The SYSK Annual Halloween Freaky Spooktacular 2026!

Get yourself ready to freak out with this year’s extra-freak Halloween freak-fest, starring the voice acting talents of Chuck and Josh. This year we feature stories from WW Jacobs and WF Harvey, both of whom, if they were alive, would love this episode. See omnystudio.com/listener https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:01Speaker 00

  Welcome to Stuff You Should Know, a production of iHeartRadio.

• 0:18Josh Clark?

  Hey, hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh, and there's Chuck, and Jerry's here too. And this is Stuff You Should Know.

• 0:32Speaker 02

  That's right. One of our, I'm speaking for me, but I think I can speak for us. One of our favorite traditions is our annual Halloween spooky story reading.

• 0:42Josh Clark?

  Speak.

• 0:43Speaker 02

  Our ad-free spooky story reading.

• 0:45Josh Clark?

  Yeah, it's in our contract.

• 0:47Speaker 02

  And we got a couple of good ones this year. One's a little longer, one's a little shorter. I'm ambivalent about which we do first.

• 0:54Josh Clark?

  Um, I think, I feel like, hmm, I don't know, man. I've been leaning toward yours second.

• 1:02Speaker 02

  Okay, let's do it then.

• 1:03Josh Clark?

  Okay.

• 1:04Speaker 02

  Because you picked a stone cold classic buddy with the monkey's paw.

• 1:07Josh Clark?

  That's right.

• 1:08Speaker 02

  By WW Jacobs. Can't believe we haven't done this. And by my, like, you know, we like to just play this fast and loose, everyone, with the casting. There's mom, dad, son, military guy, and then there's one other minor character at the end, right?

• 1:25Josh Clark?

  Oh, yeah, I hadn't considered him. Um, yeah, we'll figure that out. But yeah, it's pretty, pretty Spartan.

• 1:31Speaker 02

  Yeah, so, uh, I figure since the military guy, maybe whoever plays the military guy should play the person at the end.

• 1:41Josh Clark?

  Okay.

• 1:42Speaker 02

  And then we have, uh, mom, dad, and son.

• 1:48Josh Clark?

  I was thinking you should definitely be the military guy.

• 1:51Speaker 02

  Who, me?

• 1:52Josh Clark?

  Because I can, I already have like a mild conception of what you're gonna do, and it's better than anything I could do with it.

• 1:56Speaker 02

  All right, so I'll be him and the, and the, the person at the end. I can't remember the character, but I read it. And then, do you want to be mom, dad, son?

• 2:06Josh Clark?

  I'll be, um, I'll be dad.

• 2:08Speaker 02

  Ah.

• 2:09Josh Clark?

  Oh, you want to be dad? That's fine.

• 2:11Speaker 02

  No, I wanted you to be mom.

• 2:13Josh Clark?

  All right, I'll try to, I'll try to be mom.

• 2:15Speaker 02

  You do the ladies so well.

• 2:17Josh Clark?

  I disagree. I think you do it better. But okay, I'll be mom and, uh, son, and then your dad, the military man, and the guy at the end.

• 2:26Speaker 02

  Okay, all right. Sounds good.

• 2:27Josh Clark?

  And, and it's confusing at first, um, but Herbert is the name of the son.

• 2:32Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 2:33Josh Clark?

  So when you hear Herbert, they're talking about the son.

• 2:35Speaker 02

  Who's a grown, a grown man, by the way.

• 2:38Josh Clark?

  Yeah, he never moved out. He's a planetismal.

• 2:41Speaker 02

  Yeah. Is that what that's called?

• 2:44Josh Clark?

  Uh, remember, I coined it from the asteroid article, the ones that never really become a full planet.

• 2:49Speaker 02

  That's right, that's right. I was like, where did I hear that? It was two weeks ago or whatever.

• 2:54Josh Clark?

  So who's gonna read first?

• 2:57Speaker 02

  Uh, right, because we also do the reading. Um, well, I think, well, I don't know, I'll start it out, and then you just chime in there with, with, uh, Mrs. White whenever she comes around, so.

• 3:10Josh Clark?

  And the son.

• 3:10Speaker 02

  And the son, and I'm Mr. White.

• 3:14Josh Clark?

  Yes.

• 3:14Speaker 02

  Okay, all right. I think I got it.

• 3:16Josh Clark?

  All right, I gotta do my Mr. Nagy clap hand thing. Oh, I'm nervous.

• 3:25Speaker 02

  And these are, these are British people too, right? Again.

• 3:28Josh Clark?

  Yeah, unfortunately.

• 3:30Speaker 02

  No, that makes it even better, I think.

• 3:32Josh Clark?

  Nothing against the Brits, it's just hard for me to do the British accent.

• 3:36Speaker 02

  I just know that people are in pins and needles waiting for what Josh Clark has in mind for everyone this year.

• 3:41Josh Clark?

  I know, and it makes me nervous. I'm never gonna top the guy from a couple of years ago.

• 3:45Speaker 02

  Well, maybe so, because that was sort of an all-time great character.

• 3:50Josh Clark?

  All right, well, I'm just gonna do what I can, everybody.

• 3:53Speaker 02

  Schmiggle, right?

• 3:54Josh Clark?

  Schmiggle, yeah, yeah. Thanks for that. Okay, so you start, Chuck.

• 3:59Speaker 02

  All right, here we go, everybody. And, uh, big thanks to Ben ahead of time, because Ben is, Ben is doing our sound design, our spooky sound design.

• 4:07Josh Clark?

  Jerry's doing our recording. Thanks, Jerry.

• 4:09Speaker 02

  That's right. So here we go, everybody, with The Monkey's Paw by WW Jacobs.

• 4:24Speaker 02

  "Without, the night was cold and wet, but in the small parlor of Laburnum Villa, the blinds were drawn and the fire burned brightly. Father and son were at chess, the former who possessed ideas about the game involving radical changes, putting his king into such sharp and unnecessary perils that it even provoked comment from the white-haired old lady knitting placidly by the fire. 'Hawk at the wind,' said Mr. White, who, having seen a fatal mistake after it was too late, was amiably desirous of preventing his son from seeing it."

• 4:56Josh Clark?

  "I'm listening. Wait, I'm listening."

• 4:59Speaker 02

  "Said the latter, grimly surveying the board as he stretched out his hand."

• 5:04Josh Clark?

  "Check."

• 5:05Speaker 02

  "I should hardly think that he'd come tonight," said his father with his hand poised over the board.

• 5:11Josh Clark?

  "Mate."

• 5:12Speaker 02

  "Replied his son. 'That's the worst of living so far out,' bawled Mr. White, with sudden and unlooked-for violence. 'Of all the beastly, slushy, out-of-the-way places to live in, this is the worst. Pathways are bog and the roads are torrent. I don't know what people are thinking about, I suppose, because only two houses in the road are let. They think it doesn't matter.'"

• 5:36Josh Clark?

  "Never mind, dear," said his wife soothingly. "Perhaps you'll win the next one."

• 5:44Speaker 02

  That's great, by the way.

• 5:45Josh Clark?

  Hmm.

• 5:46Speaker 02

  "Mr. White looked up sharply just in time to intercept a knowing glance between mother and son. The words died away on his lips, and he hid a guilty grin in his thin gray beard."

• 5:55Josh Clark?

  "There he is," said Herbert White, as the gate banged too loudly and heavy footsteps came toward the door.

• 6:02Speaker 02

  The old man rose with hospitable haste, and, opening the door, was heard condolences with the new arrival. The new arrival also condolences with himself.

• 6:11Josh Clark?

  Yikes.

• 6:12Speaker 02

  So that Mrs. White said,

• 6:15Josh Clark?

  "Tut, tut."

• 6:16Speaker 02

  And coughed gently as her husband entered the room,

• 6:19Josh Clark?

  "Blah."

• 6:20Speaker 02

  Followed by a tall, burly man, beady of eye, and rubicon of visage. "Sergeant Major Morris," he said, introducing him. The sergeant major shook hands and, taking the proffered seat by the fire, watched contentedly while his host got out whiskey and tumblers and stood a small copper kettle on the fire. At the third glass, his eyes got brighter, and he began to talk, the little family circle regarding with eager interest this visitor from distant parts, as he squared his broad shoulders in the chair and spoke of wild scenes and doughty deeds of war and plagues and strange peoples. "Twenty-one years of it," said Mr. White, nodding at his wife and son.

• 7:02Speaker 02

  "When he went away, he was a slip of a youth in the warehouse. Now look at him."

• 7:07Josh Clark?

  "He don't look to have taken much harm," said Mrs. White politely.

• 7:12Speaker 02

  "I'd like to go to India myself," said the old man, "just to look around a bit, you know." "Better where you are," said the sergeant major, shaking his head. He put down the empty glass and, sighing softly, shook it again. "I should like to see those old temples and fakias and jugglers," said the old man. "What was that you started telling me the other day about a monkey's paw or something, Morris?" "Nothing," said the soldier hastily. "Leastways, nothing worth hearing."

• 7:42Josh Clark?

  "Monkeys? Paw?"

• 7:46Speaker 02

  "Said Mrs. White, curiously, very curiously." "Well, it's just a bit of what you might call magic, perhaps," said the sergeant major offhandedly. His three listeners, listeners, yeah.

• 8:00Josh Clark?

  We have three listeners, too.

• 8:01Speaker 02

  That's good. "His three listeners leaned forward eagerly. The visitor absentmindedly put his empty glass to his lips and then set it down again. His host filled it for him."

• 8:13Josh Clark?

  That's class four, I want to point out.

• 8:14Speaker 02

  Yeah, for sure. "To look at," said the sergeant major, fumbling in his pocket. "It's just an ordinary little paw, dried to a mummy." He took something out of his pocket and proffered it. Mrs. White drew back with a grimace, but her son, taking it, examined it curiously. "And what is there special about it?" inquired Mr. White as he took it from his son, and, having examined it, placed it upon the table. "Hmm, it had a spell put on it by an old fakia," said the sergeant major, a very holy man. "He wanted to show that fate ruled people's lives, and that those who interfered with it did so to their sorrow. He put a spell on it so that three separate men could each have three wishes from it."

• 8:58Josh Clark?

  Okay.

• 8:59Speaker 02

  "His manner was so impressive that his hearers were conscious that their light laughter jarred somewhat."

• 9:09Josh Clark?

  "Well, why don't you have three, sir?" said Herbert White cleverly.

• 9:14Speaker 02

  The soldier regarded him in a way that Middle Ages want to regard presumptuous youth. "I have," he said quietly. "I have," he said quietly, and his blotchy face whitened.

• 9:26Josh Clark?

  "And did you really have the three wishes granted?" asked Mrs. White.

• 9:31Speaker 02

  "I did," said the sergeant major, and his glass tapped against his strong teeth. Yeah.

• 9:37Josh Clark?

  "And has anybody else wished?" persisted the old lady.

• 9:41Speaker 02

  "The first man had three wishes, yes," was the reply. "I don't know what the first two were, but the third was for death. That's how I got the paw." His tones were so grave that a hush fell upon the group.

• 9:55Josh Clark?

  Shh, shh, shh, everybody shut up.

• 10:00Speaker 02

  If you had three wishes, it's no good to you now then, Morris, said the old man at last. Why do you keep it for? The soldier shook his head. Fancy, I suppose, he said slowly. I did have some idea of selling it, but I don't think I will. It has caused enough mischief already. Besides, people won't buy. They think it's a fairy tale, some of them, and those who do think anything of it, want to try it first and pay me afterward. If you could have another three wishes, said the old man, eyeing him keenly, would you have them? I don't know, said the other. I don't know. You want to switch over?

• 10:39Josh Clark?

  Yeah, that was good, Chuck.

• 10:40Speaker 02

  All right.

• 10:40Josh Clark?

  Very nice.

• 10:41Speaker 02

  Thank you.

• 10:41Josh Clark?

  And you did, you did the sergeant major just exactly as I was hoping you would.

• 10:45Speaker 02

  A little Colonel Mustard to him.

• 10:46Josh Clark?

  Yeah, for sure. Okay, continuing on. You ready?

• 10:50Speaker 02

  Now let's do it.

• 10:52Josh Clark?

  He took the paw and dangling it between his forefinger and thumb, suddenly threw it upon the fire.

• 10:59Josh Clark?

  White, with a slight cry, stooped down and snatched it off.

• 11:03Speaker 02

  Better let it burn, said the soldier solemnly. If you don't want it, Morris, said the other. Give it to me.

• 11:13Speaker 02

  I won't, said his friend doggedly. I threw it on the fire. If you keep it, don't blame me for what happens. Pitch it on the fire again like a sensible man.

• 11:23Josh Clark?

  The other shook his head and examined his new possession closely.

• 11:26Speaker 02

  How do you do it?

• 11:29Josh Clark?

  He inquired.

• 11:30Speaker 02

  I think my voice is changing, but I'm gonna stick with this one.

• 11:33Josh Clark?

  Okay.

• 11:34Speaker 02

  Hold it up in your right hand and wish aloud, said the sergeant major. But I've warned you of the consequences.

• 11:42Josh Clark?

  Sounds like the Arabian Nights, said Mrs. White, as she rose and began to set the supper. Don't you think you might wish for four pairs of hands for me?

• 11:56Speaker 02

  Oh, what a sassy lady.

• 11:58Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 12:00Josh Clark?

  Her husband drew the talisman from pocket, and then all three burst into laughter as the sergeant major, with a look of alarm on his face, caught him by the arm.

• 12:11Speaker 02

  If you must wish, he said gruffly. Wish for something sensible.

• 12:17Josh Clark?

  Mr. White dropped it back in his pocket, placing chairs, motioned his friend to the table. In the business of supper, the talisman was partly forgotten, and afterward the three sat listening in an enthralled fashion to a second installment of the Soldier's Adventures in India. If the tale about the monkey's paw is not more truthful than those he's been telling us, said Herbert, as the door closed behind their guests, just in time for him to catch the last train, we shan't make much out of it. Did you give him anything for it, father? Inquired Mrs. White, regarding her husband slash father closely.

• 12:56Speaker 02

  Yeah, they call each other mother and father. I think that used to be a thing, right?

• 13:00Josh Clark?

  It's that kind of situation. And it's funny, this is 1902, I think. So Mr. and Mrs. White, these very old, old people are probably like in their late 50s.

• 13:11Speaker 02

  Right, yeah, totally.

• 13:12Josh Clark?

  You know?

• 13:13Speaker 02

  Yeah, he's my age. Uh, all right, I think this is me. A trifle, said he, coloring slightly. He didn't want it, but I made him take it, and he pressed me again to throw it away.

• 13:26Josh Clark?

  Likely, said Herbert with pretended horror. Why, we're going to be rich. I've lost Herbert.

• 13:32Speaker 02

  I don't think so.

• 13:34Josh Clark?

  Oh, let me get back in there. Why, we're going to be rich and famous and happy. Got him back. Wish to be an emperor, father, to begin with, then you can't be henpecked. He darted round the table, pursued by the maligned Mrs. White, armed with an anti-macassar.

• 13:49Speaker 02

  Well, now what is that? And I'm sure you looked that up.

• 13:51Josh Clark?

  I did. Thank you for knowing me. Um, it is one of those like pieces of cloth or like with a doily or something on it that you put over the head of, or the headrest of a chair.

• 14:03Speaker 02

  Oh, okay.

• 14:03Josh Clark?

  To keep people's nasty, greasy hair from messing up your chair.

• 14:07Speaker 02

  Yeah, you don't want that soul glow on the back of your recliner.

• 14:10Josh Clark?

  Right, that was, I thought of that too, man. That was such a great little

• 14:14Speaker 02

  Gotta think of coming to America.

• 14:15Josh Clark?

  Easter egg in there, yeah. So I guess she's chasing, his mom is chasing him with this anti-macassar, like she's gonna snap his butt like it's a dish towel.

• 14:25Speaker 02

  Oh.

• 14:25Josh Clark?

  That's how I took it, or else she's gonna strangle him with it, one of the two. But she's mad because he just said that essentially she henpecks his father.

• 14:34Speaker 02

  I got you. She is sassy, we've established, so I'm sure it's a butt pop.

• 14:37Josh Clark?

  She's hilarious.

• 14:38Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 14:40Josh Clark?

  Okay, you ready?

• 14:40Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 14:42Josh Clark?

  Mr. White took the paw from his pocket and eyed it dubiously.

• 14:45Speaker 02

  I don't know what to wish for, and that's a fact, he said slowly. It seems to me I've got all I want.

• 14:56Josh Clark?

  If you only cleared the house, you'd be quite happy, wouldn't you? Said Herbert, with his hand on his shoulder. Well, wish for 200 pounds then. That'll just do it.

• 15:06Speaker 02

  Okay, by cleared the house, he means pay off the mortgage, right?

• 15:09Josh Clark?

  Mm-hmm, and this is 1902, so 200 pounds.

• 15:13Speaker 02

  Man.

• 15:14Josh Clark?

  Equals about 22,000 pounds today, or about 29,000 US dollars.

• 15:20Speaker 02

  Oh, wow. Is that for real? You did that?

• 15:22Josh Clark?

  Mm-hmm.

• 15:23Speaker 02

  Above and beyond.

• 15:25Josh Clark?

  Thank you to, uh, special thanks to the Bank of England.

• 15:28Speaker 02

  That's right, for everything.

• 15:30Josh Clark?

  And, uh, yeah, and, uh, I can't remember where I converted pounds into USD for today, but, you know, whatever.

• 15:37Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 15:39Josh Clark?

  Uh, should I still keep going? You want me to finish this off to, um, part two?

• 15:42Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, through part two. Let's do it.

• 15:43Josh Clark?

  Okay. His father, smiling shamefacedly at his own credulity, held up the talisman, as his son, with a solemn face, somewhat marred by a wink at his mother, ding, sat down at the piano and struck a few impressive chords.

• 15:59Speaker 02

  I wish for 200 pounds, the old man said distinctly.

• 16:06Josh Clark?

  A fine crash from the piano greeted the words, interrupted by a shuddering cry from the old man.

• 16:14Josh Clark?

  Oh. Right. His wife and son ran toward him. It moved, he cried, with a glance of disgust at the object as it lay on the floor. As I wished, it twisted in my hand like a snake. Well, I don't see the money, said his son as he picked it up and placed it on the table. And I bet I never shall. It must have been your fancy, father, said wife, regarding him anxiously. He shook his head.

• 16:44Speaker 02

  Never mind, though. There's no harm done, but it gave me a shock all the same.

• 16:49Josh Clark?

  They sat down by the fire again, while the two men finished their pipes. Outside, the wind was higher than ever, and the old man started nervously at the sound of a door banging upstairs. A silence, unusual and depressing, settled upon all three, which lasted until the old couple rose to retire for the night.

• 17:10Josh Clark?

  I expect you'll find the cash tied up in a big bag in the middle of your bed, said Herbert, as he bade them goodnight, and something horrible squatting up on top of the wardrobe watching you as you pocket your ill-gotten gains.

• 17:25Speaker 02

  I wonder if the old man is wondering how he ended up with the Cockney family.

• 17:28Josh Clark?

  I don't know. It's the only British accent I can do reliably.

• 17:32Speaker 02

  That's good.

• 17:33Josh Clark?

  And I'm even hanging it on by my fingernails right now with that.

• 17:36Speaker 02

  Oh, that's perfect. I love it.

• 17:38Josh Clark?

  He sat alone, this would be Herbert, he sat alone in the darkness, gazing at the dying fire and seeing faces in it. The last face was so horrible and so simian that he gazed at it in amazement. Gah. It got so vivid that with a little uneasy laugh,

• 17:57Josh Clark?

  he fell on the table for a glass containing a little water to throw over it. He grasped the monkey's paw. With a little shiver, he wiped his hand on his coat, and he went up to bed.

• 18:12Speaker 02

  All right, that's part one. So they have made this wish for the 200 pounds, even though a dire warning from Colonel Mustard.

• 18:19Josh Clark?

  Yep.

• 18:20Speaker 02

  That something bad would come of that.

• 18:22Josh Clark?

  I guess we should take an ad break, huh?

• 18:24Speaker 02

  No, buddy, not, not on this one.

• 18:27Josh Clark?

  Okay. I was just setting you up for that.

• 18:30Speaker 02

  Perfect. I'll pick it up here. Monkey's paw, part two.

• 18:38Speaker 02

  In the brightness of the wintry sun next morning, as it streamed over the breakfast table, he laughed at his fears. There was an air of prosaic wholesomeness about the room, which it had lacked on the previous night, and the dirty shriveled little paw was pitched on the sideboard with a carelessness which betokened no great belief in its virtues.

• 18:55Josh Clark?

  "I suppose all old soldiers are the same," said Mrs. White. "The idea of all listening to such nonsense, how could wishes be granted these days? And if they could, how could two hundred pounds hurt you, father?" "Might drop on his head from the sky," said a frivolous Herbert.

• 19:15Speaker 02

  "Mora said the things happen so naturally," said his father, "that you might, if you so wished, attribute it to coincidence."

• 19:22Josh Clark?

  "Well, don't break into the money before I come back," said Herbert, as he rose from the table. "I'm afraid it'll turn you into a mean, avaricious man, and we shall have to disown you."

• 19:34Speaker 02

  His mother laughed.

• 19:43Speaker 02

  And following him to the door, watched him down the road, and, returning to the breakfast table, was very happy at the expense of her husband's credulity, all of which did not prevent her from scurrying to the door at the postman's knock, nor prevent her from referring somewhat shortly to retired sergeant-majors of bibulous habits when she found that the post brought a tailor's bill.

• 20:08Josh Clark?

  "Herbert will have some more of his funny remarks, I expect, when he comes home," she said, as they sat at dinner.

• 20:15Speaker 02

  "I dare say," said Mr. White, pouring himself out some beer, "but for all that, the thing moved in my hand, that I'll swear to."

• 20:22Josh Clark?

  "You thought it did," said the old lady soothingly.

• 20:29Speaker 02

  "I say it did," replied the other. "There was no thought about it. I had just..." "What's the matter?" His wife made no reply. She was watching the mysterious movements of a man outside, who, peering in an undecided fashion at the house, appeared to be trying to make up his mind to enter. In mental connection with the two hundred pounds, she noticed that the stranger was well-dressed and wore a silk hat of glossy newness. Three times he paused at the gate, and then walked on again. The fourth time he stood with his hand upon it, and then, with sudden resolution, flung it open and walked up the path. Mrs. White, at the same moment, placed her hands behind her and hurriedly, unfastening the strings of her apron, put that useful article of apparel beneath the cushion of her chair.

• 21:11Josh Clark?

  Kind of weird.

• 21:12Speaker 02

  She hit that apron.

• 21:13Josh Clark?

  I guess.

• 21:15Speaker 02

  She brought the stranger, who seemed ill at ease, into the room. He gazed at her furtively and listened in a preoccupied fashion as the old lady apologized for the appearance of the room and her husband's coat, a garment which he usually reserved for the garden. Then she waited as patiently as her sex would permit

• 21:32Josh Clark?

  Sorry.

• 21:33Speaker 02

  for him to broach his business, but he was, at first, strangely silent. All right, this guy's me, right?

• 21:40Josh Clark?

  Yeah, you're you.

• 21:42Speaker 02

  Let me see, who is this guy? Who is this guy?

• 21:45Josh Clark?

  He's a foppish, dandy gentleman?

• 21:48Speaker 02

  "I was asked to call," he said at last, and stooped and picked a piece of cotton from his trousers. "I come from Ma and Megan's." The old lady started.

• 21:58Josh Clark?

  "Is anything matter?"

• 22:01Speaker 02

  She asked breathlessly.

• 22:03Josh Clark?

  "Has anything happened to Herbert? What is it? What is it?"

• 22:07Speaker 02

  Her husband interposed. "There, there, mother," he said hastily. "Sit down and don't jump to conclusions. You've not brought bad news, I'm sure, sir," and he eyed the other wistfully. "I'm sorry," began the visitor.

• 22:20Josh Clark?

  "Is he hurt?" demanded the mother wildly.

• 22:25Speaker 02

  The visitor bowed in a sense. "Badly hurt," he said quietly, "but he is not in any pain."

• 22:32Josh Clark?

  "Oh, thank God," said the old woman, clasping her hands. "Thank God for that! Thank..."

• 22:39Speaker 02

  She broke off suddenly as the sinister meaning of the assurance dawned upon her, and she the awful confirmation of her fears in the other's averted face. She caught her breath, and, turning to her slower-witted husband, laid her trembling old hand upon his. There was a long silence. "He was caught in the machinery," said the visitor at length in a low voice. "Caught in the machinery?" repeated Mr. White in a dazed fashion. "Yes." He sat, staring blankly out at the window, and, taking his wife's hand between his own, pressed it, as he had want to do in their old courting days nearly forty years before.

• 23:23Speaker 02

  "He was the only one left to us," he said, turning gently to the visitor. "It is hard." The other coughed, and, rising, walked slowly to the window. "The firm wish me to convey their sincere sympathy with you and your great loss," he said, without looking around. "I beg that you will understand. I am only their servant and merely obeying orders." It's like, don't shoot the messenger.

• 23:46Josh Clark?

  Yeah, for sure.

• 23:48Speaker 02

  There was no reply. The old woman's face was white, her eyes staring, and her breaths inaudible. On the husband's face was a look such as his friend, the sergeant, might have carried into his first action.

• 24:01Speaker 02

  "I was to say that Ma and Megan's disclaim all responsibility," continued the other. "They admit no liability at all, but in consideration of your son's services, they wish to present you with a certain sum as compensation." Mr. White dropped his wife's hand, and, rising to his feet, gazed with a look of horror at his visitor. His dry lips shaped the words.

• 24:24Josh Clark?

  "How much?"

• 24:26Speaker 02

  "Two hundred pounds," was the answer. Unconscious of his wife's shriek...

• 24:33Josh Clark?

  "Oh, eek!"

• 24:35Speaker 02

  The old man smiled faintly, put out his hands, like a sightless man, and dropped a senseless heap to the floor.

• 24:46Josh Clark?

  Oh.

• 24:47Speaker 02

  Wow. All right. There it is.

• 24:50Josh Clark?

  I had to catch my own breath, because I've been trying to breathe inaudibly this whole time.

• 24:55Speaker 02

  You OK?

• 24:56Josh Clark?

  Yeah, I'm good now, now that I'm free of that.

• 24:58Speaker 02

  You need an O2 canister?

• 25:01Josh Clark?

  I need a CPAP.

• 25:02Speaker 02

  Yeah, OK.

• 25:03Josh Clark?

  All right, you ready?

• 25:04Speaker 02

  Yeah, this is, you know, the fate has been revealed. Son is mangled, to the tune of two hundred pounds in compensation.

• 25:13Josh Clark?

  Yeah. Caught in the machinery definitely equals mangled, right?

• 25:16Speaker 02

  Yeah, I think so.

• 25:17Josh Clark?

  So this is the third and final act of The Monkey's Paw, starting right now.

• 25:29Josh Clark?

  In the huge new cemetery, some two miles distant, the old people buried their dead, and came back to a house steeped in shadow and silence. It was all over so quickly that, at first, they could hardly realize it, and remained in a state of expectation, as though of something else to happen, something else which was to lighten this load too heavy for old hearts to bear. But the days passed, and expectation gave place to resignation, the hopeless resignation of the old, sometimes miscalled apathy. Sometimes they hardly exchanged a word, for now they had nothing to talk about, and their days were long to weariness. It was about a week after that, that the old man, waking suddenly in the night, stretched

• 26:11Josh Clark?

  out his hand and found himself alone. The room was in darkness, and the sound of subdued weeping came from the window.

• 26:21Josh Clark?

  He raised himself in bed and listened. "Come back," he said tenderly. "You will be cold." "It is cold, therefore, my son," said the old woman, and wept afresh.

• 26:34Josh Clark?

  The sound of her sobs died away on his ears. The bed was warm, and his eyes heavy asleep. He dozed fitfully, and then slept, until a sudden, wild cry from his wife awoke him with a start. "The paw!" she cried wildly. "The monkey's paw!" He started up in alarm. "Where? Where is it? What's the matter?" She came stumbling across the room toward him. "I want it," she said quietly. "Oh." "I want it," she said quietly. "You've not destroyed it." "It's in the parlour, on the bracket," he replied marveling. "Why?" She cried and laughed together, and, bending over, kissed his cheek.

• 27:15Josh Clark?

  "I only just thought of it," she said hysterically. "Why didn't I think of it before? Why didn't you think of it?" "Think of what?" he questioned. "The other two wishes," she replied rapidly. "We've only had one." "Was not that enough?" he demanded fiercely. "No," she cried triumphantly. "We'll have one more. Go down and get it quickly, and wish our boy alive again." The man sat up in bed and flung the bedclothes from his quaking limbs. "Good God, you're mad," he cried, aghast. "Get it," she panted. "Get it quickly and wish. Oh, my boy, my boy!" Her husband struck a match and lit the candle.

• 28:02Josh Clark?

  "Get back to bed," he said unsteadily. "You don't know what you're saying." "We had the first wish granted," said the old woman feverishly. "Why not the second?" "A coincidence," stammered the old man. "Go and get it and wish," cried his wife, quivering with excitement. The old man turned and regarded her, and his voice shook. "He has been dead ten days, and, besides, he... I could not tell you else, but I... I could only recognize him by his clothing. If he was too terrible for you to see then, how now, brown cow?"

• 28:41Josh Clark?

  Bring him back, cried the old woman and dragged him toward the door. Do you think I fear the child I have nursed? He went down in the darkness and he felt his way to the parlor and then to the mantelpiece. The talisman was in its place and a horrible fear that the unspoken wish might bring his mutilated son before him ere he could escape the room seized upon him and he caught his breath as he found that he had lost the direction of the door. His brow cold was sweat, he felt his way around the table and groped along the wall until he found himself in the small passage with the unwholesome thing in his hand. Even his wife's face seemed changed as he entered the room.

• 29:26Josh Clark?

  It was white and expectant and to his fears seemed to have an unnatural look upon it. He was afraid of her. Wish, she cried in a strong voice.

• 29:37Speaker 02

  It is foolish and wicked, he faltered.

• 29:41Josh Clark?

  Wish, repeated his wife. He raised his hand.

• 29:47Speaker 02

  I wish my son alive again.

• 29:53Josh Clark?

  The talisman fell to the floor and he regarded it fearfully. Then he sank trembling into a chair as the old woman with burning eyes walked to the window and raised the blind. He sat until he was chilled with the cold. Wait, maybe you should take over here because I think this is a good spot for you to take us home. What do you think?

• 30:12Speaker 02

  Okay, sure. And I gotta say, uh, they didn't think this through because he even said out loud like he would be mutilated when he come back, when he comes back. And all he had to do was say, I wish my son, I wish my son alive again and in the manner he was before caught in the machinery.

• 30:30Josh Clark?

  Yeah, I thought that too.

• 30:32Speaker 02

  Well, and there wouldn't be a story here.

• 30:34Josh Clark?

  Right, true.

• 30:35Speaker 02

  All right. All right, uh, taking us home. He sat until he was chilled with the cold, glancing occasionally at the figure of the old woman peering through the window. The candle in which had burned below the rim of the china candlestick was throwing pulsating shadows on the ceiling and walls until with a flicker larger than the rest it expired. The old man with an unspeakable sense of relief at the failure of the talisman crept back to his bed and a minute or two afterward, the old woman came silently and apathetically beside him. Neither spoke but lay silently listening to the ticking of the clock. A stair creaked and a squeaky mouse scurried noisily through the wall. The darkness was oppressive and after lying for some time screwing up his courage, he took the box of matches and striking one, went downstairs for a candle.

• 31:20Speaker 02

  At the foot of the stairs, a match went out and he paused to strike another and at that same moment, a knock, so quiet and stealthy as to be scarcely audible, sounded at the front door. The matches fell from his hand and spilled in the passage. He stood motionless, his breath suspended until the knock was repeated. Then he turned and fled swiftly back to his room and closed the door behind him. The third knock sounded through the house.

• 31:43Josh Clark?

  What's that? Cried the old woman, starting up. A rat, said the old man in shaking tones. A rat. It passed me on the stairs. His wife sat up in bed listening. A loud knock resounded through the house. It's Herbert, she screamed. It's Herbert. She ran to the door, but her husband was before her and catching her by the arm, held her tightly.

• 32:09Speaker 02

  What are you going to do?

• 32:11Josh Clark?

  He whispered hoarsely. It's my boy. It's Herbert, she cried, struggling mechanically. I forgot it was two miles away. What are you holding me for? Let go, I must open the door.

• 32:23Speaker 02

  For God's sake, don't let it in, cried the old man trembling.

• 32:28Josh Clark?

  You afraid of your own son? She cried, struggling. Let me go. I'm coming, Herbert. I'm coming.

• 32:36Speaker 02

  There was another knock and another. The old woman with a sudden wrench broke free and ran from the room. Her husband followed to the landing and called after her appealingly as she hurried downstairs. Old lady. He heard the chain rattle back and the bottom bolt drawn slowly and stiffly from the socket. Then the old woman's voice strained and panting.

• 32:58Josh Clark?

  The bolt, she cried loudly. Come down, I can't reach it.

• 33:04Speaker 02

  But her husband was on his hands and knees groping wildly on the floor in search of the paw. He could only find it before the thing outside got in. A perfect fusillade of knocks reverberated through the house and he heard the scraping of a chair as his wife put it down in the passage against the door. He heard the creaking of the bolt as it came slowly back and at that same moment, he found the monkey's paw and frantically breathed his third and last wish. The knocking ceased suddenly, although the echoes of it were still in the house. He heard the chair drawn back and the door open. The cold wind rushed up the staircase and a long, loud wail of disappointment and misery from his wife.

• 33:43Josh Clark?

  Son of a [BLEEP].

• 33:46Speaker 02

  Gave him courage to run down to her side and then to the gate beyond, the street lamp flickering opposite shone on the quiet and deserted road. So he wished for the street lamp to flicker?

• 34:01Josh Clark?

  Yep, he got his last wish.

• 34:04Speaker 02

  Man, what a stone cold classic.

• 34:07Josh Clark?

  I know, man. Uh, W W Jacobs did a, a great job with that, the, the pacing at the end where it just suddenly became frantic and frenetic and scary.

• 34:16Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, I like it and I love it good. It sort of reminds me of the, uh, what's the Christmas one?

• 34:22Josh Clark?

  Uh, Christmas Story?

• 34:25Speaker 02

  No.

• 34:26Josh Clark?

  Christmas Carol.

• 34:27Speaker 02

  The fated, uh, well, you, you bought combs and sold the hair.

• 34:31Josh Clark?

  Oh, oh, uh, the gift of the Magi.

• 34:33Speaker 02

  Yeah, kind of a gift of the Magi vibe, but in a spooky way.

• 34:37Josh Clark?

  It was written around the same time too. I wonder if it was influenced at all by O Henry.

• 34:41Speaker 02

  Oh, interesting. I wonder who, uh, who was first to press.

• 34:44Josh Clark?

  Who's zooming who?

• 34:45Speaker 02

  Yeah, exactly.

• 34:47Josh Clark?

  You know, the thing that stands out to, about the monkey paw to me today is the whole idea of AI friendliness and alignment. Like being careful what you wish for, how you train an AI what, to do things or else it'll just turn on you and in a horrible ironic twist and wipe out your entire species, i.e. humanity.

• 35:09Speaker 02

  And I love it, still relevant.

• 35:10Josh Clark?

  Yeah, still relevant today. Uh, okay, uh, I think we should take our ad break, huh?

• 35:16Speaker 02

  No.

• 35:17Josh Clark?

  Ooh, I almost got you again.

• 35:19Speaker 02

  Uh, that's right. We turn now to story number two, a bit shorter, which is kind of perfect. I think it pairs well with that one and it's called August Heat by another British writer, W F Harvey. And, uh, there's only two characters in this, right?

• 35:33Josh Clark?

  Yeah. Uh, yeah, I think the, the guy's wife is in it, but she has no, no lines.

• 35:39Speaker 02

  Yeah. I mean, this was the turn of the century.

• 35:42Josh Clark?

  Yeah. This is a good one too. This, um, this August heat apparently changed, uh, the way that fiction, like we, like horror fiction was because before it was all Victorian and stuffy and there was somebody in a club and overstuffed chair.

• 35:57Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 35:58Josh Clark?

  Counting a, a ghost story and then it come, but comes back to the club. This just changed all that, like almost single-handedly. It, it started weird fiction in a lot of ways.

• 36:08Speaker 02

  Yeah. And I think, uh, the ending of this is you'll see is it's sort of that, uh, the thing that you would see in movies later on, like the vagaries of, of what possibly would happen is kind of a nice thing. All right. So, uh, you want to roll with it? August Heat by W F Harvey?

• 36:23Josh Clark?

  Yeah. Uh, do you want me to start, you're saying?

• 36:26Speaker 02

  Yeah, why don't you start it out? Uh, wait, who's going to play who? Do you want to play the, uh, the artist or the, or the, uh, the, the other guy?

• 36:33Josh Clark?

  I don't, I want to play the artist because I, I think you can play him a little straighter. I can, so, uh, I'm going to leave the other guy to you.

• 36:41Speaker 02

  All right.

• 36:42Josh Clark?

  Okay, you ready?

• 36:43Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 36:44Josh Clark?

  August Heat by William Fryer W F Harvey. I have had what I believe to be the most remarkable day in my life and while the events are still fresh in my mind, I wish to put them down on paper as clearly as possible. Let me say at the outset that my name is James Clarence Withencroft. I'm 40 years old, in perfect health, never having known a day's illness. By profession, I am an artist, not a very successful one, but I earn enough money from my black and white work to satisfy my necessary wants. And my only near relative, a sister, died five years ago so that I am independent. I breakfasted this morning at nine and after glancing through the morning paper, I lighted

• 37:29Josh Clark?

  my pipe and proceeded to let my mind wander in the hope that I might chance upon some subject for my pencil. The room, though door and windows were open, was oppressively hot and I had just made up my mind that the coolest and most comfortable place in the neighborhood would be the deep end of the public swimming bath when the idea came. I began to draw. So intent was I on my work that I left my lunch untouched, only stopping work when the clock of St. Jude struck four. The final result for a hurried sketch was, I felt sure, the best thing I had done. It showed a criminal in the dock immediately after the judge had pronounced sentence. Man was fat, enormously fat. The flesh hung in rolls about his chin.

• 38:14Josh Clark?

  It creased his huge, stumpy neck. He was clean shaven, perhaps I should say a few days before he must have been clean shaven and almost bald. He stood in the dock, his short, clumsy fingers clasping the rail, looking straight in front of him. The feeling that his expression conveyed was not so much one of horror as of utter, absolute collapse. There seemed nothing in the man strong enough to sustain that mountain of flesh.

• 38:38Speaker 02

  Ugh.

• 38:41Josh Clark?

  So he's drawn a picture essentially is where we're at right now.

• 38:43Speaker 02

  Yeah, and he's, uh, kind of fat shaming this guy.

• 38:47Josh Clark?

  Pretty much, yeah. Uh, continuing on?

• 38:51Speaker 02

  Sure.

• 38:52Josh Clark?

  Do you want to?

• 38:53Speaker 02

  No, go ahead.

• 38:54Josh Clark?

  Okay. I rolled up the sketch and without quite knowing why, placed it in my pocket. I almost just, uh, did a Herbert impression accidentally.

• 39:03Speaker 02

  I know, he was, he's peeking in there, isn't he?

• 39:06Josh Clark?

  He's in my mouth, like Tony.

• 39:10Josh Clark?

  Then with the rare sense of happiness, which the knowledge of a good thing well done gives, I left the house. I believed that I set out with the idea of calling upon Trenton, which I think is a town or neighborhood he's saying.

• 39:22Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 39:23Josh Clark?

  For I remember walking along Lytton Street and turning to the right along Gilchrist Road at the bottom of the hill where the men were at work on the new tram lines. From there onwards, I have only the vaguest recollection of where I went. The one thing of which I was fully conscious was the awful heat that came up from the dusty asphalt pavement as an almost palpable wave. I longed for the thunder promised by the great banks of copper-colored cloud that hung low over the western sky. I must have walked five or six miles when a small boy roused me from my reverie by asking the time.

• 39:58Speaker 00

  What time is it?

• 39:59Josh Clark?

  It was twenty minutes to seven.

• 40:03Speaker 02

  Very nice, Chuck. Yeah, do that in there.

• 40:06Josh Clark?

  Uh, I think it's your turn.

• 40:08Speaker 02

  All right.

• 40:08Josh Clark?

  This is a good transition spot.

• 40:12Speaker 02

  When he left me, I began to take stock of my bearings. I found myself standing before a gate that led into a yard bordered by a strip of thirsty earth, for there were flowers, purple stock and scarlet geranium. Above the entrance was a board with the inscription. From the yard itself came a cheery whistle, the noise of hammer blows, and the cold sound of steel melting stone. A sudden impulse made me enter. A man was sitting with his back towards me, busy at work on a slab of curiously veined marble. He turned around as he heard my steps and I stopped short. It was the man I had been drawing, whose portrait lay in my pocket. He sat there, huge and elephantine, the sweat pouring from his scalp which he wiped with a red silk handkerchief. But though the face was the

• 40:57Speaker 02

  same, the expression was absolutely different. He greeted me, smiling, as if we were old friends, and shook my hand. I apologized for my intrusion.

• 41:06Josh Clark?

  Everything is hot and glary outside.

• 41:10Speaker 02

  No British?

• 41:11Josh Clark?

  Uh, are these Brits? Do they have to be?

• 41:14Speaker 02

  All right, they don't have to.

• 41:15Josh Clark?

  Oh, no, they are Brits. You're right. Uh, "Everything is hot and glary outside,"

• 41:21Speaker 02

  I said.

• 41:22Josh Clark?

  "This seems to be an oasis in the wilderness."

• 41:26Speaker 03

  "I don't know about the oasis," he replied, "but it certainly is hot as hell. Take a seat, sir."

• 41:33Speaker 02

  He pointed to the end of the gravestone on which he was at work, and I sat down.

• 41:37Josh Clark?

  "That's a beautiful piece of stone you got hold of," I said.

• 41:41Speaker 02

  He shook his head.

• 41:43Speaker 03

  "In a way, it is," he answered. "The surface here is as fine as anything you could wish, but there's a big flaw at the back, though I don't expect you'd ever notice it. I could never make really a good job of a bit of marble like that. It would be all right in the summer like this. Wouldn't mind the blasted heat, but wait till winter comes. There's nothing quite like frost to find out the weak points in stone."

• 42:09Josh Clark?

  That's a great Donald Pleasence, I feel like.

• 42:11Speaker 02

  Oh, wow.

• 42:13Josh Clark?

  Yeah, that is one to reach for, for sure. Nice work.

• 42:15Speaker 02

  You have the duke, eh, number one?

• 42:18Josh Clark?

  What's that from?

• 42:20Speaker 02

  Escape from New York?

• 42:21Josh Clark?

  Is it? Okay, he was the president in that, right?

• 42:23Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah.

• 42:23Josh Clark?

  Yeah.

• 42:24Speaker 02

  Which is weird that he was the British president. I never really put that together.

• 42:31Josh Clark?

  "Then what's it for?" I asked. The man burst out laughing.

• 42:35Speaker 03

  "You'd hardly believe me if I was to tell you it's for an exhibition, but it's the truth. Autists have exhibitions, so do grocers and butchers. We have them too. All the latest little things and headstones, you know."

• 42:49Speaker 02

  He went on to talk of marbles which sort best withstood wind and rain and which were easiest to work with, then of his garden and a new sort of carnation he had bought. At the end of every other minute, he would drop his tools, wiping his shining head, and curse the heat. You want to take it over?

• 43:05Josh Clark?

  Sure.

• 43:06Speaker 02

  All right.

• 43:07Josh Clark?

  I said little, for I felt uneasy.

• 43:10Speaker 02

  Little?

• 43:12Josh Clark?

  Right. There was something unnatural, uncanny, in meeting this man. I tried at first to persuade myself that I had seen him before, that his face, unknown to me, had found a place in some out-of-the-way corner of my memory. But I knew that I was practicing little more than a plausible piece of self-deception. Mr. Atkinson, his name, finished his work, spat on the ground, and got up with a sigh of relief.

• 43:38Speaker 02

  Gross.

• 43:39Speaker 03

  "There, what do you think of that?" he said with an air of evident pride. The inscription, which I read for the first time, was this: "Sacred to the memory of James Clarence Withencroft, born January eighteenth, eighteen sixty. He passed away very suddenly on August twentieth, nineteen oh nine. In the midst of life, we are in death."

• 44:07Josh Clark?

  For some time I sat in silence, and a cold shudder ran down my spine. I asked him where he'd seen the name.

• 44:14Speaker 03

  "I didn't see it anywhere," replied Mr. Atkinson. "I wanted just some name. I put down the first that came into my head. Why do you want to know?"

• 44:23Josh Clark?

  "It's a strange coincidence, but it happens to be mine." He gave a long, low whistle, Chuck.

• 44:33Speaker 03

  "And the dates?"

• 44:35Josh Clark?

  "I can only answer for one of them, and that's correct."

• 44:38Speaker 03

  "It's a rum girl," he said. But he knew less than I did. I told him of my morning's work. I took the sketch from my pocket and showed it to him. As he looked, the expression of his face altered until it became more and more like that of the man I had drawn. "And it was only the day before yesterday," he said, "that I told Maria there were no such things as ghosts."

• 45:04Josh Clark?

  Neither of us had seen a ghost, but I knew what he meant. "You probably heard my name," I said.

• 45:12Speaker 03

  "And you must have seen me somewhere and have forgotten it. Were you at Clacton-on-Sea last July?"

• 45:19Josh Clark?

  I had never been to Clacton in my life. We were silent for some time. We were both looking at the same thing, the two dates on the gravestone, and one was right.

• 45:30Speaker 03

  "Come inside and have some supper," said Mr. Atkinson.

• 45:35Josh Clark?

  Uh, I feel like this is you taking us home?

• 45:38Speaker 02

  Uh, okay.

• 45:40Josh Clark?

  Okay.

• 45:41Speaker 02

  Does everyone get what's going on? So he has drawn a random picture. It turns out to be this guy.

• 45:46Josh Clark?

  Sure.

• 45:46Speaker 02

  That's carving headstones, and this guy has carved this dude's name and birth date and today's date as the death date.

• 45:54Josh Clark?

  Yeah, and they don't know each other. They've never heard of each other. They've never seen each other. It's just the most astounding coincidence you can imagine.

• 46:05Speaker 02

  That's right. All right, here we go with the end of August heat. His wife was a cheerful little woman with the flaky red cheeks of the country bread. Her husband introduced me as a friend of his who was an artist. The result was unfortunate for after the sardines and watercress had been removed, she brought out a Dwar Bible, which, I actually looked that up, that's a, like a woodcut, hand-carved, illustrated Bible.

• 46:28Josh Clark?

  Mm-hmm. I've seen a few of them.

• 46:30Speaker 02

  Town school.

• 46:30Josh Clark?

  Before, yeah.

• 46:33Speaker 02

  Uh, and I had to sit and express my admiration for nearly half an hour. This guy's not easily impressed. I guess he's, his mind is somewhere else.

• 46:39Josh Clark?

  Yeah, I think so.

• 46:42Speaker 02

  I went outside and found Atkinson sitting on the gravestone, smoking. We resumed the conversation at the point we had left off.

• 46:50Josh Clark?

  "Uh, you must excuse my asking," I said, "but do you know of anything you've done for which you could be put on trial?"

• 46:59Speaker 02

  He shook his head.

• 47:00Speaker 03

  "I'm not bankrupt. The business is prosperous enough. Three years ago, I gave turkeys to some of the guardians at Christmas, but that's all I can think of. There were small ones, too," he added as an afterthought. He got up, fetched a can from the porch, and began to water the flowers. "Twice a day, regular, in the hot weather," he said, "and then the heat sometimes gets the better of the delicate ones. And ferns, good lord, they could never stand it. Where do you live?"

• 47:28Speaker 02

  I told him my address. We'd take an hour's quick walk to get back home.

• 47:32Speaker 03

  "It's like this," he said. "Well, look at the matter straight. If you go back home tonight, you take your chance of accidents. A cart may run over you, and there's always banana skins and orange peel, to say nothing of fallen ladders."

• 47:46Speaker 02

  He spoke of the improbable with an intense seriousness that would have been laughable six hours before, but I did not laugh.

• 47:53Speaker 03

  "The best we can do," he continued, "is for you to stay here till twelve o'clock. We'll go upstairs and smoke. It may be cooler inside."

• 48:02Speaker 02

  To my surprise, I agreed. We are sitting now in a long, low room beneath the eaves. Atkinson has sent his wife to bed. He himself is busy sharpening tools at a little oilstone, smoking one of my cigars the while. The air seems charged with thunder. I am writing this at a shaky table before the open window. The leg is cracked, and Atkinson, who seems a handy man with his tools, is going to mend it as soon as he has finished putting an edge on his chisel. It's after eleven now. I shall be gone in less than an hour, but the heat is stifling. It is enough to send a man mad."

• 48:51Josh Clark?

  There's a low whistle, too.

• 48:52Speaker 02

  Man, I love the ambiguity, like, uh, "I'll be gone in less than an hour." This guy's putting an edge on his chisel, like, the idea here's this guy, like, kills him, right?

• 49:03Josh Clark?

  I, I guess. That's one way to interpret it. It's also possible that the whole thing just turns out to be a total coincidence and that the guy survives till midnight, in which case that the, the death date on the gravestone would be wrong, which would undermine everything, you know?

• 49:18Speaker 02

  Yeah, I like it. I like it a lot. I wonder how much ambiguity had been used before in stuff like this?

• 49:25Josh Clark?

  None, essentially, like this.

• 49:27Speaker 02

  Oh, really?

• 49:28Josh Clark?

  Yeah, I don't know that this guy was the, like, ground zero for this stuff, but he was certainly one of the pioneers. And he was even a doctor, too. He wasn't even, like, a professional horror fiction writer.

• 49:38Speaker 02

  Oh, wow. Like, a medical doctor?

• 49:40Josh Clark?

  Yeah. He's got this and The Beast with Five Fingers is probably his most famous.

• 49:44Speaker 02

  Yeah, I had that one picked out, but this one, shorter, I think paired better.

• 49:49Josh Clark?

  Totally. No, I agree. This is a great pairing. This is like, um, Chardonnay and peanut butter. This is great, Chuck. Yeah.

• 49:57Speaker 02

  Yeah, I like the story. These were both winners, I think.

• 50:00Josh Clark?

  You, uh, you knocked it out of the park like a.

• 50:02Speaker 02

  So did you.

• 50:03Josh Clark?

  Um, a Cleveland Guardian.

• 50:05Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 50:05Josh Clark?

  A Milwaukee Brewer.

• 50:07Speaker 02

  You did great, too, man.

• 50:08Josh Clark?

  Thanks, buddy.

• 50:09Speaker 02

  Always love hearing the, uh, the Josh takes. So fun.

• 50:13Josh Clark?

  I think, what is today? Is today Halloween?

• 50:17Speaker 02

  I think it is, uh, Halloween today.

• 50:19Josh Clark?

  Is it really? That's amazing.

• 50:20Speaker 02

  I think we got lucky that Halloween, oh, no, no, no, Halloween's on a Saturday, so this is the, this is the twenty-ninth in, in podcast time.

• 50:28Josh Clark?

  All of you yelling at your speakers or earbuds or whatever, can, can just calm down, everybody. Just wait a couple more days for your big pillowcase of candy, all right?

• 50:37Speaker 02

  Yeah, but hopefully people save these for Halloween. That's what I would do.

• 50:40Josh Clark?

  Sure, sure, sure, sure. You could have a whole party and just play this, and I guarantee you'd have at least a third of the people you started out with by the end of this.

• 50:54Speaker 02

  Yeah, people who are game and drunk.

• 50:57Josh Clark?

  Exactly, who are on their fourth glass of whiskey.

• 51:00Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 51:01Josh Clark?

  Uh, yeah, I guess that's it for annual Halloween Spooktacular, everybody. We hope you loved it, and we hope you have a safe and happy Halloween, AKA Solwen. And, um, if you want to email us something about this, we would love to hear from you. You can send it off to [email protected].

• 51:35Speaker 00

  Stuff You Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts, iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.