ANNOUNCER:

Lights out, everybody!

TWELVE CHIMES - WIND UP ON NINTH - ALL OUT WITH

GONG:

ED:

(FADEIN - HE IS A BREEZY SORT OF INDIVIDUAL)....So I looked her up and down and I said real slow and - you know - sarcastic like I said, "Listen, sister, I may not be a Romeo, but you're a heck of a lot too hefty to stand on any balconies! So fare-the-well, sister, catch yourself another streetcar - here's where I get off!" And with that I'm out the door and on my way! Now how's that for tellin' her off, Sam?

SAM:

(HE'S RATHER SLOW THINKING AND SLOW TALKING) You sure got a way, Ed...

ED:

Well, you've gotta! Women think you crawl, they use you for a door-mat! Well, not for me! Minute I got my divorce I said to myself, I said, "Eddie, my boy, so you got kicked in the face! All right, so it's a lesson! Don't forget it!" And believe, me, Sam, I haven't forgotten! Only way a woman's gonna get a wedding ring through my nose is to give me ether and hit me on the head with a club at the same time!

SAM:

Yeah...I guess that's right...

ED:

Sure it's right! And you take that blonde up in surgery. Now I ask you, have we got a prettier nurse in this hospital?

SAM:

No - she's swell all right...

ED:

Sure she is! Well, I'm telling you, Sam, I' could crook my little finger - no wave it - and that dame would do a hundred yard dash down the church aisle with me!

SAM:

Go on! You ain't ever been out with her!

ED:

What of it? Because I haven't doesn't mean I can't! Now does it?

SAM:

No....

ED:

Anyway, it takes dough to get married - if a man's thinking of getting married, you understand! And you certainly can't call what we're makin' in this place dough, now can you?

SAM:

Not bad...

ED:

What do you mean not bad? That's the trouble - long as you guys keep talking, "not bad" we'll never get any decent dough out of the city!

SAM:

A hundred and fifty a month's not bad....

ED:

(SARCASTICALLY) A hundred and fifty a month's not bad! And what do you have to do for that hundred and fifty a month, ya big lug! Sitting here by this ambulance on duty fourteen hours a day! Drivin' the crate through the streets as fast as you can go - skiddin' around corners on two wheels - skiddin' through ice and snow - takin' more chances than a fire truck! And all for what - a hundred and fifty a month!

SAM:

That's okay...

ED:

Yah! You got about as much ambition as a mud-turtle! Me - as soon as I get my ticket, I'm gonna get myself a staff job in some hick town hospital where I'll be Jupiter on tin wheels! Yeah, and you'll still be chauffeuring an ambulance around sayin', "Yes, sir - no, sir" to every ward-heeler that comes along! But me - I'm goin' places!

SAM:

(CHUCKLES) Yeah...

ED:

Go on, you big baboon, laugh, but I'm tellin' you I'm not nurse maidin' a city ambulance much longer, no sir! Three more months of this and I'm goin' to ---

BELL RINGS THREE TIMES

ED:

Aw, for Pete's sake, just when I'm comfortable! Hand me the phone!

SAM:

Yeah!

RECEIVER OFF HOOK

ED:

Ambulance...Yeah!...Okay!..(REPEATS AFTER THE PERSON ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIRE) 4-3-3- Pine Street. Did you say Pine? (SPELLS) P-i-n-e? But there's no houses out that way!.. Okay! Okay! So it's Pine! Yeah! Keep your pantaloons on! We're rollin'!

RECEIVER UP ON HOOK

SAM:

What is it, Ed?

ED:

I dunno! Somebody hurt out at 433 Pine!

SAM:

Yeah, but what?

ED:

Don't ask me! What could happen out on a street like that - somebody knocked off somebody else just to break the monotony! Come on, get the hack started, fella!

SAM:

Okay!

SOUND OF AUTO DOORS OPENING - CLOSE - STARTER - ENGINE STARTING

SAM:

(UP CALLING) Hey, Pete! Open the doors!

VOICE:

(FAR BACK) Okay!

SOUND OF OVERHEAD DOORS MOVING UP, BACK

SAM:

All set, Ed?

ED:

Yeah! Step on it!

AUTOMOBILE STARTING OFF - PAUSE - SIREN STARTS - UP FOR A FEW SECONDS THEN FADING OUT AND BLENDING INTO:

GONG:

FADEIN WAIL OF SIREN, CONTINUING BACK BEHIND:

ED:

So like I was saying, I walked into the morgue and old bettlepuss takes one look at me and says, "Now look here, Ed," and I says, "Doctor to you, Mister!" and then --

SOUND OF AUTOMOBILE TURNING CORNER AT HIGH SPEED BEHIND END OF ABOVE

ED:

Hey! Where you turning!

SAM:

You said Pine Street, didn't you?

ED:

Oh, yeah!..So why the siren? The only traffic out here is on horse-back!

SAM:

Yeah!

SIREN DIES OUT

SAM:

Pretty dead, isn't it?

ED:

Yeah! Not even sidewalks to take in at night... Say!

SAM:

What's the matter?

ED:

433! That must be the house on the hill!

SAM:

Huh?

ED:

Don't you get it? On the hill! Why, there hasn't been anybody livin' there for five years!

SAM:

But you said the call --

ED:

Yeah! Something's screwy about this!

SAM:

Yeah!

ED:

If this is a false alarm I'll tear whoever did it apart like a herring!

SAM:

Yeah! There's the house!

ED:

Can you imagine that! Get all the way out here before I get wise to where it was! Now all we need to make the night perfect is for it to start raining!

THUNDER, FAR BACK

SAM:

Thunder! There it is!

ED:

Well, how do you like that!

SAM:

I sure don't!

ED:

Let's check this before it starts to rain!

SAM:

Nobody in that place!

ED:

Says you! Look - there's a light! Now what do you say to that?

SAM:

Call a cop!

ED:

Don't be stupid!

SAM:

But you said that no one lived there - I mean for five years --

ED:

So some smart real estate guy sold a bill of goods! Pull up to the curb!

SAM:

Yeah...

SOUND OF AUTOMOBILE PULLING UP TO CURB

ED:

Okay, let's go!

SOUND OF AUTO DOORS OPENING

SAM:

I say we ought to call a cop!

ED:

And I say don't be stupid! The flash is out - the law'll get here sooner or later! Come on, baby! Let's pick up the body!

SOUND OF MEN GOING UP FLIGHT OF WOODEN STEPS

SAM:

Said somebody was hurt?

ED:

That's what the switchboard said...

SAM:

Mighty quiet in there...

ED:

Yeah.

SOUND OF GOING UP STEPS OUT

SAM:

Doesn't seem to be a bell...

ED:

Well, use your knuckles! Knock!

SAM:

All right...

SOUND OF HEAVY KNOCKING ON WOODEN DOOR

SAM:

Don't seem to be anybody home...

ED:

Must be! There's a light in there! Try the door!

SOUND OF DOOR OPENING SLOWLY

SAM:

Yeah! It's open!

ED:

Let's go!

SAM:

(DOUBTFULLY) All right...

ED:

(UP - USE ECHO CHAMBER) Hello in there! Hello!

SAM:

(UP) Ambulance! Somebody wanted an ambulance?

ED:

Huh! I guess nobody wanted one!

SAM:

But that room with the light, Ed!

ED:

(DOUBTFULLY) Must be - must be behind that door there.

SAM:

Yeah...

ED:

Well, open it!

SAM:

Maybe I better knock first...

ED:

Well, go ahead! Go ahead!

SOUND OF KNOCKING ON DOOR, OUT WITH

SAM:

Maybe - maybe there isn't a light...

ED:

What are you talking about? You can see it under the door!

SAM:

Well, I mean..maybe it's - reflection. I mean, from the street light! Yeah, from the street light!

ED:

Those blasted cops! When the flash went out it was just as much their job as ours! Why aren't they here?

SAM:

Want me to go out and get one?

ED:

No, we're goin' in!

SAM:

Now wait a minute, doc --

ED:

I tell you we're goin' in! Outta my way!

SOUND OF DOOR KNOB AND DOOR OPENING

SAM:

Say! Nobody here!

ED:

Kerosene light.

SAM:

Yeah, but there's nobody here!

WOMAN:

(HER SUBDUED INSANE LAUGHTER IS HEARD FAR BACK, CONTINUING BEHIND:)

ED:

What the --

SAM:

(IN SURPRISE) Ah! Look! In the corner!

WOMAN:

(FADEIN HER INSANE LAUGHTER CLOSER)

ED:

Lady, what's the matter?

WOMAN:

(LAUGHS)

SAM:

Lady, we're from the General Hospital! Ambulance! What's the matter here? What--

ED:

(INTERRUPTING) Hold it, Sam!

SAM:

Huh?

ED:

She's out of her head....

WOMAN:

(LAUGHS AGAIN AS BEFORE)

SAM:

Yeah...

ED:

Lady, what's the matter?

WOMAN:

(CHUCKLES INSANELY)

ED:

What's your name?

WOMAN:

(CHUCKLES AS BEFORE)

SAM:

She is screwy, all right, ain't she?

ED:

Yeah.... I wonder --

SAM:

What'll we do, Ed? Take her along?

ED:

I guess so...

SAM:

Gosh all mighty! You see her eyes, Ed?

ED:

What do you think I've been lookin' at, you big baboon!

SAM:

They're - they're like fire!

WOMAN:

(LAUGHS INSANELY AGAIN)

ED:

Come on, Sam! We'll get her out of here.

SAM:

What do you think --

ED:

How do I know? I'm no psychiatrist!

SAM:

Could somethin' have scared her --

ED:

What are you talkin' about?

SAM:

Aw....nuthin'!

ED:

All right, stop bein' a master mind and take her arm!

SAM:

Okay....

WOMAN:

(CRIES OUT IN INSANE PROTEST AS SAM TRIES TO TAKE HER ARM)

SAM:

(HASTILY) Okay, lady, okay! I was just tryin' to take your arm!

ED:

Now come on, lady, be reasonable! We just want to take you out of here!

WOMAN:

(GIGGLES INSANELY)

ED:

Yeah, out of here! Somewhere where it's nice and warm and clean! Now come on --

WOMAN:

(CRIES OUT AGAIN IN PROTEST)

SAM:

Guess she just don't like us...

ED:

What a night! Thunder and rain - and now a screwy dame!

SAM:

We're gonna have to strong-arm her, Doc.

ED:

Yeah, don't I know it! All right, you grab her right arm and I'll grab her left!

SAM:

Yeah!

WOMAN:

(CRIES OUT IN PROTEST AS THE MEN GRAB HER, CONTINUING AD LIB BEHIND:)

SCUFFLE

ED:

(WITH EFFORT) Now take it easy, lady!

SAM:

Hold her, Ed!

ED:

Now lady, don't! I'm a doctor - I'm tryin' to help you!

SAM:

I got her, Doc!

ED:

Ow! Stop that you crazy --

SAM:

The straight-jacket, Ed -- we'll have to get the straight-jacket!

ED:

Well get it, you stupid goon! Get it before she --

MATT:

(BACK) Stand where you are!

ED:

What the --

MATT:

(IN A LITTLE CLOSER) Put up your hands - all of you!

FOR A FEW SECONDS ALL THAT IS HEARD IS THE GIBBERING OF THE WOMAN SLOWLY RECOVERING HERSELF

MATT:

(IN FULL) And keep 'em up, you rats or I'll let you have it!

ED:

(IN DISGUST) Well for Pete's sake! Look who's here!

SAM:

A cop!

MATT:

Now come on - talk up - what are you tryin' to do with that girl?

ED:

(IN UTTER DISGUST) You big baboon, haven't you got any eyes?

MATT:

What are you talkin' about?

ED:

Why do you think we're wearing these white uniforms - think we're a couple of drug clerks?

MATT:

Oh! You mean that ambulance --

ED:

(WITH HEAVY SARCASM) Now that's smart deduction, Sherlock! (SHARPLY) I'm Doctor Edwards - ambulance unit emergency hospital! Now put that pop gun away and mind your own business!

MATT:

Oh, now, I'm sorry Doc --

ED:

Yeah? Well you'll be a helluva lot sorrier after I turn in my report! Ambulance at the curb, both of us dressed in our uniforms, and you haven't even got brains enough to know what it's all about!

SAM:

Yeah! Might of shot us!

MATT:

Now look here, boys, don't talk like that! Me - I - I didn't know what it was all about!

ED:

Yeah, that's the trouble! On top of that it took you hours to get here! Where you been all this time?

MATT:

Me?

ED:

Who do you think I'm talkin' to - your twin brother?

MATT:

Me, I - I been walkin' my beat!

ED:

(PUZZLED) Walkin' your beat?

MATT:

Yeah!

SAM:

Ed, maybe the flash didn't go out!

MATT:

You mean somebody called you here?

ED:

No, I'm here for the senior prom!

MATT:

Huh?

ED:

Skip it! All that I know is we're here, and here's this girl out of her head and we've gotta take her in, so give us a hand!

WOMAN:

(LAUGHS SHORTLY, INSANELY AT "WE'RE HERE" IN ABOVE)

SAM:

Doc, don't you think it would be a good idea if this fella sort of looked around a bit?

ED:

Yeah, Sherlock! Better circulate and see if there's any-body else in this dump!

MATT:

Aw, there can't be! Why, there ain't nobody lived here for five years! I ought to know! This is my beat!

ED:

Yeah? And I suppose this woman here doesn't exist!

MATT:

Huh?

ED:

Skip it! Go on take a look around while we --

HEAVY GROAN, FAR BACK

STARTLED EXCLAMATIONS OF THE MEN

SAM:

Ed! Did you hear --

ED:

What do you think!

MATT:

It's somebody hurt all right!

ED:

Nice goin', Sherlock! And you said there was no one else in here!

GROAN AGAIN, FAR BACK

SAM:

Sounds like the back of that door!

MATT:

That's right...

ED:

Well, don't stand there, copper! Get in there and see what it's all about!

MATT:

Don't tell me my business, young fella! (FADE) I know what to do!

ED:

(SARDONICALLY) Yeah!

SOUND OF OFFICER TRYING TO OPEN THE DOOR, BACK - DOORKNOB ETC.

ED:

(UP) What's the matter, Sherlock - door stuck?

MATT:

(BACK - ANGRILY) Don't worry! I'll get it open!

ED:

Yeah, I'll bet you wish you couldn't!

RATTLING OF DOORKNOB, BACK AGAIN

ED:

Come on, Sam!

WOMAN:

(LAUGHS IN HER INSANE MANNER)

ED:

We gotta get her outta here....

SAM:

Yeah........

SOUND OF DOOR BURSTING OPEN, BACK

MATT:

(BACK - TRIUMPHANTLY) I got it!

ED:

Well, it's all yours! We're getting this woman out of here!

MATT:

Go ahead, Doc! (FADE) I'll look around in here!

SAM:

(DOUBTFULLY) Ed...

ED:

What?

SAM:

Maybe we better stick around until he gets through.

ED:

Huh?

SAM:

Maybe there'll be more...

ED:

Go on! Nobody in this place but this one! Now come on, lady, we're goin' for a little ride...

WOMAN:

(CHUCKLES INSANELY)

SAM:

Ed, she's gonna start scratchin' and bitin' the minute we grab her. Maybe I oughta go out and get the straight-jacket before --

MATT:

(FAR, FAR BACK - SCREAMS HORRIBLY AS IF IN GREAT PAIN)

ED:

(SHARPLY) What the --

SAM:

The cop!

ED:

(FADE) Come on!

SAM:

No, Doc! Don't go in there! Who knows what's in there!

ED:

(BACK) Sam! Come on in here!

SAM:

(PLENTY SCARED) What - what is it!

ED:

He's not in here! And the door to the next room -

PULLING ON DOOR KNOB

SAM:

Huh?

ED:

I can't get it open!

SAM:

What - what could've happened?

ED:

I dunno! But we've got to get in here!

SAM:

(HESITANTLY) I don't want to....

ED:

(SHARPLY) Sam!

SAM:

I mean - oh, let's go get some help!

ED:

You fool! He just fell into something, that's all! No one in this house! (WITH EFFORT) Blasted door stuck! Come on - we'll break it down!

SAM:

But --

WOMAN:

(CHUCKLES INSANELY FAR BACK)

SAM:

But the woman --

ED:

Forget the woman! Come on - (WITH EFFORT) Put your shoulder to it! Come on!

SAM:

Yeah - all right --

SOUND OF MEN THROWING THEIR SHOULDERS AGAINST DOOR - DOOR FINALLY CRASHES THROUGH - STEPS PAST

FOR A FEW SECONDS ALL THAT IS HEARD IS THE SOUND OF THE MEN BREATHING HEAVILY

SAM:

Dark - can't see a thing....

ED:

Go on back in the other room and get the kerosene lamp!

SAM:

Well....

ED:

(SHARPLY) Get it, I say!

SAM:

(FADE) Yeah...I'll get it..

SLOW FOOT STEPS IN - PAUSE - PICK UP LAMP - STEPS - 1 STEP - THEN OUT

FOR A FEW SECONDS ALL THAT IS HEARD IS THE BUBBLING LAUGHTER OF THE WOMAN, FAR BACK, THEN:

SAM:

(FADEIN) Here, Ed - here's the lamp!

ED:

Okay! Hold it high!

SAM:

Yeah... (GASPS IN GREAT HORROR)

ED:

(IN GREAT HORROR) Mother in heaven!

SAM:

(TERROR IN VOICE) Come on, Ed!

ED:

No! Sam! Wait! Give me that lantern!

SAM:

On - on the floor! What is it?

ED:

(WONDER IN VOICE) It's - it's a man!

SAM:

Oh, no! It can't be!

ED:

(VOICE STRENGTHENING WITH THE WONDER OF IT) Yes, I tell you! Yes! It's a man! A man! And he's turned (UP) inside out!

THE INSANE LAUGHTER OF THE WOMAN IS HEARD FAR, FAR BACK

SAM:

(HOARSELY - DOUBTFULLY) Inside out?

ED:

Yes! Don't you see? He's not cut open! Just turned..inside out!

SAM:

It can't be!

ED:

I'm right - I tell you right! See - for yourself! - It's a man - But the skin is the inside and the flesh is the outside!

SAM:

(IN HORROR) Yeah.....

ED:

Sam, it's a miracle I tell you! A man turned inside out - like you turn a glove inside out!

THE SOFT INSANE LAUGHTER OF THE WOMAN IS HEARD FAR, FAR BACK

SAM:

Ed! It's - it's not the cop?

ED:

I - I don't know...Hold the lantern close to him...

SAM:

(CRIES OUT IN FRIGHT) It's alive! It's alive!

ED:

(FRIGHT IN HIS VOICE) I see! I see!

SAM:

Alive!

ED:

Yeah! Inside out and alive!

SAM:

It's trying to get up!

ED:

(IN REPULSION) No!

SAM:

Tryin' to get up I tell you! Tryin' to move!

ED:

Hold the light high, Sam!

SAM:

(IN GROWING TERROR) I can't watch! Look at it! Rollin' over - tryin' - tryin' to get up --

ED:

(SHARPLY) Stop that, Sam!

SAM:

Look! Tryin' to get up - on its knees! Ed! Make it stop! Kill it! Do something! A man can't live inside out! (ETC IN SEMI-HYSTERIA)

ED:

(THRU HIS AD LIBS) Sam! Stop! Stop I tell ya! All right! You're askin' for it!

LOUD HARD SLAP

SAM:

(AD LIB CUTS OFF ABRUPTLY WITH SLAP)

ED:

Now will ya shut up! Like a hysterical old woman! That's what ya are!

SAM:

(BREATHING HEAVILY) I - I - well, Ed, I - I never saw anything like - like this...

ED:

And neither did anyone else!

WORDLESS MUMBLING, BACK SLIGHTLY, AS IF FROM MAN ON FLOOR

SAM:

Listen to it!

ED:

Yeah......

SAM:

(SLOWLY) Oh, Ed, it's not the cop!

ED:

(SLOWLY) No, no, how could it be! What could - could turn a man's body inside out like that?...

SAM:

(SHARPLY) Ed, look!

ED:

Eh?

SAM:

On the floor! Next to - to it!

ED:

A gun!

SAM:

The cop's gun! It is the cop! It is, Ed!

ED:

(IN WONDER) How - how could it be?...

WORDLESS MUMBLING, BACK AS BEFORE

SAM:

Listen to him, Ed! Listen to him!

ED:

Yeah... Does he -- does he know what's happened to him?

MUMBLING AGAIN

SAM:

Whether he does or he doesn't, you can't let him live like that, Ed! You can't!

ED:

All the life processes going on...

SAM:

You mean that he knows then? He knows?

MUMBLING AGAIN-THE MURMURS BACK ARE ALMOST CRIES OF UNENDURABLE PAIN AS IF AN ANIMAL MOANING

ED:

Listen to him. There's your answer. He knows....pain...

SAM:

(TENSELY) Well he won't know that much longer!

ED:

Sam! That gun! What --

GUN SHOT IN CLOSE - THE MUMBLING OF PAIN OUT WITH GUN SHOT

SAM:

(BREATHING HEAVILY) Now he - he doesn't know...

ED:

Sam! Why did you do it?

SAM:

I - I couldn't stand it any longer! And it wasn't like shootin' a man, was it? Come on - let's get out of here!

ED:

No, Sam! Wait!

SAM:

Huh?

ED:

We gotta know what did this!

SAM:

Let's get out of here!

ED:

Don't be a fool, man! Stay here! We've got to find out!

SAM:

I'm gettin' out of here!

ED:

(TENSELY) No, you're not, Sam!

SAM:

Who'll stop me?

ED:

Listen! You just shot a man! Do you know that - shot a man!

SAM:

But - but you know why I --

ED:

Whatever reason, you shot a man! And you'll do as I say! You'll stay here! You'll stay here with me until we find out what did this!

SAM:

(IN SURRENDER) Okay...

ED:

Now look! There's another door!

SAM:

Yeah - open!

ED:

The answer might be in there!

SAM:

Ed, we gotta be careful!

ED:

We've got a gun, haven't we?

SAM:

Yeah...

ED:

Come on!

SAM:

Ed, I tell ya we ought to get outa here...

ED:

Gimme the gun! I'm in on a first class miracle, and the devil stop me, I'm gonna find out the answer! (UP) You in there! If there's anybody in there come on out with your hands up or I'll shoot!...

SAM:

Nobody in there...I guess...

ED:

Come on closer - hold the lantern high!

SAM:

Yeah....

ED:

(GASPS IN SURPRISE)

SAM:

Ed, what --

ED:

There's - there's no floor!

SAM:

Yeah!

ED:

But - but there's something down there!

SAM:

I - I don't see nuthin'! Nuthin'...nuthin' but dark..

ED:

Look... the dark sort of - sort of spills over the edges...

SAM:

Huh?

ED:

(VOICE TIGHTENING IN EXCITEMENT) Look, I tell you! It's a deeper dark than - than dark! There's - there's somethin' movin' in there!

SAM:

Come on, close the door!

ED:

No, wait!

SAM:

Then I'll close it for you!

BANG OF DOOR

ED:

(BREATHING HEAVILY) What did you do that for, you fool!

SAM:

I - I don't know! Scared - I - I -- come, on, Ed!

WOMAN:

(LAUGHING IN HER BUBBLING INSANE MANNER - FADING IN SLOWLY)

ED:

The woman!

SAM:

Huh?

WOMAN:

(LAUGHING - COMING CLOSER)

ED:

She's coming in here!

SAM:

Come on, Ed! Let's get out of here!

ED:

(MORE TO HIMSELF THAN TO SAM) What is she coming in here for?

SAM:

Come on, Ed!

ED:

No, Sam...I'm gonna find out what this is all about. All my life things have been what they've been...I'm gonna know all about this...

WOMAN:

(HER LAUGHING IS IN QUITE CLOSE)

SAM:

(APPEALING) Behind that door - Ed, what is it? What is it we saw?

ED:

I don't know ..a hole in the floor and something dark - shadows that -- that crawl...

SAM:

I'm scared, Ed. I tell you I'm scared!

WOMAN:

(IN CLOSE - CHUCKLING INSANELY)

ED:

Woman, what's it all about? You must know!

WOMAN:

(CHUCKLES AGAIN)

SAM:

I'm scared, Ed! Let me get outta here!

WOMAN:

(CHUCKLES AGAIN)

ED:

Woman, if you know anything, tell me. What - what was it we saw back of that door where the floor should have been? Do you know?

WOMAN:

(FADE HER LAUGHING AS SHE WALKS AWAY)

SAM:

Ed, she's going to the door!

ED:

(TENSELY) Yeah!

RATTLE OF KNOB, BACK

SAM:

She's gonna open it!

ED:

Yeah!

SAM:

But if she does --

ED:

(SHARPLY) Let her open it!

DOOR OPENING SQUEAKILY, BACK

SAM:

(HOARSELY) Ed, I'm afraid! Let's just get outa here!

ED:

(TENSELY) No, wait! She's just standin' there...lookin' in there...at the...dark..

SAM:

Yeah..

WOMAN:

(LAUGHS INSANELY, BACK)

SAM:

(INTENSE HORROR) Ed! What's that - comin' up - outa the hole in the floor?

ED:

The dark!

SAM:

It - it's like - like black smoke!

ED:

Yes!

WOMAN:

(LAUGHS BACK AS BEFORE)

SAM:

It - it's reachin' up to her!

ED:

Yeah!

SAM:

Ed! We can't stand here!

ED:

No, wait! We gotta see!

SAM:

I'm afraid of it, Ed! Afraid! What is it? Smoke - black - what --

ED:

(IN AWE) Crawlin' up - around her --

WOMAN:

(HER INSANE BUBBLING LAUGHTER BACK - SUDDENLY HER LAUGHTER CHANGES TO A GASP OF FRIGHT, AND THEN BREAKING OUT INTO A HORRIBLE SPINE-SHIVERING SHRIEK)

SAM:

(UP ABOVE HER SHRIEK) It's covering her!

THE NEXT SOUND IS TO PAINT THE PICTURE OF THE WOMAN BEING INSTANTLY TURNED INSIDE OUT - IT'S A SOUND SOMEWHAT LIKE A RUBBER GLOVE BEING TURNED INSIDE OUT - IT CAN BE ACCOMPANIED BY A HISS.

ED:

No!

SAM:

(UP IN GREAT HORROR) Inside out! It turned her inside out! (GETTING DIZZY AS HE STARTS TO FAINT) Inside-ahh.... (GASPING SIGH AS HE FAINTS)

DISTINCT THUD OF BODY ON FLOOR

ED:

Sam! Sam get up! Sam, what do you want to faint for?

HISSING SOUND, BACK

ED:

Sam! Get up I tell you! We gotta get out of here!

HISSING GROWS STRONGER

ED: What the - (AS HE SEES THE SHADOWS COMING CLOSER TOWARD HIM THERE IS A NEW NOTE OF URGENCY IN HIS VOICE) Sam! Sam, open your eyes! The - the shadows! They're crawlin' along the floor toward us! Come on, Sam! (WITH EFFORT) You're - you're too heavy! I can't lift you, Sam!

HISSING GROWS STRONGER

ED:

Sam! You gotta hear me! The shadows - they're crawlin' toward me! Along the floor! I - I can't leave you here, Sam! But they're comin' for us! Sam! I can't leave you here, Sam! You saw what they did to her! (IN GROWING TERROR) Look at her! Inside out! - A woman inside out! Sam! (WITH EFFORT) I'll drag you out, Sam! You're so heavy! They're comin' faster and faster! Like long black fingers! (CRIES OUT) My legs! (UP) Let go of me! Sam, I can't help ya! They're holdin' me back! The black - it's covering ya over! Sam!

SOUND OF BODY TURNING INSIDE OUT, BACK SLIGHTLY, AS DESCRIBED PREVIOUSLY

ED:

(IN GREAT ALMOST TEARFUL HORROR) Sam! Inside out! (TEARFULLY) Sam!

HISSING STARTS AGAIN, IN CLOSE

ED:

No! You - you thing, whatever you are! Get off of me! Stop covering me over! I gotta get out of here! I gotta tell 'em all about you! I gotta tell everyone that there's something like you loose in the world! I gotta warn everybody! Get off from me! You're cold - slimy - how can shadows be slimy! Cold! Coverin' me over! My head! My face! Let go! (MUFFLED AS THING STARTS COVERING HIS MOUTH) My face! My mouth! Let go! (ETC. AD LIB HORRIBLY UNTIL:)

HISSING GROWS AND THEN SUDDENLY IS BLOTTED OUT BY THE SOUND OF THE BODY TURNING INSIDE OUT - IN CLOSE MUCH LOUDER THAN THE PREVIOUS ONES - THIS EFFECT SHOULD CLEARLY PAINT THE PICTURE OF A MAN BEING TURNED INSIDE OUT. AS I SUGGESTED I THINK IT CAN BE DONE BY TURNING A WET RUBBER GLOVE INSIDE OUT - AFTER THIS SOUND EFFECT THE HISSING CONTINUES UP AND SUDDENLY, IN CLOSE, IS HEARD DEEP MACABRE MASCULINE CHUCKLING, OUT WITH:

GONG:

ANNOUNCER:

Lights Out, written especially for radio by Arch Oboler, comes to you each Wednesday from our Chicago studios.