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John
Oh, stories. Real stories. And murders too.
August
Turn out your legs.
John
Turn them out. Good evening. Come in, won't you? What's the matter? Surely I'm not nervous for that to be calm. If I take. We are meant to call from out of the past. Stories strange, weird tales of mystery and terror by radio's masters of the maa. Stories of the supernatural, the supernormal. Dramatized the mysteries, the unknown.
August
We tell you this Frank Franklin.
John
So if you wish to avoid the excitement of even magic play.
Podcast Host
This is the horror. Welcome back. Thanks for joining me this Saturday. Our story comes from Escape this week. Series that debuted on July 7th of 1947 over CBS stations. Aired until September 25th of 1954. 241 episodes were produced for the series. We're gonna hear one produced a couple times. It's three skeleton key. We'll hear the March 17th, 1950 version with Vincent Price.
Narrator
Tired of the everyday routine? Ever dream of a life of romantic adventure? Want to get away from it all?
Announcer
We offer you escape. Escape designed to free you from the four walls of today for a half hour of high advent.
Narrator
Tonight we escape to a lonely lighthouse off the steaming jungle coast of French Guiana and a nightmare world of terror and violence as we bring you again in response to hundreds of requests. 3 Skeleton Key, starring Vincent Price.
John
Picture this place. A gray tapering cylinder welded by iron rods and concrete to the key itself. A bare black rock 150ft long, maybe 40 wide. That's at low tide. At high tide, just the lighthouse rising 110ft straight up out of the ocean. And all about it the churning water. Gray, green scum, dappled, warm as soup and swarming with gigantic bat like devil fish. Great violet schools of Portuguese, man of war. And yes, sharks. The big ones, the 15 footers. And as if this weren't enough, there was a hot, dank, rotten smelling wind that came at us day and night off the jungle swamps of the mainland. A wind that smelled like death. A wind that had smelled the slow and frightful death that came one night to this bare black rock. Set in the base of the light was a watertight bronze door. And in you went. And up. Yes, up and up and round and round. Past the tanks of oil and the coils of rope, casks of wicks, racks of lanterns, sacks of spuds and cartons and cans. And up and up and up, round and round. Over the light storeroom was the food storeroom. And over the food storeroom was the bunk room where the three of us slept. And over the Bunk room was the living and cooking room. And over the living and cooking room was the light. She was a beauty. Big steel and bronze baby with the sun gleaming through the glass walls all about, bouncing blinding little beams off the big shining reflectors, glittering and refracting through her lenses, the whole gigantic bulk of her balanced like a ballerina on the glistening steel axle of her rotary mechanism. She was a sweetheart of a light. And at night she'd lie there on the stone deck of the gallery with her revolving smoothly and quietly over your head, easing her bright white eye 360 degrees around the horizon. You'd lie there watching to see that the feeders kept working, that everything ran right. And it wouldn't be bad, the other two fellows snoring in their sacks two levels down. You'd smoke your pipe to kill the stink of the wind. And it wouldn't be bad about those other two, Louie and Auguste. What a pair. Louie he was. Head man was a big fellow from the Basque country. Black beard, little hard black eyes and a pair of arms that I tell you, those arms were as big around as my legs. Yes, head man he was. And what word he let go was law. A silent fellow. And although I spent my first two weeks trying to strike up a real conversation, the most I could ever get out of him was John. I took up this profession because I don't like people. They want to talk too much. It's quiet work, light, tending. Let's keep it that way. You're getting to be as bad as August. I thought maybe for once they send me somebody. That was Louie. When he accused me of becoming like August, I quieted down because August was the talkingest man I'd ever met. The talkingest and the ugliest. He was hunchbacked, stood four feet high, had red hair and big blue eyes. It seems he'd been an actor in Paris.
August
Yes, indeed. Played in over 200 different productions, dear boy, at the Grand Guignol. Oh, but it was monstrous horrible the way we used to scare the audiences. I was hated. Yes, yes. They used to throw things and hiss and bare their teeth that way. Finally it got too bad. I couldn't stand it any longer. I gave up the theater. My nerves, you understand. Yes, gave it up completely. I really did. Couldn't stand it any.
John
It all started one morning at 2:30. I was on watch, lying on the cool stone deck, pulling on my pipe, staring out at the blackness, the phosphorescent combers and the big yellow stars. When out of the corner of my Eye. I noticed something show up for a second. Something. The light had touched far off. I waited for her to come around again. And when she did, there it was. A three master. A big one, about a half mile off and coming down out of the north northwest. Coming straight for us. You must understand, our light was where it was for a very good reason. Dangerous submerged reefs surrounded us and ships kept clear. But this one, this sailing vessel was coming straight on. I went over to the gallery door and yelled, louie.
August
Louie.
John
Couldn't understand it. I waited for the light to come around again. Ship headed for the reefs. Hurry right up. I had the glasses out now. I couldn't read her name, but I could see her quite plainly. All sail set. The foam creaming away under her bow. Her beautiful lines. A Dutch ship. I guessed her. But why didn't she turn? Every time it passed, our light hit her with the glare of day. Ship. Where? North northwest. The light will touch her in a moment. Can't they see? Look at her. She just keeps coming on the square heads.
August
What is it? What is it?
John
Watch. North northwest.
August
I know. I know what it is.
John
Eh? What?
August
The Dutchman. The Flying Dutchman. We did a play about her once. Oh, what a performance. You ghastly galleon hag ridden, curse driven mustang.
John
Shut up, will you? She's laughing. Yes. Sloppy way to come about. She's derelict. That's it. Derelict. Abandoned. The crew left her for some reason or other. But instead of sinking, she's gone on running before every wind.
August
She'll not run long, not with these reefs to break her up.
John
A beautiful ship. Now, why would men leave a beautiful ship like that? She didn't ram us, although we all expected it. But as we waited for the crash, she luffed again, caught some odd gust and went about. We watched her the rest of those black hours, healing and rocking, pushed and pulled by every stray wind, every foam freak current. Watched her until the dawn came. Till the sea turned from black to a pearly gray. And on she came again, heading for us. We all had our glasses trained on her now. August, you can kill the light.
August
Right, chief.
John
She doesn't look so good by daylight. Think she'll ground this time? What? I say, do you think she'll ground this time? This is impossible. Absolutely impossible. What? Here, take my glasses. They're better than yours. All right. What is it you're. I had to focus. And then my breath froze in my throat. The decks were swarming with a dark brown carpet that looked like a gigantic fungus, but undulating and on the masts and yards. The guys and all were hundreds. No, thousands. No, I don't know. An endless number of enormous rats. See them? Yes, I see them. Now we know why she's derelict. Yes, now we know.
August
What are you two doing here? Give me a look.
John
Yes, give him the glasses. Take a good look, chatterbox. Give you something to talk about. She's still heading for us. Yes, she's going to turn. She better turn soon. Suppose she doesn't? You mean, suppose she piles up on the key? It's low tide. Yes. Yes, it is. Where's all the conversation, August, huh? Here. Want the glasses again? Want another look?
August
No, no.
John
She's still coming on.
August
Go away. Go away.
John
Turn, will you? Turn, I say. I pray you turn. She's quacking up. The rats. Look.
August
On the water. Like a carpet.
John
They're swimming. Sure, they're swimming. Those are ships. Rats. But they're swimming for the rocks. The door below.
August
It's open.
John
Come on down. We went racing down the stone stairs, taking them three and four at a time. Scared? You bet we were scared. August, you get the windows. Maybe they can climb. We don't know.
August
Righty. But hurry, buddy.
John
Look. See them? No. Oh, yes, I do. Up at the other end of the rock. Look at the millions. They smell us. Here they come. Close the door. Can't. Can't it Stop. Move.
August
You move.
John
Made it. Holy, that was close. One guy in. Look there. Get him. Watch him. He's kicking. He was as big as a tomcat. Bigger. And his eyes were wild and red. His teeth long and sharp and yellow. He went for a starving ravenous. And we fought him, fought that one rat all over the room. It was. Oh, believe me, I do not exaggerate. It was like fighting a panther. Got him. We better get aloft. As we ran up the winding staircase, we passed the tiny windows of the various levels. And at every one was a thick, wriggling, screaming curtain of brown fur. I was ahead of Louie, and I dreaded each successive level. Suppose they had found a way in.
August
Look at them, will you? Look at them.
John
It's a nightmare. Will you look at them? The air of the gallery was thick and fetid with the stink of them. The light was dim, brown filtered through the crawling mass that swarmed over the glass. All about us. We could not see the sky. Nothing. Nothing but them. Their red eyes. Their claws. Their wriggling, hairy snouts. Their teeth. The rats. They screamed and howled and threw themselves against the glass. They were starving. And we three, we stood very quietly. Very, very Quietly, in the center of the classroom, under our beautiful light. And we waited.
August
What can we do? What can we do to you?
John
Take it easy, old man. Take it easy.
August
I can't. I just can't.
John
It won't do any. Won't do any good to stand here in shape. That's right. Anybody want a cigarette?
August
Yes. Yes, I have one. Thank you.
John
Good boy. We've got to keep calm about this thing. Here's a light.
August
Dad. They don't like the fire, do they?
John
Guess not.
August
Give me another match. You don't like that much, do you?
John
I don't. Wile him, August.
August
Give me some more matches. I'll strike them and strike them and strike them until they get scared and go away.
John
They won't go away. Not until.
August
Finish it, Jake. Not until what?
John
Not until they've been fed. You can take just so much horror and then you get used to it. They were interesting to watch, you know. They couldn't understand the glass. They could see us and they could rush at us. But that thin, invisible barrier held them off. Stop them. From time to time we caught a glimpse of the rocks below. More rats down there. Swarming brown velvet in the bright tropical sunlight. And then the tide began to rise. If only it had drowned some of them ships.
August
Rats don't drown. No, sir, you cannot drown one of them. They're all climbing up the tower.
John
This bunch around us is getting thicker. Say, what's the time?
August
Quarter six.
John
You've got first watch, Joan. Right. Wake me at 10. I will. Come along. Ever since it was getting dark, one side of the room was lit. A soft, filtered red sunset through the rats. Oh, very pretty. I set the wicks, checked my fuel and then lit the lamps. It caught them. Lit them in their gigantic wriggling web of pale, hairless bellies. Twitching red tails. Bright eyes. Then I started the rotary motor. Light drove them mad as she swung slowly and smoothly about. She blinded them in the fierce, stabbing bar of light. Moving continually about, ever turning, ever touching. Ever moving around and around and they twitching and shuddering. Eyes flaming when they were struck by the light. Bright light moving and behind on the dark side of the room. So close, so close I did not turn my back. But she cannot help turning your back when you're in a room made of glass. On the dark side of the room, you could not see them, but only their eyes. Thousands of points of blank red light blinking and twinkling like the stars of hell. Louis relieved me at 10. But I didn't get much sleep that night. And when I Came up into the gallery early next morning. There stood August, his back to me. He was bowing to the rats, waving his arms and making a speech.
August
I am going to play once again that magnificent role which made me the toast of the Paris theatre. Prelate, the evil genius of the medieval underworld. I am he who did guide the docks soul of the Marisal into the nether parts. Do not be frightened, little children. I will not turn you.
John
I stood staring at him, horror struck. But he didn't notice me. The man had gone mad. He kept turning, telling his stories to all the rats, leaving no one out. August. August.
August
Ah, another one. A late comer. Take a seat on the aisle, dear patron. Move over there. Let the gentleman be seated.
John
He went on bowing and scraping to the rats, his big blue eyes rolling and winking, his wild red hair waving about him. I grabbed him by the arms. He looked at me like a child. Then his face screwed up. He looked as though he were about to cry. Go below. Go on.
August
Oh, very well then. Later, my dear audience. Later. Met in a today.
John
Sure he was crazy, but I guess we all were. A few hours later he came back up and caught Louie and me teasing the rats. Yes, sounds horrible. It was fun. We could get right up against the glass and make faces at them. It drove them crazy. They would scratch away trying to get at our eyes. Louie was even cuter about it. He'd pull a piece of bread out of his pocket and press it against the glass. The rats would scramble into a solid ball, biting each other, clustering like grapes. From time to time a whole knot of them would slip and fall 110ft to the surf below. Look at the sharks. They're eating them. The sharp sharks are our friends. Here, I'll get another bunch together. Here, my beauties. That's it. Pile of kill each other. There they go. Ogoose joined in too. Oh, very ingenious. Oh, goose. He learned that if he spread eagled himself against the glass, they'd bunch and bundle against his figure. Then he'd leap back. Look.
August
My portrait in rats.
John
It went on all day. And then I was lying in bed. It was about midnight. I was very tired and I was just beginning to fall off to sleep when I became conscious of a new sound. Couldn't figure it at first. I got up, lit the lamp and went to the window. Even as I looked at it, I saw one of the panes begin to sag in. They had eaten the wood away. Louie. Louie. Come quick. What? What is it? It found a way in. I held the Glass with my hand. Now they were all going crazy. And assured of the success of this maneuver, were all nibbling away at the wood. Louis ran below and then returned with a large sheet of tiny. We spread it against the window and hammered it into place. Even as we did so, we felt the heavy body scudding against the other's tide as the window gave way. That ought to hold. If it doesn't, we're done for. Rats can't eat tin. No, they can't. What was that? I don't know. It came from below the storeroom window. They're in. They're swarming up the stairs. Drop the trap. Right. Two of them got in. Let's go after them. We didn't have to go after them. They came at us. I leaped to one side and grabbed a marlin spike, swung and smashed one in midair. No. I whirled to see Louie with the other. It had ripped his hand open and the blood was pouring all over the place. He held his hand aloft and kicked at the snarling rat. I stepped and swung and got him.
August
My friend. He got my hand.
John
That's both of them. Louia. I'll get you something to tie that up.
August
Blood. Look at it.
John
My. My blood. I'm bleeding now. Don't worry about it, Louie. Here, look. I'll wind this kerchief around it. It'll be okay. Blood. There now. It's not bad. Just the flesh. Then I became conscious of another new sound. They were gnawing their way through the wooden trap door. I watched the wood. Fascinating. Even as I did, it began to give way and a bristling, whiskery nose showed through. Louie. Louie. We got to go up. Next level was the little quarters in the kitchen. I slammed the trap door there too, but it too was wood. My blood. What are we going to do? Hell no. He'll be through this one in a moment. The gallery. The trapdoor in the gallery is metal. Good. Come on. We made it. We lay across the trapdoor, exhausted, while below us the rats took over the entire tower. I could hear them howling and fighting over our food supply, our water, our leather, and all about us. The others screamed and glared in at us, swayed in a tangled mass, hypnotized by the ever turning light. By morning, the air in the little room was horrible. Until now, we'd been getting air from the tower below. Now that was sealed off and so was all our food and water. We lay exhausted, panting, waiting, waiting. Hours crawled on. I was almost dozing from fatigue when I saw A sight that dropped me too fast.
August
Would you like to come in, my beauties? Would you? I hold the powers of life and death. And I can let you in. You.
John
Allgoost was standing by the glass, and in one hand he held a wrench. He was tapping the glass gently, not quite hard enough to break it. I eased myself to my feet. Flowing very slowly, it held.
August
Taught him all I have to do is tap just a little harder.
John
I found a coil of wire in the toolkit and I trussed him up, fastened him to a stanchion in the center of the room. Louis was of no help. He lay on his side, looking at his bloody hand, weak and sick as a baby. So there I was, a lunatic and a coward for company. And all about, watching our little drama. And the rats. The day dragged by. The supply boat wasn't due for another 12 days. I don't know what they could have done if they had come. We had only one way of summoning them, and that was to shoot off distress rockets. But the rockets were four floors below. And even if they'd been right there in the gallery, I couldn't have opened a window to fire them. At night I tended the light, but its flame was devouring our oxygen. The following day we lay thirst tormented, starving, waiting, waiting. And the following night, I again tended the light. But the small supply of spare wicking we kept in the gallery had become exhausted. And quite suddenly, about midnight, the light went out. There's nothing I could do. Wicks were stored three levels below. Nothing I could do. Nothing. From time to time, I'd strike a match to see the clock. When I did, it lit up the million red eyes about us. All about us, watching, waiting. Below, it had grown quiet. They'd cleaned us out. And now they too were waiting. All waiting. And then the rats, quite suddenly, were silent. And then I heard. And then I saw the sky and the stars. The rats were gone. I went to the glass. Out there on the water, a small freighter, a banana boat showing a few lights, came softly and innocently at us. The light was out. They didn't know. I wanted to open the windows, to call out to them, to warn them somehow. But I was afraid. What if the rats were hiding from me, tricking me? So I waited. She grounded very softly on a reef not 200 yards from the key. Grounded so gently that the man playing the cornet, was he a passenger? Crewman, off watch. Didn't even stop playing. They tried washing her back off. I could have told them to save their fuel. The tide was rising, would have floated her free. And I waited. That's all. That's the story. The sun came up and there wasn't a rat on the whole key. Every last one of that terrible army had left us. Gone back to sea. Their new ship, August insane asylum. He never recovered. And Louis? They took him into Cayenne where he died of blood poisoning from his bite. Oh, yes. Well, that's the whole of it. And if you'll excuse me now, I must go set my traps. No. No mouse traps. No rats in this lighthouse. I should say not. Life in the lights isn't bad, but sometimes when I see a strange vessel approaching, I get a little nervous. Sure, Somewhere on the seas there's a little banana boat without a crew, that is, without a human crew.
Announcer
Escape is produced and directed by William N. Robeson. Tonight we have presented three Skeleton Key by George Todo's adapted for radio by James Poe and starring Vincent Price as John. Supporting Mr. Price, where Harry Bartel as August and Jeff Corey as Louis. Sound effects on three skeleton key created by Cliff Thorsness and executed today by Mr. Thorsness. Gus Bayes and Jack Six Smith have been awarded the best of the year by radio and television Life magazine. Harry Essman was at the control panel and special music was arranged and conducted by Del Castillo. Next week.
Narrator
You are swimming for your life in the dangerous waters off the Florida Gulf coast, about to be smashed by a launch carrying a vicious criminal who must kill you or die himself. And on shore 500 yards away, the police are waiting to arrest you for murder. And there can be no escape.
Announcer
Next week we escape with an exciting tale of temptation and death on the Gulf coast of Florida. As John and Gwen Bagney tell it in danger at Matagomba. Goodbye. Then until the same time next week when once again, we offer you escape. A patch of weeds, a boxer's biography and a mild lukewarm bath. They're all clues that lead the police of Jackson, Michigan to a killer in the gangbuster story on CBS this Saturday night. It's the case of the double push to be heard on most of these same CBS stations This Saturday night. This is cbs, the Columbia broadcasting system.
Podcast Host
That's gonna do it for this episode of the horror. I hope you enjoyed today's story. You can find more from Escape @Relic Race radio.com alongside this podcast, past episodes from it and all of the other podcasts. There's also a shoutcast stream there as well with even more old time radio. Lots to listen to, enough to fill up your days, all for free. Thanks to your support. If you'd like to help out, visit donate. Relicradio.com or click on one of the links on the website. Your donation of any amount is always helpful and appreciated. Thanks again to those who have helped out. Thanks for joining joining me this week. I'll be back tomorrow with Strange Tales and next Saturday with another episode of the Horror.
Podcast Summary: The Horror! – "Three Skeleton Key" by Escape (Aired February 3, 2024)
This episode of The Horror! features a classic tale from the radio drama series Escape: "Three Skeleton Key." Hosted by RelicRadio.com, the episode transports listeners to a remote lighthouse off the coast of French Guiana, where three men experience a terrifying siege by thousands of ravenous, ship-borne rats. With performances anchored by Vincent Price, the story delivers gothic suspense, psychological horror, and atmospheric storytelling, illustrating the enduring power of old-time radio.
| Timestamp | Segment Description | |------------|----------------------------------------------------------| | 02:31 | Vivid lighthouse and island description by John | | 06:20 | August's introduction & acting background | | 09:46 | Rats revealed on the ghost ship | | 12:16 | First rat invades lighthouse – violent struggle | | 13:05 | Rats surround, cover and darken the gallery | | 15:35 | Rats ascend the tower – desperation increases | | 17:25 | August’s descent into madness, performs to the rats | | 21:44 | Louie wounded; rats breach new levels | | 24:07 | August threatens to smash glass, John restrains him | | 27:16 | Rats leave for new ship; rescue and aftermath | | 28:51 | John reflects on his ordeal and paranoia |
Throughout, the dialogue and narration oscillate between matter-of-fact, noir-inflected storytelling and feverish, melodramatic horror. Vincent Price delivers John's lines with gravitas and rising anxiety, while August provides manic, theatrical energy and Louie a stern, subdued counterpoint. The episode’s tension crescendos with the characters’ psychological disintegration, underlining classic horror themes of isolation, madness, and survival.
This episode is an exemplary piece of radio horror, inviting you into a claustrophobic, escalating nightmare. The pacing and dramatic performances, punctuated by eerie sound effects and memorable dialogue, bring to life a tale that is as much about psychological endurance as it is about physical survival. The resolution is chillingly ambiguous, leaving you haunted by the implications of what might still lurk out at sea.