Just Reads

Halloween Stories - Algernon Blackwood - Keeping His Priomise (repeat)

31 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

An unnamed young man has a recurring nightmare in which he visits a friend's house in the summer. The friend's family is silent and grim. The friend's...

Halloween Stories - M.R.James - The Man Who Dwelt by The Churchyard (REPEAT)

31 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The story is presented as the finished version of the "sad tale [of] sprites and goblins" that Prince Mamilius begins to tell Queen Hermione and her c...

Saturday Night Serial - F. Scott Firzgerald - The Great Gatsby - Chapter 1, Part 2

25 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Great Gatsby is a 1925 tragedy novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel dep...

Book of the week - The Book of Marmalade: Its Antecedents, Its History and Its Role in the World Today

25 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

You think you know marmalade? Think again, fool.BookBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/just-reads--6173738/support.

Edgar Allen Poe - Some Words With The Mummy (extract)

23 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"Some Words with a Mummy" is a satirical short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. It was first published in The American Review: A Whig Journal...

C.D. Heriot - The Trapdoor

21 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Trapdoor by CD Heriot is a little known spooky tale about a country pub and hotel with a sealed up attic. It's sealed for a reason...Become a supp...

Henry James - Turn of the Screw (extract)

16 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Turn of the Screw is an 1898 gothic horror novella by Henry James which first appeared in serial format in Collier's Weekly from January 27 to Apr...

J Sebastian Le Fanu - The Narrative of the Ghost of a Hand

14 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this richly layered and unsettling tale, Sheridan Le Fanu presents a haunting centered not around a traditional ghost, but around the eerie and ine...

Saturday Night Serial - F. Scott Firzgerald - The Great Gatsby - Chapter 1, Part 1

11 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Great Gatsby is a 1925 tragedy novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel dep...

Book of the week - Toddlers Guide to the Rubber Industry

11 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

An excellent work of outstanding natural beauty.BookBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/just-reads--6173738/support.

Charles Dickens - The Trial For Murder

09 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

" The Trial for Murder " is a short story written by Charles Dickens in 1865. It was originally published under the title "To Be Taken with a Gr...

Thomas Hood - The Tale of Terror

07 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Thomas Hood was an English poet, author and humorist, best known for poems such as "The Bridge of Sighs" and "The Song of the Shirt". Hood wrote regul...

Book of the week - Report of the temperature reached in army biscuits during baking,

04 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A gripping read full of twists and turns.BookBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/just-reads--6173738/support.

Charles Dickens - The Black Veil

02 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/just-reads--6173738/support.

F.Marion Crawford - The Upper Berth

13 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The classic haunted cabin story.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/just-reads--6173738/support.

Edgar Allen Poe - The Tell Tale Heart

11 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A murderer cannot unhear his victim's heart"The Tell-Tale Heart" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1843. It is t...

The dispute over Casablanca

10 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Groucho Marx letters to Warner Brothers over use of the word 'Casablanca'Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/just-rea...

Daniel Defoe - Mrs Veal

09 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

An old friend visits unexpectedly.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/just-reads--6173738/support.

Saturday Night Serial - HG Wells - The Time Machine - Epilogue

06 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Time Machine is an 1895 dystopian post-apocalyptic science fiction novella by H. G. Wells about a Victorian scientist known as the Time Traveller ...

Saturday Night Serial - HG Wells - The Time Machine - Chapter 16 - After The Story

06 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Time Machine is an 1895 dystopian post-apocalyptic science fiction novella by H. G. Wells about a Victorian scientist known as the Time Traveller ...

JS Fletcher - The Other Sense

04 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

They have told me to-day, with obvious reluctance, and in the kindest fashion, that I am to go to-morrow to the house of a Dr. Schreiber, in whose car...

Ambrose Bierce - The Bottomless Grave

02 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A respectable family is forced into a life of crime, with unexpected consequences.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast...

Saturday Night Serial - HG Wells - The Time Machine - Chapter 15 - The Time Traveller Returns

30 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Time Machine is an 1895 dystopian post-apocalyptic science fiction novella by H. G. Wells about a Victorian scientist known as the Time Traveller ...

M.R.James - The Man Who Dwelt by The Churchyard

28 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The temptation of man can be his downfall. Even when those he has robbed are dead.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast...

Kenneth Grahame - Wind In The Willows - Toad Steals The Car

27 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Toad, thinking he has recovered from his automobile addiction, finds he is not.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ju...

Kenneth Grahame - Wind In The Willows - The Cart and the Car

27 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Exerpt from the book where Toad has had an intervention regarding his obsession with cars.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com...

E G Swain - Bone to his Bones

26 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A Reverend from the past sends a message to a Reverend of the futureBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/just-reads--6...

Saturday Night Serial - HG Wells - The Time Machine - Chapter 14 - A Further Vision

23 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Time Machine is an 1895 dystopian post-apocalyptic science fiction novella by H. G. Wells about a Victorian scientist known as the Time Traveller ...

Lewis Carroll - Alice in Wonderland - The Tea Party

20 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (also known as Alice in Wonderland) is an 1865 English children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics don at the Un...

Amelia B. Edwards - The Phantom Coach

19 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Horror is perhaps best dictated to the senses – to the animal rather than the intellectual faculties. Amelia B. Edwards shoots for both in this cer...

Saturday Night Serial - HG Wells - The Time Machine - Chapter 13 - The Trap Of The White Sphinx

16 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Time Machine is an 1895 dystopian post-apocalyptic science fiction novella by H. G. Wells about a Victorian scientist known as the Time Traveller ...

Edgar Allen Poe - The Fall of the House of Usher (extract)

14 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"The Fall of the House of Usher" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1839 in Burton's Gentleman's Magazine, then i...

James Thurber - The Greatest Man In The World

13 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The themes in "The Greatest Man in the World" by James Thurber include the nature of heroism and appearances versus reality. Jack Smurch displays brav...

Gertrude Atherton - The Dead and the Countess

12 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The dead sleep peacefully -- until a railway is built near their cemetery. While the old priest works to keep them at rest, the Count's dying wife beg...

Saturday Night Serial - HG Wells - The Time Machine - Chapter 12 - In The Darkness

09 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Time Machine is an 1895 dystopian post-apocalyptic science fiction novella by H. G. Wells about a Victorian scientist known as the Time Traveller ...

Ray Bradbury - Zero Hour

07 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"Zero Hour" by Ray Bradbury is a science fiction short story published in the late 1940s. The narrative explores the imaginative world of children and...

Barry Pilton - In a Nutshell - Einstein's Watch

06 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The late Leonard Rossiter recorded these for Radio 3 in the early 1980s. They remain one of the finest bits of comedic social satire of the age. Write...

Robert L. Stephenson - The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (extract)

05 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is an 1886 Gothic horror novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a ...

Saturday Night Serial - HG Wells - The Time Machine - Chapter 11 - The Palace of Green Porcelain

02 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Time Machine is an 1895 dystopian post-apocalyptic science fiction novella by H. G. Wells about a Victorian scientist known as the Time Traveller ...

Saturday Night Serial - HG Wells - The Time Machine - First Ten Chapters Catchup

02 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Time Machine is an 1895 dystopian post-apocalyptic science fiction novella by H. G. Wells about a Victorian scientist known as the Time Traveller ...

W. Somerset Maugham =The Taipan

17 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A selfish, bigoted British expat high executive thinks he got the best of life by abusing of all the mod-cons there is - servants mostly - while livin...

M.R.James - A Warning To The Curious

15 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"A Warning to the Curious" is a ghost story by English writer M. R. James, first published in The London Mercury in August 1925 and collected in Ja...

Saturday Night Serial - H.G.Wells - The Time Machine - Chapter 10 - When Night Came

12 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Time Machine is an 1895 dystopian post-apocalyptic science fiction novella by H. G. Wells about a Victorian scientist known as the Time Traveller ...

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu - Carmilla (excerpt)

08 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Carmilla is an 1872 Gothic novella by Irish author Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. It is one of the earliest known works of vampire fiction, predating Bram S...

Saturday Night Serial - HG Wells - The Time Machine - Chapter 9 - The Morlocks

05 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Time Machine is an 1895 dystopian post-apocalyptic science fiction novella by H. G. Wells about a Victorian scientist known as the Time Traveller ...

H.G.Wells - The Time Machine - Chapter 8 - Explanation (REDONE)

05 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

I listened back to the previous read and wasn't happy with it so I re-recorded it. So this is exactly the same as the previous version of Episode eigh...

Jerome K Jerome - Three Men In A Boat - Opening

02 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Three Men in a Boat, published in 1889, is a humorous novel by English writer Jerome K. Jerome describing a two-week boating holiday on the Thames fro...

Washington Irving - The Adventure of the German Student

01 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"The Adventure of the German Student" is a short story by Washington Irving, which was published in 1824 in his collection of essays Tales of a Travel...

EJ Benson - The Room in the Tower

26 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"The Room in the Tower" is a short horror story by E. F. Benson, published in 1912. The Room in the Tower and Other Stories is a compilation of storie...

John Pheonix - Tushmaker's Toothpuller

25 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"Tushmaker's Toothpuller" is a short story written by John Phoenix, a pseudonym for the American humorist and writer, whose real name was John P. Smit...

O Henry - The Furnished Room

24 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

‘The Furnished Room’ is a short story by the US short-story writer O. Henry, whose real name was William Sydney Porter (1862-1910). His stories ar...

Saturday Night Serial - HG Wells - The Time Machine - Chapter 8 - Explanation

21 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Time Machine is an 1895 dystopian post-apocalyptic science fiction novella by H. G. Wells about a Victorian scientist known as the Time Traveller ...

Ralph Cram - In Kropsberg Keep

19 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

“The Kropfsberg Keep” by Ralph Adams Cram. It has ghosts, it has misdirection, it has a haunted manor, it has massacres; it has it all.TRIGGER WAR...

Jonathan Swift - Gulliver's Travels - The Academy of Projectors

18 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Gulliver's Travels, originally titled Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a...

Jonathan Swift - Gulliver's Travels - The Peoples of Laputa

18 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Gulliver's Travels, originally titled Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a...

Charles Dickens - The Signalman (New Read)

17 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"The Signal-Man" is a horror mystery story by Charles Dickens, first published as part of the Mugby Junction collection in the 1866 Christmas edition ...

Saturday Night Serial - HG Wells - The Time Machine - Chapter 7 - A Sudden Shock

14 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Time Machine is an 1895 dystopian post-apocalyptic science fiction novella by H. G. Wells about a Victorian scientist known as the Time Traveller ...

E Nesbitt - Mansize in Marble

12 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Edith Nesbit’s supernatural masterpiece – “Man-Size in Marble” – was first published in 1887, one year after “Strange Case of Dr Jekyll...

George and Weedon Grossmith - Diary of a Nobody

10 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Diary of a Nobody is an 1892 English comic novel written by the brothers George and Weedon Grossmith, with illustrations by the latter. It origina...

War of the Worlds - Introduction

09 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Just for a bit of a lark, I thought I'd record this. Whaddya think? It's only the intro. Interested to see if anyone likes it...The War of the Worlds ...

Saturday Night Serial - HG Wells - The Time Machine - Chapter 6 - The Sunset of Mankind

07 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Time Machine is an 1895 dystopian post-apocalyptic science fiction novella by H. G. Wells about a Victorian scientist known as the Time Traveller ...

JR M.R.James - Rats

05 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Montague Rhodes James was an English medievalist scholar and author who served as provost of King's College, Cambridge, and of Eton College as well as...

Frank Norris - The Ship That Saw a Ghost

03 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Frank Norris's intriguing and atmospheric tale of an old forgotton crime, a tragedy, an ancient derelict ghost ship... and the very bizarre reaction o...

Saturday Night Serial - HG Wells - The Time Machine - Chapter 5 - In The Golden Age

31 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Chapter Five of HG Wells, The Time Machine.Chapter OneChapter TwoChapter ThreeChapter FourBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com...

Pointless Book of The Week - The Romance of Leprosy

31 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Book of the week this week is the enchanting 'Romance of Leprosy'Buy it before it sells out hereBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreak...

Morley Roberts - The Smile of the Giaconda

29 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Morley Robers was an adventurer who worked on railways, cattle, and sheep ranches all over Africa and the Americas and still found time to write a lar...

Mary Shelley - Frankenstein (excerpt)

27 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is an 1818 Gothic novel written by English author Mary Shelley. Frankenstein tells the story of Victor Franken...

Saturday Night Serial - HG Wells - The Time Machine - Chapter 4 - Time Travel

24 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Chapter four of HG Wells, The Time Machine.Chapter OneChapter TwoChapter ThreeBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/jus...

Arthur Conan Doyle - Hound of the Baskervilles - excerpt - Better version

23 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Yesterday I put up a read of The Hound of the Baskervilles, and to be honest, it sucked. Bad levels, poor diction, a real nightmare. Everything it sho...

Arthur Conan Doyle - The Hound of the Baskervilles (extract)

22 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Hound of the Baskervilles is the third of the four crime novels by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. Orig...

Promotional Pamphlet - The Time Registering Closet 1892

21 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A genuine amusing ad from epochs departed.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/just-reads--6173738/support.

Edgar Allen Poe - The Masque of the Red Death

20 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"The Masque of the Red Death" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1842. The story follows Prince Prospero's attemp...

H.G. Wells - The Time Machine Chapter 3 - The Time Traveller Returns

18 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Chapter three of HG Wells, The Time Machine.Chapter OneChapter TwoBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/just-reads--617...

Pamela Hansford Johnson - The Honourable Ghost

15 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Pamela Hansford-Johnson wrote so many good books, and this, a short story about a man who is invited to stay in a haunted house, who isn't told it's h...

Writers - The life and works of Walter De La Mare

14 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A brief bio on the life and works of poet and author Walter De La MareWalter John de la Mare was an English poet, short story writer and novelist. He ...

Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol (ExTract)

13 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, commonly known as A Christmas Carol, is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published i...

Saturday Night Serial - H.G. Wells - The Time Machine Chapter 2 - The Machine

10 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The second intallment of HG Wells classic story, The Time Machine.Part one hereBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/ju...

Phillip K Dick- The Eyes Have It

08 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Theoretically, you could find this type of humor anywhere. But only a topflight science-fictionist, we thought, could have written this story, in just...

About Writers - The Life and Works of Charles Dickens

07 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Cnarles Dickens was one of the greatest writers of his or any other time. His works examine the human condition, and deal with lust for power, arrogra...

Algernon Blackwood - Keeping His Promise

06 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A srudent recieves an unexpected visitor. A message is conveyed, a promise is kept.H.P. Lovecraft wrote of Blackwood: "He is the one absolute and unq...

Saturday Night Serial - The Time Machine by H.G. Wells - Episode One

03 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Episode One: IntroductionThe Time Machine is an 1895 dystopian post-apocalyptic science fiction novella by H. G. Wells about a Victorian scientist kno...

E & H Heron - The Story of Baelbrow

01 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The spirit of Baelbrow was a inoffensive and unintrusive ghost. But something changed. And not for the better.Become a supporter of this podcast: http...

Grimm Brothers - The Juniper Tree

29 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Juniper Tree" (also "The Almond Tree"; Low German: Von dem Machandelboom) is a German fairy tale published in Low German by the Brothers Grimm in ...

James Thurber - The MacBeth Murder Mystery

28 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

James Thurber is one of the funniest writers of his age, or most other age. I recommend him highly. His works are touching, nostaligic, well observed ...

JD Salinger - Catcher in the Rye

27 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Fleeing the crooks at Pencey Prep, he pinballs around New York City seeking solace in fleeting encounters—shooting the bull with strangers in dive h...

Grimm Stories - Snow White and the Seven Dwarves

23 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of th...

M.R. James - The Haunted Dolls House

07 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"The Haunted Doll's House" is a 1923 short story by M. R. James, collected by him in A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories. It was commissi...

Answer by Fredric Brown (1954)

06 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Dwan Ev ceremoniously soldered the final connection with gold. The eyes of a dozen television cameras watched him and the subether bore throughout the...

Bros Grimm - The Golden Goose

05 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The hero is the youngest of three brothers, given the nickname "Dummling" (Simpleton). His eldest brother is sent into the forest to chop wood (the Ta...

Adam Blai - The Exorcism Files

04 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Drawing from his extensive experience in assisting with cases of demonic oppression and possession, in The Exorcism Files, Adam Blai presents listener...

Edgar Allen Poe - The Sphinx

03 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

During the cholera outbreak in New York, a man visited his relative's cottage on the banks of the Hudson River. They spent their days engaging in vari...

Duncan Black and Iain Dale - Prime Minister Boris

27 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

History resting on a hair's breadth … a man dies rather than lives, an election is lost rather than won, one minister is appointed, another dismisse...

Grimm Brothers - The Robber Bridegroom

26 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"The Robber Bridegroom" is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm, tale number 40. Joseph Jacobs included a variant, Mr Fox, in English F...

Barry Cryer - Pigs can Fly

25 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Throughout his career, Barry Cryer has collaborated with all the greats, from Max Miller to Tony Hancock, Bob Hope, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, John ...

The Brothers Grimm - The Seven Ravens

10 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"The Seven Ravens" (German: Die sieben Raben) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm (KHM 25). It is of Aarne–Thompson type 451 ("Th...

Brothers Grimm - Hansel and Gretel

28 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Once again I have not had the time to go through and find a decent book to recommend, so here is a reading of the Grimm Brothers classic tale, Hansel ...

Garry Shandling - Larry Sanders - The Autobiography of Larry Sanders

21 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Told in Garry Shandling's inimitable style which weaves together fact and fiction so that it makes it impossible to determine the difference between S...

H.G. Wells - The Truth about Pyecraft

14 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

as I haven't read anything this week, and therefore would have to resort to providing a review of my bank statement, a pizza flyer or a note telling m...

Stephen Hodge - Dead Sea Scrolls: The Essential Guide to Their Origin, Meaning and Significance

09 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Dead Sea Scrolls is a comprehensive guide to the meaning and significance of one of the most fascinating and controversial archaeological discover...

Catherine Curzon - The Scandal of George III's Court

07 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

From Windsor to Weymouth, the shadow of scandal was never too far from the walls of the House of Hanover. Did a fearsome duke really commit murder or ...