OTR Halloween Day 31: X Minus One

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Halloween is finally here and so I'm completing my 31 days of Halloween-themed radio programs. We finish up with the science fiction series X Minus One!

Obviously science fiction is not quite the same as horror but they do overlap from time to time. And X Minus One was probably the finest radio science fiction anthology, airing on NBC from April 1955 to January 1958.

The episode I've chosen is titled "Drop Dead" from August 22, 1957 and the pen of author Clifford Simak. It has a rather whimsical tone but it finishes up in a very dark place. Men settling on an alien world discover there's a local lifeform which seems to be the most accomodating creature in existence. But these creatures represent a terrible horror which awaits the unfortunate humans.

Check out "Drop Dead" at the Internet Archive and enjoy a sensible amount of candy!

OTR Halloween Day 30: The Witch's Tale

The Witch's Tale is pivotal to old-time radio history - one of the first radio horror anthologies. Many of the conventions established on the Witch's Tale would be carried on by later programs and even into other mediums; the show's host "Old Nancy" founded the horror host type which would later profit everyone from Inner Sanctum Mysteries's Mr. Raymond to the Mysterious Traveler and, of course, the Old Witch, Crypt-Keeper and Vault-Keeper of EC's horror comics.

However, the Witch's Tale is not (how to put it) good. You have to be very forgiving to this program because it did come very early in the history of radio drama. It aired on WOR Mutual from May 1931 to June 1938 under the supervision of Alonzo Dean Cole. We don't have very much of the Witch's Tale today - many are Australian recreations - and what we do have often has terrible audio quality. Those few Mutual broadcasts with good quality are often undermined by the script, lack of sound effects and/or acting.

If it sounds like I'm being unkind, I'm simply trying to counter a lot of the narratives I've seen other OTR fans put forth. I've seen those who claim this show "still holds up" or even that it's "still the greatest radio horror program." It's not. I think you really have to love radio horror shows to get through an episode.

All of that said, I respect the place the Witch's Tale holds in radio horror history and I definitely don't want to exclude the series. So on this, the eve before All Hallow's Eve, let's check out "The Bronze Venus" from July 2 and 5, 1931 (in two parts), adapted from Prosper Mérimée's short story, "La Vénus d'Ille." A Frenchman unearths a bronze statue of the goddess Venus. He thinks this bodes well for his daughter's impending wedding - forgetting that those Greek gods aren't nice to mere mortals.

You can hear "The Bronze Venus" on the Internet Archive!

OTR Halloween Day 29: The Whistler

"And now stay tuned for the mystery program that is unique among all mystery programs - because even when you know who is guilty, you always receive a startling surprise in the Signal Oil program: The Whistler!"

As noted in the intro above, the Whistler was a radio mystery program which offered surprise endings. Many programs promised surprise endings but in the Whistler, they were the entire reason to keep listening. You always knew there would be a surprise ending and you looked forward to recognizing the clues and predicting what the surprise might be. Since the point of view character was often a criminal often the surprise would be an overlooked element which spoiled the criminal's scheme. The Whistler aired on CBS' west coast stations from May 1942 to September 1955.

For example, take "X Marks the Murderer" from August 20, 1945. A killer is stalking the streets, murdering what seem to be random targets (and somewhat reminiscent of either Jack the Ripper or the Lodger). A housewife who puzzles over the crimes (much like today's true crime-obsessed women) begins to notice patterns in the killer's actions which the police have seemingly overlooked. But will her sleuthing draw the killer even closer to her?

You can hear "X Marks the Murderer" on the Internet Archive!

OTR Halloween Day 28: The Weird Circle

The Weird Circle was an odd duck. I haven't seen many write-ups on its history; John Dunning wrote nothing about it in his Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. It was syndicated from 1943-1945 and featured adaptations of famous ghost stories - public domain stories to save on costs. The casts and directors were never credited.

At least, they seem to be adaptations at first glance. Some of them share little more than the title of the original work; I examined all of their Edgar Allan Poe adaptations in this blog post. Still, although their fidelity to source material was often found wanting, the Weird Circle drew from classic ghost stories for inspiration and there's a reason those tales have endured.

For instance, let's talk about "The Curse of the Mantle" from April 2, 1944. It's adapted from Nathaniel Hawthorne's story "Lady Eleanore's Mantle." This was the first episode of the Weird Circle I heard - it aired one Halloween night over my local radio station. I found it creepy and perhaps you might too; if you aren't familiar with the story, it concerns a woman who wears a mantle that seems to bring with it a dark power that corrupts her and brings disease and death to the countryside.

You can hear "The Curse of the mantle" on the Internet Archive!

OTR Halloween Day 27: The Unexpected

The Unexpected was a syndicated radio mystery program that aired 1947-1948. It was only 15-minutes so the stories had to be pretty breezy! What it offered were surprise endings; plenty of programs promised surprise endings, but the Unexpected really delivered - the surprises weren't just tragic outcomes but also happy outcomes! I blogged about the Unexpected series in this Radio Recap entry.

An unusual episode is "Voodoo Night" from November 7, 1948 starring Barry Sullivan (who starred in most episodes of the Unexpected). Sullivan portrays a doctor in Haiti who runs up against voodoo practitioners. When he opposes them they place a curse on him!

You can hear "Voodoo Night" at the Old-Time Radio Researchers' Library!

OTR Halloween Day 26: Suspense

Suspense is simply one of the greatest old-time radio programs ever made. I don't think that opinion will shock anyone who follows my posts - I talk up Suspense all the time. The series enjoyed a tremendous 20-year run (1942-1962) from the high point of radio drama to its expiration. But to me it was never better than when William Spier was producer (1942-1950).

Suspense told all kinds of tales but it was usually a combination of mystery, crime and thriller. Only occasionally did the supernatural or science fiction intrude upon affairs - in fact, I think there are more comedic episodes than there are supernatural/sci-fi genre stories.

So let's look at a great mystery-thriller from early in the run (October 26, 1943): "The After-Dinner Story" written by Cornell Woolrich (he was apparently one of Spier's favourite authors as his stories popped up on other shows Spier produced). In this tale, a group of men are summoned to dinner with a wealthy man. Their only connection to the host - and each other - is a tragic elevator accident in which the host's son was killed. The host now believes he has the murderer in his power.

You can hear "The After-Dinner Story" at the Internet Archive!

OTR Halloween Day 25: The Strange Dr. Weird

The Strange Dr. Weird was a Mutual program which aired from the fall of 1944 to the spring of 1945. It was a fifteen-minute horror anthology hosted by the titular Dr. Weird, portrayed my Maurice Tarplin, who also portrayed the Mysterious Traveler on Mutual. In fact, The Strange Dr. Weird was produced by Robert A. Arthur of the Mysterious Traveler and the stories are exactly like those heard on Arthur's other program - but in a shorter timeslot. I blogged about this series in one of my Radio Recaps.

"The Man Who Talked with Death" aired on December 12, 1944. Two reporters meet a morgue attendant who claims he can speak to the newly-deceased. They think he's off his rocker but when he claims a murder victim identified their murderer to him, the reporters choose to investigate the clue.

You can hear "The Man Who Talked with Death" at the Internet Archive.