Showing results by narrator "David Mark" in All Categories

X's former accomplice Leigh Ferguson is shocked to learn that her high school friend has become the latest victim of "the Skin Traders," a mysterious gang of surgically modified thugs stealing slices of flesh from their abductees. Only the resilient vigilante X can stand up to the demented plastic surgeon who leads this "patchwork" crew. Scalpels clash with swords in a bloody hospital showdown! This latest volume of Dark Horse's edgy superhero series is a perfect starting point for new listeners, but it's also packed with Easter egg references for longtime fans.

Behind the stage lights and word-perfect soliloquies, sinister secrets are lurking in the wings. The mysteries in this collection reveal the dark side to theatre and performing arts: a world of backstage dealings, where unscrupulous actors risk everything to land a starring role, costumed figures lead to mistaken identities, and on-stage deaths begin to look a little too convincing. This expertly curated thespian anthology features 14 stories from giants of the classic crime genre.

Richard Thomas Gallienne was born in Liverpool on 20th January, 1866. His first job was in an accountant's office, but this was quickly abandoned to pursue his first love as a professional writer. His first work, My Ladies’ Sonnets, was published in 1887. In 1889 he became, for a brief time, literary secretary to Wilson Barrett the manager, actor, and playwright. Barrett enjoyed immense success with the staging of melodramas, which would later reach a peak with the historical tragedy The Sign of the Cross (1895).

Montague Rhodes James is cited as perhaps the greatest English writer of ghost stories, an opinion few would disagree with. Many of his elegant yet terrifying tales were created by discarding the prevailing gothic clichés and placing his characters and narrative in a realistic setting. Thereby the stories gained atmosphere and menace on a grand scale and he was famed as the originator of the antiquarian ghost story. Although story-telling and writing these 30 or so tales was a hobby, when published their effect transformed the genre and still chill the bones in our more modern times.

Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins was born on 9th February 1863 in Clapton, London. He was educated at St John's School, Leatherhead, Marlborough College and Balliol College, Oxford. Hope trained as a lawyer and barrister and was called to the Bar by the Middle Temple in 1887. Despite what was thought to be a promising legal career, he had literary ambitions and wrote in his spare time. His early works appeared in various periodicals of the day but for his first book, ‘A Man of Mark’ (1890), with no publisher interested, he published with his own resources.

Ever since 1977, The News Quiz has been finding the hilarity in the headlines and providing witty commentary on stories big and small. In these 25 episodes from 2009, the inimitable Sandi Toksvig is in the hot seat, presiding over an all-star panel of journalists and comedians.