What do you think is the scariest OTR?

[Paul Dickey]

One of my all time Scariest OTRs is Quiet Please "The Thing on the Fourble Board. Whats yours?

[TheMadBlonde]

I've never heard of this so am very excited to have a chance to listen to something recommended as being seriously scary. I do enjoy my thrills. Thanks for sharing!

[Mike Newton]

The Vengeful Corpse, a 1949 Inner Sanctum mystery which told of how a young woman became possessed by the spirit of an old witch from Salem, Mass. It was one of the first shows in my collection that I got from a friend who used to do big band remotes for Duke Ellington. In those days, you had the shows on reel to reel tape or cassette. My friend had a large collection from which I would make my selections and then he would "cue" up the tape to transfer it to a cassette. I recall this particular show because at one point, the young woman screams when the witch enters her body. I was listening to it when my wife came in behind me, and gave out with a maniacal cackle. I jumped about a foot. I remember fondly because it was from that era that I woud have been listening to it, under the blankets.

[Frank Hablawi]

This was an amazing story - very Lovecraftian and steeped in the unexplained!

I'll have to search for my favorite scary otr and post it here. Thanks!

[Jim Sedgwick]

One of my all time favorites is Suspense: "The House In Cypress Canyon"

[Evan]

I agree. Best Story Ever

[Riklaa]

I don't know whether it is old enough, but "The Stones Of Muncaster Cathedral" scared the crap out of me. LOL--Rick

[Mike Newton]

Waal, I'll tell ya young fella...You're asking this former OTR listener to go back some 45-50 years that question. I don't recall any specific scary programs from childhood, except Inner Sanctum. When I began collecting OTR in the 70's, a friend made me a copy of the Venegeanceful Corpse (1949). This would have been when I was six years old and listening to Inner Sanctum. Now it's corny...but then it would have scared me, even the Bromo Seltzer talking train scared me. Since then, I follow OTR on the stream website. Halls of Fantasy (1953) had a program called "The Shadow People" about mysterious people who lived in the dark and would snatch you up when you weren't looking. Imagine listening to that in the dark, with the door to your room shut...cutting off the hall light. Three Skeleton Key from Escape is another one that could give you goosebumps.

[TheMadBlonde]

Oooh, "Shadow People" sounds wonderful! Anybody know if it's about anywhere?

[Jim Sedgwick]

Are you refering to The Hall of Fantasy episode "The Shadow People"? I like that episode & another in their series called "The Night The Fog Came" I have most of that series including those episodes.

[Mike Newton]

You should be able to find the complete Halls of Fantasy series on TennesseeBillsOTR.com or the Internet Archives OTR website. Usually if you have the name of the program and the particular episode you want, simply type it on the website address file, and it will show which sites would carry it. Remember, it's scary...so don't let the boogie man get you. Oh, I just remembered another story that scared me as a kid but it wasn't on radio. It was the Little Orphan Annie poem, by James Whitcomb Riley, about the bad boy and girl who got swooped by the goblins. There was a line about how the little boy went upstairs to bed and his mama heard him cry and his daddy heard him bawl and when they turned the covers down, he wasn't there at all. Sounds like something Stephen King would write. In fact, he has a story called "The Thing in the Closet" that has never been done on TV, but it is a great scary story for Halloween.

[Jim Sedgwick]

Another scary show was a Dark Fantasy episode called "The Demon Tree" Gave me the creeps! LOL

[Steve Howard]

Oh yes.... would love to hear Stephen King's "The Thing in the Closet" done as a radio play in OTR style. That story absolutely scared the bejeezies out of me. Will have to look for the poem you mentioned now, as it sounds very creepy. I'll give a nod to "Poltergeist" (aka the Gravestone) from Lights Out and also to "The Boogey Man" from Origin of Superstition.