Suspense Sundays (120) The Beetle and Mr. Bottle

Suspense was a radio series from 1942 to 1962.  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.  For Suspense Sundays I'll give a short review of an episode.

"The Beetle and Mr. Bottle"

Air date: September 20, 1959
Starring John Gibson

>>Episodes here<<

Kind, sincere Mr. Bottle lives alone in a nice house with a garden he absolutely dotes on.  His daughter hints that maybe he might want to find a nice lady and re-marry before he retires, since he can't take care of his flowers all the time.  When Mr. Bottle goes to London for work, he bumps into a nice lady named Ethel, who is more than eager to get to know him.  Mr. Bottle doesn't know quite how it happened, but soon he marries her and brings Ethel to his little home to live.  Ethel however is not as nice as she seemed and is not happy with the house or the garden.  Or Mr. Bottle.

This is one of the top Suspense episodes I think - such an enjoyable and delightful story as Mr. Bottle is so sweet, and unfortunately marrying Ethel is a HUGE mistake.  It's fun to hear Mr. Bottle plot murder, and the resolution is absolutely perfect - a satisfying twist, given how nasty Ethel is to nice Mr. Bottle.  I highly recommend listening to this episode of Suspense, it's so good!