A Terrible Night - a 60 second Horror film from 1896 with amazing (for i...

Amazing 60-second horror flick from 1896.  A giant spider invades a man's bedroom at night.  How did they animate that thing?

The Original "Iko Iko" by James "Pretty Boy" Crawford and his Cane Cut...

It was a number one hit for the Dixie Cups in the 60s and they claimed they wrote it.  That shocked "Pretty Boy" Crawford because he wrote it and recorded it in 1953.  Her's the original IKO IKO. Watch the video to find out if "Pretty Boy" ever got his song back, as well as the meaning of IKO IKO. 

The City Where Everyone Sleeps in One Big House

Come on up!  Lots of vacancies in the city where everyone sleeps under one roof!

The Original "Iko Iko" by James "Pretty Boy" Crawford and his Cane Cut...

The Dixie Cups took the writing credit for their big 1965 hit IKO IKO, but the song was actually written and sung by James, Pretty Boy, Crawford in 1953.  Watch the video to find out if he ever got a dime from the Dixies. 

Weird and Strange Stuff - The Impossible Desert

In the 2nd snowiest state in the U.S. the last thing you would expect to find is a desert and a camel.  But if you go to Freeport, you'll find it.  Or you could watch this video and see it!

The Midnight Prowler Man

The video of my latest song poem.  As always, I am looking for someone to add the music to complete the song

Planet Earth My Science Project

In a classroom, far away in a distant, advanced planet, a student presents his science project - a living, miniature planet that he calls Earth.

The Death Squad

Thou Shalt Not Kill - except in war, in which case even your clergyman will give you a chocolate bar and a slap on the back and send you off to kill.  For a private in the Union Army assigned to a firing squad during the U.S. Civil War, each new day brought the execution of 80 convicts.  Soon the unpleasant duty becomes unbearable, and he searches for a way out.    

THE DEATH SQUAD, 

WRITTEN AND PRODUCED

 BY BILL RUSSO 

FOR SHORT STORY THEATER

The Invasion of Ragged Mountain

In Bill Russo's new tale, the creatures of the Juns Federation - Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune are poised to attack earth by capturing one human being at a time. They have chosen desolate Ragged Mountain for the starting point of the invasion. A lone disc-jockey sits in a cabin on the flat top of the peak. In winter, it's not possible for any vehicle to scale the icy mountain, or for a helicopter to land on it. But, in the swirling snow outside his window, the radio announcer sees someone, or some thing!

The Chicken Man of Leftover Main

From Leftover Main in Cape Cod in the 1950s, where the tourists don't go, and the police won't go - it's the tale of The Chicken Man, who is forced to fight off some 'yeggs' who are stealing his egg layers. 

 

A Profile of Courage Max Schmeling - Boxing Champ and More

A Profile of Courage - Max Schmeling.  He was a German citizen who was forced into Hitler's army, but he never joined the Nazi party.  When Hitler told him to fire his manager who was Jewish - he refused the order. 

The Gates of Heaven - a short Haiku

A haiku, 3 phrases, 17 syllables.  Here's mine.  Try making one.

The Ghost of the 13 churches

New Episode - Short Story Theater - the true tale of a doctor who willed a fortune to the 13 churches of Cape Cod. He vowed to come back from the grave and haunt them, if any 'scobberlochers' squandered his money.  They did and he did!

News of the Past - A tale of Rags to Riches and back to Rags.

Like a carnival ride, Marie rode to the top of the Ferris Wheel, but when it came down, she never could get back on.  The sad life of a poverty-stricken girl from a small town in New England, who reached the heights and fell to the depths. 

Gabe Stone The Boston Monster

Short Story Theater - New Episode

A young girl flees Boston and the abusive stepfather who raped and beat her.  She finds safe harbor on Cape Cod, until the stepfather beats her mother and finds out where she is hiding.  The Boston Monster is coming to get her! 

 

The Pictures of My Youth

By Bill Russo

What fascinated me as a child was the theater of the mind - radio.

 As a young boy in the 1940s, my bedtime (seemingly forever) was 8 p.m. My brother, who was two years older than me, also had to go to bed at eight. We shared a bedroom in a tiny four-room apartment in a four-family house that my father bought with his GI Bill (the 1944 Serviceman’s Readjustment Act, which helped war veterans with funds for college, to buy a house, or train for a vocation.)

Our room contained bunk beds. My brother being older, claimed the bottom bunk for himself, so I had to climb a ladder every night, to get up to the top bunk. After I fell out of bed a few times and plunged loudly and painfully to the floor, my mother made my brother take the top bunk and I was allowed to have the bottom one.

Most children back then, and even today, complain about their bedtime. They want to stay up late. I never did. I loved going to bed at 8 p.m. because we had a large table-model radio, with a glowing dial that sent a warm, if dim, light through our room. And the sounds that came from that radio were so thrilling that even today as I write this, more than 70 years later, I can still vividly recall the wonderful tales spun by shows like “Lights Out”, “The Inner Sanctum” and “The Shadow”. The programs were scary and delightful at the same time.

I loved radio so much that I was not really interested one day in 1950, when my father brought up the subject of getting a television. There were not many homes that had TV back then. In our neighborhood there was just one. The owners of that TV home allowed us kids to peek through their living room window on Saturday afternoons so that we could see for ourselves the animated black and white programs that were offered on early television. It was interesting to watch the television, but I felt then, and actually still do, that a story presented on the radio, has much more impact than one shown on video.

My father asked my brother and I a question, “Would you boys rather have a television or a new baby brother or sister?” We both answered right away. With no hesitation, we told Dad that we’d rather have a new brother or sister, instead of a TV. Little did we know that it was a trick question, and that a child was already in the works!

Later that year, 1950, my mom gave birth to a little girl. We were thrilled to have her. We doted on her. She was 7 years younger than me and 9 years younger than my brother, so she was indeed, our ‘baby’ sister, Marie!

A few months after she was born, my father once again summoned my brother and me and gave us some interesting information. “I was very proud of you boys when you said that you’d rather have a new brother or sister, than a television. I’ve decided that you can have both! This Friday, a brand-new television will be delivered to our house.”

I told you that I was a big fan of radio and that’s true. But it is also true that there was a TV show that I was desperate to watch! It was called the Howdy Doody Show, starring Buffalo Bob Smith and a large-sized puppet named Howdy Doody. The program started in 1947 and by 1950 was one of the most popular shows on television.

Both my brother and I were eagerly anticipating the delivery of the TV. On Friday afternoon, I came home from school as fast as I could, and I saw that there was a truck from the TV store, parked in front of our house. I went inside and saw the big, heavy wooden box with the small, round viewing screen near the top.

I asked the delivery man if we could watch it.

“Not yet,” he said, “It won’t work until we get the antenna set up.”

“How long will it take?” I wondered. “Howdy Doody is coming on a five p.m., and I’d like to be able to watch it?”

“I can’t say how long it’s going to take,” he replied, with a touch of anger.

Then he walked over to one of the living-room windows and opened it. We were on the ground floor of our two story, four family house. He shouted something to a man who was standing outside on the sidewalk. The outside man yelled up at a third man who had climbed a huge ladder, and was standing on the roof, holding a large, multi-armed-aluminum-antenna, which he strapped to the chimney. Yes, in 1950, it took three men to install a television set!

I looked at the clock and saw that it was close to 4:30 and Howdy Doody was scheduled to start in 30 minutes!

I asked again. “Are you gonna have the TV set ready by five o’clock?”

Shooting a hard look at me without answering me, the living-room man, called out to the sidewalk man and said, “I’m going to turn the set on now. Tell Charlie on the roof to turn the antenna when I tell him to.”

Firing another hard look at me, the living-room man turned on the set. After about 20 seconds the viewing screen began to glow, then fuzzy, scratchy lines appeared. They scrolled up and down the screen.

“Tell Charlie to turn the antenna towards the harbor,” said the living-room man.

“Hey Charlie, see where the harbor is? Turn the antenna in that direction,” said the sidewalk-man.

“I’m turning it now. Hows’ that?” said Charlie on the roof.

“He’s turning it now. How’s that? - said the sidewalk man.

“It’s a little better,” replied the living-room man. “Tell him to turn it about another foot.”

“It’s a little better Charlie, hollered the sidewalk-man, “Turn it About another foot!”

Meanwhile back on the ground floor, I looked at the clock and saw that it was 4:45 - only fifteen minutes before the start of Howdy Doody.

“Is the TV going to be working in time for Howdy Doody?” - I asked again, fearful that I’d miss the opening of the show, when Howdy would sing———————————————-

‘It’s Howdy Doody Time. It’s Howdy Doody Time. Bob Smith and Howdy too, Say Howdy Do to you. Let’s give a rousing cheer, Cause Howdy Doody’s here, It’s time to start the show, So kids let’s go!”

Shooting another dagger from fiery eyes, Living-room man growled, “I don’t know kid. We’re turning the antenna and when we get it in the exact right position, we should get a picture.”

On it went - until finally at about 4:55 p.m., the fuzzy lines turned into the shape of a test pattern. Success!

Ah but where was Howdy Doody? Back in 1950, radio still ruled the landscape, at least until 5 p.m., because the TV stations did not go on the air until five in the afternoon on weekdays. And the first program on channel four was the Howdy Doody show - and sure enough, at five p.m. the test pattern dissolved, and the TV station signed on with Howdy Doody singing his song.

As good as it was, and as good as TV was, and is, I still prefer the vivid pictures that I saw on the radio in the 1940s to any pictures that I have ever seen on television.

 Why did the 8-foot alligator cross the road?

Officials in West Palm Beach don't know the answer, but this week, when it started sprinting from lawn to lawn in an area a few miles from The West Palm Beach Post office and Donald Trump's Mara Lago resort, they captured it and relocated it to a secluded canal.

Florida is called the Sunshine State because the sun shines almost every day, but it could also be called the Canal state or the Gator state, because it has thousands of drainage canals, some as old as 1800 years, and about 1,300,000 alligators - that's one-point-three million gators!

The search for Bigfoot has captured the interest of thousands of people all around the world, but until recently, no one has ever actually spoken with one of the elusive creatures.  

My friend Knotso Clanky not only met a Bigfoot, but he also had a long conversation with one, and even invited the forest denizen into his home - and that's when things started to go bad, as you'll see below, in the carton Knotso drew about the situation.

 By Bill Russo

When I travel through the 48 states by car, I am always struck by the different accents to be found in this great nation which is 'indivisible' except for the variations in speech.

Going from East to West' via the South, I find 'you guys' becomes "youse guys" which morphs into "y'all" and later to "you'uns" etc.

But the strangest speech of all is in the mid-west. When people hear my Boston accent they say, you must be from 'Mass-a-too-setts'.

"No", I reply. "I am from Mass-achoo-setts - the state that sounds like a sneeze! a-choo!"

The Fifth Floor - based on real people and places inside the Bridgewater...

The video version of The Fifth Floor, by Bill Russo - based on real people and places inside the Bridgewater Triangle. Click pic 2 C on YouTube.

The Second Life of Riley Adair - from Bill Russo's Short Story Theater

From Season 4 of Short Story Theater - an examination of the possibility of a mind that exists below the conscious and even the subconscious mind.  

I Grew Up in Dodge City in 1875, By Bill Russo

Brand New - the Video Version of my short story, "I Grew Up in Dodge City in 1875" - Click the pic to see for free on YouTube!

The Martian Express - A Tale of the Past? The Future? or Both? You decide!

Here is the video version of my short story, The Martian Express.  Is it a tale of the past? The Future? Or, as I suspect, is it both a yarn of days gone by and days to come?