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Episodes in this collection

Episode thumbnail for April 16, 1996: Bizarre Stories - Open Lines
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April 16, 1996: Bizarre Stories - Open Lines

Apr 16, 1996
2h 55m

A caller-driven parade of unexplained stories gives the collection its broadest and most replayed entry point. The episode captures Open Lines at its least predictable.

Art Bell delivers an open lines night packed with bizarre news, from an Ebola outbreak at a Texas quarantine facility to Marines being court-martialed for refusing to submit DNA samples. He raises urgent concerns about the approaching anniversary of April 19th, wondering aloud whether domestic terrorism will mark th...
Episode thumbnail for January 25, 2002: Open Lines - Monsters
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January 25, 2002: Open Lines - Monsters

Jan 25, 2002
2h 53m

The monster line invites callers to describe creatures and encounters outside ordinary categories. It is one of the strongest Apple-backed dark Open Lines broadcasts.

Art Bell opens the phones for a monster-themed edition of Open Lines, inspired by a harrowing call from the previous night. He brings back Ken and his girlfriend Sherry from Portland, Oregon, who describe two years of escalating paranormal terror in a house built in 1910. Sherry recounts being pinned face-down in be...
Episode thumbnail for May 24, 2002: Open Lines - Monsters and Disturbing Entities
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May 24, 2002: Open Lines - Monsters and Disturbing Entities

May 24, 2002
2h 45m

This sequel pushes beyond creature reports into entities that callers experienced as threatening or malevolent. Its unusually deep consumption made it essential to the sequence.

Art Bell opens the phone lines for a themed Friday night session built around three listener-suggested topics. Callers share short-term predictions for the next six weeks, first-person encounters with monsters and unknown creatures, and accounts of sexual encounters with unseen entities or forces. A truck driver des...
Episode thumbnail for November 27, 1998: Ghost Stories - Open Lines
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November 27, 1998: Ghost Stories - Open Lines

Nov 27, 1998
3h 14m

Ghost stories bring the collection back to classic oral folklore. The ordinary voices and unpolished details distinguish it from investigator-led paranormal episodes.

Art Bell dedicates the entire broadcast to listener ghost stories, fulfilling a promise delayed from Halloween when the Pegasus story interrupted the planned Ghost to Ghost edition. He opens by explaining his fascination with spirits as potential evidence of existence after death, then reads accounts including a 192...
Episode thumbnail for August 21, 2015: Open Lines - Pact with the Devil
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August 21, 2015: Open Lines - Pact with the Devil

Aug 21, 2015
2h 17m

The pact-with-the-devil theme gives the set a later-era finale with a clearly defined moral and supernatural danger. It connects caller radio directly to the occult collections.

Art Bell declares a special phone line after the Vatican's International Association of Exorcists announces demonic possession at "emergency levels." The question: have you made a deal with the devil? Such a pact need not involve a contract but can be sealed in one's own mind, and Art Bell warns repeatedly that the...

Book companion

From the High Desert