The Hairy Monster by The Witch’s Tale

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Horror! (Old Time Radio)
Episode: "The Hairy Monster" by The Witch’s Tale
Date: January 17, 2026

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Overview

In this chilling episode, The Horror! presents "The Hairy Monster," a classic supernatural tale from the 1930s radio series The Witch’s Tale. Host RelicRadio.com pulls together both parts of this story, revolving around an inherited mansion, an eerie will, a tragic mystery, and a monstrous presence fueled by dark Eastern sorcery. The episode immerses listeners in a narrative laced with gothic suspense, old-world folklore, and classic radio drama flair.

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Key Discussion Points & Plot Breakdown

1. Setting the Stage: The Inheritance and Unusual Will

• [03:02 - 05:14]
  • Old Nancy, a character from the original series, cuddles up audience expectations: “I wears a iron ring to keep away rheumatics. Thar’s always a onion hanging over my door to drive off chills and fevers...” (03:10).
  • Listeners are guided into the story with the tradition of magic and superstition as the backdrop.
• [05:15 - 06:57]
  • Ms. Turner, her brother Rodney, and Aunt Maggie arrive at an opulent house they've just inherited under mysterious terms.
  • The will’s stipulations: Ms. Turner must live there for a year, sleep each night in the master bedroom alone, and never spend a night away; three hours in the room from midnight to sunrise are required.

2. Hints of the Supernatural and the Past

• [06:58 - 08:48]
  • The oddities of Mrs. Hawker’s will are reviewed and her background—years spent in Tibet, fascination with Eastern mysticism, and a library full of books on magic and alchemy—is highlighted.
  • Notably, “They’re the only books in the place with English titles. I don’t know what the volumes treat that are written in Chinese...” (08:42, Mr. Weeks).
• [10:21 - 10:30]
  • Mrs. Hawker’s tomb, built in the backyard, unnerves the family.
    • “That’s the one thing I ain’t gonna like about this place. That tomb.” (Ms. Turner)

3. Aunt Maggie’s Tragic End

• [12:28 - 13:13]
  • Strange occurrences on their first night: flickering lights, terrified screams, and then the unthinkable—Aunt Maggie is dead from fear.
  • The diagnosis: “...paralysis of the heart muscle brought about by shock. The expression of her face and eyes indicate that shock was caused by sheer, stark terror.” (13:22, Doctor)

4. The Investigation & Rising Suspense

• [14:11 - 16:05]
  • Police and a skeptical but open-minded Detective Ryan comb the scene—no intruders, all doors locked, but a bizarre clue remains: “These are most unusual hairs, sir. Look, I’m six feet tall and these hairs are longer than I am...” (15:57, Ryan)
• [16:41 - 17:38]
  • The household sits vigil in terror, with Ryan’s brooding musings about the inexplicable: “I kind of got a notion strange things happen in this world that can’t be explained away by simply saying they couldn’t happen.” (17:38, Ryan)

5. The Hairy Monster Appears

• [21:09 - 21:57]
  • Another night, more supernatural dread—lights go out, a monstrous being with long white hair materializes.
  • “It’s a hairy monster. You missed. Shoot again... I hit it, but it doesn’t drop. Bullets don’t seem to kill it. Something unnatural...” (21:21, Ms. Turner & Mr. Weeks)
• [21:57 - 22:26]
  • The beast escapes through a secret passage, leading the protagonists to the chilling revelation that it connects directly to Mrs. Hawker’s tomb.

6. Ancient Sorcery & The Terrible Truth

• [22:40 - 23:54]
  • Detective Ryan theorizes about how Mrs. Hawker could be alive through Tibetan magic—suspending her bodily functions to live as the “undead,” intending to reclaim life by stealing another’s body and soul.
  • “Her body is just a dried up husk held together by her evil spirit. That husk must be destroyed entirely, all at once. That’s why I’m having those lamps put up inside the mausoleum. The sun that preserves life is the destroyer of the dead. That’s why she can only leave her tomb in darkness.” (24:46, Mr. Weeks)

7. Climactic Confrontation in the Tomb

• [25:04 - 26:21]
  • The group enters the mausoleum to end the threat.
  • As they expose the creature to artificial sunlight, it attacks, but the rays cause the “hairy monster” to disintegrate to “just dust and bones and hair... She’s gone. Destroyed forever...” (26:00-26:21, Ms. Turner & Mr. Weeks)
  • Ryan survives, wounded, with Ms. Turner tending to him.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Supernatural Experience:

  • “I kind of got a notion strange things happen in this world that can’t be explained away by simply saying they couldn’t happen.”
    — Detective Ryan, (17:38)

• On Mrs. Hawker’s Mysticism:

  • “In Tibet, where Mrs. Hawker used to live, there’s magicians who knew how to suspend all animation of their organs and to live like the dead for almost any time they want. They also know how to kill another human being with smothering its breath. And how to set up their own spirit inside the stolen flesh.”
    — Mr. Weeks, (23:27)

• Hair as a Clue:

  • “These are most unusual hairs, sir. Look, I’m six feet tall and these hairs are longer than I am.”
    — Detective Ryan, (15:57)

• The Monster Attacks:

  • “It’s a hairy monster. You missed. Shoot again... I hit it, but it doesn’t drop. Bullets don’t seem to kill it. Something unnatural...”
    — Ms. Turner & Mr. Weeks, (21:21-21:31)

• The Final Vanquishing:

  • “She’s letting go. Oh, mister, she’s swollen. She’s becoming. Just dust and bones and hair. She’s gone. Destroyed forever. Are you all right?”
    — Ms. Turner, (26:18-26:21)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Strange Will & Introduction to the House: 05:15 – 08:48
• Aunt Maggie’s Death by Fright: 12:28 – 13:22
• Discovery of Six-Foot Hairs: 15:45 – 16:07
• First Encounter with the Hairy Monster: 21:09 – 22:26
• Revealing Mrs. Hawker’s “Living Death”: 23:13 – 24:57
• Final Confrontation and Destruction of the Monster: 25:11 – 26:21

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Tone & Atmosphere

The Witch's Tale embodies classic gothic horror, delivered in period dialect, with a blend of morbidity and melodrama. Folkloric, skeptical, and scientific explanations intermingle as the unexplainable overwhelms the rational, all wrapped in the deliciously earnest creepiness of Old Time Radio. Clever comic relief (Ryan's awkward flirtations with Ms. Turner) lightens the dread but never dispels the tension.

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Summary

This episode is a quintessential example of 1930s radio horror—filled with curses, haunted houses, links to “exotic” magics, and a thoroughly unique monster. The interplay between skeptical investigation and supernatural terrors is compelling, with the story delivered in a style that is simultaneously spookily earnest and endearingly camp. If you enjoy haunted inheritance stories, Eastern occultism, and the fascination of period horror, this episode is a must-listen.

Transcript

[Mr. Weeks]

Oh, stories, real stories and murders do.

[Ms. Turner]

Turn out your legs.

[Mr. Weeks]

Turn them out. Good evening. Come in, won't you? What's the matter? Surely you're not nervous. For example, I tell you the story we are meant to call from out of the past. Stories scream weird tales of mystery and terror by radio's masters of the maa story where is supernatural, the supernormal dramatized by fat faith. The mysteries, the unknown. We tell you this, Franklin, so if.

[Ms. Turner]

You wish to avoid the excitement of.

[Mr. Weeks]

These meds, playburger, arm races theory we turn all.

[Narrator]

This is the horror. Welcome back. Thanks for joining me. This Saturday you'll hear from the Witch's Tale this week. A series that debuted in May of 1931, aired until June of 1938, produced over 300 episodes. Our story today is the Hairy Monster. This story was originally aired in two parts. I glued them together here and deleted the introduction to the second episode to help things flow a little better. This one aired originally in September of the 1932.

[Mr. Weeks]

We bring you the Witch's Tale written and produced by Alonzo Dean Cole. Sam. And now let us join old Nancy, witch of Salem and Satan, her wise black cat.

[Ms. Turner]

Hun and 10 year old I be today. Yes, sir. Hunna and 10 year old Satan. A lot of folks have been writing us letters asking how old Nancy got to be such a nice ripe age. You said it, Satan. The hull answer to that question is that we knows magic charm. I wears a iron ring to keep away rheumatics. Thar's all as a onion hanging over my door to drive off chills and fevers. And round my neck I wears a potent talisman made during the increase o the moon which protects me from all accidents. A body who takes care of her health with powerful spells like them is bound to reach a Hannah. And 18 year like I just turned today. That's right, Satan. Another reason for me living so long is that I never tells a lie. Which proves there's no truth in the saying that the good dies young. Well, we got another cheerful little bedtime story for you. Now if you'll just turn out them lights and make it nice and dark. That's it. Now draw up to the fire and gaze into them, Buzz. Gaze into them deep. And soon you'll see four people at the door of a fine big house. Soon you'll learn about the hairy monster. That's our tale for tonight. The Hairy Monster.

[Mr. Weeks]

Here we are. Now, just a moment. When I find the light.

[Ms. Turner]

Mr. Wheat. Gosh, yes, we're terrible excited.

[Mr. Weeks]

I Have it. Now look at the inside of your.

[Ms. Turner]

New home, please, Barbara.

[Mr. Weeks]

You like it?

[Ms. Turner]

I haven't a regular mansion. Perfectly scrumptious.

[Mr. Weeks]

It's all yours, Ms. Turner. House, grounds and furnishings, that is. You'll carry out the conditions of Mrs. Hawker's will and live here continuously for one year, beginning tonight. If she'll live here. Try and get your way, eh?

[Ms. Turner]

Perhaps I'll say so after you and Aunt Maggie and I have had to live in two rooms in a kitchen there all our lives. Oh, doesn't it just seem as though we're dreaming? My, my, I can hardly believe it.

[Mr. Weeks]

It's true. Look bad. Mr.

[Ms. Turner]

Weeks even had a telephone put in for us.

[Mr. Weeks]

I've had the place set in order as though I was moving in myself. Doesn't look like a house that's been closed and tenantless for five years.

[Ms. Turner]

It's just perfect. Everything absolutely scrooge.

[Mr. Weeks]

I'm going to get our baggage from the car so I'll have nothing to do but explore. I'm going over the place from cellar to attic.

[Ms. Turner]

Rodney, don't forget to bring in my hat box and umbrella.

[Mr. Weeks]

I won't.

[Ms. Turner]

Aunt Maggie. Aunt Maggie. Just look at these gorgeous window curtains. We awake. My, my, but the kitchen is what I want to be. That's my special bellywick, Mr. Weeks. Where is it?

[Mr. Weeks]

You'll find it at the end of this hall, Ms. Thomas.

[Ms. Turner]

Excuse me, I've got to have a look at the kitchen before I do another thing. We're all so terribly excited, Mr. Weeks, and we'll never forget that our good fortune is entirely due to you.

[Mr. Weeks]

Oh, not, sir. I'm only acting as any attorney would to serve his client's interest.

[Ms. Turner]

But other attorneys kept his place away from us for five whole years.

[Mr. Weeks]

Well, they had no legal grounds for their action. As the courts have finally decided, the terms of Mrs. Hawker's will were specific and clear. In spite of certain rather strange provisions. Your sister Helen was named as sole heir. And in the event of her demise, it was provided that the estate should pass to her nearest female kin, which happened to be you at your sister's untimely death. The executor should have placed you in immediate possession.

[Ms. Turner]

Now, to continue in possession, I simply have to fulfill the terms originally imposed upon my sister, that's all.

[Mr. Weeks]

You reside in this house for a period of one year, during which time you will sleep in the master bedroom upstairs, which be will was formerly occupied by Mrs. Horker. You are not to pass so much as a single night away from here. And you must spend at least three hours in that bedroom from every midnight to sunrise. Alone.

[Ms. Turner]

Funny condition, isn't it?

[Mr. Weeks]

But a very simple one.

[Ms. Turner]

If poor Helen hadn't been killed in that auto accident the day of Mrs. Harper's funeral, she would have found it as easy to fulfill as I showed. Now she's dead and I have this wonderful house.

[Mr. Weeks]

Your sister must have been a very sweet and lovable character. Mrs. Hawker had known her scarcely two weeks when she executed that will in her favor.

[Ms. Turner]

Wasn't it extraordinary? Helen was only her paid companion, a trained nurse like myself.

[Mr. Weeks]

Strange, the workings of faith. Now you, whom Mrs. Hawker never even met, become her heir.

[Ms. Turner]

What sort of woman was Mrs. Hawker? Helen used to write that she was.

[Mr. Weeks]

Very peculiar, as proven by the queer conditions of her will.

[Ms. Turner]

But despite her eccentricity, Helen wrote that she was a highly intelligent old person who spent most of her time in scientific research.

[Mr. Weeks]

I've heard that, but I hardly think that her studies was very scientific. You'll find some mighty queer stuff in the library. She left works on magic, alchemy and such outlandish things as that.

[Ms. Turner]

Is that what she studied?

[Mr. Weeks]

They're the only books in the place with English titles. I don't know what the volumes treat us that are written in Chinese.

[Ms. Turner]

Chinese?

[Mr. Weeks]

Yes. You've inherited quite a collection of oriental literature. Mrs. Hawker spent most of her life in Tibet. The wife of a missionary, I believe. And that's all I or anyone else in this town really knows about her. She made no friends or confidants from the time she came here 15 years ago and built this house. She rarely left it. In fact, she scarcely ever left that room upstairs, which you'll occupy in accordance with her will.

[Ms. Turner]

She must have been very eccentric. That provision isn't the only strange one in her will.

[Mr. Weeks]

You don't have to worry about the others. The executive had seen to therefore honor.

[Ms. Turner]

But what. Hey, help me.

[Mr. Weeks]

Someone's obliged. I wanted to get all this luggage in at once. So while I have nothing to do but look over our new residence. And besides, it's Mr. Weeks car we had cluttered up with this stuff and he may want to drive it home sometime tonight. Say, it's nearly midnight. I must be running along now.

[Ms. Turner]

Oh, it was awfully good of you to meet us at the train and bring us out here.

[Mr. Weeks]

I wanted to enjoy your first excitement of it.

[Ms. Turner]

Oh, Barbara, the kitchen is simply scrumptious. There's copper pots and pans, real silverware, china dishes. Rodney, did you bring in my big hat box and umbrella? Here they are, Aunt Maggie. Oh, thank goodness.

[Mr. Weeks]

Well, I'll run along. Guess you'll find things comfortable enough. Continue to make your own arrangements.

[Ms. Turner]

Everything's wonderful. Thanks to you. You've been a real friend, Mr.

[Mr. Weeks]

Weeks. It's all been a pleasure for me.

[Ms. Turner]

Good night.

[Mr. Weeks]

I'll take you to the door.

[Ms. Turner]

We'll all take you, Marc. Stars. The moon has come out. Isn't it nice? It was dark as pitch when we drove up here, Mr.

[Mr. Weeks]

Weeks. What's that little white building back there? Our garage? No, son. That's Mrs. Walker's tomb.

[Ms. Turner]

Oh, the mausoleum you told me she had built.

[Mr. Weeks]

Yes.

[Ms. Turner]

That's the one thing I ain't gonna like about this place. That tomb. Well, we'll have to get used to it. One of the provisions in her will is that it is never to be removed.

[Mr. Weeks]

That's right. Well, I must be going.

[Ms. Turner]

Good night. Good night, Mr. Weed. Good night, sir. Good night. And thanks a thousand five.

[Mr. Weeks]

Oh, that's all right. Good luck, you all. Let's cut back in Bass. I'm just crazy to explore the place.

[Ms. Turner]

So am I. And I can hardly realize it's really ours. I don't like that grave in the backyard, Aunt Maggie. You knew that tomb was there before we came. I didn't know it was so near the house. It ain't right for the dead and living to be so close to one another. Oh, ha. Silly. Come inside and stop gazing at it. All right. Shut that door, Rodney, and lock it tight.

[Mr. Weeks]

You ain't afraid Mrs. Hawker will get lonesome out there and try to pay us a visit?

[Ms. Turner]

If she wanted to, locks and bolts wouldn't stop her. Ghosts can get in anywhere, Aunt Maggie. Don't be so ridiculous. Here, Rod, let's take this luggage up to our bedrooms before we do anything else. You two keep away from them bedrooms till I look em over. What for what fur? Ain't I been keeping house for you two orphans almost all your life? I'm going up and see the beds are made up proper with clean sheets and all. All right, Aunt Maggie. Arrange things to suit yourself. But I'm asleep in the east wing room, you know. I ain't forgetting. Here, I'll take my big hat box and umbrella. You can bring the rest of that truck up later. Okay, Aunt Maggie.

[Mr. Weeks]

They would insist on going up there to fix things. Just as if we were a couple of kids.

[Ms. Turner]

Have you found the bedroom lights up? Aging, yes. Purpose this here. Each room of yours is room. I knew it would be. Oh, Robin, isn't it wonderful to Know all this belongs to us. If we're going to live in this.

[Mr. Weeks]

House, you've got to live here for a year.

[Ms. Turner]

As though that could be anything but pleasure. Oh, tonight I'm just the happiest girl in the world.

[Mr. Weeks]

What was that?

[Ms. Turner]

Aunt Maggie, come upstairs.

[Mr. Weeks]

Something is wrong.

[Ms. Turner]

Aunt Maggie.

[Mr. Weeks]

Aunt Maggie.

[Ms. Turner]

She doesn't answer, but the lights have gone out up here. We're in the dark. Aunt Maggie, where are you?

[Mr. Weeks]

Give me your hand. East.

[Ms. Turner]

Only this way we find her there. Why doesn't she answer us? What made her scream? Oh, the lights have gone on again. There she is in that room on the floor. Aunt Maggie. But, Maggie, speak to me. She doesn't move. She's fainted. Look at her eyes, Rob. They're staring at the ceiling.

[Mr. Weeks]

Just like she was scared of something.

[Ms. Turner]

What? I don't. I don't know. She's not breathing. Her heart isn't beating. God.

[Mr. Weeks]

She'S.

[Ms. Turner]

Idiot.

[Mr. Weeks]

You still insist, Doc, that this woman was frightened to death? I do, Lieutenant, until an autopsy shows me some chronic organic weakness that isn't apparent now. I'll say she died of paralysis of the heart muscle brought about by shock. The expression of her face and eyes indicate that shock was caused by sheer, stark terror.

[Ms. Turner]

But what could have frightened her? There was nothing here to do it.

[Mr. Weeks]

You two entered this room almost immediately after she screamed?

[Ms. Turner]

Yes.

[Mr. Weeks]

And the room was just like you see it now. Well, she couldn't have been frightened by anything seen through these windows. Shutters are closed, shades drawn. You're positive every door and window in this house is locked on the inside, Ryan? Yes, sir. Absolutely positive. Yet you found no one hiding in the place? No, sir. We've searched every corner. You're sure neither of you touched anything after you found your aunt?

[Ms. Turner]

No, sir. Not even the front door, which was.

[Mr. Weeks]

Locked until you got here?

[Ms. Turner]

We just phoned you police and then sat down until you came.

[Mr. Weeks]

That woman died of fright, and she must have been scared by her own imagination.

[Ms. Turner]

Oh, that's impossible. She wasn't that kind.

[Mr. Weeks]

It's the only explanation that is possible, miss. When the coroner here first gave us his theory of her death, I suspected a tramper burglar had surprised her. But we've proved that no one has gotten in or out of the place and that nobody's here now except ourselves.

[Ms. Turner]

Someone must have turned those lights off.

[Mr. Weeks]

Yeah, and turn them on again? No, that was caused by defective wiring. Maybe. I'll have the electric company look into that, just to check. This is a coroner's case, not a police matter. Boys, come on, let's go. Lieutenant. Sir? Yes, Ryan? You mind putting me on duty inside this house for a couple of days maybe? What for? The case is closed. I kind of got a notion that her name. What do you mean? I've just kind of got a notion. Another of your crazy notions, eh? I've got his idea, boys. Detective Ryan is an authority on spooks. There's an explanation for us. A ghost could frighten a woman to death. And they wouldn't be stopped by locked windows or doors. I ain't expecting a ghost to be in this house tonight, sir. For I've just found something that no ghost would leave behind. What have you found? This, sir. It was snagged on back of that chair. Two hairs. Two white human hairs. Anyone might have shed a few hairs here at any time. But these are most unusual hairs, sir. Look, I'm six feet tall and these hairs are longer than I am.

[Ms. Turner]

Wheel that just the beginning of this pretty story, Satan. You folks come see me next time I has a birthday and I let you know what sort of critter them six foot hares belong to.

[Mr. Weeks]

It's almost one o', clock, Mr. Ryan.

[Ms. Turner]

How much longer are we going to.

[Mr. Weeks]

Sit here in the dark? A little before 12. You heard your aunt scream in this room last night. Yes, I kind of had a notion history might repeat itself. But begins to look like I was wrong. You're all in, aren't you, Ms. Turner? Of course she's all in. She hasn't had a wink of sleep.

[Ms. Turner]

Well, that doesn't matter. Rot. If there's anything to be gained by watching here.

[Mr. Weeks]

Well, I'd kind of like to sit it out a while longer, if you don't mind.

[Ms. Turner]

You still think those hairs you found had something to do with Aunt Maggie's death?

[Mr. Weeks]

Well, I kinda gotta know. But what could have hair like that.

[Ms. Turner]

Nearly six feet long?

[Mr. Weeks]

I don't know, son.

[Ms. Turner]

You say the. The autopsy this afternoon strengthened the coroner's conviction? My aunt was frightened to death. Yes, but. But you are positive no human being could have gotten in here? Mr. Ryan, do you believe in ghosts as the lieutenant said last night?

[Mr. Weeks]

Well, I keep a sort of open mind, miss. You know, folks are apt to say things ain't so just cause those things haven't been a part of their personal experience. I've got a kind of notion strange things happen in this world that can't be explained away by simply saying they couldn't happen.

[Ms. Turner]

You're Irish, aren't you, Mr. Ryan?

[Mr. Weeks]

Well, Ryan ain't exactly A Polish name, you mean. Maybe I come for my funny beliefs.

[Ms. Turner]

Natural belief in the supernatural is common to all races. Only the Irish seem to have a deeper insight into mysteries and. Well, only the Scotch can compete with him when it comes to having notions.

[Mr. Weeks]

Yes, my mother was Scotch.

[Ms. Turner]

Is that so? I'm Scotch Irish, too.

[Mr. Weeks]

Well, you know, I kind of had a notion. Yes, sir. The moment I looked at you, I said to myself, now there's too nice a girl to be anything. Say, if anything's going to happen in this room, when is it going to begin? Just wait a little longer, son. Yes, sir. Ms. Turner, you're the type of girl who. Thanks. You're not engaged or going with anyone steady, are you? You know, according to Mrs. Hawker's will.

[Ms. Turner]

My sister has to stay in this room at least three hours every night, alone. Oh, I don't care anything about that, Rod. After what's happened. I hate this house.

[Mr. Weeks]

Funny conditions and that weir. You Mrs. Hawkers, you told me about awful funny. Come on, son. Let you and me leave your sister alone in here.

[Ms. Turner]

None of you think anything may happen.

[Mr. Weeks]

It won't. That was just a bum notion. Here now. Switch on these lights now. Leave them burning the rest of the night. Miss, I think you'll sleep better.

[Ms. Turner]

I'd rather you and Rod to stay here with me. Mr. Rod, I'm. I'm not afraid. I'm too upset.

[Mr. Weeks]

No, I'm not. I'm tired. I'm going to bed. Come on, son. If my sister don't want to be.

[Ms. Turner]

Left here alone, she'll lie it when.

[Mr. Weeks]

She gets used to it. Come on.

[Ms. Turner]

Hey, let go of my arm.

[Mr. Weeks]

What do you do?

[Ms. Turner]

Come on, Mr. Ryan.

[Mr. Weeks]

Good night.

[Ms. Turner]

Hey, are you crazy?

[Mr. Weeks]

Shut up.

[Ms. Turner]

I will not.

[Mr. Weeks]

You can't hold me up for I want to keep my hand over your mouth. So you nod your head. You'll keep your face closed. You keep quiet. All right, what's the idea? I just got a notion something might happen in that room quicker if so many people weren't hanging around.

[Ms. Turner]

You mean it?

[Mr. Weeks]

I don't know. We ain't gonna move two feet from your sister's door if we have to stay here all night. Now, come back here. What's that crack light under the door? If it goes out or your sister yells, we throw ourselves into that room double quick, one o'. Clock.

[Ms. Turner]

What's your reason for all this?

[Mr. Weeks]

There ain't no reason. I just kind. Of. We stood here like statues for a solid hour.

[Ms. Turner]

My legs are cramped.

[Mr. Weeks]

She breathes nice and is soft like Say, if you're expecting a ghost.

[Ms. Turner]

They don't come round till after midnight.

[Mr. Weeks]

Ghosts don't leave human hair behind. I think this wa. Is all the bunk. Nothing was in that room last night.

[Ms. Turner]

And nothing could get in there now.

[Mr. Weeks]

Just here, in front of the only door.

[Ms. Turner]

The light just went out of the door?

[Mr. Weeks]

Yes. Come on, let's go by the bed.

[Ms. Turner]

For God. It's something coming with air.

[Mr. Weeks]

Long white hair. Help.

[Ms. Turner]

I can't breathe. Your gun.

[Mr. Weeks]

Hold that flashlight on it.

[Ms. Turner]

It's a hairy monster. You missed. Shoot again. I hit it, but it doesn't drop. It's coming toward me.

[Mr. Weeks]

Bullets don't seem to kill it. Something unnatural. Dead. Shoot again. I.

[Ms. Turner]

Gun's empty.

[Mr. Weeks]

I'll grab it.

[Ms. Turner]

No, don't touch it. Don't let him touch you. It's going through the wall panel.

[Mr. Weeks]

A secret passage there. Give me that flashlight. I'm going up. No, no.

[Ms. Turner]

Don't go in that darkness alone. He's gone down those stairs. Inside the wall. Come on. Offer him. It'll kill him. Babs, come back. It'll kill us all.

[Mr. Weeks]

Mr. Rhymes.

[Ms. Turner]

Babs. I'll go with you.

[Mr. Weeks]

Babs.

[Ms. Turner]

There's Mr. Rhymes. Flashlight up ahead. Come on. That thing, that hairy thing has gone away. Where does this passage lead to?

[Mr. Weeks]

I don't know.

[Ms. Turner]

Look out. Here's more stairs going up. Mr. Rhymes. Are you safe? It didn't hurt you.

[Mr. Weeks]

Oh, I'm all right. That thing has disappeared.

[Ms. Turner]

It wasn't. It wasn't human. Covered with that matted hair. And it smelled of mold and earth and death.

[Mr. Weeks]

No. No, no, no.

[Ms. Turner]

Try to murder me in my spirit. Yeah.

[Mr. Weeks]

Ms. Turner, pull yourself together. I don't know what it was we saw and followed. Here's where I lost it. Here at the end of this secret passage.

[Ms. Turner]

This is the end. Where are we?

[Mr. Weeks]

I've got a kind of notion we're in Mrs. Hawker's tomb.

[Ms. Turner]

Mr. Ryder. That frightful thing we saw last night couldn't have been Mrs. Oliver. She's been dead five years. And you say yourself it was not a. A ghost?

[Mr. Weeks]

No. Ghosts don't leave hair behind. Little things like this.

[Ms. Turner]

What's that?

[Mr. Weeks]

Human fingernail. Five inches long. I found it by the panel that leads into that passage. I've read that nails grow out about an inch each year. And like here, sometimes they keep on growing. After death, you mean. But last night we saw the dead. Who still alive?

[Ms. Turner]

A vampire?

[Mr. Weeks]

No. A vampire drains your blood. Mrs. Hawker came last night to steal your body when she was placed in this tomb five years Ago, she had everything arranged to steal your sister.

[Ms. Turner]

I don't know what you're talking about.

[Mr. Weeks]

I've done some funny reading. As I told you, Ms. Turner, in Tibet, where Mrs. Hawker used to live, there's magicians who knew how to suspend all animation of their organs and to live like the dead for almost any time they want. They also know how to kill another human being with smothering its breath. And how to set up their own spirit inside the stolen flesh. Mrs. Hawker knew all about the magicians of Tibet.

[Ms. Turner]

If this incredible thing can be true, that explains those conditions in her will.

[Mr. Weeks]

Yep. Let her heir occupy that room with a secret passage leading to this mouth. Liam, she'd been cheated of your sister and had waited five years. When you arrived, she was over anxious to claim your life, that she might live again. So she entered that room without caution. And your aunt saw her awful figure in the moonlight last night. She waited. Careful. But the lights.

[Ms. Turner]

What made them belong?

[Mr. Weeks]

Master switch inside the passage. She built this house herself, you know. Among the queer conditions in her will was one that the the slab above her tomb should be made so it might be lifted by a lever inside her coffin. Another stipulation was that she shouldn't be.

[Ms. Turner]

Embalmed and those instructions were carried out.

[Mr. Weeks]

Yeah, but why didn't your bullets kill her last night if she's really living? They say you're a champion pistol shot.

[Ms. Turner]

Yet we couldn't find a drop of blood.

[Mr. Weeks]

She hadn't any blood. Her body is just a dried up husk held together by her evil spirit. That husk must be destroyed entirely, all at once. That's why I'm having those lamps put up inside the mausoleum.

[Ms. Turner]

So this huge sun, Raylor.

[Mr. Weeks]

Yes. The sun that preserves life is the destroyer of the dead. That's why she can only leave her tomb in darkness.

[Ms. Turner]

It's night now. There may be danger from her if you lift that flap. Why don't you wait until morning, until the natural sun comes out?

[Mr. Weeks]

I can't have her in the same world with you another hour. You know, Ms. Turner, you're the type of girl who Everything's set right. You and your brother wait outside here, just in case anything goes wrong.

[Ms. Turner]

No. If there's any danger, I'm going with you.

[Mr. Weeks]

Ms. Turner, you're not engaged. You're going with anybody. We're ready, Ryan, if you are. All right, Lamps set. And lever plate everything. Now turn your lamps on before we put pressure on this lever.

[Ms. Turner]

There they go.

[Mr. Weeks]

All right, boys, leave this lab off. Here it comes. Now. Keep away from here. Ms. Turner, it's all.

[Ms. Turner]

You're all right. In that coffin is a hairy monster.

[Mr. Weeks]

She's alive. She's getting up. I turn those rays down there in the coffin. Flaps went out.

[Ms. Turner]

What's wrong? Connection came apart. I'll take this.

[Mr. Weeks]

Quick.

[Ms. Turner]

She's rising from this. Oh, Lord.

[Mr. Weeks]

You keep back with Turner. Keep away.

[Ms. Turner]

She's got a hand for Mr. Ryan. No, don't clamp. God, no. Away. She's cutting him to pieces. And the rays are working. Look, she's letting go. Oh, mister, she's swollen. She's becoming. Just dust and bones and hair. She's gone. Destroyed forever. Are you all right?

[Mr. Weeks]

I kinda got a notice.

[Ms. Turner]

You're bleeding. She slashed your face and throat. God, there be aye to bandages. Thank goodness. I'm a nurse.

[Mr. Weeks]

Nurse. You know, Ms. Turner, you're just the type of girl. Are you engaged or going with anyone Steady?

[Ms. Turner]

Be quiet. You're weak and losing blood.

[Mr. Weeks]

But are you?

[Ms. Turner]

No, not yet. Why do you keep asking me that?

[Mr. Weeks]

Oh, I think just.

[Ms. Turner]

Well, that's the end of that done, Satan. And if it didn't curl your hair, it should at least make it kind of wavy. Well, Satan and me's got business to tend to now. Horse and business. Satan near midnight. Satan. It.

[Narrator]

That's the horror for this week. Hope you enjoyed it and find more from the witch's tale@ Relicradio.com alongside thousands of other Old Time Radio episodes, past episodes of this podcast and all the others. There's a shoutcast stream there with even more Old Time Radio. And if you'd like to help support this and all of the shows, help keep it coming every week, hit that donate button and click. Your support is how all of this is made possible. My thanks as always to those who have thanks for joining me today. Talk to you again next Saturday with another episode of the Horror.