ABC Murders, The

Alexander Bonaparte Cust is a traveling salesman who is prone to blackouts due to a previous head injury. At first his headaches and lapses in memory were just a nuisance, but lately whenever Cust travels to a new town and experiences one of these blackouts, someone ends up dead! Could he be the infamous ABC murderer?

Action

Following a stroke, a wealthy financier decides to climb an unassailable glacier in the Swiss Alps.

Another version of this story appeared on Escape.

Actor's Blood

A veteran stage actor not only believes that his daughter's supposed suicide was actually murder but also believes that he knows who did it. He decides to host a fancy dinner—inviting all his daughter's friends and theatrical co-workers—where he will expose his daughter's killer.

After-Dinner Story

An elevator plummets to the ground, trapping five men in the ensuing rubble. When the men are finally rescued, one of them has been shot. The remaining four claim they saw nothing. The police think it's suicide. The victim's father thinks it's murder and sets out to prove it.

Allan in Wonderland

A recitation of Lewis Carroll leads a southern lawyer into a Balkan assassination plot.

Arctic Rescue

Story of a doomed voyage to uncover the mystery of Franklin's famous lost expedition. The rescue ship becomes icebound, and the crew face the prospect of enduring the brutal Arctic winter.

See also: "The Captain of the Pole Star" (CBS Radio Mystery Theater) and "Hell on Ice" (Mercury Theatre on the Air, Miscellaneous Shows).

August Heat

Suspense produced two versions of this story, one with Ronald Coleman [1945], and the other with Hans Conreid [1948]. Another version was produced for Sleep No More.

Back for Christmas

Herbert Carpenter is a professor of botany who is married to the very shrewd Hermione. His wife is meticulously planning a Christmas trip while Herbert is meticulously planning a botanical project in his cellar... one that has a hole big enough to bury a body.

Broadcast three times for Suspense and once for Escape.

Backseat Driver

Driving home from the movies, a husband and wife are held hostage by a wanted killer who has been hiding in the backseat of their car.

Banquo's Chair

A renowned prosecutor is determined to catch the only murderer who ever evaded his litigation, with the aid of an unusual ally—the shade of his target's victim.

Another version was produced for Sleep No More.

Beast Must Die, The

Told through a cryptic diary, a single father becomes obsessed with finding and murdering the hit-and-run driver who killed his only child.

Based on the novel by Nicholas Blake which was successfully adapted onto film as "Que la bête meure" in 1969 by the French master of suspense Claude Chabrol.

Beirut by Sunrise

A teacher on a cruise receives a message from a dying sailor, and is menaced by those who wish to hear it.

Bells

A couple rent a quaint country home, but very quickly find themselves beset by phone calls from a ghostly source demanding that they leave.

Betrayal in Vienna

In 1913 Vienna, the Kaiser's counter-espionage unit closes in on a mole in their organization: the head of the Kaiser's counter-espionage unit.

Black Curtain, The

A man slips on the sidewalk and is knocked out. When he regains consciousness, he realizes that he has no recollection of the past three years of his life and discovers—to his utter surprise—that he has been living another life during that time... and that he may have just committed a murder!

The first episode sponsored by Roma Wines. Broadcast three times altogether, twice with Cary Grant and once with Robert Montgomery.

Black Death

A couple stranded on the road in a storm seek shelter at a remote castle where a mad scientist waits for a human subject on whom to test the destructive potential of his death ray. Sheesh!

Another episode of Suspense with the same title is not the same story.

Black Door, The

A legendary lost Mayan city of gold becomes a death trap for two men who discover its location—and a horror beyond description lurking in its depths.

Originally produced for Mysterious Traveler, but that episode seems to be lost.

Black Path of Fear, The

A woman named Eve Spinelli tries to escape her gangster husband by running away to Cuba with her new love, Bill Scott. Before their first night in Havana is through, she is knifed in the back and her lover is framed for the murder.

Based on the novel by Cornell Woolrich, two versions were produced for Suspense—the first in 1944 with Brian Donlevy and the second in 1946 with Cary Grant. Also in 1946, the novel was very loosely adapted onto film as "The Chase" with Robert Cummings—a movie which is remarkably different from its source material.

Black Shawl, The

Susan Applebie is enjoying herself at a fair where an elderly woman named Elizabeth Masters approaches her and offers her a job—she would like to hire Susan as a companion who will simply live at her house in order to give her company. Being that the money is so much for doing so little, Susan agrees and promptly moves in the next day. All is well until she begins to believe that there is someone else hidden in the house and that she seems unable to leave...

Blackbeard's Ace

A woman has recently been cured of a delusion that ghosts speak to her in her dreams. As a change of pace, her husband suggests they take a trip to the North Carolina coast—to the cove where Blackbeard himself buried his treasure.

Bluebeard of Bellac, The

A serial killer is at large in Nazi-occupied France. A woman begins to suspect her doctor husband may be the murderer in question.

Body Snatchers, The

A medical student studying anatomy gets entangled with murderers and psychos in order to attain the cadavers he needs to complete his studies.

Adapted from the Robert Louis Stevenson story. Other versions were produced for Nightfall and CBS Radio Mystery Theater.

Bride Vanishes, The

A young bride vanished off a balcony three years ago without a trace and now another young bride may suffer the same unknown fate.

Brighton Strangler, The

Reginald Parker is an actor who's growing weary playing the character Edward Grey, the titular lead role of "The Brighton Strangler". After his final performance, Reginald leaves the London theater only to get caught in a bombing blitz. Due to falling rubble, his head is injured and he becomes very disoriented... and starts to believe he's Edward Grey, the Brighton strangler!

The two lead actors—John Loder and June Duprez—reprise their roles of Reginald Parker and April Carson which they respectively played in the movie "The Brighton Strangler" produced the same year (though not released until 1945).

Burning Court, The

An editor reads a book about famous murderers and is horrified to see a picture of a murderess burned at the stake many years ago—a woman who looks exactly like his wife.

Later adapted as the feature film "La Chambre Ardente" in 1962.

Cabin B-13

Newlyweds board an ocean liner and the groom promptly disappears without a trace. Is the bride crazy? Or is there a sinister conspiracy against her?

Case for Dr Singer, The

A shooting victim in Sweden relates a warning about a spy within the American nuclear weapons program. Federal agents must rout him out before he gives everything away to the Russians. Based on a true story.

Case History on Edgar Loundes

A millionaire tycoon, suffering from headaches and bad dreams, visits a psychiatrist...

Cat and Mouse

John Guthry, an engineer, calls his friend Lockwood on the radio—a fellow engineer who is experimenting on a top secret project in a lab located in the snowy hills of Vermont. While talking with Lockwood, Guthry hears another man coughing in the background, followed by shots. What happened? Guthry travels to Vermont to find answers.

Cave of Ali Baba, The

Dorothy L. Sayers' amateur sleuth, Lord Peter Wimsey, infiltrates an elite group of criminals—all of whom wear masks and address each other by only a number.

Classified Secret

A spy traveling cross-country by bus exchanges military and government secrets with foreign agents.

A version of this story was produced for Escape.

Command

A look into the lives of US cavalry troopers on a search and rescue mission into hostile Sioux territory.

Another version of this story appeared on Escape. See also: 'Massacre at Little Big Horn' (Suspense).

Country of the Blind, The

An adventurer discovers a strange valley in remotest South America whose inhabitants have evolved without sight. When he falls in love with a local girl, the locals want to make him blind too.

Two versions were produced for Suspense, six for the BBC, and three for Escape ; other versions appeared on Favorite Story (as "Strange Valley"), and on CBS Radio Mystery Theater (as "Search for Eden").

Crisis of Dirk Diamond, The

Forced to revitalize his long-running comic strip, a writer introduces a new villain, based on the bogeyman that he obsessed over when he was a four-year-old.

Cross-Eyed Bear, The

A young woman answers an ad, only to discover that it's not quite what she expected—she has to locate and lure one of the surviving heirs to a wealthy eccentric. The danger is that the other heirs wish to kill each other... the catch is that none of them know what the other looks like.

Curse of Kamoshek, The

A miserly tycoon scoffs at his nephew's intention to squander family money on an archaeological expedition to Egypt, even going so far as to disinherit him. However, he learns the price of his narrow views when the young man sends him a mummy's bone in the mail, along with an ancient curse.

Customers Like Murder, The

A crime-fiction writer gets mixed up with bona-fide criminals and must now use his inside knowledge of the detective biz to save his life... all the while bickering with his secretary.

Dark Journey

To force her man to marry her, a frustrated fiancée attempts to use sheer will power to kill off any obstacles to her happiness.

Dark Tower, The

Damon Wellington is a rather hammy actor who is romantically interested in an actress named Jessica. However, Jessica has been in a sanitarium for the past year, grieving over the supposed loss of her husband Stanley. Now a year after the fact, Jessica is trying to get back on stage with Damon in a play entitled "The Dark Tower". All is going well until Stanley returns, seemingly from beyond the grave.

Dateline: Lisbon

A disillusioned correspondent photographs a man in a bar, and must discover why his subject reacts so violently.

Dead of the Night, The

Jimmy Barton's younger sister, Helen, is married to a violent man named Phil Armstrong. Helen wants to escape from her abusive husband so Jimmy helps her go into hiding. Unfortunately, Phil follows after them. One day, Jimmy returns to their hideout and finds Phil dead on the floor with Helen in a hysterical state. To protect his sister even more, he now must dispose of the body in such a manner that neither one of them can be blamed.

Dead Sleep Lightly, The

A man accidentally makes a phone call to his dead wife... and she answers.

Death Flies Blind

The flight crew discover a dead body on a plane, but that's just the beginning of their troubles as they also discover they're flying off course, the pilots have disappeared, and a Nazi spy is among the passengers.

Death of Alexander Jordan, The

Before dying, a father insists on a bell being installed in his tomb in the event he needs 'help'. His son-in-law sees it as evidence of the old man's senility—until the bell starts ringing...

Another version was produced for Creeps By Night, as "The Strange Burial of Alexander Jordan".

Death of an Old Flame

Death Went Along for the Ride

George Javeny is driving cross country from California to New York but begins to suspect that he is being followed by a one-armed man with malevolent intentions.

Two versions were produced for Suspense, the first—which is considered lost—starred Ralph Bellamy and the second starred Gene Kelly [1944].

Defense Rests, The

An ex-con named Robert Tasca gets a job working for law partners Max Krieger and Arthur Hines, the latter being the one who sent Tasca to prison in the first place. When Hines is murdered, Tasca falls under suspicion and must now clear his name before he is sentenced once again.

Broadcast twice, the first with Alan Ladd [1944] and the second with Van Johnson [1949].

Devil in the Summer House, The

A lawyer receives a letter from a supposedly dead person concerning the solution to a twenty-year old unsolved murder.

Devil's Saint, The

Everyone who sleeps in "The Tapestry Room" dies an inexplicable death, but, to win the woman he loves, a man agrees to spend the night there.

Devilstone

When an Irishman has trouble renting out an inherited manor, he must contend with the ghost of an ancestor.

Diary of Captain Scott, The

Scott's expedition to the South Pole meets with disappointment when they find that Amundsen made it first. But that pales in comparison to the wretched time they have on the return trip.

Diary of Sophronia Winters, The

Sophronia Winters spent most of her life taking care of her ailing father, but now that he's gone she's ready to start living. Traveling to Florida hoping for sun, fun and maybe a little romance, she meets Hiram, the answer to all her prayers... or is he?

Digger, The

A washed up miner is called back to the scene of the disaster many blame him for, to mine a vein in defiance of a native taboo.

Dime a Dance

Ginger Allen is a taxi dancer at the Joyland Palace in New York City. One evening, she arrives at work and learns that her friend Julie, a fellow dancer, has been murdered by a serial killer targeting women. Now, the police ask Ginger to help bait the killer out into the open.

Doctor Prescribed Death, The

A doctor sets out to prove his theory that you can easily convince a suicidal person to commit murder... and decides he may as well prove it to his advantage.

Donovan's Brain

A rare 2-part 1 hour episode. Following a fatal car accident, a vicious tycoon's brain is kept alive by an ambitious scientist, who is certain that his technique will save countless lives. Unfortunately, this brain does not have such philanthropic inclinations.

Doom Machine, The

A scientist working on harnessing solar power and irritated by emotional distractions, creates a robot to help him, with the usual unfortunate consequences.

See also: "Almost Human" (Dimension X and X Minus One), "The Automaton" (Hall of Fantasy), "Beware of Tomorrow" (Mysterious Traveler and Sealed Book) and "The Doom Machine" (Suspense and 2000 Plus).

Door of Gold

A couple penetrate a deep Incan tomb, considered sacred by the locals, and soon find themselves betrayed by their guide and sealed in. To escape they must navigate their way through booby traps and deadly pitfalls to reach a distant exit.

Dunwich Horror, The

H.P. Lovecraft tale about a 'thing' conjured up by a deformed outcast which feeds only on massive amounts of blood.

Escape to Death

Hungarian NKVD agents force a renowned doctor to defect to the west, so he can assassinate a former patient who is already in Austria.

Eve

Frank is in prison for a crime that he didn't commit and his wife Eve is determined to find the real culprit. Through her own investigation she finds a man named Jerry who may be the killer in question, but things get complicated when Eve begins to fall in love with him!

Produced twice for Suspense, the first in 1943 with Nancy Kelly and then, in 1948, expanded into an hour long version with June Havoc. Based on the Cornell Woolrich novel "The Black Angel".

Fear Paints a Picture

A woman will inherit a fortune provided that she doesn't go insane by her 21st birthday. All is well until she notices a painting mysteriously changing as her birthday slowly draws near...

Finishing School

A seance is held at a charm school which ends with a student dying from a heart attack—one caused by fright. Was it supernatural or was it planned by another student?

Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble

A man is stabbed under impossible circumstances during the production of Macbeth.

Five Canaries in the Room

A bachelor party turns deadly when a dead body appears and an apartment with canaries seemingly disappears.

Flight of the Bumblebee, The

The experience of a flight crew on a bombing mission during the Korean War. Stars Fred McMurray.

Flood on the Goodwins

A salvage crew helping to rescue ships in the English Channel during the war inadvertently takes on a Nazi saboteur.

A version of this story was also produced for Escape.

Fountain Plays, The

A man murders a rather annoying associate by drowning him in his fountain, making it appear the man was drunk and simply fell into the water by accident. However, a detective visits the estate and begins to question this supposed "accidental" drowning.

Formula for Death

An eccentric scientist's preoccupation with the paranormal may be a headache for government officials, but it comes in useful when he is kidnapped by an enemy agent.

Frankenstein

Doctor Frankenstein creates life, but his friend, a cleric, insists that he destroy it.

Friend to Alexander, A

A man has vivid dreams of his friendship with Alexander Hamilton, and of his upcoming duel with Aaron Burr.

Another version was produced for Sleep No More.

Fugue in C Minor

Ida Lupino plays a debutante looking to marry a recently widowed socialite in early 20th century Philadelphia. She learns that his home has been built around a giant pipe organ that can be heard, and felt, throughout the house. Disturbing events begin to occur when his two children return from boarding school and speak of what might be hidden in those giant pipes... also stars Vincent Price.

Furnished Floor, The

A landlady rents out her top floor to a previous occupant, a widower who, for some reason, wants everything exactly the way it was when his wife was alive.

Game Hunt

In Kenya, a neophyte trophy hunter causes trouble for the native guide and the professional hunter he's hired when he merely wounds a lion. While attempting to finish it off, the professional feels fear for the first time on a hunt.

Ghost Hunt

As a publicity stunt, a disc jockey teams up with a psychic investigator to stay the night in a haunted house where four suicides have been committed and wins up getting more than he bargained for.

Gold on the Adomar

A shipwreck lying in a fragile undersea gully hoards a fortune in gold—for anyone fool enough to try and retrieve it. Based on a true story.

Green Idol, The

A couple touring in Mecca insist on purchasing a souvenir in the form of a small green idol, over the vehement objections of the vendor, who warns them the statuette carries with it the curse of Ramkar.

Green Lorelei, The

A down-and-out pulp writer finds himself distracted from his work by the uncanny singing of the woman in the apartment above him. Intrigued, he ventures up to meet her, but her hostile hubby claims she has been dead for many years.

Heads, You Lose

A private detective is hired to find a very ill man who vanished years ago. He is surely dead, so how has he contacted his attorney?

Heavens to Betsy

A suburban family finds life takes a strange turn when 'something' crash lands in their backyard.

Originally performed for the series On Stage.

Hitchhiker, The

A fellow going on a cross country car trip keeps meeting up with the same pesky spectral hitchhiker that he has no intention of picking up. Starring Orson Welles.

Another version of this story was produced for Mercury Theatre on the Air.

House in Cypress Canyon, The

A couple move into what seems an ideal house, except for one sealed closet from which strange animalistic sounds emanate, and blood runs out from under the door. Soon the closet begins to exert an uncanny influence on the wife. Stars Robert Taylor.

A new version has been produced by the Suspense rivial group: Blue Hours Productions.

In Fear and Trembling

Lucia Durant has been happily married to her husband, Gilbert, for four years. However, half-sister Beverly moves in with them and all of the sudden Lucia begins to feel ill. Soon, she begins to suspect her husband and half-sister are having an affair and that they are trying to kill her!

Invisible Ape, The

A chimpanzee subject to experiments into invisibility escapes from the lab. One of the lab workers, a self-seeking ne'er-do-well, decides to go after it by making himself invisible as well. And while he's at it, why not grab a chance for a little petty larceny....?

I Won't Take a Minute

When a young man's fiancee disappears while dropping off a parcel for her boss, he can't convince anyone that she even exists, let alone help him find out what has happened to her.

A version of this story appeared on Escape as "Finger of Doom".

It's All in your Mind

A man plans to murder his best friend, to be with the murdered man's wife. But just as he is about to shoot, an experimental drug kicks in, allowing him to hear the thoughts of others.

Juvenile Rebellion, The

Ever suspect your kids are hiding something? Well, perhaps they are—like maybe a plot to take over the world...

Kaleidoscope

When a meteor destroys a spaceship, its crew is hurled outward into space in a dozen directions. Their suit radios will keep them in contact range for only so long. What do men talk about when death seems imminent?

Versions of this story also appeared on Bradbury 13, Dimension X, Mindwebs, Suspense, and The Shape of Things to Come (BBC).

See also: "Program Completed" (Miscellaneous Shows)

Kettler Method, The

A doctor visits an insane asylum but grows suspicious of its staff...

King's Birthday, The

During World War II in Denmark, ominous notes are being sent to a Count who is aiding the Nazis—notes that predict he will commit suicide on the night of the King's birthday.

Korean Christmas Carol, A

On Christmas Eve during the Korean War, a soldier hitches a ride on a truck driven by a mysterious soldier with a special delivery to make.

Lady in the Red Hat, The

Three persons vitally interested in a serial killer case—a columnist, a reporter, and a police detective—receive anonymous notes instructing them to meet the murderer in a chapel at midnight.

Lady Killer

An insurance investigator suspects she's been poisoned by a charming stranger she happens to sit next to on an airplane.

Last Letter of Doctor Bronson, The

Doctor Bronson believes there a five basic checks that prevent a person from murdering another. Obsessed with proving his theory, he finds five different people and tries to convince them to commit murder—confident that one of the five checks will prevent his subject from doing so. Unfortunately, his theory is not proven as planned.

Three versions were produced for Suspense and one version for Audion Theatre (as "The Last of Dr Bronson").

Last Night

To relieve mounting debt and avert financial collapse, the husband and wife proprietors of a dude ranch appeal to a wealthy guest. In the morning, the husband discloses that he got the loan... but the wife soon discovers that the guest disappeared during the the night.

Another version appeared on Molle Mystery Theatre.

Lazarus Walks

A man whose near-death experience has left him with omniscience and a compulsion to speak out when he hears a lie, takes up residence with a doctor and his wife.

Leiningen Versus the Ants

An iron-willed South American plantation owner is determined to prevent a plague of army ants from overrunning his land.

Versions of this story appeared on Escape, Mystery in the Air; also as "The Naked Jungle" (based on the movie of the same name) on Lux Radio Theatre.

Life Ends at Midnight

Mrs. Bates' son Walter returns home and tells his mom he needs fifteen hundred dollars by midnight or he's a dead man. Unfortunately, she lost all the money she had, so now Walter has to resort to other means to procure the funding.

Like Man, Somebody Dig Me

A beatnik named "The Tennis Shoe" is falsely accused of murder. Script by George Bamber.

Two versions were produced.

Listen Young Lovers

A young couple living in communist Czechoslovakia are inspired by western radio broadcasts to attempt a desperate escape through the Iron Curtain.

Locked Room, The

A man has been murdered, presumably over a diamond, but it's not just a question of who did it, but how—the man was alone in the room, the windows were locked from the inside, the door was locked as well, and two people stood outside the door who swear no one went in.

Lodger, The

A classic horror tale about a town plagued by a phantom serial killer of women, and a boarding house madam who takes in a suspicious boarder.

A version of this story was produced as an 'audition' episode of Suspense [1940]—an episode which was directed by the 'master of suspense' himself, Alfred Hitchcock. It was produced twice more for Suspense.

Log of the Marne, The

A true story about a British gunboat pinned down by Communist forces on the Yangtze river during the struggle between Mao and China's Nationalists. Stars Ray Milland.

Lord of the Witch Doctors, The

The British consulate on Zanzibar is threatened by a German agent stirring up the natives of the mainland by posing as a powerful witch doctor.

Lost Ship, The

An embezzler and his wife, on the run from the law, encounter an old man living on the edge of the desert who tells them a tale of a nearby treasure-filled Spanish galleon.

Lost Special, The

How can an entire train disappear on an open track between two stations eight miles apart? Stars Orson Welles.

Also broadcast on ESCAPE.

Love's Lovely Counterfeit

Organization man Ben Grace plots with political reformer June Lyons to unseat his boss, gangster Sol Caspar.

With Humphrey Bogart [1945]; James Cagney [1948].

Lt Langer's Last Collection

Man Alive

A San Francisco newspaper columnist stumbles into a spy ring when a friend-of-a-friend gets hit over the head on the Berkeley ferry.

Man from Tomorrow, The

An ex-pilot answers an ad for volunteers to take part in sensory deprivation experiments to enhance ESP.

A version of this story appeared on Escape.

Man Trap

Man Who Couldn't Lose, The

Leonard Snell is an insurance agent who has gambled all his money away and has some rather large debts to pay. He confronts his wife, demanding the money that she has kept away in a safe-deposit box. She refuses, so he kills her, but now has another problem—how can he get away with the murder? Amazingly, Leonard seems to hit an unending streak of luck as ironic twists and turns always seem to fall in his favor and he begins to think he won't get caught for a single thing... but will his luck end?

Two versions were produced for Suspense, the first in 1944 with Gene Kelly and the second in 1947 with Dan Duryea.

Man Who Cried Wolf, The

A member of the Soviet embassy in Mexico is told he is to be sent back because he is now considered a security risk. Since this almost certainly means a one-way ticket to a prison camp in Siberia, he plans to make an escape for freedom. Based on a true story. Starring William Powell.

Man Who Knew How, The

Mr. Pender is on a passenger train and strikes up a conversation with a stranger. He offers the man a mystery novel to read, but the stranger promptly turns him down, stating that mysteries aren't accurate to life as the murderers get caught. He instead is only interested in murderers who don't get caught and proceeds to describe ways a person can die and have it appear to be from natural causes. After this meeting, Mr. Pender begins to hear about a string of deaths that have occurred in the exact same fashion as the stranger described! Furthermore, when Mr. Pender begins to investigate, he starts seeing the stranger in places where these deaths have just happened! Is he behind these deaths?

Man Who Stole the Bible, The

A New Orleans hotel guest snatches a bible from his room and finds himself the target of some very desperate and dangerous people.

Two versions of this story were also produced for Escape.

Man Who Went Back to Save Lincoln, The

Man Who Would Be King, The

Hungry for adventure, two soldiers venture beyond British India's North West Frontier in the hopes of founding their own private kingdom.

Another version of this story appeared on Escape.

Man without a Body, The

A village is terrorized by a figure who is supposedly invisible.

Marry for Murder

An attorney believes that his client may be marrying a murderer who plans on poisoning his new bride to take over her estate.

Marvelous Barastro, The

Orson Welles stars as "The Marvelous Barastro"—a small-time carnival magician who reads fortunes, speaks with the dead, reads the secrets of life, falls in love with and marries a beautiful blind woman. Shortly thereafter, they meet another travelling magician who desires Anna as his assistant and is willing to go to extraordinary lengths to get her.

Another version was produced for Mystery in the Air, starring Peter Lorre.

Massacre at Little Big Horn    *LOST*

Memory of a Murder

A daydreamer in the park imagines a murder. He is then hired to help out at the murderer's vaudeville act. He becomes convinced that the man is now planning to murder his assistant.

Menace in Wax, The

A spooky museum is being used by spies to send coded messages.

Merry Widower, The

George Muncey has an argument with his wife and storms out of the house. He decides to go to an operetta called The Merry Widower where he starts to believe that the main character—Prince Danilo—is himself, and then begins to believe that only a woman who frequents the operetta named Miss Callemere sees that in him. Obsessed with the idea of being with this new woman, he decides to murder his wife to free himself.

Message to Garcia, A

In the days leading up to the Spanish/American war, a US Infantry lieutenant sneaks into Cuba to meet with the revolutionary General Garcia.

Misfire

An accident at a military nuclear test site threatens to detonate the bomb prematurely. Can the workers fix the problem before the countdown reaches zero?

Mission of the Betta, The    *LOST*

Moment of Darkness, The

During a train ride from Paris to the French Riviera, a niece tries to protect her wealthy aunt from a medium, who she believes is a fake.

Most Dangerous Game, The

Classic tale of a world-renowned hunter who gets shipwrecked on an island owned by a madman who shares his passion for the hunt, except that he hunts only the most dangerous of game—human beings. Two versions were made, one with Orson Welles, the other with Joseph Cotten.

Versions of this story also appeared on Escape, The Chase, Hollywood Star Time, and Arch Oboler's Plays.

Mountain, The

An expedition to climb one of the tallest peaks in the world goes horribly wrong when one of the party is found murdered.

Mr Markham, Antique Dealer

A blackmailer warns his victim that if he's murdered, he'll be back to haunt her in one-half hour.

Three versions of "Mr. Markham, Antique Dealer" were done for Suspense; the two later versions of the script were aired as "The Dealings of Mr. Markham."

Murder Goes for a Swim

The Lone Wolf receives a letter from a woman stating she suspects someone is trying to murder her during a beauty pageant. When the Lone Wolf investigates, he finds the woman floating in a swimming pool dead. Who done it?

Murderous Revision, A

An insane radio writer plots to kill his boss—and record the murder for broadcast.

Music Lovers, The

In Post-War London, Geoffrey Spencer—an engineer working on the top-secret Superhawk—is found dying in the back of a car. Whodunit? An old gumshoe picks up the scent.

My Dear Niece

Elderly Mrs. Rogers grows suspicious when she takes a vaguely-defined part-time job for a mysterious publishing firm.

Narrative about Clarence

A family's life is forever changed by the return of the wife's mysterious brother—a doctor who claims that he has studied the occult in India. He now plans to set up an asylum to practice these terrifying powers on his patients.

Needle in the Haystack

Adapted by E. Jack Neuman from Captain Walter Karig's "Battle Report: Korea"

Night Ferry to Paris

Night Man, The

Miss Rhodes has been in constant fear for her life for the past ten years. Why? Ten years ago, she gave an incriminating testimony that put away a criminal named Tom Nixon... and Nixon has sworn murderous revenge. It's been ten years and Nixon is supposedly still in prison, but now Miss Rhodes is convinced that a new elevator operator in her building is none other than Tom Nixon himself! Is he really out to get her or is she simply paranoid?

Night Must Fall

Wealthy old Mrs. Bramson hires charming young Danny as a companion, but her niece suspects him of being a murderer. Based on the play by Emlyn Williams.

Other versions aired on Screen Guild Theatre, Mollé Mystery Theatre and Best Plays.

Night Reveals, The

An insurance investigator suspects that his wife may be responsible for the string of arsons that have been plaguing the city recently.

4 separate versions of this story were produced for Suspense; other versions appeared on Tonight's Best Story and Presenting Boris Karloff.

Nineteen Deacon Street

An actor takes a room in a boarding house and soon begins to have visions in his dreams about the room's former inhabitant, who cries out for his help in solving her disappearance.

Nothing up My Sleeve

A woman must figure out how a crook is able to hide a fortune of money in plain sight.

Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, An

A Confederate saboteur hanged from a bridge by Union troops gets a reprieve when the rope snaps; can he evade the enemy's pursuit and reach home?

Four versions were made for Suspense; Versions of this story also appeared on Escape and CBS Radio Mystery Theater.

Of Maestro and Man

A boxing manager accumulates so many gambling debts that he is forced to sign over his star boxer to his debt collector. Unfortunately, the manager learns that his boxer plans to get married and leave the country—something the manager can't allow, because if the deal falls through with the debt collector he's a dead man!

On a Country Road

On a dark and stormy night, a couple are stranded in their car with an insane murderer on the loose in the nearby woods.

Four versions aired on Suspense.

One Hundred in the Dark

A group of gentlemen at a fashionable club in New York discuss detective stories, a tale about a missing coin, and a re-telling of a crime where a sapphire ring was stolen.

One-Way Ride to Nowhere

A man gets on a roller coaster ride alive and ends up dead by strangulation. How can a man be murdered at such great speeds, especially when he was in the back seat alone?

Ordeal in Donner Pass

After becoming lost, a party of settlers is snowed in for the winter in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. When their food runs out, things get very ugly very fast. Based on a true story.

Outer Limit, The

A test pilot on an experimental high altitude aircraft with only ten minutes worth of fuel disappears from radar for ten hours, yet returns safely. Of course, it is impossible, as is his story of contact with aliens and the dire warning they've asked him to deliver to Mankind.

Two versions of this story were made for Suspense. Versions also appeared on Escape, X Minus One, Dimension X, and Beyond Tomorrow.

Palmer Method, The

A man who specializes in forging people's signatures joins the army to escape the law. Realizing that he will be sent to the battlefront, he sees an opportunity for further escape when he switches identities with a dead man.

Peralta Map, The

Two men go in search a fabled lost diamond mine despite the stories of the unknown fates of previous expeditions, which the locals attribute to the ghost of a dead cavalry officer who guards the place against all intruders.

Passage to Benares, A

Professor Henry Poggioli, psychologist, investigates a murder in Trinidad.

Philomel Cottage

Alix has a whirlwind romance with Gerald Martin. Having not known him for even a week, they are engaged and soon married. All is wonderful, until her new husband begins to act strange.

Three versions were produced for SUSPENSE. The first version with Alice Frost is considered lost, the second stars Orson Welles, and the third stars Lili Palmer

Pit and the Pendulum, The

A classic tale about the grisly atrocities of the Spanish Inquisition.

Perhaps as many as 4 versions produced for Suspense; also a version for Appointment with Fear, and a modernized version was done for CBS Radio Mystery Theater.

Plan X

Jack Benny guest stars in this Sci-Fi spoof about how the Martians deal with an impending invasion of pesky, primitive Earthmen.

Portrait without a Face

An artist witnesses a murder but can not remember the face of the woman who was there—she must be the supposed killer. He paints the portrait of her but leaves the face blank, hoping that it will help him to remember.

Premonition

An American writer and his wife have their idyllic vacation in the Austrian Alps ruined by his premonition of something terrible about to happen.

Present Tense

A condemned murderer on his way to death row for killing his wife is granted a reprieve by fate when the train he is on derails and he escapes to find the man who framed him. Stars Vincent Price.

Another version of this story (also with Price) appeared on Escape. See also: "An Occurrance at Owl Creek Bridge."

Queen's Ring, The

A fiction based on the uprising lead by the Earl of Essex against Queen Elisabeth I, wherein they are tragic lovers whose affections are at odds with their pride and ambition. Stars James Mason.

See also: "Elizabeth the Queen" (NBC Presents: Best Plays)

Re-Entry

The first astronaut to venture beyond the Earth's atmosphere is so overcome with awe and freefall euphoria that he refuses to return to the ground.

Report From a Dead Planet

Space explorers happen across an alien world whose native civilization has been destroyed, leaving only the scarred ruins of dead cities.

Versions of this story also appeared on The Mysterious Traveler as "The Planet Zevius", and on Theatre Five as "In Absence of All Intelligent Life".

Report on the X-915

America's top secret new nuclear submarine is hijacked by hostile forces and must be destroyed before it launches missiles to destroy New York.

Another version of this story was earlier produced for the series Action 80.

Return to Dust

A scientist conducting experiments in the shrinking of cancer cells unwisely makes himself a test subject, with tragic results.

Return Trip

Four people on a bus leaving a remote insane asylum in the mountains become trapped by an avalanche; but the nightmare is made even worse when they become convinced that one of them is an escaped homicidal psychopath.

Revenge of Captain Bligh, The

The remarkable true story of how Bligh and his loyal sailors, set adrift from the Bounty, survived a 4,000 mile voyage across the Pacific in a small rowboat to exact revenge on the mutineers. Stars Charles Laughton.

Riabouchinska

While investigating the murder of a man found in the cellar of the home of a ventriloquist, a police detective gets some unexpected help from the ventriloquist's dummy. Story by Ray Bradbury.

See also: "Dead of Night" (Escape). Another version of this story was made be the BBC.

Rogue Male

An experienced game hunter undertakes a personal mission on behalf of humanity, to assassinate the maniacal fascist dictator of a certain central European country.

Later made into a film starring Peter O'Toole.

Russian New Year

Title unconfirmed.

Screaming Woman, The

Children playing in a field claim to hear the sound of a woman screaming from under the ground. Children make up the craziest things...

Another version of this story appeared on Bradbury 13.

Search for Henri Lefevre, The

A composer finishes a brand new composition and learns that someone else has already composed the exact same musical piece! How is such a thing possible when the composer just made it up from his head?

Second Door, The

Gordon Saunders rents an isolated house, but finds a woman in a red dress on his property, apparently using a rocking chair. When he approaches, she disappears—but the rocking continues.

Security Agent, The

A middle-aged bachelor resolves to escape from Communist-controlled Poland by hijacking an airliner.

See How He Runs

Shipment of Mute Fate, A

A trapper connives the captain of a passenger ship into allowing the transport of a bushmaster—the world's deadliest snake—with predictable consequences. Based on a story by Martin Storm.

Two versions were produced for Suspense; four versions appeared on Escape.

Shot, The

In a duel between two Confederate officers, the duelist entitled to the second shot decides after his opponent's shot missed to wait on it until he's good and ready. Starring Van Heflin.

Signal-Man, The

A railroad signalman is driven to the brink of madness by a spectral apparition at the mouth of a train tunnel, which seems to be trying to warn him of... what?

3 separate versions of this story were produced for Suspense. Other versions appeared on Lights Out, Nightfall, and Columbia Workshop; Also on Weird Circle as "The Thing in the Tunnel" and as "Hello Below There" on Beyond Midnight, a horror series from South Africa.

Silver Shoe, The

A sailor meets a dance hall girl who looks exactly like his long-dead lover—and she finds him strangely familiar, too.

Sin Eater, The

A couple travelling in the remote Appalachians come across a hillbilly family which forces the visitors to 'eat' the sins of a recently deceased family member (a 'sin-eater' for most of his life), so that the dead man's soul won't be damned.

Singing Walls, The

A young man comes out of a drug stupor to discover that he may have killed another man. He has only a few hours to try to find out what happened.

Two separate versions were produced for Suspense.

Sisters, The

Lydia Haskell goes to a funeral parlor to purchase a coffin. When the mortician asks who it is for, she tells him that it is intended for herself—she had a premonition that she will be dying shortly! Worried that she may be planning to commit suicide, the mortician calls the police after she leaves. A detective then visits Lydia's house where he finds the woman in question living with her mentally unbalanced sister.

Three versions were produced for Suspense—the first with Ida Lupino and Agnes Moorehead, the second with Rosalind Russell and Lurene Tuttle, and the third with Francis Farmer and Cathy Lewis.

Sleeping Draught, A

A 19th century prison hulk delivering convicts to the penal colony of Australia is endangered when the desperate prisoners decide to stage a revolt.

Another version of this story also appeared on Escape.

Sneak Preview

A movie director meets a detective who quibbles over the realism of the filmmaker's crime films. To give him a greater sense of reality, the detective brings the director to the morgue where they recently found the body of a world-renowned assassin. Fascinated by this hired killer, the director begins to investigate the assassin's life to use him as a subject for his next picture.

Somebody Help Me

A divorced salesman with a violent streak kills the woman he picks up for the evening.

Sorry, Wrong Number

Mrs. Stevenson is a bedridden woman whose only access to the outside world is her telephone. One day, while listening to what seems to be a crossed phone connection, she overhears two men planning a murder. With the police unhelpful, can she piece together their plans and stop the impending killing?

Eight versions of this story were broadcast Suspense, all of which starred Agnes Moorehead. Lux Radio Theatre produced an hour-long version with Barbara Stanwyck and Burt Lancaster, the stars of the 1948 film adaptation.

Stand-In

An obnoxious movie star is targeted for murder by her cheating husband and her disgruntled stand-in.

Statement of Employee Henry Wilson, The

An employee named Henry Wilson plans to kill his employer—a condescending upstart named Charles Dodd—while maintaining an ironclad alibi. The plan goes off without a hitch and even gets Henry promoted, but unfortunately Henry's own mental state proves to be his undoing...

Stool Pigeon, The

Strange Day in May, A

An astronaut returns from space to find the world has somehow changed in his absence.

Strange Death of Charles Umberstein, A

Vincent Price as a spy in Nazi Germany desperately trying to avoid the Gestapo, whom he is convinced is on to him.

Stranger with My Face

Study in Wax, A

Two men trapped for the winter at a remote research station in the Arctic Circle must contend against each other as well as the elements.

Another version of this story also appeared on Escape. See also: "Weather Station Four" (Nightfall).

Subway

A desperate actress plots the murder of her rival during a chance encounter in the New York City subway.

Suspicion

Mr. Mummery is feeling well. His business partner, Mr. Brookes, notices his uneasiness and they strike up a conversation about health, Mr. Mummery's wife, and their new cook. Mr. Brookes is looking for a cook, but he must be careful—he hears that there is a poisoner on the loose who takes cook positions at people's home. Mr. Mummery begins to wonder—is his illness linked to his cook's food?

Three versions were produced for Suspense, the first with Pedro de Cordoba (now considered lost), the second with Charles Ruggles, and the third with Sam Jaffe.

Tarawa Was Tough

Ten Grand, The

A woman named Gigi Lewis has her purse stolen in a crowded subway station. After she cries for help, a stranger manages to retrieve the stolen purse and return it to her. She thanks him and gets on the train, at which time she notices that ten thousand dollars of someone else's money somehow ended up in her purse!

Thieves Fall Out

Art Kramer is a black market dealer in desperate need of money. He decides to murder an associate for the money and put the blame on someone else. Of course, nothing goes as planned.

Thing of Beauty, A

Madeleine Tremaine was a famous London stage actress who now lives as a recluse. She allows only the local vicar, Father Benson, to visit but since he is retiring the vicar brings along with him Mr. Sedley, the new curate, in hopes that he will continue to counsel her. After they arrive, Madeleine begins to tell both men her life story in the theater as well as how she would upstage the lead, Nell Garrett, in her early performances. One day, Nell smacked Madeleine in the face for upstaging her. Later, Nell was found with a knife in her back. Did Madeleine do it?

Two versions were produced for Suspense, the first in 1944 with June Deprez and the second in 1947 with Angela Lansbury.

Thirty-Second of December, The

A nogoodnik hocks his wife's jewelry in return for a watch with the uncanny ability to reset time to its own reckoning. Perhaps he has finally found a way to make crime pay. What could possibly go wrong when you control time itself? Lots...

Thirty-Nine Steps, The

Three O'Clock

A man decides to kill his wife by planting a bomb in their basement. When he surprises a couple of thieves, he is tied in the basement within sight of the bomb so that they can make their getaway. The bomb is set to go off at three o'clock, unless he can find some way to get help... Stars Van Heflin.

Other versions appeared on Presenting Boris Karloff and Sleep No More.

Three Skeleton Key

On a lighthouse completely surrounded by water, a derelict ship wrecks on the reefs, and lets loose millions of giant rats. The rats are hungry and take over the lighthouse... floor by floor, window by window, and finally... the windows begin to give...

Two versions of this story were produced for Suspense, both with Vincent Price. Other versions of this story were produced for Escape and Sleep No More. Also, a version was created for an independently produced series called The Grip of Terror.

Till Death Do Us Part

A husband implements a plot to get revenge on both his wife and her lover.

Time on My Hands

Two men use a time machine to return to 1908 attempt to dispose of Adolph Hitler before he can give rise to the Nazis.

An earlier version was produced for The Mysterious Traveler, but I believe that show has been lost.

To Find Help

An old woman hires a seemingly meek young man to clean her house.

Too Perfect Alibi, The

A love-triangle-leads-to-murder story. Sam and Jack are close friends... they might be best friends, except they are both in love with the same woman, Katherine. So, when Jack and Katherine announce their upcoming marriage and ask Sam to be Best Man, Sam decides it is time to kill his rival instead... but planning the perfect alibi is not as easy as it sounds.

With Danny Kaye as Sam.

Tonight at 5:55

The top brass of the military and government in Washington get a cablegram from the "enemy" (Soviets?) demanding immediate surrender, or else face a barrage of nuclear warheads that very evening.

Track of the Cat, The

Trap, The

A old woman is terrorized in her own house by a presence that keeps whistling "Farewell to Thee". Stars Agnes Moorehead.

Twenty-Four Sixty-Two

In an overpopulated dystopian future, a poet is sentenced to death for the unspeakable crime of being superfluous and obsolete.

See also: "1984" (Theatre Guild on the Air)

Two Sharp Knives

A small-town police chief captures a man wanted for murder in Philadelphia. But something stinks about the murder rap, the wanted poster, and everything else.

Uncle Henry's Rosebush

Uncle Henry has disappeared. The aunt is keeping quiet. There's a syringe hidden in the drawer, a pile of freshly dug ground in the garden, and noises of people moving around at night. The niece and her husband try to figure out what this all means.

Visitor, The

A young man is believed to have been murdered by his friend. Three years later, he reappears. Is he an imposter simply trying to claim the inheritance?

[1944] With Eddie Bracken (Bud), Kenneth Christy (Joe), and Jeanette Nolan (Ellen). [1947] With Donald O'Connor (Bud), Wally Maher (Joe), and Verna Felton (Ellen).

Voice of Company A, The

With the world on the brink of World War Three, the military plans to launch a satellite capable of jamming all ground communications, but one scientist on the project is pressured by the ghost of a former army comrade to sabotage it.

Voyage through Darkness

Judith Webster is a traveling companion to an elderly, wealthy woman. However, her companion has passed away and Judith must now escort the body back to America for burial. It's a somber duty and she looks forward to the voyage home as a chance to recuperate. Unfortunately, when she hears that the 'blackout killer' may be aboard the ship, she starts seeing a suspicious figure lurking near the lifeboats!

Wait, The

In a nameless place and time, a squad of secret police close in on the last stronghold of a cell of insurgent freedom fighters.

Walls Came Tumbling Down, The

A priest visits a journalist named Darcy—a former pupil of his—who informs him that a stranger threatened him three days ago, demanding that the clergyman give him two Bibles marked with the initials E.B. and that he help him find the "walls of Jericho." The priest has no Bibles with such an inscription nor any knowledge of what these "walls of Jericho" could be. Can Darcy help solve this mystery?

Waxwork, The

A reporter in Victorian London volunteers to spend a night in the Hall of Murderers of the famous Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. Bad idea.

Versions were produced for Beyond Midnight, The Price of Fear, Sleep No More and Suspense (x3). A teleplay was also produced for Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1959).

Week Ago Wednesday, A

After a quarrel with her husband, a woman seemingly travels one week into the future and finds him gone, with new tenants living in their apartment.

Wet Saturday

Mr. Princey's daughter has just murdered the schoolmaster. A murderess in the family? That won't do. It's up to Mr. Princey to frame someone else for her crime.

White Rose Murders, The

Ginny Trowbridge is a well-to-do debutante whose boyfriend Terry—a homicide detective—is in search of the "White Rose Murderer." To help her boyfriend aquire a much needed promotion, Ginny takes it upon herself to lure the killer out in the open, thus putting her own life in danger.

Will You Make a Bet with Death?

A man makes an unfortunate bet with his step-father: that his step-father can kill him within six months and not get caught... and he will never know where, when, or how.

Woman in Red, The

A young woman with no family connections answers an ad that gets her mixed up in the plot of a pair of Nazi spies.

World of Darkness, A

Police arrive at a theatrical rooming house and find a woman named Nancy Collins dead. The detective gathers all the suspects together, at which time a blind man named Anton Rejak announces that he knows exactly what happened to her—he heard every sound—and proceeds to recount the events of the evening...

You Died Last Night

An Earthling encounters a flying saucer whose occupant has come to judge and possibly destroy the planet.

Note from anonymous: [I have a strong hunch this didn't air on The Mysterious Traveler. There's a reference in the script to the Berlin Wall which didn't exist when that series was on the air. There was an episode of the Traveler with a similar title ("I Died Last Night"), but it's a completely different script.]

You Were Wonderful

A nightclub singer in Brazil begins to think her employers are working for the Nazis.

You'll Never See Me Again

Ed Bliss gets in a heated argument with his wife Janet—their first marital spat after only three months of marriage. She stomps out of the house, threatening that Ed will never see her again. Ed isn't too worried at first—figuring he will give her a few days to cool off—but when he calls his mother-in-law to finally speak with Janet, her mother says she never came to their house! Where could she be?

Two versions were produced for Suspense, the first in 1944 with Joseph Cotton and the second in 1946 with Robert Young.

Zero Hour

A very popular story with radio producers. Neighborhood children invent a new game called 'Invasion'—or is it just a game?

3 versions of this story were produced for Suspense. Versions also appeared on Future Tense, Adventure Theater, Dimension X, The Mysterious Traveler, X Minus One (2 versions), and Escape.

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