Showing results by narrator "Cathy Dobson" in All Categories

The ultimate collection of great short stories by the best Russian classic authors. 1. "Her Lover" by Maxim Gorky 2. "The Empty Drum" by Count Leo Tolstoy 3. "The Hoop" by Fedor Sologub 4. "The District Doctor" by Ivan Turgenev 5. "The White Dog" by Fedor Sologub 6. "The Cloak" by Nikolai Gogol 7. "A Soothing Dream" by Fedor Sologub 8. "The Christmas Tree and the Wedding" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky 9. "A Work of Art" by Anton Chekhov 10. "Children Wiser Than Their Fathers" by Count Leo Tolstoy

The magic Psammead is back! This time the four children, Cyril, Robert, Anthea and Jane are stuck in London for the Summer, when they come across the Psammead (or wish-giving sand-fairy), imprisoned in a pet shop. They manage to free him, and he tells them where they can get hold of a magic amulet which will bring them their hearts' desire. Unfortunately when the amulet is secured, it is incomplete. They and the Psammead must travel back into ancient history to see the part of the amulet which was lost.

A collection of seven classic short stories in which felines play a central role. Includes: "Tobermory the Cat That Walked by Himself", "The Vampire Cat", "The Young Man Who Stroked Cats", "A Cargo of Cat", "The Black Cat", and "The Paradise of Cats".

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.

Montague Rhodes James (1862-1936), who wrote as M. R. James, was an English author, medieval scholar, and provost of King's College, Cambridge, and of Eton College. He is best known for his outstanding ghost stories. James reinvented the ghost story for the modern audience by moving away from Gothic elements and using realistic contemporary settings. His protagonists and plots often reflected his own antiquarian interests.

Mark Twain's classic satire on the German language. A must read for anybody learning German or living in a German-speaking country. "The Germans have another kind of parenthesis, which they make by splitting a verb in two and putting half of it at the beginning of an exciting chapter and the other half at the end of it. Can anyone conceive of anything more confusing than that?"

An enchanting collection of classic stories and rhymes for younger listeners. Warning - you may be tempted to stay up all night listening!

John Galsworthy (1867-1933) was an English playwright and novelist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1932. This collection presents five of Galsworthy's greatest stories: 'Quality', 'A Long Ago Affair', 'Blackmail', 'Spindleberries', 'A Strange Thing'.

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. Among her most popular and terrifying tales are the many masterly ghost stories which she wrote in her early career. "Afterward" is a dramatic story of the most mysterious ghost of all. When Ned and Mary Boyne move to a remote and unrenovated manor house in Dorsetshire, their list of desired features includes a resident ghost.

An astonishing collection of fifty of the greatest short stories ever written by some of literature's most highly acclaimed writers. 1. "Odour of Chrysanthemums" by D. H. Lawrence; 2. "Miss Harriet" by Guy de Maupassant; 3. "Twenty-six Men and a Girl" by Maxim Gorky; 4. "Hot Potatoes" by Arnold Bennett; 5. "Rats" by M. R. James; 6. "Zodomirsky’s Duel" by Alexandre Dumas; 7. "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin; 8. "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe; 9. "The Encased Man" by Anton Chekhov.

A creepy collection of 50 classic ghost, horror and mystery stories which will keep you up all night. 1. "The Well" by W. W. Jacobs; 2. "This Is All" by Barry Pain; 3. "The Beast with Five Fingers" by W. F .Harvey; 4. "The Reticence of Lady Anne" by Saki; 5. "The End of a Show" by Barry Pain; 6. "The Dabblers" by W. F. Harvey; 7. "The Room in the Tower" by E. F. Benson; 8. "August Heat" by W. F. Harvey; 9. "The Idiot" by Arnold Bennett; 10. "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe...and many more.

When the new captain takes over command of his first ship for the homeward voyage from the Gulf of Siam, he surprises his crew by taking the first nightwatch himself. While alone on deck he is surprised to find a lone swimmer in the sea who comes on board. The stranger is a murderer escaping justice, but is also eerily an almost exact doppelganger of the captain himself. Not only does he look identical, but the two almost seem to share the same thoughts and secrets. Rather than turn his fugitive-double over to the authorities, the captain hides him in his own cabin.

Mrs. Scarr is a tense and mysterious ghost story set in Mauritius, a place where local mythology and European morals sit uneasily alongside one another. Mrs. Scarr is a beautiful woman of French origin who defies local cultural norms. She goes out alone at night and wears white rather than the traditional black. And her husband, who is a debauched sea captain, is mysteriously plagued by a single white moth wherever he goes.

First published in 1899, The Story of the Treasure Seekers tells the tale of the Bastable children, Dora, Oswald, Dickie, Noel, Alice and H.O. (short for Horace Octavius) and their attempts to restore the fallen fortunes of their family. They devise a series of plans to find or make money, varying from digging for treasure to being bandits, from going into business to rescuing rich elderly gentlemen from deadly peril.

A beautiful collection of some of the finest Chinese fairy tales ever told. Incorporating magic, wicked witches, strange adventures and mysterious spirits. Enchanting! Stories include: "The Magic Pillow"; "The Stone Monkey"; "Stealing Peaches"; "The Painted Skin"; "The Wonderful Pear Tree"; "The Country of Gentlemen"; "Learning Magic"; "Theft of a Duck"; "Living for Ever"; "Football on a Lake"; "The Flower Fairies"; "The Talking Bird"; "The Peach Blossom Fountain"; "The Lute Girl’s Lament".

Mary Shelley's classic gothic horror novel. The scientific young genius, Frankenstein, discovers a method for creating life in inanimate objects and sets about a project to build a human in his laboratory. He is successful in his aim, but in so doing, unleashes on the world a creature whose physical deformities make him repulsive to everyone who sets eyes on him.

A splendid collection of both well loved and little known fairy stories which have entertained and delighted children for many generations.

When the elderly widow Cipriana is visited by a strange and scary fire spirit, he tells her that he will help her to make her fortune. The weird elf tells her that he is responsible for fires all over the world and he tells her of a major fire that will break out in the city of Murcia in two weeks time. He advises Cipriana to go to the authorities there and predict the fire. Of course, she will not be believed at first...but when her predictions come true, she will be in great demand and will be well rewarded. Things do not go quite according to plan.

A collection of fascinating legends from Spain, including ghost stories, forgotton crimes, unexplained mysteries, magic and witchcraft.

'Mr. Tallent's Ghost' is an amusing tale about an eccentric writer who likes to read his appalling and tedious novels aloud to his relatives...or indeed anyone who will listen. He persuades a lawyer to draw up a will devoting his entire fortune to funding the publication of his writing. Shortly after this, news of Mr. Tallent's death arrives. The disinherited relations dispute the will vigorously, and soon after this, the ghost of Mr. Tallent begins to haunt the relatives and the executor.