Printed Poison's Old Timey Radio Recordings

And just in case you've never listened to the show before and want to grab a few solid episodes before downloading the whole kit and kaboodle, here are my 12 favourites...

01. Episode 033 - The Book of Hell
02. Episode 054 - The Monkey's Raincoat
03. Episode 027 - The Guest of Honour
04. Episode 026 - The Appetite of Mr Lucraft
05. Episode 003 - Welcome to Homerville
06. Episode 068 - Teig O'Kane and the Corpse
07. Episode 014 - The Stone Ship
08. Episode 023 - Where Does the News Come From?
09. Episode 074 - Assassin Game
10. Episode 002 - The Monkey's Paw
11. Episode 007 - Future Fear
12. Episode 025 - On Christmas Day in the Morning

Episode 001 - Love and the Lonely One
Two med students play a prank involving a cadaver. Unfortunately for them, the cadaver has plans of its own.Some creepy moments in this and the plot reminds me of an EC comic. Not a bad kick off for the series but definitely not one of the best episodes. [Original air date: July 4, 1980]

Episode 002 - The Monkey's Paw
This one revolves around a magical, wish-granting, mummified monkey's paw so I won't be spoiling anything when I say it ends in tragedy. Seriously, a magical, wish-granting anything is going to be bad news, but a magical, wish-granting, mummified monkey's paw? How could anyone think they'd get ahead waving one of those around? Regardless, this one's a classic. [Original air date: July 11, 1980]

Episode 003 - Welcome to Homerville
Despite numerous ominous warnings, a trucker hauls a load of newspaper to the town of Homerville. Much of this episode plays out through CB radio conversations. Yep. You read that right, good buddy. CB radio. Probably seemed like a cornball gimmick at the time, but after twenty-odd years, it's skidded past the weigh station of cheesy badness and pulled in at the Cheesy Goodness truckstop. (I'll have a B.J. and the Bear platter with extra Evigan, please.) This episode has one of those confusing N-Fall endings. I mean, I know it ends horribly -- they all do -- but I'm not 100% clear on what horribleness happened exactly. [Original air date: July 18, 1980]

Episode 004 - Hands Off
Got to love it when a scientist dabbles with forces he shouldn't. Especially when the perils of his research are so obvious while the benefits it could offer are so slight it's as if he's poking karma with a stick and begging it to kick his ass. I don't know... Maybe he was trying to commit suicide via implausible chemistry? The scientist in this episode, by the way, is played by Colin Fox who later played Fritz on the short-lived but most excellent Nero Wolfe series with Maury Chakin. [Original air date: September 22, 1980]

Episode 005 - The Tell-Tale Heart
The Edgar Allen Poe classic. Truth be told, I haven't listened to this one yet. I'm sure it's competently done, but I'm a little tired of the story. And frankly, I doubt it could top the Mad Magazine adaptation from the late 70s. [Original air date: August 1, 1980]

Episode 006 - Late Special
A woman survives a car crash then takes refuge in an old train station. There she meets a mysterious train conductor who offers to help her... for a price, of course. [Original air date: August 8, 1980]

Episode 007 - Future Fear
Parents of a no-good kid tune their television to the channel of terror! This is less a horror story and more a science-fantasy tale in the X Minus One line. [Original air date: August 15, 1980]

Episode 008 - How Did You Get My Name?
A man returns to Toronto after four years in Europe but some people seem to think he never left. Boring episode, frankly. The twist was just too obvious and once you had it figured out listening to this became an exercise in frustration. [Original air date: August 22, 1980]

Episode 009 - The Body Snatchers
This is an adaptation of a Robert Louis Stevenson story about grave robbing and medical experimentation and not a story about alien space pods taking over the Earth. I know... I was disappointed too. Stevenson's tale dramatizes the West Port murders, which, according to Wikipedia, "were perpetrated in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1827-1828 by William Burke and William Hare who sold the corpses of their 17 victims to the Edinburgh Medical College for dissection. Their principal customer was doctor Robert Knox." See, N-Fall is educational. That must be how it got on the CBC. [Original air date: August 29, 1980]

Episode 010 - The Willoughby Obsession

Episode 011 - No Admittance, No Exit

Episode 012 - Wind Chill

Episode 013 - The Repossession

Episode 014 - The Stone Ship

Episode 015 - Special Services

Episode 016 - Buried Alive

Episode 017 - Last Visit

Episode 018 - Ringing the Changes

Episode 019 - The Devil's Backbone

Episode 020 - Blood Countess Part 1

Episode 021 - Blood Countess Part 2

Episode 022 - Deadly Developments

Episode 023 - Where Does the News Come From?

Episode 024 - Where Do We Go From Here?

Episode 025 - On Christmas Day in the Morning
I suspect a lot of people won't like this episode but, call me an old softie, it's one of my favourites. It breaks from the N-Fall pattern and because of that I was kept guessing. Can't really say any more about my reaction without completely spoiling it. [Original air date: December 19, 1980]

Episode 026 - The Appetite of Mr Lucraft

Episode 027 - The Guest of Honour

Episode 028 - A Short Wave Goodbye

Episode 029 - They Bite

Episode 03 0 - Wildcats

Episode 031 - The Room
A skeptical, young down-and-outer agrees to spend a night locked in a haunted room in exchange for cash from a wealthy widow. Does he remain a skeptic for long? Of course not. There are suggestions of a much more complicated backstory than what's revealed in the script. While I suppose it makes the tale richer, at the end of the day I found it a little frustrating and would have preferred to find out more about the characters. The ending was amusing and would've made for a good jumping off point for an even better Nightfall episode. Colin Fox, by the way, makes another N-Fall appearance here as the priest. [Original air date: March 6, 1981]

Episode 032 - Angel's Kiss
A swinish playboy on the prowl for a little "Saturday night fever" tangos with more than he bargains for in the Disco of Doom! Pretty predictable story elevated by the way it conjures up images of broad collars, feathered hair and early 80s club culture. Think Tony Manero crossed with Faust and you get the idea. The narrator warns of strong language in the intro but standards must've been stricter back in 81 because the dialogue sounds pretty tame to my ear. [Original air date: March 20, 1981]

Episode 033 - The Book of Hell
"Hell is not a place. It's a system for disrupting the plans of God." This was the first episode of N-Fall I ever listened to, and when I heard that line, chills went up my spine. That's some fine scribbling. Definitely better than the writing you get in most horror anthologies. As for the plot: a struggling publishing house receives a manuscript claiming to be a firsthand account of what it's like in the underworld. As you'd expect, just reading such a book results in all sorts of nastiness. The show is well acted, the story is chock full of foreboding, and the excerpts from the Book of Hell aren't exactly scary but they are appropriately strange.This is probably still my favourite episode. I even like the cheesy 80s rock score. The scribe for this episode, by the way, was Mavor Moore who apparently just died in December. (Read the CBC tribute to him here) [Original air date: March 27, 1981]

Episode 034 - Mkara
[Original air date: April 03, 1981]

Episode 035 - The Fatal Eggs
[Original air date: April 17, 1981]

Episode 036 - Breaking Point
[Original air date: May 1, 1981]

Episode 037 - The All Nighter
[Original air date: May 15, 1981]

Episode 038 - Carmilla
[Original air date: November 20, 1981]

Episode 039 - In the Eye of the Beholder
[Original air date: November 27, 1981]

Episode 040 - Cemetery Stop
[Original air date: December 04, 1981]

Episode 041 - Baby Doll
[Original air date: December 11, 1981]

Episode 044 - Reunion at the Victory Cafe
[Original air date: January 1, 1982]

Episode 045 - Gerald
[Original air date: January 8, 1982]

Episode 046 - Mind Drift
[Original air date: January 15, 1982]

Episode 047 - Your Fortune in 20 Words or Less
[Original air date: January 22, 1982]

Episode 048 - Teddy
[Original air date: January 29, 1982]

Episode 049 - Child's Play
[Original air date: February 5, 1982]

Episode 050 - The Club of Dead Men
[Original air date: February 12, 1982]

Episode 051 - The Thinking Room
[Original air date: February 19, 1982]

Episode 053 - Volcano
[Original air date: March 5, 1982]

Episode 054 - The Monkey's Raincoat
[Original air date: March 12, 1982]

Episode 055 - From My Appointed Place Below
[Original air date: March 19, 1982]

Episode 056 - The Old Post Road
[Original air date: March 26, 1982]

Episode 057 - The Debt
[Original air date: April 2, 1982]

Episode 058 - Harris and the Mare
[Original air date: April 9, 1982]

Episode 059 - The Jogger
[Original air date: April 16, 1982]

Episode 060 - The Screaming Skull
[Original air date: April 23, 1982]

Episode 061 - Mr Agostino
[Original air date: April 30, 1982]

Episode 062 - The Road Ends at the Sea
[Original air date: May 7, 1982]

Episode 063 - The Maid's Bell
[Original air date: May 14, 1982]

Episode 064 - A Glimpse of Eternity
[Original air date: May 28, 1982]

Episode 065 - Beyond the Law
[Original air date: June 4, 1982]

Episode 066 - The Turn of the Blood
[Original air date: June 11, 1982]

Episode 067 - Reverse Image
[Original air date: June 18, 1982]

Episode 068 - Teig O'Kane and the Corpse
[Original air date: June 25, 1982]

Episode 069 - This One Will Kill You
Seems this episode kicks off N-Fall's third season and introduces a new announcer and intro. Y'know, I think I might prefer this new guy. [Original air date: October 1, 1982]

Episode 070 - Footsteps
[Original air date: October 8, 1982]

Episode 071 - Lifeline
[Original air date: October 15, 1982]

Episode 072 - The Tie That Binds
[Original air date: October 22, 1982]

Episode 073 - The Dentist
[Original air date: October 29, 1982]

Episode 074 - Assassin Game
[Original air date: November 5, 1982]

Episode 075 - Lazarus Rising
[Original air date: November 12, 1982]

Episode 076 - Young Goodman Brown
[Original air date: November 19, 1982]

Episode 077 - But, Oh, What Happened to Hutchings
[Original air date: November 26, 1982]

Episode 078 - Daddy's Girl
[Original air date: December 3, 1982]

Episode 079 - The Cruel Husband
[Original air date: December 10, 1982]

Episode 080 - The Signalman
[Original air date: December 17, 1982]

Episode 081 - Watching
[Original air date: December 31, 1982]