#mystery caller

[thinplacesradio]

two shopping carts discarded on their sides in the grass beside a parking lot, the grate of a storm drain visible in front of them. the greens, pinks, and blues of the image are heightened. the image is distorted by VCR static. white text reads:

[027] THE LONG DISTANCE. A CALLER ASKS FOR RELATIONSHIP ADVICE. THE HOST GETS GROCERIES.

listen here, or anywhere you find your podcasts. transcript under the cut:

[static, radio tuning]

[Traveling Sales Rep: Don’t touch that dial! We’ll be right back, after these short messages.] [static, radio tuning]

[click]

Hello and welcome to Thin Places Radio. I’m your host,

and it is the middle of the night. But don’t worry. You’re not alone.

[Thin Places theme] 

I’m coming to you solo from my studio, which is what I like to call this closed-for-the-night grocery store, lit only by the white pulse of the fridges, and the strip of lights along the back wall of the store. I was trying to find that bowling alley again, and I know that this is the same town, but the bowling alley is gone, like it never existed. 

I know it did, though. It meant something to me while I was there. 

It’s strange to see the grocery store like this, shelves hulking and dark and rising up around me as I pass through the aisles. It’s strange to see it like this, which means that even though I can’t remember going grocery shopping in my old life, because there must have been an old life, I must have gone, and it must have been during the day, surrounded by the bustle of other people. Other people. Other people, huh. [laughs] No.

It’s always more fun to go grocery shopping with somebody else, tossing things in the cart and taking them back out, and joking about the names of the brands, and talking about your days. There’s nobody with me now, but there’s somebody a few aisles back. I’ve been hearing them follow me for the last half hour as I pick out what food I’m going to take back to my car. 

I’m sure I’ll see them when I reach the last aisle. But now that I’m looking, there are three aisles left in front of me, before the cold glow of the dairy section. There have been three aisles in front of me, before I reach the cold glow of the dairy section, for the last half hour. But here’s the thing. I’m dying for some cheddar. 

So… what is Thin Places Radio? Well, you can call in about anything strange that you’ve got going on in your life - feelings, omens, premonitions, hauntings.

Is this place cursed, or are you cursed in this place? 

Have you fallen in love with the universe? 

Are you looking for a friend? 

When the veil between worlds is thin, we get closer than ever to the strange and the unexplained - but also to each other. Call in, get it off your chest. Lines are open.

[click] [voicemail:]

Hi here. I know you normally don't do romance advice or, you know, couple advice, but this one might be just a little bit more up your alley? Uh, you see the relationship I'm in is with an entity that’s a cosmic entity the size of a galaxy. Yeah. It's a little weird but it actually works out pretty well. We communicate through telepathy, and they actually contacted me years ago, and they've been helping me out ever since. And we've really become close. They're great, but sometimes I feel like, because they're so different, that I can't show the same support they give me. They never complain, but it's more of a personal thing. So when it comes to someone very different, especially in a long-distance relationships like ours, how can I show my support for them?

[click] 

You’re right, caller, your question is a little bit outside of my wheelhouse. I don’t remember exactly who I’ve loved, or exactly how. I don’t remember what it feels like to be loved, but I remember what it feels like to love. I must. I can feel the ghost of it. [eerie, curious music] There are people I miss, even if I don’t know why. I do miss them. I - I miss my mom, I think. 

But I’ll try my best here, for your sake. You’re missing things, too - someone to go to the grocery store with. Someone to touch. That specific someone, a world unto themselves. I’m glad you’re not asking me a question I can’t answer - will it last? How long will you have with them? None of us ever have as much time as we think we do. It’s sweet that you’re spending yours thinking about how to give back the love and support that you receive. 

But, why do you think that just being yourself isn’t enough, caller? Just speaking to them makes you feel supported. Maybe speaking to you makes them feel the same way. Or maybe they don’t need to feel supported - maybe you give them something else they do need. Groundedness. A personal touch. A reminder that there’s somebody out there in the vast void of existence. A way to pour their love out so they don’t have to keep it all to themselves. 

But my best advice is to stop guessing. If you don’t know what they need? Ask them. It’s the one luxury you’ve got. 

[click]

[music playing] [cart wheels spinning] [overhead announcement from the Traveling Sales Rep:] Don’t miss our sale on hagfish slime. It’s a great deal, we’re practically giving it away. Please take some. It won’t stop spreading. Freakishly fast. Related to that, can we get someone to clean up aisles 6, 7, 8, and 9? And 10? Don’t miss that slime, and don’t make me go in there. Please.] 

Who was that? 

[click] 

The dairy section remains 3 aisles ahead of me, but I’ve fashioned a kind of pulley system out of materials I found in the pantry, baking, and cleaning aisles. I think that if I throw this part kind of like a lasso -

[clanging] [dragging]

Okay, no, hold on -

[clanging, dragging] 

No, let me just -

Haha! Yes! F**k yeah! We’re having a good night after all, folks. And all by ourselves, too. [pause] Kind of, there's that - I think there's someone trapped in that hagfish slime? I’ll go look on my way out. 

[click]

Thank you for listening, callers, and thank you for calling, listeners. I hope you feel a little bit lighter. I know I do. As always, our number is 717.382.8093. That’s 717.382.8093. Until next time. I’ll be here.

[static] [Traveling Sales Rep: visit us at the - diner just off -] [Various Garbled Voices: the - road - provides - the - road - provides -]

Thin Places Radio is a podcast written by Kristen O’Neal and produced by Kaitlin Bruder. The voice of Your Host is Kristen O’Neal.

Tonight’s voicemail was left for us by a mystery caller. The sound FX, music, and voice of our Travelling Sales Rep are by Miles Morkri. Editing and sound design are by Kaitlin Bruder, and the music tracks you heard in tonight’s episode are: the Thin Places theme and Unearthed, by Miles Morkri. If you have a question to ask, a story to tell, or a suggestion for the host, give us a call at ‪[phone]. The lines are always open.

[Thin Places Theme outro]

#027 #the long distance #mystery caller #thin places radio #tpr #episodes #fiction podcast #liminal #surreal #thin places #traveling sales rep #relationship advice

[mtg-cards-hourly]

Caller of Gales

"Some merfolk choose to rest their fins in the water. I believe wisdom exists not only where we were born but where we were told not to go."

Artist: Alex Horley-Orlandelli TCG Player Link Scryfall Link EDHREC Link

#mtg #magic the gathering #tcg #$0.14 #alex horley-orlandelli #caller of gales #mystery booster #creature #merfolk #wizard

[upsidedog]

before she and her mom moved into forest hills, max had a rule about lucas not calling her house, she would call him when she could. and more often than not “when she could” was the middle of the night. lucas was obviously not crazy about this, but he knew enough about max’s home life to figure the slap on the wrist he’d get for one of his friend’s calling late was disproportionate to whatever would happen if neil or billy caught max. max was never caught, lucas’ parents slept through the phone ringing the first two nights, but the third night the ring woke them up and lucas’ nonexistent volume control gave him away. his mom got up to tell lucas to get off the phone, but when she arrived at his door it was immediately clear lucas wasn’t talking to one of his party members. he was audibly nervous and throwing out shy compliments left and right. he called his mystery friend pretty, then apologized a moment after. “oh sorry, how about beautiful? handsome? cool? tubular?” he laughed, they agreed on cool then continued their conversation about video games. he was so respectful and kind and smitten and sue wanted to be upset but honestly couldn’t have been more proud of her son. she just went back to her room and explained it all to charles, they’d have normally been more strict about that sort of behavior but it was so sweet and lucas was such a little gentleman, it reminded them of the start of their relationship, if they’d called him out he’d just get more secretive. so they let it slide, shook their heads and laughed whenever they overheard lucas’ scrambling for the phone at two in the morning, exchanged glances when he alluded to the “cool new girl” he may or may not have liked and when he introduced them to his mystery caller sue cashed in her bet for what her personality would be like. after the summer starcourt mall burned down they stopped hearing ringing in the night, mystery caller stopped showing up around the house, but again, lucas was grown, he would come to them when he was ready.

#stranger things #lucas sinclair #max mayfield #lumax #sue sinclair #charles sinclair #sue and charles FOR THE WIN btw #one of the kids needed two normal parents and they said US #beloved hc is that their nickname for max is mystery caller and before lucas and erica are up when they’re making breakfast charles will do #a silly little deadpan game show voice and make fun of the parts of conversations they overhear like ‘lucas sinclair we have a mystery #caller on line two and she wants to argue with you about atari for three damn hours while your parents try to sleep’ and sue laughs and #loves him because they love each other and are happy #also sue won the bet on what max would be like but she was wrong max was just unbelievably nervous the first time she met them - she #introduced herself as maxine and was so overly polite lucas was genuinely worried #ok i’m done now peace and love #oh one more tiny thing i think max did get caught 1 single time but susan backed her up and took the phone and pretended max was talking to #her dad - bc i interpret her as generously as possible and think susan would love lucas dearly and post season 4 be so so happy to meet him

[everydaym0nstrosity]

Various Asian VHS Box Art (mainly Japanese) for some of my favorite Cult films from the 70s and 80s. Genres range from Horror, Mystery Thriller, Action, Crime, Grindhouse/Exploitation, etc.

#the evictors #a blade in the dark #the blue eyed bandit #vhs #act of vengeance #savage island #japanese #art #vhs art #cult horror #mystery #thriller #horror movies #cult film #horror #death carries a cane #the caller #the power #blue sunshine #80s movies #70s movies #80s horror #70s horror #blood #gore #b movie #giallo #retro #grindhouse #rats - nights of terror

[sketchofvobla]

Fighting for you life,or maybe just chitchatting with a maniac on the phone?

#digital drawing #ryu ga gotoku #yakuza 0 #goro majima #“Mystery Caller” quest is a mystery indeed

[necromancy-and-tax-evasion]

Mysterious Caller

#Mysterious Caller #goatlings #my art #art #artists on tumblr #artwork #artist #digital art

[galacticswindler]

I heard the Decepticons were looking for you.

"the Decepticons? looking for little ol me?"

"oh dear me, whatever shall I do! my loyal customers, after me!"

Swindle snickers

"you make it sound like that's a bad thing, my dear"

#💰 // Deals And Cons // inbox #💰 // Mysterious Caller // anon #Transformers #Transformers Swindle #Transformers ask blog #Transformers rp blog #tf swindle #tf au #Transformers au

[gunpowder-tim]

forgot how much indrids first line in taz fucked.

#rai.txt #jshdjdhdjshd #mysterious caller oooh spoooky #jdhdjdhdjdhd

[red-hart-radio]

Honestly Alastor...There's no way you thought saying "I wanna Fuck Vox" to Vox would scare him away or something? CLEARLY he's into you!

"I never said I wanted to...to...do that!-- I--I didn't use those words at all and ESPECIALLY not in that particular order either!

Not directly anyway-- but-- Well YES actually that WAS the initial plan--

Into me!? Hardly-- CLEARLY he's on the opposite side of me!"

Ment: @voxiiferous --ptetty sure this one's addressing you since haven't written with any other one on here yet 😂

#~tuning in~ (asks) #~Mystery Caller~ (anonymous)

[supercantaloupe]

i got a call from a phone # ID'd as "Howard". who the fuck is howard

#sasha speaks #i'm assuming that if it was the university/the hospital thereof the number would have a more specific caller ID associated with it?? #at any rate this mysterious howard didn't leave a voicemail so it can't be that important now can it #and i'm not answering a phone call from an unknown number in the middle of class #i also got a call from my allergist's office during class but that's the standard 'you have an appointment tomorrow' reminder

[thinplacesradio]

a colorful wall of books on bookshelves, mostly reds yellows and purples. the image is slightly distorted by VHS fuzz. text reads:

[003] THE LIGHTNING STORM. A CALLER WEATHERS THE STORM. THE HOST TRIES TO ESCAPE A BORGES STORY.

listen here, or anywhere. transcript under the cut:

[static, radio tuning] 

[Traveling Sales Rep: Don’t touch that dial! We’ll be right back, after these short messages.] [static, radio tuning] 

[click]

Hello and welcome to Thin Places Radio. I'm your host,

and it is the middle of the night. But don't worry. You're not alone.

[Thin Places theme intro]

I'm coming in hot from my studio, which is what I like to call the dark, ever-winding corners of the library stacks in this sub-basement. Everything is so muffled down here. If I stand still enough, it’s like I can hear each of the books breathing, slowly, like the plants they used to be. “Plants don’t breathe, you freak!” you might be saying. If you’re not saying that, I can give you a second. Yeah, go ahead. [long pause] Of course they do! They move, too, too slow for us to see. They feel. They even think. They live beside us, but completely out of step with time. Sometimes, that doesn’t sound so bad. Sometimes, it seems like a horror. But at least they have each other. The plants, I mean. And all the books down here, pressed up against one another. 

They might be able to see, too. The plants. The books. Might explain why it feels like I’m being watched. 

What is Thin Places Radio? Well, you can call in about anything strange that you've got going on in your everyday life. Has something crawled into bed beside you when the house is empty? Has a storm opened up above you in the desert? Did you go on a walk and find a plant that you thought went extinct thousands of years ago? Call in, get it off your chest. 

When the veil between worlds is thin, we get closer than ever to the strange and the unexplained - but also to each other. Let's close that gap a little more. Lines are open.

[click] [voicemail with rain sounds:]

Hi, so it’s about 9pm, here, and I'm experiencing a pretty intense lightning storm - maybe you can hear it right now? It’s going nonstop. There’s basically strobe lights in the sky. And there might even be hail, which is pretty weird for July in the desert. And it’s a little silly, but I always get really scared during storms like this. So I was just wondering if you had advice on how to weather the storm a little better, so to speak. What do you do?

[click]

Oh, listener, thank you for your call. I think it might be raining here, too, somewhere floors and floors and floors above me. 

There are a lot of things you could do, about fear. You could try to kill it - as a sniper, from a far-off hill. Or intimately, with your hands around its throat. I haven’t been afraid in a while. But I don't think that’s what you should do. I don’t think that’s my advice for you, caller. 

Because - the thing is, fear is a photo negative pointing back at your own life. You’re afraid. Okay. That means you’ve got something to lose. And even if you think you don’t, or even if you’re afraid of something you don’t have a name for, something you can’t look directly at - the fear is the thing you can’t name, and the way it might come for the last thing of all, that blood-pumping, bright-glowing, oxygen-screaming thing inside of you. Your life. 

So don’t kill your fear. Don’t build it up, but don’t ignore it, either. It’s not a specter at the foot of your bed. It’s not the thing you can’t quite see outside in the lightning storm. It’s the primal knot in your chest that’s trying to keep you alive. It’s the milkweed growing through the cracks in your sidewalk. It’s the thing that stops you from pressing yourself to your glowing red stovetop. Find it in your body, and take it out, and look at it. Name it. 

[click]

Remember the name of that ancient arcade game, listeners? 

54     34     45     13     11     33     44     22     34     23     34     32     15     43     34     25     15     15     35     22     34     24     33     22

[thunder] [click]

I’ve been walking this whole time, making only right turns. Two wrongs may not make a right, but four rights should have taken me back to where I started. But I’m only moving deeper into the stacks. The books are older the further I go into the hexagonal galleries. Their geometry warps. They’re bound and locked and getting… louder. I think I gotta wrap it up. They - the books - aren’t used to someone speaking this way. There are two ways out of anything: the way you got in, - but. No. That’s not really a way. It closes behind you in seconds. There’s one way out of anything: it’s through. 

[click] 

Thank you for listening, callers, and thank you for calling, listeners. I hope you feel a little bit lighter. I know I do. As always, our number is 717.382.8093. That's 717.382.8093. 

Until next time. I'll be here. 

[click]

[static] [Traveling Sales Rep: visit us at the - diner just off -] [Various Garbled Voices: ]  

Thin Places Radio is a podcast written by Kristen O’Neal and produced by Kaitlin Bruder. The voice of Your Host is Kristen O’Neal. Tonight’s voicemail was left for us by a mystery caller. Editing and sound design are by Kaitlin Bruder, and the music tracks you heard in tonight’s episode are: the Thin Places theme, by Miles Morkri, and Umeed by RANA.

If you have a story to tell or a question to ask, give us a call at ‪[phone]‬. The lines are always open.

[Thin Places Theme outro]

#thin places radio #TPR #episodes #003 #the lightning storm #podcast #mystery caller #codes

[thisbluespirit]

I keep talking about the truly terrible colourisation of Night Caller (1965; aka. The Night Caller From Outer Space; US The Blood Beast From Outer Space), so I’ve fished out my old screencaps.  THEY DIDN’T COLOUR IN PEOPLE’S HAIR. 0_o

Alfred Burke in actual colour in the mid/late 60s:

(image nicked from somewhere a very long time ago - the Guardian obit, maybe, I have a feeling.)

#night caller #1960s #alfred burke #john saxon #john carson #maurice denham #sff #colourisation #the film wasn't colour anyway #it was b&w so why they decided to colourise it #and then get halfway and be like we can't afford to have more than three colours or bother with people's hair #is a mystery for the ages #/looks at renown dvds or whoever it was

[movedtodykedvonte]

Do you have any headcanons or opinions on "mysterious caller"?

Of course I do! Some of these are generic and others are more speculative than concrete

The mysterious caller has to be a lightener in my eyes. How would they show Spamton heaven, which looks like our world otherwise?

That are they are a being between or outside lightener or darkener understanding. I like this better cause it adds dread for the fun gang as well

They can manifest in the dark worlds but usually only with the the person they have contact with. It’s kinda how the soul possesses Kris (hence the static Spamton does at times)

They don’t possess him a lot cause he’s failed but they do step in to keep him quiet about their plans/identity

Can warp darkeners by corruption. It turns them into the worst reflection of themself and mental state. It’s reversible in the early stages

I like the idea it’s the same entity that fucked with Jevil but under a different identity. Hence why I don’t think it’s Mike or Tenna cause Spamton knows them/what they were selling

Again, they kinda just give their vessels or chosen trauma victims Apollos gift of foresight. Spamton knew what pitches would land but not exactly why, hence why he failed after it was gone

Jevil saw nothing and no way to change it and felt hopeless just being a thing existing for another so he chose the freedom of existing for himself

What the caller sold to Spamton was vague concepts to keep him confused and wrapped around the cords. Spamton never got it and Jevil misinterpreted it

They aren’t exactly malicious but they have little care for how things are affected if it’s all for the benefit of their own goals

They left cause Spamton wanted to know too much and telling him outright would have broke him faster. Also, purposely isolated Spam as they only work one on one, case study type asshole

Not evil but a bastard. They make the phone ring because they want Spamton to understand they are always listening

My personal take is they don’t control the strings, more the strings are Spamton’s code, the phone gave him the ability to see. Obviously knowing the entire world is preconditioned and nothing you do matters got to Spamton and he desperately wanted to be autonomous like a lightener/the caller. When he reached too far the caller effectively punished him by making his mental state be reflected on his body and voice, giving Spamton the physical sense he was a puppet as well despite still allowing him to physically do as he pleased. It fucked with the poor guy immensely and kept him from messing with their plans.

#I also believe they chose desperate or misunderstood people as they are easier to warp #or meld into what it needs for a situation #Jevil probs was tired of the monotony and Spamton wanted something more #ask #anon #Spamton #jevil #spamton g addison #spamton g spamton #wd gaster #mysterious caller #deltarune gaster

[yuikomorihotline]

Mysterious 👀

𝔐𝔶𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔦𝔬𝔲𝔰 - 𝔚𝔥𝔞𝔱’𝔰 𝔶𝔬𝔲𝔯 𝔣𝔞𝔳𝔬𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔢 𝔲𝔫𝔰𝔬𝔩𝔳𝔢𝔡 𝔪𝔶𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔶?

It's a little cliché, but it's nonetheless an interesting mystery. My favourite would probably be who 'Jack the Ripper' was. It's interesting that he's so famous because he's only had five victims, so the method of which he killed the sex workers must have made him so infamous... I simply don't want to know how he mutilated those poor women though! It's a little grim for my liking, but I chose it because I don't know whether aliens qualify as an unsolved mystery.

The only reason why I know about that horrible murderer is because I read a few pages of a book my father had, stumbled upon that name, and got traumatised! It's so unbecoming of a priest to read about serial killers, so naturally I gave out to him for owning such a book...

I wouldn't say it's my favourite per se, but it has stayed with me for a long time... Which I find odd, because I'm not much of a fan of true crime.

#caller id kirua9 #{ i didn't really know how to answer it sorry jgigdgidgid } #{ literally just looked up unsolved mysteries and thats the first result 🏃🏃 } #{ anyways } #yui komori #diabolik lovers #yui komori hotline #asks

[alastorous-disastorous-archived]

Kiss the red one. Which red one? Guess! Hahaha~.

"Which on indeed~ me or you?"

#~welcome to all time radio!~ (alastor) #~i hear you my dear loud and clear~ (response) #~my deer listeners~ (asks) #~mystery caller~ (anonymous)

[sundial-bee-scribbles]

Okay like, i enjoy what these anons come up with??? How are they so creative?? The stories, headcanons and everything is so cool help????

RIGHT LITERALLY??? 😭💖

#ask #thank u anons <3 #like mysterious callers in the night leaving mysterious trinkets to be remembered by #will never know the true identity but whats true is that the ideas yall come up w/? hella good shit