A tangent that turns out not to be one. Daniel (@dungeondive) grew up on syndicated old-time radio in the 1970s and has returned to audio drama his whole life, on the grounds that it exercises the imagination harder than books or film. He sketches the history — the 1930s-50s golden age at CBS, NBC and the BBC, the decline under television, the 1970s-80s revival that produced most of his favourites — and laments that while detective, western, horror and science fiction all flourished, traditional sword and sorcery was almost entirely ignored.
The five run from the revival back to the source. Fifth, CBS Radio Mystery Theater (1974-82), nearly 1,400 episodes, hosted like a Crypt Keeper. Fourth, Canada’s Vanishing Point (1984-86), whose synth work and Foley he rates so highly he’s woken up unsettled by it. Third, The Ray Bradbury 13 (1983-84) — “The Ravine” is a woman walking home at night and nothing else. Second, Alien Worlds (1979-80), which he calls the high mark of audio production and space opera at its finest.
First, inevitably, X Minus One (1955-58): 120 episodes adapting Bradbury, Heinlein, Sturgeon, Dick and Simak.
Does an audio-only story make your imagination work harder than a book does, or just differently?