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

"The Christmas Stories of Charles Dickens" is a precious collection of Christmas tales. Christmas spirit, joy, excitement, cheer and Christmas trees against low classes living in despair and poverty. There are two sides to the story but the holiday and its meaning come from the heart no matter what the social status is. "The Christmas Stories of Charles Dickens" is a collection which makes the reader immerse in a parallel universe, so complex in its nature that it almost seems unreal.

From the books that inspired the new Netflix series "Lupin" with Omar Sy. Arsene Lupin is suddenly and suspiciously willing to share some secrets with Inspector Ganimard which will help the police unveil a murder. But is Lupin helping out of the goodness of his heart or does a large jewel connected to the deceased have anything to do with it? The fifth story in Maurice Leblanc’s collection "The Confessions of Arsene Lupin" about gentleman thief and criminal mastermind, Arsene Lupin.

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.

Jerome, George and Harris are three hypochondriacal friends who like to spend time comparing their illnesses, although none of them is ill. One day they decide to go on a vacation by sailing down the Thames river towards Oxford. The three friends prepare a long list of things they will need and even take the dog Montmorency with them. During the journey they visit many different places and fall into various and interesting situations.

The "League of the Scarlet Pimpernel" is a secret society made up of twenty English aristocrats. The commander is the so-called "Scarlet Pimpernel" but almost nobody knows his real identity. The society aims to defy the French revolutionaries. The main goal is to rescue innocents from the deadly guillotine.

While hosting a party, a banker makes a bet with one of his guests, who is a lawyer. The topic of the bet is capital punishment and whether it is worse or better than a life sentence. The banker sees the capital punishment as more humane than life imprisonment, whilst the young lawyer completely disagrees. The bet is as follows: if the lawyer spends fifteen years in complete isolation, the banker will give him two million rubles. As the years pass, the banker realizes that he will go bankrupt if he loses the bet.

"Phil, my dear boy, really -- what's the matter? Why don't you answer? Have you seen the eyes?" An older gentleman invites a group of friends over for dinner and to discuss the supernatural. Afterwards, when only two guests remain, he tells them a story about The Eyes, about a man who is repeatedly haunted at night by a pair of grotesque eyes floating over the foot of his bed. 'The Eyes' is a short, sharp read that slowly enters your psyche and leaves you with a paragraph that may haunt you forever, because it's not about ghosts at all...

Joyce-Armstrong is a pilot, whose allies dies while they are trying to break the current height record of 30,00 feet. The man is curious over the mysterious deaths and thinks that his friends have been caught in what he calls "air-jungles". Hay Connor and Myrtle are its two most recent casualties. Connor dies immediately after landing, while Myrtle is found beheaded. Joyce-Armstrong then decides to conduct his own investigation and takes his plane to a height of 40,000 feet.

"Uncle Silas" is a Gothic locked-room mystery novel by Sheridan Le Fanu. Maud Ruthyn is an orphan, left in the care of her mysterious and evil uncle Silas. The latter keeps thinking up new and creative ways to get rid of his niece. In a similar vein to Wilkie Collins’ novels, Le Fanu’s "Uncle Silas" depicts a heroine in danger, who moves from one hair-raising adventure to the next, making it a perfect, terrifying, horror tale of greed and vile intentions. B. J.

Mr. John Smith is a British student of Egyptology who travels to Paris. The main purpose of his trip is to visit the Louvre and research some papyri. Unfortunately, tired from going round the museum, Smith falls asleep in one its the many corners. When he wakes up, he sees an Egyptian-looking man performing a ritual on a mummy. Things get even stranger as the Egyptian man unwraps the mummy, uncovers a beautiful woman and hugs her.

Helen Turrell is a young and well-off single woman, living a the countryside village. But one day, she decides to travel to southern France and returns home with a baby called Michael. Helen says that Michael is the son of her brother, George, who died in India after falling off a horse. However, the truth is quite different and secretly, Helen tells Michael that he can call her "Mummy". Why did Helen travel to France? Is Michael really her nephew? Find out the truth in Rudyard Kipling’s story "The Gardener" from 1925. B. J.

Can you imagine that a big white elephant could disappeared into thin air? It may sound impossible or ridiculous but it actually happened. An elephant got sent to Great Britain as a gift to the Queen but it was lost on the way and nobody seems to have a clue how it came to happen. Can chief inspector Blunt solve the case? Find out in Mark Twain’s short story "The Stolen White Elephant". B. J. Harrison started his Classic Tales Podcast back in 2007, wanting to breathe new life into classic stories.

"The Man from Snowy River and Other Poems" is one of the best known collections of poems by Banjo Paterson and was published first in 1895. It includes 48 poems which are described by Rolf Boldrewood as "the best bush ballads". From horseback pursuits, through romantic views of rural life, and humorous incidents with a drover of sheep, "The Man from Snowy River and Other Poems" will give you the possibility to immerse yourself into Australia’s nature and feel its different and colorful sides.

Ballantrae and Henry are two brothers and Scottish noblemen, whose family is torn apart during the Jacobite rising of 1745. Ballantrae is an unscrupulous and bold man, who joins the fights to restore the Stuarts to the English throne. His brother, an honest and good-natured man, stays as a supporter of King George. Just when everyone thinks that Ballantrae has been killed, he returns to find out the terrible truth about his younger brother.

Abercrombie Smith and Edward Bellingham are neighbors and fellow students at the University of Oxford. Smith is a medical student and athlete, while Bellingham is a specialist of Eastern studies and the owner of many Egyptian artefacts. A series of strange episodes happen after Edward buys a four-thousand-years-old mummy. Smith suspects his fellow student of hiding a dark and threatening secret, and soon discovers what the truth really is.

"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.

Poor little Christine’s father dies and she is left to be raised by a protective angel in the Paris Opera House. After some time she begins hearing a voice who teaches her how to sing. Christine grows to be a magnificent singer with a beautiful voice. One day her childhood friend visits the Opera and he falls in love with her. The phantom who taught Christine to sing and who was imperceptibly by her side, gets jealous and things go out of control.

The Baron d’Etraille witnesses a disturbing scene at a party between his own wife and another young man. D’Etraille decides that they have to separate, so he leaves the baroness and heads out on a long journey. He spends almost six years wandering around from one place to another, not knowing what is happening with his wife. Eventually, he returns to Paris but a month later he catches such a bad cough that he is sent to Nice for the rest of the winter.

Have you ever wondered what hides inside the big chimney which Santa Claus goes through every Christmas Eve? Jem is about to find out. Inside the chimney, she notices a magnificent white brick, but this brick is special; it lets Jem into a magical world full of toys. Do you want to join Jem’s journey to Santa Claus’ wonderland? Grab "Behind the White Brick" and come along. B. J. Harrison started his Classic Tales Podcast back in 2007, wanting to breathe new life into classic stories.

From the books that inspired the new Netflix series "Lupin" with Omar Sy. There is a mystery to be solved. A baroness and a great deal of money have disappeared from Paris, and neither her husband nor the police can find any trace of her. Enter the infamous Arsene Lupin, master thief, gentleman burglar and greatest criminal mind of all time.