The Forgotten Radio Show That Terrified A Young Stephen King

"Adventures in time and space, transcribed in future tense." So began every episode of the audio sci-fi series "Dimension X," a popular radio drama that ran for 50 episodes from April of 1950 to September of 1951. Thanks to the gods of the internet, every episode of "Dimension X" has been handily archived, just waiting for rediscovery. Audio dramas have long been something of a fringe interest, at least since the inception of television, and a lot of the medium's more popular shows that ran in the 1940s and 1950s have fallen into the cracks of popular culture. This is a pity, as the medium boasts a wide variety of genres, as well as sharp writing, excellent acting, and bizarre concepts that could never be realized visually. Indeed, we have radio to thank for the proliferation of modern superheroes like Superman.

"Dimension X" is also credited for being the first adult-oriented, regularly broadcast sci-fi series to air on the radio. There had, of course, been other kid-friendly sci-fi shows and single sci-fi episodes of anthology series (we all remember the Mercury Theater's production of "War of the Worlds"), but "Dimension X" was the first regular all sci-fi show. In 1950, the genre was exploding in popularity, and the creatives behind "Dimension X" wanted to jump on the bandwagon. The show's most famous episode might be its adaptation of Ray Bradbury's "The Martian Chronicles," which captured the bleak weirdness of Bradbury's tales. 

It should come as no surprise to learn that Stephen King was a big fan of "Dimension X." Back in 2013, King was a guest on NPR's "Fresh Air," and he shared some of his early memories of sneaking out of bed at night and listening to "Dimension X" through his mom's bedroom door. 

King admitted that he, like many kids, was always drawn to scary things. Kids, after all, love to be scared. (Or, at the least, kids are intrigued by the macabre.) King said that he would read scary stories or listen to scary radio shows and then be too frightened to go to sleep with the lights out. I think this may be a common experience for many kids over the generations. King, in particular, remembered hearing "Dimension X" from his mom's radio at night. 

"For instance, there was a radio program at the time called 'Dimension X,' and my mother didn't really want me to listen to that, because she felt it was too scary for me. So, I would creep out of bed and go to the bedroom door and crack it open. And she loved it, so apparently, I got it from her. But I would listen at the door, and then when the program was over, [...] I'd go back to bed and quake."

King didn't cite any specific episodes that got under his skin, but the show's tone was pretty creepy overall. In a moment of self-analysis, he figured that he loved being scared by "Dimension X" because he loved the emotional engagement that fear provided. It also helped that his mother loved horror and science-fiction, as King recalled them seeing films like "Them!" and "Earth vs. the Flying Saucers" together. She even read him "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." Without really realizing it, King's mother had turned him into a lifelong horror fan. "Basically," he noted, "I had a big imagination, [and] I wanted to put it to work, even at an early age." 

King went on to write some books. Perhaps you've heard of them.