The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society

We’re back and this month we are returning to our Listener Library! A listener named Joshua (not our Joshua) suggested that we listen to “The Young Man with the Cream Tarts” from Escape! This episode is an adaptation of a short story, the first of three stories collectively known as The Suicide Club, by Robert Louis Stevenson. It tells the tale of two men who encounter a desperate youth, trying to give away pastries. This young stranger leads them to a macabre secret society. Why do these two lie to the young man about their names? Why do the members of this society gather to play a deadly game of cards? Why does everyone sound like Orson Welles to Eric? Listen for yourself and find out!

It’s Christmas and we’re celebrating the things we love, and that includes classic holiday episodes from great radio series such as CBS Radio Mystery Theater! In honor of the day, we’re presenting CBSRMT’s adaptation of a Christmas Carol without any poll or post-show critique. It’s just a yuletide treat for everyone to enjoy. Happy Holidays to our wonderful listeners and thank you for sharing a great year of classic radio with us!

It’s almost Christmas and we’re celebrating the season with CBS Radio Mystery Theater! In this episode, entitled “A Holiday Visit,” a couple on their way to visit family find themselves stranded in a strange, nearly-abandoned town called Taylortown. If this strange old woman is the only inhabitant, where is that singing coming from? Can Skip and Joan escape this mysterious place and make it home for Christmas? What better way to spend the holidays than making each other feel like jerks and not offering each other scones? Listen for yourself and find out!

As part of our run of Christmas episodes last year, we listened to one of the Suspense versions of “The Signal-Man,” based on Charles Dickens’ other famous ghost story. The Signal-Man has been adapted by so many different series, we’re revisiting the tale, this time listening to the Columbia Workshop version of the story of an isolated rail worker whose strange visions foretell terrible tragedies. Is the Signal-Man suffering delusions or catching glimpses of the future? How will this version compare to last year’s? Are your pets technically haunting you? Listen for yourself and find out!

This December we’re checking out holiday-themed episodes starting with “A Study in Wax” from Escape! William Conrad and Stacy Harris star in this tale of two men working together in a remote Arctic outpost. As the isolation and bitter cold erode their spirits, they begin to turn on each other. How much worse is life without listening to radio shows? Can opening Christmas presents restore the peace? Why would anyone live somewhere that gets to 40 degrees below zero? Listen for yourself and find out!

We have one more episode dedicated to saying thanks to our listeners! This time we are joined by Brent, a Patreon supporter at the highest tier! He’s brought us “The Long Wait” from Suspense featuring Burt Lancaster! Lancaster plays Dan, a man fresh out of prison for a crime he didn’t commit. When he goes to take revenge on Lois, the woman responsible for his incarceration and the death of his brother, he finds his feelings won’t let him follow through. Will his brother’s dangerous friends tolerate this change of heart? Can Lois’ happiness fulfill Dan? Would this story have worked better as an episode of Super Friends? Listen for yourself and find out!

Happy Thanksgiving! We asked listeners to vote for an episode from a list of titles originally broadcast during the week of Thanksgiving. The results are in and we are listening to “The Thing from the Sea” from Dark Fantasy! Originally aired in 1941 (although according to The Digital Deli , it was broadcast December 5th rather than November 28th), this is the story of a lost ship stumbling upon an island that has just reemerged from the ocean. What became of the civilization that once lived here? What fate does the strange creature in the young woman’s dream foretell? Are you sure you wouldn’t rather vote for The Green Hornet? Listen for yourself and find out!