Showing results by narrator "Cathy Dobson" in All Categories

A breathtaking collection of 80 classic short stories inspired by different locations, people and customs across the globe...

Annette von Droste-Hülshoff's dark tale of an unsolved murder, revenge and the supernatural. When the young Friedrich Mergel goes to work for his uncle, he is quickly drawn into a world of shady business dealings and a ruthless band of wood-thieves. But on the night when Friedrich quarrels with Aaron the Jew, he subsequently disappears, together with his illegitimate cousin John Nobody. Shortly afterwards, Aaron is found murdered. Friedrich's disappearance is considered suspicious

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 Empire of the Ants" is a disturbing tale about a new species of giant ants in South America which have evolved to use tools and weapons, wear clothes, communicate and organize themselves as a deadly fighting machine. And their chosen enemy is mankind....

A gripping collection of some of the world’s best classic adventure stories....

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

May Sinclair was the nom de plume of Mary Amelia St. Clair (1863-1946), a British writer who wrote novels, short stories and poetry. She was an active suffragette and a spiritualist. 'The Nature of the Evidence' is a ghost story about a first wife who returns to this world when her husband remarries, to protest her disapproval of his choice of second wife and prevent the two of them from ever sharing a bed.

A fascinating collection of short stories by great writers that examine aspects of the first world war, from action in the trenches, to the psychological impact of war on individuals and their relationships, to heroic adventure stories, to ghosts and war graves. A wonderful collection!

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.

bibliophile's collection of wide ranging and masterful short stories, embracing both the subtle and the macabre, the whimsical and the downright frightful. Fifty captivating short stories which will keep listeners glued to their headsets.

Richard Austin Freeman (1862-1943) was a British writer of detective stories, mostly featuring the medico-legal forensic investigator Dr. Thorndyke. Freeman used some of his early experiences as a colonial surgeon in West Africa in his novels. The Case of the White Footprints is a murder mystery set in Margate. A lady has been found dead in her room in a boarding house.

Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923) was a prominent modernist writer of short fiction and a close associate of D. H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf. The Little Girl and Other Stories was first published in 1921 and includes 'The Tiredness of Rosabel', 'How Pearl Button Was Kidnapped', 'The Journey to Bruges', 'A Truthful Adventure', 'New Dresses', 'The Woman at the Store', 'Ole Underwood', 'The Little Girl', 'Millie', 'Pension', 'Séguin', 'Violet', 'Bains Turcs', 'Something Childish but Very Natural', 'An Indiscreet Journey', 'Spring Pictures', 'Late at Night' and more.

Nothing on earth is so terrifying as the prospect of waking up to discover you have been buried alive. A sufferer of catalepsy, who has a morbid fear of such a fate, takes every possible precaution. He designs himself a coffin which can be opened from the inside, which is padded, equipt with a bell for attracting attention, placed in an easily opened vault which contains food and water. Imagine then, his horror when he wakes up to find himself in a wooden box, reeking of damp earth and with none of his precautions in place. Poe at his most terrifying!

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.

Mary Shelley's classic gothic horror novel. The scientific young genius, Frankenstein, discovers a method for creating life in inanimate objects and sets about a project to build a human in his laboratory. He is successful in his aim, but in so doing, unleashes on the world a creature whose physical deformities make him repulsive to everyone who sets eyes on him.

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.

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.

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.

Edgar Alfred Jepson (1863-1938) was an English author best known for his adventure and detective fiction. He also wrote supernatural and fantasy stories. 'The Battersea Flat Mystery' is the true story of a particularly unusual unsolved murder in the Battersea area of London. A man is found shot on the stairs outside the empty flat below the one where his ex-mistress lives and where his son is visiting for supper. A mysterious stranger is seen running from the scene.

Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (1842-circa 1914) was an American author, journalist, short story writer and satirist who disappeared in 1913 under mysterious circumstances and was never seen again. "The Moonlit Road" is a brilliant and eerie ghost story which recounts a terrible murder of a woman from three different viewpoints.

'The Brazen Serpent' is an unusual crime story in that it is told from the perspective of the criminal. Danby, a young engineer and hobby metalsmith has just escaped from prison and is in search of a way to make a living while on the run. His friend Parmenter, a collector of antiquities and owner of a rare and valuable medallion which is his most prized possession, offers him a position running an antiques business he has just acquired.