[rocking chair creaking]
[eerie music]
♪ ♪
MARY: We all die.
But sometimes the tales of our passing are so shocking
that they must be forever carved
into our collective memory.
There is a place where these horrors are transcribed
by the dead.
And they want their stories told.
♪ ♪
[music builds]
♪ ♪
[door creaks]
[books crash]
[distant clanging]
[ominous music]
♪ ♪
[distant clanging]
♪ ♪
[ominous beat]
[door creaks]
♪ ♪
[dramatic musical sting]
♪ ♪
‐ [grunting]
♪ ♪
[moans]
Bennett, look, I‐I told you, I can pay!
I just need time.
‐ Time ran out.
They want blood now.
‐ I have something.
Something very valuable.
It's a book.
It's a rare book worth millions.
‐ Go on.
BOOKMAN: I can tell you where to find it.
[Marilyn Manson's "Deep Six"]
[dark rock music]
MANSON: ♪ Yeah ♪
♪ ♪
‐ Thanks.
[ominous music]
♪ ♪
MANSON: ♪ Deep six, six, six ♪
♪ Six, six feet deep ♪
[tires squeal, engine revving]
♪ Deep six, six, six ♪
♪ Six, six feet deep ♪
♪ ♪
‐ He tried to buy himself loose.
Gave me a tip on something
that could be our shot at cashing out.
‐ Oh, yeah?
‐ A book.
One of a kind, apparently.
‐ Where?
‐ Ravenmoor.
‐ You do know that place is royally fucked up, right?
Something happened there.
They say it's like fucking Chernobyl.
‐ Urban decay.
That's what happened. [phone beeps]
GPS: Begin route to Ravenmoor, 47 Tollington Place.
‐ You want to run with the fucking rats
the rest of your life?
‐ What's this book called?
‐ The Book of Blood.
[tense music]
♪ ♪
[eerie music]
♪ ♪
[ominous music]
♪ ♪
NICOLE: That's why I bought this place.
The view.
It's so beautiful.
‐ So desolate.
‐ It's like we're looking at two different places.
‐ Ten minutes in that hellish water,
and you'd freeze to death.
‐ Why do you do that,
and why can't you just enjoy anything?
What happened at school is on him,
not on you.
‐ You don't know what happened.
‐ Tell me.
Tell someone.
I mean, how do you expect us to help you
if you're not willing to talk about it?
Maybe Dr. Lerner needs to tweak your meds.
‐ I stopped taking them.
NICOLE: What?
‐ Yeah, I stopped taking the meds, like, a week ago.
‐ You can't just stop your meds, Jenna.
The doctor was very clear about that.
‐ They weren't helping.
They just made me feel tired and numb all the time.
‐ Tired and numb is better than having a broken brain.
‐ Yeah, well,
you're not the one who has to take them.
NICOLE: Dinner's ready, if you're interested.
DAN: Hello, Princess.
JENNA: Women prefer to be called queens now, Dan.
Show a little respect.
‐ For what?
When I was your age, I wouldn't be caught dead living at home.
JENNA: What does that even mean?
‐ What? ‐ "Caught dead."
‐ You know, that's your problem, Jen.
You're so lost in the trees
that you can't even see the leaves.
DAN: The forest.
I think that's what you can't see for the trees.
[laughs]
[chewing]
[loud chewing]
[slurping]
[swallows]
[chewing crescendos]
[chair scrapes]
‐ Oh, here we go‐‐ Jenna off her meds.
You want me to dissolve the food in my mouth?
I mean, how can I eat without chewing, Jenna?
You're getting back on those meds,
because I am not going down that road again.
[waves crashing]
Three different shrinks since she was 10 years old.
Tutoring and private coaches to get her into college,
and then she flushes it down the shithole.
‐ You said yourself she was a victim, too,
so don't blame the victim.
NICOLE: I don't want to blame the victim.
I want to bill the victim.
I'm sending her back to the farm.
And you know what? If she fucks it up, I am done.
They're coming to get her tomorrow.
[ominous music]
♪ ♪
[waves crashing]
[laughter]
Get over here.
Oh, my‐‐ [laughs]
[laughter]
[laughter cuts off]
♪ ♪
[door creaks]
[both grunt]
♪ ♪
‐ Excuse me.
Has the bus for Los Angeles left yet?
ATTENDANT: Leaves in five minutes.
‐ Great. I need to get a ticket.
Please.
♪ ♪
[mop squishes]
ANNOUNCER: Last call. Now boarding.
[indistinct announcement]
♪ ♪
[crunching and chewing]
[people coughing]
[loud chewing]
[loud crunching and chewing]
[chewing crescendos]
[chewing cuts off]
‐ [sighs]
[muffled] Okay.
♪ ♪
[mysterious beating]
♪ ♪
[music building]
♪ ♪
[mysterious beating]
♪ ♪
[horn blares]
[tires squeal]
[tense music]
[door squeaks]
♪ ♪
[indistinct chatter]
ELLIE: Very pleased to meet you, Jenna.
Now, you just rest here a moment
while we go get your room ready.
Okay?
♪ ♪
‐ [shivers]
‐ I knew it.
‐ What? ‐ I just saw you in the web...
at Spider's Web Café.
‐ Oh.
‐ It's, um... God, what's the word?
Like a‐‐like a coincidence
but more cosmic or something?
‐ Synchronicity?
‐ Right, synchronicity. That's it.
Like a...
a meaningful coincidence.
‐ Your folks seem so nice.
‐ No, they're a total nightmare.
Fortunately, they're back home in Sydney.
‐ Oh. So you're not family?
‐ We like to think everyone who stays here is family.
‐ It's destiny.
‐ Or synchronicity.
‐ Hmm.
[exhales deeply]
[sighs]
[light tapping]
[wood creaks]
[sighs]
[faint scratching]
[scratching]
[loud scratching]
[gasps]
BOTH: Oh!
‐ Oh. ‐ Oh, I'm so sorry, dear.
‐ That's okay. ‐ I didn't mean to startle you.
Are you all right, dear?
JENNA: Yeah.
Yeah. I just think I'm really tired.
‐ I saw you must love music,
so I put a radio right by your bed.
‐ I don't really like music.
These are just so that I don't...
hear anything.
‐ Oh, I understand.
You're sensitive.
Of course. You're an artist.
‐ No, these are just, uh...
drawings.
‐ In a strange town, in a stranger's home,
after a long night journey...
For moments like these,
the good Lord gave us tea and cake.
Come.
JENNA: I wasn't planning on stopping.
I was, um‐‐
I‐I was headed to LA, and I just...
couldn't stand the thought of, uh, being nauseous
for a day and a half on a bus.
‐ I'm sure you weren't nauseous, dear.
‐ Oh, but I was.
‐ Nauseous means you make other people sick.
Nauseated is what you were.
‐ Ellie is very particular about words,
especially medical words.
See, Ellie was a registered nurse‐‐
you know, someone that does what a doctor does
for a dime, not a dollar.
‐ Now, Sam Austin, that is not true.
Doctors and nurses are completely different.
Doctors treat illnesses.
Nurses treat people.
‐ As for me, I don't know what to do with my hands
if I'm not building.
I did the chairs and this table.
Just did the cabinets.
Carved my own wooden leg.
No, kidding.
[both laugh]
Can you imagine?
[scratching] ‐ So did you build this house?
SAM: We just added here and there.
ELLIE: Oh, he's such a modest mouse.
He doubled the size of this place.
[scratching continues]
SAM: When you start fixing things,
you know how it is.
There's always something else.
‐ Oh, no, don't.
‐ Yeah, a little bit of a roach problem.
Don't worry about it.
I say we should just gas 'em, but Ellie won't hear of that.
‐ It's so much easier to take life than to make life.
[clock chimes and cuckoos]
‐ And on that cheery little note,
this old man's going to bed.
Good night, all.
‐ What's in LA?
‐ Oh.
Tell you the truth, I'm not sure where I'm going.
‐ Maybe the only way to know where you're headed
is to keep going till you find it.
‐ Maybe.
GAVIN: I'm just taking some time to look around.
How about you?
You know what? Sorry. That's none of my business.
‐ I had a bad experience...
at school with a guy.
‐ Bad breakup?
‐ More like a breakdown.
Life sucks.
‐ Yeah.
Like my dad says, we ain't born laughin'.
‐ Hmm.
Sounds like a smart man.
GAVIN: You know his one big piece of life advice‐‐
in this world, you're either the anvil
or the hammer.
Which do you want to be?
‐ I'd rather be the ant.
‐ What ant?
‐ The ant crawling across the anvil
when the hammer comes down.
Then at least it's over quickly.
‐ [chuckles]
[slurps]
Oh, um...
uh, sorry?
‐ I just have a thing with mouth noises.
Any noises, really.
Sometimes I think I'd just be happier deaf.
‐ Oh, don't say that.
JENNA: No, no, no. It's a‐‐it's a thing.
My doctor says it's neurological.
It's called misophonia‐‐ literally the hatred of sound.
‐ Wow. That must suck.
‐ Would've probably been better
if I'd just crawled back into the womb
and stayed there.
‐ You're weird.
I like weird.
Hey, so I'm getting up early to tour the college.
You gonna be here tomorrow?
‐ Not sure.
I guess.
‐ Well, uh, maybe we could meet up for coffee.
‐ Mm.
Text me?
[phones chime and buzz]
[door creaks]
[door closes, lock clicks]
[insects chirping]
[tapping]
[scratching]
[scratching cuts off]
[ominous music]
♪ ♪
[waves crashing]
♪ ♪
NICOLE: She's fucking hopeless.
I want her out.
♪ ♪
[dramatic sting]
♪ ♪
[loud banging]
♪ ♪
[loud thumping]
[eerie music]
♪ ♪
[dramatic sting]
♪ ♪
[door creaks]
♪ ♪
‐ [gasps]
[knocking]
♪ ♪
[distorted, indistinct voice]
‐ Maybe Dr. Lerner needs to tweak your meds.
[voice echoes]
♪ ♪
[music building]
♪ ♪
[gurgling]
‐ [retches]
♪ ♪
[birds singing]
[crows cawing]
[hammer pounding]
Morning.
[cawing continues]
‐ I do envy them.
‐ Birds don't fly for pleasure.
Flying is just an endless, desperate search for food.
‐ Well, it still looks fun.
[silverware clattering, indistinct chatter]
[cup rattles]
[mugs thump and clatter]
[cups scrape]
[loud chewing]
[slurping]
[sound cuts off]
[dark ambient music]
♪ ♪
‐ [sighs]
[buzzes]
[buzzing]
[thumps]
[chatter and clinking]
SERVER: Can I help you? ‐ Hi.
Can I get a, uh, large coffee to go?
Decaf.
[sighs]
[ominous music]
♪ ♪
[music building]
‐ Large decaf? ‐ [gasps]
Oh. Uh, no.
I'm‐‐
SERVER: Are you okay?
[suspenseful music]
You can't go in there.
♪ ♪
‐ Oh, my dear.
What's wrong? ‐ Oh. Oh, I was just‐‐
I was‐‐I was supposed to meet Gavin,
and then he didn't show up and‐‐
[breathing heavily]
I don't know. I don't know.
Sometimes I see things when I'm anxious, and...
I just‐‐I‐‐
‐ Poor bird.
I'm working in the garden today.
Would you like to come see?
There's nothing like the quiet company of plants
to calm a soul down.
Hmm?
[serene music]
♪ ♪
Angelica‐‐
excellent for building strength.
JENNA: Mm.
‐ Oh, and here's basil.
♪ ♪
Mmm.
Bay leaf, coltsfoot, devilwood...
JENNA: Mm. Devilwood sounds dangerous.
‐ Oh, no, dear.
Though if I put too much in Sam's tea,
he does get a bit persistent.
♪ ♪
‐ What's that one?
‐ Feverfew.
As the name suggests, better for a fever
than anything you can buy in the drugstore.
First rule of gardening‐‐
intruders must be weeded out.
I hate to do it. Weeds are plants, too.
Got to protect the garden.
♪ ♪
Sometimes I can't help thinking...
it'd be much nicer to be a plant.
Human life is so cruel...
especially for mothers.
Everything you birth is taken away from you.
Not here in my garden.
Here, things stay to grow where they're planted.
‐ Do you have children?
‐ Two. JENNA: Mm.
‐ My daughter Shiloh and her twin brother Sam.
Baby Sam...
passed away when they were newborns.
‐ I'm so sorry.
ELLIE: Thank you.
And thank the good Lord for Shiloh
and my two beautiful grandkids.
We're a tight‐knit family,
and I intend to keep it that way.
♪ ♪
Honey?
What's wrong?
Trust Ellie. Let it out.
There's more room out here than in there.
[tense music]
♪ ♪
‐ Something bad happened...
at college.
It just proved to me what I always knew...
what you just said...
the world is an ugly, cruel place.
‐ Oh, my dear.
It is. It is.
♪ ♪
‐ And after what happened
at school...
I just didn't feel like myself.
I felt like everyone was staring at me.
♪ ♪
I guess I got super paranoid
because my mother sent me to the farm.
ELLIE: The farm?
‐ That's just what they called it.
The only vegetables they grew there were the patients.
And then after I left,
it just got worse.
ELLIE: What did you do?
‐ I stopped taking my medication.
ELLIE: How did that feel?
‐ Good.
Really good...
at first.
And then, I don't know, I just couldn't‐‐
I couldn't stay there, so‐‐so I ran,
and then...
ELLIE: What?
♪ ♪
‐ No, it's‐‐it's stupid.
‐ Stop judging your feelings and just feel them.
Now, what did you feel?
‐ Followed.
I felt like I was being followed by someone,
someone I'm pretty sure doesn't even exist.
‐ Who could it be? JENNA: I don't know.
I think I just made a terrible mistake.
Maybe I should be in the hospital.
‐ Hospitals make you sick and keep you sick.
No.
Everything you're experiencing comes from the withdrawal.
You're safe here.
Sam and I have your back.
But if you feel the need to leave,
Sam will drive you.
[chainsaw whirring]
♪ ♪
[classical music ringtone playing]
♪ ♪
SAM: Oh.
Gosh darn it. Just got a‐‐
Hey.
[serene music]
♪ ♪
‐ If it's all right,
I would like to stay a little longer.
♪ ♪
‐ You're right on the verge of freeing yourself.
Another few days, you'll be right as rain.
Come. Help me with my herbs.
This is what we did this morning.
You got to dry them all year.
♪ ♪
[tapping]
[scratching]
[reedy breathing]
[scratching]
[rattling breath]
[scratching]
[wheezing]
[scratching and wheezing]
[scratching increases]
[wheezing]
‐ [gasps]
[sighs]
[faint wheezing]
[moaning]
[panel clunks]
[wheezing]
[door creaks]
[ominous tone]
♪ ♪
[panel clunks]
[wheezing]
[scratching]
[wood creaks] [gasps]
[sighs]
[wheezing]
♪ ♪
[ominous rumbling building]
[wheezing]
[dramatic sting]
[yelps]
‐ [wheezing]
[knock on door]
ELLIE: Jenna? Are you all right, dear?
‐ Yes, yes. Sorry.
Uh, bad dream.
ELLIE: Can I get you anything?
‐ No, I'm good. Thank you.
[classical music ringtone playing]
[suspenseful music building]
♪ ♪
[screaming] ‐ [hissing]
[knock on door]
‐ Just open the door and let me help.
This is a critical time for you, Jenna.
You can't trust your senses.
I need you to open this door.
Jenna.
♪ ♪
[door creaks]
[grunts]
♪ ♪
SAM: Ellie?
Ellie‐May?
Ellie!
Are you all right?
[suspenseful music building]
♪ ♪
Ellie.
You upstairs?
Come, woman, answer me.
[door opens]
♪ ♪
‐ [moans] SAM: Oh, Lord, Ellie.
What happened? You're hurt.
‐ She walloped me.
‐ [softly] Okay.
[dramatic sting] [screaming]
[hissing and moaning]
♪ ♪
[breathing heavily]
Oh. ‐ Oh.
♪ ♪
‐ Hey!
♪ ♪
[wheezes]
‐ There's nothing to be afraid of here.
No torment, no pain,
no fear or anxiety.
That's all over.
Every member of this family,
every single person in this house
is perfectly cared for
by my natural painkillers and nutrients.
[moaning and scrabbling]
Settle now.
‐ [wheezes] ELLIE: They're so excited to meet you.
‐ [whimpering]
‐ I suppose I first heard the calling at the hospital.
All those poor, sick, lonely people.
I did what I could to keep them from pain.
It was all too clear
that their fate was to die a lonely death,
in agony,
surrounded by cold and indifferent machines.
But I could save them from that fate.
[dramatic music]
I think the hospital knew what I was doing.
But they didn't want anyone else to know.
They gave me early retirement.
Then the plant closed, and Sam's work dried up, too.
SAM: And right about that time,
our daughter and her family
threatened to move out of the house.
It was starting to feel like maybe the saddest Thanksgiving
of all time.
Right back.
‐ That's when it came to me,
just as it did at the hospital.
I knew how I could put together all my love and knowledge,
along with Sam's skills,
and keep our family together...
forever.
♪ ♪
‐ [wheezing]
ELLIE: Shiloh didn't mind.
I saw the relief in her eyes.
Oh, that husband of hers didn't like it, but‐‐
‐ I took care of him okay.
He was the first of Ellie's weeds.
‐ And the little ones,
I rocked them in my arms till it took hold.
They didn't fuss at all
when we relieved them of their eyes and tongues.
Now we all live under one roof.
I tend the garden.
Sam maintains the house.
Life can be perfect
when you don't ask for too much.
SAM: And this B&B thing, we make enough to get by
and keep the garden watered and properly fed.
ELLIE: Oh, and sometimes it brings us something else‐‐
someone who needs our help.
Oh, I just can't look at one of the Lord's little flowers,
can't look 'em in the eye
knowing what the cruel world has in store for them.
SAM: You know, we measured you up
the first night you were here?
ELLIE: And watered you
with the first doses of my special formula.
Gavin‐‐he's here, too.
We helped him plant some roots.
The two of you belong together...
with us.
♪ ♪
‐ [whimpers]
‐ No, child.
Don't fret. ‐ [whimpers]
ELLIE: Just to make sure there's no pain.
‐ Ellie has the kindest of ways.
You won't feel a thing.
‐ Just the relief of not having to see,
not having to weep anymore.
‐ And guess what.
I built you the tiniest, comfiest place.
The only problem we have there
is the damn cockroaches
will just keep nibbling away at everything.
‐ Hush, Sam.
She doesn't need to think about that now.
‐ Oh, sorry.
‐ All that awaits is freedom forever
from all the cruelties of life.
♪ ♪
[doorbell rings]
Can I help you?
‐ Um, have you, uh‐‐ have you seen this girl?
I've been following her for some time now.
I'm at the motel, and she isn't there.
I think she's been staying here.
‐ Yes, she was, but she left early this evening.
‐ Are‐‐are you sure?
I didn't see her leave.
‐ [laughs]
Why don't you come on in?
We'll straighten all this out.
‐ Thank you.
[door closes] ELLIE: Please.
Sit here, Mr.... ‐ Balsam.
ELLIE: Well, Mr. Balsam, you look exhausted.
‐ You've got no idea how tired I am.
‐ You stay right here.
I'm gonna bring you a nice cup of hot tea.
‐ Thank you.
[ominous music]
♪ ♪
JENNA: [whimpers]
♪ ♪
‐ There we go.
‐ My son Tony.
‐ Oh. A very handsome young man.
‐ He's a good boy.
Wouldn't hurt a fly.
He struggled with depression a bit,
but he's doing all right.
We were so hopeful when he told us
that he met a girl that he really liked,
one that really understood him.
A girl by the name of Jenna Branson.
Kids don't understand.
They've got no sense of proportion.
Everything is huge...
dramatic, apocalyptic.
‐ It's a passionate time.
They'll learn.
Time's the teacher.
‐ Tony didn't have time,
not enough.
The records show that he was on the phone...
with Jenna.
‐ [gasps]
BALSAM: I just want to talk to her.
♪ ♪
‐ [grunts]
♪ ♪
‐ I'm not trying to blame anyone.
I just want to know.
[grunts]
‐ You took your sweet fucking time.
[suspenseful music building]
♪ ♪
‐ [grunts]
♪ ♪
‐ Bring his car around back and be quick about it.
♪ ♪
‐ [grunting]
♪ ♪
[yelps]
[groaning]
♪ ♪
[engine revving]
♪ ♪
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
[car beeping]
SAM: I'll take him out to the quarry‐‐
[suspenseful music]
We'll get her back sometime soon, okay?
♪ ♪
Okay.
ELLIE: Let's go. Help me.
Get his legs.
[both grunting] SAM: He's huge.
♪ ♪
All right?
♪ ♪
[car door opens]
What are we gonna do about Jenna?
ELLIE: She's going nowhere. We'll finish with her later‐‐
after the weeding.
♪ ♪
[engine turns over]
♪ ♪
[ominous music]
♪ ♪
[dramatic sting]
‐ [grunts]
[engine idling]
[engine revving]
♪ ♪
‐ [screaming]
[metal and glass crashing]
[eerie music]
♪ ♪
[ominous music]
♪ ♪
[inhuman screeching]
♪ ♪
[static crackling]
[distorted voice]
[voices whispering]
♪ ♪
[VCR whirs]
MARY: Where did this come from?
STUDENT: There was just an envelope by your door
when I got here this morning.
‐ Throw it away.
[door closes]
"That tape was my first introduction to Simon.
"He embodied everything I despised,
"all the pitiless parasites who take advantage of people
"at their most vulnerable,
"but from the moment I met him, I sensed there was...
there was something very different about Simon."
"But first...
I set out, quite frankly, to destroy him."
[laughter]
‐ So love at first sight, then.
‐ I'd say more like hate.
‐ Yeah. I can confirm that.
[laughter]
‐ Your book is really all about Miles.
I know it's hard, but can you talk about your son?
His last few days?
[somber music]
♪ ♪
MARY: I was alone with Miles when he came into the world,
and I was alone with him when he left.
‐ You know what? I'm his father.
He's my son, too. ‐ You're not his father.
You're just a man who walked out
because I refused to have an abortion.
‐ Yeah, well, I'm here now.
‐ My God, you're drunk.
‐ Well, I'm handling this my own way.
‐ Get out of my sight.
[door closes]
MILES: You, Mom? MARY: Hey, Miles.
How you doing?
‐ Good.
‐ Can I get you anything?
‐ Mom. MARY: Mm‐hmm?
‐ Where do you think we go...
after we die?
‐ Um...
well, I think that we just...
We just go to sleep, you know?
‐ That's all right.
I'm awfully tired.
‐ Where do you want to go?
‐ With you.
I just want to be with you.
‐ Close your eyes.
♪ ♪
[smooching]
Love you very, very, very much.
‐ I love you.
♪ ♪
MARY: I was like a fish trying to survive on air.
But then it all changed.
♪ ♪
‐ Hi.
‐ What are you doing?
‐ I was just saying hello.
‐ No, what are you doing in my office?
Who let you in?
‐ Which one do you want me to answer first?
‐ What?
‐ Who am I, who let me in, what am I doing here?
‐ Can you please leave?
‐ I thought this was your office hours.
‐ You're a student?
‐ Of life.
‐ Right, you either leave,
or I'm calling the campus police.
‐ And have me arrested? For doing what?
For daring to disturb
the famous Professor Mary Florensky?
I do dare, apparently. [bell tolls outside]
Professor, this is not so much a profession for me
but a calling, a vocation.
‐ And what exactly is your calling?
‐ I'm a speaker for the dead.
You see my tape?
‐ That was you?
Well, you're either a magician, or you're mentally ill.
‐ [chuckles]
I did go crazy there for a while
while I was refusing my calling.
I tried every numbing agent possible.
I'm still in recovery.
I always will be, they say, but...
other than that, I'm deeply and tragically sane.
‐ Or a glutton for punishment.
You do know what it is I do?
‐ Yes. Yes.
You expose frauds.
You publicly humiliate them.
I've read your books.
I've seen you on TV,
and, quite frankly, you are no fun.
‐ Neither are frauds.
‐ Why is it so important
that you convince everybody it's all bullshit?
Who are you really trying to convince‐‐yourself?
‐ Right, time's up. I'm very busy.
Now leave, or I am calling the campus police.
‐ Professor, I don't want to be here
any more than you want me here.
‐ Good. We agree.
Now leave.
SIMON: I can't do that.
‐ And why is that?
‐ Because Miles sent me here.
MARY: Science was once defined as putting nature to the rack,
and I guess, in a way, that's what I did with Simon.
I tested him every way, everywhere I could.
‐ So from skeptic to believer?
‐ Believer?
No.
Faith is believing in things that you can't see,
but I saw what Simon can do.
‐ Well, it's not me that does anything.
‐ Oh...
All right, what comes through him.
I challenge any of you to...
to witness one of Simon's convocations
and remain unchanged.
[ominous sting]
All right, our subject today is Simon McNeal.
He's 28 years old.
In addition to being a charming narcissist,
he's also a self‐professed medium.
Today we'll put those claims to the test.
So, as you can see, the room is bare.
Simon, too. Arms.
‐ [whispering] He's almost here.
[ominous music]
♪ ♪
‐ For those of you that don't know,
I've recently lost my son Miles to leukemia.
He was 7 years old.
This is what people like Simon like to prey on‐‐
grief.
So today we're gonna make an example of him.
All right, Simon, can you hear us?
We're ready for your miracles whenever you are.
‐ You're all gonna hear some very disturbing sounds.
That's part of the convocation.
But no matter what you hear,
that door must stay closed.
Mary, I've accepted your controls
and your precautions,
but I need complete darkness.
Or rather, they do.
‐ "They"? ‐ The dead.
[electricity crackles]
[screaming]
[eerie music]
♪ ♪
[static crackling]
[inhuman screeching]
[distorted screaming]
♪ ♪
[static crackling]
[distorted moan]
‐ Simon, can you hear us?
Simon?
[dramatic sting]
[inhuman screech]
SIMON: [breathing heavily]
MARY: Hey, hey.
It's okay. It's all right.
Can you call a medic? STUDENT: Yeah.
‐ It's okay, Simon. Breathe.
[ominous music]
♪ ♪
[dramatic sting]
[siren wailing]
[indistinct radio chatter]
What happened back there?
‐ I just let them speak.
I let him speak.
‐ It's not possible.
‐ Oh, Mary.
You aren't ready.
‐ I need to know what happened back there.
‐ You aren't ready, Mary.
‐ What happened?
‐ Ma'am.
Please.
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
‐ He's not in there, you know.
Not the real him.
That's just some old clothes he's grown out of.
‐ I see you've recovered.
‐ I see you haven't. ‐ No, I haven't.
I can't stop thinking about him.
SIMON: Is that why you asked me here?
‐ Assumptions must be tempered by an open mind
to new evidence.
The best scientists always question.
I'm willing to have my mind opened...
by you.
‐ I'm telling you,
he's not in there.
‐ Then where is he?
♪ ♪
‐ He just wants to be near you.
‐ That's what he said...
his very last words to me.
‐ He's so much closer than you realize.
No, I'm okay.
‐ Sorry.
I forgot.
‐ Don't be.
I'm a better man on the wagon.
I've fallen off enough times to know.
MARY: Why would my son come to you and not me?
I'm his mother.
I don't understand. I need to understand.
♪ ♪
Please.
‐ Once upon a time, we were wanderers.
And long before we ever built a permanent home for ourselves,
we built homes for our dead,
places we'd return to in our wanderings,
to rest, to recover, to honor them.
And then as we stopped our wanderings,
we stopped building new homes.
We moved in with our dead.
We buried them beneath us as we continued to honor them
and be protected and nurtured by them.
But as time passed, our conception of them changed.
We began to fear them.
And in that fear, we banished them...
from the homes to the churchyard
and then farther...
to outside the city walls.
Step by step, we exiled them to their highway,
leaving them homeless and voiceless.
They want their stories to be told.
They want their voices to be heard.
They want to be close to those they love the most...
like your son.
‐ My son exists only in my memory.
‐ Didn't he leave you a message?
‐ Whatever happened that day, it doesn't prove anything.
‐ Miles sent me to you for a reason, Mary.
Because if you, with all your tools of science,
with all your certainty, if you fail to prove me wrong,
it will change the world.
And at that point,
you will see how close your son really is to you.
♪ ♪
[ominous music]
‐ [gasps, breathing heavily]
Simon knew things that no one else could know,
and through him, Miles sent me messages
that couldn't be from anyone else.
I guess that's why I fell in love with him.
It's almost like Miles was giving me permission.
A year later, I can still feel my son
everywhere I go.
And then I began to realize
that this wasn't just about me and my son.
It was about all of us.
I mean, what if scientists were the ones acting on faith
instead of using our best resources
to find the truth?
We have the ability to study quantum objects
a billion times smaller than an atom to...
the largest structure there is‐‐the universe itself.
And that's why we started this foundation.
With your financial support,
we would have access to the best imaging power
science has to offer.
Simon has a great quote for it.
‐ Yes.
"The horizon is just the limits of our vision."
‐ Isn't he something?
You have no idea what he's capable of.
♪ ♪
What are you doing?
‐ Oh, fuck.
‐ I'm so sorry, Professor.
‐ You want to stop looking at me like that?
MARY: Like what?
‐ Like I just shot your fucking dog.
‐ Explain yourself.
‐ Can it wait till I'm sober?
MARY: No. Now.
‐ Well, I think the crime scene speaks for itself, no?
‐ This isn't you, Simon.
‐ What if it is?
What if this is exactly who I am?
‐ Don't do that. No.
Simon.
I know you.
‐ You don't know me. You haven't got a fucking clue.
‐ You're in recovery,
and this is part of the struggle with your gift.
‐ What you don't know...
is that's where I met your ex.
I was his sponsor in the program.
He told me all about your dying son.
‐ What do you‐‐
No, what are you saying?
No. You answer me!
‐ I was small‐time, Mary.
You helped me go big‐time.
But investors‐‐that's another story completely.
I've been to prison.
I have no interest in going back there.
You don't fuck with people with money.
You understand me?
They don't take lightly to being conned.
‐ What con?
‐ Oh, Mary, wake the fuck up.
It was a con. It was all a con.
‐ No. That's impossible.
You couldn't fake that. I was there.
‐ That first time in the lab, I rigged it.
I paid a maintenance guy to cut the power.
♪ ♪
And the messages from beyond?
I wrote those the night before.
I used phenolphthalein.
It's invisible until exposed to an activating agent‐‐
in this case, simple ammonia.
♪ ♪
[distorted screams]
Oh, and the seizures?
That was a microdose of penicillin.
I'm allergic to it.
Takes an hour to kick in
and makes the drama all the more convincing.
You fell for it, Mary, but you fell too hard.
I tried to slow things down, but you were obsessed.
This ends here and now.
Your son is dead. He's gone.
He's six feet under.
‐ Fucking piece of shit.
‐ For what, Mary?
For telling people what they want to hear?
For giving them closure?
‐ You fucking drunk!
SIMON: Just remember something.
No one's gonna believe
that you're not in this with me.
So, if I'm going to jail, you're going with me.
‐ [breathing heavily]
[chalk squeaking and scraping]
♪ ♪
[bedsprings squeak]
[labored breathing]
♪ ♪
[dark music]
♪ ♪
[swing squeaking]
‐ I'm not entirely sure what I said last night.
Uh, I blacked out,
which isn't surprising.
When you haven't fallen off the wagon in a while,
sometimes it can be a pretty big fall.
‐ I get it.
‐ Right, so what did I say? ‐ You told me the truth.
‐ Yeah, I was afraid of that. Um, I'm gonna grab my stuff.
‐ Why? Where are you going?
‐ I don't know. Uh, not here.
I assume you don't want me here.
‐ You're not going anywhere. We have a lot of work to do.
‐ What do you mean "we"?
‐ Maybe I knew all along.
Hmm.
But that doesn't matter now.
This is much bigger than you and me.
‐ I'm sorry. I'm not understanding.
‐ The show must go on.
There's a lot of money on the table.
We still have investors coming tonight.
Go get yourself cleaned up.
Go on.
♪ ♪
[laughs]
We're inviting you to become part of a Manhattan Project
to see over the horizon
that separates life from death.
[crowd murmurs excitedly] The real final frontier.
Are you ready, my love?
‐ Ready.
‐ You're all in for a real treat.
[man chuckles]
Simon has agreed to perform a convocation tonight.
So, if you'd like to come upstairs,
you can witness what Simon can do.
Come. [crowd chatters excitedly]
♪ ♪
‐ What the fuck are you doing?
‐ Just play along.
You'll see.
♪ ♪
[whispering] You know, you really pissed them off.
♪ ♪
Now, you are gonna hear some very disturbing noises,
but you mustn't be concerned.
It's all part of the convocation.
The dead have highways,
and Simon creates an opening,
an exit, so to speak.
No matter what happens, no matter what we hear,
we mustn't open the door.
Isn't that right, Simon?
[rocking chair creaking]
MILES: [whispering eerily] We're not sleeping.
[suspenseful sting]
[eerie rumbling]
[voices whispering]
[screaming]
[voices whispering]
‐ What the fuck is this?
[voices whispering]
Mary! Save me!
[screaming]
[crunching and cracking]
[screaming]
What the fuck is happening to me?
‐ It's very disturbing how he suffers
to communicate with the beyond.
SIMON: Mary, let me the fuck out of here!
‐ But we mustn't interfere.
[voices whispering]
SIMON: [screaming]
[eerie music]
[inhuman shrieking]
[voices whispering]
♪ ♪
[screaming]
[voices whispering]
[screaming]
♪ ♪
[screaming]
♪ ♪
[voices stop, electricity crackles]
[wind whistling]
[door creaks]
[wheezing]
[ominous music]
♪ ♪
[gasps and wheezes]
MARY: Shh.
‐ [wheezes]
♪ ♪
[choking coughs]
♪ ♪
I'm so sorry.
‐ [softly] It's okay.
Shh.
♪ ♪
Shh. ‐ [gasps]
♪ ♪
[eerie music]
♪ ♪
‐ $7.50.
‐ Yes. ‐ Thanks.
‐ Ooh. I'm sorry.
I think I left my wallet in my other coat.
‐ I got you.
[rock music playing]
Oh, fuck.
‐ Would you allow us to take these with us,
and then we'll come by later and pay you?
‐ Yeah, no can do.
‐ Really?
‐ Wow, man. Wha‐‐[scoffs]
‐ That's gonna be $7.50.
‐ Do you know Ravenmoor?
‐ Yeah.
BENNETT: Is it a nice place?
‐ No.
‐ Well, we're headed there.
Unless you want to join us in the trunk of our car,
you'll surrender these beverages to us
and allow us to pay you later,
and you will do it very quickly so they do not get cold.
‐ Okay, these are on the house. ‐ Thank you very much.
[engine turns over]
[tires squeal]
Hey, hey! ‐ Oh, fuck!
[tires squeal]
[horn blares]
[engine revving]
Fucking kids with their headphones.
Generation of zombies, man. Sorry, B.
‐ Whatever, man.
[ominous music]
♪ ♪
STEVE: Place is royally fucked up, man.
Some bad shit happened here when I was a kid.
Everybody knows this whole neighborhood is haunted.
Hey, do you even know where we're going?
‐ 47 Tollington Place.
It's probably up the street here,
a few blocks away.
Just keep driving.
[cell phone rings] ‐ Oh, fuck.
Shit, who's that, man?
‐ That is my happy place.
We get this book, get out of here,
I'm buying a condo in Mexico on the beach.
Me and Jeannie, we're gonna sip tequilas
and watch the divorcees doing downward‐facing dog
on the yoga lawn.
‐ [laughs]
‐ And I'm gonna read.
Gonna read Jack Reacher and William Shakespeare
and leave the fucking rats in the sewer.
[dramatic sting] ‐ Whoa!
[tires squeal]
‐ What the fuck, man?
‐ You see that, man?
There was a‐‐ there was a woman, man.
‐ What woman? ‐ She was just right there.
[car rumbling]
Aw, shit. [engine sputtering]
Aw, no, no, no, no.
‐ Okay, pop the hood.
[car door closes]
‐ Hey, uh, what's wrong, B?
‐ Hold on.
[person moaning]
[dramatic sting]
♪ ♪
PERSON: Stevie...
[voices whispering]
[eerie music]
BENNETT: Try it now.
Dude, you hear me?
♪ ♪
Hey, bro, where you going?
Where the fuck you going, man?
Steve!
♪ ♪
Steve? Are you praying, man?
To God?
'Cause I guarantee He ain't listening.
STEVE: Nah. Not God, B.
‐ Then who?
STEVE: My mom, man.
BENNETT: Your mom? STEVE: Yeah.
Yeah, you remember my mom, B?
BENNETT: Of course I remember your mom.
‐ [laughs] BENNETT: Amazing lady.
‐ Yeah, she is.
BENNETT: Tell her I say hey.
‐ She says, uh‐‐she says she always liked you, B.
♪ ♪
BENNETT: What the fuck?
What are you doing, Steve?
‐ She wants me to come with her, man.
‐ Put the gun down, man.
‐ Oh, it's nice where she is.
You know, it's a‐‐ it's a happy place, man.
‐ Brother, listen to me.
You were right, man.
There's nothing here for us.
[gunshot, inhuman scream]
[eerie music building]
♪ ♪
[breathing heavily]
[engine turns over, revs]
♪ ♪
[engine revs]
[tires squeal]
[suspenseful music]
♪ ♪
[rats squeaking]
♪ ♪
[eerie music]
♪ ♪
[door creaks]
[person laughing]
[dramatic sting]
[suspenseful music building]
♪ ♪
[door creaks]
♪ ♪
Where is it?
‐ What?
‐ The book.
Don't fuck with me, lady.
Just give me what I want, and I'll go.
‐ Oh, I don't think you know what you want...
Or where you're going.
‐ Believe it or not, I don't want to have to kill
anybody else today.
So I'm asking you one last time, where's the book?
‐ What book?
‐ The Book of Blood.
‐ Oh, that book.
Well, you're looking at it.
[rocking chair creaking]
And it's looking at you.
‐ What happened to him?
‐ You see, all the dead have stories.
In fact, that's all they have.
And they chose Simon...
to be their page.
He lives on so that the dead can have a voice.
‐ Who are you?
What are you doing here?
‐ I'm his sole reader.
The dead can be heard
all around these abandoned streets.
But all roads lead to Simon,
where the highways first opened.
Because of Simon, I'm exactly where I want to be.
I'm in my happy place.
‐ I just want the book, lady.
So, if he's the fucking book, then I'm taking him with me.
‐ You're not the first,
and you certainly will not be the last,
to seek The Book of Blood.
See, all their stories are on him, too...
as yours will be.
You've been writing your story your whole life.
And now it's time to come to its end.
‐ My story doesn't end here.
‐ All stories end here.
♪ ♪
[scrabbling]
♪ ♪
[rats squeaking]
♪ ♪
‐ [screams] Fuck! Get off!
[rats screeching]
♪ ♪
[rat screeches]
♪ ♪
[moaning]
♪ ♪
[indistinct chatter]
SAM: All right, one, two, three, and...
[grunting] ‐ [coughs]
SAM: How much cake did you eat tonight?
[grunting]
Can I help you with something?
[suspenseful music]
♪ ♪
‐ Got to protect the garden.
[tense music]
♪ ♪
[machines beeping]
‐ [grunts]
♪ ♪
SHERIFF: Recognize him?
NICOLE: I believe that's the father of her ex‐boyfriend.
SHERIFF: You probably heard about what happened to the boy?
‐ Jenna was quite broken up about it.
She hasn't been herself since.
SHERIFF: You ever meet him? Or the father?
NICOLE: No.
Well, he tried to see us. He wanted to talk to Jenna.
I wouldn't let him. SHERIFF: Why is that?
‐ What good would it have done, dredging all that up?
I mean, the boy was dead.
No fault of Jenna's.
She needed to move on with her life.
‐ He believed your daughter was responsible
for his son's death.
He stalked her for some time
and then either convinced her to meet
or snatched her off the street and then drugged her.
Vehicle software shows that it was parked
before it sped off the cliff.
That and the lack of any skid marks
or signs of braking suggest that this was no accident.
Best guess‐‐he was aiming for suicide and murder,
but only succeeded in the first part.
DOCTOR: Your daughter is very lucky.
I have no doubt that physically she will be fine.
She has little memory of what happened,
but given the drugs and the trauma,
that's not unexpected,
maybe even a blessing.
♪ ♪
[chewing] NICOLE: Want to talk about it?
It's okay. That's fine.
You don't have to say a word.
[chewing]
Mom's gonna take care of everything.
[chewing and slurping crescendo]
[spinner whirs]
All right.
[game piece tapping]
Lucky girl.
Hmm. A law degree.
‐ Nice. You're set for life.
[loud crunch]
[somber music]
♪ ♪
TONY: I wish you were here.
JENNA: Wherever we are is here.
TONY: I know, but still...
Tell me again about the first time.
‐ You were right behind me in that ridiculous class.
‐ Deconstructing the Neoliberal Gaze.
JENNA: And you looked over my shoulder
and saw me drawing everyone.
‐ Like a horde of zombie lemmings
marching off the edge of a cliff.
‐ And you leaned in
and whispered into my ear...
"Life is a problem in search of a solution."
I knew we were meant for each other.
TONY: We are.
I just wish‐‐ JENNA: What?
‐ That we could be together.
‐ We're joining the great, infinite nothing.
We will be together.
‐ No, I mean...
when we do it, we could do it together.
‐ No, don't you see? It's not just about us.
It's about the sign we leave behind us,
the footprints in the sand showing others the way.
Our folks, all the students,
they'll just think it was about us,
that we were in love and‐‐
‐ I am in love with you.
‐ Me too, but that's not the point.
It'll completely muddy the message.
‐ The message?
‐ That life is a lie,
that we said no to all the bullshit,
that we chose the freedom of annihilation.
‐ Right.
‐ If you want out, just say it.
‐ No, I‐I just‐‐
[ominous music]
♪ ♪
‐ Okay, try this.
Close your eyes.
Picture me.
I'm right there with you. We'll do it at the same time.
You're on the roof, right?
Me too.
TONY: I want to.
I really, really do.
I just don't think I can. I'm scared.
JENNA: If you don't do it now, you're never gonna do it.
I thought you understood.
‐ I'm getting off the ledge.
‐ No, don't you dare, you fucking coward!
‐ Okay.
I'm still here.
♪ ♪
‐ Okay, good.
Now we just do it, together.
We do it right now, okay?
We just fucking do it now!
[somber music]
♪ ♪
Hello?
[sobbing]
Tony?
Hello?
♪ ♪
[tense music]
♪ ♪
[quietly eerie music]
♪ ♪
[music builds]
♪ ♪
[exhales deeply]
[eerie music]
♪ ♪
‐ So many stories, my love.
So many stories.
♪ ♪
Whose will be next?
♪ ♪
[Marilyn Manson's "Deep Six"]
♪ ♪
MANSON: ♪ Yeah ♪
♪ ♪
♪ It's like a stranger had a key ♪
♪ Came inside my mind ♪
♪ And moved all my things around ♪
♪ He didn't know snakes can't kneel or pray ♪
♪ Can't try to break ♪
♪ My psyche down ♪
Yow!
♪ ♪
♪ As if my feathers are wax ♪
♪ And your artillery lead ♪
♪ Do you like our bed? ♪
♪ Deep six, six, six ♪
♪ Six, six feet deep ♪
♪ ♪
♪ Deep six, six, six ♪
♪ Six, six feet deep ♪
♪ ♪
♪ Yeah ♪
♪ Watch yourself ♪
♪ Watch yourself, watch yourself ♪
♪ Watch yourself ♪
♪ Love is evil ♪
♪ Con is confidence ♪
♪ Eros is sore ♪
♪ Sin is sincere ♪
♪ Love is evil ♪
♪ Con is confidence ♪
♪ Eros is sore ♪
♪ So deep six, six, six ♪
♪ Six, six feet deep ♪
♪ ♪
♪ Deep six, six, six ♪
♪ Six, six feet deep ♪
♪ ♪
[disquieting music]
♪ ♪
[melancholy music]
♪ ♪
[disquieting music]
♪ ♪