The Witch's Tale


(4.5 stars; 5 reviews)

The Witch's Tale was a horror-fantasy radio series which aired from May 21, 1931, to June 13, 1938, on WOR, the Mutual Radio, and in syndication. The program was created, written, and directed by Alonzo Deen Cole (February 22, 1897, St. Paul, Minnesota - April 7, 1971). Cole's spooky show was hosted by Old Nancy, the Witch of Salem, who introduced a different terror tale each week. The role of Old Nancy was created by stage actress Adelaide Fitz-Allen, who died in 1935 at the age of 79. Cole replaced her with 13-year-old Miriam Wolfe, and Martha Wentworth was also heard as Old Nancy on occasion. Cole himself provided the sounds of Old Nancy's cat, Satan. Cole's wife, Marie O'Flynn, portrayed the lead female characters on the program, and the supporting cast included Mark Smith and Alan Devitte. For syndication, the shows were recorded live during broadcast and distributed to other stations. These recordings were destroyed by Cole in 1961, so few episodes survive. Cole was also the writer, producer, and director of the radio mystery-crime drama, Casey, Crime Photographer . In November 1936, Alonzo Deen Cole edited The Witch's Tales magazine with the lead story by Cole. It ran for only two issues.

This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.

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Chapters

1931-06-11 - 002) The Were-Wolf 29:33
1931-07-02 - 005) The Bronze Venus 29:04
1931-08-03 - 010) Frankenstein 27:45
1931-08-10 - 011) The Troth of Death 22:30
1931-08-17 - 012) The Spirits Of The Lake 30:08
1931-08-31 - 014) The Firing Squad 26:14
1931-10-05 - 019) The Boa Goddess 25:07
1931-11-16 - 023) Honeymoon House 15:20
1931-12-07 - 027) The Confession 31:41
1932-01-11 - 32) To Share and Share Alike 26:55
1932-02-01 - 035) The Flying Dutchman 29:19
1932-03-07 - 040) Frankenstein (Repeat of 1931-08-03) 27:45
1932-03-14 - 041) The Wonderful Bottle 29:34
1932-05-16 - 050) Rat In A Trap 23:20
1932-07-11 - 056) The Entomologist 30:45
1932-07-18 - 057) The Bronze Venus (Repeat of 1931-07-02) 29:05
1932-07-25 - 058) Rockabye Baby 28:17
1932-09-26 - 067) The Hairy Monster 29:52
1932-10-17 - 070) The Haunted Crossroads 23:55
1932-10-24 - 071) Share And Share Alike (Repeat of 1931-01-11) 26:55
1932-10-31 - 072) In The Devil's Name, Part 1 28:35
1932-11-14 - 074) The Gypsy's Hand 28:25
1932-11-28 - 076) Honeymoon House (Repeat of 1931-11-16) 15:20
1933-02-20 - 87) A Happy Ending 14:02
1933-03-27 - 92) The Confession (Repeat of 1931-12-07) 31:42
1933-05-22 - 100) The Statue of Thor 23:06
1933-05-29 - 101) The Troth of Death (Repeat of 1931-08-10) 23:23
1933-08-21 - 113) The Firing Squad (Repeat of 1931-08-31) 26:10
1933-09-11 - 116) The Mannequinne 25:19
1933-10-16 - 120) The Bulldog 23:34
1933-10-30 - 122) All Hallows Eve 26:23
1933-11-08 - 123) The Altar of Hate 25:48
1933-12-18 - 129) The Haunted Crossroads (Repeat of 1932-10-17) 23:55
1934-01-08 - 130) The Devil Doctor 24:30
The Witch's Tale 1934-02-22 - 136) The Power Of Lucifer 26:39
1934-09-07 - 163) The Puzzle 25:01
1934-09-28 - 166) A Happy Ending (Repeat of 1933-02-20) 14:08
1934-11-08 - 169) The Physician of the Dead 29:09
1933-01-07 - 178) The Entomologist (Repeat of 1932-07-11) 30:45
1935-01-28 - 181) Rat in a Trap (Repeat of 1932-05-16) 23:20
1935-02-18 - 184) The Wonderful Bottle (Repeat of 32-03-21) 30:53
1935-06-13 - 198) The Devil Mask 21:54
Honeymoon Cottage 15:20
1935-08-14 - 207) The King Shark God 25:07
1935-08-27 - 209) The Knife of Sacrifice 24:32
1935-10-15 - 216) The Were-Wolf (Repeat of 1931-06-11) 29:33
1935-12-12 - 224) The Devil’s Number 25:41
1936-01-07 - 228) The Spirits of the Lake (Second Repeat of 1931-08-17) 14:56
1936-02-17 234) The Confession (Second Repeat of 1931-12-07) 31:42
1936-05-08 - 244) The Priest of Sekhet (Repeat of 1933-02-27) 25:36
1936-08-25 - 258) The Mannequinne (Repeat of 1933-09-11) 25:19
1937-01-08 - 265) In The Devil’s Name, Part 1 (Repeat of 1932-10-31) 28:35
1937-01-22 - 267) The Suicide 23:19
1937-02-12 - 269) The Bulldog (Repeat of 1933-10-16) 23:34
1937-02-19 - 270) The Devil Doctor (Repeat of 1934-01-08) 24:30
1937-03-11 - 273) The Troth of Death (Repeat Of 1933-05-29) 23:23
1937-03-18 - 274) The Boa Goddess (Second Repeat of 1931-10-05) 25:07
1937-04-22 - 278) The Statue of Thor (Repeat of 1933-05-22) 23:06
1937-10-12 - 301) The Haunted Crossroads (Second Repeat of 1932-10-17) 22:53
1937-10-19 - 302) Four Fingers and a Thumb 27:08
1937-10-26 - 303) All Hallows Eve (Repeat of 1933-10-30) 26:23
1937-11-02 - 304) The House of the Bridegroom (Repeat of 1933-06-26) 27:32
1937-12-07 - 307) The Power of Lucifer (Repeat of 1934-02-22) 26:39
1938-01-13 - 310) The Altar of Hate (Repeat of 1933-11-08) 25:42
1938-01-20 - 311) The Firing Squad (Second Repeat of 1931-08-31) 26:14
1938-03-03 - 317) Tourists Accomodated 24:00
1938-03-29 - 321) The Wedding Gift 23:43
1938-05-02 - 326) The Devil's Number (Repeat Of 1935-12-12) 25:41
1938-05-23 - 329) The Gypsy’s Hand (Second Repeat of 1932-11-14) 28:25

Reviews

Re: John Mayer


(4 stars)

First off, thanks to Robert Farrell for posting this show! To John Mayer: Perhaps you mean Nelson Olmsted's "Sleep No More" https://archive.org/details/Sleep_No_More or Paul Frees' "Studio X" aka "The Player" https://archive.org/details/Studio_X

Ancient Fears Still Have Power to Cause Disquiet


(5 stars)

Thanks, Mr. Farrell, for providing these. They were broadcast before my time, but my father used to speak of a show like this he used to listen to in his childhood. I thought it might have been _The Witch's Tale_ or _The Hermit's Cave_, but he told me all the characters were played by a single person, and that, plainly, is not the case with this show. Nonetheless, it's a treat to find a show that frightened listeners some 20 years ago, an echo of fears felt long ago, yet still lingering in the air.