Framed and Hanged in the 1880s: A Frontier Supernatural Thriller "Hanging Tree"

0:00 Speaker 1: Hi, this is Winslow.

0:02 Speaker 2: This is Crimson.

0:03 Speaker 3: And if you like what we're doing, hit that like button. And if you want to hear more, subscribe.

0:22 Speaker 4: With this key, you unlock the world to your dreams. What lies beyond. could be the doorway to nightmare. Come in. Welcome. I'm your host, through the doorway to nightmare. Pray, why are you so bare, so bare, bough of the old oak tree? And why, when I go through the shade you throw, runs a shudder over me? So begins the poem by Paul Dunbar. While trees give off the life-giving oxygen that our bodies so crave, they were also used for much more nefarious activities.

1:38 Speaker 1: You people are insane. I didn't do it.

1:40 Speaker 5: Do you deny that you were at the Harlan Ranch on Saturday?

1:44 Speaker 1: I was nowhere near the Harlan Ranch. You've got to believe me. I had no reason to kill her. I loved her. You people, you cannot do this.

1:54 Speaker 5: Then, by the power vested in me, I sentence you to be hanged by the neck until dead.

2:06 Speaker 4: Our mystery drama, The Hanging Tree. was written especially for Doorway to Nightmare by Winslow Swan and edited by Crimson McKenzie. Our stars include Mark McClain, Brenna Faith, Crimson McKenzie, Ezra J.D. Emmons, and Robert Jackson. I'll be back shortly with Act One.

2:29 Speaker 2: Hi, it's Crimson. We're hoping you're enjoying these stories and do you want to hear some more? Join us on our YouTube channel, Doorway to Nightmare. If you dare.

2:52 Speaker 4: They say that true love knows no bounds. That even in death, love will survive. And so, we take you back in time to the untamed west, the 1880s, where justice was knitted out with a swift hand and a taut rope.

3:15 Speaker 6: Oh, Rose, you know how much I love you.

3:18 Speaker 2: I know, Jake. I know. But Father would never understand.

3:24 Speaker 4: Yeah, right.

3:27 Speaker 6: Because I'm just some ranch hand who works for him. and would never be good enough for you.

3:32 Speaker 2: You have to understand. Bradford Harlan is not my real father. He married my mother, and after she died, he inherited, or rather stole, everything. This ranch, my family legacy, everything. I couldn't leave him even if I wanted to.

3:56 Speaker 4: Well, you could.

3:57 Speaker 1: You should. You should come away with me, Rose.

4:01 Speaker 2: Bradford would only hunt me down and bring me back. After all, he is the judge for the entire district. No matter where we went, he'd find us.

4:12 Speaker 1: I could protect you.

4:13 Speaker 2: I know you could, you'd try, my dearest, but I'm so fearful of what the judge might do. You must be careful.

4:24 Speaker 6: Oh, don't you worry, darling. I can take care of myself. It's you that needs to be careful.

4:29 Speaker 2: What do you mean?

4:30 Speaker 6: Oh, I've seen the way that that judge looks at you. I don't trust him one bit.

4:34 Speaker 2: I'm sure he wouldn't do anything, Jake. Now, you'd best go. Will you be here tomorrow night?

4:43 Speaker 1: Of course.

4:44 Speaker 6: I have to ride to Bay City tomorrow, but I should be back in time.

4:47 Speaker 2: Why Bay City?

4:48 Speaker 6: There's something there that Judge Harlan's.

4:50 Speaker 1: Having me pick up.

4:51 Speaker 2: You will be careful.

4:53 Speaker 1: For you, my love, always.

5:00 Speaker 5: Rose, is that you? Yes. You have been on your walk for quite some time.

5:08 Speaker 2: Well, it's a beautiful night.

5:11 Speaker 5: Where were you?

5:12 Speaker 2: Just down by the old oak tree. I love to sit there and.

5:16 Speaker 5: A daydream of young Jake Price, no doubt.

5:20 Speaker 2: And what if I do? What if I were to run away with Jake? Tonight, for instance.

5:27 Speaker 5: I would hunt you down and drag you back here. I would have Price horsewhipped before I brought charges of kidnapping.

5:40 Speaker 2: You old fool. Only reason you keep me here is because you know about the money my real daddy left me.

5:48 Speaker 5: That you do not receive until your 25th birthday? $ 120, 000.

5:56 Speaker 2: And you'll never see a penny of it.

5:58 Speaker 5: Are you sure? As my wife, what is yours is mine.

6:04 Speaker 2: You must be mad. I would never agree to marry you.

6:08 Speaker 5: Even to save the life of your handsome young ranch hand.

6:12 Speaker 2: What are you talking about?

6:14 Speaker 5: He's going to Bay City tomorrow. Suppose I tell you that unless you agree to marry me. So he'll never make.

6:23 Speaker 4: It back alive.

6:25 Speaker 2: I knew you were mean and cruel, but this is even low for you.

6:29 Speaker 1: Make your decision, Rose.

6:31 Speaker 3: We have all night.

6:35 Speaker 2: All right. I will marry you. Just please don't hurt Jake.

6:41 Speaker 5: Oh, don't worry, my dear. I had no intentions of hurting the young man. After you tell him of our engagement, you'll do that for me.

6:59 Speaker 1: Oh, Judge, you are so naughty. Of course I am.

7:05 Speaker 5: Now, come here.

7:06 Speaker 2: Oh, careful.

7:08 Speaker 6: We don't want to leave any marks.

7:10 Speaker 5: You delicious little turd.

7:12 Speaker 6: Now, Judge, why don't we discuss the money?

7:15 Speaker 5: Oh, you women are all like always the money.

7:21 Speaker 6: Well, you did promise to take care of me and get me out of this one-horse town.

7:25 Speaker 5: And I keep my promises, sweet Mary. I'm working on a scheme that will get us $ 100, 000.

7:31 Speaker 3: Oh, my, Judge.

7:35 Speaker 1: Who are you going to kill?

7:37 Speaker 5: Why? My wife, of course.

7:40 Speaker 6: I thought that you said you weren't married.

7:43 Speaker 5: Not yet. But tomorrow, I will be. And two weeks later, my poor wife will have an accident.

7:50 Speaker 2: You will be a lot richer right.

7:53 Speaker 5: The better to take care of you my little turd.

7:57 Speaker 3: I do wish you would not call me.

7:59 Speaker 5: That okay my sweet little turd.

8:05 Speaker 2: I want to talk to you judge what about i'm not gonna marry.

8:09 Speaker 5: You then you forfeit your young man's.

8:12 Speaker 2: Life not if i warn him.

8:15 Speaker 5: First Oh, but I don't think you will.

8:18 Speaker 2: What's to stop me? You old man!

8:22 Speaker 5: Quit being so hysterical, young lady, or I shall be forced to discipline you.

8:29 Speaker 2: I'm not a child anymore. I saw what you did to my mother. I know how you killed my father. Well, it won't happen to me.

8:39 Speaker 4: You stupid little tramp!

8:42 Speaker 5: I've taken care of you for the last 15 years, and this is how you repay me?

8:48 Speaker 2: Taking care of me? By holding me a virtual prisoner on this ranch?

8:53 Speaker 5: My ranch! You are making me very angry.

9:00 Speaker 2: I'm leaving, Judge. I'm going to tell Jake everything.

9:03 Speaker 3: And we're leaving.

9:04 Speaker 5: I would not advise that.

9:06 Speaker 2: Oh, no? Why?

9:07 Speaker 5: Because I won't allow it.

9:10 Speaker 2: You don't have a choice.

9:11 Speaker 5: Oh, no? You will marry me. You will. You don't have a choice. Rose?

9:24 Speaker 1: Rose!

9:28 Speaker 3: Judge, you okay? I heard something is... Is that.

9:34 Speaker 5: Sam, it seems that Jake Price has just murdered Rose.

9:38 Speaker 3: What do we do?

9:39 Speaker 5: Go get the sheriff, then bring Jake Price to me.

9:50 Speaker 4: Sam looks at the judge and then to the body of Rose lying on the floor. He shudders slightly at the implication. of what the judge has just told him. I shall return with Act Two.

10:08 Speaker 2: Mystery. Horror. Thriller. Suspense. Novels and short story collections from Winslow Swant now available from Amazon.com.

10:34 Speaker 4: The trial of Jake Price was carried out in the same study that the murder took place. The body of Rose was buried under the tree where she would meet with her lover, who now was tied with a rope around his neck, hanging from the same tree.

10:56 Speaker 1: You're insane, Judge.

10:57 Speaker 5: You heard the testimony of Sam. We both saw you strangle the life out of poor dear Rose. Kill him, Sam.

11:06 Speaker 3: Yes, sir. I saw the whole thing. Jake came in like a bad man and strangled.

11:12 Speaker 1: You're a liar. If anyone killed her, it was the judge.

11:15 Speaker 3: You shouldn't say that about the judge.

11:17 Speaker 1: I'll say anything I like.

11:18 Speaker 2: Enough!

11:20 Speaker 5: You were tried, convicted, and now sentenced.

11:24 Speaker 6: You low-life thieving bastard.

11:26 Speaker 1: Why would I have wanted to kill Rose?

11:28 Speaker 5: Because you found out that she was going to marry me.

11:32 Speaker 1: That's absurd. She would never....

11:35 Speaker 5: And now you know the truth.

11:37 Speaker 1: She loved me.

11:39 Speaker 3: Hang him!

11:50 Speaker 7: Oh, dear tree, it's just you and me, a soft moonlight, a tough glow. And through your branches and through your roots, my voice, my voice will grow.

12:17 Speaker 6: Oh, Judge, this is so nice.

12:19 Speaker 5: You really like it?

12:21 Speaker 2: Oh, I do. I could get used to this.

12:24 Speaker 5: And I want you to. I want you to live here.

12:28 Speaker 2: Me? Live here?

12:30 Speaker 6: But you were going to take me out of this place, remember?

12:34 Speaker 5: Well, there were complications.

12:37 Speaker 6: So you are not getting any money, huh?

12:41 Speaker 5: I'm still getting some money. It's just gonna take a little more time.

12:45 Speaker 3: Well, I haven't the time to waste on you.

12:47 Speaker 5: What are you talking about?

12:49 Speaker 1: There are plenty of nice gentlemen around who would love to have the opportunity to take me away with them.

12:54 Speaker 7: Did you really think that you were the only one?

12:58 Speaker 2: You murdered me. Why not her?

13:04 Speaker 5: Did you hear something?

13:05 Speaker 6: What are you going on about?

13:07 Speaker 5: I could have sworn.

13:09 Speaker 2: You murdered Jake. Go on. Do her in too.

13:15 Speaker 4: Shut up.

13:16 Speaker 8: Now don't you talk to me like that.

13:18 Speaker 5: I wasn't talking to you.

13:20 Speaker 2: There isn't anyone here but me.

13:22 Speaker 6: Are you ill?

13:24 Speaker 2: I'm here.

13:26 Speaker 3: It can't be.

13:27 Speaker 2: I'm here.

13:36 Speaker 3: What are you doing out here, Judge?

13:38 Speaker 5: Sam, have you heard anything strange?

13:41 Speaker 3: What do you mean?

13:42 Speaker 5: Oh, I don't know. Have you heard anything at night somewhere out here?

13:45 Speaker 3: Judge, I think y'all might need to get away for a while.

13:48 Speaker 5: Oh, just forget it. What do you want, Sam?

13:51 Speaker 3: Well, Judge, I've been doing some thinking.

13:53 Speaker 5: I don't pay you to think.

13:56 Speaker 9: That's just it, Judge. You don't pay me to think, but you may want to pay me to keep my mouth shut.

14:01 Speaker 5: What are you talking about?

14:02 Speaker 9: Now, let's not be stupid, Judge. I know you killed Rose and then framed Jake for it. That wasn't no trial and you know it.

14:09 Speaker 5: Oh, so it's blackmail, is it?

14:11 Speaker 9: I figured 500 a week should cover my silence.

14:16 Speaker 5: Why don't I just kill you?

14:18 Speaker 3: Because I'm not as stupid as y'all think I am.

14:23 Speaker 1: You feel that?

14:24 Speaker 9: Don't try to change the subject. Now, I sat down last night and wrote out a full confession. I melded to some kin with the instructions that if anything happened to me, they were to open it.

14:34 Speaker 5: Well, I guess you're smarter than I thought.

14:36 Speaker 2: Can you trust him?

14:38 Speaker 5: Did you hear that?

14:40 Speaker 3: That's just the wind. Now I expect 500 in my pay on Friday. That's an awful.

14:45 Speaker 2: Lot of money.

14:47 Speaker 5: Will you leave me alone?

14:49 Speaker 3: Hey, Judge, where are you going? Funny, he took off like he had seen a ghost.

15:04 Speaker 5: Oh, that's what I need. Good, stiff drink.

15:12 Speaker 3: Just the wind.

15:14 Speaker 5: That's all it was. Just the wind. I don't really hear Rose.

15:19 Speaker 2: Are you so sure?

15:20 Speaker 5: Leave me alone!

15:22 Speaker 2: Why should I? It was you who murdered me.

15:28 Speaker 5: No, you drove me to it.

15:31 Speaker 2: You hung an innocent man.

15:34 Speaker 3: No, no, you're dead.

15:35 Speaker 5: He's dead and there isn't Anything you can do about it.

15:39 Speaker 2: You buried me under my tree.

15:43 Speaker 5: And you will stay there. You're dead. Nothing but a voice in my head.

15:49 Speaker 8: Really, Judge?

15:51 Speaker 2: What about Jake?

15:53 Speaker 5: What are you talking about?

15:55 Speaker 2: See for yourself. Look out the window by the tree.

16:04 Speaker 3: No, it can't be!

16:05 Speaker 4: Ha! I feel the rope against my bark and the weight of him in my grain. I feel in the throw of his final woe the touch of my own last pain. Another quote from Paul Dunbar, and perhaps very apt. Is the judge only seeing and hearing the guilt of his own mind, or has something returned to exact revenge? You return here shortly for Act 3. If you're enjoying these stories, come over to our YouTube channel, Doorway to Nightmare.

16:59 Speaker 2: Where we add a few pics to color your imagination. See the faces behind the voices, too. Come on, you know you wanna.

17:20 Speaker 4: The power of love versus death. The power of good versus evil. Most of us would like to think that good will triumph, that evil will be discovered, and justice will be served, whether in this life or the next.

17:40 Speaker 5: Can I get you anything to drink?

17:43 Speaker 3: Why did you want us here?

17:44 Speaker 5: Yes, Judge.

17:46 Speaker 2: What are you up to?

17:47 Speaker 5: I can assure you both that I'm not up to anything. I just wanted some company.

17:55 Speaker 3: Scared to stay in this lonely house by yourself?

17:57 Speaker 1: What's the matter, Judge?

17:59 Speaker 2: Afraid of ghosts?

18:02 Speaker 5: Of course not! I'm not afraid of anything.

18:06 Speaker 3: Are you sure about that?

18:08 Speaker 2: Not afraid of anything, eh?

18:11 Speaker 5: Will you be quiet?

18:13 Speaker 1: Now that's a fine way to talk to your guests.

18:16 Speaker 3: Mary, I do believe the good Judge is coming to part. Ready for the loony bin he is.

18:23 Speaker 4: Fine!

18:23 Speaker 5: Don't stay.

18:24 Speaker 3: Oh, come on, Judge. We were only having a bit of fun. Of course we'll stay.

18:29 Speaker 1: Won't we, Mary?

18:31 Speaker 3: Wouldn't miss it for the world. Oh, midnight. Say, how long are we going to stay up, Judge?

18:50 Speaker 1: I'm with Sam.

18:51 Speaker 6: I should have been home hours ago.

18:53 Speaker 4: Please, just a little longer.

18:56 Speaker 2: Judge, are you planning to kill them too?

19:01 Speaker 5: Did you hear her?

19:03 Speaker 3: Why don't you go upstairs and go to bed?

19:05 Speaker 5: You don't hear her?

19:07 Speaker 4: Who?

19:08 Speaker 2: Rose!

19:08 Speaker 3: But Rose is dead.

19:10 Speaker 2: Is she?

19:10 Speaker 1: Is she?

19:13 Speaker 3: Sam, I'm a bit frightened.

19:14 Speaker 2: And look!

19:16 Speaker 5: Out the window!

19:17 Speaker 4: Where?

19:18 Speaker 8: There, by the tree.

19:19 Speaker 3: I don't see anything.

19:20 Speaker 5: It's Jake. Jake Price. He's come back. Well, I'll show him.

19:23 Speaker 4: I'll show him.

19:26 Speaker 2: Where's he going?

19:27 Speaker 5: I don't know.

19:29 Speaker 3: Judge, what's going on?

19:31 Speaker 5: You won't get me. You won't get me. You're both dead, do you hear? I'll ride away from here. You won't catch me.

19:40 Speaker 3: Judge, where are you going?

19:41 Speaker 2: Judge!

19:43 Speaker 3: Judge! Look out! That branch of the tree!

19:45 Speaker 2: Ouch!

19:51 Speaker 3: Dear God. Better go get the sheriff, Mary.

19:55 Speaker 1: It's awful.

19:56 Speaker 2: Did he not see? He rolled right into the tree branch.

19:59 Speaker 3: And it cut his head clean off.

20:05 Speaker 2: Oh, dear tree. It's just you and me. A soft moonlight doth glow.

20:18 Speaker 8: And through your branches and through your roots, my voice, my voice will grow.

20:34 Speaker 3: Hey, did you hear that?

20:37 Speaker 1: Just the wind.

20:38 Speaker 3: No, no, no. Something else. Like someone is laughing.

20:55 Speaker 4: Sam and Mary shudder as the wind blows, and the tree shakes slightly as if in triumph of its deed. I'll be back shortly.

21:11 Speaker 2: Hi, it's Crimson.

21:12 Speaker 3: And Swan.

21:13 Speaker 2: You wanna hear some more episodes?

21:15 Speaker 3: Join our YouTube channel at Doorway to Nightmare.

21:19 Speaker 2: And don't forget to subscribe. Hit that like button and tell all your friends.

21:37 Speaker 4: I began our tale with a part from a poem by Paul Lawrence Dunbar, titled The Haunted Oak. I will end it with yet another stanza. My leaves were green as the best I crow, and sap ran free in my veins, but I saw in the moonlight dim and weird a guiltless victim's pains. Our cast included Mark McClain, Ezra J.D. Emmons, Crimson McGinsey, Brenna Faith, and Robert Jackson. The story was edited by Crimson McKenzie, and the entire production was under the direction of Winslow Swan. And now, a preview of our next tale.

22:28 Speaker 2: Isn't he the most beautiful man that you have ever seen?

22:32 Speaker 4: Are you joking?

22:34 Speaker 1: Have you really taken a good look at that?

22:36 Speaker 3: That?

22:37 Speaker 2: Oh, long black hair, chiseled face, and oof! Those masculine shoulders and arms. He really could take anyone's breath away.

22:52 Speaker 3: Um, Stan, I have a very bad feeling about this.

22:58 Speaker 4: You and me both.

22:59 Speaker 1: Dot, snap out of it.

23:01 Speaker 2: And he asked me to come away with him. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

23:06 Speaker 4: Doorway to Nightmare is brought to you in part by Swanage Press. This is your host inviting you to return with us through the doorway to nightmare for another adventure into the world of your terrifying imagination. Until next time, slumber peacefully. Epilogue. The butler did it.