October 19, 2024 • 35 mins
Abby and Alan are thrilled to present Hitchcock inspired horror stories.
Claudia was written by Marisca Pichette and read by Lissa Sweeney. Check out Marisca’s poetry collection Rivers in Your Skin, Sirens in Your Hair. And follow her website: www.mariscapichette.com or IG: @marisca_write. Follow Lissa on IG at LissaSweeney.
Me, A Hero was written by Warren Benedetto and read by Mike Macera. Visit warrenbenedetto.com and follow @warrenbenedetto on Twitter and Instagram. Check out Mike’s band Beach Therapy.
Get Lunatics Merch here. Join the discussion on Discord. Listen to the paranormal playlist I curate for Vurbl, updated weekly! Check out Abby's book Horror Stories. Available in eBook and paperback. Music by Michaela Papa, Alan Kudan & Jordan Moser. Poster Art by Pilar Keprta @pilar.kep.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode
of the Lunatics Radio Hourpodcast.
I am Abbey Brinker sitting herewith Alan Kudan.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Hello.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
And today we're following up our last episode,
which was a deep dive into thelife and crimes and films of
Alfred Hitchcock, with tworeally, really well-written and
beautifully narratedHitchcock-inspired horror
stories for you.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
I am so curious how this is going to go.
Stories for you.
I'm so curious how this isgoing to go.
This is kind of like DancingPlague.
This seems like a really,really specific topic.
How are we going to do storieshere?
Speaker 1 (00:53):
We got some good ones .
I'm excited for you to hear howthese modern day stories are
going to tie into the theme ofHitchcock.
Of course, if you missed it, goback and listen to our last
episode, which again is allabout his life and his works and
how very complicated they wereat the end of the day.
And I am really excited forthis as well, because I
understand your point, alan,from last time, that Hitchcock
(01:16):
doesn't scream Halloween to you.
But around this time we usuallykind of do a deep dive into a
franchise and I thought let'sstart with the building blocks
here a little bit.
We've done a lot of theUniversal Monsters which predate
Hitchcock.
We've done some of the slasherfranchises which post-date
Hitchcock.
So it seems kind of like a goodmiddle ground.
And then, you know, nextHalloween we'll pick something,
(01:37):
We'll let you pick, whatever theseries is.
How about that?
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Really, yep Really.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
I'll get approval.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
I need this in writing, or at least recorded.
Please say, say the words.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Next Halloween you can pick, with approval from
Abby no no, cut that out theseries.
The Halloween Say the wholething again.
Next Halloween, Alan can pickthe topic, one of the topics for
the month of October, October2025.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
He just really just like, like really, you just
neutered it abby's gonna have aveto clause.
Can you?
Can you stop lobotomizing myrights?
Speaker 1 (02:12):
no, because I don't, I really truly don't trust
you're.
You're picking, you're gonnapick like what am I gonna pick?
You're gonna pick somethinglike jojo's great adventure that
would be awesome exactly.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Do you have any idea how horror themed that is?
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Right, and you're going to tell us all about it in
18 parts.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
The whole first season is inspired by
Castlevania.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Let me remind you the last time this happened, when
you picked Godzilla and we hadfour episodes, which was 18
hours of content that I had justyou blabbing that I had to cut
down to four cohesive episodes.
I'm just saying.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
What's your point?
That was quality content, allyou want is content.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
It's for such a niche audience.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
There's, no, there's very few people who love
Godzilla.
May I remind you of DancingPlague.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Okay, you love Dancing Plague, I do.
Okay, I do and I'm the nicheaudience it worked out it worked
out anyway, I also want to makeit clear that you are part of
the decisions of the topics.
It is not only me that I beg todiffer okay, well, you'll get
to pick the, the franchise thatwe cover, next time.
Thank, you okay, why don't wecool things off here and kick
(03:22):
off with our first hitchcockinspired story of the episode?
Speaker 2 (03:26):
All right, we're just going to roll the table.
You and I go in the other roomand fight.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Okay, here we go.
Claudia, written by MariskaPichette, read by Liesel Sweeney
.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
Theodore Massey was working late.
Time had quickened in thelengthening hours and night was
fast on the heels of dusk.
Outside his window, pigeonspecked and strutted across the
roof, apocalyptic shadowsagainst the New York City
skyline.
Under the last descending raysof sun, theodore typed up a
final note, pulled the page fromhis typewriter and laid it in
the tray to sleep until the nextday.
(04:04):
This done, he closed hisbriefcase, rubbing his aching
eyes.
He would not be home in timefor dinner tonight.
He ought to tell Claudia.
As he reached for the phone,his gaze fell on a small note
written on lavender paper,wedged under a dusty paperweight
.
He smiled as he read it againhave a wild day, claudia.
Scribbled next to her name wasa small cartoon of an orchid,
(04:26):
her favorite.
Theodore touched the note as hepicked up the phone with his
other hand and dialed his homenumber.
The phone rang and rang,finally going to message At the
tone he said Hello, darling,I'll be back a little bit later
tonight.
Abruptly he heard Claudia'ssmiling, breathless voice yes,
teddy, I'm here.
(04:46):
He grinned, swiveling around inhis chair to look outside.
The sun flattened at thehorizon, sending sparks of light
skidding over the roofs ofnearby buildings.
In between timid shadows,mustered the courage to stretch,
filling the intervening spacewith night.
Hi darling, he murmured, warmthfilling him.
Two pigeons ambled past hiswindow, their heads jerking
forward and back like jackhammerspades.
I'll be back in about fortyminutes, he said, watching the
(05:08):
birds blacken in the silhouettes, their three-dimensionality
surrendered to the onslaught ofthe setting sun.
Okay, teddy, I'll be waitingfor you.
Claudia, said her voice soft.
Theodore smiled I'll hurry back.
Do I love you?
Love you too, blossom.
He set the phone down andgrabbed his briefcase,
(05:29):
struggling into his coat.
As he walked away from his deskOutside his window, the pigeons
took flight back to theirnighttime roosts.
Theodore was one of the lastpeople still in his office
building and he nodded to thefew co-workers he passed on his
way out, their scattered facesluminous in the glow of the
setting sun.
Mostly, however, his mind wasoccupied by the thought of
Claudio waiting to greet himwhen he got home.
He hated being away from her,even for this long.
They had been together for fouryears.
(05:50):
Claudio was a lovely littlething, though she tended to be
reclusive and had few friends ofher own.
Theodore didn't mind, for hehad never been good at
navigating the bonds offriendship himself and he was
quite content to devote all hisfree time to Claudia.
At the front doors, theodoreencountered the security guard
Good night Lester.
He called over his shoulder.
As he hurried outside into thefading light, the haggard little
(06:13):
man waved a withered hand.
Night, mr Massey, freed at last.
From the confining building.
Theodore breathed in the slow,dense air of twilight.
It settled, with the shadows,driving people back to their
homes like the rising tide.
Usually he didn't mind theheavy feel of the air, but
tonight it felt, cloying,crowding his throat.
As he walked to his car, twopigeons scattered at his
(06:33):
approach, winging up into theclouded sky.
It was past seven o'clock whenhe was finally inching through
traffic.
Five minutes from his apartment,just before the exit he wished
to take, the crawling carsshuddered to a halt and traffic
slid to an abrupt standstill.
He craned his neck, frowning atthe automotive mire.
Claudia would be worried if hiscommute was longer than he'd
(06:53):
said.
He didn't want to worry her.
It was bad for her health.
As he sat he heard the ringingbells of sirens.
Theodore rolled down his windowand leaned out into the cool
air.
The languid snake of trafficslid to the side of the road as
a fire engine sped past,followed by an ambulance.
Theodore watched them go,wondering where they were headed
.
A few seconds later, anotherfire engine followed lights
(07:16):
flashing.
It shrank into the distance,but echoes of sirens remained
long after the lights vanished.
For a reason he couldn'tpinpoint, theodore rolled up his
window, pushing the heavy airout of his car.
He itched to be home withClaudia.
Gradually, the traffic lessenedand cars began shifting forward
once more.
Ten minutes later, theodore wasspeeding down the exit ramp,
(07:38):
eager to reach his destinationat last, he opened his window.
As he pulled up the street,peering into the gloom, a heavy
city breeze blew in his face,bringing with it the smell of
smoke.
As he turned onto his street,he began to worry.
Lights flashed in the dark redorange, red orange, white, white
, white and several emergencyvehicles blocked his apartment
building.
From view, he saw two fireengines, a couple of police cars
(08:01):
and an ambulance.
Smoke filled the air hestrained to see, telling himself
that it was probably just anaccident with a cigarette or
maybe a singed carpet or stovefire.
But the scent of smoke was toostrong and as he pulled over as
close as he could get to thescene, he saw the flashing
lights reflect off a dense darkcloud billowing up around his
building.
Fear clutched his heart.
(08:22):
Theodore sprang from his car,neglecting even to close the
door.
As he ran, claudia, he screamed.
Firemen turned at his approach,claudia, one of the men grabbed
his arm.
What floor is she on?
Theodore shook his head.
Sixth, oh please.
She doesn't do well with smoke.
The man nodded short.
Sharp Fire started on theseventh floor.
She should be okay, we'regetting everyone out.
(08:43):
Theodore swallowed the sting ofsmoke in his eyes, nose and
mouth.
He tried to remain calm walkingover to the group of milling
people pointed out to him by thefiremen.
He searched their faces butdidn't see Claudia anywhere.
She was so small so perhaps shewas just lost in the crowd.
Theodore, he wheeled at hervoice, looking around
desperately.
Claudia was nowhere to be found.
(09:04):
He strained his eyes and earswalking through the crowd.
Then he heard her again, teddy.
Oh, come get me please.
Theodore looked up at theburning apartment building.
Smoke was pouring from theseventh floor, swirling in
mesmerizing patterns in theharsh flashing lights of the
emergency vehicles.
Dropping his gaze to the sixthfloor, he gasped.
He could already see a handfulof rooms alight, with the blaze
(09:26):
starting at the far edge andmoving inward.
He stared up at the disasterand soon found his own window
and the source of the voice.
A small face peeped out at him,one he knew too well.
Speaker 5 (09:36):
Claudia.
Speaker 4 (09:37):
Her head was drooping .
She was nearly overwhelmed bythe smoke.
Teddy, help me.
Without a second thought,theodore ran for the doors.
A fireman attempted to stop him, but he pushed the man away
with more strength than he'dexpected.
He burst through the doors intothe lobby.
The first floor showed no signsof damage and Theodore headed
for the stairs, his limbsshaking with dread, up to the
(09:58):
second floor.
He saw no one.
The building appeared to havebeen completely emptied, but
poor Claudia, she was leftbehind.
He fumed with anger and fear ashe pounded up the steps up to
the third floor.
Halfway, hey, a fireman emergedfrom the door leading to the
third floor.
What are you doing in here?
Hey?
Theodore ignored him and keptrunning.
He had to get to Claudia BeforeBefore.
(10:20):
He wheezed as he passed thefourth floor, forcing himself to
keep going.
He couldn't let her down, notnow.
They'd spent so much timetogether, never with others.
Really, it was always the twoof them talking and watching the
birds.
Claudia loved to watch thebirds outside the window.
On weakening legs, he made it tothe fifth floor.
He could hear the firemenchasing him from the floor below
(10:41):
.
Only one more flight wouldbring him to Claudia With a
crash.
He burst through the door onthe sixth floor.
The hallway was filled withsmoke and he gagged, staggering
through the painful clouds,squinting, watering eyes at the
rooms he passed.
Fumbling in his pockets, helooked for his keys.
With a shock he realized he'dleft his keys in the car.
Claudia, he shrieked, feelingthe heat pressing in his lungs
(11:03):
suffocating him.
Claudia, he shrieked, feelingthe heat pressing in his lungs
suffocating him.
The rooms on this side of thefloor were not yet ablaze, but
he could see the lightpenetrating the dense clouds of
smoke further along.
He stumbled into the door tohis apartment and pounded on it.
Claudia, barely audible, heheard a response Teddy, down the
hall, the stairwell door flewopen and the firemen rushed
towards him.
Sir, you need to get out ofhere, it's not safe.
(11:24):
The fire is spreading.
Theodore threw himself againsthis door.
Claudia, she's in there,someone's in there.
Mutely, theodore nodded.
Tears were streaming from hiseyes, products of smoke in the
stress.
Firemen took one look at himthen nodded All right, stand
well back.
Theodore did as he was told.
He couldn't hear anything elsefrom the apartment and that
worried him.
As the fireman threw his weightagainst the door, he called
(11:46):
Claudia, we're coming in.
Stand back.
The door burst off its hinges,splinters flying past Theodore's
face and lodging in his hair.
The fireman disappeared into theapartment and Theodore followed
without hesitation, choking onthe smoke.
He headed straight for thewindow.
Claudia was sitting on the sill, her head resting against the
glass.
She looked wilted.
All the color seemed to haveleft her face.
(12:07):
Theodore fell to his knees infront of her, sobbing Gingerly.
He reached up and touched herneck, stroking her Claudia.
She did not respond.
The fireman came back into themain room.
Looking around, he turned toTheodore.
I can't find her, sir.
Looks like no one's in here.
Theodore gathered Claudia'slimp form in his arms and turned
away from the window.
Smoke stung in his eyes.
(12:28):
We were too late, he said.
The fireman frowned at him.
She must have gone offsomewhere and not told you, sir.
Meanwhile, we've got to get youout of here before the smoke
takes you.
Theodore nodded and walked overto the battered door.
The fireman followed, curiouslysilent.
He eyed Theodore as they movedback down the stifling hallway
towards the relative safety ofthe stairwell.
What have you got there, heasked as they began descending
(12:51):
the many steps to the groundfloor.
Talking was too much.
Theodore held Claudia closer,smelling her sweet fragrance
even through the smoke, thefireman grunted, increasing
their pace.
Looks like an orchid, he saidin the face of Theodore's
silence.
Then, thoughtfully, thosethings are a devil to grow Very
finicky.
This smoke and fire won't havedone it much good.
(13:13):
When they got back outside,theodore thanked the fireman and
walked mechanically back to hiscar.
His mind was empty, his limbsnumb and heavy as the air around
him.
Blood trickled from his scalpwhere a splinter from his own
door had grazed him.
He didn't notice the pain.
He set Claudia down inside thecar.
She was very light.
For a long time he stood andstared at her beautiful face as
(13:35):
lights flashed and smoke crowdedthe air.
He watched Claudia's face forsome sign of her vibrancy, her
life.
A single petal broke away anddrifted down onto the seat.
It had a red edge to it likeblood.
Theodore wept High above thesmoke.
A lone pigeon flew off into thenight.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
So that story comes to us from our friend Mariska
Pichette, who has nowcontributed quite a few stories
for Lunatics Radio Hour, and weare such a fan of her writing.
You can check out her poetrycollection Rivers in your Skin,
sirens in your Hair, and thestory was also beautifully and
delicately narrated by ourfriend Lisa Sweeney.
(14:20):
But tell us Alan, tell us yourthoughts.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Okay.
So here's the thing.
Tell us this was a Hitchcockinspired story, very much so,
which made me think there wasgoing to be a twist.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
And there was a twist .
The twist it was a plant, agreat twist.
I didn't see it coming.
I thought, I really thought thatthe twist was going to be that
the guy had, like, imagined thatthis was.
You know that there was a woman, a fictional woman, who wasn't
there, but then it's a plant.
And if you go back andre-listen which I've done now
because I edited the story andI've read it there's so many
(14:56):
hints throughout the story aboutorchids and about plants and
about how he talks, about howdelicate she is and small and
all of these.
It's when you re-listen to it.
So you know, go ahead andre-listen to it.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
There's a lot of little hints throughout, which
is really nice.
On a on a second listen.
That's a lot of fun.
I love when there's a twistending and on the second pass
through.
It's so obvious because of allthe hints.
Yeah, that's good writing.
Yeah, uh, I can't tell you howmany times I've re-watched
certain films simply because ofthe twist ending, just trying to
find, like the little nuggetsthat they shove in there.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
It's another layer of craftsmanship for sure.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
It's just great writing, and that's.
That's all you need.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
That's the most important thing.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
So this story was beautifully read for us by our
friend Lisa Sweeney.
You can follow Lisa onInstagram at Lisa Sweeney, and I
will add all this in thedescription of the podcast.
Of course, you can also followMariska Pichette at Mariska
Pichette on Twitter, slash x atMariska underscore, right on
Instagram.
Again, we will link everythingbelow and if you are curious
(16:01):
about her work, you can checkout her website, mariska
Pichettecom.
But I agree with you, you know,when I was first like okay,
let's, this is one of thoseseries that could certainly have
not had a Lunatics Libraryepisode to go with it.
That would have been totallyfine.
But I put out the call becauseI was like, okay, we're doing
this anyway and we got thesestories and they're so good.
So it kind of worked out and Iwas really impressed that the
(16:23):
writers had something that feltso perfectly Hitchcock but also
was so much of their own and notlike a copycat, not not
stealing any plot lines, right,it's still quite unique to the
writer and that was.
That was really cool.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
This has happened so many times, where we put out a
niche topic, yeah, and thewriters come through with like,
well, I don't know, maybe thisand it's like this is fucking
perfect yeah, yeah, okay, shouldwe listen to the next story?
Speaker 1 (16:50):
please okay first just a little content, warning
that this story is a little bitdarker than the first one and
also contains stalking be a hero, written by warren benedetto,
read by mike lucero.
A hero, read by WarrenBenedetto, read by Mike LeShera.
Speaker 5 (17:14):
They call it a ghost forest Thousands of white cedars
protruding from the swamp,their bark the color of
bloodless skin, their branchesbarren against the corpse gray
sky.
It hasn't always looked likethis.
When I was growing up, thewoods here were verdant and full
of life, the wetlands teemedwith tadpoles and salamanders,
(17:34):
plus the occasional snakewhipping through the bright
green algae-topped water.
But in the last decade or sothe rising tides caused by
climate change have flooded thewetlands with brackish saltwater
, poisoning the trees anddecimating the wildlife.
The land is sick, terminallyill, more dead than alive.
The police decided to searchhere based on an anonymous tip
(17:56):
called into the station from anunlisted number.
The caller knew details aboutthe missing girl, about the
circumstances of herdisappearance, that would have
been impossible to know if hehadn't been involved.
He knew about the van, aboutthe hammer, about the fingernail
.
Those were material facts fromthe investigation that hadn't
been released to the public.
Either he had been responsiblefor the girl's murder or he knew
(18:18):
someone who was.
Regardless, it gave policeplenty of reason to believe that
the tip was real.
Of course, the police weren'tthe only ones who got a call
that day.
Wpvi-tv News in Philadelphiareceived a call too.
They weren't given anyinformation, though, just a
place to show up and a time tobe there.
The caller promised a surprise,a newsworthy surprise.
(18:40):
Gravel crunched under my tiresas I pulled my Honda to a stop.
On the side of the road therewere already at least a dozen
vehicles parked along theshoulder, with more filling the
small dirt parking lot at theedge of the woods.
It used to be a popular picnicspot before the forest had
succumbed to the influx ofsaltwater from the bay.
A few picnic tables remained,their rotted boards and rusted
(19:00):
skeletons, a grim reminder of ahappier era.
A faded brown sign informedvisitors that they were at the
Cedar Creek picnic area.
Another sign depicted a stickfigure tossing a piece of litter
into a trash can Pitch in.
Most of the vehicles in the lotwere police cars, along with an
ambulance and a black van withcoroner stamped on the side in
bold white letters.
(19:20):
Clearly the police were preparedfor the worst.
It was no surprise, given thestate of the crime scene.
They found there had been somuch blood in the bedroom, in
the living room, in the kitchen.
It seemed unlikely that anyonecould have survived.
Still, the girl's family heldon to hope, staging press
conferences, making statementson TV pleading for her safe
(19:41):
return.
They must have known it wasfutile, but what else could they
do?
Until her body was found, theyhad to believe she was okay.
That's what they toldthemselves anyway.
I was under no such illusions.
The girl was dead, I was sureof it.
The police had interviewed thegirl's family, her ex-boyfriend,
her co-workers, her neighbors,even the barista at the local
coffee shop that she frequentedevery morning, but to no avail.
(20:03):
Nobody had seen her, nobodyknew where she might have gone.
She had no enemies, no secrets,no reason to run away, nothing
to hide, no one to fear.
Whatever had happened to her,people said it must have been
random A drifter, a psychopath,a serial killer.
Even the police doubted thatwas the case.
(20:23):
Most murders were committed bysomeone the victim knew, but
they weren't ruling anything out.
Since the girl disappeared, someof her friends had turned her
regular table in the corner ofthe coffee shop into a makeshift
shrine with a large 8x10 photoplus a few flowers, candles and
even a teddy bear, a handmadesign reading have you seen me?
Was it fixed to the wall abovethe table?
(20:45):
Yes, I thought as I paid for mycoffee this morning.
Plenty of times.
I saw her in the coffee shopevery morning, obliviously
sipping her chai latte, neverfor a second suspecting that it
might be her last day on earth.
I remember the turquoisecolored bandana she tied over
her mousy brown hair, the blackand gray flannel jacket she
draped across the back of thechair, the way her skinny jeans
(21:07):
were tucked into her fur-linedbrown boots.
She had a friendly smile andkind eyes, with dimples poked
into her round cheeks and asmall lip ring in the corner of
her mouth that she tonguedabsently as she scrolled on her
phone.
I remember the last time I sawher in the shop as clear as if
it were yesterday.
She glanced up at me while Iwas retrieving my double
(21:27):
espresso order from the counter.
I said good morning, but itdidn't seem like she heard me.
She just looked down at herphone and kept scrolling as if I
didn't exist.
I dumped a couple packs ofsugar into my coffee, then
exited the shop and went to gosit in my van, like I did every
morning.
A few minutes later she climbedinto the Subaru Outback parked
in the spot next to mine.
(21:47):
I smiled again, but she didn'tseem to notice.
She started her car, backed outof her spot and pulled out of
the parking lot, headed for home.
And then, just like that, shewas gone.
That evening her face was on the6 o'clock news with Missing
Girl emblazoned under her photoin a garish red font.
The anchor explained that shehadn't showed up for work that
(22:09):
day, so one of her co-workershad stopped by her apartment to
make sure she was okay.
She wasn't.
Her apartment door was ajar,blood was smeared on the wall
and was pooled on the floor.
That was all the co-workerneeded to see.
He retreated from the apartment, dialed 911, then vomited into
a flower pot on the patio.
That was eight days ago.
(22:29):
The police have been searchingforever since Now.
Here I was on the side of theroad about to join a search
party to help the police lookfor her.
I drained the last of my doubleespresso, then climbed out of
my van, slammed the door andtrudged along the side of the
road towards the parking lotwhere the search party was
assembling.
As I dropped my crumbledespresso cup into the trash can,
I passed the WPVI TV news crewtaping a segment nearby.
(22:53):
I recognized the reporter, apretty Latina woman named Maria
Espinoza.
Her breath swirled in thechilly autumn air.
As she spoke to the camera,glancing occasionally at the
iPhone in her hand to verify adetail of the case, I was
enthralled.
She was even more beautiful inperson than on TV.
I paused for a moment to watchher deliver her report.
Maria was my favorite TV newsreporter.
(23:16):
Most people spent their timewatching the big news channels
CNN, fox, msnbc but not me.
I preferred the local news.
It was more personal, moreaccessible.
I liked that I might recognizethe places where they were
reporting, like when they founda bunch of tires slashed at the
office complex near my house orwhen a suspected arson destroyed
the apartment building where myex-girlfriend used to live.
(23:37):
I'd recognize a street signhere, a building facade there,
always with Maria in theforeground reporting on the
latest crime that had rocked thearea.
She'd use phrases like crimewave and escalating violence,
always spoken with just theslightest hint of a Hispanic
accent that I found completelyendearing.
I'd be lying if I said I didn'thave a bit of a crush on her.
(23:58):
It was hard not to.
I'm sure I wasn't the only one.
I got to see her in person oncebefore, at the scene of a fiery
car wreck where a family of fourhad been run off the road in a
suspected road rage incident.
I was actually on camera thattime.
Well, my van was, but I wasdriving it rolling slowly past
the scene of the accident,watching the rescue squad cut
(24:19):
the driver from the wreckagewith the jaws of life.
After escaping from the trafficcaused by the crash, I raced
home and turned on the TV justin time to see Maria's report
being rebroadcast at the top ofthe hour.
I knew it was silly, but I felta little famous being on TV
like that, even if it was just afew seconds of my nondescript
Honda Odyssey creeping by in thebackground.
(24:41):
I wondered what it would be liketo be really famous, like Maria
, how it would feel to berecognized, to be seen.
I thought about people comingup to me on the street,
tentative but knowing, askinghey, aren't you the guy who?
I'd laugh and nod Yep, that'sme.
I'd offer to take a selfie withthem if they wanted.
Why not?
I'm just a regular guy.
I wouldn't let fame go to myhead like some people did.
(25:04):
I'd be like Maria Recognizable,but approachable.
Of course, I had never actuallyapproached Maria.
How could I?
Where would I start?
What would I say?
But I assumed that if I did,she would be as friendly and
welcoming as she seemed on TV.
Heck, maybe she'd evenrecognize me from somewhere.
I could hardly imagine it,maria Espinoza, knowing who I
(25:25):
was.
How amazing would that be.
I don't even know if I couldhandle it.
I might just melt into a puddleright there on the spot With my
pulse racing at the thought ofmeeting Maria.
I continued past the WPVI TVnews truck and joined a group of
20 or so locals who hadgathered to search for the
missing girl.
A tired-looking police captainwas speaking to the crowd
(25:46):
Alright, folks, we're going tospread out and head in that
direction.
He pointed into the sparseforest.
We're looking for anything thatseems out of the ordinary A
purse, a shoe, a body, Iinterjected.
I glanced at Maria to see ifshe had noticed me asking this
question.
It didn't seem like she had.
She was too far away to haveheard what I said.
The cop frowned A body.
(26:07):
He acknowledged Any otherquestions.
A young man in a PhiladelphiaEagles jacket spoke up.
What do we do if we findsomething?
Most importantly, don't touchit.
Just raise your hand and shouthere, let us handle the rest.
With that, the search partyfanned out and made their way
into the woods.
A thin veil of fog rose fromthe marshlands, diffusing the
(26:28):
morning light and filling theair with an eerie spectral glow.
Pallid tree trunks emerged fromthe haze like phantoms,
skeletal and wan.
The search was quiet, almostmournful.
There was no talking, noconversation.
Occasional shouts of Christypunctuated the silence as
searchers called the missinggirl's name.
Police cadaver dogs splashedthrough the muddy groundwater,
(26:50):
sniffing the air, intentlytrying to catch the girl's scent
.
Orienting myself relative to theCedar Creek picnic area sign, I
headed in a rough northeasterlydirection, counting my paces as
I walked, I didn't bothercalling out the girl's name.
What was the point?
She wasn't going to answer.
As I neared 50 paces, I lookedback at the WPVI TV news crew.
(27:11):
Maria was chatting idly withthe cameraman as he captured
b-roll footage of the search.
Her producer sat in the van'spassenger seat tapping away on
his cell phone with his thumbs.
He glanced up at Maria and saidsomething to her that I
couldn't hear.
She nodded and lifted a finger,indicating one more minute.
They were wrapping up theircoverage.
I had to hurry.
(27:31):
I scanned the forest looking forthe landmark I had memorized a
fallen tree beside a black poolof liquid mud.
Finally, I spotted it.
As I approached, I saw theturquoise-colored bandana I had
stuffed into a knot hole in thetrunk.
I picked up a gnarled branchthen plunged it deep into the
muck until I felt it catch on.
Something soft.
A ghostly form began rising fromthe depths.
(27:53):
Long brown hair fanned outacross the murky water.
A black and gray flannel jacketbloomed on the surface.
I turned to look at Maria, asif sensing my gaze.
Her eyes flitted in mydirection.
She smiled.
I felt a surge of joy.
She had noticed me, I had beenseen.
I imagined again what it wouldbe like to be on TV, to be known
for something, to be a somebodyinstead of a nobody.
(28:15):
I imagined being close to Maria, feeling her hand on my arm as
she interviewed me about how Ihad found the girl, about how it
felt to be a hero me on TV, mewith Maria Espinoza, me a hero.
I took one last look at thegirl's bloated corpse floating
face down in the water, thenlifted my hand and shouted here.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
Tell us Alan.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
This was the first time in I don't know I think the
entire podcast stories section,whatever this is called
lunatics library, that's itwhere, after, as soon as the
story ended, I just went holyfuck.
I did not see the twist coming.
Also, this this is one of thereasons why I absolutely love
(29:06):
audiobooks over print media isFor certain circumstances.
You know, everything has itstime and place, Right, but in
this case, you know, justlistening to the story, I wasn't
like watching a scroll bar.
I had no idea when it was goingto end.
When you're reading something,you can see when the pages are.
You know when you're runningout of pages in the book.
I had no idea when the story isgoing to end.
It ended super abruptly with asuper hard twist.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
It's like, oh, you done it, hot dang.
Yeah, a really good twist itwas.
And then, and then, yeah, it'sjust like the first story.
You just take a real briefmoment to just like reflect and
like, oh, of course it was soobvious, all the little nuggets
that were dropped, allthroughout, of course, but I
didn't see it coming yeah I, I'm, I'm the.
(29:52):
I am generally the targetaudience for movies with a twist
yeah uh, it's so many timesI've been watching movies with
friends and I'm like, wow, that,what a twist.
And they're like, really, youdidn't, you didn't see that
coming, you, you didn't knowthis was gonna happen, from a
mile away, even when we werewatching red, white and royal
(30:13):
blue.
Speaker 5 (30:14):
I I didn't see the twist that I can't give it away.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
Uh, but wow, what?
So?
It was great.
It was great, I.
I love twists and movies.
I love twists and stories.
And when they just like wrap upthe whole thing with a nice
little bow and then make itcyclical because you go back and
do the story again, yeah, evenbetter.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
Yeah, this is another one that's really good on the
re-listen.
As I was editing it, I was likedamn, this has so many little
hints and tidbits throughout.
So, again, another one that'sreally great on the re-listen.
Both of the writers did such agreat job.
But I want to tell you guys alittle bit about Warren.
So the story was written by ourfriend, warren Benedetto, who
was also featured along withMariska on our Ocean Horror
(30:57):
episodes.
This story was originallypublished in Fable, an anthology
of horror, suspense and thesupernatural, by Ariella Leo in
November of 2023.
So Warren is a writer of darkfiction.
He's an award-winning author.
He's published over 250 stories.
His work has appeared in many,many, many publications and has
(31:17):
also appeared on the no Sleeppodcast, tales to Terrify and
Chilling Tales for Dark Nights.
And Warren also works on videogames and he holds over 50
patents for various types ofgaming technology.
So he's a double threat.
You can visitwarrenbenedettocom or follow him
at warrenbenedetto on Twitterand Instagram.
Of course, we will linkeverything.
(31:38):
And I want to take a littlesecond to call out our friend,
mike Massera.
Mike and Lisa have bothnarrated for us on the podcast
before.
I thought they both didexcellent jobs and Mike is just
such a pro voice actor.
I think he always kills it andbring something really fun to
the story.
Mike is also a double threat,just like Warren, because he is
(32:02):
part of a very, very good bandcalled Beach Therapy.
I highly recommend listening tothe song Parking Lots.
That's all you need to getthoroughly addicted to them and
want to know more.
But we'll link everything inthe description so you can find
all of our very talented friends.
Speaker 2 (32:16):
I think both Mike and Lisa knocked this one out of
the park.
We usually are able to get themat the same time, just because
how schedules work out.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
And they're buddies.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
Yes them.
Knowing each other certainlyhelps coordinating schedules.
However, I just also want topoint out that both Mike and
lisa are also incredible pictureactors.
Speaker 1 (32:35):
True, we had the privilege of working with lisa
as an actor on a recent short,which we aren't saying too much
about but it's coming reallysoon, yep, and there's a little,
and we are so excited forsomething upcoming with mike,
and that's all we can say atthis point yeah, and I will say
(32:56):
mike helped out with the othershort, like they've just been
great collaborators on thepodcast and with short films and
across feature films.
So we're really glad to knowthem, really really glad to know
warren and mariska as well,because we have now relied on
their talents for multipleseries.
Thank you all so much.
This Hitchcock series, I willsay like the real truth of it,
(33:18):
is that I'm such a Hitchcock fan.
I grew up in a very proHitchcock household.
I think of Hitchcock as a hugepart of my film education, if
you will.
I grew up on these films.
I think it's a big reason whyI'm really into horror and
thrillers, and so it was a hugebummer to learn about some of
(33:38):
the really really shitty thingsthat Hitchcock did during the
research of this, and I thinkit's also really interesting
that it's not talked about atleast in my awareness, much
broadly enough that it had evercome to my radar before.
So I just want to say the truthis that that really sucks and
that's just something that weall have to deal with.
(33:59):
You know, it's just part oflife.
But anyway, we're going to puta pin in the Hitchcock series
and we are going to come back.
October is not over yet.
We have a really spooky and, inmy opinion, incredibly relevant
October Halloween topic onethat Alan cannot dispute its
relevance to Halloween and we'realso taking a really special
(34:20):
trip, before those episodes arerecorded, to do some really cool
hands-on research, so I can'tbe more excited.
I'm sure if you follow us onInstagram, you'll see a lot
about that very soon, but thankyou, guys, so much for being
here.
It's always the most fun totalk to you this month, alan.
Is there anything else you wantto say about Hitchcock?
(34:41):
In conclusion?
Speaker 2 (34:43):
Not really.
I feel like we've saideverything that needs to be said
about Hitchcock in this context, so why don't we end it here?
Speaker 1 (34:54):
Sounds great.
Speaker 2 (34:55):
Bye in these, this context, so why don't we end it
here?
Sounds great, bye.
Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode
of the Lunatics Radio Hourpodcast.
I am Abbey Brinker sitting herewith Alan Kudan.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Hello.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
And today we're following up our last episode,
which was a deep dive into thelife and crimes and films of
Alfred Hitchcock, with tworeally, really well-written and
beautifully narratedHitchcock-inspired horror
stories for you.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
I am so curious how this is going to go.
Stories for you.
I'm so curious how this isgoing to go.
This is kind of like DancingPlague.
This seems like a really,really specific topic.
How are we going to do storieshere?
Speaker 1 (00:53):
We got some good ones .
I'm excited for you to hear howthese modern day stories are
going to tie into the theme ofHitchcock.
Of course, if you missed it, goback and listen to our last
episode, which again is allabout his life and his works and
how very complicated they wereat the end of the day.
And I am really excited forthis as well, because I
understand your point, alan,from last time, that Hitchcock
(01:16):
doesn't scream Halloween to you.
But around this time we usuallykind of do a deep dive into a
franchise and I thought let'sstart with the building blocks
here a little bit.
We've done a lot of theUniversal Monsters which predate
Hitchcock.
We've done some of the slasherfranchises which post-date
Hitchcock.
So it seems kind of like a goodmiddle ground.
And then, you know, nextHalloween we'll pick something,
(01:37):
We'll let you pick, whatever theseries is.
How about that?
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Really, yep Really.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
I'll get approval.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
I need this in writing, or at least recorded.
Please say, say the words.
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Next Halloween you can pick, with approval from
Abby no no, cut that out theseries.
The Halloween Say the wholething again.
Next Halloween, Alan can pickthe topic, one of the topics for
the month of October, October2025.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
He just really just like, like really, you just
neutered it abby's gonna have aveto clause.
Can you?
Can you stop lobotomizing myrights?
Speaker 1 (02:12):
no, because I don't, I really truly don't trust
you're.
You're picking, you're gonnapick like what am I gonna pick?
You're gonna pick somethinglike jojo's great adventure that
would be awesome exactly.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Do you have any idea how horror themed that is?
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Right, and you're going to tell us all about it in
18 parts.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
The whole first season is inspired by
Castlevania.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Let me remind you the last time this happened, when
you picked Godzilla and we hadfour episodes, which was 18
hours of content that I had justyou blabbing that I had to cut
down to four cohesive episodes.
I'm just saying.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
What's your point?
That was quality content, allyou want is content.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
It's for such a niche audience.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
There's, no, there's very few people who love
Godzilla.
May I remind you of DancingPlague.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Okay, you love Dancing Plague, I do.
Okay, I do and I'm the nicheaudience it worked out it worked
out anyway, I also want to makeit clear that you are part of
the decisions of the topics.
It is not only me that I beg todiffer okay, well, you'll get
to pick the, the franchise thatwe cover, next time.
Thank, you okay, why don't wecool things off here and kick
(03:22):
off with our first hitchcockinspired story of the episode?
Speaker 2 (03:26):
All right, we're just going to roll the table.
You and I go in the other roomand fight.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Okay, here we go.
Claudia, written by MariskaPichette, read by Liesel Sweeney
.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
Theodore Massey was working late.
Time had quickened in thelengthening hours and night was
fast on the heels of dusk.
Outside his window, pigeonspecked and strutted across the
roof, apocalyptic shadowsagainst the New York City
skyline.
Under the last descending raysof sun, theodore typed up a
final note, pulled the page fromhis typewriter and laid it in
the tray to sleep until the nextday.
(04:04):
This done, he closed hisbriefcase, rubbing his aching
eyes.
He would not be home in timefor dinner tonight.
He ought to tell Claudia.
As he reached for the phone,his gaze fell on a small note
written on lavender paper,wedged under a dusty paperweight
.
He smiled as he read it againhave a wild day, claudia.
Scribbled next to her name wasa small cartoon of an orchid,
(04:26):
her favorite.
Theodore touched the note as hepicked up the phone with his
other hand and dialed his homenumber.
The phone rang and rang,finally going to message At the
tone he said Hello, darling,I'll be back a little bit later
tonight.
Abruptly he heard Claudia'ssmiling, breathless voice yes,
teddy, I'm here.
(04:46):
He grinned, swiveling around inhis chair to look outside.
The sun flattened at thehorizon, sending sparks of light
skidding over the roofs ofnearby buildings.
In between timid shadows,mustered the courage to stretch,
filling the intervening spacewith night.
Hi darling, he murmured, warmthfilling him.
Two pigeons ambled past hiswindow, their heads jerking
forward and back like jackhammerspades.
I'll be back in about fortyminutes, he said, watching the
(05:08):
birds blacken in the silhouettes, their three-dimensionality
surrendered to the onslaught ofthe setting sun.
Okay, teddy, I'll be waitingfor you.
Claudia, said her voice soft.
Theodore smiled I'll hurry back.
Do I love you?
Love you too, blossom.
He set the phone down andgrabbed his briefcase,
(05:29):
struggling into his coat.
As he walked away from his deskOutside his window, the pigeons
took flight back to theirnighttime roosts.
Theodore was one of the lastpeople still in his office
building and he nodded to thefew co-workers he passed on his
way out, their scattered facesluminous in the glow of the
setting sun.
Mostly, however, his mind wasoccupied by the thought of
Claudio waiting to greet himwhen he got home.
He hated being away from her,even for this long.
They had been together for fouryears.
(05:50):
Claudio was a lovely littlething, though she tended to be
reclusive and had few friends ofher own.
Theodore didn't mind, for hehad never been good at
navigating the bonds offriendship himself and he was
quite content to devote all hisfree time to Claudia.
At the front doors, theodoreencountered the security guard
Good night Lester.
He called over his shoulder.
As he hurried outside into thefading light, the haggard little
(06:13):
man waved a withered hand.
Night, mr Massey, freed at last.
From the confining building.
Theodore breathed in the slow,dense air of twilight.
It settled, with the shadows,driving people back to their
homes like the rising tide.
Usually he didn't mind theheavy feel of the air, but
tonight it felt, cloying,crowding his throat.
As he walked to his car, twopigeons scattered at his
(06:33):
approach, winging up into theclouded sky.
It was past seven o'clock whenhe was finally inching through
traffic.
Five minutes from his apartment,just before the exit he wished
to take, the crawling carsshuddered to a halt and traffic
slid to an abrupt standstill.
He craned his neck, frowning atthe automotive mire.
Claudia would be worried if hiscommute was longer than he'd
(06:53):
said.
He didn't want to worry her.
It was bad for her health.
As he sat he heard the ringingbells of sirens.
Theodore rolled down his windowand leaned out into the cool
air.
The languid snake of trafficslid to the side of the road as
a fire engine sped past,followed by an ambulance.
Theodore watched them go,wondering where they were headed
.
A few seconds later, anotherfire engine followed lights
(07:16):
flashing.
It shrank into the distance,but echoes of sirens remained
long after the lights vanished.
For a reason he couldn'tpinpoint, theodore rolled up his
window, pushing the heavy airout of his car.
He itched to be home withClaudia.
Gradually, the traffic lessenedand cars began shifting forward
once more.
Ten minutes later, theodore wasspeeding down the exit ramp,
(07:38):
eager to reach his destinationat last, he opened his window.
As he pulled up the street,peering into the gloom, a heavy
city breeze blew in his face,bringing with it the smell of
smoke.
As he turned onto his street,he began to worry.
Lights flashed in the dark redorange, red orange, white, white
, white and several emergencyvehicles blocked his apartment
building.
From view, he saw two fireengines, a couple of police cars
(08:01):
and an ambulance.
Smoke filled the air hestrained to see, telling himself
that it was probably just anaccident with a cigarette or
maybe a singed carpet or stovefire.
But the scent of smoke was toostrong and as he pulled over as
close as he could get to thescene, he saw the flashing
lights reflect off a dense darkcloud billowing up around his
building.
Fear clutched his heart.
(08:22):
Theodore sprang from his car,neglecting even to close the
door.
As he ran, claudia, he screamed.
Firemen turned at his approach,claudia, one of the men grabbed
his arm.
What floor is she on?
Theodore shook his head.
Sixth, oh please.
She doesn't do well with smoke.
The man nodded short.
Sharp Fire started on theseventh floor.
She should be okay, we'regetting everyone out.
(08:43):
Theodore swallowed the sting ofsmoke in his eyes, nose and
mouth.
He tried to remain calm walkingover to the group of milling
people pointed out to him by thefiremen.
He searched their faces butdidn't see Claudia anywhere.
She was so small so perhaps shewas just lost in the crowd.
Theodore, he wheeled at hervoice, looking around
desperately.
Claudia was nowhere to be found.
(09:04):
He strained his eyes and earswalking through the crowd.
Then he heard her again, teddy.
Oh, come get me please.
Theodore looked up at theburning apartment building.
Smoke was pouring from theseventh floor, swirling in
mesmerizing patterns in theharsh flashing lights of the
emergency vehicles.
Dropping his gaze to the sixthfloor, he gasped.
He could already see a handfulof rooms alight, with the blaze
(09:26):
starting at the far edge andmoving inward.
He stared up at the disasterand soon found his own window
and the source of the voice.
A small face peeped out at him,one he knew too well.
Speaker 5 (09:36):
Claudia.
Speaker 4 (09:37):
Her head was drooping .
She was nearly overwhelmed bythe smoke.
Teddy, help me.
Without a second thought,theodore ran for the doors.
A fireman attempted to stop him, but he pushed the man away
with more strength than he'dexpected.
He burst through the doors intothe lobby.
The first floor showed no signsof damage and Theodore headed
for the stairs, his limbsshaking with dread, up to the
(09:58):
second floor.
He saw no one.
The building appeared to havebeen completely emptied, but
poor Claudia, she was leftbehind.
He fumed with anger and fear ashe pounded up the steps up to
the third floor.
Halfway, hey, a fireman emergedfrom the door leading to the
third floor.
What are you doing in here?
Hey?
Theodore ignored him and keptrunning.
He had to get to Claudia BeforeBefore.
(10:20):
He wheezed as he passed thefourth floor, forcing himself to
keep going.
He couldn't let her down, notnow.
They'd spent so much timetogether, never with others.
Really, it was always the twoof them talking and watching the
birds.
Claudia loved to watch thebirds outside the window.
On weakening legs, he made it tothe fifth floor.
He could hear the firemenchasing him from the floor below
(10:41):
.
Only one more flight wouldbring him to Claudia With a
crash.
He burst through the door onthe sixth floor.
The hallway was filled withsmoke and he gagged, staggering
through the painful clouds,squinting, watering eyes at the
rooms he passed.
Fumbling in his pockets, helooked for his keys.
With a shock he realized he'dleft his keys in the car.
Claudia, he shrieked, feelingthe heat pressing in his lungs
(11:03):
suffocating him.
Claudia, he shrieked, feelingthe heat pressing in his lungs
suffocating him.
The rooms on this side of thefloor were not yet ablaze, but
he could see the lightpenetrating the dense clouds of
smoke further along.
He stumbled into the door tohis apartment and pounded on it.
Claudia, barely audible, heheard a response Teddy, down the
hall, the stairwell door flewopen and the firemen rushed
towards him.
Sir, you need to get out ofhere, it's not safe.
(11:24):
The fire is spreading.
Theodore threw himself againsthis door.
Claudia, she's in there,someone's in there.
Mutely, theodore nodded.
Tears were streaming from hiseyes, products of smoke in the
stress.
Firemen took one look at himthen nodded All right, stand
well back.
Theodore did as he was told.
He couldn't hear anything elsefrom the apartment and that
worried him.
As the fireman threw his weightagainst the door, he called
(11:46):
Claudia, we're coming in.
Stand back.
The door burst off its hinges,splinters flying past Theodore's
face and lodging in his hair.
The fireman disappeared into theapartment and Theodore followed
without hesitation, choking onthe smoke.
He headed straight for thewindow.
Claudia was sitting on the sill, her head resting against the
glass.
She looked wilted.
All the color seemed to haveleft her face.
(12:07):
Theodore fell to his knees infront of her, sobbing Gingerly.
He reached up and touched herneck, stroking her Claudia.
She did not respond.
The fireman came back into themain room.
Looking around, he turned toTheodore.
I can't find her, sir.
Looks like no one's in here.
Theodore gathered Claudia'slimp form in his arms and turned
away from the window.
Smoke stung in his eyes.
(12:28):
We were too late, he said.
The fireman frowned at him.
She must have gone offsomewhere and not told you, sir.
Meanwhile, we've got to get youout of here before the smoke
takes you.
Theodore nodded and walked overto the battered door.
The fireman followed, curiouslysilent.
He eyed Theodore as they movedback down the stifling hallway
towards the relative safety ofthe stairwell.
What have you got there, heasked as they began descending
(12:51):
the many steps to the groundfloor.
Talking was too much.
Theodore held Claudia closer,smelling her sweet fragrance
even through the smoke, thefireman grunted, increasing
their pace.
Looks like an orchid, he saidin the face of Theodore's
silence.
Then, thoughtfully, thosethings are a devil to grow Very
finicky.
This smoke and fire won't havedone it much good.
(13:13):
When they got back outside,theodore thanked the fireman and
walked mechanically back to hiscar.
His mind was empty, his limbsnumb and heavy as the air around
him.
Blood trickled from his scalpwhere a splinter from his own
door had grazed him.
He didn't notice the pain.
He set Claudia down inside thecar.
She was very light.
For a long time he stood andstared at her beautiful face as
(13:35):
lights flashed and smoke crowdedthe air.
He watched Claudia's face forsome sign of her vibrancy, her
life.
A single petal broke away anddrifted down onto the seat.
It had a red edge to it likeblood.
Theodore wept High above thesmoke.
A lone pigeon flew off into thenight.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
So that story comes to us from our friend Mariska
Pichette, who has nowcontributed quite a few stories
for Lunatics Radio Hour, and weare such a fan of her writing.
You can check out her poetrycollection Rivers in your Skin,
sirens in your Hair, and thestory was also beautifully and
delicately narrated by ourfriend Lisa Sweeney.
(14:20):
But tell us Alan, tell us yourthoughts.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Okay.
So here's the thing.
Tell us this was a Hitchcockinspired story, very much so,
which made me think there wasgoing to be a twist.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
And there was a twist .
The twist it was a plant, agreat twist.
I didn't see it coming.
I thought, I really thought thatthe twist was going to be that
the guy had, like, imagined thatthis was.
You know that there was a woman, a fictional woman, who wasn't
there, but then it's a plant.
And if you go back andre-listen which I've done now
because I edited the story andI've read it there's so many
(14:56):
hints throughout the story aboutorchids and about plants and
about how he talks, about howdelicate she is and small and
all of these.
It's when you re-listen to it.
So you know, go ahead andre-listen to it.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
There's a lot of little hints throughout, which
is really nice.
On a on a second listen.
That's a lot of fun.
I love when there's a twistending and on the second pass
through.
It's so obvious because of allthe hints.
Yeah, that's good writing.
Yeah, uh, I can't tell you howmany times I've re-watched
certain films simply because ofthe twist ending, just trying to
find, like the little nuggetsthat they shove in there.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
It's another layer of craftsmanship for sure.
Speaker 2 (15:34):
It's just great writing, and that's.
That's all you need.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
That's the most important thing.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
So this story was beautifully read for us by our
friend Lisa Sweeney.
You can follow Lisa onInstagram at Lisa Sweeney, and I
will add all this in thedescription of the podcast.
Of course, you can also followMariska Pichette at Mariska
Pichette on Twitter, slash x atMariska underscore, right on
Instagram.
Again, we will link everythingbelow and if you are curious
(16:01):
about her work, you can checkout her website, mariska
Pichettecom.
But I agree with you, you know,when I was first like okay,
let's, this is one of thoseseries that could certainly have
not had a Lunatics Libraryepisode to go with it.
That would have been totallyfine.
But I put out the call becauseI was like, okay, we're doing
this anyway and we got thesestories and they're so good.
So it kind of worked out and Iwas really impressed that the
(16:23):
writers had something that feltso perfectly Hitchcock but also
was so much of their own and notlike a copycat, not not
stealing any plot lines, right,it's still quite unique to the
writer and that was.
That was really cool.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
This has happened so many times, where we put out a
niche topic, yeah, and thewriters come through with like,
well, I don't know, maybe thisand it's like this is fucking
perfect yeah, yeah, okay, shouldwe listen to the next story?
Speaker 1 (16:50):
please okay first just a little content, warning
that this story is a little bitdarker than the first one and
also contains stalking be a hero, written by warren benedetto,
read by mike lucero.
A hero, read by WarrenBenedetto, read by Mike LeShera.
Speaker 5 (17:14):
They call it a ghost forest Thousands of white cedars
protruding from the swamp,their bark the color of
bloodless skin, their branchesbarren against the corpse gray
sky.
It hasn't always looked likethis.
When I was growing up, thewoods here were verdant and full
of life, the wetlands teemedwith tadpoles and salamanders,
(17:34):
plus the occasional snakewhipping through the bright
green algae-topped water.
But in the last decade or sothe rising tides caused by
climate change have flooded thewetlands with brackish saltwater
, poisoning the trees anddecimating the wildlife.
The land is sick, terminallyill, more dead than alive.
The police decided to searchhere based on an anonymous tip
(17:56):
called into the station from anunlisted number.
The caller knew details aboutthe missing girl, about the
circumstances of herdisappearance, that would have
been impossible to know if hehadn't been involved.
He knew about the van, aboutthe hammer, about the fingernail
.
Those were material facts fromthe investigation that hadn't
been released to the public.
Either he had been responsiblefor the girl's murder or he knew
(18:18):
someone who was.
Regardless, it gave policeplenty of reason to believe that
the tip was real.
Of course, the police weren'tthe only ones who got a call
that day.
Wpvi-tv News in Philadelphiareceived a call too.
They weren't given anyinformation, though, just a
place to show up and a time tobe there.
The caller promised a surprise,a newsworthy surprise.
(18:40):
Gravel crunched under my tiresas I pulled my Honda to a stop.
On the side of the road therewere already at least a dozen
vehicles parked along theshoulder, with more filling the
small dirt parking lot at theedge of the woods.
It used to be a popular picnicspot before the forest had
succumbed to the influx ofsaltwater from the bay.
A few picnic tables remained,their rotted boards and rusted
(19:00):
skeletons, a grim reminder of ahappier era.
A faded brown sign informedvisitors that they were at the
Cedar Creek picnic area.
Another sign depicted a stickfigure tossing a piece of litter
into a trash can Pitch in.
Most of the vehicles in the lotwere police cars, along with an
ambulance and a black van withcoroner stamped on the side in
bold white letters.
(19:20):
Clearly the police were preparedfor the worst.
It was no surprise, given thestate of the crime scene.
They found there had been somuch blood in the bedroom, in
the living room, in the kitchen.
It seemed unlikely that anyonecould have survived.
Still, the girl's family heldon to hope, staging press
conferences, making statementson TV pleading for her safe
(19:41):
return.
They must have known it wasfutile, but what else could they
do?
Until her body was found, theyhad to believe she was okay.
That's what they toldthemselves anyway.
I was under no such illusions.
The girl was dead, I was sureof it.
The police had interviewed thegirl's family, her ex-boyfriend,
her co-workers, her neighbors,even the barista at the local
coffee shop that she frequentedevery morning, but to no avail.
(20:03):
Nobody had seen her, nobodyknew where she might have gone.
She had no enemies, no secrets,no reason to run away, nothing
to hide, no one to fear.
Whatever had happened to her,people said it must have been
random A drifter, a psychopath,a serial killer.
Even the police doubted thatwas the case.
(20:23):
Most murders were committed bysomeone the victim knew, but
they weren't ruling anything out.
Since the girl disappeared, someof her friends had turned her
regular table in the corner ofthe coffee shop into a makeshift
shrine with a large 8x10 photoplus a few flowers, candles and
even a teddy bear, a handmadesign reading have you seen me?
Was it fixed to the wall abovethe table?
(20:45):
Yes, I thought as I paid for mycoffee this morning.
Plenty of times.
I saw her in the coffee shopevery morning, obliviously
sipping her chai latte, neverfor a second suspecting that it
might be her last day on earth.
I remember the turquoisecolored bandana she tied over
her mousy brown hair, the blackand gray flannel jacket she
draped across the back of thechair, the way her skinny jeans
(21:07):
were tucked into her fur-linedbrown boots.
She had a friendly smile andkind eyes, with dimples poked
into her round cheeks and asmall lip ring in the corner of
her mouth that she tonguedabsently as she scrolled on her
phone.
I remember the last time I sawher in the shop as clear as if
it were yesterday.
She glanced up at me while Iwas retrieving my double
(21:27):
espresso order from the counter.
I said good morning, but itdidn't seem like she heard me.
She just looked down at herphone and kept scrolling as if I
didn't exist.
I dumped a couple packs ofsugar into my coffee, then
exited the shop and went to gosit in my van, like I did every
morning.
A few minutes later she climbedinto the Subaru Outback parked
in the spot next to mine.
(21:47):
I smiled again, but she didn'tseem to notice.
She started her car, backed outof her spot and pulled out of
the parking lot, headed for home.
And then, just like that, shewas gone.
That evening her face was on the6 o'clock news with Missing
Girl emblazoned under her photoin a garish red font.
The anchor explained that shehadn't showed up for work that
(22:09):
day, so one of her co-workershad stopped by her apartment to
make sure she was okay.
She wasn't.
Her apartment door was ajar,blood was smeared on the wall
and was pooled on the floor.
That was all the co-workerneeded to see.
He retreated from the apartment, dialed 911, then vomited into
a flower pot on the patio.
That was eight days ago.
(22:29):
The police have been searchingforever since Now.
Here I was on the side of theroad about to join a search
party to help the police lookfor her.
I drained the last of my doubleespresso, then climbed out of
my van, slammed the door andtrudged along the side of the
road towards the parking lotwhere the search party was
assembling.
As I dropped my crumbledespresso cup into the trash can,
I passed the WPVI TV news crewtaping a segment nearby.
(22:53):
I recognized the reporter, apretty Latina woman named Maria
Espinoza.
Her breath swirled in thechilly autumn air.
As she spoke to the camera,glancing occasionally at the
iPhone in her hand to verify adetail of the case, I was
enthralled.
She was even more beautiful inperson than on TV.
I paused for a moment to watchher deliver her report.
Maria was my favorite TV newsreporter.
(23:16):
Most people spent their timewatching the big news channels
CNN, fox, msnbc but not me.
I preferred the local news.
It was more personal, moreaccessible.
I liked that I might recognizethe places where they were
reporting, like when they founda bunch of tires slashed at the
office complex near my house orwhen a suspected arson destroyed
the apartment building where myex-girlfriend used to live.
(23:37):
I'd recognize a street signhere, a building facade there,
always with Maria in theforeground reporting on the
latest crime that had rocked thearea.
She'd use phrases like crimewave and escalating violence,
always spoken with just theslightest hint of a Hispanic
accent that I found completelyendearing.
I'd be lying if I said I didn'thave a bit of a crush on her.
(23:58):
It was hard not to.
I'm sure I wasn't the only one.
I got to see her in person oncebefore, at the scene of a fiery
car wreck where a family of fourhad been run off the road in a
suspected road rage incident.
I was actually on camera thattime.
Well, my van was, but I wasdriving it rolling slowly past
the scene of the accident,watching the rescue squad cut
(24:19):
the driver from the wreckagewith the jaws of life.
After escaping from the trafficcaused by the crash, I raced
home and turned on the TV justin time to see Maria's report
being rebroadcast at the top ofthe hour.
I knew it was silly, but I felta little famous being on TV
like that, even if it was just afew seconds of my nondescript
Honda Odyssey creeping by in thebackground.
(24:41):
I wondered what it would be liketo be really famous, like Maria
, how it would feel to berecognized, to be seen.
I thought about people comingup to me on the street,
tentative but knowing, askinghey, aren't you the guy who?
I'd laugh and nod Yep, that'sme.
I'd offer to take a selfie withthem if they wanted.
Why not?
I'm just a regular guy.
I wouldn't let fame go to myhead like some people did.
(25:04):
I'd be like Maria Recognizable,but approachable.
Of course, I had never actuallyapproached Maria.
How could I?
Where would I start?
What would I say?
But I assumed that if I did,she would be as friendly and
welcoming as she seemed on TV.
Heck, maybe she'd evenrecognize me from somewhere.
I could hardly imagine it,maria Espinoza, knowing who I
(25:25):
was.
How amazing would that be.
I don't even know if I couldhandle it.
I might just melt into a puddleright there on the spot With my
pulse racing at the thought ofmeeting Maria.
I continued past the WPVI TVnews truck and joined a group of
20 or so locals who hadgathered to search for the
missing girl.
A tired-looking police captainwas speaking to the crowd
(25:46):
Alright, folks, we're going tospread out and head in that
direction.
He pointed into the sparseforest.
We're looking for anything thatseems out of the ordinary A
purse, a shoe, a body, Iinterjected.
I glanced at Maria to see ifshe had noticed me asking this
question.
It didn't seem like she had.
She was too far away to haveheard what I said.
The cop frowned A body.
(26:07):
He acknowledged Any otherquestions.
A young man in a PhiladelphiaEagles jacket spoke up.
What do we do if we findsomething?
Most importantly, don't touchit.
Just raise your hand and shouthere, let us handle the rest.
With that, the search partyfanned out and made their way
into the woods.
A thin veil of fog rose fromthe marshlands, diffusing the
(26:28):
morning light and filling theair with an eerie spectral glow.
Pallid tree trunks emerged fromthe haze like phantoms,
skeletal and wan.
The search was quiet, almostmournful.
There was no talking, noconversation.
Occasional shouts of Christypunctuated the silence as
searchers called the missinggirl's name.
Police cadaver dogs splashedthrough the muddy groundwater,
(26:50):
sniffing the air, intentlytrying to catch the girl's scent
.
Orienting myself relative to theCedar Creek picnic area sign, I
headed in a rough northeasterlydirection, counting my paces as
I walked, I didn't bothercalling out the girl's name.
What was the point?
She wasn't going to answer.
As I neared 50 paces, I lookedback at the WPVI TV news crew.
(27:11):
Maria was chatting idly withthe cameraman as he captured
b-roll footage of the search.
Her producer sat in the van'spassenger seat tapping away on
his cell phone with his thumbs.
He glanced up at Maria and saidsomething to her that I
couldn't hear.
She nodded and lifted a finger,indicating one more minute.
They were wrapping up theircoverage.
I had to hurry.
(27:31):
I scanned the forest looking forthe landmark I had memorized a
fallen tree beside a black poolof liquid mud.
Finally, I spotted it.
As I approached, I saw theturquoise-colored bandana I had
stuffed into a knot hole in thetrunk.
I picked up a gnarled branchthen plunged it deep into the
muck until I felt it catch on.
Something soft.
A ghostly form began rising fromthe depths.
(27:53):
Long brown hair fanned outacross the murky water.
A black and gray flannel jacketbloomed on the surface.
I turned to look at Maria, asif sensing my gaze.
Her eyes flitted in mydirection.
She smiled.
I felt a surge of joy.
She had noticed me, I had beenseen.
I imagined again what it wouldbe like to be on TV, to be known
for something, to be a somebodyinstead of a nobody.
(28:15):
I imagined being close to Maria, feeling her hand on my arm as
she interviewed me about how Ihad found the girl, about how it
felt to be a hero me on TV, mewith Maria Espinoza, me a hero.
I took one last look at thegirl's bloated corpse floating
face down in the water, thenlifted my hand and shouted here.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
Tell us Alan.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
This was the first time in I don't know I think the
entire podcast stories section,whatever this is called
lunatics library, that's itwhere, after, as soon as the
story ended, I just went holyfuck.
I did not see the twist coming.
Also, this this is one of thereasons why I absolutely love
(29:06):
audiobooks over print media isFor certain circumstances.
You know, everything has itstime and place, Right, but in
this case, you know, justlistening to the story, I wasn't
like watching a scroll bar.
I had no idea when it was goingto end.
When you're reading something,you can see when the pages are.
You know when you're runningout of pages in the book.
I had no idea when the story isgoing to end.
It ended super abruptly with asuper hard twist.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
It's like, oh, you done it, hot dang.
Yeah, a really good twist itwas.
And then, and then, yeah, it'sjust like the first story.
You just take a real briefmoment to just like reflect and
like, oh, of course it was soobvious, all the little nuggets
that were dropped, allthroughout, of course, but I
didn't see it coming yeah I, I'm, I'm the.
(29:52):
I am generally the targetaudience for movies with a twist
yeah uh, it's so many timesI've been watching movies with
friends and I'm like, wow, that,what a twist.
And they're like, really, youdidn't, you didn't see that
coming, you, you didn't knowthis was gonna happen, from a
mile away, even when we werewatching red, white and royal
(30:13):
blue.
Speaker 5 (30:14):
I I didn't see the twist that I can't give it away.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
Uh, but wow, what?
So?
It was great.
It was great, I.
I love twists and movies.
I love twists and stories.
And when they just like wrap upthe whole thing with a nice
little bow and then make itcyclical because you go back and
do the story again, yeah, evenbetter.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
Yeah, this is another one that's really good on the
re-listen.
As I was editing it, I was likedamn, this has so many little
hints and tidbits throughout.
So, again, another one that'sreally great on the re-listen.
Both of the writers did such agreat job.
But I want to tell you guys alittle bit about Warren.
So the story was written by ourfriend, warren Benedetto, who
was also featured along withMariska on our Ocean Horror
(30:57):
episodes.
This story was originallypublished in Fable, an anthology
of horror, suspense and thesupernatural, by Ariella Leo in
November of 2023.
So Warren is a writer of darkfiction.
He's an award-winning author.
He's published over 250 stories.
His work has appeared in many,many, many publications and has
(31:17):
also appeared on the no Sleeppodcast, tales to Terrify and
Chilling Tales for Dark Nights.
And Warren also works on videogames and he holds over 50
patents for various types ofgaming technology.
So he's a double threat.
You can visitwarrenbenedettocom or follow him
at warrenbenedetto on Twitterand Instagram.
Of course, we will linkeverything.
(31:38):
And I want to take a littlesecond to call out our friend,
mike Massera.
Mike and Lisa have bothnarrated for us on the podcast
before.
I thought they both didexcellent jobs and Mike is just
such a pro voice actor.
I think he always kills it andbring something really fun to
the story.
Mike is also a double threat,just like Warren, because he is
(32:02):
part of a very, very good bandcalled Beach Therapy.
I highly recommend listening tothe song Parking Lots.
That's all you need to getthoroughly addicted to them and
want to know more.
But we'll link everything inthe description so you can find
all of our very talented friends.
Speaker 2 (32:16):
I think both Mike and Lisa knocked this one out of
the park.
We usually are able to get themat the same time, just because
how schedules work out.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
And they're buddies.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
Yes them.
Knowing each other certainlyhelps coordinating schedules.
However, I just also want topoint out that both Mike and
lisa are also incredible pictureactors.
Speaker 1 (32:35):
True, we had the privilege of working with lisa
as an actor on a recent short,which we aren't saying too much
about but it's coming reallysoon, yep, and there's a little,
and we are so excited forsomething upcoming with mike,
and that's all we can say atthis point yeah, and I will say
(32:56):
mike helped out with the othershort, like they've just been
great collaborators on thepodcast and with short films and
across feature films.
So we're really glad to knowthem, really really glad to know
warren and mariska as well,because we have now relied on
their talents for multipleseries.
Thank you all so much.
This Hitchcock series, I willsay like the real truth of it,
(33:18):
is that I'm such a Hitchcock fan.
I grew up in a very proHitchcock household.
I think of Hitchcock as a hugepart of my film education, if
you will.
I grew up on these films.
I think it's a big reason whyI'm really into horror and
thrillers, and so it was a hugebummer to learn about some of
(33:38):
the really really shitty thingsthat Hitchcock did during the
research of this, and I thinkit's also really interesting
that it's not talked about atleast in my awareness, much
broadly enough that it had evercome to my radar before.
So I just want to say the truthis that that really sucks and
that's just something that weall have to deal with.
(33:59):
You know, it's just part oflife.
But anyway, we're going to puta pin in the Hitchcock series
and we are going to come back.
October is not over yet.
We have a really spooky and, inmy opinion, incredibly relevant
October Halloween topic onethat Alan cannot dispute its
relevance to Halloween and we'realso taking a really special
(34:20):
trip, before those episodes arerecorded, to do some really cool
hands-on research, so I can'tbe more excited.
I'm sure if you follow us onInstagram, you'll see a lot
about that very soon, but thankyou, guys, so much for being
here.
It's always the most fun totalk to you this month, alan.
Is there anything else you wantto say about Hitchcock?
(34:41):
In conclusion?
Speaker 2 (34:43):
Not really.
I feel like we've saideverything that needs to be said
about Hitchcock in this context, so why don't we end it here?
Speaker 1 (34:54):
Sounds great.
Speaker 2 (34:55):
Bye in these, this context, so why don't we end it
here?
Sounds great, bye.
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