{
  "title": "THE BLACK MASS",
  "category": "[RADIO-SERIES]",
  "article": "”Ah, there you are on the outer fringes…Come into the inner circle of the Black\nMass.”\nIt would not be overstatement to characterize Erik Bauersfeld as “the father of\nmodern radio drama.” No one has toiled more vigorously in the perpetuation and\nthe revitalization of the art form.\nErik Bauersfeld can genuinely be considered the “father of modern radio\ndrama” for his ground-breaking work at KFKA in Berkley in the 1960s. His\nliterature-based horror series The Black Mass reinvented the genre with new\nproduction and editing techniques while tackling everything from the terrors of\nPoe and Lovecraft to works of psychological and spiritual malais by authors such\nas Kafka, Tolstoi and Camus.\nErik Bauersfeld brought his tremendous talents as a narrator to this highly\nliterary series of the Pacifica network.\n[John Whiting] “Black Mass was born in 1963, the brain-child of Jack Nessel,\nwho was the Drama & Literature Director at KPFA in Berkeley, the first\nvoluntarily listener-sponsored non-commercial FM station in the world. (The\nBBC was compulsorily supported by a government-imposed  license system.)\nJack suggested the idea to Erik Bauersfeld, who taught aesthetics and philosophy\nat the California School of Fine Art, and had recently begun to do readings of\nclassic and modern literature for the station. Erik was not wildly enthusiastic, but\nthought that it might be interesting to search out some of the best stories of the\nsupernatural by first-rate authors who did not normally write within that genre.\nObligation soon became obsession.\n“I was the station's Production Director at the time and had already produced\nsome rather elaborate radio dramas. Jack, already a friend before he joined the\nstation, was aware of my childhood fondness for horror stories and suggested\nthat I collaborate with Erik. Thus was born one of the most fruitful creative\nrelationships in my life and, to this day, one of my closest friendships.\n“A working pattern quickly evolved which thenceforth never varied. Erik would\nedit the stories to a workable length and, as resources permitted, adapt the dialog\nto a dramatic format. I would then record him reading the text in the studio, with\nor without other actors, and he would take the tapes away to edit, which he did\nhimself, often piecing them together word by word from almost infinite retakes.\n“Once the text was assembled, we would reserve a night in the main studio to\nput the program together with music and sound effects. Sometimes these were\nplotted in advance in great detail, sometimes not. Usually I would have a chance\nto hear the voice track before the production session.\n“Because of extreme demands on studio time, each adaptation was begun in the\nearly evening, after the news had gone out, and carried on until it was completed,\nusually some time in the wee small hours. The most remarkable aspect of this\ncollaboration was that we soon discovered that, when it came to radio\nproduction, we had a single brain between us. When Erik made a suggestion, I\nimmediately saw that it was the obvious way to proceed; when I suggested a sonic\nframework, Erik would declare that it was exactly what he had had in mind. At\nthe end of the session, we always left the studio with a tape which either of us\nwould have been glad to put his exclusive name to. The happiest moments of all\nwere between about 2 and 4 a.m., when we retired to Eric's apartment in the\nBerkeley hills and quietly drank our way into oblivion on Erik's excellent\nTanquerey-based gimlets, knowing in our hearts that we had produced yet\nanother masterpiece.\n“Half a lifetime later, having spent years working with multi-track recorders,\nI'm convinced that the character of those productions owed much to the fact that\nwe had only four mono Ampexes and two transcription turntables to work with.\nLong sequences which could not be edited together had to be assembled live as\nwe went along, with sequences of cues spliced together on several machines ready\nto be dropped in as needed. Nor did we have the crews of technicians which were\navailable to the BBC and the networks - if it couldn't be done with two pairs of\nhands, we had to think of something else. Such disciplines are perhaps analogous\nto the constraints placed upon the composer of a string quartet, and an indication\nof why this austere genre has always been held in such high esteem.\n“One thing that Erik and I were agreed on was that the text was sacred: no story\nwas to be altered in plot, in substance, or in diction. We were convinced that “too\nclose to the original” was a compliment, not a criticism. One great freedom which\nthis gave us was that our radio dramas were allowed to move seamlessly from\ndialog to monologue, in and out of the head of the narrator. To this day I have\nrarely heard text treated with such freedom and flexibility: the conventions of\nradio, television and film all demand that dialog be created out of nothing to\nconvey inner realities which become stilted and superficial as soon as they are\nforced into the straightjacket of conversation.\n“This discipline led to what I still believe to be one of the best radio dramatic\nproductions I've ever heard: Gogol's “Diary of a Madman”. The action takes place\nentirely inside the head of the protagonist, slipping back and forth between inner\nmonologue and a sequence of dialogues which may themselves be mere\ninventions. To compound the paradox, Erik split the schizophrenic personality of\nthe narrator between two actors - himself and Bernard Mayes - so that\nmonologue became dialogue and dialogue monologue. Like the narrator,\nimmersed in fantasy, you were never quite certain where you were.\n“Winding like vines around these fragments was a musical sound track\nassembled by Charles Shere, KPFA's Music Director. (Charles went on to become\nnot only a fine composer, but also the author of important books on several of\nAmerica's most interesting composers, as well as a director of Chez Pannise,\nBerkeley's great restaurant.) Long before “sampling”, this music was a closely\ninterwoven tapestry of fragments from familiar and half-familiar compositions,\nechoing the confused eclecticism of the narrator's own brain.”\nFour stories came from the 1959 anthology, The Pan Book of Horror Stories:\nNigel Kneale’s “Oh, Mirror, Mirror,” Bram Stoker’s “The Squaw,” Anthony\nVercoe’s “Flies,” and Alan Wykes’ “Nightmare.” (“Flies” is described: “A starving\ntramp breaks into a vacant Elizabethan house in Holborn, and is transported\nback in time to the height of the Great Plague.\nVariant dates appear in various logs of this series, due in large part to confusion\nbetween the original KPFA broadcasts and the KPFK repeats.\nThe KPFK repeats were sometimes broadcast under the title The Grand Guignol\nof the Air.\nKPFK Saturday, August 28, 1965? 10:10 THE BOARDED WINDOW: Grand\nGuignol of the Air returns with this production of Ambrose Bierce's chiller.\n“KPFK: Sunday, March 15 10:15 BLACK MASS: Beginning this loathsome ritual\non a bi-weekly basis in conformance with FCC rules of balanced programming.\nErik Baursfeld conducts the service consisting of cautionary tales, lore and\noccasional formulae. Today: Evening Primrose by John Collier. This series is\nproduced by Jack Nessel; technical production by Fred Seiden. both of KPFA.”\n[Program information]",
  "origination": "KPFA, Berkeley, California (Pacifica Radio)",
  "duration": "October 26 1963-January 27, 1968.",
  "personnel": "Erik Bauersfeld (adaptor, director, host), Jack Nessel\n(production supervisor), Fred Seiden (technical production), John Whiting\n(technical production), Peter Winkler (music—“The Haunted House”).\nCASTS: Erik Bauersfeld, Jan Dawson, Pat Franklyn, Michael C. Gwynne, Larry\nMadin, Bernard Mayes, Donald Page, Marian Winch, et al.",
  "extant_recordings": "“All Hallows” (10/26/63), “Evening Primrose”\n(11/??/63), “The Flies” (12/7/63), “The Ash Tree” (12/21/63), “An Evening’s\nEntertainment” (4/4/64), “The Rats in the Walls” (7/18/64), “The Squaw”\n(8/14/65), “The Dream of a Ridiculous Man” (7/23/66), “Oil of Dog” (10/1/66),\n“The Country Doctor” (10/1/66), “The Legend of the Island of Falles” (1/28/67),\n“The Judgment,” “The Renegade,” “Bartleby the Schrivener,” “MS. Found in a\nBottle” / “The Man of the Crowd,” “The Boarded Window” / “The Haunted\nHouse,” “Oh Mirror Mirror” / “Oil of Dog,” “The Jolly Corner,” “Esme” / “Sheeta\nand Cusiba,” “The Feeder,” “The Imp of the Perverse” / “The Tell-Tale Heart,”\n“Proof Positive” / “The Witch of the Willows,” “The Outsider,” “The Diary of a\nMadman,” “Atrophy,” “The Moonlit Road,” “The Death of Halpin Frazer,” “A\nPredicament,” “Nightmare,” “Tales by Lord Dunsany: Lobster Salad / The\nWorkman / How the Enemy Came to Tiunrana / The Dream of King Karna-\nVootra / Charon.”\n[NOTE: Previously it had been thought that all of the Black Mass broadcasts were\ncirculating among collectors, but now it appears that at least one is not available.\nThis is the November 27, 1965 adaptation of “Lazarus” by Leonid Andreyev.]\n[Program log]\nTHE BLACK MASS (KPFA, BERKELEY)\n[Saturday—11:35 PM-12:20 AM]\nOctober 26, 1963\n“All Hallows”\n[“…Not witchcraft, but fiction. Erik Bauersfeld, with\ntechnical assistance by John Whiting, reads Walter de la\nMare’s ‘All Hallows,’ an account of a cathedral possessed by\ndemonic forces…”]\n[Saturday—11:30 PM-      ]\nNovember 9, 1963 “Evening Primrose” (John Collier)\n[Saturday—12:05 AM-      ]\nNovember 23, 1963\n[Saturday—12:00 MIDNIGHT-       ]\nDecember 7, 1963\n“The Flies” (Anthony Vercoe)\n[Saturday—11:45 PM-12:25 AM]\nDecember 21, 1963 “The Ash Tree”\n[“…M. R. James’ ‘The Ash Tree,’ adapted and performed by\nErik\nBauersfeld, with Marian Winch as Mrs. Chiddock…”]\n[Saturday—11:55 PM-12:20 AM]\nJanuary 4, 1964\n“The Squaw”\n[“…Grand Guignol radio, based on a short story by Bram\nStoker, and performed by Erik Bauersfeld and Jan\nDawson…”]\n[Saturday—11:45 PM-       ]\nJanuary 18, 1964\n“Nightmare”\n[“…by Alan Wykes…”]\n[Saturday—12:00 MIDNIGHT-12:45 AM]\nFebruary 1, 1964\n“Six Tales by Lord Dunsany: Lobster Salad / The\nWorkman / The Charm Against Thirst / How the\nEnemy Came To Thlunrana / The Dream of King\nKarna-Vootra / Charon”\n[“…Six Tales by Lord Dunsany is performed by Erik\nBauersfeld and Bernard Mayes in a production by John\nWhiting…”]\n[Saturday—11:45 PM-         ]\nFebruary 15, 1964\n“The Boarded Window” / “Oh Mirror, Mirror” (Nigel\nKneale)\n[Saturday—11:30 PM-12:00 MIDNIGHT]\nFebruary 29, 1964 “All Hallows”\n[Saturday—12:00 MIDNIGHT-12:30 AM]\nMarch 14, 1964\n“Oil of Dog”\nApril 4, 1964\n“An Evening’s Entertainment” (M. R. James)\n[Saturday—12:00 MIDNIGHT-12:45 AM]\nApril 11, 1964\n“Lights Out, Everyone”\n[This was not a regular Black Mass program, but a playing of\nthe Capitol record album Drop Dead!, produced by Arch\nOboler and featuring horror vignettes and shortened\nversions of two of his original scripts for Lights Out.]\n[Saturday—12:00 MIDNIGHT-12:30 AM]\nApril 25, 1964\n[Saturday—11:00-11:30 PM]\nMay 9, 1964\n[Saturday—11:15-11:45 PM]\nMay 23, 1964\n“The Death of Halpin Frayser” (Ambrose Bierce)\n[Saturday—11:00-11:30 PM]\nJune 6, 1964\n“Proof Positive” (Graham Greene)\n[Saturday—11:30 PM-            ]\nJune 20, 1964\n“A Predicament” / “The Tell-Tale Heart”\n[Saturday—12:00 MIDNIGHT-         ]\nJuly 4, 1964\n“Disillusionment” (Thomas Mann) / “The Feeder” (Carl\nLinder)\n[Saturday—11:30 PM-           ]\nJuly 18, 1964\n“The Rats in the Walls” (H.P. Lovecraft)\nAugust 1, 1964\n“MS Found in a Bottle” / “The Imp of the Perverse”\nAugust 15, 1964\n“A Country Doctor” (Franz Kafka)\nAugust 29, 1964\n[Repeat broadcast; title unknown.]\nSeptember 12, 1964 “Esme” / “The Witch of the Willows”\n[“…Saki’s Esme and Lord Dunsany’s The Witch of the\nWillows with Bernard Mayes and Pat Franklyn, adapted by\nEric Bauersfeld…”]\nSeptember 26, 1964\nOctober 10, 1964\n“Atrophy”\n[“…adapted from a story by J. Anthony West, with Bernard\nMayes as George and Pat Franklyn as Marjory. Technical\nproduction by Fred Seiden…”]\n[Saturday—11:15 PM-          ]\nOctober 31, 1964\n“An Evening’s Entertainment”\n[“…adapted by Erik Bauersfeld, with Pat Franklyn, Arlene\nSagan, Marian Winch, Bernard Mayes, Don lePage, and\nFrank Laverd. Technical production by John Whiting…”]\n[Saturday—11:30 PM-             ]\nNovember 7, 1964 “Renegade”\n[“…Erik Bauersfeld in a virtuoso performance of Albert\nCamus’ story about a missionary driven mad by the natives\nhe was sent to convert…”]\nNovember 21, 1964 “The Jolly Corner”\n[“…Another Grand Guignol radio play, adapted by Erik\nBauersfeld from the short story by Henry James…”]\nDecember 5, 1964\nDecember 19, 1964 “Diary of a Madman”\n[“…Adapted by Erik Bauersfeld from the short story by\nNikolai Gogol. Performed by Bauersfeld, Bernard Mayes, and\nPat Franklyn, with technical production by John Whiting,\nand music prepared by Charles Shere…”]\nJanuary 2, 1965\nJanuary 16, 1965\nJanuary 30, 1965\nFebruary 13, 1965\nFebruary 27, 1965\nMarch 13, 1965\nMarch 27, 1965\nApril 10, 1965\nApril 24, 1965\nMay 8, 1965\nMay 22, 1965\nJune 5, 1965\nJune 19, 1965\nJuly 3, 1965\nJuly 17, 1965\nJuly 31, 1965\n“The Rats in the Walls”\nAugust 14, 1965\n“The Squaw”\nAugust 28, 1965\nSeptember 11, 1965\n[Saturday—11:15 PM-         ]\nSeptember 25, 1965\n[Saturday—11:30 PM-          ]\nOctober 2, 1965\nOctober 16, 1965\nOctober 30, 1965\n[Saturday—11:00 PM-          ]\nNovember 27, 1965 “Lazarus”\n(adapted by Howard Kerr from the short story by Leonid\nAndreyev)\nFebruary 19, 1966\nApril 16, 1966\nJune 11, 1966\nJune 25, 1966\nJuly 23, 1966\n“The Dream of a Ridiculous Man” (Fyodor Dostoevsky)\nOctober 1, 1966\n“Oil of Dog” (Ambrose Bierce) / “The Country Doctor”\n(Franz Kafka)\nNovember 12, 1966\n[Saturday—11:30 PM-             ]\nJanuary 28, 1967\n“The Legend of the Island of Falles” (Betty Sandbrook)\nFebruary 25, 1967\nApril 29, 1967\nMay 27, 1967\n[Saturday—11:00-PM-12:00 MIDNIGHT]\nJune 24, 1967\n[Saturday—11:15 PM-12:15 AM]\nJuly 29, 1967\n[Saturday—11:00 PM-12:00 MIDNIGHT]\nSeptember 30, 1967\nOctober 28, 1967\n[Saturday—11:30 PM-12:15 AM]\nNovember 25, 1967\n[Saturday—11:45 PM-12:15 AM]\nDecember 30, 1967\n[Saturday—11:30 PM-12:00 MIDNIGHT]\nJanuary 27, 1968\nOLD RADIO THEATRE (KPFA, BERKELEY)\n[Friday—10:00-11:00 PM]\nJuly 20, 1973\n“The Black Mass”\n[“…host Bud Cary welcomes The Black Mass and its\nproducer, Erik Bauersfeld, to spend an hour discussing this\nseries. We will hear selections from ‘The Flies,’ ‘The Rats in\nthe Walls,’ ‘A Predicament,’ ‘The Diary of a Madman,’ and\n‘The Dream of a Ridiculous Man’…”]\nSOMETHING’S HAPPENING! (KPFK, LOS ANGELES)\n[Monday—12:00 MIDNIGHT-        AM]\nJanuary 26, 1981\n“The Haunter of the Dark”\n[“…by H. P. Lovecraft… Erik Bauersfeld presents a special\n‘Black Mass’ made especially for this program…”]\nExtant shows without known broadcast dates:\n“Bartleby, the Shrivener” (Herman Melville)\n“The Boarded Window” (Ambrose Bierce) / “A Haunted\nHouse” (Virginia Woolf)\n“Candaules, Commissioner” (Daniel C. Jerrold, adapted\nfrom the writings of Herodotus and Plato)\n“Esme” (Saki) (7/29/64???)\n“The Imp of the Perverse” (Edgar Allan Poe)\n“The Judgment” (Franz Kafka)\n“The Man of the Crowd” / “Ms. Found in a Bottle”\n(Edgar Allan Poe)\n“The Moonlit Road (Ambrose Bierce)\n“The Outsider” (H. P. Lovecraft) (11/20/68???)\n“Proof Positive” (Graham Greene)\n“Shiddah\nand\nKusiba”\n(Isaac\nBashevis\nSinger)\n(10/16/63???)\n“Witch of the Willows” (Lord Dunsany)",
  "chronology": "",
  "sources": "",
  "gallery": "",
  "images": []
}