SOUND:

DOOR OPENS AND CREAKS OMINOUSLY!

MUSIC:

OMINOUS THEME ... THEN BEHIND HOST--

HOST:

Come in. Welcome. I'm E. G. Marshall. Welcome to the terrifying world of your imagination. (BEAT) "Vampire." (BEAT) Perhaps in the safety of your home the word means little to you. Oh, you've heard of vampires, of course, but do you believe that they exist? Not you? Well, all I can say is Mina Harker didn't believe either. Our mystery drama, "Dracula," was specially adapted from the story by Bram Stoker for the Mystery Theater by George Lowther and stars Mercedes McCambridge.

MUSIC:

OUT

HOST:

It is sponsored in part by new Sugar Free Diet 7-Up and by the Kellogg Company, makers of Kellogg's Special K cereal. I'll be back shortly with Act I.

MUSIC:

CHEESY ORGAN ... THEN IN BG--

KELLOGG ANNCR:

(HAMMY) And now another story of "The Ball and Chain"--

SOUND:

THUMP! OF BALL-AND-CHAIN

KELLOGG ANNCR:

--as Kellogg's Special K presents "The Library."

MUSIC:

CHEESY ORGAN OUT

LIBRARIAN:

Welcome to the public library. May I help you, sir?

PATRON:

Yes, I'd like to check out--

SOUND:

THUMP! OF BALL-AND-CHAIN, WHICH ECHOES NOISILY

LIBRARIAN:

Ssshh!

PATRON:

Um, I'd like to check out "Famous Laundromats of the World" by Audrey Schnorbart.

LIBRARIAN:

Sir, excuse me, but isn't that ball and chain you're wearing just like the ones they use in the Kellogg's Special K commercials?

PATRON:

Uh, this ball and chain?

SOUND:

THUMP! OF BALL-AND-CHAIN, WHICH ECHOES NOISILY

LIBRARIAN:

Ssshh! Yes, that one. How are you going to get rid of it?

PATRON:

Well, you know -- lots of good exercises and by eating smart at every meal starting with the Special K breakfast.

LIBRARIAN:

Don't you have to watch your calories?

PATRON:

Yes, and the Special K breakfast is less than 240 calories.

LIBRARIAN:

(LOUDLY, WITH ECHO) Less than 240 calories?!

PATRON:

Ssshh! Right. A one-ounce bowl of high-protein Special K, four ounces of skim milk, tomato juice, and coffee. It's really tasty -- and it's gonna help me get rid of this ball and chain.

SOUND:

THUMP! OF BALL-AND-CHAIN

PATRON:

I'd say it's-- (CHUCKLES) --long overdue. Get it?

LIBRARIAN:

Ssshh!

MUSIC:

CHEESY ORGAN ... THEN IN BG--

KELLOGG ANNCR:

(HAMMY) Your happy ending could begin with the Special K breakfast, from Kellogg's.

MUSIC:

ORGAN FADES OUT

SAVINGS ANNCR:

There is a very special deal going on at all offices of Suburban Savings throughout North Jersey. It's called Suburban's Special Interest Deal and you'll be especially interested in the savings you get. A top seven-point-ninety percent effective annual yield on Suburban Limited's Issue Seven-Fifty savings certificate. And Suburban guarantees it for from four to ten years; minimum deposit twenty-five hundred dollars. Early withdrawal prior to maturity is subject to a substantial penalty. Suburban compounds interest continuously from day-of-deposit, paid quarterly, so you not only get interest on your savings, you get interest on the interest. And Suburban offers you the highest interest rate allowed by law. Here's your chance to get a great savings -- a top seven-point-nine-oh percent effective annual yield on Suburban's limited issue seven-point-five-oh percent savings certificate. Why not deal yourself into Suburban Savings' Special Interest Deal in Bayonne, Edgewater, Elmwood Park, Emerson, Hackettstown, Morris Plains, Nutley, Paramus, and Sparta?

MUSIC:

OMINOUS INTRODUCTION ... THEN IN BG

HOST:

Horror, in its purest form, lies ahead for us. I would be remiss if I didn't warn you that if your nerves are not strong, it might be better for you not to listen. No, really now. Be warned, because, as Mina Harker tells us in the diary she kept, there awaits you--

MINA:

--an experience so loathsome, so horrifying, that I can hardly bring myself to write of it. If I'd known what lay ahead for me when I went to visit my dearest and closest friend Lucy Westenra at Hillingham, I could not have brought myself to go, much as I loved her. Looking back now, I realize I had plenty of warning, but I paid no attention. For example, as I drove to the Westenra estate through that lonely isolated country -- (SOUND: DOGS BARK AND WOLVES HOWL) -- and heard the wolves howling in the distance, it occurred to me that it was strange to hear wolves in this part of the country -- (SOUND: SQUEAK AND FLAP OF BAT) -- as strange as the huge bat that flew alongside my car. I mentioned this to John -- Dr. John Seward, Lucy's fiancé -- as we sat having a drink in the living room.

MUSIC:

OUT

JOHN:

It's strange, Mina. I've seen that bat myself. The thing must have a wingspread of at least four feet. Haven't the faintest idea where it came from -- or the wolves, either.

MINA:

Even Lucy's letter seemed kind of strange to me, John. (BEAT) What is the matter with her?

JOHN:

Oh, I don't know. I'm completely baffled. I've had two other doctors look at her -- colleagues of mine -- and they can't figure it out. I'm desperate, Mina. I'm so desperate I've called in my old friend and teacher Professor Van Helsing.

MINA:

Van Helsing? He's one of the finest diagnosticians in the world, John.

JOHN:

Yes, he'll be here from Amsterdam in a day or two.

MINA:

Amsterdam, Holland?

JOHN:

Yeah.

MINA:

All the way from Ams--? Oh, John, you must be desperate.

JOHN:

Lucy is dying, Mina. I'll do anything I can to save her. We - we must find a way to stop her from losing blood.

MINA:

Losing blood?

JOHN:

It's this constant loss of blood that's killing her. Transfusions help for a time, but only a short time -- and each transfusion is less effective.

MINA:

John, when can I see her?

JOHN:

She's sleeping now. Her mother's with her, watching her. We take turns. As soon as Mrs. Westenra lets us know she's awake--

SOUND:

WOLVES HOWL IN DISTANCE

MINA:

John, listen! Those wolves! They're at it again. John, hasn't anyone looked into this wolf thing -- how they suddenly come to be in this part of the country?

JOHN:

Well, according to the paper, the town police have looked into it. Well, that's peculiar, too.

MINA:

What?

JOHN:

Well, they haven't been able to spot one single wolf.

SOUND:

DOORBELL RINGS

JOHN:

Oh, excuse me, we have a visitor.

SOUND:

JOHN'S STEPS TO DOOR, WHICH OPENS

JOHN:

Oh, come in, Count. Come in.

SOUND:

COUNT'S STEPS IN ... DOOR CLOSES BEHIND--

COUNT:

Thank you, doctor. I'm on my way to town. I have a dinner engagement and I thought I would stop to ask after Miss Westenra.

JOHN:

She's no better I'm afraid.

COUNT:

I'm sorry to hear that.

JOHN:

Can you stay for a drink?

COUNT:

Well, I--

JOHN:

I'd like you to meet a friend of Lucy's who'll be staying with us for a while.

COUNT:

Oh, in that case, of course.

SOUND:

JOHN AND COUNT'S STEPS TO MINA

JOHN:

Mina, this is Count Dracula, our new neighbor. Count, Miss Mina Harker.

COUNT:

How do you do?

MINA:

How do you do? (BEAT, AMUSED) Count Dracula?

COUNT:

(LIGHTLY) Yes. But do not hold it against me, Miss Harker. I cannot help being of the blood royal.

JOHN:

Well, why don't you two get acquainted while I go up and see if Lucy's awake yet?

SOUND:

JOHN'S STEPS MOVE OFF

COUNT:

I shall do my best to entertain this charming young lady.

JOHN:

(OFF, AS HE EXITS) I won't be a minute.

MINA:

You're a long way from home, Count.

COUNT:

A very long way, Miss Harker.

MINA:

May I ask what brought you here?

COUNT:

Business.

MINA:

Business? Good heavens, what kind of business could you have in this part of the country? I mean, it's so isolated.

COUNT:

True, it does present difficulties, but I like living in the country.

MINA:

Well, you must. Oh, forgive me, I'm forgetting my manners. Would you like a drink?

COUNT:

Thank you.

SOUND:

CLINK! OF BOTTLES AND GLASSES

MINA:

Scotch? Or bourbon?

COUNT:

Is there perhaps some wine? Red wine?

MINA:

Let me see. I'm not very familiar with the supply here. Ah, here we are. There's a bottle of Burgundy.

COUNT:

Ah, a glass of that will be--

SOUND:

CRASH! OF BROKEN GLASS

MINA:

(UNNERVED, GASPS)

COUNT:

Miss Harker? What's wrong?

MINA:

I - I--

COUNT:

What is it?

MINA:

(BREATHLESSLY) Er-- It's the bottle. I'm afraid it slipped. It slipped, that's all. Oh, my. I'm afraid I cut my hand.

COUNT:

(GASPS EXTRAVAGANTLY)

MINA:

No, no, don't, Count-- Don't be upset. It's only a slight cut, see?

COUNT:

(AGITATED) No. No!

SOUND:

JOHN'S STEPS APPROACH

JOHN:

(APPROACHES) Lucy's awake and we can-- Count, what's wrong? Mina? Oh, your hand.

COUNT:

(QUICKLY) I must leave at once, doctor. Sorry I cannot stay. Something I just remembered. No, no, no -- it's all right. I will see myself out.

SOUND:

COUNT'S STEPS AWAY

JOHN:

What in the world--?

SOUND:

DOOR OPENS

JOHN:

But, Count--

SOUND:

DOOR CLOSES AS COUNT EXITS

JOHN:

(PUZZLED) Mina, what happened? (NO ANSWER) Mina?

MINA:

(STILL SHAKEN, FLATLY) I dropped the bottle of wine, and cut my hand.

JOHN:

Yes, I - I see you did, but--

MINA:

I dropped the bottle because-- (EXHALES, A LITTLE HYSTERICAL) Because I couldn't see him in the mirror.

JOHN:

Couldn't see--? What mirror?

MINA:

This mirror, over the table. It reflects the whole room.

JOHN:

Well, of course it does, but--

MINA:

John, John, I picked up the bottle to pour Count Dracula a drink--

JOHN:

Yes?

MINA:

--and I looked into the mirror and he was standing where you are now and I couldn't see him in the mirror.

JOHN:

What?

MINA:

He was there where you're standing, but he wasn't reflected in the glass.

JOHN:

Mina, you're not making sense. And you're trembling.

MINA:

John, I'm scared.

JOHN:

Of what?

MINA:

How can you ask? I look in a mirror and didn't see someone who should have been reflected in it. There's something going wrong with my eyes, or my brain, John. What--?

JOHN:

(REASSURING) Now, look, Mina. Easy, easy. I don't want another patient on my hands.

MINA:

But, John, I--

JOHN:

(CALM AND FACTUAL) An optical illusion. Something like that. Our eyes play tricks on us sometimes. Now, come on. Let's get a bandage for that cut and then we'll go up and see Lucy.

MUSIC:

TRANSITION ... THEN BEHIND MINA--

MINA:

(NARRATES) I believed John. It must have been-- It had to be a trick my eyes had played. What else? (INHALES) Well, we got a bandage for the cut on my hand and then John took me to Lucy's room. I can't find words to describe the shock I felt when I saw her. She was white as new-fallen snow -- and so thin she almost seemed transparent. "She dying." That was my first thought, "She's dying -- and nothing can save her." And I know she read the thoughts in my face. I could see the sudden fear in her eyes.

LUCY:

(QUIET FEAR) I am dying, Mina.

MINA:

Oh, you mustn't even think that, Lucy.

LUCY:

You do.

MINA:

I?

LUCY:

It was in your face when you looked at me. I read your thoughts. "She's dying," you thought, "and nothing can save her." (INHALES SLOWLY) I am, and nothing can save me.

MINA:

Oh, John can save you. And he will.

LUCY:

He hasn't so far.

MINA:

You mustn't despair, Lucy.

LUCY:

Despair, Mina? I don't have the strength to despair.

SOUND:

DOGS BARK AND WOLVES HOWL ... THEN IN BG

LUCY:

(ABRUPTLY TENSE) You'd better go now, Mina.

MINA:

Go? Lucy dear, I haven't seen you in nearly a year. We haven't even started to tell each other everything that's happened.

LUCY:

(INCREASINGLY AGITATED) Later. Not - not now. I'm tired! I want to sleep!

MINA:

Oh. Well, in that case I'll come back later.

LUCY:

No! Er, not till tomorrow.

MINA:

All right, whatever you say. But I'll just look in on you later--

LUCY:

(INTERRUPTS) No! I--

MINA:

Lucy?

LUCY:

You mustn't! You mustn't!

MINA:

(SOOTHING) All right, all right. There now.

SOUND:

DURING ABOVE, DOGS AND WOLVES OUT ... SQUEAKING AND FLAPPING AND CLAWING FROM GIANT BAT AT THE WINDOW GLASS, IN BG

MINA:

But stop upsetting yourself.

LUCY:

Oh, go! Go quickly!

MINA:

(STARTLED) Oh, good lord! At the window!

LUCY:

(HUSHED) It's nothing! Go, Mina! It's nothing!

MINA:

Nothing? It's that bat! That huge bat that followed my car!

LUCY:

Oh, go, I beg of you!

MINA:

Lucy, the thing is trying to get in! Look, it's clawing at the window! Is that locked? Is that window locked?

LUCY:

Yes, yes, it's locked!

SOUND:

DURING ABOVE, BAT NOISES STOP

COUNT:

(IN CLOSE) But locks are useless against Count Dracula.

MINA:

(STARTLED GASP) Oh, good lord.

COUNT:

Mirrors do not reflect my image, Miss Harker. Nor do locks keep me out.

MINA:

(REALIZES) You - you - you were that bat.

COUNT:

As the wolves you hear are not wolves, but like myself. Vampires.

MINA:

(WHISPERS) Vampires!

COUNT:

The dead, who live by night. The dead undead.

SOUND:

WOLVES RESUME HOWLING, IN BG

MINA:

No, this - this can't be happening. It's a dream. It's a nightmare.

COUNT:

That's what it will seem like when you wake up.

MINA:

What?

COUNT:

Yes, you're going to sleep now. And yet not sleep. You will remember all you've seen here, but when you wake it will seem like a dream. A dream you'll tell no one, not even Professor Van Helsing, because you will not want to look foolish. You'll be ashamed to tell it, for fear he will think you're a silly young woman.

MINA:

I--

COUNT:

Enough.

MINA:

(EXHALES)

COUNT:

(A SLOW, SINISTER COMMAND) Sleep.

MUSIC:

ECHOING CHIME NOTE FOR PUNCTUATION ... THEN DREAMILY BEHIND MINA--

MINA:

(NARRATES, SLOWLY) Did I sleep? Did I dream? No. My sleep was a hypnotic trance into which he had placed me. And what I dreamed - was reality. There, in the moonlight that streamed through the window, I saw Dracula raise his arms and call--

COUNT:

(LOVINGLY) Lucy-- Lucy, my dearest love, come to me. Come, my darling.

LUCY:

(BREATHY, WITH EFFORT) I - I - I c-can't. Too weak, my lover. I-- Too weak.

COUNT:

Then I shall come to you. Embrace you. Kiss you.

MUSIC:

ACCENT ... THEN EERIE IN BG--

MINA:

(NARRATES) And now the strangest thing of all happened to me. As I watched what then took place, my love for my friend Lucy, my fears for her, made me feel as she must have felt -- so poignantly, so deeply that-- Yes. I became Lucy.

I watched Dracula as he approached my bed. There was a deliberate voluptuousness in him which I found both thrilling and repulsive. Lower and lower went his head. As the lips went below the range of my mouth and chin, and seemed about to fasten on my throat, I could feel the hot breath on my neck. Then the skin of my throat began to tingle.

SOUND:

DOGS BARK AND WOLVES HOWL, IN BG

MINA:

(NARRATES) I could feel the soft shivering touch of his lips on the super-sensitive skin of my throat and then too hard dents of two sharp teeth just touching and pausing there. (SLOWLY) I closed my eyes in a languorous ecstasy. And I waited. I waited with a beating heart. And then horror overcame me -- and I sank into unconsciousness.

MUSIC:

UP FOR ACCENT ... THEN BEHIND HOST--

HOST:

I promise that the horror you have just experienced is nothing compared to what is to come. Think twice before you return with me, shortly, with Act II.

GOLDILOCKS:

Hi! I'm Goldilocks! Miz Goldilocks, if you please. And I'm a professional taste tester here at my Taste Test Laboratory. That's "T.T.L." for short. (GIGGLES) I taste-test everything from porridge to diet drinks. Actually there's not that much taste-testing in porridge these days. There used to be -- "once upon a time." I mean, that's how this Miz got into the biz. (GIGGLES) But lately it's been diet drinks. I mean, with so many diet drinks going sugar-free, I've been really busy conducting taste tests -- a rather un-bear-able assignment, to be sure. But then I discovered Sugar Free Diet 7-Up! Fresh! Natural! Delicious! My only problem is that Sugar Free Diet 7-Up tastes so good that it broke my Goldilocks Diet Drink Taste-o-meter! Well, Sugar Free Diet 7-Up certainly has my seal of approval. This one's just right!

MUSIC:

UPTEMPO DRUMS, BASS, AND ACOUSTIC GUITAR ... THEN IN BG

SINGER:

Hey, Mom! What's for dinner? Hey, Mom! What you got?

SHOP RITE ANNCR:

It's time to get ready for the great outdoors and your Shop Rite Supermarket has everything you'll need for cookout dinners and fun in the sun. And for this week's dinners, Shop Rite is featuring whole Grade-A frying chickens, just 37 cents a pound; roasting chickens up to four pounds, 47 cents a pound; choice beef rib steaks, a dollar 19 a pound; Shop Rite Franks, 89 cents a pound. Get all your outdoor cooking equipment and many great food values at your Shop Rite Supermarket.

SINGER:

She loves the family!
She wants the best!
She does all that she can do.
She lets Shop Rite do the rest!
Hey, Ma! What's for dinner?
Shop Rite has the answer!

MUSIC:

OUT

WOR ANNCR:

This is WOR, New York, an RKO-General Station, and your station for Mystery Theater.

MUSIC:

EERIE ... THEN BEHIND MINA'S NARRATION--

MINA:

(NARRATES) I thought it must have been a dream -- a nightmare -- for nothing so vile and revolting could be real. But though I tried during the next day or two to persuade myself it was only a dream, there were signs -- warnings -- all about me that told me I was lying to myself. There was the nightly howling of the wolves, the screeching of that huge bat around the house, and, yes, the scarf that Lucy kept wrapped 'round her throat. (TO LUCY) It's such a hot afternoon. How can you bear to wear that scarf around your throat?

LUCY:

What? I feel cold.

MINA:

But, Lucy, you're perspiring. Your forehead is damp.

LUCY:

All I want to do is sleep. I'm so tired. I'm so deathly tired.

MINA:

I'll leave you for a while then. I'll look in on you later to make sure you're all right. Sleep well.

LUCY:

Oh, Mina--?

MINA:

Yes, dear?

LUCY:

If I'm asleep when you come back, promise me you won't remove this scarf from around my throat.

MINA:

(PUZZLED) Very well.

LUCY:

You won't even - touch it? Promise?

MINA:

(BEAT) I promise.

MUSIC:

ACCENT ... THEN BEHIND MINA--

MINA:

(NARRATES) Later that afternoon, toward evening, Professor Van Helsing arrived from Holland. When John introduced me to him, he stared at me, suddenly and hard, his eyes boring into me from behind his thick-lensed glasses.

VAN HELSING:

You are frightened, Miss Harker? Why?

MINA:

Frightened?

JOHN:

(LIGHTLY) Maybe she hasn't recovered from that optical illusion the other night.

VAN HELSING:

Optical illusion?

JOHN:

Yes. You see that mirror over the table there?

VAN HELSING:

Yes.

JOHN:

Well, we had a visitor -- Count Dracula, a new neighbor, [from] Carfax a few miles from here -- and Mina had the illusion that she couldn't see his reflection in the mirror.

MINA:

My eyes must have played a trick on me, professor.

VAN HELSING:

(THOUGHTFUL) Yes. (BEAT) Er, this Count Dracula, John. He's, er, new here you say?

JOHN:

Yes, he arrived from Hungary about six weeks ago.

VAN HELSING:

I see. (BEAT, URGENT) Take me to see your fiancée, John.

JOHN:

Oh, she's sleeping. Lucy's sleeping right now.

VAN HELSING:

We'd better wake her up.

JOHN:

What is it? You seem suddenly concerned.

VAN HELSING:

I am. Take me to Lucy at once!

MUSIC:

TENSE BRIDGE

VAN HELSING:

Wake her, John.

JOHN:

All right.

VAN HELSING:

Gently, very gently.

JOHN:

Lucy--? Lucy dear? Come on, wake up.

VAN HELSING:

Here-here-here -- let me. (BEAT) Hm. Pulse weak, very weak. Eyes--? Oh, she's not asleep. She's in a coma. What is her blood type?

JOHN:

O.

VAN HELSING:

So is mine. Prepare for a transfusion, John. I will be the donor. And hurry, man, hurry.

JOHN:

Yes, yes, of course.

VAN HELSING:

Meanwhile I shall have a look under this scarf.

MINA:

No, no, she didn't want the scarf removed.

VAN HELSING:

I'm sure she didn't, Miss Harker, but we're going to remove it. (BEAT) Aha! As I thought!

MINA:

What? What is it?

JOHN:

Yes, professor, what?

VAN HELSING:

Look!

MINA:

(STUNNED) Look. There are two - two little holes. Wounds.

JOHN:

(THE SAME) As if she'd been bitten by a large snake.

VAN HELSING:

No. Not a snake.

JOHN:

Well, what then? What?

SOUND:

DOGS BARK AND WOLVES HOWL, IN BG

VAN HELSING:

We must be quick with the transfusion, very quick! And pray God -- pray God, both of you -- that I have not arrived too late.

MUSIC:

TRANSITION ... THEN BEHIND MINA--

MINA:

(NARRATES) But he was too late. The transfusion revived Lucy a little. When we'd made her as comfortable as we could, the three of us -- Professor Van Helsing, John, and I -- went back down to the living room and it was here that Professor van Helsing told us the truth -- the truth that made John Seward cry out--

JOHN:

Vampire?! You say we are dealing with a vampire, professor? Have you gone out of your mind?

VAN HELSING:

My dear John, I don't blame you--

JOHN:

(INTERRUPTS) Blame me? I should hope not. You ask me to believe -- me, a doctor, a man of medical science--?

VAN HELSING:

(LAUGHS) Science? There's more to this world than science.

MINA:

But, professor, a vampire? I can't believe that there's a vampire--

VAN HELSING:

(INTERRUPTS, SLOWLY INSISTENT) I tell you that witches exist, that warlocks exist, that vampires exist. And we are dealing with one here.

JOHN:

But if what you say is true--

VAN HELSING:

(INTERRUPTS) It is! It is! Ask her. Ask Miss Harker.

MINA:

Me?

VAN HELSING:

You had an experience in this house that you are concealing. You choose to think it was a dream. Well, when did it happen, child? Last night?

MINA:

No. The night before.

VAN HELSING:

Where?

MINA:

In Lucy's bedroom.

JOHN:

Mina, what happened?

MINA:

I - I dreamed--

VAN HELSING:

(INTERRUPTS) No, it was no dream!

MINA:

All right then! I saw-- (SHIVERS) Oh, heaven protect me. I saw-- (SHIVERS)

VAN HELSING:

You needn't tell me. No need to put you through that. I would, if I didn't know who our vampire is. But I do know.

JOHN:

Who?

VAN HELSING:

The man whose reflection she could not see in that mirror -- your new neighbor Count Dracula.

JOHN:

I don't believe you. I cannot believe you.

VAN HELSING:

If you can't believe me, at least trust me.

SOUND:

DOORBELL JANGLES

MINA:

Oh, I'll answer it.

VAN HELSING:

Wait!

MINA:

Yes, professor?

VAN HELSING:

If that would be Count Dracula-- You did say that he calls about this time each evening, John?

JOHN:

Yes.

VAN HELSING:

Say nothing -- do nothing -- to give away the fact that we are on to him.

JOHN:

Oh, this is nonsense, sheer nonsense.

VAN HELSING:

(SAVAGELY) Do as I tell you! (BEAT, QUIET) You may answer the door now, Miss Harker.

MINA:

Yes.

SOUND:

MINA'S HURRIED STEPS TO DOOR, WHICH OPENS

COUNT:

Good evening, Miss Harker.

MINA:

Count Dracula. Er, come in.

SOUND:

COUNT'S STEPS IN ... DOOR CLOSES BEHIND--

COUNT:

And how is Miss Westenra today?

MINA:

Not too well, I'm afraid. She had to have another transfusion.

COUNT:

Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, John. Very sorry to hear that.

JOHN:

Thank you, Count.

COUNT:

I do not believe I have met this gentleman.

JOHN:

Oh, I - I'm sorry. No, you - you haven't. Let me present my old friend and teacher Professor Abraham Van Helsing. Professor, this is Count Dracula.

COUNT:

How do you do, professor?

VAN HELSING:

How do you do, Count?

COUNT:

I wished only to inquire about your fiancée, John. I'm sorry indeed to hear she is no better. If there's anything I can do--

JOHN:

Thank you.

COUNT:

Meeting you, professor, has been - a pleasure. Good night.

JOHN:

Oh, um, Count--?

COUNT:

Yes?

JOHN:

Mrs. Westenra keeps asking me to do this and I keep forgetting. There is a custom in the Westenra family to ask visitors to sign the visitors' book.

COUNT:

Ah, a charming old-world custom, John.

JOHN:

(MOVING OFF) It's right here. If you'll just wait a second, I'll get it and then you can sign it.

SOUND:

DURING ABOVE, JOHN'S STEPS AWAY ... THEN JOHN'S STEPS TO COUNT

COUNT:

(PAINFUL EXCLAMATION)

SOUND:

JOHN'S STEPS STOP

JOHN:

Is something wrong?

COUNT:

(TENSE) It - is a Bible?

JOHN:

Well-- Well, yes. Why do you back away from me? (ACCUSING) Or are you backing away from the book? The Holy Book?

COUNT:

I must go.

JOHN:

No, no, you'll stay and face this book!

COUNT:

(REALIZES, ACCUSING) You know! You know!

VAN HELSING:

(HUSHED) John, you fool. You shouldn't have done this.

JOHN:

I had to! I had to have proof.

COUNT:

I will make you pay for this. You shall pay!

JOHN:

Oh, no. Not now. Now that I have found out what you are--!

VAN HELSING:

(PLEADING) Oh, John, John--!

COUNT:

Do you think because you discovered my secret you can stop me? Fool. You've only delivered yourself into my hands. I meant to make Lucy one of mine, and that was all. But now you shall become mine! And you!

VAN HELSING:

Not I.

COUNT:

Yes, and you!

MINA:

No, I beg you--!

COUNT:

I shall have you all, but first-- Lucy, I shall take her.

SOUND:

DOGS BARK AND WOLVES HOWL, BRIEFLY IN BG

COUNT:

(SLOWLY) Take her. Now. (BEAT) She is mine. She's no longer of this world, but of mine. (BEAT) I leave you.

SOUND:

SQUEAK AND FLAP OF GIANT BAT

MINA:

(GASPS IN HORROR) Look!

MUSIC:

EERIE ACCENT

MINA:

(UNNERVED) Look! He turned into a bat. The bat. And he flew -- right through the wall! Oh!

VAN HELSING:

John! John, why did you do this? Why, after I warned you?

JOHN:

I - I had to know, one way or the other. I had to know.

VAN HELSING:

There's only one way to finish a vampire. The first thing you must do is find out where he sleeps during the day.

LUCY:

(BLOODCURDLING SCREAM, FROM OFF)

JOHN:

(ALARMED) Lucy!

SOUND:

DOGS BARK AND WOLVES HOWL, BRIEFLY IN BG

JOHN:

(PLEADS) Professor, quickly! (NO RESPONSE) Professor?

VAN HELSING:

(CALM) There is no hurry now. When he said he meant to make her his own, he had already done so.

MUSIC:

ACCENT ... THEN BEHIND MINA--

MINA:

(NARRATES) It was true. Lucy was dead. We went to her bedroom and found her -- dead. I felt as if I'd been stabbed to the heart. We buried her, my dearest friend, in the Westenra vault at Hillingham Cemetery, not far from town.

JOHN:

(MISERABLE DESPAIR) Lucy is gone, dead.

VAN HELSING:

No. No, not dead.

MINA:

Not dead, professor?

VAN HELSING:

She has become the - undead. She has become a vampire.

JOHN:

Oh, what are you saying?

VAN HELSING:

John, listen to me. Believe in me. You didn't believe before. Believe now.

JOHN:

(WEARILY) Yes, yes, yes. I believe you. Go on, go on.

VAN HELSING:

John, you - you feel you've been through hell. I must tell you that you have been through only the anteroom to hell.

MINA:

What do you mean?

VAN HELSING:

Now listen to me. Listen carefully. There is only one way in which a vampire can find peace; can be changed from the undead to the dead. What you must do -- terrible as it will be -- will release her soul from the horrifying bondage in which it finds itself. Her soul -- and Dracula's.

JOHN:

Dracula's?

VAN HELSING:

What, do you think a vampire wants to be a vampire?

JOHN:

I don't know. No.

VAN HELSING:

A vampire's soul is chained, pinioned, held mercilessly to this earth by Satan himself. And we -- we who believe in God -- are the only ones who can free them. It is our duty to destroy them.

JOHN:

Well, then let's destroy them.

VAN HELSING:

We shall -- if you have the nerve to do what - what must be done.

JOHN:

(WITH RESOLVE) I have the nerve.

MINA:

Professor, you frighten me.

VAN HELSING:

I mean to -- in order to prepare you. But no matter how well I prepare you, when it comes to doing what must be done, you - your sanity could snap like - like that. (SNAPS FINGERS) So first I will ask you both to take as much time as you need to - to think. To ask yourselves how much did you -- do you -- really love Lucy Westenra? And be sure -- be positive beyond all doubt -- that your love for her is greater than the hell that lies ahead. Lies ahead for you -- and you -- this very night.

MUSIC:

CURTAIN

HOST:

I'll be back shortly with Act III.

MUSIC:

MASCULINE ORCHESTRAL ... THEN IN BG--

BEER ANNCR:

When you drink beer, do you tilt the glass for long hearty swallows -- or just "tip it and sip it"? Well, sipping's the thing for wine, but Budweiser beer is a hearty drink, brewed for zest and character. The best way to enjoy Bud is to drink it. Not chugalug -- just man-sized beer-drinker swallows. That's when that famous Budweiser taste, smoothness, and drinkability really come through. Smoothness and drinkability that come only from natural carbonation and exclusive beechwood aging. Smoothness and drinkability too good for any half-hearted sipping. So drink up!

SOUND:

BEER TOP POPS! ... BEER POURED BEHIND--

BEER ANNCR:

You'll see that brewing beer right does make a difference -- and that when you say "Budweiser," you've said it all. (PAUSE) Anheuser-Busch, St. Louis.

MUSIC:

OUT

MUSIC:

OMINOUS ... BEHIND HOST--

HOST:

[...] I thought I knew what horror was until I read it. I changed my mind. You will, too. [...]

JOHN:

I'm ready, professor.

VAN HELSING:

I knew you would be, John. We'll wait now for Miss Harker.

MINA:

No, no. There's no need to wait. I love Lucy enough -- more than enough. She was my dearest friend.

VAN HELSING:

Is your dearest friend -- for she is not yet dead. She is as yet the "dead undead." It's nearly sundown; let us go to the cemetery at once.

JOHN:

The cemetery?

VAN HELSING:

It will be dark by the time we get there. She will have left her coffin.

MINA:

Left it?

VAN HELSING:

Like Count Dracula, she cannot go on living -- or let me say, "being the undead" -- without drinking human blood. To find it, she must, of course, leave her coffin. The instant the sun goes down tonight she will be on the prowl for - little children.

JOHN:

Children?

VAN HELSING:

Yes, children are innocent, gullible, naive. Make easier victims. And the inexperienced vampire must, er, practice. Yes, she - she will be seeking children.

MINA:

Oh, it's revolting.

VAN HELSING:

Revolting? Well, that is only a word to you at the moment. In a short time it will be - reality. Do you really think you can bear what is to come?

MINA:

(SHIVERS) I can. I must.

VAN HELSING:

Good. I have, er, preparations to make. So do you, the two of you. Dress warmly.

MINA:

Warmly? But it's hot out.

VAN HELSING:

(STERN) Child, there is no chill like a graveyard chill.

MUSIC:

ACCENT ... THEN BEHIND MINA--

MINA:

(NARRATES, SLOWLY) We drove to Hillingham Cemetery in John's car. (SOUND: WIND BLOWS EERILY, IN BG) I'd never been in a cemetery at night. How many people have? I found it a very unsettling experience to say the least. It was a moonlit night. The moonlight spilling like milk over the gravestones, which in turn threw long black shadows. (SOUND: OWL HOOTS AND DOGS BARK, IN BG) An owl hooted, and dogs barked, or I couldn't help thinking, "Were they wolves?" And then we reached the Westenra vault -- the vault where we'd put Lucy's coffin that afternoon.

JOHN:

Now what do we do, professor?

VAN HELSING:

We go into the vault.

JOHN:

Why? And how?

VAN HELSING:

I have the key to the vault.

MINA:

How did you get it?

VAN HELSING:

I asked the undertaker for it. Or rather told him to give it to me; he assumed I was a member of the family.

SOUND:

VAULT UNLOCKED BEHIND--

VAN HELSING:

Well, you need not come with me. Not now.

JOHN:

But why shouldn't we come?

VAN HELSING:

I wish to save you as much shock as I can. She will not be there in the coffin. It will be a shock for you to find it empty.

SOUND:

VAULT DOOR OPENS

VAN HELSING:

(THOUGHTFUL) Er, on the other hand, it will be less a shock than what is to follow. Yes, it will prepare you. Come then.

SOUND:

THEIR STEPS INTO VAULT ... WIND AND ANIMAL NOISE OUT ... ECHO ON VOICES

VAN HELSING:

(WITH EFFORT) I shall open the coffin now.

MINA:

(NERVOUS) If she--? If she isn't in it, how could she have got out?

VAN HELSING:

I could tell you, but it is better that you see for yourself - later.

SOUND:

UNSCREWING LID

VAN HELSING:

Now this won't take long. I need only unscrew the top part. There. (EXHALES) Well, now to lift off the top of the lid.

SOUND:

LID LIFTED AND MOVED ASIDE

JOHN:

(GASPS)

MINA:

(SHOCKED) Ah!

VAN HELSING:

Yes. Empty. She's gone.

JOHN:

(UNNERVED) Where? Gone where? In God's name, where?

VAN HELSING:

In search of the life-giving blood, John. In search of a small child.

MINA:

Oh, it's horrible. It's horrible.

VAN HELSING:

John?

JOHN:

Yes?

VAN HELSING:

Come. We go outside the vault.

SOUND:

THEIR STEPS OUT OF VAULT ... WIND AND ANIMAL NOISES RESUME ... NO ECHO ON VOICES

VAN HELSING:

(WITH EFFORT) Now to lock the door.

SOUND:

VAULT DOOR SHUT AND LOCKED

VAN HELSING:

That's most important. And now what I must do will take a little time. Yes, make yourselves as comfortable as you can.

JOHN:

(AMUSED) Make ourselves comfortable?

MINA:

Professor, what must you do?

VAN HELSING:

Well, I have here a paste made of garlic, flour, and water. I must seal off every crevice with it. Seal all around the door, so Lucy cannot get back into the vault, into her coffin.

MINA:

(INCREDULOUS) She could--?

VAN HELSING:

Through the crevices, yes. How do you think she got out of the coffin?

MINA:

I can't believe--

VAN HELSING:

(INTERRUPTS) Yes, yes, yes, it is unbelievable, but it is so. Now forgive me, I must get to work.

MUSIC:

ACCENT ... THEN BEHIND IN BG--

MINA:

(NARRATES) I can't express in words how fresh and clean the night air seemed when we came out of the tomb. How sweet to breathe the fresh air that held no taint of death or decay. (SOUND: CHURCH BELL OMINOUSLY TOLLS, IN BG) John was silent, and so was I. As for Professor Van Helsing, he was very busy sealing the door.

VAN HELSING:

Ten o'clock. I hope both of you took my advice; dressed warmly. We have a long wait ahead of us.

MUSIC:

UP FOR TRANSITION

SOUND:

WIND BLOWS MORE HARSHLY ... NOCTURNAL ANIMAL NOISES ... THEN IN BG

MINA:

How much longer, professor? I'm chilled to the bone.

VAN HELSING:

Everything depends on how long it takes her to find a small child. Nearly two o'clock. She has been gone several hours. Soon now I think-- (STOPS SHORT) Psst!

JOHN:

(WHISPERS) What?

VAN HELSING:

She comes. See there? Amidst the headstones?

MINA:

Yes, a woman -- dressed in white.

JOHN:

Lucy--?

VAN HELSING:

Sssshh! Make no move, no noise. See? She is carrying something in her arms. A child.

MINA:

I feel sick.

VAN HELSING:

Control yourself. Ah, there. Yes, she's coming toward the vault.

LUCY:

(GASPS IN PAIN, OFF)

VAN HELSING:

See? She draws back. The mixture I used repels her.

LUCY:

(SCREAMS IN PAIN, OFF)

JOHN:

Why are we doing this? Why are you keeping her out of the vault; her coffin?

VAN HELSING:

Because I hope-- Ah, yes! Yes, she is leaving, hurrying away from along the headstones. Come, we - we must follow.

MINA:

Follow? Follow where?

VAN HELSING:

To Dracula, I hope. Unless I'm mistaken, she's going to him for help. Hurry. Hurry, we must keep her in sight. No, wait!

JOHN:

What is it?

VAN HELSING:

She is heading for - for that tomb. Dracula must be there! Good. Now watch. See? Now she's putting the child down on the ground. And now--

MINA:

Where--? Where is she?!

JOHN:

Why, she--

MINA:

She's vanished!

VAN HELSING:

She simply slipped into the tomb through the crevice around the door.

MINA:

(EXHALES)

VAN HELSING:

(MOVING OFF) Now, wait here.

MINA:

Yes.

JOHN:

What's he doing?

MINA:

He's picking up the child, I think. Yes, he's coming back now.

VAN HELSING:

Here, Miss Harker -- you take the child; keep it warm.

MINA:

(QUIETLY UNNERVED) Oh, this poor thing. Poor little thing. Look, it doesn't move. It doesn't make a sound. It's lifeless.

VAN HELSING:

No. No, only in a trance. It will recover. But remember -- when I ask you to do what must be done, remember that we have saved not only this child but God knows how many others.

MINA:

I'll remember.

VAN HELSING:

Good. And now we will return to her tomb and wait till dawn.

JOHN:

Till dawn.

VAN HELSING:

She will return to the tomb then. She has no choice. Dracula cannot help her. She must sleep in her own coffin before daybreak.

MUSIC:

BRIDGE

SOUND:

ROOSTER CROWS

VAN HELSING:

How do you feel, Miss Harker?

MINA:

I'm all right, thank you.

SOUND:

ROOSTER CROWS AGAIN

VAN HELSING:

John?

JOHN:

I'm okay. It's almost dawn. Why doesn't she come?

VAN HELSING:

Soon. Soon enough. How's the child?

MINA:

Still asleep. If it is only sleep.

VAN HELSING:

It is, it is. It will not come to its senses until daybreak. Now, prepare yourselves, for in a very short time now Lucy should-- Ah, there, there. Yes, she's coming.

MINA:

This time she'll be able to enter the tomb 'cause you removed the garlic mixture.

VAN HELSING:

This time I want her to enter the tomb and her coffin. It will be there that you will do what - what must be done.

JOHN:

(AWESTRUCK) Oh, there - there she is. Oh, heaven help me, she is as beautiful as she always was.

VAN HELSING:

Hold on to yourself.

JOHN:

(HYSTERICAL) She - she isn't dead. She can't be dead! (MOVING OFF, CALLS) Lucy! Lucy, my darling!

VAN HELSING:

John! No, come back!

JOHN:

(OFF) Lucyyyyyyyyy!

LUCY:

(OFF, SEDUCTIVE, ECHO) John! My dearest! Come to me, John! Come to me!

MUSIC:

BIG ACCENT ... THEN EERILY TENSE IN BG--

MINA:

(NARRATES) I have never seen anything so horrible. And God save me from ever seeing it again. Lucy's eyes shone with an unholy light and her face became wreathed with a voluptuous smile as she advanced toward John with outstretched arms.

LUCY:

(SEDUCTIVE, ECHO) Come to me, dearest. My arms are hungry for you. Come! And we can rest together in the tomb. Come, my lover. Commmmmmmmmme.

MINA:

(NARRATES) And John suddenly opened wide his arms and started running to her, and she to him, when Van Helsing rushed forward between them, and he raised something he held in his hand up against her face. It was a crucifix! With a cry of rage and agony--

LUCY:

(BLOODCURDLING SCREAM!)

MINA:

(NARRATES) --Lucy flung herself away from John and toward the tomb! And she was gone.

VAN HELSING:

John?! John, are you all right?

MUSIC:

OUT

JOHN:

(SOBBING, BROKENLY) Lord help me. Lord help me.

VAN HELSING:

(GRIM) And He shall.

SOUND:

ROOSTER CROWS

VAN HELSING:

Come. Into the tomb. It's time.

SOUND:

VAULT DOOR OPENS ... STEPS IN ... ECHO ON VOICES

VAN HELSING:

Now, first let me put the bag I brought-- (WITH EFFORT) --over here.

SOUND:

BAG SET DOWN

VAN HELSING:

And now I will remove the coffin lid again.

SOUND:

LID LIFTED AND MOVED ASIDE

JOHN:

(WITH DISGUST) Professor, is this really Lucy's body, or some kind of demon in her shape?

MINA:

(THE SAME) Ugh, she's hideous.

VAN HELSING:

Yes. Yes, your friend who was so sweet and pure is now a foul thing. But if you can do what you must do, you will see her once again as she was.

JOHN:

Whatever it is, we'll do it.

VAN HELSING:

This wooden stake I have brought--

JOHN:

Yes?

VAN HELSING:

This pointed stake? You must drive it through Lucy's heart -- with this hammer.

JOHN:

(EXHALES WITH HORROR) Oh, no.

VAN HELSING:

And when that is done -- cut off her head with this surgical knife.

JOHN:

(GASPS, TREMBLES) I - I - I don't-- I don't--

VAN HELSING:

(FIRMLY) You must do it. For her sake, John. For the sake of the woman you loved.

JOHN:

(PAUSE, QUIETLY RESOLVED) All right. Give me the stake -- and the hammer.

MUSIC:

ACCENT ... THEN IN BG

MINA:

(NARRATES) John took the stake in his left hand, the hammer in his right. I saw him tremble as he placed the point of the stake over Lucy's heart -- saw the point dig into her white flesh -- and then I could see him gather all his strength, all his self-control. He raised the hammer high above his head and looked at Van Helsing.

VAN HELSING:

(ENCOURAGING) Yes! Now.

JOHN:

(HORRIFIED EXCLAMATION, WITH EFFORT)

MINA:

(NARRATES) John struck with all his might. The thing in the coffin writhed and a hideous blood-curdling screech came from the opened lips. The body shook and twisted in wild contortions. John never faltered. He struck! -- and he struck again! -- driving the stake deeper, deeper -- as blood from the pierced heart welled and spurted up around it. (MUSIC: HITS A CLIMAX ... THEN SUBSIDES AND FADES OUT BEHIND--) And then the writhing and quivering of the body became less, the teeth stopped champing, and the thing lay still. It was awful.

JOHN:

(BREATHES HEAVILY FOR A LONG MOMENT, THEN--) Is that enough, professor?

VAN HELSING:

Enough.

SOUND:

HAMMER DROPS TO FLOOR

JOHN:

(BREATHES HEAVILY, READY TO FAINT) I - I think I'm-- I think I'm going to--

VAN HELSING:

(GRABS JOHN) I've got you! (BEAT) There. Now go outside; get some air.

JOHN:

No.

VAN HELSING:

Both of you, go. You look faint, too, Miss Harker.

JOHN:

I must-- I must-- Still her head. I-- Her head. I have to--

VAN HELSING:

No, no. You have done all that can be asked of you. No more. I will sever the head. Now, go now, but, before you do, look at your beloved Lucy - for the last time.

MUSIC:

WISTFUL TRANSITION ... THEN BEHIND MINA--

MINA:

(NARRATES, SLOWLY) There, in the coffin, lay no longer the foul thing we dreaded, but Lucy -- as we had seen her in life -- her face as beautiful and pure as it had been then.

MUSIC:

UP FOR ACCENT ... THEN BEHIND HOST--

HOST:

You will want to know that, later on, Professor Van Helsing freed Count Dracula from his earthly bondage and, in so doing, brought his bloody career to an end. Unhappily, I must add that Count Dracula was only one vampire among -- how many? -- I don't know. Hope I never find out. Hope you don't either. I'll be back shortly.

MUSIC:

LIGHT AND BREEZY, IN BG

WIFE:

Dear Thomas'. Your new Thomas's Onion English muffins are so delicious, my husband insists on them at every meal. It's embarrassing when we go to a Chinese restaurant.

NEW YORK MAN:

Dear Thomas'. For years I've been buying bagels and bialys with my Sunday Times. Last Sunday I bought The Times and your new Thomas's Onion English muffins. Not bad, Thomas's.

SULTRY WOMAN:

Dear Thomas'. Since serving sandwiches on your new Onion English muffins, I've become very popular with the boys.

LITTLE BOY:

Let's eat up, gang!

GANG OF BOYS:

(CHEER HAPPILY)

MUFFIN ANNCR:

Thomas' new Onion English muffins.

MUSIC:

OUT

SOUND:

SNUFFLE AND WHINNY OF HORSES

1ST FARE:

Pier 45, please -- and don't spare the horses!

DRIVER:

Yes, sir!

SOUND:

CLATTER! AS HANSOM CAB DRIVES OFF

MUFFIN ANNCR:

In 1880 when a cab had four legs and took twelve minutes to cross Manhattan, Samuel Bath Thomas was baking bread every bit as delicious as his Original English muffins.

SOUND:

BIG CITY TRAFFIC

2ND FARE:

Pier 45 -- and move it!

SOUND:

TIRES SQUEAL! AS CAB DRIVES OFF

MUFFIN ANNCR:

Today cabs have 300 horses, but still take twelve minutes to cross town -- and Thomas' is still baking breads every bit as delicious as their English muffins: Thomas' Protein; Whole Wheat; and White Bread. Thomas' promises.

MUSIC:

CLOSING ... BEHIND HOST--

HOST:

Our cast included Mercedes McCambridge, Paul Hecht, Stefan Schnabel, Michael Wager, and Marian Seldes. The entire production was under the direction of Himan Brown. Radio Mystery Theater was sponsored in part by Anheuser-Busch, Incorporated, brewers of Budweiser. This is E. G. Marshall inviting you to return to our mystery theater for another adventure in the macabre. Until next time--

SOUND:

CREAKING DOOR STARTS TO SQUEAK SHUT

HOST:

Pleasant dreams--?

SOUND:

CREAKING DOOR SQUEAKS SHUT

MUSIC:

OMINOUS CURTAIN ... THEN IN BG--

VOICE:

The Mystery Theater program was furnished by the CBS Radio Network.

MUSIC:

OUT