MUSIC
TRANSITION.
SOUND:
BASEMENT DOOR CREAKING OPEN AND DANIEL WALKING DOWN BASEMENT STAIRS, UNDER.
NARRATOR:
The lack of windows always makes it dark in the cellar regardless of the time of day. But Daniel knows the basement by heart, and reaches up instinctively into the inky blackness to turn on the bare bulb over his father’s workbench.
SOUND:
THE LIGHT CLICKING ON.
NARRATOR (CONT’D):
It throws a dim light, still leaving much of the cellar in the dark.
DANIEL:
(to himself) Well, nothing much has changed down here - still a mess! Let’s see, those jars should be over here. . . (a beat) yup, right where they’ve always been!
SOUND:
DANIEL PICKING UP JAR AND TAKING OUT NAILS, UNDER.
DANIEL (cont’d):
A dozen should be enough. I’ll bet we could get the rest of that fence repaired by. . .
SOUND:
THE OMINOUS SQUEAL OF THE PULLEY.
DANIEL (cont’d):
What the hell. . .
SOUND:
THE NAILS JINGLING ONE BY ONE ON THE FLOOR AS DANIEL DROPS THEM IN SHOCK.
DANIEL (cont’d):
It can’t be! It’s impossible!
NARRATOR:
Although the far end of the cellar is obscured by old furniture and stacks of boxes, there’s no mistaking what Daniel sees. Suspended from The Hangman’s dreaded rope and pulley is his old cellmate, Keith Molloy. As Daniel’s confused mind tries to take this in. . . The Hangman himself walks into view!
MUSIC:
STING
ANNOUNCER:
We’ll return to Fangoria’s Dreadtime Stories – after these few words.
ANNOUNCER:
Now back to Fangoria’s Dreadtime Stories and “The Final Battlefield.”
SOUND:
FOOTSTEPS OF HANGMAN WALKING AROUND ROOM, UNDER.
NARRATOR:
A hysterical Daniel Conway stands in his basement in Clover Ridge, Iowa, watching a frightening scenario unfold in front of him. . .a scenario from his days as a POW in Viet Nam. His blood running cold, he looks on as his old cellmate, Keith Malloy, prepares to be tortured by a vicious Viet Cong officer called The Hangman.
DANIEL:
This can’t be happening! It’s an illusion!
HANGMAN:
My sources tell me that you are a spy, Sergeant Molloy.
KEITH:
(with difficulty) That’s a lie.
HANGMAN:
I doubt that. My sources very reliable!
KEITH:
Of course they are - once you’ve jammed enough bamboo splinters under their fingernails!
HANGMAN:
(laughing derisively) Bamboo splinters? You read too many comic books. Bamboo splinters old school! We very modern here.
KEITH:
Oh yeah. . .this medieval rope and pulley setup you’ve got is real state-of-the- art.
HANGMAN:
I no like your sarcasm. You a very disrespectful prisoner! You look me in the eye like we equals. . .this offend me. We not equals; I better than you. (a beat) You read the Bible, Sergeant Molloy?
KEITH:
Not lately. Guess the Gideons forgot to leave one in my cell.
HANGMAN:
One of my favorite verses is in New Testament. Matthew 5:29. . .”And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out. . .”
KEITH:
I’m afraid I’m not familiar with that verse.
HANGMAN:
Then allow me to offer Sunday school lesson.
SOUND:
THE SHRIEK OF METAL AGAINST METAL AS THE HANGMAN UNSHEATHS HIS KNIFE.
HANGMAN (cont’d):
Your eye offend me. But I not going to “pluck” it. . .I cut it out with this knife! Much easier than “plucking.” Guard! Lower him!
SOUND:
THE PULLEY SQUEAKING, UNDER.
KEITH:
(struggling a bit) Stay away from me!
HANGMAN:
Better not struggle! You dislocate shoulders!
KEITH:
Get away!
HANGMAN:
Guard! Hold him!
SOUND:
THE GUARD WALKING OVER TO KEITH.
KEITH:
(begging now) No! Please!
HANGMAN:
No worry. . .I try not to leave scar.
KEITH:
(increasingly panicked) No!. . . Wait!!. . .Stop!!. . . (and he screams bloody murder as his eye is cut out)
DANIEL:
I’ve got to get out of here!
SOUND:
DANIEL RUNNING THROUGH BASEMENT AND UP STAIRS, KEITH’S SCREAMS GRADUALLY FADING. DANIEL COLLIDING WITH PA AT TOP OF STAIRS.
PA:
Whoa!. . .Easy, son! The fence isn’t that urgent. . .where are the nails? Daniel? Are you okay?
DANIEL:
(breathless, panicked) He’s here, Pa. . .he’s here!
PA:
Who’s here?
DANIEL:
The Hangman! He was just in the cellar!
PA:
Daniel, you know that can’t be!
DANIEL:
But it’s true! I saw him with my own eyes! He was torturing Keith! He cut out his. . . Oh, Pa - it was horrible! (sobbing) He did it, Pa. . .he won. The Hangman got inside my head!
MUSIC:
STING, THEN TRANSITION, UNDER.
SOUND:
HAMMERING, UNDER.
NARRATOR:
The next morning - after a sleepless night - Daniel is out back behind the house fixing the fence he and his father were working on the day before. Despite countless assurances by Daniel’s father that what he saw in the basement was some kind of stress- induced hallucination, Daniel remains convinced that what he saw was real. He works feverishly on the fence, as if it has the ability to shield him from some unseen, malevolent force. Awakened by the hammering, Daniel’s father comes out to see if he’s okay.
PA:
Daniel! I’m surprised to see you out here so early.
DANIEL:
Couldn’t sleep. Figured I might as well finish fixing this fence. . .especially since it was my fault we never finished it yesterday.
PA:
That wasn’t necessary, son. Why don’t you come inside? I’ll make something to eat. A healthy breakfast will help you put your best foot forward on your first day of work.
DANIEL:
I guess.
PA:
Come on. We can both finish the fence later.
MUSIC:
TRANSITION.
SOUND:
THE OCCASIONAL CLANGING OF POTS. DANIEL’S FORK SCRAPING A PLATE.
PA:
That enough eggs?
DANIEL:
(his mouth full) More than enough.
PA:
How about a slice of bread to sop up that egg yolk? You used to love to do that when you were little.
DANIEL:
I’ll pass on that, thanks. I ate almost nothing but bread and water in the camp. It may be a while before I get a taste for bread again.
PA:
Well, I’ll leave it out here in case you change your mind. (a beat) You know, there’s something I’ve been planning to give you since you got back. Under the circumstances, I think this is the perfect time. Do you remember how I used to tell you about a guy in my platoon who was an American Indian?
DANIEL:
Sure.
PA:
Then you probably remember what he gave me the day we shipped home.
DANIEL:
The dreamcatcher. You used to put it in my room when I was little if I was having nightmares. You said it would catch all the bad dreams so I wouldn’t have to worry about them.
SOUND:
PA OPENING DRAWER AND TAKING OUT DREAMCATCHER.
PA:
Here.
SOUND:
THE DREAMCATCHER RATTLES A BIT AS PA HANDS IT TO DANIEL.
DANIEL:
Haven’t seen that in a while.
PA:
I’m not sure I believe all the mystical
