[00:00:17] Speaker A: The mysterious old Radio Listening Society podcast welcome to the mysterious old Radio Listening Society, a podcast dedicated to suspense and horror stories from the golden age of radio. I'm Eric.
[00:00:34] Speaker B: I'm Tim.
[00:00:34] Speaker C: I'm Joshua.
[00:00:36] Speaker D: We love scary old time radio stories. There's nothing quite like a disembodied voice telling a genuinely disturbing tale. But do these stories stand the test of time, or are we being deceived by nostalgia? Are they suspenseful or forgettable? Bone chilling or butt numbing? That's what we're here to find out.
[00:00:53] Speaker A: I have chosen an episode of creeps by Night called the strange burial of Alexander Jordan. Originally aired in 1944, the entire series of creeps by night aired in 1944. It was a short lived series lasting just 16 episodes, and less than half of those are known to have survived. The show was introduced by one of two hosts. On the east coast, it was hosted by this anonymous voice known only as Doctor X. On the west coast, it was hosted by Boris Karloff. Now, in this episode, we get Doctor X, who actually played Doctor X's unknown, but some sources say it was played by multiple people. The phrase there is no greater mystery than the mystery of the mind is said frequently by the show hosts, and many of the shows did deal with psychological rather than literal horror, as does this episode.
[00:01:42] Speaker C: The print ads for this series read, warning persons suffering from heart trouble and whose blood has a tendency to curdle and hair to uncurl under the stress of great excitement are urged not to listen. The station disclaims all responsibility for the health of those who insist on hearing this thriller. We here at the mysterious old radio Listening Society also disclaim any responsibility, just in case the show suffered from bad advertising and the upcoming stories nor the upcoming stars were promoted in advance, and the writers didn't receive any on air credit either. So Karloff stopped hosting after the 12th episode, and Doctor X hosted the final four episodes.
[00:02:27] Speaker A: This episode stars Santa Claus, Edmund Gwen, best remembered for his role as Kris Kringle in the Christmas film Miracle on 34th street in 1947. Also in this episode is everett Sloan, whose radio work led him to be hired by Orson Welles to become part of the Mercury Theater. Sloan played Mister Bernstein and Wells first movie, Citizen Kane. He was a frequent guest star in the radio theater series Inner Sanctum and the Shadow as Srivi the cab driver, among other roles. He also provided character voices for the animated tv series Johnny Quest, and he wrote the unused lyrics to the fishing hole. That's the theme from the Andy Griffith show? Yeah, it had lyrics and Gregory Martin is also into this. He's one of those character actors that you've seen in every tv show ever.
[00:03:14] Speaker D: Forget the petty distractions around you. Forget what you think you know. Forget everything but what you hear. Right now it's late at night and a chill has set in. You're alone and the only light you see is coming from an antique radio. Listen to the sounds coming from the speaker. Listen to the music and listen to the voices.
[00:03:43] Speaker E: We bring you creeps by night.
Tonight, once again, we introduce the man who has agreed to serve as your guide and companion on these sometimes terrifying pilgrimages into the world beyond the realm of human understanding. Understanding the man who, for reasons that cannot be presently explained, must keep his identity a secret.
Creeps by night brings you its anonymous master of mystery, Doctor X.
Good evening.
[00:04:40] Speaker F: This is Doctor X joining with you for further research into the shadowy darkness of the unexplored, the darkness of the human mind.
I wish first, however, to thank you for your letters commenting on last week's broadcast, the Walking Dead.
Many of you requested that I reveal my identity, and a few of you hazarded a guess as to who I am.
In due time, perhaps I will be able to step out from under my cloak of mystery. But for the present, I ask you to bear with me, since I shall have to be known only as Doctor X.
Tonight I have a rare treat in store for you, Mister Edmund Gwen, the celebrated english actor, is our guest.
The story I have chosen is drawn from the casebook of medical science and concerns itself with the often ghastly power of fear.
Yes, we are all slaves to fear in one form or another.
But the fear that forms the basis for our dramatization tonight is undoubtedly the most horrible of them all.
It is the fear of.
[00:05:53] Speaker G: But wait.
[00:05:55] Speaker F: Let me draw aside the curtain and bring you Mister Edmund Gwen as Ramsay in the strange burial of Alexander Jordan.
For more than a century, the old Jordan house has stood on a gentle slope, mistress of the surrounding 400 acres of birch woods and pasture lands. And now, inevitably, death seems near to the last of the strong men who have always owned it. Aged, irascible Alexander Jordan.
In his faded, musty bedroom the shades are drawn against the hot morning sun, and in the half darkness, his pale, hollow cheeks blend into the color of the pillowcase.
He stirs as the door opens and his doctor enters.
[00:06:50] Speaker H: That you, wrappage?
Come in and sit down. Close the door.
[00:06:58] Speaker G: What's the trouble, Alex?
[00:06:59] Speaker H: Had one of my cataleptic fits last night. A bad one.
I'm going to die pretty soon, Lutridge.
[00:07:09] Speaker G: Suppose you let me do the guessing.
[00:07:11] Speaker H: Don't interrupt.
I'm not afraid to die. Mind you. I've never told anyone this, but my greatest fear is that it won't be death and they'll bury me alive.
[00:07:23] Speaker G: Oh, I think we can be pretty sure if it comes to that.
[00:07:25] Speaker H: Don't be so positive. 38 years ago, a young butcher who called himself a doctor pronounced me dead when I had a cataleptic fit. He got me buried, too. If I hadn't come out of it on time, but was 38 years ago, could happen again.
Rutledge, I don't care if I sound like an old fool.
All my life, that scared me. The idea of somebody mistaking one of those fits for death. The only nightmares I ever have, I wake up in a coffin. I put my hands up, and I feel the lid there. Sometimes it's wood, sometimes it's cold glass. But there's no room to turn around. I put my hands down, and I can feel the silk lining. They have me dressed in a swallowtail. They have a stiff color on me. I reach up to tear it away. I can't breathe.
[00:08:16] Speaker B: I have to have air.
[00:08:17] Speaker H: Panic grips me. I try to shout, but no one can hear me. I beat on the carpet lid with my fists. I try to break the glass, but I can't do it.
[00:08:27] Speaker B: I haven't enough room.
[00:08:28] Speaker H: And pretty soon I know that I'm dying, really dying, in the cold horror of the grave because somebody mistook one of my cataleptic fits for death.
I don't want that to happen, Rutledge, and that's why I called you.
[00:08:46] Speaker G: You're just getting worked up over nothing.
[00:08:48] Speaker H: Alice, listen to me.
When the day comes that my nephew Ramsay, or his wife Martha calls you, I want nobody but you to come, Rutledge. I don't want any other doctor to pronounce me dead. Is that clear?
[00:09:02] Speaker G: Don't worry.
[00:09:03] Speaker H: I want you to go over me very carefully. If you are absolutely satisfied that I'm dead, you can go ahead with the funeral. But I don't want my body in barn. I don't want anything done to me except to put me in a coffin.
I'm getting a lawyer here to write all this down this afternoon, Rutledge.
But I wanted you to hear it, too.
I want my coffin put in the vault down by the birch woods. That's why I built the vault right on this property, so that nobody would ever bury me underground.
[00:09:35] Speaker B: All right.
[00:09:35] Speaker G: It'll be done just as you said.
[00:09:37] Speaker H: Now, wait a minute. I'm miss this is the most important part.
I want a large brass bell placed on the wall over the bed where Ramsay and Martha sleep. I want wires connected from that bell to the vault. Electric wires.
[00:09:53] Speaker G: What for?
[00:09:54] Speaker H: I want a push button attached to the ends of those wires. And I want the button placed in my hands as I lie in the coffin. So that in case I'm not dead, in case I awaken, I can ring the bell and let them know.
[00:10:08] Speaker G: Well, I must say, alex, I don't.
[00:10:10] Speaker H: Care what you say. I don't care what anyone says.
[00:10:13] Speaker B: That's the way I want it.
[00:10:15] Speaker G: All right, Alex. That's the way you'll get it.
[00:10:19] Speaker H: Make sure I do.
[00:10:21] Speaker G: Well, I've got to run over to the Pritchards. Nor is having another baby. Taking that digitalis faithfully.
[00:10:26] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:10:27] Speaker H: Foolishness that I'm taking.
[00:10:29] Speaker G: That's good. Goodbye, Alex. Get out and soak up some of that sunshine. I'll see you Thursday.
[00:10:35] Speaker H: Send Martha in, loan.
[00:10:38] Speaker G: All right.
[00:10:44] Speaker B: Just a minute there.
Doctor Rutledge.
[00:10:48] Speaker G: Oh, hello, Ramsey.
[00:10:51] Speaker B: I'd like to know why you came this morning, doctor.
[00:10:53] Speaker G: I came because I was sent for.
[00:10:55] Speaker B: Why doesn't somebody tell me when the doctor's been sent for?
Is my uncle all right?
[00:11:01] Speaker G: He's not dead. That's what you want to know. Not quite yet. See that he keeps on taking that prescription I left. He wants to see your wife alone, Martha. You heard me. Goodbye, Ramsey.
I know the way out without your help.
[00:11:17] Speaker B: Goodbye, Doctor Rutledge.
[00:11:25] Speaker G: Mother.
[00:11:26] Speaker B: Wipe your hands. He wants to see you.
[00:11:28] Speaker I: What did you say, dear?
[00:11:29] Speaker B: I said, wipe your hands. He wants to see you.
[00:11:31] Speaker I: Is the doctor still in there? Is he all right?
[00:11:34] Speaker B: The doctor's gone. He wants you in there alone.
[00:11:37] Speaker I: Oh, for goodness sake. Now what?
[00:11:40] Speaker B: Just a minute.
Why is he asking to see you alone?
[00:11:46] Speaker I: Why, Ramsey? How should I know?
[00:11:49] Speaker B: Something's up.
Rutledge was in there a long time.
Why wasn't I told he was sent for.
[00:11:56] Speaker I: Why, he. Well, you were in the field this morning when he asked me to call the doctor.
[00:12:02] Speaker B: Next time, you tell me when he sends for people. Listen, when you get in there, watch what you say.
[00:12:07] Speaker I: I fancy. I don't know what you mean.
[00:12:10] Speaker B: You know very well what I mean. Just listen and don't babble. He mightn't like my ideas about what to do with this place after he's dead. Go on in there now.
You've already wiped your hands six times.
[00:12:23] Speaker I: Yes, Ramsay, dear.
You want me, Uncle Alex?
[00:12:33] Speaker H: Yes, come in and shut the door. Martha.
[00:12:38] Speaker I: Yes, Uncle Alex. Was the coffee all right this morning?
[00:12:42] Speaker H: Yes, fine, Miss Ramsey.
[00:12:46] Speaker I: He's. He's in the kitchen.
[00:12:49] Speaker H: Sit down, Martha.
[00:12:55] Speaker I: Yes, Uncle Alec?
[00:12:57] Speaker H: I want to talk to you, Martha. Lawyer Gaines will be here sometime this afternoon to fix up my will.
[00:13:04] Speaker I: Oh, Uncle Alec.
[00:13:05] Speaker H: Got a feeling my time is drawing near, Martha. And I just want to make sure that worthless nephew of mine doesn't get his hands on the Jordan place.
Whatever made you marry him, Martha?
[00:13:18] Speaker I: Ay, ay, ay, ay.
[00:13:19] Speaker H: Never mind. None of my business. But I could have told you he was no good. Never has been. I wouldn't trust him with the farm. He'd sell it before my body turned cold.
But I trust you, Martha.
[00:13:35] Speaker I: Thank you, Uncle Alice.
[00:13:37] Speaker H: Yes, I've thought it all over. I'm going to leave the place to you. At least you'll have a roof over your head and some land you can call your own. You like it here, don't you?
[00:13:49] Speaker I: Oh, yes, I do. I'd be perfectly happy to stay here the rest of my life.
[00:13:55] Speaker H: That's fine, because it's going to be yours, all of it.
[00:13:59] Speaker I: Oh, Uncle Al, you make me want to cry.
[00:14:03] Speaker H: No, no, none of that.
[00:14:05] Speaker I: I'm sorry.
[00:14:07] Speaker H: There's one more thing, Martha.
One important thing.
[00:14:11] Speaker I: Yes, Uncle Ali?
[00:14:13] Speaker H: I've given Doctor Rutledge some very careful instructions about my burial.
[00:14:18] Speaker I: Oh, please, Uncle Alec.
[00:14:20] Speaker H: Nothing to be afraid of, Martha. When it comes, it'll come, and that's all. Rutledge knows what to do. He'll tell you. And I want you to promise me that you follow the instructions.
[00:14:32] Speaker I: Yes, of course, Uncle Alex. On my word of honor, as God is my witness.
[00:14:38] Speaker H: Thank you, Martha.
By Jove, you've made me feel a good deal better knowing I have someone around I can trust.
Matter of fact, I think I'll get up for supper tonight.
Tell Ramsay to come in and help me dress after lawyer Gaines leaves. And tell him I don't want him in here before then.
[00:14:58] Speaker I: Yes, Uncle Alex.
[00:14:59] Speaker H: And don't breathe a word about this to Ramsay.
[00:15:03] Speaker I: I won't. If you need anything, Uncle Alex, call me.
[00:15:07] Speaker H: Yes, I will.
[00:15:12] Speaker G: Oh, what did the old buzzard want?
[00:15:14] Speaker I: His lawyer's coming this afternoon. Here to go in and help him dress after the lawyer leaves.
[00:15:18] Speaker B: He's having supper at the table.
[00:15:20] Speaker I: Yes. Bring in one of the special hams. I'll bake it with pineapple.
[00:15:23] Speaker B: They take you ten minutes in there to decide on baked ham with pieces.
[00:15:27] Speaker H: Pineapple for supper?
[00:15:28] Speaker I: What we decided is none of your business.
[00:15:30] Speaker B: What do you mean, what you decided?
[00:15:31] Speaker I: I said it was none of your business. Better get out and feed the chicken.
[00:15:35] Speaker B: When did you start giving me orders?
[00:15:37] Speaker I: Oh, go on out of my kitchen. I've got work to do.
[00:15:39] Speaker B: What did you talk about in there?
[00:15:40] Speaker I: Benjy, you're hurting my arm.
[00:15:42] Speaker B: I'll hurt more than that before I'm through. What's the lawyer coming for? Would you like me to tell him.
[00:15:48] Speaker I: You haven't had chickens yet?
[00:15:50] Speaker B: Something suddenly made you awfully cocky, it seems to me.
Tell me what it is right now. Tell me, I said. Ramsey, let go of her. Empty. Oh, I was only. Get out of the house before I lose my temper. Don't want you. I'm going.
[00:16:08] Speaker H: If this ever happens again, Martha, you let me know.
[00:16:12] Speaker I: Yes, Uncle Alex. But you shouldn't have gotten out of bed this way.
[00:16:17] Speaker H: Don't worry about me, Martha.
I'm all right.
[00:16:41] Speaker B: Bacon and eggs for his breakfast.
[00:16:43] Speaker I: And why not? Did you fix the fence post over on the west pasture?
[00:16:47] Speaker B: Never mind the fence post. Give me that tray.
[00:16:49] Speaker I: You tend to your own business. I'll take the tray into him.
Your breakfast, Uncle Allie.
Hmm.
That's funny.
Uncle Alec.
Uncle Alec.
Oh, my lord.
[00:17:18] Speaker B: Randy, hold up to Ruth.
[00:17:38] Speaker G: I am the resurrection and the life.
He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he have everlasting life.
And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.
[00:18:15] Speaker B: What's the matter with Martha, doctor?
[00:18:16] Speaker G: The funeral was evidently too much for her. I gave her a sedative and put her to bed upstairs. Where's the undertaker?
[00:18:23] Speaker B: Down at the vault with the electrician. They're waiting for you so we can close the coffin. Of all the stupid things. He's dead, isn't he?
[00:18:32] Speaker G: Yes, but we're observing his wishes to the letter.
[00:18:35] Speaker B: And electric push buttons rot.
[00:18:37] Speaker G: Perhaps it is, but that's how he wanted it. And incidentally, as administrator of the estate, let me remind you that according to the terms of the will, either you or Martha must remain within earshot of that bell upstairs for seven days. You understand that?
[00:18:52] Speaker B: Yes. To my life, I'm beholden to a.
[00:18:55] Speaker G: Woman that you could do worse, Ramsey. This is a nice place. I wish it were mine.
[00:19:00] Speaker B: If I had my way, you could buy it in a minute.
[00:19:01] Speaker G: Well, that's neither here nor there. See that Martha gets some rest. I left a bottle of medicine on the small table beside the bed. She's to take it according to directions if she has trouble sleeping.
[00:19:12] Speaker B: Lord, what's that?
[00:19:13] Speaker G: Your uncle wanted a bell loud enough to be heard. He certainly got it, doctor.
The undertaker or the electrician at the crib touched the push button.
[00:19:24] Speaker H: Good Lord.
[00:19:25] Speaker B: I forgot. The bells hung right above the bed where she was asleep. Come on, doctor.
[00:19:31] Speaker I: Rutledge, the bell.
[00:19:33] Speaker G: It doesn't mean anything, Martha. Don't be frightened.
[00:19:35] Speaker I: Oh, thank goodness. I was asleep, hitting like a blow. When it rained by old, I couldn't even move. I felt paralyzed, like in a dream.
[00:19:46] Speaker G: There, there. That's all right.
[00:19:47] Speaker B: Go on back to bed.
[00:19:48] Speaker G: You'll fall asleep again with the stuff I gave you. The bell won't ring anymore. I'll go right on down to the vault and see if the cotton is closed. Get her back into bed, Ramsay, and have another teaspoonful of that medicine. Tonight.
[00:19:59] Speaker B: You just get over to the vault and stop there monkeying. I'll tend to her.
[00:20:03] Speaker G: See that you do. And remember, don't leave this place for seven days.
[00:20:25] Speaker B: Oh, what's the use?
[00:20:28] Speaker I: Is it morning, lamb?
[00:20:31] Speaker B: No.
[00:20:32] Speaker I: Can't you go to sleep?
[00:20:34] Speaker B: No.
[00:20:37] Speaker I: I must.
[00:20:41] Speaker B: Sure, you've got things your own way. Go on, sleep. Don't mind me. I'm just a hired man around here. Just a hired man.
Can't you at least make a cup of coffee? A man can drink slop, that's what it is.
[00:21:02] Speaker H: Filthy slop.
[00:21:03] Speaker I: I haven't been able to get into town and get anything fresh, Ramsay, and you know it. It's just that you're nervous and not sleeping.
[00:21:08] Speaker B: I'll drive into town.
[00:21:09] Speaker I: No, Ramsay. We've still got five days to go.
[00:21:25] Speaker B: 04:00.
Why can't I sleep?
Why?
Three nights of it now.
Three nights with a bell hanging over my head.
Oh, Martha, you asleep?
You must be that stuff Rutledge. Keeper.
I'll take some. I can't stand it any longer now. Maybe.
Maybe I'll sleep.
I tell you, Martha, there's only one thing to do with the place. Sell it.
[00:22:13] Speaker I: You're wasting your time, Ramsay. I will not sell it. I'm not getting any younger. I want a roof over my head. That's what uncle Alex intended.
[00:22:22] Speaker B: But now's the time to sell farmers. We can get a good price to begin with.
[00:22:25] Speaker I: Ramsay, it doesn't even belong to me.
[00:22:27] Speaker H: Well, it will in two more days, won't it?
[00:22:29] Speaker I: Yes, if that bell doesn't ring.
[00:22:48] Speaker B: Oh, I've got to sleep tonight. It's the last night.
Tomorrow the place is ours.
I'll take someone. I've medicine at work before talking in her sleep.
Well, she's dreaming.
Having a nightmare.
Too much of this. Duke. Maybe you must wake up. Not.
She's dead to the world.
The stuff bugging together must be powerful.
That gives me an idea now.
[00:23:41] Speaker I: Trust you?
[00:23:46] Speaker B: You won't have to trust me much longer, you dried up old fool.
Let's have a look at the little bottle. I guess it's all right to turn the lamp on. She won't wake up.
Yeah.
Now let's see what the label says.
Maximum dose, one teaspoonful every 12 hours.
Caution.
Overdosing may be fatal.
Overdosing may be fatal.
[00:24:18] Speaker I: So good night.
[00:24:24] Speaker B: We'll see about that.
Maximum dose, one teaspoonful.
I could put three in her coffee tomorrow morning.
She'd never know the difference. That stale coffee's bitter as gone anywhere. And that it fits everything.
Yes. I'm her only relative. If she dies, I get the place. Ah. I didn't I think of this before? Why did I wait six days and nights with that bell hanging over my head? Why did I. What? Good Lord. Am I dreaming? No. No, it can't be.
[00:24:57] Speaker H: It can't.
[00:24:58] Speaker B: Stop. Stop that ringing. Sandy. Sandy. The bell. I can hear it, you fool.
[00:25:04] Speaker I: Quick, Sandy.
[00:25:05] Speaker B: Stay where you are. I'll stop it.
[00:25:09] Speaker I: Stanzi, what did you do?
[00:25:11] Speaker B: What do you think I did?
[00:25:13] Speaker I: The wires. You pulled out the wires.
[00:25:14] Speaker B: Get back in the bed.
[00:25:15] Speaker I: Are you out of your mind? The key to the vault. Where is it?
[00:25:18] Speaker B: What?
[00:25:18] Speaker I: The key. Uncle Alex must be.
[00:25:20] Speaker B: You're crazy.
[00:25:20] Speaker I: You bang the bell. Just.
[00:25:22] Speaker B: You were dreaming. Get back to bed.
[00:25:23] Speaker I: Give me that bald key, Rancy. Give it to me.
[00:25:25] Speaker B: Now, take it easy.
[00:25:26] Speaker I: Don't stand there telling me to take it easy. Uncle Alex may be fighting for breath raising the back to coffin. Get the key.
[00:25:32] Speaker B: All right, all right. I'll go down there.
[00:25:35] Speaker I: I'll go with you.
[00:25:36] Speaker B: Doesn't need two people. Just let me get into my clothes.
[00:25:38] Speaker I: I don't trust you, Alex.
[00:25:40] Speaker B: You've got no right to say a thing like that. Martha, what difference does it make to me whether Alex is alive or dead? I don't stand again. Anything. He left the Jordan place to you.
Oh. Now, where did I put that key?
Must be in this drawer.
[00:25:54] Speaker I: Hurry, Ramsey.
[00:25:55] Speaker B: I'm hurrying. There. Here it is.
[00:25:59] Speaker I: You took something else out of that drawer, Ramsey.
[00:26:01] Speaker B: I did not. Just the tea. What's the matter with you anyway? What, am I under the bed?
[00:26:07] Speaker I: I'll be watching you from the window, Ramsay. If Uncle Alex is alive, yell to me and I'll phone doctor Rutledge.
[00:26:32] Speaker B: There's a storm coming up. That wind's from the east.
Now, let's see if this key fits.
Fits all right, but it won't turn.
Ah, there we are.
Now, where's that light switch. Here it is.
Yeah, that's better.
Oh, it's foul in here.
Even smells good.
Here's the coffin.
Hope they didn't screw down the lid.
No, no. It comes right up.
Yeah, he hasn't moved.
He's dead.
Yes. Just the way he was when they put him in there with his hands folded over the bow butter.
He didn't ring that snow.
Who did?
Oh, now I know. A storm. Lightning shorted the wire. Sure, that's what it was. It must have been.
Still, I. I think I'd better make sure while I'm down here. Yes.
Martha almost caught me taking this darning needle out of the drawer. I'll work it under his shirt and jab it through his heart. You're going to stay dead, Uncle Alex, no matter what happens.
[00:28:06] Speaker I: Stone dead.
[00:28:06] Speaker B: Martha. You followed me.
[00:28:09] Speaker I: I told you I didn't trust you. What are you doing with that darning needle in your hands?
[00:28:13] Speaker B: Nothing.
[00:28:13] Speaker I: Get out of the way. Let me look in him.
[00:28:15] Speaker B: Dead. Stone dead.
[00:28:17] Speaker I: Who rang the bell?
[00:28:18] Speaker B: How did I know? Maybe his ghost.
[00:28:20] Speaker I: You were about to do something with that needle.
[00:28:22] Speaker B: What? You really want to know?
All right, I'll tell you. I was going to jab it through his black heart. I was going to make sure he will get.
And I'm still going to do it. Random.
[00:28:37] Speaker I: See your office on mine.
[00:28:38] Speaker B: Am I? We'll see.
[00:28:39] Speaker I: Keep away from that coffee.
[00:28:40] Speaker B: Shut up.
[00:28:41] Speaker I: I'll scream, Randy. The questions will hear.
[00:28:43] Speaker B: You won't.
[00:28:44] Speaker I: Yes, I will help.
[00:28:46] Speaker B: Oh, so that's your excuse. Wait till I close this door.
Now scream your lungs out, Ramsey.
[00:28:55] Speaker I: Don't do anything you'll regret.
[00:29:00] Speaker B: Why waste this needle on old dead Alex?
I might do much better using it on you yet into your heart. Why not? Then I get to own the place and sell it.
[00:29:14] Speaker I: Brandon, listen to me.
[00:29:16] Speaker B: I listen to you plenty these last few weeks. Ever since he made you the high and mighty boss. But now it's my turn. I'll never find you down here. No, no. You'll dry up and rot. Just like he's rotting in that coffin.
[00:29:32] Speaker I: No.
[00:29:38] Speaker B: Fainted before I could touch it.
Wait a minute.
That gives me an idea.
There's a better way of doing it.
Carry her up to the house, pour that medicine down her throat. Give her an overdose. She'll be dead by morning and no one can put it on me. Oh, this is beautiful. Everything's working up fine. You're going to be rich when big rich.
Get the door open first, and then.
Lord, the peas on the outside and it's a snap lock. No. No.
What am I going to do? I'm locked in here. I can't get out.
The door sullied open six inches thick.
There are no windows. Nowhere.
Hello?
The push button's in his hands.
How did he bring me to. Yes. Sooner or later someone will hear it.
Yeah, yeah. They should do it. Christians or the mercantiles. They're bounded here. It can investigate. I'll keep bringing it all night while I.
Oh, the wires.
Liars in the bathroom.
I ripped them out.
The bell one prison.
Look out.
Attract attracted here. Attract threat.
[00:31:33] Speaker F: That was the strange burial of Alexander Jordan.
Starring Mister Edmund Gwen.
For our next exploration into the darkness of the human mind, I have invited the celebrated exponent of the mysterioso, Peter Laura to be our guest.
So join with us when once again we raise the shadowy curtain of the unknown and look deep into the souls of men.
Until then, this is your master of mystery, Doctor X, leaving you with creeps by night.
[00:32:28] Speaker E: Creeps by night is produced by Robert Maxwell.
Original music composed by Paul Creston, conducted by Joseph Stopack.
Supporting Mister Gwen in tonight's presentation were Everett Sloan as Alexander Jordan, Abby Lewis as Martha, Gregory Morton as Doctor Rutledge, and Doctor X as himself.
Edmund Gwen appeared to be courtesy of Metro golden mayor, whose 20 year anniversary picture, the White Cliffs of Dover, is currently being released.
[00:32:59] Speaker G: George Gunn speaking. Here's the Blue Network.
[00:33:04] Speaker A: You're listening to mysterious old radio listening society. And that was creeps by night in an episode called the Strange Burial of Alexander Jordan. Once again, I'm Eric.
[00:33:14] Speaker D: I'm Tim.
[00:33:15] Speaker C: I'm Joshua.
[00:33:16] Speaker A: All right, well, I picked this one, so I'll just start it right off the top as to why I picked this one. Pretty simply.
This is a classic theme in horror, being buried alive. And there is no doubt that if we end up doing this show for a year or two years or three years, that this is going to come up a couple more times. And we have not delved into it yet. And it is something that I think we needed to touch on because not just. Well, was this episode any good and was this done well? But in general, the idea of being buried alive, I think, has got to be touched on. If you're doing a horror podcast about horror stories, it's too universal.
[00:34:03] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:34:03] Speaker C: Tick that buried alive box.
[00:34:05] Speaker A: Exactly.
I want to start by talking about, there's a myth out there that from before, I don't know, I'm going to make it out 1950, that everybody was being buried alive, see? And then they had to have these.
[00:34:21] Speaker C: It's probably a little earlier than 1950, but I'll go with it. But everybody was terrified previous to 1995.
[00:34:29] Speaker A: But there's all these crazy stories of dating back to the 15 hundreds of finding, you know, claw marks on the inside of caskets. And the stories are endless. So I did my research on this and these caskets being invented and patented, to have all of these things, bells on them and other things, because people were terrified of being buried alive. Here's what I found out, mostly untrue, that people were buried alive a lot. In fact, there are even stories to this day of people being pronounced dead and morticians going, oh, my God, a pulse. It's very rare, of course, but this is what is true. There was a rampant 17 hundreds, 18 hundreds. People were extremely terrified of being buried alive because there were rumors that was happening all the time. And the reality was, it really wasn't as much as they thought it was.
The other myth is that we all believe that everybody had some kind of bell system put into their caskets. Turns out there were a lot of patents for this kind of stuff, but really wasn't done as frequently or if ever. There's very few proof, I should say, of anybody that actually had one of these caskets. There are a few of them had happened also, just to get this out there. A lot of people think that saved by the bell originates from this. It actually originates from boxing. Graveyard shift is not from this. People think that graveyard shift is a reference to someone had to stay in the graveyard overnight to listen for the bells. But it has nothing to do with that. And there's one other that I wrote down later, but there's a lot of mythology, and an interesting one that I'm going to bring up a little bit later, that has to do with Michael Crichton in a book, the great Train Robbery.
[00:36:19] Speaker D: This is so hilarious that you're providing all this information, which is fascinating and great, but some years ago, because being buried alive terrifies me, I did some research about cases of people who have been buried alive and what that's like.
[00:36:35] Speaker C: He discovered that everyone has been buried alive at least once.
[00:36:40] Speaker D: What I discovered was, it's horrible. It's so horrible to be buried alive. Really, really bad.
You don't suffocate because you have enough air there to freak out to death.
[00:36:52] Speaker A: Not for long, though. What I did, the research that I did, said that in a well constructed casket, there's not a lot of air for a long time.
[00:37:00] Speaker D: The descriptions of what I read, and we have dueling research here people would break their fingers trying to get themselves out of it. Their hearts would break. It was terrible.
[00:37:09] Speaker A: Terrible.
[00:37:10] Speaker D: Don't Google being buried alive. Don't research this.
[00:37:14] Speaker A: We have conflicting reports on this then.
[00:37:16] Speaker D: But similar that it wasn't prevalent. It wasn't a very common thing. It's just that when it did happen, it was horrible. Really, really bad.
[00:37:23] Speaker A: Here was the other phrase that does not come from this, by the way. It's dead ringer. But people saved by the bell, dead ringer and graveyard shift have always been attributed in their etymology to this bell system on caskets from people being accidentally buried alive. And interesting. You ready? The book, the great train robbery talks about a guy named George Badison, and a lot of people on the Internet or whatever will bring this up. Oh, George Baddison.
[00:37:50] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:37:51] Speaker A: In 1852, he patents the Badison life revival device.
He is this thing where people are being buried alive, so he patents this thing, so people are being saved left and right. And the queen gives him the OBE. Queen Victoria. In 1859, he then, because he's so obsessive over his own death of being buried alive, actually kills himself. And he burns himself to death. And this is a really interesting story, right? And it's quoted by very, very respected people and historians. Not a word of it is true. It appears in a Michael Crichton book, the great Train Robbery. You know how he writes factually and doesn't say, I'm just making this up for the book. Every place you look about this story about Batterson and this bell system and all this, and everybody quotes it as fact. And today, again, on the Internet, doing my research, I can't tell you how many websites are quoting. Oh, yeah, well, Battison invented this thing and how factual it's become because people have taken it. And then when you look at what their references are, if you actually look them up in the bottom of their essays or whatever, it's Michael Crichton. Michael Crichton's great train robbery. And people have been duped. This guy never existed. It was made up by Crichton.
[00:39:06] Speaker D: What are you saying about Jurassic park?
[00:39:11] Speaker A: Well, I will tell you that I forget the name of the book. The time travel book by Crichton. Help me, geeks. No. You don't remember? No, no, I don't. The time. Anyway, the first 80 pages are about how time travel could be possible, quoting all this science. And for years I was like, oh, cool. He started the book with actual science so that this book could feel real.
[00:39:33] Speaker C: Nope.
[00:39:34] Speaker A: No, he just actually makes it sound like this could be actual science, which he did in the great train robbery, and a lot of people took it as fact. All that being said, we haven't even gotten into this episode yet, but the idea of people being buried alive is really interesting and how fearful we are of it and how much myth exists about the actuality of it. And these bells that people would put into their coffins actually wasn't really done. That much I dare put out there.
[00:40:02] Speaker D: That it's the tradition from the fall of the house of Usher.
[00:40:05] Speaker A: Yes.
Poe wrote three buried alive stories, and I'm trying to get my notes here. The premature burial. Follow the house of Usher and the cast of Antonio amontiago.
Thank you. I haven't read it. I just made that up, for the.
[00:40:21] Speaker D: Love of God, with Tresser.
That's how it ends.
[00:40:24] Speaker A: But he also perpetuated the myth Poe did of how many people were being actually buried alive. And as you said, tim, one of the reasons I picked this episode is there is nothing, is there anything more terrifying than to think about that?
[00:40:38] Speaker D: Thinking about what to say about this episode. I was thinking, if I wake up and I'm being incinerated and I've been pronounced dead and I'm being like that, thank God I wasn't buried alive. The fire is really hot, the smoke is terrible, but, whew, I lucked out.
[00:40:51] Speaker C: All right, well, here's my problem with this episode.
[00:40:53] Speaker A: I got a lot. I'm gonna get you off the hook here right away. I got a lot of problems with this episode.
[00:40:58] Speaker C: It's that it's not really about being buried alive.
[00:41:00] Speaker A: No, it's not.
[00:41:01] Speaker C: It peaks about five minutes in with Alexander's description of his nightmares of being buried alive. And it's horrifying. It's so horrifying. I was listening to this with my wife. We were getting ready for bed, and she's like, turn that off. I'm not gonna listen to that before I go to bed. But put that shovel down after that, it turns into this story about these bickering couple, boring bickering couple. And it just deteriorates from there.
[00:41:25] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:41:25] Speaker A: And the opportunity to scare the bleep out of us with ringing bells was missed. They could have rang that bell. Checked, and he was dead, gone back in, rang the bell.
[00:41:36] Speaker B: You know what I mean?
[00:41:36] Speaker A: They could have done that 90 times and raked us up. And you're absolutely right. And again, I picked this because. Let's start, you know, let's start. There's more buried alive stories coming.
[00:41:46] Speaker C: It's a podcast spinoff I say buried alive with Eric Webster.
[00:41:51] Speaker A: Do you remember the Twilight zone, that new one with Ted Danson? Buried to his.
[00:41:55] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. Yeah.
[00:41:56] Speaker A: Creep show.
[00:41:57] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:41:57] Speaker A: Creepshow. Should never seen that.
[00:42:00] Speaker D: Tide is coming in.
[00:42:00] Speaker A: It's.
It has so much promise, this episode at the beginning. So much.
[00:42:07] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:42:07] Speaker A: With the description of being buried alive, and I thought that's where we're going.
[00:42:10] Speaker C: With it right up to the last moment.
[00:42:12] Speaker B: This.
[00:42:12] Speaker C: This episode is really good. Is when they cut away from his death to just the couple verses from the funeral.
[00:42:20] Speaker A: Oh, yeah.
[00:42:21] Speaker C: Where they're talking about, I am the resurrection and the life and has all this language, too. Suggests that he's not dead yet. And they don't really do a scene, but that's a really eerie, great transition that just tells you he's dead, but.
[00:42:35] Speaker A: He might be back.
Right.
[00:42:38] Speaker D: Well, it's an effective payoff of, like, we set up this bell. He's buried. We're waiting days and days are going by, and then it's the last one and the bell rings. And, of course, you knew the bell.
[00:42:49] Speaker A: Would ring, but, yeah, we're just waiting for it to happen. So it takes the suspense out of it.
[00:42:53] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:42:53] Speaker C: But it's really, it's not treated frightening. They're just, like, bickering over. You go look in the tune. No, I'm in bed. No, I'll look out the window and watch you.
[00:43:02] Speaker A: I will say, though, her looking out the window to watch. I had a moment of, no, no, don't do that. Right.
[00:43:07] Speaker D: So that's cool.
[00:43:08] Speaker A: Like, no, no, no. And then when she showed up in the crypt, when he had the needle, I didn't expect that. It made me jump a little, and I was like, half, oh, you know, made me jump. And two. Yay.
Good. She's there. Because I was still waiting for him to still be alive, which I think really he. Right, well, so I.
[00:43:33] Speaker C: They were going for this ironic ending in which obviously, Ramsay is the one who ends up buried alive, but it doesn't. It doesn't have any of that claustrophobic feeling. He's in a tomb. There's clearly a lot of ten more minutes.
His wife is snack bar.
[00:43:52] Speaker A: Of course my tomb's gonna have one, just so you know. And it's a dollar, a bag of peanuts.
[00:43:59] Speaker C: And Martha has passed out. Right. So she's clearly gonna wake back up.
[00:44:02] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:44:03] Speaker A: This is a great point.
[00:44:04] Speaker C: And they're just gonna bick her to death is what's gonna happen.
[00:44:07] Speaker A: Okay, so if the point of this is that from the grave, because he saves her. Earlier, he comes out of the room and says, let go of her.
[00:44:14] Speaker D: Get out of my house.
[00:44:15] Speaker A: So he's obviously her protector now. He's dead. Now he's saying, oh, I'm gonna kill her, and I'm gonna, you know. And he somehow, from the grave, rings the bell. That's what we're supposed to be led to believe that he is. I know he says there's a lightning storm, and that's how the bell must have gone off. But I think we're being led to believe that somehow, supernaturally, the uncle is saving her.
[00:44:35] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:44:36] Speaker A: Okay, so he's rung the bell, even though he's actually dead. So he saves her, and he locks him in. She's fainted in the corner. So when she wakes up, she also is going to die in the crypt with him. So I was like, wait.
[00:44:49] Speaker C: There's so many people who come and go. The doctor, the lawyer. You have the sense that, like, someone will just be there in the morning, and it's a farm sort of ache.
[00:44:57] Speaker D: For that little epilogue where they open up the crypt and she's there and he's dead, by whatever means, or she.
[00:45:03] Speaker C: Doesn'T end up sneaking in there, and she's the one who slams this door on him. Right. And at the end, all of these.
[00:45:10] Speaker A: Would have been great, John. They're all really good. I didn't like the idea. I love the idea that, that, yes, he gets his just desserts, and he gets locked in the crypt with him, and maybe supernaturally from the dead, the uncle kills him. But she can't. She either has to do it or, like Tim said, you know, like, we don't get an explanation. But he's dead, and she's standing there with a knitting needle. Yeah, with an eyeball on it.
[00:45:35] Speaker C: What happened?
Every character in the story is vaguely creepy, and I think that undermines it. You don't know who you're supposed to be sympathetic toward. I think, obviously Martha to a degree, but she's so weird in it, and she is.
[00:45:52] Speaker A: Well, she flips at the beginning.
[00:45:55] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:45:55] Speaker D: Once she learns that she's getting some.
[00:45:56] Speaker A: Money, like, okay, hey, shut up. I'll do the, I'll make the calls around here. And, like, wow, that's way to cover up what you guys talked about in that room.
[00:46:06] Speaker H: You could have just came out and.
[00:46:07] Speaker A: Said, I don't know, he fell asleep.
[00:46:10] Speaker B: Terrible.
[00:46:12] Speaker C: I love when Ramsay comes to this idea to kill her, which comes to nothing. And he's like, why did I wait six annoying days before I came up with this plan. It's such a weird bit of dialogue.
[00:46:24] Speaker A: Oh, why didn't I think of this six days ago?
Yep. There's not much else to say about this.
[00:46:32] Speaker D: No, I got, I had a really different reaction to this.
[00:46:36] Speaker A: Oh.
[00:46:37] Speaker D: And in part it's because many of the episodes we've been doing lately are a little off the beaten path. At least the last couple are just not quite the normal sort of classic old chestnut suspense. That there was a real sort of nostalgic love for this story that I had of like, ah, it's some ridiculous, ridiculous elaborate from the beyond the grave plot. I'm enjoying this so much.
I would, I will probably not when the voting time comes. Say, this is a classic. It's not the sort of episode you would give to someone to get them addicted to these old radio shows. But if you are someone who likes them, it just hits all the little notes of the voices and the music and the sounds.
[00:47:20] Speaker A: It's the exact opposite of Joshua's show last week with all the dense dialogue.
[00:47:26] Speaker D: And yes, this was very comforting to me. Like, oh, meatloaf of old time locked into a crypt.
[00:47:34] Speaker A: No.
[00:47:34] Speaker C: Six legged cow, aliens that make you think.
[00:47:41] Speaker A: Any other thoughts before we vote?
[00:47:43] Speaker C: Well, it's a lot better if you imagine Ramsay dressed as Santa Claus from Miracle on 34th street. It takes on a whole new I'm.
[00:47:51] Speaker A: Glad I didn't look that up before I listened. I had a lot more fun listening to it, then later went, oh, that was Santa Claus. If I had Santa Claus in my head, which I told everybody at the beginning of this podcast, it was.
[00:48:05] Speaker C: So you ruined it for everybody.
[00:48:07] Speaker A: Although maybe not.
[00:48:08] Speaker C: The episode does a lot to ruin itself.
[00:48:12] Speaker A: Let's vote.
[00:48:13] Speaker C: So, yeah, I don't really think it stands the test of time. Like I said, it's interesting for that. Buried alive.
[00:48:20] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:48:21] Speaker C: Historical obsession. I'm a little disappointed because I think it had a lot of promise at the beginning but really lost its way.
[00:48:27] Speaker A: I was really excited when it started.
[00:48:29] Speaker D: I would not say it's classic. I even forgot to mention the whole setup with Mister X and the mystery of Mister X. People have guessed.
[00:48:37] Speaker C: Oh, you're right, you're right.
[00:48:39] Speaker D: That elevates it a little bit for me.
[00:48:40] Speaker C: You're right. My favorite I laughed out loud is when Mister X comes on and Doctor.
[00:48:45] Speaker D: X. I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
[00:48:46] Speaker C: Doctor X is saying these, these really melodramatic things. Thank you for joining us for this further research into the shadowy darkness of the unexplored, the darkness of the human mind. I also wish, however, to thank you for your letters.
It's the best contrast ever.
[00:49:02] Speaker A: I wrote after he said, I'd like to wish to thank you for your letters. The sentence I wrote in my notes was, it's that letters to the editor in the 1970s Marvel comic book.
[00:49:14] Speaker B: Oh, yeah.
[00:49:15] Speaker A: Dear, dear Stan Lee, how does Johnny Torch's clothes not catch on fire?
[00:49:21] Speaker C: I don't think anyone cares who Doctor.
[00:49:23] Speaker D: X is because they're stable molecules. That's why it doesn't light on fire. It's unstable molecules.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
[00:49:31] Speaker B: I can't stop.
[00:49:32] Speaker A: Who would win between a fight between the thing and the Hulk?
[00:49:37] Speaker D: All right, okay, I'm stopping. I'm stopping.
[00:49:39] Speaker A: No, I want to know who.
[00:49:40] Speaker C: So this is enough to make you.
[00:49:49] Speaker A: Anyway. But, yeah, it had that feel to it. Right? Like when you read those letters, Tim.
[00:49:54] Speaker D: Sorry I sidetracked. So for that introduction and the warm nostalgia, I would say that it's not a classic, but it does stand the test of time.
[00:50:03] Speaker A: I would say it was just fine.
It was fine. It didn't bug me too much, and it didn't make me mad, and I got through the whole thing, and I was interested. But it could have been a lot scarier and a lot more interesting, and they could have done a lot different. Like I said at the beginning of our discussion, there were a lot of ways to make us jump out of our chair that they just decided not to do. And that means have that bell ring, you know, every time that bell rings, man, like, run out to that crypt. Could have done it five, six times.
All right, well, you've been listening to mysterious the Hulk.
[00:50:37] Speaker B: Huh?
[00:50:38] Speaker D: The Hulk.
[00:50:38] Speaker A: Okay. You've been listening to the mysterious old radio listening society. We have a website, ghoulishdelights.com dot. What happens there, Tim?
[00:50:47] Speaker D: If you go there, you can not only listen to other episodes of this podcast, you can vote in our poll to let us know what you thought of these various radio shows.
[00:50:56] Speaker C: You can also ring a bell to let us know if you're alive.
[00:50:59] Speaker D: If you are been buried alive, please log on.
It also has information about upcoming shows. We are performing recreations of these classical radio shows at the James J. Hill Library in St. Paul. And you can find out information about where. Well, where I just told you, but
[email protected]? Dot.
[00:51:19] Speaker A: We'd love to see it. Please come out and see us.
[00:51:22] Speaker C: Also, go to itunes and write a review. It makes us happy. And reviews do help this podcast. So please thank you to all the listeners who've already written reviews.
[00:51:32] Speaker A: All right, who's got the next one?
[00:51:33] Speaker D: That's me, isn't it? We are listening to the horn from fear on four. A BBC series? Not at all. From the golden age of horror and suspense on radio.
[00:51:45] Speaker A: Sorry.
[00:51:47] Speaker D: Until then, look out.
