Tales of Life and Death

De: H. G. Wells, Edith Wharton, Richard Middleton, Amyas Northcote, M. R. James, Robert E. Howard, Vincent O'Sullivan

Narrado por: Cathy Dobson

The boundaries which divide life from death are at best shadowy and vague. Never more so than in this collection of 30 weird and macabre tales.

• 'The Stolen Body' by H. G. Wells
• 'The Young Lady in Black' by Amyas Northcote
• 'On the Brighton Road' by Richard Middleton
• 'When I Was Dead' by Vincent O'Sullivan
• 'A Vision of Judgement' by H. G. Wells
• 'This Is All' by Barry Pain
• 'A Dead Finger' by Sabine Baring-Gould
• 'Under the Knife' by H. G. Wells
• 'Rattle of Bones' by Robert E. Howard
• 'Kerfol' by Edith Wharton
• 'The Downs' by Amyas Northcote
• 'Story of an Obstinate Corpse' by Elia. W. Peattie
• 'The Coffin Merchant' by Richard Middleton
• 'The Cold Embrace' by M. E. Braddon
• 'The Death of Halpin Frayser' by Ambrose Bierce
• 'The Everlasting Club' by Arthur Gray
• 'The Ghost Club' by John Kendrick Bangs
• 'Wailing Well' by M. R. James
• 'Will' by Vincent O'Sullivan
• 'The Striding Place' by Gertrude Atherton
• 'The Vampire' by Jan Neruda
• 'Mrs. Raeburn's Waxwork' by Eleanor Smith
• 'Miss Mary Pask' by Edith Wharton
• 'On the Northern Ice' by Elia W. Peattie
• 'Sea Curse' by Robert E. Howard
• 'The Snow' by Hugh Walpole
• 'Number Ninety' by B. M. Croker
• 'From the Loom of the Dead' by Elia W. Peattie
• 'The Greatest Good of the Greatest Number' by Gertrude Atherton
• 'Never Bet the Devil Your Head' by Edgar Allan Poe

Public Domain (P)2016 Red Door Audiobooks

....Well....hear me out!

short stories allow listeners like me to get complete bits and pieces in a single setting, and that is just one of the reasons I picked this title. another is that I have questions of Life and Death and was curious about how writers in earlier eras broached the subject... plus, I am drawn to the mysterious and the macabre.

with that said, it took me quite a while to get over the narrator's style. I admit I didn't like it. I put the title down for an entire year! not wanting to waste mt money, I committed to finishing it as a lead up to Halloween the following year (2019, I think). it helped me to slow down the speed of the narration.

the titles comprised here are not at all new, but there are so many I had never heard of - authors and their works. and while I liked more of them than not, there are a few which stuck out that I may never forget (like Middleton's On the Brighton Road) and ONE which plagued me for months (Bierce's Death of Halpin Frayser)! that one led me back to Ambrose Bierce and I have since listened to many of his stories, and he has become one of my favorite authors.

overall, I would say that finally listening to the audiobook was an exercise in patience, but I am happy I experienced it. It was my most memorable Halloween - one lasting an entire month! and when it was over, I had renewed interest in other literary works. with that said, it isn't for the impatient... mostly because of the narrator. I'm not saying Ms. Dobson is "bad" - it just takes time and patience to get used to her style, but then and again her style may be perfect given the nature of this subject... the stories are what they are - many are (or their authors are) classics in American literature.