Showing results by narrator "Cathy Dobson" in All Categories

Herbert George Wells (1866-1946) was a prolific English writer of stories and novels and is frequently credited as being the father of science fiction. 'A Vision of Judgment' tells the story of a man who is awakened from his grave by a trumpet sounding for the last judgment. As the first souls are called before God, he realises that things are not quite as he had expected....

"Fingers of a Hand" is an eerie tale in which strange and urgent written warnings appear to a family telling them to leave the house where they are staying immediately. These writings materialise mysteriously even when family members are present in the room. One of the family, Grace, decides to set a trap and find out who the writer is. But she is not prepared for what happens when she does see the next message written...and when the true meaning of the warnings becomes clear the mystery deepens further.

Another collection of great classic novellas by superb storytellers, including Robert E. Howard, E. T. A. Hoffman, Edith Wharton, Bessie Kyffin-Taylor, F. Marion Crawford and more....

Writing in the 19th century, John Timbs recounts the tales of some of the most idiosyncratic eccentrics of his own day and the preceding centuries. This audiobook begins with the story of the Beckford dynasty, who lavishly built the monstrous Fonthill Abbey, which, owing to their unconventional approach tended to fall down as quickly as it could be constructed. Then there is Beau Brummel, the celebrated dandy, whose stylish attire and his ongoing feud with the Prince of Wales were the gossip of the day.

O. Henry was the pen name of William Sydney Porter (1862-1910), an American writer of outstanding short stories, known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization, and surprise endings. The Last Leaf is the story of two female artists living together in Greenwich village. When one of them, Johnsy, becomes gravely ill with pneumonia, she becomes obsessed with counting the leaves on the ivy outside the window. As the weather gets colder and windier, the leaves fall one by one.

Edgar Alfred Jepson (1863-1938) was an English author best known for his adventure and detective fiction. He also wrote supernatural and fantasy stories . Robert Eustace was the pen name of Eustace Robert Barton (1854-1943), an English doctor and author of mystery and crime fiction with a theme of scientific innovation. The Tea-Leaf is the most famous short story of these authors and was a forerunner of the locked-room mystery.

'La Belle Dame Sans Merci' is a haunting ballad describing a young knight whose very lifeblood and vitality have been drained by a beautiful but parasitic, fairylike vampire. This knight has now been left as an undead shell of his former self, alone on a barren hillside.

A fabulous collection of some of the most intriguing British short stories ever written. Includes "The Pipe" by Anonymous, "The Puzzle" by Anonymous, "The Man with the Cough by Mrs Molesworth, "The Pavillion on the Links" by Robert Louis Stevenson, "The Horror of the Heights" by Sir. Arthur Conan Doyle, and "The Rocking Horse Winner" by D. H. Lawrence.

In March 1873 Great Britain was rocked by the forgery case of the century, perpetrated against no less than the Bank of England. Four criminal brains took on the entire financial system... and would have got away with it too, had it not been for one tiny detail.

In The Adventure of the Speckled Band, Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson are faced with a most unusual case. Two years earlier a young woman died under mysterious and unexplained circumstances while alone in her locked bedroom. Her last words to her sister referred to a 'speckled band'. She had previously complained of hearing a strange whistling sound in the night. Now the sister is sleeping in the same room, and she too has heard the mysterious whistling. But what can it be? And what is the 'speckled band'?

More French Than the French is the risqué story of a British girl who is spending her last night in Paris. She meets a young Englishman who flirts with her. She pretends to be a confident young Frenchwoman and invites the young man back to her apartment. The story follows the mental processes of the two young people as they prepare to lose their virginity.

A haunting collection of strange and macabre short stories, ideal for listening to around the fire on a cold winter evening.... 'The Last Leaf' by O. Henry, 'On the Northern Ice' by Elia W. Peattie, 'The Fire' by Charles John Cutcliffe Hyne, 'The Tiger' by Hugh Walpole, 'Cool Air' by H. P. Lovecraft, 'The Missing Model' by Lettice Galbraith, 'The Cold Embrace' by Mary E. Braddon, 'The Snow' by Hugh Walpole, 'Over an Absinthe Bottle' by W. C. Morrow, 'The Coffin Merchant' by Richard Middleton.

Thomas Anstey Guthrie (1856-1934) was an English novelist and journalist who wrote his comic novels and humorous short stories under the pseudonym F. Anstey. 'At a Moment's Notice' is the amusing tale of a young man who is involved in a cab accident on Pall Mall. When he comes to after the crash, he has mysteriously been transformed into an organ grinder's monkey. His adventures in his new state are extraordinary and hilarious.

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

The much loved chronicler and observer of all that is unusual, John Timbs describes a selection of the oddest sights and anecdotes of the 18th and 19th centuries.

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!

A wonderful selection of some of the most bizarre and unsettling stories ever written.

Invited to a ball at the Ministry of Public Instruction where her husband works, Mathilde is in despair about how to look the part. She manages to persuade her husband to give her 400 francs for a new dress. But she also would like some jewellery to complete the outfit. Although their budget cannot stretch to this, Mathilde is able to borrow a diamond necklace from an old schoolfriend who is wealthy. But while she dazzles everyone at the ball, disaster is waiting in the wings...

Stephen Crane (1871-1900) was a prolific American poet, novelist and short story writer. He is recognised by modern critics as one of the most innovative writers of his generation. 'The Open Boat' is probably Stephen Crane's best known and most admired story. It tells the adventure of four sailors, the captain, the oiler, the cook and the correspondent, who are sole survivors of a shipwreck at sea in a small rowing boat off the coast of Florida.

Robert Ervin Howard (1906-1936) was an American writer of weird tales and horror fiction. Rattle of Bones is a tale featuring one of Howard's most popular heroes, the stalwart English puritan, Solomon Kane. In this tale Kane meets another traveller while journeying through the Black Forest, and the two arrive at a sinister, lonely inn, which bears the sign of a cleft skull. In the course of the night, the two uncover the terrible and macabre secret of the tavern....