Nightfall - "The Book of Hell" A CBC 1980's Radio Horror
Channel: IT GETS CREEPY 🦇
Date: 2023-02-12

Nightfall - CBC 1980's Radio Horror - The book of hell

Two editors and a president of a failing publishing company receive a strange manuscript from a reclusive author... who happens to have been dead for two years. The book tells of a first-hand account of a soul's experience while in Hell. However, the book cannot be printed, photocopied or recorded in any way.

Nightfall was a radio drama series produced and aired by CBC Radio from July 1980 to June 1983. While primarily a supernatural/horror series, Nightfall featured some episodes in other genres, such as science fiction, mystery, fantasy, and human drama. Some of Nightfall's episodes were so terrifying that the CBC registered numerous complaints and some affiliate stations dropped it.[1] Despite this, the series went on to become one of the most popular shows in CBC Radio history,[2] running 100 episodes that featured a mix of original tales and adaptations of both classic and obscure short stories.

Nightfall was created by producer Bill Howell, who was known at the time for his work on CBC Playhouse and the cult adventure series, Johnny Chase: Secret Agent of Space. When CBC Radio was revamped and given an expanded budget in 1980, Howell approached the newly appointed head of radio drama, Susan Rubeš, about his idea for a supernatural/horror anthology series. Though not a fan of the horror genre, Rubeš greenlit the production.

Bill Howell served as executive producer of Nightfall at CBC Toronto for the first two seasons. The third season was produced by Don Kowalchuk at CBC Vancouver.

Nightfall featured two hosts during its run. The Toronto years (1980–1982) were hosted by "the mysterious Luther Kranst", a character created by Bill Howell and played by character actor Henry Ramer. For its Vancouver run (1982–1983), Don Kowalchuk worked with voice actor Bill Reiter to develop the character of Frederick Hende.