Showing results by narrator "Cathy Dobson" in All Categories

Henry Chapman Mercer (1856-1930) was an American archeologist, artifact collector, tile maker and writer of extraordinary supernatural stories. The Wolf Book is the story of a professor who spends the summer travelling in Hungary and Romania in search of rare manuscripts. At the monastery at Jollok, he learns that the library was plundered a hundred years earlier by a sinister nobleman who was rumoured to be a werewolf.

One of Poe's most disturbing psycho-thrillers. The deeply disturbed narrator suffers from an obsessive disorder in which he develops fixations on trivial and inappropriate objects. In this case, the teeth of his wife-to-be...with horrifying consequences.

John Galsworthy (1867 – 1933) was an English playwright and novelist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1932. Spindleberries is a haunting short story, describing the increasingly eccentric Alicia, a nature-loving artist, via four memories which are conjured up in her cousin's brain as he contemplates four spindleberries which she has dropped on the path.

Eight brilliant short stories from the best female short story writer of her age. Katherine Mansfield's wit, pathos and descriptive genius combine in this collection to take the listener from a wry smile one minute to the verge of tears the next.

When William Froyle, ostler at the Queen's Arms at Moorthorne, learns that his betrothed has betrayed him, he determines to hang himself in the inn's coach house. His first, unsuccessful attempt, is witnessed by Daft Jimmy, the village idiot. Daft Jimmy offers to help with the process of fixing the noose and takes a great deal of interest and delight in the proceedings. As events unfold, it becomes less clear who is the fool and who is the wise man.

Edmund Gill Swain (1861-1938) was an English cleric and author. He was a longtime friend of M. R. James, and his ghost stories show James' influence. 'The Man with the Roller' is a strange tale about a photograph in which a strange figure of a man with a roller appears and drags the roller from one part of the lawn to another. But how can this happen? Who is the man? Why is he constantly rolling the lawn?

Poe's brilliant account of committing a perfect murder from within the paranoid brain of the murderer.

Bithia Mary Croker (1848-1920) was an Irish-born novelist and writer of ghost stories; most of her work concerned life and society in British India. 'If You See Her Face' tells the story of Daniel Gregson, political agent to a rajah, and his assistant, Percy Goring, who are travelling to the Delhi durbar when their train is prevented from going on by a break in the line. Gregson decides they should head for the raja's isolated hunting palace in Kori on foot.

Arnold Bennett (1867-1931) was an English author, born in one of the "Five Towns" which form the background of so many of his witty stories. When Professor Malpetant pays an unannounced visit to his sister, Muriel, he finds nobody at home. Both Muriel and her maid, Annie, have gone out, though he finds the door unlocked, and takes the opportunity to take a look around the house.

Stacy Aumonier (1877-1928) was a British writer best known for his outstanding short stories. Nobel Prize-winner John Galsworthy described Aumonier as "one of the best short story writers of all time" and predicted that he would "outlive all the writers of his day." Aumonier wrote over 85 short stories in his lifetime. He has been described as the "British Maupassant" owing to his captivating plots and his ability to create complex characters with just a few lines of carefully selected prose.

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.

Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1890 – 1937), who wrote as H. P. Lovecraft, was an American author who achieved fame after his death for his groundbreaking works of horror fiction. In "From Beyond" a maniacal scientist develops an extraordinary machine which enables humans to tap in to a range of additional senses which allow him to perceive whole new dimensions of the cosmos.

Banjo Paterson's wry tale of a pugilistic sheep-worrying hound on a remote sheep station in Australia. When Hughey wants a dog "as can fight" the Super brings him Stumpy, a psychotic canine whose ability to murder other members of his own and other species is undisputed. Hughey's dog becomes the sensation of the station, but when he is unleashed on an invading dingo pack, things do not turn out as Hughey intends. Stumpy's downfall come from a vendetta he has with the Dutch cook on the station.

W. W. Jacobs was best known for his humorous tales of sailors, often related by his most popular and enduring character: The night-watchman on the wharf in Wapping, recounting the preposterous adventures of his acquaintances Ginger Dick, Sam Small, and Peter Russet. These three characters, pockets full after a long voyage, would take lodgings together determined to enjoy a long spell ashore; but the crafty inhabitants of dockland London would soon relieve them of their funds, assisted by the sailors' own fecklessness and credulity.

The Yellow Drawing Room is a story told through the eyes of an archetypical Victorian gentleman. He has met and fallen under the spell of the beautiful Vanora Haydon. Vanora has been given permission to decorate and furnish a drawing room and has chosen to do so in brilliant yellow. She has created her own room, reflective of her own personality and individuality - something which the conservative narrator cannot cope with.

Edmund Gill Swain (1861-1938) was an English cleric and author of ghost stories. He was a longtime friend of M. R. James, and his ghost stories show James' influence. 'The Eastern Window' is the peculiar tale of a vicar who sees something very odd one night in his church. It appears that a stained-glass window with the image of St. John the Baptist moves and points to the ruins of the old manor house nearby.

Cleveland Moffett (1863-1926) was an American journalist and author who contributed articles and stories to magazines and weeklies. He first became famous with his short mystery story "The Mysterious Card", which was published in the Boston-based The Black Cat in 1895. This tale caused a sensation, partly because it did not reveal the answer to the puzzle posed, thereby gaining widespread attention and engaging his readers in speculation for months.

George Robert Gissing (1857-1903) was a popular English novelist and short story writer who also worked as a teacher and tutor throughout his life. His works often reflect the struggle for existence in a hostile world and the many (often tragic) compromises which are made along the way. In this setting his often complex and endearing characters battle for their own love or artistic integrity, which poverty or social morals threaten to stifle.

The Balloon Hoax was first published in The Sun newspaper in New York in 1844. Originally presented as a true story, it detailed European Monck Mason's trip across the Atlantic Ocean in only three days in a hot air balloon. The story turned out to be a hoax and the paper published a retraction two days later (rumoured to also have been written by Poe himself) admitting the deception.The story ignited a fever of excitement in New York: Poe himself claimed that the Sun building was "besieged" by people wanting copies of the newspaper.

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. This collection brings together twenty of his most brilliant works.