Showing results by narrator "Cathy Dobson" in All Categories

A gripping collection of classic stories in which the central figures are highly dangerous female characters - ranging from the creepy and unsettling to the utterly terrifying.

The golden age of the short story was in Victorian and Edwardian times, when authors made a living by contributing to literary magazines and journals. These popular journals threw up such literary greats as Dickens, Conan Doyle, Rider Haggard, and Jerome K. Jerome. Many of the great writers are undeservedly neglected by modern audience...but what a pleasure it is to rediscover the literary treasures that delighted our great grandparents!

Genuinely chilling narratives of paranormal phenomena, the returning dead, uncanny apparitions, sinister happenings and inexplicable events which make your blood run cold. Listen in the dark... if you dare!

A collection of short stories written by prominent supporters of the women's suffrage movement in the United Kingdom....

Maxim Gorky, whose real name was Alexey Maximovich Pyeshkov, is probably the best-known late-19th-century Russian fiction writer among the English-speaking world. His pen name translates as Maxim the Bitter, which attitude is reflected in many of his works. Much of his writing reflects his own terrible life experiences and suffering. It is in his short stories that he reveals his true genius. "Her Lover" describes the plight of a lonely, alienated woman who creates an imaginary lover for herself.

A collection of 40 classic short stories which carry a huge punch, from the great classic authors: Oscar Wilde, Saki, Kate Chopin, Edgar Allan Poe, O. Henry, Banjo Paterson, W. W. Jacobs, Guy de Maupassant and many more great names. Look forward to the train being delayed, friends turning up late, walking the dog round the block, ironing that shirt... 10-minute slots need never be wasted time again!

Six fascinating tales of the mysterious doings of secret societies and gentlemen's clubs. A Foggy Evening by A. J. Alan The Giraffe Problem by Barry Pain The Suicide Club by Robert Louis Stevenson The Dream by A. J. Alan The Inconsiderate Waiter by J. M. Barrie The 19 Club by A. J. Alan.

A captivating anthology of some of the more unusual short stories written by well-known classic writers. 1. "A Witch in the Peak" by R. Murray Gilchrist. 2. "War" by Sherwood Anderson. 3. "Self-Help" by W. W. Jacobs. 4. "The Wolf" by Guy de Maupassant. 5. "Makes the Whole World Kin" by O. Henry. 6. "The Stone Dragon" by R. Murray Gilchrist. 7. "The New Englander" by Sherwood Anderson. 8. "Berenice" by Edgar Allan Poe. 9. "The Man with the Watches" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. 10. "The Adventure of the Diamond Necklace" by G. F. Forest.

Stephen Crane (1871-1900) was a prolific American poet, novelist and short story writer. He is recognised by modern critics as one of the most innovative writers of his generation. 'The Open Boat' is probably Stephen Crane's best known and most admired story. It tells the adventure of four sailors, the captain, the oiler, the cook and the correspondent, who are sole survivors of a shipwreck at sea in a small rowing boat off the coast of Florida.

Sir Hugh Seymour Walpole (1884-1941) was a New Zealand-born English novelist famous for his skill at scene setting and vivid plots. He was a best-selling author in the 1920s and 1930s and remains popular to this day. 'Mr. Huffam' is a heartwarming story about a delightful stranger who, on account of his personal bonhomie and his wonderful ability to tell stories, charms the household of Sir Roderick Winslow, from the haughty aristocratic relatives to the domestics.

Herbert George Wells (1866-1946) was a prolific English writer of stories and novels and is frequently credited as being the father of science fiction. The Time Machine, first published in 1895, is possibly Wells' most famous work. It tells the story of the inventor of a vehicle which allows him to travel in time and his firsthand account of his adventures as he travels millions of years into the future, where mankind has evolved into something very different from the humans of the 19th century.

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) is generally considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. The Bet is the story of a banker and a lawyer who embark on an insane bet. The banker bets the lawyer two million roubles that he cannot endure 15 years of incarceration. The lawyer agrees and the terms of the imprisonment are set. But during the 15 years each of the characters undergoes various changes and the outcome of the bet is an extraordinary twist in the tale.

Allan Quatermain, or Hunter Quatermain as his friends call him, recounts his South African adventure of hunting four lions.

>A true classic tale from the genre of weird Victorian tales based on a fascination with Ancient Egypt. A student of Egyptology gets shut into the Louvre at night by accident. Suddenly he sees a light approaching. Fearing that it is burglars, he hides and watches. The museum attendant, to whom he had spoken earlier, and who bears an uncanny physical similarity to images of ancient Egyptians, proceeds to open a mummy case and then unwrap the mummy. What he does next shocks the student of Egyptology to the core....

Set during the Franco-Prussian war, de Maupassant's story tells of a group of German soldiers occupying and gradually vandalising a stately home in Normandy. Bored of the dull location and incessant rain, the group of young officers decide to send to the nearest town for a group of prostitutes, so that they can hold an orgiastic dinner party. Among the women is the spirited young Rachel, whose willingness to fraternize with the Prussians is put to the test, with catastrophic results.

A dysfunctional and amoral family murders its alcoholic father and buries him in the yard, before embarking on a hobby of befriending strangers whose bodies they bury in the cellar. When the stocks of liquor and provisions kept in the cellar start to deplete mysteriously, they put it down to the partying of the restless spirits of their murder victims...but a stranger truth emerges. Written in Bierce's witty style, this story is a laugh-a-minute comedy.

A delightful folk tale from Romania about a princess who is destined to marry a pig. When the pig arrives at her father's court to woo her, she submits to her fate - but the pig is in reality anything but what he seems. He is a prince who has been bewitched. Unfortunately the witch now tricks the princess into extending the spell - her fate is now to embark on a lengthy quest, hampered by iron sandals, to find her beloved husband and free him from the curse once and for all. Enchanting!

Mrs. Sangrail is determined to offload her wayward son Clovis onto Lady Bastable for six days while she takes a trip to Scotland. Is desperation she resorts to cunning bribery, but Clovis has other ideas and devises an ingenious scheme to thwart his mother’s plans. Another piece of genius humour writing by Hector Hugh Munro, peppered with his humorous observations on British Edwardian society.

When the Momeby family’s baby goes missing, their neighbour Miss Gilpet undertakes to find the child. Her immediate success turns out to be less of a miracle and more of an embarrassment for all.

Kipling’s classic tale taken from the Just So Stories. The camel who lives in the howling desert is reluctant to join the other animals in working for man. He gets his comeuppance when he is magically given a hump, so that he can work three days in a row without stopping to eat.