A test pilot on an experimental high altitude aircraft with only ten minutes worth of fuel disappears from radar for ten hours, yet returns safely. Of course, it is impossible, as is his story of contact with aliens and the dire warning they have for Mankind.

A very popular story with radio producers. Versions also appeared on Escape, X Minus One, and two versions for Suspense.

A tycoon with a dangerous heart condition who'd always dreamed of setting foot on the Moon hires two ex-astronauts to fly him there illegally in a ship he has built in secret. Story by Robert Heinlein.

Versions of this story also appeared on X Minus One and Dimension X. See also 'The Vital Factor' (Dimension X and X Minus One)

An coroner's enquiry uncovers an uncanny story of an alien device found in a cave that seems to be recording everything that happens on Earth. Why would anyone be interested in this planet? Based on the story The Sky is Full of Ships, by Theodore Sturgeon.

A reading of the original story was performed on Mind Webs. Yet another version was produced for television on the program Tales of Tomorrow, under the title 'Verdict From Space'.

A faithful adaptation of the Hollywood film of the same title.

Familiar fairy tale. Very familiar. Handsome prince, beautiful princess, and of course an Evil King - The Princess's Father. The Prince wants his daughter's hand, the King wants his head. What to do? Give Dad a 1000 jewels. He does. But...

A whimsical look at a symposium for alien abductees, done in a documentary style.

A cargo ship en route to Venus suffers an oxygen leak which leaves only enough air for one of the two crewmen aboard to survive the trip. Story by Arthur C. Clarke.

A supercomputer, impervious to interference of any kind, is created to defend the free world from nuclear attack. But unbeknownst to its creators, the Soviets have built one too. Within hours of activation, the two machines learn to communicate and begin to conceive ideas of their own about world security. Based on the book by D.F. Jones, and the movie of the same title.

From CBC Playhouse: A couple purchase a holo-theater to keep their son and daughter amused, but the recreation of the sweltering African savannah the children concoct is anything but amusing....Story by Ray Bradbury.

A rural community is besieged by a homicidal maniac.

In a future society where the government enforces docility through television and curfews, two 'insurgents' venture out of their homes to risk a walk in the night air. Based on a story by Ray Bradbury.

A couple are beset by the husband's best friend, who has an obsessive fear of winds that want to hunt him down. Very loosely based on the Ray Bradbury story 'The Wind', though the credits neglect to mention his name.

In Victorian London, a doctor becomes concerned for a friend who is cavorting with an 'elemental' , an entity of pure evil

See also 'How Love Came to Professor Guildea' CBS Radio Mystery Theater (as 'Shadow of Love'), Escape , Radio City Playhouse, and The Vanishing Point.

An ageing father is at odds with his daughter's fiance and becomes obsessed with the identity of a stranger he sees around town whom he insists he knows, though he has never been able to catch sight of his face.

A hunting trio into the north woods devolves into terror when the guide vanishes, supposedly the victim of a legendary creature that prowls the forest.

A first contact mission specialist is put on trial for genocide when the alien race he made contact with 'disappeared' shortly after his visit to their home world.

A 5 part, 1 hr 30 m production based on Arthur C. Clarke's classic novel of the arrival of the Overlords, a superior alien race come to usher mankind several steps up the evolutionary ladder, whether we want it or not.

Other versions were produced for the BBC.

The twin planets of Uras and Anara have pursued opposing socio-political ideals and thus avoided contact with each other for fear of cultural contamination. Now Shevek, a brilliant mathematician and physicist, has been invited to visit Uras, an invitation he accepts in spite of the objections of his fellow Anarans, who fear that Uras' leaders only want him to develop a new space-drive that will allow them rebuild their interstellar empire.

A six part mini-series based on the novel by Ursula K. Le Guin.

A couple in an apartment acquire an unusual radio which picks up conversations from their neighbours in the building. Could anyone resist the temptation to learn all their neighbours' secrets? Story by John Cheever
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Versions of this story were also produced for Suspense and CBS Radio Workshop.

Said professor despises people and holds only contempt for human affection. But love cannot be denied, and if the good professor will not accept love from a human source, he must face the prospect of an inhuman love...

Versions of this story also appeared on CBS Radio Mystery Theater (as 'Shadow of Love'), Escape , Radio City Playhouse, and The Vanishing Point.

See also 'The Thing in the Hall' (Theatre 10:30)

Minute alien colonists arrive on Earth encased in a meteor, and have no end of trouble battling the gigantic native 'monsters'. Story by John Wyndham.

See also 'Meteor Man' (Lights Out) and 'The Meteorite' (CBS Radio Mystery Theater).

A computer programmer is hired by monks in Nepal to help them collect every possible name for the Almighty. A laughable project, with not so laughable consequences... Story by Arthur C. Clarke.

An inventor's ruthless, self-seeking nephew turns the tables on him with the aid of his new time machine. But time is not something easily trifled with...

Giant alien ships descend on Earth, broadcasting telepathic messages that they are here to test mankind for inclusion in the galactic community, but they won't tell anyone what the test is beyond the cryptic phrase, 'the stars demand sacrifice'.

The seemingly simple natives of a world blanketed in forest resent the arrogance of human interlopers, and the contempt they show for the local ecology. All the natives need is a leader strong enough and clever enough to match wits with their human exploiters.... Based on a novel by Ursula K. le Guin. In 3 parts, 1 hr. 30 m.

Astronauts landing on Venus discover a world torn by war between indigenous intelligent vegetables.

A 2-part, 1 hour vision of a future where individualism and free thought are suppressed by drugs and a bizarre blend of economic super-capitalism and enforced social communism. Story by Aldous Huxley.

See also '1984' (Theatre Guild on the Air).

Miss Lurene Tuttle and Mr. Vincent Price have a little disagreement about the relative merits of Romanticism vs. Realism, which results in each of them re-telling the classic story of Cinderella in their own style.

A couple in an apartment acquire an unusual radio which picks up conversations from their neighbours in the building. Could anyone resist the temptation to learn all their neighbours' secrets? Story by John Cheever

Versions of this story were also produced for Suspense and the CBC's Vanishing Point.

Classic story of a space engineer who suffers a tragic accident and ends up tramping about the Solar System singing about the life of spacers and dreaming of returning to Earth once more before he dies. Story by Robert Heinlein.

Other versions of this story appeared on X Minus One and Dimension X.

A well-produced adventure story about the tensions aboard a ship stationed to warn other ships away from dangerous shoals.

Amidst the desolation and human suffering left by World War Three, there are no countries left, only the wandering remnants of their armies, who battle one another over the Earth's dwindling resources. There are no sides, no causes, no objectives save for survival. This dark tale envisions one ragtag force who take it upon themselves to protect Newark from invasion by sea borne raiders.

Archaeologists in the future attempt to reconstruct our way of life from a collection of small artifacts, and arrive at some rather bizarre conclusions.

A semi-biographical travelogue by American humorist Mark Twain, covering his travels throughout the American West between 1861 and 1867.

In a future dominated by rampant consumerism and global advertising cartels, a high-ranking ad executive is charged with the task of selling the colonization of an inhospitable Venus. But corporate conspirators and outlawed conservationists have other ideas... A 2-part, 1 hour production based on the book by Frederik Pohl and C.M. Kornbluth.

See also 'The Merchant of Venus' (X Minus One)

Three astronauts hibernating on the first interstellar mission, a 500-year voyage to Alpha Centauri, awake to a startling discovery as they near their destination. Story by A.E. van Vogt.

A mission is launched to find the Lost City of Atlantis and their anti-gravity technology...on Mars.

As the first mission to go to another galaxy is being prepared, one of the astronauts slated to go must deal with his overbearing father who insists he must go and his girlfriend who insists he mustn't go.

At a public demonstration, a professor shows off his machine for talking to insects by interviewing Alf, a heroic fly with a Noo Yawk accent.

An unusual teenaged girl has an unhappy effect on her adoptive household.

A pilot on the brink of death takes a tour of a strange airport on the edge of the abyss.

A trio of visitors is trapped in a flooding Welsh coal mine; the crooked head of an investment firm plots to abscond with the investors' money but something supernatural intervenes.

Death Himself, sad and lonely, stalks a kingdom with his violin, looking for someone to dance to his music.

Two "nightmare breeders," a veteran and a novice, create dreams to haunt sleeping mortals.

While the "life-loving Negroes" of Frog Bottom, Alabama enjoy a fish fry, a murderer among them comes to believe he is haunted by the ghosts of an African slave ship.

A nameless city in an undefined time is under siege from a conqueror whose armies are converging on its gates. But perhaps the greatest danger lies within the city's denizens themselves... Told in a series of grandly eloquent speeches.

Two separate versions were made, 1937 and 1939. The '37 version stars Orson Welles.

A man catches a talking fish that grants him three wishes.

Seven beggars attempt to pass themselves off as gods.

Two short plays: alien observes a distant world; ruthless general dies and finds himself on trial.

Relatives, clients, and enemies eagerly await the imminent demise of the Baron Metzengerstein, not the least among them his son, who is impatient to take the helm in the family's long history of abuses, heedless of the curse put on the family name through a stolen tapestry hanging on the castle wall. Based on a story by Edgar Allen Poe.

A version of this story was produced for The Weird Circle as 'The Tapestry Horse'

Matter-of-fact murderer Dougal confesses to his crime.

Four crooks who have stolen an Indian idol's ruby eye wait for the idol's worshippers to come and try to take it back.

A husband remodels an old New York City brownstone and his wife keeps hearing noises. Is she going crazy or is it a ghost?

Miss Glory arrives at the factory to liberate Rossum's Universal Robots. Based on the play by Karel Capek.

The mysterious Dr. Percival, who likes to be where things are happening, boards a doomed ocean liner.

A journalist interviews a haunted railroad signal-man. Based on the story by Charles Dickens.

As a playwright swims for his life, his thoughts, and scenes from his past, flash through his mind.

During a broadcast of W. C. Handy's classic blues, simultaneous dramatic vignettes are heard consecutively.

On a dark and stormy night, an employee of an insane asylum recounts the tale of a murderer with an acute sensitivity to sound.

The fate of the human race hangs in the balance when a British fox hunter is spirited away from Earth to defend the value of his species. Script by Lord Dunsany, based on his story "What Is the Use of Man?"

Before two talking meteors can fulfil their destiny by colliding, they crash into Earth.

Beyond the Grave    *LOST*

Dark Destiny    *LOST*

The Final Reckoning

George Miller was framed for a murder he didn't commit and has waited 20 years for an opportunity to seek vengeance. When he is finally released from the state penitentiary, he seeks out the man who framed him—a gangster named Ace. George has a few things he'd like to ask Ace... With Boris Karloff as George Miller.

The Hunt

Old man Horton is a bit of a recluse—quietly tending his sheep on fifty acres of pasture near the Louisiana Bayou, keeping a firm rein on his under-age sister, Julie... and quietly digging a grave-sized hole in which to bury something. Against this backdrop, Jeff, a young lad who has come calling on Julie perhaps one too many times, is found murdered... With Boris Karloff as Loomis Horton.

The Man with the Devil's Hands    *LOST*

"The story of a great musician who has no control over his hands, whether for creating beauty or causing death."
--- Syracuse Herald Journal as quoted at The Digital Deli.

See also 'The Dead Hand' (Murder at Midnight), 'Hand of Botar' (Hall of Fantasy), 'The Crimson Hand' (The Hermit's Cave), 'The Hand' (CBS Radio Mystery Theater), 'Death by Whose Hands?' (CBS Radio Mystery Theater), and 'The Beast with Five Fingers' (Fear on 4).

The Six Who Did Not Die

Captain Bull Harrison of the Sloop Nancy Hale, leads a crew of six natives and one Cockney mate to the Mangareva Atoll in the Gambier Archipelago—four days east of Sydney—to dive for pearls. What they uncover, in addition to pearls, is that the price of greed is sometimes measured in guilt... Peter Lorre hosts the AFRS version of this episode.

See also 'The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea' (Mysterious Traveler).

The Strange Burial of Alexander Jordan

The old Jordan house has stood for over one hundred years amidst birch wood and pastureland. And now, the last of the strong men who have always owned the house lies on his death bed, making funeral plans with Dr. Rutledge. Alexander Jordan is not afraid of dying... but he is terribly afraid of suffering another cataleptic fit and being buried alive... With Edmund Gwenn as Ramsey.

A String of Pearls    *LOST*

Those Who Walk in Darkness

A scientist, Steven Denton, is blinded in a laboratory explosion. His wife, Valerie, instead of calling an ambulance, calls an old lover who just happens to be a famous eye surgeon. The surgeon, Dr. Paul Wade, is still hurt by Valerie's rejection 10 years previously and seems rather vindictive as he explains that a very delicate eye operation is required which might restore Steven's sight—if his hand doesn't accidentally slip while operating... With Boris Karloff as Steven Denton. Peter Lorre hosts the AFRS version of this episode.

The Three Sisters

Three sisters live alone in the house that one of their ancestors, Captain David Southgate, built in 1836. The house rests on the New England coast between the salt marsh and the shifting sand dunes. The story begins on a dark, stormy night [really!] when Dr. Clemens is summoned to the house to look after Amanda who insists she is dying. Dr. Clemens finds nothing wrong, but Amanda insists that their dead mother will come that night to lead her to the grave and there is nothing anyone can do about it... With Florence Reed as Hester Southgate.

The Voice of Death    *LOST*

The Walking Dead

Dr. Nelson from the Public Health Office, Port-au-Prince, responds to a call from a coffee plantation owner. When he arrives at the plantation he discovers the foreman, who quite possibly murdered one of the native labourers, is suffering from a strange paralysis. Native drums beat in the distance... With Dr. X as the host and also (possibly) Juano Hernandez and Mary Patton.

See also 'Plantation Mystery' (The Hermit's Cave).

A scam artist concocts a 'youth' drug, and is shocked to discover one of his test patients, an elderly woman in her 80's, growing younger - not as shocked as she, however, when the side effects start to kick in....

Archaeologists find a legendary lost tomb in the jungles of Mexico, and can't resist the temptation to violate it despite an ancient curse.

See also 'Door of Gold' (Suspense) and 'The Door of Lotim' (Crisis)

Two space cadets are dropped onto an uninhabited planet as a ten day trial of their survival skills. At least, the probes claimed it is uninhabited...

Adventure tale of a young squire's struggle to avenge the murder of his father during the War of the Roses. A rushed re-telling of the story by Robert Louis Stevenson.

With George Edwards (Kublai Khan, Marco Polo, producer), Warren Barry, Tom Farley, Eric Scott, Nell Stirling (Princess Zielana).

With Derek Barnes, Warren Barry, Kevin Brennan, George Edwards, Tom Farley, Ken Fraser, Diana Goller, Harry Howlett, Moray Powell, William Rees, Ron Roberts...

With Alan Cuthbertson (Louis), Howard Craven (Lucien), Jean Robertson (Madam de Franchin), Eric Scott (Pierre), Jessica Noad (Annette), Owen Ainley (Captain Chateau-Renaud), Mary Hosking (Aunt Cecily), Bettie Dickson (Emilie), Warren Barry (Dino), Nell Stirling (Marianne).

With Warren Barry (Hugh Hanyon), Bruce Beeby (John Farley), Lloyd Berrell (Mr. Jekyll), Brenda Dunrich (Thirza Cox), George Edwards (Hyde, Jekyll, Poole, Franz), Hazel Hollander (Margaret Utterson), Richard Parry (Mr. Trelawny), Bebe Scott (Sam), Nell Stirling (Hetty Wilson, Nurse Poole), Lou Vernon (Mr. Litterton)...

With George Edwards.

Intrigue, romance and thrilling adventure set in France of 1678. Adapted from a story by Alexandre Dumas.

With Leonard Teale (Joel), Lou Vernon (Colonel Schultz), Reginald Goldsworthy (Bois Laurier), Nell Stirling (Renee), Sheila Sewell (Therese), Lynne Murphy (Aurora), Jack Raine (Aramis), Diana Perryman (Marchioness de Montespannet), Dennis Glenny (Friquet), John Cazabon (King Louis IV), Babs Mayhew (Francoise), Morray Powell (Corbuff), Winifred Green (La Bosse), Tom Farley (Bonlarron), Pat Barrington (Annette), Margaret Christensen (Queen Maria Therese), Bruce Stewart (Escrivaux), Athol Fleming (De Lareynie), John Alden (Major Du Junce), Afred Bristowe (Crequy), Richard Ashley (Duke Charles de Lorraine)...

Whimsical tale of an unemployed boxer who volunteers for an experiment to send a man back through time to ancient Rome.

A newspaper science editor gets a call from a renowned astronomer that an alien space armada is only hours away from the Earth.

Two astronauts on the first expedition to the Moon see 'something' run aboard their ship.

An expedition to a distant planet whose sun has gone nova finds the ruins left by an ancient, advanced civilization. VERY loosely based on a short story by Arthur C. Clarke.

Kent Holway, an Englishman dining in a Paris café, experiences a sense of unease, of foreboding, while watching the sinuous Dance of the Werewolf. Later, the female performer, Therese, begs to share his cab and his hotel room, claiming she is afraid to be alone during the full-moon because... she is turning into a werewolf! Mr. Holway doesn't believe her.

A man's search for his missing brother, an atomic scientist, leads to an alien conspiracy to kidnap Earth's leading minds. With Joseph Cotten.

When an overworked bishop prays for guidance, he is sent a handsome angel who seems to spend a lot of time romancing the bishop's wife.

Three versions aired on Lux and one on Screen Guild Theatre.

An alien spaceship lands in Washington, but its sole occupant escapes the authorities and seeks temporary refuge with a local family while trying to determine how best to deliver a cryptic message to the people of the Earth.

Based on the classic film; Michael Rennie reprises his role as Klaatu.

Jaded veteran safari guide Alan Quartermain is coerced into accepting a job to lead an expedition into unexplored country to locate a rich heiress' missing husband, who vanished searching for the legendary diamond mines of King Solomon. Based on the film of the same name and starring Stewart Granger and Deborah Kerr.

Following an escape from civil unrest, a hijacking, and a plane crash, a party of four finds itself stranded in the frigid mountains of Tibet. The remote lamasery of Shangri-La offers refuge and hospitality. Here our characters behold a beautiful, ideal world, but one which holds many a secret and enigma.

Other radio versions include: Academy Award Theatre, Everything for the Boys, Favorite Story, NBC University Theatre, and Theatre of Romance.

A bride wishes for eternal youth -- and gets it -- then watches her family grow old around her.

A version of this story was also produced on Romance.

An iron-willed South American plantation owner is determined to prevent a plague of army ants from overrunning his land. Based on the film of the same name. Stars Charlton Heston.

Versions of the original story 'Leiningen vs the Ants' appeared on Escape, Mystery in the Air, and Suspense.

Unemployed pilot and fortune hunter Harry Steele picks up the scent of a legendary Peruvian gold sunburst, whose rediscovery is foretold to bring about the resurrection of Incan power, but Harry only wants it for his own gain. He is not the only one... Stars Charlton Heston.

The film was a major inspiration for Raiders of the Lost Ark.

A version based on the George Pal film, boasting a strong cast and sound effects drawn right from the movie.

See all the radio versions of this story listed on the Famous Authors on Radio page.

A writer who violates a sacred native temple in the African jungle returns to civilization, but cannot escape the long arm of vengeance.

An expedition to the Arctic uncovers the body of a man apparently formed of crystal in a cavity under a glacier. They take it back to a museum where it proceeds to thaw...

A New England cleric attempts to verify whether a creepy mansion owned by an evil scientist is haunted or not.

A carney tricks a newly wedded groom into allowing himself to be buried alive.

France, 1910: a Count summons a police inspector to his castle after a series of strange deaths plague his home. The deaths are always foreshadowed by the beating of voodoo drums.

After he becomes mutilated and paralysed in a car accident, John Randall is contacted by a strange entity that offers him the chance to turn back time for a dire price.

An art collector can't resist purchasing a painting of a savage medieval horseman, whom legend holds will return to life through the portrait if under the right circumstances.

A group of medical students are confined to an isolated island and drugged with an experimental substance.

The Lord of Vampires moves to England where the neighbours aren't so aware of his true nature. Premiere episode. Story by Bram Stoker.

A recreation of the ill-fated 1879 attempt to reach the North Pole by ship. The expedition becomes trapped in the ice as the winter closes in.

See also 'Arctic Rescue' (Suspense) and 'The Captain of the Pole Star' (CBS Radio Mystery Theater)

A fellow going on a cross country car trip keeps meeting up with the same pesky spectral hitchhiker that he has no intention of picking up.

Welles also performed this script on Suspense.

The classic adventure tale by Robert Louis Stevenson, starring Orson Welles and Arthur Anderson. Pirates, tropical islands, a treasure map, a teenage boy, and a one-legged seaman with a parrot on his shoulder. Stevenson began writing this tale "on a chill September morning, by the cheek of a brisk fire, and rain drumming on the window"... after being asked by his step-son to, please, write something interesting.

Undeniably the most famous—or infamous—radio broadcast of all time. Orson Welles' dramatization of his namesake's immortal Sci-Fi classic was so terrifying that it had many listeners believing an invasion by Martians was actually taking place. Presented like a news report and removed to contemporary America, Welles' approach proved a little too effective for the gullible public. So great was the impact on society that this one broadcast has earned a place in America's cultural heritage. Based on the story by H.G. Wells.

For a complete listing of all the versions of this story produced for radio, see the Famous Authors on Radio page.

A pianist loses his hand (not to mention his mind) in an auto accident, and contrives to kill to obtain a new hand which can then be grafted onto his arm. The only problem is that his chosen victim had a penchant for theft and violence.... Story by Robert Newman.

See also 'The Beast with Five Fingers' (Fear on 4), 'Hand of Botar' (Hall of Fantasy), 'The Crimson Hand' (The Hermit's Cave), 'The Hand' (CBS Radio Mystery Theater), and 'Death by Whose Hands?' (CBS Radio Mystery Theater).

A couple purchase a beautiful country home only to find that the former owners, who died in a boating mishap decades earlier, are not quite done with it yet.

A writer on the occult comes into the possession of a manuscript that can foretell the future, but exacts a terrible price.

An aspiring sculptor, frustrated by not being able to capture the image he desires in stone, decides he must become the image in order to understand it. That wouldn't be so bad... except the image he is trying to capture is that of Death itself.

Not the same story as The Shadow episode with the same name.

A project to transmit and detect signals from space succeeds better—or worse—than intended when a hostile ET follows the signal down to Earth.

Later redone as 'Terror From Beyond' for the series Theatre 5.

The world waits in breathless silence for the return of Ned Bummer, the first man to make contact with ETs, returning to Earth aboard an alien spaceship. Stars Richard Crenna; narrated by Andy Griffith.

Beyond Good and Evil

Escaped criminal, Philip Gentry, stumbles across a man changing a flat tire by the side of the road. He kills him, buries the body, steals his car, and assumes his identity. No problem... Except the murdered man was the Reverend Howard Pierce who was on his way to take over for the dying Reverend McKillup, and now Gentry finds himself as the head of the local parish.

With Peter Lorre (Philip Gentry), Peggy Webber (Lucy McKillup), John Brown (Reverend Howard McKillup), Howard Culver (Mack, cop), Jack Edwards Jr. (Tom Hubbard), Russell Thorson (Reverend Pierce), and Henry Morgan (the voice of Mystery).

Another version was produced for Suspense, starring Joseph Cotten.

The Black Cat

A man and his wife, both lovers of animals, befriend a homeless kitten and raise it as their own. Since it's all black, like the devil, they decide to name him Pluto. Life is wonderful. Until the man's alcoholic binges alter his state of mind and lead him to reject the unconditional love of his innocent cat. It's all downhill from there...

With Peter Lorre (narrator), Lurene Tuttle (the wife), Howard Culver (the judge), Russell Thorson (the innkeeper, voice 1), Jack Edwards Jr. (the constable, voice 2), Jerry Hausner (1st man, cat), Henry Morgan (the voice of Mystery, 2nd man).

Crime and Punishment

In this version of the story, Raskolnikov, a brilliant young university student, graduates with highest honours due, in part, to a treatise he wrote examining the criminal mind. Unable to find work and sinking into poverty, he devises a plan to murder an exploitative pawnbroker. He believes that with his knowledge of police investigative procedures, he will remain unsuspected... it will be the perfect crime.

Adapted from the 1935 film, also starring Peter Lorre.

With Peter Lorre (Roderick Raskolnikov), Joseph Kearns (the college president, the policeman), Peggy Webber (Sonya, the Landlady), Gloria Ann Simpson (the pawnbroker), Herbert Butterfield (the clerk, the prisoner), Ben Wright (the publisher), Luis Van Rooten (the Inspector), and Henry Morgan (the voice of Mystery).

Guy de Maupassant's famous semi-autobiographical story about his obsession with an intangible, malignant force which he is convinced has arrived in his coastal town aboard a mysterious Brazilian cargo ship.

With Peter Lorre (the narrator), Peggy Webber (Marie), Ken Christie (the doctor), Ben Wright (Dr. Parent), Lurene Tuttle (Madame Sableis), Howard Culver (the workman), Jack Edwards, Jr. (various voices), and Henry Morgan (the voice of Mystery).

Other versions were produced for CBS Radio Mystery Theater, Columbia Workshop, Inner Sanctum, and The Weird Circle.

The Interruption    *LOST*

Goddard poisons his wife slowly over several weeks so her illness appears to be a severe form of gastro enteritis. When she finally dies, however, instead of being free, the man finds himself blackmailed by his wife's maid (Agnes Moorehead). Now he needs to figure out a way to kill her too, without arousing suspicion.

See also "Too Many Women Can Kill You" (CBS Radio Mystery Theater).

With Peter Lorre (Goddard), Agnes Moorehead (Hannah), Mary Lansing (Milly), Russell Thorson (the doctor), Herb Vigran (the man), and Henry Morgan (the voice of Mystery)

Leiningen Versus the Ants    *LOST*

This story, first published in 1938, tells of an iron-willed South American plantation owner who is determined to prevent a plague of army ants—10 miles long, 2 miles wide, and each the size of his thumb—from overrunning his land.

Three version were produced for Escape and one version for Suspense.

The Lodger

London, 1888. A phantom serial killer of women, reported in the press as simply "The Avenger", has killed five young women to date—all of whom are young, blond, pretty and are returning home form music halls. Against this backdrop, a boarding house madam takes in a suspicious new boarder wearing a black cape and hat, carrying a single piece of luggage, and offering a handsome price for lodging with privacy.

With Peter Lorre (the lodger), Agnes Moorehead (Ellen Bunting), Barbara Eiler (Daisy), Eric Snowden (Bunting), Raymond Lawrence (Coroner, Inspector), Rolfe Sedan (Cannot), Conrad Binyon (the newsboy), and Henry Morgan (voice of Mystery, 2nd newsboy)

Three versions were produced for Suspense and one for CBS Radio Mystery Theater. One of the Suspense versions is one-hour long.

The Marvelous Barastro

A small-time carnival magician who reads fortunes, speaks with the dead, and reads the secrets of life, falls in love with and marries a beautiful blind woman. Shortly thereafter, they meet another travelling magician named Rico Sansone who desires Anna as his assistant and is willing to go to extraordinary lengths to get her.

With Peter Lorre (Gregor Barastro), John Brown (Amos G. Hal, old man), Barbara Eiler (Anna), Howard Culver (Rico Sansone), Jane Morgan (the nurse, voice 1), Russell Thorson (the barker, voice 2), and Henry Morgan (the voice of Mystery).

Another version was produced for Suspense, starring Orson Welles.

The Mask of Medusa

A murderer on the run from the police ducks through a doorway and finds himself in a strange shop being confronted by an even stranger proprietor. The proprietor claims to be an artist and a connoisseur... of murder. The shop is more like a museum than a shop and is filled with the ghastly wax figures of murderers... all of whom seem very lifelike.

With Peter Lorre, Peggy Webber (Ilse, 2nd Girl), Lucille Meredith (Magda, Greta), Stanley Waxman (Aristide), Russell Thorson (Karl, Paul), Ben Wright (father), Phyllis Christine Morris (Miss Akins, 1st Girl), and Henry Morgan (the voice of Mystery).

Nobody Loves Me    *LOST*

A well-known hit man, Joe Reeze, enters a police station, pulls a gun on Captain Kelly and Sergeant Holt, and holds them captive while he tells them all about the kidnapping of Peggy Stewart.

With Peter Lorre (Joe Reeze), Lurene Tuttle (Peggy), Frank Nelson (Sergeant Holt), Cyrus Kendall (Captain Kelly), Ruth Perrott (Aunt Ella), Conrad Binyon (young Joe Reeze), Irvin Lee (Alex), Horace Willard (Horace), and Henry Morgan (as the voice of Mystery).

A Piece of String    *LOST*

On market day, with the public square filled with throng of human beings and animals mixed together, an economical man, Maître Hauchecome of Breaute, notices a piece of string on the ground and picks it up. His enemy, the halter maker, sees this and uses begins a campaign to destroy Maître's reputation.

Unclear if this episode ever aired.

The Queen of Spades

Lieutenant Hermann has the heart of a gambler kept rigidly in check by a strong will... and a lack of money. However, when he hears that the Countess has a sure-fire, unbeatable method for beating Faro three cards in a row, he becomes obsessed with discovering her method.

With Peter Lorre (Lieutenant Hermann), Lurene Tuttle (the Countess), Peggy Webber (Lizavetta), Ben Wright (Tomsky), Rolfe Sedan (Duke, voice 2), Louis Van Rooten (Narumov), Jack Edwards Jr. (Surin, voice 1), Stanley Waxman (Chekalinsky), and Henry Morgan (as the voice of Mystery, the usher).

Another version was produced for CBS Radio Mystery Theater.

The Tell-Tale Heart    *LOST*

A servant claiming to be absolutely sane, explains that his apparent madness is due simply to the extreme sharpness of his senses which causes him to be nervous... yes, very nervous, but not insane. His senses are so acute that he can hear many things... things in Heaven... and in Hell, but that doesn't mean he's insane, does it? And how could he be telling his story so calmly, so very calmly if he were mad? All was well. Except that the old man he took care of had a remarkable eye—a vulture's blue eye, an evil eye—which preyed upon his exaggerated nervousness, until he finally developed a plan to shut that eye forevermore.

A faithful re-telling of the classic Edgar Allan Poe story, originally published in 1843.

With Peter Lorre, Bob Bruce, Lois Corbett, Jack Douglas, Michael Roy, Bob Andersen, Lyle Bond, Ed Chandler, Quartette, Paul Baron, and Henry Morgan.

Other versions were produced for Radio Mystery Theater, Columbia Workshop, Inner Sanctum Mysteries, Mercury Summer Theatre of the Air, Nightfall, Seeing Ear Theatre, The Hall of Fantasy, The Weird Circle.

The Touch of Your Hand    *LOST*

There is no circus act to compare with The Blanchards' trapeze act—François, his wife Madelaine, and his brother Paul—but they are always striving to make their act more spectacular. Madelaine hits upon a daring plan for François to fake a missed catch, and then catch her as she is falling.

With Peter Lorre (Francois), John Brown (Shneider, bartender), Hans Conreid (Paul), Jack Edwards Jr. (roustabout), Barbara Eiler (Madelaine), Alan Reed (Kelly), and Henry Morgan (the voice of Mystery).

A couple involved in running faked seances take to quarrelling when the woman believes she has succeeded in actually contacting the dead.

Research scientist creates new a hybrid plant. But it has an unusual odour. Similar to carrion and blood. And no wonder it's carnivorous, growing and hungry.

Steve and Mike see a purple shaped mushroom cloud over the city in the distance. Couldn't be a nuclear blast... but then the phone and radio go dead, the sky is filled with jets, and later even their car goes dead...

As though wiping out the Martian race with Earthborn diseases weren't enough, humans demonstrate a hostile contempt for what relics and monuments the Martians left behind - until one man with a conscience and a gun decides to stand up for the dead. Story by Ray Bradbury; part of the Martian Chronicles future history.

Other versions of this story originally aired on Dimension X and X Minus One. See also 'The Martian Death March' (X Minus One and Dimension X); See the full listing of Martian Chronicles stories under 'Ray Bradbury' on the Famous Authors on Radio page.

Having displaced most of the Martians from their cities and homes, emigrant Earthmen are settling in for the long haul. Sam Parkhill looks forward to owning the first hot dog stand on Mars, but a cryptic warning from a Martian native might suggest a different outcome. Part of Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles series.

A story about space travellers on a mission of mercy to save what inhabitants of a world they can from an impending supernova, only to find a bizarre mystery once they arrive. Story by Arthur C. Clarke.

6 minutes piano and orchestra track (by Greg Hanson?), followed by 'Sleepscape', a 10-minute audio drama by Innovations Consulting Inc. (corporate drama?), and a final 4-minute segment called 'Think a thought' by Ken Nordeen. The whole track is less than 24 minutes.

A very wealthy man wagers a young couple $25,000 that he can destroy their love within seven days. He maintains there are only three elemental emotions: fear, hunger, and hate, and that by keeping the two lovers within sight of each other, but incommunicado and without food for seven days, their love will be consumed by one or more of the elementals. The young couple believe their love will prove the stronger.

Other versions aired on Author's Playhouse, Escape, and Suspense.

One of several renditions of this classic story of a professor whose contempt for human feelings invites the affections of an invisible entity.

Versions of this story also appeared on CBS Radio Mystery Theater (as 'Shadow of Love'), Escape , Radio City Playhouse, and The Vanishing Point.

See also 'The Thing in the Hall' (Theatre 10:30)

A high-velocity rocket plane test causes the test pilot to undergo a strange transformation.

Jan Miner stars as a war widow who spots her thought-to-be-dead husband on a passing bus and begins an exhaustive search to find out where he has been and why he has been avoiding her. Story by Harry W. Junkin.

Three strangers share a train compartment and have the odd feeling they have met somewhere before.

Ray Bradbury tale of a man haunted and hunted by a wind that wants to steal his soul.

Versions were also produced for Bradbury 13 and Theatre 10:30 (as 'The Searching Wind')

Scientists John and Mary are in love, but Mary has terminal leukaemia. They attempt to preserve her soul in a glowing glass vile attached to the coffin where Mary is laid to rest.

Astronauts' space ship lands on a planet of carnivorous giants. Predictable horrors and altercations envelope and threaten the crew's safety and security.

Astronaut Jason Tucker and his clone Juvan are sent together on a mission into deep space to retrieve a very expensive robot computer, but Tucker has secret orders that command him to return to Earth, without his companion. Unbeknownst to him, Juvan also has secret orders that mandate him to do the same.

A high tech whodunit. The world is at peace, and thanks to a super computer that now controls the weather, a golden age looms on the horizon - until catastrophic storms begin raging across the planet causing devastating carnage.

Aliens like giant snails arrive on Earth with the intention of setting up interstellar trade, but just how good a deal will they cut for the primitive natives? Story by William Tenn.

A pair of women roam the galaxy in search of true love. Not the same story as the X Minus One episode of the same title. Story by Frank M. Robinson.

A Martian is discovered and brought to Earth, with very unfortunate results. Story by Daniel Lucius.

For years following a nuclear holocaust, a husband bullies his wife to never open the windows of their shelter, for fear of the terrible mutants who live outside. But the temptation proves a little too much for her. Story by Fritz Leiber.

A version of this story later appeared on X Minus One.

A hard-boiled news editor on Mars is approached by a quirky scientist who insists that there is an unnatural and catastrophic shift occurring in the planet's orbit. This show has survived better than most of its compatriots.

An unusual number of elderly turn up dead with money stuffed in their pockets and yet having died of starvation. The investigation leads to an unscrupulous woman who is using a time machine to send people back to make fortunes for her.

Versions of this story also appeared on Future Tense and X Minus One.

Following a near fatal car accident in which his wife is killed, Jimmy Patterson becomes convinced his wife is still alive in an alternate reality, and that the time lines are beginning to intersect. Stars Dick York.

Omnipresent robot drones programmed to detect and intercept violent crimes before they occur prove to be a bit too well designed. Story by Robert Sheckley.

Other versions of this story were produced for 2000 X and SF68.

The classic tale about one man's tortured search for love and meaning in a war-torn, dystopian future dominated by 'Big Brother'. Stars Richard Widmark. Story by George Orwell.

Another version was produced for NBC University Theater. Also the BBC did 2 separate versions. See also 'Brave New World' (CBS Radio Workshop), and '2462' (Suspense).

The classic tale of a scientist whose search for the dual essence of human nature and morality carries a heavy personal price for success. Story by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Versions of this story also appeared on the BBC, CBS Radio Mystery Theater, Favorite Story, Weird Circle, NBC Short Story, and the U.S. Steel Hour.

A scientist discovers a civilization under his microscope.

A doctor concocts a dangerous drug that makes the subject impervious to pain. He wants to try it out on his cousin, but her dead lover has a serious problem with the idea.

A husband and wife are fascinated when they see the 400-year old portrait of the notorious cutthroat Richards. When they hear that his former home in London is rumoured to be haunted, they decide or rent it for a week so they can meet a real ghost.

A version of this story also appeared on CBS Radio Mystery Theater.

A scientist invents a formula to briefly bring poisoned lab rats back to life, and is itching for a human poison victim on whom to test his serum.

See also 'Life Span' (Darkness), 'Death Robbery' (Lights Out), and 'The Search for Life' (The Hermit's Cave)

The residents of a boarding house begin to wonder if their home is haunted by spirits when they hear moaning in the attic. If only it were that simple...

Salem, Massachusetts. Old Masson, the cemetery caretaker, is not a nice man. In fact, he robs graves in his spare time. But lately, the enormous rats which have taken over the cemetery have been stealing the corpses before he has a chance to rob them. Very annoying. Traps, poison, and bullets do not seem to have any effect as the rats seem to be guided by some subterranean intelligence. Old Masson is about to take the fight to the enemy.

En route back from Mars, three astronauts intercept a lonely asteroid which they intend to use as a nuclear test site as an experiment to evaluate the viability of diverting such objects away from Earth. However, 407 Arachne is not your typical asteroid - it is covered in alien hieroglyphics.

An adaptation of the Stanley Weinbaum classic novella about the pilot of a scout ship that crashes in a remote region of Mars and must endure a long and arduous trek across the Martian hinterland with his adopted native companion.

A glimpse into the lives of a couple living in a dystopian mega-city of the future. The wife works in a 'hospital', retrieving organs from arrested social insurgents and undesirables, while the recently unemployed husband finds work as a political puppet of the city's secret ruling class, a figurehead to act as an expendable living decoy in the war between the haves and the have-nots.

Following a deep space explorer ship's encounter with a strange EM pulse from a dying alien vessel, one crew member becomes convinced the others are possessed.

From a brief series called Tales From the Other Side.

The lone monitor of a deep space relay station must call on all his resources to survive when an incoming ship crashes into his asteroid and his facility is damaged beyond repair. The antenna is gone, and the oxygen is leaking out...

The producer of this show is unknown, but its style suggests a reasonably contemporary production date.

See also 'Kaleidoscope': Bradbury 13, Dimension X, Mindwebs, Suspense, and The Shape of Things to Come (BBC).

Scientists in the late '50's discover a method of copying a man and beaming his duplicate to the surface of the Moon to explore the mysteries of a million year old structure. The original remains in contact with his counterpart, but no copy has ever survived more than a few minutes inside the structure, and the original usually ends up insane. Classic story by Algis Budrys; produced by the Chicago Radio Theater.

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