The I Love a Mystery Companion

by Martin Grams Jr.

Longing only for action, adventure and excitement wherever it would lead them, three men fought through vampire-infested jungles, ghost towns of wind-swept Nevada, and defeated mad scientists with werewolf assistants. Jack Packard, Doc Long and Reggie York were those musketeers and from 1939 to 1952, the program gained a cult audience. Young children began their own fan clubs while civic-minded adults protested against the scary stories. This is the official guide to the ultimate of radio thrillers, I LOVE A MYSTERY. Four hundred pages documenting the entire history of the radio program, including a biography of Carlton E. Morse, the creator/producer/director of the series.

Features memories from cast and crew (Mercedes McCambridge, Tony Randall, etc.), a complete episode guide to each and every broadcast including cast lists and plot descriptions, documentation of the I LOVE A MYSTERY novels, comic strips (panels reprinted in the book) the four motion pictures, a reprint of an unused outline for a ten-chapter serial, USO material reprinted, Morse's correspondence, episode guides for Morse's other radio serials like THE WITCH OF ENDOR and CAPTAIN POST: CRIME SPECIALIST, and much, much more! Includes photos and index.

400 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Martin Grams is an author and old-time radio enthusiast whose more than twenty books on the subject have qualified him as an expert. He is generous and helpful to his fans and colleagues and his name can often be found in the credits of books dedicated to radio and early television.

While he is one of the younger fans of old-time radio, Martin does not like to talk about his youth, as it proved a hindrance to him when he tried to get his first book published. Determined, Grams decided to self-publish his book about Suspense and has done so several times subsequently.

In addition to writing and researching, Martin and his wife Michelle run the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention in Hunt Valley, Maryland.

Reviews

[Victoria & David Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Variety famously called it 'juvenile hokum' but with titles like 'The thing that Cries in the Night', The Richard's curse', and 'Bury Your Dead, Arizona', ILAM was and remains one of the very best radio adventure serials ever broadcast during (primarily) the 1940s. Families would gather around the warm tube glow for each 15 or 30 minute episode in order to find out how Jack, Doc, and Reggie could extricate themselves from the last episode's cliffhanger. Be it murderers, vampires, werewolves, the walking dead or wanton women the emphasis was not so much on who done it but what is about to happen next.
Radio was new and intimate and immediate and unlike Television (which came much later), it required the listener to invest their imagination in order to create the world at hand. This book is well- nigh exhaustive and covers most everything Carlton E Morse (the creator, author, and director) did during his career. This included 'One Man's Family' one of the longest running soap operas ever (indeed the two shows shared many cast members). But having said that, for anyone who hasn't heard ILAM or one of the spinoffs I cannot recommend it.
'Juvenile hokum', read, is repetitive, silly, and a little goes a long way.
This is probably why scripts were not included: just excerpts and summaries.
How-some-ever,
the internet is rife with free old time radio sites such as https://www.otr.net/r/ilam/ and many of the original radio broadcasts have been preserved and are available.
Listen.
"Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear"
And enjoy

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: the official guide to the ultimate of radio thrillers, I Love a Mystery, which ran from 1939 to 1952. Even Tony Randall was on the show!