Hermits Cave

The Hermit was a depraved, cackling old geezer who seemed to delight in the gruesome, the grisly, the ghoulish, and the ghastly - it's little wonder he was forced to go off and live in a cave. There he dwelt from 1940 to 1943 or '44, inviting the unwary in to hear his tales of the dark and the macabre. The stories often ended badly for the protagonists - much to the frenetic glee of our mentally unbalanced host. It's uncertain how many episodes were produced (one episode, 'The Professor's Elixir', mentions it as #404!) but, as far as I have been able to discover, only 32 survive. The series began as a 15 minute show, later evolving into a half hour format.

Currently this archive contains 28 of 32 known episodes

WEBMASTER RECOMMENDS:
The Search for Life

The Author of Murder
Genre: Ghosts
Available for Listening Booth:

A writer believes that the ghost of a character from his novel wishes to kill his wife and he must stay up to make sure that the ghost doesn't leave his study.

The Black Band
Genre:
Available for Listening Booth: Y

During the French Reign of Terror, a reclusive student meets and marries the woman of his dreams, with surprising results.

See also 'Episode of the Terror' (CBS Radio Mystery Theater)

The Blackness of Terror
Genre:
Available for Listening Booth:

A woman receives a telegram saying that her semi-estranged father is seriously ill. But his problem may have more supernatural origins.

Buried Alive
Genre:
Available for Listening Booth:

A man hires a nurse to watch over his brother who has been emotionally disturbed since the death of his wife.

Castle by the Sea
Genre:
Available for Listening Booth: Y

As a storm gathers, a couple of tourists insist on visiting the local haunted castle and encounter a sick old servant woman in the ruins 
who has a tale to tell.

The Crimson Hand
Genre: Horror
Available for Listening Booth: N

A detached, bloodied hand keeps appearing at a Parisian home.

See also 'The Hand of Botar' (Hall of Fantasy)

The Dark House
Genre: Horror
Available for Listening Booth: Y

A you-are-there narrative of two men (you're one of them) who venture into a spooky mansion and encounter some very strange things.

Fever
Genre: Occult
Available for Listening Booth: Y

An old country miser is dying of a fever, while his daughter and scheming son await their inheritance. Not wanting to part with his hard earned money, he leaves them with another inheritance as well... a curse.

Reviews:
This isn't the most original plot by a long stretch, but it does have creepy moments, especially when the children fear their father may not actually be dead. It was enjoyable but not the sort of thing you would listen to more than once. - Kurt Kuersteiner

From Another World
Genre:
Available for Listening Booth: Y

Gypsy's Curse
Genre:
Available for Listening Booth: N

Peter the butcher and his wife Clara learn that Gypsies are stealing pigs from local farmers.

Reviews:
Unlike most surviving episodes, the Hermit delivers more than his usual quota of pseudo-ominous narration in the slow-moving early scenes. Fortunately, at least one wild pig is killed with an axe, if that's your idea of a good time, and then things get increasingly
creepy after the middle commercial. - Anonymous

Hanson's Ghost
Genre: Supernatural
Available for Listening Booth: Y

A couple travel to the mansion of their rich, but disturbed uncle who is obsessed with his cockamamie theories of achieving immortality through ghostly possession.

Reviews:
A very atmospheric little ghost story. The character of Phillip Hanson was perfectly portrayed. He was just the sort of old madman you'd expect to find attempting to summon dead souls to inhabit the bodies of living humans. The crazy old servant was also a very scary touch, but the characters of the old man's niece, and her husband could have been a bit more well written. All and all, a perfect little story to listen to during a Halloween party, or other scary occasion.- 'Fallen Angel'

House of Murder
Genre: Ghosts
Available for Listening Booth:

A researcher moves to a house in the boondocks to conduct his experiments. But there's something in the house that doesn't want them completed.

The House of Purple Shadows
Genre: Ghosts
Available for Listening Booth: Y

A man goes to his house which he hasn't gone to since his wife died there and is trapped in a spectral form by a strange force inhabiting the house. When his niece and her husband move in, he tries to warn them away.

The House on Lost Man's Bluff
Genre: Ghosts
Available for Listening Booth: Y

Some folks get caught in a storm while traveling on a mountain back road. They take shelter in an abandoned old house, where an unpleasant stay is had by all. The house is not exactly unoccupied....

Reviews:
Despite a bit of slightly silly dialogue, an overall interesting episode. Even when listening the second time and knowing it was coming, the laughter of the story's supernatural nasty still gave me the willies.- Harry Leshko

House with a Past
Genre: Ghosts
Available for Listening Booth: N

Strange things happen after small town neighbors tell a wife that she and her husband have moved into a haunted house.

Reviews:
A by-the-numbers poltergeist tale, very routine even by the Hermit's low standards. - Anonymous

It Happened on Sunday
Genre: Ghosts
Available for Listening Booth: Y

A man notices that his artist friend has been behaving strangely lately. It's discovered that it's due to spectral happenings related to the fact that the marriage to his wife dead these three years wasn't as ideal as folks thought.

The Lost Black Crow Mine
Genre:
Available for Listening Booth: N

In the desert, fortune hunters search for a gold mine from which no one has ever returned.

See also 'The Paralta Map' (Suspense)

The Man with White Hair
Genre:Occult
Available for Listening Booth: Y

A businessman grows increasingly nervous after being told by a fortune teller that he will die in three days at the hand of a man with 
white hair.

Mr. Randall's Discovery
Genre: Super Science/ Creatures
Available for Listening Booth: Y

An amateur science hobbyist develops a microbial lifeform in his basement laboratory, which begins to grow and grow and grow....

The Mystery of the Strange Thing
Genre: Supernatural
Available for Listening Booth: Y

An amnesiac is receiving nightly visitations from a spectral being that is sucking the life out of her.

The Nameless Day
Genre: Ghosts
Available for Listening Booth: Y

An inventor's ruthless business partner poisons him, and takes all the credit and subsequent riches for himself. But the murdered don't rest easy in the grave....

Reviews:
Although this story is supposed to be a classic "revenge from beyond the grave" episode, the poisoning of the murdered man who returns from the dead to avenge his own death stole the show. If you want to have a few nightmares about being poisoned, listen to this one before going to bed. Oh, and by the way, make sure you know what's in your drink before taking that first swallow. - 'Fallen Angel'

Notebook on Murder
Genre:
Available for Listening Booth: Y

A woman recovering from a nervous breakdown is terrorized and murdered by an unknown assailant.

The Plantation Mystery
Genre:
Available for Listening Booth: N

Miserly owner of an allegedly haunted plantation encounters strange goings-on and blames a loyal employee. Meanwhile, the natives are restless ...

The Professor's Elixir
Genre: Super Science
Available for Listening Booth: Y

An evil scientist creates an 'elixir of death' for a woman who wants to be rid of her rich husband, but her refusal to pay him off for his efforts illicits an uncanny revenge.

Reflected Image in the Desert
Genre:
Available for Listening Booth: Y

Two men lost in the desert stumble upon an old shack. There, the old prospector living there has an unusual tale to tell.

The Search for Life
Genre: Super Science
Available for Listening Booth: Y

A lab assistant kills his career-oriented girlfriend so that his mad scientist boss can bring her back to life with a slightly altered personality.