Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you should know, a production of I
Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hey, and welcome to the spook Cast. I'm Josh,
Speaker 1: and there's Chuck and there's Jerry Booberry, Roland Booberry. That
Speaker 1: was the best one. I like it. And this is
Speaker 1: Stuff you should Know, the Spooktacular, Spooky Halloween Edition. That's right,
Speaker 1: this is our spook Tacular. That's awesome. And I went
Speaker 1: back and looked and uh, we started out kind of
Speaker 1: timid mm hmm with the early days, and then we
Speaker 1: kind of got I think it was a few years
Speaker 1: in when we finally started in with like the two
Speaker 1: stories and really got our wheels. Are Halloween wheels going?
Speaker 1: I can feel them just burning up the tree act
Speaker 1: right now. That's right. And also this is as we
Speaker 1: always like to mention, one of our two episodes of
Speaker 1: the year, that we have fought tooth and nail to
Speaker 1: keep ad free. That's right, because nothing will ruin a
Speaker 1: spooky Halloween story more than stopping to sell stamps, That's right.
Speaker 1: You just want the scares and the thrills and the
Speaker 1: chills to be perfectly uninterrupted, right. Yeah. And both of
Speaker 1: these stories of parents have never heard these, uh, they
Speaker 1: are both fine for kids to listen to a little creepy,
Speaker 1: but largely because we have to use uh what's it
Speaker 1: called when you can read it public domain stories, and
Speaker 1: usually those aren't you know, they're older, so they're not
Speaker 1: as gross as the stories you would get today. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean the language they use. Adults barely know what's
Speaker 1: going on. Kids definitely don't. So those are the stories
Speaker 1: we like to pick two good ones. So I'm looking
Speaker 1: forward to these two, two quality stories. Let's start with yours.
Speaker 1: The Boarded Window by Ambrose Beer. Right, yeah, Ambrose Beer
Speaker 1: is one of the great journalists and spooky story writers
Speaker 1: in history. I believe we already have done one Beers piece, definitely.
Speaker 1: I can't remember the name of it, but it was good. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was good. I think he was also called like
Speaker 1: the wickedest man alive at some point in time. No,
Speaker 1: that was what's his face? You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: I think more than one person has been called that. Okay,
Speaker 1: I've been called that before. Come on, no, that's not true.
Speaker 1: All right, So you want to start this one, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'll give this one a whirl, all right, And Jerry,
Speaker 1: if you don't mind bringing on the amazing sound effects.
Speaker 1: A hand for Jerry. Everybody, she does it up. Every year,
Speaker 1: she does it up. So here we go. Everybody darken
Speaker 1: the lights, pore up a spooky cider or something, and
Speaker 1: here we go with the boarded window by Ambrose Beers.
Speaker 1: In eighteen thirty, only a few miles away from what
Speaker 1: is now the great city of Cincinnata lay an immense
Speaker 1: and almost unbroken forest. The whole region was sparsely settled
Speaker 1: by people of the frontier, restless souls who no sooner
Speaker 1: had hewn fairly habitable homes out of the wilderness and
Speaker 1: attained to that degree of prosperity which today we should
Speaker 1: call indigence, than impelled by some mysterious impulse of their nature,
Speaker 1: they abandoned all and pushed farther westward to encounter new
Speaker 1: perils and privations, and the effort to regain the meager
Speaker 1: comforts which they had voluntarily renounced. It's quite a sentence,
Speaker 1: it is. It's clever, though I know, I love how
Speaker 1: they pushed further westward into Cincinnati. That's right, many of
Speaker 1: them had already forsaken that region for the remoter settlements.
Speaker 1: But among those remaining was one who had been of
Speaker 1: those first arriving. He lived alone in a house of logs,
Speaker 1: surrounded on all sides by the great forest, of whose
Speaker 1: gloom in silence he seemed to part, for no one
Speaker 1: had ever known him to smile nor speak a needless word.
Speaker 1: His simple wants were supplied by the sale or barter
Speaker 1: of skins of wild animals in the river town. For
Speaker 1: not a thing did he grow upon the land, which,
Speaker 1: if needful, he might have claimed by right of undisturbed possession.
Speaker 1: So this guy's like the king of his domain e
Speaker 1: there basically definitely, But he doesn't really do anything. He
Speaker 1: just kind of lays around and skins animals, I guess,
Speaker 1: as we will see, there were evidences of quote improvement
Speaker 1: end quote, which is kind of harsh, I think, to say,
Speaker 1: A few acres of ground immediately about the house had
Speaker 1: once been cleared of its trees, the decayed stumps of
Speaker 1: which were half concealed by the new growth that had
Speaker 1: been suffered to repair the ravage wrought by the acts.
Speaker 1: Apparently the man zeal for agriculture had burned with a
Speaker 1: failing flame expiring in penitential ashes. The a log house
Speaker 1: with his chimney of sticks, its roof of warping clapboards
Speaker 1: weighted with traversing polls, and it's quote chinking quote of
Speaker 1: clay had a single door and directly opposite a window.
Speaker 1: The ladder, however, was boarded up. Nobody could remember a
Speaker 1: time when it was not, and no one knew why
Speaker 1: it was so closed, certainly not because of the occupant's
Speaker 1: dislike of light and air. For on one of those
Speaker 1: rare occasions when a hunter had passed that lonely spot,
Speaker 1: the recluse had commonly been seen sunning himself on his doorstep.
Speaker 1: If Heaven hath provided sunshine for his need, I fancy
Speaker 1: there are a few persons living today who ever knew
Speaker 1: the secret of that window. But I am one, as
Speaker 1: you shall see right. So, yeah, you're dis guys living
Speaker 1: out there in the woods. Seems a little bit lazy,
Speaker 1: and he's got a boarded up window, and he likes
Speaker 1: the sun himself, And just because of his living situation
Speaker 1: and where he lives, there's just no way he's wearing
Speaker 1: clothes while he's sunning himself outside of his house, very
Speaker 1: much naked out there. I bet um, okay, my turn. Yes.
Speaker 1: The man's name was said to be Merlock. He was
Speaker 1: apparently seventy years old, actually about fifty something. Besides years
Speaker 1: had had a hand in his aging. His hair and
Speaker 1: long full beard were white, his gray, lusterless eyes sunk
Speaker 1: in his face singularly seamed with wrinkles, which appeared to
Speaker 1: belong to two intersecting systems in figure. He was tall
Speaker 1: and spare, with a stoop of the shoulders, a burden bearer.
Speaker 1: I never saw him. These particulars I learned from my grandfather,
Speaker 1: from whom I also got the man's story. When I
Speaker 1: was a lad. He had known him when living nearby.
Speaker 1: In that early day. One day Merlock was found in
Speaker 1: his cabin dead. It was not a time and place
Speaker 1: for coroners and newspapers, And I suppose it was agreed
Speaker 1: that he had died from natural causes, or I should
Speaker 1: have been told and should remember her. I know only that,
Speaker 1: with what was probably a sense of the fitness of things,
Speaker 1: the body was buried near the cabin, alongside the grave
Speaker 1: of his wife, who had preceded him by so many
Speaker 1: years that local tradition had retained hardly a hint of
Speaker 1: her existence. That closes the final chapter of this true story.
Speaker 1: Excepting indeed, the circumstance. Many years afterward, in company with
Speaker 1: an equally intrepid spirit, I penetrated to the place, and
Speaker 1: ventured near enough to the ruined cabin to throw a
Speaker 1: stone against it, and ran away to avoid the ghost,
Speaker 1: which every well informed boy thereabout knew haunted the spot.
Speaker 1: But there was an earlier chapter that supplied by my grandfather,
Speaker 1: when Merlock built his cabin and began laying sturdily about
Speaker 1: with his axe to hue out of farm. The rifle
Speaker 1: meanwhile his means of support. He was young, strong, and
Speaker 1: full of hope in that eastern country. Whence he came,
Speaker 1: he had married, as was the fashion, a young woman
Speaker 1: and always worthy of his honest devotion, who shared the
Speaker 1: dangers and privations of his lot with a willing spirit
Speaker 1: and light heart. There is no known record of her name,
Speaker 1: of her charms of mind and person. Tradition is silent,
Speaker 1: and the doubter is at liberty to entertain his doubt.
Speaker 1: But God forbid that I should share it. Of their
Speaker 1: affection and happiness, there is abundant assurance in every added
Speaker 1: day of the man's widowed life. For what but the
Speaker 1: magnetism of a blessed memory could have changed that venturesome
Speaker 1: spirit to a lot like that. All right, So he
Speaker 1: had a wife, she died. He was later found dead. Yeah,
Speaker 1: do you know what happened? Well, no, but he's saying
Speaker 1: like he loved her very much because he didn't move
Speaker 1: from that place where she died. That's right. One day
Speaker 1: Merlock returned from gunning in a distant part of the
Speaker 1: forest to find his wife prostrate with fever and delirious.
Speaker 1: There was no physician within miles, no neighbor, nor was
Speaker 1: she in a condition to be left to someone help,
Speaker 1: so he said about the task of nursing her back
Speaker 1: to health. But at the end of the third day,
Speaker 1: she fell into unconsciousness and so passed away, apparently with
Speaker 1: never a gleam of returning reason. For what we know
Speaker 1: of a nature like his, we may venture to sketch
Speaker 1: in some of the details of the outline picture drawn
Speaker 1: by my grandfather. When convinced that she was dead, Murlock
Speaker 1: had sense enough to remember that the dead must be
Speaker 1: prepared for burial and performance of that sacred duty. He
Speaker 1: blundered now and again, did certain things incorrectly, and others
Speaker 1: which he did correctly were done over and over. So
Speaker 1: this guy's kind of stumbling through this. He's like, oh
Speaker 1: my gosh, yeah, jeez, he's not doing I broke her arm. Now.
Speaker 1: His occasional failures to accomplish some simple and ordinary act
Speaker 1: filled him with astonishment, like that of a drunken man
Speaker 1: who wonders at the suspension of familiar natural laws. He
Speaker 1: was surprised, too, that he did not weep, surprised and
Speaker 1: a little ashamed. Surely it is unkind not to weep
Speaker 1: for the dead. Tomorrow, he said aloud, I shall have
Speaker 1: to make the coffin and dig the grave, and then
Speaker 1: I shall miss her when she is no longer in sight.
Speaker 1: But now she is dead, of course, But it is
Speaker 1: all right. It must be all right. Somehow things cannot
Speaker 1: be so bad as they seem. Sad. Yeah, he's in
Speaker 1: the denial stage of grief, I think, right. Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1: He stood over the body in the fading light, adjusting
Speaker 1: the hair and putting the finishing touches to the simple toilet.
Speaker 1: Now what does that mean? I I think he was
Speaker 1: like cleaning her up, not but not like not like
Speaker 1: she was peeing or pooping. Like the toilet is like
Speaker 1: what they called me, the little overnight kit that you
Speaker 1: take with you, that toothpaste and all that stuff. That's
Speaker 1: the only thing I can think of that he was
Speaker 1: like combing her hair and maybe like cleaning whatever off
Speaker 1: of her mouth, or you know, get that part. But
Speaker 1: just the simple toilet. I thought they meant her, but
Speaker 1: I don't think could be. Was the wickedest man alive,
Speaker 1: all right, So let me just uh do that since again,
Speaker 1: putting the finishing touches to the simple toilet, doing all
Speaker 1: mechanically with soullless care, and still through his consciousness ran
Speaker 1: an under sense of conviction that all was all right,
Speaker 1: that he should have her again as before, and everything explained.
Speaker 1: He had no experience in grief. His capacity had not
Speaker 1: been enlarged by use. His heart could not contain at all,
Speaker 1: nor his imagination rightly conceive it. He did not know.
Speaker 1: He was so hard struck that knowledge would come later
Speaker 1: and never go grief. As an artist of powers as
Speaker 1: various as the instruments upon which he plays his urges
Speaker 1: for the dead, evoking some of the sharpest, shrillest notes
Speaker 1: from others. The low grave chords that throb recurrent like
Speaker 1: the slow beating of a distant drum. Some natures it
Speaker 1: startles some, it stupefies to when it comes like the
Speaker 1: stroke of an arrow, stinging all the sensibilities to a
Speaker 1: keener life. To another is the blow of a bludgeon, which,
Speaker 1: in crushing benumbs we may conceive Murlock to have been
Speaker 1: that way affected. For and this is parenthetical, by the way,
Speaker 1: and here we are upon surer ground than that of conjecture.
Speaker 1: No sooner had he finished his pious work than sinking
Speaker 1: into his chair by the side of the table upon
Speaker 1: which the body lay, and noting how white the profile
Speaker 1: showed in the deepening gloom, he laid his arms upon
Speaker 1: the table's edge and dropped his face into them, tearless
Speaker 1: yet and unutterably weary. At that moment came in through
Speaker 1: the open window a long wailing sound, like the cry
Speaker 1: of a lost child in the far deeps of the
Speaker 1: darkening woods. But the man did not move again, and
Speaker 1: nearer than before sounded that unearthly cry upon his failing.
Speaker 1: Since perhaps it was a wild beast, perhaps it was
Speaker 1: a dream. For Merlock was asleep very nice, so he
Speaker 1: fixed his wife's toilet, was so just overwrought and and
Speaker 1: um worn out by the experience that he fell asleep
Speaker 1: with his face and arms on the table where her
Speaker 1: body was. Right. Yeah, I like that long bit about
Speaker 1: how grief can act as well. It stuff very good too,
Speaker 1: okay me yes. Some hours later, as it afterward appeared,
Speaker 1: this unfaithful watcher awoke, and, lifting his head from his arms,
Speaker 1: intently listened. He knew not why, there in the black
Speaker 1: darkness by the side of the dead, recalling all without
Speaker 1: a shock, He strained his eyes to see. He knew
Speaker 1: not what. His senses were all alert, His breath was suspended,
Speaker 1: his blood had stilled its tides, as if to assist
Speaker 1: the silence. Who what had waked him? And where was it?
Speaker 1: Suddenly the table shook beneath his arms, and at the
Speaker 1: same moment he heard, or fancied that he heard a light,
Speaker 1: soft step, another sounds of bare feet upon the floor.
Speaker 1: He was terrified, beyond the power to cry out or
Speaker 1: move perforce. He waited, waited there in the darkness, through
Speaker 1: seeming centuries of such dread as one may know yet
Speaker 1: lived to tell. He tried vainly to speak the dead
Speaker 1: woman's name, vainly to stretch forth his hand across the
Speaker 1: table to learn if she were there. His throat was powerless,
Speaker 1: his arms and hands were like lead. Then occurred something
Speaker 1: most frightful. Some heavy body seemed hurled against the table
Speaker 1: with an impetus that pushed it against his breast so
Speaker 1: sharply as nearly to overthrow him. And at the same
Speaker 1: instant he heard and felt the fall of something upon
Speaker 1: the floor was so violent a thump that the whole
Speaker 1: house was shaken by the impact, a scuffling, en suit,
Speaker 1: and a confusion of sounds impossible to describe. Murlock had
Speaker 1: risen to his feet, fear had by excess forfeited control
Speaker 1: of his faculties. He flung his hands upon the table.
Speaker 1: Nothing was there. Get pretty creepy for sure, because I mean,
Speaker 1: it's just him and his wife in this cabin in Cincinnati,
Speaker 1: and um, you know, nothing's supposed to be going on,
Speaker 1: that's right, And this is he fell asleep for goodness sake.
Speaker 1: There is a point at which terror may turn to madness,
Speaker 1: and madness incites to action with no definite intent, from
Speaker 1: no motive, but the wayward impulse of a madman. Merlock
Speaker 1: sprang to the wall with a little groping, ceased his
Speaker 1: loaded rifle, and without aim, discharged by the flash, which
Speaker 1: lit up the room with a vivid illumination. He saw
Speaker 1: an enormous panther dragging the dead woman toward the window,
Speaker 1: its teeth fixed in her throat. Then there was darkness,
Speaker 1: blacker than before, in silence, and when he returned to consciousness,
Speaker 1: the sun was hot and the wood vocal with songs
Speaker 1: of birds. All right, I didn't see that coming. I
Speaker 1: didn't even know there are panthers in Ohio, and I
Speaker 1: grew up in Ohio. I guess there, we're back then. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I guess it was a long time ago. But you know,
Speaker 1: this guy fires off his rifle just out of instinct,
Speaker 1: like it could have been his wife. You don't know
Speaker 1: what's going on. Yeah, I imagine him being like Barney Fife,
Speaker 1: trying to take a shot while he's really worked up.
Speaker 1: All right, let's finish this thing up. Okay. The body
Speaker 1: lay near the window where the beasts had left it
Speaker 1: when frightened away by the flash and report of the rifle.
Speaker 1: The clothing was deranged, the long hair and disorder the
Speaker 1: limbs lay anyhow, from the throat dreadfully lacerated. He had
Speaker 1: issued a pool of blood, not yet entirely coagulated. The
Speaker 1: ribbon with which he had bound the wrists was broken,
Speaker 1: The hands were tightly clenched between the teeth was a
Speaker 1: fragment the animals here, all right. I read a little
Speaker 1: bit of what do you call it when people interpret
Speaker 1: things I don't know? Is yeah? Sure? And you know
Speaker 1: they seemed to be an agreement that the wife was
Speaker 1: not dead and that he tied her up, and then
Speaker 1: she struggled to try and free herself and like, fight
Speaker 1: this panther. I like to think that she was dead
Speaker 1: this being Halloween, and came back to life for one
Speaker 1: last struggle with the panther. She was like not my man, panther,
Speaker 1: and and saved his life. Okay, I like it. Good story.
Speaker 1: It was a good story. Good choice, Chuck, and good
Speaker 1: job Ambrose Bears. If you can hear us wherever you
Speaker 1: are now, aka Josh, he's selling Santa Claus. Okay, so
Speaker 1: you want to start mine because we don't have to
Speaker 1: take an ad break, remember that's right. Uh yeah, sure,
Speaker 1: we've got our parts worked out, right, we do. I
Speaker 1: think you should take the the other guy, the landlord. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you take the landlord because he's talking to my guy.
Speaker 1: So that makes sense. Okay, cool, and then I'll start
Speaker 1: this one out and we'll just kind of switch off,
Speaker 1: right yeah. Yeah, So we're gonna read The toll House.
Speaker 1: And it's a short story by W. W. Jacobs written
Speaker 1: in nineteen o seven in or at least published for
Speaker 1: the first time in ninetuen and seven. And W. W.
Speaker 1: Jacobs was much more famous for having written The Monkeys Paw.
Speaker 1: Oh okay, I knew, I knew that name. Yeah, he
Speaker 1: should have entitled this the toll House parentheses. Those ain't cookies. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I can't think of anything but that. It'll make sense
Speaker 1: in a minute, right, Okay, remember when we did that
Speaker 1: Cookies episode, we found out some people actually call chocolate
Speaker 1: chip cookies toll houses. Yeah, it's weird. That is really weird.
Speaker 1: Don't be weird people just calling chocolate chip cookies exactly.
Speaker 1: So where are these guys from. I haven't worked on
Speaker 1: any accents or affectations yet. Well, I think that's great.
Speaker 1: We can just leave it up to our imaginations. But
Speaker 1: I'm gonna guess, um, somewhere in the Middle East. Oh no, alright,
Speaker 1: Middle East of America. Let's say. Yeah, okay, no, no,
Speaker 1: I was kidding. I meant Middle East. No, I think
Speaker 1: that's they're meant to be British. I think this is
Speaker 1: set in in England. Oh out fun, this is gonna
Speaker 1: get weird. Then I love it. Yeah that if you,
Speaker 1: if you could stop and edit like our initial accents,
Speaker 1: with the ones we end up on finally that they're
Speaker 1: like night and day. All right, here we go. It's
Speaker 1: all nonsense, said Jack Barnes. Of course people have died
Speaker 1: in the house. People die in every house. As for
Speaker 1: the noises wind in the chimney and rats and the
Speaker 1: wainscott are very convincing to a nervous man. Give me
Speaker 1: another cup of Team Megel. Lester and White are first,
Speaker 1: said Meagel, who was presiding at the tea table. Of
Speaker 1: the three feathers in you've had two. Lester and White
Speaker 1: finish their cup with irritating slowness, pausing between SIPs to
Speaker 1: sniff the aroma and to discover the sex and dates
Speaker 1: of arrival of the strangers, which floated in some numbers
Speaker 1: in the beverage. Now what is that? I have no idea.
Speaker 1: I really wondered about that. It doesn't make any sense.
Speaker 1: The only way I can make heaser tails of it.
Speaker 1: Is if the beverage is like that a bar another
Speaker 1: word for the bar, and there there there's people coming
Speaker 1: in and out of this public bar that they're in.
Speaker 1: That's all I can do. Yeah, that makes a little
Speaker 1: bit of sense at least. Mr Meagle served them to
Speaker 1: the brim, and then turning to the grimly expectant Mr
Speaker 1: Barnes blandly requested him to ring for hot water. We'll
Speaker 1: try and keep your nerves in a healthy present condition,
Speaker 1: he remarked. For my part, I have a sort of
Speaker 1: half and half belief in the supernatural. All sensible people have,
Speaker 1: said Leicester. An auntie of mine saw a ghost once.
Speaker 1: White nodded. I had an uncle that saw one, he said.
Speaker 1: It always is somebody else that sees them. Well, there's
Speaker 1: a house, said Meagle, a lot to house at an
Speaker 1: absurdly low rate, and nobody will take it. It has
Speaker 1: taken toll of at least one life of every family
Speaker 1: that's lived there, however short at the time, and since
Speaker 1: it has stood empty, caretaker after caretaker has died there.
Speaker 1: The last caretaker died there fifteen years ago. Wow, I
Speaker 1: love Meagle. It's really evolved. He's changed all of a
Speaker 1: sudden that tea is doing something. Yeah, now, I just
Speaker 1: have to remember the next time he speaks. Well, I've
Speaker 1: tried to separate my two guys by by class. You don't,
Speaker 1: oh nice? Okay, all right exactly, said Barnes, long enough
Speaker 1: for legends to accumulate. Okay, I'll bet you a sovereign
Speaker 1: you won't spend the night there alone for all your talk,
Speaker 1: said White suddenly. And I no, said Barnes slowly. I
Speaker 1: don't believe in ghost snore, in any supernatural things whatever,
Speaker 1: all the aim, I admit that I should not care
Speaker 1: to pass a night there alone. But why not? Inquired White?
Speaker 1: Wind in the chimney, said Meagle with the green I
Speaker 1: don't remember what Meagle founded like rats and the Wainscott
Speaker 1: chimed in lester as you like, said Barnes, coloring. Suppose
Speaker 1: we all go, said Meagle, start after supper and get
Speaker 1: there about eleven. We've been walking for ten days now
Speaker 1: without an adventure except for bonness discovery that ditch water
Speaker 1: smells longest. There will be a novelty at any rate.
Speaker 1: And if we break the spell by all surviving, the
Speaker 1: grateful owner ought to come down handsome. Let's see what
Speaker 1: the landlord has to say about it. First, said Leicester,
Speaker 1: there is no fun in passing a night in an
Speaker 1: ordinary empty house. Let us make sure that it is haunted.
Speaker 1: He rang the bell, and, sending for the landlord, appealed
Speaker 1: to him, in the name of our common humanity not
Speaker 1: to let them waste a night watching in a house
Speaker 1: in which specters and hobgoblins had no part. The reply
Speaker 1: was more than reassuring, and the landlord, after describing with
Speaker 1: considerable art the exact appearance of a head which had
Speaker 1: been seen hanging out of a window in the moonlight,
Speaker 1: wound up with a polite but urgent request that they
Speaker 1: would settle his bill before they went. It's all very
Speaker 1: well for you young gentlemen to have your fun, he said, indulgently.
Speaker 1: But supposing, as how, you are all found dead in
Speaker 1: the morning, what about me. It ain't called the toll
Speaker 1: house for nothing. You know you die there, last, inquired Barnes,
Speaker 1: with an air of polite derision. A tramp was the reply.
Speaker 1: He went there for the sake of half a crown,
Speaker 1: and they found him next morning hanging from the ballusters. Dead. Suicide,
Speaker 1: said Barnes, unsound mind. The landlord nodded. That's what the
Speaker 1: jury brought in, he said slowly, but his mind was
Speaker 1: sound enough when he went in there. I'd known him
Speaker 1: off and on for years. I'm a pool man, but
Speaker 1: I wouldn't spend the night in that house for a
Speaker 1: hundred pounds. And also, by the way, Chuck, I went
Speaker 1: ahead and did the inflation calculator and then translated it
Speaker 1: into USD. So he's saying, the landlord saying here that
Speaker 1: he wouldn't spend the night in that house for nine thousand,
Speaker 1: two hundred and seventy two pounds in today's money or
Speaker 1: ten thousand, four hundred and eighty eight dollars and fifty
Speaker 1: three cents in America. Very nice. He repeated this remark
Speaker 1: as they started on their expedition. A few hours later,
Speaker 1: they left as the inn was closing for the night.
Speaker 1: Bolts shot noisily behind them, and as the regular customers
Speaker 1: trudged slowly homewards, they set off at a brisk pace
Speaker 1: in the direction of the house. Most of the cottages
Speaker 1: were already in darkness, and lights and others went out
Speaker 1: as they passed. All right, So I mean, here we
Speaker 1: have four gentlemen, we have a haunted house and a
Speaker 1: bit of a dare to each other, right to go
Speaker 1: spend the night in that thing? Exactly? And I think
Speaker 1: it was um, I think it was Barnes who just
Speaker 1: apropos of nothing, started talking about how he doesn't believe
Speaker 1: in ghosts, right, but he's like, I don't want to
Speaker 1: go there, but it's not because of ghosts, right exactly.
Speaker 1: So they're like, Okay, we're gonna get you out. We're
Speaker 1: all loaded up on English tea right now, so let's
Speaker 1: go see this haunted house. That's right. So I think
Speaker 1: you should take over. Okay, alright, but we'll keep the
Speaker 1: same voices, right, or should we just get really weird? Well, well,
Speaker 1: I think it doesn't matter whether we try or not.
Speaker 1: That's what's going to happen. Hey, I've got my guys,
Speaker 1: so I'm talking about me then, alright, So that's uh,
Speaker 1: that's you starting out as White. It seems rather hard
Speaker 1: that we have got to lose Night's Rest in order
Speaker 1: to convince Barnes of the existence of ghosts. Wit is
Speaker 1: White from Maryland. All of a sudden, said White. It's
Speaker 1: in a good cause, said megel a most worthy object.
Speaker 1: And something seems to tell me that we shall succeed.
Speaker 1: You didn't forget the candles, lester, Oh man, I love Meagle.
Speaker 1: I gotta hang out with this guy. What's he gonna say?
Speaker 1: I brought two, was the reply all the old man
Speaker 1: could spare. There was but little moon, and the night
Speaker 1: was cloudy. The road between high hedges was dark, and
Speaker 1: in one place where it ran through a wood so
Speaker 1: black that they twice stumbled, and the uneven ground at
Speaker 1: the side of it. Fancy leaving our comfortable beds for this,
Speaker 1: said White again. Let me see this desirable residential suppulcher
Speaker 1: lies to the right, doesn't it further on? Said Megel.
Speaker 1: They walked on for some time in silence, broken only
Speaker 1: by White's tribute to the softness, the cleanliness, and the
Speaker 1: comfort of the head, which was receding farther and farther
Speaker 1: into the distance. Under Meagel's guidance, they turned off at
Speaker 1: last to the right, and after a walk of a
Speaker 1: quarter of a mile, saw the gates of the house
Speaker 1: before them. The lodge was almost hidden by overgrown shrubs,
Speaker 1: and the dry was choked with rank growths. M Meagle leading,
Speaker 1: they pushed through it until the dark pile of the
Speaker 1: house loomed above them. There's a window at the back
Speaker 1: where we can get in, so the landlord, says, said Lester,
Speaker 1: as they stood before the hall floor window, said Megel, nonsense,
Speaker 1: let's do the thing properly. Where's the knocker? He Oh,
Speaker 1: that's my new ringtowne for you. Where's the knocker? I'm
Speaker 1: not getting in there. Jerry isolated that and send it
Speaker 1: to me please. He fell for it in the darkness
Speaker 1: and gave a thundering rattat at the door. Don't a fool,
Speaker 1: said Barnes crossly. Ghostly servants are all asleep, said Meagle gravely.
Speaker 1: But I'll wake them up before I'm done with them.
Speaker 1: It's scandalous keeping us out here in the dark. He
Speaker 1: plied the knocker again, and the noise volleyed in the
Speaker 1: emptiness beyond. Then, with a sudden exclamation, he put out
Speaker 1: his hands and stumbled forward. Why it was open all
Speaker 1: the time, he said, with an odd catch in his voice.
Speaker 1: You're not getting there and really put that in there.
Speaker 1: Come on, I don't believe it was open, said Lester,
Speaker 1: hanging back. Somebody is playing us a trick. Nonsense, said Meagle, sharply,
Speaker 1: give me a candle thanks, who's got a match? You'll
Speaker 1: butt in my face? Oh wait, sorry, Barnes produced a
Speaker 1: box and struck one, and Megal, shielding the candle with
Speaker 1: his hand, led the way forward to the foot of
Speaker 1: the stairs. Shut the door, somebody, he said, there's too
Speaker 1: much draft. It is shut, said White, glancing behind him.
Speaker 1: Megel fingered his chin. Who shut it, he inquired, looking
Speaker 1: from one to the other, Who came in last? I did,
Speaker 1: said Lester, But I don't remember shutting it. Perhaps I did,
Speaker 1: though Meagle, about to speak, thought better of it, and,
Speaker 1: still carefully guarding the flame, began to explore the house
Speaker 1: with the others close behind. Shadows danced on the walls
Speaker 1: and lurked in the corners as they proceeded. At the
Speaker 1: end of the passage, they found a second staircase, and,
Speaker 1: descending it slowly gained the first floor. Careful, said Meagle.
Speaker 1: As they gained the landing, he held the candle forward
Speaker 1: and showed where the balusters had broken away. Then he
Speaker 1: peered curiously into the void beneath. This is where the
Speaker 1: trump hanged himself. I suppose, he said, thoughtfully, you have
Speaker 1: an unwholesome mind, said White, As they walked on this
Speaker 1: place is quite creepy enough without you remembering that. Now,
Speaker 1: let's find a comfortable room and have a little nip
Speaker 1: of whiskey, a piece and a pipe. How will this too?
Speaker 1: He Now we're talking. There's a White at every party.
Speaker 1: I like it. He opened a door at the end
Speaker 1: of the passage and revealed a small, square room. Meagel
Speaker 1: led the way with a candle, and, first melting a
Speaker 1: drop or two of tallow, stuck it on the mantelpiece.
Speaker 1: The others seated themselves on the floor and watched pleasantly
Speaker 1: as White drew from his pocket a small bottle of
Speaker 1: whiskey and a tin cup. Hmmm, I've forgotten the water,
Speaker 1: he exclaimed. I'll soon get some, said Megel. He tucked
Speaker 1: violently at the bell handle, and the rusty jangling of
Speaker 1: a bell sounded from a distant kitchen. He rang again.
Speaker 1: Don't play a fool, said Barnes roughly. Megel laughed. I
Speaker 1: only wanted to convince you, he said kindly, there ought
Speaker 1: to be at any rate one ghost in the servants hall.
Speaker 1: Barnes held up his hand for silence. Yess, said Meagle,
Speaker 1: with a grin at the other two. Is anybody coming.
Speaker 1: All right, this seems like a good switch point. So
Speaker 1: it seems like a Meagle is like making a big,
Speaker 1: you know, spectacle of this whole thing. He's he's a
Speaker 1: bit of a he's a bit of a jackass. I'm
Speaker 1: just gonna say it. Yeah, you're not taking this very seriously, No,
Speaker 1: for sure not. And he's a little he's being a
Speaker 1: little mean to Barnes, who's clearly on edge. Yeah. Barnes,
Speaker 1: for all his spawning over not being afraid of ghosts,
Speaker 1: is clearly afraid, right, and Megal is heating it up
Speaker 1: like a puppy on a straw steak. All right, here
Speaker 1: we go with Barnes, and then you're taking over. Good yep,
Speaker 1: Suppose we draw this game and go back, said Barnes. Suddenly.
Speaker 1: I don't believe in spirits, but nerves are outside anybody's command.
Speaker 1: You may laugh as you like, but it really seems
Speaker 1: to me that I heard a door open below and
Speaker 1: steps on the stairs. His voice was drowned in a
Speaker 1: roar of laughter. He's coming around, said Megel with a smirk.
Speaker 1: By the time I've done with him, he will be
Speaker 1: a confirmed believer. Well, who will go and get some water?
Speaker 1: Will you barns now, was the reply. If there is
Speaker 1: any it might not be safe to drink after all
Speaker 1: these years, said Blister, we must do without it. Meagle nodded, and,
Speaker 1: taking a seat on the floor, held out his hand
Speaker 1: for the cup. Pipes were lit and the clean, wholesome
Speaker 1: smell of tobacco filled the room. White produced a pack
Speaker 1: of cards. Talk and laughter rang through the room and
Speaker 1: died away reluctantly. In distant corners, cypercill played on the
Speaker 1: high fi Uh Marlon Wayne showed up empty rooms. Always
Speaker 1: delude me into the belief that I possess a deep voice,
Speaker 1: said Megel. Tomorrow. He started with a smothered exclamation eck
Speaker 1: as the light went out suddenly and something struck him
Speaker 1: on the head. The others sprang to their feet. Then
Speaker 1: Migel laughed. It's the candle, he exclaimed. I didn't stick
Speaker 1: it enough. Barnes struck a match and, relighting the candle,
Speaker 1: stuck it on the mantelpiece, and sitting down, took up
Speaker 1: his cards again. What was I going to say? Said Megel? Oh,
Speaker 1: I know tomorrow, I listen, said White, laying his hand
Speaker 1: on the other sleep upon my word. I really thought
Speaker 1: I heard a laugh. Look here, said Barnes. What do
Speaker 1: you say to go him back? I've had enough of this.
Speaker 1: I keep fancying that I hear things too, sounds of
Speaker 1: something moving about in the passage outside. I know it's
Speaker 1: only fancy, but it's uncomfortable. Oh you go if you
Speaker 1: want to, said Meagle, and we will play dummy. Or
Speaker 1: you might ask the tramp to take your hand as
Speaker 1: you go downstairs. Barnes shivered and exclaimed angrily. He got up, and,
Speaker 1: walking to the half closed door, listened. Go outside, said Megel,
Speaker 1: winking at the other two. I'll dare you to go
Speaker 1: down to the hall door and back by yourself. Co
Speaker 1: co co co cock. Barnes came back. Oh sorry, Barnes
Speaker 1: came back, and, bending forward, lit his pipe at the candle.
Speaker 1: I am nervous, but rational, he said, blowing out a
Speaker 1: thin cloud of smoke. Me nerves tell me that there
Speaker 1: is something prowling up and down the long passage outside.
Speaker 1: My reason tells me that it is all nonsense. Where
Speaker 1: are my cards? He sat down again, and taking up
Speaker 1: his hand through it carefully and led your play, white,
Speaker 1: he said. After a pause. White made no sign. Why
Speaker 1: he is asleep, said Meagle, wake up, old man, wake
Speaker 1: up and play. Lester, who was sitting next to him,
Speaker 1: took the sleeping man by the arm and shook him
Speaker 1: gently at first, and then with some roughness. But White,
Speaker 1: with his back against the wall and his head bowed,
Speaker 1: made no sign. Meagle bawled in his ear and then
Speaker 1: turned a puzzled face to the others. He sleeps like
Speaker 1: the dead, he said, grimacing. Well there are still three
Speaker 1: of us to keep each other company. Yes, said Lester, nodding, unless,
Speaker 1: good Lord, suppose he broke off and eyed them trembling.
Speaker 1: Suppose what inquired Megel. Nothing, stammered Lester. Let's wake him,
Speaker 1: try him again, White, White, it's no good, said Meagle. Seriously,
Speaker 1: there's something wrong about that sleep, That's what I meant,
Speaker 1: said Lester. And if he goes to sleep like that, well,
Speaker 1: why shouldn't Meagles sprang to his feet. Nonsense, he said roughly.
Speaker 1: He's tired out, that's all. Still. Let's take him up
Speaker 1: and clear out. You take his legs, and bonds will
Speaker 1: lead the way with the candle. Yes, who's that? He
Speaker 1: looked up quickly towards the door. I thought I heard
Speaker 1: somebody tap, he said, with a shame faced. Laugh now
Speaker 1: Lester up with him. One, two, Lester, Lester. He sprang
Speaker 1: forward too late. Lester, with his face buried in his arms,
Speaker 1: had rolled over under the floor, fast asleep, and his
Speaker 1: utmost efforts failed to awaken him. He is asleep, he stammered, asleep. Barnes,
Speaker 1: who had taken the candle from the mantelpiece, stood peering
Speaker 1: at the sleepers in silence and dropping tallow over the floor.
Speaker 1: We must get out of this, said Megal. Quick Barnes hesitated.
Speaker 1: We can't leave him here, he began. We must, said Meagles,
Speaker 1: in strident tones. If you go to sleep, I shall
Speaker 1: go quick come. He seized the other by the arm
Speaker 1: and strove to drag him to the door. Barnes shook
Speaker 1: him off, and, putting the candle back on the mantelpiece,
Speaker 1: tried again to arouse the sleepers. It's no good, he
Speaker 1: said at last, and turning from them, watched Megal. Don't
Speaker 1: you go to sleep? He said anxiously. Meagle shook his head,
Speaker 1: and they stood for some time in uneasy silence. May
Speaker 1: as well shut the door, said Barnes at last, I
Speaker 1: think this is a good good time to transition over
Speaker 1: to you. All right, I gotta say, uh, Megal, this
Speaker 1: chap has a flair for the dramatic. He's very easily excitable.
Speaker 1: It turns out very much. I really like this guy. Yeah.
Speaker 1: It so, just to just to recap, Lester and White
Speaker 1: have inexplicably fallen asleep and cannot be roused. Yeah, they're
Speaker 1: not dead, because it seems like they're definitely asleep and
Speaker 1: breathing right, And so Megel and Barnes are freaked out,
Speaker 1: and it's sufficiently freaky that even Meagles like, yeah, let's
Speaker 1: let's get out of here. But Barnes, there was credit,
Speaker 1: is like, no, we're not leaving these guys. We gotta
Speaker 1: wake him up. Yeah, but I also get the feeling
Speaker 1: Barnes is like, now I'm stuck with with Megel. Everybody,
Speaker 1: No one likes that. All right, here we go. He
Speaker 1: crossed over and closed it gently. Then, at a scuffling
Speaker 1: noise behind him, he turned and saw Megel in a
Speaker 1: heap on the hearthstone. With a sharp catch in his breath,
Speaker 1: he stood motionless inside the room. The candle fluttering in
Speaker 1: the draft show dimly the grotesque attitudes of the sleepers.
Speaker 1: That's a great line. Beyond the door there seemed to
Speaker 1: be his overwrought imagination, a strange and stealthy unrest. He
Speaker 1: tried to whistle, but his lips were parched, And then
Speaker 1: a mechanical fashion, he stooped and began to pick up
Speaker 1: the cards which littered the floor. He stopped once or
Speaker 1: twice and stood with bent head listening. The unrest outside
Speaker 1: seemed to increase a loud creaking sound from the stairs.
Speaker 1: Who's there, he cried loudly. The creaking ceased. He crossed
Speaker 1: to the door, and, flinging it open, strode out into
Speaker 1: the corridor. As he walked, his fears left him. Suddenly,
Speaker 1: come on, he cried, with a low laugh. All of you,
Speaker 1: all of you, show your faces, your infernal, ugly faces.
Speaker 1: Don't skulk. He laughed again, and walked on, and the
Speaker 1: heap in the fireplace put out his head toward us
Speaker 1: fashion and listened in horror to the retreating footsteps. That's creepy.
Speaker 1: Not until they had become inaudible in the distance did
Speaker 1: the listeners features relax. Good Lord Lester, we've driven him bad,
Speaker 1: he said, in a frightened whisper. We must go after him.
Speaker 1: There was no reply. Migel sprung to his feet. Do
Speaker 1: you hear? He cried, Stop your fooling, Now, this is serious.
Speaker 1: What Lester, do you hear? He bent and surveyed them
Speaker 1: in angry bewilderment. All right, he said, in a trembling voice.
Speaker 1: You won't front me, you know. His croutch wet with
Speaker 1: urine w w Jacobs set up his grave and applauded.
Speaker 1: He turned away and walked with exaggerated carelessness into the
Speaker 1: direction of the door. He even went outside and peeped
Speaker 1: through the crack, but the sleepers did not stir. He
Speaker 1: glanced into the blackness behind, and then came hastily into
Speaker 1: the room again. So he's all alone at this point, right, yeah,
Speaker 1: and freaked out. He stood for a few seconds regarding them.
Speaker 1: The stillness in the house was horrible. He could not
Speaker 1: even hear them breathe. With a sudden resolution, he snatched
Speaker 1: the candle from the mantelpiece and held the flame him
Speaker 1: to White's finger. Then, as he reeled back, stupefied, the
Speaker 1: footsteps again became audible. He stood with a candle in
Speaker 1: his shaking hand, listening. He heard them ascending the farther staircase,
Speaker 1: but they stopped suddenly as he went to the door.
Speaker 1: He walked a little way along the passage, and they
Speaker 1: went scurrying down the stairs, and then at a jog
Speaker 1: trot along the corridor below. He went back to the
Speaker 1: main staircase and they ceased again. All right, so this
Speaker 1: is getting really creepy at this point. Yeah, so you
Speaker 1: can't see anything. All of his buddies are all in
Speaker 1: some weird mystical sleep, and now there's phantom footsteps chasing
Speaker 1: him around the house. All right, I think you should
Speaker 1: take it over for a time. He hung over the ballusters,
Speaker 1: listening and trying to pierce the blackness belowe. Then, slowly,
Speaker 1: step by step, he made his downstairs, and, holding the
Speaker 1: candle above his head, peered about him barns, he called out,
Speaker 1: where are you? Shaking with fright, he made his way
Speaker 1: along the passage, and, summoning up all his courage, pushed
Speaker 1: open doors and gazed fearfully into empty rooms. Then quite
Speaker 1: suddenly he heard the footsteps in front of him. He
Speaker 1: followed slowly for fear of extinguishing the candle, until they
Speaker 1: led him at last into a vast, bare kitchen with
Speaker 1: damp walls and a broken floor. In front of him,
Speaker 1: A door leading into an inside room had just closed.
Speaker 1: He ran toward it and flung it open, and a
Speaker 1: cold air blew out the candle. He stood aghast barns.
Speaker 1: He cried again, don't be afraid, it is I me
Speaker 1: go to save the day right. There was no answer.
Speaker 1: He stood gazing into the darkness, and all the time
Speaker 1: the idea of something close at hand watching was upon him.
Speaker 1: Then suddenly the steps broke out overhead again. He drew
Speaker 1: back hastily, and, passing through the kitchen, groped his way
Speaker 1: along the narrow passages. He could now see better in
Speaker 1: the darkness, and, finding himself at last at the foot
Speaker 1: of the staircase, began to ascend it noiselessly. He reached
Speaker 1: the landing just in time to see a figure disappear
Speaker 1: around the angle of the wall. Still careful to make
Speaker 1: no noise, he followed the sound of the steps until
Speaker 1: they led him to the top floor, and he cornered
Speaker 1: the chase. At the end of a short passage palns,
Speaker 1: He whispered, but something stirred in the darkness. A small
Speaker 1: circular window at the end of the passage just softened
Speaker 1: the blackness and revealed the dim outlines of a motionless figure. Nagel,
Speaker 1: in place of advancing, stood almost as still as a
Speaker 1: sudden horrible doubt took possession of him. With his eyes
Speaker 1: fixed on the shape in front, he all back slowly,
Speaker 1: and as it advanced upon him, burst into a terrible
Speaker 1: crod barns for god, sick is it you? I think
Speaker 1: you take over now, okay, and then you can take
Speaker 1: it home? How about that? Yeah? Also, I just want
Speaker 1: to w W. Jacobs doesn't really play this up as much.
Speaker 1: He kind of touched on it with like the creepy
Speaker 1: vast bear kitchen with damp walls and broken floor, but
Speaker 1: he hasn't really included the this empty, abandoned, scary, haunted
Speaker 1: house as much of a character. So you just have
Speaker 1: to remind yourself like, this is going on in an
Speaker 1: empty house where this man is alone in the dark
Speaker 1: and scared sless, scared less. The echoes of his voice
Speaker 1: left the air quivering, but the figure before him paid
Speaker 1: no heed. For a moment, he tried to brace his
Speaker 1: courage up to endure its approach. Then with a smothered cry,
Speaker 1: he turned and fled. The passages wound like a maze
Speaker 1: and he threaded them blindly in a vain search for
Speaker 1: the stairs if he could get down and open the
Speaker 1: hall door. He caught his breath in a sob. The
Speaker 1: steps had begun again, at a lumbering trot. They clattered
Speaker 1: up and down the bare passages, in and out, up
Speaker 1: and down, as though in search of him. He stood appalled,
Speaker 1: and as they drew near, entered a small room and
Speaker 1: stood behind the door. As they rushed by. He came
Speaker 1: out and ran swiftly and noiselessly in the other direction,
Speaker 1: and in a moment the steps were after him. He
Speaker 1: found the long corridor and raced along it at top speed.
Speaker 1: The stair he knew where at the end, and with
Speaker 1: the steps close behind, he descended them in a blind haste.
Speaker 1: The steps gained on him, and he shrank to the
Speaker 1: side to let them pass, still continuing his headlong flight.
Speaker 1: Then suddenly he seemed to slip off of the Earth
Speaker 1: into space. Why don't you take it home? Okay? WHOA
Speaker 1: lester awoke in the morning to find the sunshine streaming
Speaker 1: into the room and white, sitting up and regarding with
Speaker 1: some perplexity a badly blistered finger. Where are the others?
Speaker 1: Inquired Lester. Gone, I suppose, said White. We must have
Speaker 1: been asleep. Lester arose, and White could have used a
Speaker 1: better a little more development, but I'm gonna just stick
Speaker 1: with it, since that was the last quote of his.
Speaker 1: That's right, he's he's the least interesting guy here, I think.
Speaker 1: Lester arose, and, stretching his stiffened limbs, dusted his clothes
Speaker 1: with his hands, and went out into the corridor. White followed.
Speaker 1: At the noise of their approach, a figure which had
Speaker 1: been lying asleep at the other end, sat up and
Speaker 1: revealed the face of Barnes. Why I've been asleep, he said,
Speaker 1: in surprise. I don't remember coming here. How did I
Speaker 1: get here? Nice place to come? Were a nap, said
Speaker 1: Lester severely, as he pointed to the gap and the balusters.
Speaker 1: Look there another yard, and where would you have been?
Speaker 1: He walked carelessly to the edge and looked over. In
Speaker 1: response to his startled cry, the others drew near, and
Speaker 1: all three to gazing at the dead man. Bill and
Speaker 1: W W. Jacobs doesn't say it, but the dead man
Speaker 1: was Megal Megal and looks you know, I think, Lester
Speaker 1: there was exclaiming, how like that could have been you.
Speaker 1: It could have been any of us, yeah, for sure,
Speaker 1: but thank god it was a Megal. It was Megal,
Speaker 1: the Central European cousin. Good stuff. That's a really good story.
Speaker 1: That was a good story. We should do the Monkey's
Speaker 1: Pause sometime too. Yeah. For some reason, I've been avoiding
Speaker 1: that because it's so well known. But yeah, we should
Speaker 1: totally do that. I honestly I've never read it, but yeah,
Speaker 1: I just know about it from like the Simpsons Treehouse
Speaker 1: of Horror. It's good, good story. Well that's it, everybody, right, Chuck.
Speaker 1: I mean it's time to say Happy Halloween and all that. Right,
Speaker 1: That's right. Do you guys be safe out there, have
Speaker 1: fun trick or treating or going to your parties, or
Speaker 1: if you choose to not participate, then that's fine too.
Speaker 1: But Halloween's the best. So get out there and don't
Speaker 1: forget to take every piece of your candy to your
Speaker 1: local e R and weight around while they X ray
Speaker 1: it for you. That's right, Happy Halloween, everybody from us
Speaker 1: and Jerry h. Stuff you should Know is a production
Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts my heart Radio,
Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app Apple podcasts or wherever
Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows. H