For a small taste of this great
series,
listen to the preview below.
This show comes on 2 CDs In MP3 Format
Inner Sanctum Mysteries was a popular old-time radio program that aired
from January 7, 1941 to October 5, 1952. Created by Himan Brown, the
anthology series featured stories of mystery, terror and suspense. The
tongue-in-cheek introductions were in sharp contrast to shows like Suspense
and The Whistler. A total of 526 episodes are known to have been produced.
Of more than 500 programs broadcast, only about 100 remain in circulation,
sometimes minus dates or titles.
The 1954 syndicated television series featured Paul McGrath as the
off-camera host/narrator. In the 1970s, with his CBS Radio Mystery Theater
series, Himan Brown recycled both the creaking door opening, and to a lesser
extent, the manner of Raymond, as that show's hosts (including E. G.
Marshall and Tammy Grimes. In later repeats during the 1990s, Brown himself
mimicked Raymond's "Pleasant dreeeammsss?!" for the familiar closing.
The early 1940s programs opened with Raymond Edward Johnson introducing
himself as, "Your host, Raymond," in a mocking sardonic voice. A spooky
melodramatic organ score punctuated Raymond's many morbid jokes and playful
puns. Raymond's closing was an elongated "Pleasant dreeeammsss?!" His
tongue-in-cheek style and ghoulish relish of his own tales became the
standard for many such horror narrators to follow.
When Johnson left the series in 1946, he was replaced by Paul McGrath, who
did not keep the "Raymond" name and was known only as "your host" or "Mr.
Host." Beginning in 1945, Lipton Tea sponsored the series, pairing first
Raymond and then McGrath with cheery commercial spokeswoman Mary Bennett,
whose blithesome pitches for Lipton tea contrasted sharply with the macabre
themes of the stories, and who primly chided the host for his trademark dark
humor and creepy manner.
Its campy comedy notwithstanding, the stories were usually effective little
chillers, mixing horror and humor in equal doses. Memorable episodes
included "Terror by Night" (September 18, 1945) and an adaptation of "The
Tell-Tale Heart" (August 3, 1941). The latter starred Boris Karloff, who was
heard regularly in the first season, starring in more than 15 episodes and
returning sporadically thereafter. Other established stars in the early
years included Peter Lorre, Mary Astor, Helen Hayes, Claude Rains, Paul
Lukas, Frank Sinatra and Orson Welles. Most of the lead and supporting
players were stalwarts of New York radio, including Larry Haines, Stefan
Schnabel, Berry Kroeger and a few who would go on to greater fame in film or
television, such as Richard Widmark, Everett Sloane and Burgess Meredith.
Apart from the ghoulish host, another show trademark: the eerie creaking
door, which opened and closed the broadcasts.
Commonly unknown is the fact that the door sound was actually made by a
rusty desk chair. The program did originally intend to use a door, but on
first use the door did not creak. Undaunted, Brown grabbed a nearby chair,
sat in it and turned, causing a hair raising squeak. The chair was used from
then on as the sound prop. On at least one memorable occasion, a staffer
innocently repaired and oiled the chair, thus forcing the sound man to mimic
the squeak orally.
So pick a Friday or Saturday night, curl up in
your favorite chair or couch; and, if it's a dark and stormy night, so much
the better. Then open the "squeaky door to Inner Sanctum and enjoy
over 180 episodes and better than 76 hours of spine tingling mystery, and
suspense.
The following are the episodes contained on the
two CD set.
410107 Death for Sale
410211 Mystery of the Howling Dog
410420 Fog
410518 Dead Freight
410525 Death Is a Joker
410803 The TellTale Heart
410810 The Death Ship
411207 Island of Death
411221 The Man from Yesterday
411228 Death Has Claws
420118 Dead Reckoning
420503 Study for Murder
420614 Terrible VengeanceAus
420823 Dead Mans Magic
420920 The Dead Walk at Night
430307 Black Sea Gull
430605 Death Across The Board
430606 The House Where Death Lived
430801 The Horla
430822 The Bog Oak Necklace
431212 Black Curtain The
440108 The Death Laugh
440415 The Skull That Walked
440422 The Melody of Death
440513 The Silent Hands
440610 Death Is A Joker
441007 Dead Mans Vengeance
441129 The Voice on the Wire
441206 The Color Blind Formula
450109 Desert Death
450123 Death Is an Artist
450206 Death in the Depths
450220 No Coffin for the Dead
450306 The Lost Refrain
450313 Island of the Dead
450403 The Meek Die Slowly
450410 The Bog Oak Necklace
450417 The Judas Clock
450424 Song of the Slasher
450501 The Girl and the Gallows
450515 The Black Art
450522 Dead to Rights
450529 Musical Score
450605 Death Across the Board
450612 Portrait of Death
450619 Dead Mans Holiday
450626 Dead Mans Debt
450828 Dead Mans Deal
450904 The Murder Prophet
450911 The Last Story
450918 Terror by Night
450925 The Lonely Sleep
451002 The Shadow of Death
451009 Death by Scripture
451016 Till Death Do Us Part
451023 The Corridor of Doom
451030 The Man Who Couldn't Die
451106 The Wailing Wall Boris Karloff
451211 The Dark Chamber
451218 The Undead
460108 The Creeping Wall
460115 The Edge of Death
460122 The Confession
460129 Blood of Cain
460205 Skeleton Bay
460212 The Man Who Couldn't Die
460226 I Walk in the Night
460312 Strands Of Death
460326 Death Is a Double Crosser
460409 Lady with a Plan
460423 Make Ready My Grave
460507 You Could Die Laughing
460521 Detour to Terror
460604 Eight Steps to Murder
460618 I Want to Report a Murder
460819 Spectre of the Rose
460909 Murder Comes at Midnight
460923 The Dead Laugh
461007 The Listener
461104 Deaths Old Sweet Song
461125 No Rest for the Dead
470106 Death Pays the Freight
470203 Death Bound
470210 The Ghost in the Garden
470303 The Corpse That Nobody Loved
470505 Don't Dance on My Grave
470519 Terror by Night
470623 Over My Dead Body
471027 Til Death Do Us Part
471229 Death out of Mind
480112 Tempo in Blood
480126 The Doomed
480216 The Black Art
480308 The Magic Tile
480329 Lady Killer
480506 8 Steps To Murder
480628 The Corpse Laughs Last
480705 Death Demon
480726 Murder Takes Honeymoon
480802 The Murder Ship
480809 House of Doom
480906 Death Rides a Riptide
480920 Hangman's Island
480927 Murder by Prophecy
481018 Death of a Doll
481115 Death Watch in Boston
481206 Cause of Death
481213 Murder Faces East
481220 Between Two Worlds
490103 Fearful Voyage
490110 Murder Comes to Life
490117 Mark My Grave
490124 The Deadly Dummy
490131 The Devils Fortune
490207 Death Demon
490214 Birdsong for a Murderer
490221 Flame of Death
490321 Only the Dead Die Twice
490328 Appointment with Death
490404 Death Wears Lonely Smile
490411 Murder off the Record
490418 The Death Deal
490509 Corpse on the Town
490516 The Unburied Dead
490523 Strange Passenger
490606 Death on the Highway
490620 Corpse Without a Conscience
490704 Pattern for Fear
490718 Deadly Fare
490815 Dead Heat
490829 Deaths Little Brother
490905 Murder Rides the Carousel
490912 The Vengeful Corpse
490919 Honeymoon with Death
490925 Lonely Sleep
491003 Catch a Killer
491010 The Devils Workshop
491017 Image of Death
491019 The Devils Workshop
491024 Night Is My Shroud
491031 A Corpse for Halloween
491114 Wish to Kill
491219 Beyond the Grave
500109 Killer at Large
500116 The Scream
500123 Hitchhiking Corpse
500130 Skeleton Bay
500320 Corpse in the Parlor
500327 Murder Mansion
500417 Beneficiary Death
500918 Dead Mans Holiday
501106 Twice Dead
501204 Beyond the Grave
510205 Snow White Scarf
510219 The Smile of Death
510226 Man from the Grave
510528 Unforgiving Corpse
510604 A Corpse There Was
520622 Birdsong for a Murderer
520629 Terror by Night
520706 Death Pays the Freight
520713 Death for Sale
520720 The Listener
520727 The Murder Prophet
520803 Murder off the Record
520810 The Magic Tile
520817 Corpse Laughs Last
520824 No Rest for the Dead
520831 Strange Passenger
520907 The Meek Die Slowly
520914 Till Death Do Us Part
520921 The Corpse Nobody Loved
520928 The Dead Walk at Night
521005 Death Pays the Freight
xxxxxx Appointment With Death
xxxxxx Detour to Terror
xxxxxx Heart Flame
xxxxxx The Corpse In The Taxi
xxxxxx The Man From Yesterday
xxxxxx The Onyx Eye
xxxxxx The Waxwork
xxxxxx The Weight Machine
xxxxxx Twin Flames Rising
We want to thank Wikipedia for some of the
background information on this show.
Presented for your enjoyment is an entire episode for you to sample.
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Source Material:
Please note that the
DVDs/CDs whether video or audio are produced with the original
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the slight imperfections which adds to the nostalgia, charm and
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