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The HALL OF FANTASY episodes
are from the 1953 series on
the Mutual network. There were three other series that aired under
the HALL OF FANTASY banner. All four series were produced, written
and directed by Richard Thorne who also acted in may of the shows.
His is the voice of the narrator who opened the shows with "Come with
me, my friends...".
The first HALL OF FANTASY originated from radio station KALL in Salt
Lake City, Utah. Richard Thorne and Carl Greyson were announcers for
the station, possibly late in 1946 and into 1947. The series consisted
of 26 rather barebones shows. Broadcast dates for the shows are not
known. It is not clear what role Mr. Greyson played in the series
other than acting in various roles, but his name appears in other
discussions of the series.
Most of these first shows were classic murder mysteries with
traditional endings; good prevails over evil. The series
was sponsored by the Granite Furniture Company, although existing
shows are missing the commercials, apparently because they were
inserted live.
Only six shows from this series are know to exist at
this time.
The HALL OF FANTASY aired again in 1949 when Mr. Thorne and Mr.
Greyson were working at WGN in Chicago. This time, the series
featured stories involving struggles against the supernatural where
man was usually the loser. This series
consisted of 112 shows and aired locally on radio station WGN,
Chicago. It started on Saturdays at 2:30 PM but after 21 shows, moved
to Mondays at 9:00 PM. Later, it moved to 9:30 PM.
On August 22, 1952, THE HALL OF FANTASY went nationwide, over Mutual
stations. It started as a short series of six shows over WGN, Chicago
and other Mutual stations on the East Coast. The shows were heard on
Fridays, from 8:30 to 9:00 PM. The short series of 1952 led to a
regular series of 39 shows in 1953, airing on WGN from Jan. 5, 1953
to Sept. 28, 1953, Monday evenings at 7:30 PM.
Richard Thorne wrote original stories or adapted classic works of
horror for the shows.
The series claimed to be "the series of radio
dramas dedicated to the supernatural, the unusual and the unknown."
Mr. Thorn was also involved in production and played many of the lead
character roles. Eloise Kummer played many of the female leads.
Mr. Thorne and Leroy Olliger directed the series. Original music was
by Harold Turner.
Twenty six shows from the 1952 and 1953 series were selected for
syndication after the end of the 1953 series. The syndicated shows
were rebroadcast during the 1970's OTR revival era. It is believed
that "He Who Follows Me" was retitled "Steps That Follow Me" for the
revival. "The Hangman's Rope" was reproduced for the 70's series,
since the original did not survive.
In 1993, Mr. Thorne directed some classic horror tales for cassette
distribution, "Tales by Edgar Allen Poe" (4 dramas) and "Classic
Ghost Stories" (4 dramas).
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