HAUNTED HOUSE BROADCAST
[RADIO-SCRIPT]
“Fiction presented under the guise of authenticity is confusing,” complained
Washington Post columnist J. H. H. four days after the March 10, 1936 broadcast
of “The Petticoat Ghost,” an episode of the NBC series Crime Clews (formerly
known as Eno Crime Clues). The broadcast had created a bit of a stir when a
number of listeners thought that the events in the story were really transpiring.
[R. J. D., “Imported Spooks,” Middletown Times Herald, February 27, 1936]
“Boy, things have come to a sorry pass under the New Deal when one of our
major radio networks has to import British ghosts for a special spook program
March tenth. The British spooks will be microphoned to American radio
audiences by short-wave from a haunted manor house on the outskirts of London
over NBC. Mikes will be brought into the spook house at night and an announcer
or two will be on tap to try to coax from the spirits their usual moans, groans,
chain-clankings, shrieks, wall-tappings, stair-creakings, etc.
“But don’t think for a minute our rugged American spooks are going to sit back,
twiddle their thumbs and let the British get away without competition. Not on
your life! Feeling that native ghosts must resent the importation of foreign spooks
and are sufficiently patriotic to assert themselves, a commercial sponsor has
arranged a ghost house broadcast from New York on the same night over the
same network. As yet no house has been selected, but several old mansions with
ghostly associations in and near New York are being considered. Ghosts probably
will be auditioned early next week. And those with the spookiest repertoire of
noises will be given a chance to crash the air in the big All-American spook
program and show a listening world that the British haunts haven’t a thing on
them. Just the same, we’re betting two-to-one on the British spooks because
they’ve had more experience.”
[R. J. D., “Haunted Houses Scarce,” Middletown Times Herald, February 29,
1936] “Want to convert that idle house of yours into a gold mine? Then hire a pet
ghost and watch the shekels roll in to poppa. Two nights ago we stated a
commercial sponsor, seeking to offset a spook broadcast from a haunted house in
London, planned to air a spook program from some haunted house in or near
New York. But now it appears his play may be shelved because he can’t find an
untenanted haunted house. He employed a dozen detectives to locate a first-class
spook joint for his broadcast, and after a week of intensive scouting they reported
that every house with a good ghost record was occupied—chiefly by society folk
who thrilled to the unusual entertainment possibilities a haunted home afforded.
Real estate men then assured the sponsor that an obliging ghost on the premises
is a decided asset and that haunted houses are worth a premium.”
[Bradley Riter, Modesto Bee, March 8, 1936] “There was a time, and not so long
ago, when radio was considered spookish.
“People with head-sets were amazed as they pulled in strange noises from the
ether. It was eerie, unbelievable.
“Actually, however, there were about as many spooks in radio as there are in
haunted houses, as the producers of Crime Clues have found out.
“All this week, they have been looking for an authentic haunted house in New
York to be used as a setting for next Tuesday’s broadcast in the man-hunter
mystery series.
“They have found that ghosts do not cause all of the clanking of chains, the
dismal moaning and the nerve-wrecking banging of doors and many of the
‘haunted houses’ got that way through bad plumbing, unoiled hinges and liberal
dashes of imagination.
“While there are several old mansions in New York with excellent ghostly
records, the best ones are occupied. This is because society people have rented
them for the unusual entertainment they offer guests. Indeed, the real estate
fellows say an obliging ghost on the premises is a decided asset and such houses
are now worth a premium.”
[Washington Post, March 14, 1936] “Just see what comes in the mail from the
sponsors of ‘Crime Clews’:
“ ‘Maybe it indicates many radio listeners are reading their newspapers,
working on income tax returns, playing bridge or otherwise diverting themselves
while their radio sets are turned on, but a great many of them missed the
announcement made on the ‘Crime Clews haunted house’ broadcast last Tuesday.
And as a result, thousands of listeners phoned their radio stations asking if the
murder really had been committed on this program.
“ ‘The broadcast came from the basement kitchen of the famous old Conference
House on Staten Island, reputed to be haunted. During the program, a murder
instigated by a spook was committed.
“ ‘However, in the preliminary announcement that went on the air from the
studio before the broadcast was shifted to the Conference House, it was twice
stated specifically that listeners would hear another ‘Crime Clews’ story. Again at
the end of the broadcast, it was announced a story had been presented.’
“The announcement then goes into detail in respect to the number of calls
received—at Conference House, Radio City and other stations. It continues:
“ ‘Prior to the broadcast, newspapers carried stories which pointed out that,
while every opportunity would be given the Conference House ghost for
broadcast there would be a regular ‘Crime Clews’ drama, entitled ‘The Petticoat
Ghost’ presented. (Note: I was one radio writer who failed to ‘hear’ that
announcement, also.) Producers of the show, anticipating the ghosts would
probably be mike-shy, felt that listeners would be bored with a mere description
of the house, so a special ghost mystery was prepared. In the story, however,
‘breaks’ were provided so that spirit noises could be put on the air if such noises
developed.’
“It seems to me the above is a remarkable document. A lot of heads were
together, no doubt, for some time in working out the precise wording. Radio
sponsors learned early in the broadcst business that the public does not like to be
hoodwinked or deceived.
“As a recipient of the publicity mentioned and also as one who listened to the
program, I would say that ‘Crime Clews’ earned all the kickbacks they received on
their scrambled and confusing broadcast of ghost manifestations.”
Decades later listeners still remembered this broadcast. “My favorite weekly
radio show, after I did my school work, was the Eno Crime Clues,” recalled 76-
year-old Lou Wagner in 2000. “Their shows were very realistic. They had one
show where I thought the murder actually happened…ala Orson Welles—‘War of
the Worlds’.”
ORIGINATION: W???, New York City, New York (NBC-
DURATION: March 10, 1936.
PERSONNEL:
SPONSOR:
EXTANT RECORDINGS: None.
ENO CRIMES CLUES (WJZ, NEW YORK)
[Tuesday—8:00-8:30 PM]
March 10, 1936 “The Petticoat Ghost”
[“...Dr. Hereward Carrington, director
of the American Psychical Institute
and one of the outstanding authorities
on the supernatural, will take a leading
role in the ‘haunted house’
broadcast…”]
[“…Billopp Manor on Staten Island,
built by an ill-tempered, iron-fisted sea
captain in the 17th century, with stone
walls three feet thick and a dungeon
where slaves were punished, will be
the scene of the Crime Clues ‘haunted
house’ broadcast… Among the
assorted ghosts who are supposed to
sing Harlem lullabies and drag
assorted hardware around the mansion
during the dead of night are those of a
girl who was given the run-around by
one of the later Billopps and a slave
girl who was bumped off in the attic.
Also it is said that some of the men
before the mast resented the Captain’s
strong-arm methods and returned to
make his life miserable. Dr. Hereward
Carrington, psychic authority, will be
on hand to attempt to find the causes
of any ghostly sounds that may or may
not be heard during the broadcasts. If
none of the spooks show up, the
mystery drama of the evening, titled
‘The Petticoat Ghost,’ will be staged in
the old house, over a ghost-to-ghost
hookup…”]
THIRTY MINUTE THEATRE
*FOUND*Enoch Soames Max Beerbohm R4 3.6.1997/1400 Nigel Anthony/David
Bannerman/Ioan Meredith