The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society

This week, we’re listening to an episode of Suspense entitled “Fragile Contents Death,” recommended to us by our Patreon supporter Cole! Thanks, Cole! The story features a postmaster who receives word that a time bomb is hidden somewhere in all the items passing through his post office. He and his staff only have a few hours to find the explosive, and it will detonate if the package is opened! How can they possibly find the bomb in time? Why would someone put a bomb in the mail? What’s the right way to punctuate the title of the show? Listen for yourself and find out! 

As we discussed in episode 405, "The Hat, the Bed, and John J. Catherine," from Quiet Please, our first attempt at a secret episode for our Patreon supporters was featured “Hat on a Bed,” from the series Origin of Superstition. Unfortunately, the recording had a few sound issues (including Tim having a cold) so we redid our inaugural episode with a different show to discuss. For the curious who are willing to overlook these flaws, we offer this abandoned alternative which tells the tale of an uninvited guest, an accusation of murder, and a truly outlandish courtroom stunt. Thank you again for your support of the podcast and we hope you enjoy this strange cautionary tale! 

This week we’re diving into one the final episodes of Quiet Please, “The Hat, the Bed, and John J. Catherine”! An eccentric aspiring actor, relegated to the position of a stage hand, sees a hat on a bed onstage. Convinced that the omen foretells death, he walks away from his job into a strange, dreamlike state. Did he indeed experience a preview of death? What hidden meanings live within his theatrical references? Did Wyllis Cooper steal this story from the Coen Brothers? Listen for yourself and find out! (And check out a special preview of our first attempt at a secret episode for our Patreon supporters, “Hat on a Bed,” from the series Origin of Superstition!)

This week we bravely check out an episode Dangerous Assignment entitled (arguably) “Investigate Missing Scientists”! Globetrotting adventurer Steve Mitchell is sent to Alaska to track down a former Nazi scientist and an American physicist who appear to have gone missing. Confronted by an unpaid hotel bill and a wide range of dialects, Mitchell will stop at nothing to solve this mystery! What happened to these scientists? What is that smell? Who made cartoon theme music so complicated? Listen for yourself and find out!

This week we’re exploring another episode of Vanishing Point entitled “The Cave”! This story, written by and starring W. D. Valgardson, features a young man whose beloved will not marry him due to a mystery in her Icelandic family line. As he searches for the nature of this secret, he suffers from a growing obsession that threatens to swallow him like a boundless dark cave. What is it that haunts this family? Can this young man escape this fate? Does anyone actually speak Icelandic? Listen for yourself and find out!

We’ve been sent to discover “Nasty People” in our Listener Library! It’s an episode of Frontier Gentleman recommended to us by our Patreon supporter Melissa. Thanks, Melissa! In this story, Kendall needs to stop for the night in Kansas, relying on the hospitality of a small family. But he’s warned to be careful around them and their daughter seems haunted by unseen forces. Is there truly something sinister about his hosts? What is it that has afflicted their daughter? Where do the MORLS go to hang out with other podcasts? Listen for yourself and find out!

Every year or so, we get struck by the impulse to listen to a radio adaptation of Charles Dickens’ other famous ghost story, “The Signal-Man”! And, what do you know, it happened again! This year we head up North for the CBC Radio Mystery Theatre version! As before, this story depicts a curious stranger who encounters a rail worker beset by visions. Why does he seem to be receiving some otherworldly warning? How will this version compare to those we have already heard? What style of retro-animation would suit this story best? Listen for yourself and find out! 

It’s our 400th episode! And we are celebrating by revisiting the first series featured on our podcast, Suspense! All those years ago, our first episode featured The House in Cypress Canyon, but this time we’re listening to “Fury and Sound,” a story that both roasts and pays tribute to William Spier (and other radio luminaries)! (For more details about this episode, check out what The Suspense Project has to say about it!) The script features a tyrannical radio producer who screams abusive tirades at his cast and crew. But his assistant producer plans to use his boss’ keen hearing as a weapon for revenge! Does this sound like a great way to celebrate 400 episodes? Does everyone who produces audio drama become a narcissistic maniac? What facts have our dedicated Patreon supporters uncovered about our voting history? Listen for yourself and find out!

We continue our count down to episode 400 by revisiting the first three series featured on our podcast! This time we’re checking out an episode of Lights Out, the series Eric brought for our second episode! The title of this story is “Until Dead” and it features a man bent on vengeance after he’s been framed for murdering his own wife. Despite everything that stands in his way, he will stop at nothing…nothing…until he kills Mark Street. Will he succeed in his deadly quest? Will the story be predictable or defy expectations? Can Tim ruin Joshua’s enjoyment of our discussion with a close-to-accurate comic book reference? Listen for yourself and find out!

We are counting down to episode 400 by revisiting the first three series featured on our podcast! We start with The Price of Fear, the series Tim brought for our third episode! This time we’re listening to “Is There Anybody There”! The story depicts a spiritualist and her attempt to contact a man’s late wife. But her spirit guide seems focused on other matters and her own theatrical background suggests that she may be a fraud. Is she truly able to speak to the dead with the assistance of an ancient king? What will her client do if he believes she is a fraud? Will Eric and Joshua be any more enthusiastic about this episode of The Price of Fear than they were nine years ago? Listen for yourself and find out! 

BUHN DA-DUHN DUHN! It’s Dragnet! This week, we’ve gone back to our Listener Library for an episode of the iconic series recommended to us by our Patreon member Jack. Thanks, Jack! The story, entitled “The Big Thank You,” features Joe Friday’s investigation into a paroled murdereress with some irregularities regarding her paperwork. The more he investigates, the more suspicious she seems! Is she the ideal houseguest her neighbors describe? Is she lying about the benefactors who gave her a home? How much harm could a Spanish woman with a sword do? Listen for yourself and find out!

When the days grow short and the air grows cold, it’s time for Fear on Four! This week we’re listening their adaptation of Bram Stoker’s “The Judge’s House”! The story features a student moving into a rat-infested home as he prepares for upcoming exam. But something worse than rats is waiting for him in the night! Why has this house sat empty for so long? What secret lies within the dust-covered portraits in the house? How will Eric adapt Carmilla into a play for high school students? Listen for yourself and find out!

It’s time for us to place our bets with The Croupier as we listen to the series’ only surviving episode, “The Roman,” starring Vincent Price! The story features a husband and wife whose marriage is struggling when they suddenly find themselves lost at sea. Once there, their fate becomes strangely entwined with a mysterious Roman centurion! What does this somber Roman want? Can these disparate story elements come together to form a whole? Which comic book character from the 1980s are we going to name-check this time? Listen for yourself and find out!

We’re paying our first visit to the South African series, High Adventure! This episode, entitled “Keeper of the Tomb,” features a team of scientists who set out to explore the bottom of a pit on a South African farm, where an impossible archeological tomb awaits them. How could this ancient civilization have existed in such an odd location? Once there, what terrible bargain will these explorers make to escape? Would the police really investigate the death of a mummified corpse? Listen for yourself and find out! Then vote and let us know what you think!

This time we’re listening to a chilling installment of Escape entitled “Taboo”! Based on a story by Geoffrey Household, this episode features a man returning to his ancestral homeland in the rural forests of Eastern Europe where he befriends a couple who are also visiting. But their vacation takes a dark turn when some of the villagers go missing and whispers of a werewolf begin to spread. Is there truly a monster in the woods hunting for meat? If so, who is it that is turning into this beast? Can Paul Frees out-William-Conrad William Conrad? Listen for yourself and find out!

We celebrated Halloween season with The Shadow! In this episode, “The Mark of the Bat,” Lamont and Margo investigate a mysterious death, possibly the result of a vampire attack! The victim’s daughter looks to Margo to help her escape from a mad scientist with access to a bat-filled grotto! Can The Shadow bring this criminal to justice? What sort of obstacle will it take to interrupt The Shadow’s relentless pursuit of a criminal? Did this bat’s car really run out of gas? Listen for yourself and find out!

We’ve finally reached the finale of “Bury Your Dead, Arizona,” from I Love a Mystery! In these last three episodes, a grave is disturbed and the time to leave this tiny town has come. It’s time to discover what’s actually happening! What is in the coffin that Jack, Doc, and Reggie buried? How has the Maestro achieved all of his apparent miracles? Now that we’ve spent seven episodes on this series, did we like it? Listen for yourself and find out! 

It’s out penultimate episode dedicated to “Bury Your Dead, Arizona,” from I Love a Mystery! In parts 11 and 12, a body has been buried and we now know the real crime motivating all these mysteries. For the moment no one can leave this strange little town, but for Jack, Doc, and Reggie, time is running out to find out who is responsible for everything that has happened! Can the Maestro summon girls out of the air? What’s Jumpin’ Dick really up to? How many times can you get hit in the head before it starts to do some real damage? Listen for yourself and find out!

This week, we’ve traveled deep into enigma that is “Bury Your Dead, Arizona,” from I Love a Mystery! In parts 9 and 10, Doc and Reggie reunite with Jack after several events that took place sometime between the end of the last episode and the beginning of this one. After reviewing all the facts, Jack leaves his two partners behind so they can keep an eye on the Maestro. Should they do as he asked or follow Jack to keep him safe? How did the Maestro get the supplies to assemble his project? Are people really terrified by beards? Listen for yourself and find out! 

We’re halfway through our ongoing exploration of “Bury Your Dead, Arizona,” from I Love a Mystery! In parts 7 and 8 Jack, Reggie, and Doc are searching the Arizona desert at night, despite the sounds of screams, wolves, and gunshots! And we finally get to meet Jumpin’ Dick’s daughter! Is she lying about him or is her father the liar? What does the Maestro have planned for the next night? Will someone finally explain what greasewood is? Listen for yourself and find out!