Chet Chetter's Tales From The Morgue

Chet Chetter’s Tales From The Morgue is a series of short stories as told by an old, obliging morgue attendant, licensed embalmer, and resident storyteller named Chet Chetter to a passing stranger of the night. The stories Chet relates are all quite fanciful, dealing with topics that would be classified as supernatural and science fiction. They border on the outrageous, but that is how they are meant to be. Roughly half of the shows feature a nice, likeable, rural southern manure hauler by the name of Elmer Korn who always finds himself involved in some inane predicament.

The series was created and produced by M&J Audio Theater, a collaboration between childhood friends Mark Sawyer and Jay Reel who met in the 6th grade in 1977 with a shared interest in old-time radio dramas such as X Minus One, Lum and Abner, and Gunsmoke. One can hear these influences in every story, from the subject matter and character voices to the plots. The creaking door opening, the host’s oddly humorous manner, and the “pleasant dreams” ending are an undeniable salute to Inner Sanctum Mysteries and Himan Brown. Between the two of them, Mark and Jay collaborate to voice over 20 characters in these stories.

The Stars

Jay Reel is the voice of Chet Chetter, Elmer Corn, the Sheriff, Roland, and Gale Headrush Taylor. Mark Sawyer only admits to being the voice of Cecil Farris and incidental characters.

Key Dates

• Mark and Jay produced the first Chet Chetter story, “The Highway of Death,” in 1989. It was born from a series of 95 episodes they did over a period of years from 1980 to 1995, which they call “The Conofrof Saga.”
• The 4 episodes they submitted to National Public Radio in 1990 were accepted and broadcast on NPR Playhouse.
• The following year, NPR ordered 9 more installments of Tales From the Morgue to be broadcast as a complete 13-show series in 1992.
• There were a total of 19 shows produced, but 6 were rejected by NPR.

Other Information

During the 1990s, Tales From the Morgue proved so popular that it aired internationally in Australia and England. Some episodes were featured three times on Sue Zizza’s Radio Works, including one non-morgue show, “The Spirit of 76 Marina Hootin’ Nanny.” Mark and Jay developed a new series called M&J Presents due largely to feeling creatively stifled by NPR’s rigid standards.

With their new series, there were no rules or restrictions, and anything could be done. Unfortunately, M&J Audio Theater has not produced any new material in over 10 years at the time of this writing, but Mark and Jay are currently co-directing, producing, writing, and editing a movie based on the first episode of Chet Chetter, “The Highway of Death.”

While not from the Golden Age of Radio it is still an enjoyable old radio series.