Episode 419: The Grove of Ashtaroth

[00:00:16] Speaker A: The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society podcast. 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. [00:00:35] Speaker B: I'm Tim. [00:00:36] Speaker C: And I'm Joshua. [00:00:37] 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. [00:00:42] Speaker A: This week. Our patron, Caden recommends an episode of Escape entitled the Grove of Ashtaroth. [00:00:49] Speaker C: Escape premiered on CBS Radio July 7, 1947 and ran through September 25, 1954. Like its sibling series, Suspense, the program's title told listeners what to expect. While Suspense presented primarily edge of your seat thrillers, Escape told stories of adventure set in strange and exotic lands. [00:01:13] Speaker B: The Grove of Astaroth was adapted for radio by Les Crutchfield from the short story by John Buchan, first published in the June 1910 issue of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine. [00:01:22] Speaker A: Aside from being a Scottish baron and the 15th Governor General of Canada, Buchan is best known as the author of the 39 Steps, 1915 thriller that inspired Alfred Hitchcock's 1935 film adaptation. [00:01:35] Speaker C: Buckins adventure fiction also had a significant influence on later espionage writers, including Ian Fleming and John Lucaray. [00:01:45] Speaker B: And now we offer you Escape, starring Paul Freeze and William Conrad. First broadcast February 29, 1948. [00:01:53] Speaker A: 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. [00:02:09] Speaker D: Wonder if prices will ever come down. Set up with the post war world. Want to get away from it all? We offer you Escape. You are standing at the edge of an enchanted grove, lured by a soft, caressing voice inviting you to destruction. You have nearly sold your soul to an ancient goddess from whom you must escape. [00:02:58] Speaker E: Escape produced by William N. Robeson and designed to free you from the four walls of today for a half hour of high adventure. [00:03:11] Speaker D: Today we escape to the African veldt and an enchanted shrine of great antiquity. As John Buchan told it in his weird story the Grove of Ashtaroth. We stumbled onto the place, Lawson and I, during the second day after we left Tarqui. We'd travel on horseback some 40 miles or so through typical African veld, lush and green, with plenty of game and good hunting. It was late afternoon when we topped a rise and saw before us a small plateau of such beauty that we both reined in and sat staring at it, not speaking for some moments. A tiny sparkling stream wandered through the verdant meadow Grasses. And at the edge of the plateau, tumbled in a crystal waterfall down to the plain below. Graceful clumps of strange trees grew here and there, and bushes blazed in a riot of bloom. I'd seen nothing remotely like it in all the miles we'd come. It stood alone, proud and lovely. An alien island in a sea of tropic jungle. Great heavens, John, in your whole life, have you ever seen anything like it? If some artist had designed that plateau, placed every tree and bush by hand, it couldn't be any more perfect. [00:04:43] Speaker F: It's. [00:04:44] Speaker D: It's almost weird, isn't it? Yeah. It shouldn't be here. It doesn't belong. But there isn't a plant growing over there that's like any we've seen in the rest of the jungle. Probably a difference in minerals in the soil, something of that kind. It's more than that. They're not even the same varieties. That's true. That one grove, standing alone there near the edge, I. I've never seen trees that slender and fragile. In the bark, it looks like silver velvet. Silver velvet? That's quite an idea, Chuck. Yes, I guess it is at that. Anyway, those doves seem to like it. They never stop circling over that one particular grove. They're probably nesting there. A flock of white doves circling over a silver grove. But, you know, there's something vaguely familiar about that. Yes, there is, John. Can you make out some kind of a dark shape there through the trees, over toward the center of the grove? Yes. [00:05:41] Speaker F: Yes. [00:05:43] Speaker D: Come on, let's ride over and take a look. No, not now. [00:05:47] Speaker G: Huh? Why? [00:05:49] Speaker D: I mean, you'll have plenty of chance to see it later. What are you trying to say, John? I'm going to build a home here. A home? Out here in the middle of the jungle, miles from. I build a road in from Turkey. I've got money enough and no one but me to spend it. I've always wanted to live in Africa. Always, Lawson, or for the last five minutes. It doesn't matter. Somehow, even though I'd never seen it, I've dreamed of this spot all my life. I've got to live here. Want to live here, I mean. But so quickly. At least think it over first. No, I don't have to think it over. I know what has to be done, John. It's here that I built my tabernacle. I. I couldn't understand Lawson giving into this sudden, foolish impulse. It wasn't like him. But there was nothing I could do. I left him at Tarqui the next day and returned to the Matter of fact, world of business in London. And it was three years before I saw him again. Three years before I returned to Africa to find that he'd built a manor house in the jungle and equipped it with all the conveniences of the English countryside, of which not the least was Travers his butler. May I be so bold as to say, Mr. Buchan, it's very good to see you again, sir. [00:07:16] Speaker F: You bring a breath of old London [00:07:17] Speaker D: out of this heathen foreign country. Well, thank you, Travers. It's good to see you again. This is some different from the old granite front on Grosvenor Square, isn't it? Indeed it is, sir. A great many things are different. Yes. Mr. Lawson's turned this jungle clearing into a paradise on earth. If you'll pardon me, sir, I think paradise is not quite the word. Oh, well, perhaps I'd better tell the master you've arrived, Mr. Button. He's been lying down. Oh, not ill, I hope. I'll tell him you're here, sir. Travers left the room and I waited alone. Wondering at the strangeness of his manner, I finally decided it must be induced by homesickness. I looked about me as impressed by the austere magnificence of the library as I'd been by the grounds Outside. There was an imposing mantelpiece of ebony at one end, and on it was placed an object elegantly fashioned of alabaster in the form of a half moon. It was curiously carved with signs of the zodiac. There was something compelling, almost unearthly about it. Fascinated, I reached out my hand. I should not touch that about you. [00:08:26] Speaker G: Huh? [00:08:27] Speaker D: Oh, Lawson. I didn't hear you come in. How are you, John? Oh, fine, Lawson. Couldn't be better. You? Shall we sit down? Why, yes, thank you. Wonderful seeing you again, old man. Been wanting to get down here for the last three years, but you know how it is in London. Time gets away from you and the first thing you do. Oh, yes, of course. No, no, thank you. Not now. When I finally did get the chance, I couldn't even wait for an answer from you. I sent a wire and then followed it right on down. Yes, it surprised me a bit. Haven't had a visitor here for the last two years. Oh, well, then that explains why Travis talked the way he did. I thought it must be. What do you mean Travis talked the way he did? What did he say? Lawson, what's wrong with you? He didn't say anything. Well, he's better not, I'm afraid I. Forget it. [00:09:24] Speaker F: I. [00:09:27] Speaker D: I'm sorry, Chandler. I haven't felt very well the last few days. Well, that explains it. I say, at least you seem to be eating all right. You're actually getting a bit plump. Actually, I'm fat. Gross, flabby and obscenely fat. Isn't that what you really mean? Well, no, I was only joking. Never mind. What do you think of the place, John? The place? Right. It's amazing. It's beautiful. No one could ever believe it without seeing it. I. I doubt if there's another place like it anywhere in the world. You're right about that. There isn't another place like it anywhere in the world. Oh, that reminds me. I. I noticed you left the grove as it was without bothering it. Tell me, did you ever find out what it was we saw that afternoon? Yes. Yes, John, I found what it was. Well, John, I have an overseer Here, name of McJobson. Quite a competent man. I want you to leave with him in the morning. Take a three or four day hunting trip. He knows the country. He'll find you plenty of game. Oh, but I. I came here to see you. I'm fighting about a fever. Happens every so often. I'll be all right by the time you get back. Oh, now, wait a minute. If you're sick, I'm certainly not going to run. You'll do what I can, Lawson. I'm sorry to talk this way, but I know what has to be done. All right, Lawson, Whatever you say. Good. Settle it. Believe me, John, I know what's best for me. I'm sure you do. Another thing, John. That carving that sits on the mantle. I must ask you not to touch it. It's quite old. Rare. I should not like anything to happen to it. That night when I retired, I found it impossible to sleep. I tossed fitfully, trying to think of some reason for the great change that came over my friend in these past three years. Drugs, drink, actual sickness, either physical or mental. No, none of them gave any complete answer. My windows looked out across to the turf and I saw the grove of strange trees was bathed now in the moonlight by a soft silvery haze. Even now, in the middle of the night, the flock of doves circled in the air above it, gleaming white from wing and breast as they wheeled in the shafts of moonlight. I dozed off finally to wake up suddenly in that brief hour before the first light of dawn, I happened to glance from the window and in the fading moon glow saw a figure approaching the house. It drew nearer and I saw it was Lawson, barefooted, wearing a white dressing gown. Shortly I heard his weary Steps pass my door and afterward the house was silent. I lay there, wide awake. Lawson had been coming from the direction of the grove. [00:12:50] Speaker F: Good morning, Mr. Buckingham. [00:12:53] Speaker D: Oh, morning, McChobson. Sit down, sit down. [00:12:57] Speaker F: Thank you, sir. Now, in regards to that hunting trip we talked about, I can offer you a choice of two or three. [00:13:03] Speaker D: No, no, never mind. I'm not going on any hunting trip. [00:13:05] Speaker F: But last night we decided. [00:13:07] Speaker D: That was last night. McJobson, tell me, how long has Mr. Lawson been sick? [00:13:14] Speaker F: Oh, it comes and goes. Happens about once a month like this. He's not the man that he was when I first came here. [00:13:22] Speaker D: Do you have any ideas about what might be the matter? [00:13:25] Speaker F: I. [00:13:27] Speaker D: Well, what are they? [00:13:29] Speaker F: If I told you what was in my head, you'd think me daft. Why don't you wait until tomorrow? You won't need to ask. [00:13:37] Speaker D: It's the full moon. The next full moon. What does that have to do with it? [00:13:44] Speaker F: You'll find it in the bible. Read the 11th chapter of the second book of kings. [00:13:56] Speaker D: I found a Bible in the library and summed it open to the passage he'd mentioned. I read through it once without understanding, and then one sentence seemed to leap out from the page. For Solomon went after Ashtaroth, the goddess of the Sidonian. Astaroth. Ashtaroth. Of course, Ashtaroth, Goddess of the ancient east, whose strange rituals held a dark fascination for the children of Israel. Over and over, luring them away from their fierce prophets to worship at her shrines. The white doves of Ashtaroth circling the shrine of her silver grove. Right then, the grove at the end of the turf must hide a lost shrine dedicated to her worship. But what of Lawson? Did his blood carry one fraction from old Israel with the same ancient weakness to hear and answer the call of the goddess? Did he become an acolyte of Eshteroth? What weird rites did he perform in the grove at night? And then I remember tonight. The worship of Ashtaroth had always reached its climax on the night of the full moon. Lawson did not appear all day. And that Evening after dinner, McJobson and I took up our watch on the dark veranda, looking into the windows of the library. We'd been there at least an hour when. [00:15:28] Speaker F: Look. Just came into the library. [00:15:32] Speaker D: I see him. [00:15:34] Speaker G: I. [00:15:35] Speaker D: What's he after? [00:15:36] Speaker F: I suppose he wants the little figure on the mantle. [00:15:40] Speaker D: We watched him take the carved half moon of alabaster and slip it into the pocket of the robe he was wearing. Then he turned and left the room. In a moment he came out the front door and walked off across the turf in the moonlight. [00:15:52] Speaker F: You'd best give him a bit of a start and then follow him. [00:15:55] Speaker D: No. He'd see us for sure in that moonlight. [00:15:58] Speaker F: I do not think so. He'd not look back now, sir, if there were 10 of us. [00:16:03] Speaker D: But, Jobson, what is it all about? [00:16:04] Speaker F: You've read the book? [00:16:06] Speaker D: Yes. Yes, it's the ancient goddess Esteros. But what is the ceremony? What does he do? And what is it that made him the way he is? [00:16:16] Speaker F: The ceremony you'll be seeing, Mr. Buchan, as to what has made him like he is. He does an evil thing, and all the while he knows it to be evil. He cannot help himself, and he knows that too. [00:16:30] Speaker D: Yes, I think I see what you mean. [00:16:33] Speaker F: We best be going now. He's gone into the grove. [00:16:43] Speaker D: We crossed the turf quickly and passed into the black and silver shadows of the moonlit grove, working our way carefully toward the center. The only sound at first was the piping of the doves circling high over the lacy branches above our heads. I saw as we approached that the center of the grove had been cleared to form. A small circular arena was covered with smooth turf, and standing in the middle of it was a cone of rock 30ft high, a smooth, sharp tower of stone that pointed up toward the tops of the trees. And then I saw Lawson. He stood by the base of the conical tower, his arms uplifted, the symbol of the half moon bound to his forehead. Enchanting words with meanings I could not even guess. Now Lawson threw off his white robe and began a curious kind of dance, moving around the foot of the cone on a worn path beaten in the turf, the same path he must have followed many other nights before. He moved faster and faster, uttering now and again a wild cry. We stared entranced at the circle of moonlight. And as he danced, a strange new sound slipped into my consciousness. An earthly melody that seemed to come from. From the tower, from the trees, or may perhaps have been born within my own mind, tricked by the magic fantasy of moonlight, shadows and perhaps madness. It brought to me one vivid thought of the warm, soft lips of an unseen goddess of lips incarnadine, whispering gently and sensuously across the reeds of a penpipe. I. I stirred uneasily, felt the quickening of my pulse. [00:18:42] Speaker F: Try to resist it, Mr. Buchan. Tis only a thing of evil cloaked in a false beauty. [00:18:46] Speaker D: McJobson Herder felt it too. Then it was more than a trick of my own senses. Something in me thrilled to the call of the Weird melody. I. I wanted to rush out and throw myself at the base of the stone tower. To dance as Lawson was doing. To spend all eternity in adoration and worship of the beauty of Asteroth. [00:19:06] Speaker F: No, Mr. Buchan. Think what it's done to him. Fight it, lad. Fight it. [00:19:11] Speaker D: I lost all knowledge of time. The dance had grown swifter and fiercer. The moonless figure in the clearing moved faster and faster, posture eating and gyrating in tempo to the crazy rhythm. My blood was pounding in my throat, my ears ringing. The music surged through my brain in ever mounting waves of incandescent sound. Now I was beyond reason, possessed by an overpowering frenzy. [00:19:32] Speaker G: When [00:19:35] Speaker D: the cock crew. Then the grove was deathly still and at the foot of the tower, Lawson lay unconscious. [00:20:04] Speaker F: How is he, Mr. Buchan? [00:20:05] Speaker D: He's lost a lot of blood, but I think he'll be all right. Good. [00:20:08] Speaker F: That was a near thing. [00:20:10] Speaker D: Trevor's got a couple of sleeping tablets into him. He'll not be waking up before tonight, at least. McJobson, I suppose you know what we have to do. [00:20:21] Speaker F: I'm well aware of what should be done, sir, but I've no idea how to do it. [00:20:25] Speaker D: I think I do. I shall take full responsibility. But I'll need men, all we can get. [00:20:31] Speaker F: The natives will no go near the place. But there's some 30 white men on the tobacco farm a few miles back on the bush. But they want a high wage. [00:20:39] Speaker D: I'll pay it. Just get them. [00:20:41] Speaker F: Would you mind telling me what you're proposing to do, sir? [00:20:45] Speaker D: Yes. Something that may sound as mad as Lawson himself. I'm going to deal with that grove the same way King Josiah did. [00:20:56] Speaker F: Ah, comes back to me vaguely. [00:21:02] Speaker D: Yeah, here it is. And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtaroth, the abomination of the Sidonians did the king defiled. And he brake in pieces the images and cut down the groves, both the altar and the high place. He brake down and burned the high place and stamped it small to powder. And burned the grove. [00:21:35] Speaker F: Ay. Tis the word of God. We'll need dynamite, but I have plenty of it down at the workshop. I'll go after the men first. We should be ready to start by nine o'clock this morning. [00:21:58] Speaker D: It was just past nine when we entered the grove, carrying axes and a couple of shotguns and driving several teams of oxen. A light breeze had sprung up and it whispered and rustled in the branches of the silver trees. We took care of the doves first shot them one by one until we'd killed them all. 27. Then piled their white bodies at the foot of the pointed rock. Then the men set to work with the axes, chopping through the slender trunks of the trees. I stood by the stone tower, the high place of King Solomon, and watched while the work went on. Gradually, gradually born, perhaps in the sighing wind, a strange fancy crept into my mind. [00:22:56] Speaker G: Oh, no. Please don't. Please, no. [00:23:03] Speaker D: I fancied I could hear a voice coming from the tower, from the trees. This voice was soft, warm and pleading. [00:23:20] Speaker G: Listen with your heart. Can the spirit within you not hear and feel? [00:23:26] Speaker D: The heart of all sorrow was in that voice. And the soul of all loveliness, distant, tenuous, with all the bodiless grace of a goddess older than time and desire. [00:23:41] Speaker G: Please listen and not know that I am beautiful. And once gone and gone forever. [00:23:51] Speaker D: I could not believe that I was imagining this soft and lovely voice. I felt a sudden and overpowering adoration for this exquisite creature who whispered in the breath of the wind. I wanted to call out to the men, order them to stop desecration of her home and sanctuary. Then I thought of Lawson, of what he'd become, and I fought back the impulse. [00:24:17] Speaker G: How can you judge who knows so little? One who is part of the whole, whole divinity of nature. [00:24:24] Speaker D: No. No, I won't. I can't listen to you. [00:24:28] Speaker G: Look at me but once with the eyes of your heart and you'll belong to me forever. [00:24:37] Speaker D: No. Please, no. [00:24:40] Speaker G: You have killed my dogs, Covered their white breasts with blood. Are you not yet satisfied? [00:24:49] Speaker D: It's got to be done. It's got to be done. [00:24:53] Speaker G: No, please. You could stop now and leave the high place. New trees would grow, other doves would come and nest. [00:25:06] Speaker D: But I can't. I can't. [00:25:08] Speaker F: What do you say, Mr. Buchana? I couldn't quite hear you. [00:25:11] Speaker G: Hmm? [00:25:12] Speaker D: Oh, nothing. Nothing at all. [00:25:17] Speaker F: Well, I'm ready to put the dynamite around the tower here, if you'll move back a little way. [00:25:21] Speaker D: McJobson. McJobson. Perhaps. Perhaps we could leave the tower. Maybe it's enough to clear the grove. [00:25:30] Speaker F: Tis not enough, the book says. And their children. Remember the altars and the groves by the green trees upon the hay. [00:25:39] Speaker G: Hidden. [00:25:40] Speaker F: No, that's no good, Mr. Buchan. He who heeded the voices, the wind, every last stone must be destroyed. [00:25:48] Speaker G: Listen to the heart that stands within you, Lord. He is a stone man and a cruel man, and his words are vile with hate. [00:25:58] Speaker D: No. [00:25:59] Speaker G: Leave me. Only this one last quarter, though. [00:26:08] Speaker D: All right, mister, [00:26:11] Speaker C: go ahead with it [00:26:12] Speaker F: paste the boxes of dynamite close together. [00:26:14] Speaker G: Lad. [00:26:15] Speaker F: Easy now. [00:26:17] Speaker G: No. Even now it's not too late. [00:26:22] Speaker D: I. I walked away slowly. The piles of tree trunks were burning now. The smoke swirled in the wind. I would leave this place tonight. Yes, I would leave this place forever. Then write a note for Lawson telling him of what I'd done. And I was very tired. [00:26:56] Speaker G: Listen, while there's yet time. The thing once done, can never be undone. And once gone, Satan never return. [00:27:15] Speaker D: I. I knew. I knew that my act, my reason, told me all these things. I knew that this act that I'd committed had saved Lawson, had saved his life and perhaps his reason. And yet I wondered if perhaps in so doing, I was not driving from its very last refuge on earth, something that was so rare and lovely. If perhaps I was not destroying a very beautiful thing. A very beautiful thing forever. [00:28:08] Speaker G: Stop now. Please. Oh, please. [00:28:13] Speaker D: All right. [00:28:17] Speaker G: No. Oh, no. No. [00:28:44] Speaker D: Silence. Nothing but silence. And I heard the sweet voice no more. And my face was wet with tears. [00:29:12] Speaker G: Sam. [00:29:40] Speaker E: Escape Produced by William N. Robeson, directed by Norman McDonnell. Today brought you the Grove of Ashtaroth by John Buchan. Adapted for radio by Les Crutchfield. With Paul Fries as Buchan, Bill Conrad as Lawson, Kay Brinker as Ashtaroth, Raymond Lawrence as McJobson, and Eric Snowden as Travers. Music was conceived by Cy Fuhr with Eddie Dunstetter at the console. Next week, [00:30:16] Speaker D: when you're tired from working all week, when the weekend offers little diversion, next week at this time when your problems seem just too much for you, we offer you Escape. [00:30:47] Speaker E: Next week we bring you another exciting story of high adventure. This is CBS, where 99 million people gather every week. The Columbia Broadcasting System. [00:31:00] Speaker A: That was the Grove of Ashtaroth from Escape. Here in the Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society podcast. Once again, I'm Eric. [00:31:08] Speaker B: I'm Tim. [00:31:09] Speaker C: And I'm Joshua. [00:31:10] Speaker A: So I did a lot of research for a change. I read a bunch of stuff. I went down a rabbit hole. So I'm coming a little prepared for a change to this, but one of [00:31:19] Speaker C: the things are you. [00:31:21] Speaker A: I know. I don't know. I don't know. I've changed. You have the 39 steps. Buckins wrote this in the intro, so that took that steam. I was like, oh, it's a 39 steps guy. [00:31:32] Speaker B: But you still get a point. [00:31:34] Speaker A: I've done the 39 steps, the parody play. I've done that twice. And consequently read the book and saw the movie. I'll say that again. I read the book. Nothing. Okay. And I just say it again. I read the book. [00:31:50] Speaker C: Wow. I know. [00:31:51] Speaker A: And see the movie. I've seen the movie. [00:31:55] Speaker B: Wow. [00:31:55] Speaker A: I love the movie. And also I'm very familiar with the fact that Buckin writing. Oh no, I'm going to forget his name. London, August 1935. Been back three months from the old country. Quite frankly was wondering why I'm doing the opening monologue for 39 steps to try to get to his name. Leaving me Richard Hannay. There it is. Richard Hannay, the hero of these. [00:32:19] Speaker B: I'm glad wasn't like 2/3 away to the show. [00:32:21] Speaker D: Right. [00:32:22] Speaker A: But is considered largely a huge inspiration for James Bond. Along with Bulldog Drummond stuff and other things that. Anyway, I just want to throw that in there. [00:32:33] Speaker C: He is a really important, mostly forgotten figure in spy literature. [00:32:40] Speaker A: And when you're ready, I'll tell you everything I know about what in the Grove of Ashtaroth is. [00:32:47] Speaker C: Do you also read the Bible? [00:32:48] Speaker A: No, I did it without reading any Bible study. [00:32:51] Speaker B: Did you read a summation of the Bible? [00:32:53] Speaker C: I did. [00:32:54] Speaker B: Nice. [00:32:55] Speaker A: No, it was just really interesting about Grove actually refers to a pole. It's not really a grove of trees. It's more like no one's really sure what a pole of Ashtaroth really looked like, but they believe that name. [00:33:11] Speaker C: Got seen one in a club before, but she was dancing on it. [00:33:15] Speaker A: Right. [00:33:17] Speaker G: They. [00:33:17] Speaker A: They're not sure, but maybe like a totem pole of some sort that was a tribute to her that somehow got through translation changed to grove and trees. And then that this grove of trees is like not what the original tent of what they were talking about to knock down these poles was to take. Get rid of this deity because she was a fallen angel. And even better then I'll be done. Even better. She originally may have been God's wife. Way back when every deity had a wife, you know, like that that got eliminated at some point. There's no real solid proof of that, but some think that's the way. Yeah. [00:33:57] Speaker C: Are they way? [00:33:58] Speaker A: Yes. [00:33:59] Speaker C: Are they tying her back to Lilith? [00:34:01] Speaker A: Not Lilith so much, but. Right. Something else. Anyway, I skimmed a lot, but that was really interesting. It was super interesting. Anyway, that's everything I learned. [00:34:11] Speaker B: Origin gets tied to sort of what Wikipedia described as like the Ishtar sort of collection of goddess representations. [00:34:19] Speaker C: Yes. [00:34:19] Speaker B: So I think as a wife figure to sky gods, that might be where Judeo Christian God as sort of a sky God figure that might have been. [00:34:28] Speaker C: It was also the name of some ancient cities. So sometimes Astaroth describes a location in ancient times as well. And then I do think Ashtaroth has morphed during, I think it was the Renaissance where everyone turned all of these other gods into demons. Yes. Now it shows up in video games [00:34:49] Speaker B: and role playing games. [00:34:50] Speaker C: Sort of a gender. [00:34:51] Speaker B: Three demons Dr. Foster summoned. [00:34:53] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:34:54] Speaker C: So now it's sort of a catch all demon name. [00:34:56] Speaker B: I'm glad I wasn't the only one who spent this entire episode just looking at Wikipedia the whole time. [00:35:00] Speaker A: Well, all of that being said, all of that research that I did, and think reading different things down a rabbit hole is much more interesting than the actual episode. [00:35:10] Speaker C: Here comes hot stuff throwing down the gauntlet. I will say that Les Crutchfield did not do his research because there's a total error in the script when he tells the John Buchan character to go look up. [00:35:30] Speaker B: Oh, kings. Hamanahamana. [00:35:32] Speaker C: Yes. It's the wrong book of kings that he sends him. [00:35:36] Speaker A: It's also mentioned he sends him to [00:35:37] Speaker C: two kings and it's in First Kings because it's with Solomon. [00:35:41] Speaker A: But there's also a mention of Ashtaroth and the polls of Ashtaroth in Judges. [00:35:46] Speaker C: Yeah, there's in Deuteronomy, there are references. Yes. It's sprinkled throughout. [00:35:51] Speaker A: Throw that out there. [00:35:51] Speaker C: Are you enjoying knowing things? [00:35:53] Speaker A: Yes, I'm having so much fun. [00:35:56] Speaker C: Looks good on you, man. [00:35:57] Speaker A: Thanks. Thanks. [00:35:59] Speaker B: I was struck by this episode. If the creators of Escape had briefly traveled into the future, listened to our entire podcast, and tried to figure out what is an episode that would appeal slightly to each of these three. Like, we gotta get a little sort of adventure in there. A little jungle action stuff out in the middle of Africa. [00:36:25] Speaker A: Put Conrad as the lead. [00:36:26] Speaker B: Yeah, well, Conrad and Paul freeze together. [00:36:29] Speaker A: Yes. [00:36:29] Speaker B: But also gotta make it sort of a cult and weird with a little bit of sort of moral intellectual dilemma in there. Put all those together into a okay episode, but [00:36:42] Speaker C: we each have a little small sliver to cherish. [00:36:44] Speaker F: Yes. [00:36:45] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:36:45] Speaker A: You are so correct. That is a great analysis. Yeah, I'm sure. Joshua listening this, you know, for you, you were familiar with these words. Grove of Ashtaroth. That was the first time that I've ever heard that in my life. So I had to go look it up. [00:37:00] Speaker C: I was familiar with Ashtaroth and the biblical references, but not all the arcane later amalgamations of Ashtaroth with Ishtar. Moloch, I think, was associated with her as well. So all these other characters. [00:37:19] Speaker A: This all started with me just typing in, is this Grove of Astro, the real thing? That's all I wanted to know. And next thing I knew I was like reading much more than I wanted. [00:37:30] Speaker C: Just the image of a grove of thin spindly trees. Because I am of that age where I am obsessed with Twin Peaks. And so there is a Glastonbury grove in Twin Peaks that is the portal to the Black Lodge. And that's the first thing I thought of. [00:37:51] Speaker B: I will also say every once in a while, theater of the mind really turns on me. Like, really bites me in the butt. William Conrad thrusting around in his robe in the woods. Like, I didn't want that. I did not want that. Create that in my mind's eye. [00:38:11] Speaker C: In the short story, he's buck naked, Right. [00:38:14] Speaker A: Except for nothing worse than wearing a robe with nothing underneath. [00:38:18] Speaker C: Yeah, that's a bad stuff. Is just sliding around. There's all kinds of unchoreographed movement. [00:38:27] Speaker B: I'm glad there wasn't. Woo hoo. Yeah. [00:38:29] Speaker C: Woo. [00:38:30] Speaker D: Aha. [00:38:34] Speaker B: But it was in there, in my head. [00:38:36] Speaker C: There's a strange missed moment from the story. [00:38:42] Speaker A: Myst, as in solving puzzles on an island. [00:38:45] Speaker B: Nice, Eric. I'm falling in love with you all over again. [00:38:52] Speaker C: After his crazy dancing. And he collapses. And they bring him back. They said he's lost a lot of blood. [00:38:57] Speaker B: Oh, wow. [00:38:57] Speaker C: And I went back and skimmed the short story. I'm gonna be totally honest. I'm not really a fan of John Buckin. I find him kind of dull. But in the story, he's dancing naked and slashing himself with a knife. [00:39:12] Speaker A: Oh, he's a cutter. [00:39:13] Speaker C: Yeah. The producers or CBS probably cut that, right? My guess, it was originally in the script and someone forgot to cut the. He lost a lot of bloodline, but it confused me. [00:39:26] Speaker A: Yeah, me too. [00:39:27] Speaker C: Fall and hit his head, but it still wouldn't be a lot of blood. [00:39:30] Speaker B: Mislaid it. [00:39:31] Speaker C: Yeah, lost a lot of blood. [00:39:33] Speaker A: Did you look under the couch? [00:39:36] Speaker B: Always the last place you look just [00:39:37] Speaker C: seeps right in there. [00:39:38] Speaker A: We'll see. This story has a huge amount of potential. It's a great setup, great premise. He's there five seconds, he goes, I'm building a house here. [00:39:48] Speaker F: Yeah. [00:39:48] Speaker A: And then he comes back three years later and he conned his butler into coming. And they've built something. And his butler's like, yeah, this is not what it seems. And then realizes he shouldn't be talking. And then he says, did he talk? He better not have. Right? And you're like, oh, what evil thing is going on here? What's happening? And so there's a suspense and an anticipation of, wow, what's going on? And this butler obviously is terrified and Being held there against his will. And what has happened to this man? What supernatural thing is taken over his. His. And then it just. [00:40:24] Speaker C: And then he's just like boring fat. [00:40:26] Speaker A: Right. And then it got born. [00:40:28] Speaker B: It's a lady's voice. I guess I better do what she says. Scottish guys, like. No, don't. Okay. [00:40:38] Speaker D: Right. [00:40:40] Speaker C: Weren't you shocked when the first thing they did is massacre the doves? [00:40:45] Speaker D: I was like, what? [00:40:49] Speaker B: Okay. [00:40:50] Speaker F: Yes. [00:40:51] Speaker A: When you call it. When you call it. Went out bird hunting. That's different than massacring the doves. [00:40:56] Speaker B: What was it like when you first got hunt. Oh, so the doves are still alive, huh? I guess not for long. Jeez, [00:41:04] Speaker C: look at those pretty white doves. Destroy them. There's also. And Buchan is accused of this throughout his works, but there's a Oogie. Anti Semitic kind of. You got the blood in you. [00:41:19] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:41:20] Speaker C: The foreign blood that predisposes you to be drawn to this pagan goddess. It has that blood libel quality to it. [00:41:31] Speaker A: Oh, I didn't really land on which had the. [00:41:35] Speaker B: In listening to it. [00:41:36] Speaker C: You said it explicitly. It wasn't subtle. [00:41:38] Speaker B: No. [00:41:38] Speaker A: But I mean, I just. [00:41:39] Speaker C: Which makes him predisposed. Just paraphrasing. [00:41:43] Speaker B: But they suggest, like, if people who are descended from the Middle east might be disposed to this, like, that'd be just about everybody. [00:41:54] Speaker A: Everybody then. [00:41:55] Speaker C: And yet these are the supposed Christian guys who have all kinds of pagan roots to their religion, including Easter, which is Ishtar. Ishtar. It's basically named after a goddess. So when we traditionally killed us. Hypocritical. Yes. [00:42:11] Speaker A: All I know is it's a bad movie. [00:42:14] Speaker C: I see what you did there. It's also not as bad as people think. I will not go on that. [00:42:22] Speaker F: Tange. [00:42:26] Speaker C: There are far worse films than that. Well, sure. But it is also, I think, strangely sexual. First, not strangely. It's appropriate to the story, but they let it get a little weird at the end. And I think that's part of what's missing. The sort of threat and John Bukan's response to what's become of his friend. It's lacking. [00:42:54] Speaker B: States in that same vein after, like, orgiastically dancing all night and then abruptly ends when the cock crows. [00:43:02] Speaker C: Yes. [00:43:04] Speaker B: I've been taken out of the moment a little bit. [00:43:06] Speaker C: Yes. Or when he starts thinking of her sensuous lips on a panpipe. I might be paraphrasing, but it comes very close to that type of imagery. [00:43:18] Speaker A: But that's exactly right. That there's no stakes in the sense that when they Decide, well, we got to save him. We got to cut all this down and blow it up. Right. There's nothing there to stop him other than a whispery voice. So. And it doesn't do much to stop him. So I felt like. [00:43:33] Speaker B: Or that if he decides like I do want to keep this, I'll become a guy who lives out here and naked. [00:43:39] Speaker A: Correct. I would have taken that as well. But there was no issue blowing it up and burning it down. That wasn't hard. [00:43:47] Speaker C: That to me is the twist and the appealing aspect of this story is that instead of a wrathful God, and it surprised me honestly, out of John Buchan is that the goddess exactly did not strike them down, but sadly faded. And this feeling that there was something that left the world or it was some part of the ancient world that was lost, that perhaps this was the last vestige of this religion. And that to me was unexpected. [00:44:15] Speaker B: They mentioned, I think twice they specifically. This is the last place she is. [00:44:19] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:44:20] Speaker B: The last grove. [00:44:22] Speaker C: So that elevated it for me. As in, I don't know elevated it. But it. [00:44:26] Speaker B: That's the part was for you. [00:44:27] Speaker C: It was an unexpected twist given the tone of this story. When you had like your Scottish Calvinist who was. [00:44:35] Speaker B: I loved him so much. [00:44:35] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:44:36] Speaker B: This guy stuck out here with crazy moon dancing guy. This is hell for me. [00:44:42] Speaker F: Yes. [00:44:43] Speaker C: It's the word of God. We'll need some dynamite. And I think critically, one of the problems with this story is that they're all awful. Which I'm on the record. Like, I don't need to like characters in a story to enjoy it. But I do think the way this story is built, some of the engagement requires to like them more than I think I could. [00:45:10] Speaker A: Right. [00:45:11] Speaker C: You know, because we don't really ever get to know the Bill Conrad character before he becomes possessed by the space. So we don't know what was lost there. [00:45:21] Speaker A: Right. [00:45:22] Speaker C: And I like the Scottish caretaker as a character, but he's awful. He's just like, let's blow it all up. Praise God and pass the dynamite. [00:45:34] Speaker B: Ignore that voice pleading for its life in your ears. [00:45:36] Speaker C: Yeah. The only character that I think you feel a little sympathy for is I was surprised that they called him John Buchan, the name of the author of Paul Free's character who his moment of, I think, melancholy. I mean, I don't think he regrets saving his friend from the clutches of this goddess, but senses the loss. [00:45:59] Speaker A: Right. [00:46:00] Speaker C: So in that moment I kind of like him a little bit. [00:46:02] Speaker A: This would have been a lot better had the character not been Buckin. But Linogen, just that character. Taking down the grove would have been hilarious. [00:46:14] Speaker B: Going to war with these doves. [00:46:15] Speaker A: Going to war. [00:46:16] Speaker C: Right. Make a river of fire around the Grove of Asteroth. Now I'm imagining Linogen versus the ants blended with the birds. [00:46:29] Speaker B: That's the sequel we got versus the birds. [00:46:31] Speaker C: Be awesome. [00:46:32] Speaker A: Done and done. Any other thoughts on this? [00:46:36] Speaker B: I do have one last thought, which is small and minor, as opposed to everything I said up to this point, but the intro. I mean, not only the actual. Tired of everything being so expensive. [00:46:46] Speaker A: Yes, that hurts. [00:46:49] Speaker B: But also I just kind of used to William Conrad, like, really punching you in the face with these. That this was a little more. I am tired of paying more. I am really tired of these things. Please can we do this radio show? [00:47:04] Speaker C: Yeah. And then you're like, oh, I just want some escape. And then it's like, oh, blood libel and anti Semitism. I'm getting it coming and going. There's no escape. This is today. [00:47:19] Speaker A: Right. [00:47:20] Speaker C: But that to me. And maybe we'll go into the vote here. Yeah. I struggle how to categorize this because of that ending, which seems. On the one hand, the whole story seems to be valorizing English imperialism. It's a big warning against going native. But then at the same time, it seems at the end to eulogize this goddess and this loss of an ancient way to the very colonialism it seems to be cheering on at the beginning. And I can't decide if that's an intentional tension or he just wrote up to that point and went, well, this will be interesting. And I don't really believe it. I don't know. [00:48:08] Speaker A: Right. [00:48:08] Speaker B: That's kind of my opinion, too. Like, I'm not. I wasn't entirely kidding about. It's a show for each of us. A little bit like this story, I think, is multitasking, trying to do several different things at once and doing each of them okay, but none of them well. [00:48:23] Speaker A: So if we go to the vote, I can absolutely say Stand a the test of was really good, and I loved it for 15 minutes, and then it just didn't pay off. So the end result of that is I didn't enjoy this that much, but it had its moments. [00:48:49] Speaker B: I agree. Part that it Stand the test of time. I think it's still a very worthwhile story that's interesting and entertaining to hear, but I much more appreciate it in the historic context of both the content, the writer, the adaptation. It's William Conrad and Paul Fries, which is in itself a treat. There's all kinds of things about it that I'm really happy about, even if the story itself is not as much one of them. [00:49:15] Speaker C: Yeah, I agree with you guys. It's a compelling premise, but it's also very ugly in places. It seems contradictory in a way that is both interesting and off putting. But as we were joking earlier, I do think because of the issues it deals with, whether it deals with them well or not will probably depend on the listener. But those issues, you know, imperialism and religion and some of these tensions as we joked about, still are going on right now. So in that way, I will say it Stand the test of time, subject matter, wise, execution. I definitely think we'll keep it far from a classic for me, I don't know. [00:49:57] Speaker A: A hundred times in our 400 and some episodes of this podcast, it has happened where I've gone. Yeah, you know What? This is 60 years ago. We're listening to something like, humans don't change. It's just a cycle of the same crap over and over and over. [00:50:13] Speaker B: So thank you, Caden, for ruining us. [00:50:15] Speaker C: The arc of history bends toward crap. [00:50:18] Speaker B: Yes, yes. [00:50:20] Speaker A: We just do the same things to ourselves. [00:50:22] Speaker C: I will say. [00:50:23] Speaker B: This podcast, right? [00:50:24] Speaker C: Yes. It generates discussion. Yeah, I could easily talk about this for another half hour, but I won't put you guys through it in that it is engaging in both what succeeds and in what I think fails. So. And I learned something. [00:50:41] Speaker A: I learned what a Grover of Astaroth is. [00:50:44] Speaker B: Grover of Astaroth. [00:50:46] Speaker C: Oh, boy. [00:50:46] Speaker B: Oh, man. [00:50:47] Speaker C: That's why they canceled. [00:50:48] Speaker D: Don't cut me down, [00:50:52] Speaker B: Tim. Tell him stuff. Please go visit ghoulishdelights.com it's the home of this podcast. You'll find a bunch of other episodes there. Of course, you'll find episodes anywhere you go for your podcast episodes, because we're there waiting for you. But at Ghost Delights, you'll also find, like, a useful little selection of different series. Like, I want to know how many episodes of Escape you've done. And you can go to the page and you click on E for escape, and then you click on Escape and it'll show you all these episodes of Escape you've done. And then you'll know the answer to that question. You'll also find. [00:51:22] Speaker C: Please explain the Alphabet a little more. [00:51:24] Speaker B: So E. Well, it started with cuneiform. Aleph Beta. [00:51:29] Speaker C: Those like color forms. Exactly. [00:51:31] Speaker B: It's exactly like that. You also find a little link to our store if you want to buy some apparel. Starts with A. [00:51:41] Speaker C: We're moving up. [00:51:42] Speaker B: I know. Say bespoke mugs. They're not bespoke mugs. [00:51:50] Speaker A: Do they fit my hand perfectly? [00:51:52] Speaker B: Exactly. Built to fit in your hand, provided your hand is the one size that we're making for. You can also find a link to our Patreon page Tag [00:52:03] Speaker D: yes. [00:52:04] Speaker C: Go to patreon.com themorals and support this podcast. Because we are not making enough off our apparel, we need a little extra income. We have all kinds of things to give you in exchange for your money. We have extra bonus podcasts. At this point I can say hundreds of them. Yeah, yeah, a lot. You can just gorge yourself on bonus [email protected] themorals please go buy more apparel. [00:52:41] Speaker A: The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society Theater Company performs live on stage recreations of 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 find out where we're performing when and how to get tickets. We perform somewhere in the neighborhood of 12 to 15 times a year, so please come see us if you can't make it out to see us perform live. We do record the audio of those shows and provide those to our that audio to our Patreons. Got that out Tag. What's coming up next? [00:53:22] Speaker C: Next is an episode of my choosing. We will be listening to a horror story from CBS Radio Mystery Theater. Until then, I'm just imagining a Scottish Calvinist shooting Big Bird. [00:53:38] Speaker G: Now.