Originally broadcast 1/3/83
The story begins with a message explaining that nearly the entire population of the small town of Fawn Circle, Minnesota mysteriously disappeared in January 1983, and what follows is a collection of recovered footage assembled in an attempt to make sense of what happened there.
We are treated to the end of broadcast day bumper for Fawn Circle's local broadcast station, K83FC. The footage is interrupted by a distress call from two scientists in the basement of Scott's Manor. One shouts they're going to be buried alive, only to be shushed by the other for fear of sounding crazy. Before either can elaborate any further, they are cut off by a burst of snow. The rest of the bumper proceeds as normal...though a strange buzz starts playing near the end.
Originally recorded 1/4/83
Reporter Vivian Reynolds and cameraman Greg Semee, both K83FC employees, arrive at the remote Scott's Manor (rumored to be haunted), the former residence of Fawn Circle's previous mayor, to investigate what's been going on recently. Sheriff Chris Douglas explains the manor was closed for well over a decade for renovations, and was recently rented out to a team of scientists from the University of Minnesota. During their conversation, Semee lets it slip that K83FC is going through hard times—not helped by a weak transmitter making the station susceptible to recent signal hijackings—and is likely to shut down soon.
Upon reaching the manor, Douglas is surprised to see the inside of the dilapidated manor covered in snow, given the doors and windows were still intact before. Semee splits off from the group to get some shots of the manor's interior. He eventually finds a door leading to the basement. He opens it, finding a snowstorm on the other side...
Originally broadcast 1/4/83
K83FC plays a live broadcast of Fawn Circle's City Council meeting. Mayor Troy Daniels addresses City Council ahead of a massive snowstorm set to hit the town in the coming days. After discussing plans for snow plow repairs and requisitions with Councilman Dan Brilling, he asks for a spokesman for the University of Minnesota, expected that day, to come forward, but they are not present. THEY ARE WITH US NOW
Deciding to move on, he then addresses Darren Frederick, K83FC's general manager WE FEAST UPON HIS WORK, who is there to request a much-needed stimulus of $75,000 over the next 3 months in order to fight rising expenses. Daniels pointedly refuses, since Fawn Circle simply doesn't have that kind of money. When Frederick protests, the mayor dresses K83FC down in front of City Hall and outlines their various issues—low-quality programs, inaccurate educational content, overreliance on syndicated shows, and most notably, disturbing signal hijackings. Frederick asks to negotiate further, and an exasperated Daniels initially agrees...only to be interrupted when Brilling says Sheriff Douglas is calling regarding a developing situation at Scott's Manor and urgently asking to speak with the mayor. Daniels cuts the meeting short to address this matter further. THEY HAVE EMBRACED US AND SO WILL YOU
Before the feed cuts out, private investigator Carl Denby is heard greeting videographer Darcy Milbanks, arranging an interview to speak about her missing brother. She stops the recording to speak with him.
Originally broadcast 1/4/83
K83FC is showing The Thing from Another World at 9PM for their Tuesday night movie.
The intro to the film is interrupted by an unidentified K83FC employee recording test footage in an empty snow field. She uses this opportunity, since the footage is going to be recorded over anyway, to tell her fiance Alan that she accepts his proposal, and is delighted to live with him in a snowy place like Fawn Circle...
...and she stumbles across strange footprints in the snow in an abandoned area. She feels a sudden, severe wind chill (almost like 80 below). She follows the footprints and finds a crude snowman that apparently wasn't there before. The feed distorts as a hellish electronic howl takes over the sound in the video. She runs off in a panic, only to stumble and find a bloodied corpse stripped to the bone and half-buried in the snow. Her screams cease only when the footage stabilizes enough for the viewer to see her bloodied hand resting against a chain link fence.
The video starts over, with the camerawoman apparently alive and well with nothing unusual happening. She says she loves the cold, and invites Alan to join her in the cold, and states she's empty, and that she's so cold. She's so cold. She's so cold. She's so cold.
The broadcast returns to the ending of The Thing from Another World, with The Thing now played by "???".
Originally recorded 1/5/83
Carl Denby records a background interview with Darcy Milbanks...again, as the tape used for their otherwise unseen first interview from 1/4/83 was somehow corrupted and cannot be salvaged. Though a little frustrated at doing all this over, Darcy recounts her background and talks about her older brother, Stephen. He's a well-meaning man who, despite being seen by some as lazy, at least made sure to have a job to make ends meet for him and his sister. The police speculate that he and his girlfriend, Stephanie, eloped and left town, but Darcy doesn't believe that theory. He was also last seen working at Scott's Manor as a janitor, but she hasn't been able to reach them to corroborate his whereabouts (they don't have a working phone).
Denby then updates her with his findings: he found what he believes to be Stephen's car while en route to Scott's Manor, abandoned and missing license plates but otherwise matching the description he was given. He tried to report it to the police, but nobody was there for him to report it to. He asks Darcy to keep trying to contact the police while he makes his way to the manor, chalking all this up to the storm—
The tape distorts briefly, the same thing that started to happen on their prior recording. Dismissing it as a glitch in the tape recorder, the two part ways as Denby starts heading up to the manor.
Originally broadcast 1/5/83
K83FC plays a commercial advertising Sid's Electronics Boutique (located just off Highway 59 and Chippewa Road!), showing off their products, including a text-to-speech keyboard.
We are then shown footage of a Sid's employee locking up the store at midnight...while recording himself with a video camera, per Sid's request. He gripes about the flaws inherent in this security measure, and is cut off by someone nearby asking for help with something. He looks around and finds nothing, but hears the voice anyway. He tries to follow the noise, just hearing "Hey, can you help me with this?" repeated in the same tone and cadence, almost like a recording. He follows it far enough he starts to question where this person actually is, despite still hearing it perfectly. As he comes across a snowman that apparently wasn't there before, he is suddenly attacked and collapses, the video picking up "Thanks for the help, bud." repeated in the same manner.
The footage of the apparent murder is bookended by another commercial for Sid's Electronics Boutique (located just off Highway 59 and Chippewa Road!).
Originally recorded 1/6/83
Denby reveals that Darcy could not make contact with the police, and he himself could not reach Scott's Manor due to the snowstorm, but it has cleared up just enough today for him to try again. On the way, he stops at Fawn Circle's police station and meets the only available officer, Deputy Blair, who is too preoccupied with the missing police officers to aid with the Stephen Milbanks case.
He arrives at Scott's Manor and makes some disturbing findings: empty cars (including numerous police cars), shredded bloody clothes, empty revolvers. The inside of the manor is still abandoned and overrun with snow, but he can access the basement. It's much more advanced and well-kept, with metal walls, offices, and laboratories; he speculates that it was a bomb shelter. He finds bloody human remains, briefly stumbles across budget information, and glosses through some notes about a bacterial specimen that grows exponentially in cold temperatures. Then he finds evidence he finds valuable: micro cassette tapes and a K83FC video camera. Before he can leave, he hears an injured scientist calling out to him; he runs over to find him buried in the snow, attempts to help him up...and finds his legs are just gone. Denby insists on saving the scientist despite his protests to just run.
The familiar electronic howl can be heard as a stranger approaches the two. Denby initially believes him to be Stephen, but something is very off; he asks "Hey, can you help me with this?" without moving his mouth. A scuffle ensues and Denby is forced to leave the scientist behind, who calls out "They're in the damn snow!"
Original recording date unknown
An employee training video for people working the graveyard shift at K83FC, with important tasks like maintaining equipment, cleaning and considering the meaninglessness of their existence.
Originally broadcast 1/6/83
After abridging the council's usual decorum, Mayor Daniels strikes a few items WE KNOW YOU WELL from the itinerary to make sure everyone in the crowded City Hall can get home before the worst of the blizzard can start in earnest. He reports that nearby Minneapolis can't spare any snowplows since they will be hit hard by the snow as well, and that he is unable to reach the police regarding emergency response for the storm. For the next item, he lets K83FC creative director Melinda Norvik have the floor YOU WILL NEVER BE ALONE AGAIN in light of Darren Frederick being YOU WILL NEVER BE ALONE AGAIN unavailable.
She talks about the rash of signal hijackings, using the recent footage of an assault at Sid's Electronics as an example; she and various other producers made a point of monitoring the incidents to try and figure out what's going on. When Councilman Brilling questions why the station THESE WALLS YOU ERECT WILL NOT HOLD WE WILL CREEP IN can't just cut the broadcast, Norvik responds that the hijackers must have a stronger signal transmitter, hence the reason for her stimulus request: funds for a stronger transmitter for the station. However, it gets odder still. Norvik reveals that the broadcast tapes themselves, with no apparent source, were changed somehow following the hijackings, erasing the original material. Daniels and Brilling are incredulous, dismissing it as either pranksters or a ghost story. The mayor maintains his original position denying a stimulus...
...and the power suddenly cuts out. City Hall's occupants find they are completely snowed in, despite the snow having only just started. As Darcy cuts the feed, the others start mobilizing to try and escape.
NO ESCAPE
Original recording date unknown
The TV schedule for many local cable channels scrolls by idly, full of listings of local programs and old shows like Petticoat Junction and M*A*S*H. Soon enough, unnerving messages start to pop up as the weather warns for "Continuous Snow".
Originally recorded 1/6/83
Carl Denby makes it back to his office, despite whiteout conditions on the road; the blizzard started earlier than expected, by the time he left Scott's Manor. He is snowed in for now, left to process what happened at the manor. He speculates that Stephen Milbanks is most likely dead, as when he punched Stephen (or whatever was masquerading as him) in the earlier struggle, it didn't feel like he was punching a person. He cannot reach the police, and could only leave a message on Darcy's answering machine asking her to meet with him when she can. While he starts charging the video camera, he looks over some of the recovered mini-cassettes...
Project Freezing Rain, Entry 2 (originally recorded 9/14/82)
Dr. Robert Chandra reports that his team is setting up a lab under Scott's Manor and a holding tank for serial number 9X47A, a bacteria sample attracted to crystalline structures.
Project Freezing Rain, Entry 39 (originally recorded 12/17/82)
Chandra's team officially establishes contact with the bacteria; it is surprisingly able to discern the English alphabet and communicate through a text-to-speech converter. So far, it's just a simple "HELLO. YOU ARE DR. CHANDRA. WE ARE THE—"
The tape is cut short as Denby notices a branch scraping against his office window. He starts to leave as the window breaks open.
Originally broadcast 1/6/83
K83FC "pays the bills" with some late-night paid programming for Medicine Lake Campgrounds. It's a perfectly ordinary commercial, entreating visitors to go ice fishing, stargaze, go out into the snow to search for Stephen Milbanks, bleed. Several cabins are advertised: the Premium, the Economy, the Embrace (a caved-in cabin with no protection, no heat, no escape, only silence), Our Old Home (Scott's Manor), and Our New Home (a bloodied skeleton in the snow). The infomercial ends as if nothing unusual ever happened. THE RED WILL BECOME WHITE. YOU WILL BE LIKE US.
Originally recorded 1/6/83
The situation has become increasingly dire at City Hall. Snowplows should be arriving within a few hours (coordinating with fire and police in the town) and the occupants have power and heat running, but only enough food for a few days and far too much snow to feasibly dig through. The building is almost completely buried in the snow, along with everyone's cars likely being irreparably damaged. However, Melinda Norvik, transmitting to K83FC via an audio-only signal, has arranged for the station's snowplow to come along to alleviate the situation at City Hall. Mayor Daniels expresses his gratitude, and appears more amenable to their long-sought stimulus...
...and then a haggard Deputy Blair makes his way into the building through an unblocked window. When Daniels asks him where the rest of the police have been, Blair flies into a rage and reveals that the mayor sent them to die at Scott's Manor. Daniels admits he sent the police up there to investigate the signal hijackings...and lets it slip that the city's budget crisis is so bad that they needed the funds to survive. As Carl Denby suspected, the rest of the police (including Sheriff Douglas, as Blair found his bloodied badge) and, in fact, everyone at the manor (after Darcy asks about her brother) is dead. He came to City Hall after being chased by creatures in the snow, and begs everyone to start barricading the building.
His warnings come too late as a stranger comes into City Hall. Darcy runs up to Stephen, ignoring Blair frantically saying that it's not him. She notices he's unusually silent and asks him to say something, anything. His response?
"Hey, can you help me with this?"
Screams flood the audio as the creature wastes no time slaughtering everyone at City Hall.
Original recording date unknown
A commercial for a series of albums for local country and folk musician Jackson Henry. Over time, the audio starts getting choppy and forming disturbing phrases. Same goes for the text on screen, with a rolling track listing turning into a long chain of threatening messages.
Originally recorded 1/7/83
Now in the early hours, Denby has moved to another office after his window broke; it was just a branch after all, but he lost some of his recovered evidence. Only a few tapes and the video camera are still left. The rest of the building has been cleared out ahead of the storm. He starts listening to the remaining tapes...
Project Freezing Rain, Entry 47 (recorded 12/27/82)
The bacteria's communication skills have improved significantly, asking Dr. Chandra to tell it about his mind, his thoughts, his blood. "IT IS NOT LIKE US." He also reports on some of the team's findings. The specimen can influence and manipulate UHF signals and magnetic media as a form of sustenance. Related to this process, they can alter signals enough to create images, demonstrating with a crude likeness of Chandra. However, much to the doctor's chagrin, they erase and otherwise garble the magnetic media they interact with (some notes were lost in the process), and they demonstrate an incredible range with their abilities. Chandra suddenly hears a voice asking "Hey, can you help me with this?" It's just his colleague Dr. Matthews. After Chandra helps him move equipment, Matthews finds snow inexplicably tracked on the floor.
Project Freezing Rain, Entry 50 (recorded 12/30/82)
Chandra's report is far more sobering than before; he is greatly concerned about the bacteria's growing capabilities, and finds it can spontaneously generate snow and transmit itself through UHF bands. He agrees with Dr. Matthews' suspicions that it's trying to escape into the outside world, and says they must expedite plans for increased security measures and signal jammers. That's when the bacteria asks him a question: "WHAT IS GOD?"
Project Freezing Rain, unspecified final entry (recorded 1/2/83)
A frantic Dr. Chandra is trying to explain the situation to one Dr. Simmons, who remains incredulous about any threat from what appears to be just a little snow. It hasn't been able to leave the lab yet, and as Simmons points out, there will only be snow on the ground for so long. Chandra counters that it's not ordinary snow, and they are now capable of creating near-perfect likenesses of people with it. But most disturbing to him is the question he received previously, which turns out to have been rhetorical. He relates the answer the bacteria gave him: "It is we." Simmons starts to come around to all this as Chandra says the creatures "want to be us!"
"NO," the bacteria chimes in, "DR. CHANDRA. YOU WILL BE LIKE US."
The containment unit breaks open and alarms begin sounding.
Back in the present, Denby is overwhelmed by the gravity of the situation, and elects to leave town and go for help, taking the camera with him for evidence. He starts to leave and encounters Darcy, asking to use her car since his is too low on gas. He starts explaining the situation involving the creatures, the manor, and her brother...only to realize he's not speaking to Darcy. He gets a parting shot off at the creature as he makes his escape.
Originally broadcast 1/7/83
Dusty Harp's "History of Jazz" is interrupted as K83FC meteorologist and presenter William Faris relays a severe winter warning for the state of Minnesota, with Fawn Circle expected to be hit hardest by the blizzard. The warning's footage shows the path of the storm, the town being hit hard with snow, emergency crews getting overwhelmingly buried in snow, bloody corpses. Citizens are urged to seek shelter immediately and hold out during the storm.
Suddenly, the doors of the station open and snow floods inside, Faris' screams giving way to an electronic howl and utter silence. Faris stiltedly chimes back in, encouraging citizens to leave their homes and shelters to embrace the storm and saying that the storm is coming for them. K83FC's final broadcast concludes with one final synthesized message: YOU WILL BE LIKE US.
Originally recorded 1/7/83
With no vehicle available, Denby is left with no choice but to run for his life through the snow as Fawn Circle is assaulted by the blizzard of the century, tornado sirens piercing the air. His path ends up being aimless, and he's tempted to just start banging on random doors just to find some shelter.
It's all for nothing as he is accosted by a snowlem imitating his face and declaring "YOU. WILL BE. LIKE. US." before opening its mouth like a distorted void. Whatever unpleasant fate befalls a panicked Denby is not shown as the footage cuts out.
In the conclusion, we are told that emergency workers found Fawn Circle almost entirely buried in snow. In addition to human remains and the recordings, a few survivors were found, but none who were directly involved with the footage recovered, and some only barely able to survive after heat and power were cut off. The one thing they could back up is the severity of the storm. Fawn Circle ends up abandoned, too heavily damaged by the storm to survive as a town. Once the snow melted, no sign of the creatures were found, with investigators speculating they could not go far beyond the UHF signals. The University of Minnesota also denied any involvement with the team at Scott's Manor.
Later that year, on December 11, we see the holiday lineup for a different station in the area, KSNT84. The night's programming is perfectly ordinary.
...at first.
