Lot 089 : I Found An Old Radio…And A Voice Cried For Help

Today's episode is sponsored by I Know What You Did Last Summer.

Get It Now on Digital.

When five friends inadvertently cause a deadly car accident, they cover up their involvement and make a pact to keep it a secret rather than face the consequences.

A year later, their past comes back to haunt them, and they're forced to confront a horrifying truth.

Someone knows what they did last summer and is hell-bent on revenge.

As one by one, the friends are stalked by a killer.

They discover this happened before, so they turn to two survivors of the legendary Southport massacre of 1997 for help.

Starring Madeline Klein, Chase Sue Wonders, Jonah Hauer King with Freddie Prince Jr., and Jennifer Love Hewitt.

I know what you did last summer is a perfect summer slasher, says Jordan Cruciolo of NPR.

Your summer is not over yet.

Don't miss a killer movie night at home.

This week's episode is sponsored by Together, now available to rent or buy on digital.

Together stars Dave Franco and Alison Bree in an unforgettable epic horror that Bloody Disgusting calls a wild crowd pleaser that will leave you laughing and screaming in equal measure.

Watch Together, the breakout horror movie of the year at home.

Buy or rent today.

H equals you.

At long last, good friend,

I've been waiting for you.

Come on in.

Mind the salt line and don't step past the red thread near the cabinet.

That seal's still holding

for now.

We've cataloged horrors that howl, pages that scream,

a never-ending cavalcade of mysteries.

Tonight's item

it whispered,

a radio from the 1940s found in a condemned storage unit.

You're about to tune in.

I found an old radio and a voice cried for help.

Before we begin, I want to point out some of the customers whose names have been etched in brass on this beautiful plaque I had made above the front desk.

These are some of the members of the inner circle of the Antiquarium.

We go by the Obsidian Covenant.

Recent initiates include Danilo Esparza, Nikki Joe Johnson, Snowy Wolf,

Grateful Receiver, Kyle Sleeps, Jaslyn Gray,

Vanella Honey,

Colin Kavanaugh,

and

Jacqueline Renee.

We are ever appreciative of your devotion to the Order.

Go to theObsidian Covenant.com to receive the sacrament.

Now,

where were we?

Oh, yes.

Welcome to the Antiquarium of Sinister Happenings

and Odd Goings On.

I found an old radio, and a voice cried for help.

I wish I'd never listened.

My job is, or at least was,

working for a low-budget storage company.

You find a lot of strange things that people leave behind in this sort of job.

Mostly junk, sometimes valuables.

Occasionally, my company, Tidy Storage, would do an auction for things people left behind, but mostly they wouldn't bother.

Instead, it would be my job to go in and clear out the abandoned units and get them ready for the next customer.

It was a decent living,

at least until last week, when I I found that damn radio.

I had just arrived at work to start my shift.

I walked up to the front gate and entered the code out of habit.

When nothing happened, I groaned.

Remembering the electronic gate was broken, and I was not sure when or if it would ever be fixed.

I fumbled for the old key I'd been given and unlocked the adjacent gate and stepped into the storage facility.

The large padlock slipped off and clattered to the ground as the gate swung open with hinges as rusty as the rest of the dilapidated facility.

I laughed briefly when I considered the company's name.

Tidy storage indeed.

I guess that since our prices were dirt cheap, it was the only thing that saved whatever meager business this place eked out.

I was not even sure if there were other employees here, or if it was just me and the lot manager Tim,

who never seemed to be around.

I slipped the key back in my my pocket and moved along.

I found the building desolate as always.

My footsteps were hollow in the quiet.

It was a world of peeling paint, faded numbers, and bolts so old they flaked red onto the ground.

As I walked along toward the unit I was looking for, my boots managed to find every crevice and fracture.

The concrete was old and weary.

Like many things in the rundown place,

I wondered if it would ever be fixed.

I kept a steady pace.

My shift had just started, and I was in no rush.

I did find myself wishing it hadn't been so quiet.

The sound of isolation, the echo of nothing except my own footsteps was disquieting.

I was annoyed at myself for forgetting to charge my headphones as I realized that the lonely ambience would likely be my only companion that day.

Unless I happened upon an actual person.

The small circuit I walked revealed more of the storage units.

Rust bloomed like a disease, spreading from corners and hinges.

The numbers, once bold and bright, now faded.

Looking at the degradation, I was glad that I had a recent tetanus shot.

I still couldn't believe people would be desperate enough to even use this place to store whatever junk they couldn't live without.

I guess I couldn't say much.

I had to work in this mess after all.

When I had started working here,

I had thought this solitude might be nice.

Yet now, I found myself bored and slightly lonesome.

Nothing stirring except the cold wind outside and the thoughts in my head.

I walked deeper into the facility, looking at a nearby unit I was close.

It was into into the 100s, so I was almost to my destination.

The rows of storage units stretched out in long corridors.

You see, size was the one thing that this place did not skimp on, though it was tedious walking the ground sometimes.

The units stood shoulder to shoulder,

monotonously watching me as I walked between them.

Then...

I came upon Unit 113.

It had a note left by Tim, the lot manager, and indicated that this one was past the last notice for the owner to pay or clear out before we took possession.

I managed to force open the door, which was slightly stuck even after unlocking it.

Even in the gloom of the flickering overhead bulb, I could see how thoroughly someone had made a mess of the place.

Debris littered the floor.

Papers lay torn or trampled or water warped into crisp waves.

A pattern was drawn on the wall.

Likely some kind of graffiti.

I rubbed a finger over it and relaxed when I realized it was chalk and not paint.

Way easier to clean up.

But also fucking weird.

Old books were stacked along the walls of the unit and falling out of crumbling boxes.

The spines of the books bore weird titles and strange symbols.

Their dusty fragrance coated the air, blending with the metallic tang of metal and wires strewn about like the aftermath of an explosion.

Bits of brass and rusted tools caught the overhead sickly light.

It seemed as if whoever was using the unit had been building or repairing something.

At least they were before it was just left abandoned.

I found the clash between the weird books, odd shock symbols, and the metal scrap rather jarring.

I might have been overthinking it, but it was stranger than usual.

Most units filled up slowly, at a pace their owners never admitted was trash, but not this one.

Not when scattered across the room were papers with hastily scribbled notes and diagrams, tapestries of ideas pinned haphazardly to the walls, with a floor littered with open books.

Their pages marked with frantic underlines and exclamation points.

Whoever had used this space had been driven by an almost manic sense of purpose,

evident in the chaotic yet intentional arrangement of every item.

I took a closer look at the weird outline.

The lines of chalk and tracked like footprints across the walls and floor.

Diagrams wove among the chaos, haunting like disembodied veins.

Lines dissected the walls, racing and looping before coming to blunt ends.

Strings of symbols strayed into forgotten corners.

There was a symmetry to them, a rhythm,

that made me wonder if they'd been left behind to be found.

Near the far wall, I stumbled onto an arrangement that looked less haphazard than the rest.

Some of the books had been opened and left like cracked doors.

A circled pattern showing through from one page to the next.

I paused over it, my own breath loud in the stale air.

A high-pitched tone pricked at me from somewhere above, then vanished just as quickly.

I stood perfectly still, waiting for it to come again, almost wishing it would.

But there was nothing except the rattle of the faulty light.

and the drum of my own heart.

The whole room vibrated with an unsettling silence, the kind that made it impossible to think clearly.

I could not explain why,

but something about how everything was left here felt wrong.

When I navigated through the towers of boxes, my eyes fixed on what lay in the center of the storage unit.

An antique radio.

It looked like someone had brought the thing straight from the 1940s.

The thing was perched atop an old end table,

laying there like it was afraid I wouldn't see it.

Even from across the room, I could tell how strangely new it looked.

Shiny mahogany and glass, free from the layers of grime and rot that smothered everything else.

I couldn't believe someone would leave that thing behind.

Whoever had used Unit 113 must have been a little eccentric.

The strange drawings, books, and radio made it seem like maybe they're a conspiracy theorist or something.

Whoever they were, they'd lost it all now.

It seemed strange they would go through all that effort to put all this here and then just abandon it.

And now,

it was my job to clean up the mess.

I felt certain there was...

there had to be an interesting story behind the markings and books, but

mostly it's pristine radio.

There was just something about its placement,

the care with which it had been left, that piqued my interest.

I told myself I should get the dolly and start carting the boxes of books out first.

Yet I was too intrigued by the radio.

I had to find out if it still worked.

And if it did,

see what it might be worth.

I reached out to touch the dial and turn it on, and the radio vibrated with a weird anticipation.

The odd feedback was strange.

I brushed it off, and when I finally twisted the knobs, the speakers gave a pop and filled the air with static, louder than I expected and more urgent than what I was ready for.

I was about to turn off the device again, overwhelmed by the incessant white noise.

But it finally picked up a signal,

and the signal

had a voice.

It was no voice I'd ever heard.

It cracked in bursts, a tonal and discordant, like the air was filled with bees.

But as I drew it in,

it got sharper.

Less of a fuzz and more of a buzz.

Less of a buzz and more of a plea.

I pressed my ear close.

So close I felt the hairs stand at attention.

I had thought the static was deafening.

But I was wrong.

The clarity was worse.

It was subtle.

Subtle enough that I almost packed it up and pretended it was nothing but an echo in my own lonely brain.

But the voice refused to die away.

I thought it might be some sort of trick, you know, maybe some secret recording device playing back.

The voice had a far-off quality to it, like it came from another time or place or dimension, warped and bent and heartbreaking.

I was not sure why,

but the more I listened,

the more

real it sounded.

I couldn't explain it, except to say I knew the way a trapped animal knows a trap.

It looped in on itself, An infinite reel of terror.

I considered going to find Tim,

but he was not there when I'd arrived and was not sure if he would be at all that day.

I thought about taking the strange radio to the police and seeing if they knew what to do.

But something about the appeal of the voice

compelled me to listen.

Like it was meant for me specifically, and I alone could could help.

After all, there was no one else who could hear.

No one else I could tell who would take it seriously.

No one else but the radio and me.

Buzzing along in awful harmony.

What was I supposed to do to help?

And just who was I trying to help?

I sat with my head in my hands and listened until I was too disturbed to listen anymore.

I switched the radio off and and the daze I was in broke.

I stepped out of the storage unit to catch my breath.

After a few moments, I composed myself and went back inside.

I had to try and find out what was going on.

I switched the radio back on.

It's in a way I was crazy.

Static once again filled the room, bouncing off the cement walls and flooding every corner.

I listened, waiting for something,

knowing it would come, fearing what it might be.

The voice broke like a distant scream, louder this time, torn apart and stitched back together by the crackling ether.

It wavered, rising and falling.

My spine stiffened.

The desperate voice pleaded into into the void, and I listened, helpless to help, but painfully aware of whoever was in trouble and whatever might be happening to them.

I stumbled backward, eyes fixed on the device.

The situation felt surreal, impossible, and yet, it was there.

Real as the dust mode swirling in the dim light.

My fingers dug into the edge of the flimsy table the radio rested on,

holding on to the world that was spinning out from under me.

I had to do something.

I had to try to communicate with them.

But how?

I had an idea just then.

I grabbed the radio, searching its face with trembling hands, tracing the outlines of its dials and switches.

I turned it over, frantic and desperate, until I saw the frayed wires in the small section that was responsible for communication.

To my dismay, the transmitter was damaged.

The cries for help continued and I tried to think what I could do.

There was something I thought that might work.

I returned to the storage lot's main office.

I found what I was searching for after not too long.

An old ham radio.

It was battered and stained with grease, a relic of another time.

Its knobs worn smooth, its faceplate scratched with the history of years gone by.

Though the radio itself would not turn on, the transmitter looked intact.

So I set about my work.

I needed to understand.

I needed to help.

I needed to know who was calling and where they were.

My hands moved with a purpose I barely recognized, setting up a workspace in the crowded storage unit.

I'd found a small toolbox, mostly used for repairs on the lot.

I pried it open, rummaging through mismatched sockets and forgotten screwdrivers, pulling out the few items I needed to begin.

Some other components like wire cutters were scavenged from Unit 113 itself.

The work took a while.

I was well versed in restoring electronics, but not with things that were quite this old.

Though an odd kind of peace descended, eerie and consuming, as I lost myself in the repair.

The world outside faded,

shrinking to just the size of the radio.

and the size of the task at hand.

I stripped the old wires and replaced them.

Time slipped by unnoticed, marked only by the flickering bulb and the soft thud of my heart.

The sound from the radio was gone after turning it off to repair.

Yet the quiet felt worse.

Almost unbearably so.

The absence of the voice drove me forward with an urgency I could not shake.

I had to speak with them.

I had to help.

I finished the last connection, my hands stiff and sore, sore, my mind a blur of tangled thoughts.

The radio sat before me, repaired, at least as far as I could see.

The cry for help lingered in my mind, the desperate plea refusing to fade.

I hoped that my plan would work.

Only one way to know for sure now.

I turned it on.

The blare of static came through immediately.

The connection sounded bad and I almost shut it off again, thinking that I might have made it worse.

Just as I was about to lose hope, the voice crept through, growing inside the noise, becoming human by slow degrees.

Stop.

Did you hear it?

That hum.

That faint flicker.

We keep the radio under glass now, but even so, it sometimes warms at at night.

Not the casing, the inside.

Like it remembers something.

We rotate the case away from all mirrors just to be safe.

Let me check it one more time, then we'll return.

Hi, this is Trevor from the Acquisitions Department here at the Antiquarium.

You know, most of my work here at the shop involves cataloging sealed vessels, expired familiars, and most recently, lunch.

You see, summer is terribly inefficient.

Rituals run late, exorcisms go long, and no one's got time to simmer bones for 18 hours.

That's why I've outsourced.

I now dine exclusively with Tempo.

Tempo delivers fresh, chef-crafted, dietitian-approved meals straight to your door.

No hexes, no prep, and certainly no need to interpret a scroll to figure out the macros.

I've personally tried their carb-conscious Harissa chicken and something called turmeric salmon over Frika.

I don't know what Frika is, but it's absolutely glorious.

Each meal heats in just three minutes, which is exactly the time it takes to blind a lesser demon.

And you'll be pleased to know Tempo is the official partner of the 2025 CrossFit Games.

I don't CrossFit, but I do carry a lot of emotional baggage.

Same thing, really.

For limited time, Tempo is offering visitors to the antiquarium 60% off your first box.

Go to tempomeals.com/slash sinister.

That's tempo meals.com/slash sinister, S-I-N-I-S-T-E-R for 60% off.

Tempomeals.com slash sinister.

Rules and restrictions may apply.

Today's episode is sponsored by I Know What You Did Last Summer.

Get it now on digital.

When five friends inadvertently cause a deadly car accident, they cover up their involvement and make a pact to keep it a secret rather than face the consequences.

A year later, their past comes back to haunt them, and they're forced to confront a horrifying truth.

Someone knows what they did last summer and is hell-bent on revenge.

As one by one, the friends are stalked by a killer.

They discover this happened before, so they turn to two survivors of the legendary Southport massacre of 1997 for help.

Starring Madeline Klein, Chase Sue Wonders, Jonah Howard King with Freddie Prince Jr., and Jennifer Love Hewitt.

I know what you did last summer is a perfect summer slasher, says Jordan Crucciolo of NPR.

Your summer is not over yet.

Don't miss a killer movie night at home.

Why, hello there.

You've reached the antiquarium.

If you wish to leave a message, please do so with the town and have a great day.

Um, do you remember me?

I came to your shop and found just the loveliest necklaces.

You told me that each one was perfect for a specific person, and the moment my eyes lay on that jade, I knew that one was perfect for me.

It truly is gorgeous, but I.

I.

I think maybe this one wasn't meant for me.

I can't take it off, and each day it tightens a bit more.

I'm having this trouble

breathing.

I'm not asking to return it.

Just please.

Help me take it off.

Please.

Help me take it off.

I want to take it off.

End of message.

All right.

Nothing's changed.

At least not yet.

I will pass along this warning, however.

No matter what you think you hear,

do not speak back to it.

Now,

let's finish what we started.

Shall we?

The blare of static came through immediately.

The connection sounded bad, and I almost shut it off again, thinking that I might have made it worse.

Just as I was about to lose hope, the voice crept through, growing inside the noise, becoming human by slow degrees.

The voice.

The same desperate plea, reaching through layers of interference.

It was a specter, thin and distorted, almost lost in the wall of static.

But there.

Unmistakably there.

The voice ebbed and flowed, swelling in strength only to break apart and dissolve into the relentless sea of sound.

Help!

It hurts me.

I'm here.

They're all gone.

There's no one left.

They were desperate.

And I had the means to try and help now.

I picked up the newly repaired transmitter and attempted to respond.

Hello?

Who's there?

How can I help?

The static grew quieter somehow.

A long pause made me consider if it had worked after all.

Before I could try and repeat myself, I heard the voice again.

The static finally lessened, revealing a voice that now seemed somehow clearer, more focused.

It trembled with what I could only interpret as relief.

You can hear me.

You can actually hear me.

The voice sounded feminine now, though strained and thinned, as if speaking required tremendous effort.

Thank you.

I thought

no one ever find me.

I leaned closer to the transmitter, my pulse quickening.

Yes, I hear you.

Where are you?

Who are you?

I don't know who I am.

The voice cracked, dissolving momentarily into static before returning, clearer than it had ever been before.

It's dark.

So dark.

I've been trapped in this place for so long, I don't even know how long.

How did you end up there?

Where is it?

Were you kidnapped?

Let me know so I can send help, I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

The radio hissed and popped in response.

I found something in the books.

A doorway.

A way through.

I thought I was so clever.

I thought I'd discovered something no one else had.

But it was waiting for me.

What was waiting?

Who are you?

I pressed the transmitter harder, as if physical pressure could somehow strengthen our tenuous connection.

My name is

Rebecca.

I ran in this unit to study.

It was the only place that was safe.

The books, the symbols.

They're all part of something bigger.

There's a hunger here in this place between places.

It feeds on

us,

on

essence.

Help me.

I'm fading.

I looked around at the chalk markings with new understanding.

They weren't random at all.

They formed a pattern.

A diagram.

A door.

How can I help you?

What do I need to do?

The urgency in my voice surprised even me.

I could barely believe this was all happening.

Yet the impossibility of the situation did little to dull my desire to help.

The radio fell silent for so long I thought I'd lost her.

Then,

softer than before.

The ritual.

You need to reverse it.

The book with the red binding on the far wall,

page 43.

My eyes scanned the chaos until I spotted it.

A leather-bound volume.

Its spine the color of dried blood.

I scrambled over boxes and debris, snatching it up with trembling hands.

The book was heavier than I expected.

Its leather cover worn smooth in places, cracked and peeling in others.

Each one covered in cramped handwriting and arcane diagrams that seemed to shift when I wasn't looking directly at them.

Page 43 revealed a complex circular pattern, not unlike the chalk markings on the walls, but more intricate.

Notes in faded ink crowded the margins.

Some crossed out, others underlined multiple times.

I found it, I said, returning to the radio, but I don't understand what I'm looking at.

The symbols need to be redrawn backwards.

The words pronounce them in reverse order.

Harry,

I can feel it coming close.

What's coming closer?

The question escaped before I could stop it.

A burst of static erupted from the radio, so loud I had to cover my ears.

When it subsided, Rebecca's voice had changed.

Lower,

strangled, as if speaking through something thick.

The hairs on my arms stood on end, and the air in the storage unit seemed to grow colder, heavier.

I looked down at the book again, studying the symbols.

They seemed familiar somehow, though I knew I'd never seen them before.

My fingers traced the outline of the central figure, a twisted, inhuman shape with too many limbs and eyes that seemed to follow my gaze across the page.

A cold sweat broke out across my forehead.

Was this poor girl stuck in there with that thing?

My gaze darted to the chalk markings on the wall, seeing them with new clarity.

I moved to the wall and hurriedly wiped away the old marking and replaced them with inversions of the previous patterns.

I moved as fast as I could, spurred on by the anguished sounds of Rebecca on the radio.

Something terrible was coming for her, and I had to get her the fuck out of there.

The chalk dust clung to my sweaty fingers as I worked, each symbol requiring painstaking care to invert properly.

My heart hammered against my ribs, and I found myself glancing over my shoulder at shadows that seemed to shift when I wasn't looking directly at them.

The final symbol took shape under my trembling hand.

A twisted glyph that resembled an eye with tendrils spiraling outward.

I called to the radio, my voice cracking with tension.

The words from the book felt strange in my mouth as I pronounced them backward, each syllable slippery and wrong, like something that wasn't meant to be spoken by human tongues.

The air in the storage unit grew dense, charged with an electricity that made my skin prickle and the hairs in my arms stand on end.

As I completed the final reverse symbol, the radio erupted with a sound that wasn't static.

It was something deeper, more

primal.

A scream that morphed into a roar, followed by Rebecca's voice, suddenly crystal clear and urgent.

It's working.

I can see a light.

I can feel myself coming back.

Please don't stop now.

I need to get out of here.

The chalk markings began to glow with a sickly blue light, pulsing in rhythm with the desperate pleas coming from the radio.

The temperature in the room plummeted so quickly that my breath came out in visible clouds.

The pages of the book fluttered as if caught in a sudden breeze, though the air itself seemed stagnant, frozen.

The glow from the symbols intensified, casting long, distorted shadows across the concrete floor.

The door to the storage unit fell down on its tracks and slammed to the ground.

Ignoring the distractions, I hoped the ritual was finally finished.

Yet Rebecca's haunting cries pierced the silence once more, distorted again.

One last

step.

Hurry, the radio.

Can't get through.

Take it somewhere, anywhere.

Better reception

out

of there.

Her voice echoed with a chilling urgency as if the walls themselves were closing in, suffocating us in a desperate race against time.

There had to be one last step, but what?

I needed a stronger signal.

She was breaking up again, and I needed better reception.

Moving the radio outside the building might make a difference.

It had to.

My eyes fixed on the radio.

The thin walls of the storage unit reverberated with echoes of Rebecca's suffering.

The cries were frantic now.

She sounded like she was in pain.

I had to help and get a clear message again and complete the last step.

I seized the old radio and ran to the door.

In my haste, I almost tripped, my foot slipping on a nearby book that had fallen.

I caught myself before I fell, barely noticing the line of salt I had disturbed.

My foot struck it,

broke it, scattered traces everywhere.

And that

was the moment everything changed.

The pressure that followed was immense, an invisible weight that fell so fast and hard I could scarcely comprehend it.

It was like the air itself was turning against me, suffocating me, squeezing the breath from my lungs.

My mind raced but came up blank.

terror eclipsing thought.

In my hands, the radio twisted.

It was so sudden, so violent.

I had no time to tighten my grip before it wrenched free, yanked by a force that was greater than anything I had ever known.

I watched it fall in slow motion, as though the world had slowed down just to let me see the finality of it.

Plastic and metal and wires.

Bright flashes of white and silver shattered against the cracked floor.

The noise was explosive, louder than thunder, an orchestra of destruction.

The air quivered.

The walls trembled.

Then, I felt it.

A presence, vast and oppressive.

Something had been released, but it was not Rebecca.

In that moment,

it spoke to me.

Not words, but a terrible buzzing feeling.

It reminded me of the sound of thousands of insects chittering all at once.

A cold wind swept through the storage unit, rustling papers and making the pages of open books flutter wildly.

Then, I reeled at the thunderous proclamation of the real being that had escaped.

I am the void between

stars.

If I am made manifest, I stumbled backward, knocking over a stack of mouldering cardboard boxes.

The books inside spilled across the concrete floor, their pages opening to reveal more of those terrible fucking symbols.

She thought she could commune with the divine,

bind me to her will.

She was delicious,

yet her voice

still tastes the sweetest.

My back hit the storage unit door.

I fumbled for the handle while looking behind me, my eyes desperately searching for the source of the terrible voice.

She tried to keep me here.

The bindings she placed were still effective in trapping me, starving me.

But you have delivered me from this prison.

My limbs were heavy, and my thoughts sluggish.

Frost formed on the metal walls as the temperature plummeted.

I tried to speak, but terror froze my tongue.

I recalled the instructions to reverse the chalk markings, the odd vocalizations, taking the radio out, breaking the salt line.

My stomach churned with the realization of my mistake.

The ritual was never meant to free Rebecca.

It had freed the thing that had killed her.

The haunting voice rang out once more.

I thank you for freeing me, little thing.

The reward for your service and my deliverance is your life.

For now, at least, I am sure I will see you again

soon.

The words coiled around me, leaving me frozen, haunted, and hollow.

The presence in the room was gone in the next instant.

I couldn't move.

I couldn't breathe.

The world stood still.

And all I could hear was that whisper, echoing over and over, until it was the only thing left in my mind.

The silence closed in on my mind as well.

And I was alone.

I stood in the doorway, burdened by the awful knowledge of what I had just set loose upon the world.

The shattered radio lay in pieces,

a stark testament to my failure.

I replayed every moment in my mind,

each memory sharp and unforgiving.

The enormity of what I had done settled over me like a suffocating fog.

Since that day, nothing else has happened.

I abandoned my position at tidy storage without explanation, silently slipping into obscurity.

There's a monstrous presence lurking somewhere now.

Whatever it is, it knows me, and I'm actually aware that my fleeting respite will soon crumble.

I'm left to this solitary vigil, tormented by fear of what has been set loose.

Let this serve as my warning.

Sometimes, a cry for help

is best left unanswered.

If you are looking for a job, tidy storage is hiring still to this very day.

I hear they have a killer benefits package.

Before you leave, one more item came in I nearly forgot to pass you away.

It was lodged behind a crate of brittle clamshells and sun-buckled exercise tapes.

Found in an abandoned storage unit.

A VHS tape from WLUR Channel 6, Luray, Virginia.

Public access.

Mid-80s, most likely.

They say what's on it aired just once.

No credits, no station logs, no crew,

just

this

tape.

What do you say we fire up the VCR and give it a spin?

You're watching Channel 6, WLUR, Lu-Ray Public Access, Broadcasting proudly from the heart of Echo County since 1971.

The following program is brought to you by a paid grant from the Church of the Diminishing Veil, Lighting the Way Backward.

Welcome, little ones, to Miss Melody's Playroom, where little souls learn big lessons.

Hello there, my candlewick cuties.

I've missed you.

Welcome back to my playroom, where we make crafts and memories and friends who never go away.

Let's start with Roll Call.

Domine, Ligate Nomen, Frange Linguum, Averte Oculos, Cere Corpus, Vene.

Now it's time for our special game called Who Are You?

Who are you?

Who are you?

Let's find out what's really true.

Are you a boy?

Are you a girl?

Are you a shadow made of curls?

Do you have a name to say?

Or shall we wash it all away?

Say it soft and say it slow.

Now let's let that name go, go, go.

We give our names to Thursday.

He chews them slow and rings

his

bell.

Oh, my stars you all brought your names again

oh Tisk Tisk don't you know what names really are say it with me

a name is a leash a name is a cage So let's cut them off

Everyone whisper your name into your hand

Now crush it

Let's meet our first little dreamer.

Come here, Spencer.

My name is Spencer, and I'm six.

Oh, no, no, no, that's not right, silly sugar drop.

You're not Spencer anymore.

Let's try it again.

Say it with me now.

I am

nobody.

I am nobody.

Good boy, see?

So much lighter, right?

Don't worry, memories are heavy.

That's why we let them go.

Time for our flicker game.

What's warm, red, and full of promises?

Say hello to old Red, our fire friend.

Fire is the first tongue, children, the one that spoke to the clay before bones were born.

Stick out your fingers.

Let's see who's ready to speak back.

Screaming is how we sing here.

Every playroom has a secret.

Ours is right underneath our feet.

It's time to visit the hole under the rug.

It wriggles and it whispers and it's warm like a hug.

It's dark and scary, an awful place to be.

But we go under the rug again to see what we can see.

Crawl down deep where the dust things dance.

Close both eyes give fear a chance if it blinks or bites just smile and shrug that's life inside the hole under the rug

down down down we go

everyone kneel now chant the rhyme to get 13 feet and 13 eyes scratch the ground and summon rise If you see his crooked grin, let him in, let him in.

Now don't turn away, friends.

Eyes are for liars.

Now we learn our unwords.

Let's recite the alphabet backwards and beneath.

Start with Z and say it like it hurts.

Ozakle,

you're in Zemnafratoon.

That's right, my tongues.

The real language was in you the whole time.

You just needed to forget the false one.

Open wide.

Eye time is here.

Everyone take your new eyes from the basket.

Two each.

They're still blinking.

Don't be shy.

Now cover your old eyes.

They lied to you.

They always lie.

Place your downstairs eyes over the old ones and whisper this.

See beneath.

See between.

See what sees us.

Now let's all look together

through what they see.

If you feel dizzy,

that's just your soul peeling.

Happens to all first-timers.

Ding-dong!

The time is near.

The bell that should not ring is getting closer.

One of you must go now.

It's part of the rules.

Now you fit perfectly.

Dig the hoe and sew the red.

Say the words the fire said.

Hands and feet and face and eyes.

Off you go with no goodbyes.

Now, sweet viewer,

yes, you

we saw you watching,

we hear you listening.

Your name burns bright.

Say your name backward,

say it three times,

bleed a little, and we will come.

I'll spell it for you:

H

E

L

L

If you're not known in hell, well, I don't think you're worth much anyhow.

Line the tongue and blacken the mouth.

Shepherd the name into the ash.

Carve the mirror deeper until we are.

C V F F C R Y B Q L F C Y N L E B B Z N G T Z N V Y Q B G P B Z

Thank you for your patronage.

Hope you enjoyed your new relic as much as I've enjoyed passing along its sordid history.

It does come with our usual warning, however.

Absolutely no refunds, no exchanges, and we won't be held liable for anything that may or may not occur while the object is in your possession.

If you've got an artifact with mysterious properties, perhaps it's accompanied by a history of bizarre and disturbing circumstances, maybe you'd be interested in dropping it and its story by the shop to share with other customers.

Please reach out to antiquariumshop at gmail.com.

A member of our team will be in touch.

Till next time, we'll be waiting for you whenever you close your eyes in the space between sleep and dream.

During regular business hours, of course, or by appointment, only for you,

our

best customer.

You have a good night now.

The Antiquarium of Sinister Happenings, Lot 089.

I've Found an Old Radio in an Abandoned Storage Unit.

Written by Bad Andy the Red.

Narrated by Trevor Shand.

Starring Megan Rowe as the woman in the radio, featuring Stephen Knowles as the antique dealer.

Engineering production and sound design by Trevor Shand.

Theme music by the Newton Brothers.

Additional music by Coag, Vivek Abishek, Clement Panchout, Nicholas Redding, and Conan Freeman.

The Antiquarium of Sinister Happenings is created and curated by Trevor and Lauren Shand.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter at Antiquarium Pod.

Call the Antiquarium at 646-481-7197.

The Toxic Avenger is out now.

Experience the long-awaited, totally unrated monster mayhem exclusively in theaters.

Get tickets now at tickets.toxicavenger.com.

Get ready for the aftermath as Creep IE returns to Southern California September 5th through 7th with over 200,000 square feet of pure terror.

Monsters, bands, horror legends, twisted vendors, nightmarish photo ops, and fear around every corner.

Bloody Disgusting will also be on site to share swag, raffle off can't miss prizes, and host star-studded panels.

Kicking off the festivities with a celebration of the Creep series featuring Patrick Bryce and Mark Duplas.

This is not your average con.

Get your tickets now before they vanish at creepiecon.com.

Now,

prepare for the aftermath.