WEBVTT 00:00:00.140 --> 00:00:04.919 Sometimes the dead don't rest quiet. Sometimes 00:00:04.919 --> 00:00:08.560 they leave behind words, scraps of confession, 00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:12.740 scraps of warning, scratched out with hands already 00:00:12.740 --> 00:00:16.679 halfway in the grave. Tonight, we've brought 00:00:16.679 --> 00:00:19.500 one such bundle back from a church forgotten 00:00:19.500 --> 00:00:23.640 by time, buried in the bones of a Kentucky holler. 00:00:24.460 --> 00:00:27.839 And what we found inside was never meant for 00:00:27.839 --> 00:00:32.820 the living. You're listening to Kentucky Melody. 00:00:33.119 --> 00:00:36.179 Around here, we don't just tell ghost stories. 00:00:36.799 --> 00:00:40.640 We open the doors you'd rather keep shut. And 00:00:40.640 --> 00:00:44.039 what waits inside will chill you to the marrow. 00:00:44.920 --> 00:00:48.799 This is a new series just in time for Halloween 00:00:48.799 --> 00:00:53.219 and these. These are the letters from the dead. 00:00:55.280 --> 00:00:58.960 It weren't on no map. Just a trail, dear, might 00:00:58.960 --> 00:01:02.100 take, twisting deeper into the holler where the 00:01:02.100 --> 00:01:07.640 sun don't set so much as it just dies. Trees 00:01:07.640 --> 00:01:11.140 leaned in close, roots grabbing at our boots 00:01:11.140 --> 00:01:14.400 like they meant to drag us under. We weren't 00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:17.299 hunting for trouble, only a place to get out 00:01:17.299 --> 00:01:20.560 of the rain, but the holler had other plans. 00:01:22.420 --> 00:01:26.170 Through the mist, it appeared, a church. or what 00:01:26.170 --> 00:01:30.290 was left of one. Half sunk into the hillside, 00:01:30.409 --> 00:01:33.549 boards gray and swollen, steeple broke clean 00:01:33.549 --> 00:01:38.590 in two. No road led to it. No sign said it ever 00:01:38.590 --> 00:01:42.109 belonged to God. But there it stood, waiting 00:01:42.109 --> 00:01:44.769 on us, leaning into the dark like it had been 00:01:44.769 --> 00:01:49.430 praying for mercy and never got it. The door 00:01:49.430 --> 00:01:52.510 pushed open with a groan that set my teeth on 00:01:52.510 --> 00:01:57.840 edge. Inside, pews lay split and twisted, hymnals 00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:01.359 bloated with rot. Rain dripped steady through 00:02:01.359 --> 00:02:05.719 the rafters, puddling round the altar. And yet, 00:02:06.340 --> 00:02:08.699 it felt like something still worshiped there, 00:02:09.219 --> 00:02:12.939 something that never left. Every step echoed, 00:02:12.939 --> 00:02:16.879 but not like it should have. The sound seemed 00:02:16.879 --> 00:02:21.780 to breathe back at us. On the pulpit lay a bundle. 00:02:22.110 --> 00:02:25.650 Yellowed papers bound in twine black with mold. 00:02:26.490 --> 00:02:29.330 The smell of earth and iron clung to it, sharp 00:02:29.330 --> 00:02:33.430 as a grave left open too long. When the twine 00:02:33.430 --> 00:02:37.030 cracked, the pages spilled out. Written covered 00:02:37.030 --> 00:02:41.729 them, not sermons, not hymns. Letters, letters 00:02:41.729 --> 00:02:44.590 written by hands long buried, some scratched 00:02:44.590 --> 00:02:47.490 in ink, others smeared in what looked too red 00:02:47.490 --> 00:02:52.610 to be rust. Each page carried a voice. a voice 00:02:52.610 --> 00:02:56.930 that refused to stay silent, and tonight will 00:02:56.930 --> 00:03:01.750 open them one by one. These are the letters from 00:03:01.750 --> 00:03:08.289 the dead. First was a gallows confession, scrawled 00:03:08.289 --> 00:03:12.610 on the night a man swung. Words meant for no 00:03:12.610 --> 00:03:17.030 priest, no sheriff, only the darkness that walked 00:03:17.030 --> 00:03:23.860 beside him. boots stomping on the boards, the 00:03:23.860 --> 00:03:26.939 scaffold creaking like it already knows my weight. 00:03:27.900 --> 00:03:31.599 I can smell pitch in the air, tar from the torches, 00:03:32.139 --> 00:03:38.039 and the sour sweat of the hangman. They say I 00:03:38.039 --> 00:03:41.479 killed a man. They ain't wrong, but I weren't 00:03:41.479 --> 00:03:46.479 alone when I done it. It eh. Something was there. 00:03:47.780 --> 00:03:51.469 Something older than the woods. Darker than the 00:03:51.469 --> 00:03:59.250 coal seems. It whispered in my ear. Do it. You'll 00:03:59.250 --> 00:04:04.389 never hang for it. But here I said, rope waitin', 00:04:04.389 --> 00:04:08.069 only the whisper's still with me. I see it in 00:04:08.069 --> 00:04:11.229 the corner of the cell, black eyes blinkin' slow 00:04:11.229 --> 00:04:16.610 like coals that don't die out. It says, confess, 00:04:17.089 --> 00:04:20.879 and I'll walk with you. So I write these words. 00:04:21.620 --> 00:04:26.459 My hand shakes, but not from fear of death. It 00:04:26.459 --> 00:04:29.439 shakes cause I feel it touching my shoulder, 00:04:29.779 --> 00:04:34.300 cold as the grave. When the rope snaps my neck, 00:04:34.519 --> 00:04:38.319 I won't be alone. It'll be there, holding me 00:04:38.319 --> 00:04:42.459 up, dangling beside me. And when they cut me 00:04:42.459 --> 00:04:46.439 down, when they lay me in dirt, I reckon it'll 00:04:46.439 --> 00:04:53.199 climb out with me too. So hear me now. If you 00:04:53.199 --> 00:04:57.040 stand on Gallows Hill at night and you hear boots 00:04:57.040 --> 00:05:00.339 scuffing though no one's there, if you hear a 00:05:00.339 --> 00:05:05.360 voice say, confess, don't answer, don't speak, 00:05:05.800 --> 00:05:09.319 cause once you do, it ain't never leaving you 00:05:09.319 --> 00:05:14.620 be." They buried him deep, but folks say the 00:05:14.620 --> 00:05:18.029 scaffold still groans in the wind. Some nights 00:05:18.029 --> 00:05:21.370 a voice rides it, whispering a confession it 00:05:21.370 --> 00:05:26.430 ain't yours to give. This here next letter was 00:05:26.430 --> 00:05:29.529 smeared with dirt written by a man who thought 00:05:29.529 --> 00:05:34.230 the dead had no use for rings nor boots. He learned 00:05:34.230 --> 00:05:38.449 otherwise. I told myself the dead don't mind. 00:05:38.930 --> 00:05:41.329 They don't need their gold. Don't need their 00:05:41.329 --> 00:05:45.220 lockets. Don't need their boots. But every grave 00:05:45.220 --> 00:05:48.759 I dug felt heavier, like the ground itself was 00:05:48.759 --> 00:05:54.399 fighting me. First one, the coffin lid gave easy, 00:05:54.899 --> 00:05:59.579 too easy. Inside, the body was twisted, as though 00:05:59.579 --> 00:06:04.420 waiting. I swore I heard a breath. By the third, 00:06:04.899 --> 00:06:09.500 the eyes were open, clouded, but wet. Blinked 00:06:09.500 --> 00:06:12.579 when I shined my lantern. Lord forgive me, I 00:06:12.579 --> 00:06:15.079 shut the lid fast. But I still took the ring. 00:06:15.399 --> 00:06:20.120 Couldn't stop myself. Last night, the moon lit 00:06:20.120 --> 00:06:23.720 the stone silver. I dug again. Dirt clung to 00:06:23.720 --> 00:06:26.420 me like hands. When I pried the lid, she was 00:06:26.420 --> 00:06:31.000 smiling. Lips sewn shut, but smiling. The thread 00:06:31.000 --> 00:06:35.519 tore loose as her mouth moved. She breathed warm 00:06:35.519 --> 00:06:40.399 on me. Whispered soft, like a sweetheart. Stay. 00:06:41.779 --> 00:06:44.319 Her hand closed round my ankle. bones clicking 00:06:44.319 --> 00:06:48.860 like teeth. I tried to claw free, but the earth 00:06:48.860 --> 00:06:52.560 pulled harder. The grave I opened wanted me inside, 00:06:52.939 --> 00:06:58.180 and I reckon by dawn it'll have me. They found 00:06:58.180 --> 00:07:01.560 no body, only a fresh mound where none should 00:07:01.560 --> 00:07:05.579 have been. On moonlit nights, you'll still hear 00:07:05.579 --> 00:07:08.699 digging, but it comes from under the ground. 00:07:10.160 --> 00:07:14.089 When the sickness came, Whole families were nailed 00:07:14.089 --> 00:07:18.069 inside their homes, left to burn with fever. 00:07:19.170 --> 00:07:23.470 One such cabin left this note behind, scratched 00:07:23.470 --> 00:07:42.569 in trembling hand on soot -stained paper. Baby 00:07:42.569 --> 00:07:46.709 whimpers, till he don't. Outside, wagon wheels 00:07:46.709 --> 00:07:51.250 pass. Voices mutter. They don't stop. They don't 00:07:51.250 --> 00:07:56.329 knock. To them, we're already ghosts. Nights 00:07:56.329 --> 00:08:01.490 are worse. Fever burns me, yet I freeze. Breath 00:08:01.490 --> 00:08:04.850 brushes my neck. The mama lies still on the floor. 00:08:05.490 --> 00:08:07.350 Something shifts in the corner when the lantern 00:08:07.350 --> 00:08:13.870 dies. Not shadow. Not sickness. Something smiling. 00:08:15.990 --> 00:08:18.529 I reckon the plague weren't the only thing nailed 00:08:18.529 --> 00:08:22.670 in here. Something else come with it. Hungry. 00:08:23.029 --> 00:08:25.709 Waiting. When the fever takes me, I'll be one 00:08:25.709 --> 00:08:32.809 of them too. If you find this, burn the cabin. 00:08:34.509 --> 00:08:40.940 Burn it deep. Put fire won't always kill what's 00:08:40.940 --> 00:08:46.700 already dead." They burned it so the tale goes. 00:08:47.840 --> 00:08:51.240 But travelers swear the ridge still smells of 00:08:51.240 --> 00:08:54.480 smoke and lights flicker through boards long 00:08:54.480 --> 00:09:00.639 gone to ash. This last one we share tonight was 00:09:00.639 --> 00:09:04.899 a hymn written in fire, a congregation locked 00:09:04.899 --> 00:09:09.039 inside their church. singing one final song, 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:17.039 only no sound carried. The doors won't open. 00:09:19.820 --> 00:09:23.460 Flames lick the rafters, hotter than judgment. 00:09:25.259 --> 00:09:30.740 We raise our voices, but nothing comes. Our mouths 00:09:30.740 --> 00:09:35.629 stretch wide, throats raw. Yet silence falls 00:09:35.629 --> 00:09:41.070 heavier than ash. Around me, faces glow with 00:09:41.070 --> 00:09:49.750 firelight. Eyes wide, mouths open, scream frozen. 00:09:53.250 --> 00:10:01.889 We sing in silence. We burn in silence. In the 00:10:01.889 --> 00:10:08.779 smoke, I see him. Shapes dancing, mouths open, 00:10:10.220 --> 00:10:18.360 mockin' us. Their hymn swallows ours. No words, 00:10:19.299 --> 00:10:27.120 no sound, only silence that deafens. I scratch 00:10:27.120 --> 00:10:32.379 these last words as the roof gives way. Ink bleeds, 00:10:33.200 --> 00:10:38.620 hands blister. But still I write. If you hear 00:10:38.620 --> 00:10:45.240 music from these ashes, don't listen. For once 00:10:45.240 --> 00:10:49.659 the choir finds you, their song don't leave. 00:10:51.539 --> 00:10:57.940 It stays, buried in your bones, singing long 00:10:57.940 --> 00:11:03.120 after your own voice is gone. The fire took their 00:11:03.120 --> 00:11:07.840 church. but not their voices. To this day, they 00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:11.700 say a hymn drifts on the night air, but it ain't 00:11:11.700 --> 00:11:16.639 words you know, it's silence itself, and it lingers 00:11:16.639 --> 00:11:22.620 long after the sound dies. Four letters, four 00:11:22.620 --> 00:11:25.500 voices that clawed their way past the grave, 00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:29.399 a hanged man still whispering for confession. 00:11:29.929 --> 00:11:33.929 A thief dragged down into the earth he disturbed, 00:11:34.669 --> 00:11:38.169 a family locked away with their sickness, and 00:11:38.169 --> 00:11:41.629 something worse, and a choir that burns forever, 00:11:41.870 --> 00:11:45.809 singing without sound. But these are only the 00:11:45.809 --> 00:11:48.529 first pages from that bundle we found in the 00:11:48.529 --> 00:11:52.029 church. Deep in the holler where the trees don't 00:11:52.029 --> 00:11:55.590 speak and the ground remembers, there are more 00:11:55.590 --> 00:12:00.279 letters, more voices waiting. Begging for their 00:12:00.279 --> 00:12:05.440 turn and once open they don't stay quiet So keep 00:12:05.440 --> 00:12:09.159 your lanterns lit your ears sharp and your prayers 00:12:09.159 --> 00:12:13.419 close For the dead still write and we will read 00:12:13.419 --> 00:12:18.779 them Next week the bundle opens wider more hands 00:12:18.779 --> 00:12:22.399 reach from the dark more voices claw for your 00:12:22.399 --> 00:12:27.220 ear We found a soldier who swears the battlefield 00:12:27.220 --> 00:12:31.179 still marches beneath his boots, a child whose 00:12:31.179 --> 00:12:34.600 cries echo from the bottom of a well that should 00:12:34.600 --> 00:12:38.620 have stayed sealed, a witch who carved her curse 00:12:38.620 --> 00:12:42.659 into bark, bleeding words no rain could wash 00:12:42.659 --> 00:12:47.240 away, and a congregation that never learned how 00:12:47.240 --> 00:12:52.379 to stay buried. Four more letters. Four more 00:12:52.379 --> 00:12:57.539 voices that won't rest. Will you return and let 00:12:57.539 --> 00:12:58.240 them in?