Holiday Story

Originally Aired: December 23, 1948

Suspense #320, "Holiday Story," stars Herbert Marshall as Professor Wilfred Carpenter, a mild-mannered botanist long dominated by his overbearing wife, Hermione. When Hermione insists he shave his beard before their trip to America, the transformation proves more significant than either could imagine. At the bookshop, Wilfred encounters the sympathetic Miss Marion Markham, who mistakes him for a widower and offers the understanding companionship he's been denied for twenty years. As Marion reflects on what kind of woman his late wife must have been, Wilfred doesn't correct her assumption about Hermione being dead.

The professor had been digging a peculiar pit in the cellar for exotic orchids called "devil flowers" by Arukanian Indians—plants that bloom underground in damp leaf mold. When Hermione forbids him to continue his project until after the holidays, Wilfred's meek compliance masks something darker. As the couple prepares for their voyage, the stench of foreign soil lingers in the cellar, and the question remains: what exactly does Wilfred Carpenter have planned for the holidays?