Lights Out presents “Poltergeist,” originally broadcast on October 20, 1942. Written, directed, and produced by Arch Oboler, this NBC broadcast is identified as episode 3 of the 1942–43 run and is also known as “Gravestone.”

Three city roommates take a horse-drawn sleigh ride through deep country snow and find themselves near an old, nearly buried graveyard. As darkness settles over the isolated countryside, a local superstition and their own uneasy discovery turn a winter outing into a chilling night of uncertainty.

Old Time Retro Radio presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:42 Original Broadcast
26:44 Closing

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/lights-out-old-time-radio--7222656/support.

Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Lights Out presents “Cat Wife,” originally broadcast April 6, 1938. Commonly listed as episode 85, this Arch Oboler thriller stars Boris Karloff as John and Betty Winkler as his wife, Linda, on the NBC Red Network.

A bitter domestic quarrel takes an uncanny turn when John’s repeated comparison of Linda to a cat begins to feel far more than figurative. Set in their 1930s home, this tense supernatural drama turns an unhappy marriage into a chilling late-night ordeal.

Old Time Retro Radio presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned and mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:50 Original Broadcast
27:38 Closing

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/lights-out-old-time-radio--7222656/support.

Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Lights Out presents “Sakhalin,” originally broadcast on CBS on August 10, 1943. Episode 45 was written by Arch Oboler, who is also featured in the cast.

On a remote Russian prison island during the era of the czars, a visiting inspector investigates a penal colony ruled by a ruthless commandant. This tense suspense drama explores the dangerous struggle for authority within an isolated and forbidding outpost.

Old Time Retro Radio presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:41 Original Broadcast
30:59 Closing

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/lights-out-old-time-radio--7222656/support.

Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Lights Out presents “Christmas Story,” originally broadcast December 22, 1937, as episode 71 on NBC. Written by Wyllis Cooper, this surviving archival broadcast is a repeat of his earlier Christmas play, “Three Men.”

On Christmas night in 1918, three Allied officers—an Australian, a Frenchman, and an American—share a crowded train compartment in France while traveling on leave after the Great War. A bright star and an uncanny sense of familiarity lead their journey into a gentle, spiritual fantasy shaped by the Nativity tradition. The cast includes Harold Peary and Willard Waterman.

Old Time Retro Radio presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:37 Original Broadcast
30:37 Closing

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/lights-out-old-time-radio--7222656/support.

Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Lights Out, “Happy Ending,” originally broadcast June 23, 1937. Cataloged as episode 55, this NBC sustaining-program installment was written by Arch Oboler.

A young wife receives unexpected news from her doctor and faces the walk home with thoughts of money, marriage, family expectations, and an uncertain future. An unusually intimate domestic drama for Lights Out, it finds suspense in private hopes and anxieties rather than the series’ more familiar supernatural territory.

Old Time Retro Radio presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:44 Original Broadcast
25:37 Closing

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/lights-out-old-time-radio--7222656/support.

Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Lights Out presents “Valse Triste,” originally broadcast on CBS on December 29, 1942, as episode 13 of the 1942 revival. Written, produced, and directed by Arch Oboler, this atmospheric restaging features guest star Dinah Shore alongside Gloria Blondell, Lou Merrill, Joe Kearns, and Wally Maher.

When two young women are stranded during a countryside outing, worsening weather leads them along a wooded path to an isolated cabin. There, a gentle hermit and the haunting sound of a violin offer shelter—but the refuge soon feels far less welcoming than it first appears. The title invokes Jean Sibelius’s “Valse triste.”

Old Time Retro Radio presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:46 Original Broadcast
29:49 Closing

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/lights-out-old-time-radio--7222656/support.

Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Lights Out presents “Come to the Bank,” originally broadcast on CBS on November 17, 1942. This 1942 revival episode, number 7, was written and produced by Arch Oboler and features Virginia Gregg and Jay Novello.

At Matson High School, physics teacher Ada Moss grows uneasy when psychology instructor Fred Roth claims the mind can overcome the limits of the physical world. His determination to test that belief at a city bank leads Ada into an increasingly urgent and unsettling search for someone willing to believe what she has seen.

Old Time Retro Radio presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:47 Original Broadcast
23:06 Closing

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/lights-out-old-time-radio--7222656/support.

Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Lights Out presents “Ball Paris Macabre,” originally broadcast March 9, 1943. Also known as “The Ball (Paris Macabre),” this is episode 23 of the 1943 series, written, directed, and produced by Arch Oboler for CBS.

In Paris, two young American college students buy their way into an artists’ masquerade ball in search of adventure. Behind the masks, strange customs, uneasy warnings, and an increasingly ominous atmosphere make it clear they have entered a gathering with rules of its own.

Old Time Retro Radio presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned and mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:49 Original Broadcast
27:55 Closing

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/lights-out-old-time-radio--7222656/support.

Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Lights Out presents “Little Old Lady,” episode 66, originally broadcast on NBC on November 17, 1937. This original radio play was written by Arch Oboler during the series’ Chicago-produced run.

College friends Alice and Lona set out to surprise Alice’s reclusive Aunt Harriet Saugus, but a flat tire leaves them walking a remote, tree-lined road as darkness and mist gather. Their arrival at an isolated house turns a planned visit into an increasingly uneasy night of strange sounds, oppressive silence, and mounting dread.

Old Time Retro Radio presents the original broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:42 Original Broadcast
30:10 Closing

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/lights-out-old-time-radio--7222656/support.

Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio

Lights Out presents “Ugliest Man in the World,” originally broadcast on CBS on June 1, 1943. Listed as episode 35 of the 1942–43 revival, this Arch Oboler drama stars Raymond Edward Johnson and Ann Shephard.

Paul Martin has spent a lifetime enduring cruelty because of his appearance, leaving him isolated and haunted by memory. His encounter with a young blind woman offers the possibility of being seen differently in this deeply psychological tale, adapted from Oboler’s earlier radio play.

Old Time Retro Radio presents this original archival broadcast with a newly produced contextual introduction, a short closing announcement, and gently cleaned/mastered audio for a more consistent listening experience.

Chapters:
00:00 Victor Sterling Introduction
00:40 Original Broadcast
24:00 Closing

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/lights-out-old-time-radio--7222656/support.

Support Old Time Retro Radio at https://www.patreon.com/oldtimeretroradio