House of Fear: The Whistler (June 19, 1943)

The Whistler, old-time radio on Stupid Potato

“House of Fear” is an episode of The Whistler, the old-time radio show, first broadcast June 19, 1943. Listen free on Stupid Potato: no sign-up, no app.

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What happens

Lana Wallace jilts Paul Garson, a young man who loves her, and marries Gregory Helman, an older manufacturer. Gregory retires from business and the couple rents a secluded villa by the sea, where Lana grows bored and restless. Some months later Lana, now divorced and calling herself Mrs. Garson, is with Paul in Mexico City, where he proposes and they marry. At the villa, workmen digging in the cellar uncover a buried body, and Paul and Lana are questioned by a detective about the dead man's identity and the strange history of the house.

New York City, a train, a secluded villa on a cliff overlooking the sea, and Mexico City

Characters: Lana Wallace, Paul Garson, Gregory Helman, Mr. Blodgett, Detective Murphy

Listen for: The detective's questioning in the villa's living room, where the buried body and the couple's divorce and marriage history come to light

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.