Hey, it's Michelle, and this week's five calls include a doppelganger with a scorched face that vanished mid-laugh, a HomeGoods mansion with its own resident ghost, a weeping shadow no one could identify, a brother who wasn't home appearing at the foot of a bed, and a red balloon that burned to reveal an unexplainable coin. The episode was formally known as "Real Ghost Stories For Cleaning the House- Mix Tape 3"
Roc from Orange County calls in with a years-long haunting at his parents' house in Fontana, starting with roof noises everyone dismissed and escalating into a string of family losses and a series of pets that never survived long. The centerpiece of his story is an entity that appeared as his mother, sitting on the bed crying before its face was revealed scorched and its eyes turned white, cackling before vanishing entirely, while his actual mother was confirmed by phone to be at Costco the entire time. What followed was months of activity centered on his little sister, a Victorian-dressed child spirit named Sophia the family eventually traced to a local legend, handprints and footprints appearing on wet cement and windows, and a night the family found her hiding under the bed beside a dark figure. Multiple religious cleansings failed before sage finally worked.
I (your host, Michelle) also share a shorter story from a photography job at a boss's HomeGoods-decorated mansion, where he felt someone sprint up directly behind him on a staircase with no one there, followed by a driveway alarm going off repeatedly with no one arriving, which his boss brushed off as simply their house ghost, Lola.
Nelly from Clinton, Illinois calls in about a childhood house where a realtor had disclosed an elderly woman's death years before. Sleeping with her head covered as a habit, twelve-year-old Nelly heard a woman weeping directly beside her bed, distinct from her mother's voice, visible only as a dark shadow standing over her.
Yvonne from the Philippines returns with a story from her late teens, watching what appeared to be her brother slip into her room and duck at the foot of her bed in a familiar prank routine, only to vanish completely when she checked, with no possible hiding place beneath the bed. Her mother confirmed her brother had been out of the house since that afternoon.
And Edwin Covarrubias, host of True Scary Story and founder of Scary.fm, closes the episode with childhood memories from his family's first house, starting with a dark blue, jacket-like shape floating in a bathroom corner, followed by a mysterious red balloon his father found and burned, revealing a rice-like texture and an unidentifiable old coin at its center. The years that followed brought dead birds appearing around the property and unexplained nighttime noises, culminating in a blinding, wind-filled light that burst from his closet one night and never returned after that.
Five real callers. Five true ghost stories.
If you have a real ghost story of your own, a haunting experience, something you heard, something you cannot explain, I want to hear it. Call 1 (701) 484-2666 or visit tellmeaghoststory.com to share your story.
You might end up on the show.
And if this episode moved you, leave a comment on Spotify. I read every single one, and your comments help new listeners find the show.
Support us with official merch at newmanmedia.shop, catch us on YouTube at @tellmeaghoststory, and follow along on Instagram at @tellmeaghoststorypodcast.
Theme music is Sexy Sax by Cool Cascade.
Production by Newman Media.

