THE SHADOW: The History and Mystery of the Radio Program, 1930-1954

The Shadow — for the consideration of those who never heard a radio broadcast or read a pulp magazine — was a supernatural sleuth with a sepulchral chuckle. A detective whose success in tracking down criminals became a popular long-running radio program from 1937 to 1954, after beginning a number of years before as a ghost-like voice introducing a bone-chilling murder play that concluded with a sinister laugh.   The Shadow was originally the voice of conscience and it was through the fear he aroused in the minds of criminals that they exposed their own villainy or destroyed themselves. Never committing cold-blooded murder for the sake of justice, The Shadow suffered a harrowing existence of close calls and death-defying challenges. His exploits were many; a career paced by chase and gunplay. Werewolves, vampires, psychotic murderers, gangsters, mad scientists — he battled them all. Looking back on the program today, it is hard to decipher which was more fun — The Shadow’s methods at pl