Originally broadcast on Mutual, 7 September 1952. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
The run
- Network
- NBC Blue
- Years active
- 1941–1952
- Surviving broadcasts
- 145
- Genre
- horror
The anthology series featured stories of mystery, terror and suspense, and its tongue-in-cheek introductions were in sharp contrast to shows like Suspense and The Whistler . The early 1940s programs opened with Raymond Edward Johnson introducing himself as, "Your host, Raymond," in a mocking sardonic voice.
1952 · 91951 · 31950 · 71949 · 301948 · 161947 · 51946 · 191945 · 1
Restoration quality — measured from the surviving files
Clean transfer · 56 of 90Listenable · 30 of 90Rough but complete · 4 of 90
Source collection
Old Time Radio Researchers Group
Rights
Public domain — no renewed US copyright
Cataloguing
Air dates and notes from the Archive item record
Every broadcast below carries its own provenance sheet — transfer quality, file source and rights.Archive record: OTRR_Inner_Sanctum_Mysteries_Singles
The shape of the run
What survives, year by year
44 dated broadcasts across 12 years on the air, with 4 years where nothing is known to survive. Brightness is transfer quality; empty cells are months lost to time.
JFMAMJJASOND
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952
Clean transferListenableRough but complete No surviving recording
Episodes
Start here
Listen to the run in order
Restored broadcasts from 1945, in original transmission order.
- 1. The Undead · 18 Dec 1945
- 2. The Creeping Wall · 8 Jan 1946
- 3. The Edge of Death · 15 Jan 1946
The Dead Walk at Night
28 Sep 1952 · 23 min
Originally broadcast on NBC Blue, 28 September 1952. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
The Corpse Nobody Loved
21 Sep 1952 · 23 min
Originally broadcast on NBC Blue, 21 September 1952. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
The Meek Die Slowly
7 Sep 1952 · 23 min
Originally broadcast on NBC Blue, 7 September 1952. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
Strange Passenger
31 Aug 1952 · 23 min
Originally broadcast on NBC Blue, 31 August 1952. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
The Corpse Laughs Last
17 Aug 1952 · 25 min
Originally broadcast on NBC Blue, 17 August 1952. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
Murder off the Record
3 Aug 1952 · 25 min
Originally broadcast on NBC Blue, 3 August 1952. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
The Listener
20 Jul 1952 · 23 min
Originally broadcast on NBC Blue, 20 July 1952. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
Death for Sale
13 Jul 1952 · 24 min
Originally broadcast on NBC Blue, 13 July 1952. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
Same night on the air
7 Sep 1952
Everything else the archive still holds from the night of 7 Sep 1952.
Originally broadcast on NBC, 7 September 1952. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
Originally broadcast on CBS, 7 September 1952. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
Originally broadcast on NBC, 7 September 1952. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
Same seasons
horror on the air then
Series in the same genre whose runs overlapped this one.
What it became
The anthology of dread
A voice, a creaking door, and a self-contained story designed to frighten you in half an hour. Suspense and Lights Out built the grammar every horror anthology still uses.
Lineage is written by our editors, not inferred from listening data.
Descendants
Working in the tradition of Inner Sanctum Mysteries
Modern series carrying this form forward.
If you liked this
More to explore
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