Showing results by publisher "Red Door Audiobooks" in Science Fiction & Fantasy

Sophie, Countess of Segur was a Russian-born French writer who lived from 1799 to 1874. This collection of stories draws on the rich heritage of French medieval literature, courtly love, magic charms and gallant deeds. In each story, the hero or heroine must undertake a quest or overcome a series of impossible challenges in order to reach their goal - often with the aid of magic. The stories are remarkably vibrant and well written, containing many elements of surprise and humour as well as chivalry and courtly romance.

Herbert George Wells (1866 - 1946) was a prolific English writer of science fiction stories and novels, and is frequently credited as being the father of science fiction. 'The Flowering of the Strange Orchid' is a creepy horror story about an orchid collector who buys an unknown species from the Andaman Islands. The botanist who collected it had died in a mangrove swamp in the process - allegedly from an attack of jungle leeches.

"The Outsider" is one of Lovecraft's earliest and creepiest stories. A man exists alone in a mysterious dark castle, with no memory of how or why he is there. One day he decides to climb the highest tower in the hope of seeing the sky...and in doing so briefly learns the terrible, ghastly, unbearable truth....

When a mysterious craft appears from the clouds over Rotterdam and an odd looking tiny being with no ears drops a letter at the feet of the Burgermeister, nobody can possibly imagine the strange and wonderful account which it contains. The letter is from a certain Hans Pfaal, a citizen of Rotterdam who went missing five years earlier under strange circumstances, and who was widely believed to have been the victim of a bizarre and grisly murder. But Hans Pfaal's story is even more astounding than anyone could possibly imagine.

A medieval legend about an evil curse, a love triangle and a dreadful tragedy. Harald and Alfred are love rivals for the hand of the beautiful Ysault. While Ysault favours the noble Harald, she does not know that Harald is under a terrible curse, inherited from his wicked grandfather. The region is being ravaged by a vicious werewolf which carries off livestock and children, but mysteriously only on nights when Harald is away from the castle. Alfred notices this strange coincidence and determines to take advantage of the insight to beat his love rival.

Adeline Virginia Woolf (January 1882-1941) was an English writer and one of the preeminent modernists of the 20th century. Her stories often seem to take the form of a stream of consciousness. 'A Haunted House' tells the story of a ghostly couple flitting from one room to the next in search of their hidden treasure...but what is it?

Herbert George Wells (1866-1946) was a prolific English writer of stories and novels and is frequently credited as being the father of science fiction. The Time Machine, first published in 1895, is possibly Wells' most famous work. It tells the story of the inventor of a vehicle which allows him to travel in time and his firsthand account of his adventures as he travels millions of years into the future, where mankind has evolved into something very different from the humans of the 19th century.

James Hume Nisbet (1849 - 1923) was born in Scotland but travelled extensively in Australia before returning to his native country. He became a writer in middle-age and wrote prolifically, mainly mystery and adventure fiction. The Vampire Maid is a classic vampire story about a traveller who takes lodgings with an apparently kind landlady and her pale invalid daughter, who instantly casts a spell upon him.

Herbert George Wells (1866-1946) was a prolific English writer of science fiction stories and novels and is frequently credited as being the father of science fiction. 'The Star' is the story of a shooting star which is discovered hurtling towards our solar system. It is on a collision course with Neptune. When the celestial crash occurs, the two planets combine into a gigantic burning star which is being drawn rapidly and irresistibly towards our sun. But on what trajectory? Will it hit any other planets on its way?

A clause in the will of an old embittered aunt means that our hero has to choose between two women, cousins of his, of whom one is conventional and submissive and the other beautiful, erotic and unconventional. Trysts are held in the Italian garden in the presence of a stone dragon, a symbol of emotion frozen for all time, just as in a conventional marriage. The hero makes his choice, and unleashes a series of events which will not disappoint affectionados of the tragic gothic melodrama.

Herbert George Wells (1866-1946) was a prolific English writer, now best remembered for his science fiction novels, and is often credited as being the father of science fiction. 'Aepyornis Island' is the strange tale of a naturalist who finds himself adrift in a canoe in the Indian Ocean, with three mysterious rare giant eggs which he has collected. He knows they are the eggs of the aepyornis - a bird which has been extinct for hundreds of years. He is amazed, when hunger forces him to try one of the eggs, to find that it is fresh.

Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu (1814-1873) was an Irish writer of Gothic tales and mystery novels. He was the leading ghost-story writer of the 19th century and was central to the development of the genre in the Victorian era. Carmilla is Le Fanu's famous classic vampire story which has been filmed numerous times, including Vampyre (1932), Blood and Roses (1960), Crypt of Horror (1964), The Vampire Lovers (1970) and Carmilla (1999).

When a passing magician tells the old Bee-Man of Orn that he has at some time been transformed from another state, he sets off to discover his own origins. Was he formerly a nobleman? A dragon? A giant? After much searching and many adventures, where his faithful bees help him, he finally discovers the truth. And it is not what either he or the magician expected....

Count Eric Stenislaus Stenbock (1860-1895) was an aristocrat of German-Estonian origin who lived in England. He wrote weird, macabre fantasy fiction and was a favorite of H. P. Lovecraft. He was well known for his eccentric lifestyle, keeping snakes, salamanders, and toads in his bedroom, and owned a bear, a reindeer, and a fox. He had a life-size doll with him at all times which he claimed was his son.

H. P. Lovecraft's atmospheric and terrifying apocalyptic story of Nyarlathotep, a mysterious and malign savant from Egypt, who arrives in a city and turns the population into zombies.

Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1890-1937), more commonly known as H. P. Lovecraft, was an American writer renowned for his highly influential works of horror fiction. "The Beast in the Cave" is a typical example of Lovecraft's mastery and descriptive genius. A man is lost in an extensive cavern with his light about to run out. He has already given up hope of ever finding his way out. As he is plunged into darkness, he hears the sound of weird padding steps approaching....

Fascinating science fiction tales from some of the greatest writers in the world. •The Unparalleled Adventures of one Hans Pfaal by Edgar Allan Poe•The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson•The Horror of the Heights by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle•The Three Drugs by Edith Nesbit•The Lifted Veil by George Eliot•When the World Screamed by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle•The Finest Story in the World by Rudyard Kipling

Joseph Smith Fletcher (1863-1935) was a British journalist and author. He wrote more than 230 books on a wide variety of subjects, both fiction and nonfiction. He was one of the leading writers of detective fiction in the Victorian golden age of the short story. This collection brings together some of the finest and most diverse examples of Fletcher's genius. 'The Ivory God' is the tale of a failing writer who acquires a strange ivory carving of an Indian god. He becomes convinced that the statue is communicating with him, taking possession of him, even writing through him.

Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923) was a prominent modernist writer of short fiction and a close associate of D. H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf. 'Two Tuppenny Ones, Please' is an evocative sketch of an overheard conversation between two women (and a bus conducter) on an omnibus during the First World War.

Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1890-1937), who wrote as H. P. Lovecraft, was an American writer who achieved posthumous fame through his brilliant and highly influential works of horror fiction. 'The White Ship' is an eerie tale told by a lighthouse keeper of an uncanny voyage to the ends of the earth....