The Midnight Tour

owned the Welcome Inn, and she couldn’t very well refuse her own request.”

A few quiet chuckles came from audience members scattered around the auditorium.

Monica said, “Lame.”

“The very first local screening took place at ten o’clock on a Saturday night in the dining room of the Welcome Inn—projected onto a bed sheet that Janice hung on the wall. There was standing room only. Soon after that, Janice purchased a parcel of property and began the construction of her own movie theater. She modeled it after a place called The Haunted Palace that she’d read about...”

“Poe,” proclaimed Dr. Bixby. “‘A hideous throng rush out forever, and laugh—but smile no more,’”

Lynn smiled. “Nifty poem.”

“It’s called, ‘The Haunted Palace.’ It can be found in ‘The Fall of the House of Usher.’”

“That was not Janice Crogan’s source,” Darke said in a firm, clear voice.

“I beg to differ,” Bixby said.

“Actually,” Lynn said, “that’s correct. Was that you, Darke?”

“That was me.”

“You know your stuff.”

“Thanks.”

“Janice’s inspiration for The Haunted Palace didn’t come from Edgar Allan Poe, it came from a relatively unknown horror novel published in 1982. The book told about a movie theater that exclusively showed horror films...”

“And snuff films,” Darke whispered to Owen.

He nodded.

“....What Janice wanted to do with her theater.”

“I read it,” Owen said. As Darke smiled and nodded, he whispered the title of the book, the name of the author.

“...under construction, she continued to show The Horror every Saturday night at...”

“I love his stuff,” Darke whispered.

“...Welcome Inn’s dining room.”

“Me, too,” whispered Owen.

Darke squeezed his hand.

“...until she opened The Haunted Palace in 1984. From that time on, this theater has been running a full schedule of classic and contemporary horror films. But every Saturday night, it closes its doors to the general public at about nine o’clock and opens again at ten for the exclusive, Midnight Tour screening of The Horror.

“Before I go on to talk to you about the film itself, are there any questions about the theater?”

“Does it, like, show the good stuff?”

Lynn smiled and shook her head. “Such as?”

“I Spit on Your Grave, man. It’s the best.”

“How about Cannibal? That’s way cool.”

“The Hills Have Eyes?”

“What about Chain Saw?”

“Last House on the Left?”

Lynn held up a hand. “Those have all been shown here, guys, but...”

“What’s your fave?”

“Hard to say. But we do need to start The Horror fairly soon. If you’ll leave your names and addresses, we’ll put you on The Haunted Palace mailing list. There’s a sign-up sheet in the theater lobby. Any more questions?”

“Do you show Cabin Boy?”

“I’m not sure it’s a horror film,” Lynn said.

“Sure it is. It’s got, like, a giant.”

“It’s got, like, Dave.”

“Young men!” Bixby bellowed. “Some of us are not interested in your drivel.”

“Like, chill, dude,” Dennis said.

“Take a Prozac, asswipe,” said Arnold.

Lynn frowned at them. “That’s enough, guys. I’d like to get in a few words about the movie.”

Behind Owen, Bixby muttered, “Did one of those little shits call me an asswipe?”

“Okay,” Lynn said into the microphone. “Most of you are probably already familiar with the background of The Horror, or you wouldn’t be here. So I’ll make it brief. The film was based on Janice Crogan’s 1980 bestseller, The Horror at Malcasa Point, and made by an independent film company that called itself Malcasa Pictures. The screenplay was written by Steve Saunders, and the director was Ray Cunningham. The entire picture was filmed on location here in town in the summer of 1980.

“The making of The Horror was delayed by a situation that’s probably no less strange than the story of Beast House, itself. It’s been written up...many times. There’ve even been segments about it on such T.V. shows as Hard Copy and Unsolved Mysteries.

“As most of you already know, the legendary Marlon Slade came into town to direct The Horror. The leading lady was set to be played by Tricia Talbot, a beautiful young actress who would later go on to star in such movies as Silent Sbriek and Sunset Nights before her tragic death in 1988.

“Tricia was supposed to play the role of Janice Crogan in The Horror. However, the night before shooting was scheduled to begin, she was brutally beaten and raped by Slade. At the time, it was all kept very hush-hush. She drove off in the middle of the night. The next day, Slade explained her absence by saying that she had quit the film over ‘creative differences.’ Tricia later gave her version of the assault to the police, but it wasn’t made public until several years later.

“The reason she talked to the police was because—the very next day after raping her—Slade disappeared without a trace. Vanished into thin air.

“According to his assistant, he’d gone off to look for a young lady who called herself Margaret Blume. Margaret had been a guide at Beast House. Apparently, she was a very beautiful young woman, probably no older than sixteen. To this day, she remains a mystery. It’s believed that the name she used may have been an alias derived from Judy Blume, the author, and her very popular book, Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret.

“Almost nothing is known about Margaret Blume—just that she’d been guiding tours through Beast House for about a year before the film crew came to town. It’s speculated that she was a run-away who wandered into town, went on the Beast House tour, and somehow worked her way into becoming a guide. She would’ve been hired by Agnes Kutch, but Agnes has never been very communicative. All we really know about Margaret is that she was a young teenager and extremely attractive. Attractive enough to entice Marlon Slade.

“The day after his assault on Tricia Talbot, Slade approached Margaret about taking a role in the movie. Instead of simply turning the offer down, she fled—tailed by Slade’s assistant, who later told Slade where to find her. It seems that Margaret lived by herself in an old trailer up in the hills.

“That night, Slade must’ve gone to pay her a visit. His car was later found abandoned not far from the area where Margaret’s trailer was supposed to be. But her trailer was gone. She was gone. Slade was gone. No trace of Marlon Slade or Margaret Blume has ever been discovered.

“Some people say that Slade and Margaret fell madly in love that night, ran off together and changed their identities—and have been living together happily ever after. Personally, I think that’s nonsense. It’s much more likely that Slade went up to the trailer with the intention of raping Margaret—doing her the same way he’d done Tricia Talbot the night before. Perhaps she got the upper hand, killed him in self-defense, and then went into hiding. More likely, though, it went the other way around: Slade raped and murdered the beautiful teenaged guide. He somehow disposed of her body, and be went into hiding.”

“I like it better the other way,” Darke whispered.