Footsteps on the stairs and a cold, angry presence in a Colorado Springs house
A caller who says they are in Reno tells Art Bell about a house they lived in, in the northwest part of Colorado Springs. They say they heard something walk up and down the stairs. After they spoke aloud to it, asking whether it could materialize or speak, they report that it came right up beside them. They suddenly felt freezing, their hair stood up, and they felt anger. The story ends with their comparison of the sensation to knowing when someone is angry at you, and with the host’s approving reply.
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 1998.mp3”, starting at 3:11:47). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller says they are in Reno ([quote withheld]) and that the events took place when they lived in a house in the northwest part of Colorado Springs. On a hot summer evening, around 8:30, they say, they were sitting watching TV. They say the house had a ghost that [quote withheld] Asked by the host whether they saw it or only heard it, they answer that they just heard it.
They describe the layout: a small foyer at the front door, three steps down into the basement, and about eight steps up to the living room. They say the walking went constantly from the basement up the steps and back down again. The caller mentions that they had lived in another haunted house a couple of years earlier, where the ghost was “pretty friendly.” The caller says they spoke to this one, asking whether walking up and down was all it could do and whether it could materialize or speak. They say they guess it took that as an invitation.
They were sitting in a chair on a warm evening, which they recall as mid-80s Fahrenheit, with the windows open. They say it walked right up next to them and they were suddenly freezing. Their hair stood up on the back of their neck and they got goose bumps. They call the feeling totally creepy. They compare it to the way you can tell when your wife is angry at you, saying they could just feel the anger.
In lines outside the main story, they go on to describe an earlier house where windows and doors flew open and there was banging on doors. No name, street address, or year is given.
Reported events, in order
- 0:07
The caller says they are in Reno.
- 0:14
They say the events happened when they lived in a house in the northwest part of Colorado Springs.
- 0:25
They say it was a hot summer evening, about 8:30, and they were sitting watching TV.
- 0:30
They say the house had a ghost that walked up and down the stairs.
- 0:38
Asked by the host whether they saw it, they say they just heard the footsteps.
- 0:43
They describe the foyer and the steps into the basement and up to the living room.
- 0:52
They say the walking went from the basement up the steps and back down again.
- 0:57
They mention a previous haunted house with a “pretty friendly” ghost and say they spoke to this one, asking it to materialize or speak.
- 1:09
They say they guess it took that as an invitation.
- 1:20
They describe sitting in a chair on a warm evening in the mid-80s with the windows open.
- 1:27
They say it walked right up next to them and they were suddenly freezing. Their hair stood up on the back of their neck and they got goose bumps.
- 1:35
They call the feeling totally creepy.
- 1:53
They compare the felt presence to knowing when your wife is angry at you, and say they could just feel the anger.
- 1:55
The host tells the caller the comparison is “very, very good.”
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· 0:30
Something in the house walked up and down the stairs. They heard it but did not see it.
- observation· 0:38
Asked if they saw or only heard it, they say they only heard the footsteps.
- observation· 0:52
The walking went constantly from the basement up the steps and back down again.
- observation· 0:57
They had lived in another haunted house a couple of years earlier.
- interpretation· 1:09
They see their speaking to it as the trigger: they guess it took that as an invitation.
- observation· 1:27
It walked up next to them and they were suddenly freezing, with their hair standing up on the back of their neck.
- observation· 1:53
They felt anger from it, like the feeling of someone being angry at you.
- host statement· 1:55
The host says the comparison to a wife’s anger is a very good one.
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 firsthand story with several concrete specifics (the layout of stairs and foyer, a hot summer evening around 8:30, a mid-80s temperature, open windows) and a clear order of events with no contradiction. No one else backs it up, and easy ordinary explanations (sound carrying in a stairwell, a draft through open windows) are not addressed by the caller.
Evidence for and against
- They place the events in a house in the northwest part of Colorado Springs where they lived at the time.
- They give the time of day and the physical layout of the house.
- No address, year, or other person is given.
- The caller confirms they only heard the footsteps and saw nothing.
- No date or address is given. The sequence is short and depends on a few sentences.
- The automatic transcript merges the caller’s remarks into lines labeled as the host, so the exact wording of some answers is uncertain.
- 0:25
- 0:52
What the model inferred (not said on air): The score credits a firsthand story that is orderly within itself and has moderate concrete detail. It withholds points for the lack of support from anyone else, dates, or an address, and for the simple ordinary explanations the caller does not consider.
Nothing beyond the caller’s own story is offered. There is no recording, photograph, document, named address, or second person who speaks on air. The only near-checkable specifics are a city and a rough time of day.
Evidence for and against
- They name a city (Colorado Springs) and a rough part of town.
- No physical evidence claimed or examined.
- No witness other than the caller is said to have experienced the events, and none speaks on air.
- The phrase [quote withheld] might imply the household knew about it, but no second witness is described or heard.
- 0:14
What the model inferred (not said on air): With no outside check done and no claimed object or witness on air, this sits at the very bottom band (the caller’s word only).
The story places an unseen presence in the caller’s own living room. It escalates from recurring footsteps to something standing right beside them, and reports sudden cold, hair rising, and a felt anger. It is unsettling but brief, with no visible figure, threat, or physical harm, and it ends without an ominous resolution.
Evidence for and against
- It walked right up next to them in the room where they were sitting.
- They report sudden freezing, hair standing up, and goose bumps on a warm evening.
- No visible being, no physical contact, no harm, and no stated threat.
- The exchange ends with the host’s light comparison to a spouse’s anger.
- The emotional content rests largely on the caller’s own comparison, which the host also treats humorously.
- 1:27
- 1:39
What the model inferred (not said on air): The setting at home and the felt anger raise the score above a merely eerie single noise, but the lack of any figure, threat, or aftermath keeps it mid-range.
A haunted house with recurring footsteps on a staircase and a cold spot is a familiar combination. The distinctive touches are the caller’s challenge spoken aloud to the presence, their reading of it as an “invitation,” and the household comparison used for the felt presence.
Evidence for and against
- They speak to the presence directly and say it may have taken that as an invitation.
- They describe the felt presence through the comparison to someone being angry at you.
- The core elements (stairs, footsteps, sudden cold) are stock ghost-story material.
- The story is short, so there is little room for unusual detail.
- The originality figure that is published will be compared with the rest of the archive and is provisional while the archive is small.
- 1:09
- 1:53
What the model inferred (not said on air): A familiar frame with one or two distinctive details, so it sits just below the midpoint for a distinctive detail rather than at the floor for stock elements.
Scoring confidence 0.50 · analysis confidence 0.60 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: the caller’s firsthand story only; no photograph, recording, or document claimed; no second witness claims to have shared the experience, and none speaks on air. The originality score blends the model's score (38) 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.
- Sounds of a person or animal moving on the stairs, or ordinary house noise (settling timber, plumbing) carried through the stairwell. The caller says they only heard it and never saw it. · Transcript: asked [quote withheld] they answer “just heard.” The layout described (foyer, three steps to the basement, eight steps up to the living room) is a corridor that would carry sound.
- A sudden draft or temperature change through the open windows on a warm evening, explaining the abrupt feeling of cold. · Transcript: [quote withheld] and then [quote withheld]
- Expectation after speaking to the empty house and after their earlier experience in another house they call haunted, so that something they did not notice was taken for a presence. · Transcript: [quote withheld] and [quote withheld]
What stands out
A single encounter is described almost entirely through hearing and felt emotion rather than sight. The caller gives a precise layout of the stairs and foyer, then reports the shift from a warm room with open windows to sudden cold and a felt anger. They also treat their own spoken challenge to the presence as an “invitation” it may have accepted.
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