Absolutely love this episode! First heard it when I was 11 years old in the summer of '78 and it stayed with me for 30+ years 'til I managed to get a copy of my own a few years back.

The mood and atmosphere were first-rate. You could really visualize the men moving through the darkened, eerie rooms of the ancient "modern" house. The whole second act was as spooky as I remembered as a kid.

The pacing is also excellent. The listener is just as frantic as Michael Wager (an excellent performance) to get back to the house and find the ninth volume before it's too late and yet we all know --it will be. What was the major catastrophe we needed to avoid?

Question. How do other listeners interpret the ending? When the house collapses, as it's exposed to the fresh air, do John Perk and the Professor get out alive? Or are they killed in the house's collapse? When, I was little, one of the reasons this episode so haunted me was I assumed our protagonist was killed. What do all of you think? Whenever I listen to this one now (which is quite often) I go back and forth about the last scene.

After "Death Is a Woman" and "The Judge's House" I would say this is my favorite RMT. The unanswered questions at the end just make it even more entertaining. The stories that leave you guessing (and thinking) long after the final curtain has come down are the ones that really fire the imagination.

On a side note: during a previous discussion of this show, someone mentioned the "Quiet, Please" episode "The Thing on the Fourbleboard"-- I'm so grateful they did! I stayed up to listen and record a copy of it when it was on a old time radio station @ 6 months ago-- because of their recommendation. If any of you ever get a chance to hear this tale--DO!!!!!!!!!! It is, without a doubt, one of the creepiest, shivers down the spine, radio dramas you'll ever experience.