Blog-o-ween 2022: The Weird Circle

"In this cave by the restless sea, we are met to call from out of the past, stories strange and weird. Bell keeper, toll the bell, so that all may know that we are gathered again in The Weird Circle."

And with those words, the listener was encouraged to huddle close to their radio set and enjoy another bizarre tale of horror from one of the spookiest show around: The Weird Circle.

The Weird Circle was produced in New York City. It originally ran for two seasons from 1943 to 1945 and gave the world 78 strange and weird adaptations of classic horror literature. These episodes were syndicated and rerun many times over the following decades, including the 1970s when interest in old time radio was re-kindled.

Production values were kept to the bare minimum. While other programs laid it on thick with organ music and sponsorship hullaballo, The Weird Circle forewent the usual accoutrements that old time radio listeners expect to hear. Most episodes begin with the above incantation and then jump right into the story. Kinda like The Ramones. You get the count-off from Dee Dee, then you're right into the music. No foolin' around!

The first of tonight's episodes is based on a short story by Guy de Maupassant. "The Horla" is the story of a man who believes that he has discovered an invisble vampire-like creature that he claims follows him about, haunting his life.

Next up is another a tale concerning itself with unseen phenomena. "What Was It?" by Fitz-James O'Brien presents a group of people who are trying to determine if the world of spirits is real or not. To prove or disprove the existence of the invisible world around us, they perform a seance and inadvertantly invite something into their circle.

The last story for tonight is from a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne. "The Burial of Roger Malvin" is about an unkept promise and a strange revenge from beyond the grave.

19 October: Tales of Terror & Twice Told Tales

 

We have an anthology of anthologies, so to speak, lined up for Cinematic Void’s 31 Days of Voidoween. Both films were made in the early 1960s, both starred that doyen of Gothic cinematic horror, Vincent Price, and both were released together on a M-G-M Midnite Movies double-sided disc. We’re talking Edgar Allan Poe’s Tales of Terror (1962) and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Twice Told Tales (1963).

All in all, you get six spook-tacular stories for your Halloween buck, a not too shabby return. From Poe, you get "Morella," "The Black Cat," and "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar;" from Hawthorne, "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment," "Rappaccini's Daughter," and "House of the Seven Gables." While the Roger Corman-directed Poe picture is the better of the two, Sidney Salkow does a fair job with Hawthorne’s material, especially the first tale, "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment."

The cream of the crop is a toss-up between “The Black Cat” and “The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar.” In the former, screenwriter Richard Matheson combines Poe’s “The Black Cat” and “A Cask of Amontillado” into a single black comedic tale. Vincent Price and Peter Lorre engage in a campy wine-tasting contest for the ages. In the latter, Basil Rathbone plays a mentalist who hypnotizes a dying Price. Caught between the worlds of the living and the dead, Price’s Valdemar has a bit of a meltdown when Rathbone finally releases him.

Both of the these pictures have stunning visuals and that bright color palette that screams early-1960s horror. Both are also a wonderful gateway to early American Romanticism. Watch the movies, then seek out the stories they were based upon. It’s a great way to pass the night during this spooky season.