Suspense (radio drama)

Suspense

Lurene Tuttle (left) and Rosalind Russell in "The Sisters" on Suspense (1948)
Genre	Drama and suspense
Running time	30 minutes or one hour
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
Home station	CBS Radio Network
Written by	John Dickson Carr, Lucille Fletcher, Sigmund Miller, E. Jack Neuman, Walter Newman, Louis Pelletier, Hugh Pentecost, James Poe, Robert L. Richards, Larry Roman, John Shaw, Robert Tallman, George Wells, J. Donald Wilson, Mel Dinelli
Directed by	Ted Bliss, John Dietz, Fred Hendrickson, Anton Leader, Elliott Lewis, Norman Macdonnell, William N. Robson, Robert Lewis Shayon, Charles Vanda, Bruno Zirato Jr.
Produced by	Norman Macdonnell, William Spier, William N. Robson, Bruno Zirato Jr.
Original release	June 17, 1942 (1942-06-17) – September 30, 1962 (1962-09-30)
No. of episodes	946

Suspense is a radio drama series broadcast on CBS Radio from 1940 through 1962.^[1]

One of the premier drama programs of the Golden Age of Radio, was subtitled "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" and focused on suspense thriller-type scripts, usually featuring leading Hollywood actors of the era. Approximately 945 episodes were broadcast during its long run, and more than 900 still exist.

Suspense went through several major phases, characterized by different hosts, sponsors, and director/producers. Formula plot devices were followed for all but a handful of episodes: the protagonist was usually a normal person suddenly dropped into a threatening or bizarre situation; solutions were "withheld until the last possible second"; and evildoers were usually punished in the end.

In its early years, the program made only occasional forays into science fiction and fantasy. Notable exceptions include adaptations of Curt Siodmak's Donovan's Brain and H. P. Lovecraft's "The Dunwich Horror", but by the late 1950s, such material was regularly featured.