No Escape: When a Neglected Wife Snaps "Till Death Do Us Part"

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. Groucho Marx once remarked that marriage is an institution. But who wants to live in an institution? Ah, the wonderful world of being with someone until death do ye part. Sarah?

1:09 Speaker 3: Sarah! Open this door! Open this door now!

1:14 Speaker 2: Why?

1:16 Speaker 4: So that you can hit me again?

1:17 Speaker 2: Or worse?

1:23 Speaker 3: Sarah, you can't keep me locked up in here! Sarah, open this door! Have you gone insane?

1:35 Speaker 4: Perhaps I have, Keith.

1:37 Speaker 5: Perhaps I've finally realized that I have gone insane.

1:49 Speaker 1: Our mystery drama, Till Death Do Us Part, was written especially for Doorway to Nightmare by Winslow Swan and edited by Crimson McKenzie. Our cast includes Crimson McKenzie and Winslow Swan. I'll return shortly with Act One.

2:08 Speaker 5: 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.

2:32 Speaker 6: Watch Circle of Mystery, Tuesday nights at 7 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on the Doorway to Nightmare YouTube channel.

2:42 Speaker 1: Leo Tolstoy once said, What counts in making a happy marriage is not so much how compatible you are, but how you deal with incompatibility. Every day there are couples who marry, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health. Until death do they part.

3:16 Speaker 4: I brought you a nice snack, Keith. Oh, now look.

3:22 Speaker 5: You haven't even touched your lunch.

3:25 Speaker 4: Well, no matter. I'll take it.

3:29 Speaker 2: Keith!

3:30 Speaker 4: It's such a lovely day! Why don't you get out of this stuffy old room for a bit? We could go for a.

3:37 Speaker 5: Walk down to the pond or the meadow.

3:40 Speaker 4: We used to do that quite a bit, you know. I think it would do you a world of good. Um,

3:50 Speaker 4: what would you like for dinner? Keith, I could get something out of the freezer and make it for you. Whatever you would like.

4:02 Speaker 5: We have tenderloin, chicken, steaks, or would you rather have some fish with that special sauce I make?

4:12 Speaker 4: I remember how you used to love my sauce.

4:21 Speaker 7: All right.

4:23 Speaker 4: All right, dear. I'm sorry that I disturbed you. Maybe I could find a movie.

4:28 Speaker 5: Or something to watch while we eat our dinner.

4:52 Speaker 2: Type, type, type.

4:53 Speaker 4: Always typing. Always writing.

4:57 Speaker 8: Still.

4:57 Speaker 5: That's what you signed up for when you agreed to marry him.

5:06 Speaker 4: How much more, Keith? How much more must I take? Can't you even tell me? It's almost six, dear. You still haven't told me what you want for dinner. Don't you worry about it. I'll come up with something. You never even touched your lunch. Or the snack I left you. Never mind. I'll take the trays with me. You don't eat my cooking. You won't even talk to me.

6:10 Speaker 5: Fine.

6:17 Speaker 2: There.

6:19 Speaker 4: Type as much as you want, Keith. As much as you want. Some nice pork chops? Maybe the smell will bring you out of whatever world you're in. He stopped.

6:42 Speaker 8: Oh, wait.

6:43 Speaker 2: The key.

6:44 Speaker 4: Where did I put it? Oh, where is that darn.

6:51 Speaker 8: Here it is. Cheryl?

7:04 Speaker 5: Cheryl?

7:05 Speaker 3: Are you out there?

7:07 Speaker 4: I'm right here, Keith.

7:10 Speaker 3: Seems to be something wrong with this door.

7:13 Speaker 4: What seems to be the matter?

7:15 Speaker 3: The blasted thing won't open. That's what the matter is.

7:20 Speaker 4: Perhaps because I've locked it.

7:22 Speaker 3: You what? What are you saying? Open this door.

7:28 Speaker 2: Immediately.

7:29 Speaker 4: It's just a game, Keith. A silly little game.

7:34 Speaker 2: Come on.

7:36 Speaker 3: Open this door. I'm getting very angry. Now open this damn door.

7:44 Speaker 4: Oh, I couldn't do that, Keith. Not now. You see, it's too late now.

8:01 Speaker 1: Former President Ronald Reagan once said, There is no greater happiness for a man than approaching a door at the end of a day knowing someone on the other side of that door is waiting for the sound of his footsteps. But what, your host asks, happens if the door is locked? I'll return shortly with Act 2.

8:28 Speaker 5: 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.

8:44 Speaker 1: 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. Albert Einstein once said, Women marry men hoping they will change. Men marry women hoping they change. Will not.

9:47 Speaker 5: What a wonderful old movie. I didn't realize what time it was. Best check on Keith. ah I thought I asked you to fix this top step.

10:14 Speaker 3: No matter Sarah is that you.

10:19 Speaker 4: Are you there Yes, Keith. I'm here.

10:24 Speaker 3: Have you finally come to your senses? Decided to open this door?

10:31 Speaker 4: Well, I have thought about it.

10:34 Speaker 9: Sarah, if you don't open this door, I swear I'll break it down!

10:41 Speaker 4: Now you do that. You always said what a solid door it was that you put in.

10:46 Speaker 2: Sarah!

10:49 Speaker 3: Sarah! I'm warning you.

10:53 Speaker 4: Oh, that's rich. Coming from you.

10:55 Speaker 2: Sarah.

10:57 Speaker 3: Sarah, please. You have to let me out.

11:04 Speaker 4: Have to? Why should I have to?

11:09 Speaker 3: Sarah. What is it that you want?

11:14 Speaker 4: I'm afraid it's much too late for that. I'm old, Keith. Old and ugly, by your standards. Too old to have children.

11:26 Speaker 5: I'm sorry that we lost the one I should have had.

11:34 Speaker 3: It's all right, Sarah. It's all right. Look, let me out and we can have a good talk about this. Isn't that what you want? To talk?

11:46 Speaker 4: I'm not sure anymore, Keith. I'm not sure what I want.

11:52 Speaker 7: My, what a wonderful day.

12:13 Speaker 4: So bright and clear. Too bad you had the one and only window walled up, Keith. You could have seen what such a beautiful day we were having. Can't concentrate with all that sunlight. The only window you had it bricked up.

12:37 Speaker 2: Sarah, let me out of here.

12:50 Speaker 3: I demand that you let me out!

12:55 Speaker 4: I went for a walk today, Keith. You know, like we used to do.

12:59 Speaker 5: I really think that doctors should prescribe walking instead of all those pills.

13:09 Speaker 4: I went down to the meadows. Oh, you should have seen how green the grass was. I.

13:17 Speaker 9: I could go with you. down to the meadows. We could have a picnic. Yes, we could have a wonderful picnic with those little sandwiches you used to make. Oh, we could bring the radio and dance in the grass.

13:33 Speaker 4: In our bare feet? Oh, how I used to love to dance.

13:38 Speaker 3: And quite the dancer you were, Sarah.

13:40 Speaker 6: Now, now please, open the door and let's, let's talk about Whatever you want to talk about.

13:51 Speaker 5: The time has come, the walrus said, to talk of many things. Of shoes and chips and sealing wax. Of cabbages and kings. And why the sea is boiling hot. And whether pigs have wings.

14:12 Speaker 3: Yes, whatever you would like. Or perhaps go for another walk. Just, please. Unlock the door.

14:21 Speaker 6: Let me out.

14:26 Speaker 1: Sarah?

14:30 Speaker 3: Sarah? Open this damn door!

14:56 Speaker 4: You in the morning? So late.

15:01 Speaker 3: Will you stop it?

15:03 Speaker 2: Stop it! Stop it!

15:06 Speaker 4: I can't stand it anymore! Do you hear me?

15:09 Speaker 2: Stop it!

15:10 Speaker 3: Stop it!

15:10 Speaker 2: Stop it!

15:23 Speaker 1: Comedian and radio personality Jack Benny once said, My wife Mary and I have been married for 47 years, and not once have we had an argument serious enough to consider divorce. Murder, yes. But divorce? Never. I'll return shortly with Act 3.

15:49 Speaker 5: It is in all of us.

15:50 Speaker 6: Waiting.

15:52 Speaker 2: Watching.

15:54 Speaker 5: Growing. Evil Within by Winslow Swan. Now available on Amazon.

16:14 Speaker 1: American author Barbara DeAngelis once said, Marriage is not a noun. It's a verb. It isn't something you get. It's something you do. It's the way you love your partner every day.

16:55 Speaker 4: Eight in the morning and you're still making all of that racket? Good thing we don't have neighbors. I would have to apologize for you.

17:04 Speaker 8: Sarah.

17:10 Speaker 3: Sarah.

17:12 Speaker 1: Please.

17:14 Speaker 3: Open the door. For God's sake.

17:19 Speaker 2: I'm sick.

17:20 Speaker 4: You're sick?

17:22 Speaker 5: You're sick.

17:23 Speaker 4: You're sick? What about me? You were always saying how sick in the head I was.

17:28 Speaker 5: Oh, I'm so sorry I wasn't as smart as you or as refined as you.

17:35 Speaker 3: You have to let me out, Sarah. I haven't eaten anything in days.

17:45 Speaker 2: I'm dying.

17:48 Speaker 3: I'm dying.

17:51 Speaker 4: Are you? Are you really dying? Is your tongue all swollen up? Are your lips black and starting to crag?

18:08 Speaker 3: This isn't human.

18:10 Speaker 9: You can't just leave me in here.

18:16 Speaker 4: Oh, you're right, Keith. I guess it was silly of me to lock you up in there. I wasn't going to. Really, I wasn't.

18:24 Speaker 5: I saw the key in the lock.

18:26 Speaker 4: And just, well, I suppose I lost my head for a moment.

18:31 Speaker 2: So, so.

18:34 Speaker 3: You will.

18:38 Speaker 1: Let me out?

18:40 Speaker 5: I'm not quite sure, Keith. I'm really not quite sure.

18:54 Speaker 5: Knit one, purl two. Knit one, purl two. I really loved you, Keith. I really did. I don't even know why I locked you in. It seemed like such a good idea at the time.

19:10 Speaker 4: I always meant to let you out. Honestly. Do you believe me? You believe me, don't you?

19:20 Speaker 3: I do believe you.

19:25 Speaker 1: So... Please....

19:32 Speaker 2: Let me out.

19:35 Speaker 4: Oh, I brought this rocking chair up here so that we can have a little chat.

19:40 Speaker 5: I have my knitting and the radio's playing. Something nice.

19:46 Speaker 5: Sarah, I believe you.

19:51 Speaker 3: Please, please just.

19:57 Speaker 9: Let me out.

20:01 Speaker 3: I'm so.

20:05 Speaker 5: Weak. Do you think it could have all been so different had you married someone else?

20:15 Speaker 4: Would you have loved her?

20:17 Speaker 5: You didn't know how stupid I was, did you, Keith?

20:25 Speaker 4: Sarah.

20:32 Speaker 2: Ah.

20:33 Speaker 4: Knit one, purl two. Knit one, Pearl, too. I'm so sorry, Keith. So sorry that I bored you. Sorry I didn't understand your work.

20:50 Speaker 5: I should have just gone away, had my baby, and left you in peace.

21:13 Speaker 4: It's so funny. It all doesn't seem real anymore. It's almost as if you left me.

21:22 Speaker 5: You simply walked into your little.

21:24 Speaker 4: Room, clickety-clack, clickety-clack, and never came out.

21:31 Speaker 5: No matter.

21:32 Speaker 4: Keith, I've made a decision. I'm going to unlock the door. Don't come out right away. Do you understand?

21:42 Speaker 5: I've already packed my things in the car. After I unlock the door, I'm going down the stairs, and I'm leaving you. Keith, do you understand? Now please don't try to follow me. I'm not sure where I'm going, but it will be far from you.

22:14 Speaker 8: Keith?

22:15 Speaker 4: Do you hear?

22:16 Speaker 2: Ah!

22:42 Speaker 1: Eventually, the bodies of Sarah and Keith were discovered. Sarah had broken her neck after falling down the stairs. Keith had slowly starved to death. I'll return shortly with a final word.

23:03 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.

23:15 Speaker 1: Till death do us part. The final vow that a couple takes when entering holy matrimony. To some, it is a very solemn vow and not to be taken lightly. To others, perhaps, it is simply a goal. Our cast included Crimson McKenzie and Winslow Swan. The story was edited by Crimson McKenzie and directed by Winslow Swan. This is Artemis Black, inviting you to return with us to the doorway tonight, Mayor. for another adventure into the terrifying world of your imagination. Until next time, slumber peacefully.

24:19 Speaker 5: Epilogue The butler did it.