Showing results by narrator "Cathy Dobson" in All Categories

The Cunning Apprentice is a fairy tale set in Russia. It tells the story of a young lad who is apprenticed to a wicked sorcerer who intends to use his magic to trick the boy's parents into giving up their son to him forever. Only the cunning of the lad enables him to turn the magician's magic against him.

Peter Christen Asbjørnsen (1812-1885) was a Norwegian writer, scholar and collector of traditional folktales. The Pancake is the tragic tale of one piece of fried batter's desperate escape attempt from the woman who cooked it, her seven ravenous children, her husband, a passer-by, assorted poultry and a greedy pig.

Peter Christen Asbjørnsen (1812-1885) was a Norwegian writer, scholar and collector of traditional folktales. The Cormorants of Udröst is one of the stories he collected. It tells of a fisherman who found the mythical island of Udröst and befriended its strange and wonderfully generous inhabitants.

Maurice Baring (1874-1945) was an English short story writer, children's writer, novelist, travel writer and war correspondent during the First World War. The Glass Mender is a fairy story about a princess named Rainbow, who as a baby is cursed by a wicked fairy. If Rainbow hears or sees the spring, her happiness will end. Her parents decide to keep her in a tower for three months every year...but will they be able to keep her away from the spring forever?

Maurice Baring (1874-1945) was an English short story writer, children's writer, novelist, travel writer and war correspondent during the First World War. The Blue Rose is a fairy tale about a Chinese princess who is as clever as she is beautiful. When her father sets out to find her a husband, she determines to make her own choice. The Emperor declares that whoever can find and bring his daughter a blue rose shall wed her. But the wise princess is able to debunk all the blue roses proffered and at the same time works out a way to favour her own lover.

Maurice Baring (1874-1945) was an English short story writer, children's writer, travel writer and war correspondent during the First World War. The Minstrel is a classic fairy tale about a childless couple who are granted a wish by a fairy. They wish for a daughter. The fairy gives them a heart-shaped copper coin to hang over their hearth, telling them that they must never give it away, for if they do, they will be giving away their daughter. One day, years later, when the beautiful child is home alone, a minstrel comes by and sings a lovely, captivating song. The girl gives the minstrel the heart-shaped copper coin from above the hearth...and her fate is sealed....

Joseph Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) was an English journalist, short-story writer, poet, and novelist. Swept and Garnished is a horrifying ghost story written shortly after the outbreak of the First World War. It is set against the background of German atrocities and massacres in France in which there was significant loss of civilian life. It tells the tale of a stereotypical old German lady in Berlin who is haunted by an eerie group of murdered French children.

Maurice Baring (1874-1945) was an English travel writer, novelist and war correspondent during World War I. 'Dr. Faust's Last Day' tells the story of a 70-year-old scholar who lives a regular studious life. On his birthday he invites his friends over for lunch, but he is puzzled by a strange note written in red ink which arrives from an unknown gentleman. The writer says he cannot make the lunch party but will call just after midnight.

Venus is a peculiar story about a reclusive and eccentric civil servant who becomes increasingly susceptible to strange fits where he seems to be transported to another planet where giant mushrooms grow and myriads of strange caterpillars and exotic butterflies abound. Over time the visions become stranger and more and more terrifying.

Maurice Baring (1874-1945) was an English travel writer, novelist and war correspondent during World War I. The Island is a supernatural horror story about two explorers who discover an uncharted volcanic island off the coast of southern Spain. As they begin to explore, they have a strong feeling that they are not alone....

Maurice Baring (1874-1945) was an English short story writer, novelist, and travel writer and war correspondent during the First World War. The Shadow of a Midnight is a ghost story with a twist. Two students on a walking tour in Germany stay in an interesting old inn which had formerly been a convent. One of them has a strange dream, which turns out perhaps not to have been a dream after all....

Arthur Machen (1863-1947) was a Welsh author and mystic, best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy and horror fiction. The Red Hand is a mysterious horror story which tells the peculiar tale of the strange murder of Sir Thomas Vivian, the famous heart surgeon. Why was he murdered with an ancient flint weapon when there was an unused, brand-new knife at the scene? What was the meaning of the bizarre letter in the dead man's pocket, written in a very strange hand? And what could be the meaning of the peculiar symbol of a red hand chalked on the wall above the corpse?

Maurice Baring (1874-1945) was an English short story writer, novelist, and travel writer and war correspondent during the First World War. This audiobook presents four varied examples of Baring's inventive storytelling, ranging from classic horror, to a ghost story with a twist, to classic literary fiction, to classic sci-fi. Includes 'The Island', 'The Shadow of a Midnight', 'Dr. Faust's Last Day' and 'Venus'.

E. T. A. Hoffmann (1776-1822) was a German Romantic author of fantasy and horror as well as a jurist, composer, music critic, draftsman and caricaturist. His stories were highly influential during the 19th century, and he is one of the major authors of the Romantic movement. This audiobook includes three short stories: 'The Mines of Falun', 'Gambler's Luck' and 'The Cremona Violin'.

Stranded in London during the summer vacation period and caught up in a sudden rain shower, two friends sought shelter in an archway. One of them vaguely remembered having heard that there was a club down this alleyway. From this point events become very strange. A mutual friend appears, who is able to introduce the two into the mysterious club. All the members are well known figures in London society...and they are all there for a bizarre and terrifying ceremony. Each member must open an old book, and whoever turns up the black page will face an unknown and horrifying fate.

'Gambler's Luck' tells the story of a young German baron who is enjoying a streak of beginner's luck at the gambling tables. As his winnings mount up, the young man is gradually becoming sucked into the addictive habit of gambling. One night a stranger appears at the gambling table and watches the baron intently. The stranger appears night after night, until the baron is infuriated and challenges the man. A later chance meeting between the two results in the stranger relating a most unusual and gripping tale....

'Carnation' is the evocative story of a French class in a girls' school, teenage hormones and daydreams, a heat wave, a teacher with an embarrassing penchant for romantic poetry...and a carnation....

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.

'This Flower' is the story, written in 1919, of a woman in an illicit affair having an illegal abortion....

Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923) was a prominent modernist writer of short fiction and a close associate of D. H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf. 'See-Saw' is an evocative and poignant description of young and old enjoying the weather on a fine spring day. The youngest are playing 'house' and pretending to be grown-ups. The elderly are regressing into a second childhood.