ADR - Episode 630: Shut That Damn Door

[00:00:05] Hello and welcome to Adente Rigamortis. I'm Review Cultist. I'm Mikey, the U-Stands for Evil. And I'm the Gamer in Yellow. And we're here to discuss those internet stories, most creepy and most pasta, and be critically silly doing it. And tonight we have...

[00:00:35] Shut That Damn Door! No, seriously, that's the title of the story. It really is. Yeah. Shut That Damn Door is by Writer Josh on creeppasta.wiki. You know, our favorite wiki site, creeppasta.fandom.com slash wiki. So you can check it out there. It's also one of the stories on the iceberg that we've been kind of picking at, so... Slowly chipping away at it. Yeah, slowly.

[00:01:04] We're slowly getting to the deeper depths of that iceberg. It's a glacial movement. Mm-hmm. But yeah, I suppose we'll give our initial recommendations for this one. I will recommend it. I will also recommend. Yeah, didn't mind it either. I'll also recommend it. All right. Bunch of positivity here. See if our discussion ruins it. Yeah. This could be a lo-fi, chill episode.

[00:01:35] Yeah, definitely. If I could find some royalty-free lo-fi hip hop, I'd just put it in right now. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Just like playing in the background as we do this discussion. But... But you won't. No, I won't because... I'll get confused. Yeah, fair. I learned it from Ross... I learned it from listening to Ross Payton from RPPR. That's it. That's right. I'm calling you out, Ross. I'm sure he's well aware of it. Yeah.

[00:02:02] Um, but, uh, with that out of the way, let's give, yeah, let's find out why we gave those, uh, initial positive recommendations, uh, starting with the rundown. So, for shut that damn door, uh, we get, uh, a Nair, cause we never really learn his name, I don't think. Nope. Right? I don't believe so. Uh, so when Nair was 14, he lost his parents in a car crash and had to live with his closest relative, Aunt Louise.

[00:02:27] Uh, Louise was a bit of an eccentric with resting bitch face, but was no more strict than his parents had ever been. She did demand that he close every door he entered and exited in the house. However, she seemed to also know when the door was left open for too long. Um, quoting the titular, shut that damn door wherever she was in the house. If he did.

[00:02:57] So, um, other than that, things were all right. And then Nair discovered a locked up door in the basement leading to a sub-basement. Uh, Nair being a very curious child, wanted to know what was in there. What with, you know, a door that was not only locked with like a regular lock, but also had a piece of wood slid across it like a, like a drop bar.

[00:03:24] Um, Aunt Louise, uh, was a bit standoffish about the subject stating that it was just a store space for food preserves and such. Uh, but Nair caught a hint in her usual expression that she was scared about whatever was down there.

[00:03:43] So Nair considered sneaking the keys to look and, uh, see what was down in that sub-basement, but never really got the chance or couldn't feasibly figure out how to get the keys from Aunt Louise. Until one day, Aunt Louise fell asleep watching TV and Nair managed to snag the keys from her purse. Uh, he then crept down to the door in the basement, but things were starting to feel off, even wrong.

[00:04:12] He pressed on, however, and managed to get inside where he found a store space for preserved goods. Just like Aunt Louise said. Um, but then, uh, he felt warmer air coming from deeper within the, uh, the space and spotted a door at the end of the room. Uh, one without a door, like it was the doorway, but there was no door there.

[00:04:40] As he drew closer through the darkness beyond, Nair saw another door slightly ajar at the end of this other room, uh, beyond the threshold of the doorless doorway. Uh, there were also writhing, squelching movements in the darkness too, um, watching Nair and almost daring him to cross the darkness and close that slightly ajar door.

[00:05:10] It was at this point. A damn door? Yeah, not that damn door, yeah. I mean, it was, it could be that damn door, but. Mm-hmm. Uh, it was at this point that Nair noped out, rightfully so, um, and never spoke of what he saw again. Uh, he eventually moved out of, uh, Aunt Louise's place. Um, like went into like a halfway home system, like when he was 16 and then I think 17 or 18, he moved, he, he moved out on his own and such.

[00:05:37] Uh, and he never spoke to Aunt Louise again, like just completely like blacklisted her. Um, however, to this day, Nair is still haunted by what he saw. Finn. So yeah, that was shut that damn door. So, I suppose we shall now move on to everyone tolerates the grand inquisitions at this point. I got nothing.

[00:06:07] Um, Mikey, this is real. I have a conjunction junction. Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal. All right. And next stop, conjunction junction. Doot doot. It's just that if they taught me one thing, it's to not sit around wallowing in self-pity. But she accepted. Or at least none of that my parents wouldn't have.

[00:06:36] And it stood out from the other rules in how strange it was. It didn't matter if I was only going to be in that room for a few seconds. It never seemed to matter where she was in the house. She could always tell when I had not shut a door just after opening it.

[00:07:02] It could easily have been over a hundred, judging by its design and layout. That's 40 doors. It had two floors. A basement and a sub-basement. It was as if Aunt Louise wanted a border there, but not one that she couldn't get past if need be.

[00:07:30] It was locked. It's cool enough for them to keep. But when she responded to my desire to see what was behind that door, her eyebrows raised and her mouth quivered for just a second before answering. It was so slight, others might not have noticed it.

[00:07:57] But by that time I knew enough about Aunt Louise to equate that with a scream of horror. But how was I to get around the lock? So I forgot about the sub-basement door for a while. It was a pretty silent house, but one that I got used to living in.

[00:08:24] It would have struck me as more odd if any doorway was ever left open. It was a summer day and pretty hot. So, naturally, she fell asleep. And I saw my chance.

[00:08:46] But I figured in her snooze there would be little chance she would hear the tiny noise of me rifling through her purse. But she was unlikely to unless I forgot to close the door, which by now I never did. But my curiosity overrode my sense of caution.

[00:09:16] It turned out there was a tiny amount of light coming through vents in the ceiling. It wasn't much, but I could see that there was a pull-string light just a few feet from the foot of the stairs. But I walked down what appeared to be a fairly compact hallway and pulled the string.

[00:09:42] But I was noticing that the closer I got to that room, the warmer the air became. It was ajar. It was wrong. It was not meant to be. But then, I wasn't precisely in Aunt Louise's house anymore, was I? It was here before.

[00:10:09] It took me a moment to realize that the room beyond, the very room I was about to step into, was moving. And looking at me. But I haven't been successful. And I wonder if Aunt Louise ever found the strength to cross the room and shut that damn door. Fit.

[00:10:39] So, door's a mimic. Yeah, the door was looking. Yeah, exactly. Also, the whole thing was like, it had like, I know it's in the story, it's supposed to be like 100 years old. But the way it sounded, like, I think, I think Gamer was like kind of almost commenting in real time. It was like, it had a hundred doors. It almost sounded like. Yeah, because it was talking about like, there were doors in the house. You had to make sure that all of them were closed. There were a hundred of them. What?

[00:11:07] Come on, that's some Winchester house bullshit going on right there. A little bit, a little bit. Yo, dog, I heard you like doors. So I put doors in your doors. Whoa. Like every, you know how like doors have those loony tune situation. You open the door, there's another door. You open the door, there's another door. All right. Like, would that also technically be the equate to like how like, you know, some doors, like there's some like styles of doors that are like half doors. So you can like open the top or the bottom. Because they have like a latch.

[00:11:37] It's not really a door. It's not really a door than a door. It kind of is though. Okay. Or like, you know, like how like some doors, like they have those like little panels, like that panel design. It's like, those are also doors. Like, so like some of them have like, some of them have like four panels and like on one door. So it's like each one's like a door. Like there's just a little window. So I look through. Hell yeah. Yeah. I'm fine with that. But yeah, thanks to Mikey for a fairly, a much more succinct rundown of the story.

[00:12:03] I feel like there's some, there's, there were some silly alterations that as a result of the content, no context to like the original story. But I think all in all, it captured the bones of the story. For sure. Yes. And for those unaware, Mikey grabs all the sentences. There's a story that start with words that they probably shouldn't like its ends or butts. Strings them together into a sentence with sometimes hilarious results. Basically to highlight that there's always better words to use. Indeed. And we do it for the lols half the time. Yeah. Most of the time.

[00:12:33] Yeah. All right. Gamer, do we have a grammar in yellow? Not much. I got one. The door to the basement was closed, of course, but unlocked as always. I ducked through and closed it. Waiting a few minutes. Listening to, listening for a shifting of Aunt Louise's frame in her. In her chair. Indicating that she was getting up or perhaps her voice calling me. Or calling to ask why I was in the basement.

[00:13:03] And of course, this is my obligatory. Minutes should be moments. When describing vague, short moments and amounts of time. Or hell, even saying like I waited a few seconds would also work just fine. Because realistically, I doubt he waited more than 10 or 20 seconds. Yeah. But that's about it for grammar. It was actually pretty well written. Yeah. Then I suppose we'll move on to actual plots.

[00:13:33] So I'll start with this one here. I just wish they hadn't sent me to live with my Aunt Louise. So this is in regards to like, again, parents die. Kid has to go live with an eccentric relative kind of thing. And I was like, ah, so this is starting to, already starting off the hop to like any other good old YA novel or mid-90s horror kid show or film. Where the kid, where the orphaned kid ends up moving in with an eccentric relative.

[00:14:02] Mm-hmm. And we're in good hands here. We've got good ground. We've got good foundations for this, uh, for this, for the story. Good bones. Good bones. Yep. Um, the next thing I have here. The door I found in the basement had a board laid across it. Easily movable. It was as if Aunt Louise wanted a border there. Wanted a border there, but not one that she couldn't get past.

[00:14:32] If needed be. So, I kept like, I kept reading this sentence over. It's like, he's describing a drop bar, right? Like the kind of. Like, not necessarily. I knew not necessarily. I kept going between like a drop bar kind of thing. Like, it's like, that's an interesting way to describe a drop bar. But then it was like, I guess it could also be like, maybe it was just like literally just a piece of wooden board or something like that. Like, like, uh, kind of just pulled to that, like to lean across that wall and block off the door maybe. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:15:02] That's how I viewed it. Yeah. That's, that's another way. I guess it could be a tackle. But at the same time, I do think that it is, it is basically describing how, if a kid's never seen a drop bar, that's basically like how he'd describe it too. Maybe, but he's writing this not as a kid anymore. True. Yeah. Like he would have known now, now that he's reading early and now that he's recalling what it is. But yeah. Cause yeah, it sounds, what it says is, um, had a board laid across it easily movable.

[00:15:29] So like, I either thought that it was just like a two by eight. That's just like, like sitting on the ground on the bottom left. And like the top right is just like leaning against the door, but like also on like a table that's at a height to keep it at a 45 degree angle. Or just a board is laid across like two tables with the door in between. Just something to basically make more of a noise. If the door opens, I think that's the intent. True. Yeah.

[00:15:59] Or even like if, if it's a board like leaning on that wall, like, Oh, like across from the, across that, uh, that door and that tries to get in, it's going to like push that, that board down. And it'll take a whomp and hit the ground, kind of like what you're saying, but not with tables there. I'm just, yeah. Either way, this, it wasn't really described super well. Yeah. It was, it was nebulous enough that I was like, why are you, how is it weird way of you describing just what essentially is a drop bar.

[00:16:25] But again, like how we've had this discussion, it might not be a drop bar. It might just actually, it just might be vague enough that it's maybe needs some clarity here. I was thinking for a second that maybe just the board was leaning directly against the door. Just like having the weight of the board leaning against it, but it says across it. Yeah. But I mean, that can be like basically a board that's like going like from wall to like either, either side of the door. Oh yes. But I was thinking vertically, like leaning it against it. Oh yeah. Yeah.

[00:16:54] Cause when you were, when you guys were describing it as well, like when you were talking, I almost had this idea. I was like, Oh, well maybe it was like, um, like it's, it's leaning, it's, it's, it's positioned under the, the doorknob or whatever. So basically like kind of like how we like people will like put a chair under a door so that like somebody can't like get in or get out. Yeah. But yeah, true. There's potentially a doorknob on it. So that's also a point where you can lean a board like 45 degree against that and against the floor. Yeah.

[00:17:24] But again, it doesn't stop it from opening. So I don't know. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, I guess all in all, like maybe this might've been grammar inquisition, but like, yeah, I feel like this could have been a little bit better, uh, clearly described or like as to what exactly it is. Cause again, like, I kind of liked the idea of it being not the door, not only being locked, but she's also installed a drop bar. Yeah. Cause like that, that's definitely a thing. It's like, okay, that there's something behind that that you do not want out. Like, uh, what's that? What's that?

[00:17:52] Uh, that thing is like, don't, uh, don't dead open inside. What? It's, it's, it's from like walking dead. There's like a, when, uh, when Grimes, uh, walking through the hospital and there's a door, like a double doors, it's been like locked up and like chained and stuff. And somebody spray painted don't open dead inside. But like, it's the meme of like the way, cause the way it's like, uh, the way they're the, the, the, the way the letters are on the doors. It could also be like, you could also be silly. It's like, don't dead open inside.

[00:18:22] Nice. Anyway. Um, silly shenanigans involving that door. Um, I, I just feel like maybe it should have been described as like a, uh, a drop door, a drop bar or something. Cause that would have been much cooler. I think of like much more mysterious as to what's why, why is this barricaded? But. I looked open the don't dead open inside. I see what you mean. A hundred percent now. Exactly. That's very poorly done. Yeah, exactly.

[00:18:52] Um, but, uh, I'll move on to the next thing I have here. Uh, but when she responded to my desire to see what was behind that door, her eyebrows raised and her mouth quivered for just a second before answering. It was so slight.

[00:19:10] Others might not have noticed it by the, but by then, but by that time I knew enough about aunt Louise to equate what, um, to equate that with a scream of horror. I knew then that I had to see what was behind that door. Of course you do. Um, honestly, this is barely grounded kid behavior. If I'm being honest, like kid told like, like kid warned, like,

[00:19:38] not to go into that, into some place that like, like by an adult and even like seeing like the horror, like, like the, the, the adult is scared of it. Of course the kid is going to be super like, like cautious, like curious and such. So also it's a horror story. Like, of course the character is going to like, want to see that even more. Yeah. We wouldn't have a story if the characters were sensible. Exactly. Yeah. Um, and the next thing I have, I could, I couldn't say,

[00:20:08] sneak from my bedroom to hers in order to sneak the, in order to sneak the keys without opening and closing all doors in between us. Mine. She somehow knew. Wait. Oh, mine. The door in the far part of the hallway and hers. Believe me. Even if I simply left all doors open. She somehow knew.

[00:20:33] I once had to go to the bathroom in the night and I forgot to close the hallway door. I just, I just made it to the bathroom when I heard her yell, even while, while asleep, shut that damn door. So first off credits title drop. Um, but honestly, this is like the, the titular line of the, of the story has been dropped a few times throughout the stories.

[00:21:00] But like, so like, it's, it's obvious why it's called shut that damn door. Um, but secondly, I feel like it's going to be, so this is me at the time, like reading this. I was like, I feel like it's going to be revealed that aunt Louise is supernaturally tied to the house. Like it's some kind of like phylactery or horcrux kind of thing. Like she, she knows when like, like she's in tune with the house. Like she's attuned it as, as if like a magic object.

[00:21:28] So she knows when it's, when doors are closed and opened, um, update that was not the case, but still that would have been really interesting. If like, that's why she was like able to understand when like a door is open or closed in the, in the house. Yeah. Wouldn't be surprised if that was the case, honestly. Yeah. Um, sadly that wasn't the case, but I mean, and, and the description, the, the idea, the, um, the explanation we get later of like, basically she's just like, she was so paranoid.

[00:21:55] She could tell when, like, when there's a draft or she could hear, when she heard like the sound of the door being open and closed. But, um, I don't know. I think I still would like the supernatural aspect. I would like my supernatural safety blanket, please. Always, always. Yeah. But, um, yeah, let me move on to the next thing here. So I forgot about the sub-basement door for a while.

[00:22:20] I placed my curiosity on the back burner and just tried to get along with my, or get along with the taciturn old woman for a while. And the story ends here. Nothing spooky. Just a cool aunt. Just a cool aunt he lives with now, uh, until he gets older and he can move out. Wow. Bittersweet happy ending. Right? Right? Wait, there's more. Yes.

[00:22:48] Unfortunately, fortunately and unfortunately, um, the horrors must continue. Fortunate for us. Unfortunate for Nair. Exactly. Yeah. And also for Aunt, um, uh, what is her? Yeah. Aunt Louise. Yeah. Also for Aunt Louise, like kind of unfortunate, because like I've got some, I've got some words about, about his act, his actions at the end of the story, but we'll get there. Fair enough. Also, I believe you may have said, uh, that one word incorrectly.

[00:23:19] Taciturn? Yeah. Cause specifically, cause I didn't know exactly what it meant. So I looked it up and the pronunciation is actually taciturn. Okay. Apparently. So it's a soft C. Okay. Yeah. And apparently it means someone who is quiet and doesn't like to socialize. Yeah. So I am taciturn. That, that makes sense. Yeah. Mm. All right. Well, I'll move on to the next thing here. Her purse was at her feet.

[00:23:46] I was sitting in the chair directly beside hers, reading an Avengers comic book and trying to ignore the repeated calls of come on down from the TV. I looked over at her. I looked over at her and saw that she was in a deep dose. So I kind of like the idea that perhaps whatever's down in the basement or something might have some influence or like manipulate, uh, or some ability to influence the TV here.

[00:24:15] And is trying to manipulate Nair into, into, into, into like provocating him into like getting the keys and going downstairs. Sort of like how like Pennywise can manipulate and interact with victims by being in a TV show or a movie that they're watching. But like, or like basically creating like that kind of hallucination. Cause the idea of like, come on down. Like, I know it's like from the, it's, it is an iconic thing that they say in, uh, the price is right TV show. That's on the TV here in the story.

[00:24:45] But it's also kind of very like opportune or like kind of like thematic for what, like what's going on in Nair's head or like his opportunity here. And it's almost like, like the TV is like beckoning him to come on downstairs and open that door. So. I mean, that is what's going through his head the whole time. Exactly. Yeah.

[00:25:09] Uh, and then the next thing here, I headed down the stairs for some reason. I headed down the stairs for some reason, tiptoeing, even though I wasn't yet at the place I had been shut out from. I felt absurdly guilty, despite the fact that Aunt Louise had never expressly forbidden me from doing what I was now doing.

[00:25:34] I mean, it's not like you're betraying the trust of the one person who took you in and cared for you after your parents died, right? Like, why should you feel guilty at all? I don't know. I, I, I'm sort of, at this point I was starting to feel a little bit like, man, this kid, this kid's starting to suck a little bit. Like, I figured that they would bond over this a little bit, right? Yeah, exactly.

[00:25:59] Like, I, I get like, again, a kid's curiosity and like, like, find out what's down there, but like, yeah, no wonder you're feeling guilty. You like, like, like rifled through her purse to get the keys like behind her back. Yeah. Like. You rolled really well on that stealth roll though. Yeah, exactly. Rolled nat 20. Let's go. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Um, and then rolled apparently nat 20 for stealth, the, to, um, coordinate and like close, open and close doors quickly enough and quietly enough. Mm-hmm.

[00:26:28] Um, but I'll move on to the next thing here. Uh, this is when he gets down to the, when he actually manages to open the, the, to the sub-basement. Uh, the sense of wrongness was still there and still strong. And I realized that the low row, the long row of shelves holding jars ended in a doorway at the end, a doorway that didn't have a door.

[00:26:52] I know this is like a main point of this house of like having closed doors, but regardless, gasp, a doorless doorway. Sorry. This is just like immediately what popped in my head as I got to this point. It was like a doorway that didn't have a door. Oh, it's, it, it, it makes sense because like, like that, like that would be the weird thing because this whole house has like all closed doors, but it's just funny.

[00:27:18] Like this, like revelation, there's just kind of a, it's, it's both, um, thematic, but also kind of absurd when you think about it. Yeah. Like if it was someone who just like met aunt Louise and just got into the house, it'd be like, whatever. It's an open doorway. But for someone that's been living there long enough and like, we've spent at least a little bit of time as the reader living there basically through Nair, um, we get it. We get why that's weird. Yeah.

[00:27:47] And the fact that, yeah, it's, yeah, not only this door is like wide open, doesn't have any doorway, but then the door beyond, beyond this one is has a, um, uh, has a door that's slightly ajar. It's like, oh no, this is the wrong thing. Something bad, something bad happened here is happening here. Yeah. That's the sign of like the apocalypse happening as an open doorway. Yeah.

[00:28:10] Or, or like we're at the source of the eccentricism above, like this is the reason why aunt Louise wants all the doors closed because of whatever's down here. It kind of says something when like a story makes an open door compared to a closed door be scary. Yeah. Yeah. Cause, cause the story sets it up so well of like establishing the fact that like aunt Louise never wants doors open, like for too long.

[00:28:37] Like you, you walk in, close that door, you leave that room, close that door. Like never have it open too long. And you're like wondering why, why? And then we get down, we finally get down to the basement level to the, or to the sub basement level. And we find a doorway that doesn't have a door. And what's more, there's a door on the end of a dark room that's squirming and moving as if like some like work as if like there's something in there alive.

[00:29:02] That's slightly ajar and almost like mentally, like daring the person to cross that darkness, to close that door. Like now we suddenly understand like the wrongness, like it is, it actually manages to establish the proper like wrongness of, uh, or, or revelation of like, oh, that's why all the doors above are meant to always be closed. Cause this, this fucked up aunt Louise, whatever's down here fucked her up. Yeah, for sure.

[00:29:29] Um, so yeah, both again, it can be both serious and absurd, but that is sort of like the, the flip of the coin of, of horror. Like in one side of the coin can be serious and the other one can be kind of absurd when you think about it. Um, but I'll move her along. Um, so what is this one? Oh yeah. Um, there's another kind of like in the moment comment I had here for this quote.

[00:29:56] The room beyond the door was dark and smelled musty. I couldn't feel a source of the slightly warm air that was brushing against my skin, but I was noticing, but I was noticing that the closer I got to that room, the warmer the air became. By the time I was at the mouth of the tunnel, somehow I had started thinking of this place as a tunnel, but by this time. Okay.

[00:30:26] I feel like by this time should actually just be removed. That's a bit of a grammar inquisition. Cause like, that's almost superfluous that those three words at the end. But, um, somehow I had started thinking of this place as a tunnel. The air wasn't just warm. It was humid, fetid. So at this point, as I get to this point in like as Nair's like slowly inching toward the opening there, um, and feeling this warm fetid air and such.

[00:30:53] I'm just like at Louise or the former homeowner of this house dug too deep. Didn't they? Like there's something that they are trying to keep contained in this house by making sure the doors are all always closed. Right? Like that's, it's sort of like, uh, like, uh, maybe it is some kind of like phantom or ghost thing that just can't open doors or can't go through doors or through thresholds unless they're open, like they're wide open. Um, that was, that was the idea that was kind of popping into my head as at this point.

[00:31:23] Um, and that kind of changes at the end, but like, it's also kind of stays the same in regards to like what's down here. Like they're obviously this, the sub basement was locked up to keep whatever's down there contained. Um, and then, um, I think that's, I think that's the issue. And then like later on, actually we get this quote here.

[00:31:42] This was a place that had only become attached to Aunt Louise's house by short-sighted builders, unaware of what they had unearthed, what they should have left buried. Ah, so it wasn't Aunt Louise or the former homeowners. It was the contractors that dug too deep. Got it.

[00:32:01] The ones who built the house, they're the ones that dug too deep and just decided to, you know, leave a gateway to hell or to some ancient, like Lovecraftian city beneath open to this sub-basement of this house. Yeah. Legitimately, no? Just put a board over it. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, just, hey, you know what? Extra real estate down here for the cantina. Yep. Like, for the root cellar.

[00:32:30] Yeah, it's like, oh, no, no. Like, it's, oh, we've just, hey, boss, seems like we just breached this wall here into some nether region, some nether space. What do you want us to do? It's like, ah, just keep it open. Just like, we'll put a door there. It's fine. It's like, oh, you want me to lock the door? It's like, no, just leave it ajar. It's fine. God, now I want to run a Call of Cthulhu game sitting in the 20s. Yeah.

[00:32:56] Just like, like, investigate, like, the former homeowners of the house before Aunt Louise gets here. Oh, man, that would be fun. Or you guys are, yeah, like, the investigators are the contractors. Like, you're the blue collar workers building this house. Yeah. Oh, that'd be fun. That'd be fun. Yeah. Especially if everyone just tosses their own accents like that. Yeah, exactly. You got the Boston accent. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:33:24] The old timey 1920s accents. Hmm. Oh, yeah. And just like, oh, it seems we have broken into the, into an ancient city of boogeymen. Well, this sucks. Roll fan. And, you know, if it ends in a TPK, the ending of the story is basically another contractor team comes in after the others, after you guys all go missing mysteriously or mysteriously abandon the site.

[00:33:54] And then they just, and then somebody else builds the house over and that's where Aunt Louise gets her house. But I digress. And this is something, the next thing I have is something kind of what you were talking about there, uh, gamer, uh, with like the doors and such. But, um, there wasn't much light, but I could see the outline of another door on the other side of this room. It was a jar.

[00:34:18] Seeing a door a jar in Aunt Louise's house was like seeing a shattered window in anyone else's. It was wrong. Well, yeah, doors generally aren't jars. You know, you're not allowed to say that. Because you jokingly say that I say that all the time. Meanwhile, I haven't said that in years. And you just come out and say it.

[00:34:44] And you think you'd be nice, little silly, happy ha-ha guy with it. No, no, you can't. Are you just pissed off because you had that exact note? No. Shut up. Let's cross that off. I actually specifically did not take that note because I'm like, I can't say this because cultists wouldn't like this. Also, it's not a funny joke anymore. Aw.

[00:35:13] Funny joke. God damn it, Yoda. But also, another thing I had was like, also, my other comment here is like, also, this house has doors for days. Like, he gets through the locked door to the sub-basement. He finds another doorway. Goes to that doorway. There's another door at the other end of that room. Like, it's like... Look, this creepypasta is running on old hardware. There's a lot of loading screens. Exactly. That's all there is.

[00:35:43] You know, it's just all, like, Resident Evil loading screens. 100%. Like, it's usually a door. It's just, like, silly black screen. Just a door that opens up. Yeah. Uh-huh. So when you get there and there's no door, it's like, wait, I can walk through this doorway? Whoa. Wow. Whoa. No, loading screen. I can just... Yeah. This is a really... Much... They must have saved... They must have, like, used all those loading screens to save on the RAM to get into this area. Yeah.

[00:36:13] Ah, man. But I've got one last thing for actual thoughts. So... And this is kind of the crux of my attitude toward Nair in this story, actually. Mm-hmm. Um... I turned and fled and never looked back. When I was 16, I moved out of Aunt Louise's and into a halfway house. Once I was 18, I got a job upstate and moved there. I never wanted... I never went back to Aunt Louise's and never called her.

[00:36:41] Tried hard to not even think about her. Wow. Fuck you, Nair. This lady gave you shelter and care after your fucking parents died. And after you went somewhere you were not supposed to go in the house, um... You condemn her to a life of solitude to deal with this horror alone. The Nerve.

[00:37:11] Not even calling to see if she's alright later on. Like, or, like, not even, like, keeping in touch. The fucking Gull. I was incensed by Nair here. You're really not thinking this nicely. No, I mean... I think it was personally here. Character choice aside, I do love the story. I do want to, like, iterate. I do like the story. I just... I think there's the real monster here. It's revealed. Just because, like...

[00:37:41] Maybe this struck a nerve, like, from, like, my own feelings toward family. But, like, you don't fucking, like, abandon family like that. Yeah. Yeah. Like, I get, like, as a kid he was, like, traumatized probably by, like, the... He rolled sand and probably lost a good chunk by, like, whatever is in that door. Or beyond that door. But, like... I can kind of get that. But also... Um... That's also inexcusable. Just... Again.

[00:38:10] Not, like, throwing shade at the story itself. Just... I'm not exactly happy with the character at the end here. It makes for a good story. The character sucks. But I still enjoy the story. Well, the character's okay. It's just his final decision... Yeah. ...makes him an asshole. Exactly, yeah. Like, I kind of... Okay. I don't want to say that I get it. Yeah, like... Like... They should... Like I said before, they should be bonding over this. And he should be like, I'm sorry I did it.

[00:38:40] I understand now. Whatever. Especially because he was a kid back then. Yeah. But... The... I'm assuming the rationale behind what he's doing is... He's like, I don't want to be anywhere near that house. I don't want to hear anything about it. I don't want her to explain why it showed up. Why it's there. I don't want to know what it did to her. I'm out. Yeah. Like, he's just completely just... I'm done. Yeah. And again, I get that. Like, that is...

[00:39:09] That is definitely how some people, like, react when dealing with trauma like this and stuff. They just want to, like... Just run away from the trauma source, like... And anything affiliated with it, even if they are family or whatever. I get that. That is a real world, like, reaction. And again, this is a fictional character. Like, I'm not actually, like, pissed off. No, of course not. I am doing this... I am reacting primarily, like, with some exuberance just because it's fun.

[00:39:34] But also, like, were I in this situation, I would not be abandoning my aunt. No. Given the circumstances of, like, you know, the fact that she, like... She wasn't, like... She has resting bitch face. Her only crime was being slightly eccentric, probably due to trauma suffered from rolling sand looking down in that basement. And also having resting bitch face. Like, otherwise, she seemed to be a pretty chill aunt, like, caregiver for this kid.

[00:40:04] As someone with resting bitch face, I don't like that you put resting bitch face as a negative for her character. No, I'm not saying that as a negative, but, like, outwardly, like, society condemns resting and resting bitch face. Yeah, just, like, society looks down at me because I'm left-handed as well. Exactly. You get what I mean, yeah. I'm a left-handed, resting bitch face guy living in a right-handed, normal bitch face world.

[00:40:34] But yeah, so... Again, I enjoyed the ending of the story. I just, like... I'm a little peeved at Nair's reaction toward his family. But that's fine. Mikey, the sense for evil. What do you have for actual thoughts? Um, well, I'm just gonna continue and say I also did not care for Nair. Thank you!

[00:41:02] But mine started when he went to the purse. Like, that's when I was like, okay, you're a scumbag in my books. Yeah, absolutely. That was the start of it as well. I was like, oh, wow, like, maybe you should feel bad. Because you're, you know, it's not like you are, like, betraying the trust of your caregiver. Whatever. Yeah. The one weird thing I had with... Okay, like, I get that he's stealing because he doesn't want to, like, ask her. But he doesn't say that he doesn't want to talk to her about it.

[00:41:28] And it's not like he tried to talk to her about it and she told him, no, I can't tell you about it. Like, there were no walls put up that forced him to steal, you know? There were no doors closed. Wow. Matt and me. Wow. But, you know, like, she's not, like, also, like, he knew that she was afraid of whatever was down there. Like, it wasn't like she was, like, angry at him for asking about it. It was she was afraid of what he was asking about. Yeah. But, so, like, that's the other thing that's, like, interesting.

[00:41:58] Because, like, genuinely, like, these kind of stories, like, in these kind of stories in film or in actual, like, literary stories, is the, like, when there's this kind of, like, a caregiver type archetype, they're usually, like, pretty strict and mean. Like, it's, like, mean-spirited. And they get angry at the young protagonist. But in this case, like, there's none of that. It's just kind of tragic in that regard. Because, like, she's not a mean person.

[00:42:27] She just has resting much face. Nope. I guess it's the whole, like, thing, like, don't judge a book by its cover kind of thing in that regard. But, yeah. Anyway. So, the monster. Yes. Which is the whole. Or the room. Oh, God.

[00:42:57] There's Toguva-Sow in there. The thing is, I viewed the room as more of a mouth. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. It definitely, to me as well, it screamed. That's definitely something's mouth. Or, like, something's gullet. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Because of the warm air moving. Yeah. Out of it. So.

[00:43:26] It actually kind of reminded me, like, the whole. I'm just going to. I had this in my final thoughts. But I'll bring it up now as well. I was also. I was actually kind of reminded by. I don't know if you guys have ever watched the horror film. It's a found footage called The Borderlands. And it starts off. Yeah. It starts off as a found footage, like, paranormal investigation of a chapel in, like, some rural part of England.

[00:43:48] And then the more they investigate, like, the phenomena that's going on, they eventually find, like, some passages down to some caves beneath the church. And as they progress through the caves, the cave stops start changing from being, like, rocky and sandy to, like, this weird, kind of, like, weird material along the walls. And then the characters too late realize they're inside something's stomach and start, like, dissolving.

[00:44:17] And it's revealed that basically there's some, like, ancient god creature, like, eldritch horror, just below the church where it was built. Because the church was formerly, like, a temple to this thing. And all the phenomena they've experienced is just, like, emanations from the god beneath. I think it's based off of an older, like, gothic story. I think it's called The Lair of the White Worm. I think it's, like, what it was loosely based off.

[00:44:44] Which, again, is the same sort of situation of, like, somebody goes into, like, some ancient caves that are, like, an ancient, some archaeological temple or something like that. And then, oops, turns out the cave's actually a mouth. Mm-hmm. So. Yeah, I was definitely getting those vibes as well, though, Mikey. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And then, uh, my other note is that we have a character that nopes out. Yeah! That's true.

[00:45:12] Also, we get a fake-out nope out almost, like, halfway through the story. It's like, like, yeah, so, like, I couldn't get into the locked area. So I decided to just, like, so I eventually forgot about it. And just, like, I was like, wow, the story could have, like, ended, like, halfway through if he had just not had the opportunity to get those keys. He could have just gone the rest of his life, could have had a happy ending with, uh, um, being cared for by his aunt. Instead of abandoning her to her fate. But. Hey.

[00:45:42] Uh, and that's the end of my actual thoughts. All right. Gamer. Uh, I got, like, a couple to talk about still. Uh. One is specifically, like, the revelation that the doors are basically, like, a closed warning system for the creature in the basement. I really like how that came out. Where it's, like, uh, Aunt Louise had not the courage. So she had fled and kept every door in her house closed at all times. Hoping.

[00:46:12] Against hope that keeping her doors closed at all times would alert her when a. When whatever was beyond that damn door finally came for her. Or just. Because, like, you get through, like, 90% of the story being like, okay, that's just a weird quirk of hers, I guess. And then you realize that there's actually some logic behind that. Yeah, exactly. Mm-hmm. And I like that. Because it's always nice when things make sense. Indeed. Mm-hmm.

[00:46:41] And then, literally, the only other thing I haven't chimed in on is just, like, I really like the, uh, the ending line. Where it's just, uh, I still think back to the day I stood in that doorway. About the squelching, wriggling things that waited in the dark. And I wonder if Aunt Louise ever found the strength to cross the room and shut that damn door. Credits. Ends with the title. Well done. Oh, my God. Yeah. You realize that. Yeah. Yeah. That's so good. Yeah.

[00:47:08] Because, like, it's mentioned, again, like, like I said, it was, like, it's been, the titular line is mentioned several times in the story. And it's, it's such a good, like, honestly, it works really well for the story. Like, as a title and, like, as the through line for the story. Because that's, it's sort of like the, the main subject is, like, why, why does, why does Aunt Louise keep yelling when, to shut that damn door? Like, why is she all about closing these doors? Now we know why by the end. Mm-hmm.

[00:47:40] Yeah. It's a through line. It's, it's like poetry. It works. Yeah. Yeah. It just works. Mm-hmm. I think that's about all I got left to talk about. I, it is a little unfortunate we didn't get to see what was in the door and going to come out and all that. I'ma be real, I kind of love that it does that.

[00:48:01] Because I'm the sucker for the indescribable, like, like, like, less is more, like, the show, like, like, like, don't, don't reveal the monster fully. Like, let the imagination, like, like, spur a little bit. Um, especially when you're dealing with something that, like, feels very Lovecraftian and very Eldritch.

[00:48:22] Like, it's, it, it heightens the, uh, the, the, the dark, whatever's down there, because, like, the descriptions that are being created by the person, by, by the imagination of the reader is going to be way better than whatever you put to paper. Or pixel, I suppose, in this mode, in this case. For sure. That being said, that doesn't stop me from thinking, being like, what if, though? Yeah. Like, well, because I, I personally see it as, like, it's, it's probably, like, some kind of, like, it could have been, like, um, uh,

[00:48:50] I, I definitely saw, I could definitely make a case, like, case, like Mikey was saying, that it's just, like, a giant creature that's, like, like, their, their mouth. But I'm also thinking, like, maybe, again, like, it could be some, like, deeper Stygian layer of, like, uh, some kind of, like, worm cluster creature. Kind of, like, the, the, like, Golo from Halo. Like, the, uh, the, the hunters, like, they're just, like, the, the colony of worms that, like, all have, like, a hive mind together. Yep.

[00:49:19] Um, definitely felt like it could have been something like that, or, like, a Shoggoth, or, um, something eldritch and tentacly, just kind of, like, oozing biomass along the walls. And, um, and it's just, like, mimicking doorways to try and, like, trick lunch into coming down. Yeah. Yeah. It could even just be living shadow, like, something down.

[00:49:47] Like, it could just be, like, the, the, the essence of shadow and darkness, just, like, oozing out, oozing on the walls. Mm-hmm. Yeah. A lot of potential. But either way, that's all I really got left for notes. For sure, this time. I said that before, but I actually am going to stop talking now. Then I suppose we'll move on to final thoughts. You'll have to talk a little bit more after this. I guess that's true. Uh, yeah, so final thoughts.

[00:50:14] I will continue to recommend it, um, despite Nair's ungrateful actions at the end. Uh, I do like the horror narrative here. Like, again, it's a horror story, so, like, characters aren't supposed to be likable, necessarily. Um, like, horror characters aren't heroes. Aren't, aren't likable people, generally. Um, so, it's sort of, and, and this story itself is sort of a haunted house story, if you think about it. It's just the haunting is a floor or two down, below this house.

[00:50:41] Like, the house itself, above, isn't haunted. Or, it's, it's haunted psychologically, or, like, emotionally, from the, from the people that live in the house. But the actual haunting is emanating from, like, two floors below the house, in the ground. Um, and like I said, it, it kind of reminded me of the Borderlands found footage film, meets the Winchester house. With, like, the kind of vibes of, like, all, all these different doors that had to be closed at all times and stuff like that.

[00:51:08] Or, otherwise, um, Aunt Louise gets, uh, starts, like, yelling. Um, and there was even a bit of a flair, like, I was reminded, because of the kid element of, like, like, this kid, like, having to be in this situation. I was given, it was given a bit of a flair of, like, an Are You Afraid of the Dark episode. Like, it felt very much kind of like, like, I feel like this could have been an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark? Or Goosebumps? Mm-hmm. Yes, definitely. Like, I'm pretty sure I recall some, some episodes of, of Are You Afraid of the Dark?

[00:51:36] Where, like, there's, like, a mysterious door in the basement that, like, the kid can't figure out how to get in. Or there's, like, some kind of monster beyond that's, like, unspeakable or, like, it changes shape and such. Um, but yeah, so it's definitely got that, those kind of vibes. Very good for a creepypasta. Uh, I will recommend it. Mikey, the East Ends for Evil. Let's see.

[00:52:01] Well, even though I didn't care for the, uh, Nair, because he's just a jerk. Um. Reach. Uh, the, the monster was good. And the, Aunt Louise was justified in closing all the doors. Yep. Um. So, that had it going for it. So, uh, I'm still gonna recommend it.

[00:52:30] All right. And, uh, Gamer? Um, for me, basically, I'm gonna be saying the same stuff. While it was short, I did like the read. Um. The oddity of Aunt Louise's fixation on the doors. Being shut, like, suddenly, suddenly being explained at the end. Is, like, right where the horror is. The rest of the story, there isn't really any horror. And then all of a sudden you realize the horror implications of the rest of the story after the fact. Exactly. So, it just works really well. Mm-hmm. And yeah, I enjoyed the read. Mm-hmm.

[00:53:00] Unfortunately, the lack of notes is part of the reason why I liked it. Like, a lot of the time I take a lot of notes when there's a lot of, like, bad stuff to talk about. But, like, when there's a lot of good stuff to talk about, it's hard to think about what's good specifically to talk about. Because it's, like, it all just worked, you know? It's just, like, yeah. I mean, you can always, like, put some notes down to highlight things that you liked about the story. I did. That was my three notes. I know, that's what you did. That's what we did, yeah. So, like, that's fine. Mm-hmm.

[00:53:29] Yeah, no, this story is, like, definitely worth recommending, I feel. Yeah. And it's understandable why. I'm kind of sad that I think it's, like, lower on the iceberg. So, like, it's, like, harder. It's more niche. Or it's more, like, kind of, like, deep dive kind of, like, creepypasta. But it's still a good one. I'd reckon, like, I think it should get more attention, honestly. Um. But, yeah, I guess that'll do it for this week's episode. So, if you like what you heard, or if you didn't, leave us a comment in the comment section below where this gets posted. Some of us are on Blue Sky.

[00:53:58] Mikey is at the E stands for Evil. And I'm at ReviewCultist. You can also send us emails at al dentebrigamortis at gmail.com. That's A-L-D-E-N-T-E-R-I-G-A-M-O-R-T-I-S at gmail.com. Where you can also leave us suggestions for other creepypastas, SCPs, spook things. You creep it, we'll peep it. Yeah. Yeah. And if you'd like to help support our show financially, you can go to Patreon. We have special episodes, early access, and extra content.

[00:54:27] To all our patrons helping support the show, thank you immensely. You're helping keep those hosting bills at bay. And as always, we very much appreciate that. And to our listeners and the authors of these stories, thank you immensely. Because without your listenership, it'd be like screaming into the void. You know, that dark space beyond a doorless door, waiting for us to cross it to close another door.

[00:54:51] And without you writing these stories, posting them online, we really wouldn't have much of a show because we'd have nothing to talk about. So thank you. Now's a good time to mention that we are part of a podcast network, Crit in the Night. An actual play and creepypasta podcast network. We're there alongside our sister podcast, One Less Die, and our cousin podcast, The Role Playing Exchange. For things that go crit in the night.

[00:55:18] Until next time, I have been your host, Review Cultist. I'm Mikey, the used to enter evil. And I'm the gamer in yellow. And this has been Al Dente Rigamortis. Sleep well.