Foster home in a dead boy’s bedroom: Bed pressed down at night
A caller from Seattle tells Art Bell that at about age 11, the caller and their brother were placed in a foster home. It turned out to belong to a family friend whose son had died on Halloween, and the caller was given the dead boy’s bedroom. The caller reports waking one night to feel their bed pressed down hard, as if someone had sat on it. The caller said a prayer in Jesus’ name, and the bed sprang back up. The foster mother blamed the dog, and the other children in the room said the caller was crazy.
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 1:50:36). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller, who gives their location as Seattle, says that a long time ago, when they were about 11 years old, one of their mother’s friends lost a son who was killed on Halloween. A couple of months later, the caller says, their mother got connected with a woman who used Ouija boards. Their mother asked the board whether she would ever lose her sons, and according to the caller the pointer indicated yes. Their mother dismissed it as nothing. About a year after that, the caller and their brother ended up in a foster home. The caller says it was the home of their mother’s friend, the woman whose son had died on Halloween, and the caller was given the dead boy’s bedroom. The caller reports that one night, while asleep with two other foster children asleep in the same bedroom, they felt their bed pressed down very hard, as though someone were sitting on it. The caller says they were too scared to open their eyes and said, [quote withheld] After that the bed sprang back up “from the pushing,” and whatever it was left immediately. When the caller told the foster mother, she said it had been the dog in their room. The caller replied that the door had been closed and that they were positive of it. The caller says they later asked the other children in the room whether they had felt anything, and the children looked at the caller and called them crazy. Art Bell closes by calling it “a good story” and saying it seemed to him [quote withheld]
Reported events, in order
- 0:10
The caller says that when they were about 11, a son of one of their mother’s friends was killed on Halloween.
- 0:18
Months later their mother is connected with a woman who uses Ouija boards. She asks whether she would ever lose her sons, and the pointer indicates yes.
- 0:39
About a year later, the caller and their brother are placed in a foster home. The caller says it is the home of the mother’s friend whose son died on Halloween.
- 0:50
The caller is given the dead son’s bedroom.
- 1:01
One night, asleep with two other foster children in the room, the caller feels their bed pressed down hard as if someone is sitting on it.
- 1:09
The caller says [quote withheld] The bed springs back up “from the pushing,” and it left immediately.
- 1:29
The foster mother says it was the dog in their room. The caller replies that the door was closed.
- 1:40
The other children in the bedroom say they felt nothing and call the caller crazy.
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· 1:01
The caller felt their bed pressed down hard, as though someone had sat on it, while they lay in the dead boy’s former bedroom.
- observation· 1:09
After the caller said [quote withheld] the bed sprang back up and whatever it was left immediately.
- hearsay· 0:29
The caller’s mother asked a Ouija board whether she would ever lose her sons, and the pointer indicated yes.
- hearsay· 1:31
The foster mother said the pressing on the bed was caused by the dog being in their room.
- observation· 1:42
The other foster children in the bedroom said they had felt nothing and called the caller crazy.
- host statement· 1:59
Art Bell says the story seemed to him [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.
This is a brief firsthand story by the person in the bed. It is consistent and answered in order, but it has few details that can be checked. Two ordinary explanations (pressure while asleep, the family dog) fit the reported event easily and are not ruled out.
Evidence for and against
- Firsthand witness: the caller says they themselves were in the bed when it was pressed.
- Concrete sequence with an age and setting: about 11 years old, a foster home, the dead boy’s bedroom.
- Consistent answers to the host’s follow-up questions about the bed rising and about the dog.
- The event is reported as happening while the caller was asleep, an easy fit for a feeling of pressure while falling asleep or waking.
- The foster mother reportedly gave an ordinary explanation, the dog, which the caller disputes only because the door was closed.
- No names, dates, addresses, or documents are given that could be checked.
- The labels showing who is speaking are unreliable. Lines marked as the host carry what is plainly the caller’s story.
- Some words are garbled, for example the exchange about location, [quote withheld]
- 1:01
- 1:31
- 1:34
What the model inferred (not said on air): The score reflects my judgment that this is a short, consistent firsthand report that no one else backs up, and its content allows at least one straightforward ordinary explanation. No part of the score rests on the caller’s manner of speaking.
Only the caller’s own word is available, plus claimed witnesses who are not on air and who, by the caller’s account, either denied the event or offered an ordinary cause. No documentation or physical evidence is mentioned.
Evidence for and against
- A small number of specifics that could be checked are given: the city (Seattle), a foster home, and a named relationship to a family whose son died.
- Claimed witnesses exist: two other children in the room and the foster mother.
- The claimed witnesses reportedly felt nothing and called the caller crazy.
- No names, records, photographs, or other documentation are offered.
- No second witness speaks on air.
- The foster home, the family, and the children are all unnamed, so nothing can be checked even in principle.
- It is unclear from the transcript whether the dead boy died in that house or elsewhere.
- 0:54
- 1:42
What the model inferred (not said on air): I place this in the “teller's assertion only” range with a small allowance for specifics that could be checked but weren’t. Nothing in this part of the broadcast amounts to independent support.
The unsettling elements are the intrusion into a sleeping child’s bed in a dead boy’s former bedroom and the physical feeling of weight pressing down. These are partly offset by the brief, matter-of-fact telling and the ordinary dog explanation offered within the story.
Evidence for and against
- Physical pressure on the bed of a sleeping child, described as someone sitting on it.
- The bedroom belonged to a boy who had died, and the caller is placed in it.
- The caller says they were too frightened to open their eyes.
- The episode is short and ends without escalation or recurrence.
- An ordinary cause (the dog) is voiced within the story itself.
- It is not stated how long the caller stayed in that bedroom or whether anything else happened there.
- 1:09
- 0:50
What the model inferred (not said on air): This is my judgment of the story’s effect on a listener, not a claim about whether anything happened.
The individual elements, a bed pressed down, a prayer that stops it, and a Ouija board, are familiar. But the framing, in which the caller is later housed in the dead boy’s own bedroom, gives the story a distinctive chain-of-events shape.
Evidence for and against
- A Ouija-board answer about losing one’s sons comes before the events.
- The caller is placed in the bedroom of the boy whose death opens the story.
- The core event, weight pressing on a bed at night and stopping at a spoken command, is a stock motif.
- The originality score compared with the rest of the archive is provisional. This score is the estimate from the content only.
- 0:45
What the model inferred (not said on air): A familiar frame with one distinctive structural detail. This is my estimate, not a comparison with the rest of the archive.
Scoring confidence 0.60 · analysis confidence 0.65 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand story; Claimed but absent witnesses (two foster children, the foster mother) who are not on air; No physical evidence or documentation mentioned. The originality score blends the model's score (50) 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 feeling of pressure while falling asleep or half-waking. · The caller says the event happened while the caller [quote withheld] and was [quote withheld]
- An animal (the family dog) pressing on or against the bed, as the foster mother suggested. · The foster mother reportedly said [quote withheld] The caller disputes this, saying the door was closed.
What stands out
The story is built less on a single haunting than on a chain of links: a Ouija-board answer about losing sons, a boy’s death on Halloween, and the caller later being housed in that boy’s own bedroom. The reported event is limited to one episode of the bed being pressed down.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.