Weird Tales Radio II

If you missed the last one…

Weird Tales Radio was an idea that Farnworth Wright floated back in 1933. It seems like a good one when you consider the back catalogue the magazine had. It didn’t pan out. But there was a second time that Radio filled with terrors and ghoulies from WT appeared. This time it was 1941, and Farnsworth Wright was no longer editor of “The Unique Magazine”. Dorothy McIlwraith in New York had taken over the Pulp, now publishing on a bi-monthly schedule.

Within the pages of the November 1941 issue appeared “The Spirits of the Lake” by Alonzo Deen Cole. The story was based on a Radio script, specially turned into prose by Cole. (Compare it to the Radio script here.) On the side of the title was a small icon identifying the story as one from the Radio show, Witch’s Tale.

The tale follows the unfaithful husband, Roger Benton. He is pursuing the beautiful, Hilda Johannson. At first, Hilda rejects him but after Roger gets rid of the wife, Berenice, she relents. Crossing the lake, where Roger hid Berenice’s body, the slime of the lake forms and takes it vengeance on  both.

The Radio show was featured on WOR Radio in New York, something unusual to play against the music programs on other stations. Only a fraction of the 332 episodes still exist. (For the existing episodes go here.) The show’s host was an old witch named Nancy played by Adelaide Fitz-Allen until her death at 79. She was replaced by thirteen year-old Miriam Wolfe (seen above) who was able to imitate Fitz-Allen uncannily. Most of the players were Cole and his wife, Marie O’Flynn, Mark Smith and Alan Devitte.

Cole was one of the first Radio writers to copyright his work, but strangely, destroyed all the recording in the 1960s. We have a small sample thanks to fans who saved the shows. For more on this program’s history, check out Dave Siegel’s book The Witch’s Tale (2011).

There was a second Witch’s Tale story in the May 1942 issue, “The Gipsy’s Hand”. According to McIlwraith’s intro, the radio story has been adapted by Cole for magazine readers. Dr. Norman Shields has the unpleasant job of amputating an infected hand of the pianist, Gagino. Shields and his wife go to their cabin in Maine for a holiday. There, they receive a package in the mail. It is from Gagino’s mother. The box contains the severed hand, which pursues them. The doctor burns the thing with an oil lamp. Later Gagino’s mother is found burned alive in Philadelphia.

Where had the idea for the Radio show come? It turns out Cole published his own Pulp, from which the Radio show took its name. in 1936. There were two issues, neither containing material that would be used on the show. Most of the stories are from old (I would guess out-of-copyright) anthologies. Of all the authors mentioned, only “The Monster of Lake LaMetrie” (1899) by Wardon Allan Curtis is familiar. Had Cole thought to produce a Pulp to rival Weird Tales? The venture only lasted for two issues, so Farnsworth Wright had nothing to worry about. Dorothy McIlwraith held no grudges when Cole approached her in 1941. The focus was selling Radio time, not Pulps so there was no conflict of interest. McIlwraith, no doubt, hoped the exposure to the Radio audience would be good for WT.

November 1936

“The Madman” by Alonzo Deen Cole

“The Fountain of Youth” (1906) by William Hamilton Osborne

“The Phantom of the Links” (1909) by John Campbell Haywood

“Castle of Death” by Laurence D. Smith

“The Striker” (1911) by P. C. MacFarlane

A Sheaf of Ghost Stories (1904)” by Anonymous

“The Third Man in the State-Room”, A Trebly Haunted House”, “The Phantom Horse and Rider”, “The Marquis of Bambridge’s Warning” , “The Vision of a Man”

December 1936

“The Return of Oliver Manton” (1905) by B. Fletcher Robinson

“Mrs. Hawker’s Will” by Laurence D. Smith

“Phantom Fingers” by Val McNamara

“The Death-Trap” (1908) by George Daulton

“A Presentiment!” (1904) by Lionel Jervis

“The Phantom Cat” (1903) by unknown author

“The Monster of Lake LaMetrie” (1899) by Wardon Allan Curtis

“The Pig of the Patio” (1906) by Robert Findlay

“The Dog with the Woman’s Eyes” (1909) by Arthur Applin

“Strange Experiences” by Sam D. Cohen

Conclusion

Alonzo Deen Cole may have done the thing that Farnsworth Wright imagined back in 1933, true Weird Tales Radio. The show was obviously inspired by classic Horror but also the Pulp variety. Werewolves, vampires, ghosts, Frankenstein’s monster, severed hands, curses and the Devil, all the usual Pulp/Horror icons. What Cole realized, and Wright knew as well, was Radio was the perfect medium for Horror. The listener could imagine anything if suggested with sounds, music and events. It is not surprising the show was considered for a television series. It was influential. Witch’s Tale has been credited with inspiring EC Comic’s Tales From the Crypt. (Which in turn inspired Stephen King’s Creepshow, etc.) Weird Tales Radio has had a far reach.