I'm interested to hear what folks are listening to over the course of a day or whenever. It might be a fun way to discover something I haven't heard or rediscover something I haven't heard in a while. Plus, there's something nifty in a community way of listening to something someone else has listened to within a couple hours or days of said listening.
Some of what I listen to is dependent on the Sirius/XM channel Radio Classics schedule. I review the schedule each week, see what I'll have the potential to hear during my usual commute times (an hour each way, five days a week) and see what else I'll want to make sure to listen to. And if I don't already have those latter episodes, I'll try to download them.
Right away, I always listen to the Johnny Dollar, Pat Novak and Jeff Regan episodes, 'cause I'm on a huge kick of those shows right now, and a friend at work also likes them. Then, I listen to what I catch in the car. At night, I turn to whatever strikes my fancy.
Today in the car, I heard a nice Suspense episode, 2/20/47 "Always Room at the Top." I hadn't heard it in a couple of years, and I had forgotten how much of a Rebecca vibe it had, at least for the first two-thirds or so. I highly recommend this one.
The following program was Inner Sanctum from 5/13/44, "The Silent Hands." Very creepy, almost too creepy for a beautiful sunny afternoon. But again, I liked it very much.
Last night, I fell sleep reading then suddenly woke up. I decided to listen my way back to sleep, so I turned to one of the hundreds of OTR episodes I have saved on my phone. Turned out to be a mistake in one respect. I wanted to hear a noir detective caper, decided on Philip Marlowe and randomly chose "The Long Rope" from 2/5/49. It was perfect for what itched. The banter and turns of phrase had me chuckling throughout.
Only problem was, it didn't make me drowsy. Rather, it had the opposite effect. I turned to scarier fare, Lights Out, and 3/3/37's "Sakhalin." The sound on my copy was fairly muddy, and I got distracted a couple of times during the show.
I switched to Murder at Midnight and "Terror Out of Space," possibly from 2/24/47. Oooh. Very suspenseful, very well-acted, nice sci-fi flair. High marks.
When that ended, my phone went straight to another Murder at Midnight episode, "The Creeper," possibly from 11/25/46. Huh. This might have been even more suspenseful than the previous episode. I kept thinking I'd heard it before, maybe recently, and certainly the story is familiar. But every time I thought I had it pegged, I was wrong. Of my four nighttime listens, I think this was my favorite.
With that, I realized it was after midnight, and my 4 a.m. rise would come much too soon. It did, and I'm paying the price now by dragging my butt and brain. Oh, the price I pay for OTR.
Replies
I've listened to a few OTR shows over the last few days.
My favorite of the bunch is the five-part Yours Truly Johnny Dollar, "The Indestructible Mike Matter." With Bob Bailey as Johnny Dollar, these stories really hit their stride in 1955-56 when they were five-parters. For me, they were among the absolute best of all OTR. This one has it all, including more doses of humor than most YTJDs.
A few horror stories also captured my fancy. "The Wailing Wall," an Inner Sanctum from 1945 was a riff on a tale we've heard before. But Boris Karloff's performance is quite good and elevates the material. Plus, the banter between the Lipton Tea lady and Mr, Host is always a hoot.
Went on to listen to "Dark Chamber," another 1945 Inner Sanctum tale. This one was genuinely creepy. Well done.
Also listened to a 1942 Lights Out thriller, "Come to the Bank." Wow, lots of shrieking from the female lead. Crazy wailing. Maybe too much. And the story of a descent into madness (or was it???????) is not exactly new. But there were nice touches throughout, and the main conceit is pretty cool, so if you can handle some shrillness, check it out.
Oooh, the Holmes sounds tasty. I have not heard of this one, and I'm inclined to check out the novel. ... For another Ripper-Holmes tale, created as a full-cast audio play, I highly recommend the following from Big Finish:
http://www.bigfinish.com/103-Sherlock-Holmes-Holmes-and-the-Ripper
Definitely can't get enough Holmes.
BBC Book at Bedtime - Jamaica Inn (2010)
Tamsin Greig reads Daphne Du Maurier's dark and intriguing gothic tale (Abridged by Lauris Morgan-Griffiths)
Her mother's dying request takes Mary Yellan on a journey across the bleak moorland of Cornwall to reach Jamaica Inn, the home of her Aunt Patience. Mary arrives at the dismal place to find Patience a changed woman, cowering from her overbearing husband, Joss Merlyn.
Makes for an involving reading, very noir and suspenseful stuff.
If you liked the old Disney movie The Scarecrow you'll love this.
The problem was, Harry Lime kept calling one of the female characters "stupid." I mean over and over again.
Yeah, different times and all that, but there really was no reason for it, and I didn't like it at all.
Thumbs down, way down.