Welcome to another Halloween edition of Dear Steve. So let's see what we have in the old mailbag, or inbox, for you today.

Dear Steve, I've been a fan of the podcast for a while and have loved listening to all the stories you share.

I have a short one of my own. You might not use it, and that's

okay, but I wanted to share it with you nonetheless. I'm from Romania, from Transylvania,

to be more specific. This story happened to my great-grandmother, though I was too young at the time

to truly understand what was going on.

She was born in the 1920s.

Her first husband, my great-grandfather, died before I was born, and she remarried later.

The man she married then is the great-grandfather I knew and loved very much.

Every night, without fail, he would read from his Bible

before bed and then place it under his pillow. Their bedroom could only be accessed from the

courtyard and had no windows, just a door with glass panes that let in natural light. The door

was always locked from the inside at night. Their bed was

pushed against the wall, so only one side was accessible. That will become very important later.

Sadly, he passed away when I was still very young, so I don't have many memories of him. He lived a long and good life,

though, and when he passed, it felt like his time. In Romania, funerals are a bit different.

The deceased are kept in the house in their coffin for three nights, and we take turns keeping watch.

We cover mirrors, so the dead don't see themselves.

"'We share stories, talk to them,

"'even throw a little drink on the floor in case they're thirsty.

"'It's a sweet spiritual connection to the other world, in my opinion.

"'The three nights passed uneventfully.

...