Paralysis and a presence lying on the caller in a former mortician’s house
A caller who gives their name as [name withheld], in Atlanta, tells Art Bell that they live in what they call a haunted house, previously owned by someone they describe as a mortician. They report moving objects, noises, and mocking voices. They describe going to bed and feeling something creep up the bed and lie on them while they were unable to move or scream. Later they describe a sensation they call an attempt at sexual contact. They say the experience changed their life and that they now stay up at night until sunrise.
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 1:06:30). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
A caller who gives their name as [name withheld], in Atlanta, tells Art Bell that they live in what they call a haunted house. They say that when they and their husband bought the house, the previous owner shook their husband’s hand and said [quote withheld] The caller reports that things move around, that there are noises, and that there are voices and mocking. The worst part, they say, involved going to bed. They became afraid of going to bed because something would first lie on them. They say they could feel it touching the covers, creeping up the bed, and then lying on them. When this happened, they report that they could not move and could not scream. They say their husband was lying right beside them. They finally reached over and touched him and woke him, and they told him what had happened. After that, they say, they slept closer so that the caller could touch him. On one occasion they say they could feel it lying on them and creeping up on them, and that [quote withheld] which they say they are not exaggerating. Asked about it, they say that on their privates it felt like something was trying to tickle them with feathers. They say they were paralyzed again and unable to do anything. They do not know what it was, but they say it was terrifying. They say the experience changed their life and that they now sit up at night listening to Art Bell and go to bed when he goes off, waiting for the sun to come up.
Reported events, in order
- 0:15
The caller says the previous owner shook their husband’s hand at the purchase and said [quote withheld]
- 0:25
The caller reports ongoing events in the house: things moving around, noises, and voices and mocking.
- 0:40
The caller says they became afraid of going to bed.
- 0:46
The caller reports that something would first lie on them. They could feel it touching the covers, creeping up the bed, and lying on her.
- 1:01
The caller reports that during this they could not move and could not scream.
- 1:07
The caller says their husband was lying right beside them. They finally reached over, touched him, woke him, and told him what had happened.
- 1:20
The caller says they then slept closer so that the caller could touch him.
- 1:35
The caller reports that [quote withheld] which they say they are not exaggerating.
- 1:48
The caller describes the sensation on their privates as like something trying to tickle them with feathers, while they were again paralyzed and unable to do anything.
- 2:08
The caller says they now sit up at night listening to Art Bell and go to bed when he goes off, waiting for the sun to come up.
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· 0:15
The previous owner told the caller’s husband, when they bought the house, [quote withheld]
- observation· 0:25
Objects move around and there are noises in the house.
- interpretation· 0:08
The caller calls the house haunted.
- observation· 0:46
Something touched the bed covers, crept up, and lay on the caller as they were going to bed.
- observation· 1:01
The caller could not move while this was happening.
- observation· 1:07
The caller could not scream or do anything during the episode.
- observation· 1:36
The caller reports that the thing tried to have sexual contact with them, which they say they are not exaggerating.
- observation· 1:57
The caller describes the sensation on their privates as like being tickled with feathers, while paralyzed.
- host statement· 1:42
Art Bell says that many reports of this kind include sex or attempted sex.
- host statement· 1:06
Art Bell says the caller was paralyzed, which they confirm.
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 of the caller’s own experience, coherent and with a few concrete details. But it is brief and gives no dates or checkable specifics. The pattern they report (in bed, unable to move or speak, a felt pressure and touch sensation) matches sleep paralysis very closely, and they do not address that.
Evidence for and against
- The caller describes the experience as their own.
- The order of events is coherent: bed, pressure, paralysis, waking the husband, later recurrence.
- They hedge at least one detail instead of escalating it ([quote withheld]).
- No dates, no address, and no named witnesses.
- The pattern they describe (lying in bed, paralysis, being unable to cry out, pressure on the chest or body, a touch sensation) closely matches sleep paralysis, and they do not consider it.
- Details are sparse and partly garbled (for example, “Anyway, the store”).
- Several transcript lines are short fragments, so the order of events has to be pieced together from partial sentences.
- No time frame or address is given, so the story cannot be checked.
- 0:46
- 1:07
- 1:57
What the model inferred (not said on air): The split by part is my judgment: 20 closeness to events (firsthand but brief), 10 specific detail, 14 consistency, 4 other explanations, 8 calibration, for a total of 56.
The story rests on the caller’s word alone. A first name (“[name withheld]”), a city (Atlanta), and a claimed detail about the previous owner are given, but nothing was checked. There is no physical evidence, recording, or second witness on air.
Evidence for and against
- A name and city are stated, plus a specific claim about the previous owner’s remark at the purchase.
- No document, photograph, recording, or examined object is mentioned.
- The husband does not speak on air and is not reported to have noticed anything himself.
- No physical evidence, recording, or document is mentioned.
- Whether the husband noticed anything himself is not stated. He is only reported to have been woken.
- 0:04
- 0:15
What the model inferred (not said on air): I place this in the 11 to 25 band because a first name, a city, and a claimed detail about the previous owner could be checked in principle, but nothing was checked and no evidence is examined.
The story combines a bedroom intrusion, total paralysis and being unable to scream, a described attempt at sexual contact, and an openly continuing situation that the caller says changed their life and keeps them awake until sunrise.
Evidence for and against
- Paralysis and being unable to scream while something lies on the sleeper.
- A described attempt at sexual contact.
- An unresolved, life-changing, continuing pattern.
- No visible figure, injury, or threat of harm is reported.
- The caller’s story is brief and partly fragmentary, which limits lasting dread.
- No dates or duration are given, so the sense of escalation over time is limited.
- 1:01
- 1:36
- 2:08
What the model inferred (not said on air): My judgment of how the story lands on a listener: a bedroom intrusion, paralysis, sexual contact, and an unresolved, continuing situation.
The core frame, something lying on a sleeper who cannot move or cry out, with an attempted sexual element, is a stock ghost or incubus pattern. But the mortician’s-house framing and the specific “tickling with feathers” description give it distinctive detail.
Evidence for and against
- A distinctive house framing tied to the previous owner’s job, as the caller describes it.
- An unusual touch description of the sexual-contact part.
- Paralysis plus a presence lying on the sleeper and sexual contact is a recurring motif in this genre.
- The comparison with the rest of the archive is provisional in a pilot archive, so the automatic score carries most of the weight.
- 0:15
- 1:57
What the model inferred (not said on air): My judgment is that the core (bedroom paralysis, something lying on the sleeper, attempted sexual contact) is a familiar frame, with novelty coming from the mortician framing and the feather-tickle description.
Scoring confidence 0.60 · analysis confidence 0.72 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand story (live call); A claimed remark by the previous owner, reported secondhand; No physical evidence, recording, photograph, or document mentioned; No second witness speaks on air. 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.
- Sleep paralysis with a touch hallucination while falling asleep. · The caller describes being in bed, unable to move and unable to scream, with a felt pressure lying on them and a sensation on their body.
- Expectation set by the previous owner’s remark at the purchase. · The caller reports that the previous owner said [quote withheld] when they bought it. That gives a frame in which ordinary house noises could be read as activity.
- Ordinary house noise and movement. · The general events are described only as [quote withheld] with no detail of what moved or when.
What stands out
The framing detail is that the previous owner, described by the caller as a mortician, handed over the house with a remark about “the mortician’s house,” and the caller ties the events to that. The sexual-contact part is described in an oddly hedged, almost clinical way ([quote withheld]) rather than in the usual incubus language.
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