Will They Survive the Night? "UNSEEN" – A High-Stakes Audio Mystery

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.

0:43 Speaker 2: Welcome.

0:45 Speaker 1: I'm Artemis Black. I am almost positive that sometime in your life you have had a sense of real life.

0:59 Speaker 1: The fear of not knowing what may happen in the next few moments. Or worse, the fear of knowing your life will perhaps be at an end.

1:15 Speaker 3: Do you feel the cold steel blade against your throat, Emma? How, with just a flick of my hand, your blood will spill out and you will be.

1:27 Speaker 3: No.

1:28 Speaker 5: Please, Harry!

1:29 Speaker 3: Oh, but you see, it won't be me who's killing you. Oh, no, it may be my hand, but it won't be me.

1:36 Speaker 5: Please, Harry, I'll do anything you want. Just put the knife down.

1:44 Speaker 3: Anything that I want. No, Emma, it won't be what I want, but what the thing inside of me wants. Yes.

1:57 Speaker 1: Our mystery drama, The Unseen, was written especially for Doorway to Nightmare by Winslow Swan and edited by Crimson McKenzie. Our cast includes Patience Adams, Crimson McKenzie, Darren Marler, and Mark Wheeler. I'll return shortly with Act One.

2:17 Speaker 6: 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.

2:55 Speaker 1: The Dalai Lama once said, The real destroyer of inner peace is fear and distrust. Fear develops frustration. Frustration develops anger. Anger develops violence. With this cryptic philosophical phrase, Let me introduce Harry Oldfield. He is currently standing at the door of a large house by the sea. He rings the doorbell and waits for someone to answer.

3:47 Speaker 5: Yes? May I help you?

3:50 Speaker 3: You most assuredly can help me. Is this the home of George Stanfield?

3:55 Speaker 5: Yes, it is. Do you know George?

4:00 Speaker 3: You could say that I do. I take it that you are his wife?

4:04 Speaker 4: Yes.

4:06 Speaker 5: I'm Emma. But who are you?

4:10 Speaker 3: Not to be presumptive, but it's a bit chilly out here. Do you think maybe we could go inside to talk?

4:14 Speaker 5: I don't... think it's a good idea until you tell me.

4:22 Speaker 7: What are you doing with that that knife it looks it looks like it's covered in in blood.

4:30 Speaker 3: I suggest that we step into the house.

4:34 Speaker 5: Now now tell me what do you want who else is in the house no one just you and me.

4:43 Speaker 3: Are you sure about that Is George's sister here?

4:47 Speaker 5: Do you know Deborah?

4:49 Speaker 3: Well, I should. She happens to be my wife.

4:54 Speaker 5: Then you must be Harry.

5:00 Speaker 3: Oh, so she has talked about me.

5:02 Speaker 7: Only that she was your wife. I thought that you were in a hospital or something.

5:08 Speaker 3: A hospital. That is a quaint way of putting it. Guess old George didn't want to smirch the family name. Was that the only thing Deborah said about me?

5:19 Speaker 5: Yes, nothing more. Please, put that knife down. It's making me... Nervous? Ow! Let go of me! You're hurting my arm!

5:31 Speaker 3: I could do much more than hurt you. You feel that? The cold steel blade against your throat?

5:37 Speaker 5: Please, Harry, don't!

5:39 Speaker 3: Don't what? Don't plunge the knife into your soft flesh? Letting the blood drain out of you?

5:46 Speaker 1: No, no.

5:47 Speaker 3: Don't worry. At least not yet. Now sit down.

5:54 Speaker 5: What do you want, Harry?

5:56 Speaker 3: What do I want? I want to be able to close my eyes and sleep.

6:04 Speaker 8: That's what I want.

6:05 Speaker 3: But I can't, because it won't let me. You see, Emma, it wouldn't be me who's killing you, but this thing that's inside my body.

6:16 Speaker 5: What sort of thing?

6:18 Speaker 8: You know, I'm not quite sure, Emma.

6:21 Speaker 3: I was walking on the beach about a year ago and found an old wooden box. When I opened it, this thing jumped out at me. It forced its way into my throat and I could feel it sliding down my throat. You see, it now makes me do things.

6:39 Speaker 5: What sort of things? What have you done, Harry?

6:45 Speaker 3: They said that I was in a hospital, right? That's... Pretty much true. I was. It was a state mental hospital for the criminally insane. They left that part out, didn't they?

6:56 Speaker 5: So, what are you doing here tonight?

7:01 Speaker 3: Well, I escaped. Well, the thing helped me to escape. It's pretty clever that way. But, well, the police said that I killed three people. But I didn't. I mean, it wasn't me. It was this thing inside of me that makes me do whatever it wants. It killed those three people. Not me.

7:19 Speaker 5: Please, Harry. Please, just calm down.

7:22 Speaker 6: Please take the knife away from my throat.

7:27 Speaker 3: No, it isn't me that'll kill you. It's the thing.

7:40 Speaker 4: Harry?

7:40 Speaker 5: Deborah! Thank God you're here.

7:45 Speaker 4: Shut up, Emma.

7:45 Speaker 3: Shut up.

7:46 Speaker 4: Harry, put down the knife.

7:49 Speaker 1: All right, all right.

7:51 Speaker 3: Here you go.

7:54 Speaker 4: How did you get here?

7:56 Speaker 3: The thing helped me. We, uh, he, it stole a car.

8:00 Speaker 4: Where is the car now?

8:02 Speaker 3: I think it ran out of gas. It's a couple miles from here. Deborah, you will help me. Please, won't you?

8:10 Speaker 4: Of course, my darling. But you look like you need to get some rest.

8:15 Speaker 3: That would be wonderful.

8:18 Speaker 4: Come up to my room.

8:25 Speaker 5: Deborah? Are you alright?

8:28 Speaker 4: Where is Harry? Locked away in my room. What are you doing? Put that phone down.

8:36 Speaker 5: But we have to call the police.

8:39 Speaker 4: I said put the phone down. Now.

8:43 Speaker 5: Deborah!

8:44 Speaker 7: You mean.

8:46 Speaker 5: You are going to help him?

8:48 Speaker 4: Of course I am. Did he tell you what he believes to be inside of him?

8:54 Speaker 5: But he needs to be put away. He'll kill us both.

8:58 Speaker 4: You have no idea what it has been like. Yes, I'm going to help him. We will both go away somewhere. However, I have to make plans, which means another trip to town.

9:11 Speaker 5: And leave him here?

9:12 Speaker 4: Alone?

9:13 Speaker 5: Alone? With me?

9:16 Speaker 4: Don't be such a little fool. I've locked him in my room. The house is built on the cliff face, and the only window from my room is over the sea. It's 800 feet straight down. The door is pure oak, and the lock is on the outside.

9:32 Speaker 5: I have the key.

9:33 Speaker 4: So don't worry. When will my brother be back?

9:39 Speaker 5: Sometime in the morning.

9:42 Speaker 4: Then that gives us all night.

9:44 Speaker 7: And what makes you think I won't call the police the minute you're down the driveway?

9:50 Speaker 4: Because, my dear sister-in-law, if you do, I will be forced to tell George about your, um, proclivities to me.

10:00 Speaker 3: And women.

10:02 Speaker 5: You wouldn't dare!

10:03 Speaker 4: Let me see. There was Matthew Bond, then Arnold James, let's not forget Alice Forsythe, and who was the latest? Oh yes, Tom Hatfield. You've been rather busy the last few months.

10:19 Speaker 5: You evil little bitch!

10:22 Speaker 4: I'll be back in an hour, dear sister-in-law.

10:26 Speaker 1: Yes?

10:36 Speaker 9: Who is it?

10:49 Speaker 1: It's me, George.

10:50 Speaker 3: Open the door.

10:51 Speaker 9: It's starting to rain.

10:56 Speaker 1: Rutger Kipling once said, Of all the liars in the world, sometimes the worst are our own fears. At the moment, Emma happens to have a lot of fear inside of her. Let's see how she handles it when I return with Act Two.

11:16 Speaker 2: This is Winslow Swann. inviting you inside the world of my imagination, a world of mystery, madness, and murder. Tin Tales from the Maelstrom, now available at Amazon.com.

11:54 Speaker 1: Albert Einstein once said, If people are good because they fear punishment and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed.

12:13 Speaker 5: I thought you weren't coming back until in the morning, George.

12:18 Speaker 9: Aren't you happy to see your husband?

12:21 Speaker 5: Of course I am, silly. I just wasn't expecting you to be home so soon.

12:27 Speaker 9: Well, the conference ended early and I didn't think I could stand waiting for the plane. So I just caught a ride with Tom Hatfield.

12:37 Speaker 5: Who is Tom Hatfield?

12:39 Speaker 9: Oh, you remember. Tom Hatfield. You met him at the office party last month.

12:45 Speaker 5: I'm sorry, George. I just don't remember.

12:48 Speaker 9: Well, he sure remembers you. Pour us a drink and perhaps I'll refresh your memory.

13:08 Speaker 5: What did he say? I mean, about me.

13:12 Speaker 9: Oh, he had quite a bit to say. In fact, I believe that he's rather infatuated with you.

13:22 Speaker 7: Then you will just have to be satisfied with knowing the man.

13:27 Speaker 5: Who has me.

13:31 Speaker 9: Is somebody in the house?

13:32 Speaker 5: It must be Deborah.

13:35 Speaker 1: No.

13:36 Speaker 9: Her car isn't in the driveway. Is there someone else here?

13:40 Speaker 1: George.

13:41 Speaker 4: George.

13:42 Speaker 5: Tell me about Harry.

13:44 Speaker 1: Harry?

13:45 Speaker 9: You mean Deborah's husband? Not much to tell. He worked for our accounting firm. Last year he went to the office, tied up the four other employees, and rather plainly cut their throats. Well, three of them anyway.

13:59 Speaker 2: How horrible!

14:02 Speaker 5: What happened to the fourth one?

14:04 Speaker 9: Oh, that would be Deborah, his wife. He said that the others were embezzling money from clients and that Deborah was the only one who wasn't In his words, evil.

14:14 Speaker 5: How long have they been married?

14:16 Speaker 9: Only a couple of months before the poor devil went insane.

14:20 Speaker 5: How do you mean?

14:21 Speaker 9: He kept saying that he didn't kill anyone. That some thing inside of him did it. There it is again. Who the hell is in this house?

14:32 Speaker 5: It's Harry. He came here tonight and forced his way inside.

14:38 Speaker 9: We've got to get the police immediately.

14:46 Speaker 4: Emma.

14:48 Speaker 9: You.

14:51 Speaker 4: Stabbed me.

14:52 Speaker 7: In the.

14:53 Speaker 2: Back.

14:53 Speaker 8: Yes, George.

14:55 Speaker 2: I did. And no one.

14:58 Speaker 5: Will ever suspect me.

14:59 Speaker 8: You see.

15:00 Speaker 5: Harry is the one who.

15:01 Speaker 2: Killed you.

15:30 Speaker 9: Emma?

15:33 Speaker 4: Where are... Emma?

15:37 Speaker 7: Emma!

15:38 Speaker 5: Where are you? I'm right here. My dear sister-in-law.

15:45 Speaker 4: What happened?

15:47 Speaker 5: It was Harry. He killed George!

15:50 Speaker 4: Really, Emma? And just how did he do that?

15:54 Speaker 5: What do you mean? He came down the stairs, grabbed the knife, and killed him!

15:59 Speaker 4: No one is going to believe that story, Emma.

16:02 Speaker 5: But it's the truth. No, it isn't.

16:07 Speaker 4: I locked Harry in my room, remember? I still have the key. So how did he get out?

16:13 Speaker 5: I don't know. But he did! I told you we should have called the police.

16:20 Speaker 4: And how did you get Harry back into my bedroom?

16:24 Speaker 2: What? Oh.

16:27 Speaker 5: He seemed calm. After he murdered George. So I was able to.

16:35 Speaker 9: To.

16:36 Speaker 4: It doesn't work, Emma. You killed George.

16:41 Speaker 5: What are you doing?

16:43 Speaker 4: Calling the police, of course.

16:44 Speaker 5: But you can't!

16:46 Speaker 4: They'll take Harry away too. Not if Harry and I leave first. Explain George's murder then.

16:52 Speaker 5: No! I won't let you ruin my plans.

16:57 Speaker 3: You.

16:58 Speaker 5: No.

17:00 Speaker 8: You stabbed.

17:02 Speaker 5: I've hated you. You and your stupid brother. Now, you're both out of my way.

17:10 Speaker 4: Deborah?

17:14 Speaker 2: Deborah?

17:16 Speaker 1: Where are you?

17:16 Speaker 3: Can you let me out? Let me out of here!

17:25 Speaker 1: Emma looks down at the bodies of George and Deborah. She hears Harry upstairs in the bedroom. Her fevered brain begins to formulate a plan. A plan that will be revealed shortly in our final act.

17:45 Speaker 5: It is in all of us.

17:47 Speaker 4: Waiting.

17:49 Speaker 6: Watching. Growing. Evil Within by Winslow Swan. Now available on Amazon.

17:57 Speaker 8: Evil Within.

18:12 Speaker 1: The Scottish poet Robert Burns wrote, The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry and leave us nothing but grief and pain for promised joy.

18:28 Speaker 8: Emma, where's Deborah?

18:38 Speaker 5: She's downstairs, Harry. Come with me.

18:53 Speaker 3: She's going to help me. She's going to finally get this thing out of me. And then, then we can lead a normal life.

19:06 Speaker 8: Deborah.

19:09 Speaker 3: Deborah, no.

19:10 Speaker 5: That's right, Harry. She's dead. You killed her.

19:18 Speaker 4: Me?

19:19 Speaker 3: Me? No, I loved her. No, it wasn't me.

19:22 Speaker 5: Of course it was. But don't worry. I'm going to help you.

19:29 Speaker 1: But.

19:31 Speaker 1: But.

19:32 Speaker 3: But Deborah... She was the only one who understood. She was the only one who could help me.

19:40 Speaker 5: No, Harry. I will help you. Now listen carefully. Do you know the little cabin by the sea?

19:50 Speaker 3: Do you mean the one about a mile from here? Yes!

19:53 Speaker 5: I want you to go there and wait for me.

19:56 Speaker 7: I have to make some arrangements and then you and I will go away together.

20:04 Speaker 4: But....

20:08 Speaker 3: What about Deborah?

20:09 Speaker 5: Let me worry about her. You just do what I told you.

20:13 Speaker 3: All right. And you will come. You won't leave me alone.

20:19 Speaker 5: Of course not, Harry. I'm much better than Deborah. So much better. Now, quickly, go!

20:31 Speaker 1: Go!

20:54 Speaker 5: Hello?

20:56 Speaker 8: 911?

20:57 Speaker 4: Yes.

20:58 Speaker 5: My name is Emma Stanfield. 12 Oceanside Drive. Yes, the big house. I need your help. My husband and sister-in-law have been killed. Yes, by an escaped lunatic. No, I was hiding when he came.

21:16 Speaker 7: I think it was my sister-in-law's husband, Harry.

21:20 Speaker 5: He said something about going to the cabin by the sea. Yes, that's the place. Tell him to hurry, and he's armed. No, I'll stay here, and don't worry. I have a gun.

22:15 Speaker 1: A perfect plan.

22:41 Speaker 5: If I do say so myself.

22:44 Speaker 7: And just in case Harry does manage to get away from the police.

22:51 Speaker 5: Yes, George. My plan is working. Soon I will have your entire estate. Harry.

23:00 Speaker 7: Harry coming here was the best thing to ever happen.

23:10 Speaker 3: The best thing? That must be the nicest thing anybody's said about me.

23:15 Speaker 5: Harry, what are you.

23:17 Speaker 3: I heard your phone call to the police.

23:20 Speaker 1: Nice try.

23:23 Speaker 5: Don't come near me, Harry. I swear I will shoot you.

23:27 Speaker 3: And how will you explain it to the police, huh, Emma? You see, I told you the thing makes me do it.

23:34 Speaker 8: The thing.

23:37 Speaker 3: The thing. Thank you, Emma.

23:42 Speaker 1: Thank you.

23:44 Speaker 3: You finally freed me from that thing.

23:54 Speaker 5: I warned you, Harry. What is that thing coming out of your mouth? No!

24:01 Speaker 8: It's... No!

24:02 Speaker 4: No!

24:06 Speaker 3: No!

24:43 Speaker 5: You understand? It isn't me who does these things. Whatever it was that crawled out of Harry's mouth attacked me. It forced its way down my throat.

24:57 Speaker 7: It's inside me. It's forcing my hand to hold this knife against your throat and it will make me twist my wrist. And slice your throat open.

25:15 Speaker 5: And then... Then who?

25:18 Speaker 6: Who will be next?

25:37 Speaker 1: And as we close the curtain on our little tale, I wonder what has invaded the body and mind of Emma. And whatever this thing is, could there be others? I'll return shortly with a final word.

26:01 Speaker 6: If you'd like to support us, visit our merchandise store at T-shirts, caps, mugs, and so much more. Visit doorwaytonightmare.com today.

26:30 Speaker 1: The too-often-heard phrase is, The devil made me do it. An example? In February of 2016, Uber driver Jason Dalton began a killing spree, which took the lives of seven people. He claimed that the app on his phone began displaying satanic symbols. Once he pressed the button, he was simply a puppet. When asked why he picked up a gun that day by police, his answer, the devil made him do it. When asked why he killed those people, his answer, the devil made him do it. All of his victims were picked at random.

27:18 Speaker 1: Our cast included Patience Adams, Darren Marler, Mark Wheeler, and Crimson McKenzie. The story was edited by Crimson McKenzie and directed by Winslow Swan. Doorway to Nightmare is brought to you in part by Swanage Publications. This is Artemis Black, inviting you to return with us to the Doorway to Nightmare for another adventure into the terrifying world of your own imagination. Until next time, slumber peacefully. Epilogue. The butler did it.