 Welcome, Weirdos! I'm Darren Marlar, and this is Retro Radio Sunday on Weird Darkness. Each week I bring you a show from the Golden Age of radio, but still in the genre of Weird Darkness. I'll have stories of the macabre and horror, mysteries and crime, and even some dark science fiction. If you're new here, welcome to the show, and be sure to subscribe or follow the podcast so you don't miss future episodes. And if you're already a member of this Weirdo family, please take a moment and invite someone else to listen in with you. Spreading the word about the show helps it to grow. If you're here because you're already a fan of nostalgic audio and print, you'll want to email WeirdDarkness at RadioArchives.com. When you do that, you'll get an instant reply with links to download full-length pulp audio books, pulp e-books and old-time radio shows for free. That email address again is WeirdDarkness at RadioArchives.com. Coming up, it's an episode from The Mystery House. Most old-time radio buffs are familiar with the long-running series, Inner Sanctum Mysteries, a weekly half-hour horror-suspense anthology broadcast from January 7, 1941 to October 5, 1952, and a show that introduced radio's best-known sound effect, the creaking door. During its run, Inner Sanctum had a variety of sponsors – Colgate, Lipton T, Bromo, Seltzer, Mars Candy – but its main responsibility was to promote Simon & Schuster's line of mystery novels that bore the same name, though the radio dramas themselves were for the most part original productions. In The Mystery House, a little-known radio series on which information remains kind of sketchy, the concept of promoting books still remains intact, but with a slight twist. Heard on the show's standard opening, Mystery House, that strange publishing firm owned by Dan and Barbara Glenn, where each new novel is acted out by the Mystery House staff before it is accepted for publication. At the risk of resorting to atrocious puns, this was a rather novel inspiration. The old Mickey Rooney Judy Garland, hey kids, let's put on a show idea applied to the publishing world. Mystery House staffers would perform in each half-hour drama, while others would provide sound effects, rewrite scripts, and so on. But could this really succeed as a business model? Would people buy a mystery book if they already knew the ending? Remember, this is a radio show saying it's bringing you the stories before the books were published. An interesting question, considering how little information there is available about the firm, or if in fact it ever existed. Research into this query turned up an address for Mystery House at 70 Park Avenue in New York City, where a hotel now stands, and that the publishing firm ceased operation sometime after 1964. As for the broadcast history behind the series, the shroud of mystery remains intact. Newspaper archives report a series with that name as having been broadcast in 1929 over WGN in Chicago, and apparently still on the air as late as 1951. The show was broadcast in a variety of formats, sometimes as a weekly half-hour, sometimes as a five-day-a-week quarter-hour show. Mystery House has also been associated with appearances on WOR in New York. Both WOR and WGN were flagship stations of the Mutual Network at that time. Complicating matters further is the existence of an audition record, recorded at the NBC Studios in July of 1944 for a program also called Mystery House, also referred to as Belalagosi's Mystery House, which features the movie's most famous vampire who was slated to have been the host had it been picked up as a regular series alongside another cinematic Dracula, John Caradine, with announcer Ken Carpenter in support. Some radio buffs question whether there was any connection between the NBC audition and the regular series, but it certainly can be said that the presence of both does tend to confuse things a bit. Because newspaper articles have reported that the Mystery House series was a popular program at WGN stating that live audiences were encouraged to attend the broadcasts, one could assume that the bulk of the shows currently available are from that time period as a lively studio audience can clearly be heard during the middle intermissions of many of the shows. Furthermore, with the exception of the Legosi audition and the episode Death Passed My Window, none of the remaining Mystery House programs in this collection appear to be in general circulation, which may very well mean that this is one of these program's first appearances in old-time radio collectors' circles, so this should be a real treat even for those who've been listening to old-time radio for years. Tonight, it's the story Subrosa Justice from April 7, 1946, where a man learns from his doctor that he only has one month to live. Now, bolt your doors, lock your windows, turn off your lights, and come with me into the Weird Darkness as we present Mystery House. Mystery House. Mystery House. That strange publishing firm owned by Dan and Barbara Glenn, where each new novel is acted out by the Mystery House staff before it is accepted for publication. Mystery House. Well, Barbara, I hope tonight's story is good enough to make a best-seller novel. Well, I think it is. Well, let's see now. What's the title again? Subrosa Justice. The folks already acted out? Sure, they're out in the game room. I'll go get them. Fine. Say, while Mrs. Glenn's rounding up the rest of them, here's something you should hear. Okay, places, everybody. Set the scene, will you, Tom? Subrosa Justice. Tonight's story opens in a doctor's office. Thorne Carlson is looking at the doctor with a mused disfavor. Oh, come now, Doctor. You're being too abstract. You're putting on that smug complacent professional face. I have tried to be as plain as possible, Mr. Carlson. In cases such as yours, one cannot be specific. One cannot be specific. Well, maybe not, but one can be blunt. Take a chance, Doctor. Tell me something that adds up. All right, Mr. Carlson, you have one month to live. Maybe a little more? Probably somewhat less. Thank you, Doctor. Thank you. Yeah, one month to live. Yeah, that's quite amusing in a way. Oh, don't look so shocked. With an affliction such as yours, Mr. Carlson. That really is funny, Doctor. An affliction such as mine. Do you know why I'm so little disturbed about dying? Because I've lost my affliction. You must be mistaken about that, Mr. Carlson. The X-rays show quite clearly. X-rays. Did you take an X-ray of my soul, Doctor? Or isn't medical science that well developed yet? Pardon me. I'm doing the identical thing I accused you of doing a few minutes ago. I'm being abstract. Perhaps I'd better explain what I mean. Or aren't you interested? What, of course. I am very much interested. Fine. And I think I'll enjoy telling someone about everything. It all began when Gretchen and I were married. Goodbye, everybody. We'll be back in three weeks. And here's a little surprise for all of you. Surprise? What are you talking about? You see? It is a surprise on Thorne, too. We'll be at home at the old Tinley Mansion. Mother's giving it to us for a wedding present. Gretchen, you knew I'd rent it an apartment for us. Why didn't you tell me about the Tinley Mansion? Why, I wanted it to be a surprise, Thorne. And it's a perfectly marvelous one, isn't it? It's odd, Gretchen. Completely odd. Hi, Thorne. Your joke. I can't afford to keep up the place. And besides, I couldn't be happy rattling around in a huge old barn like that. People can afford anything they want. Smart people. And I couldn't be happy in a stuffy little apartment. We'll get along. But I don't make enough money, Gretchen. That place must cost a fortune to keep it going. You're quite right, Thorne, about not making enough money. You don't. And that's one of the first things we're going to change. You must develop contacts. Contacts? You mean live off my friend's charity? That's just the point. Most of your friends couldn't afford any charity. We're going to move up, Thorne. And the Tinley Mansion's going to help us do it. Did it ever occur to you, Gretchen, that I might not want to move up? I'm pretty happy just as I am. You're brilliant, Thorne, but you lack ambition. That's one reason why I'm going to be good for you. I can think of some other reasons, Mrs. Carlson. Oh, Thorne, don't get mushy. Our marriage can be a tremendous success if we take advantage of all our weapons. Weapons? Your biggest asset is personal charm. You do have it, darling. And mother can help us socially, with money, too. You almost scare me, Gretchen. You talk like this was a business deal. You married a smart woman, Thorne. I married a lovely one. You don't really know how smart I am. No. Remember when you were running after Diana Tracy? Yes, I remember. Everybody was saying you'd marry her. Gretchen, please. And then she went to New York without even saying goodbye to you. You don't need to rub it in. You never knew why she left, did you? No, I did. It was because I told her you and I had been secretly married for six months. What? You see, I know how to get what I want. Everything I want. You, you told Diana that? Yes. And she fell for it. Thorne, don't stare at me like that. What's the matter? Nothing. I, I guess you do love me, don't you? Well, well, of course, Thorne. Of course I do. Oh, Thorne, you'll have to change in a hurry. Guess who's going to be here for dinner tonight? Oh, Gretchen, can't we just for once have some friends in for dinner? Must we be forever selling something? You should know the answer to that. Bills pass due at every store in town. You'll bet we should be selling. And Thorne. Well, what now? It's terribly important that you play up to Mrs. Sweet tonight. I can handle her husband, but she'll actually make the decisions. I'm sure of that. So be especially nice and charming to her. There's a word to describe you, Gretchen. Thorne. Get me so enough and I'll use it sometime. There you have it, Mr. Shannon. What do you think? Oh, that's very good, Mrs. Carlson. I, uh, I wish you weren't married. You'd be a great success in the advertising business. I will be anyway, Mr. Shannon. Oh, you mean you'd go to work for my agency? No, but my husband will. And I'll press the buttons. I'll be working for you almost as if I had an office here. I don't doubt it a bit. What's your proposition? You have a fine agency. Your trouble is that you don't have enough good prospective clients. You're too cold-blooded a businessman. Cold-blooded? Well, go on. My husband's a business fool, but he has charm and social position. He has the things you'll need. I sell on the merits of my product. Oh, nonsense. You'll need what Thorne could give you and you'll know it. Well, what does Mr. Carlson think about all this? He's an architect, isn't he? Well, I haven't even consulted him yet. But he'll come into your agency if I tell him to. There's just one catch to it, Mr. Shannon. Yes, what's that? He'll cost you a half interest in your agency. Hello, Gretchen. Oh, you're looking beautiful tonight. I have two surprises for you, Thorne. What have you done now? But what do you mean? I've learned to distrust your surprises, Gretchen. You have the nerve to say that. Haven't they always worked out for the best? Haven't I brought you right up the ladder? All right, what now? First, we're going to have a baby. Oh, that's wonderful, darling. Just a minute. Second, you're through with architecture. The arrangements are all made and I drove a hard bargain. You're going into an advertising agency. We'll help me with my arithmetic. Why is sure, Topsie? Thorne, I wish you wouldn't call the child by that ridiculous nickname. Other children in the neighborhood are beginning to pick it up. Oh, but I like being called Topsie, Mother. Well, you shouldn't. Mother, why is it that the things I really and truly like are always the things I shouldn't like? I suppose that's because you'll take after your father, dear. Oh, for heaven's sake, Gretchen, you don't have to let the child... Let another fax of life? No, no, no, no, no, no. Let another fax of life? You're quite wrong, Thorne. Won't you help me with my arithmetic, Daddy? Sure, Topsie. You know, uh, we've got to get E.E. Cummings' book of poetry, uh, is five. Is five? Uh-huh. What does that mean? Well, you see, Topsie, a lot of, uh, stuffy grown-ups have made a lot of rules. And because they've made those rules, certain things are so. And the rules say that, uh, two and two are four. Well, aren't they? For most people, yes, Topsie, but not for you and me. You see, Topsie, you and I are among the privileged few. And just because some old sour-faced schoolmasters made a rule, you and I don't have to believe it. Well, what do we believe in, Daddy? Well, we think that, uh, quite possibly under the right circumstances, uh, two and two aren't four at all. No, maybe when the moon's in the right phase, two and two's five. Thorne, I won't have it, you hear? I work to keep her from being an impractical fool and you tear down everything I do. Not quite everything, I'm afraid, Gretchen. But I try hard. Oh, are we expecting guests this evening? Only Bob Shannon. I asked him over. Run on up to bed, Dorothy. I'll take it, Topsie. The child's quite capable of going to bed by herself. Come on, Topsie. Last one up the stairs. The purple-pink's there. Oh, Bob, come in. Hi, Gretchen. Why the command summons? I thought there were some things we should discuss. Ah, Gretchen, you know I love this house. It's so cool and efficient looking. Where's Thorne? He went upstairs to put Dorothy to bed. He'll be down in a minute. He's a swell guy, Gretchen. You did me a big favor that day that you came in and sold him down the river. I don't do favors. A business deal is mutually advantageous. I've never been able to figure you out, Gretchen. You make the Mona Lisa look like an open book. Nonsense. Were you ever in love with Thorne? I mean, before you married him? Well, of course. I saw great possibilities in him. Ah, I'm glad you never fell in love with me, Gretchen. Oh, I don't know. Now, I could have done a great deal for you, Bob. Actually, you'd have been much better material than Thorne. I hear my name. Hi, Bob. Oh, hi, Thorne. We were just admiring Gretchen's handiwork. Sit down, Thorne. Why so solemn? I have a little surprise for you men. Watch out, Bob. You don't know our surprises like I do. I've been checking the firm's books. Well, we've come a long ways in the last nine years, haven't we? I checked them myself the other day. Yes. Yes, we've come a long ways. And nearly 80% of the billing is Thorne. Sure, I get it. And Bob takes care of it. Not a bad deal. Not a bad deal for Bob. What do you mean? I mean that, well, frankly, you're not carrying your share of the load, Bob. You aren't contributing as much as we are. No. What are you going to do about it? Thorne's pulling out of the agency. He's moving over to Marden as a senior partner. Thorne, you'd do that to me. Oh, this is a complete surprise to me, Bob. I've made all the arrangements. Thorne's clients have agreed to the change. But you can't do that to me, Gretchen. You'd tear down overnight all that I've been years building up. Well, it's more than a business to me. It's everything I have in the world. It's my life. Don't worry, Bob. I won't do it. You won't have anything to say about it, Thorne. You see, I knew you'd be swayed by sentiments, so I got your clients to approve the change. I started Thorne out in the business. We're partners. You never gave us anything we didn't earn. It was always business, and it's still business. Goodbye, Gretchen. Thorne, where are you going? Out. I may be back and I may not. He means it, Gretchen. Your plan won't work. He'll be back. You're forgetting Dorothy. Yes, Dorothy. Poor little kid. Poor, poor little kid. I think I'm going to do her a favor. A great favor. Gretchen. Gretchen. Go, Gretchen. Great Scott. No. No, no. Not her, Topsy. Your mother's dead. She's been strangled to death with handkerchief. Topsy, honey, sometimes things happen that old girls can't understand. Maybe later and maybe never. You'll have to be a brave kid. Now go on back to bed, honey. Untie the handkerchief from around her neck, daddy. The handkerchief. I'm going to put it in my pocket. Oh, but it belongs to whoever kills my mother. But the man's handkerchief. A man with the initial S. It must be Mr. Stanton. He was coming here when I went to bed. Topsy, no, you mustn't say that. Don't ever mention it. Your mother was killed by a man while I was gone. People say bad things about that, honey. Bad things about your mother. This is our secret. Promise, honey. All right, daddy. It's our secret. If there have to be murders, I'm all in favor of having them happen to people like Gretchen. And now we go back to the living room of Thorne Carlson's home. The twisted body of Gretchen Carlson is still on the floor behind the piano. The police have just arrived on the scene. I want to go to Grandma's. In just a little while, lass. You can go to your grandma's. Maybe I'll take you in a squad car. Wouldn't that be fun? Topsy, this is Mr. Dolan. He's from the police. How do you do, Mr. Dolan? How do you do? So your name's Topsy, huh? That's cute. Oh, it's not my real name. Mother got off from bed when daddy called me Topsy, but I liked it. So your mother got mad, huh? At your daddy? Yes. She didn't like the way daddy always jokes and teases. I guess she was sort of mad at him a lot. Topsy, didn't your daddy ever get mad at your mother? Oh, no. He just looked sad when she scolded him. Kind of like he'd fallen and hurt his knee. Dolan, this can't go on. You've got to stop it. Maybe you could stop it, Dolan. Me how? By signing a confession, Mr. Carlson. A confession to your wife's murder. Well, now that you've learned that Gretchen and I had her quarrels, what next? I figured that was kind of up to you. What do you mean? A man has a quarrel with his wife. The wife is murdered. Can I tell you I wasn't even here when she was murdered? Sure, you tell me that. I wasn't mad tonight. I was just disgusted. So disgusted that I walked out on them. Them? You hadn't said anything about anyone else. You said you and your wife were alone. I have. We were. When a woman gets murdered, there's a reason. Either you're lying about you and her being alone or you killed her. No, no, that's not true. You had a motive. You hated your wife. You fought with her. You had the opportunity. You were alone with her tonight. Stop it! Don't you have any feelings at all? I'll get it. Hello? Oh, Newton. What? Well, I'll be done. You don't tell me. That just goes to show you never know, doesn't it? Okay. Thanks, Newton. I'll see you later. Goodbye. What was that? Never mind. Are you ready to sign a confession? No. You hang, Carlson. You'll get a rope around your neck just as tight as the one you tied around your wife's neck. It wasn't a rope. Oh, so it wasn't a rope. Well, now we're getting somewhere. Come on. You might as well come clean, Carlson. You'll spill the whole work sooner or later. No. Listen, you can't talk to my daddy like that. Topsy. You're a bad man and I hate you. Besides, you don't know what you're talking about. Topsy, I thought you were embarrassed. I was sitting at the top of the stairs listening. You're lying at, Dolan. You can't torture the youngster this way. So I don't know what I'm talking about, huh, Topsy? No. Topsy, please. But I'm sure I do know what I'm talking about, Topsy. But it wasn't a rope at all, just like Daddy says. He was telling you the truth. Then what was it? Tops for the love of Mike. There was a handkerchief. That's what it was. A man's handkerchief. Wasn't it, Daddy? Honey, are you please going back up to bed? You shouldn't be down here. So it was a man's handkerchief. And what happened to it? Daddy stuck in his pocket. That pocket right there. I'll remember this, Dolan. And your daddy put it in his pocket because he didn't want anybody to know it was his. Is that right? Oh, but it wasn't his, Mr. Dolan. It wasn't Daddy's at all. It was Mr. Shannon. Daddy said I mustn't tell, but you won't tell anybody will you? Hand it over, Carlson. I won't do it. You can't thank me. This isn't a game, Carlson. This is a murder I'm investigating, a cold-blooded murder. And I think I can make you. Now give it here. All right. Here. I'll twist it. I can see where there's been some hard knots tied in it. Initial letter S in the corner. You'll be sorry for this, Dolan. Did your daddy say why you mustn't tell anybody about the handkerchief, Topsy? Yes. He said something about my mother being killed by a man while he wasn't here. And something about people talking bad. He said maybe someday I might understand. Oh, I see. You're quite a guy, Carlson. I'd like to shake your hand. What for? You take a murder rap to protect your wife's name. But Shannon didn't kill her. Shannon wouldn't do a thing like that. Was Shannon here when you left the house this evening? I... No. No, he wasn't. Why, Daddy, that was a whopper. He was. You know he was. Thanks, Topsy. Now you can go up and go to sleep. And you won't talk bad to my daddy anymore? No. I won't talk bad to your daddy. I think I'll talk kind of respectful to it. Good night. Good night. Good night, dear. It was all right for me. Yes, honey. I guess it was all right. You probably won't believe this, Mr. Carlson, that I already knew Shannon was the murderer anyway. All I had to do was bust somebody enough to get the truth. So you picked on a child. Yes, I suppose you could say that. But I don't think I did wrong. Murder is something I've seen a lot of when it still gets under my skin. Every time is just as bad as the time before. You didn't know it was Shannon you couldn't know. You're bluffing. No, I'm not bluffing. Remember that telephone call I got from the station? The one you were so curious about? Yes. Your partner, Mr. Shannon, tried to commit suicide tonight just a little while ago. Turned on the gas and is a plot. He's dead? No, he didn't get off that easy. He'll pay the full price for this. He'll suffer a lot more than inhaling gas. You can have 10 minutes with him, Mr. Carlson. I'll tell you when your time's up. All right. I'm sorry, Bob. Greatly sorry. You ought to hate me, Thorne. Yet you're the only friend I have. The only one who tried to save me. Didn't do any good, but you tried, Thorne. You're not guilty, Bob. Even if the jury said you were, I know that. I'm afraid I am guilty, Thorne. I remember saying to Gretchen something about Topsy. I said I'm going to do her a favor. And then Gretchen laughed at me and I slapped her face. Everything went black and the next thing I remember I was in the hospital. They didn't believe me when I told them that, Thorne. I don't suppose I'd believe it if I were on the jury. I believe you, Bob. There's still a chance the governor... No, no. It's better this way. Our business is gone now. You know that. Everything I worked for all my life. Gretchen had her way, Thorne. I'd have lost it if she'd have lived. Her death took it away from me anyway. She was the most evil woman I ever knew. All right. I'd gladly trade places with you, Bob. No, no. I thought about that, Thorne. About trying to throw suspicion on you, but... That was no good. Why not? There's topsy. Yes, there's topsy. Higher. I don't regret a thing, Thorne. I've no relatives, nobody to humiliate. And I've done the kid just what I said I would. I've done her a favor. It's a waste no tears, Thorne. It's a good job all around. Just forget about the governor. No dramatics. No scenes. You're ten minutes is up, Mr. Carlson. Thank you, Dolan. And that's the story, Doctor. When I said I could laugh at death because I had lost my affliction, you see what I mean. But you have undergone a terrible shock, Mr. Carlson. It's no wonder. What, Doctor? Yes, I suppose I have. But there's something extremely amusing about the whole thing. Amusey. My dear Mr. Carlson. You see, Shannon was telling the truth, Doctor. What? He didn't know what happened after he struck Gretchen. I found him wandering about the streets incoherent. I took him to his apartment and turned on the gas. Then I went home and strangled Gretchen. I killed her. You? You murdered your wife? Certainly. I was willing to pay for my wife's murder, but that was topsy. She couldn't go through life with the world thinking her father a murderer. Shannon had nothing to live for with the business gone anyway, but I'd have taken his place in a second if it hadn't been for the youngster. Well, I hardly know what to say, Mr. Carlson. Oh, you don't need to say anything. I got justice for Gretchen without ever resorting to the law. With one month to live, it looks like somebody. And something got justice for me the same way. Also, if you want to hear more, drop an email to WeirdDarkness at RadioArchives.com and get an instant reply with links to download full-length pulp audiobooks, pulp e-books, and old-time radio shows absolutely free. That's WeirdDarkness at RadioArchives.com. Weird Darkness is a production and trademark of Marlar House Productions. Copyright, Weird Darkness 2023. I'm Darren Marlar, and I'll see you next week for Weird Darkness' Retro Radio Sunday. Non-stop Q&A sessions and autograph signings with numerous horror celebrities from your favorite movies and TV shows all three days, including Danny Lloyd, who played the young Danny Torrance, and The Shining, butch Patrick, who was Eddie Munster from The Munsters, Paul Wiley in the cast from The Terrifier Films, Alyssa Sutherland from The New Evil Dead Rise, Lynn Shea from Insidious and Nightmare on Elm Street, Heather Monorazo from Scream, and many, many more. They're even having me interview and conduct the Q&A for the Godzilla King and the Munsters panel. Plus, in her only U.S. appearance all year from Stranger Things, Millie Bobby Brown is there on Saturday. And immediately after Millie's time on stage, I'll be on that same stage talking about podcasting, how I create character voices, and I'll also be reading Edgar Allan Poe's Telltale Heart Live in front of the crowd, along with my own Q&A afterwards. It's spooky empire in Orlando, Florida May 19th, 20th, and 21st. Get the details on the Roadtrip page at WeirdDarkness.com. That's WeirdDarkness.com slash Roadtrip. Hey weirdos, be sure to click the like button and subscribe to this channel, and click the notification bell so you don't miss future videos. I post videos seven days a week. And while you're at it, spread the darkness by sharing this video with someone you know who loves all things strange and macabre. If you want to listen to the podcast, you can find it at WeirdDarkness.com slash listen.