Creepy - The Theater

Episode Date: July 10, 2017

There's an old game...***Presented by the Waterguns & Rainbows podcast, subscribe now at   https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/waterguns-rainbows/id1234952695?mt=2***Sound Design by John Ballentine***Title music by Alex Aldea***Intro/Outro Narration by Joe Stofko Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This is creepy. A podcast dedicated to sharing the most famous chilling and disturbing creepypastas and urban legends in the world. Whether these stories truly happened or are simply fabrications is for you to decide. These stories may contain graphic depictions of violence and explicit language. Listener discretion is advised. The Theater. Have you ever heard of an old game called The Theater? Yeah, I didn't think so.

Probably because many say it doesn't even exist. You see, the theater was an old game released around the same time as Doom. Today, if you ever find it, it's only available on crappy bootlegs CD-ROMs, which more often than not don't even actually contain a game. The actual legitimate copies that they say were released back in the day feature a blank cover with nothing but the sprite of what has since been named the Dicotaker. He's simply a poorly drawn, pixelated, bald Caucasian man with large red lips wearing a red vest over a white shirt and black pants. He is completely expressionless, though, some say if you smash the disc, his face is shown as angry the next time you look at the cover,

though, this is just dismisses an urban legend. What's peculiar about the theater, though, is that there is no developer named on the jewel case nor a game description on the back. It's simply the ticket taker on a white background on both sides. The game was initially known for its inability to install correctly. The installation process immediately locks up the computer when the user reaches the licensing agreement. Also strange about the licensing agreement for the theater is that whenever the development studio is supposed to be named, the text is simply a blank line. Anyway, most people who have claimed to own in one of the original CDs say that they figure

out how to install the game by simply rebooting their computer on the licensing agreement with the disc still inside. Then they're prompted to press, I agree, on startup. Then they continue with installation. If a player supposedly manages to find out what they believe to be a working copy, they've said that the installer window will freeze and stop responding before you can click your first next. But they do also say that their PCs do not lock up, and it's only the installer that freezes.

It is unknown if these are actual copies or fakes, but it's widely thought that these working copies are just to draw internet attention with no proof of installation effects. Upon proper installation, the game then starts up without any introduction besides the main menu that's simply the sprite of a movie theater's exterior on an empty city street. The title fades in and then the three menu buttons, new game load options. Selecting options immediately crashes the game to the desktop. Lotus had to not function at all. Even if you do have a safe game, nothing happens when you press it.

Thus, new game is the only working menu option. Once it is selected, you're in the first-person view. You're standing in empty movie theater lobby, with the exception of the ticket taker standing in front of a dark hallway, which one can only assume leads to the theaters themselves. There's nothing to do but look at the poorly drawn, mostly illegible movie posters or approach the ticket taker. Once the player moves towards a ticket taker,

a very low quality sound clip plays saying, Thank you, please enjoy the movie. Along with a speech box saying the same thing. You then walk into the hallway and the screen fades to black and you're back in the empty lobby. And you do the exact thing again and again and again. While this may sound like a really horrible game, a number of peculiar things occur as you continue to play it.

The number of times that you have to continue into the hall after giving your ticket to the ticket taker before the strange event happens is unknown. Most state that it's completely random and could take anywhere from the first play-through to the 400th. What happens, though, has deeply disturbed sound players. The first occurrence is when the player fades back in after walking into the hallway. This time, they'll notice a ticker-taker is completely absent. The player then, without any other options, decides to walk into the dark hallway.

The sound clip and text box mentioned previously still play in the absence of the ticket taker. But when the player walks into the hallways, the screen does not fade out. It goes pitch black as they walk deeper into the hall, but the player's footsteps sound clip is still playing as they continue to push the up button on their keyboard. Those claiming to have played the original game report that they felt extremely uncomfortable walking down the hallway, anticipating the whole way something horrible happening. Eventually the player is unable to move forward. There's nothing for a few moments before a strange sprite that's described as the ticket taker,

but with a swirl face, appears and stands before the player. The original players of the game say their bodies immediately froze up and their stomachs churned when they saw this sprite, which has been appropriately named the Swirley Head Man. Nothing happens as the Swirley Head Man stands before them. Then suddenly a piercing screech plays as a game glitches out. This lasts for a few minutes, with a screeching being continuous. Then the players abruptly return to the lobby with all the sounds and graphics being as they should be. The game continues normally for the next couple of cycles of entering the hallway,

with a couple of the original players claiming the Swirlie Headman would briefly appear and disappear in the corner of the screen as a brisk Yelp sound effects plays. Then, at some point after meeting the Swirley Headman, the player sees a ticket taker pacing back and forth. Though there's no walking animation, and the spirit's limbs are completely static, so he just hops up and down slightly as a substitute. With his eyes being wide and his mouth open to simulate a worried facial expression, some players noted that the movie posters have been replaced with the images of Swirley Head Man, which caused him to immediately turn their characters head away from the posters and approach to the ticket-taker. Then another different, low-quality sound clip plays.

but the speech box contains nothing but corrupted characters that cause whatever text that would have been in the box be completely illegible. Due to the extremely low quality of the sound, it's debated by players what exactly the ticket taker says at this point, though it's widely agreed that he says, never reach the other levels. Then the screen fades out again and returns the player back to their starting point in the lobby, but the ticket taker is gone and the hallway is blocked by a large brickwall sprite. Touching the brick wall will immediately crash the game, and that's all there is to it. No one knows what the other levels are, how to gain access to them,

nor is it known why the Swirley Headman causes such acute fear in those who have seen him in the game. All the original copies of the theater have either been lost or destroyed, but the creepiest part is that all the original players of the game claim to occasionally see a brief glimpse of the Swirley Headman. Out of the corner of their eyes. This episode of creepy is presented by water guns and rainbows. I'm Rick Coast, and I would like to give you a sneak peek at our new show Water Guns and Rainbows, starring Jessica Rainville and Brent Davidson. You can subscribe now through the Apple Podcast app or wherever else you consume your podcasts. Waterguns and Rainbows is a Rick Coast production.

Learn more at modernodrama.com. Let me start by saying that I'm not crazy. Oh, she's crazy. Shut up. I am not. Listen, it could be fun. An adventure. Like we used to have. Only this time, we wouldn't be looking for the strangest bars in town. We'd be...

Chasing rainbows. Well, yeah, one rainbow. Guys, stick to the script. Don't piss off the creator. But it's nothing that a good old squirt of the water gun won't cure. You make it sound dirty. Can we just end it here? What? The adventure?

No way. We just... No, no, the episode. Um... Yeah, I... suppose, but I think there are some more lines. I think this works better. Okay.

We're going to shoot that rainbow with these. That's a water gun. What else would you shoot a rainbow with? It's like the chicken or the egg, which came first? The script or us? Makes your head hurt, doesn't it? A little. You're going to steal my gab now?

Make me get out and take my pants off? Okay. Now who's disgusting. I should have never come here. My mother said that this was going to happen. Why is it so hard to be me? For more information, including pictures and videos of the stories told on this podcast, or to suggest stories for future episodes, please visit us at CreepyPod on Twitter,

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