The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society

Our thanks to David and Colleen for recommending this week’s episode! This installment from our Listener Library is an episode of Quiet Please entitled “Let the Lilies Consider,” in which a man accused of murdering his wife insists that she has become a large lily. Wyllis Cooper wrote this surreal tale of love and strange botany. Will the man’s story exonerate him? What truly happened? Is this sto...

This week we feature another episode from our Listener Library, this time a story entitled “Hands of Death” from The Sealed Book , recommended to us by Jill. Many thanks, Jill! It’s the story of two brothers, one driven to murder by his monstrous hands and the other obsessed with collecting murder-related memorabilia. After a disputed inheritance has driven them apart, their reunion is a macabre b...

We’re running a little late this week—out humblest apologies! Our Listener Library is again featured in this week. This time, we’re listening to “It Happened” from Lights Out , recommended to us from a fan on Instagram! The recording tells the story of a young girl, eager to explore her own freedom, runs away from her tour group in Paris. Her quest for fun and adventure soon takes a dark turn as s...

We continue to delve into our Listener Library, this time featuring an episode of Suspense entitled “The Devil’s Saint” by John Dickson Carr ! The story was recommended to us by Hubert after listening to our take on the Cabin B-13 version of the same story using the title, “The Sleep of Death!” Carr’s story tells the story of a young woman and her mysterious uncle, played by the one and only Peter...

This week’s visit to our Listener Library features a classic Ray Bradbury story as adapted by X Minus One ! Our thanks to Cheryl (author of The Viv and Charlie Mystery Series !) for recommending this episode, “ Mars is Heaven ,” based on part of Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles (although it was originally published in Planet Stories ).  An exploratory mission to Mars discovers strangely familiar...

Join us for “A World of Darkness” from Suspense ! We’re continuing to pull episodes from our Listener Library and this story was recommended to us by Bart. Thanks, Bart! “A World of Darkness” features the investigation of a young woman’s murder. The police have an array of likely suspects and one witness—a man who cannot see (played by Paul Lukas ). This man claims to know who killed her and how....

We’re still exploring our Listener Library, and this week our thanks go to Christian for recommending “Bloodbath,” an episode of Escape , featuring Vincent Price . Five men in the middle of the jungle discover a vast uranium deposit and a fortune awaits any survivors who reach civilization. But the fewer survivors there are, the more money awaits. Is nature crueler than the greed of humanity? Are...

This week we are listening to another episode of the Canadian series, Nightfall ! Our thanks to Ashley for recommending “Assassin Game” to us! Saul Rubinek stars in this rare science fiction story from the series. In the future year of 1994, the finest students at prestigious universities prove their competitive edge by playing a game of assassination . But as corporate influence begins to increas...

We are back in the Listener Library, this time exploring “A Country Road,” an episode of Suspense recommended to us by Donal. Many thanks, Donal! Cary Grant stars in this thriller about a married couple who take an ill-timed shortcut that leaves them stuck with a deranged killer on the loose. Is there any escape from their predicament? When the danger arrives, will their fears paralyze them? Do yo...

We are back in the Listener Library! Because Darrell requested it, we’re listening to an adaptation of a Philip K. Dick story , specifically an episode of X Minus One entitled “Colony!” In a search for a suitable planet to colonize, a ship’s crew examine a world that seems too good to be true. Why have their possessions suddenly turned against their owners? Is there any way to know which items are...

We continue to explore our Listener Library! This time, we listen to “Valse Triste,” an episode of Lights Out recommended to us by Lionel. Thanks, Lionel!  Two young women stumble upon a mysterious hermit who commits their fate to the outcome of a coin toss. Can anything be done to escape the deadly consequences? How does the famed composition Valse Triste relate to the themes of this story? What...

It’s another week of catching up on our Listener Library! This time, thanks to a recommendation from Holly, we are listening to “The Thing in the Cave,” from CBS Radio Mystery Theater . A group of speleologists find themselves trapped in a cave reputed to be inhabited by a monstrous creature. Can they overcome their own shortcomings to survive? Is there really a monster that dwells in this subterr...

Our thanks to Jeff for suggesting we listen to “The Ravine” from Bradbury 13 !  Based on acclaimed writer Ray Bradbury’s short story “The Whole Town’s Sleeping,” this episode tells the story of a dark night in a small town. Despite a murderer being on the loose, three young women brave a trip to the movies. Will they dare pass through the ravine where the killer lurks? Why is Lavinia so determined...

This week, esoteric scholarship leads to… Murder at Midnight ! In this episode, “The Kabbalah,” a professor of the occult suddenly comes into possession of a strange, ancient book. Inside he discovers a forgotten version of the Kabbalah , and uses this system of transforming words into numbers to reveal hidden truths of the universe. It not only answers questions about the future, but also seems t...

UPDATE: Our guess for the episode’s initial broadcast is incorrect! That was a rebroadcast of an episode aired on August 22, 1952. Our thanks to Will for recommending this Hall of Fantasy episode, “The Castle of Lavoca!” Or maybe it’s “The Castle of Drago.” Or it may be “The Legend of Drago.” Regardless of the proper name, the story depicts two American tourists who visit a small Eastern European...

Wyllis Cooper and Ernest Chappell have invited the Society down to “Beezer’s Cellar” for this story from the celebrated series Quiet, Please . Three thieves decide to hide their loot in the supposedly haunted cellar of a remote, unfinished house. What dark powers await them in that underground room? How much terror will they endure for $82,000? Would you buy a warm and dangerous blanket ? Listen f...

(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...