Octoberfest 2017: Mystery Radio Broadcasts

Hi! It's been awhile since I've mentioned it but I love Old Hollywood-era radio broadcasts. Don't get me wrong, I love tv and that platform of media, but there's something special about a show being broadcast via radio, especially murder mysteries. I guess it's the old school equivalent of today's audiobooks but I love them. If you enjoy them the way I do, then you should enjoy today's post. I wanted to find a bunch of old broadcasts for those of us who enjoy listening, and I've rounded up a small list of archived audio mystery broadcasts, as well as a few modern-day mystery podcasts for those of you who prefer things a little more current. I love listening to these on a cloudy, muggy day while I'm stuck in the house. Old noir films, mystery radio broadcasts, crafting supplies and food? Count me in. Now when I looked for these broadcasts a few years ago some of these sites weren't up yet so if you've searched for them more recently you probably found the same ones so be warned, you may not find anything new on this list.  

1. The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

This is the classic old-time radio show of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous detective, and this link has 125 episodes recorded over the course of 8 years. Some of these episodes are based off of the classic show but were later rerecorded; one of the more current episodes is dated 2001. Originally, this was a weekly series that aired a total of over 200 episodes, but I don't think they were all able to be salvaged. You'll be able to hear different actors taking on the iconic role of Holmes, starting with Basil Rathbone and later including Sir John Gielgud and Tom Conway. 


2. Philip Marlowe Adventures 

Raymond Chandler's main detective was brought to radio for a time, and Archive has 105 of the single-episode mysteries. Much like some of the other entries on this list, each episode focuses on a different mystery rather than following a long-term plot. For a short time the show saw some success, but never reached the levels of Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie's sleuths or Sam Spade. Marlowe is a detective that I'm only familiar with because of The Big Sleep, and I was only interested in that because 1) it was the film I chose for a Daily Cinema a few years ago, which I chose mainly because 2) I found out it was the film that brought Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart together. lol The plot was secondary to me after I heard that little tidbit. I was intrigued, but more so in finally being able to see this chemistry I'd heard and read so much about. Anyway, even though the critics of its original run weren't too fond of it, I'm willing to give Philip Marlowe Adventures a go. It's well rated and received on Archive, and I wouldn't mind potentially expanding my list of detectives to fangirl over. lol


3. Old Time Radio Mysteries
This is an archive of different old-radio shows of varying genres. Some shows, like Bold Venture, are voiced by Hollywood greats, while others are not and/or only have one episode available for listening, so you kind of have to wade through and see which ones you prefer to check out. I've started Bold Venture because it stars one of my favorite duos, Bogey and Bacall. I'll always be here for anything with them in it together. 


4. CBS Radio Mystery Theater

This is another archive, this one of different mystery radio episodes that were played on CBS Radio Mystery Theater back in the day. The episodes aren't clearly specified in the description so I can't give too many details about the different stories, so I just have reviews to go off of. It's fairly well-received and reviewed by other listeners. Something I enjoy about it is that news stories and commercials from the day of the broadcast were not edited out for their re-release on Archive, so you get to hear exactly what was going on in the world on that day. Maybe its corny, but I really enjoy that.  


5. Agatha Christie Radio Mysteries 

For once, a radio show that I didn't get from Archive. lol This site has a collection of the radio mysteries, which were dramatizations of Agatha Christie books, 68 audio files on the site, including quite a few featuring my favorite detective of all time, the fussy Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot. There are a few episodes that are split up, so there are 68 files but not 68 episodes, if that makes any sense. OAN, I'm boycotting the new Murder on the Orient Express movie. By 'boycott' I mean refusing to watch it or anymore of its trailers (I saw the first trailer and the minute I saw the new Poirot, immediately put on my 'Hater' hat) and complaining about it to anyone who will listen, whether they have interest in seeing the movie or not. lol Listen. It's David Suchet or no Poirot for me. The end. 


6. 31 Scary Radio Mysteries
This is a collection of 31 of the scariest old-time radio mystery episodes. Just a few of the episodes on this list include "The Shadow People," which is about murderous entities with intentions to murder an entire family, "Possessed by the Devil," which was a risque broadcast of its time (mid-70s) about Satanism and possessions at a college, and "Valse Triste," about a charming psychopath (bc they're always charming psychopaths, right?) who sets his sights on two friends vacationing together. A follow-up to this post, 31 More Scary Radio Mysteries, was released last year in time for Halloween. 


7. Inner Sanctum Mysteries 

This was an anthology series focused on suspense, mystery and horror. Stars of this time, like Orson Welles, Burgess Meredith, and Boris Karloff, either broke into Hollywood via this show or came on the show for cameos. This isn't a complete collection of the series; the show's info page says there were about 500 episodes total but a little less than half of those were salvaged and from what I can see, Archive has around 37 episodes on the site in different audio formats. The page describes the show as a mix of campy horror and humor, and I imagine it had to be exciting for listeners to hear some of the big names in Hollywood making appearances in different episodes. I suppose it would be akin to learning your favorite movie actor is making a guest appearance on a tv show. It looks to be pretty well received by the reviews I read on the site, minus downloading and audio issues, which have since been fixed. 




Basically, just go to Archive.org if you're looking for old-time radio broadcasts. lol I wasn't intending to have so many of these link back to the same website; I was initially searching for the blanket entry of 'old radio shows' and because most of these have been out of circulation for so long, it makes sense that they'd all be in an archive. I just wasn't expecting the individual shows I eventually searched for to be in the same archive. lol So although I know this looks like I went to Archive's website and just shared a few of their old radio broadcasts, I genuinely wanted to share these shows--then found out they were all on the same damn site. I'm sorry.
Anyway, in case you like the format of mystery radio but prefer something a bit more modern, here are a few mystery podcasts. Thankfully, all of these have their own websites. lol 

Modern-Day Mystery Shows and Podcasts
1. We're Alive
My friend introduced me to this podcast and I love it. Former soldier Michael is the main character of this story set in a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles, where the dead walk freely and the survivors dwindle quickly. Bonds are formed among the survivors as they learn about the other threats in their world and struggle with who they can trust. It's a solid show and I enjoy it. After We're Alive concluded, a shorter sequel named Lockdown was released and recently, a second sequel called Goldrush was announced as heading into development. It is said to be set in the middle of the We're Alive storyline and has some familiar characters to the story, so give it a looksie if you're interested. If you're into shows like The Walking Dead, I think you'll enjoy We're Alive. 


2. The Sherlock Holmes Society of London

I listened to a couple of the episodes here just to make sure they weren't the older ones I featured above lol, and they weren't. This looks to be a modern retelling of the Sherlock Holmes stories, with each episode telling a different story. 


3. The Witch Hunter Chronicles This is a playlist of the dramatized audiobook version of The Witch Hunter (not to be confused with the Vin Diesel film The Last Witch Hunter), which is a gothic fantasy novel set in a world where using or practicing magic is punishable by death. One of the top witch hunters, Ludlov, finds himself feeling conflicted after meeting a young witch scheduled for execution and the audiobook brings the story to life via narration and sound effects. There are a couple of other audiobooks on the YouTube channel, which is where the above link will take you. 


4. ars PARADOXICA

This show is still ongoing but I'm looking forward to getting started on it. This is a time travel government thriller about a current-day experiment going wrong, sending Dr. Sally Grissom into the past, around the time of the Cold War. Grissom and her team have to figure out how to get back to current time while being stuck in the past during a war, in a classified department of the government. A new episode of the show starts on the 25th of this month so if you're interested in checking this out, you'd better hurry before the season premiere. 


5. FinalRune Productions

This is the name of the production company rather than the name of the show, like the other entries. I did that because FinalRune produces and publishes a number of radio dramas and mysteries, and I wanted you to check them out to see if any of them were interesting for you. The company prides itself on following in the footsteps of the original radio dramas and the like, but putting a modern twist on the concept. It's imaginative and the earlier published episodes could use some work, but it's not bad overall. 


6. Welcome to Night Vale

Night Vale is a fictional desert town in which all kinds of strange happenings are going on and from one of the creators, is basically a town in which conspiracy theories are true. From what I understand, its basically an audio narration into said strange happenings, with weather and police reports, and has also created a few side stories in the form of books and podcasts. Night Vale Presents is a list of the other podcasts on Night Vale's network, all of which I believe are also available on Apple Podcasts. 


7. You Must Remember This
I had to include this on the list even though it's not a modern version of a classic radio mystery because it explores Old Hollywood, so I thought it would still work. There is an entire season of the show centered around Charles Manson, but other episodes explore the "Hanoi Jane" controversy following the Vietnam War, behind the scenes info about the operations at MGM, and a six-episode piece I'm really interested in listening to called "Six Degrees of Joan Crawford," which breaks down her life and demise into six episodes. 


*Honorable Mention: Moonlight Audio Theatre

One of my favorite things about mystery radio is that it allows your imagination to run wild, much like when you're reading a book, but the narration adds a little something extra. Funny enough, I like mystery broadcasts but don't care much for audiobooks, despite having included two of them on this list. lol I kinda miss when soap operas and shows were broadcast via radio instead of tv. Mystery radio just brings to mind a chilly day, cooped up in the house, listening to a creepy story unfold with only your imagination and the narration to keep you company. I hope something on this list was up your alley--and I also hope you forgive me for having so many entries that can be found on the same site. lol If there are any formatting issues in the post on your end, I'm sorry--my HTML formatting went bonkers shortly before I published this. Everything looks fixed on my end now but if you still see some jankyness going on let me know. See you in a few days!