THE BLACK CHAPEL
[RADIO-SERIES]
"It is a quarter of an hour until midnight...the time when, each Friday night, we visit the Black
Chapel..."
A fifteen-minute series broadcast always at "a quarter of an hour until midnight" and featuring
the sinister intonations of Ted Osborne, who also was a regular on the Los Angeles version of The
Witch's Tale and would later (in 1940) play Edgar Allan Poe on KECA's Once Upon A Midnight.
Created by KNX continuity director Hector Chevigny (1904-1965), who was born Hector
Chevigny de la Chevrotiere in Missoula, Montana. After graduating from Gonzaga University in
???????, he…
In addition to Chevigny, two other alumnae of Seattle radio were involved with the show.
Organist Ivan Ditmars and announcer Art Gilmore…
Osborne was a multi-talented radio professional, functioning equally well in front of the
microphone and behind the scenes. His work as a radio writer led to his hiring by Walt Disney.
Mickey-stripper Floyd Gottfredson remembered Osborne’s work in his department: “Ted Osborne
and Dick Creedon were writers on a comedy-variety radio show that ran on KHJ… Walt brought
the two fellows out from this radio show to develop a Mickey Mouse radio show. They produced
some shows, but it didn’t last very long. When the radio show failed, Walt had to find something
else for Ted and Dick to do. So, he gave me Ted Osborne to write the comic strip material… Ted
Osborne was my first regular writer… So, from that time on, Ted and I worked together…”
“Disney assigned Ted Osborne to the Mickey strips to help Gottfredson in 1933 ("Pluto and the
Dogcatcher"). “Merrill de Maris at that time was in the Story Department, so he traded them.
[Walt] took Osborne up to story and sent de Maris won to me. After three of four months,
something like that, he became unhappy with Osborne in Story, and was now becoming
impressed with what de Maris was doing on the comic strips, so he traded again. I was never
consulted on these things. Walt would just call and inform me that he was making the switch.
Finally, in late '37 or early '38, Walt made the last change and sent de Maris back to me and took
Osborne back into Story. De Maris was a very talented writer, but Osborne was sort of
mechanical. He had a tremendous gag file, but he did everything by formula. So, I had to make a
decision, and decided to keep de Maris. Osborne left the Studio then…”
[Fresno Bee, October 3, 1931] “Tonight’s program of the Merrymakers…is Ted Osborne’s
farewell gesture in the manufacturing of comedy for this popular Saturday evening feature.
Osborne is to become associated with Walt Disney in the preparation of the Mickey Mouse
cartoon comedies.” [1945] “Ted Osborne, who appears weekly in character parts for ‘Mystery
Theater,’ estimates that he’s appeared on every single program on the air; sounds impossible…”
“Wasn’t that a funny story?” the Voice would often quip at the grisly conclusion of his tale.
“Playwrights…know the necessity for comedy in horror or mystery plays,” Chevigny expanded on
the topic. “Audiences can endure only so much of the gruesome; unless the comedy relief is
provided and skillfully timed in the writing of the play, audiences will start laughing at the horror
which they no longer can endure.”
Gradually the show built up a loyal following and the occasional favorable press comment. In
April of 1938, when Boris Karloff was guest-starring on Chicago’s Lights Out program, William
Moyes, the acerbic radio reviewer for The Oregonian, deemed his appearances a yawnful flop by
comparison with the creepiness of Ted Osborne. “Boruss,” declared Moyes, “never once sounded
half as scarey as the CBS chapel narrator.”
Several theaters in the San Francisco Bay area offered what they advertised as the “Black Chapel
Club,” which was a piping-in to the theater the show at 11:45 on Friday nights. The Oaks in
Berkeley, the Franklin in Oakland…
[Oakland Tribune, February 23, 1939—“Franklin Horror Film Proves Hit”] “That the famed
screen monster, Frankenstein’s creation, is still a box office magnet is being amply proven at the
Franklin this week, where all through the holiday, standees attested to the pull of the ‘Son of
Frankenstein’…
“…A special event Friday night only at the late show will be the addition of the radio shudder
broadcast, ‘Black Chapel’…”
[Reno Evening Gazette, October 21, 1939] “…nearly two hundred students of the University of
Nevada presented the annual Wolves’ Frolic, homecoming musical show… Sundowners, good
fellowship group, produced a take-off on the radio program ‘The Black Chapel’ and promised next
year to tell the public about the ‘mystery of the missing Nevada gymnasium’.”
Considering its ultimate permutations in the multi-national context—how it was transposed to
Mexican radio, and the character of the Crazy Monk ultimately became an authentic icon of
Mexican popular culture—The Black Chapel may be seen to have had probably the most unique
history of any radio horror program and also—arguably—have been the most influential of any
series in the genre—even more so than The Witch’s Tale or Lights Out or Inner Sanctum.
ORIGINATION: KNX, Hollywood, California (CBS Coast).
DURATION: October 11-November 1, 1936 (Sunday series), November 7-December 26, 1936 (Saturday
series), January 4-July 19, 1937 (Monday series), July 22, 1937-September 29, 1938 (Thursday series),
October 7, 1938-July 21, 1939 (Friday series).
PERSONNEL: Hector Chevigny (scriptwriter, 1936-1937), Ivan Ditmars (organist), Art Gilmore
(announcer), Roderick Ainsworth Mays (scriptwriter, 1938-1939), Ted Osborne ("Voice of the Black Chapel"
aka “The Priest of the Black Chapel” aka “The Black Priest” aka "The Mad Monk"), Carlos del Prado
(scriptwriter, 1937).
EXTANT RECORDINGS: "The Mystery of the Crawling Terror" (3/15/37), "The Mahogany Coffin"
(1/6/39).
[CHRONOLOGY]
THE BLACK CHAPEL (KNX, HOLLYWOOD—CBS COAST)
[Sunday—11:45 PM-12:00 MIDNIGHT]
October 11, 1936 “The Death of Hubert Condon”
October18, 1936
[“…The Voice of the Black Chapel will tell why the hair of John O’Connor
turned white over night…”]
October 25, 1936 “The Beast Face in the Mirror”
November 1, 1936
[Saturday—11:45 PM-12:00 MIDNIGHT]
November 7, 1936
November 14, 1936
November 21, 1936 “The Mask [sic] of the Red Death”
November 28, 1936 “The Revenge of Fortunato”
[“…a spine-chilling tale of Italy’s catacombs…”]
December 5, 1936
December 12, 1936
December 19, 1936
December 26, 1936
[Monday—11:45 PM-12:00 MIDNIGHT]
January 4, 1937
January 11, 1937
January 18, 1937 “The Horrible Fate of an Inveterate Punster”
[“…Puns come more or less under the head of pun-ishable offences
according to pundits... And when a play story is based upon a play on
words, its practically a major crime, say members of the Society for the
Suppression of Puns. The punster gets his tonight…but the author
escapes unscathed. The pun theme will be aired in the ‘Black Chapel’
spot, and will come punning its way out of the loudspeaker at a quarter to
midnight…”]
January 25, 1937 “The Mystery of the Dissection Room”
February 1, 1937
February 8, 1937 “Death on the Treadmill”
February 15, 1937 “The Case of the Voo-doo Drums”
February 22, 1937 “The Tell-Tale Heart”
March 1, 1937 “The Case of the Egyptian Sarcophagus”
March 8, 1937
[“…story of a fraternity banquet…”]
March 15, 1937 “The Mystery of the Crawling Terror”
EXTANT RECORDING
[OG-NOTE: The existing recording of “The Mystery of the Crawling Terror” may not be
the 3/15/37 broadcast verbatim, but rather an audition disc of some sort, perhaps a
pilot for a transcription spin-off of the series. Reference is made by the announcer to
the series running five nights a week, which was never true of the KNX program. Has
anyone ever seen the actual disc of this show? The label may provide some clue to its
true nature.]
March 22, 1937 “The Mystery of the Murder with the Blank Cartridge”
March 29, 1937 “The Mystery of the Phantom Ship”
April 5, 1937 “The Mystery of the O’Fallon Catacomb”
April 12, 1937 “The Black Cat”
April 19, 1937 “The Hypnosis of Dr. Davidson”
April 26, 1937 “The Mystery of the Mass Murders in Miami”
[“…Why did the spirit of Mazie Leech arise from its coffin to do murder?
Why did her fingers of death take terrible vengeance for age-old
wrongs?…”]
May 3, 1937 “The Horrible Case of the Polish Pianist”
May 10, 1937 “The Mask [sic] of the Red Death”
May 17, 1937
May 24, 1937 “The Horrible Case of the Wandering Somnambulist”
[“…The Voice, seated at the ruined old studio organ, pecking at the
cracked keys with talon hands, moans that this bedtime story is designed
to quiet forever those who believe not in the supernatural, who scoff at
ghosts, as did the Somnambulist until—until—heh heh heh heh heh heh—
only the Voice can tell…”]
May 31, 1937 “The Case of the Eleven Open Graves”
June 7, 1937 “The Horrible Case of the Man-Eating Plants”
[“…The story deals with Dr. Hugo Langsforff, a noted but much-hated
scientific wizard, who develops sea anemone to gigantic size in order to
get rid of his enemies…”]
June 14, 1937 “The Case of the Eight Chained Orang-Outangs”
June 21, 1937 “The Mystery of the Music in the Fourth Dimension”
[“…the story of Doctor von Langsdorff who attempted to write a
tone poem in the fourth dimension although authorities called him
crazy…”]
June 28, 1937 “The Secret of the Chapman Crypt”
July 5, 1937 “The Case of the Eleven Dead Pearl Divers”
July 12, 1937
July 19, 1937
[Thursday—11:45 PM-12:00 MIDNIGHT]
July 22, 1937 “The Case of the Yellow Murder”
[“…A young chemist plans to poison his aunt to inherit a lot of money.”]
July 29, 1937 “The Human Gargoyle”
[“…The central figure is a sculptor whose desire for money leads him to
commit a murder…”]
August 5, 1937
August 12, 1937 “The Blue Requiem”
[“…a story of a young and gifted composer found dead in his studio,
presumably a suicide… A man asks permission to stay with the body for
an entire night in order to get inspiration for a ‘Blue Requiem’ to be
played at the funeral. Something supernatural happens…”]
August 19, 1937 “The Mystery of the Penguin Palace”
August 26, 1937 “The Franciscan Cross”
[“…An Indian about to die tells an old mining prospector about buried
treasure, supposedly left behind by Franciscan monks forced to leave
their mission. The miner, overcome by greed, goes in search of the
treasure…”]
September 2, 1937
[“…the theft of a valuable emerald in Tibet…”]
September 9, 1937 “The Strange Case of Sister Filomena”
September 16, 1937 “Dr. Roumanoff’s Marvelous Microbe”
[“…a Russian phrenologist and his unique method of revenge”]
September 23, 1937 “The Mystery of the Black Lagoon”
September 30, 1937 “The Strange Case of Abigail Norton”
[“…A brother and sister, both unmarried, are left the property of
their mother. If a hint of insanity develops in one, the other is to have the
entire estate. Greed enters into the situation…”]
October 7, 1937 “The Reincarnation of Vilma Bordoni”
[“…the story of a plastic surgeon whose mind is crazed by the loss of his
young wife, killed in an accident…”]
October 14, 1937 “The Strange Case of the Mad Alchemist”
October 21, 1937 “The Strange Case of the Seven Dead Cats”
October 28, 1937 “The Mystery of the Voice from the Dead”
[“…a story of two brothers and a dead uncle…”]
November 4, 1937 “The Mystery of the Black Sepulcher”
[“…the story of a chap who stole bodies for medical students to
dissect…”]
November 11, 1937 “The Horrible Case of Dame Weatherbee’s Curse”
[“…Dame Weatherbee, who causes a great deal of unhappiness, is the
central figure in the horror tale…”]
November 18, 1937 “The Horrible Case of the Seven Floating Bodies”
November 25, 1937 “The Strange Case of the Vampire Bats”
December 2, 1937 “The Strange Case of Esmeralda Taylor”
[“…the story of a normal girl who becomes a haunted, neurotic
woman…”]
December 9, 1937 “The Strange Case of the Evil Eye”
December 16, 1937 “The Horrible Case of Anthony Graves”
December 23, 1937 “The Case of the Living Dead”
[“…Zombies, a witch doctor, an avaricious Frenchman, and his young
partner…”]
December 30, 1937
January 6, 1938 “The Horrible Case of the Head Without a Body”
[“…Spreading a heavy layer of horror over the air, the Voice of the Black
Chapel moans its way through another delightful tale designed to send us
to bed with pleasant dreams. His story concerns a medical professor who
harbored a nice plot to decapitate a human being and keep the living
head on a pedestal…”]
January 13, 1938 “The Case of the Madman’s Formula”
January 20, 1938 “The Weird Case of the Werewolf Killings”
January 27, 1938 “The Gruesome Case of the Murderous Mechanic”
February 3, 1938 “The Ghastly Case of the Shipwrecked Scientist”
[“…It is the tale of what greed will do to a person…”]
February 10, 1938 “The Terrifying Case of the Plague-Ridden Village”
February 17, 1938
February 24, 1938 “The Strange Case of the Partners-in-Crime”
March 3, 1938 “The Horrible Case of the Cat and the Bride”
March 10, 1938 “The Horrible Case of the Cat and the Bride”
March 17, 1938 “The Eerie Case of the Fisherman’s Dream”
March 24, 1938 “The Weird Case of the Parisian Music Lover”
March 31, 1938 “The Mysterious Case of Black Magic”
[“…story of a scorned suitor who seeks the services of an old woman,
reputed to be a witch, to cast an evil spell over the girl who did not return
his affections…”]
April 7, 1938 “The Gruesome Case of the Jaguar’s Eyes”
April 14, 1938 “The Uncanny Case of the Lost Indian Treasure”
April 21, 1938 “The Case of the Castle of Murdered Men”
April 28, 1938 “Six Dead Men on a Treadmill”
May 5, 1938 “The Macabre Case of the Two Old Friends”
May 12, 1938 “The Ghastly Case of the Forbidden City”
May 19, 1938 “The Horrible Case of Gila Monster Hill”
May 26, 1938 “The Fearful Case of the Trapper’s Ghost”
June 2, 1938 “The Horrible Case of the Climax of Discord”
June 9, 1938 “The Gruesome Case of the Three Brothers”
June 16, 1938 “The Weird Case of the White Witch Doctor”
[“…the story of a white physician who became a witch doctor of a tribe of
blacks in Africa…”]
June 23, 1938 “The Grisly Case of Ebeneezer’s Children”
June 30, 1938 “The Terrifying Case of Murder on Lonely Lake”
July 7, 1938 “The Diabolic Case of the Devil’s Point Pirates”
July 14, 1938 “The Horrible Case of the Man without a Memory”
[“…the story of an amnesia victim who awakens in a grave and
remembers nothing of his past life…”]
July 21, 1938 “The Grotesque Case of the Man Who Couldn’t Be Killed”
July 28, 1938 “The Macabre Case of the Seven of Spades”
[“…When Charles Ormay arrives at the home of a boyhood friend he sees
a knife sticking through a card, the seven of spades, on a dining room
table, a broken window and a curtain on the floor. What follows these
discoveries will be related by the Voice of the Black Chapel…”]
August 4, 1938 “The Mysterious Case of the Ghost of Hangman’s Gulch”
August 11, 1938 “The Ghastly Case of the Man Who Wasn’t Dead”
August 18, 1938 “The Sardonic Case of the Twin Sisters”
[“…The Voice of the Black Chapel continues to keep dialers up late to get
a nightcap of horror before turning in for a ‘turn and toss’ rest between
the sheets… The story tells of murder, a twisted mind avid for power and
a serpent ring with an emerald eye…”]
August 25, 1938 “The Mystifying Case of Jonathan Gray”
September 1, 1938 “The Gruesome Case of the Suicide Pact”
[“…what happened when an Oriental maid kept a tryst with a plotter with
whom she had made a suicide pact to jump into a flaming volcano…”]
September 8, 1938 “The Fantastic Case of the Whistling Parrot”
[“…a story of a college professor and his insane wife…”]
September 15, 1938 “The Incredible Case of the Living Head”
September 22, 1938 “The Dismal Case of the Deserted Monastery”
[“…about a man who was afraid of death so worked and searched to find
the key to eternal life…”]
September 29, 1938 “The Case of Even Money on Murder”
[“…It is the story of an author and his friend who are bored with life.”]
[Friday—11:45 PM-12:00 MIDNIGHT]
October 7, 1938 “The Uncanny Case of the Third Murder”
[“…concerned with two sons who seek to avenge the death of their father
who had been falsely accused and shot for betraying his country.”]
October 14, 1938 “The Gruesome Case of the Wolf Man”
[Announced as “The Wolf Hunter.” “…It is a story of primitive life on the
Siberian Steppes…”]
October 21, 1938 “The Hideous Case of the White Dungeon”
[“…a horror tale of a son who wants to control his father’s estate without
any advice from his older brother…”]
October 28, 1938 “The Gruesome Case of the Hallowe’en Joke”
[“…concerned with an old man who attempts to get revenge for a
disappointment in love 40 years before…”]
November 4, 1938 “The Weird Case of the Parisian Music Lover”
November 11, 1938 “The Strange Case of Elias Wick”
November 18, 1938 “The Mysterious Case of the Man in Gray”
November 25, 1938 “The Ghastly Case of the Criminal in Command”
December 2, 1938 “The Weird Case of the Maniacal Doctor Means”
December 9, 1938 “The Weird Case of the Unexpected Guest”
December 16, 1938 “The Hideous Tale of the Malevolent Butler"
December 23, 1938 “The Tale of Four Dinner Guests and a Murderer”
December 30, 1938 “The Death Song Murder”
January 6, 1939 “The Mahogany Coffin”
EXTANT RECORDING
January 13, 1939 “The Sinister Tale of the Strange Bequest”
January 20, 1939 “The Direful Tale of the Midnight Listeners”
January 27, 1939 “The Gruesome Case of the Beautiful Witch”
February 3, 1939 “The Horrible Case of the Hounded Cripple”
February 10, 1939 “The Rockabye Baby Murder”
February 17, 1939 “The Strange Case of Sylvester Black”
February 24, 1939 “The Remarkable Case of the Surgeon’s Hands”
[“…a famous surgeon whose hands are lost in an accident…”]
March 3, 1939 “The Strange Case of the Unknown Fingerprints”
March 10, 1939 “The Horrible Case of Anthony Wolfe”
March 17, 1939 “The Sinister Case of the Forest of Death”
March 24, 1939 “The Eerie Case of the Midnight Séance”
March 31, 1939 “The Macabre Case of the April Fools Joke”
April 7, 1939 “The Tale the Dead Man Told”
April 14, 1939 “The Fearful Case of the Black Point Spectre”
[“…Story of a ghost ship that visits the bleak coasts of Labrador and
Newfoundland each spring…”]
April 21, 1939 “The Horrible Case of the Man Who Sold His Corpse”
April 28, 1939 “The Uncanny Case of Jeremy James”
May 5, 1939 “The Strange Hypnosis of Dr. Davidson”
May 12, 1939 “The Uncanny Case of the Black Cat”
May 19, 1939 “The Gruesome Tale of the Sinking Death”
May 26, 1939 “The Gruesome Case of the Mad Scientist”
June 2, 1939 “The Uncanny Case of the Iron Maiden”
June 9, 1939 “The Weird Mystery of the Catacombs”
June 16, 1939 “The Gruesome Case of the Grinning Corpse”
June 23, 1939 “The Sinister Case of Mr. Vorhees”
[“…a tale of murder in a darkened skyscraper at midnight…”]
June 30, 1939 “The Gruesome Mystery of the House on the Hill”
July 7, 1939 “The Sinister Case of Leviticus Pettigrew”
July 14, 1939 “The Uncanny Case of the Black Crow”
July 21, 1939 “The Tale of the Monastery Crypt”
[Sources]
PERIODICALS: Los Angeles Times, Hollywood Citizen-News, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, San
Jose Mercury Herald.
THE BLACK CHAPEL
[RADIO-SERIES]
Was this a revival of the 1930s series, or a new series merely using the same name?
[CHRONOLOGY]
THE BLACK CHAPEL (KMTR, LOS ANGELES)
[Sunday—6:30-7:00 PM]
January 17, 1943
January 24, 1943
January 31, 1943
[Sunday—9:00-9:30 PM]
February 7, 1943
February 14, 1943
February 21, 1943
February 28, 1943
March 7, 1943
March 14, 1943
March 21, 1943
March 28, 1943
April 4, 1943
April 11, 1943
April 25, 1943
May 2, 1943
[Sunday—9:00-9:15 PM]
May 9, 1943
May 16, 1943
May 23, 1943
May 30, 1943
June 6, 1943
June 13, 1943
June 20, 1943
July 4, 1943
July 11, 1943
[Sunday—9:00-9:30 PM]
July 18, 1943
July 25, 1943
August 1, 1943
August 8, 1943
August 15, 1943
August 22, 1943
August 29, 1943
[Sunday—6:00-6:30 PM]
September 5, 1943
September 12, 1943
September 19, 1943
September 26, 1943
October 3, 1943
[Saturday—6:30-7:00 PM]
February 10, 1945
February 17, 1945
February 24, 1945
March 3, 1945
March 10, 1945
BLACK DIARY (KMTR, LOS ANGELES)
[Saturday—6:30-7:00 PM]
March 24, 1945
HOTEL HORROR (KMTR, LOS ANGELES)
[Saturday—6:30-7:00 PM]
March 31, 1945
April 7, 1945
[Saturday—9:30-10:00 PM]
April 14, 1945
April 21, 1945
April 28, 1945
[Sources]
PERIODICALS: Los Angeles Times.