“What evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!“

It’s been almost six months since we visited the Shadow, so we thought it high time we offered another. The Shadow aired “The Gibbering Things” on September 26, 1943. It is one of the most popular episodes in the long history of the show, which ran 17 years, from 1937-1954.

Lamont Cranston, “man about town,” and secretly the Shadow, and his lovely assistant Margot Lane are on vacation in the lovely autumn New Hampshire woods, coming to visit Margot’s aunt Susan. Seeking directions, they hear tell of “the gibbering things” and other strange noises coming from the deep forest. Shrugging off such superstitious twaddle, they soon become believers when one strange occurrence after another involves them in an evil the likes of which they have never before encountered. Squarely in the realm of science-fiction this time, rather than tackling mobsters, corrupt politicians, or murderers, the Shadow encounters a dark form of evil and honest-to-goodness monsters, the horrible “gibbering things.”

“The weed of crime bears bitter fruit. Crime does not pay!” — The Shadow

(Cover above left: February 1, 1943 — Cover above right: December 1943)

Play Time: 28:29