Child reports a man drinking in the window of an empty neighboring house
A caller who gives their name as [name withheld], from Big Harbor, Washington, tells Art Bell that when they were about 15, they and their mother moved into a house in the Cleveland, Ohio, area beside an empty old Victorian. Their sister, about three years old, was on the back porch and said she saw a man drinking in the window of the empty house. The family later learned, the caller says, that a man who had died there was an alcoholic. The story ends with the host and caller joking about an alcoholic afterlife.
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 1999.mp3”, starting at 1:53:02). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller, who gives their name as [name withheld] from Big Harbor, Washington, says they were about 15 when they and their mother moved into a two-story Victorian house in the Cleveland, Ohio, area. They describe the neighborhood as having houses set close together and note an empty old house next door, sitting slightly higher on a hill. According to the caller, their sister, about three years old at the time, was standing on the back porch looking up at the empty house. She asked their mother, “See the man?” and said the man was [quote withheld] The caller says the family later learned that a man had died in that house, that he had been an alcoholic, and that he [quote withheld] and you could hear him fall into bed. They say their little sister described that. The caller also reports being told that the house they and their mother moved into was itself haunted, a claim they say the family dismissed at the time. They argue that their sister could not have made up the story. Art Bell responds with a joking guess about the afterlife of alcoholics, asking whether an alcoholic’s hell is to remain as he is. The caller jokes about hoping heaven has single malt scotch. The exchange then moves on. In this part of the broadcast, the caller then begins to describe the house they moved into, but those lines are marked as outside the story.
Reported events, in order
- 0:06
The caller identifies themselves as [name withheld] from Big Harbor, Washington, and says they have been in broadcasting.
- 1:09
The caller says they were about 15 when they and their mother moved into a house in the Cleveland, Ohio, area.
- 1:23
The caller describes the house as a two-story Victorian and the neighborhood as houses set close together.
- 1:34
The caller describes an empty house next door, slightly higher on a hill.
- 1:55
The caller says their sister, about three years old, stood on the back porch looking up at the empty old house.
- 1:58
The sister asks, “See the man?” and says he is drinking something in the window.
- 1:59
The caller says the family later learned a man had died in the house, was an alcoholic, and walked up the stairs every night and fell into bed.
- 2:18
The caller says they were told the house they moved into was also haunted, but they dismissed it.
- 2:24
The caller argues their little sister could not have made up the story.
- 2:33
The host jokes about an alcoholic’s hell, and the caller jokes about single malt scotch in heaven.
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· 1:58
The caller’s young sister said she saw a man in the empty neighboring house.
- observation· 1:59
The man was drinking something in the window of the empty house.
- hearsay· 1:59
The family later learned that a man had died in the house and had been an alcoholic.
- hearsay· 1:59
The dead man was said to walk up the stairs every night and fall into bed, and the little sister described that.
- hearsay· 2:22
The house the caller and their mother moved into was said to be haunted.
- interpretation· 2:24
The caller concluded their sister could not have made up the story.
- host statement· 2:33
The host guessed that an alcoholic’s afterlife might be to remain as he is.
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.
A short secondhand family story. The caller was in the household, but the sighting is their younger sister’s. It includes some details that could be checked (area, ages, house type) and is coherent, but the central claim rests on a three-year-old’s brief report, and the dead-alcoholic detail was only “later learned.”
Evidence for and against
- The caller states a region and house type: “cleveland ohio area” and a two-story Victorian kind of house.
- The caller gives ages: themselves about 15 and their sister [quote withheld]
- The sequence is coherent: sister on the back porch, a statement about a man in the window, the death detail learned later.
- The central sighting is secondhand from a very young child, not the caller’s own observation.
- Easy ordinary possibilities (a reflection, an actual person in the “empty” house, a child’s imagination) are not addressed.
- The death and alcoholism detail is plainly “we later learned” and unverified.
- The labels showing who is speaking shift in places, and some lines are fragmentary.
- Where the story ends is uncertain, because the transcript continues the same house story after the marked end.
- 1:09
- 1:55
- 1:59
What the model inferred (not said on air): The score is held down mainly because the core observation is not the caller’s and the death detail that backs it up is hearsay. Detail and coherence keep it out of the lowest range.
The only support is the caller’s secondhand report of their sister’s claim. The sister does not speak on air, and the “later learned” death detail is not checked. Place details that could be checked are given but unverified.
Evidence for and against
- Details that could be checked are stated: “cleveland ohio area,” a two-story Victorian house, an empty house next door.
- A second witness is claimed: the caller’s sister, who is said to have seen the man.
- No second witness on air. The sister does not speak.
- No physical evidence, recording, photograph, or document is offered.
- The claimed death and alcoholism are plainly “later learned,” not checked.
- Whether the “empty” house was actually empty at the time is not stated.
- Names and some locations are unclear in the automatic transcript.
- 1:09
- 1:58
- 1:59
What the model inferred (not said on air): This falls at 11 to 25 because there are details that could be checked and a claimed witness, but nothing has been checked and no second witness speaks on air.
The story has a mildly eerie image, a small child reporting a man drinking in the window of an empty house, later linked to a death. But it is brief and not threatening, and it ends in studio joking.
Evidence for and against
- A child reports a man in an empty neighboring house: “See the man?” and [quote withheld]
- The report is later connected to a man who [quote withheld]
- No threat, contact, pursuit, or physical harm is reported.
- This part of the broadcast ends with the host and caller joking about alcohol in the afterlife.
- Tone and delivery are not used as evidence, and the transcript gives no detail about the mood.
- 1:58
- 1:59
What the model inferred (not said on air): Rated toward the lower-middle because the image is unsettling in a quiet way but the story does not build lasting dread.
The story uses familiar motifs: a child seeing a figure in an empty house, and a previous occupant who died. But the specific detail of the man drinking in the window and the reported nightly fall into bed gives it some distinctiveness.
Evidence for and against
- The figure is described doing something ordinary but specific: [quote withheld]
- The detail learned later includes a routine: [quote withheld] and the line about falling into bed.
- A child witness, an empty house, a previous occupant who died, and a haunted-house warning are all stock ghost-story elements.
- Originality compared with the rest of the archive is not worked out here.
- 1:59
- 1:59
What the model inferred (not said on air): A familiar setup with one or two distinctive details, so the provisional model score is in the middle range.
Scoring confidence 0.60 · analysis confidence 0.65 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s secondhand word about their sister’s reported sighting.; A claimed family and neighborhood story of a death in the empty house.; No second witness on air, photograph, recording, or document.. 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.
- A child’s imagination, or seeing something that was not there. · The witness was about three years old ([quote withheld]), and her only contribution is a single short statement, “See the man?”
- A living person was actually inside the supposedly empty house. · The caller describes the house as empty but does not say how they know. The child reports someone drinking at the window.
- A reflection or glare in the window, seen from the child’s angle. · The sighting is through a window of the house next door, and no other witness reports seeing the figure. The only detail is what the child reportedly said.
- The child’s report and local stories of a death were linked after the fact. · The caller says plainly “we later learned” about the dead alcoholic, so the death detail and the sighting were connected after the reported event.
What stands out
The main sighting belongs to a three-year-old child, while the caller themselves claims no direct experience. The host quickly turns the story into a joke about an alcoholic afterlife.
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