S15E20 - "Exsanguination" - Horror Hill

Erik Peabody (0:02)

Chilling Tales for Dark Nights.

Horror Hill is a horror anthology podcast bringing you scary stories from all corners of the internet and beyond. As such, certain stories include content that some listeners might find offensive. Listener discretion is advised.

Good evening, friends, and welcome back to Horror Hill. I'm the air bubble in your IV line, Erik Peabody. Tonight, I've got another story for you from Micah Edwards, continuing our special feature on this delightful author. If you haven't heard, the last few episodes featured stories of his as well, and we're building up to a reveal when things conclude in a couple of weeks. This tale tonight is titled The Bone Merchant. Avery is a young investigative reporter, tenacious, a bit naive, and always looking out for a good story. One day, she sees an ad for a local plasma donation clinic offering big bucks for new donors. It gets her thinking that there might be a story here, something about literally taking blood from people desperate enough to sell it. So, she does what any intrepid reporter would, and signs up for the program. Thus begins Avery's descent into a strange world of blood, amputation, and something far stranger. And I'm sure you're sick of hearing about it by now, but True Blood, Paul J. McSorley, Jeff Sturtevant and I also have a new show, Degenerated, a horror fiction podcast. We're not replacing Chilling Tales or anything, but if you want to supplement your horror consumption, it's worth checking out.

And now, from author Micah Edwards, I give you The Bone Merchant.

Patients depend on plasma. Earn up to $1,000 your first month. Make an appointment now.

From the beginning, Avery was only interested in the ad as a source for a potential story. She said as much to her roommate over breakfast when it interrupted her scrolling. Check it out, Val. She turned the phone around. Valentina flicked her eyes toward the screen and offered a disinterested grunt. People are literally selling their bodies. A thousand bucks a month for plasma. There's got to be an expose here.

Uh-huh. And that's why you're interested. Not because of the free money. I mean, if I were going undercover, I'd have to accept the money so as not to arouse suspicion. Right. Very noble of you. You notice that it only mentions the first month, right? Classic scam. Hook them up front and reel them in slowly. Well, yeah. That's where the expose comes in. And the rent money you owe? Where does that come in? Avery grinned. From the thousand bucks the first month? And after? From my Pulitzer for my stunning piece on how America eats its lower class.

Val shook her head. You ever think about just getting a job? I have a job. A job in your field, not a cashier's job. I like picking my own assignments. You like picking fights is more like.

Val wasn't wrong. Even back in college, working for the student paper, Avery had chafed at the insipid stories she was sent to pursue. Teacher voted best in English department. Campus cleanup judged a success. These were articles so obvious that she could have written them without ever talking to a single person involved. Her talent was wasted on this sort of fluff. Meanwhile, the campus was full of fraternity hazing and cover-ups, professorial misconduct and all sorts of intrigue. The good news was that the school paper hadn't been allowed to throw her out. No matter how many spirited discussions she'd had with her editor, he'd been required to keep her on staff and give her at least occasional assignments. Not good ones, necessarily, but they were still good practice and helped to build her portfolio. Avery had been sure that things would be different when she got into the real world. In a sense, she was right. The first time she complained about a bland article she'd been tasked to write, the paper fired her. In retrospect, possibly phrases such as, a story so boring it could be billed as euthanasia, and appealing only to milk toast morons, should not have made appearances in her argument. She tried to walk them back once it became clear that her new boss was significantly less interested in banter than the school editor had been, but it was far too late. Eager young reporters were a dime a dozen. The only thing setting Avery apart was her attitude, and that was no point in her favor.

She tried again, landing a job at a small local paper, but she lasted less than a month before she told the editor that risks brought rewards, and that his readership would always remain small-minded and bucolic if they were spoon-fed nothing but pap from their supposed source of news.