A momma's boy whose mother owns a successful business places personal ads in a newspaper trying to find a girlfriend. He finds one, and she visits him from out of town. He falls in love with her and she claims to do the same, but becomes upset on learning that her mother, not the son, owns the business. So on meeting Mom, she gives her the gift of an ugly looking plant which she says will make the Mom's life better as long as she puts it by her bedside. She does, and ends up dead the next day. According to the family doctor, all her blood disintegrated. The man and the woman marry, but she becomes upset that the control of the business is in the hands of another man (named "Mr. Bell") before it can be inherited by her husband. So she visits Mr. Bell, and gives him a gift of the ugly looking plant (she calls it "hema endrantis" (sic)), and also convinces him to put it by his bedside. He does, and he dies. Then her new husband gets suspicious, and the tale REALLY gets started...

Hey, I'm first! This play is a silhouette, though not necessarily a shadow of, a previous Ian Martin play "Time and again". In fact, a commenter on the latter episode suggested "Time and again" was inspired by "Little Shop of horrors", so maybe Mr. Martin said words to the effect of "Heck with it, I'm rewriting 'Little Shop' MY way." Robert Dryden and Teri Keane (whose voice so reminded me of Jane Curtin, which is interesting as the latter was having her Saturday Night Live heyday around the time of Keane's CBS RMT tenure) had an interesting interplay, and the weird sound effect played when the plant is doing its thing (whether we know it or not) still gives me the willies if I listen to it alone. I have to be frank: Ian Martin did great work for the RMT both in front of and behind the microphone!

As I said, this is similar to "Time and again" in that: - It's written by Ian Martin. - He plays a kindly, befuddled, "house call" type of doctor in each. - There are bloodsuckers at work. - These vampires are also WORKING (intentionally or not) for someone. - The man we come to view as a protagonist has bad things happen within his family. - In each play, he decides to take a similar course of action. Three things: - This reunites the "Girl talk" team of Teri Keane and Robert Dryden. I think this was one of Dryden's best performances for the RMT. - The best line in the play occurs on their "honeymoon" night after he (in the voice he used as a college "revolutionary" says he'll treat his new bride's plant with "kid gloves"): "The only gloves I wanted to use on "heebie-jeebie" or whatever were 8 oz. ones." Classic. - At that same moment, there's a music bed that I can't determine the origin of. It sounds like some kind of percussive string instrument, accompanied by flutes and run through an echo chamber. I listened to this last year, at my wife's store, with my back to a darkened storeroom. I defy anyone to listen intently to that music bed and not get some type of shivers the first time you hear it. (On any other episode it would have been overused, but this one it works perfectly.) Enjoy, ya'll.

This was a great show, also. I used to soak up this b-movie type horror stuff watching late movies and, of course, on the radio. I loved schlock, and this was schlock! As an adult, my tastes have become at least a tiny bit more discerning (I think). Therefore, I didn't enjoy it as much today as I would have as a kid. Still, a good episode. I'm giving it a four although I didn't like it as much as "Time and Again". Thanks for two great selections!

More Vampyre stories, I am scared... someone definitely is attempting to scare all of us with all these nifty stories of blood sucking plants and clocks. I would give this a 4 but I had issues with the ending, not sure just was not satisfying enough at the end. This one gets a three as well but another strong 3. The wife kind of reminds me of the wife from I Warn You Three Times.. I guess because when she tires of someone she eliminates them. I heard this one as a kid and it scared the you know what out of me, primarily because my dad had a lot of plants and one was a Venus Fly Trap. I have this uncontrollable urge to watch Day Of The Triffids now.

This show had a compelling concept, both in the plant itself and the way the woman used it to gain wealth and power. So she was preying on her victim in the same way the plant was. I would have liked to have her character explained - how she had come to get these plants and become so evil that she became their ilk. The main character (first-person) is also interesting (and desirous of something), in that he is presented as a \'momma\'s boy\' but is thoroughly seduced by his lady-friend. Sound quality slipped toward the end but that is a small price to pay for having these shows available once again. I continue to enjoy the show.

What a great story. It reminded me of the classic tale, \"The Body Snatchers\", but this story had it\'s own interesting distinctions. I enjoyed the overbearing mother and the momma\'s boy storyline and I also enjoyed notion of the heartless and conniving wife. Justice was served when the wife met her end. The actors were excellent but unfortunately, the third act of the program I have was very hard to hear and this program is an excellent candidate for replacement.

I can certainly appreciate your comment about building of the wife character. I,too, would have appreciated some background information but I'm not sure what I would have cut to make the 42 minute timeframe.

"the vampire plant"...one of my favorite episodes

This radio play makes me think of another radio play that I remember from the 70's where there's this clock that suspends time 4 an hour each day but @ the same time would drain a person of their blood. Does any1 who may happen 2 know the episode I'm talking about? If so, plz respond so I can listen 2 the similarities of the episodes. Thanx. This a creepy episode 2 say the least. Until next time.....pleasant dreams(LOL).

Teri Keane's character refers to the plant in a Greek name. In the episode listing, it's transcribed as "haemoederentus" -- which seems to be a made-up name. "Haemo" refers to blood, but "derentus"?

Reminds me of my ex-wife!

Tim, I think you are referring to episode 22 from 1974 "Time and Again". And that was one that had haunted me since I was a teenage. While I probably never heard "The Vampire Plant" (Because I was in college by the time this would have aired, and didn't have the same kind of schedule I had in high school).

Yes, “Time & Again” is a Classic CBSMRT episode similar to this. And you also have “Hickory, Dickery, Doom”

I rate this episode ★★★★☆ for GOOD. Another strange, yet fascinating tale by Ian Martin. In 1972, he wrote episode #0022-TIME AND AGAIN that involved a clock that needed blood. In this story, it’s a plant that needs blood. This was entertaining, but it felt like it was cut short because it all had to be wrapped up in a 1-hour episode. It would’ve been nice if there was a 4th Act so we get to know more about the vampire plant or hear the women in this story do their narrations on how they felt about their situations. This story would be great for a low-budget horror movie. The title is an eye-catcher. Another way to title this would be “Blood Red Blossoms” or “Night Of The Blood Seeker.” In our Host’s Prologue, E.G. Marshall begins with the classic expression of the Worm that turned. Meaning, this is a story about a meek character that gets pushed too far and eventually retaliates. In ACT-1, meet our main character Hubbart “Hubby” Quint: A Mama’s Boy. In ACT-2, his mother is out of the picture and he is free to be with the woman he loves, but he’s puzzled if his girlfriend’s mysterious plant was involved. Also, what do we know about his lover and was this part of her plan? In ACT-3, E.G. Marshall’s train of thought on plants that are named differently. In the end, where everything goes “up in smoke,” our Host knows that we think this story’s unbelievable. In his Epilogue, a satisfying Resolution, followed by the Latin phrase: “De mortise nil nice bonum” (Of the dead, say nothing but good). The sound effects of body tuckered in bed, typewriter, phone ringing, lamp switch, piano music in the background, ferry whistle, slow ballroom music, doorbell, coffee pouring, car engine, cups clinking, footsteps, tires screech, keys, doors, and massive explosion were supportive. Great selection of dramatic tunes, but too much of it being played in the final Act. More importantly, our cast: Robert Dryden (as Hubbart Quint), Joan Shay (as Birdie Quint and Ms. Bradley), Teri Keane (as Dolores Masterson), and Ian Martin (as Dr. Ezekiel Harwich and Mr. Bell). These 4 worked tremendously. I adored Teri Keane’s performance because she sounded kind-hearted and then sly to those that her character loved, whether human or plant. And Robert Dryden was excellent in his leading role. Anyone that’s interested in vampire tales, even if the vampires have no speaking roles, you should check this episode out and of course #0022-TIME AND AGAIN. Other vampire stories I recommend are #0301-NIGHTMARE’S NEST and #0081-SUNSET TO SUNRISE. Until next time…pleasant dreams. =0)

LOVED this progam, and yes, it did remind me of another Ian Martin joint, the excellent "Time and again", with John Beal in the role Robert Dryden does here. What made this episode was the music bed (if you can call it that) that I remember being used only in one other RMT episode: "The long, long sleep". I don't know how to rightfully describe this piece (used often when the plant is "doing its thing") except it seems like ghoulish little cries and echoes over a semi-percussive sound bed that evokes unseen tendrils reaching out and touching whatever they can find. When we had our gift store in Georgia (early 2000s) one work day in spring (after having discovered that episodes of the RMT were downloadable on platforms like Napster) I downloaded this show to one of our work computers and was playing it around 8:00 AM on a very sunny, pleasant morning. As of yet I was the only one in the office. When that music bed started my skin started crawling uncontrollably. I'll never forget that feeling.

This is one of the best episodes of CBS Radio Mystery Theater.