Suspense

Suspense was a radio drama series broadcast on CBS Radio from 1940 to 1962. One of the longest running and most successful radio series ever produced, it ran for over 900 episodes, with its focus mainly on suspense thriller-type scripts. These are the SF, fantasy and supernatural episodes.
Episode 1: The Burning Court

​​In the wake of a murder at a dinner party, one of the guests discovers his wife bears a striking resemblance to a 17th Century poisoner.

​First broadcast: 17 June 1942.
Original Story by John Dickson Carr.
​Cast: Charles Ruggles, Julie Haydon.​
Episode 2: The Hitch-Hiker
​
​​A motorist on a cross-country journey keeps seeing the same hitch-hiker over and over again.

First broadcast: 2 September 1942.
Original Story by Lucille Fletcher.
​Cast: Orson Welles, John Brown.
Episode 3: A Passage To Benares
​
​​A murder in a Hindu temple is investigated by an American psychologist who finds himself experiencing strange dreams and visions.

First broadcast: 23 September 1942.
Original Story by T. S. Stribling.
​Cast: Paul Stewart, Horace Brent, Alan Hewitt, Guy Repp, Berry Kroeger.
Episode 4: The Diary of Sophronia Winters

​​A newly-married young woman's husband is not the man she thought he was - but neither is she!
​
​First broadcast: 27 April 1943.
Original Story by Lucille Fletcher.
​Cast: Agnes Moorehead, Ray Collins.
Episode 5: Lazarus Walks

Following a near-death experience, a man finds he can detect lies and has a compulsion to reveal them.

​First broadcast: 19 October 1943.
Original Story by J. M. Speed.
​Cast: Hans Conried, Orson Welles.
Episode 6: The Sisters

A woman buys herself a coffin following a premonition that she is to die within three weeks.

​First broadcast: 3 February 1944.
Original Story by George Wells.
​Cast: Ida Lupino, Agnes Moorehead.
Episode 7: Donovan's Brain (Part 1)
​
​Following a plane crash, a ruthless tycoon's brain is kept alive in a jar.
​
​First broadcast: 18 May 1944.
Original Story by Curt Siodmak.
​Cast: Orson Welles, Hans Conried, Jerry Hausner, John McIntire, Jeanette Nolan.
Episode 8: Donovan's Brain (Part 2)

The brain becomes ever more powerful and decides it must have a body.

​First broadcast: 25 May 1944.
Original Story by Curt Siodmak.
​Cast: Orson Welles, Hans Conried, Jerry Hausner, John McIntire, Jeanette Nolan.
Episode 9: Cricket

In wartime London, is a little girl being visited by her ghostly pet dog?

​First broadcast: 15 March 1945.
Original Story by Mel Dinelli.
​Cast: Raymond Lawrence, Margaret O'Brien, May Whitty.
Episode 10: August Heat
​
​An artist finds his premonition beginning to come true.

​First broadcast: 31 May 1945.
Original Story by William Fryer Harvey.
​Cast: Ronald Colman, Dennis Hoey.
Episode 11: The Dunwich Horror

​What monstrous events are occurring in the village of Dunwich?

​First broadcast: 1 November 1945.
Original Story by H. P. Lovecraft.
​Cast: Ronald Colman, William Johnstone, Elliott Lewis.
Episode 12: A Week Ago Wednesday

​A woman seemingly travels a week into the future, only to find another woman living in her apartment and her husband gone.

First broadcast: 29 November 1945.
Original Story by Winifred Wolfe.
​Cast: Nancy Kelly, Jane Morgan, William Johnstone, Verna Felton.
Episode 13: The House In Cypress Canyon

A young couple experience terrifying events when they move into what seems to be their ideal home.

​First broadcast: 5 December 1946.
Original Story by Robert L. Richards.
​Cast: Cathy Lewis, Hans Conried, Jim Backus, Paul Frees, Robert Taylor, Wally Maher, Howard Duff.
Episode 14: Riabouchinska

A ventriloquist's dummy helps solve a murder.

​First broadcast: 13 November 1947.
Original Story by Ray Bradbury.
​Cast: Joseph Kearns, Lurene Tuttle, Wally Maher, June Havoc (as "Armana Fargey").
Episode 15: The Black Curtain

Following an accident, a man wakes up to find himself three years in the future with a new identity.

​First broadcast: 3 January 1948.
Original Story by Cornell Woolrich.
​Cast: Robert Montgomery, Lurene Tuttle, Cathy Lewis, Jerry Hausner, William Conrad, Jeanette Nolan, Jack Kruschen, Paul Frees, Junius Matthews, Conrad Binyon, Jeff Chandler, Harry Lang, Sidney Miller.
Episode 16: Ghost Hunt

A radio D.J. and a ghost hunter spend a night in a haunted house.

​First broadcast: 23 June 1949.
Original Story by Herbert Russell Wakefield.
​Cast: Ralph Edwards, Joseph Kearns.
Episode 17: Frankenstein
​
​Mary Shelley's classic tale of the creation of life.

​First broadcast: 3 November 1952.
Original Story by Mary Shelley.
​Cast: Paul Frees, Joseph Kearns, Paula Winslowe, Herbert Marshall.
Episode 18: Plan X

An ordinary Martian is tasked with implementing Plan X to deal with those pesky Earth visitors.

​First broadcast: 2 February 1953.
Original Story by Richard Powell.
​Cast: Howard McNear, Jack Benny, Jack Kruschen, John McIntire, Joseph Kearns, Mary Jane Croft, Norma Varden, Stuffy Singer, Truda Marson, William Conrad.
Episode 19: The Signalman
​
​Does a ghostly apparition warn a railway signalman of impending doom?

​First broadcast: 23 March 1953.
Original Story by Charles Dickens.
​Cast: Agnes Moorehead, Joseph Kearns.
Episode 20: The Outer Limit

A test pilot is abducted by aliens and returns with an important message for all Mankind.
​
​First broadcast: 15 February 1954.
Original Story by Graham Doar.
​Cast: William Holden, Edgar Barrier, William Johnstone, Jack Kruschen, Hy Averback, Joseph Kearns, Jerry Hausner, Charles Calvert.
Episode 21: Premonition

A writer has a premonition of doom while staying at an inn in the Alps.
​
​First broadcast: 23 December 1954.
Original Story by John Dunkel.
​Cast: Lawrence Dobkin, Charlotte Lawrence, Joe Cranston, Ben Wright, John Dehner, Edgar Barrier, Nan Boardman, Fritz Feld.
Episode 22: Zero Hour

Suddenly, children from all over the country are playing a new game called Invasion, with Zero Hour set for 5 PM, today. But is it really just a game?
​
​First broadcast: 5 April 1955.
Original Story by Ray Bradbury.
​Cast: Isa Ashdown, John Dehner, Parley Baer, Paula Winslowe, Beverly Hanley, Eve McVeagh.
Episode 23: I Saw Myself Running

A woman meets an alternate version of herself in a recurring nightmare.
​
​First broadcast: 24 May 1955.
Original Story by Antony Ellis.
​Cast: Charlotte Lawrence, Sammie Hill, John Stevenson, Edgar Barrier, John Dehner.
Episode 24: Kaleidoscope

When an accident destroys a spaceship, its crew is hurled outward into space in a dozen directions. Their suit radios will keep them in contact range for only so long. What do men talk about when death is imminent?
​
​First broadcast: 12 July 1955.
Original Story by Ray Bradbury.
​Cast: William Conrad, John Dehner, Georgia Ellis, Parley Baer, Stacy Harris, Howard McNear, Sam Edwards, Jonathan Ellis.
Episode 25: Heaven's To Betsy

An ordinary family get a surprise when a flying saucer lands in their back yard.
​
​First broadcast: 11 October 1955.
Original Story by Antony Ellis.
​Cast: Antony Ellis, Barbara Eiler, Barney Phillips, Byron Kane, Richard Beals, Howard McNear, Hy Averback, John Dehner, Truda Marson, Vic Perrin.
Episode 26: The Cave

Two boys discover a pirate fantasy land in a cave.
​
​First broadcast: 20 December 1955.
Original Story by Antony Ellis.
​Cast: Antony Ellis, Ben Wright, Billy Chapin, Richard Beals, Ellen Morgan, Hans Conried, John Dehner, Lawrence Dobkin, Raymond Lawrence.
Episode 27: An Occurence At Owl Creek Bridge

A Confederate sympathiser is hung by Union troops, but does he get a reprieve when the rope snaps?
​
​First broadcast: 9 December 1956.
Original Story by Ambrose Bierce.
​Cast: Victor Jory, Roy Glenn, Lou Merrill, Chester Stratton, Larry Thor, Julie Bennett, Julie Harris.
Episode 28: Present Tense

Does an axe-murderer experience a time-warp and escape execution?
​
​First broadcast: 3 March 1957.
Original Story by James Poe.
​Cast: Joe DeSantis, Jack Kruschen, Peg La Centra, Ellen Morgan, Sam Pierce, Charles Lavalack, Vincent Price, Daws Butler.
Episode 29: Man From Tomorrow

Scientists train an ex fighter pilot to develop super senses.
​
​First broadcast: 1 September 1957.
Original Story by Irving Reis.
​Cast: Frank Lovejoy, Joan Banks, John Hoyt, Norman Alden, Peter Leeds.