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Suspense - Radio’s Outstanding Theater of Thrills

Presented by OTR.FM Network

Unravel the Mystery with Suspense! - The Classic Radio Thriller Series Step back in time to the golden age of radio with ”Suspense!” - the iconic series that captivated audiences from 1942 to 1962 with its thrilling tales and unforgettable performances. Featuring over 900 broadcasts penned by renowned authors and directors, ”Suspense!” brought the finest in thriller and mystery genres to the airwaves. Broadcast on the CBS Radio Network, ”Suspense!” showcased Hollywood’s brightest stars, including Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart, Orson Welles, and Marlene Dietrich. Under the masterful direction of William Spier, known as the ”Hitchcock of the airwaves,” the series delivered gripping human dramas that kept listeners on the edge of their seats. From the eerie introductions by the ”Man in Black” to the evocative scores by Bernard Hermann and Lucian Moraweck, ”Suspense!” was a paragon of radio production excellence. The show’s unique formula of minimal rehearsal and genuine unease created authe...

646 episodes

Eyewitness

Nov 5, 2026 · 30 min

Originally Aired: December 16, 1956 Suspense #678, "Eyewitness," journalist Kelly arrives at the state prison for what should be a routine assignment—gathering background for an article about life behind bars. The warden makes clear that everything must be cleared through him, and Captain Wolf, his guide, warns him not to speak to any inmates. As Kelly tours the facility, he feels increasingly suffocated by the oppressive atmosphere. But his visit takes a terrifying turn when he and Captain Wolf enter the old cell block, a fortress-like structure built in 1847 to house the prison's most dangerous inmates. Within moments, they're ambushed and taken hostage by prisoners led by the calculating J. Conrad Allen, who insists his name be spelled with one L. With thirty-two inmates now in control of the old block and holding five hostages, including Kelly, tensions rise as the convicts debate their next move. Some want to attempt a desperate breakout, while others fear the futility of such action. Conrad has a different plan—he intends to use the hostages, especially the journalist, as leverage to demand better treatment and conditions. Kelly finds himself an unwilling participant in a prison mutiny where the outcome remains dangerously uncertain.
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge

Nov 4, 2026 · 29 min

Originally Aired: December 9, 1956 Suspense #677, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," presents Ambrose Bierce's haunting Civil War tale starring Victor Jory. Peyton Farquhar, an Alabama planter and Confederate sympathizer, stands on a railroad bridge in northern Alabama with a noose around his neck, awaiting execution by Union forces. As he balances at the edge of death, his mind races with desperate thoughts of escape. Just days earlier, a Confederate soldier had visited Farquhar's home, sharing intelligence about the vulnerable Owl Creek Bridge and suggesting that a civilian might slip past Union sentries to destroy it, potentially halting the enemy's advance toward Atlanta. The episode unfolds with meticulous detail as Farquhar faces his fate, surrounded by the captain's company standing at rigid attention and a Union lieutenant with drawn saber. When the sergeant steps aside and the plank tips forward, Farquhar plunges between the bridge timbers. In those final moments, the story explores the vivid sensations of a condemned man, the choices that brought him to this precipice, and the thin line between duty and folly in wartime.
The Rim of Terror

Nov 4, 2026 · 29 min

Originally Aired: December 2, 1956 In Suspense #676, "The Rim of Terror," a young woman from Vermont driving a powerful Mercedes through the Nevada desert makes a fateful decision to pick up a hitchhiker in the rain. The man, later identifying himself as Peter Whittlesey, appears bedraggled and desperate. When she approaches what seems to be a routine traffic survey checkpoint, the situation turns sinister. The interviewers become threatening, and with her dog Torko beside her, she makes a daring escape, roaring past the fake officials in their van. Peter reveals a shocking story: he claims to be an American-born spy who infiltrated a foreign intelligence operation and is now fleeing from his former handlers who want him dead. The men at the roadblock are hunting him, not her. A bullet hole in her windshield confirms the deadly danger. As Peter pleads to be taken to the police so he can turn himself in and escape his pursuers, the woman must decide whether to believe his incredible tale or abandon him on the desolate road, knowing ruthless killers are closing in.
The Man Who Stole the Bible

Nov 3, 2026 · 30 min

Originally Aired: November 25, 1956 Suspense #675, "The Man Who Stole the Bible," Mr. Cummings finds himself trapped in a stuffy New Orleans hotel room during Mardi Gras, waiting for a call from his boss. Bored and unable to get any reading material from the inattentive hotel staff, he discovers a Gideon Bible in his room and begins reading the story of David. What starts as idle curiosity turns sinister when a house detective appears looking for a lost pocketbook, followed by a mysterious woman from the next room who claims she needs help opening a stuck window. After taking a phone call from his boss, Cummings discovers his room has been searched and his briefcase ransacked. The woman has suddenly checked out, and peculiar events begin piling up around room 302. When Cummings impulsively pockets the Bible and leaves his room, he finds himself caught in an increasingly dangerous web of deception. The stolen Bible—something he never meant to take—becomes a weight in his pocket as he realizes the night of terror has only just begun.
The Long Night

Nov 3, 2026 · 31 min

Originally Aired: November 18, 1956 Suspense #674, "The Long Night," finds air traffic controller Ken on the night watch at Rockford Tower when a desperate call comes in from a novice pilot in a Beechcraft Bonanza. The pilot, a businessman flying from Indianapolis to Minneapolis, is hopelessly lost somewhere over the Midwest after his automatic direction finder malfunctioned. He's been circling for over an hour and has less than 45 minutes of fuel remaining. The situation grows more dire when Ken learns the pilot has no instrument training and is trapped on top of a solid cloud layer at 5,000 feet, while below him lies a thick overcast with visibility of just one mile in smoke and haze. Ken clears all other traffic from the frequency and begins the race against time to locate the lost aircraft, guide it to Rockford Field, and somehow talk an inexperienced pilot down through dense clouds using instruments he doesn't know how to read. With the clock ticking and fuel running out, Ken must remain calm and resourceful as he attempts to save a stranger's life during one very long night.
Three Skeleton Key

Nov 2, 2026 · 30 min

Originally Aired: November 11, 1956 Suspense #673, "Three Skeleton Key," stars Vincent Price as a lighthouse keeper stationed with two companions on a desolate rock rising from shark-infested waters. The narrator works alongside Louis, a taciturn head keeper from the Basque Country, and Auguste, a garrulous former Parisian actor. Their isolated routine is shattered when they spot a mysterious three-masted ship sailing directly toward their dangerous reef. Through their telescopes, they discover why the beautiful vessel was abandoned: its decks are swarming with thousands of enormous, ravenous ship rats. As the derelict vessel runs aground on the rocks at low tide, the nightmare begins. The rats, desperate and starving, swim toward the lighthouse in a churning brown carpet across the water. The three men race to secure the bronze door at the base of their tower, but one monstrous rat gets inside before they can seal it shut. As they fight off the creature and flee upward through the winding staircase, they discover rats covering every window, their wild red eyes and yellow teeth visible through the glass, trapping the keepers in their cylindrical prison.
The Signalman

Nov 2, 2026 · 30 min

Originally Aired: November 4, 1956 Suspense #672, "The Signalman," stars Sarah Churchill in this adaptation of Charles Dickens' chilling tale. Amy Sayr, a writer returning to her childhood village after twenty years, seeks to interview the mysterious signalman who works at a desolate railway cutting near a dark tunnel. When she calls down to him from above, her words "Hello, below there" provoke a strange, fearful reaction. The signalman seems to dread her presence, acting as though he has seen her before—standing by the red signal light at the tunnel's mouth. As Amy settles into his small, book-filled shack by the tracks, she discovers this educated, philosophical man has spent thirty-four years in isolation, having given up on life after squandering his youthful promise. The tension deepens as the signalman probes Amy's reasons for visiting at this particular time, suggesting she may have been drawn there by forces beyond her understanding. He speaks cryptically of premonitions and the possibility that the future can intrude upon memory. As trains scream past like wounded monsters and disappear into the ominous tunnel, both the signalman's dread and the reason for Amy's childhood terror begin to reveal themselves.
Red Cloud Mesa

Nov 1, 2026 · 28 min

Originally Aired: October 30, 1956 Suspense #671, "Red Cloud Mesa," George Bowman operates the Red Cloud Trading Post on a remote Navajo reservation, where he considers the Indians his people and himself their friend. His isolation is shattered when Four Thumbs, a Navajo veteran who once served under him in France, arrives seeking sanctuary. Four Thumbs has escaped from the psychiatric ward of a Veterans Hospital after shooting a guard, and state trooper Arturo Fojillo is already searching the area for him. Bowman faces an agonizing choice between his duty as a law-abiding citizen and his loyalty to a man he once commanded—a soldier whose mind was shattered defending a position long after his platoon had been wiped out. As Fojillo arrives at the trading post to investigate, Bowman must decide whether to turn in Four Thumbs or help him evade capture. The tension mounts as the trooper searches the premises while the elder Yellow Salt and other Navajos watch, their loyalties unclear. Caught between two worlds and two codes of honor, Bowman struggles with what it means to truly help a tormented warrior who has no place left to die.
The Doll

Nov 1, 2026 · 25 min

Originally Aired: October 23, 1956 In Suspense #670, "The Doll," young Valerie faces her seventh birthday overshadowed by her father George's new wife, Paula. When George forgets the occasion entirely, Paula produces a special doll as a gift—one with blonde hair like Valerie's deceased mother, whom the girl insists on naming Henny. The doll contains an unusual feature: a wind-up heart that beats like a real person's. Valerie becomes obsessed with keeping the mechanical heart running, believing that if she winds it carefully enough and never lets it stop, the doll won't die like her mother did. Her fixation grows increasingly disturbing as she refuses to leave the doll alone and retreats to her secret hiding place in the garden. When Valerie overhears Paula and George plotting to destroy the doll while she sleeps, the child's fragile grip on reality threatens to shatter completely. She flees with Henny into the woods, determined never to sleep and to keep the doll's heart beating forever. As Valerie's desperation intensifies, her inability to accept her mother's death manifests in a dangerous devotion to her mechanical companion, leading toward a chilling confrontation between childhood grief and adult intervention.
The Prophecy of Bertha Abbott

Oct 31, 2026 · 31 min

Originally Aired: October 16, 1956 Suspense #669, "The Prophecy of Bertha Abbott," young Ernie finds himself fleeing into the night aboard a freight train with his friend Whitey, running from a crime that has turned deadly. As the two frightened boys huddle in a dark boxcar, hungry and uncertain of their destination, Ernie's mind drifts back to a terrifying childhood memory. Years earlier, he and Whitey attempted to steal peaches from the yard of Bertha Abbott, a strange old woman the neighborhood children believed to be a witch. When she caught young Ernie, she cursed him with a chilling prophecy: bad boys like him would end up dying in the gas chamber like rats. Now, that prophecy seems to be coming true. What began as a simple robbery of a local establishment has spiraled out of control when Whitey shot the proprietor, Goofy, during their escape. As police swarm the railroad yards and the boys desperately seek a train out of town, Ernie wrestles with whether Bertha Abbott's dark prediction is finally catching up with him, wondering if fate has already sealed his doom.
The Digger

Oct 31, 2026 · 29 min

Originally Aired: October 9, 1956 In Suspense #668, "The Digger," Carton tracks down Roger Fabian, a disgraced mining engineer known as "the Digger," to a squalid rooming house in the native quarter. Two years earlier, Fabian led thirty men into the Tabora mine during a cave-in, and only he made it back alive. Now drinking himself to death and haunted by nightmares of the men he left behind, Fabian has become a shadow of his former self. Carton brings him a job offer from Sandy McGregor: five thousand pounds to return to the very mine where the tragedy occurred. The mine has been reopened, and McGregor has found traces of a new vein. Despite his terror and the natives' taboo on the cursed mine, Fabian reluctantly agrees, seeing it as his last chance to escape his desperate circumstances. The journey back to Tabora proves torturous for the alcoholic Fabian, but he arrives to find McGregor waiting with news of rich ore samples. As Fabian prepares to descend once again into the mine that destroyed his life and reputation, he must confront both the physical dangers below and the ghosts of thirty dead men who haunt his conscience.
Waiting

Oct 30, 2026 · 30 min

Originally Aired: October 2, 1956 Suspense #667, "Waiting," presents a tense vigil as three women count down the final hours before Norman Landon's scheduled execution for the murder of Sheila Warren. His wife Aline, his sister Harriet, and his mother-in-law Mrs. Martinson gather in agonizing suspense as attorney Mr. Mailer makes desperate last-minute attempts to reach the governor with new evidence: a witness who claims to have seen a woman fleeing the victim's apartment that night. As the clock ticks toward eleven o'clock, tensions mount between the women, revealing painful secrets about Norman's troubled marriage and a diary that detailed his affair with the murdered woman. While Harriet maintains unwavering faith in her brother's innocence and Aline insists she loves him regardless of his guilt, Mrs. Martinson's cold acceptance that divine judgment has already been rendered creates bitter conflict. The women's vigil becomes not just a wait for news of a reprieve, but an emotional reckoning with loyalty, doubt, and the devastating question of whether Norman Landon is truly innocent or guilty of murder.
A Case of Identity

Oct 30, 2026 · 24 min

Originally Aired: September 25, 1956 Suspense #666, "A Case of Identity," Harry Burton and his wife Edna have hatched an elaborate scheme to collect $100,000 in life insurance. After Harry secures a large policy from the skeptical Mr. Croyd, he picks up a down-on-his-luck drifter named Wallace from the park—a man who bears an uncanny resemblance to Harry. The plan seems foolproof: stage an accident in the mountains, leave Wallace's body to be mistaken for Harry's, and disappear with the insurance money. Harry drugs Wallace, switches clothes and identification with him, and sets up a fiery car crash on a remote mountain highway while Edna waits nearby to pick him up. But things quickly go wrong when Edna's getaway car runs out of gas on the isolated mountain road. Desperate, they coast to a rundown gas station, only to find the surly attendant unwilling to help. With Edna hiding in the back seat and the unconscious Wallace still unaccounted for, Harry must convince the hostile station owner to give them fuel before their carefully constructed plan unravels completely.
The Security Agent

Oct 29, 2026 · 29 min

Originally Aired: September 5, 1956 Suspense #665, "The Security Agent," presents a gripping tale of desperate men plotting an audacious escape from behind the Iron Curtain. In 1956 Poland, two middle-aged friends face a life-changing decision: Joseph Ostrovsky, a bus works superintendent, and Frederick Zilonko, a radio broadcasting executive, meet for their regular Saturday chess game when Frederick reveals a startling plan. When Frederick learns he'll be traveling to a mechanical exhibition in Prague by plane, he sees an opportunity to flee to freedom in Austria by hijacking the aircraft. Though Joseph initially dismisses the idea as madness, Frederick is deadly serious and claims to have found a mysterious third man willing to join their conspiracy. As Frederick's travel plans solidify through his meeting with radio manager Comrade Kozun, the stakes become real. Frederick must convince his reluctant friend Joseph to take the terrifying leap with him, risking execution for a chance at freedom. The tension builds as the plotters prepare to transform a routine business trip into a daring flight to the West, knowing that one misstep could mean their deaths.
Hold-Up

Oct 29, 2026 · 30 min

Originally Aired: August 29, 1956 Suspense #664, "Hold-Up," stars Joseph Kearns as Tim Chase, a grocery store owner with a deadly reputation. When a nervous young man enters his store and attempts a robbery, Tim doesn't hesitate—he shoots to kill, claiming self-defense even though the supposed weapon turns out to be only a fountain pen. This marks the third time Tim has killed a would-be holdup man, and he shows no remorse. His wife Hazel watches helplessly as her husband's quick trigger finger claims another life, this one a boy barely out of his teens. Captain Runyon tries to reason with the cold, confident war veteran, warning him that someday he'll face a gunman faster than himself and urging him to leave the shooting to the police. But Tim remains unmoved, insisting that thieves deserve what they get and boasting about his understanding with guns. As reporters gather and questions mount about whether the killings are truly justified, Tim's chilling lack of sympathy raises troubling questions about a man who seems to relish his legal right to kill.
Double Identity

Oct 28, 2026 · 29 min

Originally Aired: August 8, 1956 Suspense #662, "Double Identity," stars Victor Perrin as George Lockman, a seemingly mild-mannered office worker who has spent five years patiently planning the perfect crime. Lockman works alongside Baker, a trusting colleague who shares the combination to the company safe with him. When their boss, J.T. Kraft, leaves town, Lockman seizes his opportunity. Using a clever ruse while Baker admires his own biceps, Lockman secretly keeps the safe unlocked, then steals fifty thousand dollars in cash. With a briefcase full of money and a plane ticket under the assumed name Robert Gelder, he begins his carefully plotted escape to Paris via New York. However, Lockman's meticulous plan starts to unravel almost immediately. A chatty fellow passenger, Mrs. Lee, notices how nervously he clutches his briefcase. When the plane makes an unexpected stop in Chicago, Lockman's worst nightmare materializes: he encounters his drunken boss, Mr. Kraft, at the airport coffee shop. As Lockman watches Kraft board the same plane where he's left the stolen money, everything he's planned for five years hangs in the balance.
The Tramp: Hijacking a Rusting Freighter for One Last Payday

Oct 28, 2026 · 30 min

Originally Aired: July 25, 1956 In Suspense #660, “The Tramp,” three seasoned criminals infiltrate the crew of a decrepit tramp steamer bound for South America with a cargo of scrap metal. Their plan is simple: murder the aging captain, hijack the ship, and deliver it to pirates waiting in a secret Caribbean port for a hefty payday. But greed, mechanical failure, blackmail, and mounting suspicion quickly unravel the carefully orchestrated scheme. As the battered vessel begins to sink in the Atlantic, the conspirators discover that escaping justice may be impossible. A tense maritime crime thriller filled with betrayal, desperation, and darkly ironic justice. Cast: Ben Wright, Stan Jones, Joseph Kearns, Charlie Lung, Raymond Lawrence, Lou Krugman, Bill Shepherd
The Man Who Threw Acid

Oct 27, 2026 · 26 min

Originally Aired: July 18, 1956 Suspense #659, "The Man Who Threw Acid," a young, idealistic assemblyman campaigns against organized crime in city government, drawing unwanted attention from the racketeers he's trying to eliminate. The boss orders a hit, and the job falls to Steve Clyber, a desperate middle-aged punk on the fringes of gangster society who sees this as his chance to finally prove himself to the mob. For just two hundred dollars, Steve agrees to throw acid in the assemblyman's face outside the athletic club at 5:30. As Steve kills time before the job, he can't resist dropping hints about his "big appointment" to acquaintances at his favorite bar, trying to shed his reputation as a nobody. With a jar of acid and a glove in a paper sack, Steve follows his instructions from the contact man, who promises this simple job will earn him respect and open doors to bigger opportunities. The assemblyman, unaware of the danger waiting for him, works late into the night on an anti-racketeer speech, while Steve celebrates his coming success with an expensive Chinese dinner and dreams of finally becoming somebody important in the organization.
Want Ad

Oct 27, 2026 · 30 min

Originally Aired: July 11, 1956 Suspense #658, "Want Ad," brings listeners into the chilling world of a professional thief who uses newspaper classifieds as his hunting ground. The nameless criminal, narrating his own story, describes his methodical approach: scanning want ads for expensive items like mink coats, targeting desperate sellers, and using charm and a gun to steal what he came to buy. He lives with his unsuspecting wife Wilma, who believes he has an ordinary job. When she leaves for the day, he gets to work. His latest target is Mrs. Phelps, a woman selling her $4,000 silver blue mink coat. Posing as Mr. Vernon, an interested buyer, he arrives at her home, inspects the coat, and negotiates a price of $3,400. Just when Mrs. Phelps believes she has made a legitimate sale, he reveals the truth: he never intended to pay. With a gun in hand, he takes the coat and leaves her helpless and terrified, all in a day's work for this calculating predator who exploits ordinary people's vulnerabilities.
The Music Lovers

Oct 26, 2026 · 30 min

Originally Aired: July 3, 1956 Suspense #657, "The Music Lovers," Inspector Hendon and Detective Mallinson set up a roadblock to intercept Harold Gibson, who is driving a gray saloon containing Jeffrey Spencer, a missing senior engineer from Staines Aircraft Industries. Spencer has been missing for six days, kidnapped by agents seeking classified information about an experimental jet aircraft he helped design. When police stop the car, they discover Spencer barely alive in the backseat, beaten and tortured beyond recognition. Though dying, Spencer manages to communicate through eye blinks that he refused to give his captors the information they sought. Within moments, Spencer succumbs to his injuries, transforming the case into a murder investigation. Facing an uncooperative Gibson who claims ignorance, Inspector Hendon makes a controversial decision. He takes the prisoner to an empty shop across the road and threatens to use the same brutal tactics employed on Spencer. Walking a dangerous line between duty and the law, Hendon must extract information about Spencer's killers before they disappear, even if it means risking his career and crossing ethical boundaries that could cost him everything.
The Treasure Chest of Don Jose

Oct 26, 2026 · 23 min

Originally Aired: June 26, 1956 Suspense #656, "The Treasure Chest of Don Jose," Jose Gasparilla, the great-great-grandson of the legendary pirate Don Jose, discovers a life-changing secret in the aftermath of a devastating hurricane. When his friend Pedro helps him clear the ruins of his demolished house on Black Cay in the Gulf of Mexico, they uncover an iron box hidden within the old family chimney. Inside is a rotting parchment containing directions to the pirate's buried treasure. Unwilling to share his inheritance with anyone, not even loyal Pedro who saved his life during the storm, Jose secretly travels north to Cape Cod and Dogbody Island to claim what he believes is rightfully his. As Jose begins excavating the treasure site, complications arise. The local chief of police appears and asks suspicious questions, forcing Jose to work under cover of darkness. Digging frantically by lantern light, Jose finally strikes something solid beneath the sand—an ironbound chest. Overwhelmed with emotion at finding his ancestor's treasure, Jose breaks down in tears of joy and relief. But as the sound of the surf mingles with his sobs, something else intrudes upon his moment of triumph, suggesting that the legendary curse of Dona Margarita may be more than just superstition.
A Sleeping Draught

Oct 25, 2026 · 30 min

Originally Aired: June 19, 1956 Suspense #655, "A Sleeping Draught," a brutal drama unfolds aboard a convict ship bound for Australia. Captain and his crew transport 400 prisoners from London to the penal colony at Botany Bay, under the watchful eye of the ruthless guard Finch, who maintains order with his cat-o-nine-tails. Among the convicts is Jonathan Abbey, a gentleman murderer facing the gallows upon arrival in Sydney. When Finch reveals that each prisoner smuggled gold sovereigns aboard—amounting to over a thousand pounds—the voyage takes a deadly turn. As the ship rounds the Horn, tensions escalate. A prisoner is found brutally murdered, cut to pieces with hidden knives, and Finch realizes a terrifying truth: some convicts are systematically robbing and killing their fellow prisoners for the gold. With the ship still days from Sydney and only a handful of weapons among the crew, the Captain faces an impossible situation. Armed with pistols and muskets, he and Finch descend into the stinking hold to confront the murderers, knowing that any one of the 400 desperate men could be responsible—and that the crew themselves may not survive to reach port.
A Matter of Timing

Oct 25, 2026 · 30 min

Originally Aired: June 12, 1956 In Suspense #654, "A Matter of Timing," a hired killer arrives in town to carry out a carefully planned assassination. Carl Loman has arranged to meet the professional hitman through a chain of contacts, hiring him to murder his business partner Mark. The two men set up in an empty storefront across from Mark's apartment building, with Carl promising an ironclad alibi. However, when their target fails to appear at the expected time of eight o'clock in the morning, the plan begins to unravel. The killer grows increasingly impatient, demanding answers and insisting he must leave town by nightfall. As tensions mount, Carl reveals his motive: Mark thinks he's smarter than Carl, and eliminating him will allow Carl to take over the business from Mark's widow. When the killer forces Carl to investigate Mark's whereabouts, they discover Mark was delayed by his wife's illness but is now at the office. Carl learns that Mark has scheduled a secret evening meeting in an isolated location to finalize an important property deal. The question becomes whether Carl can redirect his hired assassin to this new time and place before the killer's deadline expires.
The Twelfth Rose

Oct 24, 2026 · 29 min

Originally Aired: June 5, 1956 Suspense #653, "The Twelfth Rose," presents a chilling murder mystery when Dolores Robbins is found strangled in her New York City apartment at 12:15 PM. The killer's weapon is as unusual as it is intimate: the twelfth rose from a dozen delivered to her apartment, its green support wire twisted around her neck until the stem broke but the wire held. Detectives questioning the maid and Dolores's friend Mildred Butler learn that the victim had mentioned meeting a man named Carl Owens, someone she'd just met but planned to see again. With no fingerprints and few leads, the detectives pin their hopes on one possibility: finding the florist who sold those roses and getting an identification of the buyer. The investigation leads to Helen Craig, manager of a small flower shop on the east side. Just as her shop closes for the night, a tall gentleman she'd served the previous day returns, claiming to deliver thanks from his mother who received the roses in the hospital. But as their conversation grows increasingly unsettling and Helen finds herself alone with this mysterious Mr. Johnson, it becomes clear that the killer may be thinking several steps ahead of the police.
The Flame

Oct 24, 2026 · 30 min

Originally Aired: May 29, 1956 Suspense #652, "The Flame," follows Andy, a troubled young man who harbors a disturbing obsession with fire. Living with his worried sister Mary Lee, Andy spends his nights wandering the streets, sketching fires in his notebook and admiring the patterns flames make against the sky. When their elderly neighbor Mr. Boyajin, a kindly dry goods store owner, needs help minding his shop while his wife is hospitalized, Mary Lee volunteers Andy for the job, hoping it will give him purpose and keep him off the streets. As Andy works at the store, Mr. Boyajin confides that he can't afford the special medical care his wife desperately needs, offhandedly wishing the store would burn down so he could collect the insurance money. The comment ignites a dangerous idea in Andy's mind. Convinced he's helping his friend, Andy begins experimenting with plumber's candles and celluloid, planning to set fire to the shop. When his sister discovers him practicing in her cake tin, their confrontation reveals the depth of Andy's instability and his terrifying fixation with flames.