Escape and Suspense!

Lights Out - Murder Castle

In the Lights Out episode "Murder Castle," Joseph Kearns stars as a prosperous gentleman, who makes a practice of placing employment ads for young woman.

This episode is based on the true story of serial killer H. H. Holmes and his "murder castle" located in Chicago in the 1890's. How many people he killed in his bizarre home is unknown. You can read more about Holmes and his pattern of swindling and murdering women for money in the December 1943 issue of Harper's Magazine.  It is also reported that Holmes' spirit, and those of his victims, still haunt the location of the castle, though the building is gone.

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As the episode opens, the police have picked up a young woman muttering one word over and over again...revenge, revenge, revenge...

What could have driven her out of her mind?

Another young woman, named Ella Malone, knocks on the door of the home of Henry Stewart. She is there in response to his advertisement for a new secretary. Her experience appears satisfactory, and he hires her for the job. She gives him the money to be used for a surety bond, and he gives her a receipt.

Then, he shows her the rest of his very unusual, self-designed house....

"Murder Castle" was written/produced by Arch Oboler. Joseph Kearns starred as Henry Stewart. Also appearing were Mercedes McCambridge and Gladys Holland. The names of the other performers are not given.

Download Lights Out - 1938-02-16_Murder Castle

This episode was performed a second time on August 3, 1943. All  recordings of this show are the same; therrefore, I  don't know if the episode starring Joseph Kearns is from  1938 or 1943. If you know, please leave a comment.  Thanks!

(Image of the real "Murder Castle" in Chicago, Illinois)

Lights Out - The Dark

In the Lights Out episode "The Dark", two men enter a room in which they find a terrifying new kind of darkness..

As the episode opens, a doctor and a policeman are driving through the country in response to a request for help.

When they arrive at their destination, they find an empty house. At first, they think the call may have been a false alarm, but when they enter, they find a hysterical woman.

The doctor is certain that the injured person must be in the other room, and when they break down the door, they find a man...turned inside out...and a creeping black mist...

The Lights Out episode of"The Dark" aired on December 29, 1937, but the original recording is lost. Below is a short episode that was recreated for the 1962 Arch Oboler album Drop Dead! It runs a little over eight minutes, much shorter than the original half-hour show.

 

The Shadow - The Gibbering Things

In The Gibbering Things", The Shadow must solve a mystery involving a demented professor and the small creatures that make those gibbering sounds heard in the woods...

As the episode opens, dapper man-about-town Lamont Cranston, (a.k.a The Shadow), is traveling with his lovely friend and companion, Margot Lane. They are going to spend the weekend with her aunt, who lives in rural New Hamsphire. On the way to Aunt Sue's place, their driver entertains them with the local legends about the "haunted woods" nearby.

The driver assures them that it is all just a big bunch of hoo-ha...but people are said to have gone into the woods and disappeared, and there are creatures that make a funny gibbering sound, and there are screech owls that make unnerving screams. But, none of those things should worry them.

When they arrive at Aunt Sue's house...she isn't there. As the search the grounds for her, they hear a gibbering sound...and The Shadow soon discovers that the "haunted woods" are a very, very weird place indeed.

"The Gibbering Thing" was written by Alonzo Deen Cole. Bill Johnstone starred. This episode aired on September 26, 1943.

. Download Shadow--1943-09-26_Gibbering_Things_The

The Mysterious Traveler - Behind the Locked Door

In The Mysterious Traveler episode "Behind the Locked Door", two archaelogists on an expedition discover a haunted mountainous cavern, where a wagon train was cut off from the world.

The episode opens in the mountains of Lake Mead, Arizona. A car winds down the road and stops at a mountain lodge. A young woman named Cathy Evans hurries up to the front door and knocks...until Martin, her fiance answers.

Martin returned alone and unexpectedly from an expedition last night, spent one hour in town and then disappeared without telling anyone where he was going. Now, she finds him here. He is obviously wounded and sick. Cathy demands to know what has happened! 

Martin finally tries to explain...but Cathy can't believe his story could be true. 

"Behind the Locked Door" was written, produced and directed by Robert Allan Arthur and David Kogan. Lyle Sudrow and Robert Donnelly. This episode aired on November 6, 1951.

. Download Mysterious Traveler.1951.11.06_Behind_The_Locked_Door

Lights Out - Knock at the Door

In Lights Out episode "Knock at the Door," a woman is haunted by the ghost of her mother-in-law after pushing her down a well.

As the episode opens, Ella tells us about her childhood fears of death, but now there is no reason to be afraid. She wants to die now. Ella has a noose around her neck. All she has to do is step off the ladder. In her mind, she hears her father saying, "The wages of sin are death."

Ella recollects how it all started, when she first married Jay, and he brought her home unannounced. Jay thought his mother would be surprised, but she was not impressed that her son had brought home...a woman.

From that moment on, Ella was a guest in her own home. Everything belonged to her mother-in-law, and Ella had nothing. So, she decided to get rid of her mother-in-law...and then everything would belong to Ella. Or, so she thought.

"Knock at the Door" was produced and hosted by Arch Oboler. The names of the specific author and actors are not given. If you know them, post them in the comments section below. This episode aired on December 15, 1942.

.  Download Lights Out-1942-12-15_Knock_At_The_Door

 (Image of Lights Out host Arch Oboler from Wikipedia)

Lights Out - Come to the Bank

In the Lights Out episode "Come to the Bank", a desperate woman tries to save the man she loves when he becomes trapped inside a wall of marble.

As the episode opens, Miss Ada Moss must get someone to come to the bank with her. Anyone! She needs help urgently! Actually, she isn't the one who needs help, it is her friend, Mr. Roth.

She explains that she and Mr. Roth are both teachers at the same school. She teaches physics and he teaches psychology. Miss Moss had taken quite a liking to Mr. Roth, but he was very involved with his own ideas about concentration and the power of the human mind. In particular, he was convinced that if one concentrated with enough intensity, people could move objects with their mind power, transport themselves to other places, and do other incredible things. The key was to direct the powers of mind over matter.

At first, Miss Moss was enamored by his deep, experimental thinking, but when he began to spend too much time "concentrating" his mind power, she tried to convince him to take a vacation.

Miss Moss decided to get some money out of the bank in order to take Mr. Roth out to the country, but while they were in the bank lobby, Mr. Roth suddenly announced that his subconsciousness had reached its maximum point of incubation. Now was the time to make use of his power! Mr. Roth chose to prove his point by walking through a marble wall.

The problem was that he didn't walk all the way through it, as much as he got stuck in it.

So, now Miss Moss must get someone to help her get Mr. Roth out of the marble wall...

"Come to the Bank" aired on November 17, 1942. The producer/host was Arch Oboler. The name of the specific author and actors aren't given. If you know them, post the answer in the comments section.

. Download Lights Out.1942.11.17_Come_to_the_Bank

(Image of Lights Out host Arch Oboler)

Suspense - Can't We Be Friends?

In "Can't We Be Friends?," Elliott Lewis stars as a creepy guy who can't get his ex-girlfriend out of his mind...until he comes up with a way.

As the episode opens, Michael Gordon asks Dr. Meyer if Frances is dead. The doctor doesn't answer right away, he wants to hear Michael's story first. So, Michael explains about his relationship with Frances Murphy...

They started dating about six months ago. He fell in love, but Frances didn't feel the same. Then, she fell ill and had to go to the hospital for surgery. Michael moved on to someone else, but he couldn't get Frances out his mind.

So, he went over to see her. Frances was still recuperating from her illness, and wasn't too pleased to see her ex. Still she let him in. After a while, it seemed maybe there was a chance to reconcile, but then she remembered what kind of guy he really was and told him to get out. 

 Michael decided that the best way to stop thinking about Frances was to get rid of her entirely...

"Can't We Be Friends" was written by Elliott Lewis and produced and directed by William Spier. Elliott Lewis starred as Michael Gordon. Also appearing were Lurene Tuttle, Wally Maher, Jerry Hausner, Irvin Lee, and Betty Moran. This episode aired on July 25, 1946.

. Download Suspense_1946-07-25_Can't We Be Friends_

(Image of Elliott Lewis from Wikipedia)