Mollé Mystery Theater (1943-51) aired “Burn, Witch, Burn!” on January 25, 1946 as the 107th of its estimated 237 episodes from its 1943-48 original run before it switched to CBS for its final 3 years, of which only 73 of the 237 are known to still remain in circulation. It would exist under several name changes for another six years or so, and as noted would switch from its original network, NBC, to CBS (1948-51), and then ABC. Its glory years as a first class mystery show are acknowledged as those comprising its original incarnation at NBC (i.e. 1943-48). A number of its episodes would be aired on the AFRS (Armed Forces Radio Service) under its Mystery Playhouse title, of which this episode is one.

Abraham Merritt (more popularly known as just A. Merritt, 1884-1943, photo top right) is one of the icons of early 20th century fantastic literature, his status virtually legendary among fantasy aficionados and critics. His 8 novels and numerous short stories dealt often with lost civilizations, dark forces, many aspects of the supernatural, and memorable grotesque monsters. According to his wikipedia page he was a major influence on H. P. Lovecraft, the late, great fantasist Karl Edward Wagner included Burn, Witch, Burn! among his list of “The Thirteen Best Supernatural Horror Novels”, Michael Moorcock and James Cawthorn list The Ship of Ishtar and Dwellers in the Mirage as two of the novels in their book Fantasy: the 100 Best Books, describing the former book as Merritt “at the peak of his powers”, and Merritt’s work as a whole being full of “memorable images” … and Robert Bloch also included Burn Witch Burn! on his list of favourite horror novels.

Merritt’s 8 novels, all of which are available free online due to copyright expirations, are The Moon Pool (1919), The Metal Monster (1920), The Ship of Ishtar (1924), Seven Footprints to Satan (1927), The Face in the Abyss (1931), Dwellers in the Mirage (1932), Burn, Witch, Burn! (1932), and Creep, Shadow! (1934). I have not read Creep, Shadow! but have read the others–albeit some 40-50 years ago–and can attest to their popular and critical acclaim as classics of the genre.

Outside of his writing career, which was not his primary source of income, Merritt was a trained lawyer turned journalist, and a good one, taking home $25,000 a year in 1919 and near the end of his life $100,000 per year, an astounding sum for the time period. As reported on his wiki page, he traveled the world and enjoyed exotic hobbies, one such was cultivating plants associated with witchcraft and magic, some of which included “monkshood, wolfbane, blue datura, peyote, and cannabis.” Not content to collect and grow exotic plants he also harbored quite a collection of “weapons, carvings, and primitive masks from his travels, as well as a library of occult literature that reportedly exceeded 5000 volumes.”

A. Merritt was quite a character, and while dying of a heart attack at the relatively early age of 59, appears to have lived a full life. To get a taste of his work as adapted to the medium of radio, enjoy this half-hour dramatization of one of his later novels, Burn, Witch, Burn!. 

[Editor’s note: Merritt’s novel is not to be confused with the 1962 film of the same name, which film was originally titled for its British release as Night of the Hunter and then as Burn, Witch, Burn for its American release, and was an adaptation of Fritz Leiber’s 1943 novel Conjure Wife. Previous to the 1962 British film based on Leiber’s novel, there was a version of Merritt’s novel filmed in 1936 starring Lionel Barrymore titled The Devil Doll.]

Play Time: 24:48

{Burn, Witch, Burn! ran first as a 6-part serial in Argosy Weekly magazine from October 22, 1932 — November 26, 1932. Argosy cover below features the first installment. The first hardcover edition was published the following year by Liveright, Inc. in 1933. For its June 1942 issue Famous Fantastic Mysteries became the first magazine to reprint Merritt’s classic novel.}

[Left: Argosy 10-22/32 – Center: 1st ed. cover, 1933 – Right: Famous Fantastic Mysteries, 6/42)

To view the entire list of weekly Old Time Radio episodes at Tangent Online, click here.