"The Floor Above" / Diary Horror by M. Humphreys
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- Опубліковано 8 чер 2024
- "The Floor Above" is a short story by the one-time Weird Tales author, M. Humphreys. Having first appeared in the May 1923 edition of the magazine, the story tells, through a series of diary entries, of a man's troubling stay with an old friend.
00:00 - Introduction
00:58 - The Floor Above
36:29 - Further Listening
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Sorry folks -- the previous upload of this developed an inexplicable playback issue, so we decided to just reupload it rather than wait for YT to investigate. Pain in the neck!
Good gods! I thought I was losing my marbles!
What YT having playback issues? Say it ain't so. 😲
Lol
Ah, how curious (eases back into favorite armchair while smoking tobacco pipe)
I fell asleep with it on last night and wanted to listen to it properly in the morning and well 😅
thanks i was trying to get it to work
great work as all ways!
I read this as "dairy horror" and thought how bad this case of lactose intolerance must be
🐄🐮?? Lol
😂😂😂😂
One would be cowed at the lack of the milk of human kindness.
Hopefully it didn't leave a sour taste ..
Nice
"I was buttering my third set of waffles" is exactly how a good horror story should open! Great story with an ending that delivers!
Warren isn’t dead. It’s just UA-cam suddenly said his browser “is out of date” for only one video on the whole platform.
So, GHOSTS! Except for the one meal he ate that the old woman cooked, everything else fits. Very clever!
Hmmm, only one meal over the course of a month?
I'm not even certain it's supposed to be ghosts. There seems to be something inexplicable going on about Arthur being in a few different places at once... pretty much one on each floor.
The obvious question is, "Who or what is the old woman?" There are hints that she was a ghost or vampire or whatever, yet she cooked (or APPEARED to cook?) meals for the protagonist. Was she aware of what had happened to her employer. Was she RESPONSIBLE for what happened to him?
I'm glad you made a note of your previous comment, Chris -- intriguing!
@@HorrorBabble It was in my comment history, or at least part of it. I am interested in what others might think about this. I'm inclined to think that she died about the same time as Arthur, perhaps of the same illness, which is why she gave the same strange look at Arthur and said the odd bit about "not living much longer", and why the house showed signs of being totally abandoned. It made sense that Arthur, as a ghost, would not ACTUALLY eat (cf the angel Rafael in Tobit 12 : 19), but could she, as a ghost, cook wholesome food? Were the food (and the gas, which someone must have paid for) real, or an illusion -- and if an illusion, how did the protagonist manage to survive on it for months?
I am more confused by the question as to how the letter came to the protagonist when it was still in that house with the corpse of the friend.
@@johannageisel5390 The same way that Arthur was seen in the middle floor when his body was still in the upper floor. I take it to be something like parallel worlds: a spirit world in which Arthur, though not quite alive (cold, does not really eat, dull eye) is still somehow able to act and communicate, and a mundane world in which he is a rotting corpse. In the first, the letter was sent; in the 2nd, it is still on the table on the top floor. For some peculiar reason, the protagonist changes back and forth between the two worlds. The letter is a ghost in the same sense Arthur is a ghost, which is why the letter disappeared.
But why does the protagonist switch randomly between the two worlds? And what was he eating while in the spirit world?
@@christosvoskresye That makes some sense. Thanks.
And I already had a bit of deja-vu when I listened to the previous upload.
The ending is exquisite. Thanks for this tale. I'll admit the survival of the protagonist amongst the ghostly hosts is perplexing, but the ending... Suspend the disbelief and take the ride. It's worth it.
I don't get the impression his hosts were malevolent, but the warning about not eating or drinking anything when visiting Hades or the fairies does come to mind. I could imagine him becoming trapped -- himself a ghost, with his own rotting corpse perhaps in the library -- without even noticing it, and not due to the ill will of his hosts, but just because that's the danger of visiting the Other Side.
Awesome right on time for my coffee break thanks Ian 😎👍
It's a reupload of Monday's recording... Just posted a pinned comment explaining why. Not sure if you've already heard it or not!
@@HorrorBabble It's on my watch list so I didn't get around to listening to it yet as I've been busy with work but thanks for letting me know!👍
It worked perfectly fine when we listened to it, right up to the bit where the polar bear ate all the librarians but after that yes, it was sometimes a bit hard to make out properly.
🤣
I see what you did there 😂
I listened to this story by another narrator and loved the story but hated the narration and thought surely, Ian horrorbabble must have done this one. And here it is!! Thank you. Now i am enjoying it in the way it should be narrated, perfectly.
Blimey, I had to like it again now! 😆
me too
I've no problem doling out the likes on this channel 😁
I think the device of using diaries and letters to convey a creepy tale is the best!
This is very much one of my favorites, so perfectly read, quiet -- weird -- personal -- haunting. I thank you so much for this, I listen again and again.
Thanks for the excellent narration as always. This was incredibly awesome!
Lots of talk of ghosts in the comments, but I was getting more of "House on The Borderlands" or "The Endless" vibes from this. I'm wondering if Tom and the old woman were even able to comprehend their predicament. Thing is the old woman couldn't traverse the stairs, and mentioned she hadn't been up there in many years. Then Tom seemed shocked at the prospect of ten years having passed. Even Arthur began feeling like time had no meaning in the place, and - Tom's words - If you leave you'll never come back. Tom had to have gone out to mail the letter. The letter. How did it reach Arthur? Great read Ian!
Who wrote "The Endless", I've newer heard of that story.
@@paulw6057 the Endless is an indy horror film. The film deals with time and dimension in a very cool and unique way.
@@FosterYourAffinity Okay, thanks. I just assumed it was a story given the context of this video.
This has to be won of best tales Ian out standing 😊
I definitely read this as a time anomaly tale (say that three times fast).
Thank you and great job!
Except Arthur is not QUITE right -- he's cold, his eye has dulled, etc. And who exactly boarded up the uppermost floor?
I always look forward to hearing a good story and this is a great one
These old stories are sooooo good! So many questions and we are kept guessing about many possibilities.
The end explains the disappearing letter, but how did it get to the narrator!
Great job, Ian! Thanks so much!
Wow! That creeped me out!! Good story!
Well that was incredibly creepy 😮
Great story and narration 👍❤️
Cosmic Horror is so over looks to me it the most perfect of weird horror of most wonderful delight
Great story. I very much enjoyed the characters and the interactions. Thank you!
Wow! That was very good! Thanks as ever, Ian!
Thanks Ian!
Thank you!
Great ghost story!
I love the art work! 👍
This was chilling for sure!
thanks!
😊
10 thousand views, 10 days ago, 10 years since Arthur died.
I wonder if botanist pair from the story "Snick" (I listened right before this one), stumbled across the same books.
Man, I absolutely love that you guys are using mid journey to create video thumbnails. They really do something for me that human art just can’t replicate when it comes to spookiness and uncanniness.
Look up the artist who drew the notre dame made of skin
I noticed that when I listened to the first upload
Did it say something like 'your browser can't play this video'? We've never had that problem before.
@@HorrorBabble it just kept shutting off every few minutes and I would have to hit the play button again to continue
@@paulcateiii Very strange.
@@HorrorBabble For me it said it was loading the video and to check back later
@@ceranakana7404 😞
This is a good one and an excellent reading, as always Ian. It's a shame the author wasn't more prolific. Still, to be singled out by none other than Mr Lovecraft is praise indeed.
You fool!
Warren has gone Upstairs!
Kudos.
"I'll just put on some Horrorbabble to help me sleep..."
Famous last words, haha. Oh well, what's 15 more minutes, right?
Woo Baltimore setting
That's quite imaginative artwork. Where's it from?
Well, he was in a bad way.
👍
What is the name of the painting?
Repost?
Just pinned a comment on the subject, Gregory!
The illustration is extremely inviting, eerily a reconstituted Medieval scene, or perhaps a monk's nightmare or an alchemist- very enticing- I'd buy the poster if it was available. Is it also from the magazine- no painter I studied in Medieval art- not Giotto. The "monk" and the table legs- actually more like tree limbs! Definitely not in my vocabulary- I checked animism and anthropomorphism- have to settle on Weirdly Imaginative.
AI generated I think, sometimes the inhuman wierdness it produces adds rather than detracts
This story just confused me 😭
Warren and I don't approve of the Gruesome Newsom ads plaguing this channel.
Here's an article on ads: support.google.com/youtube/answer/3181017
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