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Suspense – The Devil in the Summer House
Let’s say you received a mysterious letter from someone who is already dead asking you to meet on a dark and stormy night in a creep old house. Would you show up? What if you had no choice?
“The Devil in the Summer House” was originally written by John Dickson Carr and adapted this episode of Suspense into a 30 minute episode. The episode is truly a classic and is filled with tons of thrills packed into just an half hour program.
Suspense “The Devil in the Summer House” by John Dickson Carr.
Aired on November 3, 1942.
One of the premier drama programs of the Golden Age of Radio, was subtitled “radio’s outstanding theater of thrills” and focused on suspense thriller-type scripts, usually featuring leading Hollywood actors of the era. Approximately 945 episodes were broadcast during its long run, and more than 900 still exist.
Suspense went through several major phases, characterized by different hosts, sponsors, and director/producers. Formula plot devices were followed for all but a handful of episodes: the protagonist was usually a normal person suddenly dropped into a threatening or bizarre situation; solutions were “withheld until the last possible second”; and evildoers were usually punished in the end.
In its early years, the program made only occasional forays into science fiction and fantasy. Notable exceptions include adaptations of Curt Siodmak‘s Donovan’s Brain and H. P. Lovecraft‘s “The Dunwich Horror“, but by the late 1950s, such material was regularly featured.
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