Showing results by publisher "Spoken Realms" in All Categories

Dive into the dark and chilling world of Stragella with this captivating audiobook narrated by the talented Mike Vendetti. Originally published in 1932 in Strange Tales of Mystery and Terror, this unique take on the vampire tale will leave listeners on the edge of their seats.

Euripides (c. 480-406 B.C.E.) is the author of eighteen extant plays and many more only surviving in fragments. He is the youngest of the three great Athenian tragedians with Aeschylus and Sophocles. Hippolytus, bastard son of Theseus and the Amazon Hippolyta, has sworn chaste allegiance to the goddess Artemis, thus severely offending the goddess Aphrodite by failing to revere her. Aphrodite swears revenge and promises that he will die before the day is done, taking with him Queen Phaedra, wife of Theseus.

"It all started when Effie got something in her eye…" and before the week was out, the country was overrun with dragons of all sizes. Effie and Harry decide something must be done, so they set out to wake St. George. Edith (E.) Nesbit was a master at weaving imagination and real life into timeless fairy tales, with fantastic mythical creatures, princes and princesses, magic, and just the right touch of silliness.

The action of this play, which occurs during a conflict on the Balkans, is initiated by the discovery by Raina, the daughter of an military officer, of a man who has taken refuge in her bedroom. Unfortunately, the man belongs to the opposing army. How will she deal with a notional enemy who behaves with such quixotic courtesy?

Count Lara returns home after a long absence abroad. He is accompanied by a single page, the faithful Kaled. In his youth, prior to his travels, Lara had led a dissolute life. On his return he is much changed - haughty, reserved, and world-weary. Nothing is known of his life in the interim. During an evening function given by the Count Otho, a local magnate, the host's cousin, Sir Ezzelin, angrily confronts Lara with accusations of unnamed crimes abroad. Otho intervenes and an appointment is made for the following day for the local nobles to hear and judge the accusations.

Award winning narrator Mike Vendetti reads The Mask of the Red Death by Edgar Allen Poe, a Gothic short story that originally appeared in Graham's magazine in May of 1882. This short story later appears as The Masque of the Red Death. The Red death is fictitious, but it is likely that the disease was inspired by tuberculosis (or consumption, as it was known then), since Poe's wife, Virginia, was suffering from the disease at the time the story was written.

Walter Hartright, a struggling art teacher, is stopped for directions while traveling on a dark road by a mysterious woman in white. Thus begins Walter's deep dive into the twists and turns of stolen identities, fraud, spies, conspiracy and death. Along the way, he meets the lovely Laura Fairlie and her emboldened half-sister, Marian Halcombe. Marian is brazen and assertive in her search for the truth, a strong female during a time when women were simply viewed as the weaker sex. She joins Walter on his journey to untangle the web of lies and deceit that has been spun so expertly.

Spring Awakening (German: Frühlings Erwachen) was the first major play by Frank Wedekind. It was written in the early 1890s but, due to opposition from censorship authorities, was not presented on stage until 1906. The play explores two contentious themes: the development of adolescent sexuality and the repressive nature of the German education system.

In this American classic, 17-year-old William is in the throes of first love. Lola Pratt, the object of his affection, is visiting her cousin in William's town for the summer. William finds obstacles at every turn in winning her affections, in the form of other suitors, a pesky little sister, and the necessity of the "perfect outfit". With the pomposity of Frasier Crane and the soul of a poet, William attempts to win Miss Pratt's heart and to be the sole recipient of her charming "baby talk".

You may know "Teddy" Roosevelt as a President, but you may not know him as a big game hunter. Roosevelt and his friend Merrifield invite us on a journey as they follow the trail of the famed grizzly bear. You will be invited to experience the excitement of the hunt and the footpaths that, if understood, could help lead to "Old Ephraim".

The Rocket Man introduces us to an astronaut who spends his life traveling through space, leaving his family behind. Ray Bradbury's powerful storytelling shines through as he explores the complexities of familial relationships and the sacrifices that come with exploration and adventure. The way Bradbury weaves a tale of longing, loneliness, and human connection is both thought-provoking and deeply moving.

As Tampa Bay's star center, Mark Carmelo's life was hockey, and after a bitter and public break up, all he wanted to do was focus on the game. Until he saw her - the one that got away, the one he thought he'd never see again. For 13 years, Stevie West drowned in her lackluster life. Recently divorced from her “roommate” with passionless benefits, she was ready to start over on her own. Until she ran into him. The same man she'd met one year ago. The temptation that had finally given her the courage to find herself again.

In this haunting poem, a guest on his way to a wedding reception is stopped by the Ancient Mariner. With his "glittering eye" he transfixes the guest and then relates a compelling tale of a sea voyage fraught with strange happenings. The Mariner tells of journeying through tyrannous storms to ice mast-high, through mist and snow to the deadly inertia of the doldrums. There are unearthly visitations, ill omens, and supernatural happenings - all leading to the revelation of the Mariner's strange fate.

From the author of Psycho, a tale of eldritch horror in the mode of H. P. Lovecraft. Evil tomes, unwitting seekers of arcane knowledge, and a horror from beyond the stars!

Originally published in 1904, Quiet Talks on Prayer focuses on the importance of prayer and how we are unaware of the power of prayer and this most intimate way of communicating with God.

In true Lovecraftian fashion a man's wife thought to be dead is entombed in the family crypt. The husband has an uneasy feeling, so he enters the tomb and finds the lid torn off the coffin. His wife is alive but in a state of delirium and shock. He sees a naked creature scurrying off through the inner vaults on all four semi-human limbs.

Four classic stories by Joseph Conrad, of the sea and those who live by the sea: First, phlegmatic and unimaginative Captain MacWhirr pits his ship and his own indomitable will against the fury of a tropical typhoon. Then, tender-hearted country girl Amy Foster takes pity upon a shunned and bewildered foreign castaway; and a young sea captain becomes embroiled in the courtship of tugboat captain Falk, a man haunted by an incident in his past.

Follow Caroline, a young bride seeking adventure in the ancient ruins of Italy, as she uncovers the tragic history of the tower and encounters the ghost of Niccolo di Ferramano's young wife. With each step she takes up the 475 stairs, the mystery unfolds, and Caroline must make a terrifying choice: jump to her fate or face the unknown on the treacherous descent.

In this gem of a short story, Edith Wharton's talent for satire shines. Mrs. Ballinger and the ladies of the Lunch Club, that exclusive group dedicated to literature and erudition, are eagerly anticipating a visit by the noted novelist Osric Dane. Her books have been read by all the members except their newest, Mrs. Roby, whose idea of a perfect novel is one that entertains and preferably ends with marriage for the hero and heroine. It's painfully clear to Mrs. Ballinger and the others that Mrs. Roby is not on their intellectual plane.

The great financier, Sir Reuben Levy, disappears from his Park Lane home on a November night, apparently without a stitch of clothing, or even his spectacles. On the same night in a suburban bathroom in Battersea, an unknown body bearing a superficial resemblance to Sir Reuben is discovered, reclining in the bath tub, unseasonably dressed in nothing but a pair of pince-nez.