1:59

Burton Hall. It's

2:02

a little ghost story for Halloween

2:04

written by me. So

2:07

let's begin.

2:54

The raindrops fell in wavy streams against the foggy glass

2:56

as Theresa stared out a window. The sky had gone hazy and

2:58

dark with a sudden rainstorm. Theresa

3:00

hadn't slept much

3:09

since arriving to Burton Hall and

3:12

she found herself vacantly staring, lost

3:15

in thought, often. The

3:18

rain had hurt in one of those trances. Dread

3:23

dripped constantly in her brain like

3:25

a leaky faucet since she'd arrived,

3:28

making even simple decisions feel

3:31

heavy with consequence.

3:34

She hadn't even been able to decide

3:36

on a bedroom at Burton Hall yet. She

3:39

was still sleeping on the old lumpy

3:41

settee in the drawing room a week after

3:43

her arrival. Through

3:46

the distorted liquid view, Theresa

3:49

saw the sky flash with lightning.

3:53

Then a deep rumble filled the atmosphere.

3:59

She heard a small tap, tap, tap

4:02

at the front door. Was

4:05

that the door she wondered at first,

4:07

perplexed? Maybe

4:09

the knights were just checking in on her, a

4:12

soft Californian, during her

4:14

first proper English rainstorm. She

4:17

thought what to laugh. After

4:20

turning on the foyer light, she

4:22

opened the door and on the other

4:24

side was a little girl with curly

4:26

raven hair. Oh,

4:29

hello, Theresa said to her, surprised.

4:33

Hello, the girl responded cheerfully.

4:35

What are you doing out in this

4:37

weather? Please come in. Theresa

4:39

opened the door wider to make way.

4:43

The girl walked in without hesitation and

4:45

then smiled at

4:46

Theresa, expectedly.

4:51

Once Theresa realized, the

4:53

girl came without a specific

4:55

mission in mind. She began.

5:02

I'm Theresa Soto, she said. What's

5:05

your name? Winnie Knight. Oh,

5:09

you must be the Knight's daughter. Are the

5:11

caretakers your parents? She

5:13

nodded enthusiastically. Well

5:16

then, you must know this house and property

5:18

really well. I do,

5:21

she nodded. I bet you

5:23

could show me a thing or two about this house. Would

5:26

you like to come in for a cup of tea? Yes,

5:29

please, I'd like that. Are

5:31

your parents okay with you being here on your own? Theresa

5:34

asked, cautiously. Yes,

5:37

they know I come here sometimes. Alright

5:40

then, you shouldn't be outside in this

5:42

weather anyway. You should probably

5:45

stay until the lightning

5:46

lets out for a while, at least. Glad

5:49

for the company, Theresa closed

5:51

the door and

5:54

led the girl to the kitchen. Following

6:00

her, Winnie didn't say a word, but

6:03

seemed completely at ease in the house and

6:05

with Teresa.

6:08

As Teresa filled the kettle, Winnie

6:11

pulled a chair out from the long

6:13

kitchen table and sat down. Teresa

6:17

asked, How old are you Winnie? Seven.

6:21

Wow, seven. So

6:23

independent, on your own, exploring. I've

6:27

been here my whole life, you know that, Winnie giggled.

6:30

Do I? Teresa said, smiling,

6:33

as she poured steaming water into the tea

6:36

cups. Yes,

6:38

I don't think I'll ever leave. Winnie's

6:40

smile dropped. Teresa

6:43

wasn't certain what caused this alteration

6:45

in her countenance, but thought

6:47

it best to change the subject for the time being.

6:51

What do you like to do Winnie? Do you spend

6:53

much time here at Burton Hall? Yes,

6:56

Winnie's face grew serious once again. I

7:00

used to like it, but it kind of scares

7:02

me now. I'm

7:04

sure, it's been empty for so

7:07

long, but not anymore.

7:11

Teresa brought the cups and teapot on

7:13

a tray to the table and sat

7:15

down.

7:17

Are you staying, Winnie asked, hopefully?

7:19

Well for

7:22

now, I'm not sure for how long though.

7:25

It depends on a lot of things. I have to

7:27

inventory the house. It hasn't been done

7:29

in decades and I have

7:31

to meet with the trustees and make some decisions

7:34

down the road. Maybe so. But

7:36

this is just boring stuff, especially

7:39

for kids. But even for me, she

7:41

laughed as her sentence trailed off. Stealing

7:45

the house, Winnie asked in a small voice. Well

7:49

still sorting through the process, but whatever

7:52

happens, it'll be a while yet. There's

7:55

lots to think through and a lot of decisions

7:58

to make. Nothing to worry about right now. I

8:01

like having you here," Winnie said earnestly.

8:04

Oh, that's kind of you. And

8:07

I think we could be great friends. But

8:09

imagine, the next people to live here

8:12

may have children or grandchildren. That'd

8:15

be so much fun. That's probably

8:17

a little while off, though. I'd

8:19

be happy to have you over whenever you like while I'm here,

8:21

though. Still uncertain,

8:23

Winnie attempted a smile. Teresa

8:26

felt she was unwittingly creating anxiety

8:29

for Winnie. So she

8:31

decided to steer the subject to something else again.

8:36

So Winnie, she said after her first

8:38

sip of tea, is there anything

8:41

interesting in this house that you might want to tell

8:43

me about? Maybe something I haven't

8:45

seen yet?

8:47

Winnie brightened and jumped

8:49

up from her seat. Yes, I know something.

8:53

Winnie took Teresa by the hand and

8:55

guided her to the stairs. Once

8:59

they reached the top of the stairs, Winnie

9:01

glanced down the hallway to their right and

9:03

said, it's this way. Teresa

9:07

was pleased that Winnie's excitement. It

9:09

had been so long since Teresa herself

9:11

felt excitement about anything

9:13

at all. Litting

9:16

Teresa down the hallway, Winnie pointed

9:19

to the room at the end. This

9:21

is the one, she said. Winnie

9:24

opened the door and led Teresa to the bed

9:27

and instructed her to sit down. After

9:30

following Winnie's directions, Teresa

9:32

left.

9:33

No, wait.

9:35

Wait here, you'll see, she said

9:37

with a giggle and she ran out of

9:39

the room, her feet making a delightful

9:41

patter down the hall. She

9:44

heard Winnie's steps grow fainter, then

9:47

echo across the foyer and finally

9:49

fade away. It

9:53

was silent for just a moment before

9:56

a sort of metallic tinged voice

9:58

rang out in the room. Teresa

10:02

jumped out from the bed. The

10:05

voice had come from the wall behind her. Searching,

10:10

she noticed a brass tube extended

10:12

from the wall. Hello. The

10:15

robotic voice spoke again, and then

10:18

a giggle.

10:19

It's me. I'm in the kitchen.

10:22

That's when Teresa realized that it was

10:25

a 19th century speaking tube.

10:28

Teresa hadn't noticed it before and was immediately

10:30

delighted, but she also had

10:32

a strange feeling of deja vu. She

10:36

leaned over and spoke into the tube.

10:38

I'm here. Finally,

10:41

you're back,

10:42

Winnie said. Teresa

10:45

smiled. She had found her

10:47

bedroom.

10:58

Teresa tentatively entered the attic

11:01

and walked lightly up the steps. Even

11:06

though she'd been at Burton Hall for a couple of weeks

11:08

already, this was her first time

11:10

in the attic. Reaching

11:13

the top of the stairs, she was hit

11:15

by the scent of age and decay.

11:19

A musty stale odor wafted into

11:21

her nostrils and a film

11:23

of humidity immediately settled on

11:26

her skin. Teresa

11:29

surveyed her surroundings, taking

11:31

a visual inventory. The

11:34

attic was tidy. Books,

11:37

trunks, and various discarded objects

11:40

were strapped in a somewhat orderly

11:42

manner, some more than others.

11:46

Continuing to scan the room, she

11:48

noticed an old bed still

11:50

covered with a taut sheet and simple

11:53

duvet in the corner. She

11:57

made her way over and sat down.

12:03

Heaving a deep sigh, she released

12:05

her weight and fell back, spreading

12:08

her arms out wide on the mattress.

12:13

A ray of light filtered in above her head

12:15

through a little round window.

12:17

Dust

12:19

particles

12:20

moved slowly through the beam, hypnotizing

12:23

her momentarily.

12:28

Teresa knew only the bare basics

12:30

of the British side of the family. She

12:34

was told her grandfather, Archibald

12:37

Agnew, had been a lawyer and politician,

12:39

a conservative MP. And

12:43

her grandmother, Doris, was

12:45

the daughter of another conservative MP,

12:48

Sir John Atwood. She

12:52

also knew Archibald was apparently wicked

12:55

enough for his daughter, her mother,

12:57

to denounce him forever. The

13:01

difference between her mother's family and

13:03

father's was sturg. She

13:06

didn't grow up near either side of the family. But

13:10

while political unrest and

13:13

lack of disposable income kept

13:15

them from seeing her father's family often,

13:17

trauma,

13:20

hate, and mystery kept them from her mother's

13:22

family. Teresa

13:32

sat back up, looked around the

13:34

room, and noticed a

13:36

gigantic dollhouse maybe

13:38

three feet tall,

13:40

an exact replica of Burton Hall

13:42

on the opposite wall from the bed.

13:47

She gasped and surprised Glee. She

13:51

loved miniatures in dollhouses since childhood,

13:54

and she loved them still. Teresa

14:00

sat with a pile of belongings

14:02

that looked to be from around the

14:04

1950s or 60s. Her

14:07

own mother must have played with it when she was

14:09

a child, Teresa realized. She

14:14

quickly made her way over and knelt down to

14:16

inspect it. The

14:19

dollhouse was exquisite, so

14:22

much detail and of such

14:24

high quality. She

14:26

found herself lost in exploration

14:28

of all the handmade pieces of furniture

14:31

with all the working drawers, lids

14:33

and lights. She'd

14:37

always wanted a dollhouse like this when she was a

14:39

kid, there was never enough money

14:42

though. Throughout

14:45

the dollhouse were various soft hand

14:47

sewn dolls dressed in the

14:49

clothing of different eras and

14:51

also smaller porcelain dolls that

14:54

looked much older. She

14:58

ran her fingers over the figures, wondering

15:01

which ones her mother had touched. She

15:06

picked up a tiny toy bike and played

15:08

with the pedals, making the wheels

15:11

go in

15:11

wonder.

15:14

Reeling it around the house, she suddenly

15:17

noticed something doll in gold through

15:19

one of the tiny windows in the dollhouse

15:21

nursery.

15:23

She peeked behind the dollhouse and

15:25

realized it was a gold frame around

15:28

some sort of piece of art.

15:31

Her wife, Grace, used

15:33

to work at an art museum before

15:35

the cancer and would often joke

15:38

about finding an o'keef or

15:40

a motif at a yard sale for practically

15:42

nothing because the owner didn't know

15:44

any better. Grace

15:46

jokingly called it their retirement plan. The

15:51

memory elicited a smile and

15:53

smiles hadn't come easy these days.

15:58

What if, she wondered, She finally

16:01

found the discarded masterpiece

16:03

Grace had always dreamed about. She

16:05

laughed. Though

16:08

the dollhouse was heavy, she was able

16:11

to move it a few inches, enough

16:13

to slip her arm behind it, barely. She

16:18

sat back down, leaned her

16:20

back against the wall, and extended

16:23

her arm as far

16:24

back behind the house as possible.

16:28

Catching the edge of the frame with her fingertips,

16:31

she carefully and slowly pulled

16:33

it toward her. It

16:37

was heavy and a little awkward to pull

16:39

out, but she finally managed to free

16:42

it from behind the dollhouse. It

16:46

took a moment to process what she was seeing,

16:50

but suddenly she realized she

16:53

was looking at her grandfather's missing portrait.

17:15

Teresa emerged from the bathtub, her

17:18

muscles still tense. There

17:22

was something about this house that made her feel

17:24

as if, at all times, she

17:27

must be poised, ready to run

17:29

if needed.

17:33

From what?

17:34

She wasn't sure. She

17:38

pulled on her fluffy black robe and

17:41

pulled the bath stopper from the drain.

17:46

She hated how loud and jarring

17:49

the draining water sounded against

17:51

the chilling silence of the home.

17:56

Opening the bathroom door, a billowing

17:59

cloud of steam emerged into the hallway

18:02

as she did, giving an ethereal

18:04

quality to the scene. After

18:08

entering her bedroom, she sat on

18:11

the edge of her bed, and

18:14

as she began drying her hair with a towel,

18:16

the portrait of her grandfather, leaning

18:19

against the wall,

18:20

caught her eye.

18:23

Archibald Agnew, she said to

18:25

herself, such

18:27

a formal name, such

18:30

a formal-looking man. In

18:34

the portrait, Archibald Agnew was

18:37

forever young. His

18:39

blonde hair slicked down, his military

18:43

uniform starched and pressed, his

18:46

fine English features set in the seriousness

18:49

his station in life required.

18:53

His eyes were blue, so

18:55

light blue. They

18:58

were haunting. Teresa

19:02

removed her robe, quickly

19:04

slipped into a long, oversized t-shirt,

19:07

and hurried into bed. As

19:11

she slid her legs under the

19:13

duvet, a shiver of pleasure

19:15

ran over her skin from contact with

19:17

a cold sheet.

19:21

On the bedside table, a small,

19:23

low-wattage lamp, similar

19:26

to the output of a nightlight, was turned

19:28

on, providing the

19:30

only illumination

19:31

in the room.

19:34

Teresa never slept in

19:36

total darkness.

19:39

She found when she did, her

19:41

mind, without any other

19:43

stimulation offered it, turned

19:46

to thoughts of Grace and

19:48

her struggle to breathe at the end

19:49

of her life.

19:52

In darkness, Teresa, too,

19:54

felt she couldn't breathe. It was

19:58

as if Grace's day was over. death had sparked

20:01

some sort of dark-induced claustrophobia

20:03

in her. A little light

20:06

every night had become essential. The

20:10

light on this night, however, was positioned

20:13

in such a way as to cast fiendish

20:16

shadows across Archibald's face,

20:19

lending a sinister, demonic quality

20:21

to his portrait. Nothing

20:24

about her grandfather's face felt familiar

20:27

or comforting.

20:30

And in this light, the shadows

20:32

gave his face the appearance of life and

20:34

movement, startling her each

20:37

time she looked away. Theresa

20:40

knew she would need to move the

20:42

portrait

20:43

tonight, or

20:46

else she feared she'd wake up in the middle

20:48

of the night and have the fright of her life. For

20:52

the moment, however, she was so

20:55

comfortable in her warm bed she didn't

20:57

want to move. She'd

20:59

deal with it after she read a bit. She

21:02

grabbed a heavily dog-eared paper bag

21:05

from the side table. Looking

21:08

at it blankly, she began

21:10

flipping through the pages, trying to

21:12

find where she'd last read. She

21:16

couldn't seem to get through a single page

21:18

without having to start over multiple

21:21

times these days. Finally,

21:25

she thought, she found a place in the book

21:28

and began attempting to read and get back into

21:30

the story. But

21:33

within a few minutes, from the corner

21:35

of her eye, she thought she saw something

21:37

move. It

21:39

was quick, but she saw something.

21:43

Probably just shadows at play, she

21:45

told herself. Even

21:47

so, she stopped for a moment

21:49

and looked back up at Archibald's portrait.

21:54

The darkness around a portrait seemed to shift

21:57

and move a little, like a

21:59

wave. A

22:01

trick of the eye, probably, she thought. Looking

22:06

at his face, it was hard to imagine he

22:08

had anything to do with her, that

22:10

they were related in any way at all.

22:14

She felt no connection with that face. What

22:18

had he thought of her, she wondered? Did

22:21

he love her as his granddaughter? Despise

22:25

her for thinking her part of her mother's rebellion

22:27

against him? Dark

22:31

shadows gathered above his eyes, giving

22:33

him a skeletal, angry look. And

22:37

that's when she saw it. A

22:40

deep shadow, somehow darker

22:43

than the rest, seemed to

22:45

ripple a

22:45

little at first,

22:47

and then rise a few inches above

22:49

the portrait

22:51

and slowly move like an animal,

22:54

eyeing its prey. Teresa

22:57

couldn't believe what she was seeing. Was

23:00

that shadow really moving independently

23:02

of the others? The

23:05

shadow continued to slink around the

23:07

wall. Teresa

23:10

couldn't move. She couldn't

23:12

quite process what was happening. Was

23:15

there an animal somewhere in the room that she just

23:18

couldn't see making that shadow? It

23:21

continued to move, and

23:24

Teresa continued to stare, her

23:26

mouth wide open. Soon,

23:30

the shadow reached the corner of the

23:32

room nearest her. It stopped

23:34

for a moment. What

23:37

was she seeing? The

23:39

shadow then made its way onto the

23:41

wall where Teresa sat on the bed. Before

23:45

she could react, it suddenly

23:48

lurched toward her and

23:50

disappeared. And

23:52

as it did, the sound

23:54

began to emanate from the speaking tube

23:56

next to the bed. She

24:01

heard the

24:03

sound of someone choking.

24:20

Next month join me for

24:22

part 3 of the Shadows of Burton Hall. But

24:25

before that, another new episode

24:28

will be coming out in just a couple of

24:30

days

24:30

on Wondery Plus, a

24:33

week later everywhere else.

24:35

And next week, the regularly

24:38

scheduled show will be released as

24:40

well. Until

24:42

then, Happy Halloween, be

24:45

safe and have fun. And

24:47

you can join the Strange and Unusual Podcast

24:51

on Instagram at the Strange

24:53

and Unusual Podcast and

24:55

on Facebook as well. And

24:59

remember, as Poe said,

25:01

there is no exquisite beauty without

25:04

some strangeness in the proportion.

25:05

So

25:09

stay strange. Thanks

25:55

for watching. Hey,

26:02

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You can listen to the strange

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So join me,

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Who, and of course my dog Max,

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every week for this complete waste of time.

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Listen as I launch a campaign against Christmas

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