"Has Anyone Else Heard of The Crossing Hour?" by CrossingOnOver | CLANCYPASTA

[00:00:04] [SPEAKER_00]: When I was a kid, I watched a lot of TV. Hell, I watched it so much my parents didn't let me keep on in my room.

[00:00:14] [SPEAKER_00]: They correctly thought I'd stay up all night watching cartoons or weird sci-fi movies.

[00:00:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Then Katrina hit New Orleans. We got out safe, but our house was in such bad shape.

[00:00:28] [SPEAKER_00]: We had to move into an apartment miles away from all of my friends.

[00:00:34] [SPEAKER_00]: My folks felt bad about the situation, so they set up a 9-inch set on my desk and made me promise to go to bed on time.

[00:00:45] [SPEAKER_00]: That promise was swiftly broken.

[00:00:48] [SPEAKER_00]: The TV had a headphone jack and I managed to score a compatible set by trading some kid at school a blue eyes white dragon.

[00:00:59] [SPEAKER_00]: As long as I wasn't too loud, I was free to watch whatever whenever.

[00:01:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Those days were rough, so it was nice having something I could lean on when I started missing home.

[00:01:15] [SPEAKER_00]: One Saturday night, I was flipping through like usual.

[00:01:20] [SPEAKER_00]: When a bumper I'd never seen before caught my attention.

[00:01:24] [SPEAKER_00]: The bumper faded in on an image of a clown dressed entirely in black sitting on a stool in the middle of an empty white room.

[00:01:35] [SPEAKER_00]: I know what you're probably picturing, but she wasn't scary at all.

[00:01:40] [SPEAKER_00]: In fact, there was something inviting about her.

[00:01:44] [SPEAKER_00]: Curious, I put down the remote and settled in to see what would happen.

[00:01:50] [SPEAKER_00]: The clown pulled out a pocket watch and showed it to the camera.

[00:01:56] [SPEAKER_00]: The second, the hand hit 11 o'clock, the tip of her mouth ticked up into a gentle smirk.

[00:02:02] [SPEAKER_00]: She put the watch away and said, it's 11 o'clock, kiddies?

[00:02:08] [SPEAKER_00]: You should be in bed, but since you're not welcome to the crossing hour.

[00:02:14] [SPEAKER_00]: We have some new viewers tuning in tonight, so let me give you a quick rundown.

[00:02:21] [SPEAKER_00]: She looked around and motioned for the camera to come closer.

[00:02:25] [SPEAKER_00]: The camera zoomed in until the clown's face filled the screen.

[00:02:29] [SPEAKER_00]: I noticed her irises were yellow.

[00:02:33] [SPEAKER_00]: She winked and I blushed.

[00:02:37] [SPEAKER_00]: I felt like I'd been conned doing something embarrassing.

[00:02:42] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm your host, Raygan Saro's, the clown said.

[00:02:48] [SPEAKER_00]: Years how this works, 11 to midnight, everything's spooky fun in games.

[00:02:55] [SPEAKER_00]: Midnight to one, we cross over to something much, much scarier.

[00:03:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Younger viewers should probably switch off once we shift to the black room.

[00:03:06] [SPEAKER_00]: That means you, huh?

[00:03:09] [SPEAKER_00]: The camera pulled out just enough to catch Raygan pointing at the screen.

[00:03:15] [SPEAKER_00]: I knew it was silly, but it felt like the comment was aimed directly at me.

[00:03:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Naturally, I was hooked.

[00:03:26] [SPEAKER_00]: After catching that first broadcast, I watched crossing hour every Saturday night without fail.

[00:03:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Every week, the programming changed and you never got the same combination of shows two weeks in a row.

[00:03:42] [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't know about variety shows or stuff like the wonderful world of Disney at the time.

[00:03:48] [SPEAKER_00]: So, the idea of never knowing what I was going to get was a real thrill.

[00:03:54] [SPEAKER_00]: The block always started with the white room shows.

[00:03:59] [SPEAKER_00]: None of crossing hours programming had age ratings, but the white room seemed to be more or less for all ages.

[00:04:08] [SPEAKER_00]: I can't remember everything I watched on it, but a few stand out.

[00:04:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Almost every week, there was a new episode of Heckbusters.

[00:04:19] [SPEAKER_00]: It was like X files for kids, but with a higher budget than shows like Goosebumps.

[00:04:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Every episode followed a different team of kids as they investigated some spooky happening around the world.

[00:04:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Some of the teams were used multiple times, some just once.

[00:04:39] [SPEAKER_00]: The throughline was that there were all members of Heckbusters International, a sort of boy girl scouts for monster hunters.

[00:04:48] [SPEAKER_00]: My favorite kid was David.

[00:04:51] [SPEAKER_00]: He was a loner, but he was really smart and knew a lot about how to trap Goose and fight werewolves and stuff.

[00:04:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Even better, we had the same name, so I could pretend I was the one fighting monsters and helping out my friends.

[00:05:06] [SPEAKER_00]: His group got the most episode, which I was always really happy about.

[00:05:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Grim Grim's palace was a puppet show about the Grim Reaper.

[00:05:19] [SPEAKER_00]: I want to say it was a parody of little kids' shows like Bear in the Big Blue house, but there was something weirdly sincere about it.

[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Grim Grim as the Reaper insisted, the audience call him, was trying his best to be one of those cool uncle types for the viewer.

[00:05:38] [SPEAKER_00]: The catch was his palace was full of demons and weird creatures that annoyed the hell out of him.

[00:05:47] [SPEAKER_00]: So most of the time he'd end up getting angry, and the episodes intended plot would go out the window.

[00:05:55] [SPEAKER_00]: There was always a moral, but it was presented so poorly, I usually ignored it, and laughed at the shenanigans Grim Grim got into.

[00:06:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Not going to lie though, a couple of the lessons landed.

[00:06:10] [SPEAKER_00]: I still think about the conflict de-escalation episode since it's the one time Grim Grim managed to keep his cool.

[00:06:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Stopped clocks, I guess.

[00:06:22] [SPEAKER_00]: The timing was a cartoon that's hard to describe.

[00:06:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Every episode features a giant humanoid statue that occasionally, quote, plunks into a different time period.

[00:06:39] [SPEAKER_00]: A crowd would gather around the statue and debate what it was before the statue stood up and started to walk around.

[00:06:48] [SPEAKER_00]: What followed was usually some sort of trippy chasing involving the statue transporting people through time and space on a whim.

[00:06:58] [SPEAKER_00]: At the time, I couldn't wrap my head around it.

[00:07:03] [SPEAKER_00]: I think if I watched it now, I'd like it more.

[00:07:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Some of the visuals were pretty out there.

[00:07:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Tony's rat-time kitchen only ran one.

[00:07:16] [SPEAKER_00]: As you might expect, it was a cooking show starring a giant rat named Tony.

[00:07:22] [SPEAKER_00]: It played out like a regular cooking show, but all of the ingredients were moldy and rotten.

[00:07:31] [SPEAKER_00]: There wasn't any music, and it didn't seem like Tony had an audience.

[00:07:37] [SPEAKER_00]: But he kept acting like he did for some reason.

[00:07:42] [SPEAKER_00]: It didn't help that Tony was kind of disturbing.

[00:07:46] [SPEAKER_00]: The way he moved wasn't right.

[00:07:49] [SPEAKER_00]: He was too fluid to be a puppet, but the proportions were so stretched out.

[00:07:56] [SPEAKER_00]: He couldn't have been a guide suit either.

[00:07:59] [SPEAKER_00]: His eyes were constantly moving too, never settling on one thing.

[00:08:05] [SPEAKER_00]: He was so mad at him.

[00:08:06] [SPEAKER_00]: It was like he was drugged or something.

[00:08:10] [SPEAKER_00]: At the end of the program, Tony took a bite out of his nasty looking piece.

[00:08:15] [SPEAKER_00]: He'd suck, mone with pleasure, and said he'd get me to try his food one day.

[00:08:25] [SPEAKER_00]: It was so creepy, Reagan actually apologized for it the week after it aired.

[00:08:32] [SPEAKER_00]: That bastard rat has starred in many of my nightmares.

[00:08:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Still can't watch cooking shows because of him.

[00:08:44] [SPEAKER_00]: Lally's funhouse was weird because it seemed out of place on a midnight block.

[00:08:52] [SPEAKER_00]: It was a kid's show about these three bulbous mascots named Lally, Lule and Lowe that bounced around and learned how to share or whatever.

[00:09:05] [SPEAKER_00]: I was a bit too old for it, but it was nice background noise while I caught up on comics or doodled.

[00:09:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Every episode, the mascots sat down and told the viewer how much they cared about them and how great a friend they were.

[00:09:21] [SPEAKER_00]: For some reason, I always caught myself saying it back.

[00:09:26] [SPEAKER_00]: A dumb show, but charming.

[00:09:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Saving the best for last, my favorite show was Ragewell, Radiant Retribution.

[00:09:40] [SPEAKER_00]: The concept was this angelic robot superhero guy, rescued kids and troubled by beating the shit out of demons.

[00:09:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Think Bible man, but replace the title character with the Doom Slayer and make the villains actual threat.

[00:09:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Nistalgia could be coloring my perception, but the special effects were some of the best I've ever seen.

[00:10:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Lots of massive puppets and intricate suits that looked so good.

[00:10:11] [SPEAKER_00]: I swore the monsters were real.

[00:10:15] [SPEAKER_00]: For some reason they didn't play it much.

[00:10:19] [SPEAKER_00]: If I had to gas, it was probably because it was way too expensive to run it every week.

[00:10:27] [SPEAKER_00]: The one weird thing about it was every episode would end with Ragewell talking to the viewer about how to protect themselves during spiritual warfare.

[00:10:38] [SPEAKER_00]: Always pray before bed, don't make deals with ghosts even if they seem friendly.

[00:10:45] [SPEAKER_00]: You salt to deter spirits, etc.

[00:10:50] [SPEAKER_00]: It wasn't bad advice necessarily.

[00:10:55] [SPEAKER_00]: Just seemed a bit esoteric for a kid's show.

[00:10:59] [SPEAKER_00]: I still think about this one, and wish I could find it online.

[00:11:07] [SPEAKER_00]: One of the best things about the block was there were never any commercials.

[00:11:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Instead, Ragewell would talk to the viewer between the shows.

[00:11:17] [SPEAKER_00]: If Mr. Rogers was your lovable grandpa, Ragewell was your cool aunt who'd let you watch our raid and movies and sneak you a sip of her beer.

[00:11:29] [SPEAKER_00]: She told a lot of funny stories, and occasionally read viewers' letters.

[00:11:34] [SPEAKER_00]: I tried writing to her once, but I couldn't send it because for some reason they never showed a mailing address.

[00:11:43] [SPEAKER_00]: I guess in hindsight, the letters could have been fake.

[00:11:48] [SPEAKER_00]: But I like to believe they were real.

[00:11:52] [SPEAKER_00]: I'd usually turn off the TV and go to bed when the white room programming was over, but occasionally

[00:11:59] [SPEAKER_00]: I'd stay up to see what happened in the black room.

[00:12:06] [SPEAKER_00]: When the white room shows ended, Ragewell would say goodnight to the kids watching, wait a moment, and snap, or fingers.

[00:12:14] [SPEAKER_00]: The color would then bleed out of her clothes and into the room, stating it in unnaturally dark black.

[00:12:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Ragewell now dressed in white would then introduce the night's programs.

[00:12:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Even as a child, the symbolism was about as subtle as a brick to the face, but it was a cool effect.

[00:12:41] [SPEAKER_00]: When Ragewell was in the black room, her personality shifted.

[00:12:46] [SPEAKER_00]: She was still playful, but in a more bitter way.

[00:12:51] [SPEAKER_00]: She never crossed over into being gay.

[00:12:54] [SPEAKER_00]: Sure, but she'd tease the viewer for watching such horrifying content in taunt people who were trying to record the block.

[00:13:03] [SPEAKER_00]: I never figured out how to tape shows for later, so I'm not sure if it was actually possible to tape crossing our or not.

[00:13:13] [SPEAKER_00]: That said, her stories of television sets catching fire turned me off, trying anything.

[00:13:23] [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't watch the black room very often because most of the shows were too freaky for me.

[00:13:33] [SPEAKER_00]: That said, I recall the ones I caught in my...raver moment.

[00:13:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Stolaz round table was a recurring segment that played every couple of weeks.

[00:13:47] [SPEAKER_00]: They'd usually show it first, so it was the black room show I caught the most.

[00:13:53] [SPEAKER_00]: In it, a man wearing a suit, gloves, and an owl mask sat in the middle of a nicely decorated study, and talked about current events.

[00:14:04] [SPEAKER_00]: New story, science, that kind of thing.

[00:14:08] [SPEAKER_00]: He added share, but for some reason he was always sitting in the middle of a white circle.

[00:14:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Usually, he was alone, but sometimes he invited guests on.

[00:14:23] [SPEAKER_00]: All of his guests also wore animal masks and sat in white circles.

[00:14:31] [SPEAKER_00]: I thought his show was boring most of the time, but I liked what he did whenever a guest said something he didn't agree with.

[00:14:40] [SPEAKER_00]: He'd always cut them off by saying the word, Drill, in a low voice.

[00:14:48] [SPEAKER_00]: Stolaz when let the silence sink in for a moment, then he'd continue on as if nothing had happened.

[00:14:55] [SPEAKER_00]: Guests almost always kept their answers to a short, yes or no after that.

[00:15:03] [SPEAKER_00]: In retrospect, most of Stolaz's guests seemed to be afraid of him.

[00:15:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Pretty creepy setup for what ultimately amounted to a talk show.

[00:15:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Leaders cunning him's chain bore was shot and what appeared to be a flooded basement.

[00:15:26] [SPEAKER_00]: The titular cleatus was a disgusting old hicc, who wanted to teach the viewer how to make real moonshine.

[00:15:35] [SPEAKER_00]: This one was hard to watch because it was recorded off a handheld camcorder.

[00:15:41] [SPEAKER_00]: The guy filming was terrible at keeping the camera steady.

[00:15:45] [SPEAKER_00]: So it was hard to make out what was happening.

[00:15:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Something about a party and harvesting ingredients.

[00:15:54] [SPEAKER_00]: I had to turn it off midway through because the camera work was so bad I started to get sick.

[00:16:01] [SPEAKER_00]: That, and someone in the background started moaning for help.

[00:16:09] [SPEAKER_00]: One nature special followed a camera which was being lowered into the ocean.

[00:16:17] [SPEAKER_00]: The camera must have been pressurized somehow because it went deeper and deeper without cracking or having an issue with transmitting video.

[00:16:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Eventually, the camera got so deep there was no light at all.

[00:16:36] [SPEAKER_00]: It was silent for a few minutes.

[00:16:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Then something in the dark and groaned.

[00:16:43] [SPEAKER_00]: Weird sounds reverberated through the water almost like chanting.

[00:16:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Before I could figure out what it was saying, the camera jerked hard in the footage cut out.

[00:17:02] [SPEAKER_00]: There was one untitled show that started out in a dark room full of shiny threads.

[00:17:11] [SPEAKER_00]: A soft voice in the darkness started talking, saying stuff about how kind it was of us to come into its home or whatever.

[00:17:22] [SPEAKER_00]: The topic turned to tonight's dinner and I realized something was slowly creeping towards the camera out of the darkness.

[00:17:32] [SPEAKER_00]: The voice was so hypnotic I didn't realize the thing was a giant spider until its face loomed out of the shadows.

[00:17:44] [SPEAKER_00]: Multiple eyes glittered medicinely is the spider clicked its mandibles and reared back.

[00:17:52] [SPEAKER_00]: I ripped off my headphones, dove for the remote, and turned the show off before the spider had a chance to do.

[00:17:59] [SPEAKER_00]: Whatever it was planning to do to the camera band.

[00:18:05] [SPEAKER_00]: I was already in a rack-na-fop, but that show made it so much worse.

[00:18:14] [SPEAKER_00]: The way those eyes glistened in the dark.

[00:18:21] [SPEAKER_00]: They show that only aired once looked like home video footage of a guy walking through a house.

[00:18:28] [SPEAKER_00]: The viewer never saw the guy's face or got an explanation about why he was there.

[00:18:35] [SPEAKER_00]: Halfway through the show, the camera man started filming people, sleeping in bed.

[00:18:42] [SPEAKER_00]: The creepy thing was the cameraman didn't do anything to them or say anything.

[00:18:49] [SPEAKER_00]: He just stood there for a bit and moved on.

[00:18:53] [SPEAKER_00]: The show ended when the cameraman grabbed into the basement and zoomed in on someone watching a TV.

[00:19:03] [SPEAKER_00]: The guy turned around and the show abruptly stopped.

[00:19:09] [SPEAKER_00]: I couldn't get a good look at the guy's face, but he seemed scared.

[00:19:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Even with the threat of potential nightmares hovering over my head, I couldn't stop watching crossing hour.

[00:19:26] [SPEAKER_00]: The problem was I couldn't talk to anyone about it.

[00:19:30] [SPEAKER_00]: If I told my parents, they know I was staying up too late in the kids at school that I was making it up for attention.

[00:19:38] [SPEAKER_00]: I felt bad about it at first, but then I decided to think about it like I'd been inducted into a secret club.

[00:19:47] [SPEAKER_00]: It was a fun feeling and it took my mind off the recent event.

[00:19:55] [SPEAKER_00]: And then one day I stopped watching all because of one specific show that really got to me.

[00:20:06] [SPEAKER_00]: It started out as a pretty great night.

[00:20:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Heck, Busters had a David episode and there had been a particularly kickass episode of Ragewell.

[00:20:17] [SPEAKER_00]: He'd been forced to fight a whole gauntlet of monsters at the same time and he still won.

[00:20:24] [SPEAKER_00]: Even managed to decapitate the monster that had originallyized the whole thing.

[00:20:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Seriously, best show ever.

[00:20:35] [SPEAKER_00]: After Ragewell's and credit ran, Reagan said goodnight and switched the show over to the black room.

[00:20:46] [SPEAKER_00]: I was just about to turn it off when a little voice in the back of my head told me to stick around.

[00:20:55] [SPEAKER_00]: I had just turned nine the day before, and I guess that made me feel more grown-up or something.

[00:21:02] [SPEAKER_00]: So what, if the black room I'm given me nightmares before?

[00:21:06] [SPEAKER_00]: The white room had two. It was just weird TV. I could handle it.

[00:21:14] [SPEAKER_00]: I settled in and watched the first program.

[00:21:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Another episode of Stolos, nothing special.

[00:21:22] [SPEAKER_00]: After Stolos ended a bumper-played like usual, but instead of Reagan's normal introduction,

[00:21:29] [SPEAKER_00]: the bumper faded in on an empty black room.

[00:21:36] [SPEAKER_00]: Offscreen, Reagan was arguing with someone.

[00:21:42] [SPEAKER_00]: Whoever it was is asked was getting chewed out.

[00:21:46] [SPEAKER_00]: This was new. I'd never heard Reagan get angry before.

[00:21:52] [SPEAKER_00]: After a few more seconds of arguing, someone pointed out they were on.

[00:21:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Reagan stepped into view, mixed her outfit, and glared at the camera.

[00:22:05] [SPEAKER_00]: She forced a smile, but I could tell she was still mad.

[00:22:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Hey there, Creep. This next program is going to be even spookier than usual.

[00:22:17] [SPEAKER_00]: Viewer discretion is advised.

[00:22:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Reagan held the smile for a moment that her face fell.

[00:22:28] [SPEAKER_00]: I know I say that every night, but I'm serious.

[00:22:32] [SPEAKER_00]: Kids, if you're still here, turn off the TV.

[00:22:37] [SPEAKER_00]: Now, naturally, Reagan's pleading had the opposite effect.

[00:22:46] [SPEAKER_00]: The black room was disturbing as a rule.

[00:22:50] [SPEAKER_00]: If Reagan was begging viewers to switch off, something crazy was about to happen.

[00:22:58] [SPEAKER_00]: Turning the TV off wasn't an option.

[00:23:03] [SPEAKER_00]: I had to see this for myself.

[00:23:09] [SPEAKER_00]: As for the rest of you sickos, let's start the show.

[00:23:13] [SPEAKER_00]: But have you remote ready just in case?

[00:23:17] [SPEAKER_00]: And if it talks to you directly, don't.

[00:23:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Reagan's face flickered out, replaced by static.

[00:23:29] [SPEAKER_00]: After a few seconds, a title card appeared.

[00:23:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Nothing fancy, just some white text on a black background.

[00:23:38] [SPEAKER_00]: The name of the program was invitation.

[00:23:45] [SPEAKER_00]: The screen cut to a dimly lit room filled with candles and weird symbols.

[00:23:52] [SPEAKER_00]: It was too dark to see exactly what the symbols were.

[00:23:56] [SPEAKER_00]: But they were all made up of circles and complicated line work.

[00:24:01] [SPEAKER_00]: The audio was bad too, like something recorded on an old home video camera.

[00:24:08] [SPEAKER_00]: They would demand walked into the room, cleared his throat and spoke to the camera.

[00:24:16] [SPEAKER_00]: Deep shadows made it impossible to see his face.

[00:24:22] [SPEAKER_00]: Welcome.

[00:24:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Tonight, we are going to invite a being from beyond the grave into our earthly plain.

[00:24:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Unlike this network's previous offerings, we will be seeing raw, uncontrolled,

[00:24:38] [SPEAKER_00]: evil on live television.

[00:24:42] [SPEAKER_00]: I look forward to the results.

[00:24:47] [SPEAKER_00]: The man drew a circle around himself, sat down and began muttering.

[00:24:55] [SPEAKER_00]: I tried to catch the words, but I couldn't understand what he was saying over the camera

[00:25:00] [SPEAKER_00]: buzz.

[00:25:02] [SPEAKER_00]: The man muttered for a few minutes, then raised his hand.

[00:25:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Hark, if any being hears me speak, speak and be known, nothing happened.

[00:25:19] [SPEAKER_00]: I laughed.

[00:25:21] [SPEAKER_00]: How all of that build up for nothing?

[00:25:25] [SPEAKER_00]: The man shouted again, trying to get a response.

[00:25:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Still nothing.

[00:25:32] [SPEAKER_00]: He stood and raged.

[00:25:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Damn, spirits! I demand you listen to the man's screened.

[00:25:42] [SPEAKER_00]: I looked at his feet and noticed in his haste he'd stepped slightly out of the circle.

[00:25:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Every inch of flesh outside the circle had been crushed flat.

[00:26:00] [SPEAKER_00]: The man barely registered what had happened to him before his foot began moving further out of the circle.

[00:26:08] [SPEAKER_00]: He tried to pull it back, but something was preventing him.

[00:26:13] [SPEAKER_00]: He screamed in pain as whatever held him slowly dragged him out of safety.

[00:26:22] [SPEAKER_00]: Seemingly, prepared for this the man pulled a knife out of his ropes and prepared to sever his leg.

[00:26:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Before he could swing the blade, the thing grabbing him yanked hard on his leg.

[00:26:40] [SPEAKER_00]: The man yelped and fell to the ground, now more than halfway out of the circle.

[00:26:47] [SPEAKER_00]: The knife had fallen out of his reach.

[00:26:50] [SPEAKER_00]: The invisible creature resumed slowly pulling the man out of his protective charm.

[00:27:00] [SPEAKER_00]: No, I'm sorry the man screamed as he attempted to claw his way back to safety.

[00:27:08] [SPEAKER_00]: I smoke out of turn, I am a loyal servant! I am your beloved servant!

[00:27:15] [SPEAKER_00]: By this point, the man was completely outside the protective boundary.

[00:27:21] [SPEAKER_00]: His hood had fallen off, revealing several tattoos on his face.

[00:27:27] [SPEAKER_00]: He looked scared.

[00:27:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Whatever was in the room with him forced him to stand.

[00:27:35] [SPEAKER_00]: He tried to run back to the circle, but the invisible creature pushed him away.

[00:27:43] [SPEAKER_00]: I leaned into the TV, absorbed by what I was seeing.

[00:27:48] [SPEAKER_00]: The man stood there.

[00:27:51] [SPEAKER_00]: For a moment, nothing happened.

[00:27:55] [SPEAKER_00]: Tears ran from his eyes as he looked around for any sign of his tormentor.

[00:28:04] [SPEAKER_00]: I'll make a sacrifice! Anything you want? Just don't!

[00:28:10] [SPEAKER_00]: That was when his body crumbled like a tin can.

[00:28:16] [SPEAKER_00]: I re-coiled back in shock.

[00:28:20] [SPEAKER_00]: One second, the guy was fine.

[00:28:23] [SPEAKER_00]: The next his body was flattened in the middle.

[00:28:27] [SPEAKER_00]: Blood trickled from his mouth as he gasped his last breath like the thinking died before the pain hit.

[00:28:40] [SPEAKER_00]: The corpse stood there for a few seconds before falling to the ground.

[00:28:46] [SPEAKER_00]: After that, nothing.

[00:28:50] [SPEAKER_00]: The body stayed on the floor.

[00:28:53] [SPEAKER_00]: The thing in the room was silent.

[00:28:57] [SPEAKER_00]: The camera buzzed around on...

[00:29:00] [SPEAKER_00]: ...man...

[00:29:05] [SPEAKER_00]: ...I still glued to the TV.

[00:29:09] [SPEAKER_00]: I reached for the remote.

[00:29:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Whatever came next wasn't worth it.

[00:29:16] [SPEAKER_00]: That was when the voice said...

[00:29:20] [SPEAKER_00]: ...don't touch that.

[00:29:23] [SPEAKER_00]: I froze.

[00:29:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Nothing had happened on the show.

[00:29:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Same dead guy, same vacant audio buzz.

[00:29:34] [SPEAKER_00]: But I'd heard it crystal clear through the headphones.

[00:29:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Whatever was in that room was talking,

[00:29:46] [SPEAKER_00]: ...and in your lap.

[00:29:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Now, I want to talk to you.

[00:29:55] [SPEAKER_00]: I did as the voice told.

[00:29:57] [SPEAKER_00]: It seemed like a bad idea but I couldn't help being curious about what it had to say.

[00:30:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Listen to me very carefully.

[00:30:08] [SPEAKER_00]: This man was a very bad person.

[00:30:12] [SPEAKER_00]: He did many terrible things.

[00:30:15] [SPEAKER_00]: He deserved to die.

[00:30:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Do you understand?

[00:30:22] [SPEAKER_00]: I couldn't help noting.

[00:30:26] [SPEAKER_00]: To this day, I'm not sure if it was because I agreed or because I was too scared to argue with that out of the way.

[00:30:37] [SPEAKER_00]: Hello, my newly devoted followers.

[00:30:41] [SPEAKER_00]: So lovely to meet all of you.

[00:30:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Light static haze covered the screen.

[00:30:50] [SPEAKER_00]: If I squinted the static just barely made a shape in the middle of the room.

[00:30:58] [SPEAKER_00]: It was vaguely humanoid but something about it wasn't right.

[00:31:04] [SPEAKER_00]: The arms would be too long, then they'd fix themselves,

[00:31:10] [SPEAKER_00]: but the head had horns.

[00:31:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Then the horns would disappear, but it would have too many legs and so on.

[00:31:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Devoted, you've tuned in tonight because you wanted to see evil.

[00:31:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Here I am.

[00:31:30] [SPEAKER_00]: And my watch you hoped for, there was a pause, the voice laughed,

[00:31:37] [SPEAKER_00]: and the fuzzy shape haste the room.

[00:31:41] [SPEAKER_00]: I noticed it steered clear of what remained of the circle,

[00:31:47] [SPEAKER_00]: the voted.

[00:31:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Can I be honest with you?

[00:31:53] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm thrilled.

[00:31:55] [SPEAKER_00]: I've never been able to talk to so many of you at once before.

[00:32:00] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't know what to say.

[00:32:03] [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, I know.

[00:32:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Would anyone like to make a deal?

[00:32:09] [SPEAKER_00]: The shape briefly looked at the camera,

[00:32:12] [SPEAKER_00]: then continued to pace the room.

[00:32:16] [SPEAKER_00]: I was starting to feel...

[00:32:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Let down.

[00:32:21] [SPEAKER_00]: The guy getting killed was scary, but this part was dragging on too long.

[00:32:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Oh, we've got our first one signed and dotted!

[00:32:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Devoted, you're too kind to me.

[00:32:37] [SPEAKER_00]: Anyone else?

[00:32:42] [SPEAKER_00]: This continued for a while.

[00:32:45] [SPEAKER_00]: The shape would pace the room, lanceth the camera,

[00:32:48] [SPEAKER_00]: say something about completing another deal, and start pacing.

[00:32:55] [SPEAKER_00]: As the program went on, the static shape grew clearer.

[00:33:00] [SPEAKER_00]: It got to the point where I didn't have to squint to see it anymore.

[00:33:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Devoted, you are all so wonderful.

[00:33:11] [SPEAKER_00]: I could deal with you all day!

[00:33:14] [SPEAKER_00]: I can't help noticing there are some viewers out there who haven't spoken up yet.

[00:33:21] [SPEAKER_00]: Isn't there something you want?

[00:33:25] [SPEAKER_00]: The comment got me thinking about...

[00:33:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Home.

[00:33:31] [SPEAKER_00]: The show was getting boring, so it wasn't long before I started day dreaming.

[00:33:37] [SPEAKER_00]: It would be nice to go back home.

[00:33:40] [SPEAKER_00]: See all the friends I had to leave behind,

[00:33:42] [SPEAKER_00]: hang out, put all my favorite spots again.

[00:33:46] [SPEAKER_00]: I could tell all my friends about crossing our two.

[00:33:49] [SPEAKER_00]: They'd believe me.

[00:33:52] [SPEAKER_00]: We could all have a sleepover and watch it together.

[00:33:55] [SPEAKER_00]: I could be the cool kid.

[00:33:58] [SPEAKER_00]: The kid everybody liked.

[00:34:03] [SPEAKER_00]: It's your stave it.

[00:34:05] [SPEAKER_00]: All you have to do is ask.

[00:34:11] [SPEAKER_00]: I jumped back to attention.

[00:34:13] [SPEAKER_00]: The thing was still pacing the room.

[00:34:17] [SPEAKER_00]: It had grown much clearer since I'd sewn out.

[00:34:21] [SPEAKER_00]: It was easier to see the transformations as a changed shape.

[00:34:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Spider-licks, bat wings, eyes with too many pupils.

[00:34:35] [SPEAKER_00]: Miss shaping hands, serpent like tails and goat heads,

[00:34:40] [SPEAKER_00]: and all sorts of other horrors flashed over the things frame

[00:34:45] [SPEAKER_00]: in impossible life-like detail.

[00:34:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Just looking at it made me feel sick.

[00:34:56] [SPEAKER_00]: You can have anything you want to devote.

[00:35:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Just ask.

[00:35:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Out loud.

[00:35:02] [SPEAKER_00]: Right.

[00:35:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Now.

[00:35:07] [SPEAKER_00]: There wasn't.

[00:35:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Underving forcefulness to the things voice.

[00:35:13] [SPEAKER_00]: I forced a chuckle and grabbed the remote again.

[00:35:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Ask.

[00:35:22] [SPEAKER_00]: I wimst.

[00:35:23] [SPEAKER_00]: In a ripped my headphones off.

[00:35:27] [SPEAKER_00]: The voice was so loud, my ears started ringing.

[00:35:31] [SPEAKER_00]: I quickly turned off the TV.

[00:35:34] [SPEAKER_00]: As the power cut out,

[00:35:36] [SPEAKER_00]: I heard a roar of frustration,

[00:35:38] [SPEAKER_00]: and bellow out of the headphones.

[00:35:42] [SPEAKER_00]: I can't be sure, but I swear.

[00:35:45] [SPEAKER_00]: The shape glared at me right before the screen went black.

[00:35:55] [SPEAKER_00]: I settled into bed and stared at the ceiling.

[00:36:00] [SPEAKER_00]: No matter how hard I tried,

[00:36:03] [SPEAKER_00]: I couldn't get to sleep.

[00:36:05] [SPEAKER_00]: I kept replaying the last part of the show in my mind.

[00:36:11] [SPEAKER_00]: David and the voted.

[00:36:16] [SPEAKER_00]: It sounded kind of similar,

[00:36:18] [SPEAKER_00]: but the voted had an extra syllable.

[00:36:22] [SPEAKER_00]: But if you set it fast enough,

[00:36:24] [SPEAKER_00]: it all sort of ran together.

[00:36:27] [SPEAKER_00]: And it was late.

[00:36:29] [SPEAKER_00]: I was tired.

[00:36:31] [SPEAKER_00]: But I heard, David.

[00:36:36] [SPEAKER_00]: I fell asleep before I could decide one way or the other.

[00:36:43] [SPEAKER_00]: That night I had some of the worst nightmares of my life.

[00:36:48] [SPEAKER_00]: Something was in my room.

[00:36:50] [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't want it to hurt me,

[00:36:52] [SPEAKER_00]: but I couldn't see it.

[00:36:55] [SPEAKER_00]: It kept moving around so I couldn't get a good look at it,

[00:36:59] [SPEAKER_00]: and it whispered things about what it would do to me and my parents.

[00:37:04] [SPEAKER_00]: Just when I was starting to calm down.

[00:37:08] [SPEAKER_00]: I woke up so many times.

[00:37:10] [SPEAKER_00]: I lost track of what was a dream.

[00:37:14] [SPEAKER_00]: And what was real.

[00:37:17] [SPEAKER_00]: At one point I woke up to a woman sitting on my bed,

[00:37:21] [SPEAKER_00]: but she shushed me before I could say anything.

[00:37:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Just me, huh?

[00:37:27] [SPEAKER_00]: Go back to sleep.

[00:37:32] [SPEAKER_00]: In my sleep, no, to state.

[00:37:34] [SPEAKER_00]: I reasoned she was either my mom or a dream.

[00:37:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Neither one was a threat,

[00:37:40] [SPEAKER_00]: so I shut my eyes and drifted off.

[00:37:45] [SPEAKER_00]: The rest of the night was peaceful.

[00:37:50] [SPEAKER_00]: The following nights, however, were plagued with similar nightmares.

[00:37:56] [SPEAKER_00]: None of them were as vivid as the first nights,

[00:37:59] [SPEAKER_00]: but they weren't just as terrifying.

[00:38:03] [SPEAKER_00]: It got so bad I couldn't even watch the white room shows anymore.

[00:38:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Eventually the fear became aversion.

[00:38:13] [SPEAKER_00]: And aversion became habit.

[00:38:17] [SPEAKER_00]: When my family moved out of the apartment and settled into our new house,

[00:38:22] [SPEAKER_00]: there were no complaints when my folks said

[00:38:24] [SPEAKER_00]: I couldn't keep the TV in my room anymore.

[00:38:29] [SPEAKER_00]: All desire to watch crossing hour was gone.

[00:38:36] [SPEAKER_00]: I didn't think about crossing hour again until a few years later.

[00:38:43] [SPEAKER_00]: One day, bored in science class.

[00:38:47] [SPEAKER_00]: I doodleed Raguell and my notebook margins.

[00:38:52] [SPEAKER_00]: The doodle activated all the good memories from before invitation.

[00:38:58] [SPEAKER_00]: And I decided, as long as I stuck to the white room,

[00:39:03] [SPEAKER_00]: it couldn't hurt to check in on Ragant and see how the block was doing.

[00:39:11] [SPEAKER_00]: That Saturday night at 11 o'clock,

[00:39:14] [SPEAKER_00]: I snuck downstairs to the basement.

[00:39:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Plugged in the old 9-inch set,

[00:39:21] [SPEAKER_00]: and flipped through every channel,

[00:39:24] [SPEAKER_00]: hoping against hope that I'd stumble on to crossing hour again.

[00:39:30] [SPEAKER_00]: I tried every channel twice.

[00:39:35] [SPEAKER_00]: It wasn't playing on any of them.

[00:39:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Every couple of weeks I tried again, no luck.

[00:39:46] [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe it was a regional.

[00:39:50] [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe it got canceled.

[00:39:54] [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe Ragant just got sick of it and shut it down.

[00:40:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Whatever the reason, crossing hour was off the air.

[00:40:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Which brings me to this post.

[00:40:12] [SPEAKER_00]: A cooking show came on last night and it reminded me of that damn rat.

[00:40:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Normally I click the show off and try to forget,

[00:40:23] [SPEAKER_00]: but this time got me thinking

[00:40:27] [SPEAKER_00]: as anyone else seen crossing hour.

[00:40:32] [SPEAKER_00]: If you have shoot me a message and we can chat about all times,

[00:40:38] [SPEAKER_00]: even better, let me know if you have tapes.

[00:40:42] [SPEAKER_00]: I'd love to watch Ragual again.

[00:40:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Keep invitation to yourself though.

[00:40:52] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't care if it was a trick,

[00:40:54] [SPEAKER_00]: or if it's not as scary as I remember,

[00:40:58] [SPEAKER_00]: or if I was hearing things at the end.

[00:41:02] [SPEAKER_00]: I never want to see it again.