"It was a dark and stormy night," the woman begins, "and I was standing by the window looking out, when I remembered a story I heard from my best friend, who later betrayed me. She told me about a dark and stormy night; she was walking to the store when . . ."
Alan starts to interrupt her; he is too preoccupied with his own troubles.
You interrupt the ghost, fearing that it will trap you in an ever expanding net of stories.