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home. Visit autotrader.com to learn more. Hello

1:01

everyone. I'm Christoph Laputka and this is

1:03

Leviathan Presents. It's a segment where we

1:05

highlight one audio fiction creator, have a

1:07

conversation, and then play a full episode of their show

1:10

right here in our feed. I hope you'll enjoy today's

1:12

guest, and without further ado, let's get into the interview.

1:15

This is Leviathan Presents. Hello

1:31

everyone. It's Christoph. And welcome to another

1:33

episode of Leviathan Presents. Today, I'm very

1:35

excited to bring you the show, Shadows

1:37

at the Door. It's a horror anthology,

1:40

and today I'm joined by the team

1:42

that's put it together. I

1:44

have Mr. Mark Nixon and David Alt with

1:46

me. Mark is the executive producer of Shadows

1:48

at the Door and the lead writer, which

1:51

he started back in 2016. Mark

1:53

has been writing eerie stories of ghosts in

1:55

the supernatural for a long time now, and

1:57

has appeared in dramatic podcasts like the No

1:59

Sleep podcast. and the lift and is

2:01

a champion of quiet horror. And

2:03

of course, I'm joined by David Alt who

2:06

I'm just going to admit might be my

2:08

favorite person in the audio drama universe. David

2:10

is an incredibly talented and accomplished voice actor

2:12

and producer. You might know David from his

2:14

titular role as Byron and the Byron Chronicles

2:17

for which he won best actor at the

2:19

audio verse awards. And you've

2:21

also heard his performances and the no

2:23

sleep podcast. And he was also the

2:25

lead in colonial radio theaters presentation of

2:27

moon fleet and war of the worlds.

2:29

He co-hosts the sonic society podcast and

2:31

most importantly of all, he's voiced many

2:33

roles for the Leviathan Chronicles, including

2:36

that of mayor center. Gentlemen,

2:38

welcome to Leviathan presents. Thank you very much,

2:41

Christophe. Can you believe it's been 13 and

2:43

a half years since New York city and

2:45

the Leviathan soapbox episode that we did? Oh

2:48

my God. I, uh, we, we haven't aged

2:50

a day. We haven't. No, no. I've

2:54

got the same amount of hair. We have our same

2:56

voices. Yes. You never grow old in audio drama. That's

2:58

one of the beautiful things. Certificate

3:00

giving medium. Thank you guys so much for

3:03

joining us. Uh, Mark, why don't you start

3:05

by telling us what is

3:07

shadows of the door all about and how

3:09

did it get started? Yeah. So shadows at

3:12

the door. Uh, yeah, you mentioned quiet horror

3:14

earlier and sometimes there's some controversy and kind

3:16

of sub categorizing horror. It's such a broad

3:18

church, but I, the way

3:20

that I like to put it is

3:23

I just think there is nothing more

3:25

powerful and more useful to a storyteller

3:27

than your readers, listeners, viewers, imagination. Um,

3:29

you know, we look at things like

3:31

alien and Jaws and they're so effective

3:33

because we barely see the thing. Granted

3:35

that was due to budgetary constraints and

3:37

the shock that didn't want to do what

3:40

it was told, but it makes those things

3:42

so, um, useful. And that's

3:44

what I love about audio is that I can feed

3:47

all of the hints, all of the, all of

3:49

the suggestion and the audience will fill in all

3:51

of those blanks. So that is so

3:53

close to the chest of shadows of the door

3:56

and how we do things and,

3:58

and then, and then it makes it sound like all

4:00

of our stories are quite tame and we've actually done

4:02

some quite shocking episodes as well,

4:04

which is sometimes hard to justify when you're

4:06

branding yourself this way. I

4:11

think it just goes back to horror, just being in

4:13

that broad church. You can do so much with it.

4:15

It is such a wonderful genre for that reason and

4:17

we can put so much heart in it and then

4:19

take that heart out and throw it away. Give

4:22

it a squeeze first and maybe rip into

4:24

it with its teeth a little bit, but

4:26

yeah, then throw it away. A little nibble.

4:28

Well, Shadows at the Door

4:30

is an anthology. There's stories

4:33

that you adapt. Mark, you're the

4:35

lead writer. How do you select

4:38

the stories that you choose for Shadows

4:40

at the Door? What attracts you to

4:42

a narrative to bring it to audio?

4:46

Well, initially when I started Shadows at the

4:48

Door, it was very much that I was

4:50

aware of some stories that were

4:52

just so cool. I was

4:54

like, how does everyone in the world not

4:57

know Charles Dickens' The Signalman? I

5:00

was just so keen to introduce that

5:02

to people. I had

5:04

such an amazing actor who thought, The

5:06

Signalman is a great example. It's a

5:09

story with two characters and I have

5:11

a guy here who can

5:13

do both so well. With

5:16

the classics that we adapt, it's always because

5:18

we will adapt classics and we'll bring

5:20

new stories. I have new stories of my own

5:22

and then there are guest writers whose work I'm

5:24

aware of. These writers are fantastic. I want everyone

5:26

to know about them. I really

5:28

want to work with this writer. It's

5:31

a combination. Basically, this is cool.

5:33

Hey, everyone, look at this cool thing. It

5:38

does have to follow the rules,

5:40

I would say, of Supernatural and

5:43

the suggestion. We're

5:47

not afraid to go violent or gory, but it

5:49

has to be done in small doses. Like

5:53

many things in life, less is normal.

5:55

I think that's evident in the episode that

5:57

we're going to be hearing today. is

6:00

the lead actor and I thought

6:03

your performance was both restrained but

6:05

you feel the fear growing as

6:07

your character tells the tale. It's

6:10

just about being British being restrained

6:12

and being afraid of absolutely everything

6:14

around because there's something lingering in

6:17

the doom on the

6:19

horizon. What I found

6:22

is that Mark has provided me with

6:25

a huge range of absolutely wonderful characters

6:27

to explore right away from things

6:30

like the Signal Men and the MR James

6:32

classics that he's adapted through to the

6:34

new works. There was one pit village

6:37

where I got to play the

6:40

entirety of a village and a couple

6:42

that were moved

6:44

into the house, this

6:46

house in the village in this sort

6:48

of hostile atmosphere because

6:51

we don't like newcomers up

6:53

here and we

6:55

are proudly northern and proudly British in

6:57

that sort of sense. One

7:00

of the things that was the sort of shtick

7:02

if you like there, the USP was that I

7:04

was the entire cast for season one. So

7:07

it's on me and

7:09

then in season two Mark said I'm

7:12

gonna have to bring in some female

7:14

voices here and I said but you

7:16

know we've all watched multi-python we know

7:18

what a woman sounds like, it sounds

7:20

like this. It's like why can't I

7:22

do it? Why not? And

7:25

so we were wonderfully blessed

7:27

with people like Ilana Chanel,

7:30

my arch nemesis from No Sleep,

7:32

Erica Sanderson and many others.

7:34

So the way I approach things

7:37

is I look at the cornucopia

7:39

of wonderful writing that

7:41

Mark sends me and

7:44

then just get stuck in. You mentioned

7:46

writing and Mark we were talking a

7:48

little bit before the interview of how

7:50

Shadows at the Door really came about.

7:52

Its original iteration wasn't necessarily with audio

7:54

but it was really from your passion of creative writing

7:57

and I'd love you to talk a little bit about

7:59

how that started. and the evolution into

8:01

an audio drama anthology. Of course.

8:03

Yeah. So I was just

8:05

getting back in touch with creative writing as

8:07

an adult. And I very much wanted to

8:09

do this as a child, but unfortunately, it

8:12

was kind of beaten out of me

8:14

figuratively. Uh, but that wasn't going to be

8:16

a career option for me from, you know, like schools, family,

8:18

and all this thing. So I was just getting back into

8:21

it as an adult and I wanted to write for the

8:23

sake of writing. And, and

8:25

then, um, and I

8:27

just put them on a website for a few friends to

8:29

read. Um, but that website got

8:31

like more traffic than I thought. And it started

8:33

picking up and, and then, uh, I had guests writers

8:35

sending me in and I would put the best on

8:38

the site. And then eventually I thought,

8:40

well, you know what, let's do this property. Let's make a

8:42

book and, uh, crowdfunded, um,

8:44

becoming a small press, shout out

8:46

that are publishing and created

8:48

this wonderful book, uh, of which there are very

8:50

few copies left and, and, but

8:53

the audio book, um, uh,

8:55

did very well. And, and

8:57

continue to do well. And it just started reminding

8:59

me of all of the audio drama that I

9:01

would listen to as a child and a teenager.

9:03

I will go to the local library, rent the

9:05

cassettes and then, um, you know, please

9:08

don't tell a Stockton council, but I would then copy

9:10

the recets by recording them as well.

9:13

And, and then it just, and then

9:15

it just, my writing was always like this, less is more

9:17

approach. And I thought audio drama is perfect for this. And

9:20

the minute I started making my first audio

9:23

drama, it just felt so natural. And it

9:25

felt like this is my thing. This was

9:27

my niche. That was around 2018.

9:30

And it was then that, that book, cause

9:32

I met Mark at Horicon and he sold

9:34

me a book and, uh, then we got

9:36

talking and he said, I'd like to do

9:39

these in audio. And I said, that sounds

9:41

good to me. Um,

9:43

and that is basically how the podcast

9:45

got started. Yeah. Our eyes met across

9:47

a crowded trading hall. Absolutely. And

9:51

in your introduction, actually, Christophe, you, you,

9:53

you didn't, you sort of missed out

9:55

everything else that Mark does as, as

9:57

executive producer. He basically does everything. everything

10:00

from social media to the editing to

10:02

the Foley to the you know, it's

10:04

he is a one man the behemoth

10:08

of audio drama Producing

10:11

this quiet British horror and

10:14

I it was a joke between well,

10:16

it probably wasn't a joke to him But it was

10:18

a joke to me But I

10:20

would substitute my 40 minutes work and then that was

10:22

it the episode would come out But

10:24

mark was the one doing everything and

10:27

and and his his skills

10:29

have really gone from strength to strength

10:31

well That's a great segue about talking

10:33

about the production process because as we've

10:35

talked about in previous episodes of Leviathan

10:37

presents So much goes into the creation.

10:39

It's not just speaking to Mike but

10:41

the mixing the music the writing the

10:43

adaptation And that's not even speaking

10:45

about all the promotion mark Can you kind of

10:48

take us through your creative process? Starting

10:51

with the selection of the story and what goes

10:53

into adapting a story that you like into the

10:55

microphone Yeah, I am very much a film fan

10:57

And so when I started getting to audio drama

11:00

I would just close my eyes and imagine it

11:02

in a visual setting and I think one of

11:04

the best examples I can give To you of

11:06

how this process works is that

11:08

I was working with the great Jamie Flanagan

11:10

on a short story that Jamie had and

11:13

we were going to adapt this into audio and it

11:15

was set in a Like

11:18

a retirement home and it was a full-pro story and

11:20

it talked about how there was one

11:22

of the patients was just ranting and mumbling

11:25

the Declaration of Independence from his

11:27

room and it just said I

11:29

can always hear this guy and

11:31

then Immediately I could just hear

11:33

this very distressed voice just constantly in

11:35

the background mumbling out of order Echo

11:38

reverberating through the hallway and then

11:41

the opening paragraph of the story is a care

11:43

worker walking down a long corridor Great that will

11:45

get louder and softer as we walk past it

11:48

and then I remember just shaking the writer and

11:50

say this is what we must Do that would

11:52

say it will sound so good And

11:54

then I think the great thing about being the lead writer

11:56

and the sound designer is that I can Don't

11:58

get lazy in the script, but like I'll put all

12:00

the sound design into the script and then when

12:02

I'm producing it, I'm like, oh, well, I can't

12:05

go past at this moment. Oh, and the drivers

12:07

listening to techno music. And then I can just

12:09

add all of these details in that I may

12:11

not have thought of in the writing process. But

12:14

I will say as well, the longest part of

12:16

any episode is the sound design, the production. I

12:18

used to say that it would take a week

12:20

to do an episode and that's just not true,

12:22

especially as our stories get longer. And

12:25

so many of my emails to David are sent at about three in

12:27

the morning. But

12:30

I then send it to

12:32

Nico Vitazzi, who is our composer

12:34

and he's done the music to

12:36

every episode and he's just amazing.

12:38

I want to say he's gone from strength

12:40

to strength, but every episode he sends me,

12:42

I almost say, Nico, you've outdone yourself. And

12:46

he's just constantly doing so brilliantly.

12:49

Yeah, it's just an honor to work with him and

12:51

we've developed this really good way of me

12:53

directing him and him. It's very rare that

12:55

we need to do many touch-ups to

12:58

the music once it comes in. Well, I think you brought

13:00

up a great element of what you guys create,

13:02

which is the music. In visual movies, you

13:04

can scare people with gore and everything

13:06

else, but it's so much more subtle

13:08

when it's with audio. And one of the

13:10

things I loved about listening to Shadows at

13:13

the Door were these great music cues that

13:15

you guys built in and

13:17

the sense of foreboding atmosphere

13:19

that Nico, your composer, created.

13:22

And it's just the right suggestive nudge that

13:24

the music gives you that you can feel

13:26

the hairs going up in the back of

13:29

your neck. So the episode we're listening to

13:31

today was written by M.R. James. Tell

13:33

the listeners a little bit about the story they're going to be hearing today.

13:37

So A Warning to the Curious

13:39

is a story written in the

13:41

early 20th century and it

13:43

was kind of written as a response to

13:45

the author having just seen a lot of

13:47

his friends go off to the front and

13:49

not come back. This is in World

13:52

War I. World War I, yeah, sorry. M.R.

13:54

James himself was very much a repressed

13:56

character. He was an eaten man, you

13:58

know, the most... famous private

14:01

public school however you want to call it in

14:03

England. Then he was Dean of

14:05

one of the colleges in Cambridge, King's College, and

14:08

he let people into his life but not he very much

14:10

had his walls up and there's a lot of theories about

14:13

him being what they

14:15

call a non-practicing homosexual and there's something about

14:17

that that I see in so much of

14:19

his stories. This longing to connect but also

14:22

being very scared of it and in so

14:24

many of James's stories the fear comes from

14:26

being like touched unexpectedly and he

14:28

wrote like this essay and what makes a good

14:30

horror story and it's like along

14:32

the lines of let the thing

14:35

appear unobtrusively like throughout the story

14:37

unobtrusively sorry throughout the story and let

14:39

the viewer or the audience not realize

14:41

what they've seen until it

14:43

comes and what we call with the Jamesian wallop where

14:45

the the story just like really goes

14:48

from zero to sixty and in that bit

14:50

at the end and with warning to

14:52

a curious James was a bit of

14:54

a snob being a lifelong academic and

14:56

this is a story which it's very much stay

14:59

in your lane don't do amateur

15:01

archaeology when you're on holiday and

15:04

the story of a man who seeks out

15:07

a crown which is said to protect

15:09

England from the Danes and the and

15:11

the French and the Germans and

15:14

in removing this protective crown he incurs the

15:16

wrath of the ghost that was guarding it

15:19

and well I say he because in the original story

15:21

it's it's a man and I and I and

15:23

whenever I look at these stories from James I

15:25

love them but they they are full of a

15:27

lot of what we call waffle a lot of

15:30

filler and a lot of

15:32

background information and academic stuff and it

15:34

is interesting but you can really tune

15:36

out as you're listening to it so

15:38

I try and fine-tune it and I

15:40

thought I would much rather see an

15:42

interesting story about this this woman this

15:44

feminist type as you described in the

15:46

story who turns up and incurs the

15:48

wrath of the ghost and I

15:50

wanted to lean into what I see in these

15:52

stories and I made the protagonist a man who

15:54

had lived into the man for most of his

15:57

life you know I'm a very proud queer writer

15:59

so I like to see more of this

16:01

in stories as well and it seems to

16:03

resonate with our listeners very well. Absolutely. And

16:05

David, you did such a great job of

16:07

embodying, I mean, I guess essentially James himself.

16:10

How did you approach the role and what

16:12

were the things that you tried to convey

16:15

in looking at this historical piece, but also,

16:17

you know, trying to almost give more voice

16:19

to what James left on set? How did

16:21

I approach being a repressed gay academic? David,

16:25

you need to convince me. You

16:29

need to convince them that you're a very good actor.

16:31

Okay, sorry. Yes. I've mentioned

16:34

previously about how a lot of

16:36

it is in the writing. The

16:38

writing speaks for itself and speaks

16:40

through the actors. So for me,

16:43

when I was looking and approaching

16:45

this script, as you say, it's

16:47

about trying not to say what

16:49

the character desperately wants to say.

16:51

I know I am

16:54

on dodgy ground here because society would extirpate

16:56

me if it knew, but I still want

16:58

to be a part of society even though

17:00

it's thin ice. I think that's the case

17:02

whether it's 2020, 2019, 2016, 2020, or whatever

17:05

that it's a very human thing to

17:12

want to be a part of a group, but

17:14

then to have that knowledge that if they

17:16

knew something about you, you'd be gone. And

17:19

I think you did this really

17:21

great job in the episode of conveying

17:23

like these little code words that were

17:25

used at the time to convey the

17:28

relationships back then. And I remember

17:30

you guys talking a little bit about it

17:32

after the episode. And it's one of the

17:34

things that our listeners should know after each

17:36

episode of Shadows at the Door. There's a

17:38

wonderful discussion with Mark and David discussing

17:41

both the episode and also some of

17:43

the philosophy behind it. But you guys

17:45

talked about when James is talking about

17:47

his travels with his friend. And if

17:50

two women went together, they'd be sisters. And

17:52

these were just coded words that people used

17:54

at the time to, I mean,

17:56

honestly, it's probably to make all the straight

17:58

people feel comfortable. more than anything

18:01

else. It's giving an excuse for,

18:03

and it's a very, a very British

18:06

excuse of, oh, we don't need to

18:08

think about them possibly being gay because

18:10

they're colleagues or they're brothers

18:12

or sisters or whatever. So I don't

18:14

need to think about that because there's

18:16

this excuse. We wouldn't want anyone to

18:18

feel uncomfortable, would we? Absolutely.

18:21

And more than that, it was at the time of the

18:23

story, it was actually a crime for two men to have

18:26

sex. And I think that

18:28

was on a repeal. Was it 60? I thought

18:31

it was 73. Oh, well, there you go. Later than I

18:33

thought. But

18:35

just to quickly add, David's character in the

18:37

introduction, as he's about to kind of give

18:39

us a set up for the story, he

18:42

sounds so polite and so nice.

18:44

Yes. So sad. It's

18:46

so subtle. And then the moment we fade

18:48

into the story, he sounds like a different

18:51

man because David is like, oh, hello. Nothing

18:54

bad happened to me. I'm

18:57

doing him an injustice, but David's basically playing

19:00

two different characters in that story when he's

19:02

not formed. You also did a gender swap

19:04

of one of the main characters. You touched

19:06

on that before. Tell

19:08

me a little bit about that decision

19:10

for Paxton. Tell a little bit about

19:13

her character. It was his character when

19:15

it was originally written. Yeah. So

19:17

Paxton in the original story is an

19:19

overly confident man who just reckons he

19:21

can solve this old mystery. He actually

19:24

does. And then he immediately regrets what

19:26

he's done, and he's struggling to get

19:28

people to believe him. And these, to

19:30

me, are very typical male traits. And

19:33

I'm just more interested in

19:36

each time we do an adaptation of just doing something a little bit different.

19:39

What kind of shadows of the door edge

19:41

can we do to that? And I thought

19:43

there's no reason why this couldn't be a

19:45

woman. And sometimes writers, when writers want to

19:47

gender swap a character in that time, they'll

19:49

make them completely infallible because, oh, well, if

19:53

it's any other gender better man, I need to make

19:55

sure that they're really infallible. I thought, you know, no,

19:57

other genders are capable of making these terrible mistakes as

19:59

well. But then I

20:02

noticed the moment I made Paxton a

20:04

woman, just the realization of her hubris

20:07

just became so clear. And

20:09

I dare say to me it makes more sense

20:12

that she gets there quicker than maybe the male

20:14

Paxton would have done. And I also knew that

20:16

Alana Chanel, the actor playing Paxton, could

20:18

nail this role because Alana is fantastic.

20:20

And that's not her, she's Australian. And

20:22

she's just doing such a good job

20:25

of this prim and proper English character.

20:28

And I absolutely adore her performance. Your

20:31

whole cast does a great job on it. Tell

20:35

our listeners a little bit about the

20:38

upcoming season of Shadows at the

20:40

Door and what's coming next for

20:42

your studio. Yeah, so we

20:45

are currently on a mid-season break of

20:47

season three. We've had some incredible stories

20:49

from some amazing guest writers

20:51

in the season so far and some from

20:53

myself. In the second half of the

20:55

season we have some more classic adaptations. We're finally tackling

20:58

Lovecraft. Our listeners have been asking

21:00

us to for a while and I thought the best thing

21:02

about Lovecraft is the thing that his work inspired. So I'll

21:04

need to find some stories of his that I like. And

21:08

thankfully I found one that really resonates with

21:10

me that I remembered. And

21:12

we have another James adaptation. And we're doing

21:14

a period piece. We have an episode set,

21:16

give you a little bit of a scoop,

21:18

during the Norwegian occupation in World War II.

21:21

And I'm very excited for that story. And

21:25

we'll be ending the season with

21:27

a feature-length episode of a recurring

21:29

character of my own that

21:31

David plays so beautifully called Jeffrey

21:33

Troughton. He started off as like

21:35

a very M.R. James type of

21:37

protagonist. And it's been so

21:39

fun to watch this man not be able to

21:41

deny the existence of ghosts anymore. And now he's

21:44

actively seeking them out. And what I'm doing is

21:46

putting him in America to chase a like a

21:48

legendary story. And at the moment it's

21:50

going to come in at probably about two hours, 15 minutes

21:52

with a cast of 27 actors. Oh wow. That's

21:55

so great. It's how have you found most

21:58

of your cast so far besides David being being

22:00

one of the greatest networking sources in all

22:03

audio drama. Yeah, I mean, you

22:05

need 20 characters. David can

22:07

play 12 of them, you know? But

22:10

David has been keen to connect me

22:12

with actors who he really loves, such

22:15

as Eric Sanderson and Jake

22:18

Benson and Arna Shalnell. We connected

22:20

at a podcast convention. So

22:22

they fell into my lap when I was looking for

22:24

more actors. Like, oh, this is quite fortuitous. And

22:27

then, funnily enough, I have in the past,

22:29

when Twitter worked a little bit, I could do

22:32

casting calls on Twitter and you would

22:34

get a tidal wave of applications and

22:36

people who didn't necessarily read the brief.

22:39

But I have met incredible actors who

22:41

are in various stages of their career.

22:44

And I actually just cast this chap who's in the

22:46

American feature vampire. And he has a small role in

22:48

this one. And I knew him and said, you're fantastic.

22:50

I want to see you in more of our productions.

22:53

Unfortunately, Twitter doesn't really work anymore. So

22:57

well, the ship sings. But

22:59

for example, I'm doing a production set

23:01

in Sweden. We are adapting Count Magnus,

23:04

an MR James story, which is set

23:06

there. And I've been struggling to connect

23:08

with Swedish voice actors, but I've been

23:10

working with an actor, Karen Heindahl, who

23:12

is also a podcast voice acting legend.

23:14

And she basically just went

23:16

through all of Sweden, it seems, and gave

23:19

me a list of amazing actors to connect

23:21

with. I

23:23

think it's not being afraid to ask people, do you know anyone

23:25

who's brilliant? Because I know for a fact, if you ask me,

23:27

I'm going to give you a list of at least 20 people.

23:31

I'm like higher than them. Brilliant. So,

23:33

Margaret, as we're winding down, if you

23:35

could adapt any horror story in the

23:37

world copyright and budget to the wind,

23:39

what would be your ultimate joy to

23:41

bring to both horror fans and audio

23:44

drama fans? Every year I check to

23:46

double check when Robert Aikman died. And

23:48

his copyright doesn't expire for so long. But

23:52

recently I've been musing on who goes there.

23:54

This is the novella that became the thing

23:56

from another planet. And then John Carpenter's the

23:58

thing. And I love. snowy

24:00

horror. I would absolutely love to

24:02

have a go at that. And

24:04

frankly, I would love to work

24:07

with I Am Legend. I think I Am

24:09

Legend would work so well in audio when

24:11

every night the vampires surround his house and

24:14

ask him to come outside. That would sound

24:16

so good, but unfortunately I think

24:18

the copyright doesn't expire in that for like 40

24:20

years. What

24:22

about you? For me, my

24:25

predilections move towards science fiction.

24:28

So to me, I would

24:30

love to, I'd love to

24:32

honestly see Battlestar Galactica come into audio drama

24:34

because I think there's so many

24:37

stories that you could tell off of

24:39

that of people's individual struggles of being

24:41

in space, the premise of mankind as

24:44

a species being refugees. And also I

24:46

think from an audio perspective, the claustrophobia

24:48

of being in a tin can in

24:50

space, the silons, you know, you can

24:53

do such great audio design with their

24:55

voices. There have been some great stuff

24:57

with that. And you've also got like

25:00

great space battles that I think you could

25:02

do really creatively. If you're listening Ron Moore

25:04

and you want someone to adapt Battlestar Galactica

25:06

to an audio drama, give us the call.

25:08

I know David and David notes great actors. As long as

25:11

I can be guys, I don't mind. Well,

25:14

listen, you guys, it has been such a

25:16

pleasure to have you here. It's been a

25:18

pleasure to listen to Shadows at the Door.

25:21

Such an intimate form of horror. I mean,

25:23

horror podcasts are, there's a lot of them

25:25

out there, but I think with Mark and

25:27

David, you two have created is, is really

25:30

distinctive and eerie and gets you by

25:32

the feels. Where can our listeners find and

25:34

support Shadows at the Door? And if they

25:36

like what they hear, where can they keep

25:38

listening? You can find Shadows at the Door

25:41

wherever you listen to podcasts. And if people

25:43

would like to donate to the running costs

25:45

of the show. And that's the thing. We

25:47

put all of our episodes out in full

25:49

for free for everyone because David and I

25:51

very much value just sharing art and it

25:53

is not perhaps the most, it's not

25:56

the most successful business model. Not the most lucrative,

25:58

no. But it's one that makes us feel warm

26:00

and busy. Yeah, yeah.

26:02

And I'm currently having a go at doing

26:05

this full time, which is, you know, as

26:07

we all know, tricky. So, yeah, so if

26:09

people would like to donate, there's a one

26:11

off, we have a Ko-fi account, it's ko-fi.

26:14

And we also can be found on Patreon

26:16

at shadows of the dark productions, and with

26:18

the list for pounds a month, you get

26:21

access to an ad fee free loads of

26:23

behind the scenes info, and then very silly

26:25

bonus episodes when one of us

26:27

gets drunk and tries to tell a Stephen

26:29

King story from start to finish from memory.

26:33

I'm not an actor, and I still do

26:35

all the voices. It is very good. Your

26:37

pet cemetery is fantastic. I'll

26:39

resist doing the voice. Yeah,

26:41

so there's all those, the

26:43

drunk ghost stories, and

26:46

various other things, access to special access

26:48

to the discord, over and above the

26:51

sort of normal access to the discord. But

26:53

yes, and we are also on

26:55

all of the social medias, right away

26:58

from sinking ships to talking ticks. Well,

27:01

we'll be listing all of those links in the show

27:03

notes below. So definitely check them out. Mark

27:06

and David, thank you so much for

27:08

being on Leviathan Presents. And

27:10

for all of our listeners, now

27:12

we're very excited to listen to

27:15

a warning to the curious one

27:17

of the episodes from the horror

27:19

anthology Shadows at the Door. Please

27:21

enjoy. Thank

27:48

you. Welcome

28:11

to Season 2, Episode 8.

28:13

I'm your host, Mark Nixon.

28:16

Now, it'll come as no surprise to you that

28:19

I've read a lot of ghost stories. In

28:21

fact, I couldn't possibly hazard a guess at

28:23

how many. And if I'm feeling rather pretentious,

28:25

I would dare to call myself a

28:28

connoisseur. Now,

28:30

at this point, you'd be wondering, why am I showing

28:33

off? Because I'd like you to

28:35

consider the gravity of the following statement.

28:37

Today's ghost story is one

28:40

of the best I've ever read. The

28:43

story has a wonderful title, A

28:46

Warning to the Curious, and was

28:48

written by none other than M.R.

28:50

James. Come on,

28:52

this is Shadows at the Door. Of course it was going to

28:54

be him. This

28:57

story was written after World War I. James

29:00

didn't fight because he was the provost

29:02

of King's College in Cambridge. The

29:05

university provided a stream of men for the

29:08

war, many of whom James

29:10

knew personally, and sadly, many

29:12

of these men didn't return. Not

29:14

only this, but the fields of Cambridge were

29:16

offered as a field hospital for wounded soldiers.

29:19

James would wander the hospital and be exposed

29:22

to the horrors of war secondhand as he

29:24

saw the injuries of the men and

29:26

the terror in their eyes. I

29:30

mention this because sadness has woven into the

29:32

very fabric of this story, and

29:34

the context in which it was written will

29:36

no doubt enhance your experience. But

29:40

it's not all doom and gloom today. Join

29:42

David and I after the story for a discussion, and

29:44

you can even hear a snippet of the time I

29:47

spoke with the ultimate M.R. James fan, Mark

29:49

Gatiss. But

29:52

for now, gather around the fire,

29:54

pour yourself some tea, and

29:57

we'll begin. Are

30:16

you sure I can't get you a cup of tea?

30:20

No? Very

30:22

well. It's

30:26

remarkable how uncomfortable an Englishman can

30:28

be when his company declines tea.

30:31

Well, I shall enjoy mine all the

30:33

same. Earl

30:38

Grey, you know, marvellous stuff. You

30:43

see, that's bergamot you can smell.

30:45

A little cornflour and a... yes,

30:48

a flutter of lemon. Oh,

30:52

lovely. The

30:57

thing is, you must never, never

30:59

have it with milk. It destroys it completely. Look,

31:02

are you sure you don't? Sorry,

31:04

this really is a force

31:06

of habit. But

31:10

yes, I promised you

31:12

the story, didn't I? Let's

31:16

see. Well,

31:18

cast your mind to the east

31:21

coast. Specifically, the place I ask

31:23

you to consider is the town

31:25

Seabra. It's not very

31:28

different now from what I remember it to have been when

31:30

I was a child. Marshes

31:32

intersected by embankments to the

31:34

south, recalling the early chapters

31:36

of Great Expectations. Then

31:40

flat fields to the north,

31:42

merging into woodland. And

31:45

of course, a long seafront by the

31:47

town with a spacious, spacious church

31:49

behind it. Yes.

31:53

I remember the bells of the

31:55

church very well. The

31:58

railway ran down to its... little terminus

32:00

farther along from here, just near

32:02

an old windmill. And

32:05

I know I encumber you with such

32:07

details. The truth is, it's the kind

32:09

of place that causes these details to

32:11

spill forth when spoken about. In

32:14

fact, just indulge

32:16

a little longer, if you would

32:18

be so kind. So,

32:28

walk away from the sea and the

32:30

town, past the station, and turn up

32:32

the road on the right. It's

32:35

a sandy road, parallel with the railway,

32:38

and if you follow it, it climbs

32:40

to somewhat higher ground. And

32:42

on the left, going northward, is an

32:45

area of uncultivated land, while on your

32:47

right, towards the sea, is

32:49

a belt of old fir trees, wind

32:52

beaten, thick at the top, with that

32:54

slow balls seaside trees have seen

32:57

from the skyline from the train, you

32:59

would tell in an instant, if you did

33:01

not already know it, that you were approaching

33:03

a windy coast. Well,

33:06

on top of that little hill, a line

33:08

of fir strikes out and runs towards the

33:11

sea. There is a ridge

33:13

that goes that way, and the ridge

33:15

ends in a rather well-defined mound, commanding

33:18

the level fields of rough grass and

33:20

a little knot of fir trees crowns

33:22

it. And here

33:24

you may sit on a hot

33:26

spring day, very well content to

33:29

look at blue sea and white

33:31

windmills, red cottaged bright green grass,

33:33

church tower and distant Martello tower

33:36

on the south. As

33:41

I said, I knew Seabra as

33:43

a child, but a gap

33:45

of a good many years separates my early

33:47

knowledge from that which is more recent. Still,

33:51

it keeps its place in my affections. Well,

33:56

that is to say, it's used to. But

34:03

of course, this is why

34:05

you are here. I

34:09

used to go to Seabra quite regularly

34:12

for golf. I went with... Well,

34:17

back then we would have been called friends.

34:22

There was a particular hotel that we

34:24

always stayed in, and we always chose

34:26

the same two rooms. They

34:28

had an interior door between them, so you

34:30

could rent two rooms but walk freely between

34:32

them without entering the hall. There

34:35

was also a sitting room downstairs we rather

34:38

enjoyed and would spend many a happy evening

34:40

there. Since

34:43

he died, I haven't cared to go

34:45

back, and we never did

34:47

anyhow after the particular thing that happened

34:50

on our last visit. It

34:57

was a decade or

34:59

so ago now, early spring,

35:02

and by some chance we found ourselves

35:04

almost the only people in the hotel.

35:07

So the ordinary public rooms were practically

35:09

empty, and we were the more surprised

35:12

when after dinner the sitting room door

35:14

opened and a

35:16

young woman popped her head in. She

35:20

was a rather rabbit-y anemic

35:22

subject, light hair and light

35:24

eyes, but not unpleasing. She

35:28

was dressed smartly and tweed, and asked

35:30

rather politely if the room was private.

35:34

Naturally we did not growl, and I... What

35:38

was it, Henry? It

35:40

doesn't matter. One of us invited her to take a

35:42

seat. She was ever

35:44

so thankful, and in fact seemed quite

35:46

relieved. It was

35:49

unusual more then than it is now to

35:51

find a woman travelling solo, never mind one

35:53

as young as her. She

35:55

was very much one of those feminist types

35:57

with an air of good education behind her.

36:01

Stranger still was the fact she

36:03

seemed eager for company. She

36:05

seemed a reasonably kind person, so we urged

36:08

her to make herself at home. Soon

36:11

with the standard pleasantries out of the way, it

36:13

became clear to me that after a few minutes

36:15

this visitor of ours was in a rather

36:18

nervous state, and as this

36:21

became more clear I put away my

36:23

book and gave her my full

36:25

attention. How

36:29

did she start again? Umm...

36:32

Oh yes, um... You'll

36:34

think it very odd of me, but the fact

36:36

is I've had something of a shock. Perhaps

36:40

her stiff drink is the ticket? Oh, that's

36:42

your solution to everything. Joking

36:44

aside, we have plenty to spare if you'd care to

36:46

join us. And

36:53

no thank you, we're fine. Aren't we,

36:55

James? Oh, yes, fine. Fine.

36:58

Do you need anything from the staff? No, thank you.

37:01

Yes, all fine here, thank you. Are

37:07

you quite all right? Yes, I...

37:11

Calm yourself. I'm

37:14

Paxton, by the way. Carina Paxton. Oh,

37:17

pleased to meet you, Paxton. I'm James King, and this

37:19

is Henry Long. A

37:21

pleasure. Oh yes, I saw your names on

37:23

the check-in list. Yes, of

37:25

course. So

37:28

could I ask you for a word of advice? By

37:31

all means, of course. Thank

37:34

you. But first,

37:36

some context. More than a

37:38

week ago, I cycled over to Frostham to see the church.

37:41

I studied architecture, and it's got one of

37:43

those pretty porches with niches and shields. I

37:47

took a photograph of it, and then an old man

37:49

who was tending to the grounds came and asked if

37:51

I'd like to see inside. Of

37:53

course, I jumped at the chance. There

37:55

wasn't much inside, but I told him it was

37:57

nice enough and very clean, but nothing. and

38:00

clipped the port. So

38:02

on that topic he asked if I knew the meaning of

38:04

the coat of arms. Would this

38:06

be the three crowns? The very same. I

38:09

wasn't familiar, but the old man told me it was

38:11

the old arms of the kingdom of East Anglia. He

38:14

pressed if I knew the meaning, and when I admitted I

38:16

didn't, he took the

38:19

mick a little if I'm honest. But he

38:21

did let me know they represented the three holy

38:23

crowns buried by the coast to keep the Germans

38:25

from landing over the years. We

38:27

were then joined by the rector, and the

38:29

old man recruited him immediately to confirm his story

38:31

of the crown. I

38:34

know I'm rambling here. Oh no no no, by all means.

38:37

Are you sure? Please continue.

38:40

OK, so we

38:42

spoke a little while. Well, they spoke at

38:44

me, and the rector initially seemed reluctant to

38:46

go into much detail, yet the old man

38:49

pressed on. By this

38:51

point I was curious enough to actually encourage it

38:53

myself, if only to see why the old man

38:55

was so excited. Eventually

38:57

the rector filled me in on the local legend

38:59

of the three crowns. Mmm. Are

39:02

you familiar? No, no. Well,

39:05

this was his point. Nobody seemed

39:07

to know it anymore. Me neither. The

39:10

old story said that these three crowns were buried

39:12

in different places near the coast to keep off

39:14

the Danes or the French or the Germans. They

39:17

said that one of the three was dug

39:19

up a long time ago, and another disappeared

39:21

by the encroaching sea, so that there was

39:23

only one left still doing its work, keeping

39:26

off invaders. Heh heh. And,

39:29

well, I looked into it. Oh yes?

39:33

Yeah. In

39:35

1687 a crown was dug up at Rendlesham

39:37

on the coast, and I do believe

39:39

this is one of the three supposedly holy

39:41

crowns. Then on

39:43

the south coast there was a Saxon royal palace

39:46

which is now under the sea, so

39:48

there perhaps was the second crown. And

39:53

up beyond these two, they

39:55

said, lay the third. There

40:00

it is. Sort of. It

40:04

all came to light with the mention of the

40:06

name of William Ager. And

40:08

who might that be? Well,

40:13

these acres are a very old name in these

40:15

parts, I was told. Apparently

40:17

they didn't seem to be people of quality

40:19

or big landowners. No,

40:22

instead their family seems to be the

40:24

guardians of the last crown. Hmm,

40:28

I see. The first

40:31

one known was Nathaniel Ager, born

40:33

and raised here and was said to have camped out at

40:35

the location of the crown during the whole of the War

40:37

of 1870. William

40:40

his son did the same it seems during the

40:42

South African War, and young William,

40:44

his son, who only died

40:46

fairly recently, took lodging at the

40:48

cottage nearest the spot. This

40:52

seemed to hasten his end, for he was

40:54

consumptive apparently, the man just wasted

40:57

away. This is by exposure

40:59

and night watching, you understand. And

41:02

he seemed to be the last. So

41:04

the last of the holy crowns no longer had

41:06

a guardian. You

41:10

can imagine how interested I was in all this. Well,

41:13

naturally. And

41:15

as I left, the only thing I could think of

41:17

was how to hit upon the spot where the crown

41:19

was supposed to be. And

41:23

now I was shed-lefted alone. Oh?

41:27

It was fate, perhaps. As I

41:29

circled back past the churchyard, my eye caught

41:31

a fairly new gravestone, and on it was

41:33

the name William Ager, who had indeed died

41:35

quite recently. I travelled into

41:37

town and asked around about the man, a

41:39

little judicious questioning in the right place, and

41:41

I could perhaps find the cottage. And

41:43

of course by then, I was determined after

41:46

all, find the cottage. And

41:51

yes, fate would strike again when I found myself

41:53

in the bookshop. They had some

41:55

old books by Ager that had found their way to

41:58

them after his death, and I found... This,

42:03

Eger's prayer book. Nathaniel

42:06

Eger is my name, and England is my

42:08

nation. Seaburrer is my dwelling

42:11

place, and Christ is my salvation. When

42:14

I am dead and in my grave, in all my

42:16

bones are rotten. I hope the

42:18

Lord will think on me when I am quite forgotten. This

42:23

was dated 1754, and there

42:25

were many more entries of Eger's, Nathaniel,

42:27

Frederick, William and so on, ending with

42:29

our William just last year. You

42:33

see, anybody would call it the greatest bit

42:35

of luck. I mean, I did.

42:39

But I don't know. And

42:42

of course, I asked the shopkeeper

42:44

about the cottage, and of course, she knew

42:46

just where the cottage was. And

42:48

so, of course, off I went. I'm

42:51

going to assume you found the place. Of course I

42:53

did. At this point, I'm convinced the very

42:55

stars would have aligned to guide me there. All

42:58

I had to do was dig for the thing. Now

43:01

I know something about digging in these barrows. I've opened

43:03

many of them in the down country. But

43:06

that was in broad daylight and was meant to help. I

43:09

had to prospect very carefully here before I put a spade

43:11

in. Still, the soil was

43:13

very light and easy, and there was already a rabbit

43:15

hole that might be developed into a sort of tunnel.

43:19

I spent all night out there. I

43:23

made my tunnel, supported

43:25

it and filled it once I was done. But

43:28

the main thing is, I've

43:30

got the crown. To the Lord,

43:32

really? That's incredible. No man alive

43:35

has even seen a Saxon crown. This

43:37

is fantastic. The worst of it is... I don't know how

43:39

to put it back. I've put it back. My

43:47

dear lady, you've made one of the most exciting finds I've

43:49

ever heard of in this country.

43:52

Indeed. What's the difficulty? Of

43:54

course, it ought to go to a museum. But if you're

43:56

worried about the owner of the land and treasure trove and

43:58

all that, we can... I can certainly help

44:01

you through that. I know

44:03

one's going to make a fuss about

44:05

technicalities in a case of this kind.

44:07

I can't understand you. I

44:09

don't know how to put it back. You'll

44:13

forgive me, I hope, if I seem

44:15

impertinent. But are you quite

44:17

sure you've got it? Well,

44:19

yes, I was going to ask the

44:22

same thing. I hadn't dared, unlike my

44:24

bold partner here. There's

44:26

no doubt about that. I

44:28

have it here, in my room, locked

44:31

up in my bag. You can come and look

44:33

at it if you like. I

44:35

won't... I won't bring

44:37

it downstairs. Well,

44:40

alright then. We

44:46

were not likely to let the chance

44:49

slip. We went with

44:51

her. Her room was only a few doors off

44:53

for an hour. The

44:55

staff were collecting shoes in the passage,

44:58

so we thought afterwards we were... We

45:01

were not sure. Paxton

45:03

was in a worse state of shivers

45:05

than before, and went hurriedly into the

45:07

room and beckoned us after her. She

45:10

turned on the light and shut the door

45:12

carefully. Then she

45:14

unlocked the kit bag and produced

45:16

a bundle of clean pocket handkerchiefs

45:18

in which something

45:20

was wrapped. She

45:23

laid it on the bed and undid it. I

45:26

can now say I have seen

45:28

an actual Anglo-Saxon crown. It

45:31

was of silver, as the Rendlesham one is

45:33

always said to have been, and it was

45:36

set with some gems, mostly antique

45:38

intaglios and cameos, and

45:40

was of rather plain,

45:42

although almost rough workmanship.

45:47

In fact, it was like those

45:49

you see on the coins and in the

45:51

manuscripts. I found no

45:53

reason to think it was later than the ninth

45:56

century. I was intensely interested, of

45:58

course, and I wanted to turn it on. it

46:00

over in my hands, but Paxton

46:02

prevented me. She

46:05

ordered me not to touch it, and

46:07

with a sigh that was, I declare to

46:09

you, dreadful to hear, she took

46:12

it up and turned it about so that we

46:14

could see every part of it. Once

46:18

asked if we had seen enough, we

46:20

nodded. She then wrapped it

46:22

up and locked it in her bag,

46:24

and stood looking at her stumbly. Long

46:28

offered that she come back downstairs and tell

46:30

us what the trouble was, but

46:33

strangely enough she asked us

46:35

to go first and see

46:37

if the coast was clear. We

46:40

were almost amused by the request. We

46:42

had not been suspicious in any way, and the

46:44

hotel, as I said, was practically

46:47

empty. However, Long

46:49

and I were beginning to have inklings

46:51

of, um, well,

46:54

I don't know what it

46:57

was, and anyhow nerves are

46:59

infectious. So

47:03

we did go, first

47:05

peering out as we opened

47:07

the door, and just fancying

47:09

that a shadow, or

47:12

more than a shadow, but it made no

47:14

sound, passed from before

47:16

us to one side as we

47:18

came out into the passage. However,

47:24

at the time we didn't recognize the importance of

47:26

what we had just seen. No,

47:29

instead we whispered to Paxton that it was all

47:31

right, whispering seemed the proper

47:34

tone, and we went with

47:36

her between us back to the sitting room. I

47:40

was preparing, when we got there, to

47:42

be ecstatic about the unique interest of

47:44

what we had seen, to forget the

47:46

shadow in the hallway. And

47:50

when I looked at Paxton I saw that would

47:52

be terribly out of place, and

47:55

I left it to her to begin. to

48:00

be done. Or why not find out who the

48:02

owner of the land is? Oh no!

48:05

No! In

48:09

fact, you've been very kind, but don't

48:11

you see? It

48:14

has to go back, and I

48:16

don't go at night again, and the daytime is impossible!

48:19

And... well, the

48:21

truth is... I've

48:23

never been alone since I first touched it. What?

48:27

Oh look, my dear, I didn't know... I

48:32

think I do see, perhaps. But

48:35

wouldn't it be a relief to tell us

48:37

more clearly what the situation is? Perhaps.

48:42

Perhaps not. Okay,

48:50

but pull your chairs forward, I will not say it loudly. It

48:57

began when I was first prospecting. There

49:01

was always somebody there. A

49:03

man, standing by one of the fir trees. This

49:06

was in daylight, you know. He

49:08

was never in front of me, I always saw him with the

49:10

tail of my eye on the left or the right, and

49:13

he was never there when I looked straight for him. I

49:16

would lie down for quite a long time and

49:18

take careful observations and make sure there was no

49:20

one, and then when I got up to

49:22

dig again there he was. And

49:25

I could tell he was weak, gaunt,

49:29

but I didn't dare face up to him. And

49:32

when I was making the tunnel, of course he was worse, and

49:35

had I not been so keen on the crown that I

49:37

should have dropped everything and run for it. It

49:41

was like somebody was scraping at my back all

49:43

the time. I thought for the

49:46

longest time it was only soil dropping on me, but

49:48

as I got nearer the crown it was unmistakable. And

49:51

I actually laid it there and got my fingers on the

49:53

crown and poured it out. They

49:57

came a sort of cry behind me. Christ,

50:02

I can't describe to you both how

50:04

desolate it was and horribly threatening too.

50:08

It spoilt all pleasure in my discovery immediately.

50:11

And if I hadn't been the wretched fool that I am,

50:14

well, I should have put the thing back and left it.

50:17

But I didn't, did I? The

50:21

rest of the time was just awful. I

50:23

had hours to get through before I could decently come

50:25

back to the hotel. At first

50:28

I spent time filling up my tunnel and covering my

50:30

tracks and all the while he was there trying

50:32

to thwart me. Sometimes

50:35

you know you see him and sometimes you don't.

50:38

It's just as he pleases, I think. I

50:40

think he's there but

50:43

he has some power over your eyes. Well,

50:47

I wasn't off the spot very long before sunrise and then

50:49

I had to get back to the train to Seabra. And

50:53

though it was coming to daylight, I

50:55

don't know if that made it much better. There

50:58

were always hedges or gorse bushes or park

51:00

fences along the road. Always cover

51:02

is what I mean. And I was

51:04

never easy for a second. And

51:08

then when I began to come across people going

51:10

to work, they always looked behind me very strangely.

51:13

It might have been that they were surprised seeing anyone so

51:15

early but I didn't think that then

51:17

and I do not think that now. They

51:22

didn't look exactly at me. And

51:25

the port of the train was like that too. The

51:27

guard held open the door after I got on the carriage. Just

51:30

to see wood if there was somebody else coming you see.

51:34

And this crown, even if

51:36

I do put it back, you won't forgive me. I

51:39

can tell that. I

51:43

was so happy and four nights ago. Well,

52:13

you can imagine how useful we were in front

52:15

of a crying woman. Eventually

52:18

Long spat at me to help, and all

52:20

I could do was approach her and pat

52:22

her thrice on the back. Strangely,

52:25

such a gesture didn't garner much

52:27

response. But in

52:29

truth we didn't know what to say. Neither

52:31

of us were any good at this sort

52:34

of thing. But we

52:36

felt we must come to her rescue somehow,

52:38

and so it seemed the only thing we

52:40

could do was to offer to help put

52:43

the crown back, seeing

52:45

as she was so set on it. And

52:48

though at this point we didn't know how

52:50

exactly to take the story, I

52:53

did seem the right thing to do. If

52:56

these horrid consequences had come on

52:58

this poor woman, might there

53:01

not really be something in the original idea

53:03

of the crown having some curious

53:05

power bound up with it to guard

53:07

the coast? At

53:09

least that was my feeling, and I dare say it

53:11

was Long's too. And I

53:14

suspect you're feeling the same right about now. Yes?

53:17

Yes. It may come as

53:19

no surprise to you to learn that this

53:21

suggestion was very welcome to Paxton. The

53:25

question was, when could we do it? It

53:27

was nearing half-past ten. Could

53:30

we contrive to make a late walk that

53:32

very night? We looked

53:34

out of the window. There was a brilliant full

53:36

moon, the Paschal moon. It

53:38

was as clear a night as one could hope for.

53:41

Paxton had spoken of fate, and it seemed

53:44

yet again the stars were aligning to

53:46

accommodate her, knowing what happened next, and

53:49

thinking back now it is hard not

53:51

to assign importance to such things. Perhaps

53:55

man looks for design in an

53:57

indifferent and random universe. I

54:01

remain uncertain of such things. Long

54:06

undertook to retrieve all the boots.

54:09

Paxton brought her coat but didn't put it on. Instead

54:11

she wrapped it round the crown and carried it under

54:13

her arm. The staff of

54:15

the hotel watched us as we headed for the

54:17

seafront in the dead of night. We must have

54:19

seemed so strange to them. And

54:23

so we were off on this strange brand before

54:25

we had time to think how very much out

54:27

of the way it was. I

54:30

have told you this part quite shortly on

54:32

purpose, for it really does represent the haste

54:35

with which we settled our plan and took

54:37

action. There

54:41

was nobody about, nobody at

54:43

all. The Cebra out of

54:46

the season is a... it's

54:49

a very quiet place. I

54:51

confess to having thought that there might be

54:53

someone out there who might be conscious of

54:55

our business, but if

54:57

it was so, they were also conscious that

54:59

one who was on their side, so to

55:02

say, had us under

55:04

surveillance, and we saw no sign

55:06

of them. But

55:08

under observation we felt we were, as

55:11

I have never felt it at another

55:13

time. Especially

55:15

was it so when we passed out

55:17

of the churchyard into a narrow path

55:20

with close high hedges, through

55:22

which we hurried and so got out into

55:24

open fields. Then along

55:26

hedges, though I would sooner have been in

55:28

the open, where I could see

55:30

if anyone was visible behind me over a

55:33

gate or two, and then a swerve to

55:35

the left, taking us up on the ridge

55:38

which ended in that mound. As

55:43

we neared it, Henry felt, and I

55:45

felt too, that there were

55:47

what I can only call dim good

55:50

presences waiting for us, as

55:52

well as a far more actual one attending us.

55:57

Of Paxton's agitation all this time I can give

55:59

you no... adequate picture,

56:01

she breathed like a

56:03

hunted beast, and

56:06

we could not either of us look at her face. How

56:09

she would manage when we got to the

56:11

very place we had not trouble to think,

56:14

she had seemed so sure that that

56:16

would not be difficult. Nor

56:20

was it, I never saw anything like the dash

56:22

with which she flung herself at a particular spot

56:24

in the side of the mound, and tore

56:27

at it, so that in a very

56:30

few minutes the greater part of her body was out

56:32

of sight. We

56:34

stood holding the coat and that

56:36

bundle of handkerchiefs, and looking very

56:39

fearfully, I must admit, about her.

56:45

There was nothing to

56:48

be seen. A line

56:50

of dark furs behind us

56:52

made one skyline, more

56:55

trees and the church tower half a mile

56:57

off on the right, cottages and a windmill

56:59

on the horizon on the left, calm

57:02

sea dead in

57:05

front, faint barking of

57:07

a dog at a cottage on a gleaming

57:09

dike between us and it, full

57:12

moon making that path we

57:14

know across the sea, the

57:17

eternal whisper of the scotch furs just

57:19

above us and of the sea in

57:21

front. Yet,

57:25

in all this quiet and

57:28

acute and acrid

57:31

consciousness of a restrained

57:34

hostility very near us,

57:37

like a dog on a leash that might be

57:39

let go at any moment.

58:01

I'm going

58:03

to be okay.

58:07

Okay. Okay. Let

58:12

me just unravel the

58:15

goat. Don't

58:18

touch it. Let

58:21

him know, boy. Here

58:24

we are. The

58:32

moonlight just fell on it as she

58:34

snatched it. We

58:36

had not ourselves touched that bit of

58:38

metal, and I have thought since that

58:40

it was just as well. In

58:43

another moment, Paxton was out of the hole

58:45

again and busy shoveling back the soil with

58:47

hands that were already bleeping. She

58:50

would have none of our help, though, and it

58:52

was much the longest part of the job to

58:54

get the place to look undisturbed. I

58:57

don't know how, but she made a wonderful success

58:59

of it. At

59:02

last she was satisfied, and we

59:04

turned back. Here.

59:10

Let's go. Right

59:13

you are. I

59:35

say, Paxton, you've left your

59:38

coat there. See? Oh,

59:40

yes, that won't do. No,

59:42

that isn't my coat. Well,

59:44

of course it is. I mean, look. It's here in my

59:46

hands. Where's

59:50

the coat? Well,

1:00:01

we got out onto the road

1:00:03

and came rapidly back that way.

1:00:06

It was well before twelve when we got in,

1:00:08

trying to put a good face on it and

1:00:10

saying, long and I, oh what

1:00:12

a lovely night it was for a walk.

1:00:16

The staff were on the lookout for us,

1:00:18

and we made remarks like that for their

1:00:21

edification as we entered the hotel. The

1:00:24

fellow gave another look up and down the sea front

1:00:26

before he locked the front door and said, you

1:00:31

didn't meet many people about, I suppose, sir?

1:00:34

No, indeed, not at all, I said,

1:00:36

at which I remember Paxton looked oddly at

1:00:38

me. Only

1:00:40

I thought I see someone turn quickly up the

1:00:42

station road after you, gentlemen, he said. Still,

1:00:46

you was three together, I don't suppose

1:00:48

you meant mischief? I

1:00:53

didn't know what to say. Elong

1:00:56

merely said good night and we went off upstairs

1:00:58

to our room, promising to turn out all lights

1:01:00

and to go to bed in a few minutes.

1:01:05

Well, that's the crown back

1:01:07

safe. Yes, it's back. And

1:01:10

yes, you've done better not to

1:01:12

have ever touched it, but no real harm

1:01:14

has been done, and we

1:01:17

shall never give this away to anyone who would be

1:01:19

so mad as to go near it, isn't that right,

1:01:21

Henry? Most definitely. Besides,

1:01:23

don't you feel better yourself? I

1:01:26

don't mind confessing that on the way there, well, I was

1:01:30

very much inclined to take

1:01:32

your view about being followed. But

1:01:35

coming back, it wasn't the same thing,

1:01:37

was it? You've

1:01:41

absolutely nothing to trouble yourself about.

1:01:44

But I'm not forgiven. I've

1:01:47

got to pay for that miserable sacrilege still. I

1:01:50

know what you're going to say. The church might help? Yes, but it's

1:01:52

the body that has to suffer. outside

1:02:00

for me just now. Goodnight

1:02:04

gentlemen, thank you for coming with me. Will

1:02:07

you join us tomorrow? Oh yes, please do. Do

1:02:10

you golf? I have in the past, but

1:02:13

I'm not sure I should care for it tomorrow.

1:02:15

Get plenty of rest and join us in the

1:02:17

sitting room tomorrow, we insist. We

1:02:19

could go for a walk or you could join us

1:02:22

for cards? That would be nice. If

1:02:26

they like that would be nice. Goodnight. Well

1:02:28

anyway, goodnight. You'll

1:02:36

wonder why we didn't insist on accompanying

1:02:38

her to her room or seeing her

1:02:40

safe into the care of brothers or

1:02:42

someone. The fact

1:02:45

was she had nobody. She

1:02:47

had had a flat in the next town, but

1:02:49

lately had made up her mind to settle for

1:02:51

a time in Sweden, and

1:02:54

she had dismantled her flat and shipped off

1:02:56

her belongings and was whiling away a fortnight

1:02:58

or three weeks before making a start. Anyhow,

1:03:02

we didn't see what we could do better than sleep

1:03:04

on it. Not

1:03:07

sleep very much, as was my case. And

1:03:11

see what we felt like tomorrow morning.

1:03:16

We felt very different long and

1:03:19

I on as beautiful an April morning

1:03:21

as you could desire. And

1:03:23

Paxton also looked very different when we saw

1:03:25

her at breakfast. The

1:03:28

first approach to a decent night I seem ever

1:03:30

to have had was what she said. But

1:03:33

she was going to do as we had

1:03:35

settled, stay in probably all the morning, and

1:03:37

come out with us later. We

1:03:40

went to the Lynx, we met some other men and

1:03:42

played golf with them in the morning, and had

1:03:45

lunch there rather early so as not to be

1:03:47

late back. And all

1:03:51

the same, the snare

1:03:53

of death overtook. Whether

1:03:57

it could have been prevented, I don't know.

1:04:02

I think she would have been got at

1:04:04

somehow do what we might. Nonetheless

1:04:07

I have played these events countless times

1:04:10

in my mind. We

1:04:12

went straight up to the living-room. Paxton

1:04:14

was there reading quite peaceably. Long

1:04:17

asked if she would join us in around half

1:04:19

an hour, and she agreed. We

1:04:21

informed her we were off to have baths, and

1:04:23

would be back in that time. I

1:04:27

had my bath first, and went and lay down

1:04:30

on my bed, and slept for about ten minutes.

1:04:33

We came out of our rooms, room

1:04:35

together, and went to the sitting-room.

1:04:39

Paxton wasn't there, only her book.

1:04:43

Nor was she in her room, nor in

1:04:45

the downstairs rooms. We

1:04:47

shouted for her. A servant came out and

1:04:49

said, Why, I thought you gentleman was

1:04:51

gone out already, and so did the lady. She

1:04:54

heard you were coiling from the path there, and run out

1:04:56

in the hurry, and I looked out of the coffee-room window,

1:04:58

but I didn't see you. However,

1:05:00

she ran off down the beach that way. Without

1:05:06

a word we ran that way too. It

1:05:08

was the opposite direction to that of last

1:05:11

night's expedition. It wasn't

1:05:13

quite four o'clock, and the day was fair,

1:05:15

though not so fair as it had been.

1:05:18

So that was really no reason, you'd say,

1:05:20

for anxiety. With people about,

1:05:22

surely a woman couldn't come to much

1:05:24

harm. But

1:05:31

something in our look as we ran out must

1:05:33

have struck the servant, for he came out on

1:05:35

the steps and pointed, and said, Yes,

1:05:37

that's the way she went. We

1:05:40

ran on as far as the top of the shingle bank,

1:05:42

and there pulled up. There was

1:05:44

a choice of way, past the houses on the

1:05:46

seafront, or along the sand at the bottom of

1:05:48

the beach, which the tide being now out was

1:05:50

fairly broad. Or, of course,

1:05:52

we might keep along the shingle between those two

1:05:54

tracks, and have some view of both of them,

1:05:57

only that was heavy going. We chose

1:05:59

the tide. for that is the loneliest and someone

1:06:01

might come to harm there without being seen from

1:06:03

the public path. Jane!

1:06:14

There she is! Where?

1:06:17

Up ahead! Oh, there's

1:06:20

someone! Wexdon?

1:06:24

Wexdon! Wexdon!

1:06:27

She mustn't hear us! For

1:06:29

it's not her. The velocity must

1:06:31

be! What's she doing? I

1:06:33

can't see, but it's bloody me! It's

1:06:37

come out of nowhere! I think... I

1:06:41

think she's running after someone. She's waving her

1:06:43

arms, I think. Wexdon!

1:06:47

Wexdon! Hang on a... At

1:06:50

least tracks! Someone's barefoot,

1:06:52

it looks like. Barefoot?

1:06:56

A pretty quickly like boat. What? And

1:06:59

James! And these tracks joining them are they... Yes,

1:07:02

they look like women's shoe prints. It

1:07:04

must be her. Why is she

1:07:06

running after them? What

1:07:08

are you saying, James? I don't

1:07:11

like this, Henry. I don't like this at all. Wexdon!

1:07:16

Wexdon! Wexdon! Wexdon!

1:07:23

The notion of Wexdon running after anything like this

1:07:25

and supposing it to be the friend she

1:07:27

was looking for was very dreadful to us.

1:07:31

You can guess what we fancied, how the thing she

1:07:33

was following might stop suddenly and turn round on her

1:07:35

and what sort of face it would show, half seen

1:07:37

at first in the mist, which

1:07:40

all the while was getting thicker and thicker. And

1:07:43

as I ran on, wondering how the poor wretch could

1:07:45

have been lured into mistaking that other

1:07:48

thing for us, I remembered her saying, He

1:07:51

has some power over your eyes. And

1:07:54

then I wondered what the end would be, for

1:07:56

I had no hope now that the end could

1:07:58

be averted and, well, Henry. There is no need

1:08:00

to tell all the dismal and horrid thoughts that flitted

1:08:02

through my head as we ran on into the mist.

1:08:06

It was uncanny, too, that the sun should

1:08:09

still be bright in the sky, and we

1:08:11

could see nothing. We

1:08:13

could only tell that we were now past

1:08:15

the houses, and had reached that gap there

1:08:17

is between them and the old Martello Tower.

1:08:20

When you are past the tower, you know there

1:08:22

is nothing but shingle for a long way, not

1:08:25

a house, not a human creature, just that bit

1:08:27

of land, or rather shingle, with

1:08:29

the river on your right and the sea

1:08:31

on your left. Just

1:08:34

before that, just by the Martello Tower, you

1:08:37

remember there is the old battery close to

1:08:39

the sea. I believe

1:08:41

there are only a few blocks of concrete left now,

1:08:43

the rest has all been washed away, but

1:08:45

at this time there was a lot more,

1:08:48

though the place was a ruin. But

1:08:51

when we got there, we clambered to the top as quick

1:08:53

as we could to take breath, and look

1:08:55

over the shingle in front, if by chance the

1:08:57

mist would let us see anything. But

1:09:00

a moment's rest we must have, we had run

1:09:02

a mile at least. Nothing

1:09:05

whatever was visible ahead of us, and

1:09:07

we were just turning by common consent

1:09:09

to get down and run hopelessly on,

1:09:12

when we heard what

1:09:15

I can only call a laugh.

1:09:18

And if you can understand what

1:09:21

I mean by a breathless, a

1:09:24

lungless laugh, you have it,

1:09:27

but I don't suppose you can. It

1:09:29

came from below and swerved away

1:09:32

into the mist. I can make it.

1:10:01

We bent over the wall. Paxton

1:10:04

was there at

1:10:06

the bottom. You

1:10:09

don't need to be told that she was

1:10:11

dead. Her tracks

1:10:13

showed that she had run along the side

1:10:15

of the battery, had turned sharp round the

1:10:18

corner of it, and, smalled

1:10:20

out of it, must have dashed straight into the

1:10:22

open arms of someone who was waiting there. Her

1:10:26

mouth was full of sand

1:10:28

and stones, and her teeth

1:10:31

and jaws were broken to

1:10:33

bits. I

1:10:36

only glanced once at her face. At

1:10:41

the same moment, just as we were scrambling

1:10:44

down from the battery to get to the

1:10:46

body, we heard a shout, and

1:10:48

saw a man running down the bank of the

1:10:50

Martello Tower. He was the

1:10:53

caretaker stationed there, and his keen old

1:10:55

eyes had managed to describe through the

1:10:57

mist that something was wrong. He

1:11:00

had seen Paxton fall. Had

1:11:03

he, we asked, caught sight of anybody

1:11:06

attacking our friend? He

1:11:08

could not be sure. We

1:11:12

sent him off for help, and stayed by

1:11:14

the poor dead woman till they came with

1:11:16

the stretcher. It

1:11:18

was then that we traced out how he

1:11:20

had come on the narrow fringe of sand

1:11:23

under the battery wall. The

1:11:25

rest was shingle, and it was hopelessly

1:11:28

impossible to tell whither the other had

1:11:30

gone. What

1:11:34

were we to say at the inquest? It

1:11:37

was a duty we felt not to give up

1:11:40

there, and then the secret of the crown to

1:11:42

be published in every paper. I

1:11:45

don't know how much you would have

1:11:47

told, but what we did agree upon

1:11:49

was this, to say

1:11:51

that we had only made acquaintance with

1:11:53

Paxton the day before, and

1:11:56

that she had told us she was

1:11:58

under some apprehension of day-to-day. danger at

1:12:00

the hands of a man called William

1:12:02

Ager. Also

1:12:05

that we had seen some other tracks

1:12:07

besides Paxton's when we followed her along

1:12:09

the beach, but of

1:12:11

course by that time, well, everything

1:12:14

was gone from the sands. No

1:12:19

one had any knowledge, fortunately,

1:12:21

of any William Ager living in

1:12:23

the district. The

1:12:26

evidence of the man at the Martello

1:12:28

Tower freed us from all suspicion. All

1:12:31

that could be done was to return a verdict

1:12:33

of willful murder by some person

1:12:35

or persons unknown. Paxton

1:12:38

was so totally without connections that

1:12:40

all the inquiries that were subsequently

1:12:42

made ended in a no

1:12:45

thoroughfare. But

1:12:47

of course you know this, the

1:12:49

gaps in the official story and the local

1:12:51

gossip mill are what brought you to me,

1:12:54

after all. And

1:12:57

I have never been at Seabra or

1:12:59

even near it since. I

1:13:03

hope you tread carefully if you do

1:13:05

decide to go. After

1:13:07

all, I don't think there'll be much for you

1:13:09

to see all these years later. Perhaps

1:13:16

it's time for another cup. But

1:13:21

I do hope this

1:13:23

has all been helpful, I'm afraid. You don't

1:13:25

have much evidence other than my words and

1:13:27

the records you've already seen. Long

1:13:30

is dead, of course, and it did

1:13:32

happen so many years ago. But

1:13:36

nonetheless, the best of luck

1:13:38

in your research. It

1:13:41

has been a pleasure to meet you, Professor

1:13:44

Trautton. You've

1:13:50

been listening to a Shadows at the Door

1:13:52

production. Story by M.R. James.

1:13:56

Adaptation by Mark Nixon. Lana

1:14:00

Sharnell Gelbart, David Alt, Jake

1:14:02

Benson, Score by Nico Vitesse,

1:14:05

Production by Mark Nixon, Production

1:14:08

Copyright Shadows at the Door Publishing 2020.

1:14:11

If you enjoyed this production, please consider leaving

1:14:13

a review wherever you listen to podcasts, and

1:14:16

we'll see you very soon. Thanks

1:14:46

for watching! I'm Chris Stauff, signing off for now. Thanks

1:14:59

again for listening. I'll be talking to you

1:15:01

all real soon. Bye now. Hey

1:15:09

Jenny, have you ever heard of a vampire

1:15:11

slayer? Do you mean the

1:15:13

one girl in all the world with the strength and

1:15:15

skill to fight the vampire's demons and forces of darkness?

1:15:17

I do! Oh yeah, I've heard of her.

1:15:20

Cool. My name is Jenny

1:15:22

Owen Young, and I'm Chris DeRusso. And together

1:15:24

we spent six years watching every episode of

1:15:26

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, one at a time,

1:15:29

podcasting about each and every one. Never

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you. Our podcast is spoiler free,

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so first time viewers can listen

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yourself, I wish someone was brave enough to

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of Buffy? Your

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search is at an end, my friend, because

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we did exactly that. So if you've never

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watched Buffy, or if you're about to watch

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the series for the fourteenth time, come over

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and join us. Our podcast

1:15:58

is called Buffering the Vampire Slayer. and you

1:16:00

can learn more about it at bufferingcast.com. Listen

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