Dia de Muertos Ghost Stories pt 2

0:05 Hello, hello. This is Christina. And Carmen. And this is Spooky Tales, the podcast for all things spooky, haunted places, myths, legends, sometimes true crime in Latin America. And sorry for my voice. Mama's sake. I am. I have a cough drop in. It will remain in. So it's going to sound like it, I think, unfortunately. Before we get into today's topic. We usually have a list. Well, we try to have a listener story. We had a really good one last episode. It was really good. Yeah. If you have a story that you want us to read, you can email a spooky toes at gmail.com. You can DM it to us. You can call the spooky hotline. There are many ways to get to us and we love receiving them. So what are we what are we talking about today? Well, Christina, today we are sharing some paranormal stories from Dia de Muertos. Oh, how fun. Yeah, and you know, we all know Dia de Muertos is not Halloween, but it is a day when the spirits from Mictlan exclusively come to visit us, right?

1:13 They're our ancestors, our loved ones that have passed. Yes. Yes. It's not just this thing to honor those before us. They literally come to visit us. Right, right. And, you know, we remember them, not necessarily like venerating our ancestors, but like, como que estuviéramos conviviendo con ellos, you know, after they passed. Like that, right? Yeah, we have their favorite foods. We, you know, put those favorite foods on the altar. On the altar. That's the ofrenda. We put their Things from their life sometimes, like maybe their cachuchas, you know, maybe a little accessory they really liked, something that belongs to them.

1:56 Their favorite treats. Water, salt. Water, salt, yeah. The works. There's must-haves and then must-not-dos. Right, right. Mustn't-dos, like... Mustn't-dos. Don't put a selfie. Don't put a picture of yourself with that person. Yeah. Yeah. Sometimes, though, even though it's not a spooky day, it's a beautiful day, the spirits do come visit us. So people do have stories of said visits, right? Yeah. And I think I think that sometimes if you do things wrong or maybe you don't know, maybe that's when like these unwanted spirits can come. I have heard of that. Yeah. But our stories today are kind of wholesome. They're not like that. Oh, that's beautiful. OK. Yeah.

2:44 I'm excited. I'm just saying that, like, I hope for the people who are like, this isn't something they celebrated. Well, sometimes it's not even that. I've heard stories, too, from, like, Las Moras Malditas of listeners that will send their stories in from Dia de Muertos. And they'll get visitors they don't want, even though they do things, you know. Oh, well, then. The traditional way. Knock on wood, that doesn't happen to any of us. Yeah. I'm just saying that I came across... A post on threads of a lady who put an ofrenda. An ofrenda. That's how they say it. Right. In a little library outside and had none of the things... Oh, outside. I was wondering what you meant when you said it was outside. Yeah, like those little free libraries. Yeah. That people put outside. So it's outside, not inside the home.

3:31 It had none of the stuff that these... are supposed to have right and it was a pictures of their dog and and a selfie of themselves with their dog crazy work and it's like at that point just call it a little memorial for your pet why do you have to call it an ofrenda right right but i hope that they get unwanted visitors for their nonsense yeah yeah we have some feelings over here about That day. I'm just glad that, you know, it's, I'm glad it's over because I am not seeing anything about it anymore on social media, like horrible takes and dumb ass fucking shit. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

4:18 So we shall, or shall we get into it now? Let's do it. All right. So this story comes from Reddit, r slash paranormal, the paranormal subreddit, from user Rubens Mejia. Okay, and it's mostly verbatim, but I did change some things just for the sake of like continuity and whatnot. Clarity, clarity, yeah. Okay, here it goes. I want to share this experience that happened to me around 15 years ago when I was 17 and started studying in a town away from my parents' home. There was a man, let's call him Tony, who was good friends with my father. He would help him at work sometimes and I would hang out with them all the time. After I moved away for university, I visited back home every two months or so for long weekends or vacations. After my second year away, my dad's friend Tony died from alcohol abuse. About two months after Tony's death on Dia de Muertos, I went back home to visit my parents and to visit the tombs of our family as the tradition goes. By this point, I had literally forgotten about Tony's death. That day, I had missed the bus that would get to my parents' town during the day and was forced to take the one that arrives around 2 a.m. It's a small town and since there were no more taxis or buses running, I just decided to walk home. Around five blocks from home, I had to cross a bridge where people say that a decapitated donkey spirit scares people at night. Okay, wow. Right.

5:48 I want to hear more about this decapitated donkey spirit. Same. So I was already a little scared. But then all of a sudden, Tony is next to me on his bike. I didn't mention earlier that he was always on a bike. And he asked if I had just arrived from university. I was so focused on the decapitated donkey spirit that I forgot Tony was supposed to be dead. So I started talking to him. And we walked across the bridge and a couple more blocks together. for around four to five minutes. I talked to him about school, the food in the city, stuff like that. When we were about a block away from my parents' house, he told me, okay, I have to go check on some things over there pointing at another direction, but keep safe and say hello to your father for me. We said goodbye and then I got home. It was already late, so I waited until the next morning to tell my father about seeing Tony.

6:43 When I was just about to tell him, I remembered that Tony was already dead. So I ended up not telling my parents. But later in the day, my father told me he saw me arriving and asked if I was drunk when I got home because he saw me talking to nobody. So I ended up telling him about seeing Tony. I think I needed some kind of company because I was afraid of the donkey ghost stories. It's kind of funny for me that I never actually felt afraid of that moment. So thanks to an old friend for being there for me, even after death. Oh, that is wholesome, right? I love that. Tony was like, you're not, that donkey spirit is not going to get you today.

7:23 Not on my watch. Don't even worry about the decapitated donkey. I got you. Let's walk across this bridge together. Once a homie, always a homie, even after death. Beautiful. That was beautiful. Yeah. I thought it was so funny, though. He's like, I forgot. I forgot that he died. Yeah. Honestly, though, understandable. Yeah. Okay, the next story is from Hablemos de Terror. Have you listened to them? It sounds familiar, but I don't recall...

8:03 Them right now. It's in Spanish. Hence from the name. Okay, but let me tell you because I clicked on the video and automatically was like dubbed into English. Oh yeah, they do that now. I didn't know. Yeah, I'm like, ew, why does it sound like that? Literally, I'm like, oh my God, why does he sound like that? And why do the words are not, like they're not lining up with what he's saying? I was so confused. And then finally I'm like, hold on. It says auto-dub, then I changed it back to Spanish. I was like, oh my God. I feel so much better listening to this. But anyway, it's from Hablemos de Terror. Super cool storytelling. I think I'm confusing it with Hablemos de lo que no existe.

8:44 I listened to them too. But it felt almost like Relatos de la Noche. Oh, I'm going to have to check it out again. I'm sure I know. I think you have. Yeah. But some of these, there's just like so many of them that are so similar, especially the men that I confuse them. And this is a man. Yeah. Okay. So the story was sent in by a listener from Michoacan, but his wife's family is from Michoacan and he's from Guadalajara. Oh, shout out Guadalajara. Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Guadalajara. I just have to do that every time. Mm-hmm. But the listener didn't provide a name. So just for the sake of the story, I'm going to call him Jose because, you know, we know some Jose's from Guadalajara. Right, right. So like I said, Jose is from Guadalajara. Jose and his wife, Mariana, were visiting her family during Dia de Muertos in Michoacan. And yeah, the tradition was to spend the day there and go to the graveyard. The wife's family had been visiting the graveyard for Dia de Muertos since her abuelito died when she was around 15. They would always take food, coffee, banh, you know, the works. That day, they got to the graveyard around 6 p.m. and started setting up you know, the altar, everything, the ofrenda. I guess more the ofrenda.

10:05 Jose's wife stayed behind to set up the ofrenda and Jose went to go look for hot beverages for everyone. After getting back, they hung out at the grave for a bit. until Jose's wife asked him to go get blankets from the car for everyone and took the opportunity to walk around for a bit because they had already been sitting for a while at that point. Walking around, Jose was at a marion, all of the ofrendas and the altares, taking in the music, you know, the vibes. When he came up on... It's so joyful and, like, sure, there's people crying, but there's also people just, like, with the full-on bandas dancing. Oh, yeah, yeah. Like, it's a joyful... day with tears but yeah like in one one like section you'll have like a mariachi playing like you know the sad songs and then you'll have a banda playing like upbeat music and then maybe like someone with a speaker playing even more upbeat music yeah it's it's a vibe for sure so Jose was just vibing and he came upon an older man sitting in a chair next to a really old looking grave The man looked to be around 70 years old. He was wearing a black hat and a brown jacket, and he was holding a mug of what looked to be coffee. The man was people watching and asked Jose if he was looking for someone.

11:23 Jose told the man he was just taking a little walk while fetching some blankets, but was here with his wife's family. The man laughed and told Jose he could tell he wasn't from town and asked for the name of the loved one they were visiting. So Jose shared the abuelo's name, his wife's abuelo's name, which was Rafael. And the man was like, oh, was this Rafael Mendoza who owned a carpinteria near the plaza? Jose was surprised to hear that the man knew Rafael. He's like, yeah, that's him. And the man went on to share that they had been friends for a long time. Well, a long time ago and had even worked together at the carpinteria when they were young. The man shared that Rafael was a funny guy and they used to play dominoes after work instead of going home. Jose recalled hearing stories about Rafael and how everyone would talk about que Caijero era.

12:14 He was for the streets. Yeah, he was for the streets, you know, but he was just, you know, he was just hanging out with his friends. Nothing, nothing bad. You can be for the streets hanging out with friends. It just has a bad connotation to it. You know, that's why I wanted to clarify. Oh, I meant it positively. Right, right, right. He was positively for the streets. Yeah. So yeah, he was hanging out with his friends all the time. Jose was happy to share memories of Rafael and was excited to talk to someone that knew him. He asked the man if he still lived in town, and the man said he does, but hardly goes out anymore. He only goes out on Dia de Muertos. Once a year. De hecho, this day was one of his only outings. Oh, of course. He was like, actually, today's like the only day I go out. Yeah. They talked for a while. They talked about Jose's job, about Guadalajara, and Jose's wife, Mariana. When they talked about Mariana, the man smiled widely, saying he remembered Mariana when she was a little girl. From when Rafael would take her to the carpinteria. The man described the stool that Mariana would always sit at, and Jose remembered seeing pictures of said stool. So he's like, yeah, like you really knew the family. José finally asked the man's name and the man shared his first name only, Julián.

13:35 Julián said he had met most of Rafael's family. Then he pointed out to a nearby grave and said that that family always decorated with white flowers and never fails to bring coffee. Well, he would know every year what they bring, yeah? Right, he would know because he's there every... He knows very well. He knows what everyone brings. José asked Julián if he was visiting anyone and Julián said he was waiting for his wife, who always ran late because she liked to arrange her flowers at home before going to the graveyard. José then heard Mariana calling his name because he had been gone for a while already. And she's like, where is this fool with my blanket?

14:16 She's like, I want the blankets. She was like freezing by this point, probably. So José se despidió and Julián le pidió que mandara saludos a la familia de Rafael. So, like, say hi to Rafa and say hi only for me. Yeah. Julián told. Mention me by name, Julián. Say Julián. Say Julián. Say hello. Yeah. Mariana asked Jose who he was talking to, and Jose shared he was talking to an old friend of Rafa's, Julián. Mariana looked surprised and asked Jose to describe Julián. So he did. Mariana asked, are you sure the man's name was Julián? And Jose's like, yeah, it's Julián.

14:56 So then she says her abuelo did have a friend named Julian, but Julian died many years before her abuelo. She remembered that they had worked together and he died from a work accident when she was still a little girl. Oh, yeah. Jose was like, well, let's go ask him. Surely he's still there. So they go and the chair is still there. The tomb is still decorated with flowers and candles, but Julian is no longer sitting there. They looked around thinking maybe he just went off to socialize with other families, other friends. And then Mariana looked at the tombstone. And so she told Jose, look, come look. And what do they see on the tombstone? But Julian Hernandez, who passed away 28 years ago. Mariana asked if this was Julian's last name. But Jose said, well, the man only told me his first name. Then they noticed the picture next to the candles. And sure enough, it was Julian. Jose was sure of it. He had the same face, the same hairstyle, the same style of clothes. The very same outfit, probably. Yeah.

16:04 So they go back to Mariana's family and tell Mariana's mom what happened. Mariana's mom then asked if the man was wearing a black hat and brown jacket. Mind you, they hadn't described him yet. Yeah. And Jose was like, yeah. And Mariana's mom recalled that that was the exact clothing Julián liked to wear, especially right before he passed. He was always wearing like black hats, especially brown jackets, whatever. They knew his style. Right. She remembered that he had been buried wearing that brown jacket. Jose was like, oh, shit.

16:46 Then he tried to rationalize, you know, as one does. Maybe it was a relative of Julián' s who really looked like him and wore the same clothes. Everyone's shaking their head as he's saying this. Right. No, no, no, mijo, no. So then all three go back to Julián' s grave. And there they see a woman putting flowers on the grave. And this turns out to be one of Julián' s daughters. They ask her if any other family has come by to visit Julián. And she says no, that they all come earlier in the day. And the chair was also gone now. It was no longer next to the grave, although the marks from the chair on the gravel were still there. So like, you know, the little... The imprint of the chair. Imprint of the chair, yeah. José told Julián' s daughter about his experience talking to a man that said he was Julián. He described Julián and she started to cry. She said that the chair sounded like the one her dad had made at the carpintería earlier. But years after his death, they ended up giving it away because it was deteriorated. Jose wanted to leave because he's freaking out at this point. But then he remembered that Julian told him he was waiting for his wife. So he asked the daughter if her mom was still living.

18:07 The daughter said she was living still, but could no longer visit the Panteon due to her health issues. Oh, he was waiting for her. Oh, my God. Yeah. And so she was at her sister's house. The daughter confirmed the stories that Julián had shared and that her father had worked with Don Rafael. While they were talking, she noticed José was holding like a little wooden horse. And José mentioned that Julián gave it to him to give to his son, saying little kids love wooden toys. She asked to see it and pointed out the JH initials on the bottom. and said that her father liked to make them with the extra wood from work and give it to the kids in the family. She had one just like it at home that her father had given her little brother. Mariana's mom asked if maybe another relative had brought the wooden horse to decorate for, you know, for the day. And the daughter was like, I doubt it.

19:04 We usually just do food and flowers. Then Julian's daughter started hearing a noise behind them, like footsteps. It was a man walking down the corridor. And you know, like, Like when you go to the Pantheon and there's like, what I'm picturing is like there's the graves and then there's the graves along the wall. And the wall ones are usually like, you know, a hallway corridor. Yeah. Like this long passageway. Yes. Yeah. So that's what I'm picturing. He was walking down like, you know, that kind of. One of those. Yeah. And Jose recognized him immediately. It was Julian. He was walking around with his hands in his pocket and appeared to be looking for something. Probably his wife. Right. He walked to another area which had much older graves. when his daughter called out his name and started walking towards him. Oh, she saw him too. Yeah, they all saw him. Oh my God. But Mariana's mom stopped her because she was like, estaba bien alterada. Julian's daughter was. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So she like, she was walking towards Julian, but the mom was like, calm down a little bit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Julian turned towards them, held their gaze for a few seconds, then took his hat off and waved hello. Imagine that. I would be a mess. Well, that's how his daughter was. Yeah, yeah.

20:26 Can you just imagine? I was seeing Miabrito. He didn't wear like a sombrero, but like one of his hats. He would have a cachuchon. His cachuchas. Yeah. Yeah, and just takes it off. And you're like, no, I can't. God, I would be freaking out. Like crying. Yeah. His daughter started crying and asked him to come closer, but he simply shook his head and pointed to his tomb. He then put his hat back on and kept walking. Jose tried to follow him, but he was quickly gone, although there was no exit nearby. Next to his grave, they all noticed a mug that was still warm with coffee, a much older looking mug that no one had brought and wasn't there before they saw him. Julian's daughter recognized the mug as one he used to use at the carpinteria.

21:11 Before saying goodbye to Julian's daughter, Jose gave her the wooden horse and she placed it among the flowers in the grave next to Julian's picture. When they all started walking away, they heard a man telling them to be careful because the floor was wet. And of course, there was no one around. When they turned back around to look at the grave, the wooden horse had been moved next to the mug of coffee. Wow. Yeah. And that's the end of it. Okay, that's... I'm glad his daughter got to see him too. Because I feel like it would already be like such a special moment to hear like oh my god I can't believe you saw my dad I can't believe he told you all these stories but then he came back and he's like waving oh my gosh I yeah and he still told him to be careful yeah what a thoughtful thoughtful person yeah gave him a little wooden horse I thought those stories were super sweet and wholesome I needed that I needed that and that part about the wife waiting for his wife really got really got to me yeah yeah because you can't go yeah maybe he went to visit maybe he was that's why he was gone for a little bit yeah he made his rounds then he came back yeah yeah yeah those are beautiful beautiful stories right um so do you have any spooky recommendations unless you have more

22:44 thoughts No, no more thoughts other than I wish for everyone to have a wholesome experience like that if they want it. Right. Because I know personally, I feel like I would be scared, but I don't know. I don't know. I would want a visit in my dreams. I'm still waiting for one of those. Who knows one day? There's time. There's nothing but time, you know? You know, I just listened to, well, not just, but like maybe like a few weeks ago, I listened to the episode with Cynthia Pelayo. Oh, a listener sent us such a beautiful message about that episode. Yeah. Yeah. That's actually what prompted me to listen to it because I hadn't listened to it yet. Wow. I know. Like I have been listening to audiobooks, so I was behind on all the podcasts. And so I hadn't listened to that episode yet. And yeah, I spent a lot of time talking about like grief and like our loved ones visiting us in dreams and stuff. And yeah, As I was listening, I was like, you know, talking to my head, like if I was a part of it, you know, because I was supposed to be there. Of course. And so then it reminded me that I haven't had a dream of me, Abrito, in a long time. Now it's probably been like two, three years. And I feel like I, I don't want to, like, I think I'm going to cry if I say it, but I feel like when I, when I dreamt of him, it was like one of the hardest times of my life, you know, is when I was going through all the infertility stuff. It really was. Oh, my God. I didn't even think about that. Yeah. And

24:15 I feel like he knew. And that's why he visited me. He knew you needed to visit. Now I'm going to cry. Yeah. And I'm in a much better place now. And I haven't dreamt of him anymore. Oh, my gosh. Oh. He was probably like... For those that don't know, he would cough it. The minute you call, we would call him and the first thing he'd be like... Yeah, he'd be like so emotional, but he would just cough instead of crying. He would like try not to cry, so he would start coughing. And so the first thing we would hear whenever we'd call, he's like... Oh, that's amazing. I didn't even think about that. But that is when you said that you had dreamt of him. I didn't put two and two together until I listened to the episode and you guys were talking about that. And I was like, actually, I haven't dreamt of him since around that time. Like it's been literally like two to three years now. That's amazing. Right.

25:25 So yeah, anyway, we were about to get into spooky recommendations. I guess I'll share mine since you're coughing away. I'm good now. But you can share yours. Man, I wish I remembered if I already talked about this book. What's the name? She's a Doll. I haven't, right? No, you haven't. Okay. Okay, so I recently listened to She's a Doll by Barbara True Love. And then the narrator is Tegan Burke. Burke? Probably Burke. And... My little description on Theragraph, the short one, says that this is good for someone who enjoys supernatural tales that blend grim revenge with sharp humor and heartfelt unconventional bonds. That sounds fun. Yeah. Well, let me share the actual description. Okay. Lucy isn't a normal girl. Ghost, victim, killer.

26:16 She's a doll on a mission. She's a literal doll. That already sounds amazing. She's a literal doll. And so she's like Chucky. Kind of. Yeah. So she's a doll on a mission to find the man who killed her and return the favor. Lucy McQuinn has been murdered, but she's not about to go quietly. If she doesn't get to keep breathing, then neither does Kyle. Kyle. Kyle. Literally the first thing I thought was when I was listening, I was like, of course it was Kyle. Possessing the body of an antique doll, she sets out on a quest for revenge. but it's hard when you're 18 inches tall and made of porcelain. For help, she turns to Nicola, a human and fellow outsider, with her own reasons to hate Kyle. But in their small idyllic town, no one wants to hear the truth, especially not about such a promising young man. If they can't expose his crimes, Lucy will have to roll up her lacy little sleeves and teach him a lesson the old-fashioned way, as slowly and painfully as possible. Yeah, so... Like what really stuck out to me is, you know, it's a story of revenge, but also a friendship because these two, you know, they become close, but they have, they go through their moments. Okay.

27:33 And it's, it sounds like it's really funny. So it's heavier than you think it's going to be. Oh. Because of the, the storyline, right? Like, I mean, she's killed by a man. Yeah. Kyle. So essentially this is like femicide, right? Mm-hmm. And so, yeah, it's a heavier read, but it has its funny moments alongside its dark moments. But, yeah, I mean, who doesn't love a story of revenge? Like, I support her wrongs, you know? Yeah, yeah. I'm going to add that to my TBR as well. And, sorry, really quick, I was going to say, if you want to get a little doll theme going, then you can read She's a Doll and Muñeca. Oh, my God. That is the perfect.

28:23 I've been meaning to do a video about those two. And I want it. Okay. I dressed up like a broken doll for one of my Halloween costumes in October. And I ran out of time that day as per usual. But I wanted to record a video about those two books with my costume. You just had to put your costume back on. And then just be like, this was recorded in October. I just hadn't posted it yet. Just the thought of it is exhausting. Yeah. Like a doll, you know? Yeah. Yeah. That's a good double feature, though. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Muñeca was fun. I'm waiting for it to come out in paperback so I can buy it again. Actually, I let my coworker borrow it. And then I'm like, this bitch is going to give me my book back. But she's reading it at work because she's like, I know I'm not going to read it at home. So she just has it there at work. So I know she's going to give it back. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's like, that's a, that's smart. That's good on her part. And I want to talk because I have books from people that I haven't, they gave it to me years ago to read and I haven't read them yet. Oh, same.

29:24 I do too. And I haven't given them back, but I fully intend to. I don't anymore. I moved. I still intend to because I still see her all the time. But I don't know when I'll get around because one of them is in Spanish. It's your perfect Mexican daughter, but in Spanish. Oh, well, you could do that. I know. I need to just read it. Because I'm like, it should be pretty. Because it's YA, so it should be a little easier to read. And I've already read it in English, so I already know. Oh, my God. YA is the level of Spanish I can handle. Yeah. Well, more like elementary. No, no. I haven't tried to read a YA book in Spanish. I only tried to read a translated English to Spanish. So I haven't read a Spanish fully like written in Spanish one either. So I don't know. I'm able to read articles when we're doing research and stuff. No, same. Yeah. But the book that was translated from English to Spanish, I couldn't fucking read that shit, dude. I still need to finish Pedro Paramo. Paramo. Paramo. Sorry, Paramo.

30:30 And it was like, I understand the, because it's a very like, what did they tell me? I had a bunch of comments that mentioned it was like a very metaphorical, I think is what they said. And like poetic. That's hard to read even in English. Yes. But what I had issues with is some of the things that I'm like, what is this? Oh, this is a flower. I had to look up like a bunch of words. Oh, this is a saying. But the premise of the story for Pedro Paramo is enough for me to want to go back. I just haven't had time to read. Only audiobooks for me right now. Mama's busy. Yeah. I started a new job.

31:13 wait sorry I was gonna say I like how you don't even say anything when I say mama no not anymore yeah I do it too now mama's busy mama let's research but um it's like a 10 minute walk or so I love probably like a 15 minute walk back because there's a giant fucking hill on the way back and I'm like I get back and I'm sweating even in this cold weather it's not that cold actually So I was like sweating in my jacket because I thought it was colder. Anyway, so I've been listening to, oh, what was the book called that you just finished? Our Cut of the Salt? Yeah, you said you've been listening to that, right? Yes, on my walks to and from.

31:53 And wow, you were right about how good it is. I'm like halfway through maybe the perspective of the house. I'm not going to go over the summary because you already went over it last episode or last, last episode. But the house's point of view is insane. Isn't it? I was just like, yeah. Oh, my God. Like, so enthralled. I think that's my favorite part. Oh, yeah. The house's point of view. I don't know if that's been done. Surely. I just I just don't know about other books where like the haunted house has a point of view. I now that I read that and I feel like. I want people to give us recommendations on if anyone knows about other books where the house has its own point of view. Because, yeah, that was super interesting. I want that too. And I also started watching episode one of, well, I'm on episode one of Carrie, the new show. Oh, actually, that reminded me that I do have another recommendation. It's a little different because it's a YouTube video, but I watched, I'm still not done with Carrie because I got, I've been reading when I eat instead of watching stuff when I eat. I can't do that. It's hard because you're like doing two things with your hands. Yeah. So it's easy, easier with handheld. Yeah. Oh, like a Kindle. That makes sense.

33:13 I used to do that. I put it down and flip the page. Much easier with the Kindle. It's hard with like a hardcover, especially. Yeah, I had a I went to this place that has giant sized burritos. Baby sized burritos. And I had rooted with me and I was trying to read and eat the burrito. No, too messy. I didn't want to get rooted dirty. I know I have to watch to not leave any grease. Yeah, that's my that's my current physical read is rooted. And I'm like, Less than halfway through because I don't get to read a lot. So I watched, let me find the actual YouTuber so I can say. Oh, it was Princess Weeks.

33:54 And she made a video that's pretty lengthy, which is my favorite because I watch it in pieces when I'm either at work or getting ready in the mornings and whatever at night. It's when I watch YouTube. But she made a video that she watched every Carrie movie and TV show. And she talks about all the Carrie media, I guess. And I didn't know there was a Carrie 2. Yes. I didn't know that. Yeah. So it was super interesting because I've only ever watched a TV show and I haven't never read the book either. I definitely, I think it's one of the Stephen King books I want to read. I want to read Carrie and I want to read, what's the other one? Salem's Lot. Oh my God. Sorry. I love Salem's Lot. Yeah, I need to read those.

34:35 And of course, I watched the movies in the show before reading the book. But the book's always better. Yeah. Carrie is one of the ones I also have been meaning. Have you read Carrie? No, I've been meaning to read it. Oh, okay. I've only read for Stephen King, Salem's Law and the fucking saga of the gunslinger. Oh, my God. Oh, you read that? I read all the gunslinger books. Yeah. Dang. How much books is it? Oh, my God. Like seven. And then they're like huge. Dang. I read some and listened to others. But yeah, that was a journey. I did. I love those books, too. So I know they're like there's problems with Stephen King. I'm aware. Yeah. Yeah. I've heard here and there about it. I think there's just too much Stephen King out there for me to read. Yeah.

35:24 I think there's other more like newer horror, more diverse horror to explore because Stephen King has had his moment. Yeah. But Carrie is one of the ones I would want to check out. And while we're talking about that, I thought that there was like a kind of like a retelling of Carrie, but from the point of view of a black high school girl. What's that? Let me find a book. Yeah, yeah, a book. It is called The Weight of Blood by Tiffany Jackson. Oh, man, this sounds cool. I'm going to add it to my TBR. Did we finish our spooky recommendations? Wow, we went on and on. Yeah, I think we did. I think we did. Okay. I think we did too. For Patreon members, we have like three Patreon episodes planned, but Carmen keeps getting swamped at work and I keep getting sick. Yeah. But they are planned.

36:20 I promise we will do them very soon. Very soon. Yes. And we're so sorry. We are so sorry. Oh my God. The sorriest. That's the two of us. Yeah. Yeah. And yeah, I hope that's, well, how do we... If you are crossing the bridge where it is haunted by a decapitated donkey ghost, just remember that Tony might be there for you, but maybe not because maybe he's only there for his friends. I don't know. We don't know how Don Antonio works. Hopefully he'd be there for you, for us. We find ourselves in that predicament. Yeah. Stay spooky. We'll catch everyone next time. Bye. Spooky Tales is hosted by Christina and Carmen, produced and edited by Christina, researched by Christina, Carmen, and with the help of Dawn. Shout out, Dawn. If you're enjoying the podcast, consider leaving us a five-star review. We would really appreciate it. If you don't want to leave a five-star review, just don't leave a review, but don't leave anything lower than that, please. I'm just kidding. You can reach out to the podcast at spookytales.gmail.com. You can go to our website, spookytales.com, and fill out the contact form.

37:30 If you want to support the podcast, you can join our Patreon, where we... send exclusive stickers, have bonus episodes. $ 8 members get an exclusive keychain. It's super cool. I got new ones and these ones are huge. And if you want to support, but you can't or don't want to join the Patreon, that's fine too. You can also get some merch. You can find shirts that say Espuki in old English letters. There's a beanie. I love the beanie. There's also a hat. There's a No Mamas shirt, which is a fan favorite. There's a lot of options, crop tops, sweaters. It's almost sweater weather. We're nearing a spooky season. So yeah, get your hoodies. You're going to need them. If you don't want to do all that, that's fine, too. You can just listen like you're listening now. And that's the best support that you can give us, like I always say in our ad break. And yeah, if you like history, you can follow Historias Unknown, mine and Carmen's other podcasts.

38:22 And you can find Spooky Tales on all of our socials at Spooky Tales. All this is in the show notes and we appreciate every single listen. Thank you so much. Stay spooky.