The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society

Our thanks to our mysterious listener Tim, who recommended we check out “Delay en Route,” from Cloak and Dagger! This series took its inspiration from the files of the OSS, the American organization dedicated to espionage during World War II! In this particular episode, an OSS agent must face a difficult decision after helping the Italian partisans oust the fascists from their town. Who can truly say what justice is? Will Roberto successfully return to Vermont? Is this more like Sgt. Preston of the Yukon or Call of Duty? Listen for yourself and find out! Then vote and let us know what you think!

Our long-time listener David recommended that we check out “Short Order,” another all-star episode of Suspense! Thanks, David! The owner of a small but successful diner gains a new customer, a man whose face has been horribly disfigured. Even as this new guest starts to drive away his other customers, the owner seems to fall victim to other misfortunes. Are these woes all just a coincidence? Is some supernatural force targeting this diner? Is ketchup to blame for everything wrong in the world? Listen for yourself and find out! Then vote and let us know what you think! bc

This week we kick off the first in a series of episodes recorded during stay-at-home orders, beginning with “Ancient Sorceries” from Escape recommended to us by our Mysterious Listeners Marc and Anton! Based on the story by Algernon Blackwood, “Ancient Sorceries” tells the tale of a buttoned-up British man who finds himself mysteriously drawn to a Welsh village where the taciturn inhabitants seem to already know him. Where on Earth is the strange organ music coming from? What do cats and sleep have in common? Would a soothing magical balm make it easier to listen to “Cat Wife”?  Listen for yourself and find out! Then vote and let us know what you think!

April 2nd would have been the late Jack Webb’s 100th birthday! Our mysterious listener Mark recommended that we celebrate the occasion and by happy coincidence, our mysterious listener Tim recommended that we listen to “The Big Ruling” from Webb’s signature series, Dragnet! This particular episode depicts an investigation of a heroin ring and evidence that law enforcement is no longer what it once was! Will an informant provide enough details to catch and convict the narcotics dealer? Do you find the casual banter between officers to be authenticating or extraneous? Why would Joe Friday need a new suit? Listen for yourself and find out! Then vote and let us know what you think!

This week we seek high adventure with the episode “The Shanghai Secret,” from the series, Voyage of the Scarlet Queen. Ship’s Master Kearney cannot set sail until the murder of his first mate is solved. But staying ashore makes him an easy target for an international conspiracy. Can Kearney trust anyone? Who did kill his first mate? Just how amorous are his feelings for his ship? Listen for yourself and find out! Then vote and let us know what you think!

Our thanks to Dawn who recommended this week’s visit to the Listener Library, “Where Do We Go From Here?” from Nightfall! This episode of the beloved series tells the tale of a man who has been left completely immobilized in a death-like state after a car crash. Can he find a way to communicate that he is awake and alert? What fate awaits him if he fails? Are Canadian ambulances better than those in the U.S.? Listen for yourself and find out! Then vote and let us know what you think!

Our Valentine’s Day celebration is over a month late and still not what we intended, but we won’t let that stop us! As a gift for his wife Adrienne, Joshua chose an adaptation of a story by one of her favorite authors, Dorothy Sayers. “The Cave of Ali Baba,” was an early episode of Suspense that tells the story of an infiltration into a secret cabal of thieves. The tale is notable for featuring a fantastical invention that would someday become reality. (Learn more about this at https://blog.oup.com/2016/03/dorothy-sayers-voice-print-vsi/) Will the intruder’s deception be discovered? Why is there so much dancing? Would Adrienne have liked this? Listen for yourself and find out! Then vote and let us know what you think!

When the world has turned upside down and nothing makes any sense, it’s time for Dark Fantasy! This week’s episode, “Cup of Gold,” features a golf tournament where the winner has been murdered! The prime suspect is a woman who can recall neither why she was there nor why she presented the winner with a counterfeit trophy. What secret drove her to this dire situation? What past crime was being avenged by this death? What … whoa, Dark Fantasy, what…what are you doing there? Listen for yourself and find out! Then vote and let us know what you think!

This month marks 100 years since the birth of actor/writer/director/ producer Antony Ellis! Our listener Mark suggested we celebrate Ellis’ remarkable career and we have chosen an episode of Escape to do just that! The Abominable Snowman was written and directed by Ellis and it tells the tale of a hunting expedition in the Himalayas determined to track down the legendary yeti. What do the local guides know about this creature that the hunters do not? Just who is really hunting who? Will we at any point successfully say the word abubinuble…amunabubble…bunimumable—dang it! Listen for yourself and find out! Then vote and let us know what you think!

Our thanks to Mark for sending us to the Listener Library this week for a special treat, “The Case of the Flaming Skull,” an episode of The Shadow that was rebroadcast as part of Mystery Playhouse. It’s a treat because we get Peter Lorre serving as host to the Shadow! In this particular episode, our masked hero squares off against a glowing skeletal thief who may have abducted a scientist! What has driven this creature to pursue its thefts? Is the entity a supernatural horror, a product of aberrant science, or a clever fraud? Just how many Batman villains did this episode inspire? Listen for yourself and find out! Then vote and let us know what you think!

There’s been a murder and we're joining San Francisco P.I. Candy Matson to find the solution to “The Cable Car Case!” When a shopping trip puts Candy on the same cable car as a murder victim, our sharp-witted heroine sees a chance to earn a few bucks if she can solve the crime before the police. How was the murder even possible in such a crowded space? Will Candy's investigation put her in the killer’s crosshairs? Will anyone in San Francisco still be sober enough to care about the solution? Listen for yourself and find out! Then vote and let us know what you think!

This week is the second of two episodes in which we check out the beginning of Suspense and its end! "Devilstone" was the last episode of the classic series to be broadcast and it features the tale of a haunted Irish manor that has a peculiar effect on the dead. What secret drove the previous tenant mad? Will this story serve as the ideal finale for the famous series? What sound does a peahen make? Listen for yourself and find out! Then vote and let us know what you think!

We keep surpassing Patreon goals! This week, we are cerebrating with episodes featuring the beginning and end of Suspense! For the first part, we listen to the (sort-of) audition episode presented as part of the Forecast series in July of 1940. Alfred Hitchcock (sort of, not really) presented this adaptation of the short story and novel by Marie Belloc Lowndes, the same source material he adapted for his 1927 silent film, The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog. Based on the Jack the Ripper murders, this story depicts a mysterious zealot who who rents a room from a working class London couple. Could this stranger be the murderous figure known as the Avenger? Why did this episode receive so many complaints? Are we being stalked by Bromo-Seltzer? Listen for yourself and find out! Then vote and let us know what you think!

We have passed another Patreon goal and to celebrate we are exploring strange new territory: classic radio comedies! This week we listen to three different comedic takes on our usual suspense and horror diet. First, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis get the creeps with Peter Lorre! Then Stan Freberg parodies a beloved crime drama! And finally, Jack Benny puts his own spin on a classic horror anthology! Can these jokes still be funny after all these years? Are visual gags better when you can’t see them? Which comedy icon threatens to tear this podcast apart? Listen for yourself and find out! Then vote and let us know what you think!

It’s time to look back over the last year and choose which of the episodes we listened to stood above the rest and which sank to the bottom! Based on listener polls, the learned opinions of esteemed special guests, and our own unfocused rambling, one episode shall be declared champion and another shall be declared the worst. Which episode will bask in glory? Which will wallow in shame? Do we actually remember all of what we listened to last year? Listen for yourself and find out! Plus, we have some announcements about the coming year and other fun surprises!