Month: October 2017

Happy Birthday, War of the Worlds!

Leave a Comment

I first heard the original War of the Worlds broadcast in Sister Barbara Jean’s 8th grade reading class. The first ten minutes or so gave me goose bumps and sparked my love of old time radio. It made such an impression on me that I set my first mystery, The Darkness Knows, in October 1938 to coincide with the original Mercury Theatre on the Air broadcast on October 30, 1938 (a character is actually listening to the live broadcast near the end of the book).

Do yourself a favor and listen to the original (It’s brilliant and so far ahead of its time.):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzC3Fg_rRJM

One of my current favorite radio shows, Radiolab, did a fascinating episode around the psychology of the broadcast – why it worked so well and what happened when it was repeated (spoiler alert – bad things): Radiolab War of the Worlds Live Episode 

There’s also a PBS documentary on the subject: American Experience War of the Worlds

Old Time Radio Wednesday – Halloween #6 Snow Shadow Area

Leave a Comment

I’ve saved the creepiest of the lot for last. Today’s program is another not-so-old-time radio production. Snow Shadow Area is an episode of the Canadian show Vanishing Point from 1986. I’m not sure what draws me to horror stories about people being stranded by snow (see my earlier entry in this series, The Porch Light), but this one is by far the freakiest – especially because of the ambiguous ending.

Listen and hear for yourself.

Old Time Radio Wednesday – Halloween #5 Valse Triste

Leave a Comment

Lights Out is head and shoulders above all other horror old time radio, in my opinion. It’s so original – and so dark.

I’ve previously shared an episode of Lights Out called It Happened. Today I’m sharing an episode from December 29, 1942 called Valse Triste that is the horrific story of two young women that get lost in the woods and come upon a hermit’s cabin. The hermit… well, he has plans.

Old Time Radio Wednesday – Halloween #4 The House in Cypress Canyon

Leave a Comment

This episode from December 5, 1946 is a bit hard to describe, so bear with me. It’s a story within a story about a notebook found in a house that was just recently built telling of what happened to the people that lived in it before. That’s right – before. It’s truly spooky, and Suspense is just the best. Sidenote: The star of this episode, Robert Taylor, was the physical inspiration for hunky Graham Yarborough in my books. Hubba hubba.

Old Time Radio Wednesday – Halloween #3 The Porch Light

Leave a Comment

Here’s another entry that’s radio drama but not really “old time”. This spooky tale is from a 1980s Canadian series called Nightfall.

There are so many chilling episodes of this series, but this week I’ve chosen “The Porch Light” about a couple newly moved into a remote farm house. They’re stranded by a heavy snowfall when a mysterious visitor comes to call.

Click here to listen.

*Last week’s horror share was Three Skeleton Key.