EPISODE 270 - Nightmare At Sleepy Creek

Proud sponsor of THE MYSTERY FILESJust in time for Halloween, it’s our first ever old time radio mystery. An original story written and performed by the Who Asked You? Crew! Professor Harold Benton was at the peak of his career after developing a super serum which could turn an ordinary man into the extraordinary. With a simple injection he could make someone stronger, faster, smarter. It was time to test his formula. With the help of his research assistant, Godfrey Morris, the two convinced Godfrey’s younger brother, Lee to take the injection. Unfortunately the serum did not work the way the Professor had predicted. It turned Lee Morris into a terrible man-beast. Scared and in an extreme primal state, the creature ran away and vanished. After Godfrey threatened revenge for what Benton had done to his brother, the two parted ways. Ruined, Professor Benton packed up and moved to a small town an hour from the university called Sleepy Creek. There Benton could work on a cure for Lee Morris’ condition… and a cure for his own guilt. When residents of Sleepy Creek start seeing strange things and hearing odd noises in the surrounding woods, Professor Benton suspects the creature he inadvertently created tracked him down and plans to get revenge by killing him! Scared, Professor Benton calls in an old friend and well-known investigator, Robert Hatch. In all the commotion Benton forgets his daughter Evelyn, taking a break from her college courses, planned a visit to his new home in Sleepy Creek. Evelyn tags along with Robert Hatch as he speaks with the town’s sheriff about the strange happenings as of late. The two are just in time to accompany Sheriff Camp to a call of strange noises at the old inn. While there, they meet the innkeeper, Gertrude O’Leary and a mysterious stranger renting a room named Roosevelt Cunningham. Sheriff Camp immediately suspects Cunningham of the creepy occurrences, but Mrs. O’Leary is his alibi and can vouch for him. Camp, Hatch and Evelyn are left to ponder what O’Leary heard in the bushes as they head back to town. While Inspector Hatch and Evelyn are away, someone or some THING attacks Professor Benton choking him to death. Now Hatch is charged with an even bigger investigation. Who killed the Professor? Was it a man or a monster? Before long, Hatch and Evelyn both hear the creature’s roaring for themselves and chase it to the center of town. They lose sight of it, but Sheriff Camp arrives just in time with Cunningham, still denying he’s involved, in custody. The entire group decides to head back to the inn to try and figure out what’s going on. There’s more to the creature than you might think. Roosevelt Cunningham was a former student of Professor Benton and recognized Evelyn, his daughter. He was flunked out of the Professor’s class giving him motive to kill the man. But then there’s the creature on the loose. Is it Lee Morris? Is it his brother Godfrey? Is it someone else? The one sole clue in the Professor’s death could be the only way of finding the culprit. And Inspector Hatch’s highly trained memory plays an important role in solving the nightmare at Sleepy Creek.