In "The Spider," a woman is captured by a strange old man who wants to use her head for his craft project.
As the episode opens, Bob and Murial Torre are honeymooning in Driftwood Springs, Florida. Both are dedicated scientists. So dedicated, that Bob leaves his new bride to catch the tide and do some marine biology stuff that morning. He puts some jars in his backpack and prepares to leave. Muriel isn't upset about being alone that day, she has plans to visit the Chipola Swamp to look for the white-billed woodpecker. She is determined to photograph it, but when she reaches for her camera....Ahhhhhh! A spider! Muriel is terrified, so Bob goes into the other room and smacks the life out of it. When he returns, Muriel says she is fine. She just has a severe phobia of spiders because of an incident that happened in grade school. She tells him to leave.
Well, their landlady arrives with a machete because she heard that screaming. Muriel explains that a spider brushed her hand and it frightened her. That's all. Now she is off to the Chipola Swamp to hunt that white-billed....uh-oh, now her landlady looks worried. She tells Muriel about the father and son who went up there and disappeared! They were looking for the white-billed woodpecker, too. Muriel doesn't believe there is any reason to be afraid. She knows what she is doing, and she can handle herself.
When we next see Muriel she hopelessly lost in the middle of a swamp. She has been walking in circles for miles and now it is dark. Suddenly, she sees a light. A cabin!
She knocks on the door, and a strange old man admits her into his well appointed cabin. His name is Roger Entwhistle, Ph.d. and he welcomes her with a drink. She is happy to find such a civilized place in the middle of nowhere--until she finds out he doesn't have a phone. How will her husband know where she is? The doctor assures her that in the morning his servant will come and then take her back to town. For the time being, she has no choice but to stay. He asks to feel her face, because he lost his sight many years ago. He finds her face very interesting.
The doctor is a gracious host, but Muriel is still worried. He offers her a wee dram of his "jungle special" to help with her nerves. He then tries to take her mind of her husband by showing Muriel his two most priceless possessions. They are examples of the sort of ceremonial headshrinking done by the Jivaro Indians in South America. Muriel is interested until the doctor tells her that they weren't created by the Jivaro--he created them using their methods! The father and son that were lost in the swamp last year--those were the heads he used. Muriel is horrified, but she suddenly finds she is having trouble moving, expressing, talking...darn that "jungle special!" Now she can't move. Her eyes are open but she is paralyzed. Then, she sees a spider on the ceiling coming down towards her....
Will she be able to escape?
"The Spider" does not contain any of the original credits or Autolite commercials, so the names of the writers aren't given. The ending seems like it may have been clipped, but it also may have been written that way. Olive Deering starred as Muriel, and Arnold Moss as the doctor. Robert Stevens produced.This episode aired on January 15, 1952. This episode is available on disc two of Suspense: The Lost Episodes Collection Three.
