Blog-o-ween 2022: Edgar Allan Poe

It's that part of the week that everyone is working for, and that means that we are two days away from Halloween 2022. We've been through a lot, you and I. We've listened to, we've learned from, and we've loved a lot of old time radio, but something's been missin' don'cha think? It's kinda like we threw a party but there's one guest that RSVP'ed who hasn't shown up yet. That one party animal without whom we might as well pack up the beerball and call it a night. And I don't mean that kid who's taking a second trip through his junior year, the one in the torn up "Who Farted?" t-shirt who can chug an Old Milwaukee tall boy while standing on his head neither...although...given our Blog-o-ween subject's history with alcohol, maybe that's exactly who I'm talking about, after all!

What can we say about Edgar Allan Poe that hasn't already been drilled into our heads during a junior high English class? He was born in Boston in January, 1809, and he died in Baltimore in October, 1849. In between, E.A. Poe lived a life with as many ups and downs as an Otis elevator, albeit the downs outnumbered the ups by a conservative 4-to-1 margin.

Even in death, the poor man couldn't catch a break. Rufus Wilmot Griswold, an editor, critic, and antholgist, bore Poe a grudge. The tension between the two men stemmed from Poe's attack on Griswold's critical acumen in his 1842 book The Poets and Poetry of America. Later, Griswold replaced Poe as co-editor at Graham's Magazine at a higher salary, something Poe could not stomach. Somehow, even through all this antagonism and aggrievement, Griswold was named Poe's literary executor upon his death, and he used this position to spread lies and destroy Poe's reputation.

Thankfully, Griswold failed at his attempt at literary assassination. Due to the dilligence of people who knew Poe well, as well as French critics and writers like Charles Baudelaire, Poe's reputation remained intact, and in fact only grew as the years passed.

Today, we have a collection of classic tales from the imagination of Edgar Allan Poe. Poe's work was a source of inspiration to many old time radio producers and writers over the years. A search of the Internet Archive would reveal myriad adaptations to choose from -- all of them weird, all of them wonderful. I've chosen four that I think best represent the man and the radio programs of the 20th century.

First up is a classic tale of revenge from Hall of Fantasy. Two men are enjoying Carnival in Venice. Unbeknownst to one of the men, the other holds a venomous grudge against him and plots his revenge. Montresor invites the drunken Fortunato to his family vaults, luring him deeper and deeper into the catacombs with the promise of..."The Cask of Amontillado."

Next is one of the, if not the most famous tale Poe ever wrote, "The Tell-Tale Heart." Adapted for The Weird Circle in 1944, the story is about one man's murderous obsession and the way his conscience gets the better of him.

Next up is an episode of the CBS Radio Mystery Theater. It is a updated adaptation of my personal favorite Poe tale, "Berenice." In this version, a young man falls in love with his young sister-in-law while his wife lies on her deathbed. The last distressing smile of his wife taunts him day and night, and he goes crazy when he sees the same smile on his new beloved.

Lastly, we have the other story for which Poe is so rightly famous. "The Fall of the House of Usher" is a gothic masterpiece, and the radio show Escape does a fine job of bring it to life...and death!

Blog-o-ween 2022: Frankenstein

"Three more days 'til Halloween, Halloween, Halloween!

"Three more days 'til Halloween...

"LARPing Real Life!"

It's got a great rhythm, and I can dance to it. I give it a ten!

You know what else I give a ten? Today's subject for Blog-o-ween. For those of you who take your monsters tall, dead, and handsome, you're in luck. We've got Mary Shelley's gift to the world lined up for you. Today is all about Frankenstein's monster!

When it comes to answering the question "Who is the King of the Monsters (so far as adaptations for movies, TV, comic books, stage, etc. are concerned)?", it's a toss up between Frankenstein and Dracula. Both monsters were there at the very beginning of the 1930s silver screen horror cycle when Universal Studios released Tod Browning's Dracula in February, 1931, and James Whale's Frankenstein nine months later. Since then, Transylvania's favorite son and Bavaria's least favorite babysitter have starred in scores of movies together and separately. While I adore both monsters, I think my heart truly belongs to Frankie. He's one of us, you know? He didn't ask to be born (or stitched together). He just wants to be left alone to stumble around the countryside taking his vengeance on his creator. Like I said -- he's one of us!

Speaking of creators, Mary Shelley was only eighteen when she put (what I imagine to be) the point of an ink-dipped ostrich feather to parchment and gave birth to the first true science-fiction tale in 1818. Well-received by the public and critics, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, was hailed upon its publication in 1820 as "an extraordinary tale," "a very bold fiction," and "a tissue of horrible and disgusting absurdity."

Guess which blurb I'd be putting on the cover of my book!

Adaptations for the stage began almost immediately. In 1823, Richard Brinsley Peake wrote Presumption; or, the Fate of Frankenstein, for the English Opera House. There was a musical burlesque in 1887 entitled Frankenstein, or The Vampire's Victim. (The first monster mash?!) By the time movies and radio came along, Frankenstein adaptations were like a cottage industry employing if not hundreds, then a fair-sized group of people at the very least.

Which brings us to today's examples of Frankenstein on old time radio. There were so many to choose from, but I think the shows we'll be listening to are a very good samples of the ways Ms. Shelley's creature and its creator have influenced the culture.

One of the earliest appearances of the Monster occured in August of 1931. Written by Alonzo Dean Cole for The Witch's Tale, in this episode Nancy the Witch (and her cat, Satan, too!) promise to reveal the true facts of the Frankenstein story...facts that even Mary Shelley didn't know!

For the most part, we've been playing it pretty straight this Blog-o-ween. There have been very few laughs this month. Those that have arisen were of the tongue-in-cheek variety or the whistling-past-the-graveyard kind. Right now, however, let's jump feet first into comedy and take a trip to Duffy's Tavern.

Duffy's Tavern was a situation comedy that ran on several networks from 1941-1951. The main character is the tavern's manager, Archie (Ed Gardner), who always spoke in mixed metaphors and malapropisms. Celebrity guest stars were always coming around the tavern, and they were usually roped into some scheme Archie came up with.

Today's episode of Duffy's Tavern is no different as Archie talks Boris Karloff into joining his adaptation of Frankenstein to be performed at a war bond rally.

Next, we jump forward to the 1970s and into an episode of the CBS Radio Mystery Theater. This one is not an adaptation of Mary Shelley's tale, but is about the 400th anniversary news coverage of Baron Von Frankenstein. Unfortunately for all those involved in the broadcast, the doctor and his creation may not be as old a news item as was once thought. There might be more than old issues of the newspaper in the morgue, if you get my meaning...heh-heh-heh!

Last, we have what may be one of the most faithful adaptations of Frankenstein set before a microphone. In 1938, Austalian actor George Edwards (known as "The Man of a Thousand Voices") produced a 13-part serial set to transcription disc.

I think the majority of Frankenstein's adaptations suffer from Moby-Dick-itis. Yes, that novel is about a guy named Ahab and his need for revenge on the White Whale, but there is so much more to the story in the novel. Unfortunately, much of it is unfilmable. The same goes for Shelley's novel. At over two-and-a-half hours, George Edwards does a fine job of making use of most of Shelley's ideas. It is a wonderful play. Listen for yourself...

Blog-o-ween 2022: Vampires

What would Halloween be without the classic monsters? Werewolves, mummies, Frankenstein's horrid creation...there are so many takes on these horror archetypes that they always seem fresh. Just when you think the monsters of old have been laid to rest once and for all, up pops a new version to terrorize the countryside.

One archetype that seems to return again and again is the vampire. You just can't keep a good bloodsucker down! And vampires come in all shapes and sizes, too -- you got the classic, Eastern European, tuxedo-sportin' Bela Lugosi-style vamp. If that ain't the way you take your nosferatus, you can enjoy your swanky, boat-neck-sweater-wearing Chris Sarandon-type. There's always the metaphoric vampire-as-drug-addict Lili Taylor look. Or maybe you just don't dig the dashing leading man/woman variety. Maybe you're one of the true sickos who sees this visage in your dreams...

Whichever way you take your vamps, if you are down with the undead, then today's Blog-o-ween entry is for you. Earlier this month, we spotlighted the Canadian radio series Nightfall. As an example of that show, we took a look at their adaptation of J. Sheridan La Fanu's female vampire story, "Carmilla." If you didn't get a chance to listen to it, then take the time today. It's a good one.

If we're talking vampires, then we had better start with Bram Stoker's creation, Dracula. today we have not one, but two versions of Stoker's story. The first is from Orson Welles and The Mercury Theatre on the Air. It was first broadcast in the spooky month of...July, 1938...and it stars Welles himself as ol' Drac and Agnes Moorehead in the role of Mina Harker. Look for more Moorehead later this month, but in the meanwhile feast your eyes on this lovely photo of Agnes...

The other version of Dracula is from the CBS Radio Mystery Theater, and it features another of radio's greatest actors in the role of Mina: Mercedes McCambridge. We took a look at Ms. McCambridge's radio career previously, so it's nice to get a chance to hear her wonderful voice again.

Last, but certainly not least is a non-Dracula vampire story from The Hermit's Cave. A syndicated radio program from the late-1930s, uniquely, The Hermit's Cave's syndication was achieved not via recordings, but through the scripts themselves. That way, each station could broadcast the program with their own casts.

Today's episode, "The Vampire's Desire" is about two men seeking shelter from a raging storm. They are initially turned away by an old woman in a run down house. They force their way in and soon   become trapped in a sealed room with a dead body in it! There are some things worse than being wet, it seems. Indeed...you may just catch your death! Heh-heh-heh!

(I'm gettin' pretty good at this horror host banter!)

Blog-o-ween 2022: Mercedes McCambridge

Orson Welles, who knew a little something about radio acting (besides scaring the bejabbers out of listeners with The Mercury Theatre on the Air's verion of H.G. Wells's The War of the Worlds, Welles was also the voice of Lamont Cranston, aka The Shadow), called her "the world's greatest living radio actress." Her credits include episodes of Lights Out, Inner Sanctum, This Is Peggy Drake, Studio One, and the CBS Radio Mystery Theater. She worked in film, as well, appaering in Giant (1956), Suddenly, Last Summer (1959), Johnny Guitar (1954), and All the King's Men (1949), for which she was awarded the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. What she is most well-known for, however, is a voice performance in a film. Her vocal work as Pazuzu, the demon inhabiting young Regan's (Linda Blair) body in The Exorcist (1973), probably scared people as much as the spinning heads and spraying pea soup.

Today, Blog-o-ween shines the spotlight on Mercedes McCambridge.

Mercedes McCambridge was born in Joliet, Illinois in 1916. After graduating from Mundelein College in Chicago, she made the move to New York City where she acted on Broadway. While treading the boards, she also began acting on the radio in the late-1930s. Her radio acting career stretched well-past the sell-by date of the Golden Age of Radio. In the 1970s, she was still appearing on radio drama, acting in Himan Brown's latest auditory offering, the CBS Radio Mystery Theater.

But, really, if anyone today knows Mercedes McCambridge, it is for her work in William Friedkin's adapatation of William Peter Blatty's novel The Exorcist. Utilizing all of the tricks and tools she'd picked up in her 40-year acting career -- as well as some raw eggs, cigarettes, and booze -- McCambridge created the definitive demon vocal performance. Friedkin himself claimed that he bound her to a chair during her recordings to help her get in the mood. When she died in 2004, NPR's Fresh Air offered this remembrance of the actor and her most famous role.

First up in tonight's Mercedes McCambridge appreciation post, we have an episode of Inner Sanctum. “Blood of Cain” is a story of dark family secrets and a chilling legacy handed down through generations.

Next, we have an episode of Arch Oboler's Lights Out called "It Happened." This story concerns a wealthy girl taking a tour of Paris. She becomes fed up with her boring old tour guide and decides to find her own way. Unfortunately for her, she ends up wandering into the sewers and running into...well...that would be telling.

Last, is an episode of the CBS Radio Mystery Theater about that most 1970s of subjects: The Bermuda Triangle. McCambridge plays the sole survivor of a plane that disappeared into "The Triangle."

Blog-o-ween 2022: Mummies

Ugh. After the week I've had at work, it's not enough to just curl up on the couch, throw on an episode or two of old time radio, and veg out. No, I need something more. I need to be comforted and soothed.

I NEED MY MUMMY!

Yeah, I know that's bad joke, so sue me.

Today for Blog-o-ween 2022, we're gonna take a look at the impact that Howard Carter's 1922 discovery of the tomb of 18th Dynasty King Tutankhamun had on spooky old time radio. After Carter plundered...er...I mean...after Carter conserved the 5,000 relics in King Tut's burial chamber, public interest in all things Egyptian was sky high. Egyptian motifs could be found everywhere from fashion to architecture. For instance, the famed Grauman's Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, CA, was originally going to be built following a more Spanish style design. However, once mummy-mania hit, the plans were quickly changed.

It wasn't just the discovery of King Tut's tomb that fired the public's imagination. Following the mysterious death of Carter's patron, George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, the public lapped up any story that dealt with ancient burial grounds and the curses purportedly connected to them.

Hollywood hit the (burial) ground running in 1932 with the Boris Karloff vehicle, The Mummy. This movie spawned many sequels, none of which had the romantic power of the original. Hammer Studios in England, as part of their Universal Monsters remake cycle, which included Frankenstein, Dracula, and the Wolf-Man, made a few Egyptology-centric films in the 1950s and 1960s. The Brendan Fraser Mummy movies from around the turn of the 20th century were probably the last hurrah for the venerable monster. After that...it's pretty much a wrap.

Hey-O!

But we're here to talk old time radio, and there is plenty to talk about. I've picked three stories out of the sands of time that run the gamut from ancient curses to Ace bandages. There is much more out there...you just have to dig for them.

I'm killin' it tonight!

First up is another story from yesterday's subject, The Witch's Tale. In "The Priest of Sekhet," a young British archeologist becomes trapped in an ancient tomb, along with a dead priest from ancient Egypt. After his rescue, the archeologist undergoers a strange change of character. I wonder what that could entail?

Next is an entry from The Hall of Fantasy, a radio series that ran on the Mutual Broadcasting System from August, 1952, until September, 1953. "The Golden Bracelet Of Amun-Iris" is another “curse of the mummy” type of tale. The titular bracelet belongs to a long dead queen who has put a curse on anyone who steals her gee-gaws. Naturally enough, archeologists discover her tomb, take the bracelet, and then...well...you should hear it for yourself.

Last up is an episode of the CBS Radio Mystery Theater, a series that aired on CBS Radio Network affiliates from 1974 to 1982. Hosted by E.G. Marshall, the Mystery Theater was probably radio's last bastion of regularly programmed audio drama. In "The Pharaoh's Curse," a beautiful female singer (played by Kim Hunter) joins an expedition to the forbidden tomb of an ancient Egyptian princess...and that's in spite of (natch!) the curse placed on the tomb against intruders and the strange string of 'accidents' that have befallen previous explorers. Ahh-Ooooo!...scary!