Suspense 440113 074 Dime A Dance (128 44) 28188 29m43s

# Suspense: "Dime A Dance"

Picture the smoky haze of a dimly lit dance hall, where desperate men clutch worn dollar bills and women in sequined dresses move mechanically through the motions of a ten-cent romance. In this chilling installment of *Suspense*, listeners are drawn into the shadowy underbelly of Depression-era entertainment, where a seemingly innocent transaction becomes a ticket to something far more sinister. A man steps into this world of transactional intimacy, unaware that his pursuit of companionship will ensnare him in a web of deception and danger. As the orchestra swells and the unseen orchestra plays, every interaction crackles with menace—is the dance hall operator running an honest business, or is something far more nefarious unfolding in those dim corners? The tension builds relentlessly as our protagonist discovers that in this world, the cost of a single dance may be far higher than the dime required to purchase it.

For two decades, *Suspense* reigned as America's premier thriller program, consistently delivering tales that lingered in the darkness long after the broadcast ended. CBS's commitment to the genre produced some of radio's most innovative work, attracting top-tier talent both behind the microphone and in the control booth. "Dime A Dance" exemplifies the show's genius for mining ordinary settings—a dance hall, a street corner, a single room—and extracting extraordinary dread from them. With nearly 1,000 episodes produced across its storied run, the series mastered the art of psychological terror delivered through sound alone.

Whether you're a devoted fan of classic radio or discovering *Suspense* for the first time, this nearly thirty-minute episode offers the perfect entry point into radio's golden age of thriller programming. Dim the lights, turn up the volume, and prepare yourself for a descent into the tawdry world of dime-a-dance establishments where nothing—and no one—is quite what they seem.