Pressure on the chest
Lifelong bedroom attacks and a black figure with red eyes
A caller who gives their name as Mary, in Hickson, Tennessee, tells Art Bell that they and their family have been attacked “all my life,” mostly in the bed or bedroom. The caller reports a night when something grabbed their hand as if to pull them out of bed. On other nights they woke unable to breathe, scream, or move, while seeing two red eyes and a black figure. They say it also happened to their husband and brothers. The call ends with the caller saying they sense things about people, believe their father was possessed, and know when people are going to die.
Paralysis and a presence lying on the caller in a former mortician’s house
A caller who gives their name as [name withheld], in Atlanta, tells Art Bell that they live in what they call a haunted house, previously owned by someone they describe as a mortician. They report moving objects, noises, and mocking voices. They describe going to bed and feeling something creep up the bed and lie on them while they were unable to move or scream. Later they describe a sensation they call an attempt at sexual contact. They say the experience changed their life and that they now stay up at night until sunrise.
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.
Waking paralysis, chest pressure, and moving curtains in upstate New York
A letter read on air by Art Bell describes a listener's experience of waking in an old upstate New York home, unable to move or speak. The writer felt as though a person were kneeling on their chest while their husky-Shepherd dog barked and growled. They say the pressure eased when they concentrated on the dog. The room's curtains were then shoved aside although the window was closed. They stayed with friends for several nights afterward.
Bedroom attack by a creature “astride” the caller, later called a succubus
A live caller who identifies themself as [name withheld] from Santa Rosa tells Art Bell they were attacked in bed by a creature they describe as a mixture of animals sitting astride them. The caller says it briefly paralyzed them and came back once in the same night. The caller says they fought it off and drove it away by covering their navel and genitals, something they say they had learned from friends. Asked what they encountered, the caller says it was a “succubus”/“incubi” that feeds on sexual energy. The host calls such stories “pretty common” and says such things [quote withheld]
A push on the top bunk and handprints on a boy's chest
An anonymous caller tells Art Bell an “entity attack story” from his childhood. At about age eight, he was lying awake on the top bunk of a bunk bed in a house shared with his grandparents and father. He says he felt a presence and was pushed hard on the chest, bouncing into the ceiling. He says his father came in after he called out and found two handprints on his chest. The caller then offers his own theory that such things come from within and are generated by fear. The host closes the call after a discussion of fear and love.
Vancouver house with reported voodoo history and a priest who would not enter
An unnamed caller on the international line, who gives their location as Vancouver, Canada, describes growing up in a house from the 1920s that their father bought cheaply. The seller returned two weeks later begging to buy it back and told of a claimed voodoo history. The caller reports years of strange events: a cross falling from the wall, their mother’s paralysis and chest pressure at night, cold areas, and footsteps. The caller also describes a priest who refused even to step onto the sidewalk in front of the house. The caller says the activity faded once the children were grown. The host suggests the children may have been the source.
Fire dispatch dormitory and a dream of an 1864 village by the Santa Ana River
An unidentified caller says they are in Birch Bay, Washington, and that in 1984 they worked at a fire communications center on the banks of the Santa Ana River. The caller reports that they felt something lay across their legs and saw a fog-like form in the dispatch dormitory. The caller then had a vivid dream set in 1864 of a dying woman in a small village. In the dream they merge with a young woman, are shown a dying old woman, and are then confronted by the faces of villagers whose deaths they say they felt. The caller says a fellow dispatcher reported feeling watched and refused to sleep in the dormitory. Art closes by suggesting dispatch centers, as places of crisis, are places of haunting.
Labored breathing, darkness, and pressure in a master bedroom in McKeesport
[name withheld], calling from McKeesport, Pennsylvania, tells Art Bell a story they say is [quote withheld] In 1972, at age 22 and just back from Vietnam, they moved into their mother’s master bedroom. They report hearing what sounded like labored breathing at night, the room darkening, and a pressure pushing them into the mattress. They say they then left the room and never slept in it again. They add that a son-in-law and a niece who stayed in the house also would not stay. Art closes by calling it another haunted house.
Chest pressure and a scream saying “save me” in bed after moving to Washington State
A caller who gives their name as [name withheld], calling from west of the Rockies, says they had recently moved to Washington State when they had two similar experiences while lying in bed. Each time, they say, they felt someone approach and something lean on their chest, followed by a scream in their right ear. The second scream said “save me.” The caller says they were not greatly frightened and tried to sleep. The caller offers no settled explanation, but mentions their boyfriend’s idea that a tree falling near the house might have been connected.
Paralysis in bed and a house beside a cemetery in LaGrange, Georgia
The caller gives their name as [name withheld], and the host introduces the call as coming from Athens, Georgia. They describe staying in a house in LaGrange, Georgia, beside a cemetery while helping a friend with a computer store. They report one night of feeling paralyzed and pressed down into the bed and of waking with the sense that they had been in a conversation all night. They later recount what the friend’s father and the woman who owns the house told them about the property. They end by saying they now sleep beside a gargoyle their girlfriend brought back from New Orleans after speaking with voodoo practitioners there.
Tugging during naps and a waterbed that seemed to leak in a San Rafael apartment
A caller who gives their name as [name withheld], living in San Rafael just north of the city, describes strange experiences in an apartment they rented for about eight years. During afternoon naps on a waterbed they felt tugging and pressing sensations, and the bed seemed to leak though it had no holes. The caller and their girlfriend moved out after a flood in 1982. [name withheld] says the landlord later told them a later tenant reported the same sensations and died by suicide, and that a man had died in the bedroom before [name withheld] rented it. [name withheld] believes spirits were in the apartment. The story ends without an explanation.