Showing results by narrator "Cathy Dobson" in All Categories

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. 'The Tiger' is the evocative tale of an Englishman who travels to New York and descends strangely into a terrible psychosis in which he seems to perceive wild animals roaming through the subway beneath the streets.

During the last part of the nineteenth century, the detective story took off as a popular genre as literary magazines vied with each other to draw in readers with gripping page-turners by the likes of Arthur Conan Doyle, G. K. Chesterton, Guy Boothby and Wilkie Collins. This collection brings together some of the great detectives of the Victorian era, from the master sleuth himself, Sherlock Holmes, to the mild mannered Father Brown, to the feisty J. G. Reeder.

Poe's classic supernatural tale of a black cat which is maltreated by its drunken owner and reaps a macabre form of revenge from beyond the grave.

Over 24 of the best humorous stories ever written, including: "The Inconsiderate Waiter", by J. M. Barrie; "Mrs. Packletide’s Tiger", by Saki; "Curried Cow", by Ambrose Bierce; "Cannibalism in the Cars", by Mark Twain; "A Love Knot", by W. W. Jacobs; "A Bottomless Grave", by Ambrose Bierce; "Biffin on the Bassoon", by Harry Graham; "Esme", by Saki; "Germans at Meat", by Katherine Mansfield; and "Adrian", by Saki

The Victorians were obsessed with Egyptology and mummies. It was during the second half of the 19th century that many of the most significant archeological finds were made in Egypt, and stories of the revenge of the mummies on anyone raiding their tombs, stealing their treasures or unwrapping their corpses abounded. This collection brings together the best and scariest short stories of the period, featuring vengeance-seeking mummies, bandaged zombies, pharaonic ghosts and ancient curses.

A highly unsettling collection of macabre stories in which death and the dead are key themes. Moon’s Gibbet by Egerton Castle, A Strange Goldfield by Guy Boothby, The Withered Arm by Thomas Hardy, The Pistol Shot by Alexander Pushkin, The Premature Burial by Edgar Allan Poe, The Dead Hand by Wilkie Collins, The Famous Race between the Hearse and the Steamroller by Sidney Keyes, The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe, Nine O’Clock by Wilkie Collins, The Queen of Spades by Alexander Pushkin.

Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1890-1937), who wrote as H. P. Lovecraft, was an American author who achieved posthumous acclaim for his outstanding and influential works of horror fiction. Dagon is the story of a shipwrecked sailor who comes face to face with an ancient and terrible sea-god, Dagon. So horrifying is his ordeal that he spends the rest of his life trying to escape the awful clutches of Dagon. In the end there is only one way out.

Fifty of the world's greatest classic short stories: 1.The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant 2.The One Million Pound Banknote by Mark Twain 3.The Phantom Rickshaw by Rudyard Kipling 4.The Fly by Katherine Mansfield 5.The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe 6.My Favorite Murder by Ambrose Bierce 7.The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe 8.One Thousand Dollars by O. Henry 9.Regret by Kate Chopin 10.The Nose by Nikolai Gogol 11.The Mezzotint by M. R. James 12.The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry

A rich collection of diverse and fascinating stories by famous classic authors. 1.The Bus Conductor by E. F. Benson 2.The Murderer by Perceval Gibbon 3.The Death Mask by H. D. Everett 4.Caterpillars by E. F. Benson 5.His Brother’s Keeper by W. W. Jacobs 6.The Secret of the Black Bag by William Le Queux 7.A Joy Ride by A. J. Alan 8.The Perfect Murder by Stacy Aumonier 9.The Furnished Room by O. Henry 10.The Squaw by Bram Stoker 11.The Dust Cloud by E. F. Benson 12.The Idiot by Arnold Bennett

Fedor Sologub (1863-1927) was a mystic, a realist and a writer of novels and outstanding short stories in the Dostoyevsky school. "The Hoop" is very representative of his evocative work. It tells the story of an old man who is captivated by the sight of a young child playing with a hoop. The image embeds itself in his psyche and from it, right at the end of his life, he finally learns how to live in the moment.

When young Gillian inherits a sum of one thousand dollars from his late uncle, with the condition that he should spend it and return to the lawyers' office with a detailed account of his expenditure, he is at a loss what to do with the money. He seeks ideas and advice from many...but eventually the solution dawns on him.

Herbert George Wells (1866-1946) was a prolific English writer of science fiction stories and novels and is frequently credited as being the father of science fiction. 'The Star' is the story of a shooting star which is discovered hurtling towards our solar system. It is on a collision course with Neptune. When the celestial crash occurs, the two planets combine into a gigantic burning star which is being drawn rapidly and irresistibly towards our sun. But on what trajectory? Will it hit any other planets on its way?

'Dream Life and Real Life' is a haunting short story about a little orphan girl in servitude to a cruel Boer family. One night, following a beating, she runs away and hides in a cave. But there she overhears three men plotting to rob and burn down the Boer's farm and kill the family. What should she do? Warn them, or let them burn to death?

A gripping collection of the very best classic mystery and adventure stories. 1. "Rose Rose" by Barry Pain 2. "The Perfect Crime" by Seamark 3. "The Well" by W. W. Jacobs 4. "The Tea-Leaf" by Edgar Jepson and Robert Eustace 5. "The Step" by E. F. Benson 6. "The Queer Feet" by G. K. Chesterton 7. "The Beast with Five Fingers" by W. F. Harvey 8. "The Enemy" by Hugh Walpole 9. "An Impromptu Dance" by A. J. Alan 10. "The Red-Headed League" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 11. "The Wedding Guest" by Guy Boothby

A delightful and comprehensive collection of all the best known traditional children's rhymes. Click on the link below to find out the story listing.

A spine-chilling collection of tales of uncanny happenings, ghostly apparitions, unexplained mysteries, evil deeds and tragic events.

Poe's brilliant account of committing a perfect murder from within the paranoid brain of the murderer.

A collection of fascinating legends from Spain, including ghost stories, forgotton crimes, unexplained mysteries, magic and witchcraft.

Nikolai Gogol (1809-1852) was a preeminent Ukrainian-born story writer. He is particularly famous for those stories which veer in the direction of surrealism and the grotesque. The Cloak is one such tale. Akaky Akakiyevich is a reclusive and widely ridiculed lower official whose job is to copy letters. He lives a hand-to-mouth existence with his elderly landlady and has little money. But the harsh weather in St. Petersburg necessitates the purchase of a new cloak.

A collection of 50 of the world's great creepy stories. "Creepy" does not necessarily mean ghost or horror stories but rather stories that literally make our flesh creep by shaking our false sense of security and comprehension of the world.