WEBVTT - Season 03 Episode 03: Under the Asphalt (Rerun)

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<v Speaker 1>With season eight due to return next Friday, it's back

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<v Speaker 1>to the archive of one more time. This week we're

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<v Speaker 1>heading to the seventies, to a quiet housing estate in

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<v Speaker 1>southeast London. Considering there have been settlers based around the

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<v Speaker 1>area comprising present day London for over five thousand years,

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<v Speaker 1>it's hardly surprising that under all that concrete we find

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<v Speaker 1>remnants of those that have come before us. But what

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<v Speaker 1>comes of those whose remnants have been disturbed? This is unexplained,

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<v Speaker 1>Season three, episode three, Under the Asphalt. That night, Zoe

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<v Speaker 1>was restless, lying in bed with her boyfriend's stand fast

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<v Speaker 1>asleep beside her. She had noticed a strange, diffuse light

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<v Speaker 1>that appeared to be emanating from just inside the bedroom window.

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<v Speaker 1>Nudging Stan awake, she gestured toward the far end of

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<v Speaker 1>the room. Seeing it now too, he sat up, trying

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<v Speaker 1>to comprehend what he was looking at. Before he had

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<v Speaker 1>time to think, Zoe was already up and flicking on

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<v Speaker 1>the main light, nervously looking about the room, before turning

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<v Speaker 1>it off again. With the room shrouded once more in darkness,

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<v Speaker 1>the peculiar light appeared to have gone. Must have been

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<v Speaker 1>something from outside, said Stan as he rolled on to

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<v Speaker 1>his side and closed his eyes. Zoey rubbed her arms,

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<v Speaker 1>suddenly feeling a little cold, and moved over to the window.

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<v Speaker 1>Peering down through the curtains to the quiet street below,

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<v Speaker 1>she could see the soft sodium glow of a street

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<v Speaker 1>light illuminating the pavement on the far side of the road.

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<v Speaker 1>That must have been it, she thought. She pulled the

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<v Speaker 1>curtains tighter and got back into bed. Before she could

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<v Speaker 1>get comfortable, however, she saw once again that the strange

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<v Speaker 1>light had returned. Stan whispered Zoe. He opened his eyes

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<v Speaker 1>for a moment before turning away again on to his side.

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<v Speaker 1>I told you it's just something from outside, but Stan

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<v Speaker 1>said Zoe. It's moving. Stan paused before turning to look

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<v Speaker 1>at Zoe and then towards the end of the room.

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<v Speaker 1>What at first seemed like a light was more like

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<v Speaker 1>a misty white shadow now, and it was moving away

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<v Speaker 1>from the window and further into the room. Stan's hands

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<v Speaker 1>gripped tighter on the covers. The pair froze as the

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<v Speaker 1>amorphous shadow of light continued to move around the room

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<v Speaker 1>before stopping at the end of the bed. Stan shot

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<v Speaker 1>under the covers in terror, but Zoe couldn't take her

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<v Speaker 1>eyes off it, she reached out her hand, drawing closer

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<v Speaker 1>and closer until she was near enough to touch it,

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<v Speaker 1>and then as quickly as it had appeared, it vanished.

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<v Speaker 1>You're listening to Unexplained and I'm Richard mc lean smith.

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<v Speaker 1>The following morning, Zoey and Stan weren't quite sure what,

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<v Speaker 1>if anything, they had seen. An embarrassed Stan left early

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<v Speaker 1>for work, leaving a perplexed Zoe to explain the events

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<v Speaker 1>to her housemate Rosemary. The two of them lived together

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<v Speaker 1>in Flat number twenty four of Frankombe House, a five

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<v Speaker 1>story red bricked council housing block built in the late

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen thirties. It was located on the corner of frankom

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<v Speaker 1>Street and Deptford Church Street in southeast London, forming part

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<v Speaker 1>of the area's Crossfield Estate. The estate had been built

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<v Speaker 1>over a ten year period as part of a major

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<v Speaker 1>regeneration drive to improve housing in the local area, but

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<v Speaker 1>had itself in recent times come under threat of demolition.

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<v Speaker 1>In early nineteen seventy three, builders had moved in to

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<v Speaker 1>widen the adjacent road, and now the council were considering

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<v Speaker 1>the partial removal of some of the housing blocks on

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<v Speaker 1>the estate. To make way for it. It was shortly

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<v Speaker 1>after builders moved in that Zoe's peculiar experience had taken

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<v Speaker 1>place that morning. However, recounting the story to Rosemary, she

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<v Speaker 1>couldn't help but feel a little bit stupid. Most likely,

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<v Speaker 1>as Stan had suggested, it really was just a trick

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<v Speaker 1>of the light. Twenty one year old Zoe had moved

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<v Speaker 1>into the flat the previous year, shortly after giving birth

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<v Speaker 1>to her baby, Natalie. The pair shared the apartment with

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<v Speaker 1>the twenty eight year old Rosemary and three year old

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<v Speaker 1>daughters Donna and Jennifer, and her seven year old son Mark.

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<v Speaker 1>Though neither was particularly superstitious, with their young children also

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<v Speaker 1>living in the flat with them, they could be forgiven

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<v Speaker 1>a slight sense of apprehension at the thought of something

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<v Speaker 1>strange happening inside their home. They had soon forgotten the incident, however,

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<v Speaker 1>until a few weeks later, when Zoe, who worked as

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<v Speaker 1>a nurse, returned to the flat after a long shift

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<v Speaker 1>to find a putrid smell filling the apartment. She had

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<v Speaker 1>come across that smell before at work. It was the

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<v Speaker 1>smell of rotting flesh. Rosemary had recently adopted a puppy.

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<v Speaker 1>Perhaps it had brought something into the flat, thought Zoe,

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<v Speaker 1>yet despite scouring the place from top to bottom, she

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<v Speaker 1>found no obvious source. When Rosemary returned with the children

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<v Speaker 1>later that day, they spent the evening pulling back furniture

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<v Speaker 1>and disinfecting the pro even spraying air freshener everywhere, but

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<v Speaker 1>it was to no avail. Nothing could shake it. The

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<v Speaker 1>following day, the stench persisted. Being Saturday, the families took

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<v Speaker 1>the opportunity to get out for the day, hoping the

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<v Speaker 1>odour would dissipate by the time they had got back.

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<v Speaker 1>Returning later that evening, they were somewhat disappointed to find

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<v Speaker 1>it still very much lingering. Zoe took little convincing to

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<v Speaker 1>stay at stands for the night, leaving the others to

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<v Speaker 1>deal with it alone. Doing their best to ignore it,

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<v Speaker 1>the family would eventually bed down for the night and

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<v Speaker 1>find some sleep. It was sometime around one a m.

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<v Speaker 1>When Rosemary awoke with a start. The room was pitch black,

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<v Speaker 1>but as her eyes slowly adjusted, she could just make

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<v Speaker 1>out the figure of a man standing at the foot

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<v Speaker 1>of her bed, watching her. Assuming it to be her

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<v Speaker 1>boyfriend Lloyd, who had mentioned possibly heading over that night,

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<v Speaker 1>Rosemary watched in silence as the figure turned and walked

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<v Speaker 1>straight out at the bedroom without saying a word. Lloyd

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<v Speaker 1>whispered Rosemary into the night, but there was no reply.

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<v Speaker 1>Feeling suddenly unsure, she stepped from the bed and peered

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<v Speaker 1>into the darkness of the corridor, looking down to the

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<v Speaker 1>far end. Although the living room door was closed, she

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<v Speaker 1>could see the room's light was on, softly shining out

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<v Speaker 1>from under the door. Lloyd she whispered again, but still

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<v Speaker 1>there was no response. After checking to make sure that

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<v Speaker 1>there was no one in the kitchen, Rosemary cautiously made

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<v Speaker 1>her way toward the living room, stopping outside the door,

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<v Speaker 1>she could just make out an airy, scratching sound coming

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<v Speaker 1>from within. Slowly she opened the door, but there was

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<v Speaker 1>nobody inside the room. The sound, she now realized, had

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<v Speaker 1>been coming from the record player, which had inexplicably been

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<v Speaker 1>turned on. She watched for a moment, mesmerized by the

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<v Speaker 1>empty table as it spun round and round, listening to

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<v Speaker 1>the scratch of the needle as it dragged against the

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<v Speaker 1>empty plate. With a rising sense of panic, she hurried

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<v Speaker 1>to check on the children in the other rooms and

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<v Speaker 1>found them all sound asleep, with no sign of an

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<v Speaker 1>intruder or Lloyd, for that matter, anywhere. Finally making her

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<v Speaker 1>way to the front door, Rosemary double checked the locks,

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<v Speaker 1>finding them just as she had left them earlier that night.

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<v Speaker 1>Now thoroughly spooted, Rosemary switched off the living room light

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<v Speaker 1>and returned to bed. After eventually getting back to sleep,

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<v Speaker 1>she was woken just before seven by an unexpected brightness,

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<v Speaker 1>surprised to find her bedroom light had been switched on.

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<v Speaker 1>In fact, as she would discover soon after, every light

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<v Speaker 1>in the house had been turned on again. There was

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<v Speaker 1>no sign of anybody else other than her children, who

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<v Speaker 1>were still sound asleep in their beds. A few hours later,

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<v Speaker 1>while helping her daughters get dressed, Rosemarie went to the

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<v Speaker 1>spare room to get clean clothes. She opened the door

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<v Speaker 1>and let out a stifled cry. The room had been

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<v Speaker 1>completely smashed up. The bed had been stripped and the

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<v Speaker 1>mattress tossed to the bottom of the room. All her

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<v Speaker 1>children's clothes had been wrenched from their drawers and scattered

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<v Speaker 1>across the floor, And in the middle of the room

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<v Speaker 1>sat a small rocking horse, which until that morning had

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<v Speaker 1>been perched high on top of the wardrobe. Then she

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<v Speaker 1>spotted something else lying on the floor, a golliwog doll

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<v Speaker 1>of her daughter's, its head torn off and the stuffing

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<v Speaker 1>ripped out of it. Although quite popular with many white

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<v Speaker 1>families at the time, the dolls designed in the image

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<v Speaker 1>of a black face minstrel have since been broadly recognized

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<v Speaker 1>as racist and offensive depictions of black men. All other

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<v Speaker 1>dolls in the room had been left curiously untouched. There

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<v Speaker 1>was something else too. The window was wide open. However,

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<v Speaker 1>as Rosemary looked down at the sheer drop two flights below,

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<v Speaker 1>it was clear that nobody could have climbed in or

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<v Speaker 1>out of it. Later that day, having confirmed that her

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<v Speaker 1>boyfriend Lloyd had been nowhere near the flat, a deeply

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<v Speaker 1>shaken Rosemary, accompanied by her three small children, made her

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<v Speaker 1>way up the road to Saint Paul's Church. Terrified that

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<v Speaker 1>she was going mad, She relayed the events to Canon

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<v Speaker 1>David Diamond, who listened with patience and concern to her story.

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<v Speaker 1>Though he wasn't free to see the flat for himself,

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<v Speaker 1>he gave her a crucifix to install in the apartment.

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<v Speaker 1>A short time later, Rosemary returned home, joined by friends

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<v Speaker 1>and neighbours Linda and the aptly named Missus mystery. Stepping

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<v Speaker 1>into the damaged bedroom, Mystery was immediately gripped by a

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<v Speaker 1>profoundly unsettling sensation. Blood drained from her face and the

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<v Speaker 1>hares rose on the back of her neck. Certain that

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<v Speaker 1>whatever had been here was violently angry. Together, the friends

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<v Speaker 1>cleaned up the room and placed the crucifix on the

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<v Speaker 1>wall at Linda's suggestion, The nervous Rosemary also scattered garlic

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<v Speaker 1>throughout the room to ward off any evil spirits. That night,

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<v Speaker 1>with Lloyd staying over this time, Rosemary slept soundly with

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<v Speaker 1>no repeat of the previous night's disturbances. The next day,

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<v Speaker 1>Priest Diamond arrived and, sensing something of an unquiet spirit,

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<v Speaker 1>he offered up a solemn requiem Mass, also known as

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<v Speaker 1>the Mass for the Dead. The Mass, as the Catholic

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<v Speaker 1>Rosemary knew well, was usually given at funerals in an

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<v Speaker 1>effort to bring rest to the souls of the deceased.

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<v Speaker 1>But Rosemary was confused. Why would he need to say

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<v Speaker 1>it in her apartment, she asked, As Diamond explained this

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<v Speaker 1>wasn't the first time he had given the Mass at

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<v Speaker 1>frankm House. In fact, he had been hearing reports for

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<v Speaker 1>some time that the place was haunted. As it would transpire,

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<v Speaker 1>there had been another building here before the council knocked

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<v Speaker 1>it down to build the estate. It was a church

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<v Speaker 1>demolished in the nineteen thirties, and Frankom House had been

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<v Speaker 1>built right on top of its cemetery. Perhaps the recent

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<v Speaker 1>building work had disturbed something in the soil, but Rosemary

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<v Speaker 1>shouldn't worry, said Diamond. The spirits wouldn't be bothering her now,

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<v Speaker 1>and he was right for a short time at least.

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<v Speaker 1>Hattie Smith and husband Jim had lived at Number sixteen

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<v Speaker 1>for twenty seven years when they accepted the council's offer

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<v Speaker 1>to move out as part of their redevelopment plans for

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<v Speaker 1>the US area, and they couldn't have been happier for

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<v Speaker 1>the opportunity. All six of their children had at some

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<v Speaker 1>point grown up in the frankem House flat, and all

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<v Speaker 1>had strange stories to tell. The family had always kept

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<v Speaker 1>it to themselves, not ever quite sure of what they

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<v Speaker 1>had experienced, but also concerned with what others might think.

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<v Speaker 1>Hattie had often sensed a presence when alone in the apartment,

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<v Speaker 1>and at times had even felt something touching her or

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<v Speaker 1>pulling at her clothes. Lights would frequently turn off and

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<v Speaker 1>on of their own accord. Hattie's daughter Shirley saw shadows

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<v Speaker 1>moving about the flat and heard odd noises late at night,

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<v Speaker 1>as if furniture was being moved around, only to find

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<v Speaker 1>the next morning that nothing had been touched. Another daughter, Sylvia,

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<v Speaker 1>had spent an entire night staring with horror at her

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<v Speaker 1>bedroom door as the handle moved up and down the door,

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<v Speaker 1>seemingly being opened and shut by something unseen. One time,

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<v Speaker 1>a neighbor late one evening thought she caught sight of

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<v Speaker 1>Hattie's husband, Jim, standing at one of the windows just

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<v Speaker 1>inside their apartment. Only the flat had been empty at

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<v Speaker 1>the time. The strange events seemed to have abated until

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<v Speaker 1>that final year before they moved and the workmen moved

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<v Speaker 1>into the area. It was late one Tuesday night when

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<v Speaker 1>Hattie returned home from playing bingo, with Jim away for

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<v Speaker 1>work and the children having left home many years before.

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<v Speaker 1>Hattie was completely alone when she put a pile of

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<v Speaker 1>dirty washing in the bath to soak overnight before retiring

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<v Speaker 1>to bed. The next morning, she was woken at seven

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<v Speaker 1>thirty a m. By the sound of fast running water

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<v Speaker 1>racing into the bathroom. She found it gushing out of

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<v Speaker 1>the tap. With the tub almost full, Hattie hurriedly turned

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<v Speaker 1>it off and looked down at the water. It was

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<v Speaker 1>the strangest thing. At the very bottom were her clothes

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<v Speaker 1>soaking in a layer of dark, dirty water, but then

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<v Speaker 1>on top an entirely other layer, completely clear. Whatever it was,

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<v Speaker 1>it was back a few weeks later, Hattie was cleaning

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<v Speaker 1>the bathroom when the door suddenly closed behind her. Turning

0:16:38.800 --> 0:16:41.680
<v Speaker 1>to pull it open, she found it had stuck fast,

0:16:42.160 --> 0:16:46.320
<v Speaker 1>as if it had been locked from the outside. Hattie

0:16:46.520 --> 0:16:50.240
<v Speaker 1>called out to Jim for help, pulling furiously at the handle.

0:16:51.240 --> 0:16:54.520
<v Speaker 1>Looking down, she screamed in terror at the sight of

0:16:54.560 --> 0:16:59.080
<v Speaker 1>a hand sticking out from under the door. Jim arrived

0:16:59.120 --> 0:17:03.320
<v Speaker 1>moments later, opening the door with ease. It had been

0:17:03.400 --> 0:17:14.320
<v Speaker 1>unlocked the whole time the Smiths left their apartment in

0:17:14.359 --> 0:17:18.359
<v Speaker 1>February of nineteen seventy four. It was around the same

0:17:18.400 --> 0:17:23.080
<v Speaker 1>time that Hattie's friend and neighbor, Beatrice Goringe, first experienced

0:17:23.080 --> 0:17:28.119
<v Speaker 1>her own peculiar happenings. Beatrice lived next door at Number seventeen,

0:17:28.760 --> 0:17:31.600
<v Speaker 1>and things had never been quite the same since her

0:17:31.640 --> 0:17:36.840
<v Speaker 1>husband died the year before. It started with the knocking,

0:17:38.240 --> 0:17:41.960
<v Speaker 1>short quiet taps that seemed to come from within the walls.

0:17:42.960 --> 0:17:47.119
<v Speaker 1>Then other sounds were heard, like something being dragged across

0:17:47.160 --> 0:17:51.879
<v Speaker 1>the floor. One night, early in the new year, the

0:17:51.920 --> 0:17:54.720
<v Speaker 1>fifty six year old Beatrice had just said good bye

0:17:54.760 --> 0:17:57.439
<v Speaker 1>to her daughter, who had come to visit, when she

0:17:57.480 --> 0:18:00.240
<v Speaker 1>turned back into the flat and noticed the bath from

0:18:00.280 --> 0:18:05.399
<v Speaker 1>door swinging closed. She called out, but received no reply,

0:18:06.359 --> 0:18:11.240
<v Speaker 1>hearing only voices coming from the radio in the living room.

0:18:11.640 --> 0:18:16.480
<v Speaker 1>Tiptoeing down toward the bathroom, she felt the temperature drop suddenly.

0:18:18.840 --> 0:18:22.560
<v Speaker 1>She pushed open the bathroom door, but found nobody inside.

0:18:24.280 --> 0:18:28.000
<v Speaker 1>Now feeling very cold, she listened with alarm as the

0:18:28.080 --> 0:18:31.040
<v Speaker 1>volume on the radio in the other room was suddenly

0:18:31.080 --> 0:18:37.919
<v Speaker 1>turned down. Hello, she said, but again there was no reply.

0:18:40.240 --> 0:18:43.320
<v Speaker 1>Moving slowly into the living room, she headed to the

0:18:43.400 --> 0:18:47.000
<v Speaker 1>radio and turned the dial back up, but the volume

0:18:47.080 --> 0:18:51.679
<v Speaker 1>wouldn't shift. When Beatrice stepped out of the room a

0:18:51.720 --> 0:18:57.360
<v Speaker 1>moment later, the radio blared out at full volume. Rushing

0:18:57.400 --> 0:19:00.800
<v Speaker 1>back in, she wrenched the cord from the wall and

0:19:00.880 --> 0:19:06.639
<v Speaker 1>stood for a moment in the silence. That night, Beatrice

0:19:06.680 --> 0:19:09.480
<v Speaker 1>awoke in the dim light of the late evening to

0:19:09.520 --> 0:19:12.320
<v Speaker 1>find what appeared to be the faint outline of a

0:19:12.359 --> 0:19:17.080
<v Speaker 1>figure standing at the end of her bed. Too terrified

0:19:17.080 --> 0:19:20.960
<v Speaker 1>to move, Beatrice waited until morning before packing a bag

0:19:21.240 --> 0:19:23.440
<v Speaker 1>and racing to her mother's, where she would spend the

0:19:23.520 --> 0:19:28.280
<v Speaker 1>night For the next few weeks. Friends suggested the figure

0:19:28.359 --> 0:19:32.240
<v Speaker 1>she had seen was her recently deceased husband, but she

0:19:32.359 --> 0:19:38.040
<v Speaker 1>insisted it wasn't. Her husband had been quite short, but

0:19:38.200 --> 0:19:43.720
<v Speaker 1>this figure was something else, entirely tall and oddly shaped.

0:19:51.359 --> 0:19:55.480
<v Speaker 1>Back inside number twenty four. A few nights later, Rosemary

0:19:55.640 --> 0:19:59.800
<v Speaker 1>was woken by the sound of the baby crying. With

0:20:00.080 --> 0:20:02.840
<v Speaker 1>Zoe out for the evening, she was just getting up

0:20:02.880 --> 0:20:05.239
<v Speaker 1>to see to her when she heard the cry of

0:20:05.320 --> 0:20:09.320
<v Speaker 1>leave me alone coming from her daughter's bedroom, but when

0:20:09.320 --> 0:20:12.040
<v Speaker 1>she entered, there was no one there except for Donna

0:20:12.240 --> 0:20:16.959
<v Speaker 1>and her sister Jennifer. I'm frightened, said Donna, as her

0:20:17.000 --> 0:20:22.560
<v Speaker 1>mother tried to comfort her. For the next few days,

0:20:22.960 --> 0:20:25.679
<v Speaker 1>the family are plagued by doors in the property that

0:20:25.800 --> 0:20:30.960
<v Speaker 1>continually open and close on their own. When a friend

0:20:31.200 --> 0:20:34.920
<v Speaker 1>hears of the latest events, she convinces Rosemary and Zoe

0:20:35.000 --> 0:20:37.520
<v Speaker 1>to try out a wigi board in an attempt to

0:20:37.560 --> 0:20:43.199
<v Speaker 1>communicate with whatever is haunting their home. One night in

0:20:43.240 --> 0:20:47.760
<v Speaker 1>early March, with the children fast asleep. Rosemary, Zoe, and

0:20:47.800 --> 0:20:52.359
<v Speaker 1>her boyfriend Stan sit themselves around the kitchen table, having

0:20:52.400 --> 0:20:56.080
<v Speaker 1>crudely constructed their own numbers and lettering, and placed them

0:20:56.080 --> 0:20:59.760
<v Speaker 1>in a circle around a glass. With their fingers on

0:20:59.800 --> 0:21:06.120
<v Speaker 1>the vessel. Rosemary asks quietly if anybody is there. Slowly,

0:21:06.400 --> 0:21:11.120
<v Speaker 1>the glass begins to move, stopping next to the word yes.

0:21:13.000 --> 0:21:15.840
<v Speaker 1>Are you a good or bad? Spirit cuts in Zoe.

0:21:17.880 --> 0:21:21.600
<v Speaker 1>Rosemary gasps as the glass makes its way across the table,

0:21:22.600 --> 0:21:26.320
<v Speaker 1>first to the letter B, then to the A, and

0:21:26.440 --> 0:21:30.840
<v Speaker 1>finally to the D. Cut it out stand, says zoey.

0:21:31.680 --> 0:21:35.560
<v Speaker 1>But I'm not doing anything, he says. To prove it,

0:21:35.840 --> 0:21:38.480
<v Speaker 1>he takes his finger from the glass and asks a

0:21:38.560 --> 0:21:42.560
<v Speaker 1>question that neither of the others could possibly know. What's

0:21:42.600 --> 0:21:45.560
<v Speaker 1>the first initial of my brother's name, he says, with

0:21:45.680 --> 0:21:50.320
<v Speaker 1>a deep breath. Slowly, again, the glass begins to move,

0:21:51.400 --> 0:21:55.800
<v Speaker 1>sliding across to the letter J. Zoe looks to Stan,

0:21:56.440 --> 0:22:02.600
<v Speaker 1>whose face has already gone white. Another session ends with

0:22:02.680 --> 0:22:06.960
<v Speaker 1>the glass repeatedly spelling out goodbye and shooting off the

0:22:07.000 --> 0:22:13.439
<v Speaker 1>table into Rosemary's lap. One evening, after a particularly fraught session,

0:22:14.040 --> 0:22:16.600
<v Speaker 1>Zoe was too scared to sleep alone and spent the

0:22:16.720 --> 0:22:20.639
<v Speaker 1>night with Rosemary. The following morning, she returned to her

0:22:20.720 --> 0:22:23.679
<v Speaker 1>room to find it completely trashed, with everything from the

0:22:23.720 --> 0:22:27.840
<v Speaker 1>top of her dresser swept onto the floor, including a crucifix,

0:22:28.400 --> 0:22:32.760
<v Speaker 1>bottles of perfume, and her nurse's book. The chair in

0:22:32.800 --> 0:22:35.760
<v Speaker 1>her room had been moved next to the book, as

0:22:35.800 --> 0:22:40.200
<v Speaker 1>if someone had just recently been sitting in it. Zoe

0:22:40.320 --> 0:22:51.239
<v Speaker 1>moved out the following month. Shortly before Zoe left, a

0:22:51.280 --> 0:22:54.560
<v Speaker 1>local journalist caught wind of the strange events taking place

0:22:54.600 --> 0:22:58.520
<v Speaker 1>at Frankom House. A series of short articles printed in

0:22:58.560 --> 0:23:02.119
<v Speaker 1>the Southeast London Mercury in turn caught the attention of

0:23:02.160 --> 0:23:06.280
<v Speaker 1>Society of Psychical Research member Hugh Pincott, who promptly made

0:23:06.359 --> 0:23:11.080
<v Speaker 1>arrangements to speak with some of the residents. Pincott found

0:23:11.200 --> 0:23:15.720
<v Speaker 1>Rosemary and her family deeply traumatized by the recent events. However,

0:23:16.040 --> 0:23:19.920
<v Speaker 1>despite holding a number of further seances together with Rosemary

0:23:19.920 --> 0:23:24.200
<v Speaker 1>and Zoe, Pincott was unable to gleam any substantial information

0:23:24.640 --> 0:23:29.320
<v Speaker 1>about what exactly had been taking place. One night, soon

0:23:29.359 --> 0:23:34.480
<v Speaker 1>after Rosemary is woken by her daughter Donna's screams, there

0:23:34.480 --> 0:23:37.280
<v Speaker 1>had been a tall man with a large beard standing

0:23:37.280 --> 0:23:39.760
<v Speaker 1>at the back of her room, she said between sobs

0:23:40.280 --> 0:23:46.240
<v Speaker 1>as her mother looked on aghast. Not long after, the

0:23:46.320 --> 0:23:49.720
<v Speaker 1>building works taking place around the property finally came to

0:23:49.800 --> 0:23:53.920
<v Speaker 1>an end, and so too did the strange occurrences within

0:23:53.960 --> 0:23:59.040
<v Speaker 1>the walls of Frankom House. Despite everything that had happened,

0:23:59.480 --> 0:24:02.040
<v Speaker 1>the seemed no trace of the apparent haunting that had

0:24:02.080 --> 0:24:08.120
<v Speaker 1>taken place at the property, except for one thing. When

0:24:08.200 --> 0:24:12.199
<v Speaker 1>Hugh Pincott eventually managed to track down Hattie Smith, she

0:24:12.280 --> 0:24:16.080
<v Speaker 1>was keen to finally be able to share her experiences.

0:24:16.800 --> 0:24:19.959
<v Speaker 1>Taking a picture from a family photo album, she passed

0:24:19.960 --> 0:24:24.280
<v Speaker 1>it to mister Pincott. It had been taken by one

0:24:24.320 --> 0:24:27.679
<v Speaker 1>of her grandchildren, a portrait of Hattie and one of

0:24:27.720 --> 0:24:32.240
<v Speaker 1>her daughters standing side by side, and there in the background,

0:24:32.480 --> 0:24:35.920
<v Speaker 1>to the left of the door stood the dark, shadowy

0:24:35.960 --> 0:24:48.800
<v Speaker 1>shape of a tall figure lurking just behind them. In

0:24:48.840 --> 0:24:54.439
<v Speaker 1>twenty fifteen, the Population Reference Bureau estimated that since the

0:24:54.440 --> 0:24:58.919
<v Speaker 1>appearance of modern Homo sapiens sometime around fifty thousand BCE,

0:25:00.200 --> 0:25:02.720
<v Speaker 1>just over a hundred billion of us have lived and

0:25:02.800 --> 0:25:07.240
<v Speaker 1>died on this planet. London, like all major cities of

0:25:07.280 --> 0:25:12.440
<v Speaker 1>the world, has buried its fair view. Considering that humans

0:25:12.480 --> 0:25:15.040
<v Speaker 1>have lived in the area for over five thousand years.

0:25:15.800 --> 0:25:17.959
<v Speaker 1>It's a wonder that there is any space there at

0:25:18.000 --> 0:25:22.679
<v Speaker 1>all that doesn't somewhere adjacent or directly below it contain

0:25:22.800 --> 0:25:28.560
<v Speaker 1>remnants of those who have come before us. And considering

0:25:28.600 --> 0:25:31.320
<v Speaker 1>the frequency with which even those who are still living

0:25:31.359 --> 0:25:35.880
<v Speaker 1>here will be ripped from their communities and involuntarily resettled

0:25:36.080 --> 0:25:40.000
<v Speaker 1>as if they were mere ghosts themselves, perhaps we should

0:25:40.040 --> 0:25:44.000
<v Speaker 1>not worry or feign surprise when we find bones amid

0:25:44.040 --> 0:25:50.080
<v Speaker 1>the foundations. In some ways, it is strange to think

0:25:50.480 --> 0:25:52.680
<v Speaker 1>for those lucky enough to have a place to call

0:25:52.760 --> 0:25:56.960
<v Speaker 1>their own, or a piece of land, perhaps, how desperately

0:25:57.000 --> 0:26:00.520
<v Speaker 1>we cling to the notion that it is ours, the

0:26:00.600 --> 0:26:06.200
<v Speaker 1>thought of its being invaded the ultimate violation. But this ownership,

0:26:06.200 --> 0:26:10.119
<v Speaker 1>of course, can only ever be a legal fiction, a

0:26:10.200 --> 0:26:13.480
<v Speaker 1>reality only as long as there are enough people to

0:26:13.560 --> 0:26:21.359
<v Speaker 1>believe it. So, in truth, land belongs to no one.

0:26:21.520 --> 0:26:24.720
<v Speaker 1>The idea that ghosts remain attached to the land long

0:26:24.760 --> 0:26:28.600
<v Speaker 1>after their bodies have gone has also always seemed problematic

0:26:28.680 --> 0:26:33.040
<v Speaker 1>to me, much like the question played out to wonderful

0:26:33.080 --> 0:26:37.320
<v Speaker 1>and mournful effect in David Lowry's two thousand seventeen film

0:26:37.600 --> 0:26:41.880
<v Speaker 1>A Ghost Story. I Find myself wondering just where would

0:26:41.880 --> 0:26:45.159
<v Speaker 1>these ghosts go when the earth is swallowed by the

0:26:45.200 --> 0:26:49.520
<v Speaker 1>massive giant Our sun is destined to become. It too

0:26:49.960 --> 0:26:54.200
<v Speaker 1>fated to die and perhaps one day vanish from existence.

0:26:56.600 --> 0:26:59.679
<v Speaker 1>But perhaps one way or another, as long as it

0:27:00.200 --> 0:27:03.560
<v Speaker 1>and people are here to keep it so, the land

0:27:03.760 --> 0:27:08.000
<v Speaker 1>will always be haunted, something of it, always to be

0:27:08.080 --> 0:27:13.520
<v Speaker 1>trespassed upon, or, in the words of the poet Philip Frenaut,

0:27:14.600 --> 0:27:18.440
<v Speaker 1>thou stranger, that shalt come this way, no fraud upon

0:27:18.440 --> 0:27:22.400
<v Speaker 1>the dead to commit, observe the swelling turf, and say

0:27:23.359 --> 0:27:34.800
<v Speaker 1>they do not lie, but here they sit. Unexplained is

0:27:34.840 --> 0:27:39.159
<v Speaker 1>an Avy Club Productions podcast created by Richard mc lean smith.

0:27:39.840 --> 0:27:43.120
<v Speaker 1>All other elements of the podcast, including the music, are

0:27:43.160 --> 0:27:47.560
<v Speaker 1>also produced by me Richard mc lean smith. Unexplained. The

0:27:47.560 --> 0:27:51.200
<v Speaker 1>book and audio book is now available to buy world wide.

0:27:51.520 --> 0:27:55.280
<v Speaker 1>You can purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, water Stones

0:27:55.320 --> 0:27:59.120
<v Speaker 1>and other bookstores. Please subscribe to and rate the show

0:27:59.440 --> 0:28:02.360
<v Speaker 1>wherever you get your podcasts, and feel free to get

0:28:02.400 --> 0:28:05.800
<v Speaker 1>in touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories

0:28:05.840 --> 0:28:08.639
<v Speaker 1>you've heard on the show. Perhaps you have an explanation

0:28:08.720 --> 0:28:11.320
<v Speaker 1>of your own you'd like to share. You can find

0:28:11.320 --> 0:28:14.840
<v Speaker 1>out more at Unexplained podcast dot com and reach us

0:28:14.880 --> 0:28:19.680
<v Speaker 1>online through Twitter at Unexplained Pod and Facebook at Facebook

0:28:19.720 --> 0:30:22.800
<v Speaker 1>dot com, Forward Slash Unexplained Podcast, attatatatatas