Episode 10 - The Liverpool Mystery

It's time to fire up the Back of the Bookshelf time machine for another trip back into the literary past. Our story this time is an Edgar Wallace mystery called Circumstantial Evidence, which was originally published in 1929 along with seven of his other works in a collection called Circumstantial Evidence and Other Stories.

The story is set in England in the 1920s and is about a young woman who is accused of murder when her wealthy uncle dies in mysterious circumstances. The evidence against her is all circumstantial, but as the lawyer characters are quick to point out, that kind of evidence is often the hardest to refute. Is she guilty or innocent and what will happen when her case goes to trial? Listen to the episode to find out. Edgar Wallace's writing has very much fallen out of fashion now, but stories like this one are a reminder of why he was so popular in his day. It's a gripping tale which showcases his narrative skill and knowledge of the law.

Wallace was born in 1875, the product of a liaison between two actors at an after-show party. He left school at the age of twelve, but went on to became a prolific writer, whose output included 170 novels, 18 plays and 957 short stories. He died suddenly in 1932 while working on the screenplay for the original King Kong movie. More than 160 films have been made of his work, so this Back of the Bookshelf offering is part of a long tradition. It's narrated by C.J. Carter-Stephenson with music by Kevin MacLeod as usual (music licenced under Creative Commons: by attribution 3.0 licence). We hope you enjoy it.  

Over the years, we at Back of the Bookshelf have carried our listeners to countries far and wide, to dizzying heights in the sky and deep underground, but we have never taken them beyond the bounds of the planet… until now. That’s right, in this seventh episode of our second season, we’ll be journeying to the stars courtesy of illustrious science fiction writer Philip K. Dick and his story, Beyond Lies the Wub.

It’s an engaging tale about a spaceship crew who purchase a strange creature on a trading trip to Mars. The creature looks like a pig, but looks can be deceiving. On the surface, the story seems simple, but there are hidden depths to it and the twist at the end is second to none. It was Dick’s first published story, but foreshadows his work to come with its biting satirical wit and exploration of important ethical issues. Not surprisingly, it has been reprinted many times since it made its first appearance in Volume 5, Issue 7 of Planet Stories in July 1952. Dick might arguably be more famous for the many movie adaptations of his work (e.g. Blade Runner and Total Recall) than the work itself, but as this story shows, he was a master of his craft.

As always, this Back of the Bookshelf performance features an immersive soundscape to help bring the story to life. It is narrated by C.J. Carter-Stephenson with music by Kevin MacLeod. With that all said, strap yourselves in and hold on to your stomachs as we fire up our engines and blast off into the great beyond for another thrilling adventure.

It’s becoming a Back of the Bookshelf tradition that we release a horror themed episode on Halloween and 2022 is no exception. This time we’ve gone with a little known French story called La Torture Par L’Espérance (The Torture by Hope) by Villiers de L’Isle Adam.

The story was originally published in issue 3191 of the newspaper Gil Blas on 13^th August 1888 and was printed again later in the year in the author’s short fiction collection, Nouveaux Contes Cruels (New Cruel Tales). An English language version followed in June 1891 in Issue 6 of The Strand. From its first appearance, it was compared to the work of Edgar Allan Poe and it’s easy to see why.  It has an ambiguous ending and shares many of the same themes, such as cruelty, torture, religion and death. Set in a prison belonging to the Spanish Inquisition, it is particularly reminiscent of The Pit and the Pendulum, and the two stories were actually combined into a single narrative in Jan Švankmajer’s short animated film The Pendulum, the Pit and Hope. The portrayal of the main character, a Jewish Rabbi named Aser Abarbanel, is stereotypical, but the writing is of such a high standard in other ways, that it’s worth overlooking this flaw.        

As for the author, he was born to a distinguished aristocratic family in 1838. He wrote in a romantic style, usually in the horror and mystery genres, and became fairly well-known in his day, but struggled financially in his later years. He died of stomach cancer in 1889. The Torture by Hope is an excellent example of his writing prowess, and our adaptation features music by Kevin MacLeod and our usual immersive soundscape. Now, screw your courage to the sticking place and journey back with us to a time of torture, terror and religious intolerance.

It's taken a lot longer than we intended - for which we humbly apologise - but episode 5 of our second season is finally ready. It's another aeronautical adventure, this time from the pen of the great Jules Verne. It was first published in August 1851 under the title La Science En Famille. Un Voyage En Balloon, but is better known as A Drama in the Air.

The author needs no introduction, of course. A prolific novelist, poet and playwright, he is one the true pioneers of the science fiction genre.  He is the second most translated author in the world, beaten only by Agatha Christie, and his work has been adapted countless times for film, television and pretty much anything else you can think of. In this particular story, he interweaves a gripping narrative with fascinating snippets of ballooning history, vividly conveying how completely the exploration of the previously out of reach sky had captured the public imagination. It was the first piece of his writing to be translated into English, and although it's not as famous as some of his other works, it still clearly exhibits his skill as a storyteller. 

Our version uses the original English translation with our usual immersive soundscape and music by Kevin MacLeod. Join us now as we leave the present behind and soar up into the clouds in the month of September 1850.

Festive Greetings, You are cordially invited to join us for a sleigh ride back into the past courtesy of the Christmas episode of our second season. It’s our version of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale The Fir Tree, which was originally published in 1844 in New Fairy Tales, Volume One, Collection Two (or to give it its Danish title, Nye Eventyr. Første Bind, Anden Samling).

Hans Christian Andersen only had a basic education in a school for poor children, but became a true giant in the world of children’s literature, writing his name indelibly into the history books with his vivid imagination. The Fir Tree isn’t as well-known as some of his other stories, but has a bittersweet quality which makes it hard to forget. It tells of a fir tree who yearns to leave his forest home, only to find that life in the outside world does not live up to his expectations. It is allegorical of the experience of growing old, and as such has a strong resonance with readers of all ages.

Our adaptation uses an early English translation with music by Kevin McLeod and our usual immersive soundscape. We hope you enjoy it.

Halloween is here – that wonderful time of year when trick-or-treaters in colourful costumes roam the streets… along with other less wholesome things. In honour of the occasion, the third episode of our second season is a horror story by Robert W. Chambers. It’s called In the Court of the Dragon and was originally published in Chambers’ 1895 collection of short stories, The King in Yellow.

The story is one a group of four, which all involve a fictional play called The King in Yellow. It takes place in 19th century Paris and tells of a man being stalked by a sinister being after daring to read some of the play, which is infamous for its tendency to drive people insane. Chambers does an excellent job of building tension and the locations are vividly described, including the eponymous Court of the Dragon, where a terrifying confrontation takes place. Chambers moved away from horror in his later years with varying degrees of success, but his King in Yellow tales were enough to secure his place among the genre’s greatest luminaries. H.P. Lovecraft was an admirer of them, citing them in his Supernatural Horror in Literature essay and even incorporating parts of them in his own Cthulhu mythos, and they continue to inspire writers to this day.

As always we’ve put together an immersive soundscape to bring the story to life, so step into the Back of the Bookshelf carriage and grab hold of something as you hurtle back through the years for another thrilling adventure.

Sword and sorcery fans should enjoy this second episode of our second season, Gods of the North (also known as The Frost Giant’s Daughter and other similar titles). It’s a tale of savage warriors and mystical beings by Robert E. Howard, a true pioneer of the genre, in whose fertile imagination the iconic character of Conan the Cimmerian was famously forged.

Interestingly, Conan was the main protagonist when the story was originally written, but Howard decided to replace him with the character of Amra of Akbitana after it was rejected for publication by the editor of Weird Tales. Few people familiar with Conan would be fooled by the change, however, and he was reinserted in a later version of the piece by L. Sprague de Camp. Since then, the Amra version of the story has been largely forgotten, so in the spirit of our podcast, it this one that we have chosen to present. It was originally published in The Fantasy Fan in March 1934 and was heavily inspired by Viking culture and two stories from Greek mythology.

Now it’s high time we began, by Crom, so take up your favourite sword or axe and prepare to journey to the frozen wastes of Nordheim.

Greetings listeners. After a long hiatus, Back of the Bookshelf has returned for its second season with more classic fiction from yesteryear. If you thrill at the clatter of carriage wheels on the road, yearn for astounding adventures in space, then you won't be disappointed (we hope).

Kicking things off is a special feature length episode - our most ambitious undertaking to date. It's a Professor Challenger story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle called When the World Screamed, so takes us full circle back to where we began. It was originally published in two parts in the 25th February and 3rd March 1928 issues of Liberty , a U.S. based magazine, before making its appearance in the U.K. courtesy of the April 1928 issue of The Strand. Edward Malone from previous Professor Challenger adventures is back, but the story is narrated by a new character called Peerless Jones, an Artesian Engineer, who agrees to help Challenger test an outlandish theory that the Earth is a living organism. Challenger is his usual bombastic self and there are some great moments. Join us as we journey deep underground to witness his thrilling experiment. Narration is by C.J. Carter-Stephenson and music by Kevin MacLeod.

Please note, a video for this episode is currently under development, but because of the length and complexity, its release has been delayed. We hope to post it to our YouTube channel within the next few days.

On 1st July 2021, Back of the Bookshelf will return for its second season. To mark the occasion, we'll be releasing a special feature length episode in both audio and video format. It's another Professor Challenger story from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle called When the World Screamed, so takes us full circle back to where we began. After that, our monthly exploration of lesser known gems of yesteryear will resume. If you thrill at the clatter of carriage wheels on the road, if you yearn for astounding adventures in space, then you won't be disappointed. As always, it's all free and all are welcome, so check us out. We have a new dedicated YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuJx1_gFvV2WzW81vdHTAuQ and have also set up a Twitter account for updates and general discussion at https://twitter.com/BackBookshelf.

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Welcome one and all to episode 12 of Back of the Bookshelf, the final episode of our opening season. That's right, everyone, this little podcast of ours has made it to the end of its first year of content and is still going strong. We've uncovered some true literary gems on the journey and we'd like to thank you all for joining us. This time we are proud to present Yei Theodora Ozaki's How An Old Man Lost His Wen for your listening pleasure. It's a punchy little tale of demons and dancing taken from Ozaki's 1903 collection of Japanese fairy tales, The Japanese Fairy Book, which was loosely translated from a work by Sadanami Sanjin. As the child of a Japanese father and English mother, Ozaki had experience of both cultures and was skilled at adapting Japanese texts for a Western audience. Her stories remain highly accessible and in our humble opinion, this is one of the best. Now hold onto your seat as we wave our magic wand and teleport you back to ancient Japan. C.J. Carter-Stephenson is our narrator as usual and the music is by Kevin MacLeod. Sayounara for now.