Thursday, October 16, 2025

Flashback Radio: "The Shadow People"

For the month of October and the season of Halloween, I thought it would be fun to revisit some classic Old-Time Radio horrors. My friend and former podcast co-commentator, Jason, was up for it. We kicked it off two weeks ago with "The Thing on the Fourble Board."


For our fourth, frightful selection, I chose "The Shadow People," which aired on the program Hall of Fantasy on September 5, 1952. The episode was written and directed by Richard Thorne. Thorne borrows the character Dr. Hesselius (or at least his name) from the short stories of Sheridan le Fanu.

Thorne's version of Hesselius becomes involved when a family becomes the focus of malign forces that strike out of darkness. The story centers on a powerful, perhaps primal, idea, and one that made it into modern folklore either as a result of this story or parallel evolution.

Trey: So Jason, what did you think of "The Shadow People?"

Jason: The central conceit of this story is a powerful one, an ineffable horror intruding into the reality of the hapless characters, who turn out to be as powerless in its face as children afflicted by night terrors. It eludes rational explanation, despite the efforts of Dr. Hesselius. 

Unlike Dr. Van Helsing, or other similarly situated occult intervention specialist types in horror media, Hesselius is flummoxed at every turn and ultimately unable to provide the hoped-for assistance. 

I think this story suffers a bit from its brevity, in contrast to the pieces we've reviewed previously. We begin in media res and little time is given to establishment of character or setting. I've come to appreciate the economy of the short form radio drama, but in this case I think a bit more rooting in reality before its descent into the unexplainable would have served the storytelling. 

That said, the concept of the Shadow People alone is potent enough to deliver appropriately harrowing thrills and chills. 

Trey: I agree with all those points. It does feel a bit rushed. In a way, though that does add to the bleakness of the story. There is nothing the protagonists ever do that more than briefly delays the victory of the Shadow People. Not only is there no escape, but the protagonist are completely blameless in their doom. There are none of the even minor transgressions or bad choices that in these stories often bring about the characters' unfortunate fate.

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