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

A country doctor visits the spacious house of a Baron. But when he arrives, he draws up in shock. Everything inside and outside of the house, down to the clothing of the inhabitants, is all the same color—white. Why is everything about the house eerily bloodless? Mary Fortune was one of the earliest female writers of crime fiction, and likely the first to write from the point of view of the detective. She enjoyed a prolific career in Australia, where she also wrote under the pseudonyms Waif Wanderer and W.W.

One frosty Christmas Eve, while all the children are dreaming of the presents soon to appear under the tree, the unthinkable happens - Santa Claus is kidnapped. Who in the world would do such a thing, and what possible purpose could it serve?

"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.

A man with no name follows a wandering path into the frozen Klondike. And here, deep in the heart of God's country, he is forced to pit his will, mind, and spirit against the forces of Mother Nature herself.

A knot of monks happens upon a gallows in the middle of a dark forest. Hanging from the gallows is a fresh corpse, and underneath the dangling wretch a young woman performs a haunting dance. When Ambrosius falls in love with this outcast woman, his efforts to suppress his natural feelings result in a gradual descent toward calamity and tragedy.

A kaleidoscope of genres, themes, topics, and motifs await the listener here. From comedy and mystery, to horror and children’s stories, Season Four abounds in fairy tales adventures, challenges to the listener’s imagination, and joyrides through the unknown realms of the psyche. One of the most famous short stories in horror fiction, "The Call of Cthulhu" sits next to the funny characters of "Right Ho, Jeeves" by Wodehouse, while the eponymous sleepyhead from "Rip Van Winkle" is very much awake, facing H. G. Wells’ "The Door in the Wall".

A couple looks for a new home in southern England—but it has to be haunted. They stay in the legendary house of Lyng, where it is said that the inhabitants don’t know that they’ve encountered the ghost until long afterward. Artfully crafted in five different parts, Wharton spins an ironic story of greed, guilt, and revenge.

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.

Apart from the ubiquitous presence of the authors who work in the short story tradition, the Second Season introduces poems and novellas. The romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge is here with his haunting and supernatural sea adventure "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner", while Rudyard Kipling tests the human condition with his famous poem "If". Perhaps the most potent addition in this second part is Joseph Conrad’s timeless novella "The Heart of Darkness", exploring the darkest recesses of the human soul. B. J.

Jim Hawkins is a young boy who lives at his parents’ inn, near Bristol. After Billy Bones, an old sea captain, mysteriously dies at the inn, Hawkins unlocks his sea chest and finds a treasure map. The mysterious treasure map arouses Jim’s curiosity and sparks a wild and adventurous treasure hunt. Before long, Jim has gathered a crew of untrustworthy pirates and sails off to Treasure Island. Long John Silver with his missing leg and his parrot is part of the voyage.

Guillermo Vicente Vidal's memoir chronicles his journey from Castro's Cuba to the United States - a tapestry of his coming of age, a broken family, and disorientation of political unrest. Vidal was barely 10 years old when he proudly shook the hand of Fidel Castro. Although Vidal's parents were once staunch supporters of La Revolucion, they soon found they could no longer keep their sons safe in the new face of Castro's reign, making the difficult decision to send Vidal and his brothers to the US via Operation Peter Pan in 1961.

Latimer is convinced that he has a special power. According to him, he can see into the future and he can also read people's mind. Actually everybody’s but one; his brother’s wife Bertha's mind remains closed to him. Although he marries her after his brother’s death, he still cannot manage to read her thoughts. What he realizes however is that Bertha is manipulative and her heart is not pure.

Désirée and Armand’s marriage was passionate and loving. But everything changes when their baby is born, who appears to be of mixed race.

Law never thought he'd want anything more than the chance to make a living cooking his food for the people of Barefoot Bay...but Libby arouses an irresistible hunger in him. Battling an attraction that sizzles hotter than one of Law's cast-iron skillets and uncovering long-buried secrets with more twists than one of Libby's yoga poses, they'll have find a way to both get what they want...especially if what they really want is each other.

B.J. Harrison narrates "An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving" by author Louisa May Alcott. Thanksgiving is here, but the mother and father of seven children are called away to the bedside of an ill grandmother. The farm is left in charge of the eldest child and the children decide to whip up a Thanksgiving dinner that will make their parents proud, but the task turns out to be more difficult than they had imagined.

The quiet community of Quiquendone can't be found on any map. There is no crime, no raised voices, no conflict of any kind. And when the enigmatic Dr. Ox ventures into the town and proposes to light the town with a mysterious gas at his own expense, the town elders applaud the proposal. But soon it becomes evident that the secret gas feeds on a different sort of combustion.

A poor young couple demonstrates the meaning of love and self-sacrifice in the Christmas Classic, "The Gift of the Magi". Also included is "The Last Leaf". This tale follows a young woman artist who is stricken with pneumonia. She watches the leafy vine opposite her window with hollow eyes, and she determines to stay alive until the last leaf falls. O. Henry, always a master with the surprise ending, delivers two fine tales of his beloved New York City.

"The Gift of the Magi" is a short story about love, selflessness, sacrifices and struggles. Della and James are a young married couple who want to surprise each other with a secret gift for Christmas. Unfortunately, neither of them has much money yet still they each hope they'll manage to buy something in time and that it will be appreciated. "The Last Leaf" tells us the story of poor Johnsy, who is so sick that her days are counted.

Ebenezer Scrooge runs a tight shop with a tight fist and a sharp tongue. On Christmas Eve, he is visited by the ghost of his old partner, Jacob Marley. Marley relates that in order for Scrooge’s soul to be reclaimed, he must be haunted by three spirits. The first of the three appear, and Scrooge’s reclamation begins.

Leonidas W. Smiley would bet on anything. Horse races, dog fights, cat fights, chicken fights - all were fair game to the gambling nature of Smiley. But he meets his match when a stranger comes into town, and puts his champion jumping frog to the test.