Childhood sighting of a man over the bed in an old Annapolis Royal house
A caller named [name withheld], from Nova Scotia, Canada, tells Art Bell that as a child of about eight they woke around two in the morning and saw a man standing over their bed. This was in the caller’s family’s roughly 200-year-old house in Annapolis Royal. They ran to their parents, who dismissed it as a bad dream. The caller later says older residents told them the house was built by African American settlers who came after the expulsion of the Acadians and were hanged by white settlers. They say they got “more verification” of a name from a “DEA office.” The host cuts them off for time and closes by asserting the caller did see a ghost.
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 2013.mp3”, starting at 3:01:32). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
[name withheld], a caller from Nova Scotia, Canada, says they live in a [quote withheld] in Annapolis Royal. They describe the town as one of the oldest in North America and the site of many battles. They say that when they were [quote withheld] they woke at about two in the morning and saw [quote withheld] They say they ran into their parents’ room, and the parents dismissed it as a bad dream and sent them back to bed. Years later, they say, they asked around, and older people in the community told them that the people who built their house were African American and had moved to Canada after the expulsion of the Acadians. They also said that black settlers were given the land furthest from town. The caller recounts what they were told: because they were black and were [quote withheld] some white settlers came and hanged them. The house was abandoned for years before being fixed up. They say their parents were expats who came in the late 1970s and rebuilt the house as a [quote withheld] They report getting [quote withheld] They say information from a “DEA office” verified a name, which they start to give (“[name withheld]”) before the host interrupts to say he does not need the name. The host ends the call, saying they are out of time, and asserts the caller did see a ghost.
Reported events, in order
- 0:11
The caller says they live in a roughly 200-year-old house in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia.
- 0:47
They say that as a child of about eight, waking around two in the morning, they saw a man standing over their bed.
- 1:25
They say they ran into their parents’ room, and the parents dismissed it as a bad dream and sent them back to bed.
- 1:35
Years later they asked around, and older community members told them the house’s builders were African American and came to Canada after the expulsion of the Acadians.
- 2:14
The caller repeats what they were told: black settlers received the land furthest from town.
- 2:25
According to the story they heard, some white settlers hanged them, and the house was abandoned for years.
- 2:43
The caller says their parents were expats who came in the late 1970s and rebuilt the house as a hobby-farm project.
- 3:01
The caller says information from a “DEA office” verified a name, and they begin to give it (“[name withheld]”).
- 3:15
The host interrupts for time and states that the caller did see a ghost.
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· 0:51
The caller says they saw an “African-American gentleman” standing over their bed in the middle of the night.
- observation· 1:25
The caller describes the experience as a ghost sighting.
- observation· 1:25
The caller says their parents dismissed the experience as a bad dream.
- hearsay· 1:47
Older people in the community told the caller the builders of the house were African American and came to Canada after the expulsion of the Acadians.
- hearsay· 2:25
The caller was told that some white settlers hanged the black settlers, after which the house stood abandoned for years.
- hearsay· 3:01
The caller says information from a “DEA office” verified a name linked to the house.
- host statement· 3:17
The host asserts the caller did see a ghost.
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 a single brief childhood episode. It has a specific place, an approximate age, and a time of night, but no date and no witness who saw it. Ordinary sleep-related explanations fit without being addressed, and the historical “verification” is asserted, not produced.
Evidence for and against
- The caller is the direct witness of the event they describe.
- A specific setting is given: a roughly 200-year-old house in Annapolis Royal, described as the last house on an old dirt road.
- Times and ages are hedged, not exaggerated: [quote withheld]
- The sighting is a single, undated childhood event with no sensory detail beyond the figure’s description.
- No one else present at the time confirms seeing anything. Their parents are said to have dismissed it.
- The historical murder story and the name verification are secondhand and were not produced or checked.
- No date or decade is stated for the childhood event.
- The nature of the “DEA office” is unclear in the automatic transcript.
- The call is cut off before the caller finishes.
- 0:47
- 0:51
- 1:25
What the model inferred (not said on air): Component judgment: closeness to the source is high (firsthand). Specificity is moderate (place and rough age, no date). Consistency is good, because the historical material is presented as what they were told, not as their own observation. Alternative explanations fit fairly easily (a child waking at night in a dark room). Calibration is only moderate, because they link the sighting to an unverified historical story of a killing and a name check.
The only support is the caller’s own word, plus checkable details they say exist but do not present: a town, a claimed record check, and a name they begin to give before being cut off. Nothing is examined on air.
Evidence for and against
- The named town and the age of the house give particulars that could in principle be checked.
- The caller says a name was verified through an office, though the name and record are not produced.
- No document, photograph, recording, or record is examined on air.
- No second witness to the sighting speaks on air.
- The historical killing claim is described only as a story they heard from older community members.
- The “DEA office” reference may be a transcription error, so the claimed verification cannot be judged.
- The call ends before any detail of the verification is given.
- 3:01
- 3:15
What the model inferred (not said on air): Placed in the band of 11 to 25: checkable details are claimed but unchecked, and no claimed second witness who was present at the sighting itself is named.
A figure standing over a young child’s bed at two in the morning, and the child fleeing to their parents, is an unsettling image. The backstory they were told involves a hanging. But the story is brief and has no threat, contact, or escalation, which keeps it moderate.
Evidence for and against
- The setting is a child’s bedroom at night, with a figure standing over the bed.
- The later story they recount involves settlers being hanged and the house standing abandoned for years.
- Nothing in the story involves physical contact, harm, or menace from the figure.
- It is presented as a single remembered event, and the figure is not described as threatening.
- The description of the figure is very brief, so the tone of the encounter is hard to judge.
- 0:51
- 2:25
What the model inferred (not said on air): Judged as entertainment value: a figure in the bedroom plus a grim historical detail, without lasting dread or escalation.
The core elements are familiar: a figure at a bedside in an old house, former occupants who met a violent end, and later attempts to verify a name. But the Nova Scotia setting and the claimed history of African American settlers hanged after receiving land furthest from town give it a distinctive frame.
Evidence for and against
- The historical claim about black settlers in the Annapolis Royal area and how land was handed out is an uncommon detail.
- The caller connects the sighting to a name they say was verified from records.
- A bedside figure, an old house, and earlier occupants who died there are stock ghost-story parts.
- The story is cut short before any distinctive follow-up is given.
- Novelty compared with the rest of the archive carries little weight in this pilot. The score is largely the estimate based on content.
- Gaps in the automatic transcript and the interruption leave the full shape of the story unknown.
- 2:14
- 0:51
What the model inferred (not said on air): A provisional estimate based on content, for a familiar frame with one distinctive historical detail. No comparison with the rest of the archive was possible here.
Scoring confidence 0.65 · analysis confidence 0.70 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: Caller’s firsthand story about a childhood sighting; Caller’s secondhand account of community lore about the house’s builders; Claimed record check ([quote withheld]), not presented or examined. The originality score blends the model's score (50) 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.
- Images while waking up in a dark bedroom, a common experience for young children waking at night. · The caller says they [quote withheld] around two in the morning at about age eight and saw the figure in their bedroom.
- Later exposure to local lore and a search for confirming records shaped how the childhood memory was framed and understood. · The caller says that years later they [quote withheld] were told the story about the house’s builders, and then report getting verification of a name.
What stands out
The story ties the sighting to a specific local-history claim about African American settlers in Nova Scotia who received land furthest from town and were hanged. The caller connects this to the figure they say they saw as a child. The host also cuts the call short for time before the caller finishes giving the name they say was verified.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.