Showing results by publisher "Saga Egmont" in Classics

B. J. Harrison reads two late 19th-century science fiction classics by H. G. Wells. "The Time Machine," an ultimate classic, introduced the term "time machine" as we now know it. A man referred to as the Time Traveller moves hundreds of thousands of years ahead in time and finds Earth battling against the sun for survival . In "The Invisible Man," a scientist invents a way to become invisible and successfully applies this procedure on himself.

Rouen is occupied by the Prussian army and a group of ten residents decides to leave town. Although it is not that easy, they manage to get on a carriage. The group is quite colorful as every person represents a different part of the French population during the Franco-Prussian War of the late 19th century. A prostitute is a part of the group and although the others are filled with prejudices towards her, she is the one who could save them all when they find themselves in a Prussian-held territory.

Ed Loyce is a store owner who is faced with a strange sight: someone is hanging from a lamppost. Furthermore, alien insects have taken over yet no one seems to consider things to be out of the ordinary. Ed goes to the police to sort things out and to find out what is going on, only to be thoroughly surprised. The science fiction short story "The Hanging Stranger" by Philip K. Dick from 1953 was adapted into an episode for the television series "Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams". The story is read by the versatile B.J. Harrison. B. J.

"Phil, my dear boy, really -- what's the matter? Why don't you answer? Have you seen the eyes?" An older gentleman invites a group of friends over for dinner and to discuss the supernatural. Afterwards, when only two guests remain, he tells them a story about The Eyes, about a man who is repeatedly haunted at night by a pair of grotesque eyes floating over the foot of his bed. 'The Eyes' is a short, sharp read that slowly enters your psyche and leaves you with a paragraph that may haunt you forever, because it's not about ghosts at all...

The Baron d’Etraille witnesses a disturbing scene at a party between his own wife and another young man. D’Etraille decides that they have to separate, so he leaves the baroness and heads out on a long journey. He spends almost six years wandering around from one place to another, not knowing what is happening with his wife. Eventually, he returns to Paris but a month later he catches such a bad cough that he is sent to Nice for the rest of the winter.

Quiquendone is a small town in West Flanders, whose citizens are the wisest, most sociable and hospitable people. The town’s mayor, Van Tricasse, claims that the one if a person dies without having decided anything in his life then he has attained perfection. One day, Dr. Ox comes to the mayor with an offer. He wants to build a gas lightning system, at no cost for the city. However, Ox's intentions are completely different and this seemingly noble deed is just a facade. Will Van Tricasse accept the proposal? And what is Dr.

No one is more surprised than Kathy when she receives an invitation from Lady Fitzosborne for some weekend festivities. Usually, such invitations are extended to her more attractive two sisters. She prepares to make herself useful and instead manages to catch the eye of a Portuguese aristocrat. The mystery man woos her, setting off events almost too dreamy to be true. Yet as their relationship deepens, Kathy soon discovers that there is more to the man than meets the eye.

Pip is a poor orphaned boy who lives together with his sister and her husband. Pip is not educated but has great dreams of the future. He is determined to get out of the low class and seek progress in the higher class. One day a lawyer appears. Pip has suddenly received a large fortune from a secret benefactor and he has to get to London to start his education. Pip’s life changes in a second. But he is ready to embark on his next journey.

At the bottom of the ocean lived the sea king, his old mother and his six daughters. They lived in a beautiful castle, surrounded by a big garden, of which each daughter took care of a small corner. The little mermaid, the youngest and most beautiful of the princesses, liked nothing more than stories of men and in her garden she had a marble statue of a handsome youth, which had sunk below down after a shipwreck.

One day, a diabolical troll made a mirror that showed everything beautiful as ugly and all that was good as evil. Delighted, the trolls decided to carry their mirror to heaven and mock the angels, but on the way the mirror shattered and pieces of the mirror spread across the world. This was how some became windows and others were made into spectacles, but the most unfortunate received tiny pieces in their eyes or in their heart, changing their life for ever.

The Twelve True Fishermen are going on their annual dinner at an exclusive club where fifteen waiters are going to serve the guests. The fishermen are refined and insist on using their own ornate silver knives and forks, which are shaped like fish and have a pearl in the handles. The dinner goes as planned until the silver cutlery disappears. Have some of the waiters stolen it? Father Brown will find out. B. J. Harrison started his Classic Tales Podcast back in 2007, wanting to breathe new life into classic stories.

"What would you have done? Rubbed your eyes and thought you were dreaming? Well, if you had, nothing more would have happened. Nothing ever does when you behave like that." In 'The Aunt and Amabel' a young girl damages a special flower-bed without meaning to, and as a punishment her aunt sends her to the bedroom with the large wardrobe. When Amabel finds a railway timetable naming a station called 'Bigwardrobeinspareroom' in there she is intrigued. And in opening the wardrobe, she finds something very unexpected on the inside. C.S.

"Uncle Silas" is a Gothic locked-room mystery novel by Sheridan Le Fanu. Maud Ruthyn is an orphan, left in the care of her mysterious and evil uncle Silas. The latter keeps thinking up new and creative ways to get rid of his niece. In a similar vein to Wilkie Collins’ novels, Le Fanu’s "Uncle Silas" depicts a heroine in danger, who moves from one hair-raising adventure to the next, making it a perfect, terrifying, horror tale of greed and vile intentions. B. J.

A young traveler is up on a mountain when night falls and he finds shelter with a family that lives nearby. They make friendly conversation and the visitor shares his dreams and goals to achieve great things in life. Their conversation is however interrupted by the sound of rocks falling from the slope. Are they in danger? Find out in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s "The Ambitious Guest". B. J. Harrison started his Classic Tales Podcast back in 2007, wanting to breathe new life into classic stories.

Winzy is a young man who is desperately in love with a girl named Bertha. He is willing to do whatever it takes to keep her, even to reluctantly accept an employment offer by the alchemist Cornelius Agrippa. Unfortunately Bertha leaves Winzy for another man and Winzy’s despair leads him to drinking an elixir which Agrippa has been working on. Winzy hopes that the elixir will cure him from love. But it does more than that. The next day Bertha is still true to Winzy and he has been rejuvenated and is happy.

One day a Portuguese duck arrived at the duck house. Some said she came from Spain, but from then on all her descendants were called ‘Portuguese’. Today, there is only one Portuguese duck at the duck house - and it is she who takes care of the song bird who fell from the roof while the cat was chasing it...

"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," also known as "Alice in Wonderland," is a story loved by adults and children alike throughout the world. Alice is a young girl who falls down a rabbit hole, only to find herself in a whole new world filled with speaking cats, smoking caterpillars and mad tea parties. This 19th-century novel by Lewis Carroll from has seen countless adaptations on the screen, stage and radio. The Oscar-nominated Disney animation Alice in Wonderland from 1951 is one of its most iconic film adaptations.

In the tallest and poorest house in a very narrow winding street, was an attic with a single window. Behind this window, was a bird in a cage; the state of the house and the cage were so miserable that the bird did not even have a cup for drinking: he had to make do with the neck of a bottle closed with a stopper. The bird had no problem with this and sang joyfully - as for the bottle neck, he remembered the good old days when he was still a bottle...

An Englishman stops at an inn during his trip through Transylvania. He decides to wander around in a carriage despite the approaching night; darkness doesn't seem to worry him. He sets off but after a while the horses get scared by howling wolfs. The Englishman continues by foot and suddenly finds himself in a snowy and gloomy cemetery. This would not be that big of a problem if this specific night was not the so called Walpurgis Night, or in other words the time when spirits leave their graves to haunt the living.

Father Brown, an amateur detective, takes up his first case ever. He has to find the infamous criminal Flambeau. The task is however very difficult because Flambeau is a master of disguise and nobody knows what he really looks like. The detective finds out that Flambeau is planning to head out to an international conference in London, most probably intending to steal some religious articles. So Father Brown decides to cross Flambeau’s path. What the detective had not expected is a police inspector from Paris to be crossing his path.