The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society

We start the new year with eyes on the future! “Junkyard” is an episode of “X Minus One,” in which a starship investigates a mysterious collection of junk on a supposedly uninhabited planet. But they quickly discover they cannot leave as something is stealing one of their most precious resources. Will they be able to recover in time to escape? Why would the crew risk killing one of their own with...

Happy New Year! As has become our annual tradition, we are listening to yet another adaptations of Charles Dickens’ other famous ghost story, “The Signal-Man.” This time, we are checking out the most contemporary version on our list, the episode of Nightfall first broadcast on December 17, 1982! As before, this story depicts a curious stranger who encounters a rail worker beset by visions. Why doe...

We’re celebrating Christmas with this holiday-themed episode of Suspense! In “Back for Christmas,” Peter Lorre stars as a hen-pecked husband who concocts a fiendish plan to start a new life apart from his spouse. Can his scheme succeed without his wife’s oversight? What might bring him back home for Christmas? Do our faces match our personas? Listen for yourself and find out!

The gauntlet has been thrown! Our mysterious listener Sam claimed we were too afraid to go to the darkest corners of the Listener Library for “Tanglefoot,” an episode of Quiet, Please! The time has come to prove our courage! The story features Buck, a plumber who discovers that he doesn’t know as much about flies as he thought he did. Are Herbie’s wild stories about flies true? Is flypaper effecti...

“The Man in 206” from Dark Venture was brought to us by our generous Patreon subscriber Greg, who joins us as our guest! In this story, a landlord suspects that one of his tenants is the murderous madman known as “The Executioner!” Can he convince the inspector who lives in the building of his suspicions? What about the reporter who has also taken a room? Does every superhero have an app named aft...

We are joined by our Patreon subscriber Ryan as we continue to express our gratitude for our most generous supporters! Ryan has brought us an episode from a series we haven’t listened to before, Rocky Jordon! This story, entitled “The Man from Damascus,” features an ominous offer from a stranger who claims to have once been grievously wronged by Rocky, but Rocky has no memory of the man or alleged...

Our gratitude to our most generous Patreon supporters continues, this time featuring our patron Mark! Mark joins us a for a discussion of an episode of his choosing, “The Shadow Challenged” from The Shadow! This unique installment in the series features Frank Readick, who played the title character back when he was simply the host of Detective Story Hour! An unknown killer threatens to frame the S...

Remember 2021? That’s what we’re doing this Thanksgiving! Based on listener polls, the keen insights of esteemed special guests, and our own incoherent ramblings, one episode shall be declared the creme de la creme and another shall be declared the ham and bananas hollandaise. Who will win this Battle of Magicians? Who will feel the pride of a Pride of Carrots? Are any of the nominees so bad that...

In November, we say thank you to some of our most generous Patreon supporters by inviting them to join us a for a discussion of an episode of their choosing! For this installment, our guest Jeff has selected “Action” from Escape! This adaptation of C.E. Montague’s short story features a man attempting a near-impossible climb in the Alps. Those who have known the man speculate as to why he would un...

As the last bit of our month-long encouragement to check out our Patreon, we present this adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s “The Crowd” presented by Suspense! For our Patreon supporters, it’s a timely accompaniment to our next Mysterious Old Book Club, featuring an online group discussion of Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes! This adaptation features Dana Andrews as a police lieutenant hunting...

Every once in a while during our discussions, we are inspired to explore a second episode as a response or supplement to the first. (Or sometimes we just get a random whim…) That’s where our semi-regular B-Sides Bonus Episodes allow us to provide that additional material for our Patreon members! For example, at the end of the Lights Out episode, “The Author and the Thing,” we were intrigued by the...

On June 26, 2022 we performed our own version of “Battle of the Magicians” from Lights Out on stage at Park Square Theatre! Our Patreon members have access to video recordings of all of our performances as part of their subscription, and we’re sharing this audio recording as a sample of the benefits of supporting us. “Battle of the Magicians” features a mysterious occult figure known as Saladin wh...

This October is our Patreon pledge drive and we continue to try to entice you to support us via Patreon with this, the only episode of Suspense to feature Bela Lugosi, “The Doctor Prescribed Death!” (Lugosi just happens to be the topic of discussion for this month’s online Happy Hour, where patrons can chat live with each other and your hosts!) In this story, Lugosi stars as a psychologist who bel...

Today is the exciting conclusion of “The McCormick Matter,” from Yours Truly Johnny Dollar! All week long we’ve been releasing one installment per day as part of our Patreon drive month! The finale begins with Dollar suffering from a bullet wound, searching for the woman he now knows to be McCormick’s wife! Who did steal those jewels? Who committed the murder? Will any of your hosts know what Cosm...

It’s our Patreon drive month and part of the celebration is listening to all five parts of “The McCormick Matter” from Yours Truly Johnny Dollar, one per day for the whole week! Today’s episode is part 4 of the run, in which Dollar’s investigation of a jewel theft has become a murder investigation! What’s the difference between a coupe and a sedan? Will Gloria expose a shocking truth as she’s chan...

Today we are listening to part 3 of “The McCormick Matter”from Yours Truly Johnny Dollar as part of our Patreon drive month! In this installment, Dollar continues to dig into an unsolved jewelry theft from years ago. And as the police are close in on the main suspect, Johnny hunts for the man’s ex-wife. How did such a small time crook pull off such an elaborate theft? What happened to that guy’s f...

Our Patreon drive month continues with part 2 of “The McCormick Matter,” from our week-long journey into Yours Truly Johnny Dollar! This is the second episode in the investigation of an unsolved jewelry theft from years ago. Based on a tip given by a dying convict, Johnny interviews both the owner of the jewels and the original investigator who looked into the matter. Will Johnny find the ex-con t...

It’s our Patreon drive month! We’ve got a whole bunch of special offerings to give all our listeners a taste of the extra content enjoyed by all of our Patreon supporters! For example, you can get a sample of our “Cliffhangers of Doom” bonus episodes! (And thank you to everyone who already does supports us!) We’re starting out with a whole week of Yours Truly Johnny Dollar! Each day, we are going...

In February of 2020, we debuted “Cliffhangers of Doom,” a new type of bonus content for our patrons which featured serialized tales from the Golden Age of Radio! We’re hoping to entice our listeners to join our Patreon page by sharing this sample of “Cliffhangers of Doom,” the first episode of “City of the Dead” from Adventures by Morse! A young couple have their car stolen far from anything excep...

Our thanks to Kaj for sending us down to the Listener Library for the debut episode of a show we haven’t checked out yet, “The First Letter” from Box 13! The series features Alan Ladd as Dan Holiday, a writer who has posted an ad seeking adventure! In this first installment, a woman asks for help to rid herself of a blackmailer. How did this woman end up in such a dilemma? Will Holiday’s judgment...

Based on the novels by Frances Crane, The Adventures of the Abbotts featured the mystery-solving husband and wife team, Pat and Jean Abbott! This particular episode, “The Clicking Silver,” tells the story of a visit to a steel factory that results in murder and a reunion with an old flame! (Fair warning, the story includes a reference to a husband “spanking the daylights” out of his wife, ostensib...

We’re going deep, deep into the Listener Library for this episode of Suspense, “Deep Deep is My Love,” recommended to us by our mysterious listener Elena! Thanks, Elena! This production features Lloyd Bridges as a diver whose compulsion for solitude has driven him to an undersea grotto where he may have seen a miraculous vision. Or, he may have simply suffered hallucinations as he approached death...

We’re not too old to pay a visit to “The Playground,” an adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s short story from Vanishing Point! The story features Charlie, a young father who wrestles with his own troubled childhood as his own son wants to go play with other children. When Charlie visits the neighborhood playground, it looks sinister and unsafe, but he can’t tell if the danger is real or a product of his...

Our Mysterious Listener Waymon really wanted us to listen to another episode of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar! So we are paying another visit to the Listener Library for this standalone installment of the iconic series, “The Sidewinder Matter!” This story features Johnny and his action-packed expense account investigating a bitter feud over poisoned cattle. Along the way, he’ll have to contend with g...

We return to Escape for “Conqueror’s Isle,” an adaptation of the short story by Nelson Bond! The story features a Navy pilot who, after a three year absence, returns with a strange tale of landing on an island inhabited by a group that seems superior to humanity in almost every way. What ultimate goal is this group of superior beings pursuing? What does the pilot believe to be their one weakness?...