The Martian Invasion Aftermath: "Point of View" (Cosmic Horror Audio Drama)

0:00 Speaker 1: Doorway to Nightmare is brought to you in part by Swanage Press. 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. Come in. Welcome. I'm Artemis Black. The Oxford Language Dictionary defines the term point of view as a particular attitude, or way of seeing a matter. In literary terms, it is a crucial aspect of storytelling that refers to the perspective from which a story is narrated. I find myself gravitating to the first-person form of storytelling, but then I ask myself, what if a different character told the same story, but from their point of view?

1:27 Speaker 2: Don't you remember me? It's me, George. The first time we met was after the Battle of Grover's Mill, remember?

1:36 Speaker 1: Yes. They.

1:38 Speaker 3: The invaders wiped us out. Hundreds dead, maybe thousands.

1:44 Speaker 4: They attacked us. They wiped us out.

1:50 Speaker 1: Our mystery drama, Point of View, was based on characters created by H.G. Wells. and written especially for Doorway to Nightmare by Winslow Swan and edited by Crimson McKenzie. Our cast includes Darren Mahler, Crimson McKenzie, Raven Adams, and Dave Arkaboff. 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. The Convincer Author Harper Lee once said, you never really understand a person until you consider things from their point of view.

3:03 Speaker 1: Everyone has their own interpretations of what is happening around them. And even though the same events are occurring, someone may have a much different perspective.

3:18 Speaker 5: George, I'm so happy that you were able to come.

3:22 Speaker 2: Aye, it has been much too long, Emily. So I see the hospital is still under construction.

3:28 Speaker 5: One of the first things that, you know, the government wanted to rebuild after the, um. Well, the war.

3:37 Speaker 2: Yeah, that was no more of a war than if you were to trample an anthill.

3:42 Speaker 5: I've been reading your series of articles about your own experience. I understand that you have a book coming out as well?

3:50 Speaker 2: Yeah, but as of yet, I... I don't have a title. It's due out in October. The 30th, to be exact.

3:57 Speaker 5: One year since the invasion.

4:00 Speaker 2: I'm shocked at how fast things have returned to normal.

4:03 Speaker 5: Oh, how is Carrie, by the way?

4:05 Speaker 2: Still having nightmares, unfortunately. Something that has plagued both of us.

4:10 Speaker 5: The things that you have described in your articles have been giving me more than one sleepless night.

4:17 Speaker 2: I never intended them to be a horror story.

4:20 Speaker 5: But that's what it was, George. A horror that was lived by everyone.

4:25 Speaker 2: Well, Dr. Blake, sorry, Emily, what made you summon me to the hospital?

4:30 Speaker 5: The article that came out last week. There was something in it that struck a nerve.

4:37 Speaker 2: Which was?

4:38 Speaker 5: You said that you had met an artillery man. You never named him.

4:43 Speaker 2: Yeah, I couldn't find him to get permission to use his name, so... You know, I tried the army, but... Man, they were still in such disarray. Finding one man was not exactly project number one.

4:56 Speaker 5: But you do know his name.

4:58 Speaker 2: Yeah, Corporal Benjamin Pierce. I met him after that first battle.

5:05 Speaker 1: Yeah, battle.

5:06 Speaker 2: Yeah, more of a massacre than a battle. Anyway, why do you ask?

5:10 Speaker 5: Six months ago, a young man was brought to us. He was exhausted, malnourished, and completely incoherent. We nurse him back to physical health, but his mental health is something else. He only stares out the window and keeps repeating the word underground, underground, underground over and over.

5:36 Speaker 2: I don't know how I can help. I'm just a writer, Emily. I'm not a psychiatrist. Where was he found?

5:42 Speaker 5: In the cellar of one of the few houses still standing in Wayfair. It seemed that He was digging some sort of a tunnel.

5:52 Speaker 2: Did you say a tunnel?

5:55 Speaker 5: Yes.

5:56 Speaker 4: Why?

5:57 Speaker 5: Is that significant?

5:58 Speaker 2: How far was this tunnel?

6:02 Speaker 5: I believe they said it ran about 30 yards, perhaps less.

6:08 Speaker 2: It can't be.

6:09 Speaker 5: George, I understand you have written about your experience during the war, but if you could tell me just a little bit more about your... artillery man? It might be helpful.

6:23 Speaker 2: It was shortly after the battle at Grover's Mill. I'd sent Carrie to New York, away from the conflict, hoping that she would be safe. Most of the city had been evacuated, and I stayed behind to report on what was happening.

6:41 Speaker 4: Anyone here?

6:42 Speaker 2: Come in. Quickly. Here. Drink this.

6:47 Speaker 4: Thank you.

6:48 Speaker 1: Who are you?

6:49 Speaker 4: Corporal Benjamin Pierce. Benji to my friends.

6:53 Speaker 2: Were you at Grover's Mill?

6:55 Speaker 3: Yes.

6:56 Speaker 1: They.

6:57 Speaker 3: The invaders wiped us out. Hundreds dead, maybe thousands.

7:03 Speaker 4: They attacked us. They wiped us out.

7:07 Speaker 2: Was it the heat ray?

7:08 Speaker 4: No, the invaders.

7:11 Speaker 3: They were inside these massive metal machines that stood up and walked on giant legs.

7:16 Speaker 2: Machines?

7:17 Speaker 4: Fighting machines.

7:18 Speaker 6: Machines?

7:19 Speaker 4: They attacked us.

7:21 Speaker 3: They had metal claws that picked up men and bashed them against trees. They swept away tanks and gunners. I saw one of them crush a tank like it was smashing a bug.

7:34 Speaker 4: They wiped us out.

7:37 Speaker 2: I saw another flash in the sky a little while ago.

7:40 Speaker 4: Yes, it looked like it was headed toward New York.

7:43 Speaker 1: New York?

7:43 Speaker 6: No.

7:45 Speaker 2: Carrie, my wife, I need to get there at once.

7:47 Speaker 4: And me.

7:49 Speaker 3: I've got to report to headquarters if there's anything left of it.

7:59 Speaker 2: We headed out, driving through small towns that had been overrun by these creatures. We reached Mayberry Hill late in the afternoon. My car had run out of gas and there was no way of getting anymore. We began walking through the small village.

8:21 Speaker 4: Is everybody dead?

8:22 Speaker 2: Not everyone. Look, over there. Six cannons with gunners.

8:27 Speaker 3: Bows and arrows against the lightning. They haven't seen the heat ray yet.

8:32 Speaker 7: You there! Young soldier, where is your regiment?

8:36 Speaker 4: Corporal Benjamin Pierce, sir. The 32nd. I'm in the artillery division.

8:41 Speaker 7: And what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with your unit?

8:44 Speaker 2: We're coming from Grover's Mill, General.

8:47 Speaker 7: General Carver.

8:49 Speaker 3: Huh.

8:50 Speaker 7: And just who might you be?

8:51 Speaker 4: He's a reporter, sir. We're on our way.

8:54 Speaker 7: I don't care where you're coming from. I heard about the so-called Battle of Grover's Mill. A disgrace.

9:01 Speaker 4: But I was there, sir.

9:03 Speaker 7: And now you are here. Seems to me you are deserting your post.

9:09 Speaker 2: Sir, with all due respect, you don't know what you're up against.

9:14 Speaker 7: A few upstarts who don't know their place. Don't you worry, Mr. Reporter. Our army can handle anything.

9:24 Speaker 2: What was that?

9:28 Speaker 7: What the hell?

9:30 Speaker 4: Look, there they are. What did I tell you?

9:33 Speaker 6: Run!

9:34 Speaker 1: Run!

9:34 Speaker 5: Run! What happened?

9:50 Speaker 2: Benji ran as the general ordered his guns to fire. They took down only one of the machines before being annihilated. I jumped into the river, hoping to save myself from that blasted heat ray.

10:03 Speaker 5: Amazing. But what about the next time you met the artillery man?

10:10 Speaker 2: That would be months later, after the invaders had destroyed much of our country.

10:20 Speaker 1: It is a narrow mind which cannot look at a subject from various points of view, wrote George Eliot. I will return shortly with Act Two. Have you ever had one of those days? You're fired. Where everything goes completely wrong. Wrong.

10:51 Speaker 1: And the day keeps getting worse and worse. And if just one more thing goes wrong, it could possibly send you toppling over the edge.

11:15 Speaker 8: Toppling over the edge.

11:18 Speaker 1: A suspense thriller from Winslow Swan. Now available in paperback from Amazon.com. Sometimes you should take a step back. And then there are those times when even you could go toppling over the edge. Hang on to your sanity. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle once wrote, When once your point of view is changed, the very thing which so damning becomes a clue to the truth.

12:15 Speaker 2: Where is this young patient of yours, Emily?

12:17 Speaker 5: Currently, he is in the day room.

12:20 Speaker 2: What's he doing?

12:21 Speaker 5: The same thing he's been doing every day for the past few months. Staring out the window, looking up at the sky, muttering the word underground over and over.

12:36 Speaker 2: Maybe I should go in and see him, see if I can maybe snap him out of it. If not, at least it would make an interesting article.

12:44 Speaker 5: Before we do, please tell me about your second encounter with Corporal Benjamin Pierce.

12:53 Speaker 2: You read the accounts. I'm sure you remember our army getting wiped out. It seemed that nothing could stop these invaders, these creatures from another world. I kept going, finding what I could to eat so that I could sustain my strength. My only thought at that time was my beloved Carrie. I would not allow myself to think that she could be counted among the dead. I found myself just outside of Newark. For some whim, the invaders had left most of the city standing. As I walked down the street, I saw a shadow in a doorway of a house that rose up and became a man.

13:38 Speaker 1: A man.

13:39 Speaker 2: Armed and dangerous.

13:42 Speaker 4: Hold it! Who goes there?

13:44 Speaker 2: A friend.

13:45 Speaker 1: Go on.

13:47 Speaker 4: Get out of here. This is my territory, you understand. Only enough food for one. Which way are you going?

13:55 Speaker 2: I'm not quite sure. I was heading towards New York to search for my wife.

14:01 Speaker 4: Wait a minute. You look familiar.

14:05 Speaker 2: No, it can't be.

14:08 Speaker 1: Benjamin?

14:10 Speaker 2: Benji to your friends?

14:12 Speaker 4: George, the man from Grover's Mill. Well, I'll be.

14:16 Speaker 2: They always say it's a small world. Who knew it'd get smaller after the war?

14:22 Speaker 4: It's great to see someone you know, but I thought that you had drowned.

14:26 Speaker 2: And I thought you had been burned by the heat ray. And that general, man, what a piece of work he was.

14:33 Speaker 4: Well, what do you expect from someone who is in charge, eh?

14:38 Speaker 2: So what are you doing here, Benji?

14:40 Speaker 4: Are you kidding?

14:41 Speaker 3: The war is over.

14:42 Speaker 4: We've lost.

14:43 Speaker 2: Yeah, but we can't give up.

14:44 Speaker 4: Who said anything about giving up? We have to fight, but.

14:48 Speaker 3: Not against them, because we can't win. We have to fight for survival. I've got a plan.

14:56 Speaker 4: Come on in.

15:00 Speaker 2: That was great. Thank you, Benji. You set a nice table, by the way. That was a great meal.

15:07 Speaker 4: And nothing but champagne now that I'm the boss.

15:14 Speaker 2: Cheers. Well, then. Cheers to the boss. So, what is this plan of yours?

15:23 Speaker 4: Look here, George.

15:24 Speaker 3: You've seen what happens. They clap eyes on us and we're dead. And have you seen them feed?

15:32 Speaker 2: I'd rather not think about it.

15:34 Speaker 3: Draining the blood of humans and injecting it right into them?

15:38 Speaker 4: It's disgusting.

15:40 Speaker 2: So what do we do?

15:41 Speaker 4: Think about it, George.

15:43 Speaker 3: We all go underground- Miles of drains, and don't forget the underground rail systems and subways.

15:50 Speaker 4: Plenty of room.

15:51 Speaker 1: Dark.

15:52 Speaker 4: Quiet.

15:53 Speaker 8: Safe.

15:54 Speaker 2: And you think that will keep us safe?

15:56 Speaker 4: I've thought it all out.

15:58 Speaker 3: These beings are going to start catching us, not just killing us.

16:03 Speaker 4: We're going to be like... like cattle. Some of us will become pets for them. I.

16:09 Speaker 2: Can't believe any of us would agree to be pets.

16:11 Speaker 4: Yes, it's true.

16:13 Speaker 3: Some will do almost anything to stay alive. But us, you and me, the smart ones, we go underground. Raid the libraries for books, not poems and novels, but science and math.

16:27 Speaker 4: Imagine it.

16:28 Speaker 3: We capture a fighting machine, learn how it works, and then it is our turn to kill.

16:35 Speaker 2: Assuming we go forward with this plan, who would we get to join with us?

16:38 Speaker 4: Good, strong men and women. No weaklings. That sort, out.

16:45 Speaker 2: As you meant me to go.

16:47 Speaker 4: I fed you, didn't I? We're talking, aren't we? I did give you a chance, didn't I?

16:55 Speaker 2: Yes, I suppose you did.

16:57 Speaker 3: We will need men like you to teach the younger ones. Come on, I'll show you what I've already started. What do you think of that?

17:17 Speaker 2: It's a tunnel. How far back does it go?

17:21 Speaker 3: Oh, I'd say about ten yards. It took me almost a week to dig. It's doing the working and the thinking that wears someone out.

17:36 Speaker 5: Remarkable! And you left this... crazed dreamer behind?

17:42 Speaker 2: I felt the traitor to my own kind. But Carrie, I knew she had to still be alive. He swore he would never forget what I did to him.

17:54 Speaker 5: I believe that the time has come for you to meet. Our patient.

18:01 Speaker 1: As George follows the doctor down the hallway, a slight sense of dread begins to overtake him. Stay with us, won't you, until I return with Act Three.

18:14 Speaker 8: There, underneath your bed, there is something, and it's waiting, waiting for another story. No One is Afraid of Momsters Anymore, and Other Stories to Read to the Thing Under the Bed by Winslow Swan. Paperback editions available at Amazon.com. Audiobook edition available at Spotify. Eight terrifying tales for you to enjoy and to read to the thing under your bed. Get it before the thing gets you.

19:09 Speaker 1: Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan once said, a point of view can be a dangerous luxury when substituted for insight and understanding.

19:22 Speaker 5: Quite a story. I can't wait to read the book. Have you thought of a title?

19:29 Speaker 2: I was thinking of calling it The War of the Worlds.

19:34 Speaker 5: The War of the Worlds by Herbert George Wells.

19:38 Speaker 2: Actually, I'm trimming that down to just H.G.

19:41 Speaker 1: Wells.

19:41 Speaker 5: Oh, yes, of course. I do like the title.

19:45 Speaker 2: Well, maybe this meeting will give me an extra chapter for the end of the book.

19:56 Speaker 4: Underground. Underground.

19:58 Speaker 5: We keep the radio playing.

20:00 Speaker 4: It seems to.

20:01 Speaker 5: Help keep everyone calmer. I'll turn it off while you talk to him.

20:06 Speaker 3: Underground.

20:06 Speaker 4: Underground.

20:08 Speaker 2: I don't know if I'm going to be of any use.

20:10 Speaker 1: Here, Emily.

20:12 Speaker 4: It can't hurt to try.

20:14 Speaker 5: Sir? I have someone who wants to meet you. Sir?

20:19 Speaker 3: Benjamin, it's... It's me.

20:25 Speaker 2: George. Do you remember?

20:28 Speaker 1: George?

20:29 Speaker 2: We met outside of Grover's Mill.

20:31 Speaker 1: Remember?

20:33 Speaker 4: They wiped us out. Hundreds.

20:36 Speaker 8: Dead.

20:37 Speaker 4: Maybe thousands?

20:40 Speaker 2: That's right, yes. You do remember.

20:42 Speaker 3: George, I fed you. I gave you a chance and you left me. So now you have come back. Crawling on your hands and knees. Got tired of running away, did you?

20:57 Speaker 2: Benji, the war, it's over. It's been over for almost a year now.

21:03 Speaker 4: Are you so sure?

21:04 Speaker 1: Yes, Benji.

21:06 Speaker 2: The Martians, they're all dead, Benji. They couldn't take our bacteria that we have become immune to. Our researchers and scientists, they've already started examining their bodies, their machines, hopefully learning something from them.

21:21 Speaker 3: We really should have gone underground and stayed there. Don't you think, George, that... An alien from another world who had the capacity to get to our planet, build advanced weapons, and destroy our country would also have the capability to contact those who were still on their home planet?

21:41 Speaker 2: I'm not sure what you mean, Benji. I suppose they could, but what of it?

21:47 Speaker 4: You saw it, George.

21:49 Speaker 3: How they grabbed up people, drained them of their blood to feed on. But what if they were doing something else?

21:58 Speaker 2: Like what? What more could they have possibly done to us?

22:03 Speaker 3: Perhaps studied us. Maybe found a way to become us.

22:10 Speaker 5: Maybe you should go and lie down, Mr. Pierce.

22:13 Speaker 2: No, hang on, hang on, Emily. Let him talk. Benji, what are you trying to say?

22:19 Speaker 5: Hey, look out the window. Do you see that?

22:28 Speaker 4: I was one of the last Martians.

22:31 Speaker 3: I crawled my way towards that house where you left the young artillerymen. We found a way to inhabit your bodies.

22:41 Speaker 6: No.

22:43 Speaker 2: Not again.

22:44 Speaker 3: I made the report to my superiors on Mars.

22:47 Speaker 4: They found a way.

22:49 Speaker 3: The war was never over. Only the first Vanguard was killed.

22:55 Speaker 5: What is he saying, George?

23:00 Speaker 2: We only got a short reprieve.

23:02 Speaker 3: We not only invaded your world, but your bodies.

23:09 Speaker 2: Quick, Emily, turn on the radio.

23:26 Speaker 6: Ladies and gentlemen, here is the latest bulletin from the Intercontinental Radio News, Toronto, Canada. Professor Morris of Macmillan University reports observing a total of three explosions on the planet Mars between the hours of 7.45 p.m. and 9.20 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. This confirms earlier reports received from American observatories. Now nearer home comes a special bulletin from Trenton, New Jersey. It is reported that at 8.50 p.m. a huge flaming object believed to be a meteorite, fell on a farm 22 miles from Trenton.

23:56 Speaker 6: The flash in the sky was visible within a radius of several hundred miles, and the noise of the impact was heard as far north as Elizabeth.

24:04 Speaker 4: The Earth, as well as your puny bodies, belong to us.

24:10 Speaker 6: Us. Us. Us.

24:22 Speaker 1: As George and the doctor looks out the window, they see more and more green flashes in the night sky. I'll return shortly with a final word.

24:36 Speaker 5: If you'd like to support us, visit our merchandise store. T-shirts, caps, mugs, and so much more. Visit doorwaytonightmare.com today.

25:05 Speaker 1: As we draw closer to making a manned expedition to the Red Planet, I often wonder, what lies beyond our own small galaxy? What sort of creatures could be looking towards our own blue and green planet with envious eyes? slowly and surely drawing their plans against us. Our cast included Crimson McKenzie, Darren Marler, Raven Adams, and Dave Arkapov. The story was based on characters created by H.G. Wells, edited by Crimson McKenzie, and directed by Winslow Swann. And now, a preview of our next tale.

26:02 Speaker 8: I know that you're there, sitting in my chair, reading that book.

26:09 Speaker 7: I saw the page turn as if by an invisible finger.

26:16 Speaker 1: There!

26:18 Speaker 8: It happened again. But what.

26:24 Speaker 1: Are you?

26:26 Speaker 2: What sort of being are you? What sort of king are you?

26:35 Speaker 7: I must know, or I will go mad!

26:42 Speaker 1: Doorway to Nightmare is brought to you in part by Swanage Press. 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.

27:04 Speaker 8: The butler

27:08 Speaker 1: Did it.