The Whistler: Classic Radio Drama

Episode 5: Shrunken Head

A young woman named Marie visits her eccentric Uncle Peter in his gloomy mansion where he collects shrunken heads. When one of the heads mysteriously disappears and she hears whispering voices in her room, she suspects a sinister plot. With the help of Clay, she learns her uncle is manipulating her inheritance and using the shrunken heads to frighten her. In the end, the scheme surrounding her father's fortune is exposed without spoiling the final twist.

Episode 7: Notes in the Night

Ambrose Brent, an airplane plant official, finds notes in his own handwriting that compel him to kill his business partner Henry but he has no memory of writing them. As the notes and a mysterious voice persist, he fears he is losing his mind. He consults his doctor and tries to escape the voices, but the true source of the notes reveals a plot to undermine him rather than madness.

Episode 15: Death Has a Thirst

Harvey Davis and his wife Donna arrange for their friend Victor to be taken to a sanitarium because of his severe drinking problem. Victor's father died insane from alcohol, and the doctor warns that Victor is headed for the same fate if he continues. The story delves into jealousy, trust, and the destructive power of addiction as Victor's drinking threatens to tear apart friendships and marriages.

Episode 16: The Letter

In pre‑war Austria, mild‑mannered biologist Hans Minkler becomes involved with a secret group opposing the Nazis. When his wealthy patron Monsieur Galet is murdered and Hans's pipe is found at the scene, he goes into hiding and sends his fiancée a letter explaining his disappearance. The plot involves espionage, betrayal and suspicion as the police and his colleagues try to unravel who killed Galet.

Episode 17: House of Greed

Wealthy businessman John Talbot is deserted by his first wife Mary and later marries a widow named Helga, whose indolent son Paul moves into the household. Helga and Paul plot to inherit John’s fortune, but their plan is complicated by the return of John’s brother Frank and revelations about Mary’s daughter. When a murder shocks the household, greed and betrayal are unmasked, and John uses clever manipulation to expose those who tried to swindle him.

Episode 18: Mirage

Shady lawyer Fred Adams marries the district attorney’s daughter Brenda but is still loved by nightclub owner Gloria who financed his career. Consumed by jealousy, Gloria enlists a henchman to stage a robbery and do away with Brenda. When society pages continue to report Brenda with Fred, Gloria becomes unhinged and eventually confesses when a woman who appears to be Brenda confronts her. The ghost is actually Brenda’s twin sister Nella, used by Fred and the police to trap the guilty parties.

Episode 54: Final Decree

In “Final Decree,” Gordon Weller survives what looks like a hunting accident—except he knows it wasn’t an accident at all. Someone is trying to kill him, and he’s certain it’s his wife, Joyce, who has long suspected that Gordon murdered her lover, Martin Benson, under the guise of a hunting mishap. What follows is a tense psychological duel between two people trapped in a marriage built on secrets, resentment, and mutual fear. Each plots the other’s death with mounting boldness, until Gordon finally engineers a perfect frame-up—an apparent suicide attempt tied to an “accidental” car crash meant to eliminate Joyce for good. But fate intervenes with a dark twist, leaving Gordon undone by the very plan he believed would save him.

Episode 155: A Friendly Case of Blackmail

In “A Friendly Case of Blackmail,” Mildred Hardwick finally decides to leave her joyless marriage and run away with her lover, Hillary Gaines—until a thick San Francisco fog derails everything. On their way back to return her before her husband sees the goodbye note, they accidentally strike and kill him in the mist. Panicked, they flee the scene, convinced no one will ever believe it was an accident. But someone did see them: a smooth-talking opportunist named Baldwin, who soon appears with a smile and a blackmail racket tailored specifically to their secret. As the payments rise and the pressure becomes unbearable, Hillary plots a desperate way out—only to find himself trapped even deeper when the police uncover Baldwin’s insurance policy, his safe-deposit visit, and a trail of evidence pointing straight to murder.

Episode 198: Boomerang

In “Boomerang,” Amy Clark is suffocating in a dull marriage and wants the comforts of her life without the burden of her husband, Ralph. When a series of killings by the so-called doorbell murderer grips their neighborhood, Amy notices how neatly the details could be twisted to point toward Ralph. Bit by bit, she feeds suspicion into the gossip mill, then subtly manipulates events the night of another stabbing to make Ralph look like the killer. Her plan works almost perfectly: police shoot Ralph in “self-defense,” she cashes out the house and insurance, and she prepares to flee to Miami with a fortune. But her triumph collapses when crime reporter Haley appears at her door with a revelation she never saw coming. He isn’t there to expose her—he is the real doorbell killer, and Amy’s story has backed him into a corner. She becomes his final victim, and Haley himself is ultimately executed for her murder, closing a cycle of manipulation, violence, and poetic justice.

Episode 200: The Trigger Man

In “The Trigger Man,” Martin Lane is a talented young lawyer who rises fast by defending gangster Branch Malone, convincing himself it’s only temporary. But when Branch murders a key witness—and forces Martin to unknowingly lure the man to his death—Martin realizes too late that he’s crossed a line he can’t ever step back over. Now he’s the only living witness who can put Branch in the gas chamber, which makes him Branch’s biggest liability. With a hitman named Spike waiting to silence him, the police tailing him for protection, and his wife begging him to break free, Martin finally reaches his breaking point. In court he does the unthinkable: he abandons the defense, confesses what he knows, and becomes the star witness for the state. It feels like redemption—until Spike strikes. But in a final twist, Martin learns the “killer” walking beside him isn’t Spike at all, but a police decoy, while the real Spike lies dead on the sidewalk. For the first time, Martin has a future—one he nearly lost to the man he helped keep out of prison for far too long.