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Title

Witches' Sabbath

Plot

Witches celebrating their holy day, witches conspire to kill a man with murderous intentions.

Episode

0544

Air Dates

  • First Run - October 30, 1976
  • Repeat - February 12, 1977

Actors

Writer

Listen

Rating

102
80     22


8 Responses to Episode 0544

A man with murder in his heart, falls in with a coven of witches celebrating their holy day. They inspire him to murder.

Aliyah Summers

There indeed is a savage intrigue of a man talking of how he suddenly is transported to a room with an ostensibly beautiful blonde and a brunette (I think at one point they said: "You've got two wives now.") who tell him: WOMAN 1: "Don't be scared, baby". (Played by Marian Haley, who sounded like Marian Seldes.) WOMAN 2: "Nothing to be scared of yet, tiger." (Played by Evie Juster) The man (played by Larry Haines) who relates this is a scientist/engineer who's sought refuge in a bar, and is so frightened that he's begging the barkeep (played by Robert Dryden) to let him stay there past closing time as he's afraid to go out on the streets alone. Haines' character says he met these girls and their swingin' prince of darkness/pimp daddy/warlock/whoever (delightfully and maliciously played by Leon Janney) in a room with a fire that burned with no heat, and that they (and he, suddenly) were all dressed in flowing, hooded robes. He says the three all told him they knew that he hated: 1) his boss, who was taking credit for his ideas at work, and; 2) his unfaithful wife and her lover (another threesome) and that three's his lucky number. In fact, they worship it, and say that he'll (Haines' character) kill all three of the sources of anger in his life this very night, and Haines' character tells the barkeep he indeed has memories of having 86ed all three of them. He then tells the barkeep words to the effect of: "Of course, this didn't really happen...I've just imagined all of this because I wanted it to happen." Another cautionary tale of witchcraft (Harry Potter, anyone?), its effects and who's really behind it all courtesy of the RMT.

Paula Talingting

This one cracks me up because of the women's voices and what they say. I think one could make a drinking game out of the number of times Haines's character is called "tiger" or "baby." This is one of the first CBSRMT shows I ever heard, the very first one being "Where Fear Begins." And I've been hooked ever since. But this episode is one of the ones that had me laughing in the darkness because of the way those women talked. (If you want to hear an unintentionally hilarious episode from a totally different series, see "Spawn of the Sub-Human" from the series Dark Fantasy radio show from the 1940s

Tracy

My favorite is episode the Witches Sabbath. I listen to that one almost all the time.

Bernie

Should have read: My favorite episode is, The Witches Sabbath. I listen to that story almost all the time.

Bernard

I rate this episode ★★★☆☆ for AVERAGE. Sam Dann wrote an interesting, yet a very peculiar Fantasy-Mystery about witches. It's not "spell-binding," but it's a different perspective on witches where 2 of them act like Escorts and their boss, the Prince Of Darkness, acts like a Brothel-Keeper. I give Sam Dann credit for his character description of the witches; the Blonde Witch has sea green eyes and the Brunette Witch as flashing black eyes and both of them have creamy white skin, sparkling red lips, and bodies like Greek Goddesses but more slender. Very vivid! Another way to Title this story would be "The Unholy 3" or "Kill 3 Times" or "Sabbath Prayer." The sound effects of the piano music at the bar, classical music at the cavern, trumpets blowing, the explosion for the Prince Of Darkness's entrance, bell ringing 3 times, and the sound of the .38 caliber valentine porter revolver firing were supportive in this tale. The music, on the other hand, needed more chilling & sinister tunes. There were melodies that played to make the story suspenseful, but not frightening. There was also rock music playing in the background during the sabbath, but I guess that counts as sound effects. If they used the horror & dreaded music from #0002-THE RETURN OF THE MORESBYS, #0026-THE MAN WHO ASKED FOR YESTERDAY, #0167-THE BLACK ROOM, and #1245-THE JUDGE'S HOUSE, this story would be "bewitching." In our Host's Prologue, E.G. Marshall does bring up the topic of witches & hellish rituals, but never thought he would use the word "orgy" in his narration. In ACT-1, he makes an interesting point that civilization is only skin deep. In ACT-2, he asks the CBSRMT fans if this is really happening to our main character or is it a dream or it can be one or the other or both. In ACT-3, after the story ended, he talks about every commandment was broken in this CBSRMT episode, but I disagree because from what I've listened to, only the 6th commandment was brought up. In E.G. Marshall's Epilogue, he quotes William Shakespeare from HENRY IV, "The wish is father to the thought" which means the thought is born from the wish; which makes sense because our main character had thoughts & wishes on killing the 3 who betrayed him. But on a lighter note, E.G. Marshall allows CBSRMT fans to be guests of honor as we continue to listen to this series. And finally, our cast: Larry Haines (as Professor Perry Harnishfeger, Jr.) Leon Janney (as Prince Of Darkness, Joe, and Police Officer), Marian Haley (as the Blonde Witch), Evie Juster (as the Brunette Witch and Perry's wife), and Robert Dryden (as Francis Alowishus O'Boyle and Perry's Boss). Our Actors were extraordinary, especially Larry Haines who's terrific for playing characters that are paranoid and Leon Janney's laughter was truly wicked. Our Actresses, however, their portrayal of witches didn't sound believable to me. Marian Haley & Evie Juster are very talented, but listening to their voices, using the words "Baby" and "Tiger" to seduce the male characters, it sounded very far-fetched. The only Actress that should've played the 2 witches with seductive voices, should've been Morgan Fairchild & Marian Seldes. Just imagine Morgan Fairchild as the Blonde Witch saying "Baby" and Marian Seldes as the Brunette Witch saying "Tiger"…just imagine. Until next time…pleasant dreams. =0]

Russell

Possibly the most lightweight and least scary depiction of witches and the devil ever on CBSRMT.

Danvers

This is my number one favorite episode just ahead of Land of the Living Dead.....

helen


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