The Weird Circle is a syndicated radio drama series produced in New York and originally broadcast between 1943 and 1945.
Production background The series was a Ziv Production, produced at RCA's New York studios and licensed by the Mutual Broadcasting System, and later, NBC's Red Network. It lasted two seasons, 39 shows each (78 total)Weird Circle Radio Log. Accessed July 4, 2013 consisting mostly of radio adaptations of classic horror or supernatural stories written by authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Louis Stevenson and Charles Dickens. A few scripts were written specifically for the series. The production values were modest and The Weird Circle featured very little music.Weird Circle entry on Radio Horror Hosts website. Accessed July 4, 2013
Series opening/closing
Standard opening (SFX: Running water, perhaps a sea surf. Bell tolls)
Old Man: "In this cave by the restless sea, we are met to call from out of the past, stories strange and weird. Bell keeper, toll the bell, so that all may know that we are gathered again in The Weird Circle."
Alternate opening
Announcer: "Out of the past, phantoms from a world gone by speak again the immortal tale (episode title)."
Standard closing Host: "From the time worn pages of the past, we have recalled, (episode title). Bell Keeper, toll the bell!"
(SFX: Bell tolls)
List of episodes Stories dramatized in The Weird Circle came largely from public-domain 19th-century (or earlier) sources. Longer works were heavily abridged, keeping only the bare outline of the weird elements of the story. Short works were expanded and rewritten, often with additional characters and a romantic element added. In some cases, the rewriting was so extensive that the original story is almost unrecognizable save for some character names.
# Title First broadcast Original author (source work) The Fall of the House of Usher Edgar Allan Poe The House and the Mind Edward George Bulwer-Lytton ("The Haunted and the Haunters; Or, The House and the Brain") The Vendetta Honoré de Balzac (La Vendetta) The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym Edgar Allan Poe Declared Insane Honoré de Balzac ("L'Interdiction") A Terribly Strange Bed Wilkie Collins What Was It? A Mystery Fitz James O'Brien The Knightsbridge Mystery Charles Reade The Horla Guy de Maupassant ("Le Horla") William Wilson Edgar Allan Poe Passion in the Desert Honoré de Balzac ("Une passion dans le désert") Mateo Falcone Prosper Mérimée The Man Without a Country Edward Everett Hale Doctor Manette’s Manuscript Charles Dickens (from A Tale of Two Cities) The Great Plague Thomas Hood ("A Tale of the Great Plague") The Expectations of an Heir Samuel Johnson The Hand Guy de Maupassant () Jane Eyre Charlotte Brontë The Murders in the Rue Morgue Edgar Allan Poe The Lifted Veil George Eliot The 4:15 Express Amelia Edwards ("The Four Fifteen Express") A Terrible Night Fitz James O'Brien The Tell-Tale Heart Edgar Allan Poe The Niche of Doom Honoré de Balzac ("La Grande Bretèche") The Heart of Ethan Brand Nathaniel Hawthorne ("Ethan Brand") Frankenstein Mary Shelley The Feast of Redgauntlet Sir Walter Scott ("Wandering Willie's Tale" from Redgauntlet) Murder of the Little Pig Émile Gaboriau The Specter of Tappington Richard Barham (from The Ingoldsby Legends) Strange Judgment Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë The Curse of the Mantle Nathaniel Hawthorne ("Lady Eleanore's Mantle") The Cask of Amontillado Edgar Allan Poe The Rope of Hair Guy de Maupassant ("Apparition") Falkland Edward George Bulwer-Lytton The Trial for Murder Charles Dickens & Charles Allston Collins Werewolf Frederick Marryat ("The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains" from The Phantom Ship) The Old Nurse’s Story Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell The Middle Toe of the Right Foot Ambrose Bierce The Dream Woman Wilkie Collins The Phantom Picture Washington Irving ("The Adventure of the Young Italian" from Tales of a Traveller, Part I: Strange Stories by a Nervous Gentleman) The Ghost's Touch Wilkie Collins The Bell Tower Herman Melville (from The Piazza Tales) The Evil Eye Théophile Gautier (Jettatura translated as The Evil Eye) The Mark of the Plague Daniel Defoe (from A Journal of the Plague Year) The Queer Client Charles Dickens (The Pickwick Papers, Chapter XXI) The Burial of Roger Malvin Nathaniel Hawthorne ("Roger Malvin's Burial") The Fatal Love Potion Edward George Bulwer-Lytton (The Last Days of Pompeii) Mad Monkton Wilkie Collins The Return Edgar Allan Poe ("Ligeia") The Executioner Honoré de Balzac ("El Verdugo") Rappaccini's Daughter Nathaniel Hawthorne The Wooden Ghost Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu ("Strange Event in the Life of Schalken the Painter" from The Purcell Papers) The Last Day of a Condemned Man Victor Hugo ("Le Dernier jour d'un condamné") The Warning R. P. Gilles The Doll Fitz James O'Brien ("The Wondersmith") The Diamond Lens Fitz James O'Brien The History of Dr. John Faust Christopher Marlowe (The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus) The Duel Without Honor Alexandre Dumas ("Zodomirsky’s Duel") The Specter Bride William Harrison Ainsworth The Tapestry Horse Edgar Allan Poe ("Metzengerstein") The River Man The Ancient Mariner Samuel Taylor Coleridge ("The Rime of the Ancient Mariner") The Oblong Box Edgar Allan Poe The Mysterious Bride James Hogg The Thing in the Tunnel Charles Dickens ("The Signal-Man") The Moonstone Wilkie Collins The Pistol Shot Prosper Mérimée The Possessive Dead Théophile Gautier ("Le Pied de momie" translated as "The Mummy's Foot") The Goblet Ludwig Tieck ("Der Pokal" translated as "The Goblet" or "The Mysterious Cup") The Case of Monsieur Valdemar Edgar Allan Poe ("The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar") The Shadow Hans Christian Andersen The Bride of Death Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Robert Louis Stevenson ("Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde") The Red Hand The Haunted Hotel Wilkie Collins Markheim Robert Louis Stevenson The Black Parchment
Notes
References
External links Weird Circle Titles, Authors, First Broadcast Dates Listen to episodes of The Weird Circle on mp3 at the Internet Archive