# "Beyond the Limits" supernatural radio vignette series... Any leads?



## burgmail (Sep 19, 2010)

Hi everyone and Happy 10th anniversary to the board! 

Would anyone recall a syndicated radio vignette series called "Beyond the Limits"? Aired during the weeks leading up to Hallowe'en in the late 1980's/early 1990's in my area, each vignette lasted about 60 to 90 seconds in length, featured a semi-low-toned male narrator solemnly describing tales of the supernatural/unexplained (often taken from well-known traditional tales, older books of "true" ghost stories, and in one case even recalling the '50s teenage ballad concerning a shivering girl named Laurie who asks an unsuspecting young man at a dance for his sweater, then disappears with it (you know the rest)). Each vignette was accompanied by the identical backing track: a monophonic, saw-wave Moog bass with well-spaced, heavily reverbed and echoed "bloops" and "bleeps". The conclusion was also the same for each vignette: a dramatically paused, "There _is_ a natural (logical?) explanation... Isn't there?" preceding the final Moog bass notes Ab G Eb C.

I was wondering if anyone knew of the availability of any recordings of the series, be it digitally or on hard copy (vinyl? tape? cart? open reel?). Just the ambient music behind each seriously-intoned, narrated story was enough to make me scared of entering any empty room in the house! As much as it may still scare me, I would love to hear at least one again... Preferably in a safe, fully-lit environment. 

Thanks! and HAPPY HALLOWE'EN!
Burgmail


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## annamarykahn (Oct 4, 2009)

sounds interesting

hope some knows where this stuff is located

amk


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## jjkeyser23 (Dec 19, 2012)

Beyond the Limits! Halloween reminds us of strange things, and in a moment I'll tell you about...

I used to listen to these when I was a kid, probably 15 or 20 years ago. A local radio station in Carmi, IL used to run it through the month of October. I think they ran one every hour or so. I can remember listening with my mom every time one came on the radio. I've been searching for this for the last few years, and have been unable to discover anything about it. Have you found anything since this thread started?


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## burgmail (Sep 19, 2010)

jjkeyser23 said:


> Have you found anything since this thread started?


Alas, no. Every year around Hallowe'en time, I'm prompted to do another Google search... and each time, it seems this is the first (and only) concrete result. One of these days, I should phone up the radio station who used to air these. I was impressed as to how many old radio ads and programmes they'd unearthed from their archives when they celebrated their 60th anniversary or so...


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## burgmail (Sep 19, 2010)

A few years ago, I ended up finding a contact for the semi-local radio station who used to air these in the '80s (and possibly early '90s). I was disappointed to hear they'd cleaned out their library/collection and thrown many a tape/album away. I guess the "retro ad/vignette bonanza" that marked the radio station's 60th anniversary was an anomaly.

I'm amazed it seems so few tuned into Hallowe'en are familiar with this radio series. No traces of it online, despite the annual Google and Bing searches. I don't even know who produced this series. Could they have been located in Illinois? It's like they just... disappeared. There is a logical explanation... isn't there?


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## Holloweenie (Apr 15, 2019)

I, too, remember this Beyond the Limits. I have also looked for this for a long time. We used to have a radio station in Rolla, Missouri with the call letters KCLU that played Beyond the Limits. It is very strange that nobody seems to have any record of it. I think we’ll all be super excited when someone unearths these treasures. I believe they are hidden somewhere. What I remember the narrator saying was, “There is a natural explanation, isn’t there?”


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## Heath West (Oct 7, 2019)

So glad this discussion is ongoing. I'm searching for these, too. My hometown station (WOKC, Okeechobee, FL) ran these every year. It was a turnkey Halloween sponsorship where a 30-second sponsor would go in between the tease and the content. It's been a good 30 years since I last heard them. I'm pretty sure they were received/purchased once and they just kept re-running the same 30 or so episodes every year. But well done for the time.

It's amazing with all of the old radio content uploaded to YouTube these days that this has yet to be done.


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## Sanuary (7 mo ago)

Well it might‘ve taken a decade, but I have what you’re looking for! Maybe around the early 2000’s my parents called a local radio station that played Beyond the Limits and asked if they could get a copy of all the tracks. Luckily the license for it had just expired so they let my parents buy a CD containing 64 of the tracks for just $5. I have no idea if any of you will even see this but here’s a video with all the tracks!

Beyond the Limits (All? 64 Tracks)

If anyone wants the folder with all the tracks I could post a download link for that.


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## MT_Grave (May 23, 2014)

Sanuary said:


> Well it might‘ve taken a decade, but I have what you’re looking for! Maybe around the early 2000’s my parents called a local radio station that played Beyond the Limits and asked if they could get a copy of all the tracks. Luckily the license for it had just expired so they let my parents buy a CD containing 64 of the tracks for just $5. I have no idea if any of you will even see this but here’s a video with all the tracks!
> 
> Beyond the Limits (All? 64 Tracks)
> 
> If anyone wants the folder with all the tracks I could post a download link for that.


Yes please! Would love to have these!


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## Sanuary (7 mo ago)

MT_Grave said:


> Yes please! Would love to have these!











Beyond the Limits : Unknown : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive


Beyond the Limits was a syndicated radio vignette series that played from the 1980's to 1990's during the Halloween season. Each vignette is a...



archive.org





You can download the folder with all the tracks from the site I linked, hope you enjoy!


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## Holloweenie (Apr 15, 2019)

Sanuary said:


> Beyond the Limits : Unknown : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
> 
> 
> Beyond the Limits was a syndicated radio vignette series that played from the 1980's to 1990's during the Halloween season. Each vignette is a...
> ...


@Sanuary, thank you for posting these. I have been looking for these for many, many years!! I thought they were "gone forever" (in the words of Alan Parsons), but you found them. You've made my day, week, month and year! I sure hope that others enjoy them as much as I did as a teenager!


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