Escape and Suspense!

Suspense - The Dunwich Horror

Suspense's "The Dunwich Horror" is based on the short story of the same name by H.P. Lovecraft, which was first published in Weird Tales in 1929. (The full text of the story can be found online at Wikisource.) Suspense's adaptation was one of the earliest, but there have since been numerous adaptations of this story for film, audio theater and most recently, the stage. "The Dunwich Horror" is part of the Cthulhu Mythos, which is a shared fictional universe based on the works on Lovecraft.

As the episode opens, it is the eve of All-Hallows and Henry Armitage, the librarian of Miskatonic University is in his laboratory near Centennal Hill in Dunwich, Massachussetts. Professor Warren Rice is with him. They are 100 yards from the stone altar at the summit of the hill, a place of prehistoric worship.

Armitage begins to tell the story of the birth of Wilbur Whately, who was born to the strange and deformed Lavinia Whately. No one knew who the father was, but the child's grandfather, "Wizard" Whately, told them that someday they would hear the child calling out its father's name on the top of Centennal Hill. They noticed many strange things going on at the Whately household in the following years and the abnormally rapid development of the child.

When Wilbur is killed by dogs while attempting to steal an ancient text from the library, Armitage and Rice discover that he is not entirely human. Soon after, they realize that there is something in the Whately farmhouse that was waiting for Wilbur to come back and feed it...

Now, Armitage and Rice must find a formula to deal with the terrifying creature that has busted out of the Whately farmhouse...

"The Dunwich Horror" was adapted by William Spier, who also produced and directed. Ronald Colman starred. Also appearing were William Johnstone, Joseph Kearns, and Elliott Lewis. This episode aired on November 1, 1945.

.  Download Suspense_1945-11-01_DunwichHorror_

(Image of Ronald Colman)

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)

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 - 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)

Boris Karloff

Boris Karloff is best known for his on-screen role as Frankenstein's monster, but he also put in some fantastic radio performances on Lights Out and Inner Sanctum.

Below are some, but not all, of those appearances. Most are bizarre husband and wife horror stories that demonstrate Karloff's abilities as an actor.

Lights Out: "Death Robbery"-- Classic Lights Out episode about a scientist who brings his wife back from the dead...with really bad results. (July 16, 1947)

Download Lights Out 1947-07-16 Death Robbery

Lights Out: "The Dream"-- Fourth anniversary episode of Lights Out. Incredible performance by Boris as Darryl, a man who has never dreamed. Finally, he has a dream...that drives him to kill. (March 23, 1938)

Download Lights Out_1938-03-23_The_Dream

Lights Out: "Cat Wife"-- Over-the-top old time radio craziness. A man has trouble with his wife--but it gets worse when she turns into a cat.

. Download Lights Out_1938-03-30_Cat_Wife

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Inner Sanctum: "Death for Sale"-- Cora and Mark come up with a plan to get $50,000 in insurance money. The problem is, that her "dead" husband shows up seven years later wanting a cut of the money...   (January 1, 1947 and July 13, 1952)

Download Inner Sanctum_1941-01-07_Death_For_Sale

Download Inner Sanctum_1952-07-13_Death_For_Sale

Inner Sanctum: "Wailing Wall"-- Boris plays an unbalanced husband who murders his wife and hides her body in the wall of their home. Then, he is tortured by the wailing sound coming from inside the wall...    (November, 6, 1945)

Download Inner Sanctum_1945-11-06_Wailing_Wall_The

Inner Sanctum: "Study for Murder"-- Radio play by Sigmund Miller. Herbert is a psychologist who studies murderers. He takes his study so seriously that he becomes one.  (May 3, 1942)

 . Download Inner Sanctum_1942-05-03_Study_For_Murder

(Image of Boris Karloff from Wikipedia) 

Resurrecting the Dead (on Radio)

Resurrecting the dead was a subject that prompted interesting episodes from a number of old time radio series. Let's take a look at three of these episodes and the life and death struggles that resulted from experiments gone wrong.

In "The Return from Death," an episode from The Hall of Fantasy, a doctor named Jason Sinclair believes he can bring the dead back to life.  Sinclair and his lab assistant persuade a death row inmate to allow them to experiment on his body after his execution. If they can bring him back to life, he will be a free man. Will Sinclair's experiment work? This episode aired on April 6, 1953.

.  Download HallofFantasy_1953.04.06_Return_From_Death.mp3

"The Search for Life" from The Hermit's Cave tells the story of a lab assistant who wants his girlfriend to forget her career and marry him. He decides to kill her and then resurrect her in such a way that she will have no memory of her career. What can possibly go wrong with a plan like that? You'll never guess. This episode aired in 1940, the exact date is not known.

.  Download HermitsCave.1940_The_Search_for_Life.mp3

"Death Robbery" from Lights Out stars Boris Karloff in a story about a scientist who has succeeded many times in bringing dead animals back to life. He wants to try his experiment on a human, but dead bodies are hard to come by! When his wife suddenly dies in a car crash, he gets his opportunity. Will he be happy with the results? "Death Robbery" takes a while to get where it is going. Most of the action is past the seventeen minute mark. This episode aired on July 16, 1947.

.  Download LightsOut_1947.07.16_Death_Robbery.mp3

(Image from Stock.xchng)

Fun in The Hall of Fantasy

For some Halloween fun this year, let's take a brief journey over to The Hall of Fantasy, a radio series that pronounced itself to be "dedicated to the supernatural, the unusual, and the unknown."

The Hall of Fantasy was created in 1947 by Richard Thorne, who also wrote, produced, and directed most of its shows. The series aired locally in Salt Lake City and then in Chicago during its first few incarnations. In 1952-53, The Hall of Fantasy aired on national radio through the Mutual Broadcasting System, and most of the series' surviving episodes are from its 1953 run.

The Hall of Fantasy had a campy but likeable style that reflected its obviously moderate budget.  The surviving episodes demonstrate that this series had problems with repetition in its scripts, a style of presentation that was repetitive, and stories that didn't resolve the plot with impact.

Nevertheless, when they got most of the elements right, The Hall of Fantasy knocked out some good episodes that are still fun to listen to.

So now, come with me, my friends. Let's enter The Hall of Fantasy, a series with one of the best introductions in all of Old Time Radio. (Richard Thorne is the narrator beckoning you to join him.)

"The Shadow People" tells the story of what is waiting in the darkness...to get YOU! This episode aired on September 21, 1953.

. Download HallofFantasy_1953.09.21_The_Shadow_People.mp3

"Stone's Revenge" takes place in a cabin in the woods that is cursed by a ghost. Don't think it through too much. This episode aired on August 17, 1953.

. Download Halloffantasy.1953.08.17_Stone's_Revenge.mp3

On a different note, "The Hand of Botar" is supposed to be scary but it is too campy to take seriously. Go ahead and laugh, this suspenseful episode about a hand that has a murderous mind of its own is a hoot! This episode aired on June 8, 1953.

. Download HallofFantasy_1953.06.08_TheHandofBotar.mp3

(Image from Morguefile)

Quiet, Please - The Thing on the Fourble Board

Somehow, despite all of their successes, neither Escape nor Suspense was able to claim that they had produced "the scariest episode" from the golden age of American radio. That distinction belongs to the series Quiet, Please for their episode, "The Thing on the Fourble Board." It is still considered the best in radio horror.

Quiet, Please was an unusual fantasy/horror radio show that ran from 1947 to 1949 on ABC. The series was known for its masterful use of silence and for its unique style of story presentation. Like Escape, the show never had a regular sponsor and Quiet, Please bounced around in different time slots for most of its duration. The series lasted for 109 episodes and then disappeared. For many years only 12 recordings were known to exist among collectors, but that changed in the 1980's when more than 80 "lost" episodes became available to the public.

"The Thing on the Fourble Board" is an episode that will haunt you every time you see an oil derrick. The script for this episode, as well as every other episode of Quiet, Please, is available at www.quietplease.org.

"The Thing on the Fouble Board" was written and directed by Wyllis Cooper and featured Ernest Chappell. This episode aired on August 9, 1948.

.  Download qpls.1948.08.09_The_Thing_on_the_Fourbleboard.mp3

(Image of oil drilling rig from Wikimedia Commons)

Suspense - The House in Cypress Canyon

"The House in Cypress Canyon" has a reputation as one the superior horror episodes produced during the "Golden Age of Radio." What makes this story about werewolves interesting is that it was not a Halloween episode--it was Suspense's idea of a Christmas story. As such, it has to be one the most chilling Christmas tales ever told.

The story begins in the office of a Hollywood real estate agent named Jerry. He is about to put up a sign advertising a new home in Cypress Canyon, but he is having doubts about doing so. This property has one peculiarity that he can't explain. A shoebox containing a manuscript was found by construction workers inside the unfinished house. The mysterious manuscript detailed a disturbing story about what would happen to the future occupants. Not sure what to do, Jerry asks his friend Sam, a detective, for advice.

"The House in Cypress Canyon" was written by Robert L. Richards and was produced/directed by William Spier.  Robert Taylor starred as James A. Woods and Cathy Lewis played Ellen. Also appearing were Wally Maher, Paul Frees, Howard Duff, Jim Backus, and Hans Conried. This episode aired on December 5, 1946.

.  Download Suspense_1945.12.05_TheHouseInCypressCanyon.mp3

(Image from Wikimedia Commons)

Escape-Leiningen Versus the Ants

"Leiningen vs. the Ants", a short story by Carl Stephenson published in Esquire magazine in 1938, was presented by Escape, Suspense, Mystery in the Air, and Lux Radio Theater. The story depicts the battle between the owner of a plantation in the Brazilian jungle and an attacking army of soldier ants.

You may already be familiar with this story from the movie version. In 1954 "Leiningen vs. the Ants" became The Naked Jungle starring Charleton Heston. In the film Leiningen has a love interest, a mail order bride played by the seductive Eleanor Parker. Leiningen spends the first half of the film grumbling because the new bride he ordered isn't a virgin - and he is. Then, in the second half, the ants come marching along to provide tension for the love story. William Conrad, who had previously played Leiningen on Escape, stars as the district commissioner. The movie went in a different direction but the radio versions stayed true to the original work.

The adaptation of this story for radio by Robert Ryf aired three times on Escape and twice on Suspense. For Escape, William Conrad played Leiningen on January 14, 1948 and May 23,1948. Tudor Owen played the role for Escape on August 4, 1949. William Conrad starred as Leiningen for Suspense on August 25, 1957. Luis Van Rooten played the role for Suspense on November 29, 1959.

Of the five different presentations of this same radio play, here are:

Tudor Owen as Leiningen:  Download Escape.1949.08.04_Leiningen_vs_the_Ants.mp3

William Conrad as Leiningen:  Download Suspense.08.25.1957.Leiningen vs the Ants.mp3

"Leiningen vs. the Ants" was also the inspiration for an episode called "Trumbo's World" on the ABC television show MacGyver.

See also: "Three Skeleton Key"

Escape - Three Skeleton Key

If there is one thing that the two namesakes of this blog have in common it is "Three Skeleton Key," a classic horror tale about rats narrated by Vincent Price. First made famous by Escape, this radio-play was then broadcast two more times on Suspense after Escape went off the air. Based on a 1937 Esquire magazine short story by the French writer George Toudouze, the story was adapted for Escape in 1949 by James Poe.

"Three Skeleton Key" is set on the coast of French Guiana in South America.  This is a coastline that is also famous for its penal colony on Devil's Island.

Quite a bit of information about "Three Skeleton Key" is available on the Internet. You can read more about it at the One Act Virtual Museum.  The One Act Players have posted Toudouze's original short story, and there is also a detailed article by B.A. Peterson at horror-wood.com.

Rats, Vincent Price, and a lonely lighthouse...this episode is a classic of vintage radio. 

The performance of this radio-play considered to be the best was one that Escape presented on March 17, 1950. They also performed this story on November 15, 1949, and August 9, 1953, but with different casts both times. Suspense brought back this radio-play with Vincent Price in the lead role on November 11, 1956, and October 19, 1958.

Here is Escape's "Three Skeleton Key" from March 17, 1950.

Download three_skeleton_key.mp3

Rev. 7/27/07