The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society

Thanks to our Mysterious Listener Emmett whose enthusiasm for Crime Classics brings us to the Listener Library for an episode entitled “The Crime of Bathsheba Spooner!” Based on the true story of the first woman to be executed in the United States, the script depicts her plot to murder her own husband. How did the man really die? Who all would suffer the consequences? Did Joshua do a whole bunch o...

We’re trying something new this week, Let George Do It! In this episode, detective George Valentine is hired by a wealthy man who has been thwarted in his attempt to spend a million dollars! The railroad he hopes to buy is losing money and may be haunted. Why has a different detective been hired to follow this potential buyer? Why was one of the trains stopped in the middle of a desert at night? W...

Our thanks to our Mysterious Listener Mike for this visit to the Listener Library! Mike recommended we check out the episode of X Minus One entitled, “Mr. Costello, Hero.” The script is an adaptation of Theodore Sturgeon’s short story about a space-faring ship’s purser who encounters a passenger with a peculiar world view and a gift for manipulating others. After leaving the ship, the passenger’s...

For this week’s episode, we went to some experts! Specifically we went to Murder by Experts for a story entitled “Conspiracy!” When a torrential rain threatens to wash away a city, a journalist discovers that the storm is a nearly perfect opportunity to get away with murder! Nearly, but not perfect. A witness to the crime runs off into the flood! Will the killer catch up with this witness to the c...

Our mysterious listener Jillion sent us to the Listener Library for an episode of The Chase entitled “Long Distance”! Thanks, Jillion! The story features Jan Miner as the distraught wife of a man about to be executed for a murder he didn’t commit. Having just found evidence to exonerate him, she’s racing against the clock to get someone on the phone who can stop the execution! Can she reach the ju...

We’re listening to one of Arch Oboler’s most Arch Oboler contributions to the famed series Lights Out , an episode entitled, “Murder in the Script Department!” The story features a pair of typists who are obliged to work late into the night to complete a particularly terrifying script for Lights Out . As the evening wears on, a series of unexplainable and terrifying events convince the two women t...

It’s our 300th episode and we’re celebrating with the second half of “Donovan’s Brain,” a special presentation from Suspense! Last week we listened to the first installment, recommended to us by our mysterious listener and Patreon supporter Trevor. Thanks, Trevor! The story features Orson Welles as a scientist experimenting with a brain that has been removed from its body. What sort of strange inf...

We’re on the brink of our 300th episode and we’re marking the event with a special visit to the Listener Library! Our mysterious listener and Patreon supporter Trevor recommended we listen to “Donovan’s Brain,” the first two-part installment of Suspense. Thanks, Trevor! The story features Orson Welles as a scientist convinced he can keep a brain alive even after the body has perished. But the purs...

Our thanks to our Mysterious Listener Jessica for directing us to the Listener Library for this adaptation of a Dashiell Hammett’s short story “Two Sharp Knives,” presented by Suspense! In this episode, a small town chief of police and his assistant arrest a fugitive wanted for murder. But a lot can happen while they wait for the Philadelphia authorities. Is the man truly guilty of the crime? Who...

BIG TOWN! We’re headed to BIG TOWN for an episode entitled “Double Murder,” in which a woman visits the Illustrated Press to get help finding her missing twin sister. As editor Steve Wilson digs into the disappearance, he discovers lies, bribes, and murder! Will he learn what happened to the missing sister? What are the two murders referred to in the title? Is this story avuncular enough? Listen f...

We’re returning to the Weird Circle for an episode entitled “The Doll,” an adaptation of Fitz-James O’Brien’s short story, “The Wondersmith.” The story begins with the creator of an ingenious doll confessing to the murder of a fortune teller. And it only gets stranger from there. What criminal plot first brought the two of them together? What arcane secret makes this doll so special? Would a readi...

This episode of Suspense comes from the Listener Library, recommended to us by our Mysterious Listener, Pip. Thanks, Pip! “Murderous Revision” features a writer of crime stories who loses his job after clashing with his producer over the quality of his scripts. To take his revenge and prove his mastery, he plans to record a murder of his own design. Will this fatal script be any good? Can he succe...

This trip to the Listener Library is at the request of a whole family of Mysterious Old Radio Listeners and Patreon supporters! Our thanks to Tom, Barb, Christy, and Jeff! They’ve sent us to “The Black Tie Affair” from Bold Venture starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall! The iconic duo star as Slate and Sailor, Americans living abroad in Havana, having adventures, and exchanging romantic wit....

This time, we are joined by one of our most generous Patreon supporters, Michael! We’re listening to an episode Michael chose for us, “Dark Side of the Mind” from Nightfall! In this story, a married couple reunite with an old college friend, only to discover that he’s grown more cynical and morose. Why is he so sensitive about talking about his family? Is it related to the mysterious murders in to...

Eric brings us back for another visit to The Shadow, this time with a story entitled, “The Island of Ancient Death!” In this story, Margo and Lamont come to an exotic island at the request of a woman who has seen her own face painted in a horrific mural. What secrets lie hidden within the island’s ancient tunnels? What sort of scientific experiment is this woman’s husband pursuing? What major crim...

This week, we’re listening to another episode of Vanishing Point, the mind-bending Canadian series from the 1980s. “Split Second” is an adaptation of a story by Daphne du Maurier about a woman who leaves her home for a short walk and returns to find the world is not as she left it. Is she the victim of an elaborate crime? Is she suffering from amnesia or hallucinating her own identity? What if Ebe...

Joshua has brought another episode of Frontier Gentleman hoping that it receives a warmer reception than his first try! This episode, entitled “Powder River Kid,” features the titular British journalist on a carriage ride across Montana in the company of a chatty bullwhacker and his doddering old father. But soon the party finds a trio of desperate strangers, one of whom has been shot. It leads th...

Our thanks to our Mysterious Listener and Patreon Supporter Carl for recommending this episode from the Listener Library, “Zero Hour” from Suspense! This adaptation of a story by Ray Bradbury features a strange children’s game called “invasion.” This game seems to have suddenly become an obsession of kids across the country, all working toward a particular deadline. Who is the mysterious Mr. Drill...

We’re listening to our first episode of Sears Radio Theater, “Milwaukee Deep,” one of the show’s Friday night installments, featuring tales of high adventure! The story features a coast guard officer sent undercover to investigate a string of missing ships, seemingly lost in the depths of the Milwaukee Deep. His investigation soon brings him face to face with pirates and ancient gods! Will he disc...

We’re paying another visit to Inner Sanctum Mystery with an episode rebroadcast by the Armed Forces Radio Network, “The Devil’s Workshop,” by John Roeburt! The story features a man who has dedicated his life to the creation of sinister wax figures, sold to wax museums around the world. But within his workshop, the real and the unreal become indistinguishable and evil takes on a life of its own. Do...

This week is our first foray into Pete Kelly’s Blues, a series featuring Jack Webb as a jazz cornet player who gets wrapped up in the seedy side of Prohibition-era Kansas City. This episode, entitled “Little Jake,” features Pete receiving an unwanted envelope that leads to brutal violence and unspeakable tragedy. What will happen when he finally opens the envelope? What could be so important as to...

William Conrad stars in this episode of Dark Venture entitled “Hideout!” The story features a fugitive, wanted by both the police and criminals after a game of cards turns deadly. But the more he runs, the more it seems as if the cards are stacked against him! Can he find a way out of this predicament? Who will ultimately decide his fate? Can you feel it coming in the air tonight? Listen for yours...

We’re joined this week by one of our most generous Patreon supporters, Katherine, to listen to an episode of her choosing, “The Thirteenth Sound” from Suspense! The production features Agnes Moorehead and William Johnstone in the tale of a murderer tormented by grating noises and a guilty conscience. As the story unfolds, it both draws on classic literary influences and anticipates iconic detectiv...

Join us as we return to The Adventures of Ellery Queen for an episode entitled, “Number 31!” Ellery Queen begins working on a case of overseas smuggling, but is interrupted by the seemingly unrelated disappearance of a butler. As Queen investigates the two cases, he finds they both significantly feature the number 31, suggesting that they are connected! If Queen can’t crack the smuggling case, wil...

This time we’ve been sent down to the Listener Library by a particularly mysterious listener, an individual known only as “S.” Thanks, S! The recommendation is an episode of Price of Fear called “Come as You Are,” featuring the one and only Vincent Price! This story depicts Price begrudgingly attending a costume party at a restored priory in England. He trikes up a conversation with another attend...