The Classic Tales Podcast
Designed to make classic literature less intimidating, The Classic Tales Podcast has been showcasing the greatest literary authors for years. Narrating with gusto, BJ Harrison performs each word of the classic texts, elevating them with character voices, sharp accents and bridled emotion. Adventure, Mystery, Horror, Humor and more - The Classic Tales Podcast has something for everybody. It really is The Cure for the Common Commute. Winner - Outstanding Podcast Host: Arts and Entertainment , Society of Voice Arts and Sciences- 2022 Winner of w3 Silver Award by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts-2022 Winner of w3 Gold Award by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts-2021 Winner of Independent Audiobook Award for "Scaramouche", by Raphael Sabatini - 2021

Death is the tragic result of Lupin’s latest burglary. Has the gentleman thief gone too far? Maurice Leblanc, today on The Classic Tales Podcast.

Welcome to The Classic Tales Podcast. Thank you for listening.

Thank you to all of our financial supporters. We couldn’t do this without you. We really try make your support worth your while. For a five-dollar monthly donation, you get a monthly code for $8 off any audiobook download. Give more, and you get more! It helps us have something to count on every month, and you help to keep the podcast going strong, giving more folks like you can discover the classics in a curated and easily accessible format. Go to classictalesaudiobooks.com today, and become a financial supporter. You’ll be glad you did. Thank you so much.

App users can hear the poem, “She Walks in Beauty”, by George Gordon, Lord Byron, in the special features for today’s episode.

And if it’s more convenient, we are streaming our episodes through YouTube, now. A link can be found in the comments section for today’s episode.

I’m hoping to resume producing more audiobooks of classic novels like I did in the past. I need to dedicate a week every month to it. My goal is to produce a standalone audiobook every month, like I used to. I’d love to do all of the Lupin novels, and do all the stories of Sherlock Holmes, John Carter of Mars, and tackle some Henry James and more Jane Austen and Victor Hugo. So, if you can swing it, please become a financial supporter. This is where I’d like to use your monthly contribution. And if you can’t do that, please tell a friend about us. I’d just love to get more classic literature into the ears of more people.

And on that note, it’s looking like The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne will be coming to the store soon. Here’s the thing, though. I only narrated the introduction. The great Nancy Peterson narrates the rest. Nancy is an Audie Award Winner, which is the Oscar of audiobooks. She’s absolutely stellar, and I was very humbled to be able to work with her. I’ll let you know when The Scarlet Letter is available.

And now, Edith Swan-neck, by Maurice Leblanc.

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Direct download: CT_720_Edith_Swan-neck.mp3
Category:Literature -- posted at: 12:30am MDT

What will our hero see when he climbs to the top of the castle? H.P. Lovecraft, today on The Classic Tales Podcast.

Welcome to The Classic Tales Podcast. Thank you for listening.

Thank you to all of our financial supporters. We couldn’t do this without you. We really try make your support worth your while. For a five-dollar monthly donation, you get a monthly code for $8 off any audiobook download. Give more, and you get more! It helps us have something to count on every month, and you help to keep the podcast going strong, giving more folks like you can discover the classics in a curated and easily accessible format. Go to classictalesaudiobooks.com today, and become a financial supporter. You’ll be glad you did. Thank you so much.

App users can hear the poem, “Abou Ben Adhem”, by Leigh Hunt, a contemporary of Byron, Shelley and Keats in the special features for today’s episode.

And if it’s more convenient, we are streaming our episodes through YouTube, now. A link can be found in the comments section for today’s episode.

I’m hoping to resume producing more audiobooks of classic novels like I did in the past. I need to dedicate a week every month to it. My goal is to produce a standalone audiobook every month, like I used to.

I’d love to do all of the Lupin novels, and do all the stories of Sherlock Holmes, John Carter of Mars, and tackle some Henry James and more Jane Austen and Victor Hugo. So, if you can swing it, please become a financial supporter. This is where I’d like to use your monthly contribution, along with supporting the show. And if you can’t do that, please tell a friend about us. I’d just love to get more classic literature into the ears of more people.

And now, The Outsider, by H.P. Lovecraft.

Tap here to go to www.classictalesaudiobooks.com and become a financial supporter!

 

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Direct download: CT_719_The_Outsider.mp3
Category:Literature -- posted at: 12:30am MDT

What will become of a king who openly mocks a cripple and a dwarf? Edgar Allan Poe, today on The Classic Tales Podcast.

Welcome to The Classic Tales Podcast. Thank you for listening.

Thank you to all of our financial supporters. We couldn’t do this without you. We really try make your support worth your while. For a five-dollar monthly donation, you get a monthly code for $8 off any audiobook download. Give more, and you get more! It helps us have something to count on every month, and you help to keep the podcast going strong, giving more folks like you can discover the classics in a curated and easily accessible format. Go to classictalesaudiobooks.com today, and become a financial supporter. You’ll be glad you did. 

App users can hear the short story, “The Murder in the Rue Morgue”, by Edgar Allan Poe in the special features for today’s episode.

And if it’s more convenient, we are streaming our episodes through YouTube, now. A link can be found in the comments section for today’s episode.

Tap here to visit our YouTube Channel:

Now, for today’s story.

Edgar Allan Poe. I don’t think he actually “invented” the mystery or horror genres, but he definitely lifted the existing genres of his time to largely resemble how they largely look today. I’m comfortable in saying he defined them. The consulting detective of today is essentially a refined version of his vision. And he is still held as the master of the horror short story.

Today’s story, Hop-Frog, isn’t largely anthologized, and can be difficult to find. It wasn’t brought to my attention until a listener recommended it to me years ago. It moves very well, and has a smart, original finish. It’s a rare gem that is largely unmentioned in Poe’s short story canon, and I’m thrilled to present it to you.

And now, Hop-Frog, by Edgar Allan Poe.

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Direct download: CT_718_Hop-Frog.mp3
Category:Literature -- posted at: 12:30am MDT

What will become of the townsfolk when Scratchy Wilson goes on the rampage, and the sheriff is out of town? Stephen Crane, today on The Classic Tales Podcast.

Welcome to The Classic Tales Podcast. Thank you for listening.

Thank you to all of our financial supporters. We couldn’t do this without you. We really try make your support worth your while. For a five-dollar monthly donation, you get a monthly code for $8 off any audiobook download. Give more, and you get more! It really helps us out.

And you help to keep the podcast going strong, so that more folks like you can discover the classics in a curated and easily accessible format. Go to classictalesaudiobooks.com today, and become a financial supporter. You’ll be glad you did. And thank you so much.

App users can hear the poem “Kubla Khan”, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in the special features for today’s episode.

And I am beginning to stream all of my podcast episodes through YouTube. If you listen to your audio through YouTube, which is apparently a thing now, you can find a link to our YouTube channel in the comments section for this week’s episode. All of the podcast episodes will be available as a kind of Videogram, with the weekly album art as the visual, while the audio plays behind it.

Now, for today’s story.

Now, as you know recently, I’ve been highlighting Russian literature. One thing that’s been brought to my attention is that it’s not until very recently that they’ve had a mystery genre. Here’s an excerpt from the introduction by Otto Penzler to a book I’m working on that includes these crime oriented Russian short stories:

“It is appropriate to the point of obviousness to recognize that the detective story cannot flourish in a non-democratic society. The chief protagonist in a detective story is a hero: the person who will right the wrongs perpetrated by a criminal. This is possible only in a society in which the rule of law matters, and it must matter to all strata of the society. If a government is corrupt, or dictatorial, its functionaries are, by definition, primarily focused on their own interests or in those of the government that employs them...

The very notion of Russian detective fiction is oxymoronic, as it is a country whose citizens seldom have enjoyed individual freedom. Sinking from the oppression of the czarist regime to the horrors of the Communist police state, Russia was in no position to offer fictional police officers as the heroes of mystery stories, as they were more likely than ordinary citizens to be the criminals and persecutors.” – Otto Penzler, from the introduction to The Greatest Russian Stories of Crime and Suspense. Published by Highbridge Audio.

So, in order to show the contrast between these stories, and to kind of showcase what those of us without such a background are perhaps more accustomed to, we’re presenting a Western from Stephen Crane this week. I figured there’s nothing more illustrative of cut and dried good guy versus bad guy than a Western.

However, while very well written, it still has some problems inherent to the genre.- particularly that of racism. Please note how the author points out the races of the African Americans, Mexicans, and Jewish people. Yet the race of all of the people who have speaking roles isn’t mentioned. This is racism. Even though there aren’t any overt racial slurs, this subtle naming of the race, and connecting the people thus named to their roles as waiter, staff, shepherds, or tailors is a definite form of racism.

So, something to think about as we head out West.

And now, The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky, by Stephen Crane.

 

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Direct download: CT_717_TheBrideComestoYellowSky.mp3
Category:Literature -- posted at: 12:30am MDT