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Welcome strangers, strangelings, and strange cetera to Madam Strangeways, where I, Madam Strangeways, narrate your true strange stories of the unexplained.

Stick around after the story where I share my strange thoughts and observations and drag you down a slew of strange rabbit holes, kicking and screaming if needs must.

Today I've got one new true strange story for you.

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On to our true strange story here on Madam Strange Ways.

I had a terrifying experience in an old monastery dormitory in Italy.

What do you think happened by running chamomile?

I want to share something that completely changed my outlook on the paranormal.

A few years ago, I stayed in a student dormitory in Italy that was part of an old monastery.

It was adjacent to a church, and while the building was old, my room was cute and cozy.

I had no issues with it until something strange happened right before Christmas.

For two days, I felt terrified in a way I can't explain.

It wasn't just a mild feeling of unease, it was a deep gut wrenching fear that made me feel like something was standing in the corner of my room staring at me.

It wasn't something I could just brush off.

It was so strong that it made me physically uncomfortable, like I couldn't breathe properly.

I want to specify I wasn't stressed out or having any other issues at the time.

I was actually having a great time in Italy, enjoying life as a student.

There was no reason for me to feel this kind of fear, and that made it even worse.

It felt like it came out of nowhere and took over, making it impossible to feel safe in my own room.

By the second night I tried to ignore it and told myself I was being ridiculous.

I thought if I just went to sleep it would pass.

But then I woke up in the middle of the night to find my sweater was on the other side of the room.

The sweater which I always wore to sleep because the heating was off at nights.

At first I tried to think of a reasonable explanation.

Maybe I took it off in my sleep without realizing it, but I don't sleepwalk and I've never done anything like that before.

Plus it didn't make sense I was wearing it to stay warm because the room was so cold and I definitely wouldn't have removed it in the middle of the night.

It just didn't add up.

Then that same night I saw a shadow move in the corner of my eye.

That was the final straw.

I completely lost it.

I couldn't handle it anymore.

I ended up crying and running downstairs to the kitchen.

After that, everything returned to normal.

No more fear, no more strange feelings.

It was peaceful and calm again, just like before.

Nothing else happened for the rest of my stay.

The weirdest part, when I mentioned what happened at dinner, one of the girls literally screamed and said she had felt someone staring at her too.

I should also mention that the building was an old monastery.

Maybe that ties into some mysterious paranormal energy or history in the place.

I'm still not sure what happened, but it definitely left me wondering if it was something beyond just my imagination.

Has anyone experienced something like this before?

Running chamomile or chamomile if you're from the UK?

Thank you so much for allowing me to share your absolutely traumatizing tale.

I don't know if it's more or less traumatizing knowing that you were not the only one who experienced something there on your stay.

It's like, OK, I'm not crazy or am I?

Is this a case of mass hysteria or is there a ghost?

Which one's worse?

I did some Googling it.

There is no spittin.

I couldn't tell where this was in Italy.

And there were a lot of comments and some people were asking like, was this Naples or like where in Italy specifically was this?

So I don't actually know the city.

So, you know, here's the thing, if you go and you Google haunted monasteries in Italy, there's actually quite a lot of them.

Perhaps not shockingly, there's a lot of them.

I feel like maybe an Italian monastery kind of just comes with ghosts.

Like I don't even know that they necessarily need to have an origin story.

I just feel like you build an Italian monastery and it just automatically boop, here comes a ghost.

If you build it, they will come.

They being ghosts, monk ghosts, possibly.

So there's a whole lot of them.

You can jump online, you can Google them.

Some of them are abandoned.

Some of them are very popular hotspots.

Sure, I'm sure.

I'm sure, not sure exactly where this one was, but there's a lot of them if you want to go read about some stories.

As far as you know me, I like to talk about like what are some either folkloric or like supernatural explanations for what happened versus mundane or naturalistic explanations.

So without actually knowing where the monastery is, I can only go so far with regards to, you know, local folklore or who.

What kind of ghost is this?

Is it a ghost?

Is it multiple ghosts?

Is it a monk ghost?

Unclear.

I think we can assume that.

I think this is a pretty cut and dry case of a haunting with the shadow figures and the feeling of dread and the oppressive feel, especially when you've got monks around.

I don't know.

Monks are creepy.

They're creepy in the daytime.

They're creepy when they're alive.

They've got to be ultra creepy at night.

Alone in a in a monastery?

In an ancient monastery.

Very scary.

So I want to say upfront that the subreddit that running Chamomile Chamomile posted this and specifically has A tag where you can tag your post to request that someone debunk the story.

And for some of you, you may be wondering why on earth would you want someone to debunk a ghost story?

That's the point of the ghost story is that it's a ghost story and it's unexplained and that's what makes it fun.

Well, for someone experiencing unexplained phenomenon that for someone experiencing it and it's very scary, they want some other explanation other than it being a ghost.

Just like me.

I don't want it to be a ghost.

You know, they just want it.

They want it to be debunked.

They want someone to tell them no, no, no, no, don't worry.

It wasn't a ghost.

Nothing scary happened.

This was all in your head and everything's fine and you didn't actually see a ghost because that is a very scary.

That's very scary.

However, because this was tagged debunk this, I'm here.

I'm here for it.

The Madam is in.

So my 2 pet theories for this case in terms of debunking are carbon monoxide, which you may have assumed from the beginning if you know me personally, and also low frequency sounds.

And I'm going to start with carbon monoxide.

So symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning include such things as a pressure on your chest, auditory and visual hallucinations, and also kind of like an unexplained feeling of dread.

And of course, that's in addition to headache, nausea.

And then of course, if you've exposed, if you've been exposed to it long enough, death, it's not it's not good.

So this is hey, PSA, strange PSA, go check your carbon monoxide monitors.

What do you mean you don't have a carbon monoxide monitor?

If you live in a home in which there is any sort of gas whatsoever or you have even if you have a fireplace, you know what?

I want you to go make sure that you have a carbon monoxide detector.

You can get them pretty cheap, keep them around, test them occasionally.

And also while you're at it, go ahead and check the batteries on your smoke alarms.

Make sure that those are working.

All right.

So end strange PSA.

So carbon monoxide poisoning.

This is something that you may have heard of and if you haven't, this is so interesting.

There is a famous, I say famous and in the paranormal world, there's a somewhat famous Reddit story about this guy who posts and says, man, I live alone and I keep waking up to these post it notes that are really weird and they have weird messages on them when they're left around my house.

So it has to be my landlord.

My landlord is obviously coming into my house while I am asleep and leaving me these weird notes and some other weird stuff that was going around in the house and he was freaking out.

Someone comes in.

This was years ago.

Someone comes in and is like, hey OP, I'm going to need you to check your carbon monoxide levels.

Go get a carbon monoxide detector.

Because like they gleaned from like one of the photos or the description of a room that there was poor ventilation.

I don't know.

I mean it was a genius call.

And this is before everybody was screaming carbon monoxide.

I think the reason everyone on Reddit jumps to carbon monoxide now is because of this post.

It note story so interesting because spoiler alert, it was carbon monoxide.

So this guy, Oh my God, pause.

Not only was there, I just remembered not only were there post it notes being left around the house that he thought somewhat, but his landlord was leaving for him that were very strange and cryptic.

Not only that, he was like I set up a camera.

I set up a camera and attach it to my computer to film to see if anyone was coming in and out of the room and then out of the house.

And every time I check the camera, everything is deleted.

There's no, there's there's there's no record that I recorded anything.

Someone is coming in and deleting the footage.

Now he he was being slowly poisoned by carbon monoxide and he was leaving himself these weird post it notes and forgetting that he wrote them.

And come to find out the camera that he quote UN quote set up wasn't even plugged in properly to the computer.

And when he was quote, UN quote checking on the recordings, he was just like opening in a blank folder on his laptop that had nothing to do with cameras.

So that is how bad carbon monoxide can affect you even at a low level like overtime.

So just to give you an idea, he was really paranoid.

He was forgetting that he was doing things.

Obviously running Chamomile was not exposed to this long enough term, it seems like to have experienced memory loss.

But maybe, you know, who knows?

Anyway, I just thought I would tell you that crazy story.

Also, while I'm on a little tangent, really kind of one of the things that really set me along this path that I am on that has led me here to you right now in this moment is an episode of This American Life called.

And the call was coming from the basement.

It was a Halloween episode from like a million years ago.

And I found it one Halloween when I was trying to find something spooky to listen to, you know, and Oh my gosh, it was, it just completely changed my worldview and really helped me break out of my, you know, fear of demons, which I've mentioned in previous episodes.

OK, jumping back into this, carbon monoxide poisoning has been kind of explained as the reason for a lot of hauntings, especially going back into the Victorian age.

The Victorians had ghosts all over the place.

Everyone had ghosts in the Victorian age, right?

And that's because there were a lot of gasoline lamps and also toxic wallpaper, which I feel like I need to do a little mini episode about because what the heck.

Anyway, So we think that's part of why that happens.

But you may be asking, well, but how are you going to get carbon monoxide in an old monastery that doesn't have heating?

Well, here are some theories that I have.

So just because the rooms weren't heated doesn't mean that there weren't water heaters or boilers.

And especially if there were installed, especially in the kitchen, if you think about it, even if these were installed anywhere in the monastery, they would have been retrofitted.

And so when you have these ancient buildings and then you retrofit things inside of them, they're probably not done like, super efficiently.

And even more so do you, how often, let me ask you this.

How often do you think that a boiler or a water heater in an old ancient Italian monastery is being serviced?

How often do you think that's happening?

Realistically?

Probably not very often, OK, I don't think that's, I don't think that's much of A stretch.

OK, Anyway, they may also have, especially in the kitchen, wood burning stove, wood burning.

How did I say that?

Wood burning stoves or fireplaces.

OK.

So if they're using those, even if they're not even necessarily in everyday use, older buildings, if they have like inactive chimneys even or blocked flus, I mean, who doesn't?

Who among us doesn't have a blocked flu?

You know that what that turns into is a carbon monoxide trap, basically.

Like if the flu is blocked, it's not allowing carbon monoxide to leave the monastery.

So that's kind of trapping it inside.

And then of course, if there's improper ventilation, which I am sure that there is in this monastery, which was not built around trying to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning, just wasn't something they were worried about in the floor plan.

So then on top of that, even if running chamomile did not have this in their room, if someone else anywhere nearby did have a kerosene or a gas heater, then I mean, baby, you got a Stew going.

Because if there's not proper airflow, which we just said there's probably not, then that could definitely affect any one of the people in those rooms in the monastery.

And we did know that it wasn't just running chamomile that experienced this.

At least one other person in the group also experienced feeling like they were being watched.

So kind of feels like an area of effect sort of situation with carbon monoxide.

Just a thought.

OK, so that is kind of what I'm thinking for carbon monoxide.

I don't know.

Tell me what you think madamstrangeways@gmail.com.

How likely do you think that is?

And then we will now move into low frequency sounds.

So Victoria Tandy, this British engineer and also member of the psychical Nope, the Society for Psychical Research.

Why did I say that?

So weird.

We're just going to keep moving anyway.

Which you may have remember having popped up in the Enfield Poltergeist episode, which if you have not listened to, please go back and listen to the Enfield Poltergeist episode for more about the for more about the Society for Psychical Research.

Why is that so difficult?

Anyway, Victoria Tandy, this engineer, had a ghostly experience in his work lab.

He saw a ghost.

He felt this oppressive air of dread and fear and he was like, what is going on?

I'm a scientist, let's figure this out.

And so he did.

He discovered that there was a low frequency sound in, out inaudible.

What is going on guys?

Sometimes words are hard.

I don't know what to say.

Vic Tandy discovered that there was this low frequency inaudible sound that was happening in the lab because of a fan that was installed that was around 18.9 Hertz.

And it was causing him to have shadowy hallucinations of ghosts and an overwhelming feeling of dread.

Is that not just wild?

OK, so running Chamomile probably didn't have a fan going in their room, right?

It's the winter, first of all.

But if there was a bell tower at this monastery that could actually produce low frequency like inaudible rumbling because if you think of a bell tower, what is it?

It's just like a it's just like a wind tunnel.

It's just like a vertical wind tunnel, right?

So that could be creating some sort of vibration that is going through the monastery.

And then also church organs.

If there's a church next door, there is in the story, it might even be connected to the building, to the monastery.

And if that's the case, church organs again, now you've got a bunch of a bunch of smaller wind tunnels that are all connected.

And the whole point of the whole point of an organ is for air to move through it.

So even if it's not being played, something could be happening there, like some sort of some sort of distortion, some sort of rumbling with with wind.

Because also, even though there's not a lot of ventilation going on in the monastery, I'm sure it's also not very well insulated against wind.

Oh, and while I was doing this research, I found this research paper on ResearchGate.

Here's the thing.

ResearchGate needs to call itself ResearchGate Keeping because it would not let me make an account as a just a a rando if I don't have an association with some sort of research institution.

So what the heck is that?

It even allows me to select oh I'm just like a person of the public just having having fun looking up research papers.

It allows me to select that but then it just times out and I should really just e-mail one of the writers of the paper and I bet they would e-mail me the PDF Anyway.

I wanted to read this to include this in the episode but I couldn't get to it because I was being I was being gate kept away from it.

So the paper was called Using low frequency sound to create non contact sensations on and in the body.

I'm going to read that again, Using low frequency sound to create non contact sensations on and in the body, which I assume means.

That they experiment with using low frequency sound to make people feel as if they are being touched.

Is that not so scary?

I can't wait to read it.

I don't know how it's going to turn out.

I'm going to e-mail one of the authors of the paper, maybe all three of them if they don't respond to me.

But I want to read this paper and I want to share what I find with you guys, so I'll keep you updated anyway.

What do you think caused the spooky happenings behind the story?

Do you think it was carbon monoxide poisoning?

Do you think it was low frequency sounds?

Do you think it was a little of column A and a little and a little of column B?

Or do you think it was the ghost of a monk?

In terms of debunking, I know since the original author running Chamomile wanted it to be debunked, I would also love to hear other theories about debunking so that we can give them some Peace of Mind about what happened to them.

And if you have a spooky story that you want read on the show and if you want me to debunk it, I would be happy to.

But if you would also not like me to debunk it and you would like me to be very respectful of what happened to you, I can do that too.

Just be sure to e-mail me at madamstrangeways@gmail.com.

Thank you for joining me for more true strange stories of the unexplained.

Remember that you can feel afraid and not be in danger.

You're safe here with me, probably.

Please follow the podcast, leave a rating on Spotify or Apple, or tell your friends and foes about the show.

It would mean the world to me.

The underworld, obviously.

I mean, come on.

Was that not?

Was that not clear?

Madam Strangeways is produced and narrated by me.

Madam Strangeways theme music is by marina.ryan@marinamakes.co.

Cover art is by Andrea Chisel Roldan at Cult of Teddy on Instagram.

You can submit your own true strange story at madamstrangeways.com or e-mail it to madamstrangeways@gmail.com.

See you soon, she said ominously.