The Power to Forgive: Facing Our Own Demons "The Visitor" | Psychological Drama

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. Pope John Paul II once said, Let us remember the past with gratitude, live the present with enthusiasm, and look forward to the future with confidence.

1:00 Speaker 2: Ah, Alan. How much is it this time? One drink?

1:04 Speaker 3: Two?

1:05 Speaker 2: A whole bottle?

1:06 Speaker 4: The seal hasn't even been broken, Harry. I'm through. Do you understand me? I've had it with, well, everything.

1:17 Speaker 1: Everything?

1:19 Speaker 2: Including me?

1:24 Speaker 4: Oh, I don't want to fight. Not now.

1:29 Speaker 2: Not here.

1:29 Speaker 1: Oh, I'm not fighting.

1:33 Speaker 2: Only lovers fight.

1:37 Speaker 4: Something I suppose we no longer are.

1:40 Speaker 1: Our mystery drama, The Visitor, was written especially for Doorway to Nightmare by Winslow Swan and edited by Crimson McKenzie. Our stars include Crimson McKenzie, Patience Adams, William Stafford, and Winslow Swan. 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.

2:29 Speaker 4: If you'd like to support us, visit our merchandise store. T-shirts, caps, mugs, and so much more. Visit doorwaytonightmare.com today.

2:41 Speaker 1: Sooner or later, each of us feels the need to escape. People from the city head to the country. and vice versa. Here, for example, is a very pleasant form of escape, a mountain cabin, only 10 miles from the city, population about 80,000. Each of whom, like us, has fashioned their own small cage of reality out of the chaos of unreality. Each of whom, like us, lives their lives by the steady ticking of a clock, Forgetting that the clock is merely man's invention, and tomorrow is simply a creation of the human mind.

3:41 Speaker 1: Forgetting that there is only the constant now.

4:18 Speaker 5: Ellen?

4:19 Speaker 2: Are you here?

4:20 Speaker 4: Hello?

4:27 Speaker 2: How did I know?

4:28 Speaker 1: Ellen!

4:32 Speaker 2: Naturally, the bottle. Sitting on the bar. How quaint.

4:38 Speaker 4: Still sealed up. Never been opened.

4:42 Speaker 2: You scared me. First a frantic telephone call, and then I come up to an empty house.

4:47 Speaker 6: Aw.

4:49 Speaker 4: Thought I got roaring drunk and fell off the mountain, eh? Well, I didn't. Went out for a walk before the snow started. I love it here. So wild and lonely. Always seems such a joke.

5:09 Speaker 7: The full sealed bottle proves that I have a will of iron.

5:14 Speaker 2: You look absolutely wonderful.

5:16 Speaker 1: Heh.

5:19 Speaker 4: What a week in the country won't do for some people.

5:22 Speaker 2: What did you want to talk to me about, Ellen? I mean, what was so urgent?

5:27 Speaker 4: I called the hospital today. Mr. Pearson goes home next week.

5:33 Speaker 1: Yes, I know.

5:34 Speaker 4: Harry, when I think about how close I came to killing that man.

5:40 Speaker 2: Well, now you didn't.

5:43 Speaker 4: No, I didn't. I didn't even see him. I was so drunk he wasn't even a blur.

5:53 Speaker 1: Come on, Ellen.

5:54 Speaker 2: It's going to be.

5:55 Speaker 4: All right. What next?

5:59 Speaker 7: What new escapade for the madcap alcoholic? Maybe a school bus wipe out the whole kindergarten and really hit the jackpot.

6:11 Speaker 4: No, I'm not smashing into anything, Harry.

6:14 Speaker 2: Well, of course you're not.

6:16 Speaker 4: I'm tired. Of almost killing people. Of shouting obscenities in police stations. Of being hauled off to hospitals and put in restraints. I'm done.

6:27 Speaker 2: And I'm sure that you are.

6:29 Speaker 7: And let's not forget about the lovely little goodies that creep out of the walls.

6:35 Speaker 4: Oh, I didn't tell you. The last time I was chased by an open coffin. Now that's a little more original than snakes and pink elephants, wouldn't you say?

6:48 Speaker 5: No.

6:49 Speaker 4: Fun and games are over. Would you like to guess why?

6:53 Speaker 2: I don't know why, but I'm sure that I'm in favor of it.

6:57 Speaker 4: Because I've stopped kidding myself about us.

7:01 Speaker 2: Ah, this must have been what was so urgent.

7:07 Speaker 4: Harry, I have a little speech to make. A sober little speech that should have been made 500 drinks ago.

7:19 Speaker 4: I don't need the alcohol anymore. And I don't need you either.

7:24 Speaker 5: Me?

7:27 Speaker 2: What are you talking about?

7:30 Speaker 4: Oh, Harry. I've finally faced the facts. I don't need a drink or an affair. And I don't need you. Simple as that.

7:42 Speaker 2: Ellen, where's the other bottle?

7:46 Speaker 4: No, Harry! There isn't another bottle. I'm stone cold sober. Would you like me to walk a straight line, officer? I can, you know.

7:58 Speaker 2: Ellen, just stop it. I know what the problem is, and so do you.

8:04 Speaker 4: Sure I do. 17 years times 365 days times 24 hours. No, Ellen, I'm sorry. It's just not that simple. You mind if we just skip that?

8:19 Speaker 2: You want to sweep it all under the rug and pretend it never happened? You never talk about it. Instead, you.

8:27 Speaker 1: Drink.

8:28 Speaker 4: Spare me the amateur analysis.

8:32 Speaker 2: Ellen, where was I when we became strangers?

8:40 Speaker 4: Right here. In front of me.

8:43 Speaker 2: You've never believed me. Nope. Well, what do you want me to do? Stand on my head?

8:50 Speaker 4: Let's not even talk about it.

8:52 Speaker 2: You never want to talk about it.

8:53 Speaker 4: I just don't want to fight.

8:57 Speaker 2: I'm not fighting. Only lovers fight.

9:06 Speaker 4: You'd better get back before they close the roads. Snow seems to be getting worse.

9:12 Speaker 2: And would it be that much of a catastrophe if I were to stay here tonight? Harry.

9:17 Speaker 4: It wouldn't be any more of a catastrophe than any other night.

9:28 Speaker 2: You know, I think I liked you better when you were drunk. Way to go, stupid.

9:41 Speaker 8: Isn't it always the woman who brings up the past? Should have kept your mouth shut. Maybe I should go back.

10:01 Speaker 2: Maybe I should.

10:02 Speaker 1: Damn!

10:03 Speaker 2: Cigarette!

10:05 Speaker 7: Hey!

10:05 Speaker 4: Hey!

10:08 Speaker 1: Harry... Why?

10:31 Speaker 6: Hello? Anybody home?

10:33 Speaker 4: Please, just go away.

10:37 Speaker 6: Hey, I just need to borrow the phone.

10:40 Speaker 4: Look, I'm all alone up here. The highway's only a couple miles back.

10:47 Speaker 6: Come on, lady. The snow is getting worse. My dad had an accident down the road.

10:53 Speaker 5: Fine.

10:55 Speaker 4: But only to use the phone. Here.

10:58 Speaker 6: Thanks, lady.

11:00 Speaker 4: Why didn't your father come?

11:01 Speaker 6: He hit his head. I need to try and call the hospital. That's where Mom is now.

11:09 Speaker 4: She's not.

11:10 Speaker 6: I mean, she isn't doing well.

11:14 Speaker 4: What's your name, darling? Elizabeth.

11:17 Speaker 6: But everyone calls me Beth. Beth Samuels. My father's name is Harry, and.

11:23 Speaker 4: Your mother's name is.

11:25 Speaker 3: is.

11:27 Speaker 4: It can't be Ellen....

11:34 Speaker 1: Ellen looks in both awe and amazement at the young woman standing in the doorway. She senses that it is someone she should know. Perhaps we shall find out when I return with Act Two.

11:55 Speaker 4: The only witness to her murder cannot speak. Until now.

12:02 Speaker 7: Click.

12:03 Speaker 4: A Tale of Revenge by Winslow Swan. Now available on Amazon. Revenge is a dish best served cold.

12:17 Speaker 2: Watch Circle of Mystery Tuesday nights at 7 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on the Doorway to Nightmare YouTube channel.

12:37 Speaker 1: When we left Ellen, she had just opened the door for a rather attractive young woman. Her mind tries to grasp the fact that the girl's father is Harry, and her mother is called Ellen.

12:53 Speaker 6: Lines must be down because of the snow. Would you look at that? It's really coming down.

13:02 Speaker 4: Um, where's your car?

13:05 Speaker 6: Just a little past your driveway. Daddy told me to come and try your phone.

13:09 Speaker 4: It just, it can't be.

13:13 Speaker 6: Hey, maybe you need to sit down. Here, let me help you. Are you okay? Look, I don't want to leave you alone. You don't look so well.

13:25 Speaker 4: How gentle you are. A lot like Harry used to be.

13:33 Speaker 6: Look, I'm sorry if I upset you in any way. You see, my mother is in the hospital and we've been trying to get there.

13:41 Speaker 4: Your mother?

13:45 Speaker 2: Yeah.

13:46 Speaker 6: She was having a baby.

13:48 Speaker 4: See?

13:48 Speaker 6: Daddy got these cigars and gave them to me to pass around. It's a boy. Printed on the label. Guess he was wrong on that one.

14:00 Speaker 4: What happened?

14:03 Speaker 6: An eight-pound, five-ounce girl. Great, big, beautiful girl.

14:08 Speaker 2: Except....

14:11 Speaker 6: She was dead.

14:12 Speaker 4: I'm so... I'm so sorry.

14:16 Speaker 6: I only saw her for a second. She was wrapped up in a little blanket. Cigars.

14:25 Speaker 2: Cigars.

14:27 Speaker 6: You hand these things out and everybody slaps you on the back and says, Congrats, Dad.

14:34 Speaker 4: And your mother?

14:36 Speaker 6: Oh, she congratulated Daddy. She wouldn't even let him hold her hand. She said, Well, this is your lucky day. The baby died.

14:46 Speaker 4: Your lucky day? I remember. Your lucky day?

14:58 Speaker 6: I suppose she thought it was what Daddy wanted.

15:01 Speaker 4: But didn't he?

15:04 Speaker 6: Only been married a year and flat broke. Mommy and Daddy were going to travel. Rub shoulders with everybody from all over the world. A baby would have been.

15:15 Speaker 4: Been in the way.

15:17 Speaker 6: Yeah, I guess. When she told Dad she was pregnant, he said it wasn't the end of the world. They could, you know... do something about it but she wouldn't.

15:31 Speaker 4: I remember I.

15:34 Speaker 5: Remember Harry really was lucky the baby died sitting in.

15:40 Speaker 6: That waiting room Harry realized that whatever was born would live and breathe and be a part of the world simply because Ellen and him loved each other.

15:51 Speaker 4: And now you what have regrets.

15:59 Speaker 6: Maybe he should have gone to the chapel and prayed.

16:02 Speaker 2: I don't know.

16:03 Speaker 6: Instead, he went to the men's room and cried.

16:07 Speaker 4: What happened then?

16:10 Speaker 6: I suppose he bought these cigars just to show how confident he was that everything was going to be alright, you know?

16:20 Speaker 4: Only, it wasn't.

16:23 Speaker 6: Daddy always said that he and Ellen could live together for 50 years. And she will never believe that he wanted that baby. That he wanted me. Guess we will never know.

16:36 Speaker 5: I do believe you. Am I so different? Have I changed that much?

16:45 Speaker 6: Maybe, Ellen. Maybe you have. Had I been born alive? Who knows?

16:54 Speaker 2: Beth! Oh, Beth!

16:56 Speaker 3: Please don't go!

16:58 Speaker 4: Beth!

17:02 Speaker 1: Ellen stands in the empty room, not believing what she has just seen. Elizabeth, simply vanishing before her eyes. I'll return shortly with Axe for you. Have you ever had one of those days? You're fired. Where everything goes completely wrong.

17:41 Speaker 6: Don't you lay a finger on me!

17:42 Speaker 7: I can't stand on you!

17:44 Speaker 1: And the day keeps getting worse and worse.

17:48 Speaker 2: Hey!

17:49 Speaker 3: Hey!

17:50 Speaker 4: And if just one more.

17:51 Speaker 5: Thing goes wrong.

17:59 Speaker 1: It could possibly send you toppling over the edge.

18:04 Speaker 6: Toppling over.

18:12 Speaker 1: The edge. A suspense thriller from Winslow Swan. Now available in paperback from Amazon.com. Sometimes you should... There are those times when even you could go toppling over the edge. Hang on to your sanity.

18:43 Speaker 4: If you're liking these shows, check out our other episodes on our YouTube channel. There's also some previews of Swan's audiobooks on there as well. Come join us.

19:06 Speaker 1: Radio personality and comedian Bill Crawford once said, remembering the past should help you create a purposeful future, not cause you to be afraid of it.

19:19 Speaker 4: Oh, Harry! Why did you go? I wasn't asleep. I didn't imagine it at all. That girl, Beth, was here.

19:34 Speaker 2: Wait, what's this? A cigar.

19:39 Speaker 4: It says it's a boy written on the label. I didn't imagine it. You were here.

19:50 Speaker 3: Ellen? What's going on?

19:52 Speaker 2: Dr.

19:53 Speaker 4: Mason, I'm not imagining it.

19:56 Speaker 3: All right, calm down. Just tell me how much you have had to drink.

20:01 Speaker 4: Not a drop, doctor. Not a single drop.

20:04 Speaker 3: Oh, come on, Ellen.

20:06 Speaker 2: Ellen?

20:07 Speaker 3: You call me with some fantastic story about... But it's true.

20:12 Speaker 4: It's not like it was before. You see, I called you, and you are here, and she was here. Just like she was. Like she should have always been.

20:28 Speaker 3: Really?

20:31 Speaker 2: Then why is this bottle here?

20:33 Speaker 6: I haven't touched a drop.

20:36 Speaker 1: Ellen?

20:37 Speaker 3: I made a rather foolish mistake. I put your records in the inactive file.

20:43 Speaker 4: You must believe me. She was here. She was really here.

20:50 Speaker 2: Who was here, Ellen? Harry.

20:52 Speaker 3: I don't know who you are talking about, but I can tell you where Harry was. He had an accident right down the road. The car was starting to burn when I came up because of your phone call.

21:08 Speaker 4: Are you alright?

21:10 Speaker 2: I was out cold for a while. But I'm okay now.

21:14 Speaker 3: Come on now, Ellen. How did it start this time?

21:21 Speaker 5: You hand these out and they slap you on your back and say, Congrats, Dad!

21:27 Speaker 1: Ellen?

21:27 Speaker 4: It's a boy.

21:29 Speaker 2: Where did you get this cigar?

21:31 Speaker 1: Harry?

21:33 Speaker 3: She couldn't have had too much to drink. The bottle hasn't even been opened.

21:37 Speaker 2: No, no. She's not drunk, Dr.

21:39 Speaker 1: Mason.

21:40 Speaker 3: Then what is she?

21:43 Speaker 1: Good night, Doctor.

21:44 Speaker 3: Harry, I think I know Ellen's problems a little better than you do. Are you so sure about that? Well, I'm going to leave this prescription here. Ellen, you've taken these before.

22:01 Speaker 1: Harry.

22:02 Speaker 3: I think a couple of them might do you some good. I'll be back up here in the morning.

22:11 Speaker 2: Ellen, what happened here tonight?

22:14 Speaker 4: I don't think that you would believe me.

22:19 Speaker 2: Try me. Let's just talk, you know, like we used to do. Oh, Harry.

22:46 Speaker 1: He did believe her. He had to. Was it all a delusion? Quote, it's a boy. End quote. Now, that certainly was not A delusion. Then what actually happened to Ellen? A hallucination? An accident in time? Or did the unconscious Harry conjure up their deceased daughter to show Ellen that he really did love her? I will leave that up to you to decide. I'll return shortly with a final word.

23:27 Speaker 4: It is in all of us.

23:29 Speaker 2: Waiting.

23:31 Speaker 4: Watching. Growing. Evil Within by Winslow Swan. Now available on Amazon.

23:39 Speaker 1: We all live within a cage of reality. that constant and marvelous world of the now. Sometimes that cage is rattled and time becomes simply an illusion. Our cast included Crimson McKenzie, Patience Adams, William Stafford, and Winslow Swan. This story was edited by Crimson McKenzie and directed by Winslow Swan.

24:25 Speaker 1: And now, a preview of our next tale. Mr.

24:29 Speaker 3: Anderson, if you ask me, the best thing would be to take that bed and destroy it. Destroy a fine piece of craftsmanship like this? You're insane!

24:40 Speaker 2: It should have been done a long time ago.

24:43 Speaker 3: Mahogany wood an intricate design hand carved into the headboard and four posts you could never hope for a better find than this the whole town knows about your find mr anderson they also know what might happen.

25:02 Speaker 1: Should you keep it this is artemis black inviting you to return with us to the doorway tonight for another adventure into the terrifying world of your imagination. Until next time, slumber peacefully. Epilogue.

25:24 Speaker 4: The butler did it. Hey guys, this is Crimson.

25:29 Speaker 2: And this is Swan. And we'd love to know what you think of the stories.

25:32 Speaker 4: Even if it's bad.

25:34 Speaker 3: So leave us a comment.

25:35 Speaker 4: Or give us a thumbs up.

25:37 Speaker 2: Thank you!

25:41 Speaker 1: Chills run up and down your spine. There's a creeping sensation at the back of your neck. You're listening to Doorway to Nightmare. Join me, Artemis Black, as we venture through into a world of the strange and uncanny. Here's a sample of what we mean. Valdemar. Valdemar, can you hear me? Yes. I.

26:11 Speaker 8: I can hear you.

26:18 Speaker 4: Are you asleep?

26:22 Speaker 1: Yes.

26:26 Speaker 2: No.

26:30 Speaker 6: I was asleep.

26:37 Speaker 2: And now.

27:01 Speaker 1: Video versions Friday nights at 7pm EDT. Audio only versions Saturday nights at 7pm. Join us. We will be lurking for you.