Suspense - Radio’s Outstanding Theater of Thrills
Unravel the Mystery with Suspense! - The Classic Radio Thriller Series Step back in time to the golden age of radio with ”Suspense!” - the iconic series that captivated audiences from 1942 to 1962 with its thrilling tales and unforgettable performances. Featuring over 900 broadcasts penned by renowned authors and directors, ”Suspense!” brought the finest in thriller and mystery genres to the airwaves. Broadcast on the CBS Radio Network, ”Suspense!” showcased Hollywood’s brightest stars, including Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart, Orson Welles, and Marlene Dietrich. Under the masterful direction of William Spier, known as the ”Hitchcock of the airwaves,” the series delivered gripping human dramas that kept listeners on the edge of their seats. From the eerie introductions by the ”Man in Black” to the evocative scores by Bernard Hermann and Lucian Moraweck, ”Suspense!” was a paragon of radio production excellence. The show’s unique formula of minimal rehearsal and genuine unease created authe...
Episodes

16 minutes ago
16 minutes ago
In one of the most celebrated episodes of Suspense, Orson Welles stars as Dr. Patrick Cory in a chilling adaptation of Curt Siodmak’s science fiction thriller Donovan’s Brain. This is the first of a two-part drama that explores the terrifying consequences of science without limits—and thought without a body.
When a private plane crashes in the mountains, the only survivor is millionaire William H. Donovan—barely clinging to life. Dr. Cory attempts emergency surgery, but it’s already too late to save the man. Or is it? Driven by ambition and scientific obsession, Cory removes Donovan’s brain and keeps it alive in a laboratory tank.
At first, Cory insists his motives are purely scientific, studying how long a human brain can survive and function outside the body. But the experiment spirals into something far more disturbing when the brain begins to respond—first with electrical pulses, then with influence over Cory’s thoughts and actions.
Soon, Donovan’s ruthless personality begins to assert itself, manipulating Cory while leaving behind cryptic clues—“Sure, sure, sure”—and signatures in Cory’s own left-handed handwriting. As Cory’s mind slips further from his own control, even his wife and colleagues fear he is becoming something... other.
Part one ends with Cory fully under the influence of the powerful and malevolent brain. In part two, the full horror of Donovan’s posthumous intentions will be revealed.
Keywords: "Donovan’s Brain part one radio," "Orson Welles Suspense 1944," "William H. Donovan brain experiment," "Curt Siodmak adaptation radio," "sci-fi horror brain in a jar," "May 1944 Suspense CBS," "Roma Wines suspense classic."
Cast: Orson Welles (Dr. Patrick Cory), with supporting performances by Hans Conried, Joseph Kearns, and the Suspense radio company. Directed by William Spier.

6 days ago
6 days ago
Originally Aired: May 11, 1944
The Visitor: A Stranger Comes Home
In this emotionally haunting episode of Suspense, Eddie Bracken stars as Bud Owen, a man returning to the hometown he left twelve years earlier under the shadow of suspicion and heartbreak. Bud isn't just back for nostalgia—he’s come to confront the truth and reclaim his identity. But there’s one problem: no one remembers him.
When he visits the house he grew up in, the people inside don't recognize his name—or his face. His mother, his old friend Joe, and even his childhood sweetheart, Ellen, deny ever knowing him. Instead, they insist his name is Bill Duncan. Bud begins to question his own sanity. Has he imagined his former life, or is something far more sinister at play?
As the mystery deepens, Bud discovers a dark conspiracy rooted in betrayal and guilt. He’s not delusional—he's the victim of a desperate lie meant to erase him from existence. The people he once trusted have buried the past and replaced him with a ghost.
Taut, psychological, and filled with eerie tension, The Visitor plays with themes of memory, identity, and the pain of being forgotten. With a quiet, tragic ending that lingers long after the final line, this episode is a standout entry in the golden age of radio suspense.
Keywords: "Suspense The Visitor episode," "May 1944 Suspense radio," "Eddie Bracken identity mystery," "radio psychological thriller," "homecoming suspense drama," "William Spier production," "classic Roma Wines suspense story."
Cast: Eddie Bracken, with supporting performances by the Suspense radio company including William Spier (producer/director).

Sunday Mar 23, 2025
Sunday Mar 23, 2025
Originally Aired: May 4, 1944
The Dark Tower: A Role to Kill For:
In this richly layered psychological thriller from Suspense, Orson Welles delivers a mesmerizing performance as Damon Wellington, an aging stage actor drawn into a murder mystery that threatens to destroy his family—and career. When Jessica Wellington, Damon’s sister and co-star, begins rehearsals for her return to the stage after a mental breakdown, her former husband, the manipulative and sinister Stanley Vance, unexpectedly returns from the dead.
Claiming to have been merely "ill," Vance wastes no time regaining psychological control over Jessica, casting a dark shadow over the production of The Dark Tower. As the cast gathers in the Wellington home to rehearse, tensions flare and secrets emerge—including Jessica’s belief that she may have murdered Vance during her breakdown.
But when Vance turns up truly dead—murdered this time for real—the finger once again points toward Jessica… until a stranger named Max Hartsfeld arrives, eager to invest in the play. In one of radio’s most unforgettable twists, Hartsfeld reveals his true purpose: revenge. He is no investor, but a calculated executioner—with Damon Wellington behind the disguise.
Cleverly plotted, brilliantly performed, and steeped in theatrical satire, The Dark Tower delivers suspense, misdirection, and one of the most satisfying endings in the Suspense catalog.
Keywords: "Suspense The Dark Tower episode," "Orson Welles dual role radio," "May 1944 Suspense radio drama," "Jessica Wellington murder mystery," "Max Hartsfeld twist ending," "Roma Wines suspense series," "stage play thriller radio classic."
Cast: Orson Welles, Hans Conried, George Coulouris, Joseph Kearns, Agnes Moorehead, William Spier (producer/director).

Friday Mar 21, 2025
Friday Mar 21, 2025
In this gripping road thriller from Suspense, Gene Kelly plays George Javery, a man trying to make a quiet cross-country drive from California to New York—but fate has other plans. It begins with a strange bellhop warning about a one-armed man, an uninvited hitchhiker with an eerie familiarity, and a series of unsettling “coincidences” that unravel into something far more sinister.
Every mile brings a new encounter—a staged accident, a mysterious photograph, an anonymous phone call—all pointing to one chilling truth: someone wants George dead. But who? And why?
The danger escalates across the country, from bullet-shattered dinner plates in a Chicago nightclub to a near-death confrontation on Bear Mountain Bridge. But it’s not until George reaches a New York hotel—where he supposedly already has a reservation—that the mystery finally unravels. The man behind the curtain is Bill “Scarface” Malone, a gangster who’s had plastic surgery and has been using George’s identity as a decoy, drawing enemy fire away from himself.
In a pulse-pounding final confrontation, George turns the tables, exposing Malone’s plan and narrowly escaping death. What began as a quiet drive ends as a taut psychological thriller, where identity, paranoia, and survival collide.
Keywords: "Suspense Death Went Along for the Ride episode," "Gene Kelly suspense thriller," "April 1944 Suspense radio," "Scarface Malone mistaken identity plot," "one-armed hitchhiker mystery," "Roma Wines radio drama," "cross-country noir suspense story."
Cast: Gene Kelly, William Spier (producer/director), Hans Conried, Joseph Kearns.

Wednesday Mar 19, 2025
Wednesday Mar 19, 2025
Originally Aired: April 20, 1944
The Palmer Method: Signed in Blood:
In this darkly clever episode of Suspense, Ed Gardner sheds his comedic persona to deliver a dramatic performance as Joe Palmer—a small-time con man and expert forger who finds himself in way over his head. Down on his luck in New York, Palmer joins the Spanish Loyalist army under the name "George Padway" to escape both poverty and prosecution. But what starts as a clever dodge quickly spirals into a deadly case of mistaken identity and espionage.
During a bombing on a troop train en route to Madrid, Palmer survives—while the real Padway does not. Seizing the opportunity, Palmer switches their identities. But his con turns deadly when he unwittingly walks into a trap meant for a fascist spy. Posing as Padway, he’s contacted by Elena Villancos, a seductive agent who quickly draws him into a supposed sabotage ring—offering him a fortune for future sabotage missions.
But Palmer’s final forged note seals his fate. When Elena returns with a suitcase—not full of money but containing a tommy gun and a firing squad—Palmer learns too late that she’s no fascist conspirator but a Republican spy.
A grim tale of deception, identity, and poetic justice, The Palmer Method is a taut, ironic thriller that explores how even the most skilled forger can’t rewrite his own fate.
Keywords: "Suspense The Palmer Method episode," "April 1944 Suspense radio," "Ed Gardner dramatic performance," "Joe Palmer forgery plot twist," "Spanish Civil War radio drama," "Roma Wines suspense classic," "identity theft and espionage story."
Cast: Ed Gardner, Hans Conried, Joseph Kearns, William Spier (producer/director).

Sunday Mar 16, 2025
Sunday Mar 16, 2025
Originally Aired: April 13, 1944
The Marvelous Barastro: A Duel of Illusions:
In this spellbinding episode of Suspense, Orson Welles delivers a haunting dual performance as Barastro and Rico Sansoni—two rival magicians locked in a decades-long psychological and supernatural battle.
Barastro, a traveling illusionist, shares his eerie tale with producer William Spier: a love story turned nightmare. Twenty years earlier, Barastro fell in love with Anna, a blind girl whose spirit and vision of the world captivated him. But their idyllic life is shattered by the arrival of Rico Sansoni—an enigmatic and charismatic magician who seduces Anna and ultimately assumes Barastro’s identity using his unmatched skill in mimicry and illusion.
What unfolds is a chilling descent into madness as Barastro realizes he is being replaced—his face, his voice, his life—by a man who can become him so completely that even Anna cannot tell the difference. As the rivalry turns deadly, Barastro’s obsession with justice drives him to the edge of sanity.
With hypnotic storytelling, eerie tension, and Welles’ unforgettable portrayal of two indistinguishable enemies, The Marvelous Barastro is a tour-de-force of dramatic radio and one of Suspense’s most psychologically complex episodes.
Keywords: "Suspense The Marvelous Barastro episode," "Orson Welles dual role magician story," "April 1944 Suspense radio drama," "Rico Sansoni identity theft plot," "radio illusionist psychological thriller," "Ben Hecht story Suspense," "Roma Wines classic radio series."
Cast: Orson Welles (as Barastro and Rico Sansoni), William Spier (Narrator), with additional voices by Hans Conried and Joseph Kearns.

Wednesday Mar 12, 2025
Wednesday Mar 12, 2025
Originally Aired: April 6, 1944
The Woman in Red: Identity for Sale:
In this harrowing tale from Suspense, Academy Award-winner Katina Paxinou stars as Miss Crabo, a seemingly kind yet deeply sinister woman who traps a young, vulnerable woman in a deadly scheme of espionage and impersonation. Julia Ross, desperate for work and with no close ties, answers an ad for a secretary and is lured into a luxurious but isolated home by Miss Crabo and her nephew, Carl.
What begins as a strange but seemingly benign job offer soon descends into a nightmare. Drugged and manipulated, Julia wakes up to find herself being called “Sheila Campbell” — the identity of Crabo’s former companion who mysteriously disappeared. The sinister pair intend to pass Julia off as Sheila and stage her “suicide,” thereby tying off loose ends in an underground espionage operation.
But Julia’s spirit proves stronger than they expect. With her life on the line, she secretly slips a note to a stranger and sets in motion a daring rescue involving British Intelligence. In a thrilling final twist, Carl's guilt becomes the key to unraveling the whole plot—and Julia escapes her captors just in time.
The Woman in Red is a taut psychological thriller steeped in identity theft, gaslighting, and wartime paranoia, delivering one of Suspense’s most gripping and twisted narratives.
Keywords: "Suspense The Woman in Red episode," "April 1944 Suspense radio," "Katina Paxinou thriller performance," "identity theft radio drama," "British Intelligence undercover story," "Roma Wines classic radio," "espionage and manipulation story."
Cast: Katina Paxinou, Hans Conried, George Coulouris, Joseph Kearns, William Spier.

Friday Mar 07, 2025
Friday Mar 07, 2025
Originally Aired: March 30, 1944
Cat and Mouse: A Deadly Game:
In this tense episode of Suspense, engineer John Guthrie (Sonny Tufts) finds himself entangled in a deadly game of espionage, deception, and survival. When his friend and research partner, Howard Lockwood, is mysteriously murdered, Guthrie realizes that their top-secret invention—a wartime technological breakthrough—has made them the targets of an unseen enemy.
Using shortwave radio, Lockwood sends Guthrie a cryptic message just before his death, warning him of "the man with the cough." As Guthrie follows the trail to Vermont’s snow-covered mountains, he finds himself hunted by unknown forces determined to take his work—by any means necessary. Among the suspicious figures at the Phoenix Hotel is the charming but enigmatic Valentine Ames, who may be friend or foe.
With the FBI, Scotland Yard, and a ruthless enemy all closing in, Guthrie must rely on his wits to survive. In a dramatic final confrontation, a former FBI agent turned traitor is unmasked, and a cunning killer is stopped just in time. But even as the danger subsides, Guthrie is left wondering—how much of the game was real, and how much was just another move in a larger, more dangerous war?
A thrilling mix of wartime intrigue, coded messages, and paranoia, Cat and Mouse is a suspenseful masterpiece that keeps listeners guessing until the final moment.
Keywords: "Suspense Cat and Mouse episode," "March 1944 Suspense radio," "Sonny Tufts mystery thriller," "wartime espionage radio play," "shortwave radio spy drama," "Roma Wines suspense series," "classic noir radio mystery."
Cast: Sonny Tufts, Hans Conried, William Spier, George Coulouris.

Sunday Mar 02, 2025
Sunday Mar 02, 2025
Originally Aired: March 23, 1944
Sneak Preview: The Reel and the Real:
In this suspenseful tale starring Joseph Cotten, reality and fiction blur as Hollywood director Frank Henderson stumbles into a real-life crime more thrilling than any film he's ever made. While in New York preparing for the release of his latest motion picture, Escape to Destiny, Henderson finds himself drawn into the mystery surrounding the murder of notorious criminal Gregory Sarko.
After viewing Sarko’s body at police headquarters, Henderson becomes obsessed with the case. His investigation leads him into the shadowy world of spies, drug smugglers, and double agents, where no one is who they seem to be—including a mysterious man named "Edwards," who offers Henderson a lucrative but dangerous deal. As the director pieces together the puzzle, he realizes that the truth behind Sarko’s death is even more bizarre than the twists in his own films.
The thrilling climax reveals an unexpected connection between the crime and Henderson’s own storytelling instincts. But when he pitches the entire experience as a movie idea to his studio, they dismiss it outright—too far-fetched, too unrealistic. The irony? Every word of it is true.
A brilliantly meta episode, Sneak Preview blends Hollywood satire with classic noir intrigue, proving that sometimes, the wildest stories are the ones that actually happen.
Keywords: "Suspense Sneak Preview episode," "March 1944 Suspense radio," "Joseph Cotten Hollywood thriller," "Gregory Sarko murder mystery," "spy and smuggling intrigue," "meta crime drama radio play," "classic Roma Wines suspense show."
Cast: Joseph Cotten, William Spier, Hans Conried, George Coulouris.

Sunday Feb 23, 2025
Sunday Feb 23, 2025
Originally Aired: March 16, 1944
Narrative About Clarence: A Mind Unraveled:
This haunting episode of Suspense stars Laird Cregar as Clarence, a man whose eerie presence slowly unravels the mind of his unsuspecting brother-in-law, Bill. When Bill’s wife, Lillian, unexpectedly receives a letter from her estranged half-brother Clarence, she is surprised—he’s been gone for years, living in India, dabbling in what he calls "mental science." But upon his arrival at their home, it becomes clear that Clarence is no ordinary visitor. His hypnotic eyes, cryptic statements, and sinister fascination with Lillian’s daughter Jeannie leave Bill deeply unsettled.
As Clarence’s influence grows, Jeannie begins to change, speaking in strange tones and defying her parents. Bill becomes convinced that Clarence is using hypnosis and occult knowledge to manipulate his wife and daughter. But when Bill attempts to remove Clarence from their home, his mind begins to crack. Is Clarence truly an evil hypnotist, or is Bill losing his grip on reality?
In a shocking climax, Bill takes matters into his own hands, setting fire to the house with Clarence inside—only to wake up in an asylum, telling his story to a doctor. But the final twist is the most chilling of all: the asylum’s director is none other than Clarence himself, very much alive, and subtly implying that Bill’s descent into madness may have been orchestrated from the very start.
This dark psychological thriller is a masterful blend of paranoia, manipulation, and eerie suspense, leaving listeners questioning what was real and what was merely imagined.
Keywords: "Suspense Narrative About Clarence episode," "March 1944 Suspense radio," "Laird Cregar psychological thriller," "hypnosis and mind control drama," "Roma Wines suspense series," "occult mystery radio play," "classic radio horror story."
Cast: Laird Cregar, Hans Conried, William Spier.