Episodes

  • The Monster Collection - Mary Shelley

    The Monster Collection - Mary Shelley
    Oct 24 2017
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    Title: The Monster Collection
    Author: Mary Shelley
    Narrator: Richard Armitage, Dan Stevens, Greg Wise, Rachel Atkins
    Format: Unabridged
    Length: 30 hrs and 24 mins
    Language: English
    Release date: 10-24-17
    Publisher: Audible Studios
    Genres: Classics, European Literature

    Summary:
    Audible presents a special edition of three Gothic tales for the price of one: a brand-new Audible Exclusive recording of Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (ch2), Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (ch12) and Bram Stoker's Dracula (ch39). Bursting with intrigue and suspense, they resurrect the deepest and darkest of all our fears: that a monster lurks, and it lurks within us. Introductions by Dr Maria Mellins and Dr Peter Howell, Senior Lecturers in Gothic literature at St Mary's University, London, this collection offers additional insight into these audiobooks, their authors and their legacies. Starting with Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Richard Armitage tells the story of a conflicted man who seeks to free the monster inside him from the clutches of his conscience. Following his celebrated performances of David Copperfield and David Hewson's Romeo and Juliet for Audible, Armitage delivers another powerhouse performance as the narrator of this Gothic tale. Shilling shocker enthusiast Stevenson was celebrated throughout his life. In contrast to Mary Shelley, who was often overshadowed by her husband's work, Stevenson lived comfortably by his pen. It was only with the release of Frankenstein that Shelley finally distinguished herself. Frankenstein was groundbreaking in its ability to fuse passion and romance with gore and horror. Narrated by Dan Stevens, who rose to fame through Downton Abbey, and Beauty and the Beast, the story of science student Victor Frankenstein has been artfully retold. Testing the limits of science, Frankenstein fashions a living being from the conjoined body parts of rotting cadavers. Horrified at the end result, he abandons his monster, leaving him to endure a life of isolation and loneliness. A poignant example of human weakness and our inability to take responsibility for our actions, Frankenstein is both moving and terrifying. That leads us to the gruesome tale of Count Dracula, the bloodthirsty father of the undead. Narrated by Greg Wise, star of The Crown and Sense and Sensibility; Greg depicts a young lawyer whose services are hired by a sinister Transylvanian count. Releasing Dracula 80 years after Frankenstein, Bram Stoker was greatly influenced by Shelley's writing style and similarly propels the story along through diary entries, letters and newspaper cuttings. Possessed of grisly imagery and unexpected twists, it's no wonder that Dracula still manages to shake us to our very core. All that remains is to offer a note of caution: this collection is not for the fainthearted. Old as these tales may be, do not mistake the unsettling nature of their content. Grab some popcorn, turn the speakers up and enjoy. Just don't say we didn't warn you.
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    30 hrs and 24 mins
  • The Haunted and the Haunters - Edward Bulwer-Lytton

    The Haunted and the Haunters - Edward Bulwer-Lytton
    Oct 24 2017
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    Title: The Haunted and the Haunters
    Author: Edward Bulwer-Lytton
    Narrator: Jim Killavey
    Format: Unabridged
    Length: 1 hr and 34 mins
    Language: English
    Release date: 10-24-17
    Publisher: Jimcin Recordings
    Genres: Classics, British Literature

    Summary:
    Edward Bulwer-Lytton was an English novelist, poet, playwright, and politician. He was immensely popular with the reading public and wrote many best-selling novels. He coined the phrases "the great unwashed", "pursuit of the almighty dollar", "the pen is mightier than the sword", and "it was a dark and stormy night". "The Haunters and the Haunted" is both a wonderful ghost story and a well-crafted example of Bulwer-Lytton's theory of the supernatural. It represents nearly 20 years' study of paranormal phenomena. On the one hand, it is a chilling tale of ghosts and terror, but on the other, it illustrate the author's theory "that the Supernatural is Impossible, and that what is called supernatural is only a something in the laws of nature of which we have been hitherto ignorant." For him, though, the laws of nature include "the power that in the old days was called Magic, a power of the human will that can affect mental and physical reality and produce the apparently supernatural."
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    1 hr and 34 mins
  • The Invisible Man - H. G. Wells

    The Invisible Man - H. G. Wells
    Oct 24 2017
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    Title: The Invisible Man
    Author: H. G. Wells
    Narrator: Linda Barrans
    Format: Unabridged
    Length: 5 hrs and 9 mins
    Language: English
    Release date: 10-24-17
    Publisher: Spoken Realms
    Genres: Classics, British Literature

    Summary:
    What would it be like to be invisible? What would you do? What if you couldn't change back? Griffin, an albino, unlikable, the most gifted physicist the world has ever seen, works himself almost to madness in his quest for invisibility. Once he succeeds, he does not care for it as much as he expected to. Cold, jostled by strangers, attacked by dogs - unable even to eat without becoming visible - he looks for a place to hide where he can discover a way to return to normal. Crazed by overwork and frustration, he cannot understand why no-one will help him. He comes to the conclusion that invisibility is good for only one thing - for killing. H. G. Wells' classic is well-known as an adventure: perhaps less expected is the humour and the comic characters, such as Mister Thomas Marvel - "not one of yer ignorant tramps." The Invisible Man is, even today, a thrilling yarn, full of fun, suspense, pathos, and tragedy. As Marvel would say - "If that don't beat cock fightin'!"
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    5 hrs and 9 mins
  • The Wrong Box - Robert L. Stevenson

    The Wrong Box - Robert L. Stevenson
    Oct 18 2017
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    Title: The Wrong Box
    Author: Robert L. Stevenson
    Narrator: Peter Newcombe Joyce
    Format: Unabridged
    Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
    Language: English
    Release date: 10-18-17
    Publisher: Assembled Stories
    Genres: Classics, British Literature

    Summary:
    Victorian humour generally doesn't translate well across time. The Wrong Box is one of the exceptions. The plot revolves around the supposed death of Joseph Finsbury, who, as a youth, with his brother Masterman, joined a tontine - a scheme whereby each entrant pays a fixed amount and the sum total, with interest, is given to the one who lives the longest. At the beginning of the story, there are three survivors and then two - the Finsbury brothers. Joseph is guardian to two boys and a girl, Morris, John and Julia. He was responsible for the boys' legacy of £30,000 and invested it unwisely in his failing leather business. The money has all but disappeared, and on reaching adulthood they want their inheritance back! Uncle Joe must be kept alive at all costs. Then there is a train crash.... The novel was either ignored or strongly criticised when first published, not least one suspects because of the irreverent attitude to death and its attendant rituals, subjects which commanded huge respect and veneration almost amounting to obsession from the Victorians. It is, however, a hugely entertaining story with a convoluted, complicated plot that can defy comprehension - but it is of no matter! A cast of gloriously eccentric characters certainly had a comic effect on one notable literary figure of the period. "I laughed over it dementedly when I read it. That man [Stevenson] has only one lung but he makes you laugh with your whole inside." (Rudyard Kipling)
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    7 hrs and 30 mins
  • The Revenger's Tragedy (Director's Playbook) - Thomas Middleton

    The Revenger's Tragedy (Director's Playbook) - Thomas Middleton
    Oct 17 2017
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    Title: The Revenger's Tragedy (Director's Playbook)
    Author: Thomas Middleton
    Narrator: David Hopkins
    Format: Unabridged
    Length: 2 hrs and 26 mins
    Language: English
    Release date: 10-17-17
    Publisher: David Hopkins
    Genres: Classics, Drama

    Summary:
    Thomas Middleton's classic tale of corruption and revenge in a 16th-century Italian court. Vendice's wife has been poisoned by the hand of the lecherous Duke, and now he seeks to bring an end to the Duke and his house.
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    2 hrs and 26 mins
  • Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen - 200th anniversary audio edition - Jane Austen

    Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen - 200th anniversary audio edition - Jane Austen
    Oct 17 2017
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    Title: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen - 200th anniversary audio edition
    Author: Jane Austen
    Narrator: Alison Larkin
    Format: Unabridged
    Length: 14 hrs and 2 mins
    Language: English
    Release date: 10-17-17
    Publisher: Alison Larkin Presents
    Genres: Classics, British Literature

    Summary:
    A witty and always original voice, award-winning narrator Alison Larkin is the perfect vessel to bring Jane Austen's first novel to a new audience. This fresh and hugely entertaining listen from "the English American", joined with Austen's deft satire, is as poignant and funny as Austen intended it to be.
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    14 hrs and 2 mins
  • The Mayor of Casterbridge - Thomas Hardy

    The Mayor of Casterbridge - Thomas Hardy
    Oct 17 2017
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    Title: The Mayor of Casterbridge
    Author: Thomas Hardy
    Narrator: Peter Newcombe Joyce
    Format: Unabridged
    Length: 14 hrs and 56 mins
    Language: English
    Release date: 10-17-17
    Publisher: Assembled Stories
    Genres: Classics, British Literature

    Summary:
    In a fit of drunken bitterness, a young hay trusser, Michael Henchard, sells his wife, Susan, to Mr. Newson, a sailor, at a country fair. The transaction also includes their daughter, Elizabeth Jane. When sober the next day, he regrets his action but looks for them in vain and is eventually told they may have emigrated. Eighteen years later Henchard is the Mayor of Casterbridge, and the people of the town believe him to be a widower. In recent times he has had an affair with a young woman in Jersey, Lucetta, while travelling there on business. She inherits a fortune and comes to Casterbridge to persuade Henchard to make 'an honest woman' of her. However, Susan, having lost her husband at sea, returns with the now grown Elizabeth Jane. The Mayor, wishing to atone for his crime of years before, remarries her. To complicate matters further, a young ambitious Scot, Donald Farfrae, has settled in the town at Henchard's instigation. Despite their rapidly worsening business relationship, Donald initially casts a glad eye at Elizabeth Jane but then falls in love with Lucetta. What follows will destroy Henchard and cause all the main protagonists an immeasurable amount of emotional pain as betrayal, death and fate play their parts in a tale full of suspense.
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    14 hrs and 56 mins
  • The Fortress - Hugh Walpole

    The Fortress - Hugh Walpole
    Oct 13 2017
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    Title: The Fortress
    Author: Hugh Walpole
    Narrator: Peter Newcombe Joyce
    Format: Unabridged
    Length: 26 hrs and 8 mins
    Language: English
    Release date: 10-13-17
    Publisher: Assembled Stories
    Genres: Classics, British Literature

    Summary:
    Walter Herries establishes himself in Keswick and constructs an imposing property overlooking Uldale, further encroaching upon the peaceful lives of Jennifer and the children. Adam resolves to pursue a career in London, much to his mother's displeasure. He meets the Chartist campaigner Caesar Kraft and lives with him and his daughter Margaret. On a visit to the capital, Elizabeth Herries chooses the opportunity to escape from her unhappy life, but is finally pursued by John. Uhland Herrries' obsession with and hatred of John Herries grows amidst self-contempt and scorn for his father. The eagerly awaited Chartist procession comes to a tragic end for both Adam and Margaret while the confrontation that Uhland desires and John dreads comes to reality and will scar the family for the next 30 years. Speculation that Judith will reach her 100th birthday is rife, but the feud still exists, and the attitude of the younger generation seems to predict that it may continue as devil-may-care Benjamin - son of Elizabeth and John - and Ellis - Will's boy, and unable to connect with his emotions - meet in London. Meanwhile, the beautiful, tempestuous and determined Vanessa grows to maturity in Cumberland.
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    26 hrs and 8 mins