Ghostly animals
Animals that appear after death, including pets.
Black dog rising out of a sleeping wife in a bedroom lit by a store sign
In a letter read on air by Art Bell and credited to [quote withheld] the writer says that several years earlier they were lying in bed beside their then-wife when they saw something black rise up out of her body. The writer says it formed into a black dog with glowing yellow eyes, which took its time to fade away after they screamed. The writer says the dog never reappeared. The writer adds that sad events followed, most notably learning that their wife [name withheld] had been cheating on them.
A bull-shaped figure at the bedroom door and a sensation of being smothered
A caller describes an event they say happened when they were about seven years old. The caller says they woke at night to see a bull, which they call a demon, standing at their open bedroom door, and then struggled in bed, unable to scream or breathe. The caller reports praying for it to be taken away, after which they say it let go and never returned. The caller says their father, who came in after they screamed, did not believe them.
Retired sheriff's captain reports a ghost cat and a figure in an old courthouse
A caller who says they are a retired sheriff’s captain tells Art Bell about a night they went with a dispatch supervisor into an old western courthouse to get computer paper. The caller reports a ghost cat on the stairs that hissed, attacked, and ran up their body. Then they saw a ghostly man at the top of the stairs who faded away. The dispatch supervisor reportedly said the cat passed through the caller and that the supervisor would never go back into the building.
Atlanta house, dog avoiding the bedroom, and a black dog seen during an out-of-body experience
A caller who gives their first name as [name withheld] describes a house they bought in downtown Atlanta in the early 1990s. Their Jack Russell Terrier refused to sleep in the bedroom. They say that after practicing out-of-body experiences for several months, they saw a small black dog during one of them. It was lapping at the floor beside the wall where the dog’s mouse blood was regularly splattered. The dog and any liquid were gone when they returned to their body. Years later, as they sold the house, a next-door neighbor told them of a couple who lived there in the 1950s and of a suicide in that bedroom. She said the couple had owned a small black dog.
Driver reports hitting an elderly man and dog on a road outside Chicago
A caller who gives their location as Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, describes hitting what they call a ghost, an elderly man and his dog, with a borrowed car on a road outside Chicago while two teenage passengers screamed. The caller says the figures looked completely lifelike, yet the car struck nothing, with no sound or impact. The caller says they took the girls home and told no one. Years later, the caller says, an elderly neighbor at a relative’s Christmas party confirmed that a man with a dog had been killed by a car on that road. The caller says they still do not understand it.
A white cat and unseen footsteps at Charleville Castle, Ireland
[name withheld], calling from Traverse City, Michigan, tells Art Bell about a visit the caller and their wife made to Charleville Castle in Ireland. They slipped away from a wedding party and wandered into the dungeon. There they heard construction noises and footsteps with no apparent source while a white cat followed them. About 6 p.m. on a Friday they left as the only car in the lot. On a return trip in September 2005, the castle’s owner reportedly told them the white cat had been dead since 2001. The caller says that a year later they saw two ghostly cat figures and orbs in their digital photographs.
Letter: White mist in the shape of a dog appears the night the dog dies
Art Bell reads a letter he attributes to [quote withheld] The writer describes a late-summer night when they saw a huge white mist in the shape of their mother’s dog Jigs pass through their bedroom wall and evaporate on the bed. The next morning, they write, their mother telephoned to say Jigs had died the night before, at what they call the exact time of the sighting, after being attacked by a bear.
Ghost boy and dog from a bedroom wall; caller falls after mocking
A first-time caller who gives their name as [name withheld] says they are calling from Arc City, Kansas, on Halloween night after taking their children trick-or-treating. The caller retells a story from their friend [name withheld] about a little boy and a dog that came out of the wall of [name withheld]'s childhood bedroom. Then the caller reports falling flat on their face moments after saying they did not believe in ghosts, while walking past the now-bulldozed house with [name withheld]. The host links the fall to a recurring theme that night: people who mock do not fare well. He ends the call.
Shape-changing creature seen from a porch and driveway at night
A caller who gives their name as [name withheld], in Sutherland, Oregon, says that at about 1 a.m. they stepped onto their front porch to feed a cat. The caller saw a small, round creature with no visible legs and long brown hair on their driveway. The caller says that as it moved away it grew taller. Its hair changed from long brown to short dark and then grew into long black hair. It became deer-like before running off silently across the street. A couple of days later, the caller says, a neighbor in the cul-de-sac remarked only that she sees animals come up from the creek.
Letter: A white cat petted in the bathroom while the family cat sat on the bed
Art Bell reads a letter on air from an unnamed man who says he heard his wife in the bathroom talking to Bart, their white cat. At that moment, he says, Bart was sitting at the foot of the bed watching him. He reports that his wife then screamed. When calmed, she said a white cat she took for Bart had followed her in, her hand passed through it when she reached to pet it, and its eyes were blue, not Bart's gold. The letter adds that they had no other white cats at the time.
Lemur on the pool patio the night of the caller’s father’s visitation
A caller introduced as [name withheld] from Houston, Texas, tells Art Bell that on the night of their father’s visitation in April 1999 they drove home, let their dog out on the patio, and saw a lemur walk out of the shadows and look at them. The caller says they checked the animal afterward against internet photographs. Then they read that “lemur” comes from a Latin word meaning “walking dead.” The caller concludes that their father chose to appear as the lemur to assure them they were all right. The host notes the alternative, that this was the meaning the caller’s mind gave it, and thanks the caller for the call.
A campfire cat that a camper’s hand reportedly passed through
A caller who gives their name as [name withheld] describes camping with [name withheld] at White Pines in northern Illinois in mid-July. They sat around a campfire and tried to tell ghost stories. [name withheld] says a small black cat came out of the trees and walked among the group, rubbing against people who said they felt its fur. Then it vanished after a woman reached to scratch it and her hand passed through it. A flashlight search of the nearby thicket reportedly found nothing. The caller offers no explanation.