ADR - Episode 643: The Gorgon's Smile

[00:00:17] And welcome to Al Dente Rigamortis. I'm Review Cultist. And I'm Mikey, the East Ends Reval. And we're here to discuss those internet stories, most creepy and most pasta, and be critically silly doing it. And tonight we have... The Gorgon Smile. So, uh, we're down a gamer, but we've got a Gorgon Smile. Um, but, uh, yeah, we're soldiering on without gamer, uh, today.

[00:00:47] But, uh, we are continuing with the sequel, I guess, to the last week's episode, uh, story. The, um, The Doorway to Darkness. Um, this, uh, The Gorgon Smile is by MMPrat99. So you can check it out on the CreepPasta wiki, which is creeppasta.fandom.com slash wiki. Links will be in the show notes below. So yeah, I suppose before we get too far ahead, we should give our initial recommendations.

[00:01:15] I will, I will recommend it. Uh, I will conditionally not recommend it. Conditionally not recommend it? Okay. You've got me curious, sir. All right, let's, uh, let's, uh, let's dive in and find out why we, uh, why Mikey conditionally not recommends it.

[00:01:45] And why I recommend it. Uh, starting with the rundown. So, the story is done in multiple chapters. Um, so we start with chapter one, new journal entry. So we start with a journal entry from Kes on the previous story, uh, Doorway to Darkness. Summarizing her discovery of the house that had a doorway that took her and her cat, Miss Tabitha, to some woods.

[00:02:10] And then the whole storm thing and finding out, or finding another house for shelter, meeting the Luntakis creatures and fleeing them. And then the story alters a bit where Kes and Miss Tabitha are fleeing the Luntakis out of the house. And then they fall into the ground into a, and, and end up landing in a vast forest valley.

[00:02:40] Seemingly far away from where they had just previously been. Uh, in this valley, Kes finds an abandoned house built into a tree, uh, with tons of art pieces in it, as well as a skeleton right at the door of some kind of, uh, humanoid creature. And decides that since she's stuck in this new place, she best clean up the, this dwelling of hers or this new dwelling of hers and make it hers so she can survive.

[00:03:11] And survive she does. Survives and thrives in her own cozy little cottagecore isekai. And then we move on to chapter two, new people. Time rolls by, and while she and Miss Tabitha have dealt with the vermin and pests of the new place, there's still some creepy things about the place. Kes hears noises and the like, and amidst a rainy September day,

[00:03:36] she gets freaked out when the tea leaves in her tea form a gorgon-like face, smiling at her. Um, she decides to head out into the rain to get some air, and it's out here that she gets jumped by some kind of frog thing that turns out to be some kind of pranking punk elf, who we later find out is named Darcy, um, who accidentally chases her into a Chick Charney woman,

[00:04:05] who we later find out is named Rima, who had a bunch of groceries on hand. Uh, apparently there's a town nearby that, uh, uh, Kes never saw. Uh, Rima is quite pissed at Kes, um, by, after she crashed into her and all the groceries got dropped in a nice, perfect strawberry cheesecake got, got smashed. Uh, and with the punk elf translating,

[00:04:33] uh, because they have a, there's a language barrier, uh, the argument boils over with Kes storming off back home, but with the wrong umbrella in tow. Uh, Rima then gets mad at Darcy and storms off as well, leaving Darcy to pick up all the fallen groceries for Rima. We then cut away to chapter three, paranormal activity. Kes arrives back home to discover an intruder, a man named Timothy,

[00:05:00] who came in while she was gone seeking shelter from the rain, but is also interested with the house as it is rumored locally to be haunted. Kes and Timothy discuss the matter of paranormal activity, yeah, Kes and Timothy discuss the matter of paranormal activity in the home, as well as how Kes came upon this place. And they eventually do some investigating on some of the weird activity in the house,

[00:05:27] leading to finding a creepy painting of a chaos god pointing them to go to the attic. Chapter four, going to town. This investigation to the attic is cut short after they reach the attic and find it covered completely with smelly mothballs. And so they decide instead to head to town where a friend of Timothy's can give them more information. We move on to chapter five, the revenant.

[00:05:56] We cut to Darcy, who is huddled in a stump after giving the ruined groceries back to Rima, just kind of moping. Just as Kes and Timothy walk past this stump. And then shortly after that, Darcy hears sounds of movement deeper in the earth, down the tunnels from the stump. It's here he finds his cousin Bernie, a fire demon, an adopted cousin, who's claimed to have died but come back.

[00:06:26] Apparently, after doing some time at prison, apparently after doing some time in prison for forging and stealing art pieces, he used mystical techniques to squeeze out of his cell and float with the breeze back to the mainland from the island the prison was on. He returned to his hideaway, which happens to be where Kes lives now, but soon after was killed by a scary smoke monster at the door. Presumably, he was the skeletal remains Kes found when she first arrived.

[00:06:57] He then remembers... Hmm? Yeah, agreeing. Yeah, okay. Yeah. He then remembers coming to as a living skeleton in the ground and had to start eating woodland critters to regenerate. Darcy suggests his dad might have a magical tome that can help in Bernie's plight, and so Darcy and Bernie head home to talk to Darcy's wizardly father.

[00:07:24] How will things turn out for Kes and Timothy or Darcy and Bernie? Tune in next time for... Cold curse files. Coming soon. Maybe. Finn. Yeah. In a nutshell, that is the Gorgon smile. Yep. Now, I suppose we move on to... Everyone tolerates the Grammar Inquisitions! At this point.

[00:07:53] Mikey, do you have your notes categorized by chapter? Yep. Excellent. Alright, so I guess we'll start with chapter one, new journal entry. And I've got a couple... I think I got all except for, like, one of the chapters I have notes. So, we'll start with chapter one. So, the one I have here is... That was when started chasing and trying to grab me.

[00:08:22] I think that's... That was when they started chasing and trying to grab me. And this is in... With the journal entry where, like, Kes is being chased by the Lentakis. So... Hmm. Uh... And then, the next one is... Slowly she opened her eyes and blinked. Simple... Again, simple typo. I think it should be... Slowly she opened her eyes and blinked. Not her eyes. Hmm. Uh... And that is all I have for chapter one. Mikey.

[00:08:54] Alright. I have... Um... I was happy and contented with my secluded, simple life. Until that fateful day in late September. So... I feel like it should just be content. Not contented. Yeah. Yeah, I guess... Yeah, that... Yeah, content works just as well. If not... Is accurate. Is the correct version. Yeah.

[00:09:23] That's all I have for chapter one. Alright. On to chapter two. I only have one for this one. While all this was going on, Kes and her cat were just stepping through the front door of her house. Sorry. I... I just think a little bit more was needed to be added to that sentence. Because, like, that's literally where it stops. It's like, through the front door of her house.

[00:09:51] Because it's in reference to her... to her house that she's stepping into. So... It might be a nitpick. But... Uh... Mikey, do you have anything for chapter two? Nope. Okay. On to chapter three. This one has the bulk of my notes. Uh... And a lot of it is... A lot of it is... Is from dialogue. And I know... Guys, I know... It's the way the character talks. But fuck it. I'm doing... Because this is... We're...

[00:10:21] We're trying to help correct... Literary work. Um... So, the first one I have is... Uh... You sure you want... You hear this? So, I feel like it should have a two there. So, it's like... Uh... You sure you want to hear this? Uh... Then... The next one... Is another... Two is missing. Um... There was the last tenant. Uh... A young lady biologist...

[00:10:51] Who lived here about three weeks. She claimed... Evil spirits were trying... Get at her... Through the walls and mirrors. So, again... This is a... She claimed evil spirits... Were trying to... Get at her... Through the... Walls and mirrors. Uh-huh. Uh... The next one here... This one is... Is... Very simple typo... Because, uh... We've heard this character's name before... Throughout the story... As... One way... But then this one instance... It's a different spelling.

[00:11:21] Um... I know... Uh... I could show him... The cup with Janna's image. So, again... Uh... Throughout the story... We hear this character... The... This chaos god... Known as Jarna... Uh... J-A-R-N-A... And in this case... It's J-A-N-N-A... So it's just... Again... Simple mistake... I think it just... Like accidentally... Added an N instead of an R... So... It should be... In Jarna's... With Jarna's image... Hmm...

[00:11:51] And then... The next one here... I keep wondering... How... I keep wondering about that skeleton I've found... Hang on... Let me go... Okay... Yeah... I keep wondering about that skeleton I've found... Who did it belong to? It looked very much like a Gorgon... Except... For the tentacles and pointy teeth... So... Welcome to my tense talk... But I think it should be... I keep wondering about that skeleton I'd found... Not I've found...

[00:12:21] Mm-hmm... Um... And then... My next one here... Especially to sweep and dust... It's always cold inside... And those pitchers... Well... You'll see what I'm talking about... Okay... This might be a regional accent thing... Outside of... It's the way the character talks... But... I'm pretty sure it should be... Well... You'll see what I'm talking about... Like...

[00:12:51] We don't need that... S... At the... At the end of what's... Like... She's not Squirrely Dan... Um... And then my last one here is... Kes offered to loan Timothy... One of her knifes... Uh... But... He refused... So in this case... It's... It's... Knife... Like... K-N-I-F-E-S... Um... But I think it should be knives... With a V... Rather than an F...

[00:13:21] Yep... Um... And that is all I have for chapter 3... So... Mikey... Do you have anything? Alright... Um... I have... A... Uh... Thing that needs a... A colon... Okay... Uh... And he seems to be holding... A sign that reads... Comma... Look at... Look in the attic... Comma... You'll... Find a surprise... So... Yeah... I feel like it needs a colon...

[00:13:51] Where... The sign that reads... Colon... And then... Look in the attic... Yeah... So... For sure... Uh... And... Yeah... That's what I have for chapter 3... Okay... Uh... I have nothing for chapter 4... Going to town... Like... Do you have anything? Uh... Uh... Nope... I'm... I went to town... Alright... Uh... Then I'll go to... Chapter 5... Uh... The Revenant... I have one last one here...

[00:14:19] I was alone in one of the great halls... Studying... A beautiful portrait of Queen... Queen Eileen... Whatever XV is in Roman numerals... I don't know... Fifteen... Fifteen? Okay... Wow... Queen Eileen... The Fifteenth... When... Straight out of the blue... This crackling ball of lightning... Shot out of the fireplace... And zapped me from behind... So... I'm pretty sure it should be... Crackling ball of lightning...

[00:14:49] Without the E in there... Because lightning... I think is usually like... Like a lightning of... Of like color... Or like a lightning of... Of like... The room... Versus like... This is like a ball of lightning... As in like the electrical discharge... Kind of thing... So... Yeah... That's all I've got for chapter 5... And the rest of the story... Mikey... What do you have for chapter 5... And the rest? Nothing for chapter 5... But I have a conjunction junction... Shocker...

[00:15:19] And next stop... Conjunction Junction... Doot doot... It hardly had... Any peace and quiet... It seemed we had company... Really bad company... In the form of these... Vampire-like creatures... Calling themselves... The Lontecas... So... I said I couldn't... Because... I wasn't dressed properly... And... That was when everything... Really got weird...

[00:15:50] It was then... She threw up... And everything became... A bright green blur... It sure didn't feel... Like... Like... Eider-down... It... Was... A whole lot better... Than sitting in wet moss... All day... It wasn't long... Before the dreariness... Of the wood... Began to get to Kess...

[00:16:17] It took her a while... Just to push through... The tangled branches... But eventually... She reached the top... And... She was without supplies... Or weapons... It seemed to be a window... In an oak tree... A wood-framed... Six-pane window... Set in the side of... The trunk... Of a very large... Oak tree...

[00:16:47] It was... Obviously... A person of some kind... A goblin maybe... Judging by the pointy teeth... Claws... And... Weird ropey hair... Still attached to its head... It was also... The largest room... In the house... It was... Of a tall gentleman... In a gray... Suit... It was all chewed up...

[00:17:15] By the local wildlife... But... When she strode to the doorway... And looked out... There was nothing there... But... Eventually... Curiosity... Overcame skepticism... And she peered into... Her nearly empty teacup... But... She did not want to move... It... Was probably injured... And in shock...

[00:17:44] It looked something like a goblin... And yet... It was larger... And more ferocious looking... Its... Yellow green eyes... Fastened... On her own... It sounded to Kes... Like birds chittering... But... The girl gave her hand... A... Stinging whack... With some salami...

[00:18:13] It was... The same... Sorry... That's such a random... Like... Out of context... That... Oh... A stinging slap... With a... Of her head... With a salami... Sorry... It was the same monster... She saw earlier... And with that... She snatched up an umbrella... And promptly stormed off...

[00:18:43] Or... At least she would have... Or... At least he would have... If the band hadn't split up... If his ultra-rich parents hadn't forfeited his allowance... And forced him to go to Frightener school... And now... Thanks to her... So... Buy another one... It's just cake... It... Was...

[00:19:12] A masterpiece... Of perfection... And... Look at this mess... It... Sure... Funny... How... You showed up... Shortly after... That Gurdon ran into me... And... What's that supposed to mean? It means... You're a menace... It totally sucks eggs... It was then... She noticed... It wasn't hers...

[00:19:43] It's... One of those... Gorgon... Ghost creeps... From my bedroom mirror... It wasn't... Good to... Be... By the doorway... Something could approach from behind... So... I just said... Slag this... I'm going to leave... This old... Proscribed... Life... As well... As my old name... So...

[00:20:13] You're from... Orym? So... I guess that makes you... A political refugee then... It sounds... Odd enough... To be... Goidelic... So... Let's not speak of it again... This is a silly place... Sorry... So... When she failed to show up... Many people went to check on her... So...

[00:20:42] She wasn't really a hermit then... Because this story's for real... She suddenly reminded herself... And... You might... End up... Sharing... The same fate... As... Poor... Miss... Yarbrough... But... I must warn you... This... Is... Really creepy stuff... It's...

[00:21:10] A huge rock formation... Because... A lot of people have disappeared... Trying to explore that beastly rock... And... They never found... Who did it... And why... It was soon... Bought... And converted into a rental... But... This wasn't the end of the story... And... None of these former tenants...

[00:21:39] Gave a reason for their hasty departure... It is... And... Who... Pray tell... Is... Light of Jarna... It is not wise... To make light of Jarna... Lord of Chaos... So... This... Is... One... Really evil guy? It looked... Very much... Like a gorgon... Except... For... The tentacles... And pointy teeth...

[00:22:09] It still had... A good set of teeth... It... It's always... Cold inside... And those pictures... Well... You'll see what I'm talking about... It moved... And... He seems to be holding a sign that reads... Look in the attic... You'll find a surprise...

[00:22:38] It wasn't like that when I was here... Three days ago... It wouldn't make sense... For Jarna to attack us... When he's got... An important message to show... It... Was always sliding to the floor... And... She didn't think it was due to just gravity... It's really big... This kukri... But first...

[00:23:07] They needed weapons... But... But she got a kukri... It's mothballs... Of course... It's not that... It looked as though... A blizzard had suddenly taken place... It's nothing new... It's because you have... A really old house... That has some dubious history to it... It gives me a headache...

[00:23:37] And in this quantity... They make me want to puke... It swirled and solidified... Into a man's face... With finely chiseled features... And swirling black hair... And... Maybe... You could just post a sign... On your door saying... Notice to bears... No food inside... It doesn't matter... Because...

[00:24:06] It's not safe here... But... At least... She took back... Her sodden groceries... Before slamming the door... In his face... It sounded like... Or... Sorry... It does... Just a quick side... It does sound like... Because you transitioned from like... Between the two chapters there... Yeah... It does sound like... Like... Cas just slammed the door on Timothy... Rather than... Uh...

[00:24:35] Rima slamming it on Darcy... Mm-hmm... Sorry... I'll let you continue... It sounded like... Two people... It was either... An act by the gods... Or... By a malevolent fairy... It was a good... Yeah... It was a freak... Meteorological event... It's got a mind of its own... So...

[00:25:04] What happened exactly? It all started like this... It was enough to have... Sent a basilisk... Running away... In whimpering terror... And... I would have gotten away with it... If it hadn't been for that... Snoopy... Adolescent reporter... With the little white cur... So... What happened next? Sorry...

[00:25:36] And... If by some miracle... I do escape capsizing... Drowning... Hypothermia... And being eaten by sharks... And kelpies... It's... A long... Hard paddle... Back to the mainland... So... How did you? It was so simple... So very easy... But... Then... I was hardly at home... Most of the time... But...

[00:26:05] You must promise... Me... To keep your smart... Alecky... Comments to yourself... Or else... I'm calling it quits... It... Was a Friday night... So I yelled... I'll be there... In a minute... And went to the door... It shot through... The spy hole... And wrapped itself... Around my throat...

[00:26:34] It would seem... That my mystical mind... Magic... Was no match... Against this entity... Of pure evil... It said... Not... Much... Of a contest... Eh... Hellspawn? It's... The shadow thing... Coming to get us... But... Bernie caught him... By the back... Of the shirt... It's just... A mole...

[00:27:02] Popping up for a visit... It was... It was... Poking its head... Out of a hole... Twitching its snout... It was dark... And there was a weight... On my chest... So heavy... I could hardly move... But... If I were going to regain... More... Of that life spark... I would have to take it... From something living... And... You never went back... To check up...

[00:27:31] On your old hideout... But... Then... He grew... Serious... Finn... Well... Wow... As... As much of a cliffhanger... As the actual story... Um... Yeah... There's like... There's really no... Like... There's a... There's a bit of a through line... In this conjunction junction... But like... It's just so like...

[00:28:01] Mangled by like... Again... Out of context... Like lines and stuff of that... That like... I was really hard... It was really hard to like... Really form like a narrative... Because things just happened... Um... And again... A lot of this was... Like... And... That sort of stuff happens... When you... Wow... I do not know how... Gamer does this... I really should get him... To write it down... When he's not able to make it... Um... And that sort of thing happens... When you...

[00:28:31] Have... Words at the start of sentences... That you probably shouldn't like... It's ends or buts... Because there's always better words to use... As Gamer would say... Except... When a lot of that was also dialogue... So like... That's just how people talk... But... I'll give it a pass... For the lols... Sometimes... Sometimes we get hilarious results from these... So... Um... Like there were... There were a snippet that I interjected with... That I thought were like... That kind of caught me off guard... When you were reading them... So... Mm-hmm... Um...

[00:29:01] But yeah... I guess that'll... For the grammar inquisition... So... We'll move on to actual thoughts... Mm-hmm... So back up at the top... To chapter one... New journal entry... Mm-hmm... Uh... We've got this part here... Um... So... Excerpt from Kes Allenthal's diary... Former resident of Narok Island... And to this like... So right off the hopper... Like reading the story... I was like... Wow... Way to bury the lead on her demise... From Doorway to Darkness...

[00:29:30] However... Update... As it turns out... Word of Kes' demise... Was greatly exaggerated... Mm-hmm... Um... For... From Again... On the Narok Islands... But she didn't actually die... Mm-hmm... Um... And then... Actually kind of linking that... Uh... We get this next quote here...

[00:29:59] With a comment... Uh... Miss Tabitha and I ran outside... To get away... And that was when... Everything really got weird... Thunder roared... Lightning flashed... And then suddenly... We were falling straight down... A big gaping hole... Well... I guess... Getting transported... Like Alice in Wonderland... Explains why she was never seen from again... In Doorway to Darkness... With just a tiny burst...

[00:30:27] From the orbital ret cannon... Regarding... Uh... You know... The whole like... Her waking up in her... In her bed... And missing her cloak and hat... Unless... Like... The previous story... Like... Like that part of her... Like waking up in her bed... And stuff like that... Was her waking up... In her bed... Uh... In this new place... Like... In her new home... Like... Like it was sort of like a prelude... Kind of thing... Or sort of like a... Like a tease of like... Her new space... But like... In that story... We assume that was...

[00:30:57] Like she woke up in her... Her home in the Narok Islands... Not... Her home in that oak tree... So... Um... Yeah... A little bit of an orbital ret cannon... Happened... I think between... The... The summarize... Of the previous story... And the previous story itself... Like for the... The ending... Mm-hmm... Um... But... Uh... Yeah... I... Interesting that we... Like... So that... That wasn't actually the end of Kes... Like she didn't die... Or get taken by the Luntakis... She actually just like...

[00:31:27] Issekai'd... Apparently... She portaled to another place... By... Uh... By the weirdness... I guess... Of that... House she went into... In the Headlands... Um... So I kinda liked that actually... As like a sort of like... Oh you thought she was dead... In the last one... Nope... No... Not... Not dead... I never said she was dead... I just said she just... She was never heard from again there... But that... That doesn't mean that she died... So I kinda liked that... But um... I'll move on to the next thing I have...

[00:31:56] Yeah... It also lends itself to the... Ending of the last one... Being... Written by the Luntakis... Oh you're right... Yeah... Like they just... And... Cause again like... Like I think I said... Like last week... Like from the Luntakis view... It's like... They... They only really attack... They only really like... Go after people who get into their territory... So like... Maybe they wanna be known... Or like maybe they don't... But like... So that's sort of a... Like hint of that... Whereas like... They just made up that story...

[00:32:25] Or they just made up the ending of that story... Like oh and that... That one girl was never heard from again... Because we totally got her... Yeah... That's what happened... And then... In this story we get... What really happened to... To Kes... Hmm... Um... Yeah... I'll move on to the next thing I have... Um... Was she back in her... Eiderdown bed? It sure didn't feel like Eiderdown...

[00:32:54] So I had to look up what Eiderdown was... Cause I... I felt it was either gonna be something fantastical... Or... A made up word... And I was wrong on both accounts... Like... I meant... Like I thought it was gonna be something like... Fantastical... But like... Something like... In... In record... Like... Like fantastical in our world... Um... That was being borrowed for the story... Uh... Or it was another fictional thing that... M.M. Pratt had made... And then I was wrong on both accounts... Because it turns out Eiderdown...

[00:33:21] Are the down feathers plucked from an Eider duck... Um... And Eiderducks... Are sea ducks... Uh... The... The males have a black and white kind of pattern... Um... And then like the females usually have like... Just like that regular kind of like... Brown tawny sort of look... Um... Other common names for the Eider... For the... Uh... For the Eiderduck... Are St. Cuthbert's duck... Or Cuddyducks... So... Yeah... I learned about a new type of...

[00:33:51] A new species of duck that I don't... I'm not really familiar with... Mm-hmm... So... Um... And again like the whole like... Eiderdown... Like down feathers are... Are commonly... Were and I think are... Commonly used as like a softener... For like pillows and blankets and such... And like comforters... So... Uh... But I'll move on to the next thing... Being a terribly tidy... So this is... So... Again... Kes... Crashes down into this valley... Finds... Uh...

[00:34:21] It's like a huge long... A huge vast stretch of forest... And finds this house... And like... Doesn't have any really way of... Of getting home or anything like that... And like... Then we get this part here... Being a terribly tidy person... She soon got to work... Making the house... Livable again... She swept... And dusted... All the floors... She scrubbed all the windows... And chased out the various varmints... Most of the stuff... She found... She had to throw out... It was all chewed up...

[00:34:50] By local wildlife... Days passed... Then weeks... Kes... Was so busy... With a day-to-day... With day-to-day survival... That she... Didn't have time to mope... And pine... For her old place... And you know... For wanting to live... A nice quiet life... With her cat... Away from people... She sure has... A very... She sure... Like Kes sure has lived... A wild life... Like... Moves out...

[00:35:20] Moves out... Moves out from like... Uh... The... The Oram... The Oram Islands... To like... Narok Island... To get away from like... People and from her family... And stuff like that... Finds this weird... Supernatural house... Finds the Lontakis... Gets Isekai to another place... Finds this other place... Finds this new home... That she decides to live in... Because she doesn't have... Anywhere else to go... But then... Ends up having to deal with... Supernatural bullshit there as well... And then... Uh... Finds the... Um... Uh... Meets the... Meets the locals as well... And then like... I'm sure other things... Happened after that...

[00:35:49] Like that we've read before... In previous stories... Like... Eventually she ends up in... Uh... In California... Like eventually she ends up in... Uh... In... Um... Uh... Hogan's Gap in Curtisville... So... For... For a lady who... Who just wants to be left alone... She sure... Like... Life sure does like... Throw her curveballs... Uh... But that's all I've got for... For chapter one... Mikey? Yeah... I don't have anything...

[00:36:18] Which I want... Okay... On to chapter two... New people... So I'm gonna start with this one here... Her heart gave a horrific leap... The tea leaves had formed... The image of a smiling face... With snake-like hair... A... Gorgon smile... If you will... I just thought that was... Nice little nod... To that whole thing... Yeah... Almost like a title drop... But not quite...

[00:36:48] Not quite... Yeah... It's just like... It's like... It's like... Teasing the title... Little tease... Um... But I'll move on to the next thing here... Uh... This is near the end of the... I think the chapter... Or close to it... Uh... Miss, wait! The chick Charney shouted after Kes... You got my umbrella instead... Miss! Kes didn't even turn around... She and her cat soon disappeared... Between the trees... Oh... That's just great... Said the chick Charney...

[00:37:18] And discussed... Her name had happened... Her name happened to be... Rima Zolif... And... She was a perfectionist... As well as a snob... Yeah... I had a feeling from this girl's description... Like... Just like... How she was acting... And like the birdish description... That she was gonna be... A chick Charney... Um... Just cause it's a common... Fantasy race that is used in these stories... So... Um... Also... I was gonna be a bit... Peeved at Kes...

[00:37:47] For taking the wrong umbrella... And just ignoring the girl... But it makes sense... Because Rima was talking in a language... Kes didn't understand... Uh-huh... And now we've switched... Like this story... Like we suddenly get like a switch of perspectives... As a reader... In this moment... Where like suddenly it's... We're actually able to understand Rima... And now it's like... From that point of view... Like she doesn't understand... Like she... Like because that... It makes sense that now we have... Um... Kes storming off... And not replying back...

[00:38:17] Because all she's hearing is bird calls... And chirping and stuff like that... From Rima... So... Uh-huh... Um... So of course she wouldn't like really... She may not... She might just think like... Oh she's just like cursing out me... As I'm... As I'm walking off... I'm not gonna bother... Replying to that... Uh-huh... Um... So... I kinda... I was a little pissed... At first I was like... I was like... Really Kes you're that... You're that petty... That you're just gonna like... Storm off with the wrong umbrella... But then it's like... Oh no she probably didn't understand... The chirping... And so that... That Rima was... Was uh...

[00:38:46] Speaking in so... Yeah... Uh-huh... And then... The next thing I have... Look at what you did to... Look what you did to Gerald... With that bucket of worm... Wormy fish guts... And now... Me and my groceries... One of these days... You'll end up killing someone... Or destroying the city... Or something... You bogies... Or... You bogies... Are all the same... No consideration for anyone... So it was in this... So... Previously in the story...

[00:39:16] Kes... Like when she first arrived... In these lands... She climbed up a tree... And found like... That like saw just like... A valley of like... Vast... Endless like forest... It seemed... No sign... Like no description... Or no sign of... Of like... An urban environment... Or settlement... Or any of that... But then... She like comes... When she gets like... Jump scared by... By Darcy... And she... Runs through the trees... And then like... Crashes into... Into Rima here...

[00:39:46] There's no description... Of like... Even like the road... Or like any kind of like... Urban development... Or infrastructure... And I feel like that's something... That could have been added to the story... To like maybe... Give us an idea... Of like what was going on... Like I just feel like... That was sort of like... A missed description... Of the scene... That's happening... Like well... I just kind of wish that like... When Kes like... Came through the trees... And brush and stuff like that... Just have like a description of like... Even just a road... Like an actual like... Developed road... Or some kind...

[00:40:15] Or like a well-trodden like... Path or road... Just to show that like... There was actually some urban structure... And it's just maybe not seen... Because of the trees and such... But... Well... Yeah... The thing you have to remember... Is that the houses... Are trees themselves... See that's true as well... But like... So... Yeah... Like you can have a well-trodden path... Like I'm fine with that... But I wouldn't expect an actual road... But then we get a description of Port Bognar... Which is...

[00:40:45] Like... Described as an actual town... Yeah... But again... That... We don't know how far of a walk that is... That's true... Yeah... And... I mean... It could also be like... Deer trails type thing... Where if you're not paying attention... You... You... Walk right past them... Yeah... So... That's... Easily explains how they bumped into each other... Although... I suppose... I don't... Like I do kind of feel like there should be a description...

[00:41:15] At least of like a path... Yeah... But... Yeah... I hear you... But... The... The built up... Like pavement type thing... I... That would sort of take me out of the forest setting... Yeah... Yeah... Maybe not... Maybe not pavement... But like... Yeah... Again... Some kind of like... Again... Trodden path... Or like a... Like a dirt road... Sort of look... Mm-hmm... Just something to show signs that like... People do like... Because it seemed like... We went from... Oh... Like... Kes is here in this valley all alone... To like... Suddenly there's a bunch of... Like people are coming out of the woodwork... Literally...

[00:41:45] Like... There's at least three or four people... Um... But yeah... Um... That's all I have for chapter two... Um... I guess... You can continue on there, Mikey... Uh... Well, I'm good... I piped up... Okay... Uh... Then I'll move on to chapter three... Paranormal activity... Timothy watched her curiously... That's a strange sounding name... Kes Allenthal...

[00:42:15] He said... Finally... Is it... Goidelic? It sounds... Odd enough to be... Goidelic... Kes shrugged... As she... Took another sip of tea... I don't know what language it's from... She replied... But... I took it... From a lady character... In the detective works... Of Pinkle... Pinkle Burns... And... And... Plaffenborf... Timothy raised his eyebrow... Pinkle Burns... And... Plaffenborf? You mean to say... You're... You named yourself...

[00:42:44] After a notorious criminal mastermind? Kes heaved a deep sigh... My original name was a disaster... She said gloomily... In fact... It was... It was so horrible... That I cringe each time... It's... It was mentioned... So it's interesting that we're actually getting some like... Some deep... Some backstory... On Kes in this... Like... That Kes actually isn't even... Like Kes Allenthal isn't even her real name... And that she... Apparently there's a... There's a detective works...

[00:43:14] Called Pinkle Burns... And Plaffenborf... Yep... I just... I just like... First off... It's very... Very quirky... Very whimsical... It's just... That side of... Side of these stories... That I've come to... To expect and love... But it's just like... Interesting that like... Kes actually like... Renamed herself... Um... When she... Like she left her old life... Because she was just so... She... She cringed too hard... About her real name... Or her... Her given name... Mm-hmm... So...

[00:43:44] Um... And then... We have this part here... As Kes entered the... Yeah... As Kes entered the gallery... She happened to glance... At the far wall... What she saw... Caused her to freeze dead... In her tracks... So... I'm noticing... She freezes a lot... In this story... At sudden freaky... Or unexpected things... Which... I guess sort of makes sense... Given that... A Gurdine is sort of like... A feline creature... Or furline... Like a feline... Being...

[00:44:13] So like... Cats tend to like... Freeze up when they see something... They don't expect... So... Just again... Just like... Again... Just a... A description... The description of... This might be intentional... This might not be intentional... But just sort of like a... A rationale... I guess... Of like the behavior... Of Gurdine... In this story... Or Kes specifically... Being a cat person... Uh... Both... In the fact that she... Her kind are like... Kind of like... Cat-human hybrids...

[00:44:43] And... The fact that she... Does also have a cat... And she favors cats... Uh-huh... Uh... And then... The next thing... I have... I guess... Jarna's not limited... To just haunting teacups... Said Timothy... After a moment... I think I'll take a closer look... At this... Frightfulness... I think I'll take a look... At his frightfulness... He started to walk forward... When Kes suddenly... Grabbed his coat... Hey...

[00:45:13] I don't think... That's such a good idea... She exclaimed... He might lunge out... Of the pitcher... And rip your heart out... Or suck your soul out... Through your nose... Timothy smiled at her... Kes... Relax... He said... As he... Disentangled himself... From her claws... If he wanted to kill us... He would have done... It already... He wouldn't have... He wouldn't even bother... Showing us... These special effects... And to this... I was just like... Well... You're dead... Timothy... Like seriously... Like do you have no...

[00:45:42] Survival instincts... As an investigator? Like... It's like... It's almost like... It was like... Going to take a closer look... At the wall... With all the little... Scarab beetle... Ornaments... And then like... Grabbing one... And then... You know... Popping out... And going into you... And eating you... From the inside out... Like... God... You have no... You have no... Investigative survival skills... When you're dealing with like... Chaos gods... And supernatural bullshit... Uh...

[00:46:12] And then... We have this... Comment here that... Made me break into another... Reference... To something else... Um... Why do you suppose... He wants us to go... To look in the attic? She asked... Picking up... The drop cloth... It was always sliding to the floor... And she didn't think... It was due to just gravity... I don't know... Said Timothy... Rubbing his chin thoughtfully... Don't you think... It is... Rather a cliche... Or... For the young girl... To go up to the attic...

[00:46:41] In search of a mystery... I mean... It's probably so they can... Go up there... And find some... Spilled cremated ashes... That read... Not your home... And then... Kes can go and say... Not my home... I got news for you... This is my home... And then she can... Record herself... Kicking this demon's ass... And... This is a reference to... The Bad Ben found footage films... Where... The... The main character in that movie... Goes up to the attic... Like... After... Like...

[00:47:11] Searching things... Like... Having paranormal activity in their home... So... Sorry... Again... Just... I'm being critically silly... Is what I'm saying... Yep... Yep... Um... But you know what's not critically silly? My next thing... She noticed Timothy... Looking at her funny... What? She said... Getting annoyed... Is there a law... Around here... Stating that I can't own a big knife? Uh... No... Said Timothy hastily... It's just that...

[00:47:41] I have a hard... Time picturing you... Wielding a large bladed weapon... Yeah... That's what... A lot of people back home told me... Kes acknowledged bluntly... But... I soon proved them wrong... Hopefully not by any violent means... Timothy muttered... Of course not... Said Kes crisply... I'm a Gurdine... Not a human... Now let's see what Mr. Jarna has in store for us... Up in the attic... So I just... I just like this little back and forth... Um...

[00:48:10] That brings a little bit of levity to the creeping atmosphere here... Also I kind of wish that like... Kes hadn't like... Uh... Replied... Like... Like... Hadn't... Hadn't... Um... Had... Had just let it... Let it like... Drop... Like just like... Let... It's like... It's like hopefully not by any violent means... Timothy muttered... And then... And then Kes just like looked at him... Before saying... So anyway... Let's go up... Let's see what... What Mr. Jarna has in store... For us up in the attic...

[00:48:39] Like I just kind of wish that had been like the case... But... Yeah... I just like the... Some of the back and forth of these characters... Was... Was very fun... To like... Read... Just like the dialogue was very... Was... Was very... Uh... Fun for the... For Kes and Timothy... Um... But that is all I have for chapter three... So... Mikey... All right... I... I got a quote here... Why?

[00:49:08] Do the walls have ears? Asked Kes... Feeling her hair... Starting to rise... Glancing nervously over her shoulder... She moved towards the fire... It wasn't good to be by the doorway... Something could approach from behind... Not only eyes... Timothy whispered... But... Also mouths and teeth... Uh... Timothy... You forgot to answer the question...

[00:49:38] Do the walls have ears? Do they? Wait... Hang on... Does she... Wait... Hang on... Is this a typo actually? Because like... Did she... She asked like... Do the... What? Do the... Do the walls have ears? And then does he reply with like... Not just eyes? Eyes? Yeah... Not only eyes... Okay... I... I think that might be a typo... That might be a grammar inquisition... Because he did not answer the question... Mm-hmm...

[00:50:11] That's funny... Yeah... Also apparently... Apparently this house is actually a mimic... Yep... Or... Timothy's hard of hearing... Oh... Yeah... Anyway... That's what I have for chapter 3... Okay... Uh... Then on to chapter 4... Going to town... So... Yeah... So there's this whole build up in chapter 3... Of like... Oh... Like...

[00:50:41] Clearly like... This... This... Portrait of this chaos god is telling us to go up... And investigate the attic... Alright... Let's get... Let's get some weapons... And go up and investigate gang... And then we get to chapter 4... Going to town... She paused for a moment... Staring hard at her galoshes... And then she looked up... Tell you the truth... She continued... Even I can't stand the smell of mothballs... It gives me a headache... And in this quantity... They make... They make me want to puke... And in this quantity...

[00:51:10] They make me want to puke... Let's get the heck out of here... They hurried out of the attic... Slamming the door behind them... Wow... Way to completely circumvent... The... The mystery... Like... Way to edge me... On like... This mystery of the attic... From the previous chapter... It's just like... It definitely gave me like... Thoughts of like... On second thought... Let's not go to Camelot... To the silly place...

[00:51:41] And then we have... The ghost that apparently is in the attic... Pops up... After they leave... So... It swirled and solidified... Into a man's face... With finely chiseled features... And swirling black hair... Piercing green eyes... Stared unblinkingly at the door... Noticing the mothballs... The face drew back... With a grimace... Of annoyance and disgust... A second later... The face dissolved... And the mirror was empty as before... Sure... So... So wait...

[00:52:11] Did the ghost... Not place all those mothballs? Or did he... Did he actually do that... And then regret it immediately... Upon manifesting? Like... Who put those mothballs there? Was that Jarda? Um... No... It... Something got into the mothballs... Is the explanation... Yes... Well... Some... Well that's the explanation... They... They... They... They postulate... But like... It doesn't...

[00:52:40] That doesn't necessarily mean... That's what happened... But... Yeah... And then... The... Um... Ghost in the mirror... I expected was Jarna... Oh my god... And he doesn't like mothballs... It's like... Oh... Oh... I'm out of here... Also... Also... He's like staring at the... The doors of that... It's like... Haha... They'll be here any minute... Wait... Where'd they go? Oh... Oh... Why is it... Oh... Oh... It's so smelly... Oh my god... He just... And then just immediately... Yeah... Like... Again... Like...

[00:53:10] It's like... So like... This story... I've noticed... I'm noticing a pattern in the story... Where like... It... It... Starts like... Rolling in creepiness... And like... Some... Actually like... Some serious creepiness... And then does something like... Darkly whimsical... With that creepiness... Like... Almost like... Darkly silly... Like... Again... This part... Like... It's like... Oh... There's so many mothballs... Oh... Oh god... Let's... In fact... Let's not investigate this... This... It's like... Jarna like... Shows it like... Wait... Where... It's like... Aha... They'll be here any moment... Wait...

[00:53:40] Where are they? Why is it... Oh... Um... Which is kind of funny too... Because if... If this is Jarna... Or if this is just like... The ghost that's... That's like... Portraying Jarna... In this... In this... In this house... It is... It definitely also makes sense... That why he would like... Be disgusted by the mothballs... And stuff because... Fun fact... Fun historical fact... About exorcisms... In the middle ages... Um... In order to cleanse your house... Of ghosts... Like to exorcise your house... Of ghosts...

[00:54:09] And hauntings... Um... People would... Leave... Uh... Shit... Literal defecation... In their house... Like to stink up the house... Because... They figured the smell... Of like... Feces and stuff like that... Would actually like... Drive ghosts out of their homes... So... Again... I think it's like the... The sort of the... Um... It might even be like... A similar kind of practice... Of like... Why like people like smudge... And stuff like that... And...

[00:54:39] And um... They air out their house... With like... With a very strong scent... Um... So in the same... Similar to this way... It's like these mothballs are acting... As like that really smelly... Pungent... Scent... That like ghosts... Even ghosts can't stand... But yeah... That's uh... That's a real... Actually historical thing... About exorcisms... Is that people used to... Literally like... Just leave shit in their house... Like to smell... The smell of the house... So that ghosts wouldn't get in... Or that ghosts would leave...

[00:55:10] Um... Yeah... So yeah... I can kind of imagine like... As soon as this ghost... This Jarna... Or this ghost manifests... It's just like... Oh... No... Not for me... Out... I understand... Kes... I'm out... Um... But uh... I'll move on to the next thing I have... Um... So... Kes wanted to bring her kukri along for protection... But Timothy persuaded her not to...

[00:55:40] Saying that Port... Port Bognar... Was quite safe... He went on to explain that... At one time... It had been a whaling port... And a long time before that... It had been a hangout for smugglers... And oyster pirates... Now it was a bustling seaport... The outskirts of which... Consisted of grey weather-beaten buildings... And small... And small shingled houses... These houses tended to have... Garden decorations of whale bones... Driftwood...

[00:56:10] And oyster shells... The main center of social life... Aside from the university... Was the square with its medieval gabled buildings... So a new town dropped... Kind of... Because we have heard... The name Port Bognar... Prior... In some stories by M.M. Pratt... Um... In fact I believe... Kes dream-traveled... To one of them in another story... Um... Like at least to a tavern... In Port Bognar... Um... So again... Just cool to get more lore...

[00:56:40] And details about... About this town that we've heard of... Prior in other stories... Um... Also... When they say oyster pirates... Are they... Are they pirates... Who steal and smuggle oysters? Or are they some race of mollusk folk... Who are also pirates? Yes... Because it's... Because it's an M.M. Pratt story... And I can never tell... Now... Update... Uh... To my notes...

[00:57:10] I did do some digging... I just looked... I looked it up... Oyster pirates were a thing... Historically they were pirates... Who poached oysters... Along the west and east coast... Of North America... In the 19th century... There was even a series of conflicts... Involving oyster pirates... Called... The Oyster Wars... I am not making this up... So I learned some things today...

[00:57:38] From reading this story... Things about my... Things about our own history... Thanks... That's almost as good as the maple syrup heist... Of... What... 2015... Or whatever it was... Mm-hmm... The Oyster Wars... I was there in the 19th century... Fighting them oyster pirates... They kept poaching our oysters...

[00:58:08] Anyway... I digress... Um... Also yeah... Again... Oyster pirates... Like being... Like... Oyster people who are also pirates... Would not be... Out of the ordinary... In this story... What with like... Gurdeens... And Chick Charneys... And punk elves... So... Actually... Is it ever described... What Timothy is? He's just a guy... Right? Like he's just a human... Basically... Uh... I got... More of like an elf... Feel...

[00:58:38] He might... Yeah... He might just be an elf... I don't know if they said... I can't remember... Yeah... I don't remember... Like when he first shows up... Um... Oh yeah... Here it is... Yeah... First thing he's... First thing she saw... Uh... Was New Pope... A... A... Uh... The second thing... What... Was that... There was a bespeckled gentleman... With green... Oh... Green snaky hair... Seated in her... In her favorite chair... So is he a Gorgon?

[00:59:08] Maybe... Maybe he's a Gorgon... Yeah... Yeah... Again... That would make sense... Yeah... Wait... I think he's related to the person that... Used to live in the house... Oh yes... You're... Yeah... I think... Yeah... I think you might be right... But yeah... So again... Not out of the ordinary... Like what with like... Cat people... And elves... And chick charney... Like bird people... And Gorgons... Like... And fire demons... Like... Yeah... But uh... Yeah...

[00:59:37] I digress... That's the end... I have my notes for chapter four... Mikey... Do you have anything further? Uh... Nope... I already talked about the ghost... And he was like... Oh... Mothballs... Oh... Yeah... Mothballs... They work... They work for more than just moths... Mm-hmm... Um... All right... On to chapter five... The Revenant... So in this one... I have a bunch of notes... And... Some of my...

[01:00:07] My quotes are gonna be a little bit longer... Than they have been... So I apologize... But... I wanna just like... Kind of... Get the right context for things... So... Um... Gonna start with this one here... Creeping closer... He noticed that all the snakes... Seemed to be missing their heads... A closer look... Soon revealed... That these weren't snakes... At all... They were tentacles... Sprouting from the head... Of a terrifying figure... A tall... Lean figure... With... The blue face...

[01:00:36] Draped... In what looked like a shroud... As Darcy watched... The creature slowly raised its head... Peering up at him... With bright yellow eyes... Sharp snaggly teeth... Shown... In a... Wide-stretched grin... Instead of running... Away... Instead of running away... In sheer terror... Darcy merely... Merely grinned... With delight... Hey cousin Bernie... He said... Sitting down... Besides... Besides the fiend...

[01:01:05] Haven't seen you in a while... What have you been doing lately? Been cold... Been stone cold dead... That's what... Bernie... Gravely told him... Actually... Bernie Weinstein... Was Darcy's adopted cousin... Once a brilliant art student... He quickly became bored... Of his college classes... And left to pursue... His one true love... The stealing and forging... Of masterpieces... Naturally... His family... Did not take... To... Yeah...

[01:01:34] His family did not take... This career move well... And promptly disowned him... So... Man... That took a turn... In my mind... Like while reading it... Went from... Like this serious... Creepy scene... Where I thought for sure... This was gonna be Darcy's kill scene... Like... This is where... Darcy was gonna get like... Eaten or... Or like... Either like... Or flee from the scene... And like we're gonna meet some new monster... That like... Cause even like prior to this... Like... When Timothy and...

[01:02:02] And Kess were leaving the house... Like they're like... Timothy... Like... Timothy mentioned something about like... There not being any bears in the... In the woods... And Kess was like... Why not? Like what... Are they even like... Posted to extinction or something like that? And Timothy was like... No... There's something far worse out here... And then he's like looking around... And then Kess is like... What do you mean? And Timothy was just being obstinate... And just like ran off... Meanwhile... With Kess behind... He's like... What do you mean? What do you mean? And so like... That's where like... I thought we were... Oh... Like they were about to get the creature...

[01:02:31] Like Timothy was afraid of... But then... Nah... It's just... It's just Darcy's cousin Bernie... So just... It gave me like... We went from like... A horror scene... To something like... Whimsically dark... Like something you'd see... In like the Wednesday show... Just a bit of a jolt... Or like a... A sudden turn in mood... And atmosphere... Especially with the... Like... Hey cousin Bernie... Haven't seen you in a while... How you been lately?

[01:03:03] Uh... Yeah... Um... And then the next thing here... Did anything weird happen... While you were staying there last? This is in regards to when... Um... Uh... I guess... I guess... Um... Bernie was staying at the... The Yarbrough home... At the... At his hideout... The Yarbrough house... Um... Yeah... Did you... Did you... Did anything weird happen... While you were... Staying there last? Darcy queried... Oh... Nothing out of the ordinary...

[01:03:32] Bernie paused... For a moment... But then I was hardly at home... Most of the time... Too busy traveling... Raiding museums... That sort of thing... So... It's kind of cool to me... Because like... This... We're getting the reason... Why the Yarbrough house... That Kes found... Um... And began living in... Was full of like... Art pieces... And... And we also... Find out... From the reanimation... Like we find out later in the story... From the reanimated individual... Who was...

[01:04:02] It's definitely like... If it's not like... Outright said... It's basically hinted out here... That... This individual... Uh... Bernie... Was... Was the bones... That Kes found in the door... Um... Yeah... And we actually... We get even further of that... With like... Um... When uh... The... He describes like that monster... That smoke thing... Uh... That like... Go... Comes through the peephole... And basically strangles him to death... Right? So... Mm-hmm... Or drains him... So... Yeah... I like... I really like... Liked that we actually...

[01:04:32] We got... A reason for like... All that stuff being like... That sort of like... Just some random little details... That we got at the beginning of the story... We get late... We find out later... And it's... It's done in an interesting way... Because it's done by the POV... Of the person... Of like... Person that was there... And died... But then came... Has come back... And so was able to... Wow... Dead man is telling his tale... Mm-hmm... Mm-hmm... So... Yeah... I like that... Like I like that... Bit of exposition through... Creativity there...

[01:05:01] So... Um... But I'll move on to the next thing I have... He was silent for a moment... Maybe someday I'll return... He said eventually... But right now... I have to... Or I have this nearly insatiable urge... To eat things... And to tell you the truth... Darcy... There wasn't much to eat... In my tree... Now... I have to waste my days... Running around... Catching mice and moles... And skinks and voles... To put more flesh... On my bones...

[01:05:32] You look fine to me... Darcy remarked... I'm still regenerating... Bernie muttered... I still have the... I still have some holes... In my rib cage... At least... I don't have... Anything living in them... Uh... So... At this point... I kind of wanted... Bernie to be like... Eyeing up Darcy... For his next meal... Like I wanted there to be... Some kind of hint that like... Darcy was still in danger... From his like... Yeah... From his... From his... His cousin... Who's come back from the dead...

[01:06:02] But like... Because it's... That's... Maybe this is like... A common thing... But like... It's very often like... When you... See something in like... This kind of... This kind of thing... In a horror story... Or like... Whatnot... Where like... Character comes back... And they're... They're fighting this... That insatiable hunger... That they need like... To feed on like... Flesh and stuff like that... They're either fighting it... Or they're trying to trick... Their relatives... Into getting closer... So they can eat their... Relatives... So... Because they... They've given in to the hunger... Right? But it really does seem here... That like...

[01:06:31] It's just Bernie's... Um... Bernie's managed to control... His hunger enough... To just pick off... Woodland critters... Rather than... You know... Eat this large morsel... That is Darcy... So... Uh... And then we get the end of the story... So... This is like... Right at... Like right near the end... Like Darcy and... And Bernie are going... Heading over to Darcy's house... To go talk to his dad... The end... What will happen to Bernie... Once he reaches Darcy's house?

[01:07:01] Will he ever be restored... To fully functioning life again? What will... What will happen to Kes and Timothy... After they reach... The Admiral Kolchak Inn? Will the mystery behind... The baffling events... At Kes's new house... Finally be solved? Will she eventually meet... An untimely end... Like the home's previous owners? You will find out in... Cold Curse Files... So yeah... Another...

[01:07:30] Another M.M. Pratt story... That ends in a bit of a cliffhanger... And unfortunately... At this time... No third installment... Posted... On Creepast.wiki... So... I decided to do some digging... After I read the story... Just to see... If perhaps... It was elsewhere... Like... We know that... M.M. Pratt... On top of having... The Creepast.wiki account... They do have a... DeviantArt account... So I decided to...

[01:08:00] Do some digging and searching... And boy howdy... Did I find some stuff... Because... It does seem... M.M. Pratt... Has been working on... Cold Case Files... On her DeviantArt account... For some time... Like... We're talking about it... Like... I think these... It sounds like... From what I've gathered... It sounds like these stories... Were like... Started getting like... Written and like... Fleshed out and some of that... In like 2006... And then like... The Creepypasta... Posting... Got... Start... Like... I think like the latest... Thing...

[01:08:29] On the DeviantArt account... And... This story in particular... On Creepypasta.wiki... Uh... Was posted around 2015... So... It seems like there's still... A work in progress... Um... I... The Cold Curse Files... Has... About 14 chapters... On... The DeviantArt account... So... I'm not sure if it's finished... Also... In this digging... I found some... Blog posts that she had done... On the...

[01:08:59] On the Creepypasta wiki... That elaborate... On the alternate universe... She plays with... Like... So like the... Kind of like the... The alternate California... That she has some of her towns... And stuff in... So that was really cool... Like I actually like... Got some information... That I would have been asking for... As we've been reading... These stories... Um... But... Back to this story... And like... Our future readings... For... After this story... Uh... I may need to look a bit deeper... Before we continue... Into the next installment... Cold Curse Files...

[01:09:28] Just because like... Um... If it's not finished... I don't really think... We should cover it... Um... But... If it is like... Getting close to the end of it... Like maybe we will cover it... Uh... At some point... Uh... But yeah... Another story... Another cliffhanger... Damn it... Um... But you know what... I will say this... This story like... It... It does... End in a cliffhanger... But it does promise... That there's more to come...

[01:09:57] Which is... A nice change of pace... Because sometimes these stories... Don't just... They just end... And we don't have any real... Like... Way of knowing if like... There's gonna be further... Stories down the line... So... At least there's hope... This will continue... But yeah... It does just kind of end... Um... So... Yeah... That's... That's my... My actual thoughts for... Chapter 5... Of the Revenant... So... Mikey...

[01:10:27] Uh... Well... The... The key thing that I liked about Chapter 5... Was that we get... The explanation of the bones... From... Previous chapter... Yes... Yes... Yeah... Yeah... It does... Eventually tie back around... Which was nice... And then... There's also the... The question of like... Is... There... A curse or something... On the... Uh... In the house... Like that was stopping him from...

[01:10:56] Regenerating... Because I don't know... What... If Fire Demons... Just have regenerative... Properties... That's true... Yeah... It might be like... Like do they have like... Respawns? Yeah... But... Something was blocking him from respawning... Until... Kes took... Him... His body out... And buried him... Yeah... Unless that thing just cursed him... And then like... Yeah... Like it was like... Whatever like was in the...

[01:11:25] Maybe like the Chaos God... Or something... Decided like... Oh like after the bones got buried... It's like... Yeah... That would be funny... If we just... If I reanimate this guy now... Like now he's buried underground... Yeah... Oh yeah... He's just having a good time... Yep... Yeah... Jarn is just having a... Having a ball... Yep... Not mothballs... Mothballs... Yeah... Yeah... Yes... That's... My notes are chapter 5...

[01:11:55] And then... I really didn't like the ending... Yeah... It's a bit unfortunate... And... The main reason... I didn't like the ending... Is because the next button is greyed out... Yeah... Because we wanted to keep reading... Yes... We would... We would like to know more... Well... I mean... Again... The story does continue... It just doesn't continue on...

[01:12:24] On creepos.wiki... Or on creepos.wiki... We do... I'd have to like... And... It seems like the chapters... Of the next story... Are like... Individual... Like entries... On the DeviantArt account... So we'd... I'd have to like... Give you a listing of all the... Like... Of all the links... To each chapter... So that we'd cover it that way... But again... I may... I may contact... M.M. Pratt... Just to like... Find out if it's okay to... To... Cover the next story... As it is... Or if they'd like us to wait... For like...

[01:12:54] When they post an actual... Like a full version of it... Okay... Um... It even sounded like... Again like... I even found... Like believe it or not... When I was doing some digging here... About like... Cold curse files... It led me to an article... Um... From Humboldt County's... Like... Like... Some... Like... Either like an art gallery... Or like museum thing... Where... Where M.M. Pratt... Had been like showcasing... The cold curse files... Um... As almost like a... Like a series of... Of illustrations...

[01:13:23] And a series of... Uh... And like kind of like this... Almost... Almost like a... Like a... Kind of a transmedia sort of thing... Like there was like... There was like... Uh... Art illustrations... Because it seems like she's trying to convert... Make this into like... Um... Sort of almost like a graphic novel... Or uh... Or make this into like a... Like a graphic novel... From the fact that like... There's like illustrations... And then there's like the text... Uh... Sort of situation... So... It was uh... It was interesting... Like that she's actually like... Like has had an exhibit at one point... Um... That you can actually like... Uh...

[01:13:52] See like an article about... Online... So... Okay... Yeah... Uh... Speaking of illustrations... What did you think of the... Um... Images at the end? I forgot they were there... Um... Let me take a look sir... Well... Uh... My beef is... It says... One of... 76... 76... But then you click on it... And it says... One of...

[01:14:20] 11,557... Oh... Oh... Well again... This is what... Yeah... These illustrations are like I'm saying... Like I was saying like... I think these are from like... Her... Um... This project she's doing... With like Cold Curse Files... And like... This... Because it's... The Cold Curse Files... The Gorgon Smile... And then... Before that it was the... Uh... The Doorway to Darkness... They're all part of a... Of a... An apparent trilogy...

[01:14:49] That she's working on... Um... Of this like... Graphic project... Uh... With combining like... Her stories... With these graphic illustrations... She was doing... So... And... Yeah... The illustrations... Wow... They... They do basically... Kind of like showcase various scenes... From... The... Uh... From the story... So... Mm-hmm... Yeah... Which makes me wonder why they... They weren't interspersed... Throughout like the previous... That's also true... Well... Yeah... Because like... I think... Well... Personally...

[01:15:19] I'm... Like... Okay... So this might be controversial... Like my hot take for this... I... I honestly liked this version... Where we didn't have the images... Until the very end... Even though I... I did kind of miss the images... Because... It was much easier to like... Digest... The text... Without having the images there... Um... At least in the... In the way that like... The wiki article... Like... Format is... Because I remember... Like last week... My... My issue with... With that story... Was like...

[01:15:48] Kind of wish that had been like... Formatted as like a PDF... Or even like a printed book... Um... Just so we could get like... The full version of like... What M&Pratt had in store for like... Setting it up for a... Like as a... As a book... Whereas... In this version... Like... Even though we don't have the images... Like... I'm able to like... Read the entire story... And then at the bottom... There is like the option of checking out the images... Which basically just tell the same... They... They... They accompany the story... As an enhancement...

[01:16:17] But they aren't necessary... Um... Like... Obviously... Like... They're... They should be looked at... Uh... Along the story... But like... We don't need them necessarily... Because the writing is there to like... Give us the narrative... Like... Give us the story... But they're a good compliment... To it... Um... And yeah... Like I'm... I'm like going through them right now... Just like... Like... Browsing through them... And... So yeah... Now we actually do get to see like... What Timothy looks like...

[01:16:46] And like... Looks a little bit different from what I expected... Because like... That's... Because I believe Timothy is the... No... Timothy's not... That's the portrait of the... Of... Of... Of Jarna... Is it? The... Um... The red Gorgon figure? Oh... Maybe? We also get a picture of... We also get to see what like... Uh... What Darcy de Macabre looks like... And uh... What Rima looks like... Um... Man... Darcy looks...

[01:17:16] So much different from what I expected... Oh yeah... We get... We get a... An image... Yeah we do... Oh we get an image of... Um... Uh... The Gorgon by the fireplace... Which is... Um... Which is Timothy... Mm-hmm... Um... Yeah... No again... Like I'm... I like the illustration... Um... I... I am fine with them being... Like... Accompanying the story...

[01:17:45] But not like... Throughout the story... Uh... At least in this wiki article format... Or this... Uh... This... Creepypasta wiki format... Um... That might be a hot take for me... But... Yeah... What do you think of them Mikey? Um... Well I... Would have preferred them to be... Intermingled throughout... Like just to... Just so that like... When you get...

[01:18:14] When you get the... Uh... Introduction to new characters... You... Have the visual right there... Type thing... Yeah I suppose... I suppose that works... Um... I don't know... I think this is like... Just a matter of... For like just like different tastes... For like when you're... When you're reading it and such... But... Mm-hmm... That's all I have to say about the images... Okay... Uh... Then uh... I suppose we'll move on to... Final thoughts... Also it should be pointed out that... So you're saying like...

[01:18:44] It says one of 76... Like... But there's like... Uh... There's 76 images... But then like go down there... It's like a... Like 15,000 and all that... I think that's because that... Um... These are added on to... The huge overall list... Like... Uh... Like... Uh... Like... Probably folder or whatever... Where we're archived... Of images on the wiki... Like are on... Yeah... On the Creepasta wiki... Uh... Yeah... Once he hit 77... And later it has nothing to do with the story... So... Yeah... Exactly... Yeah...

[01:19:14] But uh... Yeah... On to final thoughts... So yeah... I'm... I'm willing to still recommend this story... Um... It does... Technically have a beginning... And then like a middle... And not exactly an end... But it does kind of wrap around some things... From the beginning... So it does kind of... It does leave me wanting more... But... I do enjoy the read I had so far... Um... Like it quickly summarizes the previous story... Like the doorway to darkness...

[01:19:43] At the beginning... Uh... It throws Kess into this new situation... And builds off of that... And elaborates further on the lore of the world... And the characters... Like we get a little bit more about Kess's backstory... And a little bit more about the world of... That she's found herself in and such... Um... It does pivot narratively... In some strange places... Like... Uh... But these... These pivots... Are connected to what's to... What came before... Like... Again like chapter 5 suddenly like pivots to like... Darcy and... And Bernie...

[01:20:13] But... That story... Explains what Kess found... In like the... The first and second chapter... Um... With the house... Like she... They found that um... Like the skeleton... And like all the art pieces and stuff... In this... This abandoned tree home and such... And then we find out who those bones belong to... From them... From the person... Who owned them themselves... Uh... Originally so... Um... There were some creepy moments in the story... That were... Were...

[01:20:43] Were fun... Um... There's some tongue-in-cheek levity to it as well... Um... Even though some of it... Sometimes like... Made me have to like... Kind of renegotiate what was going on in the scene... In my mind or like... What the atmosphere or what the mood was like... It didn't bother me too badly... It just kind of like... It didn't shift into such a bad way... It shifted into a way that's like... Was different but still like... Kind of shared the same kind of like... Themes... Just in a different light... Um... Again that dark whimsy versus like... Straight horror...

[01:21:12] Uh... I do hate that it simply ends on a cliffhanger... But... At least there is the promise... Of more down the road... And... We aren't left entirely... To uncertainty... Like... We know that there are chapters written... For the next story... And the next installment... So we... Hopefully we'll be able to find out... What happens to Kes and Timothy and... Darcy and Bernie at least... There's the hope... I guess... Is uh... It's... It's not like just like um...

[01:21:42] An empty hope... There is actually a substance to it... So... Uh... And for the story that's here... Like... I do enjoy these characters... I did enjoy... Um... The... The world and the setup that they built and such... Uh... So yeah... I'd still... I'd recommend it... Um... That's... That's my... My final... My final thoughts... Mikey... These stands for evil... Right... Uh... So... This is a very whimsical story...

[01:22:13] Lots of... Things happening that would never happen... In the... In our muggle world... Yeah... That's basically... Yeah... That's very clearly what it is... So... Like this is a very fantastical... Dark thing going on... Yeah... Mm-hmm... Um... Now... My... Conditional... Non-recommendation... Is... Based on the fact that... My knowledge...

[01:22:42] Of reading this is that there is no more... So... Yeah... If there is no more... Then I do not recommend this... Uh... But as you have stated... There is more... But it's not on the wiki yet... So... I'm... Going to bump this up to at least a partial... Recommendation... Wow... Assuming... That... You know... We get the story... Yeah... With the rest of the story...

[01:23:12] Right? Um... Sure... So... The... The things that... I... I guess didn't care for was the... Um... Kes just... Taking over the house... Like... Well... This is clearly the occupant of the house... Therefore... They're dead... So this is mine now... Well... I can kind of see her reasoning... Initially...

[01:23:41] Because like... From... From what she understands... Like... She... She looked up... She looked around... And she saw nothing but wilderness... And then she finds this like... Abandoned home... Or seemingly abandoned home... Like there's dust everywhere... There's like... Bones of the... Of a former occupant... At the door... Um... So... I... And she... She was like... Teleported here... Or like... She was portaled here... To this place... Uh... And like... Has no way of getting back home... So she's just kind of...

[01:24:11] She entered like... Survival mode... And like... Again being the person that she is... Like she also like... Wants to like... Make her... The place she's living... Like clean and tidy and such... So... I can see like... You can kind of... Come to understand like... What her... Her thinking is... In that situation... It's like... Well there's this house here... It's empty... It's... Uh... Like the... The... Like the former occupant's dead... Clearly... Um... And it's... It's better than just like... Like huffing it out into like... The wilderness in the hope that maybe I'll find civilization... Or...

[01:24:40] Find some other people... I might as well just like... Make the best of my situation... Of this shit... Of this weird... And wacky situation... And just like... Live in this house that's no longer occupied... By its former tenant... Yeah... So... Now... Uh... Is M.M. Pratt British? Do you know? I don't think so... Um... I know they... From what I understand... They live... And I think... Like grew up in California... Like... In... In Northern California...

[01:25:09] Like where a lot of this stuff takes place is... I believe derived from... Like... Childhood memories and such... Of like... Growing up and living in Northern California... So... Yeah... Well... The reason I ask is... Just because... In... Britain... There is a thing called squatter's rights... Hmm... So... If you basically... Are... In a house that isn't your own... And you've been living there for X amount of time...

[01:25:39] You have rights as a squatter... Okay... Yeah... I... I'm aware of squatter's rights... I didn't realize it was like... A legal thing in... In... In the UK... Yep... Alright... That actually does make sense... Because I remember a movie... With Ian McGregor... And... Some other actors... That I... I just can't remember at the time... But like... They were like... Basically squatters living in a flat... Like an abandoned flat... And... Um...

[01:26:08] I always thought it was peculiar... Because like... They don't... Like... They weren't like getting... They weren't paying to live there... They were just like... Living in there as if it was theirs... But they were like... Clearly like... Otherwise... Homeless... So... I was referring to... Trainspotting... Hmm... Yeah... Hmm... But... Yeah... Interesting... Anyway... Um... So yeah... Um... Uh... And...

[01:26:36] As stated... Uh... I... I did like the... Um... The... The mirror... Ghost... Or whatever... Or... I think that's Jarna... Basically... Looking at the door... And then seeing the mothballs... Like... Oh... Yeah... No... That was a fun... Like... Again... Like... That was like... Like... It was like... Creepy... That's one of those moments... Where it's like... It like... Starts off creepy... And then has this like... A little bit of a silly angle to it... Where it's like...

[01:27:06] Oh... Oh... Yeah... So... Um... But yeah... So... As stated... Uh... This is a... Partial recommendation... As long as it gets... Released... The rest of it... Yeah... And we'll... We'll have to see what the future holds for that... Uh... At some point down the line... I'll have to... We'll have to look into it...

[01:27:35] Mm-hmm... But... Uh... Yeah... I guess that'll... That's it... You have all you have, right? Yep... Okay... Uh... But yeah... That's uh... That's all we have for tonight... So... Uh... A recommendation... And a partial recommendation... Conditional non-recommendation... Still? Or is it just like... Part... If you bumped up completely to partial... Well... Partial... Conditional partial? Conditional partial... Yeah... Yeah... Um... Because yeah... Like the story...

[01:28:04] The story on itself... Kind of works... But like... We do need more... Mm-hmm... Um... So... Yeah... Uh... And that will... And if you... Yeah... And 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... Wherever this gets posted... Some of us are on Blue Sky... Mikey is at the E stands for Evil... And I'm at Review Cultist... You can also send us emails... At...

[01:28:34] Al Dente Rigamortis... At Gmail.com... That's... A-L-D-E-N-T-E-R-I-G-A-M-O-R-T-A-S... At Gmail.com... Where you can also leave us suggestions for other creep pastas... SCPs... Spooky things... You creep it... We'll peep it... Yeah... Yeah... Right... He's not here... And Mikey refuses to do the yeah...

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[01:29:32] Writing and posting these stories online... For people to enjoy... 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... Until next time... I have been your host... Review Cultist... And I'm Mikey...

[01:30:02] The East End Tree... And this has been... Al dente rigamortis... Sleep well... At the end... A bit of a técn temperature... I've been... There's a sense in this...