Our Patreon supporter Simon recommended we make another Appointment with Fear for an episode entitled, “The Clock Strikes Eight”! Thanks, Simon! John Dickson Carr’s corpulent detective, Gideon Fell, is summoned to meet a woman about to be executed for murder. But this woman has lost all her memories, starting with the victim’s death! Can Fell uncover the truth before the fatal hour arrives? What caused this woman to lose her memories? Would you like to go on a vacation with Gideon Fell?...

The seas aren’t safe while a madman commands the crew of a submarine, sinking whatever ships it finds! But Lamont Cranston is on the case as The Shadow in this episode entitled “Death from the Deep!” But before he can stop this submarine, the Shadow will need to find it! What motivates the killer to do what he does? Will the Shadow be able to outwit his cunning opponent? Is this in any way appropriate for children? Listen for yourself and find out!

This episode was recorded live at the Bryant-Lake Bowl in Minneapolis with special guest, Shanan Custer! We’re listening to “The Wailing Wall” from Inner Sanctum Mystery, starring Boris Karloff! The story features a murderous husband who can’t seem to escape his crimes! What is the source of the keening sound that haunts him? Is he truly being plagued by a ghost? Is that really how the police investigate unidentified corpses? Listen for yourself and find out! 

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A violent series of robberies have Joe Friday and the entire L.A. police force on high alert in this episode of Dragnet, “The Red Light Bandit”! According to his victims, the assailant approached them pretending to be a policeman. Even as a city-wide manhunt fails to stop him, his crimes grow more brutal by the day! How will the police track him down? Is the story you about to hear actually true? Would Dragnet be improved with more pigeon-related content? Listen for yourself and find out!

Philo Vance returns to the podcast! S.S. Van Dine’s classic detective pits his wits against a gang of robbers targeting upper class house parties in “The Cipher Murder Case.” When one of these robbers kills his own partner, a cipher is found on the dead man’s body that could unmask the mastermind behind the crimes! What key did Vance use to decrypt the cipher? Will this story adhere to Van Dine’s Twenty Rules of Mysteries? Are we doing this swingers’ party correctly? Listen for yourself and...

This week, we’re presenting one of our B Sides of the Mysterious Old Radio, an example of the sort of bonus content we make available to our supporters on Patreon! Each B Side is a companion piece to an episode presented as part of our usual podcast. In this case we’re listening to “A Night to Forget” from Quiet Please as a supplement to our previous installment, “The Coffin in Studio B,” from Lights Out! Wyllis Cooper wrote this script roughly 15 years after its predecessor on Lights Out....

It’s not just any episode of Lights Out this week, it’s a recreation of one of Wyllis Cooper’s scripts from the earliest days of the classic series! “The Coffin in Studio B” features the story of actors and a director struggling to get a production of Lights Out ready in time for its broadcast, but creative differences and an uninvited salesman threaten to derail the show. Can the actors and the director agree on what constitutes a menacing tone? What is the actual plot of the episode...

This week we meet The Man Called X! Herbert Marsall starred as the title character in this series of espionage thrillers. During this episode, “Storm Over the Alps,” X’s investigation into a counterfeiting ring brings him to the Swiss Alps, specifically an area of the mountains with peculiar weather conditions. But instead of answers, he finds himself framed for murder! Will X learn which way the wind is blowing? What is the secret of the Rhinemaiden? Is it okay to watch season 5 of Fargo...

We’re revisiting the Australian series, The Key, about which not much is known. This episode, “Showgirl Murdered,” tells the story of a man seemingly framed for the murder of his former girlfriend. As the trial proceeds, a variety of circumstances align to prevent him from proving his innocence. Will the true killer be found? Will justice prevail? Do people in Australia often forget the names of food? Listen for yourself and find out!

This week we’re listening to Barbara Stanwyck’s lone appearance on Suspense, “The Wages of Sin”! Stanwyck stars as a hard-boiled woman being used to help cover up a murder. But once the police become involved she comes up with a scheme to secure a sizeable payday for herself! Will she successfully get her payout? Or will she die trying? Can someone bowl so badly that isn’t funny to watch? Listen for yourself and find out!

Our mysterious listener (and Patreon supporter and artist) Tim sent us down to the Listener Library for an episode of Nightfall entitled, "Gerald"! Thanks, Tim! This story features a young boy who is drawn down a dark path by a mysterious figure, someone who can't always be seen or heard. As the child's actions grow more monstrous, the child's father desperately searches for the source of these horrors. What does this stranger want with young Gerald? What will happen when the boy's father...

We conclude our trio of inaugural episodes from classic radio series! This time we're listening to "Milford Brooks III," the audition episode of Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar! In this initial story, Johnny has to keep the holder of a two-million-dollar life insurance policy holder from committing suicide. Along the way he'll try to get some quality time with a beautiful lady and figure out why this policy holder suddenly changed his beneficiary! How does Dick Powell compare to other actors who...

For the second of our trio of inaugural episodes from classic radio series, we present "Dead of Night," the audition episode for Escape! This story of a British ventriloquist plagued by paranoia and delusions was adapted from one section of a the classic horror anthology film of the same name. When this entertainer encounters his American counterpart, jealousy drives him to bizarre and perhaps dangerous behavior! Is the ventriloquist's dummy truly alive? How does this compare to later Escape...

In the hopes of launching 2024 with some auspicious beginnings, we're presenting a trio of first episodes from classic radio series! Our mysterious listener Glenn starts us out by celebrating 50 years of CBS Radio Mystery Theater with the series' debut episode, “The Old Ones are Hard to Kill!” Agnes Moorehead stars as a kindly old woman whose lodger confesses to a murder on his deathbed, and tells her that the man convicted of the crime is innocent. She begins to investigate, hoping to clear...

Before we dive fully into 2024, we'd like to take a moment to share a sample from our Patreon page! Last October, our patrons were treated to a Halloween Special, "Spirits and Spooks Summoned for Halloween by William Conrad," a 1973 children's spoken word album! At the end of the year, our Patreon members declared this the second best bonus content from 2023! Now we're sharing it with everyone as a little taste of all the great stuff that comes with membership. Please have a listen and...

Happy New Year's Eve! We cannot let the year pass without another adaptation of Charles Dickens’ other famous ghost story, “The Signal-Man.” Unexpectedly, we learned of a version even more contemporary than last year's, presented by Seeing Ear Theater from 1998! 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 would this...

We're spending this Christmas with Candy Matson! This episode, entitled "Jack Frost," features Candy on the case of a missing assistant to a department store Santa, Jack Frost! When the man who played Jack turns up dead, she needs to call in some festive help from her friend Rembrandt Watson! Who would want to kill Jack Frost? What important question will Detective Mallard ask Candy? Can Eric explain the sports jokes to his co-hosts? Listen for yourself and find out!

This week's visit to the Listener Library is a gift for Tim from our mysterious listener, Hank. Thanks, Hank! "The Crisis of Dirk Diamond" is an episode of Suspense featuring a cartoonist whose going to lose his job if he doesn't come up with a new villain to challenge his protagonist, Dirk Diamond. But when he introduces Freddy, a character that haunted his own childhood, the danger begins to spill off the page and invade reality! Can an artist truly kill his own creation? Can theater of the...

Join us in this celebratory toast to the peaks and valleys that we traveled through in 2022! Based on listener polls, the keen insights of esteemed special guests, and our own incoherent ramblings, one episode shall be declared the specialty of the house and another shall be declared a real punch to the groin. Who can outwit the chess master? Who will regret having followed a banjo act? Why does this episode feature a cat butt? Listen for yourself and find out!

This week's episode is "The Man Who Stole a Planet," from Quiet, Please! Even for this idiosyncratic, and groundbreaking series, this story is one of the stranger ones, featuring tomb raiding, the undead, and natural disasters in the Iron Range! Who is this man? What planet did he steal? Who wrote the script for the Red-Headed Stepson of Frankenstein? Listen for yourself and find out!

It's been a while since we've payed a visit to The Hall of Fantasy, so we're stopping by for an episode entitled, "The Man in Black!" The story features two men who encounter a woman terrified by a person she calls "the man in black." Once she's found dead, the men become obsessed with finding out the truth behind this dark-clad figure. Soon, the two are themselves targeted by this mysterious, unnatural being. Can they discover the identity of the man? What threat does he prove to the woman...

Happy Thanksgiving! As always, we are most grateful for our listeners and today we're celebrating with a visit to our Listener Library! Our Mysterious Listener Dave recommended we check out "The Black Room" from CBS Radio Mysterious Theater. Thanks, Dave! The story features a man locked against his will in a light-less, window-less room. The men who subjected him to this peculiar treatment and the purpose of the room itself are mysterious, but what is certain is that he needs to find a way to...

As the weather turns cold, "The Cabin" from Gunsmoke is the perfect was to prepare for the snow! In this story, Marshal Dillon and his horse get caught in a blizzard and his only hope for survival is to find shelter in a small cabin in the middle of nowhere. But what he finds inside might be deadlier than the storm outside! What desperate situation awaits inside? How can Dillon escape? How long will it take Tim to Google the name of that movie he can't remember? Listen for yourself and find out!