The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society

Join the Society for an exercise in Strange Judgment! This week we have stepped into the Weird Circle for this adaptation of Honoré de Balzac’s short story Un Drame au bord de la Mer. A mother and father are forced to decide the fate of their self-serving son. How well does this version capture the themes of the classic 19th century tale of responsibility and consequences? Are we going to get angry emails from small French fishing villages? Did somebody sell our furniture? Listen for yourself and find out!

The Shadow has returned to ring in the new year with this insidious tale! A diabolical madman has a plot to stop the clock for good. Can the future be saved? Will Eric go on a vindictive killing spree if he gets diagnosed with a terminal illness? Are you from Missouri? We want to know!

The Society has returned to Suspense for a deadly journey with Joseph Cotten to the top of the world! Inspired by a true story of a rescue mission sent to track down ships lost in the Arctic Circle, this is the perfect tale to make you too terrified to venture into the ice and snow this holiday season. Is it possible to turn a story of frozen death into a thrilling adventure? Will anyone survive? What’s the worst possible name for a ship venturing into the unknown? Listen for yourself and find out!

The Whistler is coming and he knows if you’ve been bad or you’ve been good! In this episode, an ex-criminal faces losing his new life when the company that employs him finds $10,000 missing. Will this threat drive him back to his felonious ways? If it wasn’t him, who did steal the money? Can we ever redeem ourselves after being so wrong about the date of D-Day (June 6, 1944)? Listen for yourself and find out!

We’d love to tell you all about this story entitled “Northern Lights,” but we have been to told in no uncertain terms to remain Quiet, Please. Suffice to say that you’d never imagine a story about a cigarette lighter, caterpillars, and vowel sounds could be so creepy. Can a lush, elaborate description of aurora borealis contribute to a scary story? How is it that these scientists’ work on a time machine is the mundane party of the story? Is the work of an evil, twisted anti-Douglas Adams? Listen for yourself and find out!

Inspired by the true story of serial killer H.H. Holmes, Lights Out presents the Society with a production entitled “Murder Castle!” A series of women are lured into a home filled with deadly traps to become the victims of a sadistic madman. Can you endure the grisly terror without flipping the tape over? How can fresh cement be so disturbing? Why would you ever go into a building called the Murder Castle? Listen for yourself and find out!

This week, we’re down at the Hermit’s Cave listening to the story of The Nameless! An anonymous corpse appears to have been the victim of a perfect murder, but the dead man will have his vengeance! Would you be willing to kill for a Wilgen Unit? Can you listen to this weeeeeird story and not think of the Beatles? What can Eric do with slippery, slimy gopher guts? Listen for yourself and find out!

Witchcraft and intrigue combine for a one-of-a-kind tale from the classic series, Escape! A medieval scholar has been targeted by a deadly curse, leaving him with only three months to find a solution and save his own life. How scary can a story about passing notes and falling out of trees actually be? Is this an appropriate response to critical feedback? Is it really that easy to send the Society into screaming fits of hysterical panic? Listen for yourself and find out!

The Society has wandered into the creepy forest known as Dark Fantasy and come face to face with…The Demon Tree! In this story, a group of decadent English(-ish) travelers abandon the dull monotony of high-stakes gambling for a pulse-pounding walk in a forest! Does being a tree undermine the horror of a giant murderous monster? Is quicksand a problem in England? Do the English typically narrate their own cause of death as they die? Listen for yourself and find out!

Celebrate Halloween with the Society and Inner Sanctum Mystery! This week we listen to A Corpse for Halloween, a twisted tale of bizarre psychological horror. It features the shameless puns and sardonic style of Paul McGrath (in the spirit of his predecessor, Raymond Edward Johnson). Is having a severed head delivered to you ever not scary? Why would you accept a tiger cub offered to you by a stranger? Does Eric have a predilection for Mercedes McCambridge? Listen for yourself and find out!