The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society

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...

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...