Blog-o-ween 2022: Nightfall

Canada has given the world so much. From our friendly neighbors to the north, we've received the gifts of Rush, David Cronenberg, SCTV, Molson and poutine. Any one of those achievements by itself would have any other country bragging about how great they are. But does Canada go for any of that back-patting and self-aggrandizement. Heck, no, eh! They just keep on keepin' on, churning out the Soska Sisters, Drake, Pamela Anderson, back bacon, and Tim Hortons seemingly on their days off.

Well played, Canada! For you, there is beer on the sun!

Let's add another gold star next to Canada's name in the ol' gradebook, so to speak, and discuss 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 spine-chilling 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. Later during Blog-o-ween, we will return to the airwaves of the Great White North to rhapsodize over Nightfall's adaptation of the W. W. Jacob's short story "The Monkey's Paw." Today, however, I want to focus attention on another fantastic adaptation: "Carmilla." Adapted by John Douglas and Graham Pomeroy from Irish writer J. Sheridan LeFanu's classic novella, this rendition has all the eerie trappings of a great Gothic story. You've got a remote castle, horse-drawn coaches, wind whistling through the trees, mysterious deaths, and lesbianism! As in other Nightfall productions, the sound design and music accompaniment hit all the right tones (pun intended!), and the acting is top notch. Indeed, the actress portraying the title character does a wonderful job of exuding sensuality and danger. At times, it feels as though we are listening to a Hammer Studios production -- which is perfect, because Hammer created an excellent cinematic version of LeFanu's story in 1970 as The Vampire Lovers.

You can listen to "Carmilla" here, and if you are interested in Hammer's film (and who in their right mind wouldn't want to see Ingrid Pitt strut her stuff as Carmilla -- and what stuff it is!) you can...look for it yourself. In the meantime, here's Ms. Pitt doing what she does best -- look Germanic and sexy!