1 00:00:00,640 --> 00:00:04,240 Hey, listeners, It's E. J. Miller. I'm the producer and 2 00:00:04,320 --> 00:00:08,439 writer here at Fast Food Horror. Before we get any further, I just 3 00:00:08,519 --> 00:00:14,839 have a couple of quick announcements. For one, this episode is our season 4 00:00:14,919 --> 00:00:19,600 one finale. Just saying that out loud just gave me chills. I never 5 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:24,559 imagined I'd get to twenty seven episodes in season one. But don't worry. 6 00:00:25,199 --> 00:00:30,320 Fast Food Horror will be coming back in January of twenty twenty four with all 7 00:00:30,440 --> 00:00:37,719 new creepy and suspenseful stories just for you. And two, this episode will 8 00:00:37,759 --> 00:00:44,280 be voiced by none other than the very talented Jonathan Inbody. Jonathan is a 9 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:50,200 tremendous voice, talent, and writer. His stories have been featured on the 10 00:00:50,240 --> 00:00:56,679 No Sleep podcast and most notably and most importantly, on his very own acid 11 00:00:56,759 --> 00:01:02,000 horror anthology called Gray Matter. Highly highly recommend you go check it out. 12 00:01:02,359 --> 00:01:08,120 It is on every major podcasting platform available, and don't worry, you don't 13 00:01:08,159 --> 00:01:12,200 need to start at episode one. You can skip around. It's an anthology 14 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:19,359 series of separate stories that are sure to thrill, excite, and creep you 15 00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:25,680 out at times, and if you listen very very carefully, you might just 16 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:30,400 recognize a familiar voice over there at gray Matter again highly recommend you check them 17 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:36,400 out, but without further ado, I'll hand the show off to Igor and 18 00:01:36,480 --> 00:02:12,159 take you to this week's creepy tale I goor take it away. Welcome listeners 19 00:02:12,719 --> 00:02:23,080 to this final episode in season one of our anthology entitled The Collector by E. 20 00:02:23,039 --> 00:02:35,759 J. Miller and narrated by Jonathan Inbody of Gray Matter and Acid Horror 21 00:02:36,159 --> 00:02:51,439 Anthology podcast for which I am such a big fan. Every business starts out 22 00:02:51,479 --> 00:02:55,800 as someone's passing fancy before it pivots into a hobby, then takes flight into 23 00:02:55,840 --> 00:03:01,680 a passion before they figure out how to make a and then the profit becomes 24 00:03:01,719 --> 00:03:07,159 the thing, the driving force. I started out at garage sales finding things 25 00:03:07,159 --> 00:03:13,479 to resell online, you know, collectibles, knick knacks, bobbleheads, nineteen 26 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:17,439 eighties McDonald's glasses, beanie babies, toys, and comics. That turned into 27 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:23,560 visiting thrift stores, searching for that diamond in the rough label and name brand 28 00:03:23,599 --> 00:03:28,759 clothing, vintage apparel and fashion. I found out some items just needed to 29 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:32,000 be washed and mended to fetch a high ROI to some buyer on eBay. 30 00:03:32,919 --> 00:03:38,240 Other items were highly sought after concert shirts, sneakers, vinyls, and jewelry. 31 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:44,159 Things changed when I started coming across gaming consoles and the cartridges that went 32 00:03:44,199 --> 00:03:47,639 with them, the cash they fetched. Then I went to the big time 33 00:03:49,199 --> 00:03:53,439 is state sales. The things you could find there art, coin and stamp 34 00:03:53,479 --> 00:03:58,879 collections, antique this and that. I once bought an old locked steamer trunk, 35 00:03:59,039 --> 00:04:00,280 not because I thought so no one could use it for a function, 36 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:04,599 but because I thought it would be a better decoration for some hipster. I 37 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:08,319 knew I could clean it up and get a nice return on my money. 38 00:04:09,199 --> 00:04:14,199 Locke, to my surprise, was easy to pick ah the things you can 39 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:18,519 learn on YouTube. Thank you gen Z. Inside was too perfectly preserved World 40 00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:24,439 War One officer uniforms with metals, multiple sabers, and a vintage Colt revolver, 41 00:04:24,839 --> 00:04:28,560 photos and a diary. I made my money back ten times over. 42 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:31,560 I gave the diary and photos to the family. I'm not a monster. 43 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:38,360 Thanks to certain TV shows, the competition for those things really started cutting into 44 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:42,759 my profits. The closer you were to a population center, the more people 45 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:46,079 you had to outbid. Once you found something poof, there were ten other 46 00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:50,839 people over your shoulder offering the owner more or the owner got smart and what 47 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:57,079 was once there junk was now a lotto ticket. So I started traveling further 48 00:04:57,160 --> 00:05:02,040 out to more remote areas where there wasn't much competition, to smaller and smaller 49 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:05,959 towns, to areas so far off the map that even my GPS was shrugging 50 00:05:05,959 --> 00:05:12,199 its virtual shoulders, rural areas, locales where I could find older homes where 51 00:05:12,199 --> 00:05:16,240 the owners perhaps were shall we say, down on their luck, both financially 52 00:05:16,279 --> 00:05:21,120 and healthwise, or maybe just not that bright. A few days ago, 53 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:25,160 I brought home a hall. I was passing through one of those small towns 54 00:05:25,199 --> 00:05:29,120 getting gas. It barely counted as a town, it was so small. 55 00:05:29,240 --> 00:05:31,000 Actually, the gas station was one of the only things in that town. 56 00:05:31,639 --> 00:05:36,240 It consisted of a post office, a library which was closed, a schoolhouse 57 00:05:36,319 --> 00:05:41,079 also closed, a few shacks that passed his homes, and the gas station. 58 00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:45,120 I made small talk with the attendant while I stretched my legs, and 59 00:05:45,199 --> 00:05:47,839 I inquired about any estate sales or collectors in town that he knew of. 60 00:05:48,639 --> 00:05:51,839 A twenty dollars bill got me the address of an old man who had recently 61 00:05:51,879 --> 00:05:56,800 passed. His brother was cleaning out his house and he might be interested in 62 00:05:56,839 --> 00:06:00,120 selling The address was remote, to say the lead. It was up a 63 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:03,920 dirt road that consisted of nothing more than two tire tracks that meandered through the 64 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:08,439 woods for a few miles to a large clearing. That's where I found the 65 00:06:08,439 --> 00:06:13,639 two story wood construct that was clearly made without a professional architect, paint peeling 66 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:16,519 porch, leaning weeds and lawn trying to take back the property that was once 67 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:24,600 theirs. The recently deceased brother was Odd, an elderly, gruff character that 68 00:06:24,639 --> 00:06:29,279 didn't talk much. He grunted, mumbled, and nodded. As a matter 69 00:06:29,319 --> 00:06:31,560 of fact, I don't believe he said one intelligible word the whole time I 70 00:06:31,639 --> 00:06:35,680 was there. I had offered my condolences. Then I asked if he was 71 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:41,120 selling any of his brother's collection I had heard about in town. He grunted 72 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:44,920 and then gestured for me to follow. He led me through the house. 73 00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:48,040 A winding path took us through the dark and dusty rooms time had forgotten, 74 00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:54,079 over creaking floorboards and around furniture from the last century. He guided me down 75 00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:58,279 the basement steps to three wooden armoires and gestured for me to look within. 76 00:06:59,160 --> 00:07:02,519 I opened the first to find shoe boxes stacked one atop another filling the space. 77 00:07:03,079 --> 00:07:06,480 I peeked into each and found leather boots of various styles and colors, 78 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:11,959 a hall in pristine condition. I tried to hide my excitement so as not 79 00:07:12,040 --> 00:07:15,800 to drive up the price. I removed one box and took a boot out, 80 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:19,160 worked it around in my hands. It was actual leather, not plastic 81 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:24,959 or some synthetic, and the leather was remarkable, no scuffs, no flaking, 82 00:07:25,079 --> 00:07:29,800 and the craftsmanship of the stitching. Each box was easily worth three hundred 83 00:07:29,839 --> 00:07:33,639 dollars if they all displayed the same quality and craftsmanship. I gently closed the 84 00:07:33,639 --> 00:07:38,680 box and replaced it into the armoire. I tried to keep my expression stony 85 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:41,920 and shrugged at the old man. He gestured to the second armoire, and 86 00:07:41,959 --> 00:07:45,920 he opened its door and let out a grunt. There I found multiple black 87 00:07:45,959 --> 00:07:48,920 garment bags. I gently selected one, trying to hold back my excitement, 88 00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:54,279 and worked the zipper to find a beautiful leather duster. Just like the boots. 89 00:07:54,319 --> 00:07:58,199 It was in perfect condition, and it was actual leather, not one 90 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:05,079 imperfection nowhere, no scuff marks, and the stitching was remarkable. I returned 91 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:07,680 the coat into the garment bag and replaced it in the armoire. I peeked 92 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:11,680 inside the other garment bags, seventeen in all, all various styles, from 93 00:08:11,759 --> 00:08:18,439 dusters to biker jackets, all of this beautiful, perfect leather. I gently 94 00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:24,319 closed the armoire and tried to keep my face expressionless. I turned my host 95 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:28,319 and again shrugged, and he grunted and opened the third armoir. As the 96 00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:31,159 doors opened, the contents came tumbling out like an apparel avalanche and a cloud 97 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:35,720 of dust. Boots, sneakers and shoes, dirty and worn pants and skirts, 98 00:08:35,759 --> 00:08:39,440 tattered and stained, hats of all manner and style, crumpled and flatten, 99 00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:43,480 piled out onto the floor. The smell that followed must have been from 100 00:08:43,519 --> 00:08:48,720 whatever small animals had made their home within. I covered my face, not 101 00:08:48,759 --> 00:08:52,799 only to hide my displeasure, but to stop the stench from entering my nostrils. 102 00:08:52,519 --> 00:08:56,279 I shook my head and made my offer for the contents of the first 103 00:08:56,279 --> 00:09:03,080 two armoires five hundred dollars, without going into detail. I walked away with 104 00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:07,360 both for about seven fifty I was easily going to make more than ten times 105 00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:13,919 my investment, or so I thought. I got my haul back home and 106 00:09:13,960 --> 00:09:18,799 started unloading into my garage slash office. Then went about the process of trying 107 00:09:18,799 --> 00:09:22,799 to catalog and price everything, looking for tags or a maker's mark to help 108 00:09:22,879 --> 00:09:26,039 establish a price point. Most items of high quality have a maker's mark or 109 00:09:26,039 --> 00:09:31,039 a tag. I started with the coats, and there it was easily seen. 110 00:09:31,399 --> 00:09:35,399 Stitched with elegant, careful precision, into the inside collar of each jacket 111 00:09:35,399 --> 00:09:43,200 was a name. Seventeen different names, none I was familiar with. I 112 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:48,240 marked them all in my sheet and moved onto the boots. I admired each 113 00:09:48,639 --> 00:09:54,440 the precision and craftsmanship they were each created, with the detail, and began 114 00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:56,919 the search for the mark. And sure enough, on the inside of each 115 00:09:58,000 --> 00:10:01,159 right boot was the mark. High up on the lip was a name, 116 00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:11,200 lovingly stitched, none of which I was familiar. Spoiler, I'm not gonna 117 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:15,600 make my money back, not because the makers weren't famous or well known. 118 00:10:16,559 --> 00:10:20,320 I'm probably not gonna get any money. Actually, I started feeding the names 119 00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:24,840 into a Google search. None of the names came back as known craftsmen or 120 00:10:26,200 --> 00:10:31,759 makers of leather goods, designers or stores. They all shared one thing, 121 00:10:31,799 --> 00:10:37,080 though, one commonality. Name after name, I received a hit for each. 122 00:10:39,879 --> 00:10:43,399 They were all the names of missing persons since nineteen sixty four. Every 123 00:10:43,799 --> 00:10:50,519 name from various states and two countries. My mind already connected the dots I 124 00:10:50,559 --> 00:10:54,000 wasn't willing to say out loud. I called the cops, the boots, 125 00:10:54,320 --> 00:10:58,440 the coats. They were leather, but they were not made of traditional animal 126 00:10:58,480 --> 00:11:03,639 hives. They were human, at least that's what the officer told me at 127 00:11:03,679 --> 00:11:09,320 their forensics lab, and after I gave my statement, the detective speculated that 128 00:11:09,399 --> 00:11:13,919 the third arm wire I mentioned was most likely the personal effects of the victims. 129 00:11:15,279 --> 00:11:18,960 I gave the detectives precise directions to the address. God knows what else 130 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:20,519 they'll find.