The Warder of the Door | L. T. Meade and Robert Eustace | A Bitesized Audio Production
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 พ.ย. 2019
- The Clinton family is cursed, according to an old legend which describes a terrible fate awaiting each heir in the afterlife. Paranormal investigator John Bell returns in this ripping yarn involving secret tunnels, underground chambers and a door which apparently opens or closes according to an "infernal witchcraft".
A new, original recording of a classic public domain text, read and performed by Simon Stanhope for Bitesized Audio.
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L. T. Meade (Elizabeth Thomasina Meade Smith, 1844-1914) was a prolific author of mystery and suspense stories, dominating the periodicals of the 1880s and 90s. She often wrote in collaboration with medical practitioners, who apparently supplied the scientific details which underpin many of her plots; first with Dr. Clifford Halifax, and later with Robert Eustace (believed to be the pen name of Dr. Eustace Robert Barton, 1854-1943). Robert Eustace is probably best remembered today for his much later collaboration with Dorothy L. Sayers on her 1930 novel 'The Documents in the Case'.
Meade and Eustace created a number of recurring characters, including John Bell, "professional exposer of ghosts, and one who can clear away the mysteries of most haunted houses" - making him in effect a more sceptical counterpart to William Hope Hodgson's Carnacki, the Ghost Finder (who first appeared in print a decade or so later). Bell featured in a series of stories in Cassell’s Magazine in 1897, which were later published in book form under the title 'A Master of Mysteries' in 1898.
The Warder of the Door was the second story in the series, and first appeared in the July 1897 issue of Cassell's Magazine. (The first story, The Mystery of the Circular Chamber, is also available on this channel.)
Recording © Bitesized Audio 2019. - บันเทิง
Adding my voice to others: what a superb story teller. This channel is a true gem.
Thank you!
Bitesized Audio Classics: I agree with your opinion of about Greg Wagland and his channel: Sherlock Holmes Stories Magpie Audio, being the "go to" for Sherlock Holmes. When I read the books, I hear Greg's voice in my head. I love what you are doing with your channel, very happy to hear stories from the era that I haven't heard or read before.
Thanks for listening Charles, and for taking the time to comment, your feedback is appreciated.
Fun fun fun! Thank you for your dedication to preservation and promotion of these wonderful tales and their talented...brave...writers. Great fireside fare to share! You yourself are a gem, and your work destined to shine on and on...
Thank you Marcia, appreciated!
I’m so glad to have discovered your channel. Each story is a supernatural gem. I love the writing style of old and your beautiful voice brings these stories to life (or death haha). Thanks so much from NZ
These stories by L T Meade and Robert Eustace are terrific - very clever 😊
Thank you for this channel. Wonderfully read. A nice retreat from everyday stress.
Glad to help! Thanks Glenn
Thanks for the introduction to Mr. Bell. This was a fascinating story and of course another great narration.
And poor Clinton family, that monk would have tortured their family line to extinction too.
Thank u for upload... you have a great voice for narration that would love to hear you do more by author LT Meade....
Thanks for the comment Matt, much appreciated. I'm aiming to cover a variety of authors and genres (under the general theme of "mystery and suspense") and definitely have more L. T. Meade stories planned for future recordings, including more featuring John Bell, as well as something from Meade's earlier collaboration with Clifford Halifax. Thanks for listening
Good story; great reading.
Thank you so much for sharing stories by so many women authors!
You're most welcome, thanks so much for listening and for your very kind feedback
I love the narrators voice when listening to the story. Martin Jarvis is also a good very good story teller too..
Thank you P, very kind - Martin Jarvis's narrations are gold standard
I agree with other comments: your narration is perfect for these stories!
Excellent narrating! My husband and I are really enjoying your videos! 👍👍
Great to hear that, thank you!
Utterly brilliant story, beautifully read; had me totally gripped. Thank you
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for listening Nicky
A great story. Thank you!
You're welcome David, thanks for listening and for your feedback
Ha! Clever. What a great room to have in a house. No need to brick off a nice Chapel either, just close the passage. If his family had been searching for so long and never found it, it certainly would have been safe.
I feel the ghostly element of the story was over shadowed by the magnets. To get the exact location and the method of entry from a long past family member to what is essentially a dirty trick room makes no sense. That family member would be reposing peacefully and not giving a tinkers damn for that silly room.
Still, thank you for sharing. It was a pleasant listen.
Excellent... Thank you!
Excellent tale ... *TY Simon*
Delightful! The only way that could have been more fun, would be if a hint or two were dropped about the source of the iron ore being a nickel-iron meteorite.
Hoorah for a happy ending!!! 👍🏼 ❤️
I'm a recent subscriber and I'm thoroughly enjoying these extremely well-narrated stories, thank you! This one was particularly ingenious, I look forward to hearing more from these authors.
Wonderful, thanks so much for subscribing and your kind feedback
I loved this story, and your reading of it...again!
Why have I never heard of these authors before? Thank you for introducing me to them Simon :)
I'm going to mimic many of the other's comments. I absolutely love the narration on this channel. Your voice is so relaxing to listen to. I could never use these to fall asleep to as I want to hear every little detail of the stories. Thank you so much Simon 💋😍🥰💚
You're most welcome Peg, thank you for listening and for your kind comments
Excellent story
A terrific story!
Wonderful story. Thank you.
Fantastic story! Loved the ending! Thanks Simon!!
Wonderful, thanks sugarfalls1!
Hi Simon, are there anymore Bell stories here yet? Thank you, as always sublime narration👏🏻
Hello Felene, I've only done two so far - this one and 'The Mystery of the Circular Chamber'. I do have a couple more Bell tales on my to-do list, but would also like to try some other stories by Meade and Eustace, as well as some which L. T. Meade wrote with Clifford Halifax (I've only done one of those so far - A Race With the Sun). So many stories, too little time just at the moment! I was thinking the other day it was about time for another L. T. Meade so will see what I can come up with in the next few weeks! Thanks so much for your support and feedback, it's greatly appreciated
Bitesized Audio Classics, thank you for all your hard work. I am binging on all your stories in these early days of quarantine. I look forward to whatever you decide to put out next 😊. I will put a Race With The Sun on to play now.
Far better than hollywood !
And yet far preceding ...
As for the narratiion, great as usual !
That story was excellent!!!
That was terrific! I absolutely love these stories, you have such a marvellous, gripping voice for telling stories 💕
Very absorbing. Thank you!
I have enjoyed all the readings but was especially pleased with this story. You are led up the garden path as it were to conclude certain outcomes but things change to give a different perspective. I highly recommend it.
Thanks Liam, appreciated
Very clever story, very well told!
Thank you 😷
Once again a lovely narration. Love the way the mystery is explained.
An adventure and ghost story in one. Perfect. :-)
This story was awesome! 🎉🎉🎉
Great And Clever Story!!😊
Bravo! That is the best story I’ve heard in a long time. Perfect narration as well. Thank you for sharing.🥰🥰
Kind of you to say, thanks so much for your supportive feedback
Excellent narration to an excellent story.
They could certainly write a good story back then, no blood & gore either. Thank-you for the superb narration x
Wonderful yarn.
Thank you. Love short mystery stories! Great reader!
What a superb story.....I had horripilations all through.....been a long time since I was this terrified
Ha! Nice conclusion. Great yarn. Great narration.
Without giving a spoiler; If an author ever wanted to get rid of a detective character... this would have been an ingenious and gruesome way to do it! Wonderful story!
Great story
Warning! Possible spoiler!
What a naughty tricksy Abbot!! That's not Christian love in action, to "curse" a family by such -- or any -- means! I'm so glad Bell was able to resolve the situation, but sad that the old man did not live to see it and enjoy his family and probably grandchildren.
I do enjoy your readings: so nicely done as you enunciate clearly, obviously understand the vocabulary you are using (I'm so disappointed in other readers/presenters on TH-cam, who clearly do not, but no names, no pack drill!) and appreciate the feel and values of the times in which these stories were written. I have subscribed to your channel, now I've listened to a few stories, and although you thank us for listening at the end, I thank you for reading and recording and publishing!
Thanks Katherine, appreciate your comments and feedback. Yes, indeed, a very naughty Abbot!
This is great! Thanks!
I wonder how the family managed to piss off the monk so bad in 1400...
Excellent narration voice
Thanks Cookies are life, very kind
I'm very glad to have been curious enough to give you a listen. Your spell casting voice weaves a picture, until I'm a fly on the wall in the tale. I accuse you, Simon, of aiding and abetting me in my latent voyeurism and outright nosiness. I thank you.🤪👍👏❣️
Why thank you Nancy, what a lovely comment! I'm very glad you found the channel too, thanks for listening. All best wishes
@@BitesizedAudio And the same doubled back at you. You really must have your voice and wit insured by Lloyd's of London.
My feat,fall asleep,when i heard this one!
Hmm if the curse was merely a distasteful 'joke' that was played on the family in time past and as the protagonist later discovered that there was nothing paranormal about the grave & door, then how come the father discovered the grave in the first place? Was it just a huge coincidence that he dreamt and coincidentally found himself at the exact location to the entrance of the tomb or am I missing simething?
So nice to hear a voice that soothes as it entertains. The story is, I assure you, secondary, the voice primary. So many otherwise good offerings ruined by horrendously awful delivery.
A good reader. So hard to find.
Your channel is fantastic, I have a suggestion regarding Conan Doyle's stories which is , don't read stories featuring Sherlock Holmes since this character is perhaps world's most famous character and everybody knows about this 60 Holmes stories-novels. Conan Doyle has written many more fantastic short stories and novels which are in some cases better than Holmes stories but very few peoples are aware of these marvellous stories so , this is my request/suggestion , try to read those stories and not Holmes stories, thank you.
Thanks for the comment Avishek Das. I appreciate your sentiment: one of the main goals in starting this channel was to explore some lesser known stories and authors, and so far have aimed for a balance between the well-known and the more obscure. With regard to Holmes, I agree there are many audio versions out there, the best on TH-cam (IMO) being those from Magpie Audio, which I thoroughly recommend - Greg Wagland's narration is superb. This was never conceived as a Sherlock Holmes channel, rather a collection of some of the best mystery and suspense stories from the 19th and early 20th century English popular periodicals. As perhaps the most famous of all Victorian periodical characters (Holmes pretty much launched The Strand Magazine) it felt right that the adventures of Holmes ought to be represented, and I chose some less well-known ones which weren't represented on the excellent Magpie channel, although a couple of them have since been added. Judging by views alone it's striking that the best-known stories do attract the biggest audiences; so even though there are several alternative versions of these tales available they would seem to be a useful way of introducing new listeners. However, as the channel grows I hope people who are brought to the channel by a Holmes story, or a very well-known ghost story, may then discover and enjoy more forgotten or overlooked stories and authors. Funnily enough the next Conan Doyle story in the planning pipeline is a little-known tale, not featuring SH, which should be ready towards the end of the year, so do stay tuned. Thanks again for your feedback.
@@BitesizedAudio Thank you for kind comments. I'm enjoying your channel very much too!
All the best - Greg
Thanks so much for your comment Greg. I am indeed a great admirer of your work, you set a high benchmark for excellence in narration and quality production generally... I'm still working on both! Delighted to have made contact with you. (I did attempt to PM you to introduce myself some time ago but am fairly sure it didn't work... via your Off-piste channel I think ... I was defeated by YT systems, or my own technical incompetence, anyway.) Like you I'm a jobbing actor, but I'm getting back into audiobook narration having not done it for many years, so started this channel partly as a way of easing myself back into it, gaining practice, building confidence etc. Your feedback and comments are especially welcome. All best wishes - Simon.
I love the mutual admiration expressed by Simon and Greg and I wholeheartedly agree. You are both superb narrators. XXX to you both!
07:19 last stop
💙📚🎙💙
Ooh ‘er
I solved that one way before they did.
It wasn't the coughin' that carried him off,
It was the coffin they carried him off in.
Ok
The curse of the Clintons..
Indeed. It's quite an established old English surname, with a long pedigree...
Could you please add music? I'm trying to picture your voice with music, it would be like really, really great.
and keep up the good work your voice is incredibly amazing.
Thanks for your kind words. The issue of music seems to divide people, with quite a few finding it annoying/distracting, so I've steered clear so far. Also opens up issues of copyright which may be complicated. I appreciate the suggestion though and will certainly consider it in future - I can see it would work well in some cases. Thanks again
@@BitesizedAudio About the copyright and the distraction you're right though, I didn't think about that. I'm looking forward to listening to the other stories that you're gonna upload♥
@@BitesizedAudio Please don't! I regularly give up on musically-accompanied stories, and it's a rare pleasure to find some that trust the human voice to create and sustain a mood, as yours does so well. Thank you!
Don't worry, I shan't do it! I've noticed that there are a lot of audio readings with music in the background, but personally I agree with you that it's better to keep them unadorned (and people can always play their own choice of music in the background if they wish). I might occasionally add some intro or outro music on special occasions, as I did for my Christmas Carol reading, but otherwise prefer to keep them plain and simple. Thanks for your comment Lorna
P
It would be difficult to find a better narrated story.
Thank you!
Excellent... Thank you!