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Speaker 1: The semi tree, the Thinking Atheist. It's not a person,

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it's a symbol, an idea.

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Speaker 2: The population of atheists this country is going through the.

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Speaker 1: Room, rejecting faith, pursuing knowledge, challenging the sacred.

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Speaker 3: If I tell the truth, it's because I tell the truth,

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not because I put my hand on a book and

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made a wish.

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Speaker 1: And working together for a more rational world.

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Speaker 2: Take the risk of thinking. Feel so much more happiness. Truth,

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Usian wisdom will come to you that way.

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Speaker 1: Assume nothing, question everything, and start thinking. This is the

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Thinking Atheist podcast hosted by Seth Andrews.

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Speaker 4: Footsteps creaking on the floor, shadows leaking through the door, phantoms, devils, ghools,

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and more. Those Stories twenty twenty four.

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Speaker 2: Most of the ghost stories that we hear take place

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on dry land, inside a house, a hotel, or even

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within a patch of moonlit forest. But in Wimberly, Texas,

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there is a literal dive into darkness in a water

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filled hole in the earth called Jacob's Well, located at

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sixteen ninety nine Mount Sharp Road in Hayes County. Jacob's

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Well is the mouth of a fresh water spring. The

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opening is about twelve feet in diameter, It is a

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drop off from clear shallows into a water buried labyrinth

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of tunnels and chambers. Jacob's Well has seen its share

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of visitors peering down from above and those who were

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just too curious about what lies beneath, swimmers, snorkelers, scuba divers,

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and for this reason, Jacob's Well has seen far too

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many corpses. This place was once a great mystery. What

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was known was only what could be seen from the

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surface or on short and shallow dives. Back in the

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nineteen thirties, there was a group of brash young men.

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They tried to explore the caverns by fashioning a diving

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helmets out of an old milk bucket and piping air

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into the bucket with a long rubber hose. They didn't

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get very far. In the decades after that, improvements in

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scuba equipment made Jacobs Well even more enticing, but recreational

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divers were unprepared for this unforgiving underwater maze. Some lost

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their way, they lost their breath, they lost their lives.

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In two thousand, trained cave divers began a planned mission

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to map this place. The Jacobs Well Exploration Project began

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with measurements and underwater video cameras. The effort would go

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on for years, revealing a vast entanglement reaching far beyond

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the expected termination zone. Divers would disappear into the tunnels

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for hours to take their measurements. To date, approximately six

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thousand feet of passages have been mapped in two major conduits,

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which are simply called Tunnel A and Tunnel B. There

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is a tunnel C and D those are not accessible

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to divers. Tunnel A reaches almost a mile from the surface,

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with a maximum depth of one hundred and thirty seven feet,

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the length of a ten story building. This place is

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the second longest fully submerged cave system in the state

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of Texas. It is also a grave. In nineteen eighty three,

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one diver confused a dead end with the exit tunnel.

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He ran out of air and he drowned. Only four

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years before, two young divers entered the well. They never resurfaced.

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An experienced diver named Don Dibble was charged to go

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down and retrieve their bodies. He became trapped in an

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underwater gravel se flight in Chamber C, and he himself

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had to be dragged to the surface by other rescue divers.

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Don had run out of air, he had ruptured his stomach.

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Somehow he survived. Chamber Sea has proven so dangerous that

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Don returned with a specially constructed rebar gate formed inside concrete.

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Within six months, that gait had been removed and someone

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had left a sign in its place. The sign read,

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you can't keep us out Inside that fourth chamber Chamber

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d explorers have found a corroded scuba tank, a weight belt,

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a femur bone, even a human skull. Obviously, someone had

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gotten disoriented in the floating silt and they had drowned

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in darkness. Journalists, scientists, and every every day visitors have

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said that standing on the shoreline and looking down into

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Jacob's Well, it's like looking into a kind of eye,

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like you're gazing into the soul of the earth. As

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the corridor goes from bright to aqua to dark blue

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to black, this place feels populated with the shadows of

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the victims twelve victims so far, and for obvious reasons,

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Jacob's Well only allows trained and certified divers there even today.

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Put yourself in this suit, in the skin of one

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of these underwater explorers. You've checked everything from your buoyancy

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controlled vest, to the weight belt, to the oxygen tank.

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Your mask is ceiling properly. Your dive computer is fastened

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to your wrist. Your flashlight is charged urged. You are ready,

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or as ready as you can be for a discent

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like this. You drift down, equalizing your ears as ten

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feet become twenty, become thirty and more. The light above

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goes dim. That twelve foot circle begins to look like

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a full moon. Around you, there are crevices and cracks

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and openings. The rock is smooth and then jacket and sharp.

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The neoprene wetsuit the only thing keeping your body temperature

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from matching the sixty five degrees around you. Sixty five

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degree water means hypothermia, disorientation. You can forget where you are,

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you can forget who you are. Eventually the body goes unconscious,

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putting itself to sleep, and you never wake up. The

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reality of this danger lingers in the back of your

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mind as you move into the first tunnel that your

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flashlight sees. The water is usually crystal clear, but these

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springs aren't used to the moving of arms and the

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kicking of fins. Silt begins to cloud your vision. You

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hold as still as you can, hoping to again see

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more than three feet in front of you. Your gloved

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hands push you further into the maze. A spiky stone

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tears a small slits in the leg of your suit.

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It hurts, but not enough to go back. There are

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turns and narrows, tunnels and funnels. How long have you

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been down here? How long until your tank runs out?

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The numbers on your your wrist computer say you're fine?

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And then the flashlight blinks out. You tighten its lens,

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You rattle the handle. There's a brief flicker, but then nothing.

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No matter how hard you try, you break a glowstick

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tethered to your vest. It is colored blue, but in

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your brief panic, you kicked the silt and again darkened

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all the liquid around you. You crawl yourself backward or

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are you actually going forward? Which way is up?

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Speaker 5: Or down?

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Speaker 2: Back forth?

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Speaker 6: Now?

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Speaker 2: The only thing louder than your breathing is the sound

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of your racing heart. Your searching fingers find a corridor.

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Before you realize it, you have pushed through. You are

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inside the hoses on your tank, scraping against the stone.

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The glowstick is not helping. The muddy water is like

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a thick blue wall. You begin to hyperventilate. The air

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in your tank suddenly blasts into the cave like a bomb.

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The rock begins to give way, your lower body becomes trapped.

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You cannot move, and then you realize that if you

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cannot move, you will not live. You will only one

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day be found. HP Lovecraft once wrote these words, we

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live on a placid island of ignorance, in the midst

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of black seas of infinity. And it was not meant

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that we should voyage far. How many cautionary tales have

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been born of the stories of those who voyaged too far.

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Perhaps the Earth is trying desperately to speak its warning

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to us, staring unblinking with an eye that connects to

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the soul of our world, begging us to stay away

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to save our lives, or perhaps beckoning us, inviting us

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to come down, to descend into the darkness and join

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the others who still sleep in the mile long labyrinth

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of Jacob's Well.

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Speaker 6: It walks in the cold woods of winter. It is

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a beast of ashen flesh, lean as bone, fifteen feet tall.

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It is a cannibal. It is the wendigo. This creature

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both real and spirit, was first described by the early

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Algonquins speaking people of North America. Accounts vary from witness

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to witness, but from the Ojibwe, the Soto, the Cree,

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the Thescuspy, and the Unutribes, the wendigo was consistently described

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as something wicked and dangerous, as if the harsh famines

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and deadly struggles of winter had somehow come to life.

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The creature was both starving and feasting, hunting for human flesh,

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never satisfied, never sleeping, impossible to appease. The Oljibwei scholar

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Basil H. Johnson wrote these words, the wendigo was gaunt

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to the point of emaciation, its desiccated skin pulled tightly

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over its bones, with its bones pushing out against its skin,

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its complexion the ash gray of death, and its eyes

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pushed back deep into their sockets. The wendigo looked like

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a gaunt skeleton recently disinterred from the grave. What lips

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it had were tattered and bloody, unclean and suffering from

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suppuration of the flesh. The wendigo gave off a strange

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and eerie odor of decay and decomposition of death. And corruption.

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It is the creature with the vision of an eagle,

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acute hearing and superior strength. Its horns stand tall upon

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its head, Its eyes glow, its claws click together. It

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is a predator and a hunter of men. The appetite

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of the wendigo is insatiable. The more human pleasure of ours,

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the larger it grows, the more food it requires, so

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it can never be satisfied. Suffering with hunger, It long

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ago devoured its own lips. It is the reason children

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are told not to enter the woods. Malevolence lives there,

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It eats there, and it walks the villages to feast

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upon the living. Many believe this to be justice, as

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the cold, desperate famines of winter caused humans to sometimes

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kill and eat each other. They betrayed their people, they

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betrayed nature, and they became marked. The first written account

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of the wendigo was penned by a French Jesuit missionary

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named Paul le June in sixteen thirty six. He was

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living among the Algonquin people when a woman cried a warning.

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There was a creature, an atchin or cannibal, giant, roaring

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deep and tearing flesh. It screamed for new victims. But

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why we gathered and hoardered and stole from our brothers ancestors,

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until selfishness and cruelty crawled up from the ground to

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punish the wicked for the foolish coveting of money and possessions.

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The wendigo would cover the meat under human skin, and

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as with our greed, it would only get hungrier by

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the day. For centuries, indigenous artists have drawn and painted

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the wendigo as a symbol of colonialism, violence, and the

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destruction of Mother Earth. Those who cannibalize the forests and

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minerals and water, who consume men, women, and children, they

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would themselves become food for the adventure. The planet itself

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would bring retribution. Some believe that wendigoes now walk the world,

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on every continent, through every region, in every town. The

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dark side of human nature takes and consumes, and harms

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and kills people become the devil. So a devil has

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arisen from our deeds. It devis us, It punishes us.

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It is us when the nights grow cold, when hearts

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grow cold, beware the windy gold. It knows us and

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devars us. Even as we div ourselves.

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Speaker 7: She lived deep in the forest in a tiny cottage

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and made medicines for the people of the town, herbs, roots,

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tinctures of all kinds. The townspeople were afraid of her,

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but when their lungs would seize or their children shivered

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with fever, there was no one else to turn to.

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They would walk the woods and knock on the door

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of Bloody Mary. Of course, no one called her Bloody

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Mary to her face, but it was long believed that

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the old woman was a witch. Crossing her meant that

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your wells might go dry, your crops could rot, or

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affliction could fall upon you or someone you love. If

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this weathered old crone had the power to heal, it

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was believed she also had the power to do much more.

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And then, during one of the coldest winters in memory,

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without explanation, little girls in the village began to disappear.

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One by one, they vanished without a trace. Families and

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friend searched houses, barns, shops, the church. They combed the

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snowy woods, calling the children's names. After the third child

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went missing, a few brave souls even treked to Bloody

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Mary's cabin in the forest, begging pleading for any clue,

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The woman simply shook her head no and slowly closed

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the door. As three missing girls became four than five,

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the townspeople would take turns knocking on Bloody Mary's door,

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desperate for a sign. She would always shake her head

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no and slowly closed the door. But something about her

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had started to seem different. Her skin was less wrinkled,

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its color more blushed. Her eyes were less cloudy. Her

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hair drifted around her shoulders like little black feathers. Her

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hands were no longer just tissue skinned bones. Bloody Mary

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wore the bloom of a youth. Already suspicious. The townspeople

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believed these things were connected, the vanishings and the witch,

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but they also knew how ridiculous their accusations would sound

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to a magistrate, and they feared all sorcery that might

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be used against them and their families if they angered

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the old woman. So they locked their doors and watched

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their children with great vigilance, making sure they did not

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leave the house unattended and disappear in the middle of

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the night. During the seventh week of these vanishings, the

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young daughter of a shopkeeper awoke to an enchanting sound

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coming from the fields outside. The sound penetrated her ears

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and filled her with warmth and comfort. Without a word,

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the girl shifted her feet to the floor and walked

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to the window. She did not see the outside world,

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she saw her own reflection in the glass. After a moment,

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she turned and walked out the door. She was being

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drawn away by a curse that no one else could hear. Suddenly,

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the shopkeeper and his wife heard a full throated scream

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coming from the fields. The man ran outside. Neighbors soon

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joined him. They scanned the tree line for the source.

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It was the sharp eyed shopkeeper who first saw the girl,

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his daughter, apparently trapped within vines as she had been

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drawn towards the woods. One hundred feet away was the Hag,

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the old woman who had become mysteriously young, porcelain skin,

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bright eyes, a gleaming full mouth surrounding icy white teeth.

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Still recognizable, she was an age's old version of herself.

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In her pristine hand, she pointed a tree fashioned cane,

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which was glowing like fire. This younger woman stood very still,

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except for her moving lips. The father and mother, and

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neighbors the entire town emerged into the moonlight. They had

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suspected witchcraft, and now they knew for sure. A mad

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scrambling for knives and shovels, pitchforks and sickles, they rushed

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towards the woman with a wand bloody Mary broke her

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spell and fled back toward her home. Dozens of shouting, crying,

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raging townspeople followed her through the thick brush and dense trees.

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When they reached her tiny cabin, the witch was waiting

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to greet them from her doorway, as if realizing what

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was to come. With a wry smile, the darkly, lovely,

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bloody Mary met the eyes of each of her pursuers

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and again shook her head no. She moved her lips again.

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This time the sound she made was clear to all,

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a searing, dissonant siren that brought the crowd to its knees.

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The words they heard were language, but unknowable beyond the

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world of spellcasters. The people could not know each sound

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was a curse, variations on a single promise revenge. When

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the old woman finally went silent, she walked into the

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cabin and closed the door. It was then that the

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torches were lit. It was then that her house was

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set aflame. It was then that Bloody Mary was burned

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to death. As the fire raged, each within the mob

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could somehow see their own reflections in the window glass.

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It would be days before a few adventurous men would

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walk beyond the charred cabin to discover still recognizable graves

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placed just two hundred feet away. The bodies of the

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children were uncovered. Each of them had been drained of blood.

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These young victims had been a literal fountain of youth

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for the witch in the woods. Strangely, in the years

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that followed, no one in the town met calamity. No

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curse befell them, no avenger came for them. Each lived

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a long life without reprisal. But the descendants of the

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town would not be so lucky. Children would grow to

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have children, then grandchildren, and with each generation the young

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would speak of a scary face living within mirrors, standing

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in darkness, enchanted under a spell. Those who said the

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witch's name three times would have flesh, bone and blood

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drawn into the glass, leaving nothing but mystery behind. Over

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the centuries, that curse became a legend. The legend became

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a game. Today, the aging Crone no longer discriminates along

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family lines. After all, youth is youth. Beauty is beauty.

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So she drifts behind glass in search of bright eyes

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and smooth skin. Speak her name and she will drink

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you like wine. Those who wish to test this fantastic

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tale are free to do what so many others have done.

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Center the mirror, lower the lights, take a deep breath,

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and say the name. Say my name, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary,

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Bloody Mary.

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Speaker 2: I hope you have been enjoying yourself so far on

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00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:38,759
our yearly ghost Stories show. I need to take a

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00:28:38,839 --> 00:28:42,480
very short break, but stand by because there are many

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00:28:42,519 --> 00:29:00,799
more stories to come. If you are enjoying this podcast,

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00:29:01,079 --> 00:29:05,319
I invite you to check out my second ghost Stories

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00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:10,279
audiobook at audible dot com. This is volume two, a

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00:29:10,319 --> 00:29:16,240
compilation of original tales and ghostly urban legends compiled over

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00:29:16,240 --> 00:29:21,799
the last six years, all brought together thirty different ghost

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00:29:22,079 --> 00:29:26,240
stories just for you. I have linked the audiobook in

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00:29:26,359 --> 00:29:30,279
the description box, so get one for yourself, do an

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00:29:30,319 --> 00:29:34,759
Audible gift for some other audiobook fan in your own life,

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00:29:34,839 --> 00:29:39,240
Get into the spooky spirit and enjoy nearly four hours

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00:29:39,559 --> 00:29:44,839
of haunts. Ghost Stories Volume two. The audiobook is now

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00:29:45,000 --> 00:30:18,799
available at audible dot Com.

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Speaker 8: Dad, what's that place.

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Speaker 5: It's a cemetery. You know what a cemetery is, don't you.

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Speaker 8: It's where grandma is.

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Speaker 5: It's where grandma is.

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Speaker 8: I could see her.

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Speaker 5: No, her headstone is way back over the hill.

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Speaker 8: Not the headstone, Dad. I saw Grandma standing with those people.

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Speaker 5: Those people, Uh what people?

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Speaker 8: They're all behind us now, back at the cemetery.

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Speaker 5: What people did you see?

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Speaker 8: You didn't see the people. They were all looking at us,

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looking at us, a bunch of them. But they were frozen.

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Nobody was moving. It was like in my games.

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Speaker 5: What do you mean frozen? Like in your game?

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Speaker 8: They were on pause, like when you press the button

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and pause games, James.

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Speaker 5: There wasn't anybody back there. Everybody in a cemetery is

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buried under the ground. They're not walking.

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Speaker 8: Around, not walking, Dad, They were on pause.

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Speaker 5: Fine, you saw somebody who was on pause.

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Speaker 8: Not somebody. There were a lot of them. They all

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looked sad.

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Speaker 5: Okay, they were sad.

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Speaker 8: Especially Grandma. She looked at me like somebody was in trouble.

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Speaker 5: What do you mean like she was mad?

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Speaker 8: Yeah. Grandma used to say that we don't really die.

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She said, we get extra.

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Speaker 5: Lives, like in video games.

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Speaker 8: I guess so.

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Speaker 5: So if those people didn't die, where do you think

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they were going, Dad?

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Speaker 8: They weren't going. They were on pause.

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Speaker 5: Ah, they were on pause.

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Speaker 8: If I was Grandma, I wouldn't be ready to die either,

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especially if I was still angry at you.

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Speaker 5: Grandma said she was angry at me. Why was she

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angry at me?

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Speaker 8: She said that I wasn't supposed to tell.

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Speaker 5: You can tell me. What did she say?

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Speaker 8: She said you took things. I took things, expensive things.

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She saw you going through her stuff.

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Speaker 5: James, I didn't take anything.

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Speaker 8: You didn't take the money. Grandma said you took the money, James.

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Speaker 5: Who told you that?

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Speaker 8: And she said he locked her in her room sometimes

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and put bad things in her medicine bottles.

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Speaker 5: James.

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Speaker 8: She told me not to tell. She said she would

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fix it.

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Speaker 5: Fix it, fix it how.

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Speaker 8: I don't know, Dad. She got sick after that. Then

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she went to the cemetery.

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Speaker 5: I didn't take anything. I didn't give Grandma anything.

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Speaker 8: That's what she said, you'd say, but I mean it.

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Speaker 5: I would never hurt Grandma. I would never steal from Grandma.

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Speaker 8: She was pretty mad. I don't know if she's gonna

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believe you.

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Speaker 5: She won't believe me when.

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Speaker 8: When she starts moving like in my games, when she's

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no longer on pause.

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Speaker 2: The recording you are about to hear was first broadcast

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decades ago on American religious television. Home video copies were

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00:35:00,079 --> 00:35:04,719
soon converted to audio tapes, then in studios and private

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00:35:04,760 --> 00:35:08,800
homes across the country and around the world. Those tapes

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00:35:08,840 --> 00:35:14,960
were duplicated and distributed by the hundreds, then thousands. It

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00:35:15,079 --> 00:35:19,239
wasn't long before these degraded, second and even third generation

380
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cassette copies became a source of public panic, as the

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recordings appeared to capture the screams of the damned miles

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00:35:29,239 --> 00:35:36,360
under our feet inside a literal well to hell. The

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00:35:36,440 --> 00:35:40,639
story dates back to nineteen eighty nine Siberia, three years

384
00:35:40,679 --> 00:35:45,400
before the fall of the Soviet Union. Russian geologists were

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00:35:45,519 --> 00:35:50,920
reportedly compiling data for oil and gas exploration, mining and

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00:35:51,039 --> 00:35:56,760
the documentation of subsurface activity. Led by an individual known

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00:35:56,800 --> 00:36:01,199
in the record only as mister Ozakov, the geology team

388
00:36:01,400 --> 00:36:05,320
was using state of the art technology drilling through the

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00:36:05,480 --> 00:36:09,519
Earth's surface to a depth of more than nine miles

390
00:36:10,239 --> 00:36:14,880
when suddenly the large drill bit reached a massive cavity

391
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where the researchers expected to find thick magma, they realized

392
00:36:22,239 --> 00:36:27,039
they had instead punched into a hollow chamber. They had

393
00:36:27,119 --> 00:36:31,400
found a massive cave of fire where none should exist.

394
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The work was paused as investigators looked for answers. Temperatures

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ten miles deep can reach nine hundred degrees, so Ozakov

396
00:36:43,639 --> 00:36:48,639
commissioned a specially designed and heat shielded microphone attached to

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00:36:48,719 --> 00:36:53,559
a massive coil of audio cable. From the entrance high above.

398
00:36:53,639 --> 00:36:57,599
That microphone would be lowered and lowered until it reached

399
00:36:57,679 --> 00:37:03,239
the cavern, activating recorder back on this surface. The sounds

400
00:37:03,360 --> 00:37:07,559
documented from that day would soon be leaked beyond Soviet

401
00:37:07,639 --> 00:37:12,519
borders to capture the attention of the world, especially those

402
00:37:12,559 --> 00:37:16,000
who hold to the biblical warning of Matthew twenty five

403
00:37:16,119 --> 00:37:21,239
forty six. And these will go away into eternal punishment,

404
00:37:21,639 --> 00:37:26,840
but the righteous into eternal life. Revelation Chapter one further

405
00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:32,280
describes a fiery lake of burning sulfur the second Death.

406
00:37:33,639 --> 00:37:38,599
Many historians of health theology have long speculated that Hades

407
00:37:38,880 --> 00:37:44,199
isn't another worldly place, but rather a chamber closer than

408
00:37:44,239 --> 00:37:48,679
we've imagined. On the day of the apocalypse, after the

409
00:37:48,760 --> 00:37:52,119
righteous are drawn up into the heavens, the crust of

410
00:37:52,159 --> 00:37:56,559
the Earth will dissolve away, and the damned will descend

411
00:37:56,719 --> 00:38:02,880
into an eternal torment sitting just beneath their feet. This

412
00:38:03,159 --> 00:38:07,559
is a short segment of that audio allegedly recorded in

413
00:38:07,679 --> 00:38:12,159
nineteen eighty nine by Russian geologists, a recording that is

414
00:38:12,199 --> 00:38:16,639
said to reveal the screams of the tormented in hell.

415
00:38:30,320 --> 00:38:34,360
The hottest temperatures on Earth are found in our planet's core,

416
00:38:34,880 --> 00:38:39,559
estimated by scientists to be more than nine thousand degrees fahrenheit.

417
00:38:40,519 --> 00:38:44,679
Is it possible that the Earth's center holds billions of

418
00:38:44,840 --> 00:38:49,960
condemned souls? Does the boiling and roiling magma that has

419
00:38:50,079 --> 00:38:56,360
long brought volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and tsunamis bring disaster of

420
00:38:56,440 --> 00:39:01,639
another kind? Early claims about this place originated in a

421
00:39:01,719 --> 00:39:07,840
Finnish religious journal. Tabloids eagerly republished and revised this story

422
00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:11,840
throughout the nineteen nineties, and of course, in the age

423
00:39:11,840 --> 00:39:16,079
of the Internet. Those recordings continue to be played today,

424
00:39:16,960 --> 00:39:22,679
But today the story seems just a story. Investigators found

425
00:39:22,719 --> 00:39:27,159
that the Soviet Union did have geologists drilling down more

426
00:39:27,199 --> 00:39:30,760
than seven miles in the late nineteen eighties, but not

427
00:39:31,000 --> 00:39:35,840
in Siberia. Instead, they were drilling on the Kola Peninsula,

428
00:39:36,079 --> 00:39:41,679
which shares borders with Norway and Finland. Geological anomalies were found,

429
00:39:41,880 --> 00:39:47,440
but nothing supernatural was reported. No devil or dungeon, no

430
00:39:47,639 --> 00:39:54,159
fire and brimstone, no agonized screams. Another version of that

431
00:39:54,280 --> 00:39:59,840
story took place not in Russia, but in Alaska. Expert

432
00:40:00,000 --> 00:40:04,159
audio technicians have protested that it would be impossible to

433
00:40:04,400 --> 00:40:09,320
insulate a microphone to function at nine hundred degrees fahrenheit.

434
00:40:10,239 --> 00:40:14,800
Engineers examined the recording. They believe the screams were not

435
00:40:15,159 --> 00:40:19,159
from an underground hell, but instead were likely taken from

436
00:40:19,159 --> 00:40:25,719
a nineteen seventy two horror film called Barren Blood. Throughout

437
00:40:25,760 --> 00:40:30,119
the years, pranksters have taken those early tapes and augmented

438
00:40:30,159 --> 00:40:35,400
them for greater effect. But the things that people fear

439
00:40:35,679 --> 00:40:40,320
are so often about what they feel, not what they know,

440
00:40:41,280 --> 00:40:45,039
And all of these decades after that first recording was

441
00:40:45,079 --> 00:40:49,159
played to the world, many continue to believe that they

442
00:40:49,239 --> 00:40:53,880
are not hearing manufactured myth. But what the poet Robert

443
00:40:53,960 --> 00:41:01,039
Frost once called a half filled auditorium? Is it unreal

444
00:41:01,400 --> 00:41:06,280
or is it real? Is there a literal well to hell?

445
00:41:06,960 --> 00:41:11,000
Waiting for the rest of us to fill that forever

446
00:41:11,400 --> 00:41:34,199
boiling room.

447
00:41:34,239 --> 00:41:36,519
Speaker 9: Two sentence horror stories.

448
00:41:45,079 --> 00:41:48,079
Speaker 10: There was a picture in my phone of me sleeping.

449
00:41:49,519 --> 00:41:56,480
I live alone. My sister says that Mommy killed her.

450
00:41:57,960 --> 00:42:06,000
I don't have a sister. I can't move, breathe here,

451
00:42:06,519 --> 00:42:10,920
or speak in the darkness of this place. If I

452
00:42:10,960 --> 00:42:14,000
had known it would be like this, I would have

453
00:42:14,039 --> 00:42:22,679
been cremated instead. I work the night shift alone. There's

454
00:42:22,719 --> 00:42:30,599
a man smiling at me on the security camera. I

455
00:42:30,679 --> 00:42:35,960
woke up to someone knocking on my bedroom window. Then

456
00:42:36,039 --> 00:42:43,199
I realized the sound was coming from the mirror. My

457
00:42:43,320 --> 00:42:49,360
husband asked why I was breathing so heavily. I told

458
00:42:49,440 --> 00:42:58,519
him it wasn't me. He was cryogenically frozen upon his death.

459
00:43:00,199 --> 00:43:03,920
No way of telling them that he was still awake.

460
00:43:07,719 --> 00:43:11,719
I wondered why my dog always stared at me nervously.

461
00:43:13,119 --> 00:43:17,880
Then I realized that the dog was looking directly behind me.

462
00:43:21,719 --> 00:43:24,840
They delivered the Mannikins packaged and bubble wrap. In the

463
00:43:24,880 --> 00:43:28,639
middle of the night. I heard the sounds of popping.

464
00:43:32,400 --> 00:43:37,480
My mother casts two shadows on the floor. The room

465
00:43:37,559 --> 00:43:44,280
has only a single lightbulb. A little girl is smiling

466
00:43:44,360 --> 00:43:48,599
at me from outside my window. I live on the

467
00:43:48,719 --> 00:43:56,880
fourteenth floor. My daughter won't stop crying in the middle

468
00:43:56,920 --> 00:44:01,280
of the night. I visit her gray and ask her

469
00:44:01,320 --> 00:44:11,400
to stop, but she just won't listen. I can't sleep,

470
00:44:11,920 --> 00:44:15,760
she whispered. I nuzzled against the dress she had been

471
00:44:15,800 --> 00:44:22,639
buried in. I live by myself in a large house.

472
00:44:23,559 --> 00:44:30,320
I have closed more doors than I have opened. That's

473
00:44:30,440 --> 00:44:35,000
the grave where my father was put. A hand reached

474
00:44:35,079 --> 00:44:42,360
up and grabbed my foot. I never go to sleep.

475
00:44:43,639 --> 00:44:50,920
Why do I keep waking up? The longer I wear it,

476
00:44:51,480 --> 00:44:57,239
the more comfortable it feels. The girl had such pretty skin.

477
00:45:01,519 --> 00:45:06,559
Mendelssohn's Funeral March suddenly played in my headphones. Then I

478
00:45:06,719 --> 00:45:13,639
realized they were not plugged in. I awoke in a

479
00:45:13,679 --> 00:45:24,239
wooden box. Hear the hammering of nails. The children are sweet.

480
00:45:25,679 --> 00:45:32,679
It's best when you don't overbake them. The woman caught

481
00:45:32,760 --> 00:45:40,559
my eye. Why won't she give it back? Grandma locked

482
00:45:40,559 --> 00:45:44,960
her valuables in a shiny silver box. That's where she

483
00:45:45,119 --> 00:45:53,239
keeps the pieces of me. There's nothing like the laughter

484
00:45:53,360 --> 00:46:02,360
of a child. Thank God for shallow graves. The cat

485
00:46:02,480 --> 00:46:06,719
was purring in my left ear. I only have a dog.

486
00:46:11,400 --> 00:46:15,079
I tuck my son in for the night. When he pleads, Mommy,

487
00:46:15,599 --> 00:46:19,760
check for monsters under the bed. My check, and a

488
00:46:19,840 --> 00:46:31,320
figure whispers, Mommy, there's something in my bed. The doctor

489
00:46:31,440 --> 00:46:36,639
said amputees sometimes feel a phantom limb. They didn't say

490
00:46:36,679 --> 00:46:43,840
I'd feel someone holding my hand. Don't look into the closet.

491
00:46:44,800 --> 00:46:52,960
It hates being scene. I stand upon my tall wood box.

492
00:46:54,159 --> 00:47:01,360
I know how your window unlocks. Woke me and said

493
00:47:01,440 --> 00:47:05,519
there was an intruder in our house. He was murdered

494
00:47:05,800 --> 00:47:14,559
years ago. I see my reflection. Why are those the

495
00:47:14,679 --> 00:47:22,280
only eyes blinking? I keep dreaming I'm killed by a

496
00:47:22,400 --> 00:47:26,119
man I've never met. I think he's sitting at the

497
00:47:26,159 --> 00:47:33,880
other side of the restaurant. The knife slices just like butter.

498
00:47:35,360 --> 00:47:42,199
I used to be a loving mother. The kids admired

499
00:47:42,280 --> 00:47:46,039
how high they had swung. They're swaying right where they

500
00:47:46,039 --> 00:47:51,480
were hung. I held his hand as I went on

501
00:47:51,480 --> 00:47:56,119
my walk. With any luck, they won't find the rest

502
00:47:56,159 --> 00:48:02,280
of him. I wash my hands ten times a day.

503
00:48:03,559 --> 00:48:11,400
The blood just won't come off. Your love keeps me warm,

504
00:48:11,639 --> 00:48:16,360
I told my husband. Then the pyre began to burn.

505
00:48:20,960 --> 00:48:25,840
They once called me the evil twin. Today I am

506
00:48:25,880 --> 00:48:27,559
the only child.

507
00:48:39,159 --> 00:48:41,719
Speaker 2: On the other side of this, I have three more

508
00:48:41,920 --> 00:48:46,079
ghost stories all cued up and ready for you, and

509
00:48:46,119 --> 00:48:56,800
we'll do it next. Thank you so much for listening.

510
00:48:56,840 --> 00:49:01,199
Happy Halloween. It is the final segment of our annual

511
00:49:01,280 --> 00:49:09,840
podcast ghost Stories twenty twenty four. A quick note about

512
00:49:09,840 --> 00:49:13,000
this next story. It's a poem. For lack of a

513
00:49:13,000 --> 00:49:17,079
better word. It first came to the public's attention after

514
00:49:17,119 --> 00:49:21,760
being posted on TikTok by someone using the generic handle

515
00:49:22,320 --> 00:49:26,559
user six ' eight five one nine five eight. That

516
00:49:26,840 --> 00:49:32,000
channel has several poems origins unknown, but it was this

517
00:49:32,199 --> 00:49:37,079
particular post that seemed to catch the public's imagination. To date,

518
00:49:37,400 --> 00:49:41,880
that TikTok video has been viewed over six million times.

519
00:49:42,639 --> 00:49:48,599
Its words have been printed, reprinted, told, and retold four years.

520
00:49:49,480 --> 00:49:53,880
Its meaning has been discussed by people all over the world.

521
00:49:54,760 --> 00:49:59,360
Is this just an eerie exchange, an interesting and halloweeny

522
00:49:59,519 --> 00:50:03,280
kind of s story, or does it hold a deeper

523
00:50:03,480 --> 00:50:08,599
message about those who are distant, or different or just

524
00:50:08,960 --> 00:50:14,199
very small? I offer my own interpretation of that poem

525
00:50:14,239 --> 00:50:18,079
here so that you might decide for yourself.

526
00:50:23,719 --> 00:50:35,239
Speaker 9: Ten legs eight broken to the spider, the shadowed creature

527
00:50:35,360 --> 00:50:40,559
in the corner of the room, I hate you. You

528
00:50:40,719 --> 00:50:43,880
scared me, just as your brothers and sisters did before you,

529
00:50:45,239 --> 00:50:49,000
and I will tell you what I told them. You

530
00:50:49,440 --> 00:50:54,480
are a trespasser that does not belong here. You entered

531
00:50:54,760 --> 00:50:59,599
without knocking, roamed freely like this is your home, and

532
00:50:59,639 --> 00:51:03,920
decor rated my walls with unwonted silk webs without asking.

533
00:51:05,559 --> 00:51:09,400
You may not be the only killer here, but only

534
00:51:09,480 --> 00:51:16,119
one of us is innocent. And it's not you, the

535
00:51:16,159 --> 00:51:20,760
spider says to me. It's brittle body, squashed and dying.

536
00:51:22,280 --> 00:51:26,760
It's not you either. There is venom infused in my

537
00:51:26,960 --> 00:51:32,400
fang shaped mors, but I was born this way. What's

538
00:51:32,559 --> 00:51:38,440
your excuse? If you could count your murders, how long

539
00:51:38,480 --> 00:51:46,159
would you be counting? Am I really this threatening? I

540
00:51:46,280 --> 00:51:50,840
thought human hearts were bigger than mine, but you have

541
00:51:51,079 --> 00:51:54,920
killed with malice instead of marrow of your bones and

542
00:51:55,159 --> 00:52:01,719
poison bubbling behind your skull. I'm sorry for scaring you,

543
00:52:02,960 --> 00:52:07,800
but I didn't know being seen, which cost me my life.

544
00:52:09,960 --> 00:52:14,480
Maybe if you didn't fabricate the prickly feeling of my

545
00:52:14,599 --> 00:52:18,280
legs creeping upon your skin while I crawled across the

546
00:52:18,280 --> 00:52:22,559
living room floor, if the webs I weaved were made

547
00:52:22,639 --> 00:52:27,519
of cotton candy and captured Clementine's cherries and sweet peace

548
00:52:28,039 --> 00:52:32,199
rather than struggling wings and blood. If I had a

549
00:52:32,239 --> 00:52:37,400
pink tongue posh fa, a wagging tail, and four legs

550
00:52:37,440 --> 00:52:41,639
instead of eight. If I had only two eyes and they.

551
00:52:41,559 --> 00:52:46,280
Speaker 3: Were glittering stars and not massive black holes. If I

552
00:52:46,440 --> 00:52:52,280
was the same but looked different, maybe you wouldn't hate me.

553
00:52:53,679 --> 00:52:55,039
Maybe you wouldn't have.

554
00:52:55,039 --> 00:52:59,119
Speaker 9: Loved me either, And maybe you still wouldn't have let

555
00:52:59,199 --> 00:53:03,639
me stay. But maybe you would have shown me the

556
00:53:03,719 --> 00:53:10,599
door or a window. Maybe you would have shown me mercy.

557
00:53:13,320 --> 00:53:18,360
But you are still standing, and I am still sorry.

558
00:53:20,440 --> 00:53:29,039
I think maybe, no matter how reluctant, mercy would have

559
00:53:29,079 --> 00:53:29,920
been enough.

560
00:53:56,840 --> 00:54:00,679
Speaker 11: If you feel your skin go cold, the whisper are near.

561
00:54:01,599 --> 00:54:05,800
They walk the winds a hundredfold. Just turn away your ear,

562
00:54:06,840 --> 00:54:10,840
don't approach, do not go near. Their mumblings are perverse.

563
00:54:11,400 --> 00:54:15,599
They'll breathe into your open ears, the poison of a curse.

564
00:54:16,559 --> 00:54:21,000
Long they've wandered. Long they've crept so rotted and unhole,

565
00:54:21,639 --> 00:54:25,360
craving human flesh to eat and drinking down the soul.

566
00:54:26,400 --> 00:54:30,039
Don't believe that corpses rest when buried in the ground.

567
00:54:30,599 --> 00:54:34,400
Many of the worst and best arise and drift around,

568
00:54:35,480 --> 00:54:41,320
worms in sockets, bones for hands, their skulls protruding gray

569
00:54:41,360 --> 00:54:49,360
from beneath the blackened cloaks, the teeth all chipped away, Smiling, frowning, hungry, raged,

570
00:54:49,679 --> 00:54:53,320
as hollow as a shell, they feast upon the living soul.

571
00:54:53,679 --> 00:54:57,320
They won't fall down to hell. When you hear the

572
00:54:57,440 --> 00:55:01,039
whisper men, then you are in their se If you

573
00:55:01,159 --> 00:55:05,119
listen to their words, it means for you good night.

574
00:55:06,320 --> 00:55:09,840
Just ignore the whispermen, or try as best you can.

575
00:55:10,599 --> 00:55:14,960
Maybe they'll just go away to where their haunts began.

576
00:55:26,760 --> 00:55:34,960
Speaker 2: Button Button by Richard Matheson. The package was lying by

577
00:55:35,039 --> 00:55:39,400
the front door, a cube shaped curtain sealed with tape.

578
00:55:39,840 --> 00:55:44,079
Their name and address printed by hand, Mister and missus

579
00:55:44,320 --> 00:55:48,760
Arthur Lewis, two seventeen East thirty seventh Street, New York,

580
00:55:48,760 --> 00:55:54,039
New York, one zero zero one six. Norma picked it up,

581
00:55:54,400 --> 00:55:57,880
unlocked the door, and went into the apartment. It was

582
00:55:58,119 --> 00:56:01,920
just getting dark. After she put the lamb, chops and

583
00:56:01,960 --> 00:56:06,320
the broilers, she sat down to open the package. Inside

584
00:56:06,360 --> 00:56:10,039
the cartain was a push button unit fastened to a

585
00:56:10,079 --> 00:56:15,840
small wooden box. A glass dome covered the button Norma

586
00:56:16,000 --> 00:56:18,960
tried to lift it off, but it was locked in place.

587
00:56:19,719 --> 00:56:23,039
She turned the unit over and saw a folded piece

588
00:56:23,079 --> 00:56:26,599
of paper scotch taped to the bottom of the box.

589
00:56:27,199 --> 00:56:31,280
She pulled it off. Mister Stewart will call you at

590
00:56:31,440 --> 00:56:36,519
eight pm. Norma put the button unit beside her on

591
00:56:36,559 --> 00:56:41,239
the couch. She re read the typed note, smiling. A

592
00:56:41,280 --> 00:56:44,400
few moments later, she went back into the kitchen to

593
00:56:44,440 --> 00:56:49,840
make the salad. The doorbell rang at eight o'clock. I'll

594
00:56:49,880 --> 00:56:53,440
get it, Norma called from the kitchen. Arthur was in

595
00:56:53,519 --> 00:56:57,840
the living room reading. There was a small man in

596
00:56:57,880 --> 00:57:02,599
the hallway. He removed his hat as Norma opened the door.

597
00:57:04,119 --> 00:57:12,280
Missus Lewis, he inquired politely. Yes, I'm mister Stewart. Oh, yes,

598
00:57:12,519 --> 00:57:16,079
Norma repressed a smile. She was sure now it was

599
00:57:16,119 --> 00:57:20,840
a sales pitch. May I come in, asked mister Stewart.

600
00:57:21,800 --> 00:57:25,159
I'm rather busy, Norma said, I'll get you your what

601
00:57:25,360 --> 00:57:29,360
you might call it, though she started to turn don't

602
00:57:29,400 --> 00:57:35,480
you want to know what it is? Norma turned back.

603
00:57:35,840 --> 00:57:40,920
Mister Stewart's tone had been offensive. No, I don't think so,

604
00:57:41,280 --> 00:57:48,239
she replied. It could prove very valuable. He told her monetarily,

605
00:57:48,679 --> 00:57:56,400
she challenged. Mister Stewart nodded, monetarily, he said. Norma frowned.

606
00:57:56,599 --> 00:58:00,760
She didn't like his attitude. What are you trying to sell,

607
00:58:01,159 --> 00:58:06,960
she asked. I'm not selling anything, he answered. Arthur came

608
00:58:07,000 --> 00:58:12,719
out of the living room. Something wrong, mister Stewart introduced himself.

609
00:58:13,280 --> 00:58:17,480
Oh the Arthur pointed toward the living room and smiled.

610
00:58:17,960 --> 00:58:22,639
What is that gadget? Anyway, it won't take long to explain,

611
00:58:23,000 --> 00:58:28,119
replied mister Stewart. May I come in? If you're selling something,

612
00:58:28,360 --> 00:58:33,760
Arthur said. Mister Stewart shook his head. I'm not. Arthur

613
00:58:33,880 --> 00:58:39,239
looked at Norma. Up to you, she said, He hesitated,

614
00:58:40,079 --> 00:58:46,760
Well why not, he said. They went into the living

615
00:58:46,840 --> 00:58:51,519
room and mister Stewart sat enormous chair. He reached into

616
00:58:51,559 --> 00:58:56,159
an inside coat pocket and withdrew a small sealed envelope.

617
00:58:56,920 --> 00:59:00,599
Inside Here is a key to the bell unit dome,

618
00:59:00,800 --> 00:59:04,559
he said. He set the envelope on the chair side table.

619
00:59:05,280 --> 00:59:10,519
The bell is connected to our office. What's it for,

620
00:59:10,880 --> 00:59:16,039
asked Arthur. If you push the button, mister Stewart told him,

621
00:59:16,039 --> 00:59:20,519
somewhere in the world, someone you don't know will die

622
00:59:21,480 --> 00:59:24,599
in return for which you will receive a payment of

623
00:59:24,719 --> 00:59:31,119
fifty thousand dollars. Norma stared at the small man. He

624
00:59:31,440 --> 00:59:35,480
was smiling. What are you talking about, Arthur asked him.

625
00:59:36,039 --> 00:59:40,119
Mister Stewart looked surprised. But I've just explained, he said.

626
00:59:40,960 --> 00:59:44,719
Is this a practical joke, asked Arthur, not at all.

627
00:59:44,760 --> 00:59:50,280
The offer is completely genuine. You aren't making sense, Arthur said,

628
00:59:50,360 --> 00:59:55,760
you expect us to believe. Whom do you represent? Demanded Norma.

629
00:59:56,239 --> 01:00:00,000
Mister Stewart looked embarrassed. I'm afraid I'm not at LEAs

630
01:00:00,000 --> 01:00:03,559
liberty to tell you that, he said. However, I assure

631
01:00:03,599 --> 01:00:09,280
you the organization is of international scope. I think you'd

632
01:00:09,320 --> 01:00:14,880
better leave, Arthur said, standing mister Stewart rose, of course,

633
01:00:15,559 --> 01:00:19,239
and take your button unit with you. Are you sure

634
01:00:19,360 --> 01:00:21,920
you wouldn't care to think about it for a day

635
01:00:22,039 --> 01:00:25,760
or so. Arthur picked up the button unit and the

636
01:00:25,960 --> 01:00:30,280
envelo open, thrust them into mister Stewart's hands. He walked

637
01:00:30,320 --> 01:00:34,280
into the hall and pulled open the door. I'll leave

638
01:00:34,360 --> 01:00:37,880
my card, said mister Stewart. He placed it on the

639
01:00:37,920 --> 01:00:41,920
table by the door. When he was gone, Arthur tore

640
01:00:42,000 --> 01:00:45,039
it in half and tossed the pieces onto the table.

641
01:00:45,800 --> 01:00:49,679
Norma was still sitting on the sofa. What do you

642
01:00:49,719 --> 01:00:53,119
think it was? She asked, I don't care to know,

643
01:00:53,440 --> 01:00:58,159
he answered. She tried to smile, but couldn't. Aren't you

644
01:00:58,360 --> 01:01:03,800
curious at all? No, he shook his head. After Arthur

645
01:01:03,880 --> 01:01:06,960
returned to his book, Norma went back to the kitchen

646
01:01:07,000 --> 01:01:11,519
and finished washing the dishes. Why won't you talk about it,

647
01:01:11,679 --> 01:01:16,480
Norma asked. Arthur's eyes shifted as he brushed his teeth.

648
01:01:16,960 --> 01:01:20,840
He looked at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. Doesn't

649
01:01:20,840 --> 01:01:25,639
it intrigue you? It offends me, Arthur said, I know,

650
01:01:25,880 --> 01:01:30,119
but Norma rolled another curler in her hair. Doesn't it

651
01:01:30,239 --> 01:01:35,000
intrigue you too? You think it's a practical joke, she

652
01:01:35,239 --> 01:01:38,559
asked as they went into the bedroom. If it is,

653
01:01:38,639 --> 01:01:43,000
it's a sick one. Norma sat on her bed and

654
01:01:43,119 --> 01:01:48,320
took off her slippers. Maybe it's some kind of psychological research,

655
01:01:49,639 --> 01:01:55,199
Arthur shrugged. Could be, maybe some eccentric millionaire is doing it.

656
01:01:56,239 --> 01:02:01,960
Maybe wouldn't you like to know? Arthur shook his head.

657
01:02:02,960 --> 01:02:09,159
Why because it's immoral, he told her. Norma slid beneath

658
01:02:09,199 --> 01:02:13,920
the covers. Well, I think it's intriguing, she said, Arthur

659
01:02:14,000 --> 01:02:16,559
turned off the lamp and leaned over to kiss her

660
01:02:16,920 --> 01:02:21,400
good night. He said good night, She patted his back.

661
01:02:22,440 --> 01:02:30,119
Norma closed her eyes. Fifty thousand dollars, she thought. In

662
01:02:30,159 --> 01:02:33,199
the morning, as she left the apartment, Norma saw the

663
01:02:33,320 --> 01:02:37,840
card halves on the table. Impulsively, she dropped them into

664
01:02:37,880 --> 01:02:41,239
her purse. She locked the front door and joined Arthur

665
01:02:41,480 --> 01:02:45,199
in the elevator. While she was on her coffee break,

666
01:02:45,320 --> 01:02:48,599
she took the card halves from her purse and held

667
01:02:48,760 --> 01:02:53,719
the torn edges together. Only mister Stewart's name and telephone

668
01:02:53,800 --> 01:02:58,159
number were printed on the card. After lunch, she took

669
01:02:58,199 --> 01:03:01,800
the card halves from her purse again and scotch taped

670
01:03:01,880 --> 01:03:06,360
the edges together. Why am I doing this, she thought?

671
01:03:07,599 --> 01:03:13,239
Just before five, she dialed the number. Good afternoon, said

672
01:03:13,280 --> 01:03:18,480
mister Stewart's voice. Norma almost hung up, but restrained herself.

673
01:03:19,079 --> 01:03:25,159
She cleared her throat. This is missus Lewis, she said, Yes,

674
01:03:25,639 --> 01:03:32,800
Missus Lewis. Mister Stewart sounded pleased. I'm curious. That's natural,

675
01:03:33,119 --> 01:03:36,760
mister Stewart said, Not that I believe a word of

676
01:03:36,800 --> 01:03:42,880
what you told us. Oh, it's quite authentic, mister Stewart answered, well, whatever,

677
01:03:43,440 --> 01:03:47,360
Norma swallowed. When you said someone in the world would die,

678
01:03:48,079 --> 01:03:52,400
what did you mean exactly that? He answered, it could

679
01:03:52,480 --> 01:03:56,639
be anyone. All we guarantee is that you don't know them,

680
01:03:57,280 --> 01:04:00,400
and of course that you wouldn't have to watch them

681
01:04:00,559 --> 01:04:07,159
die for fifty thousand dollars. Norma said, that is correct.

682
01:04:08,400 --> 01:04:13,679
She made a scoffing sound. That's crazy. Nonetheless, that is

683
01:04:13,800 --> 01:04:17,599
the proposition, mister Stewart said, would you like me to

684
01:04:17,760 --> 01:04:24,400
return the button unit? Norma stiffened, certainly not. She hung

685
01:04:24,519 --> 01:04:32,360
up angrily. The package was lying by the front door.

686
01:04:33,039 --> 01:04:36,719
Norma saw it as she left the elevator. Well of

687
01:04:36,800 --> 01:04:40,199
all the nerves, she thought. She glared at the curtain

688
01:04:40,320 --> 01:04:43,559
as she unlocked the door. I just won't take it in,

689
01:04:44,000 --> 01:04:48,880
she thought. She went inside and started dinner. Later, she

690
01:04:49,000 --> 01:04:52,599
went into the front hall, opening the door. She picked

691
01:04:52,679 --> 01:04:56,320
up the package and carried it into the kitchen, leaving

692
01:04:56,360 --> 01:04:59,800
it on the table. She sat in the living room

693
01:05:00,079 --> 01:05:03,800
looking out the window. After a while, she went back

694
01:05:03,840 --> 01:05:07,000
into the kitchen to turn the cutlets and the broiler.

695
01:05:07,480 --> 01:05:10,840
She put the package in a bottom cabinet. She'd throw

696
01:05:10,920 --> 01:05:16,280
it out in the morning. Maybe some eccentric millionaires playing

697
01:05:16,480 --> 01:05:20,880
games with people, she said. Arthur looked up from his dinner.

698
01:05:21,760 --> 01:05:27,039
I don't understand you. What does that mean? Let it go?

699
01:05:27,639 --> 01:05:34,360
He told her. Norma ate in silence. Suddenly she put

700
01:05:34,400 --> 01:05:38,960
her fork down. Suppose it's a genuine offer, she said.

701
01:05:40,159 --> 01:05:47,719
Arthur stared at her. Suppose it's a genuine offer. All right,

702
01:05:47,880 --> 01:05:51,320
suppose it is, He looked, incredulous. What would you like

703
01:05:51,400 --> 01:05:57,280
to do? Get the button back and push it? Murder someone,

704
01:05:57,320 --> 01:05:58,880
Norma looked, disgusted.

705
01:05:59,559 --> 01:05:59,920
Speaker 5: Murder?

706
01:06:00,880 --> 01:06:04,199
Speaker 2: How would you define it if you don't even know

707
01:06:04,519 --> 01:06:09,440
the person, Norma said. Arthur looked astounded. Are you saying

708
01:06:09,519 --> 01:06:14,119
what I think you are? If it's some old Chinese

709
01:06:14,199 --> 01:06:19,599
peasant ten thousand miles away, some diseased native in the Congo,

710
01:06:21,280 --> 01:06:25,239
how about a baby boy in Pennsylvania, Arthur countered, some

711
01:06:25,679 --> 01:06:30,760
beautiful little girl on the next block. Now you're loading things.

712
01:06:31,239 --> 01:06:34,599
The point is, Norma, he continued, what's the difference whom

713
01:06:34,639 --> 01:06:39,880
you kill? It's still murder? The point is, Norma broke in.

714
01:06:40,320 --> 01:06:42,960
If it's someone you've never seen in your life and

715
01:06:43,039 --> 01:06:46,239
will never see, someone whose death you don't even have

716
01:06:46,360 --> 01:06:53,320
to know about, you still wouldn't push the button. Arthur stared,

717
01:06:53,360 --> 01:07:02,119
at her appalled. You mean you would fifty dollars, Arthur?

718
01:07:03,519 --> 01:07:07,679
What has the amount? Fifty thousand dollars?

719
01:07:08,079 --> 01:07:08,360
Speaker 8: Arthur?

720
01:07:09,519 --> 01:07:12,559
Speaker 2: A chance to take that trip to Europe we've always

721
01:07:12,599 --> 01:07:17,079
talked about, Norma. No, A chance to buy that cottage

722
01:07:17,119 --> 01:07:23,320
on the island. Norma no. His face was white. She shuddered.

723
01:07:23,599 --> 01:07:26,320
All right, take it easy, she said, Why are you

724
01:07:26,400 --> 01:07:31,599
getting so upset? It's only talk. After dinner, Arthur went

725
01:07:31,639 --> 01:07:35,440
into the living room. Before he left the table, he said,

726
01:07:36,280 --> 01:07:39,360
I'd rather not discuss it anymore, if you don't mind.

727
01:07:40,320 --> 01:07:47,440
Norma shrugged, fine with me. She got up earlier than

728
01:07:47,559 --> 01:07:51,800
usual to make pancakes, eggs, and bacon for Arthur's breakfast.

729
01:07:52,639 --> 01:07:57,400
What's the occasion, he asked, with a smile. No occasion,

730
01:07:57,760 --> 01:08:03,119
Norma looked defended. I wanted to do it. That's all good,

731
01:08:03,239 --> 01:08:07,760
he said, I'm glad you did. She refilled his cup.

732
01:08:08,360 --> 01:08:15,360
Wanted to show you I'm not, she shrugged. Not what selfish?

733
01:08:16,359 --> 01:08:17,119
Did I say?

734
01:08:17,319 --> 01:08:17,760
Speaker 5: You were?

735
01:08:18,159 --> 01:08:25,039
Speaker 2: Well? She gestured vaguely. Last night Arthur didn't speak all

736
01:08:25,079 --> 01:08:28,359
that talk about the button, Norma said, I think you

737
01:08:29,239 --> 01:08:35,319
well misunderstood me in what way? His voice was guarded?

738
01:08:35,920 --> 01:08:40,159
I think you felt She gestured again that I was

739
01:08:40,199 --> 01:08:47,680
only thinking of myself. Oh I wasn't, Norma, Well, I

740
01:08:47,920 --> 01:08:53,159
wasn't when I talked about Europe, a cottage on the island. Norma,

741
01:08:53,640 --> 01:08:57,439
why are we getting so involved in this? I'm not

742
01:08:57,680 --> 01:09:01,920
involved at all, she drew in a shaking breath. I'm

743
01:09:02,000 --> 01:09:08,520
simply trying to indicate what that I'd like for us

744
01:09:08,840 --> 01:09:12,239
to go to Europe, Like for us to have a

745
01:09:12,279 --> 01:09:15,159
cottage on the island, Like for us to have a

746
01:09:15,239 --> 01:09:20,960
nicer apartment, nicer furniture, nicer clothes, a car, like for

747
01:09:21,039 --> 01:09:25,720
us to finally have a baby. For that matter, Norma,

748
01:09:26,039 --> 01:09:32,680
we will, He said, When are you He seemed to

749
01:09:32,760 --> 01:09:37,560
draw back slightly. Are you really saying? I'm saying that

750
01:09:37,640 --> 01:09:41,359
they're probably doing it for some research project. She cut

751
01:09:41,399 --> 01:09:44,439
him off that they want to know what average people

752
01:09:44,479 --> 01:09:48,119
would do under such a circumstance that they're just saying

753
01:09:48,399 --> 01:09:52,600
someone would die in order to study reactions, see if

754
01:09:52,640 --> 01:09:57,600
there'd be guilt, anxiety, whatever. You don't think they'd kill somebody,

755
01:09:57,640 --> 01:10:03,760
do you? Arthur didn't answer. She saw his hands trembling.

756
01:10:04,720 --> 01:10:08,840
After a while, he got up and left. When he'd

757
01:10:08,880 --> 01:10:12,520
gone to work, Norma remained at the table, staring into

758
01:10:12,560 --> 01:10:17,640
her coffee. I'm going to be late, she thought, She shrugged.

759
01:10:17,920 --> 01:10:21,960
What difference did it make? She should be home anyway,

760
01:10:22,119 --> 01:10:26,920
not working in an office. While she was stacking dishes,

761
01:10:26,960 --> 01:10:31,279
she turned abruptly, dried her hands, and took the package

762
01:10:31,359 --> 01:10:35,960
from the bottom cabinet, opening it, she set the button

763
01:10:36,119 --> 01:10:39,840
unit on the table. She stared at it for a

764
01:10:39,920 --> 01:10:44,479
long time before taking the key from its envelope and

765
01:10:44,560 --> 01:10:51,319
removing the glass dome. She stared at the button. How ridiculous,

766
01:10:51,680 --> 01:10:57,319
she thought, all this furor over a meaningless button. Reaching

767
01:10:57,359 --> 01:11:04,399
out she pressed it down for us, she thought angrily.

768
01:11:06,760 --> 01:11:13,199
She shuddered. Was it happening? A chill of horror swept

769
01:11:13,239 --> 01:11:17,800
across her. In a moment it had passed, she made

770
01:11:17,840 --> 01:11:22,960
a contemptuous noise. Ridiculous, she thought, to get so worked

771
01:11:23,039 --> 01:11:27,760
up over nothing. She threw the button unit, dome and

772
01:11:27,920 --> 01:11:31,920
key into the wastebasket and hurried to dress for work.

773
01:11:33,840 --> 01:11:36,800
She had just turned over the supper stakes when the

774
01:11:36,880 --> 01:11:44,199
telephone rang. She picked up the receiver. Hello, missus Lewis, Yes,

775
01:11:45,239 --> 01:11:51,159
this is the Lennox Hill Hospital. She felt unreal as

776
01:11:51,199 --> 01:11:55,920
the voice informed her of the subway accident. The shoving crowd.

777
01:11:56,399 --> 01:11:59,760
Arthur was pushed from the platform in front of the

778
01:12:01,520 --> 01:12:04,800
She was conscious of shaking her head, but couldn't stop.

779
01:12:05,960 --> 01:12:10,960
As she hung up, she remembered Arthur's life insurance policy

780
01:12:11,239 --> 01:12:18,520
for twenty five thousand dollars with double indemnity for no

781
01:12:19,920 --> 01:12:23,680
She couldn't seem to breathe. She struggled to her feet

782
01:12:23,760 --> 01:12:29,039
and walked into the kitchen numbly. Something cold pressed against

783
01:12:29,039 --> 01:12:33,520
her skull as she removed the button unit from the wastebasket.

784
01:12:33,920 --> 01:12:37,800
There were no nails or screws visible. She couldn't see

785
01:12:37,840 --> 01:12:42,199
how it was put together. Abruptly, she began to smash

786
01:12:42,239 --> 01:12:45,880
it on the sink edge, pounding it harder and harder

787
01:12:45,960 --> 01:12:50,039
until the wood split. She pulled the sides apart, cutting

788
01:12:50,039 --> 01:12:54,640
her fingers without noticing there were no transistors in the box,

789
01:12:54,960 --> 01:13:01,279
no wires or tubes. The box was empty. She whirled

790
01:13:01,359 --> 01:13:06,039
with a gasp as the telephone rang. Stumbling into the

791
01:13:06,159 --> 01:13:11,479
living room, she picked up the receiver. Missus Lewis. Mister

792
01:13:11,600 --> 01:13:16,520
Stewart asked, it wasn't her voice shrieking, So it couldn't be,

793
01:13:17,239 --> 01:13:22,279
you said, I wouldn't know the one that died, My

794
01:13:22,520 --> 01:13:28,439
dear lady mister Stewart said, do you really think you

795
01:13:28,920 --> 01:13:55,840
knew your husband? Special? Thanks to the guest voice actors

796
01:13:55,880 --> 01:13:59,640
who helped bring this year's show to life. Daisy May

797
01:13:59,760 --> 01:14:05,359
Park Persons narrated Ten Legs Eight Broken. DC Douglas and

798
01:14:05,439 --> 01:14:09,119
Elisa Simon were the father and son on the Grandma

799
01:14:09,319 --> 01:14:15,119
in the Cemetery Tale on Pause, James Smilly voiced the Wendigo,

800
01:14:15,760 --> 01:14:20,960
John Grimes narrated the Whispermen, and Ashley Crossman did a

801
01:14:21,000 --> 01:14:26,199
wonderful job on two sentence horror stories. Over the years,

802
01:14:26,239 --> 01:14:29,960
I've been honored to write, tell, and develop these high

803
01:14:30,000 --> 01:14:34,199
impact theater of the mind productions for you. And once

804
01:14:34,239 --> 01:14:39,600
again I've got thirty ghost stories and urban legends compiled

805
01:14:39,640 --> 01:14:44,079
from over half a decade now in audiobook form at

806
01:14:44,119 --> 01:14:48,359
audible dot com, which I have linked in the description box.

807
01:14:48,840 --> 01:14:52,439
Thanks for your support, thanks for listening, and of course,

808
01:14:52,720 --> 01:14:54,199
Happy Halloween.