Moving curtains and deceased relatives appearing in dreams
A caller who identifies themself as [quote withheld] tells Art Bell that the curtains and other things in their apartment move “all the time,” and that deceased loved ones now come into their sleep. They are an uncle and a boyfriend who died in 1996. The caller says the dream figures talk to them about the man they are currently seeing, and that in the caller’s dreams the figures’ hands are outstretched, trying to grab the caller and the caller’s boyfriend. The call ends when the host remarks it may be [quote withheld] and moves to the next caller. Nothing is resolved.
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 1:33:34). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
A caller who gives their name as [quote withheld] comes on the international line. The host has the caller turn off a radio in the room. [name withheld] then says that the curtains and other things in their apartment move, and that this happens “all the time.” [name withheld] says that deceased loved ones now come into their sleep. Asked which ones, [name withheld] names their uncle and a boyfriend who [name withheld] says passed away in 1996. When the host asks whether the caller means their dreams, [name withheld] agrees. The host asks whether one of them attacked the caller, and [name withheld] says no, that they talked to the caller. [name withheld] says the deceased are talking about the man the caller is currently seeing, that the caller is seeing someone now, and that the deceased are telling the caller things about him. [name withheld] adds that in the caller’s dreams [quote withheld] and that the figures are trying to grab the caller and the caller’s boyfriend. The host remarks that perhaps it constitutes [quote withheld] thanks the caller, and moves to the next caller. The story is left without resolution. Several very short lines in this exchange are labeled as the host in the automatic transcript but read as the caller’s brief answers.
Reported events, in order
- 0:09
A caller identifies themself as [quote withheld] on the international line.
- 0:16
[name withheld] says they have an apartment in Faulkner, New York, and that [quote withheld]
- 0:24
The host asks whether [name withheld] has a radio on and asks [name withheld] to turn it off. [name withheld] does, and the host waits.
- 0:44
[name withheld] says it happens all the time, and that deceased loved ones now come into their sleep.
- 0:51
[name withheld] names their uncle and a boyfriend who died in 1996 as the ones appearing.
- 0:56
[name withheld] confirms, in answer to the host, that these are dreams.
- 1:05
Asked if one of them attacked the caller, [name withheld] says no, they talked to the caller.
- 1:11
[name withheld] says the figures are talking about the man the caller is currently seeing.
- 1:18
[name withheld] says the caller is seeing someone now and that the deceased are telling the caller things about him.
- 1:27
[name withheld] reports that in the caller’s dreams [quote withheld]
- 1:30
[name withheld] says the dream figures are trying to grab the caller and the caller’s boyfriend.
- 1:37
The host remarks that it may constitute an attack of sorts and moves to the next caller.
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· 0:16
[name withheld] says the curtains and other things move in their apartment.
- observation· 0:44
[name withheld] says deceased loved ones, including their uncle and a boyfriend who died in 1996, now enter their sleep.
- observation· 1:05
Asked whether one of them attacked the caller, [name withheld] says no, that they talked to the caller. (The automatic transcript labels this line as the host, but it is clearly the caller’s answer.)
- interpretation· 1:18
[name withheld] says the deceased are telling the caller things about the man the caller is currently seeing.
- observation· 1:30
[name withheld] reports that in the caller’s dreams their hands are out and they are trying to grab the caller and the caller’s boyfriend.
- host statement· 1:37
The host says the caller’s story may constitute an attack of sorts.
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 short but coherent firsthand call with a few checkable details (the town and the year 1996) and no contradictions. It is very thin, though, and ordinary explanations fit both the curtain movement and the dreams. The score is conservative and capped near the level for a fragment, given its brevity.
Evidence for and against
- Firsthand story: the caller describes their own apartment and their own dreams.
- Some specifics: a stated town and state, a deceased boyfriend dated to 1996, and named relations (uncle, boyfriend).
- The sequence is coherent, and the short exchange contains no self-contradiction.
- The caller does not escalate the story or describe physical harm.
- No concrete conditions are given for the moving curtains, which have easy ordinary explanations such as drafts and vents.
- The “grab” and the figures’ comments happen only inside dreams, where ordinary dream imagery is a ready explanation.
- The caller’s answers to the host are very brief, and the story is thin overall.
- Not backed up by anyone else, and no detail can be checked beyond the year 1996 and the town name.
- The labels showing who is speaking are unreliable. Several lines appear to be the caller’s answers but are labeled as the host.
- The story runs about 1.8 minutes and ends without elaboration.
- 0:16
- 0:44
- 0:51
What the model inferred (not said on air): The component scores are my own judgment: closeness to the source is firsthand but brief (about 16), specificity is low (about 6), consistency is fair (about 10), ordinary explanations fit easily (about 4), and calibration is moderate (about 4). The cap of 40 or less for very short stories is applied.
This is essentially the caller’s word alone, with a small number of unverified details (name, town, 1996). There is no documentation and no second witness on air, so it sits in the lowest range.
Evidence for and against
- A few checkable details are given: the caller’s name, town, and state, and a stated death year (1996).
- Nothing in these details has been verified in the transcript.
- No physical evidence is claimed, produced, or examined.
- No second witness speaks on air.
- No records, photographs, or documents are cited.
- “Faulkner, New York” may be a mistranscription of a place name, so even the location cannot be reliably checked.
- 0:09
- 0:51
What the model inferred (not said on air): The placement in that range is my judgment. The town name may also be transcribed imprecisely (“Faulkner”), which makes even the specifics harder to check.
Unsettling rather than frightening. Deceased relatives reaching out to grab the dreamer, which the host frames as a possible attack, gives moderate creepiness. Nothing physical or menacing is reported outside the dreams.
Evidence for and against
- Deceased relatives intruding into the caller’s sleep is an intrusion into a private, vulnerable state.
- The dream figures are described with hands outstretched, trying to grab the caller and the caller’s boyfriend.
- The host frames it as possibly [quote withheld] and the story is left unresolved.
- No physical harm, threat outside dreams, or escalating activity is reported.
- The caller says plainly that the figures did not attack them but talked to them.
- The final mumbled lines (“And my dreams”) make the exact content of the grabbing description uncertain.
- 1:30
- 1:37
What the model inferred (not said on air): Creepiness is my editorial judgment about the story as heard, not about the events.
The story is built from familiar pieces (moving curtains, dead relatives in dreams) with one mildly distinctive twist: the dream figures discuss and reach for the caller’s current partner. The score is provisional, and the comparison with the rest of the archive carries little weight in the pilot.
Evidence for and against
- The distinctive detail is that the deceased dream figures are said to carry messages about the caller’s living partner and to reach out to grab the caller and the partner.
- Pairing a passive household report of curtains moving with active, message-bearing dream relatives is slightly unusual.
- Deceased relatives appearing in dreams is a very common motif.
- Curtains or household items moving with no source is also stock material.
- The exchange is fragmentary and adds little beyond the familiar frame.
- The very short story limits how many motifs can be assessed.
- 1:18
- 0:44
What the model inferred (not said on air): The model’s originality value is my own estimate from the content. The published figure compared with the rest of the archive is calculated later.
Scoring confidence 0.40 · analysis confidence 0.50 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand story only (telephone call).; No documentation, photograph, recording, or physical evidence claimed or examined.; No second witness speaks on air.. The originality score blends the model's score (25) 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.
- Air movement in the apartment, such as an open window, draft, vent, or fan, moving light curtains. · [name withheld] reports the curtains and “stuff” moving “all the time” but gives no conditions, such as open windows, fans, or heating. Drafts from windows or vents, or an unlatched window, are ordinary possibilities for curtains moving.
- Ordinary grief dreams about remembered deceased relatives. · The deceased relatives appear only “into my sleep,” which [name withheld] places in dreams. Asked, [quote withheld] [name withheld] agrees. Grief dreams of recently and long-deceased relatives are common.
- Dream imagery shaped by waking concerns about the caller’s current relationship, which the caller says the dream figures discuss. · The caller describes the dream figures with [quote withheld] trying to grab the caller. Nothing outside the dream is reported, so the imagery may be dream content only.
What stands out
The story pairs a passive household report ([quote withheld]) with deceased relatives who, in the caller’s dreams, are said to discuss the caller’s living partner and reach out to grab both of them. Several of the caller’s brief replies are mislabeled as the host in the automatic transcript, which makes the exchange harder to read.
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