Showing results by narrator "Cathy Dobson" in All Categories

William Chambers Morrow (1854-1923) was an American author famed for his short stories of horror and suspense. 'The Permanent Stiletto' is the story of a young man who has been stabbed close to the heart with a stiletto. The blade has pierced the aorta and come out the other side. To withdraw the blade would mean the man would bleed to death...but so long as the blade is in place, it is blocking off the wound. The only solution is to leave the blade in place...after which the young man will live his life on a knife edge.

Edmée Elizabeth Monica Dashwood, née de la Pasture (1890-1943), was a prolific English author who wrote under the pseudonym E. M. Delafield. She is best known for her largely autobiographical Diary of a Provincial Lady, which took the form of a journal of the life of an upper-middle class Englishwoman living mostly in a Devon village of the 1930s. In 'Squirrel in a Cage', she tells the story of the ending of a relationship between two lovers.

Joseph Smith Fletcher (1863 - 1935) was a British journalist and author. He wrote more than 230 books on a wide variety of subjects, both fiction and non-fiction. He was one of the leading writers of detective fiction in the Victorian 'Golden Age' of the short story. The Lighthouse on Shivering Sand is the macabre tale of a new man arriving to work as assistant keeper at a remote lighthouse.

William Fryer Harvey (1885-1937) was an English writer of short stories, most notably in the mystery and horror genres. The Man Who Hated Aspidistras is an eerie tale of a man whose life, from boyhood onward, as been blighted by the sinister houseplants favoured by Victorian ladies. His dislike turns almost to a mania...and then things take on a very peculiar turn....

Ernest Bramah (1868-1942) was an English author of 21 novels and numerous short stories and features. His humorous works have been ranked with Jerome K. Jerome and W. W. Jacobs, his detective stories with Conan Doyle, his politico-science fiction with H. G. Wells, and his supernatural stories with Algernon Blackwood. In his stories of detection, Bramah hit on the idea of a blind detective, Max Carrados, whose triumphs are all the more amazing because of his disability.

A colourful palette of short stories featuring artists and their love of paintings. "Rose Rose" by Barry Pain, "The Cat" by E. F. Benson, "The Model Millionaire" by Oscar Wilde, "A Queer Night in Paris" by Guy de Maupassant, "Portrait of a Lady" by Jerome K. Jerome, "Miss Harriet" by Guy de Maupassant, "The Oval Portrait" by Edgar Allan Poe, "My Adventure at Chislehurst" by A. J. Alan, "The Stalled Ox" by Saki, "The Room in the Tower" by E. F. Benson.

A mesmerizing collection of 30 wonderful stories by great classic writers. 1. The Invisible Man by G. K. Chesterton 2. At the Farmhouse by E. F. Benson 3. The Parasite by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 4. The Watcher by the Threshold by John Buchan 5. Query by Seamark 6. The Man of the Night by Edgar Wallace 7. The Earl, the Warder and the Wayward Heiress by J. S. Fletcher 8. Afterward by Edith Wharton 9. The Murderer by Perceval Gibbon 10. The Idiot by Arnold Bennett 11. Oh Liberty by W. Pett Ridge

Six fascinating tales of the mysterious doings of secret societies and gentlemen's clubs. A Foggy Evening by A. J. Alan The Giraffe Problem by Barry Pain The Suicide Club by Robert Louis Stevenson The Dream by A. J. Alan The Inconsiderate Waiter by J. M. Barrie The 19 Club by A. J. Alan.

Robert O'Hara Burke (1821-1861) was one of the great Victorian explorers. In 1860 he was appointed to lead the Victorian Exploring Expedition, which aimed to cross the Australian continent from south to north. The expedition left Melbourne on Monday, 20 August 1860 with a total of 19 men, 27 (rum fuelled) camels, and 23 horses. The expedition was dogged by disputes and poor leadership decisions from the start. Even at the first staging post the second in command and the medical officer resigned.

The "Mary Russell" was a trading boat that set sail from the harbour of Cobh in County Cork on 8 February 1828, carrying a cargo of mules bound for Barbados. When it returned to Cobh on 25 June 1828, the horrified people of Cork found a cabin awash with blood and the bound and battered corpses of the ship's crew.

A collection of strange and often grisly tales by some of the world's greatest writers, ranging from mildly unsettling to hair-raising.

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) is generally considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. The Chorus Girl tells the tale of a mistress who is confronted unexpectedly by her lover's wife. In the meantime the cheating husband is hiding in the next room. The dialogue between the two women is classic of Chekhov's genius... he captures a person's entire character and soul within a few paragraphs and then catapults them into a crisis from which they emerge changed.

When Herbert Blamyre is summoned back from his vacation for an urgent mission, he knows it is a matter of great importance to his firm. And indeed, he is to travel to Naples with two trunks, secured with cryptic letter locks, containing a million in gold. His instructions are to speak to nobody and make no friends on his journey. But already when he boards the boat to Calais, he strikes up an acquaintance with the blustery Major and his domineering wife, as well as the rather odd Mr. Levinson, a commercial traveller in waterproofs....

Leonard Merrick (1864 – 1939) was a well known English novelist, who was popular with the likes of such as H. G. Wells, J. M. Barrie, G. K. Chesterton and William Dean Howells. Many of his stories have, over the years, been adapted to the screen. J. M. Barrie called Merrick the "novelist's novelist. "In "The Girl who was Tired of Love", Merrick tells the story of a wealthy widow whose beauty has faded with age, and who struggles to accept herself in the role of an old woman.

A jealous sailor husband, a pretty but bored young wife and a grey parrot with a masterly command of bad language and an attitude to match. The perfect ingredients for a slapstick comedy from th master of humorous writing.

When young Gillian inherits a sum of one thousand dollars from his late uncle, with the condition that he should spend it and return to the lawyers' office with a detailed account of his expenditure, he is at a loss what to do with the money. He seeks ideas and advice from many...but eventually the solution dawns on him.

W.W. Jacobs was an English writer, famous for his humorous short stories, particularly those relating the preposterous adventures and misadventures of sailors on leave. This collection, Short Cruises, contains some of W.W. Jacobs' most popular characters, including the night watchman at the docks in Wapping who relates the stories of his friends Ginger Dick, Sam Small, and Peter Russet.

Nikolai Gogol (1809-1852) was a pre-eminent Ukrainian-born story writer. He is particularly famous for those stories which veer in the direction of surrealism and the grotesque. "The Nose" is a classic example of this genre. The story opens with the barber, Ivan Yakovlevitch at breakfast. Things take an odd turn when Yakovlevitch finds a disembodied nose hidden in his bread roll. Yakovlevitch is at pains to rid himself as quickly as he can of the nose, which he recognizes as belonging to one of his clients, Major Kovalev.

Robert Barr (1849-1912) was a Scottish-Canadian short story writer and novelist, born in Glasgow, Scotland. 'The Hour-Glass' is a mysterious ghost story. An avid antique collector buys an ancient and defective hourglass from a curiosity shop. When he takes it home and starts to examine it, he is startled by a strange visitor who claims to be the real owner of the hourglass. His story is a very bizarre one.

Often hailed as the finest short story ever written in the English language, James Joyce's "The Dead" tells the story of a young woman who hears a familiar song unexpectedly at a Christmas party. The melody brings memories of a long-dead lover flooding back to her. Joyce's description of the multi-layered situation, characters, and atmosphere are unsurpassed. The reader is drawn into the stifling world of Dublin society with its aspirations, pretensions, repressed morals, and furtively enjoyed freedoms. Beautiful and evocative.