Entry 1 - Part 1: The Sanatorium (from the Mansions of Madness anthology)

Seems  a Dr. Adolphus Brewer claims he's about to publish papers proclaiming hypnotic research revealing prior lives of some of his patients. Thus the Medical Board has tasked Dr. Henry Teller to verify those claims. So Henry and his younger wife Amanda contract an investigative team to join them on a sail to the northern island in the Boston harbor area. Two cases of Irish whiskey...supposed ingredient in Dr. Brewer's research. Yeah, full bottle of that will get anyone talking crazy shit!

"Meet us at the docks, pier 234 at 1600 tomorrow." Perfect, just after the shift change of the cops patrolling the docks. Jerry's on the payroll and conveniently takes a break before the whiskey cases arrive. Capt. Ebenezer White welcomes all aboard Dr. Brewer's private yacht (Johnson) for the 2 hour sail across the bay. Spooky sailing with the bay lighthouse light out. Only a setting sun to guide the way.

We arrive at the island pier. Long climb up the stairs anchored along the 100 ft cliff-side. Mick hefts 2 cases trying to show off for Amanda, while Eddie carries the extra case...breakage coverage. Hey, we were paid WELL. Potential long term customer...gotta make a good first impression. At the top we find the two story Sanatorium where Dr. Brewer conducts his research. Loud generator in the back provides lighting.

As we wait for someone to answer our knock at the door, a crazed man appears, rushing toward Amanda. "Evil, evil, all women are evil. The bringer of the evil one!" Eddie tackles him, about the same time an elderly woman (Blanch) answers the door. "You'll have to excuse Leonard. He's been outside and missed his medicine. Come along Mr. Hawkins." So this is the crazed man the ship captain spoke of...accident victim…had a rod shoved right thru his frontal lobe!

We enter to find a grand staircase as Blanch directs us to the right, "Wait in the Library as I fetch Dr. Brewer. Don't mind the connecting room; still a little messy. Haven't had time to clean it yet, chairs and all knocked about. Be quiet as the nurse is sleeping."

Inside the library a young woman reads a book.

Hushing us as we speak. Eventually frustrated by our rudeness, she leaves in a huff. Meanwhile, curious, we enter the connected room. Sprawled on the couch, lies a woman in a nurses outfit. Scissors jammed in her eye socket, pool of blood growing on the carpet. Freaked out, Dr. Teller is now in a rush to get his wife to safety. To the docks and waiting ship!

No ship. Just the lifeless body of the captain. Throat slit, near decapitation. The ship about a mile out sailing on her own.  We climb back to the house, securing the doors best we can. Sudden realization Blanch was not staff. No nurse outfit. She must be one of the patients.

We hear keys in the locked inside door. "I thought I asked you to wait in the library. Can't you see the floor is nicely mopped. What a mess. Upstairs and down. Took me hours before you got here. Sorry, but Dr. B is upstairs in his office sleeping." We take the opportunity to ask Blanch who else resides in this house. She gives us the rundown:

PATIENTS	STAFF
.................................... Blanch---busy old woman Colonel Crandel---civil war vet Mr. Barber---cross dresser Mrs. Randolf. Leonard Hawkins---we already met him Darleen---the young library gal Allen Harding---odd man	.................. Dr. Brewer Catherine---nurse Bobby---male nurse Melba---maid Charlie---orderly

It's time to find the doctor; so, we relieve Blanch of the keys, only after promising to make the rounds and care for the patients till Dr. B wakes. Up and down the hallways searching for anyone and everyone.

 

Doesn't take long to find Dr. B. Dismembered! Head stuffed in his stomach cavity. So this is Blanche’s idea of "sleeping." Dick finds paper taped under a desk drawer, safe combo? Desk notes outline some of the doctor's recent works. Copy of his article: "Upon administration of the drug mixture, subject A exhibits no response. Subject B becomes more biblical in his rants...dark tones...'He who waits.' Subject C has several personalities, one of them claiming to live in the times of the Pharaohs."

We then find his file cabinet; folders for each patient:

Crandel	advanced senility
Barber	suicidal transgender
Darlene	first acts as an Irish woman named Fanny, however with time she becomes Annephis of Egypt who died 3000 years ago.
Allen	will talk in a deep intelligent voice nothing like his own and its statements are arrogant and cruel.
Leonard	the head wound
Randolf	long term alcoholic
Blanche	she murdered her entire family on Christmas eve

Shelves of medicine, records showing doses and prescriptions for each patient. A specific list that compiles his "cocktail" of drugs that induce the hypnotic ease to slip into the other personalities.

Paying patients have the nicer upstairs rooms. Allen, Darlene, and Leonard are kept in the cellar.

Across the hall, exam room, we find the safe. Book inside is the "Castro Manuscript" written by a Spanish monk who examined the ravings of Castro during the 15th century. Castro displayed multiple personalities with one talking about "Those Who Wait" laying waste to Egypt, but only at night for fear of Ra, until priestess Annephis faced them and drove them into the Nile and out to sea.

As Eddie and Dr. T take Blanch up to her room, they find the male nurse Bobby...neck broken. Head turned 180 degrees! Dr. T anxious to get back to his wife, only to arrive at the sound of a blood-curdling scream from outside. Mick goes to a back door only to find the maid Melba near death. Legs lacerated, blood pooling, only moments of breath to blame a monster. Mick puts a bullet thru her eye to put her out of her misery. And of course the shot startles the rest of us further inside. More startling to Mick, the door leading outside is ripped from its hinges. Worse, the entire wall knocked flat as if some large thing escaped. Would have taken dynamite except we didn't hear an explosion.

About as startled when the group goes to Allen's room finding him smearing blood on the walls as if trying to erase an earlier drawing. "Must close the gate, close the gate. Too late, he has come." The bony ends of Allen's fingertips tell his desperation trying to erase the image.

Dr. Teller medicating the patients to control that situation as we try to figure out WTF. Mick demanding the doctor administer the 'concoction' to Darlene in an attempt to learn what she has seen. But she speaks in riddles, non-sense, of a ghostly image floating past her doorway. Spooks the crap out of Mick who now believes we are dealing with more than just deaths caused by a crazed man.

And if things can't get worse, the lights flicker, then go out, as we hear the generator chug to a stop. Dick grabbing flashlights found in the mop closet as only Eddie braves going out into the night to fix the motor. Except its out of gas, and the extra gas is down at the pumps next to the boat dock. Even Eddie wavering in his belief as he steps over a flattened cat. Looks more sucked dry than crushed by weight. WTF?!

COBTINUED: https://rigglew3.blogspot.com/2016/07/entry-2.html