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

Anodos is a young boy who finds a large and mystical castle with a big and impressive library. The library hides the secret story of the poor Cosmo who was a student at the university of Prague. Cosmo’s life changed forever because of a mirror. But it was no usual mirror; it was an enchanted and a beautiful girl’s soul was kept inside of it. Cosmo was determined to free the girl but was he able to? Read this short story and find out. B. J. Harrison started his Classic Tales Podcast back in 2007, wanting to breathe new life into classic stories.

The narrator is under the spell of Ellis - a female vampire - who takes him on series of flights to different places, such as Paris, St. Petersburg and the Isle of Wight. At these places, he becomes a witness to various incidents and becomes involves in different situations. Why was the narrator cursed by Ellis? Why did she take him to those places and what did she wanted to show him? What will the narrator learn from their journey? How will the story end? Find all the answers in Turgenev’s story "Phantoms" from 1863. B. J.

B.J. Harrison tells Edgar Allan Poe's story "The Tell-Tale Heart", where our narrator has committed the crime of murdering an older man. He does not consider himself a madman, and he describes the murder up to the smallest detail. Yet he has killed a man whom he loved and had never wronged him, for the sake of the mans' "evil eye". The novella from the 19th century is one of Edgar Allan Poe's best-known short stories and has been transformed into theatre, film and television adaptations alike.

Helen Stoner goes to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. She is afraid that her stepfather, Dr. Grimesby Roylott, may be trying to kill her. Helen’s sister died mysteriously two years earlier, right before her own wedding. Her last words, which Helen never managed to decipher were "The speckled band". Dr. Roylott’s best friends are a band of gypsies. He also owns two dangerous animals, a cheetah and a baboon, as pets. He simply scares people, and everyone avoids him.

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.

"The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes" is Sir Conan Doyle’s second collection about the great detective. In this collection we meet the same two protagonists, namely Holmes and Watson, but the cases and mysteries that must be solved are completely new. The disappearance of a champion horse, a dead coachman and stolen naval treaty are only a small portion of all the mysteries the two men will have to deal with.

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.

"He's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same." In the winter of 1801, a man named Lockwood rents a home in Northern England. When he meets his unfriendly landlord, Heathcliff, who lives in the old nearby manor Wurthering Heights, Lockwood is curious to know why he seems so troubled. By asking his housekeeper, Lockwood finds out much more than he bargained for. One of the most controversial and debated love stories of all times, 'Wuthering Heights' is one of those classics you just have to read.

One day a poor fisherman finds a large and heavy chest. Caliph Harun al-Rashid buys the chest, thinking that it encloses a treasure. Instead, he finds out that it contains a woman’s corpse sliced into pieces. Following this discovery, the caliph orders his vizier Ja’far, to find the murderer within three years, otherwise he will be executed. Unfortunately, due to the lack of evidence, the vizier is not able to make a proper investigation and the fatal day looms closer.

"You see, this is the beauty I want. Beauty has got to be astonishing, astounding--it's got to burst in on you like a dream, like the exquisite eyes of a girl." Ardita, a beautiful and bored young Flapper, is hanging out on her uncle's yacht when it's suddenly captured by pirates. When Ardita meets and falls in love with the charming captain she knows she's been right to reject the boring and rich society men. But a truth lurks around the corner that will make her question everything she thinks she knows.

Mankind has entered another Dark Age. Individuality has been eliminated. People refer to themselves only by using "we" and "they". All live in collective homes and the mass is more important than the individual. However even in this far future, there is someone called Equality 7-2521 who stands against the norm.

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.

"Her arms rested on a table beside her, and her head on her hands; but her face was turned full forward, and her eyes met those of the spectator bewilderingly." One day, a man who has recently enherited his aunt's house, discovers a portait of a woman in the attic. He brings it downstairs and becomes so infatuated by the woman it portrays that he prays she will come to life. By some mysterious power she does, and he learns that the two of them have a daunting history.

Forty-two years old Marlow is drinking with four other Englishmen. They have known each other since the beginning of their working lives. Some of them have other jobs now, but they still gather to recall the good old days. Marlow tells his friends a story of his early life, when he travelled to the East as a young man in search of adventure. He shares his experience and impressions of the different cultures he came across with the four men.

A young woman named Mary Sutherland is engaged and about to marry Hosmer Angel, when he unexpectedly disappears. In her despair and anxiety, Mary decides to ask Sherlock Holmes for his help. This seems to be a simple case for the great detective. After a short exchange of letters with Mary’s stepfather, Mr. Windibank, Sherlock finds out what the truth is.

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.

Three young men are caught by a storm and are offered shelter by a strange man. Something about him is very disturbing and they are about to find out what it is. Their host claims that he has made a pact with the Devil and can't get himself out of the deal. Is he going crazy or he is telling the truth? If it is the truth, can the three visitors help the poor man? Find out in Leroux’s "In Letters of Fire". B. J. Harrison started his Classic Tales Podcast back in 2007, wanting to breathe new life into classic stories.

"... Why, it would really be being unselfish to go away and be happy for a little, because we would come back so much nicer." Lottie and Rose belong to the same London women's club, but they don't know each other very well. They both see the same advertisement for a castle in Italy, which is available for rent for a month. For different reasons, these women want to get away from their husbands for a while and they put out an ad and find two more women in need of vacation. And so, the four vastly different women head to Italy.

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.

In "MS. Found in a Bottle", one harrowing event seems to take place after another. Our narrator is a man who has become alienated from others and his country. He steps aboard a cargo ship from Batavia, which crashes into stormy conditions that send most passengers into the water. Surprisingly, the narrator stays on board, only to find himself face to face with a new disaster. During his struggles, he logs his experiences into a journal, which he casts off to sea.