''The Weird Circle'' was a syndicated

radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

series produced in New York and originally broadcast between 1943 and 1945.

Production background

The series was a Ziv Production, produced at

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

studios and licensed by the

Mutual Broadcasting System The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Old-time radio, golden ...

, and later,

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

Red network Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

. It lasted two seasons, 39 shows each (78 total) consisting mostly of radio adaptations of classic horror stories from the pens of the world's best known and respected supernatural fiction authors such as

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wide ...

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...

and

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

. The production values were modest and it featured very little music.Weird Circle entry o
''Radio Horror Hosts'' website
Accessed July 4, 2013

Series opening/closing

Standard opening

(SFX: Running water, perhaps a sea surf. Bell tolls) Old Man: "In this cave by the restless sea, we are met to call from out of the past, stories strange and weird. Bell keeper, toll the bell, so that all may know that we are gathered again in ''The Weird Circle''."

Alternate opening

Announcer: "Out of the past, phantoms from a world gone by speak again the immortal tale (episode title)."

Standard closing

Host: "From the time worn pages of the past, we have recalled, (episode title). Bell Keeper, toll the bell! (SFX: Bell tolls)

References

External links

''Weird Circle'' Titles, Authors, First Broadcast Dates

Listen to episodes of ''The Weird Circle'' on mp3 at the Internet Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weird Circle American radio dramas Fantasy radio programs Horror fiction radio programmes Ziv Company radio programs 1940s American radio programs Syndicated radio programs Anthology radio series