Beyond Midnight - Little Happenthatch

Summary

Podcast Summary: Harold's Old Time Radio

Episode: Beyond Midnight - Little Happenthatch
Air Date: March 12, 2026
Host: Harold's Old Time Radio
Featured Radio Drama: "Beyond Midnight" - “Waxworks” Segment

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Episode Overview

This episode transports listeners back to the golden era of radio dramas, presenting the chilling story “Waxworks” from the series "Beyond Midnight." The narrative delves into the macabre as Raymond Hewson, a hard-luck journalist, attempts to spend a night in a museum's notorious "murderers' den" among wax figures of infamous criminals. Blending supernatural suspense with psychological horror, the episode explores the shadows between reality and imagination, culminating in a twist where the boundaries between wax and flesh blur fatally.

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Key Discussion Points & Dramatic Moments

The Request: Staying Overnight in the Murderer's Den

• Raymond Hewson, struggling, disheveled journalist, requests to spend a night alone among the wax effigies of history’s most notorious murderers at Mariners Waxworks.
  • Notable Quote [01:21] Narrator: "A night in the murderer's den. That's what Raymond Hewson, the man in the shabby clothes, was after. Why?"
• Manager and Uniformed Attendant express reluctance, citing past refusals and risks. But Hewson’s angle—a published story about the experience—convinces them, especially with the lure of publicity.
  • Memorable Exchange [03:21] Hewson: “I suppose you mean that journalists have no senses to lose?”
  • [04:06] Manager: “How do you propose to treat it?”
    Hewson: “Well, make it gruesome, of course, but with just a saving touch of humor.”

Atmospheric Buildup: Inside the Waxworks

• Narrator paints a vivid, eerie scene: relics of past torture, lifelike murderers rendered in wax.
  • [06:10] Manager: “We keep the place as gloomy as possible. The whole atmosphere of the place is unpleasant.”
• A tour through infamous figures (Fertel, Lefroy, Crippen, Mrs. Dyer, Patrick Mahon) and especially the enigmatic Dr. Burdett/Bourdet—a Parisian healer by day, killer by night, never captured.

Focusing on Dr. Burdett

• Dr. Burdett becomes the focal point of Hewson’s unease.
  • [07:50] Uniformed Attendant: “He’s our starter. He’s the only one who hasn’t been hanged.”
  • [10:01] Uniformed Attendant: “Burdett practiced mesmerism... He was supposed to mesmerize his victims before dispatching them.”

Night Falls: The Ordeal Begins

• Left alone, Hewson’s nerves steadily fray. He begins doubting his senses as wax figures seem to move imperceptibly.
  • [13:58] Hewson: "Must be like this at the bottom of the sea. Have to work that into the story somehow."
• He feels the weight of Dr. Burdett's stare behind him—a psychological motif echoing unease and latent fear.
  • [14:46] Hewson (inner monologue): "My nerves have started already. If I turn and look at that dressed up dummy, it'll be an admission of funk."
  • [15:01] Dr. Burdett (voice in Hewson’s mind): “Not of a lot of waxworks, just one. Dr. Bourdette.”

Reality and Delusion Collide

• Hewson battles between dismissing his unease as mere imagination and feeling a very real threat. Figures seem to shift when not watched; a sense of something breathing in the chamber heightens terror.
  • [17:41] Narrator: “He looked straight into the baffled countenance of Lefroy, which smiled vacantly back, as if to say, it wasn't I.”
  • [19:12] Hewson: “Rose will laugh about this, I tell her. You asleep, Rose girl?”

The Surreal Climax: Dr. Burdett Reveals Himself

• The episode’s most chilling segment: Dr. Burdett steps off his pedestal and addresses Hewson—no longer wax, but flesh and blood.
  • [21:41] Dr. Burdett: “You cannot move or speak without my bidding, but you can hear perfectly well. Something tells me that you are, shall I say, nervous? My dear sir?”
  • [23:15] Dr. Burdett: “I collect throats.”
• Dr. Burdett details how he evaded police, blended in with the wax figures, and how fate brought him a new victim tonight.
  • [23:22] Dr. Burdett: “I should never have selected you from choice, of course. I like men with thick necks. This is a little French razor. The blade ... does not cut very deep, but deep enough. In just one little moment. I shall ask you the little civil question of all polite barbers. Does the razor suit you, sir?”

Finale: Imagination Turned Fatal

• Morning: Hewson is found dead, unmarked, his head tilted as if waiting for a shave, proving his imagination was truly potent—and lethal.
  • [25:23] Narrator: “He was cold and quite dead. His previous employers were wrong in having him credited with no imagination.”
• The wax Dr. Burdett resumes his position—once more a silent effigy.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [05:28] Hewson (on his motivation): “After all, they are only waxworks, aren't they?”
• [10:01] Uniformed Attendant: “Mesmerism. Burdett practiced mesmerism.”
• [14:46] Hewson: "My nerves have started already. If I turn and look at that dressed up dummy, it'll be an admission of funk."
• [21:41] Dr. Burdett: “You cannot move or speak without my bidding, but you can hear perfectly well. Something tells me that you are, shall I say, nervous? My dear sir?”
• [23:15] Dr. Burdett: “I collect throats.”

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:21] – Introduction of the murderers' den and Hewson’s challenge
• [07:31] – Introduction of Dr. Burdett and his sinister backstory
• [13:58] – Hewson starts his vigil; sense of deepening psychological horror
• [21:28] – Dr. Burdett comes to life and confronts Hewson
• [25:23] – Morning discovery; poetic and fatal conclusion

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Episode Tone & Atmosphere

The episode is steeped in dread and old-fashioned suspense, relying on psychological horror, atmospheric detail, and the fearful power of suggestion, true to the genre's roots. The language is ominous yet tinged with sardonic humor, maintaining a period feel:

• Manager’s professional skepticism and dry humor
• Hewson’s nervous, self-deprecating banter
• Dr. Burdett’s icy politeness and sinister logic

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Summary

This broadcast masterfully revives the radio horror tradition, blending chilling performance with evocative narration. “Waxworks” presents both a literal and psychological descent into terror, as the mundane dissolves into the macabre—proving that sometimes, the greatest horrors lie not in the supernatural, but in the limits of one’s own imagination.

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Recommended For:
Fans of golden age radio, classic horror, psychological thrillers, and tales where the boundaries of reality are dangerously thin.

Transcript

[Raymond Hewson]

Past nine,

[Narrator]

The last stragglers were leaving, leaving Mariners Waxworks. The uniformed attendants, glad that another day's work was over, were locking up on the second floor of the old gray building. The manager, a stout blonde man of smart appearance, was talking to one Raymond Hewson, who looked anything but smart. His clothes, although good once, were showing distinct signs of their owners losing battle with the world.

[Manager]

There's nothing new in your request. In fact, we refuse it to many people.

[Uniformed Attendant]

Young bloods have often made bets, but we don't play ball.

[Manager]

We've nothing to gain and something to

[Uniformed Attendant]

lose by letting people spend a night in our murderer's den.

[Narrator]

A night in the murderer's den. That's what Raymond Hewson, the man in the shabby clothes, was after. Why?

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

You'll find out.

[Narrator]

The waxworks. I must earnestly beseech you not to listen to this. Beyond Midnight Alone. Biotechs the new soak and pre Wash powder presents Beyond Midnight by Michael McCabe.

[Biotex Advertiser]

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[Manager]

Well, we certainly have nothing to gain if I allowed it. And let some young idiot lose his senses. What was my position? But of course, your being a journalist, somehow that alters the case.

[Raymond Hewson]

I suppose you mean that journalists have no senses to lose?

[Uniformed Attendant]

No, no, no, no.

[Manager]

But one imagines them to be sensible, responsible people. Besides, here we have something to gain. Publicity and advertisement.

[Raymond Hewson]

Exactly. There. I thought we might come to terms.

[Manager]

Oh, I know what's coming. You want to be paid twice, do you? It used to be said years ago that Madame Tussauds would give a man £100 for sleeping alone in the Chamber of Horrors. And I hope you don't think we've made any such offer.

[Uniformed Attendant]

Now, what's your paper?

[Raymond Hewson]

I'm freelancing at the moment. Working on space for two or three papers. Well, I don't think I'll have any trouble in getting this story published, do you? Morning Echoed.

[Biotex Advertiser / Voiceover]

Use it like a shot.

[Raymond Hewson]

A Night with Mariners.

[Narrator]

Murderers.

[Raymond Hewson]

No live paper could turn it down.

[Manager]

How do you propose to treat it?

[Raymond Hewson]

Well, make it gruesome, of course, but with just a saving touch of humor.

[Manager]

I see. All right, Mr. Houston. Get your story published in the Echo. There'll be a five pound note waiting for you here when you care to

[Uniformed Attendant]

come and call for it.

[Manager]

I'd.

[Uniformed Attendant]

I'd like to be sure about you, though.

[Manager]

And I'd like you to be sure about yourself. I must confess that I wouldn't spend

[Uniformed Attendant]

a night in murderer's den.

[Manager]

I've seen those figures dressed and undressed. I know all about their process of manufacture. I can walk about in company downstairs

[Uniformed Attendant]

as if I were walking among so many skittles.

[Manager]

But I'd hate to sleep alone down there amongst them.

[Raymond Hewson]

Why?

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

I don't know.

[Uniformed Attendant]

There isn't any reason. I mean, I don't believe in ghosts.

[Manager]

Even if I did, I'd expect them to haunt the scenes of their crimes or. Or the place where their bodies were laid.

[Uniformed Attendant]

Not a cellar which just happens to contain their waxwork effigies.

[Manager]

It's just that I couldn't sit alone

[Uniformed Attendant]

among them all night.

[Raymond Hewson]

They.

[Uniformed Attendant]

They seem to stare so.

[Manager]

After all, they do represent the lowest and most appalling forms of humanity.

[Uniformed Attendant]

Now, I wouldn't admit this publicly, of course, but the people who come to see our murderers aren't generally charged with the highest motives themselves.

[Manager]

No, the whole atmosphere of the place is unpleasant. And if you're susceptible to atmosphere, I warn you, you're in for a very uncomfortable night.

[Raymond Hewson]

Well, sir, I'm imaginative. I think I am probably susceptible to atmosphere, as you put it. But it's a good idea. And I have a wife and family to support. Been a bit unlucky lately in the job stakes, you know, and, well, we're living on my savings, which aren't great. After all, they are only waxworks, aren't they?

[Manager]

You're not superstitious?

[Raymond Hewson]

No, I don't think so.

[Manager]

But you've just said that you have an imagination. As a journalist, you'd need a reasonably

[Raymond Hewson]

strong one after all, the editors I've worked for have often complained. I haven't any. All right.

[Manager]

I think the last of the people have gone. Now wait a minute. I'll give orders that the figures happen to be draped. I'll let the night people know you're going to be there too.

[Uniformed Attendant]

One condition.

[Manager]

I'm afraid I must impose on you. I must ask you not to smoke. We had a fire scare down in the murderers den this evening. I don't know who gave the alarm, but whoever it was, it was a false one. Fortunately, there weren't very many people down

[Biotex Advertiser]

there at the time, or there might

[Manager]

have been a panic.

[Narrator]

All right.

[Manager]

A night with mariners.

[Narrator]

Murderers.

[Manager]

You want a night with mariner's murder?

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

As you shall have.

[Narrator]

In the passage at the bottom of the stairs were a few preliminary horrors. A rack taken from a medieval castle, relics of the Inquisition, branding irons, thumb screws. Beyond was the passage into the murderer's den. The waxworks Fertel, the murderer of Weir, stood as if frozen in his diabolical act. Within five yards of him, said Mrs. Thompson, there was Lefroy, who killed for gain so that he might ape the gentleman. And Charles Peace sneering across a gangway at Norman, Thorne, Brown and Kennedy. The two most recent additions stood between Mrs. Mrs. Dyer and Patrick Mahon.

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

Oh, now that's Crippen.

[Uniformed Attendant]

I expect you recognize him. Insignificant little beast. Looks as if he couldn't turn on a worm. Oh, there's Armstrong. Looks like a decent, harmless country gentleman, doesn't he?

[Raymond Hewson]

And of course, who's this?

[Uniformed Attendant]

Oh, yes, I was coming to him. He's our starter. He's the only one of the bunch

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

who hasn't been hanged.

[Narrator]

The figure Hewson had indicated was that of a small, slight man, not more than five feet in height. It wore little waxed moustaches, large spectacles and a caped coat. There was something so exaggeratedly French in his appearance that it reminded Houston of a stage caricature. Who.

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

Who is he?

[Uniformed Attendant]

That is Dr. Burdick.

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

Oh, don't think I've.

[Raymond Hewson]

Well, somehow the name's familiar, but I forget.

[Uniformed Attendant]

Well, you remember better if you were a Frenchman. For some long while, that man was

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

the Terror of Paris. He carried on his work of healing

[Uniformed Attendant]

by day and of throat cutting by night. When the fit was on him, he killed for the sheer devilish pleasure it

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

gave him to kill.

[Uniformed Attendant]

And always the same way with a razor.

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

After his last crime, he left a

[Uniformed Attendant]

clue behind him which set the police on his track. Now one clue led to another, and before long they Knew they were on the track of the Parisian equivalent of Jack the Ripper. They had enough evidence to send him to the madhouse or the guillotine on a dozen capital charges.

[Raymond Hewson]

And they caught him then?

[Narrator]

No, they.

[Manager]

Our friend was too colorful.

[Uniformed Attendant]

Even then. When he realized the net was closing, he just vanished. Disappeared off the face of the earth. Ever since, the police of every civilized country have been searching for him.

[Raymond Hewson]

Where can you have possibly gone to? I mean, with such a hunt on for him?

[Uniformed Attendant]

Oh, there's no doubt about that. Did himself in. Obvious, but in such a way that prevented the his body coming to light. Now, one or two crimes of a smaller, though similar nature have taken place since he disappeared, but he's believed to be dead. The experts think the crimes as s are the, you know, the actions of imitators.

[Raymond Hewson]

Look at his eyes.

[Manager]

Yes, that little figure is a masterpiece.

[Uniformed Attendant]

You find the eyes bite into you, don't you?

[Raymond Hewson]

Sort of, yes.

[Manager]

Well, that's excellent realism then.

[Narrator]

What do you mean?

[Uniformed Attendant]

Mesmerism.

[Narrator]

Pardon?

[Uniformed Attendant]

Burdett practiced mesmerism.

[Manager]

He was supposed to mesmerize his victims before

[Uniformed Attendant]

dispatching them.

[Narrator]

Oh, indeed.

[Manager]

Had he not done so, it's difficult to believe how so small a man

[Uniformed Attendant]

could have done his ghastly work.

[Raymond Hewson]

He's very small, isn't he? Doesn't look very strong or anything.

[Manager]

Well, there were never any signs of a struggle. There's an armchair here for you, Mr. Houston. It's the best we can do for I'm afraid. I hope you'll be able to get

[Uniformed Attendant]

some sleep, Mr. Houston. Mr. Houston.

[Raymond Hewson]

You know, thought.

[Narrator]

Yes?

[Raymond Hewson]

Well, I thought just in. Well, I thought I saw the doctor Bodet. Well, silly, but I thought I saw him move.

[H]

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[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

That's all you have to do.

[Biotex Advertiser / Voiceover]

Soak. Soak.

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

Just for an hour or two.

[Narrator]

You. Fine.

[Biotex Advertiser / Voiceover]

Let's look as photos do when you use your biotechs with amazing new biotechs, the stubbornness stains will vanish. Yes, vanish clean away. Just by soaking your laundry overnight in cold water or for an hour or two in warm water or by pre washing it quickly in your washing machine. Get amazing new biotechs today.

[Raymond Hewson]

There's imagination. Silly, but. Well, I could have sworn just in just for a second.

[Manager]

You'll have more than one optical illusion before the night out. I'm afraid they won't be locked in. You can come upstairs when you've had enough of it. There are watchmen on the premises, so you'll find company. Don't be alarmed if you hear them moving about. I'm sorry I can't give you any more light, but all the lights are on. For obvious reasons, we keep the place as gloomy as possible.

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

Yes.

[Manager]

And now I think you better return with me to the office for a

[Uniformed Attendant]

tot of whiskey before your night's vigilant.

[Raymond Hewson]

Yes, well, for a start, I don't think we'll ever. My armchair facing friend.

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

Board dead.

[Raymond Hewson]

Yeah. I think I like him a lot

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

less than the others.

[Narrator]

The dim, unwavering light fell on the rows of figures which were so uncannily like human beings that the stillness and the silence seemed unnatural, ghastly. Even Houston missed the sound of the breathing, the rustling of clothes, the 101 minute noises 1 hears when even the deepest silence has fallen upon a crowd. The air was as stagnant as water at the bottom of a standing pool. Not a breath in the chamber to stir a curtain or rustle a hanging drapery or star to shadow.

[Raymond Hewson]

Must be like this at the bottom of the sea. Have to work that into the story somehow. Like the bottom of the sea.

[Narrator]

Sinister lot.

[Raymond Hewson]

I must say, even Armstrong doesn't look quite such a harmless country gentleman now.

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

Still, there are only waxworks.

[Narrator]

All would be well, thought Hewson. Yet somehow what prevented him most of all from feeling absolutely comfortable was the knowledge that Dr. Burdett was directly behind him.

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

He knew, in fact, that the little

[Narrator]

Frenchman's waxen stare was directed at the

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

back of his neck.

[Narrator]

He itched for the desire to turn around. Come on.

[Raymond Hewson]

My nerves have started already. If I turn and look at that dressed up dummy, it'll be an admission of funk.

[Narrator]

It's because you're afraid that you won't

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

turn and look at him.

[Raymond Hewson]

Rubbish. Not afraid at all.

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

Yes you are.

[Narrator]

Rot. Complete nut of rot.

[Raymond Hewson]

Afraid a lot of waxworks.

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

Not of a lot of waxworks, just one. Dr. Bourdette.

[Raymond Hewson]

French fool. Not so healthy now, is he?

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

Look at his eyes. Don't want to see his eyes.

[Narrator]

All the same, he had to eventually have a quick look round at Dr. Burdette.

[Raymond Hewson]

Only a wax work, like a rest on.

[Narrator]

They're all only waxworks. All the same. He took another quick look behind him now. It did not worry. Hewson too much, because it was, after all, only his imagination. But there seemed to be a subtle change in the grouping of the figures around Dr. Burdett. Or was it Dr. Gaudette himself, Looking to the front of him? He looked at Griffin again. He had the slight feeling that something somewhere was a bit different. Crippin seemed, for instance, to have turned one degree to the left.

[Raymond Hewson]

Must have moved my chair a bit.

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

Not Crippin.

[Raymond Hewson]

It was me.

[Narrator]

You moved. And just then, the waxwork of gray moved. A hand, at least, Houston thought the hand moved. Just for his own peace of mind, Raymond Houson gave the waxen figure a little poke. Wax no more, no less. Lifeless, lifelike wax.

[Raymond Hewson]

And they tell me the editors have no imagination. Better make some notes.

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

Deathly silence here. Unearthly stillness.

[Uniformed Attendant]

Other figures.

[Narrator]

And then he turned suddenly and looked over his right shoulder. He had neither seen nor heard a movement, but it was as if some sixth sense had made him aware of one. He looked straight into the baffled countenance of Lefroy, which smiled vacantly back, as if to say, it wasn't I.

[Raymond Hewson]

Of course it wasn't you. Wasn't any of you.

[Narrator]

And then he looked back, and Crippin seemed to have shifted his position slightly.

[Raymond Hewson]

Can't trust that little beggar.

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

Can't trust any of them. Once you take your eyes off them, they move.

[Uniformed Attendant]

Not good enough.

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

This isn't.

[Raymond Hewson]

Going. Not going to spend enough with a lot of waxworks who move when you aren't looking at them.

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

No, Houston, please.

[Uniformed Attendant]

They can't move.

[Raymond Hewson]

What are you thinking of?

[Narrator]

He encountered the mild, baleful stare of poor debt.

[Raymond Hewson]

Almost got you that time, Crippen. All the rest of you, too. I do see one of a Move.

[Narrator]

I'll.

[Biotex Advertiser / Voiceover]

I'll smash you to pieces. Smash you?

[Raymond Hewson]

Experienced enough already to write my story. Ten stories, for that matter.

[Narrator]

Yeah.

[Raymond Hewson]

Morning Echo. Wouldn't know how long I'd stayed if I cleared out now. As long as the story's good.

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

Yes.

[Raymond Hewson]

That watchman up there, he pulled my leg, all right. And perhaps the manager wouldn't give me the five or two. Find out all right how long I was here.

[Narrator]

From the watchman.

[Raymond Hewson]

Rose will laugh about this, I tell her. You asleep, Rose girl?

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

Or awake, thinking of me?

[Raymond Hewson]

Can't have Rose laughing at me.

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

Kids will pull my leg, too.

[Raymond Hewson]

Nothing worse than.

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

Worse than having Someone's breathing.

[Narrator]

Someone was breathing.

[Uniformed Attendant]

It wasn't me.

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

They knew I was listening.

[Narrator]

They. And then they stopped.

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

Here. It's the dead. This is too much.

[Narrator]

Bad enough when they move When I'm not looking.

[Raymond Hewson]

But I'm not having the viggers breeding too. No, it won't do. I am Raymond Houston, unsuccessful journalist, but

[Biotex Advertiser / Voiceover]

a living and breathing man. And these figures grouped around me are only dummies. Dummies.

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

What does it matter if they're lifelike

[Raymond Hewson]

wax and sawdust for the entertainment of

[Biotex Advertiser / Voiceover]

morbid sightseers and orange sucking tourists?

[Narrator]

Then the gaze of Dr. Burdette urged, challenged and finally compelled him to turn. Huh? Hewson stared into those dreadful hypnotic eyes. His own eyes were dilated and his mouth at first set into a grin of terror, lifted at the corners into a snout. You moved gasted.

[Biotex Advertiser / Voiceover]

Yes, you did. I saw you. I saw you.

[Narrator]

Doctor Baudet's movements were quite leisurely. He stepped off his pedestal with the mincing movements of a lady alighting from a bus.

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

I needed to tell you that. Not until I overhead the conversation between yourself and the worthy manager of this establishment did I suspect that I should have the pleasure of a companion here for the night. You cannot move or speak without my bidding, but you can hear perfectly well. Something tells me that you are, shall I say, nervous? My dear sir?

[Raymond Hewson]

No illusions.

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

I am not one of these contemptible little effigies suddenly come to life. I am Dr. Bourdet himself. Pardon me, but Steve, let me explain. Circumstances with which I did not fatigue you have made it desirable that I should live in England. I was close to the building this evening when I saw a policeman regarding me Thought too curiously, I guess, that he intended to follow me and perhaps ask a policy question. So I maintained a couple a crowd and came in here. Inspiration showed me a certain means of escape. I raised a cry of fire. And when all the fools had rushed to the stairs, I stripped my effigy of the caped coat which you will be wearing, donned it, hid my effigy behind the platform at the back there and took its place on the pedestal I own. I have spent the most fatiguing evening. The world is divided into collectors and non collectors. The collectors collect anything according to their own individual tastes. I collect throats.

[Narrator]

And the doctor regarded Houston's throat with interest mingled with disfavor.

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

My activities of late have been curtailed. I glad though of the pleasant opportunity of gratifying my somewhat unusual whim. I should never have selected you from choice, of course. I like men with thick necks. Thick red necks. This is a little French razor. The blade, you will observe, is very narrow. It does not cut very deep, but deep enough. In just one little moment. You shall see for yourself. I shall ask you the little civil question of all polite barbers. Does the razor suit you, sir? You will have the goodness to raise your chin a little. Thank you.

[Narrator]

And a little more. Just a little more.

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

Thank you.

[Narrator]

Mercy.

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

Mercy. Mercy.

[Narrator]

Over one end of the chamber was a thick skylight of frosted glass, which by day let in a few sickly and filtered rays from the floor above. After sunrise, these began to mingle with the subdued light from the electric mold, and this mingled illumination added a certain ghastly nest was seen which needed no additional touch of horror. The waxwork figures stood there pathetically in their places, waiting to be admired by the crowds who would presently wander fearfully among them in their midst. In the center gangway, Houston sat still, leaning far back in his armchair.

[Dr. Burdett / Dr. Bourdet]

His chin was up, tilted, as if

[Narrator]

he were expecting to receive attention from a barber. And although there was not a scratch upon his throat, nor indeed anywhere upon his whole body, he was cold and quite dead. His previous employers were wrong in having him credited. With no imagination, Dr. Baudette, on his pedestal, watched the dead man unemotionally. He did not move, nor was he capable of motion. But then, after all, he was only a waxwork.