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Haunting Hour, The

1945–1949 · 35 episodes · 79 listens

The Haunting Hour was a popular old-time radio horror anthology series that aired from 1942 to 1946. Created by producer and writer Robert Arthur, the show featured self-contained stories of the supernatural, the macabre, and the unexplained, each designed to chill and unsettle the listener.

The Stars

The series did not have any regular cast members, instead featuring a rotating ensemble of talented radio actors who brought the various characters to life.

Key Dates

  • The Haunting Hour debuted on NBC on October 17, 1942, and quickly gained a loyal following among radio audiences hungry for spine-tingling stories.
  • The series ran for four seasons, with the final episode airing on September 28, 1946. During its run,
  • The Haunting Hour was praised for its atmospheric sound design, suspenseful storytelling, and the high caliber of its guest performers.

Other Information

In addition to its radio success, The Haunting Hour also spawned a series of popular short story collections published by Doubleday in the 1940s. These anthologies, edited by Robert Arthur, featured adaptations of the radio scripts as well as original tales of the supernatural.

Despite its relatively short run, The Haunting Hour left a lasting impact on the horror genre, influencing countless other radio dramas and paving the way for the modern anthology series. Its combination of atmospheric sound design, suspenseful storytelling, and star-studded casts has made it a beloved classic of old-time radio, and its enduring popularity continues to captivate listeners to this day.

Ratings & reviews

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Episodes

25:00
A man sits quietly by his fire his eyes drawn to the shifting darting tongues of flame. The crackle of the burning wood…
25:00
Considerable imagination enters in to the planning of the supposedly perfect murder. Considerable imagination is used…
25:00
Life is filled with mystery and it was a strange afternoon when Linda Damon boarded the uptown express for without…
25:00
Marlowe the mental marvel reads your mind and knows your every thought. During his act at the 78 Club he picks up a…
25:00
It is lunch hour on a crowded downtown street on a great American city when a window cleaner man plunges to his death…
25:00
Tomorrow is a word full of mystery for not even the wisest seer can tell you what tomorrow brings and today you stand…
25:26
Sleep does not come easily to the harbor. Even at two in the morning there is a restlessness fretting the ships on the…
31:00
Roger Tilton is suffering from a fear of open spaces. To him, the world outside of the Manor Park estate in which they…
Step into a world of mystery and imagination with this gripping episode of 'The Haunting Hour'. A tale of jealousy,…
25:00
At the foot of a great cliff a police launch is being slowly pushed by the ocean currents toward jagged rocks where the…
25:00
Sybil Wells' grey head lies wearily on her pillow; her eyelids are closed as if it were too great an effort to lift…
25:00
Hugo Catterick was a brilliant criminologist and charming gentleman who had such a wonderful flair for solving crimes,…
25:00
It all began a year after Catherine Harland came to work for Martin Reed and Steven Corey as their housekeeper. They…
25:00
It is midnight in the metropolis. In the home of private detectives Earl Bretton and Owen Bailey the phone is ringing.…
25:00
Our story begins late at night in one of the rooms of an exclusive Florida hotel where Mr Van Cleek receives a call…
25:00
Every highway and byway is destiny’s trail and where it leads and what lies ahead is destiny’s secret. Down a dark road…
25:00
How wonderful for actors to be out of the portrait of real existence and in to a world of fantasy and fiction. But the…
25:00
Matt and Stuart Bannick twin brothers yet different as day and night. Matt is bitter and neurotic; Stuart is a…
25:00
All houses have their secrets. The house on East 67th Street in New York was no exception. Its rooms had seen the…
25:00
Over the tomb, which held the mummy of Ptolemy III, these words were written, “Death to him who disturbs the…
25:00
Listen, those are bells tolling in requiem for a man who has died. How did he die you ask, ah listen to what happened…
25:00
Balloons and sparkle, lemonade and laughter, that’s the carnival to most people. But beneath the hoopla and ballyhoo…
25:00
Duke Malone was a notorious gangster and racketeer with a record of killings that couldn’t be pinned on him and now he…
25:00
A diamond has gone missing aboard the Southern Star, and a dead body has been found in a trunk!
25:26
Sleep does not come easily to the harbour. Even at two in the morning there is a restlessness fretting the black ships…
25:00
A simple situation can become quite intriguing when fate steps in and adds the necessary twists. Take the case of the…
25:00
Gregory Destus a custom shoemaker has become strangely involved with the young daughter of the wealthy and unscrupulous…
25:00
This is the story of a man named Spear. Of a bird a kind of carryon crow and of a student of birds named Victor. This…
25:00
The nine old men living in the shabby Schooner Hotel on the New York waterfront including rich Larry Stebbings were…
25:00
The midnight robbery of a cashier by two gunmen, Russ Rogers and Tiny Smith developed swiftly in to murder. Tiny a…
Feb 2, 1946 · 22:58
How often have you had a sudden impulse to speak to a stranger, to quit your job, or board a train - destination…
Feb 9, 1946 · 22:47
A telephone ringing is an ordinary occurrence that happens millions of times every day, but when you pause your own…
Jun 20, 1949 · 31:00
Any city that marks the end of a long journey, is beautiful. Mexico City is such a monument to Laura, and it's here…
May 23, 1949 · 31:00
Horror doesn't always come wrapped up in a haunted house with the wind howling outside. Sometimes it walks along behind…
Oct 27, 1945 · 26:42
A ghost has crept over the city, the air still. Lights burn dimly as the grey fog crawls in from the misty seas. A…
Ned, your old-time-radio guide
Ned · your guide to the archive

Ah, Haunting Hour, The — a fine choice. Let me set a few more down beside it that I think you'll take to.

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