Review #29: "The Haunted Cell" - Lights Out (Radio Show)

Source: Archive.org
Length: 29 minutes
Air date(s): October 26th, 1938 and July 20th, 1946

Unlike my previous radio show review, I thought this one went pretty well. No doubt it could have been better, but for it's time period, I'm sure quite a few people were sitting on the edge of their seats.

This is narrated by one Maxie, and to begin, he asks the audience if they believe in ghosts. He claims to have a ghost story that will make our hair curl.

In the previous August, as Maxie was holding up a gas station, he was arrested by a "copper." Unfortunately, this is especially bad for him, as he killed a police officer, Ambrose Hogan, weeks prior. What makes it even worse is the now-deceased Hogan's partner is head of the interrogation.

After trying to get Maxie to confess, at first by forceful behavior, and then by beating him with a rubber hose (can you say police abuse?), Miller and his new partner, Johnny, decide they know what to do - through him in "the haunted cell."

As Miller and Johnny are walking Maxie to the cell, they explain that another cop killer, Skeeter Dempsey, who fired in the electric chair, lived in the cell they're being Maxie to. Whether it's an interrogation technique or not, they claim that Dempsey still likes the cell, and is often there.

Maxie doesn't believe in ghosts at this point, but once the two officers turn the lights off in the hall, leaving Maxie completely alone, it doesn't take long until Dempsey walks into his cell and speaks to him.

At first, Maxie believes it to be a gag, but when Dempsey turns the light on for him, Maxie sees that nobody is around him, causing him to faint.

When he wakes up, Dempsey continues speaking to him, consistently reassuring Maxie that he is in fact Dempsey. Maxie wants him to go away, but Dempsey denies his request, as he likes it there. Dempsey then tells Maxie that he's not spoken to anyone in two months, since George Brown.

Something clicks in Maxie's head; George Brown hung him two months prior, in this very same cell. Maxie freaks out again, but Dempsey tells him that he's not going to hurt him. Dempsey explained that Brown was going to get the chair anyways, and since Dempsey also got the chair, advised him against it, as it'd better to kill yourself and take your life into your own hands then it is for the state to do it for you. In a way, Dempsey explains, it redeems you just a bit.

Miller then walks in to check on Maxie. After turning the light on, Maxie gets further confirmation that Dempsey is who he says he is, as he sees no one around but Miller. Miller believes Maxie is cracking, but until he confesses, he's going to leave Maxie in the cell.

Four weeks pass - Maxie is still in the cell, though he's not scared as often as he used to be. In fact, he's gotten used to living with a ghost. Dempsey constantly tells Maxie that he should hang himself like Brown, but Maxie still refuses to do so, not wanting to die.

Finally, a conviction comes, and the jury find Maxie guilty of first degree murder, which comes with a mandatory death sentence. As Miller brings Maxie back to his cell, Dempsey whispers in Maxie's ear that there's only one way out now.

On the day prior to Christmas Eve, Dempsey tells Maxie that he knows for certain his execution will be the following night. He says he'll be with Maxie until the end, not that it will do much good; he won't be able to prevent any of the pain Maxie will feel.

Maxie then breaks down again, because he's always been a sucker for pain, and doesn't think he'll be able to take it. He then wanders aloud how much pain Brown felt before killing himself. Dempsey claims that it only took a minute, and the pain was minimal in comparison to the chair. In fact, the ghost goes as far as saying were he in Maxie's position, he'd definitely hang himself.

After hearing this, Maxie agrees that it'd probably be the best course of action, but doesn't have the guts to follow through with actually doing it, causing him much dismay.

Miller then comes in and informs Maxie of his death sentence, which is to take place the following day. For his part, Miller seems quite mellowed by this experience. He offers Maxie to get into contact with his folks, and a bottle of bourbon, claiming that while at the beginning, he wanted Maxie to fry for his partner's death, but now he regrets his viewpoint.

Miller apologizes to Maxie, though Maxie accepts that he has to die, and doesn't blame Miller for what's going to happen. One last time, Miller asks Maxie if he wants anything, and Maxie again says no. Miller tells Maxie that he'll be moved before too long to the state prison, where the electric chair is.

Once gone, Dempsey speaks again to Maxie, informing him that a length of rope is under his bed, so he wouldn't need to try to use his belt, should he decide to commit suicide.

We then end with Maxie's narration.

Maxie: Well ... there ya are. That's your ghost story. You believe in ghosts now?
You don't? Well, ya oughta. You see, I took Skeeter's advice. I hung myself. I've been dead six months.

The ending is pretty spooky and effective, but as a whole, I didn't find the episode amazing. If Dempsey had waited a bit longer to speak to Maxie, I felt the suspense would have lasted a bit longer. But no, as soon as Miller leaves Maxie along, Dempsey immediately begins to speak to him.

Really, I wish the ghost was more threatening than conciliatory. While at first Maxie was being haunted, as he got used to it, the power of the episode short of drained away. Miller's apology was nice, as we find he does have a conscious, but he didn't really play as huge as a rule as I thought he would in this story.

This was much easier to enjoy, though, because I was able to find a transcript of the episode online here. There was no missed words due to audio issues or hysterical women. It's a nice, clear-cut, transcript, and it went a long way to ensure I could fully deem this an accessible form of media.

That said, aside from the beginning, and the chilling ending, this story was lacking the something that makes it special. I enjoyed it more than "The Organ," but I'm still waiting for that amazing radio story.

My rating: 7/10


- Michael

Review #22: "The Organ" - Lights Out (Radio Show)

Source: Archive.org

Length: 30 minutes

Air date(s): May 12th, 1937 and June 8th, 1943

This is my first time listening to a radio show, and the experience was rather lukewarm, though it's not due to the story, but the medium. Before I state my thoughts, I'll tell the plot, with spoilers (because I don't expect many readers to actually seek out and listen to these radio shows themselves).

Chuck and Anne, a couple, rent out a country summer home for a very cheap price (due to the previous tenants being killed 20 years earlier). Already their son, Billy, has taken a liking to the house. Shortly after the real estate agent leaves, an agitated caretaker arrives, scaring the couple (they believe Billy to be in his new room), he angrily tells them to leave, that they don't belong there. He then leaves himself, leaving Anne in particular shaken.

Later that night, Anne and Chuck are in bed, and Anne begins to make mention of the creepiness of the house, and brings up ghosts, which her husband scoffs at. All of the sudden, they begin hearing an organ play. Befuddled, they make to search for the source, but they then hear Billy giggling. They go check on him, and he's referring to an old lady. Believing him to have awaken from a dream, he then says "the funny old lady wants to take me downstairs to listen to the music." Freaking out, Anne asks what he's talking about - Billy then points behind them at "an old woman who you can almost see through." His parents, however, cannot see a soul.

Billy is now sleeping with Chuck and Anne, who decide to leave as soon as the sun comes up. Chuck would prefer to "tear up the house" to find the location of the organ, but Anne wants to keep him near. Again, they hear the organ, and Anne begins to become hysterical; she screams wildly, and wakes Billy up despite her husband's warning for her to hush up. 

In the following seconds, in perhaps a shared vision-type thing, both of them see a "funny green light." It reveals a hidden room that has been walled over, and they see a young teenage girl sitting in a chair, conversing with a much younger (but still the same) caretaker. He's angry because her father, before he died, promised to leave him money in his will, but apparently didn't. He claims that her love would be a good equivalent, and puts advances on her, aggressively claiming he'll "make her love him." After a struggle, he kills her.

An older woman, the teen's mother, comes in, and still angry about being denied both love and money, he kills her too.

All of the sudden, the present-aged caretaker pops up, and after Chuck tells him he knows that he murdered the two women, the caretaker proclaims "No you know why I didn't want you here." He intends to kill the family. In the ensuring struggle between the caretaker and Chuck, the caretaker is accidentally shot.

After this, the walls in the room fall down, revealing the secret room the couple saw in the vision. Two skeletons are present, and it is said that after killing them, the caretaker, in a walled their bones in there with an organ. The couple believes that the skeletons played the organ to bring light to their murder.

As far as Lights Out episodes go, this is an earlier one, being within the first 50 episodes aired. I believe the version I heard is the original, being the 1937 one.

The story is not bad - maybe a little over-done, but not bad whatsoever. The voice acting was decent also. My problem is that I don't quite understand how a listener is supposed to listen to it. When the woman was screaming hysterically, I couldn't make out a single word she said. Many other pieces of dialogue were lost to me due to the scratchy audio. Obviously, this is not the fault of the radio show, but the fault of those directed to preserve it for future generations.

In short, I wish portions of the episode were more clear-cut (such as how exactly the caretaker popped up at the end), and I would hope future episodes would be of slightly higher quality. Still, this wasn't bad - just average. I do await future episodes though, in hope they'll be just a bit better.

My rating: 6/10