Mirror, Mirror

Mirror, mirror on the wall, pretending that you see it all.

Yet if I ask,

when comes the storm,

you only riddle, but never warn.

You're listening to Spooked.

Stay tuned.

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I'm gonna put you on, nephew.

All right, um, welcome to McDonald's.

Can I take your order?

Miss, I've been hitting up McDonald's for years.

Now it's back.

We need snack wraps.

What's a snack wrap?

It's the return of something great.

Snack wrap is back.

We all have that piece.

You know the one.

The thing that's so you, you've basically become known for it.

And if you don't have yours yet, you'll find it on eBay.

Let me put you on Fashionistas.

eBay is where you'll find those one-of-a-kind, can't stop researching, stay-up dreaming about pieces.

Again and again, I'm talking that Mew Mew off-the-runway red leather bomber, the Custo Barcelona top with the cowboy on it, or that Patagonia fleece in the 2017 colorway.

All these finds are on eBay, and they even offer millions of main character pieces backed by authenticity guarantee.

eBay is the place for pre-loved and vintage fashion.

eBay, things people love.

There's this guy,

kind of on the periphery of my social circle.

A lot of my friends knew him.

Oh, you two should meet, folks would say.

You guys would get along so great.

Okay.

Whatever, whatever, whatever.

But finally, one Sunday morning at a backyard brunch, he comes through.

And they're all smiling at this guy.

Acting all happy and huggy when he spreads love.

They introduce him to me.

Firm handshake, eye contact, big grin, the whole Sarade.

But I don't pay it any, never mind, because instantly, I know, deep down in my soul, I know that this guy is a monster.

I know it.

I know it like I know the sun's going to rise in the morning.

I know it.

So,

yeah.

I shake his hand.

Nice to meet you.

I don't say anything.

I don't let him know I see his truth because I got all the time in the world

he's gonna slip up true color is gonna come out so I wait

some people even ask me

seems like you don't like him

whatever gave you that idea

I don't know what you're talking about

Then I go back to Michigan for an event, go out for pizza and beer with some old friends from high school,

and I freeze when I see a man working behind the counter.

And I have a flashback.

This is the same kid who shoved me in a garbage can in seventh grade.

The guy who literally waited in the bushes to beat me up and take my lunch money.

The guy who painted the N-word on my locker and jammed pencils into my lock in high school so I couldn't get my stuff out right before a big exam.

But that's not what's crazy.

what's crazy is that this guy looks an awful lot like that dude back home

and now i know why i hated him at first glance it wasn't him

it was me

transference based on a superficial resemblance my certain intuition

My premonition

was wrong.

And it almost cost me dearly because since then,

this guy, Cisco, has become one of my best and closest friends.

One of my deepest male relationships.

And I almost missed out on our friendship because he kind of looks like my childhood tormentor.

And I tell you this as someone who's learned to trust his inner voice.

Someone that pays attention to signs that others might discard.

Intuition, premonition, that sudden apprehension, the sick sense.

I listen to it,

I heed it,

which is great

until it isn't.

Spook stars

now.

the colour

Signs, wonders.

We all want to know what the future holds.

We all want this peak over the mountaintop.

And our next storyteller has asked to remain anonymous.

But let me just tell you a little bit about her.

She was very close to her grandparents as she grew up.

In fact, they lived right around the corner from the home she shared with her mother and father.

Spooked.

My grandfather was

he was very loving.

He talked a lot to my mom because he would come over in the morning and they would sit at the kitchen table and have a cup of coffee before they started their day.

Tuesdays, he would go to the local bread company because they would give away these little bread samples.

And I liked cute little things, and he'd always pick me up one.

So Tuesday was bread day.

I was sick a lot as a

kid, and I was in bed a lot.

My bedroom was right off the kitchen, and he'd pop his head in to see how I was doing.

And he'd give me a nod and a thumbs up.

We were very close, and after he passed away, I felt a huge hole was just ripped out of my life.

I would hide in the closet and not talk to anybody because

there's nothing to say.

I was just really sad and depressed.

My mom was sad, my dad was sad.

The world was just sad.

One night, I just couldn't sleep.

And then I just felt something.

I can't say if it was a breeze or just a mental feeling.

But I looked up and in the doorway was my grandfather.

How he had always been wearing his clothes, poking his head in.

He had a smile.

He gave me the thumbs up that he used to give me when he was around.

And he winked.

And then he withdrew.

And I ran to the doorway, and there was nothing there.

And then I felt better.

I was still sad, but I wasn't depressed.

I told my grandma, she said that she had seen him too, and she said that it was a good thing not to worry, not to be scared by it, but it was his way of

coming back to let

the people who were still here know that he was okay.

After my grandfather passed, my grandmother moved in with my family.

I was in first grade.

And because

we had a smaller house,

she moved into my room and we shared a room together for several years.

It was less

an

authority figure and a child and it

morphed a little bit into

girlfriends

because at night she would talk to me,

talk about hopes, dreams.

We kind of became just

chatty.

During the morning hours, she would ask me about outfits, what to wear.

She would provide fashion chips.

For instance, if you find a pair of shoes of one color that you like, it's better to buy all five.

If you have a workhorse, it's always better to buy a backup.

Or she would sit at the kitchen table and apply her makeup and always say, no, always wear lipstick.

You may not feel good on the inside, but nobody wants to see that, so look good on the outside.

By the time I was in my

early 30s, I was already moved out of the house.

I had been working.

I

got married.

My husband lived in a different city.

I moved to his city and I just didn't see her as much.

Support for Spooked comes from Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport.

OAK offers non-stop flights to your favorite destinations across the U.S.

and Mexico with new non-stop flights to Los Cabos and Zacatecas.

OAK makes travel easy with Park OAK's convenient parking options.

Reserve a spot in the daily lot or economy lot and save on your next trip.

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Welcome to the land of Sloquel, where there's no limit to the things you can do.

Go down to the beach, take an outdoor adventure tour, or unwind at one of our many gorgeous wineries.

No matter your vibe, we're all connected by one harmonious local spirit.

Because in Sloque, life's too beautiful to rush.

Start planning your trip today at slowcal.com.

I'm going to put you on, nephew.

All right, um.

Welcome to McDonald's.

Can I take your order?

Miss, I've been hitting up McDonald's for years.

Now it's back.

We need snack wraps.

What's a snack wrap?

It's the return of something great.

Snack wrap is back.

We all have that piece.

You know the one.

The thing that's so you, you've basically become known for it.

And if you don't have yours yet, you'll find it on eBay.

Let me put you on Fashionistas.

eBay is where you'll find those one-of-a-kind, can't stop researching, stay-up dreaming about pieces.

Again and again, I'm talking that Mew Mew Off-the-runway red leather bomber, the Custo Barcelona top with the cowboy on it, or that Patagonia fleece in the 2017 colorway.

All these finds are on eBay, and they even offer millions of main character pieces backed by authenticity guarantee.

eBay is the place for pre-loved and vintage fashion.

eBay, things people love.

We flew in to spend Christmas and New Year's with my family.

And it was probably a day or two after Christmas.

There wasn't anything scheduled or planned.

Everyone was just sitting around talking, watching television.

And I was sitting on the couch

with my grandmother,

and she was just

different.

Usually, she's the focus of the room, she's the family matriarch.

She has opinions, she gives them freely,

and people listen.

But

she was very

quiet very pale

she wasn't part of the conversation she wasn't bubbling so I asked her how she was feeling what was the matter

she says that she's tired and

I said, I'm sorry to hear that.

Are you sick?

Have you been getting enough sleep?

And she said, No, not like that.

I'm just tired.

I'm done.

I'm alone.

She named off some of her friends who had passed away.

She said, I miss your grandfather, and I think it's time.

I'm ready to move on.

So So, I was very taken aback by that because I didn't want her to feel that way.

And I asked her, What do you mean?

How do you know?

She looks at me and she said,

I saw myself.

I had on your grandfather's watch,

and I pointed to it, and I was

happy,

And I know that it's time.

She saw herself in another room of the house where she was alone.

She saw herself standing in front of her.

My grandfather's watch.

She had it.

She was wearing it.

It was a watch she had given to him, whose watch he was buried with.

She just saw it as that was a gift between them, and that was a symbol for her.

I was

very scared of what would happen next.

I didn't want her to do anything

to speed up or to take matters in her own hands, but I was just quiet

and

it sat with me because

I believed her.

I didn't question it because

I saw myself too.

At the time, it's my last year of grad school.

I am going to Germany to visit a friend.

Part of me wished that he was a little bit more than a friend.

So I was kind of excited that he had invited me to come visit him.

So over the summer, I had looked into flights.

I had found a flight that would have taken me first to Switzerland and then to Germany.

I started packing three weeks before the trip

and I did some shopping and bought a new pair of shoes.

I got an outfit for the plane.

A pair of like those Abercrombie boyfriend jeans.

This white button-down shirt.

And this

black cardigan

knit blazer.

I thought it looked kind of funky.

But it wouldn't wrinkle and I thought it would make me a little bit more proper.

Maybe I'd have a chance of getting an upgrade.

But if I didn't, I could use it as a blanket.

I kind of went about it strategic because

I wanted to look good.

It's two weeks before the trip.

I generally went to bed, you know, 10 o'clock, 10:30,

but just something was

bothering me.

I didn't know if I'd forgotten something for work,

if I was worried about school.

I was going through all the things that potentially could be in the back of my head that would cause me to not be able to sleep.

And

nothing.

One o'clock, two o'clock in the morning.

I decided to

get up.

I left my bedroom,

went into the bathroom, splashed some water on my face, had a drink of water.

And I felt a little bit more at ease.

I didn't feel so restless, so I thought, I don't know what it was, let it go, count sheep.

It's about

probably

four or five steps from the bathroom door into the bedroom.

And when I walk into the room and I turn

I saw myself

sitting on the bed was me

I was sitting

on my bed

But more than that, it was a really weird, awful me because

I was wearing an outfit, the one that I had bought to wear on the airplane.

And I had never worn it before, and I was wearing it,

but it was

wet.

There were burn marks all over it.

And then me,

I was wet.

And my hair was like all raggedy and my face was

burned and I was opening my mouth as if I was trying to talk.

But no sounds were coming out.

It was almost like a fish.

You know, open, close, open, close.

I was just hit by this wave of sadness and dread and regret.

It was surreal.

It was

me.

Every part of it.

Just as if I was looking in a mirror, but a

weird, twisted mirror.

I was scared.

I didn't know if my mind was going or

what

is

this

happening,

but

I wasn't dreaming.

I took a step back, I kind of blinked my eyes, shook my head, and then

over.

Everything was back the way it was.

It was just my bed.

It was just my room.

I looked all around too.

I looked under the bed, looked behind the curtains.

Is someone playing a trick on me?

Was it a prank?

I ran into

the living room, and the outfit was right where I had left it on the edge of the couch,

straightened out, tags still on it.

Jeans, shirt, laser.

Support for Spooked comes from Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport.

OAK offers non-stop flights to your favorite destinations across the U.S.

and Mexico with new non-stop flights to Los Cabos and Zacatecas.

OAK makes travel easy with Park OAK's convenient parking options.

Reserve a spot in the daily lot or economy lot and save on your next trip.

Learn more at iflyoak.com, the best way to San Francisco Bay.

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Welcome to the land of Slo-Cal, where there's no limit to the things you can do.

Go down to the beach, take an outdoor adventure tour, or unwind at one of our many gorgeous wineries.

No matter your vibe, we're all connected by one harmonious local spirit.

Because in Slowcal, life's too beautiful to rush.

Start planning your trip today at Slocal.com.

Oh, watch your step.

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Dark.

I know, right?

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Flame.

What movie is that?

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I'm gonna put you on, nephew.

I don't fuck on McDonald's.

Can I take your order?

Miss, I've been hitting up McDonald's for years.

Now it's back.

We need snack wraps.

What's a snack wrap?

It's the return of something great.

Snack rap is back.

One of the first things that

popped into my head was

don't get on that flight.

The flight I had booked, I knew that

something bad

would happen

if I got on that

plane.

I thought it and then I said it to nothing.

Just out in the air, I realized I am not getting on that flight.

And once I said it,

I felt better because then I went to bed, I went to sleep, and I fell right to sleep.

When I got up in the morning, there was no indication of anything that had happened the night before.

I

took a shower,

made some breakfast, and I turned on my computer

and I started to look at alternate flights.

And

I priced out a new itinerary that had me leaving on the same

day,

flying

pretty much the same hours.

And with canceling the flight that I had, rebooking this new flight, it was a $50 savings, so I actually came out ahead.

I called my friend, said, Hey, I bought a new flight.

I explained it to him by saying,

I wasn't feeling the other flight,

and this came up, and it's a lot less expensive.

He said, Oh, yeah, no, I totally understand.

We'll work it out, that's fine.

I'm happy you're still coming.

I was worried that you were gonna say you weren't coming.

It's weird, I didn't think, Don't go on the trip.

My thought was, don't get on that flight,

and

I didn't think anything more of it.

The day the trip starts,

I had to take two planes.

I had a layover in London,

and when we get

to London, you have the televisions at various spots.

I noticed that

there are some people who look upset, who are watching the television.

The flight attendants are off to my side with their heads together conversing.

And I walk over to one of

the televisions and it's a report on a plane that had gone down while our plane was in the air.

And it was the flight that I was supposed to be on.

There was a fire on the plane,

and it lost altitude, and it crashed into the ocean.

And that's kind of how I had looked.

My clothes were burnt, but I was wet

sitting on the bed.

I didn't have a lot of time to stand there and process because I had to catch another flight that was in a different

building.

I watched as much as I could,

and then I just hurried on to the

bus or shuttle.

I don't even remember what it was that took me to the next terminal.

Got in line,

got in the flight, and just

was tired,

sad,

dumbstruck.

What do you do?

There's nothing you can do.

And then when I got to Germany and my friend picked me up, I said, did you see what happened?

And he said, no, what happened?

I said, that flight I was on, it crashed.

His response was, wow, your frugalness saved you.

I think people, you know, graveyard gallows humor try to make the most of it.

Once it was out in the open, there wasn't anything really left to say.

He's like, well, I'm glad you're here.

Like, I'm glad I'm here too.

Nine years later, my grandma was confiding in me.

She saw herself.

And I just understood that I respected her privacy, that if she had wanted to tell someone, she would have talked to my mom, she would have talked to my sister.

But for whatever reason, I was the person she confided in, and I kept her confidence.

She had a stroke two months later.

It's as if she didn't fight it.

Her vitals never got

better.

She was moved into hospice care.

I sat down next to her bed, talked to her, you know, said goodbye, and she passed privately, which is what she wanted.

I didn't tell anybody that I saw myself.

They all think I was a cheapscape.

I've never really like talk-tocked about it.

I told everybody it was to save $50.

And that's a story that everybody

knows.

But it wasn't just to save $50.

It was because of what I saw.

And what did I see?

What I saw, and no one else saw anything.

Or did people see it and ignore it?

So I don't really bring it up because you want to make people feel uncomfortable.

And I wasn't going to say,

oh, I was really on the flight.

I saw it happen.

It doesn't make any sense to anybody but me who it happened to.

I like to say that in my

interactions with people, it's made me a kinder person,

but I don't know that it has

or that I'm going to take better care of my body.

My addiction to pop-tarts probably would lead to a different conclusion.

And you you want to say that something like that

changed you so fundamentally

that it

doesn't.

There's certain things you can change, certain things you can be mindful of,

but life

things happen.

Sometimes my grandma would say stuff happens for a reason and I always hated when she said that because

what was the reason for it?

I think it's more just

things happen and we don't have a good explanation for it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for sharing your story, folks.

Today's storyteller is a spooked listener who reached out to tell us her story.

We love hearing your stories.

If you have one to tell, reach out spooked at snapjudgment.org.

The original score for that story was by Leon Morimocho.

It was produced by Chris Kembrick.

Now, Now, spooksters, we walk this path together, spooked season six.

And do you yourself possess an inexplicable power?

Do you have contact with forces beyond the normal realm of experience and you can't tell anyone about it?

Well, tell me,

because I want to know.

Spooked at snapjudgment.org, because there is nothing better than a spook story from a spooked listener.

Let us know, spooked at snapjudgment.org.

And to tell the dark side that you spooked, best to do with some spook gear.

The t-shirt of your dreams available right now at snapjudgment.org.

And remember, if you'd like your storytelling under the bright light of day, get the amazing, the stupendous Snap Judgment podcast because it's storytelling with a beat.

Spook was created by the team that knows the future is a liar.

Except, of course, for Mark Ristich, he believes anything the Magic 8 Ball says.

There's Anna Sussman, Chief Spookster, Eliza Smith, Chris Hambrick, Annie Nguyen, Lauren Newsom, Leon Warimocho, Davey Kim, Renzo Gorio, Teo DeCott, Marissa Dodge, Zoe Fergno, Tiffany DeLiza, Ann Ford, Doug Stewart, and Isaiah Sims.

The spook theme song is by Pat and Stephen Miller.

My name is from Washington.

And you may have heard it said that not just people, but spirits, shades, specters, entities, gin are all attracted to a warm heart.

Some go further to suggest that thoughts, feelings, memories, sensations can also travel of their own accord with their own agendas.

There are very few means we have to filter out the benign from the evil.

Which is why I suggest to use the most basic tool we do have

and never,

ever,

never, ever, never, ever, never

turn out

the lights.

Support for Spooked comes from Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport.

OAK offers non-stop flights to your favorite favorite destinations across the U.S.

and Mexico with new non-stop flights to Los Cabos and Zacatecas.

OAK makes travel easy with Park OAK's convenient parking options.

Reserve a spot in the daily lot or economy lot and save on your next trip.

Learn more at iflyoak.com, the best way to San Francisco Bay.

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That's automation-driven finance.

That's JP Morgan Payments.

JP Morgan, internal data 2024, copyright 2025, JP Morgan Chase Company, all rights reserved, JP Morgan Chase Bank, and a member, FDIC.

Deposits held in non-U.S.

branches are not FDIC insured.

Non-deposit products are not FDIC insured.

This is not a legal commitment for credit or services.

Availability varies.

Eligibility determined by JPMorgan Chase.

Visit jpmorgan.com/slash payments disclosure for details.

Welcome to the land of Slo Cal, where there's no limit to the things you can do.

Go down to the beach, take an outdoor adventure tour, or unwind at one of our many gorgeous wineries.

No matter your vibe, we're all connected by one harmonious local spirit.

Because in SlowCal, life's too beautiful to rush.

Start planning your trip today at SloCal.com.

Oh, watch your step.

Wow, your attic is so dark.

Dark.

I know, right?

It's the perfect place to stream horror movies.

What movie is that?

I haven't pressed play yet.

ATNC Fiber with Al-Fi covers your whole house, even your really, really creepy attic turned home theater.

Jimmy, what have I told you about scaring our guests?

Get ATT fiber with Al-Fi and live like a gagillionaire.

Limited availability coverage may require extenders at additional charge.

I'm gonna put you on, nephew.

All right, huh.

Welcome to McDonald's.

Can I take your order?

Miss, I've been hitting up McDonald's for years.

Now it's back.

We need snack wraps.

What's a snack rap?

It's the return of something great.

Snack wrap is back.