Showing results by narrator "Cathy Dobson" in All Categories

An astonishing collection of fifty of the greatest short stories ever written by some of literature's most highly acclaimed writers. 1. "Odour of Chrysanthemums" by D. H. Lawrence; 2. "Miss Harriet" by Guy de Maupassant; 3. "Twenty-six Men and a Girl" by Maxim Gorky; 4. "Hot Potatoes" by Arnold Bennett; 5. "Rats" by M. R. James; 6. "Zodomirsky’s Duel" by Alexandre Dumas; 7. "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin; 8. "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe; 9. "The Encased Man" by Anton Chekhov.

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!

Fifty great classic short stories selected from the works of the best writers of the last century.

A gripping collection of the very best classic mystery and adventure stories. 1. "Rose Rose" by Barry Pain 2. "The Perfect Crime" by Seamark 3. "The Well" by W. W. Jacobs 4. "The Tea-Leaf" by Edgar Jepson and Robert Eustace 5. "The Step" by E. F. Benson 6. "The Queer Feet" by G. K. Chesterton 7. "The Beast with Five Fingers" by W. F. Harvey 8. "The Enemy" by Hugh Walpole 9. "An Impromptu Dance" by A. J. Alan 10. "The Red-Headed League" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 11. "The Wedding Guest" by Guy Boothby

In The Story of a Piebald Horse, a stranger appears at the cattle branding one day, and in an unfortunate incident he is accidentally killed. His piebald horse, saddle, and other posessions are kept by one of the ranchers until the stranger can be identified and his family contacted. In the hope that some traveller will recognize the stranger's horse, he ties it up beside the local inn. After a time, a group of herders passing through do recognize the horse... and they tell a most extraordinary tale....

A king has three sons and is determined that one shall be his heir - but which? He orders them to marry and decrees that the one who picks the best wife shall be the next king. The youngest finds himself marrying a frog, against his better judgement. But when it turns out that the frog is extraordinarily gifted in such skills as carpet weaving and baking, he looks like winning the contest to be king. His frog princess is indeed a real princess under a magic spell.

Seven strange stories of intriguing optical illusions. The Diamond Lens by Fitz James O'BrienThe Devil's Spectacles by Wilkie CollinsThe Secret of the Smoked Spectacles by William Le QueuxMy Black Mirror by Wilkie CollinsThe Man who was Blind by Edwin PughA Coincidence by A. J. AlanTitbottom’s Spectacles by George William Curtis.

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!

'Relics of General Chassé' is a humorous tale of a corpulent and somewhat dandified clergyman who, while visiting the castle at Antwerp, inadvertently becomes separated from his breeches. What follows shakes him to the core. The breeches fall into the hands of a group of female English tourists who decide to take some sample of the cloth as a souvenir.

Edward Frederic Benson (1867-1940) was an English novelist, biographer, memoirist, archaeologist, and short story writer, best known for his evocative and beautifully narrated ghost stories. Bagnell Terrace is the tale of a very strange but highly desirable house. The narrator who lives on the same street, has always coveted it because of its fine square front room, and when the property is unexpectedly offered for sale, he jumps at the chance to buy it.

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 Star' is the story of a shooting star which is discovered hurtling towards our solar system. It is on a collision course with Neptune. When the celestial crash occurs, the two planets combine into a gigantic burning star which is being drawn rapidly and irresistibly towards our sun. But on what trajectory? Will it hit any other planets on its way?

An exceptional collection of strange and uncanny tales which cast various slants on that most grisly of events, the execution.

Barry Eric Odell Pain (1864-1928) was an English journalist, poet, and writer. The Green Light is an iconic horror story describing graphically the rapid decline into psychosis of a man who has murdered his wife.

Neil Munro (1863-1930) was a Scottish journalist, newspaper editor, author and literary critic who is now mainly known for his humorous short stories. 'The Tudor Cup' is an amusing tale based on stereotypes. Two crooked London art dealers are set on swindling an eccentric Scottish Laird of a valuable artefact in his collection: a Tudor cup of silver. A similar cup had sold recently at Sotheby's for a small fortune. But the canny Scot sees straight through the swindle and manages to double-cross the duo quite ingeniously.

Morgan Andrew Robertson (1861-1915) was a popular American author of short stories and novels who claimed to have been the inventor of the periscope. 'The Trade Wind' is the strange and unsettling story of a ship where all the crew are mysteriously struck blind after a night of drinking rum in the tropics...a condition called moon blindness, for which there is no available cure.

A clause in the will of an old embittered aunt means that our hero has to choose between two women, cousins of his, of whom one is conventional and submissive and the other beautiful, erotic and unconventional. Trysts are held in the Italian garden in the presence of a stone dragon, a symbol of emotion frozen for all time, just as in a conventional marriage. The hero makes his choice, and unleashes a series of events which will not disappoint affectionados of the tragic gothic melodrama.

Allan Quatermain, or Hunter Quatermain as his friends call him, recounts his South African adventure of hunting four lions.

"The Argonauts of the Air" is the tale of Monson, an eccentric millionaire with a passion for engineering, who is determined to invent the world's first flying machine. As his attempts run up against endless hurdles and delays, he becomes the laughingstock of London, but this only spurs Monson on to attempt the maiden flight of his marvellous machine.

A rich anthology of classic tales of ghosts and the supernatural written by women. 'The Operation' by Violet Hunt; 'On the Northern Ice' by Elia W. Peattie; 'Afterward' by Edith Wharton; T'he Missing Model' by Lettice Galbraith; 'The Cold Embrace' by Mary E. Braddon; 'Room Number Ten' by Bessie Kyffin-Taylor; 'Pomegranate Seed' by Edith Wharton; 'Mrs. Raeburn's Waxwork' by Eleanor Smith; 'The Mystery of the Semi-Detached' by Edith Nesbit.

John Joy Bell (1871-1934), known professionally as J. J. Bell, was a Scottish journalist and author, popular for his vibrant short stories. A Thread of Scarlet is a mystery story. In an inn in a remote village, three locals are drinking and discussing the extraordinary events of the day. They all attended a hanging that morning. One of their number had been on the jury which had convicted the murderer. The men are deeply affected by the events of the day....