The first anthology of NEW fiction based on the beloved OTR characters and shows we know and love.
1. Our Miss Brooks - "One Principal Too Many, One Principal Too Meanie" by Clair Schulz
2. Tom Mix - "Tom Mix And The Mystery Of The Bodiless Horseman" by Jim Harmon
3. Candy Matson YUkon 2-8209 - "The Japanese Sandman" by Jack French
4. The Clyde Beatty Show - "Perils of the Tiger Barn" by Roger Smith
5. The Green Lama - "The Case Of The Bashful Spider" by Bob Martin
6. Sgt. Preston of the Yukon - "A Call From the Storm" by Jim Nixon
7. Quiet Please - "The Cradle Of Peace" by Martin Grams Jr.
8. The Halls of Ivy - "A Matter of Ethics" by Carol Tiffany
9. Captain Midnight - "The Vanishing Ruby" by Stephen A. Kallis Jr.
10. The Bickersons - "You've Got Me, John" by Ben Ohmart
11. Ma Perkins - "The Letter From John" by John Leasure
12. The Black Museum - "The Ticket Stub" by Michael Leannah
13. Honest Harold - "Attack Of The Crawling Things From Outer Space" by Justin Felix
14. Dimension X - "Willoughby Goes and Gets It" by Joe Bevilacqua & Robert J. Cirasa
15. Lum & Abner - "A Pine Ridge Christmas Carol" by Donnie Pitchford
16. Frontier Gentleman - "One Card Draw" by Michael Giorgio
17. Pat Novak, For Hire - "A Poole of Blood" by Stephen Jansen
18. Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar - "The Paddy Rose Matter" by Patrick W. Picciarelli
19. Rogue's Gallery - "The Case of the Missing Bandleader" by Bryan Powell
20. Inner Sanctum - "Concerto in Death Major" by Christopher Conlon
"The enthusiasm of the writers and their respect for the period is infectious."
- Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine
"A terrific bunch of writers, all with the ability to make these shows sound as fresh as they were in their heyday."
- Classic Images
OTR Book Review by Rodney Bowcock, Jr.
SPERDVAC's Radiogram January 2003
New book gives fans new tales of favorite OTR heroes
We all know about the wave of excitement that comes across everyone in the
hobby when unheard episodes of our favorite shows are found and released. Imagine
what would happen if I was to tell you that I've found an uncirculated episode of Yours
Truly, Johnny Dollar. Or how about an uncirculated The Halls of Ivy? You'd be pretty
excited, wouldn't you? I would be too. Now, imagine how excited you'd be if I told you
that not only were these episodes uncirculated, but they were never aired!
Unfortunately, I can't do that. I can, however, come close. Ben Ohmart, co-writer
of the popular Great Gildersleeve book, has edited a collection of new short stories
based on some of our favorite radio programs.
There's a good assortment of shows that we're very familiar with, like The Black
Museum, Dimension X, and Lum & Abner. There are also a few shows we may not know
as well, like The Clyde Beatty Radio Show, and The Green Lama. You'll be pleased to
see that the authors of these stories are people who know the shows better than almost
anyone else. Reading the list of contributing authors is like a partial who's who list of
OTR scholars, Jack French, Stephen Kallis Jr., Martin Grams Jr.; they're all here,
spinning fictional tales this time around, instead of their usual positions of informing and
documenting. Fan fiction? Yes, and it works incredibly well. There's no doubt about it,
these OTR fans have the gift of writing well-crafted, engrossing tales.
There are twenty short stories to be found in this book, and honestly, I can say
that all of them are quite good, and they all impressively capture the flavor of the original
programs. That's no easy task when you're writing short story fiction based around
characters that were designed for use in an aural medium. Ohmart set few stipulations
before the authors, but one of them was that the programs written about must've
originated on radio. Therefore, we see no stories of The Thin Man, The Shadow, or
Have Gun Will Travel. While that did knock out quite a few great shows, we still get
plenty of good reading.
Ben told me that he hopes this
1. Our Miss Brooks - "One Principal Too Many, One Principal Too Meanie" by Clair Schulz
2. Tom Mix - "Tom Mix And The Mystery Of The Bodiless Horseman" by Jim Harmon
3. Candy Matson YUkon 2-8209 - "The Japanese Sandman" by Jack French
4. The Clyde Beatty Show - "Perils of the Tiger Barn" by Roger Smith
5. The Green Lama - "The Case Of The Bashful Spider" by Bob Martin
6. Sgt. Preston of the Yukon - "A Call From the Storm" by Jim Nixon
7. Quiet Please - "The Cradle Of Peace" by Martin Grams Jr.
8. The Halls of Ivy - "A Matter of Ethics" by Carol Tiffany
9. Captain Midnight - "The Vanishing Ruby" by Stephen A. Kallis Jr.
10. The Bickersons - "You've Got Me, John" by Ben Ohmart
11. Ma Perkins - "The Letter From John" by John Leasure
12. The Black Museum - "The Ticket Stub" by Michael Leannah
13. Honest Harold - "Attack Of The Crawling Things From Outer Space" by Justin Felix
14. Dimension X - "Willoughby Goes and Gets It" by Joe Bevilacqua & Robert J. Cirasa
15. Lum & Abner - "A Pine Ridge Christmas Carol" by Donnie Pitchford
16. Frontier Gentleman - "One Card Draw" by Michael Giorgio
17. Pat Novak, For Hire - "A Poole of Blood" by Stephen Jansen
18. Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar - "The Paddy Rose Matter" by Patrick W. Picciarelli
19. Rogue's Gallery - "The Case of the Missing Bandleader" by Bryan Powell
20. Inner Sanctum - "Concerto in Death Major" by Christopher Conlon
"The enthusiasm of the writers and their respect for the period is infectious."
- Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine
"A terrific bunch of writers, all with the ability to make these shows sound as fresh as they were in their heyday."
- Classic Images
OTR Book Review by Rodney Bowcock, Jr.
SPERDVAC's Radiogram January 2003
New book gives fans new tales of favorite OTR heroes
We all know about the wave of excitement that comes across everyone in the
hobby when unheard episodes of our favorite shows are found and released. Imagine
what would happen if I was to tell you that I've found an uncirculated episode of Yours
Truly, Johnny Dollar. Or how about an uncirculated The Halls of Ivy? You'd be pretty
excited, wouldn't you? I would be too. Now, imagine how excited you'd be if I told you
that not only were these episodes uncirculated, but they were never aired!
Unfortunately, I can't do that. I can, however, come close. Ben Ohmart, co-writer
of the popular Great Gildersleeve book, has edited a collection of new short stories
based on some of our favorite radio programs.
There's a good assortment of shows that we're very familiar with, like The Black
Museum, Dimension X, and Lum & Abner. There are also a few shows we may not know
as well, like The Clyde Beatty Radio Show, and The Green Lama. You'll be pleased to
see that the authors of these stories are people who know the shows better than almost
anyone else. Reading the list of contributing authors is like a partial who's who list of
OTR scholars, Jack French, Stephen Kallis Jr., Martin Grams Jr.; they're all here,
spinning fictional tales this time around, instead of their usual positions of informing and
documenting. Fan fiction? Yes, and it works incredibly well. There's no doubt about it,
these OTR fans have the gift of writing well-crafted, engrossing tales.
There are twenty short stories to be found in this book, and honestly, I can say
that all of them are quite good, and they all impressively capture the flavor of the original
programs. That's no easy task when you're writing short story fiction based around
characters that were designed for use in an aural medium. Ohmart set few stipulations
before the authors, but one of them was that the programs written about must've
originated on radio. Therefore, we see no stories of The Thin Man, The Shadow, or
Have Gun Will Travel. While that did knock out quite a few great shows, we still get
plenty of good reading.
Ben told me that he hopes this
