Lights Out

Creative sound effects made the descriptions on this radio program seem real.

Carl Amari

Lights Out was the brainchild of Wyllis Cooper. Originating from the studios of WENR in Chicago in 1934, Cooper’s late-night horror program seethed with vampires, invisible monsters, evil dwarfs and survivors of an atomic apocalypse. Several fan clubs sprang up, and in 1935, NBC decided to broadcast the show nationwide. A year later, Cooper left the show and went to Hollywood to pursue a screenwriting career, leaving the program in the capable hands of playwright Arch Oboler. Under Oboler’s watch, grisly storylines included a flesh-devouring chicken heart that grew in size by the pulse, while another episode offered terrible events that unfolded on “The Day It Rained Blood.” Over the decades, Lights Out was justly celebrated for its creative use of sound effects. A soundman slurping on spaghetti mimicked cannibalism;…

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Good Old Days (Digital) - 1 Issue, October 2023

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