Episode Overview

Podcast: The Horror! (Old Time Radio)
Host: RelicRadio.com
Episode: The Thing On The Fourble Board by Quiet, Please
Date: October 11, 2025

This episode features a classic tale from the influential old time radio series "Quiet, Please"—written by Willis Cooper and first aired in 1948. "The Thing on the Fourble Board" is widely celebrated as one of radio’s most haunting and memorable horror stories. The story, narrated by an ex-roughneck (oil field worker), delves into eerie discoveries at a remote drilling site, touching on themes of primal fear, the unknown beneath the earth, and the consequences of unearthing what should remain hidden. The intimate, slow-unfolding terror, paired with the conversational, confessional tone of its narrator, makes this episode a touchstone in audio horror.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introduction: Grounding in Reality and Profession (00:02–03:15)

• The host sets the context of the "Quiet, Please" series, highlighting writer Willis Cooper’s role in old time radio horror.
• Ernest Chappell’s narrator, "Porky," introduces himself as a former oil field worker—a roughneck—grounding the story in the mundanity and danger of oil drilling.
• He describes the perils and practicalities of drilling at incredible depths, pondering the mystery of what lies far beneath the earth:

  "I don't think there's an oil man in the world that don't wonder one time or another what's down there besides rock and oil and gas." (02:25)

2. The Ordinary Becomes Strange: Water in the Well and Unsettling Discoveries (03:15–07:04)

• Billy Grunewald, the geologist, joins the narrator for a late-night dinner at the rig.
• Odd happenings are immediately present: water appearing where it shouldn’t, and unsettling saltiness at unlikely depths.
• The conversation strikes a note of unease:
  • Billy: "Funny about that water." (05:40)
  • Porky: "Everybody's scared of something. Me, spiders scare the tar out of me... I know how you feel, Billy." (07:51)

3. Uncanny Encounters: Hints of Something Unseen (07:04–10:12)

• Billy is constantly on edge, perceiving presences and sounds that the narrator dismisses.
  • Billy: "You know, I'd have sworn there's somebody up there in that fourble board." (07:13)
• There’s a mounting sense of dread—details like nervousness, darkness, and the physical presence of the drilling rig become ominous.

4. The Discovery: Artifacts from Below (10:12–14:20)

• Billy inspects the core sample and discovers an impossible artifact:

  "What he was holding was a gold ring... just like jewelry... And then it was my turn to pretty near jump out of my pants because... there was a mud covered but very unmistakable finger." (10:32)

• The finger is solid rock yet seems alive, and disappears when the mud is wiped off.
• The surreal and supernatural break into the scene, leading the men to dull their nerves with gin.
• Nightmares, strange noises, and Billy’s fatal climb up the rig follow. Billy is found dead, with a broken neck and his left little finger—the one with the ring—missing.

5. Aftermath and Suspicion: Human Attempts at Explanation (14:20–15:42)

• Authorities question Porky about Billy’s death, implying blame:
  • Officer: "Did you and Billy have a fight, Porky?" (14:20)
  • Porky: "Billy Grunwald and I were good friends." (14:30)
• The crew insists on getting back to work, and Porky is reluctantly sent up to the fourble board.

6. The Second Accident and Abandonment (15:42–17:42)

• As Porky reaches for the drill pipe, disaster strikes:
  • "The cable broke. It dropped and nearly pulled me off the fourble, and it landed right on top of Ted... If you have any idea what a guy looks like after two tons of metal land on him..." (15:54)
• With two tragic "accidents" in succession, the crew abandons the rig, leaving the site a haunted, skeletal remnant.

7. Revelation and Horror: The Thing Revealed (17:42–22:04)

• Porky returns days later and discovers the gold ring has returned.
• An eerie, childlike crying draws him up the rig where he confronts the Thing:

  "I was alone on the fourble board with the thing, but I couldn't see it. I felt the platform tremble... I fired two or three shots and nothing happened... Without thinking, I picked up a can of red lead and threw it at the sound... there it was." (18:52)

• The spectral being is finally visible:

  "The face of a little girl, frightened, crying with hunger and terror. Hands like a human being. And a finger missing from the left hand. And a body... I'm scared of spiders." (19:08)

• The Thing is revealed as a tragic, not entirely monstrous presence—“invisible and couldn’t see people when it was invisible”—and apparently deaf.

8. The Truth: The Thing Lives On (22:04–23:04)

• Porky confesses the Thing now lives with him—his wife, Mike, is in fact the creature:

  "I want you to meet my wife. Or rather, my wife wants to meet you. Mike. Mike. There she is. Come on in, dear." (22:04)

• The story ends on a chillingly understated note, implying the narrator has integrated the Thing into his life—a blend of horror, resignation, and even affection.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Porky’s philosophical musing:

  "Oil that's made out of trees that died 20 million years ago. Oil that's made out of dinosaur bones. Oil that's maybe made out of the flesh and blood of men... Ate saber tooth tiger for lunch." (02:25)

• Discovery of the core sample:

  "There was a mud-covered but very unmistakable finger... when the mud was gone, neither one of us could see it." (10:32)

• Billy expresses primal fears:

  "I'm always scared of the dark... I can't help it." (07:33)

• Climax—the Thing revealed:

  "The face of a little girl, frightened, crying with hunger and terror. Hands like a human being. And a finger missing from the left hand." (19:08)

• The narrator’s chilling admission:

  "I want you to meet my wife. Or rather, my wife wants to meet you..." (22:04)

Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment | |------------|------------------------------------------------------| | 00:02 | Host introduces "Quiet, Please" and episode context | | 01:07 | Narrator describes life as a roughneck/oil worker | | 03:15 | Musing on the mysterious origins of oil and deep earth| | 04:39 | Billy Grunewald enters the scene | | 05:40 | Oddities and unease—water where it shouldn’t be | | 07:13 | Billy hears someone on the fourble board | | 10:12 | The gold ring and petrified finger discovered | | 12:52 | Billy’s fatal fall | | 14:20 | Authorities arrive, suspicion falls on narrator | | 15:42 | Second deadly accident—Ted is killed | | 17:42 | The abandoned rig—desolation and return | | 18:52 | The Thing is revealed with red paint | | 22:04 | The narrator’s wife is revealed to be the Thing |

Tone

The episode's tone is intimate but haunted—confessional, practical, and matter-of-fact, with a deep melancholy streak. There’s a subtle sense of a man trying to share, and perhaps unload, a terrible truth he can barely contain, laced with dark resignation and horror.

Final Note

"The Thing on the Fourble Board" is considered one of the scariest and most artfully written pieces in radio horror, due to its blending of everyday realism with the supernatural and its powerful use of ambiguity. The shifting relationship between the narrator and the creature—culminating in their horrifying domestic arrangement—resonates with listeners and cements its place as a classic.

For more episodes like this, visit relicradio.com or search for The Horror! on your favorite podcast platform.