Welcome, dear listeners, to another installment of this month's holiday haunts, our annual series of seasonally sinister radio plays.

The following exercise in terror was executed live at the Bickford Theater at the Moores Museum in Morristown, New Jersey, on Sunday, December 4th, 2016.

Music 2016. Hello, everyone. I'm Ali Silva.

We are absolutely thrilled to be sharing with you this special holiday edition of Fireside Mystery Theatre here at the beautiful Bickford Theatre at the Morris Museum in Morristown, New Jersey. What a magnificent theater this is!

We're so glad that you can join us.

Happy holidays.

A long time back, particularly in the mid-18th century,

if you were wealthy and distinguished enough,

one of the most lavish Christmas gifts you could ever hope to receive

was your very own automaton.

Now, what exactly is an automaton, you might ask?

By definition, an automaton is simply a self-operating machine.

But more often the word is used to describe mechanical figures

that have been designed to imitate the movements of humans and animals.

Think of the audio-animatronic figures at the Walt Disney theme parks

on rides such as Pirates of the Caribbean.

Yo-ho, yo, yo, oh, oh, myness like to be,

but as hard as it might be to believe, this curious practice, where art meets science to create the illusion of life?

Well, it goes back far into our human history.

Breatthaking examples of automata can be found in all corners of the globe.

From China to ancient Greece to medieval France, clockwork mechanisms that with the

simple crank of a turnkey brings to life human or animal-like figures,

...