Podcast Summary: Harold’s Old Time Radio

Episode: Suspense 58-10-19 773 – "Three Skeleton Key"
Original Air Date: October 19, 1958
Podcast Date: October 29, 2025
Host: Harolds Old Time Radio
Starring: Vincent Price
Story By: George Toudouze, Adapted by James Poe
Production: William N. Robeson

Episode Overview

This episode of Harold’s Old Time Radio features the legendary Suspense radio drama “Three Skeleton Key,” starring Vincent Price. The story, considered a classic in the annals of radio horror, thrusts listeners into a claustrophobic nightmare set inside a remote lighthouse besieged by an army of ravenous rats. As disaster looms, tension laces every minute, building toward a harrowing climax that echoes the primal fears of isolation, madness, and nature run amok.

Key Discussion Points & Story Breakdown

1. Setting the Scene: The Isolated Lighthouse

• The main character vividly describes the foreboding environment of Three Skeleton Key, a lighthouse on a barren rock surrounded by treacherous waters, deadly wildlife, and stifling winds.
• Quote:

  "A gray tapering cylinder welded by iron rods and concrete to the key itself. A bare black rock 150ft long, maybe 40 wide... the light rising 110ft straight up out of the ocean. And all about it the churning water." (01:16)

2. The Arrival of a Derelict Ship

• On a quiet night, the lighthouse crew—comprised of the narrator, the stoic Louie, and the talkative August—spot a ghostly three-masted ship heading straight for the reef.
• The ship appears strangely abandoned, yet is crawling with a "dark brown carpet"—revealed to be thousands of rats.
• Quote:

  "The decks were swarming with a dark brown carpet that looked like a gigantic fungus, but undulating... hundreds, no, thousands... an inestimable number of tremendous rats." (04:46 - 05:04)

• The ship crashes, unleashing the rats, who swim en masse for the lighthouse.

3. The First Wave of the Rat Siege

• The rats attempt to infiltrate the lighthouse, terrifying the keepers.
• The men scramble to close the bronze door, barely managing to keep the horde out, but not before fighting off a massive rat that slips inside.
• Quote:

  "He was as big as a tomcat. Bigger. And his eyes were wild and red. His teeth long and sharp and yellow... It was like fighting a panther." (06:24 - 06:45)

4. Encirclement and Terror

• The rats swarm the exterior, obscuring windows and filling the lighthouse with a suffocating stench.
• The men, trapped in the topmost room, desperately fend off the ongoing assault.
• In a moment of grim humor, they tease the rats through the glass, watching the rats scramble and even throwing them to the sharks below.
• Quote:

  "You must make the most of any situation to endure it... We found a way to entertain ourselves by teasing the rats. Sounds crazy. Horrible. It was fun." (08:53)

5. Breach and Breakdown

• The rats gnaw through a window frame and nearly break into the top room, forcing the men to reinforce the opening with tin.
• The rats begin to force their way through the wooden trap door, seriously injuring Louie in the process. Supplies and air dwindle, panic and physical exhaustion mount.
• August’s mental state deteriorates, culminating in him threatening to shatter the glass with a wrench, risking all their lives.
• Quote:

  "So there I was. A lunatic and a coward for company. And all about. Watching our little drama. The rats." (14:27)

6. Starvation and Salvation

• Failing light, no food or water, and near madness.
• Suddenly, the rats retreat, lured away by the arrival of a small freighter (a banana boat), which grounds on the reef, unwittingly becoming the rats’ new vessel.
• The narrator watches in horror but is unable to warn the crew, haunted by the knowledge of what’s aboard.
• Quote:

  "The sun came up. And there wasn’t a rat on the whole key. Every last one of that terrible army had deserted us. Gone back to sea on their new ship." (17:11)

7. Aftermath

• August is committed to an asylum, never recovering his sanity. Louie succumbs to blood poisoning from his wounds. The narrator survives but is forever changed, haunted by approaching ships and what might still lurk aboard them.
• Quote:

  "Life on Three Skeleton Key isn’t bad these days. But sometimes when I see a strange vessel approaching, I get a little nervous. Can you blame me?" (17:29)

Memorable Moments & Quotes

• On the horror of the rat swarm:

  "Every one was covered with a thick, wriggling, screaming curtain of brown Fur... The light was dim. Brown filtered through the crawling mass that swarmed over the glass." (06:45 - 07:15)

• On psychological torment:

  "So there I was. A lunatic and a coward for company. And all about. Watching our little drama. The rats." (14:27)

• On survival’s grim irony:

  "Somewhere on the seas. There’s a little banana boat without a crew. That is, without a human crew." (17:32)

Important Segment Timestamps

• [01:16] – The narrator describes the lighthouse and its haunting isolation
• [04:46–05:04] – The horror of the rat-infested ship is revealed
• [06:11–06:45] – The first rat breaks in and is fought off
• [08:53–09:56] – The men’s macabre game teasing the rats
• [10:53–12:18] – The rats breach the lighthouse, Louie is bitten
• [13:46–14:27] – August’s mental breakdown
• [17:11–17:32] – The aftermath and reflection on the ordeal

Conclusion

"Three Skeleton Key" stands out not only as a chilling tale of survival but also as a psychological study of isolation and fear. The episode’s tight narrative, visceral sound design, and captivating performances (notably Vincent Price’s evocative delivery) create an enduring and deeply unsettling listening experience. Nearly 70 years after its first broadcast, the story’s power remains undiminished.