WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.740 hey everyone got a little something special for 00:00:01.740 --> 00:00:03.259 you today something a little different we don't 00:00:03.259 --> 00:00:06.000 normally do these but fear daily was kind enough 00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:09.759 to offer to do a uh feed swap with us so that's 00:00:09.759 --> 00:00:12.000 what's going on today so for those of you who 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:14.220 don't know fear daily is the brand new retro 00:00:14.220 --> 00:00:16.760 horror show uh written by brendan store of the 00:00:16.760 --> 00:00:19.440 ghost story guys and narrated by brendan schecksnyder 00:00:19.440 --> 00:00:22.969 uh he's the creator of southern gothic And basically 00:00:22.969 --> 00:00:24.910 what it is, every day from Monday to Friday, 00:00:25.250 --> 00:00:27.370 Fear Daily, they bring you two new stories of 00:00:27.370 --> 00:00:30.609 hauntings, monsters, and cults all from the 1990s 00:00:30.609 --> 00:00:33.890 or before. Some of them may even be true, you 00:00:33.890 --> 00:00:36.310 know, if you know where to look. Now with most 00:00:36.310 --> 00:00:38.250 episodes, they're probably around like 25 minutes 00:00:38.250 --> 00:00:39.649 or less. So if you're looking for like just some 00:00:39.649 --> 00:00:42.810 like bite -sized daily horror, definitely check 00:00:42.810 --> 00:00:44.789 out Fear Daily. If you want to find out where 00:00:44.789 --> 00:00:47.149 to follow them, what they're all about, you can 00:00:47.149 --> 00:00:49.570 find a link in the episode description. So with 00:00:49.570 --> 00:01:01.520 that out of the way, enjoy. When the internet 00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:05.900 began, bulletin board services, or BBS, became 00:01:05.900 --> 00:01:08.540 the first online communities of the so -called 00:01:08.540 --> 00:01:12.439 information superhighway. Using their phone lines, 00:01:12.599 --> 00:01:15.760 people logged in from all over America to talk 00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:19.939 about sports, games, movies, and on one BBS in 00:01:19.939 --> 00:01:24.560 particular, share their ghost stories. Over time, 00:01:24.819 --> 00:01:28.340 those communities all went dark, except for one. 00:01:28.890 --> 00:01:31.769 lone server that continues to operate somewhere 00:01:31.769 --> 00:01:35.129 in an unknown part of Pennsylvania's Rust Belt. 00:01:35.409 --> 00:01:39.510 A relic of the 1990s, veiled in mystery, it is 00:01:39.510 --> 00:01:42.670 a digital archive of humanity's strangest encounters 00:01:42.670 --> 00:01:46.530 with the unknown, as told by the people who experienced 00:01:46.530 --> 00:01:53.430 them. My name is Brandon Schechsneider, and you 00:01:53.430 --> 00:02:07.760 are listening to Fear Daily. Subject, together. 00:02:08.620 --> 00:02:21.120 User, alt melody. Posted, August 9th, 1998. From 00:02:21.120 --> 00:02:25.080 the ages of 11 to 14, I used to have to spend 00:02:25.080 --> 00:02:28.409 summers at my aunt's house in Great Neck. It 00:02:28.409 --> 00:02:31.289 wasn't by choice, not that kids that age get 00:02:31.289 --> 00:02:33.569 a whole lot of choice in how their affairs are 00:02:33.569 --> 00:02:36.370 managed. My mom looked after me for the rest 00:02:36.370 --> 00:02:38.990 of the year while working full -time, so I guess 00:02:38.990 --> 00:02:41.909 she figured it was a way for her to get a little 00:02:41.909 --> 00:02:44.669 time off without having to take me out of school. 00:02:45.370 --> 00:02:48.250 She probably also worried about the kind of things 00:02:48.250 --> 00:02:51.229 I'd get up to if I was left alone in the city. 00:02:52.009 --> 00:02:54.449 It makes sense to me now that I've got a little 00:02:54.449 --> 00:02:58.310 distance from it. Back then, I hated it. In the 00:02:58.310 --> 00:03:00.729 run -up to the holiday, my friends would talk 00:03:00.729 --> 00:03:02.650 about the things they were going to do together, 00:03:02.710 --> 00:03:05.650 seeing Madonna and Bon Jovi at the garden or 00:03:05.650 --> 00:03:08.949 having sleepovers. And what did I have to look 00:03:08.949 --> 00:03:13.990 forward to? Piano lessons and walks along Manhasset 00:03:13.990 --> 00:03:18.330 Bay with Aunt Amy. It wasn't that it was torture 00:03:18.330 --> 00:03:22.150 or anything. It just wasn't Madonna. I never 00:03:22.150 --> 00:03:24.490 minded going there with Mom for Christmas because 00:03:24.490 --> 00:03:27.729 not as much was happening at home when my friends 00:03:27.729 --> 00:03:30.250 would disappear into the cocoon of their family 00:03:30.250 --> 00:03:33.969 lives for a couple weeks. Besides, Aunt Amy had 00:03:33.969 --> 00:03:37.689 lived alone since Uncle David died in 1975, and 00:03:37.689 --> 00:03:40.849 even a selfish teenager knew you didn't leave 00:03:40.849 --> 00:03:46.319 family alone on the holidays. They had a beautiful 00:03:46.319 --> 00:03:49.879 house across from Plum Point with big windows 00:03:49.879 --> 00:03:53.759 that looked out over the water. Sometimes at 00:03:53.759 --> 00:03:56.680 night, the three of us would all just sit there 00:03:56.680 --> 00:03:59.840 in the living room with lights off, Aunt Amy 00:03:59.840 --> 00:04:03.680 playing David's favorite songs on the piano while 00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:09.699 outside snowflakes blanketed the bay. This past 00:04:09.699 --> 00:04:12.639 Christmas, we got a call from the Great Neck 00:04:12.639 --> 00:04:16.509 Police to let us know that Aunt Amy had passed. 00:04:17.009 --> 00:04:20.089 The piano had been a focal point of her life, 00:04:20.189 --> 00:04:24.069 so I suppose it's only fitting she died sitting 00:04:24.069 --> 00:04:27.850 there, her hands resting on the polished ivory 00:04:27.850 --> 00:04:31.930 keys. Being in Amy's house without her there 00:04:31.930 --> 00:04:35.970 wasn't as strange as I had expected. At least 00:04:35.970 --> 00:04:39.050 once during every visit should run out to what 00:04:39.050 --> 00:04:41.529 had been David's favorite deli on Middle Neck 00:04:41.529 --> 00:04:45.670 Road and bring back dinner. Standing in the living 00:04:45.670 --> 00:04:48.990 room with Mom as the afternoon light faded, I 00:04:48.990 --> 00:04:51.829 half expected her to walk in, shaking the snow 00:04:51.829 --> 00:04:55.430 from her hair. Of course, she was never going 00:04:55.430 --> 00:04:59.329 to walk back in there again. The kitchen was 00:04:59.329 --> 00:05:03.629 empty, countertops wiped clean before her heart 00:05:03.629 --> 00:05:07.709 had given out. Mom and I couldn't bring ourselves 00:05:07.709 --> 00:05:11.569 to touch Amy's belongings that first day. Instead, 00:05:11.810 --> 00:05:18.250 we decided to have a meal in her honor. The deli 00:05:18.250 --> 00:05:21.370 is still there, so we ordered the same thing 00:05:21.370 --> 00:05:25.149 she always used to. A pound of turkey, a pound 00:05:25.149 --> 00:05:28.670 of roast beef, a dozen slices of seeded rye, 00:05:28.829 --> 00:05:32.730 gravy. The elderly man behind the counter looked 00:05:32.730 --> 00:05:35.009 up from where he was writing our bill. He knew 00:05:35.009 --> 00:05:38.089 exactly who we were and offered his condolences. 00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:42.019 When our order was bagged and ready, he held 00:05:42.019 --> 00:05:44.079 his finger like he'd forgotten something. He 00:05:44.079 --> 00:05:47.720 kneeled down out of sight, knees popping audibly, 00:05:47.899 --> 00:05:50.379 and when he came back up, there was a can of 00:05:50.379 --> 00:05:54.100 baked beans in his hand. Sometimes, he said, 00:05:54.339 --> 00:05:59.259 David used to like beans. No charge. Back at 00:05:59.259 --> 00:06:02.339 the house, Mom and I ate silently in the high 00:06:02.339 --> 00:06:05.319 -ceilinged kitchen. We'd made it back just ahead 00:06:05.319 --> 00:06:07.500 of the blizzard the radio had been threatening 00:06:07.500 --> 00:06:11.560 all day, and Now, wind howled at the double -paned 00:06:11.560 --> 00:06:15.560 windows. Once dinner had been finished and the 00:06:15.560 --> 00:06:18.720 leftovers packed up, we turned off the pot lights 00:06:18.720 --> 00:06:21.600 above the kitchen aisle and plunged the house 00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:25.699 into total darkness. Together, we went into the 00:06:25.699 --> 00:06:28.300 living room and sat on the bay window's long 00:06:28.300 --> 00:06:31.839 bench seat to watch the storm. I leaned my head 00:06:31.839 --> 00:06:35.300 back against Mom's chest, listening to the tick 00:06:35.300 --> 00:06:40.300 of the clock. I miss her. Mom wrapped her arm 00:06:40.300 --> 00:06:44.740 around me. Me too, baby. We cried ourselves to 00:06:44.740 --> 00:06:49.000 sleep. I had a dream. In it, I was laying on 00:06:49.000 --> 00:06:51.639 the bench seat in Aunt Amy's living room as wind 00:06:51.639 --> 00:06:54.259 whipped thick snowflakes back and forth across 00:06:54.259 --> 00:06:57.500 the bay. Next to me, I could feel the rhythmic 00:06:57.500 --> 00:07:02.579 rise and fall of Mom's chest as she slept. Behind 00:07:02.579 --> 00:07:06.279 us, Aunt Amy was playing Leo Ornstein's A Morning 00:07:06.279 --> 00:07:09.279 in the Woods. My chest clenched with emotion, 00:07:09.459 --> 00:07:14.740 and the tears came again. Wiping them away, feeling 00:07:14.740 --> 00:07:18.160 the hot liquid against my fingertips, I realized 00:07:18.160 --> 00:07:23.620 it wasn't a dream. I was wide awake, but the 00:07:23.620 --> 00:07:27.040 music... continued to play. I so desperately 00:07:27.040 --> 00:07:29.480 wanted to look behind me to know if Aunt Amy 00:07:29.480 --> 00:07:32.480 was there, sitting at her piano the way she always 00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:36.300 had. Something told me not to turn, that to see 00:07:36.300 --> 00:07:39.899 would be to bring this moment to an end, and 00:07:39.899 --> 00:07:44.339 I knew I didn't want that. Instead, I lay back 00:07:44.339 --> 00:07:47.939 on Mom, who shifted against me, getting comfortable 00:07:47.939 --> 00:07:53.529 again. Could she hear the music too? Would she 00:07:53.529 --> 00:07:59.110 remember it all as a dream? I'd never ask. I 00:07:59.110 --> 00:08:02.310 breathe deeply, letting the music fill the silence 00:08:02.310 --> 00:08:06.250 as the three of us watch the snow fall one last 00:08:06.250 --> 00:08:39.360 time. Subject, gumdrops. User, quiet witness. 00:08:40.480 --> 00:08:51.620 Posted, October 3rd, 1996. The parking lot was 00:08:51.620 --> 00:08:55.419 full of media vans this morning. A pack of blow 00:08:55.419 --> 00:08:57.799 -dried hairdos trying to get as close to the 00:08:57.799 --> 00:09:00.360 apartment building as the police cordon would 00:09:00.360 --> 00:09:04.779 allow. Word had spread quick. The gumdrop killer 00:09:04.779 --> 00:09:09.139 strikes again. This time, he left behind more 00:09:09.139 --> 00:09:12.279 than his usual locked -door mystery. He left 00:09:12.279 --> 00:09:17.179 behind a living victim. Cops hated the whole 00:09:17.179 --> 00:09:20.919 gumdrop killer name, so the fact it was their 00:09:20.919 --> 00:09:24.639 own fault is kind of funny. After details of 00:09:24.639 --> 00:09:26.899 the first couple killings broke in the news, 00:09:27.370 --> 00:09:29.950 Residents of high -rise apartment towers found 00:09:29.950 --> 00:09:33.129 dead in their beds, poisoned by an unknown toxin, 00:09:33.129 --> 00:09:36.330 their eyeballs missing. A reporter from the Times 00:09:36.330 --> 00:09:38.970 had managed to catch one of the lead detectives 00:09:38.970 --> 00:09:42.470 when he was half in the bag. The reporter asked 00:09:42.470 --> 00:09:45.429 if the police had any idea what the killer wanted 00:09:45.429 --> 00:09:47.730 with the victim's eyes, to which the annoyed 00:09:47.730 --> 00:09:51.090 cop responded, Maybe he eats them like fucking 00:09:51.090 --> 00:09:55.289 gumdrops, I don't know. The rest was history. 00:09:56.490 --> 00:09:59.870 Who am I? I'm nobody, unless you're a fan of 00:09:59.870 --> 00:10:02.090 comic books, in which case you might recognize 00:10:02.090 --> 00:10:05.830 my name as the anchor on one of your semi -favorite 00:10:05.830 --> 00:10:08.809 series. If you're not familiar with my business, 00:10:09.049 --> 00:10:11.909 an anchor is someone who interprets the original 00:10:11.909 --> 00:10:15.429 artist's graphite work in, you guessed it, ink. 00:10:15.809 --> 00:10:18.909 There's more to it, but I'm not here to give 00:10:18.909 --> 00:10:21.590 lessons on the finer points of the comic book 00:10:21.590 --> 00:10:24.529 industry. You've got Kevin Smith for that. I'm 00:10:24.529 --> 00:10:27.909 here because... I'm one of only two people alive 00:10:27.909 --> 00:10:33.090 who's seen the gumdrop killer. No, this isn't 00:10:33.090 --> 00:10:35.850 a confession. I'm not a killer of anything. It's 00:10:35.850 --> 00:10:38.549 hard for me to swat flies, since I've always 00:10:38.549 --> 00:10:40.750 figured they've got as much right to be around 00:10:40.750 --> 00:10:44.950 as I do. Lord knows, Lord knows, I wouldn't have 00:10:44.950 --> 00:10:47.429 made it out of short pants if the rules allowed 00:10:47.429 --> 00:10:50.190 for beating me to death as soon as I got annoying. 00:10:50.870 --> 00:10:54.370 The detective who interviewed me till sunup asked 00:10:54.370 --> 00:10:58.570 me not to speak to the media, and I won't. The 00:10:58.570 --> 00:11:01.129 last thing I need is that kind of attention. 00:11:02.029 --> 00:11:04.830 The only reason I'm posting this here is because 00:11:04.830 --> 00:11:08.230 if anything happens to me, I like the idea of 00:11:08.230 --> 00:11:11.110 my story not getting buried in some cardboard 00:11:11.110 --> 00:11:15.129 box at an LAPD lockup. Why would anything happen 00:11:15.129 --> 00:11:19.029 to me? Because the gumdrop killer saw me too, 00:11:19.129 --> 00:11:22.320 and... I'm not convinced the cops can do much 00:11:22.320 --> 00:11:26.740 against something like that. I'll start at the 00:11:26.740 --> 00:11:31.580 beginning. I moved into this a year ago after 00:11:31.580 --> 00:11:34.620 one of my dates pointed out that an invitation 00:11:34.620 --> 00:11:37.700 back to the house a grown man shared with his 00:11:37.700 --> 00:11:40.860 mother was always going to get an automatic no. 00:11:41.519 --> 00:11:45.240 It's a two -bed, two -bath, and a 20 -story new 00:11:45.240 --> 00:11:48.360 build, so I'm the first person to live in my 00:11:48.360 --> 00:11:51.980 apartment, same as my neighbors and theirs. The 00:11:51.980 --> 00:11:55.620 Comstocks, the couple visited by Gumdrop last 00:11:55.620 --> 00:11:59.259 night, had only bought their place last month. 00:11:59.659 --> 00:12:04.519 I hadn't met them before last night when I watched 00:12:04.519 --> 00:12:08.720 him die as something barely human plucked out 00:12:08.720 --> 00:12:14.350 his eyes. The thing about living in a modern 00:12:14.350 --> 00:12:17.110 building like this is that everything looks the 00:12:17.110 --> 00:12:21.629 same. Same carpet on every floor, same gray paint 00:12:21.629 --> 00:12:24.690 on the walls, even the same apartment numbers 00:12:24.690 --> 00:12:28.629 just with a two -digit prefix beforehand to denote 00:12:28.629 --> 00:12:33.370 the floor number. I'm 1020, my neighbor is 1022, 00:12:33.669 --> 00:12:38.409 and so on. The Comstocks have, or at least had, 00:12:38.590 --> 00:12:43.720 apartment 1122. One floor above me. That's why 00:12:43.720 --> 00:12:46.820 when I stumbled out of a cab into the lobby of 00:12:46.820 --> 00:12:49.279 our building last night and hit the button for 00:12:49.279 --> 00:12:52.860 11 instead of 10, I didn't notice for a while. 00:12:53.679 --> 00:12:56.100 You know that feeling when you've really got 00:12:56.100 --> 00:12:58.980 a load on, like your field of vision narrows 00:12:58.980 --> 00:13:01.600 to a point and all you can do is move toward 00:13:01.600 --> 00:13:04.470 that point. It doesn't matter if you're on a 00:13:04.470 --> 00:13:07.450 crowded street with cars whizzing past. The only 00:13:07.450 --> 00:13:10.509 thing you see is what's at the end of that tunnel. 00:13:10.570 --> 00:13:14.730 A burrito cart, a bathroom, some poor woman who 00:13:14.730 --> 00:13:17.210 hopefully spots you before you can bother her 00:13:17.210 --> 00:13:21.409 with your idiot drunkenness. That's where I was 00:13:21.409 --> 00:13:25.590 last night. Completely moved on Singapore slings 00:13:25.590 --> 00:13:28.330 and desperate to get into my place so I could 00:13:28.330 --> 00:13:32.539 take a leak. I weaved my way down the featureless 00:13:32.539 --> 00:13:35.980 hallway, saw a 20, and went for the doorknob. 00:13:38.240 --> 00:13:41.179 The competing interests of gin and a need to 00:13:41.179 --> 00:13:43.620 urinate completely bypassed any thought of a 00:13:43.620 --> 00:13:46.559 key, and walking into a darkened apartment laid 00:13:46.559 --> 00:13:49.860 out exactly like my own meant I didn't see anything 00:13:49.860 --> 00:13:55.039 to suggest I was anywhere but home. Inside the 00:13:55.039 --> 00:13:58.230 bathroom, I... Flicked on the light, and halfway 00:13:58.230 --> 00:14:01.490 through a deeply gratifying piss, it occurred 00:14:01.490 --> 00:14:04.950 to me that someone had redecorated in the few 00:14:04.950 --> 00:14:08.570 hours I'd been gone. There was potpourri on the 00:14:08.570 --> 00:14:11.649 toilet tank instead of stacked up issues of Wizard, 00:14:11.769 --> 00:14:15.470 and the bar of soap next to the taps was a bright 00:14:15.470 --> 00:14:19.230 pink instead of the hairy white bar of Dove that 00:14:19.230 --> 00:14:23.570 did double duty between my shower and sink. Nothing 00:14:23.570 --> 00:14:27.710 will cut through a gin fog like panic, and that's 00:14:27.710 --> 00:14:32.509 exactly what I felt in that moment. This wasn't 00:14:32.509 --> 00:14:37.350 my apartment. I had just broke and entered. Well, 00:14:37.490 --> 00:14:39.950 I didn't break anything, but I doubt the cops 00:14:39.950 --> 00:14:42.389 would be that discerning when they laid charges. 00:14:44.039 --> 00:14:48.000 My stream finally reduced to a trickle. I wondered 00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:49.860 about the etiquette of flushing while committing 00:14:49.860 --> 00:14:53.059 burglaries, and that's when I heard sounds coming 00:14:53.059 --> 00:14:56.919 from next door, the bedroom going by the layout 00:14:56.919 --> 00:15:00.879 of my own home. First, I thought it was people 00:15:00.879 --> 00:15:04.980 fucking, so I listened a little more. It's been 00:15:04.980 --> 00:15:07.440 a while since I've had feminine company, but 00:15:07.440 --> 00:15:11.279 even drunk me knew that the process didn't sound 00:15:11.279 --> 00:15:14.940 like what I was hearing. It sounded like struggling, 00:15:15.220 --> 00:15:19.179 whimpering, and something else, something wet. 00:15:20.539 --> 00:15:23.960 Carefully, I stepped out of the bathroom, wincing 00:15:23.960 --> 00:15:26.940 at how long a shadow I was casting thanks to 00:15:26.940 --> 00:15:30.639 the bathroom light. The noises continued like 00:15:30.639 --> 00:15:34.379 I hadn't been seen, and I debated just sneaking 00:15:34.379 --> 00:15:37.220 back out the door and believing whoever lived 00:15:37.220 --> 00:15:39.620 there to wonder if they were being haunted by 00:15:39.620 --> 00:15:43.980 a ghost with an enormous bladder. My curiosity 00:15:43.980 --> 00:15:47.500 won out, however, and I creeped toward the open 00:15:47.500 --> 00:15:52.539 bedroom door. My footsteps were almost inaudible 00:15:52.539 --> 00:15:56.240 on the linoleum floors. I inched closer to the 00:15:56.240 --> 00:15:59.480 black doorway, hearing the struggling more clearly. 00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:05.470 Something was wrong. Really wrong. Dread blossomed 00:16:05.470 --> 00:16:08.870 in my chest. A spike of adrenaline burned away 00:16:08.870 --> 00:16:12.009 the rest of my drunk. Placing my hands on the 00:16:12.009 --> 00:16:15.330 doorframe, I leaned into the room just enough 00:16:15.330 --> 00:16:19.549 for my eyes to start adjusting to the dim. The 00:16:19.549 --> 00:16:23.070 patio door was open, curtains across it fluttering 00:16:23.070 --> 00:16:26.750 in a slight breeze. On the bed were two people. 00:16:26.789 --> 00:16:31.309 No, three. Two in the bed and one. The third 00:16:31.309 --> 00:16:35.909 figure was barely. person. Enormous, muscled 00:16:35.909 --> 00:16:38.950 arms pinned the couple under the blankets like 00:16:38.950 --> 00:16:42.309 butterflies in a display case. The body was thick 00:16:42.309 --> 00:16:44.990 too, seeming rigid like the body of a beetle. 00:16:45.090 --> 00:16:48.429 Its legs were long and thin, folded up under 00:16:48.429 --> 00:16:51.669 it like it was doing some kind of isometric hold. 00:16:52.490 --> 00:16:55.990 One of the figures, I'd later learn it was the 00:16:55.990 --> 00:17:00.409 husband, Johnny, wasn't moving. The other, his 00:17:00.409 --> 00:17:04.480 wife Anne, was shaking. side to side, losing 00:17:04.480 --> 00:17:07.920 power with every moment as the third figure's 00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:12.519 head got closer to her face. The more the curtains 00:17:12.519 --> 00:17:15.740 blew, the more the light of the city filtered 00:17:15.740 --> 00:17:20.759 in, outlining the tableau in front of me. Something 00:17:20.759 --> 00:17:23.980 emerged from the third figure's mouth, long and 00:17:23.980 --> 00:17:27.079 slick like a mosquito's proboscis. My stomach 00:17:27.079 --> 00:17:29.859 turned, threatening to announce my presence with 00:17:29.859 --> 00:17:33.240 a firehose spray of slightly fermented Singapore 00:17:33.240 --> 00:17:38.619 sling. The rest of me was frozen. Turns out, 00:17:38.619 --> 00:17:42.519 that's the third aft to fight or flight. Freeze. 00:17:43.779 --> 00:17:48.359 All I could do was watch as the long... Rubbery 00:17:48.359 --> 00:17:52.720 tubes split into two, one settling on each of 00:17:52.720 --> 00:17:57.240 the struggling woman's eye sockets. There was 00:17:57.240 --> 00:17:59.859 that wet sound I'd first heard in the bathroom. 00:17:59.960 --> 00:18:04.759 I knew what it was now. Sucking. The proboscis 00:18:04.759 --> 00:18:07.480 withdrew, tugging until the eyes popped right 00:18:07.480 --> 00:18:11.089 out. trailing long, thick cords of their own 00:18:11.089 --> 00:18:14.329 that could only be the optic nerves. The figure 00:18:14.329 --> 00:18:17.130 withdrew the proboscis quickly, snapping the 00:18:17.130 --> 00:18:20.410 stalks and sucking the stolen treats into its 00:18:20.410 --> 00:18:24.430 own mouth. I heard them popping wetly as it chewed. 00:18:25.190 --> 00:18:30.089 Oh, I thought dumbly, that's the gumdrop killer. 00:18:30.569 --> 00:18:35.680 Hey, that cop was right after all. Having that 00:18:35.680 --> 00:18:38.240 conscious thought brought me back to my body, 00:18:38.279 --> 00:18:42.440 and the first thing I did was scream. Gumdrop's 00:18:42.440 --> 00:18:45.480 head snapped in my direction, his eyes a bright 00:18:45.480 --> 00:18:49.279 silver in the dark. I reacted by turning to run 00:18:49.279 --> 00:18:51.779 at the same time as I vomited what must have 00:18:51.779 --> 00:18:54.940 been a bright red fountain of pineapple juice 00:18:54.940 --> 00:18:58.019 gin and benedictine across the wall in front 00:18:58.019 --> 00:19:01.769 of me, out of the corner of my eye. I saw Gumdrop 00:19:01.769 --> 00:19:05.670 throw himself on the floor, landing on his powerful 00:19:05.670 --> 00:19:10.369 arms. He moved toward me at an impossible speed, 00:19:10.569 --> 00:19:13.970 thumping forward like a combination of gorilla 00:19:13.970 --> 00:19:17.069 and insect. I couldn't outrun him. There was 00:19:17.069 --> 00:19:21.539 no way, but I was going to try. I passed the 00:19:21.539 --> 00:19:25.039 bathroom with gumdrops close behind. I was only 00:19:25.039 --> 00:19:27.759 feet away from the hall door. He was faster. 00:19:28.019 --> 00:19:33.140 I knew it in my heart. This was it. Instead of 00:19:33.140 --> 00:19:36.700 feeling gumdrops landing on my back, I heard 00:19:36.700 --> 00:19:40.420 a grotesque, wounded cry, and I turned in time 00:19:40.420 --> 00:19:44.920 to see him scuttling back into the bedroom. Why 00:19:44.920 --> 00:19:48.619 wasn't he coming closer? It only took me a moment 00:19:48.619 --> 00:19:52.000 to figure it out. A shaft of light cast from 00:19:52.000 --> 00:19:55.299 the bathroom cut the hallway in half, his half 00:19:55.299 --> 00:20:00.859 and mine. Did he not like the light? He was still 00:20:00.859 --> 00:20:04.339 there, hiding in the dark. I could hear him breathing. 00:20:05.099 --> 00:20:09.660 To test my theory, I reached behind me, fumbling 00:20:09.660 --> 00:20:12.779 for the handle as I kept my eyes on the bedroom 00:20:12.779 --> 00:20:16.880 doorway. When I found the door latch, I pressed 00:20:16.880 --> 00:20:20.859 down and pulled it open. brightness pouring in 00:20:20.859 --> 00:20:24.380 from the over -lit hallway, pushing the darkness 00:20:24.380 --> 00:20:29.380 further back. For an instant, I saw Gumdrop's 00:20:29.380 --> 00:20:32.680 face, and it's going to haunt me until my dying 00:20:32.680 --> 00:20:36.880 day. If his figure had barely been that of a 00:20:36.880 --> 00:20:40.599 person, his face was barely that of a man, pale, 00:20:40.839 --> 00:20:44.559 blotchy, shot through with blue veins, his silver 00:20:44.559 --> 00:20:48.460 eyes full of a deep hate I'd never known before. 00:20:49.869 --> 00:20:53.549 Another roar followed by more frantic thumping 00:20:53.549 --> 00:20:56.190 and what sounded like one of the curtains being 00:20:56.190 --> 00:20:58.589 ripped down. People were coming out of their 00:20:58.589 --> 00:21:01.869 apartments now, drawn by the war cries next door. 00:21:02.529 --> 00:21:07.170 The cops were not far behind and I was held on 00:21:07.170 --> 00:21:12.089 suspicion for a couple of hours. Then, a witness 00:21:12.089 --> 00:21:14.549 who lived in one of the apartments across the 00:21:14.549 --> 00:21:17.589 street came forward to say they'd seen a man 00:21:17.589 --> 00:21:21.650 with huge arms and tiny legs climbing down the 00:21:21.650 --> 00:21:25.369 balconies on our building shortly after the screaming 00:21:25.369 --> 00:21:30.130 started. After giving my statement, I was released 00:21:30.130 --> 00:21:33.009 from custody with the aforementioned stern warning 00:21:33.009 --> 00:21:38.099 about not spreading my story to the press. All 00:21:38.099 --> 00:21:41.519 the cops would tell me about Ann Comstock is 00:21:41.519 --> 00:21:44.900 that she survived the attack and had a crazy 00:21:44.900 --> 00:21:48.720 story about a monster kissing her husband before 00:21:48.720 --> 00:21:54.059 sucking out his eyes. My guess is it wasn't a 00:21:54.059 --> 00:21:57.599 kiss. I bet next month's paycheck on the creature 00:21:57.599 --> 00:22:01.440 using that proboscis to inject something like 00:22:01.440 --> 00:22:05.640 a paralytic agent into his victims so he can 00:22:05.640 --> 00:22:08.549 take their eyes and Whatever else it is he does 00:22:08.549 --> 00:22:12.109 to them, it's something he didn't get a chance 00:22:12.109 --> 00:22:14.970 to finish with Ann because I'd wandered into 00:22:14.970 --> 00:22:19.289 the wrong apartment. Now, the big question is, 00:22:19.569 --> 00:22:22.849 does Gumdrops know which apartment is the right 00:22:22.849 --> 00:22:26.910 one? And is he going to come back before I can 00:22:26.910 --> 00:22:43.490 move? Fear Daily is an independent podcast hosted 00:22:43.490 --> 00:22:46.269 by Brandon Schech -Snyder and written by Brennan 00:22:46.269 --> 00:22:49.430 Storr, with Joanna Smith serving as the consulting 00:22:49.430 --> 00:22:52.970 editor, audio production by Rachel Boyd and sound 00:22:52.970 --> 00:22:57.109 design by Southern Gothic Media. This podcast 00:22:57.109 --> 00:23:01.450 is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, 00:23:01.730 --> 00:23:04.309 and incidents are either products of the author's 00:23:04.309 --> 00:23:08.549 imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance 00:23:08.549 --> 00:23:12.000 to actual persons, living or dead, or to real 00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:15.319 events or locations is entirely coincidental. 00:23:16.240 --> 00:23:19.140 Ad -free versions of Fear Daily are available 00:23:19.140 --> 00:23:23.160 now on your favorite podcast apps. 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