Random Short stories Podcasts

The three charming stories contained in The Frog Prince and Other Tales include a less-known fairy-tale called Princess Belle-Etoile besides the title story and Alladin and the Wonderful Lamp. Published in 1874, the tales are re-told by the famous illustrator Walter Crane, who has also provided some of the most lovely illustrations in the book. The book makes an ideal gift and both parents and children will certainly enjoy it. It’s perfect for bedtime story-reading sessions and kids would love gazing at the beautiful Greek-style illustrations that are scattered throughout the book. The Frog Prince is a German fairy-tale, which was part of the Grimm’s Fairy Tales collection. It tells of a beautiful and spoiled young princess who is taught one of life’s most important lessons by a hideous frog. Princess Belle-Etoile was originally a French story written by Baroness d’Aulnoy who coined the term “fairy tale.” It tells of an exiled queen who brings up her three daughters in poverty. An old woman visits them one day and they show her great kindness and hospitality. She, being a fairy, rewards them with boons. The rest of the story follows the adventures of the three sisters. Alladin and the Wonderful Lamp is another old favorite featured here. Though the story is set in “an Eastern city” the illustrations seem to follow an Asian theme but are nevertheless very charming. Walter Crane was an art scholar and artist who had made a detailed study of many artistic traditions like the Japanese and European. His father was a well-known portrait painter. Walter himself was inspired by ancient artistic traditions and also worked diligently to bring art to the common masses. The Frog Prince and Other Tales is one of those delightful keepsake volumes that will certainly be treasured by generations in your family!

Categories: Arts, Kids & Family

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, Fairy tales, fiction, free audio books, Kids, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Short stories, The Frog Prince and Other Stories, Walter Crane

Bearing a striking resemblance to Aesop of Aesop’s Fables fame, American author Joel Chandler Harris’ Uncle Remus is also a former slave who loves to tell simple and pithy stories. Uncle Remus or to give it its original title, Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings was published in late 1880 and received instant acclaim. The book was reviewed in hundreds of journals and newspapers across the country, leading to its immense success, both critical and financial. “Remus” was originally a fictional character in a newspaper column. Harris, who was a journalist with the Atlanta Constitution, a small-town newspaper, first presented Remus to the world via a regular column in which Remus was depicted as a person who regularly visited the newspaper offices to talk about the social issues of the day. However, later, Remus began to increasingly recount plantation folktales that Harris had compiled. He had heard them from the slaves of Turnworld Plantation as a 16 year old school dropout, working as an apprentice in a newspaper office located in the area. Harris was a poor, illegitimate, immigrant Irish boy who found more in common with the slaves on the plantation than with his so called social equals. He spent much of his free time in the slave quarters, absorbing their lifestyle, folklore and legends. Uncle Remus is famous also for one of its most lovable and astute characters, Br’er Rabbit. This smart, yet mischievous fellow and his companions have provided endless entertainment for generations of children. The original stories were rendered in authentic Southern Georgia slave dialect and later adapted so that they could be better understood. Apart from the doings of the trickster rabbit, Uncle Remus contains poems, songs and folk-tales deeply rooted in the plantation tradition. Though early critics were dismayed by the apparent racist nature of the stories and the passive acceptance of the slave-owning situation, modern versions have overcome these aspects and Uncle Remus today provides education, information and entertainment for children and parents. The 29 books that were originally written have been compiled into nine Uncle Remus series and three books were published posthumously. A total of 185 Uncle Remus stories were penned and they were path breaking in their depiction of the authentic speech of the Southern plantations. Extensively adapted for radio, animation, film and television, Uncle Remus is today an essential part of children’s literature. In fact, not just children, but older readers too will find the book a delightful classic!

Categories: Arts, Comedy, Kids & Family

Tags: animals, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, humor, Joel Chandler Harris, Kids, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, music, Philosophy, Short stories, Uncle Remus

Eve’s Diary is a comic short story by Mark Twain. It was first published in the 1905 Christmas issue of the magazine Harper’s Bazaar, and in book format in June 1906 by Harper and Brothers publishing house. It is written in the style of a diary kept by the first woman in the Judeao-Christian creation myth, Eve, and is claimed to be “translated from the original MS.” The “plot” of this novel is the first-person account of Eve from her creation up to her burial by, her mate, Adam, including meeting and getting to know Adam, and exploring the world around her, Eden. The story then jumps 40 years into the future after the Fall and expulsion from Eden. It is one of a series of books Twain wrote concerning the story of Adam and Eve, including ‘Extracts from Adam’s Diary,’ ‘That Day In Eden,’ ‘Eve Speaks,’ ‘Adam’s Soliloquy,’ and the ‘Autobiography of Eve.’ Eve’s Diary has a lighter tone than the others in the series, as Eve has a strong appreciation for beauty and love. The book may have been written as a posthumous love-letter to Mark Twain’s wife Olivia Langdon Clemens, or Livy, who died in June 1904, just before the story was written. Mark Twain is quoted as saying, “Eve’s Diary is finished — I’ve been waiting for her to speak, but she doesn’t say anything more.” The story ends with Adam’s speaking at Eve’s grave, “Wherever she was, there was Eden.” More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Comedy, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Comedy, ebooks, Eve's Diary, fiction, free audio books, History, humor, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Mark Twain, Short stories

The purpose of The Junior Classics is to provide, in ten volumes containing about five thousand pages, a classified collection of tales, stories, and poems, both ancient and modern, suitable for boys and girls of from six to sixteen years of age.

Categories: Arts, Kids & Family

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, Fairy tales, fiction, free audio books, Kids, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Short stories, The Junior Classics, William Patten

A collection of short stories by author Jack London

Categories: Arts

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Jack London, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Short stories, The Faith of Men

From the master of the psychological horror genre comes this brilliant collection 12 Creepy Tales by Edgar Allan Poe. It features some of his classics like The Tell-Tale Heart, The Black Cat and The Cask of Amontillado which are supreme examples of his craft. The Black Cat is a truly horrifying story of a death-row confession of guilt by a serial killer. The much loved family cat becomes the agent of his destruction and inevitable descent into crime and madness. Another superb story is The Facts in the Case of M Valdemar. In this chilling tale, a mesmerist uses his skill to put a man into a trance at the exact moment of death. Poe wrote this story based on a newspaper report that he read about a New York doctor who was supposed to have conducted an operation after placing the patient under hypnosis. Such was Poe’s talent that the story was mistaken for a genuine scientific report when it first came out! Writers and poets like Kipling and Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote personally to Poe, congratulating him on creating such a fantastic story. For sheer suspense and Gothic horror, The Masque of the Red Death is unrivaled. Set in some unnamed country, in an unnamed time, it tells of Prince Prospero who retreats into a sealed fortress with his trusted friends to escape a scourge called the Red Death, a mysterious and fatal disease that is decimating the countryside. The images of death, blood and disease linger in the mind long after you put the book down. A crumbling ruin steeped in an atmosphere of doom and decay… the last descendant of a noble family… an opium addict and his deluded fantasies&emdash;these form the elements of one of Poe’s most atmospheric creepy tales The Fall of the House of Usher. It is also one of his most famous stories and is considered to depict Poe as being at the peak of his craftsmanship. The surreal feeling of this story has made it a perfect choice for adaptation on film and television. Another truly scary tale is The Pit and The Pendulum, which describes the horrors of the Spanish Inquisition in medieval Spain in the sixteenth century. The collection also features Edgar Allan Poe’s famous poem The Raven which is guaranteed to send a shiver down the spine of even the most skeptical of readers. Whether you’re a horror story fan or not, 12 Creepy Tales by Edgar Allan Poe is a great addition to your bookshelf. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts

Tags: 12 Creepy Tales, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, Edgar Allan Poe, fantasy, fiction, free audio books, Horror/Ghost stories, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Short stories

The Eight Strokes of the Clock is a collection of eight short stories by Maurice Leblanc. The stories have his most famous creation, Arsène Lupin, gentleman-thief, as main character. The eight stories, even though independent, have a leading thread: Lupin, under the name of Serge Rénine, trying to conquer the heart of a young lady, travels with her, solving eight mysteries on the way.

Categories: Arts

Tags: Adventure, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Maurice Leblanc, MYSTERY, Short stories, The Eight Strokes of the Clock

This book features a series of short stories collected by renowned ethnologist Henry R. Schoolcraft. The stories are adapted from old Native American legends with the aim to protect their authenticity from future contamination. Schoolcraft made it his duty to learn the Native American folklore, after living among them in the Great Lakes region and experiencing their culture firsthand. The allegorical collection include tales of adventure, whilst offering exciting explanations for natural phenomena as perceived by members of the tribe and their ancestors, who have passed down the tales from one generation to the next. The collection of stories begins with the introduction of wise and venerable Iagoo, whose respected position and function in the tribe is to preserve their history through the means of storytelling. It is his role as a storyteller to recount tales of the customs and traditions of their people to attentive young listeners. Consequently begin the tales of mythological and fascinating events, which take place in a time when animals could speak and the world was still new. Personification is therefore generously applied and embraced throughout the collection. The stories serve a purpose of endorsing morals, expressing the sweet rewards of good conduct, and ultimately act as cautionary tales to portray the consequences of certain traits. Celebrating interconnectedness between man and nature, the stories support the idea that every course of action has a consequence and that humans are not superior to nature, but equally valuable while sharing responsibility and purpose. What makes the collection so fascinating is the fact that the stories have been passed down throughout generations by oral traditions, therefore signifying their cultural richness and identity. Depicting a close relationship between mankind, spirits, animals, and nature, the stories depict a cultural tradition successfully portrayed in the pages of the anthology. Furthermore the compilation allows readers to observe and learn more about a culture preserved in a most intriguing manner.

Categories: Arts, Kids & Family

Tags: American Indian Fairy Tales, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, Fairy tales, fiction, free audio books, H. R. Schoolcraft, Kids, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Short stories

Trouble sleeping? Want to fall asleep and stay asleep? Then this podcast is for you. Well-produced music and a calming voice will help you drift off to sleep in no time. It isn’t just fairy tales it’s also stories from famous authors around the world plus delta wave music, proven to help relax the brain quickly. The two together are the most effective way to help you drift off. No loud noises, no ads, no disruptions, great for all ages. Give it a try and wake up tomorrow rested. You got this. Have a good dream with Fairy Sleepy.

Categories: Arts, Education, Health & Fitness

Tags: #bestpodcast, #fairysleepy, #fairysleepypodcast, all ages, background music, deep slumber, delta waves, fairytales, mental-health, Podcast, Short stories, sleep better

H. P. Lovecraft’s name is synonymous with horror fiction. His major inspiration and invention was cosmic horror: the idea that life is incomprehensible to human minds and that the universe is fundamentally alien. This collection contains 24 Lovecraft works that are in the public domain. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Collected Public Domain Works of H. P. Lovecraft, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, H. P. Lovecraft, Horror/Ghost stories, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Short stories

Nine original and, yes, unlikely fairy-tales, which include stories of the arithmetic fairy, the king who became a charming villa-residence and the dreadful automatic nagging machine. All are classic-Nesbit: charming, novel and not afraid to squeeze in a moral or two — told with proper fairy-tale style. Summary by Cori More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Kids & Family

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, Edith Nesbit, Fairy tales, fiction, free audio books, Kids, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Nine Unlikely Tales for Children, Short stories

Talking animals, wicked stepmothers, valiant tailors, cruel witches! Sixty-two stories that feature familiar figures like Hansel and Gretel, Rapunzel, Rumplestiltskin, The Twelve Dancing Princesses and Snow-White and Rose Red as well as lesser-known characters like The White Snake, Sweetheart Roland and Clever Elsie are contained in this volume of Grimms’ Fairy Tales by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. The original volume published in 1812 contained more than 85 tales and this number kept increasing till it got to the seventh edition which contained more than two hundred stories. Initially the authors meant the collection to be read not just by children, but also adults and was meant to be a compilation of folk-tales that had been passed down orally for generations. The first edition was packed with scholarly foot-notes and interesting information about the cultural connotations of each story. Later, the authors were persuaded to change the format and make it suitable for children. However, many of these stories were found by publishers to be far too gruesome for young readers. Objectionable passages and scenes of violence were removed and replaced with less fearsome ones. The scholarly foot notes were completely eliminated, making the book just a collection of fairy tales that a child might enjoy. The present collection contains some of the most famous and well loved fairy tales that generations of children have enjoyed. The universal themes of fairy tales which include the triumph of good over evil, courage, common-sense, humility, love, the downfall of pride, greed, envy and laziness all find voice in the characters of Grimms’ Fairy Tales. Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were two brothers born in Frankfurt in the old German kingdom of Hesse. They studied law, but were passionately interested in folklore. Jacob was also a philologist studying language. Though Wilhelm’s ill-health made traveling difficult, they toured Germany and neighboring European countries in the 18th century documenting folk tales commonly recounted by word of mouth in small villages and communities. Their interest in preserving these historical examples of native wisdom and culture has made it possible for modern readers to enjoy these age old stories that were told and retold by countless grandparents to generations of grandchildren. Most of the stories retain the lyrical qualities of oral tradition and are meant to be read aloud, creating a magical world for children. This treasure trove of stories has become an essential part of the bed-time ritual of story-telling for both parents and children all over the world. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Kids & Family

Tags: animals, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, Fairy tales, fantasy, fiction, free audio books, Grimms' Fairy Tales, Jacob & Wilhelm Grimm, Kids, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Short stories, Teen/Young adult

In the last century which women writers have truly challenged the existing forms of literature? How did they make their voices heard using brand new techniques and styles? For centuries there have been women writers who have changed the face of literature, but we tend to talk of their lives and work in very certain terms. This series of video-slideshows reveals how writing and reputation are often forged in transition, uncertainty and change. In these 4 films we re-examine the lives, work and influence of: Virginia Woolf, Jean Rhys, Katherine Mansfield and Jeanette Winterson. This material forms part of the Open University course A300 20th century literature: texts and debates.

Categories: Education

Tags: 20th Century, 21st Century, Bloomsbury, english, feminism, fiction, gender, influence, Jean Rhys, Jeanette Winterson, Katherine Mansfield, Literature, modernism, Mrs Dalloway, Oranges are not the only Fruit, reputation, Short stories, The Waves, To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf, Wide Sargasso Sea, women, writers

Stories from 1896 to 1901. Lucy Maud Montgomery was born at Clifton (now New London), Prince Edward Island, Canada, on November 30, 1874. She achieved international fame in her lifetime, putting Prince Edward Island and Canada on the world literary map. Best known for her “Anne of Green Gables” books, she was also a prolific writer of short stories and poetry. She published some 500 short stories and poems and twenty novels before her death in 1942. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts, Kids & Family

Tags: 1896 to 1901, audio books, audiobook, ebooks, fiction, free audio books, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Lucy Maud Montgomery Short Stories, romance, Sea stories, Short stories, Teen/Young adult

Classic scifi short stories … some you know, some you don’t. But all of them are worthy of another look.

Categories: Fiction, Society & Culture

Tags: classic scifi, Short stories, speculative fiction

Get the true story of Adam and Eve, straight from the source. This humorous text is a day-to-day account of Adam’s life from happiness in the “GARDEN-OF-EDEN” to their fall from grace and the events thereafter. Learn how Eve caught the infant Cain, and Adam takes some time to learn exactly what it is.

Categories: Arts, Comedy, Society & Culture

Tags: audio books, audiobook, Comedy, ebooks, Extracts from Adam's Diary, fiction, free audio books, History, humor, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, Mark Twain, Short stories

The What if its True Podcast features odd stories from ordinary people like you and me. Each episode will have one or more stories the writers claim are true. You can dismiss them as told by folks with great imaginations. You might even call them liars. Most people do. If you’re like me though, there is always that nagging question you ask, but can’t get an answer to. That question: What if it’s True?

This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/5445587/advertisement

Categories: Fiction

Tags: alien, audiobook, bigfoot, creepy pasta, Dogman, ghost, narration, paranormal, sasquatch, scary stories, Short stories, space ship, UFO, Werewolf, yeti

Ernest Bramah is mainly known for his ‘Kai Lung’ books – Dorothy L Sayers often used quotes from them for her chapter headings. In his lifetime however he was equally well known for his detective stories. Since Sherlock Holmes we have had French detectives, Belgian detectives, aristocratic detectives, royal detectives, ecclesiastical detectives, drunken detectives and even a (very) few quite normal happily married detectives. Max Carrados was however probably the first blind detective. More great books at LoyalBooks.com

Categories: Arts

Tags: audio books, audiobook, ebooks, Ernest Bramah, fiction, Four Max Carrados Detective Stories, free audio books, Literature, Loyal Books, loyalbooks.com, MYSTERY, Short stories