So Scary!



by
Dina
Anastasio

At
the
Science
Fiction
Radio
Station

Time:
1938

Place:
WICU

Characters:

 Dr.
X


 
 
 
 
 
 Frances,
his
wife


 
 
 
 
 
 Laura,
his
assistant


 
 
 
 
 
 Scientists:
Bruce
 Jim
 


Dave

How
to
Make
Sound
Effects

THEME
MUSIC
 
 play
record



THUNDER
 
 shake
thin
sheet
of
metal
like
a
thin
cookie
sheet



RAIN
 
 
 
 pour
water
into
bowl



CAT
MEOWING,
 
 each
made
by
sound‐effects
person

CAT
SCHREECHING,

EGGS
SIZZLING,

A
KISS,


RELIEVED
SIGHS,

GASPS,

SOBBING



EGGS
BREAKING
 
 squeeze
folded
sandpaper



SKILLET
HITTING
FLOOR



 clang
the
backs
of
two
spoons
together



SCARY
NOISES
 
 shake
a
jar
of
dimes



WATER
RUNNING
 


 pour
water
into
a
bowl



DOOR
OPENING,
 


 open
prop
door

DOOR
CLOSING,


 


 close
prop
door

DOOR
SLAMMING
 


 slam
prop
door



KNOCKING
 
 


 tap
on
table



FOOTSTEPS,
WALKING

 put
hands
in
shoe
and
walk
shoes
on
table



PAPER
RUSTLING
 



 crumple
paper



WATER
BOILING



 
 blow
bubbles
through
a
straw
into
a
glass
of
water



COCOA
STIRRED

 



 tap
two
spoons
together
 







CHIRPING
 
 
 scrape
fingernail
across
fine
fine‐toothed
comb

Scene

I




THEME
MUSIC



Announcer:
 Welcome
to
this
week’s
radio
broadcast
of
strange
happenings.
Our
aim
is
simple.

Each
week,
we
aim
to
provide
you
with
at
least
one
night
of
restless
sleep.
And

now…
on
with
the
show.



THUNDER
AND
RAIN

SCARY
NOISES

CAT
MEOWING

CAT
SCREECHING



Dr.
X:
 
 
 I’ll
tell
you,
something’s
wrong
with
that
cat.

Frances:
 It’s
a
lovely
cat,
dear.
I’ve
never
seen
a
cat
with
such
beautiful
white
fur.
It
looks
so

mysterious.


Dr.
X:

 
 
 Where
did
you
say
you
found
it?

Frances:
 I
was
going
to
fix
breakfast
and
realized
we
were
out
of
eggs,
so
I
went
to
the
store.

As
I
was
driving
home,
I
saw
the
cat,
wandering
around
by
the
airport.
I
felt
sorry
for

it
and
brought
it
home.



THUNDER

CAT
SCREECHING



Dr.
X:
 
 
 Did
you
hear
that?
That
cat
should
be
meowing,
not
screeching.

Frances:

 
 Maybe
he’s
afraid
of
thunder.
You
don’t
mind
if
we
keep
him,
do
you
dear?

Dr.
X:
 
 
 I
guess
it’s
all
right.
He
certainly
makes
odd
sounds,
but
keep
him
if
you
like.





EGGS
BREAKING

EGGS
SIZZLING



Dr.
X:








 Make
my
eggs
over
easy,
please
Frances.
Then
I’ve
got
to
get
to
the
hospital
early

this
morning.



CAT
SCREECHING

SKILLET
HITTING
FLOOR



Frances:








 
 Oh
my!

Dr.
X:













 
 That
cat
jumped
at
me.
He
made
me
bump
into
the
frying
pan.



CAT
SCREECHING

SKILLET
HITTING
FLOOR



Frances:
 Maybe
he’s
very
hungry.
I’ll
give
him
some
milk,
and
he
can
have
the
eggs
that
are
on

the
floor.

Dr.
X:
 
 
 Where
did
he
go?

Frances:
 There
he
is.

He’s
hiding
behind
the
broom
in
the
corner.

Dr.
X:
 It’s
strange
thing
to
for
a
cat
to
do
—
to
jump
at
me
like
that.



WATER
RUNNING



Frances:
 It
will
just
take
me
a
minute
to
wash
the
skillet.
There!
Now
I’ll
just
cook
you
couple

more
eggs.

It
won’t
be
long.

Dr.
X:

 I
really
don’t
have
time
to
wait
for
more
eggs
dear.
I
have
to
get
to
the
hospital.
I

have
some
good
news
for
the
three
men
in
the
isolation
unit.



A
KISS


DOOR
SLAMMING

THUNDER
AND
RAIN







Scene
II



KNOCKING



Jim:

 
 
 Come
in.



DOOR
OPENING
AND
CLOSING



Dave:
 
 
 Well,
well.
It’s
Dr.
X.
We’ve
been
waiting
for
you.
Do
you
have
anything
to
tell
us?

Dr.
X:
 I’ve
got
good
news
for
all
3
of
you.
Most
of
your
blood
tests
are
back
from
the
lab,

and
so
far
there’s
no
sigh
of
that
odd
virus
in
any
of
you.




RELIEVED
SIGHS



Dr.
X:
 Now,
could
one
of
you
please
tell
me
what
happened,
just
one
more
time?
I
know

you’ve
repeated
your
story
over
and
over,
but
I
want
to
be
sure
that
you
haven’t
left

anything
out.



THUNDER

FOOTSTEPS
PACING



Dave:
 Okay,
this
is
the
story,
Dr.
X.

As
you
know,
we
were
on
an
expedition
to
explore
a

new
area
of
Antarctica.

There
were
four
of
us:
Jim,
Bruce,
Kirk,
and
me.

We
had

been
in
that
part
of
Antarctica
for
about
a
month,
when
Kirk
began
to
act
strangely.


He
started
tossing
around
on
his
cot
in
the
middle
of
the
night
and
making
strange

noises.


Bruce:
 Will
you
please
sit
down,
Dave?

You’re
making
me
nervous.

Dave:
 Okay.
The
next
morning
Kirk’s
hair
was
streaked
with
white.

He
acted
funny.
I
don’t

mean
funny
“ha
ha,”
either.
He
walked
in
the
snow
in
his
bare
feet.

He
did
other

strange
things.

Dr.
X:
 What
kinds
of
strange
things?

Jim:
 Oh,
just
did
crazy
things
like
eating
snow
and
spinning
round
and
round.

He
kept
on

making
strange
noises.

That
night
he
died.

By
then,
his
hair
was
almost
all
white.

 SCARY
NOISES



Bruce:

 Luckily,
our
radio
was
working
and
the
weather
was
on
our
side.
A
plane
was
able
to

get
us
out
of
there
in
two
days.
If
it
had
been
a
week
later,
we’d
be
snowed
in.

Dave:

 We
brought
Kirk’s
body
with
us,
packed
in
ice.
We
were
flown
here,
to
San
Francisco.

We’ve
been
here
ever
since.

Jim:
 And
that’s
where
you
came
in,
Doc.
They
flew
us
here
and
put
us
in
this
isolation
unit.

You
did
your
tests
and
we’ve
been
here
ever
since.

Dave:

 Dr.
X,
are
you
sure
we’re
completely
cured?
I
mean,
are
you
sure
we
won’t
start
to

acting
like
Kirk
a
month
from
now?



THUNDER
AND
RAIN



Dr.
X:
 As
far
as
I
can
see,
there’s
nothing
to
cure
you
from.
We
have
analyzed
Kirk’s
body

and
found
traces
of
a
virus.
So
far,
we
have
found
no
traces
of
virus
in
your
blood.

Not
yet,
anyway.

We
are
in
the
process
of
analyzing
and
interpreting
the
final
test.

Dave:
 
 
 What
was
the
virus,
Dr.
X?

Dr.
X:
 I
don’t
really
want
to
comment
until
I
get
the
results
of
your
final
blood
test.
My

assistant
will
bring
them
as
soon
as
they
are
finished.
I’m
going
to
make
some
cocoa

while
we
wait.
I
didn’t
get
any
breakfast
this
morning.




FOOTSTEPS
COMING
CLOSER


KNOCKING



Dr.
X:
 That
must
be
my
assistant,
with
your
test
results.
Come
in,
Laura.



DOOR
OPENING
AND
CLOSING



Laura:
 
 
 Here
are
the
results
of
the
final
tests,
Dr.
X.



PAPER
RUSTLING



Dr.
X:
 
 
 Thank
you,
Laura



DOOR
OPENING
AND
CLOSING



Dr.
X:
 Good
news!
Your
tests
are
fine.
There
is
no
trace
of
any
virus.

For
some
reason,
it

must
have
stopped
with
Kirk.
Thank
goodness!
The
world
is
safe.



WATER
BOILING



Jim:
 What
do
you
mean?
Tell
us
what
you
were
hiding
from
us,
Doctor.
It’s
our
bodies,
and

we
need
to
know.

Dave:
 
 
 He’s
right
Doc.
You’d
better
tell
us
the
whole
truth
and
nothing
but!


 
 
 

SCARY
NOISES



Dr.
X:
 
 
 Let’s
all
have
some
cocoa
and
I’ll
tell
you.




 COCOA
STIRRED




Jim:

 
 
 We
don’t
want
any
cocoa.
Tell
us
about
the
virus.

Dr.
X:
 Kirk
was
carrying
an
extremely
virulent
strain
of
a
virus
that
we
haven’t
seen
since

the
Plague
wiped
out
half
of
Earth’s
population.
This
virus
is
even
stronger.
It
could

destroy
humankind
forever.



GASP



Bruce:

 
 And
the
world
is
safe
now?



SCARY
NOISES



Dr.
X:
 Yes.
You
are
all
free
of
the
virus.
It
must
be
confined
to
that
part
of
Antarctica.
You

are
the
first
humans
to
set
foot
on
that
land.
The
virus
thrives
in
warm,
living
bodies.

Since
you
didn’t
bring
and
other
living
things
back
with
you,
it
appears
that
the
world

is
safe.



RELIEVED
SIGHS



Jim:
 
 
 I
think
I’ll
take
some
of
that
cocoa
now.



COCOA
STIRRED



Dr.
X:
 You
said
Kirk
made
some
strange
noises
but
you
didn’t
describe
them.
Tell
me
about

them
now.


Jim:

 He
screamed
a
lot.
Actually,
he
screeched.
And
just
before
he
died,
he
made
a
noise

like…



KNOCKING



Dr.
X:
 
 
 Come
in.



DOOR
OPENING
AND
CLOSING



Laura:
 
 
 Sorry
to
interrupt
you,
Dr.
X.

Your
wife
is
on
the
phone.

She
sounds
very
upset.


Dr.
X:
 
 
 I’d
better
talk
to
her.

Please
excuse
me.



FOOTSTEPS

DOOR
OPENING
AND
CLOSING



Jim:
 
 
 Well,
that’s
a
relief.

Bruce:

 
 What
is?

The
cocoa?
It’s
just
instant.

Jim:
 
 
 No.
Stop
joking.

It’s
a
relief
that
we
aren’t
going
to
die,
and
we
won’t
be
destroying



 
 
 the
world
either.









Scene
III




 
 
 DOOR
OPENING
AND
CLOSING



Dr.
X:

 Sorry.
My
wife
is
terribly
upset.
She
found
a
stray
cat
this
morning
and
now
it
is

missing.

Jim:
 
 
 That’s
too
bad.

Bruce:

 
 We
had
a
cat
with
us
in
Antarctica.

Dr.
X:
 
 
 What?
What
kind
of
a
cat?
Where
is
it?

Jim:

 We
left
it
behind
because
we
couldn’t
find
it
when
we
had
to
leave.
It
couldn’t
have

survived
in
the
cold
Antarctic
winter.
It’s
dead
by
now,
so
don’t
worry.



SCARY
NOISES



Dr.
X:

 
 
 Tell
me
about
the
cat.

Bruce:


 
 It’s
nothing,
Dr.
X.
We
left
him
behind
and
by
now
he
must
be
dead.

Dave:

 
 
 The
cat
was
our
mascot.

Jim:

 At
the
last
minute
we
decided
to
bring
a
stray
cat
along.
He
had
the
most
beautiful

black
fur.

Jim:

 We
hated
to
leave
the
cat
behind,
but
we
searched
everywhere.
We
couldn’t
find
him

and
had
to
leave.

Dr.
X:

 
 
 You’re
sure
you
left
him
behind?

Bruce:

 I
don’t
see
how
he
could
have
sneaked
on
board.
Loud
noises
like
the
plane
engine

would
have
scared
him.



PAPER
RUSTLING



Dr.
X:

 Good.
Now
you
were
going
to
tell
me
about
the
strange
noise
Kirk
made
just
before

he
died.

Bruce:


 
 He
chirped.
Just
like
this.



CHIRPING



Dr.
X:

 That
is
strange.
Well,
I
think
you’ll
be
able
to
go
home
tomorrow.
I’ve
got
to
go
home

now.
I’ll
see
you
in
the
morning.



DOOR
OPENING

FOOTSTEPS



Scene
IV




 
 
 THUNDER
AND
RAIN


 
 
 DOOR
OPENING
AND
CLOSING



Dr.
X:

 Frances?




 SOBBING

Frances:
 Here
I
am.
I’m
on
the
couch.
I’m
being
silly,
but
that
cat
was
so
friendly.
And
such

beautiful
white
fur!

Dr.
X:
 
 
 Tell
me
what
happened,
dear.

Frances:
 He
finally
stopped
all
that
screeching
and
curled
up
in
my
lap
and
started
to
purr.
I

was
stroking
his
beautiful
white
fur.
Then
he
made
a
very
strange
sound,
kind
of

like…

Dr.
X:
 Wait!
Don’t
tell
me.
Was
it
something
like
this?




 CHIRPING



Frances:
 Yes!
That
was
it!
How
did
you
know?




 SCARY
NOISES



Dr.
X:
 Frances,
when
you
were
stroking
the
cat,
did
you
notice
if
there
were
any
other

colors
in
its
coat?


Frances:
 Well,
now
that
you
mentioned
it,
there
were
a
few
teeny,
tiny
black
streaks
under
the

white.




 
 
 SCARY
NOISES


 
 
 THUNDER



Dr.
X:
 We
must
find
that
cat.

Frances:
 Look!
There
he
is!
He’s
on
our
porch.
Here,
kitty,
kitty…
I
have
him
now.

Dr.
X:
 Come
with
me,
dear.
You
carry
the
cat.
We’re
going
to
the
hospital.


Frances:
 Why
would
we
take
a
cat
to
the
hospital?

Dr.
X:
 One
drop
of
his
blood
is
all
I
need
to
make
enough
vaccine
to
save
the
entire
world!




 
 
 THUNDER


 
 
 THEME
MUSIC