''Creeps by Night'' is an American
old-time radio
The Golden Age of Radio, also known as the old-time radio (OTR) era, was an era of radio in the United States where it was the dominant electronic home entertainment medium. It began with the birth of commercial radio broadcasting in the early ...
horror program. It was broadcast on the
Blue Network
The Blue Network (previously known as the NBC Blue Network) was the on-air name of a now defunct American Commercial broadcasting, radio network, which broadcast from 1927 through 1945.
Beginning as one of the two radio networks owned by the N ...
February 15, 1944 - August 15, 1944.
Format
Using an
anthology series
An anthology series is a radio, television, video game or film series that spans different genres and presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a differ ...
format, ''Creeps by Night'' presented stories of suspense and mystery,
described in a newspaper brief as "subtle, psychological chillers".
[ ] The first episode, "The Voice of Death", dealt with a widow who was made to commit murders after hearing the voice of her dead husband.
[
On June 3, 1944, a columnist in the publication ''Showmen's Trade Review'' wrote about another episode: ]We were literally scared out of our skin the other evening while listening to a half-hour broadcast of "The Strange Burial of Alexander Jordan," one in the Blue Network's horror series, ''Creeps by Night''. Star of the piece was Edmund Gwenn. Still thinking about it long after the station break, we couldn't help but ponder over the fact that radio has successfully adapted any number of short stories to the broadcasting medium...
A review in the trade publication ''Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' described the same episode as "a suspenseful dramatization", adding "Script was well written and acted, although ending was fairly obvious."[
]
Personnel
''Creeps by Night'' provided Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), better known by his stage name Boris Karloff (), was an English actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film ''Frankenstein'' (1931) (his 82nd film) established h ...
with his first full-time role on a radio program, as he was host and narrator for the show when it was launched. However, when production of the show moved from the West Coast to New York City, Karloff was dropped and replaced by a new host, "Dr. X", effective May 23, 1944. The name of the actor who played "Dr. X" was unknown not only to the listening audience but also to other members of the cast. ''Varietys reviewer called the "Dr. X" development an "obvious attempt to build up audience interest in a narrator who has little or no public appeal when appearing under his own name."Everett Sloane
Everett H. Sloane (October 1, 1909 – August 6, 1965) was an American character actor who worked in radio, theatre, films, and television.
Early life
Sloane was born in Manhattan on October 1, 1909, to Nathaniel I. Sloane and Rose (Gers ...
,[ ]Jackson Beck
Jackson Beck (July 23, 1912 – July 28, 2004) was an American actor best known as the announcer on radio's '' The Adventures of Superman''Dunning, John. (1998). ''On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio''. Oxford University Press. . Pp. 1 ...
, Ed Begley
Edward James Begley Sr. (March 25, 1901 – April 28, 1970) was an American actor of theatre, radio, film, and television. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the film ''Sweet Bird of Youth'' (1962) an ...
, Mary Patton, and Juano Hernandez
Juano G. "Juano" Hernández (July 19, 1896 – July 17, 1970) was a Puerto Rican stage and film actor who was a pioneer in the African American film industry. He made his silent picture debut in ''The Life of General Villa'', and talking pi ...
.[
Writers for the program were Gene Wang, Alonzo Dean Cole and Ruth Fenisong.]Robert Maxwell
Ian Robert Maxwell (born Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch; 10 June 1923 – 5 November 1991) was a Czechoslovak-born British media proprietor, member of parliament (MP), suspected spy, and fraudster.
Early in his life, Maxwell escaped from N ...
was the producer, and Dave Drummond was the director.[
]
References
{{Reflist
External links
Logs
Log of episodes of ''Creeps by Night'' from The Digital Deli Too
* ttp://www.otrr.org/FILES/Logs_txt/Creeps%20by%20Night.txt Log of episodes of ''Creeps by Night'' from Old Time Radio Researchers Group
Log of episodes of ''Creeps by Night'' from radioGOLDINdex
Streaming
Episodes of ''Creeps by Night'' from the Internet Archive
Episodes of ''Creeps by Night'' from Old Time Radio Researchers Group Library
1944 radio programme debuts
1944 radio programme endings
1940s American radio programs
American radio dramas
Anthology radio series
NBC Blue Network radio programs