WEBVTT 00:00:18.190 --> 00:00:25.789 Come in. Welcome. I'm E .G. Marshall. Welcome 00:00:25.789 --> 00:00:29.570 to another adventure into the incomprehensible. 00:00:30.989 --> 00:00:34.369 I like to think of myself as a thinking person. 00:00:35.009 --> 00:00:39.130 A reflective man. Someone not given to fanciful 00:00:39.130 --> 00:00:42.229 imaginings. That's the way I like to think of 00:00:42.229 --> 00:00:46.810 myself. But is that the way I am? Because I must 00:00:46.810 --> 00:00:50.590 admit that my thinking has not solved many problems 00:00:50.590 --> 00:00:54.630 for me My reflections have not carried me very 00:00:54.630 --> 00:00:58.950 far So now and again I find it extremely solitary 00:00:58.950 --> 00:01:03.549 to indulge in fanciful imaginings To take a short 00:01:03.549 --> 00:01:07.409 walk into the world of obscurantism For as you 00:01:07.409 --> 00:01:10.430 will hear one of our characters say the mind 00:01:10.430 --> 00:01:14.370 makes so many mistakes. I have heard the people 00:01:14.370 --> 00:01:19.969 of of great energy, enormous will, people with 00:01:19.969 --> 00:01:23.370 a surpassing belief in themselves. These are 00:01:23.370 --> 00:01:28.150 people who simply will not die. They refuse to 00:01:28.150 --> 00:01:31.489 die. When death is upon them, they are so angry 00:01:31.489 --> 00:01:35.790 that they will not submit. And you know what 00:01:35.790 --> 00:01:38.790 energy she had, what a dominating person she 00:01:38.790 --> 00:01:42.629 was, how much she believed in herself. Never 00:01:42.629 --> 00:01:46.590 in us. Only in herself. People like that, they 00:01:46.590 --> 00:01:52.209 say, would rather live an evil life than no life 00:01:52.209 --> 00:02:04.730 at all. Our mystery drama, Sunsets to Sunrise, 00:02:05.310 --> 00:02:07.349 was written especially for the Mystery Theater 00:02:07.349 --> 00:02:12.289 by L. Smith Eric and stars Marion Seldas. I'll 00:02:12.289 --> 00:02:27.080 be back shortly. with act one how monstrous you 00:02:27.080 --> 00:02:31.439 say to want to live on in wickedness rather than 00:02:31.439 --> 00:02:35.759 die quietly perhaps you're right oh of course 00:02:35.759 --> 00:02:40.219 you are right and yet don't we all hope we won't 00:02:40.219 --> 00:02:46.240 have to die not yet And not altogether? Is this 00:02:46.240 --> 00:02:51.060 only monstrous? Or is it strangely admirable? 00:02:51.759 --> 00:02:58.439 In a perverse sort of way, of course. It's over. 00:02:59.439 --> 00:03:04.780 I've done it. And the mutilated body lies silent 00:03:04.780 --> 00:03:10.840 and still at my feet. Let her release come soon. 00:03:13.930 --> 00:03:17.150 Let me try to explain how I came to do this awful 00:03:17.150 --> 00:03:22.889 thing. It will be necessary to go back, far back, 00:03:23.210 --> 00:03:27.930 even to the day I was born, or farther than that, 00:03:28.810 --> 00:03:33.530 to the hour when, awash in her warm blood, I 00:03:33.530 --> 00:03:37.870 felt myself pushed down that dark canal into 00:03:37.870 --> 00:03:43.389 the chilling light. Oh yes. The woman who lies 00:03:43.389 --> 00:03:52.689 before me is my mother. But I shall content myself 00:03:52.689 --> 00:03:56.569 with reverting to the day of her funeral, a gray 00:03:56.569 --> 00:04:02.990 and dismal day. A long line of villagers passed 00:04:02.990 --> 00:04:06.530 by the open coffin. I waited with my father until 00:04:06.530 --> 00:04:08.669 the last of them should have finished viewing 00:04:08.669 --> 00:04:13.639 the corpse. Marie isn't here. She will be father. 00:04:14.259 --> 00:04:17.920 And, and Peter? Oh, I'm not so sure about Peter. 00:04:18.720 --> 00:04:22.540 His own mother? Not to be here? He's drowning 00:04:22.540 --> 00:04:25.920 his sorrow, I think. Oh, you were right about 00:04:25.920 --> 00:04:29.620 Marie. Here she comes. How strange she looks. 00:04:30.379 --> 00:04:34.860 How quite distraught. I wouldn't know why. She 00:04:34.860 --> 00:04:36.980 never had any affection for her mother -in -law. 00:04:38.269 --> 00:04:42.610 Hello, Marie. We were worried. We... I'm not 00:04:42.610 --> 00:04:45.350 too late, am I? No, the funeral hasn't even started. 00:04:45.970 --> 00:04:50.410 I mean, they haven't closed the coffin. Not yet. 00:04:50.930 --> 00:04:55.290 Good. I suppose Peter's... Where does your brother 00:04:55.290 --> 00:04:59.889 go when he's needed somewhere? To a bar. I know. 00:05:00.170 --> 00:05:04.370 At least today, Marie, try to think kindly of 00:05:04.370 --> 00:05:08.720 your husband. You think kindly of him? He's your 00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:14.519 son We can move up now Marie. You go first. No, 00:05:14.579 --> 00:05:21.420 no, let your father go first father. Oh All right 00:05:21.420 --> 00:05:30.639 How sad how small he looks yes small you go next 00:05:30.639 --> 00:05:38.990 Marie Marie stood for a second or two by the 00:05:38.990 --> 00:05:43.649 open coffin, then moved on. Now it was my turn. 00:05:44.750 --> 00:05:48.250 My eyes filled suddenly with tears. And when 00:05:48.250 --> 00:05:51.910 I looked down at the quiet body, the expressionless 00:05:51.910 --> 00:05:54.870 face of my mother, I could scarcely make out 00:05:54.870 --> 00:05:59.129 her features. I shook the tears away that I made 00:05:59.129 --> 00:06:03.209 an effort to see her clearly. Across her breast 00:06:03.209 --> 00:06:07.800 lay a long spray of wild roses. Without conscious 00:06:07.800 --> 00:06:10.240 thought, I did what I had never done while she 00:06:10.240 --> 00:06:16.079 lived. I leaned over and kissed her on the lips. 00:06:26.160 --> 00:06:29.399 The funeral was over. I sat dry -eyed through 00:06:29.399 --> 00:06:33.600 it all. And I saw the tears stream down my father's 00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:36.939 face. After it was over, he said to me. Would 00:06:36.939 --> 00:06:39.620 you walk home with me, Una? Of course I will, 00:06:39.620 --> 00:06:45.399 Father. Do you think you could stay and talk 00:06:45.399 --> 00:06:49.720 for a while? Maybe I could fix you a little supper. 00:06:49.879 --> 00:06:53.300 Oh, I'd like that very much. Elio won't mind? 00:06:53.379 --> 00:07:02.000 Oh, it doesn't matter about Elio. I took his 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:06.639 hand. Let me have it like a trusting child. And 00:07:06.639 --> 00:07:09.920 we started down the road. The familiar landscape 00:07:09.920 --> 00:07:13.360 had embraced me all my life. And now it brought 00:07:13.360 --> 00:07:17.439 back sights and sounds from long ago. And on 00:07:17.439 --> 00:07:21.740 this day, most particularly, the sight and sound 00:07:21.740 --> 00:07:26.199 of my mother as I had known her. I saw her handsome, 00:07:26.480 --> 00:07:31.730 flushed face. I heard her voice. How sharper 00:07:31.730 --> 00:07:34.750 than a serpent's tooth to have a thankless child. 00:07:36.149 --> 00:07:39.290 What have I done that was so wrong? Why am I 00:07:39.290 --> 00:07:43.149 being punished to be given a daughter with no 00:07:43.149 --> 00:07:48.209 shame, no morals, no sense of decency? My father 00:07:48.209 --> 00:07:51.850 trudged on beside me without speaking. His tears 00:07:51.850 --> 00:07:55.910 had dried. He looked as he'd always looked. Very 00:07:55.910 --> 00:08:00.480 sweet, very simple. She had been the single love 00:08:00.480 --> 00:08:03.779 of his life. I had never heard him speak of any 00:08:03.779 --> 00:08:06.620 other woman He'd fallen in love with her when 00:08:06.620 --> 00:08:10.920 she was 16 and waited five years to marry her 00:08:10.920 --> 00:08:15.720 It was my mother who got me to marry him But 00:08:15.720 --> 00:08:19.579 it wasn't really of my world nothing intellectual 00:08:19.579 --> 00:08:24.639 about him What could you expect of a farmer but 00:08:24.639 --> 00:08:28.420 marry him she did? And he never asked for anything 00:08:28.420 --> 00:08:32.019 else. The two children she bore him, first my 00:08:32.019 --> 00:08:35.779 brother Peter, then me. Well, we were simply 00:08:35.779 --> 00:08:39.779 two minor gifts she added to the supreme one 00:08:39.779 --> 00:08:43.720 of herself. And Peter always belonged more to 00:08:43.720 --> 00:08:47.919 her than to him. It's hell to be poor, Peter. 00:08:48.259 --> 00:08:52.289 Never let it happen to you. Oh, the... Stories 00:08:52.289 --> 00:08:55.110 I could tell you about what poverty can do to 00:08:55.110 --> 00:08:59.149 the ardent soul It took Peter a while to get 00:08:59.149 --> 00:09:01.990 started But once he got his foot on the ladder 00:09:01.990 --> 00:09:05.190 he climbed steadily to the top and along the 00:09:05.190 --> 00:09:08.950 way He married the prettiest girl in town the 00:09:08.950 --> 00:09:15.610 dark -eyed Marie We're here you know What? You 00:09:15.610 --> 00:09:20.720 were dreaming we're at the house Yeah, I must 00:09:20.720 --> 00:09:24.820 have been dreaming. Oh, it's a long time. Very 00:09:24.820 --> 00:09:26.940 long time since you've been in the old house. 00:09:27.100 --> 00:09:31.639 Two years. You're... you're happy living with 00:09:31.639 --> 00:09:35.440 Elia? I don't ask to be happy. But you... would 00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:39.559 you... you're pleased with the arrangement? It 00:09:39.559 --> 00:09:47.100 pleases us both. Go on in. It looks the same. 00:09:48.810 --> 00:09:52.809 Well, nothing's changed. Can I get you something? 00:09:53.570 --> 00:09:56.210 A hot drink. No, no, you sit down and I'll get 00:09:56.210 --> 00:09:59.230 you something. Oh, take off your coat. Let me 00:09:59.230 --> 00:10:03.830 help you. Yes, thank you. What's this? What's 00:10:03.830 --> 00:10:08.929 inside your coat? What? Oh, oh, that I forgot. 00:10:09.330 --> 00:10:13.029 Well, it's sewn in. Did you do that? What is 00:10:13.029 --> 00:10:18.230 it? Well, it's a sprig of black... That's what 00:10:18.230 --> 00:10:21.750 I thought. Why is it sewn inside your coat? Marie 00:10:21.750 --> 00:10:26.389 put it there. What on earth for? Una sitana. 00:10:28.730 --> 00:10:33.730 You know, Marie's a strange girl. She came here 00:10:33.730 --> 00:10:39.490 from another country and where they believe strange 00:10:39.490 --> 00:10:44.769 things. Such as what? Well, you must know. Elia 00:10:44.769 --> 00:10:47.950 must have told you? Elia's parents were gypsies, 00:10:48.070 --> 00:10:52.649 but he's not. But he hasn't forgotten, has he? 00:10:53.610 --> 00:10:58.389 What they believe... the gypsies. You don't mean 00:10:58.389 --> 00:11:05.590 that... They believe... in the living dead. The 00:11:05.590 --> 00:11:12.519 dead who refuse to die. You mean... That is what 00:11:12.519 --> 00:11:17.000 you mean, isn't it? I never said I believe. But 00:11:17.000 --> 00:11:19.019 you let her sew the blackthorn into your coat. 00:11:19.279 --> 00:11:22.899 But I couldn't stop her. Why now? Why today? 00:11:26.399 --> 00:11:32.259 You don't mean... Mother? Marie believes your 00:11:32.259 --> 00:11:40.100 mother has become a vampire. I wanted to laugh. 00:11:41.360 --> 00:11:44.720 just sober, hard -working, God -fearing people. 00:11:45.019 --> 00:11:48.559 We were not superstitious, given to odd beliefs. 00:11:49.720 --> 00:11:54.220 But I looked into my father's face, and I could 00:11:54.220 --> 00:12:00.159 not laugh. I've never believed, but... But what? 00:12:01.860 --> 00:12:07.360 I have heard that people of great energy, enormous 00:12:07.360 --> 00:12:11.690 will, with a... surpassing belief in themselves 00:12:11.690 --> 00:12:16.230 these are the people who will not die they refuse 00:12:16.230 --> 00:12:19.929 to die when death is upon them they are so angry 00:12:19.929 --> 00:12:23.870 that they will not submit you know una what what 00:12:23.870 --> 00:12:27.629 energy your mother had what a dominating person 00:12:27.629 --> 00:12:30.669 she was how much she believed in herself she 00:12:30.669 --> 00:12:34.629 never believed in us only in herself that's the 00:12:34.629 --> 00:12:39.600 way she was And they say that people like that 00:12:39.600 --> 00:12:44.080 would rather live the evil life of a vampire 00:12:44.080 --> 00:12:50.179 than not live at all. Well, I can't believe it. 00:12:50.460 --> 00:12:52.639 It's horrible. Well, I don't want to believe 00:12:52.639 --> 00:12:57.059 it, but Marie seems so sure. Well, I'm going 00:12:57.059 --> 00:13:00.360 to talk to her right now. I won't stay for supper, 00:13:00.480 --> 00:13:04.100 but forgive me. I have to get this terrible notion 00:13:04.100 --> 00:13:06.659 out of Marie's head before she infects anyone 00:13:06.659 --> 00:13:15.980 else with it. I walked to the village, to the 00:13:15.980 --> 00:13:18.299 affluent section of the village where Marie and 00:13:18.299 --> 00:13:22.820 Peter lived. Their house sat on a beautiful green 00:13:22.820 --> 00:13:25.559 lawn surrounded by an iron fence with a big gate. 00:13:26.379 --> 00:13:32.809 I pushed it over and I went inside. and up the 00:13:32.809 --> 00:13:37.169 long gravel path. Oh, no. Don't come any nearer. 00:13:37.629 --> 00:13:42.269 Don't be absurd, Marie. I don't want you in my 00:13:42.269 --> 00:13:44.789 house. We have to talk about this crazy idea 00:13:44.789 --> 00:13:49.690 you have, Marie. Your father told you. I found 00:13:49.690 --> 00:13:54.029 the black thorn you sewed into his coat. It may 00:13:54.029 --> 00:13:58.129 protect him. And it was you who put the wild 00:13:58.129 --> 00:14:01.190 roses on her body, wasn't it? keep her in her 00:14:01.190 --> 00:14:04.169 coffin. I had to do what I could. Oh, but this 00:14:04.169 --> 00:14:07.990 is all a great foolishness, Marie. Whatever gave 00:14:07.990 --> 00:14:10.370 you such a crazy idea about your mother -in -law? 00:14:10.450 --> 00:14:13.850 It's not a crazy idea. I felt it even before 00:14:13.850 --> 00:14:17.529 she died. I sensed that she'd never leave us 00:14:17.529 --> 00:14:21.169 alone. She'd rather turn into something lonesome 00:14:21.169 --> 00:14:24.210 and feed off us, drain our strength, drink our 00:14:24.210 --> 00:14:29.590 blood. And it's happening! It's happening! You 00:14:29.590 --> 00:14:33.929 want to come in the house? Come. I want you to 00:14:33.929 --> 00:14:39.889 come in. I want you to see your brother. Is Peter 00:14:39.889 --> 00:14:43.990 all right? All right? I don't know what you call 00:14:43.990 --> 00:14:49.210 all right. But look at him. There on the sofa. 00:14:50.389 --> 00:14:53.710 Oh, Peter. He's been that way since your mother 00:14:53.710 --> 00:14:56.370 died. And a good deal of the time before that. 00:14:57.450 --> 00:14:59.419 Do you think I've had a husband? Do you think 00:14:59.419 --> 00:15:02.899 that bloated hulk has been a man? Ever! Oh, what 00:15:02.899 --> 00:15:08.820 is that to do with... Don't you know? Don't you 00:15:08.820 --> 00:15:13.419 know? That vampires have such power over young 00:15:13.419 --> 00:15:16.440 married people? Don't you know that? No. No? 00:15:16.460 --> 00:15:20.460 Ask Elia! He knows! Elia's not a gypsy, not anymore! 00:15:20.700 --> 00:15:25.059 Ask his mother! Ask his father! Ask Ohwanda Beresti! 00:15:25.299 --> 00:15:29.029 Oh, it's all fable and myth, it's not real! Do 00:15:29.029 --> 00:15:33.850 you know that I may never have a child? Or you? 00:15:34.110 --> 00:15:39.889 Do you know that? No. If she decides, we'll be 00:15:39.889 --> 00:15:42.570 barren forever. That's the kind of power they 00:15:42.570 --> 00:15:44.529 have. You'll never make me believe it. You've 00:15:44.529 --> 00:15:49.909 got to believe. You of all people. Why me? Because 00:15:49.909 --> 00:15:57.409 you are a damn fire. What's that? What is a damn 00:15:57.409 --> 00:16:04.879 fire? One born of a vampire. Only a damn fire 00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:12.519 can see a vampire. But I can't see my mother. 00:16:13.480 --> 00:16:19.100 I'm not a damn fire. Go home. Go home, Una. One 00:16:19.100 --> 00:16:23.340 of these nights, between sunset and sunrise, 00:16:24.899 --> 00:16:39.940 you will see her. and their offspring, the damn 00:16:39.940 --> 00:16:45.320 fires. They may shock you, repel you, terrify 00:16:45.320 --> 00:16:50.379 you, but never, never will they bore you. We'll 00:16:50.379 --> 00:17:05.240 be back shortly with Act Two. At the end of Act 00:17:05.240 --> 00:17:09.769 One, Una decided to return to Elia, her gypsy 00:17:09.769 --> 00:17:14.369 lover. A gypsy from the remotest regions of Transylvania, 00:17:14.829 --> 00:17:18.410 where all the best vampires come from. At least 00:17:18.410 --> 00:17:21.230 all the best stories about vampires come from 00:17:21.230 --> 00:17:24.789 there, and Elia knows them all. But they're all 00:17:24.789 --> 00:17:27.809 superstition, Una, handed down from generation 00:17:27.809 --> 00:17:30.549 to generation. You don't believe them. I used 00:17:30.549 --> 00:17:33.589 to when I was very young. You see, the stories 00:17:33.589 --> 00:17:37.039 were always about very, very... powerful people. 00:17:37.279 --> 00:17:39.799 I think they couldn't get used to the idea that 00:17:39.799 --> 00:17:43.019 very powerful people could actually die. My mother 00:17:43.019 --> 00:17:47.220 was a very powerful woman. Ah, but she died like 00:17:47.220 --> 00:17:50.000 everybody else sooner or later. You never really 00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:53.380 knew my mother. I wasn't welcome in her house. 00:17:53.980 --> 00:17:57.500 I think I only came here to live with you to... 00:17:57.500 --> 00:18:01.400 to spite her. All my life she told me how immoral 00:18:01.400 --> 00:18:06.019 I was, how wicked, how... Filled with wild desires. 00:18:06.140 --> 00:18:09.599 And you were? Yes. And you knew where to take 00:18:09.599 --> 00:18:13.200 those wild desires, didn't you? Yes. And what 00:18:13.200 --> 00:18:17.660 man to give them to? Yes. Well, lucky me. It 00:18:17.660 --> 00:18:21.480 was to show her. To say yes to her. Yes, I am 00:18:21.480 --> 00:18:25.660 like that. Yes, I'm what you say. Yes, I'm loose 00:18:25.660 --> 00:18:28.180 and immoral and wicked and all those things. 00:18:28.240 --> 00:18:31.579 And yes, you're right not to love me because 00:18:31.579 --> 00:18:36.579 I'm not. lovable and hateful and vile. No, no, 00:18:36.960 --> 00:18:39.700 no, no, no. You are not hateful. Oh, you don't 00:18:39.700 --> 00:18:45.140 know. I know enough. Lie still now. Let me, let 00:18:45.140 --> 00:18:56.019 me hold you. Yes. Hold me. What's that? What's 00:18:56.019 --> 00:18:59.519 what? I thought I heard something. I don't hear 00:18:59.519 --> 00:19:06.779 anything. Don't you hear it? Listen. You don't... 00:19:06.779 --> 00:19:10.539 It's a bat. A bat? Turn on the light. No, no, 00:19:10.539 --> 00:19:13.180 please. I don't want to see it. I'll get rid 00:19:13.180 --> 00:19:15.079 of it. I won't touch it. What are you doing? 00:19:15.599 --> 00:19:18.880 I put it on my clothes. Why? Why? It's your mother. 00:19:19.039 --> 00:19:21.220 It's your mother, Una. She's back. It's not. 00:19:21.259 --> 00:19:23.059 You said you didn't want to see it. Never mind 00:19:23.059 --> 00:19:27.079 what I said. I was wrong. It's a bat in the rafters. 00:19:27.240 --> 00:19:29.359 It's not my mother. How do you know? How do you 00:19:29.359 --> 00:19:32.049 know for sure? The old women were right. They 00:19:32.049 --> 00:19:34.349 come back, you see. They come back to live off 00:19:34.349 --> 00:20:02.410 the living and suck our blood. Sunset to sunrise, 00:20:02.710 --> 00:20:05.750 I lay awake and listened. For as the warning 00:20:05.750 --> 00:20:08.569 light of the sun started to grow in the east, 00:20:09.890 --> 00:20:13.289 the bat was suddenly quiet. Hadn't Marie told 00:20:13.289 --> 00:20:15.650 me that the old stories all agreed that vampires 00:20:15.650 --> 00:20:20.329 could only venture out between sunset and sunrise? 00:20:22.130 --> 00:20:28.369 The bat was gone. And I was alone. Then came 00:20:28.369 --> 00:20:30.609 a pounding at the door. I got out of bed and 00:20:30.609 --> 00:20:32.750 I went to answer it. Had Ilja come back? Had 00:20:32.750 --> 00:20:35.089 he felt better of his foolish fears? And come 00:20:35.089 --> 00:20:42.170 back? Ilja? Oh, Peter. Let me in, Luna. Yes, 00:20:42.170 --> 00:20:46.029 come in. I have to talk to you. You're very drunk. 00:20:46.049 --> 00:20:49.990 Never mind. Never mind about that. I have to 00:20:49.990 --> 00:20:52.769 ask you something important. Oh, first tell me 00:20:52.769 --> 00:20:54.789 why you didn't come to our mother's funeral. 00:20:54.809 --> 00:20:57.289 Never mind about that either. Marie was there. 00:20:57.309 --> 00:21:01.309 Marie was not there. Not for the funeral she 00:21:01.309 --> 00:21:03.730 went to the church to put some wild roses on 00:21:03.730 --> 00:21:07.450 the body. She didn't stay to see her buried Not 00:21:07.450 --> 00:21:10.190 that she's really buried not that she'll ever 00:21:10.190 --> 00:21:13.089 be really buried She'll be around for a long 00:21:13.089 --> 00:21:15.529 time till she's drained us all dry and long after 00:21:15.529 --> 00:21:18.910 that maybe forever. Who knows The vampires ever 00:21:18.910 --> 00:21:22.329 really died stop that our mother is not a vampire. 00:21:22.390 --> 00:21:27.569 Is it true? Marie says it's true. It's what true? 00:21:32.170 --> 00:21:34.410 When she was lying in her coffin, did you really 00:21:34.410 --> 00:21:39.549 kiss her? Yes, I did. Oh. Oh, no. Why did you 00:21:39.549 --> 00:21:43.109 do that? I don't know, quite. I think it was 00:21:43.109 --> 00:21:45.690 because I'd never kissed her before, and I was 00:21:45.690 --> 00:21:47.809 sorry that I hadn't. Don't you know what you've 00:21:47.809 --> 00:21:50.029 done? I haven't done anything. You've put your 00:21:50.029 --> 00:21:53.390 lips to a poison. You've made yourself like her. 00:21:53.390 --> 00:21:55.630 I haven't done anything. I said goodbye to her. 00:21:55.690 --> 00:21:58.809 I kissed her goodbye. That's all. Don't you know 00:21:58.809 --> 00:22:02.569 that vampires spread their fowl? on the living. 00:22:02.869 --> 00:22:05.589 Isn't it bad enough that you and I are damn fires 00:22:05.589 --> 00:22:08.009 just because she gave us birth? Stop it. I don't 00:22:08.009 --> 00:22:12.410 want you to talk this way. You and I can see 00:22:12.410 --> 00:22:16.170 her. Have you seen her? Of course I haven't. 00:22:18.630 --> 00:22:22.190 I have. Phil, I tell you why I didn't come to 00:22:22.190 --> 00:22:27.150 the funeral. I was with her, that's why. She 00:22:27.150 --> 00:22:30.970 came to my room and stood in the door. She was 00:22:30.880 --> 00:22:36.220 very beautiful she had on her white lace dress 00:22:36.220 --> 00:22:41.140 and she smiled at me he went drunk she didn't 00:22:41.140 --> 00:22:46.220 mind she just smiled but then her smile grew 00:22:46.220 --> 00:22:49.259 wider and wider till the whole room was filled 00:22:49.259 --> 00:22:54.500 with her smile it took away it took away the 00:22:54.500 --> 00:23:14.779 sunshine I tell you Don't try to move him let 00:23:14.779 --> 00:23:18.859 him sleep it off. He's just just drunk and drunk 00:23:18.859 --> 00:23:22.299 for days Let him lie there just before you got 00:23:22.299 --> 00:23:25.279 here He was he was trying to tell me that he 00:23:25.279 --> 00:23:28.880 saw our mother that she came to his room Only 00:23:28.880 --> 00:23:32.099 the damn fires can see about you made him believe 00:23:32.099 --> 00:23:37.119 it because it's true There's something else that's 00:23:37.119 --> 00:23:41.799 true, and you'd best know it only a damn fire 00:23:41.799 --> 00:23:45.970 can't kill the vampire. Kill? The best we others 00:23:45.970 --> 00:23:49.089 can do is try to protect ourselves with the black 00:23:49.089 --> 00:23:50.829 thorn and the wild roses and all that. Marie, 00:23:50.829 --> 00:23:53.069 I will not listen. There is something you can 00:23:53.069 --> 00:23:56.470 do. You could help us to protect ourselves. Marie, 00:23:56.650 --> 00:23:58.809 I just don't believe in this superstitious. You 00:23:58.809 --> 00:24:03.910 don't. But we do. Nobody's slept a wink since 00:24:03.910 --> 00:24:07.650 the day she died. They know she'll go after us 00:24:07.650 --> 00:24:10.809 first, but no one in the village is really safe. 00:24:11.940 --> 00:24:17.619 Oh, what do you want me to do? Move the body 00:24:17.619 --> 00:24:22.059 across the river. What for in God's name? Wanda 00:24:22.059 --> 00:24:24.220 Veresti says it's very difficult for a vampire 00:24:24.220 --> 00:24:27.259 to cross over water. I don't believe any of this. 00:24:27.420 --> 00:24:29.720 I don't believe it. It's happening. It's happening, 00:24:29.839 --> 00:24:32.200 all right. And everyone believes it but you. 00:24:33.380 --> 00:24:35.779 You can't make the rest of us live in this torment 00:24:35.779 --> 00:24:42.269 because you refuse to believe. You could be right. 00:24:43.190 --> 00:24:46.710 You will move the body across the river? I'll 00:24:46.710 --> 00:24:50.049 have to talk to Father. Talk to him. Talk to 00:24:50.049 --> 00:24:58.470 him now. Before it's too late. I left Marie to 00:24:58.470 --> 00:25:01.809 get Peter home the best way she could. And I 00:25:01.809 --> 00:25:05.779 started off at my father's house. How could I 00:25:05.779 --> 00:25:08.740 ask him to disinter the body of his beloved wife 00:25:08.740 --> 00:25:12.059 only two days after she'd been laid to rest? 00:25:12.940 --> 00:25:15.140 What kind of daughter would nourish the horrid 00:25:15.140 --> 00:25:18.720 thought in her father's mind that his wife might 00:25:18.720 --> 00:25:25.619 be a vampire? Oh, how I needed someone to tell 00:25:25.619 --> 00:25:31.319 me what to do. Moona! Hello, father. May I come 00:25:31.319 --> 00:25:36.400 in? Of course you may come in. Oh, I'm so glad 00:25:36.400 --> 00:25:39.380 to see you. You're all right, aren't you? Yes, 00:25:39.420 --> 00:25:44.339 yes, I'm all right. Can you stay for a little 00:25:44.339 --> 00:25:47.720 while? As long as you like. Oh, good, good. I 00:25:47.720 --> 00:25:49.200 could make a little supper if you could stay 00:25:49.200 --> 00:25:52.640 that long. Father, Peter came to see me today. 00:25:53.559 --> 00:25:59.640 Oh. How was he? Drunk. But not so drunk that 00:25:59.640 --> 00:26:03.000 he couldn't say what he came to say. And what 00:26:03.000 --> 00:26:08.880 was that? that I had contaminated myself when 00:26:08.880 --> 00:26:11.880 I kissed my mother's mouth as she lay in her 00:26:11.880 --> 00:26:16.000 coffin. Oh, my dear girl. Do you believe that, 00:26:16.279 --> 00:26:21.039 father? Oh, my dear. I'm so confused. You do 00:26:21.039 --> 00:26:24.319 believe it? I don't know what to believe anymore. 00:26:25.559 --> 00:26:28.980 And Marie came to see me too. Oh, yes. Well, 00:26:28.980 --> 00:26:32.839 what did you want? Marie wants mother's coffin 00:26:32.839 --> 00:26:39.329 moved. To the other side of the river. Your mother 00:26:39.329 --> 00:26:43.650 is buried in the family plot. I promised her. 00:26:45.170 --> 00:26:48.130 Why does she want the body moved? Marie says 00:26:48.130 --> 00:26:54.450 that to cross water is very hard for vampires. 00:27:00.289 --> 00:27:03.910 I could hardly... bear the torment in my father's 00:27:03.910 --> 00:27:08.869 face. It's so hard when everyone around you believes 00:27:08.869 --> 00:27:13.410 one thing, to stand alone and believe another. 00:27:15.130 --> 00:27:20.109 I kissed my father gratefully, grateful for his 00:27:20.109 --> 00:27:25.029 kindness, his patience. He asked me to stay the 00:27:25.029 --> 00:27:28.630 night. There was still my old room. I lay down 00:27:28.630 --> 00:27:32.500 on the narrow bed. But my eyes would not close. 00:27:33.319 --> 00:27:36.119 I stared at the black square I knew to be the 00:27:36.119 --> 00:27:39.799 window. Beyond the door I could hear my father 00:27:39.799 --> 00:27:46.420 washing the supper dishes. Then I heard it. Very 00:27:46.420 --> 00:27:52.579 faint. Very faint but unmistakable. Someone tapping 00:27:52.579 --> 00:27:55.900 on the window pane. While they rigid in the narrow 00:27:55.900 --> 00:28:19.569 bed. And then I heard... sounds I don't know 00:28:19.569 --> 00:28:24.089 where I tell you half a century ago a vampire 00:28:24.089 --> 00:28:28.250 was actually tried in a London court a gentleman 00:28:28.250 --> 00:28:32.769 it was by the name of George Hague unhappily 00:28:32.769 --> 00:28:35.210 we have no record of the gentleman's voice and 00:28:35.210 --> 00:28:38.609 it all happened so long ago I have no idea whether 00:28:38.609 --> 00:28:42.369 or not he was ever convicted I'll be back shortly 00:28:42.369 --> 00:28:59.200 with act three very young, I thought how convenient 00:28:59.200 --> 00:29:02.579 and how very right that we had entered into the 00:29:02.579 --> 00:29:05.940 age of enlightenment, leaving occult fantasies 00:29:05.940 --> 00:29:10.579 behind. As I grew a little older, I was not so 00:29:10.579 --> 00:29:14.819 sure. Now that I'm quite grown up, I am not sure 00:29:14.819 --> 00:29:17.539 at all, but what the dreams and frenzies of an 00:29:17.539 --> 00:29:20.339 earlier time did not serve its people as well 00:29:20.339 --> 00:29:33.740 or better than mine are serving me. bed and ran 00:29:33.740 --> 00:29:37.339 to the window. There was no moon, but the stars 00:29:37.339 --> 00:29:40.500 were very bright, bright enough so that the trees 00:29:40.500 --> 00:29:47.099 cast wavering shadows on the grass. And then 00:29:47.099 --> 00:29:50.920 I saw her, beneath a poplar tree just outside 00:29:50.920 --> 00:29:54.960 the window, dressed in white lace, her long hair 00:29:54.960 --> 00:29:58.279 falling to her waist. She lifted her face to 00:29:58.279 --> 00:30:01.940 the window, and by the light of the stars I saw 00:30:01.940 --> 00:30:08.400 it. Not hideous, not obscene, no beautiful as 00:30:08.400 --> 00:30:12.420 it had been in life. But transfigured now by 00:30:12.420 --> 00:30:16.240 such appalling grief as I had never seen before. 00:30:17.380 --> 00:30:21.079 The dark eyes staring, the cheeks glistening 00:30:21.079 --> 00:30:24.980 with tears, the mouth stretched wide as it cried. 00:30:28.380 --> 00:30:31.319 I needed my father. I could not bear the sight 00:30:31.319 --> 00:30:33.740 of this apparition by myself. I heard him moving 00:30:33.740 --> 00:30:36.319 about in the kitchen, and I ran to him. Oh, Father! 00:30:37.319 --> 00:30:40.960 Father! She's here! What, dear? What did you 00:30:40.960 --> 00:30:45.000 say? She's here! Mother is here! Is she? No, 00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:50.559 no, no. She's beautiful. She's beautiful. Where 00:30:50.559 --> 00:30:53.839 is she? Outside the window. I heard her calling 00:30:53.839 --> 00:30:55.779 me, and I went to the window when I saw her. 00:30:55.920 --> 00:31:00.200 Standing under the tree. Oh, Father. She looks 00:31:00.200 --> 00:31:03.690 so sad. My dear little girl. You've had to dream. 00:31:03.690 --> 00:31:06.650 It's not a dream. She's there. So soon after 00:31:06.650 --> 00:31:09.069 the funeral, it's natural for you to dream. Oh, 00:31:09.289 --> 00:31:12.309 come with me. I'll show you. You're overwrought, 00:31:12.549 --> 00:31:15.869 dear child. Come with me, you'll see. If there 00:31:15.869 --> 00:31:17.549 were a moon, you'd see quite clearly. But even 00:31:17.549 --> 00:31:22.210 by the starlight, you can see her. Look. Look 00:31:22.210 --> 00:31:27.190 there. Where? I don't see her. Beneath a big 00:31:27.190 --> 00:31:31.490 poplar tree, right there. I don't see anything. 00:31:31.490 --> 00:31:37.500 In her white dress. See anything, nothing but 00:31:37.500 --> 00:31:41.059 the grass and a few shadows, that's all. That's 00:31:41.059 --> 00:31:44.420 all? Oh, my dear child, you had a dream. No, 00:31:44.720 --> 00:31:50.880 no, no dream. I saw her. But you can't see her. 00:31:51.559 --> 00:31:58.940 She must be a vampire. I am a damn fire. What 00:31:58.940 --> 00:32:01.559 are you saying? Only the offspring of a vampire 00:32:01.559 --> 00:32:06.579 can see the vampire. Peter said he saw her. I 00:32:06.579 --> 00:32:10.039 know I saw her. We are her offspring, Peter. 00:32:10.740 --> 00:32:15.279 And I are a vampire. Oh no, please, please. You 00:32:15.279 --> 00:32:17.779 don't know what you're saying. Oh, I know. I 00:32:17.779 --> 00:32:21.700 know very well. Only a vampire can see a vampire. 00:32:22.440 --> 00:32:57.240 Only a vampire... waving to the white figure 00:32:57.240 --> 00:33:00.319 beneath the poplar tree. It was several minutes 00:33:00.319 --> 00:33:04.079 before she moved, and then very slowly, with 00:33:04.079 --> 00:33:07.059 uncertain steps, she came toward the window. 00:33:07.819 --> 00:33:10.779 She looked up at me like a child that is not 00:33:10.779 --> 00:33:15.619 certain of her welcome. Hola? You've come back 00:33:15.619 --> 00:33:18.359 to live off of us, haven't you, Mother? Even 00:33:18.359 --> 00:33:21.920 in death, we are your possessions, your very 00:33:21.920 --> 00:33:24.920 prized possessions, because from us you grew 00:33:24.920 --> 00:33:28.660 pride. and haughtiness, and self -importance. 00:33:29.059 --> 00:33:31.940 That's what we did for you in life, and that's 00:33:31.940 --> 00:33:34.720 what you mean we should do for you now. That's 00:33:34.720 --> 00:33:43.359 it, isn't it, Mother? Oh, now, no. Forgive. Forgive? 00:33:44.099 --> 00:33:51.359 What went before. Forgive it. Forgive? I've never 00:33:51.359 --> 00:34:12.590 heard you say that word. Now... This is a dream 00:34:12.590 --> 00:34:19.250 forgive me That I may lie quiet in my grave God 00:34:19.250 --> 00:34:23.090 let me wake up God deliver me from this dream 00:34:23.090 --> 00:34:39.590 you don't I suppose I did, because I remember 00:34:39.590 --> 00:34:42.269 nothing more until I was wakened by a knock on 00:34:42.269 --> 00:34:47.829 the door. I opened my eyes. I was lying on the 00:34:47.829 --> 00:34:50.090 floor next to the narrow bed, and the sun was 00:34:50.090 --> 00:34:52.469 streaming through the window. I got to my feet. 00:34:52.750 --> 00:34:58.090 Come in, Father. Here you are. Are you all right, 00:34:58.309 --> 00:35:11.400 Una? He went to fetch you? That's why you're 00:35:11.400 --> 00:35:13.760 here? I would have come back to you anyway. I 00:35:13.760 --> 00:35:15.599 only went to see my mother to ask her what she 00:35:15.599 --> 00:35:18.380 knows about vampires. All the old women were 00:35:18.380 --> 00:35:21.079 there. Wanda, Peresti, and all the others. Oh, 00:35:21.079 --> 00:35:23.619 they must have filled you full of stories. Una, 00:35:24.619 --> 00:35:27.119 when a whole town believes that a vampire is 00:35:27.119 --> 00:35:31.360 loose, they become terrified. A vampire, Una, 00:35:31.519 --> 00:35:35.900 is soulless, mindless energy on the march, knowing 00:35:35.900 --> 00:35:38.179 neither good nor evil, only its own desires. 00:35:38.650 --> 00:35:42.349 And the vampire must be killed, Una. Do you know 00:35:42.349 --> 00:35:47.349 why? Lest we become like the vampire. We can 00:35:47.349 --> 00:35:52.289 become like that, Una. Unless a stake is driven 00:35:52.289 --> 00:35:56.630 through the vampire's heart. And who is to do 00:35:56.630 --> 00:36:04.670 that? You know. Only a damn fire can kill a vampire. 00:36:05.550 --> 00:36:07.789 A stake must be driven through the throat of 00:36:07.789 --> 00:36:11.050 the corpse. If blood spurts from the throat, 00:36:11.849 --> 00:36:14.289 it is proof that a vampire lived in that body. 00:36:14.989 --> 00:36:19.949 Can I do such a thing to my own mother's corpse? 00:36:20.869 --> 00:36:24.869 It must be done before the sun sets, or she'll 00:36:24.869 --> 00:36:29.309 walk abroad tonight. Ilya, do you know that I 00:36:29.309 --> 00:36:31.889 thought she was here last night, in this very 00:36:31.889 --> 00:36:38.659 room? And she kept saying... Forgive. Forgive. 00:36:40.320 --> 00:36:44.159 And then, of course, I knew it was a dream because 00:36:44.159 --> 00:36:47.059 my mother would never say such a thing as forgive. 00:36:47.159 --> 00:36:52.039 She was asking you to forgive her? Imagine a 00:36:52.039 --> 00:36:55.260 proud woman like my mother to say a thing like 00:36:55.260 --> 00:36:58.679 that. You heard her say, forgive me? In my dream, 00:36:58.980 --> 00:37:04.079 yes. I suppose it's because I hated her so much 00:37:04.079 --> 00:37:07.719 in life. I liked the idea that she was sorry 00:37:07.719 --> 00:37:10.360 for all the grief she'd caused us. Oh, now listen. 00:37:11.519 --> 00:37:14.980 While I was at my mother's house, she told me 00:37:14.980 --> 00:37:17.460 that there had been cases now and then where 00:37:17.460 --> 00:37:20.639 a dead person returned night after night and 00:37:20.639 --> 00:37:22.900 terrified everyone because it was taken for granted 00:37:22.900 --> 00:37:26.820 that the dead one had become a vampire. But it 00:37:26.820 --> 00:37:30.599 wasn't always true. There were times when the 00:37:30.599 --> 00:37:35.300 dead one was what they call a returner. A returner? 00:37:35.320 --> 00:37:39.280 What is that? One who comes back, so my mother 00:37:39.280 --> 00:37:43.019 says, to ask forgiveness. Are you telling me 00:37:43.019 --> 00:37:45.320 that my mother did come back last night asking 00:37:45.320 --> 00:37:50.179 to be forgiven? That it was no dream? It's possible, 00:37:50.219 --> 00:37:55.380 isn't it? And if it is true? If she is a returner? 00:37:55.539 --> 00:37:59.559 You must get a writ of absolution from the bishop 00:37:59.559 --> 00:38:03.889 and place it on her body. How can I tell? How 00:38:03.889 --> 00:38:08.289 can I know that she is a returner and not a vampire? 00:38:08.630 --> 00:38:12.670 You'll have to go through with it before sundown. 00:38:12.869 --> 00:38:17.050 Oh, no. No. Do I have to stake through my own 00:38:17.050 --> 00:38:19.090 mother's throat? You know, more than half the 00:38:19.090 --> 00:38:21.449 village believes your mother has become a vampire. 00:38:22.610 --> 00:38:24.710 Marie wants you to move her body across the river. 00:38:24.849 --> 00:38:26.789 And even my father is wearing the black thorn 00:38:26.789 --> 00:38:30.230 in his coat. And even I, when I heard the bat 00:38:30.230 --> 00:38:33.400 in the rafters. I thought it might be your mother. 00:38:34.360 --> 00:38:36.780 You must have the grave open, Duna, and the coffin. 00:38:37.139 --> 00:38:40.519 And before the sun goes down, you must drive 00:38:40.519 --> 00:38:43.900 the stake into your mother's throat. Then we 00:38:43.900 --> 00:38:47.619 shall see whether she is a returner or that foul 00:38:47.619 --> 00:38:56.739 creature of the night, a vampire. Elia himself 00:38:56.739 --> 00:39:01.309 uncovered the coffin and pried it open. I told 00:39:01.309 --> 00:39:03.710 my father what I meant to do before the sun went 00:39:03.710 --> 00:39:08.929 down. If you must, my daughter. If you think 00:39:08.929 --> 00:39:12.449 you must. If she is really a vampire father, 00:39:13.050 --> 00:39:18.849 only I can do it. And I went to Peter and Marie. 00:39:19.050 --> 00:39:22.309 You wouldn't ask me to do it, would you? No, 00:39:22.869 --> 00:39:25.869 I wouldn't ask you, Peter. You're very brave. 00:39:26.970 --> 00:39:30.010 I'd have been content if you'd only moved her 00:39:30.010 --> 00:39:32.849 body across the river. There's so much talk in 00:39:32.849 --> 00:39:36.989 the village, so much fear, so much horror. We 00:39:36.989 --> 00:39:46.550 must settle this thing once and for all. I went 00:39:46.550 --> 00:39:49.190 from house to house telling everyone to be by 00:39:49.190 --> 00:39:52.550 the graveside just before sunset. They looked 00:39:52.550 --> 00:39:55.989 at me with pity, some of them, others with revulsion. 00:39:56.300 --> 00:40:00.500 But all promised to be there, and so it happened. 00:40:01.699 --> 00:40:05.860 I wish to thank you all for coming here. You 00:40:05.860 --> 00:40:08.440 all know of the belief that has spread through 00:40:08.440 --> 00:40:11.639 our village. Many of you share in it. My own 00:40:11.639 --> 00:40:16.119 family leans toward it. The belief that the body 00:40:16.119 --> 00:40:20.619 of the woman who lies here is not a corpse, but 00:40:20.619 --> 00:40:23.980 the shell that houses a vile and loathsome being. 00:40:24.659 --> 00:40:28.760 A vampire! that this vampire threatens the lives 00:40:28.760 --> 00:40:34.139 of all of us, and the sanity, the spirit, and 00:40:34.139 --> 00:40:36.960 the soul of any who escape with their lives. 00:40:38.280 --> 00:40:45.199 Listen, I have here a stake. The sun is setting. 00:40:46.059 --> 00:40:49.179 While there is still a little light, I shall 00:40:49.179 --> 00:40:52.039 drive this stake through my mother's throat. 00:40:56.039 --> 00:41:01.500 then I shall have killed a vampire I shall also 00:41:01.500 --> 00:41:05.719 have murdered my mother if no blood comes from 00:41:05.719 --> 00:41:09.719 the body we will know that she is no more than 00:41:09.719 --> 00:41:13.760 a returner who is asking forgiveness for the 00:41:13.760 --> 00:41:19.460 wrong she did in life as we all one day will 00:41:19.460 --> 00:41:22.480 have to ask for forgiveness for the wrong we 00:41:22.480 --> 00:41:29.449 have done pray for me pray for me, pray for yourselves, 00:41:30.409 --> 00:41:33.769 and if you can give her your forgiveness, the 00:41:33.769 --> 00:42:13.099 bishop will give her absolution. I hold... The 00:42:13.099 --> 00:42:19.719 inflated body of my mother lies at my feet. Oh, 00:42:21.019 --> 00:42:34.579 let her release come soon. What was it someone 00:42:34.579 --> 00:42:38.659 said, speaking of vampires, that they are so 00:42:38.659 --> 00:42:43.070 less energy on the march? There are days when 00:42:43.070 --> 00:42:46.590 the news is very, very bad. I think I hear the 00:42:46.590 --> 00:42:50.070 vampires chattering in the air. They're all around 00:42:50.070 --> 00:42:54.530 us, ready to swoop down and suck our blood, destroy 00:42:54.530 --> 00:42:57.250 our pride, and leave us supine and helpless. 00:42:58.210 --> 00:43:00.769 You needn't call them vampires if you don't want 00:43:00.769 --> 00:43:03.670 to. It doesn't matter what you call them, but 00:43:03.670 --> 00:43:08.130 look out for them. They may not be returners 00:43:08.130 --> 00:43:24.769 at all. I'll be back shortly. mystery of life, 00:43:25.809 --> 00:43:30.369 and sometimes not sweet at all, but bitter, baffling, 00:43:30.809 --> 00:43:34.690 and impenetrable. I can offer you but a minor 00:43:34.690 --> 00:43:38.809 clue to the solution. Given humanity, with its 00:43:38.809 --> 00:43:42.449 weaknesses and its imperfections, life could 00:43:42.449 --> 00:43:48.630 not be otherwise. Life is not the mystery. We 00:43:48.630 --> 00:43:53.389 are. Our cast included Marion Seldas, Bryna Rayburn, 00:43:53.929 --> 00:43:57.050 William Johnston, and William Redfield. The entire 00:43:57.050 --> 00:43:59.409 production was under the direction of Hyman Brown. 00:44:00.869 --> 00:44:03.210 This is E .G. Marshall inviting you to return 00:44:03.210 --> 00:44:06.130 to our mystery theater for another adventure 00:44:06.130 --> 00:44:12.690 in the macabre. Until next time, pleasant dreams.