Trance of Terror - "Mind Over Murder" | Full-Cast Psychological Fiction Podcast

0:00 Speaker 1: Watch Circle of Mystery, Tuesday nights at 7 p.m.

0:03 Speaker 2: Eastern Daylight Time on the Doorway to Nightmare YouTube channel.

0:12 Speaker 3: It lies in wait amidst your dreams, where nothing is ever how it seems. It is a portal to a terrifying world beyond the doorway. Nightmare. Come in. Welcome. I'm Artemis Black. The actress Ingrid Bergman once said, you must train your intuition. You must trust The small voice inside you which tells you exactly what to say and what to decide.

1:10 Speaker 4: Concentrate. Concentrate harder.

1:12 Speaker 5: I can't, Maven. My head feels like it's ready to explode.

1:20 Speaker 4: You must concentrate, Joyce. You must let me in to read your mind.

1:27 Speaker 5: Please, Maven. I just can't.

1:31 Speaker 4: You can! And you will!

1:39 Speaker 3: Our mystery drama, Mind Over Murder, was written especially for Doorway to Nightmare by Winslow Swan and edited by Crimson McKenzie. Our cast includes Darren Mauler, Annie Mick, and Raven Adams. I'll return shortly with Act One. Meet Jerry Connors. Family man. Business man. Psychopathic killer. The Convincer by Winslow Swan. Now available on Amazon. Jerry Connors. He can convince you to do anything. Even die.

2:22 Speaker 1: Have you heard any good books lately? Audiobooks from Winslow Swan. Now available on Spotify.

2:37 Speaker 3: The definition of psychic, according to the Oxford Dictionary, means relating to phenomena that are apparently inexplicable by natural laws, especially involving psychic powers. I'm sure that we have all had some sort of vision or premonition in our lifetime. But what are those people who claim to be true or false? Psychics.

3:05 Speaker 4: Okay, now turn to any page of the book. Just don't tell me what it is.

3:10 Speaker 5: Please, Maven. I'm tired. Can we do this later?

3:14 Speaker 4: Joyce, we have to be ready for the performance next week in Boston. Come on, turn to a page.

3:20 Speaker 5: Fine, Maven. Whatever you say.

3:31 Speaker 4: Have you found one?

3:33 Speaker 5: Yes, I have.

3:35 Speaker 4: Now concentrate on that first word at the top of the page.

3:40 Speaker 3: Really concentrate.

3:42 Speaker 5: My head. It's killing me.

3:45 Speaker 4: Concentrate. Joyce, you must be ready.

3:54 Speaker 6: Am I interrupting?

3:55 Speaker 4: Damn it. Bill, as a publicist, you have no equal, but man, you have got some rotten timing.

4:02 Speaker 6: I'm sorry, Maven. I just wanted to go over the press release before your train leaves tomorrow.

4:06 Speaker 4: There'll be plenty of time for that.

4:09 Speaker 3: Wait here, will ya?

4:09 Speaker 4: I gotta go inside. I find myself in need of uplifting spirits.

4:15 Speaker 3: How about you, Bill?

4:16 Speaker 4: Would you like something to drink?

4:17 Speaker 6: No, thank you.

4:19 Speaker 4: Please look after Joyce, then. She's had a very trying day.

4:29 Speaker 2: Bill?

4:30 Speaker 5: Is that you?

4:31 Speaker 6: I'm here, Joyce. He's been pushing you again, hasn't he?

4:36 Speaker 2: Oh, Bill.

4:37 Speaker 5: You don't know what it's like. Every day, more and more tests, and my head... My head feels on the verge of bursting.

4:47 Speaker 6: Then leave him. You could come away with me.

4:50 Speaker 5: He won't let me, Bill. I told you before. His power is greater than anyone I've ever met.

4:59 Speaker 6: A carnival magician that suddenly can read minds? I don't believe it.

5:03 Speaker 5: You've been his publicist and his agent for over a year now. Can you doubt his power?

5:09 Speaker 6: Look, Joyce, many magicians use so-called psychic powers to make a career. It's fun, I grant you, but to take it seriously is... is, well, idiotic.

5:24 Speaker 5: Then I must be an idiot. I know, Bill. I've seen it. He truly is a psychic. He can read the minds of those he's near.

5:36 Speaker 6: So, why can't he read my mind?

5:39 Speaker 4: That is a good question, Mr. Bill Stakely, and one in which I have been searching for an answer. It's as if you have a blockage within your mind.

5:50 Speaker 6: It's not blockage, Maven. It's simply reality.

5:54 Speaker 5: Please, Maven, let me go and lay down.

5:58 Speaker 4: Of course, my dear. We can try again later this evening.

6:06 Speaker 6: Maven, why don't you let her alone?

6:09 Speaker 4: Whatever do you mean, dear boy?

6:11 Speaker 6: You know exactly what I mean. I don't know what sort of power you have over her, but it is clear to me that it is not healthy.

6:20 Speaker 4: Would you like to see the kind of power that I do have over Joyce? Come with me.

6:33 Speaker 6: What are we doing in her bedroom, Maven?

6:36 Speaker 4: See how peaceful she looks. Her face no longer contorted in pain. She sleeps the sleep of an angel. Absolutely beautiful.

6:45 Speaker 6: So what's your point?

6:46 Speaker 4: You asked what sort of power I have. I'm about to show you.

7:04 Speaker 6: Be careful with that gun.

7:06 Speaker 4: A small caliber hand pistol. Nothing extraordinary about it. And it is fully loaded.

7:16 Speaker 6: What are you doing now?

7:18 Speaker 4: Wyatt, obviously I'm taking the bullets out. We wouldn't want any accidents. And now, now we can begin.

7:28 Speaker 6: Begin what? Maven, what are you trying to prove?

7:31 Speaker 3: Choice. Choice.

7:33 Speaker 4: Can you hear me?

7:35 Speaker 5: Yes, Maven, I hear you.

7:38 Speaker 4: There is a gun beside you. I want you to pick it up.

7:42 Speaker 5: Yes, Maven.

7:45 Speaker 4: Now, Joyce, put the gun directly at your heart.

7:51 Speaker 3: Yes, Maven.

7:53 Speaker 6: In God's name, what are you doing?

7:55 Speaker 4: Dammit, Bill, don't break my concentration like that. There are no bullets in the gun, remember?

8:00 Speaker 6: All right, Maven, you've proved your point.

8:03 Speaker 4: Joyce, I want you to pull the trigger.

8:10 Speaker 6: Joyce, don't do it.

8:11 Speaker 7: Do you see now, Bill, the power that I have over her?

8:27 Speaker 3: Albert Einstein once said the intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift. I'll be back shortly with Act Two.

8:50 Speaker 1: It is in all of us.

8:52 Speaker 4: Waiting.

8:54 Speaker 1: Watching.

8:55 Speaker 3: Growing.

8:57 Speaker 1: Evil Within by Winslow Swan. Now available on Amazon. If you'd like to support us, visit our merchandise store. T-shirts, caps, mugs, and so much more. Visit doorwaytonightmare.com today.

9:18 Speaker 3: Frederick Lenz once asked, what does it mean to be psychic? Essentially, it means to feel rather than think all the time.

9:44 Speaker 5: I'm so glad you came with.

9:46 Speaker 3: Us, Bill.

9:46 Speaker 6: Like I had a choice? Your so-called husband threatened to fire me if I didn't. Right now, I can't afford to lose a client.

9:55 Speaker 5: I almost wish that you had lost him as a client.

9:58 Speaker 6: Why do you say that?

9:59 Speaker 2: Oh, Bill.

10:00 Speaker 5: Bill, don't you see what he's doing? He simply wants you close so that he can read your mind.

10:07 Speaker 6: But he already admitted that he can't. I have some sort of block against him.

10:12 Speaker 5: It won't matter, Bill. He'll find a way around it. He always does.

10:21 Speaker 2: Aha!

10:21 Speaker 4: There you are, Bill. Been looking for you. Is your cabin satisfactory?

10:27 Speaker 2: Yes, it is.

10:28 Speaker 6: But why did you want me to come along on this tour?

10:31 Speaker 4: Well, I've been working on some more experiments for the stage show. I needed someone that I could try them out on, and, well, you were the most logical choice.

10:40 Speaker 6: But you said... I mean, you told me that you couldn't.

10:44 Speaker 4: I still can't read your mind, Bill. You have nothing to fear... from me.

10:52 Speaker 5: Maven, please, let Bill go home. We can find someone else.

10:58 Speaker 4: Oh, my dear, dear, dear Joyce, my mind is made up here. I'm sure that you and Bill will be a most entertaining attraction.

11:30 Speaker 2: Bill?

11:31 Speaker 5: What are you doing here?

11:33 Speaker 6: Get whatever you need, Joyce. I'm getting you away from Maven.

11:37 Speaker 5: But that's impossible. I told you. I'm bound to him.

11:42 Speaker 2: No matter what.

11:43 Speaker 6: That's baloney and you know it. Now come on.

11:46 Speaker 5: Where are we going?

11:47 Speaker 6: There's a brief stop in Bristol. Maven is asleep. We are getting off. I've already arranged a car to take us up to Charlotte. By the time Maven wakes up, we will be a thousand miles in the opposite direction.

11:59 Speaker 5: Do you really think we can?

12:01 Speaker 6: I know that we can.

12:07 Speaker 5: Where are we?

12:07 Speaker 6: Just outside of Charlotte. There's a small motel up ahead that I made reservations at.

12:13 Speaker 5: I just have the funny feeling that Maven is.

12:18 Speaker 2: is.

12:19 Speaker 6: Maven is on the train, still asleep, and headed the other way. Now don't worry. I've got all this planned out. Hey, anybody here?

12:48 Speaker 5: Look over there. Someone coming out of the shadows.

12:59 Speaker 4: I thought you two would never get here. I've been waiting on you forever.

13:06 Speaker 6: Maven, but how?

13:10 Speaker 4: Sure, you know, no, in fact, no. Let me have Joyce explain it to you.

13:15 Speaker 5: He's done it. He was able to read your mind.

13:20 Speaker 3: No.

13:21 Speaker 6: That's impossible.

13:22 Speaker 4: More importantly, I was able to manipulate your thoughts, Bill. I, uh, quote-unquote, suggested this place for you. The owner's an old friend of mine from the carnival days. He contacted me when you made the reservation.

13:38 Speaker 6: My head.

13:40 Speaker 3: Yes, Bill.

13:41 Speaker 4: My mind over yours.

13:44 Speaker 3: Finally. Finally.

13:45 Speaker 4: Step over to the wall on your right.

13:49 Speaker 3: You see?

13:49 Speaker 4: A small retaining wall. And beyond, a 200-foot drop off the cliff.

13:57 Speaker 6: What are you doing?

13:59 Speaker 4: You are going to die tonight, Bill. You are going over that wall.

14:06 Speaker 5: Please, Maven. Maven. Don't do it.

14:09 Speaker 4: I knew what you were thinking even before I broke through your mind. Do you really think I was going to let you take Joyce from me?

14:16 Speaker 6: Stop it, Maven.

14:19 Speaker 3: No, Bill.

14:20 Speaker 4: You are going over. Just another suicide.

14:26 Speaker 6: No, Maven, I won't.

14:29 Speaker 3: Whoa, hey, thanks.

14:30 Speaker 4: Stop, take your hands off me. You're going over the cliff.

14:33 Speaker 5: Bill, look out.

14:35 Speaker 4: You're going, you're going.

14:43 Speaker 3: Bill and Joyce peer over the small wall and see the crumpled body of Maven a hundred feet down on a ledge. The end of our story, you say?

14:55 Speaker 2: Oh, no.

14:57 Speaker 3: More surprises lay ahead when I return with Act 3. The only witness to her murder cannot speak. Until now. Click. A Tale of Revenge by Winslow Swan. Now available on Amazon. Revenge is a dish best served cold. It has been six months since the accident. Maven lies in a bed in his opulent house, paralyzed and without the ability to talk. His wife, Joyce, becomes his constant caregiver, save for the nurse who comes at night to help.

16:02 Speaker 6: What does the doctor say?

16:03 Speaker 5: That he could pass at any moment. Or last like this for years.

16:11 Speaker 3: Oh, Bill.

16:12 Speaker 5: This is a worse hell than when he was controlling me.

16:16 Speaker 6: There, there. It's going to be okay.

16:19 Speaker 5: You have no idea. I can still hear him in my thoughts. It's as if he has greater power.

16:28 Speaker 6: No, I don't believe that. Look, you're overstressed. Why don't you go to the kitchen and get something to eat? Then maybe watch some TV, listen to the radio, or just read a book.

16:39 Speaker 5: I can't. I have to stay here until the night nurse comes. And that won't be for another two hours.

16:47 Speaker 6: I'll watch over him. You need to get away from this room. It isn't healthy for you.

16:53 Speaker 5: He always said that we would be together forever.

16:57 Speaker 6: Forever is a long time. Now come on. Go get you a bite to eat. Don't worry, I'll watch after him.

17:11 Speaker 6: Getting all that good oxygen, Maven. Machines keeping everything going at a nice pace.

17:20 Speaker 3: It would be.

17:21 Speaker 6: So easy, so easy.

17:23 Speaker 2: Easy.

17:24 Speaker 6: To simply flick a switch, and then.

17:27 Speaker 8: No.

17:30 Speaker 3: More, Maven.

17:33 Speaker 2: Are you sure, Bill, that you want to entertain that thought?

17:37 Speaker 3: What?

17:39 Speaker 6: No, I must be hearing things.

17:43 Speaker 2: You are hearing things, Bill! You are hearing my voice! Inside your head.

17:53 Speaker 6: No, it's a trick.

17:57 Speaker 2: No trick, my friend.

17:59 Speaker 8: The only reason that I'm still alive is because I've been concentrating all of my thoughts and willpower on you.

18:08 Speaker 2: And now I have elevated my mind to reach yours. What?

18:14 Speaker 6: What are you planning to do? You can't move from that bed.

18:17 Speaker 2: True, I can't. But I can make you move. Walk over to the bureau, Bill. Get out of my head.

18:32 Speaker 2: Open the drawer. Now, take out the gun.

18:45 Speaker 6: Whatever you are planning, I will stop you.

18:50 Speaker 2: You are going to kill Joyce. You are going to call her. And when she comes to the door, you will shoot her.

19:00 Speaker 6: No, you can't make me.

19:03 Speaker 2: Call to her, Bill. Now, call to her.

19:08 Speaker 1: Joyce.

19:10 Speaker 6: Joyce, come here.

19:12 Speaker 8: Now, aim the gun at the door. When she opens it, pull the trigger. Now I'm through with this body.

19:29 Speaker 2: Finally.

19:30 Speaker 4: I think now I can leave. Bill, what happened?

19:57 Speaker 5: I saw you with the gun. You fired, but you missed. And I feel, I feel so free for the first time. I don't feel Maven inside my head. I'm really free.

20:17 Speaker 4: Are you really? Are you really, truly free?

20:23 Speaker 5: Bill, that voice coming from your lips. No, it can't be.

20:31 Speaker 4: Oh, yes, my dear, it can be. I simply traded minds with our friend Bill. He is dead. I am inside his body. And you and I We'll be together.

20:47 Speaker 3: Forever. And ever.

20:49 Speaker 5: No! Forever.

20:52 Speaker 4: Forever.

20:54 Speaker 3: Forever. Forever. Forever. Forever. Forever. Forever. Forever.

20:58 Speaker 2: Forever. Forever.

21:17 Speaker 3: Bill, now inhabited by the mind of Maven, begins to laugh as Joyce slowly and methodically retreats her own mind into madness. I'll return with a final word.

21:37 Speaker 5: Hey guys, this is Crimson.

21:38 Speaker 4: And this is Swan. And we'd love to know what you think of the stories.

21:42 Speaker 1: Even if it's bad.

21:44 Speaker 7: So leave us a comment.

21:45 Speaker 6: Or give us a thumbs up.

21:47 Speaker 5: Thank you!

22:07 Speaker 3: Martha Beck once said, Sometimes a psychic tells you something and it feels wrong, and others may be right on the money. It's your choice about whom to trust, and giving that trust is something we do ourselves. Our cast included Darren Marler, Annie Mick, and Raven Adams. The story was edited by Crimson McKenzie and directed by Winslow Swan.

22:38 Speaker 3: And now, a preview of our next tale. Sarah?

22:48 Speaker 2: Sarah!

22:50 Speaker 3: Open this door!

22:52 Speaker 4: Open this door now!

22:53 Speaker 2: Why?

22:55 Speaker 7: So that you can hit me again?

22:56 Speaker 2: Or worse?

23:02 Speaker 4: Sarah, you can't keep me locked up in here! Sarah, open this door!

23:08 Speaker 3: Have you gone insane?

23:14 Speaker 1: Perhaps I have, Keith. Perhaps I've finally realized that I have gone insane.

23:22 Speaker 3: This is Artemis Black, inviting you to return with us through the doorway to Nightmare for another adventure into the terrifying world of your imagination. Until next time, slumber peacefully.

23:42 Speaker 1: Epilogue. That butler did it. If you'd like to support us, visit our merchandise store. T-shirts, caps, mugs, and so much more. Visit doorwaytonightmare.com today.