| The Tale of the Whispering Walls | |
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| Season 2 , Episode 8 | |
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| Air date | August 14, 1993 |
| Written by | Alison Lea Bingeman |
| Directed by | D.J. MacHale |
| Episode guide | |
| Previous The Tale of the Frozen Ghost |
Next The Tale of the Full Moon |
The Tale of the Whispering Walls is the Eighth episode of the Second season of Are You Afraid of the Dark?, as well as the Twenty-First episode in total.
Cast[]
Midnight Society Cast[]
- Raine Pare-Coull as Betty Ann
- Rachel Blanchard as Kristen
- Nathaniel Moreau as David
- Ross Hull as Gary
- Jodie Resther as Kiki
- Jason Alisharan as Frank
Story Cast[]
- Vivian Liu as Louise Lam
- Tamar Lee as Claire Dickens
- Ryan Gifford as Andrew Dickens
- Robert Higden as Master Raymond
- Una Kay as Violet / Elegant Lady
Intro[]
That evening, The Midnight Society is approaching the clearing, walking through some bushes. David mentions to them that it's a full moon and the day of Leap year that night. Kiki asks him what it's supposed to mean, and David says it's the night that the spirits of the dead are free to take away innocent victims. Frank thinks he's just making it up.
Gary notices someone at the clearing standing near the fire, and cautiously tells them all to stand back. The person is in long black robes and wearing a creepy white skull mask, looking pretty scary. Kristen is scared and wants to leave quickly, but David persuades her to stay. The scary-looking person approaches them, then speaks in a familiar voice. They take off the skull mask, revealing herself to be none other than Betty Ann in disguise.
The five of them express sighs of relief when finding out it's her. As they pass by her to sit down around the campfire, Gary tells her it was a great idea, and Frank tells her she's cool. Kiki asks her what she was doing, and if she knows what's happening this night: that it's a full moon and it's on the day of the leap year. Frank, seems disgusted because she's into the leap year superstitions too.
Betty Ann holds her skull mask in front of her face and tells them that this mask and being in this circle are their only protection. Frank laughs at her and tells her it just sounds like a dumb joke. Betty Ann tells him that he doesn't have to believe her, but it's an old superstition. Betty Ann explains that her story takes place on February 29, which is the leap year that happens every four years. Also when it comes with a full moon, "Watch out! The spirits who are out on a full moon leap year are hunting, and it may be for you!"
She throws in the campfire dust and submits her story for the approval for The Midnight Society, calling it "The Tale of the Whispering Walls" before she begins.
Story[]
Betty Ann tells the story, It is about a babysitter named Louise Lam. One day she was driving home the two kids she frequently babysits. The kids are named Claire Dickens and Andrew Dickens, and it's unsure how old the kids really are. Claire looks to be about 11 and Andrew looks to be about 8 or so. Louise has just taken them out for a day of fun at The Playland amusement park. Andrew says they went into the Laughing in the Dark fun house. Then when the Zeebo clown popped out, it really scared the daylights out of him.
Claire is annoyed with how childish her brother is. Before they can begin fighting and arguing with each other, Louise tells them to be nice or she won't take them to Molly's house. The kids are more than thrilled to visit Molly, because they always get all you can eat banana splits when they do.
They're driving on a windy,deserted road as Claire criticizes Andrew for putting some candy in his mouth, telling him his teeth are going to rot. Andrew defends himself telling her that at least he doesn't have onion breath. Then he turns on his handheld, battery-powered air propeller fan at her, sending a bit of air in her face. Louise, passing by the highway sign, gets puzzled because she thought the number 9 highway went the other way. When they drive away the wooden highway sign falls down from the wind. Underneath it is revealed a metal highway sign stating that Highway 9 is supposed to be the other way.
Louise passes into a place in the middle of nowhere that has a tavern, which according to the sign is called the Whisper Inn. Louise doesn't recognize anything around them so she decides to go into the tavern and ask for directions. The three of them enter the tavern, slightly dark inside at first and very old fashioned, almost built like a wild west or pioneer saloon. The tavern is covered in hardwood finished walls, and old-fashioned hardwood and antique furniture, with items such as wagon wheels around parts of the room. The place seems closed and all the chairs are on the tables.
Andrew is creeped out by the place, and they decide to leave. Then a loud voice calls out "SHUT THAT DOOR!", They turn around and hear a man saying he hates drafts of wind. Louise tells the man they're sorry for coming in, but they're lost. The man is dressed all in black with six fancy gold trimmed feathers on his shirt, his skin pale-looking. He tells them, They're not lost, because they're precisely on time. Louise tells the man that they're looking for Highway 9 to Victor Heights. The man slowly approaches them and tells them they strayed away pretty far, then in a creepy sort of way he tells them a shortcut they can take. The shortcut is the dirt road outside, which travels through the woods and takes miles off their trip.
Andrew then turns on his little air propeller fan to make the sets of wind chimes blow. The man suddenly vanishes for a moment and appears further back in the tavern, asking if there is anything more he can do for them. Louise says no, then thanks him anyway before they leave. On the way out the kids remark about how creepy the man was. Then suddenly it gets very windy, and the wind blows in their faces as they head down the path.
The path takes them to a very old-fashioned red brick, Victorian Era house. When they stop there, suddenly Louise has engine trouble and can't start her car. She has no idea what's wrong with her car. Louise suggests they go inside the house and ask someone if they can use their phone and call for help. Louise tells them to wait inside the car, saying she will be back in a flash and goes into the house. Louise goes up to the front door and it opens automatically, revealing it to be pitch black inside. She goes inside the house and the front door closes shut behind her.
Claire and Andrew wait a very long time for Louise to come back. When it seems she won't, they decide to go inside the house and find her. They get to the front door, and once again it opens by itself to reveal the same pitch blackness. The house inside is just as old-fashioned, dark and deserted. The kids then hear a sound, believe it to be Louise and follow the sound upstairs. When they get upstairs, and pass through the hallway, they can hear music playing. They follow the music to a small little room. The room has decorations and banana splits on the table. Also there is a small merry-go-round music box playing the same music they heard and followed. Andrew is more than happy to eat a banana split, and Claire tries to dig in with her spoon wanting some too. Andrew, being a bit greedy swings it away telling her to get her own, when suddenly it spills on the floor. A few seconds later, it begins to smoke and burn like acid. They run off scared and freaked out, as the face of the creepy man from the tavern appears on the floor where it spilled, laughing.
They head back down through the path in the woods, running and then stopping when they were out of breath. Andrew tells Claire he is grateful that she wanted some of the ice cream. Andrew asks what they should do now, and Claire thinks about asking the man at the tavern for help even though he is a creep since there is no other choice.
When they head back to the Whisper Inn tavern, they come inside from a powerful gusting wind storm. However, upon looking inside, old fashioned music is now playing and there are five people dressed dated clothing, with fashion possibly from the 1920's or 1930's. There is an old bald man sitting at the bar table, getting some punch, a blonde man adjusting the jukebox, an old elegant lady with a tray of drinks, and young couple happily dancing together.
All five of the people freeze in place when Claire speaks to them. She tells them they came from the house in the woods and they all look at her in surprise. She then tells them that their babysitter Louise is lost in there. The old elegant lady politely offers her some punch. Claire doesn't want any and just asks if they can help them. The dancing couple come closer to her, and the woman of the couple tells her to relax because their babysitter will be just fine, that is, once the sun sets. The man of the dancing couple tells them that it's going to be a full moon on a leap year that night, and they wouldn't be here otherwise, before they laugh and go back dancing. The old elegant lady tells Claire that she reminds her so much of her dear Jane and it's so sad that she does.
The blonde man who was adjusting the jukebox comes by, moving and acting a little silly. He tells them not to pay attention to them and they're just pulling your leg. Claire still doesn't get what is going on, but the silly man tells her to lighten up, because the sun is going down, and they can live. Claire asks who lives in the house. He then asks them, "Better question, who is the house living in?" The old bald man tells them it's Master Raymond's house, it has been for years and for years to come. They leave the tavern thinking they were all a bunch of crazy people. Andrew then suggests that they call their Mom and Dad to come pick them up, and Claire asks if they have a phone in the tavern. They go back into the tavern to ask, and it's dark inside and deserted once again.
This scares them as they realize they were ghosts and they run off in a panic. They head back to Master Raymond's house to get Louise, and when they get inside they can hear all sorts of voices echoing and whispering coming from the walls. Some of the voices say that they will never, ever leave this house and one voice is a woman laughing. Then they hear Louise calling for them.
They pass through a hallway, and she directs them to go to the living room. They go into the next room and see Louise's face trapped inside a mirror. She pleads for them to help her and tells them that she is upstairs trapped. Then suddenly her face vanishes to reveal the face of the creepy pale man from the tavern earlier, who is revealed to be Master Raymond as he evilly laughs while they run upstairs to help Louise.
They head upstairs and as they are walking down the hallway, one by one four of the five people they saw in the tavern not too long ago appear then vanish from the pictures on the wall, except for the old elegant lady. They finally find Louise in a bedroom, sitting down in a rocking chair. Claire is surprised to see she is okay and tells her she thought something happened to her. Louise says she is fine, and that she is cuddling a baby to sleep. She tells them that they can go when the baby falls asleep. They then notice a ring on her hand with a huge ruby on it, and knowing she never wore that before they figure out it's Master Raymond in disguise.
Louise speaks in Master Raymond's voice and throws what she was cuddling at them, saying "Here, this is for you!" and a snake comes out of the blanket. Claire screams and flings it to the floor where it misses them. Still in Master Raymond's voice, Louise laughs diabolically. When Claire and Andrew run to hide, Andrew goes downstairs and tries everything to get the door open. Claire stands near another blank picture on the wall. The elegant old lady appears and tells her once again, she really reminds her of her dear little Jane and that it's so sad. Claire screams and runs away.
Claire runs over to a wall with a statue face attached to it, with two hands holding candles. The face looks like Louise. Louise tells her it's really her and that she is trapped and she begs Claire to help her. Without thinking Claire pulls on the left candle and the wall turns out to be revolving door and goes to the other side. Downstairs, Andrew is still looking for Claire and Louise when suddenly the front door opens with a powerful draft of wind. Remembering earlier that Master Raymond demanded that the door in the tavern to be shut because he hates drafts of wind, Andrew gets out his little air fan propeller and runs off to find them.
Claire find Louise on the other side of the wall sitting down asleep on a chair. Andrew has run over to the other side of the wall, and Claire instructs him on how to activate the revolving wall. As Andrew is about to pull down on the candle stick, Master Raymond's face appears, laughing and attempting to scare him. Andrew turns on the little air fan propeller and the air from it makes Master Raymond vanish. Andrews enters the other side of the wall and is reunited with Claire and Louise.
Suddenly Master Raymond shows up again. He is standing near where Louise is sitting down asleep on the chair. He bids them welcome, and Andrew tells him to leave Louise alone because she is leaving with them. Master Raymond tells him those are big words for such a small boy. Andrew, while being held back by Claire, tells him he isn't small and he isn't scared of him. Master Raymond tells them that when the sun sets, Louise's soul will be his. As he tells them this, Louise gets up in a trance and walks with him. He claims that with her soul trapped in the walls her energy will keep him alive and will keep the house alive. She'll become a part of the them and the house forever. Claire calls him a monster, and he tells her to watch what she says and that she might be next.
Andrew then picks up a vase and throws into a nearby window, smashing it. This causes a huge gust of wind to come blowing in, and makes Master Raymond vanish. Louise snaps out of the trance and the three of them almost reach the front door. The front door slams shut, then Master Raymond walks right through it. He tells them there is no use running, because the sun is almost down and Louise is his! Andrew tries to to use his air fan propeller again but it's jammed. Master Raymond scoffs at it and tells him he won't fall for it again.
He sends Louise back into her trance and now Claire is in a trance too and comes to stand next to Louise and Master Raymond. He tells Andrew to run along now, then suddenly the spirit of the old elegant lady appears. Master Raymond calls her Violet and asks her what she thinks she is doing. Violet tells him she won't let him take their souls. He is mad that she dares defy him, and Violet asks him to spare them because they're just kids and they're all so young. Then just as Master Raymond asks Violet to return to the walls, she says "She is so like my poor little Jane," Then Violet open the front door wide. The most powerful blast of wind comes blowing in, causing Master Raymond to vanish and disappear screaming no as he does. Louise and Claire are freed from the trance and Louise has no memory of what happened. Violet tells them to go quickly before he comes back.
They run out of the house as fast as they can and back to Louise's car. Then after they drive away, another vehicle pulls up and a different man comes out, appearing to be lost and looking at the house next to him.
Ending[]
As the story ends Betty Ann, says that the house still stands today, and that people still continue to disappear when the moon is full on February 29. Everyone seems spooked from hearing the story. Gary tells them it's time to go but they're all so scared they all keep telling each other to go first before them.
- This is second time that Zeebo was mentioned after "The Tale of Laughing in the Dark". The first time Zeebo was mentioned again was in "The Tale of the Lonely Ghost". Zeebo was briefly mentioned again for a third time in "The Tale of the Crimson Clown".
- Una Kay who portrayed Violet, The Old Elegant Lady, would reappear years later as Mrs. Fitzgerald in the series revival's episode "The Tale of Oblivion".
- One of twenty-one episodes where the Midnight Society didn't leave and douse the fire with the water-bucket (they were trying to figure out who should leave first).
- The jukebox in the tavern plays the theme song of the show.
- According to DJ MacHale, some of the inspiration for the upstairs corridor came from Cocteau's "Beauty and the Beast".
