822 — Having a Frightening Experience

Don’t be afraid of today’s episode. You’ll learn how to talk about frightening experiences in English, but without getting scared yourself.
Slow dialogue: 1:08
Explanations: 4:05
Fast dialogue: 17:47
Oliver: I had the most hair-raising experience of my life this past weekend.
Alena: What happened?
Oliver: You know that George bought an old house, right? Well, he’s been telling us that it’s haunted, so for a lark, a few of us decided to spend the weekend there to see if we would have any supernatural experiences.
Alena: Are you telling me that you saw ghosts?
Oliver: I’m not sure what we saw, heard, or felt. Everything was fine when we got there, but then we started hearing strange noises and I started to get goosebumps. The other guys tried to play it off, but I know they were scared, too.
Alena: What did George say about the noises?
Oliver: He laughed when he saw us jump out of our skins, and told us we were wusses. He said he heard those noises every night and they didn’t have him quaking in his boots.
Alena: Did anything else happen?
Oliver: Well, when we went to bed, the house got very cold and drafty, like there was something passing by me very closely, but I couldn’t see it. That sent me over the edge.
Alena: Has it ever occurred to you that George was playing a prank on you guys?
Oliver: A prank? It was no prank. In the middle of the night when we saw the strange faces in the windows, even George was scared stiff. By that time, all of us were petrified. It was no prank. That house is haunted.
Alena: Ooh, a real haunted house. I’d love to spend the night there, too. Do you think George would let you stay there again and let me come, too?
Oliver: You want me to go back to that house? Forget it! Wild horses couldn’t drag me within 50 miles of that place again!

Script by Dr. Lucy Tse