This is a 64 kbs version of a weekly program which began on a now defunct low power FM station (KSOW) in Cottage Grove, OR Since there seems to be some interest in the show I have decided to continue . In this connection, I will post a new show by Tuesday or Wednesday of each week. I will post a new show by Tuesday or Wednesday of each week.
In the main, each episode consists of four approximately 30-minute long programs (not always, as sometimes I use a longer form show, so it may be 3 or fewer) and some filler to bring them in at 120 minutes.
Suspense: One Hundred In The Dark (9/20/47). Diary Of Fate: Rollie Andrews (08/03/48). Vanishing Point: The Rescue (10/19/84). The Strange Doctor Weird: Journey Into the Unknown (11/21/44). Ambrose Bierce: The Bottomless Grave (1888).
Segment One: Suspense â One Hundred in the Dark (9/20/47).
Suspense is one of the classics of old time radio. Some fans have special favorites in the thriller/chiller/macabre genre, but most agree that Suspense is right at the top.
The guiding light of this show was William Spier, whose formula of human drama set in interesting situations attracted the best of Hollywood and radio actors. Orson Welles was in many episodes. Cary Grant said, âIf I ever do any more radio work, I want to do it on Suspense, where I get a good chance to act.â
Spierâs method with actorâs was to keep them under-rehearsed, and there-by a bit uneasy. He got great performances, and the show gained great popularity.
All the production values were first class. With Bernard Hermann, who had worked with Orson Welles on the Mercury Theater and would work with Alfred Hitchcock, doing the musical scores.
Suspenseâs âOne Hundred in the Darkâ was adapted from a short story by Owen M. Johnson (1878-1952). If youâre interested the original text can be found in a collection of Johnsonâs short stories called Murder in Any Degree (1907), which is available from the Gutenberg project here.
Suspense made only minor changes in this adaptation. The episode opens at a fashionable Writers and Artists Club in New York City, with a group of writers discussing the evolution and structure of fiction. How the basics of human relations are played out and re-interpreted in an endless number of ways. And how it is true that almost all stories are actually just variations on a handful of scenarios.
The story was adapted for radio by Jack Anson Fink, directed by John Dietz, and produced by William Spier. Berry Kroeger was the announcer. Eric Dressler, Alice Frost, and Ted Obsborne were featured. Also appearing were Helen Lewis, Joan Shay, Henriette Kay, Paul Luther, Ian Martin, Frank Readick, and Stephan Schnabel.
This episode aired on September 30, 1942.
Suspense would present this story a second time on November 20, 1947 with slight changes to the script and a new cast.
Segment Two:
Diary Of Fate â Rollie Andrews (08/03/48).
âHeed well you who listen, and remember, there is a page for you in, The Diary of Fateâ
Diary of Fate is a horror program where âFateâ, played by Herbert Lytton, narrates a morality tale, and woe be to the person on the wrong end. This program plays the usual stories of murder, hitchhikers, blackmail, love gone wrong, and the guilty getting their just desserts. The character of Fate plays a bit more of a role than mere observer; he creates situations to force the protagonist into a choice. For the sake of the show, they always choose badly, and the audience gets to listen to their demise unfold.
The show aired from 1947 to 1948, only 24 episodes are known to survive. The show wasnât as successful as similar shows, like Inner Sanctum, but it did have solid stars, including Lurene Tuttle, Larry Dobkin, Hal Sawyer, Gloria Blondell, Frank Albertson, Jerry Hausner, Howard McNear, Peter Leeds, Ken Peters, Daws Butler and William Johnstone.
Segment Three:
Vanishing Point â The Rescue (10/19/84).
Vanishing Point is a science fiction anthology series that ran on CBC Radio from 1984 until 1990. Declared by the shows introduction to be, âThe point between reality and fantasy. The series was produced by Bill Lane in the C.B.C.âs Toronto studios and produced some excellent radio.
Michael is an autistic child who talks to dolphins and for better or worse they talk back⦠for a while.
Segment Four:
The Strange Doctor Weird â Journey Into the Unknown (11/21/44).
â¦Good evening. Come in, wonât you? Why, whatâs the matter? You seem a bit nervous. Perhaps the cemetery outside this house has upset you. But there are things far worse than cemeteriesâ¦
Starring The Mysterious Travelerâs Maurice Tarplin as the host and title character. The Strange Dr. Weird lives in the âhouse on the other side of the Cemeteryâ and tells tales tinged with the supernatural and littered with gore. The stories were written by Robert Arthur and David Kogan both of who also worked on The Mysterious Traveler. The shows in this series are often reworkings of scripts from that show.
This is actually an abbreviated version of the Mysterious Traveler episode, The Strange Journal of Professor Drake which aired on Jan 16, 1944
This series ran from November 7, 1944 to May 22, 1945 and consisted of 29 15-minute shows. Adam Hats paid the bills
Sharing segment four with Dr. weird is the Librivox Projects reading of a short story by the Victorian author Ambrose Bierce. The Bottomless Grave. This story is part of The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce, Volume 8, by Ambrose Bierce
Sometimes I forget how funny Bierce was despite the fact that the largest part of his legacy is his satirical works. Including but not limited to The Devils Dictionary.
In this story first published in the San Francisco Examiner on February 26 of 1888 we have a story of murder, infidelity, assorted ghosts, a little premature and unwarranted burial, some general criminality and skullduggery told with the lightest possible touch.
The Mp3 file featured is found in Short Ghost and Horror Collection 010.
![<?php echo $config['site_title']; ?>](/static/images/rp-navimg.gif)
![Support the <?php echo $config['site_title']; ?>](/static/images/support.png)
