Lights Out Month Day 1: "Cat Wife"

As I often do, I will spend October on this blog with a daily retrospective of a great old-time radio horror program. This year I've chosen the series Lights Out which was originated by Wyllis Cooper. However, as we have precious little of Cooper's stories still in existence, all of the episodes I'll be featuring will be those written by Arch Oboler.

The series began in 1934 under Cooper's direction, but has been supplanted by Oboler's lengthy run from 1936-1943. Most of what still exists comes from the 1942-43 run -- but many popular scripts were re-enacted so we have a pretty good idea of what the contents of Oboler's Lights Out were. The series looms so large that it tends to overshadow the rest of Oboler's work; I've frequently seen fans list episodes of Arch Oboler's Plays as episodes of Lights Out.

We're beginning with "Cat Wife" (April 6, 1938). I've discussed this one on the blog before; a husband is horrified when his wife transforms into an enormous cat. You might find this too silly -- after all, that's a ridiculous concept. However, I find this episode works because it's so unsettling and because Boris Karloff rendered a very fine performance as the husband. I don't think this is Oboler at his best, but it's a strong example of radio horror.

You can stream or download this episode from the Internet Archive here.