The House by Beyond Midnight

Summary

Podcast Summary: The House by Beyond Midnight

Podcast Information:

• Title: The Horror! (Old Time Radio)
• Host/Author: RelicRadio.com
• Episode: The House by Beyond Midnight
• Release Date: April 19, 2025

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Introduction

In the episode titled "The House," hosted by RelicRadio.com on "The Horror! (Old Time Radio)," listeners are transported into a chilling narrative adapted from Henry James's 1876 story, "The Ghostly Rental." This episode delves deep into themes of guilt, supernatural retribution, and the enduring consequences of past actions.

Setting the Scene

The story begins with Roger James, a former divinity student, recounting a particularly unsettling experience from his youth. He reflects on his time at Cambridge, describing the town of Medford and the ominous house he encounters along a seldom-used road.

• Roger James [00:06]: "Oh, stories, real stories and murders do turn out your legs. Turn them out. Good evening. Come in, won't you?"

The Haunted House

Roger’s initial encounter with the house is marked by its imposing presence and overgrown apple orchard. Approaching the house, he finds the door locked and later observes a mysterious old man, Captain Diamond, who lets himself in and out of the house under strange circumstances.

• Roger James [01:01]: "Once again we're gonna hear from Beyond Midnight this week, a South African series that aired over Springbok Radio."

First Encounter with Captain Diamond

Roger's curiosity leads him back to the house, where he witnesses Captain Diamond entering and exiting. Intrigued and disturbed, Roger's fascination with the house deepens, especially after meeting the enigmatic Captain Diamond again in Mount Auburn Cemetery.

• Captain Diamond [06:53]: "This is a very comfortable place."
• Roger James [08:04]: "I'm young, certainly, but on the whole, I don't think I'm foolish."

Revealing the Tragedy

Through conversations with Deborah, the landlady’s sister, Roger uncovers the tragic history of Captain Diamond. Years ago, Captain Diamond cursed his daughter Emma with his words after discovering her forbidden love, leading to her untimely death. Emma's spirit now haunts the house, and Captain Diamond is bound to collect rent from her ghost in silver coins dating back to before her death.

• Deborah [11:10]: "He killed his daughter."
• Roger James [12:07]: "A high-tempered old man. He loved her very much, but his word was law."

The Supernatural Agreement

Captain Diamond explains that Emma's ghost has allowed him to stay in the house by acting as his tenant, paying rent in old silver coins. This arrangement prevents others from renting or buying the property due to its haunted reputation.

• Captain Diamond [16:13]: "Silver. But all the pieces date from before the girl's death."
• Roger James [16:03]: "Captain Diamond has no other means of living."

Deeper Connections and Revelations

As Roger delves deeper, he forms a connection with Deborah, only to discover unsettling truths about her relationship with Captain Diamond. Deborah reveals that Emma had visited Captain Diamond despite his forbiddance, leading to her death. This revelation blurs the lines between the living and the dead.

• Deborah [12:00]: "You know about the house then?"
• Roger James [25:32]: "I saw him."

Confrontation and Climax

Determined to understand the ghostly occurrences, Roger decides to confront Captain Diamond directly. He arranges to meet at the house, armed with candles as instructed. Inside, he witnesses a terrifying apparition but manages to discern that the figure is not a ghost but a sorrowful woman resembling Deborah.

• Roger James [20:11]: "Take these. You'll find two candlesticks with candles on the table in the hall."
• Captain Diamond [17:23]: "I have seen the departed spirit standing before me."

Resolution

The narrative reaches its climax when the house mysteriously burns down, leaving no trace of Deborah or Captain Diamond. Roger reflects on the haunting experience, acknowledging the lingering presence of the past and the irreversible impact of devastating actions.

• Roger James [28:00]: "The house was a mass of charred beams and smoldering ashes."
• Deborah [27:21]: "It's all right. I know my road. Everything is arranged."

Notable Quotes

• Roger James [01:43]: "I was in my 22nd year... But I remember the Cambridge I want to remember."
• Deborah [11:24]: "She had received a visit from a young man who loved her and whom he had forbidden into the house."
• Captain Diamond [17:25]: "I believe you. I will tell you. I once committed, unintentionally, a great crime."
• Deborah [25:54]: "It's a punishment for my long, long folly. The punishment of my violence."

Conclusion

"The House" masterfully intertwines elements of classic ghost stories with profound emotional depth, exploring themes of remorse, eternal punishment, and the haunting persistence of past deeds. Through Roger James's journey, listeners are invited to reflect on the consequences of unchecked anger and the enduring bonds of familial love, even beyond death.

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Note: Advertisements for Biotex and Grandpa Headache Powder present within the transcript have been intentionally excluded from this summary to maintain focus on the core narrative.

Transcript

[Roger James]

Oh, stories, real stories and murders do turn out your legs. Turn them out. Good evening. Come in, won't you? What's the matter? Surely you're not nervous. Perhaps you can't. By telling a story we are meant to call from out of the past.

[Narrator]

Stories strange, weird tales of mystery and terror by radio's masters of the macabre.

[Roger James]

Story of the supernatural, the supernova dramatized by fantasy. The mystery of the unknown. We tell you this Franklin, so if you wish to avoid the excitement catching.

[Narrator]

Of these magnet play.

[Host]

Welcome back to the horror. Thanks for joining me. Once again we're gonna hear from Beyond Midnight this week, a South African series that aired over Springbok Radio. This episode aired June 27, 1969. It's titled the House. It's an adaptation of Henry James's story the Ghostly Rental that he first published in 1876. Here's Beyond Midnight.

[Roger James]

I was in my 22nd year and I just left college. I was free to choose a career, might use it too quickly afterwards, I abandoned it with great speed. But I've never regretted the two years I spent in Cambridge as a student of divinity. Cambridge for the lovers of woods and trees has changed for the worse since those days, of course. But I remember the Cambridge I want to remember. One grey December afternoon I went to the town of Medford. I was late in starting back for my lodgings and as dusk was falling, I came to a narrow road I did not recognize. I was about three miles away from home and I reckoned the road offered me as good a shortcut as any. The road was obviously seldom used. The wheeled ruts looked old and after 10 minutes walking I came to the house. And so began one of the strangest and for a time one of the most terrifying episodes in the whole of my life. Biotechs the New Soak and Pre Wash Powder presents Beyond Midnight by Michael McCabe.

[Narrator]

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[Roger James]

It was huge, the house ugly and yet beautiful. The apple orchard that surrounded it was tangled and overgrown. Something bad. Me. Go up and try the door. It was locked, and so I continued on my way. I thought about the old house on and off during my studies, and a few days later I returned there. I found it again without any difficulty. I approached as before, and the door was locked and barred as before. I was about to walk away when I heard someone approach. I hid myself immediately. It was a little old man. He wore a cloak. He came to the door, bowed before it, felt in a pocket, produced a key and turned it in the lock. After a moment, he applied pressure to one of the door panels and the door opened and he went in. After a little while, candlelight appeared faintly through the shuttered windows. And squinting through a crack, I saw a lighted room. And grotesquely out of proportion, I saw a shadow of someone seated rigidly, as if being interviewed by someone or something. After a while, the candlelight went and the little old man came out, locked the door, bowed in the same strange way, and hobbled away again down the road without a backward glance. I went home that night, strangely disturbed. Why, I could not then think. I was disturbed, but fascinated too. However, I tried to put all thoughts of the house and the old gentleman out of my mind, for I had a lot of study to occupy me. Some days later I took a stroll through Mount Auburn Cemetery, and it was here that I saw my little old gentleman again. He was sitting upon a seat, staring straight in front of him with a kind of terrific dignity mixed with a strange, inexplicable sorrow. I watched him for a long time, and then I slowly approached. His clothes were shabby but neat, and his old blue cloak had known half a century's brushing. Good day to you. We're having wonderfully mild weather for this time of the year. Don't you think?

[Captain Diamond]

This is a very comfortable place.

[Roger James]

I'm very fond of walking in graveyards.

[Captain Diamond]

Walking? Yes. Take your exercise now. Someday you'll have to settle down in a graveyard in a fixed position.

[Roger James]

Very true. May I. May I sit down?

[Captain Diamond]

Of course.

[Roger James]

Thank you.

[Narrator]

Yes, very true.

[Roger James]

But there are some people who are said to take exercise even after that day. He stared at me as if I did something odd or profound. And then he looked away. You. You don't understand. Well, some people you know, walk after death. I don't know why I was talking like this. I suppose being a student of divinity is bad for some of us. Makes us morbid.

[Captain Diamond]

You don't believe that.

[Roger James]

How do you know I don't?

[Captain Diamond]

Because you are young and foolish.

[Roger James]

I'm young, certainly, but on the whole, I don't think I'm foolish. Look, I don't believe in ghosts or anything. And most people would be on my side in that.

[Captain Diamond]

Most people are fools. Are you a student?

[Roger James]

Yes. Of Divinity?

[Captain Diamond]

Of Divinity?

[Roger James]

Theology. I'm studying for the ministry.

[Captain Diamond]

There are certain things you ought to know then.

[Roger James]

Well, what things do you mean? I have a great desire for knowledge.

[Captain Diamond]

I like your appearance. You seem to me sober enough.

[Roger James]

I'm perfectly sober. All right.

[Captain Diamond]

You seem fair minded.

[Roger James]

I no longer strike you as foolish, then?

[Captain Diamond]

I stick to what I said about people who deny the power of departed spirits to return. They are fools.

[Roger James]

You have seen a ghost?

[Captain Diamond]

I have not had to pry into old books to learn what to believe. I know with these eyes I have beheld the departed spirit standing before me. As close as you are now.

[Roger James]

And was it very terrible?

[Captain Diamond]

I am an old soldier. I am not afraid.

[Roger James]

When was it? Where was it?

[Captain Diamond]

You must forgive me for not going into details. Just remember that you've met an honest old man who has seen a ghost. More I cannot tell you. Now let me mention my name. It is Captain diamond, sir. I have seen service.

[Roger James]

I hope I may have the pleasure of meeting you again.

[Captain Diamond]

The same to you, sir.

[Roger James]

And brandishing his stick, he marched stiffly away. I asked several people if they knew the history of a Captain Diamond. But I could find no one had even heard of him. I could not put him out of my mind, though. And could not forget the house and his strange visit to it. And then I thought of Miss Deborah, the tiny, deformed sister of my landlady. With whom I'd enjoyed many an enlightening conversation. She sat all day by the window between a bird cage and a flower pot. Sewing small linen articles was her passion.

[Deborah]

I am your be.

[Narrator]

Good morning, Ms. Deborah.

[Deborah]

No study today?

[Roger James]

How are you?

[Deborah]

Oh, well, thank you. Very well.

[Roger James]

You know, you sit here all day sewing, you never go out, and yet you're so full of knowledge. And so you observe so much, know so much. Sometimes I feel quite ashamed. Tell me, have you heard of a Captain Diamond?

[Deborah]

Of course. Oh, he was much talked about many years ago. I haven't seen him for a long time, but one supposes he survived all the scandal.

[Roger James]

Scandal?

[Deborah]

He killed his daughter.

[Narrator]

Killed her?

[Roger James]

But how? I mean.

[Deborah]

Oh, not with a pistol or a dagger or a dose of arsenic. With his tongue he cursed her and she died.

[Roger James]

Cursed her? What on earth had she done?

[Deborah]

She had received a visit from a young man who loved her and whom he had forbidden into the house. The captain.

[Roger James]

That is the house? Yes, the house. Out in the country. Two or three miles from here, near the crossroad.

[Deborah]

You know about the house then?

[Roger James]

A little. I've seen it. Will you tell me more? The captain and his daughter.

[Deborah]

He was a very high tempered old man. He loved her very much, but his word was law. He had picked out a husband for her. Her mother was dead. They lived alone together. The poor girl's lover was a young man with whiskers from Boston, in America. And the captain came home one evening and found them together. His rage must have been terr.

[Roger James]

You do not understand, sir.

[Deborah]

She is my wife.

[Roger James]

Emma.

[Captain Diamond]

It cannot be true.

[Roger James]

No, it isn't.

[Deborah]

It isn't.

[Roger James]

I know the same.

[Captain Diamond]

Get out of this house.

[Roger James]

You never come back, you hear?

[Deborah]

You never come back.

[Roger James]

Reasonable. Get out.

[Deborah]

The young woman fainted and Captain diamond left the house in a rage. Several hours later he came back and found a note saying the American had killed the captain's daughter and had carried the body away in a gig. The captain wrote a terrible letter saying he didn't believe she was dead, but that she was in any case dead to him. A week later, in the middle of the night, he saw her ghost. And thereafter, little by little, she began to haunt the house. The captain's anger passed into grief. He tried to sell or rent the house, but the story of the haunting was abroad and no one would take it. With the farm, the property was the old man's only means of livelihood. And because no one would buy the place and because he couldn't live in it, he took his staff, put on his old cloak and wandered away. But occasionally he was drawn back to the house. And the ghost relented and proposed a compromise. Leave the house to me. I have marked it for my own. Go and live elsewhere. But to enable you to live, I will be your tenant. Since you can find no other. I will rent the house from you and pay you a sum of money. And the old man consented to accept the sum. The ghost named and he goes every quarter to collect his rent.

[Roger James]

I feel like a new man. It's a lovely day today. I thought I had. I took a grandpa headache powder and I'm world better when colds and flu are about.

[Captain Diamond]

Grandpa headache Powders are what you need.

[Roger James]

Grandpa Headache powders work fast because they dissolve almost immediately.

[Captain Diamond]

Grandpa makes all those dreadful flu symptoms disappear quickly.

[Narrator]

So whenever you're in pain, get fast relief.

[Captain Diamond]

Get Grandpa headache powder.

[Deborah]

Ah, Grandpa.

[Narrator]

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[Roger James]

Captain diamond has no other means of living.

[Deborah]

None. The ghost supports him. A haunted house is valuable property.

[Roger James]

And in what coin does the ghost pay?

[Deborah]

Silver. But all the pieces date from before the girl's death. I'm sure it was part of the bargain that he should go in person to collect his rent. And so for him, life goes on. And he keeps the secret. Which you must keep too, now that you share it. Well, now it's time for my sleep, Mr. James. If you'll excuse me. Storytelling has quite worn me out.

[Roger James]

My first sight of him had been on December 31. And it was likely that he would return to his haunted house on the last day of March, the end of the next quarter. When the 31st of March came, I was there at the house, watching. He came and went as before, bowing and letting himself in just the same. And I felt an enormous pity for him. A month after this, I met him again in Mount Auburn Cemetery.

[Captain Diamond]

What do you want of me?

[Roger James]

I want to enjoy your conversation again.

[Captain Diamond]

You don't find me cracked?

[Roger James]

Cracked?

[Captain Diamond]

My dear sir, I am the sanest man in the country.

[Roger James]

I believe you.

[Captain Diamond]

I will tell you. I once committed, unintentionally a great crime. Now I pay the penalty. I killed my own child, you know. Struck her to the ground, but they could not hang me. More is the pity, because I struck her with words, not with my hands. And I know that her soul is immortal, sir, for we have an appointment to meet four times a year.

[Roger James]

Her. Her spirit, you mean.

[Captain Diamond]

Her spirit, I mean.

[Roger James]

She has never forgiven you.

[Captain Diamond]

She has forgiven me as the angel forgive. That's what I can't stand, the soft, quiet way she looks at me. I'd rather she twisted a knife about in my heart. I must go my way. I must be creeping along.

[Roger James]

I. I shall perhaps see you here again.

[Captain Diamond]

Oh, I'm a stiff jointed old fellow, and this is rather far for me to come. But I should like to see you again. Someday, perhaps. What is your name?

[Narrator]

James.

[Roger James]

Roger James. Look, please. Please keep this little book. It's Pasco's thoughts. My name is written on the fly sheet. It's a book I'm very fond of. Perhaps it'll tell you something about me.

[Captain Diamond]

Not much of a reader, but I shan't refuse the first present I've received since my.

[Roger James]

My troubles.

[Narrator]

Thank you.

[Roger James]

Sir Eddie took his departure of me. An old shuffling figure, terribly Sad, broken. On June 30, I decided what I would do that quarter. I would wait at the house. But this time I would not conceal myself. He was a little early this time. And the candlelight already shone through the window shutters when I arrived. And when at last he came out, he found me waiting on the doorstep. I knew you were here. I came on purpose. I. I hope you'll forgive me, but you did encourage me.

[Captain Diamond]

You are very clever.

[Roger James]

I. I've been hoping for a chance to see inside.

[Captain Diamond]

Do you know what it is I see?

[Roger James]

How can I know except by experiencing? Please take me in.

[Captain Diamond]

Take you in? I wouldn't go in again before my time's up. For a thousand times the sum. I stick to my bargain. No less, no more. If you'll go in alone. You're welcome.

[Roger James]

Will you wait for me here?

[Captain Diamond]

Yes. You will not stop very long.

[Roger James]

But the house is pitch dark when you go. You have lights?

[Captain Diamond]

Yeah. Take these. You'll find two candlesticks with candles on the table in the hall. Light them. Take one in each hand. Go ahead.

[Narrator]

Where?

[Roger James]

Where shall I go? Anywhere. Everywhere.

[Captain Diamond]

Trust the ghost to find.

[Roger James]

A wide staircase. Old fashioned parlor, empty chairs, blank walls. A dining room. Or I might have written my name in the deep dust upon the furniture. Kitchen beyond pots and pans. Eternally cold. Deep darkness. I came back to the stairs and looked up. Suddenly, with an inexpressible sensation, I became aware that this gloom was animated. It seemed to move and gather itself. Then I began to perceive a definite figure standing at the top of the stairs. Two white hands appeared. They were raised to what would have been the level of the head. They were pressed together. Then a face was disclosed. It was white, strange, and in every way ghostly. Then one of the hands was waved to and fro as if in attitude of dismissal. I left the house. I did not look back outside again. The captain looked at me but said nothing. I felt something. I can never explain. It was fear. Yes. But something Deeper beyond fear. I hadn't the heart to disturb the old man's next vigil. Came the 30th of September. I was sitting in my room alone when there came a knock upon the door.

[Deborah]

I've come from the old gentleman, Captain Diamond. He's right down sick and must see you.

[Captain Diamond]

I'm dying. But never mind that. I'm due at the house. This is rent day.

[Roger James]

But you can't go.

[Captain Diamond]

I can't go. I shall lose my money. I'm dying. I want to pay the doctor. I want to be buried like a respectable man.

[Roger James]

It's this evening at sunset, sharp.

[Captain Diamond]

I can't go and lose my money.

[Roger James]

Would. Would the money be paid to another person?

[Captain Diamond]

Look, I'm dying. Tell her that and she might trust you. Are you afraid? It's £50. She'll see your face. She'll see there's no harm in you.

[Roger James]

You'll have your money by 9:00 tonight. I'll go.

[Captain Diamond]

I trust you.

[Roger James]

Goodbye. For the moment I waited for a long time. At last I saw it. The figure, the same as before. I've come in place of Captain diamond at his request. He's very ill, unable to leave his bed. And so. Please pay me the money. Captain diamond would have come himself if he were able to move. At this, the figure came slowly down the stairs and I saw the white face. Instinctively, I backed away. The figure reached the bottom of the stairs and advanced. As it drew near, I saw that the face was perfectly human. We gazed at each other. When the voice came, there was nothing ghostly at all about it.

[Deborah]

Is my father dangerously ill?

[Roger James]

It was no apparition, just a very beautiful woman. Quickly, I stretched forward a hand and pulled sharply at the veil. She was about 35 and had her father's features. Her face was sorrow, worn and pale.

[Deborah]

My father, I suppose, sent you here to insult me. Here is your money.

[Roger James]

I stooped to pick up the purse of money and she seemed to glide away. She disappeared not up the stairs, but into one of the rooms leading from the hallway. I knew she was no ghost. I had turned to go when she screamed. My father. My father. Your father?

[Captain Diamond]

Where?

[Deborah]

He's in white, in his shirt. It's not he.

[Roger James]

Your father. He's in bed. Ill. Badly ill.

[Deborah]

Dying.

[Roger James]

I. I hope.

[Captain Diamond]

Hope not.

[Roger James]

I have just seen his ghost. Ghost?

[Deborah]

It's a punishment for my. My long, long folly. The punishment of my violence. Take me away from this place.

[Roger James]

You been playing all these years. A game. The last time I. I came, you frightened me a lot. You remember?

[Deborah]

It was a game, but it was the only way.

[Roger James]

Had he not forgiven you?

[Deborah]

So long as he thought me dead? Yes. There have been things in my life which he could not forgive.

[Roger James]

And where is your husband?

[Deborah]

I have no husband.

[Roger James]

I never had a husband.

[Deborah]

It was he, my father.

[Roger James]

I saw him.

[Deborah]

I'm leaving this place now. You are going to my father directly. Will you let me know tomorrow with what you have found?

[Roger James]

With pleasure. But how will I communicate with you?

[Deborah]

Come.

[Roger James]

And she led me outside into the night and said.

[Deborah]

Right. Just a few words and put them under that stone. The stone there by the well. Good night.

[Roger James]

Listen.

[Deborah]

It's all right. I know my road. Everything is arranged. It's an old story.

[Roger James]

Nancy. How is he?

[Deborah]

He's gone to glory.

[Roger James]

Dead.

[Deborah]

He's as big a ghost as any of them now.

[Roger James]

I returned to my lodgings, meaning to write the note for the captain's daughter and leave it under the stone by the well. The next morning. That night, late preparing for bed, I noticed a red glow in the northwestern sky. A house was on fire in the country and burning fast. I thought no more about it. I went to sleep. Yes, of course, you've guessed. The house on fire. That's right. I remembered I had left one of the candles alight. If it was not that one, it was the one she had dropped when she thought she had seen her father's ghost. The house was a mass of charred beams and smoldering ashes. The well cover had been pulled off in quest of water by the neighbors. The loose stones were displaced and the earth had been trampled into puddles. To the best of my knowledge, no one ever saw again the beautiful lady who had haunted in the flesh her father for so many years.

[Narrator]

Just soak, just soak in biotech. Just soak, just soak in Biotex. Just soak, just soak in Biotex. If you have wondered how to get your washing really stain free, understand this Biotex removes the stains and dirt. Washing won't just soak, just soak in biotex stains. Grass stains, tiresome collar and cup stains in grain, dirt, soil and grime out they all come and you don't stir a finger. Just soak, just soak in biotech. Biotex with natural enzymes is the pre wash powder with the most enzymes to give you extra pre wash power. Absolutely no rubbing, no color loss, no fabric wear. Use it for cotton, silks, woolen synthetics. Use it to make new again. Soaking in biotechs removes the stains and dirt. But washing won't just soak, just soak in Biotape Beyond Midnight is presented every.

[Roger James]

Friday night at half past nine by Biotechs, the new Soak and Pre Wash powder.

[Host]

That'S the horror for this week. You can find more from beyond midnight@ Relicradio.com alongside all of the other podcasts and our Shoutcast stream that streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week. More Old Time Radio. On top of all the podcasts, there's a lot to listen to there, all made possible by your support. If you'd like to help out, visit donate. Relicradio.com or click on one of the links on the website. Your support makes it all happen. Thanks to those who have helped out. Thanks for joining me this week. I'll be back tomorrow with more Strange Tales and next Saturday with our next episode of the Horror.