Scratch is the fifteenth horror story release by Tremorphonic and is the current season's finale episode.

In this story we hear an episode of the Documented Lives podcast in which they present a mysterious vinyl record account of the memoirs of Reginald Holbourne, read by his grandson, Harold Holbourne. But does everything sound ok? Should you even be listening to this? What's the worst that could happen...?

Tremorphonic - The Sounds of Fear - is a collection of horror audio stories in a mixture of storytelling styles that are best served by the audio format.

Links:

Visit our website at www.tremorphonic.com

Select sound effects and backing music from www.fesliyanstudios.com

This story is also available on our YouTube channel: Listen to Scratch on YouTube

Episode Transcript:

(copied from automated closed captions)

Welcome to Tremorphonic audio horror stories you're listening to the season finale for series one of Tremophonic the sounds of fear today's story Scratch was actually the first audio story I wrote and was the reason for releasing my stories as podcasts please follow my Tremorphonic social media and podcast accounts and share my posts and stories to a wider audience thank you for supporting Tremorphonic through series 1 and I hope to see you again for series 2. Now it's time to sit back and listen to Scratch

Hello everyone and welcome to Documented Lives your weekly adventure into the extraordinary stories of ordinary people i'm your host Emma and join me as we talk about the folks that you won't find mentioned in the history books I've got a really unique story for you today and it's a privilege to bring you something so rare it's a media format that we've never aired before and it's quite mysterious really so last week we received a package at our London offices containing just a single vinyl record there was nothing on it no label no documentation it was just a plain white paper sleeve and on the front it said Harold Holbourne reads the memoirs of Reginald Holbourne 15 June 1967. So quite a curious one so it's fair to say this piqued the interest of the producer and myself when we started doing a little bit of investigating into these names to see what we could find out now other than birth and marriage records often there isn't a lot that we can find but we did find some mentions of them in old newspaper articles and there's some very interesting stories about Reginald's lucky escapes at the end of the 19th century here's what we've managed to piece together so far Harold appears to be Reginald's grandson there's also mention of Archie and I think Archie is Harold's dad and therefore Reginald's son are you following good so it seems that Reginald had been traveling across europe but for some reason many details of his journey are just unknown Harold however decided to publish an audio account of his grandfather's story in 1967 and we're lucky enough to be able to share that with you today Harold recorded the memoirs in Oxford but newspapers reported that the day after there was an unexplained fire and this were thought to have destroyed the recording along with all of reginald's handwritten documents even weirder Harold just kind of disappeared immediately afterwards there's some police records that state actually that he was the prime suspect in starting the fire the only record I can find about him after the fire seems to suggest that maybe he moves to a remote scottish island but there's nothing official there's just hearsay from local papers in 1968. so ladies and gents what we have for you today is apparently that vinyl record that was supposed to have been destroyed as far as we know this is the only copy that exists it's a little warped probably some fire damage but we've test played a few minutes just to make sure it sounds okay there might be a few kind of skips or distortions but overall we think it's going to be okay and we want to experience this together this is a documented lives first we're gonna play for you the vinyl record in full we can only apologize for any interference with the sound but we think it's worth it so let's get to it here is the only known recording of the memoirs of Reginald Holbourne presented by and with a forward from his grandson Harold

Hello and thank you for this opportunity to create this audio recording I've had my grandfather's letters and journals for a number of years since I inherited them from my father my father Archibald told me that he'd never read them as he wanted to remember his father the way that he'd last seen him a happy-go-lucky optimist who was always filled with enthusiasm for adventure my father told me stories of Reginald his incredible expeditions to the Amazon and middle Americas my grandfather fancied himself an archaeologist and scientific researcher always on the search for an original find he had attended Oxford University and stayed in close contact with his professor there who provided him with funding for his investigations enabling him to pursue his passion my father Archibald known to the family as Archie was 12 when his father died and he grew up in Oxfordshire with my grandmother and her sister who moved in with them shortly after the funeral my father married my mother Glenda in 1911 and I was born a year later I knew nothing of my grandfather until my father returned from the war and felt that it was time I understood more about our family history however he made me promise never to read these documents within his lifetime in case I felt the need to tell my father about the content I kept that promise and for that reason I first read these reports two years ago and soon felt the need to contact yourselves sorry the recording company here so that I could create a longer lasting version than the delicate paper they were written on I must emphasize that I do not read these letters with pride for the man my grandfather was more out of duty to honor the memories of those caught up in and affected by the events that surrounded my grandfather's journey until now no living person has heard the reports I will recount here today so please listen well

the first letter was the only one addressed to my grandmother and helps us to understand where he was at the time of these events both geographically and mentally

28th of january 1897. My dearest Martha we arrived at our lodgings above the coach house today just before sundown i'm not certain what the nearest town is called but it should be on the postmark when you receive this we've not seen a large settlement for a couple of days but we are carrying enough supplies to last us the mountains here are a sight to behold a lot like that painting that used to hang above your parents' mantle the silent nature of the roads we're traveling can be eerie at times with only the sounds of nature wind and the trundling axle of the cart wheels the sight of the surrounding snow-covered peaks clear-cut against a crystal sky stretching endlessly on and on is something a person can hardly tire of the winter weather adds to the natural beauty and a cold crisp air keeps us alert

the sun is settling later here and back in England allowing for perhaps an extra hour of journey during daylight the roads are unsteady at the best of times it's not worth traversing these mountains in the dark the risk of coming off the road is too high but do not worry for me my love our young coachman Alistair an English adventure seeker and mountaineer has taken this route many times before and knows the safest routes and resting places between here and our destination in Milan the mountains here in Switzerland are breathtaking I wish you could have shared this expedition with me but alas I know these long journeys no longer agree with you like they used to Walter though is good company he may only be young but he provides very intelligent conversation his unique insights into my own research are why I hired him as an assistant after all I hope you and our little Archie are coping well with the continuing cold weather I hope it's not as bad as it was at Christmas I don't think I'll ever see that much snow again even here in the foothills of the mountains Alistair is quite the character so enthusiastic about this area he truly loves the mountains he's a keen traveler himself he's told me about his planned adventures in Mexico and India and tomorrow we travel to a set of Roman ruins that Alistair insists we must see while we travel through this way I will send you another letter when we reach Milan next week take care my angel, Reggie

the next letter was not dated but I deduced from the context that it was written the next day more like a report on the events than a letter he addressed it to his colleague and mentor back at University of Oxford

Dear professor Gardner you won't believe it our guide Alistair was such a great addition to our team the Roman ruins he showed us were worth every second of the detour I've never seen a site quite like it we parked the coach and horses a short walk away near the road and had to descend the mountainside by foot I took my satchel almost dropping it over the side at one point but thankfully I held my footing and gripped it tight I would have been devastated to lose the excavation kit you loaned me never mind my notebooks I daren't leave anywhere that I am not when we reached the base of the valley the site we were looking for still wasn't clear but a short stroll through a carved out chasm led to the most incredible sight it was simply a doorway in the side of the rock but at the same time so much more than just an entrance way the ancient timber doors would have stood 12 feet high and what remained had rotten back to just leave