OTR Hallowee Day 24: Sleep No More

Sleep No More was a fairly late arrival in old-time radio, airing from the fall of 1956 to the spring of 1957 on NBC. The series starred Nelson Olmsted and featured him reading scary stories. Olmsted had made his career in radio with dramatic readings but this was his big horror-themed series. The show offered little more than Olmsted's voice - some canned music is played, occasionally a sound effect is used - but primarily it's a read-along.

Sleep No More works for me thanks to two elements: Olmsted's delivery and Olmsted's taste. Olmsted had a fine voice which was well-suited to telling tales. Olmsted also had a knack for finding unusual stories. Sure, he loved Edgar Allan Poe - who doesn't? But he brought to sleep No More so many authors who were seldom adapted to radio - Walker G. Everett or McKnight Malmar - and every selection was a winner.

For example, take "The Man in the Black Hat" by Michael Fessier which Olmsted read on December 5, 1956. Whenever a man finds himself down on his luck he encounters the titular man in the black hat. Every time the man has something to offer the narrator to help him win a new fortune. But who is the man in the black hat? And do you really want to know?

The Sleep No More adaptation of "The Man in the Black Hat" was preceded by another creepy tale by Michael Fessier - "Over the Hill." You can hear them both on YouTube!