This week, we’re listening to an episode of Suspense entitled “Fragile Contents Death,” recommended to us by our Patreon supporter Cole! Thanks, Cole! The story features a postmaster who receives word that a time bomb is hidden somewhere in all the items passing through his post office. He and his staff only have a few hours to find the explosive, and it will detonate if the package is opened! How can they possibly find the bomb in time? Why would someone put a bomb in the mail? What’s the right way to punctuate the title of the show? Listen for yourself and find out!

As we discussed in episode 405, "The Hat, the Bed, and John J. Catherine," from Quiet Please, our first attempt at a secret episode for our Patreon supporters was featured “Hat on a Bed,” from the series Origin of Superstition. Unfortunately, the recording had a few sound issues (including Tim having a cold) so we redid our inaugural episode with a different show to discuss. For the curious who are willing to overlook these flaws, we offer this abandoned alternative which tells the tale of an uninvited guest, an accusation of murder, and a truly outlandish courtroom stunt. Thank you again for your support of the podcast and we hope you enjoy this strange cautionary tale!

This week we’re diving into one the final episodes of Quiet Please, “The Hat, the Bed, and John J. Catherine”! An eccentric aspiring actor, relegated to the position of a stage hand, sees a hat on a bed onstage. Convinced that the omen foretells death, he walks away from his job into a strange, dreamlike state. Did he indeed experience a preview of death? What hidden meanings live within his theatrical references? Did Wyllis Cooper steal this story from the Coen Brothers? Listen for yourself and find out! (And check out a special preview of our first attempt at a secret episode for our Patreon supporters, “Hat on a Bed,” from the series Origin of Superstition!)

This week we bravely check out an episode Dangerous Assignment entitled (arguably) “Investigate Missing Scientists”! Globetrotting adventurer Steve Mitchell is sent to Alaska to track down a former Nazi scientist and an American physicist who appear to have gone missing. Confronted by an unpaid hotel bill and a wide range of dialects, Mitchell will stop at nothing to solve this mystery! What happened to these scientists? What is that smell? Who made cartoon theme music so complicated? Listen for yourself and find out!

This week we’re exploring another episode of Vanishing Point entitled “The Cave”! This story, written by and starring W. D. Valgardson, features a young man whose beloved will not marry him due to a mystery in her Icelandic family line. As he searches for the nature of this secret, he suffers from a growing obsession that threatens to swallow him like a boundless dark cave. What is it that haunts this family? Can this young man escape this fate? Does anyone actually speak Icelandic? Listen for yourself and find out!

We’ve been sent to discover “Nasty People” in our Listener Library! It’s an episode of Frontier Gentleman recommended to us by our Patreon supporter Melissa. Thanks, Melissa! In this story, Kendall needs to stop for the night in Kansas, relying on the hospitality of a small family. But he’s warned to be careful around them and their daughter seems haunted by unseen forces. Is there truly something sinister about his hosts? What is it that has afflicted their daughter? Where do the MORLS go to hang out with other podcasts? Listen for yourself and find out!

Every year or so, we get struck by the impulse to listen to a radio adaptation of Charles Dickens’ other famous ghost story, “The Signal-Man”! And, what do you know, it happened again! This year we head up North for the CBC Radio Mystery Theatre version! As before, this story depicts a curious stranger who encounters a rail worker beset by visions. Why does he seem to be receiving some otherworldly warning? How will this version compare to those we have already heard? What style of retro-animation would suit this story best? Listen for yourself and find out!

It’s our 400th episode! And we are celebrating by revisiting the first series featured on our podcast, Suspense! All those years ago, our first episode featured The House in Cypress Canyon, but this time we’re listening to “Fury and Sound,” a story that both roasts and pays tribute to William Spier (and other radio luminaries)! (For more details about this episode, check out what The Suspense Project has to say about it!) The script features a tyrannical radio producer who screams abusive tirades at his cast and crew. But his assistant producer plans to use his boss’ keen hearing as a weapon for revenge! Does this sound like a great way to celebrate 400 episodes? Does everyone who produces audio drama become a narcissistic maniac? What facts have our dedicated Patreon supporters uncovered about our voting history? Listen for yourself and find out!