Buried Alive: The Terrifying Legacy of Roderick Usher adapted from E.A Poe| Fiction Podcast

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.

0:25 Speaker 2: Nightmare.

0:36 Speaker 1: Come in. Welcome. I'm Artemis Black. Horror. The kind that makes the flesh crawl as with maggots. Terror that turns the brain to jelly. These mark the works of Edgar Allan Poe. For over a century, readers have, dare I say, enjoyed the fevered stories of madness and horror, even as their blood ran cold with fear. As shall yours.

1:23 Speaker 3: For God's sake, don't you hear it?

1:25 Speaker 4: Roderick, please, I don't hear anything. Ha ha ha ha!

1:31 Speaker 3: I have heard it for many minutes, many days. God help me, I said nothing.

1:38 Speaker 4: Please, Robert, you must get control of yourself.

1:41 Speaker 3: She's coming. Don't you hear her, Edgar? She's coming for me.

1:49 Speaker 2: Edgar!

2:00 Speaker 1: Our mystery drama, The Fall of the House of Usher, was adapted from the story by Edgar Allan Poe and written especially for Doorway to Nightmare by Winslow Swan and edited by Crimson McKenzie. Our cast includes Nick Davis, Crimson McKenzie, and Winslow Swan. I'll return shortly with Act One. I must warn you that what lies ahead is a tale so gruesome that when it ends, you will know beyond doubt the true meaning of the word revulsion. Are you prepared for this? Then come with us to the library, where Edgar is seeing his long-lost friend, Roderick Usher, for the first time in many years.

3:08 Speaker 4: Edgar!

3:09 Speaker 3: My dear friend, it's been way too long.

3:12 Speaker 4: It's good to see you, Roderick. And yes, it's been much too long.

3:17 Speaker 3: But we shall not linger over lost time. Let us drink to our health. I'm so glad that you were able to come. Things will be so much better.

3:27 Speaker 4: Roderick, you sent me a letter begging me to come.

3:33 Speaker 1: Begging?

3:34 Speaker 3: No, my friend.

3:35 Speaker 4: And you mention a sickness. Your pallor is horrid. When was the last time that you were outside?

3:45 Speaker 3: Not since Father died. Over twenty years ago.

3:49 Speaker 4: Twenty years? No wonder you look so.

3:53 Speaker 1: My.

3:54 Speaker 3: Affliction is a family trait. My senses have been heightened. I cannot take the feel of coarse fabric against my skin. Light from anything other than a candle causes me great pain. I can only eat the most inceptive foods. Did you know that I heard your footsteps on the bridge over the tarn?

4:14 Speaker 1: And music?

4:16 Speaker 3: Not in the way that you think. I still can play guitar, but only lightly.

4:21 Speaker 4: Do you still paint?

4:23 Speaker 1: Occasionally.

4:25 Speaker 4: Well then, the solution is simple. We shall read and paint and eventually you'll be running through the fields just as we did as children.

4:37 Speaker 1: Roderick?

4:40 Speaker 5: Adeline!

4:41 Speaker 3: What are you doing out of bed? You know the doctor said that you should.

4:45 Speaker 6: I was dreaming.

4:47 Speaker 7: I cannot stand to dream. They frighten me.

4:53 Speaker 3: Forgive me, Edgar. I must return Madeline back to her bedroom. Come, Madeline dear.

5:01 Speaker 4: Your sister? Is she going to be all right?

5:06 Speaker 3: The doctor has told her that she will live a very long life. But I know better.

5:11 Speaker 4: What is wrong with her?

5:13 Speaker 3: She suffers, Edgar. Suffers perhaps even more than I do. I have seen her lying in bed in a death-like sleep. They call it cataleptical state, in which she appears to be dead. Her body is wasted away over the years, and with her demise, I shall be the last of the ushers.

5:46 Speaker 2: Edgar?

5:47 Speaker 4: Lady Madeline, what brings you to my room?

5:51 Speaker 2: I couldn't find Roderick. I must speak with.

5:59 Speaker 3: Someone.

5:59 Speaker 4: Well please, sit down, sit down. Now what can I do for you?

6:05 Speaker 2: I have dreams, Edgar.

6:10 Speaker 7: Horrible dreams of death.

6:16 Speaker 2: I don't want to dream anymore.

6:20 Speaker 4: Please, Lady Madeline, you must not get yourself into a state.

6:24 Speaker 2: Roderick doesn't understand. Our family.

6:29 Speaker 7: Curse, have you not seen the crack in the wall on the.

6:33 Speaker 2: Front of the house?

6:34 Speaker 4: Yes, I have, when I arrived. Is it safe to even live here?

6:40 Speaker 7: It is like a crack on our very souls and the dreams.

6:46 Speaker 2: My dreams become more monstrous with each night.

6:49 Speaker 4: Madeline!

6:51 Speaker 3: What are you doing here?

6:53 Speaker 2: Please, Roderick. I beg of you.

6:59 Speaker 4: Oh, please forgive me, Roderick. Your sister came to my room and.

7:03 Speaker 3: No! How could she be here?

7:06 Speaker 4: What are you talking about?

7:07 Speaker 3: I saw her only moments ago from the library window, walking through the cemetery.

7:12 Speaker 4: But she's been here the entire time.

7:15 Speaker 7: Why don't you look at me, Roderick? Am I that grotesque to gaze upon?

7:32 Speaker 1: Roderick faces his sister with a look of horror. Is the Lady Madeline so close to death that her very spirit walks among the tombstones of the family cemetery? I'll return shortly with Act Two. Again, I must ask if you wish to go on, for what lies ahead is a terror that I cannot find the words to convey. Even Edgar, while sitting in his room writing an entry in his journal, finds it difficult to describe the horror of meeting Lady Madeline.

8:34 Speaker 4: She was not a woman at that moment. She was more of a corpse standing in that awful room. If she were indeed alive, I felt to myself that she should be dead.

8:53 Speaker 3: Madeline, please.

8:55 Speaker 2: Edgar, you winced when you touched my hand.

9:00 Speaker 7: Can you feel the coldness of death?

9:04 Speaker 4: Oh, no, no, no, I.

9:04 Speaker 7: You need not try to make excuses. Even now, you cannot help but stare at the dark patches on my face. The decay that lives.

9:19 Speaker 2: That thrives on my dying flesh.

9:22 Speaker 3: I must insist that you not exert.

9:23 Speaker 7: Yourself I wanted to meet your friend Another human being That lives outside this This house This tomb I wanted Needed.

9:36 Speaker 3: Quick, catch her I've got her Come, help me get her back to her room.

9:44 Speaker 4: She weighs Nothing I can't feel a pulse A heartbeat Is he.

9:53 Speaker 3: Come this way.

9:59 Speaker 1: Here.

10:00 Speaker 3: Put her down here.

10:01 Speaker 4: Roderick, that's a.

10:05 Speaker 3: A coffin.

10:07 Speaker 1: Yes!

10:08 Speaker 3: It is a bed. It is where she rests. And haven't you noticed? She doesn't wear a nightgown, but a.

10:13 Speaker 4: Oh dear lord.

10:14 Speaker 2: A shroud?

10:17 Speaker 4: A funeral shroud?

10:18 Speaker 1: A shroud?

10:20 Speaker 3: She has been ready for her burial for almost a year now.

10:25 Speaker 1: Come, Edgar.

10:26 Speaker 3: Let's get back to the library.

10:28 Speaker 4: No, no, wait. There is something. I can't quite place it. There's something about her face.

10:39 Speaker 3: Then you do see it.

10:41 Speaker 4: Family resemblance is quite strong.

10:43 Speaker 3: Of course it is, Edgar. The Lady Madeline is my twin.

10:55 Speaker 4: Had I known what was to lay ahead of me, my horror would have been increased a thousandfold. I should have fled that desolate house right then and there, but instead found myself at breakfast with my friend the next morning.

11:15 Speaker 4: I believe that I should go up and bring something to Madeline.

11:18 Speaker 1: No.

11:20 Speaker 3: Perhaps later in the day. My God, Roderick!

11:24 Speaker 4: Your sister is dying up there.

11:27 Speaker 3: Don't you think I know that? But the stench, the smell will sicken you, nauseate you to a point where you will not be able to stand it.

11:36 Speaker 4: What are you talking about?

11:39 Speaker 3: The stench of death and decay.

11:46 Speaker 4: For days I tried to lift the spirit of my friend while all the time thinking of Lady Madeline. I would read to her listened to his silly lyrics of songs that he would make up. We painted, although not outside as I had wished. It seemed to me that his countenance was improving as we sat in the library one evening.

12:12 Speaker 3: What do you think of this painting, Edgar?

12:15 Speaker 4: Quite extraordinary. When did you do this?

12:20 Speaker 3: Oh, about six months ago. I still do not think that the eyes are correct.

12:25 Speaker 4: Perhaps a little more green within the pupils?

12:31 Speaker 3: Edgar, I cannot thank you enough for staying with me so long.

12:36 Speaker 4: I told you, Roderick. I'm here for you. Always.

12:40 Speaker 3: It is my own fault that we lost contact with each other after you went away to school. I should have been more of an attentive friend.

12:51 Speaker 4: Well, we both had our own lives to lead. Now, if you'll excuse me, I believe that I shall retire from my room. Of course.

12:59 Speaker 3: I did not realize how late it was getting. I shall see you at breakfast.

13:09 Speaker 1: Who's there?

13:11 Speaker 4: Roderick? Madeline?

13:15 Speaker 3: It's happened, Edgar. It has finally happened.

13:20 Speaker 4: Oh. What's going on?

13:23 Speaker 3: The Lady Madeline has succumbed to her illness.

13:27 Speaker 1: She's... dead?

13:30 Speaker 3: Yes.

13:31 Speaker 1: She's... dead.

13:34 Speaker 3: And now, my dear friend, I have but one favor to ask of you.

13:38 Speaker 4: Oh, anything. You name it.

13:41 Speaker 3: Will you help me carry her down to a vault within the walls?

13:45 Speaker 4: Do you not wish to bury her in the family cemetery?

13:50 Speaker 1: Not.

13:50 Speaker 3: Just it.

13:53 Speaker 1: Terror so awful that it shatters the human mind hangs like a shroud in the air. It drips on the spirit like the very slime on the decaying walls. And Edgar wonders if the madness within is not beginning to invade his mind. I'll be back shortly with Act Three.

14:38 Speaker 1: Roderick Usher and his friend, Edgar, have placed the coffin that contains the body of the Lady Madeline in a vault deep within the walls of the house. They gaze upon her lifeless features before nailing the lid shut.

15:01 Speaker 3: We loved each other. Cherished each other more than two people ever did.

15:06 Speaker 4: Yes, I understand. Here, the hammer.

15:12 Speaker 3: Finish it. For God's sake, finish it.

15:24 Speaker 4: For seven days and nights there would be no rest. Roderick's ordinary occupations were long forgotten, and my efforts to bring him back from this melancholia were fruitless. He hurried from room to room without purpose, barely eating anything. What few servants that he had were sent away, and we lived alone in gloomy squalor. He seemed to be listening endlessly to some imaginary sound. No wonder his condition seemed to be affecting me. I felt it creeping upon me. The terrors caused by his inexplicable fantasies.

16:22 Speaker 4: Roderick, should you not go up to bed? You haven't had any sleep or... No!

16:32 Speaker 3: Time enough later for sleep.

16:35 Speaker 4: Well, is there anything that I can do for you?

16:38 Speaker 3: Simply being here is enough.

16:41 Speaker 4: Then I shall wish you a good night.

16:44 Speaker 2: Hello?

16:53 Speaker 1: Roderick?

16:54 Speaker 4: Is that you? Edgar. Oh, please, come in.

16:58 Speaker 3: You haven't seen it?

17:00 Speaker 4: Seen what?

17:03 Speaker 1: No, you haven't.

17:05 Speaker 2: But you shall.

17:06 Speaker 3: Yes, you will see it.

17:13 Speaker 2: Roderick!

17:14 Speaker 4: What are you doing? Close the window!

17:17 Speaker 5: No!

17:19 Speaker 4: You see?

17:20 Speaker 5: You see?

17:21 Speaker 4: Clouds everywhere!

17:22 Speaker 3: No moon! No stars can be seen!

17:26 Speaker 1: But look!

17:27 Speaker 2: That strange light!

17:28 Speaker 4: Where does it come from? Roderick, Roderick, get away from the window. You're in a state. It is simply some sort of electrical phenomenon. Nothing more. Now come. The storm will eventually pass. Here, I have your favorite book.

17:46 Speaker 1: I shall read.

17:47 Speaker 4: You will listen and we will pass away this terrible night together. In the morning, you'll see, all will be well. No!

17:58 Speaker 3: No, listen! Do you hear it?

18:08 Speaker 4: It's only a tree branch hitting the side of the house.

18:14 Speaker 3: Downstairs? In the vault?

18:16 Speaker 4: What?

18:18 Speaker 3: I've heard it for many hours, many days and nights, yet I dare not speak. I tell you, she was alive when we locked her in the vault. She was alive.

18:31 Speaker 4: Oh, my God, Roderick. What have you done? What have we done?

18:39 Speaker 3: We have put her living in the tomb from the very first wherever I was. could hear her first feeble movements inside the coffin. And now tonight, you heard it. Even your dull ears could hear it. The beating on the lid, the breaking of the coffin, the screech of the door hinges, the clank of the iron-bound door. And now, now, she's here.

19:14 Speaker 5: Roderick footsteps are on the stairs I can feel the pounding of her heart.

19:27 Speaker 6: I tell you she's there there she comes for me she comes for me now she stands outside the door.

19:45 Speaker 4: Roderick Never have I witnessed such horror. as I did that night.

19:52 Speaker 8: In the doorframe stood the decaying corpse of Lady Madeline, her shroud covered in blood, her flesh bruised as if from some great struggle.

20:06 Speaker 7: Roderick!

20:10 Speaker 4: Madeline!

20:11 Speaker 5: No!

20:12 Speaker 3: Please!

20:13 Speaker 4: Madeline, in her final death agony, threw herself at her brother, knocking him to the floor.

20:22 Speaker 8: Her eyes entwined around him, both of them now dead.

20:32 Speaker 4: The entire house began to shake as if by some mighty hand. The storm had reached its zenith, and I ran from that chamber of terror, and now into the night. My brain wheeled as I saw the mighty walls begin to collapse. There was a long, tumultuous shouting sound, like the voice of a thousand waters. The deep and dank tarn at my feet closed sullenly and silently with the fragments of the House of Usher.

21:16 Speaker 2: The House of.

21:25 Speaker 1: Usher Edgar stands at the gaping hole where once stood a huge mansion. He slowly turns, wondering if he will ever forget the terror of that night. I'll return shortly.

22:15 Speaker 1: When The Fall of the House of Usher was first published in 1839, many people assumed that it was about Poe himself. They observed that the narrator's description of Roderick also applied to the author. Contemporary readers and critics interpreted the story as a somewhat sensationalized account of Poe's supposed madness. Other scholars pointed to the work as an embodiment of Poe's doctrine of art for art's sake, which held that art needs no moral, political, or educational justification. But of course, we leave it to your own Interpretations.

23:02 Speaker 1: Our cast included Mick Davis, Crimson McKenzie, and Winslow Swan. The script was edited by Crimson McKenzie and directed by Winslow Swan. And now, a preview of our next tale.

23:20 Speaker 2: What is that? That little box you brought in.

23:23 Speaker 4: Oh, you know, I haven't the foggiest idea.

23:26 Speaker 2: Oh, come on.

23:28 Speaker 4: Well....

23:30 Speaker 7: No, where'd you get it from?

23:32 Speaker 4: Well, I mean, I got it in the mail yesterday. It says it's from, like, the podcast distributors. Oh, yeah, yeah. So I really don't have any idea.

23:46 Speaker 2: Oh, my. It just came on. Look at the pretty lines.

23:55 Speaker 4: Yeah, but it still doesn't tell.

23:56 Speaker 1: Us what it is. This is Artemis Black, inviting you to return with us to the doorway to nightmare for another adventure into the world of your terrifying imagination. Until next time, slumber peacefully. Epilogue. The butler did it.