Showing results by narrator "Cathy Dobson" in All Categories

Sir Hugh Seymour Walpole (1884-1941) was a New Zealand-born English novelist famous for his skill at scene setting and vivid plots. He was a best-selling author in the 1920s and 1930s and remains popular to this day. 'Mr. Huffam' is a heartwarming story about a delightful stranger who, on account of his personal bonhomie and his wonderful ability to tell stories, charms the household of Sir Roderick Winslow, from the haughty aristocratic relatives to the domestics.

Sir Hugh Seymour Walpole (1884-1941) was a New Zealand-born English novelist, famous for his skill at scene setting and vivid plots. He was a best-selling author in the 1920s and 1930s and remains popular to this day. This collection includes some of Walpole's finest works, including 'The Whistle', which he described as "the best short story I have ever written".

Guy Boothby (1867 - 1905) was an Australian by birth, who came to England in 1894 and was quickly acknowledged as a masterly writer of thrillers and crime stories. His best work includes a series of stories which appeared in Pearson's Magazine in 1897 under the title "The Prince of Swindlers". These stories describe the exploits of Simon Carne, one of the earliest society criminals whose cunning robberies were executed with outstanding imagination and ingenuity.

In The Story of a Piebald Horse, a stranger appears at the cattle branding one day, and in an unfortunate incident he is accidentally killed. His piebald horse, saddle, and other posessions are kept by one of the ranchers until the stranger can be identified and his family contacted. In the hope that some traveller will recognize the stranger's horse, he ties it up beside the local inn. After a time, a group of herders passing through do recognize the horse... and they tell a most extraordinary tale....

This book, the last work of Charles Dickens to be published, is peculiarly personal to the writer. The manuscript was entirely handwritten and kept in his home solely for the use of his own children. It was never intended for publication, but rather written in a form which Dickens thought most suitable for his own youngsters, and they might have a permanent record of their father's thoughts.

When Della finds she doesn't have enough money to buy a proper Christmas present for her beloved husband Jim, radical action is needed. She resolves to cut off and sell her precious hair to raise funds. Armed with the twenty dollars raised, she buys the perfect gift for Jim. But when Jim comes home with his present for her, Christmas takes an altogether unexpected turn....

A terrifying collection of classic Victorian short stories about ghosts, werewolves and vampires. The Wolf Book by Henry Chapman Mercer. Number Ninety by B. M. Croker. Ken's Mystery by Julian Hawthorne. The Piano Next Door by Elia W. Peattie. The White Wolf of the Hartz Mountains by Frederick Marryat. The Horla by Guy de Maupassant. Absolute Evil by Julian Hawthorne. Mrs. Amworth by E. F. Benson.

Sir Hugh Seymour Walpole (1884-1941) was a New Zealand-born English novelist famous for his skill at scene setting and vivid plots. He was a best-selling author in the 1920s and 1930s and remains popular to this day. The Silver Mask is a multilayered tale of an elderly lady who falls victim to an insidious but dreadfully attractive confidence trickster. Like a fly trapped in a spiderweb, she cannot extricate herself from the clutches of this gorgeously wicked man...and he is so very attractive...so very, dreadfully attractive....

Ellis Parker Butler (1869-1937) was an American author of more than 30 books and more than 2,000 stories and essays. He is best known for his famous short story "Pigs Is Pigs", in which a bureaucratic stationmaster insists on levying the livestock rate for a shipment of two pet guinea pigs, which soon start proliferating exponentially.

Invited to a ball at the Ministry of Public Instruction where her husband works, Mathilde is in despair about how to look the part. She manages to persuade her husband to give her 400 francs for a new dress. But she also would like some jewellery to complete the outfit. Although their budget cannot stretch to this, Mathilde is able to borrow a diamond necklace from an old schoolfriend who is wealthy. But while she dazzles everyone at the ball, disaster is waiting in the wings...

Fascinating science fiction tales from some of the greatest writers in the world. •The Unparalleled Adventures of one Hans Pfaal by Edgar Allan Poe•The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson•The Horror of the Heights by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle•The Three Drugs by Edith Nesbit•The Lifted Veil by George Eliot•When the World Screamed by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle•The Finest Story in the World by Rudyard Kipling

A medieval legend about an evil curse, a love triangle and a dreadful tragedy. Harald and Alfred are love rivals for the hand of the beautiful Ysault. While Ysault favours the noble Harald, she does not know that Harald is under a terrible curse, inherited from his wicked grandfather. The region is being ravaged by a vicious werewolf which carries off livestock and children, but mysteriously only on nights when Harald is away from the castle. Alfred notices this strange coincidence and determines to take advantage of the insight to beat his love rival.

A captivating anthology of some of the more unusual short stories written by well-known classic writers. 1. "A Witch in the Peak" by R. Murray Gilchrist. 2. "War" by Sherwood Anderson. 3. "Self-Help" by W. W. Jacobs. 4. "The Wolf" by Guy de Maupassant. 5. "Makes the Whole World Kin" by O. Henry. 6. "The Stone Dragon" by R. Murray Gilchrist. 7. "The New Englander" by Sherwood Anderson. 8. "Berenice" by Edgar Allan Poe. 9. "The Man with the Watches" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. 10. "The Adventure of the Diamond Necklace" by G. F. Forest.

Alexander Pushkin's greatest short story. Hermann, a young German officer serving in the Engineers regiment, is obsessed by gambling, although he never indulges in it himself. One night he hears a tale about how a wealthy 87-year-old Countess in St. Petersburg once learned the secret of how to win on three cards from the Duc d'Orleans. He becomes obsessed with learning the secret himself. In pursuit of this aim, he becomes enamoured of the Countess' companion, the beautiful Lizaveta.

Edred and Elfrieda Arden belong to an ancient noble family which has fallen on hard times. Orphaned and living with their aunt who takes in lodgers at the seaside, life is dull and frustrating. But when Edred suddenly inherits the title of Lord Arden - and a medieval ruined castle to go with it, the adventures are only just starting. The children discover a magic spell through which they meet the Mouldiwarp - a white mole who is also the emblem of the Ardens.

John Ruskin (1819-1900) was one of the most versatile and accomplished writers of his day, as well as being a prominent art critic, painter, philanthropist and social commentator. His writings included academic essays, travel guides, poetry, manuals, treatises, letters...and one enchanting fairy tale: The King of the Golden River. The story tells of three brothers, two of them greedy and dishonest, the third and youngest a kind hearted and trustworthy lad.

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.

Kate Chopin (1850 - 1904) was a US. author of French and Irish descent famous for her short stories and novels set in Louisiana. A Pair of Silk Stockings is the tale of a frazzled housewife and mother, Mrs. Sommers, who has come into a small fortune of $15. She plans selflessly to spend it on clothes and shoes for her children, but when she sets out on her shopping trip she is seduced by a pair of beautiful soft silk stockings and embarks on an intoxicating spending spree for her own personal pleasure.

Edith Wharton (1862-1937) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist and short story writer. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1927, 1928 and 1930. 'The Lady's Maid's Bell' is a classic ghost story about Alice Hartley, a servant who takes up a new position in a remote country house as companion to an invalid lady. Almost immediately she realises that there is something not quite right in the house.

A rich anthology of classic tales of ghosts and the supernatural written by women. 'The Operation' by Violet Hunt; 'On the Northern Ice' by Elia W. Peattie; 'Afterward' by Edith Wharton; T'he Missing Model' by Lettice Galbraith; 'The Cold Embrace' by Mary E. Braddon; 'Room Number Ten' by Bessie Kyffin-Taylor; 'Pomegranate Seed' by Edith Wharton; 'Mrs. Raeburn's Waxwork' by Eleanor Smith; 'The Mystery of the Semi-Detached' by Edith Nesbit.