Weird Circle 31 - Wuthering Heights

"The Weird Circle. In this cave by the restless sea we are met to call out of the past stories strange and weird. Bell-keeper - toll the bell, so that all may know that we are gathered again in The Weird Circle." "Out of the past phantoms of a world gone by speak again the immortal tale: Wuthering Heights."

This episode, first broadcast on March 26, 1944, is an adaptation of Emily Brontë's famous novel of the same name, first published in 1847. The adaptation took great liberties with the original, condensing the significant elements of the plot involving Heathcliff and Catherine, and framing it as a gothic tragedy with supernatural elements. Heathcliff's treatment is undersold, so he seems far more of an outright villain. On the whole, though, it was a very compelling adaptation, and makes me want to finally go ahead and read this classic, and see if I can find the horror elements that have been extracted here.

And so ends my spooky project for October 2022. It has been a very different experience than last year's. I'm not sure if The Weird Circle was the best choice of series for this project, but it did introduce me to a variety of authors and their works, and it was interesting to see a breadth of quality, and to try and think of how this speaks to radio as a medium. I might have a bigger summary post later in the week.

Weird Circle 30 - The Strange Judgment

"Out of the past phantoms of a world gone by speak again the immortal tale: The Strange Judgment."

This episode, first broadcast on March 19, 1944, might be an original - although as I was looking for its origin, I found that a previous episode, The 4:15 Express, was actually based on a short story with the same name by Amelia B. Edwards, which can be found in this collection with other authors on Project Gutenberg, or in this scan of Monsieur Maurice and Other Tales, which is where the story was first published in 1873 on the Internet Archive. I should have consulted resources like this more often.

Back to today's story: our protagonist is isolated at the top of a hill overlooking his former home village, barred from speaking to anyone. The tale is of why: of his success at fishing sardines, at him and his wife welcoming a child, and that child's promise and frustration, culminating in a horrifying conclusion which led him to this penance. Moving, although sometimes inexplicable.

Weird Circle 29 - The Spectre of Tappington

"The Weird Circle. In this cave by the restless sea we are met to call from out of the past stories strange and weird. Bell-keeper - toll bell, so that all may know we are gathered again in The Weird Circle." "Out of the past phantoms of a world gone by speak again the immortal tale: The Spectre of Tappington."

This episode, first broadcast on March 12, 1944, is an adaptation of the short story with the same name in the collection The Ingoldsby Legends, penned by Richard Harris Barnham under the pen-name "Thomas Ingoldsby", and first published in 1840. The adaptation spreads aspects of the third-person narration of the original more evenly among the active characters while reducing their overall number somewhat, making it much more lively for radio, but the legend of the Spectre, the romance, and the mystery of the stolen pants, as well as its conclusion, remain.

Weird Circle 28 - The Murder of the Little Pig

"The Weird Circle. In this cave by the restless sea we are met to call from out of the past stories strange and weird. Bell-keeper - toll bell, so that all may know we are gathered again in The Weird Circle." "We are met in this cave by the restless sea to reveal the horror in Man's mind. Listen to The Weird Circle!" "Out of the past phantoms of a world gone by speak again the immortal tale: The Murder of the Little Pig."

This episode, first broadcast on March 5, 1944, is an adaptation of a story starring M. Lecoq, a character created by French author Émile Gaboriau. I was not able to find out where the original was published.

The story is compelling detective story, starting with the crime all but solved, except for some lingering suspicions by our protagonist, Lecoq, who by wit and guile manages to dig down into the truth. Still, a mystery lingers.

A fun story well executed, although a bit didactic at parts. The inspiration for Sherlock Holmes is quite apparent, although this might be the result of a post-Holmes adaptation.

Weird Circle 27 - The Feast of Redgauntlet

"The Weird Circle. In this cave by the restless sea we are met to call out of the past stories strange and weird. Bell-keeper - toll bell, so that all may know we are gathered again in The Weird Circle." "Out of the past phantoms of a world gone by speak again the immortal tale: The Feast of Redgauntlet."

This episode, first broadcast on February 27, 1944, is an adaptation of the Steenie Steenson story from Letter XI - Same to the Same, in Redgauntlet, by Sir Walter Scott, first published in 1824. The adaptation is pretty much one-to-one, with the Scots replaced with English in a Scottish accent, presumably to make it more accessible to the American listeners.

Being composed as or adapted from a folktale, it makes a great transition to radio.

Weird Circle 26 - Frankenstein

"Listen to the waves, listen to the bells, listen to The Weird Circle!" "Out of the past phantoms of a world gone by speak again the immortal tale: Frankenstein.".

This episode, first broadcast on February 20, 1944, is an adaptation of the famous novel with the same name, by Mary Shelley, first published in 1818 (although the 1831 revision was more widely published and read). The adaptation cuts a lot of the framing to leave us with an abridged narrative of Victor Frankenstein, his creation of the monster, his rejection of it, his escape, its pursuit, and the tragic end of their relationship.

Thankfully bereft of a lot of aspects made almost canon by the famous Universal adaptation from 1931, both the action and the characterization are very good, and it seems like the gist was preserved despite the short length.

Weird Circle 25 - The Heart of Ethan Brand

"Who are the outstanding writers of weird and uncanny stories?" "Poe, de Maupassant, Bulwer-Lytton, Wilkie Collins!" "Where can I hear these stories?" "Listen to The Weird Circle!" "Out of the past phantoms of a world gone by speak again the immortal tale: The Heart of Ethan Brand.".

This episode, first broadcast on February 13, 1944, is an adaptation of the short story Ethan Brand,  by Nathaniel Hawthorne, first published in 1852. The adaptation is very loose, reducing the cast of characters (the absence of the Wandering Jew was not felt), and following closely after the eponymous Brand as he leaves honest living to manipulate the people around him through their weaknesses, in his search for the unpardonable sin. His dialogues with his eviler inner voice and with his victims push the plot forward very effectively.

I don't know that I can say more without spoiling the experience - I would recommend listening to this one yourselves. A solid character study well done in radio.