This short story was written by Bram Stoker the world famous author of Dracula. It is the story of a two old men who have been friends since childhood. One of the men is a collector of rare and valuable objects. One day while admiring his friend’s collection the less wealthy of the two notices an old dust rag carefully folded and placed in the center of his friend’s display case. A dust rag that is so valuable that it has spent years locked away in a safe. Finally the friend and the collector’s wife confront the man and ask him the secret of the yellow rag.

This short story was written by Bram Stoker the world famous author of Dracula. In it a young man meets and falls in love with a young woman. After a short courtship they are married and set out to find a new home. Unfortunately, all they can afford is a small run down house owned by a very unpleasant man. When their landlord suddenly starts acting nice and offering to help repair the house they become suspicious. But they finder there is a good reason for their suspicion when they discover a small fortune is at stake.

Maggie MacWhirter’s father had once made a prosperous living off his fishing boat, but recently he’d fallen upon hard times. As a result he’s had to join the smugglers trade.

William Barrow, a young coast guard officer is tasked with dealing with the smuggling going on among the local fishermen. When Maggie confesses to Willy that her own father is involved in the smuggling, he is faced with the dilemma of how to handle the situation now that his future father-in-law is one of the culprits.

Maggie, not wanting her father to get in trouble with the law, daringly decides to sneak aboard the smuggling ship to try to stop the crew from going through with the operations. But it seems that Maggie may have gone too far.

Meet the Otis family: Mister and Missus, and their four children: Washington, the twins called Stars and Stripes, and their daughter Virginia. They’ve just moved from America and into the English country manor of Canterville Chase.  Though rumors persist that the house is haunted, the Otis’ have none of it, and set about making the house their own.  Then come the mysterious clanking chains and the bloodstains on the floor, and soon even the Otis family must come face to face with that most feared of creatures: The Canterville Ghost. But will the Ghost be able to survive his encounters with the erstwhile Americans? Based on the immortal short story by Oscar Wilde, the award-winning Colonial Radio Theatre presents this most macabrely witty tale about life, death, love, fear, and Pinkerton’s Champion Stain Remover. The Canterville Ghost comes to life in a spirited production filled with lush music and evocative sound effects, which will have you laughing and shrieking in equal measure.

Liza of Lambeth, W. Somerset Maugham’s first novel, offers insight into the everyday lives of working-class Londoners at the turn of the twentieth century. Liza Kemp is an eighteen-year-old girl working in a factory in the Lambeth slum along London’s Vere Street. As Liza enters into a misguided affair with an older, married man, Jim Blakeston, the novel reveals the tragedies and abuses suffered by those living in poverty. A mood of subdued resignation prevails in this novel, which sparked the literary career of one of England’s most successful authors of the twentieth century.

This short story from Wodehouse’s collection The Man with Two Left Feet was also included in P. G. Wodehouse All Time Greatest Works.

Paul Bioelle lives in an attic. By day he makes eighteen shillings a week as a waiter; by night he paints, perfecting his masterpiece so that he might earn his fortune. The money from the painting would go toward achieving his dreams: marriage to Jean Le Brocq and ownership of a little cigar shop on Brixton. For to Paul, achieving those two things would be heaven on Earth.

In a shabby New York flat, Della sobs as she counts the few coins she has saved to buy a Christmas present for her husband, Jim. A gift worthy of her devotion will require a great sacrifice: selling her long, beautiful hair.

Jim, meanwhile, has made a sacrifice for Della that is no less difficult. As they exchange gifts on Christmas Eve, the discovery of what each has done fills them with despair, until they realize that the true gifts of Christmas can be found more readily in their humble apartment than in any fine store. O. Henry paints a masterly portrait of unfaltering love, a haven from the harsh world outside.

This classic Christmas short story is charmingly told by Lorie Kellogg and Joe Bevilacqua.

William Sydney Porter, known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American writer. O. Henry’s short stories are known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization, and clever twist endings.

Performed by Joe Bev and Lorie Kellogg.

Romantics everywhere have been enthralled by Emily Brontë’s classic novel of the tragic love between beautiful, spirited Catherine Earnshaw and dark, brooding Heathcliff. The restrained desire between these two star-crossed lovers has always smoldered on the page. And now it ignites into an uncontrollable blaze.

In Wuthering Nights, writer I. J. Miller reimagines this timeless story to reveal the passion between Catherine and Heathcliff—in all its forbidden glory.Set against the stark, raw beauty of the English moors, Heathcliff, an abandoned orphan, recognizes his soulmate in wild, impulsive Catherine, the only woman who can tame his self-destructive nature. And Catherine cannot deny the all-consuming desire she feels for him, despite his low birth. Together they engage in a fiery affair—one that will possess them, enslave them, and change their destinies forever…

Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull is considered one of his most haunting and atmospheric character studies. A would-be playwright is at war with his egoistic mother while the town has become intoxicated by a sensational author. And as the alluring newcomer steals away Kosta’s only love, their new romance could have devastating consequences.

An LA Theatre Works full-cast performance featuring: Calista Flockhart as Irina Nikolayevna Arkadina, T.R. Knight as Konstantin Treplev, Stephen Collins as Yevgeny Dorn, Gordon Clapp as Ilya Shamrayev, Logan Fahey as Semyon Medvedenko, Cindy Katz as Polina Andreyevna, Dakin Matthews as Pyotr Sorin, Bess Rous as Masha, Josh Stamberg as Boris Alexeyevich Trigorin, Kira Sternbach as Nina, Directed by Rosalind Ayres. Translated by Christopher Hampton. Recorded by LA Theatre Works before a live audience at the James Bridges Theater, UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television in September 2012.

The Pastures of Heaven is John Steinbeck’s first short-story collection. Steinbeck’s beautifully rendered depictions of the small yet fateful moments that transform ordinary lives in these stories introduce both the subject and style of artistic expression that recur in the most important works of his career. Each of these self-contained stories is linked to the others by the presence of the Monroes, a family whose misguided behavior and lack of sensitivity precipitate disasters and tragedies. As the individual dramas unfold, Steinbeck reveals the self-deceptions, intellectual limitations, and emotional vulnerabilities that shape the characters’ reactions and gradually erode the harmony and dreams that once formed the foundation of their community.

Today, nearly forty years after his death, Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck remains one of America’s greatest writers and cultural figures. Penguin has begun publishing new editions of many of his works. This season they continue with the seven spectacular and influential books East of Eden, Cannery Row, In Dubious Battle, The Long Valley, The Moon Is Down, The Pastures of Heaven, and Tortilla Flat.

There’s trouble once again in the land of Oz!

The mischievous boy Kiki Aru has discovered a magical word—Pyrzqxgl—can transform him and anyone else into whatever Kiki demands. Worse yet, Kiki has been recruited by the villainous Nome King in his latest attempt to get revenge on Princess Ozma and all her friends.

While Ozma’s court plans a spectacular celebration for her birthday, Dorothy and the Wizard set out with the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger to find a gift for their beloved princess. But in the Forest of Gugu they become entangled in the wicked plans and magical transformations of Kiki and the Nome King.

Can Dorothy and the Wizard stop the evil-doers before they conquer Oz? Or will Kiki’s incredible powers finally give the Nome King the revenge he has craved for so long?

Professor Wogglebug gets the characters of Oz thinking about their genealogy and where they came from because he wants to write ‘The Royal Book of Oz,’ recording all this information. This topic especially upsets the Scarecrow, as he knows that he was discovered by Dorothy hanging from a beanpole in a cornfield and he thinks that this mean he can't possibly have a family history. Woggleburg agrees and hurts Scarecrow’s feelings by noting that because of Dorothy’s discovery, Scarecrow has no family tree and should get the slightest mention in their Royal Book of Oz.

Scarecrow decides to go on an adventure to find out more about his past and ventures down below Oz to learn more. He winds up in the Land of the Silver Islands whose people greet him with cheers welcoming back the Emperor.

Scarecrow then begins learning about his unknown past life and his importance among the the people of the Silver Islands. While Scarecrow is away, Dorothy notices his absence and embarks on her own adventures to find him. United at last, they must work together to return to Oz.

Monsieur Grandet is a very rich man whose chief care is his gold. He runs his household with exacting miserly attention and his wife and daughter suffer a Spartan existence. On the evening of his daughter Eugénie’s 23rd birthday, his foppish nephew Charles suddenly arrives from Paris. Eugénie has never known passion, but now, in an instant, she falls in love and her life is changed forever.

Monsieur Grandet will not countenance his daughter’s marriage to her penniless cousin, but Eugénie’s determination to follow her heart leads her into direct conflict with her father.

A cynical and panoramic view of 19th century Paris.

Edith Hamilton’s Mythology succeeds like no other book in bringing to life for modern readers the Greek, Roman, and Norse myths that are the keystone of Western culture, the stories of gods and heroes that have inspired human creativity from antiquity to the present. We meet the Greek gods on Olympus and Norse gods in Valhalla. We follow the drama of the Trojan War and the wanderings of Odysseus. We hear the tales of Jason and the Golden Fleece, Cupid and Psyche, and mighty King Midas. We discover the origins of the names of the constellations. And we recognize reference points for countless works of art, literature, and cultural inquiry from Freud’s Oedipus complex to Wagner’s Ring Cycle of operas to Eugene O’Neill’s Mourning Becomes Electra. Praised throughout the world for its authority and lucidity, Mythology is Edith Hamilton’s masterpiece, the standard by which all other books on mythology are measured.