Dark figure in a hallway after a husband's remark about selling his soul
A caller who says they are [name withheld] in Chicago tells the host a secondhand story about a friend and the friend's husband. About 32 years earlier, the caller says, they were woken at night by a smell of something burning. Then they saw a large dark figure in the hallway of their apartment. The friend told the caller that the friend and the friend's husband knelt, prayed, and cried until the figure vanished. Earlier that day, the friend said, the friend's husband had said he would sell his soul to the devil over financial troubles. The friend was convinced the devil had come to collect. The host replies that such a deal, once made, is done, and moves on to the next caller.
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 2006.mp3”, starting at 1:48:06). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller, introduced by the host as [quote withheld] says they want to tell a story about a friend, and that the events happened [quote withheld] The caller explains that they and the friend lived in side-by-side apartments in an apartment building. One morning the friend came over “visibly shaken” and asked whether the caller had smelled anything burning during the night. The caller says they had not. The friend then told the caller that the friend and the friend's husband had been woken in the middle of the night by a smell of something “really bad burning.” According to the friend, they jumped out of bed and headed for the hallway to leave the apartment. There they saw [quote withheld] The friend reported feeling [quote withheld] The caller notes that both were of Hispanic descent and “very devout catholic.” The friend said they fell to their knees, prayed, and cried, and that the figure “just disappeared.” The caller adds that, according to the friend, earlier that same day the couple were in financial trouble and the friend's husband had said he would sell his soul to the devil to get out of the bind. The friend [quote withheld] The host responds that once such a deal is made, spoken or merely thought, it is done, and he ends the call.
Reported events, in order
- 0:07
The caller says they are telling a story about a friend, and that the events happened about 32 years before the broadcast.
- 0:20
The friend, who lived in the apartment next door, comes over in the morning, visibly shaken, and asks the caller whether the caller smelled anything burning during the night.
- 0:30
The friend reports that the friend and the friend's husband were woken in the middle of the night by the smell of something very bad burning.
- 0:44
The friend reports that they jumped out of bed and headed toward the hallway to leave the apartment.
- 0:51
The friend reports that in the hallway they saw a very large, tall, dark figure.
- 0:56
The friend reports feeling a strong sense of evil and harm. The friend describes the couple as devout Catholics.
- 1:10
The friend reports that they fell to their knees, prayed, and cried, and that the figure suddenly disappeared.
- 1:18
The friend reports that earlier the same day, during financial trouble, the friend's husband had said he would sell his soul to the devil to get out of the bind.
- 1:32
The caller relays that the friend was convinced the devil had come to collect.
- 1:44
The host responds that once such a deal is made it is done, and closes the call.
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· 0:07
The caller describes the story as being about a friend, and says the events happened about 32 years before the broadcast. It is secondhand, not the caller's own experience.
- observation· 0:20
The friend came to the caller's apartment one morning, visibly shaken, and asked whether the caller had smelled anything burning during the night.
- hearsay· 0:30
The friend reported that the friend and the friend's husband were woken in the middle of the night by the smell of something very bad burning.
- hearsay· 0:51
The friend reported seeing, on entering the hallway, a very large and tall dark figure.
- hearsay· 0:56
The friend reported feeling a strong sense of evil and harm at the time.
- hearsay· 1:15
The friend reported that the couple fell to their knees praying and crying, and that the figure suddenly disappeared.
- hearsay· 1:24
The friend reported that earlier that same day the friend's husband, in financial trouble, said he would sell his soul to the devil to get out of the bind.
- interpretation· 1:32
The friend's conclusion, as relayed by the caller, was that the devil had come to collect.
- host statement· 1:44
The host says that once such a deal is made, whether spoken aloud or only thought, it is done and cannot be canceled.
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 clearly structured but secondhand story with moderate detail and no contradictions. It has no names, records, or examined evidence, and the ordinary explanations go unaddressed. So it lands near the middle of the range for secondhand stories.
Evidence for and against
- A consistent sequence: smell, waking, hallway, figure, prayer, disappearance. No self-contradiction in the telling.
- Some specifics: an apartment building, side-by-side apartments, the middle of the night, a hallway, and two reported witnesses, both described as devout Catholics.
- The caller reports the friend's own reading as the friend's conviction rather than claiming it as the caller's own knowledge (“she was convinced”).
- Secondhand throughout: the caller relays what a friend told them. The caller did not see the figure or smell anything personally.
- The reported events are 32 years in the past, and no name, address, or detail that can be checked is given for the friend or the building.
- Ordinary explanations are not addressed: being roused from sleep at night and a burning smell both have ordinary candidate explanations.
- The friend and the friend's husband are never named or otherwise identified, so nothing can be checked.
- Some lines are split into single words by the automatic transcript, so individual words are less reliable.
- 0:07
- 0:51
- 1:32
What the model inferred (not said on air): The weights for the parts (source proximity 8, specificity 10, internal consistency 15, alternative explanations 8, calibration 8) are my judgment from the transcript. The 60-point cap for secondhand stories does not bind at this total.
Essentially the caller's word, passed along from a third party, with a rough date and a claimed but silent second witness. Details that can be checked are minimal.
Evidence for and against
- The caller does give a rough time frame ([quote withheld]) and a city for the caller (Chicago).
- A second witness (the husband) is claimed, though he does not speak.
- No names, dates beyond an approximate span, addresses, or records are given for the alleged witnesses or the place.
- The report is secondhand twice over: the caller relays what the friend said, and the husband's experience comes only through the friend.
- Nothing was examined on air. The host's comments are opinion, not evidence.
- This part of the broadcast does not show whether the friend or the caller could supply records.
- 0:20
- 1:10
What the model inferred (not said on air): Placed in the 0 to 10 range because the only support is an assertion no one else backs up, passed along at one remove.
A nighttime intrusion into the home, a sense of evil, and the soul-selling remark make this truly unsettling. But there is no threat, contact, or escalation, which keeps it mid-range.
Evidence for and against
- A large dark figure is reported in the hallway of the witnesses' own home at night.
- The friend is reported to have felt [quote withheld]
- The couple falling to their knees, praying and crying, followed by the husband's earlier remark about selling his soul, gives the story an ominous frame.
- No injury, physical contact, or pursuit is reported.
- The episode ends with the figure vanishing rather than escalating.
- The host's closing remark is conversational and calming rather than heightening the dread.
- The description of the figure is very brief, so its visual impact is limited.
- 0:56
- 1:15
What the model inferred (not said on air): This is a judgment of the story's effect on a listener, not of whether it is true.
A familiar setup of a demonic ghost, with two unusual details: the bad burning smell and the soul-selling remark made earlier the same day.
Evidence for and against
- The added detail is a bad burning smell reported at the same time by both witnesses.
- The event is framed as following a same-day remark about selling one's soul to the devil over money troubles, which the friend read as the devil coming to collect.
- The core image, a dark figure met at night in a home, is a stock ghost-story element.
- Waking at night is a very common setup for such stories.
- Only one story is present, so no comparison of how rare the themes are is possible within this part of the broadcast.
- 1:24
- 0:30
What the model inferred (not said on air): Model score only. The published score compared with the rest of the archive depends on how rare the themes are across the archive, which is not available here.
Scoring confidence 0.60 · analysis confidence 0.68 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller's secondhand story relaying a friend's account (no firsthand testimony from the caller about the figure or the smell); No documentation, photograph, recording, or other physical evidence presented or examined; No second witness speaks on air. The husband is reported only by the caller relaying the friend. 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 sighting happened while the couple were roused from sleep at night. So a mistaken view of a shadow or household object, caused by sleep or dim light, is a possible ordinary reading of the reported figure. · The friend described being woken in the middle of the night and then meeting the figure on the way to the hallway. Such reports can arise from the half-asleep state of waking up or falling asleep, in low light.
- The burning smell could have had an ordinary physical source in or near the apartment building rather than anything strange. · The reported smell is described as [quote withheld] a kind of smell that also has ordinary sources (an appliance, wiring, cooking, a neighbor's unit). The caller says they smelled nothing.
- Earlier worry and expectation in the household could have shaped how the nighttime experience was seen and described. This is a guess about the reported events, not a judgment about the caller or the friend. · The remark about selling his soul was reportedly made the same day, before the night event, and the friend “was convinced” the devil had come to collect.
What stands out
The reported ghost is tied to a remark the same day about selling his soul to the devil over money troubles. Two other details stand out. A bad burning smell woke both reported witnesses. And the caller was a neighbor who was asked only afterward whether the caller had smelled it.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.