Hey, it's Michelle, and you all brought it this week. I got actual goosebumps going through the voicemails. Five true ghost stories that cover more paranormal ground than almost any other episode this season.

Sarah from Luther, Alabama, calls in with a true ghost story from her time living in Florida. She and her ex were pulling into a friend's driveway when she saw a man standing at the front door. Long hair, shorts, t-shirt, she could see his socks. A completely ordinary-looking person. He walked straight into the door and was gone. When they went inside, she kept asking if anyone else was there. Nobody was. When she mentioned it to the homeowner, he told her his brother-in-law had seen the exact same man walking through his house. The same description. The same door.

Tessa calls in with a haunted doll story that is unlike almost anything else in the archive. She grew up as a military kid, and when she was five, her family rented a three-story Victorian house in East Texas. The attic held a long glass case filled with about a hundred porcelain dolls belonging to the owner. One with red hair, green eyes, and a blue silk dress caught Tessa's heart. Her father said no and locked the attic door. A month later, Tessa came home and found the red-haired doll sitting on her bed. Her father took it straight back to the attic. The door was still locked. His key was still in his pocket. Years later, Tessa learned the history. The man who built the house had a daughter who died at eight years old. Families in that era sometimes made dolls from the dead child's real hair, dressed in the same clothes they wore when they died. That doll was that little girl.

A caller from San Francisco shares a story from 1993 about working alone in an estate jewelry office on Post Street. One afternoon, the doorbell rang, nobody was there, and he saw a tall man in a red flannel shirt in the hallway, whom he took to be his coworker Brett. Seconds later, the phone rang. It was Brett calling from outside the building. The doorbells kept ringing the entire time he worked there.

Ashley calls in with a Queen Mary story that did not end when her family left the ship. On a tour with twelve family members, a younger cousin got scared, and her Aunt L took him to the elevator alone. A small hand grabbed her knee. Nobody was there. Back home in Utah, the family found a little girl in a blue gown in one of their pool photographs. Ashley's mom began writing a book about the experience. Every time she sat down to work on it, the computer crashed, sent the manuscript in unreadable code, and shut itself off. Ashley started hearing wet squelching footsteps in the basement at night and found small puddles on the carpet with no explanation. Lights flickered. Children's laughter echoed through the house. The second Ashley's mom typed the final word of the book, everything stopped. Whatever needed that story told got what it needed and was done.

And finally, Cindy Ketron from Avon, Indiana, calls in with a story about her grandfather after her grandmother Grace, passed away in 1982. Alone in the house, he woke at 1 AM to thumping in the bedroom and called out Grace's name. From that night forward, he heard a heartbeat every single night until he died.

A special shoutout this week to Glen from Windsor, Nova Scotia, who called in to wish their mom a Merry Christmas. Glen's mom, thank you for listening. Your child loves you very much.

If you've got a real ghost story of your own, a haunting experience, something you heard, something you can't explain, I want to hear it. Call us at 1 (701) 484-2666 or head to⁠ tellmeaghoststory.com⁠ to share your story.

You might end up on the show.

Support us with official merch at ⁠newmanmedia.shop⁠, catch us on YouTube at ⁠@tellmeaghoststory⁠, and follow along on Instagram at ⁠@tellmeaghoststorypodcast⁠.

Theme music is Sexy Sax by Cool Cascade. Production by ⁠Newman Media⁠.