Welcome, dear listeners, to scary stories told in the dark.

I'm Malcolm Blackwood, your host and storyteller.

And you know where I'm from, we don't do bedtime stories.

So, if that's what you're expecting, you're in the wrong place. If it's

terrifying tales you're after, well, then I've got just the thing. So, get comfortable,

settle in, turn off the lights, if you dare. Your night is about to get a whole lot darker.

Besides, who needs sleep anyway?

Good evening, listeners, and welcome to scary stories told in the dark, where unease slips in quietly and leaves long after the story ends.

I'm your host, Malcolm Blackwood. Tonight, we're exploring a familiar idea, one you've likely brushed up against more times than you'd care to admit.

The belief that terrible things don't just happen, that they're paid for.

That somewhere along the way a cost was calculated, a compromise was made, a line quietly crossed.

We tell ourselves that monsters wear obvious faces, that evil announces itself, that systems designed

to protect us could possibly be the ones doing the most damage.

But horror often lives in the places we trust the most, behind counters, inside routines,

buried beneath fluorescent lights and handwritten signs that promise everything is under control.

Because the most unsettling truth of all is that sometimes the world's most harrowing

horrors are hidden within the ordinary.

Before we begin, a brief word of thanks.

Scary stories told in the dark is made possible by listeners like you,

especially those who support us in the chilling tales for Dark Night's patrons area.

As a patron, you'll receive early access to episodes,

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