A few weeks ago, my husband Dennis and I were on the road traveling to somewhere, and as usual we were listening to our XM radio as we drove. We have several favorite stations, including XM 163, Sonic Theater. Now, much as people do at home when watching TV, we channel surf. We knew that Sonic Theater specializes in audio dramas and books from a variety of genres, and we knew that included some science fiction programming. While surfing, we ran across a familiar musical theme, that of The Twilight Zone.

I listened to that episode, and definitely felt as I were watching the classic television show. It has the same feel, the same sense of drama and suspense, and even without the television images to go with it, I could picture the happenings in my head. That of course is the mark of a good radio drama, that you can imagine the story. Instead of simply a book on audio, with a single reader and no background effects and/or music, it was a complete radio drama, with multiple actors.

While I enjoyed the story, being a busy person, I did not get a chance to investigate further until this week, while on another trip. Yesterday, while driving to TX, I caught another story, this one staring Richard Kind. As before, I was transported into the story, and truly enjoyed the tale, “Sounds and Silences”. When I got to the hotel, I decided to research this program, as it is definitely worth the time. Not only did I find their website, www.twilightzoneradio.com but at the site, I discovered that listeners are allowed to download three episodes for free, and others can be purchased. As I write this, I have just finished listening to “Five Characters In Search Of An Exit”, which stars Jason Alexander. I don't want to ruin any of these wonderful stories for anyone, but I do think this one had the best twist of the ones I have heard so far, and as we all know, it is the twist that truly is the mark of a great Twilight Zone episode.

The Twilight Zone began this radio series in 2002, and has produced over 100 shows to date. The host of the show, filling the role made so famous by Rod Serling is Stacy Keach. He does a wonderful job, having a good voice to bring the right images to mind when talking about the tales and characters. Each episode has a different main star (some have two), and many of them are well-known TV and movie actors. Some of the stars include Luke Perry, John Schneider, Kate Jackson, Adam West, John Heard, and Beverly Garland – the site lists over 40 guest stars.

While I have only listened to a few episodes to this point, I can definitely recommend this series. If you like suspense and drama, and twist endings, you will love these stories. Also, if you are a fan of the classic TV show, give these a try. If you have XM, great. If not, their website has a listing of radio stations that carry this syndicated program. Failing that, listen to the three free episodes, and perhaps you'll want to buy them (details are available at the website).

I also want to plug a couple of other shows on Sonic Theater for those of you who do get XM radio. While I have not gotten to experience most of these programs for myself, they are either science fiction programs, or have individual episodes that are from that genre. Orson Scott Card's Universe is a regular show, and it gives us the Ender series and the Ender's Shadow series as full cast radio dramas. Adventures from Tantor brings a variety of westerns, sci-fi, mystery, history and more to their programs. Sherlock Holmes Radio brings newly written Holmes adventures that have been sanctioned by the estate of Dame Jean Conan Doyle, and those who have listened say that they are very true to the classic characters and stories. There are other shows that may appeal to sci-fi fans, and if you get XM radio you can go to their website (www.xmradio.com) and get a complete listing. I encourage you to check them out....you never know what treasures you may find, if you close your eyes and listen.

Photos:  twlightzoneradio, Wikipedia

Click here to add your comments in our forums.