Just on the outside chance that there's some old-time radio show enthusiasts registered here (heh-heh) I thought I'd mention some of my favorites:
Quiet Please
My favorite episode was called, The Thing on the Fourble Board. Spooky!
X Minus 1
Great sci-fi program, my favorite being, A Gun for Dinosaur.
Lights Out and Mysterious Traveler were also great horror shows, but I don't recall any favorites.
I can't remember what series it was a part of (a British production, I believe), but the scariest radio show I know of was about a man who was offered a substantial sum to stay locked in a bedroom overnight, a room that has driven every overnight guest insane by morning. A minimal production plot-wise, but extremely effective. We listen to the man's thoughts as he goes around the room lighting candles...that go out one by one. Very scary! Anyone familiar with that show?
I found the "spooky room" show I was thinking of, it was Beyond Midnight, and the episode was called The Room. Good stuff!
Good shows, all, but don't forget the big daddy of all mystery shows, Suspense. Running for twenty years, and starring the very biggest names in movies and radio, it was "must hear" radio, in most houses.
There's also the more modern (1980s-1990s) BBC series Fear on Four. More intense than the vintage shows, it's really creepy at times.
I do love me some radio shows. :)
The show Beyond Midnight that I mentioned... it seems that I've read more than once that it was a South African show, and that it was done in the late '60s. Is that right? It sure doesn't make me think of a comparatively recent production... sounds '40s to me!
It does sound "retro" doesn't it? It's South African alright, though. For some reason, South Africa was amazingly behind the rest of the world when it came to television and radio. Experimental television broadcasting wasn't done until 1975, and didn't roll out until the next year. That's not a typo... it's really 1975. :o
Gotta go along with you on Quiet Please. I've collected every episode available. It's a beautiful example of a lost art form.
My favorite episodes are #2, I Have Been Looking For You"; #48, How Beautiful Upon The Mountain"; and #51, "In The House Where I Was Born".
Scripts are available and episodes can be downloaded from the following site:
http://www.quietplease.org (http://www.quietplease.org)
John
Quote from: jsaxe on September 14, 2008, 10:33:53 AM
Gotta go along with you on Quiet Please. I've collected every episode available. It's a beautiful example of a lost art form.
My favorite episodes are #2, I Have Been Looking For You"; #48, How Beautiful Upon The Mountain"; and #51, "In The House Where I Was Born".
Scripts are available and episodes can be downloaded from the following site:
http://www.quietplease.org (http://www.quietplease.org)
John
Thanks John, I'll check it out! For years my job involved my being in my truck at night, driving and listening to the radio or CDs. I had XM at the time (have Sirius now), and would listen to the old time radio channel. Some of those old horror shows just about scared the crap out of me! Today's movie makers could learn a lot from those old radio shows. None of them know how to create a scare without either showing blood and gore or providing a sudden shock accompanied by a tremendous blast of sound! It's all about the atmosphere, and no cheap-shots are needed.
I just re-signed for XM. I didn't realize how much I missed it. I'm just kind of disappointed that Old Time Radio is pre-empted for sports on Saturday evenings.
That's usually my "quiet time" to relax and read, and during the winter with the fireplace going.
Quote from: Shovelhead on September 14, 2008, 09:05:32 PM
I just re-signed for XM. I didn't realize how much I missed it. I'm just kind of disappointed that Old Time Radio is pre-empted for sports on Saturday evenings.
That's usually my "quiet time" to relax and read, and during the winter with the fireplace going.
I don't really have a good feel for how the programing compares between the two services, as I only listened to XM in the middle of the night, and not just listen to Sirius during the day. That may not be significant, but I wonder to what extent that XM emphasized horror/sci-fi in the over-night hours. Every time I tune into the Sirius OTR station they're playing western or comedy shows. They're great, but I miss my spooky shows!
Thanks, guys. Neat radio shows... I'll check them out.
Bill Cahill ;D
I'm only 46, so I dont remember the original radio shows. I did however listen to Radio mystery theater every night when I was younger. that was a great program.
I had a bunch of old radios from my grand-dad growing up. I listened to it on them. sadly my mom threw them away in a cleaning frenzy. :(
Oh yeah, mom cleaning frenzies. I can relate to that, when I moved out to college in the mid 80's mom took that chance to throw away pretty much everything I'd ever owned in a fit of cleaning. Geesh. I had this really old radio that the high school library had given me, it was a tube job with a wood cabinet and stainless grill, very 50's looking. Well it went into the dumpster, that's what happens when you have a mom who has zero sentimental attachments to things.
Well, at least I'm not the only one this happened to!
the radio I miss the most was a Zenith? I think? it had the tuner dial that folded down, and you pushed a button to open it, it was spring loaded and dampend. it was the coolest radio I've ever seen. anyone know what brand/model it may have been?
Oh the dreaded cleaning frenzies. My sister has a father in law that threw away two WE302s that I will never be able to just see and appreciate. It's aggravating to say the least.
Steve, considering the radio experts on this forum (not me) we may be able to find a nostalgic replacement at best?
Finding a replacement would be great. problem is I don't know what make and model it was. I have looked on the internet to find out what it may have been, but I haven't seen a picture of one that looks like it so far.
Steve, just describe the description (reduntandly) of the radio as best you can. I'll put on my private detective fedora and look for it.
Did you say it was a maybe a Zenith? Can you further describe your assailant?
I'm not a cop. I don't carry a badger. Just interested.
It was black. art deco bakelite looking. it was symmetrical on the sides, and in the center it had the tuning dial that opened up. I cant remember if it was a button or a slider that popped the dial up. dial was hinged. opening/closing the tuning dial powered it on/off IIRC. opened slow by spring power. not a small radio. want to say maybe 12" high by 14-16" wide? I could be wrong . I haven't seen it in 35 years so I'm going by memory.
I think I've got it. It's a portable, right? It's the only one I know of with such a dial:
That looks like it, except the case was plastic (Bakelite) with lines. the dial portion looks dead on.
I googled the model number you posted and found some more photos of it. after looking at the closed photo, I think that's the one.
my Grand Dad had a TV and radio repair business way back when, and I must have had 12-15 different radios he gave me. maybe I'm confusing the case design with one of the others? but after seeing it closed , that's the dial for sure.
Edited to say thank you, Steve
You seem to know your stuff bingster :)
Heres another question...
when we first went to the moon, my family's TV went out. we ran over to my Grand Dads to get another TV so we could watch the moonwalk.
he gave us a TV that was red/cream color trim. steel case. my Mom threw it out in the mid 70's.
any idea what make/model that was by any chance? I come up empty on searches for that too. maybe I'm better suited for a can and string setup!
I do remember seeing all-plastic versions of this radio, but I can't find a picture of one.
The television will be a bit more difficult. All-steel, two-tone table sets were all the rage in the late 1950s, and many manufacturers wound up making them. It could be Zenith, RCA, Admiral, Stromberg-Carlson, or a few others.
Steve, I recall seeing a radio like that. Could it have been from Motorola?
If you have time (plenty of it!), you might browse through these photos, and see if you can spot it.
http://radioatticarchives.com/
Bill
Great link and thank you for posting it!
I dove in, but I'm in the deep end, and my water wings aren't working!
the helpful members here are most unlike other forums. I still feel like an internet noob, but I feel at home here with you guys.
THANK YOU!
Quote from: HobieSport on December 23, 2008, 10:48:30 AM
It's true that this is a very special forum and we are an incredible group of kindly gentlemen.
Count me out. ;) :D
Ye Gods!!! Let's stop and take stock for a moment...
Do you guys realize that my initial topic, Creepy OTR Shows, bit the dust about 20 posts ago?!! Is this is the thanks I get for setting up this swell forum?! It's mutiny! ;D
Kindly gentlemen indeed...a bunch of hooligans!
This is supposed to be about Creepy OTR radio shows? I thought the subject lines were just to throw people off the scent. ;D
Quote from: Mark Stevens
Do you guys realize that my initial topic, Creepy OTR Shows, bit the dust about 20 posts ago?!! Is this is the thanks I get for setting up this swell forum?! It's mutiny! ;D
Kindly gentlemen indeed...a bunch of hooligans!
Don't worry Mark. We always get back around to the initial topic eventually. After we first discuss a few pull down lamps from the 1960s that look like flying saucers of course. And maybe a few radios...
I did listen to some of the neat creepy old time radio shows. It made me want to write cheap detective novels.
Merry Xmas and thank you so much for the forum!
It's all related, really...
What do you listen to ON your old radios? Creepy old time radio shows!
What do you listen to UNDER your pull-down lamps? Creepy old time radio shows!
See?
;D
Creepy old radio shows are best enjoyed on strange old radios :)
Under lamps that look like alien space ships!
Nah, you have to listen to old sci-fi radio shows under those. ;D
Quote from: Steve on December 24, 2008, 12:16:22 AM
Creepy old radio shows are best enjoyed on strange old radios :)
You know, I've got a couple of creepy old radios that I'll have to post photos of. I don't know anything about them, and y'all can probably tell me if they're trash or treasures. I'll do that after Christmas! ;)
Quote from: HobieSport on December 24, 2008, 03:12:48 PM
It looks like it's about to say "I'm sorry, Dave, I can't do that..."
http://www.radiophile.com/rca8x682.htm
Dave's not here man... ;D
ROTFL! A 2001 and Cheech and Chong reference in one post! Y'all must be as old as I am :)
If you want the motherlode of OTR programming (creepy or otherwise) visit www.archive.org. The best collections there are done by the Old Time Radio Researchers Group (OTRR). At present, their Suspense series comprises 36 zip files, each of which extracts to a collection of shows in mp3 format (around 20-22 shows per file) along with relevant pictures, synopsis, alternate versions etc.
OTRR researches the shows, finds all the material they can about them and pulls it all together along with the best available version of each show.
There are also lots of OTR shows that haven't gotten the OTRR treatment yet. More old time radio than you can ever listen to and it's free!
Quote from: HobieSport on December 20, 2008, 06:25:30 PM
Steve, just describe the description (reduntandly) of the radio as best you can. I'll put on my private detective fedora and look for it.
Did you say it was a maybe a Zenith? Can you further describe your assailant?
I'm not a cop. I don't carry a badger. Just interested.
I don't carry a badger ?
Maybe you OTTER !!! ;D
Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows.
John