The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society

Boris Karloff stars in this week’s episode, “The Final Reckoning” from Creeps by Night! After a convict has his life sentence commuted, his long-planned path of revenge can begin. Soon the man who put him in prison finds a dead rat on his doorstep and is looking for someplace to hide! Will this quest for vengeance be fulfilled? What is the plan? Would you be willing to stay longer in prison if there were tasty sna...

This week we’re listening to “Wild Jack Rhett,” an episode of Escape set in a small frontier town in the Old West! When the town’s previous sheriff dies, the citizens need to decide what kind of man they want to hire to replace him. But electing to a hire a steely-eyed killer like Wild Jack Rhett may be more than the town can bear. Will Rhett bring order to this town? How does this compare with Gunsmoke, whi...

This sci-fi themed episode of Quiet Please was recommended to us by our Patreon supporter Lance. Thanks, Lance! Appropriate to the story’s title, “The Pathetic Fallacy” is the story of a scientist who has created a machine capable of computing fantastically complex mathematical problems, but the device seems to willfully be making errors. Soon the public is more interested in the machine’s apparently human-l...

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 ...

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...

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 uni...

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 improv...

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 Twent...

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,...

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....

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? ...

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 y...

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 yo...

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...

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 b...

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 ventriloqui...

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 convi...

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 stu...