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Nelson Olmsted was one of the last great radio horror performers. Born Leroy Nelson Olmsted, Jr. on January 28, 1914 in Minnesota, he was raised in Texas, where he became an announcer for local radio stations. For the album notes on his Sleep No More album, he offered a bit of biography:


"By the time I moved to WBAP in Ft. Worth... the announcer's life seemed endlessly sterile. What to do about it? Dramatic shows cost money and there were no budgets. The cheapest drama for radio I could think of was good literature, read aloud. Especially the work of that great dramatist who never wrote a play - Edgar Allan Poe. WBAP gave me some time with which to experiment. That was way back in 1939 - and it worked. By 1940 the storytelling show was on NBC for a 10 year run."


Olmsted's skill at narration, and in assuming the voices of each character as he told the tale, led to a variety of programs, such as Story for Today and World's Greatest Stories. Most actors, reading a Fitz-James O'Brien line like, "I felt two sinewy hands grasp me around the throat endeavoring to choke me," would not act it out. Olmsted did, his voice tightening up as if he actually did have two hands around his throat. In this regard, he was one of the last narrators showing the influence of old-time radio. Voice-over artists who often recorded for the burgeoning spoken arts labels-performers such as Alexander Scourby, Norman Rose and Martin Donegan - did not use the technique.


- From Horror Stars on Radio by Ronald L. Smith


While I've managed to track down several episodes in high quality FLAC (lossless) and Mp3 pulled from good sources, unfortunately most are in low quality sound, which I'll replace if I find better versions.


I've also posted episodes of Olmsted's other series Nelson Olmsted's Playhouse (1946), Story for Tonight (1947), Nelson Olmsted's Short Stories (1947) and Sleep No More (1956).


THE WORLD'S GREATEST SHORT STORIES
1939-10-07 La Grande Bret?che (by Honor? de Balzac)
1940-03-01 What Was It? (by Fitz-James O'Brien)
1940-03-03 The Case of M. Valdemar (by Edgar Allan Poe)
1940-09-06 Quality (by John Galsworthy)
1940-09-30 The Tell Tale Heart (by Edgar Allan Poe)
1940-10-01 The Last Class (by Alphonse Daudet)
1940-10-09 The Little Wife (by William March)
1940-10-10 The Case of M. Valdemar (by Edgar Allan Poe)
1940-10-14 The Man and the Snake (by Ambrose Bierce)
1940-10-15 Rappaccini's Daughter (by Nathaniel Hawthorne)
1940-10-30 The Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (by Ambrose Bierce)
1940-11-11 The Lie (by Leonid Andreyev)
1940-11-18 Success Story (by James Gould Cozzens)
1940-11-27 A Letter and a Paragraph (by H.C. Bunner)
1940-12-25 Tomorrow's Paul (original Christmas story by Nelson Olmsted)
1940-xx-xx The Coward (by Guy de Maupassant)
1941-01-08 Moonlight (by Guy de Maupassant)
1941-01-13 The Death of Olivier Becaille (by ?mile Zola)
1941-04-15 What Was It? (by Fitz-James O'Brien)
1941-04-16 Markheim (by Robert Louis Stevenson)



Olmsted would go on to record several of these stories for a series of records released by Vanguard Records in the late 1950's: Sleep No More! Famous Ghost and Horror Stories (VRS 9008), featuring six short stories (including "What Was It," by Fitz-James O'Brien, and a memorable version of "The Body Snatcher," by Robert Louis Stevenson, complete with sound effects and Olmsted expertly playing both Donald Fettes and Wolfe MacFarlane). Olmsted also recorded Edgar Allan Poe: Tales of Terror (Vanguard VRS 9007) and Poems and Stories by Edgar Allan Poe (Vanguard VRS 9046).

1. 40-03-01 What Was It? (by Fitz-James O'Brien) (unknown file size)
2. 40-03-03 The Case of M. Valdemar (by Edgar Allan Poe) (27.7Mb)
3. 40-09-06 Quality (by John Galsworthy) (4.8Mb)
4. 40-09-30 The Tell Tale Heart (by Edgar Allan Poe) (4.9Mb)
5. 40-10-01 The Last Class (by Alphonse Daudet) (4.8Mb)
6. 40-10-09 The Little Wife (by William March) (4.9Mb)
7. 40-10-10 The Case of M. Valdemar (by Edgar Allan Poe) (4.9Mb)
8. 40-10-14 The Man and the Snake (by Ambrose Bierce) (5Mb)
9. 40-10-15 Rappaccini's Daughter (by Nathaniel Hawthorne) (5Mb)
10. 40-10-30 The Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (by Ambrose Bierce) (5Mb)
11. 40-11-11 The Lie (by Leonid Andreyev) (4.9Mb)
12. 40-11-18 Success Story (by James Gould Cozzens) (4.5Mb)
13. 40-11-27 A Letter and a Paragraph (by H.C. Bunner) (4.9Mb)
14. 40-12-25 Tomorrow's Paul (original Christmas story by Nelson Olmsted) (4.7Mb)
15. 40-xx-xx The Coward (by Guy de Maupassant) (5Mb)
16. 41-01-08 Moonlight (by Guy de Maupassant) (5Mb)
17. 41-01-20 The Raven (by Edgar Allan Poe) (28.9Mb)
18. 41-04-15 What Was It? (by Fitz-James O'Brien) (5Mb)
19. 41-04-16 Markheim (by Robert Louis Stevenson) (5Mb)

MP3 files hosted by archive.org.