0:00

Is true horror seeing something approach, or

0:02

is it not seeing it until it's

0:04

much too light? Sudapod

0:07

is a horror podcast. Consider this

0:09

a warning. Sudapod,

0:14

Episode 906 for

0:17

February 13th, 2024.

0:20

The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan

0:23

Poe. Narrated by Alistair

0:25

Stewart. Hosted by Sean Garrett. With

0:27

audio by Chelsea Davis. Hello

0:31

all, I'm Sean Garrett, co-editor here

0:33

at Sudapod Towers, your host for

0:35

this extra special carnivore Mardi Gras

0:38

episode, in which we will be

0:40

presenting one of the genre's bonafide

0:42

classics, Edgar Allan Poe's

0:44

The Cask of Amontillado. This story

0:47

originally appeared in Gody's Magazine and

0:49

Lady's Book in November of 1846.

0:54

Do I really need to tell you much

0:56

about Poe if you're a faithful listener to

0:58

this show? How about a few random facts?

1:00

He was likely named after Edgar, the

1:02

Earl of Gloucester's son in Shakespeare's

1:04

King Lear. He was an

1:06

orphan, then taken in by the Allan

1:09

family, but upon the death of John

1:11

Allan, while Edgar was living in poverty,

1:13

he was disinherited from their estate. His

1:16

reputation, post-mortem, was almost

1:18

ruined forever by literary

1:20

critic and rival Rufus

1:22

Griswold, who, angry

1:25

at Poe's criticism of his

1:27

own work, wrote a scathing

1:29

obituary-slash-biography of the author, filled

1:31

with lies, painting him as

1:33

a womanizing madman, drug-addled, and

1:35

bereft of both morals and

1:37

friends. Your

1:40

narrator this week, back again,

1:42

is the incredible, the rhyme

1:44

animal, the uncannable Alistair Stewart.

1:47

You have already met, I believe? We

1:50

have a story for you, and we promise you,

1:52

it's true, which I'll have

1:54

a bit more to say about afterwards.

2:01

The Cask of a Montalado by

2:04

Edgar Allan Poe Read

2:06

by Alistair Stewart The

2:09

thousand injuries of Fortunato

2:12

I had borne as I

2:14

best could, but when he

2:16

ventured upon insult,

2:20

I vowed revenge. You

2:23

who so well know the nature of

2:25

my soul, will not suppose, however, that

2:27

I gave utterance to a threat. At

2:30

length I would

2:32

be avenged. This was a point

2:35

definitively subtle, but the very definitiveness

2:37

with which it was resolved precluded

2:40

the idea of risk.

2:43

I must not only punish, but

2:46

punish with impunity.

2:50

A wrong is unredressed when

2:52

retribution overtakes its redresser. It

2:55

is equally unredressed when the

2:57

avenger fails to make himself

2:59

felt as such to him

3:01

who has done the wrong.

3:07

It must be understood that

3:10

neither by word nor deed

3:12

had I given Fortunato cause

3:14

to doubt my good will.

3:18

I continued, as was my want

3:20

to smile in his face, and

3:22

he did not perceive that my

3:24

smile now was at the thought

3:26

of his immolation. He

3:29

had a weak point, this Fortunato,

3:31

although in other regards he was

3:34

a man to be respected and

3:36

even feared. He prided

3:38

himself on his connoisseurship in

3:41

wine. Few

3:44

Italians have the true virtuoso spirit.

3:47

For the most part their

3:49

enthusiasm is adopted to suit

3:51

the time and opportunity to

3:53

practice imposture upon the British

3:56

and Austrian millionaires. his

4:00

gentry, for Gennato,

4:02

like his countryman, was a quack.

4:06

But in a matter of old

4:08

wines he

4:12

was sincere. In

4:16

this respect I did

4:18

not differ from him materially. I

4:20

was skillful in the Italian vintages

4:23

myself, and bought largely whenever

4:25

I could. It

4:31

was about dusk. One

4:33

evening during the supreme madness of the

4:35

carnival season that I encountered my friend.

4:41

He had costed me with excessive

4:43

warmth, for he had been drinking

4:45

much. The man wore mockly. He

4:48

had on a tight-fitting party-striped dress,

4:50

and his head was surmounted by

4:52

the conical caps and bell.

4:57

I was so pleased to see him that I thought

4:59

I should never have done wringing his hand. I

5:03

said to him, my dear Fortunato, you are

5:06

luckily met. How remarkably well

5:08

you are looking today, but I have

5:10

received a pipe

5:12

of what passes for a

5:14

Montalado, and

5:17

I have my doubts. How,

5:20

said he, a Montalado, a pipe,

5:22

impossible, and in the middle of

5:24

the carnival, I have my doubts,

5:26

I replied. And

5:29

I was silly enough to pay the

5:31

full a Montalado price, without

5:33

consulting you in the matter. You

5:36

were not to be found, and

5:38

I was fearful of losing a bargain. A

5:41

Montalado, I have my

5:43

doubts, a Montalado, and

5:47

I must satisfy them.

5:49

A Montalado! As

5:51

you are engaged, I am on my way

5:53

to Lucchese. If anyone has a critical turn

5:56

it is he. He will tell it. Lucchese

5:58

cannot tell a Montalado from shit. And

6:02

yet some fools will have it that

6:04

his taste is a match

6:06

for your a- Come, let

6:08

us go. Whither,

6:10

to your vaults, my friend, no, I

6:12

will not impose upon your good nature.

6:15

I perceive you have an engagement. Look,

6:18

easy, I have no

6:20

engagement. Come, my

6:25

friend, no. It

6:29

is not the engagement but the severe cold

6:32

with which I perceive you are afflicted. The

6:34

vaults are insufferably damp. They

6:37

are encrusted with night-o. Let

6:41

us go, nevertheless. The cold is

6:43

really nothing. A Montalado. You

6:47

have been imposed upon, and as

6:50

for Lucchese, he cannot distinguish Sherry

6:52

from a Montalado. Thus

6:55

speaking, Fortunato possessed himself

6:57

of my arm. Putting

6:59

on a mask of black silk and drawing

7:01

a rock layer closely about my person, I

7:04

suffered him to hurry me to

7:07

my palazzo. There

7:09

were no attendants at home. They

7:12

had absconded to make merry in honour of the

7:14

time. I had told them that

7:16

I should not return until the morning, and had

7:18

given them explicit orders not to

7:20

stir from the house. These

7:23

orders were sufficient, I well knew,

7:26

to ensure their immediate disappearance, one

7:28

and all, as soon as my

7:30

back was turned. I

7:34

took Remescons's two flambo, and

7:36

giving one to Fortunato, bowed him

7:38

through several suites of rooms to

7:41

the archway that led

7:43

into the vaults. I

7:46

passed down a long and winding

7:48

staircase, requesting him to be cautious

7:50

as he followed. We

7:53

came at length for the foot of the descent, and

7:55

stood together on the damp ground of the catacombs

7:59

of the Montrese. The

8:02

gate of my friend was

8:04

unsteady. The bells

8:06

upon his cap jingle as

8:09

he strode. The pipe,

8:11

said he, it is farther

8:13

on, said I, but

8:15

observe the white web-work which gleams from

8:17

these cavern walls. He

8:20

turned towards me and looked into

8:22

my eyes with two fill-meat orbs

8:25

that distills the room of

8:27

intoxication. Nighter,

8:31

he asked at length. Nighter,

8:34

and replied, how long have

8:36

you had that cough? My

8:47

poor friend found it

8:50

impossible to reply for

8:52

many minutes. It

8:54

is nothing, he said, at last.

8:58

Come, I said, with decision. We will go

9:00

back. Your health is precious. You

9:03

are rich, respected, admired,

9:06

beloved. You are happy,

9:08

as once I

9:11

was. You are a man

9:13

to be missed. For

9:16

me it is no matter. We

9:19

will go back. You will be ill

9:21

and I cannot be responsible. Besides, there

9:23

is Lucchese enough, he

9:25

said. The

9:27

cough is a mere nothing. It

9:29

will not kill me. I

9:32

shall not die of a cough. True,

9:40

true, I replied,

9:43

and indeed I had no intention

9:45

of alarming you unnecessarily, but you

9:47

should use all proper caution. A

9:50

draught at this meadock will defend us from

9:52

the damps. Here

9:54

I knocked off the neck of a bottle which I drew

9:56

from a long row of its fellows that

9:59

lay upon the bottle. drink,"

10:01

I said, presenting him the wine. He

10:05

raised it to his lips with a leer.

10:07

He paused and nodded to me, familiarly, while

10:10

his bells jingled. I

10:12

drink, he said, to the berries

10:14

that repose around us, and

10:17

I to your long life.

10:21

He again took my arm, and we

10:23

proceeded. These

10:25

vaults, he said, are

10:28

extensive. The mantrasas, I

10:30

replied, were a great

10:32

and numerous family. I forget

10:34

your arms. Oh, it is a

10:36

huge human foot-door in a field as

10:38

your foot crushes a serpent

10:40

rampant whose fangs are embedded in

10:42

the heel. And

10:45

the motto, Nemo me impune

10:47

le chase it. Good, he

10:49

said. The wine sparkled

10:52

in his eyes. The

10:54

bells jingled. My own fancy

10:56

grew warm with the meadow. We

10:58

had passed through walls of piled

11:01

bones with cusks and punchins intermingling

11:03

into the inmost recesses of the

11:05

catacombs. I paused again,

11:07

and this time I made bold, diseased

11:09

sforginato by an arm above the elbow.

11:11

The nighter, I said, see, it

11:14

increases. It hangs like moss upon the vaults,

11:16

the up below the river's bed. The

11:18

drops of moisture trickle among the bones. Come, we will

11:20

go back ere it is too late. Look off, it

11:23

is nothing. He

11:26

said, let us go on,

11:28

but first another draft of the meadow.

11:32

I broke and reached him a flakong

11:34

of the grass. He emptied

11:37

it out of breath. His eyes flashed with

11:39

fierce light. He laughed through

11:41

the bottle upwards with a gesticulation

11:43

I did not understand. I

11:47

looked at him in surprise. He

11:51

repeated the movement. A

11:53

grotesque one. You

11:56

do not comprehend, he said. Not

11:58

I, replied, dead. Then you are

12:00

not of the Brotherhood." "'Oh,

12:04

you are not of the Masons?' "'Yes, yes,' I

12:06

said. Yes, yes. You—impossible—a

12:08

Mason—" "'A Mason,' I replied. "'Sorry,'

12:11

he said. "'It

12:14

is this,'

12:16

I answered, producing a trowel from beneath

12:18

the folds of my rockware. "'If

12:21

you jest,' he exclaimed, recoiling

12:23

a few paces. "'But let us proceed

12:25

to the—a Montalado.'

12:31

"'Be it so,' I

12:33

said, replacing the tool beneath

12:35

the cloak and again offering him my

12:37

arm. He

12:40

leaned upon it heavily.

12:44

We continued our route in search of the

12:46

Montalado, and we passed through a range of

12:48

low arches and the

13:15

right The

13:46

throne was at the interval between two of the

13:48

colossal supports of the roof of the Catacombs, and

13:50

was backed by one of their circumscribing walls, of

13:52

solid granite. It

13:57

was in vain that Fortunato uplifting

13:59

his dull torch endeavoured

14:01

to pry into the depths of the recess.

14:04

Its termination the feeble lights did not

14:08

enable us to see. Proceed,

14:11

I said, here in is the

14:13

Amontillado, as for Lucchese here is

14:16

an ignoramus, interrupted

14:18

my friend, as

14:20

he stepped unsteadily forward, while

14:23

I followed immediately at his heels.

14:26

In an instant he had reached the

14:28

extremity of the niche, and finding his

14:30

progress arrested by the rock, stood stupidly

14:34

bewildered. A

14:36

moment more, and I had fettered him

14:38

into the granite, in its surface were

14:40

two iron staples, distant from each other

14:42

about two feet horizontally. From

14:44

one of these depended a short chain, from the

14:47

other a padlock, throwing the links about his waist,

14:49

it was but the work of a few seconds

14:51

to secure it. He was too

14:53

much astounded to resist. Withdrawing

14:58

the key, I stepped back from

15:00

the recess. Pass

15:05

your hand, I said, over

15:07

the wall. You cannot help feeling the

15:09

nighter, indeed it is very damp. Once

15:12

more, let me implore you to

15:14

return. No, then

15:17

I will positively leave you. But

15:19

I must first render you all the little

15:22

attentions in my

15:25

power. The

15:30

Amontillado ejaculated my friend,

15:32

not yet recovered from his

15:34

astonishment. True, I replied,

15:37

the Amontillado. As

15:40

I said these words, I busied

15:42

myself among the pile of bones

15:44

of which I have before spoken.

15:47

Moving them aside, I soon uncovered a

15:49

quantity of building stone and

15:51

mortar. With these materials, and

15:53

with the aid of my trowel, I

15:56

began vigorously to wall up the

15:58

entrance of the building. I had

16:02

scarcely laid the first tear of

16:04

my masonry when I discovered that

16:06

the intoxication of Fortunato had in

16:08

a great measure worn off. The

16:11

earliest indication I had of this was

16:13

a low, moaning cry from the depths

16:16

of the recess. It

16:18

was not the cry of a drunken man. Then

16:22

there was a long and obstinate

16:24

silence. I laid

16:26

the second tear and

16:28

the third and

16:30

the fourth. Then

16:33

I heard the furious vibrations

16:35

of the chain. The

16:38

noise lasted for several minutes, during which,

16:41

as I might harken to it with

16:43

the more satisfaction, I ceased

16:45

my labours and sat down upon the bone.

16:52

Then at last the twanking subsided.

16:54

I resumed the trowel and finished without

16:57

interruption the fifth, the sixth and

16:59

the seventh tear. The wall

17:01

was now nearly upon a level with

17:03

my breast. I again paused and, holding

17:05

the flambeau over the mason-look, threw

17:08

a few feeble rays upon

17:11

the figure within. A

17:15

succession of loud and very shrill

17:17

screams bursting suddenly from the

17:20

throat of the chained form seemed to

17:22

thrust me violently back. For

17:24

a brief moment I hesitated. I

17:27

trembled. On sheathing my

17:29

rapier I began to grope with it about

17:31

the recess, but the thought of an instant

17:33

reassured me. I placed

17:35

my hand upon the solid fabric of the

17:37

catacombs and felt satisfied. I

17:39

re-approached the wall. I replied to the yells

17:41

of hymn and clamours. I

17:44

re-echoed. I ate it. I surpassed

17:46

them in volume

17:48

and strength. I

17:51

did this. And

17:54

the clamour grew still. It

18:00

was now midnight, and my task was drawing to

18:02

a close. I had completed

18:04

the eighth, the ninth, and the tenth tier.

18:06

I had finished a portion of the last

18:08

and the eleventh, there remained but a single

18:10

stone to be fitted and plastered in, but

18:13

now there came from the niche a

18:16

low laugh that erected the hairs upon

18:18

my head. It was

18:20

succeeded by a sad voice, which I

18:22

had such difficulty in recognising as that

18:25

of the noble Fortunato. My

18:31

voice said, ha ha ha

18:33

ha ha ha ha, very tripped

18:35

joke indeed. All right,

18:38

excellent Chat, let me hear

18:40

many laughs about it and to

18:43

relax and for all I'd...

18:47

N'ANT Handleado, I said. Ah,

18:54

dear ones, alas, is

18:56

it not getting late? Will

18:58

they not be

19:00

awaiting us at the Palazzo? The

19:03

lady fortune out I went and the

19:05

rest? Let us be gone. Yes, I

19:08

said. Let us be gone.

19:14

A love of God, Montresser. Yes,

19:20

I said. For the

19:22

love of God. But

19:25

to these words I harkened in vain

19:27

for a reply. I

19:30

grew impatient. I called

19:32

aloud, Fortunato. No

19:36

answer. I called again,

19:38

Fortunato. No

19:41

answer still. I

19:43

thrust a torch through the remaining aperture and I

19:45

let it fall within. It

19:47

came forth in return only a jingling of the

19:50

bells. My heart grew thick on

19:52

account of the dampness of the catechins and

19:55

I hastened to make an end of my labour. I

19:58

forced the last stone into its position. I plastered

20:01

it up against the new

20:03

masonry. I

20:05

re-erected the old ramparts of

20:07

bones. For

20:10

the half of a century no

20:12

mortal has disturbed them. In

20:17

Parchae, Requiescat.

20:27

The Cask of Amantia was the

20:29

story that taught a younger version

20:31

of myself what the word emurement

20:33

meant, and stands as an exemplary

20:35

form of what would later be

20:37

dubbed the contcoule by French writers

20:39

and amort of Poe. Interestingly,

20:42

while there are numerous anecdotal

20:44

stories that the tale is

20:46

based on fact, and some

20:48

literary precursors have vengeance through

20:50

emurement, including Honoré de Balzac's

20:52

La Grande Rites, a gay,

20:54

the mysterious mansion, some

20:56

of its actual origins have to

20:58

do with yet another literary feud

21:00

that Poe was engaged in, this

21:02

one with the author Thomas Dunn

21:04

English. After Poe had

21:06

successfully sued that author's editors for

21:09

libel, English published a

21:11

rather confused novel called 1844 or The

21:13

Power of the SF in 1846, which contained a

21:15

character named

21:21

Marmaduke Hammerhead, author of

21:23

the famous work The Black Crow, portrayed

21:26

as a drunkard and a liar. Poe

21:29

responded by composing this story, which

21:31

folds many elements of English's novel

21:33

into a concise tale of drunkenness

21:35

and revenge. I

21:38

once had a writing professor who

21:40

pointed out that, interestingly, there are

21:42

arguments to be made that Montresor

21:45

is also, through obsessive retelling, burying

21:47

Fortunato over and over again in

21:49

the actual text of the story,

21:51

burying him with words and emuring

21:53

him in the text. And

21:56

the story may also illustrate that

21:58

revenge, no matter how satisfying in

22:00

the moment is an act you yourself

22:03

cannot escape from either. You may be

22:05

telling the story of your triumph endlessly

22:07

to yourself. If

22:10

you are a Patreon subscriber, we encourage

22:12

you to pop over to our Discord

22:14

channel and discuss the show. And

22:17

on the subject of subscribing and

22:19

support, Sudapod is funded by you,

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23:50

Download and listen to the episode on

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music is by permission of Anders Manga. We'll

23:59

be back this Friday. when around. Rare

24:02

providers and finally it

24:04

apart knows that revenge

24:06

is. Like

24:08

a fascist and Monsieur Arnold

24:11

Rimmer good necklace. And

24:19

Ah appeared from nowhere on the

24:21

shape, seemingly projected like the pseudo

24:23

part of a protozoan. It's a

24:25

suit. A it's a big foot.

24:28

It's all of our podcast. These

24:30

days.