Showing results by narrator "Cathy Dobson" in All Categories

Edith Nesbit was to children in the early 20th century what J.K. Rowling is to today's young generation. Magic, mythical creatures, time travel, charms, words of power... Nesbit's stories have it all. This recording is the complete collection of Edith Nesbit's Psammead series, comprising three captivating stories:Five Children and It.The story begins when a group of five children - Robert, Anthea, Cyril, Jane, and their baby brother, the Lamb - move from London to the countryside of Kent.

First published in 1911, Katherine Mansfield's collection In a German Pension was inspired by her extended stay in a spa town in Bavaria in 1909, during which she suffered a miscarriage. The collection brought her instant fame and popularity as a short story writer, particularly as her amusing - though less than favourable - caricatures of the Germans were very popular at that time.

A fascinating collection of tales from some of Great Britain's finest classic authors.

Sophie, Countess of Segur was a Russian-born French writer who lived from 1799 to 1874. This collection of stories draws on the rich heritage of French medieval literature, courtly love, magic charms and gallant deeds. In each story, the hero or heroine must undertake a quest or overcome a series of impossible challenges in order to reach their goal - often with the aid of magic. The stories are remarkably vibrant and well written, containing many elements of surprise and humour as well as chivalry and courtly romance.

William Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) is one of the greatest of the Victorian mystery writers. For several years he was on the editorial staff of Dickens' magazine All Year Round and became Dickens' close friend and collaborator. Alongside his great novels, Collins was the author of a great many superb short stories, mostly concerned with either the supernatural or crime.

A glittering collection of some of the world's finest short stories.

Edith Nesbit's classic story of three children whose lives are turned upside down when their father suddenly goes away and they have to move to the country. They are captivated by the local railway and make friends with the local station staff and the old gentleman who travels daily on the train.The children experience all kinds of adventures, but the biggest adventure is the one which they do not even understand themselves... the reason for their father's absence and the mysterious quest to bring him home. A captivating story for all ages.

A wonderful collection of 50 of the best classic ghost stories ever written. 'The Missing Model' by Lettice Galbraith, 'Pomegranate Seed' by Edith Wharton, 'The Screaming Skull' by F. Marion Crawford, 'The Ghost in the Cupboard Room' by Wilkie Collins, 'The Shadow on the Blind' by Louisa Baldwin, 'A Ghost's Revenge' by Lettice Galbraith, 'The Lost Ghost' by Mary Wilkins-Freeman, 'On the Northern Ice' by Elia W. Peattie, 'The Cold Embrace' by Mary E. Braddon, 'The Dust Cloud' by E. F. Benson, and many more.

A spine-tingling collection of the greatest short stories by the father of science fiction, H. G. Wells. 'The Time Machine', 'The Empire of the Ants', 'The Crystal Egg', 'The Sea-Raiders', 'The Door in the Wall', 'A Dream of Armageddon', 'The Country of the Blind', 'Under the Knife', 'The Stolen Body', 'The Plattner Story', 'The Stolen Bacillus', 'The Magic Shop', 'The Inexperienced Ghost', and many more short fiction masterpieces.

The definitive collection of traditional Celtic fairy tales. Joseph Jacobs' 1892 anthology of the most enduring folklore from Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and Cornwall is a delight for both young and old. Leprechauns, giants, witches, princesses, castles, and sea monsters all abound in this compendium of the best mythology Britain and Ireland have to offer.

One of the hobbies of Charles Lindley Wood, 2nd Viscount Halifax, was the collection of gruesome tales of the supernatural. These stories were told to him by friends, acquaintances and sent to him by strangers, and he duly recorded them in a book over the course of his long life - he lived to be 94. This is the complete collection in one volume.

First written in 1902, this is one of Edith Nesbit's best loved children's stories. It all begins when a group of five children – Robert, Anthea, Cyril, Jane, and their baby brother, the Lamb - move from London to the countryside of Kent. While playing in a gravel pit, they discover a rather grumpy, ugly and occasionally malevolent sand-fairy known as the Psammead who is compelled to grant one wish of theirs per day. The effects of each wish last until sundown. All the wishes granted to the children go hilariously wrong.

William Wymark Jacobs (1863 - 1943) was an English author of short stories and novels. His most popular works in the early part of the last century were his humorous tales set around the docks of Wapping and in the tap-room of the infamous Cauliflower tavern. Many of his stories were written in a Cockney vernacular and were keenly observant of character. His most famous horror stories are "The Monkey's Paw" and "His Brother's Keeper" both of which have been included in numerous anthologies.

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 gripping collection of over 50 of the greatest short stories written by great British writers. 1."The Missing Years" by Barry Pain, 2. "His Brother's Keeper" by W. W. Jacobs, 3. "A Madman's Manuscript" by Charles Dickens, 4. "The House of Cobwebs" by Barry Pain, 5. "Old Fags" by Stacy Aumonier, 6. "A Long-Ago Affair" by John Galsworthy, 7. "August Heat" by W. F. Harvey, 8. "The Dabblers" by W. F. Harvey, 9. "Rose Rose" by Barry Pain

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.

'La Belle Dame Sans Merci' is a haunting ballad describing a young knight whose very lifeblood and vitality have been drained by a beautiful but parasitic, fairylike vampire. This knight has now been left as an undead shell of his former self, alone on a barren hillside.

The "Red Death" had long devastated the country. No pestilence had ever been so fatal, or so hideous. Blood was its Avatar and its seal - the redness and the horror of blood. To avoid the terrible plague which is devastating his kingdom, Prince Prospero locks himself with 1000 revellers in his castle and holds one hedonistic party after another. For months they celebrate their crazed feasts, until one night a stranger appears at the festivities... a stranger who strikes fear into the hearts of all present. Terrifying!

A superb collection of classic ghost stories from the world's great storytellers. 1. "Lot No. 249" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. 2. "The Phantom Rickshaw" by Rudyard Kipling. 3. "The Haunted Dolls’ House" by M. R James. 4. "Ligeia" by Edgar Allan Poe. 5. "The Monkey’s Paw" by W. W. Jacobs. 6. "The Finest Story in the World" by Rudyard Kipling. 7. "The Apparition of Mrs. Veal" by Daniel Defoe. 8. "Metzengerstein" by Edgar Allan Poe. 9. "They" by Rudyard Kipling. 10. "Labadoyere’s Doom" by Lord Halifax. 11. "Lost in a Pyramid" by Louisa May Alcott. And more...

Herbert George Wells (1866-1946) was a prolific English writer of science fiction stories and novels and is frequently credited as being the father of science fiction. 'The Star' is the story of a shooting star which is discovered hurtling towards our solar system. It is on a collision course with Neptune. When the celestial crash occurs, the two planets combine into a gigantic burning star which is being drawn rapidly and irresistibly towards our sun. But on what trajectory? Will it hit any other planets on its way?