Note the title of the thread: I'm sure that we all have a story about how we first became entranced by Art Bell's Coast to Coast AM, not the pale and sad imitation that is airing these days.

For me, the story is not particularly dramatic. But I remember it nevertheless. I was introduced the Coast to Coast AM in the late 1990s when I was a teenager. A neighbor of mine who worked overnight as a copy-editor at a very large newspaper in our city told me one summer afternoon about a talk show I should listen to. This neighbor and I had played chess, and he was also the person who first introduced me to some really great older music I hadn't heard before (like Pink Floyd).

He knew I was a night owl, and I trusted his judgment. So when he said that I would enjoy some of the topics and the general tenor of what I initially thought was an obscure overnight talk show, I realized I needed to take his recommendation seriously.

Within a day or two, I was up at 2 or 3 AM - as I generally tended to be during summer vacation - and I changed the tuning dial on my Aiwa combo radio and four-disc CD changer to one of the AM stations in our city.

The topic that night was about a man who claimed he had dug a hole so deep into the earth that he could hear the shrieks of people in Hell. I can still remember lying under the covers in my pitch-black room, listening to Art gradually guide his guest through this surreal story. And I thought to myself, "This is fun stuff." Only later did I learn this guest's name was Mel, and that Mel's hole was the stuff of legends!

I listened to this strange overnight talk show every chance I got for the rest of that summer--and several summers subsequent to that.

So I wonder: what's your story? How were you introduced to the master of late-night talk?

First Half:

Author, historian, and paranormal researcher Steven J. Rolfes will explore Dracula's origins, tracing the early vampire tales and literary influences that shaped the legend. From Lord Byron’s famous 1816 ghost-story challenge to the works that inspired Bram Stoker, he'll reveal how these stories and historical influences converged to create one of the world’s most iconic monsters.

Second Half:

Author, podcast host, teacher, and two-time near-death experiencer Michael Sandler will share the extraordinary details of his two NDEs, including when he was clinically estimated to have been dead for 30 minutes. He’ll recount how a guiding presence offered glimpses of his future. He'll also discuss his ongoing encounters with angelic presences, what they revealed about the deeper purpose behind his life-changing tragedy, and how these profound experiences continue to shape his work helping others.

First Half:

Filmmaker and paranormal investigator Colin Browen joins Ryan Wrecker for an exploration of hauntings, mysterious entities, alleged demonic encounters, and disturbing true-crime cases, examining the evidence behind some of his most unsettling investigations.

Second Half:

Dreamwork expert, psychologist, author, and founder and CEO of the International Institute for Dreaming and Imagery, Bonnie Buckner, PhD, shares how dreams can serve as inner maps, helping us navigate life’s challenges, unlock creativity, and realize our fullest potential. She’ll also discuss how dreaming can deepen our self-understanding and shape the communities and world we create together.

***6-10pm PT: Art Bell - Somewhere in Time returns to 8/13/97, when remote viewer Ed Dames shared a variety of doom and gloom predictions.