Episode Title: Lord Marley's Guest
Original Air Date: 9/7/43
Available On: The Horror! Podcast (from relic radio) September 26, 2009
Sound Quality: Good
I have fond memories of Lights Out's classic intro with the spooky voice claiming "It...is...later...than...you...think..." with the sound of an ominous bell tolling in the backgroun. It's been years since I've heard a Lights Out so I was excited to see one come up on this week's The Horror! After the introduction, writer/producer Arch Oboler appears before the microphone to introduce this evening's episode. Oboler has to be one of the most pleasant OTR hosts. His language and delivery is soft but he always comes across as genuine and passionate towards the material.
Thus particular story has the unfortunate setting of England which causes for some very strange British accents. We open with two fishermen whose accents are so completely not resembling British that it's hard to get your head around. They sound more like a bad Southern drawl than they do Brits. This pair of fishermen have come to warn Lord Marley of some oncoming danger though Marley explodes into various accusations of poaching and the like before chasing them out before they can issue their warning.
As the fishermen run off Lady Jane is informed by Lord Charles Marley that an American actress is coming to stay for business. As it turns out Madeline Kaye, the actress is there for business alright, the business of landing a millionaire for a husband! Though this is a surprise to his wife, Marley's affections have already transferred from his wife to his mistress.
The actress and the Lord go for a swim in the ocean when the sky turns black and there comes the sudden sense that there's something in the water with them... From there we move into straight horror territory.
The story is creepy and the pacing and dialog is quite good. The overall production is of high quality but that little issue with those accent drops the story by one point. I'm going with 3/5 Golden Masks.
A picture of Arch Oboler in studio with an actress
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