The Boy at the Bottom of the Stairs | True Ghost Stories | Ep #36

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Oh, I didn't hear you come in.
What's that?

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You've got a true strange story
of the unexplained you'd like to

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hear narrated on the show.
E-mail it to me,

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madamstrangeways@gmail.com.
Welcome strangers, strangelings

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and strange Kateers to Madam
Strangeways, where I, Madam

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Strangeways, narrate your true
strange stories of the

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unexplained.
And as always, solicited or not,

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usually not.
I share my strange thoughts and

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observations and drag you down a
slew of strange rabbit holes,

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kicking and screaming if
absolutely necessary.

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Today I've got one new spine
tingling true strange story for

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you.
But first, the strangest of

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shout outs to my Patreon
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Music, Ted, Keith and Tori,
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Join the Patreon today at
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And now on to our true Strange

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story here on Madam Strange
Ways.

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The boy at the bottom of the
stairs by OMG Real UFO.

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It seemed like a lot of you
liked my post about the

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Whispering Girl.
I don't have any other

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paranormal experiences myself,
but my Auntie Linda does and

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honestly it's one of the
scariest true stories I've

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heard.
So my Auntie Linda is a very

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straight talking woman.
She never believed in ghosts or

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the paranormal until she
experienced something.

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So this encounter was about 20
years ago.

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My Auntie Linda was working at a
care home in Wales.

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Now the care home is really old
and it's been a few different

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buildings in the past.
The building is over 100 years

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old so my Auntie Linda was doing
a night shift so she started

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working around 6:00 PM and then
would finish the next day around

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9:00 AM.
She was doing her rounds and

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checking that all of the
residents were asleep and all

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seemed fine.
She went upstairs to the staff

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room to get ready to go to
sleep.

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She was locking the staff room
toilets upstairs before she went

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to bed.
Now the staff toilets are

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directly opposite the stairs, so
when she locked them she turned

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around facing the stairs.
She then noticed what looked

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like a little boy sitting at the
bottom of the stairs.

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He was wearing old fashioned
clothing, maybe something from

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the 1920s, and was facing away
from her.

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Startled, she called out to ask
if he was OK.

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Then all of a sudden the boy
turned to face her.

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Now her description still freaks
me out to this day.

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She said.
When he turned to look at her,

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it looked like his jaw or
something was broken because his

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jaw was hanging from his mouth.
He gave her direct eye contact.

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Now you know how kids run up the
stairs sometimes using both

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their hands and feet.
This kid started to run towards

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my auntie up the stairs.
She screamed in terror and as

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soon as she screamed the boy
disappeared.

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My auntie then ran out of the
building and called her manager

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to say she's not staying the
night.

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When the manager asked what
happened she said she saw

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something at the bottom of the
stairs and they ran towards her.

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Her manager then said oh you've
seen Benny.

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Turns out the little boy was a
boy called Benny who had died

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from falling down the stairs in
the building years ago.

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Some of the residents at the
care home said he visits them

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sometimes and sits on their
beds.

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Honestly scared the shit out of
me as a child.

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This story did and my auntie to
this day swears what she saw

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really happen.
From that point onwards, she

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didn't dismiss the paranormal
anymore.

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Ba ba Ba Benny and the Jaws or
lack thereof perhaps.

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Thank you so much OMG Real UFO
for letting me read yet another

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one of your stories.
This is the second story.

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Actually, if you go back and
listen to episode number Mumble

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Mumble, I did read another one
of OMG Real UFOs stories.

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And actually that was the second
story that I read, this story

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about poor Benny and his lack of
jaw.

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This is the story that I read
first from OMG Real UFO.

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But because of the beginning, it
references an earlier story.

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I was like, well, now I got to
read both stories and I got to

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start chronologically.
So now this is actually the

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first story that I read that
really hit me because it's so

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spooky.
So look, OMG Real UFO.

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Your aunt or aunt is definitely
a victim here and she was so

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smart because you know what she
did what I love, you know I love

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to do it.
Absolutely not, absolutely not.

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Two of my favorite words,
absolutely and not.

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They have to be together though,
because I can't say absolutely

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to a ghost situation.
It's going to be an absolutely

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not for me and also for your
aunt slash aunt.

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She made the right choice there.
But poor Betty Benny is the real

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victim here.
Poor Benny.

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Benny, first of all, doesn't
have a jaw.

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So listen, there's not going to
be any jaw Breakers being

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enjoyed by poor little Benny.
Kids love jawbreakers.

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I never loved a jawbreaker
personally, but I imagine, you

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know what, like ghost kids from
the 20s and 30s, you know they

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loved a hard candy.
You know they loved them like

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barley sweets and lemon drops.
Those sound like those are

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things.
Those are old style candies.

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You know he loved those and he
can't even enjoy a jawbreaker.

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You know what?
You know what?

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Maybe a jawbreaker was involved.
No, he fell down the stairs.

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OK, OK, so no spectral jaw
Breakers will be enjoyed by poor

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Benny.
And also, of all the places to

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get stuck as a ghost, as a care
home.

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Like, no wonder he goes and sits
on the patient's beds.

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He ain't got nothing else to do,
you know, It's sad.

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Poor Benny.
What a, what a tragic end.

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I, you know, I, I, I think
someone said in the comments, I

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think there's only one comment,
but I think someone said like,

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oh, imagine those poor old
people who are waking up and

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they have this terrifying,
terrifying young child ghost

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sitting on their bed.
I however, I think that they

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would not be terrified because
here's the thing about old

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people is they have seen some
shit and also they're really

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lonely.
So I bet they were thrilled.

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I bet they looked forward to
Benny visiting them at night or

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anytime.
I bet they were thrilled to have

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him and they probably told their
stories for the five thousandth

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time to him.
And he probably had a great time

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too.
So I think you have to answer.

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You have to ask the question,
OK, when it comes to hauntings,

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right, There's residual
hauntings and there's

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intelligent hauntings.
So a residual haunting is sort

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of like a ghost repeating the
same thing over and over as if

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on a loop or like on a a record,
right?

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And it's just repeating over and
over and over again, sort of

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like the Stone Tape theory,
which is, you know, as I've

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mentioned, the theory that you
have something that happened

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over and over enough or that was
traumatic enough or, you know,

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violent enough that it sort of
stuck in time.

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And so that's that kind of like
residual haunting where the

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ghost is not interacting with
you.

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It's literally just pretending
like it's living its life and

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nothing new has changed and it
doesn't know that it's dead,

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that sort of thing.
Then intelligent haunting that

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would be some interaction.
So whether or not it's knocking

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or whether or not it's messing
with you like hiding things or

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even you know, a, a poltergeist
would technically be considered

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an intelligent haunting, but in
some way where there's an

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intelligence there and it's not
just over and over and over

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again.
Now stay with me here, because

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although Benny did turn and look
at Auntie, and even though Benny

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did run up the stairs toward
her, I don't know that that

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necessarily means that he was
doing so intelligently.

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I don't know that that means
that he was aware of her.

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Or was this just one of his
loops that he did?

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Because if you think about it,
kids with nothing else to do and

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there's stairs around, they're
going to be running up and down

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the stairs.
That's going to be their whole

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thing.
Especially like, oh God, like

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clambering up the stairs, spot
on his hands and feet.

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That's so scary.
I don't know that he was trying

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to scare Auntie.
I think that's kind of like AI

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think that's like a horror movie
trope at this point.

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You know, I, I guess the concept
of like humans moving in a way

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that seems inhuman, you know,
maybe not impossible, like maybe

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not full on heads spinning
around 360° all of the exorcist

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all right, but doing humans
moving in a way that they

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shouldn't move is just kind of
uncanny and it gives you the

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heebie jeebies, right.
So, you know, like maybe he was

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trying to scare her, but I don't
think he was.

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I think he was just being a kid.
If if this, if this is a

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haunting, if this is a ghost, I
think he was just being a kid

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and that this might actually be
a residual haunting.

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And you may say, oh, but hold
on, Madam.

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Excuse me.
Benny went and sat on the beds

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of patients.
Yeah.

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But like, if this house has been
used as a hospital for a long

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time, then it's fair to say that
actually this is just, again,

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this is just a residual thing
and that he was sitting on

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various beds and etcetera
before.

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So, you know, let me know what
you think.

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Let me know.
Do you think this sounds like a

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residual or an
intelligenthauntingmadamstrangeways@gmail.com?

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Let me know.
But also what I find the most

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compelling about these kinds of
haunting stories is that it's

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like you don't share the
assuming this is true.

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OK, I am assuming that OMG real
UFO is correctly and truthfully

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relaying the story from his aunt
who accurately and truthfully

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relayed the story to him without
embellishment, whether that

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embellishment was purposeful or
accidental.

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Because as I've said before,
yes, you're right.

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Good point that every single
time we access a memory, we're

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actually writing over it.
We're saving over the memory.

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And so actually you can't trust
a single memory that you have

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because every time you you think
of it, it's altered.

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And so truly, what is reality
and memory?

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I don't know.
Great question.

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Aside from that, assuming that
all of this is true and this is

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exactly how it happened, I think
it's always so spooky when a

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story is effectively someone
accidentally discovering the

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built in lore, especially at
their workplace.

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I don't know why work stuff is
just it's like work sucks

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already and then what?
Now I'm going to be haunted

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during work hours?
I mean, I guess I would prefer

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to be haunted on an employer's
dime than in my free time,

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personally, if I had to choose.
So, OK, it's fine.

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I just find these stories very,
very spooky.

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Very spooky, you know?
OK, look, from a, from a

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naturalistic or a mundane
standpoint, could you argue that

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Auntie Auntie did hear about
Benny and kind of forgot or like

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wasn't really paying attention,
maybe heard that there was some

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kind of ghost or, you know,
sure.

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And then forgot?
Yeah.

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But I mean, you would think, you
would think that that would be

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an included detail.
Although here's the thing about

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humans is that we do love a good
narrative.

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We love a good narrative.
And so it is a better narrative

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for her to not mention that she
had already heard the story of

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Benny.
So I couldn't blame her for

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leaving that part out.
And I'm not even saying she

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would be doing it consciously.
She may even that's how much we

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love narrative is that we kind
of subconsciously alter what we

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share with people.
And I know I will find myself

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doing it and I'll be thinking,
well, let's not like I am

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leaving out this detail, but it
does make a better like as I'm

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saying it, I find myself doing
it, but it just happens.

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And so I would have to then go
back and be like, OK, hold on.

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I, you know, no.
And then I got to get semantic

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and be like, well, technically
this thing OK.

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No, no, no, no, it's fine.
So from a naturalistic

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00:15:19,560 --> 00:15:24,320
standpoint, I think the easiest,
the easiest explanation for this

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00:15:24,320 --> 00:15:27,920
would just be that, you know,
OMG, real UFOs.

225
00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:32,440
Aunt had actually heard the
story of Benny and then

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00:15:32,880 --> 00:15:38,880
experienced it in that order.
However, like I said, you know,

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00:15:38,880 --> 00:15:41,560
I do like to take these stories
at face value.

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00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:47,080
So I guess a different
naturalistic explanation, you

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00:15:47,080 --> 00:15:53,840
know, I don't know, I don't
know, I don't know.

230
00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:59,280
Besides, you know what?
Besides Auntie just sharing a

231
00:15:59,280 --> 00:16:03,360
scary story and wanting to scare
the shit out of her nieces and

232
00:16:03,360 --> 00:16:09,160
nephews, I feel like that's, I
feel like that might be it.

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00:16:09,720 --> 00:16:14,960
That's, I mean, look, I'm not
saying I would do the same in

234
00:16:14,960 --> 00:16:17,680
her shoes, but I also couldn't
blame her.

235
00:16:18,480 --> 00:16:21,760
So I think those are the two
most naturalistic explanations

236
00:16:21,800 --> 00:16:25,120
for the story Would just
basically be it's a better

237
00:16:25,120 --> 00:16:28,720
narrative to tell it a little
differently and maybe

238
00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:31,800
misremembering it over time and
not even remembering that that

239
00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:34,720
happened the other way because
that's how memory works.

240
00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:36,720
Or she just wanted to scare you
guys.

241
00:16:37,360 --> 00:16:40,720
It's one or the other.
Or there was really a ghost with

242
00:16:40,720 --> 00:16:44,160
his jaw missing named Benny.
Now, how hard do you have to

243
00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:48,920
fall down the stairs for your
jaw to be hanging off?

244
00:16:50,640 --> 00:16:53,640
Right?
All right, so you OK.

245
00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:59,280
You may have noticed if you are
a listener of the show that I do

246
00:16:59,280 --> 00:17:03,680
have a soft spot for Wales.
I just feel like Wales get slept

247
00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:06,040
on.
I feel like in terms of the UK,

248
00:17:06,480 --> 00:17:10,200
everybody is all about, you
know, England, jolly old England

249
00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:14,000
and you know, Ireland and
Scotland and then no one really

250
00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:17,240
talks about Wales.
So I have a soft spot for Wales,

251
00:17:17,560 --> 00:17:21,920
but I don't want this to turn
into a one hour episode where I

252
00:17:21,920 --> 00:17:27,680
tell you interesting facts about
Welsh folklore and ghosts and

253
00:17:27,680 --> 00:17:31,640
hauntings and etcetera.
So do you want to hear more

254
00:17:31,640 --> 00:17:35,800
about Welsh folklore and Welsh
ghost stories?

255
00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:38,200
Let me know
madamstrangeways@gmail.com.

256
00:17:38,240 --> 00:17:43,240
I would be happy to do another
episode like a Will's a Palooza,

257
00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:49,040
a Welsh, there's, I don't know,
there's something there.

258
00:17:49,080 --> 00:17:51,280
I would be so happy to do that.
So let me know

259
00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:55,000
madamstrangeways@gmail.com But
what I am going to do because I

260
00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:56,440
thought this was really
interesting.

261
00:17:56,520 --> 00:18:00,200
So what I am going to do is
explain like who and when,

262
00:18:00,200 --> 00:18:05,120
where, why, how Manor houses
would even become care homes in

263
00:18:05,120 --> 00:18:11,280
the UK and why so many of them
would be haunted as hell.

264
00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:17,800
All right, so OK in a nutshell.
In a nutshell.

265
00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:19,840
No.
Yes, this is a nutshell.

266
00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:22,680
I assure you what I am telling
you is a nutshell.

267
00:18:22,680 --> 00:18:25,240
I spent too much time this
morning researching this.

268
00:18:25,240 --> 00:18:27,600
So this is I assure you, this is
a nutshell.

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00:18:28,760 --> 00:18:33,000
OK, so there's first you got to
say, OK, OK, OK, OK, who?

270
00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:37,160
How do I start this social
hierarchy?

271
00:18:38,040 --> 00:18:42,240
All right, you've got the
peerage and the landed Gentry

272
00:18:42,240 --> 00:18:45,320
and they are the ones that own
these manners or houses or

273
00:18:45,320 --> 00:18:48,200
estates, etcetera.
And also, when I'm talking about

274
00:18:48,200 --> 00:18:52,240
a house, I need you to
understand that what I am saying

275
00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:56,720
is not like an American house.
It's not like 1300 square feet

276
00:18:56,720 --> 00:18:59,360
or less.
I mean, this is like a mansion

277
00:18:59,360 --> 00:19:02,760
or you know what, you might even
consider to be like a castle.

278
00:19:02,960 --> 00:19:06,240
It's huge.
All right, so you've got the

279
00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:10,480
peerage that owns these manners
and houses, etcetera, and these

280
00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:15,360
are like hereditary titles like
Duke, Marquis, Earls, viscounts,

281
00:19:15,360 --> 00:19:19,560
barons, Lords, etcetera.
So they are the ones that pass

282
00:19:19,560 --> 00:19:23,880
their titles down like through
birth, otherwise known as

283
00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:27,240
primogeniture.
Then you also have the landed

284
00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:30,760
Gentry.
So the landed Gentry don't have

285
00:19:30,760 --> 00:19:34,520
noble titles and are basically
quote UN quote, lower class or

286
00:19:34,520 --> 00:19:39,440
lower quote UN quote lower class
or quote UN quote commoners.

287
00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:43,720
So they're they're one tier
below the aristocracy, but they

288
00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:46,960
own land.
Now they may own land because

289
00:19:46,960 --> 00:19:50,840
someone else a really long time
ago owned land and then it gets

290
00:19:50,840 --> 00:19:54,280
passed down.
And so someone's great aunt dies

291
00:19:54,280 --> 00:19:56,440
and they're the only one that's
surviving in their family.

292
00:19:56,440 --> 00:19:58,760
And so now they have inherited
land.

293
00:19:59,520 --> 00:20:01,880
So because they have land, it's
not just land.

294
00:20:01,920 --> 00:20:06,960
You understand the land.
The land, you understand, the

295
00:20:06,960 --> 00:20:11,680
land includes, you know, houses,
estates, etcetera, and also

296
00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:16,200
farmland.
OK, so you've got this massive

297
00:20:16,200 --> 00:20:20,680
house that requires a huge
amount of workforce to run.

298
00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:25,160
And on top of running the house,
you also have the farmland,

299
00:20:25,320 --> 00:20:30,240
which includes tenant farms run
by tenant farmers who rent the

300
00:20:30,240 --> 00:20:33,360
land.
So they basically pay the land

301
00:20:33,360 --> 00:20:37,120
owners for the right to farm
that land.

302
00:20:37,720 --> 00:20:42,280
These houses would also
effectively kind of support the

303
00:20:42,280 --> 00:20:46,400
nearest town or village by
giving the people that worked or

304
00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:49,120
the people that lived their jobs
or you know, they need

305
00:20:49,120 --> 00:20:52,320
resources, they need food, they
need etcetera to run this house.

306
00:20:52,560 --> 00:20:57,520
Think Downton Abbey basically as
an American.

307
00:20:57,520 --> 00:20:59,120
I think that's probably the
easiest.

308
00:20:59,120 --> 00:21:02,280
I don't remember if Downton
Abbey, if the family had tenant

309
00:21:02,280 --> 00:21:05,000
farmers, but pretend that they
did if they didn't in the show.

310
00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:08,640
So, you know, it's it's
basically like a little mini

311
00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:12,200
ecosystem.
And that's that's more or less

312
00:21:12,200 --> 00:21:17,440
how these houses worked.
However, with the decline in

313
00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:22,080
farming, not only due to
apparently an agricultural

314
00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:27,120
depression in the 1870s.
Aside from that, you also have

315
00:21:27,120 --> 00:21:29,280
the industrial revolution
happening.

316
00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:33,280
And so, you know, cities are
booming and jobs are moving to

317
00:21:33,280 --> 00:21:35,320
the cities rather than out in
the countries.

318
00:21:35,720 --> 00:21:39,720
And aside from the Depression,
you know, these farmers need

319
00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:41,640
jobs and so they're going to the
cities.

320
00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:47,920
So this is reducing the rural
labor pool.

321
00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:52,240
Literally every single time I
say rural, I always think of the

322
00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:56,840
rural juror from 30 Rock.
I think of it every single time,

323
00:21:56,840 --> 00:21:59,880
the rural juror.
All right, so it's reducing the

324
00:21:59,880 --> 00:22:03,360
rural labor pool, right?
So they're moving to the cities.

325
00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:09,000
So there's no one to work the
fields and there's no one to pay

326
00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:12,120
to work the fields, right?
And then the people in the

327
00:22:12,120 --> 00:22:14,800
villages and the towns are also
moving to the cities.

328
00:22:14,800 --> 00:22:18,280
And so now there's no one to
work at the houses.

329
00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:22,440
And then also, by the way, some
of these estate owners, like,

330
00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:25,360
you know how at least in
America, I'm sure everywhere,

331
00:22:25,360 --> 00:22:28,800
you got the term house poor.
So that would happen where,

332
00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:32,000
yeah, maybe you own all this
crazy amount of land and you

333
00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:36,520
have this estate with houses and
farmland, but you don't have any

334
00:22:36,520 --> 00:22:39,200
money.
You have no money, you know,

335
00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:42,520
especially if you inherited it
as the landed Gentry.

336
00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:46,680
And some families actually even
had multiple estates, you know,

337
00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:51,320
smaller houses, larger houses,
etcetera, all around the UK.

338
00:22:51,840 --> 00:22:54,560
So sometimes they just didn't
have A use for some of these

339
00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:57,600
houses.
And in I think in some cases

340
00:22:57,600 --> 00:23:01,080
they would just start selling
them off just to get some cash

341
00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:04,000
flow, you know, because all the
tenant farmers are gone.

342
00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:07,320
So they're not getting any rent.
So they need some money.

343
00:23:07,560 --> 00:23:09,360
So maybe that's why they were
selling it or they just want

344
00:23:09,360 --> 00:23:10,920
more money.
Maybe they had plenty of money

345
00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:13,640
and they just wanted more
because what else?

346
00:23:13,640 --> 00:23:15,720
What what is more human than
that?

347
00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:19,600
Just wanting more.
So I'm about to potentially

348
00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:23,080
enter enemy territory because
although I love history, I am no

349
00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:28,040
Tony Soprano, OK.
I don't watch World War One and

350
00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:30,760
World War 2 documentaries for
fun.

351
00:23:31,160 --> 00:23:35,040
You know, Ken Burns I know does
a great job, but it's just not

352
00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:37,200
my thing, although I do love
history.

353
00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:41,720
However, I don't know if I am
fully qualified to talk in

354
00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:45,080
detail about World War One
versus World War 2 in terms of

355
00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:49,800
the amount of injured or the
technology that was invented

356
00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:51,640
between World War One and World
War 2.

357
00:23:51,640 --> 00:23:55,240
And that was the reason why
there were far less injured

358
00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:59,320
soldiers that needed room in
hospitals in World War 2 versus

359
00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:03,200
World War One.
But you know what, just imagine

360
00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:06,240
that I just spoke very
eloquently about it and that you

361
00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:08,520
fully understand.
And obviously if you fully

362
00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:10,200
understand, that means I fully
understood.

363
00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:12,840
OK, good.
I'm glad we had that talk.

364
00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:16,600
So in World War One and World
War Two there we needed extra

365
00:24:16,600 --> 00:24:18,760
hospitals more in World War One
than in World War Two.

366
00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:23,800
We just we just we as in the the
royal we we as in the United

367
00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:28,280
Kingdom during the world wars.
So like I said, some of those

368
00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:31,400
estates were donated
temporarily, some were permanent

369
00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:34,880
and some were so badly damaged
that they just had to be, you

370
00:24:34,880 --> 00:24:40,160
know, razed to the ground.
Raz, were they razed?

371
00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:42,720
I like saying that word, but I
don't think that that I don't

372
00:24:42,720 --> 00:24:44,640
think they were burned.
They were just demolished.

373
00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:46,880
OK, it's fine.
Don't worry about it.

374
00:24:46,920 --> 00:24:50,560
I need to play SIM five I think
is how many Sims are there.

375
00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:53,040
SIM 5 is my favorite.
It's fine, don't worry about it.

376
00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:55,640
Continue, continue with the
episode.

377
00:24:56,040 --> 00:25:00,800
OK, so wartime requisition is
more or less an initial, what

378
00:25:00,800 --> 00:25:02,760
just happened there?
So in World War One and World

379
00:25:02,760 --> 00:25:06,160
War 2.
So in fact, by the end of World

380
00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:10,280
War 1 / 1400, auxiliary
hospitals had opened across the

381
00:25:10,280 --> 00:25:12,480
United Kingdom, many in private
homes.

382
00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:17,760
So just to give you an idea,
some of those places after the

383
00:25:17,760 --> 00:25:21,800
wars remained in use as
hospitals or convalescent homes

384
00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:24,640
or elder care, as in this case,
as care home.

385
00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:28,640
So especially because out in the
country you've got that like

386
00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:33,680
Crisp, the crisp country air,
the clean air, like I mentioned,

387
00:25:33,680 --> 00:25:36,680
I think in the last episode or
two episodes ago, one or the

388
00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:41,600
other, where you know, the rich
would go to convalesce to

389
00:25:41,600 --> 00:25:45,240
recover from their illness.
So a lot of these Manor houses

390
00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:48,480
were out in the country where
the air was nice and clean as

391
00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:52,120
opposed to like London where it
was awful and choking.

392
00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:56,720
But here's what I will say is
that OMG, real UFOs.

393
00:25:56,880 --> 00:26:02,760
Auntie Auntie said that Benny
was dressed like the 1920s.

394
00:26:03,320 --> 00:26:07,800
I don't think it's a stretch to
say that she probably wasn't a

395
00:26:07,800 --> 00:26:10,200
fashion expert and a history
expert.

396
00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:13,680
So I think it's safe to say that
Benny could have been dressed

397
00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:16,480
like, for instance, the year
1918.

398
00:26:17,040 --> 00:26:22,360
And for those of you who are
also not Tony Sopranos, when it

399
00:26:22,360 --> 00:26:30,600
comes to history, World War One
spanned from 1914, 1918.

400
00:26:31,680 --> 00:26:39,040
So I ask you, did he lose his
jaw falling down the stairs?

401
00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:46,640
Or did Benny suffer this injury
because of a bombing?

402
00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:52,080
Just some food for thought, just
some food for thoughts.

403
00:26:52,080 --> 00:26:55,040
So see, aren't you so glad you
waited till the end of the

404
00:26:55,040 --> 00:26:57,200
episode?
Aren't you glad you've listened

405
00:26:57,440 --> 00:27:01,560
to the end?
Because come on, we know that

406
00:27:01,560 --> 00:27:05,400
the care home was at least 100
years old in the 2000s, early

407
00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:08,720
2000s, right?
So that would be 1900.

408
00:27:09,120 --> 00:27:11,280
OK.
And it was probably older than

409
00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:14,280
that because everything in the
UK is super old.

410
00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:16,520
So it was probably older than
that.

411
00:27:16,920 --> 00:27:23,600
So to me this is my pet theory
and I don't want to be talked

412
00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:25,520
out of it.
So OMG real UFO.

413
00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:32,040
If you have information that
doesn't jive with my theory, you

414
00:27:32,040 --> 00:27:34,520
know what, I don't need to hear
about it.

415
00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:36,640
You can just keep that to
yourself.

416
00:27:36,960 --> 00:27:38,320
You don't need to tell me I'm
just kidding.

417
00:27:38,320 --> 00:27:41,880
Please tell me if you have more
details, I would love to hear it

418
00:27:41,880 --> 00:27:46,400
madamstrangeways@gmail.com.
And if any of you listening have

419
00:27:46,400 --> 00:27:51,080
ever experienced anything spooky
or if your family has a ghost

420
00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:54,480
story that they like to tell, I
would love to hear it.

421
00:27:54,800 --> 00:27:58,400
Go ahead, e-mail me at
madamstrangeways@gmail.com or

422
00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:01,960
you can go to the website at
madamstrangeways.com.

423
00:28:14,280 --> 00:28:17,880
Thank you for joining me for
more true strange stories of the

424
00:28:17,880 --> 00:28:22,640
unexplained, remember that you
can feel afraid and not be in

425
00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:25,600
danger.
You're safe here with me,

426
00:28:26,120 --> 00:28:28,840
probably.
Please follow the podcast, leave

427
00:28:28,840 --> 00:28:33,640
a rating on Spotify or Apple, or
tell your friends and foes about

428
00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:36,280
the show.
It would mean the world to me.

429
00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:40,360
The underworld, obviously.
I mean, come on, was that not?

430
00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:43,560
Was that not clear?
Madam Strangeways is produced

431
00:28:43,560 --> 00:28:48,600
and narrated by me.
Madam Strangeways theme music is

432
00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:54,400
by marina.ryan@marinamakes.co.
Cover art is by Andrea Chisel

433
00:28:54,400 --> 00:28:57,360
Roldan at Cult of Teddy on
Instagram.

434
00:28:57,600 --> 00:29:01,040
You can submit your own true
strange story at

435
00:29:01,040 --> 00:29:04,120
madamstrangeways.com or e-mail
it to

436
00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:09,600
madamstrangeways@gmail.com.
See you soon, she said

437
00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:10,720
ominously.