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Suspense - Radio’s Outstanding Theater of Thrills

Dead Ernest: A Dropped Jacket, a Lost Bracelet, and a Body That Wasn’t

Posted December 7, 2025 · 30 min

About this episode

Originally Aired: May 8, 1947 In Suspense #244, “Dead Ernest,” Dennis Bowers is struck by a car and presumed dead. But Bowers suffers from catalepsy—a condition that mimics death—and he carries a letter and bracelet warning against embalming. When both go missing, his body is taken to the morgue with no one the wiser. As kids melt his ID bracelet for scrap and a secondhand shop sells his blood-stained jacket, Bowers inches closer to being embalmed alive. Only a nosy housewife, a smudged pair of glasses, and a twitch at the last second stand between life and a horrific mistake. Wally Mayer stars in this black comedy of errors and suspense. Cast: Wally Mayer Tags: Suspense, thriller, WallyMayer, catalepsy, mistakenidentity, embalming, blackcomedy, morgue, oldtimeradio, 1940sradio, classicdrama, suspensepodcast, nearburiedalive, PeabodyAward, closecall, medicalthriller

From Suspense - Radio’s Outstanding Theater of Thrills by OTR.FM Network. Visit the show’s website.

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