Contact from the dead
Contact that the person telling the story links to someone who has died.
Wife reports unseen hands holding her under bathwater
A caller tells Art Bell that their wife phoned them at work asking them to come home and that the caller found her in bed trembling. According to the caller, she said unseen hands had grabbed her shoulders and held her under bathwater. The caller reports that she has had similar episodes and claims she was sexually assaulted by “something.” The host links it to other callers’ reports. The story ends unresolved.
Ghost of a murdered upstairs neighbor in a rented downstairs house
A caller the host introduces as [quote withheld] says they rented the downstairs of an older house, where a door resisted closing in a way they read as a warning. They report that they later heard, from below, a man beat the upstairs woman to death. They then saw her ghost in their bedroom telling them not to come up to help. Police came the next day. The caller ends by saying she gave them strength and that they are ready if evil comes again.
Dreams of a missing friend asking to be buried, later found in a car
A caller who gives the name [name withheld] and says the call is from [quote withheld] passes on a secondhand story from a friend named [name withheld]. According to the caller, [name withheld], [name withheld], and [name withheld] all dreamed of their missing friend [name withheld] appearing in a window and saying “bury me.” The dream image reportedly began to look like a decomposing body. Then [name withheld] was found dead by suicide in a car with a hose from the exhaust. The host sums it up as a decomposing man entering his friends’ dreams and begging to be buried.
Letter: A cardiologist's notes on a patient's near-death experience
The host reads a letter from a listener whose uncle is described as a cardiologist. The listener asked him about near-death experiences (NDEs) in his patients, and the letter relays the uncle's notes on one case. According to the letter, a 23-year-old male patient awaiting a pacemaker implant had an NDE during a resuscitation. He described being struck on the chest, then floating in blackness. He saw a conveyor belt of puzzle pieces fitted [quote withheld] a blazing light and tunnel, a burning black lake, figures moving aimlessly, and a dead friend who did not greet him and was dragged away screaming. The letter ends with the patient saying he kept repeating “Jesus is God” and returned as stitches were being placed. The host calls it the NDE of someone who “went to hell.” No names, dates, or locations are given.
Glowing green clothed skeleton in Navy housing and a stepfather’s change
A caller the host addresses as [name withheld], calling from San Diego, describes an incident in Navy housing in 1971 (later said to be 1974). They say they saw a luminescent green, fully clothed skeleton with an evil grin inside their bedcovers while they were unable to move. They say they later learned the previous tenant, a man, had died driving home from hunting, matching the hunting cap and jacket they say the figure wore. They link the sighting to a lasting change for the worse in their stepfather’s personality. The host suggests that the figure inhabited the stepfather, and the caller says they believe so. The caller ends with a brief remark that their late mother visits them.
A sensed presence with a tail and blunted nails during an out-of-body experience
A live caller, introduced by the host as being [quote withheld] says they have been a spiritual person since the age of two. They say an “essence” came around them about twelve years ago when their sister died and has come and gone since. They say the one time this presence turned angry and violent was as they were returning from an out-of-body experience in their bed. It disappeared into “some hole,” leaving a long, heavy, grayish tail in view. They say it still visits and presses long, sharp nails into their back at night. They report feeling only blunted pressure and take that as a sign they are protected.
Letter: Transparent figure of a deceased grandfather in a spare bedroom
A letter from a writer the host identifies as “[name withheld]” from Springfield, Illinois, read aloud on air, describes seeing a transparent figure resembling their grandfather coming out of a wall in a spare bedroom about three weeks after his death in February 1978. They say they told no one at the time. They say that twenty years ago they learned their son had seen the same ghost roughly three months later in a front bedroom. They also report other family members seeing dark forms and lights and doors behaving oddly. The letter ends with the writer saying they will never know whether it was a ghost or a demon, but that they believe they saw it.
Footsteps, a shadow at noon, and a voice saying “your brother” in an Alameda house
A caller from Alameda, California, tells Art Bell that she and her five children were hearing slamming doors, footsteps, and other disturbances in a large old house. She says each of them had kept it from the others. She reports a shadow that appeared in daylight, an unsuccessful first appeal to a priest, and a house blessing. Finally, she says, a voice said “your brother.” She then learned her brother had died about two months earlier.
Ouija board channeling and a father’s figure in an Ohio farmhouse
[name withheld], calling from San Clemente, tells Art Bell about something they say happened when they were about fourteen or fifteen, in an old farmhouse in Ohio. They and a girlfriend used a Ouija board, a Christmas gift, to channel spirits. The caller says that on their first try they seemed to watch from outside their body. A spirit complained about the candlelight, their dead father briefly appeared, and then their vision went black and showed two-headed serpents and red-eyed rats. The caller says they came to with the lights on and their friend panicking. The caller ran to the bathroom, unable to breathe, with chest pain and a burning feeling. They never tried it again.
Bed trembling, a whispered name, and shadows after a grandmother’s death
A caller phoning from Wabash, Indiana, describes events they say began about 1989. Their then-wife’s grandmother was found dead in her garage in East Tennessee, and the family’s suspicions fell on the wife’s father, [name withheld]. The caller says that in their Middle Tennessee home, the children saw something in their bedroom and their wife saw shadows. The caller felt their bed shake, felt someone move their hair and sit on the bed, and heard a whisper of the name “[name withheld].” They say the activity stopped the day [name withheld] died in a car accident. The caller says they believe the grandmother was telling them [name withheld] killed her.
Tucson house after a 1977 murder-suicide: Alarm, child voices, cold room
A caller who gives their name as [name withheld], of Rochester, New York, describes living in a Tucson, Arizona, house connected to their husband’s first wife. The caller says the woman killed her two children and herself in 1977. [name withheld] reports a burglar alarm sounding at exactly 2 a.m. on nights their husband was away, children’s whispering, moved objects, and a living room that stayed cold in summer. The caller says a responding policeman advised them to leave, and they did. The caller says they later concluded the dead woman had been trying to drive them and their children away from their husband.
Disturbances in a rented upstairs apartment above an old store
A caller who gives their name as [name withheld], from Portland, Oregon, describes living with their wife and mother in an upstairs apartment above a store they call the Liberal Store, north of a town they pronounce Malala. The caller reports a room that stayed cool in extreme summer heat, their mother being touched and smelling lilac, dishes found dumped in the sink, a dog refusing to enter a bathroom, Bibles found on the floor open to passages about King David, and knocking on the upstairs door and windows. The caller says the family moved out and that their wife and mother still will not enter the store.
189 more stories
- Deceased great-aunt seen at cemetery and in hospital room4 min
- Biological father emerges from a bedroom mirror (1970)2 min
- Wounded Marine sniper reports ancestor in Civil War uniform freezing his wound3 min
- Sudden pain coinciding with a young friend’s fatal truck accident4 min
- A brother's dream phone call from his deceased father, who spent his prayers on the call4 min
- Caller reports ex-husband's pre-death visits and a vision of a small plane4 min
- Deceased brother said to return each year on the caller’s birthday3 min
- Deceased girlfriend reported in a mirror and a window at a Halloween party3 min
- Wounded Marine credits his deceased father for bringing him back across no man’s land1 min
- Caller reports seeing husband in a passing car before learning of his death3 min
- Dream of a school friend who said he had been hurt in a car wreck1 min
- Doorbell rings and scent of roses after a son's death2 min
- Teenage dream of a casket foretelling an uncle's death two days later46 s
- Clock strikes oddly at the reported moment of a relative's death1 min
- Caller relates Yeats's poem “The Ghost of Roger Casement” and Irish neutrality1 min
- A former priest blesses the house of a dead radio singer3 min
- Sensed presence of previous owner “[name withheld]” in a purchased house3 min
- Mother's reported visit from the caller's deceased grandfather2 min
- Report of felt presence during mother's illness and subsequent improvement46 s
- A grandfather's voice and a dream of grandparents before deaths1 min
- Girlfriend reports sleeping caller conversing with a woman and boy3 min
- Blind caller reports a warm presence guiding their dog around a country road corner2 min
- House spirit, a child's great-grandfather, and keys turning in the lock3 min
- Grandmother seen descending from the ceiling at the hour of her death2 min
- Letter: A tap on the shoulder after an uncle's death1 min
- A brush slides off a roof at the time their father's wife dies4 min
- Caller's employee dreams of three dead relatives; a grandmother dies two days later2 min
- Deceased mother reportedly appears at a newborn's crib and vanishes2 min
- Widow reports late husband massaging her feet and putting her to sleep1 min
- Letter about footsteps and knocking after a grandmother's funeral2 min
- A call to a South Dakota tribal office on the father's unknown birthday1 min
- Caller reports their mother saw a boyfriend in her bedroom the night he died1 min
- Child says dead brother is present at a Guam rosary; a stuck cupboard opens6 min
- A voice and an arm on a hotel staircase, then news of a brother's death3 min
- Elevator doors reopening in a Florida hospital after a father's death2 min
- Attempted “astral projection” and seeing his own body in bed2 min
- Caller recounts her mother smelling flowers before her sister's death58 s
- Recurring sweet pea scent after mother's death2 min
- Hands on the shoulder and a voice in a karaoke bar4 min
- Roommate's night vision of her dead father warns of her sister's car accident4 min
- Caller on their late brother's near-death experience and a felt presence2 min
- Cyclist reports seeing their dead riding partner on the road at night2 min
- Two tomb robbers found dead in a New Orleans above-ground cemetery3 min
- A painting of an 18th-century lady, called Henrietta, that moves and cracks1 min
- A figure at the foot of the bed on the night the caller's grandfather died3 min
- Law student reports basketball-sized presence of dying mother during class4 min
- Letter about Scrabble tiles rearranged overnight and a stereo changing channels2 min
- Caller says a dead family friend brings a dollar each Halloween at noon45 s
- A sister’s illness, angel sightings, and a post-death garden vision4 min
- Shadowy figure bows silently, then a phone call confirms a grandfather’s death4 min
- Car dies on the Mass Turnpike and restarts after a plea to the caller's late father3 min
- Nurse's faxed letter about a patient's death and alarm clocks at 11:073 min
- Scent of carnations in a van on Highway 99 after a grandmother's death4 min
- A bell heard in the car and a puff of air in the shower after a boyfriend's death4 min
- Letter: A shadow resembling the writer’s late father, popcorn and cigar2 min
- Unplugged CD player repeating one song after a friend’s death3 min
- Caller reports their deceased father sitting on the couch with a message2 min
- Deceased sister appears and grows up by a lake after an all-night ceremony3 min
- Caller senses their late father, phone problems, photo found in hallway6 min
- A wedding ring removed before death and a ring found in a dead aunt's hands4 min
- A mother's warning about a plane crash and a reported haunted airliner crew4 min
- Fax: Root beer carried down stairs by itself at a 40-day memorial gathering1 min
- Dog appears to be petted at a late husband's chair, then watches the kitchen3 min
- Deceased father appears at the foot of the bed and speaks to his son2 min
- A child sees a man in a recliner, and the recliner's footrest moves by itself3 min
- Daytime sleep paralysis, a woman speaking in a man's voice, and nails in the head5 min
- Photograph found in a used book after asking a deceased mother for a sign3 min
- A woman steps from a curtained closet and removes a crying child's skates4 min
- Vision of a little girl kissing the caller’s cheek during an adoption decision3 min
- Tugging during naps and a waterbed that seemed to leak in a San Rafael apartment3 min
- Listener letter: A weekend at the Hotel del Coronado as “Kate's guest”3 min
- Letter from Canada about cats gathering in woods where a man reportedly died1 min
- Voice in a bathroom attributed to Russ Colombo at Rosemary Clooney's house1 min
- Paw-print indentations appear on a bed after a dog's euthanasia4 min
- Sage burning by [name withheld]’s uncle and “evil spirits” in a house (continuation of an earlier call)2 min
- Figure standing in the road at the site of a fatal crash, and a message to a bereaved sister4 min
- Scent of a grandfather’s breakfast and a growling dog before news of his death1 min
- Perfume smell aboard a Navy ship at the reported time of an aunt’s death8 min
- Grandparents' handbuilt Sacramento house: light switches, toilet, cigar smoke (part 1)2 min
- Cigar smoke, a cement mixer, and moved chairs in a grandfather’s house4 min
- Ouija board session in 1964 matching a deceased family friend named [name withheld]3 min
- Dream of a grandmother at the door saying “There is no heaven,” and a father’s parallel dream7 min
- Letter: Deceased cat Bucky reported as a cloudy shape in a photo of rescued kittens2 min
- Successive owners report a tall figure and a rocking-chair woman in a Victoria house5 min
- Family house in Syracuse: man on the telephone, bed presence, and deceased parents10 min
- Letter: White mist in the shape of a dog appears the night the dog dies2 min
- A child's late-night phone call reporting their father's death6 min
- Neighbor's farewell and a felt premonition before a 707 crash2 min
- A daughter reports talking with her deceased grandmother4 min
- Clairvoyant medium’s message and apparitions of deceased aunt and uncle4 min
- Host speculates about ex-spouses waiting in the afterlife52 s
- Letter: A father hears a moan at the time of his mother-in-law's death2 min
- Stove glass bursts after a request for a sign; a toddler waves at an empty room5 min
- Attic thumps and old glass negatives in a Hyde Park house4 min
- Boy with leukemia said his hospital visitor was his deceased great-grandmother1 min
- Girl finds a deceased boy’s obituary on a classroom newspaper page after baking cookies2 min
- Deceased father appears beside the bed and tucks the caller in5 min
- A detective's email: a boy's ghost and a murder weapon3 min
- Glowing faceless figure at the foot of the bed and a golf ball next morning4 min
- Caller recalls being born dead and watching from the ceiling4 min
- Caller says they were haunted by a dead cheerleader during Air Force training3 min
- Caller recounts grandmother’s breathlessness at the time of her father’s death3 min
- Caller describes seeing themselves from the corner of their ICU room after flatlining2 min
- Near-death caller recalls watching their ER resuscitation from the ceiling4 min
- Family friend's reported vision of devils and fire during clinical death2 min
- Caller's friend's mother revives in a body bag after a birth hemorrhage2 min
- Near-death experience in sleep ended by a neighbor's barking dog2 min
- Florida caller on being pronounced dead at 16 in a head-on collision (part 1)2 min
- Caller describes a month-long coma and a feeling of having been somewhere else3 min
- Deceased neighbor’s voice and rose scent reported to warn caller twice4 min
- A police officer’s question about a man walking through a house2 min
- Flickering lights, a truck radio, and birthday phone calls after a brother’s death3 min
- Near-drowning in an underground water tunnel and a warming light5 min
- Caller’s medical commentary on a reported near-death experience during surgery3 min
- Clinical death and an out-of-body experience during childbirth in Germany7 min
- Childhood near-death experience under ether after a horse wreck9 min
- Deceased truck driver reportedly visits a Colorado ranch and leaves Pepsi cans4 min
- Twin's grandfather reportedly announces brother alive and trapped in Vietnam6 min
- An out-of-body view of themselves after smoking a found cigar (caller, Salinas, California)4 min
- Woman in white waving arms on an Arizona highway, then a crashed car5 min
- Caller reports a card-and-dice vision during a clinical death in surgery4 min
- Grandmother sits up in her casket and later appears in the caller’s bed3 min
- Out-of-body experience and light while drowning at Jones Beach5 min
- Near-death experience after a penicillin injection in 19744 min
- Agnostic caller’s near-death experience and beings they call alien-like7 min
- A coma, three selves, and walking with Jesus after a 1980 car crash4 min
- Dream of an emaciated creature as a message from a deceased grandmother3 min
- Deceased grandfather seen peeking into a pot in the family restaurant1 min
- Body in the surf at Galveston and a figure who named himself [name withheld]12 min
- Father’s figure in the rearview mirror before a Manhattan car crash2 min
- Post-funeral Wienermobile coincidences read as a message from a deceased father6 min
- Caller reports kitchen door and brother’s voice four hours after his death5 min
- A watchmaker’s death and a new Concord watch that stopped3 min
- Deceased father appears in a truck and warns of coming events5 min
- San Diego caller says a bird led them across a cemetery to a grave4 min
- Bat on the host’s porch on the day his father died53 s
- Caller reports seeing a smoke-like form leave their father’s body at death4 min
- Train passenger repeats a phrase and is then reported absent3 min
- Deceased grandfather appears to mother; dream of a full lake3 min
- Deceased neighbor [name withheld] materializes in a rocking chair and shakes hands3 min
- Spiricom tape excerpts presented as communication with the late Dr. [name withheld]14 min
- Moving curtains and deceased relatives appearing in dreams2 min
- Hot water turning on by itself in a Sedalia, Missouri, home after the father’s death4 min
- A promised sign and a floral clock that fell at a neighbor’s wake4 min
- Mother sees an old woman in her armchair the night her mother died in Glasgow5 min
- A felt hug from a presence, and a relative's death the same night3 min
- Host’s bat on the porch on the morning his father died47 s
- Dress pulled on the bedroom door and fern stems in the washing machine2 min
- Moving ladder, a fall, and a psychic’s identification of a brother-in-law2 min
- Grandchild identifies man crossing yard as deceased father-in-law34 s
- Deceased mother appears healthy in the kitchen and says not to worry5 min
- Struck by a hearse at six, an out-of-body experience, and later night visitations4 min
- Sleep paralysis, a dream of a grandfather, and a voice heard through the caller3 min
- A woman walking up an off-ramp, later listed in the obituaries of a fatal crash1 min
- Ouija board reportedly asks for caller on night their father died3 min
- Late wife’s three-part contact: Blown bulbs, a bluebird, and a bedroom vision5 min
- Bird flies into the host’s face on the porch before an RV trip2 min
- Out-of-body story from a father during a stroke in a Brampton house3 min
- Late-night phone call from an aunt later found dead in the snow3 min
- Caller reports praying and seeing a stabbing victim’s spirit in an emergency room3 min
- Out-of-body comfort for a dying stabbing victim before a TV death announcement3 min
- Trucker reports girl they held at a crash later appearing in their cab3 min
- Motion-sensor porch light after a cat's death read as a goodbye1 min
- Newborn revives and grandmothers appear in a hospital window reflection4 min
- A 2 a.m. feeling that something was wrong with their father, then a phone call1 min
- X-ray technician reports a man in the control room before a patient's death3 min
- Dream of father-in-law searching for his body and wife hearing the caller's voice2 min
- Bright light, chimes, and a floating paper in their late uncle’s handwriting3 min
- Dead uncle seen in boys’ bedroom on the day he had promised to visit4 min
- Palm reader relays a family’s story of a dead mother’s warning to rescue [name withheld]3 min
- Callback: A dead uncle’s footsteps and a father seen in a shared dream2 min
- Ham radio contacts attributed to a deceased operator3 min
- Lemur on the pool patio the night of the caller’s father’s visitation3 min
- A bat lands on the porch on the morning of the host’s father’s death48 s
- Black butterflies and a face image in a bedroom window after a husband’s death1 min
- Deceased friend’s voice warns a caller about a new boyfriend3 min
- Toaster oven glass shatters at the reported hour of a cremation2 min
- A locked basement safe found open with its bolts still extended5 min
- Deceased mother and two aunts appear in a motel room; hairstyle later matches funeral home styling4 min
- Door closes and room turns cold as a child greets his late mother3 min
- House-wide music heard twice in one day, once confirmed over the phone2 min
- Teenage boy on a headstone identified from a photo as the caller’s uncle3 min
- A lost ringtone plays, then a dark figure leaves the bedroom3 min
- A voice tells a woman to play a record after her sister’s fatal car crash4 min
- Volunteer firefighter senses dead crash victim, then an unexplained phone call5 min
- Recorded EVP at a party and a friend’s coma at 11 p.m.2 min
- Sensing a deceased twin brother outside the shower curtain4 min
- A hospital legend of the “Gray Lady” who offers tea to dying patients4 min
- Foot tug and a friend’s death reported on the radio3 min