The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society

Monster Month continues this week and the Society is listening to an adaptation of “Frankenstein” from Suspense! This version of Mary Shelley’s classic novel features the obsessed doctor confiding in a priest about his obsessive quest to conquer death. Can spiritual guidance provide a measure of redemption for the scientist? Can this story be crammed into half an hour? Is Johnny Plug Check the true horror? Listen for yourself and find out!

The Society starts out a whole month of shows themed around classic movie monsters. We begin with the Mummy, represented by this Quiet, Please episode entitled “Whence Came You?” The story features an archaeologist who finds himself being observed by a mysterious beautiful woman with a strange connection to the ruins he is excavating. What destiny awaits our hero beneath the sands? How much richer is the listening experience for someone who has tuned into the Whence Came You podcast? Can Joshua just enjoy something without being a big nerd about it? Listen for yourself and find out!

CBS Mystery Theater adapted Jacques Futrelle’s short story, “The Problem of Cell 13,” for this week’s episode entitled “The Great Brain”! A brilliant mind hopes to prove the limitless potential of human intellect by allowing himself to be locked in a prison with a week to escape. Can he free himself from his cell in this short time or will his ego be his undoing? Why has the prisoner above him begun to rave like a lunatic? Could the name “CBS Mystery Theater” be improved with a little work-shopping? Listen for yourself and find out!

Columbia Workshop presents Lucille Fletcher’s adaptation of Sheridan Le Fanu’s novella “Carmilla”! A father takes in a young abandoned girl who befriends his daughter, but soon discovers that Carmilla is much more than she seems. Will a parent’s desire to make his child happy prove to be his family’s undoing? Could he possibly have known what evil lurked in Carmilla’s heart? Are Canadians secretly brood parasites, sneaking their kids into American families? Listen for yourself and find out!

This week, The Mysterious Traveler takes the Society “Behind the Locked Door!” Two archeologists set out on an expedition into the Vermilion Cliffs but only one returns. Why does he want his fiancé to leave him forever? What has he locked away in his bedroom? What’s the maximum speed of a burro? Listen for yourself and find out!

It’s our 50th episode and to celebrate, the Society is listening to this beloved episode of Quiet, Please! An oil-drilling roughneck encounters a terrifying mystery after his team digs up something unexpected from deep beneath the Earth’s surface. What greater horror lurks beneath the telling of this tale? How can Cecil Roy make such disturbing noises? How many pork chops can this guy eat? Listen for yourself and find out!

More than one listener requested this particular episode of Nightfall and so the Society has been drawn to “The Porch Light!” Many thanks to both Rob and David for recommending this creepy tale from the popular Canadian series. On the night of a powerful snowstorm, a husband and wife wake up in their isolated home in the woods to find their porch light has inexplicably turned on. From this simple mystery, a night of blood-chilling supernatural horror unfolds! What secret has Bob kept from Carol? Who was the stranger waving up at their window? Who is down with the Ontario Provincial Police? Listen for yourself and find out!

The Society continues with its Listener Library series! This week, we feature a suggestion from Laurie, who recommended “The Werewolf” from The Weird Circle! The episode is based on “The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains,” a short story by Captain Frederick Marryat. In the forest, a father and his children find their family invaded and hunted by cruel, supernatural forces. How has the young narrator survived this deadly ordeal? Is a pagan oath a marital dealbreaker? What exactly makes a circle “weird”? Listen for yourself and find out!

Our Listener Library series is being put on hold this week because the Society is celebrating the birthday of H.P. Lovecraft by listening to his story “The Dunwich Horror” as adapted by Suspense! (If you are a fan of the man, might we suggest checking out the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival?) Dark sorcery is underway in the wild hills of rural New England! Can Professor Armitage thwart this profane invocation of Yog-Sothoth? Why is Wilbur Whateley so determined to acquire the accursed Necronomicon? Is this just a bunch of gibberish designed to confuse Eric? Listen for yourself and find out!