The run
- Network
- NBC Blue
- Years active
- 1945–1952
- Surviving broadcasts
- 281
- Genre
- horror
The anthology series featured stories of mystery, terror and suspense, and its tongue-in-cheek introductions were in sharp contrast to shows like Suspense and The Whistler . The early 1940s programs opened with Raymond Edward Johnson introducing himself as, "Your host, Raymond," in a mocking sardonic voice.
Restoration quality — measured from the surviving files
Source collection
Old Time Radio Researchers Group
Rights
Public domain — no renewed US copyright
Cataloguing
Air dates and notes from the Archive item record
The shape of the run
What survives, year by year
12 dated broadcasts across 12 years on the air, with 5 years where nothing is known to survive. Brightness is transfer quality; empty cells are months lost to time.
Episodes
Start here
Listen to the run in order
Restored broadcasts from 1941, in original transmission order.
- 1. IS Amazing Death Of Mrs Putnam · 7 Jan 1941
- 2. 450925 · 25 Sep 1945
- 3. 460206 · 6 Feb 1946
- 01
IS Amazing Death Of Mrs Putnam
7 Jan 1941 · 24 min
Broadcast on NBC Blue. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
- 02
450925
25 Sep 1945 · 29 min
Broadcast on NBC Blue. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
- 03
460206
6 Feb 1946 · 29 min
Broadcast on NBC Blue. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
- 04
Inner Sanctum You Could Die Laughing
7 May 1946 · 28 min
Broadcast 7 May 1946. Public-domain transfer from the Old Time Radio Researchers certified set at the Internet Archive.
- 05
The Ghost in the Garden
10 Feb 1947 · 25 min
Originally broadcast on NBC Blue, 10 February 1947. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
- 06
AFRS
26 Jul 1948 · 24 min
Broadcast on NBC Blue. Transferred from the Internet Archive's Old Time Radio Researchers collection (public domain).
- 07
Deathwatch in Boston
15 Nov 1948 · 26 min
Originally broadcast on NBC Blue, 15 November 1948. Restored from the Old Time Radio archives.
- 08
Inner Sanctum Birdsong for a Murderer
14 Feb 1949 · 25 min
Broadcast 14 February 1949. Public-domain transfer from the Old Time Radio Researchers certified set at the Internet Archive.
Also on NBC Blue
NBC Blue in 1945–1952
Other series the network carried while Inner Sanctum Mysteries was on the air.
Same seasons
horror on the air then
Series in the same genre whose runs overlapped this one.
What it became
The anthology of dread
A voice, a creaking door, and a self-contained story designed to frighten you in half an hour. Suspense and Lights Out built the grammar every horror anthology still uses.
Lineage is written by our editors, not inferred from listening data.
Descendants
Working in the tradition of Inner Sanctum Mysteries
Modern series carrying this form forward.
If you liked this
More to explore
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