OVERNIGHT's Haunted Homies E2: Isabelle's doppelganger, hauntings, and dolls

Isabelle's experience:

'I've always believed in the paranormal. Growing up I've been very sensitive to otherworldly things. I would say the scariest recent thing to happen to me was back in late May. I had just moved in with my cousin on our own together. One night I was sleeping in my room and I heard footsteps coming to my room, so I assumed it was my cousin coming to ask me something. I swear on everything I saw, her exact silhouette walk into my room, and walk up to my bed looking down into my eyes as if she was checking to see if I was awake. I was half asleep so I just went back to sleep thinking nothing of it until the next morning when I had asked her why she came into my room. She told me she was asleep and actually had gone to bed before I did. That was the first experience with a doppelganger and definitely made me believe in them.'

Isabelle Q&A

Corey:

'So tell us about this, uh, this story and this doppelganger.'

Isabelle:

'Basically, I just was going to bed, I was sleeping, it was like three in the morning I think.'

Elton:

'Of course.'

Isabelle:

'Always happens, my house is actually pretty haunted, and we've seen like people in there and stuff, and I just always had a wierd vibe until, like, one night I was just, like I said, sleeping, and then like I heard her walk into my room, and I thought she was just gonna ask me something, ask me a question: nope. She just looked at me and then walked out and I was like, 'hey, what did you want?' And she was like 'oh, I didn't even come into your room' and then I freaked out really bad'

Elton:

'Define freaked out really bad.'

Corey:

'Yeah, what exactly did you do?'

Elton:

'Can you reenact it?'

Isabelle:

'I don't even remember, I just, I cleansed my house so fast (...) I have not really slept alone since then. I sleep with someone in my bed every single night basically.'

Elton:

'Wait, really?'

Isabelle:

'Yeah.'

Elton:

'How long ago was this?'

Isabelle:

'It was back in, like, late May, early June maybe?'

Elton:

'Of this year?'

Isabelle:

'Yeah.'

Elton:

'OK, so for the last few months you, it scared you enough where you have to sleep with someone else?'

Isabelle:

'Yeah, like, I,  I've experienced things my entire life, I've seen things my whole life, I never really believed in doppelgangers just because I haven't seen one, but, like until this moment... oh god, it was so scary, I just, I, um mm, I was like, nope, uh no, sleeping in the bed with somebody.'

Corey:

'We didn't know too much about doppelgangers until, honestly, it was kind of more recent because there's been investigations we've been on where we would hear either you (to Elton), or me, or Matt, or Corbyn, someone that's with us, we would hear them talking, but they didn't talk, and so we would be told that was their doppelganger spirit, or, you know, a spirit imitating them to try to trick us.'

Elton:

'You thought you had a conversation with me at (Pluckley, Buckley, or Bluckley) village, in the graveyard.'

Corey:

'Oh my god, that's right.'

Elton:

'You thought I was like, you're out of your mind dude, I was like nowhere, nowhere near you whatsoever, like it definitely wasn't me, and then we found out a year later that this is a real thing.'

Isabelle:

'Yeah, I did not, like, I always seen it in movies and stuff, but I didn't really like, like I said I never ran into it, never heard people's stories about it that much, and to like literally that. I mean, like, I always heard my mum say my name and she wasn't there. I always heard people say my name, they weren't there, and I just brushed it off until this, and now I'm like terrified and second guess everybody I see that comes in my room. It's, like, terrifying.'

Elton:

'So who, who is predominantly, like, sharing the bed with you? Is it like a family member, is it like a friend?'

Isabelle:

'It's just my friend. No, I just invite my friend over, literally, she basically lives with me at this point.'

Elton:

'Is she, like, over it? She like, 'come on, I need to go home'?'

Isabelle:

'Oh no, she, she sees it too. She's experienced it too.'

Corey:

'That's what I was gonna ask, has anything happened to her?'

Isabelle:

'Oh yeah, many people, like, other people that have come into my house have seen things. Like, my sister, she was just over there the other night and then we heard someone in the kitchen, nobody was in there, like, messing with stuff. It always happens, it's like kind of normal at this point.'

Corey:

'Why do you think it's haunted? Did you do anything to get your house haunted? Did you ever play with a ouija board or do you know if anyone in the past...?'

Isabelle:

'Oh yeah.'

Corey:

'Oh, you did?'

Isabelle:

'Yeah, my whole life, like, like I said, I've seen things, I've always like, very been like, connected to it and, like, growing up I had like a little ghost friend and we had like the creepiest like, we had the creepiest like little tree next to our house that had, like, burnt dolls, and like turtle shells on them.'

Elton:

'Burnt dolls and turtle shells?'

Isabelle:

'Yeah, I, I don't know, I don't even know, I was like four.'

Elton:

'Was it your neighbors tree?'

Isabelle:

'No, it was our tree.'

Elton:

'Why didn't you take the burnt dolls and turtle shells out of the tree?'

Isabelle:

'We did.'

Elton:

'Okay.'

Isabelle:

'But it was there when we moved in and there was like human teeth on the floor which kind of freaked me out because I went, and it's like a thing in satanic rituals.'

Corey:

'Yeah.'

Isabelle:

'And then I like, we also had a, um, because it was out in the country because we're from Oklahoma, so like, this was out there and, um, there's like a light pole and there was like this dummy attached to it in a style of, like, it would be like a witch burned at the stake where its like arms are behind it.'

Corey:

'What?'

Elton:

'Do you have pictures, or anything, of this?'

Isabelle:

'I wish, it was back in 2008 to 2012. I was like four or eight years old, but, it was terrifying, and then like, where I moved to is like, there's a lot of, like, murders happening up, happening out there and, like, specifically where I live now, it was like a tweaker house before I lived there, so like, I feel like all that bad energy came there. The guy across the street from my house, like, he's had people die into, like, in the woods, literally across, like, I don't even know, it's scary.'

Elton:

'I will say, when he (corey) read your story in that British accent, did not think it was gonna take this turn. I was like, 'oh shadow, shadow man doppelganger'. You actually have,  like, a wildly...'

Isabelle:

'Oh yeah, there's like so many things I could even talk about.'

Elton: 

'Give me, give me one other. What would be, what is the other, what is the thing that has happened that almost made you move, like just go 'I have to, I have to leave now'.'

Isabelle:

'This didn't actually make us move, it happened, okay, well, it was happening in the process of us moving from a house. So, we like, lived in this, like, janky little house, and it had a basement, and it was just creepy. It was just a creepy house.'

Elton:

'As most basements are.'

Isabelle:

'Yeah, and so I slept in, I was like nine or eight around this time, and I would lay in my bed and just, like, chill, and like have like creepy little nightmares of dolls like chopping my up and like pulling my through little pipes and into the basement, and then when we moved out my sister had actually went into the basement with her friends and looked through this, like, little peephole and right underneath my room there's a room just full of dolls.'

Corey:

'What?'

Elton:

'Whoa.'

Isabelle:

'Yeah, and my sister's over there so she's seen it, she's the one that...'

Elton:

(To sister) 'Vouching for it?' 

Isabelle's sister from the audience:

'What?' (Barely audible in video)

Elton:

(To sister) 'Have you ever been afraid that creepy little dolls are gonna chop you up and throw you into little boxes?'

Isabelle's sister from the audience:

'No.'

Isabelle:

'She was the one that found the room though.'

Elton:

'Wow.'

Isabelle's sister from the audience:

'It's like a little room but there was like no door. It just like had a window and there was dolls and a table flipped over and chairs.'

Isabelle:

'It was so scary and ever since, I am terrified of dolls.'

Corey:

'So, demonic rituals I'm assuming?'

Isabelle:

'Like she said, it was just like a little hole so how did they even get in there? I don't know.'

Corey:

'But the fact that you were having these nightmares, it's like the energy was you know kind of shooting at you while you were sleeping.'

Isabelle:

'Yeah, and ever since then I've literally had horrible nightmares about dolls and stuff, like, last year I went to Zak Biggin's haunted museum and they had like, this little, like, closet full of dolls, and I just remember that like sticking with me so much probably because it's dolls and it's terrifying but like, when I left I literally got so sick that I was just vomiting like, it was like horrible, and then I was having nightmares of dolls like, chasing me, and like, attacking me, and then like started seeing stuff around my house after that so it's fun.'

Elton:

'And you said you're, you're cleansing your house, are you doing that yourself?'

Isabelle:

'Yeah.'

Elton:

'What are you, what are you doing?'

Isabelle:

'I use sage, I smudge my house because I grew up as a native American traditional with my grandma so she taught me how to do all that, and we had, we deal with these little things called, like, little people, and they, like, come around a lot so I try to get that away as much as possible, so.'

Elton:

'Wait, uh, can you just elaborate on the little people, like, what is, what specifically are you talking about here because I don't know. I don't know anything about what you're talking about now.'

Isabelle:

'They're like, they're in other cultures too, but like, mine they're called little people and you're not really supposed to say it, but like oops.'

Elton:

'So are we talking about like along the lines of, like, leprechauns, trolls, like are we talking about like that kind of world or?'

Isabelle:

'Um, yeah, kind of, they're like, little like, demons that like to, like, snatch things from you and like play jokes on you and, like, just kind of peep around the corner and stare at you, they're like evil.'

Corey:

'Do you ever have stuff go missing?'

Isabelle:

'Oh yeah, yeah, and I'm like where, why, I don't even know, it's so scary.'

Elton:

'Have you, have you ever reached out to anyone to like a, uh, like a more like, let's say professional in terms of cleaning of houses, and actually trying to remove everything from your home? Have you like reached out to a church, or parish, or?'

Isabelle:

'Churches around my place are not like that, they don't believe in the paranormal, they're very much bible belt as well in Oklahoma, so like, everyone there thinks I'm crazy anytime I talk about anything, so I don't really talk about it. That's why it's just me and my sister here.'

Elton:

'If you're in the bible belt doesn't that also mean that you do believe that there are demons, and the devil, right? So shouldn't?'

Isabelle:

'You would think.'

Elton:

'But they refuse to believe that they could be on Earth? Is that kind of...?'

Isabelle:

'They just, they don't really pay attention to it, they're just like 'you're crazy' and then like, go on, they're like 'go to church, you'll be fine'. That's literally their only is just 'go to church, pray to god', which I do, but like, it doesn't help.'

Corey:

'Yeah, no, I can relate, it, it definitely hurts because, like, I'm very spiritual and like, my relationship with God is like the best it's ever been, like I feel great right now, but I have a lot of friends who are very like spiritual and religious as well, and they pretty much tell me that I'm going against God for ghost hunting, and, they're like 'dude, like, you are throwing everything that you say away because you are communicating with ghosts' and it's just like I, I, it's hard to understand, but, you know, everyone has their own opinions.'

Summary of activity discussed:

1. Hearing footsteps

2. Shadow figure seen

3. Possible full body apparition seen

4. Wierd vibes felt

5. Mimicking

6. Noises (from the kitchen)

7. Child friends with a ghost?

8. Satanic rituals

9. Nightmares

10. Possible attachment

11. Stuff going missing 

My thoughts:

For such a short initial story, this one really has quite a bit to offer through the Q&A afterwards. The footsteps and shadow figure are fairly standard bits of activity which people tend to discuss, but what makes this experience interesting is that it leans heavily into doppelgangers and mimicking. Doppelgangers, from what I know, are often discussed as an exact twin of yourself which exists in the world. In this context, it sounds like the spirit was mimicking Isabelle's cousin to the point of physically looking like her. It is unclear if it was always just the silhouette which was seen, or of it was a clear full body apparition once the spirit approached, but either way Isabelle recognised the individual as her cousin even though it wasn't. I suspect this is the spirit appearing as something Isabelle is familiar with and feels comfortable with, and the same could go for when Corey and Elton discussed hearing members of their team even though no one had spoken. They do discuss this also being a spirit trying to trick them, and I think this is also a possibility as it gets you to lower your guard, but I do not think the spirit which appeared to Isabelle was 'evil' in any way. I think it was just curious. 

I think hearing disembodied voices you recognise, like how they described, is definitely possible. When hearing them discuss this, it reminded me of when I was younger and I lived in a house we all suspected was haunted due to family members hearing footsteps, and I would hear my mum or dad shout my name from downstairs but then I would go down and either no one would have shouted for me, or no one would be in the house. It's very strange when it happens, and definitely something I think is real.

The latter part of the Q&A is where the discussion takes a really interesting turn. First Isabelle mentions she had a ghost friend when she was younger. She doesn't go into this, but I assume it is a case of she had an imaginary friend which she remembers clear enough to think they were a real person. It is commonly heard about that kids communicate with spirits and can befriend them in this way, and when they 'grow out of them' it is just a case of their psychic ability has faded and so can no longer communicate with them. 

I agree that the human teeth on the floor, the turtle shell and burnt doll tree, along with the tied up dummy, are all part of rituals of some kind. It would be expected for some sort of spirit to be present because of this. Also, the fact that her nightmare about dolls in the basement turned out to be true is fascinating because that implies either a spirit communicated with her through her dream to give her this information, or she psychically sensed it. It is clear she has a thing with dolls as they seem to affect her often, and for her to have those nightmares unprompted is strange. It was also strange for her to be so ill after seeing the dolls in the museum, and so I suspect a spirit is attached to her and making her have these reactions. 

Isabelle then discusses 'Little people' which I suspect are the same as Imps which are, as she described, little demons which tend to be mischievous. It is also similar to what little I know of faerie lore in regards to the creature being mischievous in nature and so will move things around and make things go missing. 

I think Isabelle's experience seems legitimate. Isabelle herself was clearly very nervous, and even says in the video that she is, but she was also fearful of her experiences which is something Elton says he can clearly see. She says she 'smudges' her house which is a term for cleansing it so she definitely knows her stuff, and her saying she burns sage to cleanse the house definitely makes her seem more believable to me. I think everything discussed is definitely possible. I think the doppelganger discussed isn't another physcial person like what some doppelganger lore would say, but is rather a spirit mimicking someone she knows. The most interesting detail to me is the nightmares along with how dolls seem to be following her through her life and clearly have a great affect on her. I think this definitely implies she has something attached to her, and that she should speak to a professional if she hasn't already. 

If you want to watch the full second episode of OVERNIGHT's Haunted Homies, you can click the link below:

OVERNIGHT's Haunted Homies episode 2

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