Art Bell opens the phone lines for a special Christmas edition of Open Lines, asking callers to share the best and worst days of their lives, inspired by Dean Koontz's novel Life Expectancy. Broadcasting from Manila, Art shares his own story of a military doctor who falsely told him he had six months to live before revealing a tumor was benign.

Callers deliver deeply personal accounts that range from heartbreaking to strange. A terminal cancer patient in Idaho describes finding peace through her answered novena prayers. A woman in California recounts discovering her Vietnam veteran husband dead from carbon monoxide poisoning, then years later experiencing a three-day spiritual transformation after standing up to her emotionally abusive father. A caller in Kansas claims his best day involved a late-night gas station encounter with someone he identified as Jim Morrison.

Other callers describe harrowing near-death experiences, including a woman whose brakes failed on a steep Arizona highway and who was guided to safety by a mysterious voice. Art also deals with a painful tongue injury throughout the broadcast, prompting a nurse to call in with treatment advice. The evening captures the full spectrum of human experience during the holiday season.