STAD EP. 2-We Skipped The King Cake And Got Grabbed By A Ghost Instead

Lanterns, beads, and a sugar-free resolve set the stage before we step into a shadowed Southern church that refuses to be silent. We start light—Mardi Gras memories, Lunar New Year at Disney, and the tug-of-war between king cake cravings and a health plan—then open an anonymous listener submission that pulls the floor out from under our feet.

The story unfolds with cinematic detail: a fully abandoned church that feels paused mid-service, footsteps upstairs that don’t match anyone in the group, and the kind of stillness that turns your breath into a metronome. As our storyteller climbs higher, the anomalies grow sharper—a sudden scratch on the back of the neck when no one is near, a decisive tug on a girl’s leg as she ascends the steps, dead ravens that punctuate long hallways like dark commas. By the time silence starts to ring in the auditorium, one friend is tracking shadow figures at the edges, those flickers you swear are there even when you won’t say it out loud. The final twist lands at home: someone steals a mannequin from the church and is haunted by nightmares until it’s returned.

We talk through the unglamorous rules of urban exploration—don’t split up, don’t take artifacts, know when curiosity crosses into risk—and how belief and skepticism can coexist when your skin is telling you the truth your brain won’t name. Along the way, we fine-tune our sound for a closer, more intimate listen, because stories like these live in quiet details and breath-held pauses. If you’ve ever felt watched in an empty room or argued with yourself at the edge of a dark stairwell, this one will find you.

Got your own tale from a haunted hallway, a back road, or an attic that still clicks after midnight? Share it with us—anonymous is welcome—and help us map the places where memory and mystery meet. Subscribe, leave a review, and send this to a friend who swears they don’t scare easily. Then tell us: what’s your rule number one when the unknown starts calling?

We’re looking for listener submissions — true crime encounters, paranormal experiences, urban legends, or moments you just can't explain.📜 When you submit, please include:

•Your name or an alias. •The type of story you’re sharing.  •Your story in your own words.  •Where and roughly when it happened (if you’re comfortable sharing).  •Whether you’d like identifying details changed.  •Confirmation that we can read and record your story on the show.  •Submissions can be anonymous. Every story is treated with care.

Send it to: holdmysweetteapodcast@gmail.com

Transcript

Carnival Vibes And Lunar New Year

SPEAKER_00 0:35

Welcome to our cave. I am Pearl.

SPEAKER_01 0:39

And I am Holly. I don't say blah blah blah.

SPEAKER_00 0:45

Right. Exactly right. I mean, I guess I sometimes say blah blah blah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:50

Sometimes blah blah blah comes out of my mouth. And then I'm like, shut the hell up. You're blah blah blah.

SPEAKER_00 0:58

Exactly. Stop with the blah blah blah.

SPEAKER_01 1:01

Yeah. But it's an exciting day today because it's Mardi Gras.

SPEAKER_00 1:09

It is.

SPEAKER_01 1:11

It is the Chinese lunar new year.

SPEAKER_00 1:15

Also correct.

SPEAKER_01 1:16

The year of the fire horse.

SPEAKER_00 1:22

Blazing horses. Let's go. I'm ready. It's it's gonna be an interesting year.

SPEAKER_01 1:31

It is. It is.

SPEAKER_00 1:33

And there is actually a lunar festival in Disney. So going there with my mom and sister.

SPEAKER_01 1:43

I know. That's gonna be cool. I need pictures.

SPEAKER_00 1:45

Yeah. So I was like, this should be really cool. And there's a ton of like really cool food.

SPEAKER_01 1:51

Yes. Like so themed food for the lunar year. Yes. Looking forward to that. Oh yeah. She's like all ready for she's got her food map planned out.

SPEAKER_00 2:00

She's got her shirt that says, I'm just here for the snacks.

SPEAKER_01 2:03

Yep. She's eaten for two at Disneyland. So there we go. She's ready. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 2:09

I have a confession to make.

SPEAKER_01 2:11

Yeah. This is the time to do it on Sweet Tea After Dark, right?

SPEAKER_00 2:16

Right. I have not had a single bite of king cake.

SPEAKER_01 2:25

Me either. I did not eat it this year.

SPEAKER_00 2:29

Is this sacrilege or am I growing? Or shrinking. Shrinking is what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_01 2:34

Shrinking, yes, because we are both on our on our health journey and we have sworn off sugary treats, and it's really, really hard.

SPEAKER_00 2:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:44

When you live in South Louisiana.

SPEAKER_00 2:46

I've been yelling at myself. Like, you cannot eat this. You're not allowed.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

Me either. I like will go and I'll I'll see king cake places and everything. I'm like, nope, nope, nope. Of course, you know, when you see it in Walmart or Rouses, you're like, ew.

SPEAKER_00 3:01

It's easy to pass up.

SPEAKER_01 3:02

It's very easy to pass up. Because you do not eat grocery store king cake. No. Unless you're desperate. Now, some grocery stores, because there are a few grocery stores that make like phenomenal king cake.

SPEAKER_00 3:14

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:15

Uh, what's the one in um Gonzales, Louisiana? I think that that is Ralph's. It is a Ralph's out there. So, like, there's a few here and there that are really good.

SPEAKER_00 3:25

I haven't eaten it in years, though, from there. So I couldn't tell you if it's actually so good. I don't want to put that out there and it'd be like, man.

SPEAKER_01 3:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:32

Because I've not touched it.

SPEAKER_01 3:34

You know. From there.

SPEAKER_00 3:35

The Don Fong, the the Randazzos, the And it's Kanadas that is the one that gets sold at Sweet Peas that has the snickerdoodle one that I like so much. Okay. It's really good.

SPEAKER_01 3:47

That one. And then Adale's Bakery. All good king cake places. And you can never ask, like, what's the best king cake to get? Because everybody's gonna have their own opinion.

SPEAKER_00 3:59

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 3:59

So you just gotta try it and find the one that you like. Find the ones your taste buds love. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 4:06

And also eat a piece for me.

SPEAKER_01 4:08

Me too.

Dialing In The Audio Setup

SPEAKER_00 4:09

Because I didn't realize I hadn't until last night and I went, oh sames. What?

SPEAKER_01 4:17

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 4:17

How did I do that?

SPEAKER_01 4:19

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 4:21

It's fine. I'm actually proud of myself. Like, woo-hoo, go me. I resisted the temptation that will linger.

SPEAKER_01 4:31

And if we sound a little different, we are trying out a new uh hidey hole. Heidi hole here. We've got some foam panels going on, and we are trying to sound a little crisper.

SPEAKER_00 4:45

Yeah. So bear with us if we sound a little different.

SPEAKER_01 4:49

And if you like it, be like, y'all sound better. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 4:52

Yeah, let us know.

SPEAKER_01 4:53

Yeah.

Anonymous Listener Story Begins

SPEAKER_00 4:53

For sure. Exciting.

SPEAKER_01 4:56

Yeah, because what do we have?

SPEAKER_00 4:58

We have an anonymous listener submission.

SPEAKER_01 5:02

I am so happy, you guys. One of you took the assignment and did it. Yes. So now we need more of you. Yes. Yes. So today. And it's anonymous. So and you can totally stay anonymous.

SPEAKER_00 5:16

Right. I was supposed to do mine, my little story, you know, as a as an encouragement to the world. But since this came along, I was like, let's do this one and I'll save mine for next time.

SPEAKER_01 5:28

Yes. So shall we? Yes, we shall. Let's go. All right.

SPEAKER_00 5:37

Anonymous tells this whole story in such a great way that I didn't touch it. Nice, nice. So a while back, me and a group of friends decided to explore an abandoned church.

SPEAKER_01 5:53

Ah, that's why they stayed anonymous. Yeah. Trespassing.

Footsteps In The Empty Church

SPEAKER_00 6:01

Not the kind that's half renovated or even cleaned out. I mean full-on abandoned. Most of the rooms were still intact, and it looked like people had just stopped showing up one day. It was late afternoon when we went, and the sun was starting to go down, and everything had that dim orange light that makes places feel quieter than they should be. The church itself was bigger than we expected. There was the main sanctuary area, an auditorium with a stage and rows of chairs, and upstairs there were classrooms that were used to do Sunday school. There were also a bunch of hallways with tons of doors to rooms used for who knows what. But they all had bathrooms attached to them.

SPEAKER_01 7:01

And for a church just to be abandoned is strange.

SPEAKER_00 7:05

It's strange.

SPEAKER_01 7:06

Like that.

SPEAKER_00 7:07

Yes. At first, it just felt creepy in a normal way. Dust everywhere, old posters on the walls, silence so heavy that you could hear every footstep echo down the halls. We decided we were gonna go sit in the auditorium. But then we heard something, and it didn't match our footsteps. Footsteps upstairs, clear, slow, walking back and forth.

SPEAKER_01 7:40

Nice.

SPEAKER_00 7:43

Maybe they were walking up the stairs. But we all just stopped at that same exact time because we thought maybe one of us had wandered off. So we do a head count.

SPEAKER_01 7:56

That's one of those rutro raggy moments.

SPEAKER_00 8:00

Right. But no one had. We were all standing together in the auditorium, and the building was supposed to be empty. Completely empty.

SPEAKER_01 8:13

Hmm.

Dead Ravens And A Mysterious Scratch

SPEAKER_00 8:16

That alone already had us on edge, but we kept going because, you know, curiosity and bad decisions go hand in hand. Absolutely. We went upstairs to explore and investigate the noise. Of course, we saw no one. The only weird thing was there were dead ravens inside every once in a while on the floors of the hallways upstairs, and even some in the classrooms.

SPEAKER_01 8:48

See, that's a bad omen right there.

SPEAKER_00 8:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:52

That's when I would have been like, um, I think we need to go.

SPEAKER_00 8:57

Yes. One of our group actually left on his own and was walking the halls. We eventually also started walking the halls to find him. And when we did catch up with him, he said he had been scratched. The weird part, nobody was behind him. He said he wasn't even near a wall. He was walking in the middle of the hallway all by himself. And we all saw the scratch mark on the back of his neck.

SPEAKER_01 9:34

Ooh.

SPEAKER_00 9:37

After that, the energy obviously completely shifted. The place didn't just feel creepy anymore. It almost felt as if it was aware.

SPEAKER_01 9:52

I would say so at that point. You start getting scratched and dead ravens, like it's like it knows you're here. Yeah. You're inside of it.

The Tug On The Stairs

SPEAKER_00 10:02

Whatever it can be. We eventually make our way toward the auditorium, the area with the stage. Some of our group was standing near said stage when one of the girls was going up the stairs where the rows of seating were and froze and grabbed the railing. She said she felt something tug at her leg. Not like she tripped, not like her foot caught on a step, like something grabbed her. She describes it as a clear pull on her lower leg. It grabbed her and yanked for a second while she was trying to take the next step. We all check the stairs, nothing. No loose boards, no wires, nothing that could have caught her.

SPEAKER_01 11:03

Oh, that's creepy.

SPEAKER_00 11:06

The crazy part is she was also walking up these stairs alone. Nothing was behind her.

SPEAKER_01 11:14

Yeah, just like the guy walking alone and got scratched.

SPEAKER_00 11:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:19

Stay in a group. Don't go by yourself. Don't, because that's how bad things happened.

Shadow Figures In The Auditorium

SPEAKER_00 11:27

When we got to the top of the stairs where the rows of chairs had faced the stage, like a service had been paused and never finished, it was dead quiet. It was almost ear-ringing silence. That's when another girl that was with us started acting different. She kept glancing towards the corners of the room and the hallway entrances and looking like her her eyes were darting from chair to chair. At first we thought she was just scared and acting frantic, but then she whispered that she was actually seeing shadow figures.

SPEAKER_01 12:14

Well, that's cool.

Don’t Split Up: Ghost-Hunting Rules

SPEAKER_00 12:17

She said she could see them standing near the walls, and they would move just slightly. Or they would rush past some chairs, and she would catch them in her peripherals. She even stated that seeing figures outside in the field near the church when we were leaving. No. He told us later that he brought the mannequin back because he had nightmares every night. Yeah. You brought that home with you. I did. Why would you take something? Never. So he returned the mannequin, nightmare stopped. Wow. But that is our first creepy listener submission.

SPEAKER_01 13:21

Oh my gosh. Thank you, Anonymous, for submitting that. That was so good. Yeah, it would have been creeped out and like nobody go off alone. Yeah. At all. That is like the number one rule. Yeah, you don't separate. You don't split up. Like, have we not watched Scooby-Doo? When they go, Shaggy, you and Scoob go over here. Me and Daphne and Velma's gonna go back here in the back room.

SPEAKER_00 13:48

Somebody always gets attacked. Right. Don't split up. Although I will say, you know, you watch all the like ghost hunting stuff, and they they tend to like, okay, two of us are gonna sit in the attic and two of us are gonna sit in the basement. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:02

And I'm like, what are you doing? I think they do that on purpose just to separate themselves to see if there's any activity.

SPEAKER_00 14:08

I think that they do it on purpose because I feel like activity happens more common when there's less of you. But definitely still don't be by yourself. No, not like all alone alone? No. Yeah. No singles in the haunted place.

Send Your Stories And Community Shoutouts

SPEAKER_01 14:26

What was the um the show on MTV? Like when they would go and send them in by themselves, and like the song was uh Voodoo by Godsmack. Oh gosh. Um, that played in the beginning and everything. But yeah, they would send them in with like the whole camera setup and everything, and they would have to go in the low.

SPEAKER_00 14:44

It looked like Blair Witch, yes, very Blair Witch. It's like you see their face and they're like freaked out.

SPEAKER_01 14:49

Yeah, they're like, and they were like in by themselves, and they also had another camera like ahead of them and stuff, like showing ahead. Yeah. But yeah, it was like that. They would send them in alone and they would have to go like do these certain things and explore.

SPEAKER_00 15:05

So hear bangs and all kinds of stuff and freak them out even more. Yeah, that's crazy. I was just excited we got one.

SPEAKER_01 15:16

I know, me too. So that should encourage everybody, like somebody, somebody like started the story. So let's go.

SPEAKER_00 15:26

Let's keep it.

SPEAKER_01 15:27

I know y'all listen. I was literally looking at our analytics last night, and we almost have um we have a little over 7,000 downloads, which is awesome. Thank you all.

SPEAKER_00 15:40

But you know, I think it was like 7306 this morning when I looked.

SPEAKER_01 15:44

So, you know, we we have a lot here in America, Australia, Singapore, like all of you that consistently listen to our episodes. Thank you, by the way.

SPEAKER_00 15:57

Yes, thank you, thank you. Like, y'all submit your stories.

SPEAKER_01 16:02

The real MVP send it over. Right. Like, do it. We want to hear, and we want to hear who's listening. I know y'all got real stories.

SPEAKER_00 16:10

Everybody else wants to hear it too.

SPEAKER_01 16:12

Right. Like, I want to hear a story from down under for real.

SPEAKER_00 16:18

Can't wait for one of those.

SPEAKER_01 16:20

Right.

SPEAKER_00 16:21

But yeah, I think uh I would have dipped after the scratch.

SPEAKER_01 16:25

Oh yeah, oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:26

I'm like, we're leaving. That's enough. Something touched me that shouldn't be able to touch me. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 16:37

Exactly. No touching, no touching without permission.

SPEAKER_00 16:40

Be like getting in there and go, if you don't touch me, I won't touch you. Right. I don't even like when humans touch me.

SPEAKER_01 16:48

Me either.

SPEAKER_00 16:49

Such a weirdo.

SPEAKER_01 16:50

Not at all.

SPEAKER_00 16:51

My dad used to make fun of me all the time when I was young because he's like, What's wrong with you? Because he would hear me all the time and be like, Don't touch me. I wasn't like a an affectionate child. I wasn't like running around hugging people and doing all the things.

SPEAKER_01 17:09

I'm like still like that. I'm like, eh, don't. I don't wanna, I'm not a hugger.

How To Submit And Stay Anonymous

SPEAKER_00 17:13

Yeah, yeah. I even sometimes am like, I think the only thing I don't like fuss about is my my animals. However, somehow I ended up with this dog that loves to lick, and I've never had one of those, and he keeps licking me, and I'm like, stop licking me!

SPEAKER_01 17:29

Yeah, I have one of those too. She's like overly affectionate, she loves to lick, and I'm like, S. And my cats are like, You can pet me when I want you to pet me, and that's it.

SPEAKER_00 17:41

Yeah. So I'm like, you know what?

SPEAKER_01 17:43

We have a mutual agreement. There we go.

SPEAKER_00 17:45

Right. And so I'm all like, if I'm not gonna let my furry friends touch me, lick me, I'm not gonna let you, evil spirit, scratch me.

SPEAKER_01 17:56

Right.

SPEAKER_00 17:57

And stick around for it. Be like, Zach, peace out. You already did too much.

SPEAKER_01 18:03

But we hope everybody enjoyed this spooky little story and you're listening to it at night.

SPEAKER_00 18:08

Yes. Hope you didn't wait till the next morning.

SPEAKER_01 18:11

Right. Don't wait till the next morning.

SPEAKER_00 18:12

You gotta listen to it because we post 6 p.m.

SPEAKER_01 18:15

Yes. Wait till you get ready for bed, get all cozy, get in bed, and listen to it.

SPEAKER_00 18:20

There you go.

SPEAKER_01 18:21

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 18:22

Send you off to sleep. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 18:24

And I've been posting, you know, in show notes how and what you need to do to submit your story.

Closing Wishes And Creepy Goodnights

SPEAKER_00 18:34

Yeah, and I um copied that and I'm gonna post it on Instagram today, too. So it will be there.

SPEAKER_01 18:43

And I've been posting on TikTok to make sure that everybody I guess I'll share it on my Facebook too.

SPEAKER_00 18:49

So on so maybe some of our friends will send us some stuff. Our personal friends.

SPEAKER_01 18:55

Our personal friends. That's great though. And you can still say anonymous, you don't have to give a shortcut.

SPEAKER_00 18:59

Exactly. You see how it went here?

SPEAKER_01 19:01

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 19:02

We didn't tell on them.

SPEAKER_01 19:04

So not at all.

SPEAKER_00 19:06

I didn't even tell you where it was from. Nope. Just so they could remain super anonymous. Yeah. It is from the south, though.

SPEAKER_01 19:13

Yeah. So Southern churches are always creepier anyway.

SPEAKER_00 19:17

Yeah, they are. But yeah. Cool. So send us your stuff at holdmy sweet tea podcast at gmail.com.

unknown 19:26

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 19:27

And as always, even Sweet Tea After Dark is a drunken bee production. I have to find a creepy.

SPEAKER_00 19:38

Yes, there we go. Psycho.

SPEAKER_01 19:44

And you guys, you know, I hope you sleep well tonight. Creep it real. Creeping it real. Bye.