Death Comes at Midnight: The Whistler (October 18, 1942)

The Whistler, old-time radio on Stupid Potato

“Death Comes at Midnight” is an episode of The Whistler, the old-time radio show, first broadcast October 18, 1942. Listen free on Stupid Potato: no sign-up, no app.

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What happens

John Prentice, a busy manufacturer, is haunted by a dream in which a voice tells him he will be murdered within 48 hours. His wife Clara and daughter Eva grow alarmed, and his fiance Dwight Cooper, Eva's fiance, is drawn in when a threatening phone call follows. Captain Arnold arrives to investigate, and John reluctantly declines to name a business rival with whom he quarrelled. As midnight approaches, the household waits anxiously while Dwight pursues his own inquiries into the argument and the family fears for John's life. This guide stops before the final revelations and does not say how the story resolves.

A residence in a city, with a nearby river and a bridge on Tower Street

Characters: John Prentice, Clara Prentice, Eva Prentice, Dwight Cooper, Captain Arnold, Milton Reeves, Mrs. Edwards

Listen for: The mysterious phone calls and the dream John describes as the midnight deadline approaches

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.