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Mysterious Traveler, The

1944–1952 · 77 episodes · 345 listens

The Mysterious Traveler was an anthology radio series, magazine, and comic book that featured stories spanning the genres of fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and suspense. Debuting on the Mutual Broadcasting System on December 5, 1943, the radio program continued in various time slots until its final broadcast on September 16, 1952.

The lonely sound of a distant locomotive heralded the arrival of the sinister narrator, portrayed by Maurice Tarplin, who introduced himself each week with the iconic line: “This is the Mysterious Traveler, inviting you to join me on another journey into the strange and terrifying.” The narrator often took an active role in the stories, appearing as characters such as a coroner and a general practitioner.

The Stars

The radio series featured a talented ensemble cast, including Jackson Beck, Lon Clark, Roger DeKoven, Elspeth Eric, Wendell Holmes, Bill Johnstone, Joseph Julian, Jan Miner, Santos Ortega, Bryna Raeburn, Frank Readick, Luis van Rooten, Ann Shepherd, Lawson Zerbe, and Bill Zuckert.

The scripts were written and directed by Robert Arthur and David Kogan.

Key Dates

  • The Mysterious Traveler radio series debuted on the Mutual Broadcasting System on December 5, 1943.
  • It continued in various time slots until its final broadcast on September 16, 1952, spanning nearly a decade on the air.

Other Information

One of the most popular episodes, “Behind the Locked Door,” which took place in total darkness, was repeated several times during the show’s run.

In addition to the radio series, The Mysterious Traveler also spawned a digest-sized magazine that ran for five issues from 1951 to 1952, featuring cover paintings by renowned pulp illustrator Norman Saunders. The magazine included stories by the radio series’ creators, Robert Arthur and David Kogan, as well as contributions from other notable mystery and science fiction writers such as John Dickson Carr, Dorothy L. Sayers, Brett Halliday, Ray Bradbury, and Craig Rice.

The radio series also inspired a comic book adaptation, with Charlton Comics publishing a one-shot issue in 1948 and a separate ongoing series titled “Tales of the Mysterious Traveler” that ran for 13 issues from 1956 to 1959, followed by two more issues in 1985.

The comic book stories were illustrated by the legendary Steve Ditko, who went on to co-create many iconic Marvel and DC characters.

The popularity of The Mysterious Traveler radio series led to the creation of similar supernatural-themed programs, such as The Sealed Book and The Strange Dr. Weird, which featured the same host-narrator, Maurice Tarplin, and scripts by a Mysterious Traveler writer.

While only 75 of the original 370 Mysterious Traveler radio episodes are known to exist today, the series’ enduring legacy continues to captivate old-time radio enthusiasts and fans of classic genre storytelling.

Cast & Crew

AAnn ShepherdActorVVicki VolaActorOOrson WellesActorJJackson BeckActorEEd BegleyActorMMary Jane HigbyActorLLeon JanneyActorBBill ZuckertActorAArt CarneyActorJJack AmrheinBBret MorrisonActorDDavid KoganWriterJJimmy WallingtonAnnouncerJJock MacGregorDirector · ProducerCCarl CarusoAnnouncerHHim GoodeLLawson ZerbeActorRRobert A ArthurWriterMMaurice TarplinActorRRon HarperRRuss DunbarAnnouncerTTed OsborneActorVVariousActorLLon ClarkActorLLyle SudrowActorEEric DresslerActorRRoger De KovenActorRRobert DrydenActorJJoyce GordonActorRRalph BellActorCCliff CarpenterActorJJoe JulianActorHHelen ShieldsActorBBryna RaeburnActorJJack ManningActorAAlan MansonActorCChuck WebsterActorJJames Van DykActor

Ratings & reviews

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Episodes

Apr 11, 1950 · 26:22
Take an exciting journey into the future with a young scientist. Travel in time and decide for yourself if this…
Apr 13, 1947 · 29:17
What happens when an honest man yields to temptation and descends into the murky depths of murder and despair. The…
Apr 16, 1944 · 28:32
Vivian and Phillip have been married for 3 months and now she is leaving him for another man. Things become heated as…
Apr 18, 1950 · 29:33
This story ventures into the dangerous depths of the Atlantic with a group of desperate men caught in a strange…
Apr 19, 1949 · 25:09
Joan Morgan stands looking out over Central Park from her penthouse terrace on this beautiful spring day, feeling like…
Apr 2, 1944 · 24:10
A letter has arrived for Joan which reads: "A friend from Europe expects you tomorrow afternoon at two o' clock at the…
Apr 20, 1948 · 25:53
Vicky wants to be a jazz singer, and her husband has no intention of standing in her way. Her thin soprano, however, is…
Apr 25, 1950 · 29:20
Tonight's story is a journey no living man has ever taken before. We're going to accompany a man named Gregory Raymond…
Apr 29, 1952 · 29:53
NARRATOR: Before we begin, I have a question for you. Do you believe in ghosts? No? That's good, then my story won't…
Apr 29, 1952 · 29:30
In this story we leap into the future to see how crime and detection may operate then. The date, the year 2952. Mankind…
Apr 4, 1950 · 29:26
The story begins in the San Francisco offices of the John Bates Importing Company. In a large, well furnished office,…
Apr 9, 1944 · 28:12
Dr. Richard Dale has received a letter from Professor Clarke. He used to be the professor's laboratory assistant at…
Aug 10, 1948 · 28:26
Albert detests his mother-in-law. She's forever insinuating that he mistreats his wife, Louise, who never comes to…
Aug 2, 1949 · 28:57
Our story begins in a large darkened laboratory filled with intricate machinery and instruments. Half a dozen engineers…
Aug 24, 1947 · 28:50
A father will go to any lengths to prevent his son from marrying Diana Winters a two-timing gold digger but there is no…
Aug 25, 1946 · 28:55
We're going to pay a visit to the home of Albert and Louise Jordan, the nicest couple you could hope to meet. The story…
Aug 28, 1951 · 29:14
Join two young people who find themselves in the strangest situation human beings ever encountered. A convertible with…
Dec 11, 1951 · 30:11
In this story you follow the course of a strange friendship to a startling end. Narrator: As we begin our story of a…
Dec 25, 1951 · 26:27
It all began when Steve read an ad in the evening paper "driving to New York, November 15th, man wanted to assist in…
Dec 29, 1946 · 28:55
This is a little excursion into the realms of pure imagination. You've all heard the saying "believe in a thing enough…
Feb 19, 1952 · 29:59
In this story we follow two young fliers on a routine flight which suddenly deviated from normal and brought them to a…
Feb 24, 1948 · 30:03
Judge Marsh is sitting in his library reading a legal brief. As he intently reads, the French door leading to the…
Feb 27, 1944 · 28:41
Sandra, a beautiful clever child, is extremely close to her father, Stephen. He has recently married again and Sandra…
Feb 7, 1950 · 29:22
February 12th, of course, is Abraham Lincoln's birthday, and April 14th is the anniversary of his death at the hands of…
Jan 10, 1950 · 29:12
The story begins near the outskirts of a small New England town. It is early evening. Situated on a high hill that…
Jan 12, 1947 · 29:34
No Grave Can Hold Me is a story that will thrill you a little and chill you a little as we travel in to the world of…
Jan 13, 1949 · 28:41
The tale begins with the Mysterious Traveler... "Some years ago, when I was a county coroner, I was called in on a most…
Jan 15, 1952 · 27:30
In this show we watch an underworld syndicate and the government go on a desperate search for the same man. The scene…
Jan 20, 1948 · 27:55
It is dusk and Florence Gordon is entering Central Hospital to visit a friend who is a patient. As she walks to the…
Jan 22, 1952 · 26:28
Andrew feels stifled by his domineering wife, Jocasta. When he falls in love with Julie, a thief and former maid to…
Jan 29, 1952 · 27:39
The scene: A small village of Woodford in Vermont. It's 9:00 o'clock in the evening, and the main street in the village…
Jan 30, 1944 · 28:31
Aunt Martha and Aunt Louise have been moved out into the country to live with Roger and Ester, their nephew and niece.…
Jan 5, 1947 · 29:18
It is New Year's Eve 1946 and Chris and Judy are engaged to be married. Judy is upset that Chris drinks so much alcohol…
Jan 6, 1945 · 27:05
Helen Vaughn is an ugly woman. Years ago she and her sister visited a hypnotist, Chadwin the Great. Shortly after that…
Jan 6, 1949 · 24:21
Our story begins in that part of the Caribbean Sea known as the great Bahama Bank, which lies north of Cuba. In the…
Jan 8, 1952 · 28:13
In this story we meet an enterprising gentleman who knew all the angles, and he played them for all their worth.…
Jul 18, 1950 · 29:13
Narrator: Tonight, we have a different kind of story. We're traveling in a remote section of the Kentucky mountains…
Jul 2, 1944 · 29:33
Rana Faruk is a beautiful woman with lustrous black hair and sparkling green eyes. She is a woman that men cannot…
Jul 27, 1947 · 28:44
The story begins in a homemade laboratory in a crumbling mansion deep in the heart of the Louisiana swamps. The air is…
Jul 6, 1947 · 29:28
“In a few moments you are going to meet a ghost. The strangest phantom you have ever heard. But first I want you to be…
Jul 6, 1948 · 28:21
The story begins in a small white walled hospital room. Charles a man of 45 has just awakened. He looks about him in…
Jun 14, 1949 · 30:03
The story starts in a court of law where a man is on trial for his life. The courtroom is tense, but the jury is out,…
Jun 15, 1947 · 29:08
Delve in to the strange story of a Chinese bell. A bell whose ringing is the summons for the dead to live and the…
Jun 15, 1948 · 29:22
Miss Jane Elliott is concerned that her fiancé Chris Arnold is terribly ill, as he is desperately afraid of something.…
Jun 17, 1952 · 27:04
This show begins with a radio broadcast. The man has a confession to make, "to you, the American people." It seems that…
Jun 22, 1948 · 26:34
Our story tonight begins in the office of Dr William Jackson the noted psychiatrist. Dr Williams, a tall intelligent…
Jun 6, 1950 · 28:57
In this story we drop in on a very clever gentleman, a gentleman who perfected a plan to be rid of people he disliked…
Jun 8, 1948 · 29:00
We begin in a huge white mansion overlooking the Hudson River. In a large comfortable room David Phillips a slender…
Mar 10, 1945 · 29:24
Late one evening several years ago, when I was practicing medicine in a large Eastern city, I visited Charles Foster, a…
Mar 13, 1951 · 29:45
In this story we join two little old ladies who have one ambition in life, they want to solve a murder. Narrator:…
Mar 14, 1950 · 29:47
The story begins in one of the manufacturing plants in the Worldwide Business Machines Corporation. In one wing of the…
Mar 16, 1948 · 28:16
The story begins behind the high grey walls of a state penitentiary. It is early Monday morning and Dr Richard Worth…
Mar 24, 1945 · 29:03
Tonight’s story takes us down into the dark and fearsome depths of the sea. It starts in the radio room of an American…
Mar 26, 1944 · 29:00
Sit back, relax and get a good grip on your nerves and listen to the story, which follows the nerve-racking adventures…
Mar 29, 1949 · 25:19
His name is Andy Marlowe. Once he was a very successful publicity agent. But this morning as he slouches behind his big…
Mar 31, 1945 · 27:34
A great tale that keeps you on the edge of your chair right to the last moment - at least it did for me. It's a tale of…
Mar 9, 1947 · 29:14
Bill Storm is a newspaper reporter presently on the strangest manhunt ever conducted. Or should we say womanhunt, as he…
May 1, 1951 · 29:01
The story begins in a large darkened laboratory filled with intricate machinery and instruments. Half a dozen engineers…
May 11, 1948 · 28:28
Our story begins in 1931. Two young men are speeding along in a car on a lonely West Virginian road at 70 miles per…
May 18, 1948 · 28:19
The story begins last summer in the townhouse of Martin Drake, a well known financier. Martin is deep in argument with…
May 2, 1950 · 29:35
In this show we'll join three enterprising young men that are in a dire predicament. This story is about a group of…
May 23, 1950 · 29:12
The hero finds himself crossing paths with people who die immediately afterwards. He notices that a stunningly…
May 24, 1949 · 28:23
QUALITY WARNING: While this recording starts soff a mit muffled it does become much clearer a few minutes in. The story…
May 25, 1947 · 29:44
On a stretch of green lawn on the top of High Cliff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean the great Riccardo who claims to be…
May 4, 1948 · 27:08
Repeat of broadcast on 6th January 1945. Helen Vaughn is an ugly woman. Years ago she and her sister visited a…
Nov 20, 1951 · 29:45
Settle back to meet two people who haven’t even been born yet. Who is the most famous man in the world? His name is…
Nov 6, 1951 · 26:30
The story begins in the beautiful mountain region of Lake Mead, Arizona. A convertible car is speeding along a deserted…
Oct 11, 1949 · 28:33
In a small 6 by 10 feet radio compartment, a man sits sprawled in the transmission operator's chair. His hair is…
Oct 21, 1947 · 30:11
The story begins late one afternoon, in the luxurious office of Henry Norton, a stockbroker. Norton, a tall dapper man…
Oct 25, 1949 · 28:45
We're going to accompany Harvey Benson in a fateful 24 hours of his life... Our visit with Harvey Benson begins on a…
Oct 5, 1948 · 27:20
This story begins with Mrs. Richards who has a debilitating heart condition, and a visit with her doctor. The doctor…
Oct 9, 1951 · 30:03
In this story we join a man who has unique powers which enable him to do tremendous good OR tremendous evil. The story…
Sep 1, 1946 · 29:48
Today we're going to accompany Mr. Harvey Benson through a fateful 24 hours of his life. Our visit with Harvey Benson…
Sep 21, 1948 · 26:40
The story begins at a police headquarters in an eastern metropolis. In a small shabbily furnished office Horace…
Sep 24, 1944 · 26:00
Death Laughs Last is a story which follows the adventures of a man who thought he could commit murder and escape…
Sep 7, 1947 · 30:20
The story begins at a tiny harbor along the northern main coast, on an isolated beach, reached only by boat from the…
Sep 8, 1946 · 29:21
We're going to call on Edward Farrington and his three sisters, a little family of four who love each other devotedly.…
Ned, your old-time-radio guide
Ned · your guide to the archive

Ned here. Forty-odd years I've spent with these old shows — and if you took to Mysterious Traveler, The, I'd wager my last valve you'll love this lot.

Suspense
Both are premier anthology thriller programmes; the Traveler adds an ironic, menacing host framing device
Inner Sanctum Mysteries
Both use a distinctive, darkly theatrical host to introduce varied mystery and horror stories
Whistler, The
Both use an omniscient narrator or host to frame crime and thriller stories with knowing irony and dark wit
Clock, The
Both use a fatalistic framing to introduce stories of crime and inescapable dark fate
CBS Radio Mystery Theater
Both represent the best of the mystery anthology tradition with varied, consistently entertaining stories
Lights Out
Both present dark, often terrifying stories of the macabre with memorable host narration and strong sound design.
X-Minus One
The Mysterious Traveler regularly featured science fiction stories alongside horror, connecting it to the SF anthology tradition.
Weird Circle, The
Both present tales of the uncanny and supernatural with a focus on atmosphere and dread.