The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society

Boris Karloff stars in this week’s episode, “The Final Reckoning” from Creeps by Night! After a convict has his life sentence commuted, his long-planned path of revenge can begin. Soon the man who put him in prison finds a dead rat on his doorstep and is looking for someplace to hide! Will this quest for vengeance be fulfilled? What is the plan? Would you be willing to stay longer in prison if there were tasty snacks? Listen for yourself and find out!

We’ve been compelled to revisit Obsession! This time for a story entitled “Shadow of Huntley House” (also known as “On the Wild Seas”), a story about a woman reuniting with her estranged twin sister, who was recently widowed. But rather than familial support, the reunion is thick with jealousy and plotting that might result in murder! How could an obsession drive someone to such an extreme? Would such a crime be truly unsolvable? Have beer salesmen always been cool and affluent? Listen for yourself and find out!

This week we’re listening to “Wild Jack Rhett,” an episode of Escape set in a small frontier town in the Old West! When the town’s previous sheriff dies, the citizens need to decide what kind of man they want to hire to replace him. But electing to a hire a steely-eyed killer like Wild Jack Rhett may be more than the town can bear. Will Rhett bring order to this town? How does this compare with Gunsmoke, which in part drew its inspiration from this episode? Should experienced drivers be above the law? Listen for yourself and find out!

This sci-fi themed episode of Quiet Please was recommended to us by our Patreon supporter Lance. Thanks, Lance! Appropriate to the story’s title, “The Pathetic Fallacy” is the story of a scientist who has created a machine capable of computing fantastically complex mathematical problems, but the device seems to willfully be making errors. Soon the public is more interested in the machine’s apparently human-like behavior than its computing power! Is the machine truly alive? Are the scientist and press just indulging in the pathetic fallacy? Do podcast hosts have “real” feelings? Listen for yourself and find out!

Our Patreon supporter Simon recommended we make another Appointment with Fear for an episode entitled, “The Clock Strikes Eight”! Thanks, Simon! John Dickson Carr’s corpulent detective, Gideon Fell, is summoned to meet a woman about to be executed for murder. But this woman has lost all her memories, starting with the victim’s death! Can Fell uncover the truth before the fatal hour arrives? What caused this woman to lose her memories? Would you like to go on a vacation with Gideon Fell? Listen for yourself and find out!

The seas aren’t safe while a madman commands the crew of a submarine, sinking whatever ships it finds! But Lamont Cranston is on the case as The Shadow in this episode entitled “Death from the Deep!” But before he can stop this submarine, the Shadow will need to find it! What motivates the killer to do what he does? Will the Shadow be able to outwit his cunning opponent? Is this in any way appropriate for children? Listen for yourself and find out!

This episode was recorded live at the Bryant-Lake Bowl in Minneapolis with special guest, Shanan Custer! We’re listening to “The Wailing Wall” from Inner Sanctum Mystery, starring Boris Karloff! The story features a murderous husband who can’t seem to escape his crimes! What is the source of the keening sound that haunts him? Is he truly being plagued by a ghost? Is that really how the police investigate unidentified corpses? Listen for yourself and find out!

A violent series of robberies have Joe Friday and the entire L.A. police force on high alert in this episode of Dragnet, “The Red Light Bandit”! According to his victims, the assailant approached them pretending to be a policeman. Even as a city-wide manhunt fails to stop him, his crimes grow more brutal by the day! How will the police track him down? Is the story you about to hear actually true? Would Dragnet be improved with more pigeon-related content? Listen for yourself and find out!

Philo Vance returns to the podcast! S.S. Van Dine’s classic detective pits his wits against a gang of robbers targeting upper class house parties in “The Cipher Murder Case.” When one of these robbers kills his own partner, a cipher is found on the dead man’s body that could unmask the mastermind behind the crimes! What key did Vance use to decrypt the cipher? Will this story adhere to Van Dine’s Twenty Rules of Mysteries? Are we doing this swingers’ party correctly? Listen for yourself and find out!

This week, we’re presenting one of our B Sides of the Mysterious Old Radio, an example of the sort of bonus content we make available to our supporters on Patreon! Each B Side is a companion piece to an episode presented as part of our usual podcast. In this case we’re listening to “A Night to Forget” from Quiet Please as a supplement to our previous installment, “The Coffin in Studio B,” from Lights Out! Wyllis Cooper wrote this script roughly 15 years after its predecessor on Lights Out. The story features the star of a popular radio series who suffers from surreal nightmarish experiences that he fears might lead to his own death. Where is the boundry between his reality and his dreams? How does this differ from Cooper’s version of this ideas created for Lights Out? What if a version of this story were produced for The Flintstones? Listen for yourself and find out!