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The Great American Short Story Collection  By  cover art

The Great American Short Story Collection

By: Edgar Allan Poe,H. P. Lovecraft,O. Henry,Kate Chopin,Edith Wharton,Mark Twain,Ambrose Bierce
Narrated by: Cathy Dobson
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Publisher's summary

A thoroughly engaging collection of great classic tales by the very best American authors.

  • 1. 'From Beyond' by H. P. Lovecraft
  • 2. 'The Mysterious Card and the Card Unveiled' by Cleveland Moffett
  • 3. 'Pigs Is Pigs' by Ellis Parker Butler
  • 4. 'The Club of One-Eyed Men' by Arthur Somers Roche
  • 5. 'Afterward' by Edith Wharton
  • 6. 'The Furnished Room' by O. Henry
  • 7. 'A Descent into the Maelström' by Edgar Allan Poe
  • 8. 'Regret' by Kate Chopin
  • 9. 'The Terrible Old Man' by H. P. Lovecraft
  • 10. 'The Dumb Man' by Sherwood Anderson
  • 11. 'A Desperate Adventure' by Max Adeler
  • 12. 'A Bottomless Grave' by Ambrose Bierce
  • 13. 'Cannibalism in the Cars' by Mark Twain
  • 14. 'Mr. Higginbotham’s Catastrophe' by Nathaniel Hawthorne
  • 15. 'The Marionettes' by O. Henry
  • 16. 'The Masque of the Red Death' by Edgar Allan Poe
  • 17. 'The Storm' by Kate Chopin
  • 18. 'The Eyes' by Edith Wharton
  • 19. 'Berenice' by Edgar Allan Poe
  • 20. 'Imprisoned with the Pharaohs' by Harry Houdini and H. P. Lovecraft
  • 21. 'The One Million Pound Bank Note' by Mark Twain
  • 22. 'A Lucky Number' by S. B. Hale
  • 23. 'Lost in a Pyramid' by Louisa M. Alcott
  • 24. 'The Problem of the Five Marks' by Melville Davisson Post
  • 25. 'William Wilson' by Edgar Allan Poe
  • 26. 'The Venturers' by O. Henry
  • 27. 'The Cats of Ulthar' by H. P. Lovecraft
  • 28. 'Submarine' by Stella Benson
  • 29. 'The Thousand and Second Tale of Sheherazade' by Edgar Allan Poe
  • 30. 'The Gift of the Magi' by O. Henry

... and 10 more wonderful stories.

Public Domain (P)2015 Red Door Audiobooks

What listeners say about The Great American Short Story Collection

Average customer ratings
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  • 2.5 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Annoying voice

The stories are classics, but the narrators rythym was irritating. The stories themselves are fantastically written but I felt that the narrator was trying to tell a cheesy horror story to a toddler.

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31 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Hated narrator big time

American Stories Not Narrated In American English! Woman sounded spiteful, unpleasant, grinding, slurring it was bad.

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26 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

not good

the narrator is so bad I can't get more thrn 5 minutes in. I really wish I could get my credit bad and this book was removed permanently. for the safety of every audible listener.

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17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Didn't like narration

Narration style and accent distracted me from enjoying the stories.

Also the pause / transition between stories was so quick and monotone that I was often unsure which story I was in.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

narrator is bad

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I have only listened to the first 3 stories. I had hoped that each story would have a different narrator. But NO....

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Cathy Dobson?

Don't know

Could you see The Great American Short Story Collection being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

no

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Awesome stories... voice was distracting

Most of these stories are really good, some dark, others cute. I'd share this with a teenager in my life. The narrator, however, has a nasal, annoying, British or something accent, and sometimes I couldn't concentrate on the storyline because of it. I'll never listen to anything by this voice actress again.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • CC
  • 07-16-16

Narration is awful! They're short stories, not plays!

Didn't like the actress/automated voice narrating these precious short stories. I assume the "voice" is British, and I love and watch British tv and movies....love them. But this narration is awful. Could not finish a single story with this narration. Too bad because this great story collection.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

It's alright

A wide range of quality when it comes to the stories. Too many stories are kind of dull and skippable. The Gift of the Magi is read twice.

The narrator tries to read a bit too dramatically, masking the intonation and syllables that would otherwise make meaning clear.

I'm surprised the cost is so high for books that are public domain and narration that is sub-par.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Read a review of the narrator before purchasing.

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

The stories are good but the narrator’s affect is intolerable. I could not listen beyond the first two hours.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

She used one inflection - a kind of exaggerated theatrical voice - that was not appropriate for the stories. No variation for different characters either.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars

can't hear the story over her annoying voice

I can't stand her voice. I really wish she wasn't the only one reading these stories

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3 people found this helpful