Episode 422: The Conquest of David Rugg

[00:00:16] Speaker A: The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society podcast. [00:00:27] Speaker B: Welcome to the Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society, a podcast dedicated to suspense, crime and horror stories from the golden age of radio. I'm Eric. [00:00:36] Speaker C: I'm Tim. [00:00:37] Speaker D: And I'm Joshua. [00:00:38] Speaker B: We love mysterious old time radio stories, but do they Stand the test of time? That's what we're here to find out. [00:00:44] Speaker C: This week I've brought the Conquest of David Rugg, the sole surviving episode of the Devil's Scrapbook. [00:00:50] Speaker D: The Devil's Scrapbook was the west coast version of the Hermit's Cave, which was produced and broadcast in Detroit back in 1930. A group of Detroit actors dubbed themselves the Mummers and began presenting 15 minute dramatic sketches on WJR in Detroit in 1936. In the Hermit's Cave was an expanded version of the show with a focus on horror. This show was officially dubbed the hermit's cave in 1937. [00:01:21] Speaker B: The following year, production of the Devil's Scrapbook started on the west coast and ran until 1939. It's possible that the different host was a result of contractual limits. [00:01:32] Speaker C: But. [00:01:32] Speaker B: But by 1940, that was apparently no longer a problem. A West coast version of the Hermit's Cave was launched, featuring William Conrad and John Dehner, among others. This version ran until 1944, and the Detroit series ultimately concluded in 1947. [00:01:47] Speaker C: To the best of our knowledge, only one episode of the Devil's Scrapbook survives. And this is it. The Conquest of David rugg. First broadcast November 28, 1938. [00:01:58] Speaker D: 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. [00:02:27] Speaker E: A story from the Devil Scrapbook. [00:02:58] Speaker F: I am the Devil. From my inferno of boiling cauldrons and smoking brimstone, I come to Earth each Monday night to tell you a story from my scrapbook. And it's full of them. Ghost stories. Weird, tall tales of the supernatural. Yes, and murders, too. All the horrible tales of the centuries are here in my scrapbook. Listen, if you've got the nerve. Ah, but first, turn off your lights. Turn them off. [00:03:49] Speaker G: There. [00:03:49] Speaker F: Now, listen. [00:04:00] Speaker E: When I tell you what happened to me last night, Ann, you won't believe it. [00:04:04] Speaker H: I was frantic, Sidney. I was ready to call the police. And now when you come home, you act so strange. [00:04:09] Speaker E: It's because of what occurred last night. [00:04:11] Speaker H: Sydney, what is it? You act as if you didn't know me, as if you didn't recognize anything. That's Going on about you, Anne. [00:04:18] Speaker E: I've lived through a night of horror. [00:04:19] Speaker H: Sydney, you're trembling and white. [00:04:21] Speaker E: Yes. [00:04:22] Speaker H: Now sit down in this chair and tell me what happened. [00:04:25] Speaker E: Well, sometimes I think I must have fallen asleep in my car. But someone must have crept up and put me under an anesthetic. I must have dreamed all of it. [00:04:35] Speaker H: All of what? [00:04:36] Speaker E: All of what happened to me last night. I can still hear the woman scream. Yes. I can still hear a cry for mercy. [00:04:43] Speaker H: Sydney, what are you talking about? [00:04:46] Speaker E: Perhaps if I tell you, I can decide whether it was all a hideous nightmare. Or whether it has some semblance of truth. I was driving toward home, nearing the city. I think I know approximately how far out on the highway I was. Was about 15 miles. It was near 7 o' clock and getting dark. The sky was clear. When all of a sudden it began to storm. [00:05:17] Speaker H: But it didn't storm last night. [00:05:18] Speaker E: If I'm going to tell you what happened, you mustn't interrupt me. I say it began to storm. It was so sudden. The thunder became louder and louder. And then the rain began to pour down like a cloud burst. The lightning flashed. The lights on my car were useless. The windshield wiper was useless. Suddenly I realized I was no longer driving on a paved highway. I was on a dirt road. Where I didn't know. The wheels on the car began to churn the mud. With a sputter, the motor stopped. The storm kept up. The lightning flashed. The rain still came down in torrents. I opened the door of the car. I got out to look about, find out where I was and what had happened. In a second, my clothing was dripping wet. I was wading in mud. Then, by a flash of lightning, I saw a strange sight. Down the road came a buggy with two horses. It was coming very fast. Horses and a buggy. So near the city. I couldn't believe it. But was I near the city? [00:06:21] Speaker A: Where was I? [00:06:22] Speaker E: The horses and carriage came closer. As they drew nearer, I realized the driver was pulling in the reins. The buggy was coming to a stop. [00:06:33] Speaker I: I see. How do you do, sir? May I give you a lift out of the storm? [00:06:40] Speaker E: I must have stood and stared at him. For by flash of lightning I saw he wasn't dressed like people dressed today. He looked exactly like pictures of Grandfather Trent when he was a young man. And he wore a heavy beard. He repeated his invitation. [00:06:53] Speaker I: May I give you a lift out of the storm? Storm? Yes. [00:06:57] Speaker E: My car is stalled. [00:06:58] Speaker I: All right with me, sir. [00:07:00] Speaker E: Thank you. [00:07:01] Speaker I: I will. [00:07:02] Speaker E: You see, I'm lost. I don't know where I am why [00:07:05] Speaker I: that I can't hear you above the [00:07:07] Speaker E: storm I say I seem to be [00:07:09] Speaker A: lost get in with me. [00:07:16] Speaker I: We'll soon be home and then see. You can get dry and warm by the fire. Giddy up. [00:07:22] Speaker E: Come on, Kit. [00:07:25] Speaker I: Throw the lap robe over your knees. It'll help you to get dry. [00:07:29] Speaker E: Thank you. You know, this is the first time I ever rode in a buggy. You don't see many of them anymore. [00:07:34] Speaker I: Well, I just came from town. There isn't a better span of horses in town than mine. [00:07:41] Speaker E: No, I imagine not. Some of the milk routes still have horses and wagons. [00:07:46] Speaker I: Their stables were filled with fine horses, but none as good as mine. [00:07:51] Speaker J: What? [00:07:51] Speaker I: Giddy up. [00:07:52] Speaker E: Give it. [00:07:54] Speaker I: We want to get in out of the storm. [00:07:59] Speaker E: Could you tell me where I am, sir? [00:08:00] Speaker I: Why, of course. You're on the highway leading into town. Are you a stranger in these parts? [00:08:07] Speaker E: No, I live in the city, on Beach Road. [00:08:09] Speaker I: Never heard of it. [00:08:11] Speaker E: It's a new subdivision built up in [00:08:13] Speaker I: the last 10 years. Well, we're nearing my home. Will you come in and get dry [00:08:18] Speaker E: if I don't trouble you too much? I'm soaked through. [00:08:21] Speaker I: You're welcome. See, there's my house. One of the best in these parts. This is the road leading into the house. Well, I'll let you out here and drive the team into the barn. Are you just stand here on the street. I'll let you in when I come in from the barn. [00:08:43] Speaker E: Yes, sir. Great heaven, where was I? A man who talked of stables and horses, who called the city a town. A man who wore a long beard. I was in a daze. This man didn't belong. Well, where'd he come from? I noticed how different he was from me. But yet the fact that I was different from him didn't seem to trouble this man in the least. I seemed to be under some strange spell and I couldn't get away. But he was coming toward me now, coming from the barn. I could see him by the flashes of lightning. [00:09:31] Speaker I: We'll go in the house now. [00:09:33] Speaker E: Yes, I'll be glad to get out of the storm. It came up so suddenly. [00:09:37] Speaker I: It's been storming for 10 days. [00:09:40] Speaker E: I don't understand. It came up suddenly. [00:09:43] Speaker I: I'll unlock the door and we'll go inside. Will you walk inside, sir? [00:09:53] Speaker E: Thank you. [00:09:54] Speaker I: Now follow me. [00:09:59] Speaker E: Never will I forget that house. There was a penetrating coldness about it, as if it had been closed for years in a peculiar order. What is it? I thought to myself. It's like an odor of a Smoldering fire. Perhaps I should mention it to my queer host. But he walked ahead of me in the darkness. The hallways were black as night. Even the lightning from outside didn't penetrate into them. Then I realized all the blinds in the house were drawn. We approached the door. He opened it. In this room, an old fashioned chimney lamp sat on the table. And over in the corner of the room stood an old hard coal stove. Yes, that's what it was. And in it a small fire burned. The room was furnished with dark green plush furniture. We walked in and my host began to speak. [00:10:57] Speaker I: Will you sit down by the fire and warm yourself? [00:11:01] Speaker E: Yes, I will. Thank you. [00:11:02] Speaker I: Take off your outer coat. You'll dry out sooner. [00:11:06] Speaker E: Dazed, I began to remove my coat. The man went over and sat down at a desk in the corner. He seemed to be done with me. Now that we were in the house. He ignored me, and yet I was conscious of his compelling, bead like eyes. They were the most living thing in the room. As I walked near to the stove, I was aware the door which we just entered was opening slowly. I turned around, looked face to the woman. Even in the faint light of the room, I could see the terror written on her face. She clutched a shawl about it. Her hands twitched. Her hair was in disorder, as if she'd been running her hands through it in frenzied despair. She stood looking at my host. Didn't seem to know that I was in the room. She walked over toward him. Stood staring at him. [00:11:55] Speaker G: David. David. [00:11:59] Speaker J: What have you done with them? David, answer me. What have you done with them? Where is my son? Where are all the servants? What have you done? You locked me in this house. You went away for three days. And I've been here alone with. With the dead. The dead. So that's what you did. You killed them. You killed them all. Kill them. Kill them. [00:12:31] Speaker A: Oh, you're insane. [00:12:33] Speaker J: I've known it for months. You're mad and you kill them. My son, the servants in this house. [00:12:42] Speaker G: But there's one thing that you don't know yet, David. [00:12:47] Speaker J: Rug. [00:12:48] Speaker G: You kill them. But they won't die. [00:12:52] Speaker J: They won't die. [00:12:54] Speaker A: We'll see who's insane, Lorraine. We shall see. [00:12:59] Speaker I: Is it I? Oh, no. [00:13:01] Speaker A: But I know a woman who's going mad. Yes, she is going mad. [00:13:09] Speaker J: Don't touch me with those hands of yours. Those hands that have dance upon them. [00:13:14] Speaker A: My wife Florine tells me what to do. My wife, who loved her children more than me. Who smiled upon the servants more than me. Now she tells Me what to do? [00:13:28] Speaker J: Tell me what you did with her bodies. Why do you keep all the doors in this house locked? Where are their bodies? Let me have the body of my son so I can bury him and he can rest easily. David, you killed him. [00:13:43] Speaker G: But I tell you he won't die. [00:13:46] Speaker E: No, no. [00:13:48] Speaker G: I've been in this house for three nights, alone, locked in. [00:13:54] Speaker J: I heard the screams the night you killed him. [00:13:57] Speaker G: And since then I've heard more. More than that. [00:14:03] Speaker K: Look. [00:14:04] Speaker G: Look, the door is opening all by itself. You don't see anyone, do you? But David, there is someone there. Do you hear them walking? It's Mary. Mary the servant. See? She's still going about her duties. Look, the door to the stove opens. She's banking the fire. [00:14:37] Speaker E: Oh, no. [00:14:39] Speaker G: She's going about her duties even though she's dead because she's not buried properly. She still moves in this house. [00:14:50] Speaker E: Oh, no. [00:14:51] Speaker A: No, it's impossible. [00:14:52] Speaker G: Yes, she's walking right near you. [00:14:56] Speaker A: No, there's no one here. [00:15:00] Speaker I: No. [00:15:01] Speaker G: But you hear her walking, don't you? [00:15:07] Speaker I: Yes. Yes, I hear. [00:15:11] Speaker H: Look. [00:15:13] Speaker G: See what's happening now? She's taking the lamp with her. [00:15:20] Speaker E: That lamp. [00:15:21] Speaker A: It's moving off the table all by itself. [00:15:25] Speaker G: No, Mary is carrying it. See it move as if a hand carried it. [00:15:32] Speaker A: She can't be carrying it. She's dead. [00:15:35] Speaker J: And you killed her. Killed her. But she won't die. [00:15:41] Speaker G: Listen, do you hear? She's walking toward the door again. And see the lamp? She holds it higher as she opens the door. [00:15:59] Speaker A: You mad woman. What manner of thing have you raked up to frighten me? [00:16:03] Speaker G: I've done nothing. Not I, but you, David Rugg. [00:16:07] Speaker J: What have you done with their bodies? [00:16:13] Speaker A: That door closed all by itself. The lamp is gone. [00:16:18] Speaker E: No, it couldn't happen. But it has. [00:16:22] Speaker A: Dead people can't return and move about. Dead hands can't open doors and carry lamps. [00:16:31] Speaker G: No, such things have been going on for the last three days since you [00:16:37] Speaker J: killed them all and left me locked in this house alone. [00:16:40] Speaker A: You planned this. You're trying to frighten me. You think you may save yourself. You think you can get me to run out of here so that you can get away and tell what I've done? You can, because you're going to die just as they did. Just as horrible a death. [00:17:02] Speaker G: I'm not afraid of death. [00:17:04] Speaker A: Oh, you'll be afraid of this death. You'll be afraid of this because it's slow and horrible. [00:17:16] Speaker F: Slow and horrible. [00:17:22] Speaker K: Mother, where are you? Come help me. Mother. [00:17:32] Speaker A: What's that? [00:17:33] Speaker K: Mother. Mother, where are you? Come Help me. Help me. [00:17:47] Speaker A: What is it? [00:17:48] Speaker E: What is it? [00:17:49] Speaker G: You know who it is. [00:17:51] Speaker H: It's Jimmy. [00:17:52] Speaker J: My son. Just 16. So young to die. Killed by his father. He's calling for me. He calls every night. [00:18:05] Speaker K: Martha. Martha, where are you? Can't you see? Hear me calling you? Can't you hear my. [00:18:21] Speaker A: He can't be calling. He can't be calling. This is some trick, some trick of yours. You've brought Walter home from college. He's here in this house with you. [00:18:34] Speaker J: Walter is here between the two of you. [00:18:37] Speaker A: You planned this. But I'll get here just as I'm going to get you. Just as I'm going to kill you. Now. Come with me. Follow me. [00:18:46] Speaker J: Let go of my arm. [00:18:47] Speaker A: Come with me. I'll show you where the other bodies are. [00:18:51] Speaker J: Oh, your nails are digging into my arms. Oh, dam. I follow you, but have mercy. [00:18:58] Speaker A: Come with me. [00:18:59] Speaker J: I'll follow you, but you're breaking my arm. [00:19:20] Speaker F: A night of horror. But is it really a dream of Sydney Trent's? You can observe I have the honorable David Richard drug well in hand. And who knows but that Sydney himself may fall into my toils. Doesn't he sound a bit insane with [00:19:45] Speaker A: such a fantastic tale? [00:19:48] Speaker F: Well, it's all right here in my scrapbook. You will know. [00:19:57] Speaker K: You will know. [00:20:01] Speaker F: Now, what do you suppose has happened to the servants and the boy Jimmy of the Rug family, eh? [00:20:10] Speaker K: Listen. [00:20:11] Speaker F: While Sydney Trent continues his engrossing account of this night of horror. [00:20:24] Speaker E: Merciful Father, what was I witnessing? What that had forgotten all about me? Or was it real? For I couldn't move. My tongue clung to the roof of my mouth. Perspiration stood out on my forehead, and yet I couldn't move. A man who killed a demon. And when the woman screamed, I tried to make my legs move. I tried to go over to help her. I was powerless. He wrenched her arm. Broke at a night I couldn't move. And then as they started to go out the door, I. I realized that some power was pushing me. I was following them. I seemed to be forced to hear and see more. Merciful heaven. We were moving through the black holes. I a shadow behind them and the three of us walking, walking down a dark, narrow stairway. I followed them down the stairs. The wife of David Rugg kept on. But she, like me, was helpless in the power of this demon. The stairs were crooked. They seemed to lead us down and down. So filled with fear. I was still conscious of the odor of smoke I smelled when we first came in the strange house. But I was powerless to Open my lips and speak. Then we reached the door. David Rudd unlocked it. [00:21:38] Speaker I: There you go. See? [00:21:41] Speaker A: They couldn't get out and walk about because I've had their bodies locked in here. [00:21:46] Speaker K: You kill them down here. [00:21:48] Speaker A: All of them. [00:21:50] Speaker G: My son and the three servants. [00:21:53] Speaker K: Martha. [00:21:54] Speaker J: Oh, I can still hear Jimmy calling me. [00:21:58] Speaker K: Martha, it's near now. You've come at last. [00:22:05] Speaker J: Oh, yes, Jimmy. [00:22:07] Speaker K: I'm here. I won't be afraid now. Down here in the dark, now that you've come. [00:22:17] Speaker I: No, Jimmy. [00:22:19] Speaker K: Don't be afraid of death, Mother. It's better we're all dead than to live with a madman like Father. [00:22:28] Speaker A: You hear what your son says? I hear nothing. But you look. See what you can see down in this hole. I'll let you see their bodies and then you'll know they're dead. You see, I dug this deep hole in the earth. A deep one. First I murdered them. Then I threw their bodies down in this hole. Wait. Wait till I light a candle. Then you can see. [00:22:58] Speaker H: There. [00:22:59] Speaker A: Now, look. Look there. What do you see? Aren't the bodies of the three servants there? You see the body of your son? They're all stuck still in death. So how could Mary have walked in that room upstairs and fixed the fire and taken the lamp off the table? And how could Jimmy call her? No. I know Walter is in this house. And as soon as I've killed you, I'll find him and I'll kill him. I'll be the only one in this family left. The only one, not me. I dug this hole in the basement deep. And now I'm going to throw you in it. Throw you in it alive and pile dirt upon you. Yes, I am. Now jump down into that hole with these dead bodies. Jump down into that hole. Ring down. [00:24:03] Speaker J: Have mercy. Kill me first before you throw me down there. Kill me first. [00:24:09] Speaker A: All right. You won't jump by yourself. [00:24:11] Speaker J: I'll push. [00:24:16] Speaker A: That's a lot of you. In a few moments now, I'll shovel the dirt over you. I'll shovel the dirt over you. Ignore me for years, will you? And now expect mercy. You and your sons thought you were smarter than me. And your servants thought you were the only person in this house with authority. Well, where are your servants now? And where is little Jimmy? And where are you? I'll get Walter, too. Why don't you answer me? You don't answer me. Why don't you answer me? How do you like it down there? I guess none of you will be able to walk about the house now. Deep underground like you all Would be, huh? And now. And now I'll pat it all down. I'll pat the earth down good. And no one will find you now. And no one will suspect me. What's happening? What is it? There's smoke coming down here. This house. This house is all afire. I've got to get out of here. This house is burning. [00:25:41] Speaker J: Ah. [00:25:42] Speaker I: Help. [00:25:43] Speaker A: I've got to get out of here. [00:25:46] Speaker E: The house was afire. Yes, I ran too. Up the stairs. I started from where I thought the outside door was. The roof was caving in. I heard Rug scream. Then I heard a crash. The part of the roof had fallen on me. It was a burning torch amongst mass of flames. I kept on running. Somehow I got out. I ran away from the house. I could hear his screams in the distance. I looked back at the house. It was a seething massive fire. Burning as if it had been saturated with oil. I kept on running. Suddenly I realized I was on the pavement. Yes, the pave rolled again. And it was daylight. Daylight. And I stood my car just where I'd left it. When I thought I was stuck in a muddy road. But it was paving now. I got in the car, put my foot on the style and I drove away. I came home, walked in the house, told you the story. And now I know. I know I didn't brave it. It actually happened. [00:26:39] Speaker J: Man, we've got to get right back [00:26:41] Speaker E: there and find that house that burned down last. [00:26:54] Speaker H: Sydney, there's no old fashioned house along this highway. None of your story makes sense. [00:26:59] Speaker E: Must have been right along here somewhere. Yes, I remember the trees in that yard. I saw them as I was running away last night. [00:27:07] Speaker H: Sydney, no house burned down. Don't you see? That's a modern home standing there. What are you going to do? [00:27:15] Speaker E: I'm going up to that house and find out if there was a place near here that burned. [00:27:19] Speaker H: Oh, you must have dreamed all that last night. Can't you realize this is silly, Dear, we drove all along this highway. There was no place where a house had burned down. [00:27:29] Speaker E: Well, I'm going to find out. [00:27:32] Speaker H: There was no storm last night. None of it makes any sense. [00:27:37] Speaker I: Yes. [00:27:39] Speaker E: Well, how do you do? My name is Trent. I. I want to ask you. Well, that is, I. I mean to [00:27:46] Speaker H: say my husband is upset about something. He had a very bad dream. And in it he saw these trees. They're here in your yard. [00:27:53] Speaker A: Is that so? [00:27:54] Speaker E: That was no dream. I saw a house burned at the ground here on this very spot last night. [00:28:00] Speaker A: Last night? Huerta, I'm afraid you Must have been dreaming, sir. [00:28:07] Speaker E: Oh, you see, darling, as a matter [00:28:10] Speaker A: of fact, how's did burn down here? [00:28:13] Speaker E: Let's see. [00:28:14] Speaker A: Must have been 40 years ago. My father's house burned to the ground. [00:28:19] Speaker E: Your father's house? Your name is Walter. Walter Rug? Yes, but I don't recall. Were the bodies of your mother and brother and the servants, Tom? No, they never were. Did you build this house right over the old site? [00:28:36] Speaker A: No, the old house stood where my tennis court is now. [00:28:41] Speaker E: But look, if you dig down deep there, you'll find the bones of your servant, your mother and your brother. Well, that's where your father hid them. [00:28:50] Speaker A: What? [00:28:50] Speaker E: You do as I say. I know it's true. They all lie there, smoldering. We ought to be just about in a place right now. Too bad to ruin your tennis court. [00:29:16] Speaker A: But it's all so preposterous. Mr. Trent, how could you possibly have witnessed such an impossible thing? [00:29:21] Speaker E: I don't know. I don't know. It's the weirdest thing I ever heard of, but I know it's true. [00:29:29] Speaker A: You seem quite in your senses. But if you're wrong about this, you know. [00:29:32] Speaker E: Yes, I know. I'll be a candidate for the state institution. [00:29:36] Speaker A: But if you're right, the dreadful mystery [00:29:40] Speaker I: that's hung over my head these past [00:29:42] Speaker A: 40 years will be cleared up. [00:29:44] Speaker E: And it will be. Have no fear. Look, see here. [00:29:50] Speaker K: Bones. [00:29:52] Speaker A: Human bones. [00:29:55] Speaker E: But to prove we're right, I must find the broken bones of the right arm. They should be right here on top. Yes, yes, here they are. [00:30:03] Speaker A: Broken bones. [00:30:06] Speaker E: The bones of your. Of your mother. Your father murdered her, your brother and the servants, but was punished for the burning death himself. [00:30:18] Speaker A: It's all so horrible. [00:30:22] Speaker E: Horrible. [00:30:23] Speaker K: Mother. Martha. Walter has come to set us free. Yes, Jimmy. Walter will give us a decent burial. At last our tired souls can rest. [00:30:58] Speaker F: And Sidney Trent's night of horror was not a dream. Through some strange force, he went back through 40 years to witness one of the most masterful exploits. The conquest of David Rugg. And a pretty tail too, don't you think? Now turn on your lights. Turn them on. I am the devil. I come to Earth each Monday night to tell you the simple but, I hope, interesting stories from my scrapbook. Will you be with me next Monday evening at 10? I'll be expecting you. [00:32:15] Speaker E: You have just heard another chapter from the Devil Scrapbook featuring Charles Penman as David Rugg. If you like stories of the supernatural, join the devil next week at the same time. Good night and pleasant dreams. This is the mutual Don Lee Broadcasting System. [00:32:34] Speaker B: That was the conquest of David Rugg from the Devil's Scrapbook here on the Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society podcast once again, I'm Eric. [00:32:43] Speaker C: I'm Tim. [00:32:44] Speaker D: And I'm Joshua. [00:32:45] Speaker B: And I started laughing because every time I say Devil's Scrapbook, I'm like, oh, it's going to be no scrapbook. Not scary. It starts out so strong. The Devil's Scrapbook gives you images. [00:33:00] Speaker C: A picture of me in high school. [00:33:03] Speaker D: It gave me an image of Satan shopping at Michael's, you know. [00:33:06] Speaker C: Right. Right. [00:33:08] Speaker B: Here's every bottle cap I've ever collected. [00:33:12] Speaker D: I'll need some mod Podge, some pipe cleaners in the blood of innocence, please. [00:33:21] Speaker B: Mod Podge. Oh, my God. Well, first of all, the Devil comes every Monday. [00:33:32] Speaker D: Holy same Devil time. [00:33:36] Speaker B: Wow, you are punctual. [00:33:39] Speaker C: Well, the Devil's got a regimented schedule. Monday's what he can do. So it's Mondays. [00:33:44] Speaker B: Yeah. So, yeah, you guys, I'll be there. Ten o' clock, Mondays. [00:33:48] Speaker D: I've been lied to because I've been told you can't count on the devil every Monday. [00:33:54] Speaker B: Really? Got this gig. [00:33:56] Speaker D: So he's basically doing something very similar to the hermit's spiel at the top. [00:34:01] Speaker B: Yes. [00:34:01] Speaker C: As far as I can tell, it's cut and paste of the time was just hermit replaced with devil. [00:34:07] Speaker A: Right. [00:34:07] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:34:09] Speaker B: It's lucky they didn't record them to play them back later because then you'd be so screwed if it got moved through a different day and time. So, first of all, for the host the devil part, I just want to talk about that. So there's this thing about being scary that I. When I teach kids, you know, in high school, middle school, whatever, you ought to be scary. And I'm a big fan of understated. [00:34:35] Speaker C: Right. Like, just like this. [00:34:37] Speaker B: Right. [00:34:37] Speaker D: You're terrifying me right now, but, like [00:34:40] Speaker B: getting really close to someone and whispering something threatening at them as opposed to over the top. [00:34:46] Speaker C: You teach that at school? [00:34:48] Speaker B: I do. But the idea of, as we always say, that fine line between comedy and horror and this host is so big that it becomes comedy to me. The Devil, like, you think this guy [00:35:02] Speaker C: is beyond the hermit? [00:35:04] Speaker B: Yeah, all right, I do. I'm the Devil. Like, it's so cartoony that it. It seemed it's a cartoon. [00:35:13] Speaker D: I assumed that was the intention. Like Nancy. Right. It's a little spooky, but it's also. If it's a kid tuning in, it's not too spooky, but the story's terrifying and graphic. [00:35:30] Speaker B: It is. [00:35:31] Speaker C: Yeah. And it's like Nancy was. I can't really in the 34. Something like that. Hermit was hot on the heels. Like, this is really early days horror host. [00:35:42] Speaker B: Yeah. I think what I'm trying to say is this really proves the thing that's been said for a long time, and we talk about a lot on this podcast, that there's this fine line between comedy and horror. [00:35:52] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:35:52] Speaker B: And this is it. You know, this guy, this host, this delivery of the devil is that incredible example of who's scary. Hilarious. Scary. Zigzagging across the line while he's talking. Just in how he said the devil. I went back and forth. Scared. [00:36:13] Speaker I: Ha. [00:36:14] Speaker B: Funny. Scared, funny. Devil. [00:36:16] Speaker C: Weird. [00:36:17] Speaker D: I think excited. I think had to be intentionally tongue in cheek, especially with the Every Monday. [00:36:25] Speaker B: Again, it's the. [00:36:26] Speaker D: I don't want to have that chronological snobbery. [00:36:28] Speaker B: Right. [00:36:29] Speaker D: Well, they have invented. Invented irony yet in 1925. I. I think it was intended to be at least arch in some way. [00:36:37] Speaker B: He did have that terror of Baloonieland voice. [00:36:42] Speaker D: Certainly did. [00:36:45] Speaker B: Well, the plot itself and Joshua just alluded to it's scary and it's visceral, and it's a lot. Right. I would agree with that. I just think that the structure, the framing device for it was unnecessary. Like this guy going back in time and observing it, and then going back and telling his wife, who apparently was under contract to only have two lines. Don't interrupt me. You don't have any more lines. [00:37:18] Speaker C: But I learned two lines, and then I'm done. [00:37:23] Speaker B: Right. [00:37:24] Speaker C: To start doing that, there was some [00:37:26] Speaker B: structural frameworking issues that I thought were somewhat unnecessary. But I agree with you. The. [00:37:32] Speaker C: And also. [00:37:33] Speaker B: So sorry to throw all this out there, but you want to dig up my tennis court? Sure. Just. You. You're gonna. You're gonna dig through that by yourself. [00:37:44] Speaker J: Sure. [00:37:45] Speaker B: By the way, I got a tennis court. Also weird. [00:37:50] Speaker C: What college did he go to? Cry me. [00:37:54] Speaker D: Yeah. I wish they had not done the tennis court. It's like, this is really working until it turned into the tennis court of the dam. [00:38:05] Speaker C: I mean, I could buy it because I like, oh, you know where my mom's dead body is. [00:38:10] Speaker G: Yes. [00:38:10] Speaker C: I have invested in motivation to do some work to do that, but it was the tone of like, okay, let's dig up my tennis court. [00:38:19] Speaker B: Right. And also. Tennis court. [00:38:22] Speaker F: Yes. [00:38:23] Speaker C: Yes. From one generation, from what at a point seemed like, are these Puritans? Are they? [00:38:31] Speaker B: But Josh was right. [00:38:32] Speaker D: But Walter was off in college. [00:38:34] Speaker C: Yes. [00:38:35] Speaker D: He got a college degree and earned himself a tennis court. [00:38:38] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:38:38] Speaker D: Kids go to school Right. [00:38:40] Speaker C: Didn't move away from home, but did get a tennis court. [00:38:44] Speaker B: Right? [00:38:44] Speaker G: Yeah. [00:38:45] Speaker B: And with both of you, that it was humming along. I wasn't a big fan of all the framing device that was in there that wasn't all needed. He disappeared for so long that it became unnecessary to have him observing this. Things of that nature. But it was scary. But then at the end, Tim's right to have a dream come back. Say, I had a dream, and I think, I know your mom is. It's kind of, you know, That's a cool ending to this. Oh, my God. I never knew what happened. Or I found her in my dream. Yeah, I would have loved that. But go dig up my tennis court. Ruined it for me. [00:39:18] Speaker C: I agree that the structure is strangely put together. Like, I don't know why you did this, but the off structure is part of what I enjoyed about it that I particularly liked. When there's a ghost, this guy's watching this married couple watching an invisible force. So there's like, a ghost of the past, and there's a ghost of the future watching the past. That's neat. [00:39:39] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:39:39] Speaker D: There's also a theme of dreams throughout. And the way he describes watching it silently and then not being able to move and being pushed along just was very vivid and very much like a dream. His presence there and his physical limitations and his attempt to try to wrap his mind around what was happening was actually my favorite part of it. So I disagree with you wholeheartedly. Like, I loved his presence there. And also, it may or may not work for you, but I will say that the framing device of recounting a spooky, terrible thing that happened is a classic ghost story story structure. In terms of ghost story literature, we've kind of abandoned it today. But this was more standard in 1930. Whatever. [00:40:25] Speaker C: But we did get. We got to the point of like, all right, the house is burned down. The guy's dead. I'm back on paved road. I thought, okay, I enjoyed this. This is. We're not nearly done yet. There's a whole lot more. Oh, okay. [00:40:37] Speaker G: Right. [00:40:37] Speaker C: What is the rest of this story? It added to my sense of being unsettled of, like, I don't know what's happening now. I thought the story was done. [00:40:45] Speaker B: Yeah. And where is it going to go from here? [00:40:47] Speaker C: I will tell you that one of the main reasons I wanted to bring this was knowing that William Conrad is outside the door, taking notes of. This is how you do voices. [00:40:58] Speaker B: Right. [00:40:58] Speaker C: I thought this guy's voice was. Is that William Conrad no, it's not William, is it? [00:41:02] Speaker J: William Conrad. [00:41:05] Speaker D: Yeah, I can see that. Or hear that. I should say. [00:41:08] Speaker B: You're saying Conrad based his entire career off of mimicking this guy Charles Penman, I believe. [00:41:14] Speaker C: But yeah. [00:41:15] Speaker D: Wait, you're talking about Rug? Rug. [00:41:17] Speaker C: Penman played both, but Devil and Rug. [00:41:19] Speaker B: He's a story structure. Question for you guys in general. What do you guys think of the idea that he's killing her, his son, the servants, and there's no explanation given as to why he's doing it other than crazy? Does that sit well with you or [00:41:39] Speaker C: do you need little tiny hints which are almost nominal? It's mostly that he's crazy. [00:41:44] Speaker D: Well, he does say explicitly you care more about the servants. You love the children more than me, which is pathological. So it's crazy. But it gives a framework. [00:41:56] Speaker B: Sure. [00:41:57] Speaker D: For his motivation. [00:41:59] Speaker B: Thank you. I forgot about that part. Yeah. I sometimes struggle with. They're just crazy. I like some kind of. Because of this or this. Or this is their motivation. You know what I mean? [00:42:09] Speaker D: Like, that's why I think it's important that Stanley is there as an observer. Because you are told then as the listener, that you're just being dropped into this story. There is context that you are missing. You, like Stanley, are just seeing bits and pieces of this world. There is probably more of a story. Right. And if this were just the story of Rug, then I would probably want more details about how he slowly lost his mind. But then we're also forgetting the thing I like the most about this concept and where I think it's fascinating how it has to thread the needle is it's the devil's scrapbook. So he's not crazy. The devil got him. He's possessed from the point of view of the story. And so it has to have this cathartic release at the end, as in we feel like something good happened. But also because it's from the devil's point of view, he has to have some victories. So he's doing a victory lap. Cause he got rug. And then we as listeners know that the family was released from the tennis court. [00:43:22] Speaker C: That was a story wise little awkward moment of when they are brought down to the pit of like, oh, mother's here now. Okay, great. It's great to be dead. We love being dead. [00:43:35] Speaker B: Right. It's better than being alive. [00:43:37] Speaker C: Yeah. With that guy. [00:43:38] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:43:39] Speaker C: Hurtful. [00:43:40] Speaker B: Also, the fall into the pit. If you do the timing of it, that's 70 foot pit. [00:43:46] Speaker D: But that is some really white knuckle horror where she's Begging, kill me. Do not throw me in a pit with my servants, who were apparently like friends to her and the body of her child. They're not pulling any punches. [00:44:03] Speaker B: No, no. [00:44:04] Speaker D: And the voice of the son calling to her is just really that classic very early radio. Eerie. That is just unsettling. You listen to that in the dark and you're like, maybe I'll listen to something else. [00:44:17] Speaker B: Which, according to the rules of this show, is mandatory. You have to turn off your lights. [00:44:24] Speaker D: Yes. Can you imagine a little kid listening to this? Johnny, turn your lights back on. [00:44:29] Speaker B: No. [00:44:29] Speaker C: Satan told me to turn them off. [00:44:31] Speaker D: Mother. [00:44:35] Speaker B: Do you guys think that an assumed premise of this is that Stanley was picked to go back in time or whatever this dream was, to observe this by a calling from the mother and the son. Somehow he was selected to help save them from this instead of, otherwise, why [00:44:55] Speaker C: was Tennis court gone? [00:44:56] Speaker A: Right. [00:44:57] Speaker B: Otherwise, why was he selected? You know what I mean? Or why did this happen to him? [00:45:02] Speaker C: If I had to articulate what, you know, what my belief was at the time of listening to it, I would think that it was proximity and rainstorm. [00:45:10] Speaker B: Gotcha. [00:45:11] Speaker C: Although that's just not sitting down and trying to reason through it. That's just probably what I. [00:45:16] Speaker B: Wrong place, wrong time. [00:45:18] Speaker D: Could be that the devil's like, I want someone to see my handiwork. [00:45:24] Speaker B: I need to brag. [00:45:25] Speaker C: Look at my scrapbook. Look at my scrapbook. [00:45:28] Speaker D: Where are you going? [00:45:31] Speaker B: Wait, this is me water skiing. [00:45:39] Speaker K: I'm laughing. [00:45:40] Speaker D: I put googly eyes on all the pictures. [00:45:41] Speaker C: It's hilarious. [00:45:47] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [00:45:49] Speaker C: Well, I at one point, did know that the Devil's Scrapbook was. Was kind of in the Hermit's Cave cinematic universe. But when I found this episode, I had forgotten that, so I started listening to it and went. They just lifted the Hermit's Cave intro. [00:46:05] Speaker B: Right? Right. [00:46:08] Speaker C: Can they do this? [00:46:10] Speaker B: Yes, they own that. [00:46:13] Speaker D: The whole mood of this piece. Once Stanley enters the house and we see the pit with the family in it, and it just gets darker and darker. Darker. Made me think of Country Death Song by the Violent Femmes. Violent Femme fan. [00:46:28] Speaker B: I am a femme fan, but I don't know that song. [00:46:31] Speaker D: It's just basically a song about a guy on a farm who goes crazy and killed his entire family and drives the same. [00:46:37] Speaker B: Bonus. No, that's your daddy's. [00:46:38] Speaker C: Yes, [00:46:41] Speaker D: but I do like that there's a really positive message about going to college. [00:46:49] Speaker C: What else? [00:46:50] Speaker D: It's the only reason he didn't get killed either. If he'd been home. [00:46:54] Speaker C: You brought Walter home. Do you Think Walter's coming home. [00:46:59] Speaker B: I want to now believe that was the entire impetus of writing this. We need a go to college moral. [00:47:09] Speaker C: Walter's surrounded by kegs and coeds. [00:47:12] Speaker B: He ain't coming home. [00:47:15] Speaker E: Kegs. [00:47:16] Speaker B: When was the keg invented? [00:47:18] Speaker C: 40 years ago, apparently. [00:47:19] Speaker D: According to this, that's probably where Walter made all his money. He invented the keggers. [00:47:25] Speaker B: Right. [00:47:25] Speaker D: And now he has a tennis court. Money. [00:47:29] Speaker C: Yep. [00:47:30] Speaker D: With a bunch of bones in it. [00:47:34] Speaker B: Want to vote? [00:47:35] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:47:36] Speaker B: I think it's first of all, absolutely historically significant because it's what the only surviving thing of this show and everything we said in the beginning, I think it's pretty good. You know, it's not a classic, but where it fails does not fail that hard little picky stuff. But I think overall it's pretty scary. Right. And pretty intense. And so I really liked it. I'm just not going to give it [00:48:02] Speaker C: the classic, oh, I'm very much with you of. I think the enjoyment of this some historical context helps. This is a really fast and unique time in radio horror history to be so grisly and dark and. And so weird and funny. But I think even trying, even applying a sort of. It was almost 100 years ago. Handicapped to it. Like, it's really good. [00:48:28] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:48:29] Speaker C: So, no, not a classic, but surprisingly [00:48:32] Speaker B: good for the year, I think. Other than the host and is close to comedy delivery, the opening is actually terrifying. All the sound effects and the screaming. That scream at the very end and at the opening. Yeah. So I thought the. The intro is cool. They could have gone just with that. [00:48:49] Speaker C: Anyway, the screaming man presents. [00:48:53] Speaker D: You know me. The two main attractions here are the devil as the bombastically jolly narrator. This proto inner sanctum quality that I really loved. And that again, like inner sanctum contrasted with just sheer unrelenting horror. [00:49:11] Speaker B: Right. [00:49:11] Speaker D: A woman begs to be killed rather than buried alive in a pit with the dead bodies of her family. [00:49:19] Speaker C: Hilarious. [00:49:20] Speaker D: And then back to Satan. Here's my scrapbook. That's really good. So I actually think, again, we live in a time that is, I think, more embracing of that kind of genre mashup of humor. Thanks to these type of radio shows, humor and horror. So I actually think it really Stand the test of time. Like all early radio, it has that awkward dialogue here and there and there's some weird exposition. And the tennis court. Bad decision. Like almost any other. Like, it's my shed been terrible. [00:50:05] Speaker B: No, let's dig into the tennis court [00:50:06] Speaker C: is where you keep your jet under there? [00:50:08] Speaker D: Yes. Like, oh, Thunderbirds go. They're buried under my helipad. [00:50:16] Speaker C: Right? [00:50:18] Speaker D: Yeah. But I don't major in. I definitely think it Stand the test of time. And I'm so glad you brought it. I had no idea this existed. I wish there were more. I like this better than most hermits. Oh yeah, I've heard. [00:50:34] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:50:35] Speaker B: This is better than the premise. This plot and this everything was better than any hermit's cave I've ever heard. [00:50:41] Speaker C: I don't off top of my head of any of the 1940 West Coast Hermit's cave is still around. I'd be interested to hear those too. [00:50:49] Speaker D: Now though, I really want to do a sketch that has the hermit, Nancy and Satan. And then of course Satan the black cat. And there'd be a lot of tension there for them together. [00:51:01] Speaker B: And the man in black and the Lipton tea lady. [00:51:04] Speaker D: Oh yeah, yeah. And the hermit's pack of wild dogs. [00:51:09] Speaker B: Why aren't we writing this? [00:51:11] Speaker D: I know. It really writes itself, doesn't it? [00:51:15] Speaker B: Tim, tell them stuff. [00:51:16] Speaker C: Please go visit ghoulishdelights.com it's on with this podcast. You'll find other episodes there. We've done so many at this point. Well over a hundred. Is this episode 420? No, this is after 420. I missed my chance to do that joke. [00:51:29] Speaker A: Dang it. [00:51:30] Speaker D: Go back for it. [00:51:34] Speaker B: And you know Joshua, he's not going to be nice and edit this up for you. [00:51:37] Speaker C: No, I'm stuck with this. Hey, we're going to get high guy. Oh, you're done. [00:51:42] Speaker K: Okay. [00:51:43] Speaker C: Glitchylights.com it's home to this podcast. You'll find out what other episodes we've done. You can look it up by series like hey, what all episodes of Herman's Cave have you done? And you can find that. You'll also find a link to our store if you want to buy some Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society themed swag, which you might. It's pretty good. You'll also find a link to our Patreon page. [00:52:04] Speaker D: Yes. Go to patreon.com themorals and support this podcast. We appreciate all the patrons who do support it. We happily welcome others and their money. But if you do join the Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society, we have all kinds of benefits. We have bonus podcasts. Hundreds of them. Zoom Happy Hours Book Club's Discord Server where you can chat with other old Time Radio and morals fans. We might even do a scrapbook. [00:52:42] Speaker B: You can join the Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society Theater Company as we perform live on stage classic old time radio shows and a lot of our own original work. Come see us performing audio drama by going to ghoulishdelights.com and there you'll see where you and what we're performing and how to get tickets. Ghoulishdelights.com See us. And also then we record the audio of those live performances and make that audio available to our Patreons. So yet another perk. Is that the right word? [00:53:15] Speaker J: Perk? [00:53:15] Speaker C: That's a good word. [00:53:16] Speaker J: Yeah. [00:53:16] Speaker B: Okay, great. What's coming up next? [00:53:18] Speaker D: Next, speaking of Patreon, we will be doing a request from one of our lovely patrons. We will be listening to island of the Lost from CBS Radio Mystery Theater. Until then I dug this hole in [00:53:32] Speaker A: the basement deep and now I'm going to throw you in it Throw you in it alive. [00:53:42] Speaker G: I gave her a push I gave her a shove I pushed with all my might I push with all my [00:53:51] Speaker J: my love I threw my child into a bottomless pit. [00:54:00] Speaker G: Screaming as she fell but I never heard her hit. She was screaming as she fell but I never heard her hit. [00:54:16] Speaker K: Sam.