Inner Sanctum Mystery – OTR Plots

Amazing Death of Mrs. Putnam, The   C

Mrs. Putnam never did a kind act in her life. Police find it strange that she died… two hours before calling for help! The family killed the old lady’s dog and buried it, but Putnam’s alive, forced to sign a new will! Can they trick the family into a confession before it’s too late? Does she deserve her fate?

Appointment with Death   B

Gothic Romance. In a cursed house, a woman is pursued by a man she loves… but her sadistic brother Tom cuts her face in hatred! She runs away. When Janet writes a fake letter from Richard dumping her, Richard then falls in love with her sister. Crushed, Melanie dies. In the end, Richard marries Janet, but Melanie will always be between them. Then the curse finally comes to a head between Janet and Tom, who were “born to destroy one another!” A tragedy.

Beneficiary: Death   B

A car crash leaves an itinerant dead, but he is assumed the vehicle owner. The driver survives, but decides to let the mistake ride… to collect on his double-indemnity life insurance! His wife is left to contend with blackmailers, conspirators, insurance brokers… can she pull it off, or will her husband’s greed get the best of her?

Between Two Worlds   C

A criminal discovers he is invincible after making a wish that he had one more chance to do good in this life. The ghost of “Mr. Whiskers” offers him that chance– but he’s got to go along with the plan to marry an impostor for an inheritance racket. The deal doesn’t go down as expected… but earns him a win. Leaving me wondering how revenge ends up earning an absolution, or what the good deed really was.

Beyond The Grave   C

The bridge is out! A man is warned by a phone call that he has only six hours to live. He is convinced his dead wife (who has always hated him) is coming back. He finds his friend dead. The phone rings again. Is he next? Very similar in plot to Voice on the Wire, but not as good. #1b. Am I Going Crazy?

Birdsong for a Murderer   C

A decent story about an escaped mental institution ward who staves off the urge to kill with canary song, and a cop investigating the murder of a blackmailer… who was found with a bird next to his body. Nice twist. The 1949 version stars Arlene Blackburn, 1952 version stars Boris Karloff.

Black Art, The   B

Larry Gifford is framed to take the fall for a murder committed by a woman he finds he cannot escape. She eventually leads him to her sister Kathy, who in turn, is convinced Claudine is going to have Larry kill her on the full moon! The sound of bone tom-toms reveal a conjure-woman’s post-hypnotic suggestion (what a cute accent!) Is it mesmerism or magic?

Black Seagull, The   B

(Peter Lorre) A man mourns his wife, who made a promise to “come back” after a mast crushed her skull. He believes he is visited by her spirit. Her ghost offers to “meet him halfway.” He drowns, but is seen going underwater… holding her body!

Blood of Cain, The   C

A woman discovers her father was sent to the gallows as a murderer, and that her true last name is Jonal, of the line of Royal Executioners. She begins to hear voices, and to kill pigeons… and kill her father’s murderer.Luckily, her lover discovers another secret her grandfather has been keeping! Motif 1b: Am I Going Crazy? The Executioner

Bog Oak Necklace   C

A man leaves his betrothed for another woman… who is then murdered by his fiancee. A necklace is found in the swamp and donned by the fiancee. Guess whose curse is upon it?

Boomerang   C

A man is bonvinced that his wife and his work partner are conspiring to kill him… so he plans the perfect crime after he finds the gas accidentally left on. He’ll kill them both first while a business trip provides an alibi! After his success, his guilt drives him to attempt suicide, but it backfires… like a boomerang!

Catch a Killer   C

Crime. The mobster jargon gets thick when a dame turns to a newspaper man to clear her brother’s name from murder. They exhume the body of the victim, then interrogate the dentist who identified the body. It wasn’t the right corpus delicti! But where is the real body? The woman falls for the reporter hard as they follow the clues right back to square one.

Cause of Death   C

The preposterous story of a county coroner who is asked to investigate the death of his own wife! He can find no evident cause of death. He shouldn’t have wished her dead… because he comes back as a ghost! She leaves behind a bracelet from the grave, so he digs her up! Apparently if you put enough pressure on the corroded artery, it leaves no mark. But a man with a black hat and coat was seen leaving the scene of the crime. Was it the doctor? Who else would know that trick? Follow the red herring right back to square one.

Color-blind Formula, The   B

When a scientist discovers a paint that appears red to color blind people,
his sister’s husband kills him! Now they own the formula… except for the secret ingredient hidden on his corpse. The police can’t prove guilt without a body, but there’s someone hiding out by the meat-house. One too many twists at the end, but a good yarn! #1b. Am I Going Crazy?

Confession, The   C

An Insurance detective comes knocking after a pharmacist commits the perfect crime. A bank robber got away with 78 Grand and a gunshot wound. When he stumbles into the apothecary looking to pay for some help without alerting the police, the pharmacist figures the money is a chance to keep his unsatisfied wife Lenore from leaving, and he watches the crook die. “I’ll tell you why I’m here Sturgis… those harness bulls on the police force– they didn’t notice that trail of blood leading to your door.” When Lenore tries to double-cross Sturgis for reward money, he buries her in the basement! Then he receives a telegram demanding the loot. Is it the crook back from the dead? #1b. Am I Going Crazy?

Corpse for Halloween, A   B

A man who double-crossed a jungle expedition is given 24 hours to be hunted through the asphalt jungle before one of his victims takes revenge.

Corpse is Lonely, The   B

“One-third to the Lady Jane, one-third to the Croaker, and one-third to the sea” reads the message in a bottle. When a thug sees Smitty find that bottle, and tries to bully him into sharing the gold it promises… the gold of Captain Crow, a wrecker who once scavenged boats he sank below a fake fog lamp, Sharky is shot dead by an even more venomous woman. Smitty and Julie then follow the clues until they have to blast their way into the foundation of the Jellicoe Lighthouse… but who will survive the explosion to retrieve the loot?

Corpse Nobody Loved, The   B

A woman hails a taxi to discover a dead man with a cut throat in the back seat. The driver leaves the corpse at her house. The killer visits, offs the cabbie, and is about to shoot the dame… too bad he was double parked! (1952, Joan Lorring. aka “Corpse in a Cab”, “The Lady and the Corpse”, “The Razor’s Edge”)

Corpse Laughs Last, The  

See “The Dead Laugh”

Corpse Without a Conscience, A   C

A woman receives a letter from a man she swindled claiming he will return from the dead one year after his death. He does! …Because his death was faked by the woman’s nephew, who wanted her inheritance. But it goes wrong when her weak heart holds up to the ghost. He stabs her! But the two conspirators have different ideas about how to cover it up.

Corridor of Doom, The   C

(Boris Karloff) A man with appendicitis and a weak heart dreams of an endless corridor housing the dead, in alphabetical order. When he reaches the C’s, will the tomb be his? Am I Going Crazy?

Creeping Walls, The   C

A vain, claustrophobic woman experiences memory loss at the same times as horrible occurrences. The spirit of a painting of Delilah has been possessing her!

Dark Chamber   C

Like a gentle version of Saw, a man wakes up in a dark room with no doors or windows. A voice wants to “play a little game.” The mysterious figure, who claims to have mapped out every possibility, is going to do “an experiment in fear” before killing him. The man does exactly what we are all thinking and defeats his incredibly stupid captor!

Dead Heat   C

The dirt is cracking from the heat and Evelyn’s grave is opening up! They find her diary in the rubble, empty save a prediction: her sister Clara will die this very night! Has she returned to get revenge against both Clara and her own husband Steve, who she believed to be cheating behind her back? People are stabbed and killed. Is Evelyn alive? No– they locate her body. But could her spirit have possessed someone else?

Dead Laugh, The   C

A judge’s jealous, invalid wife hires a companion and the judge falls in love with the younger woman! (What a surprise.) He wants to marry her, but she says not as long as his wife is still alive… So he strangles his wife! Now will she marry him? No, she’s calling the police. It was all a setup for revenge! A judge who shows no mercy deserves none! [Do not confuse with lost episode “The Death Laugh”]

Dead Man’s Deal   C

A high stakes poker game between rivals becomes deadly as they bet suicide on a single hand. The loser turns the gun on his opponent and swaps the Queen of Hearts to make the dead man’s cards the losing hand. The phone rings. It’s his opponent’s voice. Who does the cowardly killer hire to protect himself from the undead? The dead guy’s ex-bodyguard! He had dealt the original game, but now he’s dealing death.

Dead Man’s Debt   C

Crime. A lawyer gets a hood out of a murder rap, then helps him get the diamond from the body of a man he truly killed. For his legal fees? No, because justice always catches up to people. When another hood gets shot– in self defense, of course, Mr. Russel refuses to represent the goon. So Danny stalls their car on the tracks!

Dead Man’s Holiday (1945)   C

After head trauma during a train crash, a man finds his wife missing, and later discovers the man that was in the seat next to him is not only married to her, but lives in his house! He is told he died six years ago! At his own grave, he kills a cop, then a doctor who identifies him as a wanted murderer. Is he being intricately framed, or was he truly a victim of amnesia? Is he really Eric Keating? This is the same story as “The Unburied Dead”, only with a man in the lead part! I know they re-used scripts, but this is just plain silly, and just as confusing.

Dead Man’s Vengeance   B

Raymond Edward Johnson, your host, is mixed up in a plot for revenge involving a severed hand and a man who died ten years ago! (Raymond’s inclusion is an unnecessary gimmick, but fun, nonetheless.)

Dead Reckoning   C

After rescuing a man from a derelict schooner, a ship is becalmed in salty, red waters, and cannot escape! Crew members start disappearing. What supernatural force could do this? [aka “The Thing From the Sea”]

Dead To Rights   C

A couple, Louis and Dorothy, kill the old hermit upstairs for twenty grand and make it look like a suicide, but when they flee, they are followed! With a cop on their tail, they reach the end of the line: the fifteenth floor of a factory dead ends. Do they make a suicide pact?

Dead Walk at Night, The (1952)   B

Like in Creepshow, a blind man taps his cane too much. A boy he raised asks for money to wed his beloved, but his old man doesn’t approve of her. He’s right not to!

Deadly Dummy, The   B

A ventriloquist is killed by his wife’s lover. Oops– not dead! He was faking! Then he’s killed for real. The dummy swears he’ll cover for the killer as he takes over the act.

Deadly Fare   C

A man pulls a gun on a cab driver.. to be a witness to the fare murdering his wife’s lover! There is an accident! The cheating wife is killed! The cabbie has to drive the killer out to hide two corpses. Now the jerk cab driver had yelled at his kid that morning for coloring on the walls. How can his boy’s black crayon save him?

Death Across the Board   C

(Raymond Massey) Innocently visiting an antique store, Mr. Strand falls into a deadly game of chess with a game master who has tired of the board and taken his strategy to real life! Cast as the white knight, he is told to meet a man… whom he must kill in self-defense! He meets up with the mastermind Rafael’s secretary who must also kill or be killed. Rafael is always a step ahead of them! When they go to the chief of Police, he’s just been mailed the white king. [Also by: Murder at Midnight]

Death Bound   C

(Richard Widmark) A thug is told he will receive ten thousand dollars from a queer guy in the park. He does. Then he’s told he is going to die. The next package he receives holds a dead man’s hand; and sure enough, the grave of the guy he murdered reveals a corpse with one hand. Did his girl set him up? Was it his accomplice Slim? …Or was it the undead? Am I Going Crazy? (Motif 1b)

Death by Scripture   C

Shanghai, China. The Black Dragon Society says there is no escape from refugee camp 14. People start dying. But who is the undercover rebel assassin? Like a bad Scooby-Doo plot, it’s the only other guy introduced to us. A pair of Japanese rebels are fingered and dispatched. The daughter of the head covert killer sees a parallel to Iscariot’s betrayal, and forgives the big-mouth that ratted them out.

Death Deal, The   C

A body is found dead in the wreck of Roger’s car, but Roger is still alive. His wife , along with her lover Dennis, is interested in the double-indemnity policy… so he invites her to shoot him! Can she do it? Yes! Now watch his ghost play Helen and Dennis against each other! In the end, a weird prophetic man comes for his due.

Death Demon (1948)   C

A painted oriental tile acts as a magical mandala to raise the dead when a woman’s parents won’t tell her how her father died. I wonder what they’re trying to hide? The 1948 version stars Ann Seymour, the 1949 version stars Leslie Woods. (See also Inner Sanctum: “The Magic Tile”)

Death For Sale   B

(Boris Karloff) A man pleads for his wife’s life…for just ten more minutes! The couple had helped stage the disappearance of his wife’s first husband and waited seven years for the life insurance to pay out. Six and a half months later, the dead guy shows up again looking for more money. Karloff kills him! (Duh.) Then the guys second wife shows up with proof of the scam and a cabbie waiting outside. Does she get paid off… or knocked off? Then Karloff’s partner has pangs of guilt, so they go for a little ride…

Death Has Claws   D

A cat lover protects his pet, Apollo, from a lunatic with a baseball bat. Then the cops shoot the cat, thinking it is a murderer in the shadows. We sympathize… but suddenly the character goes psycho and tries to kill the little girl next door! What the heck?!

Death In The Depths   A

A reluctant diver is coerced into a job by his girlfriend who threatens to sing to the cops. (See, Steve killed his pal Curly for his girl, Leela. Sharp coral cut his line.) Then another guy he paid off returns for more cash and ends up floating in bilge water! On this new job, when big Steve goes down, guess who’s waiting? For big Steve Farrell, “nine bells” marks each death!

Death Is A Double-Crosser   C

When once-renowned diamond cutter Anderson is hired to cut the King Midas diamond, his new ex-con apprentice Harry decides he can finish the job himself… and offs the artist. When he hesitates out of fear of making a bad cut, the killer’s girlfriend starts to nag him and ends up behind a brick wall in the cellar right next to Anderson! Too bad it was all a lie. When the cops show up and Harry claims his girlfriend suddenly “went to visit her mother,” the heat drops the news: Anderson never had the job. The rock in the shop vice is a glass forgery!

Death Is A Joker (1944)   C

(Peter Lorre) On being ridiculed for being in love with a woman who is out of his league, a man is driven to murder. Then to cover his tracks, he must kill again. When the woman professes her love for him, he laughs. The victim was never dead! He was only unconscious… but the second death unnecessarily made him a felon! [From AFRS Mystery Playhouse re-broadcast of 1941 version]

Death Is An Artist   B

I had a real problem with this episode because of the needless description of decapitated cats. The banter between Raymond and Mary was great. (She tells him to get married.) A sculptor adjusts when his wife leaves him for another man and he loses custody of their son. His wife agrees to finish posing for his bust of her for six months, but then her time is up. The artist brings Agatha’s head to the other man in a box! Ivan’s laughter is maniacal! Years later, a police reporter seems drawn to the story of a homeless man who killed himself (and four cats…). But he can’t print the item. It was his dad!

Death Of A Doll   C

A reporter investigates the mysterious death of a girl who holds a doll. The doll says “Kara Nana,” meaning The Devil, who has possessed a man. But which of the few supporting characters is the murderer?

Death On The Highway   C

An embezzler frames a thief for the hundred G’s he just stole but after the thief commits suicide, the embezzler sees the dead man’s face on a hitchhiker.. that he runs down. He pays off a hobo who witnessed the act, but can’t buy off the hitchhiker’s girlfriend. She blackmails him for the full hundred grand and walks, with the embezzler believing she killed the hobo and that he himself is ultimately responsible for three deaths.

Death Out Of Mind   C

A reporter who was responsible for a woman’s suicide (after dredging up an old rap she was found innocent of) feels guilt as a figure in black acts as his conscience. The figure calls himself Santo. He shoots a cook while robbing a diner, then enlists the reporter, Ed, to dump the body (or else). Ed is convinced “Fate in a black suit” is coming for him, but the one… playing on his mind… is his new wife.

Death Pays The Freight   B

A hobo kills a look-alike, then steals his identity… and is then framed for murder! He tries to escape back to the train yard, but his old life is waiting there! The 1947 version stars Larry Haines, the 1952 version stars Everett Sloane. [Not to be confused with the 1941 lost episode “Dead Freight”.]

Death Rides a Rip Tide   B

Neo-gothic. A new bride grows suspicious over the death of her husband’s first wife, who drowned below the mansion at high tide. When the deceased’s uncle reveals a letter he thinks will “make him money,” she steals it… off his corpse! Witnesses to the drowning show up claiming the first wife was not alone on the ridge when she fell to her death.

Death Ship   C

Captain Pike is accused of purposely running the Mary Kay into a reef off Skeleton Quay by one of the last survivors as they float aimlessly on a whale boat. A ship! They’re saved! But they find the ship empty except a dead helmsman… a cursed death ship! And squall is blowing up. It doesn’t matter any more that the pirate’s treasure below decks. The boat tied behind the ship? It’s the five of them. They are already dead. The compass points due North, but the sun rises in the West. Terrible sound quality, but very worth a listen!

Death Watch in Boston   C

A creep calling himself Charon who keeps a mynah bird that says Hyman Brown’s tagline: “It is later than you think!” The bird predicts random deaths to Dr. Dickens, who begins to believe the tall goth is really death incarnate… or is it Gabriel? Will the doctor come along quietly?

Death Wears a Lonely Smile   C

A very big man does not like to be laughed at. He shows up with a bruised head waiting for his girl, Lola, but she died a year ago. A kind woman takes him in, but he gets rough with the neighbor-lady. We go back and forth anticipating his guilt as he seems to be framed for murder. Did he do it, or is he just a big lug?

Death’s Little Brother   B

A guy finds a wallet on a train and decides to bump off its owner and masquerade as the heir to a fortune. Will the housekeeper give him away? Will the motel manager? How many bodies will he need to dump in the lake? One more at least, since the first victim’s corpse shows up dripping wet in his bedroom!

Death’s Old Sweet Song   C

Three siblings are set to inherit old Uncle Pete’s fortune. Of course, he’s murdered. Peg finds the body, and the housekeeper, Mrs. Sondgaard, believes she did it. Peg runs from the police only to find her brother dead, too. (She sets off a booby-trap that frames her.) Each time there is a death she hears an organ grinder outside playing “Death’s Old Sweet Song”. This episode is great when Sondergaard locks — in a bedroom with her uncle’s corpse, but it’s all too easy to figure out whodunnit two minutes in.

Desert Death   B

Three Nazis from Rommel’s Africa Corps parachute into the American desert and hijack a car.They only need one of the two occupants to drive across the border… they shoot the other! He is a Native American from the local area. They bury him behind a cabin near a Navajo pueblo. His corpse, though buried deep, finds its way to the top of the sand. Then Nazis start turning up dead! Very mysterious music!

Detour To Terror   B

This episode sounds as if it were written for The Bobbsey Twins. A man feels danger when his twin sister gets in trouble investigating the history of a house of ‘wreckers’ who would lure ships to their destruction and loot the cargo. Jerry grabs his dog Butch and drives out to where he finds his sister, Linda, where a fake detour sign lured her off-road and a purposely downed tree derailed her car into a ditch. There’s a light over at the Frankenstein place, so they risk the storm and find two brothers living there who invite them in. But the house is dark and there is no phone. Of course! One of them is blind! The other… crazy! This is a terrible episode unless you go into it -expecting- a high camp factor. It is a lot of fun for a school Halloween party, though the fake dog’s whining makes it unbearable at times.

Devil’s Fortune, The   C

A mining engineer is framed for murder in order to elicit his cooperation in working a Mexican mine haunted by the Devil. They suspect sabotage by a man in a black devil suit, but the suspect is found dead. So… who’s that devil in the shadows?

Devil’s Workshop, The   A

A wax sculptor notices his figure of the Devil in a new location each day until it disappears. That day, a man with no face shows up asking him to mold one in the sculptor’s own image… which allows him to steal the sculptor’s girlfriend. She grows increasingly violent, then the sculptor notices his Bloody Mary figure is also missing. Crazed, he burns off the Devil’s face!

Don’t Dance on My Grave   C

Woman believes she has committed murder twice in her sleep. Am I Going Crazy?
 

Doomed, The   C

Garth Boden calls his friend Lyman for advice when he believes he’s killed his wife. Apparently she wanted him committed so she could get his money. Of course, Lyman is in love with Gloria. Lyman tries to set up Garth when he asks for money to help him get out of the country. Claudia calls shenanigans! Garth shoots Lyman! Then, under the influence of sleeping pills, he misinterprets a phone call… and shoots faithful Claudia, too! Was it really a second setup or was she trying to save Garth? And Garth’s wife, Nina? She’s still alive! She dies for Garth!

Edge of Death, The   D

The cursed sword of Rasputin causes evil luck. Am I Going Crazy?
 

Eight Steps to Murder   B

A guy’s got a perfect blueprint for murder. His friend warns him, “You’ll make a mistake. You’ll slip up. You can’t plan for everything!” (1) He obtains a weapon, (2) arranges for an alibi, (3) plants a present in the company safe, and (4) creates vicious rumors that the star of the theater company is falling for Nina. (5) He runs a newspaper article about how Nina and Basil “clicked”, and then arranges to (6) “discover” the two of them out together! (7) He makes sure he is alone with Nina… and kills her! Then (8) He calls the police pretending to be Basil, admits to the murder, and promises suicide! He kills Basil and takes the payroll from the safe as if Nina had stolen the money intending to run off with Basil …But you can’t plan for rain.

Elixir Number Four   C

(Richard Widmark) A scientist discovers a formula for immortality, and his daughter’s boyfriend kills him for it! The killer makes it look like an accident… but the body disappears! Soon the boyfriend hears the scientist’s voice; he’s come back to remind him of his guilt. Forever is a long time behind bars. (aka “The Man Who Could Not Die”) #1b. Am I Going Crazy?

Fearful Voyage   (1949) B

It’s bad luck to bring a woman on a fishing vessel, even a dead one! Snubbed, Steve kills his wife and stuffs her in a trunk. After dumping her body, the crew pull her, living, from the water. So he kills her again. But was she the one person who could save them from a shipwreck? Rita’s ghost laughs, like a siren, from the rocks above!

Flame of Death, The   C

A woman watches her husband die in a fire, but returns to the scene to find their cabin rebuilt from the ashes. Is her husband trying to drive her mad? His twin brother shows up, and magnesium is discovered in the woodshed. Was it murder? 1b. Am I Going Crazy?

Ghost in The Garden, The   C

When an uncle returns from abroad and announces he is selling the estate, He is summarily killed and buried under the rose bush. When she starts to smell roses everywhere, then sees a ghost in the garden, she has suspicions that her husband only married her for her money. The end is a great twist on Motif #1! Am I Going Crazy?

Girl and The Gallows, The   C

A woman’s psychic step-mother relays a vision of her father dead and her wearing a noose. When the step-mom is poisoned, the body disappears as she had foretold, leaving the daughter framed for the death penalty… Am I Going Crazy?

Hangman’s Island   B

A guy steals a treasure map from a buddy who wants to cut him out of the deal and ends up on a booby-trapped island with a golden-haired beauty.

Hell is Where You Find It

Creepy ambience. A womanizer who drives one lover to suicide and murders another with the poison ring of the Borgias is invited to the mansion of another medieval art collector. When he arrives, the woman he killed is there to greet him! She had expressed misgivings about their host, Prince Tenebroso. But now she knows who the real devil is!

Hitchhiking Corpse, The   B

An Irish truck driver picks up a woman hitchhiker… who asks his to transport the bodies of her kin from “the wheel house where the water falls” to their ancestral home in Moon Hollow. It seems Eileen and her family have been run out of the old mill for witchcraft. The local sheriff goes to help and discovers the driver has set the corpses around a table…

Honeymoon With Death   C

A woman is tipped off that her new husband plans to kill her for her money. Is it true? He admits it! She does have a gun left by the couple who warned her…but they were his accomplices! Will she survive the night?

Horla, The   C

Sound quality of the only existing circulating episode is unlistenable. I read along with the script. A man returns from South America possessed of a ghost-like vampire creature called a horla. It repeats his words inside his mind, trying to drive him to…. what? The victim discovers the thing is afraid of fire, so he burns down his house! Is it dead? No! The man takes his own life… just what the horla wanted all along. [Adapted from Guy DeMaupassant]

House of Doom   C

A house has a secret opening to a chasm that washes people out to sea. The perfect cover-up for murder… except the house keeps the killers inside until someone murders them in turn!

Hunter From Beyond The  

Only 5 minutes of this episode remain. It’s about a mountain climbing expedition, and sounds like it would have been entertaining.

I Walk The Night   C

Myrna Lang gets knocked off… but was it an intruder, or her husband Peter? Or was it her cousin, Ted Hale? Someone keeps slipping Peter Mickey Finns, and Ted Hale was the one mixing drinks. When Pete finds evidence that Ted strangled Myrna, Pete still lets him hide in his basement! Everyone wants to use Peter’s money to get Ted Hale out of town, but his savings is all gone from the bank! Who else had the combination? Ted Hale! Phil Judson is found with his head bashed in! Wait for the end- you think its the same old twist… but it’s not!

I’d Like to Report a Murder   C

A regular guy who works in a bank… (and has an extremely jealous wife,) is set up by a couple. When the wife kisses the banker and the husband responds with hostility, it looks like he killed the guy in self-defense. When the woman blackmails him, the quickest way out is a second murder! Except the first death was a fake! He’s back at square one! Will the banker’s wife buy his story?

Image of Death, An   C

A femme fatale blackmails a sculptor who has murdered his wife. He kills lots of other folks to protect himself, but (incredulously) plays along with her. He loves her! She forces him to slave over the creation of endless new sculptures for the money. Until the police catch on, and everybody loses. His confusing behavior and willingness to kill made Corday an unsympathetic character along with every other player in this tragedy.

Island of Death, The   B

Overbearing rich man kills a powerful witch doctor and in so doing becomes trapped on an island with a rival for the love of his wife. Voodoo

Killer at Large   C

This one’s all over the place. It starts out being about a guy who hunts down his wife’s killer. When he gets his revenge, a woman photographer catches him in the act! She blackmails him– not for money, but to help her retrieve the wealth of a hermit at the top of a secluded mountain. But a guy with a map beats them up there and takes pot shots at them. Quicksand! It’s a race to the top to kill the recluse and take his hoard of cash! It has an explosive ending.

Judas Clock, The   B

A clock is cursed by weights made from the gold coins of Judas. Whoever owns the clock dies violently!

Lady Killer   C

Mrs. Carolyn Giles discovers that her husband is hated by townsfolk because he is believed to be a murderer of young women, a crime of which he was once acquitted, but the murders have begun again with his return to his hometown. Their housekeeper Mary is stabbed right in their home, but David doesn’t want the police to know what’s happening yet. Why? Why does he ask Carolyn to lie about his being home all night, and where did he go? Richard, her husband’s oldest friend stays with her… while she acts as bait for the murderer! (aka Homicidal Maniac)

Lady With a Plan, A   B

Crime. Gladys, the wife of a prison warden wants a divorce, but Edward will not give her one. Her lover Steven Bromley, the assistant warden offers a plan… break out Bucky Briggs and let him into the warden’s house. But Bucky, after he strangles Edward, still expects Gladys to run off with him. Instead, once he flees, she blows the whistle on him! Does he realize he’s been used? When she meets Bromley in New York, Briggs is waiting.

Last Story, The   B

(Richard Widmark) Rita, who has been told since birth that she is a killer (her mother died in childbirth and she is foretold to kill another,)is rescued from suicide by a man, Tony, who falls in love with her. She runs when greedy Uncle Zeb tells her it’s Tony she’s destined to kill. Believing herself a lunatic, Rita goes to see Dr. White … who becomes competition for her love! So Tony kills him after coercing a release letter from him saying he has diagnosed that she will never become a crazed murderer… but she still stabs in her sleep!

Listener, The   A

An older woman refuses to ever leave her house. She seems paranoid about the sound of footsteps on the cellar stairs. Her nephew and companion plot to blackmail her when they discover her secret. Everyone’s schemes backfire in the end!

Lonely Sleep, The   B

A window-dresser doesn’t like being made fun of by his crush… so he kills her and hides her body in the window display. It’s so lifelike, it starts to draw a crowd!

Magic Tile, The   C

A remake of “Death Demon”. A woman is suspicious of her father’s death, but her mother and step dad remain silent. The magic tile brings back the spirit of the man framed for it to finger the real murderer. The 1948 version stars Mercedes McCambridge, the 1952 version stars Ann Seymour.

Make Ready My Grave   D

(Richard Widmark) A Pirate Curse: Gaston LeRoux cursed the Loomis family who hanged him and his wife: “so shall all the Loomis brides die.” John Loomis and his bride never make it back to the Loomis mansion, detouring through the family cemetery. Transparent twist: A Galt has served the Loomis family for 150 years, and the curse has never failed in all that time. Yup, the butler did it.

Man From the Grave   C

Only the final fifteen minutes of this episode survive. Franz Carroli’s wife is killed ten years after the narrator killed Franz in a car accident. She had been cheating on him, so he took the opportunity of the accident to stage his own death with the body of his wife’s lover, who had really been the one killed in the car. Years later, he tries to frame the guy who hit him for the murder of his wife!

Man From Yesterday, The   C

N’gaji the gorilla is brought to civilization and finally recognizes his captor– a man with a hereditary birthmark that resembles teeth marks on his neck. Will the king of the jungle, endowed with racial memory, achieve revenge after so many generations? What a creepy primitive voice!

Man Who Could Not Die  

See “Elixir #4”

Mark My Grave   C

Old Luther promised to come back for his three children and take them with him beyond death… and he does, during a ghostly piano solo! It was Sir Oliver trying to steal the hidden treasure… until the final death occurs while he is in custody!

Meek Die Slowly, The   A

A Peter Lorre sound-alike kills on the anniversary of his wife’s disappearance and buries the bodies beneath his dahlias. Until a ringer who’s not really dead returns to point out how Martha’s wedding ring has grown right up out of the soil around a dogwood branch!

Melody of Death   C

Gipsy violin music, when heard by a woman about to be married, will stay with her and cause her to do things… like kill her lover! (Or Lobo, the guy who crossed the violinist.) Finally the fiancee has had enough, and kills Enrique, the musician. But when the gipsy’s yellow-eyed cat comes near… the music returns to control her mind!

Mind Over Murder  

(1949) A re-recording of the script from “No Rest for The Dead” (1946, 1952) aka Mr. Macabre.

Murder By Prophecy   B

A greedy mug inherits a run-down mansion from his great-grandfather. His ancestor, Daniel Zinga, had the power to foretell the future: Napoleon’s defeat, the Civil War,… and that a descendant would come to Hillcrest, capture a jewel, and sit with a fortune at his feet. He interprets the prophecy to mean he must murder three people! It all comes true, just as predicted!

Murder Comes at Midnight   C

This story depicts the horror of home invasion through the dialogue between an escaped death-row inmate and a woman with a child upstairs. When the phone rings, who will get the upper hand?

Murder Comes to Life   C

Crime. All the dialogue is drawn out so it feels like the episode drags for hours. John LeBlanc wakes in a quarry, having forgotten he was a Chicago mob boss. He was knocked off by a cop for a reward, but survived, and has amnesia. Lots of good one-liners. At the end, one of his stooges realizes that the racketeer… is also a coward. Crime does not pay.

Murder Faces East   C

Steve is compelled to purchase a statue that turns its head eastward, and is met with an offer to sell it for a profit. Jin Khan swears his loyalty and service, and leads Sahib to the Chandra Ruby, hidden in the eye of a mummified corpse. In return, Jin Khan says Steve must kill his wife Selena to live: her hate is written in her diary. He does! Steve is apprehended while hiding the body. Too late, a telegram arrives… her uncle left Selena a million dollars Will the money go to her brother?

Murder Mansion   B

A man from buys a house, though he was warned that only a Crandall may live within its walls, and soon later his wife dies. He believes it to be murder, but was it…? And what is in the old well in the cellar?

Murder Off The Record   B

The scale over at Stork’s Drug Store is giving out fortunes that come true! A stumble-bum named Dolan keeps running into the business end of a gun. Turns out Uncle Jonas left him a fortune. One gun tricks him for a half, and one marries him… expecting the third to slug him and toss him into the river! Detective Noir at its finest! The 1949 version stars Mason Adams, the 1952 version stars Ken Lynch.

Murder Prophet, The   C

(Agnes Moorehead) A hitchhiker knows too much about the murder of a woman’s husband. Is he psychic? He coerces her into marrying him but renigs on his promise to reveal the true identity of the killer! What secret will she find in his forbidden, locked closet? The 1945 version stars Wendy Barrie, the 1952 version stars Agnes Moorehead. #1b. Am I Going Crazy?

Murder Rides The Carousel   B

(Leslie Woods, 1949) A female carnival barker gets word that a patron whose boyfriend had hit on her was found murdered. When the guy comes back, she unrealistically hops into his car for a date… where she finds another murder victim! Way too much is left unexplained. Misleading, but still a fun story! (aka “Death Rides a Carousel”, “The Murder Carousel”)

Murder Ship   C

Captain Hente and the crew of the Gypsy Princess hallucinate the spirit of a beautiful woman… whom the captain insists upon marrying! Soon, the ship’s food stores and coal disappear, stolen by the ghostly Captain Bellows, Hente insists. Abandoned by his bride, Hente is inconsolable until, with every pretense of sanity fallen, the captain kills each man of the crew in turn! He jumps overboard at her imagined voice! The lone survivor is rescued by a man who rows out… they haven’t been lost adrift at all! But the voice of the Princess now calls out for the legendary Bellows. And the man from the rowboat isn’t even a little bit wet.

Murder Takes a Honeymoon   C

A newlywed wife is suspicious that her husband has changed– he’s so impulsive buying a house in the country. Turns out it’s the house where his brother hid the loot after a heist. They find his corpse behind the fireplace! Her husband shoots a man who was searching the house when they arrive. She pleads with him to turn the money in to the police. When another crook shows up looking for his share, she’s the one holding a gun. What will she do?

Musical Score   B

Stranded on a life raft, a man strangles a composer who keeps humming a dirge then tosses him and his sick wife over the side. Three other men survive the wreck, witnesses… until the killer comes for them too. When he dumps the last body in the sea, he capsizes and washes up on a lighthouse where he hears that dirge one last time!

Next Time I Live   C

A mysterious figure offers Kurt Saunders five thousand dollars to clear all of his debts. Maybe Saunders was hypnotized by the man calling himself Landru, but he accepts. The catch? He has thirty days to pay it back or a hired gun named McCabe will take his life. Landru predicts he will attempt to pay it back three times… and fail. McCabe is given orders to kill Saunders on day thirty, so even when Kurt throttles the vengeful Landru, it won’t save him. It’s fun watching him try, though, seeing how he is thwarted getting that five grand every time.

Night is my Shroud   C

A guy on the lam meets his doppelgänger in the next room– but the thug he stole money from is waiting when he returns. He wishes the thug dead, and he has a heart attack! When his girl rats him out, she takes a dive off a fire escape! But how long does he have until the Devil comes… for him? The 1946 and 1949 versions star Ann Shepherd.

No Coffin for The Dead   B

Crime. Tom Archer, D.A., catches sight of the man who stabs and kills his assistant, John Frane, during a mugging. He claims it was Bart Hogan, son of the Frane family housekeeper, (who once attacked Frane, Sr. and recently escaped the asylum,) though Susan Frane, his wife, recognized her brother’s watch at the scene. Arnold Matteson, Susan Parker’s lawyer, suggests Susan marry Tom Archer in order to inherit a million dollars. Mrs. Hogan (Bart’s mother) is killed. “There wasn’t enough left of her to perform an autopsy on.” It comes out: Archer has had eyes for Susan all along. “I pushed hard. He went toppling out of the window. I leaned over and saw the body strike the tenth floor setback, then go hurtling into the air and smash down upon the pavement far below.” Will Inspector L. solve the confusing and convoluted crime?

No Rest For The Dead (1950)   C

A woman investigates whether her father killed for money and is led on a chase by a man calling himself Mr. Macabre! 1946 version stars Ann Seymour, the 1952 version stars Barbara Weeks and Everette Sloane. (aka Mr. Macabre) #1b. Am I Going Crazy?

Only the Dead Die Twice   B

Crime Noir. A dead body disappears when a “cleaner” shows up to take it away. Turns out he’s a fall-guy for two lovers covering up a murder. Great scene where a bad guy is run down by a hearse!

Over My Dead Body   B

In order to test which of his relatives is deserving of his inheritance, an old curmudgeon fakes his death. A bell attached to his crypt goes unanswered when his nephew prevents the housekeeper from rescuing the old man! He is buried alive! Then nephew Robert starts killing people one at a time… Can a dead man stop him?

Pattern for Fear   C

Crime. A poor sap with a heart of gold overhears a murder plot. He warns the stranger, but ends up being jailed himself…after the second time someone takes a shot at the intended victim.The story purposely misleads, but like an old Scooby-Doo episode, the real culprit is the only other character in the plot.

Portrait of Death   C

A woman is convinced a portrait is cursed and tries to buy it back from its new owner. He won’t sell… until his wife dies and the portrait begins to change. Then it’s too late. He dies. The art dealer takes it to a new buyer (who has hired the same butler!) but he won’t sell either. The woman and the murderer scuffle. The painting claims one more victim!

Scream, The   B

When the town harasses her, a woman finds out the hard way that her husband was wrongly accused of murder. Everyone expects the killings to begin again with his return. He swears he is out hunting the real killer at the time his housekeeper is murdered. Will his wife lie to offer an alibi?

Shadow of Death   C

A man has dreams that foretell a person (or fish’s) death. He is committed to an asylum… but then dreams about the doctor. Then he escapes. Are the premonitions real, or is he mad? Lipton’s Mary Bennett takes a turn with some morbid jokes!

Silent Hands, The   C

A female maniac has escaped the asylum! Men are found strangled! An old Indian assassination trick is used, distracting victims with a coin before garrotted. A reporter discovers a bird collector and her mentally unhinged sister nearby, and they’ve been to India! What is she trying to hide? (That police inspectors can be female, too!) 1b. Am I Going Crazy?

Skeleton Bay   A

A female mystery author spontaneously decides to become an accomplice to murder, but the murderer has a secret! The writer kills the murderer, who was apparently jilted by another woman… then learns it was his sister. He had her imprisoned! The first victim was the sister’s fiancee. So the writer kills the sister, too! The 1946 version stars Betty Lou Gerson, the 1950 episode stars Charlotte Holland.

Smile of The Dead, The  

Only the first fifteen minutes of this episode remain, but it starts out great! A mysterious man shows up at a hotel with thousands in cash and asks a motivated guy to put it in the safe. He dies in his room… but the dead man rings for room service! It’s just his wife, who says the dead man’s worth a double-indemnity policy and a baggage claim slip for the stolen cash. If the guy wants to keep it, all he’s gotta do is stage the corpse in an “accidental death’ scenario in cahoots with the wife. I hope it worked out for him, but with a smile on the dead man’s face, I’m guessing something went wrong!

Song of the Slasher, The   B

A murderer is loose, and a detective believes the culprit lives in his building. He could make the collar… but, instead of saving his wife from the slasher’s blade, he kills her and frames the murderer! Too bad he had the wrong guy pegged. Great interaction between the hosts Raymond and Mary.

Specter of the Rose   C

A male ballet dancer finds love after his wife and partner dies. But was it a stage accident or murder? The dancer keeps hearing the musical theme to his signature performance.

Strands of Death   (1946) C

We follow the story of a man who believes his wife may be a victim of the Silk Stocking Strangler… because his cheating wife left him just after he waited hours on line for a gift of stockings to go with her expensive new dress! Now he must kill everyone who even reminds him of Helen. It’ll take a lady cop to end his spree!

Strange Passenger   C

A man picks up a hitch-hiker he almost recognizes and ends up running off the road… because he’s choking her to death fighting over the radio! The song? “Stardust”. “It’s hard to not think when you’re alone,” he thinks, and offers a hobo a ride. Even the bum knows something is wrong and cuts out after Johnny blows past a woman hitch-hiking. It’s the same woman. Anne. When she appears in the car beside Johnny, he pretends he’s got engine trouble. Instead of getting frisky, he clobbers her with a wrench! He weights her body down with a tire jack and dumps her in a serene river. She was heavier than she ever was before. The 1946 and 1949 versions star Mason Adams, the 1952 version stars Wendell Corey. (aka “The Corpse in the Taxi”)

Study for Murder   B

(Boris Karloff) A psychologist studying how a person becomes a killer gets wrapped up in organized crime. He loses objectivity when he dreams about his first interview where he is told there’s no better way to learn than to experience murder first hand. But his wife doesn’t seem like that much of a nag..

Tell-Tale Heart, The   C

Poe’s classic. A man dislikes his employer’s lazy eye, and gets a thrill out of gradually sneaking into his room at night intent on murder. But once the body is buried, the constables show up asking about the scream. [Adapted from: Edgar Allan Poe]

Tempo in Blood   B

Terror by Night   B

A woman hears of an escaped killer on the loose over her car radio. Her car breaks down. At the gas station she finds a corpse, and is offered a ride from a stranger. Classic. [No relation to the 1946 Basil Rathbone film.]

Till Death Do Us Part   B

A couple on their honeymoon witness a murder– and the murderer sees them! When they arrive at the motel the corpse is waiting inside! They’ll be framed unless they hide it. When the manager invites herself in and sees the body, they may find themselves guilty of murder after all! The 1945 version stars Ann Shepard and Larry Haines, the 1947 version stars Everett Sloane and Mercedes McCambridge, and the 1952 version stars Mason Adams.

Twice Dead   A

Gothic. A man is convinced his wife, who fell to her death from Cathedral Rock, will return to him. Seth does too, and he hires a wanna-be actress to play the part. But when Carol’s brother shows up, he’s already found the box with the couples’ life savings in it. A hidden sub-cellar. murder, insanity… a graveyard by the cliff’s edge, this one has it all!

Unburied Dead, The   C

A woman discovers her husband missing, and when she goes home, No one recognizes her. She figures it’s her husband pulling a fast one, trying to trick her into insanity… so she kills him! Then her thug pal shows up and helps her bury him… right next to the last guy she offed. He’s been dead a while, but she keeps on killing the people who buy her house! A good story, but I had to listen twice to figure out what happened.

Undead, The   C

Wife suspects her husband is a vampire. Am I Going Crazy?

Unforgiving Corpse, The   C

A railroad signalman makes a deadly mistake, and hasn’t forgiven himself. Then the ghost of the engineer returns to tell the station master he’ll be on the 11:55 this week. A chance for revenge? For redemtion? Or just some bandits taking advantage of his guilt? [Also- Suspense: “Lunatic Hour”] Am I Going Crazy?

Vengeful Corpse   A

A witch burned at the stake returns for revenge on the ancestors who convicted her, leaving a trail of charred corpses in her wake!

Voice on The Wire   C

A widow hears her husband’s music coming from the ruins of the house where he died. The phone rings and a voice says “You have four hours to live.” The bridge is out… Is that the ghost of her dead husband? #1b. Am I Going Crazy?

Wailing Wall, The   C

(Boris Karloff) A twist on Poe’s The Black Cat, a man kills his wife and walls her up… but is plagued by her moaning. He becomes a recluse so that no one else will hear her. For the rest of his life.

Walking Skull, The   C

A man digs up a skull while gardening. He’s warned about the curse of the Indian burial ground, but it’s too late. Really, it’s his friend’s first wife… She gets revenge! (aka “The Skull That Walked”)

Wish to Kill, The   C

A man wishes his wife dead so badly he loses touch with reality. He drives her to an abandoned quarry where a mugger he hired assists in her murder. Back home, his wife’s radio station is playing and there’s a hot dinner on the table… The mugger is there! A double-cross? No! The chimney has been bricked up carefully!

You Could Die Laughing   C

Elwood must move to the dry air of Arizona or he’ll be dead in a year. When he hits a guy in his car, he runs… but someone saw. The witness blackmails Elwood… then moves in! Turns out he’s a wanted killer! Will Elwood and his wife escape? Will they get the blackmail money back? No one dies laughing, so I’m not sure how the title fits.

Fear Points the Way   D

A scared kid with a nervous trigger finger convinces the heavy hitters to take him on a heist.He shoots someone. After Jimmy blows a second chance and pops a bang guard, he runs. His girlfriend calls him a coward so she gets it, too! He hides in the cemetery. When the cops find him, Jimmy is delirious with fright, haunted by the spirits of those he killed. He finally admits he’s afraid. It’s entertaining to hear Aussies fake a Brooklyn accent. The theme was used in the Twilight Zone episode “The Grave”, but this script just couldn’t pull it off. [Both were loosely adapted from “The Path Through the Cemetery” by Leonard Q. Ross.]

Grey Wolf, The

A wolf with almost human intellect has been killing horses on a man’s farm. One night a stranger appears at the door drenched in rain asking for shelter. When the landowner goes after the wolf, leaving his wife home alone with the feral hunter, she becomes convinced he is a werewolf! (Karloff starred in the 1942 US version. aka “Worried by the Wolf”)

House of Doom, The

Two British men crash land their plane after fuel runs out. They are turned away at the nearest creepy mansion when they ask for shelter, the only place for miles. When they threaten to involve the police, the owner invites them in … but they must not talk to his sister. She’s crazy! She has killed four servants already, he tells them, but her story is different. Predictable, but creepy fun!

Mysterious Stranger   C

A woman encounters a man with a brown “Darbay” (derby hat) in her friend’s hospital room just before her friend dies. When she continues to encounter the man, she becomes convinced he is Death, and is coming for her.

Strange Career of Julian James, The   C

A highly skilled but arrogant actor has the ability to mimic emotion, ideas, even physical maladies to perfection. He can convince his leading lady that she is in love with him… despite the fact that she is afraid her will kill her during a play, caught up in his character. When Julian is offered a part portraying a man’s ghost, he demonstrates that he can even stop his own heart. After touring the morgue, he is ready for his greatest part!

Terrible Vengeance   C

Czech rebels are afraid to kill Nazi Colonel Schroider, “The Mad-Butcher” because of the terrible reprisals they would inflict upon the local people. Two escape a chase. When soldiers come to finish off the underground at a haunted mill, Schroider encounters a man he already killed hanging from the rafters! Taken in, he is convinced that he himself is dead, cursed to spend eternity with the corpse. He goes mad.

Tomorrow is a Two-Edged Sword