Welcome to "Stories from the Borders of Sleep" Episode 24. Rome ... Romantic? Oppressive? You decide, but just be aware that strange things might happen if you are at a loose end in the vicinity of the Colisseum.

Turpin Whittington has a few problems: an unusual name, complete deafness in his left ear and an uncontrollable tendency to get lost in fairy-land but somehow he makes good.

Every once in a while, we have decided to unearth a short story from the public domain and to give it the "Borders of Sleep" treatment. Here's a curious tale originally published in 1910 by Lord Dunsany in a collection entitled A Dreamer's Tales. Enjoy!

What lies beyond the chess board? A few chess pieces get to find out ...

A tale in which a baker gets the better of some savage bears with the help of a mysterious miller.

Stitched together from ideas that occurred to me while out walking the dog, my ponderings on the nature of fear, a dream from a long time ago, and a more recent journey in my own soul - it kind of emerged over the course of the last week. Is there something in you that needs to be unblocked?

This story does not do what it says on the tin. Not to give too much away, but: It is based on a folk tale that is still told in many variations across the world. I remember hearing it as a child. usually the "take home message" is something to do with collaborating and contributing to a greater effort, but here's my take on it ...

Here is a deep dive into the ocean and beyond, to carry you far away in your imagination, to dream within dreams, or just to help you get to sleep ... enjoy!

A story of a young girl who intends to become a princess by marrying a prince one day, yet in a single night she meets a strange shadow and an even stranger creature who shows her things no princess has ever seen.

A fragment of autobiographical memory, introducing one of the many creatures that inhabited my childhood.