I'm Liz Sour and this is Ghost in the Burbs, a podcast of ghost stories from Wellesley Massachusetts, a warning adults who use adult language told me these frightening tales. These ghost stories aren't for kids jumping in before we get started. You're going to hear some background noise most likely in this. It's not demons. It's my family. Um The house is unavoidably jammed. It was the only time I could record.
So I apologize if there are any distractions, but as always done is better than perfect on with the show, Happy Saint Patrick's Day. The girls set a leprechaun trap and I'm beyond relieved to report that it was untouched, save for a few missing chocolate gold coins and blessedly empty this morning. However, the toilet water was green and the kitchen stools were turned upside down. We got off lightly. I for one am not interested in antagonizing the fae.
Now, we are at a point in our shared timeline when I am forced to jump all over the place. We have catching up to do their unknown problems of foot. I have a wild interview to share. I ran into an old interviewee whose perspective has completely changed. Kate Dervishes. Lurking Claire is back. And honestly, in all this time and all these years we spent together, we've never really gotten to the bottom of things.
If we zoom out, we must agree that our biggest question is why Wellesley, hell, if I know. In fact, I'm not even sure I want to know, but we've gone this far. So let's keep pressing forward and press forward. We shall this episode by jumping around here there and everywhere We're on a ghost story #69 Bones. Holy sh it. I've been trying to decide what to order for breakfast and jumped at the loud voice beside me. I can't believe it. I was just thinking about you.
It took me a minute to recognize her. Her hair was longer than lighter. The last time I had spoken with her, she wasn't wearing glasses and actually the last time I had spoken with her, if you bet me $1 million, I would have told you she wouldn't be caught dead in a matching cashmere set with crisp white sneakers. Perceptive as ever. She read me within two seconds flat. I know. Right. She laughed, brushing my cheek with a kiss. I've crossed over to the dark side, Adrian. Oh my God. How are you?
I'm okay. How's the blog chugging along? I can imagine this place gets more tense and more bizarre every day. She replied. Did you hear about the pickle ball situation? I laughed. I swear if things don't cool down, someone's going to get killed. She joked. Wow. I was just about to leave, but this is too much of a coincidence. Do you have a second to talk?
Sure. I plan to take the precious hours I had before picking up the girls from school holed up at my new favorite place to write an attempt to work on the book, which is always a struggle. So Adrian's appearance was a happy distraction. Despite the little spike of fear, I felt wondering what she wanted to talk about.
But before I tell you about my conversation with Adrian A K A, the preppy prepper who appeared in episode 26 parts one and two, we have some catching up to do and I have a wonderfully strange little interview to share that I know you'll want to hear. So Claire is back, she's back and yes, I am certain that it's her. So, where the hell did she go? Why the hell did she go? And why is she back now? Well, it's complicated. Yes, that Banshee got in the way doing what ancient spirits do.
It tricked me by pretending to be clear for a time. Spirits like that are powerful, frighteningly so, and they can basically do whatever they want and they do. Why did it do it? Who knows? But why not? Maybe it was bored, maybe it was looking for a laugh. Maybe it was lonely. Or maybe it just felt like it. So it did. And that is why it is so incredibly dangerous to mess around with this stuff. We call the paranormal. We can't begin to understand the motivation behind these beings.
Ghosts and demons. Okay. We kind of get what motivates them and we've cobbled together a sort of playbook on how to deal with them. But as we've learned in our time together, it's not just ghosts and demons that we need to watch out for. There are monsters and aliens, earth spirits, God schools, they and banshees, a multitude of entities that are busy.
Human minds can possibly keep up with, let alone perceive, let alone understand and everything, every single one of them is constantly evolving just like we are As in everything. What we are 100% certain of today is the shaky ground of tomorrow. Claire appears as a teenage girl to me, a snarky one at that, but at least in this iteration of her existence, we are roughly the same age. I was in high school the same time.
She, Hillary Vanessa and Jill were Claire's appearance remained the same, at least in the way that I can perceive it. But her knowledge and wisdom have evolved, grown up changed in life. She didn't make it past her teenage years in death. She's like middle aged, her soul remained and as such, it remains in this timeline. And as we all do it matured does that make any sense? No, but neither does electricity or wifi or Cryptocurrency as far as I'm concerned, it's all an agreed upon magic to me.
So if you're looking to poke holes in this explanation have at it, I don't get it. I can't defend it. I am tiny brained, easily ruffled and spend much of my time confused and trying to remember my to do list and failing. I'll never fully understand why I can see and hear spirits. I'm just glad that I do. I am the first to admit that my perception and understanding of the paranormal may be completely inaccurate, but I can't do anything about that. It's just the way it is.
Every time I think I have a handle on things, I'm proven wrong. So let us all continue and proceed knowing full well that I am the most unreliable of narrators. Now, speaking of being wrong before I get back to Adrian, I have to tell you about this guy. I interviewed, we were introduced by a mutual friend, Debbie who reached out to ask if I would consider meeting him. He's a really nice guy. She explained, I'm friends with his wife, she knits what's going on with him.
He had surgery on his mouth and ever since then something strange has been happening in his house. That doesn't sound like it's in my wheelhouse. I joked. No, no, it is. Trust me, Debbie insisted. It's weird call him. So I did. Well, I mean, I didn't call. I texted, we met at Cafe Nero.
I haven't been there in such a long time and as I settled down in a pretty upholstered antique e wooden chair in front of the gas fire, I was reminded of its truly cozy vibe and delicious butter croissants though. I do prefer the ones from. No. Sorry, back on track. Steve, handsome, middle aged gray beard. Cool close. The likes of which we don't see a lot of here in Massachusetts we've got prep down, that's for sure. But the guys here have a uniform.
The women do too, of course, but Steve wasn't in the typical Wellesley or even suburban Boston get up. He wore a cool, like not heavy but structured flannel jacket type thing over what looked like a cashmere hooded sweatshirt and these gray pants and cool looking sneakers. I know very little about stylish women's clothing and even less about men's. But he reminded me of what you might see like Ryan Ryan Reynolds or like Jim from the office wearing. Does that make sense?
I immediately wondered what his wife was like. I just remain as ever endlessly fascinated by the people I meet in this town and their ability to curate their lives in such an attractive way anyhow, as put together as Steve's outfit was, his demeanor was equally as jumpy. He spotted me, came and sat down, introduced himself, stood up to get a coffee came back and apologized for not asking if I want anything got back in line and finally settled in the seat across from me.
Leg, bouncing, forehead furrowed. So how do we do this? I smiled reassuringly. Just tell me what's been going on and if I can help, I will or if I can't, I'll put you in touch with someone else who can. Great. It's great. He said, sipping a triple espresso. Well, you heard it had to do with my surgery, right? What did Debbie tell you? I don't want to waste your time making you listen to what you already know. This guy is ready to spin out in your orbit.
Claire commented, Debbie didn't share any details. I told him okay. Alright. So I had dental surgery and the haunting started right after that. It has to be that cadaver bone, nothing else in my life has changed. Cadaver Bone Claire and I repeated at the same time. Yeah. At the risk of sharing too much information, I had a cracked tooth that had to be pulled and they put in a cadaver bone to hold the implant. He shivered. I hate mouth stuff. It's gross.
I know now I went into this interview, ignorant of the practice of using bone grafts in dental procedures. I feel like somewhere along the way, I'd heard about cadaver bones being used in other types of surgery, but I did not know about this particular use. So after listening to Steve's story, I did a Google search clicked around a little so that if anyone else hadn't known about this before, now we can enter this health gate together eyes wide open.
According to Midtown dentistry, bone grafting is a procedure which is necessary when there is not enough jawbone for a dental implant to adhere. They explained that there are four different types of bone graft. And one of those is an ala graft. This is the one Steve had which uses bone harvested from a human donor with the harvesting taking place after death. Thank you for clarifying this point. Midtown dentistry. Heaven help us anyhow.
The harvested bone is rigorously tested and is sterilized to ensure it is safe for use again. Thank you for clarifying though the Mayan conjures horrific images. The bone is radiated to eliminate all organic contaminants, shivers. They conclude writing harvested bone has been in use for many years, but many patients are fussy about receiving a bone grafts from a cadaver. Midtown dentistry, Fussy. The passive aggression at any rate. That's how cadaver bones are used in dental procedures.
No shade. I am fully aware that now that I have looked into this and it's entered into my subconscious, it will be. But moments before I'm laying back in the chair, staring at the ceiling through those bro style sunglasses, wondering whose bone I'd stolen and ruin the day I googled dental implants. I'm not kidding. I come from a long line of hypochondriac manifest. Urz. One of my aunts once mentioned a medication she was taking to my sister who happens to be a nurse.
My sister casually asked if she had a metallic taste in her mouth. A common side effect of the drug. No, my aunt replied then without missing a beat, she whispered. Actually, I think I do so back to Steve and his ill fated dental surgery. I think it's like an organ donor thing, Steve explained. I didn't ask too many questions. They can harvest bone from you but it's more painful. So they offer the option of using a cadaver bone.
I thought to keep a pleasant slash open and curious expression on my face. Do you know where the bone came from? He shook his head. They refused to tell me I'll tell him exactly where that bone came from. A woman yelled, causing me to jump beside me. Stood an elderly woman perhaps in her eighties gray haired cardigan, dup and furious. Are you? All right, Steve asked nervously. Yes. Sorry. I apologized half listening as Clara chatted with the ghost.
Um Tell me what's been happening since your surgery. It's like living in a horror movie, Steve admitted leaning forward and lowering his voice. It started the day after my surgery. I work from home. What do you do? I asked curiosity getting the better of me. I'm a graphic designer. Cool. I replied, thinking creative type that explains the cool clothes. Yeah. Well, I was working on an assignment, tweaking it really? It was pretty much done when the computer screen went black out of nowhere.
The thing just died. Apple couldn't help. The hard drive was completely fried. I lost everything on it. That was a mistake. The Ghost Wind. I was simply trying to get your attention. The computer might have been a fluke. Steve continued. But weird stuff keeps happening. The windshield wipers on my car got stuck on our dishwasher leaked and went through to the basement and we found out we had a carbon dioxide leak that could have killed us. Not all of that was my doing. The ghost tisk.
How did you find out about the league A C 02 alarm in our basement? Thank God, it worked. The two on the first floor failed. He side all of that could have been coincidental astray, bad luck. But then things got really creepy. One morning we woke up to all the doors on the second floor slamming by themselves. At the same time, the ghost woman chuckled. I shot her a look. Steve clocked the look, glanced beside us and asked you okay.
You have to tell him who she is said, Claire, I'm not asking for much. This is the least he can do for me. The ghost wheedled, listen, Steve, so I can talk to ghosts. He sat back in a seat and crossed his arms. Did Debbie, tell you anything about me, other than I write a blog, she said you were a sort of expert. No, but I do sort of have a direct line of communication. There's a woman haunting you, Mary, the ghost asserted. Her name is Mary and she wants you to do something for her.
Steve sat in silence staring at the small wooden crate turned coffee table between us. Eventually he blew out a breath and said, all right, what the hell shoot. So what does this ghost want from me? Well, firstly, I want to clear some things up. Mary began, I apologize about his computer. I didn't mean to break it. I was trying to type a message to you and something obviously went haywire.
Sorry, the doors and the car situation were me, but I had nothing to do with that dishwasher or the CEO to come to that. I am not the one giving you bad dreams and lurking around the basement. And I certainly didn't start those fires. I relayed what she had said to Steve. He stared at me squinting his eyes. How could you possibly know about that? I shrugged and continued to listen to Mary. Got it. I said finally, okay.
So the place your dentist got that phone from gets some of its cadavers illegally. And Mary's was one of those cadavers I was supposed to be cremated. So she's a little stuck right now. I continued. Jesus Christ. Steve yelled causing some of the coffee drinkers to glance our way. You gotta be kidding me. I'm gonna sue the ship out of that fucker. Am I stuck with this woman forever?
No, no, I assured him she just has unfinished business that she wants help with and then I'm certain we can get her to, well, if not move on, at least move on from you. What does she want? Steve asked. Suddenly suspicious. He scoffed, rubbing his hands against his legs. Let me guess. I just write you a check and you make this merry go away. I took in a deep breath to bite back. My initial response then leaned down to pick up my bag. It was nice to meet you.
I wish you the best of luck dealing with the things, setting fires in your house. I stood up to go. He reached out and grabbed my arm. Wait, wait, I'm sorry. This is just, it's a lot. I stared at his hand and he quickly let go. Really? I'm sorry. This is all new to me and I'm a little freaked out. I'm just, I apologize. I sighed and slumped back down into the chair. What does she want me to do? I'll do anything to get rid of her even if it means writing a check. He laughed nervously.
I pulled a notebook out of my bag and wrote down a name and number and some other information. There's an unclaimed balance of $5,272.63 at a credit union in Dover, New Hampshire. I relayed via Mary. She left it out of her will because she didn't want Michael's wife to get one red cent. You need to contact Mary's daughter. Sarah and let her know about the money.
Sarah is not to tell her brother about it because she could never and will never forgive his horse faced greedy wife for what happened at the anniversary dinner. And for that matter, you can tell Michael to tell his wife that if she's just going to leave that crystal punch bowl and four matching crystal mugs in her disheveled basement, collecting dust and mold, then she might as well give it to Sarah who will respect it and get use out of it.
I handed Steve the piece of paper with Marion's daughter's name and phone number and bank information. He accepted it and stared at it for a long moment before saying that's it. That's all I have to do and she'll go away. I'll leave him be if he does this one thing for me. Yeah, I confirmed you do that and she'll leave you alone. Now, tell him about the demon Claire pushed. There is something else. I said slowly, Steve forced to laugh. I knew that sounded too easy. Right.
Well, ghosts are pretty easy compared to the other things that you can run into. Mary mentioned bad dreams and fires she was telling the truth. That wasn't her. All of a sudden, Steve looked shifty. How can we be so sure. She just doesn't want to admit to it. He demanded that was not me. Mary insisted I would never has anything else happened recently. I pressed trying to ignore the small dark figure flitting between the tables. Have you taken any trips anywhere known to be haunted?
Steve shook his head. Brought home any antiques, dug up any old relics? More head shaking play with a Ouija board. Hold a seance. Sell your soul to the devil. The color literally drained from Steve's face. He went from a healthy ish ruddy pink to an almost translucent green tinged white. There it is remarked Claire as the ghost of Mary Tisk disapprovingly. What did you do? I whispered Steve scrubbed at his face than let his hands drop into his lab. His leg began its manic bouncing again.
The thought crossed my mind, but I honestly didn't think, I mean it was so long ago. I was a kid, not a kid. I was 30 but desperate. Jill was pregnant with our second and we were barely making it. You didn't? What were the chances of it actually working? Right. But it did. God, I can't believe it's been 27 years already. The child sized demon stood behind him now, just tall enough to peer over the chair at us. It put a claw on Steve's shoulder. Possessive Lee and Steve shivered.
What would you do if you were in my position? He asked. I hesitated, not wanting to offend the demon. I'm not sure. I hedged pushing my chair backwards. Steve leaned forward. I made one deal. Right. I can make another. I stood to go. Sure. Well, good luck. And just be sure to call Mary's daughter. I think she'll be open to hearing from you and then shut up and go. Claire. Hiss. I zipped through the parking lot to my car and put on my seatbelt with shaking hands. Jesus. That thing was ugly.
That man is fucked. Claire agreed. Is he going to die? What will happen to him? You don't want to know. I settled across from Adrian at today's eight person farmhouse style table. You following this whole alien thing? She asked. I laughed. Which part? Good point. She smirked, picking at the protective sleeve on her coffee cup. Wait, are you hearing ghosts now or not? I haven't read your blog in a while. I am weird. I laughed.
Well, I was hearing a Banshee for a while who was pretending to be my spirit guide, but then that all sort of fell apart and things went quiet again, but now everything's back. Your life is wild. Yeah. But believe it or not, everything's pretty calm at the moment. Calm before the storm. She said, buckle up your ghosts. Give you any hint at what's to come. No, but actually I think I've collected a couple of puzzle pieces here and there such as it's going to sound crazy. Of course, it is.
I gave you the cliff notes version of all the weird that it had been happening in recent months. The time slips and tunnels, the Banshee and Kate Del Vish Claire's disappearance and reappearance and the fact that Judith had also been cut off from her abilities for a time. It's coming from too many angles. Adrian said once I'd finished, we don't stand a chance. I studied her for a moment, taking in the high end fashion. The expensive hair tree. The contouring. Are you still prepping?
What's the point? But everything we talked about last time we spoke pretty much happened, I protested. You must have been relieved to be prepared. She waved away the comment prepared to hold up in the house for a few months. Yeah, that was the test run and it's over. What's coming, Jesus Liz. No one in their right mind would try to prepare for it. There has to be something canned food, water. What cyanide? I laughed then realized she was serious.
Stop and think, ok, I was obsessed with being ready for famine or disaster, disease, right? I wasn't thinking clearly use that weird little imagination of yours. What do you really think it will look like for us when the grid goes down? I use my imagination then force myself to stop. We can hide in Wellesley I don't know. Maybe we can build something before. And if you manage to survive the initial chaos, what happens when they find you? Because they will.
I opened my mouth to respond, but she beat me to it. And what happens when they find your daughters, Jesus Adrian just don't kid yourself. It's not going to be the walking dead or even the last of us. That would be a cakewalk. We're going to find ourselves in parable of the sower. I shattered my advice. Find a way to exit stage left. When the time comes, I want to send a special. Thank you to Debbie Perlman. She's the lovely woman who turned me on to Steve's wacky little Cadaver bone story.
Thank you, Debbie. If you haven't yet Please follow me on Instagram at Ghosts in the Burbs. It's the best place to find updates about the show. Plus spooky book, movie and podcast recommendations. As some of you have already noticed, I've reopened my Patreon page.
If you are interested in supporting the show financially, you may do so there for a $5 per month pledge, I will draw you your very own imagined demise in the style of one of the beloved Edward Gorey's ghastly crumb Chinese and post the image to Instagram at $7 per month. I'll send you an entering Wellesley Sticker as thanks and thank you to everyone supporting the show already Head over to ghost in the burbs.com. I tinkered around and updated the site recently.
Take a peek and let me know what you think. As always, all proceeds from merch orders are donated to a charity of my choosing, which come to think of it. I haven't shared with you in a while. The merch proceeds from December $250 were donated to heading home January and February were light on orders. So I intend to wait until the end of this month to make our next donation. Thank you so very much for your support.
Now, despite Adrian's dire warnings, it never hurts to check your stock of Starbucks instant via coffee because if you do survive what's coming, you're going to want caffeine until next time. Good night, sleep tight. And don't forget your night light, ghosts and demons. Okay. We're gonna get