Inner Sanctum Mysteries: The Recommended List!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

In my earlier recaps about Lights Out and Quiet, Please, I could easily recommend the series in general; episodes of those programs do not vary drastically in quality from one to another. I have my favourites, but there are few episodes of either show I'd recommend listeners skip.

Not so with Inner Sanctum Mysteries; there are some episodes that creak worse than their famous door. For that reason, I'm going to recommend what I think Inner Sanctum Mysteries sounded like when it was at its best; if you like these, then by all means sample the rest of the program. All of the links below lead to mp3 files at the Internet Archive's Inner Sanctum Mysteries - Single Episodes page run by the Old Time Radio Researchers Group.

"The Judas Clock" (April 17, 1945) which I've blogged about in the past, has my vote as the single greatest episode of Inner Sanctum Mysteries; it's the tale of a clock -- an evil clock -- and the death it brings with it. Other episodes I recommend are:

• "Death Is a Joker" (June 10, 1944) Peter Lorre plays a man who commits a murder and tries to alibi himself.
• "The Color-Blind Formula" (December 6, 1944) After a scientist disappears, a blackmailer goes after his assistant.
• "No Coffin for the Dead" (February 20, 1945) The trail of a murderer leads to a bedridden man who couldn't have done it.
• "The Bog-Oak Necklace" (April 10, 1945) An unearthed skeleton wearing a necklace dredges up an old love triangle.
• "Song of the Slasher" (April 24, 1945) A police detective thinks a killer is one of his neighbours.
• "The Girl on the Gallows" (May 1, 1945) A fortune teller predicts a woman's death on the gallows - just before her own death!
• "The Black Art" (May 15, 1945) A seemingly-supernatural woman offers aid to a murderer.
• "Musical Score" (May 29, 1945) After murdering a couple aboard a lifeboat, a survivor is haunted by the song they sang.
• "Death Across the Board" (June 5, 1945) A maniac plays a game of chess using live people as the game pieces!
• "Dead Man's Holiday" (June 19, 1945) A man awakens from a wreck to find he has a new face and a new life he doesn't remember.
• "Dead Man's Debt" (June 26, 1945) A lawyer gets his client off from a murder charge but thinks his client is guilty of a different crime.
• "Terror by Night" (September 18, 1945) A female motorist is alone on the highway while an escaped killer is looking for a ride.
• "The Lonely Sleep" (September 25, 1945) A window dresser uses a dead body to complete his masterpiece.
• "The Wailing Wall" (November 6, 1945) Boris Karloff plays a man who kills his wife then is haunted by the sound of her moans.
• "Skeleton Bay" (February 5, 1946) A vacationing mystery writer meets a killer and offers to be his accomplice.
• "Elixer Number Four" (February 12, 1946) Richard Widmark plays a man who'd kill to be immortal.
• "Death Is a Double-Crosser" (March 26, 1946) An ex-con becomes a diamond cutter's apprentice in the hopes of stealing his latest commission.
• "Make Ready My Grave" (April 23, 1946) Richard Widmark plays an heir who's due to succumb to a family curse of murder.
• "Tempo in Blood" (January 12, 1948) A jazz pianist meets a man who seems determined to arrange his death.
• "Murder by Prophecy" (September 27, 1948) An heir follows a strange prophecy in the hopes of claiming a hidden treasure.
• "Death of a Doll" (October 18, 1948) A reporter investigates a woman's death and it leads him to someone claiming to be the Devil!
• "Between Two Worlds" (December 20, 1948) A gangster wants to make amends for his awful life; a ghost offers him his chance!
• "Mark My Grave" (January 17, 1949) A reporter visits a family who are being killed one at a time by a ghost!
• "Only the Dead Die Twice" (March 21, 1949) A woman in a taxi cab discovers a corpse seated next to her.
• "Death on the Highway" (June 6, 1949) A motorist kills a hitchhiker, then suffers blackmail.
• "Deadly Fare" (July 18, 1949) A taxi driver picks up a murderer who intends to kill the cabbie once he's done his work.
• "Death's Little Brother" (August 29, 1949) A drifter murders an heir then impersonates him, but he makes a huge wrong assumption.
• "The Devil's Workshop" (October 10, 1949) A wax sculptor meets a man with no face who proposes an alliance.
• "A Corpse for Halloween" (October 31, 1949) A man is hunted on Halloween night by a man he left for dead years before.
• "The Hitch-Hiking Corpse" (January 23, 1950) A driver meets a woman who seems to have a supernatural hold over him.
• "Birdsong for a Murderer" (June 22, 1952) Boris Karloff plays a husband who kills to protect his wife from some unpleasant business.
• "Death Pays the Freight" (July 6, 1952) Everett Sloane plays a bum who kills a man in a boxcar and steals his identity.
• "Murder Off the Record" (August 3, 1952) A weight machine offers a man prophecies about his fortune.
• "Strange Passenger" (August 31, 1952) A motorist keeps seeing the same female hitchhiker and keeps hearing "Star Dust" on the radio.
• "The Meek Die Slowly" (September 7, 1952) A cemetery caretaker adds fresh bodies to the premises.

I hope my articles have helped you find some appropriate listening material this Halloween season. Happy haunting! Good night... pleasant... dreams... hmmm?