The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society

(UPDATE! As one of our listeners astutely pointed out in the comments: “This episode is actually from the Australian run of the series, not the American and Miriam Wolfe is not in this episode.” Thank you, Jeff, for catching the mistake! Our apologies for the error.) This week, the Society revisits Alonzo Deen Cole’s landmark series The Witch’s Tale ! “The Firing Squad” presents the story of a Wor...

Bela Lugosi beckons us to enter The Mystery House !  This recording, “The Thirsty Death,” is a considerable mystery unto itself. The story features Lugosi and John Carradine in a mad tale of love, suspicion, and rabies in the jungle. What terrible revenge has Lugosi’s character concocted for his revenge? How did this episode get made in the first place? Why would someone move to a city being terro...

The Society looks to the stars with “Cold Equations,” an episode of X Minus One ! Based on a short story by Tom Godwin , this is the tale of a pilot on the frontiers of space who suddenly finds a young woman stowed away, forcing him into a moral quandary. What mechanical computational process will determine her fate? Is there any way to save her? Why is Eric judging people’s DVD purchases? Listen...

This week Murder by Experts is back with an episode called “I Dreamt I Died!” A wife wakes up in the middle of the night having dreamt that her husband tried to kill her, starting what may or may not be a murder mystery featuring two characters and set in a bed. Is it a meaningless flight of fancy or an ominous warning? How could the police possibly fail to solve this case? HOW DO YOU EAT YOUR HAM...

This week’s episode is gratefully dedicated to Trish and her father Lee. Our sincerest thanks to them for allowing us to share their story. Trish recommended we listen to an episode of The Shadow , “The Laughing Corpse!” In this story, the mysterious crime fighter encounters cadavers who continue to laugh even in death. What horror has contorted the faces of these dead men into a wicked grin? Why...

The Chase is on! This week, we listen to “The Newspaper Reporter,” from Lawrence Klee’s adventure series dedicated to stories of the hunter and the hunted! A reporter catches a shot at the story of a lifetime, but he soon finds a dead body and becomes the target of an elaborate conspiracy. Will he survive long enough to discover the shocking truth behind this conspiracy? Who is the mysterious figu...

Mystery Theatre CBC presented this adaptation of Algernon Blackwood ’s “ The Wendigo !” Theatre 10:30 also presented this adaptation of Algernon Blackwood’s “The Wendigo!” What’s the relationship between them? We don’t know! We do know it’s a story about two men on a hunting expedition who find themselves abruptly abandoned.  What monstrous thing abducted their guide and left behind such strange t...

This episode of Inner Sanctum Mystery , “The Shadow of Death,” tells the story of a man who believes that his dreams foretell death in the real world!  Is this young man suffering from a delusion or is something supernatural killing those around him? Just how many twists does this plot have? Are we getting a glimpse of Mary the Lipton Tea Lady’s dark side? Listen for yourself and find out! (This w...

The sun is going down and the Society is again paying a visit to Escape , this time to peruse their adaptation of John Collier’s short story, “Evening Primrose.” A strange journal is scribbled on a notepad found on a shop shelf. This journal tells the tale of a young poet who abandons society only to discover a strange nocturnal world within a department store.  Would living in a department store...

The Society is taking off to the Great White North to pass the evening with “The Club of Dead Men,” an episode of the Canadian series, Nightfall ! Based on a short story by James Wentworth Day , this episode tells the tale of a young Cambridge student who learns the story of a debauched 18th century club that continues to meet even after death. Can this student attend one of their meetings and sur...

It’s Valentine’s Day and we celebrate by welcoming Eric’s wife, Shanan Custer, as our special guest! She’s brought us a Lucille Fletcher -penned episode of Suspense entitled “Dark Journey!” A young woman claims that she can manipulate people and events by the sheer power of her will. Does she truly possess such supernatural powers? Who is truly to blame for the consequences that ensue? Sasquatch,...

Guy de Maupassant’s classic short story was adapted by Mystery in the Air for this week’s episode, “ The Horla !” Peter Lorre stars in this story a man tormented by an invisible presence. Where did this shadowy nightmare come from? How far will this narrator go to rid himself of this creature? Is this secretly a really disturbing episode of the Shadow? Would you book a flight to Lorretown? Listen...

This week we’re listening to the earlier of Agnes Moorehead’s two performances of “The Yellow Wallpaper” from Suspense ! Our thanks to Mark for recommending this adaptation of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story ! A new mother is being kept by her husband in a room adorned with yellow wallpaper, allegedly for her health. Is her madness causing her to see things in the wallpaper’s pattern? Are t...

Listener Jamie recommended this week’s episode, “Weekend Vacation” from The Darkness ! Thanks, Jamie! A vacationing family winds up in a strange old motel operated by an elderly woman and her child-like brute of a grandson. What dark fate awaits the guests on their vacation? Is this story as simple as it seems? Has our hearing really gotten that bad? I SAID HAS OUR HEARING REALLY GOTTEN THAT BAD?...

Our thanks to Ryan for suggesting “The Iron Coffin” from The Adventures of Philip Marlowe , part of our Listener Library series! Raymond Chandler’s famous hard-boiled detective investigates a 16th century castle moved stone by stone from Spain to California, including the coffins that store the castle’s ancient family. What are the strange sounds that have been heard in the castle’s crypt? Is a ha...

The holiday season is over and the Society is back with an episode from our Listener Library. Our thanks to Dee for suggesting “If You Believe,” a strange story told by The Mysterious Traveler ! A disreputable reporter publishes the story of a disgraced scientist’s efforts to create life from protoplasm. Is it easier to believe something cynical rather than something hopeful? Can the themes of the...

The Society is settled in for Christmas with some hot cocoa and a classic Charles Dickens ghost story, adapted by Suspense ! In this case, we’re listening to Dickens’ other classic ghost story, “The Signal-Man.” In this episode Sarah Churchill plays a reporter whose fascination with trains leads her to interview an old rail worker. She discovers the man is haunted by strange visions—visions which...

The Weird Circle brought a little something to our holiday party, the supernatural tale of a Christmas descent into desperation with a man named “Markheim!” Based on the short story by Robert Louis Stevenson , this Christmas classic features a young man confronting the dark impulses of his own dark reflection. Will his misdeeds come back to haunt him? Can he free himself from the malicious voice t...

He knows when you’ve been bad or good and he knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men! The Shadow has brought the Society “A Gift of Murder!” Lamont Cranston and Margo Lane show up to a holiday party with a murderer on the guest list! Will Christmas be ruined? Was anyone else invited to this party? If this gift doesn’t work, can it be exchanged? Listen for yourself and find out!

(UPDATE! One of our astute listeners (thank you, Mike!) noticed that we have misidentified the origin of this recording! This is in fact from the 1955 run of The Clock, recorded in Australia. Our humblest apologies for the error.) The Society finally has finally turned their attention to The Clock ! Howard Williams has moved to a small town, where everyone seems considerate and happy to help a nei...

Our thanks to Scott for suggesting “Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper” from Mystery Playhouse ! The series, hosted by Peter Lorre , re-purposed other radio series (in this case Molle Mystery Theater ) for the Armed Forces Network . This particular episode was an adaptation of a short story by Robert Bloch about a hunt for London’s notorious killer in 1945 Chicago! Could Jack the Ripper still be claimin...

Once again, it’s later than the we think and we are listening to Lights Out ! This time, we indulge in “Revolt of the Worms,” an episode from the Arch Oboler era of the series. In the face of a war-torn world, brilliant scientist Charles Prentice retreats to develop the perfect rose. But even in his far-off laboratory there is something monstrous in the earth. Based on the title, can you guess wha...

We may not know much about the 1984 BBC series, Spine Chillers , but that won’t stop the Society from checking out “Dracula in White” by Peter Redgrove . A journalist investigates strange stories of prisoners disappearing from a prison, but soon finds herself caught by the man known as Dracula in White! Do the missing inmates have anything to do with the delicious canned meat produced within the p...

Monster Month concludes with Mercury Theatre on the Air’s adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula ! Orson Welles was only 23 years old when his version of this classic tale was broadcast, featuring himself in the title role. A mysterious Transylvanian noble comes to England, and everywhere he goes, death follows. Can those victims transformed into undead things be saved? Will this adaptation’s adheren...

He’s no werewolf or mummy, but Edgar Allen Poe certainly deserves his spot in our Monster Month! This week, we’re listening to Boris Karloff in Inner Sanctum Mysteries’ adaptation of “The Tell-Tale Heart!” Two peculiar strangers share a home until madness drives one of them to deadly extremes. How will Inner Sanctum’s outlandish style transform Poe’s famous short story? Can the restoration of part...