News, History & Ephemera · Syndicated
Incredible, But True
· 80 broadcasts
Incredible, But True is a syndicated anthology of strange-but-true vignettes, hosted and narrated by Ken Nordine -- the Chicago voice artist who would soon pioneer the surreal spoken-word records of Word Jazz. Produced by the Unusual Features Syndicate around 1950-1951 and carried in the same era on the Mutual network, the series dramatized supposedly true tales of the unexplained: voices from beyond the grave, monsters and werebeasts, vanishing men, cursed relics, and deaths foretold, each staged with a small cast, brooding organ music, and sound effects. It came in two lengths that shared the one narrator -- fifteen-minute programs and the short three-minute form preserved here.
This catalog holds the three-minute syndication: 80 title-named episodes from the Old Time Radio Researchers set, each running roughly three to four minutes. The discs circulate undated and without individual broadcast records, and no per-episode plot text survives in the free written record -- so the run is carried complete and titled, with Nordine's narration the through-line, but without invented synopses. Writers of the day were known to take liberties with their 'true' stories, reshaping an ending for a more dramatic finish, which is part of the series' odd, earnest charm.
Collection status:
80 of 80 held (100% complete)
◆ ◆ ◆
Episode Spine
undated
date unknown
The Man Who Walked Behind
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Water Water Everywhere
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Mr.Watts Awakening
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Dead Mans Mirror
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
The Man Who Saw Everything
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Human Atmosphere
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
The End of David Lang
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
What Day Will He Die
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
The Playful Spirit
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Beware My Son
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Death of a Monster
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
The Lady and the Lake
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
The Woman Upstairs
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Footprints in the Sand
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
The Dusk Is Deceptive
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Enemy Unknown
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Barren Ground
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Trail of the Werebeast
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Veins of the Marble
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Death Makes a Landing
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Valley of Doom
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
The Roving Pansinis
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
The Room Upstairs
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Intruder on the Earth
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Music by Moonlight
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Cross of Blood
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Pretend You're Pavova
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Desert Magic
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
The Vanishing Clergyman
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Voice of the Dead
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
The Burglar of Blackpool
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Masque of Mystery
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
The Abominable Snowman
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
The Man Who Said Mass
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Two Heads Are Better
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Film of Death
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Handwriting on the Wall
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Here Will You Lie
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Perrenial Guest
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Three Hundred Years Late
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Two Men in the Moon
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
The Devils Diggings
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
The Whereabouts of Mr.Wad
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
The Skull of Bettiscomb
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
The One That Got Away
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Nemesis on the Left
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Goodbye Mr.Bathurst
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Death Gives a Warning
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Mr.Brownings Cufflinks
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
The Doctor Pays a Call
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Letter to a Friend
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
The Baming Spirit
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Room 117
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
You Tell Me Your Dream
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Three Who Died
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Pray for Me
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Familiar Streets
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
The Heat of Anger
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Water Wheel
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
The Wolf on Bald Mountain
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
The Constables Companion
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Where There's Smoke
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
The Phantom Army
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Rescue at Sea
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
The Monk of Sawtooth Moun
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Silent as a Tomb
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Requiem
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Death Has a Will
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Heads Up
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Only a Miracle
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Welcome Home
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
The Wanderer
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
The Stowaway
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Appointment in Stockholm
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Death Notice
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
The Temple of Beal
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
The Face of Death
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Dragon of Van Buren Count
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Premonition
Listen
(MP3)
date unknown
Naked Man of Newbury
Listen
(MP3)
The Story
Incredible, But True is a syndicated anthology of strange-but-true vignettes, hosted and narrated by Ken Nordine -- the Chicago voice artist who would soon pioneer the surreal spoken-word records of Word Jazz. Produced by the Unusual Features Syndicate around 1950-1951 and carried in the same era on the Mutual network, the series dramatized supposedly true tales of the unexplained: voices from beyond the grave, monsters and werebeasts, vanishing men, cursed relics, and deaths foretold, each staged with a small cast, brooding organ music, and sound effects. It came in two lengths that shared the one narrator -- fifteen-minute programs and the short three-minute form preserved here.
This catalog holds the three-minute syndication: 80 title-named episodes from the Old Time Radio Researchers set, each running roughly three to four minutes. The discs circulate undated and without individual broadcast records, and no per-episode plot text survives in the free written record -- so the run is carried complete and titled, with Nordine's narration the through-line, but without invented synopses. Writers of the day were known to take liberties with their 'true' stories, reshaping an ending for a more dramatic finish, which is part of the series' odd, earnest charm.
Full story — coming soon while it's being curated.
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