The Society Of The Living Dead: The Mercury Theatre on the Air (January 23, 1938)

“The Society Of The Living Dead” is an episode of The Mercury Theatre on the Air, the old-time radio show, first broadcast January 23, 1938. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Lamont Cranston, a wealthy man with a secret identity as The Shadow, investigates the apparent suicide of Henry Adams, a businessman whose body was buried in the family vault. Adams's partner Ray Kelvin is courting Adams's daughter Irene, and a crooked associate named Burger is linked to a fake passport racket. Cranston's associate Margo visits Irene to learn what she knows about her father's death. The Shadow follows Burger and Kelvin after they leave the city, tracking them to a cemetery.

A city in the 1930s, including Henry Adams's family vault in a cemetery.

Characters: Lamont Cranston, The Shadow, Margo, Irene Adams, Henry Adams, Ray Kelvin, Burger, David Kastner

Listen for: Listen for the Shadow's voice as he pieces together the Adams case and tracks Burger and Kelvin to the cemetery.

Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.