August 26, 2025 • 30 mins
A small town funeral brings out all the crazies. Corinne discovers a family artifact.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
iHeart three d A.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
For full exposure, listen with thatphones.
Speaker 3 (00:08):
Havoctown is a production of iHeart Podcasts and Grim and
Mild from Aaron Mankey Headphones recommended. Listener discretion advised.
Speaker 4 (00:24):
There's a vile sickness in Abbesstown. You must excite it,
dig into the deep earth, and cut it out by
any means necessary. And if you see the devil walking
around in sight of another man, be an enemy of
your very own brother. If you see the blood pour
(00:46):
forth from his flesh, you must cut out the very
heart of him, burn his body, and scatter the ashes
in the furthest corner of this town as a warning.
Speaker 5 (01:42):
Jonathan Uh, my father. I've been to a lot of
these for my grandfather, Bill Abbas, my grandmother Dottie a
couple of years later, my mom too young. I've been
(02:05):
a funerals for a lot of your families too. It's
a small town. That's God, it's good and it's bad.
And all of us, all the grieving ones, the ones
left behind, we all say the same thing. Right. He
was a complicated man, because how else do you sum
(02:31):
up a person's life? Now, he lived here, His entire
life was born a County General. Went to school at
Havoc Elementary and later Robert Frost High Go you Blue Devils.
He didn't go to college, and a lot of us didn't.
(02:52):
A lot of us stayed on at home after high school,
got jobs at the mill or with the police department,
raised families. That was Dad too. Met mom right out
of high school, fell in love, made a few mistakes together,
and boom took over Grandpa's bar, made it his own.
(03:14):
He was a good dad. Not too harsh, No, maybe
not harsh enough. He always said he was proud of
me mm pushed me to be my best, but never
made me feel less than if I failed. Only only
(03:35):
time I think I ever saw him disappointed in me
was when I left college after a couple of semesters
to help out at home. You know, my mom was sick.
He wasn't disappointed that I came home so much, but
I think he knew that I wasn't going back, and
(03:57):
I think I think that broke his heart, because he
knew that I'd probably stay here in this place where
we sometimes aren't just people who live here now, because
they'd be thinking about the past, about who our family was,
(04:19):
not who we are who we can be. And of
course a lot of this is conjecture. He wasn't much
of a talker, I'm sure you know, but you still
knew where you stood somehow. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, okay.
(04:43):
Jim Avis was a good man. He was my dad.
He loved the people, He loved fiercely. He got all
of you drunk. There's no such thing as a curse.
Come out to Dottie's after we'll drink to that first
(05:06):
rounds on the house. Obviously, I'm not a public speaker,
and I hate it. But more than that, I hate
a bit after the service. The line, the line, always
(05:30):
the damn receiving line, people you barely know, offering their condolences,
bar our patrons, strangely sober in daylight, blinking their eyes
to adjust the occasional surprise he.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Laid me out.
Speaker 5 (05:43):
Was you know, I've heard the story, never even saw
it coming.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
Your father wasn't what you call it bluesy.
Speaker 5 (05:50):
You know, he was a sweetheart. O.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
You just don't want to cross it deserves it.
Speaker 5 (05:56):
Probably that was a prodigious drinker back then. See anyways,
I'll see you at the bobbin. Thanks for coming, mister Stavino.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Thank you're old enough to call me Tom now.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Now, Tom, you're holding up the.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
Line, all right, that Bob, you uh get my regards
to Jimbo while he's hailing up.
Speaker 5 (06:17):
We'll do. How is Jimbo barb you know.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Ornerie as hell? Yeah, he's been snippy with me, which
isn't like him, but we can talk about him later.
I'm so sorry about Johnny. You know, we used to
work together at the bar when we were just out
of school. Jimbo told me I had such a crush,
but he only had eyes for your mom. Of course,
(06:41):
then Jimbo came along brash.
Speaker 5 (06:44):
We'll please send my love. Tell him first round is
on me when he gets back on his feet. Oh
my love, dear, Thanks Bob.
Speaker 6 (06:52):
Hey, Hi holding up?
Speaker 5 (06:55):
No, Sylvia, I need a drink. But this line seems
to keep getting longer. Easy, All right, burners, it's time
to wrap it up.
Speaker 7 (07:04):
We're gonna go get pissed in Johnny's memory.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
All right.
Speaker 7 (07:08):
You can give her in your condolences while she's got
a drink in her hand.
Speaker 6 (07:13):
Let's move, Thank you, ride or die hun.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
You know he happened to be walking by when I
got a flat tire. He fixed it for me, but
you never heard such swearing.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Just laid me out on the floor right over there.
Didn't know what hit me, just sort of came to
covering in bers, running by my buddies.
Speaker 6 (07:38):
And just started laughing his ass off.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
You heard him laugh, right. He didn't do it often,
but the man cackled like a hyaena.
Speaker 5 (07:47):
It was endearing, you know. This was what kept Dad
going through the hard gears. This was a good and
proper sent off friend or foe. Everyone was welcome at Dottie's,
even the man who very timidly poked his head in
at this moment. Brother Ken, our towns eminent scholar on
(08:09):
sin and the wages thereof. Nobody was sure where he
came from. Nobody was sure where he went each night
after packing up his cardboard signs covered in prophecies and scripture.
But he always managed to be clean cut, and his
khakis and navy's sport coat were always clean, even if
a little threadbare in places. He was crazy, of course,
(08:34):
you'd have to be to stand on a street corner
and preached to deaf ears for so many years. But
he was dedicated. Ken had never walked into this bar
until this moment, and it's like it burned his lungs
to breathe the air. But he stood up straight when
he saw me and marched bravely across the bar, ignoring
(08:56):
the quiet chuckles and leering eyes that followed him. Hello, Ken,
to what do I owe this honor?
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Uh?
Speaker 8 (09:06):
Your father? I wanted to pay my respects. Despite his vocation,
I believe that he was a decent man. He was
always very kind. He gave regularly so that I could
keep up the services for my parishioners.
Speaker 5 (09:22):
Who are your parishioners. Thus, poor people walking by on
the street. Quiet, Tom, go on, ken.
Speaker 8 (09:30):
He was very kind and very generous.
Speaker 5 (09:33):
Hum I didn't know that he donated.
Speaker 8 (09:36):
Well, that's the mark of a godly man. And when
you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, for
they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and
at the street corners that they may be seen by others. Truly,
I say to you, they have received their reward. But
when you pray, go into your room and shut the
door and pray to your father who is in secret,
(10:00):
And your father, who sees in secret, will reward you.
That's Matthew he was good. I can see that he
instilled that in you. I was hoping that you would
allow me to lead a prayer.
Speaker 5 (10:12):
Ah. Well, Dad wasn't religious, but you know, given the circumstances,
I think he'd happily accept that.
Speaker 8 (10:23):
It is into your hands, Oh Lord, that we humbly
entrust our brother Jonathan Abbys in this life. You embraced
him with your tender love. Deliver him now from every
worldly evil and bid him eternal rest. The old order
has passed away. Welcome him into paradise where there will
(10:45):
be no sorrow.
Speaker 5 (10:48):
Jimbo, Oh my god, Jim, Hey, are you okay? You're bleeding.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
I didn't want to miss it.
Speaker 5 (11:00):
Barbes said, yeah, I know what she said. Jimbo, your
eyes it's nothing now. I think you should go to
the hospital. Jim, Jim, your eyes are bleeding.
Speaker 8 (11:10):
What are you looking at?
Speaker 4 (11:11):
Ken?
Speaker 2 (11:12):
What's he saying?
Speaker 1 (11:13):
What are you saying?
Speaker 8 (11:15):
Against itself? Is brought to desolation?
Speaker 4 (11:18):
What the hell are you on about?
Speaker 8 (11:19):
If Satan also be divided against himself?
Speaker 3 (11:23):
How shall his kingdom stand?
Speaker 9 (11:24):
Shut him up?
Speaker 8 (11:25):
Because you say that I cast out devils through beels above,
and if I by beels above cast out devil's hair shut.
Therefore shall they be your judges.
Speaker 5 (11:37):
Suddenly Jimbo was hands in his hair, screaming and slamming
his head on the counter. Ken managed to get up
and swing, but jim tackled him to the ground and
sunk to his teeth, right into Kim's shoulders.
Speaker 6 (11:54):
She does not with me, it's against me.
Speaker 5 (11:57):
She that gathered not with.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Damn called the cops.
Speaker 5 (12:15):
It was horrible, all of it. The blood was everywhere.
Jimbo Horn, a gentleman, raving and screaming as friends pulled
him from a battered Brother Ken, who continued screaming Bible
verses in his shrill, terrified voice.
Speaker 8 (12:33):
But if I, with the finger of God cast out
the devils, no doubt the Kingdom of God has come
upon you.
Speaker 5 (12:40):
By the time the authorities that arrived, both had been subdued.
Brother Ken had a nasty bite mark on his shoulder
and a broken nose. Jimbo was bleeding from everywhere, his eyes, nose, mouth.
He was sweating it, just like Raymond Bachman had before him.
(13:01):
But what struck me was the eyes. Brother Ken's fearful
turned upward, looking for help from the Almighty to pull
him through Jimbo's wild, almost feral, murderous Jimbo Horn who
in decades on the force only discharged his firearm once
(13:23):
to save my life. A good gentleman, that's the word
anyone would have used. Gentle now suddenly a slavering beast.
They were taken to the hospital, Jimbo and handcuffs. Of
the officers were apologetic about it. He'd trained them both.
(13:46):
I'd called Barb to break the news. Hello, Barbs, it's Corinne.
Oh yes, actually, what did you do?
Speaker 10 (14:01):
Is it kill somebody?
Speaker 5 (14:03):
Listen? It's best that you let the guys tell you
the details.
Speaker 10 (14:06):
Did he kill someone?
Speaker 5 (14:10):
No?
Speaker 10 (14:11):
Oh, thank god?
Speaker 5 (14:15):
Did you think he would farm?
Speaker 10 (14:20):
I'm so sorry. It's okay, I say old days for
you to listen to me. Blubber is not.
Speaker 5 (14:29):
What happened.
Speaker 10 (14:32):
He came home from the hospital the other day and
it's just well, he's he's not man himself.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
It's it's like he's been possessed. In forty years of marriage,
he's never once raised his voice with me, and suddenly
he's screaming about everything. He's mad that I'm keeping him
in bed, But Krinny, he's had this fever and I
keep having to change the bedsheets because well they're red.
(14:59):
And then and this afternoon, I get back from your
father's service and Jim's taking a nap and I'm in
the kitchen when I hear this, I don't know, this scream,
like like a baby screaming, but somehow worse. And I
come up the stairs and he's sitting in the corner,
faced away from me, hunched over something. And when I
(15:24):
ask him what the hell happened, he.
Speaker 6 (15:29):
Turns to me with this.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
It was a snarl, crim like like a junk yard dog, and.
Speaker 5 (15:41):
Arm what is it?
Speaker 2 (15:46):
He's got the cat in his hands, and it's.
Speaker 5 (15:51):
That he he killed the cat.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
I didn't know what to do. I I should have
run off or called somebody, his doctor, the chief, anybody,
but I couldn't wrap my head around what was happening.
So I just said, Jim, did you kill the cat?
Speaker 5 (16:13):
And what did he say? He shrugged, He shrugged.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
And dropped it on the carpet like I used towel,
And he said he was going out for a drink
and he left, Karen, his eyes were all bugged out
and bloody.
Speaker 5 (16:39):
Wait the cats or jimbows.
Speaker 10 (16:42):
Jimbows, of course, Sampson. I mean, he was a good cat.
He didn't deserve to be mingled. He loved Jim, he did.
They were best friends. Sampson used to crawl into bed
at night and crawl up the side jim shoulder, right
in the curve of his neck. He flits there all
(17:03):
night long, only getting up when Jim did.
Speaker 5 (17:06):
I'm so sorry, Barb. I think you should go to
the hospital. Okay, maybe you can tell the doctors all
the details. It's not like Jim, of course.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
I'm just so scared, Barb.
Speaker 5 (17:26):
If you need any Barb, Barb. I'd come straight home
to shower after everything, and to sit shell shocked by
the violence and loss over the last few days. I
barely had time to recover from one thing before the
(17:46):
next barrel through. I'd barely had time to process my
father's death. I'd spend so much time on his arrangements.
I hadn't had time to grieve, to start to sift
through the pieces, to process his last days. His last words.
Speaker 4 (18:08):
Black wood black would box.
Speaker 5 (18:18):
Shit. I hadn't thought of them since he died a
few days previous. It must have been important if it
was the last thing he'd said. Dad was never a
man of many words. He was careful with them, used
them sparingly, even occasionally to the detriment of our relationship.
(18:41):
He said, I love you, and that stood in for
a lot. We didn't talk about Mom much after she died.
We didn't talk about feelings. We didn't talk about his
shortcomings or mine. So using up his last breath on
these instructions, and of course my middle name must have
(19:05):
some weight. He certainly didn't talk about the box that
I found on the top shelf of his closet. He
really buried the lead on that one. What in the
hell a black wooden box with an old iron clasp,
(19:25):
I mean antique the size of a bread box across
and lay it on the lid. I was not prepared
for what I found inside? What coming?
Speaker 1 (19:42):
What the hell?
Speaker 5 (19:43):
What the hell?
Speaker 7 (19:45):
Hey, buddy, Sylvie, And look who I found pacing in
front of your house.
Speaker 5 (19:53):
Hi. Hi, It's Murray.
Speaker 9 (19:57):
I was your father's nurse.
Speaker 5 (19:59):
Oh yeah, I'm sorry. The last few days have been
a little bit of a whirlwind.
Speaker 9 (20:06):
I'd imagine. I'm incredibly sorry for your loss, and I
am sorry.
Speaker 5 (20:11):
To show up uninvited.
Speaker 9 (20:13):
I just seen that you were you were the only
one who came to visit your father in the hospital,
and I don't know.
Speaker 6 (20:19):
This was silly.
Speaker 5 (20:20):
No, no, no, it's not. You thought I was alone.
A lot of assumption on my part. What was kind
of you? Come in? I rap bourbon, excellent, we'll get
the glasses. Oh, none for me.
Speaker 9 (20:36):
Thanks, I've got first shift tomorrow.
Speaker 5 (20:38):
Boo Sylvie. No, Hey, how did everything go? After I
left the bar?
Speaker 7 (20:46):
I mean the cops hung around asking questions. I don't
think they could believe that Jimbo would ever attack anyone
over nothing much just bite a guy, I'm.
Speaker 5 (20:56):
Sorry, what a regular at my bar? When berserk sounds
like it?
Speaker 7 (21:04):
Old Tom and Kit Baker were moaning that they got
scratched up too trying to pull Jimbo off Ken, So
I gave them a couple in the house to clear
it up.
Speaker 6 (21:13):
Hope that's okay.
Speaker 5 (21:15):
Yeah, I trust your judgment, as you should.
Speaker 6 (21:18):
But anyway, the mood changed.
Speaker 7 (21:21):
Some of the old folks talking about winds shifting, signs
of the times, normal shit.
Speaker 6 (21:27):
But they were rattled courin.
Speaker 7 (21:30):
Yeah I am too, right, so am I I mean,
shit has been crazy, and with your dad dying in
the middle of it, I don't know anyway to Jonathan,
God love him, he'd have had all this shit.
Speaker 6 (21:44):
Worked out quick.
Speaker 5 (21:45):
Truth to dad?
Speaker 6 (21:52):
So, uh, you're gonna keep us in suspense?
Speaker 5 (21:55):
Or what?
Speaker 6 (21:58):
What's in the box?
Speaker 7 (22:00):
Answer the door, clutching it for dear life, and your
eyes haven't left it since you put it down like
you thought it might bite you.
Speaker 5 (22:06):
Oh well, you're not going to believe this.
Speaker 6 (22:14):
What the hell am I looking at?
Speaker 5 (22:18):
Inside the box, lined with deteriorating red velvet, were the
following items. A small crystal vial, a bible, its leather covered,
dry rotted brass candlesticks, two half melted candles, a small crucifix,
rosary beads, desiccated garlic, a small brass flask, two ornate
(22:42):
matching pistols, the kind they used to use in duels,
a wooden mallet, and finally, a simple wooden steak stained
a dark brown on the sharp end. It had clearly
been used at some point in the distant past. It's
for vampires, well, I figured, given the family history. Oh,
(23:06):
it's just a long story that I guess I don't
know in as much detail as I thought.
Speaker 6 (23:13):
What's that?
Speaker 5 (23:14):
Be careful, careful? Ah nah, I'll.
Speaker 6 (23:16):
Be gentle it's a letter. It's signed by Josiah Abbis.
Speaker 5 (23:23):
We'll read it aloud.
Speaker 7 (23:25):
I will Jesus ahem, my dear grandson. There are many
things between a parent and his progeny that go unspoken
over the course of a lifetime.
Speaker 4 (23:39):
My time grows short even now. I can sense a
shift in the wind over this village. The blind will
be approaching soon to cut out the good eye that
has led them through the darkness thus far. There's a
little time for apology, But I fear I must make
(24:00):
one to you, to your brother, for I could not
save your parents from their fates, nor could I keep
this great burden from you, so young and alone in
this world. These things shall torment me long after death,
and I well deserve it. I shall leave you with
(24:22):
this sacred box. Hopefully, by the time that you receive
this missive, its contents will no longer be necessary for peace,
the Good Lord willing. But I fear, my good grandson,
that the events which have unfolded in this town have
not yet come to full fruition. And so it is
(24:44):
with you I leave these holy artifacts, these histories, these
consecrated weapons against the inferno. It is time for you
to take up the family's great cause in this ending
battle between God's holy warriors and the horrors of the infernal.
(25:07):
There's a vile sickness in Abbess Town. You must excite it,
dig into the deep earth, and cut it out by
any means necessary. And if you see the devil walking
around in sight of another man, be an enemy of
your very own brother. If you see the blood pour
(25:28):
forth from his flesh, you must cut out the very
heart of him, burn his body, and scatter the ashes
in the furthest corner of this town as a warning.
You are God's warrior. Now they will not understand you.
They will fear you. But this fear is your weapon
(25:51):
as well. Wield it without mercy, and bring down its
holy judgment upon any who stand in the way of
your calling. God save this lineage. God save ABBA's Town.
God save my own wretched soul for what I have
(26:15):
done in his service.
Speaker 6 (26:23):
Wow, Shit, that's incredible. Was he insane?
Speaker 5 (26:31):
I mean they didn't call him a mad preacher for nothing.
If you see the blood pour forth from his flesh, shit, Jimbo, Yeah,
I mean that that that can't be connected.
Speaker 6 (26:47):
Why not?
Speaker 5 (26:48):
I don't know. And Demerius, my father's very last word
was Demerius. What do you think he meant?
Speaker 6 (26:58):
I mean that's your middle name, right? Did he ever
call you that?
Speaker 5 (27:03):
No?
Speaker 6 (27:05):
Oh, that's so weird.
Speaker 5 (27:08):
What did he do to demerish? What?
Speaker 7 (27:14):
I think?
Speaker 5 (27:14):
I know someone who can help us, help us, what, Sylvie, help.
Speaker 6 (27:18):
Us figure out how this is all connected?
Speaker 5 (27:21):
Oh, Sylvie, don't be ridiculous.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
No, come on, let me call.
Speaker 5 (27:26):
The guy, Sylvie.
Speaker 6 (27:28):
No, let me call him.
Speaker 5 (27:31):
Who is this guy you speak of? You have a
historian in your back pocket?
Speaker 6 (27:35):
No, I wish.
Speaker 7 (27:36):
No, he studies folklore and he's cute too, not that
that is important. I went to a lecture with that
guy I dated who was in a weird shit and
we ended up.
Speaker 6 (27:47):
Talking to him for a little afterward. I found his
number a while back.
Speaker 5 (27:55):
Are you stalking him? No?
Speaker 7 (27:58):
Yes, but have the guts to call him, because just
calling him out of the blue for no reason would
be weird.
Speaker 5 (28:04):
But calling him about an old vampire slaying kid is
not weird.
Speaker 6 (28:09):
Not for this guy.
Speaker 5 (28:11):
I don't have the time to deal with this.
Speaker 6 (28:13):
No, you have nothing but time. It's ringing. It's his
office number, so he probably won't pick up this Late.
Speaker 5 (28:20):
Professor Bradshaw.
Speaker 9 (28:21):
Listen, if this is about the midterm, I've made it
abundantly clear that I will not be grading on a curve.
Speaker 6 (28:26):
Okay, nope, nope, not a student.
Speaker 10 (28:31):
Sorry.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
There's always a rush of them calling to beg or
cajole this time of year.
Speaker 10 (28:37):
Who is calling?
Speaker 4 (28:38):
Hi?
Speaker 6 (28:39):
You don't remember me. My name is Sylvie.
Speaker 7 (28:42):
We met a while back after a lecture you gave
at Concord Library about the you know, the Terror of Lake.
Speaker 10 (28:49):
Right, yeah, the Lake member Magog.
Speaker 6 (28:51):
Yeah, that's it.
Speaker 7 (28:53):
I never remember that. Anyway, I was with a guy
at the time, Michael. I am not seeing him anymore,
to be clear. But okay, sorry, anyway, we have something
you might like to see go on.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
Havoctown was created by me Aaron Manke. The show was
written and directed by Nicholas Takoski. This episode was edited
and sound designed by Rima Lkali. Starring Jewels State as
Corene Abbas, Felicia Day as Sylvie, Harris ray Wise as
Josiah abbas, Crystal Lee as Demeris, Robin Bludworth as jimbo'horn,
(29:37):
David Calhoun as Jonathan abbas Charlie, David Newell as brother
Ken Summer rain Menkey as Barbara Horn and Misha Collins
as Professor Jeremy Bradshaw, with additional voice acting from Julian Graham,
Sasha Hatfield, Beverly Bremers, and Aaron Mankey. This season is
directed by Nicholas Takoski with assistant directors Sarah Klein and
(30:01):
Jake Diamond, casting by Sunday Bowling CSA and Meg Mormon CSA.
Production coordinator Wayna Calderon. Our theme song was created by
Chris Childs executive producers Aaron Manke, Trevor Young, and Matt Frederick,
with supervising producer Rima Lkali and producers Nomes Griffin and
Jesse Funk. Havoctown is set in the Bridgewater Audio Universe,
(30:25):
which includes the hit fiction podcasts Bridgewater and Consumed. Learn
more about both shows, as well as Havoctown at grimandmild
dot com, and find more podcasts from iHeartRadio by visiting
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows.
iHeart three d A.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
For full exposure, listen with thatphones.
Speaker 3 (00:08):
Havoctown is a production of iHeart Podcasts and Grim and
Mild from Aaron Mankey Headphones recommended. Listener discretion advised.
Speaker 4 (00:24):
There's a vile sickness in Abbesstown. You must excite it,
dig into the deep earth, and cut it out by
any means necessary. And if you see the devil walking
around in sight of another man, be an enemy of
your very own brother. If you see the blood pour
(00:46):
forth from his flesh, you must cut out the very
heart of him, burn his body, and scatter the ashes
in the furthest corner of this town as a warning.
Speaker 5 (01:42):
Jonathan Uh, my father. I've been to a lot of
these for my grandfather, Bill Abbas, my grandmother Dottie a
couple of years later, my mom too young. I've been
(02:05):
a funerals for a lot of your families too. It's
a small town. That's God, it's good and it's bad.
And all of us, all the grieving ones, the ones
left behind, we all say the same thing. Right. He
was a complicated man, because how else do you sum
(02:31):
up a person's life? Now, he lived here, His entire
life was born a County General. Went to school at
Havoc Elementary and later Robert Frost High Go you Blue Devils.
He didn't go to college, and a lot of us didn't.
(02:52):
A lot of us stayed on at home after high school,
got jobs at the mill or with the police department,
raised families. That was Dad too. Met mom right out
of high school, fell in love, made a few mistakes together,
and boom took over Grandpa's bar, made it his own.
(03:14):
He was a good dad. Not too harsh, No, maybe
not harsh enough. He always said he was proud of
me mm pushed me to be my best, but never
made me feel less than if I failed. Only only
(03:35):
time I think I ever saw him disappointed in me
was when I left college after a couple of semesters
to help out at home. You know, my mom was sick.
He wasn't disappointed that I came home so much, but
I think he knew that I wasn't going back, and
(03:57):
I think I think that broke his heart, because he
knew that I'd probably stay here in this place where
we sometimes aren't just people who live here now, because
they'd be thinking about the past, about who our family was,
(04:19):
not who we are who we can be. And of
course a lot of this is conjecture. He wasn't much
of a talker, I'm sure you know, but you still
knew where you stood somehow. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, okay.
(04:43):
Jim Avis was a good man. He was my dad.
He loved the people, He loved fiercely. He got all
of you drunk. There's no such thing as a curse.
Come out to Dottie's after we'll drink to that first
(05:06):
rounds on the house. Obviously, I'm not a public speaker,
and I hate it. But more than that, I hate
a bit after the service. The line, the line, always
(05:30):
the damn receiving line, people you barely know, offering their condolences,
bar our patrons, strangely sober in daylight, blinking their eyes
to adjust the occasional surprise he.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Laid me out.
Speaker 5 (05:43):
Was you know, I've heard the story, never even saw
it coming.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
Your father wasn't what you call it bluesy.
Speaker 5 (05:50):
You know, he was a sweetheart. O.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
You just don't want to cross it deserves it.
Speaker 5 (05:56):
Probably that was a prodigious drinker back then. See anyways,
I'll see you at the bobbin. Thanks for coming, mister Stavino.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Thank you're old enough to call me Tom now.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Now, Tom, you're holding up the.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
Line, all right, that Bob, you uh get my regards
to Jimbo while he's hailing up.
Speaker 5 (06:17):
We'll do. How is Jimbo barb you know.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Ornerie as hell? Yeah, he's been snippy with me, which
isn't like him, but we can talk about him later.
I'm so sorry about Johnny. You know, we used to
work together at the bar when we were just out
of school. Jimbo told me I had such a crush,
but he only had eyes for your mom. Of course,
(06:41):
then Jimbo came along brash.
Speaker 5 (06:44):
We'll please send my love. Tell him first round is
on me when he gets back on his feet. Oh
my love, dear, Thanks Bob.
Speaker 6 (06:52):
Hey, Hi holding up?
Speaker 5 (06:55):
No, Sylvia, I need a drink. But this line seems
to keep getting longer. Easy, All right, burners, it's time
to wrap it up.
Speaker 7 (07:04):
We're gonna go get pissed in Johnny's memory.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
All right.
Speaker 7 (07:08):
You can give her in your condolences while she's got
a drink in her hand.
Speaker 6 (07:13):
Let's move, Thank you, ride or die hun.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
You know he happened to be walking by when I
got a flat tire. He fixed it for me, but
you never heard such swearing.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
Just laid me out on the floor right over there.
Didn't know what hit me, just sort of came to
covering in bers, running by my buddies.
Speaker 6 (07:38):
And just started laughing his ass off.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
You heard him laugh, right. He didn't do it often,
but the man cackled like a hyaena.
Speaker 5 (07:47):
It was endearing, you know. This was what kept Dad
going through the hard gears. This was a good and
proper sent off friend or foe. Everyone was welcome at Dottie's,
even the man who very timidly poked his head in
at this moment. Brother Ken, our towns eminent scholar on
(08:09):
sin and the wages thereof. Nobody was sure where he
came from. Nobody was sure where he went each night
after packing up his cardboard signs covered in prophecies and scripture.
But he always managed to be clean cut, and his
khakis and navy's sport coat were always clean, even if
a little threadbare in places. He was crazy, of course,
(08:34):
you'd have to be to stand on a street corner
and preached to deaf ears for so many years. But
he was dedicated. Ken had never walked into this bar
until this moment, and it's like it burned his lungs
to breathe the air. But he stood up straight when
he saw me and marched bravely across the bar, ignoring
(08:56):
the quiet chuckles and leering eyes that followed him. Hello, Ken,
to what do I owe this honor?
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Uh?
Speaker 8 (09:06):
Your father? I wanted to pay my respects. Despite his vocation,
I believe that he was a decent man. He was
always very kind. He gave regularly so that I could
keep up the services for my parishioners.
Speaker 5 (09:22):
Who are your parishioners. Thus, poor people walking by on
the street. Quiet, Tom, go on, ken.
Speaker 8 (09:30):
He was very kind and very generous.
Speaker 5 (09:33):
Hum I didn't know that he donated.
Speaker 8 (09:36):
Well, that's the mark of a godly man. And when
you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, for
they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and
at the street corners that they may be seen by others. Truly,
I say to you, they have received their reward. But
when you pray, go into your room and shut the
door and pray to your father who is in secret,
(10:00):
And your father, who sees in secret, will reward you.
That's Matthew he was good. I can see that he
instilled that in you. I was hoping that you would
allow me to lead a prayer.
Speaker 5 (10:12):
Ah. Well, Dad wasn't religious, but you know, given the circumstances,
I think he'd happily accept that.
Speaker 8 (10:23):
It is into your hands, Oh Lord, that we humbly
entrust our brother Jonathan Abbys in this life. You embraced
him with your tender love. Deliver him now from every
worldly evil and bid him eternal rest. The old order
has passed away. Welcome him into paradise where there will
(10:45):
be no sorrow.
Speaker 5 (10:48):
Jimbo, Oh my god, Jim, Hey, are you okay? You're bleeding.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
I didn't want to miss it.
Speaker 5 (11:00):
Barbes said, yeah, I know what she said. Jimbo, your
eyes it's nothing now. I think you should go to
the hospital. Jim, Jim, your eyes are bleeding.
Speaker 8 (11:10):
What are you looking at?
Speaker 4 (11:11):
Ken?
Speaker 2 (11:12):
What's he saying?
Speaker 1 (11:13):
What are you saying?
Speaker 8 (11:15):
Against itself? Is brought to desolation?
Speaker 4 (11:18):
What the hell are you on about?
Speaker 8 (11:19):
If Satan also be divided against himself?
Speaker 3 (11:23):
How shall his kingdom stand?
Speaker 9 (11:24):
Shut him up?
Speaker 8 (11:25):
Because you say that I cast out devils through beels above,
and if I by beels above cast out devil's hair shut.
Therefore shall they be your judges.
Speaker 5 (11:37):
Suddenly Jimbo was hands in his hair, screaming and slamming
his head on the counter. Ken managed to get up
and swing, but jim tackled him to the ground and
sunk to his teeth, right into Kim's shoulders.
Speaker 6 (11:54):
She does not with me, it's against me.
Speaker 5 (11:57):
She that gathered not with.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Damn called the cops.
Speaker 5 (12:15):
It was horrible, all of it. The blood was everywhere.
Jimbo Horn, a gentleman, raving and screaming as friends pulled
him from a battered Brother Ken, who continued screaming Bible
verses in his shrill, terrified voice.
Speaker 8 (12:33):
But if I, with the finger of God cast out
the devils, no doubt the Kingdom of God has come
upon you.
Speaker 5 (12:40):
By the time the authorities that arrived, both had been subdued.
Brother Ken had a nasty bite mark on his shoulder
and a broken nose. Jimbo was bleeding from everywhere, his eyes, nose, mouth.
He was sweating it, just like Raymond Bachman had before him.
(13:01):
But what struck me was the eyes. Brother Ken's fearful
turned upward, looking for help from the Almighty to pull
him through Jimbo's wild, almost feral, murderous Jimbo Horn who
in decades on the force only discharged his firearm once
(13:23):
to save my life. A good gentleman, that's the word
anyone would have used. Gentle now suddenly a slavering beast.
They were taken to the hospital, Jimbo and handcuffs. Of
the officers were apologetic about it. He'd trained them both.
(13:46):
I'd called Barb to break the news. Hello, Barbs, it's Corinne.
Oh yes, actually, what did you do?
Speaker 10 (14:01):
Is it kill somebody?
Speaker 5 (14:03):
Listen? It's best that you let the guys tell you
the details.
Speaker 10 (14:06):
Did he kill someone?
Speaker 5 (14:10):
No?
Speaker 10 (14:11):
Oh, thank god?
Speaker 5 (14:15):
Did you think he would farm?
Speaker 10 (14:20):
I'm so sorry. It's okay, I say old days for
you to listen to me. Blubber is not.
Speaker 5 (14:29):
What happened.
Speaker 10 (14:32):
He came home from the hospital the other day and
it's just well, he's he's not man himself.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
It's it's like he's been possessed. In forty years of marriage,
he's never once raised his voice with me, and suddenly
he's screaming about everything. He's mad that I'm keeping him
in bed, But Krinny, he's had this fever and I
keep having to change the bedsheets because well they're red.
(14:59):
And then and this afternoon, I get back from your
father's service and Jim's taking a nap and I'm in
the kitchen when I hear this, I don't know, this scream,
like like a baby screaming, but somehow worse. And I
come up the stairs and he's sitting in the corner,
faced away from me, hunched over something. And when I
(15:24):
ask him what the hell happened, he.
Speaker 6 (15:29):
Turns to me with this.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
It was a snarl, crim like like a junk yard dog, and.
Speaker 5 (15:41):
Arm what is it?
Speaker 2 (15:46):
He's got the cat in his hands, and it's.
Speaker 5 (15:51):
That he he killed the cat.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
I didn't know what to do. I I should have
run off or called somebody, his doctor, the chief, anybody,
but I couldn't wrap my head around what was happening.
So I just said, Jim, did you kill the cat?
Speaker 5 (16:13):
And what did he say? He shrugged, He shrugged.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
And dropped it on the carpet like I used towel,
And he said he was going out for a drink
and he left, Karen, his eyes were all bugged out
and bloody.
Speaker 5 (16:39):
Wait the cats or jimbows.
Speaker 10 (16:42):
Jimbows, of course, Sampson. I mean, he was a good cat.
He didn't deserve to be mingled. He loved Jim, he did.
They were best friends. Sampson used to crawl into bed
at night and crawl up the side jim shoulder, right
in the curve of his neck. He flits there all
(17:03):
night long, only getting up when Jim did.
Speaker 5 (17:06):
I'm so sorry, Barb. I think you should go to
the hospital. Okay, maybe you can tell the doctors all
the details. It's not like Jim, of course.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
I'm just so scared, Barb.
Speaker 5 (17:26):
If you need any Barb, Barb. I'd come straight home
to shower after everything, and to sit shell shocked by
the violence and loss over the last few days. I
barely had time to recover from one thing before the
(17:46):
next barrel through. I'd barely had time to process my
father's death. I'd spend so much time on his arrangements.
I hadn't had time to grieve, to start to sift
through the pieces, to process his last days. His last words.
Speaker 4 (18:08):
Black wood black would box.
Speaker 5 (18:18):
Shit. I hadn't thought of them since he died a
few days previous. It must have been important if it
was the last thing he'd said. Dad was never a
man of many words. He was careful with them, used
them sparingly, even occasionally to the detriment of our relationship.
(18:41):
He said, I love you, and that stood in for
a lot. We didn't talk about Mom much after she died.
We didn't talk about feelings. We didn't talk about his
shortcomings or mine. So using up his last breath on
these instructions, and of course my middle name must have
(19:05):
some weight. He certainly didn't talk about the box that
I found on the top shelf of his closet. He
really buried the lead on that one. What in the
hell a black wooden box with an old iron clasp,
(19:25):
I mean antique the size of a bread box across
and lay it on the lid. I was not prepared
for what I found inside? What coming?
Speaker 1 (19:42):
What the hell?
Speaker 5 (19:43):
What the hell?
Speaker 7 (19:45):
Hey, buddy, Sylvie, And look who I found pacing in
front of your house.
Speaker 5 (19:53):
Hi. Hi, It's Murray.
Speaker 9 (19:57):
I was your father's nurse.
Speaker 5 (19:59):
Oh yeah, I'm sorry. The last few days have been
a little bit of a whirlwind.
Speaker 9 (20:06):
I'd imagine. I'm incredibly sorry for your loss, and I
am sorry.
Speaker 5 (20:11):
To show up uninvited.
Speaker 9 (20:13):
I just seen that you were you were the only
one who came to visit your father in the hospital,
and I don't know.
Speaker 6 (20:19):
This was silly.
Speaker 5 (20:20):
No, no, no, it's not. You thought I was alone.
A lot of assumption on my part. What was kind
of you? Come in? I rap bourbon, excellent, we'll get
the glasses. Oh, none for me.
Speaker 9 (20:36):
Thanks, I've got first shift tomorrow.
Speaker 5 (20:38):
Boo Sylvie. No, Hey, how did everything go? After I
left the bar?
Speaker 7 (20:46):
I mean the cops hung around asking questions. I don't
think they could believe that Jimbo would ever attack anyone
over nothing much just bite a guy, I'm.
Speaker 5 (20:56):
Sorry, what a regular at my bar? When berserk sounds
like it?
Speaker 7 (21:04):
Old Tom and Kit Baker were moaning that they got
scratched up too trying to pull Jimbo off Ken, So
I gave them a couple in the house to clear
it up.
Speaker 6 (21:13):
Hope that's okay.
Speaker 5 (21:15):
Yeah, I trust your judgment, as you should.
Speaker 6 (21:18):
But anyway, the mood changed.
Speaker 7 (21:21):
Some of the old folks talking about winds shifting, signs
of the times, normal shit.
Speaker 6 (21:27):
But they were rattled courin.
Speaker 7 (21:30):
Yeah I am too, right, so am I I mean,
shit has been crazy, and with your dad dying in
the middle of it, I don't know anyway to Jonathan,
God love him, he'd have had all this shit.
Speaker 6 (21:44):
Worked out quick.
Speaker 5 (21:45):
Truth to dad?
Speaker 6 (21:52):
So, uh, you're gonna keep us in suspense?
Speaker 5 (21:55):
Or what?
Speaker 6 (21:58):
What's in the box?
Speaker 7 (22:00):
Answer the door, clutching it for dear life, and your
eyes haven't left it since you put it down like
you thought it might bite you.
Speaker 5 (22:06):
Oh well, you're not going to believe this.
Speaker 6 (22:14):
What the hell am I looking at?
Speaker 5 (22:18):
Inside the box, lined with deteriorating red velvet, were the
following items. A small crystal vial, a bible, its leather covered,
dry rotted brass candlesticks, two half melted candles, a small crucifix,
rosary beads, desiccated garlic, a small brass flask, two ornate
(22:42):
matching pistols, the kind they used to use in duels,
a wooden mallet, and finally, a simple wooden steak stained
a dark brown on the sharp end. It had clearly
been used at some point in the distant past. It's
for vampires, well, I figured, given the family history. Oh,
(23:06):
it's just a long story that I guess I don't
know in as much detail as I thought.
Speaker 6 (23:13):
What's that?
Speaker 5 (23:14):
Be careful, careful? Ah nah, I'll.
Speaker 6 (23:16):
Be gentle it's a letter. It's signed by Josiah Abbis.
Speaker 5 (23:23):
We'll read it aloud.
Speaker 7 (23:25):
I will Jesus ahem, my dear grandson. There are many
things between a parent and his progeny that go unspoken
over the course of a lifetime.
Speaker 4 (23:39):
My time grows short even now. I can sense a
shift in the wind over this village. The blind will
be approaching soon to cut out the good eye that
has led them through the darkness thus far. There's a
little time for apology, But I fear I must make
(24:00):
one to you, to your brother, for I could not
save your parents from their fates, nor could I keep
this great burden from you, so young and alone in
this world. These things shall torment me long after death,
and I well deserve it. I shall leave you with
(24:22):
this sacred box. Hopefully, by the time that you receive
this missive, its contents will no longer be necessary for peace,
the Good Lord willing. But I fear, my good grandson,
that the events which have unfolded in this town have
not yet come to full fruition. And so it is
(24:44):
with you I leave these holy artifacts, these histories, these
consecrated weapons against the inferno. It is time for you
to take up the family's great cause in this ending
battle between God's holy warriors and the horrors of the infernal.
(25:07):
There's a vile sickness in Abbess Town. You must excite it,
dig into the deep earth, and cut it out by
any means necessary. And if you see the devil walking
around in sight of another man, be an enemy of
your very own brother. If you see the blood pour
(25:28):
forth from his flesh, you must cut out the very
heart of him, burn his body, and scatter the ashes
in the furthest corner of this town as a warning.
You are God's warrior. Now they will not understand you.
They will fear you. But this fear is your weapon
(25:51):
as well. Wield it without mercy, and bring down its
holy judgment upon any who stand in the way of
your calling. God save this lineage. God save ABBA's Town.
God save my own wretched soul for what I have
(26:15):
done in his service.
Speaker 6 (26:23):
Wow, Shit, that's incredible. Was he insane?
Speaker 5 (26:31):
I mean they didn't call him a mad preacher for nothing.
If you see the blood pour forth from his flesh, shit, Jimbo, Yeah,
I mean that that that can't be connected.
Speaker 6 (26:47):
Why not?
Speaker 5 (26:48):
I don't know. And Demerius, my father's very last word
was Demerius. What do you think he meant?
Speaker 6 (26:58):
I mean that's your middle name, right? Did he ever
call you that?
Speaker 5 (27:03):
No?
Speaker 6 (27:05):
Oh, that's so weird.
Speaker 5 (27:08):
What did he do to demerish? What?
Speaker 7 (27:14):
I think?
Speaker 5 (27:14):
I know someone who can help us, help us, what, Sylvie, help.
Speaker 6 (27:18):
Us figure out how this is all connected?
Speaker 5 (27:21):
Oh, Sylvie, don't be ridiculous.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
No, come on, let me call.
Speaker 5 (27:26):
The guy, Sylvie.
Speaker 6 (27:28):
No, let me call him.
Speaker 5 (27:31):
Who is this guy you speak of? You have a
historian in your back pocket?
Speaker 6 (27:35):
No, I wish.
Speaker 7 (27:36):
No, he studies folklore and he's cute too, not that
that is important. I went to a lecture with that
guy I dated who was in a weird shit and
we ended up.
Speaker 6 (27:47):
Talking to him for a little afterward. I found his
number a while back.
Speaker 5 (27:55):
Are you stalking him? No?
Speaker 7 (27:58):
Yes, but have the guts to call him, because just
calling him out of the blue for no reason would
be weird.
Speaker 5 (28:04):
But calling him about an old vampire slaying kid is
not weird.
Speaker 6 (28:09):
Not for this guy.
Speaker 5 (28:11):
I don't have the time to deal with this.
Speaker 6 (28:13):
No, you have nothing but time. It's ringing. It's his
office number, so he probably won't pick up this Late.
Speaker 5 (28:20):
Professor Bradshaw.
Speaker 9 (28:21):
Listen, if this is about the midterm, I've made it
abundantly clear that I will not be grading on a curve.
Speaker 6 (28:26):
Okay, nope, nope, not a student.
Speaker 10 (28:31):
Sorry.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
There's always a rush of them calling to beg or
cajole this time of year.
Speaker 10 (28:37):
Who is calling?
Speaker 4 (28:38):
Hi?
Speaker 6 (28:39):
You don't remember me. My name is Sylvie.
Speaker 7 (28:42):
We met a while back after a lecture you gave
at Concord Library about the you know, the Terror of Lake.
Speaker 10 (28:49):
Right, yeah, the Lake member Magog.
Speaker 6 (28:51):
Yeah, that's it.
Speaker 7 (28:53):
I never remember that. Anyway, I was with a guy
at the time, Michael. I am not seeing him anymore,
to be clear. But okay, sorry, anyway, we have something
you might like to see go on.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
Havoctown was created by me Aaron Manke. The show was
written and directed by Nicholas Takoski. This episode was edited
and sound designed by Rima Lkali. Starring Jewels State as
Corene Abbas, Felicia Day as Sylvie, Harris ray Wise as
Josiah abbas, Crystal Lee as Demeris, Robin Bludworth as jimbo'horn,
(29:37):
David Calhoun as Jonathan abbas Charlie, David Newell as brother
Ken Summer rain Menkey as Barbara Horn and Misha Collins
as Professor Jeremy Bradshaw, with additional voice acting from Julian Graham,
Sasha Hatfield, Beverly Bremers, and Aaron Mankey. This season is
directed by Nicholas Takoski with assistant directors Sarah Klein and
(30:01):
Jake Diamond, casting by Sunday Bowling CSA and Meg Mormon CSA.
Production coordinator Wayna Calderon. Our theme song was created by
Chris Childs executive producers Aaron Manke, Trevor Young, and Matt Frederick,
with supervising producer Rima Lkali and producers Nomes Griffin and
Jesse Funk. Havoctown is set in the Bridgewater Audio Universe,
(30:25):
which includes the hit fiction podcasts Bridgewater and Consumed. Learn
more about both shows, as well as Havoctown at grimandmild
dot com, and find more podcasts from iHeartRadio by visiting
the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
your favorite shows.
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