Suspense was a radio series from 1942 to 1962, claiming to be "radio's outstanding theater of thrills." I have a fondness for "Old Time Radio" as we call it now, and Suspense is my favorite show. It sets up weird, dark, scary, or intriguing stories with a plot twist in the end, and all in half an hour. I love the old-fashion story-telling and I thought it would be fun to give a short review of an episode every Sunday.
"The Body Snatchers"
Air date: November 24, 1942
The episode starts off with a little historical information about how doctors needed to resort to underhanded methods to obtain dead bodies for study in the 19th century. And then the story starts - with a group of resurrectionists who, in failing to dig up a body from the churchyard, decides to kill a young girl and take her body to the doctor who ordered a body. Once the body is delivered though, the police catch up and arrest the body snatchers. And now the doctor is looking at an arrest.The background of the story is pretty dark, but the approach to it is lighter. The body snatchers are a bickering group and that takes the seriousness out of their macabre profession. And when they decide they have to get a dead body at any cost and look to the young girl who helps keep the house, there is one character who really doesn't want to participate. The doctor starts repenting his decision to buy a body as well, so that in the end when the police catch up to the criminals, you feel a little sorry for them. Of course there is also the twist in the end, which made the whole episode much more enjoyable.
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