OTR Halloween 2023 Day 1: "Beezer's Cellar"

I often like to spend Octobers on this blog performing a 31-day countdown to Halloween with some appropriate Halloween program. This year, I'm looking at the excellent series Quiet, Please which was written and directed by Wyllis Cooper.

"I looked at Marlena; Marlena looked at me when we heard this old guy talkin' about Beezer's cellar. 'Get a load of this Marlena,' I said, and she picked up a french fry and ate it very quiet while we listened to the old guy. He was sounding off to another old guy and the other old guy couldn't get a word in edgeways."

Three criminals overhear a discussion of "Beezer's Cellar" and the legend of the unusual six-fingered man who built it, then committed suicide. The cellar is deserted and shunned; the criminals think that renders it an ideal spot to hide their stolen money.

Although morality fables are a well-known feature of Arch Oboler's Lights Out series, Wyllis Cooper had a similar determination to depict in his radio scripts a strong moral code and sense of justice. At it's heart, that's what the criminals find in "Beezer's Cellar" - justice. And at the very end... a little mercy.

"Beezer's Cellar" was originally broadcast October 10, 1948. You can listen to the episode at Quiet, Please.org. This episode was listened to and discussed on the Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society podcast and you can hear it for yourself on their website if you're so inclined!

Image created using Firefly.