Letter: A 12-year-old in Denver, a red-outlined being, and a bed impression
Art Bell reads a letter about the writer’s best friend, who was about 12 years old and growing up in Denver. The friend fought with their parents and screamed “I hate you” from their room until they were hoarse. The friend then reportedly saw the red outline of a being near them, felt a chill, and saw the bed press down as it sat. The friend screamed “Jesus” and apologized to their mother. The letter ends with the thing shooting up through the ceiling and the friend’s conclusion that their chanting had invited it in.
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 2000-2.mp3”, starting at 35:53). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The host reads aloud a letter whose writer says the events happened to the writer’s best friend. According to the letter as read, the friend was about 12 years old, growing up in Denver, and had a fight with their parents. The friend stormed off to their room screaming “I hate you!” and slammed the door. The friend’s mother did not like it and wanted an apology. But the friend repeated “I hate you” with their mother locked out of the room. She kept trying to talk to the friend and the friend kept screaming it, until the friend began to get hoarse. At some point, the letter says, some being began to appear in their room near them. The friend reportedly saw a red outline of the being, but otherwise it was invisible. The friend felt a chill as it came near them. According to the letter, it then sat down, making an impression on the bed, described as an actual physical impression. At that point the friend freaked out, screamed “Jesus,” and started apologizing over and over to their mother, hoarsely screaming “I'm sorry.” The letter then says the thing shot up straight through the ceiling. It closes with the writer’s statement that the friend did not think their mother had sent the thing to curse them back. Instead, the friend definitely realized that the chanting of “I hate you” invited whatever it was in. No date, no names, and no follow-up are given, and the story ends there.
Reported events, in order
- 0:03
The letter writer’s best friend, about 12 years old and growing up in Denver, has a fight with their parents and storms to their room screaming “I hate you,” slamming the door.
- 0:15
The friend’s mother wants an apology. With her locked out, the friend repeats “I hate you” until they begin to get hoarse.
- 0:37
Some being reportedly begins to appear in their room near them. The friend sees a red outline of the being, but otherwise it is invisible.
- 0:46
The friend reports feeling a chill as it comes near them.
- 0:49
The being reportedly sits down, making an impression on the bed, described as an actual physical impression.
- 0:55
The friend freaks out, screams “Jesus,” and begins apologizing over and over to their mother, hoarsely screaming “I'm sorry.”
- 1:04
The thing reportedly shoots up straight through the ceiling.
- 1:11
The letter closes with the friend’s conclusion that the chanting of “I hate you” invited whatever it was in, and that their mother had not sent it.
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· 0:41
A being began to appear in the child’s room near them. The friend saw a red outline of the being, but otherwise it was invisible.
- observation· 0:46
The friend felt a chill as the being came near them.
- observation· 0:49
The being sat down and left an actual physical impression on the bed.
- observation· 1:04
The thing shot up straight through the ceiling after the friend screamed “Jesus” and apologized.
- interpretation· 1:17
The friend concluded that their chanting of “I hate you” invited the being in, and that their mother had not sent it.
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.
The story is secondhand, a letter read on air that passes on what the writer says happened to a friend. But it is coherent and gives some concrete detail (age about 12, Denver, the sequence, the red outline, the bed impression). It is capped by its secondhand status and offers no names or date to check.
Evidence for and against
- Concrete details: a red outline, a chill, a bed impression.
- The story is told in order and does not contradict itself, and it gives a reason for the child’s behavior.
- The writer separates what the friend perceived from what the friend concluded.
- It is a letter read by the host, describing a third person’s experience. It is twice removed from any witness on air.
- No names, no date, no year, and no location beyond “Denver.”
- The bed impression, the most physical claim, rests on the same single unverified account as the rest.
- Whether the letter’s content is accurately reproduced in the transcript.
- Whether anyone else, such as the mother, noticed anything is not stated.
- 0:03
- 0:49
- 1:17
What the model inferred (not said on air): Scored in parts: source closeness about 11 (secondhand, from a close but unnamed source), specificity about 12, internal consistency about 16, other explanations about 8 (a highly aroused, shouting child in their own room is an easy ordinary explanation), calibration about 10. The sum is 57, kept near the middle because of the secondhand cap (60 at most) and the lack of checkable details.
Only the letter writer’s claim, passed on by the host, is present. A place (Denver) and an approximate age are given, but no names, dates, records, photographs, or second witness on air.
Evidence for and against
- Some details that could in principle be checked: Denver, age about 12.
- No document, photograph, recording, or physical trace is claimed to be available or examined.
- No second witness speaks on air. The child who had the experience is not on the line.
- The claimed physical impression on the bed is not said to have been kept or photographed.
- Nothing in this part of the broadcast shows whether the show holds the letter itself.
- 0:03
What the model inferred (not said on air): Placed at the top of the score range of 0 to 10: a claim passed on secondhand, with only the loosest checkable details and no claimed physical evidence.
The setting is a child’s bedroom during a family fight. An unseen presence leaves a physical impression on the bed and then leaves abruptly through the ceiling. This is truly unsettling, though the story is brief and the ending is abrupt rather than drawn out.
Evidence for and against
- Something enters a child’s room at a moment of distress.
- Physical contact is implied by the bed pressing down and a reported chill.
- The being leaves abruptly and unnaturally, through the ceiling.
- No injury, threat, or continued activity is reported.
- The story ends quickly after the being leaves, without escalation or aftermath.
- The time of day is not stated, which affects how the scene would be pictured.
- 0:38
- 0:49
- 1:04
What the model inferred (not said on air): I weigh the child-in-bedroom setting and the physical bed impression as the main unsettling elements. The lack of harm or lasting dread keeps the score below the higher anchors.
A child shouts “I hate you” and is answered by a presence that is visible only as a red outline, sits down on the bed, and exits through the ceiling. It is a familiar haunted-bedroom setup with a distinctive mix of details.
Evidence for and against
- The appearance as a red outline only.
- The claimed actual physical impression on the bed.
- The idea that the chanting invited the being in, plus the straight-up exit through the ceiling.
- A bedroom visitor, a chill, and a pressed-down bed are common themes.
- The idea that the child “invited it in” is a recurring ghost-story idea.
- Novelty compared with the rest of the archive cannot be worked out here. This is the first estimate, based on content.
- 0:41
- 1:04
What the model inferred (not said on air): I treat the red-outline-only appearance and the invitation through repeated chanting as the distinctive elements, and the bedroom and bed impression as the stock setup. That gives a score in the familiar-setup-with-a-distinctive-detail range.
Scoring confidence 0.60 · analysis confidence 0.75 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: A letter read aloud on air by the host (secondhand word about a third person).; No photograph, recording, document, or physical trace claimed or examined.; No second witness speaks on air.. The originality score blends the model's score (62) 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.
- The bed impression and the sense of a presence could come from the child’s own agitated movement in the room, such as jumping or sitting down hard on the bed, during a long, emotional confrontation. · The letter describes the child screaming until hoarse and then sitting down and freaking out at the moment the impression is reported. No independent observer of the bed is named.
- The red outline and the chill could be an effect of a highly aroused, shouting, breathless state in a dim room: an imagined or misperceived shape, with a real draft felt as a chill. · The being is described as “otherwise invisible” with only a red outline. The chill is reported as a felt sensation.
What stands out
The reported being is visible only as a red outline. The letter stresses a claimed physical impression left on the bed rather than any look of a full figure. It leaves straight up and suddenly, through the ceiling, right after the child’s shouted religious exclamation and apology.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.