32 Days of Halloween XV, Day 5: The Hitch Hiker & The Final Reckoning!

One of the pilgrimages that I have not yet made is to Monroeville Mall in Monroeville, Pennsylvania. Many of you already know why it’s important: it’s where Dawn of the Dead (the original 1978) was filmed. One of my favorite films and probably my favorite horror film of all time. Until then, capturing the location for posterity has been handled by multiple others, including Tampa Jay here, who appears to be rather thorough in his coverage.

Well, I didn’t plan on there being a twofer of old-time radio shows for this evening, but it just worked out that way. I knew I wanted some Orson Welles, and that let me to an episode of Suspense (or as it’s often pronounced: Suspense!) we haven’t featured before: “The Hitch Hiker” from 1942.

Then, well, I think I’ve found there are three resources that we will never run out of. First, music. From any era. I almost guarantee you if you pick a year, you haven’t heard everything. Because I discover new stuff all the time. Second? Edward Gorey illustrations and publications. Seriously. We get Gorey calendars all the time in this house and half of the months use art from things we’ve never heard of before. Maybe he faked his death.

Third and last: old-time radio shows. Just when you think you’ve found them all, you lift up a piece of cardboard or a sleeping capybara or the Florentine Diamond and there’s another one. Case in point: Creeps by Night. They must have been running out of show titles at that point. Anyway, we go with Boris Karloff to this 1944 broadcast of “Final Reckoning.” Enjoy.