Showing results by narrator "Cathy Dobson" in All Categories

A vintage collection of some of the greatest short stories ever written

Seven short story masterpieces by the acknowledged master of the short story, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: 'The Parasite', 'The Mystery of Sasassa Valley', 'The Man with the Watches', 'A Pastoral Horror', 'The Slapping Sal', 'Lot No. 249','The Ring of Thoth'.

Red Door audiobooks presents 46 classic tales of the strange from some of the greatest writers of all time. 1. A Joy Ride by A. J. Alan 2.The Death Mask by H. D. Everett 3. Query by Austin Small 4 . The Dancing Partner by Jerome K. Jerome 5. The Furnished Room by O. Henry 6. The Squaw by Bram Stoker 7. The Interruption by W. W. Jacobs 8. The 19 Club by A. J. Alan 9 . The Giraffe Problem by Barry Pain10. The Man who Stole a Meeting House by John Townsend Trowbridge 11. The Lightning-Rod Man by Herman

Bram Stoker (1847 - 1912) is best known for his masterpiece of horror, "Dracula". But he was also the author of many exceptional horror stories, of which "The Squaw" is a prime example. It tells the story of a brash but kind-hearted American visiting Europe. He and his travelling companions are keen to visit the Torture Tower in the Burg at Nuremburg. But on their way, the American unfortunately drops a pebble over the parapet... setting in motion a terrible series of events.

The Giant Who Had No Heart tells the story of a kind prince who sets off to rescue his brothers and their sweethearts, who have been turned to stone by a cruel giant. With the help of a raven, a salmon, a wolf and a very clever princess, he is finally able to rescue his brothers and their brides and win the princess for himself....

'Jerry Bundler' is a ghost story with a twist. We open in a tavern where travellers are telling ghost stories late one night. One gentleman tells a tale about a ghost haunting the very house where they are all sitting. His story frightens all the company gathered around the fire...and when the old gentleman retires to bed, one of the others proposes to take revenge by pretending to be the ghost. But what happens next is very far from a joke.

James Hume Nisbet (1849 - 1923) was born in Scotland but travelled extensively in Australia before returning to his native country. He became a writer in middle-age and wrote prolifically, mainly mystery and adventure fiction. The Vampire Maid is a classic vampire story about a traveller who takes lodgings with an apparently kind landlady and her pale invalid daughter, who instantly casts a spell upon him.

Mary Elizabeth Braddon (1835-1915) was a British Victorian-era novelist famous for her sensationalist writing. "The Cold Embrace" is a ghost story about a pair of lovers who promise to be true to each other. The young man declares he will even return from beyond the grave to be with his lover, but she declares that only a suicide can do this, as they are denied entrance to heaven. Shortly after this, the young man travels away and after some time neglects to write anymore.

The extraordinary story of Robert Jeffrey who was press-ganged into the Royal Navy in 1808 at the age of 18. On his first voyage on board the Recruit under the strict Captain Lake, Jeffrey gave in to temptation and stole a sip of rum. For this he was clapped in irons for two days and then given two dozen lashes. A few days later however, he drank two quarts of spruce beer belonging to the midshipmen. For this repeat misdemeanor, Captain Lake ordered him to be put ashore on a barren rock on the outskirts of the Leeward Islands.

Possibly the scariest horror story of all time. Captured and condemned to death by the Inquisition at Toledo, the narrator finds that his captors have devised a dungeon for him which exposes him to the most dreadful and drawn out psychological terror before certain death finally catches him. Every time he manages to escape one of their petrifying devices, another even more gruesome mode of execution is deployed.

Calamity strikes when the precious gift of a white elephant from the King of Siam to the Queen of England is stolen in America. But it is the hilarious antics of the detectives trying to track down the beast which occupies us. As the rampaging elephant heads east, or maybe west, or possibly north or south, it leaves a trail of death and destruction.

In The Adventure of the Speckled Band, Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson are faced with a most unusual case. Two years earlier a young woman died under mysterious and unexplained circumstances while alone in her locked bedroom. Her last words to her sister referred to a 'speckled band'. She had previously complained of hearing a strange whistling sound in the night. Now the sister is sleeping in the same room, and she too has heard the mysterious whistling. But what can it be? And what is the 'speckled band'?

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 Sea Raiders is a gruesome tale of a rapacious shoal of cephalopods which attack the coast of Southern England.

Mary Wilkins Freeman (1852-1930) was an American writer best known for her stories reflecting the world of women fighting for dignity and independence from men. Her tales typically describe domestic settings and intimate relationships and are told with sensitivity and a poignancy which illuminates a bygone era in vivid detail. 'The Lost Ghost' is a supernatural story told by one woman to another about a child ghost who wanders around an old house in search of her mother.... The story has an extraordinary ending.

A riveting collection of true stories which are so strange as to be almost unbelievable.

A fascinating and varied collection of 50 great classic short stories, including ghost stories, crimes, humorous tales and passionate romance.

Charles Dickens' disturbing story detailing the memoirs of a deranged psychopath.

Margaretha Geertruida Zelle (1876 – 1917), better known by the stage name Mata Hari, was a Dutch exotic dancer who was convicted of being a spy and executed by firing squad in France during the first World War. Sir Basil Home Thomson, KCB (1861 – 1939) was a British intelligence officer, police officer, prison governor, colonial administrator, and writer.

One of George Eliot's most intriguing works. During a period of illness, Latimer first discovers an unusual ability. He is able to read other peoples' minds and see visions of the future. Rather than being a gift, this strange phenomenon increasingly becomes a curse. But the one thing that keeps him going is his love for Bertha who Latimer knows will one day marry him, and who is the one person whose thoughts remain a mystery to him.

When Billy Bowen and Ellen McDonald's engagement is broken off, nobody quite knows the full story. Slowly the facts are pieced together to reveal a hilarious catalogue of mishaps and misunderstandings which result in a most catastrophic Christmas list. Ring Lardner's comic genius at his most masterful!