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Auditory Anthology
Contact Lost by Keith Conrad
Back in 2020 during the middle of the COVID pandemic, I released a sci-fi novel called Righteous Might. There was a movie I really liked as a kid called “The Final Countdown.” It wasn’t exactly a big hit in its day but by the time I came on the scene it used to play late at night all over the place. In it the USS Nimitz was caught in a storm, and when they came out the other side they found themselves back on December 6th, 1941 the day before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. As you might imagine, that creates some problems. Ultimately, just as they are about to intercept the Japanese, the strange storm re-appears and they suddenly find themselves back in their own time. I watched it again as an adult and while I still thought it was an entertaining movie, I had some problems with it. Ultimately that led me to create my own version of a story where a modern aircraft carrier finds itself back in 1941. The story changed a lot as I went along and by the end it didn’t have much in common with The Final Countdown other than that basic premise, but I still think it’s a story fans of that movie will love, along with anyone else who enjoys a good historical thought experiment. This story, Contact Lost, shows a different perspective on the whole story. I hope you enjoy it and maybe it’ll peak your interest in Righteous Might.
Pick up Righteous Might: https://www.amazon.com/Righteous-Might-Keith-Conrad-ebook/dp/B08BQ7PLRH/
If you have a story you’d like to contribute to the series, you can visit https://submissions.soundconceptmedia.com/
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Curator: Keith Conrad linktr.ee/keithrconrad
Narrator: Darren Marlar https://darrenmarlar.com/
Other shows hosted by Darren:
Weird Darkness: https://weirddarkness.com/
Paranormality Magazine: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/paranormalitymag
Micro Terrors: Scary Stories for Kids: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/microterrors
Retro Radio – Old Time Radio In The Dark: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/retroradio
Church of the Undead: https://weirddarkness.tiny.us/churchoftheundead
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Tales From the Blue Line - One Last Drink at Jimmy B’s By D. H. Parish
16:52|After stumbling into a mysterious Chicago tavern where the patrons treat him like a long-lost legend, a reserved young man disappears from his life forever, leaving his friends to eventually discover that the bar, and everyone inside it, never existed at all.Tales From The Blue Line: Every morning at three, Mason and Ally ride the Blue Line into downtown Chicago together. The train brings out its own brand of weird, which has led to Mason and Ally trading spooky stories to help their commute pass a little faster.
X Minus One: Prime Difference
22:08|Back in January of 2024 when we launched Auditory Anthology, one of the first short stories we shared was Prime Difference by Alan Norse. Here’s a highlight from that episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/52Uf0lF35EPpfxfbWpKR8XWe’ll have a link to that episode in the show notes. This is another story that was originally featured on the 1950’s radio drama X Minus One. We’ll be back with our normal original content on Tuesday and Thursday, but in the meantime for your listening pleasure here’s the X Minus One episode Prime Difference, which originally aired in January 1958. We hope you enjoy it.
The Signalman by Charles Dickens
32:51|I have always been bothered by the line in the Andy Williams Christmas song "It's the most wonderful time of the year" when he says "There'll be scary ghost stories." I always wondered who told scary ghost stories for Christmas. So naturally, with Christmas falling on a Thursday, I decided it was a good idea to share a scary ghost story. Here is "The Signalman" by Charles Dickens, certainly a writer people associate with Christmas. Darren Marlar shared it on his amazing podcast Weird Darkness.
It's A Wonderful Life by Lux Radio Theater
58:46|It's Christmas Eve! It's A Wonderful Life has been a part of my family's Christmas experience my entire life. Back in 1947, Lux Radio Theater created a radio adaptation of It’s A Wonderful Life. This production stars Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed reprising their iconic roles as George and Mary. Just like the movie, George goes on an unforgettable journey of self-discovery, guided by the bumbling yet endearing angel Clarence, as he learns just how much one life can touch so many others. Filled with warmth, love, and timeless holiday spirit, this broadcast brings the magic of Frank Capra’s film to life in the golden age of radio.
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
02:59:30|Christmas wouldn't be complete without the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, and today we’re enjoying a very special version. We’re featuring Darren Marlar’s audiobook of A Christmas Carol. Whether you’ve heard this story a hundred times or are hearing it for the first time, Darren’s narration brings every character to life, from the rattling chains of Jacob Marley to the infectious joy of Tiny Tim. Let’s head back to 1843 and see if a heart of stone can truly be changed.
X Minus One: The Snowball Effect
25:23|Back in 2024 when we launched Auditory Anthology, one of the first short stories we shared was The Snowball Effect by Katherine MacLean.Here’s a link to our original episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6ScU47W6gsiDYnZKPZByDT?si=f38308411b994a2aThis is another story that was originally featured on the 1950’s radio drama X Minus One. We’ll be back with our normal original content on Tuesday and Thursday, but in the meantime for your listening pleasure here’s the X Minus One episode The Snowball Effect, which originally aired August fourteenth 1956. We hope you enjoy it.
Call Center by Noah Vale
13:57|Working his first shift at an abysmal call center for the “Vital-Link Wellness Band,” new hire Elias quickly realizes that the red status light on the wristbands is not a glitch but a death timer, and his scripted, seemingly nonsensical instructions are actually guiding the wearers to their exact, preordained places of demise.
Tales From the Blue Line - The Engineer
13:06|On his first solo overnight shift at an old radio station, a young announcer is guided and mentored by the station’s kindly, veteran engineer, only to discover in the morning that the man who kept him company—and whose tools still sit on the console—died years ago in the locked transmitter room.Tales From The Blue Line: Every morning at three, Mason and Ally ride the Blue Line into downtown Chicago together. The train brings out its own brand of weird, which has led to Mason and Ally trading spooky stories to help their commute pass a little faster.
X Minus One: The Merchants of Venus
24:11|One of my favorite episodes of X Minus One was The Merchants Of Venus, so when I was looking for stories to share on Auditory Anthology, it was one of the first ones I looked for.We released our version of the story on April fourth of twenty twenty-four: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4Y7AjqxR4KTNvtGHSnpKeT?si=26632dbb02104263Here is the episode of X Minus One originally aired on July eighteenth of nineteen fifty seven. We hope you enjoy it.