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Lights Out

In the fall of 1933, NBC writer Wyllis Cooper conceived the idea of a midnight mystery serial to catch the attention of the listeners at the witching hour. The idea was to offer listeners a dramatic program late at night, at a time when the competition was mostly airing music. At some point, the serial concept was dropped in favor of an anthology format emphasizing crime thrillers and the supernatural. The first series of shows (each 15 minutes long) ran on a local NBC station, WENR, at midnight Wednesdays, starting in January 1934. By April, the series proved successful enough to expand to a half hour. In January 1935, the show was discontinued in order to ease Cooper's workload (he was then writing scripts for the network's prestigious Immortal Dramas program), but was brought back by huge popular demand a few weeks later. After a successful tryout in New York City, the series was picked up by NBC in April 1935 and broadcast nationally, usually late at night and always on Wednesdays. Cooper stayed on the program until June 1936, when another Chicago writer, Arch Oboler, took over. By the time Cooper left, the series had inspired about 600 fan clubs.

Cat Wife

Money Money Money

Author and the Thing

The Sea

The Fast One

Nobody Died

Poltergeist

Sakhalin

Chicken Heart

State Executioner

The Little People

Organ

Until Dead

The Meteor Man

Happy Ending

Lord Marley's Ghost

Little Old Lady

Christmas Story

The Dark

Oxychloride X

Murder Castle

Chicken Heart

Super Feature

The Dream

Valse Triste

Cat Wife (Boris Karloff)

It Happened

Spider

Devil's Due

Revolt of the Worms

Poltergeist

Mungahra

Across The Gap

Bon Voyage

Come to the Bank

Story of Mr. Maggs

Scoop

Knock at the Door

The Meteor Man

Valse Triste

Fast One

Devil Mr. Alleycat

Protective Mr. Drogen

Until Dead

We Dug It Up

Oxychloride X

They Met at Dorset

Ball Paris Macabre

The Dream

Flame

Money Money Money

Super Feature

Archer

Kill

Execution

Heavenly Jeep

Murder In The Script Department

Spider

Little Old Lady

Ugliest Man In the World

The Organ

Prelude To Murder

Nature Study

Bathysphere

Visitor From Hades

Profits Unlimited

The Little People

Murder Castle

Sakhalin

Subbasement

Immortal Gentleman

Lord Marley's Ghost

The Word

Mirage

Author and the Thing

Reunion After Death

Rocket Ship

Man in the Middle

The Day The Sun Exploded

The Coffin In Studio B

Haunted Cell

Battle of the Magicians

The Revenge of India

Ghost on the Newsreel Negative

The Signal Man

Death Robbery

Image