Bull-headed figure over a bed, a voice from a sleeping husband, and a trailer fire
The caller, [name withheld], from Cooley, Arizona, relays a story they say a friend told them about seven years earlier. The friend woke in bed beside their Native American husband and saw a bull's-head or demon-like form hanging over the bed. The friend heard a voice they could not understand coming from their husband's mouth. The story ends with the friend's trailer burning to the ground the next day. [name withheld] mentions a newspaper report of an electrical fire, a replacement trailer, and a witch doctor being brought to the property.
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 1996.mp3”, starting at 40:17). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
[name withheld], calling from Cooley, Arizona, tells Art Bell a story they say their friend told them about seven years earlier. The friend was sleeping beside their husband, whom [name withheld] describes as a Native American. The friend woke and, according to [name withheld], saw [quote withheld] The friend heard a voice coming out of it that was not English, which they could not understand. The friend reported they could not move at all, and after a little while was able to move. The friend then looked at their husband and saw his mouth mouthing the words, with the voice coming from his mouth. The friend woke him. He jumped out of bed and told the friend the devil was after them, and the friend told him they had seen it. [name withheld] says they got a little sleep that night. The next day the friend went to work next door, cleaning an old man's house. Looking out the window, the friend saw their trailer on fire, and it burned to the ground. [name withheld] says they have the picture and the paper, and that the newspaper reported it as an electrical fire. A replacement trailer was placed on the property, and [name withheld] says a witch doctor was brought out. [name withheld] adds that the previous year, while they were listening to Art's Halloween show, a woman called in describing practically the same thing their friend had told them. [name withheld] says they did not sleep that night. Asked whether the husband was projecting the being or it was something within him, the reply on the transcript is [quote withheld] Art closes by saying it may have been closer to pure evil.
Reported events, in order
- 0:12
[name withheld] says their friend told them the story, which happened about seven years earlier. The friend was sleeping beside their husband, described as a Native American.
- 0:23
The friend woke up.
- 0:29
The friend reportedly saw a bull's head or demon-looking thing hanging over their bed.
- 0:36
The friend heard a voice coming out of it that was not English and that they could not understand.
- 0:45
The friend said they could not move at all, and after a little while was able to move.
- 0:50
The friend looked at their husband, and his mouth was mouthing the words. The voice was coming from his mouth.
- 0:57
The friend woke him. He jumped out of bed and told the friend the devil was after them, and the friend told him they had seen it.
- 1:19
The next day the friend went to work next door, cleaning an old man's house.
- 1:29
The friend looked out the window, and their trailer was on fire and burned to the ground.
- 1:37
[name withheld] says they have the picture and the paper. The newspaper reported it as an electrical fire.
- 1:43
Another trailer was placed on the property, and a witch doctor was brought out.
- 1:51
[name withheld] says that last year on Art's Halloween show, a woman called in describing practically the same thing their friend had told them.
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).
- hearsay· 0:29
The friend saw a bull's-head or demon-looking thing hanging over their bed.
- hearsay· 0:36
A voice came out of the form, speaking a language the friend could not understand.
- hearsay· 0:45
The friend could not move at all, then was able to move after a little while.
- hearsay· 0:50
The friend saw their husband's mouth mouthing the words, with the voice coming from his mouth.
- hearsay· 0:59
The husband jumped out of bed and told the friend the devil was after them.
- hearsay· 1:29
The friend's trailer caught fire the next day and burned to the ground.
- observation· 1:37
[name withheld] says they have a photograph and the newspaper item about the fire.
- hearsay· 1:39
The newspaper blamed the fire on an electrical cause.
- hearsay· 1:43
A witch doctor was brought to the property after a replacement trailer was placed there.
- observation· 1:51
[name withheld] says a caller on the previous year's Halloween show described practically the same thing.
- host statement· 1:13
Art suggests the husband was either possessed by or projecting the being.
- host statement· 2:31
Art says the event may have been closer to pure evil than a ghost.
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 secondhand story relayed from an unnamed friend. It has some concrete detail (the form, the voice, the husband's mouthing, the fire, the newspaper report), but it also fits a common sleep-paralysis pattern very closely, and no one backs it up.
Evidence for and against
- Specific reported detail: the form described as a bull's head or demon-looking thing over the bed
- A clear sequence of events with an outcome (a trailer fire and a newspaper report of an electrical fire)
- [name withheld] notes what they do not know about the husband's role rather than claiming to know how it worked
- [name withheld] was not there. The story comes from their friend
- Waking in bed, being unable to move and then free to move, and a figure over the bed closely match sleep paralysis
- The newspaper reportedly blamed the fire on an electrical cause
- The friend is not named
- Some lines are oddly attributed or fragmentary (for example [quote withheld])
- 0:12
- 0:45
- 1:39
What the model inferred (not said on air): The component scoring (closeness to the source, specificity, consistency, alternative explanations, calibration) is my judgment. The quotations are from the transcript.
The story rests on [name withheld]'s report of a friend's experience. The only claimed documents are a photograph and a newspaper item about the fire, and these are not produced or examined on air.
Evidence for and against
- [name withheld] claims to hold a picture and the newspaper item about the fire
- No document is read out, shown, or described in detail on air
- The witness does not speak on air
- The fire documents, even if they exist, would show the fire rather than the bedroom episode
- Whether the picture and paper exist, and what they show, is unverified
- 1:37
- 1:39
What the model inferred (not said on air): Placing this in the range of 26 to 40 rests on claimed physical evidence that was not examined. The cap of 50 applies because no outside check was done.
The episode intrudes into a bedroom, includes reported paralysis and an unintelligible voice, and ends with the home burning down the next day, leaving the sequence unexplained.
Evidence for and against
- A form described as a bull's head or demon-looking thing hanging over the bed
- Reported inability to move
- The trailer burning to the ground the next day
- The story is told secondhand and briefly
- No injury or physical contact is reported
- The transcript does not explain how the bedroom episode relates to the fire
- 0:29
- 0:45
- 1:29
What the model inferred (not said on air): Creepiness is my judgment of how the story reads to a listener, not a claim about events.
A figure over the bed with paralysis is a familiar frame. But the voice reported as coming from the sleeping husband's mouth, and the fire the next day, give it a distinctive combination.
Evidence for and against
- The voice is tied to the mouth of the living husband in the bed
- A fire destroying the home the next day is attached to the same story
- A witch doctor is said to have been brought to the property afterward
- A bedroom figure plus being unable to move is a common ghost-story pattern
- The story is short and secondhand
- Compared with the rest of the archive, the story's originality cannot be judged from a single transcript
- 0:50
- 1:43
What the model inferred (not said on air): The score is my editorial judgment against common motifs. The published value would be adjusted by comparison with the rest of the archive.
Scoring confidence 0.65 · analysis confidence 0.70 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: [name withheld]'s secondhand story about a friend's reported experience; [name withheld]'s claim to have a photograph and newspaper item about the fire, not produced or examined. The originality score blends the model's score (55) 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.
- Sleep paralysis or a waking dream: the friend wakes in bed, sees a form, and reports being unable to move until they can move again. · “she woke up” and [quote withheld]
- The husband was talking or making sounds in his sleep, and the friend's story of the voice coming from his mouth reflects that. · [quote withheld]
- The trailer fire had an ordinary electrical cause, as the newspaper item [name withheld] cites reportedly states. · [quote withheld]
What stands out
The voice is tied to a living person in the room, the friend's sleeping husband, whose mouth is said to be mouthing the words, rather than to a detached figure. The story also links a bedroom episode to a trailer fire the next day and to a witch doctor being brought to the property.
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