Jacob Marley

I know what I'm talking about.

I'm your Jacob Marley.

But first he has to pass this test, the simulated reality, a dark version of Earth.

fascinating i mean it's like again i picked this chapter at random either i'm the luckiest man alive and just happen to find the one good part of the book or the whole book's like this i did end up because i was really because i wanted to know if this was an actual like was it published in 1896 yes but wasn't actually a penny dreadful novel then i wouldn't tell the story so i really really focused on trying to find out who wrote this at the time the name was not known and What's interesting, it was published in 1896.

In this case, the very chilling reappearance of a departed husband.

And we get a very Christmas Carol kind of look with this, where it is like the ghost of Jacob Marley appearing to Ebenezer Scrooge, someone from the other side coming back to warn someone that if they do not change their ways, that an eerie fate awaits them.

It is about as classic a ghost tale as it becomes.

But the very dark and chilling twist on this tale, of course, is that we have these two babies that Larry, the husband, comes back with.

Some embrace the darkness with the tradition of a ghost story.

Rest assured, we have no Jacob Marley or Christmas Past to offer tonight.

Tonight, we have a much simpler tale.

The tale of an old dark house, where ten years ago this very night, a group of holiday revelers took to playing games and ended up wrapping up a package for the coroner.

Their faithful friend and servant, C.D., December 1843.

Stave One: Marley's Ghost.

Marley was dead: to begin with.

There was no doubt whatever about that.

The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner.

Scrooge signed it: and Scrooge's name was good upon 'Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to.

Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail.

Mind! I don't mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail.

Like we have to signify that she's rich.

She is the heaviest gold, just gold chain, not a necklace, a chain, a gold, heavy, long, like Jacob Marley chain.

Yeah.

Yeah.

When it had said these words, the spectre took its wrapper from the table and bound it round its head as before.

scrooge knew this by the smart sound its teeth made when the jaws were brought together by the bandage he ventured to raise his eyes again and found a supernatural visitor confronting him in an erect attitude with its chain wound over and over about its arm the apparition walked backward from him and at every step it took the window raised itself a little so that when the spectre reached it it was wide open it beckoned scrooge to approach which he did when they were within two paces of each other marley's ghost held up its hand warning him to come no nearer scrooge stopped not so much in obedience as in surprise and fear for on the raising of the hand he became sensible of confused notes in the air incoherent sounds of lamentation and regret wailings inexpressibly sorrowful and self-accusatory the spectre after listening for a moment joined in the mournful dirge and floated out upon the bleak dark night scrooge followed to the window desperate in his curiosity he looked out the air was filled with phantoms wandering hither and thither in restless haste and moaning as they went every one of them wore chains like marley's ghost some few they might be guilty governments were linked together none were free many had been personally known to scrooge in their lives he had been quite familiar with one old ghost in a white waistcoat with a monstrous iron safe attached to its ankle who cried piteously at being unable to assist a wretched woman with an infant whom it saw below upon a doorstep the misery with them all was clearly that they sought to interfere for good in human matters and had lost the power for ever whether these creatures faded into mist or mist enshrouded them he could not tell but they and their spirit voices faded together and the night became as it had been when he walked home scrooge closed the window and examined the door by which the ghost had entered it was double locked and he had locked it with his own hands and the bolts were undisturbed he tried to say humbug but stopped at the first syllable and being from the emotion he had undergone or the fatigues of the day or his glimpse of the invisible world or the dull conversation of the ghost or the lateness of the hour much in need of repose he went straight to bed without undressing and fell asleep upon the instant stave two of a christmas carol by charles dickens recording by w blaine dowler originally released through bureau forty two stave two the first of the three spirits when scrooge awoke it was so dark that looking out of bed he could scarcely distinguish the transparent window from the opaque walls of his chamber he was endeavouring to pierce the darkness with his ferret eyes when the chimes of a neighbouring church struck the four quarters so he listened for the hour to his great astonishment the heavy bell went on from six to seven and from seven to eight and regularly up to twelve then stopped twelve it was past two when he went to bed the clock was wrong an icicle must have gotten into the works twelve he touched the spring of his repeater to correct this most preposterous clock its rapid little pulse beat twelve and stopped why it isn't possible said scrooge that i can have slept through a whole day and far into another night it isn't possible that anything has happened to the sun and this is twelve at noon the idea being an alarming one he scrambled out of bed and groped his way to the window he was obliged to rub the frost off with the sleeve of his dressing-gown before he could see anything and could see very little then all he could make out was that it was still very foggy and extremely cold and that there was no noise of people running to and fro and making a great stir as there unquestionably would have been if night had beaten off bright day and taken possession of the world this was a great relief because three days after sight of this first of exchange paid to mr ebenezer scruder his order and so forth would have become a mere united states security if there were no days to count by scrooge went to bed again and thought and thought and thought it over and over and over and could make nothing of it the more he thought the more perplexed he was and the more he endeavoured not to think the more he thought marly's ghost bothered him exceedingly every time he resolved within himself after mature inquiry that it was all a dream his mind flew back again like a strong spring released to its first position and presented the same problem to be worked all through was it a dream or not scrooge lay in this state until the chime had gone three-quarters more when he remembered on a sudden that the ghost had warned him of a visitation when the bell tolled one he resolved to lie awake until the hour was past and considering that he could no more go to sleep than go to heaven this was perhaps the wisest resolution in his power the quarter was so long that he was more than once convinced he must have sunk into a doze unconsciously and missed the clock at length it broke upon his listening ear ding dong quarter past said scrooge counting ding dong half past said scrooge ding dong a quarter to it said scrooge ding dong the hour itself said scrooge triumphantly and nothing else he spoke before the hour-bell sounded which it now did with a deep dull hollow melancholy one light flashed up in the room upon the instant and the curtains of his bed were drawn the curtains of his bed were drawn aside i tell you by a hand not the curtains at his feet nor the curtains at his back but those to which his face was addressed the curtains of his bed were drawn aside and scrooge starting up into the half recumbent attitude found himself face to face with an unearthly visitor who drew them as close to it as i am now to you and i am standing in this spirit at your elbow it was a strange figure like a child yet not so like a child as like an old man viewed through some supernatural medium which gave him the appearance of having receded from the view and being diminished to a child's proportions its hair which hung about its neck and down its back was white as if with age and yet the face had not a wrinkle in it and the tenderest bloom was on the skin the arms were very long and muscular the hands the same as if its hold were of uncommon strength its legs and feet most delicately formed were like those upper members bare it wore a tunic of the purest white and round its waist was bound a lustrous belt the sheen of which was beautiful it held a branch of fresh green holly in its hand and in singular contradiction of that wintry emblem had its dress trimmed with summery flowers but the strangest thing about it was that from the crown of its head there sprung a bright clear jet of light by which all this was visible and which was doubtless the occasion of its using in its stellar moments a great extinguisher for a cap which it now held under its arms even this though when scrooge looked at it with increasing steadiness was not its strangest quality for as its belt sparkled and glittered now in one part and now in another and what was light one instant and another time was dark so the figure itself fluctuated in its distinctness being now a thing with one arm now with one leg now with twenty legs now a pair of legs without a head now a head without a body of which dissolving parts no outline would be visible in the dense gloom wherein they melted away and in the very wonder of this it would be itself again distinct and clear as ever are you the spirit sir whose coming was foretold to me asked scrooge i am the voice was soft and gentle singularly low as if instead of being close beside him it were at a distance who and what are you i am the ghost of christmas past long past inquired scrooge observant of its dwarfish stature

no

you are past perhaps scrooge could not have told anybody why if anybody could have asked him but he had a special desire to see the spirit in his cap and begged him to be covered what exclaimed the ghost would you so soon put out with worldly hands the light i give is it not enough that you are one of those whose passions made this cap and force me through whole trains of years to wear it low upon my brow scrooge reverently disclaimed all intention to offend or any knowledge of having wilfully bonneted the spirit at any period of his life he then made bold to inquire what business brought him there your welfare said the ghost scrooge expressed himself much obliged but could not help thinking that a night of unbroken rest would have been more conducive to that end the spirit must have heard him thinking for it said immediately your reclamation then take heed it put out its strong hand as it spoke and clasped him gently by the arm rise and walk with me It would have been in vain for Scrooge to plead that the weather and the hour were not adapted to pedestrian purposes.