recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
"Molten"

Illustration by Unka Odya

**"Molten"** is the fourth tale in the thirteenth episode of the seventh season of the Nolseep Podcast. In it, a man watches his friend's superstitious daughter. It is a companion piece to the popular "Search and Rescue" series. Written by Kerry H., it has a runtime of 9:00 and was performed by Mike DelGaudio and Jessica McEvoy. It is the 832nd tale overall on the podcast.

## Summary

The SAR officer sometimes lets a coworker's daughter, Ash, stay at his house over the weekend so her mother can go on trips. Ash likes to sleep in a tent in the living room, with the officer sleeping in the bedroom down the hall.

During one stay, Ash comes into his room and says she can't sleep because the "shiny man" is reflecting light into her eyes and is noisy. The officer waits for her to fall asleep and puts her back in the tent, thinking the man she mentioned was a nightmare.

On the next stay, Ash enters the room and asks for a blanket to give to the shiny man. The officer gives her one and she goes to the window, telling the man he can have it. The officer asks who the shiny man is, concerned that it may be his coworker's deadbeat ex-boyfriend trying to stalk his daughter, but Ash says he's neither her friend or her mom's. He comes down from the tops of the trees and stands at the window, crying about how cold he is.

The officer asks why she describes the man as "shiny". Ash goes to the kitchen and contorts her face into a grimace before pressing a piece of tinfoil over half of it. She explains he looks like the impression, except the metal is watery and he sometimes spits it out.

Ash leaves the next morning and the officer does research, discovering that molten metal destroys nerve endings in skin and leaves an unbearable sense of coldness behind. Ash still comes over frequently and the shiny man still visits, but the officer gets in the habit of wearing earplugs when he sleeps.

## Cast

Mike DelGaudio as the officer

Jessica McEvoy as Ash
"The Bird Box"

**"The Bird Box"** is the fourth tale in the eleventh episode of the eleventh season of The Nolseep Podcast. Written by T. Michael Argent, it has a runtime of 14:00 and was read by Jessica McEvoy, Nikolle Doolin, and David Cummings. It is the 1344th tale overall on the podcast.

## Summary

A girl and her parents live on a house by the edge of the forest. Because they are poor, the girl doesn't have many toys. Her favorite is her mother's "bird box", a wooden box that issues forth bird calls when opened, despite the fact it doesn't seem to be electrical.

While playing in the woods one day, the girl notices a crow in a tree. Despite the fact that it opens its beak, no cawing comes out. When she goes home, she finds her mother sprawled on the sofa, crying, having just had a violent argument with her father. When she plays the bird box, a crow's caws issue forth.

A few days later, the girl sneaks out of bed to listen to her parents argue. The father reveals he has been cheating on the mother, much to her anger. He fights with her and storms out. She yells one last insult out the window, which causes him to come back in and attack her. A crash is heard and the father's voice is suddenly cut off. The girl runs back into bed and cries herself to sleep.

Going out in the morning, the mother tells her the father has left and won't be coming back. The girl notices the bird box is missing and asks where it is. The mother says the father broke it on his way out. While she's getting ready, the girl notices a dirty shovel lying near the edge of the woods. On the way out of the house, she discovers a bloody knife in the garbage can.

The girl and her mother move away to the city. In the present, the mother dies of cancer and the girl, now a young woman, inherits all her possessions. Digging through an old suitcase, she finds the bird box. When she opens it, her father's screams as her mother stabs him to death issue forth.

## Cast

Jessica McEvoy as the girl

Nikolle Doolin as the mother

David Cummings as the father
"A Canister from the Ashes"

Illustration by Abby Howard

**"A Canister from the Ashes"** is the second tale in the seventh episode of the eleventh season of the Nolseep Podcast. In it, a boy finds an odd thing in a burned-down house. Written by William Dalphin, it has a runtime of 12:15 and was performed by Kyle Akers, Erika Sanderson, Alexis Bristowe, Jeff Clement, and Elie Hirschman. It is the 1323rd tale overall on the podcast.

## Summary

A boy and his brothers are allowed to play in the woods behind their house. Deep in the trees is the remains of a burnt-down house, which is full of junk. The boys sometimes go there to search for treasure. One day, the boy finds a small, cylindrical container. A twig snaps somewhere, startling them. They run home, taking the cylinder with them. They try to open it a few times but are unsuccessful.

A few days later, the boy's friend, James, comes over and manages to get the lid off. Inside is a gloopy, thick mixture that smells like soap. Disgusted, they hide the cylinder in a hollow rock on the edge of the woods.

The next day, the boy stays home alone while the rest of the family goes out. A strange woman in a large overcoat comes to the side door and asks to see the boy's parents. Frightened, he says they are not home and refuses to open the door. She knocks for a while before going away. While at recess the next day, the boy chases a ball into the bushes and sees the woman beckoning him from the road. The nauseating smell permeates from her direction.

The next day, the scent seems to cling to him the entire time he is at school. Going to the rock afterwards to get the jar, he finds the woman standing there applying the contents to her face. Where she hasn't applied it, the skin is red and blistered. She says he took her makeup and that she can't go out without it. The rest of her body is horribly burned. The woman goes to grab the boy and he runs screaming back to the house.

The boy's mother asks him why he is screaming, and he tells her. Soon, the whole house runs down to the rock, but the woman is gone, with the remnants of the makeup jar shattered on the stones.

A few weeks later, the boy and his brother go back to the burnt-down house. In the rubble, he finds a smoked photograph of a man and the woman in the overcoat. A pair of hands suddenly clamp down on his shoulders. The siblings flee screaming and hide in the trees until dark, when they go back home. They never return to the house in the woods.

## Cast

Kyle Akers as the boy

Erika Sanderson as the woman

Alexis Bristowe as the boy's mother

Jeff Clement as James

Elie Hirschman as the boy's brother
"The Death of a Monstrosity"

**"The Death of a Monstrosity"** is the first tale in the sixteenth episode of the tenth season of the Nosleep Podcast. In it, a woman takes a top-secret government job. Written by Manen Lyset, it has a runtime of 13:19 and was performed by Erin Lillis, Addison Peacock, Kyle Akers, and Dan Zappulla. It is the 1242nd tale overall on the podcast.

## Summary

A woman, desperate for money, agrees to take on a top-secret job at a facility. After going through a background check and getting security clearance, she is instructed to head to the facility, where she will stay for two months.

On the day of her departure, she is picked up at her house by a guard in dark van with tinted windows. After a few hours of driving, they arrive at the facility, which is disguised with vines and leaves to make it invisible from the air. Entering the elevator lobby, she is greeted by a woman, Dr. Evelyn Sparrow, who takes her down to the basement level she will be working in.

Just as they go to enter, the woman hears strange calls and garbled words she can't recognize. Dr. Sparrow takes her to a large, cavernous room where a gigantic severed inhuman head is connected to wires. The head's mouth continually makes sounds and stares at the researchers accusingly.

A scientist tells the workers to begin the injection. Several researchers bring out a large syringe filled with acid, which they inject into the head's ear. It begins spasming, pink liquid leaking out of its nose and ears, before falling still. Dr. Sparrow and the others begin to cheer and hug each other. Unknown to them, the head begins slightly twitching again.

The woman flees the facility and runs down a path in the woods before making her way to a highway, where she hitchhikes home. No one from the project contacts her again. Weeks later, she decides to drive back to the facility to see what happened.

When she arrives she finds all the workers' cars still in the parking lot, damaged and covered in debris. There are large footprints in the ground with several fallen trees. After hearing strange noises coming from the forest, she gets back in her car and drives away.

## Cast

Erin Lillis as the woman

Addison Peacock as Dr. Evelyn Sparrow

Kyle Akers as the head

Dan Zappulla as the scientist

## Notes

* In the original text post, Dr. Evelyn Sparrow is named "Doctor Addison".
"He Howls at the Moon"

**"He Howls at the Moon"** is the third tale in the sixteenth episode of the seventh season of the Nolseep Podcast. In it, a man notices the strange behavior of his neighbor. Written by Manen Lyset, it has a runtime of 13:10 and was performed by James Cleveland and Erika Sanderson. It is the 849th tale overall on the podcast.

## Summary

A man lives in a small village in Norfolk, England. Though he loves his town, he despises the tourists that arrive there in droves, not knowing of the curse that befalls the village every generation or so. Cattle go missing or are found with their throats ripped out, followed by howls and banging noises coming from outside the houses. Then, someone in the village goes crazy.

The man wakes up one night to see an acquaintance, Arran Cox, naked in his field howling at the moon. The moon is overtaken by clouds. Shortly after, Arran gets up and walks away as if nothing happened. The man initially writes off the encounter as a drunken flight of fancy, but is suspicious after he questions Arran's wife Elizabeth and she dodges his questions.

The next night, more howls come from the fields, echoing around the valley. The man closes his shutters and waits them out. The next day, he goes around town asking if anyone has gone missing or any cattle has been slaughtered. A few people had chickens killed, but they wrote the attack off as foxes. He questions Elizabeth again, who says Arann was home with her.

That night, the man hears his cows screeching from the barn. He enters and finds his prized milker, Betsy, lying dead with her throat cut. In the corner of the stall is Arann, with glowing yellow eyes but no other lycanthropic traits. He howls and bounds away on all fours.

The man angrily visits the Cox household, pounding on the door until Elizabeth answers and demands an explanation. She brings up the old curse and pleads with the man to not tell anyone, as there's nothing Arann can do about it and the afflication will pass soon enough. He agrees.

A few nights later, the man awakens naked in a field with blood and chicken feathers around his mouth. He looks up at the moon and admires its beauty and his need to call to it.

## Cast

James Cleveland as the man

Erika Sanderson as Elizabeth
"Radio Silence"

**"Radio Silence"** is the second tale in the first episode of the fifth season of the Nolseep Podcast. In it, a boy is crushed by his friend's death. Written by M.N. Malone, it has a runtime of 13:00 and was performed by Rock Manor. It is the 490th tale overall on the podcast.

## Summary

A boy and his next-door-neighbor, Kieran, grow up together and become best friends, almost like brothers. Their families have known each other for quite some time so they are very close. One of their favorite games to play is spy-soldiers, where they run and hide around the neighborhood imitating the sounds of birds and animals.

One Christmas when they turn eight, both the families pool some money to buy the boys a pair of military-grade walkie-talkies. Enthralled by the gifts, the boy and Kieran up their spy-solider game by taking the devices with them wherever they go. The boy works as the scout, running forward and checking for danger. Kieran then radios in asking if it's safe to come out yet, then follows him.

A few years pass and the boys gradually stop playing soldiers but still talk on the walkie-talkies from their rooms. One night, the pair agree to meet in the middle of the road that runs by their houses at midnight. The boy almost oversleeps and wakes up in time to see Kieran climb out of his window and run into the street, only to be hit and killed by a passing truck.

The next few days are a blur, with the funeral and memorial service being particularly hard. The boy manages to convince Kieran's parents to bury him with his walkie-talkie so they can still communicate. For the next few years, the boy will visit the cemetery occasionally and talk to his friend about how his life is going. Eventually, he stops talking into the device altogether but still keeps it.

The boy graduates high school and prepares to leave for college. He visits Kieran's grave one last time and wonders how much different his life would be had his friend lived, if they would have moved next door to each other and had families of their own. He places the walkie-talkie by the headstone and begins to walk away. Moments later, a distorted voice comes from the speaker, asking if it's safe to come out yet.
"The Late Bus"

**"The Late Bus"** is the third tale in the twelfth episode of the fourteenth season of the Nolseep Podcast. In it, a bus driver encounters a strange child. Written by Mark Winston, it has a runtime of 12:35 and was performed by C.H. Williamson. It is the 120th tale overall on the podcast.

## Summary

A driver gets a job at a middle school, driving the late bus. It is his responsibility to return to the school a few hours after dismissal to pick up kids that have extracurricular activities. Since he started the job in winter, it's usually dark by the time he gets there.

One afternoon, a pale boy is the fist to board the bus. He is slouched over and doesn't responded when the driver asks what his stop is. Instead, he sits silently at the back. Looking in the rearview mirror, he realizes the boy isn't there, but when he looks back, he is. Terrified, the driver waits until all the other kids board and drops them off at their stops. Returning to the station, he hears a thunk and turns to see the boy is gone, but the window beside him is open. This continues for the next few weeks, almost exactly the same. The boy will board, ignore him, and disappear sometime after the last kid is dropped off. The driver tells no one about this.

One day, the boy boards, only this time he stares at the driver menacingly the entire time. He sits directly behind him, breathing heavily. The route is completed as normal and the bus goes back to the station. This time, the boy doesn't disappear.

When the driver pulls in, the breathing stops and all the windows suddenly open. He flees the bus and looks back to see dozens of children's hands banging against the glass. The next day, he quits his job.
"Night of Darkness, Flames of Blood"

### Narrator(s)

Peter Lewis, Graham Rowat, Mick Wingert, Jessica McEvoy, Dan Zappulla, and Sarah Ruth Thomas

### Next

"Plastic"

**"Night of Darkness, Flames of Blood"** is the first tale in the sixteenth episode of the fourteenth season of the Nosleep Podcast. In it, a spy infiltrates a party. Written by Josh Gauthier, it has a runtime of 20:15 and was performed by Peter Lewis, Graham Rowat, Mick Wingert, Jessica McEvoy, Dan Zappulla, and Sarah Ruth Thomas. It is the 1786th tale overall on the podcast.

The tale is a modern re-imagining of Edgar Allan Poe's 1842 short story "The Masque of the Red Death".

## Summary

In a futuristic city, business mogul Prospero Quast's companies have done more harm than good. Due to the lack of safety regulations at his factories and wealth inequality, most of the population lives in poverty on the streets, disfigured or suffering from disease caused by Quast's ventures.

A series of riots have sprung up in the city, with the lower classes attacking the upper ones. Wanting to protect himself and his business partners, Quast secures himself and hundreds of other elites inside a skyscraper to wait out the attacks. To lighten the mood one night, he decides to hold a lavish masquerade ball with entertainment and performers.

The rioters catch wind of the ball. A spy, disfigured from working in the factories, is hired to infiltrate it. Also attending the party are numerous servers and performers, all lower-class workers who want Quast dead. Dressed in a white suit with a mask, the spy gains entrance on the first floor and goes up to the bar, where the tender gives him a USB stick that can be used to hack the skyscraper's computers.

He travels up and down floors, all draped in various colors and filled with grotesque performers. He chats with a partygoer viewing an armless dancer spinning in ribbons. After he leaves, the dancer gives him an SD card to override the security system.

After getting directions from a popular singer, Cyrilla, the spy heads to the top floor, where the computers are. He hacks the system and disables the locks on all the doors. Shortly afterward, he is confronted by Quast, who tries to defend himself against all the problems in the city. The spy fatally stabs him and holds his head up to the windows, where he can see all the rioters streaming into the building.

## Cast

Peter Lewis as the spy

Graham Rowat as Prospero Quast

Mick Wingert as the partygoer

Jessica McEvoy as the dancer

Dan Zappulla as the bartender

Sarah Ruth Thomas as Cyrilla
"Shreds"

Illustration by Jen Tracy

### Narrator(s)

Addison Peacock, David Cummings, Mick Wingert, Elijah Wood, Peter Lewis, Jamey Jasta, and Jeff Clement

### Next

"Red Meat and Rats"

**"Shreds"** is the second tale in the first episode of the thirteenth season of The Nosleep Podcast. In it, two podcast hosts interview the members of a controversial heavy metal band. Written by D. Williams, it has a runtime of 30:20 and was performed by Addison Peacock, David Cummings, Mick Wingert, Peter Lewis, Jamey Jasta, and Jeff Clement, with a special appearance by actor Elijah Wood. It is the 1552nd tale overall on the podcast.

## Summary

Two podcast hosts, John and Ciara, catch their listeners up on what's been going on in the world of metal music before revealing they've managed to arrange a phone interview with Rob Warren, the lead singer of the controversial band *Blood of Isaac*. He takes the call while driving to bassist Christian Culler's house to pick him up for a rehearsal with the band's other two members, Neil and Louis.

Rob talks about the origins of the band's name. A charismatic cult leader, Isaac Miller, used to lead a group of people in their hometown years ago. Convinced he was the antichrist, Isaac and his followers would kidnap people, brutally murder them, and have orgies in their blood. Finally caught by the police, he ordered his followers to kill and eat him before he could be arrested, which they did. He claimed he would return one day to start the group again. Although many of the cult members were apprehended by the police, some of them escaped and were never seen again.

After picking up Christian from his house, the interview continues. Christian complains that they've received several threatening emails telling them to stop their Isaac connection and that strange people have been seen in the crowds of their shows.

Rob almost runs over a dog and goes outside to check, before running back to the car and saying it looked deformed and strange. They see more strange dogs on the side of the road and rush to the studio, attempting to call Neil but only getting his voicemail.

Arriving at the studio, they find it ablaze. Over the phone, John and Ciara hear Rob get brutally murdered by unseen figures while Christian flees into the woods with the phone still to his ear. John attempts to call the police but is unable to get a signal while Ciara tries to calm Christian down. He trips, breaks his leg, and begins pleading with a strange man shortly before he is murdered as well. The man then talks into the phone, revealing himself to be Isaac, returned.

John attempts to call the police again, but hears Isaac's voice on that line as well. Ciara slashes his throat when he turns around and Isaac enters the recording booth. Ciara is revealed to be Isaac's daughter, and the pair prepare to begin the cult again.

## Cast

Addison Peacock as Ciara

David Cummings as John

Mick Wingert as Christian Culler

Elijah Wood as Rob Warren

Peter Lewis as Isaac Miller

Jamey Jasta as the podcast intro voice

Jeff Clement as Neil
"Go Back to Sleep, Little Darling"

**"Go Back to Sleep, Little Darling"** is the second tale in the nineteenth episode of the second season of the Nolseep Podcast. In it, a man worries about his daughter's bad dreams. Written by Thomas Thompson, it has a runtime of 8:45 and was performed by Jacob Gallegos. It is the 156th tale overall on the podcast.

## Summary

A father moves into a new house with his daughter, Jessica, shortly after the death of his wife. Jessica takes the loss of her mother hard. On the first night, her father tells her that she can come sleep with him if she has nightmares. Sure enough, he is woken hours later. Jessica says she had a nightmare. He tells her to go back to sleep. She says that's what "the man in the wall" told her.

Scared, the father grabs a baseball bat and heads into his daughter's room, only to find nothing. The next day, Jessica spends all morning talking about the man in the wall. He manages to convince his wife's sister to take her for the day so he can work on the kitchen shelves. However, when he goes to get his toolbelt, he finds it missing. He heads to the hardware store and buys replacements.

After he picks Jessica up that night, she almost refuses to enter the house because she is scared of the man in the wall. However, he manages to convince her to go upstairs to bed. Hours later, he awakens to see a dark silhouette standing at the end of the bed. Jessica is asleep beside him. His eyes adjust to the darkness and he sees an unkempt man holding a claw hammer.
"By the Light of the Firefly"

"By the Light of the Firefly" is the second tale in the second episode of the first season of The Nosleep Podcast. It concerns a boy getting lost in the woods while hunting for fireflies. Written by Luke Weller, it has a running time of 7:51 and was originally performed by David Cummings. It is the 4th tale overall on the podcast.

## Summary

A young boy is left in the care of a babysitter by his mother. However, the sitter frequently leaves and comes back just in time to get her pay. As night falls, he heads outside. He sees fireflies floating in his backyard and decided to go and catch some. He runs out the back door and jumps up to grab them.

The boy sees the largest firefly he has ever seen floating into the woods behind the house. He follows it deep into the woods, trees getting denser and closer together, until the firefly flies up into the air, above the trees. Silhouetted in it's light are many bodies hanging from the branches of the trees.

He hears a thump from off in the distance sees a creature coming after him. and Abandoning the firefly, he runs back in the direction of the house. At one point, he trips, but recovers and makes it back to the house just as his mother is arriving home. After calming the hysterical boy down, his mother sends him up to bed.

He wakes in the middle of the night to a dark figure with a ghastly face hunched over his bed, watching him. He screams and awakens in his mother's arms. The mother goes and investigates the woods the next day, but finds nothing.

Years after the incident, the man is still trying to get over the fact that he got away from the creature.
"The Stairs and the Doorway"

**"The Stairs and the Doorway"** is the first tale in the 1st episode of the 1st season of The Nosleep Podcast. It concerns a man finding an impossible basement underneath a college. Written by Eric Dodd, it has a running time of 25:33 and was read by David Cummings. it is the 1st tale overall on the podcast.

## ​Summary

A young man describes his disadvantaged upbringing and his father's desire to send him to college, on the basis that he wants his son to have what he didn't have growing up. The family is poor, so the dean of a nearby university agrees to let the man attend the school at a discount provided that he keeps his grades up and works as a repairman.

The man settles into his job, which is easy during the summer and autumn months. However, as late December rolls around, he finds himself at a loss of what to do when he is not working. After being given a ring of keys by an older worker, he decides to investigate a new room every night he works.

Eventually, the man reaches the oldest building in the school. He spends his nights exploring some of the rooms until he comes to the basement, where he finds a small metal door behind the boiler. He finds a key on his ring that works and travels inside.

In it, he finds a hallway with a door at the end. Opening this door reveals a set of stairs leading down. The man travels down them until he reaches a hallway lined with doors. Each door leads to an old, abandoned classroom. At the end of this hall is another set of stairs leading down. The man muses that it is impossible for that set of stairs to be there, due to the construction of the school, but goes down these as well.

Each successive hallway reveals more disused classrooms and another set of stairs leading down. The man eventually reaches the bottom of the stairs, where he finds a huge, cavernous room. Armed with only a flashlight for illumination, he makes his way across until coming upon a large metal door with an enormous locking mechanism on it. He finds a key that fits and manages to pull the rusty, dented door open.

Some kind of creature, with too many fingers and wings, rushes out from behind the door and rips into the man. He drops his flashlight and falls unconscious.

When he awakens, he spends an unspecified amount of time crawling around in the dark, trying to find the door that leads to the stairwell. All the while he thinks he hears something moving around the room.

Eventually, the man finds the door and crawls all the way back up the stairs. Dehydrated, injured, and disoriented, he emerges from the building three days after going in. Police are waiting and tell him that there have been several violent deaths that have occurred on and around campus. The police at first think of the man as a suspect, but quickly change their minds when they see the many injuries and messages carved into his flesh.

He tries to tell the police about the creature and the door behind the boiler, but they find nothing, even when the dig behind the bricks.

The man reveals that the creature killed six more people the following week before sadly musing that the creature marked him as a friend for releasing it.
"The Thing in the Fields"

"The Thing in the Fields" is the third tale in the third episode of the first season of The Nosleep Podcast. Written by Joseph Baker, it has a running time of 16:46 and was originally read by David Cummings. It is the 9th tale overall on the podcast.

## Summary

A young boy lives on a farm with his parents. His life is relatively normal, but sometimes, when the family wakes up in the morning, one of their chickens have been slaughtered. They accept this as just coyotes until one day when the boy discovers one of their horses has been badly injured on the leg by something much bigger than a coyote. The boy's father spends the rest of the night stalking the thing that injured the horse, but finds nothing.

The next night, the boy sees a misshapen, tall creature moving through the field, but passes it off as a dream and goes back to sleep. The next morning, there is another dead chicken. The next night, the boy is going to bed when he hears screams and a gunshot from outside. The next morning at breakfast, his father tells him he found a cow ripped open but refuses to say anything more.

Things go on like this for years until one day when the boy is 17. The boy's parents go off somewhere and he is left alone to feed the horses. He is in the barn when he hears rustling in the grass outside and turns to see the creature he saw in the fields years previously standing in the doorway. It dives for him, but he jumps out of the way and into the farmhouse, where he locks all the doors and windows. He grabs his father's rifle and goes to an upstairs bedroom window.

The creature is outside, killing chickens and staring at the boy menacingly. The boy raises the rifle and fires, injuring the creature. It gives an inhuman howl of pain and runs off into the pasture. The boy never sees it again, although the animal killing continues for years afterwards.

The boy, now a father with a wife and kids, reveals his parents were killed recently in a car accident and that they willed him the farm. He takes an initiative to hunt down the creature and kill it so he can live on the farm with his family. He leaves them a regretful note on the kitchen table of the house explaining everything, saying that it is his deepest regret if he fails to kill the creature, before going out to the fields.
"Fresh Luck to Its Owner"

**"Fresh Luck to Its Owner"** is the second tale in the thirteenth episode of the fourth season of the Nosleep Podcast. In it, a man wakes up on the side of the road with no memory. Written by Anton Scheller, it has a runtime of 22:55 and was performed by Tom Rosenzweig and David Cummings. It is the 410th tale overall on the podcast.

## Summary

A student on a road trip with friends stops at a bar for some partying. At some point during the night a wristwatch is put on his arm and he blacks out. He wakes up the next morning on the side of the road with no memory of who he is or how he got there. Inscribed on the back of the timepiece is the phrase "Fresh Luck to Its Owner".

A truck pulls over and a man, Jack, gets out. He offers to drive the student to his house and treat his injuries. The student agrees and gets in. Back at the house, the student is nursed back to health by Jack and eventually begins doing yardwork around his house. He falls into a comfortable routine, but is troubled by his lost memories. Whenever he tries to remove the watch with the intention of throwing it away or selling it, it won't come off.

While working one day, Jack severely cuts his arm and dirt gets in the wound. Though he claims he's fine, the wound rapidly gets infected and begins to rot. The student drives him to a hospital, where doctors inform him that he doesn't have enough money to pay for an operation. He drives back to the house and gets some cash, but it's not enough. He then drives to a pawnshop and tries to sell the watch but is unable to remove it from his wrist. The student sells the car instead.

Waling back to the hospital, he finds out he's too late and that Jack has died. Due to his clouded memories and inability to be identified, he is unable to claim Jack's possessions. He hitchhikes to a new town and becomes homeless, begging on the street.

One night, he is assaulted under a bridge by a group of teenagers who try to steal his watch. When the cops arrive, they run. The officers notice he's still alive and leave him. A clarity comes and he heads to a nearby bar, where he falls into a group of students. He buys them all several rounds of drinks and becomes friendly with one, Yentl. After getting him drunk, he clips the watch onto Yentl's wrisrt.

He wakes up the next morning in Yentl's body with all his experiences. He enjoys his new life and girlfriend, though remembers his lost time with the watch. He becomes a staunch supporter of homelessness and devotes time to passing out supplies. While handing out blankets one day, he recognizes a familiar watch on one beggar's wrist.

## Cast

Tom Rosenzweig as the student/Yentl

David Cummings as Jack
"Janelle's Baby"

**"Janelle's Baby"** is the second tale in the first episode of the first season of the The New Decayed. In it, a man worries about his wife's mental health. Written by Mr. Michael Squid, it has a runtime of 12:26 and was performed by Atticus Jackson and Jessica McEvoy. It is the 1706th tale overall on the podcast.

## Summary

A man begins dating a girl named Janelle. Janelle has always wanted kids and begins asking the man about having them despite the fact they haven't been together long. Though he wants to fulfill her wish, he prefers to be financially stable and live together as a couple for a while. However, after they are married, he decides he wants them too.

The couple begins trying eagerly, with Janelle taking home pregnancy tests every few weeks, only for all of them to come back negative. After several months of trying, they head to a fertility doctor, who informs them that Janelle is infertile and can never bear children of her own.

The man tries to comfort his wife by saying they can adopt or have a surrogate mother, but she grows resentful and depressed. A few months pass. The man gets a call while at work that Janelle has accidentally cut off the tip of her finger and needs to go to the hospital. After he picks her up, she seems to be happier than ever. Though her mood improves, her interest in sex disappears completely. She always wears baggy clothes, never shows any skin, and tells her husband ever time he tries to seduce her that she doesn't feel like it.

A few months later, the man goes on a business trip to Miami, leaving Janelle home alone. While waiting for his flight all day to take off, he learns that the trip has been cancelled due to bad weather. He returns home, planning to surprise his wife, only to see a large pool of blood seeping from under the bathroom door.

Inside, he finds Janelle with all her clothes off. She has cut large chunks of her flesh and skin away, molding the mess into a roughly infant-shaped form. The tip of the finger she cut off serves as its nose. Bloody and covered in infected wounds, she tells him that their son is beautiful. The form suddenly turns its head and smiles at him. The man screams and runs out of the house to call an ambulance.

## Cast

Atticus Jackson as the man

Jessica McEvoy as Janelle
"Sour Toe Shuffle"

**"Sour Toe Shuffle"** is the third tale in the seventh bonus episode of the thirteenth season of the Nolseep Podcast. In it, a lodge has a strange signature cocktail. Written by Ele Matelan, it has a runtime of 16:30 and was performed by Nichole Goodnight, Erin Lillis, Mary Murphy, Mike DelGaudio, and Jesse Cornett. It is the 1708th tale overall on the podcast.

## Summary

Tracy goes on a road trip with her uncle Brad and aunt Jeannie after she decides to take a semester off from college. The three decide to stop for the night at a lodge owned by a friend of theirs, Marge.

Tracy notices a preserved, severed toe in a jar on the bar. When she asks about it, Marge reveals that the lodge has been in her family for generations. Her grandfather knew a bluesman named Charlie LaMay who lost his toe to frostbite after passing out in the snow drunk. He took the toe and tried to get doctors to reattach it, but they were unable to. He gave it to Marge's grandfather and departed.

The toe is the centerpiece of a signature cocktail at the lodge called the "Sour Toe". After mixing garlic, tomato juice, white whiskey, and Worcestershire sauce, the toe is added to the glass. The drinker must down the concoction quickly and spit the toe out. Despite Jeannie's protests, Brad and Marge goad Tracy into trying it. Unfortunately, she accidentally swallows the toe. Though she tries to induce vomiting, she can't get it to come back up. Marge is angry and hurt at the loss of the toe while everyone heads to bed.

Later in the night, Tracy attempts to sleep but hears someone coming up the stairs. A voice suddenly begins singing, asking where his toe is and who took it. Realizing it's the ghost of Charlie LaMay, Tracy tries to vomit it up again but is unsuccessful. The ghost continues climbing the stairs, the song getting louder with guitars, tambourines, and a chorus. Terrified, Tracy jumps out her window just as the ghost reaches the top.

In the morning, Brad finds Tracy's dead body on the front lawn, missing a toe. There is a new one in the jar at the bar.

## Cast

Nichole Goodnight as Tracy

Erin Lillis as Marge

Mary Murphy as Jeannie

Mike DelGaudio as Brad

Jesse Cornett as Charlie LaMay
"The Pocket Watch"

**"The Pocket Watch"** is the first tale in the 2nd episode of the 7th season of The Nosleep Podcast. Written by C.K. Walker, it has a running time of 10:15 and was originally read by David Ault and David Cummings. It is the 769th tale overall on the podcast.

## Summary

A young boy describes a time his town was wracked with a terrible famine. His brothers and sisters constantly beg for the rich food they ate daily before the famine started. The mother desperately searches for anything edible, going from eating chickens to chicken bones to leather off of boots to berries in the forest to the bark off of trees.

Eventually, the famine gets so bad the boy's father is forced to sell a family heirloom, a pocket watch, that he got from his father, and that he got from his father, and so on. The boy is so jealous as to not inherit the watch that he smashes it. The father then retreats into his workshop to try and fix it.

A few days later, the father announces that he has fixed the pocket watch and that he is going into town to sell and use it to buy food. He returns hours later with such succulent foods as lamb, rolls, and cake. The family all devour this hungrily until they are full.

The story then shifts to a different perspective weeks later, when the boy realizes that he hasn't seen his father since he left to fix the pocket watch. The boy, while searching the shop, finds the watch, still broken. He then realizes he fantasized the whole feast, and that his father killed himself so the family could eat his corpse and survive.

## Cast

David Aultas the boy

David Cummings as the father

Erika Sanderson as the mother
"Still Waters"

**"Still Waters"** is the first tale in the eighth episode of the fourth season of the Nosleep Podcast. In it, a suicidal man is given an offer by a mysterious stranger. Written by Claverhouse, it has a runtime of 19:30 and was performed by David Ault. It is the 382nd tale overall on the podcast.

## Summary

A suicidal man heads to a bridge one night, with the intent of jumping off and killing himself. Just as he's about to do so, a mysterious stranger approaches and offers him a deal. For one year, he can follow the stranger around and go on adventures, and then they can return to the bridge so the man can decide what to do next. The man is hesitant at first, but the stranger offers him a gun with two bullets, one of which he shoots into the water. The stranger says that at any time he can use the gun and either kill himself or him. The man decides he has nothing left to lose and follows the stranger off the bridge.

Over the next year, the man and the stranger travel all around the world, living in different countries and experiencing new things. Though the man enjoys himself at first, he gradually realizes that the stranger is taking him on more dangerous adventures. He becomes aware of sinister forces, monsters, and demons that live in the world under the veneer of modern society.

One year to the day of their meeting on the bridge, the stranger begins driving back to where they first met. The man becomes nervous and asks him to pull over, where he accuses him of having deeper plans. The stranger shrugs and says now their deal is over and they can go their separate ways. He throws him a few metal objects, which glint in the moonlight. The man, unable to go back to his normal life now that's aware of the danger hiding in the world, shoots him in a rage and hides the body in the bushes by the roadside.

He looks at the metal objects the stranger gave him and notices that they're two bullets. The man drives the car to the bridge, parks nearby, and sees another suicidal man ready to jump off. He decides to make the man the same offer the stranger gave him and begins to approach, thus completing another cycle.
"Birdseed"

**"Birdseed"** is the second tale in the twenty-fourth episode of the fourth season of the Nolseep Podcast. In it, a man wonders what happened to his neighbor's missing wife. Written by E. Blackburn, it has a runtime of 14:20 and was performed by Peter Lewis. It is the 481st tale overall on the podcast.

## Summary

Eddie lives across the street from an older couple, Carl and Janice. He develops a friendship with them, bringing them their mail or picking up their trash bags, while they bring him casseroles or pasta. Janice is an avid gardener and always finds time to plant flowers around the yard. She wears a special solitaire ring around her neck so she never loses it.

Carl, meanwhile, seems to only have one hobby: feeding birds. Every day, rain or shine, he walks to a tree in the yard and dumps a large amount of birdseed beneath it. It is quickly devoured by the neighborhood birds. Other days he can be seen lugging large burlap sacks of seed into the house with the help of his wife.

Janice suddenly goes missing and stops coming around. At first, people think she left Carl or is maybe visiting relatives. Four months pass and no one can guess what happened to her. Eddie takes pity on her husband and still helps out, getting more casseroles in return.

One night, he takes his pet dog Tartuffe out for a walk. Tartuffe gets away from him and runs into Carl's yard, digging into the daily pile of birdseed. Eddie removes a hard substance from his dog's mouth and finds that it was chewing on a fingertip. He runs back to his home and calls the police.

They arrive minutes later to catch Carl coming home with another burlap sack. He is arrested and the house is searched. The mutilated body parts of four missing women are found in freezers, cupboards, under his bed, and in other places. He has been abducting women for years and bringing the parts home in sacks, disposing of the bits he didn't want in the birdseed. However, none of them are identified as Janice.

A few months later, Eddie digs in his freezer and finds one of Carl's casseroles, a meaty lasagna. He bakes it and begins eating. Suddenly, he bites on something hard and rushes to the sink, spitting it out. It is Janice's solitaire ring.
"The Tale of Baxter Babyhands"

Illustration by Naomi Ronke

**"The Tale of Baxter Babyhands"** is the third tale in the first episode of the fourteenth season of the Nolseep Podcast. In it, a boy doubts an urban legend. Written by Manen Lyset, it has a runtime of 12:30 and was performed by David Cummings. It is the 1712nd tale overall on the podcast.

## Summary

A boy is friends with one of his classmates, Jeff, who likes to tell scary stories during lunch. One of his favorite stories to tell is the tale of Baxter Babyhands.

Baxter was an orphan over a hundred years ago who worked in a factory in town. Since he had the smallest and most nimble hands, it was his job to reach into the heavy machinery when something got stuck and pull it out. One day, however, the foreman failed to turn off the machines properly and Baxter's hands got crushed, needing to be amputated. Thrown out onto the streets because he could no longer work, he eventually starved and was buried.

A few weeks after Baxter's death, the foreman woke up in the middle of the night to see Baxter standing over him with small hands growing out of his stumps, caressing his face. The foreman was found dead the next morning with both his hands cut off. Over the next fifteen years, every person that was in the factory the day of the accident died and was found with their hands cut off. The townsfolk dug up Baxter's grave to find that the foreman's hands had been sewn onto his stumps, with most of the other hands sewn onto the fingers. The hands shrank and shriveled, leaving them the size of baby hands. The townsfolk burned Baxter's corpse, but it's said that if you call his name three times in a mirror, he'll come and steal your hand that night.

The boy doesn't believe the legend and calls the name three times before going to bed. He is awoken in the middle of the night by something holding his eyelids and mouth closed. Tiny, pinprick-like sensations travel around his face and arms. After ten minutes, he opens his eyes to see a man dressed in rags with tiny hands on each of the fingers of his big hand caressing him. Though the boy is terrified, he doesn't cry out.

After some time, the man seems to come to a decision and grabs the boy's left hand, pulling until it comes clean off, leaving nothing but a bloodless stump. He takes one of the small hands off his finger and presses it against the stump. The boy feels the veins inside connecting before realizing he can move it. The man places the boy's severed hand in place of the missing one; it deflates to a baby hand. He then leaves the room. Over the course of several hours, the boy's new small hand grows until it's almost the right size, but not quite.

He explains he's lived with his small hand for years now and that people make fun of him for it, claiming that they wouldn't be so amused if they knew the true story. He also knows Baxter is still out there, because sometimes he gets a phantom caressing sensation in his hand.
"The Long Fingers"

Illustration by Hasani Walker

**"The Long Fingers"** is the third tale in the twenty-first episode of the eleventh season of the Nolseep Podcast. In it, a man begins having hallucinations. Written by Brandon Meseure, it has a runtime of 21:40 and was performed by Atticus Jackson and Andy Cresswell. It is the 1394th tale overall on the podcast.

## Summary

A former marine completes his term of duty and attempts to readjust to civilian life. He takes a job at a moving company and turns to alcohol to try and forget about all the horrors he witnessed during war.

After one particularly hectic day at work involving an elderly client who yelled at him and his coworkers constantly, he gets drunk and falls asleep in his bed, locking the door to the room beforehand.

Sometime during the night, he hears a tapping noise coming from out in the hallway. Something slides under the crack of the door and unlocks it from the inside, opening it to reveal a dark figure with incredibly long fingers. The marine can't seem to move as it crawls up to his bed and sticks its fingers in his mouth.

He awakens the next morning and assumes it was a dream. After another stressful day with the client at work, he falls asleep again. The tapping comes once more and unlocks the door from the inside, this time revealing it to be the client with an impossibly wide grimace and long fingers. She crawls up to his bed and does the same thing the figure did the previous night.

The marine's drinking habits worsen and he comes to realize that life doesn't have meaning for him anymore. None of his hobbies interest him, work is a drag, and he can't be bothered to socialize. A few days later he gets a call from a fellow squadmate, telling him that one of their well-liked colleagues, Steph, committed suicide.

That night, the figure in the room with the long fingers resembles Steph. The marine's life falls apart completely; he stops working out, doesn't care of himself, and only leaves his apartment to go to work.

Determined to keep the thing out, he locks the door to his room and pushes his dresser in front of it. However, when the tapping comes along the hall, it suddenly slides out of place. The figure that enters the room is himself, with the wide grimace and long fingers. It attacks him and leaves. The next evening, the marine overdoses on sleeping pills so the thing can't come back to get him.

## Cast

Atticus Jackson as the marine

Andy Cresswell as the squadmate