Hall of Fantasy aired “The Night the Fog Came” on March 23, 1953. Not to be confused with Dark Fantasy, Hall of Fantasy would air in no less than 4 different incarnations, from Utah to Chicago, from 1946-54. Its first couple of years it presented murder mysteries, then evolved into fantasy, horror, and even science fiction, of which this episode is one. “The Night the Fog Came” would be classified today as a scientific thriller in the mode of Michael Crichton’s The Andromeda Strain, in as much as something is killing people by drowning, yet they haven’t been in the water and the bodies are completely dry. The baffling mystery is thrust upon two scientists on vacation near Lake Superior to solve, before the whatever-it-is (alien? native? man made?) spreads across the globe. It’s a solid chiller-thriller written by the series creator Richard Thorne, who would write virtually all of the original scripts from 1952 on, and pen the adaptations of stories by Poe, M. R. James, and others the series sprinkled in from time to time.

Of the approximately 200 original Hall of Fantasy shows, experts estimate only 40-45 episodes have survived, the remaining 150+ considered “lost.”

Play Time: 23:13

{After listening to this harrowing tale in March of 1953, mom’s little monsters couldn’t wait until Saturday morning and a brisk walk to the neighborhood drug store to slaver over the cool covers of their favorite magazines–and during the SF pulp magazine boom of 1953 there was plenty to choose from, a selection of which are shown below. Note that only Weird Tales was on a monthly schedule in 1953, while Planet Stories was bi-monthly, and Thrilling Wonder Stories published but five issues that year.}

[Left:Weird Tales, March 1953 – Center:Thrilling Wonder, April 1953 – Right: Planet Stories, March 1953]