DARK ADVENTURE RADIO THEATRE - THE CALL OF CTHULHU - Read-along Script

Oct 6, 2026

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Read-along script for Dark Adventure Radio Theatre’s episode “The Call of Cthulhu,” based on H. P. Lovecraft’s story. The opening introduces the show’s host and the episode’s horror premise: a murder in a public park, a plagued artist, a police inspector facing occult rites, and sailors confronting an inhuman sea-monster. The script then begins the crime-scene sequence with Boston police officers, witness dialogue, and the discovery of victim identification details, setting up the unfolding investigation and growing dread.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryComic

FormatPDF

Pages82

Reading Time31 min

AccessFree to download

INTRODUCTION

CRIME SCENE

THURSTON’S APARTMENT

DARK ADVENTURE RADIO THEATRE: THE CALL OF CTHULHU Written by Sean Branney and Andrew Leman Based on "The Call of Cthulhu" by H . P . Lovecraft Read-along Script June 28, 2012 ©2012 by HPLHS Inc . All Rights Reserved . NOTICE: This script is provided as a convenience only to DART listeners to follow along with the recorded show . It is not licensed for professional or amateur performance of any kind . Inquiries regarding performance rights should be sent to [keeper@cthulhulives.org](keeper@cthulhulives.org) 1 INTRODUCTION 1 SFX: static, radio tuning, snippet of 30s song, more tuning, static dissolves to: Dark Adventure Radio THEME MUSIC . ANNOUNCER Tales of intrigue, adventure, and the mysterious occult that will stir your imagination and make your very blood run cold . MUSIC CRESCENDO . ANNOUNCER (CONT’D) This is Dark Adventure Radio Theatre, with your host Erskine Blackwell . Today’s episode: H .P . Lovecraft’s “The Call of Cthulhu”. MUSIC DIMINISHES . The sound of the ocean: surging WAVES and weather, the CRY of a gull. There is occasional STATIC, as though the radio is imperfectly tuned . ERSKINE BLACKWELL A random murder in a public park. An artist wracked by fantastical and haunting dreams . A police inspector confronting the depraved rites of a voodoo cult . Intrepid sailors pitted against a diabolical monstrosity risen from the bottom of the sea . And one man, doomed to understand that such things foretell madness and the end of mankind . A few piano notes from the FORHAN’S TOOTHPASTE JINGLE . ERSKINE BLACKWELL (CONT’D) Mmmm-mmm, nothing like a marvelous meal prepared by an expert chef . But did you know, those delicious creamy foods can lead to gum irritation, Vincent’s disease and even pyorrhea? But if you brush morning and night with Forhan’s Toothpaste, you need not worry about these serious medical conditions . Forhan’s is the only dentifrice made with Zithranite-a powerful agent to stimulate and protect your gums . (MORE) First Revision 2. ERSKINE BLACKWELL (CONT’D) So go ahead, eat like a king, but make sure you brush with Forhan’s! Dark Adventure LEAD-IN MUSIC . ERSKINE BLACKWELL (CONT’D) Ladies and Gentlemen, Algernon Blackwood, the great British author of weird fiction, once wrote: “Of such great powers or beings there may be conceivably a survival . . . a survival of a hugely remote period when consciousness was manifested, perhaps, in shapes and forms long since withdrawn before the tide of advancing humanity. . . forms of which poetry and legend alone have caught a flying memory and called them gods, monsters, mythical beings of all sorts and kinds . . .” And now Dark Adventure Radio Theatre presents: H .P . Lovecraft’s “The Call of Cthulhu”. TRANSITION MUSIC . SOME STATIC . ERSKINE BLACKWELL (CONT’D) Prologue-Found Among the Papers of the Late Francis Wayland Thurston . 2 CRIME SCENE 2 The SIREN of a police car cuts through the MURMURS of a crowd gathering at a crime scene . The siren cuts out and the car doors OPEN . SGT . NICK HALE, a burly Boston police sergeant, speaks to another cop . HALE C’mon, get these people back . They’ll disturb my crime scene . Hey, get back, you! Make way . Evening, Detective Mallory . FOOTSTEPS leave the car and approach the sergeant. A MATCH STRIKES and lights a Fleur-de-Lys cigarette. DETECTIVE MALLORY takes a long drag off it . His quick cool banter belies his poet’s heart . MALLORY Another Monday night in Boston, eh, Sgt . Hale? What do we got? First Revision 3. HALE Some uptown blueblood from the looks of him . Probably another robbery. Single quick stab between the ribs . What do you think, Mallory? Maybe a real sharp knife? MALLORY Hell of a way to lose your wallet . Anybody see anything? HALE We got a neighbor. (to bystander) You! The detective wants a word with you . A

FAQs

What source work is “The Call of Cthulhu” based on in this script?

It is based on “The Call of Cthulhu” by H. P. Lovecraft.

Who hosts and narrates this Dark Adventure Radio Theatre episode?

The episode is presented with your host Erskine Blackwell.

What starts the story’s plot in the “Crime Scene” section?

A police siren and officers arrive at a crime scene to respond to a murder in a public park and interview witnesses.

Oct 6, 2026

Upload by Fahsai