into some kind of DIY community center. Nice. Spook.

• 6:33Speaker 03

  I wanted to start a place for those that really could use my help, you know, and were in some kind of trouble. We had families who got evicted and they had no place to go. We're offering a place to stay for a few days. Different people, the different churches would come, who would have loads of food to give out.

• 6:56Speaker 03

  We'd get a trailer in, somebody would donate it, and we'd just strip them down, put new flooring, walls, drywall, everything.

• 7:04Speaker 03

  Each one had his own hookup for electricity and water, and it had a bad dresser, a window to look out. And then we'd move on to the next trailer.

• 7:13Speaker 04

  Within a year, they had a total of four trailer homes on the property. There was the one he and his family lived in. And then a double-wide, they called the big trailer, where they cooked and ate meals. And then, on top of that, there were two other guest trailers. But soon, money was starting to get tight.

• 7:32Speaker 03

  You know, we're getting behind on bills and a few things that we needed. And you look at this little town, you know, there's hardly no work, hardly any resources or anything. I was looking every day, but there was nothing.

• 7:49Speaker 03

  But then I met Mike.

• 7:52Speaker 03

  I met him at a wake. We just got to talking about fishing, hunting, stuff like that. I left him my number, and we became friends, you know?

• 8:05Speaker 03

  He's a mortician. He owned a funeral home in Brownie. And after a bit, I told him I was looking for extra work. He asked me if I was queasy or not, you know, and how I felt around deceased people. To tell you the truth, I thought it would be interesting. And it was money, money that we needed. So, you know, I took him up on it.

• 8:33Speaker 03

  The biggest part of my job there with him was to go on pickup. And pickup was picking up someone who was deceased. It wasn't no training per se, it was just, you know, common sense.

• 8:47Speaker 04

  It worked like this. Angela would get a call from Mike with a location. He'd drive there in the hearse, load up the body, and bring it back to the funeral home.

• 8:57Speaker 03

  Thankfully, I didn't actually do anything with the formaldehyde or embalming like that. That was old Mike. I'd just get him ready for him to do what he asked to do. That just means like if there's any clothing on the body, if they have gowns on or socks, sometimes they come in with socks. I'd remove it and then I'd wash them down, clean them all shampoo, their hair, like I'd clean myself, you know? Just like give them a regular bath. It didn't really bother me because I was, I was just trying to make their, their last days on earth as pleasant and comfortable as possible.

• 9:42Speaker 04

  And then one day Angela was driving back home from a pickup a few towns over and he decided to take the long way home, along a tiny road called Old Agency.

• 9:53Speaker 03

  It was just about nine, 10 o'clock that evening. The sun's going down and it's already getting purple and orange, really pretty sunset, you know?

• 10:04Speaker 03

  As I'm driving down to the west of Old Agency, you can see everything. The Rocky Mountains to the south, more like rolling hills, then plains and mountains. It's home. That's what it feels like when I see them all. But as I was driving in from the north, I'd see about four or five miles out of Browning. All of a sudden, I can hear the sirens, you know, going off and I can see the, the blue and red lights going and then all of a sudden I see an ambulance going and then I see a red fire truck going.

• 10:39Speaker 03

  At first, I didn't think much of it. I just wanted to get home.

• 10:46Speaker 03

  But then I, I could see these skid marks, they were going this way and then overcorrecting this way. By the time I come, there was just a couple of police cars, highway patrol, tow truck. It was all that was left at the crash site.

• 11:02Speaker 03

  And there was just one, one vehicle. It was a grayish flatbed truck. But the way it looked, it just looked like it rolled into a ball, like a twisted even. Metal's basically what was left.

• 11:18Speaker 03

  I continued on.

• 11:21Speaker 03

  Couple hundred yards, more than reckless. I seen somebody walking up the road.

• 11:28Speaker 03

  He was carrying one of those old army duffel bags.

• 11:33Speaker 03

  I got closer and closer. When he turned around and looked, I recognized him right away. It was my friend Jason.

• 11:43Speaker 03

  His hair was long, but he always wears his, his, a part on the side.

• 11:49Speaker 03

  So I just pulled over and stopped.

• 11:52Speaker 03

  I had a big smile. Jason, what were you doing out here, you know? But he, he didn't say anything to me. He just threw his duffel bag and got in.

• 12:07Speaker 03

  I said, where are you off to? And he didn't even say where, he just pointed towards Browning. I hardly talked at all, you know? Said, you okay? He'd say, yeah.

• 12:18Speaker 03

  It's cool now?

• 12:20Speaker 03

  Nothing.

• 12:22Speaker 03

  And it struck me really odd.

• 12:28Speaker 03

  I, I've known him forever. We grew up together in the country and my folks had a ranch there. He would come and stay with us and we'd just hit it off like that, you know? Just a little string bean type kid, running all the energy off here and there.

• 12:45Speaker 03

  But he was always smiling and talking and joking and always be the first one to engage her in conversation.

• 12:52Speaker 03

  Even if he was feeling bad, you know? He never hit anything like that. It was never quite like that.

• 13:03Speaker 03

  I asked him if I can drop him off at his house and all of a sudden he starts speaking more.

• 13:10Speaker 03

  He said, I can't go home right now. Mind if I camp at your place for a couple of days? Says he's got some things going on, he's got a clear up in his head.

• 13:21Speaker 03

  Sure.

• 13:24Speaker 03

  Just walked in, didn't say anything, dropped his bag and I said, well, I'll see you in the morning then, Jason.

• 13:34Speaker 03

  I went over to our house, our trailer. We got in bed and went to sleep.

• 13:42Speaker 03

  It must have been three, four in the morning, the phones start ringing. It was Mike, my boss and mortician. And he said, I needed to do a pickup in Great Falls Hospital as soon as possible. He said, can you go now? Yeah, I can go now, sure.

• 14:04Speaker 03

  I got to hearse, drove it out. It's about nine, 10 o'clock that evening when I got to the hospital to transport the body.

• 14:16Speaker 03

  They helped me put him on gurney, zip him up, close it up and then lock him in, in place in the hearse, in a position where you, you don't move around in there. Then I finally got him, got him all out and signed papers and headed home.

• 14:46Speaker 05

  From kickoff to the final whistle, trade the biggest moments in football on Kalshi, America's number one prediction market platform. Kansas City takes on defending champions Seattle, currently trading at 41% to win. A $100 trade pays out $244 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.

• 15:38Speaker 03

  I see maybe nine, nine, 10 miles out of Great Falls. I just felt this bump against the back of my seat.

• 15:46Speaker 03

  Stuffed on the brakes.

• 15:49Speaker 03

  I looked up into the mirror, could see that the gurney come loose, that we had the body on and it rolled up and hit the back of my seat.

• 15:59Speaker 03

  It just, it spooked me. I was scared.

• 16:04Speaker 03

  I didn't know how it come loose because I know I fastened it in tight, you know? After it hooks in, I mean, it takes a lot of force to unsnap it. It'll click when it unsnaps, it'll click when you fasten it shut. But I didn't hear any of that.

• 16:22Speaker 03

  I pulled over, I stopped and when I opened it up to look at, of course, the gurney was sitting like sideways like this.

• 16:32Speaker 03

  I just put him back in place and fastened him back in and got back in the car and started driving again.

• 16:39Speaker 03

  Then the next thing I gave to, the same thing. And I was thinking that, I don't know, for sure, I know I fastened it. For sure, I know I fastened it.

• 16:49Speaker 03

  I turned it off, put him back in place and fastened it back up again.

• 16:55Speaker 03

  I was, you know, trying to be rational, I was thinking maybe it's issues with the car, maybe it's me, you're just overtired. And I knew it wasn't a coincidence after the fourth or fifth time.

• 17:09Speaker 03

  It didn't hit in the middle, it didn't hit on passenger side. No, it all just come bouncing up against my seat. Yeah, I began to get these chills, you know? That last hill, I, I just didn't even bother fastening it. I just began to just floor it.

• 17:30Speaker 03

  I got to the funeral home and got my passenger out, brought him inside, put him into the cooler.

• 17:41Speaker 03

  Just going back in, then the phone rings. I walked back to the office, picked up the phone and it was Mike.

• 17:51Speaker 03

  He asked me if I would stay and prep for him.

• 17:56Speaker 03

  I was, I was still scared. You know, honestly, I didn't want to be there. But you needed the money and I didn't want to appear to Mike to be a scaredy cat or anything like that. So I told Mike, yeah, I'll stick around.

• 18:14Speaker 03

  I hung up the phone and I mean, everything was in silence. It was just quiet.

• 18:23Speaker 03

  Even, even the sounds outside seemed quiet, like you can hear dogs barking in the distance or vehicles driving by and none of that.

• 18:33Speaker 03

  I was walking down from that little hallway to the cooler room to prep the body for Mike, but before I could get there, I heard this knocking. Small, soft.

• 18:47Speaker 03

  At first I, I thought it was the front door. Then I heard it again, just a little louder, you know? And I turned around like that and I was trying to listen if it was somebody from the garage or whatever.

• 19:03Speaker 03

  And next thing it was the cooler.

• 19:09Speaker 03

  I froze.

• 19:11Speaker 03

  I was still standing in that little hallway to, to the coolers. Then all of a sudden I could see the doorknobs like they were turning.

• 19:20Speaker 03

  Every one of them.

• 19:23Speaker 03

  The office, the front room, the bathrooms, the wake room, the kitchen, everything. Seeing them going up and down by themselves and it was going really fast. Like someone was trying to get into the building or, or trying to get out. I ran.

• 19:41Speaker 03

  I was running, I was running out the door. I've never felt fear like that in all my life.

• 19:50Speaker 03

  As soon as I got to the door, I, I opened the door and I ran right smack into Mike and I almost knocked him off his feet. He said, what the hell Angelo, are you okay?

• 20:02Speaker 03

  Every time I tried to open my mouth, it was like my heart was beating in my mouth.

• 20:09Speaker 03

  I finally calmed down enough to explain to him what happened and we talked for a minute about it and, and we chalked it up to not enough rest. He said, I'll feel better in a few days, I just need rest. That's what I thought, you know?

• 20:29Speaker 04

  By that point Angelo had been up for nearly 24 hours. So he left the funeral home and drove back home.

• 20:37Speaker 03

  I just, I couldn't sleep. Every little noise in here, I'd, I'd turn and look, you know, this way, that. I mean, I was afraid.

• 20:47Speaker 03

  And I was just glad when the sun came up, I mean, oh golly. I got up, got ready and I, I went to check on my friend.

• 20:56Speaker 03

  I knocked on the door.

• 20:59Speaker 03

  I kept knocking, he, he didn't answer right away.

• 21:04Speaker 03

  And then finally he opened the door, he said, come in. Just barely audible.

• 21:12Speaker 03

  I said, hey. I asked him if he needed a ride to town because I was going to work. He said, no, he said, I'm good, I'm, I'm okay. Angelo buddy, you think I can stay a couple more days with, you know, with his head hung low?

• 21:29Speaker 03

  I told him, I said, don't you want to be with your family instead of being holed up in a room by yourself?

• 21:36Speaker 03

  All he told me is that, come on, I won't be no trouble. Sure, I don't care. But I was thinking, geez, you know, this, this isn't my buddy at all. Something was obviously wrong with him.

• 21:57Speaker 03

  I remember the time when we met in school. We were in the third grade. I mean, I was just a little guy. Couldn't speak English, could only speak Blackfeet. Well, one day I wasn't feeling very well, so I raised my hand asking for water from my teacher. I said, "Nah, kutu ku kirokina, huh? "Tell some water, mom?" I didn't know her name, so I said, "Mom, na'ah." She said, "You got my English, speak English, what do you want?"

• 22:29Speaker 03

  And Jason said, "I think he wants water."

• 22:33Speaker 03

  My eyes brightened up.

• 22:36Speaker 03

  Because before that, nobody understood me. Nobody, none of the kids spoke Blackfeet. So I knew he knew what I was saying and I didn't have to worry about, you know, or try to figure out what they were saying. And we just hit it off like that, you know? We talked about everything.

• 22:56Speaker 03

  So the way he was acting and the way he was withdrawn, you know, I was kind of losing trust. I was thinking all kinds of things, you know? What's he doing, you know? Why you want to go home? Did something happen to him? Did this make him do a 180 degree change in his personality?

• 23:19Speaker 03

  I arrived at work about 8:30. Mike was asleep on a couch and I said, did, did anything happen after I left, you know? He said, "No." I was thinking, man, how can this guy sleep here?

• 23:33Speaker 04

  Mike told him he had to go and meet with the family of the man whose body Angelo had picked up the night before from Great Falls. He asked him if he could watch over the place while he was gone.

• 23:44Speaker 03

  I didn't want to at first, you know? Kind of scared, you know, I didn't want to be there. And I was thinking, oh, maybe I'll just make some coffee or something, you know? And then I remember I walked back to the kitchen, put my sugar and my cream in there and taking a couple of sips.

• 24:04Speaker 03

  The next thing I heard, "Anybody home?"

• 24:09Speaker 03

  And I said, "Just a minute, I'll be right with you."

• 24:13Speaker 03

  It sounded like a male voice coming from the entrance, just as clear as I'm talking to you.

• 24:21Speaker 03

  I started walking towards the front door. And as I was walking from the back, I was thinking, gee, didn't I lock that door? You know, before I, I went to make the coffee. So I'd know if somebody came.

• 24:36Speaker 03

  And I got to the door, sure enough, it was locked.

• 24:39Speaker 03

  Nobody was in there.

• 24:42Speaker 03

  I remember getting lightheaded, like, like if you get up too fast and then things start getting dark, that's how I would start feeling. I started talking to myself, I was, come on, get a grip, I'll go.

• 24:54Speaker 03

  Just then I heard what sounded like a bunch of tools in the back room crashed to the floor, like a bunch of spoons and forks and knives being tossed around in there.

• 25:04Speaker 03

  My body, you know, drained me. I mean, like, I was like weak.

• 25:10Speaker 03

  So I can go back there. But I thought, I'm losing my mind.

• 25:16Speaker 03

  Am I crazy? What's wrong with me?

• 25:22Speaker 04

  Angelo got in his car and called Mike and told him that he was feeling sick and he had to go home early. When he got back, he could still smell the formaldehyde, the stuff Mike used to embalm the bodies, all over him.

• 25:38Speaker 03

  An awful smell, I mean, it smelled like human waste and matches. And I could always smell it in my nostrils and my hair. I just wanted it off of me.

• 25:49Speaker 03

  So I gathered my stuff and I went to the bathroom, I turned on the shower and the hot water, it, it felt, felt really good.

• 25:58Speaker 03

  I put the shampoo on my hand and got a nice lather going and all of a sudden it started getting cold air.

• 26:08Speaker 03

  It was like, like a Bieber cold where you can almost feel it in your bones.

• 26:13Speaker 03

  My eyes were burning because I was, you know, washing my hair.

• 26:19Speaker 03

  And I looked out and I could see a figure of a person through that, through that sliding glass.

• 26:27Speaker 03

  It was just kind of like smoking.

• 26:31Speaker 03

  I couldn't make out any features, but you can see like leaning against the sink, it had its legs and its arms crossed.

• 26:42Speaker 03

  My first thought was like people, intruders, somebody trying to steal.

• 26:47Speaker 03

  I didn't know, I just felt that whatever that was that was at the funeral home had somehow followed us to our home.

• 26:59Speaker 03

  It came to the place where my wife and my children feel safe, where I felt safe.

• 27:05Speaker 03

  And at the same time, I was trying to get the shampoo out, I, I closed my eyes tight as I could and then shouted as loud as I could, I said, "Getting out of here, you're not welcome here," you know, as loud as I could.

• 27:19Speaker 06

  I heard him yelling because our, our trailer wasn't that big. The tone of his voice, it was just a fear. I never heard my husband ever talk like that.

• 27:33Speaker 03

  I was able to finish my, my shower and put on my, my fresh clothes and I asked the me and the kids to smudge and pray with me.

• 27:57Speaker 00

  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. I mean, you keep every dollar you earn.

• 28:40Speaker 00

  And I could get a little more room in my closet, you know, for that next jacket. Give your clothes a second life with Vinted. Download the Vinted app for free and start listing. No seller fees, so you keep everything you earn.

• 28:57Speaker 07

  Therapy's biggest impact doesn't show up in some dramatic breakthrough. It shows up in the smallest moments. You bite your tongue instead of escalating. You put your phone down instead of firing off that text. You say what you actually mean instead of what would hurt someone else the most. Nobody applauds those moments, but they quietly change your life. That's what growing feels like, and that's exactly what Grow Therapy is here for. Grow is therapy that works, covered by insurance. Sessions average $21 with insurance, and some pay as little as $0, depending on their plan. There are no subscriptions, no long-term commitments. You just pay per session.

• 29:39Speaker 07

  Grow connects you with thousands of high-quality licensed therapists across the US, offering both virtual and in-person sessions, nights and weekends. You can search by what matters, like insurance, specialty, identity, or availability, and you can book a therapy session in minutes and begin in as little as two days, not the national 48-day average. See if you could pay as little as $0 for therapy in seconds at growtherapy.com/booknow. That's growtherapy.com/booknow. Growtherapy.com/booknow. Availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plan.

• 30:39Speaker 03

  My first thought was to smudge. I was told from our elders that cedar alone is like a repellent for evil.

• 30:51Speaker 03

  We gathered up the children in the living room. So I mixed my pine, cedar, and sweetgrass, mixed those together, and lit it. I was smudging myself and the smoke was going up. Just as we were about to start praying, we heard another knock on the door and I jumped in it and I said, "Who is it? It's me, Jason. Can I come in?" He said he smelled the smudge and wanted to smudge and pray with us. When we finished praying and smudging, I thought, "Well, good, you know, now we're okay."

• 31:33Speaker 03

  Jason stood up, politely said goodnight to Leanne and myself and the kids, and walked away. I jumped up and I followed Jason to his room. And I'm like, "I want to talk to him and try to figure out what's bugging him." As we were walking, he was looking up at the stars and I offered him a cigarette and he said, "No, thanks." That's another thing surprised because we smoked tobacco Marlboro Lights. He always had a pack, I always had a pack. Well, I lit up a cigarette and I was half tempted to clue him in on what was going on, you know? I was thinking, "Should I, should I tell him?"

• 32:15Speaker 03

  Well, I don't think I should because he's going through a lot right now. He's not the same. But before I could open my mouth, he began to talk to me in a, whoa, quiet voice, like there was some unseen ears nearby listening. He said, "Angelo, I haven't been able to come to grips with something I did. I've been worried, I've been worried about my folks, about Kim." Kim was his little girl. We talked for a while and I lit up another smoke, but as he began to talk, his voice

• 32:55Speaker 03

  just drifted off, trying to make sense of everything and lost my thoughts. I didn't know, I didn't know how long we were out there. I almost swallowed my cigarette when my daughter, Olivia, shook me by the arm and she said, "Dad, Mom's been calling you." So Jason dressed up and I'll see you in the morning. I did back and see what Leanne needed. He said, "Yeah, I'll see you." But he even told Olivia goodnight. She shouted back at him, "Night, night," you know, in a little girl's voice. We walked back to our trailer and she said, "Okay, listen, I didn't want to scare the

• 33:38Speaker 03

  kids, but you need to see this."

• 33:42Speaker 06

  I went, "Angelo, there's somebody in that room."

• 33:50Speaker 03

  She led me back into our bedroom and she was pointing out the window towards the big trailer. The big trailer was two trailers that were put together for the kitchen. We could actually see to the big trailer from our trailer.

• 34:08Speaker 06

  As I was looking over there, it was like people, like dark figures moving around.

• 34:17Speaker 03

  The room was dark, but the things in there were dark, and then a darkness that was in that trailer. They were like in a form of people, but they'd have discernible features, you know, like nose or mouth or eyes. It was just like an outline of a head and shoulders. But they weren't turning their heads when they were walking. They weren't like bumping into one another, they were like passing through one another.

• 34:42Speaker 06

  That really scared the shit out of me. I knew nobody was over there. Those spirits are walking around. That was something bad.

• 34:53Speaker 03

  And then we heard three loud bangs on the back door and it was just about two feet away from me and I jumped. She opened the door and looked out, but there was nothing, just an eerie silence. The little ones, they kept running and screaming into our room. They were screaming and jumping up and down and they cried and they were pointing down the hallway. Olivia, she laid on a blood curlys and screaming. And all that come out of her mouth was, "Daddy, daddy." And that's when our night of terror began.

• 35:46Speaker 00

  Oh, it is not over. It's not over by a long shot. Thank you, Angelo and Leanne, for sharing your story with Spooked. Come back for the stunning conclusion, because you will not believe what happens next. The original score for that piece was by Lauren Newsom. It was scouted and produced by Elliot Lightfoot.

• 36:12Speaker 00

  Now, do you have a secret ability? A talent that you didn't practice? You didn't develop through hard work over time, but instead just inherited? In a flash, maybe from another, perhaps older version of yourself? If so, I would love to hear about it. [email protected], because there is nothing better than a spook story from a spooked listener. Know that Spook balances on precarious edge between here and the void, a line where one false move might spell eternal damnation.

• 36:54Speaker 00

  And this is why I ask, please, please, don't seek to find it, lest it seeks to find you. KQD in San Francisco holds the Book of Shadow in the deepest underground vault, under climate control, 24-hour surveillance by a sanctified cadre of warrior monks. And let the all-seeing surveillance eye record this, that no Snap Studios content may be used for training, testing, or developing machine learning or AI systems without prior written permission. On Team Spook, the union-represented producers, artists, editors, and engineers, members of the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians, Communications

• 37:35Speaker 00

  of America, AFL-CIL Local 51. Spook is brought to you by the team that prefers a closed-casket memorial. Except for Mark Ristich, he needs to be sure exactly who's in there. Please give love to David Kim, to Zoe Faridino, Eric Yanyes, Taylor Decot, Elliot Lightfoot, Marissa Dodge, Miles Lassie, Doug Stewart, Nicholas Marks. The Spook theme song is by Pat Massey Miller. My name is Lynn Washington.

• 38:16Speaker 00

  And there was an old man, at least old to me, a white guy, but European white. He used to frequent a bar where I was a regular, and I liked him, even looked for him, partly because he would never let anybody pay for a drink, but mostly because he had knowledge. He'd done things, gone places, and he would tell you about them, amazing stories. All you had to do was listen. And sitting across from him one night, he tells me, "I am not a good person." I said, "What are you on about? You are great." "No, no, no, no."

• 38:59Speaker 00

  Matter of fact, like the weather, like a train schedule, "No, I am a bad man, but I have lived an extraordinary life." And we just sit with this for a moment, looking at our drinks. And now, now that I am old, they say, "This is the time I must pay." They say that now regret comes to eat you.

• 39:32Speaker 00

  But he says somehow, even though I am bad, I regret nothing. He smiles at me then and says, "So, I win? I'm gonna buy another round." Never, ever, never, ever, ever, ever, never turn out the lights.