Hey, everyone. Before we get into today's episode, I just wanted to insert a quick disclaimer. Today's topic includes mature themes that aren't suitable for all audiences. And as always, we will be discussing some pretty spooky stuff, so listeners' discretion is advised. Thank you for your understanding, and without further ado, let's get into today's episode. I'd like to start us off by talking about our sense of self. Some people call it the ego. Others may say it's our internal monologue.
The little voice inside your head that helps you navigate through your daily life. But regardless of what it is you actually call it, this self-concept is likely the most sensitive, and therefore Host protected, facet of our way of being. I mean, think about is. When it comes to who we are at our core, to our internalized self perception, we are automatically going to be on the defensive against external forces.
Because at the end of the day, that self perception really is the only thing we can be sure is real. It sort of reminds me of this principle, that I learned back in philosophy 101. I think, therefore I am. I know that I exist because the ego, that sense of self, is creating, exploring, and thinking through different ideas. But because I can't think on your behalf, nor could you do the same on mine, we have no way of knowing if anything outside ourselves truly exists. It's
a terrifying concept, when you put it that way. But as long as we're here, already somewhat freaked out and in search of a halfway decent ghost story, why don't we add another layer to this idea? One that may just have you second guessing everything you thought you knew about your own self-concept. Sounds intriguing, I know. But I should warn you, when it comes to the paranormal, that intrigue can quickly turn violent.
And as far as the self is concerned, well, there are some, let's call them inner demons, that when noticed, simply can't be unseen. I'm Courtney Hayes, and you're listening to haunts. Stay tuned. If you've been consuming this sort of content for a while, I'd be surprised if you hadn't heard the term doppelganger. Mainly because it is likely one of the most nefarious vocab words in the
paranormal dictionary. Translated from German into English as a double goer, this sort of entity is said to masquerade as a living person, quite literally stealing their identity and their sense of self. Now that alone is enough to at least make my skin crawl. I mean, who knows what the dead may be capable of, while impersonating the living? What harm they can cause, while
wearing your face or mine? But what really gets me, about this type of spirit, is what their very existence means, for their living counterpart. You see, a doppelganger is thought to be a harbinger of misfortune and ill intent. Think of them as an evil twin of Haunts. An entity that is indistinguishable from yourself, who is hell bent on making your life, well, a living hell. They are said to signify the onset of severe illness or imminent danger.
Sometimes even planting malicious ideas and scenarios into their twin's mind is a means to cause distress. Oh, and let's not forget this last little tidbit. Apparently, if you were to see your own doppelganger in the flesh, it means that you've been marked for certain death. Okay. So after saying that out loud, I hear it. This whole idea of a ghostly evil twin sounds more like fiction than it does genuine fact. But it's worth mentioning that this concept spans across several centuries.
Dating as far back as the mid 1800, we've seen mention of doppelgangers in popular culture. In his 18/39 short story entitled William Wilson, for instance, Edgar Allan Poe writes of a doppelganger, who actually drove his twin into madness. Then of course there's the parapsychological interpretation of these entities. It's something that Adam Gulab, a professor at Cal State, calls the haunting within. At least from an academic standpoint, doppelgangers aren't spirits that
operate independently from their twin. Instead, they are a part of the ego. They're the shadow self that lurks in the darkness of our minds. So that presents the question. Should we remain on the defensive? Ever prepared for an attack against outside forces of the damned? Or is it all a moot point, when the most horrific of hauntings come from somewhere within? I think if we want to get to the bottom of this whole twin flame debacle, we should analyze an allegedly
true doppelganger story. One that is so notorious, that this haunt has been given a rather chilling nickname, the Mimic House of Cleveland. It all started during Rebecca's freshman year of college, when she and a group of friends moved into a rented house on Clifton Boulevard. It was a historic residence, dating back to the early 19 100. With a great deal of charm and plenty of space, it was quite literally the perfect rental for this group of students.
At first, everything seemed normal. They even got permission from their landlord to repaint the interior of the home. So at least in the beginning, this group of friends was eager and excited to make this place their own. That said, that excitement turned into an anxious sort of discomfort for Rebecca, only a few weeks after moving in. On the occasion in question, she was up in her room unpacking boxes, when she heard her roommate, Z, calling for her from downstairs.
Rebecca, amidst a sea of partially unpacked boxes, called back to her. Hayes Z, what's up? To which Z responded, come down here. At this point, Rebecca was a bit confused, and already a little on edge. But ultimately she decided to go downstairs to see what Z needed. It couldn't have been more than a few minutes since Rebecca heard her roommate coming home. So you can imagine her surprise when she discovered that Z was nowhere to be found.
Rebecca looked all over the main floor of the house, calling out for Zee, who is now eerily quiet. Then she heard this rumbling sound coming from the basement. Now, as a quick aside here, ever since they had moved into the house a few weeks earlier, Rebecca had been thoroughly creeped out by the basement as a whole. There was this grate or vent in the living room that led into the basement. And according to Rebecca, at least, something about it always felt off. That said, Rebecca was
anxious about the rumbling noise she heard that night. But even she had to admit, the obvious conclusion was that she was calling for her from the basement. So she gathered up all her courage, making her way to the basement door. Only for Z to come waltzing into the house, just as Rebecca was turning the knob. Have you been home this whole time? She asked Zee, with her anxiety now fully in overdrive. No. I just walked in. Why?
Rebecca didn't know what to tell her roommates. I mean, all she could really say was that she felt like she was going crazy. Truth be told, she was the newest member of this little friend group. And in her own words, she had been kinda shy. So she didn't exactly want to admit that she had been hearing voices in the weeks since moving is to the house on Clifton, nor could she bring herself
to face the chilling truth. These voices sounded an awful lot like her roommates, and they always called to her from the basement. So the week slipped by, and at first Rebecca managed to keep this haunting within to herself That is until her new boyfriend, Jared, decided to stay the night Now, it's worth mentioning that Jared, independently of Rebecca, was a member of this friend group. So it wasn't exactly weird for his friend Zee to be calling for him from another room.
Although is was a little odd that she was doing so in the middle of the night, knowing full well that he was upstairs asleep Hayes his girlfriend. That said, I'm sure you can see why he may have been confused and somewhat concerned, even as he got out of bed and went downstairs. He spent a few minutes calling back to Z, asking where she was, if she needed help. But just like Rebecca's experience a few weeks prior, Z had gone quiet. She was nowhere in sight.
Eventually, Jared made his way around to the basement door, which had been left wide open. And just like Rebecca had thought, it seemed that Zee may have been calling for him from the floor below. So he cautiously took a step toward the darkness, Then another, and another after that. Until, eventually, he had made it, fully past the threshold. He called out to Zee one more time, asking if she was downstairs. Then, just like that, the basement door slammed shut behind him.
That's when Jared's confusion turned into utter panic. He was now locked in the basement with whoever or whatever, had been calling for him. He used his body to slam against the door, and after a bit of convincing, eventually is swung back open. At which point he ran back upstairs and woke up Rebecca, who listened to Jared's story with an odd mix of relief and terror. On the one hand, she no longer felt like she was losing her mind, like
she was going crazy. After all, Jared was a skeptic, so if he was saying that he experienced something otherworldly, then he must have. So is that at least, there was a bit of validation. Something was, in fact, haunting the bottom floor of the home. But on the other hand, that in and of itself was a problem. Because even as they sat there, staring at each other in disbelief, another member of this little group of friends was packing up boxes, preparing for a move into that very basement.
Brandon had been eager to move into the house on Clifton. I mean, why wouldn't he have been? For the most part, it seemed like his friends were having a great time living together. And as a young bachelor, the idea of having an entire floor to himself must have been pretty cool. So he began unloading moving boxes, scoping out his new digs. Then is night descended over Cleveland, Brandon began to plan out this would be man cave.
He had been listening to music, unpacking some of his belongings with his back to the door, when he heard the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. Brandon turned around, and to his surprise he discovered Rebecca standing in the doorway. I thought you might want some company, she told him, bobbing her head to the stereo that he had only just plugged into the wall. Then, Host like that, Brandon watched in disbelief, as Rebecca's body, quite literally, began to crumble into pieces.
He flew out of the basement like a bat out of hell, only to run into, you guessed it, his friend Rebecca. Who, as it just so happened, had been upstairs the entire time. I can only imagine how violated and embarrassed she must have felt while listening to Brandon's story. After all, she and Jared had decided against telling Brandon of their suspicions about the basement. And now they basically had more proof than they ever could Hayes wanted. Something beyond themselves
had taken up residence in the basement. Oh, and evidently, it had the ability to mimic, to even look like, the people living in that home. For obvious reasons, Brandon decided against moving into the basement after all. And in the weeks after this nightmare inducing incident, Rebecca and Jared made yet another discovery about the house on Clifton. One that shed some light onto just how dire their circumstances actually were.
You see, ever since they had moved in, Rebecca had been, let's say morbidly fascinated, with this water stain on her bedroom ceiling. It was obviously pretty old and rust colored. And much like the grate down in the living room, something about it just felt off to Rebecca. Which brings us to a night, just a few weeks after Brandon's
encounter down in the basement. Rebecca and Jared had been sitting on the bed, discussing what it is they had thought could have made such a peculiar stain up on the ceiling. Like I said, this didn't look like any ordinary water stain. With its rusted red color, it just seemed sort of ominous. So together, Jared and Rebecca decided to investigate, by taking a black light up into the attic, where the stain had obviously leaked down from. Now I won't lie. This next part is sort of
gory and pretty horrific. So is you'd like to skip ahead a bit, now would be the time. As they climbed into the attic, Jared and Rebecca were once again met with a feeling of sheer panic. Because under the scrutiny of their blacklight, they discovered what could only be described as spatter, all over the ceiling and the walls. And what's worse is that these stains, look like they had pooled onto the attic floor, directly above Rebecca's bedroom.
Obviously is was a horrifying discovery, Especially considering that they were pretty sure that this spatter had meant blood. So the following day, Rebecca asked her landlord about the stain on her bedroom ceiling. And, of course, the answer she received was surprisingly unsurprising. Their most recent tenant, the landlord told Rebecca, was a young man who lived in the house on Clifton by himself.
After some time living there, he had stopped communicating with them. And out of an abundance of caution, they decided to do a bit of a welfare check on the renter in the property. Everything downstairs appeared to be normal and lived in, that is aside from the stain forming on one of the bedroom ceilings. But as the property owners climbed up to the attic, they must have known that their
suspicions were true. Because there, lying in a pool of his own blood, with a gun still in his hand, they had discovered the remains of their tenant. Evidently, the landlord told Rebecca, he had been up there for a total of 3 days. Now, as near as I could tell, the property owners were rightfully astonished by this discovery. I mean, I'm sure it must be difficult, coming to terms with the fact that such a horrific incident could transpire in a property you own.
But, believe it or not, for Rebecca, this story hit a lot closer to home. She had, after all, been having a hard time there in the house on Clifton. But at least she had friends who could vouch for the activity she had been experiencing. Whereas this tenant had no one, making it that much easier for this mimicking ghost to drive him to his breaking point. Still, as she stared up at the rust colored stain on her ceiling that night, Rebecca couldn't help asking herself one
sobering question. If this entity had the power to drive the human mind into oblivion, what then was stopping it from coming after her? Rebecca wouldn't have to wait long for an answer to that question. It was the following night, and Rebecca had just gotten out of the shower. She had dried herself off and was going through her nightly bathroom routine. Then she stepped out into the hallway, coming face to face with something that was truly sinister.
You see, crawling towards her across the floor, was what I can only describe as a beast. Complete with decaying skin and a collection of wriggling tentacles, This creature had cornered her against the bathroom door. She fumbled with the doorknob, trying in a panic to open the bathroom door, before this thing was upon her. And all the while, it inched closer and closer and closer, to
where she sat cowering on the floor. To her relief, the door fell open, and she clamored back into the bathroom, just as the beast reached the threshold. Rebecca slammed the door shut, locking the creature out is it banged against the speckled glass. Then to her relief and horror, she heard the sound of Jared's voice on the other side of the door. I can imagine it must have been difficult for Rebecca to decipher who had actually been knocking, while she sat there panicked
and confused on the bathroom floor. But fortunately, it had in fact been Jared, who had come to her rescue that night. Together, they fled the property, with Rebecca swearing up and down that she would never return. So in the days that followed, this once happy group of friends was moving out of the house on Clifton. Throughout their time living in the house on Clifton, Rebecca and her friends knew the spirit in their basement by one chilling name, the mimic.
It's fitting, don't you think? I mean, this entity had, after all, impersonated nearly every resident of the Host, targeting its victims by using their friends against them, Only to chase them, running and screaming from the property, by the time that all was said and done. And so were brought back to this whole notion of doppelgangers. Of evil twin energy in the paranormal. Sure, Rebecca's story might sound a bit dramatized.
But if these events did in fact unfold in this way, this is likely one of, if not the most, haunting tale we've ever discussed on this podcast. After all, what could be scarier than a ghost that looks and acts like you? Probably not much, but at least from where I'm standing, there is one thing that may just take the cake. If not a spirit, waltzing through our external world, wearing your face as a mask, then it would surely have to be a haunting that comes from within.
This episode of Haunts was written and produced by me, Courtney Hayes. If you've been enjoying the show so far, I would greatly appreciate it if you could leave us a 5 star review. A lot of work goes into each episode, and reviewing the show really helps us reach more listeners each week. Also, if you're interested in learning more about this week's topic, I greatly encourage you to
check out the show notes section at hauntscast.com. This is the location where I share my sources and provide any visual aid that may be referenced during the show. While you're there, make sure to follow us on social media at Hauntscast. And don't forget to stick around to the end of the episode for this week's podcast recommendations. Thank you again for listening. And until next time. Happy haunting.
As the moonlight pierces through the dark, paranormal enthusiast and best friends, Farrah and Courtney venture deep into the woods armed with flashlights and a sense of adventure. Farrah, are you sure this is a good idea? Sure. I'm sure. What was that? Probably some animals. My god. My flashlight is going out. Following the chilling sounds, the 2 stumble upon an abandoned and haunted building, its dark silhouette looming over them. Look. There it is. The abandoned
radio station it's supposed to be mad haunted. Let's be careful. We don't know what's inside. Wow. Look at this place. A long growl is heard coming from behind the girls. They turn around slowly, and to their surprise, a zombie is standing in front of them dressed to the nines, wearing a seventies bell bottom hot pink and purple leisure suit. Who are you pasty looking females and what the heck are you doing in here? Who are you calling pasty? Nice suit. Did you reign Barry Manilow's
wardrobe or did John Travolta have a yard sale? Sorry about that. We didn't mean any harm. We're just curious about this place. Curious, Well, come with me. I got something to show you. And as they wander deeper into the building, they uncover vintage studio equipment covered in dust and decay. Farrah, you were looking for a new place to set up your podcast. Right? And this is it. Woah. Woah there, sweet cheeks. No. No. No. Don't worry.
We'll make it worth your while. We love the strange and unexplained phenomena, true crime, macabre, and the sinister. And, hey, you'd be a great touch to the show. Maybe be an announcer for us as well. That does sound stellar. I'm in. A few minutes later. 12 seconds later. 3 weeks later. Many months later. Okay. Just kidding. Join Pharah, Courtney, and Don the zombie on the first, 10th, 20th of every month for some rad chilling stories. And if you piss your pants, that's your problem.
Come embrace the haunt. See you soon, sinister seekers. Hello, my friends. My name is Naomi, and I am the host of Weird Mythic Podcast. It is a podcast all about that strange and unusual things that are not easy to explain in this world. Talk a lot about cryptids, everything from the bunyip all the way to Bigfoot, Pukwudges, Thunderbirds. You name is, I'll cover it. Go ahead and listen to Weird Mythic Podcast anywhere you get your podcast fix. I hope you tune in soon.