There was a time when radio drama was supposed to be dead.
Television had won the living room. The great network anthologies were disappearing. Suspense, Escape, Inner Sanctum and the other giants belonged to another age.
Then, on January 6, 1974, a door creaked open.
E. G. Marshall spoke.
And CBS Radio Mystery Theater began.
Created by Himan Brown, the series would eventually produce 1,399 broadcasts—murder mysteries, ghost stories, Gothic tales, science fiction, psychological thrillers and literary adaptations.
More than half a century later, people are still listening.
At Chesterton Radio, hundreds of CBS Radio Mystery Theater programs have found a new audience. Some have been heard a few thousand times. Others tens of thousands.
One has passed 100,000.
So we went into our listening numbers and asked a simple question:
Which CBS Radio Mystery Theater stories have Chesterton Radio listeners enjoyed the most?
Here are the Top 30.
The figures below are based on Chesterton Radio YouTube views when this article was prepared. They will naturally continue to change. Multi-episode compilation videos have been excluded so that individual stories can be compared fairly.
But First: We’re Going Back to the Beginning
There’s another reason we’re publishing this list now.
Chesterton Radio has begun The Mystery Theater Companion, our journey through CBS Radio Mystery Theater in original broadcast order.
We’re not simply replaying the programs.
We’re going back into them—the actors, writers, atmosphere, ideas, history and wonderfully peculiar storytelling that allowed radio to construct an entire world between a pair of ears.
So far we’ve opened the door six times:
#1 — The Old Ones Are Hard to Kill
#2 — The Return of the Moresbys
#3 — The Bullet
#4 — Lost Dog
#5 — No Hiding Place
#6 — Honeymoon with Death
And now we’ve reached Episode #7.
That’s where this gets interesting.
Because Episode #7 turns out to be one of the most-listened-to CBS Radio Mystery Theater stories in the entire Chesterton Radio archive.
We’ll get to it very shortly.
1. The Bride That Wasn’t
107,353 views
CBS Radio Mystery Theater #155
Originally broadcast October 1, 1974
A young woman travels to the home of her fiancé to meet him and his mother.
There is only one problem.
Nobody recognizes her.
Not even the man she says asked her to marry him.
It’s a wonderfully simple Mystery Theater premise, and apparently an irresistible one.
The Bride That Wasn’t isn’t merely the most-listened-to individual CBSRMT story in the Chesterton Radio archive.
It’s in a league of its own.
More than 107,000 views.
Listen to The Bride That Wasn’t on Chesterton Radio
Mystery Theater Companion: Our chronological journey will eventually bring us to Episode #155.
2. Les Misérables
65,846 views
CBSRMT #1275–1279
Originally broadcast January 11–15, 1982
This one requires an asterisk.
CBS Radio Mystery Theater tackled Victor Hugo’s enormous novel as a five-part adaptation, so we’re keeping the complete presentation together here as Chesterton Radio listeners encountered it.
Jean Valjean. Javert. Justice. Mercy. Sacrifice. Redemption.
It also reminds us that Mystery Theater was capable of reaching considerably farther than ghosts and murders.
Listen to Les Misérables on Chesterton Radio
3. The Deadly Pearls
45,768 views
CBSRMT #194
Originally broadcast January 1, 1975
Two radioactive pearls.
A detective.
And murder.
That’s the sort of premise CBS Radio Mystery Theater could turn into an hour of wonderfully improbable radio.
And nearly 46,000 Chesterton Radio views suggest that listeners are still willing to go along for the ride.
4. I Warn You Three Times
44,145 views
CBSRMT #7
Originally broadcast January 12, 1974
And here it is.
The coincidence that makes this entire list especially timely.
A man disappears during a snowstorm after leaving his automobile. What follows leads into increasingly strange territory involving attraction, warnings and perhaps something supernatural.
But what matters to us right now is that little number beside the title:
Episode #7.
This was only the seventh CBS Radio Mystery Theater broadcast.
And more than fifty years later, it has become the fourth most-listened-to individual CBSRMT story in the Chesterton Radio archive.
Which means something else.
This is our next Mystery Theater Companion.
We’ve completed Episodes #1 through #6.
The door now opens on:
I WARN YOU THREE TIMES
The chronological journey and the Chesterton Radio popularity list have suddenly collided.
And we couldn’t have planned it better.
5. What Happened to Mrs. Forbush?
34,252 views
CBSRMT #148
Originally broadcast September 16, 1974
A house by the sea.
A captain’s wife.
And a ghost that refuses to remain comfortably in the past.
Sometimes the title alone is enough to make you want to open the door.
6. A Coffin for the Devil
28,803 views
CBSRMT #213
Originally broadcast January 27, 1975
An ancient letter written by an ancestor leads a man to gather a group of specialists.
What follows becomes considerably darker.
Even the title sounds like Mystery Theater after midnight.
7. The Hands of Mrs. Mallory
27,887 views
CBSRMT #135
Originally broadcast August 19, 1974
After her husband’s death, Mrs. Mallory discovers that she can no longer control her own hands.
CBSRMT was particularly good at taking one impossible idea and asking the listener to accept it completely for the next hour.
This is one of those ideas.
8. The Doll
27,347 views
CBSRMT #159
Originally broadcast October 10, 1974
A professor wants a woman to love him.
There is also a voodoo doll.
Sometimes you really don’t need anything more complicated than that.
9. The Recluse
22,259 views
CBSRMT #598
Originally broadcast February 10, 1977
Following his grandmother’s death, a man begins discovering the truth about his late father—and a missing fortune.
This is also our first Top Ten selection from considerably later in the Mystery Theater run.
The audience wasn’t merely listening to the earliest episodes.
They were exploring.
10. The Deadliest Favor
19,451 views
CBSRMT #139
Originally broadcast August 26, 1974
A fugitive seeks shelter in the home of a friend.
And a favor becomes something considerably more dangerous.
11. Them!
19,345 views
CBSRMT #230
Originally broadcast February 27, 1975
A vigilante lawyer locks a group of murder suspects inside his mansion.
But there’s a rather important question:
Are they all guilty?
Listen to Them! on Chesterton Radio
12. And Death Makes Even Steven
19,073 views
CBSRMT #116
Originally broadcast July 9, 1974
A man believes his twin brother robbed him of the wealth that should have been his.
His proposed solution?
Murder.
13. A Holiday Visit
18,547 views
CBSRMT #1140
Originally broadcast December 25, 1980
A couple is involved in an accident while traveling to her parents’ home for Christmas.
They continue their journey on foot through the snow.
And this being Mystery Theater, we can safely assume it will not become a Hallmark movie.
14. Someday I’ll Find You
18,342 views
CBSRMT #283
Originally broadcast May 30, 1975
A woman’s husband is presumed dead after a cave-in.
Then she discovers something extraordinary:
A painting.
Apparently made by him.
Recently.
15. The Fatal Connection
18,218 views
CBSRMT #184
Originally broadcast December 9, 1974
Another reminder that some of Mystery Theater’s most effective stories didn’t require monsters or ghosts.
Human beings were perfectly capable of providing the danger themselves.
16. Can You Trust Your Husband?
17,874 views
CBSRMT #295
Originally broadcast June 20, 1975
A wife sets out on her own to disprove the charges made against her husband.
But investigation has an inconvenient habit of uncovering things.
Listen to Can You Trust Your Husband? on Chesterton Radio
17. The Stuff of Dreams
16,805 views
CBSRMT #236
Originally broadcast March 10, 1975
A mysterious woman hires another woman to tell her stories.
And the boundary between storytelling and reality begins to become considerably less secure.
For a radio series built entirely inside the imagination, it’s an especially appropriate premise.
18. The Aliens
16,761 views
CBSRMT #448
Originally broadcast March 15, 1976
Two secret agents from opposing nations discover an extraordinary psychic connection.
Mystery Theater heads into science-fiction territory—and asks what such a connection might mean for the future of mankind.
19. A Tiny Drop of Poison
16,702 views
CBSRMT #89
Originally broadcast May 9, 1974
A successful politician has a dark past he’d prefer everyone to forget.
The past disagrees.
Sometimes all it takes is a tiny drop.
20. The Pharaoh’s Curse
15,195 views
CBSRMT #67
Originally broadcast April 2, 1974
An Egyptian tomb.
Ancient treasure.
An archaeologist.
And a curse.
Radio really doesn’t require much more than that.
Turn down the lights.
21. Through the Looking Glass
15,033 views
CBSRMT #258
Originally broadcast April 17, 1975
A neighbor invents a solar-energy machine that could change the world.
But inventions that can change the world have a habit of attracting people who would like to control them.
22. The Dark Closet
13,791 views
CBSRMT #237
Originally broadcast March 12, 1975
A claustrophobic young woman finds herself locked away as a suspect in a robbery.
For radio, confinement can be especially effective.
The walls are wherever your imagination puts them.
23. The Eye of Death
13,370 views
CBSRMT #235
Originally broadcast March 7, 1975
A photographer believes his stepfather murdered his mother.
Now he has to prove it.
24. Trapped
13,258 views
CBSRMT #158
Originally broadcast October 9, 1974
An invalid woman begins to suspect that her husband and caregiver are plotting to kill her.
Is she helpless?
Paranoid?
Or absolutely right?
Listen to Trapped on Chesterton Radio
25. The Queen of Darkness
12,484 views
CBSRMT #289
Originally broadcast June 10, 1975
An actress is hired to impersonate the queen of a remote country.
It sounds like an adventure.
Until the performance becomes considerably more real than she expected.
26. Marry for Murder
12,046 views
CBSRMT #395
Originally broadcast December 12, 1975
Two sisters hire a private detective to investigate the same man.
But they have very different reasons for wanting to know the truth.
27. Terror on the Heath
12,003 views
CBSRMT #170
Originally broadcast November 6, 1974
A man becomes convinced that he is the reincarnation of a serial killer hanged for murder in the nineteenth century.
The question isn’t simply whether he is right.
It’s what happens if he begins behaving as though he is.
28. Yesterday’s Murder
11,277 views
CBSRMT #111
Originally broadcast June 27, 1974
A woman is given an extraordinary opportunity:
Go back in time and put her life in order.
It stars the formidable Mercedes McCambridge—a voice seemingly designed for radio drama.
But changing yesterday has consequences.
Especially when yesterday contains a murder.
29. Afraid to Live, Afraid to Die
11,246 views
CBSRMT #261
Originally broadcast April 23, 1975
Ellen Muir travels to Malvern Grange to care for an elderly woman.
It’s the sort of journey that sounds perfectly ordinary.
At least at the beginning.
30. A Small Question of Terror
11,178 views
CBSRMT #222
Originally broadcast February 13, 1975
In a country ruled by “The Protector,” a woman, her boyfriend and her mother find themselves persecuted because of something seemingly insignificant:
A joke.
The supernatural isn’t necessary when the state itself can become the monster.
What Did You Make of the List?
Perhaps the most interesting thing about these thirty programs is what isn’t here.
This isn’t simply a list of the first thirty episodes.
It isn’t a list of famous actors.
It isn’t even particularly concentrated in one kind of story.
There are ghosts and murders, science fiction and psychological suspense, curses and conspiracies, domestic mysteries and literary adaptations.
And the broadcasts stretch from the earliest months of 1974 to A Holiday Visit in 1980 and the five-part Les Misérables in 1982.
Chesterton Radio listeners have wandered through the catalogue.
They’ve discovered things.
And that’s encouraging.
Because radio drama asks something from us that television doesn’t.
It leaves something out.
The pictures.
The house by the sea.
The face at the window.
The Egyptian tomb.
The dark closet.
The lonely road through the snow.
The woman nobody recognizes.
The creaking door.
All of them have to be constructed somewhere else.
In your imagination.
That’s the old promise of the theater of the mind.
And it still works.
Now We’re Opening the Door Again
That’s why we created The Mystery Theater Companion.
We’re starting on January 6, 1974 and moving through CBS Radio Mystery Theater in original broadcast order.
One episode at a time.
One story at a time.
One conversation at a time.
We’ve already made it through the first six.
Episode #1 — The Old Ones Are Hard to Kill
Agnes Moorehead helps relaunch network radio drama with a story by Henry Slesar.
Listen to The Mystery Theater Companion #1
Episode #2 — The Return of the Moresbys
Only one night later, Mystery Theater moves decisively into the supernatural.
Listen to The Mystery Theater Companion #2
Episode #3 — The Bullet
War, memory, guilt—and an old friend who shouldn’t be there.
Listen to The Mystery Theater Companion #3
Episode #4 — Lost Dog
Fear enters the home in the form of something ordinarily associated with loyalty and companionship.
Episode #5 — No Hiding Place
A man’s comfortable future is threatened by something buried in his past.
Episode #6 — Honeymoon with Death
A woman insists that her missing husband was real.
Everyone around her has reason to doubt her.
And now we’ve arrived at a particularly interesting night.
NEXT: I Warn You Three Times
CBS Radio Mystery Theater #7
Originally broadcast January 12, 1974
Our Companion series has reached Episode #7.
And completely independently, Chesterton Radio listeners have already made Episode #7 the:
FOURTH MOST-LISTENED-TO CBS RADIO MYSTERY THEATER STORY IN OUR ARCHIVE.
44,145 views.
That makes I Warn You Three Times the perfect place to continue our journey.
Listen to the original drama.
Then come back to The Mystery Theater Companion, where we’ll explore the story, performances, production, atmosphere and the strange world behind that famous creaking door.
Keep the Theater of the Mind Alive
Chesterton Radio is more than an archive.
We love preserving and rediscovering great radio from the past.
But we’re also interested in what comes next.
That’s why we’re creating programs such as The Mystery Theater Companion, The Saturday Night Theatre Companion, our deep dives into literature and radio history—and increasingly, our own stories and original dramas.
Because perhaps the best tribute we can pay to the old theater of the mind isn’t simply to remember it.
It’s to keep making it.
If you enjoy Chesterton Radio, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Your support helps keep the little station on the air and helps us create more original programs.
We’re also looking for sponsors who would like to support The Mystery Theater Companion, our original radio dramas and the wider Chesterton Radio world.
And if you’ve been listening to CBS Radio Mystery Theater with us:
What would your Top 5 be?
Tell us in the comments.
There are 1,399 doors to open.
We’ve only just begun.