Into The Time Slip

We put on our ghost glasses and step into the time slip with spooky storyteller Shelby Scott of Scare You To Sleep in these stories of a Civil War Battlefield time slip and a very haunted apartment in Los Angeles.

Episode Summary

Have you ever heard of a time slip? Have you ever experienced one? Everything seems normal until you suddenly find yourself face to face with a person from another era. And slowly you begin to wonder, which of us is in the wrong time?

Time slips and ghost stories go hand in hand, as we hear today. Our guest has encountered both. Hold onto your flux capacitor as we talk to Shelby of Scare You to Sleep Podcast.

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About the guest Shelby Scott

Shelby Scott tells gently terrifying bedtime stories on her podcast Scare You To Sleep. She recently joined the Bloody Disgusting Network. You can catch her in-person soon at the upcoming Midsummer Scream Convention. She’s also doing a live show in Chicago this November. She also collects vintage midcentury paranormal magazines.

Episode Show Notes

What is a Time Slip?

The infamous Moberly–Jourdain Incident in Versailles is a great example of a time slip. To make a long story short, a pair of tourists got lost on their way to the Petit Trianon in 1901. As they wandered back alleys or Versailles, they witnessed several anachronisms. They saw people they later decided must have been ghosts, including the spirit of Marie Antoinette herself. Ten years later, they published their story in a book entitled An Adventure under the pseudonyms “Elizabeth Morison” and “Frances Lamont.”

Critics claim their time travel story has been thoroughly debunked. Indeed, editions of An Adventure seemed more embellished each time they were published. Yet it’s relevant to note that the two educated women were likely attempting to make sense of their experience by thoroughly researching and analyzing the things their senses presented to them. The main theories they could surmise—time travel and hauntings—are rife with easy counter-arguments. And yet, the counter arguments made (by men) at the time were based mainly on ad-hominem presumptions. Criticism included theories like the ladies were too shocked by French avant-garde behavior to recognize a costume party. Or that they had a shared delusion, perhaps brought on by virulent lesbianism. Or perhaps that they made it all up for attention. Perhaps Jourdain, the more dominant of the two, coerced Moberly into corroborating her false claims. Remember, these women were well-travelled, middle-class, Oxford academics. True, Jourdain may have ruined her career by claiming that a German spy had infiltrated her college. But is it still paranoia if someone is actually out to get you?

When and how do I tell my partner I’m into ghosts?

Woah, get your mind out of the gutter! We’re not talking about spectrophilia today. Just being an average person who believes in ghosts, seeks out hauntings, and wants to hear as many spooky stories as possible. We propose listening to our podcast with them, preferably in the car, so they can’t run away. As for when, that’s a question for the ages. Is it best to wait until you have a spooky experience together, like Shelby an her husband did? Or better to tear off the bandage right away? After all, do you really want to date someone who would reject you because you love ghosts?

Why don’t we like looking in mirrors in the dark?

Our early H-Files episode Mirror Mirror talks about this common human fear in the context of Bloody Mary.