ADR - Episode 633: Grey Mask

[00:00:05] Welcome to Adente Rigamortis, I'm Review Cultist. I'm Mikey, the East End for Evil, and I'm never supposed to be here today. Yeah, wait, what? Didn't you say you were busy? Yes.

[00:00:35] Yes, I am. But now you're here. And also I'm the Gamer in Yellow. I was like, oh, and also I'm here. Yeah, I am also here. Yeah, and we're here to discuss those internet stories, most creepy and most pasta, and be critically silly doing it. Uh, as is prevalent with our, you know, intro there. Um, and yeah, uh, tonight we are covering Grey Mask.

[00:01:00] So, Grey Mask is by DexFam, uh, it's on CreepPastaWiki, uh, and you may remember DexFam from such other CreepPastas as StorageRoom6. That's it. And others that we have not gone to read. Actually, I've checked over their, I looked at their, uh, their profile, like on CreepPast.Wiki, and, uh, the only other story, the only stories they have that are available to read is StorageRoom6 and Grey Mask. Oh, okay.

[00:01:27] There's two other ones that, um, like, have, like, placeholder pages, but, like, they haven't been written or posted yet. So. Yeah. Yeah. Um, but yeah. So, Grey Mask, um, I suppose we'll give our initial recommendations. Um, I will recommend it. Uh. What about you, Mikey? Yeah. The one who hasn't read it yet? Yeah. Yeah. The one who just, like, hopped in? I have no opinion.

[00:01:58] Sounds like a partially recommended. Yeah. Mikey will be the spectator tonight. I mean, yeah, but. So nothing has changed. No kidding. Wow. Rude. It's just because he's so quiet. Yeah, he is. Uh, but yeah, I'll give it a partial. Okay. I'm open to enjoying it more, though. So. Yeah. Perhaps you could squammy. I also think I might know why, because, like, I had similar feelings, but by the end, I was like, I'll give it a recommendation. But. Mm. Okay.

[00:02:29] Um, but yeah, let's, uh, let's dive in and find out why, starting with the rundown. So. Our narrator. Yeah. This is all the information you're going to get, unless you're reading right now. Yeah. Unless you're reading it as we're, as we're talking. Yeah. Uh, so our narrator, Kirstie, uh, doesn't like. Burials or cemeteries. They creep her out. So it's unfortunate for her when her teacher decides to take the class to a burial, uh,

[00:02:56] which she found on the cheap in the woods for a field trip. She being the teacher. Yeah. Yeah. It's a, and, uh, this is one of those like World War I, like burials or like cemeteries. Um, and yeah, it's out in the woods and yeah, they're just gonna go on a field trip for it. It's gonna be great. Um, her friend Sinjin is thankfully with her. Uh, and soon after arriving, they decide to split from the class and look around themselves.

[00:03:24] But then Kirstie remembers cemeteries freak her out and she gets a bad feeling from the whole place. Uh, especially in the even more dilapidated forbidden section that they decide to explore. Uh, it's here that Sinjin runs ahead and falls into a grave hole, uh, hurting his leg. After several attempts, the dynamic duo aren't able to easily get Sinjin out of the hole. That's when Kirstie spots a hooded guy in a coat.

[00:03:54] And they didn't want to call for help because they didn't want to get in trouble. Yes. Yeah. Um, but that's when Kirstie, uh, spots a hooded guy in a coat standing near a cabin and looking away from her. Uh, she goes to ask for help. This very tall man standing away from her, not looking to her at all. But then Sinjin calls to her from behind as she, uh, as he's nearly made it out of the hole himself.

[00:04:21] So she goes to help him out and finished like getting him out of the hole. But then as they're walking away, they see the man or she sees the man, uh, she was going to ask for help from is now facing them. And she is terrified as he has this, or as he appears to be wearing this gray gas mask, a gray mask, if you will. Also the dude's like seven feet tall. Yeah. That's why I said like, yeah, it was a tall, like very tall man earlier.

[00:04:50] Um, the two friends stumble back to the others in a hurry. Sinjin's ankle badly hurt. And they meet an angry graveyard headman and distressed teacher. Uh, then shit hits the fan. Uh, the masked man arrives and kills the fellow gravekeeper, uh, much to the horror of the teacher and her class. Uh, everyone flees back to the bus pursued by the mad masked man, but luckily they get away.

[00:05:19] Authorities are called and they arrive to find the body of the headman. But no masked man. Also, apparently this burial site, uh, isn't on any maps, uh, outside of the one that was given to the teacher by the late headman. Um, a week later, uh, and the kids have been allowed to like have, have a week off from school to recover from the trauma of what they encountered.

[00:05:46] Um, but Kirstie feels this isn't over. It's just beginning. Finn. So yeah, that was gray mask in a nutshell. Mm. Mm. One somewhat like important sticking point that he didn't mention is like the headsman like knew about the gray mask all along. And he was basically like, you're not supposed to come out yet. They, the guests haven't left yet.

[00:06:15] So he was protecting him or like something. I don't know. Or maybe there's just like, like, Hey, it's not your shift yet. And then this guy just like snapped or something. Yeah. Yeah. Um, yeah, that, that, that's, that was right before he got choked out and choked to death, basically. Yes. Um, but yeah, I suppose we'll move on to everyone.

[00:06:39] Toddler Instagram inquisitions at this point, I've got a few, uh, going to start with this one here, especially when it's dark. Those places are creepy. I feel like there should be a comma between dark and those. So it's like, especially when it's dark comma, those places are creepy. Oh, so it's not, especially when it's dark. Those. Mm. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly. Uh, and then the next one I have, of course, when weed.

[00:07:09] Get back at school. We'd have to write an essay about it. So I feel like at should be replaced with two. So it's like, of course, when we got, when we, of course, when we get back to school. Rather than when we get back at school. Yeah. Uh, and then a little more sense. And then another two one I have, um, we had to wait for a long time as the teacher was explaining us what to do.

[00:07:39] So I feel like there should be, uh, we had to wait for a long time as the teacher was explaining to us what to do. Uh, and then my last one I have. There were bits of rope and cloth lying at the gates leading into the section as well as footsteps apparently made with boots. So, hate to be that guy, but I'm pretty sure that was supposed to be footprints, not footsteps.

[00:08:09] Oh, I didn't even think about that. Yeah. Like, I guess it could have been like they heard footsteps, but I feel like it should have been, like, I think that, I think what's actually happening here is like, amidst like the, the shredded rope and cloth, they also see some, they see some footprints in the, in the dirt or mud. It might be, also be a regional dialect situation. Perhaps, yeah. But yeah. Um, and uh, yeah, that's all I have for grammar positions. So, gamer. Grammar in yellow? Hey, hey, hey. Wait, what are you ignoring Mikey for?

[00:08:38] What are you ignoring Mikey for? You just got here. That doesn't matter. You don't have time. You didn't have time. You didn't have time. No. There was time now. I thought we were free of it today. Hell no. Conjunction junction time. No! He's that good that he could just do it that fast.

[00:09:11] Question, are you doing this live? Like, you just, you just did a search and you're just reading them on the page? Or did you copy and paste them into notes to do this? I had enough time to copy and paste them into notes. Nice. And next stop, conjunction junction. It looked kind of forgotten anyway.

[00:09:40] It was a large, dark area, clearly showing its age. It gives me the creeps. And when I managed to, I gazed down for a moment and saw Sinjin lying in the hole. It took me a few moments to realize that he disappeared because he fell in that hole.

[00:10:05] But he couldn't get enough grip with his shoes and I wasn't strong enough to pull him out. But we didn't want to get detention for wandering off into this section of the burial. It was awfully quiet as I approached the man. Only the sound of the wind blowing through the trees kept the place from being silent.

[00:10:36] But before I even managed to touch the man, I heard Sinjin shouting behind me. Or rather, his lack of a face. But when I saw who was standing behind him, I couldn't help but to yelp, wrapping both of my arms around Sinjin. It was the masked man.

[00:11:06] It's not your shift yet. It wouldn't be long before the headman stopped struggling. But to my dismay, he began to run. There. Wow. Wow, so in your iteration, the headman survived. He escaped whatever happened to him.

[00:11:29] So the way that I envisioned this was, the whole story takes place, like, right out at Jump Street, Sinjin is in the hole. Yeah. And Kirstie has to get him out. And, like, when she's approaching the man, she could just be approaching Sinjin in the hole trying to get him out. And then she hears a voice from behind and it's Sinjin, but there's no face. So it's a faceless Sinjin behind her. And then behind him was the masked man.

[00:12:00] Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I was definitely like that, where it's like, but he had no face. And then there was someone behind him. And I was like, wait, oh. And behind him was a headsman who ran away or something. Exactly. Hey, you're not supposed to be on shift. And then it wouldn't be long before he stopped struggling. But then he ran away. And then he began to run. So it's like, oh, yeah, you got away.

[00:12:28] I'm not even going to thank you for that succinct thing. You're not going to? How dare I? I'm not going to. No. I will thank him then. Thank you, Mikey. I'm glad you showed up to do your due diligence. I have a feeling that, like, Mikey knew, like, ahead of recording, Mikey wasn't going to be available today. But he realized, wait, they don't do grammar. They don't do the conjunction junction or it stories, but I'm not there.

[00:12:57] I sometimes do, honestly. And I was going to do it, but I'm like, you know what? This time I'm not going to. I don't know why, but I'm not going to. So I think I just felt, like, through the ether, it's like, Mikey will show up and do this. Either that or Mikey felt a disturbance of the force. It was just like, no, Gamers doesn't have my back today. I have to go. Yeah, yeah. I have to be pedantic. It's not that pedantic. It's a little pedantic.

[00:13:27] A little bit. It's critically silly. It is. It is silly. When Mikey grabs all the sentence and throws a story that starts with words that they probably shouldn't lick its ends or butts, strings them together into sentence with sometimes hilarious results. Basically to highlight that there's always better words to use. Yes. Gamer, do you have a grammar in yellow? I actually have a conjunction junction. No. No. Okay.

[00:13:52] So my first one is in regard to burials and its use in this story because it says, like, I've always had a particular fear for burials. I don't know why. Probably because burials are full of dead people, especially when it's dark. Those places are creepy. I usually avoid burials. So when I'm reading that, I'm like, does this mean graveyards when it says burials? Because to me, a burial is an event. It's the act of laying someone to rest in the ground.

[00:14:20] A burial involves a person, but it isn't full of dead people. But like I said three times, so it's not a mistake. So it made me immediately think, like, maybe it's a regional dialect. Yeah. Like, I did a decent bit of digging and I kept finding references to, like, burial ground and such. So, like, I suppose in an area where you refer to it as a burial ground and not a graveyard all the time,

[00:14:48] maybe referring to multiple burial grounds would be burials. I don't know. Yeah, that was my kind of conjecture. Like, I was like, burial? Because, like, I have heard burial describe, like, the burial grounds of, like, where, like, bodies were, like, put into the ground. And, like, that's a burial ground. Like, that's a burial site. Um, so, but, so, and I was, this actually kind of stems to, like, something of my actual thought, my first actual thought.

[00:15:15] Where I kind of got the sense, again, because this also, like, says, like, oh, we're going to, our class is going to a World War I burial site. I was like, oh, so this is probably in Europe somewhere. Um, because, again, burial sites generally aren't, I mean, I suppose there might be some in North America, but, like, a lot of the fighting and stuff in World War I happened mostly in Europe. Yeah.

[00:15:37] So, chances are, like, that, and we already know from, this is a similar thing to the previous story we covered from, from DexVam, um, where I got the sense that it was in, like, Eastern Europe somewhere because of, like, the dialect and, like, the way the story was written, uh, with the dialogue and such. Could be. I looked up the names to try to get a location. Stingen is a, um, it's an English, uh, name and it's a modernization of St. John. Okay.

[00:16:08] And Kirstie is Norwegian, I think it was. Yeah. So, who knows? I definitely got the sense it was somewhere, like, in Northern Europe, maybe, or, again, this is, again, this is me just, like, extrapolating off of, like, what I'm reading in context and, like, my own biases. But I, I definitely got the sense in this story that, again, we were reading a story set somewhere in Europe, um, as opposed to North America for where we live. Yep.

[00:16:33] Um, and again, the use of burial, because, like, again, in Scandinavia, I think a lot, like, in Northern Europe, but, like, I think they refer to certain places as, like, burial sites over, like, cemetery or graveyard. So. But again, it's always burial site, burial ground, burial noun. Yeah. I don't know. It could just be, like, again, either, like, uh, a translation error or, like, uh, again, just a regional thing. Yeah, that we're not aware of. Yeah. Yeah. For sure.

[00:16:59] But, especially since, like, later on in the story, we do get mention of cemetery and grave, like, graveyard keeper. Yes. So, yeah. Um. But, yeah, sorry, continue on with your notes. Mm-hmm. You want me to jump to notes? I'm in grammar right now. I'm in grammar. I'm in grammar. Don't fucking, don't fucking grammar inquisit me. Why not? It's literally the grammar section right now. God. Okay, so my second one.

[00:17:26] Uh, as fate would have it, it's a front as, but, uh, Mikey wouldn't be happy if I didn't bring it up. Um, as fate would have it, me and my class went to a World War I burial site during an excursion for my class alone. So, my main reason I'm bringing this up is, like, how this sentence ends with the whole during an excursion for my class alone bit.

[00:17:50] Like, is it mean to say that, like, the class trip only had, uh, Kirstie's own class in it? Like, isn't that how class trips generally work? Like, one class goes? Maybe. Well, not, not all the time. Sometimes schools will have, like, multiple classes go to the same place.

[00:18:08] Um, so perhaps, I think, I think what it's saying here is, like, it was just their class going to this one location rather than, like, multiple, there were going to be, like, multiple groups going to the same place or multiple classes going on this, on a field trip. Where it's just, this was a singular class field trip. Yeah, but my problem here is it's double downing. Yeah. Because it says, me and my class went to a World War I burial site for my class alone. That is weird. Yeah, well, yeah, because, like, yeah, it's doubling down, so that could probably be fixed.

[00:18:38] But, like, I think what's trying to get at is, like, like, me and my class went on this trip just for us. Like, it wasn't for any other classes. It was just us. But, again, like you said, it is kind of double downing. Yeah. So, I do think it'll work just as, as fate would have it, me and my class went to a World War I burial site, period. Yeah. Because, like, them going to it is also during an excursion. Like, even that excursion part doesn't really need to be there. Yeah, it's a little bit repetitive. A little bit.

[00:19:10] Then my next one. Now, for the sake of saving your ass, I won't tell you which burial site it is. It looked kind of forgotten anyway. And the it looked kind of forgotten anyway is its own sentence, and it's kind of tiny. And I feel like the sentence before isn't that big either, so they could just be connected with a comma. But, like, if the intent is to have emphasis on it looked kind of forgotten anyway, maybe it could be ellipsied out. Because there aren't many ellipsies in here. There's some. Yeah.

[00:19:40] Not much. Also, can I just say, I do like the attitude of this narrator a little bit. Yes. Like, to save your ass. It was just, like, some long forgotten place. Like, so that you don't end up trying to find it. Like, you can't find it. Yes. I'm not giving you the address so you can go get killed by the gray man. Exactly, yeah. Mm-hmm. And then my last one here. I screamed at the site before Sinjin pulled me into the bus.

[00:20:10] The doors weren't even closed yet, or the driver hit the gas. And the bus drove off. So I think the or of the doors weren't even closed yet, or the driver hit the gas. Like, that part doesn't really work. Maybe it'd be something more like the doors weren't even closed yet when the driver hit the gas. Exactly. Or the driver hit the gas. Yeah, exactly. But that's all I found for grammar. All right.

[00:20:38] Well then, on to actual thoughts. So I'm going to start with this one here. Now, stay together, children. We don't want to lose sight of anyone. And please, tread quietly. Show respect for the deceased. Our teacher said to the rest of the class, Kirstie, Sinjin, get away from that gate and come back. She suddenly called out to us. Oh, I am Kirstie, by the way. Sinjin is my friend.

[00:21:07] He's kind of a crazy guy, but that's what makes our friendship so strong. We're both crazy. And so, again, this is sort of like tacking on to what I said earlier, but I just like the attitude of this narrator. I like how our narrator's name pops up in the story. It comes out kind of a little bit later from the beginning, but it does come in naturally and narratively fun. For sure, yeah. Not to be super silly with it, but it's just like, Kirstie, Sinjin, get away from that gate.

[00:21:36] And then in the movie, it would be like they'd turn around like, what? And then like their names would be stamped in front of them. Like Kirstie, Sinjin. You're probably wondering how I got here. Exactly. Exactly, yeah. Then the next thing I have here. Now class, is everyone ready? The teacher asked. Is this all dialogue from the teacher? No, no, no, no. No, no, no. Although whatever she's talking, that's how I'm inflecting.

[00:22:06] Yes. Uh, yeah. Now class, is everyone ready? The teacher asked, way too excited for something like this. The class nodded and everyone was clearly nervous. Me and Sinjin included. Tonight on the Magic School Bus, Miss Frizzle takes the kids to a creepy World War I cemetery. Yeah. That's kind of how it feels. Definitely felt like a lost episode of the Magic School Bus for like Remembrance Day or something. Yeah.

[00:22:37] Yahoo! Let's go class. I can't unsee it now. I know. Yeah. Like, I'm going to mention her name as Miss Frizzle, even though I, like, later on in my notes, even though I know, like, that is not her name. But in my head canon, it's Miss Frizzle. I mean, that could be her name, probably, you know. Yeah, true. But the next thing I have here. This is wickedly creepy and cool. So many dead dudes below us, Sinjin whispered to me. Yeah.

[00:23:06] Let's see what this place has to offer, I responded. My heart was beating wildly, both from excitement and fear. So I like how Kirstie said she hated burials and how they creep her out. But now she's, like, super excited to split off from the group of this field trip that is going to a place that she doesn't like to go look around by herself and with her friend. Yep. It's like, it's a little... It's very you-coded, honestly. Shut up.

[00:23:37] Shut up. How dare you? How dare you tell the truth? Shut up. Yeah, yeah. But no, I totally agree. Yeah, no, I mean, also, it's obviously understandable because, like, Sinjin wants to do his gung-ho and, like, Kirstie's kind of along for the ride. And, like, probably getting some, like, secondhand, like, high of excitement off of him.

[00:24:04] But then, like, also gripping, like, kind of balancing that excitement with, like, her own innate fear of this kind of place. Yeah, but it also, like, I feel the story does a good job of explaining why she goes through with it. Because other stories are just like, I didn't want to be here. This place is creepy. Anyway, I go in by myself into the basement. Exactly. By myself. Like, you know, I don't want to go, but I'm just going to go down there. I have to because the plot has to advance. Exactly, yeah.

[00:24:33] And this one, like, we have Sinjin. And they describe, like, Sinjin and her have, like, this, like, kind of wild side. Yeah, plus, like, there's this good line here that says, like, Despite my fear of this place, I was tempted to investigate. And so was Sinjin. We wanted to know more. We wanted to see more. Fear is such a strange thing. It makes you curious and frightened at the same time. That is so fucking good. I forgot about that line. It's such a good line to be like, yeah, okay, I have no qualms with them going to investigate. That explains everything.

[00:25:03] Yeah, no, exactly. That 100%. And similarly, actually, my next quote and comment is related in a way. So the quote is,

[00:25:44] And if we would call for help, we'd get detention or worse. And so, like, similarly to what we were saying about, like, what we get, like, like, they're why they're so curious and, like, why, like, fear makes you do weird things and stuff. I also like this kind of POV because, like, they're kids. And so this whole, like, so this whole aspect of them, like, not wanting to, like, really call for help from, like, the real people, like, from, like, from, like, their teacher or, like, somebody of authority that they know.

[00:26:12] And, like, just see if they can find somebody else or find some other way to get, get Sinjin out of the hole is such a fun and relatable POV for a child. Yeah, because, like, their priorities are skewed. Exactly. Like, they don't always think of the consequences, like, well, if you don't get help, he's going to be, he could get hurt or worse down there. And, like, but they're more concerned. It's like, oh, no, we're going to get detention. Like, he could die of sepsis.

[00:26:37] That ankle could be, could get infected with whatever is in that grave, in that grave site. I was half tempted to be, like, or to think, like, okay, well, you're stuck in there and we can't call out or we'll get in detention. And so, see ya. And he's like, yeah, I can't call for help. I'll get detention. He just stays there and dies. Yeah. First, he just starts, like, oh, I found a shovel. Hey, Sinjin, I found a shovel. Great, just bury me here. Like, I don't want, I don't want us getting in trouble.

[00:27:07] He just, he just stays lying down, puts his hand, crosses his hands over his chest, like, like, just, like, just accepts his fate. Oh, that's dark and funny. It's so, it's very gallows humor. It is. Uh, um, and then we get this part here. Um, while I looked at the man, Sinjin talked to me too. What is this hole anyway?

[00:27:35] There are two footprints in here and they aren't mine. I heard him say, before I turned my head to speak to him again. Sinjin, I see someone. He isn't from our school. We can get you out without the nasty consequences. I said before walking off. Sinjin kept talking, but I didn't hear much other than Doug and inside and stuff. So, as I'm, like, reading this part, I was like, that is hella ominous. I love it.

[00:28:02] Like, I just, like, I, I, so, so later on in the story, we discover, like, this place isn't on any maps. And I have a theory, I have, I have this weird suspicion or theory that these two guys, like, that were running the place, like, the headman and the gas mask guy, were digging, like, we're basically making either a fake burial place for some weird reason. Um, or the, or the gas mask guy was digging up graves at this old, like, long forgotten, like, burial site.

[00:28:32] Oh, taking all the bodies out. Exactly, yeah. But it says, yeah. It says that the, uh, the burial site wasn't on any map and, like, all the names weren't actually names of people that were killed during the war. Yeah, so that's actually my theory. That's actually my second theory, which is, uh, those two guys were actually, like, for some reason building a fake, uh, uh, like, grave, grave site and stealing, like, tombstones and stuff from other, like, from other cemeteries. Mm-hmm.

[00:29:02] And bringing them here for some strange, like, we have no context as to why this is going on yet, but, like, and in this story, we're never going to get that because, like, it's not mentioned. It is sort of one of those, like, out of context, like, weird mystery, like, weird spooky mysteries, like, why the hell do they do this? We have no, we don't have any of those details, so it's just like, what the fuck? I can make an assumption. Mm-hmm.

[00:29:24] Based on, like, the gray mask guy and his murderous tendencies, I'm assuming that this graveyard was set up just to keep him occupied and have him somewhere to live out in the middle of the sticks, like, where no one would ever go there. I like that idea, yeah. It does make the question of, why did this guy give the map to this school and tell them that they exist?

[00:29:51] Maybe they need some money, like, for funding or something like that, so, like, they need some kind of money, so, like, oh, like, this, like, because, like, the teacher got this, like, found this place on the cheap, right? So, it's like, they need, like, obviously, like, they're, like, you need some money to keep things going, so, like, I think that might have been, like, that situation. Because, yeah, I, and honestly, like, I could see this whole, like, this creep process being the foundation of a slasher flick with the gray mask guy.

[00:30:18] Like, like you said, like, he's, like, they, like, the old headman set this all up as a place to placate the gray mask. Mm-hmm. Um, and then things go horribly wrong, and then, because I, you know, I'm going to continue my notes, because I got some mentions about, like, slashers and stuff like that I was kind of going into, so. Yep. Um, but yeah, like, I definitely think it's, like, this place was, like, a facade or for something either more sinister, we just don't have any context to. Mm-hmm.

[00:30:47] Um, but I definitely like your idea. I was, like, it was there, it's there to placate and keep this guy here. Yes. Um, so moving on to the next thing. Yeah. Uh, that's when my eyes turned to the man again. I almost wanted to scream. I wasn't shocked, but the fact he stood turned to us. But his face scared, uh, but his face scared me more. Or rather, his lack of a face.

[00:31:15] He was wearing a gray gas mask with two filters. A small one where his mouth would be. A larger one on his chin. Below the mouth filter. I saw something that looked like a, that looked like the clasp of a belt. Even the, even though I couldn't see his eyes, I was certain he was looking at us.

[00:31:41] So, I was honestly expecting him, like, when, like, when she goes to, like, turn around to, like, after, like, grabbing, uh, Sinjin from the hole and such. Honestly expected, like, her to turn around and that guy was gone. Like, he, like, it's like, what guy? Yeah. Like, I was expecting that kind of thing. Um, I don't totally get her terrified reaction. Like, sure, it's a gas mask. Like, the guy's wearing a gas mask now that he's turning to her. Um, and maybe I'm not putting into account the POV of a child.

[00:32:10] Like, cause children can easily get spooked or get really bad feelings from, from various, like, individuals and stuff for no reason. Or for just, like, for one, like, detail that freaks them out. Um, but the guy seems just sort of, like, weird and suspicious more than anything. Not really, like, super threatening. Yet. I mean, you say that, but, like, she went up to talk to him. Yeah. He refused to answer at all. She left. And then she turns around and he's right behind her. Oh, no, no, no. It wasn't right behind her at that moment.

[00:32:39] Sorry, just, uh, clarify. She, he wasn't right behind her when she, when she looked back. He was still at the cottage. He was just, he had turned to face them and was staring at her. Then how did she see such explicit detail about the mask from, like, 50 meters away? Was it 50 meters away or was it just, like, a distance? I'm not sure of a number there. Yeah. Or was it just, like, I'm not saying it was, like, right behind her, but, like, like, I don't think it was, like, that super far. Like, you can, you can see details and shit from, like, a ways off. I don't know.

[00:33:09] I don't think it specifically says how far away they were, but, like, I don't know, man. I feel like you have to be pretty close to be able to see that kind of detail. I don't think so at all. Like, I think, like, with, like, even a cloudy day, you can get, like, details of a gas mess from, like, 20, 30 feet away, which is kind of what I assumed, like, how far it was, roughly. Just, like, given how, like, she had to, like, run over to him, like, try to tap on his shoulder and then could still hear Sinjin shouting back. So then she, like, ran over to help him.

[00:33:39] So, like, it wasn't that far, but it wasn't that close. Anyway, point, my other point here is, like, I also, like, maybe I am being a little bit, like, I'm not, like, putting into account, again, like, the fears of a child, like, when they react to something like this. Because this does also kind of feel, now I think about it, like, Kevin from Home Alone reacting constantly through the movie to old man Marley, who has done nothing but just kind of seem, like, be tall and intimidating looking.

[00:34:08] So maybe that's just the same kind of reaction that, like, Kirstie has here when she, like, finally sees the guy's, like, front, like, the front of him. Like, both he's being tall, he's staring at her, and he's got a gas mask for some reason. I guess that would be kind of horrifying to a child. It is sort of the reason why, like, kids don't like mascot costumes and stuff sometimes. But then the... Also, let me just read this line.

[00:34:36] This is why I thought that he was, like, in the far distance. Okay. Because this line here says, I shook my head and continued to look around. I sighed with relief when I saw a man standing in the far distance. Okay. Kind of vague, though. Also, like, not to... I'm not going to fight you anymore on this. I'm not either. I'm just saying that's why I thought it was far away. Fair. Yeah. Because it said far. It's open. Yeah, exactly. It's open to... Like, it is... But it is also... You know, I'm done. I'm not going to talk.

[00:35:05] I'm not going to fight you on it. But I'll move on to the next thing I have. Um... The headman turned around as a nervous murmuring began to arise amongst the students. What are you doing? Get back to your... Get back into your hut. The visitors are not gone yet, he said to the masked man, who just stood there silently. I could not tell... I could not tell who he was looking at.

[00:35:35] I, the teacher, and Sinjin backed away... Okay, I thought that was like describing who he might be looking at. My bad. Um... I could not tell who he was looking at. I, the teacher, and Sinjin backed off a bit. The headman paused for a moment before continuing. It's not your shift yet. A sudden reaction...

[00:35:58] A sudden reaction made the class scream in horror as the masked man reached for the headman's throat with his right hand. All around the cemetery leaves suddenly were blown up into the air. I screamed as well and... I screamed as well and pressed myself to Sinjin, who in turn backed off further from this situation. So as I'm reading this, like, well that is... That escalated quickly. A little bit. Um...

[00:36:27] Also a little bit kind of anime-ish. Like, cause like... Yeah. That sudden action, like that sudden quick action, just like... Dramatically all the leaves, something like lifted up from the breeze that it was creating... From the... From the... From the air drift. 100%. Yeah. It's very much like a... A JoJo's, like, bit. Or like something from like an anime. Yeah, it was like a DBZ mainly, cause I've only watched DBZ and Gundam Wing. But yeah.

[00:36:57] You uncultured slide. Yeah. Cause he's Jack. Yeah. Exactly, yeah. Um, but yeah. It is funny because, um, when the headman turned around and started like berating the gas mask guy, um, I was a little let down that he was just working at this place. But then he just straight up burks his employer or like his fellow employee.

[00:37:27] Yeah. In front of a class of students. Like, uh, like this is some real world horror right here. Like this is happening. Like, like forget, like if there's any supernatural aspect. Like whatever. Like this is like the real like grip of horror of the story. Like guy snaps and starts killing people at his workplace as a class of students is touring that workplace. Like that's, that's dark as hell. It really is. Um, also, yeah, I just like, yeah, like the, that it just escalated so quickly at this moment.

[00:37:59] Um, and then the next thing I have here is as the students are basically like running for like the, the, uh, for the, um, the bus and such.

[00:38:35] Uh, this truly was a nightmare come true. Mm-hmm. Just ran off. Like it just, it's just crazy that this teacher abandoned two of her students because they were, they were, they, uh, they couldn't keep up. I mean, you say abandoned. She didn't like close the door and leave. She's probably just making sure that the bus is ready to go. The bus driver's like, okay, get the bus going. We're leaving. Maybe. I don't know. I still think she called back to them too, right? So, no, I don't think she did. Did she not? No, she's just, she's, she stays quiet.

[00:39:05] Like she is just in the bus, like not, like not saying anything like for the, uh, after this. Oh, okay. For some reason I thought she was still in the door, like pulling them in, but I might've fabricated that. No, the bus driver pulls them or either Sinjin or the bus driver pulls Kirstie back into the bus. Oh, okay. Yeah. Um, yeah. So I, I, I think at worst, like this, this teacher should get a reprimand for, for not like being the last one in the bus. Absolutely.

[00:39:31] Well, I mean, clearly the teacher's using the buddy system. So she's going to check that everyone on the bus has their buddy, uh, before they leave. Unfortunately, uh, Sinjin and our protagonist are buddies. Okay. But like, again, a teacher should not like outpace students who are dragging behind and like, like, fuck this. I'm out. Like, fuck you students. I'm out.

[00:40:02] Especially injured students. Exactly. Like, yeah. Anyway. Yeah. I was just like, like, wow. Way to go. Miss Frizzle. Um, uh, onto the next thing I have. Yeah. Okay. So I, I, I'm just going to read this part first before I go to my, my comment here. Uh, weird. I know. Um, once we arrived at the bus, bus's entrance, I helped Sinjin get in before I looked back at the cemetery's entrance.

[00:40:32] The masked man walked through the gates and was still coming for us. But to my dismay, he began to run. I screamed at the site before Sinjin pulled me into the bus. The doors weren't even closed yet. Or the driver hit the gas. Again, when the, when the, the driver hit the gas, as, as you pointed out in your grammar acquisition. Yeah. Um, and the bus drove off. Wow.

[00:40:58] I was just thinking, um, like prior to like him starting to run that this masked man was kind of like Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees. He's just like slow moving slasher. And then I legitimately, I'm not even joking guys. I legitimately got jump scared reading a story when he started running. Like when he started running, he's just going to walk. Yeah. When he started running, okay. And then he started to run. I was like, Oh shit.

[00:41:27] Like I literally had that reaction out loud. I'm like, Oh shit. That's awesome. Oh God. I've like, I've only, I've only like truly had a jump scare like twice. I think when reading a horror story and one of them was the rats in the walls by Lovecraft. Oh, nice. So like, yeah, this, I, I, I can't believe, like I was like kind of flabbergasted after the fact that my reaction was like, Oh shit.

[00:41:56] But yeah, no, I was like, this is the part where like the story actually like really kind of kicked into high gear for me. Like this whole like shit hitting the fan section. So. Um. Makes sense. Gray Mass just went into high gear too. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly. And then there's a school bus also. Yeah, that too. There's a lot of high gears going on. Zero to 60. Mm-hmm. Um. And then my last thing here.

[00:42:23] They found the dead body of the headman, but said there was no trace of the, of a masked man. They also informed us that the burial site wasn't marked on any other map other than the one the headman himself provided our teacher with. Most of the graves were empty and almost none of the names on the gravestones matched that of actual World War I soldiers. Long story short, I finally understand why the place was in such poor condition.

[00:42:52] And I think we're not done yet. This all is just getting started. Oh, really? Uh. All right. I kind of look, I kind of want a second story. I'm not going to lie. This story, unfortunately, did come out in 2014 and we have yet to see a sequel.

[00:43:11] But I was kind of painted very intrigued by the end of like, like it got me that it got me with that, like out of context, like, like just like mystery that of the story of like what the fuck's going on. And I really want to know more. And it seemed like the author was planning on writing more. Um, but sadly it's been like 12 years and we haven't seen a sequel story yet. Um, but who knows? Maybe unless she's cooking. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:43:37] I mean, they're again, they, the, in their profile, they do have like two active stories, a couple that are like, have like placeholder sites and a few, like they've written the titles of some stories that they want to write. So, uh, maybe they are just like, it's just taking a while to cook, but yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Also gray mask, just like, I'm not exactly the most, like I've seen gas mask, like slashes before, but like, I I'm intrigued by this character as a slasher.

[00:44:07] Like I would love to see this, uh, this character, um, uh, reprise in other stories. Hmm. Cause we know so little about them. Yeah. And the fact that he has like anime speed. Yeah. It has like superhuman speed. He's super tall. He can just start. He's got that slasher. He he's got, he's basically just, yeah, he's a Mike. He's, he's, he's up there with Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees where like he can walk and then, and then just like burst into, into, into short, into short sprints. Yep.

[00:44:37] I'm curious why he has two gas, like two filters on his gas mask in the way that they are. Cause that's like not a normal way to. One of them is NOS. I did not think you were going to go there, honestly. Or some kind of like accelerator that like gives him a boost. Maybe like the bottom one, he just like screws it to like puncture the, uh, like the, the container, the pressure on it and just like injects himself with NOS. Exactly.

[00:45:06] Or, or, or rather than that, maybe he's already like superhumanly like fast and strong, but the, uh, the secondary like filter gives him like pumps him with like a sedative of some kind. And maybe the reason why he snapped here is because that it ran empty, uh, before the, uh, the headman was aware. Maybe. Cause he was actually moving around instead of standing there staring at the wall like he's supposed to be doing. Yeah. Yeah. It was very, I was just, again, I was left very intrigued.

[00:45:36] I was like with the, by the ending, cause it's just like, it wasn't like a, what the fuck just happened? It was like, what the fuck just happened? I want to know more. Like the fuck. Like this was like that, that last, the last half of the story, like don't get me wrong. I liked the first half of like the two kids dealing with like, um, like exploring a creepy like cemetery. That's very like little fears, very like kids on bikes kind of esque. Um, but then it kind of kicks into a slasher right at the, like, like halfway through.

[00:46:02] Um, and it's like realistically terrifying in the reaction because like, yeah, that would, that is, that is horrific to have happen to a class of students. Yes. Like, absolutely. You're at a, you're at a field trip and like, it's the equivalent. Like having a field trip at the museum and a gunman shows up and starts shooting up the, the, the museum. Pretty much. Yeah. Even if no one gets hurt, that's still traumatizing. Yeah.

[00:46:28] Or like a disgruntled, like employee, like a disgruntled janitor just goes up to like, uh, the, the, the, the museum curator and just guns them down. Like in front of a class while he's like doing a tour. Like that's fucking horrifying in a real world thing sense. And that's kind of the, the real world, like creepiness I got from this story more so than a kind of like the supernatural, not even supernatural.

[00:46:50] The, the, the extra normal aspects of, of gray mask here are sort of superfluous compared to his act, his actual like lethal actions. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, I was very intrigued by the setup and the premise here. Um, I like to think, like I said earlier, I like to think that this is either just a really old and long forgotten, like world war one cemetery that no one knows about.

[00:47:13] Or the headman and the mass man were, were stealing other tombstones and stuff from other places and like setting up this like faux facade of a graveyard. And perhaps the, the, for the purpose of keeping a gray mask, uh, like contained, like keep them in a routine of like digging up burials and such. You know what it might be? Maybe gray mask is basically a revenant from the war and he was in a real grave site.

[00:47:42] Like either protecting or destroying the bodies, depending on what side of the war he's from. And, um, basically he just kind of got moved out in the middle of nowhere. So he wouldn't do that anymore. He's around real people. He's a world war one Solomon Grundy. Like, yeah. Or like, yeah, like, like, yeah, I love the revenant idea. Like, um, also interesting fact, uh, cause when you go on to, um, uh, Dex fam's, uh, profile, uh, this story is called gray mask,

[00:48:11] but in, in brackets, formerly the veteran. So that also kind of, I think that's, that's what, that's what caught me. I was like, Oh, like, that's, that's something like you caught on in, or you kind of like brought up or like, like you started thinking about for the story. But yeah, it's interesting that that you say that. And then the story was originally named the veteran. So yeah. Like they use gas masks in war. Yeah, exactly. Especially like as a world war one, I think world war one is when they introduced mustard gas and shit.

[00:48:40] So possibly, I don't know. Um, but, uh, yeah. So, and also, uh, so with all this, uh, all that, uh, also someone should really look into this teacher. Uh, she's, she's the one that set all these things up. Like she's the one that like contacted some like ski, some like, some like sus head, like, like headman of a, uh, of a grave, of a graveyard just to find like a cheap graveyard to visit with his, with her class.

[00:49:06] Like there's some definitely like, where'd she meet that guy? Like, did you go to Craigslist or like, uh, like, like, like, like just like knows, know a guy that knows a guy that knows, knows this dude that has a cemetery in the woods isolated away from anywhere else. That might be the best case because I doubt that this guy contacted her because why would he want to bring a bunch of kids there? So it's probably through a friend of a friend of a friend, someone knew that he was managing this and knew that he probably needs the money.

[00:49:36] So set it up for him. It's like, and then he can't say like, no, you can't do it because then that's suspicious. So he probably just wanted to get the class through the safe one. Get out. Goodbye. Don't ever come back. Yeah. Well, cause I also know like in this might be like, I know a little bit about like, um, there are like some like touristy kind of place, like some dingy, like urban explorer touristy stuff in Europe. Um, uh, and some of them are, are more like safe than others.

[00:50:07] Um, be again, based on price on, on, on the price you're willing to pay, um, to go check out like abandoned, like world war one locations and like graveyards and stuff. So like, I can see this being kind of like one of those like roadside attractions that are like roadside places that like somebody set up to like make a little, make a few, a few euros on the, on the, on the, on the down low. So, so, but I just think it is odd.

[00:50:32] It is kind of like sus that this teachers like somebody check this teachers, uh, somebody, somebody look and investigate this teacher, please. She only has so much money for like, I understand schools are hard. Yeah. Yeah. Being a teacher is hard. Also, I, I, I do have some empathy for like, for education, for educators, but like, I'm just sus miss Frizzle. Yeah. Um, also a little connective tissues time.

[00:50:56] I recently, like, after like reading the story, I watched a video of a comedian, uh, who, who recently did like a thing about like this, the, uh, about miss Frizzle and the magic school bus and how like, none of that is fucking like legal. Like none of our field trips are fucking legal. No one's consent, no one's consenting to go in, uh, into, uh, into a person's like body to like explore like their, their, their, uh, their immune system.

[00:51:23] And do all the kids get like signed permission slips from the parents to do that? Yeah. No one's getting signed permission slips to go to become, uh, salmon eggs and get jizzed on by, by male salmon, uh, in a river, which fucking happened in an episode. They got, they got turned into fish eggs, landed down into a bed of fish eggs.

[00:51:45] And then the, and then the, the male salmon came down and dropped down, just like deployed white clouds of material all over the eggs to fertilize them. And there's, I was like, wait, what are they doing? It's like, I think they're fertilizing on the eggs. Wow. Yeah. That's unlocked. He's just like, what the fuck? Or like, or like the, like the fact that Arnold, the, the one who hates the going on these field trips, like honestly, he's in the right. Like he's almost died in space. He is.

[00:52:17] He's the one that like that took off his helmet in space and, and died for a few moments just to prove it. Just to, just to, uh, just to make a point to his, uh, to his cousin. God damn it. It's so fucking like, I love that show to death. Like I grew up on that show, like in the early two thousands, but like, God damn looking at it back. It's like this teacher needs to be like investigated. Like I'm not even like, she's a, she's a straight up sorceress.

[00:52:47] Yeah, she is. She's got a magic school bus and a chameleon familiar. Liz, her little lizard, uh, who is definitely smarter than your average human. Even probably. Anyway, sorry. So quick tangent, right? Just like, cause we're talking about like how, but honestly, this, this whole story could be in the magic school bus based on what you said. Especially since you've been referring to her as Mrs. Brothers the whole time. I'm not going to lie.

[00:53:17] I kind of want to like take, I kind of want to mock up a magic school bus, uh, like book cover. Cause like originally they were books before they were the TV show. Um, and it's like magic school bus goes to a world war one burial site and just have the gray, like have them going in. Like Arnold's looking nervous. All the other kids are like, Oh, what's going on? And then just have the gray mask, like in the background. And hell yeah. I might, I might do that for, uh, for, uh, some Patreon art or something.

[00:53:49] Um, but yeah, no, let's just, that was like an insane connective tissues time. Cause like, I just finished reading the story and I was like already getting the vibes of like Miss Frizzle. And like, again, like this, this teacher sus and with her, with her choices of field trips and then a fucking magic school bus comedy sketch happens. I was like, Oh wow. That's reading. Yeah. After reading it. And then I watched this, like this, this comedian, like discussed, like he wasn't even like, like having to stretch to make fun of it.

[00:54:17] He was just telling truths about, about how sus the magic school bus is. And the algorithm scary sometimes. It is. It shouldn't know what you're thinking when you're offline. No. Okay. Well, cause I'm not offline. I'm online. Like I'm usually reading this either on the main, on the website it's on or, uh, from a copy I've put into Google docs so I can get comments.

[00:54:39] So, so I mean the, the AI is always looking apparently we, we live in a, we live in a, in a society of, of surveillance. So panopticon other buzzwords. Yup. Um, but yeah, I am, I am done my actual thoughts. Um, yeah, I, I thought the story, like it was, it was, it was okay at the beginning. And then like at the end, it was just like, it should hit the fan in the best way of like for the horror aspect of it. Mm.

[00:55:08] But, uh, Mikey, or no, wait, hang on. You're not here. You're not here. He's here. Okay. I guess. Mikey, do you have any actual thoughts in this ramblings we've been doing? Like, uh, no, I just been interjecting. If I think there's anything to interject. All right. You don't have any questions. Uh, not really. Okay.

[00:55:35] I'm learning more about the story, but it's hard when you haven't read it. Wow. This is actually interesting. Cause like, like, so this is actually one of those cases where like, um, we're, we're, we have somebody here who hasn't read the story and we're, uh, the two people that have read the story, we're discussing it. And like, we can actually like throw our recommendations at somebody for this live. It's kind of recording. I'll do this in the future.

[00:56:05] I'll just never read the story. Oh, come on. It's not like you do it anyway. I mean, I do read them last minute. Yeah. Uh, but yeah, I guess gamer, uh, what, what's your actual thoughts? Uh, I got a few to talk about. Um, first I like the description of the graveyard when it shows up, it sets the tone quite nicely, especially since everyone like minus the teacher were like scared of the place. Cause it says like it was a large dark area, clearly showing its age.

[00:56:35] The gravestones were all crumbled. There was vegetation all over. There was this creepy crumbled chapel in the middle. The walls around the burial site looked pretty intact, save for some cracks and missing plaques. Everyone looked at the teacher with a, what the F expression on their faces. Understandable. The place looked haunted. The fact that it was situated in a surprisingly quiet forest didn't help me feel any calmer. That is such a mood. It was a very good setup to like the start of this. Yeah.

[00:57:04] Like it is such a strong atmosphere and, and descriptor. Yeah, absolutely. Now, um, to counter that, here's something silly. Uh, we entered the middle section with the class. And now me and Senjin were proceeding towards the section on the right when viewed from above. Whenever I hear when viewed from above, I can't help but see Jigglypuff viewed from above. That joke from the Pokemon show. What?

[00:57:32] You haven't seen the Jigglypuff when viewed from above joke from the Pokemon show? No. Uh, I'm going to show you right now. Those at home, go on YouTube, search, uh, Jigglypuff, Jigglypuff viewed from above. I think it's seen from above. Yeah. Seen from above. Uh, and watch the first result. It's 18 seconds. Everybody go now. Oh my God.

[00:58:02] Wow. That, that was a deep memory unlock. That was a Babar level, uh, deep memory unlock. A little bit. Yeah. Holy God. Yeah. Wow. I love it. Like, what is this? What is this Pokemon based on its shape? It's a giant circle. It's like, oh, it's clearly a Voltorb. Oh, it's clearly an electrode. Clearly just a Pokeball. It's Jigglypuff. Looked from above. Yeah.

[00:58:33] That's the only one they were shouting in the Japanese, uh, in the Japanese, uh, language. It was just like, none of you. Yeah, absolutely. But yeah, no, wow. That's, that's so dumb. Yes. I love it. Okay. But moving on from there. Yep. Um, the next one here, um, is this quote here. Uh, Kirstie, uh, go get help. I think I broke something. I'm not going to get out of here unless you call for help.

[00:59:02] He said with a sigh as he ran his hand through his black hair, grimacing. As soon as I read that, I'm like, earlier on, it said that Stinjin had brown hair. That's very suck. Like, in the moment, I'm like, that might not be him. That might be something that's pretending to be him. Uh, yeah, maybe. Because it specifically said he had, like, smooth, uh, brown hair earlier. And then all of a sudden, black hair? Hmm. Yeah, sleek, yeah.

[00:59:32] A 16-year-old guy with sleek brown hair. Yes. And then... Ran his hand through his black hair. Grimacing. So, yeah, at that moment, I thought, like, oh, shit. So, he's already gone. Something's already done ate him. And this thing is just, like, pretending to be him to, like, get her. Yeah. That's definitely such. That was just a typo, actually. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Unfortunately, I think it's just a typo.

[01:00:02] But, like, man, at first, like, yeah, that's kind of sus. Because we're already getting, like, he vanished. And then, like, oh, no, he didn't vanish. He fell into this pit. But why is his hair darker than it was? Yeah. Yeah. Fortunately, that might just be... That's just a false flag operation. And my last note is in regards to the very end. You basically said it, so I'm not going to go over it with a word.

[01:00:29] But the final part where it says, I finally understand why the place was in such poor condition. And I think we're not done yet. As soon as I read that, I'm like, do you? Because I don't understand why it was all messed up. Like, what information do you have that I don't? Like, the fact that there's no graves there, that all the info they were told was a lie, makes it seem like the whole thing was a trap or something. But the headsman didn't, like, try to trap them.

[01:00:57] He was just about to let them go before the gray mash showed up. So I was very confused at the end of the story, honestly. That is the reason that I have partial. Because I enjoyed it fully all the way through. And then the end is like, wait, what do you know that I don't know? Yeah, that's fair. It is also kind of like, what? But also, my reaction was like, what? I want to know more. Why? Give me a sequel. Now. Well, yes.

[01:01:26] I also would like to know more. But I feel like that quote is, based on what you just read, I know this. And you should know this, too. And if you don't, you're dumb. And I'm like, well, fuck you, story. I ain't dumb. I am dumb. But fuck you anyway. That seems like you're projecting a little bit, sir. But. No. Shut up. But yeah, I was a little confused. Yeah, that's fair. It is. It is a little bit peculiar.

[01:01:56] Like the way it's phrased. Like, and now I understand. It's just beginning. Credits. Mm hmm. Yeah. Even if there was like a single line of like, now I understand. Like that the graveyard was there for the graveyard or something like that. Yeah. If that is more. If it if it like ended. Yeah. Like, like, like how you were saying earlier. If it ended with you with how you was like, I understand now. It was all front to keep that thing there.

[01:02:25] And now it's out. Yeah. And now it's just starting. Like. Yeah. Yeah. It hasn't killed. It hasn't finished its job. Killing my entire class. Oh, they're all marked now. Yeah. Yeah. They're all marked for death by the by the by the Revenant. Yeah. Mm hmm. Yeah. That would be a good setup. And I'd be like down. Good slasher flick. Sorry. I can't get over the fact. Like, I want this to be a slasher flick so bad. For sure.

[01:02:55] But yeah, that's all I got for notes. All right. Well, then moving on to final thoughts. Yeah. I'm still going to recommend it. I was wondering where it was going to go or just how scary it would really get early on. Like, I was like, I was enjoying like the kind of just the casual, like two kids, like breaking off from their from their class and exploring this creepy like cemetery thing. Like, that's all well and good. But things ramp up really well.

[01:03:24] And like halfway through and like when when gray masks or it's like, like kills his kills his buddy and like in front of the class and like things just ramp up from there. And reading it almost kind of felt like I was reading a nightmare. Like it had that kind of like phantasm dream logic sort of like horror aspect to it. Of just how like quickly things escalate and then like they're running from something dangerous. Um, and so I, so in a good way, it's like reading a nightmare because it's like the fuck like,

[01:03:54] ah, like his, you're, you're placated at the beginning with like this, like this like weird creepy whimsy of like exploring a graveyard and then just ramp up the violence. Yeah. So, so yeah, I, I enjoyed it. Um, I know it's been almost, it's been over 10 years, but I wish there was a sequel. Uh, maybe one day we will get it. Maybe not. But, uh, maybe our video will be the spark that she needs to be like, oh yeah, I'm in, but that was cool. Yeah.

[01:04:23] I, I, if that would be like, honestly, that's like, I'm not gonna lie. That's like one of my, like, one of the things I hope for with our show is that like we get these stories kind of like out there and like shown enough or like to somebody that to like the right person or the author. And they want to like continue on writing whatever, uh, what we've, what we're, we're talking, discussing. So yeah, like that would be, that's, that's definitely something I'd like would love to see or love to find out happened.

[01:04:51] So, but yeah, uh, for the, for the time being, I will recommend it cause I enjoyed it. So gamer. Where about Mikey? We'll get to Mikey. Why? He's not here right now. Go to game. You're, it's you. I can hear him. Just give me your, just give us your final thought. Okay. So while like I did overall, I did enjoy the story.

[01:05:17] The ending was confusing, as I said, and I feel like it needs like a slight bit of like just a little bit of bait on the hook, you know, not just an empty hook. Um, cause it like left me confused. Um, and it was like a bit of a speed bump right at the finish line for me. Um, but like maybe that's because that reveal was meant to be saved for the sequel, but it did leave me scratching my head a bit. That being said, like, I don't know if I could dox it enough points to like actually leave it in a partial just because the rest of the story was written so well.

[01:05:47] And like the creature's cool. And like, she saw the creature from far away, went over to checkout, ran back and the creature totally followed her. That's why. I don't fucking care anymore. At least that's how I saw it. Anyways, it just sneakily followed her all the way and he's right there regardless. Um, so I still enjoy this story, so I'm going to recommend it cause it was good. I just, I just wish there was a slight bit more explanation at the end. Gotcha.

[01:06:16] All right, Mikey. So you've heard both of our discussions or like both our sides throughout the discussions and our final thoughts. What say you based on our recommendation? Would you actually read the story based off of our recommendations? Um, based on recommendations? No. No. No. Your glowing recommendations? Nah. Nah.

[01:06:42] Well, I, I feel like, uh, gamers point on the ending, um, really would ruin the story for me, uh, along with, you know, the, the, um, the whole bus scenario with Miss Frizz. It's like, save yourself. Oh. Oh.

[01:07:11] Oh. Two out of, two out of 17 ain't bad. Or however many people there were. Like two, two, two, two, two students dead ain't bad. It's better than all of them. Yeah. Let's go. Yeah. So that, uh, while I don't have a recommendation, I, based on what I've heard, I wouldn't read it myself.

[01:07:42] Well, you're. When you did, if you did theoretically read it, you probably wouldn't have been happy by the end because of how the end is. Yeah. Hmm. Well, you have the right to be wrong. All right. So I guess that'll do it for this week's episode. So two glowing reviews, two glowing recommendations. And Mikey's just stay away from it at all costs. Mikey's just too strict.

[01:08:10] He's got, he's got such a high bar when it comes to stories. Um, but, uh, yeah, that'll do it for this week's episode. Uh, if you like what you heard or if you didn't, just comment in the comment section below, wherever this gets posted. Some of us are in blue sky. Mikey is at the East ends for evil. And I'm at review cultist. You can also send us emails at al dente rigamortis 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.

[01:08:39] Where you can also give us suggestions for other creep pastas, SCPs, spooky things. You creep it. We'll peep it. 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 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.

[01:09:07] Cause without your listenership, it'd be like screaming into the void. And without your authorship writing and posting these stories online, we really wouldn't have much of a show cause we'd have nothing to talk about. So thank you. Now's a good time to mention that we are a part of a podcast network, crit in the night, an actual play and creepy pasta podcast network. We're there alongside our sister podcast, one less die and our cousin podcast, the role-playing

[01:09:36] exchange for things that go crit in the night until next time. I have been your host review cultist. I'm Maggie. These stands real. And I'm the gamer in yellow. And this has been al dente rigor mortis. Sleep well.