''The Black Mass'' was a horror-fantasy

radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

produced by Erik Bauersfeld, a leading American radio dramatist of the post-television era. The series aired on KPFA (Berkeley) and KPFK (Los Angeles) from 1963 to 1967, on an irregular schedule. Bauersfeld was the Director of Drama and Literature at KPFA from 1966 to 1991. Bauersfeld's sound designer for most of the episodes was John Whiting, KPFA's production director. Their collaborations were later credited in a Ph.D. dissertation with "keeping radio drama alive in America in the 1960s." Music for the series was by several Bay Area composers, including KPFA's Music Director Charles Shere, a composer and music critic who later wrote books on American composers and also serves on the board of the Berkeley restaurant

Chez Panisse Chez Panisse is a Berkeley, California, restaurant, known as one of the originators of the style of cooking known as California cuisine, and the farm-to-table movement. The restaurant emphasizes ingredients rather than technique and has develo ...

. Bauersfeld's ''Black Mass'' productions were an influence on writer-producer

Thomas Lopez Thomas Lopez, aka Meatball Fulton (born 1935), is president of the ZBS Foundation and one of the foundation's founders. He writes and produces the ZBS Foundation's audio drama productions. When he was working in radio in the 1960s, Lopez took " ...

(ZBS), who noted, "In the 1960s, I was inspired by someone at KPFA in Berkeley, Eric Bauersfeld, who did a series called ''The Black Mass'', adaptations of H. P. Lovecraft and such. He helped me a lot. I consider Eric my mentor. He also did some fine

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Nobel Prize in Literature, literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama tech ...

plays for radio." __NOTOC__

Episodes

Except as noted, these are in the Pacifica Radio Archives and on th
Official ''Black Mass'' site
*"The Flies" (by Anthony Vercoe) *"O Mirror, Mirror" (by

Nigel Kneale Thomas Nigel Kneale (28 April 1922 – 29 October 2006) was a Manx screenwriter who wrote professionally for more than 50 years, was a winner of the Somerset Maugham Award, and was twice nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best British S ...

) and "Shiddah and Kuziba" (by

Isaac Bashevis Singer Isaac Bashevis Singer ( yi, יצחק באַשעװיס זינגער; November 11, 1903 – July 24, 1991) was a Polish-born American Jewish writer who wrote and published first in Yiddish and later translated himself into English with the help ...

) *"Evening Primrose" (adaptation of John Collier's short story) *"An Evening's Entertainment" (by

M. R. James Montague Rhodes James (1 August 1862 – 12 June 1936) was an English author, medievalist scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918), and of Eton College (1918–1936). He was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambrid ...

) *Two by

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...

: " A Predicament" and "

The Tell-Tale Heart "The Tell-Tale Heart" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1843. It is related by an unnamed narrator who endeavors to convince the reader of the narrator's sanity while simultaneously describing a murder the n ...

" *"Nightmare" (by Alan Wykes) *"

A Haunted House ''A Haunted House'' is a 2013 American horror satire film directed by Michael Tiddes, written by, produced by and starring Marlon Wayans. Although Wayans said the film was "not exactly a parody but rather a movie with funny characters doing th ...

" (by

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born i ...

) *" Bartleby, the Scrivener" (by

Herman Melville Herman Melville ( born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works are ''Moby-Dick'' (1851); ''Typee'' (1846), a rom ...

) *" A Country Doctor" (by

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It ...

) *" The Ash Tree" (by

) *"Atrophy" (by J. Anthony West) *"The Judgment" (by

) *"Oil of Dog" (by

Ambrose Bierce Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (June 24, 1842 – ) was an American short story writer, journalist, poet, and American Civil War veteran. His book '' The Devil's Dictionary'' was named as one of "The 100 Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature" by ...

) and "Esmé" (by

Saki Hector Hugh Munro (18 December 1870 – 14 November 1916), better known by the pen name Saki and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirize Edwardian society and cultu ...

) *" The Jolly Corner" (by

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

) *" Diary of a Madman" (by Nikolai Gogol) *"Legend of the Island of Falles" (by Betty Sandbrook) ''("lost" episode")'' *"All Hallows" (by

Walter de la Mare Walter John de la Mare (; 25 April 1873 – 22 June 1956) was an English poet, short story writer, and novelist. He is probably best remembered for his works for children, for his poem "The Listeners", and for a highly acclaimed selection of ...

) *" The Dream of a Ridiculous Man" (by

Fyodor Dostoyevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...

) *"The Death of Halpin Frayser" by (

) *"Moonlit Road" (by

) *Two by Poe - "

The Man of the Crowd "The Man of the Crowd" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe about a nameless narrator following a man through a crowded London. It was first published in 1840. Plot summary The story is introduced with the epigraph ''"Ce grand ma ...

" and " MS. Found in a Bottle" *Six Tales by Lord Dunsany *" The Outsider" (by H. P. Lovecraft) *" Proof Positive" (by

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

) and "Witch of the Willows" (by Lord Dunsany) *" The Renegade" (by

Albert Camus Albert Camus ( , ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, and journalist. He was awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the second-youngest recipient in history. His work ...

) ''("lost" episode)'' *"The Squaw" (by Bram Stoker) *"

The Rats in the Walls "The Rats in the Walls" is a short story by American author H. P. Lovecraft. Written in August–September 1923, it was first published in '' Weird Tales'', March 1924. Plot In 1923, an American named Delapore, the last descendant of the De la ...

" (by H. P. Lovecraft) The following are listed from KPFA, KPFK or KQED airchecks, not the Pacifica Archives: ''Great American Scream'' - KPFK: *"The Boarded Window" by Ambrose Bierce *"A Haunted House" by

*"The Feeder" by Earl Linder *"

The Imp of the Perverse The Imp of the Perverse is a metaphor for the urge to do exactly the wrong thing in a given situation for the sole reason that it is possible for wrong to be done. The impulse is compared to an imp (a small demon) which leads an otherwise decent ...

" (by Poe from KQED, San Francisco 5"

Releases of ''Black Mass'' episodes

*''Dream of a Ridiculous Man'' - Pacifica Radio Archive #BB5499 36:00 This tape has no opening, closing or credits; an older copy is listed as 37:40. A cast of six is listed on the label. With sound effects and original music by Ian Underwood, the show aired 1/29/67. *Erik Bauersfeld's dramatic adaptations of Lovecraft's "The Rats in the Walls" and "The Outsider" were released in the 1970s on an unauthorized limited LP pressing of 1,000 copies.

Listen to

'' The Black Mass'' on Internet Archive

External links

- plot summaries and reviews

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Black Mass, The 1960s American radio programs American radio dramas Fantasy radio programs Horror fiction radio programmes Horror fiction Pacifica Foundation programs