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

B.J. Harrison breathes life into one of Oscar Wilde’s first short stories, "The Canterville Ghost". The American Hiram B. Otis and his family move to a castle in Canterville Chase in the English countryside. They soon discover that they are not alone in the castle and that the ghost of an old tenant, Sir Simon de Canterville, is with them. Yet the family is not so easily scared, even if the ghost can take many shapes and forms. The short story from the late 19th century mixes humor with the macabre.

Where can you find a world where raindrops cut through you like bullets, and sandwiches that are as hard as concrete? Discover the intricacies of living in the past.

Princess Kathleen Dal Sundi survived her wedding procession. Now she must face the dangers of the Golden City - a place of grandeur and prestige. Her betrothed - the powerful Prince of Tyath - has demanded a chance to win her love before offering their wedding vows. Kathleen is torn between duty and desire, but agrees to the compromise.

Francis Thurston finds an old collection of letters and articles from his late uncle. They contain detailed descriptions of the so called Cthulhu cult, which Francis gets more and more interested in. He begins to understand his uncle’s fear and dread but he decides to continue his investigation. Will he keep be able to keep his sanity or will the Cthulhu cult come calling on him? B. J. Harrison started his Classic Tales Podcast back in 2007, wanting to breathe new life into classic stories.

Dracula is a Transylvanian monarch planning on purchasing a ruined castle in England. Before he knows it, Jonathan is trapped inside Dracula's castle as a prisoner. Taken from a collection of journal entries, letters, telegrams, and newspaper clippings, Dracula is the grand sire of all vampire tales. Discover the nefarious means Dracula uses to enter England and wreak his hellish havoc. Who can stop the lord of the undead?

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.

Ebeneezer 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.

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.

How will Click and Irish survive being marooned on a pirate’s asteroid with only a single gun and a news reel camera to defend themselves?

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?

Barbara, a young and impetuous heiress, rejects the stern Lord Uplandtowers to elope with a poor but handsome man, Edmund Willowes. When Barbara’s parents send Edmund to Europe, they hope to change him into a more suitable match for their daughter. But after disaster strikes, Edmund returns in a way nobody could have imagined.

Guido has lost it all. At rock bottom and wandering the shore, Guido spies a misshapen creature floating toward him in the water, riding on a huge chest. The creature offers Guido a path of revenge – switching bodies for three days in exchange for the untold riches in the chest. Guido unfortunately fails to see a potential downside. Through skillful handling of the gothic motif of the doppelgänger, Shelley’s tale explores concepts that would eventually culminate into her masterpiece – Frankenstein.

At the height of a scorching summer, multiple EMP attacks are launched against the world’s western allies. Australia and the US are at the top of the hit list. Planes fall from the sky. Cars crash through buildings. Power outages create desperation for food and water and people quickly succumb to the heat. The world crumbles faster than anybody can imagine.

Suzi still lives on a luxurious yacht in Marina del Rey, California, with her legal guardian, attorney Peter Sharp, and still has her trusted bodyguard, Bernie, a huge Saint Bernard. But for this adventure, she doesn't want to see the adults take advantage of her superior computer skills and grab all the credit for solving the crimes, like they did in the first 15 books that chronicled Peter Sharp's high-profile criminal cases. The assignment she has given herself for this first solo adventure is to figure out the identity of a murderous serial church bomber.

While on holiday in France, a young Englishman becomes obsessed with aiding a young countess to escape from her jealous, elderly husband. Ingenious and entertaining, Le Fanu combines Gothic horror with Victorian style in his elegant tale of passion, intrigue, and murder.

It is the year 1967 in the magnificent and dreamy St. Petersburg. The world is ruled by the magic of aristocrats, the sounds of rock and roll are blasting even in the palace of Her Imperial Majesty, and Russian Volgas are successfully going up against American Pontiacs on the wide avenues at night. Another frantic unauthorized race under the stars ends in tragedy. Doctors and healers, who have already announced the death of the sixteen-year-old Prince Alexander Gorchakov Jr., attribute his miraculous salvation to his suddenly awakened gift.

A zealous aviator penetrates the highest strata of our atmosphere and discovers a groundbreaking new form of life. And yet he knows that this strange alien life form has claimed the lives of two aviators before him, and it may claim his own.

The first season focuses on the short story tradition, and B. J. Harrison has selected some of the most prominent representatives of the genre. As far as the thematic aspect is concerned, the stories cover crime and mystery episodes like Arthur Conan Doyle’s "The Speckled Band", or revenge-driven ones like Shakespeare’s "Hamlet". There are also supernatural and horror classics such as Hawthorne’s "The Devil and Tom Walker" and W. W. Jacobs’ masterpiece "The Monkey’s Paw".

Jason dinAlt is a professional gambler who travels between different worlds in the universe. Right now, he is gambling on the planet Cassylia. One day, he meets the ambassador of Pyrrus the most hostile world in the universe. Kerk, the ambassador, offers dinAlt money to run a stake up for him. After Jason finally wins the needed amount, he tries to escape with the money, but gets captured.

B. J. Harrison does not tire of the adventurous and mysterious settings in his choice of narratives. This time, the horror element is a bit subdued, though Edgar Allan Poe makes up for the lost thrills with his haunting poems "The Raven", "Annabel Lee", and "The Sleeper". P. G. Wodehouse appears with four works, scoring points for his humor.