Come in. Welcome. I'm E .G. Marshall. Welcome
to another adventure into the incomprehensible.
I like to think of myself as a thinking person.
A reflective man. Someone not given to fanciful
imaginings. That's the way I like to think of
myself. But is that the way I am? Because I must
admit that my thinking has not solved many problems
for me My reflections have not carried me very
far So now and again I find it extremely solitary
to indulge in fanciful imaginings To take a short
walk into the world of obscurantism For as you
will hear one of our characters say the mind
makes so many mistakes. I have heard the people
of of great energy, enormous will, people with
a surpassing belief in themselves. These are
people who simply will not die. They refuse to
die. When death is upon them, they are so angry
that they will not submit. And you know what
energy she had, what a dominating person she
was, how much she believed in herself. Never
in us. Only in herself. People like that, they
say, would rather live an evil life than no life
at all. Our mystery drama, Sunsets to Sunrise,
was written especially for the Mystery Theater
by L. Smith Eric and stars Marion Seldas. I'll
be back shortly. with act one how monstrous you
say to want to live on in wickedness rather than
die quietly perhaps you're right oh of course
you are right and yet don't we all hope we won't
have to die not yet And not altogether? Is this
only monstrous? Or is it strangely admirable?
In a perverse sort of way, of course. It's over.
I've done it. And the mutilated body lies silent
and still at my feet. Let her release come soon.
Let me try to explain how I came to do this awful
thing. It will be necessary to go back, far back,
even to the day I was born, or farther than that,
to the hour when, awash in her warm blood, I
felt myself pushed down that dark canal into
the chilling light. Oh yes. The woman who lies
before me is my mother. But I shall content myself
with reverting to the day of her funeral, a gray
and dismal day. A long line of villagers passed
by the open coffin. I waited with my father until
the last of them should have finished viewing
the corpse. Marie isn't here. She will be father.
And, and Peter? Oh, I'm not so sure about Peter.
His own mother? Not to be here? He's drowning
his sorrow, I think. Oh, you were right about
Marie. Here she comes. How strange she looks.
How quite distraught. I wouldn't know why. She
never had any affection for her mother -in -law.
Hello, Marie. We were worried. We... I'm not
too late, am I? No, the funeral hasn't even started.
I mean, they haven't closed the coffin. Not yet.
Good. I suppose Peter's... Where does your brother
go when he's needed somewhere? To a bar. I know.
At least today, Marie, try to think kindly of
your husband. You think kindly of him? He's your
son We can move up now Marie. You go first. No,
no, let your father go first father. Oh All right
How sad how small he looks yes small you go next
Marie Marie stood for a second or two by the
open coffin, then moved on. Now it was my turn.
My eyes filled suddenly with tears. And when
I looked down at the quiet body, the expressionless
face of my mother, I could scarcely make out
her features. I shook the tears away that I made
an effort to see her clearly. Across her breast
lay a long spray of wild roses. Without conscious
thought, I did what I had never done while she
lived. I leaned over and kissed her on the lips.
The funeral was over. I sat dry -eyed through
it all. And I saw the tears stream down my father's
face. After it was over, he said to me. Would
you walk home with me, Una? Of course I will,
Father. Do you think you could stay and talk
for a while? Maybe I could fix you a little supper.
Oh, I'd like that very much. Elio won't mind?
Oh, it doesn't matter about Elio. I took his
hand. Let me have it like a trusting child. And
we started down the road. The familiar landscape
had embraced me all my life. And now it brought
back sights and sounds from long ago. And on
this day, most particularly, the sight and sound
of my mother as I had known her. I saw her handsome,
flushed face. I heard her voice. How sharper
than a serpent's tooth to have a thankless child.
What have I done that was so wrong? Why am I
being punished to be given a daughter with no
shame, no morals, no sense of decency? My father
trudged on beside me without speaking. His tears
had dried. He looked as he'd always looked. Very
sweet, very simple. She had been the single love
of his life. I had never heard him speak of any
other woman He'd fallen in love with her when
she was 16 and waited five years to marry her
It was my mother who got me to marry him But
it wasn't really of my world nothing intellectual
about him What could you expect of a farmer but
marry him she did? And he never asked for anything
else. The two children she bore him, first my
brother Peter, then me. Well, we were simply
two minor gifts she added to the supreme one
of herself. And Peter always belonged more to
her than to him. It's hell to be poor, Peter.
Never let it happen to you. Oh, the... Stories
I could tell you about what poverty can do to
the ardent soul It took Peter a while to get
started But once he got his foot on the ladder
he climbed steadily to the top and along the
way He married the prettiest girl in town the
dark -eyed Marie We're here you know What? You
were dreaming we're at the house Yeah, I must
have been dreaming. Oh, it's a long time. Very
long time since you've been in the old house.
Two years. You're... you're happy living with
Elia? I don't ask to be happy. But you... would
you... you're pleased with the arrangement? It
pleases us both. Go on in. It looks the same.
Well, nothing's changed. Can I get you something?
A hot drink. No, no, you sit down and I'll get
you something. Oh, take off your coat. Let me
help you. Yes, thank you. What's this? What's
inside your coat? What? Oh, oh, that I forgot.
Well, it's sewn in. Did you do that? What is
it? Well, it's a sprig of black... That's what
I thought. Why is it sewn inside your coat? Marie
put it there. What on earth for? Una sitana.
You know, Marie's a strange girl. She came here
from another country and where they believe strange
things. Such as what? Well, you must know. Elia
must have told you? Elia's parents were gypsies,
but he's not. But he hasn't forgotten, has he?
What they believe... the gypsies. You don't mean
that... They believe... in the living dead. The
dead who refuse to die. You mean... That is what
you mean, isn't it? I never said I believe. But
you let her sew the blackthorn into your coat.
But I couldn't stop her. Why now? Why today?
You don't mean... Mother? Marie believes your
mother has become a vampire. I wanted to laugh.
just sober, hard -working, God -fearing people.
We were not superstitious, given to odd beliefs.
But I looked into my father's face, and I could
not laugh. I've never believed, but... But what?
I have heard that people of great energy, enormous
will, with a... surpassing belief in themselves
these are the people who will not die they refuse
to die when death is upon them they are so angry
that they will not submit you know una what what
energy your mother had what a dominating person
she was how much she believed in herself she
never believed in us only in herself that's the
way she was And they say that people like that
would rather live the evil life of a vampire
than not live at all. Well, I can't believe it.
It's horrible. Well, I don't want to believe
it, but Marie seems so sure. Well, I'm going
to talk to her right now. I won't stay for supper,
but forgive me. I have to get this terrible notion
out of Marie's head before she infects anyone
else with it. I walked to the village, to the
affluent section of the village where Marie and
Peter lived. Their house sat on a beautiful green
lawn surrounded by an iron fence with a big gate.
I pushed it over and I went inside. and up the
long gravel path. Oh, no. Don't come any nearer.
Don't be absurd, Marie. I don't want you in my
house. We have to talk about this crazy idea
you have, Marie. Your father told you. I found
the black thorn you sewed into his coat. It may
protect him. And it was you who put the wild
roses on her body, wasn't it? keep her in her
coffin. I had to do what I could. Oh, but this
is all a great foolishness, Marie. Whatever gave
you such a crazy idea about your mother -in -law?
It's not a crazy idea. I felt it even before
she died. I sensed that she'd never leave us
alone. She'd rather turn into something lonesome
and feed off us, drain our strength, drink our
blood. And it's happening! It's happening! You
want to come in the house? Come. I want you to
come in. I want you to see your brother. Is Peter
all right? All right? I don't know what you call
all right. But look at him. There on the sofa.
Oh, Peter. He's been that way since your mother
died. And a good deal of the time before that.
Do you think I've had a husband? Do you think
that bloated hulk has been a man? Ever! Oh, what
is that to do with... Don't you know? Don't you
know? That vampires have such power over young
married people? Don't you know that? No. No?
Ask Elia! He knows! Elia's not a gypsy, not anymore!
Ask his mother! Ask his father! Ask Ohwanda Beresti!
Oh, it's all fable and myth, it's not real! Do
you know that I may never have a child? Or you?
Do you know that? No. If she decides, we'll be
barren forever. That's the kind of power they
have. You'll never make me believe it. You've
got to believe. You of all people. Why me? Because
you are a damn fire. What's that? What is a damn
fire? One born of a vampire. Only a damn fire
can see a vampire. But I can't see my mother.
I'm not a damn fire. Go home. Go home, Una. One
of these nights, between sunset and sunrise,
you will see her. and their offspring, the damn
fires. They may shock you, repel you, terrify
you, but never, never will they bore you. We'll
be back shortly with Act Two. At the end of Act
One, Una decided to return to Elia, her gypsy
lover. A gypsy from the remotest regions of Transylvania,
where all the best vampires come from. At least
all the best stories about vampires come from
there, and Elia knows them all. But they're all
superstition, Una, handed down from generation
to generation. You don't believe them. I used
to when I was very young. You see, the stories
were always about very, very... powerful people.
I think they couldn't get used to the idea that
very powerful people could actually die. My mother
was a very powerful woman. Ah, but she died like
everybody else sooner or later. You never really
knew my mother. I wasn't welcome in her house.
I think I only came here to live with you to...
to spite her. All my life she told me how immoral
I was, how wicked, how... Filled with wild desires.
And you were? Yes. And you knew where to take
those wild desires, didn't you? Yes. And what
man to give them to? Yes. Well, lucky me. It
was to show her. To say yes to her. Yes, I am
like that. Yes, I'm what you say. Yes, I'm loose
and immoral and wicked and all those things.
And yes, you're right not to love me because
I'm not. lovable and hateful and vile. No, no,
no, no, no. You are not hateful. Oh, you don't
know. I know enough. Lie still now. Let me, let
me hold you. Yes. Hold me. What's that? What's
what? I thought I heard something. I don't hear
anything. Don't you hear it? Listen. You don't...
It's a bat. A bat? Turn on the light. No, no,
please. I don't want to see it. I'll get rid
of it. I won't touch it. What are you doing?
I put it on my clothes. Why? Why? It's your mother.
It's your mother, Una. She's back. It's not.
You said you didn't want to see it. Never mind
what I said. I was wrong. It's a bat in the rafters.
It's not my mother. How do you know? How do you
know for sure? The old women were right. They
come back, you see. They come back to live off
the living and suck our blood. Sunset to sunrise,
I lay awake and listened. For as the warning
light of the sun started to grow in the east,
the bat was suddenly quiet. Hadn't Marie told
me that the old stories all agreed that vampires
could only venture out between sunset and sunrise?
The bat was gone. And I was alone. Then came
a pounding at the door. I got out of bed and
I went to answer it. Had Ilja come back? Had
he felt better of his foolish fears? And come
back? Ilja? Oh, Peter. Let me in, Luna. Yes,
come in. I have to talk to you. You're very drunk.
Never mind. Never mind about that. I have to
ask you something important. Oh, first tell me
why you didn't come to our mother's funeral.
Never mind about that either. Marie was there.
Marie was not there. Not for the funeral she
went to the church to put some wild roses on
the body. She didn't stay to see her buried Not
that she's really buried not that she'll ever
be really buried She'll be around for a long
time till she's drained us all dry and long after
that maybe forever. Who knows The vampires ever
really died stop that our mother is not a vampire.
Is it true? Marie says it's true. It's what true?
When she was lying in her coffin, did you really
kiss her? Yes, I did. Oh. Oh, no. Why did you
do that? I don't know, quite. I think it was
because I'd never kissed her before, and I was
sorry that I hadn't. Don't you know what you've
done? I haven't done anything. You've put your
lips to a poison. You've made yourself like her.
I haven't done anything. I said goodbye to her.
I kissed her goodbye. That's all. Don't you know
that vampires spread their fowl? on the living.
Isn't it bad enough that you and I are damn fires
just because she gave us birth? Stop it. I don't
want you to talk this way. You and I can see
her. Have you seen her? Of course I haven't.
I have. Phil, I tell you why I didn't come to
the funeral. I was with her, that's why. She
came to my room and stood in the door. She was
very beautiful she had on her white lace dress
and she smiled at me he went drunk she didn't
mind she just smiled but then her smile grew
wider and wider till the whole room was filled
with her smile it took away it took away the
sunshine I tell you Don't try to move him let
him sleep it off. He's just just drunk and drunk
for days Let him lie there just before you got
here He was he was trying to tell me that he
saw our mother that she came to his room Only
the damn fires can see about you made him believe
it because it's true There's something else that's
true, and you'd best know it only a damn fire
can't kill the vampire. Kill? The best we others
can do is try to protect ourselves with the black
thorn and the wild roses and all that. Marie,
I will not listen. There is something you can
do. You could help us to protect ourselves. Marie,
I just don't believe in this superstitious. You
don't. But we do. Nobody's slept a wink since
the day she died. They know she'll go after us
first, but no one in the village is really safe.
Oh, what do you want me to do? Move the body
across the river. What for in God's name? Wanda
Veresti says it's very difficult for a vampire
to cross over water. I don't believe any of this.
I don't believe it. It's happening. It's happening,
all right. And everyone believes it but you.
You can't make the rest of us live in this torment
because you refuse to believe. You could be right.
You will move the body across the river? I'll
have to talk to Father. Talk to him. Talk to
him now. Before it's too late. I left Marie to
get Peter home the best way she could. And I
started off at my father's house. How could I
ask him to disinter the body of his beloved wife
only two days after she'd been laid to rest?
What kind of daughter would nourish the horrid
thought in her father's mind that his wife might
be a vampire? Oh, how I needed someone to tell
me what to do. Moona! Hello, father. May I come
in? Of course you may come in. Oh, I'm so glad
to see you. You're all right, aren't you? Yes,
yes, I'm all right. Can you stay for a little
while? As long as you like. Oh, good, good. I
could make a little supper if you could stay
that long. Father, Peter came to see me today.
Oh. How was he? Drunk. But not so drunk that
he couldn't say what he came to say. And what
was that? that I had contaminated myself when
I kissed my mother's mouth as she lay in her
coffin. Oh, my dear girl. Do you believe that,
father? Oh, my dear. I'm so confused. You do
believe it? I don't know what to believe anymore.
And Marie came to see me too. Oh, yes. Well,
what did you want? Marie wants mother's coffin
moved. To the other side of the river. Your mother
is buried in the family plot. I promised her.
Why does she want the body moved? Marie says
that to cross water is very hard for vampires.
I could hardly... bear the torment in my father's
face. It's so hard when everyone around you believes
one thing, to stand alone and believe another.
I kissed my father gratefully, grateful for his
kindness, his patience. He asked me to stay the
night. There was still my old room. I lay down
on the narrow bed. But my eyes would not close.
I stared at the black square I knew to be the
window. Beyond the door I could hear my father
washing the supper dishes. Then I heard it. Very
faint. Very faint but unmistakable. Someone tapping
on the window pane. While they rigid in the narrow
bed. And then I heard... sounds I don't know
where I tell you half a century ago a vampire
was actually tried in a London court a gentleman
it was by the name of George Hague unhappily
we have no record of the gentleman's voice and
it all happened so long ago I have no idea whether
or not he was ever convicted I'll be back shortly
with act three very young, I thought how convenient
and how very right that we had entered into the
age of enlightenment, leaving occult fantasies
behind. As I grew a little older, I was not so
sure. Now that I'm quite grown up, I am not sure
at all, but what the dreams and frenzies of an
earlier time did not serve its people as well
or better than mine are serving me. bed and ran
to the window. There was no moon, but the stars
were very bright, bright enough so that the trees
cast wavering shadows on the grass. And then
I saw her, beneath a poplar tree just outside
the window, dressed in white lace, her long hair
falling to her waist. She lifted her face to
the window, and by the light of the stars I saw
it. Not hideous, not obscene, no beautiful as
it had been in life. But transfigured now by
such appalling grief as I had never seen before.
The dark eyes staring, the cheeks glistening
with tears, the mouth stretched wide as it cried.
I needed my father. I could not bear the sight
of this apparition by myself. I heard him moving
about in the kitchen, and I ran to him. Oh, Father!
Father! She's here! What, dear? What did you
say? She's here! Mother is here! Is she? No,
no, no. She's beautiful. She's beautiful. Where
is she? Outside the window. I heard her calling
me, and I went to the window when I saw her.
Standing under the tree. Oh, Father. She looks
so sad. My dear little girl. You've had to dream.
It's not a dream. She's there. So soon after
the funeral, it's natural for you to dream. Oh,
come with me. I'll show you. You're overwrought,
dear child. Come with me, you'll see. If there
were a moon, you'd see quite clearly. But even
by the starlight, you can see her. Look. Look
there. Where? I don't see her. Beneath a big
poplar tree, right there. I don't see anything.
In her white dress. See anything, nothing but
the grass and a few shadows, that's all. That's
all? Oh, my dear child, you had a dream. No,
no, no dream. I saw her. But you can't see her.
She must be a vampire. I am a damn fire. What
are you saying? Only the offspring of a vampire
can see the vampire. Peter said he saw her. I
know I saw her. We are her offspring, Peter.
And I are a vampire. Oh no, please, please. You
don't know what you're saying. Oh, I know. I
know very well. Only a vampire can see a vampire.
Only a vampire... waving to the white figure
beneath the poplar tree. It was several minutes
before she moved, and then very slowly, with
uncertain steps, she came toward the window.
She looked up at me like a child that is not
certain of her welcome. Hola? You've come back
to live off of us, haven't you, Mother? Even
in death, we are your possessions, your very
prized possessions, because from us you grew
pride. and haughtiness, and self -importance.
That's what we did for you in life, and that's
what you mean we should do for you now. That's
it, isn't it, Mother? Oh, now, no. Forgive. Forgive?
What went before. Forgive it. Forgive? I've never
heard you say that word. Now... This is a dream
forgive me That I may lie quiet in my grave God
let me wake up God deliver me from this dream
you don't I suppose I did, because I remember
nothing more until I was wakened by a knock on
the door. I opened my eyes. I was lying on the
floor next to the narrow bed, and the sun was
streaming through the window. I got to my feet.
Come in, Father. Here you are. Are you all right,
Una? He went to fetch you? That's why you're
here? I would have come back to you anyway. I
only went to see my mother to ask her what she
knows about vampires. All the old women were
there. Wanda, Peresti, and all the others. Oh,
they must have filled you full of stories. Una,
when a whole town believes that a vampire is
loose, they become terrified. A vampire, Una,
is soulless, mindless energy on the march, knowing
neither good nor evil, only its own desires.
And the vampire must be killed, Una. Do you know
why? Lest we become like the vampire. We can
become like that, Una. Unless a stake is driven
through the vampire's heart. And who is to do
that? You know. Only a damn fire can kill a vampire.
A stake must be driven through the throat of
the corpse. If blood spurts from the throat,
it is proof that a vampire lived in that body.
Can I do such a thing to my own mother's corpse?
It must be done before the sun sets, or she'll
walk abroad tonight. Ilya, do you know that I
thought she was here last night, in this very
room? And she kept saying... Forgive. Forgive.
And then, of course, I knew it was a dream because
my mother would never say such a thing as forgive.
She was asking you to forgive her? Imagine a
proud woman like my mother to say a thing like
that. You heard her say, forgive me? In my dream,
yes. I suppose it's because I hated her so much
in life. I liked the idea that she was sorry
for all the grief she'd caused us. Oh, now listen.
While I was at my mother's house, she told me
that there had been cases now and then where
a dead person returned night after night and
terrified everyone because it was taken for granted
that the dead one had become a vampire. But it
wasn't always true. There were times when the
dead one was what they call a returner. A returner?
What is that? One who comes back, so my mother
says, to ask forgiveness. Are you telling me
that my mother did come back last night asking
to be forgiven? That it was no dream? It's possible,
isn't it? And if it is true? If she is a returner?
You must get a writ of absolution from the bishop
and place it on her body. How can I tell? How
can I know that she is a returner and not a vampire?
You'll have to go through with it before sundown.
Oh, no. No. Do I have to stake through my own
mother's throat? You know, more than half the
village believes your mother has become a vampire.
Marie wants you to move her body across the river.
And even my father is wearing the black thorn
in his coat. And even I, when I heard the bat
in the rafters. I thought it might be your mother.
You must have the grave open, Duna, and the coffin.
And before the sun goes down, you must drive
the stake into your mother's throat. Then we
shall see whether she is a returner or that foul
creature of the night, a vampire. Elia himself
uncovered the coffin and pried it open. I told
my father what I meant to do before the sun went
down. If you must, my daughter. If you think
you must. If she is really a vampire father,
only I can do it. And I went to Peter and Marie.
You wouldn't ask me to do it, would you? No,
I wouldn't ask you, Peter. You're very brave.
I'd have been content if you'd only moved her
body across the river. There's so much talk in
the village, so much fear, so much horror. We
must settle this thing once and for all. I went
from house to house telling everyone to be by
the graveside just before sunset. They looked
at me with pity, some of them, others with revulsion.
But all promised to be there, and so it happened.
I wish to thank you all for coming here. You
all know of the belief that has spread through
our village. Many of you share in it. My own
family leans toward it. The belief that the body
of the woman who lies here is not a corpse, but
the shell that houses a vile and loathsome being.
A vampire! that this vampire threatens the lives
of all of us, and the sanity, the spirit, and
the soul of any who escape with their lives.
Listen, I have here a stake. The sun is setting.
While there is still a little light, I shall
drive this stake through my mother's throat.
then I shall have killed a vampire I shall also
have murdered my mother if no blood comes from
the body we will know that she is no more than
a returner who is asking forgiveness for the
wrong she did in life as we all one day will
have to ask for forgiveness for the wrong we
have done pray for me pray for me, pray for yourselves,
and if you can give her your forgiveness, the
bishop will give her absolution. I hold... The
inflated body of my mother lies at my feet. Oh,
let her release come soon. What was it someone
said, speaking of vampires, that they are so
less energy on the march? There are days when
the news is very, very bad. I think I hear the
vampires chattering in the air. They're all around
us, ready to swoop down and suck our blood, destroy
our pride, and leave us supine and helpless.
You needn't call them vampires if you don't want
to. It doesn't matter what you call them, but
look out for them. They may not be returners
at all. I'll be back shortly. mystery of life,
and sometimes not sweet at all, but bitter, baffling,
and impenetrable. I can offer you but a minor
clue to the solution. Given humanity, with its
weaknesses and its imperfections, life could
not be otherwise. Life is not the mystery. We
are. Our cast included Marion Seldas, Bryna Rayburn,
William Johnston, and William Redfield. The entire
production was under the direction of Hyman Brown.
This is E .G. Marshall inviting you to return
to our mystery theater for another adventure
in the macabre. Until next time, pleasant dreams.