Strangeness in the night- on radio

Sunday evenings were special at our house when I was a kid. Then, several eerie radio shows, originating from a Buffalo radio station, were beamed into a darkened bedroom in Ontario, Canada. My sister and I, crouched on a quilt on the floor, wedged in between the wall and the side of a bed, listened with rapt attention to tales of "Boston Blackie," "The Shadow," and "Inner Sanctum".

Wintertime was best for this activity because the early darkness added to the atmosphere of mystery engendered by the programs. It enabled us to enter more fully into the dastardly plots unfolding into our eager young ears. With no visual images to act as distractions, our imaginations were free to run rampant, and mine usually did.

Were we frightened? A little, perhaps, but there was always a comforting corner of the mind which knew that the stories were only make-believe. We were never too scared to munch on cookies or slurp a Popsicle. We knew that we would be able to hear "The Fred Allen Show" later in the evening, when the sound wafted in from our parents' radio in the living room. The comical characters inhabiting "Allen's Alley" had the ability to dispel from our consciousness any troublesome, lingering images.

Years have passed since those days. Now, in the retirement phase of my life, I wonder if I have entered that notorious stage known as "second childhood". Once again, I find myself curled up in the darkness, listening, enthralled to an eerie program beamed into the bedroom from a radio station in St. Catharines, currently CKTB.

Now, my program of choice is "Coast to Coast A.M." The presiding host this evening is George Noory. This program airs from 10:00 P.M.- 5:00 A.M. in our area, admittedly a difficult time to tune in, but an ideal time to let the imagination wander through the convoluted corridors of the paranormal.

In the blackness of night, I have considered topics such the possibility of extraterrestrials visiting earth, the existence of the abominable snowman, the reality of demonic possession, the accuracy of end-time prophecies, and hair-raising accounts of conspiracies threatening every aspect of life as we know it in the Western World. My comfort factor now is the proximity of the warm body of my husband sleeping beside me.

I discovered this program several years ago, while coping with a period of sleeplessness. My spouse found that the light from the reading lamp on my side of the bed woke him up. Reluctant to get up and wander the house alone again, after several nights of wakefulness, I grabbed my walkman radio, hoping to find some soothing music which might lull me back to "The Land of Nod."

Hardly! I encountered Art Bell and one of his more gruesome guests. Nights have never been the same since that time. Insomnia is no longer a problem!

They say you can never go back and recapture your childhood, but I believe I've succeeded in recovering one of the pleasures from that long ago period of my life. I will lie in bed tonight again and let my imagination run wild. The host tonight is inviting any time -travellers to call in and share their stories with listeners.That should prove interesting.

You know, day-to-day life in retirement is good, but the nights are full of fanciful adventures. There's no harm done. After all, it's only make-believe, staged for entertainment value, isn't it? Well, isn't it? Anyway, you'll have to excuse me now. I'm overdue for a prolonged afternoon nap.