When I first got on the internet in 1998 there were a number of old-time radio sites that stated with an air of authority that what they recorded as still existing represented all that still existed or ever would. And time and time again, that research has been usurped.
Stay Tuned for Terror was a syndicated old-time radio horror program that was distributed in 1945. Apparently it didn't do very well or circulate very far. The entire series was written by Robert Bloch and adapted (by him) from a variety of his short stories previously published in Weird Tales. The existence of the program has been known of for a long time but it was thought to be gone for good.
Yet a few years ago, two episodes of Stay Tuned for Terror popped up! The episodes are titled "The Bogey Man Will Get You" and "Lizzie Borden Took an Axe." Having listened to them, I found they held up quite well. Stay Tuned for Terror didn't have familiar performers but the actors in both dramas did quite well, in my opinion. It certainly helps that Bloch wrote great horror stories - although his are a bit more gruesome than even a typical Inner Sanctum Mysteries episode of the time (perhaps the grisly contents contributed to the short run).
Since two episodes have now appeared, perhaps more will come. In researching this series, I was surprised to learn that half of an episode of the Weird Tales' own 1932 radio series has turned up! It's the 2nd half of an episode "The Curse of Nagana." It sounds a lot like episodes of the Witch's Tale from that time, consisting primarily of people yelling dialogue at each other in an attempt to fabricate tension. It's not really any good, but it is an interesting historical fragment. The research suggests there may have only been 3 episodes recorded and that the series was never actually sold or broadcat. You can hear that fragment on the Internet Archive.
You can hear Stay Tuned for Terror at the Internet Archive! Their page includes a lot of additional information about the series!
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