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

A young boy unlocks a world of joy and imagination. But when he returns the next day, he finds the door is not there. It has moved. How can a door move? And what is the real meaning of "The Door in the Wall"?

Even when the sailing is smooth, the stories never stop in Jerome K. Jerome's comic novel. Plaster fishes, dead water rats, near-death escapes, and many, many jocose anecdotes create a colorful narrative of holiday life on the river. For once three hypochondriacs self-diagnose themselves as "clearly overworked", the rest practically writes itself!

What would you do if you were given a chance to correct the incorrigible? Everything is going well for the White family, but they are human beings after all, and like everybody else, they want money. When a friend of theirs comes to visit, he tells the most extraordinary tale, and leaves them in possession of a mummified monkey’s paw. What follows is a nightmarish ride through hell, starting with a simple, albeit greedy, wish.

In the first tale, we follow two workmen on an intriguing journey to Coney Island, where the heartsick and disgruntled Tobin has his palm read. Who knew that palmistry could be so unpredictable? Secondly, a tale of kidnapping gone awry. A little boy, self proclaimed "Red Chief", is taken from his home, and has so much fun he never wants to go back, much to the chagrin of the kidnappers.

Epic in scope and magically textured, Howard’s The People of the Black Circle is one of the most accomplished tales of Conan the Cimmerian. Conan drives us to magnificent mountain heights and subtle secret passes in order to foil a nefarious plot of the Black Seers of Yimsha. 

Lucy Honeychurch and her older cousin, Miss Bartlett, tour Italy in the springtime. However, the pension they are staying at may as well be in London. The proprietress speaks a London cockney, the meat is overdone, and their windows give them a view of dirty alleys. However, when the socially clumsy Mr. Emerson offer to exchange rooms, this does anything but remedy the situation. You see, nobody knows what to make of the Emersons. It's so hard to know how to respond to people who speak the truth.

Luna Matsya is a local celebrity as a trendsetting hairstylist, but she’d prefer to spread her fin in a nice body of water rather than make a big splash around town. She’s starting to believe that her ability to live and walk among mortals is more of a curse rather than a blessing. Especially now that the flashy tent from a touring magic show is blocking her lake. Where’s a mermaid to swim when the slightest mistake can put her in the spotlight?

After a rocky start, wood nymph Laurel and bear-shifter Aiden have made a happy home together in Nocturne Falls. Sure, Laurel is still getting over the trauma of being stalked and almost killed by an old boyfriend, and Aiden keeps having nightmares about his time as an NYPD detective, but overall they have a calm, peaceful life. Until their relatives enter the picture.

The Bennet family is in a bit of a jam. With five daughters and no sons, their property is entailed away from their line, and all the women will be largely penniless when their father dies. And so the best way to ensure the most comfortable livelihood for all is for at least one of the five girls to marry “well”, which has their mother’s sharp eye ever seeking a single man in possession of a good fortune. But the Bennet sisters aren’t wholly on board with marrying anyone flung at them.

Two student anatomists purchase the remains of humanity in the small hours of the morning. The shadowy men who bring the bodies seldom speak, and the suspicions of the students are never spoken aloud. Until one morning when the drapery is lifted from the face of a new acquisition, and one student recognizes it as the face of a dear friend, alive and well only yesterday.

When Tralane, an itinerant bard, was captured by the dread Sorcerer King, his only hope lay in stealing the Eye of Wyden. With that powerful amulet, he was able to escape to another variant world. But he could not so easily escape the destiny that seemed to pursue him. As he fled from world to world, each seemed to offer only greater misery and danger. And now he was stalked by the mocking figure of the Jade Warrior, a mysterious creature who waited patiently for his failure or death.

A poor young couple demonstrates the meaning of love and self-sacrifice in the Christmas Classic, "The Gift of the Magi". Also included is "The Last Leaf". This tale follows a young woman artist who is stricken with pneumonia. She watches the leafy vine opposite her window with hollow eyes, and she determines to stay alive until the last leaf falls. O. Henry, always a master with the surprise ending, delivers two fine tales of his beloved New York City.

Heartsick about her on-again, off-again boyfriend-werewolf, Fiona O’Malley is struggling to make the hardest decision of her life - if she should break up with him once and for all. Though she knows he loves her and is sweet, funny and kind, he’s just not the sort of guy you can depend upon, especially in the romance department. Immortal Matthew “Matty” Hyland is crazy in love with Fiona. He’d do anything to make her happy. Though he tries repeatedly to be there for her, things just keep getting in his way.

Join the feast of humor and epic adventure in a world where the gods of the Pantryon bestow mighty gifts of food magic on their guilds, including Cheese Wizards, Muffin Mages, and Bacon Masters. As a Bacon Master, Rasher Dilskin can channel the awesomeness of bacon for superhuman enhancements, making him a nearly unstoppable warrior. Except for the fact that he faints at the sight of blood. He is struggling to build a successful career and win permission to marry his true love, but the empire is invaded by hordes of monsters.

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. 

The year is 1866 and the Pacific Ocean is being terrorized by a deadly sea monster. The US government dispatches marine life expert Professor Aronnax on an extended voyage to investigate this new threat. He discovers not a monster, but a marvelous submarine vessel piloted by a deadly captain with a secret agenda. Heralded as the father of modern science fiction, Jules Verne demonstrates his powers of predictive intuition in this classic underwater adventure.

Alice sees the other side of the Looking Glass, and enters another world of whimsical enchantment. She encounters argumentative chessmen, Jabberwocky monsters, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, and some very insolent flowers. Carroll continues the development of his Wonderland in this second, and many feel richer, adventure of Alice.

B.J. Harrison reads the classic "The Man with Two Left Feet" by P. G. Wodehouse. Henry Wallace Mills from New York goes on vacation and meets a dancer called Minnie. The two fall in love and get married. They have very different tastes: Minnie loves to dance, while Henry is an avid encyclopaedia reader. One day, Henry decides to get out of his comfort zone and impress Minnie, but things do not go as planned. The short story from the early 20th century offers humor for readers of all tastes. B. J.

Ebenezer 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. 

Emma Woodhouse has it all - beauty, brains, breeding, and bucks. She considers it her highest achievement to have successfully played matchmaker for her governess, seeing her happily settled nearby. But when chooses Harriet Smith as her next matchmaking target, she unwittingly builds a house of cards for Harriet and herself. In one of Jane Austen’s most beloved novels, Emma explores the vagaries of class, the foibles of matchmaking, and the merits of true character.