I watched the 1961 movie, the Innocents the other night. I chose it because I had seen it so prominently listed among several peoples all time favorite horror movies lists. It was adapted from a novella by Henry James, The Turn of the Screw (1898). It is very good and holds up well still today. The acting is superb and it is well shot. It is black and white but that did not detract from my enjoyment of it. Although, truth be told, haunted house tales are my favorite kind of story, so I have a weakness there. The screen play was adapted by legendary scribe, Truman Capote.

I got an email from Dale the other day asking about a radio version of Edgar Allen Poe's The Masque Of The Red Death.  The only version I was able to find was done by CBS Radio Mystery Theater in the early 1970's.  This version is a variation on the original.  It takes place in the 1990's and is more based on the original, than being a literal version of it.  I'm not crazy about updated versions, but I'll let you decide on this one!

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You may remember me mentioning Holly Leaves Magazine in the last episode of Vintage Horror Radio.  That was the magazine that first published the Bram Stoker story The Judge's House, which I couldn't find much info on.

I received an email from Dale who found out a little more background information for us.  It seems that Holly Leaves was the seasonal publication of Farm And Country Magazine published in London, England from 1874 to 1964 (possibly later).  This of course following the tradition of Christmas time ghost stories Matt wrote about earlier!

Thanks for the info Dale! 

Vintage Horror Radio is back with another fine/fun example of classic horror!  This show features an episode from The Hall Of Fantasy titled The Judge's House, taken from a short story written by Bram Stoker.  Stoker's story was first published in Holly Leaves Magazine in December of 1891.  The radio version was first aired April 3, 1947

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In a previous post I wrote about the large contributions the magazine Weird Tales made to the field of horror fiction. I listed several of the writers that got their start there and went on to become icons of the genre. I have recently discovered another writer that was a regular contributor to Weird Tales. His name may not be as recognizable, but perhaps it should be. I was going to list several old horror stories by various authors that I enjoyed, without focusing on any one writer for this post. On that list of favorites I had the story, "The Horror at Chilton Castle" by Joseph Payne Brennan. I originally read it in the anthology Fine Frights, Stories That Scared Me Selected by Ramsey Campbell. I wrote it down and started scouring my other anthologies when I found another story of his which I had not yet read. I immediatey stopped and read "The Calamander Chest" and found it to be a deliciously creepy short story. This guy was a great writer!

The long awaited third episode is finally ready!

On this episode we'll hear the radio version of Ancient Sorceries.  This short story was originally written by Algernon Blackwood in 1908.  On February 15, 1948 the radio program Escape aired their version which shared the title with the original story.

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It's been far too long since the last episode of Vintage Horror Radio...Sorry!  First it was holidays, then I was a bit under the weather, and of course all the other podcasts needed to be done!  Excuses, excuses.

Anyway, just wanted to let everyone know I haven't forgotten about this site or the show.  The next podcast will feature a story by Algernon Blackwood called Ancient Sorceries.  Look for it over the next few days.