For today’s Cinematic Void 31 Days of Voidoween, we are making a run for the border.
No, not that border…
Today’s topic is “Canada,” so we are headed to the Great White North. While we’re up there, we’re gonna drink a lot of Molson, eat some poutine, and listen to one of the scariest radio programs ever, Nightfall.
Nightfall was created by Bill Howell and aired on CBC Radio from July 1980 to June 1983. The majority of the episodes were horror, but there were other styles and genres mixed in, including science fiction and mystery. Nightfall's opening voiceover ranks up there with the credit sequence for Tales from the Darkside for spinechilling creepiness. Indeed, many listeners complained to the CBC that Nightfall was too scary and convinced certain affiliates not to run the program. If that isn’t a recommendation, I don’t know what is!
You can find many, if not all, of Nightfall’s 100 episodes on the Internet Archive. Today, though, I want to focus attention on just one episode: “The Monkey’s Paw.” Adapted by Len Peterson from the W. W. Jacobs short story, Nightfall’s rendition of is a terrifying piece of work. The sound design is just right - the chanting and singing that comes up in the background when the Sergeant-Major tells of his time in India, for example, is especially spooky. The performances by Eric House and Ruth Springford as the elderly couple whose lives are thrown into utter disarray by the wish-giving paw are heartbreaking.
All in all, it’s perfect listening material during this spooky season!
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