Bram Stoker's classic tales of the supernatural make a long journey fly

I recently had the pleasure of reviewing an audiobook of Bram Stoker's "Dracula's Guest and Other Stories" (Unabridged), courtesy of Naxos AudioBooks.

The collection of stories amassing five hours of recording on five CDs pleasantly killed the time on an long road trip. 

Read artfully and wittily by talented voice actor Rupert Degas, the more suspenseful than frightening tales ranged from the macabre ("The Burial of the Rats") to the classic ghost story ("The Judge's House").

Other stories in the collection are: "The Squaw," "The Secret of the Growing Gold," "The Gipsy Prophecy," "The Coming of Abel Behenna," "A Dream of Red Hands" and "Crooken Sands"

Naxo AudioBooks released the collection in October 2012 - just in time for Halloween. 

The collection of Stoker's memorable stories as well as his classic gothic novel "Dracula," among other titles, are also available for digital download for $23 (see website link below). The collection is also available in "hard copy" audio CD format for $34.98.

To learn more about the collection, purchase a download, or listen to an audio sample, click here.

Book summary, from the publisher:

Best known for his masterpiece of horror, Dracula, Bram Stoker wrote a number of other novels and many short stories, all on supernatural themes or filled with a physical terror reminiscent of Poe. Dracula’s Guest was originally part of the great novel, but was excised and published separately. Some of these stories, such as The Squaw, The Judge’s House and The Burial of the Rats, rank very high among classic tales of the macabre. These stories deserve to be better known for the light they shed on the enigmatic author of one of the world’s supreme literary adventures into the realm of nightmare.  About author Bram Stoker:

ABRAHAM "BRAM" STOKER

Abraham "Bram" Stoker (1847 – 1912), according to Wikipedia, was an Irish novelist and short story writer, best known today for his 1897 Gothic novel "Dracula." 

He attributed some of his more creative ideas to a long, unknown illness that kept him bedridden in his early childhood until the age of 7. 

During his lifetime, he was better known as personal assistant of actor Henry Irving and business manager of Lyceum Theatre in London, which Irving owned. 

Interesting sidenote: Stoker's original research notes for "Dracula" are kept by the Rosenbach Museum and Library in Philadelphia.

RUPERT DEGAS

About voice actor Rupert Degas:

Rupert Degas, a versatile and charismatic audiobook reader, has read a substantial list of books for Naxos AudioBooks, notably Haruki Murakami’s "A Wild Sheep Chase," "The Wind-up Bird Chronicle" and "Dance Dance Dance," Kafka’s "The Trial," Cormac McCarthy’s "The Road," Rose Tremain’s "Restoration," Tom McNab’s Flanagan’s "Run," and "The Adventures of Brigadier Gerard" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Look at the Birdie

Kurt Vonnegut is one imaginative dude. I remember picking up "Breakfast of Champions" sometime during high school and being dazzled. Literally. (get it?)

Fans don't need to look much further to enjoy some new work from the author. Even after death, Vonnegut continues to create:


Publisher to release new batch of Vonnegut stories

NEW YORK (AP) — A posthumous collection of short stories by Kurt Vonnegut will be released this November.

The collection, called "Look at the Birdie," contains 14 stories by the author of "Slaughterhouse-Five" and other works, Delacorte Press announced Friday.

The publisher says it plans to reissue 15 Vonnegut titles including "Mother Night," ''The Sirens of Titan," ''Galapagos" and "Slaughterhouse-Five." Also due: another collection of his unpublished writings and a book of letters sent to and from the author during his life.

More never-before-seen stories by Vonnegut appeared in the 2008 collection "Armageddon in Retrospect."

Vonnegut died in April 2007 at the age 84. His works contained elements of social commentary, sci-fi and autobiography.