Thriller Collection

Otto Penzler presents a collection of 19 unsolved mystery stories by a number of noted authors, including Ray Bradbury, Roald Dahl, and Mark Twain, where the ending is left up to the listener to determine.

Many of the greatest Russian authors, including Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, and Pushkin, produced crime and mystery fiction, a type of literature that was largely suppressed during the Soviet era because it did not glorify the state, but rather, gave significance to individual characters. With the fall of the Soviet Union, mystery writers have become some of the most successful novelists in Russia, and there is a renewed interest in, and appreciation of, the great crime classics of an earlier era. This volume is the first collection ever devoted entirely to Russian crime fiction.

From literary icon Joyce Carol Oates comes a brand-new collection of haunting and, at times, darkly humorous mystery and suspense stories. These are tales of psyches pushed to their limits by the expectations of everyday life - from a woman who gets lost on her drive home to her plush suburban home and ends up breaking into a stranger's house, to a first-person account of a cloned 1940s magazine pinup girl being sold at auction and embodying America's ideals of beauty and womanhood.

In this gothic, virtuoso debut collection, Mike McCormack dispenses nightmares both stylish and macabre. "A Is for Ax" offers alphabetized look at the killing of a parent, while the title story tracks a chilling sibling rivalry. Other works here offer multiple-quiz on the road to Calvary, a door-to-door saleswoman trafficking in strange and menacing feats, and a self-mutilating artist pushing himself to the limit. These sly and dangerous stories show us a young writer who was already a master of wicked formal play, and whose sly takes on life and death remain profoundly unsettling.

In an attempt to reclaim his stolen oil fields, Bob Sherman secretly hires on as a deckhand aboard the yacht of Herbert Marmion, the man who ruthlessly stole them. When a hurricane sends the yacht to an uncharted island, the entire crew is captured by pirates—including Marmion’s beautiful daughter.

Upon Mr. Sherman’s death, Charles learns the rich old gentleman gave away all his money, leaving only his Victorian mansion and the huge library in the house. His will clearly stipulates the new owner must keep the library intact. Of course, with Mr. Sherman being dead, how would he know or even care about the library?

The detective character, Sam Spade, was created by Dashiell Hammett for his crime novel The Maltese Falcon. Spade was a hard-boiled detective with cold detachment, a keen eye for detail and unflinching determination to achieve his own justice. The character is most closely associated with Humphrey Bogart who played Sam Spade in the third and most famous film version of The Maltese Falcon. In 1946, one of radio’s top producers (William Spier) brought “Sam Spade” to CBS radio starring newcomer Howard Duff with Lurene Tuttle.

Broadway Is My Beat was a dark, gritty radio crime drama that ran on CBS from 1949 until 1954. The series was originally broadcast from New York with Anthony Ross portraying Times Square Police Detective Danny Clover. Produced by Lester Gottlieb, it was directed by John Dietz. By the thirteenth episode, the series moved to Hollywood (still set in NYC) with producer Elliott Lewis directing a new cast with scripts by Morton Fine and David Friedkin (the duo that would later write and develop TV’s popular secret-agent series I Spy).

Horatio Black was known to friend and foe as Boston Blackie - an ex-jewel thief and safecracker constantly suspected of crimes he did not commit and forced to play the role of detective to clear his name. His girlfriend, Mary Wesley, assisted Blackie from time to time, as did his pal Shorty. Forced to defend himself against the accusations of New York Police Inspector Faraday, Blackie always managed to stay one step ahead of the cops in solving a crime. The wisecracks exchanged between Blackie and Faraday made the program an enjoyable mix of comedy and mystery.

Initially launched as Barrie Crane, Confidential Investigator on NBC in 1951, the series soon made a name change to Barrie Craig, Confidential Investigator. It starred movie and film veteran William Gargan as hard-boiled New York-based private eye Barry Craig. Gargan had been playing Martin Kane, Private Detective on both radio and TV. In the summer of 1951, Gargan cleared the decks for his role as Barrie Craig. Gruff, blunt and sardonic but with a good sense of humor, Gargan was perfect for the genre and in the role of Barrie Craig.

Taking its name from a popular series of mystery novels, Inner Sanctum Mystery debuted over NBC's Blue Network in January 1941. Inner Sanctum Mystery featured one of the most memorable and atmospheric openings in radio history: an organist hit a dissonant chord, a doorknob turned and the famous "creaking door" slowly began to open. Every week, Inner Sanctum Mystery told stories of ghosts, murderers and lunatics. Produced in New York, the cast usually consisted of veteran radio actors.

The golden age of radio had incredibly scary mystery shows that kept Americans chilled and thrilled. Families gathered around their living room radios to be entertained by the greatest names in Hollywood each and every day. This terrific collection of 12 great radio mystery shows includes Boris Karloff on "Lights Out!", Peter Lorre in the story of Jack-the-Ripper on "Mystery in the Air", Vincent Price and Ida Lupino in a tale well-calculated to keep you in "Suspense", the story of Lizzie Borden on "Crime Classics" and many more!

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective genius, Sherlock Holmes, came to NBC radio in 1930 starring Richard Gordon. By 1939, Basil Rathbone was heard as Holmes with Nigel Bruce as Doctor Watson. The duo was simultaneously starring in a popular series of Sherlock Holmes features for Fox, and later for Universal.

A trip to a historic cemetery reveals that a young man’s girlfriend may be more than what she seems. The dead hold a burial ceremony of their own, after a violent criminal incites their wrath. And a night watchman’s obsession with old bones leads him to dig up the wrong grave. Scare Street is proud to present the best in bone-chilling supernatural horror. This volume contains three spine-tingling tales for your listening pleasure. And each story carries a chill from beyond the grave, guaranteed to make your skin crawl.

The horrors of war drive an antique collector to a bloody situation. A retro computer gives an unsuspecting enthusiast a supernatural shock. And a group of robbers finds themselves trapped in a house with sinister collection…. The spirits who dwell in the shadowy realm between life and death have their own special hobbies to share. Some collect tears, others horde screams. A few crave flesh and blood. And one way or another, they’d love to add you to their collection tonight….

A drug rip turns terribly wrong for four hapless men. A bored housewife plays a dangerous game of cat and mouse with her retired neighbor. A father learns the realities of street life while searching for his daughter. A cop breaks the law to find a missing child. These are just a few citizens embracing mayhem as a part of their lives. Many more wait in the shadows, around the corner, or down the next alley. It’s time to see the 509 in a way you never expected.

The Southside Restoration has been keeping Diana busy, but Jimmy knows it’s the phantoms in their past that are driving them apart. Jimmy agrees to act in a theatre production in an effort to draw closer, but a too-coincidental series of accidents won’t let his suspicions rest. Some more immediate phantom from their past is threatening more than their relationship–will Jimmy discover the threat in time?

Mystery writer, magician, Sherlockian, and sleuth-at-large: that's Sebastian "Mac" McCabe. This collection introduces the series of light-hearted but mysterious adventures of Mac and his brother-in-law as they uncover small-town secrets to solve murders that would stump the great Holmes himself.

In 1974, local farmers outside Xi'an, China, discovered an army of more than 8,000 life-sized ancient terracotta warriors buried in a series of pits. Historians believed that the warriors were placed there to guard the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China.

Tim Beckdolt, rangy and self-reliant, is as American as the frontier itself. But after spending eight treacherous months digging $175,000 in gold out of Desperation Peak - all he has left is desperation. Two sadistic strangers have taken his gold, and now they want to take his life. He's on the run - the target of a Devil’s Manhunt.