Suspense Sundays (123) The Crisis of Dirk Diamond

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 Crisis of Dirk Diamond"

Air date: October 18, 1959
Starring Bernie Grant

>>Episodes here<<

Mike Snyder writes the comic strip of the adventures of Dirk Diamond.  Sales for the Dick Diamond comic is going down and his editor demands that Mike create a better villain.  The editor asks him what truly scares him and Mike tells him how when he was a child he imagined a frightening man named Freddie.  The editor loves it and orders him to write him into the comic, but Mike is still a little frightened of Freddie.

A little frightened turns into A LOT frightened when Freddie starts turning up.  I really loved the premise of this episode - I thought it was genuinely creepy in the beginning and Freddie's voice is a little unnerving, but I think the ending was a bit abrupt and left me less than satisfied.  I think for such a great set-up it might have been hard to pull of an even better resolution though.  So for the ideas and the atmosphere this is a pretty good listen.