Darkness and Nighttime in Old Time Radio

The human-animal is designed to work in the light of day. As primitive hunter/gatherers, our superior eyesight and color perception allowed our ancestors to take aim with basic missile weapons, spot prey at a distance, and determine which plants and berries were safe to eat. Those advantages disappeared when the sun went down.

As the darkness settled over the land, an ancient man gathered around the safety of the fire, a force that he had tamed not only to cook his food but as a means to drive back the dangers of the night. In time, candles, oil lamps, and gas lights were invented to help penetrate the darkness. The electric light seems to have finally conquered the darkness, but even this marvelous invention has its limits.

The American Special Forces take undeniable pride in being able to operate in the nighttime environment thanks to the latest electronic night-vision technology. We can only imagine the fears of an insurgent enemy who realizes that out there in the darkness is a Navy SEAL of a Green Beret who he cannot see but the Operator can see him.

Nighttime is not the only darkness that man has to face. For generations, miners have ventured underground where daylight never penetrates. The earliest underground explorers must have carried fire with them, but, what happens when…

The…

Fire…

Goes…

OUT!?!?

This collection includes episodes:

• Columbia Workshop, February 26, 1938, "Night Patrol". Using sound alone, the Workshop attempts to create a picture of a policeman walking his beat in the tenement district of New York's Eastside. The cop's mind is distracted from his patrol tonight because his son is home, sick, but a lot is going on in the neighborhood.
• Arch Oboler's Plays, June 7, 1945, "Night". The ninth in a series of 26 Oboler broadcasts, tonight we hear an audio montage of scenes joined by the common theme of night. Some are creepy and some are comforting, but all have the taste of the reality of wartime America.
• Suspense, March 27, 1948, "Night Must Fall". Robert Montgomery stars in this shocking mystery. The isolated pot in the English countryside seems like a perfect spot… for murder! The young Danny from the village claims that he wants to marry Dora, the maid, but the lady of the manor does not trust him, nor does her niece, but he does have a way of making people trust him. A dangerous feat, with a murderer about.
• Counterspy, September 29, 1949, "The Case of the Vicious Visitor". Bank robber Rocky Gaines busts out of Federal Prison and David Harding gets the call. Rocky is a known psychopath and Harding can track him from the crime lab in Washington until he sets up a command post near the mountains. A tip from a local doctor leads Harding to Mallard Island in Crystal Lake where Rocky's old girlfriend is living with her new husband.
• Dragnet, August 31, 1954, "The Big Office". Instead of working on a specific case, Sergeants Friday and Smith are assigned to the police business office. While the other offices are closed, the sergeants assigned to the business office assume the role of the police chief, and Friday deals with everything from a lady who lost her car and cannot remember the plate number to domestic disputes that turn to murder to an injured skunk caught in a trap.

And many more tales of the dim and dark are included in this requested collection!  See also: Winter Chills Horror Mystery and Intrigue