WEBVTT - Anthology of Horror, Volume 9 0:00:03.040 --> 0:00:06.840 Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind production of iHeartRadio. 0:00:13.000 --> 0:00:17.639 Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. This is 0:00:17.920 --> 0:00:19.160 Ruthless Rob Lamb. 0:00:19.320 --> 0:00:23.079 And this is corrosive Joseph McCormick and Happy Halloween. 0:00:24.120 --> 0:00:28.000 That's right. We're continuing our Halloween tradition this year, or 0:00:28.000 --> 0:00:31.360 it's been our Halloween tradition for several years now. Anthology 0:00:31.400 --> 0:00:34.199 of Horror. This is where we take We each take 0:00:34.200 --> 0:00:39.040 an episode of a TV anthology series or something related 0:00:39.080 --> 0:00:41.560 to this tradition, such as in the case of Joe's 0:00:41.560 --> 0:00:43.320 selection this year, kind of like a Monster of the 0:00:43.360 --> 0:00:47.160 Week episode, which which still close enough for our work, 0:00:48.080 --> 0:00:50.919 and then we spend some science or contemplation out of it. 0:00:51.400 --> 0:00:53.760 Before we switched over and started doing horror and sci 0:00:53.800 --> 0:00:57.360 fi anthologies, we did the same treatment with creepy pastas 0:00:57.880 --> 0:01:01.280 in the past. So that's that's what we do in 0:01:01.800 --> 0:01:04.360 this series. Take a little horror, a little sci fi, 0:01:04.520 --> 0:01:06.680 and spin it out, squeeze it out, and see what 0:01:06.760 --> 0:01:09.679 kind of science we can get out of it. However, 0:01:09.840 --> 0:01:13.880 I think this is likely the final installment of Anthology 0:01:13.880 --> 0:01:16.520 of Horror. Here on Stuff to Blow Your Mind, and 0:01:16.920 --> 0:01:19.479 mainly because ever since we started doing weird House Cinema. 0:01:19.800 --> 0:01:22.400 The premise has felt like a little bit redundant, like 0:01:22.440 --> 0:01:26.039 we get to talk about a weird movie every week. 0:01:26.160 --> 0:01:28.440 So maybe, at least in my case, it feels a 0:01:28.480 --> 0:01:32.080 little less special to have this Horror Anthology episode we 0:01:32.160 --> 0:01:34.160 do every year. And we've also covered a lot of 0:01:34.160 --> 0:01:38.080 great selections already, So I don't know if listeners out 0:01:38.080 --> 0:01:40.520 there have strong feelings about this right in, and we 0:01:40.560 --> 0:01:41.800 will consider now. 0:01:42.240 --> 0:01:44.920 I know you suggested that this would be Anthology of 0:01:44.920 --> 0:01:48.639 Horror the final Chapter, but if we're going by Friday 0:01:48.680 --> 0:01:51.880 the thirteenth sequel naming conventions, that would have actually been 0:01:52.000 --> 0:01:54.720 the fourth Anthology of Horror episode we did, which was 0:01:54.720 --> 0:01:58.560 many years ago. Now this is the ninth, is that correct? 0:01:58.680 --> 0:02:01.480 Which would that would put us in Jason Goes to 0:02:01.520 --> 0:02:04.920 Hell territory? So this really should be Anthology of Horror 0:02:04.960 --> 0:02:06.880 Part nine, Robin Joe go to Hell. 0:02:07.720 --> 0:02:11.679 Okay, well, hopefully we can deliver Jason Goes to Hell 0:02:12.200 --> 0:02:17.280 quality level or above in this episode. All right, Joe, 0:02:17.320 --> 0:02:20.880 what do you have for us? I teased it a 0:02:20.919 --> 0:02:23.160 little bit, but what is your selection for this year? 0:02:23.400 --> 0:02:26.720 Okay, so, not too long ago, on some episode or other, 0:02:26.800 --> 0:02:30.880 it came up that I had never seen any of 0:02:30.960 --> 0:02:35.880 the classic American TV series Colchak The Nightstalker, which was 0:02:35.919 --> 0:02:39.720 originally broadcast on ABC in nineteen seventy four. I think 0:02:39.760 --> 0:02:43.000 it ran seventy four to seventy five, only for one season, 0:02:43.040 --> 0:02:46.240 though I think there are around twenty episodes or so. 0:02:47.240 --> 0:02:50.240 And my ignorance of this show was so deep that 0:02:50.400 --> 0:02:54.359 I didn't even realize it had a supernatural element. I thought, 0:02:54.480 --> 0:02:56.800 I guess this was just based on the name. I 0:02:56.840 --> 0:02:59.040 thought it was some kind of gritty crime show. I 0:02:59.040 --> 0:03:02.200 think because I heard night Stalker, I thought about that 0:03:02.360 --> 0:03:04.880 serial killer and I was like, Okay, it's like a 0:03:04.919 --> 0:03:07.240 serial killer show. But no, no, no, it's so much 0:03:07.280 --> 0:03:11.720 more delightful than that. This show is essentially a precursor 0:03:11.880 --> 0:03:15.799 to The X Files, where instead of FBI agents Malter 0:03:15.960 --> 0:03:21.440 and Scully, we have a fast talking, rascally Chicago newspaper 0:03:21.480 --> 0:03:25.760 reporter named Carl Coolchak played by Darren McGavin, whom I 0:03:25.840 --> 0:03:28.760 knew primarily as the dad, the guy who gets his 0:03:28.840 --> 0:03:31.200 son a BB gun in a Christmas story. 0:03:32.200 --> 0:03:34.840 Well, and of course that's a tremendous role by Darren 0:03:34.920 --> 0:03:37.000 McGavin there as well, So if you only know him 0:03:37.120 --> 0:03:39.360 for one role, Like, that's a good one to know 0:03:39.480 --> 0:03:42.480 him from. You know, it was in tons of stuff. 0:03:42.960 --> 0:03:45.840 But yeah, he's great in this. As I'll mention in 0:03:45.880 --> 0:03:48.240 a bit, I think he's he's really holding the show 0:03:48.320 --> 0:03:49.200 up on his shoulders. 0:03:49.560 --> 0:03:52.360 Now. I think any episode of Colchak The night Stalker 0:03:52.360 --> 0:03:55.240 would count as an anthology entry because it had a 0:03:55.400 --> 0:03:59.720 monster of the Week format. In each new kper Kolchak 0:03:59.720 --> 0:04:02.840 would begin by reporting on some weird crime, usually a 0:04:02.920 --> 0:04:06.880 murder that baffles the narrow minded police detectives. Ah, you know, 0:04:06.960 --> 0:04:10.320 the victim's teeth were all painted blue? What could this mean? 0:04:10.880 --> 0:04:14.760 And eventually we discover it means that the deaths were 0:04:14.800 --> 0:04:17.760 caused by a shape shifting wear tiger or something. 0:04:18.480 --> 0:04:21.560 Yeah, the plot that you encounter in these episodes, it's 0:04:21.600 --> 0:04:25.039 going to be very formulaic. I think I watched a 0:04:25.120 --> 0:04:27.640 bunch of these back in the nineties on either sci 0:04:27.720 --> 0:04:32.400 Fi or any probably sci Fi, and I remember liking it. 0:04:32.839 --> 0:04:35.080 One thing I also strongly remember about it is it 0:04:35.160 --> 0:04:37.800 being kind of a cross generational hit. I have vague 0:04:37.880 --> 0:04:41.000 memories that like, both my dad and my granddad would 0:04:41.040 --> 0:04:43.919 be like cool with this show being on, because you know, 0:04:44.040 --> 0:04:45.920 kids in the nineties, we wanted to watch Monsters, or 0:04:46.040 --> 0:04:49.280 I wanted to watch Monsters anyway. But the rest of 0:04:49.320 --> 0:04:52.800 the show has a very traditional episodic gum shoe feel 0:04:52.880 --> 0:04:56.159 to it. You know, it feels very classic television in 0:04:56.200 --> 0:04:58.560 that regard. It's very much a product of its age, 0:04:58.600 --> 0:05:02.880 but with this strain supernatural twist to it. And then 0:05:03.240 --> 0:05:06.119 at the center of this you have just an incredibly fun, 0:05:06.279 --> 0:05:10.200 fast talking and charismatic performance by Darren McGavin, and you 0:05:10.279 --> 0:05:11.960 just can't help but love him. You can't help but 0:05:12.040 --> 0:05:14.240 follow him, and you want to see what he does next. 0:05:14.600 --> 0:05:17.240 And it doesn't matter if you're here for the monsters 0:05:17.640 --> 0:05:20.919 or you didn't know monsters were going to occur, You're 0:05:20.920 --> 0:05:22.560 gonna stick around and see where this goes. 0:05:23.120 --> 0:05:26.120 Yes, the force of the main character's personality is really 0:05:26.160 --> 0:05:28.680 the anchor of the show. And now I haven't seen 0:05:28.720 --> 0:05:31.360 the whole series. I've only seen this one episode now 0:05:31.360 --> 0:05:33.120 and then read about some others, but I'm going to 0:05:33.160 --> 0:05:36.600 be watching more. I think it is interesting to compare 0:05:36.640 --> 0:05:40.240 the dynamics of Kolchak to the show that it is 0:05:40.360 --> 0:05:43.640 explicitly acknowledged to have inspired The X Files. I know, 0:05:43.720 --> 0:05:46.200 I think Chris Carter has said Coulchak was an inspiration 0:05:46.800 --> 0:05:51.919 on the X Files. So the X Files, the investigations 0:05:51.960 --> 0:05:56.400 there are that the tone of them is largely based 0:05:56.440 --> 0:06:01.040 on the tension between Molder the believer and Scully the skeptic, 0:06:01.440 --> 0:06:05.200 whereas in Colchak there's just one investigator, so there are 0:06:05.240 --> 0:06:08.480 not two characters to bounce ideas off each other and 0:06:08.920 --> 0:06:11.720 act as foils for one another. It all has to 0:06:11.760 --> 0:06:16.400 be there inside Darren McGavin, and there is a similar 0:06:16.480 --> 0:06:19.000 tension within him, but it's different. It's not like part 0:06:19.000 --> 0:06:22.800 of him is an idealistic true believer who just wants 0:06:22.880 --> 0:06:26.880 aliens to be real, and another part is ruthlessly seeking 0:06:26.880 --> 0:06:30.360 out hard evidence instead. I think the tension is between 0:06:30.640 --> 0:06:38.080 Coolchak's personality versus his observations. So it seems to me 0:06:38.279 --> 0:06:43.240 that the tension is that Kolchak is naturally a wily, sardonic, 0:06:43.800 --> 0:06:47.840 no nonsense personality. He talks like a just the facts 0:06:47.920 --> 0:06:51.440 kind of newsman, and he makes wry jokes about anything 0:06:51.560 --> 0:06:56.880 that sounds unusual, not just monsters, but unfamiliar science concepts, 0:06:56.880 --> 0:06:59.560 like he makes jokes about the idea of rim sleep. 0:07:00.360 --> 0:07:02.479 You know, there's like a guy in this episode, who's 0:07:02.560 --> 0:07:05.120 undergoing rim sleep a scientist says, and he's like, oh, 0:07:05.240 --> 0:07:08.839 is he remming right now? And there's like an inflection 0:07:08.960 --> 0:07:10.840 on that that makes it sound funny. And then he 0:07:10.880 --> 0:07:13.400 has the same kind of jokes about anything that's outside 0:07:13.440 --> 0:07:17.360 of a very grounded, working class kind of scope of life. 0:07:17.400 --> 0:07:20.360 So he makes jokes about the impossibility of pronouncing the 0:07:20.400 --> 0:07:25.360 scientific names of plants, or about French food items, stuff 0:07:25.400 --> 0:07:28.280 like that, and yet at the same time he puts 0:07:28.320 --> 0:07:30.960 the clues together and he does end up believing that 0:07:31.000 --> 0:07:33.800 the murders are supernatural in nature, and then has to 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:36.080 convince other people. He has to convince his boss at 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:39.280 the newspaper, the police whatever, that it really was a 0:07:39.320 --> 0:07:42.280 monster again this time, and not this other poor guy 0:07:42.320 --> 0:07:44.240 who's being falsely accused of the crime. 0:07:45.240 --> 0:07:47.320 Yeah. I think that's a good summary of the energy here. 0:07:47.360 --> 0:07:49.560 It's kind of like Moulder and Scully kind of have 0:07:49.680 --> 0:07:53.160 like an forgive me if if I'm not doing justice 0:07:53.160 --> 0:07:56.239 to musical genres. They have kind of a shoegaze vibe, 0:07:56.560 --> 0:07:59.040 and I feel like, I feel like col Shak is 0:07:59.120 --> 0:08:04.120 jazz anyway. A couple of quick notes just about people 0:08:04.160 --> 0:08:06.960 involved in this series. The main character was created by 0:08:07.000 --> 0:08:09.360 Jeff Rice in his novel The Cool Jack Papers, and 0:08:09.400 --> 0:08:12.800 this was adapted before it was published into the original 0:08:12.880 --> 0:08:15.320 nineteen seventy three TV movie that kicked it all off. 0:08:15.360 --> 0:08:18.360 It concerned vampire murders and I think that's where we 0:08:18.400 --> 0:08:23.120 get the night stalker thing. Also of note is that 0:08:23.200 --> 0:08:26.160 this episode is directed by Gordon Hessler, who lived nineteen 0:08:26.200 --> 0:08:29.480 twenty five through twenty fourteen. He directed nineteen seventy Scream 0:08:29.520 --> 0:08:32.199 and Scream Again, which we talked about in Weird House Cinema. 0:08:32.640 --> 0:08:34.920 M okay, And as far. 0:08:34.800 --> 0:08:36.520 As the cast goes, you know, if this were a 0:08:36.520 --> 0:08:38.520 weird House, we'd go deeper. But I will point out 0:08:38.800 --> 0:08:41.960 that we have the prolific Keenan Wynn who lived nineteen 0:08:42.040 --> 0:08:45.120 sixteen through nineteen eighty six, playing Captain what mad Dog 0:08:45.240 --> 0:08:47.720 Joe in this and it's a pretty fun role. 0:08:48.000 --> 0:08:49.960 Yes, what do I know him from? I mean he 0:08:50.040 --> 0:08:51.640 was in a lot of things. You probably know him 0:08:51.640 --> 0:08:52.800 from Doctor Strangelove. 0:08:53.600 --> 0:08:55.360 I think he was in Tarantula. I don't know, have 0:08:55.480 --> 0:08:57.680 my notes in front of me, but he was very prolific. 0:08:57.679 --> 0:08:58.959 He was in a lot of stuff. 0:08:59.280 --> 0:09:01.679 But another big guest star in this movie, though you 0:09:01.720 --> 0:09:05.160 don't see his face, it's covered by some fibrous material. 0:09:05.360 --> 0:09:07.720 Is Richard Keel, the guy who played Jaws in the 0:09:07.760 --> 0:09:08.800 James Bond series. 0:09:09.600 --> 0:09:12.760 Ah, he's just doing a basic big man monster role 0:09:12.800 --> 0:09:13.120 in this. 0:09:13.240 --> 0:09:18.000 Right, Yeah, he's Ega. He's a soggy ega in So 0:09:18.080 --> 0:09:21.760 to summarize the episode, it's called the Spanish Moss Murders, 0:09:22.440 --> 0:09:25.320 and it starts with Kolchak intercepting a call in his 0:09:25.360 --> 0:09:28.160 police radio to the scene of a murder in a 0:09:28.160 --> 0:09:31.400 fancy French restaurant. He makes some joke about the wine 0:09:31.480 --> 0:09:35.440 cellar of this restaurant having more than being worth more 0:09:35.559 --> 0:09:39.920 than the entire gross domestic product of Paraguay, which I 0:09:40.000 --> 0:09:41.880 looked that up and that would make it worth like 0:09:41.920 --> 0:09:44.280 billions of dollars at the time, So I think that's 0:09:44.280 --> 0:09:47.600 a little bit of an exaggeration. But anyway, the head 0:09:47.679 --> 0:09:50.560 chef of this restaurant has been slain right in the 0:09:50.559 --> 0:09:53.200 middle of the restaurant kitchen. His body's lying there on 0:09:53.200 --> 0:09:55.679 the floor between the prep tables and all that. And 0:09:55.720 --> 0:09:58.000 not only has he been killed, but his body was 0:09:58.000 --> 0:10:02.000 found in a particularly groo some state, with its chest 0:10:02.040 --> 0:10:05.440 cavity crushed like a beer can on top of that, 0:10:05.800 --> 0:10:09.640 there is some kind of weird, wet vegetable matter scattered 0:10:09.679 --> 0:10:12.960 around the crime scene, described by one character as quote 0:10:13.160 --> 0:10:17.560 green glop, and the police sagely conclude that the plant 0:10:17.559 --> 0:10:21.080 matter must be salad. They were in a restaurant after all. 0:10:21.400 --> 0:10:25.640 All right, solid police work, right, Yeah. 0:10:24.440 --> 0:10:26.960 I think Rob, you've seen more Culchak than me. Is 0:10:26.960 --> 0:10:29.320 this a theme that like the police don't know what 0:10:29.360 --> 0:10:31.680 they're doing and Colchak has to be the one to 0:10:31.679 --> 0:10:32.560 figure everything out. 0:10:33.120 --> 0:10:35.760 Yeah, I vaguely remember this being the case. You know, 0:10:35.800 --> 0:10:38.320 it's like you need an outside thinker because you know 0:10:38.360 --> 0:10:40.880 the police they're doing they're doing a good job. They're 0:10:40.920 --> 0:10:44.160 you know, they're not incompetent in this show, but they're 0:10:44.240 --> 0:10:48.479 used to dealing with normal crimes. Yeah, Cold Shack's expertise 0:10:48.520 --> 0:10:51.320 comes into play when we're dealing with supernatural crimes. 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:55.359 So Colchak is on the case. Through some crafty investigation 0:10:55.559 --> 0:11:00.120 involving trickery and trespassing, Colchack starts to piece together a 0:11:00.679 --> 0:11:04.320 perplexing set of facts connecting a number of different crimes together. 0:11:04.840 --> 0:11:09.160 People all crushed or killed by severe blunt force trauma 0:11:09.200 --> 0:11:13.120 to the thorax, all with the same green glop found 0:11:13.160 --> 0:11:16.240 around their bodies, and after a visit to a local 0:11:16.280 --> 0:11:20.400 botanical garden, Kolchak is able to ascertain the origin of 0:11:20.440 --> 0:11:24.680 the green glop. It is Spanish moss, which only grows, 0:11:24.760 --> 0:11:28.600 he's told in hot and humid conditions nowhere around Chicago, 0:11:29.040 --> 0:11:31.559 outside of a greenhouse. And I have to make a 0:11:31.600 --> 0:11:36.280 little observation. Spanish moss is not like usually wet and soggy. 0:11:36.440 --> 0:11:39.120 So I think I don't know how much experience the 0:11:39.120 --> 0:11:42.640 writers here had with actual Spanish moss, which is consistently 0:11:42.679 --> 0:11:47.160 described in this more like they're talking about algae. 0:11:47.760 --> 0:11:50.240 Yeah, Yeah, that is weird, isn't it. Yeah, maybe they 0:11:50.280 --> 0:11:52.320 just hadn't been really exposed to it. But yeah, I 0:11:52.360 --> 0:11:55.280 don't think of Spanish moss as being humid and wet 0:11:55.360 --> 0:11:57.400 and drippy and gloppy and so forth. 0:11:57.720 --> 0:12:01.840 It's actually rather dry and crispy. In fact, famously, I 0:12:01.880 --> 0:12:05.319 know I was reading about there was one huge historical 0:12:05.440 --> 0:12:09.040 fire that was started when some Spanish moss caught fire. 0:12:09.240 --> 0:12:12.880 It was the Great Fire of nineteen oh one in Jacksonville, Florida, 0:12:13.320 --> 0:12:18.360 which a huge fire that was started outside a factory 0:12:18.400 --> 0:12:22.120 that was putting stuffing inside of upholstery for furniture, I think, 0:12:22.400 --> 0:12:25.439 and the stuffing they were using was Spanish moss. There 0:12:25.440 --> 0:12:27.800 were piles of it that I guess we're sitting there 0:12:27.840 --> 0:12:31.280 to dry or sitting out ready to be stuffed into things. 0:12:31.520 --> 0:12:36.400 Some of it caught fire and it caused this giant conflagration. Anyway, 0:12:36.440 --> 0:12:40.640 back to colchak, investigation of one victim leads him to 0:12:40.760 --> 0:12:46.080 the victim's workplace, a university sleep laboratory, where the professor 0:12:46.240 --> 0:12:49.960 and his assistants are running an experimental treatment on a 0:12:50.000 --> 0:12:54.880 man with severe narcolepsy by keeping him in an induced coma. 0:12:55.440 --> 0:12:59.200 Colchak learns that the murder victim was an assistant in 0:12:59.240 --> 0:13:01.800 the lab who was known for her clumsiness, one time 0:13:01.920 --> 0:13:05.000 nearly waking up their test subject when she knocked over 0:13:05.120 --> 0:13:10.160 some apparatus in the room. Beyond that, other murder victims 0:13:10.360 --> 0:13:13.680 seem to have some connection to a social group of 0:13:13.880 --> 0:13:18.160 Cajun street musicians who are all originally from Louisiana Bayou 0:13:18.200 --> 0:13:21.640 Country and have moved up to the Chicago area. Kolchak 0:13:21.720 --> 0:13:24.760 learns from one of their associates the story of a 0:13:24.800 --> 0:13:29.840 bogeyman figure from Bayou folklore known as Paramoulfay or the 0:13:29.960 --> 0:13:33.280 evil father. All the Cajuns would joke to each other, 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:36.040 you better watch out or Paramoufay is going to get you. 0:13:36.840 --> 0:13:39.360 And the stories go that Para Malfay has lived in 0:13:39.400 --> 0:13:42.920 the swamp since long before the Cajuns arrived. He's wet, 0:13:43.040 --> 0:13:46.680 he's covered in rot, and festooned with Spanish moss from 0:13:46.720 --> 0:13:49.679 head to toe. Mothers warn their children that if they 0:13:49.720 --> 0:13:53.400 get out of line, Paramoufay will squeeze the life right 0:13:53.440 --> 0:13:55.840 out of them, and the only way to beat him 0:13:56.200 --> 0:13:58.800 is to stab him with a steak from a Bayou 0:13:58.920 --> 0:14:03.720 gum tree. Kolchak gets another piece of the puzzle. A 0:14:03.760 --> 0:14:07.520 prime suspect emerges in several of the murders, a man 0:14:07.640 --> 0:14:10.640 named Languis who is known to have a grudge against 0:14:10.640 --> 0:14:14.679 several of the victims, but he has a rock solid alibi. 0:14:15.360 --> 0:14:18.560 He is the man who has been in an induced 0:14:18.640 --> 0:14:21.840 coma in the sleep laboratory, so he's being monitored twenty 0:14:21.880 --> 0:14:24.080 four to seven. There's no way he could have done 0:14:24.120 --> 0:14:27.880 the murders because he never left the lab he's been asleep. Finally, 0:14:28.000 --> 0:14:30.920 Colchak pieces it all together. He discovers the truth the 0:14:31.000 --> 0:14:34.400 murders are being carried out by the sleeping man, but 0:14:34.600 --> 0:14:39.880 not physically. He is dreaming people to death. His experimental 0:14:39.920 --> 0:14:44.560 coma is preventing him from dreaming normally. I guess the 0:14:44.640 --> 0:14:47.320 drug regimen that the scientists are giving him is doing 0:14:47.320 --> 0:14:50.320 something to his ability to dream, and so his dreams 0:14:50.400 --> 0:14:54.880 are escaping his mind and becoming a physical entity in 0:14:54.920 --> 0:14:57.960 the form of the swamp monster paramou Fay. 0:14:58.840 --> 0:15:02.640 So it's a sleep dream manifestation, kind of a. 0:15:02.560 --> 0:15:05.760 Toolpot exactly, and in the form of the bay U 0:15:05.800 --> 0:15:10.640 boogeyman covered in Spanish moss that this sleep subject grew 0:15:10.720 --> 0:15:13.840 up hearing about. So I guess presumably the monster in 0:15:13.920 --> 0:15:16.320 this story could have been anything. It could have been 0:15:16.400 --> 0:15:19.360 whatever it was that this man had in his mind. 0:15:19.440 --> 0:15:22.960 But because this is the folklore he knows, it assumes 0:15:23.040 --> 0:15:25.960 this form. It's kind of like Wes Craven's New Nightmare. 0:15:26.080 --> 0:15:29.680 You know, there's an entity that could take any form. 0:15:29.760 --> 0:15:31.880 The form it takes is the form you imagine. So 0:15:31.960 --> 0:15:33.480 it becomes Freddy Krueger. 0:15:33.960 --> 0:15:37.160 Yeah, or of course reminds one of Goser as well. 0:15:37.280 --> 0:15:38.960 Choose the form of the destructor. 0:15:39.280 --> 0:15:44.440 Yes. So Kolchak explains his theory to the police commander 0:15:44.440 --> 0:15:48.440 in the sleep lab. To mad Dog Captain mad Dog 0:15:49.120 --> 0:15:52.080 Keenan Wynn here and the professor is ordered to wake 0:15:52.160 --> 0:15:54.480 up the test subject in order to stop the mayhem. 0:15:54.680 --> 0:15:57.880 But it doesn't work. Langua will not wake up, and 0:15:57.960 --> 0:16:02.160 instead he dies. Jack thinks that, well, that's tragic, but 0:16:02.200 --> 0:16:05.040 now at least the trouble is over, until he discovers 0:16:05.080 --> 0:16:08.760 water and Spanish moss in his desk drawers. He thinks 0:16:08.800 --> 0:16:10.960 that there's like that the ceiling. The plumbing in the 0:16:11.440 --> 0:16:14.480 ceiling is leaking, and that's why there's water everywhere. But nope, 0:16:15.120 --> 0:16:20.000 Paramoulfa has been stalking around his desk in the newspaper office, 0:16:20.280 --> 0:16:23.680 and this seems to mean that Paramoufay has escaped his host. 0:16:24.120 --> 0:16:28.040 Even though the dreamer is dead, the dream lives on independently, 0:16:28.440 --> 0:16:31.360 and now the dream knows the reporter is on to him. 0:16:31.880 --> 0:16:34.520 In the end, Kolchak has to confront the monster by 0:16:34.560 --> 0:16:37.400 tracking it to the sewers and staking it with a 0:16:37.440 --> 0:16:40.840 bayou gum tree branch that he stole from the botanical garden. 0:16:41.880 --> 0:16:44.440 The sewer confrontation, I feel like, is a little anti 0:16:44.440 --> 0:16:47.800 climactic for me because you never get a great, great 0:16:47.840 --> 0:16:50.360 look at the monster. He's kind of a big shaggy 0:16:50.560 --> 0:16:53.040 vegetable sasquatch played by Richard Keel. 0:16:54.160 --> 0:16:58.000 Yeah. I mean, the lighting's pretty good, so it's not unforgiving, 0:16:58.120 --> 0:17:02.280 but yeah, it's a bit dark. I mean, it's obviously 0:17:02.360 --> 0:17:06.040 not the most robust monster costume ever committed to film. 0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:08.640 But I love the concept of the monster, even if 0:17:08.640 --> 0:17:11.280 it's not the most impressive looking thing I've ever seen. 0:17:12.160 --> 0:17:16.159 The idea of this shaggy creature dreamed into existence and 0:17:16.320 --> 0:17:20.480 covered head to toe in Spanish moss, just a shambling 0:17:20.960 --> 0:17:22.320 mess of plant matter. 0:17:23.200 --> 0:17:26.560 Yeah, I think it's a It's an admirable plot. It 0:17:27.119 --> 0:17:29.080 all fit, all the pieces fit together, and then at 0:17:29.080 --> 0:17:32.359 the same time it feels wild and weird enough that 0:17:32.400 --> 0:17:35.800 it could have been a symbol via like an improv 0:17:35.920 --> 0:17:40.359 theater audience shout out plot elements, like all right, what 0:17:40.359 --> 0:17:43.159 do we have? Okay here, I hear rim sleep, I 0:17:43.240 --> 0:17:47.719 hear Cajun boogeyman, I hear French cuisine. Okay, let's put 0:17:47.760 --> 0:17:48.640 all this together. 0:17:50.520 --> 0:17:54.920 Now. I was really hoping to discover that Paramolfa would 0:17:54.920 --> 0:17:57.400 be a real piece of Bayou lore that I could 0:17:57.440 --> 0:17:59.919 dig into, but alas I came up short on this. 0:18:01.000 --> 0:18:03.480 All the sources I could find that looked solid at 0:18:03.520 --> 0:18:06.720 all seem to trace back to the Culchak episode. There 0:18:06.760 --> 0:18:11.160 are some websites that claim Paramol Fay is an independent 0:18:11.200 --> 0:18:14.320 folk tale, but they don't cite any sources and they're 0:18:14.320 --> 0:18:16.959 just kind of websites. So I don't know. I couldn't 0:18:17.000 --> 0:18:20.040 find anything that looks solid that says this is an 0:18:20.200 --> 0:18:24.800 actual story that goes anywhere back further than the TV show, 0:18:25.080 --> 0:18:27.200 So I can't say for certain, but I will say 0:18:27.240 --> 0:18:29.919 my best judgment is it looks to me like this 0:18:29.960 --> 0:18:32.600 creature was invented for the show, though I think it 0:18:32.680 --> 0:18:36.120 may be based on existing folk beliefs. There are many 0:18:36.160 --> 0:18:39.480 monsters of the swamp. One example that it could be 0:18:39.520 --> 0:18:42.199 based on would be like the rugaroo, sort of a 0:18:42.240 --> 0:18:44.320 Francophone American werewolf legend. 0:18:45.240 --> 0:18:50.120 Yeah, I think the rugaru connection is pretty solid here. Which, 0:18:50.160 --> 0:18:52.120 by the way, if you ever go to the zoo, 0:18:52.119 --> 0:18:54.480 the Audubon Zoo down in New Orleans, they have one 0:18:55.240 --> 0:18:59.320 on display. That's a lot of fun. But yeah, I 0:19:00.040 --> 0:19:02.480 feel like vay connection to that creature, like maybe that 0:19:02.680 --> 0:19:06.000 was even the original concept. And they're like, we have 0:19:06.040 --> 0:19:08.280 another episode that has a werewolf in it. Let's go 0:19:08.359 --> 0:19:11.840 a different direction here. I didn't do an exhaustive search. 0:19:12.000 --> 0:19:14.000 It seems like you went a lot deeper. But I 0:19:14.040 --> 0:19:17.359 did crack open Carol Rose's books and see if she 0:19:17.480 --> 0:19:20.359 had any mention. The only the closest thing she mentions 0:19:20.440 --> 0:19:25.560 is a different supernatural father, and that's Pierre Futard or 0:19:25.640 --> 0:19:29.199 Father Spanker, which is a French kind of uger character 0:19:29.280 --> 0:19:33.360 that's also a monstrous Christmas kind of crampist creature that's 0:19:33.600 --> 0:19:38.280 a counterpart to Father Christmas. So she doesn't listen any 0:19:38.520 --> 0:19:42.800 kind of you know, swamp Spanish moss creature. So I 0:19:43.040 --> 0:19:45.080 think you're right. I think it's an invention for the show, 0:19:45.119 --> 0:19:48.280 but a fun invention and one that feels like it 0:19:48.320 --> 0:19:50.200 could be real enough. So there you go. 0:19:51.280 --> 0:19:56.639 Yes, Now, what about the monstrous qualities of Spanish moss itself? 0:19:56.720 --> 0:20:00.080 I wanted to get a bit into this here. The 0:20:00.119 --> 0:20:03.760 funny thing about Spanish moss, most scientific sources will acknowledge 0:20:03.840 --> 0:20:05.800 this right at the top, is that it is neither 0:20:05.920 --> 0:20:09.960 Spanish nor is it moss, which is pretty funny. But 0:20:10.000 --> 0:20:12.960 I'll deal with those one at a time. So regarding moss, 0:20:13.240 --> 0:20:18.240 the species name of Spanish moss is Telanzia eucinioides, and 0:20:18.359 --> 0:20:23.880 it's taxonomized within the flowering plant family Bromeliacee, also known 0:20:23.880 --> 0:20:27.720 as the bromeliads, along with the pineapple plants. So Spanish 0:20:27.800 --> 0:20:31.600 moss is a cousin to the pineapple And I feel 0:20:31.600 --> 0:20:33.080 like you can almost see it, Like if you get 0:20:33.160 --> 0:20:35.480 up real close to Spanish moss and you look at 0:20:35.520 --> 0:20:39.280 the weird curling stalks and leaves that kind of remind 0:20:39.320 --> 0:20:42.320 me of pineapple leaves in a strange way. They're obviously 0:20:42.400 --> 0:20:45.520 much smaller, but you can almost see the family resemblance. 0:20:45.880 --> 0:20:48.000 Yeah, I'm looking at some close up pictures right now, 0:20:48.119 --> 0:20:50.200 and yeah, I can lean into that. 0:20:50.600 --> 0:20:54.520 True mosses, of course, are more distantly related. They belong 0:20:54.600 --> 0:20:59.199 to a division of non vascular, non flowering plants called Bryophytes. 0:20:59.440 --> 0:21:03.359 Spanish is not a moss at all. It's also not Spanish. 0:21:03.400 --> 0:21:07.000 It is native to north, South and Central America, so 0:21:07.240 --> 0:21:10.399 in the United States it's only found in the south 0:21:10.560 --> 0:21:13.760 along the Gulf Coast and up the East coast to 0:21:13.840 --> 0:21:17.359 around Virginia. Chicago is no place for a Spanish moss 0:21:17.400 --> 0:21:18.040 man to thrive. 0:21:18.480 --> 0:21:21.920 Yeah. When I think Spanish moss, I always instantly think Savannah, Georgia, 0:21:22.000 --> 0:21:24.800 because we have some some beautiful examples of it there, 0:21:24.920 --> 0:21:29.280 especially in the out there in amid the tombstones. 0:21:29.720 --> 0:21:32.560 Yeah, in North America, it's going to be, especially in 0:21:32.680 --> 0:21:37.440 like coastal areas around the American South. But if it's 0:21:37.480 --> 0:21:41.120 not Spanish in origin, why is it called Spanish moss? 0:21:41.400 --> 0:21:43.200 You know a lot of things just have like a 0:21:44.080 --> 0:21:46.480 country name applied to them and they're not from that 0:21:46.520 --> 0:21:48.399 country at all, And this is one of those cases. 0:21:48.440 --> 0:21:51.840 The origin story that I've seen most attested here is 0:21:51.920 --> 0:21:55.879 that the naming convention comes from early French explorers in 0:21:56.640 --> 0:21:59.200 the Americas who thought that the plant looked like the 0:21:59.240 --> 0:22:03.000 big beer words of Spanish conquistadors, so they called the 0:22:03.000 --> 0:22:04.800 plant Spanish beard. 0:22:06.359 --> 0:22:09.560 Well, that's another reason that one might lean into creating 0:22:09.560 --> 0:22:12.080 a monster based on it, right, because it's already compared 0:22:12.119 --> 0:22:16.440 to a part of a person's look in general features. 0:22:16.760 --> 0:22:18.240 That's true. I want to get back to that in 0:22:18.240 --> 0:22:21.240 a minute now. An interesting thing that makes Spanish moss 0:22:21.280 --> 0:22:24.840 different as a plant is that it is an epiphyte, 0:22:25.080 --> 0:22:29.360 which means an organism that grows on other plants. Epi 0:22:29.400 --> 0:22:33.000 means on top of fight means plant. So it's an epiphyte. 0:22:33.520 --> 0:22:35.600 If you've ever seen it in the wild before, You've 0:22:35.640 --> 0:22:39.040