Showing results by narrator "Chris Coxon" in All Categories

There are stories about people who want to live forever. This is not one of those stories.... Alfie Monk is like any other nearly teenage boy - except he's 1,000 years old and can remember the last Viking invasion of England. Obviously no-one believes him. So when everything Alfie knows and loves is destroyed in a fire and the modern world comes crashing in, Alfie embarks on a mission to find friendship, acceptance and a different way to live...which means finding a way to make sure he will eventually die.

Deadpool meets Game of Thrones in this thrilling tale of demons, dragons and treachery. After Breed, a thief-assassin of small renown, is chased by a dragon, tricked by a demon, almost killed by a psychopathic gang boss and hunted by a ferocious spider, life really takes a turn for the worse. Sentenced to five years bonded servitude to a one-handed priest magician, Breed must find the hammer of the ancient hero known only as The Hammer of the North within a year and a day...or else.

Phantasmagoria, Lewis Carroll's longest poem, was first published by Macmillan and Co., London, in 1869. Written in seven cantos, it tells the tale, in quintains, of a gentleman called Tibbets and his experience conversing with a phantom. This amusing “epic” takes us through their initial fear of each other, a fierce debate over the goings-on of the supernatural world, and finally, to a touching mutual admiration.

After half-killing Mother Blake's murderer, Breed is obliged to repay a debt to a powerful Prince of the Midnight Court. Armed with little more than a bad attitude, and partnered with a feckless sorcerer and an arrogant gang enforcer, Breed sets sail for the land of Voskva. They say no good deed goes unpunished. And damn them, they were right.

One of the best-known and well-loved Christmas stories of all time, Charles Dickens’ novella "A Christmas Carol” was first published in 1843 as "A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas.” Notorious skinflint Ebenezer Scrooge receives a visit from a tormented spirit in the form of his deceased business partner Jacob Marley. Following Marley’s warning that a similar fate awaits him if he does not change his ways, Scrooge is visited by the Spirits of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Yet to Come.

One of Dickens’ best loved short stories, "The Signalman" is the mysterious tale of a railway worker haunted by premonitions of disaster. The titular signalman works on a remote and forbidding part of the line, and finds himself with an unexpected visitor in the form of a tourist (the story’s narrator), but the travelling man is not the only stranger the signalman encounters at his post.

Join the critically-acclaimed Pantaloons for a Victorian adventure that's so full of fog it's better heard and not seen... Hilarious, tragic and romantic by turns, Dickens' tale is retold by "The Pantaloons" in their own inimitable style directly into your ears.

A charming short story by Oscar Wilde. Hugh Erskine is a fine young man with a big heart, but without means. In order to marry his sweetheart, he must first placate his lover's father, the Colonel, and amass a great fortune. First published in 1887 and later included in the "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories" collection of 1891.

They say that no good deed goes unpunished. It turns out, they were right. Breed saved a world, killed a demon, destroyed the gods that made it and then went home. It was time to rest, perchance to die. But as any fool knows, there is no rest for the wicked. No one is going anywhere until an old friend is dead, an old enemy is saved and hot or cold vengeance is served. The battle is over, now the war has begun.

Did you hear the one about the thief and the sorcerer who went to rob a senator? No, of course you didn’t, it’s a dull tale hardly worth recounting. Ah. But what happened after, now that is a story. After being most unfairly swived and abandoned in the wilds, Breed Blake stumbles upon a barbarian who is also having a very bad day. It turns out when the great oaf isn’t being attacked by bandits, he’s on a mission to save a damsel in distress who is being held somewhere in the doom haunted Scathblight Mountains.

Charles John Huffam Dickens is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the 20th century critics and scholars had recognized him as a literary genius. The short story "Boots at the Holly-Tree Inn" was first published by in 1855. The tale is told with much affection by a servant, about the eight-year-old Harry and the seven-year-old Norah who tried to elope to Gretna Green, but were stopped and waited at the Holly-Tree Inn for their parents to arrive.

Shreve, a no-hope town beside the UK’s largest landfill. There’s nothing Shreve’s jaded residents won’t stoop to in a bid to liven up their monotonous lives.... Wannabe model Aggie Smithfield plans to escape before Shreve swallows her ambitions along with a million tons of rubbish and filthy little secrets. Desperate for a way out, Aggie makes a macabre pact with reclusive ex-photographer Mason Brand. When the town’s past catches up with it, their agreement might be the only thing that can save her. Beneath everyone’s feet, something stirs.

In Abyrne, a strange town surrounded by a wasteland, the eating of meat is a sacred obligation. The town’s strict laws are brutally enforced by a ruthless Baron and a merciless Bishop. Adored by the townsfolk is Richard Shanti, Abyrne’s famous bolt-gunner – the most efficient slaughterhouse worker in living memory. In private, however, Shanti is a gentle man; a husband, and father to twin girls. The growing guilt about his murderous job weighs him down. Beguiled by a rebellious heretic, Shanti uncovers the harrowing truth behind Abyrne’s history.

We all know how it goes. You’re getting old, slow.... All of your friends are dead.... You have to fight for your life in an arena, save the Goblin Queen and defeat an evil sorcerer before she destroys a world of Wild magic. And that’s before you even think about facing Shallunsard the demon, the Eldest of the Annurashi, and Halda the Red Witch who’s had a bone to pick with you for 700 years. Live or die, this is Breed’s last ride. So, are you ready? Good.

The world needs a hero, but all it got is Breed. Leaving the Empire to face the wrath of an angry demon and its infernal hordes, Breed takes a ship and flees to Shen. With pockets full of gold, the Hammer of the North, a crate of whiskey and a conscience unburdened by guilt, life doesn't get any better, does it? Well, yes, it does - but it gets a lot worse first. No matter how fast Breed runs, trouble is never far behind. Charged by an ancient power to find a way to stop Shallunsard the demon, Breed is thrust from one world into another.

DCI Jack Lambert is no stranger to inner demons, but when two bodies are discovered in an open grave, Lambert must put his personal worries aside and work on the case. When the body of a local thug shows up on the banks of the River Tyne, the DCI’s criminal past comes back to haunt him. Meanwhile, a local celebrity singer claims that she is being stalked. Could there be a link to the killings? As the bodies start to pile up, Lambert realises the motive lies in the past and that the killer is taunting them.

This set of essays discusses the esoteric side of Freemasonry. The Spirit of Masonry has been the essential source for anyone exploring the inner mysteries of the Masonic fraternity for more than 200 years.

First published in 1886, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde is perhaps the most famous example of the gothic horror novella. Gabriel John Utterson, a sombre London lawyer, becomes concerned for the safety and sanity of his friend and client Dr. Henry Jekyll, after the doctor begins associating with an unseemly young man named Edward Hyde. Following a spate of crimes, including blackmail and murder, and with all fingers pointing at Hyde, the lawyer sets out to free his friend from the dreadful influence of his new acquaintance. Not everything, however, is as it seems.

This collection of three ghost stories, by master of the genre M. R. James, first appeared in “A Warning to the Curious” published in 1925. James wrote “The Haunted Dolls’ House” in 1923 on a commission from Queen Mary who wanted miniature books from the most popular writers of the day to include in the library of her doll’s house at Windsor Castle. Antique dealer Mr. Chittenden has an exquisite example of a doll’s house in his shop. After a little haggling he manages to offload it onto one of his regular customers, a collector called Mr. Dillet.

This charming collection of Grimms’ Fairy Tales includes “Hansel & Gretel”, “The Mouse, the Bird & the Sausage”, “The Golden Bird”, “Old Sultan” and “The Straw, the Coal & the Bean”. Grimms’ Fairy Tales was first published in Germany in 1812 as “Kinder und Hausmärchen“. This series of recordings is based on the original 1823 English translation by Edgar Taylor, with subsequent editing by Marian Edwardes.