December 23, 2025 • 31 mins
Twenty-two days ago, a mysterious advent calendar arrived on Officer Matthew Klein's doorstep — no sender, no explanation, just twenty-four doors and a carved bearded face with hollow eyes. Since then, Marshport has become a graveyard. The entity behind it has a name now: Zurvan, an ancient demon whose mid-winter worship culminates on December 24th — the same demon that ten-year-old Matthew and his seven-year-old brother Steven accidentally summoned through a spirit board on Christmas Eve, 1995, the night their house burned to the ground. Zurvan has possessed Matthew's best friend, his own son, and a detective whose head he twisted completely around. On December 22nd, he proved the Bible verse about Legion true — the decomposing corpse of Wilbur Ward rose from the basement, levitated through the hallway, and snapped Pastor Hart's neck like kindling. Matthew's world went dark. The demon's final words echoed into oblivion: "Time's up." Two doors remain. Two days until Zurvan's celebration officially arrives.
Get the print version of the novel: https://weirddarkness.com/AdventOfEvil
#WeirdDarkness #ChristmasHorror #HolidayHorror #SupernaturalThriller #HauntedCalendar #DarkChristmas #HorrorStory #DemonicEvil #CreepyTales #YuletideTerror
Get the print version of the novel: https://weirddarkness.com/AdventOfEvil
#WeirdDarkness #ChristmasHorror #HolidayHorror #SupernaturalThriller #HauntedCalendar #DarkChristmas #HorrorStory #DemonicEvil #CreepyTales #YuletideTerror
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
The advent calendar arrived twenty two days ago. No sender,
no explanation, just twenty four doors, a carved bearded face
with hollow eyes and a serpent shaped marking on its back.
Since then, Marshport has become a graveyard. Officer. Matthew Klein
has watched the calender's daily offerings transform into omens of death.
(00:28):
A miniature house that burst into flames, a crystal star
dipped in blood, a photograph of his own children. He
threw the calendar into the Atlantic Ocean. It came back.
He refused to open a door, Snakes poured from the
wood and attacked his son. The entity has a name now, Zervon,
an ancient demon whose midwinter worship culminates on December twenty fourth.
(00:53):
Father Olsen warned that Zervon feeds on psychological torment, that
he's been attached to a spirit board for generations, destroying
every family who ever possessed it, the same spirit board
that ten year old Matthew and his seven year old
brother Stephen used to contact their dead uncle on Christmas
Eve nineteen ninety five, the night their house burned to
(01:16):
the ground. Zervon has taken everything he possessed Matthew's best
friend Simon and forced Detective Davenport to kill him. He
turned Matthew's son Logan into a vessel, speaking through him
with a voice from the pit. He twisted Davenport's head
completely around while Matthew watched helpless. In December twenty second,
(01:38):
Zervon proved he is more powerful than any one believed.
First the single page from the Bible about a demon
possessed man with an entity called Legion, for he was
possessed by many demons, not just one. Then decomposing corpse
of Wilbur Ward, the man who built the calendar from
the charred remains of the spirit board, rose from the basement,
(02:00):
levitated through the hallway, and declared absolute dominion over the
Klein household. Pastor Hart tried to step into help, Zervan
snapped his neck like kindling. Matthew's parents are trapped in
the kitchen. His sons are screaming upstairs. His wife stands
paralyzed with terror. The advent calendar sits untouched amid the destruction,
(02:22):
its carved face watching waiting. Matthew's world begins to go dark.
The demon's final words fade into oblivion as Matt loses
consciousness with Zervon declaring times up. Two doors remain two
days until Christmas Eve, two days until Zervon's celebration officially arrives.
(03:24):
Welcome Weirdos. I'm Darren Marler and this is Weird Darkness's
Advent of Evil, a holiday horror novel written by Scott
Donnelly based on a concept from Darren Marler. Twenty four Doors,
twenty four days, twenty four secrets waiting in the darkness,
Just like an advent calendar counting down the Christmas We'll
(03:45):
unlock one chapter each day, but what we find behind
these doors may not be the gift you're expecting. You
can find all available chapters, as well as the print
version in paperback, hardback, or kindle, at Weird Darkness dot
com slash Advent of Evil. The calendar is waiting. Let's
see what awaits us behind today's door. Tuesday, December twenty third.
(04:17):
I'd always heard the phrase time stands still and attributed
it to a moment of surrealness or disbelief of a
situation one was currently in or experiencing. I'd experienced it
before myself. When Logan and Mason were each born. Time
stood still for me when I kissed Anika for the
first time. Time stood still. When I found out my
(04:41):
entire family perished in the fire, time stood still. Even
when my grandmother died of a heart attack days later.
Time froze then as well. My entire life had been
uprooted in those few days. I could have very easily
attributed time standing still to horrible things, but I knew
(05:04):
that wasn't the case, since it also stood still for
my first kiss with Anika and the birth of my boys.
Time standing still didn't have to mean life was stalling
out or hopeless. It could also be a bridge to
gap two life altering moments together, from bad to good,
or even from good to bad. That was always to
(05:26):
be determined. For Zervon, though time meant nothing. He sat
in wait for thirty years to complete his savage task.
But whether it was thirty years or thirty days, to him,
it was all the same. He had all the time
in the world to do as he wished, to perform
(05:46):
his egotistical labors of love, and to wait until my
boys were the same age as Stephen and I were
during our first encounter. Well, he clearly had a thing
for theatrics. I wasn't sure how long my world had
gone dark, how long it had been still. I wasn't
sure where I was or where anyone else was. All
(06:11):
I had was my continually running mind and cold, jagged
things digging into my back. I could have been in
this position for thirty minutes or thirty days. I didn't
know time had stood still. It was my punishment. I
knew that for challenging Zervon and giving him a fight
that he'd never been subjected to before. I wasn't going
(06:34):
to go down easily, especially when my family was involved.
If he thought he could take them all away from
me a second time, he was wrong. I wasn't sure
when it started, but eventually I began to feel things again.
Aside from the jagged things poking into my back, I
(06:54):
felt a coldness against my skin. I felt a tickling
sensation on my face, possibly my nervous system restarting after
the spell Zervan had flushed me with a while after that,
I could smell again, and I wished I hadn't. A musty,
putrid odor overwhelmed me. It was an odor I'd become
(07:16):
all too familiar with as of late one of death
and decay, the cold, the bed of jagged rocks, the
smell of death and must. My mind immediately went to
the crawl space in my basement, and upon my realization,
almost like it was a reward for a job well done,
(07:36):
my vision came back. My eyes were already open. I
was laying down in a small, crammed space. I put
my arms out to my sides and felt the surface
I had been sprawled out upon. They were rocks, cold
and damp. Some of them were even a little frosty.
The tickling on my face and neck turned into more
(07:58):
of a physical pitter pattering. Instinctively, I reached up and
brushed my face. Hearing dozens of small things clatter onto
the rocks, I heard them squirming maggots. They were crawling
all over me. I panicked and thrashed about, rolling over
onto my stomach. My hands pressed down, squashing the maggots
as the jagged edges of the rocks prodded my palms.
(08:21):
I looked ahead, but everything was dark. I wasn't sure
which direction I was even looking at. I settled my
breathing and set aside the feeling of my crawling skin.
I listened I tried to gauge any sound I could
to tell me which direction I was facing. I heard something,
a consistent howl, but not one of an animalistic origin.
(08:44):
I heard a muffled pounding from above me, like something
was repeatedly smacking against the house the wind. I thought
there must have been a terrible wind outside. I slowly
began to crawl backwards and was eventually stopped by a
solid brick wall that told me I had to go forward.
That's where the shoddily built wooden wall would be. I
(09:05):
crawled ahead with a burst of optimism and placed my
hands on the makeshift wall. I pushed and pulled on it,
finally sending it crashing to the ground. And once it did,
I saw a slim ray of light underscoring various things
in my basement, from old furniture to boxes and crates
that I knew were there. They all appeared obscured by
(09:26):
the darkness, but faintly outlined by the covert ray of light.
I followed it to its source, glowing from underneath the
basement door at the top of the stairs. I stretched
my body, cracking my joints after their extended time of idleness,
and the compacted crawl space and descended the stairs slowly.
(09:46):
Each step wanted to creak beneath my weight, but I
moved as slowly and carefully as I could. I didn't
want to draw any kind of attention to myself, because
as my memories began to reform, I knew what horror
awaited me on the other side of the door. What
scared me even more, however, were the horrors that I
didn't know. I prayed my family was okay. I prayed
(10:10):
Father Olsen was okay. I prayed for Pastor Heart and
his poor unaware daughter. I placed my hand on the doorknob.
It was cold to the touch. A sudden gust of
wind pounded against the exterior of the house. I jumped,
and my heart stalled Momentarily. I quickly regained my composure
(10:31):
and forced myself to turn the knob, pushing the door
open and stepping back into the hallway of my house.
To my right, the kitchen was obscured by darkness. To
my left, the living room sat in a cold silence.
I wondered where had the glow from underneath the door
come from. My imagination could have conjured it. But then again,
(10:51):
Zervon was a master manipulator, and could have implemented it
as a deceptive lure. Regardless, I made a decision, and
warily he advanced toward the living room. I listened for
any noise, any whimper or cry, but so far there
was nothing. I took each step with caution, remaining aware
of my surroundings. The silence was overwhelming. It was starting
(11:16):
to antagonize my nerves. Then the fireplace burst to life
in the living room, bringing me to a halt. I
stood there and watched as the fire ruptured into existence
on its own, producing erratic dancing shadows on the walls.
I watched the shadows rise and fall, stretch and retract.
I saw one in particular break away from the others
(11:38):
and morph into a shapeless form of its own, slither
across the floor and out of sight, in the direction
of where the advent calendar would have been. I stepped
forward with a surge of curious anticipation. The shadow had vanished,
melting in with the others. However, a novel sight turned
my blood to ice. Behind the advent calendar, Pastor hart
(12:01):
rustle Heart was affixed to the wall upside down with
his arms outstretched to either side of him, to resemble
an upside down cross. Blood had dried in long, dripping
patterns down the wall, stemming from the area of his
neck where it had been broken. One of his fingers
was also broken and bent in a way that directed
(12:22):
my attention toward the advent calendar. I timidly surveyed the room,
anticipating anything now. As I ambled toward the calendar, the
flickering light from fire illuminated the calendar in a warm,
wobbling glow. Two doors remained. I opened Door twenty three,
(12:42):
shooting frequent uneasy glances up at past her heart's dead body.
The door popped open. Something small fell out and clinked
on the floor. I looked squinted, but in the disconcerted
fluctuating fire light and shadows, I couldn't see. I dropped
to my knees and scoured the floor with my hands,
(13:03):
groping around and finally feeling what it was that had
fallen from the calendar.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
It was a ring.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
I grabbed it and moved it closer to the fire
for a better look. It was a wedding ring, Anika's
wedding ring, dripping in blood. I spun around and screamed out, Annika.
The house shook in response to the sound of my voice.
I had upset it provoked it again, reiterating that I
(13:32):
had some control over the situation. Over Zervon, I heard
something move down the hall. I grabbed a fire poker
from the rack next to me and gripped it in
both hands, shoving Anika's ring into my pocket. I held
the poker like a baseball bat and crept down the
abbreviated hallway. Who's there, I called out. The house shook again,
(13:53):
and the fluttering flames behind me cast leaping shadows in
the hall. They flared up and down on the walls
on either sid me, some of them even breaking away
unnaturally from their anomalous forms and conjoining to make new ones.
My house wasn't my house anymore. It was a haunted house,
and I wasn't sure what to expect. I continued on
(14:15):
and entered the kitchen. It was dark, but I could
still hear something moving about in it. Who's there, I repeated.
The glow from the fire in the living room was
absent in the kitchen. I reached to the wall and
flipped the light switch, but it didn't work. The howl
of the wind outside brought my attention to the back door.
I moved toward it and tore away the curtains, trying
(14:38):
to let any light from outside flow in. But it
was just as dark outside as it was inside. The
back door window rattled and sleet rapidly plinked against it.
Then someone grabbed my arm. I spun around with the
fire poker held high, ready to swing. It was too
dark to see who it was, but I could tell
someone stood mere inches away from me. Tell me you
(15:00):
are right now, or I got a beata, it's me.
A family voice weeped and pleaded. Father Olsen. I used
my grip on the fire poker. You scared me, I said,
with a quiver in my voice. What's going on? Where
is everyone? I don't know, he whispered back from the darkness.
The last thing I can recall was the confrontation in
(15:21):
the hallway. I had told you to resist his words.
Everyone was screaming. After that, nothing, Everything was just still
until just a few minutes ago. I woke up and
heard you walking around. Oh where's Annika? My boys? I
don't know, he reiterated, Do you have flashlights? We do?
(15:44):
I thought, under the sink. Hold on, I said, feeling
my way through the kitchen and to the sink, I
dropped to my knees and opened the cabinet. I fumbled
around inside for a moment until I felt the leathery
grip of an old handle flashlight. I pressed the bottom
and it lit up. The light was dull, but better
than nothing. I stood up and aimed at Father Olsen
(16:05):
to assure myself that it was actually him and not
some kind of further deception. Once I was satisfied, I
asked him something that I couldn't wrap my head around.
How can Servon possess a corpse? Father Olsen thought, and
then shook his head. I think I'd have to restate
what I'd already told you. When demonic things are at play,
(16:28):
their abilities are unfounded. At the end of the day,
a demon needs a body, living or dead. I suppose
it's irrelevant. Can you exercise a demon from a dead body?
I asked him.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
I've never done it, I've never heard of it being done,
But well we can. We cannot allow Zervon to continue.
He must be cast out. I will try anything to
make that happen. That was what I wanted to hear.
I patted my pants pocket to make sure Anak's ring
was still there. I think Anika's in danger, I said.
Her ring was on the calendar. It's bloody.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
We need to find her.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Then Father Olsen said, behind him, a large shadow grew.
I quickly aimed the light into the hallway, but it
was empty and the shadow had ceased to exist within
the beam of light. Then I allow thud hit the
floor above us. I looked up, knowing the room above
us was Mason's bedroom. Follow me, I urged with panic,
(17:24):
taking off down the hall with Father Olsen in tow.
I hurried up the stairs and onto the second floor landing,
where I stopped in the hallway. I aimed the light
up and down the hall. All the doors were closed.
Father Olsen came up the steps behind me.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
The physical body will need to be restrained or inoperative
in order to perform the exorcism, he whispered.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
I turned around and handed him the fire poker. Take this,
I said. Stay in the hallway, plight yourself outside the door.
I'm going to go into Mason's room. If Zervan is
in there, I'm going to lure him out, and then
you can attack him with this. Father Olsen held the
fire poke awardwardly. I watched him swallow his nerves and
completely dedicate himself to the fight. Once he's down, then
(18:06):
what I asked, Once we know he's not in a
position to escape, I can begin. I nodded, okay, follow me.
I began to proceed down the hall toward Mason's room.
I passed the bathroom first and came to his door.
I placed my hand on the knob, and that's when
a second noise grabbed our attention. Father Olsen and I
(18:28):
both looked back down the hallway toward the other end,
where the master bedroom was. The door had flung open
to reveal a shadowy zone inside of it. I aimed
my light, but it failed to penetrate from as far
away as I was this way, I said to Father Olsen.
He stayed behind me with the fire poker ready to
strike as we made our way back down the hallway
(18:48):
in the opposite direction. Whatever the noise was in Mason's
room had to have been a diversion or just something
to toy with us. As we approached the master bedroom,
the door slammed shut, popping Father Olsen and I in
our tracks right outside of Logan's room. A creaking noise
behind us drew our attention back to the bathroom door
near the opposing end of the hallway. I aimed the
(19:10):
light and we watched as it slowly creaked open and
stopped as it touched the wall. We can't trust any
of it, Father Olsen whispered. I noticed the tone in
his voice was not one of fear, but determination and focus.
He wasn't afraid. He had dealt with evil like this before,
so he was right. We couldn't trust any of it.
(19:33):
Zervon was teasing us, trying to confuse and twist our minds.
I had to remain as focused as father Olsen was.
I faced Logan's door, which we stood outside of. It
was the only one to not demonstrate some sort of
orchestrated tactic by Zervan's poltergeist like activity. My protective instinct
kicked in, paired with a heightened level of jaded impatience,
(19:56):
and I flung Logan's door open. The sight I witnessed
in sid made my heart sink, my stomach drop, and
my breath escape in a hollow rasp. Once again, for me,
time stood still. All of Logan's furniture had been pushed
aside to line the walls. The small table was centered
in the middle of the room, with Logan and Mason
(20:17):
sitting in small chairs on either side of it. On
the table was the new spirit board my parents had
brought them as a gift, along with the planchette I
had pulled from the advent calendar, the same one Stephen
and I used thirty years earlier. On the table were candles,
their tiny flames placidly licking the air, and just beyond
(20:37):
the uncanny arrangement meant to mirror my past, my parents
stood side by side, holding hands. No one was moving.
They all stood or sat statue like, planted to the floor,
they stood on, or in the chairs they sat upon.
I stepped forward into the room, but as I did,
(20:58):
I disrupted Zerva's unseen existence. The flames the top of
the candles began to wave about wildly, like they'd been
blasted by a sudden gust of angry wind. I stopped,
knowing exactly what the consequences of them being knocked over
would be. You've been here before, a deep, throaty voice
(21:19):
growled behind me. I spun around as fast as I
could to see the upside down, deteriorating corpse of Wilbur
Ward hanging in front of me. His bony feet rooted
into the ceiling. How does it feel to be right
back where you started? I fought off a shiver of
fear and held my gaze on the shadowy eye sockets
of his upside down face. Where's Anika? Zerbon? Through Willbur's
(21:45):
spoiled body began to laugh. It was an irregular, freakish
laugh that kept changing in pitch and stability. It started
to grow louder and more obnoxious before I screamed at him,
where is Anaka? The laugh ceased, sending the room back
into a chilling silence. Outside, the gusting winds continued to
(22:07):
thwack the shutters, and the pelting sleet peppered the house
from all sides. Attica Zervon, mockingly conveyed as a thick
saliva now dripped from his mouth and down his forehead,
doesn't swing a bell. He began to laugh again. As
I patted the ring in my pocket to make sure
he was still there. His laughter intensified and I lost
(22:29):
my cool. I struck him across the face with my fist,
sending a volley of maggots pattering to the floor. His
laughter halted, and he stared at me. His shadowy eye
cavities began to pulse a bright, white hot radiance. Then
he spit on me, covering my face with the same
thick saliva that was dripping up and down his withered
gray face. Briefly blinded by the impact, I stumbled backward,
(22:54):
although mindful of the table set up behind me with
the candles. I wiped the gooey substance from my face
and slapped it on the floor. Before my eyes, Wilbur's
dead body released its unnatural clasp from the ceiling and
slowly rotated right side up, where he remained suspended in
the air, only a few inches above the ground. I
(23:14):
have removed her ring, broken the bond you two so
elegantly pledged to one another. Zervan's voice wheezed. You are
a poison. You infected her, and it spread to your children.
I am the antidote. I stood there, shaking, not knowing
(23:34):
what he meant. You would have died many years ago,
he continued, But you chose to run like a coward.
You let your real parents die, You let your little
brother be consumed by the flames. Just then, in the
darkest corner of the room, something emerged, walking out from
(23:57):
the gloom and showing itself in the flicker of the candlelight.
It was Stephen, scorched and flaking off pieces of ash
and throbbing embers that swirled aimlessly around his body like
little satellites. I gasped upon his appearance. Then from the
other corner, someone else emerged. She was tall, beautiful, and
dressed in a revealing lacy red dress. It was Jasmine,
(24:20):
her eyes burned white, her mouth extended into a smile
that bared sharp, devilish teeth. My heart began to race.
I was cornered, surrounded by the manifestations Zervon had taken
or projected to scare me, ruined my life and question reality.
Then the closet door to my right was thrown open
by a commanding arcane force. It slammed against the wall
(24:41):
just as Anika collapsed from inside its shadowy depths, as
if she too were an offering from the calendar. She
dropped to the ground, and I rushed to her, aid
helping her to her feet. Once she was up, I
looked in her eyes. She was petrified. Her eyes were wide, glazed,
red and watering makeup ran down her face like smudgy
rivers of mud, and her body trembled uncontrollably. When I
(25:05):
inspected her left hand, her ring finger specifically, I saw
the bleeding lacerations stretching the length of it from where
Zervon had neglectfully ripped it off. Seeing her bleed, seeing
her so scared, I began to fill with rage. I
turned back to face the levitating corpse and two ghostly projections.
Who are they? Annika quaked beside me, now seeing the
(25:28):
two wicked apparitions for herself. These are the subjects of
your husband's desires, Zervon cackled, A dead brother who he
so wishes to have back, and a woman he so
lustfully dreams about at night. Now, I screamed, it's not true.
(25:49):
Anaka's haphazard attention seemed to be solely locked on the woman, Jasmine.
She looked up at me, her eyes still wide and unblinking. Jasmine,
she whimpered. I shook my head frantically. No, I said,
don't believe him. This is what he does. He lies,
he deceives. I thought you were the liar, Matthew Zervon interrupted,
(26:12):
After all the whole town thinks you are. They all
look at you and second guess the man. They thought
you were a stand up hero or a shifty, lying
lunatic who should have never been here to begin with.
Face it, Matthew, when you survived and fled here, you
(26:33):
injected your poison into everyone. This town you so falsely
call your home is in need of the antidote. Let
me cure them. I grabbed Annaka by the hand, holding
her tightly, and grit my teeth at Servon. You're not
an antidote, I challenged him, You're a plague. The corpse
(26:56):
floated slowly toward us, which only made my protective grip
on Anaka's hand tighter. He stopped, with mere inches between us.
Then let me infect you, Matthew, he hauntingly whispered, Reaching
for me. Right now, as the clock strikes midnight, I
would revere the final hours of my celebration inside of you.
(27:19):
I held my ground, refusing to flinch. Annaka hid behind
me and tried to stay out of sight. I continued
to hold my gaze, challenging him in every way that
I could, showing him that I wasn't going to let
him win as easily as he thought. Then the corpse
began to convulse. His head cracked back and forth, his
arms and legs suffered uncontrollable seizures. I'd seen this before
(27:41):
when Zervon's dark energy left Logan's body for Davenports. He
was getting ready to shift to possess me. Annika. I
nervously exhaled in fright. The floating corpse before me began
to crack and break in the most disturbing ways. The
arms twisted around, unhinged from their shoulder sockets. The legs
(28:01):
snapped forward, spilling a putrid, dark fluid onto the floor.
The head bent backwards, snapping the cervical spine. Then from
the gloom of the hallway, Father Olsen stormed in and
up behind the self decimating corpse with the fire poker,
swinging it with all his might. More bones shattered as
the floating corpse plummeted to the floor in a messy
heap of mangled limbs, spurting black fluids and frightening shrieks
(28:24):
from its mutilated vocal cords. Zervon had made a costly error.
This was my chance. I handed Anika the flashlight and
told her to run, find your phone, call the police,
I pleaded. She turned and looked back at the boys
and my parents, who were all still motionless and oblivious
to the events unfolding in the room. But what about
the Just go, I'll get the boys. Annika raced out
(28:47):
of the room, the beam from the flashlight manically bouncing
off the floor and walls until she was out of sight.
From under Father Olsen's coat, he extracted a crucifix. He
aimed it directly down at the writhing mass of hole
on the floor.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
In the holy name of Jesus Christ. I reject you, evil.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
Spirit, Father Olsen shouted with conviction. The mangled bonny on
the floor began to thrash about fiercely and release a deep,
harrowing bellow.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
I renout you. I rebuke you.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
Father Olsen continued. I took the opportunity to grab Logan
by the arm. Logan, I shouted. He blinked and looked
at me. Dad, he muttered, coming out of a stupor.
Come on, we have to go, I said, grabbing a
hold of Mason. Next Mason, he also blinked out of
his trance and stood up from the chair he sat in.
What's happening, he cried out in fear. Mom's downstairs. I
(29:38):
told them go to her. Logan grabbed Mason by the
hand and ran for the door. Just as Father Olsen
stepped closer to the demon, with his crucifix out in
front of him.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
In Jesus' holy name, I cast you out.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
Zubon exploded into a rage. The disfigured Bonnie flopped back
and forth on the ground, expelling the most hideous sounds
I'd ever heard. I could only stand there and shock.
The body no longer resembled anything even close to a
human as it jerked in every direction I could have sworn.
I caught glimpses of a thick, hairy substance surrounding the
head and neck, recalling a lion's mane. I heard ear splitting,
(30:14):
monstrous roars and howls, triggered by Father Olsen's commands. I
heard a chorus of snakes, hissing and striking. The striking
sound was so vivid, so real, that I thought something
had lunged at me and suck its venomous bite into
my skin. My entire body flinched, and I staggered backward,
crashing into the small table where the spirit board and
candles were set up. My back slammed against the floor
(30:37):
as the spirit board fell off to my right. To
my left, the candles dropped. I quickly tried to reach
for them to get them off the floor, but whatever
the black fluid that poured from wilbur Ward's mangled corpse
was was quick to ignite. I tried to roll away
from it to shield myself, but it was no use.
A powerful bursting explosion curled me across the room, drenching
(31:02):
me in flames. Thanks for listening. If you like what
you're hearing, please share it with someone you know who
loves scary stories at Christmas time. If you'd like to
read the full novel for yourself in print, it's available
in paperback, hardback, and kindle versions at Weird Darkness dot
com slash Advent of Evil. That's also where you can
(31:23):
go to hear each of the twenty four chapters as
they're posted. I'm Darren Marler. Thanks for celebrating Advent with
me in the Weird Darkness
The advent calendar arrived twenty two days ago. No sender,
no explanation, just twenty four doors, a carved bearded face
with hollow eyes and a serpent shaped marking on its back.
Since then, Marshport has become a graveyard. Officer. Matthew Klein
has watched the calender's daily offerings transform into omens of death.
(00:28):
A miniature house that burst into flames, a crystal star
dipped in blood, a photograph of his own children. He
threw the calendar into the Atlantic Ocean. It came back.
He refused to open a door, Snakes poured from the
wood and attacked his son. The entity has a name now, Zervon,
an ancient demon whose midwinter worship culminates on December twenty fourth.
(00:53):
Father Olsen warned that Zervon feeds on psychological torment, that
he's been attached to a spirit board for generations, destroying
every family who ever possessed it, the same spirit board
that ten year old Matthew and his seven year old
brother Stephen used to contact their dead uncle on Christmas
Eve nineteen ninety five, the night their house burned to
(01:16):
the ground. Zervon has taken everything he possessed Matthew's best
friend Simon and forced Detective Davenport to kill him. He
turned Matthew's son Logan into a vessel, speaking through him
with a voice from the pit. He twisted Davenport's head
completely around while Matthew watched helpless. In December twenty second,
(01:38):
Zervon proved he is more powerful than any one believed.
First the single page from the Bible about a demon
possessed man with an entity called Legion, for he was
possessed by many demons, not just one. Then decomposing corpse
of Wilbur Ward, the man who built the calendar from
the charred remains of the spirit board, rose from the basement,
(02:00):
levitated through the hallway, and declared absolute dominion over the
Klein household. Pastor Hart tried to step into help, Zervan
snapped his neck like kindling. Matthew's parents are trapped in
the kitchen. His sons are screaming upstairs. His wife stands
paralyzed with terror. The advent calendar sits untouched amid the destruction,
(02:22):
its carved face watching waiting. Matthew's world begins to go dark.
The demon's final words fade into oblivion as Matt loses
consciousness with Zervon declaring times up. Two doors remain two
days until Christmas Eve, two days until Zervon's celebration officially arrives.
(03:24):
Welcome Weirdos. I'm Darren Marler and this is Weird Darkness's
Advent of Evil, a holiday horror novel written by Scott
Donnelly based on a concept from Darren Marler. Twenty four Doors,
twenty four days, twenty four secrets waiting in the darkness,
Just like an advent calendar counting down the Christmas We'll
(03:45):
unlock one chapter each day, but what we find behind
these doors may not be the gift you're expecting. You
can find all available chapters, as well as the print
version in paperback, hardback, or kindle, at Weird Darkness dot
com slash Advent of Evil. The calendar is waiting. Let's
see what awaits us behind today's door. Tuesday, December twenty third.
(04:17):
I'd always heard the phrase time stands still and attributed
it to a moment of surrealness or disbelief of a
situation one was currently in or experiencing. I'd experienced it
before myself. When Logan and Mason were each born. Time
stood still for me when I kissed Anika for the
first time. Time stood still. When I found out my
(04:41):
entire family perished in the fire, time stood still. Even
when my grandmother died of a heart attack days later.
Time froze then as well. My entire life had been
uprooted in those few days. I could have very easily
attributed time standing still to horrible things, but I knew
(05:04):
that wasn't the case, since it also stood still for
my first kiss with Anika and the birth of my boys.
Time standing still didn't have to mean life was stalling
out or hopeless. It could also be a bridge to
gap two life altering moments together, from bad to good,
or even from good to bad. That was always to
(05:26):
be determined. For Zervon, though time meant nothing. He sat
in wait for thirty years to complete his savage task.
But whether it was thirty years or thirty days, to him,
it was all the same. He had all the time
in the world to do as he wished, to perform
(05:46):
his egotistical labors of love, and to wait until my
boys were the same age as Stephen and I were
during our first encounter. Well, he clearly had a thing
for theatrics. I wasn't sure how long my world had
gone dark, how long it had been still. I wasn't
sure where I was or where anyone else was. All
(06:11):
I had was my continually running mind and cold, jagged
things digging into my back. I could have been in
this position for thirty minutes or thirty days. I didn't
know time had stood still. It was my punishment. I
knew that for challenging Zervon and giving him a fight
that he'd never been subjected to before. I wasn't going
(06:34):
to go down easily, especially when my family was involved.
If he thought he could take them all away from
me a second time, he was wrong. I wasn't sure
when it started, but eventually I began to feel things again.
Aside from the jagged things poking into my back, I
(06:54):
felt a coldness against my skin. I felt a tickling
sensation on my face, possibly my nervous system restarting after
the spell Zervan had flushed me with a while after that,
I could smell again, and I wished I hadn't. A musty,
putrid odor overwhelmed me. It was an odor I'd become
(07:16):
all too familiar with as of late one of death
and decay, the cold, the bed of jagged rocks, the
smell of death and must. My mind immediately went to
the crawl space in my basement, and upon my realization,
almost like it was a reward for a job well done,
(07:36):
my vision came back. My eyes were already open. I
was laying down in a small, crammed space. I put
my arms out to my sides and felt the surface
I had been sprawled out upon. They were rocks, cold
and damp. Some of them were even a little frosty.
The tickling on my face and neck turned into more
(07:58):
of a physical pitter pattering. Instinctively, I reached up and
brushed my face. Hearing dozens of small things clatter onto
the rocks, I heard them squirming maggots. They were crawling
all over me. I panicked and thrashed about, rolling over
onto my stomach. My hands pressed down, squashing the maggots
as the jagged edges of the rocks prodded my palms.
(08:21):
I looked ahead, but everything was dark. I wasn't sure
which direction I was even looking at. I settled my
breathing and set aside the feeling of my crawling skin.
I listened I tried to gauge any sound I could
to tell me which direction I was facing. I heard something,
a consistent howl, but not one of an animalistic origin.
(08:44):
I heard a muffled pounding from above me, like something
was repeatedly smacking against the house the wind. I thought
there must have been a terrible wind outside. I slowly
began to crawl backwards and was eventually stopped by a
solid brick wall that told me I had to go forward.
That's where the shoddily built wooden wall would be. I
(09:05):
crawled ahead with a burst of optimism and placed my
hands on the makeshift wall. I pushed and pulled on it,
finally sending it crashing to the ground. And once it did,
I saw a slim ray of light underscoring various things
in my basement, from old furniture to boxes and crates
that I knew were there. They all appeared obscured by
(09:26):
the darkness, but faintly outlined by the covert ray of light.
I followed it to its source, glowing from underneath the
basement door at the top of the stairs. I stretched
my body, cracking my joints after their extended time of idleness,
and the compacted crawl space and descended the stairs slowly.
(09:46):
Each step wanted to creak beneath my weight, but I
moved as slowly and carefully as I could. I didn't
want to draw any kind of attention to myself, because
as my memories began to reform, I knew what horror
awaited me on the other side of the door. What
scared me even more, however, were the horrors that I
didn't know. I prayed my family was okay. I prayed
(10:10):
Father Olsen was okay. I prayed for Pastor Heart and
his poor unaware daughter. I placed my hand on the doorknob.
It was cold to the touch. A sudden gust of
wind pounded against the exterior of the house. I jumped,
and my heart stalled Momentarily. I quickly regained my composure
(10:31):
and forced myself to turn the knob, pushing the door
open and stepping back into the hallway of my house.
To my right, the kitchen was obscured by darkness. To
my left, the living room sat in a cold silence.
I wondered where had the glow from underneath the door
come from. My imagination could have conjured it. But then again,
(10:51):
Zervon was a master manipulator, and could have implemented it
as a deceptive lure. Regardless, I made a decision, and
warily he advanced toward the living room. I listened for
any noise, any whimper or cry, but so far there
was nothing. I took each step with caution, remaining aware
of my surroundings. The silence was overwhelming. It was starting
(11:16):
to antagonize my nerves. Then the fireplace burst to life
in the living room, bringing me to a halt. I
stood there and watched as the fire ruptured into existence
on its own, producing erratic dancing shadows on the walls.
I watched the shadows rise and fall, stretch and retract.
I saw one in particular break away from the others
(11:38):
and morph into a shapeless form of its own, slither
across the floor and out of sight, in the direction
of where the advent calendar would have been. I stepped
forward with a surge of curious anticipation. The shadow had vanished,
melting in with the others. However, a novel sight turned
my blood to ice. Behind the advent calendar, Pastor hart
(12:01):
rustle Heart was affixed to the wall upside down with
his arms outstretched to either side of him, to resemble
an upside down cross. Blood had dried in long, dripping
patterns down the wall, stemming from the area of his
neck where it had been broken. One of his fingers
was also broken and bent in a way that directed
(12:22):
my attention toward the advent calendar. I timidly surveyed the room,
anticipating anything now. As I ambled toward the calendar, the
flickering light from fire illuminated the calendar in a warm,
wobbling glow. Two doors remained. I opened Door twenty three,
(12:42):
shooting frequent uneasy glances up at past her heart's dead body.
The door popped open. Something small fell out and clinked
on the floor. I looked squinted, but in the disconcerted
fluctuating fire light and shadows, I couldn't see. I dropped
to my knees and scoured the floor with my hands,
(13:03):
groping around and finally feeling what it was that had
fallen from the calendar.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
It was a ring.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
I grabbed it and moved it closer to the fire
for a better look. It was a wedding ring, Anika's
wedding ring, dripping in blood. I spun around and screamed out, Annika.
The house shook in response to the sound of my voice.
I had upset it provoked it again, reiterating that I
(13:32):
had some control over the situation. Over Zervon, I heard
something move down the hall. I grabbed a fire poker
from the rack next to me and gripped it in
both hands, shoving Anika's ring into my pocket. I held
the poker like a baseball bat and crept down the
abbreviated hallway. Who's there, I called out. The house shook again,
(13:53):
and the fluttering flames behind me cast leaping shadows in
the hall. They flared up and down on the walls
on either sid me, some of them even breaking away
unnaturally from their anomalous forms and conjoining to make new ones.
My house wasn't my house anymore. It was a haunted house,
and I wasn't sure what to expect. I continued on
(14:15):
and entered the kitchen. It was dark, but I could
still hear something moving about in it. Who's there, I repeated.
The glow from the fire in the living room was
absent in the kitchen. I reached to the wall and
flipped the light switch, but it didn't work. The howl
of the wind outside brought my attention to the back door.
I moved toward it and tore away the curtains, trying
(14:38):
to let any light from outside flow in. But it
was just as dark outside as it was inside. The
back door window rattled and sleet rapidly plinked against it.
Then someone grabbed my arm. I spun around with the
fire poker held high, ready to swing. It was too
dark to see who it was, but I could tell
someone stood mere inches away from me. Tell me you
(15:00):
are right now, or I got a beata, it's me.
A family voice weeped and pleaded. Father Olsen. I used
my grip on the fire poker. You scared me, I said,
with a quiver in my voice. What's going on? Where
is everyone? I don't know, he whispered back from the darkness.
The last thing I can recall was the confrontation in
(15:21):
the hallway. I had told you to resist his words.
Everyone was screaming. After that, nothing, Everything was just still
until just a few minutes ago. I woke up and
heard you walking around. Oh where's Annika? My boys? I
don't know, he reiterated, Do you have flashlights? We do?
(15:44):
I thought, under the sink. Hold on, I said, feeling
my way through the kitchen and to the sink, I
dropped to my knees and opened the cabinet. I fumbled
around inside for a moment until I felt the leathery
grip of an old handle flashlight. I pressed the bottom
and it lit up. The light was dull, but better
than nothing. I stood up and aimed at Father Olsen
(16:05):
to assure myself that it was actually him and not
some kind of further deception. Once I was satisfied, I
asked him something that I couldn't wrap my head around.
How can Servon possess a corpse? Father Olsen thought, and
then shook his head. I think I'd have to restate
what I'd already told you. When demonic things are at play,
(16:28):
their abilities are unfounded. At the end of the day,
a demon needs a body, living or dead. I suppose
it's irrelevant. Can you exercise a demon from a dead body?
I asked him.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
I've never done it, I've never heard of it being done,
But well we can. We cannot allow Zervon to continue.
He must be cast out. I will try anything to
make that happen. That was what I wanted to hear.
I patted my pants pocket to make sure Anak's ring
was still there. I think Anika's in danger, I said.
Her ring was on the calendar. It's bloody.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
We need to find her.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Then Father Olsen said, behind him, a large shadow grew.
I quickly aimed the light into the hallway, but it
was empty and the shadow had ceased to exist within
the beam of light. Then I allow thud hit the
floor above us. I looked up, knowing the room above
us was Mason's bedroom. Follow me, I urged with panic,
(17:24):
taking off down the hall with Father Olsen in tow.
I hurried up the stairs and onto the second floor landing,
where I stopped in the hallway. I aimed the light
up and down the hall. All the doors were closed.
Father Olsen came up the steps behind me.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
The physical body will need to be restrained or inoperative
in order to perform the exorcism, he whispered.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
I turned around and handed him the fire poker. Take this,
I said. Stay in the hallway, plight yourself outside the door.
I'm going to go into Mason's room. If Zervan is
in there, I'm going to lure him out, and then
you can attack him with this. Father Olsen held the
fire poke awardwardly. I watched him swallow his nerves and
completely dedicate himself to the fight. Once he's down, then
(18:06):
what I asked, Once we know he's not in a
position to escape, I can begin. I nodded, okay, follow me.
I began to proceed down the hall toward Mason's room.
I passed the bathroom first and came to his door.
I placed my hand on the knob, and that's when
a second noise grabbed our attention. Father Olsen and I
(18:28):
both looked back down the hallway toward the other end,
where the master bedroom was. The door had flung open
to reveal a shadowy zone inside of it. I aimed
my light, but it failed to penetrate from as far
away as I was this way, I said to Father Olsen.
He stayed behind me with the fire poker ready to
strike as we made our way back down the hallway
(18:48):
in the opposite direction. Whatever the noise was in Mason's
room had to have been a diversion or just something
to toy with us. As we approached the master bedroom,
the door slammed shut, popping Father Olsen and I in
our tracks right outside of Logan's room. A creaking noise
behind us drew our attention back to the bathroom door
near the opposing end of the hallway. I aimed the
(19:10):
light and we watched as it slowly creaked open and
stopped as it touched the wall. We can't trust any
of it, Father Olsen whispered. I noticed the tone in
his voice was not one of fear, but determination and focus.
He wasn't afraid. He had dealt with evil like this before,
so he was right. We couldn't trust any of it.
(19:33):
Zervon was teasing us, trying to confuse and twist our minds.
I had to remain as focused as father Olsen was.
I faced Logan's door, which we stood outside of. It
was the only one to not demonstrate some sort of
orchestrated tactic by Zervan's poltergeist like activity. My protective instinct
kicked in, paired with a heightened level of jaded impatience,
(19:56):
and I flung Logan's door open. The sight I witnessed
in sid made my heart sink, my stomach drop, and
my breath escape in a hollow rasp. Once again, for me,
time stood still. All of Logan's furniture had been pushed
aside to line the walls. The small table was centered
in the middle of the room, with Logan and Mason
(20:17):
sitting in small chairs on either side of it. On
the table was the new spirit board my parents had
brought them as a gift, along with the planchette I
had pulled from the advent calendar, the same one Stephen
and I used thirty years earlier. On the table were candles,
their tiny flames placidly licking the air, and just beyond
(20:37):
the uncanny arrangement meant to mirror my past, my parents
stood side by side, holding hands. No one was moving.
They all stood or sat statue like, planted to the floor,
they stood on, or in the chairs they sat upon.
I stepped forward into the room, but as I did,
(20:58):
I disrupted Zerva's unseen existence. The flames the top of
the candles began to wave about wildly, like they'd been
blasted by a sudden gust of angry wind. I stopped,
knowing exactly what the consequences of them being knocked over
would be. You've been here before, a deep, throaty voice
(21:19):
growled behind me. I spun around as fast as I
could to see the upside down, deteriorating corpse of Wilbur
Ward hanging in front of me. His bony feet rooted
into the ceiling. How does it feel to be right
back where you started? I fought off a shiver of
fear and held my gaze on the shadowy eye sockets
of his upside down face. Where's Anika? Zerbon? Through Willbur's
(21:45):
spoiled body began to laugh. It was an irregular, freakish
laugh that kept changing in pitch and stability. It started
to grow louder and more obnoxious before I screamed at him,
where is Anaka? The laugh ceased, sending the room back
into a chilling silence. Outside, the gusting winds continued to
(22:07):
thwack the shutters, and the pelting sleet peppered the house
from all sides. Attica Zervon, mockingly conveyed as a thick
saliva now dripped from his mouth and down his forehead,
doesn't swing a bell. He began to laugh again. As
I patted the ring in my pocket to make sure
he was still there. His laughter intensified and I lost
(22:29):
my cool. I struck him across the face with my fist,
sending a volley of maggots pattering to the floor. His
laughter halted, and he stared at me. His shadowy eye
cavities began to pulse a bright, white hot radiance. Then
he spit on me, covering my face with the same
thick saliva that was dripping up and down his withered
gray face. Briefly blinded by the impact, I stumbled backward,
(22:54):
although mindful of the table set up behind me with
the candles. I wiped the gooey substance from my face
and slapped it on the floor. Before my eyes, Wilbur's
dead body released its unnatural clasp from the ceiling and
slowly rotated right side up, where he remained suspended in
the air, only a few inches above the ground. I
(23:14):
have removed her ring, broken the bond you two so
elegantly pledged to one another. Zervan's voice wheezed. You are
a poison. You infected her, and it spread to your children.
I am the antidote. I stood there, shaking, not knowing
(23:34):
what he meant. You would have died many years ago,
he continued, But you chose to run like a coward.
You let your real parents die, You let your little
brother be consumed by the flames. Just then, in the
darkest corner of the room, something emerged, walking out from
(23:57):
the gloom and showing itself in the flicker of the candlelight.
It was Stephen, scorched and flaking off pieces of ash
and throbbing embers that swirled aimlessly around his body like
little satellites. I gasped upon his appearance. Then from the
other corner, someone else emerged. She was tall, beautiful, and
dressed in a revealing lacy red dress. It was Jasmine,
(24:20):
her eyes burned white, her mouth extended into a smile
that bared sharp, devilish teeth. My heart began to race.
I was cornered, surrounded by the manifestations Zervon had taken
or projected to scare me, ruined my life and question reality.
Then the closet door to my right was thrown open
by a commanding arcane force. It slammed against the wall
(24:41):
just as Anika collapsed from inside its shadowy depths, as
if she too were an offering from the calendar. She
dropped to the ground, and I rushed to her, aid
helping her to her feet. Once she was up, I
looked in her eyes. She was petrified. Her eyes were wide, glazed,
red and watering makeup ran down her face like smudgy
rivers of mud, and her body trembled uncontrollably. When I
(25:05):
inspected her left hand, her ring finger specifically, I saw
the bleeding lacerations stretching the length of it from where
Zervon had neglectfully ripped it off. Seeing her bleed, seeing
her so scared, I began to fill with rage. I
turned back to face the levitating corpse and two ghostly projections.
Who are they? Annika quaked beside me, now seeing the
(25:28):
two wicked apparitions for herself. These are the subjects of
your husband's desires, Zervon cackled, A dead brother who he
so wishes to have back, and a woman he so
lustfully dreams about at night. Now, I screamed, it's not true.
(25:49):
Anaka's haphazard attention seemed to be solely locked on the woman, Jasmine.
She looked up at me, her eyes still wide and unblinking. Jasmine,
she whimpered. I shook my head frantically. No, I said,
don't believe him. This is what he does. He lies,
he deceives. I thought you were the liar, Matthew Zervon interrupted,
(26:12):
After all the whole town thinks you are. They all
look at you and second guess the man. They thought
you were a stand up hero or a shifty, lying
lunatic who should have never been here to begin with.
Face it, Matthew, when you survived and fled here, you
(26:33):
injected your poison into everyone. This town you so falsely
call your home is in need of the antidote. Let
me cure them. I grabbed Annaka by the hand, holding
her tightly, and grit my teeth at Servon. You're not
an antidote, I challenged him, You're a plague. The corpse
(26:56):
floated slowly toward us, which only made my protective grip
on Anaka's hand tighter. He stopped, with mere inches between us.
Then let me infect you, Matthew, he hauntingly whispered, Reaching
for me. Right now, as the clock strikes midnight, I
would revere the final hours of my celebration inside of you.
(27:19):
I held my ground, refusing to flinch. Annaka hid behind
me and tried to stay out of sight. I continued
to hold my gaze, challenging him in every way that
I could, showing him that I wasn't going to let
him win as easily as he thought. Then the corpse
began to convulse. His head cracked back and forth, his
arms and legs suffered uncontrollable seizures. I'd seen this before
(27:41):
when Zervon's dark energy left Logan's body for Davenports. He
was getting ready to shift to possess me. Annika. I
nervously exhaled in fright. The floating corpse before me began
to crack and break in the most disturbing ways. The
arms twisted around, unhinged from their shoulder sockets. The legs
(28:01):
snapped forward, spilling a putrid, dark fluid onto the floor.
The head bent backwards, snapping the cervical spine. Then from
the gloom of the hallway, Father Olsen stormed in and
up behind the self decimating corpse with the fire poker,
swinging it with all his might. More bones shattered as
the floating corpse plummeted to the floor in a messy
heap of mangled limbs, spurting black fluids and frightening shrieks
(28:24):
from its mutilated vocal cords. Zervon had made a costly error.
This was my chance. I handed Anika the flashlight and
told her to run, find your phone, call the police,
I pleaded. She turned and looked back at the boys
and my parents, who were all still motionless and oblivious
to the events unfolding in the room. But what about
the Just go, I'll get the boys. Annika raced out
(28:47):
of the room, the beam from the flashlight manically bouncing
off the floor and walls until she was out of sight.
From under Father Olsen's coat, he extracted a crucifix. He
aimed it directly down at the writhing mass of hole
on the floor.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
In the holy name of Jesus Christ. I reject you, evil.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
Spirit, Father Olsen shouted with conviction. The mangled bonny on
the floor began to thrash about fiercely and release a deep,
harrowing bellow.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
I renout you. I rebuke you.
Speaker 1 (29:16):
Father Olsen continued. I took the opportunity to grab Logan
by the arm. Logan, I shouted. He blinked and looked
at me. Dad, he muttered, coming out of a stupor.
Come on, we have to go, I said, grabbing a
hold of Mason. Next Mason, he also blinked out of
his trance and stood up from the chair he sat in.
What's happening, he cried out in fear. Mom's downstairs. I
(29:38):
told them go to her. Logan grabbed Mason by the
hand and ran for the door. Just as Father Olsen
stepped closer to the demon, with his crucifix out in
front of him.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
In Jesus' holy name, I cast you out.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
Zubon exploded into a rage. The disfigured Bonnie flopped back
and forth on the ground, expelling the most hideous sounds
I'd ever heard. I could only stand there and shock.
The body no longer resembled anything even close to a
human as it jerked in every direction I could have sworn.
I caught glimpses of a thick, hairy substance surrounding the
head and neck, recalling a lion's mane. I heard ear splitting,
(30:14):
monstrous roars and howls, triggered by Father Olsen's commands. I
heard a chorus of snakes, hissing and striking. The striking
sound was so vivid, so real, that I thought something
had lunged at me and suck its venomous bite into
my skin. My entire body flinched, and I staggered backward,
crashing into the small table where the spirit board and
candles were set up. My back slammed against the floor
(30:37):
as the spirit board fell off to my right. To
my left, the candles dropped. I quickly tried to reach
for them to get them off the floor, but whatever
the black fluid that poured from wilbur Ward's mangled corpse
was was quick to ignite. I tried to roll away
from it to shield myself, but it was no use.
A powerful bursting explosion curled me across the room, drenching
(31:02):
me in flames. Thanks for listening. If you like what
you're hearing, please share it with someone you know who
loves scary stories at Christmas time. If you'd like to
read the full novel for yourself in print, it's available
in paperback, hardback, and kindle versions at Weird Darkness dot
com slash Advent of Evil. That's also where you can
(31:23):
go to hear each of the twenty four chapters as
they're posted. I'm Darren Marler. Thanks for celebrating Advent with
me in the Weird Darkness
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On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.