RADIO THRILLS

Even though we are going forward with the new year, let's take a few minutes and turn back the clock to a time when computers and cell phones were non-existent to the general public. Instead, everyone relied on radio for their in-home entertainment. It's hard to believe, but most American families during the forties and fifties would huddle up to their Motorola's in the same way that families these days gather on the couch to watch a 4k Blu-ray movie on their 60-inch screen.

Extremely popular were radio shows featuring comedy, suspense, mystery and even horror. The Shadow became a top hit when the character made the jump from the pulps to radio, and SUSPENSE featured a slew of famous actors reading from the latest weekly script to thrill audiences. Like reading a book, radio encouraged people to use their imagination, which is why it has been dubbed "The Theater of the Mind".

Here are a few examples from the magazine, TUNE IN (March, 1946). While television was still being developed as popular entertainment, radio was still king.

Here is the famous SUSPENSE show featuring Agnes Moorehead in "Sorry, Wrong Number", which was adapted into a film starring Burt Lancaster and Barbara Stanwyck:

Here is The Shadow's first radio show from 1937:

There were a few radio horror shows, too. This one is an episode of THE WITCH'S TALE from 1934: