Suspense: The Hitch-Hiker (1942)

Suspense: Old-Time Radio Suspense and Mystery · Oct 28, 2026 · 29m

Ronald Adams, a young driver, sets out from Brooklyn for California in his Buick. Along the route he keeps seeing the same thin, drab hitchhiker carrying a cheap overnight bag, always appearing at the roadside where he least expects him. Orson Welles introduces the Suspense episode The Hitch-Hiker, first broadcast on September 2, 1942, on the Columbia Network. Adams grows increasingly unnerved as the figure reappears in town after town, and he becomes desperate for reassurance. The story is told in his own voice as he recounts the trip, describing his fear and his attempts to make sense of…