Short Story Theater

Fast forward many thousands of years into the future to a land where there hasn't been a crime for 3 millenna!  But now that the stupidest man on Arinor is guarding the treasure, things may change. 

A tale of terror in a nearly empty Cape Cod hotel in the off-season.

The Hounds of Fate will follow you, no matter where you go. You cannot hide from them.

In tropical South Florida, three thieves are preparing to steal the treasure of a retired director of a wildlife research program. They soon find that the treasure is much larger than they expected.

A retired fisherman on Boston's North Shore attempts to catch a ghost ship named The Carolina Queen.

In a classroom, far away in a distant, advanced planet, a student presents his science project - a living, miniature planet that he calls Ear

Thou Shalt Not Kill. It is a commandment, perhaps the most important one. Thou Shalt Not Kill - but there is a caveat, an exception to the rule. In times of war, even your clergyman will slap you on the back, hand you a chocolate bar, and send you off to kill. Bill Russo's tale, The Death Squad, is the story of Private Shadow of the Union Army, who near the end of the U.S. Civil War is assigned to...

In Bill Russo's new tale, the creatures of the Juns Federation - Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune, are poised to conquer earth, by capturing one human being at a time. They have chosen desolate Ragged Mountain in Northern Maine for the starting point of the invasion. A lone disc-jockey sits in a solitary cabin at the top of the peak. In winter it is not possible for any vehicle to scale the icy mounta...

An irreverent, satirical look at the news from June/July 2023

In Hyannis on Cape Cod back in the 1950s, police would respond to a call from the Kennedy Compound in about 2 seconds. A business on busy Main Street could expect to see a response from a call to the police department in five or ten minutes. On Leftover Main, where the tourists don't go, the police won't go! So, on Leftover Main, it's every man for himself. Luckily for The Chicken Man of Leftover...

A sample episode of an unusual comedy-music radio series called Cheese Please, with Snarfdude and Daffodil. If you like the episode, you can listen to the weekly shows on radio or on podcast sites.

The letters E, I, O, and sometimes A, are the last letters of the names of virtually all of the Italian people. Are these letters truly evil? Are the people who have these letters at the end of their name evil? Find out in Bill Russo's mostly true tale of the E, I, E, I, O and sometimes A, people.

The true tale of Dr. Abner Hersey, the eccentric doctor, who willed a forturne to the 13 churches of Cape Cod, and vowed to come back and haunt them, if any 'scobberlochers' mishandled his money.

Short Story Theater, News From the Past - a look at the sad life of one of the worlds' most successful authors. She was born in poverty in a small town, and amassed great wealth, but never found happiness.

A young girl fless an abusive and violent stepfather and ends up on Leftover Main Street in Hyannis, the unofficial capital of Cape Cod. She finds refuge in the toy store of a kindly lady. But back in Boston, the horrid stepfather who raped and beat her, is bent on finding out where she is. He plans to drag her back to Beantown and continuie abusing her.

Journey back to Old Cape Cod in the 1950s where Gable Stone leaves a game of 8 ball, to hunt for the killer of a mob boss, on a trail that runs from Hyannis to Boston to New York.

Millions of readers know the exploits of Sherlock Holmes from the stories of Doctor Watson. In this episode of Bill Russo's Short Story Theater, for the first time, Sherlock Holmes relates a narrative about Watson. The good doctor undertakes a risky mission to build a hospital and he ends up fighting not just to build the structure, but for his very life!

Every night at three hours beyond midnight a man is awakened by a knock on his front door. He walks up to the door and there is no one there, even as the knocking continues. Under increasing strain he calls 'Hostile Haunts' in hopes they can scare off the invisible intruder.

The Second Life of Riley Adair is a brief dramatized query into a consciousness below consciousness. Does it really exist? After you listen to the tale, you be the judge.

Dodge City - Duel at Dawn, is the sequel to "I Grew Up in Dodge City in 1875". Deputry Sheriff Chalky Jones tells about the most unlikely gunfight the "Wild West" ever witnessed.

The Martian Express. A tale of the first human expdition to land on the Red Planet. It is an event that has not yet happened. Or has it?

Knotso Clanky is a storyteller, who is sometimes accused of stretching a little tale into something as big as Sugarloaf Mountain. It is just possible that his account of meeting and becoming a friend of Bigfoot, is somewhat exaggerated!

Today's edition of Short Story Theater is not a fictional tale designed to frighten you but an audio documentary that will frighten you as we take you "Inside the Chicken Coop"

The Death House Rescue - featuring one of the earliest Superheroes - the mysterious and invisible Shadow. In reality The Shadow was a billionaire named Lamont Cranston who went abroad as a youth and learned the secrets of invisibility. As The Shadow he fights the forces of evil.

Far off the coast of Florida, past the last inhabited island (Key West) there was at one time a tiny key, no larger than a big, flat rock. When a crew came to build a lighthouse there, they found the skeletal remains of three escaped convicts. They named the place, Three Skeleton Key. To unlock its secrets, listen to our tale on Short Story Theater.