Showing results by narrator "Cathy Dobson" in All Categories

When Richard Hannay returns to London after an action-packed life in Rhodesia, he finds life unbearably dull. He is on the point of leaving the city in search of adventures, when mystery and intrigue turns up at his door in the shape of Franklin Scudder, Hannay’s neighbour, who turns out to be a spy trying to escape the clutches of a shady international organisation, bent on sparking a European war. When Scudder is mysteriously murdered and all the evidence seems to point to Hannay himself, he escapes to Scotland, bearing Scudder’s cryptic coded notebook, which he struggles to decipher.

A quartet of short stories by the British master of the macabre, Hector Hugh Munro, better known under his pseudonym “Saki”. This collection brings together four of his most macabre tales, all of which will surprise the listener with an uncanny twist at the end.

All roads lead to Rome. The young boy telling this story cannot quite comprehend this assertion - but of one road, he is certain it is true. The Knights' Road, as he and his friends call it. A road without hedges or ditches, a road that heads straight over the downs with a purpose. One day he will set off to Rome along this road... but for the moment his attention is arrested by an artist he meets on the Knights' Road. An artist who seems to know many strange and wonderful things...

When Paul Forsyth and his archeologist friend Professor Niles are exploring the Cheops pyramid in Egypt, they become separated from their guide and lose their way in the labyrinthine tunnel network. Finding themselves close to a female mummy, they decide to create a fire using the wooden case in the hope of attracting the attention of the Egyptian guides. Professor Niles is keen to unwrap the mummy and see what items may have been hidden in the bandages. They do indeed find treasures...one of which is a golden box containing some mysterious seeds...and another is a scrap of parchment casting a curse on anyone who disturbs the rest of the mummy....

'Good Lady Ducayne' is a sensational tale of a young woman, Bella Rolleston, who secures a job as a paid companion to a very elderly and wealthy aristocratic lady who offers her a handsome salary, a winter travelling on the Italian Riviera and the Italian Lakes and very little to do. It all seems too good to be true. And when Bella learns that the old lady's previous two companions died under mysterious circumstances and she herself is becoming paler and sicker...it does seem as though something sinister is afoot.

"Twenty-Six Men and a Girl" is a short story written by the Russian writer Maxim Gorky in 1899, and is one of his most famous. It is a pioneering tale of social realism (the story predates Soviet socialist realism), and is a lament of lost ideals. Twenty-six men slave away in a cellar, making kringles, looked down on by all around them, including the bread bakers. Their only joy in their lives is the 16-year-old Tanya, who visits them every morning to collect kringles.

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.

When a mysterious craft appears from the clouds over Rotterdam and an odd looking tiny being with no ears drops a letter at the feet of the Burgermeister, nobody can possibly imagine the strange and wonderful account which it contains. The letter is from a certain Hans Pfaal, a citizen of Rotterdam who went missing five years earlier under strange circumstances, and who was widely believed to have been the victim of a bizarre and grisly murder. But Hans Pfaal's story is even more astounding than anyone could possibly imagine.

J. G. Lockhart (1794-1854) was a Scottish writer and editor, with a particular passion for investigating famous mysteries. In this analysis, he investigates the legend of the Flying Dutchman, the ghostly mariner, cursed by God, who is condemned to roam the high seas causing disaster to ships and sailors until the day of judgement, when his soul will be delivered to Satan. Lockhart's analysis looks at various incarnations of the tale and whether the myth could in fact have its roots in a real event.

Over 50 great classic short stories, each around 20 minutes in length - perfect for short journeys, bedtime listening and those moments in between.... 'The Khitmatgar' by B. M. Croker, 'The Mummy of Thompson Pratt' by Charles John Cutcliffe Hyne, 'The Ghost at the Blue Dragon' by William J. Wintle, 'A Tropical Horror' by William Hope Hodgson, 'Miracles' by Barry Pain, 'The Dust That Was Barren' by P. C. Wren, 'His Unconquerable Enemy' by W. C. Morrow, 'A Tiger’s Skin' by W. W. Jacobs....

A gripping collection of weird and fantastical stories of supernatural and unbelievable happenings. "Pomegranate Seed" by Edith Wharton; "The Tiger" by Hugh Walpole; "When I Was Dead" by Vincent O'Sullivan; "The Fire" by Charles John Cutcliffe Hyne; "Satan's Circus" by Eleanor Smith; "The Coffin Merchant" by Richard Middleton; and more tall stories....

William Wymark Jacobs (1863 - 1943) was an English author of short stories and novels. His most popular works in the early part of the last century were his humorous tales set around the docks of Wapping and in the tap-room of the infamous Cauliflower tavern. Many of his stories were written in a Cockney vernacular and were keenly observant of character. His most famous horror stories are "The Monkey's Paw" and "His Brother's Keeper" both of which have been included in numerous anthologies.

This book, the last work of Charles Dickens to be published, is peculiarly personal to the writer. The manuscript was entirely handwritten and kept in his home solely for the use of his own children. It was never intended for publication, but rather written in a form which Dickens thought most suitable for his own youngsters, and they might have a permanent record of their father's thoughts.

A brilliant and humorous short story by Wilkie Collins, in which an elderly lady, whose Victorian sensibilities on morals and propriety are finely honed, finds herself living next door to Major Namby, the ultimate neighbour from hell.

Dear old Raggedy Ann! The beloved rag doll who comes to life and along with the other toys in the nursery has a series of exciting adventures. Generations of children have listened round eyed and open mouthed as Raggedy Ann flies away on a kite, rescues the family dog from the pound, helps the hens hatch out chicks and lands up in the paint pot. Johnny Gruelle (1880-1938) was an American artist, cartoonist and children's author. One day his daughter Marcella found a dusty, faceless rag doll in the attic.

Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace (1875-1932) was an English writer of 957 short stories and over 170 novels. He is widely recognised as one of the most prolific writers of his age. 'The Man with the Canine Teeth' is a classic murder mystery. A mild-mannered scientist has been found, apparently strangled to death in his laboratory overnight. But there are some strange circumstances. Where are the old man's spectacles? And why is he wearing thick gloves?

Robert Ervin Howard (1906-1936) was an American author who was best known for his macabre horror stories and weird tales. This collection brings together a highly representative selection of his creepy stories, written very much after the Lovecraftian style. 'Rattle of Bones', 'Sea Curse', 'Pigeons from Hell', 'In the Forest of Villefore', 'The Dream Snake', 'The Fearsome Touch of Death', 'The Right Hand of Doom' and 'The Thing on the Roof'.

A glittering collection of 36 short stories by Edwardian satirist Hector Hugh Munro, who wrote under the pseudonym "Saki". Beasts And Super-Beasts includes many of Saki's best loved tales, exemplifying his witty and multi-layered storytelling, satirizing the habits and morals of British society of his day.

A medieval legend about an evil curse, a love triangle and a dreadful tragedy. Harald and Alfred are love rivals for the hand of the beautiful Ysault. While Ysault favours the noble Harald, she does not know that Harald is under a terrible curse, inherited from his wicked grandfather. The region is being ravaged by a vicious werewolf which carries off livestock and children, but mysteriously only on nights when Harald is away from the castle. Alfred notices this strange coincidence and determines to take advantage of the insight to beat his love rival.

Ellis Parker Butler (1869-1937) was an American author of more than 30 books and more than 2,000 stories and essays. He is best known for his famous short story "Pigs Is Pigs", in which a bureaucratic stationmaster insists on levying the livestock rate for a shipment of two pet guinea pigs, which soon start proliferating exponentially.