Stuff You Should Know

SYSK's 2025 Shocktober Halloween Spooktacular

October 30, 2025

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  • The annual Halloween tradition in the **Stuff You Should Know: SYSK's 2025 Shocktober Halloween Spooktacular** involves reading two horror stories, the first being E.F. Benson's "Caterpillars," which features a shocking reveal connecting monstrous caterpillars to cancer. 
  • The hosts praise co-producer Ben for his production work on the Spooktacular and promote his instrumental music collection, *Songs for Sleeping Dogs*. 
  • The second story, "The Deep Drowse" by the mysterious Allison B. Harding, introduces a wealthy author who relies on a hermetically sealed, air-conditioned room to escape severe hay fever, setting up a scenario where his isolation may be crucial to the unfolding horror. 
  • The narrative, part of the **SYSK's 2025 Shocktober Halloween Spooktacular**, details the rapid, mysterious incapacitation of Arthur and Fran's friends and acquaintances due to an atmospheric change that induces a deep, fatal sleep, referred to as 'The Deep Drowse.' 
  • Arthur and Fran survive the initial catastrophe by sheltering in their oxygen-supplied cave, realizing the outside air has lost a necessary ingredient for human consciousness, leading to widespread, sudden collapse. 
  • The story concludes in a far future where animal species, having inherited the Earth after the 'suspension of biped civilization,' interpret Arthur Hodges' written account as a historical record of humanity's self-inflicted downfall via tribal warfare concepts like 'atom bomb' and 'poison gas.' 

Segments

Spooktacular Kickoff and Ben Tribute
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(00:00:01)
  • Key Takeaway: The annual ad-free Spooktacular tradition involves reading two stories chosen by the hosts, with co-producer Ben receiving praise for his editing.
  • Summary: The Stuff You Should Know: SYSK’s 2025 Shocktober Halloween Spooktacular begins with the hosts introducing their tradition of reading two horror stories. Co-producer Ben is credited with creating a moody masterpiece from the two selected stories, “Caterpillars” and “The Deep Drowse.” Ben, who is also a musician, has a new instrumental collection available called Songs for Sleeping Dogs.
Reading E.F. Benson’s ‘Caterpillars’
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(00:00:43)
  • Key Takeaway: E.F. Benson’s story “Caterpillars,” first published in 1912 in The Room in the Tower and Other Stories, features a terrifying payoff involving foot-long, luminous caterpillars with crab-like pincers.
  • Summary: The first story, “Caterpillars” by E.F. Benson, is set at the Via Cascana on the Italian Riviera and details the narrator’s growing unease in the house. The climax involves the narrator discovering hundreds of foot-long, grayish-yellow caterpillars with pincers crawling on the bed in an unoccupied room. The story later implies these creatures were a physical manifestation of cancer, which had previously afflicted the room’s occupant.
The ‘Caterpillars’ Revelation
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(00:09:48)
  • Key Takeaway: The narrator’s terrifying dream of monstrous caterpillars is confirmed to be real when his houseguest, Inglis, finds a small, identical caterpillar with crab-like feet and names it Cancer Inglisensis.
  • Summary: The narrator’s horror intensifies when he realizes the creatures from his dream are real after seeing one in the unoccupied room and later when Inglis presents a small specimen at lunch. Inglis mockingly names the creature after himself, Cancer Inglisensis, before the narrator throws the box out the window. The story concludes with the revelation that Arthur Inglis later died of cancer, suggesting the creatures transmitted the disease.
Introducing ‘The Deep Drowse’
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(00:34:38)
  • Key Takeaway: The second story for the SYSK’s 2025 Shocktober Halloween Spooktacular, “The Deep Drowse” by Allison B. Harding, concerns a wealthy writer whose severe hay fever necessitates a hermetically sealed study.
  • Summary: The second story, “The Deep Drowse,” is attributed to the mysterious Allison B. Harding, who wrote several stories for Weird Tales in the 1940s and 50s under a pseudonym. The protagonist, Arthur Hodges, is a successful writer who uses an expensive, air-conditioned room, or ‘cave,’ to avoid summer pollen. This sealed environment becomes central to the plot as the story begins on a hot August evening when Arthur and his wife Fran plan a party.
First Contact Failures
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(00:58:09)
  • Key Takeaway: Initial phone calls reveal that friends like Mary and Tim are unresponsive or speaking lethargically, suggesting a widespread, immediate affliction.
  • Summary: Fran’s call to Mary and Tim reveals they are difficult to understand, with Tim having collapsed after returning from the station. Arthur and Fran speculate this could be food poisoning, but the symptoms are inconsistent across different locations.
Radio Interruption and Renewed Concern
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(01:01:17)
  • Key Takeaway: A brief, false alarm of a presidential announcement via radio is quickly dismissed, but Fran insists on calling Jack and Cynthia again, sensing something is deeply wrong.
  • Summary: The radio plays jazz until an MC sounds sleepy, followed by a false emergency bulletin that Arthur dismisses as sounding like Pee-Wee Herman. Fran, still unsettled, resolves to call their other friends, Jack and Cynthia, despite Arthur’s reluctance.
Second Contact Failures
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(01:02:18)
  • Key Takeaway: Attempts to contact Cynthia and Jack result in Arthur hearing a sloth-like, droning voice indicating they are also incapacitated and unable to get help.
  • Summary: The second call to Cynthia yields a slow, laborious response, suggesting she and Jack are drugged or sick, unable to secure aid. Arthur then tries Dr. McCollum, who also responds strangely before the line goes dead, confirming something deeply abnormal is occurring.
Barns Contact and Deepening Isolation
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(01:04:47)
  • Key Takeaway: Calling the Barns confirms the pattern, as Tim answers with slurred words, mentioning ‘The Deep Drowse,’ before Arthur’s urgent warning to call police is met with unintelligible gurgling.
  • Summary: Arthur calls the Barns, where Tim answers lethargically and mentions ‘The Deep Drowse’ before Arthur’s instructions to call for help are cut off. Subsequent attempts to reach the police result in only a yawn before the line goes silent, establishing total communication failure.
Total Communication Blackout
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(01:07:04)
  • Key Takeaway: All communication methods—telephone lines and radio broadcasts—cease functioning normally, leaving Arthur and Fran in complete isolation.
  • Summary: The radio reverts to playing music automatically without commentary, and dialing any number, including the operator, yields only ringing or silence, confirming the outside world has gone quiet. Arthur tests multiple lines, confirming the wires and electricity seem functional but unresponsive to human input.
Testing the Outside Air
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(01:09:26)
  • Key Takeaway: Arthur hypothesizes that the air outside is the cause and tests his theory by checking on Mr. Hoskins, who confirms seeing people lying motionless in the street before succumbing himself.
  • Summary: Arthur calls Mr. Hoskins, the movie house caretaker, who confirms seeing people lying in the street, suggesting an accident, but then succumbs to the effect himself before Arthur can warn him. Arthur realizes the danger is external and decides he must investigate briefly.
Physical Effects of Outside Air
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(01:11:24)
  • Key Takeaway: Arthur’s brief foray outside confirms the air causes immediate lightheadedness, illness, and overwhelming drowsiness, forcing a rapid retreat to the cave’s pure oxygen.
  • Summary: Fran is terrified when Arthur leaves, but he returns quickly, noting the air’s flat, stale quality and experiencing sudden fatigue and drowsiness within eight minutes. The cave’s oxygen supply becomes the critical factor for survival against the potent external agent.
Survival Calculations and Rationing
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(01:15:03)
  • Key Takeaway: By the morning of the next day, Arthur calculates their oxygen supply will last only seven or eight days, forcing them to ration the precious air.
  • Summary: After gathering supplies, Arthur determines their canned food is plentiful, but the oxygen cylinders are finite, estimating a maximum of seven to eight days of breathable air. Fran briefly leaves the cave for a small item, reinforcing their pact to never leave the safe zone again.
The Final Days and Acceptance
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(01:20:27)
  • Key Takeaway: As oxygen dwindles on the twelfth day, Arthur and Fran accept their fate, choosing to remain together in the cave rather than face the unknown outside.
  • Summary: With oxygen critically low, Arthur reduces the flow, extending their time slightly, but they realize their isolation is absolute as phones and radio remain dead. They decide the known confinement is preferable to the outside, where the air caused immediate, overwhelming sleep.
The Rabbit and The End
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(01:24:18)
  • Key Takeaway: Just as Arthur and Fran embrace for what they believe is their final moments, they see a rabbit hopping normally outside, prompting them to leave the cave, only to immediately succumb to the outside air’s effects again.
  • Summary: A rabbit hopping normally outside gives them a surge of hope, leading them to exit the cave, but the familiar, overwhelming desire to sleep strikes instantly upon exposure to the outside air. They collapse on the lawn, accepting their end together.
Future Historical Interpretation
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(01:27:52)
  • Key Takeaway: Future enlightened beings, who do not understand war, discover Arthur Hodges’ manuscript detailing the 12 days of ‘The Deep Drowse’ and misinterpret the cause as tribal warfare rather than atmospheric change.
  • Summary: The Institute of Hieroglyphics studies A. Hodges’ record of the 12 days, labeling the event the ‘suspension of biped civilization’ caused by a cosmic force altering the oxygen belt. The future scholars incorrectly attribute the cause to bipedal conflict, misunderstanding terms like ‘atom bomb’ and ‘poison gas.’
The Final Fate of Humanity
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(01:31:53)
  • Key Takeaway: The atmospheric alteration specifically targeted the biped species’ cortex, causing unconsciousness and starvation in sleep, leading to their extinction while other life forms adapted and inherited the Earth.
  • Summary: The cosmic force subtly changed the atmosphere’s ingredients, which only the ruling biped species could not tolerate, causing them to fall into a stupor and starve. The last surviving biped was captured by animals, whose descendants now rule, viewing humanity as fundamentally unfit.