Showing results by narrator "Mark Rice Oxley" in All Categories

Sometimes we want to be a little scared when we hear a story. Our nerves to tingle, the hair on our necks to gradually stand up. We can suspend our own reality for a while as authors lay out their wares of anxiety, worry, tension, and then increase the levels one by one until we are gripped by forces that make us afraid. It’s a real feeling. In this volume story after story assault our senses with mere words, with thoughts and descriptions that twist and deceive, with outcomes that we dread and shudder at the thought of.

Our ‘fight of flight’ response is something hardwired into the primitive part of our brain. Our need to survive, to outlive whatever danger poses, that immediate threat to our lives is little short of a marvel. Everything else is abandoned in order to survive. Whilst in modern times that ability has been somewhat modified and ‘reasoned’ away to an extent, in past years it’s what usually kept you alive. In this volume people struggle valiantly to survive and to exist no matter the extent of the threat they face.

Witness the birth and twilight of an age where the clatter of the blacksmith's hammer, the clash of sword against shield, and the solemn vows sworn in the chapel echoed through stone halls. This book is not just a tale of castles and knights; it's a vivid recounting of a society pivoting on the axis of war and chivalry. Stone and Sword is more than just a conventional narrative of historical accounts.

The year is 1187 and European crusaders still control Jerusalem. The Sultan Saladin has unleashed war on the Crusader Kingdoms and the Christian armies have suffered a catastrophic defeat at the Battle of the Horns of Hattin. In the aftermath of the sultan's victory, Sir Byron Fitzwalter finds himself wounded and alone. Desperate to survive, Fitzwalter flees to the Sea of Galilee where destiny intervenes.

There is something about the number 3. The Ancient Greeks believed 3 was the perfect number, and in China 3 has always been a lucky number, and they know a thing or two. Whatever history and culture says WE think 3, a hat-trick of stories, is a great number to explore themes and literary avenues that classic authors were so adept at creating.

There is something about the number 3. The Ancient Greeks believed 3 was the perfect number, and in China 3 has always been a lucky number, and they know a thing or two. Whatever history and culture says WE think 3, a hat-trick of stories, is a great number to explore themes and literary avenues that classic authors were so adept at creating.

There is something about the number 3. The Ancient Greeks believed 3 was the perfect number, and in China 3 has always been a lucky number, and they know a thing or two. Whatever history and culture says WE think 3, a hat-trick of stories, is a great number to explore themes and literary avenues that classic authors were so adept at creating.

There is something about the number 3. The Ancient Greeks believed 3 was the perfect number, and in China 3 has always been a lucky number, and they know a thing or two. Whatever history and culture says WE think 3, a hat-trick of stories, is a great number to explore themes and literary avenues that classic authors were so adept at creating.

Simon Newcomb was born in 1835. He was a Canadian-American astronomer, applied mathematician and autodidactic polymath. He was fluent in several languages, and also published several popular science books, a science fiction novel and short stories.

Amyas Stafford Northcote was born in 1864 to an aristocratic family. His literary career was mainly centered on one book ‘In Ghostly Company’ which, at the time, were favourably compared to those of M R James. He died in 1923.

Herbert Currington Ridout was born in 1881. His literary life included being a journalist, editor, and short story writer although he also had various jobs in the music business and was later a radio broadcaster on the BBC. He died in 1948.

Frederick George Loring was born in 1869. He was an English naval officer and writer, and an early expert in wireless telegraphy. As a writer his talents extended to both poetry and the short story; ‘The Tomb of Sarah’ being a classic of the genre. He died in 1951.

Alice Askew (born in 1874) along with her husband, Claude (born in 1865) wrote over 90 novels and short stories in various magazines between 1904 and 1918. Alice and Claude both died on 6th October, 1917.

This story was printed with some fanfare in Pearson’s Magazine and lauded for its originality. Despite its success the author is as mysterious now as he was then. Did he write other stories? No one knows.

Edmund Gill Swain, born in 1861, was an English cleric and author. As a chaplain of King's College, Cambridge, he was a colleague of the scholar and author M R James. Swain is best known for his 1912 short story collection ‘The Stoneground Ghost Tales’. He died in 1938.

Richard Henry Malden was born in 1879. During his career he was a prominent Anglican churchman, editor, classical and Biblical scholar, as well as a writer of ghost stories. He died in 1951.

William James Wintle was born in 1861. His talents extended to journalism and writing. He wrote and worked for various magazines and was later the director of a publishing house. He was deeply interested in nature and was a member of many societies as well as a celebrated collector of shells.

Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin was born on the 30th August 1797 in Somers Town, London. Her mother, the famous feminist philosopher, educator, and writer Mary Wollstonecraft died when Mary was only 11 days old and she was raised by her father. Her short stories, some based in Europe, tackle difficult situations and genres as well the obstacles that women were burdened with in society. Her editorship of her late husband’s poetry was also widely praised.

There is something about the number 3. The Ancient Greeks believed 3 was the perfect number, and in China 3 has always been a lucky number, and they know a thing or two. Whatever history and culture says WE think 3, a hat-trick of stories, is a great number to explore themes and literary avenues that classic authors were so adept at creating.

Richard Ellis-Roberts was born in 1879. In his literary career he was primarily a writer and translator and for short spells the literary editor of the New Statesman and Time and Tide. His short stories frequently investigate dark and malevolent forces. He died in 1953.