Radio Days

Theater of the Mind

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Lights Out

74 episodes · 1936–1947 · CBS, NBC, ABC, Armed Forces Radio Service · Thriller

Illustration: a transcription disc label made for Radio Days, not an original disc
Illustration: a transcription disc label made for Radio Days, not an original disc

Play Lights Out on Radio Days

Lights Out began at midnight on January 3, 1934, on NBC's Chicago station WENR, created by Wyllis Cooper. Arch Oboler took over in 1936 and made it famous, and notorious: his first script drew more than 50,000 letters of complaint. His best-known tale, "Chicken Heart," was about a heart that would not stop growing. In 1942-43 Oboler brought the show back on CBS for Ironized Yeast, opening with a tolling bell and his warning: "It... is... later... than... you... think."

Sources: Lights Out (radio show), Wikipedia

Episodes

Tap a year to see its episodes, then a title to play it on Radio Days.

19362 episodes
  • The Sea (1936) September 16, 1936 · 22 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Nobody Died December 9, 1936 · NBC · 28 min
    An old woman about to die calls for Dr. Miller, who really can help: a hypodermic turns her into a young girl, and the treatment has a military use too.
19375 episodes
  • Chicken Heart March 10, 1937 · 20 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Organ May 12, 1937 · NBC · 30 min
    A family with a young boy moves into an old Victorian house on a stormy night, and meets the odd man who says he is the caretaker.
  • Happy Ending June 23, 1937 · 25 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Lord Marleys Ghost July 14, 1937 · 29 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Uninhabited December 22, 1937 · NBC · 30 min
    A Christmas story set in the war of 1918: a French, an Australian and an American soldier find themselves on a train. Have they met before? Are they wise men?
19384 episodes
  • Super Feature March 16, 1938 · 27 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • The Dream (1938) March 23, 1938 · NBC · 30 min
    The fourth anniversary show. An accused murderer who has never dreamed now dreams of a woman with a beautiful body and a face from hell, who says one word: "Kill."
  • Cat Wife April 6, 1938 · NBC · 27 min
    Boris Karloff stars as a man whose wife is becoming a cat. Listeners voted it the best Lights Out story.
  • It Happened May 11, 1938 · NBC · 29 min
    A young woman in Paris is kidnapped over a $150,000 debt, and her adventures in the sewers include a madman who makes jewelry from bones.
19391 episode
  • The Devil's Due April 26, 1939 · NBC · 29 min
    Mitchell Rozinsky and his men kill with knives, needles and broken bones. Needing a hideout, they meet a new "partner" who reviews their work.
19411 episode
194212 episodes
  • What the Devil October 6, 1942 · 22 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Revolt of the Worms October 13, 1942 · CBS · 22 min
    A short-tempered scientist's experiment gives the world giant worms, and his wife has the worst of it. This copy comes from a syndicated rebroadcast, with a Lights Out opening added later.
  • Poltergeist October 20, 1942 · CBS · 26 min
    A tale of a cemetery and a very heavy tombstone, also known as "Gravestone." Bea Benaderet is in the cast.
  • Mungarha October 27, 1942 · CBS · 24 min
    A man back from Australia with a huge diamond has a murder on his conscience.
  • Across the Gap November 3, 1942 · CBS · 25 min
    A party of modern tourists finds itself fifty thousand years in the past. This copy is a syndicated rebroadcast, with a Lights Out opening added later.
  • Bon Voyage November 10, 1942 · CBS · 27 min
    Two old ladies with a hidden past board an ocean liner at midnight, along with a sense of guilt.
  • Come to the Bank November 17, 1942 · CBS · 22 min
    A man learns to walk through walls by sheer concentration, then gets stuck halfway. Virginia Gregg is in the cast. This copy is an Armed Forces rebroadcast.
  • The Story of Mr. Maggs December 1, 1942 · CBS · 26 min
    A bargain trunk at an auction is full of horror.
  • Scoop December 8, 1942 · CBS · 27 min
    A ruthless publisher fires a columnist after forty years. The writer jumps out the window, and still gets a story in.
  • Knock at the Door December 15, 1942 · CBS · 27 min
    A woman murders her impossible mother-in-law, who will not stay dead.
  • Meteor Man December 22, 1942 · CBS · 23 min
    A monster from outer space with a sinister appetite.
  • Valse Triste December 29, 1942 · CBS · 29 min
    A soft-spoken man holds two women prisoner: one must marry him, and the other must die. Dinah Shore is in the cast. Not for the squeamish.
194338 episodes
  • The Fast One January 5, 1943 · CBS · 22 min
    Two men with the power to move very, very fast.
  • Cat Wife (1943) January 19, 1943 · CBS · 26 min
    The story of John and Linda.
  • The Projective Mr. Drogan January 26, 1943 · CBS · 29 min
    A man finds he can work miracles and begins to plan world conquest.
  • Until Dead February 2, 1943 · CBS · 28 min
    A man about to be executed escapes and swears revenge on the man who framed him, and not even death can stop him.
  • He Dug It Up February 9, 1943 · CBS · 29 min
    A stone coffin dug up in the quiet English countryside holds a woman with the head of a lion, and she's alive.
  • Oxychloride X February 16, 1943 · CBS · 30 min
    A crackpot college student invents the universal solvent, with nothing to keep it in.
  • They Met at Dorset February 23, 1943 · 21 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • The Sea (1943) March 2, 1943 · 22 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • The Ball March 9, 1943 · CBS · 27 min
    The headless walking dead.
  • The Dream (1943) March 16, 1943 · CBS · 29 min
    A woman is afraid to sleep because of a terrible dream, in which little Jimmy keeps asking, "Where's my father?"
  • The Flame March 23, 1943 · CBS · 23 min
    A fire worshipper meets the Flame, the female spirit of fire. Told by a dead man.
  • Money, Money, Money March 30, 1943 · CBS · 30 min
    Tony the diver stops at nothing for money, murder included, and his last dive is his most successful.
  • Superfeature April 6, 1943 · CBS · 30 min
    A monster steps out of a film and into the theater.
  • The Archer April 13, 1943 · CBS · 28 min
    A woman held prisoner by three gangsters is rescued by a strange hero. Claudette Colbert makes a war bond appeal.
  • Kill April 20, 1943 · CBS · 29 min
    The story of an accused murderer, told through his own thoughts.
  • Execution April 27, 1943 · CBS · 29 min
    A Nazi officer hangs a woman in revenge for the wounding of a German soldier, and then hangs her again, and again. Dedicated to the Second War Loan.
  • The Heavenly Jeep May 4, 1943 · CBS · 29 min
    A story literally out of this world.
  • Murder in the Script Department May 11, 1943 · 22 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • The Spider May 18, 1943 · CBS · 26 min
    A story set in the jungle.
  • Little Old Lady May 25, 1943 · CBS · 29 min
    Aunt Harriet, living alone in a dark wood, keeps some very strange cats for company.
  • The Ugliest Man in the World June 1, 1943 · CBS · 23 min
    The ugliest man in the world, and his girlfriend.
  • Organ (1943) June 8, 1943 · CBS · 29 min
    A strange summer house and its stranger secrets.
  • Prelude to Murder June 15, 1943 · CBS · 29 min
    An insanely jealous conductor is sure his wife is seeing a young artist. We hear his thoughts as well as his words.
  • Nature Study June 22, 1943 · CBS · 24 min
    A walk in the woods, with death and a confession.
  • Bathysphere June 29, 1943 · 29 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • The Cliff July 6, 1943 · 29 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • The Visitor from Hades July 13, 1943 · Armed Forces Radio Service · 21 min
    One day the Devil walks in, sits down in the living room, and watches.
  • Profits Unlimited July 20, 1943 · CBS · 22 min
    An island of zombie-like workers and a strange inheritance.
  • The Little People July 27, 1943 · CBS · 31 min
    A love triangle goes lopsided when two of its corners are shrunk to the size of dolls.
  • Murder Castle August 3, 1943 · CBS · 26 min
    A kindly gentleman murders young women for a living.
  • Sakhalin August 10, 1943 · CBS · 30 min
    Political intrigue and cruelty on a frozen Siberian island.
  • State Executioner August 17, 1943 · CBS · 22 min
    The hangman's last client.
  • Sub-Basement August 24, 1943 · CBS · 22 min
    A department store basement full of dinosaurs.
  • Immortal Gentleman August 31, 1943 · 24 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Lord Marley's Guest September 7, 1943 · CBS · 30 min
    The devilfish in the harbor.
  • The Word September 14, 1943 · CBS · 26 min
    A descent from the Empire State Building into nothingness.
  • Mirage September 21, 1943 · CBS · 28 min
    An old man writes in the sand at night the dates people will die. Kate Smith appeals for the Third War Loan, and Oboler announces next week's show will be the last.
  • The Author and the Thing September 28, 1943 · CBS · 29 min
    The last show of the season: Arch Oboler plays himself, and the monster he creates for his radio show comes to life and kills his brother.
19454 episodes
  • Reunion After Death July 21, 1945 · 27 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Rocket Ship July 28, 1945 · 28 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • Man in the Middle August 25, 1945 · 32 min
    Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
  • A False Prophecy September 20, 1945 · 28 min
19466 episodes
  • The Coffin in Studio B July 13, 1946 · NBC · 28 min
    Two actors rehearsing a Lights Out show meet a mysterious little man who sells coffins, and one of them suddenly needs one, on the air.
  • Haunted Cell July 20, 1946 · NBC · 29 min
  • The Battle of the Magicians July 27, 1946 · NBC · 30 min
    Mr. Saladin says he can bring back the dead.
  • The Revenge of India August 3, 1946 · NBC · 29 min
    An Englishman comes home from the East to Chicago to avenge his brother's death.
  • The Ghost on the Newsreel Negative August 10, 1946 · NBC · 29 min
    Two newsreel cameramen are sent to film a haunted house, and succeed.
  • The Signal Man August 24, 1946 · NBC · 29 min
    The last of an eight-show summer revival.
19471 episode
  • Death Robbery July 16, 1947 · ABC · 29 min
    A scientist brings his wife back from the dead, with gruesome results.