0:00:02 > 0:00:07# Every day you walk down the street Everybody that you meet
0:00:07 > 0:00:09# Has an original point of view
0:00:11 > 0:00:13- # And I say, hey!- Hey!
0:00:13 > 0:00:18# What a wonderful kind of day We can learn to work and play
0:00:18 > 0:00:20# And get along with each other
0:00:20 > 0:00:25# You gotta listen to your heart Listen to the beat
0:00:25 > 0:00:30# Listen to the rhythm of the street Open your eyes! Open your ears!
0:00:30 > 0:00:34# Get together, make things better By working together
0:00:34 > 0:00:39# It's a simple message And it comes from the heart
0:00:39 > 0:00:43# Believe in yourself For that's the place to start
0:00:43 > 0:00:48- # And I say, hey!- Hey! - What a wonderful kind of day
0:00:48 > 0:00:54# We can learn to work and play And get along with each other
0:00:54 > 0:00:59# What a wonderful kind of day, hey! What a wonderful kind of day, HEY! #
0:00:59 > 0:01:03- Hey, DW!- Hey...
0:01:09 > 0:01:14Who wrote Frankenstein? It was Mary Shelley, at age 19.
0:01:14 > 0:01:19How did this young girl create the most famous monster in the world?
0:01:19 > 0:01:24She was on vacation with her friends in the Swiss Alps.
0:01:24 > 0:01:28They decided on a contest to see who could tell the scariest story.
0:01:28 > 0:01:32And now the ghost, too weak to haunt
0:01:32 > 0:01:35Once more shall fade, as is his wont.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38The end.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41Your turn, Mary.
0:01:45 > 0:01:50I am by birth a Genovese. My family is one of the most distinguished...
0:01:50 > 0:01:55'Out of this friendly competition, a masterpiece of horror was born.'
0:01:55 > 0:02:00..He was borne away by the waves and lost in darkness and distance.
0:02:00 > 0:02:02Well, that's Frankenstein.
0:02:02 > 0:02:07I know it needs work, guys, but what do you think? Guys?!
0:02:10 > 0:02:14If Mary Shelley can scare the world with her brilliant story,
0:02:14 > 0:02:16- then maybe- I- can do it too.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27How can it rain for three straight days?
0:02:27 > 0:02:32- We're trapped inside with nothing to do.- I know something we can do.
0:02:32 > 0:02:37- Let's see who can tell the scariest story.- Ooh, I love scary stories.
0:02:37 > 0:02:39Really scary stories!
0:02:39 > 0:02:44Yeah, no baby stuff. It has to be as scary as you can make it.
0:02:44 > 0:02:49OK, OK. I've got a really good one. There was this vampire...
0:02:49 > 0:02:54No, wait! It was a giant, radioactive lizard.
0:02:54 > 0:02:59No, wait! It was a giant, radioactive, VAMPIRE lizard!
0:02:59 > 0:03:03And he was really, really scary. The end!
0:03:03 > 0:03:07That wasn't scary, Buster! It wasn't even a story!
0:03:07 > 0:03:10I'll give you a scary story.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14There was this girl and she went to this dance.
0:03:14 > 0:03:19Her dress and accessories were perfect. She danced and danced.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22It made her thirsty. She went for punch,
0:03:22 > 0:03:26but the clumsy oaf in front of her tripped over his cheap shoes.
0:03:26 > 0:03:32His punch spilt all over her dress, and the stain would never come out.
0:03:32 > 0:03:37- Was that supposed to be scary? - Fine! Your turn, Arthur - scare me.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40OK. You asked for it.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43There was this kid.
0:03:43 > 0:03:48On his birthday, he got a hideous and mysterious pair of underwear.
0:03:48 > 0:03:52He buried them in his underwear drawer, and that was that.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56The next day, he was forced to go to the board and do long division.
0:03:56 > 0:04:01Suddenly, his pants fell down... and there it was -
0:04:01 > 0:04:06the mysterious underwear, the underwear he had never put on,
0:04:06 > 0:04:10the underwear he thought he had buried for ever!
0:04:10 > 0:04:13EVIL LAUGHTER
0:04:15 > 0:04:21Oh! Arthur, you've got to get over your underwear obsession!
0:04:21 > 0:04:25You split your pants months ago. It's over! Move on!
0:04:25 > 0:04:28I guess it's my turn now.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31My story is true.
0:04:31 > 0:04:36It happened to my uncle. He's the one who saw the...Thing.
0:04:36 > 0:04:38The...Thing?!
0:04:38 > 0:04:41- My uncle's an entomologist.- A what?
0:04:41 > 0:04:46A person who studies insects - bugs, beetles, that sort of thing.
0:04:46 > 0:04:47AAGH!
0:04:47 > 0:04:50That's not the scary part!
0:04:50 > 0:04:54Anyway, he's a scientist. Stuff like that doesn't bother him.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57But there was this one time...
0:04:57 > 0:05:00One night, as a graduate student,
0:05:00 > 0:05:05my uncle was working late in the lab with one of his professors.
0:05:05 > 0:05:07It was raining heavily.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11They were unpacking specimens from an expedition to the Congo.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14Some of the insects were large.
0:05:14 > 0:05:19- How large?- My uncle recalled a beetle with two-foot long pincers -
0:05:19 > 0:05:22- the Congolese pincer pod.- Yee-oo!
0:05:22 > 0:05:26Anyway, it was late, and the professor decided to go home.
0:05:26 > 0:05:29He had no umbrella,
0:05:29 > 0:05:33so he looked around for one somebody might have left behind.
0:05:33 > 0:05:38My uncle kept working. He started to open the last crate,
0:05:38 > 0:05:42and was surprised to find that it was already open.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45- "That's odd," he remarked.- Weird!
0:05:45 > 0:05:50Just then, the old professor called out that he had found an umbrella.
0:05:50 > 0:05:55It was a plain umbrella, with a long, wooden handle.
0:05:55 > 0:06:00The only distinguishing mark was a green emerald on the handle -
0:06:00 > 0:06:05a large, round jewel that caught the light and glinted.
0:06:05 > 0:06:09It looked almost as if it had blinked, like some kind of eye.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13My uncle walked the old professor to the door
0:06:13 > 0:06:16so he could lock up after him.
0:06:16 > 0:06:20The professor stepped out into the rain and opened the umbrella.
0:06:20 > 0:06:26There was a high-pitched buzzing, then a rattle of scales and wings.
0:06:26 > 0:06:31My uncle could see this was no umbrella. It was some kind of a...
0:06:31 > 0:06:34- Thing?- He saw with horror
0:06:34 > 0:06:38that the wings were lined with hundreds of writhing stingers.
0:06:38 > 0:06:42It folded the stinging wings over the old professor,
0:06:42 > 0:06:46and my uncle heard something like a satisfied slurp,
0:06:46 > 0:06:51then, with a bloodcurdling shriek, the Thing flew off into the night.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54The professor was never seen again.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57BELL RINGS Aagh!
0:07:00 > 0:07:05I just couldn't sleep - couldn't get that story out of my head.
0:07:05 > 0:07:10I know. I closed my eyes and all I could see were writhing stingers.
0:07:10 > 0:07:15I kept hearing the satisfied slurp.
0:07:15 > 0:07:17And the bloodcurdling shriek...
0:07:17 > 0:07:22- Hey! Isn't it beautiful today?- Why did you tell us about the Thing?
0:07:22 > 0:07:24Yeah! I was so happy before!
0:07:24 > 0:07:27How does your uncle sleep at night?
0:07:27 > 0:07:32Muffy, I don't have an uncle and there is no Thing!
0:07:32 > 0:07:34I made it up! You guys know that!
0:07:34 > 0:07:38- You said it was true. Were you lying?- No.
0:07:38 > 0:07:43Saying that it all really happened was just part of the story.
0:07:43 > 0:07:45It's a common storytelling device.
0:07:45 > 0:07:50- By the way, Mary Shelley used it too.- But those details -
0:07:50 > 0:07:54the lab and the rain and the insects - you made it sound so real!
0:07:54 > 0:07:57Yeah, well, that's what a good storyteller does.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00It's not real, so get over it.
0:08:00 > 0:08:05- I can still hear the bloodcurdling shriek.- And that satisfied slurp.
0:08:05 > 0:08:09And those writhing stingers - who could forget about those?
0:08:09 > 0:08:14- Come on! It's just stuff I made up. - You know what's really scary, Fern?
0:08:14 > 0:08:18- Your brain! I mean, how could you think up a story like that?- Easily!
0:08:18 > 0:08:23And I could think up even scarier ones if I tried.
0:08:23 > 0:08:27Listen to this! It was a dark and stormy night...
0:08:27 > 0:08:30- Aah!- Let's get out of here!
0:08:32 > 0:08:35'Fraidy cats!
0:08:35 > 0:08:37BUSTER WHISTLES
0:08:37 > 0:08:40- Hi, Buster!- Aagh!- Relax!
0:08:40 > 0:08:45- I wanted to remind you about the library book sale.- Can't hear you!
0:08:45 > 0:08:50- Hey, Arthur, will you help me with this?- Wh-what's in there?
0:08:52 > 0:08:57- Oh, Arthur, it's just...- No! Keep your scary stories to yourself.
0:08:57 > 0:09:01Scare Your Pants Off books are always hot items at the book sale.
0:09:01 > 0:09:05Are you sure you want to part with these, Fern?
0:09:05 > 0:09:10Yeah. Since I read Frankenstein, I found them all kind of tame.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14Wait till I plug in these lights - a touch of glitz for the book sale!
0:09:14 > 0:09:16Be right back.
0:09:16 > 0:09:20Welcome to the totally unscary book sale!
0:09:20 > 0:09:24Here, everybody - garlic. Prunella said it would protect us.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28- What's with the garlic? - Begone, Queen of Darkness!
0:09:28 > 0:09:33- Your powers mean nothing here! - I am NOT the Queen of Darkness...
0:09:33 > 0:09:36ALL SCREAM
0:09:36 > 0:09:40Um, what caused this blackout, do you think?
0:09:40 > 0:09:44I blew a circuit when I plugged in the fancy-schmanzy sign.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50Hi! We've got lots of Scare Your Pants Off books today.
0:09:50 > 0:09:54- Everybody likes a good scare. - Not everybody.
0:09:54 > 0:09:59Well, if you don't want scary, we've got plenty of options here today.
0:09:59 > 0:10:04Captain Underpants And The Wrath Of The Wicked Wedgie Woman!
0:10:04 > 0:10:09- So funny! I loved it!- How about this one? It's a real tearjerker.
0:10:09 > 0:10:14- Old Yeller. - It's so sad. I cried and cried.
0:10:14 > 0:10:18Me too. A good writer can make you feel anything.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20You're right.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23Arthur, I'm not ready to go!
0:10:23 > 0:10:28- Guys, I'm not the Queen of Darkness and I can prove it.- Yeah, right(!)
0:10:28 > 0:10:33My story was scary, but I can make it unscary. Just listen.
0:10:33 > 0:10:38- No way!- The umbrella doesn't HAVE to turn into the Thing!
0:10:38 > 0:10:42- I can make it into anything you like.- It's a trick.
0:10:42 > 0:10:47No, listen. I could make it turn into something wonderful, like...
0:10:47 > 0:10:50- like a dragon.- Dragons are scary!
0:10:50 > 0:10:54Not this one! When the old professor opens the umbrella,
0:10:54 > 0:10:57it transforms into a golden dragon!
0:10:57 > 0:11:00Golden is good! Platinum is better!
0:11:00 > 0:11:02OK! It's a platinum dragon!
0:11:02 > 0:11:07And it knows the way to a secret cave full of, you know, treasures -
0:11:07 > 0:11:12- jewels and really great, um... - Accessories! And shoes!
0:11:12 > 0:11:15Lots of shoes!
0:11:15 > 0:11:17Shoes?! I don't get it.
0:11:17 > 0:11:22- Or maybe the umbrella turns into something else, like...- Like?
0:11:22 > 0:11:25An alien?
0:11:26 > 0:11:28..But a nice one!
0:11:28 > 0:11:32- Does it always have to be aliens? - No.
0:11:32 > 0:11:37The umbrella can have superpowers. Hold on to it and you can...
0:11:37 > 0:11:41- Fly?- Fly! And rid the world of evil-doers!
0:11:41 > 0:11:46Stop! Stop it, all of you! You're ruining the Thing!
0:11:46 > 0:11:50DW, what are you talking about? You don't even know what the Thing is.
0:11:50 > 0:11:55I have ears! For two days now, the Thing is all you've talked about.
0:11:55 > 0:11:57The slurp, the shriek, the stingers!
0:11:57 > 0:12:01- I want them back in! - But it's too scary, DW!
0:12:01 > 0:12:07- It could be scarier. I had a couple of ideas.- Oh, yeah? Like what?
0:12:07 > 0:12:12The big horrible Thing should break up into a lot of horrible Things.
0:12:12 > 0:12:14I like the platinum dragon.
0:12:14 > 0:12:19You mean, like lots of spiders or scorpions running around?
0:12:19 > 0:12:21That kind of thing? That's good!
0:12:21 > 0:12:24BOTH: We can't hear you! Can't hear you...
0:12:24 > 0:12:29The little horrible things are really bloodthirsty...
0:12:31 > 0:12:35Subtitles by Judith Russell BBC Broadcast 2004
0:12:35 > 0:12:38E-mail us at subtitling@bbc.co.uk