Legless woman saying “I can't sleep” in a rented house where a woman was shot
An unnamed caller traveling east of St. Louis tells Art Bell a story from 1990, when the caller was 18 and shared a rented house with friends. The caller says a friend, sleeping over on a couch in the caller's room, later described a woman who appeared and repeated “I can't sleep” before flying out the open door. The friend noticed she had no legs. The caller adds that the friend's father, a former police officer, said he had once been called to that house, where a lady was shot and killed through the front window.
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 2004.mp3”, starting at 2:14:16). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller, who gives no name, says they are driving east of St. Louis toward Iowa. The caller offers Art Bell a “bizarre story” from when the caller was 18, in 1990. The caller says they and a group of friends rented a house right out of high school. One night the caller and a buddy sat up late talking and drinking. The buddy decided to stay over and slept on a couch in the caller's room, which the caller says was the biggest in the house. The caller says they went to sleep around 3 a.m. and woke at 6 a.m. to find the friend sitting with elbows on knees, asking to be taken home. The caller drove the friend home. Later that day, the caller says, the friend phoned and asked the caller to come over. According to the caller, the friend said the friend had not slept at all. The friend had been lying facing the couch when the friend heard a woman's voice say “I can't sleep.” The friend turned and saw a woman standing there who repeated the phrase. Both jumped back, and she flew out of the open door. The friend then noticed she had no legs. The caller answers Art's questions: yes, no legs, and she went out of the door, which was open. The caller adds that the friend later told the friend's father, a former police officer, who asked which house it was. On hearing the location, the father said that in his rookie year he had been called to that house, where a lady was shot and killed through the front window. Art closes this part of the broadcast with remarks about violent deaths and suicides lingering.
Reported events, in order
- 0:06
The caller says they are traveling east of St. Louis toward Iowa and introduces their “bizarre story” from 1990, when the caller was 18.
- 0:27
The caller says they and friends rented a house right out of high school. One night the caller and a buddy sat up late talking and drinking.
- 0:35
The buddy decides to stay over and sleeps on a couch in the caller's room, the biggest room in the house.
- 0:44
The caller says they went to sleep about 3 a.m. and woke at 6 a.m. to find the friend with elbows on knees, asking to be taken home. The caller drove the friend home.
- 1:02
The friend calls later that day and asks the caller to come over. That night the friend tells the caller the friend had not slept.
- 1:17
According to the caller, the friend described hearing a woman's voice say “I can't sleep,” turning to see a woman standing there repeating it, both jumping back, and her flying out the open door.
- 1:35
The friend noticed the woman had no legs, the caller says. The caller confirms to Art that she went out of the open door.
- 2:13
The friend tells the friend's own father, a former police officer, who says that in his rookie year he was called to that house, where a lady was shot and killed through the front window.
- 2:24
Art remarks that such activity seems to circle around those who died unexpectedly and in a violent way, and that suicides seem to linger.
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· 0:19
The caller says they and their friends rented a house right out of high school, and that the caller and a buddy sat up late talking and drinking there.
- observation· 0:44
The caller says they woke at 6 a.m. and found the friend sitting with elbows on knees, asking to be taken home.
- hearsay· 1:17
The caller reports that the friend heard a woman's voice saying “I can't sleep.”
- hearsay· 1:23
The caller reports that the friend saw a woman standing in the room who repeated “I can't sleep” and then flew out of the open door.
- hearsay· 1:35
The caller reports that the friend noticed the woman had no legs.
- hearsay· 2:13
The caller reports that the friend's father, a former police officer, said he had been called to that house in his rookie year, where a lady was shot and killed through the front window.
- host statement· 2:24
Art Bell states that this kind of activity seems to circle around those who died unexpectedly and in a violent way.
- host statement· 2:40
Art Bell states that suicides seem to linger.
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 hangs together and gives concrete anchors (age 18, 1990, 3 a.m. and 6 a.m., couch, front window). But the central ghost is wholly secondhand, and no names, address, or records are supplied. A cap of 60 applies to secondhand accounts.
Evidence for and against
- Specific details in order: rented house after high school, asleep at 3 a.m., awake at 6 a.m., couch, front window.
- The caller answers Art's follow-up questions consistently (“no legs”; she left [quote withheld]).
- The caller reports their own first doubt ([quote withheld]).
- The ghost is reported secondhand, from a friend who never speaks on air.
- No names, address, dates of tenancy, or documents are given.
- The setting is a late-night session of drinking and telling ghost stories.
- Several of the caller's lines are labeled as the host in the automatic transcript, so who said what is partly unclear.
- The claimed police call and shooting cannot be checked from the transcript.
- 0:19
- 0:44
- 1:23
- 1:35
What the model inferred (not said on air): My reasoning: the strange events reach the listener only through the caller's report of an absent friend. That puts the story below a clear firsthand account, despite its coherent structure.
The only support is the caller's own word and claimed witnesses. There is no examined photograph, recording, or document. A few details could be checked (year, age, a described police call), but none has been. That fits a score of 11 to 25.
Evidence for and against
- A stated year and age (1990, 18 years old) that could in principle be checked.
- A claimed second witness (the friend) and a claimed third source (the friend's father, a former police officer).
- No second witness speaks on air.
- No physical or documentary evidence is presented or examined.
- Names, address, and police record are all unstated.
- Whether the friend or the father exists as described cannot be established from the transcript.
- The location of the house is never given.
- 1:40
- 2:13
What the model inferred (not said on air): My reasoning: claimed witnesses who do not appear are assertions, not backing from someone else, so evidence strength stays in the lower range.
A stranger in a sleeping room, the repeated flat line “I can't sleep,” a figure without legs flying out a doorway, and a claimed killing in the same house create lasting unease without physical threat or gore.
Evidence for and against
- The encounter happens in the room where the friend is trying to sleep.
- A figure that looks like a person turns out to have no legs and leaves the room without walking.
- The claimed shooting at the same address adds an ominous frame.
- No violence, contact, or injury is reported to the witnesses.
- The story is brief and ends with the host's comments rather than escalating events.
- The friend's fuller state of mind and how long the encounter lasted are not described.
- 1:17
- 2:13
What the model inferred (not said on air): My reasoning: the bedroom setting, the legless figure, and the unresolved ending are the main sources of unease for a listener.
The frame is familiar: a haunted rented house tied to a death, and a friend who sees a woman and flees. But the repeated line “I can't sleep” and the missing legs give it a distinctive detail. Compared with the rest of the archive, the novelty score is provisional at this pilot stage.
Evidence for and against
- The ghost speaks a single repeated phrase rather than following the usual script.
- The missing legs and the exit through an open door are comparatively uncommon details.
- A haunted rental property linked to a past death is a stock ghost-story frame.
- The structure (sighting, flight, later local-history confirmation) follows a common pattern.
- With few stories in the archive, the published originality score is provisional and mostly reflects the model's estimate.
- 1:23
- 1:35
What the model inferred (not said on air): My reasoning: the distinctive details are the repeated phrase and the legless form. The structure around them is conventional.
Scoring confidence 0.65 · analysis confidence 0.70 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller's firsthand story about the friend's distress and driving the friend home; A secondhand report of the friend's claimed sighting of the woman; A hearsay report attributed to the friend's father, a former police officer, about a shooting at the house. 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.
- The friend may have seen a dream-like image while falling asleep as the friend lay on the couch, then reconstructed it on waking. · The event took place in the early hours, after the caller and friend had gone to sleep. The friend reportedly insisted [quote withheld]
- Late-night ghost stories and drinking in the house could have set expectations that shaped what the friend perceived and later described. · The caller says the two were “sitting up late” telling [quote withheld] before the friend stayed over.
- Local knowledge or rumor about a death at that address could have shaped how the experience was understood once the shooting was mentioned. · The friend's father reportedly recalled a shooting at that same house in his rookie year as a police officer, which suggests the death was known locally.
What stands out
The ghost's repeated, flat statement “I can't sleep” and the reported absence of legs are the distinctive details. They are tied to a claimed family memory of a shooting at the same address. The caller tells the main sighting secondhand, about a friend who never speaks on air.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.