The Price of Fear
October 23, 2015 9:00 AM   Subscribe

Between 1973 and 1983, Vincent Price starred in twenty-two episodes of radio horror for the BBC. Price claimed the stories were drawn from his own reminiscences, though certain plots bear strong resemblances to classic pieces by Roald Dahl and Bram Stoker. Click on and listen, if you can afford...THE PRICE OF FEAR.

-Twenty-five years earlier, Price had narrated one of the most infamous audio horror episodes of all time: Three Skeleton Key.
posted by Iridic (18 comments total) 43 users marked this as a favorite
 
Oooh, I love it when these get dusted off and trotted out on Radio 4 Extra. I always love it when Price makes it sound as though the events are things that actually happened to him.
posted by Kitteh at 9:19 AM on October 23, 2015


This is the best Halloween present ever!
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:38 AM on October 23, 2015 [2 favorites]


Incredible voice and delivery.

He toured the country back in that era (70s), and I saw him at a small state college in Kansas back then. He walked out to a podium in the basketball stadium and had everyone enthralled just reading various works. I distinctly recall some of the Poe he delivered...just awesome.
posted by CrowGoat at 9:57 AM on October 23, 2015 [2 favorites]


I always love it when Price makes it sound as though the events are things that actually happened to him.

This is VINCENT PRICE. I'm always going to assume the events actually happened to him.
posted by happyroach at 10:11 AM on October 23, 2015 [9 favorites]


Apparently he performed it in 1950 for Escape (ep. #85, linked in OP, link to single episodes) and in 1956 and 1958 for Suspense (singles).
posted by christopherious at 10:31 AM on October 23, 2015 [3 favorites]


If you are calling about the missing feet, leave your address and the replacement feet will be rushed to you by his grandson Jody.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 10:41 AM on October 23, 2015 [5 favorites]


Sweet! Three Skeleton Key and Escape are classics.

I haven't heard of this series before, so I will give it a try. There's never a shortage of old time radio :)
posted by Calzephyr at 11:48 AM on October 23, 2015


My mom loves telling the story of when she was in college and working at a shop counter at Bullock's or some other department store in L.A., and she was fussing with something in the case when she saw a pair of feet walk up in dark men's shoes, reasonably well-polished.

"Can I help you, sir?" It was the end of the day, and she was tired, so she wasn't really paying attention.

Suddenly, an elegant, dry voice, like a late autumn wind, swept over her, chilling her to the bone. "No, thank you. I am merely looking."

She claims she nearly crashed through the display case, she was so startled to look up and find Vincent Price standing in front of her. She was so spooked, she couldn't manage to say another word to him. Her manager thought something terrible had happened to her when she left that day, but I think it's easily her most favorite celebrity encounter.
posted by Diagonalize at 12:54 PM on October 23, 2015 [12 favorites]


My dad told me that VP bought art books at the Pickwick and teased Grampa about having an office the size of a closet.
posted by brujita at 2:43 PM on October 23, 2015


Any excuse to link to this: A good sport, and a great Muppet.
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 3:15 PM on October 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


Vincent Price was a class act. He was never pretentious. He didn't have any idea that he was creating Great Artâ„¢ like some actors I can name. All he wanted to do was entertain people, and make a living while doing so.

There are worse ways to live.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 4:02 PM on October 23, 2015


Ooooh yeeeeah
posted by The Whelk at 4:24 PM on October 23, 2015


I love all the early heartthrob Vincent Price movies (oh, heavens, his turn in Laura as the gold-digging ne'er do well!) as much as I love the later spooky Mr. Price. If I had distractedly addressed his shoes only to be greeted by his most measured tone, what a memory to have!
posted by crush-onastick at 4:42 PM on October 23, 2015 [4 favorites]


Funny, on my Facebook, I just shared a video of what I believe I'll see as I lay dying Instead of a tedious tunnel of light or angelic dead relatives beckoning, and naturally Price makes a cameo and gets a plug.
posted by sonascope at 8:11 PM on October 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


Vacation is here! (Beach party tonight.)
posted by christopherious at 10:34 PM on October 23, 2015


If someone were to put a gun to my head and ask, I'd say I think Clancy Brown should carry Vincent Price's torch.
posted by christopherious at 11:47 PM on October 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


And then he went on to his tour de force, The Hilarious House Of Frightenstein. Because you haven't had a career until you've done an obscure Canadian classique.
posted by clvrmnky at 6:52 AM on October 24, 2015


A movie I wish I could find a copy of is The House of the Long Shadows. Imagine a movie with Vincent Price, Peter Cushing, John Barrymore and Christopher Lee. It was actually scary, because it was very well done, but not gory. Then the final twist....

The downside was Desi Arnez Jr., but...

(Incidentally the scenes with Mr. Price in the American Doctor Who trailer were from that movie!)
posted by mephron at 10:31 AM on October 24, 2015


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