Creeps By Night
1944
Boris Karloff was the West coast host, narrator and star of Creeps By Night.
This series was introduced by two hosts. The East coast (New York) was hosted by an anonymous voice known as "Dr. X" (Dunning, 183). The West coast (Hollywood) was hosted by the series star, Boris Karloff. Other stars occasionally appeared, including Mr. Peter Lorre. But it was Karloff that regular listeners expected. It was about the only part of the show that was predictable. Episodes like "The Hunt" featured typical horror gimmicks like werewolves, but with a twist ending that provided a new dimension to an otherwise common theme. As Karloff himself said, "There is no greater mystery than the mystery of the mind." True to his word, many of the shows dealt with psychological, rather than literal, horror. In the werewolf story, we're never quite certain if the monster was real or just a blood thirsty persona the killer assumed. (It's a classic example of the sort of story that was perfect for radio and couldn't be realized as effectively in film or TV.) In another story, "The Final Reckoning," a victim turns the tables on a thug and plans to kill him. He (Karloff) actually manages to take the place of a barber who is giving the thug a shave. The audience waits on the edge of their seats as Karloff carefully circumnavigates the long straight-edge razor around his victim's relaxed and extended throat. Just thinking about it now gives me the creeps, even by day! But it was a short lived series and very few episodes are known to have survived. It's a tragic ending that is all-to-common in the history of OTR.
Boris Karloff went on to host an equally "creepy" TV show called Thriller!
The Standard Intro:
(Music: Obo.)
Announcer: "We bring you... Creeps By Night."
(Music theme.)
Announcer: "The Blue Network presents the international star of stage and screen, the master of mystery, Boris Karloff, in Creeps By Night."
An Opening Narration:
Karloff: "How do you do? This is Boris Karloff joining with you once again for another exploration into the unknown darkness of the human mind. Tonight, our story illustrates in terrifying terms the oft repeated theme of this program: There is no mystery greater than the mystery of the mind. It is for you to decide if these weird and ghastly happenings were a figment of man's imagination or a tragic reality beyond man's understanding."
Announcer: "Creeps By Night presents Boris Karloff as Loomus Horton in 'The Hunt.' Our scene is the Horton Farm, fifty acres of rich, grazing pasture almost to the edge of the Louisiana bayous. The legendary swamp land that for centuries was the spawning ground for black magic and voodoo. The night is warm and dark. It's heavy silence broken only by the hum of insects... the chirping of crickets... and the occasional deep throated croak of a bull frog off in the swamp. Suddenly, the shadowed outline of a human figure appears at the edge of a Cypress grove behind the weather-beaten Horton house. And a soft whistled signal rides the night air. For a long moment, there is no response. Then, a door at the rear of the house opens quietly and a girl crosses to the Cypress grove, her eyes, searching the darkness..."
A Standard Closing:
Announcer: "Creeps By Night has just brought you Boris Karloff in ________. Be with us again next Tuesday night at this same time over many of these stations, when Mr. Karloff with present another mystery of the mind."