1.05  The Mask of Inanna	Release Date:  February 9, 2011 Running Time:  1:13:57

Story:  When the town's demon goes on a rampage, David Lewis reveals the secret of After Dark to Allen, in hopes that Allen has the key to stopping the demon.

After Dark:  "They Called Me Devil" — A WWII soldier recounts his memories being protected by the town's demon during the Battle of the Bulge.

Show Notes

I like my stories layered like a quadruple-stacked chocolate torte where every level compliments the next. I want my media to be a rich banquet of complimentary flavors. And as a famous fictional man once said, "I love it when a plan comes together."

And good gravy, Episode 5 came together. From a plot perspective, it is a beautiful clockwork beast that I didn't intend to come together as neatly as it did. I pray for the opportunities to write stories like this one, where all the connections link up as neat and natural as this.

I intended this episode to be the big reveal of the Church's intentions but I never wanted them to come out and say it. It had to be revealed organically and that revelation had to be the turning point of the episode. I broke my normal scheme by replacing the minisode with the journal entry, (and worse yet, not even a Bible story like the others) but the effect was worth it - so many mysteries were introduced in this episode and each revelation solves the next. The episode starts with only sound effects to explain the scene which gives it a more grounded sense of place than the flittering-around-through-history former sequences. This is really where audio drama shines, when speaking without words (in a similar manner to how many filmmakers prefer to create media with as few words as possible, and everything being told by the images themselves). I plan to do more of this.

That's Andy as Don, Scottie's nerdy Ye-Olde-Age-of-Unix dad, who I intended to do a lot more with until I cast Andy (we were short on actors) and realized we couldn't get away with him doing that voice much more.

The men who kept the lighthouses going (and it was mostly guys) had to record every vessel that went by. It's not a job I can imagine anyone today doing sober and without headphones.

So, Adams' story in which he becomes the Speed Bump is about Alzheimer’s Syndrome. My mother used to stay with a cousin of her’s, Nancy Heath, in Milton when she taught at UMass Boston, and I came over there a few times. Nancy’s husband was one of these very jovial Boston Brahmins who loved the symphony and always seemed eager to shake a stranger’s hand. Then his Alzheimer’s condition started to worsen. He had to be taken to an institution. He would wake up having no idea where he was. He got frustrated and started to punch people. I think he died about a year after he started showing symptoms.

I also took the story back to the nineteenth century to give the Church some kind of context about the environment from which they were breaking off. It was the Industrial Revolution and cities were really scummy. People were dependent on companies that didn't give a shit about them when they weren't on the job, so small wonder so many would shack up with the Divine for comfort.

Cinammon-B doesn't mean anything - I pulled the name out of my ass. I wanted Scottie and Lewis to have some kind of power over Allen, also showing his fragile state that he needed to be pumped up on goofballs just to remain functional.

I was going to do more with the Bump eating the disappointment from Valentine's Day cards but the story was too tight to let anything else in. Writers out there, let the story lead the way. Sacrifice yourself for its glory. It will outlast you.

I got that from an issue of Hothead Paisan.

Jessie and Lewis occasionally refer to Saint Jasmine, a fictional devotee of Inanna who I intended to write trickster stories about and never got around to it.

For the minisode, I watched most of Band of Brothers and read several journals of soldiers who had fought in the Battle of the Bulge. One of the things about these journals is that they never talk about the dead. Matt never mentions "the bodies" until he becomes a god in the midst of the battle while the Speed Bump strikes down all his foes. Then he has nothing to fear. And like the fool he is in that moment, he is struck down and dragged away. Life has a way of doing that.

Also, I couldn't figure out how Matt would get in a burning farmhouse at the end until I found a record online of Allied forces lighting cottages on fire in order to see oncoming troops at night. Serendipity right there.

It's kind of cute that the box holding the Mask of Inanna has its little "Ahh-ahh" chant. It's more recognizable than the "open wood box" sound effect that plays.

The original script actually continued after Allen shows the Mask to the Speed Bump - Jessie and Lewis explain why they left the diary for him as a set up to the original Episode 7 (script) - it was their anniversary of bringing the Church together after the Big Split that happened from the 60's through the 90's, and they thought they should tell him as part of the celebration. However, the episode had a stronger ending with Allen's heartfelt "You’re the best doctor a town could have." It brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it. Even the Speed Bump understands.

-Alicia E. Goranson, Show Author