The first American TV programme to extensively feature late-night horror was Suspense which began life as a radio series in 1942 and transferred to CBS TV in 1949 where it remained a feature until 1954 (and was resurrected in 1964 with Sebastian Cabot as host).
The series was broadcast on Tuesday evenings at 9.30 pm and featured several memorable episodes including The Waxworks starring William Prince, The Tortured Hand with Peter Lorre and a version of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, made in 1950 with Ralph Bell and then repeated a year later with Basil Rathbone.
The show was transmitted live from New York and consequently drew on leading Broadway actors as well as movie favourites such as Nina Foch, Barry Sullivan, John Carradine, Henry Hull and Boris Karloff.
Among the horror story writers whose work was featured on Suspense were Edgar Allan Poe, HP Lovecraft and Cornell Woolrich who, like the other members of this trio, was a tortured, alcoholic, reclusive man.
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