01x03 - Cryptic Message

[bunniefuu]

ENGLUND: Hidden away in news
reports from America's past

are tales so frightening
that they must be true.

I'm Robert England.

Join me on a journey

into the dark shadows
of our nation's history

to uncover a trilogy of stories
as terrifying as they are real.

♪

[ Telephone ringing ]

A mechanical marvel
torments its owner.

Stop calling me!

Enough is enough!

A shadowy k*ller
authors a letter

that ignites panic.

And an obsession drives a
scientist to desperate lengths.

No, this cannot be!

Brace yourself for
"True Terror."

[ Man screams ]

[ Wind howling ]

To make sense
of a cryptic message,

it helps to identify
who it's from.

But in the realm of the macabre,

the sender can be scarier
than the message itself.

The three stories
I have for you now

reveal just how uncertain
life can get

when that sender is
of another world.

Our first story takes us back
140 years,

a time when a radical
new invention

promised to make life better.

The year -- 1878.

And one of the nation's
first telephone customers

is primed to learn
a horrifying lesson.

Just about through,
Mr. O'Connor.

Excellent, Mr. Gable.
Thank you.

That's it. You have
a working telephone.

Wow. Now, tell me again,
how does this work, exactly?

You just turn the crank...

Mm-hmm.
...and it rings the other phone.

Right.

You speak
through the mouthpiece.

J.J. O'Connor's office is in
the heart of Newark, New Jersey.

He's the manager
of the Holy Sepulcher Cemetery,

located two miles away.

His phone promises
to be a godsend.

He and his wife, Doris,
have no reason to suspect

that his direct line
to a graveyard

might be a dangerous idea.

You'll hear better
the closer it is.

Right.

This is 1878,

and O'Connor becomes
one of the first of 3,000 people

in the United States
to have a phone.

Really,
it's only been like two years

since Alexander Graham Bell
invented the thing.

The very first phone book
was published that year,

but it was only one page.

Because there are
so few listings,

no one needs a number yet.

The calls go through
a central switchboard.

Just like this.

That's all there is to it.

O'Connor's phone is different
than most phones of the era.

He doesn't need a switchboard.

His phone goes directly
to the cemetery.

You turn the crank, and it
makes the other phone ring.

[ Telephone ringing ]

♪

Hello?

J.J., is that you?

Phineas, yes!

Yes, it's me.

[ Chuckles ] I can hear
you so clearly.

ENGLUND: Phineas Rowe
runs the cemetery's office.

This will do wonders
for our business.

Oh, indeed. It is worth
every single penny.

I honestly can't believe it!

Neither can I.

It's amazing.

♪

J.J. O'Connor loves
his new marvel.

♪

Thank you very much
for your years of service.

He actually saves
hundreds of dollars

by dismissing
his whole crew of messengers.

Yes, Phineas?

Ordering the cemetery staff
to dig a new grave

no longer takes hours,
but minutes.

And the funeral
is tomorrow at 11:00.

You have it completely
under control.

I trust you 100 percent.

Alright, thank you very much.

♪

Care to have lunch?
Yes.

Personal trips to the cemetery
become almost unnecessary,

giving him more time
to spend at home with Doris.

Marvelous, isn't it?

♪

ENGLUND:
The phone is everything

J.J. O'Connor
craved it would be.

[ Owl hoots ]

But when dealing with matters
of the dead,

one should be extra careful
what they wish for.

♪

[ Telephone ringing ]

♪

[ Ringing continues ]

Hm?

Who'd be calling now?

[ Ringing continues ]

I have no idea.

Well, go find out.

[ Ringing continues ]

[ Ringing continues ]

[ Static crackling ]

Phineas, is that you?

[ Crackling continues ]

Phineas, is something wrong?
Hello?

If you're there, say something!

[ Crackling continues ]

[ Telephone ringing ]

♪

Hello?

[ Static crackling ]

Hello?!

Hello? Is someone ther--
[ Crackling continues ]

Stupid thing must be broken.

ENGLUND: While the unknown is
something that can strike fear,

the first night of mystery calls

appear to only elicit
O'Connor's unbridled irritation.

This is outrageous, gentlemen.

Doris and I got
no sleep whatsoever.

What's going on?

I've checked
both of the telephones, sir,

and there is nothing wrong
with either one of them.

And none of us was in the office
after 6:00 p.m., J.J.

I assure you, we all
left at the same time.

Well, then, obviously,
some vandal broke in

and is messing with the thing.

Right? Someone is playing
a prank on me.

Secure the office.

Put extra locks
on the doors and windows.

♪

O'Connor was convinced
some pranksters broke in

and used his phone,
and after that,

he was going to make certain
it wasn't going to happen again.

Yah!
[ Horse nickers ]

♪

[ Telephone ringing ]

REBEL: And despite
the added precautions,

the strange calls continue
for the next six nights.

[ Ringing continues ]

Hello? Hello? Hello?

Hello? Can you hear me?
Hello?

Hello?
Hello?!

If you're there, just say
something, please!

Stop calling me!

Stop.

This isn't funny!

You can imagine
J.J. O'Connor's frustration.

His new phone is supposed to be
making his life easier,

and instead,
it's driving him crazy.

ENGLUND: There's no sign an intruder
has entered the cemetery office.

So for a man who believes
only in the rational,

an unsolvable mystery
proves most disconcerting.

My phone rings tonight,

the prankster's footprints
here tomorrow.

And what if you get a call
and the flour's untouched?

That will not happen.

For your sake, I hope not.

♪

♪

[ Clock ticking ]

[ Telephone ringing ]

♪

[ Ringing continues ]

♪

This has to stop, J.J.!

I know. I know.

I can't take much more.

I know.

♪

♪

ENGLUND: A week of sleepless
nights and the unknown --

a week into madness,

for which daylight
offers no salvation.

♪

[ Gasps ]

[ Sighs ]

Hello.

Ghosts don't leave footprints.

Ghosts?

Don't make me laugh.

♪

[ Gasps ]

Easy, J.J.

Just need a signature.

Almost gave me
a heart attack, Phineas.

Sorry, old man.

It's my own fault.

Thanks, J.J.

REBEL: Under the right circumstances,
even the most logical person

has to believe in the
possibility of the supernatural.

♪

O'Connor is desperate
for an explanation,

so he has no other choice

but to spend the night
in the cemetery office.

[ Creaking ]

♪

ENGLUND: But this is a decision
that has O'Connor primed

to learn an important lesson.

♪

There is only one kind of person
who can sleep in a cemetery.

♪

[ Man screams ]

ENGLUND:
Newark, New Jersey, 1878.

For weeks, a mystery caller

has been keeping 36-year-old
J.J. O'Connor awake.

Desperate for it to stop,

he decides to spend the night
in the cemetery office.

But sleeping at the graveyard

means no one
will be resting in peace.

♪

[ Door creaks ]

[ Footsteps ]

Ea-- Easy, son!
It's just me!

What are you doing here?

I brought you some food.

[ g*n uncocks ]

Thanks.

ERDEL: Stories of ghosts
haunting cemeteries

aren't as common as you think.

Paranormal experts say
that spirits haunt the places

where they lived,
not where they were buried.

ENGLUND: If anyone would know
if a cemetery is haunted,

who better to ask
than the gravedigger?

I appreciate the food.

But you've been here so long,
you -- you know something.

Don't you?

A-Anything?

You don't always see
them at night.

But they're here.

You can feel it.

Some don't want to be here.

They don't want to be dead.

Those are the ones you can see.

The restless ones.

♪

One of them know how to use
your telephone, Mr. O'Connor.

Well, ghosts don't exist,
old man.

♪

Then who's calling you?

♪

[ Dog barks ]

[ Cat yowls ]

O'Connor does his best to keep
vigil, but he dozes off.

[ Sighs ]

Now, when he wakes up,

he discovers that the phone
receiver is off the hook.

♪

♪

♪

♪

♪

Idiot.

Idiot.

[ Gulps ]

What did you expect?

[ Chuckles ]

[ Screams ]

♪

[ Gasps ]

MURPHY: By 4:00 a.m.,
O'Connor has had enough.

Other than in his dream,

no one has
come near the cemetery phone.

But that doesn't mean
the haunting has stopped.

[ Crickets chirping ]

[ Telephone ringing ]

ENGLUND: It's funny how what one
chooses to believe and the truth

can so often
find themselves at odds.

[ Ringing continues ]

I can't stand it anymore!

Doris...

You can't talk me
out of it, J.J.!

Doris, please.

Enough is enough!

[ Ringing continues ]

Doris, we can find another way.

♪

[ Ringing continues ]

[ Door slams ]

♪

[ Ringing continues ]

[ Ringing stops ]

♪

[ Static crackling ]

♪

Leave us alone.

♪

Please.

♪

Please?

[ Crackling continues ]

♪

[ Exhales shakily ]

[ Telephone ringing ]

ENGLUND: Night after night,

O'Connor's tortured mind
weakens, ready to crack.

[ Indistinct voices whispering ]

[ Ringing continues ]

Can he save his sanity?

Or is it already too late?

[ Ringing continues ]

♪

[ Man screams ]

[ Telephone ringing ]

ENGLUND: Over the course
of a month in 1878,

mysterious phone calls
to J.J. O'Connor

keep coming and coming
from the local cemetery.

Convinced he's being tormented
by the dead,

he faces the nightly intrusions

with a tenuous grip
on his sanity.

[ Breathing shakily ]

[ Ringing continues ]

♪

[ Ringing stops ]

[ Ringing resumes ]

♪

It sounds crazy,

but the press account
is very clear

that he disconnected the phone

and the phone kept ringing.

[ Telephone ringing ]
ENGLUND: With every ring,

O'Connor descends deeper
into madness.

A man found wonder
in technology,

but in the end,
lost his temper, his wife,

and, finally, his mind.

Whatever message
the calls to J.J. O'Connor

were trying to convey
remains a mystery.

I guess there are some things
we aren't meant to know.

40 years later,

an entire city received
a different kind of message,

one whose meaning was as clear
as it was terrifying.

The source -- a form of evil

America had rarely confronted
up to that time,

what came to be known
as the serial k*ller.

It's 1919,
and the city of New Orleans

is besieged by a madman

slaughtering the innocent
at will.

♪

His particular method of m*rder

gives rise
to a ghastly nickname.

[ Door creaks ]

♪

The Axeman.

What are you doing?!

[ Screams ]

[ Camera shutter clicks ]

WELLS: The Axeman's first victim
was in May of 1918.

♪

And by March of 1919,
he's k*lled five more people.

MAN: What's this?
Number six?

Yep.

Number six.

All of them
in the same way, too.

MURPHY: What makes the Axeman
so terrifying,

that he seems to randomly
choose his victims

by breaking into their homes
in the middle of the night

and cutting their throats
with a razor blade

or axing them to death
while they sleep in their bed.

ENGLUND: With each new victim,
the tabloid fodder grows,

one blood-soaked headline
after the next.

What's his name?

Uh...

Romano -- Joe.

Joe Romano.

There is a chilling pattern
that emerges.

Now, almost all the victims
are Italian-American,

and two of them
have small grocery stores.

WELLS: Other than that,
there's really nothing

that the police can find to link
these victims in any way.

Extra, extra!
Read all about it!

Axeman m*rder*r
takes his eighth victim.

It seems like the Axeman

just wants to inflict
pain and terror on his victims.

[ Creaking ]

ENGLUND: The panicked can only
hope that the terror will end.

[ Thud, screaming ]

But the city's tormentor

has a more diabolical plan
in store.

♪

WELLS: On the morning
of March 14, 1919...

Extra, extra!
Read all about it!

...at the peak of this
terror in the city,

this fear and paranoia,

the Axeman actually writes
a letter to the Times Picayune,

which they publish,
and in that letter,

he gives a very odd promise
to the people of New Orleans.

[ Thud, screaming ]

[ Thud, screaming ]

MURPHY: No serial k*ller
has ever telegraphed his plans

of k*lling a victim,

right down to the hour
and even the minute.

This is what makes the Axeman
of New Orleans so terrifying.

♪

The cops can't find this guy?

This is crazy.

Huh.

Someone's got to stop him.

♪

George Columbo is
a New Orleans bricklayer.

His friend Carlo Grazioli --
well, he's a dockworker.

They're among
the 20,000 Italian immigrants

that are living in the city
at this time.

Look what he says here.

He's gonna m*rder on March 18th,

15 minutes after midnight.

♪

ENGLUND: George Columbo
isn't the kind of man

who takes a threat lying down.

During the Axeman's
reign of terror,

plenty of people did
write letters

taunting the Axeman right back.

And the newspaper
prints them, too.

Now, this spectacle
has everybody reading the paper

to see what happens next.

Extra, extra!
Read all about it!

Man challenges Axeman!

ENGLUND: Is challenging
a sadistic k*ller a bold stand

or senseless bravado?

[ Axe slices ]

Either way, the countdown
to the fateful day has begun,

and it promises
to end in m*rder.

♪

[ Man screams ]

Extra, extra!

Women and children
are at danger!

♪

ENGLUND: In March of 1919,

a serial k*ller
known as the Axeman

has been tormenting the city of
New Orleans for almost a year.

MAN:
What are you doing?!

[ Screams ]

♪

In a letter printed
in the newspaper,

the Axeman warns
that he will k*ll again,

on March 18th at 12:15 a.m.

Extra, extra!
Read all about it!

And in that letter,

he gives a very odd promise
to the people of New Orleans.

..."in the nether regions"...

The city takes this bizarre
warning of jazz music

very seriously.

[ Jazz music plays,
indistinct conversations ]

♪

In New Orleans that night,
everyone was listening to jazz.

People had jazz bands
in their homes.

People went to jazz clubs.

It's said that every jazz player
in the city

had a job that night.

The city was filled with jazz.

ENGLUND: That night,
George Columbo hurries home,

unafraid of the serial k*ller
in his city.

He's publicly invited
the Axeman over,

and it would be rude not
to be there when he shows up.

[ Crickets chirping ]

♪

♪

[ Sighs ]

Alright. 30 minutes to go,
you psycho.

♪

[ Bottle thuds ]

♪

♪

[ Clock ticking ]

[ Floorboards creak ]

♪

[ Sighs ] Alright.

♪

[ Telephone ringing ]

[ Exhales sharply ]

[ Ringing continues ]

[ Ringing continues ]

[ Ringing stops ]

Hello?

Carlo: George, it's me.

It's coming up
on you know what time.

Everything okay over there?

Yeah, everything's fine.
Why wouldn't it be?

[ Receiver clicks ]

[ Sighs ]

♪

[ Bottle thuds ]

♪

ENGLUND:
With each passing minute,

the specter of death
draws closer,

as does the fierce resolve
to defy it.

[ Clock ticking ]

♪

Life is never more intense

than the instant
it is threatened.

[ Ticking continues ]

♪

[ Dogs barking in distance ]

♪

March 18th, at 12:15 a.m. --

the night, the hour,
and the minute

marked by a murderous madman --

has arrived.

[ Barking continues ]

[ Footsteps ]

♪

[ Footsteps continue ]

[ Door creaks ]

♪

♪

[ Breathing shakily ]

[ Quietly ] Come on.

Come on.

[ Footsteps continue ]

[ Dogs barking ]

♪

[ Man screams ]

[ Dogs barking ]

[ Footsteps ]

[ Breathing shakily ]

♪

[ Door creaks ]

♪

[ Shouts ]

[ Thudding ]
[ Shouting ]

♪

[ Bat clatters ]

ENGLUND: In 1919,
George Columbo defends himself

against the infamous Axeman
of New Orleans.

But he discovers
he's made a tragic mistake.

No, no, no, no.

♪

MURPHY: There are no reported
victims of the Axeman

on March 18, 1919 --

only the tragic death
of Carlo Grazioli,

an innocent man

who only came to check
on the safety of his friend.

No, Carlo. No, no, no.
No, no, no, no!

Carlo. No.

No, no. Carlo!

ENGLUND:
After that fateful night,

the Axeman disappeared
into the mists of history,

like the fading notes
of a jazz solo,

never to be caught

and his murders
never to be solved.

Seldom has one k*ller
so petrified an entire city --

proof that fear is an emotion
we can't hide from.

In our next story,

evil existed not where a madman
cut life violently short,

but where one obsessively
tried to prolong it.

Mm.

This -- This is a horrific tale

about a man named Carl Tanzler.

In a small town
outside of Dresden, Germany,

young Carl is born
into a middle-class family,

where he is destined to live
an average, ordinary life.

That is, until a bizarre event
changes everything.

♪

[ Door slams ]

[ Crickets chirping ]

♪

Don't be afraid, Carl.

I would never harm you.

Come to me, boy.

♪

Who are you?

I am your family, your blood.

Only, I have been dead
a long, long time.

CLARKE: Carl Tanzler wrote
in his memoirs that as a boy,

he was visited by a ghost --

an ancestor --
his great-great-aunt --

a woman named Countess
Anna Constantia von Cosel.

Give me your hand, Carl.

♪

The apparition goes on
to tell Carl

about someone he will meet
when he is much older

who will change his life.

A beautiful raven-haired
Spanish beauty

with long, black hair.

This woman will be
the love of your life.

She will be your destiny, Carl.

Do you know what that means?

♪

Remember this, always.

♪

ENGLUND: The words of the
apparition are forever burned

into young Carl Tanzler's
brain --

and, more importantly,
into his heart.

♪

CLARKE: After that,
Carl Tanzler and his family

moved from his native Germany
to Australia.

He met plenty of women,

but none that he felt
he was destined to be with.

As an adult, Carl Tanzler
immigrates to the United States.

He ends up in Key West, Florida,

where he works in a hospital
as an X-ray technician.

Hm.

I think that, uh --

♪

Yes?

ANNA: A beautiful, raven-haired
Spanish beauty.

[ Gasps softly ]

ENGLUND: There,
in a Key West hospital, appears

the living, breathing
fulfillment of the prophecy.

You've been looking
at my X-rays and...?

The patient is
Maria Elena de Hoyos,

a beautiful 21-year-old woman

being treated for tuberculosis.
[ Coughing ]

She came from a poor family

that had emigrated
from Cuba to Florida.

I know I'm not a doctor...

but I think I can help you.

♪

Thank you.

Maria had a pretty severe case
of tuberculosis,

and at that time,
TB was often a death sentence.

Mr. Tanzler.

Maria.

You know, I told you
to call me "Carl."

ENGLUND: Carl's infatuation
is immediate.

He devotes virtually
all his attention to Maria.

[ Coughing ]
His focus on her

gravitates towards fixation.

Carl never tells Maria
about the prophecy

or how he feels about her.

After all,

how do you tell someone
that they are your destiny?

♪

Maria's condition is
getting worse and worse,

and she's withering away

in front of the people
that love her the most.

Maria!

Please -- say something.

♪

No, this cannot be!

ENGLUND: There is nothing
more solitary than grief.

And each of us
overcomes it in our own way.

I have some postmortem
procedures that I have to do.

Please.

It will only take a few moments.

♪

Please...

if you don't mind,
close the door.

[ Crying ]

[ Door closes ]

♪

♪

ENGLUND: A moment alone
with his beloved Maria --

A strange request,

yet seemingly
so natural for Carl.

♪

♪

♪

[ Sobbing ]

Death is usually
the end of a love story --

any story, for that matter.

But this isn't the end for Carl
and his lovely Maria.

In fact,
it's just the beginning.

[ Sobbing continues ]

♪

[ Man screams ]

We commend you,
our dear Maria, to Almighty God.

We entrust you to our creator.

[ Woman sobs ]

ENGLUND: Carl Tanzler
had spent his whole life

looking for the woman
he believed was his destiny,

but when he finally found
his raven-haired Spanish beauty,

she was quickly and cruelly
snatched away from him.

Carl insists on paying
for Maria's funeral,

and he pays for her to have

a good-size mausoleum
at the cemetery.

You're a good man, Carl.

ENGLUND:
Death compels us to let go,

but for Carl,
saying goodbye is impossible.

♪

CLARKE: For years,
Carl would go to Maria's grave.

He would spend time with her,

talking to her
and praying for her.

This went on day after day,
year after year.

But over time,
this wasn't enough for Carl.

[ Crickets chirping ]

♪

[ Door opens ]

ENGLUND: To fulfill the prophecy
made by a long-dead relative,

Carl brings Maria's corpse home.

[ Mid-tempo music plays ]

♪

You look beautiful, my love.

Radiant.

CLARKE:
What no one knew --

during all those visits
to Maria's tomb,

Carl was injecting her body
with formaldehyde.

♪

At this point, she would
be reasonably well preserved.

Certainly, there would be
some deterioration.

♪

[ Carl humming ]

Her internal organs,
for example,

would have collapsed by now
and rotted away.

♪

ENGLUND: Carl is finally
with the woman he loves --

Maria Elena de Hoyos,
his raven-haired Spanish beauty.

No one knew
what Carl was up to --

in part, due to

the mausoleum looked perfectly
normal from the outside.

Carl was going to work
every day at the hospital,

and then he was returning at
night to the love of his life.

♪

♪

I know most people won't
understand our love, Maria.

♪

So it'll have to be our secret.

♪

ST. AMAND: Even with all that
formaldehyde Carl had used

to preserve Maria's body,

he can't completely stop her
from deteriorating.

You poor thing.

That's nothing
to be embarrassed about.

You just...
need a little touch-up.

♪

♪

CLARKE: When her eyes rotted,

Carl replaced them
with glass eyes.

♪

It's just a labor of love.

♪

♪

We'll have to watch out
for this sort of thing,

I suppose.

When her skin would deteriorate,

he would cover it in silk
and seal it with wax.

Just as beautiful as the first
day I saw you, my love.

ENGLUND: What the ravages
of time and nature destroy,

Carl lovingly does his best
to restore.

♪

[ Humming ]

Incredibly, Carl lived
this way with Maria's corpse

for seven years.

But I've never been
so happy in my life.

[ Humming ]

[ Knock on door ]

♪

Can I help you, gentlemen?

You Carl Tanzler?

Yes.

We have permission
to search the premises.

Step aside, please, sir.

[ Thunder rumbling ]

ENGLUND:
The police come calling that day

with warrants
and suspicious minds.

They don't care about sacred
prophecies or undying love.

It all started with a trip to
the cemetery by Maria's father.

He discovered
that her coffin was empty.

And since Carl was
the only other person

with a key to the mausoleum,
they suspected

he might have something
to do with the missing body.

ST. AMAND: Carl is charged

with malicious and wanton
disfigurement of a burial

for removing Maria's body
from her grave.

Believe it or not,

the case against Carl
is thrown out

because the statute
of limitations for the crime

of stealing a corpse
has run out.

ENGLUND: Carl is free,
but a broken man now.

The strange prophecy that guided
his life is shattered.

♪

The love of his life, gone.

♪

The authorities
take Maria's body

and bury her
in a secret location

so that Carl
can never find her again.

CLARKE: Carl Tanzler moves away
to another part of Florida

after this bizarre incident

and then quietly lives out
the rest of his life.

He never repents over
what he did to Maria's body.

In his mind, they were meant
to be together forever.

♪

ST. AMAND: Many years later,
a neighbor of Carl's

smells something terrible coming
from the inside of his house.

[ Gasps ]

[ Screams ]

Oh, my God.
[ Gasps ]

CLARKE: Carl is 75 years old
when he's found dead.

When they find his body,
he's with a dummy

that he's made up
to look like Maria.

It's one last ghoulish note
to a very strange love story.

ENGLUND: Ah, the things
some people will do

in the name of love.

♪

As for you,
consider yourself warned.

It only takes one ominous
message to darken your destiny,

whether it's from
a long dead ancestor,

a sinister stranger,

or from unknown forces
beyond our comprehension.

That's something
for you to dwell on

until our next descent
into true terror.

♪