September 30, 2012, marks the 50th anniversary of what many acknowledge as the death of the Golden Age of Radio, for both Suspense (1942-1962) and Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar (1948-1962) aired their final broadcasts back to back on September 30th, 50 years ago. Television’s growing influence had finally dealt the death blow to radio as many had known it for at least 40 years–though a few shows would struggle on for a short time. “The Lodger” was the audition show for Suspense, and aired on July 22, 1940, two years before Suspense went into production, became a series, and aired its first weekly episode in June of 1942. We ran it here on March 20, 2010. On October 15, 2011 we ran the 945th and final episode of Suspense, “Devilstone,” which aired originally on September 30, 1962.

Serving the dual purpose of introducing the forthcoming Halloween season and marking the anniversary of the death of Suspense and the Golden Age of Radio, we now bring you the very first episode of Suspense from June 17, 1942. Titled “The Burning Court,” it dramatizes detective/mystery/horror writer John Dickson Carr’s famous 1937 novel of witchcraft, crypts, coffins, a missing body, and a female French serial arsenic poisoner from the 1600s. Many of Carr’s works entice with hints of the supernatural only to turn out resolving themselves with a rational explanation. Not so with “The Burning Court,” as you will hear, for it very much is in keeping with the…spirit of the Halloween season. “The Burning Court” begins as our narrator, of all things a writer (whose latest book is Poisoning Throughout the Ages), plays slueth to those he has asembled in service of ferreting out a murderer…

Play Time: 29:39