Adventures by Morse

From January 16, 1939 to January 26, 1952, stories from the pen of Carlton E. Morse graced the airwaves: Adventures by Morse.

This series takes its place alongside I Love a Mystery, One Man's Family and other works by prolific author Carlton E. Morse. Produced after I Love a Mystery, this transcribed and syndicated show continued the earlier program's preoccupation with the eerie and the exotic.

Adventures by Morse is a syndicated adventure series produced, written and directed by Carlton E. Morse in the mid-1940s, shortly after NBC canceled his I Love a Mystery series. Morse produced 52 episodes of the program, each 30 minutes long.

Captain Bart Friday and his trusted companion Skip Turner ranged throughout the world in their quest for dangerous challenges to overcome. Undaunted by Nazis, murderers, vampires, deadly serpents, zombies and disciples of the dark arts they made their way through story lines with such titles as "Land of the Living Dead" and "Cobra King Strikes Back." John Dunning notes in On the Air that "there was usually a near-rational explanation" for the events that took place. Seldom did it come, however, until the listener's imagination had been enthralled by instances of the dreadful and even unthinkable.

All told, there were eight serials comprised of a total of fifty-two episodes, each thirty minutes in length. They originally aired in syndication for a year beginning in October, 1944. All have been preserved in high quality sound for those enticed by the show's signature opening to enter a world of "high adventure," "the stealth of intrigue" and "blood and thunder."

The series consisted of eight serials that ran from October 26, 1944 to October 18, 1945. The first serial, "City of the Dead", consisted of ten episodes. The second serial was done in three episodes. The remainder of the series alternated between ten and three 30-minute episodes.

The adventures cover the world as well as the world of adventure. They take place on a South Pacific island, South America, Cambodia, and South Carolina plus other locations. They deal with murder, espionage, Nazi secret bases, kidnappers, voodoo and even snake worshipers. If you're looking for adventure, you'll find it in this old time radio show.

Beyond Midnight

 

Beyond Midnight was a 30-minute radio mystery program and radio horror anthology series that ran from 1968 to 1970 on Springbok Radio. The program "was a replacement series for SF'68. Michael McCabe served as producer, and adapted stories for both series. Unlike its sci-fi predecessor, Beyond Midnight served up stories with a supernatural bent." The show was sponsored by Biotex and futured the tagline "Just Soak, Just Soak, Just Soak in Biotex."

 

This series was produced in South Africa. It was a replacement for another series McCabe produced, called SF68. That series adapted famous Sci-fi stories to radio, and it seems to have been the place where McCabe honed his craft. The subject matter to Beyond Midnight was more horror oriented, including madness, murder, and supernatural sleuths! What survives today doesn't involve a horror host per se, but a few include framing narration (by someone involved in the plot) while others just start up the story with no announcer or lead-in whatsoever. So it's possible regular host or announcer was left off the recordings.

 

There is no much more information about this radio show, though its number of chapters is about 70.

A Canticle for Leibowitz

 

 

A Canticle for Leibowitz is a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel by American writer Walter M. Miller, Jr., first published in 1960. Based on three short stories Miller contributed to The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, it is the only novel published by the author during his lifetime. Considered one of the classics of science fiction, it has never been out of print and has seen over 25 reprints and editions. Appealing to mainstream and genre critics and readers alike, it won the 1961 Hugo Award for best science fiction novel. 

 

A monk novice, Brother Frances discoveries a fall-out shelter 600 years old, containing the tooth and skeleton of the wife of the Blessed Liebowitz, the founder of the order who taught his monks to collect books and  memorize them and or pass them along AKA  Bookleggers.

 

Blessed Liebowitz had been a nuclear engineer who sought refuge in Holy Mother Church. He is later betrayed by a friend and was martyred.

 

Hope is carried by the bookleggar monks but the ending is cyclically chilling but hopeful in the stars.

 

Set in a Roman Catholic monastery in the desert of the southwestern United States after a devastating nuclear war, the story spans thousands of years as civilization rebuilds itself. The monks of the Albertian Order of Leibowitz take up the mission of preserving the surviving remnants of man's scientific knowledge until the day the outside world is again ready for it. 

 
Inspired by the author's participation in the Allied bombing of the monastery at Monte Cassino during World War II, the novel is considered a masterpiece by literary critics. It has been compared favorably with the works of Evelyn Waugh, Graham Greene, and Walker Percy and its themes of religion, recurrence, and church versus state have generated a significant body of scholarly research. 

 

This old time radio show is based on the novel. The book won the Hugo award winner for best science fiction novels of all time.  

 

This may be the best-produced audiobook dramatization of a novel in the English language.