Darren Marlar

Retro Radio: Old Time Radio in the Dark

History EN ↓ 746 episodes

Welcome to Retro Radio: Old Time Radio In The Dark! Here I bring you shows from the Golden Age of Radio in the darker genre. I’ll have classic radio of the macabre and horror, mysteries and crime, and even some dark science fiction.

Author

Darren Marlar

Episodes

He Killed His Blind Uncle And Got Away With It — Then He Heard The Old Man’s Cane 15.04.2026 4:56:32

“The Dead Walk at Night”: A man who murders his blind uncle to claim his inheritance thinks he has escaped justice clean — until the dead man's cane begins tapping its way down the darkened staircase toward his room. | #RetroRadio #WeirdDarkness | EP0630 Look for this podcast on YouTube Music, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and numerous other podcast ap...

STATIC WAX | "The Sound Of The Old Man's Cane" 15.04.2026 3:35

What if a classic radio story became a song — in the time it takes place? Static Wax reimagines featured RetroRadio stories as songs from their era. "The Sound of the Old Man's Cane" is a 1930s-style big band number inspired by Dead Walk at Night, an episode of Inner Sanctum Mysteries originally broadcast on September 20, 1942. The story follows a man who murders his blind uncle to claim his inher...

STATIC WAX: "The Together Place" 14.04.2026 5:30

"The Together Place" is an original Static Wax composition written in the style of a 1940s torch ballad — mournful, intimate, and quietly devastating. The song follows Rose Craven from her first whispered mentions of a sister named Lily, through the shared dreams and shared suffering that bind them across worlds, to the moment Rose closes her eyes and follows her twin into the unknown. The torch b...

She Spoke To A Sister No One Else Could See — And Then She Followed Her Into The Dark 14.04.2026 5:04:42

“The Together Place”: A small-town doctor and his retired nurse are drawn into the haunting mystery of a young woman who speaks with absolute certainty of a twin sister no one has ever seen — and a place called Kamaloka, the Together Place, where the dead are never truly alone. | #RetroRadio #WeirdDarkness | EP0629 Look for this podcast on YouTube Music, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amaz...

STATIC WAX | "The Name On The Door (Means Nothing At All)" 13.04.2026 4:50

A cheerful housewife follows a hunch about her husband's biggest customer — and pulls on a thread that unravels a marriage, a murder, and a spy ring hiding in plain sight. ABOUT THE SONG "The Name On The Door (Means Nothing At All)" is an original Static Wax composition written in the style of a 1970s pop ballad — warm, melodic, and quietly devastating. The song follows Armina Saunders from the mo...

Her Husband's Biggest Customer Didn't Exist — And Someone Was Killed To Keep The Secret 13.04.2026 5:12:38

“For Want of a Nail”: When a woman's plane makes an emergency landing in a small South Dakota town, a quick visit to her husband's biggest customer leads her down a rabbit hole of lies, a fake company, and a murder — and the deeper she digs, the more dangerous the truth becomes. | #RetroRadio #WeirdDarkness | EP0628 Look for this podcast on YouTube Music, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Ama...

He Sold His Soul for Eternal Youth And Hid It Behind a Locked Door | The Picture of Dorian Gray 12.04.2026 4:50:26

“The Picture of Dorian Gray”: When a beautiful young man wishes that his portrait would bear the burden of aging and sin in his place, he is free to pursue a life of endless pleasure and cruelty — but the portrait keeping his terrible secret cannot stay hidden forever. | #RetroRadio #WeirdDarkness | EP0627 Look for this podcast on YouTube Music, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music,...

They Put Him on the Gallows, And the Gallows Refused to Take Him | Haunted Hangman 11.04.2026 5:02:05

“Haunted Hangman”: When the gallows mysteriously fail on the morning of his execution, a convicted murderer's claims of innocence force a desperate prison governor to question whether the real killer has been inside the prison walls all along. | #RetroRadio #WeirdDarkness | EP0626 Look for this podcast on YouTube Music, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, an...

You Don't Get Something for Nothing. Not from Him. Not From The Man With Grey Eyes. 10.04.2026 4:53:07

“The Man In The Black Hat”: A gambler down on his luck gets the surprise of his life when a stranger with cold gray eyes hands him the keys to a brand-new car — no strings attached, no explanation given. From that moment on, nothing but good fortune follows him. But so does the man in the black hat. No matter where he goes, no matter what happens, that same gray-eyed figure keeps turning up — watc...

The Blind Woman on Stage Had Never Met Him — So How Did She Know He Was a Murderer? 09.04.2026 4:52:58

“Leona’s Room”: He thought he'd committed the perfect murder — until a blind woman on a vaudeville stage looked straight at him and told the audience exactly what he'd done. | #RetroRadio #WeirdDarkness | EP0624 CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)… 00:00:00.000 = Show Open 00:01:30.028 = CBS Radio Mystery Theater, “The Secret of Laurels” (July 28, 1977) 00:46:11.039 = Pat Novak For...

He Rented a Room to Strangers. He Had No Idea What They Were Really There For. 08.04.2026 5:00:36

“The Most Famous Man In The World”: The couple who rented the front room dressed wrong, paid in old money, and somehow had tomorrow's newspaper — and those were the least strange things about them. | #RetroRadio #WeirdDarkness | EP0623 CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)… 00:00:00.000 = Show Open 00:01:30.028 = CBS Radio Mystery Theater, “The Rockets Red Glare” (July 26, 1977) 00:46...

The Soprano, the Gorilla, and Dr. Luther's Terrible Secret | Kidnapped at 30,000 Feet 07.04.2026 4:58:58

“Spawn of Subhuman”: A famous soprano and her manager discover their plane is being piloted by a gorilla — and the madman who arranged their kidnapping has far worse plans waiting for them on the ground. | #RetroRadio #WeirdDarkness | EP0622 CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)… 00:00:00.000 = Show Open 00:01:30.028 = CBS Radio Mystery Theater, “Rendezvous With Death” (July 21, 1977)...

Three Killers, One Prisoner, and a Ghost That Hadn't Rested in 850 Years 06.04.2026 5:05:33

“Ancestor”: Three killers have a woman locked in the dark, a river running below to swallow her body — but something far older than any of them just heard her crying. Something that died eight centuries ago. | #RetroRadio #WeirdDarkness | EP0621 CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)… 00:00:00.000 = Show Open 00:01:30.028 = CBS Radio Mystery Theater, “The Mysterious Island” (July 19, 1...

The Little Silver Box With a Terrifying Secret | An Ancient Evil Stands Between Him and His Love 05.04.2026 5:09:21

“The Bisara of Pooree”: Set in 1891 British India, Major John Churton is riding a streak of bad luck — a robbery, the death of his horse, a rejected invention — when he becomes engaged to the woman of his dreams, Millicent Hollis. His old friend Tom Futon recognizes the source of the trouble: a small silver box called the Bissara of Puri, containing a tiny eyeless wooden fish, which Churton unknow...

The Locals Said He Was the Devil. The Rich Americans Didn't Listen. 04.04.2026 4:59:26

“The Kingdom Below”: When a wealthy American family accepts a lunch invitation from the mysterious Prince of Porto Corvo, they don't realize that sitting down at his table may cost them far more than they ever imagined — perhaps even their very souls. The locals have been warning strangers about this prince for centuries, and now it's too late to turn back. | #RetroRadio #WeirdDarkness | EP0619 CH...

What Would You Sell for $5,000? | The Strange Pawn Shop That Only Dealt in One Currency — Time. 03.04.2026 5:09:25

“Time On My Hands”: A broke and desperate drifter thinks he's found the answer to all his problems when a mysterious pawnbroker offers him $5,000 cash for something Joe has plenty of — time — but the true cost of that bargain doesn't reveal itself until it's far too late to walk away. | #RetroRadio #WeirdDarkness | EP0618 CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)… 00:00:00.000 = Show Open...

The Foster Child Who May Have Brought Something Terrifying Into Their Home 02.04.2026 5:05:01

“Semi-Detached”: When a foster child's arrival coincides with a rash of terrifying unexplained events in their home, a couple and the psychiatrist brought in to investigate begin to suspect the girl may be unleashing some kind of psychic force — but the truth behind the disturbances is far more disturbing than anyone imagined. | #RetroRadio #WeirdDarkness | EP0617 CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All T...

He Murdered His Best Friend — Then His Best Friend Came Back To Thank Him 01.04.2026 5:08:19

“The Gift”: When Walter Powers helps his lover murder her wealthy husband, he thinks he's gotten away with the perfect crime — until the dead man shows up at his apartment that same night with a gift, a warning, and knowledge of secrets that no living person could possibly know. | #RetroRadio #WeirdDarkness | EP0616 CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)… 00:00:00.000 = Show Open 00:01...

She Went to a Church Dance. She Came Back in a Stolen Car With No Memory. 31.03.2026 5:04:04

“A Stranger Among Us”: A chance encounter at a church social leads a widowed mother down a rabbit hole of missing time, stolen cars, and hypnotic revelations — and what she remembers from that lost night is only the beginning. | #RetroRadio #WeirdDarkness | EP0615 CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)… 00:00:00.000 = Show Open 00:01:30.028 = CBS Radio Mystery Theater, “A Stranger Amon...

She Said They Were Coming to Kill Her. She Was Right, But Not How You Think! | I Love a Mystery 29.03.2026 2:57:12

A terrified young woman is convinced that invisible forces are closing in on her family — and she's right, but not for any reason anyone could have predicted. | #RetroRadio #WeirdDarkness | EP0614 CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)… 00:00:00.000 = Show Open 00:01:30.028 = I Love a Mystery, “Thing That Cries In The Night” (October 31, 1949) 00:13:13.023 = I Love a Mystery, “Thing Th...

The Hex, the Servant, and the Secret Nobody Saw Coming | She Was Right To Be Afraid 29.03.2026 5:08:27

“Hexed” | A newlywed American woman in Ceylon becomes convinced she is cursed — but the most dangerous thing on the island may be the secret she's been keeping from her husband. | #RetroRadio #WeirdDarkness | EP0613 CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)… 00:00:00.000 = Show Open 00:01:30.028 = CBS Radio Mystery Theater, “Hexed” (July 05, 1977) ***WD 00:45:45.100 = 5 Minute Mysteries,...

One Misstep In A Snowy Graveyard Changed Everything — "Gravestone" 27.03.2026 4:57:57

“Gravestone”: When three women on a winter hike stumble into a snow-covered graveyard and one accidentally dances on a grave, what follows will make them question everything they thought they knew about the boundary between the living and the dead. | #RetroRadio #WeirdDarkness | EP0612 CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)… 00:00:00.000 = Show Open 00:01:30.028 = CBS Radio Mystery The...

Something Is Living Under The Town, And It's Been Growing For Years! | Elmer Versus The Mutant Rats 26.03.2026 4:50:38

“Elmer Versus The Mutant Rats”: When a small-town manure hauler's quiet vacation gets interrupted by rats the size of chihuahuas, it turns out that's just the beginning — because something much, much bigger is living underneath the entire town. | #RetroRadio #WeirdDarkness | EP0611 CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)… 00:00:00.000 = Show Open 00:01:30.028 = CBS Radio Mystery Theater...

He Was The Only One Who Still Went Outside. That Was His Crime. | “The Pedestrian” by Ray Bradbury 25.03.2026 5:06:48

“The Pedestrian” by Ray Bradbury | In a future where everyone stays indoors and stares at screens, one man's simple evening walk is enough to get him arrested. | #RetroRadio #WeirdDarkness | EP0610 CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)… 00:00:00.000 = Show Open 00:01:30.028 = CBS Radio Mystery Theater, “The Adventure of the Speckled Band” (June 28, 1977) ***WD 00:46:35.629 = Theater F...

Stranded on an Uncharted Island, He Discovered Something That Could End Humanity 24.03.2026 5:11:35

“Conquerors Isle” | A Navy pilot rescued from a Pacific life raft tells his psychiatrist a terrifying story — that somewhere beneath an uncharted island, a race of beings far beyond human intelligence is quietly preparing to take over the world. | #RetroRadio #WeirdDarkness | EP0609 CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)… 00:00:00.000 = Show Open 00:01:30.028 = CBS Radio Mystery Theate...