Showing results by narrator "Cindy Hardin" in All Categories

What happens when an "always gets her own way" young heiress is kidnapped by a "pirate" and his motley crew then spirited away to a hidden island? Return to the days of ragtime, riches and wall street royalty in this classic tale of the "poor little rich girl" and her "bad boy" sweetheart. A delightful re-telling of the girl meets boy scenario with an "O Henry" twist.

Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman (October 31, 1852¿March 13, 1930) was a prominent 19th century American author. Up until recently she was known primarily as a "feminist" writer, for her classic stories like "A New England Nun" and "The Revolt of Mother". However, she also wrote many well-crafted supernatural stories which have only recently begun to attract appreciative critical attention. These stories combine pragmatism and supernaturalism and are very much in the tradition of an "Americanized" Gothic.

Oscar Wilde was one of the most versatile writers who ever lived. He wrote classic plays, including The Importance of Being Ernest; one wildly popular and influential novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray; and a number of inventive and moving stories in The Happy Prince and Other Tales.

Stories included in this volume are: "The Nightingale and the Rose", "The Devoted Friend", "The Happy Prince", "The Remarkable Rocket", and "The Selfish Giant".

Still wildly popular today, this collection of ghost stories was first published in 1919. A few of the stories reflect the prejudices and language of the era and would not be considered "politically correct" now but are nonetheless excellent stories. Arthur B. Reeves, an American writer who also wrote screenplays compiled this anthology. His introduction is considered by many to be the definitive explanation of the popularity and diversity of this genre. Turn off the lights and prepare to be thrilled and chilled by this unique assemblage of spooky tales.

This is a selection from Kipling's The Second Jungle Book.

Angelina Turner would heartily agree with Dicken's Ebenezer Scrooge that Christmas is a "humbug". She is estranged from her family and doesn't think much of the holiday so she decides to test her theory that there is no such thing as the "Christmas spirit". But unlike Dicken's character. who needed three visitors to change his mind, Miss Turner only needs a Christmas Angel to show her "the rest of the story" and bring us all to a happy ending and a changed heart.

In this story, the friendship between a young German girl and a mysterious French prisonero pen a world of possibilities for them both. When a mysterious prisoner arrives at her father's post young Gretchen's life is changed forever. What shadowy figure protects the mysterious prisoner from harm? Little Gretchen believes she knows and the thought of it opens her mind to the belief that love and loyalty can live beyond the grave.

Here is Twain's humorous, but also touching, look at Adam and Eve, in which he presents two very different interpretations of Eden.

This is a selection from Kipling's Just So Stories for Little Children. The "just so" stories are highly fantasized origin stories that are among Kipling's best known and, arguably, best works.

The story concerns a scientist, Victor Frankenstein, who conducts a great experiment to see if he can create a living being from the body parts of corpses. Only whe the experiment is successful does he begin to think of the ethics and consequences of what he has done. The creature he created becomes embittered when he finds that no one will love him becuase of his appearance.

The Calm Man is one of his best known stories. In it a plain girl meets a quiet man who asks her to be his wife. The birth of their first child, a son, delights her and pleases him. Eight years later she finally learns who he really is, why he is always so emotionless and why their son was so unlike other children.

Bram Stoker created an incredible novel in Dracula. The success of the vampire novel unfortunately overshadowed most of his other writings. This volume contains nine of his best short stories, including the one in which the character of Dracula first appeared.

F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote some amazing short stories - everything from romances to mind-boggling fantasies. This collection includes five of his most famous andmost imaginative stories. The are: "The Offshore Pirate""The Diamond as Big as the Ritz""The Curious Case of Benjamin Button""Bernice Bobs Her Hair""Head and Shoulders"

In this "gentle ghost story", the ghost makes itself known in a most unusual way.

Are you prepared to confront the Invisible Man? Venture into Room 666? Investigate a pair of strange feet? If so, this collection of great short-story mysteries will give you hours of unsettling pleasure.

"O. Henry" is the pen name of American writer William Sydney Porter whose short stories are known for their wit, warm characterization and clever, unexpected endings. The Princess and the Puma is one of porter's best, and most anthologized stories.

Here is another of O. Henry's entertaining "surprise ending" stories. A girl moves to the city looking for a friend she had lost track of and finds him in a very unusual way.

O. Henry is know as the master of the "surprise ending" short story. In this story two young lovers quarrel. As a result, the young man accepts a post in a far away obscure country he calls The Land of the Lotus. He finally begins to accept the fact that he will never see the love of his life again when a mysterious bottle washes up on shore and the result is a very unusual surprise ending - even for O. Henry.

A ghost-hunter finds that the deserted house where he is spending the night is haunted - by a man who was literally scared to death.