Tickling Chanterelle

By George Bricker

“Julio took the lead, but pulled up short. There… stationed next to the exit sign and door; was a large, ominous figure of the Frankenstein monster seated on his faux throne…”

The setting is Los Angeles (circa 1937), and RTO Studios has recently embarked on a horror movie project titled, “The Nightmare Castle

• Language: English
• Publisher: TOPLINK PUBLISHING, LLC
• Release date: Jul 7, 2017
• ISBN: 9781946801968

George Bricker

George Bricker is a retired public-school teacher from Northern California and has been writing for many years... a few of the works produced: Pure Iron Metal Head; Hideous Praxis A Viridian Shore; the Anthologie The Legend of Rail Wolf Music Words, Selected Short Stories & Poems from the Usual Bohemian "Traipsing to Auschwitz" "Drinking Banana Milk at Matt Marsh's" "The Wautowma Worm Moon Festival Talent Show" "The Buffalo & the Hen"

Book preview

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Tickling Chanterelle

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George Bricker

Copyright © 2017 by George Bricker.

PAPERBACK 978-1-946801-95-1

EBOOK 978-1-946801-96-8

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

This is entirely an original work of fiction, and is the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to real persons, places and events is purely coincidental.

Ordering Information:

For orders and inquiries, please contact:

1-888-375-9818

www.toplinkpublishing.com

[e-mail]

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

Foreword

Synopsis

Part I

Pre-chapter I

Pre-chapter II

Preface I

Preface II

Preface III

Introduction Part I

Introduction Part II

Introduction Part III

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Part II

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Epilogue

Post-chapter (40)

Post-chapter 41

Foreword

It proved to be an exciting and pivotal day when my dad came home from a trip to Culver City back on July 7, 1969. He was a stationary engineer, and had been working in San Francisco for a few years at several different venues. The most recent one was at a historical hotel near Union Square, and apparently, the hotel company had sent a crew to salvage some items at a storage center in Los Angeles.

My dad pulled into the driveway quite late that evening, and asked us to help him unload a few things such as his tools and trade equipment. I quickly noticed there was a fascinating, old steamer trunk that was resting in the back of the van. I asked him about it, and he said; Well, no one wanted it, and we didn’t even actually open it. Nobody quite knows what’s in it, to be honest.

In spite of its considerable weight, the trunk was soon offloaded, and it was stored in the attic loft out in our detached garage. For the most part, the trunk was forgotten over the next couple of weeks. Finally, the last day of his vacation came along, and I went out and helped him put the tools back into his truck. He soon said Goodbye to everyone in the family, and then headed back out onto the road.

Obviously, I was very disappointed that he had to leave, but was also curious as to whether or not the trunk was still out in the attic loft. I didn’t dare ask him about it, because it might prompt him to change his mind, and return it to the old storage room at the hotel’s abandoned back foyer.

Well, a few nights later, my curiosity was getting the best of it; I just had to find out if the old steamer trunk was still there, and what was in it. I left all the lights off as I got dressed, and snuck out to the garage as soon as the household was fast asleep.

My dad had taken the big ladder; so some innovative thought went into how I might access the loft area, but eventually it was resolved. And fortunately, the lock to the trunk lid was very easy to compromise.

Inside of it, I found many amazing, unpublished manuscripts. I’m not sure how they arrived there, nor to whom they actually belonged (there were no cover pages, and some of them only had a few sample chapters), but quite a few were complete works.

It is my sincere hope that one day the actual authors could be found (or determined). It would be quite superlative if some important elements of their lives could be revealed to the public at large; and that they should receive full credit for their work. This writer is determined to provide a substantial amount of funds from the book sales to the most noteworthy of charities in the meantime. I am also grateful for the wonderful hours I have spent with the magical stories, and hope that you will as well.

*Side note; thus far this artist has been able to bring the following titles forward:

Pure Iron Metal Head: Hideous Praxis

A Viridian Rose, the Anthologie

The Legend of Rail Wolf,

Music Words, Selected Short Stories & Poems from the Usual Bohemian,

Bohemian Scripts,

& now the exclusive title,

Tickling Chanterelle.

[If a reader should have information relevant to the query as related in the Foreword, please contact the author with your important data. God blessings, thank you for any help in this matter.]

Synopsis

The setting for our story is Los Angeles, and the year is 1937. At present, it is the Golden Age of Radio; however, a majority of Hollywood studios are currently having a substantive problem shaking out the challenges of the so called Great Depression, a term coined and most frequently attributed to British economist Lionel Robbins.

RTO (the Rensselaer Theatrical Orpheum) Studios is the largest and most successful movie studio in Hollywood; and it has recently embarked on a couple of projects that will hopefully keep it out of a looming bankruptcy. First of all, the studio is doing a high budget, horror movie project titled, The Nightmare Castle of Horror. This is an epic work based a great deal on the life of the controversial magician and studio consultant, Horace D. Bildeburg.

In fact, it appears that the studio is quite intent on exploiting Dr. Bildeburg’s enigmatic reputation in several productions that are underway at the studio, and is even investigating retail products for which they could attach his name.

Also entering the literary stage is a young boy of 14 (Norman Yakovich Felskin), who has recently been chosen to be one of the leads in the radio show, The Valley Sleuths. Norman, along with his female lead (Betsy Poldosky), are now engaged in making their radio show pilots; and the interest has in the show has immediately skyrocketed. Incredible offers are coming in from all over to the two young stars, and to the studio as well.

Indeed, all is going well until Norman meets a mysterious boy at the studio cafeteria by the name of Julio Velasquez. Julio informs Norman that his uncle has been missing for a few weeks, and he is very concerned about his welfare. Julio convinces Norman (and eventually Betsy) to go out to the Old European Backlot to look for clues to the uncle’s whereabouts. He also wants to investigate as to why there are so many unexplained incidents going on near the horror set that is presently under construction in this part of the studio complex.

When the boys go out to the backlot, Norman and Julio stumble across a grave bit of information, and are now confused over what they should do next. In fact, it appears that a mysterious organization has some kind of surreptitious interest in the forested area near the studio and even down in the LaBraea Caverns. There is also a mystifying reference to something called, the Moradhaku.

The boys theorize that all of this; in fact, may possibly be contributing to the strange events going on here at RTO (but they really aren’t sure of anything).

The story is an intellective, gripping, and fast paced narrative; written in the classic suspense style of Hitchcock and Hollywood’s Golden Age. If you are looking for something exciting and different… this is for you.

Book Dedication:

Aids Orphans Remembered

Part I

Pre-chapter I

Norman Felskin and Betsy Poldosky have recently been chosen to star in a brand new radio serial program, and this show will soon become the most popular radio series in the nation. Betsy is sixteen years old, and is scheduled to be a junior in high school; while Norman is fourteen, and is planning to begin his freshman year at the very same high school in the fall. Both of their families reside in a bustling suburb of the San Fernando Valley.

It is obvious to all how the radio show’s producers are going all out to make sure the program is successful. RTO has recently built a brand new state of the art studio on Sound-stage 41, and has installed a cutting edge AEG Magnetophon recording machine, along with other brand new audio recording technology. The Hollywood based studio has procured the best production people that both Europe and America have to offer.

Interestingly enough, the serial episodes seemingly start out as merely a fictitious radio adventure; but soon morph into some kind of actual adventure that involves the RTO European Backlot, the nearby LaBraea Caverns, and a mysterious boy who works over at the studio’s main cafeteria.

[Or is it?]

A fairly elusive, yet mystifying proposition for which the reader will have to grapple with… is whether or not the events in the story are merely a part of the radio script, or are they part of something that is indeed, far more elusive and quite sinister?

Here, you are offered a bit of a hint: all of the incidences that take place on the Valley Coastal Route Train are part of the radio series pilot.

[Or, are they?]

Some more food for thought.

When Norman is debriefed about several of the strange incidents that have taken place over at the backlot, he himself is not really certain of what is merely part of the radio script, and what is actually taking place in real time.

In all fairness, it should be pointed out that during the 1930’s, the Hollywood Studios were very much into using the most realistic props and effects that they could get their hands on. The reader may recall the numerous, near fatal accidents on the Wizard of Oz set for example. This realistic stratagem included the many serial radio shows that were bursting out into the ionosphere, and this dynamic approach may be one of the primary reasons for this era receiving the moniker, The Golden Age of Radio.

Furthermore, the elixir that the two young actors consume for the pilot episode (you will observe this incident as the story unfolds), definitely made them quite nauseous. Of this, I can assure you.

[Or, can I?]

A further clue for the astute reader to note is that when Betsy is leaving the set to go visit her grandmother, she overhears one of the staff assistants say that the liquid in the vials was actually a little bit of hair tonic mixed with alcohol. And while it is true that one of the most popular hair tonics of this day contained forty-six percent alcohol, Tincture cantharides, castor oil, talc, lemon, menthol and lanolin; yet it is very difficult to know as to whether the rumor regarding ingestion of this type of mixture is true or not. Hollywood effects employees are heartily known for their jocular sense of humor; and of course, all true insiders tend to play their cards rather close to the vest (and why shouldn’t they?). And why wouldn’t one of them publish this information out loud within earshot of the actor who was scheduled to use the specific prop?

It is worth noting that the stage directions allegedly given to the two young players (via the script), stated they should hold the thumb sized vials up to their lips only. These two actors were not supposed to actually drink the stage prop concoction; merely swirl it in the front of their mouth at most, and then spit it out. It is hard to believe, but this was a surprisingly common studio policy in this day and time.

Betsy did in fact spit most of hers out before it could be ingested, but Norman wasn’t aware of this information. The boy essentially swallowed a good deal of the liquid that was in the prop vial. As a result of this faux pas (and not clearly articulated to the reader), the young boy actually passed out; however, he did slowly come out of it after about a minute.

[Or, did he?]

Pre-chapter II

No one really knows who or what the Moradhaku actually are, and no one can officially verify their existence. It is very clear to historians and archeologists how no living person has ever seen one; i.e., that could truly document their elusive, yet unique attributes. From what appears to be the limited and cursory information directly available to the scientific community, it seems as though the creature is likely some kind of mysterious, ancestral species; possibly some kind of large cat ancestor related to the mythical Pan-indigo Leopard. However, the creature even seems to have some anomalous metaphysical faculties for which there is no decent scientific accounting.

For the most part, zoologists have concluded that the elusive animal appears to be some kind of an outlier/reversion species; a type of uber mammal that for whatever reason never really got a foothold in the mainstream taxonomy and ecosystem. The reader should also note that no one quite knows the reason as to why this is the case; at least as far as the zoological community is concerned.

A bit of info regarding some key characters might be in order.

Professor Lo is a distinguished archeological professor from Husan, China, and the professor will possibly enter the spotlight and stage in a later chapter. This same Chinese professor is noted for having a distinguished associate; a German scholar who is his longtime, right hand man. The two of them met around 15 years ago when they were contemporaneous archeology students during their graduate studies at Oxford University. Furthermore, it was Albert Ferdinand Heim who a number of years ago allegedly found the spectacular fossil remnant during the initial excavation of the Qwon Mausoleum. This discovery (which appears to be part of femur), has created a great deal of controversy. The specimen was meticulously studied and cataloged; both at the Chinese University and at the Hasselfeldt Institute. Eventually it was noted that the fossil seemed to have contained the anomalous property of bioluminescence. Upon further chemical analysis, there was discovered within the marrow a presence of luciferase enzymes. This particular adaptation was unknown in the mammal world prior to this finding. It is further alleged that Professors Lo and Heim recently brought this fossil specimen to the Los Angeles Institute of Technology main laboratory as a good faith gesture, in order to share it for research purposes with Dr. Bildeburg’s team.

It is rumored by some of the witnesses that during this meeting, Bildeburg offered Lo and Heim an alleged jaw from the Moradhaku (in actuality it was an arthritic mandrill fossil), and a purported intact foot (from a fossilized embryonic Panthera pardus, or common African leopard). Bildeburg further baited the Chinese team by alluding to two eye witnesses who had purportedly witnessed the elusive subjects down in the LaBraea Caverns. Together… it was hoped that the two teams of scientists could network research data, and thus determine even more information about the specie’s unique properties.

It is also surmised that the foreign team would be given a personal tour of Bildeburg’s top secret lab underneath the Hollywood Palace of Magic; but much of this is only conjecture, at least for the time being. We do know for a fact that the two professors and their assistants were with Bildeburg at the Los Angeles Technological Institute shortly after arriving at an airport in Pasadena. It appears that the foreign delegation and Bildeburg’s staff exchanged the research items; however, it is believed that Bildeburg immediately pilfered the prized fossil from Professor Heim. He then offered some reciprocated gifts and an exorbitant sum to facilitate the thievery (and thus placate the foreign delegation). They were to agree to this chicanery or they would be falsely accused of numerous visa violations for bringing unregistered historical artifacts into the United States. Heim refused the offer to give in to Bildeburg’s blackmail, and all of the Chinese and German contingents were immediately forced to leave American soil or they would be arrested. It was obvious that the scientific delegates from Husan and Hasselfeldt had been set up.

[Or, were they?]

Preface I

There have been a few rumors percolating around various Hollywood circles suggesting a mysterious and controversial laboratory is confined somewhere in a lower Hollywood sub-basement three stories below the city street. This lab is presumably located near the old Hollywood Palace of Magic, but to the vast majority of implicated and meddlesome canvassers, this hypothesis remains a distant and speculative rumor; yet nothing more.

It is also conjectured by a few of these same agitators that this laboratory is where Horace D. Bildeburg is feverishly engaging in his mysterious and bestial research, a quite aberrant and perverse research, if you will. The few individuals who have come to know the man on intimate terms; well, they will tell you how the eccentric doctor is quite intrigued, even passionately consumed with the family Felidae, along with the genus Panthera… particularly the long, lost ancestors of the said genus.

In the past, Dr. Bildeburg has been known to preside over the administration of a number of unethical projects with favored specimens such as black panthers and mandrills; and as you might have guessed, many of the experiments have ultimately gone astray of the typical protocols one would expect from an honorable medical professional.

I suppose it is true;

How in his own mind, Doctor Bildeburg had been altruistically hoping, yet expecting to make many of the subjects a good deal better off; the following articulations having been written in one of his earlier journals, from May 4th, 1924:

…their primary, yet fleeting and existential seconds on earth’s stolid timepiece significantly enhanced; …their modest measure of ephemeral twinklings; the unbridled hope, all of which shall remain unaccorded within the regular rhythms of nature’s solemn overture… no longer affixed as such; the markings of which, mainly as it is; these mired confluences amidst this said terrestrial sphere… et in Arcadia ego.

Oh, I’m sure that the reader can guess a few of the typical enhancements Dr. Bildeburg might have some interest in; things such as fashioning them to be greater in size through selective breeding; recapturing long lost ancestral subspecies; or even more aesthetic elements that might better suit the masses, as it were.

It is presumed that Horace Bildeburg was even hoping to promote more human-like intelligence and emotions in the selected specimens; but as stated, there is a great deal of speculation involved with the subject matter.

As I say, all of these experiments were presumed to be a justifiable interest to the good doctor. Of course, it is not surprising at all just how there has developed a few Shakespearean consequences to all of Bildeburg’s hyperion aspirations. In fact, the scientific consultants who have studied the case, have concluded that the high levels of radiation introduced into the creatures would likely take a number of unexpected turns; outcomes such as causing horrid mutations in the subjects and their offsprings, and these unchecked modifications would likely make many of them entirely uncontrollable.

We should point out that at present, there are a number of anecdotal notions circulating the vaunted porticoes of various taverns and haunts in some of the oldest sections of the Hollywood region. Oh, I’m sure you know the typical sort of miscreant tales of busy bodies and speculative media interests alike, and most of these supposed yarns typically fall out something akin to this:

Being highly suspicioned by a number of civil authority figures and witnesses; how on one recent night, a fateful episode occurred at the main Bildeburg Laboratory near Les Feliz and Northern Vermont Avenues. This particular incident was instigated when a disgruntled employee of Bildeburg’s (the man had been recently reprimanded for not delivering the required dose of radioactive serum to a large mandrill hybrid); the staff person decided to take some retributive matters into his own hands. This person’s identity was recently released by the civil authorities as Jose Alfonso Padilla.

Upon receiving the punitive memorandum from his immediate supervisor, the staff worker responded to the reprimand by turning angry and violent. The man asserted that he would hire the best attorney in all of Los Angeles; this lawyer in turn would vigorously dispute the reprimand on Padilla’s behalf. Padilla would then; in fact, counter-sue Horace Bildeburg and his group… as to how the staff worker should receive all (in toto) of the credit for the prolific research accomplished at the secret Bildeburg Laboratory. According to Padilla’s employment file, the worker was procured from the nondescript hinter parts of the studio’s backlot. This individual was apparently the number one prop delivery worker, and knew the studio terrain and the workings better than anyone else at RTO. Padilla was also said to be an amateur mycologist, and would even typically venture out into the nearby forest at Griffin Park in order to find select mushrooms and truffles to sell to some of Hollywood’s finest restaurants.

Unfortunately, the legal case was presumed to have a number of flaws, and it would ultimately encounter a major setback. This preliminary legal position was revealed under private deposition by an employment rights lawyer; i.e., while Padilla was deposing his case to Bildeburg’s legal team. As it would soon come to light, Padilla did not actually possess any formal education in the area of science. It was even determined that the man was in reality, a high school dropout and originally from Brooklyn, New York.

For whatever reason, and the entire picture seems to be sketchy even to this day; Jose Padilla chose to viciously turn on Dr. Bildeburg, the rest of the staff, and even his own counsel. This payback was to be accomplished in the most heinous manner that Padilla could possibly conceive.

On one typical night in late May, Padilla lay in wait just as the two o’clock a.m. shift change was in process. His evil plan was indeed vexingly ingenious… the man started a small fire with a timed incendiary device on the third floor of the palace. This diversion worked like a charm, and Padilla then moved quickly; allowing all of the dozen or so experimental animals to escape from the multi-tiered security levels of the laboratory.

The Padilla incident took place on Memorial Day Weekend a little over a month ago; all while South Hollywood’s festive, holiday mood was engaged in its full revelry and expression.

A couple of the escaped animals simply determined they should mill around near the side opening of the Palace of Magic; however, the majority of the newly emancipated subjects bolted into the studio backlot. The third floor fire had been put out by this time, and Bildeburg’s entire entourage was immediately called into the urgent task of rounding up the escaped animals. After a good deal of searching in the nearby region, they achieved a decent amount of success.

Most of the escaped animals ended up being corralled near the enclosed southern portion of the old cemetery by using a form of Pavlovian conditioning (the animals would receive a series of chirping noises whenever they were fed). This part of the graveyard actually sits within the twelve foot barrier confines of the obscure, northeastern portion of the old European Backlot. For many years now, the studio has contemplated deeding over the few acres or so to the city of South Hollywood, but finds the prospect of possessing the macabre decorum too expedient to follow through with the request.

Unfortunately, the desperate situation became even more tragic and brutal at that point; as nearly all of the animals were viciously shot and killed in cold blood. Bildeburg himself was on the scene, and this heinous response was done in spite of a loud, personal protest and dissent. A couple of his staff were almost killed by an enraged, alpha black leopard and Eurasian lynx cross (who had been formerly observed to have been one of the most docile of companions at the laboratory).

It is true.

When the South Hollywood Police Officers showed up on the scene, there was obviously a great deal of confusion and fear at what was discovered. It is also surmised that they were apparently anxious to utilize the rarely used automatic weapons they had been commissioned by the dispatch supervisor. Some of the witness’ stories suggest the officers had been told they were quelling a typical drunken mob that was firing off some Roman candles, and this was the extent of it. It is quite true that these inebriated mobs could be very common late at night near the studios, particularly on a holiday weekend; however, the first responders were undoubtedly shocked when they discovered who the real targets of this police operation actually were. Additional officers and resources were requested, but denied.

Many of the horrid details of this night remain sketchy, even unto this day. It is absolutely the case, and I suppose for good or bad; that none of the 14 individuals from the South Hollywood Police Department had any knowledge of Bildeburg’s medical proceedings, and certainly none of the officers could believe the horrific scene their eyes were forced to witness on this particular night of mayhem.

After all of the animals had been euthanized (it took approximately three long hours to accomplish the entire sordid process), the criminal scene and the surrounding blocks were immediately sealed from any prying eyes of the media and/or the public. Bildeburg’s teams quickly disposed of the carcasses, and essentially all of the significant evidence along with them.

As it would turn out, the responding officers were all from the South Hollywood Precinct, which obviously meant they had political ties to the local authorities and not to the Federal Bureaucrats. In light of these substantive political connections, the local administrators mandated that no responder rehearse any events with the outside authorities who were now trying to access the scene. Further rumors are probably true; every single one of these police officers was immediately placed into substantive psychiatric therapy, and the