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The Whistler: Classic Radio Drama

Presented by OTR.FM

Welcome to The Whistler: Classic Radio Drama, featuring the complete collection of this iconic suspense series that captivated audiences from 1942 to 1955. The Whistler was a unique radio series where a mysterious narrator, known only as "The Whistler," would introduce stories of ordinary people caught in extraordinary circumstances. Each episode began with his haunting 13-note whistle and the chilling words: "I am the Whistler, and I know many things, for I walk by night." These tales of suspense, murder, and psychological drama featured stories of greed, jealousy, revenge, and the dark corners of the human psyche. What made The Whistler special was its focus on the criminal's perspective, often revealing the perpetrator's thoughts and motivations as their carefully laid plans inevitably unraveled. Join us for this comprehensive collection of classic radio drama, meticulously restored and presented for modern listeners who appreciate timeless storytelling and masterful suspense.

507 episodes

Episode 22: Malice

Oct 30, 2026 · 30 min

In this episode, the wealthy and prestigious Dr. Jacob Benton becomes embroiled in a family drama as his son Tom falls in love with Neeta, a girl from the wrong side of town. Driven by ambition for his son to carry on the family tradition, Jacob attempts to separate Tom and Neeta, resorting to extreme measures that lead to tragedy. As the story unfolds, deep-seated malice, jealousy, and revenge come to light, ultimately resulting in a shocking and fateful conclusion. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 21: Urge to Kill

Oct 7, 2026 · 30 min

Henry Drake, a successful businessman, grapples with memory lapses and a troubling urge to harm others. After seeking help from a psychiatrist, he becomes increasingly paranoid and confronts his business partner, Phil, suspecting an affair with his wife, Rita. A tense confrontation ensues, resulting in Henry's failed attempt to murder Phil. Ultimately, Henry's carefully planned scheme to feign insanity in order to escape punishment for premeditated murder unravels when the psychiatrist reveals that Henry is actually sane. The episode ends with the revelation that Henry's elaborate plan has backfired, leading to his inevitable downfall and legal repercussions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 544: Perfect Alibi

Jan 2, 2026 · 25 min

In “Perfect Alibi,” slick private investigator Johnny Seltzer thinks he’s found the ultimate score when he falls in with Alice Collins, the beautiful niece of a wealthy lumber magnate. Together they hatch a cold-blooded plan: murder her uncle, frame gambling boss Frankie Benson using planted evidence, and walk away with both the inheritance and a flawless alibi placing Johnny safely at Alice’s apartment. The scheme works perfectly—too perfectly. Benson is arrested, the papers declare the case solved, and Johnny congratulates himself on his brilliance. But when police arrive at Johnny’s door, it’s not about the uncle’s murder at all. While Johnny was busy perfecting one crime, Alice herself was brutally killed in her apartment, stabbed with a letter opener in a scene eerily similar to a past Benson victim. Johnny’s airtight alibi for one murder becomes proof he couldn’t have prevented the other, and the man who believed he’d engineered the perfect crime learns that a perfect alibi only works for the right victim. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 540: The Catalyst

Jan 2, 2026 · 30 min

In “The Catalyst,” quiet, unassuming Walter Kendall discovers that simply being present can trigger the worst instincts in others. Hired as a harmless intermediary in a shady business arrangement, Walter quickly realizes that greed, fear, and resentment erupt wherever he goes—men betray partners, lovers turn on each other, and violence follows close behind. Though Walter never commits a crime himself, his knowledge of everyone’s secrets makes him dangerously indispensable, and just as dangerous to keep alive. When the final deal collapses into murder, police uncover that Walter was the common thread linking every act of betrayal. In the end, the man who believed he could remain untouched by the chaos he provoked learns too late that being the catalyst is enough to seal one’s fate. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 669: Search for an Unknown

Jan 2, 2026 · 28 min

In “Search for an Unknown,” ruthless gambling boss Duncan McKay receives a chilling anonymous letter threatening his life—one identical to letters sent to two complete strangers, hatcheck girl Julie Wilson and hardware clerk Albert Dobbs. Hiring private investigator Frank Ferguson to uncover the connection, McKay grows increasingly paranoid as one recipient turns up dead and Ferguson uncovers unsettling coincidences. As the investigation tightens, McKay takes matters into his own hands and kidnaps Dobbs, convinced the frightened little man holds the key. The truth finally snaps into focus: “Dobbs” is actually Albert Maxwell, the brother of a grocer McKay murdered years earlier while working as a protection thug in Los Angeles. The letters were bait, designed to lure McKay out from behind his fortress and into confronting his past. Just as Ferguson alerts McKay and calls the police, Maxwell reveals his true identity—turning the hunter into the hunted, and proving that some crimes never stay buried. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 1: Retribution

Dec 29, 2025 · 30 min

In this episode titled 'Retribution', John Hendricks is on trial for murder and sentenced to life in prison. Ten years later, he hatches a plan to escape with the help of his cellmate, Bill. Meanwhile, a couple seeking shelter encounters a deserted mansion where they encounter strange occurrences. As the night unfolds, a mysterious figure from the past resurfaces, seeking revenge and retrieving stolen money. The eerie events leave the couple and law enforcement bewildered as they confront unexplainable phenomena. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 20: Jealousy

Dec 28, 2025 · 30 min

Lucia Urant lives in a cliffside mansion with her husband Gilbert and half-sister Beverly. When she begins having recurring visions of a spectral figure reaching for her and suspects Gilbert and Beverly of plotting to poison her, Lucia fakes her death and disappears. Overhearing the pair discuss leaving the country, she returns to confront them with a gun. The Whistler reveals that Lucia’s jealousy led her to stage the entire episode—she planted the poison and misread innocent actions—and her attempt at revenge collapses when her husband admits his feelings but denies any murderous plot. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 19: Fog

Dec 9, 2025 · 30 min

Sailor Danny Price sets out with a gun to confront gambler Duke Moran over a debt on a night thick with fog. After tripping over a hydrant and briefly losing his memory, he wakes to find Moran murdered and the evidence pointing at him. A bait peddler tries to blackmail him by claiming to have seen the shooting, but Danny learns the fatal bullets came from a different calibre and that his friend Captain Fowler staged the evidence to drive him away and steal Danny’s fiancée. The captain flees, leaving a confession that clears Danny. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 532: The Havana Lee

Dec 8, 2025 · 22 min

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 679: Two Lives of Colby Fletcher

Dec 8, 2025 · 24 min

In “The Two Lives of Colby Fletcher,” ambitious chemist Colby Fletcher builds his entire life around a single scheme: fake his own death in a laboratory explosion, let his wife collect the $100,000 insurance payout, then reunite with her somewhere far from East Riverton. To pull it off, he carefully cultivates a reputation for dangerous experimental work, pressures his wealthy backers into temporary high-value insurance, and begins hunting for the perfect patsy—an unknown young man who could die in the blast and be mistaken for him. As the deadline on his temporary coverage ticks down, panic drives Colby to reckless improvisation: he runs down a stranger on the highway and brings him to the lab as a last-minute substitute. But the plan collapses when the man reveals he’s a fugitive and tries to steal Colby’s car. While he’s dragged outside by police who recognize the stolen vehicle, the phone call Colby wired to trigger the explosion goes through—detonating the lab and killing only the imposter inside. With his car impounded, his alibi shattered, and the insurance payout now impossible, Colby watches the life he planned so meticulously blow apart in an instant. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 573: Blue Alibi

Dec 8, 2025 · 25 min

In “Blue Alibi,” city treasurer John Sheridan is drowning in corruption, stuck in a payoff racket with mob-connected contractor broker Frank Devon and suffocating under his ambitious wife Edith’s political expectations. When Edith discovers the scheme and threatens to expose everything unless John cuts ties with Devon and ends an affair, she unknowingly seals her fate. Devon refuses to let John walk away—and makes it clear Edith will have to be silenced. Cornered by both his wife’s ultimatum and Devon’s threats, John crafts a meticulous murder plan. He stages a clay-sculpting alibi in the beach cottage, times Edith’s solitary evening swim, and drowns her in the tub before dumping her body in the ocean. The autopsy confirms drowning with no struggle, and the police accept the death as accidental. But John doesn’t realize the small detail that will undo him: the wet, blue fingerprint he left on his sculpture during the murder window. When the police return with questions, that tiny smear becomes the loose thread that will unravel his perfect alibi. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 451: Treasure Hunt

Dec 8, 2025 · 29 min

In “Treasure Hunt,” drifter Robert Bolton steps off a train in the tiny town of Redmond and immediately sees opportunity in the Randolph sisters, two reclusive women rumored to be sitting on a hidden $200,000 fortune left behind by their eccentric grandfather. He charms the lonely, eager Martha and convinces her to steal the cryptic verse supposedly pointing to the money’s location. Together they follow the riddle to an old cooling shed—only for Robert to discover too late that the treasure is nothing but worthless securities. When Evie, the domineering sister, exposes the truth and orders him out, Robert panics, leaving behind both Martha and the plan he thought would make him rich. But before he can flee town, Evie dies after taking the rat poison Robert purchased earlier, and Sheriff Conway corners him with a brutal ultimatum: face a murder charge built on ironclad circumstantial evidence, or stay in Redmond for life as Martha’s devoted husband. Trapped by his own scheme, Robert chooses the only future left to him—a prison without bars. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 450: The Little Things

Dec 8, 2025 · 29 min

In “The Little Things,” ex-con Johnny Larson steps out of prison determined never again to overlook the small details that once got him caught. He falls in with Eddie—an old acquaintance planning a $200,000 bank heist—and immediately senses the setup: Johnny is meant to be the fall guy. With the help of Eddie’s uneasy girlfriend Laura, Johnny uncovers the double-cross and quietly prepares his own. After using Laura’s covert photos to crack the bank’s ancient alarm system, Johnny locks Eddie and his men inside the vault, sealing their fate. Then, deciding Laura can’t be trusted either, he murders her on a deserted highway and drives off with his cut. But the one “little thing” he never counted on is the tiny camera hidden in Laura’s purse. She snapped a picture at the exact moment he pulled the trigger, and that single photograph leads authorities straight to him—an ironic end for a man who built his entire escape on paying attention to the details. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 447: Three Wise Guys

Dec 8, 2025 · 30 min

In “Three Wise Guys,” ticket scalper Al recalls a Christmas Eve adventure that forever changed him, Blandy Swanson, and the Dutchman. What began as a simple plan to dig up a hidden $50,000 payroll stolen in a factory job turns into something entirely different when the trio follows a “guiding star” to a lonely Pennsylvania barn. Inside they find Blandy’s old flame, Clarabelle Cobb, in labor and alone, abandoned while her innocent husband sits in jail for the Dutchman’s crime. As the Dutchman delivers the baby and Blandy learns the truth, the three crooks are unexpectedly moved to compassion. Instead of grabbing the hidden cash and running, they secretly hand every dollar to the local doctor to free Clarabelle’s husband and give the new family a fresh start. On their way out of town, a near arrest makes them realize just how narrowly they escaped disaster. By the end of the night, the “three wise guys” choose to straighten out their lives—touched by a small miracle in a Bethlehem far different from the one in scripture. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 446: Flee From Evil

Dec 7, 2025 · 29 min

In “Flee from Evil,” Uncle Bert Macklin believes he’s finally freed himself from a blackmailer—until a private investigator named Sid Hawker shows up to reveal the “murder” Bert paid his nephew Freddy to commit was actually staged. Now Hawker demands even more money, claiming to represent the real blackmailer who knows Bert killed a former associate. As paranoia spreads through the household, Freddy realizes Bert’s fear threatens his own promised inheritance, and he hatches a ruthless plan: learn the blackmailer’s phone number by counting the clicks on Hawker’s dial, then kill Hawker and force a profitable partnership with the blackmailer himself. But when Bert confronts Freddy at Hawker’s office, convinced his nephew is behind everything, Freddy makes the fatal mistake of dialing the number to prove his innocence. The call reaches the time service—not a person—proving Hawker was the blackmailer all along. Bert mistakes Freddy’s desperation for betrayal, pulls the trigger, and ends the scheme, leaving Freddy destroyed by the very trap he tried to manipulate. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 310: Lady in Waiting

Dec 7, 2025 · 30 min

In “Lady in Waiting,” gifted violinist Victor Carroll returns from the war carrying a secret far darker than the one his wife fears. Hidden in his black box is a priceless Del Gesù violin he murdered an old Italian maestro to steal, and the guilt and obsession have been eating at him ever since. As Victor prepares for the most important audition of his life, the strain pushes him to the edge—he isolates himself, lashes out at Peggy, and guards the violin with a paranoid, violent fervor. When Peggy accidentally tampers with the box, Victor snaps and confesses the killing she never imagined he could commit. Still, he clings to the hope that playing under the great Dr. Krueitz will redeem him. But the moment he steps onstage for his triumphant debut, detectives waiting in the wings move in. The concerto he thought would launch his career becomes his final performance, as the past he tried to bury finally claims him in front of a packed concert hall. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 288: Professor and the Fox

Dec 7, 2025 · 29 min

In “The Professor and the Fox,” attorney John Strickland is cornered both professionally and financially when a seemingly trivial negligence lawsuit threatens to expose the $80,000 he has secretly embezzled from his wealthy, long-time client, Mrs. Fremont. His only hope lies in Professor Greer, a mild-mannered chemist whose expert testimony could dismiss the suit instantly. But when Greer unexpectedly discovers the real cause of the caretaker’s wife’s death—a finding that would lose Strickland the case and expose his crimes—Strickland panics and murders him, staging the professor’s car crash as an accident. Moments later, police arrive with stunning news: the caretaker, Benson, has confessed not only to killing his own wife but also to murdering Professor Greer. Strickland relaxes, believing he’s safe, until one final detail drops the floor out from under him—Benson planted a bomb inside Greer’s briefcase, meaning the professor died before Strickland ever touched him. The man Strickland thought he killed was already dead, and the explosion Benson describes proves Strickland is lying, trapping him in the very confession he never made. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 285: The Stolen Chance

Dec 7, 2025 · 29 min

In “The Stolen Chance,” Charles Vaughn is a draftsman with champagne dreams and an eight-dollar-a-week reality, desperately trying to win the heart of wealthy socialite Edith Settle. When his brilliant mentor Alex Gerber unveils a breakthrough in supersonic aviation—a pressurized pilot’s compartment—Charles sees his escape route. He claims the invention as his own, pitching it to industrial titan Martin Cross, but that lie traps him on a path he can’t walk back from. To pull it off, Charles murders Gerber and then races to Williston to silence Dr. Fisher, the only person who knows Gerber was the true inventor. But in a cruel twist, the “doctor” Charles kills is actually Fisher’s husband, and the real Dr. Fisher is very much alive—an unassuming woman who calmly tells police exactly who Charles is and why he killed. In the end, the opportunity Charles tried to steal becomes the evidence that destroys him. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 615: Incident at Pebble Cove

Dec 7, 2025 · 22 min

In “Incident at Pebble Cove,” corporate intrigue, a secret metals deal, and a love affair collide at a heavily guarded lodge where industrialist Elliot Bradley hopes to secure a rare mineral vital to national defense. But when his guest—Middle Eastern Metals executive Bernardo Nagashi—is seemingly killed in a hunting accident, panic erupts. Bradley fears the death will spark an international scandal and destroy the crucial Britannium negotiations. His ambitious secretary, Charles Reeves, seizes the moment, blackmailing Bradley for a promotion and a fortune in stock in exchange for “confessing” to the shooting. As the pressure mounts, a mysterious messenger arrives… followed by the real Nagashi himself, very much alive. The dead man was an impostor—an agent sent to assassinate Nagashi and frame Bradley. In a single jolt, Reeves’ scheme disintegrates, Bradley is vindicated, and the deception that threatened to topple the deal collapses under its own weight. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 277: Death and the Emperor

Dec 7, 2025 · 29 min

In “Death and the Emperor,” Edith Ellsmer has spent years tending Meadow Hill Estate and grooming its prized Persian cat, Splendid Emperor, while her employer, the vain and overbearing Mrs. Cole, claims all the glory. When a lucrative contract offer arrives—five thousand dollars a year for the rights to the emperor’s name and another two thousand for a booklet—Edith assumes she’ll finally share the spotlight. Instead, Mrs. Cole belittles her, plans to take full credit, and then secretly calls an agency to replace her. Cornered and furious, Edith devises a plan to make Mrs. Cole’s frequent warnings come true: that the playful emperor might someday turn on the gas jets while jumping on the stove. Edith turns the handles herself in the dead of night, stages the scene, and even uses Martin the caretaker as a witness to the cat’s dangerous habit. The sheriff nearly uncovers the truth—until the emperor conveniently leaps onto the stove again, sealing the “accident” as fact. Edith inherits everything and prepares to sign the lucrative contracts, believing she’s won. But the next morning Mr. Murdoch arrives to find both Edith and the emperor dead—the cat had once again jumped onto the stove for the hidden catnip bag, and this time the fumes took them both. The very method Edith used for murder circles back and claims her as its final victim. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 236: Blind Impulse

Dec 7, 2025 · 29 min

In “Blind Impulse,” smooth-talking Steve Consello thinks he’s hit the jackpot when wealthy socialite Carol Crandall proposes marriage, fully aware he wants her money. His plan is simple: stay married just long enough for her ailing father to die, collect half the estate under community-property laws, then return to Millie—the woman he actually loves—after a quiet divorce. But everything unravels when Carol’s father miraculously recovers, Millie sends a desperate cable, and Carol discovers Steve’s secret the same day he learns the inheritance he counted on won’t be coming anytime soon. Cornered and terrified his scheme is falling apart, Steve snaps on a mule trail in the Grand Canyon and murders Carol’s father by driving his horse over a cliff. What he doesn’t know is that Carol watched the whole thing from a public telescope. Because the law won’t allow a wife to testify against her husband, she coldly lets him walk free—until Millie arrives and unknowingly delivers the final blow. Her telegram proves Steve was never legally divorced, which means Carol was never his wife at all... and she can testify to the murder. The trap slams shut exactly where Steve never expected it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 226: The Victim Smiled

Dec 7, 2025 · 29 min

In “The Victim Smiled,” Helen Van Norton has spent six agonizing years waiting for news of her brother Ted, missing since the early days of the war. When a cable finally announces his return, her relief turns to horror: the man who steps off the ship is a total stranger—yet he carries flawless identification, letters, fingerprints, and even the memories of Ted’s school days. Every attempt Helen makes to expose him backfires, from calling Ted’s old headmaster to checking his State Department file; every piece of evidence confirms he is who he claims to be. As doubt and paranoia close in, Helen makes one last desperate move, calling a man in Honolulu she once paid to “take care of” Ted. The call gives her the confirmation she wants—but it also reveals the truth she never expected. The supposed imposter is actually Ted’s closest friend, an undercover FBI agent who has spent years unraveling her murder-for-hire scheme. In the end, it isn’t the stranger who’s unmasked—it’s Helen herself. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 222: A Brief Pause For Murder

Dec 7, 2025 · 29 min

In “A Brief Pause for Murder,” radio announcer Roger Wicksen has grown to despise his glamorous, cruel wife Tisha, and the moment she announces she’s leaving him for novelist Trent Crandall, he finally makes up his mind: she’s going to die. When a series of “whip-cord strangler” murders grips the city, Roger sees his perfect cover. With the help of a nervous new engineer who’s hiding a prison record, Roger secretly records a station break that will air while he slips home to kill Tisha—giving him an airtight alibi. But the night of the murder, the radio announces something Roger never expected: the real strangler has been caught hours earlier. His plan collapses as his only cover vanishes, and the prerecorded alibi he confidently counted on ends up exposing the impossible—Roger Wicksen was in two places at once. By the time the final notes fade, the trap he built for Tisha has snapped shut around him instead. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 205: My Love Comes Home

Dec 7, 2025 · 29 min

In “My Love Comes Home,” bush pilot Sam Hardesty returns from months in the Canadian wilderness dreaming of surprising his wife, only to find her studying art on Cape Cod under the attentive eye of Jeff Christie. Suspicion gnaws at Sam until a night of cocktails ends with him drugged, tossed from a bridge, and left for dead. He survives, hides in a vacant cabin, and decides to punish Helen and Jeff by framing them for his murder. Through anonymous tips, planted evidence, and a forged letter, Sam turns the entire town – and the police – against them. But when a truck driver reveals Sam had been drunk and wandering near the bridge on an earlier night, Sam realizes too late that Helen and Jeff never tried to kill him at all. He steals a plane to race back and clear them, only for the engine to fail over open water. The wreck is finally found six weeks later, and Helen and Jeff plead guilty in despair, unaware Sam’s misguided vengeance ended in his own death. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 93: Mind Over Matter

Dec 7, 2025 · 30 min

In “Mind Over Matter,” parapsychology student Herbert Randall becomes convinced he has received a telepathic plea from reclusive author Thomas Banning, who begs him to retrieve an unfinished manuscript. When Herbert and his wife Andrea visit Banning’s estate, they stumble into a sinister web of lies involving Banning’s vanished brother, strange nighttime screams, and a household that feels more like a prison than a home. As Herbert digs deeper, he uncovers evidence of torture, hidden money, and an elaborate deception engineered by Banning’s opportunistic relatives. Guided by recurring psychic messages, he races to rescue the real Thomas and recover the manuscript—only to discover a twist that ties the mystery directly to his own identity. The truth behind the mental link, the missing fortune, and the twin brothers erupts in a final revelation that redefines everything Herbert believed about fate and the power of the mind. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.