A voice calling a child's name in her bedroom, c. 1959
A caller who gives the name “Don” and says the call is from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, tells one of “three little stories” she emailed about being [quote withheld] It is the first and most frightening incident. The caller, then about seven years old and getting ready for bed, says she heard her name spoken, written as “Donna” in the transcript. Then a voice said “don't be afraid” and [quote withheld] and she says she could not make a sound. Her father came to comfort her. She later refused to sleep in that room. Her father later said he had experienced similar things in the house. She suggests the episode might have been [quote withheld] Art Bell then remarks on time travel or an entry into another realm.
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 2005.mp3”, starting at 1:43:59). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
A caller who identifies as “don” and says [quote withheld] tells Art Bell that they had emailed him [quote withheld] and that the first incident was the most frightening. The caller says she was [quote withheld] figuring the year was about 1959, in the house the family kept until her father died in 1980. She says her father was a painting contractor who worked days, and her mother worked second shift at a hospital and did not get home until about 11 p.m. At about seven years old, she says, she was in her bedroom getting ready for bed while her father washed dishes in the kitchen after dinner. She says she heard her name spoken, written as “Donna,” and answered “yes” without thinking. Then she heard it again. She says she first thought somebody was hiding under the bed, like a niece, then [quote withheld] She looked to her bedroom window because neighborhood children used to talk through open windows at night. She recalls the window was shut and that she was wearing flannel pajamas. Before she could finish the thought, she says, the voice said her name, “don't be afraid” and [quote withheld] She says she became so afraid that she opened her mouth but no sound came out, and that she was “paralyzed with fear.” Her father came running and comforted her but [quote withheld] and she says she knows her parents talked about it afterward. She says she refused to sleep in that room ever again. As she grew older, she says, her father told her he had experienced similar things in the house. She says she now wonders whether the experience was [quote withheld] Art Bell then remarks that time travel, a portal, or an accidental entry into another realm cannot be ruled out.
Reported events, in order
- 0:20
The caller says they emailed Art Bell three short stories about being raised in a haunted house.
- 0:27
The caller says the first incident was the most frightening, and that one never really gets used to that kind of thing.
- 0:37
The caller says she was a little girl, figuring it was about 1959, in the house the family kept until her father died in 1980.
- 0:51
The caller says her father was a painting contractor working days, and her mother worked second shift at a hospital and was home around 11 p.m.
- 1:05
At about seven years old, she was in her bedroom getting ready for bed while her father washed dishes in the kitchen.
- 1:27
She hears her name (“Donna”) and answers “yes” without thinking. It comes again.
- 1:40
She thinks someone is hiding under the bed, like a niece, but knows there is no one there.
- 2:06
She looks to the bedroom window, remembering neighborhood children talking through open windows at night. The window is shut and she is wearing flannel pajamas.
- 2:36
The voice says her name, “don't be afraid,” and [quote withheld]
- 2:49
She becomes afraid and opens her mouth, but no sound comes out. She says she was paralyzed with fear.
- 3:10
Her father comes running and comforts her, but does not know what to say. She says her parents talked about it afterward.
- 3:28
As she grew older, her father told her he had experienced things just like that in the house.
- 3:38
She says she refused to sleep in that room ever again, and she now wonders whether it was [quote withheld]
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· 1:28
The caller heard her name spoken in her bedroom while buttoning her pajamas.
- observation· 1:36
The name was repeated a second time.
- observation· 2:36
A voice called her by name and said not to be afraid and that it just wanted to talk to her.
- observation· 2:45
The voice said “don't be afraid” and [quote withheld]
- observation· 2:53
She reports being unable to make any sound and being paralyzed with fear.
- hearsay· 3:32
Her father told her he had experienced things just like that in the house.
- interpretation· 3:52
She wonders whether the experience was a sort of time travel.
- host statement· 4:03
The host says time travel, a portal, or an accidental entry into another realm cannot be ruled out.
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 firsthand story of a single incident, told with concrete household detail and a consistent sequence. The caller separates what she thought at the time from what happened. It is weakened by being a brief childhood memory from roughly four and a half decades before the broadcast, with no witness who speaks on air.
Evidence for and against
- Concrete setting and sequence: [quote withheld] and [quote withheld]
- Details that can be dated and located: [quote withheld] and [quote withheld]
- The caller separates her thinking at the time from the event: [quote withheld]
- She notes a checkable physical detail against a window-based explanation: [quote withheld]
- A single brief event remembered from about age seven, decades earlier, with no record made at the time.
- No second witness to the voice speaks on air. The father’s similar experiences are secondhand.
- The caller’s time-travel idea is a speculative rereading with no supporting detail: [quote withheld]
- The automatic transcript splits the caller’s words across the host and caller lines, so who said what is uncertain.
- The date is the caller’s own estimate ([quote withheld]).
- The caller’s name is ambiguous ([quote withheld] versus the voice’s “Donna”).
- 0:37
- 2:00
- 2:30
- 3:52
What the model inferred (not said on air): The scoring by part is inferred from the transcript: closeness to the source 16 of 25 (firsthand, but a brief, decades-old childhood memory), detail 15 of 20, consistency 16 of 20, ordinary explanations 10 of 20 (a living person speaking through a window or vent fits only partly, and the caller addresses the window), and calibration 11 of 15 (she flags uncertainty and offers a speculative reading without presenting it as established). The total is 68.
The story rests on the caller’s own word. It contains details that could be checked (a named town, an approximate year, the parents’ jobs, a radio station), but none was checked, and no documentation or second witness is present on air.
Evidence for and against
- Details that could be checked are given: location, approximate year, and the father’s job and mother’s shift.
- The caller says the material was sent earlier in writing: [quote withheld]
- No photograph, recording, document, or other item is described as existing or examined on air.
- The father’s claimed similar experiences are relayed by the caller, not spoken by the father on air.
- The emailed stories are mentioned but not read out or examined, so their content cannot be judged.
- The station name as transcribed ([quote withheld]) is unclear.
- 0:20
- 3:32
What the model inferred (not said on air): A score of 11 to 25 reflects that checkable details exist but were not checked, and that a second witness is only claimed, never heard. It sits at the low end because no physical evidence is even claimed.
The story puts an unidentified voice inside a young child’s bedroom at night. It repeats her name and pairs a reassuring phrase with the caller’s report of being unable to scream. That is an unsettling combination even though nothing threatening is said or seen.
Evidence for and against
- A voice intrudes in a child’s bedroom at bedtime: [quote withheld]
- It escalates from a single name to a full address: [quote withheld] and [quote withheld]
- She reports being unable to make a sound: [quote withheld]
- What the voice says is gentle (“don't be afraid”), with no threat, contact, or harm.
- The episode is brief and ends with the father arriving to comfort her.
- No visual description of a source is given, so the scene depends entirely on the voice and the caller’s reaction.
- 2:45
- 2:46
- 2:53
What the model inferred (not said on air): This is a judgment of the story’s effect, not a claim about what happened. The child-in-bedroom setting and the failed scream raise it above a merely eerie single event, while the absence of threat or contact keeps it below frightening.
The core material, a name called in a bedroom at night, is a stock ghost-story motif. But the reassuring wording of the voice and the caller’s later time-travel reading give it a moderately distinctive shape.
Evidence for and against
- The voice’s stated intent is unusual for the genre: [quote withheld]
- The caller rereads the event as possible contact across time rather than with a ghost: [quote withheld]
- Name-calling and a bedroom setting are among the most common motifs in this kind of story.
- No distinctive object, figure, or physical trace appears in the story.
- The published originality score is compared with the rest of the archive and is provisional while the archive is small.
- 2:46
- 3:52
What the model inferred (not said on air): This is the model’s provisional estimate from content alone. The reassuring phrasing and the time-travel idea lift it above a purely stock story, but the underlying motifs are familiar.
Scoring confidence 0.60 · analysis confidence 0.65 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller’s firsthand spoken story about a childhood event; Mention of three previously emailed stories, not read out or examined; A secondhand report of the father’s claimed similar experiences in the same house. 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.
- The voice could have come from a living person in the house or outside it, heard through a window, wall, or vent. · The caller says the family were home that evening (her father was washing dishes in the kitchen) and that neighborhood children used to talk to each other through open windows at night. She recalls, however, that her bedroom window was shut.
- A dream-like experience while falling asleep, given the caller’s age (about seven), the nighttime setting, and the bedtime routine. · She says she was in her bedroom getting ready for bed and was a young child. The transcript, however, describes her as up and buttoning her pajamas rather than lying down or asleep.
- The parents’ later talk and the father’s story of similar experiences in the house could have shaped or reinforced the child’s memory of the event. · The caller says [quote withheld] and that her father later told her he had experienced similar things in the house.
What stands out
The reported voice is not menacing but reassuring. It tells the child not to be afraid and says it only wants to talk. The caller now wonders whether it was time travel rather than a haunting, and the host builds on that idea on air. The story is also the first of three emailed stories, and only one is told here.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.