Theater of the Mind

The Mysterious Traveler

74 episodes · 1944–1952 · Mutual · Thriller

Play The Mysterious Traveler on Radio Days

Each show opened with the lonely sound of a distant locomotive. Maurice Tarplin was the Mysterious Traveler, on Mutual from December 5, 1943, to September 16, 1952. Robert Arthur and David Kogan created and wrote it, mixing crime and suspense with the occasional horror or science-fiction tale. Of 370 episodes, only about 75 are known to survive. The Traveler always signed off by inviting listeners to join him on another journey into the strange and terrifying.

Sources: The Mysterious Traveler, Wikipedia

Episodes

Tap a year to see its episodes, then a title to play it on Radio Days.

19447 episodes

The House of Death January 30, 1944 · Mutual · 29 min
Two elderly aunts are sure their nephew means to kill them for their money, and they decide to act first.
The Man Who Knew Too Much February 6, 1944 · 29 min
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
The Good Die Young February 27, 1944 · Mutual · 28 min
A young woman hates her new stepmother and means to be rid of her.
Beware of Tomorrow April 9, 1944 · Mutual · 28 min
A super-strong robot and a super-intelligent one run amok.
The Accusing Corpse April 16, 1944 · Mutual · 28 min
A trip to the grave to learn the secrets of the dead, and a corpse that accuses.
The Queen of the Cats July 2, 1944 · Mutual · 29 min
A man marries a mysterious Egyptian woman with a strange devotion to cats.
Death Laughs Last September 24, 1944 · Mutual · 27 min
A man needs $1,500 for a brain surgeon to save his wife, and getting it isn't easy. An ironic ending.

19454 episodes

They Who Sleep January 6, 1945 · Mutual · 28 min
How to move one man's soul into another man's body.
The Case of Charles Foster March 10, 1945 · Mutual · 29 min
Poison for the cocker spaniel, and a homicide that seems justified.
Death Comes for Adolf Hitler March 24, 1945 · Mutual · 29 min
Adolf Hitler trapped in a submarine on the ocean floor, while the dead scratch at the hull to get in.
Murder Goes Free March 31, 1945 · Mutual · 28 min
A man who fails to buy off a gold digger commits the perfect murder, and is sorry he did.

19464 episodes

Death Is the Visitor August 18, 1946 · Mutual · 29 min
A man kills his hateful mother-in-law and puts her in a trunk, but she isn't easy to get rid of.
No One on the Line September 1, 1946 · Mutual · 30 min
A man who suspects his wife is unfaithful kills her lover.
The Symphony of Death September 8, 1946 · Mutual · 29 min
A composer buys three tombstones for his sisters, and soon all three die in accidents.
If You Believe December 29, 1946 · Mutual · 30 min
A blob of man-made protoplasm grows into a monster.

194713 episodes

New Year's Nightmare January 5, 1947 · Mutual · 29 min
A man goes on a year-end bender and wakes up a year later married to a stranger.
No Grave Can Hold Me January 12, 1947 · Mutual · 30 min
A condemned killer leaves burial instructions that include the names and addresses of his judge and jury.
The Woman in Black March 9, 1947 · Mutual · 29 min
A crime reporter tracks a deadly woman named Theda. Death follows wherever she goes.
Dark, Dark Destiny April 13, 1947 · Mutual · 29 min
A man needs $1,500 for a surgeon to save his wife, and the money doesn't come easy. An ironic ending.
Mind Over Murder May 25, 1947 · Mutual · 30 min
Mind control and a living dead man.
Death Is the Judge June 15, 1947 · Mutual · 29 min
A brain surgeon and his wife buy a Tibetan bell that can bring back the dead, but Death always takes someone in exchange.
Murder Without Crime June 29, 1947 · 29 min
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
The Locomotive Ghost July 6, 1947 · Mutual · 29 min
An old hobo sees the Heavenly Express before he's shot, and warns that the Judgment Special will soon stop for two train wreckers.
The Man Insects Hated July 27, 1947 · Mutual · 29 min
A mad professor in the Louisiana swamps invents the perfect insect killer, and the bugs don't like it.
Vacation from Life September 7, 1947 · Mutual · 28 min
A mild-mannered professor finds a live mine washed up on the beach, and decides to make use of it.
Death Is My Caller October 21, 1947 · Mutual · 30 min
A stockbroker's old partner is out after seven years in prison, and wants revenge.
Invitation to Death October 28, 1947 · 27 min
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
Christmas Present December 16, 1947 · 30 min
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.

194814 episodes

The Man in the Black Derby January 20, 1948 · 29 min
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
The Man Who Died Twice February 24, 1948 · Mutual · 29 min
After sixteen years in prison for murder, a man learns his victim is alive, so he kills him.
They Struck It Rich March 16, 1948 · Mutual · 29 min
Two bank robbers end up aboard a ship full of treasure.
Murder in Jazz Time April 20, 1948 · Mutual · 30 min
A man murders a jazz musician in New Orleans, and the music comes back to haunt him.
I Won't Die Alone May 11, 1948 · Mutual · 29 min
Two crooks steal $254,000, only one gets away, and they meet again seventeen years later.
Death Writes a Letter May 18, 1948 · 29 min
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
Murder Is My Business June 8, 1948 · Mutual · 29 min
A radio writer working for the most hated man in radio decides to kill him with the sponsor's new product.
The Queen of the Cats (1948) June 15, 1948 · Mutual · 31 min
A man marries a strange Egyptian woman with an unusual love of cats.
Zero Hour June 22, 1948 · Mutual · 29 min
A rocket ship from another planet seems to have landed in Montana.
The Man Who Vanished July 6, 1948 · Mutual · 29 min
A man discovers the secret of invisibility and promptly commits murder.
The Visiting Corpse August 10, 1948 · 29 min
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
Death Has a Thousand Faces September 21, 1948 · Mutual · 29 min
After two attempts on his life, a meek little man begins to suspect his older wife.
Death Rings Down the Curtain October 5, 1948 · Mutual · 28 min
A couple visits their rich, dying aunt, kills her, and the wife takes her place.
Till Death Do Us Part November 11, 1948 · 25 min
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.

19494 episodes

The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea January 6, 1949 · Mutual · 25 min
Three treasure hunters in the Caribbean find a sunken ship, and a ghost guarding it.
Death Has a Cold Breath March 29, 1949 · Mutual · 25 min
A broken-down actor inherits a fortune, a temptation for his agent, who needs cash.
Out of the Past April 19, 1949 · Mutual · 25 min
A rich woman is being blackmailed.
The Last Survivor October 11, 1949 · Mutual · 29 min
The crew of the first ship back from Mars watches the Earth destroyed.

195011 episodes

Survival of the Fittest January 10, 1950 · Mutual · 29 min
A rich old hermit meets his brother, long thought dead, who stole his wife twenty years ago.
The Man Who Tried to Save Lincoln February 7, 1950 · Mutual · 29 min
A time traveler tries to change the present by stopping the assassination of Lincoln.
The Big Brain March 14, 1950 · Mutual · 29 min
An absent-minded professor builds a one-of-a-kind, fifty-ton computer that can pick the winner of a horse race. There's an airplane hijacking too.
The Man from Singapore April 4, 1950 · Mutual · 30 min
Two schemers kill their former partner in Hawaii and plan the perfect crime.
Operation Tomorrow April 11, 1950 · Mutual · 29 min
A professor sends his assistant a hundred years ahead, to a world at war for ninety-five years.
Death at Fifty Fathoms April 18, 1950 · Mutual · 29 min
Adolf Hitler trapped in a submarine on the ocean floor, while the dead scratch at the hull to get in. A new performance of the 1945 story.
I Died Last Night April 25, 1950 · Mutual · 29 min
A man just dead gets the chance to reach the living. Can he do it?
S.O.S May 2, 1950 · Mutual · 29 min
Three desperadoes plan to rob an ocean liner of uncut diamonds by threatening to blow up its uranium. A surprise ending.
The Lady in Red May 23, 1950 · Mutual · 29 min
A reporter's friend is shot in a bar, and a mysterious woman was seen near the body.
Killer at Large June 6, 1950 · Mutual · 29 min
A man's wife and best friend plot to have him declared insane and steal his plans for color 3-D television.
Killer Come Home July 18, 1950 · Mutual · 29 min
Two escaped convicts in the Kentucky hills stop to see one man's mother.

19519 episodes

Knives of Death March 13, 1951 · Mutual · 30 min
Two little old ladies who love mysteries investigate a locked-room murder.
The Planet Zevius May 1, 1951 · Mutual · 29 min
An experimental spaceship lands on the planet Zevius.
Fire in the Sky August 28, 1951 · Mutual · 29 min
A professor kidnaps a young couple to save them while a comet wreaks havoc on Earth.
The Man Who Knew Everything October 9, 1951 · Mutual · 30 min
A crook forces a swami to teach him mind reading and rises to the top of the underworld.
Behind the Locked Door November 6, 1951 · Mutual · 29 min
A man lost in a pitch-black cave with a strangely affectionate creature he can't see.
Speak of the Devil November 13, 1951 · 29 min
The Archive copy has no date; Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists this title on November 13, 1951, the date used here.
The Most Famous Man in the World November 20, 1951 · Mutual · 30 min
Visitors from the future tell a young couple they'll soon be the most famous people in the world.
Hide Out December 11, 1951 · Mutual · 30 min
An unlikely friendship between a big-time gangster and a kid from Philadelphia.
Christmas Story December 25, 1951 · Mutual · 29 min
A man driving cross-country with a stranger decides to take his place and collect his inheritance when the stranger suddenly dies.

19528 episodes

It's Only Money January 8, 1952 · Mutual · 29 min
Two grifters in Paris meet a count who says he can make real money.
Key Witness January 15, 1952 · Mutual · 31 min
A big-time crook uses a meek clerk with a photographic memory to hide from the tax men.
Change of Address January 22, 1952 · Mutual · 30 min
A henpecked husband buys a house on the Pacific made for murder.
Stranger in the House January 29, 1952 · Mutual · 29 min
A young couple's new house comes with a beautiful ghost, whom the husband loved in a former life.
Strange New World February 19, 1952 · Mutual · 30 min
A shipwreck survivor tells of being stranded on an island and fighting a war against giant crabs.
Murder in 2952 April 29, 1952 · Mutual · 30 min
An interplanetary murder mystery a thousand years in the future.
The Haunted Trailer June 2, 1952 · Mutual · 30 min
A comedy about a feud between a hobo ghost and a railroad-cop ghost.
The Green Plague June 17, 1952 · 27 min
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.