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

The "League of the Scarlet Pimpernel" is a secret society made up of twenty English aristocrats. The commander is the so-called "Scarlet Pimpernel" but almost nobody knows his real identity. The society aims to defy the French revolutionaries. The main goal is to rescue innocents from the deadly guillotine.

Sanger Rainsford and Whitney are two friends, who are on their way for a jaguar hunt in the Amazonian rainforest. The two men discuss how the world consists of predators and prey, and that they are from the first type. While debating, the two men hear gunshots. Rainsford climbs onto the yacht’s rail and accidentally falls overboard. Thankfully, he manages to save himself and swims to an island called Ship-Trap, which is famous for its countless shipwrecks. There he meets General Zaroff and his gigantic servant, Ivan.

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.

Mrs. Peerybingle is bright and sharp as a tack. Her husband John is a carrier, a profession as lumbering and sturdy as he is himself. When the crafty Tackleton seeks to cause mischief to forward his own nefarious plans, John’s steady heart is sorely wounded. Luckily there is a cricket on the hearth to act as a guardian angel for all of them. A huge commercial success when it was first published in 1845, this Christmas fantasy is a lovely portrait of Victorian life.

One of the most haunting short horror stories to date is told to us by B.J. Harrison. Our narrator is invited to visit his acquaintance Roderick, who lives in a remote house with his sister when strange things begin to happen. Neither of the siblings appears to be healthy, and the house itself also seems to have a life of its own. What exactly is taking place, and how much worse can it get? The short story by Edgar Allan Poe from the 19th century is a true gothic horror story and not for the faintest of hearts.

Can people come back from the dead? Can they bring something or someone back from there? If so, can they reach out to people who are still alive? "The Return" and "The Second Generation" are two stories about supernatural occurrences, about people returning from a world, which most of us do not know. Algernon Blackwood sets the readers in a scary and dreadful atmosphere which only the bravest can endure.

Edith Whittlesey is born in a country district of England, where life flows as per the rule of thumb. She is married to an honest and hardworking miner, who works together with four other men. Usually no unexpected things happen, but one day it all changes. One of the miners bursts into the hut where his partners are sitting together with Edith. The man kills two of them but is stopped and tied up thanks to Whittlesey’s quick reaction.

Hildred Castaigne is a young man who lives in New York City whose life changes drastically after he falls from his horse and injures his head. Castaigne gets unjustly confined to a mental institution, where Dr. Archer treats him. However, the doctor soon realizes, that this is a mistake and the young man’s condition is not as bad as he was told. During Hildred’s treatment, the United States have prospered and improved their infrastructure, a new aristocratic elite has been formed and suicide has been legalized.

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.

Pride, justice, and vengeance. Aristocracy and democracy vie for ultimate power over Rome, and each faction violently erupts when Coriolanus takes the political stage. After receiving glorious accolades for taking an enemy city when the plebian soldiers cowered without the gates, the common people find his arrogance and pride offensive. Now, banished from the very city for which he was prepared to lay down his life, he strikes up an unholy alliance with his country's enemies.

Mrs. Pratt mysteriously dies in her sleep after a fight with her husband. He thought that she had tried to poison him. But maybe it was the other way around? After a while Mr. Pratt is found dead as well, with a skull next to his head. Those who believe in ghosts think that Mrs. Pratt finally got her revenge. What do you believe? What happened with Mr. Pratt? If you are courageous enough, find the answer in "The Screaming Skull" by Francis Marion Crawford. B. J.

Apart from the ubiquitous presence of the authors who work in the short story tradition, the Second Season introduces poems and novellas. The romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge is here with his haunting and supernatural sea adventure "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner", while Rudyard Kipling tests the human condition with his famous poem "If". Perhaps the most potent addition in this second part is Joseph Conrad’s timeless novella "The Heart of Darkness", exploring the darkest recesses of the human soul. B. J.

An Antarctic expedition runs up against a mountain range the rivals the Himalayas, and a cave concealing an ancient evil. Inside this nightmarish cavern the intrepid band of explorers make a horrifying and tragic discovery - a discovery that is best buried deep in the barren, frozen wastes of ancient Antarctica.

In "Lost in a Pyramid; or The Mummy's Curse" by Louisa May Alcott, Paul Forsyth and his fiancée Evelyn discover that taking souvenirs back from ancient places may not be the best idea. Paul returns from an expedition to Egypt with his risk-taking colleague Professor Niles with a box of seeds, which Evelyn takes a liking to. The problem is, the seeds were collected from the grave of a sorceress, who has vowed to take revenge on anyone disturbing her resting place.

Scratchy Wilson will have his day. When word gets around that Sheriff Jack Potter is arriving on the afternoon train with his bride, Scratchy intends to raise all kinds of hell. Published in 1898, Crane’s story was indicative of the growing sentiment for the American West. B.J. Harrison’s authentic and textured narration brings a greater depth to this American classic.

The Flying Stars are missing. Three brilliant diamonds, whose fame has spread throughout England, have been purloined during an innocent Christmas pantomime. Can Father Brown discover the culprit before the curtain falls?

Antony Ferrara is a modern-day sorcerer - a murderer who kills with his supernatural powers. And because nobody believes it, he can work his evil schemes in broad daylight, with a simpering smile. From headless bats to carpets of scarab beetles, from murderous plants to claustrophobic chills in the bowels of a pyramid, Robert Cairn and his Van Helsing-esque father chase Ferrara to Egypt and back to keep him from completing his cunning, nefarious plan.

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.

An assassin is sent back in time to prevent the ravings of a religious zealot which, if left unchecked, will lead to absolute catastrophe. A master of the “Silver Age” of science fiction, Philip K. Dick won the Hugo Award in 1963, and the John W. Campbell Memorial award in 1975. Though he lived most of his life in near poverty, he is behind some of the most recognizable science fiction stories to date, penning the stories behind the films Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report, Paycheck, and The Adjustment Bureau.

Immortal Red is the story of Turritopsis dohrnii, a dime-sized jellyfish with a bright red stomach and the gift of immortality. A marine biologist snorkeling off the coast of Cape Fear, North Carolina makes a chance discovery of this unusual creature. At the moment of death, due to old age or massive trauma, Turritopsis has the ability to fully rejuvenate and emerge as a young adult. After observing numerous repetitions of this phenomenon in her lab, the scientist nicknames the little invertebrate Immortal Red.