THE 3AM PROTOCOL

Haunted doll horror stories to fall asleep to, told from down in the uncanny valley, where a face looks almost human, but not quite.

(00:00) Intro

(01:45) Labials

(11:05) Olive

(19:39) Myles

(30:09) Worn at the Heel

(38:45) The Woven Face

(47:38) Location: Head

(56:18) Outro

Follow THE 3AM PROTOCOL so the next story finds you after dark.

Has something happened to you that you still can't explain? Send it to [email protected] (anonymous if you prefer).

Haunted houses are usually described by the people who live in them. These six are described by the people who come in to do a job, and then leave: a real estate photographer, a piano tuner, a locksmith, a damp engineer, a restorer and a mover.

(00:00) Cold open

(02:36) The Brackets

(11:49) Old Pitch

(20:40) Ghost Key

(29:39) Occupancy

(37:57) Behind the Lath

(46:12) Tare Weight

(54:26) Outro

Follow THE 3AM PROTOCOL so the next story finds you after dark.

Has something happened to you that you still can't explain? Send it to [email protected] (anonymous if you prefer).

The Ouija board was patented in February 1891. The rules came later, and nobody ever printed them on the box. Never play alone. Never in front of a mirror. Never ask it for a sign. And never burn the board. Six Ouija stories, one for each rule, from the people who broke them.

(00:00) Cold open

(02:27) The Figure Eight

(10:11) Never Play Alone

(17:49) The Mirror

(25:29) Countdown

(33:03) Never Ask for a Sign

(41:31) Never Burn the Board

(49:43) Outro

Follow THE 3AM PROTOCOL so the next story finds you after dark.

Has something happened to you that you still can't explain? Send it to [email protected] (anonymous if you prefer).

If the pencil on top turned to YES all by itself, would you ask it a second question? This is Charlie Charlie, the pencil game, in nearly an hour of slow, quiet horror for anyone who falls asleep to scary stories.

(00:00) Intro

(01:37) Bisect

(10:38) Six a Minute

(19:30) It Speaks English

(29:44) The Keeper

(38:43) Upper Left

(47:42) Read the Eraser

(56:45) Outro

Follow THE 3AM PROTOCOL so the next story finds you after dark.

Has something happened to you that you still can't explain? Send it to [email protected] (anonymous if you prefer).

On October 30, 1938, a radio play about Martians landing in Grovers Mill, New Jersey went out across America. Story three is the diary of a nine-year-old who lived there. Halloween is the one night a year we hand candy to anyone in a mask. These six people looked closer.

(00:00) Intro

(01:24) Somebody Gave Her Candy

(08:58) Is It Still Halloween Here?

(17:08) Everyone Looked Up

(24:53) The Mask That Closed Its Eyes

(32:10) The Late Check

(39:49) The Dumb Supper

(47:35) Outro

Follow THE 3AM PROTOCOL so the next story finds you after dark.

Has something happened to you that you still can't explain? Send it to [email protected] (anonymous if you prefer).

Around midnight, at a home wake in Lee County, Virginia, a grandmother set a saucer of salt and a square of cornbread on her dead husband's chest. Somebody had to eat it. Appalachian horror stories from up the hollows of six states, told by people who grew up knowing which of the old ways you can laugh at.

(00:00) Intro

(01:56) The Bread

(10:59) Lined Out

(19:23) Painter

(29:43) Where the Light Quits

(38:13) Signs Following

(47:05) The North End

(56:02) Outro

Follow THE 3AM PROTOCOL so the next story finds you after dark.

Has something happened to you that you still can't explain? Send it to [email protected] (anonymous if you prefer).

A rest area after midnight keeps its lights on for nobody. Six highway horror stories to fall asleep to, told by people who stopped: a volunteer chaplain, an optometrist on a bicycle, a sheriff's deputy, a road worker, a horse hauler and a court reporter.

(00:00) Intro

(01:19) The Chapel

(10:35) Sideling Hill

(18:01) The Cold Lady

(26:42) The Rumble Strip

(34:15) The Rocking Chair

(41:09) Fourteen Times

(49:23) Outro

Follow THE 3AM PROTOCOL so the next story finds you after dark.

Has something happened to you that you still can't explain? Send it to [email protected] (anonymous if you prefer).

Eight Ouija board horror stories, narrated for the late hours. Horror stories to fall asleep to, from people who were not trying to believe anything.

(00:00:00) Intro

(00:02:30) Five Stars

(00:11:32) Still Here

(00:20:36) Yep

(00:30:23) Chat

(00:40:49) Hello

(00:50:53) Guess My Name

(01:00:11) One Question Each

(01:09:14) I Sit Here Every Night

(01:19:54) Outro

Follow THE 3AM PROTOCOL so the next story finds you after dark.

Has something happened to you that you still can't explain? Send it to [email protected] (anonymous if you prefer).

Do you leave your Halloween decorations out all night? These three people did. An inflatable ghost in a desert RV park. A garage full of fog. A paper jack-o'-lantern from an estate sale.

(00:00) Intro

(01:27) The Breathing Ghost

(10:31) The Hole in the Fog

(20:13) The Paper Lantern

(28:53) Outro

Follow THE 3AM PROTOCOL so the next story finds you after dark.

Has something happened to you that you still can't explain? Send it to [email protected] (anonymous if you prefer).

In 1966, the engineers who designed the biohazard symbol wanted it to be memorable but meaningless. It was never meant to tell you what is behind the door. Only to stop you.

(00:00) Intro

(01:32) The Outline

(09:51) Alarm Call

(18:31) The Last Pickup

(28:25) Index Case

(37:04) Steam Shovel

(45:18) Level A

(52:48) Outro

Follow THE 3AM PROTOCOL so the next story finds you after dark.

Has something happened to you that you still can't explain? Send it to [email protected] (anonymous if you prefer).