Customer Reviews

Inner Sanctum Mysteries: Behind the Creaking Door

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Martin Grams has taken one of the best known but least researched old time radio series and come up with the definitive word on Inner Sanctum.

Covering both the radio and the television series, Martin includes bios of both Raymond Edward Johnson and Paul McGrath *the hosts* as well as Himan Brown, the programs creator. He discusses behind the scenes stories of the programs creation and run.

The meat of the book is the detailed episode listings for the series. Inner Sanctum is a series that has erroneous shows credited to it...shows with altered names, etc. Martin has tracked these down...winnowed the false from the actual. Very few of the actual shows broadcast still exist. This is a shame, for the plots of some lost shows make one hunger to hear the story. For a lover of the show, or a lover of old time radio...this is a godsend.

Martin has a very readable style and the book is a very valuable reference tool as well as an interesting read. It is definitely a good buy.

Hark! Someone wrote a book about my favorite radio horror. No disappointments. Biographies about Himan Brown, Paul McGrath, Lesley Woods, Raymond Edward Johnson and others. A look at the cultural history of radio horrors was fascinating. Short stories from 1940s radio/tv magazines adapted from radio episodes not known to exist in recorded form is a plus. The television series is covered in detail. A complete list of Simon & Schuster mystery novels. The episode guide is superior to the mistakes that are being reprinted numerous times all over web-sites. Makes me want to avoid the web-sites and stick with reference books like this.

Perhaps the most fascinating part of the book is the section about the Universal Studios movies. The reason you see a head in the globe and not a creaking door was because the studio optioned to buy the screen rights from Himan Brown, the creator/producer/director of the radio program and when he wouldn't sell it to them without a huge ransom, they discovered that he did not even own the name. Brown made an agreement with Simon & Schuster for the use of the Inner Sanctum name, on condition that at the end of each month, the latest paperback novel using the Inner Sanctum name would be mentioned. The publishing company profited through this arrangement. So the studio got permission from S&S to use the Inner Sanctum name and instructed very specific in the press books to theater owners not to make any mention of the radio program to avoid lawsuits. Brown owned the rights to the creaking door and nothing else. Hence the reason why no creaking door in the beginning of each movie, and the on-screen credit to S&S.

Inner Sanctum was one of the true classics of old time radio, and scholar Martin Grams has done a terrific job in unearthing a wealth of data on its production, history and legacy. For those who remember mystery/horror radio with a pleasurable shudder, Inner Sanctum Mysteries is for you!

Grams is ably assited by Greg Mank, author of many books on the classic horror films of Univeral. His insights into the world of Inner Sanctum are valuable and sound. A great effort all round, and a must for anyone who remembers that creaking door...!