0:02

It

0:12

seems like the horrors of our dreams are the most

0:14

frightening team. Our be nice

0:16

to find ourselves woken through a dream toward

0:18

it's the darkened corner of our room is

0:20

very backlitars. There

0:22

is much in this world that is unexplained, much

0:25

that makes us quashed through that exists

0:27

between those spaces of blank. The

0:30

horrors of our dreams are gonna terrify

0:32

you the most. So

0:34

share with us. Share with

0:36

us the dreams you have and let

0:39

it become our dream dream.

0:42

So who's on the dream team then?

0:45

Looks like me, Jeremy, Nathan,

0:47

Ray, Jess, Kevin, and Vincent.

0:50

Alright. Honestly,

0:53

I'm a bit surprised that y'all thought

0:55

it was me that invited you here. Wow.

0:57

I'm not into abandoned places

0:59

anymore. It's starting to

1:01

get played out like dudes

1:03

on the Internet call it urbex instead

1:05

of urban exploration because that's not

1:08

cool enough anymore. Give

1:10

me a break. I actually wrote

1:12

a whole blog spot post about this. Did you

1:14

guys not see that? Mhmm. You

1:16

probably saw it. It was few weeks ago. You

1:18

forgot it's fine. Anyway,

1:21

my new thing is finding new ways to

1:23

explore places that aren't abandoned.

1:25

bonus points if they're still full of people

1:27

while I'm finding the cool stuff that's lurking under

1:30

their noses. No judgment

1:32

to the noses that I've lurked under.

1:34

I wouldn't exactly be searching out the wonders

1:36

of a place if I had to work there for fifteen

1:38

bucks an hour either. Every hourly

1:41

job I've ever had I was gone

1:43

when my shift was up. Did

1:45

you know that you can just buy elevator

1:48

keys? You have to know what type

1:50

of elevator that you need it for? but

1:52

there are only so many types of elevators.

1:55

So if you know where you're going, you

1:57

can check to see what type of elevator they

1:59

have. Most elevators of

2:01

the same make and model are keyed alike,

2:03

meaning that they use exactly the same key.

2:06

Most cop cars are the same way, but you didn't

2:08

hear that from me. Once you have

2:10

this key, you can enter an elevator

2:13

alone, enter the individual service

2:15

mode, which unpairs elevator from

2:17

the group of elevators in the building, stop

2:20

it on a floor with the doors closed and

2:22

wait for everyone to leave. If

2:24

you time it right and are smart about it,

2:26

no one will ever notice that one of the elevators

2:29

isn't ever showing up when being called

2:31

from the hall. So

2:33

there's this building in my city, a

2:35

big, old, tall office building called

2:38

the Olmanach building because it's on the corner

2:40

of Olmanach Drive. There are

2:42

multiple businesses inside, all of

2:44

which operate nine to five, meaning

2:46

that only security is there when the whistle blows

2:48

and everyone go home and not everyone

2:51

knows each other, so it's no big deal to see

2:53

a strange face. It's been

2:55

renovated like six times

2:57

some more transformative than others. Namely

3:00

for the purpose of my story, at one

3:03

point they fundamentally altered the tight of

3:05

all of the floors in the building to make them

3:07

taller and to give them a more deluxe

3:09

modern feeling. Fewer

3:11

floors, higher ceilings. In

3:13

the process, it is rumored that there

3:15

was an empty space smaller than a

3:17

standard floor that got left behind

3:19

between floors and that one

3:21

could access it through some tricky use

3:23

of the elevators. This was

3:25

not simply a key protected floor,

3:28

being between floors it was not served

3:30

directly by the elevator anymore. There

3:32

were some photos on this floor on various

3:34

websites, the veracity of which I

3:37

doubted for reasons that are about become

3:39

clear. And I had never actually

3:41

used an elevator key to snoop around,

3:43

so I thought that I would grab my camera, my

3:45

flashlight, my elevator keys,

3:47

and my shutty and see if this

3:49

building was worth the hype. Passing

3:52

through the lobby and acquiring an empty

3:54

elevator was as simple as I had hoped

3:56

it would be. Inside the elevator, there

3:58

was a panel behind which the individual

4:01

service switch could be keyed into, so

4:03

I did that giving me control over

4:05

the elevator and then picked floor

4:07

six. I arrived at the destination

4:10

and did not open the doors. Individual

4:12

service mode ensured that the elevator was

4:14

not called to another floor. The

4:17

mystery floor in question was allegedly

4:19

between floor's six and seven.

4:22

It was nearing closing time when I

4:24

arrived, so I waited an hour,

4:26

flicking around on my phone, waiting for everyone

4:28

to leave, and then got to work. When

4:30

I felt confident that most people were

4:32

out of the building, I and don't

4:35

ever do this, got on top of

4:37

the elevator using a method that is neither

4:39

advisable nor safe. At

4:41

this point using my flashlight, I

4:43

could see the doors to this abandoned half

4:45

floor. I was able to pry them

4:47

open with a little effort. It

4:49

was pitch black as I stepped inside.

4:52

The floor was as wide and long as

4:54

the rest of the fours in the building with

4:56

about a five and a half foot ceiling. Enough

4:59

to walk obviously, but in a frustratingly

5:01

hunched fashion or a frustratingly crouched

5:04

fashion dealer's choice. What

5:06

I would have given in that moment to be

5:08

a short king. My first

5:11

experience of the room before I could even

5:13

adequately shine my light around was

5:15

that it was surprisingly cold.

5:17

This should not have been the case. The

5:20

floor was not properly ventilated and

5:22

it had been a balmy day outside. It

5:24

wasn't this cold in the rest of the building.

5:26

I couldn't tell where the cold was coming

5:28

from. that is until I started

5:31

shining my light around. I

5:33

was in a walk in meat freezer.

5:36

It was not only cold, it

5:38

was actually freezing. Hole

5:41

pigs were held up on hooks from the short

5:43

ceiling as far as I could see in every

5:45

direction. The cold dampened

5:48

the smell, but the smell of

5:50

blood and meat was omnipresent. I

5:53

trudged further into the darkness. finding

5:55

more rows of slaughtered pigs at every

5:57

plunge. In the center of the

5:59

room was a full cow, hung up

6:02

via a meat hook through the neck. Its

6:04

body contorted. Its limbs

6:06

bent unnaturally to fit under the low

6:08

ceiling. Its blank eyes

6:10

stared out at me, right at eye

6:12

level with me, its body hunched

6:14

much as I was. After

6:17

having enough time to be thoroughly unnerged

6:19

and considering snapping a couple of pictures

6:21

and heading back, the worst

6:24

possible thing happened for

6:27

reasons that I don't understand, I could

6:29

suddenly hear the elevator leaving

6:31

without me. Not only was it

6:33

leaving, it was leaving upwards at considerable

6:35

velocity. They say that you

6:37

shouldn't be worried about an elevator falling,

6:40

you should be worried about it going up and hitting

6:42

the overhead at max speed because the counterweight

6:44

weighs more than the cab and that is exactly

6:47

what was happening. It smashed into the

6:49

overhead at the top of the building, causing

6:51

a horrific winding of metal, probably

6:53

to the tune of thousands of dollars in damage.

6:55

I would have a hard time proving this wasn't

6:57

my fault if I were caught stooping. Security

7:00

were surely alerted, but didn't see them.

7:03

This both removed my only exit

7:05

and intensified my desire to leave.

7:08

The only option that I could see was

7:10

leaping down the elevator shaft six

7:12

and a half floors to my death or disfigurement.

7:15

I was getting seriously cold as well,

7:18

rubbing my hands together for warmth was

7:20

not sufficient. I decided to

7:22

methodically check all edges of the room

7:24

for exits. I didn't have

7:26

time to leave the center of the floor

7:28

before realizing that the pigs directly surrounding

7:31

the cow appeared to be swaying on

7:33

their hooks. The air was otherwise

7:35

still and I hadn't touched them.

7:38

Worried that I was not alone on the

7:40

floor. I used my flashlight to survey

7:42

the area around the pigs. My

7:45

flashlight was pathetic compared to the size

7:47

and the darkness of the room. I

7:49

couldn't see anyone. Stay

7:51

back. I have a machete. I called

7:53

out. No one answered. I

7:56

walked in a circle around the cow checking

7:58

each of the pigs. stopping each of them from

8:00

swaying as I made my way so that I could

8:02

tell where I had been. I made a full

8:04

circle around the cow, stopping all

8:06

of the pigs from sway and seeing nothing

8:08

else of interest in the process. The

8:11

room was still once again. I

8:13

shined my light back over to the cow,

8:15

into the eyes that had blankly met mine

8:17

a few minutes prior. My eyes

8:20

found the cow's eyes again. They

8:22

were not blank. The pupils were

8:24

no longer fully isolated. I could see

8:26

awareness in them, a terror or an

8:28

anger or both. The pupil snapped

8:30

a pinpricks as a light from the flashlight entered

8:33

them. The cow was a lot the

8:35

cow immediately began to thrash its limbs.

8:37

I let out a cry, jumped back, and readied

8:40

my machete. The cow scrambling

8:42

managed to get all four hooves on the ground of the

8:44

cold office floor. In one swift

8:46

motion, it jerked its head down pulling

8:48

the meat hook with it. The meat hook attached

8:50

to a thick chain bolted to the ceiling, came

8:52

down with the cow's head, pulling the chain out

8:54

of the ceiling and pulling huge chunk of the

8:56

ceiling out with it. Blood shot out of

8:58

the wound in the cow's neck and splattered

9:00

down the cow's chest and legs. It

9:02

looked at me with that expression of terror

9:05

and anger, then it

9:07

charged no longer confident

9:09

in my machete, I ducked behind a pig for

9:11

protection. The cow rammed into the pig,

9:13

sending the pig swinging and sending me flying

9:15

backwards onto my back. I scrambled

9:17

to my feet ignoring the pain. The

9:19

cow charged again, demonstrating a

9:21

drive that I knew would outlast me. I couldn't

9:24

make it much longer, only retreat I

9:26

darted towards the center of the room where the cow

9:28

had been, where the chain had ripped a hole

9:30

in the ceiling. I looked up, I could dimly

9:33

see into the seventh floor The chain had made

9:35

a large enough hole for me to climb through.

9:37

I leaped up, grabbed the edge of the hole,

9:39

and pulled myself up onto the seventh floor.

9:41

I could still hear cow charging after me.

9:43

I put distance between myself and the hole

9:45

and looked back. The cow had reared up

9:47

on its hind legs and thrust its head into

9:49

the hole. its body was too large to fit

9:51

through. Its eyes were still as frantic

9:54

as they had been. It wailed at me

9:56

as I got to my feet and rush to the stairwell.

9:58

I ran and did not

9:59

look behind me. I did not stop

10:02

running until I was in my car. I

10:04

drove and I did not stop driving until

10:06

I made it home.

10:08

I went back to the Almanac building

10:10

the next day. The elevator looked

10:12

as good as new. No signs of a crash.

10:15

I pretended to have business on the seventh

10:18

floor. I knew where the hole

10:20

should have been and it wasn't there.

10:22

No one remarked about a mysterious hole

10:25

leading to a meat freezer, though I

10:27

don't know if that was because it disappeared or

10:29

because the people working there weren't paid

10:31

enough to care about what happened after

10:34

hours. The whole

10:36

thing soured my interest in elevators, frankly.

10:39

And I paid, like, two hundred bucks for that key set on

10:41

eBay. What a waste. Interesting.

10:45

Did that really happen? How are you still

10:47

here? Okay. Okay. So

10:49

who's next? Honestly, telling

10:52

scary stories hasn't really been something I've

10:54

been interested in for a while. I

10:58

could see it on your faces. You want to know

11:00

why. It's because of

11:03

what I went through. So

11:12

Two years ago, my sister's heart gave out.

11:15

I was to the hospital as soon as I heard but never

11:17

got the chance to say goodbye. You

11:20

know a lot of people look back on these things in

11:22

which they had more time. I

11:24

was no exception. I loved

11:26

my sister. She knew that,

11:29

but I wish I would have said it more. She

11:32

was all the family I had left.

11:35

But anyway, my therapist suggested

11:37

that I do something for her, something

11:40

special that could offer closure. There

11:42

was only one thing I could think of. Years

11:45

ago when our mother had passed, we talked about

11:47

getting away together for a cross country train

11:49

ride, you know, see the sights, get

11:51

away from all the hustle of the world. We

11:54

never got around to doing it. We

11:56

buried ourselves in our work hiding

11:58

from everyone, even

11:59

each other. So

12:01

I was decided I would take that trip

12:03

and nothing was going to stop me.

12:05

I bought the tickets, let my job

12:08

know, and at the end of that week, I was at the train

12:10

station. ready to board.

12:12

If you were to ask me if anything seemed

12:14

weird when I boarded, I would have said no.

12:17

I mean, I haven't been on many

12:19

trains, only the local ones that

12:21

get me across the city. But

12:23

everything appeared to be normal. I

12:26

ended my pass at a ticket collector, and

12:28

he kindly pointed me to my room.

12:30

The walk through the hall was normal. There was

12:33

a blue carpet on the floors, The walls

12:35

on the top had a off white hue,

12:37

and a layer of sheet metal was at the bottom.

12:40

The windows look like they hadn't been opened in years.

12:43

Everything about the train seemed dated,

12:46

but was kept really clean. The

12:48

smell of fresh pine saw dissipating in the

12:50

air. It was obvious they had

12:52

just disinfected. My room

12:54

was no different. The blue fabric,

12:57

the windows, the shelf, all

12:59

day they put kept clean. It

13:01

was a modest room. The

13:03

bed took up most of the space on the right side

13:05

into my left was a small sink, and

13:08

next to that shelf, Sitting

13:10

down on the bed, I couldn't believe I was finally

13:12

taking that long awaited trip. At

13:15

that moment, I felt

13:17

my sister there with me.

13:19

Happy for me. The

13:21

call came over the intercom announcing

13:23

final boarding A little later her

13:25

train departed and her journey was underway.

13:34

I sat there for what felt like hours contemplating

13:37

my life

13:38

suddenly.

13:41

The light from the sun was gone.

13:44

The rumbling of the train echoed off walls

13:46

as it moved through a tunnel. A

13:49

small dim light would pass by my window and

13:51

intervals. Each sign that light

13:53

would grow bigger. In each time,

13:56

that light would change

13:56

colors.

13:58

A nauseous feeling grew in

13:59

the pit of my stomach. A

14:02

feeling of dizziness escalated in my head.

14:05

The train seemed to move faster and faster.

14:09

Then

14:11

it

14:11

all left.

14:14

We emerged from the on when everything seemed

14:16

to return to normal until I noticed the

14:18

light. Instead

14:20

of the smoothing warm yellow light

14:22

of the sun, I was greeted with an

14:24

intense cooling feeling and bathed in a

14:26

red light. Then

14:28

came the screams.

14:30

The

14:35

screams.

14:38

Oh, god. They were horrifying.

14:42

filled with so much pain they froze my

14:44

blood and goosebumps froze across my skin.

14:50

I thought maybe terrorists or

14:53

some crazed passenger, but I didn't hear

14:55

any yelling other than the

14:57

screams. Eventually,

15:00

the screams die out and I muster enough courage

15:02

to look. I opened

15:04

the door to my cabin and what I saw

15:07

shocked me. The once

15:09

immaculate blue carpet and walls were

15:11

now coated with blood. There

15:14

was a body laying motionless right in front of

15:16

my door. Quickly I closed

15:18

it, shocked and scared

15:20

I tried to calm my breathing. After

15:23

a few minutes, I gained my composure into

15:25

sided, the best move would be to make my way to

15:27

the conductor. I couldn't stay

15:29

in the room. Eventually, whatever

15:32

was out there was come back and

15:34

realize a room was missed. I

15:37

tried to hear any footsteps in the area, but

15:39

hear only the sound of my heart's pounding.

15:43

I

15:43

take a deep breath in and out,

15:46

calmlying myself,

15:48

then step out of

15:50

the room into the hall.

15:56

The smell of cleanliness is now overwhelmed

15:59

by the smell of death. the

16:02

hall is littered with

16:04

disfigured corpses that had been mauled

16:07

by some creature. it

16:10

takes every ounce of willpower I

16:12

can muster to move my feet and

16:15

move they did. Until

16:17

out in the distance, I hear a muffled roar.

16:24

But it's no animal I've ever heard before.

16:27

It was more like a bear its own

16:29

shriek. My

16:32

body goes numb. I

16:34

subconsciously was still walking but couldn't

16:37

feel my feet hitting the floor. I

16:39

paused for a moment at the door wondering

16:41

if I should open it. wondering

16:44

what would be on other side. I

16:46

pulled on the handle and the door slid open

16:48

quickly

16:48

and hit the end of his track with a bang.

16:53

I wrenched and paused for a moment,

16:56

waiting for whatever it is to come running

16:58

through the cars, ready to kill me.

17:01

I stand there silent, a

17:04

soft ringing in my ears, my

17:07

heart's pounding in my chest again,

17:10

I turned my head to listen more intently, but

17:13

there's nothing.

17:15

So I walk,

17:18

in walk. and

17:20

walk through the cars,

17:23

trying not to get sick as I witness the

17:25

corners that has been left by this thing.

17:29

Finally, I reached the

17:31

final car, relieved

17:34

and ready to get to the conductor's room.

17:36

I opened the last door and standing there at the

17:38

other end of the car is a figure

17:41

and a black cloak.

17:44

The figure resembles a human, full

17:47

body, two arms, two legs. If

17:50

it wasn't for the tentacles wriggling and protruding

17:52

from its back, I would have never known. It

17:56

takes a step towards me and begins talking.

18:07

I don't recognize the language, but the energy

18:10

of hostile and sin is the same across language

18:12

barriers. I turned and

18:14

ran through the car trying not to slip on the pools

18:16

of blood, but I couldn't get away fast

18:19

enough something grabbed me knocking me

18:21

off my feet. I'd look back to see one

18:23

of the tentacles has more than doubled in

18:25

length and grabbed me from the other car. The

18:27

appendage tightens its

18:29

grip on my ankle. The spikes

18:32

dig into my skin. I can feel

18:34

the blood slowing in my foot

18:37

to think continues to walk towards me.

18:40

Still speaking. just

18:44

as the creature is within feet of

18:46

me. I hear a familiar sound.

18:54

The train has entered another tunnel. Everything

18:57

goes dark. The

18:59

sound of the train rumbling through the tunnel

19:01

echoes off the walls. A

19:04

light passes the windows at different times.

19:07

showing the creature as it gets closer after

19:09

moving through the darkness. It

19:11

reaches out.

19:14

Lifts me up all my feet into the air

19:16

and whisper something into my ear.

19:25

At that moment, the train emerges from the

19:28

tunnel. The creature

19:30

disappears. I

19:32

dropped to the floor of a crowded railcar.

19:37

I look around to see everyone looking at

19:39

me with fear in their eyes. Was

19:43

everything I just experienced in a hallucination?

19:46

I thought that to myself.

19:48

I stood there. ready

19:51

to leave the car, but as I

19:54

do, a sharp pain

19:56

starting from my ankle shoots up my

19:58

leg. I

20:00

lift my pant leg up, and

20:03

there it is, the

20:05

injury.

20:08

like a

20:09

tentacle had wrapped itself around

20:11

my leg.

20:14

What did you say? Now it's scary.

20:17

Oh, you that really shit. Okay.

20:19

Okay. So who's next? What

20:22

about you next? Me?

20:25

Well, I guess I can follow that

20:27

one.

20:30

A couple years ago, I unexpectedly came

20:32

into some

20:32

money in a depressing way.

20:35

So

20:35

I decided to spend it on something

20:36

frivolous and indulgent that

20:38

wasn't attainable for me before. I

20:41

got into scuba is what I'm trying to say.

20:43

Coming from landlocked Kentucky, this

20:45

was whole new world, a whole

20:47

new place, Anyway,

20:49

after one dive, I was obsessed.

20:52

The unique wildlife, the coral formations,

20:55

the subversion, even the equipment. It

20:57

was like Exploring a breathtaking

21:00

alien planet. I doubt the novelty

21:02

would have ever worn off, but it was only

21:04

my third dive when I discovered something

21:06

really amazing. So in the La

21:08

Jolla Calp Forest, which is incredible

21:11

on its own merits. As much as I

21:13

want to stay in the moment on my dive.

21:15

I'm already wearing out my new waterproof camera,

21:18

snapping the sharks and rays and the hundred

21:20

foot kelp twisting and swaying

21:22

like oceanic entrails. I'm

21:25

leveling the viewfinder at this

21:26

beautiful moray eel ribbonning among

21:29

the kelp. when the window goes dark.

21:31

I

21:31

shake the camera like that's gonna do

21:33

anything. Before

21:34

I realize it's a shadow

21:36

moving

21:36

through the water.

21:38

I look up expecting to see a sea

21:40

lion or maybe a whale who's lost,

21:42

but there's nothing there.

21:44

Nothing casting this fifteen foot

21:46

shadow that's darkening the stocks like a reverse

21:49

spotlight. It's

21:50

not fast, but it's definitely

21:52

moving away for me. So I snap a photo

21:54

while I have the chance, even though I know it

21:56

won't turn out. By

21:57

the time I get the attention of my dive buddy,

21:59

Carmen,

21:59

the

22:00

shadow's almost out of sight. I

22:02

point at it like I've just discovered the lost

22:04

Santa Maria, but it's too late.

22:07

Carmen

22:07

says later it was probably just a ray.

22:09

and I resolved to get a more experienced buddy

22:11

next time. It

22:13

takes several next times,

22:15

and

22:15

I bring through a considerable chunk of my

22:17

funds, Justin La Jolla. but I find

22:19

it again at the sea caves. I've

22:21

gotten better at navigating currents and I can

22:24

almost keep pace with it, but I'm using

22:26

too much oxygen

22:26

and tiring myself out.

22:28

So I find a rough rock to hold on to,

22:30

make sure my new buddy Max is still

22:33

in sight, regulate my

22:34

breathing, and wait. After

22:37

a few minutes, the shadow starts drifting

22:40

toward me. It seems slower than

22:42

when I was chasing it, but maybe I'm just

22:44

getting a page as

22:46

it gets closer, I can make out more

22:48

of the texture. It

22:50

doesn't look like shadows underwater normally

22:52

do. You know, rippling with of wave

22:55

refracted light. This one seems

22:57

more solid. It doesn't change

22:59

when it slides over rocks or sand

23:01

or seaweed. It's moving

23:03

so slowly now and I almost can't bring myself

23:06

to stay still.

23:07

The dark pool finally halts a few

23:09

feet from me. Its

23:11

edges are strangely risk,

23:13

not shifting with the movement of the ocean.

23:16

I peer up through the water confirming

23:18

what I saw before.

23:20

Clear blue all the way to the surface,

23:22

shot through with ribbons of sunlight that

23:25

end abruptly in the dark outline.

23:28

Inside the shadow's perimeter, about

23:30

ten feet across this time, are

23:31

several fish closest

23:34

to me is a large black sea bass,

23:36

seemingly frozen in place.

23:39

Its skills are still working. Fins

23:41

waving just enough to keep it upright,

23:44

but it's not going anywhere. like

23:46

it's stuck on a pin. The

23:49

bass doesn't seem to see me. It's glassy

23:51

eyes swirling lazily in the socket.

23:54

I

23:54

start to take out my camera but think better

23:56

of it. Instead,

23:57

I

23:58

use my Rocky handhold

23:59

to carefully draw myself forward,

24:02

an inch at a time. until

24:04

I'm close enough

24:05

to reach the shadow. With

24:06

a jerk, the bass's eye fixes

24:09

on me and its skills start flapping

24:10

wild plate, its whole body shuttering.

24:13

Can a fish hyperventilate?

24:16

It's still not really moving. just

24:18

twitching in place in a way that somehow

24:21

reminds me of my own panic attacks. And

24:23

I'm just as transfixed,

24:25

trick

24:26

staring back into the mirror like orb

24:28

until

24:29

the thrashing stops, and the

24:31

fish is truly still.

24:33

It

24:33

doesn't appear to be dead.

24:36

at least not yet, but it's not breathing.

24:39

I hesitate

24:39

for a second and then think, yeah,

24:42

I'm gonna touch it.

24:43

What after all is the worse that

24:45

could happen.

24:46

That's not something you should say to yourself

24:49

while scuba diving, but keep in mind that

24:51

I'm still an amateur. Before I

24:53

can start utilizing the scientific method,

24:55

however, Max is flagging

24:57

me

24:57

down. He has an equipment malfunction

25:00

and needs to surface. I

25:02

flail my arms gesturing to the bass

25:04

in the shadow like some sort of deranged

25:06

aquatic animal white, but it turns

25:09

out there is no hand signal for this situation.

25:12

Max is already on his way up and I reluctantly

25:14

follow,

25:15

cursing the buddy system and the fact that I'll never

25:17

afford enough dives and experience to go

25:19

solo. As I ascend, the

25:22

shadow drifts away in another direction,

25:24

and the space that leaves behind

25:25

is empty. I try

25:27

to stop myself from wishing Max would get the

25:29

bends.

25:32

The

25:32

shadow eludes me for the next several dives.

25:34

I'm

25:35

so fixated on this stupid

25:37

black spot that can't even appreciate

25:40

the experience that was so life changing for

25:42

me when I started. Eventually,

25:44

I get tired of the explainable phenomena

25:47

in the sea caves, and

25:48

move on to La Jolla Canyon.

25:50

I

25:50

hear the night dives there are amazing,

25:53

but

25:53

I worry won't be able to see the shadow in the

25:55

dark. work. And

25:56

it's there. Oh, yes. It's

25:59

there. Drifting

25:59

over the steps like a grim and

26:02

a natural glass out. It

26:04

maintains its perfect round shape

26:06

as it descends the ledges, unaffected

26:08

by the severe slopes.

26:11

It's

26:11

failure to behave like any earthly

26:13

shadow doesn't surprise me anymore, and

26:15

I follow it into darker, colder

26:17

depths. Max's

26:19

oggling a fat halibut, and

26:21

he doesn't notice me slipping below his line

26:23

of sight. The

26:24

dark circle speeds up, takes an abrupt

26:26

left, and I kick my fins hard I

26:29

haven't seen it move like this before and I'm

26:31

determined not to lose it. Even

26:33

as I get farther from my dive buddy and

26:35

any semblance of safe fifty. I'm

26:38

swimming as fast as I can, really pushing

26:40

myself, looking

26:41

straight ahead as I cross the last

26:43

ledge.

26:44

The world seems to fall away beneath

26:46

me, the ocean opening up

26:48

and dropping

26:49

into sightless depths. It

26:52

feels like I've been untethered on a

26:54

spacewalk and suddenly all

26:56

of the cosmos

26:57

is open wide to swallow me.

27:00

A

27:00

wave of vertigo crashes over me

27:02

and I closed my eyes. Becoming

27:04

anct or disoriented on a dive

27:06

can be deadly. And

27:07

I take a moment to steal my

27:09

emotions. When

27:11

I open my eyes, everything is

27:13

dark. infinitely

27:14

dark, and

27:15

I know instantly what's happened. The

27:18

shadow has moved over

27:19

me. The

27:22

first thing I notice is the cold.

27:25

It shouldn't be this cold

27:27

in SoCal, but the chill

27:29

has snuck into my wet suit and set me

27:31

shivering.

27:31

I try to keep

27:33

my breathing even, but each lung

27:36

full is harder to take than the last. There's

27:39

nothing

27:40

around me. Absolutely

27:42

nothing. Like, I'm

27:43

drowning the pitch black pupil of

27:45

some unfathomable sea monsters

27:47

eye. If I could

27:49

just make a one eighty and start swimming,

27:52

I think I'd eventually reach the shore, but

27:55

I'm not convinced I know which way is

27:57

up anymore. God,

27:59

why is so hard to

28:01

breathe? The pressure?

28:05

I try to check my wrist, but

28:06

either my dive computer's light

28:09

isn't working or the shadow has

28:11

smothered it dead

28:14

space.

28:15

dead space all around me, dead

28:18

space in my airways, and

28:20

all the safety videos I had to watch told

28:22

me exactly how this ends. blood

28:25

pounds in my temples. My limbs,

28:28

thrash out of my control. Every

28:30

labored breath

28:30

is full of needles, more coiled

28:33

than air, my mask presses

28:35

hard into my cheekbones.

28:38

The shadow is crushing me.

28:43

The burn of oxygen deprivation seeps

28:45

through my veins and through the fog

28:47

of my mind, I meet the glossy,

28:50

listing eye. of a fish

28:53

that doesn't know its dead, completely

28:56

drained. I hang limp in the water.

29:00

The blackness all around seeps

29:02

into me, covering

29:04

everything,

29:06

hushing my thoughts,

29:10

I'm

29:10

too weak to take another fetal breath.

29:15

I let go.

29:25

My

29:25

next memory is on shore.

29:27

For

29:27

all that shit I said about Max, he did

29:29

save my fucking life. Manage

29:31

to Ascend while pulling me along without

29:33

injuring either of us.

29:35

Didn't

29:35

believe my story though.

29:37

Who

29:37

would? Of

29:38

course, I sold all my diving gear. Kind

29:41

of lost some of its magic after that,

29:43

you know.

29:45

Sometimes

29:46

when I'm at the beach, I see a dark

29:49

spot way out in the water

29:51

and I always hope it's something harmless. like

29:54

a shark,

29:54

but you never

29:57

know.

29:59

Did that

29:59

really happen? That's insane. I

30:02

am adequately spooked. Yo.

30:04

How are you still here? Okay.

30:07

So who's next?

30:09

Well, I guess I can

30:11

follow that one.

30:14

Allow

30:14

me to walk you

30:15

through dream I once had. You

30:19

dream you're in no whats, no

30:21

whats in particular, standing

30:23

in a rounded clearing. The

30:26

trees on all sides of you are grim,

30:28

how shong skeleton branches,

30:30

bark, bleached gray.

30:33

The sky above is black,

30:34

a perfect void.

30:38

But despite the sky's emptiness, it

30:40

isn't

30:41

dark around you.

30:42

Not like the night is dark, though there

30:44

is a shaded vignette framing the back

30:47

edges of the clearing. Ahead

30:49

of you though is clear, and the trees

30:52

stretching on cast no shadows onto

30:54

the snowy forest floor. And

30:56

neither do you. And the

30:59

path ahead of you is not paved or

31:01

cleared, but still you know

31:03

it, away through the trees to a thing

31:05

that is calling your name, calling

31:07

your feet forward through the white blanket

31:09

snow, one crunching step at a time.

31:13

So you walk. The echo of

31:15

your steps imprinted on the snow behind

31:17

you as you travel deeper and deeper into

31:19

the thick of your dream of the

31:21

woods and of the sinking twist

31:23

to knowing that there is something ahead of

31:25

you and you don't know how long

31:27

you walk, time and a dream both

31:29

still and passing is your feet.

31:31

One after the other, pass over the ground,

31:34

but soon, coming into view in

31:36

center of the path ahead of you

31:38

is a well, a circular base

31:40

of old, worn stone, contoured

31:43

with veins of black rotten moss.

31:46

And for a fleeting second,

31:49

there is a sound. You stretch

31:51

your neck out over the mouth of it,

31:53

peering down hands resting on

31:55

the rough stone lips of the well as

31:57

he gaze into its abyss.

31:59

The well casts a shadow perpetually into

32:02

itself. A stomach of darkness

32:04

to your eyes drain to adjust to and

32:06

you pause for

32:08

a moment.

32:09

Staring, listening

32:11

to the reflection of your own

32:13

breath.

32:14

wondering if there's water at the bottom,

32:17

inhaling the smell of wet stones and

32:19

deep earth,

32:23

a voice swells from the deep.

32:26

Faint is a whisperer and stranger

32:28

too. So much so it

32:30

could have very well been ignored or imagined.

32:33

You breathe softer and listen

32:35

closer. How deep

32:38

is the well? Daring

32:40

to lean a little farther into the gaping

32:42

hole, narrowing your gaze, straining

32:45

to see, and you see a

32:47

pair of eyes shining against

32:49

the dark. staring back at

32:51

you. Staring from a face that

32:53

makes your back arch and prickle and your stomach

32:56

drop to the very snow beneath your feet.

32:58

It's you pull a few comes back from the well

33:00

in a terror, you know no words for

33:02

a strange poll in the center of your

33:05

chest how

33:05

deep is the well, then

33:09

a sound like scuffling.

33:12

The echo rising faintly like

33:14

smoke out from the deep and through the

33:16

chimney of the well, like skin

33:18

against stone. You

33:20

run down the path into the well fades

33:22

into the distance. You run

33:25

as you think maybe it was only your reflection.

33:27

Perhaps that is what pulled at your chest when

33:29

you saw it. And you run until

33:32

standing before you are the old wooden

33:34

bones

33:34

of a chapel,

33:36

lonely, and like the trees,

33:38

casting no shadow.

33:41

You open, it's grown in before

33:44

you is an old fart,

33:46

a stoop with water, too

33:48

dark to be water, too

33:50

still. Even as your feet, all turn

33:53

eight and bear weight on

33:53

the old, tired, wooden

33:56

floor. Its surface does

33:58

not ripple, does not wafer.

34:00

In the space before you, a few

34:02

humble rows of pews, a center

34:05

isle, and a pulpit, half rotten,

34:07

are all bathed in red light.

34:10

There

34:10

is no light outside. No

34:12

moon. No

34:14

stars. Yet there are beams

34:16

of light striking through the battered

34:18

red stained glass and in

34:20

here, there are shadows.

34:23

You step forward to the nearest window

34:25

and put your hand into a beam of his

34:27

light. and the light shows

34:29

you what you really are. It

34:31

doesn't hurt. You don't think

34:34

the way this light seems to pull back this

34:36

skin and flesh of your fingers and

34:38

the sinew of your knuckles and palms

34:40

and eats away at the tissue knitting this

34:42

part of your body to get other. Kind

34:45

of undressing, a revelation.

34:48

And as you see your hand for the bone that

34:50

it is, the bone, the color of the lumber

34:52

used to bill build this chapel, you

34:55

hear it again. A

34:57

sound from somewhere below.

35:00

Call calling to you. And

35:02

at the back of the room, you find a staircase

35:05

and at the bottom of these rickety

35:08

wooden stairs. you

35:10

find a door,

35:12

locked with large metal locks

35:14

and chains, and behind it,

35:17

home

35:17

Hope me. Not like the one you may have

35:20

heard in the well, not strange,

35:22

not multiplied, but muffled,

35:25

words stalled, and muddy behind the wood,

35:28

but desperation needs

35:29

no words to be known.

35:32

It cries over

35:35

and over again like a prayer,

35:37

a rather throated flee, begging

35:40

you to open the door and

35:43

shouldn't you? In spite

35:44

of the way the back of your neck prickles,

35:47

the way those eyes that face

35:49

at the bottom of the well flash

35:50

against your memory, why shouldn't

35:52

you've opened the door. It is

35:55

only a dream. Right?

35:58

Your dream and

35:59

the please will

36:03

The locks and chains are easily released.

36:06

Rusty eaten and weather warn they pull free

36:08

from the door with a few good yanks,

36:11

all the while the voice calls for you

36:13

in response. you

36:15

reach out in your hand and open the

36:18

door. And then the voice

36:20

calls louder.

36:22

different, changed, layered,

36:25

and wretched, and so very

36:27

like the voice at the bottom of the well

36:29

that

36:30

rose your spirit and caught you a

36:32

breath halfway up your throat, the

36:34

one with that

36:34

face.

36:36

But it's too late. You've

36:39

already opened

36:40

breath

36:41

out and trembling

36:44

and then

36:46

a sudden gaping silence

36:48

in the dark. You

36:51

have opened the door into an unlit

36:53

room. Cabinous. Shadows

36:56

so heavy you cannot see the walls of

36:58

which your footsteps bounce. The

37:00

voice has disappeared and across

37:02

the room is a

37:04

figure.

37:05

Walking towards you matching your

37:07

steps on the dark earth as you

37:09

approach the center. His figure

37:12

is wearing your clothes, wearing

37:14

your face staring back at you

37:16

a pair of eyes shining

37:18

in the dark A reflection

37:22

in some transcendent mirror that

37:24

seems to hang in the air, shadow

37:26

floored a shadowed ceiling, a great

37:28

wall of shimmering something. A

37:31

curtain, like fluid glass, like

37:34

water rippling and wavering,

37:36

and the door slams close behind

37:38

you. And you turn around to face

37:40

it as the sound of rusted metal

37:43

eating wood rebounds on the other side.

37:46

You turn to face your reflection and you find

37:48

it smiling before reaching

37:50

a hand with

37:51

a strange shifting you're

37:53

working pulling you forward. It is

37:55

cold and rushing and when you open

37:57

your mouth to scream, it is filled with

37:59

this rushing

37:59

coldness for few

38:01

terrible moments your breath is gone

38:04

from you as is your sight and all

38:06

you know is strange, pulling,

38:08

rushing, dark darkness, then

38:11

the surface breaks. You

38:13

gas for taking in close humid

38:15

air eyes open but

38:17

straining to adjust in a new

38:19

perpetual dark. You

38:21

can feel that you are waste deep in

38:24

something wet. You reach

38:26

out your hand before you. The hand

38:28

you had seen in the light meets

38:29

the slick, stone walls,

38:32

narrow, you can follow the cool rounded

38:34

edges in their full circle.

38:38

You look up to see a strange

38:40

brief, ring a break in the

38:42

darkness.

38:44

You know this.

38:46

It is your dream.

38:49

You know

38:49

this. is how far

38:52

down the well goes.

38:53

You

38:54

call your voice, odd,

38:57

a swirling, locking echo,

38:59

resound against the round dank

39:02

to the

39:04

moment of unbearable silence

39:06

follows.

39:10

Then

39:11

above you, a scuffed

39:13

echo and a face

39:16

peering

39:16

down into the depths you

39:19

stare back,

39:21

a pull in your chest,

39:25

and you awake,

39:26

but sometimes at

39:29

night. When

39:30

you close your eyes, you

39:33

are still at

39:34

the bottom of

39:36

the well.

39:40

Holy shit. The whole rage

39:42

story. Jesus. Okay.

39:44

So Who's next?

39:47

Kevin, you wanna go? I'm

39:50

going to talk about a deathly fear

39:53

of dreams. And well, nightmares

39:55

don't even cover it. I've

39:57

been plagued with a bit of what

39:59

we might call sleeping sickness for

40:01

much of my life. As a kid,

40:04

I hated going to bed due to parasomenas,

40:07

primarily sleep paralysis.

40:10

At the age of three, I said,

40:13

I will not be put to bed and

40:15

tossed to the of sleep paralysis

40:18

papa? No. I

40:20

just bald and cried anticipating the

40:23

utter terror that was certainly in store for

40:25

me. And I know dreams are not scary

40:27

because no one gets hurt, but

40:29

this tale was about much more than

40:31

just dreams. You see, I

40:33

have narcolepsy. So as

40:35

an adult, dreams are never

40:37

far from reach. In fact, unlike

40:40

the Ferrari of dreaming. I hit

40:42

REM sleep in zero to sixty seconds,

40:44

leaving most of you in the dust, sand man

40:46

resorts to when he's out of sand.

40:49

That's

40:51

why I brought the backpack, if you must know.

40:54

To carry my chimes. Not

40:56

because I have dream sand.

40:58

You thought I had dream sand? Wow.

41:00

Neurologically, yes. But No.

41:04

Come to think of it. It might have

41:06

something to do with why I chose to

41:08

make an audio drama about radio host

41:10

who uses futuristic technology to

41:13

livestream his nightmares for ratings.

41:15

But I'll leave that analysis

41:18

to the experts. Anywho

41:20

There I am lying in bed. Let's

41:22

call it three and a half years old,

41:24

so I don't sound like a whoops. I

41:27

hounded my parents into reading

41:29

to me to ward off the horrors, but

41:32

that only worked for so long. I'm

41:34

staring at the ceiling in the dark

41:36

as you do. when the most gut

41:39

wrenching horrid thing drifts

41:41

right out of the wall above me, the

41:44

school bus, not

41:46

any school bus, this is the

41:50

school bus that takes me away

41:52

from the warmth of my family and the come

41:54

comfort of being a carefree loiterer

41:56

for the rest of my life. Also,

41:59

you usually only

41:59

see the underside of a school bus

42:02

after it's run over you. I've lost

42:04

literally everyone.

42:06

What else did I bring?

42:09

A plain granola bar from two thousand

42:11

and three. The sleep paralysis part

42:13

of being a frozen observer of my

42:15

own impending demise was

42:18

for me the most tormenting at this point

42:20

my infantile dreaming mind could not

42:23

come up with anything more creative than

42:25

just a dream of laying paralyzed in

42:27

my bed. You could say my young brain

42:29

was a veritable HP Lovecraft of

42:31

the banal since the brilliant part

42:34

about dreaming that you are frozen

42:36

stiff in your bed. is

42:38

it sure as hell feels like you

42:40

are not actually dreaming,

42:43

but rather being punished by

42:45

specters and monsters of the infinite dark.

42:48

Next was a giant octopus. I

42:52

honed in on its swim brute strength

42:54

and ability to out wrestle a four year

42:56

old underwater and then crack

42:58

open the child's skull using that beak

43:00

thingy or the nearest rock yet

43:03

again, your little man survived unscathed.

43:06

You're thinking what I was thinking. These

43:09

terrors are zero for two. Maybe

43:11

anything that floats out of the wall without

43:14

leaving an ectoplasmic slime stain

43:16

like a Phantom and Ghostbusters, ain't

43:18

really a problem. Still,

43:20

it was nerve wracking to be locked

43:23

to the bed and powerless, then

43:26

the head appeared. I

43:28

mind of my business. a catalog

43:30

to the various shapes and forms around the

43:32

bedroom. That's the window. What's

43:35

that shadow? That's from the tree.

43:37

There's

43:37

the woven carpet in with the pieces

43:40

of a hand me down erector set, which

43:42

whoever named that, hope

43:44

they got therapy. And then there's the

43:46

desk, all good. except

43:49

what's that on the desk? How did I not notice

43:51

the head poking up from it like an imp,

43:53

staring at me in the dark, anticipating

43:56

how it would pray upon me The

43:58

moment I closed my eyes,

43:59

yes, I could

44:02

tell it had committed to winning a

44:04

staring contest to the death.

44:06

I hadn't fully dusted tonight

44:08

vision and I couldn't make out its

44:11

eyes. Great. There's

44:13

a head coming out of my desk. wait.

44:16

Is it looking away from me?

44:19

That's kinda rude. No.

44:21

Then its eyes, black holes

44:24

with the faintest yellow flame

44:26

shown in the darkness. You know,

44:28

I'm paralyzed. Right? All I've

44:30

got is time, friend, and you

44:33

You are the owl lamp,

44:35

my brother made in shop class,

44:38

bugger.

44:39

Let's see. Looks like on the king of dreams

44:42

now, because that's everything. By

44:44

the way, did you all see that episode of

44:46

Sandman? The Netflix

44:49

TV series or what have you or the Muse?

44:51

calls him Juan Noodles.

44:54

Is Dream The Endless' real name

44:56

Juan Noodles? I imagine

44:58

he's like, It's actually

45:00

spelled noodles. Yeah. Not

45:03

No. That'd be silly. It's with

45:05

a t. Y'all

45:06

miss that scene? I'm pretty sure

45:08

someone called them wan noodles. Okay. I'll

45:10

find it. And then we can, you know, circle

45:12

back to it. Anyway, I

45:15

was wrong. For I had not yet

45:17

encountered he who devours the

45:19

little ones, the eliminator,

45:22

the one who wishes only to transform us

45:25

into gold The middle

45:27

aged bald man in that golf

45:29

night gown looking get up fryers

45:31

wear. Is that a thing? fryerware,

45:34

probably right next to monkware. It's

45:37

Gergamel, nemesis of

45:40

the smurfs, I spot him lounging

45:42

along the entire length of my bookshelf

45:44

in the dark one night. I can't

45:46

see his eyes but, you

45:48

know, he's watching. sick,

45:51

twisted, sociopathic, peto.

45:55

Not gonna say anything. Is

45:56

that even you, Garamel?

46:04

That's all you've got. and

46:06

that's how I got into comedy. It

46:12

turned out he couldn't hurt me.

46:15

I guess that's what I landed on. He

46:17

could terrorize me, but he couldn't back

46:19

it up.

46:20

Little did I know the horrors of nightmares

46:23

extend far and well

46:26

beyond a personal threat of

46:28

bodily harm.

46:31

Now we're in a new house in Ohio. I'm

46:34

eight. It's summer. I'm about to

46:36

start a whole new life in a new school. And

46:39

I've been having nightmares about being

46:41

buried alive in a coffin Thanks.

46:43

Alfred Hitchcock presents. My initial

46:45

panic evolves as I realize. If I

46:47

had a flashlight in some coloring books, I'd probably

46:50

be fine. Mind you, I'm eight.

46:52

And I've never finished a coloring book.

46:55

So this is my version of. Finally,

46:57

I'll have time to get around to that. but

47:00

my mind goes to the next step,

47:02

which is death. And once I

47:05

realize that's awaiting me

47:07

in the dark, all no

47:09

getting around it. I'm on

47:11

the welcome Matt to hell. I

47:13

woke up one night, probably right

47:15

to be four, I was supposed to start third grade.

47:18

I've been contemplating death. It's

47:21

not pretty. I'm ill equipped

47:23

and

47:23

I would go to the bathroom, but

47:26

I freeze on all fours halfway

47:28

through the act of scooting out of my bed.

47:31

My heart begins to pound relentless

47:33

uselessly in my chest because

47:36

I see the thing one never

47:38

wants to see.

47:39

A shadow on my wall that looks

47:42

almost identical to coat to a

47:44

knife in a man's hand. This

47:46

man has obviously climbed up to the window

47:49

pane. We're the new folks in

47:51

town, easy marks It'll

47:53

be a quick murder, force your way in

47:55

through the kids room, then get the parents. And

47:57

here's my logic.

47:58

If I stay

47:59

still might think I'm

48:02

part of the scenery.

48:05

I know it doesn't quite check out in

48:07

retrospect, but You try

48:09

dismounting from your childhood bed

48:11

knowing your killer is a few paces away

48:13

with a loaded butcher's knife. I

48:16

don't know how long I perch frozen

48:19

on my hands and knees. It feels

48:21

like about six hours. Could

48:23

have been two minutes. My room

48:25

consists of unfamiliar things.

48:27

There's my bed which I'm outgrowing, a

48:30

woolly off white carpet, and

48:33

that's about it on my end. Across

48:35

the room sits my old desk with no

48:37

head and there's a door to the bathroom

48:40

and of course there's the window The

48:42

killer's shadow undulates overlapping

48:45

with mine on the wall. It

48:48

hesitates. But here's a

48:50

real kicker. I'm so

48:52

scared for my life that

48:54

for the first time, I'm

48:57

about to shit myself out of sheer

48:59

terror. I know what my predator

49:01

is playing at, and it's a sick game.

49:04

He's not satisfied with murder. Now

49:06

he wants more.

49:07

He wants to humiliate me

49:10

for every second that remains of my

49:12

very short life and this

49:14

I cannot abide. Slain

49:16

me if you must, you savage Angel

49:18

of death, but I will not

49:21

go down as one of those kids whose

49:23

killer has eld him at knife point until

49:25

he shat his bed. So after another

49:27

minute or so of panicked deliberation, I

49:30

sprung into action. I can't

49:32

tell you exactly what happened next,

49:34

but I can't say it was more embarrassing than

49:36

my worst nightmare. True,

49:39

I showed the courage needed to avoid

49:41

shooting the bed. but somehow I

49:43

succeeded at shooting the rug. And

49:45

folks, when it's a white rug,

49:47

there's no bouncing back from that. You

49:50

just have to move your bed over that spot.

49:53

I do recall screaming a blood curdling

49:55

howl at the time to alert my parents

49:57

that the killer was upon me and

49:59

they should save themselves. However,

50:03

my plan failed. They came

50:05

running and I did not

50:07

have the wherewithal to explain what

50:09

had led to this traumatic series

50:11

of events, victims rarely

50:13

too. As I reflect on the

50:15

situation now, I realized it

50:17

could have gone another way. I could

50:20

have died in my bed. So

50:22

I'm grateful to be alive. and

50:25

shout out to the cleanup crew that night.

50:28

Great story. Okay.

50:31

Okay. So who's next? I

50:34

got a story that'll work. I've

50:37

mentioned this before, but moved around

50:40

a lot when I was younger. and was always

50:42

a latch key kid. You

50:45

never really see a house as a home when you

50:47

move that much. There aren't

50:49

memories attached in the same way you have

50:51

when you grow up and place your whole life.

50:54

But there was one house we lived in for

50:56

less than year Just a few months

50:58

really, out

50:59

in San Antonio that always sticks

51:01

out in my mind. Sometimes

51:03

my homework load would be light or my parents

51:06

would be late. and I would find some extra

51:08

time on my hands by myself. That's

51:11

when I'd go exploring, define what

51:13

made each particular house so unique.

51:16

Sometimes it was a nuke in the attic or

51:18

a loose floorboard that had an old forgotten

51:21

diary in it. In

51:23

that house, it was a whole hidden

51:25

room.

51:27

The closet in my bedroom was shallow,

51:29

but behind my hanging Sunday attire

51:32

was a door. It

51:34

was as tall as the closet, and the

51:36

molding to either side blended well

51:38

with the vertically striped pattern on the wall

51:40

itself. There

51:42

was also no door handle on the bedroom

51:44

side. Instead,

51:47

you had to push it open. I

51:50

could see how my parents had missed this when we

51:52

were moving in. It's

51:54

not easy to describe the wonder I

51:56

felt when I first entered.

51:59

I mean,

51:59

show of hands. You've all

52:02

dreamed of pulling on certain book on a shelf

52:04

or tapping the right brick in the fireplace mantle.

52:07

or twisting the right skunks to have a

52:09

hidden door suddenly swing open.

52:11

Right?

52:13

Exactly. Who

52:14

has it?

52:17

I didn't stay in there for too long. I

52:19

think I just wanted that little bit of magic

52:22

to myself for a while at least.

52:24

But I took in the room before I left. noting

52:27

that aside from the old children's toys,

52:30

it

52:30

was pretty much empty.

52:33

I soon backed out and with some difficulty

52:36

closed the door. I

52:38

asked my mom about the house several years

52:40

ago, and she told me a lot more than

52:42

I had remembered at first. She

52:45

was glad we'd gotten out of there for a few

52:47

reasons. they'd started

52:49

looking the next day after I'd found

52:52

that door because I had an accident.

52:55

There was a loose part of the railing near the

52:57

top of the stairs and I'd leaned the wrong

52:59

way on it after dinner. Tumbling

53:01

all the way down to the hardwood floor below.

53:05

I managed to break my fault before my

53:07

head connected with the ground, but I broke one

53:09

of my wrists in doing so. After

53:13

that, My parents felt like the house

53:15

was a death trap waiting to happen.

53:18

My mother also mentioned it was odd

53:20

how I had an imaginary friend then.

53:22

To be honest,

53:25

that's something I had forgotten until she said

53:28

it, but now I can remember it as clear

53:30

as day. It

53:32

started when I got home from the emergency

53:34

room with my wrist and a cast.

53:37

I was lying in bed, the

53:39

room far from my mind when I heard

53:41

it. What

53:43

do you think in my room? It just about

53:45

shot my bed.

53:47

Hell, maybe I did and I just blocked

53:49

that part out. I

53:50

haven't had anyone to play with him

53:52

so long. Instead

53:54

of letting me come out and play again,

53:57

I called out asking who was there.

53:59

I'm Billy, silly,

54:02

silly, silly. What's

54:04

your name? Or

54:05

should I just call you silly, Billy too?

54:09

I didn't see anyone and couldn't

54:11

even pinpoint where the voice was coming from,

54:14

but it didn't sound like a scary monster.

54:16

just another kid like me.

54:20

I'm Jeremy, I said.

54:22

Jeremy.

54:25

I haven't met it Jeremy before.

54:27

You wouldn't be

54:28

my friends? I kept looking

54:30

around.

54:31

I'm here, but not only you can

54:33

see. I

54:35

can't really do much of anything right now.

54:37

I

54:37

can't even play with my toys. But

54:40

you can, if you want,

54:43

if you'd be my friends, are

54:45

you

54:45

like a ghost or something? Mm-mm.

54:49

I

54:49

think I'm more like an imaginary friend.

54:52

Lily Lily doesn't sound like a ghost name

54:54

does it. I guess not. So

54:56

is that yes? Yes?

54:59

Will you be my friend? Sure.

55:04

I'll be your friend, silly, Billy. Okay.

55:07

Get some good faith tonight. We can

55:09

play

55:09

tomorrow.

55:10

I eventually fell

55:12

asleep. I discounted it

55:14

as a dream or maybe just the pain

55:16

meds they gave me. But when I got

55:18

home the next day. There he was.

55:22

Or rather, they're his voice

55:24

ones.

55:24

I feel glad you're home Jeremy.

55:27

At his direction, I

55:29

did end up playing. I

55:31

played all over, both inside

55:33

and out inside the house, imagining

55:36

all sorts of scenarios with the aid

55:38

of my new friend, Silly Billy.

55:42

I had some difficulty doing it all one

55:44

handed, but he got particularly excited

55:47

when I started playing with his toys when he

55:49

asked me to. This

55:52

cap up for a few weeks and I eventually

55:54

got completely comfortable with Silly Billy

55:56

always being around, even though nobody

55:58

else could hear him. and

55:59

I couldn't even see him.

56:03

One day while we were playing, he

56:05

called out something in the room This

56:07

that metal thing was there in

56:09

the corner? I looked around until

56:11

I saw a metal grate.

56:14

You mean the air duct? open.

56:17

When

56:17

I had some difficulties, I could

56:19

hear some irritation in his voice.

56:22

Why

56:22

don't you then get something to open it.

56:24

I asked if we could do something else instead,

56:27

but Silly Billy was persistent. I

56:30

went downstairs and got a screwdriver,

56:33

then came back and finally got the grade

56:35

off.

56:36

Inside the vent was a series of

56:38

metal jars.

56:40

I asked him what they were,

56:43

open in. I felt

56:45

uncomfortable. I

56:47

couldn't put my finger on it. Something

56:49

in his tone had shifted, and his

56:51

voice was raising hair on the back of

56:53

my neck. Come

56:54

on. Something

56:56

like Yammie.

56:57

I don't really want to.

57:02

I jumped startled. I

57:04

threw the jar down and ran out of the room.

57:08

My dad walked in the door less than a minute

57:10

later and I didn't hear silly Billy

57:12

for few days after that. And

57:15

I thought it might be over him. One

57:17

night, he came back to apologize.

57:21

Jeremy?

57:22

I didn't respond.

57:24

I'm sorry I yelled at you.

57:27

I

57:27

still didn't say anything.

57:29

I

57:29

can make it up to you though.

57:31

I promise. I

57:32

finally sat up slightly in bed.

57:36

How? From my voice and you'll

57:39

see.

57:39

I reluctantly got out of bed

57:41

and followed silly billy as he happily

57:44

hung his way out of my room into the top

57:46

of the stares where he stopped.

57:50

Well, I asked.

57:52

You see that part of the railing is

57:54

broke? Yeah. That's

57:56

how I got this cast on my wrist.

57:59

I felt

57:59

a cold spot growing on my back

58:01

as I spoke He just didn't do

58:04

it right. There's a special way

58:06

to land. Here.

58:08

I feel you. Suddenly the

58:10

cold spot being hard and I felt

58:12

myself being shoved toward the edge of the

58:14

staircase. I screamed

58:17

and reached out to grab anything I could with

58:19

my hand. Zulu Bailey just

58:21

wants to play, Jeremy.

58:27

My

58:27

dad heard me scream and managed to

58:29

catch me before I fell.

58:33

We didn't stay in the house for long after

58:35

that. and I never heard silly Billy

58:37

again. It

58:39

took some prying, but

58:41

eventually, my mom told me

58:43

all the reasons she was glad we had left.

58:46

Not

58:46

long after, they

58:48

found body parts in the within

58:50

a hidden room.

58:52

The

58:52

body parts belonged to several different

58:54

people who'd slipped off the stairs

58:57

just as I had, but had landed in

58:59

just the right way, so they didn't survive.

59:02

It had happened to nearly everyone who'd

59:04

lived there, all the way back to

59:06

a child nearly a decade ago.

59:09

William Bartlett. Holy

59:13

cow. I mean, I mean, how

59:15

are you still here? Well,

59:18

That's it for me. So

59:20

did we all make it? Great job, everyone.

59:23

Wow. Can't believe

59:25

it. Oh. I just bought this whole house. sorry.

59:27

I didn't even feel about waffles

59:29

this year. Yeah. No. No. No. Right?

59:31

That was the best part of the game. Okay.

59:35

Once on

59:40

the

59:43

hey. How's

59:45

your group fare? Pretty spooky.

59:47

Yours? Oh, they were fantastic. Chilled

59:50

me right up. Yeah. Hey,

59:53

Dylan. Hang back. Hang back.

59:59

So are we going

1:00:02

to tell them? No. Why?

1:00:04

because those were the rules dylan. Remember?

1:00:08

It spoke to both of us. I'm

1:00:10

gonna hear, get them to talk,

1:00:13

tell their stories.

1:00:17

Do you think it was satisfying

1:00:20

side? Do you think we did

1:00:22

enough? It let

1:00:24

them leave. Didn't it?

1:00:28

I haven't stopped having

1:00:30

the dream though. Me neither.

1:00:33

Look. We keep it

1:00:35

satisfied. Right. Then

1:00:39

we'll do it again next year. They

1:00:41

believed me. They believed

1:00:43

leaved us. We just keep doing

1:00:46

what it says. Doing

1:00:48

what it wants.

1:00:50

Until

1:00:52

until it wakes.

1:01:12

Nine to midnight was a collaborative

1:01:14

effort for Halloween twenty twenty two between

1:01:17

malevel will be gone. The

1:01:19

storage papers, the night post,

1:01:22

nowhere on air, Helgate City

1:01:24

out of the ashes, Parkdale Hunt,

1:01:27

the town whispers, wake of

1:01:29

corrosion, the seller letters,

1:01:31

and the dead letter office of somewhere Ohio.

1:01:34

Each story was written, performed,

1:01:36

and edited by one of the shows listed

1:01:38

above. Check the notes for information

1:01:41

and links you can follow to listen to each

1:01:43

show. Nine to night was

1:01:45

written by Harlan Guthrie and featured

1:01:47

Dylan Griggs, Jeremy and Finger,

1:01:49

Nathan Lunsford, Ray Lundberg, Jess

1:01:52

Sirott, Kevin Barry, Vincent

1:01:55

C. Davis, Alexander Saul,

1:01:58

Emily Kellogg, Cole Wevers,

1:02:01

Sean Pellington, Jamie Petronas,

1:02:04

Rhett Grimes, Harlan Guthrie,

1:02:06

and Alexander Newell. nine

1:02:09

to midnight was produced, directed, and

1:02:11

edited by Harlan Guthrie. Nine

1:02:13

to midnight original theme composed and record

1:02:16

ordered by Harlan Guthrie. Special

1:02:18

thanks to Alex Newell and Rusty

1:02:20

Quill.

1:02:21

See you next year.