Between 1988 and 1992 on Radio 4 Edward de Souza resurrected his persona, The Man in Black, to present Fear on Four: thirty minutes in length these beautifully crafted contemporary horror/thriller dramas played host to some brilliant writers and a supporting cast to match. Spine tingling stories by, among others, Roald Dahl, John Wyndham, Stanley Ellin and Ray Bradbury were played out by a veritable who's who of British acting talent including Timothy West, Thora Hird, Anna Massey, Bernard Cribbins and Imelda Staunton.
I used to make an appointment with fear every Sunday evening for half an hour of aural suspense. Here's one I still find genuinely unnerving; it was Number 12 in the series, as The Man in Black will explain...
If your heart can stand it, set aside half an hour, dim the lights and hit the Play button:
I haven't had chance to listen to this yet but I can promise you I will. Saving it for a dark, cold evening very soon... (I was always a big fan of adult Roald Dahl / Pan Book of Horror etc...so I'm sure I'm in for a dreadful treat - thank you!)
ReplyDeleteI promise you won't be disappointed. We listened to one in the car on Saturday night coming home from a party - I'm glad I wasn't on my own!
ReplyDeleteGreat story John, it reminds me of Hilary Briss in the league of Gentlemen. They're big fans of horror so I expect that story was an influence.
ReplyDeleteMark btw.
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DeleteShame their were a few people absent on Sunday. Pennies mince pies were especially good though!
DeleteHilary Briss indeed! If you look at the tags below you'll see The League of Gentleman - I thought this story (written by Stanley Ellin in 1948) was a big influence on Mark Gatiss.
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