OTR Tuesday

Greetings and condolences once again. It is well past time I reurn to some of the main features of the Blogue, and well I would be remiss if I were to post on a Tuesday and ignore one of my personal favourite entries, OTR Tuesday.

Here is one from a short lived series which originally aired from September of 1946 through to September of 1947 called Murder at Midnight. Unlike like some of the well known radio mysteries like Suspense, or Lights Out, which had large national affiliates airing the programs, Murder at Midnight was produced by and for a local NY radio station, WJZ. It is noted however that the producers were known to occasionally use scripts from other series such as Inner Sanctum.

I give you host Raymond Morgan and Murder at Midnight,

The Dead Come Back
G. Macabre

OTR Tuesday: Boris Karloff blogathon edition

I am truly delighted to be back with the blogue. And although I missed much, my return in time for the Boris Karloff Blogathon hosted by Pierre at Frankensteinia is wonderful timing. I'm going to take this opportunity to return to one of my personal favorite features here at Blogue Macabre, OTR Tuesday.



Boris Karloff was crowned king Karloff not just because of his on screen presence, for which he was most renowned, but additionally Boris took to the airways with his unique and powerful voice talents to bring horror into our homes time and again.

Here are some selections from some of the many radio appearances Boris has done on some of the most noteworthy radio programs. Some I have featured before, others are debuting on Blogue Macabre for the first time. So sit back in your chair turn down your lights if you can, turn up your audio and enjoy.

Lights Out
The Dream
Cat Wife

Inner Sanctum
Tell Tale Heart
Birdsong For a Murderer
The Wailing Wall
Death for Sale
Corridor of Doom

Suspense
Drury's Bones

Gary D. Macabre

OTR Tuesday

Well it's Tuesday once again my fellow wanders of dark places. Today's offering is from the well acclaimed radio series Suspense. I haven't spoke much of Suspense thus far so I guess now is as good a time as any.

Suspense aired on the CBS radio network from 1942 through to 1962 unlike other programs like Lights Out, Inner Sanctum or even the Shadow which established an identity and although there may have been a significant change in the host, casting or director, the series maintained that identity. Suspense during it's long run never really strived for that embossed trademark, rather their quality thriller based scripts with numerous Hollywood contemporary actors and actresses, and a revolving door of 10 different directors and as many as 15 different writers, always remained relevant and fresh for their audience. Not to say the show didn't have a feel of it's own with a distinct opening and few of the hosts using the nom de plume "the Man in Black", but its identity was more so marked by the fact it actually maintained a pretty consistent formula in the majority of it's episodes where an average individual such that the audience could relate were suddenly immersed in a bizarre, terrifying or mysterious situation, with the solution remaining obscure until the very end.

The Radio series survived through the novelty of television which all but erased numerous radio programs from existence. Ironically the radio series actually spun of it's own television program which it outlived as the television series only ran from 1949-1954 with a brief revival in 1962.

So here is today's offering:

Suspense: The thing in the window

(Linked from OTR.net)

OTR Tuesday:

Greetings once again fellow travelers. What brings you to my fireside this dark cold evening? Perhaps it was the warm glow of the small fire, or perhaps the scratchy, droning voices emanating from this old radio, carrying through the thin night air. Well gather closer friend have a mug of hot tea and listen with me to today's offerings form the golden age of radio. This from the NBC series Sleep No More. A lesser know series than Suspense, Inner Sanctum or even the Witches Tale, host Nelson Olmsted hosts this series straight up much like Arch Obler did with Lights Out!. The most noticeable departure is that the story is orrated to the audience as one would read book to a child, and not presented as a scripted play the way we are most familliar.

Sleep No More: The Woman in Grey

War of the Worlds 70th Anniversary

Moment of Horror #3
Today marks the 70th anniversary of what was unquestionably the most successful Halloween prank of all times. Originally aired October 30, 1938, the Mercury Theatre On the Air with Orson Wells adaptation of H.G. Wells' novel War of the Worlds (radio script by Howard Koch) presented the story in a unique and realistic contemporary news report format which sent thousands of people into panic. Naturally by the time they get half way through the story, the Earth is in shambles and the play becomes a first person narrative, but by this time much of the audience had already left their radios and were running about the streets. Well we know it caused a great degree of fear and public concern at any rate, but there are questions about the accuracy of the news paper articles that claimed wide spread panic. Broadcast nationally on the CBS radio network it potentially reached millions of listeners drawing the greatest reactions in New York and New Jersey.





























So please won't you share with me one of my personal and favourite Halloween traditions in listening to The War of the Worlds

G. Macabre

OTR Tuesday: Lights Out, Everybody!

With Wyllis Cooper's departure from the series, the edgy creativity that made the show the success it was would be hard to replace, and the likelihood the show would slowly whither and die would be a reasonable expectation. But such was not the fortune of the Lights Out series. While Cooper was still submitting scripts from California, another writer was found and the studio promptly severed ties with the shows creator. And under the creative control of a young and ambitious Arch Obler the series would thrive and in many ways surpass it's former incarnation. While Obler retained the essence of the series with his often bizarre tales, he indeed placed his own stamp on the series. Obler's odacity took the series by whirlwind with his first script in June of 1936 with a tale of a young girl burried alive that drew the outrage of the audience. He would then fiollow it up with the highly acclaimed Cat Wife, cementing the confidence of the NBC studio executives that they had made the right decision inselecting a new writer. The shows were less graphic in nature, they did tend to be more fantastic and outlandish with tales like the Chicken Heart, Oxychloride X, and Revolt of the Worms to name but three. Obler's scripts typically made use of the first person narrative, a technique he was very adept with. Additionally he also was not too subtle with presenting his own anti fascist views.

However this marriage was to be short lived. Obler would leave the series in the Summer of 1938. NBC was this time unable to find such a serindipidious match with tallented writing and the show would be cancelled in 1939.

Obler would later revive the series in 1942-1943 for the CBS studio, using many of his former scripts and more science fiction oriented scripts from his series Arch Obler's Plays. With the audience taking a new delight in horror based entertainment, other highly popular and fantastic series such as Inner Sanctum and Suspense would take over where Lights Out left off keeping horror alive on radio.

So now please turn down your lights and enjoy three episodes of Arch Obler's Lights Out!, Cat Wife, and two of my personal favourites, Revolt of the Worms and Murder Castle.

G. Macabre

OTR Tuesday: Lights Out!

Part One: The early years
Lights Out, created by Legendary script writer Willis Cooper (he would later change the spelling to Wyllis in 1940), Lights Out debuted Midnight of Wednesday January 3, 1934. In it's original format the show ran short fifteen minute tales of crime mysteries spiced up with the supernatural and a degree of dark humour. Cooper's creative and at the time quite innovative use of sound effects to portray the rather grizzly deaths of characters apparently was well received by the shows audience as it was expanded to a full half hour in only three months. But the successful and much in demand writer was being spread thin, and the decision was made to cancel the program in January of 1935 to allow Willis to focus his efforts on more mainstream lucrative shows The Immortal Dramas, The daily 15 minute serial Flying Time, and the Popular daytime soap opera Betty and Bob. The Lights Out program however, like the Chicken Heart that Bill Cosby later immortalized, was too much of a success to be contained and abandoned however. After public outcry the series was revived only weeks after cancellation.

The truth may not be quite so simple, Cooper had already resigned from his position as NBC continuity editor for this same reason. It is probable he had already decided to take advantage of his success in radio and of the Lights Out program and pursue other more financially rewarding avenues for a script writer (Willis Cooper would later pen the screenplay for 1939s Son of Frankenstein). In May of 1936 Cooper had taken up residence in Hollywood and was only submitting scripts from afar and was otherwise removed from the production. Although it appears that he intended to stay on with the show in this capacity, apparently the arrangement wasn't so amicable for the studio. In June 1936 the young and talented Arch Obler would take the helm for Lights Out, and at the same time another writer was assigned to Flying Time, the only other program Cooper was still writing.

Although there are no known copies of the show during Coopers authorship, there are surviving scripts, and a number of his more whimsical and less spectcular (read gory) scripts had been revived and re-recorded. There is one surviving script typical of Cooper's early efforts which was re-recorded in 1947 titled Death Robbery and starring none other than the master of Horror Boris Karloff himself.

I hope you enjoy listening to the most noteworthy and possibly definitive re-recording of Wyllis Coopers scripts. Lights Out EVERYBODY!

Death Robbery

OTR Tuesday

We like to think that in the comfortable everyday world that there are some things that absolute and final. And in fact some things are, but death is not one of them. It is an odd sensation when one first comes to the realization that they are no longer counted among the living. Simply shuffling off one's mortality isn't always easy. Understandably one becomes quite accustomed to having warm breath and a beating heart. Oh sure the white light is appealing, but for some it's just not quite right. Perhaps there's unfinished business, unrequited love, or perhaps penance or even revenge. For myself there is no better a place to entertain my fascination with life and death than here between them. Here is a trio of old time terrors which tell the tales of others whom have perhaps not made the journey to the lands beyond.

The Mysterious Traveler
No Grave Can Hold Me

Strange Doctor Weird
He Woke up Dead

Suspense
The Day I Died

Sleep well,
Gary D. Macabre

The Amazing Death of Mrs. Putnam

Greetings and condolences. First up if you haven't read Fridays post yet (or Thursday's for that matter) Go back and do so now, I'll wait.











Oh, your back. Good lets continue shall we?
Well I must admit that did indeed seem to work out well. You Barely had time to enjoy "The Wailing Wall" before I got this sorted out. (And if you haven't listened to "The Wailing Wall" yet go back and do so, I posted it just for you, so it's the least you could do to listen to it. Really now what were you doing all the while I was waiting there? Or on the other hand if you haven't listened to it yet, you could listen to this first and then return to the "Wailing Wall" as it is a vastly superior performance of everything that made ISM great. Yes perhaps that is best.)

As promised here is the premiere episode of Inner Sanctum Mysteries aired January 7, 1941.

the Amazing Death of Mrs. Putnam


Gary D. Macabre

Oh there you are. I was afraid for a moment you had forgotten our appointment.

Well there you have it friends, simply passing on from the land of the living does not grant one with the omniscience of the ages. Here I stand before you admitting my error. It appears I was, dare I say it... Dead wrong.

In my previous post regarding the Inner Sanctum I passed on the information that "Death For Sale" was Inner Sanctum's pilot episode (this is how the time stamps have been reported elsewhere on the web and on the version I have in my personal collection). With a bit of light research I found a conflicting account that in fact the premiere episode was called "the Amazing Death of Mrs. Putnam" . And low an behold I actually found a broadcast of it online. Unfortunately it is the second half of a radio broadcast which I will have to do some work on to separate the two shows that were broadcast together. Believe me when I tell you that I will post it here once I have done so.

Upon hearing this episode there is no doubt that the Mrs, Putnam episode predates the rest of the series. Raymond's introduction is a complete departure from the one we have become so familiar with, lacking the familiar dark and sadistic wit the character would come to be known for. Using the phrase "Oh there you are. I was afraid for a moment you had forgotten our appointment...", Raymond first introduces us to the Inner Sanctum, here sponsored by Carter's Liver Pills. The introduction and in fact the entire episode plays more like an episode of the Shadow. The tale follows two police officers investigating the reported death of an old lady (Mrs. Putnam) and the bizarre inconsistencies surrounding her apparent demise. Unlike the later and infinitely superior episodes with murder and death abound this tale plays out as a relatively uninspired detective story. Even the organ music used throughout the show has the air of being stolen from an episode of the Shadow. All said it is a rather disappointing performance by everyone involved. however much like the original Star Trek series pilot "The Cage", the Star Wars Holiday Special or the Muppets' "End to Sex and Violence", the legacy of the series certainly makes ample amends, for one small shows shortcomings, and similarly relegates this episode to "must-have" status simply for the sake of posterity.

My error aside, I must admit to being completely satisfied that I first aired such an enjoyable episode as "Death For Sale" for anyone not familiar with the Inner Sanctum, if only to whet your appetite for the show which I doubt this episode would have done.

As a side note Oct. 30 1945 appears to be the original broadcast date for "Death For Sale". By that date this would be one of the first shows with Paul McGrath as the host. Somehow this seems wrong to me thus I'll have to look a bit deeper.

May your dreams be wrought with anxious nightmares, but not on account of this episode, as I will make it available as soon as possible.

To make it up to you I will share another, later Broadcast of Inner Sanctum for you, this time a later recording featuring Paul McGrath as "Mr. Host" along with Mary "the Lipton Tea Lady". This one is another of my favourite episodes, again featuring the King of Creeps Boris Karloff.
Could there be anything better than The Inner Sanctum, Boris Karloff and a tale based largely on Edgar Allan Poe's "The Black Cat". Reportedly aired 11/06/1945...

The Wailing Wall

Gary D. Macabre

Again Link provided from OTR.net

Good evening friends of the creeking door...

So begins one of the greatest horror themed radio programs of all times, INNER SANCTUM MYSTERIES. Airing from January 1941 through October 1952 this twisted crimson jewel shared with its audience a disturbing mix of dark tales of terror; from murder and depravity to supernatural evils and vengeful spirits. Not only were the stories consistently horrifying in nature, they were served up in a dark and creepy mood dripping with a thick rich sauce of eerie organ (eeew organ sauce) music and superbly performed sound effects, which themselves were used to tell much of the story. Along with that the talented performers always effectively portrayed the suspense, fears and desperations of their characters under the direction of one of the most accomplished radio directors of all time, Himan Brown. The series also boasted an impressive cast of guest stars such as horror legends Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, and Claude Raines to name but a few.

One of the most notable features of this program was its hosts. The original host of the series, Raymond Edward Johnson, simply referred to as "Raymond" laid the ground work for practically every horror host that has ever followed. While himself not the first to host a horror or suspense program, it was his innovative character which provided a creepy yet humourous twist to the program. His evil yet gleeful interaction with the audience relishing in death and the macabre was littered with puns and and morbid jokes. After Johnson's departure from the series in 1945 (for military service) the mantle was taken up by Paul McGrath who kept the stylistic nature of Raymond's character, but respectfully did not take the name only being referred to as "Mr. Host".

In 1945 the show took on the Lipton Tea Company as it's primary sponsor and the show rounded a new corner with the addition of Mary Bennett to the cast. A proper and always excessively cheerful housewife to act as Mr. Host's sidekick. With her unflappable sunny disposition despite the macabre subject matter she became the shows Gracie Allen, and in my opinion played off of Mr. Host's dark wit beautifully. Although there are many fans of the series who don't enjoy her near as much as I do, it must be acknowledged that Mary's role as sidekick and foil to the shows host was another innovative and significant addition in horror host history, particularly evident on modern horror host programs.

Sadly of the 535 episodes originally broadcast, fewer than 170 are still known to exist. But for those that remain I am dearly grateful.

Here is the pilot episode of Inner Sanctum Mysteries originally Aired January 7, 1941 (re-aired July 13, 1952) starring the the one and only Boris Karloff.

Death For Sale

Link provided from OTR.net if you are a fan of Old Time Radio this site is a must for your personal links.

Gary D. Macabre