Ep 4 | Transcript

00:00:04

NARRATOR

In October of 2011, 4 college students disappeared in the woods near Porter Township Pennsylvania while researching a documentary on children’s author Jakob Stanley. They remain missing to this day. Last month, their recordings appeared online.

00:00:20

NARRATOR

In an effort to aid in the investigation, the families of those missing have agreed to release the following sound files. If anyone has information on those missing or the identity of the person or persons who uploaded these files, please use the contact information provided. Anything submitted may be used in future episodes. Certain materials referenced in this podcast, including the published works of Jakob Stanley, are currently protected under U.S. copyright law and may be redacted. For legal reasons, some names have been withheld and voices altered. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the podcasters and participants, and do not represent the official policy or position of the Iphigenia County Police Department of Porter Township Pennsylvania or its associates. This podcast contains adult themes and language. Listener discretion is advised.

00:01:12

PROFESSOR WHITAKER

File labeled: “004 Rough Cut, Episode 4 - Tell Me a Story: The True Life of Jakob Stanley.”

SFX: The mic pops on. It is being manhandled as levels are adjusted.

SFX: An ear-piercing phone ring screams out from a landline.

00:01:34

CHUCK

(off mic)

The ear plugs, they do nothing!

TOLEN

Check, check.

AVERY

(off mic)

Are you actually messing with the H4N right now!

TOLEN

I just wanna make sure-

SFX: Another ear-piercing phone ring screams out from the room’s landline.

AVERY

(off mic)

ANSWER THE DAMN PHONE!

TOLEN

I’m gonna, just give me-

SFX: Another ear-piercing phone ring screams out from the room’s landline. RJ answers the phone.

(off mic)

Hello.

TOLEN

Wait, wait, wait, here.

Hello? ... There’s no one there. Hello?

SFX: Avery grabs the phone from RJ.

AVERY

WHO THE HELL IS THIS?

CHUCK

(off mic)

DO THEY KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS!

AVERY

DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?! ... WHY DO YOU KEEP CALLING? ... HELLO?

CHUCK

(off mic)

I'm never gonna get back to sleep now.

AVERY

We should just keep it off the hook.

SFX: From the phone line we hear the faintest of possible whimpers.

AVERY (CONT’D)

Hello?

TOLEN

Who is it?

AVERY

Shhhhhhh! ... Hello? .... If someone’s there, hit one of the buttons. ... Hello? ... Hello? ... They hung up.

SFX: Avery hangs up the receiver.

TOLEN

Who do you think it was?

00:02:23

AVERY

Uhm, I don’t know.

TOLEN

Maybe we should-

SFX: BOOM! Suddenly, the Homestead’s main entrance massive double doors slam open downstairs. A shuffling wave of heavy boots rolls into the downstairs.

CHUCK

What the hell?

SFX: Tables and chairs start being moved around the downstairs, faint voices are barking orders.

SFX: RJ crosses to the window and looks below.

The entire parking lot’s filling up.

TOLEN

‘Wonder what’s going on?

SFX: Sirens cry out in the distance and continue through the end of the scene.

SFX: Avery starts getting dressed.

AVERY

All right.

CHUCK

What are you doing?

AVERY

I’m gonna go down there.

SFX: RJ starts getting dressed as well.

I’ll go with you.

SFX: Tolen starts getting dressed as well.

TOLEN

We’ll all go.

CHUCK

Uggggghhhhhhhh.

SFX: The sirens get closer.

00:02:54

[PODCAST INTRO SEQUENCE]

NEWS ANNOUNCER

WN [BEEP REDACTED] TV New York.

MUSIC: [80’s NEWS INTRO THEME]

NEWS ANCHOR ‘83

If your child has been to a school book fair recently, chances are they came home with one of this author’s scary books-

MUSIC: [80’s SUNDAY TALK SHOW THEME]

SUNDAY MORNING TALK SHOW HOST ‘81

Our guest’s first anthology leapt to the top of the New York Times Best Sellers list -

MUSIC: [LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW INTRO APPLAUSE]

LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW HOST ‘86

- Thank you. Thank you! Over the past few years, he has become a household name -

MUSIC: [PODCAST THEME]

PUBLIC RADIO HOST ‘92

- Bridging the gap between Alvin Schwartz and Stephen King -

TV PREACHER

- The devil is among us, friends.

CONGREGATION

AMEN!

TV PREACHER

He’s among us, in the form of a writer. -

SUNDAY MORNING TALK SHOW HOST ‘81

- The book might have struggled during it initial release in 1977, but now “Tell Me A Story: Under the Bed That’s Over My Head”, has skyrocketed -

ALSC COMMITTEE REP

- So many parent organizations complained that his work was too sophisticated for children-

TV PREACHER

- He has infiltrated your homes, and your children’s minds-

PUBLIC RADIO HOST ‘92

- His second macabre anthology “Tell Me A Story: Moonless Sky and Other Friends” sold out from bookstores in mere minutes. Becoming a controversial -

NEWS ANCHOR ‘83

- Stanley's books ranked on the American Library Association’s “100 Most Frequently Challenged Books” from 1981-1993 -

TV PREACHER

- Stanley’s books promote disobedience, violence and the occult! Lord have mercy -

PUBLIC RADIO HOST ‘92

- The 3rd volume in his “Tell Me A Story” collection “The Floor That Creaks, the Closet That Speaks and the Tip Toes That You Walk On” was released in 1986 to mass acclaim -

ALSC COMMITTEE REP

- All that fussing, just made his work more popular -

TV PREACHER

- Check your children’s rooms, check their bookshelves, check their back-packs! -

YOUTUBER

- I do think his final book, released in ‘99, “TMAS: The nightmare, The Dream and the Places Between,” was by far his best work.-

PUBLIC RADIO HOST ‘92

- His work has been described as “subversive” and “dark,” I simply describe it as genius.

SUNDAY MORNING TALK SHOW HOST ‘81

- It is my pleasure to introduce -

LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW HOST ‘86

- Please welcome -

PUBLIC RADIO HOST ‘92

- Ladies and gentleman, please welcome -

SUNDAY MORNING TALK SHOW HOST ‘81

- Jakob Stanley.-

LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW HOST ‘86

- Mister Jakob Stanley.

PUBLIC RADIO HOST ‘92

- Author, Jakob Stanley.

[Applause.]

MUSIC: [POD THEME SYNTH]

00:04:35

AVERY/NARRATOR

Little to nothing is known about the life of this elusive author. And since 1999 Jakob Stanley seems to have completely dropped off the face of the earth. Until a short two-line obituary appeared in a small town paper, over a year ago.

TOLEN/NARRATOR

From BOO Labs and Red Cup Media, I'm Tolen Reid -

AVERY/NARRATOR

And I'm Avery Fischer, this is TELL ME A STORY: THE TRUE LIFE OF JAKOB STANLEY.

SFX: The mic clicks on.

SFX: The entire downstairs is bursting with people. It feels loud and chaotic, but people are barely talking and when they do, it is in hushed tones.

00:05:14

TOLEN

(narrates the scene)

Uh, well it looks like people are setting up some kind of emergency command post? Uhm. We’re not sure exactly what’s going on.

DEBBIE

Coming through!

TOLEN

We’re trying to stay out of their way, but as you can tell it’s a little difficult. Uh... uhm.

They set up an area with food and coffee, there are probably like 15-20 people in here, 20 more outside, a handful of cops, volunteer fire department members, 4 of which are women, so hell yeah.

CHUCK

Some extras from "Night of the Living Dead."

AVERY

Shhh.

The owner of the Homestead, Deb, is running this set up like she could do it in her sleep. Everyone is behaving like they could do this in their sleep, no one has to talk, they just... move.

TOLEN

It’s a little terrifying that they’re that good at this...

SFX: Avery approaches Debbie.

TOLEN (CONT’D)

Avery?!

AVERY

What do you need help with?

DEBBIE

Uh... Fill up those with coffee, and put them by the front door.

AVERY

On it.

DEBBIE

Hey. Are they gonna help too, or just hold up my wall? Cause I got nails for that.

What can I do?

DEBBIE

Grab the cases of water from the back and stack them by the door. You two-

TOLEN

Uh-

DEBBIE

Grab the MRE boxes next to the water, and stack them by the door.

TOLEN & CHUCK

Yes, ma’am.

SFX: Their mics cut off abruptly.

SFX: The sound of a recorder clicks on.

SFX: The loud chaos of the emergency command center is only slightly muffled by the bathroom door.

00:06:25

AVERY

Uhm. Uh... okay. Quick update: It’s all a bit wild here right now, Uh... evidently late last night a forest fire started in the woods near the Mendenhall Institute and it’s doubled in size since this morning... You can see the smoke for miles.

DEBBIE

(through bathroom door)

Jesus Christ!

SFX: A toilet flushes.

AVERY

Sorry the sound quality sucks, I just ducked into the bathroom quick.

DEBBIE

(through bathroom door)

Doc, move it!

AVERY

RJ and I stayed to help out at the Homestead, and Tolen and Chuck drove supplies to the firefighter mobile operation center -

DEBBIE

(through bathroom door)

MORE COMING IN!

AVERY

Uh, alright, break time is over. [heavy exhale]

SFX: Her mic cuts off.

SFX: The sound of a recorder clicks on.

SFX: From the interior of Tolen’s car we hear the madness of the firefighters camp in the distance. Tolen is switching on the mic.

00:07:06

TOLEN

Check. Check... I couldn’t find out anything. Check. Check.

CHUCK

Overheard someone say that the last fire this bad in Porter happened about 50 years ago. Some silo caught fire or was set on fire, something.

TOLEN

Huh.

CHUCK

But nothing about what’s going on now.

TOLEN

I don’t understand how a forest fire starts after it’s been raining. It doesn’t make any sense - Hey, is that Wallace?

CHUCK

Where? ... Oh yeah. Hi. ... Maybe he can tell us what’s going on.

SFX: Wallace approaches the car and knocks on the hood.

WALLACE

(from outside car)

Permission to come aboard?

CHUCK

(through the windshield to Wallace)

Come on in, man!

TOLEN

It’s so weird to see you being nice to someone.

CHUCK

Shut up.

SFX: Wallace gets into the back seat of the car and closes the door behind him.

00:07:41

CHUCK (CONT’D)

Hey Wallace, how you doing?

WALLACE

Better than that lot over there. So, how in the hell y’all get pulled into this mess?

TOLEN

Well, we’re at the Homestead.

WALLACE

Right, right... Hotbed Homestead, Headquarters for all emergencies both foreign and domestic. Hope y’all got sleep last night, cuz that place gonna be madness til this clears up.

CHUCK

Shit, really?

WALLACE

Shit yes.

TOLEN

So, what’s going on? A fire just started in the middle of the woods?

WALLACE

That’s the basic gist - they don’t know how it started yet - but what’s got everybody in such a tizzy, are the old coal mines.

TOLEN

There were coal mines here?

WALLACE

Yeah, yeah. A mess of abandoned ones. But the thing is, they’re not exactly sure where all of them are. They just keep getting found all over the place.

TOLEN

So, wait. Like... they’re worried a forest fire hit an abandoned coal mine and that’s why it's so big or did a coal mine just catch fire on its own?

CHUCK

Can that even happen?

TOLEN

Damn, I miss having the ability to look things up on my phone.

WALLACE

They just don’t want another Centralia.

TOLEN

See, if I could search that I would know what you were talking about.

WALLACE

Centralia, PA’s abandoned coal mines caught fire in 1962, and been burning ever since.

CHUCK

Shit, seriously?

WALLACE

Town’s uninhabitable, just left to burn.

CHUCK

Damn.

00:08:54

WALLACE

But either way, this might be a mine, might not be a mine, but this much fire... just sprouting up - after a rain - don’t make much sense any which-a-way.

SFX: The loud ticking of a massive grandfather clock welcomes us back to the Homestead. The clock strikes 12. The room feels empty and still except for a few pops coming from a fire in the fireplace.

SFX: A loud chair slides across the wooden floor, it is being pulled up to a table in the corner by Homestead owner, Deb. She falls into it, exhausted.

(whispering)

We should just go over there?

AVERY

(whispering)

See if she’ll talk to us? Yeah.

(whispering)

Yeah.

AVERY

(whispering)

Yeah.

DEBBIE

Mind if I smoke?

Uh-

AVERY

No, we don’t mind.

Actually...

SFX: Debbie pulls out a baggie of weed and dusts off a rolled joint.

RJ (CONT’D)

Oh.

AVERY

(under her breath)

Did not see that coming.

Oh yeah, no worries.

DEBBIE

Come on over, take a load off.

AVERY

Uh, yes. Thanks.

SFX: Avery and RJ walk over to Debbie and take a seat, as Deb lights the joint and takes a hit.

00:09:40

DEBBIE

(as she exhales)

Bet you wished ya left yesterday?

AVERY

A little.

But, we’re glad that we could help out.

DEBBIE

What you doing here anyway? Jane said something about a documentary? Here.

SFX: Deb passes the joint to RJ.

Oh, thank you.

AVERY

We’re doing a podcast-

DEBBIE

A what?

A podcast, it’s like a... radio show?

DEBBIE

Huh, learn something new everyday. Here.

SFX: RJ takes a hit and passes it to Avery.

AVERY

And, thank you.

SFX: Avery takes a hit.

DEBBIE

What’s your names again?

AVERY

(as she exhales)

I’m Avery and this is RJ.

SFX: RJ finally exhales and begins to cough. Debbie laughs lightly.

Whoo, that’s no joke.

DEBBIE

Grow it for Miss Loretta.

Miss Loretta?

DEBBIE

My mom, she’s got glaucoma.

Oh, I’m sorry about that.

DEBBIE

Don’t be, she’s not. Gives that woman an excuse to be high as a kite all day.

SFX: The front desk clerk shuffles into the room.

DOC GRUB

Knock, knock. Yins’ girls, need anything? Going to the store awhile.

DEBBIE

No Doc, go on.

DOC GRUB

Yins’, suuurrreee?

DEBBIE

Doc, I said no.

DOC GRUB

All right, don’t says I didn’t ask.

DEBBIE

Thanks, Doc.

DOC GRUB

Buh-bye-bye, now.

SFX: Doc Grub slowly slinks away.

00:10:45

He’s a doctor?

DEBBIE

No.

AVERY

Oh-kay.

DEBBIE

So, a documentary... on Russell?

AVERY

Well, he wrote under the name Jakob Stanley. Did the “Tell Me a Story” book series.

You didn’t know him by any chance?

DEBBIE

Not really... but Russell went to elementary school with my brother, though.

AVERY

Really?

We were told he was homeschooled?

DEBBIE

That was high school, after he got kicked outta Amherst.

AVERY

Wait, Stanley went to Amherst!?

DEBBIE

To keep the peace they used to occasionally give scholarships to locals.

But, he got kicked out?

DEBBIE

Yeah, was bullied by some rich kid and shit happened. At least that’s what I heard.

AVERY

Did your brother go to Amherst?

DEBBIE

Oh no, that boy’s dumb as hell.

[The women laugh.]

AVERY

Did you know the family at all?

DEBBIE

Not really... But you could talk to David Rockland? Family has a dairy farm off Willoughby, they’ve been here for ages.

SFX: Doc Grub shuffles into the room.

DOC GRUB

Knock, knock.

DEBBIE

That was fast?

DOC GRUB

Thought yins’ ladies would like to know... the fire seems to be under control.

At least what’s they can see above ground.

AVERY

Above ground?

DEBBIE

Rita hear it on the scanner?

DOC GRUB

Yes, ma’am, she had it going in the store full blast.

DEBBIE

Well, that’s a bit of good news. So, no coal mine?

Coal mine?

SFX: The Homestead’s main desk phone begins to ring.

DOC GRUB

Not sure, but the scare was enough to get the state involved. Probably be another survey. Still on a little “alert.”

DEBBIE

Thanks, Doc.

SFX: Doc Grub slowly slinks away to answer the phone.

DOC GRUB

Buh-bye-bye, now.

So... “coal mine”?

SFX: From the interior of Tolen’s car we hear the madness of the firefighters camp in the distance.

00:12:31

CHUCK

The fire didn’t get anywhere near your place, did it?

WALLACE

Oh, hell yeah it did. Woke up to my whole G. D. house full of smoke.

TOLEN

Is your home all right?

WALLACE

Think so, I got that fire road there and luckily everything is on the other side of that, but if this is a coal mine fire, that road ain’t gonna mean shit.

TOLEN

Right, the fire road...

TOLEN (CONT’D)

Oh no.

CHUCK

The FMC!

TOLEN

AND the two bags you left, uugh! You didn’t by any chance notice-

WALLACE

- If your FMC was okay? No, Tolen, no, I did not. Because my house was full of smoke and I had to evacuate.

00:13:07

TOLEN

Sorry, I didn’t... I’m sorry.

CHUCK

Yeah, man, sorry.

WALLACE

Naw’ y’all, it’s okay. Speaking of the FMC... you guys talked to your friend Jane today? The area hit most was between her place and the fire road.

TOLEN

We thought the fire was mostly on the grounds of the Mendenhall?

WALLACE

Her house is on the grounds of the Mendenhall.

TOLEN

What?

WALLACE

She owns the grounds of the Mendenhall... Well, her uncle did anyway.

TOLEN

What?!

WALLACE

The area of the fire is like a triangle with the Mendenhall, Jane’s house and the fire road making the points.

TOLEN

She didn’t tell us that!

WALLACE

Didn’t tell you what?

TOLEN

About the Mendenhall? Why wouldn’t she have told us that?

CHUCK

Maybe she didn’t know?

TOLEN

We talked to her for hours!

CHUCK

What the hell does it matter?

TOLEN

What the hell does it matter?!

CHUCK

Jeeze, man you need to chill out.

TOLEN

CHILL OUT?!

WALLACE

TOLEN. Did you guys hear from Jane today?

SFX: Suddenly, a loud burst of police sirens ring out approaching the base camp.

TOLEN

Oh shit.

SFX: Wallace, Tolen and Chuck, all bolt from the car.

SFX: The loud ticking of a massive grandfather clock as well as a few pops coming from a fire in the fireplace echo in the room.

00:14:11

So, do they think it was arson?

SFX: Doc enters.

DOC GRUB

Knock, knock, again.

DEBBIE

Yes, Doc?

DOC GRUB

That was Jan... uh, Jan, from the police station.

DEBBIE

What’d he want, Doc?

DOC GRUB

It’s a message for the girls here. Girls, your little friends are with Wallace.

AVERY

What?

DOC GRUB

But don’t worry now, the police have’uhm. Okey. Buh-bye-bye, now.

What?

DEBBIE

Doc. I think you’re gonna need to elaborate.

DOC GRUB

Troopers radioed into the station that they’re all over at the Stanley house, in the woods there, and your friends asked that a message be passed on to yins’, so yins’ wouldn’t worry.

Why are they at the Stanley house?

DOC GRUB

Didn’t say.

When will they be back?

DOC GRUB

Didn’t say.

How do we get a hold of them?

DOC GRUB

Didn’t say.

But-

AVERY

Thank you, Doc. Thank you.

DOC GRUB

Buh-bye-bye, now.

SFX: Doc Grub slinks away.

00:15:07

AVERY

Sorry, that didn’t seem to be going anywhere.

But-

AVERY

I have Wallace’s card from yesterday, so we can get to them through him. Or, evidently just call the police station if we need to, right?

DEBBIE

Don’t see why not.

Okay.

AVERY

I’m sure they’re fine.

LORETTA

(from the fireplace room)

Not in those woods, they ain’t.

SFX: Debbie, RJ and Avery jump and gasp.

DEBBIE

Damn mom, how long have you been hiding over there?!

LORETTA

(from the fireplace room)

Not hiding if you’re there first.

DEBBIE

You almost gave these ladies a heart attack.

LORETTA

(from the fireplace room)

Well, I certainly did not want to do that! Come over here girls, let me get a look at ya.

SFX: Debbie, RJ and Avery cross over to Loretta in the fireplace room.

LORETTA (CONT’D)

Come on now, I won’t bite. Sit, sit, sit.

DEBBIE

Mom, this is RJ and this is Avery. They’re staying in the Henrietta Suite.

LORETTA

Oh, that’s my favorite one.

DEBBIE

They’re all her favorite one.

LORETTA

I’m blind, dear, not deaf. Nice to meet you Avery and RJ.

AVERY

Hello.

Hiyah.

DEBBIE

They’re from [BEEP] University.

LORETTA

Oh, my.

DEBBIE

They’re in town doing a documentary on Russell Stanley.

LORETTA

Why on earth would they wanna do that?

AVERY

Uh, he, he became a famous writer, ma’am.

LORETTA

Again, with the “ma’am”? Who am I the Queen of England? Call me Miss Loretta.

AVERY

Heh, okay. Miss Loretta it is.

LORETTA

Now, why those kids out in the Mendenhall woods?

Oh, Miss Loretta, they’re not in the Mendenhall woods they’re at Jane Stanley’s.

LORETTA

Jane?

DEBBIE

Russell’s niece, inherited the Stanley place.

LORETTA

Oh, that’s all Mendenhall Woods, girls.

What?

DEBBIE

That house is technically on the Mendenhall property. Or, the Mendenhall is on Jane’s property.

00:16:45

AVERY

Holy shit! - Sorry, Miss Loretta.

We did not know that.

AVERY

We interviewed Jane yesterday and it never came up.

LORETTA

I think you missing the point here, those kids need to get out of that wood.

Any particular reason?

AVERY

Are there like a lot of abandoned mines out there, Miss Loretta?

DEBBIE

It’s near where the fire was today, mom.

LORETTA

I don’t know nothing about any abandoned mines, I just know those woods is a bad place.

DEBBIE

Mom, they don’t wanna hear your ghost stories.

Oh, I think we do!

AVERY

Oh, I know we do.

DEBBIE

Here we go.

Jane only kinda painted some broad strokes while we were out there yesterday.

LORETTA

You girls went out there?! Deb, go get my sage stick.

DEBBIE

Mom!

(aside)

Uhm. How do we address cultural appropriations with an octogenarian?

LORETTA

I’m not kidding, I need to smudge these girls.

AVERY

(aside)

Think she’s a nonagenarian.

DEBBIE

You ladies hungry?

I could eat.

LORETTA

Debora Lynn!

DEBBIE

Got some left over stew?

AVERY

Uh, sounds good.

LORETTA

Debora Lynn Moyer don’t you dare ignore me.

DEBBIE

I’ll heat it up... Don’t let her scare ya, now.

We’ll be all right.

LORETTA

They will be fine, once you get my damn smudge stick.

(under breath to Avery)

Again, I ask-

AVERY

(under breath to RJ)

- Man, I don’t know.

DEBBIE

I will be right back. Old woman, you better watch yourself.

LORETTA

Get!

SFX: Debbie exits.

00:17:51

LORETTA (CONT’D)

Now... what do you ladies know about the Mendenhall?

SFX: Avery hits play on a VM message from Tolen.

AUTOMATED VOICE

(over phone line)

You have one new message. First voice message:

TOLEN

(over phone line)

Hey, it’s me. ... Uh, not sure if you got our message via the “police phone tree,” but no need to worry about us, we’re all okay. Chuck and I are at Wallace’s now, so you can reach us here. So, what happened was... after we dropped off the supplies, we ran into Wallace and he asked if we had heard from Jane, we got a little freaked since the fire was so close to her house, so we told the cops, and then we all went over to her place. She wasn’t there, but her car was parked out front, so we started looking around for her... and nothing. So, the troopers are planning a more formal search for the morning. Uh. Wallace made us food... and oh my Jeebus, I think it was even better than the food at the Homestead... PLEASE don’t tell Deb that. Oh and, shit, all the gear, all the gear we had died on us... I know that’s probably the last thing I should be thinking about, but the extra batteries and chargers are in the room there, so yeah. Uh, hold on to these voice mails, maybe they can work as inserts? Hope you guys got something. ... OH! And side note: Stanley owned the Mendenhall! What-what-what?

SFX: Beep.

SFX: The loud ticking of a massive grandfather clock welcomes us back to the Homestead. The fire pops occasionally in the fireplace.

00:19:17

The Mendenhall was a psychiatric hospital, right?

LORETTA

Might’a claimed to be, but oh sweet dear Lord, what a horrible place. Opened in 1901... started by a “religious sect” named “The Order of the Light,” or “The Light of His Word”? Anyway, I always just knew uhm as “The Light.” They founded the Institute on the notion that the best treatment for the mentally ill was solitude and physical labor ... which is why they had so much land. It provided complete isolation, as well as the acreage for a proper farm. Grew all their own food, tended their own animals, even had their own post office and hair salon.

AVERY

So, it was a completely closed circuit.

LORETTA

No need to go nowhere for nothing. ... After a few years it gets a reputation with rich folks for it’s beauty and grandeur. It’s serenity. It’s privacy. It’s discretion.

Oh, jeeze.

00:20:22

LORETTA

Soon enough, every high society family’s “secret little shame” began flooding in, more than they could handle. But, the money was just too good to pass up. So, they started buying up more and more of the surrounding land... and new patients just kept on comin’... But none of them ever seemed to be leaving.

AVERY

Oh, no.

LORETTA

This went on for years. And no one had any idea what was really going on there. Even the locals on staff were in the dark. Only the live-in members of The Light were permitted access to the whole facility.

AVERY

That can’t be good.

Never good.

LORETTA

It wasn’t until a bunch of patients started escaping in the 60s and 70s that anyone ever thought something was amiss. And then, after 80 years in business... just like that [snaps her fingers] it was all over.

It just closed?

LORETTA

Townsfolk showed up for work one morning and found the grounds completely empty. They searched the offices and patients’ rooms - couldn’t find a soul. In a panic, they broke in to the “unauthorized” areas. And OH, what they found there.

00:21:35

What did they find there?!

LORETTA

Initially, it didn’t seem too suspicious... just a bunch of underground tunnels that connected all the buildings and different parts of the farm...

AVERY

Secret underground tunnels?!

I die. I’m dead. This is amazing.

LORETTA

However, one tunnel seemed to lead miles off site... So they followed it... all the way to it’s end.

AVERY

Oh, I don’t like it.

LORETTA

After a ways in... they started noticing all this soot hanging in the air.

AVERY

Don’t like it.

LORETTA

This tunnel dead ended into a large stone room, carved right into the base of Great Cliff’s Peak.

Why does that sound so familiar?

LORETTA

At first, they thought it was just a furnace... but they soon discovered that the stone room ... was a massive ... crematorium.

Oh, no.

LORETTA

Oh, yes.

AVERY

Whoa!

LORETTA

Mm-hmm.

So, were they just killing patients and burning them up?

LORETTA

Not sure about the killing, but they’d sure get rid of ‘uhm quickly and quietly... And keep on cashing the checks.

AVERY

Dammmmnnnn.

LORETTA

Mm-hmm.

I am shook.

LORETTA

They even leased the land above uhm’ on Great Cliff to a funeral home, so they could hide in plain sight.

AH! That place we called! Uh, the one with the crazy voicemail?

AVERY

The Palmers! The Palmer Family Funeral Home and ... Crematory.

I knew it sounded familiar.

LORETTA

Now, just think of all those poor lost souls, thousands of them, with no proper burial and nowhere to go. ... Nowhere to go, but them woods.

Goose. Bumps.

AVERY

Oh my God!

LORETTA

And girls, that’s not even the tip of the iceberg.

Ooooh my goodness!

SFX: Kitchen door swings open, Deb calls out from the kitchen.

DEBBIE

Mom. Enough, alright?

It’s okay, we live for this.

00:23:47

DEBBIE

Well, I don’t, gets her all riled up.

AVERY

Oh, we’re sorry, we just-

DEBBIE

If you is hungry better come and get it.

SFX: The kitchen door swings shut.

AVERY

Uh.

LORETTA

You girls, go on, get some food in ya... We can talk more later tonight, my parole officer’s in bed by 9.

[Avery, RJ and Loretta giggle.]

SFX: Avery hits play on a VM message from Tolen.

AUTOMATED VOICE

(over phone line)

You have one new message. Second voice message:

TOLEN

(over phone line)

Hey, it’s me again. Uh, we’re exhausted... but at the same time, way amped up. Like our brains will NOT shut off. Soooo - uh, not sure how your gonna feel about this... But... we decided to do a little cursory search for Jane. - Nothing crazy, don’t worry, Wallace mapped it all out. We’re gonna start from here, cut over to where the RV is parked, check on that, see if we can grab the bags Chuck left and then walk straight over to Jane’s and come right back. We’ll stay at Wallace’s tonight, so we can meet up with the search party at first light. Rhyming not intended. Ah,... you can leave messages for us here, we’ll get them. ... I’ll call in the morning, before we meet up with the search party, okay? Oh, yeah! And I have called Whitaker’s office line for her nightly voicemail briefing, don’t worry I edited... a lot. Anyways, time to head out. ... Night.

SFX: Loud Beep. Avery hangs up the phone.

00:25:05

How fucking stupid can they be?

AVERY

Whoa.

They’re gonna go wander aimlessly, in the woods, in the middle of the goddamn night?!

AVERY

Dang RJ, tell me how you really feel.

You can’t think that is a good idea.

AVERY

Of course not... I’ve just never seen you mad before.

I’m better at compartmentalizing when I’ve had sleep.

AVERY

I can see that.

God. So, stupid!

AVERY

It might be dumb, but I’m a little impressed Tolen would go for that.

Yeah, most impressive. One person was missing and now TA-DAAA there are 4!

AVERY

Whoa. I’m worried too, but, if they wanna go walk in the woods, they can go walk in the woods. ... Look, potential teeny-tiny small chance of coal mines burning aside- the fire’s out, it’s not raining and they have Wallace with them. So, if they’re gonna be stupid, at least they’re being stupid under the best circumstances. ... If we don’t hear from them in the morning, we’ll call the cops. Okay?

Fine.

SFX: In a huff, RJ tosses herself into bed.

00:26:06

AVERY

Damn girl, I thought I got cranky when I was tired.

SFX: The bed springs screech as RJ exasperatedly grunts, rolling to her side facing away from Avery.

AVERY (CONT’D)

Hey, I have an idea for tomorrow?

What?

AVERY

Since we don’t have a car, and it’s too far to walk out to Jane’s... why don’t we go to the Mendenhall tomorrow?

SFX: The bed springs screech as RJ rolls back to face Avery.

The Mendenhall?

AVERY

We can do background for the doc, and then I’ll help you shoot an episode of BOO? Would you be up for that?

Will you scream at everything like Chuck does?

AVERY

After everything we heard today, you wouldn’t be able to stop me if you tried. ... Deal?

Deal.

AVERY

YEEEAAAA!

Providing Chuck and Tolen don’t get themselves ripped apart by the Pennsylvanian Goatman.

AVERY

A) In PA it’s the Sheepman, and B) They won’t get ripped apart by the Pennsylvania Sheepman.

I know.

AVERY

They’d be swallowed by a fiery mine shaft.

You’re a fiery mine shaft.

SFX: Avery jumps on RJ’s bed and starts bouncing around RJ like an Arctic Fox.

AVERY

WHO TOLD YOU? WHO TOLD YOU ABOUT MY FIREY MINE SHAFT!?

HAHAHA, STOP IT! You’re such a butthole!

SFX: Avery begins thrashing playfully around the room.

AVERY

Heavy is the hole that wears the butt. Heavy is the butt that wears the hole.

[They are giggling like idiots, punchy from lack of sleep and weed.]

That’s so stupid.

SFX: RJ turns to the bedside table.

RJ (CONT’D)

Oh, no.

AVERY

What?

Chuck left her gloves here.

AVERY

Her Jakob Stanley gloves? Oh, no. She loves those.

I hope her hands don’t get cold.

00:27:33

AVERY

RJ, I really think they’ll be okay.

Okay. ... What about Jane?

AVERY

Uh. I don’t know... The sleeping time?

Sleeping time.

AVERY

Alright.

SFX: The get into bed.

AVERY (CONT’D)

Nigh-nigh, RJ

Night, Avery.

SFX: As Avery clicks off the light, the mic clicks... off.