Suspense - Radio’s Outstanding Theater of Thrills

Originally Aired: May 19, 1957
Suspense #699, "Death and Miss Turner," presents the haunting story of Rachel Turner, a painter suffering from amnesia who insists she is dead and wishes to remain that way. Under the care of the well-meaning Miss Briggs, Rachel lives in a quiet London existence, carefully guarded against any memories that might threaten to break through. When Miss Briggs takes her to a frame shop, Rachel encounters her own mysterious paintings—four portraits of the same man, meticulously detailed except for one chilling omission: each face is blank. The sight triggers something deep within her fractured mind.
As Rachel struggles against the forces trying to restore her memory, including psychiatrist Sir Bartley Price, she finds herself compelled to paint once more. In a trance-like state, she picks up brush and canvas, and a face begins to emerge—the face from her earlier paintings, the face of a man connected to whatever trauma drove her to psychological death. Rachel fights desperately to remain in her safe oblivion, but the truth lurking in her artwork threatens to drag her back to a reality she may not survive confronting.

Originally Aired: May 12, 1957
Suspense #698, "Tarawa Was Tough," presents a gripping true war story that follows a group of Marines as they prepare for one of World War II's bloodiest battles. Les, a decorated sergeant with combat experience from Guadalcanal, leads his squad, which includes the eager but green recruit Odie and veterans like Shorty and Maurice. As they wait on a Wellington, New Zealand pier to ship out, they listen to Tokyo Rose on the radio, who taunts them with inside knowledge of their mission, correctly predicting their destination and even noting the exact time a clock tower stopped. Her psychological warfare unnerves some of the men, but Les and his fellow Marines steel themselves for what lies ahead.
Once aboard their transport and surrounded by an impressive naval escort, the Marines receive detailed briefings about their objective: the heavily fortified atoll of Tarawa. Unlike the jungle warfare of Guadalcanal, this battle will be fought on an exposed island with entrenched Japanese positions, pillboxes, and formidable defenses. The men study maps and prepare for the assault on Beach Red, aware that despite promised naval and air support, they will have to take the island themselves on foot, one deadly yard at a time.

Originally Aired: April 28, 1957
Suspense #696, "Escape to Death," presents a chilling moral dilemma set against the backdrop of the Hungarian Revolution. Dr. Girlner, a respected physician in Budapest, finds himself trapped in a horrifying assignment when Deputy Premier Laszlo Kogos and Russian Commander Marshal Nikolai Chekhov summon him for a dangerous mission. Despite his protests that he is a healer, not a destroyer, the authorities force him to "escape" to Austria with a deadly purpose: assassinate Corina Zanova, a former minister in Imre Nagy's cabinet who now resides in a refugee camp. Armed with poison-tipped hypodermic needles hidden in his shoe and threatened with the destruction of his family and career if he refuses, Dr. Girlner has no choice but to comply.
As the doctor boards a crowded train bound for the Austrian border, he must locate Lajosh Molnar, a notorious freedom fighter and border runner who can guide him across safely. When Russian soldiers stop the train for inspection, Dr. Girlner and the hard-eyed Molnar take refuge in a coach filled with children, hiding among the young passengers. With Molnar armed and ready to shoot at the first sign of trouble, the tension mounts as they wait to see if their desperate gambit will succeed.

Originally Aired: April 21, 1957
In Suspense #695, "Chicken Feed," Ralph Clark storms out of his house after a heated argument with his wife Mary over a dime he gave their son. Driving aimlessly to cool off, he stops at a cafe in Lansing, California, only to discover he's left his wallet at home when he tries to make a phone call. Officer Brady grows suspicious of Clark's story about being a San Francisco attorney with no identification or money, and hauls him to the police station for questioning. When Clark attempts to call home and reconcile with Mary, she spitefully refuses to accept the reverse charges, leaving him stranded without proof of his identity.
Now locked in a cell on suspicion of defrauding the cafe and possibly stealing his car, Clark finds himself trapped in a speed-trap town on a Sunday with no way to verify his story. The police phone is broken, he has no money for the payphone, and the one person who could clear everything up has hung up on him. What began as a trivial domestic dispute over ten cents spirals into a nightmare as Clark faces the dire consequences of his hot temper and empty pockets.

Originally Aired: April 14, 1957
Suspense #694, "Thou Shalt Not Commit," presents a dangerous triangle on a remote South Pacific island. Dr. Carl Blair has brought his restless wife Lisa to the island of Maui Ea to pursue his tropical disease research, but Lisa feels trapped and bored, threatening to leave on the next ship. Carl convinces her to give their marriage three more weeks, and for a time their relationship improves as they enjoy the island together. However, everything changes when Captain Terry Burke, a charming ex-Navy man with a pirate's philosophy, anchors his schooner in the lagoon.
Burke wastes no time making his intentions clear to Lisa, comparing her to a perfect pearl he once coveted and took from another man. While Carl works obediently in his laboratory, Burke and Lisa share a dangerous attraction, each understanding exactly what the other wants. As the houseboy Luelli narrates the unfolding drama, the stage is set for a volatile confrontation between Carl's devotion to duty and humanity, Lisa's desires, and Burke's determination to take whatever he wants.

Originally Aired: March 31, 1957
Suspense #692, "A Good Neighbor," stars Jeff Chandler as Joseph Dunlop, a thief on the run who has stolen $150,000 in diamonds from his employer. Driving through the pre-dawn fog on a deserted Maine coast road under the alias Andrew Burt, he's headed for a remote house he inherited—the perfect hideout where he plans to remove the stones from their settings before escaping to Mexico and then South America. His carefully planned escape hits an unexpected complication when he encounters Mrs. Poe, an elderly woman who flags him down to warn about a fallen tree branch blocking the road. What disturbs Dunlop most is that Mrs. Poe claims to have seen the obstacle through second sight while still in bed.
To his dismay, Dunlop discovers that Mrs. Poe lives nearby and they are neighbors. The eccentric old woman with her claims of premonitions and feelings about people poses a serious threat to his anonymity. As the wind howls and fog swirls around his isolated house, Dunlop realizes this meddling neighbor could unravel his entire scheme—and he coldly notes that while he's a thief, he's also capable of murder if necessary to protect his carefully orchestrated plan.

Originally Aired: March 24, 1957
In Suspense #691, "Shooting Star," Gay Lansing's Hollywood career comes crashing down when studio mogul J.D. Zimmer coldly cancels her contract, replacing her in the coveted role of Dark Lady with another actress. After years of loyalty to the studio since age sixteen, Gay learns from her agent Benny that she's considered washed up in an industry that now wants a different type of star. Refusing to accept this dismissal, Gay drives out to Zimmer's desert retreat, determined to change his mind by any means necessary.
What begins as a plea for reconsideration quickly escalates into something far more sinister. Armed with a small pearl-handled gun, Gay forces the powerful producer to call his legal department and dictate a new seven-year contract at her terms. But Gay has no intention of letting Zimmer simply reverse his decision come Monday morning. As she locates his wheelchair and forces him to cooperate at gunpoint, it becomes chillingly clear that the scorned actress has a calculated plan for revenge that goes far beyond a simple contract negotiation.

Originally Aired: March 17, 1957
Suspense #690, "The Outer Limit," follows test pilot Major Bill Westfall as he prepares to push the boundaries of human flight in the experimental RX3 aircraft. Modified with eight rockets, the plane is designed to take man into unexplored areas of space at unprecedented speeds. Colonel Hank briefs Bill and the chase pilots on the dangerous mission, while engineer Mr. Hargrove nervously monitors the array of scientific equipment designed to track every moment of the flight. Despite having flown the plane before, Bill has never tested it at this extreme configuration, and Hargrove reveals a troubling unknown: with maximum fuel capacity, the heavily loaded aircraft has never been tested for takeoff.
As zero hour approaches, Bill reassures everyone this is just routine, mentioning his wife Molly and twin sons waiting at home. The tension mounts as Bill climbs into the cockpit and begins his preflight checks. With only 10,000 feet of runway and seven seconds to get airborne, Bill accelerates to 300 knots and lifts off. Now airborne and climbing rapidly, he reports back to control that everything is proceeding beautifully, but his journey to the outer limit has only just begun.

Originally Aired: March 3, 1957
In Suspense #688, "Present Tense," a condemned man finds himself trapped in a nightmarish loop of murder and reality. The protagonist, handcuffed to a detective on a train bound for prison, faces execution for killing his wife with an axe. When the train crashes and the detective dies, he seizes the opportunity to escape, switching identification with the corpse and fleeing to his home. There, he discovers his supposedly dead wife alive with her lover, revealing an elaborate frame-up. In a rage, he murders them both with a cleaver, only to find himself once again shackled on a train headed for execution. The story spirals through his desperate attempts at escape and flight to Mexico, blurring the lines between memory, fantasy, and present reality.
As the condemned man awaits his final hours in San Quentin's death row, he reflects on the grey, rain-soaked sky beyond his barred window. Vincent Price portrays a character caught in an psychological maze where past and present intertwine, and the question of what truly happened becomes increasingly unclear. His repeated experiences of the same journey suggest either elaborate fantasy or something far more disturbing about guilt, punishment, and the inescapable nature of consequence.

Originally Aired: February 24, 1957
Suspense #687, "Two Hundred and Twenty-Seven Minutes of Hate," opens with a crisis that has Lieutenant McDougall scrambling for answers. Bill Rand from Hillway Airport reports that a man named Charles Regan has stolen a plane at gunpoint—but there's a terrifying catch: Regan can't fly. Now he's circling erratically over the city, buzzing houses on Delaplane Avenue and rolling his wheels across the courthouse roof, threatening to crash at any moment. McDougall and Sergeant Kelly attempt every option—contacting the Air Force base, alerting civil defense, trying to reach Regan by radio—but nothing works. The plane's radio is turned down too low to hear over the engine noise, and jets can't fly slow enough to intercept him.
With no way to bring Regan down from the ground, McDougall realizes this might be a suicide attempt. The only hope is to understand why Regan is doing this. McDougall and Kelly race to Regan's address, hoping his wife can provide answers that might save lives before the inevitable crash occurs. As calls flood the detective bureau and panic spreads through the city, the clock is ticking on a disaster only understanding can prevent.