Suspense: Final Curtain

By: Radio Spirits

Narrated by: Raymond Edward Johnson

Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's Summary

Radio Spirits dares you to face fog-shrouded streets, escaped madmen, haunted houses, deadly creatures and curses…and the most horrifying thing of all... the heavy curtain descending on the final episode of Suspense. In this exciting collection, relive great moments from the last two years of this legendary series. These thrill-packed episodes feature Raymond Edward Johnson, Robert Readick, Paul McGrath, Bernard Lenrow, Jackson Beck, and more in these 30 digitally remastered and restored taut, tense tales!

EPISODES INCLUDE: The Long Night 01-10-60; Lt. Langer's Last Collection 02-28-60; A Shipment of Mute Fate 04-03-60; Call Me at Half Past 06-25-61; Night of the Storm 07-02-61; The Man Who Knew How to Hate 07-16-61; You Can Die Laughing 07-30-61; Bells 08-06-61; Murder Is a Matter of Opinion 08-20-61; Sold to Satan 08-27-61; The Juvenile Rebellion 09-03-61; The Man in the Fog 09-24-61; No Hiding Place 10-01-61; Dreams 10-08-61; Seeds of Disaster 10-15-61; The Imposters 11-12-61; Man Trap 11-26-61; The Luck of the Tiger Eye 12-03-61; Feathers 01-14-62; Friday 02-04-62; The Man Who Went Back to Save Lincoln 02-11-62; Heads You Lose 03-11-62; You Died Last Night 04-01-62; The Curse of Kamoshek 04-22-62; Blackbeard's Ace 04-29-62; The Second Door 05-06-62; Hide and Seek 05-13-62; Formula for Death 06-10-62; Run Faster 08-05-62; Devilstone 09-30-62

©2014 RSPT, LLC. All Rights Reserved. (P)2014 RSPT, LLC

If This Is Your Introduction to "Suspense" ...

Arguably Suspense is the crown jewel of Old Time Radio, known for superlative story-crafting, acting and production. But as with any entertainment with a venerable run (20 years!), in my opinion the show lost much of its luster toward the end. If this is your first foray into Suspense, I would recommend "Final Curtain" AFTER you've heard episodes from the 1940s-50s, featuring guests like Agnes Moorehead, Cary Grant, Orson Welles, Jimmy Stewart, Lucille Ball and Vincent Price. After you've heard gripping classics like "Sorry, Wrong Number" and "The Hitchhiker." Because in contrast, many of the stories on Final Curtain are somewhat formulaic, and while the actors may be well-known to radio, I was not familiar with many of them. So in short, I think you might enjoy this radio anthology as the capstone to the run of a truly remarkable series. Just please be sure to experience Suspense in its heyday!

Nostalgia fest

OK so these are recordings of broadcasts on American radio from a period long gone, so for many a modern ear they would seem jarring and send the easily offended off to twitter hysteria.

Having said that what you in this case, hear, is what you might expect and get. A number of stories "well calculated to keep you in SUSPENSE" as the narrator says at the beginning of each episode, with the occasional advert. The stories vary in subject and style - mostly around criminal activities, but surprisingly also elements of Sci-Fi and the supernatural forming the core of some of the broadcasts.

Some of the stories can be deduced in the first few minutes but for many the twist is in the end. I think my favorite was the tale of the crook who hired another crook to help in his plan to murder and replace the reclusive husband and wife they worked for in a remote house, only to discover that they were not the first to come up with the same idea..............

Entertaining short pieces to dip into, and a look back into a past when men wore hats and women were expected to need rescuing, and tobacco was cool: when villains were real villains and heroes were square jawed and life seemed much simpler.