The Reader Reads

As we continue to honor the season of Autumn, we offer you two poems by Bliss Carman. Carman was a Canadian who, despite having lived most of his life in the United States, was recognized in later years as Canada’s own poet laureate. “Autumn” & “Lines for a Picture” from “Later Poems” (1921) by Bliss … Continue reading TRR EXTRA: Autumn Poems by Bliss Carman →

Spiritualism was all the rage in the late 19th Century and well into the 20th. Psychical research, the attempt to study and discover proof of the supernatural via the Scientific Method became a cause celeb, with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini, among others, working to debunk the frauds and charlatans in order to … Continue reading TRR: Episode 57, “What is a Ghost?” →

Walter de la Mare was a prolific and well-respected author of novels, short stories, and poems. His writing was an inspiration to others both during his life and after. Among his many works, he occasionally dabbled in horror stories and the supernatural. In this October Extra, we share with you one of his most famous … Continue reading TRR EXTRA: “The Listeners” by Walter de la Mare →

Contrary to popular belief, Dracula was not the first vampire in literature, or even in film. Decades before Bela Lugosi essayed the evil, undead count, and before Bram Stoker chronicled his famous novel that film was based on, a vampire was introduced in England through a series of penny dreadful periodicals. “Varney the Vampire” introduced … Continue reading TRR: Episode 56, “Varney the Vampire” →

Here’s another Autumnal extra for you, a poem written by Margaret Fuller Ossoli. “Lines Written in Boston On a Beautiful Autumnal Day” (1859) by Margaret Fuller Ossoli The Reader TRT: 03:32 The musical accompaniment for the show is provided through the kind generosity of Incompetech.com.

Edgar Allen Poe was a man seemingly marked for unhappiness throughout his life. Even so, he wrote a large body of work that has secured his legacy for all time. For our second installment of spooky tales in honor of this Halloween month, we offer you one of the most famous poems in all of … Continue reading TRR: Episode 55, “The Raven” →

Autumn has always been my favorite season, so here is another Autumnal extra for you, in honor of the advent of October! I’ll have a few of these this month, interspersed in between our spooky stories celebrating Halloween. “Red October” by Helen Gray Cone The Reader TRT: 01:52 The musical accompaniment for the show is … Continue reading TRR EXTRA: “Red October” by Helen Gray Cone →

For the month of October, we’ll be serving up a series of spooky tales for you in keeping with the season and the pending celebration of Halloween. Our first offering comes from William Wymark Jacobs, who mainly wrote humorous stories involving sailors and seaside towns. Jacobs also occasionally tried his hand at tales of the … Continue reading TRR: Episode 54, “The Monkey’s Paw” →

Another autumnal extra for you to round out our September offerings. This is a poem by George Parsons Lathrop from his 1875 collection, “Rose and Roof-tree.” Lathrop was a contributor to many periodicals of his day, and helped to found the American Copyright League, which in turn was instrumental in international copyright law. “Chant for … Continue reading TRR EXTRA: “Chant for Autumn” →

Robert Nathan was an author, poet, and playwright. You may know of some of his works, albeit from the ones that had been adapted to films. Nathan penned the original source material for “Portrait of Jennie” (1948) starring Joseph Cotton, and the seminal Christmas film “The Bishop’s Wife” (1947), with Cary Grant. In this episode, … Continue reading TRR: Episode 53, “School Lets Out” →