Electrical outlets burning out and a sticking door in a Marinwood house
A caller, whom the host addresses only as “sir,” tells of a house in Marinwood where electrical sockets and toasters reportedly burn out and doors slam. He says a visiting child there said they saw a lady in the hallway before a door jammed shut for about twenty minutes. The caller reports that the owners later looked into it and found a woman had died there years earlier of a heroin overdose, which he takes to mean [quote withheld]
This clip comes from the source recording. AI chose where it starts and ends, so it may start or end a little early or late. The word-for-word transcript is not published. You can hear the source recording on the Internet Archive (file “Ghost to Ghost 1993.mp3”, starting at 41:55). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller, whom the host addresses as “sir,” describes [quote withheld] He says that after activity began, the people living there reportedly had no sightings but had what the host calls poltergeist-type events. The caller says sockets burned out and doors slammed. He says the homeowner's father, a contractor, came out and worked on the sockets, yet toasters would be plugged in and “burn out.” Once, a woman friend of the homeowner visited with a small child, three or four years old, and the child said they saw a lady in the hallway. A little later, while the child was playing in the hallway, a door slammed shut. It took the child's mother and the homeowner about twenty minutes to get the door unstuck, at which point the mother became hysterical. The caller says the child was frightened because they had felt or thought they had seen the lady there. He says the door was finally freed with “no reason” for it having stuck, and that mother and child left and had not returned. Asked for a theory, the caller offers the idea that people addicted to drugs or alcohol become [quote withheld] and that a person who dies violently or with that separation [quote withheld] He then says that when the owners looked into it, they found a woman had died there years earlier and that the cause of death was a heroin overdose. He calls it [quote withheld] He adds that some people are fine in the house and some are not, and that his own girlfriend was asked to house-sit there but declined once she learned about the house.
Reported events, in order
- 0:03
The caller describes a house “out in Marinwood” where activity reportedly occurred, saying the people living there had no sightings.
- 0:21
The caller reports electrical sockets burning out and doors getting slammed.
- 0:25
The homeowner's father, a contractor, works on the sockets, but toasters reportedly still burn out.
- 0:36
A woman friend of the homeowner visits with a child who is three or four years old.
- 0:42
The child says they see a lady in the hallway.
- 0:45
While the child plays in the hallway, a door slams shut.
- 0:48
It takes the mother and the homeowner about twenty minutes to unstick the door, and the mother becomes hysterical.
- 0:57
The child is scared because they had felt or thought they had seen the lady there.
- 1:02
The door is finally freed with “no reason” for it being stuck. Mother and child leave and have not returned.
- 1:11
The caller offers a theory that drug or alcohol abuse separates a person from their spirit, leaving them “grounded here.”
- 1:50
The caller says the owners looked into it and found a woman had died there years earlier of a heroin overdose.
- 2:00
The caller calls it [quote withheld] and says some people are fine in the house and some are not.
- 2:12
The caller's girlfriend was asked to house-sit but declined after learning about the house.
Claims
Each claim is labeled as something the person telling the story noticed (observation), what they made of it (interpretation), something others told them (hearsay), or something the host said (host statement).
- observation· 0:21
Electrical sockets burned out and doors slammed in the house.
- observation· 0:30
After the contractor father worked on the sockets, toasters would be plugged in and burn out.
- hearsay· 0:42
A visiting child said they saw a lady in the hallway.
- hearsay· 0:48
A door slammed shut and took around twenty minutes to unstick, with no reason for it being stuck.
- interpretation· 1:29
Drug or alcohol abuse separates a person from their spirit, which may leave them “grounded here.”
- hearsay· 1:50
The owners found that a woman had died there years earlier of a heroin overdose.
- interpretation· 2:00
The caller concludes the house contains [quote withheld]
Scores, with reasons
An AI model gave these scores using a fixed set of scoring rules (scoring-v1). They are editorial judgments and rough guides, not the odds that anything paranormal happened. How scoring works.
The story is secondhand and fairly brief but gives concrete details (Marinwood, sockets and toasters, a three- or four-year-old, twenty minutes, a heroin-overdose death). Electrical failures easily fit ordinary explanations, and the caller does not clearly separate what others reported from what he concluded.
Evidence for and against
- A concrete sequence: sockets burn out, a contractor works on them, toasters still burn out.
- Specific details of the child, the hallway, and a door stuck for roughly twenty minutes.
- The caller gives a named location and a claimed cause of death.
- The caller is not a direct witness. The events come from other people.
- Electrical burnouts are easily explained by faulty wiring or appliances.
- The “angry spirit” and the overdose link are claims from later “looking into it,” not shown.
- How close the caller is to the events is not stated.
- The names of the homeowner and the witnesses are not given.
- 0:21
- 1:56
What the model inferred (not said on air): The specific details, which could be checked in principle, support a moderate score, but the secondhand chain and the easy electrical explanation pull it down. Secondhand stories are capped at 60.
Only the caller's secondhand word is present. No document, photograph, or on-air witness backs up the claims, and the reported “research” into the death is not produced.
Evidence for and against
- Some details could be checked in principle: Marinwood, a contractor father, a claimed heroin-overdose death.
- No documents or physical evidence are presented.
- No second witness speaks on air.
- The claimed investigation into the death is described but not shown.
- Whether any of the reported witnesses could confirm it on their own is unknown.
- 1:50
What the model inferred (not said on air): Secondhand claims with nothing to back them up place this in the lowest range.
The story has mildly unsettling elements: a child reporting a figure, a door slamming and jamming for twenty minutes, a hysterical mother, and an “angry spirit” tied to an overdose death. There is no physical harm or direct threat.
Evidence for and against
- A child says they see a lady in the hallway.
- A door slams shut and traps the child for about twenty minutes.
- The mother becomes hysterical, and the caller calls it [quote withheld]
- No violence, injury, or direct confrontation is described.
- Some people are said to be “fine” in the house.
- The timing and atmosphere of the events are not described.
- 0:45
- 2:00
What the model inferred (not said on air): A child at risk and a door that traps the child raise the tension, but the sparse description keeps the score moderate.
A familiar poltergeist frame (electrical failures, slamming doors, a child seeing a figure) with a few distinctive details: toasters burning out again and again, and a door that took twenty minutes to free, linked to a claimed overdose death.
Evidence for and against
- The distinctive detail of toasters burning out after a contractor worked on the sockets.
- A door sticking for about twenty minutes for no apparent reason.
- The overdose-death link and the “separated spirit” theory.
- The core elements (slamming doors, a child seeing a figure, electrical mischief) are stock ghost-story motifs.
- The limited detail makes it hard to judge how unusual the combination is.
- 0:30
What the model inferred (not said on air): A familiar frame plus a couple of concrete unusual details gives a score in the middle range.
Scoring confidence 0.60 · analysis confidence 0.70 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller's secondhand story, told live on air; No documents, photographs, or recordings; Reported “looking into” the death described but not produced. The originality score blends the model's score (45) with how rare the story's details are across the archive. This method is still provisional.
Ordinary explanations to consider
These are possibilities only. None is a finding about what happened.
- Faulty wiring or an aging electrical system, along with a faulty toaster, could cause sockets and appliances to burn out. · The caller reports sockets and toasters burning out again and again, including after a contractor worked on the sockets.
- A warped or swollen door frame, a misaligned latch, or a draft could explain a door slamming and then jamming for a while before coming free. · The caller says the door stuck with “no reason” and took about twenty minutes to free.
- A three- or four-year-old child's report of a “lady” could reflect imagination or suggestion, since no adult is said to have seen the figure. · Only the child reportedly saw the lady in the hallway.
What stands out
The story ties routine electrical failures and a jammed door to a child's report of a figure in the hallway, and connects them to a later claim of a heroin-overdose death at the address. The caller offers his “separated spirit” theory as an explicit explanation of the cause.
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