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Thank you. From the blackest corners of your mind, they call, pulling you deep into shadow, twisting your senses, keeping you from sleep.

It's time to face your darkest fears. This is Tales to Terrify. Good evening, children of the night, and welcome.

This week finds us cruising through the rolling wooded hills of Vermont.

I mentioned an episode or two ago, but fall is really an amazing time of year to be in this neck of the woods.

There are few places in the world where death and decay are quite as vibrant and beautiful and well photographed.

The deep reds, oranges and yellows of dying foliage is undeniably beautiful, almost surreal.

But it's also the sign of things to come. The frigid temperatures, piercing winds,

and heavy white blanket of snow that come with Vermont winters. Weathering winters like this

isn't something many people look forward to. The first few months of the year are dark, long, and often bitterly cold.

But as much as a discomfort as they are for us now, back in the late 1800s, they were downright perilous,

with limited food and fuel to keep the stoves and stomachs full through the long winter months,

it often came down to a game of numbers.

The more mouths to feed and the more bodies to heat, the thinner supplies were stretched.

But one Vermont family, it turns out,

had come up with a pretty unique way of solving that problem.

The method came to light in the December 21, 1887 issue,

of the Montpelier, Argus, and Patriot,

after a reporter discovered his Uncle William's old diary.

...