Michael Ward
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The Great God Pan (1894) is a novella by Arthur Machen. Condemned as decadent and obscene upon publication, The Great God Pan earned praise from Oscar Wilde and H. P. Lovecraft, and is now regarded as one of Victorian literature's finest-and most unsettling-stories of horror and the occult. Throughout the years, it has influenced such figures as Stephen King, Guillermo del Toro, and Josh Malerman with its depiction of the god Pan and unsettling blend...
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First performed in 1895, "An Ideal Husband" is Oscar Wilde's classic and much-loved comedic drama. The play tells the story of an up-and-coming politician, Sir Robert Chiltern, who tries to hide his secret past from his judgmental wife and the blackmail scheme he is forced to participate in to keep that secret quiet. Lady Chiltern has a very particular idea of what makes the "ideal husband" which leaves her with little tolerance for Sir Robert's all...
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In "The Railway Children", a young family must leave their comfortable London life for a house in the country when their father is taken away unexpectedly. Roberta, Peter and Phyllis spend their days at the nearby train station, befriending the station master and porter and many of the passengers. Waving goodbye to the departing London train each day and sending their love to their father who is detained there, they strike up a friendship with a kindly...
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Father Brown is an insightful sleuth who travels far-and-wide to solve a new set of mysteries that require his unique skills and wisdom. This selection of short stories also includes a variety of locales from Italy to Cornwall and everywhere in between. Once again, Father Brown has found himself at the center of the action. The Wisdom of Father Brown is the follow-up to G.K. Chesterton's first entry, The Innocence of Father Brown. The sequel builds...
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Rudolf Rassendyll is abruptly transported from his comfortable life in London to fast-moving adventures in Ruritania, a land steeped in political intrigue. Rassendyll bears a striking resemblance to Rudolph Elphberg, who is about to be crowned King of Ruritania. When the rival to the throne, Black Michael of Streslau, attempts to seize power by imprisoning Elphberg in the Castle of Zenda, Rassendyll is obliged to impersonate the King to uphold the...
9) Pygmalion
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One of George Bernard Shaw's best-known plays, Pygmalion is based on ancient Greek mythology. Pygmalion fell in love with one of his sculptures, which then came to life. The general idea of that myth was a popular subject for Victorian era British playwrights.
Shaw's updated and revised version of this ancient Greek legend was first presented in England in 1914. Poking fun of the antiquated British class system, it introduces Henry Higgins, a professor...
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Sometimes the greatest horrors lurk in the most mundane places This collection features some of M. R. James's greatest tales of the supernatural world crossing over into our own. In "Number 13," an inn that previously belonged to an alchemist changes dimensions in the night. "The Mezzotint" features a painting of a house reenacting a gruesome scene from the house's history. In "The Treasure of Abbot Thomas," an antiquary who has discovered the location...
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While they are discussing the possible illnesses they may have, Jerome, Harris, and George all realize they suffer from the same thing-working too much. Upon the realization, the three best friends decide that they must go on a vacation. After rejecting the ideas of a sea trip or country stay, because Jerome doesn't like the sea, and Harris finds the country to be dull, the men decide on a boat trip. With their bags packed and with the company of...
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Soon after the American Civil War, Confederate soldier John Carter joins the gold rush in Arizona. After striking a vein of gold, Carter runs into trouble with the natives of the area. In attempts to evade their pursuit, Carter hides in a cave, unaware of its magical properties. Mysteriously, Carter is transported to Mars, which the planet inhabitants call "Barsoom". When Carter discovers that the gravity difference between Mars and Earth has granted...
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In Baroness Emma Orczy's 1905 novel "The Scarlet Pimpernel", the year is 1792 and the French Revolution is complete. People die by the guillotine every day, often unjustly. Stepping in to right these wrongs and rescue the innocent is the elusive "Scarlet Pimpernel", a mysterious agent named for the red flower that is his signature. Meanwhile, foppish Sir Percy Blakeney and his French actress wife Marguerite are having marital difficulties when Marguerite...
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In this classic adventure novel, first published in 1873, Phileas Fogg of London and his newly employed French valet Passepartout attempt to circumnavigate the world in 80 days on a 20,000 pound wager set by his friends at the Reform Club - and he is determined not to lose. Breaking the well-established routine of his daily life, the reserved Englishman and his manservant immediately set off.
15) The Lost World
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Originally published serially in 1912, "The Lost World" is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic tale of discovery and adventure. The story begins with the narrator, the curious and intrepid reporter Edward Malone, meeting Professor Challenger, a strange and brilliant paleontologist who insists that he has found dinosaurs still alive deep in the Amazon. Malone agrees to accompany Challenger, as well as Challenger's unconvinced colleague Professor Summerlee,...
16) Just so stories
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Just So Stories is a collection of Rudyard Kipling's animal tales in which we learn about 'How the Whale got his Throat', 'How the Camel got his Hump', 'How the Rhinoceros got his Skin', 'How the Leopard got his Spots', 'The Elephant's Child', 'The Sing-Song of Old Man Kangaroo', 'The Beginning of the Armadilloes', 'How the First Letter was Written', 'How the Alphabet was Made', 'The Crab that Played with the Sea', 'The Cat that Walked by Himself'...
18) Kidnapped
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In 1751 in Scotland, cheated out of his inheritance by a greedy uncle who has him kidnapped and put on a ship to the Carolinas, seventeen-year-old David Balfour escapes to the Highlands with the help of the Jacobite Alan Breck Stewart and there encounters further danger and intrigue as he attempts to clear his name and regain his property.