The Undying Monster

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Hammond Hall at the

turn of the century...

when the age-old mystery of the Hammond

monster was at last revealed to all England.

That mystery, which although

by 1900 had become a legend...

was, indeed, a real tragedy

and constant threat...

to the lives of all the seemingly

doomed members of the House of Hammond.

- Oh, Walton.

- Oh, I beg your pardon, Miss Helga.

I didn't mean to startle you.

Oh, I must have fallen asleep.

It's cold.

Yes, it's a cold night, Miss Helga.

- I'll put on another log.

- Don't bother. It's 12:00. I'm gonna turn in.

- My brother come in yet?

- Not yet. He's very late.

He and Dr. Colbert probably got to puttering

about the laboratory and forgot the time.

Don't worry. He'll be along directly.

I was thinking those poachers...

might be up to their

tricks on a night like this.

Come on, Alex. Long past your bedtime.

Charlie Clagpool was saying

down in the village...

he owed Mr. Oliver one for that

thrashing he gave him last week.

What does he expect? Oliver

caught him setting traps.

Come on, Alex.

Go on now, boy.

What's the matter with him?

Sometimes dogs are smarter than folks.

Oh, nonsense.

He's just smart enough to prefer

sleeping by the fire to the doghouse.

Go on to bed now and

behave yourself. Hurry up.

How big and bright

the stars look tonight.

Aye, and there's frost

on the ground too.

It was just such a

night when Sir Magnus-

So that's what's worrying

you. Don't be silly, Walton.

I only hope that Mr. Oliver

doesn't take the shortcut back-

That path by the edge of the cliff.

Why shouldn't he?

"When stars are bright

on a frosty night...

beware thy bane on the rocky lane. "

Surely you don't put any

stock in that old legend?

It's only 20 years ago since

your grandfather was killed.

- Grandfather killed himself.

- After he'd seen it.

That's ridiculous. There's nothing

to that story about a monster.

Oh, I shall never forget that night...

when I found your grandfather down there

on that path by the edge of the cliff...

after he'd met it,

so horribly mangled...

- and that insane look on his face.

- That's absurd.

A supernatural creature going about

killing and sending its victims mad.

People don't believe in

that sort of thing nowadays.

I'm sorry to worry you, Miss Helga...

but I do wish Mr. Oliver were home.

All right, if it'll ease your mind,

I'll ring up and see if he's left yet.

Would you please get me Southdown 236?

Hello?

Hello, Helga.

Oliver? No, he left not

more than two minutes ago.

Yes. He said he was

going straight home.

That's all right. Oh, I say, Helga,

how about a ride in the morning?

No, that's not professional

advice. It's purely social.

Fine. About 10:
00?

All right, I'll see

you then. Good night.

He just left. That

make you feel better?

Thank you, miss.

- Good night, Walton.

- Good night, miss.

- It's probably a dog caught in a trap.

- That's no dog.

Something is going on down there.

Miss Hammond, it's the monster,

killing Mr. Oliver, most like.

- Horrible it were, like a dog-

- Get ahold of yourself, Will.

- Sounds like a lost soul.

- All right, let's find out what it is.

- You're not going down there?

- Tell Strudwick to bring the carriage around.

Yes, miss. Strudwick's

got two bays harnessed.

Very well. We'll have the gates

opened. Mrs. Walton, fetch me a coat.

Don't stand there gaping

as if you'd seen a ghost.

But, Miss Helga, no Hammond ever ventures

into the rocky lane on a frosty night.

You've been doing your best to persuade

me my brother's ventured down there.

- And if he has- -

Then I'll go with you.

- Thanks, Walton. But you better stay and mind the house.

- Yes, miss.

- Tell Strudwick to bring the horses around to the front.

- Yes, miss.

- And get me Oliver's revolver.

- Yes, miss.

- Miss Helga, please don't go out tonight.

- Don't worry, Mrs. Walton.

I'm sure there's some rational

explanation for all this.

If there is anything

out there tonight...

I'd like to get a crack at

it, and I'm a jolly good shot.

- I'll drive them, Strudwick.

Get in. - But, Miss Helga-

- Come on, Alex. Good boy,

Alex. Maybe you can help.

Get in the back.

It came from along here

somewhere, I'm sure.

Miss Helga, won't you please go back?

- Give me your lantern.

- Yes, miss.

Let me have the

lantern. I'll go ahead.

Oliver!

- Ohh!

- It was only a rabbit.

Oh. Is a bit scary down here.

Oliver!

Oliver!

Oliver!

Alex!

- What is it?

- Mr. Oliver's dog.

His spaniel?

- Is he dead?

- Horribly.

His whole body is twisted

and his hind legs have been-

- Miss Helga, now won't you go back?

- Not until I find my brother.

Oliver!

He's still alive. Thank heaven.

- Help me get him to the carriage.

- Yes, miss.

- What was that?

- Well, I don't know, miss.

- Dr. Colbert's nurse.

- Kate O'Malley.

Well, don't stand there like

an owl. Go and get some brandy.

Yes, ma'am.

Hello, Helga.

How'd I get into bed?

I found you in the lane on

the cliff and brought you home.

In the lane? But how did-

I don't re-

Yes, I do remember.

I was fighting the-

The beast got Kate. Is she-

She's still unconscious. We've

done what we could for her.

- It must have gone for her

after I fought it off. - What-

What was it, Oliver?

L- I don't

know. L-

I didn't see anything.

Well, Oliver, I'm glad to see you

awake and talking. That's a good sign.

- How's Kate?

- Still in a coma.

- She may or may not come out of it.

- But there is a chance?

Microscopic. But thanks to your

quick actions, still a chance.

Well, you're a pretty

good nurse, Helga.

There's nothing left for me to do but a

- a little tidying up.

Hmm. Now tell me...

what happened exactly?

I don't know exactly, Jeff.

As I was leaving your house, I-

I saw a glimmer of light on the

pathway leading up to the cliff...

so I went to investigate.

I thought perhaps it might be somebody

setting traps-you know, the Clagpools-

but it was Kate O'Malley.

She left a few minutes

before I did, you remember.

I offered to see her

to the village and...

then suddenly I

- I felt something coming at us from all sides at once.

We heard it.

Kate screamed and dropped the lantern.

Then I-Then it-it-it closed in on

me like- like a blast from a furnace.

Only it wasn't

hot, it- it was-

It was simply horrible.

Kate screamed again and...

then I was fighting it.

Fighting it in-in-in a darkness

that-that went all- all red.

All dark red until a-a-a splash

of fire split it up and put it out.

That must have been when I

- when I pitched on my head.

Then I woke in-in a

light and- and saw Helga.

You poor darling.

Helga, you're next. You're the only

Hammond left besides me. If I die-

Now what a minute, old chap.

Who said anything about dying?

The monster's never satisfied,

Jeff, unless it kills its victim or-

Now steady, Oliver. You

mustn't excite yourself.

You needn't talk as though I

were a scared kid or a lunatic.

I tell you there's

something horrible out there.

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