0:03

Thirteen Days of Halloween. Devil's

0:06

Night, a production of I Heart three D audio,

0:08

Blumhouse Television and Grimm and Mild

0:11

from Aaron Mackey Headphones Recommended.

0:14

Listener discretion advised. The

0:29

yes no no,

0:35

yes Lord, Oh no,

0:38

no, yes

0:43

Lord spoken

1:13

out here in the cemetery.

1:16

Why I did not mean

1:18

to startle, you know, in the

1:20

church, the pastor and his wife. Yes,

1:23

that was a close one, but you said,

1:26

you promised me you wouldn't hurt

1:28

anyone else. You asked

1:31

me not to kill anyone, and I did

1:33

not. It was not

1:35

by my hands. But they still died,

1:38

and you told them to do it. Do

1:40

you think they deserve to live? I

1:44

don't think that was my choice, and it

1:47

isn't yours either. What would

1:49

you have done? I

1:52

don't know, but that can't

1:54

happen never again. All

1:57

right back. The

2:02

children, on the other hand, innocent as

2:04

they are still drugged and following

2:06

orders. I think I can outrun

2:09

some little kids on

2:12

again. I

2:19

don't understand what we're doing it cemetery.

2:22

Take it from me. There's always some trouble

2:24

you're on Devil's Night. Kids drink

2:26

and vandalizing the headstones. One

2:29

time I swear to God,

2:31

I broke up what was about to be some kind of satanic

2:34

ceremony. They're too

2:36

close. What

2:41

do you know? There is somebody

2:44

here? I told you so, all

2:47

right, Now, come on out. We know

2:49

you're there. Which way to go? I

2:52

think back that way behind the

2:54

big cross. You

2:56

know you're violating curfew and

2:58

you're trust passing out of here. I

3:00

don't want to add resisting arrest. If

3:03

you come out now, we'll make it easy on

3:05

you. How this boy is out, it is entirely

3:08

up to you. You know I can stop

3:10

this sick you behind

3:12

the cross on your feet now run

3:15

it's doing both. Do you stop right

3:17

there? Go around, get them from the other

3:20

side, snored hide

3:23

You could go in that building. Can

3:27

you just for a second, where

3:30

are you going to go? Throw the cops?

3:33

Okay, I will, but

3:35

seriously, don't hurt anyone.

3:38

I will not. Just let

3:40

them chase me a little. I

3:47

won't return as soon as I can, how

3:54

you tall fella? Yes,

3:56

officers, we want to talk to

3:59

you, of course you do, but

4:01

you will have to catch me first. I get

4:04

back here in the name of the

4:06

law. Seems cellib you've

4:09

got here. Okay,

4:17

Oh

4:20

no, no no, no, no, no no no no

4:22

no no yea,

4:31

well crap, I

4:34

could have left me a candle. Is

4:54

is someone there? What

4:59

do you want here? I'm

5:05

sorry, I didn't know anyone else.

5:07

You shouldn't be here, boy, it

5:09

isn't your place. I know,

5:12

I was just hiding, hiding. Why

5:15

there was? There are some people after

5:17

me? Again? I asked

5:20

why.

5:24

I didn't mean to intrude. I

5:26

didn't know there would be anyone else here. I

5:28

tried to leave, but the door what

5:32

was that? Did you hear your voice?

5:35

There's a tremor in it. What

5:39

is that? Fear?

5:42

Sadness, a

5:45

guilty conscience, whatever

5:49

it is, you are not welcome.

5:52

This place is sacred, a monument

5:54

built on hallowed ground, a final

5:56

resting place, and it deserves

5:59

respect or resting

6:01

place for who my

6:04

daughter? Oh,

6:07

I'm sorry. She

6:09

was my entire world and

6:12

I was hers. When

6:14

I closed my eyes, all I see

6:16

is that face. When I

6:19

listen into the night, I

6:21

still hear the musical tone of

6:23

her voice, like the ringing of a

6:25

bell. And

6:30

unlike other pretty girls, she

6:33

was not jaded by this world. She

6:35

was perfectly kind, generous,

6:40

trusting. She

6:43

sounds like a very nice person nice.

6:48

Yes, she was nice,

6:51

two nice. And

6:53

you know what happens to nice people,

6:57

They get taken advantage of who

7:01

happened to her. What happened

7:04

is she resented me. I

7:07

devoted every waking moment to that

7:09

child, and she resented me for it.

7:13

I realized now that it was my own fault.

7:16

I wanted to keep her safe, but

7:18

in doing so, I kept her

7:21

isolated, naive

7:23

to the world and the evils

7:25

lurking in it. But

7:27

children, even the innocent,

7:30

obedient ones, are

7:32

destined to outgrow their confinement,

7:36

to find a way to test their boundaries.

7:40

It was Halloween two

7:43

years ago to day, a

7:45

dark, cold, wet night

7:49

that autumn. It rained like it would never end,

7:52

swelled the river, overflowed

7:54

the dam, and saturated

7:56

every inch of god forsake and

7:58

ground. While

8:01

the other kids were out gallivanting in the

8:03

streets, taking candy from strangers

8:05

and getting into god knows what other kinds

8:07

of trouble, me and my baby

8:10

were all to ourselves, just

8:12

like any other night. I

8:15

put her to bed. I remember

8:17

standing in the threshold of the door, the

8:20

shape of her sweet little form buried

8:22

under the blanket. In

8:25

the middle of the night, I woke suddenly.

8:29

The storm outside was raging, and I

8:31

figured that's what had stirred me. I

8:34

left my room and I went back

8:37

to check on my angel. From

8:39

the doorway, it looked as if she

8:41

hadn't moved an inch. I

8:44

sat down on the bed next to her,

8:47

just to stroke her hair. I

8:50

pealed back the covers, and

8:53

you know what I saw, you

8:57

do, don't you lo

9:01

what? Two

9:04

pillows were stuffed beneath the quilt, and

9:06

my girl was gone. I

9:09

tore through every room, praying, please

9:11

God, let me be wrong, let her just be hiding.

9:14

But it was pointless. She was

9:16

not in the house. If I

9:18

had slowed down to think, I might have noticed

9:20

that the window in her room was ajar. But

9:22

I wasn't thinking. I was panicking. I

9:25

rushed out into the storm, still in my slippers,

9:28

no raincoat, no lantern, and no sense

9:30

of where my little girl had gone. I

9:32

ran through the streets from one end of town

9:35

to the other, screaming her name. Who

9:38

was that? I think you know already.

9:41

I didn't find her that night. The

9:45

next day a search party was launched.

9:48

The police went door to door, set

9:51

roadblocks on the highways in and out of

9:53

town, cleared, the hobo camp ran

9:55

bloodhounds through the woods. Within

9:57

a week, they'd dredged the river. We

10:00

made up posters with her picture, offering

10:02

a reward for any information. There

10:05

wasn't a window door or telephone

10:08

pole in town without my baby's face

10:10

on it, and nothing

10:12

happened. A runaway,

10:15

they called her. I knew

10:17

my girl would never run away. But even if

10:19

that was true, where had she gone. Weeks

10:23

passed, the rains cleared,

10:26

the posters yellowed and tore, and

10:30

still I truly

10:32

believed that I would see her again, that

10:35

no one could hurt something so

10:37

beautiful and sweet. And

10:41

yet I knew I could

10:43

feel it, something

10:46

was hiding in plain sight. I

10:49

kept my thoughts waking

10:52

and sleeping on nothing but her,

10:55

and with every ounce of strength,

10:57

I embraced that feeling. What

11:00

is that? You

11:02

don't know, well,

11:06

let me tell you. The

11:09

next fall, the reins

11:11

returned. All through

11:13

October. It stormed and stormed

11:16

again. The basements flooded again,

11:18

the river overran and again. The

11:21

earth everywhere was turned to mud.

11:24

The pattern, the repetition,

11:27

it was all too much to bear. And

11:30

Halloween was the worst of all. I

11:33

was alone, cooped up

11:35

in my house, listening to the rain

11:37

pound the window, thinking the last thing

11:39

I wanted to do was live through this night

11:42

again. In that

11:44

moment, I was ready

11:46

to end it all. And

11:49

then outside

11:51

my window I

11:53

heard something. It

11:56

wasn't clear, maybe

11:58

more a agend than real,

12:02

and yet I didn't dare deny it. A

12:06

tone in the air like

12:08

that of a ringing bell.

12:13

I can't imagine why, on

12:15

that night, of all nights, I

12:18

would venture out into that storm,

12:21

and yet that is

12:24

exactly what I did. I

12:27

walked calmly forward,

12:30

certain I had lost my mind,

12:34

but since I had already lost

12:36

everything else, what

12:38

did it matter. I

12:42

followed the sound with ears I

12:44

could not trust, but

12:46

where I felt it get louder. I

12:49

went through the neighborhood

12:51

into town, behind the church and

12:54

passed the cemetery gate. There

12:58

I heard a cacapa me like

13:01

the chiming of a thousand clock

13:03

towers. Everyone in different

13:06

tambre and time, some

13:08

so shrill they pierced the sky,

13:12

others so deep they shook

13:14

the earth below. But

13:16

in the midst of all of it, one

13:19

voice rang true,

13:22

like a bell, soft and simple,

13:26

yet insistent. I

13:28

trained my senses on that single

13:30

note and walked

13:33

toward it.

13:35

It led me to the center of the cemetery,

13:38

away from all the other headstones,

13:41

to this very spot. My

13:45

boots sunk into the mud,

13:48

and there the ringing

13:50

stopped. You

13:53

mean right here,

13:58

right here, m

14:01

I realized then where

14:03

I stood the ground had

14:06

been disturbed, a depression in

14:08

the earth where no grass groop. It

14:10

looked like it could have been a grave, only

14:13

big enough for a child. But there was something wrong

14:15

about it. It looked shallow, like

14:18

it hadn't been properly filled, and

14:20

the rain had been eating it away. I

14:24

plunged my bare hands into

14:26

that sodden ground, and

14:28

I dug into

14:31

the black mud, wrist elbow,

14:34

shoulder deep. The earth was

14:36

soft and giving and stuck to

14:38

my skin like tar. It

14:40

got into my hair, my mouth, and

14:43

nose. But I just kept

14:45

digging, and before

14:47

I knew it, I was crouched

14:50

at the bottom of a hole. And

14:52

then my hand found something

14:56

cold, hard.

15:02

It was her. Yes,

15:07

she had led me write to her, But

15:10

you already knew that, didn't

15:12

you. If

15:15

I had had the chance to bury her, to

15:18

give her a funeral and have her

15:20

embalmed, her beautiful

15:22

little body, her bright countenance,

15:25

might have stood a chance. But

15:28

with no casket between her and

15:30

the wet earth, the elements

15:32

got the better of her. She

15:35

was not quite a skeleton

15:37

yet, but not much

15:39

more. I

15:42

promised right there that

15:44

I would restore her to

15:47

her former beauty. No, nothing

15:50

like that was possible now, but

15:52

we would do the best with what we had. I

15:56

began that very morning, carried

15:59

her home in my arms in the pre dawn

16:01

light, and got to work. Where

16:04

she still had skin. I

16:07

washed and dried and

16:09

sewed the cracks together where

16:12

she was only bone. I scrubbed until

16:14

perfectly white, her

16:17

eyes, once so

16:19

blue, now modeled gray. I

16:23

replaced with jewels, blue

16:25

moonstones that glitter in the night.

16:28

For her nose, long eaten

16:31

away, a button from

16:33

her favorite dress, onto which

16:35

I hand painted each of her freckles.

16:38

For her mouth, the porcelain lips

16:40

from her favorite doll. The

16:42

fit isn't quite right, but

16:44

they'll do for now. And

16:47

what wisps of hair as she had left, I

16:50

washed and curled and tied up in

16:52

ribbon. Some

16:55

days I wonder what would

16:57

happen if I gave her blood a

17:00

fresh heart. Would

17:03

she live again? Would

17:08

you like to see her? No?

17:10

No, no no, she's lonely after

17:16

all this time, still

17:19

so beautiful, Yes,

17:22

am s S.

17:31

I had the grave filled in, and

17:34

above it, I built this mausoleum

17:38

where nothing could ever hurt her again, not

17:41

even time itself. Did

17:45

you ever find out what happened to her? Funny

17:48

that you should ask. For

17:51

the longest time, it remained a mystery. I

17:54

feared I would never know. And

17:57

then one came

17:59

forward, a boy just

18:02

a little older than she would have been. Couldn't

18:05

handle the guilt, he said. He

18:09

certainly waited long enough. And

18:11

you know what happened. The reason

18:14

he gave for the murder of

18:16

my daughter. You

18:18

do, don't you. It

18:22

was a joke, a prank.

18:25

And when I heard him say it, everything

18:29

became clear. That's

18:32

something hiding in

18:34

plain sight, that uncanny

18:37

feeling I could not deny. A

18:40

child buried alive

18:43

on Halloween. He's more than

18:45

just a coincidence. It's

18:48

a story, a tale

18:50

children tell. They told it long

18:52

ago. I suspect they

18:55

tell it now. I believe

18:57

it was told to me as a girl, that

19:00

I had heard it before I lived it, and

19:03

that it was all but forgotten until

19:06

I heard it again. As

19:10

the story goes, some

19:13

time a century ago, there was a banker's

19:15

daughter who fell ill. The

19:18

banker sent for the best doctors,

19:20

with the finest medicines, the most

19:22

modern techniques. They

19:25

did everything they could, but

19:27

Halloween night she was declared

19:30

dead in her bed, and

19:32

to stop the spread of infection, they dragged

19:34

her body out that very night and buried

19:37

her in the earth. But

19:39

the next morning, when they returned,

19:43

the grave had caved in, and

19:46

the whole where she had been laid to rest

19:49

was empty.

19:53

Now this might have happened,

19:56

might have not. But regardless

19:58

of what was true, a legend

20:01

was born that every

20:03

Halloween, that poor forgotten

20:06

child would arise once

20:08

more from that unhallowed ground

20:11

and walk the streets looking for

20:13

some one, some one else

20:16

lonely to spend

20:18

eternity with. Now

20:22

I don't know where or when, but

20:24

somehow this boy and his accomplices

20:27

had gotten to my little girl. They

20:29

had told her the story of the banker's

20:32

daughter and given her the idea that

20:34

because she was so utterly alone,

20:37

she would be the perfect bait. And

20:40

this Halloween, even if

20:42

she was locked up tight in her room,

20:44

the banker's daughter would come and

20:46

get her. Unless they took the

20:49

steps to prevent it, and

20:51

the only way to ward off

20:54

this wandering spirit was

20:56

to go out Halloween night and

20:58

leap over an open grave. Knowing

21:03

my baby, with her simple

21:05

heart and trusting nature, she

21:08

probably believed it. Really,

21:12

they just thought it would be funny that

21:15

she would be an easy target, and

21:17

so they dug the grave that night

21:19

in the rain. Can you imagine going

21:22

to such lengths? Well?

21:24

Can you? And

21:29

then they came to my

21:31

house, lured

21:33

my baby out of her bed, opened

21:36

her window, and led her into

21:38

the cemetery. I

21:40

can't imagine it all. My

21:43

little girl more

21:45

nervous than she'd ever been, but

21:48

I suspect more excited, too

21:51

exuberant even the

21:54

chance to have friends play

21:56

their games be one of the gang,

22:00

But of course that was hardly their intention.

22:04

By the time they reached the cemetery,

22:06

the storm had gotten worse. The

22:09

makeshift grave was filled with water

22:11

and mud, and the edges were slippery

22:14

and crumbling. One

22:17

by one, the boys leapt

22:19

over, ensuring my darling girl

22:21

that this would keep her safe from

22:23

the evil spirit, and

22:27

then, just as

22:29

she was about to jump, the

22:31

last boy pushed her

22:33

in. She hit the

22:35

bottom and sunk in the mud. She

22:38

tried to climb out, but the more she struggled,

22:40

the deeper the whole got. She

22:43

cried out for someone to help her, but

22:45

these boys laughed at her,

22:47

at her fear, at their successful

22:50

prank, and they left her there beneath

22:53

the earth, the storm worsening,

22:56

the whole filling with water, with

22:58

no one to hear her scream.

23:02

The boy who confessed, I

23:05

swears it wasn't he who pushed her

23:07

in. He claimed they never

23:09

thought she'd actually die, that

23:12

it was all a harmless prank that

23:14

went too far. But

23:17

she did die, suffocating

23:20

on mud until it filled

23:22

her mouth, her nose, her

23:25

lungs, a child entombed

23:29

in the earth, all alone

23:33

for a joke. I'm

23:38

so sorry. That's horrible.

23:40

There it is again, that little

23:43

tremor in your voice. You

23:46

remind me of him, you know of

23:49

who, the one that confessed.

23:52

Why did you come here? Boy? I'm

23:55

sorry, but I really need to

23:57

leave, to vandalize this tomb, to

24:00

see her own handiwork to defile

24:03

her corpse. No, no, which

24:05

one were you? Did you tell her

24:07

the story? Did you open her window?

24:10

Did you push her into the grave? No?

24:12

I didn't. It was maybe

24:15

you were the mastermind behind

24:18

all of it. Get that stay

24:20

await. Why should a worm like

24:22

you live while she lies dead? Stop?

24:25

Let go of me. I don't know what you were thinking

24:27

coming back here, boy, but it's time you, atone

24:30

hell join my daughter in

24:33

her tomb right here forever,

24:35

so she is never lonely again. Experience

24:38

the fate. You condemned her to feel

24:40

what it's like to be buried alive now

24:43

they in there is

24:57

that I

25:00

can never sir, uh

25:04

mazie nothing. Greez

25:09

line with me. This

25:12

boys burry has done nothing

25:14

to me. Greez

25:18

right there. I have

25:20

missed you so of course,

25:23

of course, darling, Missilo,

25:29

quiet, you vile thing, leave us be

25:33

your head, girl,

25:38

my love, my angel,

25:41

my world. Oh I've missed you so

25:44

and I because

25:47

the lead anything

25:51

anything, baby,

26:08

it's a well h

26:20

okay, Max, this way, Oh

26:26

my god. The church wedn't.

26:30

I could not kill the police, so

26:33

I needed a distraction. I

26:35

made sure all the kids got out. No

26:38

one died, but the leading

26:40

crip. I assure you,

26:42

Max, she is alive and

26:45

very very happy. You can't

26:49

didn't she suffered himing there. Eventually,

26:53

I suppose you should

26:55

get her out if you wish

26:58

I just thought, maybe

27:01

give her tonight, Needy

27:05

in this moment, we have more urgent

27:07

problems. Hey, you there so

27:11

much redistraction. PSI, well that's

27:15

a well where do you freeze?

27:38

Thirteen Days of Halloween Devil's

27:41

Night, starring Carter Rockwood

27:43

and Clancy Brown. Episode

27:46

nine, The Mausoleum Written by

27:48

Annie Reese, Nicholas Takowski,

27:50

and Alexander Williams. Editing

27:52

and sound designed by rema Il Kali,

27:55

featuring the voices of Clayton Ferris,

27:57

Laura Shine, Nicholas Takowski,

28:00

f Frey Kennedy, and Angel Masters.

28:02

Directed by Alexander Williams.

28:05

Script supervision by Nicholas Takowski.

28:07

Casting by Sunday Bowling c s A

28:10

and Meg Mormon c s A. Production

28:12

coordinator Wayna Calderon. Production

28:15

assistants Zoe Shay and Amber

28:17

Ferris. Animal recording by

28:19

Ben James, closing theme by

28:21

Rose Azerti. Loyalty Freak

28:23

Music dot Com recorded

28:26

at d G Entertainment in Los

28:28

Angeles, California, Engineered

28:30

by Gary Forbes and Jody Abbott.

28:32

Additional recording by SoundBite

28:35

Inc. In Atlanta, Georgia. Engineered

28:37

by Chase Nixon Studio

28:39

manager Kathy Roberts and

28:42

Burnt Orange Sound in Sara Sota,

28:44

Florida. Engineered by Matt de Seer,

28:47

Executive producers Aaron Manky, Noah

28:50

Finberg, Chris Dicky, Matt

28:52

Frederick and Alexander Williams.

28:54

Supervising producers Trevor Young

28:56

and Josh Than. Producers

28:59

Jesse Funk and rima Ill Kali.

29:02

Thirteen Days of Halloween was created by Matt

29:04

Frederick and Alexander Williams and

29:06

is a production of I Heeart three D Audio,

29:08

Blumhouse Television and Grim and Mild

29:11

from Aaron Mackey. Learn more about

29:13

the show at Grimm and Mild dot com,

29:15

slash thirteen Days and find

29:17

more podcasts from I heart Radio by visiting

29:19

the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

29:22

or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.