The Hermit's 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 about 30 survive. The series began as a 15 minute show, later evolving into a half hour format.- 1930-1936 - The Mummers, 15 minute sketches, featuring a character called The Hermit; WJR, Detroit
- 1936-1937 - Unsponsored, introductory run called In the Hermit's Cave; WJR, Detroit; 19 episodes
- 1937-1947 - Olga Coal sponsored run called The Hermit's Cave; WJR, Detroit; 539 episodes
- 1938-1939 - Don Lee-Mutual run called The Devil's Scrapbook; 37 episodes
- 1940-1944 - West Coast run called The Hermit's Cave; KMPC, LA; 217 esipsodes
Currently this archive contains 31 of 31 plotlines
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The Search for Life
The Author of Murder
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A writer believes that the ghost of a character in his novel is jealous and wishes to kill his wife. He stays up each night until the stroke of midnight to prevent her from leaving his study and carrying out her plans.
The Black Band
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During the French Reign of Terror, a young, reclusive student meets a beautiful, disconsolate, woman who had witnessed her father, mother, and two brothers guillotined earlier in the day. He realizes she is the woman of his dreams and marries her... with surprising results.
See also 'Episode of the Terror' (CBS Radio Mystery Theater)
I found myself alternately repulsed by the I-have-loved-you-all-my-life-though-I-met-you-for-the-first-time-today extended cliché and drawn in by the ploddingly-building tension. The acting was fairly good, and once I bought into the premise I found the story not so bad as I expected. [6/10] --- zM
The Blackness of Terror
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A woman who has spent her entire life at her wealthy father's side, until her recent marriage, receives a telegram saying that her now semi-estranged father is seriously ill. She fears he is lonely and heartbroken, but his problem may have more supernatural origins.
Buried Alive
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A man hires a nurse to watch over and care for his brother, who has been emotionally disturbed since the death of his wife... and to make sure he doesn't escape from his locked room!
Over-dramatized acting and simplistic dialog, combined with a totally unbelievable plot, yields a very silly result. Avoid. [2/10] --- zM
Castle by the Sea
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A couple of tourists set out to visit the ruins of a local castle. Despite warnings that the castle is haunted and a gathering storm with wind, lightning, and thunder, they press on to discover an old servant woman who has a tale to tell.
The Conquest of David Rugg
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A man driving home from the country at dusk is overtaken by a strange storm and suddenly finds himself on a narrow dirt road. When he stops to find out where he is, a farmer driving an old-fashioned horse and buggy and wearing clothes 60 years out of date, offers him a lift.
From The Devil's Scrapbook series.
The Crimson Hand
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Four months before the Nazis move into Paris, when everyone who has money is moving out, a writer and his painter wife rent an estate for a song. It's a great deal. Really. Until one night when they hear a tap, tap, tapping sound and see a hand, red with blood, pulling the drapes aside...
See also 'The Hand of Botar' (Hall of Fantasy)
The Dark House
Duration: 12 min
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"Night... when men sleep and evil wakes. A sedan pulls up in front of the foreboding house of the late Cyrus Dark. This creeping mansion of a crazed scientist has been for sale for several years." - from the intro. A you-are-there narrative of two men who venture into a spooky mansion and... well you'll just have to listen, won't you?
From The Mummers series in the early 30s.
Not bad for a very short story. A nicely paced opening followed by "Come over here Larry. There seems to be movement in this hole..." Oh, I'd go. Like a shot. [6/10] --- zM
Fever
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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.
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
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An immigrant farmer counts his blessings when a falling meteor narrowly misses him, but worries that ill fortune will shortly follow. When Rita Haine, a geologist from the Brown Geological Society, arrives to retrieve the meteorite, the story... begins to heat up.
The hokey accents of the farmer and his wife, combined with poor audio quality, made this episode difficult to understand. Nevertheless, found myself slightly intrigued with the meteor. Knew it was going to be trouble, just didn't know how. [5/10] --- zM
The Gypsy's Curse
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Peter the butcher (a strange and stocky husband) and his wife Clara (with her dark and beady eyes and round face) learn that Gypsies are stealing pigs from local farmers, but they don't seem too concerned about it.
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
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A couple seek to increase their chances of inheriting from their rich uncle by visiting him at his mansion. The uncle, who is rather disturbed and is obsessed with his cockamamie theories of achieving immortality through ghostly possession, has other ideas.
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'
The House of Murder
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A few days after a researcher moves to a house in the boondocks to conduct his experiments in peace and quiet, his servant requests her wages and quits, citing strange noises in the night. The researcher thinks this is preposterous... until he hears the sounds too... and sees the pages of his ledger turn by themselves... and feels something brush against his shoulder... Apparently, something in the house doesn't want those experiments completed.
The House of Purple Shadows
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A man who hasn't visited his closed-up house since his wife died, returns 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.
A slow-moving fatalistic tale lacking suspense, drama and horror, but with plenty of descriptive imagery and an interesting monologue about what it's like to be a ghost. [6/10] --- zM
The House on Lost Man's Bluff
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Some folks have car trouble and 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...
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
The House with a Past
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After buying a drugstore in a small jerkwater town, a couple rent a very nice old house for a very reasonable price. They become increasingly alarmed, however, when neighbors tell them the house is haunted and they wake, late at night, to the sound of footsteps in the attic.
A by-the-numbers poltergeist tale, very routine even by the Hermit's low standards. --- Anonymous
It Happened on Sunday
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A man (and his female cousin) become concerned when his best friend (her fiancé) becomes morose and obsessed with the death of his wife three years previously. The man retreats to his cottage in the country, has the housekeeper burn the painting of his ex-wife, and refuses to leave until after Sunday night.
A good yarn, well told. The acting and pacing are just right, and the ending surprised me. (But then again, it was one of the first Hermit stories I ever listened to.) [7/10] --- zM
The Lost Black Crow Mine
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Two men and a woman hire a third man who says he can guide them to the legendary Black Crow Mine; a mine the woman learned about from her grandfather. "Across the parched sands of the desert, near the ghost town of Pepe, Arizona, a party of 3 men and a lone woman are groping their way through the blistering heat. All around them are bare rocky hills... and nothing else as far as the eye can see." - from the intro.
From the West Coast - KMPC run. See also 'The Paralta Map' (Suspense). Also vaguely similar to 'Behind the Locked Door' (The Mysterious Traveler).
The Man with White Hair
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An aggressively manipulative financier, riding a wave of euphoria after closing a recent deal, scoffs when accosted by a fortune teller who insists on telling him he will die within 3 days at the hands of a man with white hair.
From the West Coast - KMPC run.
Mr. Randall's Discovery
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A banker pursues a nice, relaxing, science-oriented hobby at home... down in the basement... away from his wife and son... and inadvertently creates a microbial life-form, which begins to grow and grow and grow... Fascinated, he becomes obsessed and withdraws further from his family.
Some copies of this are actually from The Mystery Playhouse, hosted by Peter Lorre and re-broadcast overseas during WWII.
I thought the first 10 minutes of this show were absolutely hilarious - not that they were intended that way! The familial interactions among the boy, the mom, and the pop - with his get-away-from-the-family, down-in-the-basement hobby - were spot on. The way pop's personality deteriorates as his experiment wears on is well played. And there's some nice hysterical screaming in the second half. [7/10] --- zM
The Mystery of the Thing
Genre: Supernatural
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Dr. Foresteer discovered his future wife when she was wandering around the park near the hospital, lost, helpless, suffering from amnesia, and wearing an old-fashioned gown torn all to tatters. And today, months after becoming married, and several hours after Dr. Foresteer reported his wife missing, her clothes were found just inside the cemetery gate.
Many of the surviving Hermit's Cave episodes use the same 'formula'. Perhaps they are from the same writer? I don't know. This episode breaks free from that mold and presents something a little more original. Not a great story and not great drama, but slightly intriguing with adequate acting. [6/10] --- zM
The Nameless
Genre: Ghosts
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A brilliant inventor, Stanley Crayton, invents a device that will cool the interior of an automobile, but his ruthless business partner, Harden Wilgen, poisons him and takes all the credit and subsequent riches for himself. The murdered, however, don't rest easy in the grave....
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
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A woman recovering from a nervous breakdown hears her bedroom door open slowly, followed by approaching footsteps - she screams, and the footsteps run away. But the fear and the expectation that the intruder might return wear on her nerves day-by-day, until...
The ending of this tale is predictable and abrupt, which is a little disappointing after the superb tension created during the middle portion... when the wife hears footsteps outside her bedroom door and frantically describes in a notebook everything she hears. [6/10] --- zM
Plantation Mystery
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A ruthless and demanding, miserly plantation owner refuses to honor a verbal agreement with his foreman to share half the profits. When he encounters strange goings-on he blames the foreman despite numerous rumors the plantation is haunted. Meanwhile, the natives are restless...
See also 'The Walking Dead' (Creeps by Night).
The Professor's Elixir
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An evil scientist creates an 'elixir of death' for a beautiful nightclub entertainer who wants to be rid of her wealthy husband, but her refusal to pay him for his efforts elicits an uncanny revenge.
Reflected Image
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Two men lost in the desert and dying of thirst follow the vision of a beautiful woman to an old shack, where they listen to an old prospector tell an unusual tale of love and betrayal.
The Search for Life
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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.
See also 'Death Robbery' (Lights Out)
Spirit Vengeance
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An elderly couple get lost while going to meet their daughter on A Dark and Stormy Night. They end up staying the night at the isolated home of a mad scientist who, unbeknownst to them, has used their daughter for experiment stock.
Not to be confused with "Spirits of Vengeance".
This atmospheric tale, aided by periodic thunder and the scientist's creepy voice, gets off to a moody and suspenseful start, but falters at the end with an abrupt, simplistic ending. [5/10] --- zM
Spirits of Vengeance
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A woman and her son travel back to her childhood home, now owned by her mentally disturbed brother. He has become obsessed of late with the spirits of their dead parents, whom he says are haunting him constantly - watching, following him from room to room, and... waiting.
Not to be confused with "Spirit Vengeance".
The Vampire's Desire
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Two men lost in a downpour attempt to take shelter in an old house. Despite being told they're not welcome, they barge in anyway and blunder about in the darkness scaring themselves silly.
There's got to be a better way to start an abandoned old house themed story than having the protagonists come across it while lost on A Dark and Stormy Night. Other than this overused cliché and the fact that the advertised vampire was a wimp, a very well produced story. The scene involving the hermetically sealed room was particularly effective. --- Harry Leshko
Without End
Genre: Supernatural
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A supernatural love story about a soldier who is convinced that the sweetheart he left behind protects him in battle.
Dull, syrupy, and predictable. Don't waste your time unless you're a diehard collector. --- Ed Corbeil
With its fluid, poetic narration and ambiguous resolution, this plays exactly like a rough draft of all those Quiet, Please episodes where Ernest Chappell moons over his ideal love, so much so that you begin to wonder if it isn't an abbreviated version of one of Willis Cooper's lost Lights Out scripts from the mid-1930s. --- Anonymous
You Only Die Twice
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