2: Haunted House Tales From Listeners
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When the energy in the room shifts. When the air gets sucked out of a moment and everything starts to feel wrong. It's the instinct between fight or flight. When your brain is trying to make sense of what it's seeing. It's when your heart starts pounding. It's when your heart starts pounding.

Welcome to Heart Starts Pounding. I'm your host, Kaylin Moore. If you're joining us for the first time, this is a podcast with terrifying tales often told by those who lived them. And if you're joining us again, welcome back. Let me ask you a question. Can walls talk? And if they could, what would they say?

Picture your childhood home. Your first steps, first sleepovers, the tears, the laughter, the heartbreak, all happening within the same walls. Ray Bradbury once said, "Nothing likes to die, not even a room." So it comes as no surprise that so many of us wonder if our homes are actually haunted. Creaks in the night, voices in our head, the feeling of someone just outside our door. Is it just the walls talking?

Or is someone really there? In this episode, we're going to hear from two listeners with chilling haunted house stories. Tales of the past beating back against time, dying to be heard. We're even going to hear what one listener believes is a recording a ghost left on her phone. Our first story comes from a listener who starts her tale by telling us a little about her uncle, Jim.

So the town that I used to live in is a really small town and my grandparents lived in the town over from us. So my family that lived in that area is super close and he lived with my grandparents. He was a military vet, so he was in the Marines and he sadly had some stuff that caused some mental issues because of that.

But from what I know, from what everybody told me, is he absolutely hated children. Like, he didn't like to play with other kids. And I was the only baby that he liked. He was loved by everybody from what I knew. And then he sadly took his life in my grandparents' house. And no one really knows exactly what happened other than there was a big fight that ensued between him and my grandpa. And he went upstairs and that was it. He passed away a month before I turned one.

So, to get a little backstory of this so it makes a little bit more sense, the house that my grandparents lived in is really old. Like, it's like...

We're pretty sure it was one of the first houses built in that town, and it's a farmhouse. So it's close to 100 years old. It's been fixed up and stuff, but it's definitely old. So the way they would, in the area that we live in, the way they would vent the house is they would put a vent in the middle of the floors, and it would just go up. There wasn't an actual ventilation system. And the living room...

When I played this part for my sibling Leo, something jogged their memory.

This makes me think of the setup of my college house. Because remember how I had that vent in the floor that went into the crawl space in the basement? Yeah. And raccoons would try and like crawl into my bed at night. Yeah. Through the vent. It makes me think of that because I would look down and I'd see little raccoons. Why did you choose to live in Squalor?

To help you picture this, I'm including a photo on Instagram that was sent to me of the vent. And if you're watching on YouTube, it'll be in the video. Picture in your mind's eye an old wood panel room and in the corner on the ceiling, a vent about 8 inches by 8 inches. It's a metal grate with water damage around the corners, facing the floor.

but instead of being used to circulate air, it just connects to the upstairs, where the other end of the vent is on the floor of an unused room. I remember things would fall from the vent, and I never really questioned it because I never knew where it went. I was like,

It's an old house. We live by a cornfield. Like, I'm in the middle of Illinois, so, like, it could be just a mouse dropping things through the vent, for all I know. I one day just started randomly talking, like, having a full-blown conversation with someone through this vent.

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I guess this is why I trusted whoever was up there because it sounded very similar to my dad's voice. And my uncles and my dad have always looked exactly alike and sounded extremely similar to each other. And it sounded just like it was another uncle or my dad, but I had no idea. I just trusted the voice. It sounded sweet, nice. It wasn't saying anything mean or anything to me.

And it would just, like, ask me about my day, like, tell, like, ask me what I looked like, which was weird, because, like, I thought it, like, it's a vent. I thought, like, if you're in a vent, you can see me, right? As a kid, like, you think that. And I was like, can't see me? Like...

This is what I'm wearing. And he'd be like, no, I can't see you. He asked me like what my favorite color was and if I had any favorite subject in school. And anytime I would say usually be like art or like computer class because I've always been super into computers and art.

And he would talk about how he was really big into computers and he's really happy that I was really big into computers. This went on like kind of the general conversation for, I want to say like two or three years until I was like six. At one point I asked him like where he was because I was like, if you're upstairs, like every time I go upstairs, you're not there. So where are you? And he's like, I'm in a secret room that you can't see.

I was like, hold on, hold on. I'll get you out of there because I'm a kid. And I ran to my grandma and I was like, hey, grandma, let the man out of the room. And she was like, what? Like who? I was like, there's a man talking to me through the vent. And she was like, honey, there's like that vent goes straight up. And that's where I was like, wait, what?

it goes straight up, like, it doesn't go anywhere, and she's like, no, it goes straight up, like, if you, if there was someone up in that vent, you would be able to see them, like, it's a straight drop down, like, there's literally not, it's not even, like, any ventilation that goes off of it, it's just an up and down hole, basically. She was like, here, I'll show you, she walked me upstairs, there was nothing, I looked straight down in the hole, and there, there would be where I would stand, and...

And she was like, see, honey, there's nothing here. You have nothing to worry about. And I was like, okay. So I want to say a couple months passed and like we would talk off and on. And I was like, okay, like, who are you? And after, I feel like after I had started asking and like kind, like getting old enough to like understand a little bit more and asked him who he was, I was like, okay, I'm going to ask you.

the conversation slowly stopped. Like he would either say, oh, it doesn't matter who I am. You don't need to know. I just, I'm a good person. Like, don't worry. But like, you don't even know who I am. And after I had started asking him, the conversation slowly went away and he stopped asking me to talk to him or he stopped talking to me or he wouldn't answer when I would like ask him if he was there.

And I got really sad because, like, in my brain, I was like, this is a friend. Like, he's, like, an imaginary friend. Like, I thought I had just an imaginary friend like little kids had. And I had asked my parents about it. They had no clue about it. Years later...

I kind of just forgot about it. Like, forgot that I had talked to this event because, like, I was, like, I was a kid. And my mom brought it up. She was, like, we just thought maybe you were just, you had an imaginary friend or you were just, like, talking to the TV for some reason, just looking up instead of at the TV. Like, as, because kids are weird. And I was, like, no, there was, like, I distinctly remember someone answering me and talking to me, like, an older man's voice. And, of course, like, my mom was, like, a little freaked out because she was, like, older man's voice. Like,

usually when you have an imaginary friend they're like your age I was like no it was like older man's voice kind of like dad's is like but I would tell her and she she never really like thought about it and like

Around the time she had asked this, I had slowly started connecting all the different things that had happened. This is definitely him, like, throughout the years. I kind of brought it up to my dad, which it's his brother. I brought it up to my dad, and I was like, do you think maybe all that was, like, Uncle Jim? And he was like, yeah, most definitely. Like, he loved you to pieces. It wouldn't surprise me if he was, like, your guardian angel or, like, trying to be close to you and trying to get to know you. I think part of my...

my dad wants to also be 100% sure that it's my uncle because it gives him peace of mind because he loved his brothers. He's always loved his brothers. And I kind of described the voice to him like, it was like lower and raspy, but like a comforting grandpa kind of raspy, if you know what I mean. And I kind of described that to him and he was like, it sounds exactly like what he sounded like before he passed. And

My dad also has a very low, like, monotone voice, and my uncle, who sadly also passed a couple years ago, he also had a very low and raspy voice. So it all kind of made sense that it sounded familiar to me, and it didn't, like...

make me feel uncomfortable or anything because it sounded like my uncles and my dad. And that's also, I think, where I got the idea that it's most likely my uncle who I was talking to because it sounded like my family. Was there ever any part of you that thought maybe a stranger was in your home talking to you through the vent? The room that it's in is, again, it's an old house. So there's, like, there is a door into that room, but again, it's on the second floor. But it's a balcony, and honestly, the fact that

If someone got on that balcony and got through that door, they could possibly have done that. But if my family did not realize that and did not witness that at all, and then every time I went up there, he was just gone, I would be terrified. Like, it's a small town. If no one's noticing this, I'm kind of worried for the town. So who was really there in the vent? Was it her uncle, like she and her family believed? Could you sleep tonight if you knew that it wasn't?

It's a rare occurrence, but sometimes the supernatural explanation is the less terrifying of the two. Our next tale comes from Staten Island, where a listener believes that her brother's demons may have been delivered to him straight from a graveyard. So, um, my parents moved here in 97. I was born in 98. My sister was six years older than me, and my brother was 12 years older than me. My brother claims...

That when he would go smoke pot with his friends in Moravian Cemetery, that there was one night in particular, either they hid behind someone's grave or they put their joints out on somebody's grave or something like that, or they buried them near someone's grave, like trying to hide them. Whatever he did, he remembers disrespecting somebody in particular. That is when things started for him.

After that evening of mischief, Taylor's brother felt like he did not come home alone. He would tell us that he would wake up in the middle of the night to somebody shaking his bed. He described it like if someone were to reach under the bed frame and jerk it. And he would hear knocks and he would come down for dinner the next day and tell us. And we would all laugh at him. Okay, Michael. Sure, Michael.

But when I was a freshman in high school was when I brought my friend home. We were doing homework at the dining room table. I looked up and I saw a figure standing in the hallway. And it was very clearly about six foot. It was just a shadow, but it was removed from the wall. If a shadow could stand in the middle of a space, that's where it was. And I remember just thinking, oh no, like the girl that was with me, I can't let her see this.

So I just looked down and continued doing my homework. But she saw it then. I could feel her nudging me and going, what is that? So we told my mother about it before she left. And my mother was like, are you sure? Are you sure? I was like, I can't believe it. My brother was vindicated finally. He was like, oh, now you're seeing something. He's like,

So once I had seen the man on the first floor, even though that wasn't who my brother had known, he would tell me his stories. I told him what I saw. We were both very excited that we were sharing these things. Though Taylor had seen the shadow of a man, her brother insisted that it was a girl ghost upstairs tormenting him. Nonetheless, their shared hauntings brought them closer. So my brother struggled with addiction for most of my life. Um...

And he and I have a lot of the same problems. We both have ADHD. We're both extremely extroverted to the point where it's a problem. Both, you know, struggled with school. It was just worse for him in all aspects. My sister is the complete opposite. My sister is very grounded. My sister has always been able to keep track of herself, and she knows what she wants, and very driven.

When she went away to school, it was just him and I for a while. And that was when a lot of the big situations happened with our ghosts. I must have been 17 when my brother came in my room. 17, I guess. Yeah, 17. My brother came in my room hysterical crying one morning, early in the morning, 4 o'clock.

And when I finally got him to calm down. Now at this point, if I'm 16, he's 28. He doesn't hysterically cry in his sister's room very often. He came in my room and told me that he woke up because he felt someone lay down next to him and cuddle up behind him on his back. It felt like long hair. So he just assumed it was me.

I'd had a nightmare. I couldn't sleep, whatever. For some reason, 16-year-old me was going to my brother for comfort at 4 o'clock in the morning, but that's what he assumed. And he tried to go back to sleep, but then the covers pulled up over his face and behind his head, freaking him out. He started thrashing, and he ended up kicking my dog, who was at the foot of the bed. Dog got up, Zeus. He started barking, and the sheets released.

He turned around to probably hit me because he was like, "What's wrong with you?" And there was nobody there. He was convinced that she was trying to kill him. Convinced. And my mother since then has always held this idea that whatever problems my brother had, she made them worse. That she was draining to be around. And that she maybe messed with him and his mental health because she could.

Him and I slept in the basement together for the next week. He would not go back up there. Eventually that week that I slept in the basement with him, I went upstairs to his room to yell at her. And I was saying how you only pick on people when they can't see you, when they're sleeping, when they're vulnerable. Like, come out, do something. You're so big and tough, do something. And I laid on his bed and I watched TV for a while, turned the TV off, talked to her some more. And I fell asleep. And I woke up

To my phone open on the bed next to me, open to photos. And there was a three second long video, pitch black, as my most recent. So I played it and it was, it was her saying, just shut up.

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Yeah.

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What I'm about to play for you is the recording that was left on Taylor's phone. This is potentially something supernatural, so don't say I didn't warn you. Did things change? I mean, we don't have to like dive too deep into this because I'm sure it's emotional, but like after your brother passed away, did things change? Yes. So normally when my brother would go away for rehab stints, um, they would be very quiet. Um,

If he went away for a long stint, he was gone three months or more, that's when they would come back out. I guess she would get bored. She would wait for him. He wouldn't come back. She would wander downstairs and mess with us. Yeah. Since he's passed, he passed last year, Valentine's Day, she was quiet for a while. It took maybe about 10 or 11 months, but she started right up again.

The hauntings have continued in Taylor's home to this day. Through both stories, I can't help but wonder, where does the horror lie in these scary tales?

Is it scarier to believe a spirit of a loved one is making contact with you or that a stranger may be inside of your home? Is it more terrifying to think your demons are from another realm or that you carried them inside you your entire life? But that's not up to me. And finally, another word from Leo.

I also, I would just like to say, I reported this animal activity to my landlord. And I was like, there are raccoons trying to get into my room and live with me. Please, please do something. Did it help? His solution was to take a piece of pizza, put it in a humane trap, and forget about it. So, wait, his...

solution was to try and humanely trap them, but raccoons are smart and they also have hands so they can be...

So they would just take the pizza from the trap. And then they were like, this house has pizza. We're going to come here more often. There was a full on family, like extended family of raccoons living in the crawl space of my room. And I would hear them just rustling around in there. And every night was a pizza party. And the only way I could get them to stop was I had to take a...

a stack of books and slam it on the bed because it would scare them and I'd hear them scatter. This has been Heart Starts Pounding. If you're watching on YouTube, make sure you subscribe and make sure you're following the podcast on Instagram. If you have a terrifying story you'd like to tell on the podcast, you can email heartstartspounding at gmail.com. Till next time, I'm your host, Kaelin Moore. Woo! Woo!

Heart Starts Pounding is written and produced by Kaylin Moore. Music by Artlist. Credits voiced by Sherry Moore. Have a heart pounding story you'd like to share on the podcast? Email heartstartspounding at gmail.com.

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