The Masque Of The Red Death by The CBS Radio Mystery Theater

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Horror! (Old Time Radio) – "The Masque Of The Red Death" by The CBS Radio Mystery Theater

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Introduction

In this gripping episode of The Horror! (Old Time Radio), hosted by RelicRadio.com, listeners are transported to a secluded mansion atop Lookout Mountain in the year 1996. The episode, an adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's classic "The Masque of the Red Death," delves into themes of fear, apathy, and the human condition amidst a devastating plague known as the Red Death. The adaptation, originally aired by the CBS Radio Mystery Theater in 1975, brings a modern twist to Poe's narrative, weaving a tale of isolation, desperation, and moral conflict.

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Setting the Scene

The story unfolds in the opulent living room of Milo Manderson's luxurious estate. With one wall comprising plate glass, the mansion offers panoramic views of the surrounding countryside. The technology within the house is advanced, allowing the structure to rotate at the press of a button, symbolizing the futile attempts to control one's environment in the face of uncontrollable external chaos.

Narrator (01:33):

"The CBS Radio Mystery Theater presents... a huge house, a mansion on Top of Lookout Mountain."

This setting serves as a microcosm for society grappling with the Red Death, illustrating how wealth and isolation offer limited protection against widespread catastrophe.

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Characters and Dynamics

Milo Manderson (Milo) is the wealthy patriarch fiercely determined to shield his family and selected guests from the plague. His obsession with safety and control breeds tension within the household.

Doreen Manderson (Doreen), Milo's daughter, represents pragmatism and empathy. She supports her father's efforts but is weary of the constant tension and isolation.

Jack Reynolds (Jack), Doreen's husband, is a farmer passionate about organic farming and environmental restoration. His activism and frustration with Milo's methods create friction.

Flossy (Flossy), Milo's fiancée, embodies vanity and superficiality. She seeks attention and validation, often using flirtation as a means to cope with the stifling environment.

Nils Ostrum (Nils) and his wife Magda are the newly hired servants, whose introduction brings unforeseen consequences to the already fragile household dynamics.

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Rising Tensions

The episode begins with subtle tensions among the characters, primarily between Milo and Jack. Jack's environmental concerns clash with Milo's self-preservation instincts.

Jack Reynolds (05:45):

"I'm trying to bring the land back to what it was... trying to save."

Milo dismisses Jack's efforts, seeing them as unnecessary disruptions to his carefully curated sanctuary.

As the household becomes more confined, boredom and frustration mount. Milo introduces Nils and Magda, assuring everyone that they are free of the Red Death. However, this act inadvertently introduces the threat Milo sought to eliminate.

Milo Manderson (07:30):

"You’re Nils Ostrum, that right?"

Nils Ostrum (08:21):

"Yes, sir."

The interactions between Nils and Milo reveal the cracks in Milo's façade of control, as fears of the plague begin to surface.

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The Intrusion of the Red Death

Despite meticulous precautions, Magda Ostrum succumbs to the Red Death, symbolizing the inescapable nature of mortality and the futility of isolation.

Nils Ostrum (16:15):

"My wife... she has not been feeling herself."

Milo Manderson (16:20):

"She's collapsing."

Magda's collapse serves as a catalyst for the unraveling of Milo's control, intensifying the fear and desperation within the household.

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Climactic Confrontations

As the plague infiltrates the mansion, the characters are forced to confront their fears and moral dilemmas. Milo's decision to host a masquerade party becomes the focal point of conflict.

Milo Manderson (26:31):

"I'm going to give you a party. A masquerade party."

Flossy (26:56):

"A masquerade party. When out there the world is dying, Milo, it's obscene."

The party becomes a metaphor for denial and escapism, juxtaposing the grim reality outside with the hollow festivities inside. Nils Ostrum's revelation as the Red Death personifies the inevitability of death and the consequences of moral corruption.

Nils Ostrum (38:16):

"I am the Red Death."

This pivotal moment underscores the themes of guilt, responsibility, and the destructive nature of apathy.

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Resolution and Moral Reckoning

In the face of Nils' revelation, Milo is forced to confront his own mortality and the repercussions of his actions. The mansion, once a sanctuary, becomes a tomb as the characters succumb to the plague.

Nils Ostrum (39:28):

"To live or die, one of you, you or your father must die. And the choice I leave to him."

Milo's inability to choose leads to his downfall, highlighting the futility of attempts to control fate and the consequences of selfishness.

Narrator (43:36):

"So ended the mask, the masquerade, if..."

The story concludes with a somber reflection on the human condition, emphasizing that no amount of wealth or isolation can shield one from the fundamental truths of life and death.

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Themes and Insights

1. Isolation vs. Community: The mansion represents a society attempting to isolate itself from external threats. However, true resilience lies in community and collective action rather than isolation and control.

2. Fear and Control: Milo's obsession with safety symbolizes the lengths individuals go to control their surroundings, often at the expense of empathy and moral responsibility.

3. Apathy as a Destructive Force: The narrator emphasizes apathy as a lethal counterpart to the physical plague, suggesting that indifference can be equally devastating.

4. The Inevitability of Death: The Red Death serves as a reminder of mortality, challenging characters to confront their fears and moral choices.

5. Moral Responsibility: The characters' actions reflect broader societal issues, such as environmental degradation and ethical leadership, urging listeners to take responsibility for their actions.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Nils Ostrum (00:06):

  "Oh, stories. Real stories. And murder too."

• Milo Manderson (05:45):

  "Here we are in the year 1996, and he's still farming like it was 20 years or 30 years ago."

• Doreen Manderson (06:16):

  "There's a plague out there and it's spreading. It's spreading all over the country."

• Flossy (10:32):

  "Not much. I mean, it's nighttime... at least half the lights have gone out."

• Jack Reynolds (12:09):

  "It's like a bank account. Now, unless you want to be overdrawn, you got to put back in what you take out."

• Nils Ostrum (38:16):

  "I am the Red Death."

• Milo Manderson (40:23):

  "I. I can't die. I can't. I can't face death. It's too horrible."

• Jack Reynolds (43:07):

  "Maybe God made a choice. And maybe we're part of it."

These quotes encapsulate the essence of the characters' struggles and the overarching themes of the story.

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Conclusion

"The Masque of the Red Death" adapted by The CBS Radio Mystery Theater and featured in The Horror! (Old Time Radio) podcast, serves as a haunting allegory of societal and personal failings in the face of catastrophe. Through its richly developed characters and tense narrative, the episode explores the depths of human fear, the consequences of apathy, and the eternal struggle between control and chaos. The adaptation remains a powerful reminder that no amount of wealth or isolation can prevent the inevitable truths of life and death.

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For more chilling tales and classic horror stories, visit RelicRadio.com and explore their extensive library of old-time radio dramas.

Transcript

[Nils Ostrum]

Oh, stories. Real stories. And murder too.

[Doreen Manderson]

Turn out your legs.

[Nils Ostrum]

Turn them out. Good evening. Come in, won't you? What's the matter? Surely you're not nervous for that to.

[Milo Manderson]

Be calm, I think.

[Nils Ostrum]

Restored we are meant to call from out of the past.

[Milo Manderson]

Stories, strange and weird. Tales of mystery and terror by radio's masters of the MAA.

[Nils Ostrum]

Stories of the supernatural, the supernormal dramatized.

[Milo Manderson]

Fantasy, the mysteries of the unknown. We tell you this.

[Doreen Manderson]

Frank. Frank.

[Nils Ostrum]

So if you wish to avoid the.

[Milo Manderson]

Excitement of these magic play ladies, we.

[Nils Ostrum]

Heard our latest series to turn off your radio.

[E.G. Marshall]

Welcome back to the horror old fashioned fear since [e-mail] Our story comes from the CBS Radio Mystery Theater this week. It's an adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's story the mask of the Red death. It was first published in 1842 and adapted numerous times in various forms, including the Roger Corman adaptation in 1964 starring Vincent Price. Our version of the story first aired January 10, 1975.

[Narrator]

The CBS Radio Mystery Theater presents.

[Nils Ostrum]

Come in.

[Narrator]

Welcome. I'm E. G. Marshall. Mark Twain once said that everybody talks about the weather but no one does anything about it. An ever increasing army of people feel that way about pollution, but happily are doing something about it. Trying anyway. But trying, mark you, against great odds. Odds which can be lumped under the one descriptive word. Apathy. Apathy. Perhaps the most destructive negative force mankind has ever known. A force which could easily have led to the strange tale. I bring you now.

[Milo Manderson]

Dells. I order you put Magda out of the house instantly.

[Nils Ostrum]

She is my wife, Mr. Manderson. You can't ask.

[Milo Manderson]

You're fooled. She's caught the Red death, brought it into my house, my sanctuary. Look at her. Beads of sweat on her face. Blood red sweat. She's caught the plague.

[Nils Ostrum]

Plague or not, I am not putting her out to die.

[Milo Manderson]

And I am. And one move from you to stop me and you'll go out with her. I mean what I say, Nils, every word of it.

[Narrator]

Our mystery drama the Mask of the Red Death was especially adapted from the Edgar Allan Poe classic by George Lothar and stars Carl Swenson and Stats Cotsworth. It is sponsored in part by Buick motor division. And sign off the sinus medicines. I'll be back shortly with Act 1, the mask of the Red Death. The word masque, you should know, is spelled M, A S Q U e and means masquerade. And to begin this particular masquerade, I'm going to ask you to join me in a huge house, a mansion on Top of Lookout Mountain. We're in a vast living room, one wall of which is made of plate glass, through which, in whatever direction the house turns. Yes, you can turn the house by pressing buttons. Can be seen miles on miles of country far below. There are others in the living room with us, including the multimillionaire owner of this luxurious estate, that tall, expensively dressed, gray haired man over there, Milo Manderson.

[Milo Manderson]

So just shut up, Jack, once and for all.

[Jack Reynolds]

Shut up, Milo.

[Milo Manderson]

All I'm saying, and I'm sick of hearing you say it. Flossy's sick of it. Doreen's sick of it. We're all sick of it, so shut up.

[Jack Reynolds]

Okay, okay. Well, just let me point out one more thing, please.

[Doreen Manderson]

Can't you see how upset you're making my father? You're talking as if. Well, as if he were doing something perfectly awful when all he's doing is saving us from the Red Death.

[Flossy]

You ought to have a little more gratitude, Jack.

[Jack Reynolds]

Don't you understand? Any of you understand? Look out that window into the valley where the village is. The farmlands. Dead animals in the fields. Cows, horses, pigs.

[Milo Manderson]

Doreen, shut him up. Shut him up or I won't care if he is your husband, which is the only reason I brought him along. I'll throw him out.

[Jack Reynolds]

I'll make up your mind. Milo, you didn't bring me here. You forced me here.

[Milo Manderson]

For Doreen's sake, not yours. You penniless hayseed, you. Farmer. Would you believe it? 1996. Here we are in the year 1996, and he's still farming like it was 20 years or 30 years ago.

[Jack Reynolds]

Not 20 years ago, Milo. Not 30, 100. I'm trying to bring the land back to what it was. Trying to replenish the earth, to restore what fools like you took out of it with every pollutant you can think of. I'm trying to save.

[Milo Manderson]

Now I've had it. I warning you for the last time, Doreen. Talk to this fathead you married. Talk some sense into him.

[Flossy]

Milo, Give Flossie a little drinky, a little Martuni.

[Milo Manderson]

I could do with one myself. You talk to him, Doreen.

[Doreen Manderson]

Jack, my father's right with you.

[Jack Reynolds]

He's always right.

[Doreen Manderson]

Listen to me, honey. There's a plague out there and it's spreading. It's spreading all over the country. And people are dying by the thousands. And all Father's trying to do is save us from it.

[Jack Reynolds]

I tell you, he can.

[Doreen Manderson]

He can. Father has never failed, never at anything. He made up his mind to Do? He spent weeks stocking this place with food and water. Everything we'll need to stick things out until the plague's over.

[Jack Reynolds]

All those people dying out there and we still.

[Doreen Manderson]

Why shouldn't we? They'd do the same if they could. Who wants to find themselves sweating blood all of a sudden and dying in hours? Not me. I'm sorry for them, Jack. I really am. But that's no reason for me or you to go out there and die with them.

[Jack Reynolds]

There's such a thing as conscience, Doreen.

[Doreen Manderson]

Oh, Jack, you're impossible. What's that noise, Father?

[Milo Manderson]

Yeah, Helicopter. Yeah, let me turn the house and you'll be able to see it coming in from the east there.

[Jack Reynolds]

She.

[Milo Manderson]

Bringing in a couple I hired to do the cooking and housework. The Ostrom? Nils and his wife, Magda. I hired them through a New York agency and had my pilot fly them out.

[Doreen Manderson]

What about the plague, Father? They could be bringing it with them.

[Milo Manderson]

I had them checked out. Complete physical and every precaution taken to keep them from any contact with people till they got to the chopper. Nothing to worry about.

[Flossy]

Oh, look at that gorgeous hunk of man getting out of the helicopter.

[Milo Manderson]

That's Nils.

[Flossy]

Oh, six foot four if he's an inch long. Blonde hair. Oh, wow.

[Milo Manderson]

You keep your eyes on me, baby. I'm the guy you're gonna marry, remember? Not him.

[Flossy]

How could I forget? You're the guy with all the money.

[Milo Manderson]

Yeah. Okay, Here they come. As soon as they get in the house, we lock the place up solid. And I mean solid. Nobody gets in or out till this plague is over. You're Nils Ostrum, that right?

[Nils Ostrum]

Yes, Mr. Manderson.

[Milo Manderson]

And this is Magdalene.

[Nils Ostrum]

Your wife? Yes, sir. I should tell you, she cannot hear or speak. She is a deaf mute. A deaf mute?

[Milo Manderson]

Well, how in Hades are we going to talk to her then? Give orders?

[Nils Ostrum]

She can read your lips. Excuse me, sir.

[Milo Manderson]

Yeah, what?

[Nils Ostrum]

The pilot of the helicopter, he asked me to ask you, will you let him stay?

[Milo Manderson]

No way.

[Nils Ostrum]

He is standing out there, sir, waiting for one sign or another from you to motion him to come inside or wave him away.

[Milo Manderson]

Well, he's going to get waved away.

[Jack Reynolds]

Wait a minute, Milo.

[Milo Manderson]

What now, farmer boy?

[Jack Reynolds]

I'm going with him.

[Doreen Manderson]

Now, Jack, we've been through all this.

[Jack Reynolds]

I'm sorry. Doreen, I love you, you know that. But I just can't save my own skin while others are dying. Not. Not if I can do something to help. Milo, you forced me to come here.

[Milo Manderson]

And I'm forcing you to stay, Father.

[Jack Reynolds]

Well, that'd defeat your own purpose, wouldn't it, to shoot me, Milo?

[Milo Manderson]

Oh, no intention of killing you, Jack. Just a bullet through the leg to stop you. And I'll do it. I'm gonna protect you from the plague whether you want it or not. Not for your sake, but for Doreen. She loves you. You don't ask me why, but she does. That's the only reason I'm keeping you here. Nils, you and your wife start locking the place up.

[Nils Ostrum]

Yes, sir. Come, Magda.

[Milo Manderson]

I'll wave that pilot off.

[Jack Reynolds]

You could have let him stay, Milo. You may be sending him to his death.

[Milo Manderson]

And if it weren't for Doreen, you'd be going along with him. Now shut up and help get this place locked up.

[Flossy]

Oh, here you are, Jack. Yeah, Milo sent me to find you. Everybody's at the dinner table but you.

[Jack Reynolds]

Just leave me alone. Floss, huh?

[Milo Manderson]

Sure.

[Flossy]

Only where does it get you? Sitting in the dark, brooding.

[Jack Reynolds]

Look down in the valley where the village is.

[Flossy]

Okay, Jack, I'm looking.

[Narrator]

What do you see?

[Flossy]

Not much. I mean, it's nighttime. There used to be a lot of lights down there. Like, you know, people in their houses doing whatever people do in their houses. But in the week we've been here. Hey, has it been a week? Yeah, a week. Well, anyway, since we've been here, at least half the lights have gone out.

[Jack Reynolds]

They didn't go out. They burned out. People died of the red death and the lights just burned out.

[Flossy]

Tough.

[Jack Reynolds]

Is that all you can say? Tough? You realize what's happening out there? Not only down there in the village, but all over the United States, Canada, the world.

[Flossy]

Jack, baby, there's something you got to understand about little Flossy up here in the head. Nothing. Down here and here, plenty. But up here in the head. Oh, forget it. And that's why when this is all over, Myla's gonna make me wife number four. Only you know something.

[Jack Reynolds]

Know what?

[Flossy]

Well, I've been listening. All this week, I've been listening to you. And it kinda gets through to me that. Well, maybe you got something. Tell me about what you're all wrapped up in this orgasmic farming thing.

[Jack Reynolds]

Organic. You wouldn't be interested.

[Flossy]

So why am I asking?

[Jack Reynolds]

Well.

[Nils Ostrum]

It'S simple.

[Jack Reynolds]

It's like a bank account.

[Flossy]

Well, that I know about.

[Narrator]

All right.

[Jack Reynolds]

So then you know if you take out more than you put in, no bank account.

[Flossy]

Overdrawn.

[Milo Manderson]

Finis.

[Jack Reynolds]

Exactly.

[Milo Manderson]

So?

[Jack Reynolds]

Well, it's simple. The land, the earth, where all the world's food comes from.

[Milo Manderson]

It.

[Jack Reynolds]

It's a bank account. Now, unless you want to be overdrawn, you got to put back in what you take out. Well, the world has been taking out and never putting back in. The land is bankrupt. It's overdrawn. It's poor, not rich anymore. So what comes out of it is poor, not rich. So no matter how much people eat, what they eat is practically worthless.

[Flossy]

Oh, yeah?

[Jack Reynolds]

You follow me then?

[Flossy]

Like a tiger. If what we eat is worthless, well, then we get sick.

[Jack Reynolds]

We get sick. The air gets sick, the waters get sick. And then we get what we've got now, the.

[Nils Ostrum]

The plague of the Red Death.

[Flossy]

So him, Milo, what he's doing, Trying to save us from the Red Death. What good is it? I mean, if the plague stops like he says it will.

[Narrator]

It will.

[Jack Reynolds]

It will. But there'll be others. Worse. They're God's way of saying, man, you're overdrawn.

[Milo Manderson]

Lost.

[Doreen Manderson]

Uh.

[Milo Manderson]

Oh, lost.

[Flossy]

Milo's looking for me. I'm supposed to find you. And right here, lover. Right here.

[Milo Manderson]

What is this? You and the farmer boy in the dark.

[Flossy]

Talking, doll. Just talking.

[Milo Manderson]

I sent you to look for him, get him to the dinner table. And you sit here in the dark, just talking.

[Flossy]

Well, I gotta talk to somebody. And you're never in the mood. Not for that.

[Milo Manderson]

What's so interesting in him?

[Flossy]

Well, he was telling me about organic farming and how it could save the earth from going bankrupt.

[Milo Manderson]

No, not that again. Come on. Dinner's getting cold. You heard me, Jack.

[Jack Reynolds]

Now I'll stay here. Milo.

[Flossy]

Come on, Jack.

[Doreen Manderson]

You.

[Flossy]

You ought to eat, you know, keep.

[Jack Reynolds]

Up your strength on that food. It's practically worthless.

[Flossy]

Well, just to keep me company. Then we can talk some more. And I like talking to you.

[Milo Manderson]

Yeah, that's about all farmer boy can do. Talk. Anybody can talk. I act. You just remember one thing, flossy girl. I'm the one that's saving you from the Red Death.

[Flossy]

Yeah? Only answer me a question, Milo.

[Milo Manderson]

Sure.

[Flossy]

Saving me for What?

[Nils Ostrum]

More souffle, Mr. Munderson?

[Milo Manderson]

No. And I'll tell you something, Nils. Your wife's cooking hasn't been so hot in the past few days. She better get on the ball.

[Nils Ostrum]

I am sorry, sir, but she has not been feeling herself.

[Doreen Manderson]

I'll have more Niels. I think it's quite good.

[Nils Ostrum]

Yes, madam.

[Milo Manderson]

What about the coffee? I asked for another cup here.

[Nils Ostrum]

In a moment, sir. My wife is heating it.

[Doreen Manderson]

Anyone see the news on Global Vision today?

[Jack Reynolds]

Well, I did, Doreen.

[Milo Manderson]

Why?

[Doreen Manderson]

They say the plague is spreading. That it's shown up now in France, Italy, Spain, everywhere.

[Jack Reynolds]

Nothing Surprising about that.

[Doreen Manderson]

I didn't say it was. I just said it was on the news.

[Jack Reynolds]

No need to take my head off, Doreen.

[Doreen Manderson]

No need for you to be sarcastic.

[Jack Reynolds]

I wasn't being.

[Doreen Manderson]

Tell me.

[Jack Reynolds]

Look, all I said was.

[Doreen Manderson]

It's what you say. It's your attitude. I notice you don't take that tone with her.

[Flossy]

Me? How'd I get into this?

[Doreen Manderson]

You know how you got into it. Don't pull the innocent on me.

[Flossy]

If you're.

[Doreen Manderson]

Skip it. Nils, where is that coffee?

[Nils Ostrum]

Here's my wife with it now. Madame Magna, let me help you with the train.

[Flossy]

I don't intend to skip anything. If you're implying that I've been up to anything.

[Doreen Manderson]

You little.

[Milo Manderson]

Now stop it, the two of you. The last two or three days, you've been eating each other like a couple of alley cats, and I'm sick of it.

[Doreen Manderson]

Well, you just tell your girlfriend.

[Milo Manderson]

You watch your tongue. Flossy isn't my girlfriend. She's my fiance. What's more. What the devil.

[Nils Ostrum]

Sorry, sir. I'm very sorry.

[Narrator]

My wife.

[Nils Ostrum]

The. The tray slipped from her. Ha. Magda, look out.

[Milo Manderson]

She's collapsing.

[Nils Ostrum]

Magda. Oh, my dearest.

[Jack Reynolds]

Let me give you a hand with the. Nils.

[Nils Ostrum]

No, sir. Stand back.

[Jack Reynolds]

But, Nels.

[Nils Ostrum]

No. Get back, sir. Get back. Don't. Don't come near her. Can't you see?

[Milo Manderson]

See what? Her face. She's sweating blood.

[Nils Ostrum]

Yes, I'm afraid she has the Red Plague.

[Milo Manderson]

It's worse than that. She's brought it here.

[Narrator]

So, in spite of all precautions, the Red Death invades Milo Manderson Sanctuary, his barricaded retreat atop Lookout Mountain. And you ask me, another disease has invaded the mansion. Jealousy. Doreen's and Milo's resentment of what appears to be a developing friendship between Floss and Jack. I'll be back shortly with Act 2. As Ye Sow, we are told in the Bible, so shall ye reap. It would appear that multimillionaire Milo Manderson is on the threshold of doing some reaping. He thought himself and his few chosen companions safe from the plague of the Red Death, secure in his isolated retreat atop Lookout Mountain, the world and the spreading death in it barred from his door. Not so, Magda Ostrom, wife of Nils. The couple Manderson brought to do the menial work of the household has just collapsed.

[Milo Manderson]

Get her out, Bob. Get her out. Out of this room, out of this house.

[Flossy]

Oh, now, cool it, Milo. The woman's dying.

[Milo Manderson]

And we're not dying with her father.

[Doreen Manderson]

Don't start breaking me.

[Milo Manderson]

The money I spent. To protect us. The precautions I took. Weeks of thought and preparation to doctors. How many doctors did I send them to? To examine them and check them out, make sure that they were free of the.

[Doreen Manderson]

Get hold of your.

[Milo Manderson]

Now she comes down with it. In my own house, this sanctuary. I nearly killed myself to make ready so we'd all be safe. Get her out of here.

[Nils Ostrum]

You can't ask me.

[Milo Manderson]

Get her out.

[Nils Ostrum]

I will not. No, Mr. Manderson, I will not. Magda is going to die, but she is not going to die alone.

[Milo Manderson]

Then die with her.

[Jack Reynolds]

F. Milo.

[Milo Manderson]

No.

[Jack Reynolds]

No.

[Milo Manderson]

Get out of my way.

[Jack Reynolds]

Give me that Garnet.

[Milo Manderson]

Here.

[Nils Ostrum]

Stop it. All of you.

[Milo Manderson]

Stop it now. You're giving orders.

[Nils Ostrum]

You shut up and listen. My wife is trying to say something in sign language. Yeah. Magda.

[Milo Manderson]

What? No.

[Nils Ostrum]

How about my darling? Very well.

[Milo Manderson]

What?

[Jack Reynolds]

What did she say, Nils?

[Nils Ostrum]

She said there is no hope for her. And there is no sense in two of us dying.

[Flossy]

What's she doing? Where's she going?

[Nils Ostrum]

Out of the house to die alone. Goodbye, my dearest. Goodbye. I see you dead for this, Manderson, Mr. Madison.

[Milo Manderson]

And I'm not scared by threats.

[Nils Ostrum]

No threat, Mr. Manderson. A promise.

[Jack Reynolds]

Business has been brought to a virtual standstill throughout the world. Here in the United States, countless thousands who tried and are still trying to leave the congestion of the cities for what is considered the relative safety of rural areas.

[Milo Manderson]

Shut that thing up.

[Jack Reynolds]

By military and local police.

[Milo Manderson]

Shut that thing up.

[Doreen Manderson]

Oh, look.

[Flossy]

His face. The red death. He's got it.

[Jack Reynolds]

His face.

[Flossy]

Red.

[Milo Manderson]

All right, I'll shut it off.

[Nils Ostrum]

The sight of death becoming too much for you, Mr. Manderson?

[Milo Manderson]

Shut up.

[Nils Ostrum]

I'm sorry, sir. I thought perhaps the sight of my wife's body lying out on the patio where she collapsed and died.

[Milo Manderson]

Nils, you'll go too far. I warn you. I'd shoot you now if we didn't need you.

[Nils Ostrum]

Need me for what? Are you also incompetent? So helpless you can't do for yourselves that ladies can cook?

[Doreen Manderson]

Me, I can't boil water, and I don't intend to. That's what you are paid for.

[Nils Ostrum]

You are so like your father, madame. You think everything can be bought, even life.

[Doreen Manderson]

Now you look here. Since your wife died two days ago, you've been acting like. Well, like anything but the servant you are. Now you just cut it out. You just remember your place. Remember who and what you are. Do you understand me, nymph?

[Nils Ostrum]

Totally, madam. Is there anything madam wishes before I go to make up the beds?

[Doreen Manderson]

Not at the moment. But when there is, I'll let you know.

[Nils Ostrum]

Thank you, madam.

[Milo Manderson]

Now that's the way to handle a servant. Nice going, Doreen. I'm proud to call you daughter.

[Jack Reynolds]

Well, I'm not proud to call a wife. The man isn't himself. He's broken with grief. He loved his wife. He saw her go to her death alone. He watched through this window as she collapsed out there on the patio and died before his eyes. And you treat him as if he were nothing, the way you treat me. Treat Floss.

[Doreen Manderson]

I thought you'd become Flossy's champion, and now I know.

[Milo Manderson]

All I'm saying is too much. As usual, you got a big mouth and a head stuffed with hay. The trouble is here, we're bored. That's the one thing I didn't think of. That we'd get bored. We've been cooped up here for nearly two weeks now.

[Flossy]

Nine days.

[Milo Manderson]

Will you please shut up?

[Flossy]

Well, nine days isn't two weeks is all I'm saying.

[Milo Manderson]

I can take care of that.

[Doreen Manderson]

How, Father?

[Milo Manderson]

I don't know yet. I'll think of something. Meantime, how about some bridge?

[Flossy]

Not me.

[Jack Reynolds]

Sorry, my lord.

[Nils Ostrum]

Like a bridge.

[Milo Manderson]

Well, then, how about. Ah, blazes with it. I'm going up to the solarium to get some sign.

[Doreen Manderson]

I'll go with you, Father Jack. No, I'll stay here with Flossy, of course.

[Jack Reynolds]

Yeah, yeah, we'll have the orgy I've been planning for weeks.

[Doreen Manderson]

I wouldn't be surprised.

[Jack Reynolds]

Join me in an orgy, Floss.

[Flossy]

But you know something?

[Jack Reynolds]

What?

[Flossy]

I have joined you.

[Jack Reynolds]

What do you mean?

[Flossy]

Well, me, I'm no great brain, but, well, I'd have to be a dope not to. Well, anyhow, begin to realize that you're right. Milo and Doreen, well, they're wrong. Oh, if you mean it, what you keep saying all the time, that is.

[Milo Manderson]

You mean.

[Flossy]

Well, like the world's gone to hell. It's become a cesspool, you called it.

[Jack Reynolds]

Yeah, cesspool of corruption.

[Flossy]

But it can be cured. Brought back to what it was once. Pure and clean and beautiful and healthy. You mean it when you say you want to get out of here and go out there into the world, right into the middle of the plague, whether it kills you or not. So that you can do all you can to help people build a brand new world.

[Jack Reynolds]

Yeah, yeah, I mean all that. But I can't get out. Marlo's got the keys to every door. The windows are unbreakable.

[Flossy]

I could get the keys easy.

[Jack Reynolds]

You do that. You're with me, not him.

[Flossy]

I never was with him. It was a deal. Kinda, you know.

[Jack Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Flossy]

So what do you say? Well.

[Jack Reynolds]

That means leaving Doreen.

[Flossy]

Oh. You still got a thing for her, huh?

[Jack Reynolds]

I never lost it.

[Flossy]

Oh. Well, you got decisions to make. Leave Doreen and do what you believe is right. Or don't leave Doreen and don't do it.

[Nils Ostrum]

A decision I don't think you need make, Mr. Reynolds. Not yet. Nells, I apologize. I overheard something of what you've been saying. Whatever your decision, it would be foolish for you to go out into the world right now, sir.

[Jack Reynolds]

You think so, Nils?

[Nils Ostrum]

I know it, sir. The plague is reaching its height. In a few days, it will begin to break and then recede. But right now and for the next few days, it will be at its most dangerous point. Believe me, sir. Leave here now and your death will be assured. And you are among a handful the world cannot afford to lose. Not at this time.

[Flossy]

Nils, you're something else, you know that? Sometimes you talk like. Like you know all there is to know.

[Milo Manderson]

It'll be fun, Doreen. A barrel of fun.

[Doreen Manderson]

Costumes. What about costumes?

[Milo Manderson]

That's all taken care of anyhow. Floss. Jack. Yeah. You, Nils? I got a great idea. You say you're bored. You say life in the Milo Madison hideaway holds no variety for you, no spice at all for you. Well, I tell you what I'm going to do.

[Nils Ostrum]

Do?

[Milo Manderson]

I'm going to give you a party.

[Jack Reynolds]

A party?

[Milo Manderson]

Not just a party, Jack, my boy. A masquerade party.

[Jack Reynolds]

Are you crazy?

[Milo Manderson]

What do you mean, crazy party?

[Flossy]

A masquerade party. When out there the world is dying, Milo, it's. It's obscene.

[Milo Manderson]

You see, Doreen, I told you. Beat my brains out. Thinking of something to liven things up, to keep us from going nuts with boredom. Where do I get?

[Jack Reynolds]

Well, you don't go along with the story. You don't.

[Doreen Manderson]

Well, I didn't at first, but then.

[Jack Reynolds]

He changed your mind.

[Doreen Manderson]

What if he did? At least he's doing something. All you do is talk.

[Jack Reynolds]

That's all I can do. Locked in here a prisoner. What more can I do?

[Doreen Manderson]

Something. I don't know, but something. Don't just talk.

[Milo Manderson]

All right, I'll do Milo.

[Jack Reynolds]

You take your masquerade party and stuff it.

[Milo Manderson]

I've decided we're going to have a masquerade party. And that's what we're going to have tonight. And you're going to be in it. You and flossie.

[Nils Ostrum]

Floss?

[Jack Reynolds]

You go along with this?

[Flossy]

No.

[Milo Manderson]

Now, look, you little Tramp?

[Flossy]

Is that what you're going to say?

[Milo Manderson]

Milo, don't put words in my mouth.

[Flossy]

Don't you put thoughts in my head. Thoughts I wouldn't rather think. Look through that window. There's death out there. All around out there. A masquerade party. How could you think of it? How awful could you be to even think of it?

[Milo Manderson]

We are going to have a masquerade party. And we're going to have it tonight. If it's that last thing I do.

[Nils Ostrum]

It will be.

[Milo Manderson]

What?

[Nils Ostrum]

It will be the last thing you do.

[Milo Manderson]

What do you mean by that?

[Nils Ostrum]

I mean I understand why you decided to have a masquerade party. Two days ago, when I held my dying wife in my arms, I told you what I thought of you. And no servant, no lackey, ever told Milo Manderson the truth. Since the day Milo Manderson realized he had made his first million. Before that day, you. You, Milo Manderson, you still retain some shreds of humanity. But on that day and ever since. Oh, God. God, I call on you. What has this mortal become?

[Milo Manderson]

He's crazy. Look at him. Arms outspread, looking up at the ceiling, calling on God like he knew him. He's out of his head.

[Nils Ostrum]

Hear me now, Milo. Milo, hear me. It's a revenge you're after. I told you the truth. The truth of not what you are, but what you have become. God made you beautiful. You have made yourself ugly. You must learn you are wrong. And in learning, come back to God. Come back to truth. You want revenge on me? You shall have it. And you shall learn the emptiness and the hollowness of it. Revenge is mine, saith the Lord. Not yours. Mine. And this Milo Manderson you are about to learn. And may God in his infinite mercy, help you bear the agony of the learning.

[Narrator]

A strange speech. Surely Nils calls on God as if. Well, as if he knew him as intimately as I know you. And we do know each other, you and I, very well indeed.

[Milo Manderson]

By this time, don't we ought to.

[Narrator]

Been together a long time? Pleasant time for me, anyhow. Hope for you, too. Back shortly with Act 3.

[Nils Ostrum]

This is WBBM Chicago News Radio 78.

[Jack Reynolds]

Correct.

[Nils Ostrum]

Time, 1107.

[Milo Manderson]

47 degrees at Midway.

[Narrator]

Death, in the form of a plague known as the Red Death, lays waste the world. While in an isolated mansion atop Lookout Mountain, multimillionaire Milo Manderson, seeking refuge, barricades himself and his companions from it. Now, vengeful or callous or both, he proposes to hold a masquerade party to relieve the brave boredom of their voluntary imprisonments. We rejoin the small, beleaguered group in the vast living room of the mansion.

[Milo Manderson]

As he's. He's gone crazy. You have, Nils. You know that you've gone crazy.

[Nils Ostrum]

No, not I. You. A long time ago.

[Milo Manderson]

You don't see me acting like I was God.

[Nils Ostrum]

Don't I?

[Jack Reynolds]

I think Nils is right in a way, Milo. You've come to think you're more than God. Really.

[Doreen Manderson]

Now you are going too far, Jack.

[Milo Manderson]

No, no, no. Wait. Wait a minute. Do wait just one minute. Let this a seed husband of yours go on. So God sent the Red Plague to wipe us all out, that is, eh?

[Jack Reynolds]

Maybe he didn't. Maybe he didn't have to. From where I sit, you created it yourselves.

[Milo Manderson]

You're as crazy as Nils.

[Jack Reynolds]

Wait and see, Milo. Just wait and see.

[Milo Manderson]

Yeah. And while I'm waiting, we'll have our party. Yes. There's a big closet in the game room and it's loaded with costumes from the bash we had up here a.

[Nils Ostrum]

Couple of years ago, Doreen. You remember.

[Doreen Manderson]

Yes.

[Milo Manderson]

So you can all get your costumes from there. Nils, you break out the port Rocher. I've been saving that champagne for a special occasion. And if you ask me, this is going to be a real special occasion.

[Nils Ostrum]

It will Indeed be that, Mr. Manderson. The most special occasion of your life.

[Doreen Manderson]

Jack.

[Jack Reynolds]

Yes, Doreen.

[Doreen Manderson]

Hook me up and back. This Marie Antoinette costume is hard to manage.

[Jack Reynolds]

Okay.

[Doreen Manderson]

You look handsome. That black and white, Domino. Okay. Mask, black or white?

[Milo Manderson]

Black.

[Doreen Manderson]

Oh. Romantic as well as handsome and sulky.

[Nils Ostrum]

Sullen.

[Jack Reynolds]

Worried is the word, Doreen. Very, very worried.

[Doreen Manderson]

Oh, now, don't tell me that little act Nils put on, that performance of stretching his arms wide and crying out to God. Don't tell me it got to you.

[Jack Reynolds]

The way it got to you.

[Doreen Manderson]

To me? I thought it as laughably ridiculous as my father did.

[Narrator]

Your father did?

[Doreen Manderson]

He's only trying to save us from the Red Death, Jack. And it's about time you gave him some credit for it instead of insulting him every chance you get.

[Jack Reynolds]

I'm not insulting him. I'm trying to wake him up.

[Doreen Manderson]

I don't know why it is. No matter how I try to keep things pleasant between us, you always manage to start your eternal harping on pollution.

[Jack Reynolds]

I'm sorry, Doreen.

[Doreen Manderson]

Oh, you're always sorry, but that doesn't help. You ruin everything. Just as you're trying to ruin my fun.

[Jack Reynolds]

Fun? How can you talk about fun?

[Doreen Manderson]

Because I need fun, that's why. Because my father's right. We're going house crazy with boredom. And I don't see how a few hours of fun will change anything in that world you worry so much about one way or the other. The music is starting. Oh, let's go down, Jack. Please, please. For once, let's enjoy ourselves.

[Nils Ostrum]

Ah, come on, Floss. Come on.

[Milo Manderson]

The way you're dancing, Put some life into it, baby.

[Flossy]

I don't feel like dancing.

[Milo Manderson]

You will, or he needs a couple more glasses of champagne soon. Take care of that. Say one thing for Nils. He may be batty as a bedbug, but he's a good servant. His Paul Roger is perfectly chilled. Okay, honey, another glass for you and another for me. Bottoms up.

[Doreen Manderson]

I can't. How can you?

[Milo Manderson]

How can you? Don't cry. Don't cry.

[Flossy]

I can't help it.

[Milo Manderson]

How can I try to be happy with all that's out there beyond that window? Be happy. Do you want to know the truth? I'll tell you the truth Keeps crowding in on me. Pressuring me, trying to suffocate me. But I push it away because if I didn't, it would suffocate me. Flossie. The truth is way deep inside me somewhere. I'm scared.

[Doreen Manderson]

Scared? You?

[Milo Manderson]

Doreen? Jack. Well, welcome to the party. Look at you, sweetheart. Dolled up like Marion Antoinettes. Carefully you don't lose your head tonight.

[Nils Ostrum]

And Jack.

[Milo Manderson]

Hey, you look terrific at that. Black and white. What's it called?

[Jack Reynolds]

Domino?

[Milo Manderson]

Yeah, that's it. That's what it looks like. No. And say, you want to see something really terrific? Take a gander at Flossy. A fairy queen.

[Jack Reynolds]

Yellow glovely floss.

[Doreen Manderson]

But white, my dear. You in white.

[Milo Manderson]

Hey, come now. None of that. Not tonight. Tonight? Even if it is just for tonight, we're gonna stop sniping at each other. Hold it. Wait a minute. We need Nils. He's a guest too. He's a kind of a serving guest.

[Narrator]

But still a guest.

[Nils Ostrum]

Nils. Hey, Nils.

[Milo Manderson]

The party's starting. Come on, join in.

[Nils Ostrum]

Coming, coming.

[Milo Manderson]

And hurry up. We all want to see what costume you're wearing.

[Nils Ostrum]

This one, Mr. Manderson?

[Milo Manderson]

Yes.

[Doreen Manderson]

Oh.

[Milo Manderson]

Who do you think you are?

[Nils Ostrum]

Who the devil do you think you are? I beg pardon, son.

[Doreen Manderson]

Costume. It's blood red suit, shirt, cape.

[Flossy]

The mask covering your face. Oh, blood red.

[Jack Reynolds]

The Red Death nails.

[Nils Ostrum]

Yes, sir. The Red Death.

[Milo Manderson]

Wait. Wait a minute. What are you up to?

[Nils Ostrum]

Simply turning off the music.

[Milo Manderson]

So that's it, is it? You intend to ruin my little party, do you? You come dressed as a Red Death to throw a wet blanket over the fun we're going to have. Well, I'll take care of that right here and now. I'm ripping that costume off you. Ripping all of it off. Beginning with a mask. Mayor.

[Nils Ostrum]

I am not costumed as the Red Death, Milo Manderson. I am the Red Death.

[Jack Reynolds]

A skull.

[Narrator]

A blood red skull.

[Jack Reynolds]

No. No face. A skull blood red.

[Milo Manderson]

You are. You are the Red Death. God help me.

[Nils Ostrum]

God will not help you now, Milo Manderson. There comes a time when mortals must help themselves. And your time has come.

[Milo Manderson]

What. What do you want of me?

[Nils Ostrum]

You may make a choice. A choice I will give you. You may make the choice. For good or ill. Name it.

[Milo Manderson]

I'll choose what's right, what's good. I swear to you.

[Nils Ostrum]

You can choose to live, yes?

[Milo Manderson]

Yes.

[Nils Ostrum]

Or die.

[Doreen Manderson]

What do you mean? Nils.

[Flossy]

I'm sorry.

[Doreen Manderson]

That's not your name, of course.

[Nils Ostrum]

Oh, it will do.

[Doreen Manderson]

What do you mean?

[Nils Ostrum]

To live or die, One of you, you or your father must die. And the choice I leave to him.

[Jack Reynolds]

Are you saying that Marlow must choose either to give up his own life and save Doreen's or refuse and let her die?

[Milo Manderson]

I am.

[Flossy]

Wow. I mean, like, wow.

[Jack Reynolds]

Nils. What about Flas? What about me?

[Nils Ostrum]

You have no part in this. When I am gone, as I soon shall be, when I no longer plague the world, you and others like you will be needed to restore it, replenish it.

[Flossy]

Me. Him I can understand. But me, I'm nobody. I'm nothing.

[Nils Ostrum]

And that makes you something, Milo Manderson. What is your choice?

[Doreen Manderson]

Haven't I anything to say about all this? Haven't I some choice in whether I live or die?

[Milo Manderson]

None.

[Doreen Manderson]

But that's not fair.

[Milo Manderson]

If he.

[Doreen Manderson]

If my father chooses to let me die to save himself.

[Nils Ostrum]

But he hasn't. Not yet. Choose, Milo Manderson.

[Narrator]

Choose.

[Jack Reynolds]

Father.

[Milo Manderson]

I. I can't die. I can't. I can't face death. It's too horrible. The thought is too horrible.

[Nils Ostrum]

Your daughter dies, then.

[Doreen Manderson]

Yes.

[Milo Manderson]

What.

[Nils Ostrum]

What was that?

[Doreen Manderson]

He can't make a choice.

[Nils Ostrum]

Don't you see?

[Doreen Manderson]

He hasn't the courage to choose death for himself or for me.

[Flossy]

Scared. He said it himself. Deep down inside. Scared.

[Doreen Manderson]

And I never knew. In all these years. Never knew. I thought he was the strongest man on earth. But he's just a scared child. He'll take me.

[Nils Ostrum]

He must make the choice. Choose. Choose.

[Milo Manderson]

Take her. Take Doreen.

[Nils Ostrum]

She. She offered. And she. She's not afraid.

[Milo Manderson]

But I am. Look at me. Look. I'm sweating with fear.

[Nils Ostrum]

Look again. You're not sweating. With fear. But with death.

[Milo Manderson]

Red. Remember, I sweat blood. Red. I I I.

[Nils Ostrum]

Stricken. Milo Manderson. Stricken with red death.

[Milo Manderson]

But why? Oh, why? You gave me a choice.

[Nils Ostrum]

And again you chose the wrong one. Chose to do evil instead of good. As you always have. Always. Now die. And may your soul go to the hell it deserves. No.

[Flossy]

No. He flung himself through the window.

[Doreen Manderson]

Lying out there next to Magda.

[Nils Ostrum]

Easy to. Easy.

[Jack Reynolds]

Easy. Take it easy, sweetheart. Nels. Nels, I think. Where is he?

[Flossy]

He was there a second ago, but now just the costume laying in a pile on the floor. He's gone.

[Jack Reynolds]

Let's hope so. Let's hope he's gone forever. Not only from here, but from the world out there.

[Doreen Manderson]

What world? What's left of it.

[Jack Reynolds]

There are still some lights burning in the village and everywhere else. I guess.

[Milo Manderson]

Those that are left.

[Jack Reynolds]

Maybe God made a choice. And maybe we're part of it. Whether we are or not, the only choice we've got is to go out there and start helping. Start rebuilding. Start creating another. And with God's help.

[Milo Manderson]

A better world.

[Narrator]

So ended the mask, the masquerade, if.

[Nils Ostrum]

You will, of the Red death.

[Narrator]

The year 1996 isn't too far off as years ago. And as we know, there are men and women in the world today with the foresight to see what lies ahead if the pollution of our air and our water and the very earth itself isn't brought to an end. I'll be back shortly. The strange tale I just brought you was an allegory. A story designed to symbolize a message, a truth. Of course, it never happened. But it could. Our cast included Stotts Cotsworth, Carl Swenson, Lois Smith, Jack Grimes and Evie Juster. The entire production was under the direction of Hyman Brown. And now a preview of our next tale.

[Flossy]

Dead. She's dead. Charlie.

[Nils Ostrum]

Our little girl.

[Milo Manderson]

Ruthie.

[Nils Ostrum]

Mrs. Daddy?

[Milo Manderson]

Can you hear me, dear? Ruthie. Kid's dead. Anybody can see that.

[Jack Reynolds]

Shh.

[Milo Manderson]

No. No, no, no. No.

[Nils Ostrum]

Can't be.

[Milo Manderson]

Charlie.

[Flossy]

Charlie, dear. Give her to me.

[Doreen Manderson]

Let me take her.

[Milo Manderson]

Yes. Put her on the bed in our room.

[Nils Ostrum]

Let her rest.

[Milo Manderson]

Let her. Let her rest. Come on now, Charlie. Can't go to pieces. Gotta act like a man. Got to face up.

[Narrator]

Leave him alone.

[Nils Ostrum]

Huh?

[Milo Manderson]

What's that?

[Flossy]

You've killed his daughter. Isn't that enough for one day?

[Doreen Manderson]

Leave him alone.

[Narrator]

RADIO Mystery Theater was sponsored in part by sign off the Sinus medicines and Burek Motor Division. This is EG Marshall inviting you to return to our Mystery theater for another adventure in the macabre until next time. Pleasant dreams. This is WB, CBM Chicago News Radio.

[Nils Ostrum]

78 the correct time 1124.

[E.G. Marshall]

The CBS Radio Mystery Theater aired from 1974 to 1982 produced 1399 original stories. You can find more from this series at the website relicradio.com there's more from the Horror, all of the other podcasts, and our Shoutcast stream. Lots to listen to. They are 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. Thanks to those who have thanks for joining me this week. Be back tomorrow with Strange Tales and next Saturday with our next episode of the Horror.