The Shadow first appeared as the narrator of Street & Smith Detective Story Hour in 1930 and narrated for a variety of anthologies until 1935. The unexpected result was that the host became more popular than the actual stories. To meet this demand, Street & Smith hired Walter Gibson to pen stories for a new pulp magazine devoted to the Shadow. Overall, he cranked out nearly three hundred novel length stories for the pulp medium. It was obvious that the next step would be to give the Shadow his own radio show. That eventually did happen in 1937, although this version of the Shadow bore only scant resemblance to the one from the pulps. It ran until 1954, mainly as a network show except during the summer of 1938, when it was a syndicated series. During the initial network run and the syndicated series, the Shadow/Lamont Cranston was portrayed by a then-unknown Orson Welles. The role was then played by Bill Johnstone 1938-1943, Bret Morrison 1943-1944, John Archer 1944-1945, Steve Courtleigh during September and October of 1945, and then Morrison reprised the role for the rest of the show's life. The role of Margot Lane saw even more changes, with Agnes Moorehead during the initial network run and Margot Stevenson during the syndicated series. Moorehead returned when Johnstone took over and stayed until 1939 when she was replaced by Marjorie Anderson, who stayed on until the end of Morrison's initial stint. Judith Allen played opposite Archer and Laura Mae Carpenter was opposite Courtleigh. When Morrison returned, Margot Lane was done by Lesley Woods 1945-1946, Grace Matthews 1946-1949 (Amsie Strickland subbed for her in a few episodes), and Gertrude Warner 1949-1954.

A Gift of Murder (Morrison and Matthews)

An instance of two men competing for an infirm aunt's affection after she comes by a million dollars turns deadly when one of them is found shot.

A Mask for Murder Morrison and Matthews)

Frank Garner hires a professional assassin to kill him and then changes his mind. The problem is that he has no idea what the man looks like. Can Lamont save the man from his own folly and trap the killer?

Review: This plot is over-complicated, and I find it unbelievable that anyone would act in the way the victim does here. However, there are some nice romantic touches with Lamont and Margo at the end.- Tamee Livingston

A Pass to Death (Morrison and Anderson)

A revision of "Guest of Death." Lamont gets a pass for the prison for the son of one of Margo’s friends, and he dies in the death house, prompting Lamont’s investigation.

Aboard the Steamship Amazon (Welles and Stevenson)

Munitions for a band of revolutionaries are being smuggled on a luxury steamer. When orders are received that the munitions are no longer needed and are to be destroyed, one of the conspirators balks and is killed by his accomplices. But such a suspicious death draws the attention of the Shadow.

The Alter of Death (Johnstone and Anderson)

On a West Indies island, the natives are preparing for a ceremony requiring the sacrifice of a man and a woman, and Lamont and Margot are slated as the guests of honor.

Appointment with Death (Johnstone and Moorehead)

Blackie Carmichael, just out of prison, commits a series of brutal crimes at small businesses to lure the Shadow to an island, with the idea of tracking him by ripples in the water and then drowning him.

The Beast of Darrow House (Morrison and Matthews)

The dying Thaddeus Darrow wants his house to rot and swears that his huge elkhound will kill any who dare live in the house. Thirty years later it appears that the curse is still in effect, and Lamont has to bring the beast to heel.

Review: An indifferent episode made worse by really bad fake dog sounds. It’s easy to figure out who’s behind everything mainly because of the dearth of suspects and because we hear the attacks. The killer’s motive makes no sense even by Shadow logic.- Tamee Livingston

The Black Abbot (Johnstone and Moorehead)

The workers of a 24/7 restoration project for a church quit when they start seeing a spectral monk. A skeptic who stays the night to disprove the stories is found the next morning hung from the bell rope.

Black Rock (Johnstone and Moorehead)

An embezzler who’s absconded with over two million dollars has apparently died over the ocean, but the Shadow believes he can be found on the desolate island Black Rock.

The Blind Beggar Dies (Welles and Stevenson)

A gang is terrorizing the beggars of the city and have beaten one of them to death. Rather than have them rely on an indifferent police, the Shadow offers his protection.

Blood Money (Morrison and Matthews)

A counterfeiting gang uses a professional etcher to make their plates and then kills him. Lamont investigating the disappearance of the etcher, manages to discover how the counterfeiters pass their money. There’s a gangster with an unnatural love for his sawed-off shotgun, baby.

The Bones of the Dragon (Morrison and Matthews)

It’s Chinese New Year. Lamont’s friend Johnny Lee has been collecting for the community chest, but he and the money disappear and a dead hatchet man is found at the scene. The police suspect Johnny killed the man and absconded with the funds, but Lamont isn’t sure.

The Bride of Death (Welles and Moorehead)

Lamont and Margot arrive in a fishing village where a cult that engages in human sacrifice has set up shop in the home of a rich and slightly senile old woman which is suspected of being behind the death of the preacher who objected to their presence.

Note: Margot Stevenson portrays the character named in the episode title.

The Bride Wore Black (Morrison and Woods)

One of Lamont’s old college friends begs Lamont to come and help him. Lamont finds an ancient family house in a swamp, filled with madness and murder and a mysterious figure of a bride wearing black.

Review: This is standard Shadow fare with a decaying, doomed family. Done too often to be interesting.- Tamee Livingston

The Brief Fame of John Copper (Archer)

A crime boss is tired of his thugs being sent to the hoosegow because of Lamont Cranston, so he decides to set him up to be framed for murder.

The gimmick writer Al Bester features in this story is also used by him in The Case of the Unwritten Letter (Nick Carter, Master Detective).

Note: The original episode is lost and only survives as a recording from the Australian version of the show.

Bubbling Death (Morrison and Anderson)

Members of the LeGrand family are walking to their deaths in the night and call Lamont in to try to stop the madness. Another cursed family living in the swamp.

Can the Dead Talk? (Johnstone and Moorehead)

An anarchist with genuine psychic powers who has been using them as a stage magician learns the identity of the Shadow during a performance Lamont and Margot are attending.

Carnival of Death (Johnstone and Anderson)

Lamont and Margot discover a dead couple in the waxwork exhibit of a carnival, but it gets covered up while they inform the management. The Shadow's investigation leads him to an abandoned subway spur connected to the carnival.

The Case of the Flaming Man (Archer)

This one is lost in its original form, but got reused under the title The Man Who Was Death.

The Cat and the Killer (Morrison and Matthews)

An abandoned Siamese cat with a jeweled collar is not as unwanted as it first appears, death follows hard on its heels, and Lamont tries to find out what makes it worth killing for.

Review: The biggest flaw is the fact that the cat sounds do not match those of a Siamese cat which has a quite distinctive yowl. The fact that the killer is an idiot, on the other hand, is par for the course.- Tamee Livingston

The Cat That Killed (Johnstone and Anderson)

The Shadow investigates the killings of three night watchmen of a warehouse by what appears to be a giant cat.

The Caverns of Death (Welles and Stevenson)

During a tour of a cave recently opened to the public, some students fall down a pit when the rail gives way. When a rescue team goes down, no bodies are found. Lamont's own investigations reveal sinister activities in the lower levels of the caverns.

The Chess Club Murders (Johnstone and Anderson)

The president of a chess club Lamont belongs to is found murdered and just about every member is a potential suspect.

The Chill of Death (Morrison and Matthews)

Lamont looks into the possibility of insurance fraud mixed with murder by an elderly couple whose maids have a curious tendency to die of pneumonia shortly after being employed.

The Circle of Death (Welles and Moorehead)

The Shadow attempts to ferret out a man who has been setting off explosives in the city's theater district.

Club of Doom (Morrison and Anderson)

Respectable men, and close friends of Weston, are getting homicidal, and Weston appears to be the next to kill. Can men be forced to murder?

The Collectors of Death (Morrison and Matthews)

The servants of a nearly blind European noble living in America are taking advantage of his disability and are selling off his collection of antiques, replacing them with cheap mock-ups.

The Comic Strip Killer (Morrison and Matthews)

Lamont notices that a recent series of poisonings bear an uncanny resemblance to the current storyline in a detective strip in the funnies.

The Creeper (Welles and Stevenson)

Several homes in a swanky neighborhood have experienced kidnappings and burglaries in the night by someone who has managed to evade the top-of-the-line security systems installed within. The whole thing strikes Lamont as being odd since there have been no ransom notes and no high value items were taken.

The Crystal Globe (Morrison and Anderson)

A man goes to a crystal gazer and is told he is going to kill himself and does. Lamont and Margo get in deeper than expected, when Margo falls under the influence of the crystal gazer and is told to kill Lamont Cranston.

Review: This episode highlights the trust Lamont has in Margo as he never suspects her of trying to kill him.- Tamee Livingston

The Curse of Shiva (Johnstone and Anderson)

A skeptic broker is told by a mystic that he’ll die shortly and the prediction comes true. During a séance, he starts to reveal to the Shadow who the killer was but he’s shot by one of the participants before he can do so.

The Curse of the Cat (Morrison and Woods)

An explorer who has recently returned with his daughter from an expedition in South America believes that she’s become a werecat and will go as far as murder to keep it from being known.

The Curse of the Gypsies (Morrison and Matthews)

A woman's family is under a gypsy curse and is in danger of being driven mad.

Review: The story is unoriginal and not well done.- Tamee Livingston

Dead Man’s Ride (Morrison and Matthews)

Helen Warren's family seems prone to dying in horse riding accidents, and she's on the edge of a nervous breakdown as she keeps seeing ghosts.

Review: Rather predictably the criminals are idiots, and Lamont cannot play gin rummy to save his life. Not a very good story.- Tamee Livingston

Dead Men Talk (Johnstone and Anderson)

When Lamont decides to look into the disappearance of a gangster associated with a political boss, the boss dies rather suddenly of allegedly pneumonia.

Dead Men Tell (Johnstone and Anderson)

Shortly after disinheriting his son, a broker dies for seemingly no reason while on the phone. Some time later, a former girlfriend of the son dies in the same manner.

Death and the Crown of Odalph (Morrison and Matthews)

An ancient Viking king's crown is stolen from his funeral ship and now his spirit seems determined to track down his missing crown amid the buyers and thieves that chase it.

Review: A convoluted but interesting story that hints at supernatural forces.- Tamee Livingston

Death and the Easter Bonnet (Morrison and Matthews)

Margo's search for the perfect Easter bonnet leads her and Lamont into a web of espionage.

Death by Imagination

Death Coils to Strike (Morrison and Matthews)

Inquiries are made in a neighborhood concerning a poisonous South American snake which had escaped from the zoo. The Shadow takes an interest when one of the searchers inexplicably disappears.

Death from the Deep (Welles and Stevenson)

An insane hunter has a submarine built so he can destroy ships at sea and machine gun the helpless people in the water and calls it sport.

Review: I've always found this to be a disturbing story especially concerning the breakdown of the submarine's designer.- Tamee Livingston

Death Gives an Encore (Johnstone and Anderson)

A mad scientist is mocked for his claim of being able to graft limbs from one body to another. Naturally, there's a rash of corpse mutilations which are followed by several killings.

Death Has Eight Arms (Morrison and Matthews)

An angry eight-armed goddess seems to be haunting an archeologist who stole a parchment from her.

Review: Madness, manipulation and betrayal are found in equal degrees of corniness.- Tamee Livingston

The Death House Rescue (Welles and Moorehead)

A man who got mixed with the wrong people is sentenced to death for a cop killing he didn't do. His only hope is that the Shadow can find some missed evidence. Premiere episode.

Death Hunt (Morrison and Matthews)

The Shadow meets The Most Dangerous Game. A man with a gambling problem makes a deal with a big game hunter: He can hunt the man for 24 hours in exchange for the payment of the man's debt.

Death in a Black Fedora (Morrison and Matthews)

A man who is nearly broke due to medical expenses gets word that his rich uncle has been killed and that he’s the prime suspect. Since one of his problems was a faulty memory, for all he knows, he did do it. But to the Shadow, it has the scent of a frame-up.

Death in a Minor Key (Johnstone and Anderson)

Lamont’s attention is called to the death of a wealthy patient at a sanatorium which occurred under curious circumstances.

Note: This script was later reused during the tenure of Morrison and Woods. Recordings of both performances still exist.

Death is a Colored Dream (Morrison and Matthews)

A man kills his business partner to keep him from discovering his embezzling. But he worries that the victim's new secretary may somehow know when she complains about terrible nightmares.

Death is an Art (Johnstone and Anderson)

A failed artist and a failed scientist team up to make an art of death, transforming people into lifelike statues.

Death is Blind (Johnstone and Moorehead)

A mad scientist has been training a youth to be a crack shot with a pistol using just his exceptional hearing, which could come in handy against the Shadow.

Death is Just Around the Corner (Archer)

Cranston learns that his neighbor is a being from another world whose race is intent on invasion and whose alien technology could possibly reveal the identity of the Shadow.

Note: The original episode is lost and only survives as a recording from the Australian version of the show under the title Out of This World.

Death Keeps a Deadline (Johnstone and Anderson)

A petty crook is told that he has a heart condition that will kill him within six months, so he goes on a killing spree in which he plans to include Lamont as a target.

Death on the Bridge (Johnstone and Anderson)

There's trouble and death on the new bridge as men hear voices and die immediately after. Lamont, pretending to be Shrevie's brother gets a job on the bridge and is apparently the next to die.

Review: Some interesting scenes with Shrevie make this a more enjoyable episode than it would otherwise be.- Tamee Livingston

Death on the Rails (Johnstone and Anderson)

Lamont is worried about Margo staying in the country all by herself and apparently with good reason as sinister characters invade her house.

Review: I really dislike this episode as I feel Lamont behaves very badly by Margo; whatever specious reasons he uses to justify his actions are not good enough for me.- Tamee Livingston

The Death Prowls at Night (Johnstone and Anderson)

Margo falls under the influence of a sinister doctor who may also be a werewolf.

Review: Lamont's desperation to find Margo, and his determined efforts to free her from the doctor's spell make this an interesting episode.- Tamee Livingston

Death Rides a Broomstick (Johnstone and Anderson)

Two hundred years ago, a witch cursed the Scottish clan chieftain having her burned, stating that in two hundred years, all the chieftain's descendants would die within a month. Now that the time has come, it appears that the curse is being fulfilled.

Death Rides High (Morrison and Matthews)

A rather repulsive gang is taking money from people who want to make it into the United States illegally, but dropping them to their deaths instead. A chef, worried for her cousin, asks for Lamont to help her, so he decides to try to follow the illegal immigrant route himself.

Review: There is the usual double crossing and killing among the gang. Also, Lamont has the worst French accent since Clouseau, and it's even funnier as the contact man for the gang recognizes him immediately, rendering his disguise pointless.- Tamee Livingston

Death Shoots an Arrow (Johnstone and Anderson)

A killer with a preference for the crossbow seems to be targeting the Marlow family.

Death Shows the Way (Johnstone and Anderson)

Lamont and Margot are invited to a friend's place for the weekend, during which he'll be the recipient of one of those "cursed" diamonds. As he receives it, the seller dies from poison and the diamond is stolen in the confusion.

Death Speaks Twice (Johnstone and Anderson)

A man falsely convicted for embezzlement has escaped from jail and it is believed that he has killed his uncle who had sentenced him.

Death Stakes a Handout

Death Stalks the Shadow (Johnstone and Moorehead)

A killer on death row tells the Shadow that his seemingly respectable defense attorney is planning an insurance scam that will result in the deaths of several people.

Death Takes the Wheel (Morrison and Matthews)

A crook wines and dines women then blackmails them with photographs. One cold-blooded women turns it up a notch convincing the head guy to kill her husband for her.

Death to the Shadow (Morrison and Anderson)

A criminal gets hold of a magic, I mean scientific, tv device that can focus in on any place in the city and deliver sound and picture and uses it to plan crimes and track the Shadow, whose identity he's discovered.

Review: An interesting story, as the Shadow's power of mass hypnosis is rendered useless and forces him to take drastic measures.- Tamee Livingston

The Death Triangle (Welles and Moorehead)

A trio of Devil's Island escapees receive death threats from a fellow prisoner they had betrayed during their escape, so they enlist the Shadow for protection.

Death Under the Chapel (Welles and Stevenson)

A philosophy professor at Lamont's alma mater is fired after a student kills himself because of the professor's nihilistic teachings. He then plans to get back at them all during the graduation ceremony.

The Destroyer (Archer)

A man believes that those that are best remembered in history are those that have destroyed and he wishes similar notoriety for himself. So he engages in a rampage of destruction that seems purposeless to the police.

Review: Like most Archer episodes, this story was written by noted SF author Al Bester and shows a distinct change of pace. It's quite a refreshing change to have a villain with a fairly subtle insanity instead of one of the cackling nutters more commonly used.- Webmaster

The Devil Takes a Wife (Morrison and Matthews)

Someone calling themselves the Devil's Wife is bleeding swamp folk of money. Those that refuse to pay die mysteriously, and the local doctor believes it's supernatural.

Review: A story filled with bad southern accents, and a handyman who sounds like a creepy version of John Wayne.- Tamee Livingston

Doom and the Limping Man (Morrison and Matthews)

A trio of attorneys who had convicted a man for murder using questionable evidence get a start when they receive a phone call from him shortly after he was reported to be executed.

Review: Full of absurdities even by Shadow standards. I’m highly skeptical that hanging was used as a form of execution in the Eastern United States by the 1940s. Even if it was, it certainly wouldn’t be done at midnight.- Webmaster

Dream of Death (Morrison and Matthews)

Lamont tries to help out a woman who believes that her husband who recently drowned in a boating accident has come back from the grave to take her with him.

The Dreams of Death

The Drum of Obi (Morrison and Matthews)

A man orders a coffin and then walks straight into a car accident. Is it the curse of Obi, the power of suggestion, or something more mundane and criminal?

Review: Strangely, Lamont is in super unbeliever mode in this episode as opposed to his maybe-there-is-maybe-there-isn't attitude in other stories like The Ruby of Karavahl or The Crown of Odalph.- Tamee Livingston

Drums of Doom (Morrison and Anderson)

A dancer is threatened by voodoo practitioners, apparently because she stole a bracelet from the top of a grave.

Review: A rather tedious episode that has a few gems of dialogue to keep it from being a total loss.- Tamee Livingston

Etched With Acid (Morrison and Woods)

A woman who has been unable to pay up on her gambling debts is found murdered with her face mutilated by acid.

Evil in the House (Morrison and Matthews)

A blackmailer who doublecrosses his victim becomes a murderer as well, though he manages to make it look like suicide. But the Shadow intends to uncover some solid evidence.

The Face (Morrison and Matthews)

A once handsome actor has been driven mad by the disfigurement of his face caused by an airplane accident. He's now killing and mutilating any woman who has seen his current visage.

The Fine Art of Murder (Morrison and Matthews)

An artist whose mind had snapped after watching a woman drown becomes obsessed with the idea of painting a portrait of a drowning woman using an authentic model.

The Firebug (Welles and Stevenson)

Someone has been setting fire to several tenement buildings and the police have been unable to make any progress. Lamont manages to find a lead, but due to a slip-up during his investigation, he might have had his identity as the Shadow revealed to the arsonists.

The Flight of the Vulture (Johnstone and Anderson)

Lamont promises a farmboy that he'll get back the old horse that his parents were forced to sell. He then discovers that the buyer is purchasing several over-the-hill horses for use in an insurance scam.

Friend of Darkness (Johnstone and Anderson)

A blind man with an extraordinary sense of touch is captured by a gang of robbers and forced to use his ability to help them crack safes.

Gang Doctor (Morrison and Matthews)

Lamont receives a lead on the five year old murder of a bank messenger that he was never able to crack.

The Ghost Building (Johnstone and Anderson)

A new skyscraper which had an unusually high rate of fatal accidents during construction continues its jinx reputation when a series of murders are committed there.

The Ghost of Caleb MacKenzie

The Ghost of Captain Bayloe

The Ghost on the Stair (Johnstone and Anderson)

Lamont’s curiosity is piqued while staying a an old Southern plantation converted to a hotel when he’s told of a curse on the place dating from the Civil War and he encounters manifestations of that curse.

The Ghost That Gleams

Ghost Town

The Ghost Walks Again

The Ghost Without a Face

The Ghost Wore a Silver Slipper (Morrison and Woods)

When Lamont and Margot pick up a hitchhiker near a cemetery who disappears when they reach the requested destination, their inquiries stemming from this odd occurrence lead them to a narcotics smuggling operation.

Ghosts Can Kill (Johnstone and Moorehead)

A gangster who always has an airtight alibi for any murder he’s suspected of finally slips up and is sentenced to be executed. At his trial, he announces the names of some prominent people he intends to kill when he returns from the grave.

The Giant of Madras

The Gibbering Things (Morrison and Anderson)

Lamont and Margot arrive at the rural New Hampshire home of Margot’s Aunt Sue only to find her gone. A bit of investigation leads them to believe it has something to do with the mysterious creature said to lurk in the nearby Haunted Woods.

The Gorilla Man

The Green Man

Guest of Death

Gun Island (Johnstone and Moorehead)

A yacht Lamont and Margot are travelling on gets hijacked and taken to the well-equipped island lair of their captors.

The Hoodoo Ship (Johnstone and Anderson)

An old slave smuggling ship notorious for having once jettisoned its cargo is put back in service and starts showing signs of being haunted. Lamont takes a trip on it to debunk the reputation.

Horror in Wax

Hounds in the Hills (Welles and Moorehead)

While in the boondock region of North Carolina, Lamont's investigations of the disappearances of several boys leads him to the abode of a crazy old woman, her hunchback son, and their pack of ferocious hounds.

House of Fun

The House of Horror

The House That Death Built

Hypnotic Death (Johnstone and Anderson)

A teep is using his powers in a racket where one of the racketeers is made beneficiary of a relationless person's insurance policy who is then willed into getting killed in an accident. When Lamont disputes his account of one such accident, he returns the favor by zapping him with the evil eye.

The Hypnotized Audience (Welles and Stevenson)

During a public performance, mass hypnosis is used on the audience during which the governor is kidnapped. His captors demand that he pardon a killer slated for execution.

The Inventor of Death

Island of Ancient Death

Island of the Devil

The Isle of Fear (Johnstone and Moorehead)

While Lamont and Margot are visiting a friend in Haiti, a local cult stirs up trouble for them.

The Isle of the Living Dead

Joey’s Christmas Story

The Juggernaut

The Killer’s Rendezvous

The Lady in Black

The Laughing Corpse (Johnstone and Anderson)

A scientist is killed by a poison that induces laughter before death. But it’s a mystery to the Shadow on how it was administered.

The League of Terror

The Legend of the Living Swamp

The Leopard Strikes (Johnstone and Anderson)

A policeman is found dead near the zoo and appears to have been killed by a large feline. But the zookeepers insist that none of the animals could have escaped.

The Little Man Who Wasn’t There (Archer)

Three people have been robbed in public by an invisible man and as a result, Commissioner Weston has begun to suspect that the Shadow has finally gone bad.

The Living Head