Showing results by narrator "Cathy Dobson" in All Categories

Peter Christen Asbjørnsen (1812-1885) was a Norwegian writer, scholar and collector of traditional folktales. 'Matthias the Hunter's Stories' is one of the sets of tales he collected and tells accounts of encounters with the Hulda (woodland or bogland fairy) and the brownie.

'The Puzzler' is a humorous tale of a young man who is trying to engineer a meeting with an influential law lord whom he hopes will support him with a great business idea. A fortuitous chance means he happens on the law lord while he is conducting a lighthearted experiment with a group of old school friends. They are attempting to see whether a monkey can climb an araucaria (monkey puzzle) tree. The experiment ends in farce as the monkey escapes and gets into the house...exactly at the moment when the owners of the house appear.

'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.

Thomas Anstey Guthrie (1856-1934) was an English novelist and journalist who wrote his comic novels and humorous short stories under the pseudonym F. Anstey. 'At a Moment's Notice' is the amusing tale of a young man who is involved in a cab accident on Pall Mall. When he comes to after the crash, he has mysteriously been transformed into an organ grinder's monkey. His adventures in his new state are extraordinary and hilarious.

'Number Fifty-Six' is a humorous tale of a Chinese laundryman who gets to know his clients through their laundry habits. He is able to infer much from the state of the various shirts, handkerchiefs, waistcoats which are delivered to him for washing. Of all his clients he is most fascinated by number 56...a man with strangely fluctuating shirt habits. And then one fateful day, a dreadful set of laundry is delivered to him....

Edward Alexander Crowley (1875-1947) was a British writer, poet, magician and follower of the occult who wrote under the name Aleister Crowley. His works scandalised Victorian England with their diabolical and deviantly sexual themes. 'The Drug' is the story of a man who accepts a strange drug from an alchemist and goes on a terrifying psychic trip.

Francis Bret Harte (1839-1902) was an American short story writer and poet, best remembered for his short stories set against the background of the California gold rush. He himself set off at the age of 15 to become a gold miner and absorbed the rough atmosphere of the mining camps, which he used as a setting against which the interplay of human emotions stands out poignantly. 'Miggles' is an outstanding example of his humorously tender style which made his stories so popular.

'A New Cook' is one of Munro's hilarious tales of Para Handy, Sunny Jim and the rest of the crew of the Vital Spark. The ship is welcoming a new cook whose talents include dancing, melodeon playing, practical joking...but sadly not culinary skill.

Charles Dickens' brilliant comic adventure of a lamplighter, Tom Grig, who is called into the house of an eccentric astronomer who is searching for the philosopher's stone. He declares that the stars have foretold that Tom will marry the astronomer's niece and inherit the secret of the philosopher's stone, which will make him the richest man on earth.

Thomas Anstey Guthrie (1856-1934) was an English novelist and journalist who wrote his comic novels and humorous short stories under the pseudonym F. Anstey. 'A Bohemian Bag' is the story of a piece of luggage with a perverse mind of its own. The Gladstone bag in question goes on its own travels every time it is left in the care of a railway porter or station master...usually catching up with its hapless owner only days later.

Peter Christen Asbjørnsen (1812-1885) was a Norwegian writer, scholar and collector of traditional folktales. 'An Old Fashioned Christmas Eve' describes a young Norwegian soldier recovering from an illness who finds himself stranded on Christmas Eve with a family who sit around the fire telling a series of quite extraordinary folktales and ghost stories.

Edward Alexander Crowley (1875-1947), who wrote under the name Aleister Crowley, was a British occultist, magician, writer and poet. He shocked Victorian Britain with his stories and novels of diabolical magic and deviant sexuality which pushed far beyond the acceptable boundaries of the day. 'The Violinist' is a terrifyingly erotic and wicked tale of a female violinist whose wild fiddle playing is filled with sexuality and pure evil, with the power to raise demons and commit murder.

A. J. Alan was the pseudonym of Leslie Harrison Lambert (1883-1941), an English magician, intelligence officer, short story writer and radio broadcaster. He was hugely popular in the '20s and '30s for his radio broadcasts, when he performed his own humorous and often macabre short stories. 'The Photograph' is a short story about a photographer who is hired to take pictures of an old historical house. When the negatives are developed, there are some strange and very eerie images on the film....

'The Magic H's' is a humorous tale of a young, rich, eligible and attractive young aristocrat: Harald Hipperholme. Tragically, the young man suffers a speech impediment - he is unable to pronounce the letter H - which in polite London society amounts to social death. The young earl sounds more like a Cockney without his H's. He resorts in the first place to elocution lessons but with no success. Then he tries black magic and conjures up a demon who agrees to help him. But of course there is a terrible catch to the deal....

Joseph Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) was an English journalist, short-story writer, poet and novelist. The Village That Voted the Earth Was Flat is one of Kipling's rare humorous stories. A group of friends out for a motor jaunt find themselves up on a trumped up speeding charge exacerbated by some outrageously insulting sarcasm from a country town magistrate. The group pit their ample wits and resources to exact their extraordinary revenge....

Edward Alexander Crowley (1875-1947) was a British occultist and writer who wrote as Aleister Crowley. His stories and novels shocked Victorian England with their focus on demonic magic and sexual deviance. The Vixen is a traditional werewolf story but with Crowley's typical cruel and savage erotic twist on the classic theme.

'The Brute' is the tale of a jinxed ship, a ship which seems to have its own malevolent personality. A ship which deliberately murders its own crew and passengers....

'The High Seas' is the story of two brothers, Bran and Agar Yeld, twins, both sailors, sworn and bitter enemies. Agar has stolen Bran's sweetheart and married her while he was away at sea. Bran is determined to kill his brother. But circumstances keep them apart for many years. Then one day both Bran and Agar find themselves hired aboard the same ship. All Bran needs to do is wait for the right moment....

'The Admiral' is the bittersweet tale of a young and simple sailor who is unexpectedly made Admiral of the Fleet of the Republic of Anchuria as a drunken joke during a cabinet meeting of the new corrupt government. Taking command of the fleet...consisting of one sloop, recently confiscated from a band of smugglers, the new admiral sets out to build up his crew - three sailors.

Aylward Edward 'A.E.' Dingle (1874-1947) was a sailor and writer. His own maritime adventures were as fascinating as the sea stories he wrote. He was shipwrecked five times, including being stranded on a desert island for several weeks. 'Bound for Rio Grande' is a classic swashbuckling tale about an old sailor who is shanghaied onto a ship heading round the Cape...but on his return he determines to get his revenge....