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The Horror! (Old Time Radio)
The Horror Of Dead Lake by The CBS Radio Mystery Theater
This time on The Horror, The CBS Radio Mystery Theater brings us a story from February 9, 1976, titled, The Horror Of Dead Lake. Listen to more from The CBS Radio Mystery Theater https://traffic.libsyn.com/forcedn/e55e1c7a-e213-4a20-8701-21862bdf1f8a/TheHorror1218.mp3 Download TheHorror1218 | Subscribe | Spotify | Support The Horror If you enjoy The Horror and would like to help support it, visit donate.relicradio.com for more information. Thank [...]
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E.G. Marshall
Oh, stories. Weird stories. And murder too. Turn out your lights. Turn them out. Good evening. Come in, won't you? What's the matter? Surely you're not nervous. For example, car, I think, restored. We are meant to call from out of the past. Stories, strange and weird. Tales of mystery and terror by radio's masters of the macabre. Stories of the supernatural, the supernormal dramatized fantasy, the mystery of the unknown. We tell you this, Frank Franklin. So if you wish to avoid the excitement tension of these magic play, ladies, we urge you our way sincerely, to turn off your way. Welcome back to the horror. On this week's show, we're going to hear from the CBS radio mystery theater series that took to the air in 1974, aired until 1982, produced 1,399 original shows. Story today is from February 9, 1976. It's the Horror of Dead Lake. The CBS Radio Mystery Theater presents. Come in. Welcome. I'm e. G. Marshall. Do you believe in monsters? They exist. You know. The Irish giant in the museum of Trinity College, Dublin. Dwarfs which are stronger and live longer and usually have strong passions and acute intellect. The fabulous monsters of Guiana near lake parima, sketched in 1663 by Jost Segman in his collection of voyages. Those are just a few examples which will lend credence to the story we're about to hear. I saw it, Lilly Lee. I saw it. I saw the thing. Take it easy. You're shaking like an open leaf. How come you even went near dead Lake? Well, you know better. Things disappear there. What got into you? One of my heifers wandered away. I saw him grazing down toward the lake. I just plumb forgot about the. The stories and went after him. When I got within a hundred yards of him, the heifer was on the shore drinking. And that's when it came out of the water and. And grabbed him. The heifer disappeared. He bellowed, billy Lee. It was horrible. Our mystery drama, the horror of dead lake was written especially for the mystery theater by Roy Windsor and stars William Prince and Gordon Gould. It is sponsored in part by buick motor division and Anheuser Busch incorporated, brewers of Budweiser. I'll be back shortly with act one. Isn't it nice to know you're free to see the things you want to see the touch to hide you victories to know you're all that you can be. You seem to be in a hurry, sir. Yes, I am. You are in a hurry? Oh, yes. Well, no doubt you're rushing down to buy a Buick Electra because You know that Electra has the kind of ride and comfort Buick's famous for. That's right. And because you know, it's America's second largest selling full size luxury. You got it. You got it. So you're hurrying because you want to get there before the Electra. That's very good. How did you know I was going to buy a Buick Electra? Well, it was on the shopping list you dropped back there. You see? Dozen eggs, quarter milk, Buick Electra. Son of a gun. I forgot the pistachio nuts. That's not on the list. Well, I forgot them. Anyhow, the way you shop will never be the same again. Recently it became more beautiful, more exciting when Marshall Field & Co. And Lord & Taylor opened in the Atrium Mall of Water Tower Place. And beginning Monday, February 16, you can take the shimmering glass elevators in the Grand Atrium to any of seven fabulous levels where you'll discover more stores, boutiques and services. Famous names from Chicago, America and around the world will be opening their doors. And in the weeks ahead, the Atrium Mall of Water Tower Place will become home to a spectacular new Drury Lane stage theater for plat cinemas and charming new restaurants for luncheon snacks and evening dining. It all begins next Monday at 10am at 835 N. Michigan Ave. On the Magnificent Mile. Parking is available in the building with direct access to the Atrium Mall. Water Tower Place. The magnificent experience. Since the earliest times, monstrosities have attracted attention and have engendered the cloying fear we experience in the presence of the unnatural. The Loch Ness monster, for example. Is it fact or fiction? The search for it still goes on. Cyclops, the monster with one eye. Oh, there undoubtedly was such a creature, because there still are. Really. At a point where the nose sticks out from the forehead, there's a single orbital cavity with an eye in it. Well, in this tale we encounter another deviate from nature when we discover the hideous thing that inhabits the dead lake. Claude? Yes? Was it all right? Not too grim? No, it was all right. I know how much you loved your father. Well, he lived a long life and he didn't suffer. The lawyer went over things and. To Simon, to me. The savings, the old house, that kind of thing. It was sad, come to think of it. But it's over now. You know, Polly, there's something I never told you because I'd forgotten about it. And so had my dad, for that matter. Oh, A castle in Spain. A map where the treasure is buried. You know, you're not so far off at that. My dad left me 50 acres of land near a small town In Florida, Horaceville. 50 acres. And with land down there selling for a fortune. Not this land. There's something funny about it. A long time ago, back in the early part of the 18th century, a certain Silas Baxter, an ancestor of mine, was, I kid you not, a pirate claw. He must have run a pretty good ship, because when he left the sea, he bought those 50 acres and built himself a castle. He called it the Captain's Doubloon. A castle? No, not a great big one, but big enough. The history of the Captain's Doubloon has been handed down from one Baxter to another. And was among my father's papers. I see. What I've been left is the Captain's Doubloon in a state of ruin. The acreage and something named Dead Lake. Why? Because nothing lives in it. That's creepy. My father never had any interest in the property. I don't know if he ever saw it. But we do own a ruined castle and 50 acres of land. With a dead lake. Where nothing lives. That's right, Claude. We ought to sell it. I think so, too. You know, it's funny. Nobody has ever wanted to buy it. Maybe they did, but my father never said anything about it to me. Dead Lake, Claude. Yeah? Let's go see it. You mean it? Sure. Florida is no big trip from Philadelphia. Can you get time off from your job? I think so. I could take off Friday and we could have most of Friday and the weekend. I can't promise anything, Polly. The Captain's Doubloon is a ruin. Maybe the acreage is worthless, but what about Dead Lake? I'd like to know why it's dead, wouldn't you? Yes. Tell you what I'll do. I'll telephone a lawyer who settled my father's estate. Maybe he can give me the name of someone to see when we reach Orrisville. I don't think Orrisville is much more than a widening in the road. I'm so excited. A deserted old castle, a dead lake. Next to chills run up and down my back. Well, Professor Micah. And how are you, sir? Quite well, I thank you. Here is my food list. Can you also obtain the chemicals I've written down here? Oh, yes or no? No problem. Have one of the boys drive over to Politka. I've got to pay him. Of course. I understand. I will give you these I have before. Yes, sir. You sure have. Double loans. My goodness, what pretty coins. Solid gold. You mind if I ask you something, Professor? Johnny Reed was in here yesterday and he's scared white. A heifer of his wandered down to the shore of Dead Lake. And Johnny said some kind of thing grabbed it and dragged it under the water. Johnny said it bell of something terrible. Did you hear it? You know anything about it? It is wise to stay away from the lake. I do not go near it. I remain in the castle and do my work. Well, maybe not for long, Professor. You've been squatting there so long, I guess you feel you own the place. With the real owners coming Dorsville, Friday afternoon tomorrow. Fellow named Baxter. Same as Captain Silas Baxter, who stole all them doubloons from the Spanish. Like these you just gave me. I have found a few. Where will you go if Baxter tells you to get out? I would have no choice. I would leave. He will discover that the property is worthless. When he goes home, I will return. Maybe you got this idea of developing the land and selling it for home sites. You have tried to do that before, Mr. Billy? Me? Sure did. Those persons I drove over to look at the land never did find that child quicksand? Not according to the sheriff and his men. They scoured and dredged the lake. All they found was some of the child's clothes. Yes. Regrettable. The lake is dangerous. Why? There are unknown things in nature. It is better to let them remain unknown. I will return tonight for my supplies. Oh, hello there, Professor. Good morning. I tell you, Billy, he gives me the creeps. He may be gone soon, Johnny. Ah. How come? New owners arriving tomorrow. Named Baxter. I can't say I'll be sorry to see Professor Micah go. He's in league with the devil. You remember that parrot? Oh, I sure do. Grew to have a wingspan of 10ft. Vicious thing. I remember we all went out and gunned it down. A horrible thing. Where did it come from? His experiments. That was just an ornery little old parrot. No bigger than a crow. You saw what it became. Micah did that. He's always experimenting with something. Look here. More doubloons. Wonder how many he's got. Just a few, he says. Old Silas Baxter's supposed to have had thousands of them. But even if that old ruins full of them, I wouldn't go near it with an army you got? No. Were you scared? No, and I never will. That was the awfullest thing I ever saw. That poor heifer being pulled under the water by some fang. What did it look like? What I saw? It was a kind of red color. Round and fat. And it had horns kind of sticking out in front like feelers. Stay. No such thing. Johnny. Back up on that Dilly Lee. I saw a thing. Ah, you say the new owner is showing up tomorrow? That's right. Him and his wife staying with my. My room's upstairs. You taking them over to their property? Well, expect so. Then let me tell you, stay away from the lake and keep them away from it, too. The room's lovely, Mr. Harris. Billy Lee. I'm pleased you like it, Miss Baxter. It's fine. I like your store, too. Oh, pretty much. Just a general store. Got just about everything in it that folks around here need. Well, it's very nice. Not bad for a one horse town. Horseville isn't much, but those of us who've been here all our lives, we like it. You want excitement, you? Alaska close by. And St. Augustine's only 40 miles away. Nice country. We landed at St. Augustine and drove down. I enjoyed it. There's lots of pine, isn't there? Oh, sure is. Paper pup. It's big business on there. And cattle. He's a rancher now. Hi, Johnny. Oh, meet Mr. Mrs. Baxter. Hello. Johnny Reed. Howdy. You are really interested in the captain's doubloon, Mr. Baxter? Well, I don't know. It's my property. I might want to sell it off or interest some developer. I should think it'll be worth quite a fair amount of money. You look skeptical, Mr. Harrison. Why are you shaking your head? Now, don't go scaring him, Johnny. That's just what I'm going to do. It's not fair to keep him ignorant. Is it? Is it Dead Lake? Now, how did you guess that, ma'am? Well, the name. There's something spooky about a lake that's dead. It's dead all right, except for one thing. There's something in it. Something I saw with my own eyes. And it's really something terrible. Oh, come on, Mr. Reed. I don't blame you, Mr. Baxter, for looking at me as if I'm escaped from the mental home. But a few evenings ago, one of my herd, a nice little heifer, went to the edge of the water of Dead Lake and some awful thing grabbed it and dragged it under. A thing. What's a thing? Nobody knows, Mr. Baxter. But Johnny saw something. And strange things have happened down there before. And another thing, Mr. Baxter. For over 30 years a squatter has been living in the ruins of the castle. Man named Micah. He was a professor. I'll tell you about him when we drive out. Spoke to him yesterday morning and said he'd probably have to clear out. He agreed. But you'll meet him. A professor and he's a squatter. What does he do? You Excuse me for saying it, Ms. Baxter, but I think he consorts with the devil. Oh, that's a little hard to believe in this day, Mr. Harrison. He's some kind of scientist. Always sending for chemicals to Palatka, to St. Augustine, he said. Now, what did he call himself? An embry. Embry something or other. Embryologist. What's that, Claude? That's a branch of science concerned with the formation and development of the embryo. Teratology is the study of deviation from the normal. By golly, that explains the parrot with the ten foot wingspread. What did you sit through? I can swear to that, Mr. Baskin. Half the village went gunning for it. We shot it down. It's not possible. Neither is that thing that lives in Dead Lake. What we know about what exists at the bottom of the the oceans. What prehistoric creatures live there, concealed from our sight and knowledge? Monsters, probably. There still are phenomena which we have not fathomed. What is that thing at the bottom of Dead Lake? We will encounter it when I return with act. When you say but you said a lot of things nobody else can say. When you say but you've gone as far as you can go to get. When you say if you said the word that means you like to do it all. You say you care enough to only want the king of you. There is no other one. There's only something left because the king of is leading all the rest. When you say you said. And I voice St. Louis. All Chevrolets are created equal. The difference is Arnie use them. Take our fine one owner trading, for example. We sell thousands of them every year and we call them our gold bonded. One owner trades. Talk about quality. They're the next best thing to a new Chevrolet. We inspect and road test them and recondition them to run like new. We fix everything where necessary at no cost to you. And that's a good feeling. To know that your dealer stands solidly in back of the fine product he represents. It costs us more, but we're fussy about quality. All Chevrolets are created equal. The difference is Arnie Youtham Trias Arne Youtham Chevrolet. Open seven days a week at 4849 North Broadway, two blocks west of Lakeshore Drive at Lawrence Avenue. The subject is monsters. We seldom think about them, if we ever do. But there are monsters all the same. They are, in fact, studied in zoology under a special Branch named tetrology, concerned with deviations from the normal in the embryo. When deviations occur, the result can be a monster. Primitive man believed that a monster was the result of a woman's pact with Satan. Nonsense, of course. But the fact of the monster remains. What beautiful little bird you are. Which one of you will it be today? I have grown attached to all of you. But it must eat. An immutable law of nature. One huge upon another. And that is how I learned. And that is what I live for. To learn, the great plant must live. And it is a carnival. CLO Bruin is right. The Captain's doubloon isn't a castle. It's a heap of rubble. One turret, sort of standing, the rest caved in. Professor's at home. She smoked rising from the chimney. Strange smell. It's the chemicals. He's always experimenting with something. Have you been here before, Billy Lee? Oh, not to go inside. I've been around the ground. But like the rest of us in Orasville, I don't feel comfortable here. Well, we've seen it, Polly. He's a. Forget it and go home. That's what the dog thinks. Don't you be. We've come all the way from Philadelphia, Claude. We ought to meet this professor and see what it's like inside. And ask him about those doubloons he brings to Billy Lee for food. What do you say, Billy Lee? Well, I guess I don't have to say anything. There's the professor now. Afternoon, Professor. Good afternoon. This is Mr. Baxter. That's right. This is Baxter. My dog, Dink. How do you do? I'm the lead single owner of all this property, Professor Micah. I do not question it, Mr. Baxter. And I am an interloper. If you want to put it that way, yes. So when it's convenient to you, of course, I will gather my few possessions and leave. You've been here 30 years? Longer than that. It is an isolated case. I do my work here by experimenting. Like that. That monster parrot. I told him about that. Professor, you remember how some of us in the village had just done it down? Yes, I have not forgotten. A pity. Well, I don't know about that. I mean, killing sheep and almost dragging off a child. The destruction of a master scientific achievement. A phenomenon. Proof that experiments in tetrology can produce new breeds of animals that could change the face of the earth. I wonder if we might see the inside of the castle. You are the owner. I don't want to inconvenience you. It is no Inconvenience. But I caution you, do not wander away alone. I have experiments in many stages of development. Some of them are dangerous. A Venus fly trap is one of them. Though I know about them. They flies. Interesting little plants. Carnivorous. Follow me. It would be wise not to bring the dog. I'll take him back to the car. No, no, let me. Come on, Binks. Hey, you. Go get your fill of the castle now. I'll be outside. Come on. Come on, Binks. That's it. Oh, my goodness. What's that thing, Claude? It looks like a huge sunflower plant. And look at those pouches at the end of its leaves. They're bigger than a pelican's pouch. Much bigger and much more dangerous. It is a Venus fly trap. It can't be. They're small. But by controlling its growth from a seedling, a. I have created a new species. It's very powerful. Look, Polly, it's leaning toward me. And it's opening up. Claude, do not approach it. Mr. Baxter, if it should seize your arm. Oh, that's horrible. Claude, stay back. Well, that's the first thing that will go. I'll take an axe to it. Let's get out of here, Claude. You. You live here, Professor? Yes, in the ruined tower. This is my plant room. Is there a basement? Yes, but except for me, the dungeon is unsafe. You've got more things like this down there. My experiments are varied. Professor, please clear out as soon as you can and destroy these experiments of yours. That's Binks. Oh, that's Binks. He sounds like he's been killed. Mrs. Baxter all right? Yes, yes, Billy Lee. Thank you. Glad you're still open. What happened? I can see by your face. Their dog. What? It wasn't anyone's fault. Billy Lee. Binks slipped his collar. No. And. And Ryan. Lucy. He got him to dead Lake. I ran after him, but not in time. I saw it myself this time, Johnny. It rose up out of the water, a round, huge, slimy thing, and dragged the dog into the lake. What is it? What is the thing? I never saw anything like it in my life. I don't know what it is, but it's probably one of Micah's experiments. We went there this afternoon. My wife and I went into Micah's room in the castle. And, Johnny, it made my hair stand on end. Dink that the dogs whined and wouldn't go with us. Billy Lee said he'd wait outside with the dog. I was taking him back to the car. He fought the leash so hard, he Slipped his collar and he flew towards Dead Lake. Ran after him, but by the time I got with within 50 yards of the shore, something caught the dog and was dragging him under. If I was you, Claude, I'd cut my losses and forget the place. No, sir. I'm going to get rid of Micah and find out just what makes Dead Lake dead. There's something in it. You caught a glimpse of it. So did Billy Lee. A big fat, slimy thing with horns. What is it? I know a man who might know a friend who's a zoologist at the University of Pennsylvania. I've telephoned him for help. He'll be here late tomorrow. Then we're going out and solve this filthy, hideous mystery. Now that you've met Dr. Petty, let's hear what he has to say. You're on, Joe. I see everyone's well armed. Well, there's something in Dead Leg. That and if we catch sight of it, we're gonna blow it to bits. Finch, with my dog. I'm going along. I'm not afraid and I can handle a gun. Well, all right. My plan, for what it's worth, Joe, is for all of us to go out there now. It's 5:00. We ought to get there in half an hour. Then you and I will go inside and find out if Professor Micah has cleared out. If he hasn't, I'll throw him out. Then we'll destroy that awful plant. Once Micah's gone, all of us will explore that dungeon. Maybe that's where he's got the thing. You got any idea of what it might be? You described it as about 6ft long, fat and slimy, with horns colored reddish. Kind of color. You know what it makes me think of? A giant snail. But they don't eat slash. Johnny, could it be a giant blood? I don't think so. I don't like to speculate, Claude, but since you telephoned me yesterday, I've been doing some research. Although I don't believe all this. It's true, Dr. Betty, as a scientist, it's hard for me to believe, but I accept what you've told me. Why, Joe, what do you think? It would be a member of the Hirudenae, which is a branch of the Kaitobad worms. What? It's a worm? No, Johnny. But it could be a monster leech. One of those things that attaches itself to the skin. Yes. In Egypt, in the near east, there's an aquatic leech that lives in streams and ponds and does extensive damage to horses and other Baggage animals? You make my skin crawl, Joe. They've been used extensively in medicine. In 1832, France alone imported over 50 million of them for bloodletting. And you think that's what the thing is? It's in deadly? It's hard to say, Billy Lee. But you've discovered the leech. The red colored body, bloated appearance, slimy Look. Of course the fall of a leech five or six feet long boggles my mind. I simply can't imagine it. But if that's what the thing is, it could kill anything. Once those enormous suckers have attached themselves to any blood animal, the animal would be dead in minutes. Let's get started. We'll take my pickup truck. We've got an arsenal. And dynamite. Dynamite? Sure. If we don't see the leech, maybe we can find where it lives. And that's when I blow up this cave. People around here have a score to settle with that monster. I told you to get out, Professor Micah. So you did. And I will leave now. I have not had time. Out. You have a rifle and a shotgun. Why? We think there's a monster leech in Dead Lake and we intend to destroy it. Fantastic. I want you out of here. I have packed what I can carry. The rest I leave to you in the name of science. Get out. Professor. That marvelous being is a fly trap. I never saw anything like it. Claude, look at those traps undulating and stretching toward us. He said it's powerful. That's the first thing we take care of. You have the shotgun. Joe. Look at us inching toward us. I'll release the birds. They're what he fed to the plant. Look at them go. Joe, call the others and we'll try the dungeon. Come with me. We don't want to be separated. You've got a point. What a devil's hole this is. Joe, let's get the others. Glad I brought the axe. Did you see that thing? Tried to wind itself around me. Some kind of vine, strongest wire. It's just awful down here. What's that over there? Claude, shine your light. A huge door hinged with a drop lock. Do you think? Don't open it, Claude. Mister. What's that? Sounds like something breathing underwater. Wet, bubbly kind of breathing. There's one way to stop that. Oh, Claude, don't shoot. I've got a better idea. There is something behind. Behind that door. If it's the thing, the giant leech, you won't kill it with one shot. What's your idea? Dutch pen. Well, that door must open into a tunnel. And the tunnel probably leads to the lake. Now, if we can trace the tunnel from above on the ground and see where it leads to, Johnny here can dynamite the entrance and block the thing in. That's when we'll have it trapped. And that's when we'll kill it. Good idea. Everyone stick together and we'll go back upstairs and out. I never want to see this place again. You'll be all right, Polly, when we get out into the air. Come on. Walk between Joe and me. Is it possible? In nature most things are. And nature with a prod from an experiment experimental scientist has created a monster. A giant, predatory, hideous monster leech. I'll be back shortly with Act 3. Allstate asks, do you own a small business? Go over these questions with your present group health and life insurance agent. If your agent doesn't say yes to everyone, then talking to the good people. First question. Does your present major medical benefit keep on paying no matter how expensive the accident or illness becomes? If not, talk to the good head people. Is your present plan designed to pay up to 95% of hospital expenses? If not, talk to the good hands people. You're in good hands with all things. See your Allstate agent to find out what an Allstate plan costs, what is and isn't covered, including benefit reductions and terms under which insurance continues in force. Allstate insurance companies available in most states to businesses that qualify. Say, did you know there's a way to get into Northwest Federal Savings before it's open? Well, the early bird knows when you have savings business to take care of. The early bird walk up service is ready to help you six days a week. The early bird is at the Irving park and displaying saving centers from 8 to 9 o'clock in the morning. Come by before work, make deposits, make withdrawals, pick up travelers checks on your way out of town or cash your paycheck at your convenience. Northwest Federal wants to make it as easy as possible for you to save an early bird walk up service is just one of the convenient ways they've done that over the past 50 years. So drop by early or late. With 63 hours of service a week. Irving park west of Cicero into splains, Norwich and now Arlington Heights at Algonquin and golf roads. What time? Anytime. It's Northwest Federal savings time 63 hours a week. 63 hours a week. This is WBBM Chicago News Radio 78. The time 1105. 42 degrees in humidity 68%. Wind south at 16 miles an hour. Have you ever had a leech attach itself to your skin? It happens, not infrequently, in many freshwater lakes. They are small and they can be flipped off with a finger. But the experience makes one shudder. Imagine the horror then of speculating that what Professor Micah has bred, the thing that has made the dead lake dead, is a gargantuan leech. I'll get the dynamite. Hand me the rifle, Billy Lee. Sure. I'll grab the shotgun. Holden. Here's the other one for you, Dr. Petty. Right, Joe. Let me carry it for Johnny. I'd appreciate it if you'd stay with Polly. I'm all right, Claude. With just being in that filthy basement. No way. Polly, you're gonna stay by the truck. And Joe. Claude, no. Absolutely not. I mean it, Polly. I think he's right, Mrs. Baxter. I tell you what. Why don't you swing the truck around and turn on the light and shine them on the north side of the castle? The locked basement doors on that side give us some light down to the shore too. All right, Polly. Come on, hop in. No, please don't argue. You stay with Joe. Ready, Johnny? I'll lead the way. Keep your guns up. I'll be ready for anything. Joe, I feel sick. If the thing is what you think it is. Yeah. Yeah, me too. Let me get the truck turned around. Black as a tunnel. I'll switch on the lights. I see them, Claude and the others. The car lights do run down to Dead Lake. Isn't that an awful name for it? It's dead, all right. If there's a giant leech in it. Yo. Look. What? It's the professor now. What the. He's returning to the castle. Not through the front, but through the north side of it. I wonder what he's up to. He disappeared now. Must be another entrance to the place. If Johnny does blow up the tunnel and the professors in that basement. Claude ordered him out. I know that. All the same, he is a human being. I don't think he's a human being at all. Shine your big torch over the lake, Johnny. Shore cuts through the blackness all the way to the other side. Johnny, look. Something's moving just under the surface of the water. It's moving to the other side. Follow it with the torch. Look at it. Just a little of its back is out of the water like a whale. Keep following it. I can hit it from here. No, Claude, no. Let it go. When it returns from the other side of the lake. Oh, no. That's a small deer over there. See, the thing is coming out of the water. Could fire a shot, Claude. It scared the deer. Look at that thing. It's half out of the water. The deer got away. Johnny, follow where the thing swims. It's coming toward this side of the lake, a few hundred feet north of us. Come on. No, no, no, no. Hold it. If it does have a cave or a tunnel to a cave, we don't want to scare it off. Just watch. It didn't surface and it's disappeared. Now. Let's move. All set, Johnny? Yeah. Here goes. Turn that torch along from where Johnny blew the entrance back toward the castle. That's it. Look. Yeah. The force of the explosion in the tunnel lifts to the ground above the tunnel. And now we can see its path. It does go to the castle. It goes to that bar door in the basement. We've got the thing trapped. Maybe it's dead. That was a terrific blast. We got to make sure, Claude. There's only one way to do that. We have to open that big bar door. Now what, Joe? I don't know. There was a big charge of dynamite. They must have found the tunnel. What about the thing? Dead. Probably just the force of the detonation could kill it. But I don't know. Look, they're coming back. Maybe they'll tell us what happened. There. That got their attention. Is it dead? Claude, is it dead? I don't know. We hope the explosion caved in on the thing and killed it. But we don't know. There's only one way to find out. We have to go back into the castle. Oh, no. We have to, Polly. You. You saw it. Enough of it, Joe. It's a leech, all right. A monster leech. How big, Claude? At least six feet long, round as a hippo and reddish in color. When it came out of the water, it writhed like a snake. And its blood sucking cups, or whatever you want to call them, were bigger than half dollars. It's the most revolting creature I've ever seen. How in heaven's name did it ever come about? Experimental breeding and cross breeding. Professor Micah developed gigantism in some strain of leech until he achieved one with monster size. But why would he want to do something like that? All scientists, Billy Lee, are fascinated by the subject of life, how it can be controlled and developed. He's in there, Claude. In the castle. Micah? That's right. The headlights from the truck picked him out just as he disappeared through some of those big stones on the north side. Then we may have killed him. The blast. If that blast blew Open that hinged door. Come on. Let's see where he went in and we'll follow him. Leave the dynamite detonating box here. Johnny, grab the shotgun. You told him to get out, Claude. Why would he want to come back? Joe, I'm afraid. You stay here with me. There's nothing we can do to help. But if something. If something should happen to Claude, and it was my idea to come down here. He didn't want to. And now if something should happen. That could be it. See where I'm shining the torch? It could be just about wide enough for a man to squeeze through. All right, follow me. Hold it. Claude, you bring up the rear. Now, wait a minute. I'm not going to have you risk your lives any more than you already have. Billy and me have the shotguns. Much more effective close range. You bring up the rear. Your rifle. Right, Billy Lee? Right. I don't know what to expect, but whatever we find, it's bound to be close range. Now, let's go, Johnny. This place is a house of horrors. Ought to be burned to the ground. It will be, once we know that the monster leech is dead. It's Micah from that big room in the dungeon. Have you gone uncut, Johnny? And go slow. Look. Oh, good Lord. It's all over him. Move back, Johnny. Micah's dead. The leech is all over him. True, Johnny? Blood all over. Is it. Is it dead? Don't go near it, Claude. Some of the suckers are still working away. We have to get Mike out from under. He's dead, Claude. Let's get out of here. We can come back when it's daylight. Get Micah and hack that thing to pieces. Joe, I can't stand it. Just have to. Polly, we're not leaving this truck. But those gunshots. What have they run into? I can't guess. You can, but you won't. What if that blast of dynamite blew out that hinge door? If the thing wasn't killed in the tunnel. Hold it. They're coming out of the front of the castle. You see the flashlights? They're safe. Oh, Joe, they're safe. Are you all right, Paul? Molly? Still feel a little faint? When you saw Claude safe returning to the truck, you passed out. I remember. Joe was right, Professor. Micah had developed a giant leech. It lived in a tunnel which ran from the shore of Dead Lake up to a cave near the castle. When Johnny set off that blast of dynamite, the tremendous repercussion broke the hinges of the door into the cave. And the leech got Out. Micah was there in the room. He was probably stunned by the blast. That's when the leech grabbed him. There was nothing we could do to save him. Must have been awful. That was a nightmare, Polly. We're returning there in the morning. So am I, Polly. No, Claude. I got us into this, and I'm going to see what's in that room. Listen to the birds. Life is kind of a return to Captain Doubloon. I don't feel much like going down into that basement again. And I'm not sure it's safe for Ms. Baxter. Don't you worry about me, Johnny. Now that I know the monster leech is dead, I'm not afraid. All right, but let's go into the front. Have we got everything? Lights, ropes, and my shotgun just in case. And camera. Watch your footing, Polly. And when we go down into the dungeon, stay between us. Let me lead, Claude. I've got the gun. There it is. Oh, Claude. Poor old Micah's under that thing. Ain't that big light. Right? Right at it, Johnny. It's incredible. It's six feet long and four feet thick. Micah let out one scream and then he was dead. Partly fright, maybe. Keep the light trained on him, Johnny. We'll try to pull him free. Let me take a few pictures first. No one's going to believe this horror, Claude. What about Professor Michael? What happens to him now? We give him a decent burial. And Joe wants to find out, if he can, why Micah did all this. Billy and I searched the castle. In the one tower still partly standing, Micah had a room and his books and a small laboratory. There were a lot of papers and chemicals. But the real discovery was this diary. It goes back 40 years. Back to 1931, in fact, under an October date. Listen to what Micah wrote today. I was discharged as an assistant professor of zoology because I was consulted by a friend whose son was certain to die from acute nephritis. I urged the man's doctor to attempt a transplant. The doctor was repelled by my suggestion. I explained that in zoology I had conducted many experiments in which I have saved small animals with various organ defects. My suggestion was rejected, and so was I. I have left. I intend to continue my experiments somehow somewhere else proper, where at least I will have the climate in my favor. And one day, I am convinced the name of Micah will be honored for his proof that life can be prolonged and improved. There it is. And a lot more. Poor man. He wasn't really mad. He. He just felt rejected. And because of his bitterness, his experiments Became grotesque through that huge parrot, for example, he intended to prove to skeptics that man's magic, science could reshape mankind and his environment. He was an intellect and far ahead of the time in which he lived. And the giant leech, like the parrot, another proof of what Micah maintained control of life. And both got out of hand. I'm going to publish Micah's papers, Claude. And I'm going to burn the captain's doubloon to the ground, make that land habitable again, and stock dead lake with fish. That horror is gone. Nature, with a little help from me, will restore it. Nightmares are made of such stuff as a dream about a monster leech because the word makes the skin crawl. And when in sleep a fiend or incubus oppresses you. Wake up, up. It will go away. But was it real or just a nightmare? I'll be back in a moment. Give your hand to a friend. Give your heart to your. The most successful selling cold medicine in the world is a little capsule, it's Contact. It contains no ingredients for aches and fever. No cough medicine yet gives you longer relief per dose than any pill, any liquid. Full time. 24 hour relief of your sneezing, drips and congestion. Contact. Its tiny time pills contain ingredients to work up to 12 hours. That's longer relief per dose from those symptoms than any pill, any liquid. So give your cold a contact. All day, all night. Full time. Use only as directed. It is foolish, I think, to dismiss anything. Was it conceivable years back to imagine men walking on the moon? Is the notion of a huge killer shark unimaginable? We know a great deal about Earth, something about the universe. But isn't anything or almost anything conceivable? Monsters are, and our story's giant leech was one of them. Our cast included William Prince, Gordon Gould, Ann Sheppard, George Petrie and Gil Mack. The entire production was under the direction of Hyman Brown. And now a preview of our our next tale. Who is it? I can't see over the back of the seat. I don't know about the passengers, but it's the stewardess who was up front. How did she get to the rear of the plane? I don't know. That's it. Stewardess. In a moment, Mr. Morris. Ms. Newman in S1 and Mr. Downing in S2. Make them secure. Stewardess, I demand to be released and let off at this stop. Thank you. Boy. As soon as you're out, we will button up and take off. Stewardess, do you hear me? I didn't you hear? Why won't you listen? We are in the takeoff run. Please do not smoke and make sure that all safety belts are fastened. Not release until a light goes on. Do not release. Collapse. Who has a chance? Can't you stop it, Mr. Moss, some way? Because I can't, you know. Radio mystery theater was sponsored in part by all state insurance companies and contact the 12 hour cold capsule. This is e. G. Marshall inviting you to return to our mystery theater for another adventure in the macabre. Until next time, pleasant dreams. This is WBBM Chicago News Radio 78. The time 11:22 42 degrees at Midway. There's more from the CBS Radio Mystery Theater, the horror, all of the other relic radio podcasts and our shoutcast Stream all@ Relicradio.com. you can donate while you're there as well if you'd like to help support this and all of the shows. Your support makes all of this happen. Thanks to those who have helped out. Thanks for joining me this week. I'll be back again tomorrow with strange tales. Next Saturday with our next episode of the horror.