The Hitch-Hiker (radio play)

The Hitch-Hiker
ISBN 978-0-8222-1059-7
Written by	Lucille Fletcher
Date premiered	November 17, 1941
Place premiered	CBS Radio
Original language	English
Series	The Orson Welles Show
Genre	Drama Ghost story

The Hitch-Hiker is a radio play written by Lucille Fletcher. It was first presented on the November 17, 1941, broadcast of The Orson Welles Show on CBS Radio, featuring a score written and conducted by Bernard Herrmann, Fletcher's first husband. Welles performed The Hitch-Hiker four times on radio, and the play was adapted for a notable 1960 episode of the television series The Twilight Zone.

In the story, a man on a cross country drive repeatedly notices the same hitch-hiker standing along the side of the road. Though the hitch-hiker's appearance is non-threatening, the driver becomes increasingly disturbed upon inexplicably seeing him again and again alongside multiple roads across several states. Eventually, the driver becomes too afraid to stop his car and even attempts to run the man down in hysterical paranoia. After making a phone call home, however, he's shocked to learn information that totally changes his understanding of his predicament.