The Witch's Tale: Stories of Gothic Horror from the Golden Age of Radio [Paperback]

Alonzo Deen Cole (Author), David. S. Siegel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1998

Stories of gothic horror from the Golden Age of Radio. Discover the thrills and goose bumps that frightened a generation of listeners during radio's Golden Age with 13 hair raising vintage radio scripts featuring stories about Vampires, Were wolves, Ghosts, Severed heads, Devil worship, Mad scientists and more .

By Alonzo Deen Cole, the great granddaddy of modern media horror and the creator of network radio's first drama series devoted entirely to the supernatural.

Editorial Reviews

Review

David S. Siegel and his Dunwich Press make it possible to see just how creepy this Cole guy was. Very nicely done in an affordable trade paperback (with, I should add, a beautiful cover by Alice Pfeiffer--a name I'm not familiar with but hope to see more of), THE WITCH'S TALE presents 13 of Cole's best stories. What sets the author's horror plays apart from others of the day is that when the menace is finally unmasked at the climax it's not the disgruntled university scientist or scheming wife, but, more often than not, really truly a sea monster, vampire, or (as in the opening story, "The Image") a demonic idol. Alonzo Deen Cole's THE WITCH'S TALE represents the closest we ever came to having a WEIRD TALES radio show. -- are Bones Magazine (12/98)

I have a copy of this and I want to say that it is worth every penny if you are at all a fan of the macabre. Not only is the introduction informative (you can learn a lot about this series), the scripts are a great read. The book is attractive and well bound for easy reading. -- Jim Widner

This is a rare opportunity to venture back in time and experience horror purely through your imagination. And this is the real stuff: vampires, ghosts, werewolves, severed heads, devil worship and more. A horror fan's delight. -- Hellnotes Newsletter, 10/98

It's not often that we get to look back at the creation of an entire art form. The Witch's Tale is certainly that-the true inception of the radio horror show in America. That recordings for these scripts are as yet unavailable only adds to their significance. -- John Dunning, noted radio historian and author of On The Air and Tune In Yesterday

From the Publisher

The Witch's Tale by Alonzo Deen Cole was network radio's first drama series devoted entirely to the supernatural and the model for later programs like Light Out, Suspense and Inner Sanctum.

Product Details

• Paperback: 253 pages
• Publisher: Dunwich Pr (October 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1891379011
• ISBN-13: 978-1891379017
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,537,238 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An essential document in chronicling radio drama history, July 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Witch's Tale: Stories of Gothic Horror from the Golden Age of Radio (Paperback)

As a radio drama historian myself, I must express how thoroughly pleased and delighted I am by this book. I would consider it an essential addition to the library of anyone who is interested in either radio or horror. Dave Siegel has done a great job of script selection and of providing background information on the show and on Alonzo Deen Cole (the creator-writer-director-star of THE WITCH'S TALE) and the other people who were the mainstays of the series. The program log in the back of the book is much needed and appreciated, and is especially helpful in identifying the literary sources of those scripts which Cole adapted from other works; this, in turn, underscores just how firmly rooted he was in the Gothic and Romantic traditions.

It must be admitted, though, that the greatest horror in this book is not in any of the scripts but in a sentence in Dave Siegel's introduction which reads (and I quote): "...in 1961...[Cole] destroyed his own recordings of the program, feeling they had lost any further commercial value." Aaaaaaaaargh!!!!!!! And this was a guy who was very proud of his work in radio and kept bound volumes of his WITCH'S TALE scripts. He was one of the first (possibly THE first) radio writers to actually copyright his scripts. This destruction of his recordings must have come at a personal low ebb in his life. But how sad, and what an irretrievable loss to future generations of old-time radio fans and scholars. Which is all the more reason why Dave Siegel's book is an important publication in its field of study.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Witch book to get? This one!, October 24, 2000

By 

Steve Oxford (Cherry Hill, New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Witch's Tale: Stories of Gothic Horror from the Golden Age of Radio (Paperback)

I only praise and review good books. The Witch's Tale is one of the earliest radio horrors and almost impossible to find any information about it, in encyclopedias or web pages. Why? It was so early in radio's heyday that I am impressed by the amount of work and in-depth research that went into the book. It includes a nice history of the series, followed by 13 (how appropriate) radio scripts to episodes that don't exist. I only have a handful in my collection and only that many exist. So i was very pleased to read (another theatre of the mind) 13 additional episodes not in existence. A broadcast log of each and every episode, including broadcast time, is in the back of the book, making this an essential reference guide. If only someone can do one on The Hermit's Cave, we'd be all set for early horrors. I bow to Dave Siegel and A. Cole, who compiled this book. If you love radio horror, this is a must. Thank you Mr. Siegel.

5.0 out of 5 stars Spooky Stories, November 12, 2008

By 

James A. Mclean "ArtGum" (Atlanta, GA,USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Witch's Tale: Stories of Gothic Horror from the Golden Age of Radio (Paperback)

This is a collection of delightful "horror" radio dramas. Our local drama group used one this Halloween, with great success!