0:00

Dear old work platform, it's

0:02

not you, it's us. Actually,

0:04

it is you. Endless onboarding?

0:06

Constant IT bottlenecks? We've had

0:08

enough. We need a platform

0:10

that just gets us. And

0:12

to be honest, we've met

0:14

someone new. They're called Monday.com.

0:16

and it was love at

0:18

first on boarding. They're beautiful

0:20

dashboards, their customizable workflows got

0:22

us floating on a digital

0:24

cloud nine, so no hard

0:26

feelings, but we're moving on.

0:28

Monday.com, the first work platform

0:31

you'll love to use. You don't wake

0:33

up dreaming of McDonald's

0:36

fries? You wake up

0:38

dreaming of McDonald's hash

0:41

browns. McDonald's breakfast, comes

0:43

first. Bada-bab-ba-da-ba-ba-da-da-ba-da-a-a-a-a-a-a. Hey

0:45

guys, welcome back to curious matter presents.

0:48

I'm Jonathan your host as you guys

0:50

know Welcome to everybody out there in

0:52

the curious matter universe. We have an

0:54

awesome show I want to introduce you

0:56

guys to you today fear daily It

0:59

takes you into the shadows of the

1:01

past unearthing the 1990s most terrifying tales

1:03

of monsters madness and life after death

1:05

We explore the ghost stories

1:07

and supernatural encounters left on

1:09

an old online bulletin board

1:11

that continues to operate somewhere

1:13

in an unknown part of

1:15

the Pennsylvania Rust Belt. It's

1:17

a time capsule of society's

1:20

greatest fears. Normally we have

1:22

full-cast audio dramas that we present,

1:24

but today's show is a storyteller

1:26

show that I know you guys

1:28

will love with additive sound design

1:30

and scoring to enhance the narrated

1:32

tales that they bring to you

1:34

daily. I have the creators here with

1:36

me in studio today to chat a

1:39

little bit about the show. Brennan's

1:41

store and Brandon Shexnader, welcome.

1:43

Thanks for having us. Yeah, my pleasure.

1:46

This is a daily horror show. Tell

1:48

me a little bit about the inspiration for

1:50

creating the series. I mean Brandon, it

1:52

brought it to me. You know, we met

1:54

because I host another show, the show, I

1:56

sort of my day job as the ghost

1:59

story guys. a guest over there and

2:01

we got to know each other and

2:03

he came to me late 2023 I

2:05

guess and was talking about doing a

2:07

daily show and originally it started out

2:10

as as ghost stories just kind of

2:12

because I have such an archive of

2:14

them with having done ghostory guys for

2:16

I think we're in our ninth season

2:18

now. So that's kind of where it

2:21

started and then it grew and grew

2:23

and grew into what it is now.

2:25

What's your both of your guys's background

2:27

and what brought you to audio fiction

2:29

and podcasting initially? Yeah, well, you know,

2:32

both of us are podcasters full-time before

2:34

we started Fear Daily. So personally, I

2:36

have a show called Southern Gothic. It's

2:38

haunted history. I've been running for almost

2:40

eight years now. It's done fairly well

2:42

in the history space. I have a

2:45

blast doing it. I came from like

2:47

an audio-fig- or, excuse me, an audio-engineering

2:49

background. So it's an audio guy up

2:51

front and kind of from the storytelling

2:53

neck of the world. So I would

2:56

tell ghost stories and things like that.

2:58

is my background. And then of course,

3:00

you know, Brennan here, you know, kind

3:02

of hooking up with him and he

3:04

has a completely different trajectory. Yes. So

3:07

I started Ghost Story Guys in January

3:09

2017 with another author and basically that

3:11

began with me publishing a book. I

3:13

sold my first book. It came out

3:15

in October 2016. And that kind of

3:17

started this whole journey again, introduced me

3:20

to this other author. We started Ghost

3:22

Story Guys. And prior to that I

3:24

just kind of drifted around, man. I've

3:26

been, you know, a mover, a mover,

3:28

a check-in clerk, an accountant. I've done

3:31

a lot of different jobs. I was

3:33

a bud tender and a dispensary for

3:35

a while. I once moved, helped move

3:37

someone's, the remains of someone's mother from

3:39

one place to another, like, you know,

3:42

my very own, as I lay dying.

3:44

I've done a lot of different stuff.

3:46

And so podcasting just kind of happened

3:48

organically and I've been doing it full

3:50

time for about. Almost five years now.

3:52

So in this show specifically, where do

3:55

you find your stories or they're mostly

3:57

fictional, correct? So what sort of inspires

3:59

you to write these specific stories? So

4:01

originally I was using taking inspiration from

4:03

places like Reddit and Fark, you know,

4:06

places where people would submit the real

4:08

life go stories. I would kind of

4:10

use those for inspiration. But since then,

4:12

I've just really leaned into original fiction.

4:14

So I watch a lot of movies,

4:17

I read a lot, I listen to

4:19

a lot of podcasts, and I just

4:21

kind of try and find the extraordinary

4:23

in the ordinary. So if I'm in

4:25

a, there's a Chinese restaurant, you just

4:28

be next to my old apartment, I

4:30

would just stand there waiting for my,

4:32

may my combo number one, and just

4:34

try to imagine something happening. in there,

4:36

what would happen in here? What would

4:38

be a horrifying thing that would happen

4:41

here? You know, or we've got a

4:43

story called Dickey's from more recently. That's

4:45

just me imagining, I saw a guy

4:47

in a diner, he looked kind of

4:49

shifty, and it was actually a pop-ice

4:52

chicken. It was late at night, a

4:54

pop-ice chicken, this guy was acting kind

4:56

of shifty. and he was fine he

4:58

was just off his meds but I

5:00

thought what if that guy was some

5:03

kind of monster and really started to

5:05

to mess things up and so just

5:07

asking myself questions like that I try

5:09

not to use these stories for inspiration

5:11

anymore periodically you know you might have

5:13

to just for a little bit of

5:16

a push you know again writing ten

5:18

stories a week can be draining you

5:20

know especially original stories but yeah that's

5:22

pretty much it just trying to ask

5:24

myself how could all this go very

5:27

very very badly Well, then, what for

5:29

you is the key to a great

5:31

ghost or horror story? Like, what's the

5:33

heart of a good story? Oh, Brandon,

5:35

what do you think? We've been joking.

5:38

It's a thesaurus. It's actually the key.

5:40

For some reason, I don't know if

5:42

anyone else ever has noticed this, but

5:44

horror fiction seems to have really good

5:46

vocabulary. Because, you know, we're really trying

5:49

to make sure you're extra grossed out.

5:51

You know, but I'm kidding, Brian, you

5:53

should really answer this. For me, it's

5:55

part of it is relatability. You know,

5:57

I try to start with characters. And

5:59

so sometimes the stories are maybe a

6:02

little bit longer than they need to

6:04

be, whereas Brandon would like them to

6:06

be in certain cases. You know, we

6:08

have, just because I like to, I

6:10

think it's scarier if you're invested in

6:13

the characters. You know, so I'm just

6:15

finishing a story right now, which starts

6:17

with a guy driving home after a

6:19

supervised visitation visitation with his kids. and

6:21

kind of ruminating on how he got

6:24

to that point and then everything sort

6:26

of unfolds around him. So I think

6:28

you really have to start with something

6:30

that's relatable because I think once you

6:32

can get someone to relate to your

6:34

characters, then you can take him wherever

6:37

you need to. Like one of our

6:39

stories, it's about a guy who couldn't,

6:41

his grades weren't good enough to get

6:43

into nursing school, but he really likes

6:45

taking care of this old mafioso and

6:48

things. go very badly, as so often

6:50

happens in our stories. And I think

6:52

if you're invested in his journey, this

6:54

guy who, you know, he wanted to

6:56

do things the right way, he really

6:59

did. He just, his program got shut

7:01

down, and so he was kind of

7:03

adrift in this presented itself, and then

7:05

you can kind of go with him

7:07

as he enters this kind of shadowy

7:09

world, both literally and figuratively. And one

7:12

of the hooks is, some of these

7:14

stories are real. you know, like we

7:16

can't, some of them we can't actually

7:18

talk about which ones are real, but

7:20

you'd be surprised. Some of the things

7:23

we talk about in these stories have

7:25

happened. One actually I can, one honest

7:27

one I can give out is there's

7:29

a one called the ghost site, which

7:31

is about the Damascus nuclear disaster. And

7:34

I think it was Arkansas. And there

7:36

is a ghost story as part of

7:38

that, as part of that disaster that's

7:40

not as well known as a disaster

7:42

itself. And so that's, that's an obvious

7:45

example that just because My line of

7:47

work has put me in touch with

7:49

a lot of people who've had some

7:51

very strange experiences, I've had some of

7:53

my own, and they kind of weave

7:55

in and out of the story, so

7:58

you're never quite sure. You can, some

8:00

of them, you know, okay, this is

8:02

not real, but some of them, maybe.

8:04

No, I feel yeah, you know, actually.

8:06

I was a camera operator and producer

8:09

on the first season of ghost hunters.

8:11

Oh, very cool. So I was there

8:13

for Eastern State Penitentiary when all the

8:15

initial stuff went down. So I very

8:17

much, yeah, I very much understand. And

8:20

I'm a. I'm a huge proponent of

8:22

supernatural horror. I love it as a

8:24

genre. So we're going to be focusing

8:26

on that next season. So we definitely

8:28

love that we're going to be able

8:30

to present this show to everybody. So

8:33

I got to ask you though, what

8:35

are the challenges of making a daily

8:37

show? Because that just seems like an

8:39

insane sort of benchmark to hit. Yeah,

8:41

yeah, it is. We, Brandon, and I

8:44

have actually, we kind of had to

8:46

contend with this recently. I had to

8:48

take two weeks off because I just.

8:50

grants straight into a brick wall. I've

8:52

written about 1,200 pages of original horror

8:55

fiction since this thing started. And I'm

8:57

still not that fast, right? Because sometimes

8:59

some of these stories are 4,000 words.

9:01

Yeah. And so you're cranking out these,

9:03

you know, three, two, three, 4,000 words

9:06

stories. You're trying to do two every

9:08

day during the week. And on top

9:10

of, again, I do ghost story guides

9:12

full time. I narrate audio books. I

9:14

have ADHD, so focus is a constant

9:16

issue. And again, Brandon can speak to

9:19

the actual production of it, which I

9:21

can't even imagine. If I'd had to

9:23

narrate this with this, it never would

9:25

have gotten off the ground. If not

9:27

for Brandon's ability to narrate and produce

9:30

at the level he does, and at

9:32

the speed he does, we'd have been

9:34

hooked. We have a team, by the

9:36

way. We do have a team. So

9:38

it's not just us. We have an

9:41

editor who does a great job. You

9:43

know, I do still do the sound

9:45

design production. You know, Brent has somebody

9:47

who helps him edit stuff. So we

9:49

are in fact as crazy as it

9:51

sounds. However, we have put together a

9:54

system to scale it and make sure

9:56

that our, because we're creating, I mean,

9:58

we come from creative backgrounds, right? So

10:00

we'll go off. the handle. I mean

10:02

as anyone who's ever written before I

10:05

mean you you've got to put bumpers

10:07

on on the bowling alley, you know,

10:09

like you have to put something. And

10:11

so, you know, we've had to be

10:13

really strict with ourselves that like, hey,

10:16

this could get out of hand if

10:18

we don't stick to the goal. I

10:20

have to say, I really, like, I'm

10:22

lucky enough to be working with Brandon

10:24

on this because, you know, I sent

10:26

my message the other day, I said,

10:29

it helps, we're both psychopaths who'd like

10:31

to tell stories, because I can have

10:33

a big, you know, cranky artist moment,

10:35

on a phone call, run a text

10:37

message to him, and he gets it.

10:40

And I could just call him 10

10:42

minutes later, text him 10 minutes later,

10:44

going to say, man, I was out

10:46

of line, I'm sorry. And he's just,

10:48

he understands. He's like, yep, no, I

10:51

know, I'm crazy too. And you know,

10:53

and vice versa, I'm, you know, I

10:55

do that more than he does, but

10:57

still. When it happens, we've both kind

10:59

of like, yeah, this is not a

11:02

problem. Yeah, you know, it's, it's, but

11:04

look, the other thing too, we've been

11:06

podcasting for, you know, between the two

11:08

of us, we've been podcasting for a

11:10

while, right? I mean, we've been doing

11:12

this, we knew what we were getting

11:15

into. So, you know, most people, when

11:17

they start a show, even a weekly

11:19

show, they don't realize the amount of

11:21

work that goes into it. So, being

11:23

able to create this, you know, got

11:26

systematized and done to create a partnership

11:28

that works. So it's a different beast.

11:30

It's definitely a different beast all together.

11:32

Amazing. Well, everyone out there, in order

11:34

to follow and support the show, please

11:37

head over to Fear Daily.com where you

11:39

can listen and subscribe to the show

11:41

on your favorite podcast app. You guys

11:43

know what time it is. Grab those

11:45

headphones. Find a comfy nook. Grab that

11:47

bowl of popcorn and enjoy Fear Daily's

11:50

episode. Night Hunting. and the day it

11:52

didn't rain. When

12:00

the internet began, bulletin

12:02

board services or BBS

12:05

became the first online

12:07

communities of the so-called

12:09

Information Super Highway. Using

12:12

their phone lines, people

12:14

logged in from all

12:16

over America to talk

12:19

about sports, games, movies,

12:21

and on one BBS

12:23

in particular. Share their

12:26

ghost stories. Over time,

12:28

those communities all went

12:30

dark. except for one

12:33

lone server that continues

12:35

to operate somewhere in

12:37

an unknown part of

12:39

Pennsylvania's rust belt. A

12:42

relic of the 1990s

12:44

veiled in mystery, it

12:46

is a digital archive

12:49

of humanity's strangest encounters

12:51

with the unknown, as

12:53

told by the people

12:56

who experienced them. My

13:08

old man served in Vietnam

13:11

and when he came back.

13:13

My old man served in

13:15

Vietnam and when he came

13:18

back a lot about him

13:20

it changed. The thing I

13:23

noticed most was that he

13:25

didn't change. The thing I

13:27

noticed most was that he

13:30

didn't have any fear. Good

13:32

because he didn't take shit

13:34

from anybody bad because he

13:37

would sometimes get us into

13:39

sticky situations. The only bright

13:41

side to all of this

13:44

was that almost any situation

13:46

dad got us into, he

13:48

could get us out of.

13:51

The one time that wasn't

13:53

true was on the final

13:56

hunting trip we'd took with

13:58

my little brother Gary and

14:00

in dad's defense, I don't

14:03

know there was anything anyone

14:05

could have done. It was

14:07

in summer 1975. After getting

14:10

out of the service, dad

14:12

decided his new hobby was

14:14

night hunting, which was night

14:17

hunting. wasn't exactly legal in

14:19

our state but he never

14:22

let that stop him. He

14:24

said he could tell the

14:26

animals apart by how far

14:29

above the ground their eyeshine

14:31

was. Close to the ground

14:33

was a hair, knee height

14:36

was a boar, above that

14:38

was a deer. Mom wasn't

14:40

crazy about dad taking us

14:43

out into the woods at

14:45

night with a gun but

14:47

she knew better than to

14:50

complain. Post-war dad didn't take

14:52

criticism well and... Besides, there

14:55

was always meat in the

14:57

freezer. Nothing about this night

14:59

seemed any different than the

15:02

others would gone out together.

15:04

The sky was clear it

15:06

wasn't too cold and the

15:09

ground on the walkout was

15:11

firm instead of spongy. It

15:13

was something different about dad

15:16

though. He seemed agitated and

15:18

kept swinging the barrel of

15:21

his rifle around behind him

15:23

as if he was hearing

15:25

something. Gary

15:28

and I looked at each other

15:30

baffled. Neither of us had heard

15:32

anything. In fact, it was a

15:35

surprisingly quiet night with not much

15:37

in the way of game or

15:39

ambient noise. Looking back, it was

15:42

kind of like the forest was

15:44

holding its breath. Some time, around

15:47

two or three in the morning,

15:49

Dad raised his fist, which was

15:51

a sign for us to stop

15:54

walking. He pointed toward a dark

15:56

thicket maybe a hundred yards ahead

15:58

and sure enough we heard a

16:01

rust sound. Gary and I knew

16:03

what to do. Quietly, we set

16:05

out to establish a pencil position

16:08

on either side of the thicket,

16:10

where we'd wait for dad's signal

16:12

to charge the bush and chase

16:15

the animal out towards his rifle.

16:17

We'd done this a bunch before,

16:20

but there was an electricity in

16:22

the air. The hair on my

16:24

arms was standing up like... We

16:27

were walking into some kind of

16:29

static buildup. I couldn't make out

16:31

Gary's expression in the dark, but

16:34

his posture was tense. At that

16:36

signal, we did what he'd trained

16:38

us to do, but what came

16:41

out of that bush was no

16:43

bore or hair or anything like

16:45

that. It was huge, dark and

16:48

had wings big enough to brush

16:50

both mine and Gary's face as

16:53

it took off. We're talking a

16:55

span of maybe 15 to 20

16:57

feet. The air displaced as it

17:00

flapped was intense like an M80

17:02

going off on the 4th of

17:04

July before you got far enough

17:07

away. Its cry was abrasive and

17:09

painful to ear like nails on

17:11

a chalkboard and I clap my

17:14

hands over my hands over my

17:16

ears. The huge wings beat one

17:18

final time before the bird or

17:21

whatever it was just went. And

17:23

I don't mean it flew away.

17:26

I mean, it disappeared right in

17:28

front of us. That was the

17:30

end of our hunting trip. On

17:33

the drive home, we tried asking

17:35

dad what it was we had

17:37

seen, but he would only shake

17:40

his head. And it scared me.

17:42

And it scared me, obviously. in

17:44

the chaos, and it actually scratched

17:47

Gary. I didn't see it happen,

17:49

and he said it hadn't hurt

17:51

at the time, but either way,

17:54

when the truck's dome light came

17:56

on, you could see a long,

17:59

weeping red mark across his left

18:01

cheek. I used the sleeve of

18:03

my jacket to wipe the clear

18:06

fluid seeping out of the wound,

18:08

but it kept coming. The only

18:10

thing dad said to us as

18:13

we wound back down the mountain

18:15

towards Riley was to stop fussing

18:17

at it. I did as I

18:20

was told. Mom was still asleep

18:22

when we got home, so... trying

18:24

to account for Gary's face was

18:27

a tomorrow problem. Of course, I

18:29

had no way of knowing the

18:32

morning would have problems of its

18:34

own. Back then, we shared a

18:36

room. My bed was underneath the

18:39

window. Gary's was against the far

18:41

wall. On bright nights like that

18:43

one, the moonlight would fall across

18:46

him as he slept, and I

18:48

always found that comforting. I was

18:50

too young to understand why all

18:53

I knew was that looking at

18:55

my little brother's chest rising and

18:57

falling made me feel like everything

19:00

was okay. After that I would

19:02

always let out a big breath

19:05

close my eyes and slip away

19:07

into sleep. That was the last

19:09

night I was ever able to

19:12

do that. I

19:14

don't remember the dream that woke

19:16

me up, but I do remember

19:18

the sickly ache get produced in

19:21

my stomach. Opening my eyes didn't

19:23

make it any better because I

19:25

quickly realized I couldn't move a

19:28

muscle. It was like I was

19:30

paralyzed. Worse than that, there was

19:32

a man in our room standing

19:35

over Gary. The first rays of

19:37

mourning were beginning to stream through

19:39

the window, giving everything a golden

19:42

glow completely at odds with what

19:44

I was seeing. The man had

19:46

no features, he was all black,

19:48

and where his face should have

19:51

been, it was what looked like

19:53

a pile of rags. That's the

19:55

best way I can describe it

19:58

at least. Despite not having a

20:00

mouth, he had a voice. I

20:02

could hear it. It sounded male

20:05

and it was telling Gary to

20:07

come out to the forest. I

20:09

tried so hard to move, to

20:12

tell this person or whatever it

20:14

was, to stay away from my

20:16

little brother, but my body wouldn't

20:19

cooperate. Helplessly, I was forced to

20:21

watch as Gary sat up in

20:23

bed. The man blocked my view

20:26

of my brother's face, but... From

20:28

his movements, he was going willingly.

20:30

There was no tension, no fear.

20:33

Gary pushed back his blankets, swiveled

20:35

until I saw his pale legs

20:37

hanging over the edge of the

20:39

bed, then stood. That's the last

20:42

thing I remember. I must have

20:44

passed out or fell back asleep

20:46

or something because next I remembers

20:49

waking up to chaos. Dad screaming,

20:51

Gary's name, Gary's name, mom screaming,

20:53

mom screaming, screaming, mom screaming, screaming,

20:56

mom screaming, screaming, mom screaming, screaming,

20:59

We never found my little

21:01

brother. Sometimes I dream about

21:03

him though, and I wish

21:05

I could say they were

21:07

good dreams. Every

21:25

day, thousands of Comcast engineers and

21:28

technologists like Kunlei put people at

21:30

the heart of everything they create.

21:32

In the average household, there are

21:34

dozens of connected devices here in

21:36

the Comcast family. We're building an

21:39

integrated in-home Wi-Fi solution for millions

21:41

of families like my own. It

21:43

brings people together in meaningful ways.

21:45

Kunley and his team are building

21:47

a Wi-Fi experience that connects one

21:50

billion devices every year. Learn more

21:52

about how Comcast is redefining the

21:54

future of connectivity at Comcast Corporation.com/Wi-Fi.

21:56

Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile.

21:58

The message for everyone paying big

22:01

wireless. Way too much. Please for

22:03

the love of everything good in

22:05

this world, stop. With Mint, you

22:07

can get premium wireless for just

22:09

$15 a month. Of course, if

22:12

you enjoy overpaying, no judgments, but

22:14

that's weird. Okay, one judgment. Anyway,

22:16

give it a try at MintMobile.com/switch.

22:18

Up front payment of $45 for

22:20

three-month plan equivalent to $15 per

22:23

month required. Intro rate for three

22:25

months only. Then full-price plan options

22:27

available, taxes and fees extra. Seafold

22:29

terms at Mint Mobile. I can

22:31

say to my new Samsung Galaxy

22:34

S-25 Ultra, I find a keto-friendly

22:36

restaurant your buy and text it

22:38

to Beth and Steve. And it

22:40

does without me lifting a finger.

22:42

So I can get in more

22:45

squats anywhere I can. One. Two.

22:47

Three. Will that be cash or

22:49

credit? Credit. Four. Galaxy S-25 Ultra.

22:51

The AI companion that does the

22:53

heavy lifting so you can do

22:56

you. Get yours at Samsung.com. Compatible

22:58

select app requires Google Gemini account

23:00

results may vary based on input

23:02

check responses for accuracy. Subject, the

23:04

day it didn't rain. User, Illinois

23:07

Dad Guy. Posted May 23rd 1997.

23:36

Last Thursday Springfield got hit with

23:38

the biggest thunderstorm I've ever seen.

23:40

It had to have started sometime

23:42

around lunch because when the first

23:45

big peel of thunder brought my

23:47

head up from payroll there was

23:49

no one else in the office.

23:51

Your company occupies the third floor

23:53

of the Hampton building and my

23:56

desk is along the floor to

23:58

ceiling windows with an expansive view

24:00

of an industrial park and past

24:02

that all the cornfields a guy

24:04

could want. When I looked up

24:07

on Thursday, ugly black thunderheads were

24:09

moving towards us from the north.

24:11

There hadn't been anything about a

24:13

storm in the forecast, I thought,

24:15

but then that's the weatherman for

24:18

you. Our youngest son, Thad, had

24:20

been dealing with an ear infection

24:22

all night and Consequently, there hadn't

24:24

been time for either me or

24:26

Shelley to make my lunch before

24:29

I left for work. If I

24:31

was going to get something to

24:33

eat and beat the rain, I'd

24:35

have to run out to either

24:37

the Arby's or Noggles nearby and

24:40

do it fast. Quickly, I pushed

24:42

back from my desk and pulled

24:44

on my jacket. The elevators were

24:46

out again, so I double-timed it

24:48

down the stairs, not seeing a

24:51

single other person the entire way.

24:54

Outside on the sidewalk, the

24:56

air was heavy with ozone.

24:58

That storm was going to

25:00

be a big one. Noggles

25:02

was nominally closer than Arby,

25:04

so I turned left out

25:07

of the building lobby and

25:09

started speed walking. The glass

25:11

frontages of the office park

25:13

reflected heavy clouds bearing down.

25:15

The air was muggy and

25:17

still, like the whole town

25:19

was in a belljar. The

25:22

click of the traffic light

25:24

was dull and muted, but...

25:26

as I crossed the street

25:28

a block away from Noggles

25:30

that was all I heard.

25:32

No traffic, no pedestrians, nothing,

25:34

as if the world had

25:36

decided to go home for

25:39

the day. Creeping unease began

25:41

to warm its way into

25:43

my brain, a niggling feeling

25:45

like something wasn't right. When

25:47

I stepped into the restaurant,

25:49

that unease wriggled its way

25:51

down into my belly. Everything

25:53

looked normal, the same blindingly

25:56

white-tiled interior with its triple

25:58

stripes of yellow or... and

26:00

red, the same menus hanging

26:02

behind the counter, the same

26:04

smells of taco meat and

26:06

grease. Above me, the fluorescent

26:08

lights buzzed, and from the

26:11

back, I could dimly hear

26:13

the coolers humming, but there

26:15

wasn't a single person there.

26:17

I called out a greeting,

26:19

then a second later, the

26:21

sky went dark, and the

26:23

rain started to fall. Biblic.

26:25

tourists roaring like a river.

26:28

The next crack of thunder

26:30

was so loud I felt

26:32

it in my chest. Outside

26:34

the window of the restaurant

26:36

the light had taken on

26:38

a sickly yellow color and

26:40

huge drops were bouncing off

26:43

the asphalt forming deep pools

26:45

in the gutter. Something wasn't

26:47

right. That much was obvious

26:49

but I couldn't quite get

26:51

my head around the fact

26:53

that the restaurant was empty.

26:57

Had there been some kind of

26:59

evacuation notice? Did the entire office,

27:02

hell, the entire office park head

27:04

for higher ground without telling me?

27:06

Carefully, I approached the counter and

27:09

looked back into the kitchen. Whatever

27:11

had happened, it was fast because

27:14

everything had been left. It was

27:16

like the fast food equivalent of

27:18

the Mary Celeste. Tortillas, half filled

27:21

with beef and lettuce, a spoon

27:23

dug mid-scoop into the refried beans.

27:26

The unease was now full-blown panic,

27:28

and every thought in my mind

27:30

fell away, except for one. Shelley

27:33

and the kids. There had to

27:35

be a phone here, I thought.

27:38

I had to warn them, or

27:40

at least find out what was

27:42

going on. I walked down the

27:45

hallway toward the bathrooms until I

27:47

saw a door marked office and

27:50

it pushed open noiselessly and I

27:52

picked up the cheap plastic receiver

27:54

that sat on the edge of

27:57

a desk cluttered with paperwork. The

28:00

rain was battering down on the

28:02

roof so hard, I was sure

28:04

it was going to come through

28:07

the ceiling. Putting the phone to

28:09

my ear, I was about to

28:11

punch in our home number, and

28:13

I realized there was no dial

28:16

tone. The phone lines must be

28:18

down, I thought. I was so

28:20

concerned about getting in touch with

28:23

Shelley, the strangeness of all this,

28:25

the suddenness, the emptiness, the emptiness,

28:27

didn't even register. That

28:29

something was wrong was obvious,

28:31

but I thought it was

28:34

in the storm of the

28:36

century kind of way, not

28:38

whatever it was that was

28:40

happening. Back in the dining

28:42

room, the yellowness of the

28:45

air had deepened to the

28:47

point where it looked like

28:49

the rain was beating its

28:51

way through mucus and pooling

28:54

inches deep in the road.

28:56

My car was... three blocks

28:58

away. It was nothing to

29:00

do now, but get there.

29:02

Holy nope, in the restaurant's

29:05

door, I immediately felt an

29:07

intense wave of humid air

29:09

wash over me. My clothes

29:11

instantly wet. The rain was

29:13

actually painful. A thousand tiny

29:16

needles pelting me as I

29:18

stepped into the flooded street.

29:20

The clouds were a cancerous

29:22

mixture of black and yellow

29:25

spider-wept with near constant flashes

29:27

of lightening. I'd never seen

29:29

anything like it. The scale

29:31

of the storm was such

29:33

it made everything around me

29:36

seem insubstantial. The office park

29:38

reduced to the set of

29:40

a cheap disaster movie. In

29:42

the corridors between buildings, wind

29:45

blew the rain into great

29:47

solid walls like giants on

29:49

the march. My shoes were

29:51

water logs squelching with every

29:53

step. Even worse was my

29:56

jacket a soaked through albatross

29:58

I didn't. discarded halfway down

30:00

the block from knoggles. At

30:02

this point, I couldn't possibly

30:04

get more wet and without

30:07

it, I was at least

30:09

10 pounds lighter. Back at

30:11

the car, I slumped into

30:13

the driver's seat soaking it

30:16

with my ruined clothes. Somehow,

30:18

the rain had gotten even

30:20

heavier and turning the wipers

30:22

on to their maximum setting

30:24

barely made any difference at

30:27

all. Carefully, I

30:29

noses my Corsica out of

30:31

the lot, squinting to see

30:33

anything at all through the

30:36

deluge. The clouds were knit

30:38

together in a single squamous

30:40

mass, scales separated by strobing

30:43

flashes of multi-colored lightning. Out

30:45

on the state road, the

30:47

wind was worse and my

30:49

car bucked constantly. Tires fighting

30:52

for traction as it was

30:54

pushed relentlessly to one side.

30:56

I gripped the wheel as

30:58

tight as I could. trying

31:01

to stay between where I

31:03

imagined the yellow lines to

31:05

be. Not a single vehicle

31:07

passed the entire time, and

31:10

I knew something was deeply,

31:12

possibly permanently wrong. This wasn't

31:14

just a store. It was

31:17

an apocalypse. I wasn't sure

31:19

there was anywhere safe to

31:21

take my family. I just

31:23

knew I needed to get

31:26

to them. A

31:28

burst of static from the radio

31:30

startled me enough. I let go

31:32

of the wheel just for a

31:35

moment, but it was long enough.

31:37

The world spun, and I felt

31:40

the tires lose traction as the

31:42

car began to hydroplane. I retook

31:44

control of the wheel and pulled

31:47

my foot off the accelerator gently

31:49

tapping the brake. It didn't help,

31:51

and the car whipped out of

31:54

control. I closed

31:56

my eyes and tensed, waiting

31:58

for a collision with either

32:00

on coming from the guardrail,

32:03

but neither happened. Instead, I

32:05

opened my eyes to bright

32:07

sunshine and wide open cornfields.

32:09

The wipers were still beating

32:11

a frantic tattoo on the

32:14

windshield, but it was no

32:16

longer any rain. I could

32:18

still see drops on the

32:20

side windows, but it wasn't

32:22

coming from the sky anymore.

32:25

My ears rang and a

32:27

sudden quiet. The soft beep

32:29

of a horn startled me

32:31

and I looked out the

32:34

driver's side window to see

32:36

a black forerunner pulled up.

32:38

The driver was a woman

32:40

I vaguely recognized as a

32:42

cashier from one of the

32:45

local supermarkets and she was

32:47

saying something I couldn't make

32:49

out so I rolled down

32:51

my window. I'm sorry, what?

32:53

I asked. I said, are

32:56

you okay? She replied, do

32:58

you need help. Looked at

33:00

her completely dumbfounded. Do you?

33:02

She frowned, taking in my

33:04

soaked clothes before giving me

33:07

a look that suggested she

33:09

thought I was either drunk

33:11

or high. You're the one

33:13

facing the wrong way. You

33:15

need help getting home? My

33:18

brain was completely fogged. How

33:20

was she acting so normally?

33:22

Wasn't this the end of

33:24

the world? The storm,

33:27

I said. Where's the storm? She

33:29

pulled back a little. No one

33:31

wants to be partied, a drunk

33:33

driving, I guess. Look, it's none

33:35

of my business, but maybe you

33:37

should pull over and sleep it

33:39

off a little before you drive

33:42

on. Hey, at the end of

33:44

the month, the stateies are going

33:46

to be looking to write all

33:48

the tickets they can. I just

33:50

looked at her. You take care

33:52

now. With that, she rolled up

33:55

her window and drove off. I

33:57

sat there for a moment, listening

33:59

to the trip of rain. water

34:01

from my sleeves down onto the

34:03

console next to me. Fear

34:33

Daily is an independent podcast

34:35

hosted by Brandon Shexnider and

34:37

written by Brennan Store with

34:40

Joanna Smith serving as the

34:42

consulting editor audio production by

34:45

Rachel Boyd and sound design

34:47

by Southern Gothic media This

34:50

podcast is a work of

34:52

fiction Names characters places and

34:54

incidents are either products of

34:57

the authors imagination or are

34:59

used fictitiously Any resemblance to

35:02

actual persons, living or dead,

35:04

or to real events or

35:07

locations, is entirely coincidental. Add-free

35:09

versions of Fear Daily are

35:11

available now on your favorite

35:14

podcast apps. For more information,

35:16

visit Fear Daily.com. But move

35:19

fast, before the server goes

35:21

offline. The

35:30

Fable and Falling Network,

35:32

where fiction producers flourish.

35:35

Hello, hello, I'm Malique. I'm Jamie. And this is

35:37

World Gone Wrong, where we discussed the unprecedented times

35:40

we're living through. Can your manager still schedule you

35:42

for night shifts after that where we'll bet you?

35:44

My ex-boyfriend was replaced by an alien body snatcher,

35:46

but I think I like him better now. Who

35:49

is this dude? Showing up in everyone's old pictures.

35:51

My friend says the sewer alligators are reading maps

35:53

now. When did the cuts who start making that

35:55

humming sound? We are are just

35:57

your normal millennial roommates processing

36:00

our feelings about a

36:02

chaotic world in front of

36:04

some microphones world in

36:06

front of some new

36:08

fiction podcast from fiction podcast

36:10

from creators of Creative Creators of

36:13

Unwell a Midwestern Gothic more Learn

36:15

audacious machine creative Creative.com Find

36:17

gone wrong in all

36:19

the regular places. You

36:21

find you find podcasts I you so

36:24

much I mean you could like up the

36:26

energy a I up take

36:28

notes I actually don't take notes. That was

36:31

good. I'm just just kidding

36:33

you sounded great great. Sited you.