Macabre

Macabre was a horror radio series that aired in 1961 and 1962, produced by the Far East Network (FEN) of the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS). Created primarily by William Verdier, who wrote, directed, and performed in most of the episodes, the series delivered chilling tales of the supernatural and macabre. Macabre emerged from a contest victory by the FEN over Armed Forces Network-Germany, leading to its worldwide broadcast. Despite its short run of only eight or nine episodes, it’s remembered for its effective horror storytelling and the dedicated efforts of its creators and performers, many of whom were military personnel.

Macabre was basically written and directed as a labor of love by radio employees who were not professional writers or actors, and yet, it aired worldwide during the period of OTR. (It slipped in just under the wire in 1962). The driving force behind the program was William Verdier, an Assistant Production Director for the FEN (Far East Network). He was a former NBC and CBS radio employee who ended up working in Japan for the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS). Drawing on his previous involvement with other radio dramas while working for NBC (Inner Sanctum, Suspense, and Ellery Queen), Verdier wrote seven out of the nine dramas for the new horror series, most of which he also directed. Other staff and local talent joined in the fun. The series actually began as the result of a contest between the FEN and the AFRTS in Germany. Both networks sent tapes to the AFRTS headquarters in Los Angeles, and FEN Toyko won (Digital Deli Too).

The results of the series overall are mixed. The acting is decent, but at times, lackluster. Verdier plays the lead in numerous shows, probably because they had a tough time finding good actors without an accent who would work within the budget--assuming they had one. (The limited resources become especially obvious when they read the credits and most everyone is military personal, including the host, Staff Sergeant Al Lapage.) Some of the pre-recorded sound effects don't sound natural, and other pre-recorded music isn't always a good match for the action. But these are little things common in other programs as well, and they are easy to ignore when you're caught up in the story. Some of the plot devices seem a little strained, but then surprise you with a final twist. There are many scenes that are chilling, and Verdier goes out of his way to deliver the goods for horror fans. Like Vardier told the Pacific Stars and Stripes newspaper writer, "There will be no holds barred, and when people get killed, you will hear it happen." (Nov 13, 1961)

There are indications that a second season was released beginning December 10, 1962 and running for eighteen weeks through April 8, 1963. Pacific Stars and Stripes announced the debut episode as “The Strange Diary of Basil Rene”. Another entry from February 25, 1963 listed an episode title of “The Cleverness of Remarkable Me”, and the March 17, 1963 edition listed “The Crystalline Man”, presumably a repeat episode or a reuse of the script from January 1, 1962. No additional information is currently available about this second season.

Alonzo Deen Cole

 

 

 

Alonzo Deen Cole was born on February 22, 1897 and passed away on March 31, 1971. He has been hailed by early radio fans as a prolific genius and legend of the golden age of radio drama. He created the popular gothic radio horror classic, "The Witch's Tale". Later he became the only writer for the famous radio series "Casey, Crime Photographer", producing 384 scripts. In addition, he wrote scripts for the legendary "Shadow" series, "Gangbusters", "Seth Parker", the "Hour of Charm", and the "Kate Smith Hour" creating a total of almost 900 radio plays. Cole began acting in school plays as a young man in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and toured in dramatic plays and stock companies. While he lived in New York, Cole convinced WOR to air his horror series devoted to the supernaural.

 

"The Witch's Tale" was first broadcast on May 28, 1931 through the Mutual Broadcasting System and ran for 7 years, until June 13, 1938. He crafted, wrote, produced, directed, and even starred in his gothic brainchild along with his wife Marie O'Flynn, who played the key female roles. "The Witch's Tale", is credited by early radio scholars as the first of its genre in old time radio. Importantly, author Read G. Burgan noted that "nearly all radio, television, and even comic book horror series that followed borrowed liberally, and often shamelessly from the conventions first developed by Cole". A cackling witch named Nancy introduced the half hour program with her meowing cat, Satan. She created the atmosphere for the show by inviting the listener to put out the lights and listen to her terrifying tales. Cole created a new tale each week featuring murderous dummies, vampires, crawling hands, haunted houses, devils, curses, werewolves, and mirrors leading to other dimensions. The series became statistically the top radio program of its day. "People like to be scared", said Cole, "just as they like to eat candy." 

 

After the series had ended, while thinking of moving to California, Cole destroyed all of his original recordings of "The Witch's Tale". Only about 30 recordings of the original 332 episodes still exist in poor condition. Cole did however, keep the scripts. If not for David Seigel, an avid old radio buff, the series might have been lost forever. He copied all 332 of the fragile scripts from the program, and his wife typed each script. He chose 13 scripts to publish in his book on "The Witch's Tale". KLOS in Los Angeles and 15 other west coast stations aired a remake of two of Cole's original scripts in recent years using well known actors and actresses for the parts. 

 

The Witch's Tales was also a magazine, published for two issues in 1936. Cole's photograph appeared on the cover of the first issue, and he probably wrote the lead story ("The Madman"). Purportedly the editor, Cole actually did little work for the magazine. Cole had two stories published in Weird Tales: "The Spirits of the Lake" (November, 1941), and "The Gipsy's Hand" (May, 1942).

The Haunting Hour

 

The Haunting Hour was a mystery-horror radio anthology series that aired in the mid-1940s, known for its psychological thrillers, supernatural themes, and eerie organ music. The show was a syndicated production with high production values and featured a mix of detective dramas and "whodunit" stories, with many episodes surviving thanks to efforts by the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS). Today, it is remembered as a "gem from the golden age of radio.".

 

A half-hour anthology, with each episode presenting a different standalone tale of suspense and horror.

 

The show is notable for its mysterious origins, with the names of the cast and crew never publicly revealed. This is due to the nature of its syndication, where scripts and production notes were sent to local stations, but acting credits were often dropped to make time for local sponsors.

 

Veteran radio announcer Berry Kroeger was responsible for the show's ominous opening, often accompanied by eerie organ music from Rosa Rio.

With a known run of at least 52 unique scripts and more doubtful further 39 to 52 scripts, it would appear that the series was in demand for at least four years--in and out of syndication. Given the high quality of NBC Network voice talent in the circulating episodes, one can well imagine that the remainder of the yet alleged, undiscovered, or uncirculated episodes have at least as much to recommend them.

Thankfully, as with many other examples of Golden Age Radio productions, many of the existing episodes in circulation can be directly attributed to the efforts of the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service.

True to its genre, the circulating episodes provide some highly compelling supernatural dramas--as well as a subset of fascinating mysteries and detective dramas. There's no reason to expect any less of any new episodes that surface in the coming years. Indeed, we've identified at least eleven previously uncirculated AFRTS-transcribed episodes among our own yet-to-be digitally transferred holdings of over 37,000 electrical transcriptions and reels. Certainly as we continue to wade through them and complete their transfer, we'll continue to update the log below, and the contents of these holdings.

 

Approximately 41 of the 52 or more episodes are in circulation today, with many surviving thanks to the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS).

The Witch's Tale

 

The Witch's Tale was a fantasy-horror radio drama series that aired from 1931 to 1938. Hosted by a hostess named Old Nancy, the show was based on macabre stories and was one of the first completely original horror series on radio. The program was created, written, and directed by Alonzo Deen Cole.

Cole's spooky show was hosted by Old Nancy, the Witch of Salem, who introduced a different terror tale each week. The role of Old Nancy was created by stage actress Adelaide Fitz-Allen, who died in 1935 at the age of 79. Cole replaced her with 13-year-old Miriam Wolfe, and Martha Wentworth was also heard as Old Nancy on occasion. Cole himself provided the sounds of Old Nancy's cat, Satan. Cole's wife, Marie O'Flynn, portrayed the lead female characters on the program, and the supporting cast included Mark Smith and Alan Devitte.

For syndication, the shows were recorded live during broadcast and distributed to other stations. These recordings were destroyed by Cole in 1961, so few episodes survive. Cole was also the writer, producer, and director of the radio mystery-crime drama, Casey, Crime Photographer.

In November 1936, Alonzo Deen Cole edited The Witch's Tales magazine with the lead story by Cole. It ran for only two issues.

The show's narrator, Old Nancy, inspired other radio narrators of the time, such as Raymond of Inner Sanctum. She is also credited with inspiring the creation of the Old Witch by EC Comics, a publisher famous for its horror comics, such as Tales From the Crypt.

Because the original recordings were destroyed by Cole in 1961, only a small number of episodes have survived. However, some episodes can be found available on platforms like Audible and on vintage radio collections like Relic Radio and Spotify.