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

"Barbara of the House of Grebe" is a short story from Thomas Hardys collection "A Group of Noble Dames". It is a dark that intertwines madness and desire. Barbara Grebe is already promised to a wealthy lord when she elopes with another young man, Edmond Willowes. He suffers a terrible disfigurement, and the couples love begins to falter. Hardys pessimism is revealed in his total rejection of the idea of eternal love, certain of its ephemerality.

Composer and music teacher Annette Brougham hears a knock on her ceiling. Ready for a confrontation, she goes up and is surprised to find herself drawn to the mysterious artist Alan Beverley. As their relationship develops, Annette finds herself knocking on the ceiling whenever she wishes to speak with Alan. However, it appears that things are more complex than meets the eye, and Annette is faced with an important decision. The short story "The Man Upstairs" by P. G. Wodehouse is filled with relationship twists and unforeseen turns.

"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," also known as "Alice in Wonderland," is a story loved by adults and children alike throughout the world. Alice is a young girl who falls down a rabbit hole, only to find herself in a whole new world filled with speaking cats, smoking caterpillars and mad tea parties. This 19th-century novel by Lewis Carroll from has seen countless adaptations on the screen, stage and radio. The Oscar-nominated Disney animation Alice in Wonderland from 1951 is one of its most iconic film adaptations.

A man travels through the frozen wasteland bordering the Yukon River, accompanied by his best friend - a large husky dog. The dog tries to dissuade the man from walking farther into the frozen land, but the man pushes on. At some point the man decides to stop and build a fire. Unfortunately, snow falls from one of the trees and extinguishes the fire. This is the moment where the problems truly begin.

B.J. Harrison reads one of Edgar Allan Poe's classic short stories "The Masque of the Red Death". Prince Prospero and 1,000 other nobles have taken refuge at a castle-like abbey to escape the Red Death, a horrifying plague that has taken over the land at large. Yet horror finds them one night when Prospero holds a masquerade ball and a guest dressed up as the Red Death itself shows up. The chilling story by Edgar Allan Poe dating back to the 19th century is a Gothic horror tale to its very core, providing frights of the most unimaginable type.

Rachel Innes is a rich lady who has been taking care of her niece and nephew since their father died. The three of them decide to rent a house in the country and although everything seems to be alright in the beginning, strange events soon begin to occur. Her niece disappears then reappears a few days later. There is a murder they are involved in. They hear strange noises. Things fall down the stairs in the middle of the night. Will Rachel solve the mysteries and how will their summer end? Find out in "The Circular Staircase". B. J.

The Twelve True Fishermen are going on their annual dinner at an exclusive club where fifteen waiters are going to serve the guests. The fishermen are refined and insist on using their own ornate silver knives and forks, which are shaped like fish and have a pearl in the handles. The dinner goes as planned until the silver cutlery disappears. Have some of the waiters stolen it? Father Brown will find out. B. J. Harrison started his Classic Tales Podcast back in 2007, wanting to breathe new life into classic stories.

One day, a little English boy called Teddy finds a mongoose named Rikki-Tikki-Tavi in the family house garden. He thinks that the poor animal is dead, but his mother takes it inside the house and it recovers. Rikki-Tikki-Tavi then begins to explore the garden, which is half-wild and overgrown and crosses the path of two troublesome cobras. This is the moment where Rikki-Tikki-Tavi’s adventure begins.

Goodman Brown is a young man who leads a normal and peaceful life with his wife Faith. However one evening, he leaves his wife and heads out to the forest. He has to run an unknown and urgent errand. There, he meets an old man who strangely resembles Brown a lot. Together, they walk deeper in the woods and suddenly Brown hears Faith’s voice coming from an unknown direction. He runs angrily through the forest when he stumbles upon a strange ceremony. Goodman Brown’s adventure through the woods is a symbol for his journey into self-scrutiny.

"The Tragedy of Coriolanus" falls into the category of Shakespeares' political tragedies. It tells of the story of the legendary Roman hero Caius Marcius Coriolanus. Coriolanus' military success helps him get forward in Rome's political life, and he soon starts dreaming of a leadership position. Unfortunately, too much power inevitably leads to corruption, and Coriolanus’ fate is no exception.

Daniel Dravot and Peachey Carnehan are two scruffy adventurers who are planning to conquer Kafiristan - a remote part of Afghanistan. The two men pretend to have signed a contract that neither of them will touch alcohol or women. However, disguised as a priest and his assistant, Dravot and Carnehan depart for Kafiristan, secretly carrying twenty riffles. Why do they want to conquer Kafiristan? Will the make it across the border alive? Find all the answers in Rudyard Kipling’s adventure story "The Man Who Would Be King" from 1888. B. J.

"The Burned House" is a ghost short story by Vincent O’Sullivan in which a benighted traveler stumbles upon a deserted house right in the middle of nowhere. Soon, strange things begin to happen and becomes involved in a series of supernatural events. A tale of vivid imagination, terrors, and mystery, "The Burned House" includes elements from the science fiction genre as well as classic horror elements such as murder, suicide, and violence, making a chilling yet engaging read. B. J.

Sam McGee is one of the many gold miners of the Klondike Gold Rush. The freezing-cold and harsh winter of Yukon is about to take his next victim in the face of McGee. The poor man freezes to death on the trail. The night before he passed away, McGee had asked his friend, the narrator of the story, to cremate his remains, saying that he did not want to be buried in the frozen ground. However, after the man is cremated some strange things begin to happen.

Bambi is a poor little roe deer who loses his mother and suddenly has to face obstacles, which he finds hard to overcome. In the forest, dangers hides behind every tree and Bambi has to learn fast if he wants to survive. The other males in the forest harass him and human hunters lurk behind his back. Bambi will have to grow stronger and fast. Where will his adventures lead him to? Find out in the all-time-favorite "Bambi" by Felix Salten. B. J.

Pierre Aronnax is a famous marine biologist, who works together with his manservant Conseil and harpoonist Ned Land. The three brave men are tirelessly hunting a mysterious sea monster in the dangerous sea waters. But a great danger loom over them. Why are the three sailors chasing the monster? Why do they want to kill it at any cost? Will they succeed or will the creature attack and kill them? Find out all the answers in Jules Verne’s classic science fiction and adventure novel "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" from 1870. B. J.

A prisoner arrives at a trial before the Spanish Inquisition and is condemned to death. Upon his conviction, he faints and finds himself in a horrendous cell to fight off death. Still, this prisoner is not giving up that easily and describes his horrendous circumstances to the last detail. "The Pit and the Pendulum" by Edgar Allan Poe is nothing short of grim until the very end.

The first season focuses on the short story tradition, and B. J. Harrison has selected some of the most prominent representatives of the genre. As far as the thematic aspect is concerned, the stories cover crime and mystery episodes like Arthur Conan Doyle’s "The Speckled Band", or revenge-driven ones like Shakespeare’s "Hamlet". There are also supernatural and horror classics such as Hawthorne’s "The Devil and Tom Walker" and W. W. Jacobs’ masterpiece "The Monkey’s Paw".

"King" Wallace is a lion-tamer, who has been viciously murdered by a man who hated him. Now everyone wants to know who the murderer is. The "Leopard Man" is a leopard trainer with mysterious scars on his arms. He finds out that the murderer attended every performance of the lion-tamer in hope of seeing the lion tear his trainer apart.

After a long stay in South Africa, Richard Hannay arrives back in London just before the outbreak of World War One. There he meets Franklin Scudder, who claims to be investigating the Black Stone - a German spy organization. Hannay gives a shelter to the man but one day he finds him dead. Now the Scotsman fears that he might be the next one on the Black Stone’s list. Hannay decides to go back to his native Scotland with the notebook Scudder gave him before he was murdered.

David Balfour is a young Scottish man whose parents have recently died. The seventeen-year-old orphan decides that the time has come for him to seek his fortune. Right before Balfour departs for Edinburgh, he meets with his guardian Mr Campbell. Campbell tells the young boy that he has a wealthy uncle living in Cramond.