January 29, 2024 • 30 mins
Flora is back with the 12th installment of Ghost Stories to close out a late Blurry Photober! Killer curiosity, a rainy classic, a creepy poem and more are in store for you in this edition of ghost stories. David lays out four nerve-chilling tales and one poem to keep you shivering with the cold winter nights. There is also an update about the documentary and more in this traditional episode of Blurry Photos!
Don't forget to watch me stream games on Twitch!
Music
Danse Macabre, Blue Sizzle, Midnight in the Graveyard, Midnight in the Green House, Morgana Rides - Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Don't forget to watch me stream games on Twitch!
Music
Danse Macabre, Blue Sizzle, Midnight in the Graveyard, Midnight in the Green House, Morgana Rides - Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:41):
Hello, Welcome to the final belatedepisode of this season's Blurry Fault Time.
This will be the annual ghost Storiesepisode. Stick around after the tales for
some news, including big news onthe film streaming and what else has been
going on to cause such delays withepisodes lately. I'll discuss it after puns.
(01:07):
For now, I have a selectionof four creepy stories and a poem
to keep you chilled to the boneon a cold winter's night or a warm
summer's night for our friends down under. Here is the twelfth installment of ghost
Stories, Dark Sleep. Samantha hadtwo best friends named Ginny and Amber.
(01:38):
Her father was taking her on aweekend vacation and she invited them to come
along. Her family owned a cabinin the woods, and on Friday evening,
her father drove the girls up there. See that lake, asked Samantha
when they arrived. That's lake,Samantha. My dad grew up here.
He loved it so much he namedit after me. That night, after
(02:00):
they had unpacked their things, thethree girls set around and thought of ways
to amuse themselves. Does anybody haveany spooky stories? Asked Gamber. I
have one, said Jenny. It'sa true story too. It happened to
a friend of a friend of mine. She was babysitting these two little kids.
One night. She's sitting in thedark by herself watching TV, and
(02:20):
the phone rings. She goes overand answers it, and hears a voice
on the other end, breathing reallyheavy, and it says, have you
checked on the children? Genny?Come on? Amber interrupted. Everybody's heard
that one. That's a lamess scarystory. Ever, does anyone else have
a story one that's actually true?I know one? Samantha said, about
(02:45):
ten minutes hike from here, there'san old, broken down house. We
passed it on the way up here. It's out in the middle of nowhere,
tucked away off a narrow, littleside road. A long time ago,
a man lived there. His familywere really healthy, and they owned
hundreds of acres of land around here. This man met a simple country girl
(03:06):
from a simple country town and theyfell in love. His family wasn't too
happy about it. They didn't thinkthe girl was good enough for him,
but he ignored them. He wasan independent type of guy and went off
and built a little house on achunk of their land out in the middle
of nowhere. He married this girland everything was wonderful. They had a
(03:27):
daughter, and eventually they had ason. This is where the story starts
to go bad. Their son wassick, not physically but mentally. He
was sick in the head. Hewasn't mentally disabled or anything. He was
just a little off. By thetime he was nine years old, he
became too much for his parents tohandle, throwing temper tantrums, erratic sleeping
(03:51):
patterns, disappearing into the woods andhiding that kind of thing. Not knowing
what to do about his son,the man turned to his family for help.
His parents had the boy taken away. They sent him to a place
deep in the woods. It wasn'tan insane asylum, but it catered to
people with special needs, if youknow what I mean. His parents thought
(04:13):
it was for the best. Overtime, the family got used to not
having him around. They gradually stoppedvisiting him. They functioned as if they
had never even had a son,and everything went back to being wonderful again.
Eight years later, the boy,who was about sixteen or seventeen at
this time, managed to escape fromthe hospital. The staff did a search,
(04:36):
but he was nowhere to be found. His family was notified and they
were devastated. They were worried forhis safety. He had been alone in
the wilderness for weeks and he wasprobably dead, But the boy wasn't dead.
One night, he found his wayback home. He crept into his
(04:56):
house and one by one he slaughteredhis entire family, his father, his
mother, his sister, all ofthem chopped to pieces. With the blood
still dripping from his axe. Hedisappeared into the woods. When the grizzly
remains of his family were discovered afew days later, the townsfolk and the
surrounding area were horrified. The policetried to find the boy, but it
(05:20):
was no use. To this day, he has never been found since then.
Every year around harvest time, peoplehave started to go missing, and
in their place a corn husk dollwould be left behind. Legend has it
the boy still roams the woods aroundthese parts. The surrounding towns have bought
(05:44):
into the legend, and they hangdolls by their front door for protection.
They say, if the boy seesa doll hanging from the door of a
house, he will pass by thathouse and leave the residence in peace.
Nobody knows if it's true or not, but there's a doll hanging from every
door of every house in town.That's so creepy, cried Jinny. Do
(06:06):
you have a doll on your door? Of course, said Samantha. My
dad says he doesn't believe the legend, but we hung one just in case.
I think I just peed my pants, said Amber. Apparently the house
is still haunted by the ghosts ofhis murdered family, and if you go
up there late at night, youcan hear the whole thing take place all
(06:29):
over again. Do you think wecan go up there, Jinny asked,
Sure, said Samantha, but tomorrowduring daylight. There's no sense tempting fate.
That night, the girl slept inthe same room and huddled together,
trying to pretend they weren't frightened bythe story and expecting to hear something tapping
(06:49):
at the window at any moment.The next morning, Samantha's father made them
all a big breakfast, and theywent down to the lake for a swim.
Around noon, they decided to makethe trip up to the old haunted
house. When they got there,the girl sensed an eerie presence in the
old, dilapidated place, It wasenough to make their skin crawl. They
(07:15):
explored the ruins of the old house, peeking into corners and sifting through the
rubble. After a while, Samanthaspotted something half buried in the dirt.
It was some sort of book.She dug it out and dusted it off.
The girls gathered around as she openedit and began to flip through the
yellowed pages. It's like a diaryor something, said Samantha. Maybe it's
(07:42):
his diary. Jenny whispered, who'sdiary, asked Amber. The guy,
said Jinny, the guy that killedhis family. Samantha read the diary aloud
as the others listened. There's adedication inscribed on the inside cover, she
said. It reads to my family, who I love and cherish and will
(08:03):
always be with me. September fifth, nineteen eighty seven. It has been
hard alone. All they had todo was talk to me. They could
not talk to me. I heartheir voices late at night. Sometimes I
hear their screams. It is coldand dark. I needed love. They
(08:24):
did not love me. The medicinesare gone. I am free, free
from all of them. If theycould not love me, they had to
go dark sleep for everyone. Ihear their voices, still always screaming.
December fourth, nineteen eighty seven.They've stopped looking for me. It is
(08:48):
okay for me. Now I livein the forest. I chase down the
animals and put them in dark sleep, just like Mom and dad in sys
I visit my old house at night. I listened to the voices, and
at least they talk to me now. October third, nineteen ninety five.
I left the forest years ago andmoved to a small town near by.
(09:11):
Nobody recognizes me. No one knowswho I am. I hear people telling
my story. Sometimes it makes melaugh inside. They all fear me.
I still come to the forest sometimesI spend the nights in my old house.
Mom and Dad still talk to me. They say they are very proud
(09:31):
of me. November two, nineteenninety eight. Life has been good.
I found a job about a house. I met a girl. She is
very quiet and pretty. Sometimes Ibring her to the forest. She likes
it. I let Mom and Dadsee her. They like her. July
(09:52):
first, two thousand. Today isa great day. I have a baby.
Now I'm so happy. Mom andDad are grandparents. Now my wife
isn't doing so well though it washard for her, she might not make
it. Maybe she will go indark sleep. I am happy now.
(10:13):
August thirteenth, twenty ten. Iam so proud of my child. She
is just like me, except sheis much smarter. She has no problems,
she doesn't hear the voices. Shegoes to school and has lots of
friends, not like me. SometimesI take her to the woods. I
(10:33):
love her so much. I namedher after the lake Samantha. For a
few moments after Samantha stopped reading,there was stunned to silence. What the
heck, cried Jinny, Samantha,Is this some sort of joke? Amber
asked nervously. It isn't funny this, this can't be true, Samantha whispered,
(11:00):
couldn't possibly be Just then, theyheard the sound of twigs snapping behind
them. When they turned around,they saw Samantha's father standing there. There
was a strange, pained look onhis face, and he was holding an
axe in his hands. You weren'tsupposed to find that, he muttered,
(11:22):
there's no other way now, darksleep for everyone. No, Dad,
Samantha screamed, no, no,no. When Samantha's father had finished chopping
up the bodies. He put thepieces in large plastic bags and buried them
deep in the woods, so deepthat no one would ever find them.
(11:48):
Now they could be together forever.I'll watch over you now, he mumbled
as he padded down the earth witha shovel. You may not understand now,
but you will in time. Thisis the only way for us to
be together. Dark sleep, Foreverwe all stayed together. Car keys.
(12:24):
One night, a father and hisdaughter were driving down a deserted country road.
They were returning home after spending theentire day visiting the girl's mother in
hospital. Listening to the sound ofthe rain drumming on the car roof,
the girl began to doze off.Suddenly there was a loud bang. The
(12:45):
father struggled with the steering wheel,but the car skidded off the wet road
and slammed into a stone wall.After checking that his daughter was uninjured,
the man got out of the carto survey the damage. Both of the
front tires had large punctures and theright finger was crumpled against the wall.
(13:05):
The rest of the car had survivedunscathed. Must have driven over something in
the road, he explained to hisdaughter. Whatever it was, it blew
out both the tires. You canfix it, right, asked the daughter,
somewhat shaken by the accident. No, replied the father, shaking his
head. I've only got one spearin the boot. I'll have to walk
(13:28):
back into town and find somebody totoe the car, he said. It
isn't far from here. You canwait in the car while I'm gone.
Okay, she said reluctantly, butplease don't take too long. The man
could see in his daughter's eyes thatshe was frightened. Sit tight, replied
the father as he slammed the cardoor. I'll be back at two o'clock.
(13:54):
His daughter watched him in the rearview mirror as he trudged off down
the road in the pouring ring disappearedinto the night. More than an hour
passed and her father still had notreturned. The girl began to wonder what
was taking him so long. Shewas very worried because he should have been
back by now. Just then,she glanced in the rear view mirror and
(14:18):
saw a figure in the distance walkingtowards the car. At first she thought
it was her father, but whenshe turned around to take a closer look,
she realized that it was a strangeman. He was dressed in overalls,
had a big, bushy beard.He was carrying something large in his
left hand, swinging him back andforth. Something about him made her very
(14:43):
nervous. As he approached, shestared at the back window and squint at
her eyes. In the dim light, she could just make out what he
was clutching in his other hand.It was a big, sharp, butcher's
eye. Thinking quickly, the terrifiedgirl locked both doors in the front of
(15:05):
the car, and then jumped intothe back seat and locked the rear doors.
When she looked up again, shesaw that the strange man had stopped
in his tracks and seemed to bestaring directly at her. Suddenly, the
man raised his arm and the girllet out a blood curdling scream. In
his left hand, he was clutchingher father's severed head. She just kept
(15:30):
screaming and screaming. She couldn't stopherself. Her heart was pounding and she
struggled to breathe. The grotesque expressionon her father's face was horrifying to behold.
His mouth was hanging open and hiseyes were rolled back in his head.
When the man reached the car.He shoved his face right up against
(15:50):
the window and glowered at her withhis crazed, bloodshot eyes. His hair
was wild and matted with dirt.His face was covered in deep scars.
For a moment, he just stoodthere in the driving rain, grinning at
her like a madman. Then hereached into his pocket, took something out,
(16:14):
and slowly lifted his left hand.He was holding her father's car keys.
We'll take a quick ad break andbe back soon, piggyback. There
(16:47):
was once a married couple who hadone young son. Even before their son
was born, the couple's marriage wason shaky ground. As the years went
by, the mother and father foughtall the time. Their arguments became more
frequent, and they talked about gettinga divorce. In the end, they
stayed together for the sake of theirson, but the arguments continued and the
(17:12):
fights became more and more violent.By the time their son was five years
old, the couple had grown tohate each other. One night, after
they had put the boy to bed, the mother and father got into an
enormous argument. The father flew intoan insane rage and murdered his wife.
(17:33):
When he came to his senses,and realized what he had done. He
set about disposing of the body.He dragged his wife's corpse into the garage
and put her in the boot ofhis car. Then he drove out to
the mountains under cover of darkness.He slung her dead body over his shoulders
and carried her out to a marshyswamp nearby. He dragged her out into
(17:57):
the foul smelling muck and watched asher corpse sank into the murky depths.
As dawn was beginning to break,he returned home to clean up and take
a shower. No matter how muchhe scrubbed and scrubbed, he couldn't seem
to get rid of the sickening smellof the swamp. He slept for a
(18:22):
few hours, and when he awoke, he started to think about what he
would do if his son asked wherehis mother was. He decided to tell
the boy that his wife had goneto stay with her sister for a while.
However, when his young son gotup for breakfast, he never mentioned
his mother at all. He juststared at his father and said nothing.
(18:45):
The man could still smell the odorof the muck from the swamp where he
had buried his wife. He tookan air freshener and began spraying it around
the house, hoping to mask theunpleasant scent. It made him feel sick.
A few hours passed and the littleboy was watching TV in the living
room. The father began to getan uneasy feeling in the pit of his
(19:07):
stomach. Every time he went intothe living room, he noticed that his
son was staring at him with acurious look on his face. It made
the father feel nervous and paranoid.His mind was racing. Perhaps the boy
knew what had happened, he thought. Maybe the boy had overheard him murdering
(19:27):
his mother. If his son knewwhat he had done, perhaps he would
have to kill him as well.The father walked into the room where his
son was still watching TV. Isthere something you want to ask me,
he said. The boy thought fora few seconds and then replied, yeah.
(19:49):
Is it about your mother, askedthe father. Yeah, said the
boy. And I suppose you're wonderingwhere your mother is, said the father.
No, said the boy. I'mwondering why mommy's face is so pale,
and why you've been giving her apiggyback ride all day. Vault door.
(20:25):
There was once a boy who gota summer job working in a cemetery.
It was not the type of workhe would normally choose, but his
dad was friends with the undertaker andhad convinced him to take the job despite
his fear of dead bodies. Itwas a very eerie place to work,
and after being there for over aweek, the boy still got the creeps
(20:47):
when he caught sight of a corpse. Luckily, he didn't have to get
anywhere near the dead bodies. Hiswork consisted mainly of digging graves, sweeping,
polishing, and cutting grass. Hisboss, the undertaker, was the
one who prepared the dead bodies forburial. The scariest things were the vaults.
(21:08):
Families bought these large tombs, andevery member of the family who died
was placed inside the vault in acoffin. It creeped him out to think
about all those bodies lying around insidethe dusty chambers and secret rooms. The
boy gradually got used to working inthe cemetery and everything went well until one
evening the unthinkable happened. While hewas inside one of the vaults, sweeping
(21:34):
the floor and polishing the name plates, A gust of wind blew the vault
door shut. He realized, tohis horror that he was trapped in the
crypt, surrounded by dead bodies andcoffins, with no one to help him.
His worst nightmare was coming true.He shouted and hollered, but it
(21:56):
was no use. Oh the Undertaker'shouse was too far away and nobody could
hear him. As the hours passed, the desperate boy realized that he would
have to rely on himself and beganto try to think of a way out.
There was a small open window highup above the vault door, Unfortunately
(22:21):
it was much too high to reach. Looking around the tomb, he decided
that he could use the coffins.If he stacked them up, one on
top of the other, they couldform a flight of steps. After stacking
the coffins up against the door,the boy climbed up them gingerly, taking
care not to tip them over.Just when he thought his plan was working,
(22:42):
he stepped on the top coffin andthe wood gave way under his weight.
His foot went straight through the coffinlid, and he felt a sudden
sharp pain in his leg ah cryingout in agony, He could picture the
splintered wood and rushxten nails slicing intohis skin. The stack of coffins began
(23:04):
to wobble, and for one horrifyingmoment, he thought he was going to
lose his balance and tumble down tothe stone floor. Luckily, he managed
to grab onto the window and steadyhimself. He could feel blood trickling down
his leg. Despite the pain hewas in, the boy pulled himself up
(23:25):
and began shaking his leg to freehimself from the coffin lid. The stack
of coffins tipped over and clattered tothe ground. Clinging to the window,
the boy pulled with all his mightand crawled through the narrow opening. He
dropped down on the outside and limpedtoward the undertaker's house to get help.
(23:45):
The undertaker came out and found thepoor boy lying on his doorstep clutching his
bleeding leg. He carried the boyto his car and drove him straight to
the hospital. After the doctor washedoff all the blood, he began to
examine the boy's wounds. How didyou get these injuries, asked the doctor.
(24:06):
I got cut by some broken piecesof wood, said the boy.
But these aren't cuts, said thedoctor, they're human bite marks. Willow
(24:30):
garden. Down in the willow garden, my true love and I did meet,
and there we sat a courton.My love fell off to sleep.
I had a bottle of burgundy wineI love. She did not know.
And there I poisoned that dear littlegirl down by the banks below. I
(24:55):
drew my knife right through her heart. It was a bloody night, true
her in the river. Then itwas a dreadful sight. My father always
told me that money would set mefree if I did murder that dear little
girl whose name was Rose Connolly.Now he sits by his old cabin door,
(25:17):
and he's wiping his tear brimmed eyes. He's mourning for his only son
out on the scaffold high I've traveledthe world over, and I knew some
day i'd go to where the firesare burning down in hell below. My
race is run beneath the sun,and the devil's now waiting for me,
(25:40):
for I did murder that pretty littlegirl whose name was Rose Connolly. That's
the twelfth installment of ghost Stories ina smelly, rainy, bloody nutshell.
(26:04):
And now for the stinky ghost onyour back puns, Get those annoying barbecue
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(26:27):
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(26:48):
a good way. Sleep like you'redead and floating down the river with our
new headrest options. Only at yournew bedroom Outfitters, Pillow Garden and Ems
Puns. Thanks for sticking around.So here's some news about Shadows in the
Desert, the film Derek Kays andI put together. They gave us a
(27:11):
streaming date of March fifth. Thatmeans it'll be available to watch on that
date, most likely to rent orbuy it first. We haven't been told
the streaming platform yet. We're hopingit'll be Amazon Prime, maybe to be
something like that. They'll let usknow eventually, but March fifth, Shadows
(27:32):
in the Desert, look for itand for all you backers of the Kickstarter
that helped us make this film inthe first place. We'll be in touch
to verify shipping addresses so you guyscan get your rewards and thank you again
for your patients. We're also goingto be showing the film in the Sydney
(27:55):
Sci Fi Film Festival, which isactually happening in Melbourne in Australia. Their
organization name is the Sydneysy five FilmFestival, I think something like that,
and they are holding at least partof it, if not all of it,
in Melbourne this year from my understanding. Anyways, Australian friends, that's
going to be February twenty fifth atCinema Nova in Carlton. I'll also be
(28:21):
posting some more info about that onFacebook, so mark your calendars, go
check it out and tell everybody,hey, great film, thanks for having
it. Give them an award.On another note, I've gotten myself kind
of busy lately because I have starteda theater company where I'm living. This
has taken up a ton of timeand the podcast has suffered for it.
(28:47):
I'm working on finding the balance soit's not so long between episodes, but
you know that's easier said than done, so for now, I thank you
for your patience as you wait formore content. You guys who I've listened
for a while, know that Iplace a great deal of emphasis on quality
in my content and deep, wellresearched information. Now that takes time,
(29:08):
but I don't want to sacrifice thatquality just to get some filler out there.
I hope you can understand, andI appreciate you staying with me and
listening. And that's what's up,or at least the short of it.
If you want to support me andor the arts, follow Firebird Theater Company
on Facebook and Instagram. It hasa little black firebird outlined in red and
(29:30):
orange as the logo and we coulduse the support. Other than that,
you can hear me and Brent coverfun topics on Hysteria fifty one, listen
to me on Quiz Quiz Bang Bangfor some trivia, and check out my
audio books by searching for my nameon Audible. Anyway, I've kept you
long enough. Thank you so muchfor listening, and for this episode of
(29:52):
Blurry Photos. I have been thebidy body in the vault. David Flora,
don't stop blurr even to to
Hello, Welcome to the final belatedepisode of this season's Blurry Fault Time.
This will be the annual ghost Storiesepisode. Stick around after the tales for
some news, including big news onthe film streaming and what else has been
going on to cause such delays withepisodes lately. I'll discuss it after puns.
(01:07):
For now, I have a selectionof four creepy stories and a poem
to keep you chilled to the boneon a cold winter's night or a warm
summer's night for our friends down under. Here is the twelfth installment of ghost
Stories, Dark Sleep. Samantha hadtwo best friends named Ginny and Amber.
(01:38):
Her father was taking her on aweekend vacation and she invited them to come
along. Her family owned a cabinin the woods, and on Friday evening,
her father drove the girls up there. See that lake, asked Samantha
when they arrived. That's lake,Samantha. My dad grew up here.
He loved it so much he namedit after me. That night, after
(02:00):
they had unpacked their things, thethree girls set around and thought of ways
to amuse themselves. Does anybody haveany spooky stories? Asked Gamber. I
have one, said Jenny. It'sa true story too. It happened to
a friend of a friend of mine. She was babysitting these two little kids.
One night. She's sitting in thedark by herself watching TV, and
(02:20):
the phone rings. She goes overand answers it, and hears a voice
on the other end, breathing reallyheavy, and it says, have you
checked on the children? Genny?Come on? Amber interrupted. Everybody's heard
that one. That's a lamess scarystory. Ever, does anyone else have
a story one that's actually true?I know one? Samantha said, about
(02:45):
ten minutes hike from here, there'san old, broken down house. We
passed it on the way up here. It's out in the middle of nowhere,
tucked away off a narrow, littleside road. A long time ago,
a man lived there. His familywere really healthy, and they owned
hundreds of acres of land around here. This man met a simple country girl
(03:06):
from a simple country town and theyfell in love. His family wasn't too
happy about it. They didn't thinkthe girl was good enough for him,
but he ignored them. He wasan independent type of guy and went off
and built a little house on achunk of their land out in the middle
of nowhere. He married this girland everything was wonderful. They had a
(03:27):
daughter, and eventually they had ason. This is where the story starts
to go bad. Their son wassick, not physically but mentally. He
was sick in the head. Hewasn't mentally disabled or anything. He was
just a little off. By thetime he was nine years old, he
became too much for his parents tohandle, throwing temper tantrums, erratic sleeping
(03:51):
patterns, disappearing into the woods andhiding that kind of thing. Not knowing
what to do about his son,the man turned to his family for help.
His parents had the boy taken away. They sent him to a place
deep in the woods. It wasn'tan insane asylum, but it catered to
people with special needs, if youknow what I mean. His parents thought
(04:13):
it was for the best. Overtime, the family got used to not
having him around. They gradually stoppedvisiting him. They functioned as if they
had never even had a son,and everything went back to being wonderful again.
Eight years later, the boy,who was about sixteen or seventeen at
this time, managed to escape fromthe hospital. The staff did a search,
(04:36):
but he was nowhere to be found. His family was notified and they
were devastated. They were worried forhis safety. He had been alone in
the wilderness for weeks and he wasprobably dead, But the boy wasn't dead.
One night, he found his wayback home. He crept into his
(04:56):
house and one by one he slaughteredhis entire family, his father, his
mother, his sister, all ofthem chopped to pieces. With the blood
still dripping from his axe. Hedisappeared into the woods. When the grizzly
remains of his family were discovered afew days later, the townsfolk and the
surrounding area were horrified. The policetried to find the boy, but it
(05:20):
was no use. To this day, he has never been found since then.
Every year around harvest time, peoplehave started to go missing, and
in their place a corn husk dollwould be left behind. Legend has it
the boy still roams the woods aroundthese parts. The surrounding towns have bought
(05:44):
into the legend, and they hangdolls by their front door for protection.
They say, if the boy seesa doll hanging from the door of a
house, he will pass by thathouse and leave the residence in peace.
Nobody knows if it's true or not, but there's a doll hanging from every
door of every house in town.That's so creepy, cried Jinny. Do
(06:06):
you have a doll on your door? Of course, said Samantha. My
dad says he doesn't believe the legend, but we hung one just in case.
I think I just peed my pants, said Amber. Apparently the house
is still haunted by the ghosts ofhis murdered family, and if you go
up there late at night, youcan hear the whole thing take place all
(06:29):
over again. Do you think wecan go up there, Jinny asked,
Sure, said Samantha, but tomorrowduring daylight. There's no sense tempting fate.
That night, the girl slept inthe same room and huddled together,
trying to pretend they weren't frightened bythe story and expecting to hear something tapping
(06:49):
at the window at any moment.The next morning, Samantha's father made them
all a big breakfast, and theywent down to the lake for a swim.
Around noon, they decided to makethe trip up to the old haunted
house. When they got there,the girl sensed an eerie presence in the
old, dilapidated place, It wasenough to make their skin crawl. They
(07:15):
explored the ruins of the old house, peeking into corners and sifting through the
rubble. After a while, Samanthaspotted something half buried in the dirt.
It was some sort of book.She dug it out and dusted it off.
The girls gathered around as she openedit and began to flip through the
yellowed pages. It's like a diaryor something, said Samantha. Maybe it's
(07:42):
his diary. Jenny whispered, who'sdiary, asked Amber. The guy,
said Jinny, the guy that killedhis family. Samantha read the diary aloud
as the others listened. There's adedication inscribed on the inside cover, she
said. It reads to my family, who I love and cherish and will
(08:03):
always be with me. September fifth, nineteen eighty seven. It has been
hard alone. All they had todo was talk to me. They could
not talk to me. I heartheir voices late at night. Sometimes I
hear their screams. It is coldand dark. I needed love. They
(08:24):
did not love me. The medicinesare gone. I am free, free
from all of them. If theycould not love me, they had to
go dark sleep for everyone. Ihear their voices, still always screaming.
December fourth, nineteen eighty seven.They've stopped looking for me. It is
(08:48):
okay for me. Now I livein the forest. I chase down the
animals and put them in dark sleep, just like Mom and dad in sys
I visit my old house at night. I listened to the voices, and
at least they talk to me now. October third, nineteen ninety five.
I left the forest years ago andmoved to a small town near by.
(09:11):
Nobody recognizes me. No one knowswho I am. I hear people telling
my story. Sometimes it makes melaugh inside. They all fear me.
I still come to the forest sometimesI spend the nights in my old house.
Mom and Dad still talk to me. They say they are very proud
(09:31):
of me. November two, nineteenninety eight. Life has been good.
I found a job about a house. I met a girl. She is
very quiet and pretty. Sometimes Ibring her to the forest. She likes
it. I let Mom and Dadsee her. They like her. July
(09:52):
first, two thousand. Today isa great day. I have a baby.
Now I'm so happy. Mom andDad are grandparents. Now my wife
isn't doing so well though it washard for her, she might not make
it. Maybe she will go indark sleep. I am happy now.
(10:13):
August thirteenth, twenty ten. Iam so proud of my child. She
is just like me, except sheis much smarter. She has no problems,
she doesn't hear the voices. Shegoes to school and has lots of
friends, not like me. SometimesI take her to the woods. I
(10:33):
love her so much. I namedher after the lake Samantha. For a
few moments after Samantha stopped reading,there was stunned to silence. What the
heck, cried Jinny, Samantha,Is this some sort of joke? Amber
asked nervously. It isn't funny this, this can't be true, Samantha whispered,
(11:00):
couldn't possibly be Just then, theyheard the sound of twigs snapping behind
them. When they turned around,they saw Samantha's father standing there. There
was a strange, pained look onhis face, and he was holding an
axe in his hands. You weren'tsupposed to find that, he muttered,
(11:22):
there's no other way now, darksleep for everyone. No, Dad,
Samantha screamed, no, no,no. When Samantha's father had finished chopping
up the bodies. He put thepieces in large plastic bags and buried them
deep in the woods, so deepthat no one would ever find them.
(11:48):
Now they could be together forever.I'll watch over you now, he mumbled
as he padded down the earth witha shovel. You may not understand now,
but you will in time. Thisis the only way for us to
be together. Dark sleep, Foreverwe all stayed together. Car keys.
(12:24):
One night, a father and hisdaughter were driving down a deserted country road.
They were returning home after spending theentire day visiting the girl's mother in
hospital. Listening to the sound ofthe rain drumming on the car roof,
the girl began to doze off.Suddenly there was a loud bang. The
(12:45):
father struggled with the steering wheel,but the car skidded off the wet road
and slammed into a stone wall.After checking that his daughter was uninjured,
the man got out of the carto survey the damage. Both of the
front tires had large punctures and theright finger was crumpled against the wall.
(13:05):
The rest of the car had survivedunscathed. Must have driven over something in
the road, he explained to hisdaughter. Whatever it was, it blew
out both the tires. You canfix it, right, asked the daughter,
somewhat shaken by the accident. No, replied the father, shaking his
head. I've only got one spearin the boot. I'll have to walk
(13:28):
back into town and find somebody totoe the car, he said. It
isn't far from here. You canwait in the car while I'm gone.
Okay, she said reluctantly, butplease don't take too long. The man
could see in his daughter's eyes thatshe was frightened. Sit tight, replied
the father as he slammed the cardoor. I'll be back at two o'clock.
(13:54):
His daughter watched him in the rearview mirror as he trudged off down
the road in the pouring ring disappearedinto the night. More than an hour
passed and her father still had notreturned. The girl began to wonder what
was taking him so long. Shewas very worried because he should have been
back by now. Just then,she glanced in the rear view mirror and
(14:18):
saw a figure in the distance walkingtowards the car. At first she thought
it was her father, but whenshe turned around to take a closer look,
she realized that it was a strangeman. He was dressed in overalls,
had a big, bushy beard.He was carrying something large in his
left hand, swinging him back andforth. Something about him made her very
(14:43):
nervous. As he approached, shestared at the back window and squint at
her eyes. In the dim light, she could just make out what he
was clutching in his other hand.It was a big, sharp, butcher's
eye. Thinking quickly, the terrifiedgirl locked both doors in the front of
(15:05):
the car, and then jumped intothe back seat and locked the rear doors.
When she looked up again, shesaw that the strange man had stopped
in his tracks and seemed to bestaring directly at her. Suddenly, the
man raised his arm and the girllet out a blood curdling scream. In
his left hand, he was clutchingher father's severed head. She just kept
(15:30):
screaming and screaming. She couldn't stopherself. Her heart was pounding and she
struggled to breathe. The grotesque expressionon her father's face was horrifying to behold.
His mouth was hanging open and hiseyes were rolled back in his head.
When the man reached the car.He shoved his face right up against
(15:50):
the window and glowered at her withhis crazed, bloodshot eyes. His hair
was wild and matted with dirt.His face was covered in deep scars.
For a moment, he just stoodthere in the driving rain, grinning at
her like a madman. Then hereached into his pocket, took something out,
(16:14):
and slowly lifted his left hand.He was holding her father's car keys.
We'll take a quick ad break andbe back soon, piggyback. There
(16:47):
was once a married couple who hadone young son. Even before their son
was born, the couple's marriage wason shaky ground. As the years went
by, the mother and father foughtall the time. Their arguments became more
frequent, and they talked about gettinga divorce. In the end, they
stayed together for the sake of theirson, but the arguments continued and the
(17:12):
fights became more and more violent.By the time their son was five years
old, the couple had grown tohate each other. One night, after
they had put the boy to bed, the mother and father got into an
enormous argument. The father flew intoan insane rage and murdered his wife.
(17:33):
When he came to his senses,and realized what he had done. He
set about disposing of the body.He dragged his wife's corpse into the garage
and put her in the boot ofhis car. Then he drove out to
the mountains under cover of darkness.He slung her dead body over his shoulders
and carried her out to a marshyswamp nearby. He dragged her out into
(17:57):
the foul smelling muck and watched asher corpse sank into the murky depths.
As dawn was beginning to break,he returned home to clean up and take
a shower. No matter how muchhe scrubbed and scrubbed, he couldn't seem
to get rid of the sickening smellof the swamp. He slept for a
(18:22):
few hours, and when he awoke, he started to think about what he
would do if his son asked wherehis mother was. He decided to tell
the boy that his wife had goneto stay with her sister for a while.
However, when his young son gotup for breakfast, he never mentioned
his mother at all. He juststared at his father and said nothing.
(18:45):
The man could still smell the odorof the muck from the swamp where he
had buried his wife. He tookan air freshener and began spraying it around
the house, hoping to mask theunpleasant scent. It made him feel sick.
A few hours passed and the littleboy was watching TV in the living
room. The father began to getan uneasy feeling in the pit of his
(19:07):
stomach. Every time he went intothe living room, he noticed that his
son was staring at him with acurious look on his face. It made
the father feel nervous and paranoid.His mind was racing. Perhaps the boy
knew what had happened, he thought. Maybe the boy had overheard him murdering
(19:27):
his mother. If his son knewwhat he had done, perhaps he would
have to kill him as well.The father walked into the room where his
son was still watching TV. Isthere something you want to ask me,
he said. The boy thought fora few seconds and then replied, yeah.
(19:49):
Is it about your mother, askedthe father. Yeah, said the
boy. And I suppose you're wonderingwhere your mother is, said the father.
No, said the boy. I'mwondering why mommy's face is so pale,
and why you've been giving her apiggyback ride all day. Vault door.
(20:25):
There was once a boy who gota summer job working in a cemetery.
It was not the type of workhe would normally choose, but his
dad was friends with the undertaker andhad convinced him to take the job despite
his fear of dead bodies. Itwas a very eerie place to work,
and after being there for over aweek, the boy still got the creeps
(20:47):
when he caught sight of a corpse. Luckily, he didn't have to get
anywhere near the dead bodies. Hiswork consisted mainly of digging graves, sweeping,
polishing, and cutting grass. Hisboss, the undertaker, was the
one who prepared the dead bodies forburial. The scariest things were the vaults.
(21:08):
Families bought these large tombs, andevery member of the family who died
was placed inside the vault in acoffin. It creeped him out to think
about all those bodies lying around insidethe dusty chambers and secret rooms. The
boy gradually got used to working inthe cemetery and everything went well until one
evening the unthinkable happened. While hewas inside one of the vaults, sweeping
(21:34):
the floor and polishing the name plates, A gust of wind blew the vault
door shut. He realized, tohis horror that he was trapped in the
crypt, surrounded by dead bodies andcoffins, with no one to help him.
His worst nightmare was coming true.He shouted and hollered, but it
(21:56):
was no use. Oh the Undertaker'shouse was too far away and nobody could
hear him. As the hours passed, the desperate boy realized that he would
have to rely on himself and beganto try to think of a way out.
There was a small open window highup above the vault door, Unfortunately
(22:21):
it was much too high to reach. Looking around the tomb, he decided
that he could use the coffins.If he stacked them up, one on
top of the other, they couldform a flight of steps. After stacking
the coffins up against the door,the boy climbed up them gingerly, taking
care not to tip them over.Just when he thought his plan was working,
(22:42):
he stepped on the top coffin andthe wood gave way under his weight.
His foot went straight through the coffinlid, and he felt a sudden
sharp pain in his leg ah cryingout in agony, He could picture the
splintered wood and rushxten nails slicing intohis skin. The stack of coffins began
(23:04):
to wobble, and for one horrifyingmoment, he thought he was going to
lose his balance and tumble down tothe stone floor. Luckily, he managed
to grab onto the window and steadyhimself. He could feel blood trickling down
his leg. Despite the pain hewas in, the boy pulled himself up
(23:25):
and began shaking his leg to freehimself from the coffin lid. The stack
of coffins tipped over and clattered tothe ground. Clinging to the window,
the boy pulled with all his mightand crawled through the narrow opening. He
dropped down on the outside and limpedtoward the undertaker's house to get help.
(23:45):
The undertaker came out and found thepoor boy lying on his doorstep clutching his
bleeding leg. He carried the boyto his car and drove him straight to
the hospital. After the doctor washedoff all the blood, he began to
examine the boy's wounds. How didyou get these injuries, asked the doctor.
(24:06):
I got cut by some broken piecesof wood, said the boy.
But these aren't cuts, said thedoctor, they're human bite marks. Willow
(24:30):
garden. Down in the willow garden, my true love and I did meet,
and there we sat a courton.My love fell off to sleep.
I had a bottle of burgundy wineI love. She did not know.
And there I poisoned that dear littlegirl down by the banks below. I
(24:55):
drew my knife right through her heart. It was a bloody night, true
her in the river. Then itwas a dreadful sight. My father always
told me that money would set mefree if I did murder that dear little
girl whose name was Rose Connolly.Now he sits by his old cabin door,
(25:17):
and he's wiping his tear brimmed eyes. He's mourning for his only son
out on the scaffold high I've traveledthe world over, and I knew some
day i'd go to where the firesare burning down in hell below. My
race is run beneath the sun,and the devil's now waiting for me,
(25:40):
for I did murder that pretty littlegirl whose name was Rose Connolly. That's
the twelfth installment of ghost Stories ina smelly, rainy, bloody nutshell.
(26:04):
And now for the stinky ghost onyour back puns, Get those annoying barbecue
Cravens off your back with the newAsian Southern Fusion restaurant that really pulls the
stink from the swamp. You'll bemired and barbecue smells that you'll never be
(26:27):
able to shake, and the kidswill love it too. Only at the
Piggy Shack Barbecue to Kill four,come on down to the store that meets
all your nightly needs. When youfall asleep on our one hundred percent Irish
made bedding, you'll feel like you'vebeen poisoned and stabbed through the heart in
(26:48):
a good way. Sleep like you'redead and floating down the river with our
new headrest options. Only at yournew bedroom Outfitters, Pillow Garden and Ems
Puns. Thanks for sticking around.So here's some news about Shadows in the
Desert, the film Derek Kays andI put together. They gave us a
(27:11):
streaming date of March fifth. Thatmeans it'll be available to watch on that
date, most likely to rent orbuy it first. We haven't been told
the streaming platform yet. We're hopingit'll be Amazon Prime, maybe to be
something like that. They'll let usknow eventually, but March fifth, Shadows
(27:32):
in the Desert, look for itand for all you backers of the Kickstarter
that helped us make this film inthe first place. We'll be in touch
to verify shipping addresses so you guyscan get your rewards and thank you again
for your patients. We're also goingto be showing the film in the Sydney
(27:55):
Sci Fi Film Festival, which isactually happening in Melbourne in Australia. Their
organization name is the Sydneysy five FilmFestival, I think something like that,
and they are holding at least partof it, if not all of it,
in Melbourne this year from my understanding. Anyways, Australian friends, that's
going to be February twenty fifth atCinema Nova in Carlton. I'll also be
(28:21):
posting some more info about that onFacebook, so mark your calendars, go
check it out and tell everybody,hey, great film, thanks for having
it. Give them an award.On another note, I've gotten myself kind
of busy lately because I have starteda theater company where I'm living. This
has taken up a ton of timeand the podcast has suffered for it.
(28:47):
I'm working on finding the balance soit's not so long between episodes, but
you know that's easier said than done, so for now, I thank you
for your patience as you wait formore content. You guys who I've listened
for a while, know that Iplace a great deal of emphasis on quality
in my content and deep, wellresearched information. Now that takes time,
(29:08):
but I don't want to sacrifice thatquality just to get some filler out there.
I hope you can understand, andI appreciate you staying with me and
listening. And that's what's up,or at least the short of it.
If you want to support me andor the arts, follow Firebird Theater Company
on Facebook and Instagram. It hasa little black firebird outlined in red and
(29:30):
orange as the logo and we coulduse the support. Other than that,
you can hear me and Brent coverfun topics on Hysteria fifty one, listen
to me on Quiz Quiz Bang Bangfor some trivia, and check out my
audio books by searching for my nameon Audible. Anyway, I've kept you
long enough. Thank you so muchfor listening, and for this episode of
(29:52):
Blurry Photos. I have been thebidy body in the vault. David Flora,
don't stop blurr even to to
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