Episode 5: The Devil Doctor

[00:00:26] Speaker A: Welcome to the mysterious, mysterious old radio listening society podcast dedicated to suspense and horror stories from the golden age of radio. I'm Eric. [00:00:34] Speaker B: I'm Tim. [00:00:34] Speaker C: I'm Joshua. We love scary old radio shows. There's nothing quite like a disembodied voice telling a genuinely disturbing tale. But do these stories stand the test of time, or are we being deceived by nostalgia? Are they suspenseful or for edible, bone chilling, or butt numbing? That's what we're here to find out. [00:00:54] Speaker A: For tonight's episode, I've chosen the Devil Doctor from the Witch's Tale. The Witch's Tale was the first horror fantasy radio series ever. It aired from 1931 to 1938. It was on WO R, the mutual radio Network and in syndication, and had a long run in Australia. The program was created, written, and directed by Alonzo Dean Cole, who is from St. Paul, Minnesota. Now, very few episodes of this actually remain. For some reason, Cole destroyed all his own recordings of the series when he moved from New York to California. The three dozen or so surviving recordings are thanks to the efforts of other sources that salvaged what was left of this groundbreaking classic radio show. However, he saved the scripts of all 332 episodes. [00:01:40] Speaker D: The show was hosted by Old Nancy, the Witch of Salem, who introduced a different terror tale each week. The role of Old Nancy was created by stage actress Adelaide Fitz Allen, who died in 1935 at the age of 79. Cole replaced her with 13 year old Miriam Wolf. Although there was a new story every week, the cast remained the same. Cole's wife, Maria Flynn, portrayed the lead female characters on the program, and the supporting cast included Mark Smith and Alan Devit. Cole himself provided the sounds of Old Nancy's cat, Satan. [00:02:10] Speaker A: Sometimes the stories were drawn out over a couple of weeks or episodes, but this was usually unintentional. The program was intended to run 30 minutes, but if it ran long during the broadcast, Cole would write on the spot modifications to extend the story until the next week. He would frantically rewrite and hand new script changes to the actors mid broadcast. This episode first aired in 1934. I found two different versions online that are remarkably similar. They're the same actors, same cast, same script, but they are slightly different. And there's no explanation as to the difference between these two versions or why they exist. [00:02:51] Speaker C: Forget the petty distractions around you. Forget what you think you know. Forget everything but what you hear. Right now it's late at night and a chill has set in. You're alone and the only light you see is coming from an antique radio listen to the sounds coming from the speaker. Listen to the music and listen to the voices. [00:03:19] Speaker B: The witch's tale. [00:03:38] Speaker E: Weird, blood chilling tales told by old. [00:03:42] Speaker B: Nancy, the witch of Salem. And Satan, her wise black cat. [00:03:48] Speaker E: They are waiting, waiting for you now. [00:04:09] Speaker F: 100 and sweet 16 year old I be today. Yes, sir, 100 and sweet 16 year old. Well, Satan, now that me and you has had our customary sweet evening, walk through the sweet, cheerful graveyard, we'll all sit to tell folks our customary sweet bedtime story. Now tell these folks to dowse their lights and we'll get right down to business. That's right. Make it nice and dark. Now draw up to the fire and gaze into the embers. Gaze into arm deep. And soon you'll see inside a big old handsome house in little old Mary England. And there begins our story, which we call the devil doctor. [00:05:18] Speaker B: The devil doctor. [00:05:39] Speaker G: Will you and Stanley come in? Mr. Roberts is here. [00:05:42] Speaker B: He was here in just a minute. [00:05:44] Speaker G: It was awfully good of you to come over, Mr. Roberts. [00:05:46] Speaker E: Oh, not at all, Miss Duffers. I had already determined to drop in and bid you welcome to Heartley Manor. [00:05:52] Speaker G: I'm afraid it's a very trivial matter that dad wishes to see you about. Won't you sit down? [00:05:56] Speaker E: Thank you. I suppose you're very happy to be finally in your new home. [00:06:00] Speaker G: Oh, I'm sure we will be. We've scarcely had time to become acquainted with it yet. [00:06:04] Speaker E: I see you've made quite a few changes. [00:06:07] Speaker G: Yes. Dad bought this delightful place because it was so old and rich in tradition, then immediately decided to modernize it. I'm sure you don't approve. [00:06:16] Speaker E: I must confess to a slight dismay. [00:06:18] Speaker G: That'Ll be the reaction of our other neighbors. I imagine they probably feel it bad enough that Americans have come to live in this historic landmark. I hope the liberties dad's taking with it don't add to their resentment. [00:06:29] Speaker B: I'd like to be around when they are resembled. [00:06:31] Speaker G: Dad, I didn't hear you and Stanley come in. This is the reverend Mr. Roberts. [00:06:36] Speaker B: I always wear rubbers so I can sneak up on folks and hear what they're saying about me. Hi, Mr. Robertson. Glad you come over. [00:06:43] Speaker E: Thank you, Mr. Duffin. [00:06:44] Speaker B: You know, this girl of mine egged me into buying this place. Yet ever since I planked down a cool half million for it, she's been kicking about the improvements I've made. [00:06:53] Speaker G: If only you wouldn't try to change things too much. Dad. [00:06:55] Speaker B: Change is what makes the world go round. Oh, excuse me. I haven't met my future son in law, Stanley Davis. Stan, this is Mr. Roberts head man of the local church. How to do. Now, sit down, everyone. Sit down. Before wasting any time and small talk. Roberts, I'm going to tell you why I sent you that message. To come over. When I pay for anything, I expect my money's worth. And I paid for something in this house that isn't here. [00:07:22] Speaker E: I don't quite understand, sir. [00:07:23] Speaker B: When I phoned the solicitors who handled the sale of this place, they said you were the man to locate my missing property. [00:07:30] Speaker E: Aye. [00:07:30] Speaker G: They told dad that as you're extremely familiar with the history of this house, you might help him in his search. [00:07:35] Speaker E: Search for what? [00:07:36] Speaker B: An ancestor. [00:07:37] Speaker E: An ancestor? [00:07:38] Speaker B: Yeah. I've been cheated. I was told that in the art gallery down the hall. There were 106 life size oil paintings of the decasserac family, whose estate this used to be. But there's only 105, which makes one ancestor missing. [00:07:54] Speaker E: I see. The 106th portrait isn't really missing, Mr. Duffess, hidden behind a secret panel in this room. [00:08:03] Speaker G: A secret panel? [00:08:03] Speaker B: What's the idea hiding my picture there? [00:08:05] Speaker E: It was hidden over 300 years ago, Mr. Duffess, right after its subject died. [00:08:10] Speaker G: Why? [00:08:11] Speaker E: Because Bertram de Cassarac, whose likeness it is, had placed a hideous blot upon his noble family name. He was one of the most infamous monsters who ever lived. [00:08:22] Speaker B: What did he do? [00:08:23] Speaker E: Allow me to show you his hidden portrait first. It'll make the story more believable. People hereabouts call him the devil doctor. [00:08:31] Speaker G: The devil doctor? [00:08:32] Speaker B: Yes. [00:08:33] Speaker E: Now, let me see. It's many years ago that I was taught the secret of this panel. The spring is hidden somewhere in this beaded molding at the side. I found it. [00:08:45] Speaker B: Oh, good Lord. [00:08:47] Speaker E: The 106th portrait is rather startling, isn't it? [00:08:50] Speaker G: I never saw anything so lifelike. [00:08:52] Speaker B: For an instant, it seemed he'd walked right out of the canvas. Durned if I didn't have the same feeling. [00:08:56] Speaker G: Oh, I'm glad he's only painted there. I've never seen such an evil face. [00:09:01] Speaker B: All except the eyes. They're expressionless and dead as those of a fish. [00:09:05] Speaker G: Oh, please close the panel again, Mr. Roberts. [00:09:08] Speaker E: Certainly. [00:09:10] Speaker G: I think his family were very wise to keep it hidden. I'm half sorry we found it. [00:09:15] Speaker B: No, I'm not. I don't know anything about art, but whoever painted that knew his business. [00:09:20] Speaker E: It's generally believed in this neighborhood that the artist was Lucifer himself. [00:09:25] Speaker B: You mean the devil? Yes. That's a new one. [00:09:28] Speaker E: According to tradition, that is not a mere portrait, but a second body that Bertram de Cassarac will return to and wear someday. [00:09:36] Speaker B: If he's able. A second body. Let's hear the story of this old boy. [00:09:40] Speaker E: Well, the evil Bertram de Cassarac was an alchemist, a delver in black magic, and above all, a satanist. [00:09:47] Speaker G: Oh, you mean he used to. [00:09:48] Speaker B: Yes. [00:09:48] Speaker E: Instead of God, he worshipped the prince of darkness. And in a certain vault below this house was often celebrated that most infamous of ceremonies, the black man. [00:09:59] Speaker G: I've heard of it. [00:10:00] Speaker B: Yes, so have I. It's a horrible perversion of the true mass. And is offered in honor of the devil. Satanists offer a sacrifice, usually the life's blood, of an innocent child or woman. Say, are you kidding me? [00:10:13] Speaker E: Unfortunately, Mr. Duffess, we are stating an awful truth. Bertram was finally accused of witchcraft and arrested. In that vault, an Unholy altar was found, and hideous parodies of sacred images and vessels. And in a pit beneath the stone floor, where discovered the bones of nearly a hundred human beings. [00:10:35] Speaker G: Oh, he was executed, of course. [00:10:37] Speaker E: No, he cheated legal punishment by committing suicide. Then, according to the story, the people who so long had feared him rose in arms and demanded his body. They wished to burn it, fire being considered the only way to completely destroy an evil spirit. His relatives smuggled his remains from the prison and buried them in secret. A bishop of the church attended and sealed each corner of his tomb with a holy cross to prevent him from. [00:11:07] Speaker G: Rising from the dead. [00:11:08] Speaker B: Yes, well, if that isn't the craziest thing I ever heard of. [00:11:11] Speaker E: It happened 300 years ago, Mr. Duffess, in a most superstitious age. [00:11:16] Speaker B: Hey, where is that vault where the old boy did his dirty work? [00:11:20] Speaker E: Below the east turret. [00:11:21] Speaker B: East, that direction? [00:11:23] Speaker E: Yes. Bertram's heir had the chamber bricked up. And so it has remained to this day. [00:11:28] Speaker B: Till yesterday, you mean. [00:11:30] Speaker E: I beg your pardon. [00:11:31] Speaker B: I told you I was going to change things here. I went down in the cellars yesterday and saw that bricked up doorway. Looked like valuable space was being wasted behind it. So I had the decorators men tear it out and use the room to store their packing gazes. [00:11:44] Speaker E: That vault is open? [00:11:45] Speaker B: Sure, why not? [00:11:46] Speaker E: Does anyone know this? [00:11:48] Speaker B: I just told you, the decorators men opened. [00:11:49] Speaker E: Oh, but they are from London and unfamiliar with the story. Mr. Duffort, if this becomes known around here, half this countryside will be thrown into a panic. [00:11:58] Speaker G: Oh, you mean that. [00:11:59] Speaker E: I mean the legend of the devil, doctor, is a living truth to the people of this region. I beg you to have that door re sealed at once. [00:12:06] Speaker B: What do the fools think will happen because that room is open? [00:12:09] Speaker E: Oh, I told you their belief about that portrait. [00:12:12] Speaker B: You mean that old Bertram will return to life, if he is able. [00:12:15] Speaker E: And you have rendered his spirit a service by unbarring the way to his tomb. [00:12:20] Speaker B: His tomb? [00:12:21] Speaker E: Yes. For below the vault where he buried his victims, Bertram himself was bedded. His body's in that room, embedded in solid masonry. [00:12:30] Speaker B: By golly, it's beneath the center of the floor. I remember seeing four metal crosses on the corners of a big slab and wondered what they meant. [00:12:37] Speaker G: Oh, I want to see it. [00:12:38] Speaker B: So do I. Now that I know what it all means, I'd like another look. [00:12:43] Speaker E: Oh, yes. Yes, I would like to see it too. [00:12:46] Speaker B: The stairs are right down this hall. [00:12:48] Speaker G: You don't have to tell Mr. Robert's dad. He knows this house better than any of us. [00:12:52] Speaker E: I'm afraid I do. And that is the reason, Mr. Duffus, I request you to seal that vault again. [00:12:57] Speaker B: Say, if you weren't a preacher, I'd say you took this stuff about the devil, doctor pretty seriously. [00:13:02] Speaker E: As a preacher, I accept the Bible as the word of God. And holy writ bears many testimonies that evil powers exist which are dangerous to man. [00:13:13] Speaker B: Well, here's the fellow door. They help Edith down these steps, Stanley. They're pretty steep and carpeted with dust. [00:13:21] Speaker G: You see? How useless is an attempt to convince my father of anything, Mr. Roberts? He won't even believe my fiance will help me downstairs unless he's told. [00:13:29] Speaker B: Oh, I didn't mean that. I made my money bossing people, Mr. Roberts. Guess it's become such a habit, I even do it in my own home. But speaking of convincing me no one will ever make me believe there's any truth in superstition. The vault's over this way. I haven't been down here before. [00:13:45] Speaker G: Neither have I. After hearing Mr. Roberts'story, I can't make it a habit, Mr. Roberts. [00:13:50] Speaker B: Since it's believed that portal of the devil dock is a creation of infernal magic, why was it never destroyed? [00:13:55] Speaker E: Because there is a further tradition that whoever harms it will be destroyed themselves. [00:14:01] Speaker B: Rot. There's the vault just ahead. [00:14:03] Speaker E: Your men didn't break the door? [00:14:05] Speaker B: It wasn't necessary. When they tore out the bricks that covered it, the door was standing open. [00:14:10] Speaker E: Open? [00:14:11] Speaker B: Yes. Strange. [00:14:13] Speaker E: In the ancient record, it said the door was closed and locked. [00:14:17] Speaker B: Now, mind these packing cases. You come in, you're liable to snag your clothes on a bent nail. [00:14:21] Speaker G: There are shavings all over the place. [00:14:23] Speaker B: Yeah, I saw the Crosses about there where the big crate is standing now. Hey, give me a hand with it. Then we'll push it out of the way. [00:14:30] Speaker E: Yes, sir. [00:14:30] Speaker B: Ready? Let's go. Come on. This block must wear a top. Yeah. Edith's concert grand piano was created in it. This would be the case. We'd have to move. [00:14:45] Speaker G: I can see a metal crucifix. [00:14:47] Speaker B: Yes. [00:14:48] Speaker E: Connecting slab and floor. [00:14:49] Speaker G: But where are the others? [00:14:51] Speaker B: One should be right here if they're placed at all four corners. [00:14:54] Speaker G: But there isn't one there. [00:14:56] Speaker E: There are none at those far edges. [00:14:59] Speaker B: They were there yesterday. [00:15:00] Speaker G: Oh, dad, you and Stan must have torn them away with that heavy case. [00:15:04] Speaker B: Doggone. I guess you're right, Mr. Roberts. If the old devil doctor is half the man you say, he ought to jump right up and dance now with just one cross to hold him down. Oh, he does. What's the matter? [00:15:17] Speaker G: This lab just moved. [00:15:19] Speaker B: Moved? [00:15:20] Speaker G: I felt it move under my hand. [00:15:22] Speaker B: I'll quit your kidding. [00:15:23] Speaker E: Why not, Mr. Duffett, feel the edges of this lab. [00:15:27] Speaker B: What about them? Lord, I see what you mean, dad. [00:15:30] Speaker G: They're an inch above this floor. [00:15:32] Speaker B: You're crazy. They're absolutely level with it. [00:15:35] Speaker E: Feel here, Mr. Duffet. Now, your hand is beside the one remaining cross. [00:15:41] Speaker B: That's funny. [00:15:41] Speaker G: Yes, it is. [00:15:42] Speaker B: None of you are chumps enough to think this slab has risen since we pulled those crosses off, eh? [00:15:48] Speaker G: I felt it move. [00:15:49] Speaker B: Imagination. It's probably always been like this. It couldn't have been, sir. If it had been raised like this before, the sharp edge would have caught the cleats in that piano case. We couldn't have pushed it afoot. [00:16:00] Speaker E: Mr. Duffess, you may think me a credulous old fool, but I beg you to have those crosses found and replaced immediately. Then have this vault we've seen. [00:16:09] Speaker B: I'll do nothing of a kind. [00:16:10] Speaker G: Oh, I think you better, dad. [00:16:12] Speaker B: Yeah, perhaps you had. Say, are you three children or grown up men and women? [00:16:17] Speaker G: Oh, dad, for once in your life, give in to someone else. When we entered this vault, I thought the story of the devil doctor as fantastic as you still do. But in the last few minutes since you moved that case, I. There's something awful in here that's making me afraid. [00:16:32] Speaker B: I'm not ashamed to admit I feel the same way. It's as though we fall or weren't alone in this fault. As though something repulsive and deadly is in here with us. [00:16:40] Speaker E: There is an unseen presence here. Can't you sense it, Mr. Duffer? [00:16:44] Speaker B: No. And when I prove all this is bunk, you won't sense it either. Where do I find a tool of some kind here? This loose board will do. [00:16:52] Speaker G: What are you going to do with that board? [00:16:53] Speaker B: Bring you to your senses and smash a crazy legend. [00:16:56] Speaker E: Oh, he means to break that last cross. [00:16:59] Speaker G: No, dad. [00:16:59] Speaker E: Don't stop him. [00:17:02] Speaker B: I thought a good sound whack would do it. [00:17:04] Speaker G: You've broken the crucifix. [00:17:06] Speaker E: The tomb is no longer sealed, and. [00:17:09] Speaker B: Not a thing has happened. You thought that slab would fly up and hit the ceiling, I suppose. And the old gentleman below would appear in a burst of flame. I told you I'd bring changes around here. You'll have to change a good story now, for your crucifix is broken, and not a thing has happened. What? Someone's laughing. [00:17:29] Speaker E: No. It comes from underneath that shreb. [00:17:34] Speaker B: One side, slowly moving. Good lord. [00:17:36] Speaker G: Pushing it upward. [00:17:38] Speaker E: A skeleton wrapped in a crumbling shroud. [00:17:41] Speaker B: It's rising from that tomb. [00:17:43] Speaker G: Runny. [00:17:43] Speaker E: Just run to the stairs. [00:17:47] Speaker B: God forgive me. What have I done? What have I done? [00:17:54] Speaker G: What? [00:18:13] Speaker B: Eden, darling, you must pull yourself together. We're safe now. [00:18:17] Speaker E: Safe? [00:18:17] Speaker B: Yes. That cellar door is locked and barred. We're double locked inside this room. If we did see a thing that all common sense denies, it can't get at us here. [00:18:26] Speaker E: If we saw it. Do you doubt the evidence of all our eyes? [00:18:30] Speaker G: Do you think locked doors will prevent that frightful thing from going where it wishes? That hideous nightmare you delivered from its tomb. [00:18:36] Speaker B: That's what it was. A nightmare. It couldn't have been real. It's too impossible. [00:18:41] Speaker E: So one might say, who for the first time saw a boa constrictor. [00:18:45] Speaker B: That's a natural thing. [00:18:46] Speaker E: Whatever is is natural. Supernatural is merely a word to denote things rare in human experience. We know this thing exists. [00:18:55] Speaker G: I can still see the awful horror of its fleshless bones. That crumbling shroud. [00:19:00] Speaker B: Edith, darling. [00:19:01] Speaker G: I can still hear its frightful laughter. And smell that sickening odor of decay and mold and death. [00:19:06] Speaker B: Edith, you've got to snap out of this. If you'd only let us leave this house as the servants did when we ran screaming from that cellar. If you hadn't insisted we remain here. I didn't ask any of you to stay here. I said I wouldn't run away like a panic stricken fool. [00:19:18] Speaker G: Oh, you knew we wouldn't go and leave you here alone. But now night's coming and dark. [00:19:23] Speaker B: Look here. We've got to look at this thing like sensible human beings instead of superstitious children. [00:19:28] Speaker E: Oh, you said as you broke the crucifix upon that tomb. [00:19:31] Speaker B: And I still think I was right. Oh, I don't deny I've been as scared as the rest of you. Cold shivers are still running up and down my spine. But I didn't travel the distance I've reached in life by being a credulous fool. You can't deny the evidence of all our senses. No, but I can find an explanation of the way that they were tricked. My mind is beginning to think normally again. And it begins to see a light. [00:19:53] Speaker E: Now. What do you mean, sir? [00:19:54] Speaker B: When I overheard Edith telling you this afternoon that folks around here resented our living in this old house, I think she called a turn on everything that's happened. We're not wanted here. Someone conceived the bright idea of scaring. [00:20:07] Speaker E: Us away, Mr. Duffus. [00:20:08] Speaker B: And you, Roberts, were a party to that plan. Ayesa, Father, he came here with his talk of the devil doctor, didn't he? He showed us that picture, told us about the vault, and got us so steamed up, we went down to see that tomb. [00:20:19] Speaker E: You seriously believe me guilty of a deliberate and malicious plot? [00:20:23] Speaker B: Yes. [00:20:23] Speaker G: Mr. Roberts is the clergyman, which makes. [00:20:25] Speaker B: His skulldugery ten times worse by job. I believe you're right. [00:20:29] Speaker E: Damn, Mr. Davis. [00:20:30] Speaker B: Well, that explains the thing we saw on natural ground. [00:20:32] Speaker E: You think? [00:20:33] Speaker B: I think the ghost we saw was just a man. [00:20:35] Speaker E: Oh, you're just mad. [00:20:37] Speaker B: No. At last we're sane. That vault was dark. We could see objects, nothing more. A man was concealed in that tomb. It was his laughter we heard. Human laughter. The slab was so prepared, he could lift it from below. Then dressed in one of those skeleton suits I've seen at masquerades, he appeared to scare the living daylights out of us. [00:20:57] Speaker E: You forget that it was you who opened the vault. You who broke the seals upon that tomb. [00:21:02] Speaker B: Details. If I hadn't played into your hands, you'd have found another way. [00:21:05] Speaker E: Miss Duffess, you don't. [00:21:07] Speaker G: Yes, I agree with dad and Stanley. Mr. Roberts, how could you do such an awful thing to us? [00:21:11] Speaker E: On my solemn word of honor, I swear you are mistaken. [00:21:15] Speaker B: You've done enough. Don't make it worse with lies. Your plan has failed, Mr. Parson. Go and tell the others who don't want John duffess for a neighbor that he don't scare. I've paid for this house, and I'm going to live in it in spite of you and all your devil Dr. Ghosts. That laugh we heard downstairs. [00:21:34] Speaker E: But now it's in the hall outside this room. [00:21:37] Speaker B: The laugher doesn't know his little farce has been played out, but he soon will know. [00:21:42] Speaker E: Don't open that door. [00:21:44] Speaker B: Come on, Stan. Let's find this laughing skeleton. [00:21:46] Speaker G: Oh, don't go out there. I'm still afraid I'm not. [00:21:49] Speaker B: Stan, turn on these hall lights so we don't slip by us in the dark. I got them, sir. [00:21:54] Speaker E: Gentlemen, I beg you. [00:21:56] Speaker B: Shut up. Stan. Which way do you think that laughter went? How? That way, toward the drawing room. [00:22:01] Speaker G: Come on, dad. Stanley, wait. [00:22:03] Speaker B: What? [00:22:03] Speaker G: Look. The cellar door. It's still locked and bolted. [00:22:06] Speaker B: As we left it, a laughing skeleton came up some other way. [00:22:09] Speaker E: There is no other way out of the cellars. And you can see that no mortal creature has entered through that door. [00:22:14] Speaker G: Yet we heard his laugh. From where we're standing now, that doesn't mean a thing. [00:22:18] Speaker B: Come on. Await. Sir. Perhaps my imagination is playing me tricks, but there's a peculiar odor in this hall. [00:22:24] Speaker G: I smell it, too. It's an odor of decay and mold and death. [00:22:29] Speaker E: You've made it plain how little you value my advice. But by everything that's holy, I beg you to leave this house. [00:22:36] Speaker B: Not much, I won't. [00:22:37] Speaker G: Dad, look there. [00:22:38] Speaker E: Lord, upon this floor, a trail of mold. [00:22:41] Speaker G: Oh, that piece of cloth. [00:22:42] Speaker B: It's a fragment of the shroud. That figure. War. [00:22:44] Speaker E: Look, as I touch it, it crumbles into Dust. [00:22:47] Speaker B: It's all a trick. But tricks don't fool me any longer. It is in a drawing room where. [00:22:55] Speaker E: The devil doctor's portrait hangs. [00:22:57] Speaker B: What do you mean? [00:22:58] Speaker E: I have told you the legend of that picture. The laughter's changed. [00:23:03] Speaker G: It's become stronger, almost human. [00:23:05] Speaker B: It's all together human. Human enough to be punched in the jaw. And that's what it's going to get. Mr. Duffess, wait. [00:23:12] Speaker G: After him. Don't go. Let him go in that room alone. [00:23:14] Speaker E: He's playing with fire. Fire that will consume us all. [00:23:18] Speaker G: He's disappeared through that dark doorway. [00:23:20] Speaker B: Quickly, Mr. Duffess, where are you? By the window. He's not going to slide by me. You stay at the door, Stan, and turn on the lights so we can see. I have them. There's no one in the room. [00:23:32] Speaker G: Oh, that panel. [00:23:33] Speaker E: It's open, as I feared. [00:23:35] Speaker B: But the portrait's there, thank heaven. Did you expect to find it gone? [00:23:38] Speaker G: It's changed. Those eyes. We thought so. Dead this afternoon. Now shine with light. [00:23:42] Speaker B: They look alive. Another trick? [00:23:44] Speaker E: No. Lord help us all. The devil doctor lives again. [00:23:50] Speaker B: The laughter's coming from that picture. [00:23:52] Speaker E: Bursted, stepping from his flame. [00:23:54] Speaker B: The lights. Who put out the lights? Edith, where are you? I can't see a thing in this darkness. Ace does. Edith. [00:24:04] Speaker G: Golden death. [00:24:09] Speaker B: I can't see her. The laugh is going towards the cellar. [00:24:13] Speaker E: Door that leads to the vault, to the room of the devil's mess. [00:24:23] Speaker B: Which way is it, Stan? Oh, God. Where is that vault? I'm as completely lost as you are. Roberts was right. We should have waited for a lantern before coming to the cellar. That would have taken time. And that devil has my Edith. Oh, God, forgive me. Roberts. He's brought a lantern over to him. Quick. Hey, we're coming. Roberts. Do you still think he tricked us? Not anymore. No trick would have brought that picture from its frame. And we saw it happen. Roberts, quick, take us to that vault. It's at the far end in the darkness. We've been searching in the opposite direction. [00:24:56] Speaker E: This old fashioned lantern doesn't give much light. But it was all that I could find. [00:25:00] Speaker B: It's enough. Hurry. [00:25:02] Speaker E: You've heard nothing further since you came down here? [00:25:04] Speaker B: No. The laughter has stopped, and so have Edith's cries. She's fainted, I suppose. My daughter. Oh, God forgive me. [00:25:12] Speaker E: There's the vault ahead, and the door's closed. [00:25:15] Speaker B: Well, I'll soon. It's barred inside. Help me, Stan. I'm with you. [00:25:23] Speaker E: But that door is solid oak and sheaved with iron. You'll never break it that way. [00:25:27] Speaker B: Oh, it doesn't even. Oh, what are we going to do? That heavy beam line there. We'll use it as a battering ram. [00:25:35] Speaker E: Wait. Listen. [00:25:38] Speaker B: A voice inside chanting something in Latin. [00:25:42] Speaker E: Yes, the black mass. [00:25:43] Speaker B: The black mass. [00:25:44] Speaker E: In honor of Lucifer, the devil doctor is about to offer up a sacrifice. [00:25:49] Speaker B: Edith. Oh, my kid. [00:25:51] Speaker E: You've got to break in that door, quick. [00:25:53] Speaker B: Yeah, got to. Got to stand that ram with everything we have. It doesn't even give again. What's that devil saying? [00:26:07] Speaker E: His monstrous ritual nears the time of offering the ram. [00:26:12] Speaker B: Stand the ram. The door won't give when it does. How are we to stop that thing inside? A thing that's neither of the living or the dead? [00:26:22] Speaker E: In faith, there is a way. Break down that door. O Father, help me to be strong. Give thy servant faith and help him banish fear. [00:26:33] Speaker B: I felt it give that time. But the voice is going inside. [00:26:39] Speaker E: It's awful. Prayers to evil. Break that door open. Too late, Father. Give thy servant faith. Help him banish fear. [00:26:49] Speaker B: We've got to break it down. Then split it again with all you've got. We've crushed it. Come on, ages. She's lying on the slab. [00:27:03] Speaker E: A living altar. [00:27:04] Speaker B: The devil's holding a knife above her breast. I'll get him. I can't move. Nor I. By some power. He stopped us in our tracks. [00:27:14] Speaker E: He lipped the knife. [00:27:15] Speaker B: You said you had a way to stop him. [00:27:16] Speaker E: By the power of the cross. In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. [00:27:21] Speaker G: I beat you. He only laughed. [00:27:24] Speaker B: He holds that knife above my daughter. [00:27:26] Speaker E: My fear is stronger than my faith. Oh, Father, help me. [00:27:35] Speaker B: No, not my kid. No. Mr. Dappers broke the spell, covered a body with his own. [00:27:44] Speaker E: The knife is bedded in his back. [00:27:48] Speaker B: The devil doctor is raising the knife again. [00:27:51] Speaker E: But the father's love has shown my faith the way to banish fear. In the name of the one and only God, I bid you, whom men once called the cataract, return to the hell from which you gained. He fought us. [00:28:06] Speaker B: He retreats. [00:28:07] Speaker E: In the name of the Father, son and Holy Ghost. [00:28:11] Speaker G: Dan. Whoops. Dan. He's covered with blood. [00:28:14] Speaker B: Get Adith from this fault, away from that fiend. [00:28:18] Speaker G: No, he can't hurt us now. He's backing towards his tomb, where another. [00:28:21] Speaker B: Fool like me can bring him back someday. But I've heard of a way to destroy a thing like him forever. Give me that lantern. I scored in the shavings. [00:28:32] Speaker E: It's called Thai. [00:28:33] Speaker B: Yes, between that devil and the only door. And he's not laughing. Now he knows there's no escape. [00:28:40] Speaker G: Run. [00:28:41] Speaker E: Run, all of you. In a moment, this place will be. [00:28:44] Speaker B: Run. [00:28:46] Speaker G: Dad, he's fallen. [00:28:47] Speaker B: Roberts, help me lift him. Get him out of here. Yes, save yourselves. His knife has done for me. [00:28:54] Speaker G: No, you can't die, dad. You can't. [00:28:57] Speaker E: Put me down. [00:28:57] Speaker B: You fellas, get my kid out of here. Put me down, I tell you. The fire won't reach us for a minute here. And I won't keep you quite that long. That's it. Thanks. I always would have my way, eh, kid? Roberts, you said whoever destroyed that portrait was doomed to be destroyed themselves. And I guess I've pretty well wrecked the subject of that picture. Well, I wanted to change things around here. And now you'll have to change your story about the devil doctor, because I've brought it to an end. Change is what makes the world go round. [00:29:46] Speaker G: Death. Death. My father's dead. [00:30:03] Speaker F: And so, Satan, we also brings our story to an end. And now we'll go find ourselves a nice graveyard and get inspiration for a petty bedtime yarn to spin these folks another time. [00:30:27] Speaker A: That was the double doctor from the radio drama witch's tale, and you're listening to mysterious old Radio Listening society Society podcast that originally aired back in 1934. So there we have it. That was the one that I chose for this week. There's a lot of reasons I chose this. First of all, witch's tale is highly regarded because it was the first time in radio drama broadcast that someone went and did something scary on the air doing the horror. And it was all based on the pulps were coming out and there's werewolves and Frankenstein monsters. And it was just a big deal at the time. So when this was put out, it was approached to the network and to the radio station, and they gave it a go to see if it would work. And it was hugely successful. So I think if that we're going to do a podcast about suspense and horror, old time radio, that there's no way we can avoid the witch's tale, the creator of all of it, or the first one, I should say. And a lot of people consider this one of the scariest episodes. I'm going to say this right off the top, so we get this out of the way. The acting is terrible and I understand. [00:31:49] Speaker C: It'S hit and miss. [00:31:51] Speaker A: Yeah, but hear me, here's the deal. I said it in the opening of this thing. It's the writer. Why is his name Alonzo Dean Cole, a. Cole from St. Paul, Minnesota? Cole and his wife and two other actors every week for the entire run of this show did all of it. They were the only actors that did anything. In addition, none of them were really great actors or established. Cole was the writer, by the way, the cat, that's Cole going, that's better than what he. So they're not like established, great trained actors. [00:32:31] Speaker C: It also explains why Stanley had no story function at all in the fiance. It was just because, oh, he had four actors, so he has to write a part for all of them. [00:32:42] Speaker A: Yeah, and that guy had six lines. And you can't differentiate when he's talking as opposed to somebody. The old man, you can tell. You can tell that's him. And you can tell the guy that's adamantly, this is a joke. [00:32:55] Speaker C: I will not believe. Mr. Douglas and the reverend are very clear. [00:33:00] Speaker A: Well, yeah. And then of course, the witch is granny from Beverly Hillbillies. She sounds exactly like the granny from Beverly Hillbillies. [00:33:10] Speaker D: Irene Ryan, Irene. [00:33:13] Speaker C: He did that without looking at the Internet, folks. Just letting you know, it is widely. [00:33:17] Speaker A: Regarded, people say this all the time about witch's tale is that everybody and all reviews of it say, oh, if you can get past the over the top, crazy acting, the Stories are really good. I think this story is phenomenal and I think it's crazy how much stuff happens. This plot in 30 minutes. Like that's a two and a half hour movie. [00:33:43] Speaker E: But they just go, now this, now. [00:33:44] Speaker A: That he's coming out of the picture now. [00:33:46] Speaker B: We're going here. Everybody to the basement. Here we go. [00:33:47] Speaker A: Boom, boom, boom. It happens really fast, and there's no screwing around. So I also found, and this is my note. I want to read this note that I took. The acting is ridiculous. So much screaming, and the pace is nonstop. I mean, that pace is fast. To get it into 30 minutes, this story could be finessed into something a lot scarier with some subtlety, some slowing down of some moments. To let some suspense build would be a good 45 minutes show. But that pace is crazy. But I love the story. All right, that's all my thoughts why I picked it hit me. [00:34:29] Speaker C: Nothing uncomfortable. [00:34:31] Speaker B: No. [00:34:32] Speaker C: I will tell you what I liked about this quite a lot. I mean, you covered that. This is of great historical value and interest, so we won't repeat that. But I also really enjoyed the reverend's character because he was a very strong, rational character. I mean, today, any sort of reverend or priest that shows up is crazy and is always the bad guy. It was kind of interesting that he provided some sort of rational presence among all these people. There's also a couple of nice moments of sort of metaphysical, theological discussion which sort of jumps out from the very pulpy storyline when they're talking about. I wrote that down as well. It couldn't have been real. It's too impossible. And the reverend says, so one might say, who for the first time saw a boa constrictor. Well, that's a natural thing. Whatever is, is natural. And, I mean, this isn't huge, in depth philosophical discussion, but plunking it in the middle of this sort of just blood and gore horror story is kind of interesting. [00:35:41] Speaker A: Yeah, and that doesn't quite fit into the pace. And what's going on in here, that they stop and they think, yeah, well, if it exists, then it exists. [00:35:52] Speaker C: Let's discuss this from a metaphysical point of view, shall we? [00:35:55] Speaker D: When I started listening to this, in the first 10 seconds, just the first heartbeat, I started having a great time. It was so much fun. And it is that fast pace of every time something they've moved to here and there's idea mentioned. [00:36:11] Speaker B: What? [00:36:11] Speaker D: No, that's inset. [00:36:12] Speaker B: Okay, we're going. [00:36:14] Speaker D: And they would not give me a second to think critically. [00:36:18] Speaker A: Well, it's like that. When he goes into the hallway, it goes like this. Don't go into the hallway. We can't have a discussion about the merits going in the hallway because we. [00:36:29] Speaker E: Got to get them. [00:36:29] Speaker A: And as I mentioned at the top of this, Cole very frequently ran over. These were live broadcasts. [00:36:37] Speaker C: I love that idea of him just frantically shoving pages at these actors so. [00:36:40] Speaker A: He would go into another room and go, we're going to go over again. So he would give them more script so that it could end at a point where they could go continue next week. So the actors would be handed scripts while they're on stage because of that. But you can tell that he was getting in trouble for that by the pace of not only the writing, but of the actors. How fast it's moving and how fast the script writing is. A great example. I'm going to go into the hall. Don't go in the hall while he's in the hall. All right, so that's not a discussion that we're going to have because I got to get this done in 30 minutes. [00:37:14] Speaker C: Yeah, I guess a slightly different point of view. One of the things I didn't like about it is I felt, yes, it moves really quickly, but I felt like they put all this exposition in like 5 minutes at the top of the show to a ridiculous degree that had they actually spread that out, it would have been surprising and more interesting to listen to because once you're done with that 5 minutes and it's just crazy exposition, it's like, oh, the family hid that painting behind the secret panel because he was an ugly, Satan worshipping alchemist. And, oh, did I mention the painting was actually done by Satan? And it's also his second body, so he's going to be coming back and inhabiting it. Hey, let's go look at his tomb. It's like, boom. And so he actually maps out the entire show for you. So it takes some of the suspense away. Have some of that exposition been spread throughout the 30 minutes? [00:38:06] Speaker A: Again, my point being is that he had to do that to get under 30 minutes to get all that exposition. The concept is way too big for a 30 minutes program. It's why he ran over all the time. It's why these would go on for weeks sometimes. And you just said, slow it down and create the suspense. This could be a great hour broadcast, if not an hour and a half. [00:38:31] Speaker C: It's either or. It's either a great hour and a half broadcast or it's like a ten minute ghost story in front of a fire camping or something like that, where you just condense it all down. [00:38:40] Speaker D: I will say I had a great time, but to start on the question of, does this stand the test of time? This is not scary at all. [00:38:52] Speaker B: Wow. [00:38:54] Speaker D: Part of it is, I think, not necessarily the fault of the creation when the monster is a skeleton. And it's kind of in this antiquated sort of context. My mind goes to little marionette skeleton from, like, house on Haunted Hill. Something that's very not scary, right? Very mundane. [00:39:15] Speaker C: Well, some of this is how crude a certain element of storytelling was early in radio, because this is the. They aren't as reliant on sound to use as a frightening thing. There's a lot of screaming, but it usually just sort of muddles what's going on. So we get a lot of awkward descriptions of action that the end was so confusing. And they're just like, he has a knife over my daughter. He's raising a knife. He's still holding a knife, and they're just discussing it endlessly. He's still holding that knife. Something's going to happen pretty soon. And I got to the point where I had to go find the script online. I actually had to read it to understand what happened at the end because it is so chaotic and exposition heavy. [00:40:00] Speaker A: It's like me when I watched the movie memento. I had to go online and find someone who'd written the script in the correct order so I could figure out what was happening. But that's another terribly sad story. First of all, this is a problem without a narrator, and we run into this a lot. If in an old time radio show, if you don't have a narrator, then the people in the scene have to. [00:40:26] Speaker C: Do ridiculous exposition, and you'll notice this is some sort of historical research to do. But you hear these things from the they don't have many narrators by the time you get to the suspense. To create atmosphere utilizes a narrator a lot. Dimension X, that we listened to last week, uses a narrator. [00:40:45] Speaker A: That way they don't have to walk in a room and go, look at you sitting in that chair wearing a blue suit with an axe in your head. [00:40:52] Speaker E: What are you doing with an axe. [00:40:53] Speaker A: In your head over there? [00:40:54] Speaker B: You. [00:40:55] Speaker C: Oh, you're lifting axe. You're coming toward me. [00:41:01] Speaker A: I like supernatural stuff. [00:41:05] Speaker D: Well, my fun, because I say it's not scary, but love it. And it's very much like the ghost stories I would read in little collections when I was a kid. I mean, it's almost note for note these sorts of stories. And so as an adult, I recognize that this does not actually engender an emotion of fear or terror in me, but I have so much fondness for when it did that when I was a kid. [00:41:29] Speaker A: What about this, though? I'm going to argue this. We discussed this. Hopefully I'm in the right order here. Last week, the idea of disembodied sounds and voices. Now we did the house in Cypress Canyon, and there's that voice or that howl. The howl and scares us. Right there is the thing laughing and that scares us. We haven't done this show yet and may not, but an. I love a mystery, the thing that cries in the night and when the baby cries, someone dies. But we talked about this actually in the one I did a few weeks ago, and I can't remember. [00:42:08] Speaker C: Poltergeist. [00:42:09] Speaker A: Yeah, Poltergeist. And we could hear it out in the field calling to her. That scares me, man. The voices in the distance of things. And so the laughing, I thought, was very scary. The high pitched laughing. [00:42:24] Speaker C: Yeah, I think that was probably the most effective scare in it. And also when the high pitched laughing turns to a more human laugh when he steps out of the painting. [00:42:32] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. [00:42:33] Speaker C: That has that eerie quality from. That is a spirit to physical, and that's really effective. And then it goes back as he's being burned. It's kind of interesting. The high pitched laughter or screams come back at the very end. So, yeah, I think sound design wise, that was a nice touch, but I'll. [00:42:50] Speaker D: Argue the contrary of the black mass that happens. The gibberish Latin. [00:43:01] Speaker A: I like the gibberish Latin. I've written some gibberish Latin in some of my shows. I'm not looking up Latin. No one's going to know. All right. We had some points in the beginning of this that I wanted to bring back the witch at the beginning. This was not the 13 year old girl we talked about. This was the original Adelaide Fitz Allen. And she died a few years into this, Ron, at 79 years old. So they had an audition and all these people, older ladies, came in to try to be the old witch in this very popular radio show. And sitting in the audition was this 13 year old girl, and her name again, Miriam Wolf. And Miriam Wolf was in another radio program at the time called let's pretend. And let's pretend was all kids doing scary stories. They're all playing witches and vampires, fairy tale related. Fairy tale related stuff. And that was very popular. So she was already a name. And apparently she went in and they were like, why is this 13 year old girl here? And killed it to the point of he hired her on the spot and sent everybody in the waiting room home. [00:44:18] Speaker C: There's some great pictures you can find on. [00:44:19] Speaker B: Yes. [00:44:20] Speaker C: And we should link to it. Link to the picture of her being a witch. Her face is all distorted and it's. [00:44:26] Speaker A: A little girl and she was great. So I find that to be a really fascinating sign of the times. I don't even think they would let that happen. These days, you just can't get discovered anymore. [00:44:39] Speaker C: No, because to bring us around to our final conclusion here, I totally see how this was probably really frightening at the time, a little. Like you hear about people seeing the movie Frankenstein and fainting in the theater. Whether that's true or not, we watched it. Like, seriously, we did. So to me, I listened to this and I really enjoyed it from a historical point of view. But I don't know that it necessarily stands the test of time. But it's well worth listening to for a perspective on how radio developed and changed through 1930, something through the very end of it, 1962. [00:45:23] Speaker D: Very much the same. I would never dissuade anyone from listening to this. I would encourage lots of people to listen to this. I think it's awesome and fun. I don't think it's suspenseful. So stand the test of time. I think it stands the test of time as far as something fun to listen to, not so much as actually scaring people. [00:45:43] Speaker B: Right. [00:45:43] Speaker A: I will agree with you with one caveat, and that is this. I didn't pick this because I thought it stood the test of time. So I agree. First of all, as we both said, all said, historically speaking, I think it's important that we address witch's tale in this podcast and what it did and what it meant and all of that. Second thing is that this particular episode, I believe that if you gave me this script and an hour and 15 minutes, that I could finesse this thing into making some things more suspenseful, more real. You know what I'm saying? I love the potential of this script to be terrifying. And I think that they crammed everything into 30 minutes and a ton of exposition, screamed a lot and moved way too fast, just as I said, and I'll say it again, just a moment of him trying to go into the hallway where the guy's laughing. Man, you could have done that for 4 minutes. What do we do? [00:46:39] Speaker B: I don't know. [00:46:39] Speaker A: And it keeps laughing. I'm going to go out there. I don't think you should go out there. That could build and build and build, and I think that you would have had a different perspective had it been longer and more nuanced. So that's my opinion on it. Do we agree with that? [00:46:51] Speaker B: Oh yeah. [00:46:52] Speaker D: The elements are fantastic. [00:46:54] Speaker A: Right on. Well, there you have it. That is the witch's tale of the episode Devil's Doctor from 1934. You've been listening to the mysterious old radio listening society podcast once again. I'm Eric. [00:47:06] Speaker B: I'm Tim. [00:47:06] Speaker C: I'm Joshua. [00:47:07] Speaker A: And if you want to learn more about us or the show or other things that we're involved in, please go to ghoulishdelights.com. That's ghoulishdelights.com. If you're not there right now listening to this, go there because there's lots of cool stuff and other things that we're doing, and we'd love to see you at one of those things. So thanks for listening. Until next time, remember.