WEBVTT - 15th Annual SYSK Halloween Spooktacular! 0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:09.280 Welcome to stuff you should know, a production of iHeartRadio. 0:00:18.480 --> 0:00:23.320 Hey, and welcome to the Spooktacular spook Cast. I'm Josh, 0:00:23.360 --> 0:00:27.120 and there's Chuck and Jerry's here too, and we are 0:00:27.200 --> 0:00:31.640 all wrapped in bandages because we're mummies, scary mummies, mummies 0:00:31.640 --> 0:00:33.840 that have been dead for thousands of years but now 0:00:34.120 --> 0:00:36.600 want to pull your brains out with the hooks we 0:00:36.600 --> 0:00:37.400 were buried with. 0:00:39.960 --> 0:00:40.520 That's good. 0:00:40.760 --> 0:00:44.360 Thanks. I've been writing it and workshopping it for months. 0:00:44.840 --> 0:00:47.680 I think it paid off, my friend. So, if you 0:00:47.720 --> 0:00:50.280 are new to the show, or new enough that you 0:00:50.360 --> 0:00:52.559 don't know what we do on Halloween, what we do 0:00:52.680 --> 0:00:55.520 is we each pick a spooky story that's in the 0:00:55.560 --> 0:00:59.400 public domain so we don't get sued, and we read 0:00:59.440 --> 0:01:08.080 it together, sometimes with fun accents, sometimes without. This is 0:01:08.120 --> 0:01:11.520 an ad free episode, and we have it. We've mentioned 0:01:11.560 --> 0:01:13.399 this before, but we had it written into our work 0:01:13.400 --> 0:01:18.240 contract that Halloween and Christmas are I guess barricaded off 0:01:18.240 --> 0:01:23.319 from ads, so you can enjoy the spectacular without having 0:01:23.520 --> 0:01:24.720 ads right in the middle of it. 0:01:24.959 --> 0:01:27.720 Yeah. I think it was a good move. Good move. 0:01:28.440 --> 0:01:30.840 Yeah, So Josh, we're gonna read yours first. Do you 0:01:30.840 --> 0:01:31.759 want to set this one up. 0:01:33.040 --> 0:01:36.080 Yes, this is a story by Aldrin in Blackwood. He's 0:01:36.120 --> 0:01:42.000 a recurring friend of the Spectacular episodes because he's squarely 0:01:42.000 --> 0:01:43.880 in the public domain. But he was also a good 0:01:43.880 --> 0:01:48.240 writer of ghost stories. For sure, this one it's not 0:01:48.280 --> 0:01:52.720 his best work. But we and you in particular, but 0:01:52.760 --> 0:01:56.120 I think we both did looked for a story written 0:01:56.160 --> 0:01:58.160 by a woman. And it's harder to do than you 0:01:58.200 --> 0:02:01.040 would think because the stuff that it's in the public domain. 0:02:01.080 --> 0:02:03.320 I think we're up to nineteen twenty eight or twenty nine. 0:02:04.040 --> 0:02:06.440 There weren't a lot of women published at the time, 0:02:06.440 --> 0:02:09.960 at least it was very disproportionate compared to men. So 0:02:11.000 --> 0:02:14.200 what we did this time was we found a story 0:02:14.240 --> 0:02:16.239 written by a man but told from the point of 0:02:16.280 --> 0:02:18.320 view of a woman. That's as good as we could 0:02:18.320 --> 0:02:19.440 get this year, everybody. 0:02:20.040 --> 0:02:23.079 That's right. The other thing, too, is, especially back in 0:02:23.080 --> 0:02:25.840 those days, women didn't write a bunch of horror, short horror, 0:02:26.560 --> 0:02:29.320 and I did find some good ones in the Weird 0:02:29.360 --> 0:02:34.400 Tales magazines, but those that don't think you're in the 0:02:34.400 --> 0:02:37.520 public domain yet some of it that's where you can. Oh, 0:02:37.600 --> 0:02:39.640 some are these from like the nineteen forties. 0:02:40.000 --> 0:02:43.240 Okay, I found some from like like nineteen twenty eight, 0:02:43.240 --> 0:02:45.200 twenty nine, and they're pretty good. 0:02:46.240 --> 0:02:48.400 Yeah, it's also hard to find like a clean copy 0:02:48.440 --> 0:02:50.200 of those like the one I found. I had to 0:02:50.800 --> 0:02:52.919 blow up a PDF of the magazine itself that it 0:02:53.000 --> 0:02:55.840 was kind of cool wow, but ended up ended up 0:02:55.880 --> 0:02:58.160 being too long. But maybe I don't know, maybe we 0:02:58.160 --> 0:02:59.359 can knock that one out one year. 0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:02.440 That's funny. We both found a new source of rich 0:03:03.000 --> 0:03:06.800 source of horror stories to use in the future at 0:03:06.840 --> 0:03:07.519 the same time. 0:03:08.360 --> 0:03:10.519 Well, mine was weird tales. What was yours? 0:03:11.400 --> 0:03:14.200 Amazing stories, astounting story stuffing with that? I don't remember, 0:03:14.240 --> 0:03:16.000 but the first one I sent you that was from 0:03:16.000 --> 0:03:17.400 one of those pulp magazines. 0:03:17.760 --> 0:03:20.600 Oh okay, cool. Well, maybe you know, if we live 0:03:20.639 --> 0:03:22.240 long enough, we'll be able to read some of those. 0:03:22.360 --> 0:03:23.960 Yeah. I was thinking, if we keep this up for 0:03:24.000 --> 0:03:26.800 another like fifty seventy years, we're really going to get 0:03:26.840 --> 0:03:28.960 into some good stuff and I. 0:03:28.919 --> 0:03:30.520 Won't have to do a creepy accent. 0:03:32.200 --> 0:03:33.839 All right, I'm gonna start okay. 0:03:34.360 --> 0:03:37.600 All right, so I'm playing the woman a Monty Python style, 0:03:37.640 --> 0:03:38.200 I guess. 0:03:38.040 --> 0:03:40.680 Right, m I'm going to be the man. 0:03:41.160 --> 0:03:43.320 Okay, And by the way, this story for a quote 0:03:43.400 --> 0:03:45.320 unquote horror story gets a little sexy. 0:03:46.400 --> 0:03:49.880 It does, for sure. You know, I just realized something. 0:03:50.040 --> 0:03:53.760 The entire story is told by the woman from her 0:03:53.880 --> 0:03:56.560 point of view, so you're going to be doing a 0:03:56.560 --> 0:04:00.280 lot of reading unless we split up the stuff where 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:01.920 she's relating the story. 0:04:02.560 --> 0:04:05.720 Well, no, no, no, I think that's what you should do. Okay, 0:04:05.760 --> 0:04:08.040 and then I'll just read her part and once once 0:04:08.160 --> 0:04:09.720 the man comes in, you know, he gets his do 0:04:09.880 --> 0:04:10.160 I think? 0:04:10.240 --> 0:04:12.360 Okay, but we can also switch it can be the lady. No, no, 0:04:12.400 --> 0:04:15.000 it's okay. I was just saying, it occurred to me 0:04:15.080 --> 0:04:18.240 that we should hash this out right here live on 0:04:18.440 --> 0:04:19.800 the on the episode. 0:04:20.240 --> 0:04:22.840 That's what we usually do. Okay, you ready, all right, Yeah, 0:04:22.920 --> 0:04:24.040 let's do it. What's it called? 0:04:24.200 --> 0:04:28.159 This is the Woman's Ghost Story by Aldronan Blackwood. 0:04:29.440 --> 0:04:33.640 Geez, sorry, one more quick question. Are they British? 0:04:33.680 --> 0:04:36.920 And they can be? It doesn't matter, Okay, Okay, I'll 0:04:36.920 --> 0:04:37.760 probably do British. 0:04:38.320 --> 0:04:39.120 You know, I'm so good at it. 0:04:39.560 --> 0:04:41.919 I think Algren in Blackwood was I think one hundred 0:04:41.920 --> 0:04:44.400 percent British, So. 0:04:43.520 --> 0:04:45.680 So we'll go britt on this one at least I will. 0:04:45.839 --> 0:04:47.960 Oh and then one more thing, big hat tip and 0:04:48.000 --> 0:04:50.960 a big thank you to a guest producer, Ben, who's 0:04:50.960 --> 0:04:54.960 handling the sound effects this episode. So thanks a lot, Ben. 0:04:57.480 --> 0:04:59.720 That's right. Cherry decided she didn't like fun in her 0:04:59.720 --> 0:05:00.360 life more. 0:05:04.400 --> 0:05:06.800 Okay, so here we go with the Woman's Ghost Story 0:05:06.880 --> 0:05:15.880 by Aldrin in Blackwood. Uh yeah, sorry, good? 0:05:15.960 --> 0:05:18.960 Take two? All right, back to one, everybody, So I 0:05:19.000 --> 0:05:20.760 start then you're gonna read the other stuff? Right? 0:05:21.080 --> 0:05:21.279 Yes? 0:05:21.400 --> 0:05:23.600 Sorry, okay, all right? Ready here we go. 0:05:26.560 --> 0:05:29.360 Yes, she said from her seat in the dark corner. 0:05:30.240 --> 0:05:32.479 I'll tell you an experience if you care to listen. 0:05:32.520 --> 0:05:35.360 And what's more, I'll tell it briefly without trimmings. I mean, 0:05:35.400 --> 0:05:38.479 without unessentials. That's the thing storytellers never do, you know, 0:05:39.000 --> 0:05:44.200 she laughed, They dragging all the unessentials and leave your 0:05:44.200 --> 0:05:47.480 listeners to disentangle. But I'll give you just the essentials 0:05:47.720 --> 0:05:49.359 and you can make of it what you please. But 0:05:49.480 --> 0:05:52.120 on one condition that at the end you ask no 0:05:52.279 --> 0:05:56.400 questions because I can't explain and have no wish to. 0:05:57.279 --> 0:06:01.080 We agreed we were all serious. After listening to a 0:06:01.120 --> 0:06:04.000 dozen Prolix stories from people who merely wished to talk 0:06:04.040 --> 0:06:09.040 but had nothing to tell. We wanted essentials. In those days, 0:06:09.360 --> 0:06:12.320 she began feeling from the quality of our silence that 0:06:12.360 --> 0:06:13.120 we were with her. 0:06:13.880 --> 0:06:16.760 In those days. I was interested in psychic things and 0:06:16.800 --> 0:06:19.200 had arranged to sit up alone in a haunted house 0:06:19.200 --> 0:06:22.240 in the middle of London. She's not really British, is she? 0:06:23.920 --> 0:06:24.479 Middle English? 0:06:24.680 --> 0:06:25.000 Sure? 0:06:25.360 --> 0:06:29.240 All right? It was a cheap and dingy lodging house 0:06:29.279 --> 0:06:32.240 in a mean street, unfurnished. I had already made a 0:06:32.240 --> 0:06:36.120 preliminary examination in daylight that afternoon, and the keys from 0:06:36.160 --> 0:06:38.320 the caretaker who lived next door were in my pocket. 0:06:39.800 --> 0:06:43.680 That doesn't seem essential to me. Honestly, the story was 0:06:43.720 --> 0:06:45.840 a good one. Satisfied me at any rate that it 0:06:45.880 --> 0:06:49.360 was worth investigating. And I won't weary you with details 0:06:49.400 --> 0:06:52.640 as to the woman's murder and all the tiresome elaboration 0:06:52.800 --> 0:06:55.640 as to why the place was alive enough that it was, 0:06:56.480 --> 0:06:58.200 I was a good deal bored therefore, to see a 0:06:58.240 --> 0:07:01.400 man whom I took to be the talkative caretaker waiting 0:07:01.440 --> 0:07:03.680 for me on the steps when I went in at 0:07:03.720 --> 0:07:06.680 eleven pm. Where I had sufficiently explained that I wished 0:07:06.720 --> 0:07:07.960 to be there alone. 0:07:07.600 --> 0:07:14.960 For the night, it was distributed to the room, he mumbled, 0:07:15.280 --> 0:07:18.280 And of course I couldn't exactly refuse, having tipped him 0:07:18.320 --> 0:07:21.520 for the temporary loan of a chair and table. Come 0:07:21.560 --> 0:07:23.320 in then, and let's be quick, I said. 0:07:24.360 --> 0:07:27.480 We went in, he shuffling after me through the unlighted 0:07:27.480 --> 0:07:29.840 hall up to the first floor where the murder had 0:07:29.880 --> 0:07:33.480 taken place, and I prepared myself to hear his inevitable 0:07:33.520 --> 0:07:36.600 account before turning him out with the half crown his 0:07:36.640 --> 0:07:40.320 persistence had earned. After lighting the gas, I sat down 0:07:40.320 --> 0:07:43.400 in the armchair he had provided, a faded, brown plush armchair, 0:07:44.200 --> 0:07:47.920 don't be dumb, and turned for the first time to 0:07:47.960 --> 0:07:51.480 face him and get through with the performance as quickly 0:07:51.520 --> 0:07:54.200 as possible. And it was in that instant I got 0:07:54.240 --> 0:07:57.560 my first shock. The man was not the caretaker. It 0:07:57.640 --> 0:08:00.400 was not the old fool carry I had interviewed earlier 0:08:00.440 --> 0:08:02.440 in the day and made my plans with my heart 0:08:02.440 --> 0:08:06.840 gave a horrid jump. Now, who are you? Pray, I said, 0:08:07.800 --> 0:08:10.480 you're not Cary, the man I arranged with this afternoon. 0:08:10.520 --> 0:08:13.840 Who are you? I felt uncomfortable, as you might imagine. 0:08:13.880 --> 0:08:16.400 I was a psychical researcher and a young woman of 0:08:16.440 --> 0:08:19.760 new tendencies, and proud of my liberty. But I did 0:08:19.800 --> 0:08:21.840 not care to find myself in an empty house with 0:08:21.840 --> 0:08:26.160 a stranger. Something of my confidence left me. Confidence with women, 0:08:26.200 --> 0:08:29.720 you know, is all humbug after a certain point written 0:08:29.720 --> 0:08:33.480 by a man. Or perhaps you don't know, for most 0:08:33.520 --> 0:08:37.120 of you are men. But anyhow, my pluck ebbed in 0:08:37.160 --> 0:08:39.560 a quick rush, and I felt afraid. Who are you? 0:08:39.920 --> 0:08:43.400 I repeated, quickly and nervously. The fellow was well dressed, 0:08:43.440 --> 0:08:47.280 youngish and good looking, but with a face of great sadness. 0:08:47.559 --> 0:08:50.840 I myself was barely thirty. I'm giving you essentials, or 0:08:50.840 --> 0:08:53.520 I would not mention it. Out of quite ordinary things 0:08:53.559 --> 0:08:56.880 comes to the story. I think that's why it has value. 0:08:57.040 --> 0:08:59.079 Boy, she's really talking a lot about hell. 0:09:00.280 --> 0:09:02.440 How great her story? This story? 0:09:02.679 --> 0:09:05.680 Yeah, because she fills it with mundane details. All right, 0:09:05.720 --> 0:09:06.040 here we go. 0:09:06.160 --> 0:09:09.000 The keys were in her pocket. Everybody, that's right? And 0:09:09.080 --> 0:09:15.000 now you no, he said, I am the man who 0:09:15.080 --> 0:09:16.440 was frightened to death. 0:09:17.720 --> 0:09:19.680 His voice and his words ran through me like a knife, 0:09:19.720 --> 0:09:22.199 and I felt ready to drop. In my pocket was 0:09:22.240 --> 0:09:24.600 the book I had bought to make notes in. I 0:09:24.679 --> 0:09:27.680 felt the pencil sticking in the socket. I felt too, 0:09:27.800 --> 0:09:29.959 the extra warm things I had put on to sit 0:09:30.080 --> 0:09:32.760 up in, as no bed or sofa was available. A 0:09:32.880 --> 0:09:36.120 hundred things dashed through my mind, foolishly and without sequence 0:09:36.240 --> 0:09:41.040 or meaning, as the way is when one is really frightened. Unessentials. 0:09:42.760 --> 0:09:45.640 Unessentials leaped up and puzzled me. And I thought of 0:09:45.679 --> 0:09:47.720 what the papers might say if it came out, and 0:09:47.800 --> 0:09:50.199 what my smart brother in law would think, and whether 0:09:50.240 --> 0:09:52.400 it be told I had cigarettes in my pocket and 0:09:52.480 --> 0:09:53.199 was a freethinker. 0:09:53.360 --> 0:09:58.120 Ooh, the man was frightened to death, I repeated, Aghast, 0:09:58.720 --> 0:10:01.079 that's me, he said, stupidly. 0:10:05.440 --> 0:10:09.560 Well, your name is Gomer. I stared at him, just 0:10:09.640 --> 0:10:12.280 as you would have done any one of you men 0:10:12.320 --> 0:10:14.320 now listening to me, and felt my life ebbing and 0:10:14.320 --> 0:10:17.080 flowing like a sort of hot fluid. You needn't laugh. 0:10:17.400 --> 0:10:20.120 That's how I felt. Small things, you know, touched the 0:10:20.160 --> 0:10:24.320 mind with great earnestness. When terror is there, real terror. 0:10:24.679 --> 0:10:27.160 But I might have been at a middle class tea party, 0:10:27.200 --> 0:10:29.600 for all the ideas I had. They were so ordinary. 0:10:29.760 --> 0:10:31.920 But I thought you were the caretaker I tipped this 0:10:31.960 --> 0:10:36.280 afternoon to let me sleep here. I gasped, Did Carrie 0:10:36.320 --> 0:10:37.360 send you to meet me? 0:10:38.400 --> 0:10:41.880 No, he replied, in a voice that touched my boots. Somehow, 0:10:42.480 --> 0:10:45.800 I am the man who was frightened to death. And 0:10:45.960 --> 0:10:50.840 what is more, I am frightened now, so am I? 0:10:50.840 --> 0:10:53.720 I managed to utter, speaking instinctively. 0:10:54.000 --> 0:10:56.120 I'm simply terrified, yes. 0:10:56.280 --> 0:10:58.760 He replied, in that same odd voice that seemed to 0:10:58.800 --> 0:11:01.560 sound within me. But you are still in the flesh, 0:11:01.600 --> 0:11:02.920 and I am not. 0:11:04.520 --> 0:11:07.079 I felt the need for vigorous self assertion. I stood 0:11:07.160 --> 0:11:10.120 up in that empty, unfurnished room, digging the nails into 0:11:10.120 --> 0:11:12.920 my palms and clenching my teeth. I was determined to 0:11:12.960 --> 0:11:16.520 assert my individuality and my courage as a new woman 0:11:16.679 --> 0:11:20.640 and a free soul. You mean to say you are 0:11:20.679 --> 0:11:24.400 not in the flesh, I gasped, What in the world 0:11:24.480 --> 0:11:28.640 are you talking about? The Silence of the night swallowed 0:11:28.679 --> 0:11:30.560 up my voice. For the first time, I realized that 0:11:30.679 --> 0:11:33.679 darkness was over the city, that dust lay upon the stairs, 0:11:33.720 --> 0:11:36.520 that the floor above was untenanted, and the floor blow empty. 0:11:36.920 --> 0:11:40.160 I was alone in an unoccupied and haunted house, unprotected 0:11:40.320 --> 0:11:43.800 and a woman. I chilled. I heard the wind round 0:11:43.840 --> 0:11:46.800 the house and knew the stars were hidden. My thoughts 0:11:46.920 --> 0:11:50.440 rushed to policemen and omnibuses and everything that was useful 0:11:50.480 --> 0:11:53.600 and comforting. I suddenly realized what a fool I was 0:11:53.920 --> 0:11:56.920 to come to such a house alone. I was icily afraid. 0:11:57.240 --> 0:11:59.320 I thought the end of my life had come. I 0:11:59.360 --> 0:12:02.960 was an utter ooh to go in for physical I'm sorry, 0:12:03.120 --> 0:12:08.120 psychical research. When I had not the necessary nerve, Good God, 0:12:08.320 --> 0:12:11.680 I gasped, If you're not carry the man, I arranged 0:12:11.720 --> 0:12:12.480 with who are you? 0:12:13.720 --> 0:12:16.600 She's kind of dense, I know, man. 0:12:19.360 --> 0:12:21.600 I was really stiff with terror. The man moved slowly 0:12:21.640 --> 0:12:24.000 towards me across the empty room. I held up my 0:12:24.160 --> 0:12:26.480 arm to stop him, getting up out of my chair 0:12:26.520 --> 0:12:28.920 at the same moment, and he came to halt just 0:12:29.000 --> 0:12:32.240 opposite to me, a smile on his worn, sad face. 0:12:33.080 --> 0:12:36.360 I told you who I am, he repeated quietly, with 0:12:36.400 --> 0:12:41.360 a sigh, looking at me with the saddest eyes I've 0:12:41.400 --> 0:12:44.400 ever seen. And I am frightened still. 0:12:45.960 --> 0:12:49.080 By this time, I was convinced that I was entertaining 0:12:49.160 --> 0:12:52.160 either a rogue or a madman, and I cursed my 0:12:52.200 --> 0:12:55.200 stupidity and bringing the man in without having seen his face. 0:12:55.559 --> 0:12:57.360 My mind was quickly made up, and I knew what 0:12:57.520 --> 0:13:00.720 to do. Ghosts and psychic phenomena flew to the winds. 0:13:01.000 --> 0:13:03.400 If I angered the creature, my life might pay the price. 0:13:03.679 --> 0:13:06.280 I must humor him till I got to the door 0:13:06.320 --> 0:13:08.800 and then race for the street. I stood bolt upright 0:13:08.840 --> 0:13:11.760 and faced him. We were about to be height, and 0:13:11.840 --> 0:13:14.200 I was a strong athletic woman who played hockey in 0:13:14.240 --> 0:13:17.600 winter and climbed outs in the summer. My hand hitched 0:13:17.640 --> 0:13:21.559 for a stick, but I had none. Now, of course, 0:13:21.600 --> 0:13:22.559 I remember. 0:13:22.440 --> 0:13:24.840 I said, with a sort of stiff smile that was 0:13:25.120 --> 0:13:26.080 very hard to force. 0:13:27.200 --> 0:13:30.240 Now I remember your case and the wonderful way you behaved. 0:13:31.000 --> 0:13:33.680 The man stared at me, stupidly, turning his head to 0:13:33.720 --> 0:13:36.880 watch me. I backed more and more quickly to the door, 0:13:36.920 --> 0:13:40.160 but when his face broke into a smile, I could 0:13:40.200 --> 0:13:42.679 control myself no longer. I reached the door in a 0:13:42.760 --> 0:13:45.080 run and shot out on the landing. Like a fool. 0:13:45.120 --> 0:13:47.600 I turned the wrong way and stumble over the stairs 0:13:47.679 --> 0:13:49.960 leading to the next story, but it was too late 0:13:50.000 --> 0:13:52.400 to change. The man was after me, I was sure, 0:13:53.360 --> 0:13:56.080 though No sounds of footsteps came, and I dashed up 0:13:56.120 --> 0:13:58.960 the next flight, tearing my skirt and banging my ribs 0:13:58.960 --> 0:14:01.280 in the darkness, and brushed headlong into the first room 0:14:01.360 --> 0:14:04.680 I came to. Luckily, the door stood ajar, and still 0:14:04.760 --> 0:14:07.520 more fortunate, there was a key in the lock. In 0:14:07.559 --> 0:14:10.280 a second, I had slammed the door, flung my whole 0:14:10.280 --> 0:14:14.480 weight against it, and turned the key. I was safe, 0:14:14.480 --> 0:14:16.880 but my heart was beating like a drum. A second 0:14:16.920 --> 0:14:19.760 later it seemed to stop altogether, for I saw that 0:14:19.800 --> 0:14:22.440 there was someone else in the room besides myself. A 0:14:22.480 --> 0:14:25.480 man's figure stood between me and the windows, where the 0:14:25.480 --> 0:14:28.400 street lamps gaped just enough light to outline his shape 0:14:28.440 --> 0:14:31.440 against the glass. I'm a plucky woman, you know, for 0:14:31.600 --> 0:14:33.920 even then I didn't give up hope. But I may 0:14:33.960 --> 0:14:36.640 tell you that I have never felt so dly frightened 0:14:36.640 --> 0:14:39.200 in all my born days. I had locked myself in 0:14:39.560 --> 0:14:43.600 with him. The man leaned against the window, watching me 0:14:43.640 --> 0:14:45.560 where I lay in a cleft heap upon the floor. 0:14:46.000 --> 0:14:47.760 So there were two men in the house with me, 0:14:47.880 --> 0:14:52.640 I reflected, perhaps other rooms were occupied too, What could 0:14:52.680 --> 0:14:56.600 it all mean? But as I stared, something changed in 0:14:56.640 --> 0:14:59.640 the room or in me, hard to say which, and 0:14:59.680 --> 0:15:03.040 I re my mistake, so that my fear, which had 0:15:03.080 --> 0:15:06.680 so far been physical, at once altered its character and 0:15:06.760 --> 0:15:10.720 became a psychical I became afraid in my soul instead 0:15:10.720 --> 0:15:12.520 of in my heart. And I knew immediately who this 0:15:12.640 --> 0:15:15.520 man was, How in the world did you get up here? 0:15:15.680 --> 0:15:19.680 I stammered to him across the empty room, amazement, momentarily 0:15:19.720 --> 0:15:23.800 stemming my fear. Now let me tell you, he began, 0:15:23.920 --> 0:15:26.480 in that odd, faraway voice of his that went down 0:15:26.480 --> 0:15:29.800 my spine like a knife. I'm in different space for 0:15:29.920 --> 0:15:32.360 one thing, and you'd find me in any room you 0:15:32.400 --> 0:15:35.600 went into, For according to your way of measuring, I'm 0:15:35.760 --> 0:15:39.640 all over the house. Space is a bodily condition, but 0:15:39.880 --> 0:15:42.200 I am out of the body and am not affected 0:15:42.240 --> 0:15:45.680 by space. It's my condition that keeps me here. I 0:15:45.760 --> 0:15:48.640 want something to change my condition for me, for then 0:15:48.680 --> 0:15:52.520 I could get away. What I want is sympathy, or 0:15:52.560 --> 0:15:56.680 really more than sympathy, I want affection. I want love. 0:15:58.320 --> 0:16:05.200 That accent are you from. While he was speaking, I 0:16:05.240 --> 0:16:08.280 gathered myself slowly upon my feet. I wanted to scream 0:16:08.280 --> 0:16:10.840 and cry and laugh all at once, but I only 0:16:10.880 --> 0:16:15.360 succeeded in sighing, for my emotion was exhausted and a 0:16:15.440 --> 0:16:18.360 numbness was coming over me. I felt for the matches 0:16:18.400 --> 0:16:20.720 in my pocket and made a movement toward the gas jet. 0:16:20.800 --> 0:16:23.120 So this lady's already bored of talking to. 0:16:23.120 --> 0:16:26.440 A ghost, right, Yeah? That wand's love. 0:16:26.480 --> 0:16:29.760 You're right, I should be much happier if you didn't 0:16:29.800 --> 0:16:32.920 light the gas, he said at once, For the vibrations 0:16:32.920 --> 0:16:35.560 of your light hurt me a good deal. You need 0:16:35.600 --> 0:16:37.880 not be afraid that I shall injure you. I can't 0:16:37.920 --> 0:16:40.160 touch your body to begin with, for there's a great 0:16:40.280 --> 0:16:43.680 gulf fixed, you know, and really this half light suits 0:16:43.720 --> 0:16:46.640 me best. Now let me continue what I was trying 0:16:46.680 --> 0:16:50.320 to say before. Hm, hmmm. Oh, you know so many 0:16:50.320 --> 0:16:52.440 people have come to this house to see me, and 0:16:52.560 --> 0:16:55.280 most of them have seen me and one and all 0:16:55.360 --> 0:16:59.760 have been terrified. If only, oh, if only someone would 0:16:59.800 --> 0:17:03.320 not be terrified but kind and loving to me, then 0:17:03.440 --> 0:17:05.760 you see, I might be able to change my condition 0:17:05.840 --> 0:17:06.960 and get away. 0:17:08.680 --> 0:17:12.240 Hmm. His voice was so sad that I felt tear 0:17:12.320 --> 0:17:14.880 start somewhere at the back of my eyes, but fear 0:17:15.040 --> 0:17:17.080 kept all else in check, and I stood shaking as 0:17:17.119 --> 0:17:20.080 cold as I listened to him. Well, who are you? Then? 0:17:20.240 --> 0:17:22.800 Of course Carrie didn't send you, I know now. 0:17:22.920 --> 0:17:26.200 I managed to utter. My thoughts scattered dreadfully, and I 0:17:26.240 --> 0:17:29.240 could think of nothing to say. I was afraid of 0:17:29.280 --> 0:17:35.520 a stroke, an elf stroke. I know nothing about Cherry 0:17:35.680 --> 0:17:38.840 or who he is, continued the man quietly. Oh sorry, 0:17:38.960 --> 0:17:41.800 I know nothing about Carrie or who he is, continued 0:17:41.840 --> 0:17:44.879 the man quietly. And the name my body had I 0:17:44.880 --> 0:17:47.720 have forgotten, thank God. But I am the man who 0:17:47.800 --> 0:17:50.160 was frightened to death in this house ten years ago, 0:17:50.440 --> 0:17:53.439 and I've been frightened ever since, and am frightened still 0:17:53.880 --> 0:17:56.960 for the succession of cruel and curious people who come 0:17:57.000 --> 0:17:59.480 to this house to see the ghost and thus keep alive. 0:17:59.520 --> 0:18:02.240 It's at me. Fear of terror only helps to render 0:18:02.280 --> 0:18:06.679 my condition worse. If only someone would be kind to me, laugh, 0:18:06.880 --> 0:18:12.159 speak gently and rationally with me, cry if they like pity, comfort, 0:18:12.200 --> 0:18:15.639 soothe me anything, But come in here in curiosity and 0:18:15.720 --> 0:18:19.119 tremble as you are now doing in the corner. Now, madam, 0:18:19.160 --> 0:18:22.280 won't you take pity on me? His voice rose to 0:18:22.320 --> 0:18:25.840 a dreadful cry. Won't you step into the middle of 0:18:25.880 --> 0:18:27.960 the room and try to love me a little? 0:18:30.119 --> 0:18:33.200 A horrible little laughter came gurgling up in my throat 0:18:33.200 --> 0:18:35.080 as I heard him, But the sense of pity was 0:18:35.119 --> 0:18:38.560 stronger than the laughter, and I found myself actually leaving 0:18:38.600 --> 0:18:41.359 the support of the wall and approaching the center of 0:18:41.400 --> 0:18:41.879 the floor. 0:18:45.920 --> 0:18:49.800 By God, he cried at one, straightening up against the window. 0:18:50.000 --> 0:18:53.160 You have done a kind act. That's the first attempt 0:18:53.200 --> 0:18:55.840 at sympathy that has been shown to me since I died, 0:18:55.880 --> 0:18:58.960 and I feel better already in life. You know, I 0:18:59.040 --> 0:19:02.400 was a misintobe. Everything went wrong with me. I can 0:19:02.520 --> 0:19:05.120 understand this, and I came to hate my fellow men 0:19:05.280 --> 0:19:07.760 so much that I couldn't bear to see them even 0:19:08.359 --> 0:19:12.360 of course, like begets like, and this hate was returned finally. 0:19:12.400 --> 0:19:15.880 I suffered from horrible delusions, and my room became haunted 0:19:15.920 --> 0:19:19.560 with demons that laughed and grimaced, and laughed and grimaced 0:19:19.560 --> 0:19:22.480 and laughed and grimaced. And one night I ran into 0:19:22.520 --> 0:19:24.879 a whole cluster of them near the bed, and the 0:19:24.920 --> 0:19:28.760 fright stopped my heart and killed me. It's hate and 0:19:28.800 --> 0:19:32.040 remorse as much as terror that clogs me so quickly 0:19:32.160 --> 0:19:35.520 and treats me here. If only someone could feel pity 0:19:35.800 --> 0:19:38.760 and sympathy and perhaps a little love for me, I 0:19:38.800 --> 0:19:41.520 could get away and be happy. When you came this 0:19:41.600 --> 0:19:44.879 afternoon to see over the house, I watched you, and 0:19:44.960 --> 0:19:47.160 a little hope came to me. For the first time. 0:19:47.400 --> 0:19:53.399 I saw you had courage, originality, resource love. If only 0:19:53.440 --> 0:19:56.280 I could touch your heart without frightening you, I knew 0:19:56.400 --> 0:20:00.800 I could perhaps tap that love you have stored up 0:20:00.840 --> 0:20:03.800 in your being there and thus borrow the wings from 0:20:03.840 --> 0:20:05.439 my escape. 0:20:07.040 --> 0:20:08.520 It sounds like he's asking for consent. 0:20:08.960 --> 0:20:10.439 It does sound a lot like it is. 0:20:11.119 --> 0:20:12.760 Very forward thinking at the time. 0:20:12.880 --> 0:20:14.840 Yeah, that's Algren in Blackwood for you. 0:20:15.560 --> 0:20:19.000 That's right. Uh, all right, where worry? He was about 0:20:19.000 --> 0:20:23.080 to tap something, right, Okay, now I must confess. My 0:20:23.240 --> 0:20:25.720 heart began to ache a little as fear left me 0:20:25.760 --> 0:20:28.920 and the man's words sank their sad meaning into me. Still, 0:20:29.160 --> 0:20:32.000 the whole affair was so incredible, and so touched with 0:20:32.200 --> 0:20:35.480 unholy quality, and the story of a woman's murder I 0:20:35.480 --> 0:20:38.280 had come to investigate, and so obviously nothing to do 0:20:38.320 --> 0:20:40.760 with this thing, that I felt myself in a kind 0:20:40.760 --> 0:20:44.399 of wild dream that seemed likely to stop at any moment, 0:20:44.440 --> 0:20:48.080 to lead me somewhere in bed after a nightmare. Moreover, 0:20:48.240 --> 0:20:51.159 his words possessed me to such an extent that I 0:20:51.240 --> 0:20:54.480 found it impossible to reflect upon anything else at all, 0:20:54.960 --> 0:20:58.400 or to consider adequately any ways or means of action 0:20:58.520 --> 0:21:01.879 or escape. I moved a little nearer to him in 0:21:01.920 --> 0:21:05.640 the gloom, horribly frightened, of course. But but the beginnings 0:21:05.680 --> 0:21:08.600 of this strange determination in my heart. 0:21:11.200 --> 0:21:14.679 You women, he continued his voice, plainly thrilling at my approach, 0:21:14.800 --> 0:21:18.960