Showing results by narrator "B. J. Harrison" in All Categories

Sherlock Holmes is at the stables of Colonel Ross in Dartmoor. He has an especially important mission to investigate the disappearance of Silver Blaze, titular horse and a famous winner. It is not enough that the champion is gone, but his trainer, John Straker, has apparently been murdered. After carefully examining the crime scene, Holmes follows the horse’s footprints to the neighbor stables, where he tries to get more information from Silas Brown.

A father and his son visit a magic shop. This is not just any magic shop, but the "genuine" one, as the shop owner points out to the father. The father is not impressed but the boy is mesmerized by what he sees and hears. Yet when one trick turns out to be too real and the father is gripped by something he will not easily forget. H. G.

Mrs. Pratt mysteriously dies in her sleep after a fight with her husband. He thought that she had tried to poison him. But maybe it was the other way around? After a while Mr. Pratt is found dead as well, with a skull next to his head. Those who believe in ghosts think that Mrs. Pratt finally got her revenge. What do you believe? What happened with Mr. Pratt? If you are courageous enough, find the answer in "The Screaming Skull" by Francis Marion Crawford. B. J.

Winter Wedderburn is an amateur collector of orchids, spending his days peacefully with his housekeeper. One day he invites more adventure into his life and buys an unknown species of orchids brought from the Andaman Islands. Little does he know that purchasing this unusual plant will bring him more adventure than he could ever have dreamt of. "The Flowering of the Strange Orchid" is a short horror story by H.G. Wells from the late 19th century, providing the reader with a most unusual enemy.

Alice is pregnant with her husband Sir Richard Trevlyn’s child. One day, she listens to a conversation between her husband and a visitor through a keyhole. What she hears is shocking enough to make her faint, and when she comes to, her husband is found dead. Years later, the sixteen-year-old Paul applies for a job at the estate, and it becomes clear that there is more to him than meets the eye. What happened to Sir Richard Trevlyn, and who is the mysterious Paul? Louisa May Alcott’s mystery novella from the 19th century, read by B.J.

A man named Manton killed his wife and his two children and managed to get away with it. Ten years later he returns to the house where the crime was committed. He is recognized by the locals and he is provoked into a duel which is to be held in the haunted house where Manton killed his family. The locals were aiming to scare Manton away. However, the day after the duel Manton was found dead.

"The Furnished Room" is a short story about love and dedication, about exhaustion and despair. A young man is searching for a girl he fell in love with. He rents a room near the theatre where she could sometimes be seen and he devotes his days to the dream of finding her. When all of a sudden the sweet fragrance of her perfume fills his room... Has he finally found her? Or is this an evil ghost from the past? Will he get to embrace the girl he loves or she will drag him to the verge of madness? B. J.

Set in the pseudo-historical Hyborian Age, this story introduces us to the legendary Conan the Barbarian. After the death of Vendhya’s emperor, Bunda Chad, Conan kidnaps his sister - Devi Yasmina.

B.J. Harrison reads "The Happy Prince and Other Tales" which consists of various children’s stories by Oscar Wilde. Originally published in 1888, the work includes five memorable stories: "The Happy Prince", "The Nightingale and the Rose", "The Selfish Giant", "The Devoted Friend" and "The Remarkable Rocket". It features unforgettable characters, such as the happy prince who has never experienced sorrow and a nightingale who accepts a rose for the ultimate sacrifice.

A young traveler is up on a mountain when night falls and he finds shelter with a family that lives nearby. They make friendly conversation and the visitor shares his dreams and goals to achieve great things in life. Their conversation is however interrupted by the sound of rocks falling from the slope. Are they in danger? Find out in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s "The Ambitious Guest". B. J. Harrison started his Classic Tales Podcast back in 2007, wanting to breathe new life into classic stories.

After their father’s death, the two brothers, Nur al-Din and Shams al-Din, agree to marry two sisters on the same day. The main idea is that Nur wants to have a son, while Shams wants to have a daughter. And so it happens. Shams al-Din has a daughter and Nur al-Din has a son - Badr al-Din. Right before he dies, Nur tells his young boy about his uncle Shams, who is still in Cairo. After the death of his father, Badr al-Din loses the approval of the sultan and must flee away.

From the books that inspired the new Netflix series "Lupin" with Omar Sy. At Chateau de Maupertuis, death shadows Lady Jeanne Darcieux, as she escapes more than one attempted murder. But hero and gentleman burglar, Arsene Lupin is lying in wait and he can't help saving a stranger, especially if she's young and rich. The sixth story in Maurice Leblanc’s collection "The Confessions of Arsène Lupin" about gentleman thief and criminal mastermind, Arsene Lupin.

Aladdin is a boy, who lives in poverty with his mother. One day, while he is playing outside, an African magician approaches him and claims that he is Aladdin’s uncle. The mysterious man tricks the boy to work for him by promising him wealthy rewards. Aladdin agrees after having gotten his mother's permission. The African man instructs the boy to enter a dark cave and fetch him an oil lamp and Aladdin jumps into the cave to finds it. However, the boy refuses to pass it to the magician before he is helped out of the cave and back into daylight.

Can a man lose his mind because of a braid of hair? Can people come back from the dead? "The Head of Hair" tells the story of one poor man who gets so obsessed with a hairpiece that he comes to believe that the lady it belonged to has returned from the underworld. Nobody believes him and he ends up in an institution for mentally ill but could he have been telling the truth? Did he really get a visitor from the past? B. J. Harrison started his Classic Tales Podcast back in 2007, wanting to breathe new life into classic stories.

In "Lost in a Pyramid; or The Mummy's Curse" by Louisa May Alcott, Paul Forsyth and his fiancée Evelyn discover that taking souvenirs back from ancient places may not be the best idea. Paul returns from an expedition to Egypt with his risk-taking colleague Professor Niles with a box of seeds, which Evelyn takes a liking to. The problem is, the seeds were collected from the grave of a sorceress, who has vowed to take revenge on anyone disturbing her resting place.

A small group of friends decide to attend a seance at a local art studio. While some of them are very sceptical about the whole thing, others believe in the medium’s abilities. The group starts a discussion about a new painting of a mythical creature, when a Frenchman joins and claims that he sees a unicorn in it. Shortly after the seance begins, a strange light fills the room and the medium starts speaking in a different voice. The voice is that of a person no longer within the living.

From the books that inspired the new Netflix series "Lupin" with Omar Sy. Yvonne d’Origny’s life is full of misery, hatred and fear. She has tried to divorce her malicious husband, but he is willing to go to great lengths to get what he wants - and that’s her. He even uses their son as a pawn. How will Yvonne’s story unfold, and what will Lupin’s role be in it? The second story in Maurice Leblanc’s collection "The Confessions of Arsène Lupin" about gentleman thief and criminal mastermind, Arsene Lupin.

A woman is suffering from severe postpartum psychosis and her husband takes her to a colonial mansion where they can spend the summer. The woman is however closed and isolated in a single room where her nervous depression gets worse with the time. The only thing she sees all day long is a yellow wallpaper which she studies in so many details that she finally finds a creeping woman behind the pattern. The summer is over and the family is about to go home. The husband opens the door to his wife’s room.

In this dark story by Robert W. Chambers we are introduced to a detective, who is tasked to uncover a hoax in the Pacific Northwest. There he investigates the possible existence of a terrible porpoise-skinned humanoid with an insatiable hunger for human females. If you like reading dark and weird stories, then "The Harbor Master" from 1904 is the right one for you. Do not hesitate to embark on this journey and solve the mystery of the porpoise-skinned humanoid. B. J.

Lieutenant-General von Rabbek is a local aristocrat, who invites the officers of the Reserve Artillery Brigade to a cup of tea with brandy. Of all the guests, Ryabovitch is the most unpleasant one. While doing his best to avoid talking to people, Ryabovitch enters a dark room, where he an unknown woman surprises him by kissing him, then running away. The unexpected kiss awakes Ryabovitch's curiosity and passion, and the man spends the rest of the evening searching for the mysterious woman.