Turn Left

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to Scary Story Podcast.

[00:00:03] [SPEAKER_00]: In the first story, a driver on a familiar freeway has a close encounter with a strange

[00:00:08] [SPEAKER_00]: creature.

[00:00:09] [SPEAKER_00]: In the second story, we have another road tale.

[00:00:13] [SPEAKER_00]: But this one deals with an apparition.

[00:00:18] [SPEAKER_00]: My name is Edwin.

[00:00:20] [SPEAKER_00]: And here's a scary story.

[00:00:24] [SPEAKER_00]: Turn Left.

[00:00:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Driving up and down the five freeway in California every other week was tiring.

[00:00:34] [SPEAKER_00]: It was part of the deal.

[00:00:36] [SPEAKER_00]: I tried to convince my girlfriend to join me up north and that could tell it was working.

[00:00:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Or at least she was thinking about it more seriously after a few months of me complaining about

[00:00:45] [SPEAKER_00]: the drive.

[00:00:47] [SPEAKER_00]: It was peaceful, and I can't lie about that.

[00:00:51] [SPEAKER_00]: And as you leave Los Angeles in the hills areas, you start to do a climb through dry mountains

[00:00:56] [SPEAKER_00]: and before you know it, the six lane freeway turns to four lanes and then to three

[00:01:01] [SPEAKER_00]: as you climb the mountains that you see in the distance.

[00:01:05] [SPEAKER_00]: If you have ever seen pictures of the Los Angeles skyline where the buildings are, you have

[00:01:11] [SPEAKER_00]: definitely seen those mountains in the background.

[00:01:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Those are the mountains you have to go through in order to get to Northern California.

[00:01:20] [SPEAKER_00]: After the mountains though, it is a straight shot of pure desert scenery.

[00:01:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Nothing but dirt and dried up plants with hills in the distance.

[00:01:28] [SPEAKER_00]: It's like this for miles and miles, for hours on the road.

[00:01:33] [SPEAKER_00]: So I like that part a lot.

[00:01:35] [SPEAKER_00]: But seven hours on the road with around five of those being surrounded by nothing and doing

[00:01:40] [SPEAKER_00]: it every other week got boring really fast and I started dreading my visits.

[00:01:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Kathy could tell since we speak on the phone while I was driving when the signal didn't

[00:01:50] [SPEAKER_00]: cut off that much.

[00:01:52] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know after all this was my choice.

[00:01:55] [SPEAKER_00]: I chose to move up there to work at a start-up, selling cell phone cases with a power bank thing.

[00:02:02] [SPEAKER_00]: I know it sounds common now but back then these things weren't heard of.

[00:02:06] [SPEAKER_00]: I was the one making Kathy go through all this stress with me so I felt like I shouldn't

[00:02:11] [SPEAKER_00]: be complaining about something as simple as a drive to go visit her.

[00:02:15] [SPEAKER_00]: But you should have seen my face when I saw the big orange signs announcing a

[00:02:20] [SPEAKER_00]: detour on the freeway.

[00:02:22] [SPEAKER_00]: It happened sometimes either there was an accident on the road or there were doing

[00:02:26] [SPEAKER_00]: repairs on the freeway.

[00:02:28] [SPEAKER_00]: I had gotten out of work late, my car had just turned on the warning to change

[00:02:32] [SPEAKER_00]: the oil and I had work left to do.

[00:02:35] [SPEAKER_00]: But there I was at an exit ramp off of who knows where waiting for other cars

[00:02:39] [SPEAKER_00]: to follow the same detour.

[00:02:42] [SPEAKER_00]: It was tough not to complain about this but there was nothing I could do.

[00:02:47] [SPEAKER_00]: In a line like little kids walking to the cafeteria.

[00:02:50] [SPEAKER_00]: All of these cars went straight ahead and up and down curvy roads.

[00:02:55] [SPEAKER_00]: I did not know we had these in California by the way.

[00:02:59] [SPEAKER_00]: The car behind me kept thinking he was on some paved road and kept speeding

[00:03:03] [SPEAKER_00]: trying to pass me until he finally got the chance to and nearly skidded off

[00:03:07] [SPEAKER_00]: the dirt road for stepping on the gas too hard.

[00:03:10] [SPEAKER_00]: But eventually I saw the signs for the five freeway once again

[00:03:14] [SPEAKER_00]: and after about an hour of seeing hills with cows and actual greenery.

[00:03:18] [SPEAKER_00]: I was back.

[00:03:21] [SPEAKER_00]: And I kept thinking that I needed to go straight to a car wash after

[00:03:24] [SPEAKER_00]: getting back to the city.

[00:03:27] [SPEAKER_00]: I got to Kathy's that evening.

[00:03:31] [SPEAKER_00]: We cooked at home that night and when she told me she was being extra nice.

[00:03:37] [SPEAKER_00]: She finally said that she had something to tell me I held my breath though.

[00:03:41] [SPEAKER_00]: That's when she first mentioned the move.

[00:03:44] [SPEAKER_00]: Kathy had packed her bags to come stay at my apartment as a test drive.

[00:03:49] [SPEAKER_00]: How she lovingly puts it.

[00:03:52] [SPEAKER_00]: I was happy but my mind went straight to how messy I had left my apartment

[00:03:55] [SPEAKER_00]: and I wasn't even sure if I took out the trash out that Friday.

[00:04:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Had Chinese food leftovers.

[00:04:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Oh and the bathroom.

[00:04:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Kathy took too long to finish getting her things ready

[00:04:09] [SPEAKER_00]: and we even had to go back to her place right before getting on the

[00:04:12] [SPEAKER_00]: freeway ramp because she had forgotten her cell phone charger.

[00:04:16] [SPEAKER_00]: The point is that we'd finally be making it to her place a little

[00:04:19] [SPEAKER_00]: after two in the morning and I hated that.

[00:04:22] [SPEAKER_00]: She knew it but she was doing her best to stay positive and not to poke at it too much

[00:04:27] [SPEAKER_00]: by telling me random stories about her day and full on commentary on her friends' conversations.

[00:04:34] [SPEAKER_00]: It was before midnight by this point and on the road ahead I saw a series of lights

[00:04:39] [SPEAKER_00]: lined up across the road.

[00:04:42] [SPEAKER_00]: My eyes adjusted a little until I could finally tell that the lights were

[00:04:46] [SPEAKER_00]: the reflections of dozens of traffic cones, bright orange into the distance.

[00:04:52] [SPEAKER_00]: I scanned the area in front of me but there were no signs.

[00:04:56] [SPEAKER_00]: When I looked at the rear-view mirror I was hoping not to see what I saw.

[00:05:01] [SPEAKER_00]: The few cars that were on the road at that time were leaving the freeway.

[00:05:06] [SPEAKER_00]: I could see the line of tiny white headlights heading off into the hills and around the

[00:05:11] [SPEAKER_00]: last exit.

[00:05:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Another detour.

[00:05:16] [SPEAKER_00]: Had I missed a sign?

[00:05:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Kathy's guess was that maybe a sign tipped over and we missed it or that I was too into one of her

[00:05:24] [SPEAKER_00]: stories but I think I was just hypno-driving if that's even a word though I'm sure there's

[00:05:30] [SPEAKER_00]: a more scientific way of saying that I was just using my regular driving reflexes to tell me

[00:05:34] [SPEAKER_00]: where I needed to go.

[00:05:36] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean I had done the drive dozens and dozens of times before so I pulled over to the right

[00:05:43] [SPEAKER_00]: apparently the only thing I could have done at the time.

[00:05:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Then a man with a high visibility jacket came running up to the car from the other side of

[00:05:50] [SPEAKER_00]: the freeway asking if we were all right.

[00:05:53] [SPEAKER_00]: He was really cool and told us about a short dirt road that would lead us back to the

[00:05:57] [SPEAKER_00]: detour just a minute ahead of where we were but to hurry because the highway patrol cars

[00:06:03] [SPEAKER_00]: would find us if they saw us.

[00:06:06] [SPEAKER_00]: We thanked them and went ahead slowly by the side of the road until sure enough

[00:06:11] [SPEAKER_00]: we both spotted a dirt road by a metal fence.

[00:06:14] [SPEAKER_00]: We looked like a special access road or a private property path

[00:06:19] [SPEAKER_00]: and right on the corner facing us was a sign that said

[00:06:23] [SPEAKER_00]: turn left.

[00:06:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Kathy didn't see it but I chuckled a little bit knowing that there would be nowhere to turn

[00:06:30] [SPEAKER_00]: left to and it was only a right turn.

[00:06:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Still we should have taken it as a warning.

[00:06:37] [SPEAKER_00]: The empty freeway was now behind us as I drove onto that road at crawling speed.

[00:06:43] [SPEAKER_00]: The car would bounce violently whenever I sped up faster than five or so miles per hour.

[00:06:49] [SPEAKER_00]: To the left and right of us were some dried up trees and what looked like farmland

[00:06:54] [SPEAKER_00]: and in front of us was just a straight dirt road that seemed to end at the base of another hill.

[00:07:00] [SPEAKER_00]: All this time driving up and down the freeway and I had never even questioned

[00:07:04] [SPEAKER_00]: what was next to it but I should have.

[00:07:08] [SPEAKER_00]: As we were driving up closer to the base of the hill I saw another sign.

[00:07:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Turn left but the road seemed to end on the left.

[00:07:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Still we kept driving up slowly until the road ended.

[00:07:23] [SPEAKER_00]: There was a small patch of rocks and trees to the left

[00:07:26] [SPEAKER_00]: and it led to what appeared to be a walking trail

[00:07:30] [SPEAKER_00]: and I stopped the car for a minute looking over to the left.

[00:07:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Kathy joked that I should just turn the car there

[00:07:37] [SPEAKER_00]: but I still remember her expression full of fear.

[00:07:41] [SPEAKER_00]: When I looked at her and started laughing asking her if she felt like hiking that night.

[00:07:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Her smile stretched lower down her face as she looked past me and through my window.

[00:07:53] [SPEAKER_00]: I couldn't believe what I saw when I turned around.

[00:07:58] [SPEAKER_00]: My headlights reflected off the base of the hill well enough to show me

[00:08:01] [SPEAKER_00]: that there was a figure in white clothing

[00:08:04] [SPEAKER_00]: crawling slowly toward us about 20 or 30 feet away

[00:08:08] [SPEAKER_00]: but then stood up to display its long dark hair hanging in front of it.

[00:08:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Kathy tapped on my arm repeatedly as if signaling me to drive away

[00:08:19] [SPEAKER_00]: but I couldn't stop staring.

[00:08:22] [SPEAKER_00]: That's when the figure took a step toward the car and then started running full speed at us.

[00:08:27] [SPEAKER_00]: I let go of the brake in the front of the car slid into the base of the thick brush of the hill.

[00:08:33] [SPEAKER_00]: I set the car in reverse as the face of an old pale woman

[00:08:37] [SPEAKER_00]: got up right next to my side of the car.

[00:08:41] [SPEAKER_00]: I turned the car to face right and we both got a very good look at her.

[00:08:47] [SPEAKER_00]: It was a nightgown she was wearing but her arms were unnaturally long

[00:08:53] [SPEAKER_00]: nearly reaching the ground as she hunched over.

[00:08:57] [SPEAKER_00]: I set the car on drive and turned right when she let out a loud scream.

[00:09:04] [SPEAKER_00]: I was going a little faster down the road though it bounced all over the place.

[00:09:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Kathy kept turning around to see if the woman was behind us

[00:09:13] [SPEAKER_00]: and neither of us could see anything but complete darkness behind the car.

[00:09:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Eventually we saw a trail of headlights up ahead.

[00:09:22] [SPEAKER_00]: I stopped the car at the intersection my heart still racing.

[00:09:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Kathy was leaning closer to me now away from the window.

[00:09:32] [SPEAKER_00]: The car flashed its headlights in front of us.

[00:09:36] [SPEAKER_00]: We were back on track.

[00:09:39] [SPEAKER_00]: I thanked the driver who was letting us turn in front of the busy detour road.

[00:09:46] [SPEAKER_00]: I turned left.

[00:10:00] [SPEAKER_00]: The following story also deals with an event on the road.

[00:10:04] [SPEAKER_00]: It's called Highway 18.

[00:10:07] [SPEAKER_00]: It'll begin right after this message from our sponsors that help make the show possible.

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[00:11:35] [SPEAKER_00]: Highway 18.

[00:11:39] [SPEAKER_00]: My dad has a lot of stories about the road since he was a trucker up until he retired

[00:11:43] [SPEAKER_00]: about 20 years ago.

[00:11:46] [SPEAKER_00]: I remember hearing them when I was growing up as he spoke of the people that he met,

[00:11:50] [SPEAKER_00]: the pictures of places and postcards he collected,

[00:11:53] [SPEAKER_00]: but my favorite stories were those about the strangeness that happened out in the middle of

[00:11:57] [SPEAKER_00]: nowhere.

[00:11:58] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm talking about things like strange lights in the sky,

[00:12:02] [SPEAKER_00]: potential highway robberies and sketchy people,

[00:12:05] [SPEAKER_00]: and the ghost hitchhikers.

[00:12:09] [SPEAKER_00]: See there was a highway that he frequented known as Highway 18.

[00:12:13] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not sure if that was the name of the road itself or just a code for it instead of calling

[00:12:18] [SPEAKER_00]: it the ghost highway that had the most activity that truckers talked about.

[00:12:23] [SPEAKER_00]: They seem to have code words for things like police cars too.

[00:12:28] [SPEAKER_00]: A story that him and one of the second drivers that he'd drive with

[00:12:31] [SPEAKER_00]: told us a story at a family barbecue that was just about that highway,

[00:12:37] [SPEAKER_00]: and they both shared something that changed the mood of the party almost immediately.

[00:12:43] [SPEAKER_00]: According to them, my dad was driving and his assistant driver Steve was sleeping in one of the

[00:12:48] [SPEAKER_00]: bunks when he woke up screaming.

[00:12:52] [SPEAKER_00]: They both sort of laughed it off since nightmares were probably common with sleeping

[00:12:56] [SPEAKER_00]: in a moving truck, but Steve grabbed a cup of cold coffee he had left and moved to

[00:13:01] [SPEAKER_00]: the passenger seat in the front of the truck telling my dad about the crazy thing he

[00:13:06] [SPEAKER_00]: had dreamed about. In the dream, the truck had made a turn into a familiar wooded area that had

[00:13:13] [SPEAKER_00]: been crossed by them countless times, even during the day going under the canopies of

[00:13:18] [SPEAKER_00]: the trees that lined up the highway forced you to turn on the headlights,

[00:13:22] [SPEAKER_00]: but cars usually didn't bother to do so, and truck drivers had to be extra cautious in the dark

[00:13:28] [SPEAKER_00]: shaded areas. His dream was about this road.

[00:13:34] [SPEAKER_00]: He was driving the truck through there when two cars started approaching him coming from both lanes.

[00:13:40] [SPEAKER_00]: One of the cars was trying to pass the other and went onto the lane for oncoming traffic,

[00:13:45] [SPEAKER_00]: right where Steve was. He almost lost control of the truck but managed to stay in his lane

[00:13:51] [SPEAKER_00]: running straight into the car that was on the wrong one. He remembered the face of the

[00:13:57] [SPEAKER_00]: young woman and everything. My dad chuckled at how specific the dream was, but then Steve

[00:14:04] [SPEAKER_00]: laughed too and forgot about the story. Eventually Steve went back to the bonk since

[00:14:10] [SPEAKER_00]: drivers had to log their sleeping and driving hours. It was late, something like two or three

[00:14:17] [SPEAKER_00]: in the morning and my dad was driving. When Steve woke up as soon as the truck stopped,

[00:14:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Steve remembers this a little differently than my dad does, but they both agreed that my dad

[00:14:27] [SPEAKER_00]: walked over to the passenger seat and opened the door to climb down. He had pulled over to

[00:14:32] [SPEAKER_00]: the side of the road. Steve heard my dad speak with someone, like giving them directions and

[00:14:39] [SPEAKER_00]: asking if everything was alright. My dad says that he had seen a woman walking along the side of

[00:14:45] [SPEAKER_00]: the road in a hurry, claiming that her car was just a few minutes away and that she did not

[00:14:50] [SPEAKER_00]: need help. The way my dad describes her since chills down my spine, but to him this was

[00:14:58] [SPEAKER_00]: perfectly normal. She wore a long yellow dress and black glasses and that was fine,

[00:15:05] [SPEAKER_00]: but the tilted head is what I can't get over. Though my dad had seen so many things on the

[00:15:12] [SPEAKER_00]: road that he didn't question it and let her go on her way just like that. Some people simply

[00:15:18] [SPEAKER_00]: want to be left alone. Steve got up and climbed down the truck as my dad was coming back to

[00:15:25] [SPEAKER_00]: it and asked what had happened. When dad explained and turned around to see if the woman was still there,

[00:15:32] [SPEAKER_00]: she had vanished. My dad then told Steve that she shouldn't have been too difficult to spot since

[00:15:40] [SPEAKER_00]: she was wearing a bright yellow dress. Both thought it was strange but they didn't think

[00:15:45] [SPEAKER_00]: much of the situation and got back in the truck, briefly talking about what she had said.

[00:15:52] [SPEAKER_00]: And that's when Steve realized that the way dad described the woman matched the girl from

[00:15:56] [SPEAKER_00]: his nightmare from the previous day. The one about the accident. Steve swears by this story

[00:16:04] [SPEAKER_00]: and sticks to it while my dad just confirms exactly what happened during the encounter with the woman

[00:16:09] [SPEAKER_00]: in the yellow dress. They both put on their seatbelts and leaned over to look at their side view

[00:16:16] [SPEAKER_00]: mirrors. Dad turned on the headlights, ready to cross that last stretch of highway. Up ahead

[00:16:26] [SPEAKER_00]: of them was that path of highway 18, underneath a dark shade of the trees. To get updates and more

[00:16:42] [SPEAKER_00]: whenever a new story gets released by email be sure to tap follow and head over to scarystorypodcast.com

[00:16:48] [SPEAKER_00]: to find the form and to sign up for free. There is a link to it over on the description

[00:16:53] [SPEAKER_00]: of this episode. You can also get in touch through our discord server.

[00:16:57] [SPEAKER_00]: This show was produced by me, Edwin Covarrubias. Thank you very much for listening.