Chapter 1: What themes are introduced at the beginning of the episode?
Water. It gives us life. We are drawn to it. Yet it holds immense power over us. It can bring unspeakable horror to the most familiar places. Your morning shower, a tranquil riverbank, or the endless ocean. it's time to dive deep into the abyss. From the dark waters of the Cape Fear River, immerse yourself in horror as you brace yourself for the No Sleep Podcast.
Hello there and welcome to another episode of the No Sleep Podcast. Whether you've been listening since the beginning, have recently found us or anything in between, welcome and thank you for joining us.
Chapter 2: What is the story 'Welcome to the Water' about?
I'm Erica Sanderson and I'll be your host for today's stories. If you've been listening for several seasons, you may remember that this is not my first time in the Podfather's big chair, as I hosted a handful of shows while the team were away on one of their early tours. And speaking of the live shows, No Sleep will be at Crime Wave on Sea 2.0 in February 2027.
You can still sign up at crimewaveatsea.com forward slash nosleep for your exclusive meet and greet with David Cummings, Jessica McAvoy, Peter Lewis, Lindsay Rousseau, Graham Rowett and the maestro Brandon Boone. Now, if you're still having trouble recognising me, don't worry.
It's rare that I use my natural speaking voice and you're more likely to have heard me playing a young boy, a creepy granny or a snarling monster. Some of my more iconic roles include a haunted toilet cubicle, a demonic ice cream truck and a parrot. Yes, I am a classically trained actor and all that animal work at drama school was worth it.
Now, I joined No Sleep in Season 5, Episode 13, which was produced back in May of 2015. It was a beautiful story called My Wife Cooks Me Dinner by Rona Vassler, and I was partnered with my long-term colleague and friend, Mr David Ault. In fact, you can probably blame Ault for me being here at all.
My background is as a stage actor, and I was doing a theatre show with David in which I had several quick costume changes. David very kindly helped me, and in between undressing me, we ended up talking about our respective careers.
At that time, me being away on tour wasn't compatible with family life, so I was looking for a way to branch out my professional acting into voice work, recording scripts from home. Alt passed my name on to David Cummings, and here I am, over a decade later, all thanks to not being able to zip myself into an evening gown.
Since then, I've narrated several stories and played hundreds of characters, and it's the sheer range and variety of roles across ages, gender, humans, demons and creatures that makes this job such a joy, as well as the opportunity to repeatedly kill, maim or torture Mr. Alt. Though, to be fair, he's done his fair share of murdering me as well.
In fact, somewhere I've been told that there's a running tally going on. But if anyone's doing a re-listen and wants to keep score, please let me know. And if you do enjoy my work, you can hear me in several other audio shows, as well as horror games like Chasing Static and Hollow Body. Away from horror, you may have noticed I'm a bit of a geek.
Did anyone catch my Obi-Wan Kenobi hello there at the top of the show? Yes, I am a massive Star Wars fan.
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Chapter 3: How does 'Slake, Slaughter, Savage, and Sully' unfold?
I am ridiculously excited and I will have to try and contain myself whilst keeping a modicum of professional decorum while at the same time internally screaming and fangirling. However, deep down, I know I'm going to be like a four-year-old on Christmas morning, as stories from a galaxy far, far away have always been a lifelong passion.
Much in the same way as my love of theatre, which goes right back to my childhood at the convent, where the nuns first fostered my love of singing and performing. Far from being a serene and angelic upbringing, there was a healthy dose of mischief and eccentricity from the sisters that I've definitely carried with me throughout my career.
Speaking of things seemingly angelic, this brings us on to today's theme, in which we will meet a host of celestial-inspired characters and places. But rather than the sound of heavenly trumpets accompanying the cherubim and seraphim, you can guarantee there will be much more wailing, grinding of teeth, and screams of terror.
So take a deep breath as we dive into the dark waters of this week's tales.
Erica, I'm just going to crawl out of the Cape Fear for a second so our sleepless fans can learn more about Indicloud. Look, I don't know who needs to hear this, but buying groceries and living should not feel like a luxury experience. We all have to cut many corners these days, and that's stressful.
which is exactly why everyone is getting a little more intentional about how they actually unwind. That's where Indicloud fits in. Indicloud is your fully legal online cannabis dispensary for gummies, exotic flower, premium pre-rolls, zero sugar THC sodas, sleep gummies, and now rooms. A clean, alcohol-free way to relax, reset, or shift your mindset without throwing off tomorrow.
Everything available is federally legal hemp THC, lab tested and shipped discreetly to your door. I love and use and pay for IndiCloud's products. So knowing they're effective and affordable makes it easy for me to not only endorse IndiCloud, but also highly recommend them. No pun intended. If you're 21 or older, go to Indicloud.co. That's .co, not .com.
And for new customers, use code NOSLEEP for 40% off your first order. That's Indicloud.co. Code NOSLEEP for 40% off, shipped discreetly to your door, plus free shipping on orders over $50, and free gifts on qualifying orders. And please don't forget to fill out the quick survey when you order to support our show. Enjoy responsibly.
And thanks to Indicloud for making May feel a little more manageable. Now let's kick off these stories, Erica.
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Chapter 4: What happens in 'The Transubstantiator' story?
McAnally's story of awakening destiny. Performing this tale are Nicole Goodnight, Nicole Doolin, and Kyle Akers. Be careful on the shore and beware the tides in Welcome to the Water.
I'd lived in the mountains my whole life, landlocked with only a nearby river barely broad enough to warrant a bridge as my main source of water. But once my parents passed in a car accident, I was sent back to live with my mother's people, to live with my Aunt Lydia, who I had only met once when I was very small, and she had come to visit us.
She'd send us postcards every once in a while, but that was it. I remembered her being kind and funny, but she was still a stranger. Not much different than the kind of strangers in my hometown that took me in at first. I dreaded being stuck in a car with her for hours, but she made it easier than I thought it would be.
We don't have to talk if you don't want to. We can listen to music or just sit in silence.
That she gave me choices meant she was trying, but I was still wary of her. Music is fine for now. But even I couldn't stand not talking for hours. The first hour of the trip, I tried to sleep, but the sun was in my face the whole time. So I decided to get a few questions answered. Why didn't you visit more?
I could ask you that same question.
I did ask. I asked Mom that a lot.
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Chapter 5: What is the significance of 'The God, the Queen, and the Ant'?
She said it was too much money for all three of us to travel to see you and that there was no way she would send me here alone. Said she couldn't bear the thought of being that far away from me.
And believe me, I did offer for you to come stay. Your mother was always very protective of you. But now look at you, almost grown and don't even know your mother's people.
Is there more than just you? Do I have more aunts?
You have great aunts and cousins, many cousins, though most of them did like your mom and leave home and get married. But the Delmar family has been an angel base since it was established. Though the town is small, it's our family's anchor.
Is that why you never came to visit? You had to be the Delmar that managed the ancestral home?
Ancestral home? I wish we had such an estate for you to inherit, A.D., but you're partially right. This is where we grew up. It's always been home, and honestly, I can't imagine any place being better than this.
Sure, there are the flashy cities for those who need noise and to constantly be doing something, but Angel Bay is the perfect balance of life, of feeling like you belong to a community, and of the peacefulness that the heartbeat of the sea offers.
Doesn't sound much different than back home. Maybe it'll be easier to adjust to it that way. Once the sun was out of my eyes, I stopped talking and took that nap. Not to avoid Aunt Lydia, but to avoid the motion sickness. She let me sleep for most of the drive, but woke me up as we were approaching town. The coast was vastly different than the towering mountains I was used to.
On the drive-in, the only things massive here were the cliffs that faced the ocean, as if they were the last sentinels to ward off the thrashing waves.
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Chapter 6: What are the main characters and their motivations?
I'd felt the humid hug of the valley and the mountains during summers, but this was a different type of warmth. I'd have to decide if I liked it or not. Aunt Lydia pointed me to my bedroom. It was bare with only a twin-sized bed tucked in the corner, but it had its own sliding glass door that led out to the ocean.
I purposely kept it bare for you so you could make it your own. There are several shops in town that have decor of all styles. I'd be happy to help you buy some things.
Thanks, Aunt Lydia. Maybe after I get what I do have unpacked and feel settled in.
Everything in the kitchen is free game, and you're welcome to any part of the house. Feel free to start settling in or to just pass out on the bed tonight. Whatever you want to do. I'll be in the living room or on the side porch if you need me. She's trying.
I'll give her that. But part of me really didn't care about it. The move. Being hundreds of miles away from where I was raised. Just like the new smiling faces didn't matter. Not really.
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Chapter 7: How do the stories connect with the theme of celestial sins?
Nothing felt real. Except for the emptiness that my parents' death engulfed with me. Aunt Lydia was trying not to push herself on me too quickly, but the space she gave me ended up being the space the grief needed to swallow me whole.
When I started school, I wasn't rude to the girls and guys in my classes who made a point to introduce themselves to me and attempt to become my friend, but the smile I put on my face wasn't real. At least, not until I met Bailey and Morgan. Bailey was the first person here to make me genuinely laugh.
Morgan was there laughing right along with me, but the first time I saw him, it was the first time I'd felt anything since arriving here. I took that as a good sign, but tried not to think about it too much. Until he decided to ask me out. It took a couple of weeks of the three of us hanging out for him to ask.
I don't know if he had to muster up the courage or just find a minute without Bailey there, but he finally asked before the last bell rang before the weekend.
Hey, Dee. Would you want to come to the cliffs with me this weekend?
Oh, to hang out with you and Bailey?
No, just you and me. The sunset is amazing off of the Kraken.
The Kraken?
Oh, that's the name for the largest cliff on the West Beach. And there's legends of the first people of Angel Bay making sacrifices to an ocean god, so they named it after the Kraken.
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Chapter 8: What concluding thoughts does the host share at the end of the episode?
It moved toward us. I couldn't control my breathing as the thing approached. My eyes darted from my hand back to the light. My hand had not only turned white, it glowed. It glowed brighter as the light came closer. The same hue as that terrible pale sliver of a ray in the water. The light rose up from the waves and a shadow of a form followed it.
As the light danced about ten feet off the ground, I could see the bloated body from before. The helpless body that the guy went to help. The skin was a hue of blue I'd never seen before on the person, and waterlogged. It was attached to the light. They hung from the same... rod? Oh god. As I looked beneath the light I could see the teeth.
Rows and rows of teeth jutting out from the lower jaw of this thing. My stomach turned once I noticed the ripped jeans cloth stuck between its teeth. It really did eat the guy. As the light swayed above, it shined down on one eye about the size of a basketball. Oh, God. The light and body were allure.
The thing in front of me looked like a mutated anglerfish, as if those things weren't scary enough. And this one was the size of a small whale. Instead of fins it had webbed feet to pull itself up on shore with, the massive creature stopped five feet in front of me, and it took everything I had not to scream. Aunt Lydia went to her knees and bowed.
Greetings, Cruita, the mother of our people, the womb of the ocean.
The creature gaped like the fish she was out of water, but her breathing calmed. She had a fleshy plume of external gills like an axolotl. Was she amphibious?
Yes.
If Morgan is one of ours, you can use your hand on her to call him back and finish the ritual you started with him. Started the first time you kissed and the water touched you. If he is not one of ours, she may still give him back, but will ask for something in return. Ask, not take? Ask. As long as you abide by her rules, she is fair.
Lay your hand on her and push that power into her and think of Morgan.
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