August 29, 2014
Happy Birthday Bob Weinberg!
An often-overlooked aspect of old time radio, overshadowed frequently by the stories told on the shows and the stars that performed them, was the fact that a crucial part of the medium was sound. Columbia Workshop, Volume 2 from Radio Archives features a program that not only paid attention to sound, but advanced how it was used on other programs then and now.
Developed in 1936, Columbia Workshop was truly an experiment in radio. Developed by engineer turned director Irving Reis, the purpose of the program was to take advantage of all that network radio, still only ten years old, had to offer. Believing that ‘production, not the play, was the thing’ according to a story in Time in July 1939, Reis worked to make sure that Columbia Workshop was rich with music, sound, and innovative techniques setting it apart from other programs.
Reis produced some cutting edge episodes, including a noise filled tour down Broadway light on story, but heavy with sounds of the street that told its tale well. The crew also tried their hand at expanding what could be done on air, such as using nine actors to perform 34 different characters in 30 minutes consisting of 22 individual scenes. These and multiple other innovations mark Columbia Workshop as a classic radio program, a true vehicle of experimentation that advanced the medium in multiple ways.
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"Here's adventure! Here's romance! Here's the famous Robin Hood of the Old West..."
The Cisco Kid made his radio debut over the New York-based Mutual Network. By borrowing the Lone Ranger formula of 'everybody thinks they're outlaws but they're really the good guys', The Cisco Kid became a hit over New York's WOR and, in 1946, moved West - literally - where it was heard regionally three times a week on the Mutual-Don Lee Network. Beck and Sorin were replaced by the two men who remain best remembered for the Cisco/Pancho roles: Jack Mather and Harry Lang. A year later, Mather and Lang were working for the Cincinnati, Ohio-based Frederic W. Ziv Company, where they remained gainfully employed, via pre-recorded syndication, well into the 1950s.
In early 1953, actor Harry Lang fell ill, and his character was written out of the show (Pancho, listeners were told, had come down with measles, mumps and chicken pox) to be replaced by a glittering array of cousins and uncles from Pancho's apparently massive family tree. One of these individuals was cousin Porfirio, played by famed voice man and comic actor Mel Blanc. Lang eventually returned to the show in an episode appropriately called "Pancho's Return" but, sadly, his tenure was brief - the actor succumbed to a heart attack in August 1953. Blanc was then pressed into service to play the part of Cisco's sidekick until the series came to an end in 1956.
Since the 1947-1956 syndicated ZIV series was pre-recorded and widely distributed, a great many of Cisco and Pancho's adventures have been in the hands of collectors for years -- with the majority of the available programs dating from earlier entries in the series. Recently, however, a large collection of beautiful discs was discovered in Des Moines, Iowa — uncirculated and largely unplayed 16" vinyl transcription recordings, carefully preserved by a local advertising agency. These programs have, for the most part, been unheard since the 1950s and most have never been available to collectors. In addition to their rarity, a unique feature of these restored broadcasts is the reintegration of regional commercials, voiced by well-known announcers Marvin Miller and Harry Von Zell. The bakers of Butter-nut Bread had sponsored the series on a number of Midwestern radio stations and the program recordings were accompanied by separate discs containing literally hundreds of episode-specific commercials. As presented in this set, the commercials have been edited back into the programs — allowing you to hear them just as they originally were aired in the early 1950s. 10 hours. Regular Price $29.98 - Specially priced until September 11 for $14.99 Audio CDs / $7.49 Download
The career of Doc Savage began in the Depression era of the early 1930s, continued on through World War II, and concluded at the dawn of the Cold War.
Most fans of the classic pulp series naturally prefer the high adventure tales of the Great Depression, while Doc’s World War II adventures are also very compelling. Comparatively few Doc Savage novels took place in that postwar period in which the Iron Curtain first fell and the Man of Bronze turned his attention to the new enemy––Soviet Russia and its Communist satellites.
Probably the greatest Cold War challenge Doc faced took place in The Red Spider, the novel that was suppressed in 1948 and not published until 1979. In that tense tale, Doc infiltrated Moscow in order to secure one of the Cold War's greatest secrets. His brilliant success made him a permanent enemy of Russia.
Flight into Fear is a followup to The Red Spider. Marked for death by the Kremlin, Doc Savage is forced to go underground and take on a new identity as Banner, a.k.a. The Face, in order to penetrate the desolate Russian Arctic and advance the West’s earliest efforts at nuclear deterrence. His mission: establish the super-secret Project Moonwinx on Soviet soil.
At the same time, the Kremlin has sent a mysterious female assassin known only as The Red Widow to liquidate America’s greatest defender once and for all. Her motivation: pure revenge.
These sizzling ingredients make this one of the most compelling novels of Doc Savage’s Cold War career. Set in 1948, Flight Into Fear is based on a Lester Dent manuscript, and revised by Will Murray as an example of the type of challenges Doc Savage would have pursued had his magazine not been canceled in 1949.
Michael McConnohie gives a very suspenseful reading of this riveting tale torn from the pages of a historic time gone by. 8 hours $31.98 Audio CDs / $15.99 Download
Robert Weinberg Presents
Read by Melodee M. Spevack
Sunglasses After Dark, by award-winning author Nancy A. Collins, tells the story of Sonja Blue, a punk female vampire searching for the man who made her one of the undead, and her battle to overcome her very real inner demon in time to rescue an innocent man from the clutches of an unholy faith healer.
While in London, American heiress Denise Thorne disappears from a nightclub, never to be seen again. On that very same night Sonja Blue, a tough-as-nails vampire hunter-slayer, conceived in terror and born of blood, rises from the city's gutters. Saved by modern medicine before she completed her transformation into one of the undead, she becomes a living vampire, determined to fight for what remains of her humanity.
Sonja Blue travels the globe, hunting down and disposing of the shadowy creatures that prey on the innocent while searching for the vampire who created her. But as dangerous as hunting vampires may be, it's nothing compared to the threat posed by The Other, the demonic personality Sonja is locked in constant battle with for control of their shared body.
Acknowledged as one of the first Urban Fantasy novels, Sunglasses After Dark has garnered wide-spread critical praise and won the Horror Writers Association's coveted Bram Stoker Award, as well as the British Fantasy Society's Icarus Award.
Out of print for several years, the Radio Archives edition of Sunglasses After Dark uses the new edition of this novel, which has been extensively revised and edited by the author. It is considered to be the preferred text. 9 hours $35.98 Audio CDs / $17.99 Download
Nancy A. Collins is the author of over 25 novels and short story collections. Her published works include the award-winning Sonja Blue series, Knuckles And Tales, and Lynch: A Gothik Western. She has also worked in the comics industry for two decades, most notably writing for Swamp Thing. She is a recipient of the Horror Writers Association’s Bram Stoker Award and the British Fantasy Society’s Icarus Award, as well as having been nominated for the Eisner Award, the John Campbell Memorial Award, the Tiptree Award, and the World Fantasy Award. Her most recent novel is Magic And Loss, the third book in the well-received Golgotham series from Penguin/Roc, and she is currently scripting Vampirella for Dynamite Comics. A native of Arkansas, Ms. Collins currently makes her home in Virginia with her Boston terrier Chopper.
Melodee M. Spevack is a Brooklyn-raised, British-trained actress whose roots in classical theatre have expanded to lead her down some unexpected paths. One of her first roles in Los Angeles was on stage in The Adventures of Conan at Universal as the warrior "Red Sonja" and she was part of the original pro cheerleading squad for the NY Cosmos, neither of which were anticipated in her Shakespearean training. As an on-camera performer her credits include The Division, Princess Diaries 2, Invasion, What Should You Do?, The Mask, Spellbinder, Freddy's Nightmares, The Man Show, Dynasty, Silk Stalkings, The Jeffersons and NBC’s The Secret World of Dreams. She trained actors for the popular series Hercules in both swordwork and archery as well as supplying the voices for many of their Amazons and banshees.
Melodee's voice work has led her from anime (Fist of the North Star, Digimon, .Hack, Cowboy Bebop, Monster and Robotech among others) to games World of Warcraft, Two Star Trek Titles, Lost Odyssey, Mech Warrior, etc.) to films and TV. She voice doubled Sigourney Weaver in Alien: Resurrection, Laura Dern in We Don't Live Here Anymore, had a few of her demons exorcised in The Rite and has been heard in Starship Troopers, Hercules / Xena, Star Trek: Enterprise, John Carpenter’s Vampires and the Mortal Kombat series.
Melodee has always been a fan of the fantasy genre and is delighted that her journey has led her from Red Sonja to Sonja Blue.
Today is Bob Weinberg's Birthday!
When I first met Bob Weinberg 40 years ago at a New York comic book convention, he was the modern King of the Pulps. Bob was the only one publishing a viable fanzine in the field, which he called Pulp, as well as producing the Pulp Classics line of reprints. He was also a bookseller, the go-to guy if you wanted vintage books and magazines, pulp reprints or modern books in that vein.
In the four decades that followed, Bob’s career simply grew and grew. He became an award-winning novelist and editor, and one of the top collectors of fantasy art in the nation, if not the world.
So last year when Tom Brown and I were talking about expansion plans for Radio Archives, we turned to Bob, who was still the go-to guy–-only there was a lot more expertise to go to! Thus was born the Robert Weinberg Presents line of horror audiobooks.
Back in the ’70s, Bob published some of the first articles I ever wrote, so it was a pleasure to invite him into the growing Radio Archives family. We first worked together forty years ago and now all this time later, we’re working together once again. It feels like fate.
Bob turned 68 today. Tom Brown and I flew out to Chicago to help him celebrate. We had such a wonderful time that we decided to make it an annual event. So here's to Bob Weinberg, and many more years of productive collaboration.
Will Murray
Will Murray and Tom Brown helping Bob celebrate his birthday. Photos courtesy of Phyllis Weinberg.
Read by James C. Lewis
Most fans of Western fiction know Paul S. Powers as one of the foundation authors of the famous pulp magazine of the 1930s and 1940s, Wild West Weekly, in which his popular characters Sonny Tabor, Kid Wolf, Freckles Malone, and Johnny Forty-five appeared for fifteen years.
Lesser known is the career Powers had after Wild West Weekly stopped publication in 1943. Powers continued to write for the best of the western fiction magazines throughout the 1940s. Now, here for the first time, are twelve Paul Powers stories written in the years after his Wild West Weekly career. Six of these were published in the leading western pulp magazines of the period. The other six, never published before, were discovered by Powers’ granddaughter Laurie in 2009.
Two of the published stories, “A Pard for Navajo Jack,” and “Judgment Day on Whisky Trail,” appeared in Thrilling Western in 1947 and 1948. “Hangnoose for a Prodigal” appeared in Thrilling Ranch Stories in March 1948. “Buzzards Hate Bullets” was published in Exciting Western in November 1947. The two other stories, “Boothill is My Destination,” that appeared in Texas Rangers in December 1947, and “Death is Where You Find It” in Rio Kid Western in August 1949, were imprints of Better Publications.
All of the stories in this collection reflect a new style that Powers had to adopt in the early 1940s. His earlier Wild West Weekly style was geared towards its adolescent audience and full of the “blood and thunder” that was indicative of the pulp westerns during that period. Writing stories for Wild West Weekly was a highly lucrative trade for my grandfather, but he had to change course and relearn his craft when the old style was no longer popular. No longer were heroes to be the semi-super human cowboys who survived hundreds of bullet wounds and shoot targets with jaw dropping speed and accuracy. They were now to be more mature and sometimes with a darker look on life. Heroes that for years were clean-cut, highly moral and almost puritan in their habits were replaced by lead characters who drank, smoked, and swore.
But Powers rose to the task and continued to have his stories published through the 1940s and into the early 1950s. These twelve stories are representative of that era; they make for an outstanding collection of frontier stories that represent the glory years of the Western short story and the best of Powers’ prolific pulp career. Read by James C. Lewis. 8 hours $31.98 Audio CDs / $15.99 Download
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New Will Murray's Pulp Classics eBooks
The best of timeless Pulp now available as cutting edge eBooks! Will Murray's Pulp Classics brings the greatest heroes, awesome action, and two fisted thrills to your eReader! Presenting Pulp Icons such as the Spider and G-8 and His Battle Aces as well as wonderfully obscure characters like the Octopus and Captain Satan. Will Murray's Pulp Classics brings you the best of yesterday's Pulp today!
The Spider #99 December 1941 The Crime Laboratory
Who was conducting the school which flooded New York City with graduates super-trained in plundering and murder?... By a brilliant device — and at the risk of destroying himself and his allies — Dick Wentworth, in the sinister robes of the Spider, battled his way into a Crime Corporation stronghold... only to have his keen mind blacked out at the most crucial moment! A breathless Spider anti-crime saga! Another epic exploit of America’s best-loved pulp-fiction character of the 1930s and 1940s: The Spider — Master of Men! Richard Wentworth — the dread Spider, nemesis of the Underworld, lone wolf anti-crime crusader who always fights in that grim no-man’s land between Law and lawless — returns in vintage pulp tales of the Spider, reissued for today’s readers in electronic format.. $2.99.
Who was conducting the school which flooded New York City with graduates super-trained in plundering and murder?... By a brilliant device — and at the risk of destroying himself and his allies — Dick Wentworth, in the sinister robes of the Spider, battled his way into a Crime Corporation stronghold... only to have his keen mind blacked out at the most crucial moment! A breathless Spider anti-crime saga! Another epic exploit of America’s best-loved pulp-fiction character of the 1930s and 1940s: The Spider — Master of Men! Richard Wentworth — the dread Spider, nemesis of the Underworld, lone wolf anti-crime crusader who always fights in that grim no-man’s land between Law and lawless — returns in vintage pulp tales of the Spider, reissued for today’s readers in electronic format.. $2.99.
Dime Mystery Magazine George Alden Edson and R Sprague Hall
In 1934 a new type of magazine was born. Known by various names — the shudder pulps, mystery-terror magazines, horror-terror magazines — weird menace is the sub-genre term that has survived today. Dime Mystery Magazine was one of the most popular. It came from Popular Publications, whose publisher Harry Steeger was inspired by the Grand Guignol theater of Paris. This breed of pulp story survived less than ten years, but in that time, they became infamous, even to this day. This ebook contains a collection of stories from the pages of Dime Mystery Magazine, all written by George Alden Edson and R Sprague Hall, reissued for today’s readers in electronic format. $2.99.
In 1934 a new type of magazine was born. Known by various names — the shudder pulps, mystery-terror magazines, horror-terror magazines — weird menace is the sub-genre term that has survived today. Dime Mystery Magazine was one of the most popular. It came from Popular Publications, whose publisher Harry Steeger was inspired by the Grand Guignol theater of Paris. This breed of pulp story survived less than ten years, but in that time, they became infamous, even to this day. This ebook contains a collection of stories from the pages of Dime Mystery Magazine, all written by George Alden Edson and R Sprague Hall, reissued for today’s readers in electronic format. $2.99.
Terror Tales by Frederick C. Davis
In 1934 a new type of magazine was born. Known by various names — the shudder pulps, mystery-terror magazines, horror-terror magazines — weird menace is the sub-genre term that has survived today. Terror Tales was one of the most popular. It came from Popular Publications, whose publisher Harry Steeger was inspired by the Grand Guignol theater of Paris. This breed of pulp story survived less than ten years, but in that time, they became infamous, even to this day. This ebook contains a collection of stories from the pages of Terror Tales, all written by Frederick C. Davis, reissued for today’s readers in electronic format. $2.99.
In 1934 a new type of magazine was born. Known by various names — the shudder pulps, mystery-terror magazines, horror-terror magazines — weird menace is the sub-genre term that has survived today. Terror Tales was one of the most popular. It came from Popular Publications, whose publisher Harry Steeger was inspired by the Grand Guignol theater of Paris. This breed of pulp story survived less than ten years, but in that time, they became infamous, even to this day. This ebook contains a collection of stories from the pages of Terror Tales, all written by Frederick C. Davis, reissued for today’s readers in electronic format. $2.99.
G-8 and His Battle Aces #109 April 1944 Wings of the Death Monster
Under the earth and over the skies it came, a nightmare killer spawned from the brain of Hunland’s most dreaded Murder Master. And into a valley of flaming horror flew G-8, in a last desperate quest to fight Germany’s secret weapon — the Wings of the Death Monster! G-8 and his Battle Aces rode the nostalgia boom ten years after World War I ended. These high-flying exploits were tall tales of a World War that might have been, featuring monster bats, German zombies, wolf-men, harpies, Martians, and even tentacled floating monsters. Most of these monstrosities were the work of Germany’s seemingly endless supply of mad scientists, chief of whom was G-8’s recurring Nemesis, Herr Doktor Krueger. G-8 battled Germany’s Halloween shock troops for over a decade, not ceasing until the magazine folded in the middle of World War II. G-8 and his Battle Aces return in vintage pulp tales, reissued for today’s readers in electronic format. $2.99.
Under the earth and over the skies it came, a nightmare killer spawned from the brain of Hunland’s most dreaded Murder Master. And into a valley of flaming horror flew G-8, in a last desperate quest to fight Germany’s secret weapon — the Wings of the Death Monster! G-8 and his Battle Aces rode the nostalgia boom ten years after World War I ended. These high-flying exploits were tall tales of a World War that might have been, featuring monster bats, German zombies, wolf-men, harpies, Martians, and even tentacled floating monsters. Most of these monstrosities were the work of Germany’s seemingly endless supply of mad scientists, chief of whom was G-8’s recurring Nemesis, Herr Doktor Krueger. G-8 battled Germany’s Halloween shock troops for over a decade, not ceasing until the magazine folded in the middle of World War II. G-8 and his Battle Aces return in vintage pulp tales, reissued for today’s readers in electronic format. $2.99.
99 cent eBook Singles
Each 99 cent eBook Single contains a single short story, one of the many tales selected from the pages of Dime Mystery and Terror Tales. These short stories are not included in any of our other eBooks.
The little man’s eyes seemed to say, “Don’t forget me.” And how could Marty — with the little man’s knife buried in his chest? In 1934 a new type of magazine was born. Known by various names — the shudder pulps, mystery-terror magazines, horror-terror magazines — weird menace is the sub-genre term that has survived today. Dime Mystery Magazine was one of the most popular. It came from Popular Publications, whose publisher Harry Steeger was inspired by the Grand Guignol theater of Paris. This breed of pulp story survived less than ten years, but in that time, they became infamous, even to this day. This ebook contains a collection of stories from the pages of Dime Mystery Magazine, reissued for today’s readers in electronic format. $0.99.
Rex Bruce discovered Melvale Sanitorium was a refuge for twisted, tortured minds — and for strange murderers who seemed to thrive in a temperature that ran from 212? down to where a body — living or dead — could freeze in the wink of an eye! In 1934 a new type of magazine was born. Known by various names — the shudder pulps, mystery-terror magazines, horror-terror magazines — weird menace is the sub-genre term that has survived today. Dime Mystery Magazine was one of the most popular. It came from Popular Publications, whose publisher Harry Steeger was inspired by the Grand Guignol theater of Paris. This breed of pulp story survived less than ten years, but in that time, they became infamous, even to this day. This ebook contains a collection of stories from the pages of Dime Mystery Magazine, reissued for today’s readers in electronic format.$0.99.
All eBooks produced by Radio Archives are available in ePub, Mobi, and PDF formats for the ultimate in compatibility. When you upgrade to a new eReader, you can transfer your eBooks to your new device without the need to purchase anything new.
The pulp era's greatest superhero returns in two action-packed novels by Alan Hathway and Lester Dent writing as "Kenneth Robeson." First, super-powered zombies go on a crime spree, including a graduate from Doc's Crime College! Can Doc Savage destroy "The Mindless Monsters" and prove that he's not their hidden leader? Then, why is a young engineer terrorized by a tiny white bird? The Man of Bronze faces one of his greatest challenges as he strives to defeat "The Mental Monster." This instant collector's item showcases the classic pulp covers by Emery Clarke, the original interior illustrations by Paul Orban and historical commentary by Will Murray, author of fourteen Doc Savage novels. Double Novel Reprint $14.95
by Will Murray and Ryerson Johnson, writing as Kenneth Robeson, cover illustration by Joe DeVito
All over the Midwest, cars and trucks were crashing—stopped in their tracks by an inexplicable force! Had some unseen power targeted America’s automotive industry—or was something more sinister at stake?
Summoned to solve the mystery, Doc Savage and his intrepid men follow a trail of terror that winds through the continental United States like a constricting serpent of senseless destruction.
Summoned to solve the mystery, Doc Savage and his intrepid men follow a trail of terror that winds through the continental United States like a constricting serpent of senseless destruction.
From the nation’s car capital to the North Pole, the Man of Bronze races to stave off a strangely familiar menace only to confront a completely unexpected foe—the enigmatic Baron in Black! Softcover $24.95
Sanctum Books commemorates the 100th birthday of acclaimed science fiction/fantasy illustrator Edd Cartier in its biggest volume ever, with tales by each of The Shadow's three Maxwell Grants! First, the Knight of Darkness follows an old sea captain's "Treasure Trail" on a deadly path to uncover the sunken wealth from a Spanish galleon in a thriller by Walter B. Gibson! Then, "The Crimson Phoenix" entangles The Shadow in a poisonous net of international intrigue in a Theodore Tinsley novel that foreshadowed Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Finally, Lamont Cranston investigates a grisly "Model Murder" in a tale by Bruce Elliott. BONUS: a rare Edd Cartier classic from the Golden Age of Comics! This deluxe pulp reprint showcases the original color pulp covers by George Rozen with historical commentary by Dean Cartier, Will Murray and Phil Foglio. Double Novel Reprint $14.95
Special Robert Bloch Issue! The special 300th issue of Weird Tales honors grandmaster Robert Bloch with a special issue dedicated to him. Includes a previously unpublished collaboration between Bloch and Henry Kuttner, plus contributions from Ray Bradbury, Lawrence Watt-Evans. All artwork is by Featured Artist Gahan Wilson. 132 pages. After the original magazine operation folded in 1954, there were several brief attempts to revive it — reprint anthologies in the ’60s, four new magazine issues in the ’70s, four original paperbacks in the early ’80s — before the resurrection finally achieved full-fledged afterlife under editor-publishers George H. Scithers, Darrell Schweitzer and John Gregory Betancourt. Beginning in 1988, Weird Tales has been published more or less continuously. These 25 year old magazines are Brand new and have never been read. Radio Archives is proud to have a large inventory so that everyone can have a copy of this great magazine. $9.95
Comments From Our Customers!
Mary Magaldo writes:
Please keep up the fine work that you are doing. We pulp fans are grateful for all your endeavors. The audio books are a real blessing and are deeply appreciated.
Tom Kokenge writes:
I started listening to G-8's Fangs of the Serpent. Nick Santa Maria is an amaz ing reader with the set darn near sounding like a radio drama what with all of his voices. Are all of these audio books done in a single reading or are there more than one reading to handle the different character voices. Thank you so much for your fantastic customer service.
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