The Eccentric Widow: A Terrifying Home Invasion Thriller "Miss Charlotte"

0:05 Speaker 1: 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 to nightmare. Nightmare. Come in. Welcome. I'm Artemis Black. The evil that men do lives after them. The good is oft buried with their bones, wrote Shakespeare. So why, your host asks, do we remember the evil rather than the good? What?

1:07 Speaker 2: Did you see all of that stuff in her house?

1:10 Speaker 3: Now look, Ray, you got a good thing going here. Don't louse it up for either of us.

1:15 Speaker 2: Don't worry, Hank. I wouldn't do anything like that.

1:19 Speaker 3: You better not. Miss Charlotte is just a sweet old lady who needs a little help. Delivering a meal to her isn't going to kill you.

1:26 Speaker 2: Yeah, but just think what all of that stuff could bring us.

1:30 Speaker 3: I swear, Ray, you were going to get us in some deep trouble.

1:38 Speaker 1: Our mystery drama, Miss Charlotte, was written especially for Doorway to Nightmare by Crimson McKenzie. Our stars include Mick Davis, Robert Jackson, and Annie Mick. I'll be back shortly with Act One. Perhaps you have seen them in your daily life. The unsung heroes of millions of homebound people helping when they can by delivering meals. It's an honorable job and has kept food on many tables for a long time.

2:37 Speaker 3: Come on in. Sit down. Glad you could stop by. Name's Hank. Just plain old Hank. Charlotte's around somewhere. I think she'd love to meet you. Just sit the food down anywhere. We'll get to it. Yes, I remember when I did the same thing, delivering. Of course, it's strictly a volunteer job, but that was okay by me. I was retired anyway and looking for something to do. I will never forget Ray. Oh, that's Ray Hanson, another driver that I was training.

3:12 Speaker 2: So, this is all that we do?

3:15 Speaker 3: That's right.

3:16 Speaker 2: Kind of boring, don't you think?

3:19 Speaker 3: If delivering healthy meals to people who can't get out of their homes is boring to you, why'd you ever volunteer?

3:25 Speaker 2: Probation officer made me.

3:28 Speaker 3: Well, kid, it may not be as boring as you think.

3:31 Speaker 2: What are you talking about?

3:33 Speaker 3: Oh, you'll find out. We're headed out there now.

3:37 Speaker 2: Out where?

3:38 Speaker 3: One of my favorite places to go, that's where.

3:42 Speaker 2: Oh, I get it. You got some poker games that we are going to. Why don't you just tell the head office that we are delivering meals?

3:51 Speaker 3: Not even close. We're headed to Miss Charlotte's place.

3:55 Speaker 2: I thought brothels were illegal in this state.

3:58 Speaker 3: Hey, don't you dare talk about Miss Charlotte like that.

4:02 Speaker 2: Okay, I'm sorry. Who is this, Miss Charlotte?

4:07 Speaker 3: Nicest lady you will ever have the pleasure of meeting. She lives in this huge mansion, and when I say huge, I really mean it.

4:15 Speaker 2: Still doesn't tell me who she is.

4:18 Speaker 3: From what I know, she grew up in that house. Family just kept adding on to it through the years. She was in some sort of accident, confined to a wheelchair, now.

4:27 Speaker 2: So, she mostly stays on the ground floor?

4:31 Speaker 1: Oh, no.

4:32 Speaker 3: She gets around pretty good. The house is about, let me think, four stories tall now. She had an elevator system installed so she could get from floor to floor.

4:42 Speaker 2: So what did she do for a living?

4:44 Speaker 3: You know, I have no slightest idea. Never thought to ask.

4:49 Speaker 2: Okay, so where do we put the food? In the kitchen?

4:53 Speaker 3: No, she gets one of them cooked meals that are in the hot bags.

4:57 Speaker 2: Oh, great. Now I'm a waiter.

5:00 Speaker 3: Hey, she tips very well. So don't go and mess things up.

5:05 Speaker 2: Now, why would I want to do that?

5:08 Speaker 3: Ray, I've seen you rap sheep. Burglary, breaking and entering, petty theft.

5:13 Speaker 2: That is all behind me. I'm ready to start over.

5:19 Speaker 3: I certainly hope so.

5:33 Speaker 2: Sheesh, you weren't kidding about the size of this place.

5:39 Speaker 3: Okay, here you go.

5:40 Speaker 2: What do you mean, here I go? Aren't you coming?

5:44 Speaker 3: Nah, I figured you could handle this one by yourself.

5:47 Speaker 2: Then where do I put the food?

5:49 Speaker 3: You follow the map.

5:50 Speaker 2: What map?

5:51 Speaker 3: You'll find it on the table just inside the door. It'll tell you exactly where she is. Just take the food and come back. What could be simpler? Hello?

6:11 Speaker 2: Miss Charlotte? You in here? Well, well.

6:15 Speaker 4: Hello there. Where is my Hank?

6:18 Speaker 2: Oh, I'm Ray, the new guy. Hank is waiting by the truck.

6:23 Speaker 4: Have any problems with my map?

6:26 Speaker 2: Well, actually, I did get turned around a couple of times.

6:30 Speaker 4: The point is, you did manage to find me.

6:35 Speaker 2: Yes, ma'am. Where would you like your meat?

6:38 Speaker 4: Oh, just set it on the table over there.

6:46 Speaker 2: There you go. Hope you enjoy it.

6:50 Speaker 4: I'm sure I will, Ray. You tell Hank I'm a little miff that he didn't come with you to say hello.

6:59 Speaker 2: Now let him know. My, my.

7:02 Speaker 4: What a delicious looking young man you are.

7:06 Speaker 2: Um, thank you. I... I think.

7:10 Speaker 4: Oh, now I've gone and embarrassed you. You must forgive an old lady.

7:16 Speaker 2: Oh, that's okay. Well, I guess I'll see you next time.

7:20 Speaker 4: Don't forget the envelope.

7:22 Speaker 2: What envelope?

7:23 Speaker 4: The one on the nightstand over there.

7:26 Speaker 2: Um, thank you.

7:28 Speaker 4: See you tomorrow.

7:30 Speaker 2: I hope.

7:35 Speaker 1: Well.

7:36 Speaker 3: Any problems?

7:37 Speaker 2: That is one of the screwiest houses I have ever been in.

7:41 Speaker 3: Did you follow the map?

7:42 Speaker 2: Yeah, and I still got lost.

7:46 Speaker 3: Should have seen me the first time. Took me almost an hour to find her.

7:50 Speaker 2: Do we have to go through that every time? Yep.

7:54 Speaker 3: It's just a little game that she likes to play. It's harmless.

7:57 Speaker 2: And all the stuff that is in there. I couldn't believe it.

8:01 Speaker 3: Hey, Ray. You ain't getting any... funny ideas are you?

8:06 Speaker 2: I told you, Hank, I'm past all that. But still, it would be pretty easy to... Hello?

8:15 Speaker 3: McFly?

8:16 Speaker 2: Are you stupid? I wasn't saying. I wasn't going to actually do.

8:23 Speaker 3: Good. Now where's the envelope?

8:25 Speaker 2: Oh, yeah, the envelope. Right, yeah, oh yes, the envelope. Right here.

8:30 Speaker 3: So go ahead and open it.

8:34 Speaker 2: The heck?

8:35 Speaker 3: Told you she was a nice lady.

8:37 Speaker 2: Two hundred bucks? Are you kidding me?

8:42 Speaker 3: Hey now, half that is mine.

8:43 Speaker 2: You didn't take anything to her.

8:45 Speaker 3: We're ten miles out of town. Fancy walking all that way? Huh, McFly?

8:50 Speaker 2: Will you quit calling me that? And I was only kidding. Here.

8:54 Speaker 3: Thank you.

8:55 Speaker 2: Does she tip like that all the time?

8:58 Speaker 1: Yep.

8:59 Speaker 3: Now you know why I hate giving up this route, even if it is just for two weeks.

9:03 Speaker 2: She is kind of a strange old gal.

9:06 Speaker 3: What do you mean?

9:07 Speaker 2: It must have been 95 degrees in there, but she was bundled up like she was in a cocoon.

9:13 Speaker 3: Weird. You know how old people are. My grandmama used to do the same thing. They get cold a lot easier.

9:20 Speaker 2: And that house.

9:22 Speaker 1: Sheesh.

9:24 Speaker 2: It's like a maze. Or some giant spider's web.

9:29 Speaker 3: I told you it was huge.

9:30 Speaker 2: Yeah, I guess so. But then, well, she called me delicious.

9:39 Speaker 3: That's one I've never heard before.

9:41 Speaker 2: Kind of gave me the chills.

9:43 Speaker 3: You just stick that C note in your pocket. That will run the chills right off.

9:59 Speaker 1: Buddha. once said, it is a man's own mind that lures him to evil. And as Ray stuffs the bill into his pocket, he begins to wonder how much more he could get. I'll return with Act 2 shortly. Joseph Conrad once wrote, The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary. Men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.

10:52 Speaker 2: Hey, Hank, how much longer you gonna ride along with me? Don't think I can handle it?

10:58 Speaker 3: You only got two more days and the route is yours. Besides, you made a few mistakes yesterday.

11:03 Speaker 2: What mistakes?

11:04 Speaker 3: Chocolate cake to a diabetic. Ring any bells?

11:07 Speaker 2: Hey, come on. It was an honest mistake.

11:10 Speaker 3: You gotta be more careful. I told you, read the list and get the right meal. It really is that simple.

11:18 Speaker 2: I know. I'm sorry.

11:20 Speaker 3: Good thing that guy's daughter was there and caught it.

11:22 Speaker 2: I said I was sorry.

11:25 Speaker 3: Any trouble in Miss Charlotte's?

11:26 Speaker 2: You mean, did I get lost again? Yeah.

11:30 Speaker 3: Where'd you find her this time?

11:31 Speaker 2: According to the map, she was in room 27B, South Corridor, third floor.

11:38 Speaker 4: Hmm.

11:38 Speaker 2: For someone in a wheelchair, she sure does get around.

11:43 Speaker 3: And no sticky fingers?

11:44 Speaker 2: What do you dig me for, huh?

11:46 Speaker 3: I already told you. I saw your rap sheet.

11:49 Speaker 2: Well, she dipped me another 200. Does that say anything?

11:54 Speaker 3: Great. Wish I'd been with you.

11:56 Speaker 2: Where were you yesterday?

11:58 Speaker 3: I had to go to Memphis to pick up some more meals. You were running a little low.

12:02 Speaker 2: Didn't I do a good job yesterday?

12:04 Speaker 3: I never said you didn't, except for that little mistake with that cake.

12:08 Speaker 2: You're going to keep throwing that up in my face?

12:11 Speaker 3: Hey, McFly, we all make mistakes. You just gotta be more careful.

12:16 Speaker 2: Please don't call me that! There you go, Miss Charlotte. Hope it tastes good.

12:29 Speaker 4: I'm sure that you... I mean, it will.

12:34 Speaker 2: Yes, well, I had better be going. Oh, your blanket is.

12:38 Speaker 4: Oh, my.

12:39 Speaker 2: Here, let me... Leave it alone. Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to.

12:44 Speaker 4: It's okay, young man. I just get a little nervous. Well, when someone.

12:52 Speaker 2: I understand, Miss Charlotte. Guess I'll be going.

13:03 Speaker 3: You okay, Ray?

13:04 Speaker 2: What? Oh, yeah, sure.

13:07 Speaker 3: Usually you're a lot more talkative.

13:10 Speaker 2: I was just thinking. Hank, if I told you something, you wouldn't think I was, well, crazy, would you?

13:21 Speaker 3: If you want to gut open a cat and wear it like a hat, I don't want to know about it.

13:26 Speaker 2: No, nothing like that. It was something, well, something that I saw.

13:32 Speaker 3: What do you think you saw?

13:35 Speaker 2: I was getting ready to leave when I saw the blanket on Miss Charlotte.

13:40 Speaker 1: And?

13:40 Speaker 2: Well, it had sort of moved on COVID part of her, you know. I was going to help her put it back when, when... What?

13:51 Speaker 1: Did you see?

13:53 Speaker 2: I swear, it looked like, like a spider's leg. Black, hairy, and huge.

14:03 Speaker 3: Probably just a trick of the light. She does keep it rather dim in there.

14:06 Speaker 2: I know what I saw, Hank. Scariest thing I've ever seen.

14:12 Speaker 3: Best just forget it. She's a sweet, kind old lady who tips very well. Don't. And I mean this. Don't Mess things up for us.

14:23 Speaker 2: Don't worry. I got my own plans.

14:34 Speaker 1: Mary Shelley once wrote, No man chooses evil because it's evil. He only mistakes it for happiness. The good he seeks. I'll be back shortly with Act 3. The worst thing about getting old is that evil men cease to fear you, according to Seneca the Younger. I tend to think that even evil men can be afraid of someone with much more experience.

15:31 Speaker 2: Man, look at all this stuff. It would take me a month to get it all out of here. A few trinkets won't be missed.

15:41 Speaker 4: What are you doing here?

15:43 Speaker 2: Oh, Miss Charlotte, I thought you were still upstairs.

15:47 Speaker 4: It doesn't matter where I am in my own home. What are you doing here?

15:53 Speaker 2: Oh, I was just, um... Admiring the antiques that you have here.

16:00 Speaker 4: Admiring? Or planning to steal them?

16:04 Speaker 2: No, I was just... What is it? Spider! I can't stand spiders! No!

16:14 Speaker 4: What did you do?

16:16 Speaker 3: You really should not have done that, Ray.

16:26 Speaker 2: Hank! What are you doing here?

16:29 Speaker 3: Hello, McFly. What do you think I'm doing here?

16:35 Speaker 4: Did you just call him McFly?

16:38 Speaker 3: Yeah, I thought you might like that. I knew that you would try something like this. I just knew it.

16:48 Speaker 2: Look, I'll just leave and we can forget the whole.

16:52 Speaker 4: Oh, no. You delicious little fly. You are not going anywhere.

17:01 Speaker 2: Oh, my God. The blanket. What the heck is going on?

17:10 Speaker 4: You already know, Mr. McFly. You saw it the other day.

17:17 Speaker 2: You've got... Oh, no. Eat legs, your body. A giant spider with a human head?

17:28 Speaker 1: It can't be.

17:30 Speaker 3: You must be starving, Miss Charlotte.

17:34 Speaker 4: Why don't you come into my parlor, said the spider to the fly.

17:42 Speaker 3: Sorry about this.

17:51 Speaker 1: What the heck?

17:54 Speaker 2: What am I covered in? Where am I?

17:58 Speaker 3: Down in the basement, Ray. I figured you'd try something stupid, McFly.

18:03 Speaker 2: What the heck is going on? Do you see her? Body and legs of a spider? That's just not possible. What's that thing on the table behind you, Hank?

18:17 Speaker 3: Oh, this? It's called an egg sack. Charlotte laid it down here not too long ago. It's just getting ready to hatch.

18:25 Speaker 1: No!

18:26 Speaker 3: It's her babies. Probably about 10,000 of them.

18:29 Speaker 2: No, please!

18:31 Speaker 3: They're gonna be....

18:34 Speaker 1: Hungry.

18:35 Speaker 2: No!

18:46 Speaker 3: Yeah, I know. Pretty fantastic, isn't it?

18:49 Speaker 4: What?

18:50 Speaker 3: What did you ask me? Oh, why did I do it? Well, you see, Miss Charlotte found me when I was a baby, just sitting there on her doorstep. Guess my real mother didn't want me. So you see, Miss Charlotte, she is.

19:09 Speaker 1: My mother.

19:14 Speaker 4: Another fly? For my web, Hank? Won't you step into my parlor, said the spider to the fly.

19:30 Speaker 1: Hank sits comfortably in an easy chair as his, uh, mother begins to spin her web around another fly. I'll be back with a final word. Evil, such as it is, will never go unpunished. Whether that punishment is decided in this life or the next is not for us to decide.

20:22 Speaker 1: Our cast included Mick Davis, Robert Jackson, and Annie Mick. The story was written and directed by Crimson McKenzie. This is Artemis Black, inviting you to return with us to the doorway to nightmare for another adventure into the terrifying world of your imagination. Until next time, slumber peacefully. Epilogue. The butler did it.