Disturbed #294: Just One Night, Urban Explorers, Friend or Foe, and The Lady of the Jungle

Disturbed: True Horror Stories

This episode of Disturbed presents four chilling true stories involving unsettling encounters in hotels, abandoned factories, Parisian parks

Key takeaways

• A hotel clerk in rural Tennessee acted suspiciously during a sudden power outage.
• Urban explorers discovered an alarming amount of dried blood on the floor of an abandoned factory.

Main topics

• Urban exploration
• Paranormal encounters

Notable quotes

Always trust your instincts.

Conclusion

The episode provides a collection of suspenseful narratives designed t

Transcript preview

Speaker 7 (0:00) Beware, extreme passion can lead to shocking consequences. On Scorned Love Kills, the podcast from i-D, find out what happens when lust and obsession turn deadly. In each episode, you'll hear direct audio from the hit TV show and uncover true, unexpected stories about love gone wrong, about relationships that become a volatile mix of jealousy and anger. Listen to Scorned Love Kills on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 1 (0:29) Trick or treat, Halloween is right around the corner, and we have a real treat for you. From now through October 15th, become a Premium or Diamond Patreon member, and be entered into a drawing to tell your own terrifying story on a special Halloween episode of Disturbed. There are no tricks here. Just become a Premium or Diamond member to be entered into the contest. Go to patreon.com slash disturbedpodcast. And you might even get to meet me. This Speaker 5 (1:04) content may not be suitable for all audiences. Listener discretion advised. Speaker 6 (1:14) I started panicking. I had no idea how I'd gotten there, and I had no idea how I was going to get out. While everyone was pounding and pushing on the door, I pulled with all of my might. The door didn't move. Speaker 5 (1:29) We slammed against the door, hoping we could get it to open. It wouldn't budge. I looked behind us and saw the shadow of the clerk. He was still standing where we left him, studying us. Speaker 1 (1:42) From Killer Podcasts. True tales of horror, bizarre happenings, unexplainable events. This is Disturbed. Speaker 2 (2:20) Hello, and welcome back to the show. Speaker 1 (2:23) This week, we have four true stories that will make your skin crawl. So sit back, listen closely, and dive into the horror. In our first story, what's supposed to be one night in a hotel turns into a night from hell. Narrated by M. Eldridge, from Reddit user Gia Speaker 2 (2:49) Ona. Speaker 2 (3:03) This happened in December Speaker 5 (3:04) 2025 in rural Tennessee. My ex Tiara and I had just broken up and she was moving back home and out of our apartment in a week. The breakup was brutal and we hadn't slept for days. That evening, we got into a heated argument around 12 a.m. and she wanted to get a hotel room for the night to cool down. She absolutely refused to let me get a room instead of her. We packed her suitcase, another duffel bag of stuff, and a Brinks door security bar so that she would be extra safe. We stopped at what seemed to be a quiet hotel tucked away in the middle of nowhere. It was surrounded by trees and lonely roads and didn't seem too busy at all. I pulled up to the front and parked the car at the main entrance. Speaker 5 (3:53) When we entered, the lobby looked fine. It wasn't quite a roach motel, but it wasn't great. We decided it would work. It was only going to be for one night. Then I'd be back for her in the morning. We stood at the front desk for like 10 minutes, waiting for someone to come check us in. Eventually, a tall, lanky man in his early to mid-20s, with glasses, a strong foreign accent, and a very monotone voice greeted us. He told us he was the only one working that night, and he'd gotten caught up in the back. He said very few words, made no facial expressions, and was very stoic. Tiara and I both noted that, off of first impressions, he was really odd. but left it at that. He checked us in, and I told Tiara to wait for me there while I parked the car and got her bags. She was still pretty mad at me, so she told me to just drop her off and leave, but I wasn't going to do that. I didn't want the staff or guests knowing that she was staying alone. I wanted to walk her to her room and make sure she was all settled in and safe before I left. Speaker 5 (4:59) We found the room, and I already didn't like that it was on the main floor and around the corner from the lobby. I swiped the keycard and it flashed red. I swiped it again. Red. The door wouldn't open. My senses were tingling and I felt uneasy. Before trying again, I pressed my ear against the door. I thought I heard shuffling, like someone walking about. Tiara and I both looked at each other. The clerk not only told us our room number, but he wrote it on the key card, so we double-checked before trying again. I swiped the key one more time, and the door unlocked. Speaker 5 (5:38) I slowly opened the door a couple of inches. The room was dark, but I could see that there was an empty beer bottle on the floor. A sliver of light was coming from the bathroom, and the toe of a dirty, large man's work boot was peeking out from the other side of the bathroom door. Speaker 5 (5:56) I immediately shut the door, grabbed Ciara's bags, and told her that someone was in there and that we were leaving. She said, it's 1 a.m., I'm tired, let's just ask for another room. I told her, no, absolutely not. Something was wrong, it wasn't safe, and we were going home. But first, the clerk. We made a beeline to the front desk. When he finally made it back to the front desk, I asked the clerk if he gave us the right room. He confirmed that there were no guests on this level and that all of the rooms were empty. I told him that there was someone in our room. He didn't seem surprised. He didn't apologize. His face didn't change, not even his tone. He just asked if we wanted a different room, to which I said, no, we want a refund, and then we're leaving. He told us that he needed to go into the back room for a moment. He left and shut the door behind him. Tiara poked my side as the door was closing. She said she was almost positive that she saw someone else in the room where he went. He told us he was the only one there. My adrenaline was pumping. Speaker 3 (7:02) All I wanted to do at this point was get a Speaker 5 (7:04) refund and get us back home. My mind was screaming, this isn't worth it. We'll sleep at home together. Something is wrong here. This isn't worth it. He finally returned from the back room with a random piece of paper in his hand. And while he was quietly processing our refund, all of the power went off in the hotel. Speaker 5 (7:25) The computer, lights, vending machines, everything. With the low hum of electricity gone, it was so silent you could hear a pin drop. The lobby was pitch black, except for a little bit of moonlight beaming through the windows. We could see the lanky shadow of the hotel clerk still standing there. He hadn't moved at all. His attention was on us, watching, probably wondering what we were going to do next. Tiara was really scared now. She clung on to me and gripped my arm. I was trying not to lose it. I couldn't see