Blair can’t see his hands in front of his face. He can’t see the ground beneath his feet. He’s not in the dark: he’s in a thick cloud of fog. And then a stranger’s voice emerges from the mist, guiding him… can he trust her?

This story comes to us from Australia, the original Upside Down.

Thank you, Blair, for sharing your story with Spooked.

Produced by Greta Weber, original score by Lauryn Newson

Artwork by Sanaa Khan

Season IV is ALIVE. Our Spring season has 10 new episodes, each released weekly. We have another 22 coming for you in the Fall. Select episodes will be available across streaming platforms but ALL will be exclusively on Luminary. Download the Luminary mobile app or go to LuminaryPodcasts.com #Spookedpod

Season 4 - Episode 4

Betsy keeps seeing a young girl at night in her room. She stands at the end of Betsy’s bed and stares at her. She comes back, over and over: night after night; year after year. Betsy knows she wants something, but she has to figure out what.

Thank you, Betsy, for sharing your story with us! Betsy is a #Spooked listener and reached out to us to share her story. If you have a frightening tale you'd like to share, email us: spooked@snapjudgment.org 

Produced by Annie Nguyen, original score by Leon Morimoto

Artwork by Sanaa Khan

Happy Friday the 13th, Spooksters! A whole new season of Spooked has risen. Our Spring season has 10 new episodes, each released weekly starting 3/13/20. We have another 22 coming for you in the Fall. Select episodes will be available across streaming platforms but ALL will be exclusively on Luminary. Download the Luminary mobile app or go to LuminaryPodcasts.com #Spookedpod

Season 4 - Episode 1

A whole new season of Spooked returns Friday the 13th of March. Expect all sorts of scary. And if you haven't learned by now... please, don't turn out the lights!

Season IV's episodes will be available on Luminary. Download the Luminary mobile app or go to LuminaryPodcasts.com

Be afraid. 

When it comes to the supernatural: don’t poke the bear. Don’t kick the hive. Don’t mess around. Because, when it comes to the supernatural: you’re gonna get what’s coming for you.

STORIES

Kapu

If the sign at the mouth of the cave says “kapu,” forbidden, you better take heed. Don’t go searching for trouble. 

Produced by Greta Weber and Annie Nguyen, original score by Lauryn Newson.

The Nunnery

Natalie and Alice are au pairs in a town that no one seems to want them in and that doesn’t seem to even exist. 

Produced by Ant Adeane, original score by Jacob Winik.

Season 3 Episode 24

Spooksters - Halloween may be over but the supernatural world doesn’t know that...scary, crazy, hard-to-believe but true stories, happen anytime. 

There are two more episodes to go this season and then we’re going right back into production on a new season of Spooked and our partners at Luminary Media are funding even more episodes than ever...and you won’t have to wait until Halloween because the first one drops in March on the Luminary podcast app.

Next year we’re proud to bring 32 all-new frightening episodes to Luminary Premium... and to celebrate we have a special offer. Sign up for Luminary Premium and take advantage of special holiday pricing of $3.99 a month for a full year.

Go to Luminary for more information. Offer expires December 4th, 2019 so don’t wait. And don't turn out the lights...

Lopaka and his adopted father don’t get along. That is, until forces from beyond the veil intervene. 

We travel to Hawaii to bring you this very special Spooked tale.

Thank you, Lopaka Kapanui for sharing your story with us. Want more stories from Lopaka? Check out the "Mysteries of Hawaii" on his YouTube Channel and website. There's even more ghostly goodness on his blog, Ghosts Next Door.

Produced by Annie Nguyen, original score by Leon Morimoto

Artwork by Sanaa Khan

Season 3 Episode 20

Want more Spooked? There are 26 new episodes of Spooked being released this season each week through Halloween and into a spooky November. To listen to them all, download the Luminary mobile app or go to LuminaryPodcasts.com. 

You know the most haunted places. The houses, the castles, the hotels. And you know the most haunted objects. The mirrors, the necklaces, the dolls. In this episode, we take you to the Stanley Hotel and introduce you to Robert the Doll.

STORIES

Room 324
A film director visits one of the most iconic haunted places in the world: The Stanley Hotel. He doesn’t believe in ghosts at all. But he’s about to question reality. 

A big thanks to Daniel Noah for sharing this story with us. Daniel is the cohost of SpectreVision's Visitations Podcast.

Produced by Eliza Smith, original score by Davey Kim

Robert the Doll
Robert the doll is infamous. He can curse you and ruin your life if you disrespect him. But one man is determined to figure out how Robert got his powers.

Produced by John Fecile, original score by Renzo Gorrio

Season 3 Episode 15 

There are 26 new episodes of Spooked being released this season each week through Halloween and into a spooky November. To listen to them all, download the Luminary mobile app or go to LuminaryPodcasts.com. 

When Maribel loses her little brother Santi, her very best friend in the world, she learns that love is sometimes stronger than death. We travel to Mexico for this very special Spooked tale. 

Thank you, Maribel Placencia, from the bottom of our hearts, for sharing your extraordinary story. Big love to you and your family.

This story comes to us from our Spooked correspondent, Erick Yañez.

Produced by Nancy Lopéz

Original Score by Renzo Gorrio

Artwork by Sanaa Khan

We will have a Spanish-language version of this story available.

There are 26 new episodes of Spooked being released this season each week through Halloween and into a spooky November. To listen to them all, download the Luminary mobile app or go to LuminaryPodcasts.com.

Season 3 Episode 12 

Jennifer Percy was just a young graduate student researching PTSD, but the closer she got to understanding the inner workings of one soldier’s trauma, the more she lost her own footing in reality.

For more, check out her book: Demon Camp.

Producer: Nancy López
Sound Design: Pat Mesiti-Miller

Bonnie Blagg and her two friends call for Bloody Mary in the mirror on her dresser during a middle school sleepover. Bonnie thinks nothing of it until a ghost boy with long, sharp, bloody teeth appears in her bedroom every single night after that.

Produced by Chris Hambrick

Original score by Leon Morimoto

Artwork by Sanaa Khan

Happy Friday the 13th!

There are 26 new episodes of Spooked coming this season each week through Halloween and into a spooky November. To listen to them all, download the Luminary mobile app or go to LuminaryPodcasts.com. 

Season 3 Episode 7

Cursed cat bones. Dead dogs. A haunted pond. Master storyteller Todd Narron is our tour guide as we explore the mysterious, spooky American South.

Todd’s memoir is Country Stories of Ghosts and Bad Men.

STORIES 

"Barbara Nichols Pond"

Ever since a little girl died a watery death, the kids in Johnston County steer clear of the pond. Years later, Todd thinks that she might just be avenging her untimely end.

Producer: Anna Sussman

Original Score: Renzo Gorrio

"The Cat Bone Curse"

Todd’s uncle was one mean son of a biscuit. But long after he’s dead and gone, his descendants worry that his meanness might rub off on them.

Producer: Anna Sussman

Original Score: Renzo Gorrio

Artwork by: Sanaa Khan

Season 3 Episode 4

When supernatural forces come for her kids, Curtis’s mom stands strong. Mrs. Hagstrom may be the meanest Spooked ghost yet. Don't listen alone...

Curtis’s memoir is Shadow of Fear. 

Producer: Anna Sussman

Original Score: Leon Morimoto

Artwork by: Sanaa Khan

Season III has RISEN! There are 26 new episodes of Spooked coming this season each week through Halloween and into a spooky November. To listen to them all, download the Luminary mobile app or go to LuminaryPodcasts.com. 

Season 3 Episode 2 

Martin is a paramedic. He has a gift for saving peoples' lives. He also has another, darker, gift--one that he doesn’t want to use. 

Thank you, Martin Moseley, for sharing your story with us. Martin is a longtime Spooked listener. 

Produced by: Eliza Smith

Original Score: Renzo Gorrio

Artwork by: Sanaa Khan

Season III is ALIVE!! There are 26 new episodes of Spooked coming this season each week through Halloween and into a spooky November. To listen to them all, download the Luminary mobile app or go to LuminaryPodcasts.com. And remember, don't turn out the lights...

Spooked Season III is upon us! It’s bigger, badder, and scarier than ever. We’ve got new episodes with terrifying tales to keep you up at night...

The first episode drops next week, Thursday, 8/22/19. Don't listen alone...

All 26 episodes will be available on Luminary.

Download the Luminary mobile app or go to LuminaryPodcasts.com

Cheryl and her kids move into a new home, and notice a mysterious presence.  First they pretend it doesn’t exist. Then, they try to befriend it. And finally, they run from it.

Cheryl’s memoir is Hot Dog Wars, Family Skeletons, and a Ghost.

Producer: Erika Lantz

Original Score: Leon Morimoto

La Posada

What happens when great-great-granddaughter of one of America’s most famous ghosts goes looking for answers? 

Find out more about the ghost and the life of Julia Staab in Hannah’s book American Ghost.

Producer: Anna Sussman and Hannah Nordhaus.
Original Score: Renzo Gorrio

You’re Gonna Get Scratched

Alex, Ryan, and AJ break into an abandoned house… and realized the place was never truly vacated.

This story was produced by Josh Swartz and the rest of the team at Endless Thread. Endless Thread is a podcast from WBUR and Reddit that tells stories found on the so-called “front page of the internet.” The Endless Thread team includes Ben Brock Johnson, Amory Sivertson, Josh Swartz, and Paul Vaitkus. You can visit their website or subscribe to their show here for more.

Producer: Ben Brock Johnson
Original Score: Leon Morimoto

The Basement: When one of Daniel’s kids started seeing ghosts, he was scared. When two of his kids started seeing ghosts, he was petrified. 

Producer: Anna Sussman

Original Score: Leon Morimoto

Under the Stairs: Mido discovers that the former tenants of her apartment left some breadcrumbs behind.

Producer: John Fecile

Original Score: Leon Morimoto

Skagway is a tiny, remote town in Alaska. The population of living souls hovers around 1,000. And by all accounts, there may be just as many souls stuck behind, haunting the place.

Frances: Cori suspects she’s got a second roommate who she can’t see, and who may very well be contacting her from beyond the veil.

Lydia: The wait staff at the Red Onion Saloon in Skagway, Alaska uncover the tragic story of their notorious ghost, Lydia. 

Producer: Eliza Smith

Original Score: Leon Morimoto

The Possession: When Sara falls into a near-coma, her grandmother calls on a coven of witches to ward off the evil forces ensnaring her.

Producer: Sara Finnerty And Katya Apekina  

Original Score: Renzo Gorrio

The Healing: Paul Templer almost died as a child, but he was saved by a seemingly magical woman. Now, he’s hoping to save someone very special to him from the same fate.

Producer: Erika Lantz

Original Score: Leon Morimoto

The Mine: California is gold country. Gold miner Shannon Poe has been in a lot of scary situations. He’s run headlong towards a cougar, fallen out of trees, and been caught in a shootout. But nothing quite compares to what he experienced in an abandoned gold mine last fall.

See the Ghost Mine video here and here.

Producer: Adizah Eghan

Original Score: Leon Morimoto

The Mission: An empty old church. An open door. A sight no one will believe.

Jenni realizes that history is still very much alive when visiting an old mission just outside of Los Angeles. 

Jenni Prange Boran is a screenwriter living in Tacoma, WA. She is currently compiling a book of paranormal stories from her personal experiences. You can find her on Twitter at @jenprange.

Producer: Eliza Smith

Original Score: Leon Morimoto

Libby: Jennifer and her daughter Taylor both know their family home is haunted… but they don’t want to share that secret, even with each other.

Producer: Eliza Smith

Original Score: Bells Atlas

No Voy a Tener Nietos: Maria’s mother always wanted a son. And when Maria had a son, of her own, her mother didn’t get enough time with him. So when she died, she made sure to came back to be with her beloved nieto.

Producer: Shaina Shealy

The Visage: A man is hired to do remodel work on a notorious haunted house. But something inside the house doesn’t want anything to change.

Producer: Anna Sussman

Original Score: Leon Morimoto

Decorations:  Paintings start appearing on the walls. Dark, odd, and disturbed. All Nic knows is, something sinister is at work.

Producer: John Fecile

Original Score: Leon Morimoto

The Mammoth Mountain Poltergeist: 

When Tom Ross was a teenager, he took a ski vacation with his aunt and uncle. Little did he know, there was something waiting for them at the chalet.  Check out Jenny Ashford’s book, The Mammoth Mountain Poltergeist, which she wrote about Tom’s experience.

Producer: Nancy Lopez

Original Score: Leon Morimoto

The Moonshiner’s Daughter: Growing up in rural Tennessee, Alex felt at ease, even though she and her dad were in the middle of nowhere. Until one day, when she saw a trespasser on their property.

Producer: Jazmin Aguilera

Original Score: Davey Kim

The Perfect Tenant

Steven LaChance and his kids were starting over. They had a new house, and they were ready for a new beginning. The only thing was, their landlady was a bit…different.

Get more information about Steven’s work and his book, The Uninvited, on his website.

Producers: Liz Mak and Erika Lantz

Original Score: Renzo Gorrio

Ghosty

Little kids say that they see scary things all the time: monsters under the bed, clowns in the storm drains. And if their parents know better, they dismiss their kids’ claims. But when Ilda saw a ghost, she wasn’t playing pretend.

Producers: Mitchell Johnson and Eliza Smith

Original Score: Renzo Gorrio

Stephanie told her doctor that she was going to die before her pregnancy was over, and he wouldn’t listen. She told her husband, and he wouldn’t listen. She tried to tell her friends--they wouldn’t listen either. But she knew for sure that death was coming for her.

Be sure to check out Stephanie’s book 37 Seconds.

Producer: Adizah Eghan

Original Score: Renzo Gorrio

The Birds

As a little boy in Richmond, Virginia, Ray Christian raised pigeons. One summer those pigeons led him to a little boy who wasn’t able to speak, yet somehow spoke volumes.  

Producer: Anna Sussman

Original Score: Leon Morimoto

The Taxidermist

Santa Cruz Taxidermist Tracey Margaret Barrow can stomach just about anything when she's working with a dead animal, except when it starts to move on its own... You can learn more about Tracey’s adventures in roadkill on her Instagram and Facebook: @TMB.taxidermy

Producer: Jazmin Aguilera

Original Score: Leon Morimoto

When Dallas Sanchez was stationed in Iraq, he saw danger every single day.  But one night on patrol, when his small kill team took over a house in Baghdad, an unseen force had a message for them: Get. Out.

Producer: Anna Sussman

Original Score: Leon Morimoto

The Curse of Mr. Smith: Every time Randi’s grandma looked out her kitchen window, she’d see him, standing on the lawn: Mr. Smith. Who was Mr. Smith? What did he want? And why was he so sad?

This story comes to us from a listener, Randi Skaggs.

Producer: Eliza Smith

Original Score: Leon Morimoto

The Angel of Death: When Ron was working at Overbrook, one of New Jersey’s oldest and most notorious asylums, he knew the place was… off. Little did he know that he would see something there that would change his life forever.

Producer: Eliza Smith

Original Score: Leon Morimoto

As a kid, Teresa could see dead people. Family members, friends. Until one day, she met a stranger who had come back from the other side with a message for her.

Teresa Moorleghen is the founder of Coastline Pilates in Santa Cruz. She still sees dead people.

Original Score: Leon Morimoto

Producer: Nancy Lopez

It's coming. It's bigger and badder and all-new... Spooked Season II. From Snap Judgment and WNYC Studios, host Glynn Washington pushes back the veil to bring you stories from real people battling the forces of the night. Subscribe now to get a new Spooked episode every week leading up to Halloween.

Stories:  "Cowboy Whiteout" - Valerie is lost in a snowstorm in rural Montana. She thinks she might not be able to get out, when she sees two headlights coming to her through the storm. Help is on the way--she hopes. Valerie’s story comes to us from the book Trucker Ghost Stories, edited by Annie Wilder.

Production: Eliza Smith
Original Score: Leon Morimoto

"Flesh-Eating Bacteria" - An apprentice mortician spends his first night alone with a body and finds out how the dead can possess the living. A true story by the writer and performer Kyle Bowen.Kyle Bowen is a real-life graduate of the San Francisco College of Mortuary Science and has worked as a mortician for over 15 years. He now writes and performs in Chico, CA.

Production: Jamie DeWolf
Original Score: Pat Mesiti-Miller 

"Big Al" - Before he went to medical school, Don Clark worked with developmentally-delayed patients in a group home in Philly. That job opened his eyes and challenged everything he believed about life and death.

Production: Eliza Smith
Original score: Leon Morimoto

Stories: 

"Cat Scratch Fever" - A family moves to a new apartment, only to discover that they’re not the only ones living there. This story comes to us from a listener, Kat Difronzo, and her brother, Mike, and father, Fred.

Producer: Eliza Smith
Original Score: Renzo Gorrio

"Invisible Children" - What happens when you spend your life savings on a dream house, and find out someone else’s family already lives there?  Explore the full story in Kathleen Mcconnell’s book, Don’t Call Them Ghosts.

Producer: Anna Sussman
Original Score: Renzo Gorrio

"Pastor's Oil" -  Glynn’s friend Jenny is sick. Up in her room, she’s shaking like there’s something inside of her. And Glynn is about to find out what.

Producer: Glynn Washington and Stephanie Foo
Original Score: Leon Morimoto

Stories:

"Clown Zombie" – When a carnival in Mexico turns dark, young Oscar Mendoza finds out why he should not have laughed at the clowns.

This story first appeared on the podcast Real Ghost Stories Online. Check them out at RealGhostStoriesOnline.com.

"Polaroid Phantom" – We’ve got a ghost story with photographic evidence. See the pics for yourself: SeeingThingstheBook.com; more pics here.

Stories: "Spirit on the Board" - What happens when a group of kids conjure a spirit?

Story:  Andrea C.K.
Producer: Eliza Smith
Original Score: Pat Mesiti-Miller

 "The Seance" - A long-lost love comes to town for a visit, and he's been dead for years. To hear the original full-length version that first appeared on KCRW’s UnFictional, check out their webpage.

Producer: Bob Carlson, host of Unfictional

"Dollhouse" - Ali came home one night after surgery and was shocked. Her grandmother was waiting in the living room with a gift--a dollhouse. Check out Ali Standish’s website, Facebook, and Twitter.

Production & Sound Design: Davey Kim

Stories: "Devil’s Water" - Attempting to dig the family well in rural Michigan, Glynn's family comes up dry--until Daddy cuts a deal with the Devil.

Original Music: Pat Mesiti Miller
Story: Glynn Washington

"Hot Water" - What’s really out there, waiting for you in the dark? Three college girls went camping in New Mexico to relax. What they found will terrify you.

Original Music: Leon Morimoto
Producer: Liz Mak

Stories: "Great Aunt Rose" -  When Christina McKenna’s cruel aunt comes back from the grave to make amends--she’s not sure if she can forgive. Read more about Christina’s childhood in Ireland in her book, My Mother Wore A Yellow Dress.

"The Unicorn Prince" - Every year, Maria's aunt bought her a doll for her doll collection. But this year, the doll is unlike any Maria has ever seen. This story comes to us from our Spooked listener Maria Serratore-Gunter.

Stories: "A Boy Named Thomas" 

Shane Dunphy spent years working with kids as a social worker. He’d seen it all until he met a little boy named Gregory.
For more, get Shane Dunphy’s book The Boy They Tried to Hide.

Producer: Nancy López
Original Score: Pat Mesiti-Miller

Witch Cage: A woman buys a medieval jail… and tries to make it her home.

To hear more about her experiences, check out Vanessa Mitchell’s book, Spirits of the Cage: True Accounts of Living in a Haunted Medieval Prison, co-written with Richard Estep. Vanessa’s also written a second book, in her own words. Secrets of the Cage, which delves deeper into the history of the prison, comes out soon.

The Cage Medieval Prison, as featured in this piece, is up for sale. For direct inquiries, contact Vanessa at vanessa56roman at hotmail.co.uk

Find out more about Vanessa Mitchell and The Cage Medieval Prison on Twitter and Facebook.

Production: Liz Mak

Original Score: Renzo Gorrio

Phantom Border Agent: A border agent encounters rumors that his long-dead colleague is working his old patrol in the middle of the desert.

When Rocky Elmore became a Border Patrol Agent along the US-Mexico border, he knew it would be a scary job … just not this scary. For more stories of natural and supernatural happenings on the border, be sure to check out Rocky’s book, Out On Foot: Nightly Patrols and Ghostly Tales of A U.S. Border Patrol Agent (https://www.amazon.com/Out-Foot-Nightly-Patrols-Ghostly/dp/0692488383) and his website (http://rockyelmore.com/).

Score: Renzo Gorrio, Leon Morimoto, Pat Mesiti-Miller

Stories:

Indonesian Ghost Show

When a TV crew shows up to film a ghost show their disrespect angers the gods.

Special thanks to Haryo Bhama, who was a producer on the popular Indonesian reality show, Masih Dunia Lain. Thanks, too, to Arzia Tivany Wargadiredja, who wrote an article for Vice about the show.

Production: Liz Mak
Original Score: Leon Morimoto

Daikon

Susan's dog Daikon kept giving signs that an intruder was haunting her old Victorian in New Orleans. Then one night in October, the intruder crossed the line.

Original Score: Leon Morimoto

Stories: "La Bruja" Your family is cursed--who you gonna call? La Bruja.

Nestor Gomez is a storyteller based in Chicago. You can find him on Twitter @soloyochapin and at his website: nestorgomezstoryteller.com

Production: Adizah Eghan

Original Score: Leon Morimoto

There are some places where different worlds overlap. Welcome to the Borderlands.

Stories:

"Border Boogeyman" - Back in the 90s, Rocky Elmore worked as a border patrol agent, just East of San Diego. He did night patrol--and out there, in the pitch black, he was never sure if he was completely alone. 

Be sure to check out Rocky’s book, Out on Foot: Nightly Patrols and Ghostly Tales of A U.S. Border Patrol Agent.

"The Seer" - The trouble began in Sri Lanka, when Chandra’s aunt woke up one day and couldn’t move her arms or legs.  The doctors had no answers, but a mysterious priest led the family on a quest to find the truth beyond medical science.

There are times when you are supposedly all alone.  And then you see her, him or it out of the corner of your eye...watching.

From the creators of Snap Judgment and WNYC studios, a new podcast that pushes back the veil. Real stories from real people battling the forces of the night.  Subscribe now!