Showing results by author "Hector Hugh Munro (Saki)" in All Categories

A masterful collection of 28 short stories by Edwardian satirist Hector Hugh Munro, who wrote under the pseudonym “Saki”. The Chronicles of Clovis includes many of Saki’s best known tales, exemplifying his witty and multi-layered storytelling, satirizing the habits and morals of British society of his day.

When the prematurely middle-aged J.P. Huddle is recommended to take an “unrest-cure” by a friend, he little realizes that the other passenger in the railway compartment, the prank-loving Clovis, will take this as a personal challenge. The havoc which Clovis’s macabre and at times shocking practical joke causes is beyond anything that the sleepy hamlet of Tilfield has seen before. Hector Hugh Munro at his most macabre.

When Mr. Cornelius Appin announces that he has succeeded in teaching the cat, Tobermory, to speak, nobody in the house party believes him. But when Tobermory makes his entrance and begins to reveal the kind of personal secrets only a cat can know about the assembled company, chaos breaks out. Tobermory must be destroyed at all costs. Hector Hugh Munro at his most masterful!

Framton Nuttel pays an unannounced call on Mrs. Sappleton and finds himself in the midst of a macabre spectacle which is not as it seems. Hector Hugh Munro’s genius storytelling at its best.

Unknowingly, a man arrives on the anniversary of the “Great Tragedy” that led to his host having her large French window wide open onto the lawn on an October afternoon in the vain hope that her husband and brothers - whom he learns have been dead three years - will return through it. To his horror, the man shares in the terrors of the day.

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.

Hector Hugh Munro (1870-1916) is better known by the pen name Saki. He remains hugely popular as a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirised Edwardian society and culture. The Interlopers is the story of two sworn enemies who find themselves trapped and injured under a fallen tree in a forest at night.

Finding himself trapped in a compartment with a set of unruly children, the Storyteller decides to take revenge by narrating a tale with a most immoral twist. This is a wonderful example of Hector Hugh Munro’s witty and multi-layered storytelling, satirizing British Edwardian society. The listener is drawn into the story along with the children and is equally horrified and delighted by the unexpected ending.

When Theodoric Voler boards a train he finds he is not alone in the compartment. Not only is there a female companion asleep in one corner, there is a mouse which has hidden itself inside his clothes. Can the sensitive and prudish young man manage to undress and extricate the mouse without his female companion waking up? Hector Hugh Munro (Saki) at his most satirical. A superb and witty observation on the sensibilities and mores of British Edwardian society.

Conradin is a sickly and introverted child who hates his guardian, Mrs. De Ropp. When she takes away his pet hen and threatens to do the same with his pole-cat, whom he worships like a god, Conradin makes a special prayer and his sinister wish is answered. Hector Hugh Munro (aka Saki) at his most sinister and macabre. Superb!

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.

A quartet of short stories by the mastermind of practical jokes, Hector Hugh Munro, better known under his pseudonym “Saki”. This collection brings together four of his most ingenious tales, all of which involve one character playing a prank on the others. The results range from the comic to the macabre… but all are brilliantly narrated with Saki’s superb ironic wit. The Stampeding of Lady Bastable.

When master chef Monsieur Aristide Saucourt presents his signature dish to diners at the Grand Sybaris Hotel, he anticipates they will acknowledge this as the pinnacle of his career. But the moment does not go as planned and ends in a fatal tragedy involving hot soup.

When Henri Deplis comes into a small inheritance and celebrates his new found wealth by getting an elaborate tattoo, he little realizes what a series of catastrophic events will ensue. The tattoo is recognized as a masterpiece of modern art and given to the city of Bergamo. This is the start of a series of restrictions on Henri Deplis’ lifestyle which gradually but inevitably lead to his downfall.

Sophie Chattel-Monkheim was a socialist by conviction and a Chattel-Monkheim by marriage. When the Duke of Serbia does her the honour of joining her house party, despite her left-wing leanings, Sophie is determined to make a good impression. So she hires an emergency chef who is an expert in making Byzantine omelettes. Within a very short time the entire household is thrown into disarray....

Hector Hugh Munro (1870-1916) is better known by the pen name Saki. He remains hugely popular as a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirized Edwardian society and culture. The Lost Sanjak' is the last-minute account by a condemned man, speaking to the prison chaplain, telling the astounding story of how he came to be condemned to hang for the murder of...himself!

The Penance is an edgy and at times horrifying tale about a normally amiable man who has killed the cat belonging to his neighbour's children, on the grounds that he suspected it of attacking his chickens. His efforts to make up for this awful deed are met with hostility, and the children take the opportunity to plan a dire revenge.

Edwardian satirist Hector Hugh Munro (1870-1916), who wrote under the pseudonym "Saki" tells the story of an unusual three-way domestic dispute between Egbert, his wife Lady Anne, and Don Tarquinio the cat. As often happens with Saki, there is a cynical twist at the end.

A quartet of short stories by Britain’s raconteur supreme, Hector Hugh Munro, better known under his pseudonym “Saki”. This collection brings together four of his most curious and amusing tales, all of which involve animals. Saki’s satirical take on the morals and eccentricities of Edwardian society, combined with a compelling narrative and an unexpected ending draw keep the reader hanging on until the very last word.