Suspense - Radio’s Outstanding Theater of Thrills

Originally Aired: December 9, 1954 Suspense #575, "On a Country Road," stars Harry Bartell and Virginia Gregg as David and Dorothy, a young couple who make a fateful decision to take a shortcut on a stormy Long Island night. While caught in heavy traffic, they hear a radio bulletin warning that Nellie Golar, a dangerous mental patient armed with a meat cleaver, has escaped after brutally murdering...

Originally Aired: December 2, 1954 Suspense #574, "The Shot," stars William Conrad as Lieutenant Zachary Peyton, a man consumed by an incomplete duel from seven years past. When Benjamin Rolls drew the first shot in their duel, he fired and missed—but Peyton refused to take his return shot, declaring that he would choose his own time and place. Rolls walked away laughing and eating cherries, seemi...

Originally Aired: November 18, 1954 In Suspense #572, "Blind Date," Gloria Le Fay, a contortionist performing her late mother's act in a Chicago theater, waits in her dressing room after closing night. She's agreed to meet a mysterious admirer named Vincent Hawthorne who sent her a note earlier that day. Against her better judgment and relying on a fortune-teller's assurance that the handwriting s...

Originally Aired: November 11, 1954 In Suspense #571, "The Sure Thing," Phil Brannon is an independent bookie who has built his success on a sharp understanding of horses and calculated risks. When Marty, a syndicate representative, offers Phil a place in their organization, Phil refuses, confident he can eventually buy his way in on his own terms with their money. Phil has been making steady wins...

Originally Aired: November 4, 1954 Suspense #570, "The Last Letter of Dr Bronson," Dr. Bronson writes an urgent letter to his colleague Dr. Mosher as midnight approaches, explaining a dangerous year-long experiment that has led to his current predicament. Bronson has been testing his theory that five basic checks restrain men from committing murder: fear of the law, religious principles, and three...

Originally Aired: October 28, 1954 Suspense #569, "The Shelter," a woman finds herself stranded at a remote bus stop on a dark night, waiting for the midnight bus. She takes refuge in the shelter, only to discover she's not alone. A talkative stranger sits in the darkness, rattling off obscure facts gleaned from magazines and rambling about human anatomy, counting systems, and peculiar theories. A...

Originally Aired: October 21, 1954 Suspense #568, "Rave Notice," presents a chilling psychological portrait of Sam, a struggling actor whose ego proves as dangerous as any weapon. When director Norman strips Sam of his cherished role in a new play, declaring him "not right for it" and even suggesting he's "no actor," Sam's wounded pride explodes into murderous rage. Despite Norman's dismissive cru...

Originally Aired: October 14, 1954 Suspense #567, "Lost," finds Alice wandering the streets of New York City in a state of complete amnesia. Unable to remember her own name, where she came from, or why she's there, she desperately seeks help from a policeman at 59th Street. Detective Mark Neal takes her to the precinct, where the only clues to her identity are the name "Alice" stitched into her be...

Originally Aired: October 7, 1954 Suspense #566, "Chicken Feed," begins with an ironic twist of fate. Ralph Clark storms out of his San Francisco home after a petty argument with his wife Mary over giving their son a nickel. Driving fifty miles to cool off, he stops in the small town of Lansing, California, where he discovers he left his wallet at home - he doesn't have a single coin to make a pho...

Originally Aired: September 30, 1954 In Suspense #565, "A Little Matter of Memory," Edward Mansell and his wife Joan are recuperating in an isolated cottage on the English moors when they discover two disturbing notes. One is an obscenely worded death threat from escaped lunatic Barrington Howard, who has already murdered five people after sending similar warnings. The other is from George Beale,...

Originally Aired: August 10, 1954 Suspense #564, "Never Steal a Butcher's Wife," Harry Carr is fresh off the bus from New York when he lands a job as a liquor clerk in a Los Angeles supermarket. His trouble begins the moment he locks eyes with Mary, the beautiful checkout girl who works the cash register. Despite warnings from Nick, the vegetable man, Harry can't resist her. There's just one probl...

Originally Aired: August 3, 1954 Suspense #563, "Goodnight Mrs Russell," Mrs. Russell is a pleasant, middle-aged widow who frequents Henry's small cafe near the Hillmar building where she works. Henry, the polite and meticulous cook who runs the establishment alone, seems especially attentive to her, though she notices his odd habit of suddenly freezing and listening to sounds only he can hear. Wh...

Originally Aired: July 27, 1954 Suspense #562, "Destruction," presents a harrowing portrait of a man dying from the inside out. Joe Porter lies in a hospital emergency room, clinging to life after collapsing in the street from a coronary seizure, as doctors work desperately to save him. Through fragmentary memories, the events leading to his collapse unfold: a devastating morning when his wife Ver...

Originally Aired: July 20, 1954 Suspense #561, "Telling," presents a troubled young man desperately seeking validation and respect. Terry Ellis returns home to England after being dismissed from his job in Ceylon, the latest in a string of failures that includes expulsion from school and Cambridge. His father warns him this is his last chance, while his successful older brothers John and Charles s...

Originally Aired: July 13, 1954 In Suspense #560, "Run Sheep Run," Joe Hayward is driving home from his factory job through the dense Southern California fog when he picks up a beautiful young woman named Roberta hitchhiking on the side of the road. As Joe becomes increasingly distracted by his attractive passenger, tragedy strikes—he hits and kills a man in the fog-shrouded darkness. Panicked and...

Originally Aired: July 6, 1954 Suspense #559, "The Tip," Elaine Stratton returns home after dropping her husband George at the train station, only to find an armed intruder waiting in her apartment. The desperate man reveals his chilling intention: he plans to wait for George to return from work and kill him. The intruder blames George for destroying his business and his family, claiming he begged...

Originally Aired: June 29, 1954 Suspense #558, "Too Hot to Live," presents Jefferson Casey, a drifter and former Air Corps captain, who jumps off a freight train near Marcus Junction on a sweltering day. When his boot sole breaks loose, he encounters Benjamin Martin, the friendly local sheriff who buys him coffee while his shoes are being repaired. At the restaurant, Jefferson meets Rachel, a prov...

Originally Aired: June 22, 1954 Suspense #557, "Sequel to Murder," Frank Galt, a book editor who claims to have no imagination, finds himself trapped in a desperate situation when his mistress, Bess Lucas, issues him an ultimatum. She's tired of their clandestine meetings and demands he divorce his wife Lillian immediately or the affair is over. When Frank finally works up the courage to ask Lilli...

Originally Aired: June 15, 1954 Suspense #556, "The Earth Is Made of Glass," Richard Thomas Steele, a wealthy intellectual recluse, engages in a heated philosophical debate with his chess partner Elliot about Emerson's theory of compensation – that every crime leaves an inescapable trace and exacts a spiritual price on the perpetrator. Steele scoffs at this notion, arguing that the scientific meth...

Originally Aired: June 7, 1954 Suspense #555, "A Terribly Strange Bed," young Englishman Gerald Titchener finds himself in Paris with his friend Henry Calder, searching for thrills beyond the respectable gambling houses. Their quest leads them to a poverty-stricken gaming establishment where Gerald experiences an unprecedented winning streak, breaking the bank and accumulating a fortune tied up in...

Originally Aired: May 31, 1954 Suspense #554, "Listen Young Lovers," presents the true story of a desperate escape from Communist tyranny in Czechoslovakia. Yinrik, a 21-year-old university student, faces his inquisitors after being caught with a forbidden Western philosophy book. Threatened with execution or forced indoctrination, he returns home to his fiancée Malada, where they secretly listen...

Originally Aired: May 24, 1954 In Suspense #553, "Weekend Special-Death," Agnes Moorhead stars as Rita Dorsey, a loyal secretary who finds herself in police custody on a Sunday morning, accused of murdering two men. When her employer, attorney Lee Stanley, arrives at the station to find out what happened, Rita insists it was all a terrible misunderstanding that began innocently enough. The previou...

Originally Aired: May 17, 1954 Suspense #552, "The Revenge of Captain Bligh," stars Charles Lawton in a gripping historical drama based on the true story following the infamous mutiny on HMS Bounty. After Fletcher Christian leads the mutiny against the ruthless Captain William Bligh, the disciplinarian commander and eighteen loyal crew members find themselves cast adrift in a 23-foot launch with m...

Originally Aired: May 10, 1954 Suspense #551, "The Last Days of John Dillinger," recreates the final chapter of America's most notorious public enemy. After escaping from an Indiana jail using a wooden pistol he whittled himself, John Dillinger forces Deputy Ernie to help him break free, demonstrating the cold calculation and violence that made him infamous. Van Heflin portrays Dillinger as a man...

Originally Aired: May 3, 1954 Suspense #550, "The Giant of Thermopylae," presents the story of Jim Walters, a riveter and self-described brawler who walks out of a small-town jail after spending the night cooling off from a bar fight. Walt insists he was innocent this time, that the other man started the trouble, but the local constable warns him to leave town and stop looking for fights. Instead...