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SYSK's 2017 Super Spooktacular! · Stuff You Should Know

• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to the podcast. We need to come
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: up with those spooky Simpsons names. You know what they
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: do for a Treehouse of Horror every year. We just
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: have never done that, but so I guess this year again. Still,
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: I'm just Josh Clark, and you're just Charles w Chuck Bryant,
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: and there's Jerry the murderous ghoul Roland. No, you're Josh
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: Spooky Clark and I'm Chuck. He's right behind you, Bryant. Nice.
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: That's good stuff, man, thanks for swooping in there. So
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: this is our Halloween Special, which we do every year
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: these days for those of you who aren't familiar but
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: who like horror fiction prepared to be delighted. Yeah, what
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: we do is, uh, we get together at a year
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: and we should point out this is one of two
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: ad free episodes we do every year, along with the
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: Christmas Holiday Spectacular. Uh. And you know we fight for
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: this every year because it would really ruin the vibe
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: of a good spooky story if we took a commercial break,
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: right yep. But it's our gift to your right. So
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: what we do is we read it used to be
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: one story. Sometimes we've fan sourced stories which was. Yeah,
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: we had a whole horror fiction contest, which we will
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: never do again. No, it was a lot of work,
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: but it yielded some pretty great stuff. Yeah, and I
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: think last year we did the little uh two sentence
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: fans submitted things and that was kind of neat. But
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: this year we're going old school and just reading too
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: straight up horror fiction stories, one of which was written
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: expressly for us for this episode by our favorite writer
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: Ed Grabowski. Yes, and we have a little a little
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: update till last year's story. So Ed wrote us a
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: story last year called extrane of Use Invocot, which was
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: great and terrifying. It was so terrifying, in fact, chuck
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: that over in the UK, a producer of films got
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: in touch with Ed and said, hey, mate, um, I
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: want to turn that story into a movie. What do
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: you say? He said, I'm not your mate, but sure, Yeah,
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: and it's happening. That's I mean, how about that? Yeah.
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: They set up a website for it called The Between
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: dot Film. That's the name of the movie, is The
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: Between and Now in the post dot com bubble days,
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: you can call your website dot anything. So again it's
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: the Between dot Film and it will give you some
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: information on the story. There's even a link to last
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: year's Halloween episode, so if you want to go listen
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: to it, go to that site and find it. And
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: they set up a crowdfunding um uh project to help
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: fund the project, and if you kick in you can
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: get things like obviously the movie when they complete it. Sure,
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: you can get signed scripts, even a credit in the movie.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: There's a lot of stuff you can get that they're offering.
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: And the movie slated to come out February fourteen, two
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: thousand and eighteen as it stands right now. Man, that's great,
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: Like that's it's really on track to go. So um
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: things are coming up for the Grabster, and he gave
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: us another great story that I'm I would be surprised
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: if it doesn't get turned into a movie untially as well. Yeah,
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: I guess that producer said, I love the story, but
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: that title's gotta go. Yeah, No one knows how to
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: say that. We're just gonna call it the Between. Cool title,
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: but the Between is definitely a little more marketable, and
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: I think in today's modern world than Latin. Yeah, we
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: ought to uh, we ought to get a kickback on that. Huh.
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: You know I didn't bring it up. I was hoping
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: he would, but he, uh, he hasn't so far. No,
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: we're happy to be de facto executive producers. Yeah, we
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: could also be facto though if they give us, you know,
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: credits in the in the film, maybe a special thanks
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: at the end. Yeah, playing money like I owe my
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: life to these guys. All right, yeah, all right, Well
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: you're ready to read his newest one, the Grabster's newest story.
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: That's right. It is called Gifts, not g I F
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: F S G I F T S. Right. That was
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: a good creepy t thank you. So we're gonna start,
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: and Jerry, as ever, is going to pull out all
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: the stops and add all the bells and whistles to
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: scare the Bejesus out of you while we're reading this. So,
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: without further ado, there's Gifts by the Grabster. I'm here
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: about the housekeeping job. I'm Marissa called earlier. I reached
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: out to shake the man's hand, but he kept his
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: face on the paperwork. He was shuffling, holding out an
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: up raised index finger in my direction. I returned my
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: hand to my side. Finally, he stacked the papers and
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: looked up at me. You'll want to speak to my wife.
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: Then she's handling those arrangements. She's gone to the market,
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: but should be back any moment. If you'd like to wait,
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: There's a sitting room at the top of the stairs.
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: He nodded briskly and moved on to some other towns.
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: A wide staircase of dark, varnished wood led to an
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: upstairs hallway running to my left and right. The ornate
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: wallpaper was striped by alternating shafts of shadow and sunlight
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: coming through open doors, except at one end of the hall.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: There the doors were closed in the hallway and folded
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: in shadow. Directly ahead of me was an open archway
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: leading to the sitting room, a sunlit chamber with a fireplace,
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: a number of well crafted but time worn leather chairs,
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: a row of bookshelves stacked with volumes, and a small
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: table set up for a game of chess. A young
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: boy roughly six years old was sitting in one of
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: the chairs, a large book spread out in his lap.
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: He looked up as I entered. Hello, he said, are
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: you a guest? No? I told him I've come about
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: the housekeeping job. Do you mind a little company I've
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: got to wait for your mother. Okay, his smile brighton.
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: It'll be good to have someone to help again. Mom
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: gets stressed when she has to do it all herself,
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: along with the shopping and everything. My name is Robert,
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: but everyone calls me Bobby. My name is Marissa. What's
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: that you're reading? Bobby? He tilted the book up so
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: I could see the title A sign on Rosie's door.
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: What's it about a girl who becomes someone else and
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: takes her friends on adventures? I had an adventure this week.
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: Do you want to see what I found? Without waiting
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: for me to answer, he hopped off the chair, setting
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: the book down behind him, and ran past me through
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: the archway into the hall on his short legs. Don't
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: follow him, I turned to follow, seeing him head off
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: down the brighter half of the corridor. It's in my room,
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: he called out, then disappeared into one of the open doorways.
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: By the time I got there, he was crawling underneath
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: the bed. It was clearly his room, decorated with racing
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: cars and car tune characters. He emerged clutching would appeared
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: to be a pillow. I had a dream the other
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: night that I was in the dark, and no matter
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: where I crawled around, I couldn't get out of the dark.
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: It was cool inside wherever I was, but so dark,
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: so black, I couldn't see anything. When I woke up,
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: I was holding this. He held the pillow out to me.
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: It was oddly shaped, more narrow than the usual pillow,
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: and it was made of white satin, with a satin
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: ruffle around the edge. I took it and held it up,
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: humoring the child's tall tail. But I noticed the pillow
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: was stained in the center, a yellowish brown mark in
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: a rough oval shape. That's when I realized what it was.
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: It was a pillow from a burial casket. Bobby, where
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: did you get this? I tried to keep from sounding alarmed.
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: When I woke from my dream, I was lying on
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: top of it, holding it with both arms. He gave
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: it to me. I heard footsteps coming down the hall
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: behind me and turned to see a small framed woman
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: with graying black hair striding towards me. I handed the
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: pillow back to Bobby ms leventus. She said yes. I
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: stuck out my hand again, this time getting a soft
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: handshake in return. Bobby's been showing me around. I looked
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: back at the child who sat on the edge of
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: his bed smiling, the pillow nowhere to be seen. All right,
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: I don't like the sounds of Bobby. Uh No, not
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: with this little burial casket stained pillow or his short,
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: stubby legs, which is creepy all by itself. I got
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: the job, That's great. My husband didn't exactly sound joyful
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: at the news. To be honest, neither did I. Working
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: at Shipped in Grains Hotel for the summer was a
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: necessity and something of a hardship. The hotel was two
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: hundred miles away from our home, and I'd only be
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: able to afford the train back to visit once or
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: twice a week in the four months i'd be working there.
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: But times are hard for everyone, and most had it
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: harder than us. Still, knowing this meant I'd be apart
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: from John for the entire summer tempered my enthusiasm, and
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: I could hear in his voice, even over the phone line,
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: more relief and weariness than glee. We sure needed. It's
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: a nice place, old kind of fussy. Mrs Taggart is nice,
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: and the young boy Bobby is I paused about to say,
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: he's a bit odd, but it felt like gossiping about
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: a child, so I told John. He's very inquisitive, but
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: it wasn't what I meant. It's a lot for you
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: to do this, John said, that will help in the
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: long run. It's hard to be a part though. I
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: love you Mayor, I smiled, looking out the window at
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: the tidy gardens in front of shipped and Grange, dissolving
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: into shadows as twilight set in. I love you too, John.
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: I'm glad you got that sappy party. Don't worry about Bobby.
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: Mrs Tiggert was walking me through the hotel, showing me
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: what my duties would include, in which room I'd be
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: staying in on the ground floor near the kitchen. She
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: stopped awkwardly, placing a hand at my elbow. His imagination
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: is a new usual at times, but he's a kind boy,
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: he really is, which was true. I think he never
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: showed me the funeral pillow again. And Bobby would often
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: appear around a corner at the doorway of a room
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: I was cleaning, clutching something odd. He was so eager
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: to show me and didn't seem to have other friends,
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: so I let him linger around while I worked In truth,
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: he was more pleasant company than either of his parents,
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: whom I found stiff and formal. They rarely spoke to
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: me at all about anything not directly related to my job.
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: This was under my hat when I took it off
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: this morning, Bobby said. One afternoon, he held out a
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: small pile of coins, worn and blackened with age Latin
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: writing barely legible on the faces. Those must be terribly valuable.
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: I said, Oh, I can't sell them. His face was
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: very serious. Mr. Sorrow says their mind to keep children
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: have their flights of fancy and imaginary friends, especially child
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: free to rome in old the state, like shipped in Grange.
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: But when Bobby said that name, I felt something on
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: the back of my neck, like a kiss that barely
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: grazes the skin. Mr Sorrow. My voice was just a whisper. Yes,
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: Bobby Grint, he's very tall. We were in room thirty three,
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: which was named the uttermost End, being the last room
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: at the end of the longest third floor corridor. The
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: light was always bad in that room. The whole section
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: of corridor had a dim greenish quality to it. It
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: wasn't simply that the light was insufficient, but rather that
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: it felt incorrect. The shadows fell at the wrong angles,
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: and the sun, when seen reflecting on a window pane
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: or crystal decanter, appeared as a dull orange hole board
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: into the sky. As we spoke, Bobby's shadow seemed to
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: stretch to reach across the room, as if to unfold me.
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: He closed a small fist around the coins and ran off.
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: The deep, disconcerting shadows remained. I remade the bed covers
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: quickly and hurried to leave. No one had stayed in
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: the the Most End in the time I've been working
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: at Shifting Grange. Maybe it's because they called it the
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: uttermost End. It's not the best name for a room.
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: They're like, you'll like it. The lighting is incorrect. Even
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: Mary and Joseph would have been like, that's okay, we'll
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: go out into the manger. You just keep that. I
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: don't like the sounds of Mr Sorrow either. By the way,
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: I woke up with hands on my throat this morning.
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: John said, ice cold. What did someone break in? There
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: was no one there. It must have been a nightmare.
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: My heart was racing, though, I'd imagine, so check the
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: windows around the house before bed tonight, then just to
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: humor me, I will. I think I'll sleep like a
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: stone tonight. We've fallen behind on orders at the plant,
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: and machine four went down again. I'm pulling my hair out.
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: John hung up the phone on his end, and I
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: listened to the silence on the line for a while,
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: the hum and whisper of currents and the echoes of
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: a thousand voices. Later that week, I was cleaning the
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: main dining room, Bobby playing at the table behind me
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: with some wooden army men he'd found in the attic.
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: The clatter of his toys had fallen silent, but I
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: didn't notice until Missus Tagger walked in. She looked at me,
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: then her gaze moved behind me, her eyes widening Bobby.
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: She hissed quietly. I turned to see Bobby standing very
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: close behind me, clutching in his hand a gleaming steel blade.
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: Is that from the kitchen, Mrs Taggart said. Bobby's face
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: turned sullen. No. He dropped the knife, climbing to the
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: floor and ran from the room. Mrs Taggert collected the blade,
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: turning it over in her hands. It appeared to be
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: finally made, though it for a dark stain she carried
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: it straight out to the trash bins in the rear yard.
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: That boy ain't right, you know. That's the that's the
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: turning point right there. In midsummer, the weather grew hot
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: and close, but shade trees and thick walls kept the
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: oldest state quite cool. John and I still spoke on
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: the phone every night, and I plan to return home
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: for a weekend in just two weeks. It was nearly
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: all I could think about at night. I would lie
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: in bed, waiting for sleep, trying to slow my breathing,
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: taking in the sugar sweet smell from the elder shrubs
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: growing all around the open window. I'd often awakened hours later,
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: staring into the blind darkness of a strange room in
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: a strange town, and feel the weight of loneliness settle
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: on my chest like a stone. In those moments, soft
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: fingers of shadow would trace my jawline and collar bone
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: with the familiarity of a lover, and I spoke to
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: voices I could barely hear. One evening, after completing my
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: work for the day, I found Bobby rolling a small
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: rubber ball slowly up and down the upstairs hallway. Would
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: you like to play catch, I said. His face lit
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: up with delight, and he took up a position ten
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: meters down the hall from me. It's Canadian. We rolled
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: and bounced the ball back and forth for some time,
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: Bobby letting out the first really genuine laughter I'd heard
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: from him. My back was to the long, dim expanse
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: of the corridor leading to the uttermost end, but I
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: hadn't really thought about it until the door to one
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: of the other rooms just behind me slowly opened. I
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: saw it swing open from the corner of my eye
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: Room twenty seven, the Prince's chamber. I watched the gaping
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: doorway for a moment. When no one emerged, I called
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: out missus Taggart. There was no reply, but Bobby giggled
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: behind me and the ball rolled slowly past me, coming
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: to a stop in front of Room twenty seven. I
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: crept forward to retrieve it. Crouching to pick up the ball.
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: As I stooped in front of the empty, darkened room,
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: I was engulfed in a frigid chill. I stuffed my
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: hands into my pockets and returned to Bobby. With my
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: right hand, I tossed the ball. When I pulled my
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: left hand from my pocket. I realized I was holding something.
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: It was a pair of scissors. The orange plastic candle
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: had been melted and blackened by fire. The blades were
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: clean and sharp. I've never seen them before. Oh man.
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: The next day I was cleaning the dust from beneath
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: one of the guest beds. I like how Ed brings
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: us along on the cleaning. Oh yeah, just keep us
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: up to date. The next day, I was cleaning the
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: dust from beneath one of the guest beds, and as
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: I reached for the rag i'd set down, something else
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: materialized in my hand. I don't mean to say that
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: I reached out and grasped an object. I mean that
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: my empty hand suddenly and inexplicably had something in it.
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: It had a dry, papery feel, and drawing my hand
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: out from under the bed, I saw that it was
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: an old scrap of newspaper. There was no date on it,
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: as the top edge was torn and nothing on it
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: seemed to be of any significance. Advertisements for a furniture
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: shop in an article about a winter storm. In the
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: center of the paper, a hole had been torn through.
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: Looking more closely, I could see that it was actually
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: a bite mark. Someone had showed through the center of
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: a piece of old newspaper. Mr Sorrow is giving gifts
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: to you now, Miss Marissa. It was Bobby in the doorway,
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: dark circles under his eyes. He stood and watched me
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: for an uncomfortably long time. I threw the newspaper away.
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: Oh boy, I'm getting creeped out here. Just one more
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: week until I can see you again. I know, I
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: really can't wait. I've got a nice dinner plan and
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: we can walk down by the star set like we
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: used to. The water is so green this time of year.
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: There was the joy that had been missing from John's
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: voice earlier in the summer, and I'll confess it made
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: my heart swell to hear it. That sounds wonderful. Are
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: things getting better at the factory a bit? I'm not
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: sleeping well, though, John said. I guess it's just that
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: the house feels empty without you here. I'm consistently awakened
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: in the middle of the night by the feeling of
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: someone lying in the bed beside me. But of course
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: there's no one there. Someone will be there soon enough.
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: I was trying to be reassuring, but it came out wrong.
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: Me I mean, John laughed, of course you uh yeah,
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: you better hope it's her, right, John, of course it's you.
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: All right, he sounds bully convinced. All right, let me
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: bring it home. Mm hmm. I was awakened by a scream.
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: Mrs Taggart was wailing, and I ran toward the sound,
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: groggy from sleep and stumbling over furniture in the darkness.
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: She was in Bobby's room. The bed was empty, and
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: she was crouched halfway out the open window. Bobby, she
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: cried out into the night. I stood there, halfway through
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: the door, stunned. The window opened via a hand crank,
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: The handle detached for safety, and the socket was too
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: high for Bobby to reach in any case. Mr Taggart
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: ran past me down the corridor, and I followed him
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: downstairs into the cool night air. Bobby was crumpled on
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: the lawn, his right folded under him, his face bloody,
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: but he was alive. He'll be all right. Mr Taggart
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: called up to his wife, who was still sobbing in
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: the window. Call for the doctor. Then Mrs Taggart shrieked,
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: glaring at me across the wide lawn. At that moment,
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: I noticed something in my hand, the hand crank for
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: the window. I stammered and dropped it. I was sound asleep,
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: I swear. I ran back into the house for the phone,
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: not thinking clearly, not knowing what to do. So I
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: rang John. I needed to hear his voice, mayor he
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: sounded sleepy. John. Something horrible happened. Bobby fell out the window,
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: but I had the crank to open it in my hand.
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: I don't know how it got there, but I was asleep, John,
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: I was asleep. Calmed down, Love, take a breath and
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: explain it again. I don't really under. John's voice was
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: cut off by a sharp hitch in his breath, a
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: sort of short cough, John, John, are you there? The
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: only sound over the phone line was a soft, wet
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: whistling repeated in a slow rhythmic pattern. I felt something
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: in my hand just then, something warm like my fingers
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: were wrapped in hair, heavy weight dangling below on the phone.
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: The whistling sound faded to a low gurgle, and I screamed.
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: And I screamed while something hot and wet splashed onto
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: my legs and ran down my feet. But I refused
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: to look down. I refused to see what it was
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: in my hand, and the voice on the phone was
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: familiar and cold. It was not John, and I just screamed, Wow, boom,
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: holy cow. That is how it's done. If you're a
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: horror Somewhere in Canada, a microphone was just dropped. Where
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: did you go, Grabster? That was good stuff. Oh daddy,
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: that's a good one. I think that could would make
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: a at the very least of wonderful short film. Agreed. Uh,
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: it's gonna be a tough one to follow. It's going
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: to take a literal horror classic to follow that one.
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: And we'll get to that right after our eight minute
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: commercial break. Hey we're back. Yes, we should set this
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: one up a little bit. It's called The Yellow Wallpaper
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and it is one of our
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: classic old stories that we used to do some of
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: these and published first in New England magazine. And this
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: is um can only be considered early work of feminist literature.
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: And what it really is clearly is a statement on
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: the treatment of women at the time. You know, Oh yeah,
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: for sure, clearly, um. And it must have been when
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: was it originally published? This is very brave to have
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: published this because super brave. The author Charlotte Perkins Perkins
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: Gilman is definitely um almost poking fun at the status
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: quo between men and women UM at the time by
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: by making your character just so fully bought into it
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: that she's not even really questioning it at first. While
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: she's questioning it, you know what I'm saying. Yeah, she's
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: questioning the details, but not the structure that is giving
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: rise to the details. Yeah, and she's clearly not too
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: shy about making her statement. It's not you don't have
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: to read between too many lines, you know. I like
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: it to good story. And I believe this one's been
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: made into a movie on Netflix if I'm not miss
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: Oh really, I'm pretty sure I saw the Yellow Wallpaper
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: on Netflix. Yeah, alright, the yellow Wallpaper. Here we go.
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: It is very seldom that mere ordinary people like John
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: and myself secure ancestral halls for the summer, a colonial mansion,
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: hereditary estate. I would say, a haunted house, and reach
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: the height of romantic felicity. That would be asking too
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: much of fate. Still, I will proudly declare that there
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: is something queer about it. Else why should it be
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: let so cheaply? And why I have stood so long untenanted.
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: That's sort of a mouthful, huh, it really is. It's
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: a lul for no one rents this place. John laughs
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: at me, of course, but one expects that in marriage.
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: John is practical in the extreme. He has no patience
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: and faith, an intense horror of superstition, and he scoffs
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: openly at any talk of things not to be felt
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: and seen and put down in figures. John is a physician,
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: and perhaps I would not say it to a living soul,
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: of course, but this is dead paper and a great
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: relief to my mind. Perhaps that is one reason I
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: do not get well faster. You see, he does not
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: believe I am sick. And what can one do If
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: a physician of high standing and one's own husband assures
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: with one but temporary nervous depression, a slight hysterical tendency,
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: what is one to do. My brother is also a physician,
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: and also of high standing, and he says the same thing.
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: So I take phosphates or phosph fights, whichever it is,
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: and tonics and journeys and air and exercise, and I'm
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: absolutely forbidden to work until I am well again. By
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: the way she put work in quotation marks, which I
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: think was quite policy for the time. Yeah, little cynical,
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: for personally I disagree with their ideas. Personally I believe
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: that congenial work, with excitement and change would do me good.
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: But what is one to do. I did write for
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: a while in spite of them, but it does exhaust
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: me a good deal having to be so sly about
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: it or else be met with heavy opposition. I sometimes
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: fancy that, in my condition, if I had less opposition
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: and more society and stimulus. But John says, the very
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: worst thing I can do is to think about my condition,
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: and I confess it always makes me feel bad. So
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: I will let it alone and talk about the house,
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: the most beautiful place. It is quite alone, standing well
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: back from the road, quite three miles from the village.
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: It makes me think of English places that you read about.
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: For there are hedges and walls and gates that lock,
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: and lots of separate little houses for the gardeners and people.
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: There is a delicious garden. I never saw such a garden,
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: large and shady, full of box bordered paths and line
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: with long grape covered arbors with seats under them. There
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: were greenhouses too, but they're all broken now. There was
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: some legal trouble. I believe something about the airs and
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: co airs. Anyhow, the place has been empty for years
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: that spoils my ghostliness. I'm afraid, but I don't care.
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: There's something strange about the house. I can feel it.
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: I even said so to John one moonlit evening, but
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: he said what I felt was a draft and shut
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: the window. I get unreasonably angry with John sometimes. I'm
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: sure I never used to be so sensitive. I think
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: it is due to the nervous condition. But John says
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: if I feel so, I shall neglect proper self control.
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: So I take pains to control myself before him at least,
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: and that makes me very tired. I don't like our
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: room a bit. I wanted one downstairs that opened on
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: the piazza and had roses all over the window and
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: such pretty old fashioned chintz hangings. But John would not
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: hear of it. He said there was only one window,
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: and not room for two beds. Nice touch, and no
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: near room for him if he took another. He is
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: very careful and loving and hardly lets me stir without
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: special direction. I have a schedule, prescription for each hour
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: in the day. He takes all care from me, so
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: I feel basely ungrateful not to value it more. He said.
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: We came here solely on my account, that I was
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: to have perfect rest and all the air I could get.
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: Your exercise depends on your strengthen my idea, he said,
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: like that, and your food somewhat on your appetite. But
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: air you can absorb all the time. So we took
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: the nursery at the top of the house. It was
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: a big airy room, the whole floor nearly with windows
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: that look always and air and sunshine galore. It was
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: a nursery first, and then play room and aymnasium, I
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: should judge, for the windows are barred for little children,
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: and there are rings and things in the walls. The
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: paint and paper look as if a boy's school had
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: used it. It is stripped off the paper and great
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: patches all around the head of my bed, about as
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: far as I can reach, and in a great place
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: on the other side of the room low down. I
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: never saw a worse paper in my life. One of
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: those sprawling, flamboyant patterns, committing every artistic sin it is
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: dull enough to confuse the eye, and following pronounced enough
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: to constantly irritate and provoke study. And when you follow
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: the lame, uncertain curves for a little distance, they suddenly
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: commit suicide, plunge off at outrageous angles, destroy themselves, and
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: unheard of contradictions. The color is repellent, almost revolting, a smoldering,
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: unclean yellow, strangely faded by the slow turning sunlight. It
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: is a dull yet lurid orange, in some places, a
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: sickly sulfur tin in others. No wonder the children hated it.
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: I should hate it myself if I had to live
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: in this room long. There comes John. I must put
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: this away. He hates to have me write a word,
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: all right, not bad. It sounds to me early on
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: like this lady is already a prisoner in this room,
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: a prisoner in her life. Maybe even Chuck, you could say,
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: I think so, I don't. John strikes me. He's one
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: of those doctors. It's like, uh, you know, just breathe
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: into this bag for a bit and you'll be fine.
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: Don't question me, or I'll have you surgically murdered. All right,
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: take it away, We've been here two weeks, and I
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: haven't felt like writing before since that first day. I'm
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: sitting by the window now, up in this atrocious nursery,
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: and there's nothing to hinder my writing as much as
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: I please, save lack of strength. John is away all
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: day and even some nights when his cases are serious.
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: I'm glad my case is not serious, but these nervous
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: troubles are dreadfully depressing. John does not know how much
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer,
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: and that satisfies it. Of course, it is only nervousness.
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: It does weigh on me so not to do my
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: duty in any way. I'm meant to be such a
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: help to John, such a real rest and comfort, and
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: here I am a comparative burden. Already. Nobody would believe
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: what an effort it is to do what little I
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: am able to dress and entertain and order things. It
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: is fortunate Mary is so good with the baby, such
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: a dear baby, and yet I cannot be with him.
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: It makes me so nervous. I suppose John never was
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: nervous in his life. He laughs at me so about
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: this wallpaper. At first, he meant to repaper the room.
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: But afterwards he said that I was letting it get
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: the better of me, and that nothing was worse for
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: a nervous patient than to give way to such fancies.
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: He said that after the wallpaper was changed, it would
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: be the heavy bedstead, and then the barred windows, and
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: then the gate at the head of the stairs and
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: so on. You know, this place is doing you good,
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: he said. And really, dear, I don't care to renovate
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: the house, just for three months rental. Then let us
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: go downstairs. I said, there's such pretty rooms there. Then
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: he took me in his arms, and he called me
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: a blessed little goose, and he said he would go
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: down to the cellar if I wished, and have it
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: whitewashed into the bargain. But he has right enough about
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: the beds and windows and things. It is an airy
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: and comfortable room as anyone need wish. And of course
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: I would not be so silly as to make him
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: uncomfortable just for a whim. I'm really getting quite fond
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: of the big room, all about that horrid paper. Out
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: of one window I can see the garden, those mysterious
• 30:32
  Speaker 1: deep shaded arbors, the riotous old fashioned flowers and bushes
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: and gnarly trees. Out of another, I get a lovely
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: view of the bay. In a little private wharf belonging
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: to the estate. There is a beautiful shaded lane that
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: runs down there from the house. I always fancy that
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: I see people walking in these numerous paths and arbors.
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: But John has cautioned me not to give way to
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: fancy in the least. He says that with my imaginative
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: power and habit of story making, a nervous weakness like
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: mine is sure to lead to all manner of excited fancies,
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: and that I ought to use my will in good
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: sense to check the tendency. So I try. I think
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: sometimes that if I were only well enough to write
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: a little, it would relieve the press of ideas and
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: rest me. But I find I get pretty tired when
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: I try. It is so discouraging not to have any
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: advice and companionship about my work. When I get really well,
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: John says we will ask cousin Henry and Julia down
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: for a long visit. But he says he would as
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: soon put fireworks in my pillow cases to let me
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: have those stimulating people about. Now. I wish I would
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: get well faster, but I must not think about that.
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: This paper looks to me as if it knew what
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: a vicious influence it had. There's a recurrent spot where
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: the patterned laws like a broken neck, two bulbous eyes
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: that stare at you upside down. I get positively angry
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: with the impertinence of it, and the everlasting nous. Up
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: and down in sideways they crawl, and those absurd, unblinking
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: eyes are everywhere. There is one place where two breaths
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: didn't match, and the eyes go all up and on
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: the line, one a little higher than the other. I
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: never saw so much expression in an inanimate thing before,
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: and we all know how much expression they have. I
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: used to lie awake as a child and get more
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: entertainment and terror out of blank walls and plain furniture
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: than most children could find in a toy store. I
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: remember what kindly wink the knobs of our big old
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: bureau used to have. And there was one chair that
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: always seemed like a strong friend. He used to feel
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: that if any of the other things looked too fierce,
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: I could always hop into that chair and be safe.
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: The furniture in this room is no worse than inharmonious, however,
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: for we had to bring it all from downstairs. I
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: suppose when this was used as a playroom they had
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: to take the nursery things out, And no wonder, I
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: never saw such ravages as the children have made here.
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: The wallpaper, as I said before, is torn off in spots,
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: and it sticketh closer than a brother. They must have
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: had perseverance as well as hatred. Then the floor is
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: scratched and gouged and splintered. The plaster itself is dug
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: out here or there. And this great heavy bed, which
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: is all we found in the room, looks as if
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: it has been through the wars. But I don't mind
• 33:05
  Speaker 1: it a bit, only the paper. There comes John's sister.
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: Such a dear girl as she is, and so careful
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: of me, I must not let her find me writing.
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: She's a perfect and enthusiastic housekeeper, and hopes for no
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: better profession. I verily believe she thinks it is the
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: writing which made me sick. But I can write when
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: she is out and see her A long way off
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: from these windows. There's one that commands the road, a
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: lovely shaded, winding road, and one that just looks off
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: over the country, A lovely country too, full of elms
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: and velvet meadows. This wallpaper has a kind of sub
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: pattern in a different shade, particularly irritating one, for you
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: can only see it in certain lights, and not clearly then,
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: but in the places where it isn't faded, where the
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: sun is just so, I can see a strange, provoking,
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: formless sort of figure that seems to skulk about behind
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: that silly and conspicuous front design. There's sister on the stairs.
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: Do you ever call uh? You me a blessed little goose? Yeah?
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: Every day. I couldn't believe the lady took the words
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: right out of my mouth. How does that go over?
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: It doesn't go over? Well, I have shin splints from
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: all right, So the lady is here she uh we
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: now have learned that her sister in law is the
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: housekeeper and nanny of her baby. That she doesn't see right,
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: and she's in this room going a little nuts? Was
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: she well to begin with? Who knows? Well? I don't know.
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: I think the fact that she's saying like I've always
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: considered furniture capable of moving and possessing a personality. I
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: don't know if you call that nuts, but maybe she
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: has an imagination. The groundwork is there, all right. Here
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: we go. Well, the fourth of July is over. The
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: people are gone, and I am tired out. John did
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: put fireworks in my pillow case. I'm just kidding. The
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: people are gone and I am tired out. John thought
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: it might do me some good to see a little company,
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: so we just had Mother and Nelly and the children
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: down for a week. Of course, I didn't do a thing.
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: Jenny sees to everything now, but it tired me all
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: the same. John says, if I don't pick up faster,
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: he shall send me over to Weir Mitchell and the Fall.
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: But I don't want to go there at all. I
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: had a friend who was in his hands once, and
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: she says he is just like John and my brother,
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: only more so, that is to say, a nineteenth century man. Besides,
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: it is such an undertaking to go so far. I
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: don't feel as if it was worth while to turn
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: my hand over for anything, And I'm getting dreadfully fretful
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: and querulous. I cry it nothing and cry most at
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: the time. Of course, I don't want John is here
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: or anybody else. But when I am alone, and I'm
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: alone a good deal. Just now. John is kept in
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: town very often by serious cases. And Jenny is good
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: and lets me alone when I want her too. So
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: I walk a little in the garden or down that
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: lovely lane, sit on the porch under the roses, and
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: lie down up here. A good deal. I'm getting really
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: fond of the room, in spite of the wallpaper. Perhaps
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: because of the wallpaper, it dwells in my mind. So
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: I lie here on this great immovable bed. It is
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: nailed down, I believe, and follow that pattern about by
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: the hour. It is as good as gymnastics, I assure you.
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: I start, will say at the bottom, down in the
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: corner over there, where it has not been touched, and
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: I determine for the thousandth time that I will follow
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: that pointless pattern to some sort of conclusion. I know
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: a little of the principle of design, and I know
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: this thing was not arranged on any laws of radiation
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: or alternation or repetition or symmetry or anything else that
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: I've ever heard of. It is repeated, of course by
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: the breadths, but not otherwise looked at. In one way,
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: each breath stands alone. The bloated curves and wishes kind
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: of debased Romanesque with delirium. Tremens go waddling up and
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: down in isolated columns of fatuity. But on the other hand,
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: they connect diagonally, and the sprawling outlines run off in
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: great slanting ways of optic horror, like a lot of
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: wallowing seaweeds in full chase. The whole thing goes horizontally too,
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: at least it seems so, and I exhaust myself in
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: trying to distinguish the order of its going in that direction.
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: They have used a horizontal breadth for a frieze, and
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: that adds wonderfully to the confusion. There is one end
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: of the room where it is almost intact, and there,
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: when the cross lights fade and the low sun shines
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: directly upon it, I can almost fancy radiation. After all,
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: the interminable grotesque seemed to form around a common center
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: and rush off and headlong plunges of equal distraction. It
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: makes me tired to follow it. I will take a nap.
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: I guess I don't know why I should write this.
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: I don't want to. I don't feel able, and I
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: know John would think it's absurd, But I must say
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: what I feel and think in some way. It is
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: such a relief, But the effort is getting to be
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: greater than the relief half the time. Now I am
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: awfully lazy and lie down ever so much. John says
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: I mustn't lose my strength, and has me take cod,
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: liver oil and lots of tonics and things, to say
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: nothing of ale and wine and rare meat. Dear John,
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: he loves me very dearly and hates to have me sick.
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: I tried to have a real, earnest, reasonable talk with
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: him the other day and tell him how I wish
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: you would let me go and make a visit to
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: cousin Henry and Julia. But he said I wasn't able
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: to go, nor able to stand it after I got there.
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: And I did not make out a very good case
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: for myself, for I was crying before I had finished.
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: Is getting to be a great effort for me to
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: think straight, just this nervous weakness, I suppose, And dear
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: John gathered me up in his arms and just carried
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: me upstairs and laid me on the bed and sat
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: by me and read to me till get tired. My
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: poor little goose head sorry. I feel terrible for this lady.
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: I do, and it just really is suffering from like
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: massive depression, yeah for sure. And and on top of that,
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: she's being locked in her room that's driving her nuts
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: by her husband. Yeah, I think that's the problem here.
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: He said I was his darling and his comfort and
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: all he had, and that I must take care of
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: myself for his sake and keep well. He says, yeah,
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: because it's all about John, right right, get better for me.
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: Why can't you just get better? He says, No one
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: but myself can help me out of it. That I
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: must use my will and self control and not let
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: any silly fancies run away with me. There's one comfort.
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: The baby is well and happy and does not have
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: to occupy this nursery with that horrid wall paper. If
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: we had not used it, that blessed child would have
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: What a fortunate escape. Why I wouldn't have a child
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: of mine, an impressionable little thing, live in such a
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: room for worlds. I never thought of it before, But
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: it is lucky that John kept me here. After all.
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: I can stand it so much easier than a baby,
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: you see. Of course I never mentioned it to them anymore.
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: I am too wise, but I keep watching it all
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: the same. There are things in that paper that nobody
• 40:22
  Speaker 1: knows but me, or ever will. Behind that outside pattern,
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: the dim shapes get clearer every day. It is always
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: the same shape, only very numerous. And it is like
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: a woman stooping down and creeping about behind that pattern.
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: I don't like it a bit, I wonder. I begin
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: to think. I wish John would take me away from here.
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: It is so hard to talk to John about my case,
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: because he is so wise, because he loves me so
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: But I tried. Last night, it was moonlight. The moon
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: shines in all around, just as the sun does. I
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: hate to see it. Sometimes it creeps so slowly and
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: always comes in by one window or another. John was asleep,
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: and I hated to waken him, so I kept still
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: and watched the moonlight on that undulating wallpaper until I
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: felt creepy. The faint figure behind seemed to shake the pattern,
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: just as if she wanted to get out. I got
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: up softly and went to feel and see if the
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: paper did move. When I came back, John was awake.
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: What is it, little girl? He said, don't go walking
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: about like that, you'll get cold. I thought it was
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: a good time to talk, so I told him that
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: I was really not gaining here, and that I wished
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: he would take me away. Why, darling, said he, or
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: at least will be up in three weeks, and I
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: can't see how to leave before the repairs are not
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: done at home, and I cannot possibly leave town just now.
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: Of course, if you were in any danger, I could
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: and would. But you really are better, dear, whether you
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: can see it or not. I am a doctor, dear,
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: and I know you are gaining flesh and color. Your
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: appetite is better. I feel really much easier about you.
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: I don't weigh a bit more, or said I, nor
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: as much, and my appetite maybe better in the evening
• 42:04
  Speaker 1: when you are here, but it is worse in the
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: morning when you were away. Bless her little heart, said he,
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: with a big hug. She shall be as sick as
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: she pleases. But now let's improve the shining hours by
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: going to sleep and talk about it in the morning.
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: And you won't go away, I asked gloomily, How can I, dear?
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: It is only three weeks more, and then we will
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: take a nice little trip of a few days. While
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: Jeanie is getting the house ready. Really, dear, you are
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: better better in body? Perhaps I began and then stop short,
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: Or he sat up straight and looked at me with
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: such a stern, reproachful look that I could not say
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: another word. My darling, I beg of you, for my
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: sake and for our child's sake, as well as of
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: your own, that you will never, for one instant let
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: that idea enter your mind. There is nothing so dangerous,
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: so fascinating to a temperament like yours. It is a
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: false and foolish fancy. Can you not trust me as
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: a physician when I tell you so? So? Of course
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: I said no more on that score, and we went
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: to sleep before long. He thought I was asleep first,
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: but I wasn't, and lay there for hours trying to
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: decide whether that front pattern and the back pattern really
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: did move together or separately. On a pattern like this
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: by daylight, there's a lack of sequence, defines of law
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: that is constant irritant to a normal mind. Color is
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: hideous enough, and unreliable enough, and infuriating enough, but the
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: pattern is torturing. You think you have mastered it, but
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: just as you get well underway and following it turns
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: back a somersault, and there you are. It slaps you
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: in the face, knocks you down, and tramples you. It
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: is like a bad dream. The outside pattern is a
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: florid arabesque reminding one of a fungus. If you can
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: imagine a toadstool in joints, an interminable string of toadstools,
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: budding and sprouting and endless convolutions, why that is something
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: like it? That is, sometimes there's one marked peculiarity about
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: this paper, a thing nobody seems to notice but myself,
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: and that is that it changes as the light changes
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: when the sun shoots in through the east window. I
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: always watched for that first long straight ray. It changes
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: so quickly that I never can quite believe it. That
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: is why I always watch it by moonlight. The moon
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: shines in all night. When there is a moon, I
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: wouldn't know it was the same paper at night in
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: any kind of light, in twilight, candlelight, lamplight, and worst
• 44:26
  Speaker 1: of all, by moonlight, it becomes bars. The outside pattern
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: I mean, and the woman behind it is as plain
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: as can be. I didn't realize for a long time
• 44:35
  Speaker 1: what the thing was that showed behind that dim sub pattern.
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: But now I am quite sure it is a woman.
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: By daylight, she is subdued quiet. I fancy it is
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: the pattern that keeps her so still. It is so puzzling.
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: It keeps me quiet by the hour. I lie down
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: ever so much. Now John says it is good for
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: me and to sleep all I can. Indeed, he started
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: the habit by making me lie down for an hour
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: after each meal. It's a very bad habit, I am convinced.
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: For you see, I don't sleep, and that cultivates deceit
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: for I don't tell them I'm awake. Oh No. The
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: fact is I'm getting a little afraid of John. It
• 45:13
  Speaker 1: seems very queer sometimes, and even Jenny has an inexplicable look.
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: It strikes me occasionally just as a scientific hypothesis, but
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: perhaps it is the paper. All right, un she's coming
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: to her senses, right. I don't know if you would
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: call that a scientific hypothesis, but yeah, she seems to
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: be like, oh I mean about John, right, yeah, okay, yes,
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: agreed this quote position unquote mm hmm, all right. I've
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: watched John when he did not know I was looking,
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: and come into the room suddenly on the most innocent excuses,
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: and I've called him several times looking at the paper
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: and Jenny too. I caught Jenny with her hand on
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: it once. She didn't know I was in the room,
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: and when I asked her, in a quiet, very quiet voice,
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: with the most restrained manner possible, what she was doing
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: with the paper, she turned around as if she had
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: been caught stealing, and looked quite angry and asked me
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: why I should frighten her. So then she said that
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: the paper stained everything it touched, and she had found
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: yellow smooches on all my clothes and John's, and she
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: wished we would be more careful. Did not that sound innocent?
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: But I know she was studying that pattern, and I
• 46:29
  Speaker 1: am determined that nobody shall find it out. But myself,
• 46:33
  Speaker 1: life is very much more exciting now than it used
• 46:35
  Speaker 1: to be. You see, I have something more to expect,
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: to look forward to, to watch. I really do eat
• 46:41
  Speaker 1: better and more quiet than I was. John is so
• 46:45
  Speaker 1: pleased to see me improved. He laughed a little the
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: other day and said I seemed to be flourishing in
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: spite of my wallpaper. I turned it off with a laugh.
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: I had no intention of telling him it was because
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: of the wallpaper. He would make fun of me. He
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: might even want to take me away. I don't want
• 47:01
  Speaker 1: to leave now until I have found it out. There
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: is a week more, and I think that will be enough.
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: I'm feeling ever so much better. I don't sleep much
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: at night, for it is so interesting to watch the developments,
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: but I sleep a good deal in the daytime. In
• 47:16
  Speaker 1: the daytime it is tiresome and perplexing. There are always
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: new shoots on the fungus, and new shades of yellow
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: all over it. I cannot keep counting them, though I
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: have tried conscientiously. It is the strangest yellow that wallpaper.
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: It makes me think of all the yellow things I
• 47:33
  Speaker 1: ever saw, Not the beautiful ones like buttercups, but old, foul,
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: bad yellow things. There's something else about that paper, the smell.
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: I noticed it the moment we came in the room,
• 47:45
  Speaker 1: but with so much air and sun it was not bad.
• 47:48
  Speaker 1: Now we have had a week of fog and rain,
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: and whether the windows are open or not, the smell
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: is here. It creeps all over the house, find it
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: hovering in the dining room, skulking in the parlor, hiding
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: in the hall, lying in wait for me on the stairs.
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: It gets into my hair, even when I go to
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: ride by, turning my head suddenly in surprise. It there
• 48:10
  Speaker 1: is that smell, Such a peculiar odor too. I spend
• 48:14
  Speaker 1: hours in trying to analyze it, to find what it
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: smelled like. It is not bad at first, and very gentle,
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: but quite the subtlest, most enduring odor I ever met.
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: In this damp weather, it is awful. I wake up
• 48:29
  Speaker 1: in the night and find it hanging over me. It
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: used to disturb me. At first I thought seriously of
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: burning the house to reach the smell, but now I
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: am used to it. The only thing I can think
• 48:41
  Speaker 1: of that it is like is the color of the paper,
• 48:45
  Speaker 1: a yellow smell. There's a very funny mark on the
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: wall low down near the mopboard, a streak that runs
• 48:51
  Speaker 1: round the room. It goes behind every piece of furniture
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: except the bed, A long, straight, even smooch. What are
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: these smooches? I think she means like smear, smudge, Okay, smudge,
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: I think the old timey smudge. I'm gonna bring that back.
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: It goes behind every piece of furniture except the bed,
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: A long, straight, even smooch. As if it had been
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: rubbed over and over. I wonder how it was done
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: and who did it, and what they did it for.
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: Round and round and round, round and round and round.
• 49:23
  Speaker 1: It makes me dizzy. I really have discovered something at last,
• 49:29
  Speaker 1: through watching so much at night when it changes, so
• 49:31
  Speaker 1: I have finally found out the front pattern does move,
• 49:35
  Speaker 1: and no wonder the woman behind shakes it. Yeah, sometimes
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: I think there are a great many women behind, and
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: sometimes only one, and she crawls around fast, and her
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: crawling shakes it all over. Then in the very bright
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: spots she keeps still, and in the very shady spots
• 49:55
  Speaker 1: she just takes hold of the bars and shakes them hard,
• 49:58
  Speaker 1: and she's all the time haring to climb through. But
• 50:01
  Speaker 1: nobody could climb through that pattern. It strangles, So I
• 50:05
  Speaker 1: think that is why it has so many heads. They
• 50:08
  Speaker 1: get through, and then the pattern strangles them off and
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: turns them upside down and makes their eyes white. If
• 50:14
  Speaker 1: those heads were covered or taken off, it would not
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: be half so bad. I think that woman gets out
• 50:20
  Speaker 1: in the daytime, and I'll tell you why. Privately. I've
• 50:24
  Speaker 1: seen her. I can see her out of every one
• 50:27
  Speaker 1: of my windows, and it's the same woman I know,
• 50:29
  Speaker 1: for she is always creeping, and most women do not
• 50:32
  Speaker 1: creep by daylight. That is very true, except little gooses.
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: I see her on that long road under the tree,
• 50:40
  Speaker 1: creeping along. When a carriage comes, she hides under the
• 50:43
  Speaker 1: BlackBerry vines. I don't blame her a bit. It must
• 50:46
  Speaker 1: be very humiliating to be out creeping by daylight. I
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: always locked the door when I creep by daylight. I
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: can't do it at night, for I know John will
• 50:54
  Speaker 1: suspect something at once. And John is so queer now
• 50:59
  Speaker 1: that I don't want to irritate him. I wish he
• 51:01
  Speaker 1: would take another room. Besides, I don't want anybody to
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: get that woman out at night. But myself often wonder
• 51:08
  Speaker 1: if I could see her out of all the windows
• 51:09
  Speaker 1: at once, but turn as fast as I can. I
• 51:12
  Speaker 1: can only see out of one at a time, And
• 51:15
  Speaker 1: though I always see her, she may be able to
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: creep faster than I can turn. I watched her sometimes
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: away off in the open country, creeping as fast as
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: a cloud shadow in a high wind. If only that
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: top pattern could be gotten off from the under one,
• 51:30
  Speaker 1: I mean to try it a little. By little, I
• 51:32
  Speaker 1: found out another funny thing, but I shan't tell it
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: this time. Does not do to trust people so much.
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: There are only two more days to get this paper off,
• 51:41
  Speaker 1: and I believe John is beginning to notice. I don't
• 51:43
  Speaker 1: like the look in his eyes. And I heard him
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: ask Jenny a lot of professional questions about me. She
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: had a very good report to give. She said, I
• 51:52
  Speaker 1: slept a good deal in the daytime. John knows I
• 51:55
  Speaker 1: don't sleep very well at night, for all, I'm so quiet.
• 51:59
  Speaker 1: He asked me all sorts of questions too, and pretended
• 52:01
  Speaker 1: to be very loving and kind, as if I couldn't
• 52:04
  Speaker 1: see through him. Still, I don't wonder he x o
• 52:08
  Speaker 1: sleeping under this paper for three months. It only interests me,
• 52:12
  Speaker 1: but I feel sure John and Jenny are secretly affected
• 52:15
  Speaker 1: by it. All right, take his home, brother taken at home.
• 52:22
  Speaker 1: Come on, poor lady, let's go hurrah. This is the
• 52:27
  Speaker 1: last day. But it is enough John to stay in
• 52:30
  Speaker 1: town overnight and won't be out until this evening. Jenny
• 52:33
  Speaker 1: wanted to sleep with me the sly thing, but I
• 52:35
  Speaker 1: told her I should undoubtedly rest better for a night
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: all alone. That was clever, for really, I wasn't alone
• 52:42
  Speaker 1: a bit as soon as it was moonlight, and that
• 52:45
  Speaker 1: poor thing began to crawl and shake the pattern. I
• 52:47
  Speaker 1: got up and ran to help her. I pulled and
• 52:50
  Speaker 1: she shook. I shook and she pulled, And before morning
• 52:53
  Speaker 1: we had peeled off yards of that paper, a strip
• 52:55
  Speaker 1: about as high as my head and half around the room.
• 52:58
  Speaker 1: And then when the sun came, that awful pattern began
• 53:01
  Speaker 1: to laugh at me. I declared I would finish it
• 53:03
  Speaker 1: to day. We go away tomorrow, and they are moving
• 53:06
  Speaker 1: all of my furniture down again, to leave things as
• 53:09
  Speaker 1: they were before. Jenny looked at the wall in amazement,
• 53:12
  Speaker 1: but I told her merrily that I did it out
• 53:14
  Speaker 1: of pure fite at the vicious thing. She laughed and
• 53:17
  Speaker 1: said she wouldn't mind doing it herself, but I must
• 53:19
  Speaker 1: not get tired. How she betrayed herself that time. But
• 53:23
  Speaker 1: I am here, and no person touches the paper but
• 53:26
  Speaker 1: me not alive. She tried to get me out of
• 53:29
  Speaker 1: the room, it was too patent, but I said it
• 53:32
  Speaker 1: was so quiet and empty and clean now that I
• 53:34
  Speaker 1: believed I would lie down again and sleep all I could,
• 53:37
  Speaker 1: and not to wake me even for dinner. I would
• 53:39
  Speaker 1: call when I woke. So now she is gone and
• 53:42
  Speaker 1: the servants are gone and the things are gone, and
• 53:44
  Speaker 1: there is nothing left with that great bedstead nailed down
• 53:47
  Speaker 1: with the canvas mattress we found on it. We shall
• 53:50
  Speaker 1: sleep downstairs tonight and take the boat home tomorrow. I
• 53:54
  Speaker 1: quite enjoy the room now, but it is bare again.
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: How those children did tear about here? The bedstet is
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: fairly gnawed. But I must get to work. I have
• 54:04
  Speaker 1: locked the door and thrown the key down into the
• 54:05
  Speaker 1: front path. I don't want to go out, and I
• 54:08
  Speaker 1: don't want to have anybody come in until John comes.
• 54:11
  Speaker 1: I wanted to astonish him. I've got a rope up here,
• 54:16
  Speaker 1: and that even Jenny did not find. If that woman
• 54:19
  Speaker 1: does get out and tries to get away, I can
• 54:21
  Speaker 1: tie her. But I forgot. I could not reach far
• 54:24
  Speaker 1: without anything to stand on. This bed will not move.
• 54:28
  Speaker 1: I tried to lift it and push it until I
• 54:30
  Speaker 1: was lame, and then I got so angry. I bit
• 54:32
  Speaker 1: off a little piece at one corner, but it hurt
• 54:34
  Speaker 1: my teeth. Then I peeled off all the paper I
• 54:37
  Speaker 1: could reach standing on the floor. It sticks horribly, and
• 54:40
  Speaker 1: the pattern just enjoys it. All those strangled heads and
• 54:43
  Speaker 1: bulbous eyes and waddling fungus growths to shriek with derision.
• 54:48
  Speaker 1: I'm getting angry enough to do something desperate. To jump
• 54:51
  Speaker 1: out the window would be an admirable exercise, but the
• 54:54
  Speaker 1: bars are too strong to even try. Besides, I wouldn't
• 54:57
  Speaker 1: do it, of course, not. I know well enough that
• 55:00
  Speaker 1: a step like that is improper. It might be misconstrued.
• 55:03
  Speaker 1: I don't like to look out the windows even There
• 55:06
  Speaker 1: are so many of those creeping women, and they creep
• 55:08
  Speaker 1: so fast. I wonder if they all come out of
• 55:11
  Speaker 1: that wallpaper as I did. But I am securely fastened
• 55:15
  Speaker 1: now by my well hidden rope. You don't get me
• 55:18
  Speaker 1: out into the road there. I suppose I shall have
• 55:20
  Speaker 1: to get back behind the pattern when it comes at night,
• 55:23
  Speaker 1: and that is hard. It is so pleasant to be
• 55:26
  Speaker 1: out in this great room and creep around as I please.
• 55:29
  Speaker 1: I don't want to go outside. I won't even if
• 55:31
  Speaker 1: Jenny asks me to. For outside, you have to creep
• 55:34
  Speaker 1: on the ground, and everything is green instead of yellow.
• 55:37
  Speaker 1: But here I can creep smoothly on the floor, and
• 55:39
  Speaker 1: my shoulder just fits in that long smooch around the wall,
• 55:42
  Speaker 1: so I cannot lose my way. Why there's John at
• 55:45
  Speaker 1: the door. It is no use, young man. You can't
• 55:48
  Speaker 1: open it. How he does call and pound. Now he's
• 55:51
  Speaker 1: crying for an axe. It would be ashamed to break
• 55:54
  Speaker 1: down that beautiful door, John dear, said I, in the
• 55:57
  Speaker 1: gentlest voice. The key is down by the front steps
• 56:00
  Speaker 1: under a plantain leaf. That silenced him for a few moments.
• 56:04
  Speaker 1: Then he said, very quietly, indeed, opened the door, my darling,
• 56:08
  Speaker 1: I can't, said I. The key is down by the
• 56:10
  Speaker 1: front door, under a plantain leaf. And then I said
• 56:13
  Speaker 1: it again several times, very gently and slowly, and said
• 56:17
  Speaker 1: it so often that he had to go and see.
• 56:19
  Speaker 1: And he got it, of course, and he came in.
• 56:21
  Speaker 1: He stopped short by the door. What is the matter,
• 56:25
  Speaker 1: he cried, for God's sake, what are you doing? I
• 56:28
  Speaker 1: kept on creeping just the same, But I looked at
• 56:30
  Speaker 1: him over my shoulder. I've got out at last, said I,
• 56:33
  Speaker 1: in spite of you and Jane. And I've pulled off
• 56:35
  Speaker 1: most of the paper, so you can't put me back. Now.
• 56:38
  Speaker 1: Why should that man have fainted? But he did, and
• 56:41
  Speaker 1: right across my path by the wall, so that I
• 56:44
  Speaker 1: had to creep over him every time. Alrighty, that was
• 56:55
  Speaker 1: a good story. Creeping she she became part of the wallpaper. Yeah,
• 57:02
  Speaker 1: and I love how um Madam Perkins Uh to switch
• 57:07
  Speaker 1: suddenly where your brains like, wait, what happened? And then
• 57:10
  Speaker 1: it starts to sink in. It's great stuff. Yeah, very
• 57:13
  Speaker 1: creepy uh and quite a feminist statement. Like I said,
• 57:17
  Speaker 1: you don't have to read between any lines on that one.
• 57:20
  Speaker 1: Um yeah, being held behind bars Yeah yeah. Uh. Well,
• 57:24
  Speaker 1: happy Halloween everybody, Thanks for joining us. We hope you
• 57:27
  Speaker 1: liked this one. Yeah, and this one uh is released
• 57:30
  Speaker 1: right on Halloween, which is always nice. It is perfect,
• 57:32
  Speaker 1: as they say, so until the next episode. If you
• 57:36
  Speaker 1: want to get in touch with us, you can tweet
• 57:38
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• 57:41
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• 57:44
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• 57:48
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• 57:51
  Speaker 1: at how stuff Works dot com and has always joined
• 57:54
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• 57:56
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• 58:06
  Speaker 1: other topics, visit how Stuff Works dot com.