WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:04.759 I know you like stories of the strange and unexplained, so I need you 2 00:00:04.839 --> 00:00:09.640 to check out Jim Harold's Campfire. It's where real people share their true spooky 3 00:00:09.720 --> 00:00:14.519 stories in their own words. The concept is simple. Jim talks to everyday 4 00:00:14.560 --> 00:00:19.719 people about their strange encounters and publishes it as a ninety minute episode every week. 5 00:00:20.199 --> 00:00:24.760 There's no exaggeration or anything. The stories basically speak for themselves. I 6 00:00:24.839 --> 00:00:27.760 recently told a story on there, so let's see if you can spot it. 7 00:00:28.239 --> 00:00:31.399 And there's more stories too, like the one about a child who had 8 00:00:31.480 --> 00:00:35.520 vivid past life memories or the one about a woman who found a ghost in 9 00:00:35.520 --> 00:00:40.799 her bed. Now, not all the stories are horrifying. Some are heartwarming, 10 00:00:41.320 --> 00:00:45.560 like a visit from a past loved one or a peaceful near death experience. 11 00:00:45.600 --> 00:00:51.079 Perhaps regardless, they are true and fascinating, as told by ordinary people 12 00:00:51.119 --> 00:00:56.880 who've had extraordinary experiences. Now do me a personal favor. Tune into Jim 13 00:00:56.920 --> 00:01:00.719 Harold's Campfire on Apple, Podcasts, on Spotify, or wherever you listened true 14 00:01:00.759 --> 00:01:06.719 scary stories again. You can find it by searching for Jim Harold's Campfire. 15 00:01:07.719 --> 00:01:12.879 Welcome to Scary Story Podcast. Today's story will take you into the lonely world 16 00:01:12.920 --> 00:01:19.120 of a dollmaker who struggles with the existence or the lack of it. My 17 00:01:19.200 --> 00:01:29.760 name is Edwin. Here it's a scary story. Dansville is a very small 18 00:01:29.840 --> 00:01:34.519 town near the coast where my aunt and uncle live. Now mostly a spot 19 00:01:34.519 --> 00:01:38.719 for people driving through with their families or lost tourists looking for one of the 20 00:01:38.760 --> 00:01:42.879 waterfalls that showed up in an older issue of National Geographic at one point. 21 00:01:42.920 --> 00:01:48.239 But perhaps better than the waterfalls, this town's claim to fame is actually about 22 00:01:48.280 --> 00:01:52.480 the town next to it. It was an old, abandoned place that got 23 00:01:52.560 --> 00:01:56.959 left behind after some of the larger cities incorporated and this one refused to join 24 00:01:56.959 --> 00:02:00.439 the road network. Then it became where people used to go film movies and 25 00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:07.040 then leave behind the sets alone to rot. A very niche group of movie 26 00:02:07.079 --> 00:02:12.360 fans would track the place down for pictures of forgotten films. Now, I 27 00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:15.400 know this story is going to sound odd, but I do ask you to 28 00:02:15.400 --> 00:02:20.360 remain respectful of the old man who existed, since his life and struggle has 29 00:02:20.400 --> 00:02:24.080 to be worth something, even after the many years since his passing. I 30 00:02:24.120 --> 00:02:28.719 was in high school back when I first heard of his story and wanting to 31 00:02:28.719 --> 00:02:31.840 be a big shot journalist at one point I wanted to explore it. I 32 00:02:31.879 --> 00:02:37.560 had already done stories on the mailman's retirement and the future of libraries once the 33 00:02:37.639 --> 00:02:42.199 Internet came in, but some of the most interesting ones were of the missing 34 00:02:42.319 --> 00:02:46.479 lambs and the strange lights that Missus Hill would see from the side of her 35 00:02:46.520 --> 00:02:50.759 house late at night. With pictures and everything, I was able to get 36 00:02:50.759 --> 00:02:54.280 a headline image on the actual town newspaper, and then later it was picked 37 00:02:54.319 --> 00:03:00.280 up by the county. The answer to the lights was just gas, That's 38 00:03:00.280 --> 00:03:06.280 what the scientist said. But this story, this one was different. A 39 00:03:06.319 --> 00:03:09.960 man nameless at this time, still lived in the town where everyone had left. 40 00:03:10.960 --> 00:03:15.680 He would get groceries delivered once a week by car, where he would 41 00:03:15.680 --> 00:03:17.919 make a list of materials he needed to make repairs on his home. And 42 00:03:17.960 --> 00:03:23.280 although the poor man was getting older, nobody seemed to want to take care 43 00:03:23.319 --> 00:03:27.520 of him. He had no family, no friends, and he didn't seem 44 00:03:27.560 --> 00:03:32.280 to want to talk to anybody. Yet he was an important person and pretty 45 00:03:32.319 --> 00:03:37.639 well known. That's what I wanted my story to be about. So I 46 00:03:37.680 --> 00:03:40.439 got a ride from the man at the grocery warehouse one day, and perhaps 47 00:03:40.479 --> 00:03:45.199 too hopeful. I also packed a tent, a sleeping bag, and a 48 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:49.759 large bottle of water. Also carried two cans of raviolis in my school bag. 49 00:03:50.400 --> 00:03:53.840 I wanted to be able to spend the weekend there. I wanted to 50 00:03:53.840 --> 00:03:59.919 meet with this man, get a story and publish it. Maybe he would 51 00:04:00.080 --> 00:04:05.719 finally get out of that town, perhaps just get some help. Everyone around 52 00:04:05.759 --> 00:04:09.560 the school knew part of the story of the man in the haunted town, 53 00:04:09.879 --> 00:04:15.319 yet nobody could describe where he lived. That would be the first I met 54 00:04:15.399 --> 00:04:18.759 up with the kind man, with the truck already loaded with all sorts of 55 00:04:18.800 --> 00:04:25.279 prepackaged foods, soaps, and chunks of spare wood pieces bags that looked like 56 00:04:25.319 --> 00:04:30.519 pillows. They were stuffed at the top of whatever light material was inside. 57 00:04:30.720 --> 00:04:32.360 I thought he was joking when he said to meet him at five in the 58 00:04:32.399 --> 00:04:38.519 morning. We drove through Dansville and into the edge, the one labeled by 59 00:04:38.560 --> 00:04:43.759 the last hill before Everything became flat and grassy, with the greenery slowly getting 60 00:04:43.839 --> 00:04:47.279 larger until it turned to trunks and then trees that surrounded the small two way 61 00:04:47.399 --> 00:04:53.000 road, and it seemed like it too, was vanishing as it transformed into 62 00:04:53.079 --> 00:04:57.839 dirt and then gravel. Jim at that point rolled up his window and asked 63 00:04:57.839 --> 00:05:02.399 me to lock my door up ahead the broken down sign of Frinton, the 64 00:05:02.480 --> 00:05:05.879 letters now being able to be read thanks to the parts of the sign that 65 00:05:05.920 --> 00:05:12.000 faded first, the grass growing through the asphalts now as we passed by, 66 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:16.240 the buildings still intact, perhaps a broken window here and there. But I 67 00:05:16.240 --> 00:05:20.680 still felt nervous about going through the intersection without looking both ways, even though 68 00:05:20.720 --> 00:05:26.519 I wasn't driving. Jim, the driver who worked at the warehouse, had 69 00:05:26.560 --> 00:05:30.079 tried to make conversation with me early on, but we ran out of things 70 00:05:30.079 --> 00:05:32.759 to talk about, or simply dived into the moment of going to a place 71 00:05:33.480 --> 00:05:39.519 lost in time. We kept going through the main street and into another patch 72 00:05:39.560 --> 00:05:45.319 of trees, where the buildings houses now were more spread. Apart by the 73 00:05:45.399 --> 00:05:50.000 large oak tree was a corner house slightly larger than the others. The area 74 00:05:50.040 --> 00:05:56.279 surrounding it had no grass growing into the sidewalks or the streets. I knew 75 00:05:56.279 --> 00:06:01.480 we had arrived. There's no kid, Jim said, as he stopped the 76 00:06:01.519 --> 00:06:05.720 car. He saw how we got here, right, that's the way back. 77 00:06:06.800 --> 00:06:10.720 He then said that if I got past the wooded area, a car 78 00:06:10.839 --> 00:06:14.360 surely would see me and I could hitch a ride. And even though he 79 00:06:14.439 --> 00:06:17.199 was trying to be helpful, I couldn't stop thinking about that one word he 80 00:06:17.240 --> 00:06:25.800 said, if if I got past the wooded area, I would be okay. 81 00:06:26.720 --> 00:06:29.439 I tried to forget about it as I helped them unload the bags and 82 00:06:29.480 --> 00:06:32.480 boxes to the porch of the old wooden house. Once we were finished, 83 00:06:32.519 --> 00:06:36.399 he knocked on the door three times hard and shot me one of those looks 84 00:06:36.399 --> 00:06:41.759 that asked if I was sure about what I was doing. Then he suddenly 85 00:06:41.800 --> 00:06:46.199 got back to the truck and drove away, his arm sticking out the window. 86 00:06:47.319 --> 00:06:51.000 It took about two minutes when I finally heard steps coming up to the 87 00:06:51.040 --> 00:06:57.000 door. I clearly remember being so nervous, even more nervous than when I 88 00:06:57.040 --> 00:07:00.680 interviewed the mayor or when they picked up the body of Tracy Mom from the 89 00:07:00.759 --> 00:07:02.600 edge of the river and I was there to write a story on it. 90 00:07:04.120 --> 00:07:08.839 The old man opened the spring door and looked at me, asking if I 91 00:07:08.959 --> 00:07:13.240 was all right and how he could help me. I told him that I 92 00:07:13.319 --> 00:07:16.040 was a writer and that I wanted to do a story on him with all 93 00:07:16.079 --> 00:07:23.839 of the confidence I had. His entire demeanor changed right then the story He 94 00:07:23.920 --> 00:07:29.399 said on me. Why in Heaven's name would you want to do that? 95 00:07:29.800 --> 00:07:34.439 He asked with a chuckle. He then invited me in. His house was 96 00:07:34.519 --> 00:07:40.160 neatly decorated, although the stacks of newspapers on the center and dinner tables were 97 00:07:40.279 --> 00:07:45.680 out of place, he seemed to have things in order generally, Ben, 98 00:07:45.720 --> 00:07:48.800 he said, Ben gritsmore as he stretched out his hand for a handshake before 99 00:07:48.839 --> 00:07:55.720 wiping off foot looked like sawdust from his hands and trying again. I introduced 100 00:07:55.720 --> 00:07:59.600 myself and asked if I could help him bringing the stuff. He took a 101 00:07:59.600 --> 00:08:01.519 deep breath, knowing it would be a lot of work, and then look 102 00:08:01.600 --> 00:08:05.720 down, nodding while getting the energy to go outside and grab the bags. 103 00:08:07.720 --> 00:08:09.519 He said he needed to finish up a few things in the back and that 104 00:08:09.560 --> 00:08:13.839 I could wait for him for a bit while he came back for interrupting himself 105 00:08:13.879 --> 00:08:18.399 to ask where I would be staying or if I would be getting picked up. 106 00:08:18.600 --> 00:08:22.560 I pointed to my backpack, and he got the point, saying that 107 00:08:22.600 --> 00:08:26.079 he had four rooms in the place that if I could shake off the dust 108 00:08:26.160 --> 00:08:31.279 on one of them, I could stay there. I remember wholeheartedly believing that 109 00:08:31.320 --> 00:08:35.360 I would be staying on the porch of a random house with my tent and 110 00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:39.360 sleeping bag, thinking it would somehow make a good story for the place itself. 111 00:08:39.840 --> 00:08:43.080 But I had never been camping and I didn't know what I was doing, 112 00:08:43.720 --> 00:08:48.600 so I was really happy to have agreed to it. Besides, from 113 00:08:48.759 --> 00:08:52.480 all of the stories heard about the town, I was not sure I would 114 00:08:52.480 --> 00:08:58.320 actually want to see it alone in the dark, And so the man and 115 00:08:58.360 --> 00:09:03.440 I moved every thing inside by the kitchen counter, and he rushed back outside 116 00:09:03.480 --> 00:09:09.360 toward the backyard. Rumor said that this man Ben was a doll maker, 117 00:09:11.360 --> 00:09:15.879 and he would not make just any type of doll, but specialized replicas of 118 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:20.559 children that had died. Some people said he started with the dolls for his 119 00:09:20.600 --> 00:09:24.840 own wife and daughter, while others said that the tale had a more sinister 120 00:09:24.960 --> 00:09:30.080 beginning, stories that dated way back to when the town had people in it 121 00:09:30.320 --> 00:09:35.320 who told and retold the story of the legend. Himself the dollmaker a Frinton, 122 00:09:37.840 --> 00:09:41.000 but with no more people to tell his tale, it would end up 123 00:09:41.039 --> 00:09:43.919 being just me, the one who had to have the accurate account of a 124 00:09:43.960 --> 00:09:52.759 story and share it to keep it alive. And I remember sitting there watching 125 00:09:52.799 --> 00:09:56.480 as the sun went high up in the sky and then later came back down 126 00:09:56.519 --> 00:10:00.799 through the trees. In front of me. I could hear the scra sounds 127 00:10:00.799 --> 00:10:05.440 of sanding material coming from the backyard with sudden brakes from the old man. 128 00:10:07.000 --> 00:10:09.039 I had already gone through a can of my food and a couple of SIPs 129 00:10:09.039 --> 00:10:13.440 of water by this point, with time flying by, as I thought of 130 00:10:13.480 --> 00:10:16.120 the questions I would ask Ben, and wondering how he would react to the 131 00:10:16.200 --> 00:10:22.720 rumors of him from the nearby towns. I was young, and if I 132 00:10:22.720 --> 00:10:28.240 could go back in time, I would have helped them get out, and 133 00:10:28.279 --> 00:10:37.679 I would have gotten out of there myself before nightfall. Part two of the 134 00:10:37.759 --> 00:10:46.759 doll Maker is coming upward. After this stay with me, Ben came around 135 00:10:46.759 --> 00:10:52.279 the house and toward the porch just as the sun had set. He walked 136 00:10:52.279 --> 00:10:54.240 straight to a large barrel on the side of the porch, and with another 137 00:10:54.279 --> 00:10:58.759 bucket, he took out some of the water and rinsed off his hands. 138 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:03.720 He smiled nervously as he looked around and said in a near whisper that we 139 00:11:03.759 --> 00:11:09.120 should go inside. As soon as we got in, he shut the door 140 00:11:09.200 --> 00:11:13.320 in the three locks before going around the windows and the side entrance to do 141 00:11:13.360 --> 00:11:18.559 the same thing. His house had electricity. At one point I could see 142 00:11:18.559 --> 00:11:22.720 the old television in lamps all over the place, but now he seemed to 143 00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:28.279 get around with oil lamps and candles, like a trip back in time. 144 00:11:28.720 --> 00:11:31.679 And I had my camera with me. But even back then, a piece 145 00:11:31.720 --> 00:11:35.679 of advice I heard from my teacher had been to watch out for photographing inside 146 00:11:35.679 --> 00:11:41.480 private spaces, so I held back the urge. The place smelled like dust 147 00:11:41.600 --> 00:11:46.519 but was otherwise clean, and I watched as he opened up the bags we 148 00:11:46.600 --> 00:11:50.639 had brought him, and he made two sandwiches baloney and mao that he got 149 00:11:50.679 --> 00:11:54.519 from a small packet on two slices of white bread. He quickly walked over 150 00:11:54.559 --> 00:11:58.159 to the chair next to mine and sat down, taking a big bite out 151 00:11:58.159 --> 00:12:03.159 of his food. That was my chance. I asked him about himself, 152 00:12:03.600 --> 00:12:07.120 his family, and everything was going well until I asked him why he lived 153 00:12:07.159 --> 00:12:13.600 alone in the town with no people. There are no people here, he 154 00:12:13.639 --> 00:12:20.759 said, but not alone, not alone. If the man was talking about 155 00:12:20.799 --> 00:12:24.679 his dolls keeping him company, I knew that this story would be too much 156 00:12:24.720 --> 00:12:26.559 for me, and that I would need to find another angle to it or 157 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:31.639 be very cautious. With a person like that, one never knows what to 158 00:12:31.720 --> 00:12:37.039 expect. He changed a subject upon, probably realizing that I was uncomfortable with 159 00:12:37.080 --> 00:12:41.879 everything. Then he told me about one of his sons who was helping support 160 00:12:41.960 --> 00:12:43.960 him with the deliveries, and that he would come by every once in a 161 00:12:45.000 --> 00:12:48.279 while to help out with projects here and there. He went on for a 162 00:12:48.279 --> 00:12:52.159 while about himself, and then talked about the things he would eat and how 163 00:12:52.159 --> 00:12:56.399 he gets his water, and then he mentioned how the town used to be, 164 00:12:56.399 --> 00:13:03.759 before pausing and then quickly changing the sun object again. Mister Gritsmore, 165 00:13:03.840 --> 00:13:07.240 I asked, I'm here to do a story about you, as the last 166 00:13:07.279 --> 00:13:13.799 resident here in your life. What do you do all day? Oh? 167 00:13:13.879 --> 00:13:18.600 Well, I make dolls, he said. Everyone knows that they've been photographed, 168 00:13:18.639 --> 00:13:22.480 and I've told their stories hundreds of times throughout the years. He continued. 169 00:13:24.919 --> 00:13:28.919 It turns out this man had been making them for almost fifty years. 170 00:13:30.039 --> 00:13:33.519 Twenty or so of those years had been all by himself. In the town. 171 00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:39.200 He pretty much watched it die, and if anyone knew the story of 172 00:13:39.279 --> 00:13:43.600 Frinton, it would be him. But as it dug deeper into his knowledge 173 00:13:43.600 --> 00:13:50.519 of the town, itself, I found more questions and answers. He said 174 00:13:50.559 --> 00:13:54.600 that it was a very old town, with certain areas dating back hundreds of 175 00:13:54.679 --> 00:13:58.559 years as one of the first settlements. He spoke of the major historic events 176 00:13:58.600 --> 00:14:05.279 and and other difficulties of the people of the town. The place itself was 177 00:14:05.320 --> 00:14:11.000 a testament to the survival of human civilization. He continued, exaggerating sentences with 178 00:14:11.080 --> 00:14:16.480 his hands as he spoke. He spoke of the elections for mayor, the 179 00:14:16.519 --> 00:14:20.000 people who made it out of town for bigger things, who later returned to 180 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:24.200 settle back in and live out their years. And then just like that, 181 00:14:26.639 --> 00:14:31.679 the smile went away from his face. Everything was good until it wasn't. 182 00:14:31.720 --> 00:14:37.080 He said, I need to first explain that this story was never written for 183 00:14:37.159 --> 00:14:41.679 the school newspaper, and in fact, it never saw the light of day, 184 00:14:41.759 --> 00:14:46.240 and anything what I heard there was so bizarre and personal that I decided 185 00:14:46.279 --> 00:14:50.360 to keep it to myself as a form of tribute to Ben. But at 186 00:14:50.399 --> 00:14:54.840 the time, I guess I had my doubts that maybe I just didn't want 187 00:14:54.879 --> 00:15:00.279 to damage my own reputation. Plus Ben cared for the town so much much 188 00:15:00.360 --> 00:15:05.399 that he died with it, and who knows of the many secrets that would 189 00:15:05.440 --> 00:15:09.519 be at risk of being discovered because of uninvited guests looking for a thrill, 190 00:15:09.039 --> 00:15:13.200 completely ignoring the actual events, and just following a blind story written by a 191 00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:18.559 high school kid. Ben stood up and went over to the back of the 192 00:15:18.639 --> 00:15:22.519 house to a sort of second living room. He had back there to grab 193 00:15:22.559 --> 00:15:26.399 a crate. I could see the black hair coming out from the sides of 194 00:15:26.440 --> 00:15:31.559 it as he pulled out a doll with both hands, large about the size 195 00:15:31.559 --> 00:15:35.440 of an actual four or five year old child, and then set it on 196 00:15:35.480 --> 00:15:39.519 the floor. I was in awe of the thing. I walked over to 197 00:15:39.559 --> 00:15:45.039 it to look at its face, glassy brown eyes that sparkled with the light 198 00:15:45.080 --> 00:15:50.440 of the oil lamps from the other room. Its cheek imperfect like that of 199 00:15:50.440 --> 00:15:58.679 a real human face blemishes on the skin along with its dead expression. The 200 00:15:58.759 --> 00:16:03.559 doll was wearing a blue dress poorly sewn together with white cloth around the neck. 201 00:16:04.639 --> 00:16:07.720 I looked over to Ben, who, instead of being proud to display 202 00:16:07.720 --> 00:16:15.039 his creation, looked tired and solemn, a look more appropriate for a funeral. 203 00:16:15.320 --> 00:16:19.399 He explained that the dolls are what he makes, going into details on 204 00:16:19.519 --> 00:16:26.240 materials like wood and wax and composite natural hair and cloth from actual dresses. 205 00:16:27.440 --> 00:16:33.320 Days are spent sometimes on the faces and hands whenever he has a solid reference 206 00:16:33.360 --> 00:16:37.320 for them. But what surprised me the most was that each one was said 207 00:16:37.320 --> 00:16:41.759 to be completely unique, and I mean sure. I thought he must have 208 00:16:41.840 --> 00:16:45.519 meant unique, as in he would not be able to accomplish the same level 209 00:16:45.559 --> 00:16:51.159 of detail on every single one, but he expanded on it. Each one 210 00:16:51.240 --> 00:16:56.240 had a name, a last name, and was of a certain age. 211 00:16:56.440 --> 00:17:00.840 And that was intrigued. If this really was the case, the people of 212 00:17:00.879 --> 00:17:04.680 my town and the surrounding places had a reason to start rumors about the guy 213 00:17:04.960 --> 00:17:10.559 and his strange obsession. I figured I would tell him about the rumors at 214 00:17:10.599 --> 00:17:14.359 that moment, and risking getting kicked out into the darkness of a dead town, 215 00:17:15.279 --> 00:17:18.519 I told him. I said that the people talked about him, and 216 00:17:18.759 --> 00:17:22.920 in not the most positive light, that he was a creep who liked to 217 00:17:22.960 --> 00:17:26.640 live by himself, and that he had mental problems that would not let him 218 00:17:26.759 --> 00:17:33.440 join a serious society. He looked at me and smiled, making sure that 219 00:17:33.519 --> 00:17:38.160 I was not going to say anything else before he started talking. Kid, 220 00:17:38.759 --> 00:17:44.519 you're not the first person to tell me that, you know. I looked 221 00:17:44.519 --> 00:17:48.640 at him, waiting for him to continue again. Another tip from my journalism 222 00:17:48.680 --> 00:17:53.359 teacher. I wish I would have said something though changed the subject or I 223 00:17:53.359 --> 00:18:00.359 don't know, talked about his family again, but then he explained it early 224 00:18:00.440 --> 00:18:03.920 times of the town, stories were collected of a particular family who was not 225 00:18:04.079 --> 00:18:10.000 welcomed by the rest of the townsfolk, and that through every generation, the 226 00:18:10.039 --> 00:18:14.559 plot of the land that they had would be seized or swapped for a larger 227 00:18:14.599 --> 00:18:18.200 piece, with the condition that it would be farther away from the center of 228 00:18:18.279 --> 00:18:22.720 town. The family would usually agree to the offer easily, it was hard 229 00:18:22.759 --> 00:18:27.480 to refuse more land. They were able to keep it civil for some time, 230 00:18:27.640 --> 00:18:33.519 until one of the family member's husband passed away and was left alone to 231 00:18:33.559 --> 00:18:38.680 fend for herself against a town that did not want her there. Eventually, 232 00:18:38.720 --> 00:18:45.200 though, peculiar events started happening around the town, like things with the clock 233 00:18:45.279 --> 00:18:51.240 tower being witnessed by several people to be moving backwards at the time when thousands 234 00:18:51.240 --> 00:18:56.799 of rats arrived and destroyed wooden columns and the entire bakery. The event labeled 235 00:18:56.839 --> 00:19:00.640 on a wall at the tiny library. He said that talked about the birds 236 00:19:00.640 --> 00:19:04.759 that stopped and place in the sky, or the time the large white owl 237 00:19:04.920 --> 00:19:11.319 stood on a branch on the center square for over two days straight. The 238 00:19:11.359 --> 00:19:15.680 townspeople had gathered around the church and at the courts to talk about what had 239 00:19:15.720 --> 00:19:21.000 been happening, before deciding to do nothing because the events were simply peculiar things. 240 00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:25.519 Suggestions that they were evil would seem too silly to go on the public 241 00:19:25.599 --> 00:19:30.200 records, and so they decided to leave it at that. Suspicions had already 242 00:19:30.240 --> 00:19:34.400 grown about Bertha the widow being responsible for all of this, but nobody had 243 00:19:34.400 --> 00:19:38.000 any proof, and so she remained by herself at the edge of town. 244 00:19:40.680 --> 00:19:45.440 Eventually, the events escalated. Children were disappearing from the market, from the 245 00:19:45.480 --> 00:19:49.720 play areas, and some snatched in the middle of the night right from their 246 00:19:49.720 --> 00:19:56.400 beds. Siblings little kids would sometimes have to testify about the disappearances, saying 247 00:19:56.440 --> 00:20:00.279 that they saw a woman come in through the window and take their little brother 248 00:20:00.359 --> 00:20:07.160 or sister by the leg and then drag them straight out. All this time, 249 00:20:07.200 --> 00:20:10.759 I was looking at Ben's expression to see if he would suddenly smile or 250 00:20:10.880 --> 00:20:15.279 admit to be joking around, but he only kept getting more and more upset 251 00:20:15.359 --> 00:20:22.319 at his own memories. Eventually, family started leaving the town, everyone from 252 00:20:22.319 --> 00:20:26.680 the church people to the elected officials, and then hundreds of children over the 253 00:20:26.759 --> 00:20:34.839 years disappeared from Frinton and other nearby towns. Stories circulated about the widow searching 254 00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:41.759 for children to bring back to her house, but that part been assured was 255 00:20:41.839 --> 00:20:48.759 real, and he demanded for it to be added to my story. I 256 00:20:48.799 --> 00:20:52.200 looked at him, riting the eye when he asked me if I believed him. 257 00:20:52.680 --> 00:20:56.920 My journalism teacher never taught me what to say in such a case, 258 00:20:56.240 --> 00:21:03.480 so I just said my truth or was hard to believe. It's important to 259 00:21:03.519 --> 00:21:08.599 mention that eventually I did find records of the disappearances. But what about the 260 00:21:08.640 --> 00:21:11.920 dolls? You may ask, who were they for and why did he spend 261 00:21:12.039 --> 00:21:18.160 so much time on them. Ben's enthusiasm for answering the questions went away right 262 00:21:18.200 --> 00:21:22.440 then, and even today I consider the way I answered his question to be 263 00:21:22.519 --> 00:21:27.440 one of my biggest mistakes. He was still very polite when he answered the 264 00:21:27.480 --> 00:21:33.640 process of making his dolls out of photographs that were sent to him, every 265 00:21:33.680 --> 00:21:37.119 detail had to be right for them to be taken. He explained, everything 266 00:21:37.160 --> 00:21:41.279 from the shape to the weight and the color of the hair were spot on 267 00:21:42.160 --> 00:21:48.319 always, and I believed them. The doll he had made that evening was 268 00:21:48.440 --> 00:21:55.599 just so realistic. Before the conversation died out, I asked again, after 269 00:21:55.599 --> 00:22:00.640 building some report with him, why he did what he did. The man 270 00:22:00.680 --> 00:22:06.519 simply stared at the lamp about to die out, and then in silence, 271 00:22:07.079 --> 00:22:12.720 he took a deep breath and then said, more children will not go missing. 272 00:22:17.960 --> 00:22:21.519 When I think back on that conversation, I am not sure Ben knew 273 00:22:21.599 --> 00:22:25.640 if what he was doing would work, But there's a little left to say 274 00:22:25.640 --> 00:22:29.960 when you're sitting next to a sobbing old man. I was looking for an 275 00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:34.119 answer that was not there. Perhaps the guy only did what he was told 276 00:22:34.319 --> 00:22:38.960 and had done so for so long that it was all he knew, getting 277 00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:45.559 better with every doll that he made. For no reason at all, there 278 00:22:45.559 --> 00:22:48.799 were no kids left in what remained in that town, unless he meant kids 279 00:22:48.799 --> 00:22:55.240 from other places. Ben showed me the room where I would be staying and 280 00:22:55.359 --> 00:22:59.319 immediately walked over to the window and then pressed on the latch to make sure 281 00:22:59.359 --> 00:23:03.279 that it was closed. I heard him walk around the house to the other 282 00:23:03.359 --> 00:23:07.720 rooms to wiggle the doors and windows. The bed sheets were cold when I 283 00:23:07.720 --> 00:23:12.559 got into bed with my sleeping bag. It was sometime around three in the 284 00:23:12.599 --> 00:23:18.279 morning when I heard footsteps from the porch just around the corner from where my 285 00:23:18.319 --> 00:23:25.480 bedroom was. Everything was silent for a bit. The window had no curtains 286 00:23:25.519 --> 00:23:27.599 and the blue light from the moon was shining straight to my face. When 287 00:23:27.599 --> 00:23:33.920 I turned toward it, I waited for another creak, the kind you expect 288 00:23:33.920 --> 00:23:37.119 to hear when you lift your foot from the floor. But there was nothing. 289 00:23:38.839 --> 00:23:45.000 And that's when I saw the face of the doll, the same doll 290 00:23:45.039 --> 00:23:51.440 from earlier that day, right against the glass. It sank down toward the 291 00:23:51.480 --> 00:23:56.880 sill very slowly until behind it I got to see the face of an old 292 00:23:56.960 --> 00:24:03.039 woman as she smiled and then tap on the glass and then signaled for me 293 00:24:03.119 --> 00:24:08.759 to open it. I pulled up the sleeping bag over my eyes and waited 294 00:24:08.799 --> 00:24:15.839 for her to go away with all I could hear were the chuckles. After 295 00:24:15.880 --> 00:24:18.960 a few seconds, I heard the footsteps through the porch, and then the 296 00:24:19.039 --> 00:24:26.759 grass and the gravel as she walked away, making her way through the town 297 00:24:27.640 --> 00:24:44.359 once again. You can also listen to the stories add free on Scary Plus 298 00:24:44.480 --> 00:24:48.079 by going to scaryplus dot com. Or information is also available right on your 299 00:24:48.079 --> 00:24:53.839 Apple Podcasts app But remember the stories will always be available for everyone right here. 300 00:24:55.799 --> 00:24:57.200 If you want to get in touch to share something creepy, you can 301 00:24:57.200 --> 00:25:00.519 also find me on Instagram, or you can reach the team via email. 302 00:25:02.480 --> 00:25:07.279 More content is available on our other shows from Scary FM. Thank you very 303 00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:08.799 much for listening, See you soon.