**Caelwyn:** What did they find?
—
Stacy looks at the mountain of reports covering the table.
—
**Stacy:** Quite a lot.
—
Caelwyn takes the first page.
—
**SUBJECT OBSERVED LEAVING RESIDENCE AT 11:42 P.M.**
—
**Caelwyn:** Late.
—
**Stacy:** He works evenings at the hospital.
—
Another report.
—
**SUBJECT MAINTAINS ASSOCIATIONS WITH PERSONS OF QUESTIONABLE CHARACTER.**
—
**Caelwyn:** Who?
—
Stacy shows him three photographs.
A mechanic.
A teacher.
A woman carrying groceries.
—
**Caelwyn:** What did they do?
—
**Stacy:** They’re in other files.
—
**Caelwyn:** Why?
—
**Stacy:** Because they know him.
—
Caelwyn pauses.
—
**Caelwyn:** And why is he in this file?
—
**Stacy:** Because he knows them.
—
Another page.
—
Strange books.
Closed curtains.
Late-night music.
Unfamiliar visitors.
Political arguments.
Three bottles of aspirin.
—
**Caelwyn:** Aspirin?
—
**Stacy:** Three bottles.
—
**Caelwyn:** Good God.
—
**Stacy:** Try to remain calm.
—
For a moment, they smile.
—
Then Stacy turns another page.
—
A child’s statement.
—
*”Mr Harper sometimes talks to people who aren’t from around here.”*
—
Caelwyn’s smile disappears.
—
**Caelwyn:** How old is the child?
—
**Stacy:** Eight.
—
**Caelwyn:** They’re questioning children?
—
**Stacy:** Apparently children notice things adults miss.
—
**Caelwyn:** Children also believe wardrobes contain monsters.
—
Stacy looks at him.
—
**Stacy:** Adults do too.
—
Hours later, Caelwyn pushes the files away.
—
**Caelwyn:** There isn’t any evidence.
—
**Stacy:** There is.
—
**Caelwyn:** Of what?
—
Stacy looks at the mountain of paper.
—
**Stacy:** Fear.
—
That evening, they attend a neighbourhood meeting.
—
The hall is packed.
Parents.
Veterans.
Workers.
Teachers.
Shopkeepers.
—
Good people.
—
Frightened people.
—
**Speaker:** Something is happening in our community.
—
A girl disappeared.
Animals have been found dead.
People hear things in the woods.
—
The fear is real.
—
Then the names begin.
—
Someone owns strange books.
Someone keeps odd hours.
Someone speaks another language.
Someone refuses to attend church.
Someone attends the wrong church.
Someone has too many visitors.
Someone has none.
—
An elderly woman finally stands.
—
**Woman:** My neighbour has lived beside me for eighteen years.
—
She looks around the hall.
—
**Woman:** Now I’m supposed to suspect him because he reads books you don’t like?
—
A voice answers from the back.
—
“What if he’s one of them?”
—
The woman turns.
—
**Woman:** One of what?
—
Nobody answers.
—
Outside, Caelwyn lights a cigarette.
—
**Caelwyn:** They’re genuinely frightened.
—
**Stacy:** Yes.
—
**Caelwyn:** Something really may be happening.
—
**Stacy:** Yes.
—
**Caelwyn:** Then shouldn’t they be afraid?
—
**Stacy:** Of course.
—
A pause.
—
**Stacy:** But fear isn’t evidence.
—
Another burst of applause comes from inside.
—
Another name goes onto the blackboard.
—
**Caelwyn:** Suppose there really is something out there.
—
**Stacy:** Then we find it.
—
**Caelwyn:** How?
—
Stacy looks towards the dark woods.
—
**Stacy:** By looking for what happened.
—
Then towards the houses where neighbours watch one another through their curtains.
—
**Stacy:** Not for people who frighten us.
—
**Caelwyn:** That’s harder.
—
**Stacy:** Yes.
—
**Caelwyn:** Slower.
—
**Stacy:** Usually.
—
A telephone rings somewhere in the neighbourhood.
—
Another curtain moves.
—
Another name is whispered.
—
**Caelwyn:** Is that how a witch hunt begins?
—
**Stacy:** Yes.
—
**Caelwyn:** Because people believe in monsters?
—
Stacy shakes her head.
—
**Stacy:** No.
—
She looks back at the brightly lit hall.
—
**Stacy:** Because once people are frightened enough…
—
“…they need the monster to have a face.”
—
Beyond the last row of houses,
something moves between the trees.
—
Perhaps an animal.
Perhaps the wind.
Perhaps something else.
—
Nobody notices.
—
Everyone is watching their neighbours.
—
### **CTA — Campaign**
Fear is real.
That does not make every accusation true.
Enter **Pulp Cthulhu Noir**, where investigators must learn the difference before frightened people choose their own monsters.
https://startplaying.games/gm/dunchan
### **CTA — Patreon**
Want to go deeper?
Explore the historical, psychological and narrative research behind **The Witch Hunt**, **Inner Fire**, and Mythveil’s 1950s noir.
Because sometimes the most dangerous question isn’t whether monsters exist.
It’s what frightened people are willing to call one.
https://www.patreon.com/c/mythveilchronicles_bydunchanhuntergames