Episode 2. The I scream man

In the small town of Heartville, summer vacation has already begun.  When one day a mysterious ice cream man began making his rounds, selling the most delicious treats anyone ever had. But what's his secret?

Transcript

SPEAKER_06: 0:01

This episode can change mature language and adult situations.

SPEAKER_11: 0:32

Hello, my friend, and how is it that you stumbled into my caverns of the abyss? I am ancient.

unknown: 0:45

I am forever.

SPEAKER_11: 0:48

And I have been chained down here for a millennia.

unknown: 0:56

Please.

SPEAKER_02: 0:59

Oh my leg is broken. Please, please help me.

SPEAKER_11: 1:10

Oh, I'm afraid there's no escape. I can assure you of that. Sooner or later, you all come here. Your dark thoughts brought you here. And for that, you are forever trapped down here.

SPEAKER_02: 1:36

Please, please let me go. I have a family. I don't know how I got here or what I'm doing. Whatever you are or place this is, I'm sorry. Please, I can't see it's so dark.

SPEAKER_11: 1:55

Before your suffering begins, I will tell you a tale to past the time. Short stories of horror. Tiny tales of the creepy. I will assure you by the end you'll be screaming with madness.

SPEAKER_02: 2:22

Please. I swear on your edit.

SPEAKER_11: 2:26

Please just let me go. Please. Where are my menace? I am the shadow dweller. Here to keep you company until the abyss swallows you whole. I've been here for eons and collected stories that I passed down to you before the darkness takes you. This little ditty is called The I Scream Man.

SPEAKER_10: 3:31

The small town of Hartville had always been a peaceful place. Everyone knew each other, kids played outside until the street lights came on. Neighbors had cookouts, drank cold beers. Our town was awesome. We rode our bikes and skateboards everywhere. Played baseball, and of course we played with our Star Wars figures. I remember seeing it on the news and it scared the hell out of the town. It was the summer of 85, June and July. All I know it was fucking hot. Who knew something sinister was on our way to our town? I can only tell you from what I remember hearing from the grown-ups, and I can tell you that it scared the shit out of everyone in town. Nobody had ever seen his truck in our town before, but he always parked at the same place and he was there at the same time. He always had a line of kids waiting impatiently for something nice and cool on a hot summer day. As soon as you could hear that music box-like melody in the distance, we came running. He sold a variety of frozen treats. Everything from nutty buddies, snow cones, ice cream shakes, blast pops. Shit, I could go on, but you get the idea. All the kids loved his the best and couldn't wait until the ice cream man came around. Come on! Hurry up, Brandon! Pick something already.

SPEAKER_09: 7:43

Shit.

SPEAKER_10: 7:46

I said impatiently to my little brother Brandon.

SPEAKER_03: 7:50

I'm gonna tell Mom and Dad you said a swear, Sean. I can't. God, there's so much to choose from.

SPEAKER_06: 8:00

Come on, kid. I ain't got a goddamn day said a growling deep voice from above.

SPEAKER_10: 8:12

I looked up to see an older dude. His face was worn, aged, he had gray patches in his beard. There were yellowish sweat stains under his armpits. Gross! Between that and the smears of chocolate syrup and either cherry or strawberry sauce made his uniform look like one big banana split. It wasn't till one day when one of the kids realized there was something seriously wrong with the ice cream man. He didn't know exactly what it was, but for some reason he could get those stranger danger vibes for sure.

SPEAKER_07: 9:02

Hey, ice cream man, your shit sucks.

SPEAKER_10: 9:07

Billy said as he shoved an ice cream bar in his mouth. Billy was the last kid around. Everyone else had gone home. The street lights cast an eerie glow that stretched out for miles.

SPEAKER_06: 9:22

Is that so? Well then I've got a special treat that I've been working on, but little shits like you wouldn't be able to handle it. And I can't just let everyone try one. I'm still tweaking the recipe. Haven't got it quite right yet.

SPEAKER_07: 9:47

Yeah, whatever. Shitter get off the pot, man. I ain't scared. I'll try it.

SPEAKER_10: 9:55

The man grinned and opened the back door with a slow, rusty creak, and Billy climbed in. As soon as he was inside the truck, the man grabbed him and shoved something in his mouth. The boy struggled as hard as he could, but couldn't escape the man's grasp. Then all went black. The man shut the door and slowly drove away. About a week later, all the kids were back at the ice cream truck. His latest new frozen delights were amazing. We couldn't get enough of them. We started noticing missing kid flyers popping up all around town.

SPEAKER_08: 10:50

Only five years old. Tommy wasn't there.

SPEAKER_10: 11:11

I remember hearing my parents talking about it. My mom had my dad on speaker phone. Some little girl downtown started feeling sick. She said the ice cream tasted funny.

SPEAKER_08: 11:37

That's just crazy. Maybe it's a larger reaction. I don't know. What kind of larger reaction is a little kid vomiting no blood? I don't know what we're gonna do first to miss the kids. Then little kids start getting sick, getting rushed to the hospital, vomiting, puking blood. No one can figure out why. What happens if that's one of our kids? What if that's our son and daughter?

unknown: 12:14

What are we gonna do then?

SPEAKER_10: 12:17

Somehow the grown-ups ended up tracing it back to the ice cream man. The parents got a kid to buy ice cream from his truck and bring it home. They had it tested, and what they found was horrifying. The ice cream man was selling frozen treats made from the body parts of dozens of missing children that he had kidnapped. Neighborhood kids had started going missing throughout the summer. Parents were afraid, but we couldn't get enough of those frozen delights. The ice cream man had been doing this for years across America. He drugged the kids, tortured them, and then chopped them up. Put them in his ice cream treats. Lots of smiling faces to be sold to. And put it into him. But unfortunately he was already gone. The damage had already been done. The sun was shining and a cool breeze blew through the trees. Kids were laughing and playing, enjoying the summer. Faint melody of a music box could be heard down the street.

SPEAKER_03: 13:37

Ice cream, ice cream, yeah! Yo, dude, what you got that's good?

SPEAKER_10: 13:46

asked a little red-headed boy.

SPEAKER_06: 13:51

Oh I have some very interesting and tasty treats. Something for everyone. I guarantee I have the best ice cream around.

SPEAKER_10: 14:12

The man said with a wicked grin.

SPEAKER_09: 14:18

Dude, this is the best ice cream I've ever had.

SPEAKER_10: 14:25

As the red-headed kid was walking away, the ice cream bar started to melt. Tiny drops of blood mixed with chocolate sauce and ice cream ran down the boy's face. As the ice cream man waved goodbye, he said.

SPEAKER_09: 15:08

Dude, you're gonna be mad busy.

SPEAKER_06: 15:13

Oh, I hope so, my dear boy. I hope so.

SPEAKER_11: 15:40

The next time you hear the ice cream truck in your neighborhood on that hot summer's day, think twice about it. Because the ice scream man is serving up more than smiles.

unknown: 16:30

That was a tasty treat. Wasn't it?

SPEAKER_11: 16:35

So tell me what is your favorite flavor of ice cream?

unknown: 16:43

Oh I see. But then again, that doesn't really matter down here now, does it?

SPEAKER_11: 17:16

What the hell do you think?

unknown: 18:11

I impatiently await the next water and finds their way here to me.

SPEAKER_11: 18:20

Your dark thoughts always lead you to me.

SPEAKER_04: 18:26

So, my friends, until next time, I look forward to taste your fear.

SPEAKER_10: 19:25

Hi, I'm Troy Birsch, creator and producer of the short story horror podcast Into the Abyss. If you like what you heard, please like, subscribe, and uh share my podcast. Alright, thanks a lot. Peace.

SPEAKER_05: 19:50

On the floor by DJ Trillom. If you want to hear more music by DJ Trillom, you can find him at DJ Trillom on Loudme.

SPEAKER_10: 20:09

If you like what you heard, please consider leaving me a five-star rating and review. This helps get my show out there to people who might like this type of show. So if you'd be so kind, leave me a five-star rating review, share, download, uh, and just like my show. Thanks.