WEBVTT - Season 07 Episode 23: The Box (Pt.2 of 3)

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<v Speaker 1>You're listening to Unexplained, Season seven, episode twenty three, The Box,

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<v Speaker 1>Part two of three. It's June two thousand and four

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<v Speaker 1>in Kirksville, Missouri, about two thousand miles from Kevin Manis's

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<v Speaker 1>home in Portland. Twenty year olds Brian and Joseph are

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<v Speaker 1>browsing the aisles of their local grocery store when Joseph

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<v Speaker 1>mentions a curious item he's seen for sale on eBay.

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<v Speaker 1>The pair are students of Truman State University and share

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<v Speaker 1>an apartment close to their campus along with four other

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<v Speaker 1>students who are currently away for the holidays. Less than

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<v Speaker 1>an hour later, the young men are in front of

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<v Speaker 1>a laptop pouring over a listing titled de Book Box

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<v Speaker 1>put up by a user called w net Trade. It begins,

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<v Speaker 1>all of the events that I'm about to set forth

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<v Speaker 1>in this listing are accurate. It was, of course, the

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<v Speaker 1>peculiar wine box that Kevin Mannis claimed to have bought

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<v Speaker 1>from a car boot sale. The young men read through

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<v Speaker 1>the entire listing that details all the terrifying events Kevin

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<v Speaker 1>has supposedly experienced since purchasing the item. He's convinced it's haunted,

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<v Speaker 1>he says, Joseph thinks they should buy it. Brian doesn't agree.

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<v Speaker 1>He's not convinced it really is haunted, but why risk it,

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<v Speaker 1>he thinks. Without Brian's help, Joseph isn't sure he can

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<v Speaker 1>justify the one hundred dollars asking price, but the more

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<v Speaker 1>he tries to forget about it, the more he can't

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<v Speaker 1>seem to let it go. Just what if it really

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<v Speaker 1>is haunted? How cool would that be? A few days later,

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<v Speaker 1>alone in his room, Joseph pulls up the listing again

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<v Speaker 1>and finds an update from Kevin June fourteenth, at five

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<v Speaker 1>twenty one. For those of you wanting to know if

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<v Speaker 1>I'm still experiencing anything out of the ordinary. I thought

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<v Speaker 1>everything was okay until I got home on Friday, the

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<v Speaker 1>thirteenth of June and found that the fish in my aquarium,

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<v Speaker 1>all ten, were dead. For Joseph, it's just too good

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<v Speaker 1>to resist. He selects the bidding box, types in a number,

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<v Speaker 1>and clicks the mouse. It's a week later when Brian

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<v Speaker 1>returns home to find the apartment reeking of urine. He

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<v Speaker 1>follows the scent into the living room, where, much to

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<v Speaker 1>his alarm, he finds the bizarre box. He and Joseph

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<v Speaker 1>had been looking at online, now sitting for real right

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<v Speaker 1>in front of him. When Joseph returns home a few

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<v Speaker 1>hours later, he takes it to his bedroom and jokes

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<v Speaker 1>with Brian that he should listen out in case anything

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<v Speaker 1>strange happens. That first night passes without incident. Brian works

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<v Speaker 1>a part time job at Truman State University's Museum of

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<v Speaker 1>Osteopathic Medicine. Every Monday, the department, led by director Jason Haxton,

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<v Speaker 1>holds a team meeting to set their goals for the

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<v Speaker 1>week and give the team the chance to catch up

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<v Speaker 1>after the weekend. Usually, Brian stays silent, preferring just to

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<v Speaker 1>listen to the contributions of others. But at the first

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<v Speaker 1>Monday meeting, after Joseph bought the box, he just can't

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<v Speaker 1>keep it to himself. With everyone settled in and taking

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<v Speaker 1>a seat, Jason asks if anyone has anything interesting to

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<v Speaker 1>share from their weekends. We bought a haunted wine box,

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<v Speaker 1>says Brian, before anyone else can talk. The words seem

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<v Speaker 1>to hang there for a moment as the rest of

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<v Speaker 1>the team try to process what he just said exactly.

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<v Speaker 1>There are a few raised eyebrows and nervous smiles, but Jason,

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<v Speaker 1>whose special area of interest is the spiritual context of

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<v Speaker 1>ancient art pieces, is genuinely intrigued. Brian fills the team

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<v Speaker 1>in on the details, well aware how ludicrous it all sounds.

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<v Speaker 1>Jason offers to examine the box for them to see

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<v Speaker 1>if he can shed any light on its origins. Brian

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<v Speaker 1>is unsure, but he says he'll let him know if

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<v Speaker 1>there's any peculiar activity. He doesn't have long to wait.

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<v Speaker 1>It starts with the lights, just like Kevin said they

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<v Speaker 1>had in his shop. Bulbs suddenly pop or blow entirely,

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<v Speaker 1>even when newly replaced. A urine like smell seems to

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<v Speaker 1>emanate from various places throughout the apartment. Then Brian's laptop

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<v Speaker 1>crashes inexplicably due to a critical failure of the hard drive.

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<v Speaker 1>Despite attempts to fix it, a source for the failure

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<v Speaker 1>could not be found. It's then that Joseph decides to

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<v Speaker 1>do some research into just what exactly it is that

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<v Speaker 1>he's bought. What he discovers terrifies him. Although spelt with

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<v Speaker 1>an eye instead of a y by Kevin in his

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<v Speaker 1>eBay listing ad book as a demon from Jewish folklore

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<v Speaker 1>often used in stories to scare little children. Only it

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<v Speaker 1>isn't just an old bedtime story, as Joseph finds out,

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<v Speaker 1>but something that some believe to be very real. According

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<v Speaker 1>to one description, a dibuk is a misplaced spirit that

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<v Speaker 1>can neither rise to heaven nor descend into Hell, an

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<v Speaker 1>evil spirit that will attach itself to an unsuspecting victim

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<v Speaker 1>like a parasite, causing mental illness, rage, and changes of personality.

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<v Speaker 1>Joseph can feel his pulse quicken as he reads it.

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<v Speaker 1>Turning back to the box, he notices some Hebraic text

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<v Speaker 1>carved into the back of it. It's a Jewish prayer

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<v Speaker 1>that translates to here o Israel, the Lord is our God,

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<v Speaker 1>the Lord is one. Blessed is the name of his

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<v Speaker 1>honored kingdom for ever. It's a common and well known prayer,

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<v Speaker 1>the sort of prayer perhaps that one might say when

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<v Speaker 1>fearful for their life or just before they die. In August,

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<v Speaker 1>after six weeks of peculiar events, Joseph and Brian's four

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<v Speaker 1>other flatmates return from their summer break. When term time

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<v Speaker 1>starts up, words soon gets around about the apparently haunted

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<v Speaker 1>item in their apartment. For a short time, the place

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<v Speaker 1>becomes a popular hangout for the brave and curious, until

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<v Speaker 1>events take an even more ominous turn. Two of the

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<v Speaker 1>flatmates begin to suffer from itchy and irritated eyes, another

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<v Speaker 1>contracts bronchitis, and Yosef breaks a finger. Most of them

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<v Speaker 1>feel they've become unusually listless, as if something is draining

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<v Speaker 1>them of energy. When one flatmate's car breaks down, a

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<v Speaker 1>check under the bonnet reveals the bodies of numerous dead mice.

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<v Speaker 1>This has followed a few day days later by the

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<v Speaker 1>discovery of a biblical infestation of gnats in the room

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<v Speaker 1>the box is being kept in. At first, Joseph is

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<v Speaker 1>determined not to give in to superstition. It's merely coincidental,

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<v Speaker 1>he says to himself, just a series of completely unexceptional

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<v Speaker 1>events given an illusory supernatural context through the presence of

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<v Speaker 1>the box. But outwardly, the cracks are beginning to show

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<v Speaker 1>as its behaviour becomes increasingly erratic. Brian and the other

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<v Speaker 1>flatmates start noticing it, and slowly Joseph's certainty weakens. After Thanksgiving,

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<v Speaker 1>Joseph's flatmates return to the apartment relieved but a little

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<v Speaker 1>perplexed to find that Joseph has left, and the box

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<v Speaker 1>has gone too. Like a turning of the tide, the

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<v Speaker 1>strange events appear to immediately stop. The smell of urine

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<v Speaker 1>clears up. There are no more inexplicable electrical shortages, and

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<v Speaker 1>the bugs have gone. Since first mentioning the box to

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<v Speaker 1>his colleagues at the museum, Brian frequently updated them on

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<v Speaker 1>the strange occurrences. His boss, Jason, had become especially fascinated

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<v Speaker 1>by it all, hanging on every word until Brian left

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<v Speaker 1>his job at the end of the summer to concentrate

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<v Speaker 1>on his studies. It's a few months later when Jason

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<v Speaker 1>spots him in the audience at a lecture he's presenting.

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<v Speaker 1>When it's finished, he approaches Brian, hoping to hear more

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<v Speaker 1>about the cabinet, but is dismayed to find that Joseph

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<v Speaker 1>is no longer living with him. As Brian explains he

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<v Speaker 1>hasn't seen Joseph or the box since, Jason is gripped

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<v Speaker 1>by an eerie and profound sense of loss, as if

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<v Speaker 1>the ring from Rivendell has just slipped from his grasp.

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<v Speaker 1>A month or so later, Jason receives word from Bryan

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<v Speaker 1>that Joseph has been back in touch, and he's decided

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<v Speaker 1>to sell the box. Reluctant to tell his wife Laurie

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<v Speaker 1>for fear that she won't want anything to do with it,

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<v Speaker 1>Jason turns to his colleague Michael for some advice. Michael

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<v Speaker 1>is a friend but also a keen magician in his

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<v Speaker 1>spare time. He's intrigued at the thought of building an

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<v Speaker 1>act around a haunted artifact and offers to go halves

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<v Speaker 1>if Jason wants to buy it, and so in early

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<v Speaker 1>February two thousand and five, Jason logs into eBay under

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<v Speaker 1>his handle age Tron and finds item number three seven

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<v Speaker 1>zero one three four seven six four eight, otherwise known

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<v Speaker 1>as the Dibbuk Box. As Jason reads the listing, he

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<v Speaker 1>feels a surge of excitement. Everything Brian had described, including

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<v Speaker 1>Kevin's story from the original listing, is here, but there

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<v Speaker 1>is more. Joseph writes, around October sixth I started feeling

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<v Speaker 1>bad with trouble sleeping. This problem has persisted through today.

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<v Speaker 1>I've started seeing things in my peripheral vision. Most disturbingly,

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<v Speaker 1>last Tuesday, my hair began to fall out. Now it's

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<v Speaker 1>about half gone. I'm in my early twenties and I

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<v Speaker 1>just got a clean blood test back from the doctors.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe it's stress related, I don't know. The description reads

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<v Speaker 1>more like a distress beacon than an auction listing, and

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<v Speaker 1>it's clear that the last few months for Joseph, who

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<v Speaker 1>for unknown reasons, decided to move back in with its parents,

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<v Speaker 1>have been increasingly dark and bizarre. Jason scrolls back to

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<v Speaker 1>the top of the page to the text from the

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<v Speaker 1>original listing. He reads those fateful words again from the

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<v Speaker 1>original seller to Kevin, you bought it, we don't want it.

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<v Speaker 1>Jason hesitates for a moment, then types an opening offer

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<v Speaker 1>of ninety nine cents. He takes a deep breath, then

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<v Speaker 1>clicks bid, knowing that whatever happens next, you will forever

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<v Speaker 1>be a part of the box's mythology. For the next

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<v Speaker 1>few minutes, Jason sits transfixed, his face lit up by

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<v Speaker 1>the dim glow of the computer screen as he stealthily

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<v Speaker 1>ups his bid while the auction clock ticks steadily down

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<v Speaker 1>to zero. Jason leans back from the screen and puffs

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<v Speaker 1>out his cheeks. Approaching footsteps from outside his door are

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<v Speaker 1>followed by the arrival of a very tense looking Michael.

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<v Speaker 1>He'd been watching the whole thing unfold on another computer.

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<v Speaker 1>Please tell me your age, tron, says Jason smiles, I am.

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<v Speaker 1>They were now the new owners of the box. Joseph

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<v Speaker 1>originally bought it for one hundred and forty dollars, Jason

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<v Speaker 1>paid two hundred and eighty. But there's a snag. When

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<v Speaker 1>Jason emails Joseph to arrange delivery, Joseph doesn't reply. After

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<v Speaker 1>several unanswered emails, Jason tries contacting the young man's parents,

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<v Speaker 1>but neither have any knowledge of their son's association with

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<v Speaker 1>the box. Jason eventually receives a call from Brian, who's

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<v Speaker 1>now in charge of completing the sale because Joseph, in

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<v Speaker 1>a fit of desperation, begged him to take the box away.

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<v Speaker 1>The following Tuesday, a bleary eyed and distracted looking Brian

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<v Speaker 1>arrives at Jason's office with a large cardboard container. Any

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<v Speaker 1>other day, Jason might have noticed the death inspiration on

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<v Speaker 1>Bryan's face, or maybe wondered why he was so eager

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<v Speaker 1>to leave the building immediately after dropping the package off,

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<v Speaker 1>without even pausing to say goodbye. But today Jason only

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<v Speaker 1>has eyes for the box. As he peels the cardboard

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<v Speaker 1>back to reveal the bubble wrapped curio inside, he feels

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<v Speaker 1>almost euphoric. It's a piece well suited to its new environment,

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<v Speaker 1>he thinks, looking round at the various displays in the museum,

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<v Speaker 1>the gruesome tools for primitive brain surgery, the dissected human

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<v Speaker 1>nervous systems, and wallets made from human skin. Having agreed

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<v Speaker 1>not to open the package until Michael is free, Jason

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<v Speaker 1>has to resist until eight pm before his friend is

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<v Speaker 1>able to join him. In the eerie silence of his

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<v Speaker 1>deserted and dimly lit office, they ease the box from

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<v Speaker 1>its container. Jason slips on a pair of white examination

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<v Speaker 1>gloves and runs his hand over the top before taking

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<v Speaker 1>the drawer handle and pulling it. As the drawer opens,

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<v Speaker 1>the two front doors follow suit, swinging open to reveal

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<v Speaker 1>the hidden treasures inside and releasing a pungent scent into

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<v Speaker 1>the air. Michael lays down a cloth of blue velvet

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<v Speaker 1>next to the box, which he's brought especially for the occasion,

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<v Speaker 1>and one by one Jason carefully places the various items

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<v Speaker 1>onto it. He takes a black light, the kind you

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<v Speaker 1>might use to examine a bloody crime scene, and sweeps

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<v Speaker 1>it over the box, but finds nothing. Unusual. Then Michael

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<v Speaker 1>notices something interesting, the letter N written on the inside

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<v Speaker 1>right Edgeson wonders if it has a ritual purpose, an

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<v Speaker 1>instruction to angle that side of the box to point

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<v Speaker 1>north perhaps, or maybe it isn't an N at all.

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<v Speaker 1>But the Hebrew character Aleph, the very first letter of existence,

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<v Speaker 1>the first point of the alpha, and the omega its

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<v Speaker 1>numerical value of one hundred and eleven, symbolizing the divine, spiritual,

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<v Speaker 1>and physical. They find the same symbol again marked on

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<v Speaker 1>the gold cup, only it isn't gold, as Kevin Mannis

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<v Speaker 1>had assumed, but brass with a silver plating that is

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<v Speaker 1>all but worn away. Going by the box's fairly modern

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<v Speaker 1>design and the style of the hinges, Jason estimates that

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<v Speaker 1>it was built in the fifties or sixties. But looking

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<v Speaker 1>at the pieces spread out before him on the cloth,

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<v Speaker 1>the two pennies, the strange candlestick, the two locks of hair,

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<v Speaker 1>and the strange granite statue, he's unable to say quite

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<v Speaker 1>what it was used for. None of the items have

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<v Speaker 1>any traditional, supernatural or occult connections. Whatever this is, thinks Jason,

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<v Speaker 1>it's not like anything he's ever seen before. While Michael

0:17:16.480 --> 0:17:20.320
<v Speaker 1>takes a closer look at the pieces. Jason slowly removes

0:17:20.359 --> 0:17:23.320
<v Speaker 1>one of the gloves and places his bare hand on

0:17:23.440 --> 0:17:27.760
<v Speaker 1>top of the box, then hurriedly pulls it back. That's weird,

0:17:28.040 --> 0:17:31.879
<v Speaker 1>he thinks. He closes his eyes and puts his hand

0:17:31.960 --> 0:17:35.720
<v Speaker 1>on top of the box again and again he gets

0:17:35.800 --> 0:17:40.560
<v Speaker 1>the strange, bizarre sensation. It's as though he can feel

0:17:40.600 --> 0:17:46.320
<v Speaker 1>the wood moving, rippling like water, vibrating, even as if

0:17:46.359 --> 0:17:51.520
<v Speaker 1>it were alive. Jason recoils suddenly, letting out a stifled

0:17:51.560 --> 0:17:55.040
<v Speaker 1>cry as a sharp and searing pain grips him from

0:17:55.040 --> 0:18:00.440
<v Speaker 1>inside and moves into his stomach. Michael was too distracted

0:18:00.480 --> 0:18:04.960
<v Speaker 1>to notice, and Jason keeps it to himself. They finish

0:18:05.080 --> 0:18:08.520
<v Speaker 1>by taking some pictures, then return the items to the

0:18:08.560 --> 0:18:22.680
<v Speaker 1>box and pack it away. That night, back at home,

0:18:23.119 --> 0:18:27.800
<v Speaker 1>Jason is in bed, his eyelids flicker and pulsate with

0:18:27.920 --> 0:18:33.520
<v Speaker 1>therim twitch of deep sleep. In his subconscious a dark

0:18:33.600 --> 0:18:38.600
<v Speaker 1>and disturbing set of images are playing out, faces morphing

0:18:38.760 --> 0:18:44.400
<v Speaker 1>from one into another, hideously disfigured, bleeding and wounded, and

0:18:44.560 --> 0:18:48.440
<v Speaker 1>through it all the recurring image of a ghoulish, elderly

0:18:48.560 --> 0:18:54.000
<v Speaker 1>woman with dark, sunken eyes. Jason wakes with a start

0:18:54.119 --> 0:18:58.400
<v Speaker 1>in the dark, sweating and short of breath. His wife, Lorrie,

0:18:58.600 --> 0:19:02.760
<v Speaker 1>is sound asleep signed him. He closes his eyes again

0:19:03.160 --> 0:19:07.840
<v Speaker 1>and soon drifts back to sleep. Moments later, he finds

0:19:07.880 --> 0:19:11.439
<v Speaker 1>himself in a small department store, this time with a

0:19:11.440 --> 0:19:15.960
<v Speaker 1>different benign, elderly woman. She seems to be pleading with

0:19:16.040 --> 0:19:20.479
<v Speaker 1>him in anguish, pointing toward an empty box about the

0:19:20.520 --> 0:19:25.640
<v Speaker 1>same size as the dibook box. The following morning, Jason

0:19:25.760 --> 0:19:28.640
<v Speaker 1>is rinsing his face in the sink when he notices

0:19:28.760 --> 0:19:32.120
<v Speaker 1>with shock that both of his eyes are red, raw

0:19:32.440 --> 0:19:37.679
<v Speaker 1>and bloodshot. A few days later, the irritation still hasn't

0:19:37.720 --> 0:19:40.840
<v Speaker 1>cleared up, and he is now plagued by a dull,

0:19:40.960 --> 0:19:45.840
<v Speaker 1>metallic taste in his mouth, dominating everything he eats. He

0:19:46.000 --> 0:19:49.960
<v Speaker 1>chokes on the smallest SIPs of water, but worst of all,

0:19:50.680 --> 0:19:55.160
<v Speaker 1>can't fight the continual feeling that something is lodged inside

0:19:55.160 --> 0:20:00.960
<v Speaker 1>his throat. Jason's doctor suggests he might be suffering from dyscusia,

0:20:01.480 --> 0:20:04.080
<v Speaker 1>a distortion of taste that can be caused by any

0:20:04.160 --> 0:20:09.480
<v Speaker 1>number of illnesses, but Jason isn't convinced. It might explain

0:20:09.560 --> 0:20:12.680
<v Speaker 1>the strange taste in its mouth, but it doesn't account

0:20:12.720 --> 0:20:16.840
<v Speaker 1>for his irritated eyes or his difficulty swallowing not to

0:20:16.920 --> 0:20:21.280
<v Speaker 1>mention the mysterious stomach cramps. The cause of it all

0:20:21.520 --> 0:20:26.800
<v Speaker 1>seems clear to Jason his body has been poisoned. After

0:20:26.880 --> 0:20:31.520
<v Speaker 1>testing a variety of substances the methodical, Jason theorizes that

0:20:31.600 --> 0:20:35.439
<v Speaker 1>it's most likely ammonia. Apart from all the issues he

0:20:35.520 --> 0:20:39.119
<v Speaker 1>is suffering from. An exposure to ammonia can result in

0:20:39.200 --> 0:20:44.080
<v Speaker 1>hallucinations as well as sensing the smell of urine. Finally,

0:20:44.200 --> 0:20:48.080
<v Speaker 1>he thinks all the stories from the previous owners begin

0:20:48.200 --> 0:20:52.560
<v Speaker 1>to make sense. Jason runs a series of tests on

0:20:52.640 --> 0:20:55.960
<v Speaker 1>the box and its contents, but it all comes back

0:20:56.240 --> 0:21:03.800
<v Speaker 1>completely clean. Meanwhile, strange things have started occurring at the museum.

0:21:04.119 --> 0:21:08.639
<v Speaker 1>Light bulbs are blowing, popping, and exploding all over the office.

0:21:08.840 --> 0:21:14.680
<v Speaker 1>Jason's deteriorating health hasn't gone unnoticed either. Brian, now back

0:21:14.760 --> 0:21:18.520
<v Speaker 1>working at the museum, approaches him first. It's clear to

0:21:18.600 --> 0:21:22.520
<v Speaker 1>him that whatever had lashed onto Joseph has now focused

0:21:22.560 --> 0:21:27.920
<v Speaker 1>its attention on its boss. The other staff, irrevocably spooked,

0:21:28.280 --> 0:21:38.800
<v Speaker 1>plead with their colleague to take his box home. Jason

0:21:38.880 --> 0:21:42.359
<v Speaker 1>eventually agrees to take the box. The only problem is

0:21:42.400 --> 0:21:46.320
<v Speaker 1>his wife, Laurie, having heard all about the cabinet from

0:21:46.359 --> 0:21:50.040
<v Speaker 1>Michael's partner Erin, she makes it abundantly clear that her

0:21:50.119 --> 0:21:53.080
<v Speaker 1>husband is not to bring it anywhere near the family.

0:21:53.920 --> 0:21:56.720
<v Speaker 1>Since Michael is unwilling to take it off his hands,

0:21:57.040 --> 0:22:00.680
<v Speaker 1>Jason has left with only one option, has to bring

0:22:00.720 --> 0:22:05.160
<v Speaker 1>it home in secret. It's a decision he'll soon come

0:22:05.240 --> 0:22:12.480
<v Speaker 1>to regret. It starts with unusual fluctuations in temperature. Entire

0:22:12.560 --> 0:22:15.800
<v Speaker 1>parts of the house become so cold that the family

0:22:15.880 --> 0:22:19.080
<v Speaker 1>can see their own breath even in the height of summer.

0:22:20.119 --> 0:22:26.560
<v Speaker 1>Jason's nightmares intensify, becoming even more terrifying, and soon it

0:22:26.680 --> 0:22:31.840
<v Speaker 1>isn't only when he's asleep that he sees things. One evening,

0:22:32.240 --> 0:22:35.600
<v Speaker 1>he and his thirteen year old son are watching television

0:22:35.720 --> 0:22:39.280
<v Speaker 1>together in the lounge when they witness a strange, billowing

0:22:39.400 --> 0:22:44.280
<v Speaker 1>mass like a black fire, crawling up the wall. The

0:22:44.359 --> 0:22:49.040
<v Speaker 1>following day, an agitated Jason makes a phone call. It's

0:22:49.080 --> 0:22:53.760
<v Speaker 1>to Steve Mass, president of the Long Island Paranormal Research Group.

0:22:55.080 --> 0:22:58.399
<v Speaker 1>When Jason first bought the box, he hadn't accounted for

0:22:58.480 --> 0:23:03.000
<v Speaker 1>the vast interest it would online tens of thousands of

0:23:03.040 --> 0:23:06.639
<v Speaker 1>people across the world had watched as he won his bid,

0:23:06.960 --> 0:23:10.320
<v Speaker 1>and many had contacted him later on, eager to hear

0:23:10.400 --> 0:23:14.040
<v Speaker 1>of any strange happenings. Steve had been one of the

0:23:14.080 --> 0:23:17.800
<v Speaker 1>first enthusiasts to get in touch and had impressed Jason

0:23:17.920 --> 0:23:23.480
<v Speaker 1>with his sincerity and extensive knowledge of similar artifacts. Steve

0:23:23.560 --> 0:23:27.439
<v Speaker 1>listens patiently as Jason details what occurred in just the

0:23:27.520 --> 0:23:32.520
<v Speaker 1>last few weeks before giving his chilling verdict. One way

0:23:32.640 --> 0:23:36.879
<v Speaker 1>or another, Jason must have unleashed something when he opened

0:23:36.920 --> 0:23:40.960
<v Speaker 1>the box, and now it's in the house with his family.

0:23:42.680 --> 0:23:46.840
<v Speaker 1>Steve's suggestion is that Jason carry out the appeasement ritual

0:23:47.160 --> 0:23:50.639
<v Speaker 1>from chapter twenty two of a fifteenth century book of

0:23:50.680 --> 0:23:55.440
<v Speaker 1>spells known as The Key of Solomon. The ritual asks

0:23:55.480 --> 0:23:58.680
<v Speaker 1>for a sacrifice to be made to the demonic spirit

0:24:00.320 --> 0:24:06.960
<v Speaker 1>that evening. In secret, Jason, an ordinarily rational, unflappable midwesterner,

0:24:07.440 --> 0:24:11.399
<v Speaker 1>heads into his garage where he stashed the box. He

0:24:11.520 --> 0:24:15.160
<v Speaker 1>stands there alone in the pitch dark, holding the two

0:24:15.240 --> 0:24:19.080
<v Speaker 1>cuttings of hair from the inside drawer, hoping they will

0:24:19.080 --> 0:24:23.120
<v Speaker 1>make a sufficient offering. He writes a promise to make

0:24:23.280 --> 0:24:26.880
<v Speaker 1>better gifts in future on a strip of paper, as

0:24:26.960 --> 0:24:30.679
<v Speaker 1>per the ritual and ties it all together around a

0:24:30.720 --> 0:24:35.240
<v Speaker 1>pine twig. He lights a match and holds it underneath

0:24:35.520 --> 0:24:40.760
<v Speaker 1>until the bundle catches fire. As it burns, he repeats

0:24:40.840 --> 0:24:45.920
<v Speaker 1>its promise. Better gifts shall come from me. Better gifts

0:24:46.080 --> 0:24:49.800
<v Speaker 1>shall come from me. Better gifts shall come from me,

0:24:50.760 --> 0:25:01.800
<v Speaker 1>Better gifts shall come from me. The flames finally die out,

0:25:02.280 --> 0:25:05.520
<v Speaker 1>Jason steps from the dark of the garage into the

0:25:05.600 --> 0:25:11.880
<v Speaker 1>clear night air. It feels like surfacing from underwater. That night,

0:25:12.720 --> 0:25:16.840
<v Speaker 1>no grotesque old ladies haunt his dreams, and over the

0:25:16.840 --> 0:25:21.639
<v Speaker 1>next few weeks his ailments all but vanish. With the

0:25:21.680 --> 0:25:26.360
<v Speaker 1>appeasement ritual appearing to have worked, Jason returns his focus

0:25:26.680 --> 0:25:31.560
<v Speaker 1>to finding out more about the supposedly haunted artifact. Afraid

0:25:31.560 --> 0:25:34.280
<v Speaker 1>that it might still be active, He needs to know

0:25:34.520 --> 0:25:39.520
<v Speaker 1>what exactly he might be dealing with. However, despite consulting

0:25:39.560 --> 0:25:44.639
<v Speaker 1>a number of experts, from rabbis to historians, Jason discovers

0:25:44.720 --> 0:25:48.399
<v Speaker 1>little more than what he already knows. The man he

0:25:48.520 --> 0:25:53.800
<v Speaker 1>needs is Kevin Manis. Jason manages to trace Kevin to

0:25:53.880 --> 0:25:58.439
<v Speaker 1>Portland through the original eBay listing. By chance, he is

0:25:58.520 --> 0:26:00.720
<v Speaker 1>due to travel there for a word trip in the

0:26:00.760 --> 0:26:05.320
<v Speaker 1>coming months, and so he doubles his efforts. He discovers

0:26:05.400 --> 0:26:08.959
<v Speaker 1>one mannis listed in the phone book and calls the number.

0:26:09.760 --> 0:26:13.840
<v Speaker 1>It turns out to be Kevin's sister. However, she is

0:26:13.960 --> 0:26:17.479
<v Speaker 1>unwilling to give out her brother's details and wants nothing

0:26:17.520 --> 0:26:21.639
<v Speaker 1>to do with Jason's quest to find him. Under tret

0:26:22.160 --> 0:26:26.120
<v Speaker 1>Jason turns to the Internet and through a genealogy site,

0:26:26.440 --> 0:26:30.399
<v Speaker 1>discovers that Kevin had a grandmother called Ethel, who died

0:26:30.480 --> 0:26:35.400
<v Speaker 1>some years previously. Then Jason finds a contact for another

0:26:35.480 --> 0:26:41.480
<v Speaker 1>relative of Ethel's who reveals some intriguing information. Kevin's grandmother

0:26:41.960 --> 0:26:45.360
<v Speaker 1>was a Russian Jewish immigrant who arrived in the United

0:26:45.400 --> 0:26:49.280
<v Speaker 1>States sometime at the beginning of the nineteen hundreds and

0:26:49.400 --> 0:26:53.280
<v Speaker 1>died around the age of one hundred and three. Similar

0:26:53.400 --> 0:26:57.000
<v Speaker 1>to the alleged original owner of the box, who Kevin

0:26:57.400 --> 0:27:02.280
<v Speaker 1>claimed was a Jewish emigray from Europe, Ethel also had

0:27:02.320 --> 0:27:07.280
<v Speaker 1>a fascination with Jewish mysticism and kisheff a form of

0:27:07.359 --> 0:27:12.800
<v Speaker 1>Judaic magic. Then the relative drops a bombshell. It's their

0:27:12.880 --> 0:27:16.560
<v Speaker 1>belief that the wine box never was haunted and that

0:27:16.680 --> 0:27:20.920
<v Speaker 1>Kevin has made the whole thing up, using Ethel as inspiration.

0:27:22.320 --> 0:27:26.880
<v Speaker 1>Jason is stunned. It can't be. He thinks, for a start,

0:27:27.119 --> 0:27:29.960
<v Speaker 1>if it wasn't true, then what on earth had been

0:27:30.040 --> 0:27:34.800
<v Speaker 1>happening to him and even Joseph before that neither had

0:27:34.800 --> 0:27:38.439
<v Speaker 1>ever met Kevin, and yet both had been clearly affected

0:27:38.520 --> 0:27:41.840
<v Speaker 1>by the Dibbuck Box, and in identical ways to what

0:27:42.080 --> 0:27:49.560
<v Speaker 1>Kevin himself said he'd suffered. Then something weird happens. Confused

0:27:49.600 --> 0:27:52.879
<v Speaker 1>by the prospect that nothing about the box is true,

0:27:53.480 --> 0:27:56.920
<v Speaker 1>Jason asks if the relative can at least email him

0:27:57.119 --> 0:28:00.960
<v Speaker 1>a photograph of Ethel. When he recive leaves it and

0:28:01.119 --> 0:28:04.240
<v Speaker 1>opens it up, staring back at him on his screen,

0:28:04.720 --> 0:28:09.120
<v Speaker 1>he is absolutely certain is the same elderly woman he's

0:28:09.160 --> 0:28:13.320
<v Speaker 1>seen in his dreams, the one standing in a department store,

0:28:13.600 --> 0:28:19.040
<v Speaker 1>pointing with great anguish toward an empty box. Ethel, it

0:28:19.119 --> 0:28:24.880
<v Speaker 1>turns out, had also owned a department store. When Jason

0:28:25.200 --> 0:28:28.840
<v Speaker 1>finally travels to Portland in June, he's almost given up

0:28:28.880 --> 0:28:32.560
<v Speaker 1>on speaking to Kevin entirely. When he makes one final

0:28:32.640 --> 0:28:37.600
<v Speaker 1>effort to locate him, looking through local courthouse records, he

0:28:37.720 --> 0:28:41.320
<v Speaker 1>finds a phone number. Later that night, he makes the

0:28:41.360 --> 0:28:44.360
<v Speaker 1>call from his hotel room, and a woman answers the

0:28:44.400 --> 0:28:48.200
<v Speaker 1>phone She assures him that nobody by the name of

0:28:48.320 --> 0:28:54.000
<v Speaker 1>Kevin lives there, but Jason isn't convinced tell him. He says,

0:28:54.560 --> 0:28:56.960
<v Speaker 1>I've got one hundred and fifty dollars if he can

0:28:57.120 --> 0:29:00.960
<v Speaker 1>just call me at the hotel. On the other end,

0:29:01.120 --> 0:29:04.400
<v Speaker 1>says she'll see what she can do before hanging up.

0:29:06.000 --> 0:29:10.440
<v Speaker 1>It's nearly midnight when the phone rings in Jason's hotel room.

0:29:10.760 --> 0:29:19.960
<v Speaker 1>It's Kevin. Finally, now he can get some answers. You've

0:29:20.000 --> 0:29:25.719
<v Speaker 1>been listening to Unexplained Season seven, episode twenty three The Box,

0:29:26.240 --> 0:29:29.800
<v Speaker 1>Part two of three, the third and final part, will

0:29:29.840 --> 0:29:36.720
<v Speaker 1>be released next Friday, June fourteenth. This episode was written

0:29:36.800 --> 0:29:41.000
<v Speaker 1>by Richard McClain smith. Unexplained as an AV Club Productions

0:29:41.040 --> 0:29:45.600
<v Speaker 1>podcast created by Richard McClain Smith. All other elements of

0:29:45.640 --> 0:29:49.040
<v Speaker 1>the podcast, including the music, are also produced by me

0:29:49.320 --> 0:29:54.360
<v Speaker 1>Richard mcclin smith. Unexplained. The book and audiobook, with stories

0:29:54.480 --> 0:29:57.400
<v Speaker 1>never before featured on the show, is now available to

0:29:57.440 --> 0:30:02.800
<v Speaker 1>buy worldwide. You can purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Waterstones,

0:30:02.840 --> 0:30:06.640
<v Speaker 1>and other bookstores. Please subscribe to and rate the show

0:30:06.960 --> 0:30:09.880
<v Speaker 1>wherever you get your podcasts, and feel free to get

0:30:09.880 --> 0:30:13.320
<v Speaker 1>in touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories

0:30:13.360 --> 0:30:16.120
<v Speaker 1>you've heard on the show. Perhaps you have an explanation

0:30:16.200 --> 0:30:18.800
<v Speaker 1>of your own you'd like to share. You can find

0:30:18.840 --> 0:30:22.360
<v Speaker 1>out more at Unexplained podcast dot com and reach us

0:30:22.400 --> 0:30:27.200
<v Speaker 1>online through Twitter at Unexplained Pod and Facebook at Facebook

0:30:27.240 --> 0:31:00.600
<v Speaker 1>dot com. Forward Slash Unexplained Podcast six