Suspense's "The Sin Eater" is a creepy episode about city people and hillbillies. The story is centered upon the Welsh custom of sin-eating, but it takes place in an unspecified, remote part of the Appalachian Region. Sin-eating involves ritual drinking of ale and eating bread to absorb the sins of a deceased person. Welsh/English immigrants brought the ancient custom to Appalachia in the 18th century.
The story begins near a town named Pierre, in the home of the last of the local sin-eaters. Although the old man is on his deathbed and in agony, he has resisted succumbing to death because there is no one to eat his sins. The mother tells her husband and son to fetch someone who can perform the ritual so grandpa can die in peace.
They soon find someone. Mr. Reed, a specialist in folk music/ballads, and his young wife are driving through the area hoping to find undiscovered songs from the region. A policeman stops them to give them a warning about driving through this isolated, dangerous area. He suggests they drive through to Pierre as quickly as possibly, but they don't listen. Instead, the father and son, who overheard the conversation with the officer, lure the couple back to their house on the pretense of hearing local folk ballads.
"The Sin Eater" was written for Suspense by Bob Corcoran. It starred Jim Boles, Herbert Duncan, Ethel Everett, Ivor Francis, Rita Lloyd, Doug Parkhurst and Guy Repp. This episode was produced and directed by Fred Hendrickson and aired on July 8, 1962.
. Download Suspense_1962.07.08_SinEater.mp3
(Image of Blue Ridge Mountains, North Carolina from Wikimedia Commons)
This is a really great blog, thanks for all the info on these two shows (Escape and Suspense).
I've been covering some OTR on my own blog occasionally and think what you are doing is great.
I hadn't heard of this particular episode of Suspense until now and will listen to it today. This is very interesting as it sounds a lot like the overall plot and character types from Manly Wade Wellman's SIN'S DOORWAY.
In case you're interested, the story can be found online here
http://www.scifi.com/scifiction/classics/classics_archive/wellman/wellman1.html
Posted by: Shonokin | October 15, 2007 at 02:16 PM
Thanks! I will check it out.
Best,
Christine
Posted by: cmillinsf | October 15, 2007 at 10:00 PM
Creepy indeed. This one gets pretty intense! Thanks, C.
Posted by: Rich | October 19, 2007 at 12:11 AM
This was a great, creepy episode. I listened to it on February 14...Yeah, Valentine's Day. Hey, it's kind of a love story!I think Mrs. Reed is destined for a life of love and romance! :)
Posted by: Grigs | February 14, 2008 at 01:59 PM
Sshhh! Don't give away the ending! - Christine
Posted by: cmillinsf | February 16, 2008 at 08:55 PM