Showing results by narrator "Jeff Harding" in All Categories

The year is 1975—Robert Oppenheimer has invented the Atomic Engine, the first human has walked on the moon, and Jet Carson and the Eagle Seven have sacrificed their lives to stop alien invaders. Brooklyn, however, just wants to keep his head down, pay his mother’s rent, earn a little scratch of his own, and maybe get laid sometime. Simple pleasures! But life is about to get real complicated when a killer with a baseball bat and a mysterious box of eight-track tapes sets him up for murder.

Writer Carl Borden mysteriously falls violently ill one evening whilst out walking his dog, and then again less than two weeks later, whilst asleep in bed. His friend and physician, Doctor Thomas Wingate, suspects foul play, but it will take a lot to convince Borden he could be in danger in his own home.

There have been reports of a phantom ship attempting to run down other vessels on the waters. It is said to be a cutter that went missing, along with its crew. A ship eventually stumbles across the missing cutter, a final log from those on board shedding light on the fate of the cutter.

It’s not unusual for ships to vanish, lost to bad weather, but what isn’t so easy to explain are the abandoned ships, left floating on the waves, eerily silent with no sign of attack or destruction. In this short story, our unnamed protagonist recalls his experience aboard the Robert Sutter, an abandoned ship he was forced to take charge of during his journey from Sydney to Callao.

There is a dark mood aboard Serapis, driven by its distracted captain. It was agreed that this ship would not be returning from its voyage, the insurance money paying for a new ship. But the captain loses more than he bargained for, and it is years until he is at peace when he is unexpectedly reunited with the wreck on the coast of Chile.

A deadly captain is the subject if this short story. Young sailor Roberts recalls his experience of Captain Morbond, a cruel, heartless man who mysteriously is followed by small white mice said to carry the souls of dead men.

An earthquake throws a ship and its crew into disarray in this short story from Morgan Robertson. But the waves become the least of their worries when they discover a mysterious beast has been disturbed, invisible to natural light.

A smoking cigar is seen in the fog, but not the man behind it. Could it be the final smoke of Charlie Devereux? The crew aboard the Königen Teresa recall this ghostly story as they themselves plough into fog across the Mid-Atlantic.

Emma Vane blurs the line between human and plant in this short story featuring a lily that has developed a mouth and can moan. Concern is soon raised for the safety of the central protagonist, botanist Carl Brense.

The titular house in this short story sits not far from the state of Missouri. An old, run-down building, missing windows and doors, it has been overgrown with foliage, and its dilapidated appearance has given it an ‘evil reputation’.

Professor Jonkin is a scientist who has successfully cultivated a tree that produces many fruits. He doesn’t stop there though and starts experimenting on a pitcher plant with disastrous results....

A retired war pilot is travelling the French countryside. Entranced by the natural beauty of the area when he stops to rest by a lake, he sees visions of beautiful tree women who seek his protection.

The story is set in Padua and follows botanist Giacomo Rappaccini’s garden of poisonous plants. A student from the university of Padua falls for a maiden in the luscious garden, but he soon learns some troubling information about his beloved’s true nature.

A short story from the British Library Tales of the Weird collection Evil Roots. Best known as the creator of Sherlock Holmes, this short story by Conan Doyle preceded the famous detective by almost a decade. After an altercation, a disgruntled American storms off into the night, only to disappear mysteriously. Could a giant flytrap really be capable of engulfing an adult victim?

An Iranian defector shows his true colours and returns to his own country—taking a vital piece of intelligence equipment with him. The race is on to capture the turncoat and get the equipment back. Only one man is up for the job—American super-spy Richard Yokely. In the past Yokely served in the Army, the CIA, DEA and the NSA. But now he works for Grey Fox, the super secret agency that takes care of business that the White House would prefer stays hidden. And with a possible World War Three approaching, Yokely is America's only hope. The chase is on.

Instructed to guide in a speed-boat crossing from Russia in the Bering Strait, special forces Major Rake Ozenna watches in horror as the operation culminates in a fatal firefight - and the loss of vital intelligence of a deadly new weapon. A weapon of unimaginable power. But who sabotaged the mission? Who possesses the weapon - and what is their ultimate goal?

In 1993 Lieutenant James Lechner, a member of the 3rd Ranger Battalion, was selected for a top secret special operations task force being sent to Mogadishu, Somalia, to capture the insurgent leader Mohamed Farah Aideed. In early October, after weeks on the ground and conducting a number of raids in the city, the Task Force is called upon to conduct a daylight mission into the heart of Aideed’s territory. During the raid, following the initial dangerous fast rope insertion and subsequent capture of a group of Aideed’s lieutenants, one of the Task Force Black Hawk helicopters is shot down.