It was 85 year ago today. on January 7, 2026, that the radio show
Inner Sanctum Mystery, also known as
Inner Sanctum Mysteries and
Inner Sanctum, debuted on the NBC Blue Network.
Inner Sanctum Mystery was an anthology series that featured tales of mystery, suspense, and horror.
Inner Sanctum Mystery proved to be popular. While it would change networks over time (it moved to CBS in 1943, then to ABC in 1950, and then back to CBS for its final season in 1952),
Inner Sanctum Mystery ran for eleven years. Indeed, not only was
Inner Sanctum popular, but it also proved to be influential.
The origins of
Inner Sanctum Mystery go back an imprint of books called "Inner Sanctum" first published by Simon & Schuster in 1930. Although the "Inner Sanctum" imprint was most closely associated with the mystery genre (published with green covers), it also featured books in the drama (published with blue covers) and romance (published with red covers) genres. Some well-known authors wrote for the "Inner Sanctum"imprint including Anthony Boucher, John Cowper Powys, J.P. McEvoy, Patrick Quentin, Craig Rice, and even burlesque star Gypsy Rose Lee.
The "Inner Sanctum" imprint proved popular enough that NBC bought the radio show rights to the imprint. The format of
Inner Sanctum Mystery was developed by Himan Brown, who was also responsible for such radio shows as
The Adventures of the Thin Man, Dick Tracy, and later C
BS Radio Mystery Theatre. The show would open with a creaking door, the idea for which Himan Brown got from a creaking door in his basement. Strangely enough, the sound of the door was not actually provided by a door. They tried to create the creaking sound with a door, to no avail. It was Himan Brown who learned they could get the creaking sound they wanted by a rusty desk chair in which he sat and turned.
The creaking door would be immediately followed by the host's introduction. In the early days the host was Raymond Edward Johnson, who would introduce himself simply as "Your host, Raymond" in a mocking voice. It was Raymond Edward Johnson's idea to simply be called, 'Your host, Raymond." Raymond was a sharp contrast to earlier hosts on radio shows. His introductions were tongue-in-cheek an often filled with macabre puns and jokes that were punctuated by the organ that provided the show's score. Raymond would close the show with, "Pleasant dreeeeaams, hmmmmm," after which listeners would once more hear the creaking door.
Although Raymond remains the best known host of
Inner Sanctum, he left the show in May 1945 to serve in the U.S. Army. He was replaced by Paul McGrath, who was the host of the show for the remainder of the run. Despite the fact that the named "Raymond" was so closely tied to the show, Paul McGrath did not use the name for his introductions and referred to himself simply as "Your host."
Inner Sanctum Mystery was a mixture of mystery, thriller, and horror, and the episodes often boasted a sense of humour. Many of the most memorable episode fell in the horror and thriller genres. The first season saw an adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe's "The Tell-Tale Star" starring Boris Karloff and Everett Sloane. The 1945 episode "Terror By Night" featured a killer on the loose. The 1942 episode "Dead Reckoning" featured the loan survivor of an abandoned and possibly haunted ship. The 1945 episode "Corridor of Doom" centered on ill man trapped in a seemingly endless hallway of a hospital.
Inner Sanctum also featured a number of notable guest stars, including Boris Karloff, Paul Lukas, Everett Sloane, Claude Rains, Peter Lorre, Martha Scott, Agnes Moorehead, Mercedes McCambridge, Wendy Barrie, and yet others.
The success of
Inner Sanctum Mystery lead Universal Pictures to buy the film rights to the "Inner Sanctum" imprint from Simon & Schuster in June 1943 to produce a movie series called "The Inner Sanctum Mysteries." The series was mostly produced by Ben Pivar, who had produced various Universal programmers and the "Mummy" movies (
The Mummy's Hand,
The Mummy's Tomb,
The Mummy's Ghost, and
The Mummy's Curse), although
Weird Woman (1944) was co-produced with Oliver Drake,
Dead Man's Eyes (1944) co-produced with Will Cowan, and
The Frozen Ghost (1945) by Will Cowan alone.
Lon Chaney Jr. starred in each of the "Inner Sanctum Mysteries" movies, although playing a different role each time. Gale Sondergaard was set to star as well, but dropped out before the first movie in the series,
Calling Dr. Death (1943), went into production. Although it was the success of the radio show that led to the films and they used the name of the "Inner Sanctum" book imprint, "The Inner Sanctum Mysteries" adapted neither the radio plays from the radio show nor the novels published by the 'Inner Sanctum" book imprint. Despite being produced by Universal and starring Lon Chaney Jr., nearly all of "The Inner Sanctum Mysteries" movies were closer to mystery than horror, the exception being
Weird Woman (1944), which was based on the classic horror novel
Conjure Wife (1944) by Fritz Lieber. While the radio show was critically acclaimed, Universal's film series "The Inner Sanctum Mysteries" has largely been dismissed, again with the possible exception of
Weird Woman (1944).
Inner Sanctum Mystery would make the transition to television as a series simply titled
Inner Sanctum. The TV version was developed by Himan Brown and produced by Himan Brown and his brother Mende Brown. Paul McGrath from the radio show hosted the TV version early in its run, followed by House Johnson as its host. While the TV series featured its share of horror stories, it also featured more straightforward crime stories. The TV series
Inner Sanctum debuted on January 9, 1954, in syndication and ran for only one season.
Inner Sanctum Mystery would prove to be influential. The show's original host, Raymond, would have an immediate impact on the hosts of other radio shows, such as Maurice Taupin on
The Mysterious Traveler, who included macabre humour in their introductions. The influence of Raymond as the host of
Inner Sanctum would go beyond radio shows. EC Comics' use of hosts in its horror titles
Tales from the Crypt,
The Vault of Horror, and
The Haunt of Fear, was largely inspired by Raymond on
Inner Sanctum. It seems likely that television's original horror host, Vampira, could have also drawn inspiration from Raymond on
Inner Sanctum. Even the Master of Suspense himself, Alfred Hitchcock, may have been influenced by the
Inner Sanctum with is humorous introductions to
Alfred Hitchcock Presents/
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.
Himan Brown would draw upon
Inner Sanctum for inspiration in creating
CBS Radio Mystery Theatre.
CBS Radio Mystery Theatre used the creaking door opening much as
Inner Sanctum did. The introduction of the show's host for most of its run, E. G. Marshall, utilised humour similar to that of
the introductons on
Inner Sanctum. Even E.G. Marshall's closing, "Until next time, pleasant… dreams?" drew inspiration form Raymond's "Pleasant dreeeeaams, hmmmmm?"
Only around 200 out of the 511 episodes of
Inner Sanctum Mystery survives, but it remains one of the most popular radios shows from the era of Old Time Radio. It certainly had a lasting impact that is still being felt to this day. Its influence may well still be felt 85 years from now.
