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Box 13

Presented by OTR.FM Network

Welcome to Box 13, a podcast that brings you classic mystery and adventure stories from the golden age of radio. Rediscover the thrilling world of Dan Holliday through these re-broadcasts of the beloved radio program.

First airing in 1948, Box 13 follows mystery novelist Dan Holliday, played by Alan Ladd, who places a newspaper ad reading "Adventure wanted. Will go anywhere, do anything. Write Box 13, Star Times." Each episode brings a new letter to Box 13, leading Holliday into danger, intrigue, and unexpected twists as he gathers material for his next book.

What sets Box 13 apart is its unique premise, sharp dialogue, and the perfect blend of mystery, adventure, and noir atmosphere. Each episode delivers a complete story filled with memorable characters, dangerous situations, and clever plot twists that keep you guessing until the very end.

Whether you're a longtime fan of old-time radio or discovering these classic mysteries for the first time, Box 13 promises to deliver suspenseful entertainment and a nostalgic journey through one of radio's most inventive detective series. Tune in and let the adventures of Dan Holliday captivate your imagination.

52 episodes

  1. The First Letter

    Mar 22, 2026 · 29 min

    Dan Holliday answers a new request from Box 13 when a worried young woman asks for help with a long running blackmail problem. What sounds like a simple escort job quickly becomes something far more complicated as Holliday is drawn into a late night meeting filled with tension, unanswered questions, and suspicious details that do not line up. Before long he finds himself caught in a dangerous situation involving hidden motives and shifting stories, and he must figure out who is telling the truth before the whole thing collapses on him.

  2. Round Robin

    Aug 21, 2025 · 28 min

    Dan Holliday answers instructions to register at a hotel under a false name and collect a mysterious package, only to find himself pulled into a woman's desperate scheme involving blackmail, diamonds, and a husband who must never learn the truth. As the story shifts and the lies multiply, Holliday discovers that the damsel in distress may be the architect of her own troubles, and the blackmail plot exists mainly in her imagination. The round robin of deception leads back to its starting point as Holliday exposes a gambling debt, a fake crime, and a wife whose story was never quite what it seemed.

  3. The Clay Pigeon

    Aug 20, 2025 · 28 min

    Dan Holliday receives mysterious instructions to contact a psychic with a message about a dead man, and finds himself caught in an elaborate revenge scheme years in the making. As he uncovers the connection between a fake medium, an old murder, and a grieving brother who has waited patiently for justice, Holliday realizes he has been set up as the clay pigeon in someone else's trap. The scheme plays out with deadly precision as Holliday fights to survive a confrontation that was planned long before he ever heard of Box 13.

  4. Archimedes and the Roman

    Aug 19, 2025 · 28 min

    Dan Holliday answers a young boy's letter about strange happenings at an astronomical observatory, only to find himself trapped in a hostage situation where criminals have taken over the facility to hide from the law. Using quick thinking and a coded message about Halley's Comet, Holliday signals for help while keeping the hostages safe from increasingly desperate captors. The ancient wisdom of Archimedes meets modern danger as Holliday outsmarts the gunmen with science and nerve before the situation turns fatal.

  5. A Perfect Crime

    Aug 18, 2025 · 28 min

    Dan Holliday meets a criminology professor who claims he can commit the perfect murder, one so carefully planned that no evidence will point to him and no investigator could ever solve it. As the professor builds his reputation by confessing to crimes he did not commit, Holliday realizes that the perfect crime is still coming, hidden behind a smokescreen of false confessions and academic arrogance. When the real murder finally happens, Holliday must prove that no crime is perfect and that the professor's elaborate plan has a fatal flaw.

  6. The Biter Bitten

    Aug 17, 2025 · 28 min

    Dan Holliday watches as a con man finds himself conned, a blackmailer becomes the victim of blackmail, and a schemer discovers that someone else has been scheming against him all along. The tables turn dramatically as Holliday investigates a case where the predator has become prey, and the biter has been bitten by someone playing a longer game. As the layers of deception peel away, Holliday must decide whether justice is being served or whether two wrongs are creating an even more dangerous situation.

  7. Double Trouble

    Aug 16, 2025 · 29 min

    Dan Holliday encounters double trouble when identical twins are at the center of a crime, and neither the police nor anyone else can tell which one is guilty and which is innocent. As Holliday tries to distinguish between the two, he finds that the twins have spent their lives using their resemblance to confuse and manipulate everyone around them. The double trouble becomes deadly when Holliday realizes that one twin is willing to let the other take the fall for murder, and telling them apart may be impossible until it is too late.

  8. House of Darkness

    Aug 15, 2025 · 28 min

    Dan Holliday answers a summons to a remote mansion where the lights never work, the shadows hide secrets, and the residents seem to prefer darkness to illumination. As he navigates the lightless halls and their strange inhabitants, Holliday discovers that the house of darkness shelters more than eccentricity, concealing crimes that thrive when no one can see clearly. The truth emerges only when Holliday brings light to bear on a household that has kept its secrets in the shadows far too long.

  9. Speed to Burn

    Aug 14, 2025 · 28 min

    Dan Holliday enters the dangerous world of auto racing when a driver's death on the track looks less like an accident and more like carefully planned murder. As Holliday investigates the cutthroat competition, gambling interests, and personal vendettas that fuel the racing circuit, he finds that speed kills in more ways than one. With another race approaching and another driver in danger, Holliday must identify the killer before the checkered flag waves over another victim.

  10. Killer at Large

    Aug 13, 2025 · 28 min

    Dan Holliday races against time when a dangerous killer escapes custody and the only clue to their next target is a cryptic warning that Holliday himself received. As the city panics and the police search blindly, Holliday realizes he may be the only one who can predict where the killer will strike next. The hunt becomes personal when Holliday discovers why he was chosen to receive the warning, and what the killer at large really wants before the final confrontation.

  11. The Dead Man Walks

    Aug 12, 2025 · 28 min

    Dan Holliday confronts the impossible when a man confirmed dead and buried appears to be very much alive and causing trouble for everyone who thought they were rid of him. As Holliday investigates the walking dead man, he uncovers a conspiracy of faked death, hidden identity, and unfinished business that someone thought was settled in the grave. The truth behind the resurrection proves more dangerous than any ghost story, and Holliday must expose the living before they create more corpses.

  12. Design for Danger

    Aug 11, 2025 · 28 min

    Dan Holliday investigates when a fashion designer's latest creation seems to bring misfortune to everyone who wears it, and the accidents are looking less accidental with each victim. As Holliday delves into the glamorous world of haute couture, he discovers jealousy, stolen designs, and a pattern of revenge stitched into every seam. The design for danger becomes clear as Holliday races to stop a killer who has found the perfect way to dress victims for death.

  13. The Treasure of Hang Li

    Aug 10, 2025 · 28 min

    Dan Holliday is drawn into a hunt for legendary Chinese treasure when an ancient map surfaces and multiple parties claim ownership of both the document and whatever fortune it reveals. As competing treasure hunters, family descendants, and dangerous criminals all race to decode the map's secrets, Holliday finds himself caught between greed, history, and violence. The treasure of Hang Li proves to be more than gold, carrying a legacy that someone will kill to possess.

  14. Death Is No Joke

    Aug 9, 2025 · 28 min

    Dan Holliday answers a plea from a comedian whose jokes keep coming true in deadly ways, as audience members who laughed at his routines turn up dead under circumstances matching his punchlines. What begins as a bizarre coincidence becomes a pattern of murder hiding behind humor, and Holliday must find the connection before the next performance ends with another death. The investigation proves that while death is no joke, someone is using comedy as a cover for cold-blooded killing.

  15. Daytime Nightmare

    Aug 8, 2025 · 28 min

    Dan Holliday helps a terrified woman who insists she witnessed a murder in broad daylight that no one else saw and that left no evidence behind. As Holliday investigates her impossible story, he finds himself questioning what is real when every fact seems to contradict her account. The daylight nightmare becomes his own as he uncovers a plot designed to make a witness doubt her own sanity rather than believe what her eyes clearly saw.

  16. One of These Four

    Aug 7, 2025 · 28 min

    Dan Holliday is presented with four suspects and told that one of them is guilty of murder, but the evidence points equally to each and all of them have perfect alibis. As he interviews the quartet of potential killers, Holliday finds that each has motive, each has secrets, and each is hiding something about the night in question. With the police ready to close the case unsolved, Holliday must find the one thread that will unravel the truth about which one of these four pulled the trigger.

  17. Much Too Lucky

    Aug 6, 2025 · 28 min

    Dan Holliday investigates when a man's incredible winning streak draws suspicion, envy, and finally violence from those who refuse to believe anyone can be that fortunate without cheating. As Holliday digs into the lucky man's past and present, he discovers that fortune has a way of attracting danger, and someone has decided to end the winning streak permanently. The question is whether the luck is genuine, rigged, or something far more sinister that has finally caught up with its beneficiary.

  18. Find Me, Find Death

    Aug 5, 2025 · 28 min

    Dan Holliday answers a chilling challenge from someone who promises that finding them will mean death for whoever succeeds. The twisted game of hide and seek leads Holliday through a maze of clues designed to taunt and terrify, each one bringing him closer to a confrontation with someone who has turned disappearing into a deadly art. As he closes in on his quarry, Holliday must decide whether finding the hidden threat is worth the fatal promise that comes with success.

  19. Sealed Instructions

    Aug 4, 2025 · 29 min

    Dan Holliday receives a package containing sealed instructions to be opened only at specific times and places, drawing him into an elaborate game designed by someone who planned every move in advance. As he follows the predetermined path, Holliday realizes he is being manipulated toward a destination he cannot see, by a mastermind who anticipated his every reaction. The question becomes whether to play along with the sealed instructions or break free before reaching whatever fate awaits at the end.

  20. Mexican Maze

    Aug 3, 2025 · 29 min

    Dan Holliday follows a trail of clues south of the border into a labyrinth of ancient ruins, modern criminals, and buried treasure that has lured fortune hunters to their doom for generations. Lost in a maze of conflicting stories and dangerous guides, Holliday must navigate treacherous terrain and even more treacherous people to find what everyone is searching for. As the walls close in, he realizes that escaping the Mexican maze may be harder than finding its secret.

  21. Tempest in a Casserole

    Aug 2, 2025 · 29 min

    Dan Holliday answers an unusual request that leads him into the competitive world of cooking when a restaurant feud turns from culinary rivalry to criminal conspiracy. As accusations of stolen recipes and sabotaged dishes escalate to threats and violence, Holliday must sort out which chef is serving up the truth and which is cooking up lies. The kitchen heats up as Holliday discovers that someone has added a deadly ingredient to this tempest in a casserole.

  22. Dan and the Wonderful Lamp

    Aug 1, 2025 · 28 min

    Dan Holliday encounters a case straight out of Arabian Nights when an antique oil lamp brings more than wishes to its new owner. As competing collectors, thieves, and mysterious strangers all chase the supposedly magical artifact, Holliday must separate the fairy tale from the very real danger surrounding the lamp's hidden value. What begins as a whimsical treasure hunt turns deadly serious when Holliday discovers the lamp's true secret is worth killing for.

  23. One One Three Point Five

    Jul 31, 2025 · 28 min

    Dan Holliday receives a mysterious message containing only a number, one one three point five, that leads him into a puzzle involving radio frequencies, secret broadcasts, and a hidden network operating right under everyone's nose. As he tunes into the conspiracy, Holliday discovers that the airwaves are carrying more than entertainment, and the people behind the transmissions will kill to keep their frequency secret. The static clears just in time for Holliday to expose the truth before the signal goes dead permanently.

  24. Death Is a Doll

    Jul 30, 2025 · 28 min

    Dan Holliday is pulled into a strange case involving an antique doll that seems to bring death to everyone who possesses it. As he traces the doll's history through a string of suspicious accidents and convenient inheritances, he uncovers a patient and methodical killer using superstition as a cover for cold-blooded murder. Holliday must expose the human hand behind the supposedly cursed toy before another collector falls victim to its deadly reputation.

  25. Hunt and Peck

    Jul 29, 2025 · 28 min

    Dan Holliday answers a plea from a nervous typist who stumbled onto a secret hidden in the documents she was hired to transcribe. When her employers realize what she has seen, she becomes a target, and Holliday must protect her while piecing together the coded messages buried in seemingly innocent correspondence. As the conspiracy unravels letter by letter, Holliday finds himself typing out the solution to a crime that someone thought was perfectly hidden in plain sight.