The Gentleman From Hell |S1| Ep. 10

Speaker 1 Rusty Quill presents

Speaker 2 Good evening, gentlemen and gentle ladies of hell. First and foremost, thank you for tuning in.
Your support keeps the flames of the gentleman from hell burning bright.

Speaker 2 If you're enjoying your descent into the infernal depths of our world and want to dive even deeper, consider supporting us on Patreon.

Speaker 2 There, you'll unlock exclusive content, including original art from Mark Angelon, housed in the legendary Gallery of the Damned, deep lore and world-building treasures within the memorabilia of the House of Sparrows, and coming soon, the Testimonies of the Damned, a Patreon-exclusive audio series that expands the twisted mythology of the gentleman from hell.

Speaker 2 Plus, fans of the wider Meltopia universe will uncover a trove of exclusive lore, audio dramas, artwork, behind-the-scenes videos, and much more.

Speaker 4 Ready to explore the deeper circles of horror?

Speaker 2 Join us at www.patreon.com forward slash Meltopia Meltopia.

Speaker 3 And embrace the darkness.

Speaker 6 Hi folks, it's Mark Bittman from the podcast Food with Mark Bittman.

Speaker 6 You know, whether you are doing traditional Thanksgiving, a friend's giving, or something in between, Whole Foods Market has great everyday prices on all the things you need for Thanksgiving.

Speaker 6 No way antibiotics ever birds bring quality to your table at a great price. You can enjoy so many ways to save on your Thanksgiving spread at Whole Foods Market.

Speaker 6 And remember, Prime gives you shop online and delivery or pickup as you like.

Speaker 7 Hannah Burner, are those the cozy Tommy John pajamas you're buying?

Speaker 8 Paige de Sorbo, they are Tommy John. And yes, I'm stocking up because they make the best holiday gifts.

Speaker 7 So generous.

Speaker 8 Well, I'm a generous girly, especially when it comes to me. So I'm grabbing the softest sleepwear, comfiest underwear, and best-fitting loungewear.

Speaker 7 So nothing for your bestie.

Speaker 8 Of course, I'm getting my dad, Tommy John. Oh, and you, of course.

Speaker 7 It's giving holiday gifting made easy.

Speaker 8 Exactly. Cozy, comfy, everyone's happy.
Don't wait. Shop Tommy John's biggest savings ever and get 50% off site-wide at tommyjohn.com slash comfort.

Speaker 4 Blood donation is now more inclusive. More people are able to donate blood with the American Red Cross through FDA guidelines that eliminate eligibility questions based on sexual orientation.

Speaker 4 The Red Cross celebrates this historic change and welcomes those who may be newly eligible to donate blood. There's a place for everyone in the mission of the Red Cross.

Speaker 4 The Red Cross is committed to achieving an inclusive blood donation process that treats all potential donors with equality and respect while maintaining the safety of the blood supply.

Speaker 4 Join us and help save lives. To learn more and make your appointment to donate blood, visit redcrossblood.org/slash LGBTQ.
That's redcrossblood.org slash LGBTQ.

Speaker 10 Diversify revenue streams and sell your training through courses, communities, memberships, digital downloads, or other learning experiences, all supported on one platform.

Speaker 10 Education might be only one part of your broader business model, but we'll make sure it's running as smoothly as the rest of your operation.

Speaker 10 To learn more about how you can reduce churn and drive revenue with learning, visit thinkific.com. T-H-I-N-K-I-F-I-C.com.
Built for the business of learning.

Speaker 11 The holidays are here. Do you have the right bras? Third Love designs each style for your body so you can feel comfortable, lifted, and smoothed in every outfit.

Speaker 11 With over 60 sizes, including exclusive half-cup sizes, Third Love makes it easy to find your perfect fit.

Speaker 11 And right now, you can shop their Black Friday sale for up to 60% off site-wide, plus get $25 off when you spend $135.

Speaker 11 Don't wait. The sale ends soon.
Visit thirdlove.com today.

Speaker 12 Grief doesn't keep a calendar. Anxiety doesn't clock out after five.
Depression doesn't care if it's your busy season, but support can still fit into your life.

Speaker 12 With Grow, you can find a therapist who meets you where you are. They connect you with thousands of independent licensed therapists across the U.S.
offering both virtual and in-person sessions.

Speaker 12 You can search by insurance, provider specialty, treatment methods, and more to find a therapist who works for you. And if it's not the right fit, switching is easy.

Speaker 12 There are no subscriptions, no long-term commitments. You just pay per session.
Find therapy on your time, evenings, weekends, and cancel up to 24 hours in advance at no cost.

Speaker 12 Whatever challenges you're facing, Grow Therapy is here to help. Sessions average about $21 with insurance, and some pay as little as $0 depending on their plan.

Speaker 12 Visit growtherapy.com/slash acast today to get started. That's growtherapy.com/slash acast.
Growtherapy.com/slash acast. Availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plan.

Speaker 3 That's all there is?

Speaker 13 Looks like everything else is garbled. I'm assuming the tape's damaged or something.

Speaker 3 What the hell did we just listen to?

Speaker 1 It sounded like some kind of ritual. A seance, perhaps? The tape might have been used to pick up EVP, like what we encountered during my walkabout.

Speaker 13 You sure this tape gave you the same vibe as the tape from the elevator? You said yourself this one wasn't meant for us. Maybe these people aren't really associated with all this.

Speaker 13 Cults and cabals usually seek out weird locations to practice their beliefs. They could have come here and contacted the same kind of weird shit we have.

Speaker 1 The vibe, as you're so fond of calling it, was most certainly similar.

Speaker 1 It's hard to describe to the uninitiated, but they both possess the same kind of...

Speaker 1 signature, for lack of a better word.

Speaker 3 Assuming all this shit is connected, how do we square it?

Speaker 3 We got a bunch of paranormal stuff, and now we got this. Some group of people doing weird-ass rituals and kidnapping people.

Speaker 13 Seems to me the Bureau is onto something about all that cult business. What else could it be?

Speaker 1 I'd say that's a damn fine assumption, which means we could be in far more danger than we suspected.

Speaker 13 Maybe we should bring the Bureau in. It's still an open case, after all.

Speaker 3 Problem is, we don't really have anything except this tape and some hunches. Everything else is just a scary story for the campfire.

Speaker 13 We've got a whole stash of media they missed. And we aren't exactly nobodies.
Our word might still carry some weight.

Speaker 3 Sure, they might put a couple guys on it, but whoever they send ain't gonna do any more than we are.

Speaker 3 Plus, so far most of the clues in Ben's stash only make kind of sense when you put them together with the paranormal stuff, and you know how that'll go.

Speaker 3 For Christ's sake, Phil broke out many cases for us, and we still get bashed for bringing her in.

Speaker 3 Nah, I think we got a ways to go before we can think about blowing the whistle. Just gotta work the case, like we've always done.

Speaker 1 If there is some kind of cult afoot, then we'll need a lot more than salt to keep it at bay. This isn't like the Sauda family.
We knew where they were.

Speaker 13 So far, we've got at minimum two people, maybe three. If that voice at the end of the tape turns out not to be,

Speaker 3 you know, a ghost. We'll have to make adjustments, no doubt.
But right now, we should head back. I want to keep going to Ben's Dash.
Gotta be something in there that ties all this together.

Speaker 1 I might join you. It's not like I'm going to sleep anytime soon.

Speaker 13 Glad we packed all that coffee. Looks like we're in for a long night.

Speaker 9 Phil, you up here?

Speaker 1 In here, dearie.

Speaker 3 There you are.

Speaker 13 I thought you might have crashed out somewhere.

Speaker 1 Not at all. I decided to take advantage of the fact we're staying in a mansion.
Where better to read than this delightful little sitting room?

Speaker 13 One of the few niceties we've got. What's that you're reading?

Speaker 1 The Sunflower's Moon. It's a a collection of essays by other psychics.
Their experiences with what we call the light. Not the sort of thing a soulless atheist like you would appreciate.

Speaker 13 I suppose not.

Speaker 13 But I did go through a sort of spiritualistic paranormal phase way back in college.

Speaker 3 Truly.

Speaker 1 Well then, have a seat and spin some yarn. I'm eager to hear all about this wonderfully open-minded young man.

Speaker 13 To be honest, I think I got into it as an escape from Catholicism. My parents weren't exactly Jesus crispies, but they took me to church, sent me to Catholic school, all that jazz.

Speaker 1 So you found the beliefs utterly ridiculous and sought out better ones. Was that it?

Speaker 3 No,

Speaker 13 I actually didn't mind a lot of it. In fact, I

Speaker 13 really liked thinking about angels and heaven and all that.

Speaker 13 Nah, it was hell that did me, and

Speaker 13 once it was explained to me that if I wasn't careful I could wind up there, I couldn't stop worrying about it.

Speaker 3 I'm not sure I follow.

Speaker 1 How does the paranormal alleviate a fear in hell?

Speaker 13 Because it contradicts the idea of hell. You know, other dimensions and aliens.
I really like the whole alien hypothesis thing.

Speaker 1 And which one is that?

Speaker 13 That humans were created by extra-dimensional beings, and religion was just a way for aliens to manipulate us.

Speaker 1 Oh, yes, that one.

Speaker 1 I suppose it does take the pressure off of fear of hell, if not create a fear of aliens.

Speaker 13 Nah, aliens were just one of an infinity of other beings and states of being. You die, and bang, zoom, you're in the fifth dimension, just raring to be born again.

Speaker 13 Not a bad deal as far as afterlives go.

Speaker 1 And then?

Speaker 13 Then philosophy, chemistry, physics.

Speaker 1 And so the music died. Yep.

Speaker 3 Until now, I guess.

Speaker 1 I can't say that I'm not similarly rattled, but I am comforted by my other experiences. Joy, relief, reunion, all the things I've touched and been touched by since I started using my gift.

Speaker 1 The light is stronger than the darkness, my dear boy. You'll do well to remember that.

Speaker 13 Then I take it you don't find Ben's theory on the paranormal very compelling?

Speaker 1 That it's all just some hidden physics? No, not at all. Theory is one thing,

Speaker 1 real lived experience is another. I've no doubts about what I've experienced, and it wasn't the cold touch of an unfeeling universe, hidden or otherwise.

Speaker 1 But speaking of Ben, there is something I found interesting in this journal of his.

Speaker 1 It was precisely his dowel ruminations that had me looking for some light reading.

Speaker 1 Ah, yes, here we are. Listen to this.

Speaker 1 I would have thought my nightmares at an end, given my new accommodations, but that seems not to be the case.

Speaker 1 Every night they seem to get worse, and every night I spring awake.

Speaker 3 Every night they seem to get worse.

Speaker 3 And every night I spring awake.

Speaker 3 I can only assume the culprit is my encounter from the other night. That strange man.

Speaker 3 And that's not all.

Speaker 3 There was an oddness to everything leading up to that moment. A disjunction of night and normalcy.

Speaker 3 These thoughts,

Speaker 3 feelings, have only grown, especially at night. It's as if something other than the darkness falls when the hour grows late.
Of course, this has always been the case.

Speaker 3 When the mind suffers from a lack of visible stimulus, it does tend to manufacture its own. Its macabre predisposition to cobble specters from shadows.
And yet this seems altogether different.

Speaker 3 More of a wanton malice.

Speaker 3 And then there's the fog.

Speaker 3 It's always present whenever I awaken. Always deep in the night, enfolding the city like a sea of gossamer webbing, waving gently in the wind.

Speaker 3 Accordingly, I've had no want to return to my night driving.

Speaker 3 The only positive to emerge from my interrupted sleep is the additional time I've been able to devote to my writing, which has certainly swerved into some different lanes, all thanks to my father's notated copies of several of the Wither diaries.

Speaker 3 Wither was no stranger to the idea of the supernatural as a process, going even further than my own speculations, assigning it a mechanistic quality. He spells it out as much in the following passage.

Speaker 3 The universe, at its core, functions as an intricate, unfeeling apparatus. Every event, every action, is the result of mechanical processes governed by unyielding laws of physics and logic.

Speaker 3 It stands to reason that any supplementary realms those obscured from our standard perception, operate under the same mechanistic principles.

Speaker 3 The notions of a heaven and hell, often shrouded in mystical interpretations, are better understood as systematic repositories for souls, filtered and allocated according to specific parameters.

Speaker 3 These so-called afterlife destinations are not realms of ethereal contemplation or even spiritual transcendence. Instead, they serve as the final stages in a grand sorting mechanism.

Speaker 3 Souls are weighed, not in the moralistic sense, but evaluated based on criteria embedded within the fabric of this cosmic machine.

Speaker 3 The allocation to heaven or hell is merely the outcome of an algorithmic process, devoid of emotion or subjective judgment.

Speaker 3 While Withers often seeks to deconstruct or rationalize formal religious thought, particularly Christianity, I find that his ideas are equally applicable to the supernatural in general.

Speaker 3 Why shouldn't the paranormal be articulated through logic,

Speaker 3 even if it's of a kind we rarely encounter?

Speaker 3 And when we do, when its functions intersect with our realm of reality, we idolize these phenomena, set them beyond our understanding, and declare them unknowable.

Speaker 3 Indeed, some form of system seems to operate even in the most abstract occult practices, as rituals, incantations, and formulas are invariably employed to produce specific effects.

Speaker 3 Could it be that we are merely primitives reimagining the dials and switches of some cosmic mechanism, cloaking our ignorance with a veneer of imagination, until we are prepared to recognize the truth.

Speaker 3 I'm reminded of my most recent nightmare.

Speaker 3 I'm lying in bed when I hear the elevator down the hall open its doors, followed by hideous laughter and the sound of many naked feet padding toward my open door.

Speaker 1 It's Ben's phrase. The disjunction of night and normalcy.
It's exactly what I've been feeling lately.

Speaker 1 Like there's a point, mostly at night, when the curtains around cold sparrow apart, and something else, something terrible, grows nearer.

Speaker 13 How would Ben be able to detect that? You think he might have a little of what you've got?

Speaker 1 You make it sound as if he and I might share the same clinical condition, but you may be onto something. I suppose it is possible he had some form of clairvoyance.

Speaker 1 It would certainly make sense of some of his encounters, but then we really don't know if the things he's mentioned are truly supernatural occurrences.

Speaker 1 Like you said, now's not the time to make assumptions.

Speaker 13 By the sound of it, the elevator was on the fritz even when Ben was here.

Speaker 13 Now we have to wonder if it really was faulty or, yeah, well, you know.

Speaker 9 Hey, where'd everybody go?

Speaker 13 We're up here on the second floor. Little sitting room.
What's up?

Speaker 9 I think I found something.

Speaker 1 Where did you come across this tape?

Speaker 3 It was in the Stag Lee I mean. The one over there in some kind of chronological order.
Yeah, listen to this.

Speaker 9 The fog's an old friend of Cold Sparrow. Happily, there's even a painting of it somewhere hereabouts.
Shows a whole city covered in the stuff. It's just been so routine this last week or so.

Speaker 9 We sit in a bit of a valley, I think. Fogs just love lowlands.
Yes, that does make sense, I suppose.

Speaker 9 Um, on a side note, are there wolves in this part of the country?

Speaker 9 I suppose there could be, but you don't usually see them until you get further north near the Adirondacks. Why ask that?

Speaker 9 Last night, I was out on the balcony having a drink. Just a little nightcap before trying to get back to sleep.
And I thought I saw, well,

Speaker 9 a wolf. Or something similarly built.
To be quite honest, it

Speaker 9 looked a good deal larger than what I imagine a wolf to be. Well, we got more than a few coyotes around here.

Speaker 9 You ought to hear them after they land themselves a deer.

Speaker 9 Oh, my, do they make an unholy racket. And then there's cord dogs.
I've seen a couple that could give a dog a run for its money. Even been a few bears here and about.

Speaker 9 Seems like every few years someone sees one, but I ain't heard of no wolves.

Speaker 9 Well, it was dark, and as usual, the fog was considerably dense. So I suppose whatever it was could have been more than a bit distorted to my eyes.

Speaker 3 Okay, here's the last part.

Speaker 9 As has become customary, I've been awakened by another nightmare. This one, merely the sound of the strangest laughter.
Something half man, half beast.

Speaker 9 This is old.

Speaker 9 The door to my balcony is ajar

Speaker 9 What is all this?

Speaker 9 There's um marks perhaps even animal prints all over the balcony It's hard to tell what they are what they could be

Speaker 9 Even with the balcony light on they're hard to make out

Speaker 9 If they are animal prints, then they're much too large for any creature that could get all the way up here.

Speaker 9 I can't see any marks below the terrace that might suggest something scaled the wall but then with all this fog

Speaker 9 what the hell is that

Speaker 9 I've

Speaker 9 I've just heard something below in the fog

Speaker 9 an animal of some kind

Speaker 9 I've just gotten dressed and I'm headed downstairs to see if I can see anything out the lower windows.

Speaker 9 Rupert, I'm glad you're still awake. That um animal is outside, just below the balcony.
I want to see if I can get a better look at it.

Speaker 9 Let me fetch a light and my pop gun, and we'll head out back and see about it.

Speaker 9 That's an excellent idea. I'll meet you by the back door.

Speaker 9 I'm looking out for doors that lead into the backyard but I can't see a thing all that bloody fog

Speaker 9 here's a light for you Ben now let's get these back floodlights on

Speaker 9 all right

Speaker 9 let's see what we got

Speaker 9 based on the sounds it made I I'm certain it must be some sort of canine.

Speaker 9 Well, this here's a desert eagle. Put a hole the size of your head in whatever might come at us.

Speaker 9 Well, I don't want to kill it, just discover what it is. Never hurts to be prepared.
Very true.

Speaker 9 That's your balcony right up there. So, whereabouts did you hear? Must have been close.
I heard it growling after all. Perhaps over there, by that stand of trees.

Speaker 9 I ain't seeing anything then.

Speaker 9 Don't seem to be any tracks hereabouts, neither. And that is some damp ground.
Good for catch a prince if there was any.

Speaker 9 Is there, by any chance, any other way up to my balcony? You mean from the outside?

Speaker 9 Yes.

Speaker 9 Not that I'm aware of.

Speaker 9 But then, I don't mean the sound.

Speaker 9 Well, are you sure you weren't dreaming? You said you've been having nightmares and such.

Speaker 9 I'm absolutely certain. I heard the sounds as clearly as I hear your voice.
Haven't used it in a spell, but if it'll make you more comfortable, I could turn on the security system.

Speaker 9 I think that would be a fantastic idea. Thank you, Rupert.

Speaker 3 I looked up hyenas in some of Ben's books. Fuckers can live up to 40 years in captivity.

Speaker 3 Now, I ain't saying it's a normal hyena, but now that we got some material leads, I want to know all there is to know about the fuckers. And they are connected with witchcraft.
Check this out.

Speaker 3 In medieval Europe, hyenas were portrayed in bestiaries as deceitful and unclean creatures that haunted graveyards, exhuming and consuming the bodies of the recently deceased.

Speaker 3 These animals were also believed to possess other abilities, such as changing their appearance, and get this

Speaker 3 mimicking human speech to deceive the unwary.

Speaker 1 Ah, it seems our doubting Thomas has taken quite the turn. And for the better, I might add.

Speaker 13 And what's this over here?

Speaker 3 It's a map of the city I found all rolled up in one of the storage boxes. See this? It's the the city cemetery, and it's pretty damn close to the mansion.

Speaker 1 And based on what you read, you think that's where the creature's hiding?

Speaker 1 I applaud your enthusiasm, Mason, but such a being isn't likely restricted to any particular place. As the entry you read indicates, such notions are a bit...

Speaker 1 medieval.

Speaker 3 You said it yourself. This thing ain't all powerful.
It's got limitations. At the very least, it lines up with the stuff we've experienced.

Speaker 13 I bet Ben would be on board. He thinks the supernatural works like some kind of mysterious machine.

Speaker 1 Whatever the case, we should all get some sleep. I know I'm nearly dead on my feet.

Speaker 13 I'm still wired. I'm gonna go through more tapes and whatnot.
See if I can extend the timeline of recordings.

Speaker 3 I'll probably concede afterward. You have fun with that.
I'm in the hay. But once we're all fresh as daisies again, we need to gear up.
Because afterward, we're hitting the graveyard. graveyard.

Speaker 3 The Gentleman from Hell is a Meltopia production.

Speaker 2 Today's episode was written by Mark Anzalone and performed by Stephen Zivick, Sam Stark, Aubrey Akers, and Mark Anzalone.

Speaker 2 Sound editing was completed by Stephen Anzalone, and script editing was conducted by Walker Kornfeld. Be sure to rate and review us on iTunes, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform.

Speaker 2 And follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at Meltopia. If you want unique art and animations of Meltopia's stories, visit our YouTube page or click on the link in the show notes.

Speaker 2 And for more exclusive content, such as additional lore, stories, and art, be sure to check out our Patreon at www.patreon.com forward slash Meltopia.

Speaker 6 Hi, folks, it's Mark Bittman from the podcast Food with Mark Bittman.

Speaker 6 You know, whether you are doing traditional Thanksgiving, a friend's giving, or something in between, Whole Foods Market has great everyday prices on all the things you need for Thanksgiving.

Speaker 6 No way antibiotics ever birds bring quality to your table at a great price. You can enjoy so many ways to save on your Thanksgiving spread at Whole Foods Market.

Speaker 6 And remember, Prime gives you shop online and delivery or pickup as you like.

Speaker 7 Hannah Berner, are those the cozy Tommy John pajamas you're buying?

Speaker 8 Paige de Sorbo, they are Tommy John. And yes, I'm stocking up because they make the best holiday gifts.

Speaker 7 So generous.

Speaker 8 Well, I'm a generous girly, especially when it comes to me. So I'm grabbing the softest sleepwear, comfiest underwear, and best-fitting loungewear.

Speaker 7 So nothing for your bestie.

Speaker 8 Of course, I'm getting my dad, Tommy John. Oh, and you, of course.

Speaker 7 It's giving holiday gifting made easy.

Speaker 8 Exactly. Cozy, comfy, everyone's happy.
Don't wait, shop Tommy John's biggest savings ever and get 50% off site-wide at tommyjohn.com/slash comfort.

Speaker 14 Imagine the impact when everyone gets the right tool for the job.

Speaker 15 That's Odo.

Speaker 14 Every app is designed to be easy to use, so employees spend less time learning the software and more time doing their jobs. Experience true speed, reduce data entry with Smart AI, and a fast UI.

Speaker 15 Check out Odo at ODOO.com. That's ODOO.com.

Speaker 16 Hey, it's Mark Marin from WTF here to let you know that this podcast is brought to you by Progressive Insurance.

Speaker 16 And I'm sure the reason you're listening to this podcast right now is because you chose it.

Speaker 16 Well, choose Progressive's name your price tool, and you could find insurance options that fit your budget so you can pick the best one for your situation. Who doesn't like choice?

Speaker 16 Try it at progressive.com. And now, some legal info.
Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates Price and Coverage Match Limited by State Law. Not available in all states.

Speaker 17 What makes a great pair of glasses?

Speaker 11 At Warby Parker, it's all the invisible extras without the extra cost.

Speaker 17 Their designer quality frames start at $95, including prescription lenses, plus scratch-resistant, smudge-resistant, and anti-reflective coatings, and UV protection.

Speaker 11 and free adjustments for life.

Speaker 17 To find your next pair of glasses, sunglasses, or contact lenses, or to find the Warby Parker store nearest you, head over to warbyparker.com. That's warbyparker.com.

Speaker 2 Parlo tu français.

Speaker 11 Abulas español.

Speaker 5 Parli italiano.

Speaker 5 If you've used Babel, you would. Babel's conversation-based technique teaches you useful words and phrases to get you speaking quickly about the things you actually talk about in the real world.

Speaker 5 With lessons handcrafted by over 200 language experts and voiced by real native speakers, Babel is like having a private tutor in your pocket. Start speaking with Babel today.

Speaker 5 Get up to 55% off your Babel subscription right now at babel.com/slash Acast. Spelled B-A-B-B-E-L dot com slash Acast.
Rules and restrictions may apply.