Letter: Thrashing in bed each September in a Phoenix apartment
A letter read on air and signed [quote withheld] says the writer is woken from daytime sleep by the feeling that someone is thrashing in bed with him, though the bed is empty. The feeling comes back each September and stops after September 21st. A neighbor later tells him that a young woman was found strangled in the same apartment in September 1981. The writer concludes it is her spirit and asks the host what to do. The host declines to advise.
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 1995.mp3”, starting at 1:35:05). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The host reads a letter signed [quote withheld] [name withheld] says that in his thirty-five years he had never met anything strange until recently. He has lived in an apartment complex for about two and a half years and works nights, so he sleeps during the day. A few months after moving in, he was woken from a sound sleep by the feeling that someone was in bed with him. He describes it as though someone was thrashing wildly about the bed. When he looked, he says, the bed and bedroom were empty. This happened every day during September and stopped after September 21st. He thought it was a sleep disorder and forgot about it until the following September, when the same thing happened and again stopped after the 21st. He says he went to his doctor, talked it over, and was given pills. Last month, he says, it began again and the pills did not work. As the 21st got closer, the thrashing feeling grew more intense and lasted longer, until he could not sleep. After two days without sleep, he came home from work. A neighbor he knew only in passing noticed his haggard look and asked if he was sick. [name withheld] says he told the neighbor his story but left out that it happened only in September. The neighbor, who had lived there fifteen years, said that people seldom stayed long in [name withheld]'s unit. He said that in September 1981 a young woman who lived in the apartment was found dead on her bed, and that an autopsy showed she had been strangled and had fought. [name withheld] says he believes the thrashing is the spirit of that woman. He notes that because it happens during the day rather than at night, he feels she must have died during the day. He asks the host what he thinks he should do. The host replies that he would not begin to try to tell him what to do.
Reported events, in order
- 0:11
[name withheld] says he had never met anything strange in his thirty-five years until recently.
- 0:11
He says he has lived in an apartment complex about two and a half years and works nights, sleeping during the day.
- 0:28
He says he was woken from a sound sleep by the feeling that someone was in bed with him.
- 0:38
He describes it as though someone was thrashing wildly about the bed.
- 0:43
When he looked, the bed and bedroom were empty.
- 0:48
The feeling came every day during September and stopped after September 21st.
- 0:55
He thought it was a sleep disorder and forgot about it.
- 1:01
The following September the same thing happened and again stopped after the 21st.
- 1:10
He went to his doctor, talked it over, and was given pills.
- 1:14
Last month it began again and the pills did not work.
- 1:21
As the 21st got closer, the thrashing feeling grew more intense and lasted longer, until he could no longer sleep.
- 1:36
After two days without sleep, he came home from work.
- 1:37
A neighbor noticed his haggard look and asked if he was sick. [name withheld] said he was not getting much sleep.
- 1:48
He told the neighbor his strange story but left out that it happened only in September.
- 1:58
The neighbor had lived at the complex for fifteen years.
- 2:05
The neighbor said he had often wondered why no one stayed long in [name withheld]'s unit and now thought he knew why.
- 2:13
The neighbor said that in September 1981 a young woman lived in [name withheld]'s apartment.
- 2:18
The neighbor said she was later found dead on her bed, and that an autopsy showed she had been strangled and had fought.
- 2:31
[name withheld] says he believes the thrashing about his bed is the spirit of this woman.
- 2:40
He notes that it happens only during the day, not at night, and so feels she must have died during the day.
- 2:48
He asks the host what he thinks and what he should do.
- 2:55
The host replies that he would not begin to try to tell him what to do.
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· 0:28
The writer says he was woken from sleep by the feeling that someone was in bed with him, though the bed and bedroom were empty.
- observation· 0:38
The writer describes the feeling as someone thrashing wildly about the bed.
- observation· 0:48
The writer says the experience happened every day in September, stopped after September 21st, and came back the following September.
- observation· 2:40
The writer says it happens only during the day, not at night.
- hearsay· 2:18
A neighbor reportedly told the writer that a young woman lived in his apartment and was found dead on her bed in September 1981, strangled after a fight.
- interpretation· 2:31
The writer concludes that the thrashing about his bed is the spirit of the dead woman.
- interpretation· 2:44
The writer concludes that because it happens during the day, she must have died during the day.
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.
This is a consistent, firsthand, reasonably specific story, but no one else backs it up, and the writer himself raises a common sleep-related explanation. The supernatural conclusion depends heavily on a secondhand claim of a killing.
Evidence for and against
- First-person sequence from waking to looking at the empty bed.
- A September pattern that repeats, with a September 21st cutoff.
- The writer sought medical advice.
- The neighbor's account gives a place and date that could be checked.
- Only the writer's word supports what happened in the bed.
- A sleep disorder fits the waking feeling and the empty bed.
- The 1981 death and autopsy are secondhand only.
- No year is given for the recent episodes.
- The host read the letter, so the writer was not heard directly.
- Some passages of the automatic transcript are low in confidence.
- 0:28
- 0:38
- 2:18
What the model inferred (not said on air): This score is an editorial judgment about the strength of what the writer reports, not a probability that a spirit was present.
The evidence is the letter writer's word plus the secondhand statements of a neighbor he describes. Details that could be checked, such as Phoenix, September 1981, and an autopsy, are named but not documented or independently examined.
Evidence for and against
- Names a city, a date, an apartment complex, and an autopsy.
- A neighbor is described as a source.
- No record, photograph, recording, or document is examined.
- No second witness to what happened in the bed speaks.
- No outside check was made.
- The neighbor's account cannot be verified from the transcript.
- The apartment unit and the young woman are not named.
- 2:18
- 2:51
What the model inferred (not said on air): This reflects only what is in this part of the broadcast. No outside records were checked.
The story has intrusive sensations in the bedroom, a repeating pattern with no resolution, and a reported strangling in the same unit. It lacks a visible threatening presence or direct harm to the writer.
Evidence for and against
- Someone is felt thrashing in bed with him.
- A woman was reportedly found strangled on the bed in the same apartment.
- The feeling grows stronger and keeps him from sleeping.
- The letter ends unresolved, with a question.
- No visible figure or direct attack is described.
- The host's reply is deflating.
- It happens in the daytime rather than at night.
- No description of the room or its atmosphere is given.
- 0:38
- 1:21
- 2:48
What the model inferred (not said on air): Creepiness is judged as an entertainment response to the story, not as evidence.
A haunted apartment tied to an earlier murder is a familiar frame. But a felt thrashing rather than a ghost seen, the September 21st cutoff, and the daytime timing make an unusual combination.
Evidence for and against
- A thrashing feeling in bed is the central event.
- It stops after September 21st.
- It happens only during the day, not at night.
- A previous occupant died in the unit.
- A haunting that comes back each September.
- A neighbor reveals the past death.
- Comparison with the rest of the archive was not done in this analysis.
- 0:38
- 0:48
- 2:40
What the model inferred (not said on air): Provisional score. It has not been compared with the rest of the archive.
Scoring confidence 0.74 · analysis confidence 0.78 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The writer's own firsthand word, in a letter read on air; A neighbor, described by the writer, as the source for a 1981 death and autopsy; No documentation, photograph, recording, or second witness on air. The originality score blends the model's score (48) 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.
- A sleep disorder, or an experience while falling asleep or waking up, could produce the feeling of someone in bed on waking, with the bed later found empty. · The writer says he was woken from a sound sleep. He first thought it was a sleep disorder, went to a doctor, and was given pills. The bed was empty when he looked.
- The link to the 1981 death rests only on a neighbor's secondhand word. Without records, the September pattern and the claim of a killing could be coincidence, or a local story attached to the unit. · The 1981 death and autopsy are reported only through the neighbor's words. The writer says he left out the September-only detail before the neighbor spoke.
What stands out
This is a letter rather than a live call, and what the writer reports is a felt thrashing in bed rather than a ghost he sees. It stands out for the September 21st cutoff, the daytime rather than nighttime timing, and the neighbor's later claim of a strangling in the same unit in 1981.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.