GREAT TALES OF IMAGINATION

After the series had run its brief summer course on Monday evenings, it was shortly brought back

for an equally-brief Friday night run.

CBM, Montreal, Quebec (CBC Trans-Canada Network).

July 7-October 24, 1947.

Gordon Burwash (scriptwriter), Rupert Caplan (producer), Gerald Rowan (scriptwriter),

Joseph Schull (scriptwriter).

GREAT TALES OF IMAGINATION (CBM, MONTREAL—CBC TRANS-CANADA)

July 7, 1947“Under the Terror”

[

“…dramatizes imaginative tales of some of the world’s

greatest writers. Among these are Poe, Balzac, de Maupassant and

Dickens. Tonight’s program will present an adaptation by Hugh Kemp of

Balzac’s ‘Under the Terror’…”]

Hugh Kemp (adapted from the story by Honore Balzac).

July 14, 1947“Greenlaw Moor”

[

“…The CBC in keeping with the weather and with the

general trend of gruesome and gory stories on the air is presenting a

weekly series of half-hour dramas on Monday nights… Rupert Caplan

will direct an adaptation of a story by the Scottish writer, Andrew Lang,

entitled ‘Greenlaw Moor’… ‘None of my blood is to set foot upon

Greenlaw Moor,’ Adam Keane told his children. However, he himself was

the first of his family to venture, for over a hundred years, onto the

cursed moor where his great-great-grandfather had been murdered by

his own son, said death to be repaid by the murder of Adam’s son…”]

Joseph Schull (adapted from the story by Andrew Lang).

July 21, 1947“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”(by WashingtonIrving)

July 28, 1947“The Monkey’s Paw”(by W.W. Jacobs)

August 4, 1947“The Bet”(by Anton Chekhov)

August 11, 1947“The Bells”

August 18, 1947“Peter Rugg, the Missing Man”(by William Austin)

September 19, 1947

September 26, 1947“The Monkey’s Paw”

October 3, 1947“The Tall Woman” (by Pedro Antonio de Alarcon)

October 10, 1947

October 17, 1947“Storm Signals”

October 24, 1947“The Queen of Spades”(by Alexander Pushkin)

RADIO’S GALLERY OF

GHOULS

.(1923-1962).

Series regularsMuir HiteandBen Morrisenact an nightmarish opium-den scene from

theDark Fantasyepisode “Dead Hands Reaching” for the benefit of theRadio Guide

photographer

The ghostly faces of producerJohn I. Prosserand writerScott Bishophover above the

typewriter as they pound out plot details for anotherDark Fantasy.

The earliest ads for the NBC showInner SanctumMysteriesemphasized creator-

producerHiman Brown’soriginal name for the series,The CreakingDoor, which was

rejected by the sponsor.

Raymond Edward Johnsonbrought ghoulish humor to a new high(?) as the painfully

punning host who lurked behind that horrible door.

A new network forInner Sanctum Mysteries, but the old ghouls still find their way into

Raymond’s sanctorum.Elspeth EricandPeter Lorreemote for the CBS microphone in

1944.

In 1945Paul McGrathreplacedRayJohnsonas the creep behind the door. Here

McGrath (bursting through said door) and producerHiman Brownact as “cheering

section” as anotherSanctumkiller wraps his murderous mitts around the throat of

Mercedes McCambridge.

Don LewisandOrval Andersonin the New Orleansstudios of WWL, broadcasting

another installment ofEd Hoerner’s1941 seriesVoice in the Night—billed as “horror

stories of other days, and of today…”

Eva La Gallienne, a living legend of the American theatre, became a mistress of the

macabre for the Blue network offering,Horror Inc., a short-lived 1943 series of literary

readings with sinister organ stylings byRosaRio(who also keyboardedThe Shadow

over at Mutual). “Horror, Inc.” reportedThe Billboard, “digs down to find the bleakest

and most violent bits that have been written.”

Don Douglas(the New York radio actor, not the Hollywood supporting player) did all

of the voices inThe Black Castle, including the announcer, the crazed Wizard and his

pet raven Diablo (which meant that each week he introduced the audience to himself

with himself perched on his shoulder).

Valentine Dyallbrought sepulchral shadings of tone to his role as “The Man in Black,”

the sinister compere of the BBC programAppointment With Fear. “The voice wasn’t

really that deep,” he insisted, “but that’s the way that people remember it. It was really

higher.”

Maurice Tarplinwas a favorite actor of the writing team ofRobert ArthurandDavid

Kogan, appearing in the title roles of their Mutual horror seriesThe Mysterious

TravelerandThe Strange Dr. Weird.

“I take the train each week at this time.”Maurice Tarplinin character as “The

Mysterious Traveler.”

After nearly three years withArsenic and Old Lace—both on Broadway and with the road

show version—Boris Karloffreturned to Hollywood to resume his film career. At the

beginning of 1944, the Blue Network, no longer under NBC ownership, inked him to

host and star in a new series,Creeps by Night.

Bela Lugosialso had a shot at a series in 1944, but apparently nothing developed

beyond the NBC audition disc, “The Thirsty Death,” which he andJohn Carradine

recorded for the prospective show,Mystery House.

Horror writerRobert Blochenjoyed his first taste of fame beyond the pages ofWeird

Taleswith the radio dramatization of his story “Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper” on Kate

Smith’s show in 1944. Later that year he created the seriesStay Tuned for Terror, which

adapted 39 of his pulp stories for the syndication market.

Angeline Orr, the female lead ofStay Tuned For Terror, later married the show’s

producerJohnny Neblettand, after his untimely death, attempted to maintain the

fledgling Neblett production company as a going concern.

Creator and scripterJuan Marinoand other members of the cast of Chile’sEl Siniestro

Doctor Mortis, the longest-running of all radio horror shows, which had its first

broadcast in 1945 and ran on (through several station changes) well into the Eighties.

Boris Aplonprepares to kill the juice big-time in this publicity photo for the 1946

summer revival ofLights Out.

The 1947 revival of the legendary series lasted only three weeks before it was yanked

from the air-waves. The reason? StarBoris KarlofffoundWillis Cooper’sscripts

(resurrected from the early Chicago days of the show) too gruesome for his liking and

bailed out. (Boris, how could you?!!!)

Peter Lorrefound a terrific outlet for his talents in the 1947 summer seriesMystery in

the Air, tackling everything from Poe and de Maupassant to modern horror classics like

Nelson Bond’s “The Mask of Medusa.”

Dress rehearsal underway for Mutual’sHouse ofMysteryas “Roger Elliott, the Mystery

Man” (John Griggs) runs over the script with directorOlga Druce.

Mexican film star and heartthrobArturo de Cordovafound a second career in the

1950s as the host of XEW fright showApague la luz y eschuche.

The Mexican incarnation ofThe Shadowran in serialized format in the early 1950s, with

a greater emphasis on fantastical and supernatural happenings than its American

counterpart.

The cover to the 1951 book based on the popular Brazilian ghost story program. Series

creator and hostAlmirantewas a key figure in Brazilian broadcasting and a musical star

whose legend shines even to this day.

Moray Powellcompered as “The Host” in the Australian version ofInner Sanctum

Mysteries. With his clipped and precise intonation, Powell came across more as

someone who had emerged from a P. G. Wodehouse frolic rather than from a crypt or

sinister den.

In the mid-FiftiesKen Nordinebroadcast out of Chicago, doing horror readings on

both radio and television with the WNBQ-WMAQ seriesFaces in the Window.

Nelson Olmstedcarved a unique niche for himself in the 1940s and 50s as a radio

teller-of-tales in series such asThe World’s Greatest StoriesandYour Story Tonight. In

1956, as a new horror cycle began to manifest itself in the cinema and in the antics of

late-night TV horror hosts, he selected the best macabre tales from his previous

programs and spooked it up on the NBC seriesSleep No More.

`

M

MACABRE

A series of original dramas emanating from the Tokyo studios of the Armed Forces

Radio Service Far East Network. “TheMacabreseries began to take shape,” recalled the

show’s creator William Verdier, “when we recognized the need for a locally-produced

mystery program. We originally taped some nine shows which AFRTS in Los Angeles

accepted and sent around the world.”

“I guess the most difficult part of the whole thing,” remembered Verdier, “was

dreaming up ‘those crazy way-out plots,’ as they say. I wrote mainly at home…and

usually late into the night. I recall writing once until about three in the morning…and

stopped. It was very quiet. The only thing I could hear in the house was the ticking of

the clock. Even the animals were asleep. And I couldn’t think of an ending. So…I went on

to bed. The ending wouldn’t come. And, convenient as this may sound, I dreamed

something which, as soon as I awoke the next morning, I put right into the script before

breakfast.”

VERIFY: “Mr. Buey was program director at FEN Tokyo since 1946 and its inception. He

came into government service from the old Yankee Radio Network on the East Coast.”

“FEN Tokyo sent AFRTS Los Angeles a set of 15 i.p.s. tapes, from which the disks were

mastered, as an unofficial competition with one or more ongoing productions at Armed

Forces Network in Germany (AFN).”

Variant title listing:Macabra(this misspelling occurs in several collectors’ catalogs).

ORIGINATION:FEN TOKYO, Tokyo (Far East Network of the Armed Forces Radio and

Television Service).

DURATION:November 13, 1961-January 29, 1962 (first series), January 14-April 29,

1963 (second series), ??????, 196? (Christmas special), December 5, 1969-January 30,

1970 (third series).

PERSONNEL:Airman First Class Larry Clements (technical supervision), Airman First

Class James Conley (sound patterns, scriptwriter), Airman First Class Larry Dooley

(technical supervision), Air Force Sergeant Bob Eddy (technical supervision, sound

patterns), Airman Burr Hoyle (announcer), Airman Dave James (announcer), Carolyn

Johnston (associate director), Air Force Sergeant Al LePage (announcer), Hiroshi Ono

(technical supervision), Airman Jim Seaberg (scriptwriter), Walt Sheldon (scriptwriter,

director), Air Force Sergeant Newell Stewart (sound patterns), William Verdier

(scriptwriter, director).

CASTS: Shirley Ashey, John Buey, Maureen Buey, Airman First Class James Conley, Air

Force Sergeant Bob Eddy, Army PFC Allan Frank, Mitzie Hennessy, Carolyn Johnston, Air

Force Sergeant Al LePage, Sandra Morey, Frankie Oka, Milton Radmilovich, James

Sheldon, Walt Sheldon, Air Force Sergeant Newell Stewart, Christine Verdier, William

Verdier.

EXTANT RECORDINGS:“Final Resting Place” (11/13/61), “Weekend” (11/20/61), “The

Man in the Mirror” (11/27/61), “The House in the Garden” (12/4/61), “The Midnight

Horseman” (12/11/61), “The Avenger” (12/18/61), “Of Incense and Myrh” (12/25/61),

“The Crystalline Man” (1/1/62), “The Edge of Evil” (1/8/62), “The Strange Diary of Basil

Rene,” “Dark Crossing,” “Who’s a Dummy,” “The Importance of Being Insane,” “Due to

Circumstances,” “This Will Kill You.”

episodes. Our anchoring point in this is James Conley, the only enlisted man to have

been associated with the show all the way through. His advancement through the ranks

provides the most solid clues to the chronology of the episodes.

The earliest appear to be the following four: “Who’s a Dummy,” “The Importance of

Being Insane,” “This Will Kill You,” and “Due to Circumstances.” The first three are

scripted by Airman Jim Seaberg, and the last by Airman James Conley. Airman Dave

James is the announcer. The PSA at the end refers to an Act that went into effect on

??????.

Next in the chronology would be “Dark Crossing.” Seaburg is still with the show,

Conley is now Airman First Class, and Dave James is still the announcer.

Next is “The Strange Diary of Basil Rene.” The script is by William Verdier, and Seaberg,

Conley and James are all still in place.

Next comes the series of eight shows from 1961-62 that are familiar to most

collectors. Most of the scripts are by Verdier, Conley is still Airman First Class, and

Seaburg and James have gone from the scene.

Finally, the Christmas show “Of Incense and Myrh.” Conley is now Air Force Sergeant.

The announcer is Airman Burr Hoyle, whose tour of duty at FEN was from 1963 to 1967.]

MACABRE

Nov. 13, 1961“Final Resting Place”

Nov. 20, 1961“Weekend”

Nov. 27, 1961“The Man in the Mirror”

Dec. 4, 1961 “The House in the Garden”

Dec. 11, 1961 “The Midnight Horseman”

Dec. 18, 1961 “The Avenger”

Jan. 1, 1962 “The Crystalline Man”

Jan. 8, 1962 “The Edge of Evil”

Jan. 15, 1962

Jan. 22, 1962

Jan. 29, 1962

Jan. 14, 1963

Jan. 21, 1963

Jan. 28, 1963

Feb. 4, 1963

Feb. 11, 1963

Feb. 18, 1963

Feb. 25, 1963

March 4, 1963

March 11, 1963

March 18, 1963

March 25, 1963

April 1, 1963

April 8, 1963

April 15, 1963

April 22, 1963

April 29, 1963

Dec. 25, 1963?“Of Incense and Myrh”

Dec. 5, 1969

Dec. 12, 1969

Dec. 19, 1969

Dec. 26, 1969

Jan. 2, 1970

Jan. 9, 1970

Jan. 16, 1970

Jan. 23, 1970

Jan. 30, 1970

Programs with unknown broadcast dates (all appear to be pre-1961):

“Who’s a Dummy?”

“The Importance of Being

Insane”

“This Will Kill You”

“Due to Circumstances”

“Dark Crossing”

“The Strange Diary of Basil

Rene”

Sources for log information:Japan Times.

THE MAD DADDY SHOW

“From our secret laboratory—this is sponge-rubber heaven. Rockin’ and reelin’, havin’ a

ball—Swingin’ and singin’, strait jacket and all!”

Sociologists may make of it what they will, but the birth of rock ‘n’ roll in the mid-Fifties

coincides interestingly with the revival of the horror genre.

“In 1959 WNEW hired the biggest DJ in Cleveland, and the wildest DJ anywhere, Pete

Myers, to bring his unique style and personality to New York radio. Myers’ air persona,

The Mad Daddy, was as wild as wild can get—with continuous sound effects, screaming,

maniacal laughter, tons of echo, and lots of rock and roll for the kids.”

“His career began at WHKK, Akron in 1957 where he created the Mad Daddy persona.

He moved to WJW, Cleveland in January 1958 where he stayed until June. In August

1958, he switched to WHK where he reached the peak of his popularity, hosting record

hops and after midnight live shows dressed in a Dracula costume.”

“Cleveland’s very first horror host…Pete “Mad Daddy” Myers… Myers was a very

popular radio d.j. who talked constantly in rhyme; donning a cape with bat-wings and

hood, he became WJW TV’s ‘Shock Theater’ host, presenting the Universal greats from

the 30’s and 40’s, surrounded by a mad-lab set and a constant flow of dry ice fog.”

ORIGINATION:WHK, Cleveland, Ohio.

DURATION:August 1958-June 26, 1959.

PERSONNEL:Pete Myers (voice of “The Mad Daddy”).

EXTANT RECORDINGS:Unknown.

THE MAN IN BLACK

Valentine Dyall’s sinister narrator finally got his own program in this 1949 series.

Dyall was sometimes at pains to separate the reality of his own personality and

interests from the dark predilections of hisvox persona, but he did so with grisly good

humour. “A rumour started,” he wrote in 1954, “with my weekly broadcasts as ‘The Man

in Black’—that my appetite for mystery and horror was acquired at six years of age,

when Christmas parcels got mixed up and I receivedThe Works of Edgar Allan Poe

instead ofMother Goose. It is absolutely untrue. I was only five… There are many other

cruel falsehoods—that I keep puff-adders as pets, rearBelladonnain my window-box

and dress like a certain advertisement for a well-known port. The truth is that I have no

penchantfor the macabre—only, like Kipling’s baby elephant, an ‘insatiable curtiosity’, a

fatal fascination for ‘the sealed room’. I cannot resist an unsolved mystery, and if it

happens to involve ‘buckets of blood’—well, that’s no deterrent.”

ORIGINATION:The Light Programme, London (BBC).

DURATION:January 31-March 21, 1949.

Australian radio station 2FC in Sydney from January 20 to ????, 1952.]

PERSONNEL:John Keir Cross (scriptwriter), Valentine Dyall (voice of “The Man in Black”),

Cleland Finn (producer), David H. Godfrey (producer), Martyn C. Webster (producer).

EXTANT RECORDINGS:None.

THE MAN IN BLACK

Jan. 31, 1949“Markheim”(by Robert

Louis Stevenson)

Feb. 7, 1949“Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come To

You, My Lad”(by M.R. James)

Feb. 14, 1949“The Middle Toe of the Right

Foot”(by Ambrose Bierce)

Feb. 21, 1949“Our Feathered Friends” /

“Thus I Refute Beelzy”(by

John Collier)

Feb. 28, 1949“The Judge’s House”(by Bram

Stoker)

Mar. 7, 1949“The Yellow Wallpaper”(by

Charlotte Perkins Gillman)

Mar. 14, 1949“The Beast with Five Fingers”

(by W.F. Harvey)

Mar. 21, 1949“The Little House”

MERCER MCLEOD, THE MAN WITH THE STORY

“New NBC Recorded Production that poses the question: where does fantasy end and life

begin?”

Mercer McLeod, the creator of the legendary Canadian horror seriesThe Ghost Walker,

put on this show for NBC transcriptions with his wife and acting partner, Reta Laverne.

McLeod, in a very real sense, could be categorized as the Alonzo Deen Cole of

Canadian radio, as writer, producer and star of two different series ofThe Ghost Walker

in the 1930s and 40s, the Winnipeg seriesLend Me Your Earsin 1939, and this series in

the mid-40s.

a great storyteller. His strange tales…many from his own pen…follow a time-tested

pattern for entertainment…recreate experiences of adventure, suspense, mystery…bring

to life a world of legendary fantasy. Portraying all male characters in each program, his

astounding voice changes and keen sense of pacing give his stories a reality that is

inescapable. Reta McLeod, his talented wife, plays all feminine parts.

Audience acceptance for this unusual show is an established fact. Listeners to the

coast-to-coast Canadian network voted Mercer McLeod..The Man With The Story one of

their favorite dramatic programs.”

The Man with the Storyis an oddity, in that it is clearly a horror series and seven out of

the eight extant shows have definite supernatural elements in them (some of a rather

gruesome nature), yet the opening and closing segments do their best tonotconvey

any sense of the eerie or horrific. Instead, we have “shimmering skies” organ music, a

cheerful greeting from McLeod, and silly closing patter (“Say hello, Reta.” “Hello.” “Say

goodbye, Reta.” “Goodbye.”)

ORIGINATION:NBC Radio-Recording Division (Orthacoustic transcriptions).

DURATION:52 episodes released for twice-weekly broadcast in February, 1946.

the NBC ad reference may be to the Canadian version of this show, which was then

picked up for distribution in the States.]

PERSONNEL:Mercer McLeod (scriptwriter, voice of “The Man with the Story”).

CASTS: Mercer McLeod, Reta Laverne McLeod.

SPONSOR: Card’s Drug Store, Hornell (WWHG), et al.

EXTANT RECORDINGS:“The Birthday Present” (6/5/47; #6), “The Jungle Speaks”

(8/20/47; #4), “The Music Box from Hades” (5/4/48; #2), “The Mysterious Drawing”

(5/13/48; #1), “Two Extra Passengers” (8/10/48; #5), “The Bluestones” (11/9/48; #8), “The

Story of Ecco” (#3), “Won’t You Believe Me?” (#7).

were (presumably) taken from the disc labels and are at variance with the dates and with

internal evidence in the shows themselves.]

MIDNIGHT MACABRE / MACABRE MYSTERY

Broadcast from KPO in Oakland in 1944; subject for further research, if possible (no S.F.

radio coverage at that time).

ORIGINATION:KPO, Oakland.

DURATION:September 8-November 3, 1944 (Midnight Macabre), November 10, 1944-

January 5, 1945(MacabreMystery).

PERSONNEL:Unknown.

EXTANT RECORDINGS:None.

MIDNIGHT MACABRE

Sep. 8, 1944

Sep. 15, 1944

Sep. 22, 1944

Sep. 29, 1944

Oct. 6, 1944

Oct. 13, 1944

Oct. 20, 1944

Oct. 27, 1944

Nov. 3, 1944

MACABRE MYSTERY

Nov. 10, 1944

Nov. 17, 1944

Nov. 24, 1944

Dec. 1, 1944

Dec. 8, 1944

Dec. 15, 1944

Dec. 22, 1944

Dec. 29, 1944

Jan. 5, 1945

EL MISTERIO DE LAS TRES TORRES

This Venezuelan series ran on Radiodifusora in the 1940s, opening to “shady and

frightful tones taken fromThe Conesecration of the Springof Stravinski.” ReminiscedEl

Nacionalwriter Salvador Garmendia: “Nobody missed an episode. They were histories

tremebundas in which frequently dreadful murders happened, scenes of narrated

tortures and prison brutality with despreocupada truculencia; aside from which the old

tower of Don Eustoquio, where so many innocents had given the core to the terrible

scent of latrine that dominated in the place, was also the favorite lodging of the

ultratomb messengers, encompinchadas core in pain, witches and all sort of diabolic

appearances: dwarves, goblins and men without heads. In our illuminated solitary and

bad big rambling house, the bronchial and whispering tones of the actors left scene and

came towards us unfolding their membranosas wings. To all the end hairs were put to

us.”

ORIGINATION:Radiodifusora, Caracas.

DURATION:Circa 1940s.

PERSONNEL:Unknown.

EXTANT RECORDINGS:None.

MISTERIO EN EL AIRE

Broadcast over the affiliates of Radio Cadena Nacional, this series alternated between

mystery and detective stories and horror, ranging from the Sherlock Holmes adventure,

“The Red-Headed League” to an adaptation of Robert Hichens’ classic tale of monstrous

amour, “How Love Came to Professor Gildea.” Other titles in the series included “The

Greatest Monster,” “The Invisible Bride,” “Revenge of the Dead,” “The Scarlet Triangle,”

“The Dog with Two Heads,” “The Night of My Death,” and “The Lighthouse.”

ORIGINATION:XEX, Mexico City, Distrito Federal (RCN).

DURATION:Circa 1953.

PERSONNEL:Unknown.

EXTANT RECORDINGS:None.

MISTERIOS DE ULTRATUMBA

Cited inAnecdotario de Radio y Television(Esquivel Puerto, 1970); no further information

is known.

ORIGINATION:XEX, Mexico City, Distrito Federal.

DURATION:Circa 1950s.

PERSONNEL:Roberto Aguilar (producer), Ramon Obon (scriptwriter).

CASTS: Amparo Garrido, et al.

EXTANT RECORDINGS:None.

EL MONJE LOCO

Sometime in the 1950sEl Monje Locoswitched from XEQ to XEW. The new series took

the old 15-minute narrations and turned them into half-hour dramatizations.

ORIGINATION:XEW, Mexico, D.F.

DURATION:Circa 1950s.

PERSONNEL:Salvador Carasco (voice of “El Monje Loco”), Ignacio Garcia (organist),

Ramon Obon (scriptwriter), Carlos Riverol del Prado (scriptwriter).

EXTANT RECORDINGS:“El Horrible caso de las manos cortadas” (ca. 1958).

EL MONJE LOCO

This Nicaraguan version of the popular Mexican horror series was done by Managua

station YNOW (“La Voz de la America Central”), which also did the seriesDracula—El

Hombre Vampiro.

ORIGINATION:YNOW, Managua.

DURATION:Circa 1944.

PERSONNEL:Narciso Collac (voice of “El Monje Loco”), Julio Cesar Sandoval (producer).

CASTS: Magda Garcia, Carmen Martinez, Mamerto Martinez Vasquez.

EXTANT RECORDINGS:None.

EL MONJE LOCO

In his youth Anibal Gonzalez Irizarry, later the dean of Puerto Rican newscasters,

emigrated to New York City and for a year was the voice of El Monje Loco on the

Spanish-language programLa Voz Hispana del Aire. This was the only known U.S.

appearance of this character.

station WPRA in Mayaguez and soon became the station’s main broadcaster. In 1950,

Anibal went to New York City, where he worked for WWRL in a program called ‘La Voz

Hispana del Aire’ (The Hispanic Voice on the Air). In that program, he developed a

character which he called ‘Monje Loco’ (Crazy Priest). In 1951, he joined the radio station

WENX and was named Director of Spanish Programs. In 1953, Anibal joined the Army

and later after he was honorably discharged, he returned to New York and continued to

work in the radio… In 1956, Anibal returned to Puerto Rico and joined WKAQ, a

Telemundo affiliate, as its radio announcer.”

ORIGINATION:WWRL, New York City, New York.

DURATION:Circa 1950.

PERSONNEL:Anibal Gonzalez Irizarry (voice of “El Monje Loco”).

EXTANT RECORDINGS:None.

MOOD MACABRE

Years before John Morrow did hisDreadful John at Midnightseries at WKCR, the

Columbia University radio station, an earlier generation of students put on this show.

Unlike Dreadful John’s solo performance,Mood Macabreappears to have been a full-

fledged drama production, as evidenced by an announcement in the October 25, 1948

issue of theBarnard Bulletinthat casting for the show would be held “until further

notice [on] Monday night after show at 9:30 p.m.”

The show first went on the air during the Fall semester of 1948. (ABulletinarticle from

earlier in the year—February 13—noted that “there are three weekly dramatic shows,

‘Director’s Guild’ on Wednesdays, ‘Blue Lion’s Workshop’ on Thursdays and ‘The

Playhouse’ on Fridays. The plays which WKCR does are either originals or adaptations of

familiar plays and short stories.”)

Helping with the sound effects was Barnard student Betty Wall who, it was reported,

found herself “involved in such duties as figuring out the best way to reproduce ‘the

sound of a corpse falling’ (Betty jumped on a table) and ‘the sound of footsteps’ (Betty

balanced herself on a shaky wooden box and stamped for an hour).”

ORIGINATION:WKCR, New York City, New York.

DURATION:

PERSONNEL:Betty Wall (sound effects).

Players Playhouse—including Paul

A. Flinn (producer) and Wayne Dail (director)—may have worked on this series as well.]

EXTANT RECORDINGS:None.

MOOD MACABRE

Oct. 25, 1948

Nov. 1, 1948

MOON MUSIC

“Special musical arrangements from motion picture sound tracks and radio and TV

programs for your after midnight reverie, as arranged by Richard Powell.”

“Announcer Bob Dalton’s chief chore during the past summer was stroking a feline

named Thanatopsis and commenting on ‘The Black Cat.’ The cat told tales of murder

and mayhem, with the assistance of Dalton and some rather ancient movies… Dalton,

who worked at sounding like the voice of doom for ‘The Black Cat’ television program,

and who practiced a ghostly intonation for a Sunday night radio show called ‘Moon

Music’…”

ORIGINATION:WTOP, Washington, D.C.

DURATION:Circa 1953.

PERSONNEL:Bob Dalton (announcer), Richard Powell (music director).

EXTANT RECORDINGS:None.

“MR. ARCULARIS”

Conrad Aiken’s death fantasy was turned into compelling radio drama, first in Canada

and then in the U.S.

ORIGINATION:C??, Toronto (CBC Trans-Canada Network).

DURATION:

PERSONNEL:Andrew Allan (producer), Gerald Noxon (scriptwriter).

EXTANT RECORDINGS:Unknown.

STAGE 49

Nov. 28, 1948“Mr. Arcularis” (no. 9)

STAGE 50

Oct. 30, 1949 “Mr. Arcularis” (no. 6)

STAGE 53

Jan. 25, 1953 “Mr. Arcularis”

MURDER AT MIDNIGHT

Syndicated rival toInner Sanctum.

Louis Cowan: “I was in the Office of War Information in the overseas branch… When I

left the government I wasn’t quite certain about exactly what I would be doing or at

least where I would be doing it, because I didn’t know at that point whether I’d be

moving back to Chicago or stay in New York, and we finally decided to stay in New York.

Teaming up with two former colleagues, Joe Bailey and Al Holander, he determined to

set up in business. “It was determined that we would set up what would be an

independent producing office for radio at that time, and finally managed to locate some

space for an office at 250 West 57thth Street—the Fisk Building, which had also had

offices for the OWI during the war, and it happened that some space was available

there. Space then was almost impossible to get, and we did move in there and set up

our offices.”

“No expense has been spared to make it—yet it’s offered at a price ½ to 1/3 lower

than you’d expect. And the result is a witch’s broth of shivers and suspense that will

knock your audience for a ghoul!”

ORIGINATION:Louis G. Cowan Productions, New York City, New York (electrical

transcriptions distributed through the World Broadcasting System).

DURATION:Released into syndication in May, 1946.

September 8, 1947.]

PERSONNEL:Louis G. Cowan (producer), Max Ehrlich (scriptwriter), Anton M. Leader

(director), Peter Martin (scriptwriter), Sigmund Miller (scriptwriter), Raymond Morgan

(narrator), Bill Morwood (scriptwriter), Robert Newman (scriptwriter), Charles Paul (music

director), Joseph Ruscoll (scriptwriter).

CASTS: Alan Baxter, Ed Begley, Frank Behrens, Stuart Brody, Betty Caine, Eric Dressler,

Elspeth Eric, Carl Frank, Elsie Mae Gordon, John Harvey, Wendell Holmes, Barry Hopkins,

Ed Jerome, Raymond Edward Johnson, Berry Kroeger, Joe Latham, Charlotte Lawrence,

Abby Lewis, Robert Lynn, Paul Mann, Mercedes McCambridge, Craig McDonnell, Dick

Nelson, Paul Nugent, Santos Ortega, Bill Quinn, Frank Readick, Ann Shepherd, Helen

Shields, Bill Smith, Hester Sondergaard, Amzie Strickland, Karl Swenson, John Sylvester,

George Tiplady, Luis Van Rooten, Betty Winkler, Roland Winters, Agnes Young, Lawson

Zerbe.

SPONSOR: Ehret’s Beer (WJZ).

EXTANT RECORDINGS:“The Dead Hand” (#1), “The Man Who Was Death” (#2), “The

Secret of XR3” (#3), “Wherever I Go” (#4), “Death’s Goblet” (10/21/46),

MURDER AT MIDNIGHT (DISC SERIES ON WJZ)

Sep. 16, 1946 “The Dead Hand”

Sep. 23, 1946 “The Man Who Was Death”

Sep. 30, 1946 “The Secret of XR-3”

Oct. 7, 1946 “Wherever I Go”

Oct. 14, 1946 “Trigger Man”

Oct. 21, 1946 “Death’s Goblets”

Oct. 28, 1946 “The Heavy Death”

Nov. 4, 1946 “Nightmare”

Nov. 11, 1946“The Dead Come Back”

Nov. 18, 1946“Terror Out of Space”

Nov. 25, 1946“The Creeper”

Dec. 2, 1946 “The Man Who Died

Yesterday”

Dec. 9, 1946 “Till Death Do Us Part”

Dec. 16, 1946 “Murder Is a Lonely Business”

Dec. 23, 1946 “The House Where Death

Lived”

Dec. 30, 1946 “The Kabbala”

search for the supernatural brought

death…”]

Jan. 6, 1947 “The Ace of Death”

Jan. 13, 1947 “The House That Time Forgot”

Jan. 20, 1947 “Death Tolls a Requiem” ????

Jan. 27, 1947 “The Thirteenth Floor”

Feb. 3, 1947 “The Man With the Black

Beard”

Feb. 10, 1947 “The Black Curtain”

his patient…”]

Feb. 17, 1947 “The Outcast”

Feb. 24, 1947 “Terror”

March 10, 1947“Death’s Worshipper”

March 17, 1947“Death Tolls a Requiem”

March 24, 1947“Red Wheels”

March 31, 1947“The Ape Song”

uses an ape to commit murder…”]

April 7, 1947 “The Line Is Dead”

April 14, 1947“Death Ship”

April 21, 1947“We Who Are About To Die”

April 28, 1947“The Living Dead”

May 5, 1947 “Island of the Dead”

May 12, 1947 “The Corridor of Doom”

May 19, 1947 “City Morgue”

May 26, 1947 “The Dark Chamber”

June 2, 1947 “Death Is No End”

June 9, 1947 “The Dark Cellar”

June 16, 1947“Murder Is Not Enough”

June 23, 1947“The Face of the Dragon”

June 30, 1947“The Man Who Died Again”

July 7, 1947 “Death Across the Board”

July 14, 1947 “Fatal Interruption”

July 21, 1947 “The Dispossessed”

gangsters…”]

July 28, 1947 “Appointment”

fight…”]

Aug. 4, 1947 “Glory Train”

Aug. 11, 1947“The Black Swan”

Aug. 18, 1947“The Face”

Aug. 25, 1947“Dead Man’s Turn”

girl he never met…”]

Sep. 1, 1947 “Memory of the Dead”

Sep. 8, 1947 “The Mark of Cain”

Additional titles with unknown dates:

“Murder Out of Mind”

MURDER AT MIDNIGHT (DISC SERIES ON

WOR-MUTUAL)

May 1, 1950 “The Dead Hand”

May 8, 1950 “The Man With the Black

Beard”

May 15, 1950 “The Creeper”

May 22, 1950 “The Line Is Dead”

June 5, 1950 “Nightmare”

June 12, 1950“The Secret of XR-3”

June 19, 1950“The Black Curtain”

June 26, 1950“City Morgue”

July 3, 1950

July 17, 1950 “Terror Out of Space”

July 24, 1950 “The Thirteenth Floor”

MYSTERIES BY CANDLELIGHT

Even as Boris Karloff was wrapping up his obligations as host and star of the Blue

network’sCreeps by Night, he was reported to be a possible star of another proposed

series.

MYSTERIES FROM ENGLAND

under which top detective fiction dramatized for the British audience will be rebroadcast

here from recordings…. Representative programs from three BBC series—Mystery and

Imagination,The Adventures of JuliaandThe Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde—

have been selected by WNEW for presentation during the seventeen-week venture, to

open Aug. 10 at 8 P.M.BBC is also arranging a special round table with Dorothy Sayers,

John Dickson Carr and other writers in this field to precede the first program.”

ORIGINATION:WNEW, New York City, New York.

DURATION:August 10-?????, 1947.

PERSONNEL:

EXTANT RECORDINGS:None.

MYSTERIES FROM ENGLAND

Aug. 10, 1947“The Adventures of Julia” [1]

THE MYSTERIOUS TRAVELER

“This is the Mysterious Traveler, inviting you to join me on another journey into the

strange and terrifying. I hope you will enjoy the trip, that it will thrill you a little and chill

you a little. So settle back, get a good grip on your nerves, and be comfortable—if you

can!”

Long-running mystery / suspense / horror / science-fiction series.

ORIGINATION:WOR, New York City, New York (MBS)

DURATION:December 5, 1943-March 31, 1945 (first series), July 14, 1946-September

29, 1946 (second series), December 1, 1946-September 2, 1952 (third series).

PERSONNEL:Robert Arthur (scriptwriter, producer, director), Bradley Barker (animal

sound effects), Carl Caruso (announcer), David Kogan (scriptwriter, producer, director),

Dorothy Langley (sound effects), Jock MacGregor (producer-director), Maurice Tarplin

(voice of “The Mysterious Traveler”), Paul Taubman (music director), Doc Whipple

(organist).

CASTS: Frank Behrens, Ralph Bell, Lon Clark, Eric Dressler, Robert Dryden, John Gibson,

Wendell Holmes, Irene Hubbard, Leon Janney, Joseph Julian, Anna Karens, Ian Martin,

Jan Miner, Elizabeth Morgan, Bret Morrison, Eleanor Phelps, Bryna Raeburn, Frank

Readick, Stefan Schnabel, Helen Shields, Louis Sorin, Karl Swenson, Maurice Tarplin, Luis

Van Rooten, Gertrude Warner, Lawson Zerbe.

EXTANT RECORDINGS:“House of Death” (1/30/44), “The Good Die Young” (3/27/44),

“Beware of Tomorrow” (4/9/44), “The Accusing Corpse” (4/16/44), “The Queen of the

Cats” (7/2/44), “Death Laughs Last” (9/24/44), “They Who Sleep” (1/6/45), “The Case of

Charles Foster” (3/10/45), “Death Comes for Adolph Hitler (3/24/45), “Murder Goes Free”

(3/31/45).

“Death Is the Visitor” (8/24/46), “No One on the Line” (9/1/46), “Symphony of Death”

(9/8/46), “If You Believe” (12/29/46), “New Year’s Nightmare” (1/5/47), “The Woman in

Black” (3/9/47), “Dark Destiny” (4/13/47),

THE MYSTERIOUS TRAVELER

Dec. 5, 1943 “The Hands That Killed”

Dec. 12, 1943 “Death at Storm House”

Dec. 19, 1943 “King of the World”

Dec. 26, 1943 “Devil Island”

Jan. 2, 1944 “The Clock Struck Midnight”

Jan. 9, 1944 “The Visiting Corpse”

Jan. 16, 1944 “The Strange Journal of

Professor Drake”

Jan. 23, 1944 “Murderer Unknown”

Jan. 30, 1944 “House of Death”

Feb. 6, 1944 “The Man Who Knew Too

Much”

Feb. 13, 1944 “To Have and To Hold”

Feb. 20, 1944 “The Ugliest Woman Alive”

Feb. 27, 1944 “The Good Die Young”

March 5, 1944“Design for Death”

March 12, 1944“Statement by the Accused”

March 19, 1944“Welcome Home”

March 26, 1944“Stranger in the House”

April 2, 1944 “Out of the Past”

April 9, 1944 “Beware of Tomorrow”

April 16, 1944“The Accusing Corpse”

April 23, 1944“Escape by Death”

April 30, 1944“Murder Spins the Plot”

May 7, 1944 “I’ll Die Laughing”

May 14, 1944 “The Ghost Makers”

May 21, 1944 “The Man Who Could Vanish”

May 28, 1944 “In Loving Memory”

June 4, 1944 “Murder Must Be Paid For”

June 11, 1944“Death Spins a Web”

June 18, 1944“The Man With the Stolen

Face”

June 25, 1944“Blood on the Moon”

July 2, 1944 “Queen of the Cats”

July 9, 1944 “Broadway, Here I Come”

July 16, 1944 “Death Rings Down the

Curtain”

July 23, 1944 “The Man Who Couldn’t Die”

July 30, 1944 “Till Death Do Us Part”

Aug. 6, 1944 “My Beloved Must Die”

Aug. 13, 1944“Flight from Fear”

Aug. 20, 1944“Time on My Hands”

Aug. 27, 1944“The Unknown Enemy”

Sep. 10, 1944 “The Bell of Life”

Sep. 17, 1944 “A Dream of Death”

Sep. 24, 1944 “Death Laughs Last”

Oct. 7, 1944 “The Man the Insects Hated”

Oct. 14, 1944 “Mind Over Murder”

Oct. 21, 1944 “Voice of the Dead”

Oct. 28, 1944 “Invitation to Death”

Nov. 11, 1944“She Shall Have Music”

Nov. 18, 1944“Journey With Death”

Nov. 25, 1944“Footsteps of Fate”

Dec. 2, 1944 “The Cat and the Mouse”

Dec. 9, 1944 “Murder Without Crime”

Dec. 16, 1944 “You Only Die Once”

Dec. 23, 1944 “Christmas Present”

Dec. 30, 1944 “The Embarassing Corpse”

Jan. 6, 1945 “They Who Sleep”

Jan. 13, 1945 “Escape Through Time”

Jan. 20, 1945 “Letter from the Dead”

Jan. 27, 1945 “Death Needs a Witness”

Feb. 3, 1945 “Farewell Appearance”

Feb. 10, 1945 “Murder Is So Fatal”

Feb. 17, 1945 “Wanted for Murder”

Feb. 24, 1945 “Concerto for Death”

March 3, 1945“Murder Is No Accident”

March 10, 1945“The Case of Charles Foster”

March 17, 1945“Blood Money”

March 24, 1945“Death Comes for Adolph

Hitler”

March 31, 1945“Murder Goes Free”

July 14, 1946 “Seven Years To Wait”

July 21, 1946 “It Might Be You”

July 28, 1946 “Summer Heat”

Aug. 4, 1946 “Death Is My Companion”

Aug. 11, 1946“Mortal Clay”

Aug. 18, 1946“Dynasty of Death”

Aug. 25, 1946“Death Is the Visitor”

Sep. 1, 1946 “No One on the Line”

Sep. 8, 1946 “Symphony of Death”

Sep. 15, 1946 “As I Lie Dying”

Sep. 22, 1946 “The Strange Death of C.

Duvall”

Sep. 29, 1946 “Death Plays the Tune”

Dec. 1, 1946 “Friend of the Dead”

Dec. 8, 1946 “Death Is in the Wind”

Dec. 15, 1946 “Death Is a Dream”

Dec. 22, 1946 “Between Two Worlds”

Dec. 29, 1946 “If You Believe”

Jan. 5, 1947 “New Year’s Nightmare”

Jan. 12, 1947 “No Grave Can Hold Me”

Jan. 19, 1947 “Death Is the Dealer”

Jan. 26, 1947 “You Won’t Escape Me”

Feb. 2, 1947 “Voice from Tomorrow”

Feb. 9, 1947 “Five Miles Down”

Feb. 16, 1947 “Murder in Masquerade”

Feb. 23, 1947 “The Cat Died Twice”

March 2, 1947“Dig My Grave Deep”

March 9, 1947“The Woman in Black”

March 16, 1947“Death Wears My Face”

March 23, 1947“Voice of Murder”

March 30, 1947“Death Is My Pursuer”

April 6, 1947 “You Only Hang Once”

April 13, 1947“Dark Destiny”

April 20, 1947“Flight from Fear”

April 27, 1947“House of Silence”

May 4, 1947 “Destination Death”

May 11, 1947 “Design for Death”

May 18, 1947 “Die She Must”

May 25, 1947 “Mind Over Murder”

June 1, 1947 “She Walks With Death”

June 8, 1947 “I Died Last Night”

June 15, 1947“Death Is the Judge”

June 22, 1947“Meet Me at the Morgue”

June 29, 1947“Murder Without Crime”

July 6, 1947 “Locomotive Ghost”

July 13, 1947 “Dark Is the Night”

July 20, 1947 “Their Cold Companion”

July 27, 1947 “The Man the Insects Hated”

Aug. 3, 1947 “I Dreamed of Dying”

Aug. 10, 1947“Nightmare”

Aug. 24, 1947“Murder Goes Free”

Aug. 31, 1947“Murder at Their Heels”

Sep. 7, 1947 “Vacation from Life”

Sep. 14, 1947 “Big Payoff”

Sep. 21, 1947 “Island of Fear”

Sep. 28, 1947 “Deep Is My Grave”

Oct. 7, 1947 “Death Rides the Storm”

Oct. 14, 1947 “Death Is My Host”

Oct. 21, 1947 “Death Is My Caller”

Oct. 28, 1947 “Invitation to Death”

Nov. 4, 1947 “Murder at the Dawn of Time”

Nov. 11, 1947“My Date Is With Death”

Nov. 25, 1947“Death Guides My Hand”

Dec. 2, 1947 “Death Cancels All Debts”

Dec. 9, 1947 “Death Must Have Revenge”

Dec. 16, 1947 “Christmas Present”

Dec. 23, 1947 “Mr. Trimble’s Turnabout

Christmas”

Dec. 30, 1947 “Escape to 2480”

Jan. 6, 1948 “Death Is at the Throttle”

Jan. 13, 1948 “Death Must Wait”

Jan. 20, 1948 “The Man in the Black Derby”

Jan. 27, 1948 “Death Has a Vacancy”

Feb. 3, 1948 “Life Is But a Dream”

Feb. 10, 1948 “I’ll Dance on Your Coffin”

Feb. 17, 1948 “Chance of a Lifetime”

Feb. 24, 1948 “The Man Who Died Twice”

March 2, 1948“The Ivory Elephant”

March 9, 1948“Alibi for Murder”

March 16, 1948“They Struck It Rich”

March 23, 1948“Seven Years To Wait”

March 30, 1948“Death Is a Dream”

April 6, 1948 “When Killers Meet”

April 13, 1948“They’ll Never Believe Me”

April 20, 1948“Murder in Jazztime”

April 27, 1948“The Little Man Who Wasn’t

There”

May 4, 1948 “They Who Sleep”

May 11, 1948 “I Won’t Die Alone”

May 18, 1948 “Death Writes a Letter”

May 25, 1948 “Death Is My Co-Pilot”

June 1, 1948 “Strange Voyage”

June 8, 1948 “Murder Is My Business”

June 15, 1948“Queen of the Cats”

June 22, 1948“Zero Hour”

June 29, 1948“You Only Die Once”

July 6, 1948 “The Man Who Vanished”

July 13, 1948 “Bury Her Deep”

July 20, 1948 “The Chase”

July 27, 1948 “The Unexpected”

Aug. 3, 1948 “Terror by Night”

Aug. 10, 1948“The Visiting Corpse”

Aug. 24, 1948“Murder by Proxy”

Aug. 31, 1948“Murder Has a Price”

Sep. 7, 1948 “Unsolved”

Sep. 14, 1948 “Dance of Death”

Sep. 21, 1948 “Death Has a Thousand Faces”

Sep. 28, 1948 “Hideout”

Oct. 5, 1948 “Death Rings Down the

Curtain”

Oct. 12, 1948 “Broadway, Here I Come”

Oct. 19, 1948 “Death Has a Voice”

Oct. 26, 1948 “Welcome Home”

Nov. 11, 1948“Till Death Do Us Part”

Nov. 18, 1948“Death Wears a False Face”

Nov. 25, 1948“Agreement To Die”

Dec. 2, 1948 “Farewell Appearance”

Dec. 9, 1948 “Signed in Blood”

Dec. 16, 1948 “House of Death”

Dec. 23, 1948 “A Town Named Christmas”

Dec. 30, 1948 “It’s Later Than You Think”

Jan. 6, 1949 “The Devil and the Deep Blue

Sea”

Jan. 13, 1949 “The Accusing Corpse”

Jan. 20, 1949 “Death Is My Partner”

Jan. 27, 1949 “The Ghost Makers”

Feb. 3, 1949 “Death Spins a Web”

Feb. 10, 1949 “Tonight I Die”

Feb. 17, 1949 “Collector’s Item”

Feb. 24, 1949 “Time Is Running Out”

March 3, 1949“Murder at the Mardi Gras”

March 10, 1949“The Dead Can’t Testify”

March 17, 1949“Murder Points a Finger”

March 24, 1949“I’ll Die Laughing”

March 29, 1949“Death Has a Cold Breath”

April 5, 1949 “Murder Makes Music”

April 12, 1949“They Died Screaming”

April 19, 1949“Out of the Past”

April 26, 1949“The Hot Seat”

May 3, 1949 “Murder Begins at Home”

May 10, 1949 “Escape into the Future”

May 17, 1949 “The Corpse Comes Home”

May 24, 1949 “Behind the Locked Door”

May 31, 1949 “Meet Me at the Morgue”

June 7, 1949 “Die Once, Die Twice”

June 14, 1949“No Grave Can Hold Me”

June 21, 1949“Murder Has a Voice”

June 28, 1949“She Walks With Death”

July 5, 1949 “The Case of Charles Foster”

treatment… He gets by with killing

his first wife, then is wrongfully

accused of doing in the second…”]

July 12, 1949 “The Locomotive Ghost”

July 19, 1949 “Murder Is So Fatal”

July 26, 1949 “Voice from Tomorrow”

Aug. 2, 1949 “The Planet Zevius”

Aug. 9, 1949 “Brain Guy”

Aug. 16, 1949“Murder Spins the Plot”

Aug. 23, 1949“Why Don’t You Die?”

Aug. 30, 1949“The Treasure of Superstition

Mountain”

Sep. 6, 1949 “Flight from Fear”

Sep. 13, 1949 “The Cat Died Twice”

Sep. 20, 1949 “Destination Death”

Sep. 27, 1949 “You Only Hang Once”

Oct. 4, 1949 “The Knife”

Oct. 11, 1949 “The Last Survivor”

imagination go hog-wild in a fantasy

about a man who’s returning to earth

in a spaceship, peers through

porthole, sees earth vanish in a

cosmic blast; problem, where to go

from there?…”]

Oct. 18, 1949 “Nightmare House”

psychiatrist…”]

Oct. 25, 1949 “No One on the Line”

Nov. 1, 1949 “The Witness”

Nov. 8, 1949 “Appointment With Death”

Nov. 15, 1949“The Mirror of Count

Cagliostro”

Nov. 22, 1949“Mortal Clay”

Dec. 6, 1949 “Why Don’t You Stay Dead?”

wife keeps asking, ‘Why don’t you

die?’…”]

Dec. 13, 1949 “The Man No One Knew”

Venus.”]

Dec. 20, 1949 “Luck of the Irish”

certificates from a beggar and they

turn out to be valuable…”]

Dec. 27, 1949 “Death Comes at Night”

Jan. 3, 1950 “Golden Future”

haywire and prints the ‘news of

tomorrow’…”]

Jan. 10, 1950 “Survival of the Fittest”

announced.]

Jan. 17, 1950 “Shadows in the Night”

Jan. 24, 1950 “The Dead Man’s Story”

Jan. 31, 1950 “Extra! Extra!”

Feb. 7, 1950 “The Man Who Tried To Save

Lincoln”

Feb. 14, 1950 “The Big Hand”

Feb. 21, 1950 “Double Sixes”

Feb. 28, 1950 “Journey into the Unknown”

March 7, 1950“Death Rides the Wind”

March 14, 1950“The Big Brain”

March 21, 1950“Dark Underworld”

March 28, 1950“No Grave So Deep”

April 4, 1950 “The Man from Singapore”

April 11, 1950“Flight from Tomorrow”

April 18, 1950“Death at Fifty Fathoms”

April 25, 1950“I Died Last Night”

May 2, 1950 “S.O.S.”

May 9, 1950 “The Big Dive”

May 16, 1950 “Voices at Midnight”

May 23, 1950 “Lady in Red”

May 30, 1950 “Beyond the Law”

June 6, 1950 “Murder Without Crime”

June 13, 1950“Death Has Two Faces”

June 20, 1950“Die She Must”

June 27, 1950“Journey Through Time”

July 4, 1950 “Five Miles Down”

July 11, 1950 “Ring Twice for Death”

July 18, 1950 “Killer Return Home”

July 25, 1950 “Gun for Hire”

Aug. 1, 1950 “Footsteps Behind You”

Aug. 8, 1950 “Blood Money”

Aug. 15, 1950“Vacation from Life”

Aug. 22, 1950“Nightmare”

Aug. 29, 1950“Murder Has a Price”

Sep. 5, 1950 “Mind Over Murder”

Sep. 12, 1950 “Tomorrow Is Forver”

Sep. 19, 1950 “Design for Death”

Sep. 26, 1950 “Into the Unknown”

Oct. 3, 1950 “What’s in It for Me?

Oct. 10, 1950 “The Final Hour”

Oct. 17, 1950 “The Cat’s Paw”

Oct. 24, 1950 “House of Silence”

Oct. 31, 1950 “Their Cold Companion”

Nov. 14, 1950“The Big Money”

Nov. 21, 1950“Escape to 2430”

Nov. 28, 1950“Thirteen Steps to Death”

Dec. 5, 1950 “Two Lethal Ladies”

Dec. 12, 1950 “Present for Santa”

Dec. 19, 1950 “The Survivors”

Dec. 26, 1950 “Between Two Worlds”

Jan. 2, 1951 “Never Say Die”

Jan. 9, 1951 “Death Cancels All Debts”

Jan. 16, 1951 “Diamond Fever”

Jan. 23, 1951 “Easy, Easy Money”

Jan. 30, 1951 “I’ll Dance on Your Grave”

Feb. 6, 1951 “Death Is But a Dream”

Feb. 13, 1951 “Money in the Bank”

Feb. 20, 1951 “When Killers Meet”

Feb. 27, 1951 “The Ivory Elephant”

March 6, 1951“World of Tomorrow”

March 13, 1951“Knives of Death”

March 20, 1951“A Coffin for Charley”

March 27, 1951“The Man Who Died Twice”

April 3, 1951 “X Marks the Spot”

April 10, 1951“50,000 B.C.”

April 17, 1951“The Little Man Who Wasn’t

There”

April 24, 1951“Chance of a Lifetime”

May 1, 1951 “The Planet Zevius”

May 15, 1951 “Death in the Swamps”

May 22, 1951 “Judgment Day”

May 29, 1951 “Fatal Mistake”

June 5, 1951 “The Unexpected”

June 12, 1951“Big Jackpot”

June 19, 1951“Another Man’s Murder”

June 26, 1951“I Won’t Walk Alone”

July 3, 1951 “The Restless Skeleton”

July 10, 1951 “Death Writes a Letter”

July 17, 1951 “They’ll Never Believe Me”

July 24, 1951 “Visitors from Infinity”

Aug. 7, 1951 “Terror by Night”

Aug. 14, 1951“The Chase”

Aug. 21, 1951“When the Dead Return”

Aug. 28, 1951“Fire in the Sky”

Sep. 4, 1951 “Death Has a Thousand Faces”

Sep. 11, 1951 “Strange Destiny”

Sep. 18, 1951 “Some Only Sleep”

Sep. 25, 1951 “Four Fatal Callers”

Oct. 2, 1951 “What Happened Last Night?”

Oct. 9, 1951 “The Man Who Knew

Everything”

Oct. 16, 1951 “Death Needs a Substitute”

Oct. 23, 1951 “This Is Murder Calling”

Oct. 30, 1951 “Miracle on Tenth Avenue”

Nov. 6, 1951 “Behind the Locked Door”

Nov. 13, 1951“Speak of the Devil”

Nov. 20, 1951“The Most Famous Man in

The World”

Nov. 27, 1951“Murder Has a Price”

Dec. 4, 1951 “Token of Friendship”

Dec. 11, 1951 “Hideout”

Dec. 18, 1951 “Make Mine Murder”

Dec. 25, 1951 “Christmas Story”

Jan. 1, 1952 “Stamps from Eldorado”

Jan. 8, 1952 “It’s Only Money”

Jan. 15, 1952 “Key Witness”

Jan. 22, 1952 “Change of Address”

Jan. 29, 1952 “Stranger in the House”

Feb. 5, 1952 “The Man Who Frightened

Himself”

Feb. 12, 1952 ‘Death Plays the Tune”

Feb. 19, 1952 “Strange New World”

Feb. 26, 1952 “Appointment to Die”

March 4, 1952“The Betrayer”

March 11, 1952“Man of Destiny”

March 18, 1952“The Black Door”

March 25, 1952“Two of a Kind”

April 1, 1952 “April Fool”

April 8, 1952 “Money Isn’t Everything”

April 15, 1952“Murder in Haste”

April 22, 1952“The Fourth Dimension”

April 29, 1952“Murder in 2952”

May 6, 1952 “The Gun Fighter”

May 13, 1952 “Death Rides the Storm”

May 20, 1952 “In the Depths”

May 27, 1952 “Wheels of Murder”

June 3, 1952 “The Haunted Trailer”

June 17, 1952“The Green Death”

June 24, 1952“When Dead Men Speak”

July 1, 1952 “Bird of Prey”

July 15, 1952 “Sands of Death”

July 22, 1952 “Time Is Running Out”

July 29, 1952 “The Big Fog”

Aug. 5, 1952 “Death Points a Finger”

Aug. 12, 1952“Temporary Corpse”

Aug. 19, 1952“Day of Reckoning”

Aug. 26, 1952“The Big One”

Sep. 2, 1952 “The Treasure of Superstition

Mountain”

MYSTERY AND IMAGINATION

Described as “new and revived radio plays on fantastic and imaginative themes.”

ORIGINATION:Home Service, London (BBC).

DURATION:November 1, 1945-February 14, 1946.

New York station WNEW as part of a series of BBC plays entitledMysteries from

England.]

PERSONNEL:Leonard Cottrell (scriptwriter), Douglas Cleverdon (scriptwriter, producer),

Paul Dehn (scriptwriter), Felix Felton (scriptwriter, producer), Wilfrid Grantham

(producer), Robert G. Newton (scriptwriter).

EXTANT RECORDINGS:None.

MYSTERY AND IMAGINATION

Nov. 1, 1945 “Golden Dragon City” (by Lord

Dunsany)

Nov. 8, 1945 “The Celestial Omnibus” (by

E. M. Forster)

Nov. 15, 1945“Music from the Sea” (by

Walter de la Mare)

Nov. 22, 1945“The Rose-wood Door” (by

Oliver Onions)

Nov. 29, 1945“The Picture” (by Gwendoline

Foyle) / “The Rocking Horse

Winner” (by D. H. Lawrence)

Dec. 6, 1945 “The Church by the Sea” (by

Hugh Stewart)

Dec. 13, 1945 “Lord Mountdrago” (by W.

Somerset Maugham)

Dec. 20, 1945 “Chinese Magic” (by Algernon

Blackwood)

Jan. 3, 1946 “Evening Primrose” (by John

Collier)

Jan. 10, 1946 “The Nurse’s Tale” (by H. R.

Wakefield) / “Thursday

Evenings” (by E. F. Benson)

Jan. 17, 1946 “Confession” (by Algernon

Blackwood and Wilfred Wilson)

Jan. 24, 1946 “The Fall” (by Stacy Aumonier)

Jan. 31, 1946 “Uncle Arthur” (by John

Pudney)

Feb. 7, 1946 “Warsaw Fantasy” (by Phyllis

Austin)

Feb. 14, 1946 “The Boy Who Saw Through”

(by John Pudney) / “Blind

Man’s Buff” (by H. R.

Wakefield)

MYSTERY BEFORE MIDNIGHT

presentation of radio drama at this late hour, the program will tell a complete half-hour

story each evening.”

producers to fill a time of night in New York when currently the chief competition is

from platter spinners.”

ORIGINATION:WABC, New York City, New York (ABC).

DURATION:September 13, 1954-[January 18], 1955

PERSONNEL:

EXTANT RECORDINGS:None.

MYSTERY BEFORE MIDNIGHT

Sep. 13, 1954 “Death at Stormhouse”

and the macabre…tells of a beautiful

woman who was so jealous that even

the grave could not bring her peace.

When her husband John married again,

his new wife pays a penalty neither of

them had counted on…”]

Sep. 14, 1954

Sep. 15, 1954

Sep. 16, 1954

Sep. 17, 1954 “Trail to New York”

MYSTERY IN THE AIR

“Each week at this hour, Peter Lorre brings us the excitement of the great stories of the

strange and unusual—of dark and compelling masterpieces culled from the four corners of

world literature.”

Peter Lorre finally got his own series.

John Crosby: “…these tales will be full of spiders, corpses, and psychiatry of one sort or

another. Peter Lorre with his W’s where his R’s should be, his velvety whispering and his

intense interest in murder will be in all of them. They couldn’t get a better man for the

job.”

And nobody could throw themselves into a pathological character more intensely than

Lorre. “One night he got so excited he threw his script away,” remembered Peggy

Webber, “and we spent the whole next scene trying to ad-lib our way out of it.”

“It’s an odd thing,” observedPort ArthurNewsradio columnist Grace Foote, visiting in

Hollywood, “to see how nonchalant ushers and usherettes at the NBC studio in

Hollywood are when it comes time to airwave headliners in general—all except one, and

that’s Peter Lorre. Since Lorre took to the air…the young NBC employees, most of them

dramatic students, crowd into the clients’ booth at the studio and watch in hushed

silence as Lorre performs at rehearsals each week.”

HP at the mvaldemar.blogspot observes: “…de Maupassant’s deservedly famous story

of an invisible Brazilian soul-vampire kind of peters out (no pun intended) at the end.

Our Man from Vienna knows this, and in a masterstroke of comedic Stanislavskian

improvisation, Lorre salvages de Maupassant’s story, busts open radio’s fourth wall

(does radio have a fourth wall?), and skewers his own Hollywood image.”

ORIGINATION:KFI, Los Angeles, California (NBC).

DURATION:July 3-September 25, 1947.

PERSONNEL:Paul Baron (musical director), Don Bernard (producer), William T. Johnson

(scriptwriter), Cal Kuhl (director), Herbert Clyde Lewis (scriptwriter), Peter Lorre (host,

lead actor), Tom McKnight (scriptwriter), Henry “Harry” Morgan (“The Voice,”), Michael

Roy (announcer), Douglas Whitney (scriptwriter), Frank Wilson (scriptwriter).

GUEST STAR: Agnes Moorehead (7/24/47, 8/14/47).

CASTS: Bob Andersen, Lynn Allen, Conrad Binyon, Lyle Bond, John Brown, Bob Bruce,

Herb Butterfield, Floyd Caton, Ed Chandler, Ken Christy, Hans Conried, Lois Corbett,

Howard Culver, Jack Douglas, Jack Edwards Jr., Barbara Eiler, Stan Farrar, Monte Fraser,

Barbara Fuller, Gordon Gray, Jerry Hausner, Joseph Kearns, Cyrus Kendall, Mary Lansing,

Raymond Lawrence, Irvin Lee, Lucille Meredith, Henry “Harry” Morgan, Jane Morgan,

Phyllis Christine Morris, Frank Nelson, Ruth Perrott, Alan Reed, Rolfe Sedan, Gloria Ann

Simpson, Eric Snowden, Russ Stewart, Bill Stulla, Russell Thorson, Lurene Tuttle, Luis Van

Rooten, Herb Vigran, Stanley Waxman, Peggy Webber, Lynn Whitney, Horace Willard,

Ben Wright.

SPONSOR:R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (Camel Cigarettes).

EXTANT RECORDINGS:“The Tell-Tale Heart” (7/3/47), “The Marvelous Barastro”

(8/7/47), “The Lodger” (8/14/47), “The Horla” (8/21/47), “Beyond Good and Evil”

(8/28/47), “The Mask of Medusa” (9/4/47), “The Queen of Spades” (9/11/47), “The Black

Cat” (9/18/47), “Crime and Punishment” (9/25/47).

circulate among collectors.]

MYSTERY IN THE AIR

July 3, 1947 “The Tell-Tale Heart” (by

Edgar Allan Poe)

July 10, 1947 “Leiningen and the Ants” (by

Carl Stephenson)

ants near the Amazon River…”]

July 17, 1947 “Touch of Your Hand”

and his beautiful young wife…”]

July 24, 1947 “The Interruption”

about a wife murderer.”]

July 31, 1947 “Nobody Loves Me”

Aug. 7, 1947 “The Marvelous Barastro” (by

Ben Hecht)

Aug. 14, 1947“The Lodger” (by Mrs. Belloc

Lowndes)

Aug. 21, 1947“The Horla” (by Guy de

Maupassant)

Aug. 28, 1947“Beyond Good and Evil”

Sep. 4, 1947 “The Mask of Medusa” (by

Nelson Bond)

Sep. 11, 1947 “The Queen of Spades” (by

Alexander Pushkin)

Sep. 18, 1947 “The Black Cat” (by Edgar

Allan Poe)

Sep. 25, 1947 “Crime and Punishment” (by

Feodor Dostoevsky)

`

N

LAS NARRACIONES TERRORIFICAS DEL “MONJE LOCO”

This series title was found in 1951 Mexico City newspapers. Uncertain as to whether or

not this constitutes a different series. It was still on XEQ at this time, running in a 10-

minute slot across the board (Monday-through-Friday).

ORIGINATION:XEQ, Mexico City, Distrito Federal.

DURATION:Circa 1951.

PERSONNEL:Salvador Carrasco (voice of “El Monje Loco”), Carlos del Prado

(scriptwriter).

EXTANT RECORDINGS:None.

NAZARENO CRUZ Y EL LOBO

“Later, we make a work of Omar Aladio and Carlos Ortea Peace,When the Indian cries. It

was a goal superior to both previous. That is finished and nonsabiamos that to put.

Then, one night of rain, of much cold, we met to think about a bulincito of the street

Current, where Chiappe escribia. That we do, that we do not do.. good, we did not

decide anything. I go out with much cold, I am walking by Currents, and I arrive until the

Premier cinema. Then I see in the poster: “the human wolf”, with Claude Reims, Maria

Oupenskaia and Lon Chaney, son; heating. I enter to see pelicula, very pretty, in colors,

made very well; of that famous legend that septimo son man bitten by a wolf becomes

lobizon, in the full moon-lits night, Fridays. I see pelicula, and I think, if this could be

transferred to the Argentine field, serious extraordinary. Coat another entrance and I

return it to see. Wise I who in my house, tapeworm books that habia bought in San

Clemente of the Tuyu, that was all then medano, in one libreria old. It was a lot of

country books, that interested me in the subjects that estabamos doing; despues served

much to me. And agreed me of a very small book, that was called “the man dog”, that

not habia opened at least. – Searching carefully in the thin bibliotequita that tapeworm,

encontre.”

“Coat that Hbro, and I see that argentine is the history of lobizon in the field” “That is

to say, alii exponia as the legend became segiin the regions, and the relative were

called” “, in Santa Fe; “lobizon” in the Chaco; the “man-dog” in Tu-cuman... I go with the

idea to the following day, and I say to him to Chiappe: - Sight, I encontre this. When

arriving with the very good idea, them parecio. Then we thought, that I title we put to

him. Chiappe says: - This individual sufrio like a Christ... Audon answers: - and, ponele

Nazareno... I say: - a Christ that I take the cross... Audon: - Nazareno Cross... Chiappe

adds: - and the wolf. Asi I am conformed I title: Nazareno Cross and the wolf. BS: Now

this is called creation collective. MIRANDA: In that time he was a group of three, who

estabamos thinking together. Then we make Nazareno Cross, with the collaboration of

the three, but the Chiappe company.”

Leonardo Favio: “Si, pero el radioteatro no tenia mucho que ver con lo que fue la

pelicula. Ese radioteatro era la historia de un tipo que se transforma en lobo, se esconde

en los pajonales, sale en la noche de luna llena y se come las ovejas. Y, ademas, estaba

el personaje de una paisana que se llamaba Griselda, y que lo hacia sufrir a Nazareno

por amor.”

ORIGINATION:Argentina.

DURATION:1952-?.

PERSONNEL:Juan Carlos Chiappe (scriptwriter).

EXTANT RECORDINGS:Unknown.

NICOLAS GOGOL ET LE DIABLE PITTORESQUE

“Sous ce titre, le producteur Stanislas Fumet qui sortait de son domaine de

predilection—il fut le producteur de la celebreAnalyse spectrale de l’occident—proposa

en 1962-1963 l’adaptation de deux oeuvres fantastiques—l’une signee Cazotte, l’autre

Nicolas Gogol—qui avaient en commun un meme personage central: le diable en

personne!… Quand a l’emission sur Gogol, il y fut donne notamment une adaptation de

La Nuit de Noel.”

ORIGINATION:France III, Paris.

DURATION:September 29-October 27, 1962.

PERSONNEL:Raphael Fumet (music), Stanislas Fumet (scriptwriter, producer).

CASTS: Louis Arbessier, C. Cler, Pierre Constant, G. Cour, Alain Cuny, P. Dehelly, Rene

Farabet, Jacques Fayet, Raymond Jourdan, J. Lassalle, J.-P. Lituac, Pascal Mazzotti, G.

Morel, N. Nerval, Yves Peneau, Claude Pieplu, J. Riviere, Jean Topart, S. Vannier, Rosy

Varte, R. Vattier, Cl. Versace, A. Weber.

EXTANT RECORDINGS:Unknown.

NIGHT MUST FALL

Emlyn Williams’ play…

ORIGINATION:Various.

DURATION:Various.

PERSONNEL:Betty Davies (producer—1969), Peggy Wells (scriptwriter—1969).

EXTANT RECORDINGS:

SATURDAY NIGHT THEATRE (RADIO 4, LONDON)

June 7, 1969 “Night Must Fall”

NIGHTMARE

retained to write original music for the new radio series, tentatively titled ‘Nightmare,’ in

which some of Edgar Allen Poe’s stories will be included.”

NIGHTMARE

“Now, courtesy of a John Norman Production bowing at 10:30 PM Thursday on KTHT,

you can get your nightmares whipped up as fast as your breakfast cereal. Monday

through Friday, a five-minute bedtime story for folks who like to dream violently will be

told by Mr. Norman, scored and emphasized on the organ by Bruce Barkis and written

by Gene Miller, the Houston actor. The capsule hunk of horror will immediately follow

the Sports Roundup each night.” (Phylys Greene,The Houston Post, May 1, 1952)

ORIGINATION:KTHT, Houston, Texas.

DURATION:May 1, 1952-[??? ??], 1953.

PERSONNEL:Bruce Barkis (organist), Gene Miller (scriptwriter), John Norman (producer,

narrator).

EXTANT RECORDINGS:“Race of Monsters,” Man kills wife on boat, Man waits to kill

dominating father, “Boa Constrictor,” “Fear of Heights,” “The Hand,” “Murder in a

Crowd,” “Two for Davy Jones,” “Wrong Death,” “The Rat,” “Hard-Headed.”

NIGHTMARE

May 1, 1952

May 2, 1952

May 5-9, 1952

May 12-16, 1952

May 19-23, 1952

May 26-30, 1952

June 2-6, 1952

June 9-13, 1952

June 16-20, 1952

June 23, 1952“Murder on the Flying

Trapeze”

June 24-27, 1952

June 30-July 4, 1952

July 7-11, 1952

July 14-18, 1952

July 21-25, 1952

July 28-Aug. 1, 1952

Aug. 4-8, 1952

Aug. 11, 1952

Aug. 12, 1952

Aug. 13, 1952

Aug. 14, 1952

until a horse of another color shows

up…”]

Aug. 15, 1952

Aug. 18, 1952

Aug. 19, 1952

Aug. 20, 1952

Aug. 21, 1952

Aug. 22, 1952“Terror on the High Seas”

Aug. 25, 1952

final insult at the hands of his

beloved…”]

Aug. 26, 1952

Aug. 27, 1952

Aug. 28, 1952

wife and cut off their tale for ending

her life…”]

Aug. 29, 1952

Sep. 1-5, 1952

Sep. 8-12, 1952

Sep. 15-19, 1952

Sep. 22-26, 1952

Sep. 29-Oct. 3, 1952

Oct. 6-10, 1952

Oct. 13-17, 1952

Oct. 20-24, 1952

Oct. 27-31, 1952

Nov. 3, 1952

Nov. 4, 1952

Nov. 5, 1952

Nov. 6, 1952

Nov. 7, 1952

Nov. 10-14, 1952

Nov. 17-21, 1952

Nov. 24, 1952

Nov. 25, 1952

Nov. 26, 1952

his invalid wife…”]

Nov. 27, 1952

Nov. 28, 1952

Dec. 1, 1952

with a circus background…”]

Dec. 2, 1952

Dec. 3, 1952

with rage after his wife leaves him.”]

Dec. 4, 1952

fear as a rattlesnake closes in for the

kill…”]

Dec. 5, 1952

Dec. 8, 1952

Dec. 9, 1952

Dec. 10, 1952

convict tries to escape…”]

Dec. 11, 1952

Dec. 12, 1952

Dec. 15, 1952

clinging to a bit of wreckage…”]

Dec. 16, 1952

Dec. 17, 1952

they are still on their honeymoon.”]

Dec. 18, 1952

mob which tarred and feathered

him…”]

Dec. 19, 1952

Canadian woods—one of them a

murderer…”]

Dec. 22, 1952

Dec. 23, 1952

minutes in death row…”]

Dec. 24, 1952

proves livelihood and death for a

smuggler…”]

Dec. 25, 1952

with an assistant director trying to

gain control of a picture…”]

Dec. 26, 1952

unexplored swamp which provides

its own traps…”]

Dec. 29, 1952-Jan. 2, 1953

Jan. 5-9, 1953

Jan. 12, 1953

with one bullet and one idea…”]

Jan. 13, 1953

Jan. 14, 1953

through a cathedral determined to

kill…”]

Jan. 15, 1953

by the sound of voodoo drums…”]

Jan. 16, 1953

Jan. 16, 1953 [“…a liquor store bandit is trapped

by a bottle…”]

Jan. 19-23, 1953 ?

NIGHTMARE

“Out of the dark of night, from the shadows of the senses, comes this—the fantasy of fear.”

This series starred Peter Lorre as host and narrator (with occasional starring roles in the

stories) and featured a mixture of crime and horror dramas.

“Mutual’s nightly mystery series with ‘Counterspy’ on Monday; ‘High Adventure’ with

George Sanders, Tuesday; ‘Bulldog Drummond’ with Basil Rathbone, Wednesday;

‘Nightmare’ with Peter Lorre, Thursday and ‘Four-Star Theater’ with Madeleine Carroll on

Friday…”

new shows Mutual brought forth with its now-doomed network option plan, is at the

moment uncertain. But this Peter Lorre vehicle definitely merits continuation. It is slick

and bewitching radio programming. It is that eerie sort of stream-of-consciousness

drama for which radio has always been so effective.

“In the stanza caught, Lorre played a psycho driven by murder guilt. The form that his

fantasies took neatly offset the sordid gloom of the setting (calliope music followed by

the voice of a little girl in the background singing ‘I Know a Secret’). The music and

sound accompaniment of Lorre’s reading skillfully played up the mounting pace. A

steady rhythm and constant footsteps came over while he was trying to catch the little

girl of his imagination.

“The wind-up was in an asylum, where the man the hero imagined he’s murdered

offered to foot his psychiatry bill.”

The 8/25/54 broadcast, “If I Should Die Before I Wake,” has been falsely identified by

some researchers as based on the Cornell Woolrich story of the same name. The press

release description indicates, however, a completely different plot: “…story of a police

sergeant who begins falling asleep every time he hears the man he’s after.”

ORIGINATION:WOR, New York City, New York (MBS).

DURATION:October 1, 1953-September 29, 1954.

PERSONNEL:Peter Lorre (host-narrator, occasional roles), Sandy Marshall (director),

Bob Monroe (producer), William K. Wells Jr. (scriptwriter).

CASTS: Connie Lemke, et al.

SPONSOR:Co-op sponsorship.

EXTANT RECORDINGS:“The Purple Cloud” (11/19/53), “Coincidence” (11/26/53), “The

Hollow Footsteps” (2/3/54), “The Chance of a Ghost” (3/31/54), “The Leach” (prob.

4/7/54), “The Hybrid” (4/14/54).

“Hemmed In by Death.”]

NIGHTMARE

Oct. 1, 1953

Oct. 8, 1953“The Swamp”

‘The Swamp’ in Georgia’s

Okefenokee territory…”]

Oct. 15, 1953“The Case of Adam Greene”

tracked down by a Senate

investigating committee. The man

tries to escape by disappearing from

the face of the earth…”]

Oct. 22, 1953

Oct. 29, 1953“The Last Word”

talk and takes a course to learn how

mentally to block her chatter…”]

Nov. 5, 1953“Letdown”

on a foggy night when everything

goes wrong and he is eventually

trapped inside…”]

Nov. 12, 1953“The Secret Corner”

revealed…”]

Nov. 19, 1953“The Purple Cloud”

leads to confusion… Radio-activity,

a parade and a wife on a shopping

tour provide the strange formula…”]

Nov. 26, 1953“Coincidence”

Dec. 3, 1953“How To Lose Friends”

Dec. 10, 1953“Food for Thought”

which turns his life into a nightmare,

provides the psychological horror for

Peter Lorre…”]

Dec. 17, 1953“The Angry Man”

—kill his brother or turn against his

country…”]

Dec. 24, 1953

Cheryl Morris lists “The

Frightened Frenchman” ???

Jan. 6, 1954“Traffic Jam”

record suddenly finds himelf

involved in trouble…”]

Jan. 13, 1954“Invaders”

of invisible men roaming the earth,

readying to strike…”]

Jan. 20, 1954“Not My Day”

Jan. 27, 1954“Novel Idea”

commits the ‘perfect crime’—until he

decides to write a book about it…”]

Feb. 3, 1954“The Hollow Footsteps”

solved by a wife who knows her

husband’s roving eye…”]

Feb. 10, 1954“It Runs Down Hill”

little country hide-away…”]

Feb. 17, 1954“Triple Trouble”

his problems, his biggest headache

occurring when all three wives meet

face to face…”]

Feb. 24, 1954

ordinary couple, fall in love with an

old house, but little do they know

that the house will lead to a

nightmare…”]

March 3, 1954“The Pyramid”

disappeared…”]

March 10, 1954“All That Glitters”

for a loan…”]

March 17, 1954“The Strange Voyage of

Captain Mundsen”

March 24, 1954“The Caves of Fear”

of insanity when he narrates ‘The

Caves of Fear’…”]

March 31, 1954“The Chance of a Ghost”

circuit…”]

April 7, 1954“The Leech” (prob.)

April 14, 1954“The Hybrid”

new and unusual plants, eventually

developing one with killing

powers…”]

April 21, 1954“The Sky Hook”

April 28, 1954“The Softer Voice”

May 5, 1954“Quorum for Death”

May 12, 1954“Lucky Stretch”

May 19, 1954“His Worst Enemy”

owner…”]

May 26, 1954“False Faces”

strange power…”]

June 2, 1954“The Hungry Thing”

June 9, 1954“One for the Road”

alcoholism…”]

June 16, 1954“The Brain Wash”

of ‘The Brain Wash’ which was

given an American…”]

June 23, 1954“Dig the Grave Deep”

uranium in Canada…”]

June 30, 1954“The Last Laugh”

his business and his life to a guy

named Jones…”]

July 7, 1954 “Till the End of Time”

July 14, 1954“Desert in the Sky”

beams of a new skyscraper…”]

July 21, 1954“The Face”

July 28, 1954 “The Hammer Killer (according

to Cheryl Morris)

Aug. 4, 1954“Forget Me Not”

Aug. 11, 1954“The Abyss”

oceanographers and their wives can

become involved in romantic

triangles…”]

Aug. 18, 1954“The Alien”

complicates the life of a young

doctor…”]

Aug. 25, 1954“If I Should Die Before I

Wake”

begins falling asleep every time he

hears the man he’s after…”]

Sep. 1, 1954“The Coils of Fear”

the ‘perfect’ place to hide and

landed on an island inhabited by

pythons…”]

Sep. 8, 1954“Bread and Butter”

Sep. 15, 1954“The Rose Has Thorns”

who suddenly finds himself in a

living nightmare…”]

Sep. 22, 1954“Grave for Rent”

Sep. 29, 1954“H-Hour”

the question of what it would be like

if an H-bomb fell…”]

Sources for log information:Miami Daily News, Miami Herald, Houston Post, The

Billboard.

`

O

ONCE UPON A MIDNIGHT

“Alfred Hitchcock is about to send some of his spine-chilling yarns over the airwaves.”

ORIGINATION:

DURATION:Recorded in 1945.

PERSONNEL:Alfred Hitchcock (host, narrator).

EXTANT RECORDING:

ORVAL ANDERSON HORROR SERIES

has just arrived from New Orleans to join the WFAA-KGKO staff, makes his local debut

as a master of ceremonies Tuesday p.m., on the exciting quiz show, What Am I?”

“Orval Anderson, announcer of WFAA and KGKO, is busy preparing material for a new

idea in horror stories. The drama will be built around three transcribed spot

announcements which occur in the allotted quarter hour, making the script read

something like ‘…before the madman cuts this nice man’s head off, a word to you by

transcription.’ The title and time of the dramas will be announced at a later date.” [Dallas

Morning News, July 12, 1942]

OUT OF THE DARKNESS

“Romance, fear, hatred—the dramatic story of a man back from the dead. Thriller

adapted from the work of Sheridan Le Fanu, and concerns a great scientist who works

secretly on amazing experiments.” 52 episodes.

ORIGINATION:George Edwards Productions, Sydney, New South Wales.

DURATION:Circa 1946. (1942, according to Lane).

PERSONNEL:George Edwards (producer), Eric Scott (scriptwriter).

EXTANT RECORDINGS:None.

OUT OF THE NIGHT

“Canada’s only indigenous horror pulpster (he never left home) was the flamboyant

Thomas P. Kelley, a fast-talking, hard-drinking roisterer who had no literary background

but, by his own account, left a print legacy of 700 stories totaling eight million words…

The best of the original Canpulps wasUncanny Tales, which was produced by Adam

Publishing in Toronto, and ran some 21 issues between 1940 and 1943… Kelley claimed

to have written every story in the first few issues… He certainly wrote such stories as ‘The

Talking Heads,’ ‘Isle of Madness,’ and ‘The Soul Eater,’ for these appeared under his own

name. Kelley’s fascination with the weird and horrific even resulted in a series of 57

Canadian radio dramas broadcast under the title ‘Out of the Night.’

…Outgunned by fatter, glossier product, Toronto’s own pulp paper barons began

closing down operations.

‘Competition was too stiff,’ Kelley recalled, ‘though I recall one downtown publisher

who tried to hold on for a while. He arranged to bring out a magazine titledEerie Tales

and got me to write it for him. I did a lead yarn, ‘The Hound,’ four or five shorter stories

and part one of a proposed serial, ‘The Weird Queen.’”

ORIGINATION:Canada.

DURATION:Circa 1943.

PERSONNEL:Ernie Edge (scriptwriter), Kay Edge (scriptwriter), Thomas P. Kelley

(scriptwriter).

EXTANT RECORDINGS:None.

OUT OF THE NIGHT

Possibly an audition recording.

ORIGINATION:(ABC).

DURATION:Circa 1947.

PERSONNEL:Jeanette Nolan (role in audition play).

EXTANT RECORDINGS:“Dead End” (11/25/47).

OUT OF THIS WORLD

An audition recording for what later becameEscape. It is clear that the original intention

was toward the sinister and supernatural rather than rigorous adventure. It is possible

that some of the horror scripts used during the first year ofEscape(eg. “The Fall of the

House of Usher,” “Pollock and the Porrah Man,” “Taboo,” “Ancient Sorceries”) were

holdovers that had been written when it was still considered a weird series.

ORIGINATION:WABC, New York City, New York.

DURATION:Recorded on February 28, 1947.

PERSONNEL:Art Carney (role in audition play), Berry Kroeger (role in audition play).

EXTANT RECORDINGS:“Dead of Night.”

OUT OF THIS WORLD

Canadian series done by popular childrens show actor.

ORIGINATION:C???, Toronto, Ontario (CBC Dominion Network)

DURATION:May 6-July 1, 1955.

PERSONNEL:Rodney Coneybeare (scriptwriter), Andrew Stewart (producer).

EXTANT RECORDINGS:Unknown.

`

P

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

Basil Rathbone replaced Claude Rains in this Lux production.

PHANTOM THEATER

Bob Kent is cited in the 1944Radio Annualfor his work on this and another KFH series,

Parlor Playhouse. KFH broadcast from the York Rite building in downtown Wichita.

An ad in the October 23, 1942 issue of theWichita Eagleannounced: “10:30 P.M.—

‘PHANTOM THEATER” RETURNS—A Presentation of Goldsmiths—Produced by John

Speer—With Veteran Cast of Players.”

Variant title:Goldsmith’s Phantom Theater.

ORIGINATION:KFH, Wichita, Kansas.

DURATION:December 12, 1941 (one-shot broadcast), October 23, 1942-June 4, 1943

(series).

PERSONNEL:John Speer (producer).

CASTS: Bob Kent, et al.

SPONSOR:Goldsmith’s (“Gifts, Books and Games”).

EXTANT RECORDINGS: None.

PHANTOM TIME

“A series of ghost stories and of the supernatural, combining the strange, the incredible,

the horrifying. It contains original stories together with adaptations of some of the

world’s best-unknown tales from authors such as Robert Louis Stevenson, Charles

Dickens, Sheridan Le Fanu, and Edgar Allan Poe.”

ORIGINATION:2UW, Sydney, New South Wales.

DURATION:Circa 1958.

PERSONNEL:Unknown.

CASTS: John Alden, Queenie Ashton, Kevin Brennan, Amber Mae Cecil, Margaret

Christensen, Roger Climpson, Myrna Dodd, David Eadie, Stewart Ginn, Gordon

Glenwright, Maddi Hedd, Max Osbiston, Don Pascoe, Jean Robertson.

EXTANT RECORDINGS:“The Haunted Cabin” (#13), “The Tapping Stick” (#14), “The

Hand of Shen-Tu” (#19), “Jerryb Jarvis’s Wig” (#20).

Canberra. Also available at the archives, as part of the 2UW sound effects collection, is a

relevant bit of noise, noted as follows: “Female crying (moaning) in gigantic echo

chamber: used exclusively inPhantom Time(The Ghoul Show).”]

PHANTOM TIME

The Haunted Cabin”

The Tapping Stick”

The Hand of Shen-Tu”

Jerryb Jarvis’s Wig”

Lord Arthur Saville’s

Crime”

The Man in the Mirror”

The Tall Woman”

The Transferred Ghost”

The Alibi”

The Engineer”

The Telephone”

The Death Watch”

A Christmas Visit”

The Follower”

The House in the Dream”

Episode title with unidentified number:

“The 4:15 Express”

THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY

picture of himself—a picture which changes as the man’s character changes from good

to evil.”

ORIGINATION:George Edwards Productions.

DURATION:

PERSONNEL:George Edwards (producer).

EXTANT RECORDINGS:None.

THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY

picture of himself—a picture which changes as the man’s character changes from good

to evil.”

ORIGINATION:George Edwards Productions.

DURATION:

PERSONNEL:Catherine Jones (scriptwriter—1945,Vancouver Playhouse), Archie

MacCorkindale (1945,Vancouver Playhouse).

EXTANT RECORDINGS:

VANCOUVER PLAYHOUSE (

[

Jan. 5, 1945 “The Portrait of Dorian Gray”

June 29, 1945“The Portrait of Dorian Gray”

THE PLAYMAKERS’ LAB

A New Orleans dramatic group under the direction of Beverly Brown. Not enough horror

in their overall line-up, but what they did was interesting.

ORIGINATION:WNOE, New Orleans, Louisiana.

DURATION:

PERSONNEL:Beverly Brown (director), Don Ringe (scriptwriter).

CASTS: Elaine Richards, Don Ringe, Bob Steele, Joseph Stoll.

EXTANT RECORDINGS: None.

THE PLAYMAKERS’ LAB

Nov. 5, 1941 “The Phantom Coach”

Nov. 26, 1941

dual offering… Beverly Brown directs

dramatizations from both Poe and

Maupassant…”]

Dec. 3, 1941 “Diary of a Madman” (by Guy

de Maupassant)

Dec. 10, 1941 “The Fall of the House of Usher”

(by Edgar Allan Poe)

Madeline in Poe’s ‘Fall of the House

of Usher’… Joseph Stoll is narrator in

this production of the Playmakers’

Lab…”]

Sep. 17, 1942 “The Spectre Bridegroom” (by

Washington Irving)

Oct. 21, 1942 “The Vampire” (by Dion

Boucicoult)

Playmakers Lab will enact Dion

Boucicoult’s ‘The Vampire’… Weird

sound effects have been fabricated by

a technical crew…”]

Feb. 10, 1943 “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”

March 10, 1943“Drums in the Night”

of its members. Don Ringe, Tulane

student, has written a tale of the

weird voodoo…”]

`

Q

QUIET PLEASE

One of the glories of Silver-age radio.

According to Dunning: “Sundays at 3:30 until June 29; then, beginning July 28, 1947,

there were two weekly broadcasts—Mondays at 10 in New York (out of WOR) and

Wednesdays at 8:30 on Mutual. On Feb. 2, 1948, the network broadcast moved to

Mondays at 9:30, resulting in a single weekly performance thereafter.”

ORIGINATION:WOR, New York City, New York (MBS).

DURATION:May 22, 1947 (audition show), June 8-July 3, 1947 (first series), July 28,

1947-September 13, 1948 (second series).

PERSONNEL:Albert J. Buhrman (piano, organ), Ernest Chappell (narrator), Wyllis Cooper

(scriptwriter, producer), Gene Perazzo (piano, organ).

CASTS: Charita Bauer, Donald Briggs, Lon Clark, Nancy Douglas, Vinton Hayworth, Ed

Latimer, Claudia Morgan, Ralph Morgan, Kermit Murdock, Pat O’Malley, Anne Seymour,

Peggy Stanley, Lotte Stavisky, Les Tremayne, James Van Dyke, Walter Black.

EXTANT RECORDINGS:“Nothing Behind the Door” (6/8/47),

QUIET PLEASE (WOR)

May 22, 1947 “How Are You, Pal?”

June 8, 1947“Nothing Behind the Door”

fenced-off building atop Mount

Wilson as a cache for stolen money.

Astronomers at the Mount Wilson

observatory ‘who know a lot more

than they are telling’ warn off

intruders, but the thieves are

undaunted. They cut thru the fence

in the black hours of early morning,

break thru the door—and one and

then another enters the blackness to

disappear into the vastness of the

universe. An astronomer appears to

save the third and to conduct him to

safety over a series of catwalks

suspended in the blackness amidst

stars, space and nothingness…

Currently the program is heard over

MBS, but not in New York. The web

is considering shifting the show to a

nighttime spot…”] (The Billboard)]

June 15, 1947“I Have Been Looking for

You”

unnamed young man’s long, aching

search for the girl of his dreams. The

girl also futilely searches for him.

They meet death at the same instant,

at the same spot, without

meeting…” (Variety)]

June 22, 1947“We Were Here First”

June 29, 1947“The Ticket Taker”

July 20, 1947 “Cornelia”

woman’s hideous revenge—which

ultimately drives her bereaved

husband to murder…”]

the St. Petersburg Times.] ??????

July 27, 1947

Syracuse Herald-American

Lists QP at 3:30 and 10:00

July 28, 1947 “I Remember Tomorrow”

heard on WOR by transcription…

Mr. Cooper will offer the listeners,

during the initial offering, the story

of the inventor of a time machine

who learns that he is about to be

murdered…”]

Aug. 3, 1947 Same as July 27

Aug. 4, 1947 “Inquest”

Aug. 10, 1947“Bring Me to Life”

Aug. 11, 1947“Bring Me to Life”

Aug. 17, 1947“

Aug. 18, 1947“A Mile High and a Mile

Deep”

mines in the mountains above Butte,

Montana, and the people who work

there…”]

Aug. 24, 1947“

Aug. 25, 1947“Mirror, Mirror on the Wall”

Aug. 31, 1947“

Sep. 1, 1947 “Retreat at Dunkuerque”

(AKA “A Ribbon of Lincoln

Green”)

Sep. 7, 1947 “

Sep. 8, 1947 “Three Sides to a Story”

Sep. 10, 1947 “How Are You, Pal?” ?????

Johnny Madero, sustainer

currently on Mutual Wednesday

nights, does its last broadcast

September 3, withQuiet, Please,

new Mutual Wyllis Cooper show,

inheriting the spot September 10…”

(The Billboard)]

Sep. 15, 1947 “The Big Box”

Sep. 17, 1947 “The Big Box”

Sep. 22, 1947 “Be a Good Dog, Darling”

Sep. 24, 1947 “Be a Good Dog, Darling”

Sep. 29, 1947 “The Low Road”

Oct. 1, 1947 “

Oct. 6, 1947 “Not Enough Time”

Oct. 8, 1947 “Not Enough Time”

Oct. 13, 1947 “Camera Obscura”

Oct. 15, 1947 “

Oct. 20, 1947 “The Girl with the Flaxen

Hair”

Oct. 22, 1947 “The Girl with the Flaxen

Hair”

Oct. 27, 1947 “Don’t Tell Me About

Halloween”

Oct. 29, 1947 “Don’t Tell Me About

Halloween”

Nov. 3, 1947 “Take Me Out to the

Graveyard”

Nov. 5, 1947 “Take Me Out to the

Graveyard”

to the Cemetery.”]

Nov. 10, 1947“Three”

Nov. 12, 1947“Three”

Nov. 17, 1947“Kill Me Again”

Nov. 19, 1947“Kill Me Again”

Nov. 24, 1947“In Memory of Bernadine”

Nov. 26, 1947“In Memory of Bernadine”

wonderful love…”]

Dec. 1, 1947 “Come In, Eddie”

Dec. 3, 1947 “

Dec. 8, 1947 “Some People Don’t Die”

Dec. 10, 1947 “Some People Don’t Die”

Dec. 15, 1947 “Little Fellow”

Dec. 17, 1947 “Little Fellow”

Dec. 22, 1947 “Berlin—1945”

Dec. 24, 1947 “Berlin—1945”

interrupted banquet…”]

Dec. 29, 1947 “Rain on New Year’s Eve”

Dec. 31, 1947 “

Jan. 5, 1948 “Little Visitor”

Jan. 7, 1948 “Little Visitor”

by a ‘Little Visitor’… This latest

creation of writer-director Wyllis

Cooper concerns a respectable citizen

who commits terrible crimes each time

the youthful apparition appears…”]

Jan. 12, 1948 “The Room Where the Ghosts

Lived”

Jan. 14, 1948 “The Room Where the Ghosts

Live”

room that doesn’t exist. That’s the

plight of actor-narrator Ernest

Chappell…”]

Jan. 19, 1948 “Baker’s Dozen”

Jan. 21, 1948 “

Jan. 26, 1948 “Green Light”

Jan. 28, 1948 “

Feb. 2, 1948 “The Pathetic Fallacy”

of a college professor of philosophy

who learns that even inanimate objects

hold strange secrets…”]

Feb. 9, 1948 “A Red and White Guidon”

Feb. 16, 1948 “Whence Came You?”

Feb. 23, 1948 “Wear the Dead Man’s Coat”

March 1, 1948“Sketch for a Screenplay”

March 8, 1948“Never Send to Know”

March 15, 1948“Meeting at Ticonderoga”

March 22, 1948“A Night to Forget”

a man who wishes he could forget.

Ernest Chappell will play the role of

the man faced with this strange

dilemma…”]

March 29, 1948“Quiet Please”

April 5, 1948 “I Always Marry Juliet”

April 12, 1948“Twelve to Five”

April 19, 1948“Clarissa”

April 26, 1948“Thirteen and Eight”

May 3, 1948 “How Beautiful Upon the

Mountain”

May 10, 1948 “There Are Shadows Here”

May 17, 1948 “Gem of Purest Ray”

May 24, 1948 “In the House Where I Was

Born”

May 31, 1948 “Below Fifth Avenue”

June 7, 1948 “100,000 Diameters”

to magnify objects to approximately

20,000 times their normal size.

However, Wyllis Cooper has

constructed one that magnifies up to

‘100,000 diameters’ which he’ll

audibly display on tonight’s

broadcast. Ernest Chappell is cast as

a scientist who sees too much

through the lens…”]

June 14, 1948“Not Responsible After 30

Years”

June 28, 1948“Let the Lilies Consider”

July 5, 1948 “Wahine Tahiti”

July 19, 1948 “As Long As I Live”

and terrible revenge engulfs narrator

Ernest Chappell…”]

July 26, 1948 “The Man Who Stole a Planet”

Aug. 2, 1948 “It Is Later Than You Think”

Aug. 9, 1948 “The Thing on the Fourble

Board”

it’s just oilmen’s lingo for the

platform halfway-up the derrick

holding oil well drills. And it’s ‘The

Thing on the Fourble Board’ that

provides Wyllis Cooper with a story

of a haunted oil well…”]

Aug. 16, 1948“Presto Change-O, I’m Sure”

Aug. 23, 1948“Three Thousand Words”

Aug. 30, 1948“Motive”

Sep. 6, 1948 “The Third Man’s Story”

Sep. 13, 1948 “Symphony in D Minor”

QUIET PLEASE

Switching from MBS to ABC.

ORIGINATION:WJZ, New York City, New York (ABC).

DURATION:September 19, 1948-June 25, 1949.

PERSONNEL:Albert Buhrmann (organist), Ernest Chappell (narrator, lead roles), Wyllis

Cooper (scriptwriter, producer, director), Bill McClintock (sound effects), Ed Michael

(announcer).

CASTS: Donald Briggs, Kathleen Cordell, Charles Eggleston, Athena Lord, Pat O’Malley,

Ralph Scuman, Peggy Stanley, Lotte Stavisky, Warren Stevens, Dan Sutter, Frank Thomas

Jr.

EXTANT RECORDINGS:

QUIET PLEASE (WJZ)

Sep. 19, 1948 “Anonymous”

congratulatory letters and phone

calls, gets an anonymous call from a

femme urging him to drop dead.

This occurrence preys on his mind

until he obliges the lady…”]

Sep. 26, 1948 “Light the Lamp for Me”

Oct. 3, 1948 “Meet John Smith, John”

Oct. 10, 1948 “Beezer’s Cellar”

Oct. 17, 1948 “And Jeannie Dreams of Me”

Oct. 24, 1948 “Good Ghost”

Oct. 31, 1948 “Calling All Souls”

Nov. 7, 1948 “Adam and the Darkest Day”

Nov. 14, 1948“The Evening and the

Morning”

Nov. 21, 1948“One for the Book”

Nov. 28, 1948“My Son John”

Dec. 5, 1948 “Very Unimportant Person”

Dec. 12, 1948 “Rede Me This Riddle”

Dec. 19, 1945 “The Gothic Tale”

Dec. 26, 1948 “Berlin—1945”

Jan. 2, 1949 “The Time of the Big Snow”

Jan. 9, 1949 “Portrait of a Character”

Jan. 16, 1949 “Is This Murder?”

1947. “…A murdered man’s brain is

put into the head of an automaton

with cranium-plated skull,

microphone ears and wide-angle

lenses. The story frequently refers to

Mary Shelley’sFrankensteinand the

Universal filmsFrankenstein,Son of

Frankenstein(written by Willis

Cooper) andAbbott and Costello

Meet Frankenstein…”]

Jan. 23, 1949 “Summer Good-Bye”

Jan. 30, 1949 “Northern Lights”

Feb. 6, 1949 “Tap the Heat, Bogdan”

Feb. 13, 1949 “Valentine”

Feb. 20, 1949 “Where Do You Get Your

Ideas?”

Feb. 27, 1949 “If I Should Wake Before I

Die”

March 6, 1949“The Man Who Knew

Everything”

March 13, 1949“Dark Rosaleen”

March 20, 1949“The Smell of High Wines”

March 27, 1949“A Time to Be Born and a

Time to Die”

April 3, 1949 “The Venetian Blind Man”

April 10, 1949“Dialog for a Tragedy”

April 17, 1949“Shadow of the Wings”

April 24, 1949“The Vale of Glencoe”

May 1, 1949 “Dark Grey Magic”

May 8, 1949 “The Other Side of the Stars”

May 15, 1949 “The Little Morning”

May 21, 1949 “The Oldest Man in the World”

May 28, 1949 “In the House Where I Was

Born”

June 4, 1949 “Tanglefoot”

June 11, 1949“The Hat, the Bed, and John J.

Catherine”

June 18, 1949“Pavane”

June 25, 1949“Quiet Please”

`

R

RADIOTEATRO FANTASTICO

Cited in an appendix of the bookLa Radio en Chile(CENECA, 1985); nothing further is

known. It came on the air at 23:30, a half-hour until midnight.

ORIGINATION:CB 66, Santiago (Chilena).

DURATION:Circa 1960.

PERSONNEL:Unknown.

EXTANT RECORDINGS:Unknown.

`

S

SATAN’S WAITIN’

This summer replacement for the mystery seriesMr. and Mrs. Northfeatured

dramatizations depicting the Devil tempting people into committing crimes. “In

attempting to put a new twist on this dramatic show,” commented theVarietyreviewer,

“scripter Joel Malone has come up with one of the most venerable, not to say hoariest,

devices in literature—the use of the devil as the plot manipulator. Malone, however, has

a flashy style and puts enough complications and violence into the yarn to sustain

complete attention.”

Concurrently with the radio series a pilot film was made for television (reviewed in the

July 2, 1950 issue of NYT).

ORIGINATION:KNX, Hollywood, California (CBS).

DURATION:June 6-August 29, 1950.

PERSONNEL:Frank Graham (announcer), Joel Malone (scriptwriter), Joe Rines

(producer).

SPONSOR:Colgate.

EXTANT RECORDINGS:“Paintings of Death” (7/25/50).

SATAN’S WAITIN’

June 6, 1950

concocted for throwing three persons

into a jealous rage…”]

June 13, 1950

marriage for money…”]

June 20, 1950

his wife is in love with a junior

executive of his firm…”]

June 27, 1950

tests her husband’s love of money

and resistance to pretty women…”]

July 4, 1950

assistant district attorney lead him

into dire entanglements…”]

July 11, 1950

July 18, 1950

fortune Marty South runs afoul of a

female buzzsaw in the Far East and

consents to pose as her mate who

was lost in a ship-wreck enroute to

Singapore…”]

July 25, 1950“Paintings of Death”

with a young artist leading a

pretty young wife to the brink of

divorce…”]

Aug. 1, 1950

Aug. 8, 1950

investigator, Frank Carson, into

murdering his partner in undercover

deals…”]

Aug. 15, 1950

infatuation for an orchestra leader

helps solve a mystery…”]

Aug. 22, 1950

hills of Mexico, is smoked out of his

hiding place by need of medical

attention…”]

Aug. 29, 1950

balance of more than $100,000 is

found on the body of a man by a

shiftless and penniless fellow…”]

Sources for log information:Miami Daily News, DenverPost.

THE SEALED BOOK

The Mysterious Traveler minus the Traveler…replaced with the “Keeper of the Book.”

ORIGINATION:WOR, New York, New York City (MBS).

market by the WOR recording division.]

DURATION:March 18-September 9, 1945.

PERSONNEL:Robert Arthur (scriptwriter), Philip Clarke (voice of “The Keeper of the

Book”), David Kogan (scriptwriter), Jock MacGregor (director).

SPONSOR:John Surrey Ltd. (Snow Apple Smoke Tobacco).

EXTANT RECORDINGS:The entire series of 26 broadcasts.

THE SEALED BOOK

March 18, 1945“The Hands of Death”

March 25, 1945“King of the World”

April 1, 1945“Death Spins a Web”

April 8, 1945 “Devil’s Island”

April 15, 1945“Escape by Death”

April 22, 1945“Death at Storm House”

April 29, 1945“The Accusing Corpse”

May 6, 1945 “Stranger in the House”

May 13, 1945 “Out of the Past”

May 20, 1945 “Welcome Home”

May 27, 1945 “I’ll Die Laughing”

June 3, 1945 “Design for Death”

June 10, 1945“The Ghost Makers”

June 17, 1945“Broadway, Here I Come”

June 24, 1945“The Queen of the Cats”

July 1, 1945“Death Rings Down the

Curtain”

July 8, 1945 “Till Death Do Us Part”

July 15, 1945 “The Man With the Stolen

Face”

July 22, 1945 “My Beloved Must Die”

July 29, 1945 “Beware of Tomorrow”

Aug. 5, 1945 “Murder Must Be Paid For”

Aug. 12, 1945“To Have and To Hold”

Aug. 19, 1945“Murderer Unknown”

Aug. 26, 1945“Time on My Hands”

Sep. 2, 1945“Death Laughs Last”

Sep. 9, 1945 “You Only Die Once”

SEATON’S AUNT

Short story by Walter de la Mare…

ORIGINATION:Various.

DURATION:Various.

PERSONNEL:Jonathan Holloway (scriptwriter, 1996), David Hunter (director, 1996),

Adrian Johnston (music, 1996).

CAST [1996]: Tereas Gallagher (Young Seaton), Margaret Robertson (Seaton’s Aunt),

Patience Tomlinson (de Witt), Melinda Walker (Young Withers), Samuel West (Rupert

Withers), Andrew Wincott (Arthur Seaton).

EXTANT RECORDINGS:

(HOME SERVICE)

[

??? ??, 1944 “Seaton’s Aunt”

PLAY (RADIO 4, LONDON)

Jan. 29, 1976 “Seaton’s Aunt”

(RADIO 4, LONDON)

[

Nov. 23, 1996“Seaton’s Aunt”

LA SENDA DEL TERROR

Cited in the XEX radio listings of Mexico City dailyEl Nacional; listed as “sketch” in the

11:15-11:30 time slot; nothing further is known.

ORIGINATION:XEX, Mexico, D.F.

DURATION:

PERSONNEL:Unknown.

EXTANT RECORDINGS:None.

EL SINIESTRO DR. MORTIS

“The voice of Juan Marino, representing sinister Doctor Mortis, recounted stories from

beyond the grave, with diverse incidental noises: hinges that hissed when the coffin was

opened, howl of wolves, a solitary gallop and the whistle of the wind in the middle of

the night, all ending with a horrifying outburst of laughter from the narrator.

Other classic radio programs of terror wereLa tercera oreja (The Third Ear)andLo que

cuenta el viento (What the Wind Tells), the latter with traditional legends from the

Chilean fields. It seems to me that none of the films of the seriesPesadillacould

produce the terrorific atmosphere of those programs that caused that each radio

monitoring filled the dark with its own fantasies. To the children often they prohibited

those programs, because later it cost to make sleep them. It is that they guessed that in

his dreams they would be waiting for them the monsters and the absurdities that left

the radio.”

ORIGINATION:CB ??, Punta Arenas (Radio Ejercito, 1945-); CB 126, Santiago (Radio

Nacional, 1954-); CB 118, Santiago (Radio Cristobal Colon, 1960-); CB 82, Santiago

(Radio del Pacifico); CB 101, Santiago (Radio Yungay).

DURATION:Circa 1945-1982.

PERSONNEL:Juan Marino (scriptwriter, voice of “Dr. Mortis”), Alejandro Roman (voice

of “Dr. Mortis”).

CASTS: David Acevedo, Ruth Brown Baltra, Maruja Cifuentes, Nestor Corona, Blunt Hugo,

Juan Marino.

EXTANT RECORDINGS:“Agonia,” “Les Confeciones de Monsenor Krauss,” “El Escultor

del Diablo,” “El Fuguitivi de las Galaxias,” “La Garra,” “Licantropia” (Part 1), “Licantropia”

(Part 2), “Melodia de Horror” (Part 1), “El Pistolero.”

SLEEP NO MORE

“David McKinsey, SMU student, will present his play, ‘The Horror Over Dunwich’.”

David Lampton McKinsey

Died peacefully in his home in Novato, March 9, 2003. Born May 21, 1927 in Joplin, MO

and spent his formative years in Missouri. David was a World War II veteran and

graduated from Southern Methodist University. He pursued a career in radio

broadcasting and served as Program Director at KABL for many years. He received the

Marconi Award in 1989, the radio industry's most prestigious award. While at KABL, he

conceived the idea for the San Francisco Cable Car Bell Ringing Contest. He had a

lifelong love for fishing in his native Ozarks and recently published "Fishing With Dad",

his first book. His other two books will be published posthumously. David is survived by

his beloved wife Dorothea at home; stepchildren Marilyn (John) Walgora, John (Toni)

Goldstein, Gregory (Maria) Goldstein; children Gretchen (Alex) Clarke, Stephanie

McKinsey and John (Angie) McKinsey; nine grandchildren and four great grandchildren;

brother Mike and numerous nephews. The family has requested donations be made to

the American Heart Association. Service and Interment will be held at Valley Memorial

Park, 650 Bugeia Lane, Novato on Wednesday March 12, 2003 at 1:00 PM. Keaton's

Redwood Chapel Novato 415-897-1151

ORIGINATION:KSMU, Dallas, Texas.

DURATION:Circa 1949.

PERSONNEL:David McKinsey (scriptwriter).

CASTS:

EXTANT RECORDINGS:Unknown.

SLEEP NO MORE

Nelson Olmsted milked the horror craze with an appropriately literary title for a series of

literature readings.

Further research: “This is an expanded version of a previous 15 minute series heard

over NBC in the early fifties, but the 1956 season began with the introduction of a new

half-hour format.”

ORIGINATION:WRCA, New York City, New York (NBC).

DURATION:November 7, 1956-April 24, 1957.

PERSONNEL:Ben Grauer (announcer), Kenneth MacGregor (director), Nelson Olmsted

(narrator), Daniel Sutter (director).

EXTANT RECORDINGS:“Conqueror’s Isle” (11/21/56), “Mr. Mergenthwirker’s Lobblies”

/ “August Heat” (11/28/56),

THE WORLD’S GREATEST SHORT STORIES (WBAP)

Sep. 6, 1940 “The Case of Monsieur

Valdemar” (by Edgar Allan Poe)

Sep. 19, 1940 “The Ghost Ship” (by Richard

Middleton)

THE WORLD’S GREATEST SHORT STORIES (WMAQ-NBC)

Sep. 30, 1940 “The Tell-Tale Heart” (by

Edgar Allan Poe)

Oct. 9, 1940 “The Case of Monsieur

Valdemar”

Oct. 14, 1940 “The Man and the Snake” (by

Ambrose Bierce)

could be hypnotized by a snake

finally resulted in his death…”]

Oct. 15, 1940 “Rappaccini’s Daughter” (by

Nathaniel Hawthorne)

Oct. 30, 1940 “An Occurrence at Owl Creek

Bridge” (by Ambrose Bierce)

Nov. 12, 1940 “The Coward” (by Guy de

Maupassant)

commits suicide rather than keep an

appointment for a duel with an

expert pistol shot…”]

Nov. 26, 1940“What Was It?” (by Fitz-James

O’Brien)

attacked by an invisible being. He

overpowers his assailant and then is

forced to let the creature die of

starvation because no way can be

found to feed a nondistinguishable

being…”]

Dec. 10, 1940 “Dead Man” (by James M.

Cain)

accidentally kills a train detective

and manages to escape all suspicion,

only to have his own conscience

force him to surrender…”]

Dec. 18, 1940 “Green Thoughts” (by John

Collier)

Jan. 14, 1941 “What Was It?”

an invisible demon which tries to kill

a man… The thing is conquered but

but finally starves to death as the

death as the man does not know how

or what to feed it…”]

Jan. 20, 1941 “The Raven” (by Edgar Allan

Poe)

Jan. 21, 1941 “The Transferred Ghost” (by

Frank R. Stockton)

Jan. 28, 1941 “The Signal Man” (by Charles

Dickens)

Feb. 16, 1941 “How It Happened” (by Arthur

Conan Doyle)

Feb. 19, 1941 “Laura” (by Saki)

March 10, 1941“The Flowing of the Strange

Orchid” (by H. G. Wells)

April 1, 1941 “Lazarus” (by Leonid

Andreyev)

the dead at Christ’s command…”]

Sep. 5, 1941 “Three Skeleton Key” (by

George Tudos)

Nov. 7, 1941 “The House of Ecstasy” (by

Ralph Milne Farley)

Jan. 19, 1942 “The Masque of the Red

Death” (by Edgar Allan Poe)

Jan. 28, 1942 “Thus I Refute Beelzy” (by

John Collier)

June 29, 1942“Keeping His Promise” (by

Algernon Blackwood)

July 7, 1942 “In the Cage”

phobias of man…”]

Aug. 29, 1942“August Heat” (by W. F.

Harvey)

Aug. 31, 1942 “The Bookshop” (by Nelson S.

Bond)

Sep. 22, 1942 “The Clerk’s Quest” (by George

Moore)

Dec. 12, 1942 “Fishhead” (by Irvin S. Cobb)

half-human creature who is thought

to be in league with the catfish in a

nearby lake…”]

Dec. 26, 1942 “The Facts in the Case of

Monsieur Valdemar”

Jan. 2, 1943 “The Ghost Ship”

Feb. 13, 1943 “The Bad Hand” / “Babel” (by

Mindret Lord)

March 6, 1943“He Looked At Me Out of His

Eyes” (by Michael Fessier)

April 3, 1943 “The Old Folks at Home” /

“The Betrayal” (by Mindret

Lord)

who returns to her old family home

to live with the ghosts of her parents.

The second story concerns a dog

who asks for meat after being

bestowed with the power of

speech…”]

April 10, 1943“The Chaser” (by John Collier)

May 8, 1943 “Spider Bliss” (by Michael

Fessier)

May 29, 1943 “The Music of Erich Zann”

(by H. P. Lovecraft)

July 3, 1943 “A. V. Laider” (by Max

Beerbohm)

Aug. 14, 1943 “August Heat”

Jan. 31, 1944 “The Death of Olivier Becaille”

(by Emile Zola)

May 4, 1946 “The Ghost Ship”

Oct. 14, 1946 “The Death of Olivier Becaille”

May 2, 1948 “The Chaser”

SLEEP NO MORE

Nov. 7, 1956

Nov. 14, 1956

Nov. 21, 1956“Conqueror’s Isle” (by

Nelson Bond)

Nov. 28, 1956“Mr. Mergenthwerker’s

Lobblies” (by Nelson Bond) /

“August Heat” (by W. F.

Harvey)

Dec. 5, 1956 “Over the Hill” (by Michael

Fessier) / “The Man in the

Black Hat” (by Michael

Fessier)

Dec. 12, 1956 “Three O’Clock” (by William

Irish)

Dec. 19, 1956 “The Storm” (by McKnight

Melmar) / “Annabel Lee” (by

Edgar Allan Poe)

Dec. 26, 1956 “Fishhead” (by Irvin S. Cobb) /

“The Death of Olivier Becauie”

(by Emile Zola)

[

Jan. 2, 1956 “The Horsehair Trunk” (by

Davis Grubb) / “A Friend to

Alexander” (by James Thurber)

Jan. 9, 1957

Jan. 16, 1957 “The Waxwork” (by A. M.

Burrage) / “The Man and the

Snake” (by Ambrose Bierce)

Jan. 23, 1957 “I Am Waiting” (by Christopher

Isherwood) / “Browdean Farm”

(by A. M. Burrage)

Jan. 30, 1957 “The Jilting of Granny

Weatherall” / “Escape”

Feb. 6, 1957 “Banquo’s Chair” (by Rupert

Croft Cooke) / “The Coward”

(by Guy de Maupassant)

Feb. 27, 1957 “To Build a Fire” / “Three

Skeleton Key”

March 6, 1957“Thus I Refute Beezly” / “The

Book Shop”

March 13, 1957“The Escape of Mr. Trimm”

March 20, 1957“The Woman in Gray” / “A

Suspicious Gift”

April 3, 1957 “The Bet” / “The Clerk’s

Quest”

April 10, 1957“A Passenger to Bali”

April 17, 1957“Homecoming” / “Aunt Cassie”

April 24, 1957“The Evening” / “The

Flowering of the Strange

Orchid”

Mexican incarnation of The Shadow—“enigma de un hombre que esconde su rostro bajo un antifax.” “The

adventures of a singular detective and his assistant Cliff, the same who traveled in one of their

‘adventures’ to the Planet Venus.”

XEQ, Mexico City, Distrito Federal.

November 26, 1951-[October 31, 1952].

Alexander Ciangherotti (voice of “La Sombra”).

Colgate-Palmolive (Fab).

None.

SPEAK OF THE DEVIL

“My name does not matter. I am, in a sense, the lady’s guardian… I wear black, you

observe. Now, young man, will you heed what I say? If not, I warn you…against worse

things than you are likely to see on the battlefield.”

John Dickson Carr’s eight-episode serial for the BBC was a fascinating blend of historical

romance and Carr’s trademark eerie mystery. The story is set at the end of the Regency

period, an era that was of particular fascination for Carr. The opening narration—spoken

by Carleton Hobbs, later a superb radio Sherlock Holmes—captures the spirit of the

times in a vivid word-portrait: “It was an age of fine manners and boisterous drinking,

when Boney had been beaten at Waterloo only a year before… When that new miracle,

gaslight, had begun to flicker in the cobblestoned streets. When already the balloon and

the steamboat were commonplace sights. When, in short, progress was carrying us to

the Devil.”

The plot ofSpeak of the Devilcenters around Captain Hugh Austen of the Grenadier

Guards who, on the eve of the battle of Waterloo, encounters a mysterious woman with

whom he is instantly enamored. Shortly thereafter he confronts her “guardian,” a sinister

gentleman garbed completely in black who menacingly advises him to forget that he

has ever seen the lady. Later he learns that her name is Mary Adair and that he could

not have possibly seen her that night, since she had been hanged from the scaffold a

year prior for the murder of a wealthy old woman. Austen, already considered a lunatic

by British society for seeking “a girl who doesn’t exist,” is plunged into an abyss of

mystery and seeming black magic, culminating in a second meeting with Mary at an

evil-looking house in the middle of a foetid swamp. In true Carr fashion, the seemingly

supernatural is ultimately explained and the true murderer brought to justice.

“…shortly after Carr began the radio serial…he and his wife ‘were seated in their living

room, reading, when they heard a whistle, a heavy hiss and a series of thunderclap

concussions and then found themselves on the floor, blinded by dust. The first thing

Carr noticed when he got up ws that they now had an uninterrupted view of their

garden…the house was almost a total wreck.” (Robert Lewis Taylor, “Two authors in an

attic.” THE NEW YORKER, Sept. 8 & 15, 1951) The Carrs had a miraculous escape, as did

the five completed episodes ofSpeak of the Devilwhich Carr had to salvage from the

rubble. They withdrew to Bristol where theLuftwaffesoon finished off the last remnants

of their furniture and Carr’s precious collection of books. After evacuating his family to a

safer part of England and being bombed out of the Savage Club in London, Carr lodged

himself in Devon to complete various projects, includingSpeak of the Devil. When the

serial was broadcast during February and March 1941, Carr was delighted by “the

slickness with which everything moves, the conveying of atmosphere above all. Down

here in this neglected spot, they queue up to hear it. One formidable maiden lady

passed the comment: “It’s odd how you seem to be seeing it as well as hearing it.” I

stifled my impulse to reply “Madam, if you knew how hard the producer and the author

worked to achieve that effect, you wouldn’t think it was so bloody odd.” (Letter from

Carr to Val Gielgud, no date (February 1941). BBC Archives.

ORIGINATION:Home Service, London (BBC).

DURATION:February 10-March 31, 1941.

PERSONNEL:John Dickson Carr (scriptwriter), Val Gielgud (producer).

CAST: Hugh Burden (Ensign Johnny Brisbane), Belle Crystal (Mary Adair), Valentine Dyall

(Dr. Horatio Cameron, The Man in Black—EPISODE 6), Robert Eddison (Georges

Pepotin), Malcolm Graeme, Betty Hardy (Lady Cynthia Mercer—EPISODES 1, 5, 6),

Carleton Hobbs (narrator), Anthony Holles, Frederick Lloyd (H.R.H. The Prince Regent),

James McKechnie (Captain Hugh Austen), Fred O’Donovan, Bryan Powley, Lydia

Sherwood (Lady Cynthia Mercer—EPISODE 2), Ronald Simpson, Austin Trevor (Thomas

Tring), Cecil Trouncer (Dr. Horatio Cameron, The Man in Black—EPISODES 2, 4, 8),

Arthur Young (Joe Manton).

EXTANT RECORDINGS:None.

STARRING BORIS KARLOFF

Coming on the heels ofDracula, Universal’s highly successful release ofFrankensteinin

November of 1931 made it clear that the public interest in horror pictures was not a

one-film fluke. Long-struggling supporting actor Boris Karloff catapulted into national

fame with his grotesque yet sympathetic portrayal of the Monster, and almost

immediately went to the airwaves as a means of further solidifying his position as “the

new Lon Chaney.”

television at the ABC network, that Karloff had signed an exclusive, one-year contract to

do a weekly series likely to begin in September. Under terms of the agreement, Karloff

would do a radio show for the network, as well. The half-hour TV show would air live

from New York, and feature original plays, adaptations of classics, and some stage and

screen material…”

illusion” of Karloff’s escape from Devil’s Island…through shark-infested waters, and

getting revenge on those who double crossed him, whereas the TV version was written

differently with the final explanation being that the story was just a bad dream.”

Variant titles:Conflict(working title, announced in July);Presenting Boris Karloff; Mystery

Playhouse Starring Boris Karloff(according to Shriver).

ORIGINATION:WJZ, New York City, New York (ABC).

DURATION:September 21-December 14, 1949.

PERSONNEL:Robert Stephen Brode (scriptwriter), Bernard Green (musical director),

George Gunn (announcer), George Henniger (organist), Charles Warburton (producer-

director).

CASTS: Boris Karloff, Mildred Natwick, et al.

EXTANT RECORDINGS:None.

STARRING BORIS KARLOFF

Sep. 21, 1949“Five Golden Guineas”

Sep. 28, 1949“The Mask”

Oct. 5, 1949“Munghara”

Oct. 12, 1949“Mad Illusion”

Oct. 19, 1949“Perchance to Dream”

Oct. 26, 1949“The Devil Takes a Bride”

Nov. 2, 1949“The Moving Finger”

Nov. 9, 1949“The Twisted Path”

Nov. 16, 1949“False Face”

Nov. 23, 1949“Cranky Bill”

Nov. 30, 1949“Three O’Clock”

Dec. 7, 1949“The Shop at Sly Corner”

Dec. 14, 1949“The Night Reveals”

STAY TUNED FOR TERROR

Robert Bloch: “An announcer and radio actor friend brought my work to the attention of

John Neblett, a sportscaster, and his friend, agent Berle Adams. Neblett produced the

show, Adams bought into it and marketed it, and my friend, James Doolittle, took the

lead. Other performers were his brother Donald, an actor named Wilms Herbert (now

deceased) and Angeline Orr, who later married Neblett. They did all the roles—as was

customary in those days. The director, Howard Keegan, had previously directedLights

Outand gave us excellent assistance.

The shows were recorded in Chicago, at the Wrigley Building studios, one night a

week, three shows per session. I attended and made suggestions at the rehearsals. I

never rewrote a script—but I should have, as they were dreadful by today’s standards,

I’m sure. Doolittle used a pseudonym (“Craig Dennis”) but I believe the rest of the cast

were listed by their own names.

The shows sold, here and in Hawaii, and to the entire Canadian Broadcasting Network.

A second series of thirty-nine was about to be ordered when John Neblett died in the

crash of his private plane which he was piloting either to or from a football game down

South. The series died with him.”

“Neblett’s sales-force went out, and a few months later we were getting air-time;

prestigious major stations such as WMAQ-Chicago, similar outlets in the South and

West, then the Canadian Broadcasting Network, even Hawaii. There was talk of doing

another thirty-nine shows, and Berle Adams, then negotiating with Mercury Records,

was putting together a record album from the broadcasts.”

In 1964, with the series presumably long forgotten and its author now an established

presence in Hollywood following the success ofPsycho, Bloch found himself with the

opportunity to finally meet a man whose work he had admired for a long time, the film

director Fritz Lang. As Bloch recounted in his autobiography, he approached the

meeting with some degree of trepidation. “What could I possibly have to say…,” he

fretted. But, after being introduced, practically the first words out of Lang’s mouth were:

“Tell me, whatever became of your radio show,Stay Tuned for Terror?”

ORIGINATION:Neblett Radio Productions, Chicago, Illinois (electrical transcriptions).

Varietyas Craig Dennis

Productions.]

DURATION:39-episode package released for syndication in January, 1945.

review of the show inVarietyindicated that at that time thirteen stations were running

the series.]

PERSONNEL:Robert Bloch (scriptwriter), James Doolittle (narrator), Romelle Fay

(organist), Howard Keegan (director), John Neblett (producer).

CASTS: “Craig Dennis,” Donald Doolittle, Wilms Herbert, Angeline Orr, Francis Spencer.

SPONSOR:Consolidated Royal Chemical Co. (Krank’s Shave Cream—WMAQ, 1945), Lee

Duck Dry Cleaners (CJOC, 1950).

EXTANT RECORDINGS:None.

book form by ?????.]

STAY TUNED FOR TERROR (DISC SERIES ON WMAQ)

May 14, 1945“The Bat Is My Brother”

May 16, 1945

May 18, 1945

May 21, 1945

May 23, 1945

May 25, 1945

May 28, 1945

June 1, 1945

June 4, 1945

June 6, 1945

June 8, 1945

June 11, 1945

June 13, 1945

June 15, 1945

June 18, 1945

June 20, 1945

June 22, 1945

June 25, 1945

June 27, 1945

June 29, 1945

July 2, 1945

July 4, 1945

July 6, 1945

July 9, 1945

July 11, 1945

July 13, 1945

July 16, 1945

July 18, 1945

July 20, 1945

July 23, 1945

July 25, 1945

July 27, 1945

July 30, 1945

Aug. 1, 1945

Aug. 3, 1945

Aug. 6, 1945

Aug. 8, 1945

Aug. 10, 1945

Aug. 17, 1945 ???

Still researching correct order of titles; information in parentheses indicates first

magazine appearance of story or if it is an original script)

Richard Clayton” (Amazing

Stories, March 1939)

moon…”]

(Weird Tales, November 1944)

(original script)

script; later published in Weird

Tales, November 1945)

(original script; later published in

Weird Tales, January 1946)

out of his body and imprisoned in a

phonograph machine…”]

(Weird Tales, January 1941)

Tales, July 1945)

(original script)

Head” (original script)

(“A Question of Identity,”

Strange Stories, April 1939)

Tales, May 1942)

(“Return to the Sabbath,” Weird

Tales, July 1938)

(Weird Tales, July 1937)

(Weird Tales, November 1937)

(Weird Tales, November 1944)

(Weird Tales, May 1935)

Wolf” (Weird Tales, May 1945)

January 1939

Tales, May 1941)

Ripper” (Weird Tales, July

1943)

(“The Cloak,” Unknown, May

1939)

Died” (“Brood of Bubastis,”

Weird Tales, March 1937)

(original script; later published in

Fantastic Adventures,

September 1947)

Tales, August 1939)

(poss. “C.O.D.—Corpse on

Delivery,” Detective Tales, ??)

Axe” (original script; later

published in Weird Tales,

November 1946)

(“Almost Human,” Fantastic

Adventures, July 1943)

Machines” (“It Happened

Tomorrow,” Astonishing

Stories, February 1943)

(Weird Tales, June 1936)

plagued by a sleep-walking professor

to look into the matter of ghouls

living in caverns under the

cemetery…”]

(“Wine of the Sabbat,” Weird

Tales, November 1940)

(Weird Tales, July 1944)

(Weird Tales, November 1936)

script)

(Strange Stories, February 1939)

the Dead”

happened to Hitler…”]

You” (original script; later

published in Weird Tales, March

1946)

(poss. “Horror in Hollywood,”

Mammoth Detective, February

1944, or “The Phantom from the

Film,” Amazing Stories,

February 1943)

“Story Time’ started out with ‘Wuthering Heights,’ went through ‘Scarlet Letter’ and ‘Anna Karenina’ and

last week did a different Poe story each day.”

“The organ also provided wonderful sound effects. In ‘The Black Cat’ last Tuesday, for example, screams

and taps on the wall were suggested with music.”

WOL, Washington, D.C.

October 6-10, 1947

Larry Frommer (adapter), Larry Geraghty (reader), Charles Keaton (organist).

None.

Oct. 6, 1947

Oct. 7, 1947“The Black Cat”

Oct. 8, 1947

Oct. 9, 1947

Oct. 10, 1947

STRANGE

Stories of the supernatural

ORIGINATION:WJZ, New York City, New York (ABC).

DURATION:May 30-September ??, 1955.

PERSONNEL:Walter Gibson (scriptwriter, producer, narrator), Drex Hines (director),

Sheldon Stark (scriptwriter), Charles Woods (announcer).

CASTS: Robert Dryden, Hal Holbrook, Stephan Schnabel, Lawson Zerbe, Bill Zuckert.

EXTANT RECORDINGS:“Deadman’s Reef” (5/30/55), “The Flying Dutchman,” “The

Ghost Train,” “Greenwood Acres,” “The Great Eastern,” story about hillbilly feud (#50).

Thousand Oaks Public Library, Thousand Oaks, California. Also, the following scripts

were documented by Randolph Cox as existing in Walter Gibson’s files: “The Ghost of La

Chatraine,” “Killed by a Ghost in a Taxi,” “Lightening a Ghost House,” “The Percy Castle

Ghost” and “Washington Irving Bishop.”]

STRANGE

May 30, 1955 “Deadman’s Reef”

about the ghost who guided the

British ship Sultana out of the

passage of a reef off the Cape of

Good Hope. Stephan Schnabel and

Bill Zuckert were good as the captain

and the seaman who went through

the experience…”] (Variety)

May 31, 1955

THE STRANGE AND THE SINISTER

Readings of stories by William Croft Dickinson. Listed as “stories of the supernatural.”

Dickinson was a Scottish historian and author whose short stories were influenced by M.

R. James.

reference to his revival in 1947 and subsequent editorship of theScottish Historical

Reviewor of his effective ghost stories and charming children’s books.”

ORIGINATION:Home, London (BBC).

DURATION:October 9-13, 1961.

PERSONNEL:Unknown.

EXTANT RECORDINGS:“Let the Dead Bury Their Dead” (10/10/61), “A Work of Evil.”

(10/13/61).

THE STRANGE AND THE SINISTER

Oct. 9, 1961 “The Sweet Singers”

Oct. 10, 1961 “Let the Dead Bury Their Dead”

Oct. 11, 1961 “Return at Dusk”

Oct. 12, 1961 “The Black Dog of Wolf’s Crag”

Oct. 13, 1961 “A Work of Evil”

THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE

(Variety, July 16, 1947) “BBC plans to offer WNEW a serial in five episodes… Story isn’t

completed until the final (fifth) program is heard.”

ORIGINATION:Home Service, London (BBC).

DURATION:September 9-October 7, 1944.

PERSONNEL:Lance Sieveking (scriptwriter), Hugh Stewart (producer).

CAST: Raymond Lovell (Dr. Henry Jekyll / Edward Hyde), et al.

EXTANT RECORDINGS:Unknown.

THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE

Sep. 9, 1944 [1]

Sep. 16, 1944 [2]

Sep. 23, 1944 [3]

Sep. 30, 1944 [4]

Oct. 7, 1944 [5]

THE STRANGE DR. KARNAC

a new thriller series,The Strange Dr.Carnak, authored by Scott Bishop, continuity editor

of theOklahoma City Broadcaster, who is known to radio fans for his horror series,Dark

Fantasy.”

ORIGINATION:WJZ, New York City, New York (BLUE).

DURATION:January 23-April 24, 1943.

PERSONNEL:Scott Bishop (scriptwriter), Stuart Buchanan (director), Fred Cole

(announcer), Bob Hamilton (organist).

CASTS: Horace Braham, Jean Ellyn, Joseph Julian, Mandel Kramer, Alice Reinheart, James

Van Dyke, et al.

EXTANT RECORDINGS:None.

THE STRANGE DR. KARNAC (WJZ, NEW YORK)

Jan. 23, 1943“Meet Me at the Morgue”

Jan. 30, 1943

Feb. 6, 1943

Feb. 13, 1943

Feb. 20, 1943

Feb. 27, 1943

March 6, 1943

March 13, 1943

March 20, 1943

March 27, 1943

April 3, 1943

April 10, 1943

April 17, 1943

April 24, 1943

THE STRANGE DR. WEIRD

Created by Robert Arthur and David Kogan. Dr. Weird lives in “that cute little house on

the other side of the cemetery.”

discover that WOR’s The Strange Dr. Weird had staged its debut election night. Its star,

master-of-dialects Maurice Tarplin, wondered if anyone heard him. But with the din and

shouting over, he’s determined to continue our already complicated lives with escape

problems on this new mystery series…”

ORIGINATION:WOR, New York City, New York.

DURATION:November 7, 1944-June 19, 1945.

PERSONNEL:Robert Arthur (scriptwriter), David Kogan (scriptwriter), Jock MacGregor

(producer-director), Maurice Tarplin (voice of “Dr. Weird”), Dick Willard (announcer).

CASTS: Arline Blackburn, Phil Clark, Martin Wilson, et al.

SPONSOR:Adam Hat Stores.

EXTANT RECORDINGS:“Journey into the Unknown”

THE STRANGE DR. WEIRD (WOR)

Nov. 7, 1944 “The House Where Death

Lives”

Nov. 14, 1944“The Summoning of Chandor”

Nov. 21, 1944“Journey into the Unknown”

Nov. 28, 1944“Murder Comes Home”

Dec. 5, 1944 “Death in the Everglades”

Dec. 12, 1944 “The Man Who Talked with

Death”

Dec. 19, 1944 “The White Pearls of Death”

Dec. 26, 1944 “Stand-In for Murder”

Jan. 2, 1945 “The Tiger Cat”

Jan. 9, 1945 “The Murder Ship”

Jan. 16, 1945 “Beauty and the Beast”

Jan. 23, 1945 “Survival of the Fittest”

Jan. 30, 1945 “The Man Who Lived Twice”

Feb. 6, 1945 “Dark Wings of Death”

Feb. 13, 1945 “The Secret Room”

Feb. 20, 1945 “Knife of Death”

Feb. 27, 1945 “Murder Will Out”

March 6, 1945“The Voice of Death”

March 13, 1945“The Two Faces of Death”

March 20, 1945“The Man Who Knew

Everything”

March 27, 1945“He Woke Up Dead”

April 3, 1945 “Devil’s Cavern”

April 10, 1945“When Killers Meet”

April 17, 1945“Dead Man’s Paradise”

April 24, 1945“Ghost Ship”

May 1, 1945 “The Man Who Played Dead”

May 8, 1945 “Murder—One Million B.C.”

May 15, 1945 “Picture of a Killer” ?

May 22, 1945 “Revenge from the Grave” ?

May 29, 1945

June 5, 1945

June 12, 1945

June 19, 1945

SUPERNATURALLY SPEAKING

Were these scripts ever produced by any station?

ORIGINATION:The Script Library, New York City, New York.

DURATION:Scripts offered for sale in 1941.

PERSONNEL:Unknown.

EXTANT RECORDINGS:None.

SUPERNATURALLY YOURS

Are these pilots? No confirmation of broadcasts has yet been found.

ORIGINATION:Unknown.

DURATION:Circa 1947.

PERSONNEL:Ken Nordine (narrator)??

SPONSOR:Schoenhofen-Edelweiss Co. (Edelbrew Beer).

EXTANT RECORDINGS:“Was It a Dream?” (2/24/47), “The Cyprian Cat” (4/23/47).

`

T

TALES FROM FIDDLER’S GREEN

Ghostly legends and fantasies of the sea dramatized by Thomas Gilchrist, who

apparently wrote nothing but sea stories.

ORIGINATION:C???, Vancouver, British Columbia (Trans-Canada Network).

DURATION:June 27-September 26, 1953.

PERSONNEL:Thomas Gilchrist (scriptwriter), Raymond Whitehouse (producer).

EXTANT RECORDINGS:None.

VANCOUVER THEATRE—“TALES FROM FIDDLER’S GREEN”

June 27, 1953“The Case of the Dying

Legend”

from curse to forever sail the seas

against the wind is brought to

Fiddler’s Green along with his

temptress…”] (CCBS Bibliography)

July 4, 1953 “The Ear of Captain Jenkins”

Fiddler’s Green to find captain

whose false tale about his lost ear

precipitated Anglo-Spanish War…”]

July 11, 1953 “The Red Hand of Ulster”

the sailor’s Elysium, Fiddler’s Green

to be told the true tale of the origin

of the Red Hand of Ulster sign…”]

July 18, 1953 “The Tale of the Modern

Stormalong”

hear merry tale in which crusty old

shipowner, his daughter and his

assistant all find mates on a cruise.”]

July 25, 1953 “The Scarf of O’Shane”

afterlife who, cursed with snakes by

native woman for murder with

scarf, died at sight of scarf coiled.”]

Aug. 1, 1953 “The Lost Ships”

Fiddler’s Green tells of young

sailor’s discovery of a piracy

operation that funds a Utopian

isle…”]

Aug. 8, 1953 “The Phantom Trip”

Deep Sea Board of Wind, Wave and

Tide hears the tale of a captain who

solved a murder and saved an

innocent man…”]

Aug. 15, 1953“The Return”

confront his brother who stole his

fiancée twenty years ago to gain her

father’s business…”]

Aug. 22, 1953“The Midnight Leadsman”

discerns has murdered evil captain

responsible for his parent’s death,

kills himself and enters Fiddler’s

Green…”]

Aug. 29, 1953“The Teardrop of Tarina”

weaps pearl tear for native diver she

loves that leads to his death at hands

of Englishmen…”]

Sep. 5, 1953 “The Fugitive of the Faradon”

petition for entry of doctor who,

when he went to sea to avoid mercy

killing charge, saved a ship’s dog…”]

Sep. 12, 1953 “The Drums of Whangaroa”

willfully sent his men to their death,

and his fitting punishment in the

sailor’s afterlife, Fiddler’s Green…”]

Sep. 19, 1953 “The Eyes of Stormy Grey”

regaled by romantic tale, as it

arranges for reunion of one of their

sailors and his recently deceased

wife…”]

Sep. 26, 1953 “Passing Ship”

man, wife and ship, wife’s death in

war, husband’s revenge on enemy

and couple’s reunion in Fiddler’s

Green…”]

TALES OF THE SUPERNATURAL

Subject for further research.

ORIGINATION:CJOC, Lethbridge, Alberta.

DURATION:

PERSONNEL:Unknown.

EXTANT RECORDINGS:None.

TALES OF THE SUPERNATURAL

Jan. 11, 1941

Jan. 25, 1941

Feb. 15, 1941

Feb. 22, 1941

March 1, 1941

March 15, 1941

April 25, 1941

May 17, 1941 To be announced

June 7, 1941 To be announced

July 5, 1941 CBS Dance Orchestra

TALES OF THE SUPERNATURAL

over WWDC-ABS with a dramatization of Poe’s ‘Cask of Amontillado.’”

ORIGINATION:WWDC, Washington, D.C.

DURATION:January 20-February 10, 1946.

PERSONNEL:Unknown.

EXTANT RECORDINGS:None.

TALES OF THE SUPERNATURAL

Jan. 20, 1946 “The Cask of Amontillado”

Jan. 27, 1946

Feb. 3, 1946

Feb. 10, 1946

TALES OF THE SUPERNATURAL

An Australian series, done several years after World War II (judging from internal

evidence in one of the episodes, where a five-year-old murder is placed during the same

year that the Allies were bombing Berlin).

ORIGINATION:Grace Gibson Productions, Sydney, New South Wales (electrical

transcriptions).

DURATION:Circa 1948-1950.

PERSONNEL:Kevin Brennan (narrator).

EXTANT RECORDINGS:“The Last Lord Reddingcourt,” “I Shall Rise Again,” “A Species of

Seaweed,” “The Strange Companion” (#7), “Out of the Mist.” (#8).

TALES OF THE SUPERNATURAL

The Strange Companion”

murder—told by a ghost…”]

Out of the Mist”

Titles with unknown numbers:

“I Shall Rise Again”

“The Last Lord Reddingcourt”

“A Species of Seaweed”

TALES OF THE SUPERNATURAL

Listed in the Modesto Bee, Thursday, October 2, 1952, KGO, 9:15-9:30.

TALES OF THE SUPERNATURAL

Listed in the radio log of theLethbridge Herald, Lethbridge, Alberta, on the following

dates.

ORIGINATION:CJOC, Lethbridge, Alberta.

DURATION:July 20-[December 7], 1953.

PERSONNEL:Unknown.

EXTANT RECORDINGS:None.

TALES OF THE SUPERNATURAL (CJOC)

July 20, 1953

July 27, 1953 Not listed

Sep. 7, 1953

Sep. 14, 1953

Sep. 28, 1953

Oct. 12, 1953

Oct. 26, 1953

Nov. 30, 1953

Dec. 7, 1953

TALES OF THE WEIRD AND UNKNOWN

Cited in theSperdvac Radiogram, March 1988; no further information is known.

ORIGINATION:Unknown (electrical transcriptions).