Ring a Ring of Roses - CBS Radio Mystery Theater

Our tale is a blood freezing story inspired by a nursery rhyme. A sweet simple song:
"Ring a ring of roses. Pocket full of Posies, achoo, achoo we all fall down" It sounds young and innocent doesn't it. But it is very old, and very sinister. For the ring of roses were the splotches that first appeared on the faces of those afflicted with the Black Plague. The pocket full of Posies were the herbs that were carried hopefully to ward off the fatal disease. The sneezing sounds were the sounds of the final spasms.

CBS Radio Mystery Theater (a.k.a. Radio Mystery Theater and Mystery Theater, sometimes abbreviated as CBSRMT) is a radio drama series created by Himan Brown that was broadcast on CBS Radio Network affiliates from 1974 to 1982, and later in the early 2000s was repeated by the NPR satellite feed.

The format was similar to that of classic old time radio shows like The Mysterious Traveler and The Whistler, in that the episodes were introduced by host E. G. Marshall who provided pithy wisdom and commentary throughout. Unlike the hosts of those earlier programs, Marshall is fully mortal, merely someone whose heightened insight and erudition plunge the listener into the world of the macabre (in a manner similar to that of "The Man in Black" on yet another old time radio program, Suspense).

As with Himan Brown's prior Inner Sanctum Mysteries, each episode of CBS Radio Mystery Theater opened and closed with the ominous sound of a creaking crypt door, accompanied by Marshall's disturbing utterance, "Come in!… Welcome. I'm E. G. Marshall." This was followed by one of Marshall's other catchphrases, usually either "The sound of suspense" or "The fear you can hear." At the conclusion, the door would swing shut, preceded by Marshall's classic sign-off, "Until next time, pleasant… dreams?" Marshall hosted the program from January 1974 until February 1982, when actress Tammy Grimes took over for the series' final season, maintaining the format.

CBSRMT was broadcast each weeknight, at first with a new program each night. Later in the run, three or four episodes were new originals each week, and the remainder repeats. There were 1,399 original episodes. The total number of broadcasts, including repeats, was 2,969. Each episode was allotted a full hour of airtime, but after commercials and newscasts, episodes typically ran for around 45 minutes.

When repeats of the show were broadcast in the early 2000s, Himan Brown re-recorded E.G. Marshall's original host segments.

Episode 13

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