Poltergeist Activity in New York City

[00:00:02] Welcome to Tell Me A Ghost Story. The late night call in podcast where we delve into the world of the supernatural and explore the eerie and unexplained. I'm your host, Michelle Newman. This podcast features true stories from our callers that will send shivers down your

[00:00:32] spine and leave you questioning the existence of the afterlife. So grab a cozy blanket, turn down the lights. Hey, this is Artemis from Los Angeles, California, and this is my ghost story.

[00:00:54] So when I was in my mid-twenties, I was living in New York City, and me and my ex-girlfriend were working in the hecticly fabulous world of fashion, or adjacent to fashion. And we were living together in Brooklyn, and we'd had a really particularly busy month

[00:01:16] and a half, both of us, and we really wanted to do a vacation, but we couldn't really leave the city. So we said, hey, let's do a staycation. And my ex kind of took it upon herself to figure out where we were going and where we

[00:01:32] would be staying. And there's a hotel in New York called the Bowery Hotel, which is a really lovely hotel that looks really old but is actually new. They did a great job making it seem old, but they have a sister property that is

[00:01:48] sort of like a townhouse that's affiliated with the Bowery Hotel that you can rent, but it's kind of like you have to know to know to rent it, one of these things. And it's the same principle as the hotel except there's no staff on site.

[00:02:04] You go and check in at the Bowery Hotel, and then you go to this townhouse, and it's like really beautiful, and it's kind of like a thing. So she picks that place. I'd never really heard of it.

[00:02:17] I didn't do any research on it, which is kind of like let's have an adventure. So we decided to meet after work in the city, get some drinks, go check in, have a night in the hotel. Really, really nice. Order in food, do the whole nine.

[00:02:33] So we go for drinks. We go to the hotel afterwards to pick up our keys, and the Bellman who gives us our keys kind of goes, oh, that's a good room with this kind of weird mischievous vibe. And we were like, all right, weird man, that's fine.

[00:02:55] We thought it was like he was just being cheeky. So we go to the hotel and it's really beautiful. It's an old Victorian building and you check in by yourself and you go in. And we were the only people in there that night.

[00:03:06] So there's only like four rooms, one on each floor of this thing. And we were in the top room on the top floor. And it is set up like you're in someone's house. Like you enter and it's just a staircase and a weird little foyer

[00:03:18] and really beautiful and art and yada, yada. But we go upstairs. We went in, we joked. This looks like a haunted house. Like it looks like this would be your classic haunted house. But, you know, we were in our mid 20s and it was New York City

[00:03:32] and like what is haunting in New York City? You step, you know, there's busy, there's people outside. It's everywhere. So we go in, we get into the room. We immediately crack a bottle of wine. We're enjoying, we're exploring the room.

[00:03:44] And it's one of those rooms where it's like they've redone everything, but everything is still really old. So it's beautiful, but it's like old, like the faucets are old. Those classic ones you got to crank on for like the sink and the shower and the bath.

[00:03:58] And the windows are like beautiful, but you really got to like yank them up and then like they lock in and then you got to yank them down and, you know, the lights are very like old. And the way that they kind of turn on is they like

[00:04:13] that's the only thing I can tell you about like the light kind of turns on, you know, you know. So we were there and we're kind of investigating where like this is really beautiful and this is really cool. And we start drinking the wine

[00:04:32] and it there's this like kind of like unsettling feeling in the room. I don't like really know what it was, but it just kind of had this like lingering thing. And we were kind of putting it down to like we were just exhausted from the month we'd had

[00:04:47] and we were just kind of like zoning out or whatever. But it kind of felt like a little trippy in there. Like nothing really was like settled. Like it all kind of felt like, I don't know how to say it.

[00:04:58] Like it was like shimmery almost, but like not. Everything just kind of had this weird vibe. So we're drinking wine and we're sitting on the edge of the bed talking and just like, oh, this is going to be so nice.

[00:05:13] And my ex goes, yeah, I'm definitely going to like draw a bath in a little bit because like we don't have a bathtub in our place. And like I'm going to have a serious bath and I was like, hell, yeah, that sounds great.

[00:05:25] And then she kind of like, we go on to another topic and we're talking about work and I'm like telling her about my day and that out of nowhere the bath turns on. This is about five minutes later. So we've already changed into a different topic.

[00:05:41] And I mentioned before like this isn't like a bath, like a modern thing where like, oh, you bump it. And these are like old things you got to crank on. And it just like turns on. And we both were like

[00:05:54] from the other room, we just sat there, like stop talking and just kind of like looked at each other like, that's a little weird. But we were like, you know, like whatever, like maybe there was a kink in the pipe, like New York places are old,

[00:06:10] whatever the radiators that creep. So we go in and like, sure enough, the water is gushing out of the tub. And we're like, oh, cool. So we turn it off. And then we go back into the room and we're kind of like, that's weird.

[00:06:27] So we're sitting or whatever. We order our food delivery, you know what I mean? And we're like drinking more wine and we lose track of time and we're hanging out. And then I hear like a noise in the hallway, like outside of the door.

[00:06:42] And I was like, oh, that must be our food. So I go out into the hallway. There's no food. And I'm like, oh, and I kind of like look over the railing down into like the next floors. And I, you know when you like,

[00:06:58] you just miss seeing someone? But like I didn't really see them but I know someone was right there. I get that feeling like around the corner of the staircase. And I was like, okay. So I kind of yell out, I was like, hey,

[00:07:15] didn't mean to disturb you if you're staying here. We thought we were the only ones, no response. But I'm like, I think there's probably someone else checked in, you know, it's last minute check-in. So I go back inside and I'm kind of like,

[00:07:27] okay, that was weird but no food yet. And she like checks the app. She's like, oh yeah, hasn't arrived yet. So we're kind of like, okay, go back to drinking our wine. And you know, we're like, okay, it's starting to feel a little like,

[00:07:42] like a little warm in the room a little bit. Like in its old school, you know, it's like the radiators and whatever. So it's like, we should probably like, you know, open the window. So we're like, great.

[00:07:53] So we like open the window to get a little air in. And again, these are windows you got to crank up. So we pull the window up and we kind of like, it locks in place. And we go back to talking and then the food comes.

[00:08:07] And I go downstairs to get the food and I, you know, meet the guy. And then I'm coming back up the stairs with the food and I swear, like my ex was on the landing up above. So like I registered someone

[00:08:27] and put my head down and walked up the stairs. So I started talking to her and I like, hey, like, okay, I'm so excited to eat this. Like I thought she was leaning out looking and waiting for me.

[00:08:36] And I get to the top of the stairs and she's not there. And I'm like, oh, and I go to the room and I open it. Like, so she's not even like at the front of the stair. And I was like, hey, did you just like come out

[00:08:51] and you know, were you, and she was like, no, I've been in the bathroom. Now I'm kind of a little more on edge than her. And I'm like, okay. That was a little weird. I'm getting these weird vibes in the hallway and she's like, don't freak me out.

[00:09:06] And I was like, no, like every time I've gone to the hallway and she's like, it's someone's probably just like staying there. You know what I mean? Like someone probably checked in. Like you're just catching the residuals of someone opening their door or closing their door.

[00:09:18] It's like there's other, it's a hotel, you know? And I'm like, yeah, no, this feels like way more intense than that. So there's a little table that's like off to the side where you can like a dining room table. So we like go and we're sitting there

[00:09:33] and we're like sinking back into, oh, this is really nice. And we're gonna, you know, let's listen to records and like hang out tonight, maybe smoke some joints. And so we're like sitting there and we lay out all the food and we're sitting

[00:09:46] and we're all just like getting really comfortable. And she goes, fuck, you know, it's like, now it's getting a little cold in here. Like, you know what I mean? The window's been open. Let me go and shut the window but we've just sat down.

[00:09:58] And before she can like get up and shut the window and it's like to her side, it just clank shut. And we both were like, well, that's very strange. And now she's on my level of like, okay, this is really, really weird. We eat our dinner.

[00:10:18] We're like, okay, let's go, you know, back outside. Like smoke a joint outside, go for a little walk, remind ourselves that we are in fact in Manhattan. There's millions of people here. It's not scary. So we go outside, we go to the front,

[00:10:35] we smoke a joint, we walk around the block, walk off our dinner and we're like back to kind of being chill because you see hundreds of people in the streets and it's very chill and there's cars and you're like, oh, it's, we're not haunted,

[00:10:45] we're in New York city. We get back to the house, the hotel house thing. And we go inside and she's ahead of me and she opens the door and I hear her go, oh, hey, like, you know, up the stairs.

[00:11:03] And I was like, oh good, she's like met the person that has been, you know, I've been freaked out by. So I'm shutting the door and then I go to come up and she's just like frozen there. And I was like, what happened?

[00:11:17] She was like, I just swear someone had been there and I just missed them. So I yelled after them, but then I turned my head and there was no one in the hallway. And I was like, cool, great. So now we're right, it's like going in the place

[00:11:36] and like the sound dampens and then now we're back in the haunted house again and it was just like, cool. We go back upstairs, we're like trying to enjoy ourselves. She's like, I'm gonna go have that bath. I'm gonna, you know, I'm like, great.

[00:11:48] I'll like sit in the bathroom and read, well you're in the bath, it'll be very cute. So she goes and draws the bath and we're in the bathroom, both of us, she's in the bath. I'm sitting like next to the bath reading. We got candles, it's very cute.

[00:12:03] And I hear in the hallway someone, toot, toot, toot, toot, toot, like running down the hallway behind the bathroom. Just a very distinct noise of feet. And I was like, and we both hear it and we just keep talking.

[00:12:23] And then I hear it come back down the hallway from the opposite direction. And I go outside again and I'm like, there's no one in the hallways. And I'm like, now I'm holding on to like sanity. I'm like, no, no, like someone has checked in.

[00:12:41] You're not, you haven't seen this person. They're just going about their night. You can't get ahold of yourself. But now I'm a little wrecked, we're both wrecked. She gets out of the tub, we go to get into bed and we're in bed and all the lights are on.

[00:12:59] And it's one of those things where you have to go and click all the lights off. It's not a master switch. You gotta go around and click the different lights off. And we're like, okay, let's go click the lights off.

[00:13:10] And I stand up and go to the one side of the room to click the lights off. And as I'm turning that side, like the entryway lights off, I literally hit those ones and then the lights on the other side of the room go off right after.

[00:13:26] And me and her are like, nope. And we ended up leaving the hotel room and going home. We didn't even spend the night in the hotel. And the next morning, we kind of woke up laughing. Like, I can't believe we just spent this money on this

[00:13:44] and then didn't stay. Like what was wrong with us? Like we were so, so I call the hotel and I was like, hey, we left early, totally our fault. Nothing was really wrong with the room. We were just kind of feeling a little off. So sorry about that.

[00:14:02] But like here's me checking out from my apartment in Brooklyn, you know, like weird, sorry. And he was like, oh no, that's totally fine. Totally, that's, you know, we'll love to have you guys back sometime. And I was like, yeah.

[00:14:17] And like apologize to whoever else was staying there because I, you know, I think I like yelled out for them a few times and I don't want to disturb them. Like I just was like, was checking in to see if someone would come in.

[00:14:31] And there's this like long pause and the guy goes, there was no one staying in that. You guys were the only ones there last night. Thank you Artemis for calling in. Here's a short epilogue to that story. It turns out that it had been an orphanage

[00:14:54] a million years ago, okay? So that's terrifying. Like it was like a nunnery orphanage thing. And then in our room, when it became a hotel, the first, it was like before it was like officially a hotel, it was like a, you can rent floors of this short stay

[00:15:13] and these two really famous artists overdose in our room in what had, and it had been set up differently but they had a crazy night in like 1999 or 2003 or something and died. One in the bathtub, not even kidding and one in the living room area.

[00:15:37] That's all we have this week folks. Do you have a ghost story? Call 701-484-2666. That's 701-484-2666. Or go to tellmeaghoststory.com and leave your story there. Go ahead and leave me a five star review wherever you get your podcasts. Was something particularly scary in this episode?

[00:16:11] Or maybe you've had a similar experience. Leave your comments via our Spotify page. Thank you to all the callers who left messages this week. And as always, I'm your host, Michelle Newman, signing off. See you next week. What the mean it?