Suspense and Horror – Retro Radio Podcast

A woman is distraught as she approaches a man about town. What does she expect in the way of help for her fiancee who has been arrested? The bank robbery is all over the headlines on this New Years Eve. Dorothy Dale interrupts the solo billiards game to lay out the account of the robbery, the gangsters, and the way her fiancee was set up to take the blame. Mr Rolf is unconcerned over her emotional appeal, and the complications that seal Jerry's fate. Why won't the police believe Dorothy? Why does Mr Rolf hate Jerry so much? He is particularly confident in himself enough to let Dorothy see the suitcase full of stolen bank notes. Even if the cops come to Rolf's billiard room, there isn't any sign of the stolen goods, or a decent place where he may have hidden it. Tension builds, and even when Jerry appears after being released, there is still nothing to hold Rolf on, until Dorothy has his sleight of hand trick figured out. But will the smug man go peaceably?

Title:Watcher of the Living (H. G. Wells story) Plot:A high school principal and teacher are sent to an alternate world during a failed lab experiment. In this strange dimension, they encounter a race of floating faces that are cursed to forever witness the wrongdoings of others but are incapable of correcting them. Episode:960 Air Dates: First Run - March 7, 1979 Repeat - August 24, 1979 Read more at: CBS Radio Mystery Theater | Episode 960 | Watcher of the Living.

First. Consider joining my extremely cool Patreon backers in sponsoring a show. All the details for either a one time donation, or ongoing support is on the Donate page. Bonus Tracks * Keith spends a few extra moments to recall the first encounters he had with the Shadow. In catchphrases, radio, and movies. * He also shares a little from the original show notes. * Phil Harris 1932 Minnie the Mermaid Here are my original show notes: The Shadow was one of the many superheroes that lived on the radio in the 1930s and '40s. In the show today a convict is released from prison and is bent on getting his revenge. No matter what the cost. I never knew much about the Shadow for a long time. Occasionally, while growing up someone would make an ominous comment like, "only the Shadow knows..." or "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men..." I always figured these were some quotations from some classic pieces of literature from centuries ago. In the 1980s a movie of the Shadow was made. I never saw it and still haven't. At some point, I came to understand that the Shadow was an old-time radio show. It wasn't until within the past two years or so that I actually listened to the Shadow. Today's episode is one of the first I heard, in fact. Appointment With Death. The episodes weren't meant to be realistic as much as adventurous. The Shadow was a superhero whose special power was invisibility. Actually, his invisibility came from mystical arts that he learned while he was in the orient. He could perform a kind of mass hypnosis that convinced anybody around him that nobody was present. He also had a few other stray tricks that he learned in addition to his invisibility that would aid him in getting out of scrapes. The bad guy would only hear a disembodied voice. Like other superheroes, he had a secret identity, Lamont Cranston. Only his sidekick and secretary knew his real identity. A point or two in regards to being nonrealistic. The bad guy in today's story only spent five years in prison, probably for some infraction like theft, yet he has harbored such a grudge that he is willing to return to prison and face the death penalty if he is caught in his attempt to kill the Shadow. He does have a good idea in the plan he devised. Ruthless, but a good way to get the Shadow. Once the bad guy is out, his first crime is against a gas station owner. The scene has the gas station man topping of a customer's tank with five gallons of gas. It only cost 95 cents. Wow, that's only 19 cents per gallon. My how times have changed since 1938. Just a little trivia and tidbits. You may recognize the voice of the bad guy in today's episode, Alan Reed, aka Fred Flinstone. Through the run of the show, a few different people played the Shadow, including Orson Wells. Nobody else could reproduce that famous laugh the original actor put into those opening lines. The show's producers reused that sound bite for all the rest of the shows to come. best regards and happy listening. Keith H. Here's an offer I made in my first season. There weren't any takers back then, and I don't suppose there should be any these days. If you're interested though, all you need to do is drop me a line. PS: At the end of April I should have CD's ready for our first season. I'll post a link at that time for anyone who may be interested in ordering one. It will cost $10 and include shipping. Secure payments will be through PayPal. The plan is to burn off the shows as they appeared here on podomatic.com. Files will be in mp3 format. If it would be more preferable, I could include the shows without the robot hosts and music. Just let me know. --kh

Featuring Peter Lorrie, as a mild-mannered man with a jealous streak. In the cozy country cottage, professor Kraft dotes over his young bride, Cynthia. Does she have any secrets that she ought to blush about? To help with a cough, the professor gives her a home remedy of rum with lemon and sugar. The picture of a comfortable couple comes to an end when the professor tells her he poisoned her drink. In a flashback, she recounts her encounter with the American, Dr. Craig. Has there been something brewing between the two? Was their meeting at the concert really only a random chance? Regardless, enough of the rumors surrounding them have reached the ears of poppa Kraft, and his jealousy has cooked up the perfect murder. As the poison begins its work, has it taken its effect on him first? Can Cynthia escape, and get to help in the village, two miles away? Twists in the jealous rage emerge, and professor Kraft resurrects himself to complete his plan of revenge. He has captured Dr. Craig and exposes his plan to burn down the cottage with him in it. With the level of poison in his wife's system, there is no hope for her... right? Dr. Craig reveals a twist of his own that sends Professor Kraft into a maniacal rage, and justice manages a win.

A couple of honeymoon in Italy, when they notice people staring at the new bride as if she were a ghost. On their boat ride to the rented house where they will spend the next few weeks, they take a break to visit the Blue Grotto. The secret comes out that Mrs. Courtney is the image of another young bride who vanished from the same house the couple has rented. Their new cowboy friend in his white, ten-gallon hat, shows them to their place. Neighbors eagerly greet them and make them feel at home in the huge mansion. But can anybody fill in the details of the other missing woman? She had been getting ready for her own wedding and disappeared with her mother and sisters only a few feet away. Warned to not be left alone, or go out on the balcony, a guard dog is left with the Courtney's. Another neighbor, a psychologist is in the middle of warning about the possibility that someone with paranoia could be stalking the villa, the dog begins to howl. Mrs. Courtney has vanished! Not accepting defeat, and trusting in his wife's ability as a strong swimmer, Mr. Courtney leads the search to the Blue Grotto. If she has been swept to sea, there is no hope, but if she is in the grotto, it means a race against the clock to find her. The risks pay off, but how did she fall from the balcony? Which one of their new neighbors could have made the murder attempt, and why?

In the early 1800s, medical science was coming of age. Doctors could only hope to pass their schooling if they had their own cadaver to practice on. The trouble was that there wasn't enough, and laws limited the number allowed. Many doctors had to rely on body snatchers, and ask no questions. Often bodies came from robbing graves, but sometimes they were freshly made corpses. Mother Slade awaits the arrival of her son and a nephew as they are due back from a grave-robbing venture that failed. Her young foster girl, Peggy Lester, and common house drudge has been awakened as well. When a murder has been committed in the failed raid, Mother Slade is determined to deliver a body to the nice doctor, no matter what. Say it ain't so, she wouldn't stoop so low as to sacrifice her lowly house drudge, Peggy! Sure enough, she and her thugs show up to deliver the body to the doctor. It doesn't take much for him to put the pieces together and is saddened to think the cute, and the abused girl is now his cadaver. It doesn't take long for the cops to arrive. They have been on the trail of the body snatchers, ever since their failed attempt in the cemetery, and now have them in custody. Is it the good doctor's turn next? Will he be found with the fresh corpse in his cupboard? Muddy footprints on his fine Turkish carpet tells the tale. but wait, there's still a twist or two to offer a happy ending to this evening of suspense.

On a wintery drive to return to his unit on this Christmas holiday, one soldier, Larry Connely, comments on his time in the country this Christmas. He had picked up a sergeant carrying a package and needed a lift to his own unit. On the ride, sergeant Dumbrowski tells about the day his squad was pinned down on a hillside 7 years ago when the war was in full swing. Flashback to the patrol, led by Brownly, and their mission on Christmas Day. Cautions on keeping quiet, with no gear rattling, are made, but someone on the team trips a wire and gunfire explodes around the men. Damage control! Is anybody hurt? How's the radio? Will we need to call in artillery on our own location? having one man with shot up legs, the only hope is to leave him to fire up a distraction for the rest of the patrol to getaway. The story and the sergeant have the driver of the truck a little creeped out and are glad to drop him off at the tiny lane that leads to his unit. Five miles down the road though, the driver notices the package that was left in his truck. Doing the right thing, the driver turns around, finds the lane, and arrives at the compound. How will he find the orderly room to give the package back to the sergeant? Instead, he finds an orphanage full of happy, singing kids, and a memorial to the squad member who gave his life just up the hill.

Joe is a man ing trouble over gambling debts and is in it deep to the underworld. To save his skin, and raise money, he asks for his wife's wedding rings. Doesn't she suspect that he'll just pawn them, like the rest of their valuables? This could be the last straw in a strained relationship. In the pawnshop, and though the rings bring $500, a fair amount, it isn't anywhere enough to cover the debt by the deadline. As Joe is about to step out of the shop, a watch catches his eye. Might the shop owner sell it for a reasonable price? What's going on with a phone caller who asks for Joe, then hangs up? Figuring on going back in time, a bank robbery is carried out. There's enough cash to pay off the gangsters, and have a nice nest egg to live on for a while. Time to return to the present to drop off the cash to Molly, and then a little more jump in time to make a quick phone call, and make that payoff when... oops... the watch broke. Just what time is it when the 32nd of December rolls around?

A reporter is sent to investigate a wax museum and a strange happening In one of the displays. If only he can evade his pesky co-worker, Suzy. The brassy dame likes to put on a fake French accent and has a knack to be a step ahead of him, most of the time. The exhibit is one where wax figures play cards, but the hands they are dealt with constant change. Amid the spooky tales from the curator, the reporters figure the cards hold a message for a German spy ring. The clues send them out to Q Factory, a secret defense plant in the English woods. Though he tries to sabotage Suzy, she manages to get a pass through the top-secret, and highly defended plant. She also manages to get them lost along the way, and a caretaker who is a tree surgeon points the reporters in the right direction. Nobody takes them seriously that spies could actually learn the secret location, or send German bombers their way. But when an air raid is sounded, and battle stations are manned, worries grow. Still, how would the enemy find the blacked out plant in the dark? Remembering their encounter with the tree surgeon, our reporters figure it out and barely find time to stop the spy. Note: This story seems familiar, and may even have been made into a movie. I'm not sure why Suzy likes to put on that fake French accent, but in her words, its to make her colleague get ideas. I think it works, but maybe not the kind of ideas she might like him to get.

Enter into a happy scene at a carnival, and its colorful attractions. In the tunnel of love, a nervous man crosses paths with a woman who rides the ride alone, In the dark, he reveals his story, one that was supposed to remain a secret if he hopes to live. He tells how his embittered uncle, a wealthy man, has made a bet with him, but the old guy is out to kill his nephew, and see that his money goes to no one. As long as Robert can stay alive for a few more hours, the fortune is his. Conditions of the bet are that he can tell nobody, he has to stay in public, go home for at least an hour per day, meet with his uncle, and sign a confession that if dear uncle should die, it was Robert who killed him. For the next 6 months, his uncle promises to be out to kill Robert, but if he can survive, the fortune is his. Robert hides in the tunnel of love and continues to tell his new companion his nerve-racking ordeal, and pranks his uncle has sent his way. Right up until the previous evening, and the way uncle gloated while sitting behind his big mahogany desk. What's the tried and true method that uncle plans to kill Robert with, in the next 24 hours? Wouldn't you like to know! His companion has her own secret to tell. She's his uncle's secretary. Has she been sent to spy on him? When cops arrive, Robert is accused of killing his uncle. How was he supposed to have poisoned his uncle? The facts are stacked against Robert, but will the cops listen to the secretary for some key evidence that can clear Robert?

An all night DJ takes calls from fans with kind words, and requests for their favorite songs. Learn details about the theme song to Quiet Please, and a few bars of it are shared. Callers inquire about the DJ's past. Do all night disk jockeys get to have visitors? The music keeps coming, while a break is had to share coffee with a new employee. Where does the stranger work, the newsroom? Some where else? The news report tells of a murder in the neighborhood, rain, and a time check. Hey wait. Herbie got the time wrong, and it isn't raining. An upset caller notifies the DJ that he has not been murdered. Connie Duffin keeps spinning the disks, and the radio intrudes on a scene of foreboding. Is a fight brewing? A lovers quarrel blows up. But does it lead to murder? Will Connie's false news report begin to come true? The phone calls keep coming with more urgency. What kind of personal trouble will Connie end up getting himself into. He is being blamed for the mix ups in the studio. Music punctuates the increasingly irate callers. What happened to Herbie the newsman? For that matter, where did everybody else go to? A confusing teletype is presented by Herbie,, and lets Connie know the truth about how his shift really ended. Note: Connie's live commercial for "Chapel's Apples" is a fun play on the star's name, Ernest Chapel.

A man desperate for cash has reached the point of being willing to do anything. Dennis Day is a bank clerk with a wife in need of great medical expense in delivering their first child. To get the assistance they need, will cost more than he makes each month. Should he go into business with a friend? Though that will give him the kind of money he needs, he isn't looking forward to a lifestyle of being raided by the cops, or carrying a police record. Just a one shot at big money is all he needs, if there is such a thing. When a long time customer at the bank withdraws his life savings, the temptation is too much. Calling on favors to contact a big time thug, a plan is made to burglarize the elderly man's home. The job goes down without a hitch. But twists enter the picture. The thug wants more. Can the robbery be undone? Is there really such a thing as only a one shot crime? When the job ends up with no cash in hand, how will our hero hope to cover those medical expenses, or be out from under the control of the gangster? There's still enough twists to turn the dire situation around for a Christmas of hope.

At a family gathering, death makes an appearance. With Lamonte Cranston and Margot Lane on hand, they do their best to capture a killer. Is it the butler who did it? Is there any hope for saving the holiday celebration? Clues emerge, but doubt remains in who the killer might be in the tale of greed and blackmail. An age old grudge plays into the picture, and turns the list of suspects around. The real story behind an inheritance comes out, but it\s going to take a little interference from the Shadow to set things right.

A murder in the quaint New England house has gone unsolved for 25 years. A police captain escorts an old friend to look ogre the crime scene. Memories flood Joe's mind as he thinks of his last moments with his dear friends. In flashback, the scene changes to happier times in the Summer house. A shooting range in the basement means that pistol shots punctuate the conversation between Joer, and the women folk of the household. What could be so terrifying outside the window to make Isabel scream like that? Back in the present, Joe is sentimental over the passing of all his old friends. One going of one thing or other. Will any of his reminiscing offer any new detail for the old murder investigation? A secret panel is found, and an old phonograph recording from the killer is played. The scratchy recording brings those old voices back to life with a personal message to Joe. Details of the fake suicide are told, but the captain knows there's more to it than that. The record shares details of lost love, and though it may not tell who the killer was, the captain has it figured out.

The natives are restless along the African coast, on the island of Zanzabar. A popular witch doctor has been on the move to incite the tribes. British officials try to calm the matter, but will the diplomacy do any good against superstition, and dangers from the jungle? Might the good Germans, and Dr Schmidt be up to something? The situation comes to a head, and gets even more dire when the famous witch doctor arrives. He turns out to be a Cockney faker who has been impressing the natives with his sleight of hand tricks. His kind of magic is soon put to the test when a lion has a tribal leader trapped, and the lives of all the white men are in the balance. . What would a good story be if the twists didn't keep on coming? German spies, selling guns to arm the natives, a gunboat in the harbor, and more. What strategic use is the forsaken mud heap of a village is this to the war effort? To get out of his touchy predicament, the British diplomat has to think fast to overthrow his German agents, and diffuse the native situation.