The Audible Horror
Radio’s Role in Shaping a Genre
“It…Is…Later…Than…You…Think.”
So began Arch Oboler’s “Lights Out”, a radio drama focusing on tales of horror and suspense. The program originally aired on the National Broadcasting Corporation but moved to the Central Broadcasting System radio network where it thrived and thrilled audiences with some of the most twisted tales this side of The Twilight Zone.
The programs were creative, well written, sound effect heavy, glossy productions that delivered the late night chills contemporary adults were looking for.
By today’s standards the stories on “Lights Out” are mild, but in the years that the show graced the airwaves it was raw, cutting edge and terrified the listening public with tales of the macabre. The show had its start in the early 30’s under the watchful eye and creative hand of Wyllis Cooper, a notable scribe, who wanted to offer a late-night theatrical program to counter the music-saturated airwaves. The program focused on the supernatural and dark tones such as serial killers, pathological madmen, and conniving spouses while focusing on violence (Being eaten, buried, and burned alive)and twisted tongue-in-cheek humor. The show was often compared to a radio-broadcast of the popular Grand Guignol theatre. Characters in Cooper’s scripts often met their demise by dismemberment, torture, beatings, dismemberment or being dissolved alive in a vat of molten metal.
Unfortunately, no known recordings of the Cooper era exist. Oboler came on board in 1935 and in 1936 his first script for Lights Out “Burial Service” about a paralyzed girl who is accidentally buried alive and told from the point of view of her thoughts. The show was claustrophobic and panicked and NBC was flooded with letter expressing outrage at the program, which by this time was airing in prime-time.
Oboler departed the show in 1938 and NBC canceled the show a year later. In 1942 Oboler re-launched the program on competing network CBS and it featured the now famous “It…Is…Later…Than…You…Think” introduction and riveted audiences with a disclaimer advising the audience that the following program is not intended for the weak of heart.
One thing the radio networks learned from the success of Lights Out was that America wanted to be terrified. The ratings hungry networks were quick to capitalize on this trend and began producing horror/suspense shows in mass quantity, one of the first instances of market saturation which ultimately led to the demise of the genre.
Before horror went belly up on the airwaves, America was introduced to Orson Welles and the most infamous prank ever played. The prank would go down in history as the most successful radio broadcast of all time and terrified a nation captivated with outer space.
Welles played on the fears of an innocent audience on October 30, 1938. The public tuned in to listen to the American radio drama anthology “Mercury Theatre On The Air”, they were greeted with a musical performance by a big band. Out of the blue a news broadcast interrupts the program in progress and announces in a news bulletin format that a Martian invasion was taking place. The War of the Worlds, based on the novel by HG Wells was underway unbeknownst to a stunned public. Listeners assumed what they were hearing was an actual event and mass-hysteria and overall panic flooded American homes of a public already on edge due to mounting activity culminating in what would eventually be World War II.
Though there were repeated announcements during the broadcast that what the audience was hearing was a radio production of WotW, the first announcement didn’t come until 40 minutes in and by that time police stations were flooded with calls, families cried in their homes and some scant reports of people attempting to flee were noted. Contrary to popular belief no deaths were the result of the program.
To this day, the radio broadcast of WotW is one of the most horrifying pieces of the genre to ever grace the airwaves.
Sometimes a more subtle horror is acceptable to a public. Based on the public outcry calling WotW cruel and calling for an apology to the citizens from the producers of the program, listeners were quick to accept “Sorry, Wrong Number” as a masterpiece of suspense and storytelling. “Sorry, Wrong Number” was originally broadcast on the Suspense radio program on May 25, 1943 and featured Agnes Moorehead as a bedridden invalid who overhears two men plotting a murder when her phone line gets crossed. She learns at the end of the play and way too late that the plot she overheard was that of her own murder. It was a classic twist ending that ripped the floor from under the audiences feet and drove the point that you are never as safe as you think home with a vengeance. The show was so popular that it was performed on air a record seven times, each with Moorehead playing the lead role of the doomed Mrs. Stevenson.
The success of the program led to television productions, stage plays and big screen adaptations. Apparently America loved the idea of a reclusive bed-ridden woman trying to bring to light the events that she heard transpire over the phone.
Horror is not new, long before the scares graced the big screen they were piped into the homes of an innocent America who gathered around the glowing radio, hypnotized and mesmerized by the horrors emanating from the box and dared disturb the calm and sanctity of their dwelling. It made them uneasy, tapping into the primal fears we all have on perhaps a level more intimate than anything this modern generation can ever imagine.
While It Is later than You Think, it is not too late to enjoy these programs. The internet has many sites available to listen to these wonderful programs and revel in a time when horror was pure, raw, new and thrilling. The total lack of visual stimuli allows the imagination to run wild and that is one thing the genre could use a little more of. Imagination.
Tony Harrington
Little Rock, Arkansas
Visit my blog at Genrefinity.net, the nets newest home to horror, SciFi and fantasy.
Radio’s Role in Shaping a Genre
“It…Is…Later…Than…You…Think.”
So began Arch Oboler’s “Lights Out”, a radio drama focusing on tales of horror and suspense. The program originally aired on the National Broadcasting Corporation but moved to the Central Broadcasting System radio network where it thrived and thrilled audiences with some of the most twisted tales this side of The Twilight Zone.
The programs were creative, well written, sound effect heavy, glossy productions that delivered the late night chills contemporary adults were looking for.
By today’s standards the stories on “Lights Out” are mild, but in the years that the show graced the airwaves it was raw, cutting edge and terrified the listening public with tales of the macabre. The show had its start in the early 30’s under the watchful eye and creative hand of Wyllis Cooper, a notable scribe, who wanted to offer a late-night theatrical program to counter the music-saturated airwaves. The program focused on the supernatural and dark tones such as serial killers, pathological madmen, and conniving spouses while focusing on violence (Being eaten, buried, and burned alive)and twisted tongue-in-cheek humor. The show was often compared to a radio-broadcast of the popular Grand Guignol theatre. Characters in Cooper’s scripts often met their demise by dismemberment, torture, beatings, dismemberment or being dissolved alive in a vat of molten metal.
Unfortunately, no known recordings of the Cooper era exist. Oboler came on board in 1935 and in 1936 his first script for Lights Out “Burial Service” about a paralyzed girl who is accidentally buried alive and told from the point of view of her thoughts. The show was claustrophobic and panicked and NBC was flooded with letter expressing outrage at the program, which by this time was airing in prime-time.
Oboler departed the show in 1938 and NBC canceled the show a year later. In 1942 Oboler re-launched the program on competing network CBS and it featured the now famous “It…Is…Later…Than…You…Think” introduction and riveted audiences with a disclaimer advising the audience that the following program is not intended for the weak of heart.
One thing the radio networks learned from the success of Lights Out was that America wanted to be terrified. The ratings hungry networks were quick to capitalize on this trend and began producing horror/suspense shows in mass quantity, one of the first instances of market saturation which ultimately led to the demise of the genre.
Before horror went belly up on the airwaves, America was introduced to Orson Welles and the most infamous prank ever played. The prank would go down in history as the most successful radio broadcast of all time and terrified a nation captivated with outer space.
Welles played on the fears of an innocent audience on October 30, 1938. The public tuned in to listen to the American radio drama anthology “Mercury Theatre On The Air”, they were greeted with a musical performance by a big band. Out of the blue a news broadcast interrupts the program in progress and announces in a news bulletin format that a Martian invasion was taking place. The War of the Worlds, based on the novel by HG Wells was underway unbeknownst to a stunned public. Listeners assumed what they were hearing was an actual event and mass-hysteria and overall panic flooded American homes of a public already on edge due to mounting activity culminating in what would eventually be World War II.
Though there were repeated announcements during the broadcast that what the audience was hearing was a radio production of WotW, the first announcement didn’t come until 40 minutes in and by that time police stations were flooded with calls, families cried in their homes and some scant reports of people attempting to flee were noted. Contrary to popular belief no deaths were the result of the program.
To this day, the radio broadcast of WotW is one of the most horrifying pieces of the genre to ever grace the airwaves.
Sometimes a more subtle horror is acceptable to a public. Based on the public outcry calling WotW cruel and calling for an apology to the citizens from the producers of the program, listeners were quick to accept “Sorry, Wrong Number” as a masterpiece of suspense and storytelling. “Sorry, Wrong Number” was originally broadcast on the Suspense radio program on May 25, 1943 and featured Agnes Moorehead as a bedridden invalid who overhears two men plotting a murder when her phone line gets crossed. She learns at the end of the play and way too late that the plot she overheard was that of her own murder. It was a classic twist ending that ripped the floor from under the audiences feet and drove the point that you are never as safe as you think home with a vengeance. The show was so popular that it was performed on air a record seven times, each with Moorehead playing the lead role of the doomed Mrs. Stevenson.
The success of the program led to television productions, stage plays and big screen adaptations. Apparently America loved the idea of a reclusive bed-ridden woman trying to bring to light the events that she heard transpire over the phone.
Horror is not new, long before the scares graced the big screen they were piped into the homes of an innocent America who gathered around the glowing radio, hypnotized and mesmerized by the horrors emanating from the box and dared disturb the calm and sanctity of their dwelling. It made them uneasy, tapping into the primal fears we all have on perhaps a level more intimate than anything this modern generation can ever imagine.
While It Is later than You Think, it is not too late to enjoy these programs. The internet has many sites available to listen to these wonderful programs and revel in a time when horror was pure, raw, new and thrilling. The total lack of visual stimuli allows the imagination to run wild and that is one thing the genre could use a little more of. Imagination.
Tony Harrington
Little Rock, Arkansas
Visit my blog at Genrefinity.net, the nets newest home to horror, SciFi and fantasy.
“I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And I'm all out of bubblegum.”
Certified 100% Serious
I've been reading through your blog Tony. It's good, I like it.
[SIZE=2]"There are many things more horrible than bloodshed; and slavery is one of them."
Padraig Pearse[/SIZE]
Fenian1916 Wrote:I've been reading through your blog Tony. It's good, I like it.
thanks...I can be a geek at times.
Most of the time actually. it's probably easier just to point out when i am not a geek.
“I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And I'm all out of bubblegum.”
Certified 100% Serious
A geek who punches babies, that is.
They passed an old woman who was just opening the door of a brown Cadillac. An old man was already sitting in the passenger seat. The car had a personalized plate with the letters “J-U-S-P-R-A-Y”.
“That stuff work?” Israel said to her.
“‘Scuse me?” the little old woman said, clutching her keys.
“The spray. Does it keep them away?”
“Keep who away?” She looked confused.
“I gotcha.” Israel gave her a conspiratorial wink.
www.feelmyghost.webs.com