Audiobooks narrated by Michael Troy

The Rats in the Walls (Unabridged) Audiobook

'The Rats in the Walls' is a short story by American author H. P. Lovecraft. Written in August-September 1923, it was first published in Weird Tales, March 1924. Plot summary: Set in 1923, 'The Rats in the Walls' is narrated by the scion of the de la Poer family, who has moved from Massachusetts to his ancestral estate in England, the ruined Exham Priory. To the dismay of nearby residents, he restores the Priory, plainly revealing his ignorance of the horrific history of the place. After moving in, the protagonist and his cats frequently hear rats scurrying behind the walls. Upon investigating further (and as revealed in recurring dreams), he learns that his family maintained an underground city for centuries where they raised generations of 'human cattle' (some regressed to a quadrupedal state) to supply their taste for human flesh. Maddened by the revelations of his family's past and driven by a hereditary cruelty, the narrator attacks one of his friends in the dark of the cavernous city and begins eating him. He is subsequently subdued and placed in a mental institution. At least one other investigator, Thornton, has gone insane as well. Soon after, Exham Priory is destroyed. The narrator maintains his innocence, proclaiming that it was 'the rats, the rats in the walls,' who ate the man. He continues to be plagued by the sound of rats in the walls of his cell.

H. P. Lovecraft (Author), Michael Troy (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Terrible Old Man (Unabridged)

'The Terrible Old Man' is a very short short story (less than 1200 words) by H. P. Lovecraft, written on January 28, 1920, and first published in the Tryout, an amateur press publication, in July 1921. It is notable as the first story to make use of Lovecraft's imaginary New England setting, introducing the fictional town of Kingsport. Plot: A strange old man, 'so old that no one can remember when he was young, and so taciturn that few know his real name,' lives alone in an ancient house on Water Street in the town of Kingsport. Even among the locals, few know the details of the old man's life, but it is believed that he once captained East Indian clipper ships in his youth and accumulated great riches throughout his life. Those who had visited the property had seen bizarre collections of stones in the front yard and observed the old man carrying on conversations with mysterious bottles on his table, which make 'certain definite vibrations as if in answer.' Most locals take care to avoid the man and his house. The story focuses on Angelo Ricci, Joe Czanek and Manuel Silva, three robbers who learn about the old man's supposed hoard of treasure and resolve to take it. Both Ricci and Silva go inside to 'interview' the old man about the treasure, while Czanek waits outside in the getaway car. After waiting impatiently for a long time, Czanek is startled by an outburst of horrific screaming from the house, but assumes that his colleagues have been too rough with the old man during their interrogation. However, the gate of the house opens, revealing the old man 'smiling hideously' at him. For the first time, Czanek takes note of the man's unsettling yellow eyes. The mutilated bodies of the three robbers are later found by the seaside, 'horribly slashed as with many cutlasses, and horribly mangled as by the tread of many cruel boot-heels.' The people of Kingsport talk about the discovery, as well as about the abandoned car and the screams heard in the night, but the old man shows no interest in their gossip.

H. P. Lovecraft (Author), Michael Troy (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Christmas Tree and the Wedding Christmas Story (Unabridged)

'The Christmas Tree and the Wedding Christmas Story' is a short Christmas-Story by Fyodor Dostoyevsky: The other day I saw a wedding... But no! I would rather tell you about a Christmas tree. The wedding was superb. I liked it immensely. But the other incident was still finer. I don't know why it is that the sight of the wedding reminded me of the Christmas tree. This is the way it happened.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Author), Michael Troy (Narrator)

Audiobook

Merry Christmas (Unabridged)

Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, was very enamored with his daughter, Susi, and remained so up to her untimely death at age 24 in 1896. In 1875, at the age of 3, she had written her first letter to Santa Claus. As a writer and loving father, Twain, couldn't stand for his young daughter to feel like her work went unheard, so he penned the following letter to 'My Dear Susie Clemens' from 'The Man in the Moon' himself. Once there was a bad little boy whose name was Jim - though, if you will notice, you will find that bad little boys are nearly always called James in your Sunday-school books. It was strange, but still it was true that this one was called Jim. He didn't have any sick mother either - a sick mother who was pious and had the consumption, and would be glad to lie down in the grave and be at rest but for the strong love she bore her boy, and the anxiety she felt that the world might be harsh and cold towards him when she was gone.

Mark Twain (Author), Michael Troy (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Christmas Fireside (Unabridged)

Once there was a bad little boy whose name was Jim - though, if you will notice, you will find that bad little boys are nearly always called James in your Sunday-school books. It was strange, but still it was true that this one was called Jim. He didn't have any sick mother either - a sick mother who was pious and had the consumption, and would be glad to lie down in the grave and be at rest but for the strong love she bore her boy, and the anxiety she felt that the world might be harsh and cold towards him when she was gone.

Mark Twain (Author), Michael Troy (Narrator)

Audiobook

Hop-Frog or The Eight Chained Orangutans (Unabridged)

'Hop-Frog or the Eight Chained Orangutans' is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1849. The title character, a person with dwarfism taken from his homeland, becomes the jester of a king particularly fond of practical jokes. Taking revenge on the king and his cabinet for the king's striking his friend and fellow dwarf Trippetta, he dresses the king and his cabinet as orangutans for a masquerade. In front of the king's guests, Hop-Frog murders them all by setting their costumes on fire before escaping with Trippetta. Critical analysis has suggested that Poe wrote the story as a form of literary revenge against a woman named Elizabeth F. Ellet and her circle.

Edgar Allan Poe (Author), Michael Troy (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Black Cat (Unabridged)

'The Black Cat' is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. It was first published in the August 19, 1843, edition of The Saturday Evening Post. It is a study of the psychology of guilt, often paired in analysis with Poe's 'The Tell-Tale Heart'. In both, a murderer carefully conceals his crime and believes himself unassailable, but eventually breaks down and reveals himself, impelled by a nagging reminder of his guilt.

Edgar Allan Poe (Author), Michael Troy (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Businessman (Unabridged)

'The Business Man' is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe about a businessman boasting of his accomplishments. It was published in February 1840 in Burton's Gentleman's Magazine. The story questions the concept of a self-made man. The narrator of the story is Peter Proffit, a 'methodical' businessman by his own admission. He says a nurse swung him around when he was a young boy, and he bumped his head against a bedpost. That single event determined his fate: the resulting bump was in the area dedicated to system and regularity, according to phrenology.

Edgar Allan Poe (Author), Michael Troy (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Outsider (Unabridged)

'The Outsider' is a short story by American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. Written between March and August 1921, it was first published in Weird Tales, April 1926. In this work, a mysterious man who has been living alone in a castle for as long as he can remember decides to break free in search of human contact and light. 'The Outsider' is one of Lovecraft's most commonly reprinted works and is also one of the most popular stories ever to be published in Weird Tales. 'The Outsider' combines horror, fantasy, and gothic fiction to create a nightmarish story, containing themes of loneliness, the abhuman, and the afterlife. Its epigram is from John Keats' 1819 poem 'The Eve of St. Agnes'.

H. P. Lovecraft (Author), Michael Troy (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Picture in the House (Unabridged)

'The Picture in the House' is a short story written by H. P. Lovecraft. It was written on December 12, 1920, and first published in the July 1919 issue of The National Amateur which actually was published in the summer of 1921. Synopsis: The story is narrated by a lone traveller (a genealogist conducting research), riding on his bicycle in the Miskatonic Valley of rural New England, who seeks shelter from an approaching storm in an apparently abandoned house, only to find that it is occupied by a 'loathsome old, white-bearded, and ragged man,' speaking in 'an extreme form of Yankee dialect...thought long extinct', whose face is 'abnormally ruddy and less wrinkled than one might expect'. 'His height could not have been less than six feet.'...

H. P. Lovecraft (Author), Michael Troy (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Mask of the Red Death (Unabridged)

'The Masque of the Red Death', originally published as 'The Mask of the Red Death: A Fantasy' (1842), is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. The story follows Prince Prospero's attempts to avoid a dangerous plague, known as the Red Death, by hiding in his abbey. He, along with many other wealthy nobles, hosts a masquerade ball within seven rooms of the abbey, each decorated with a different color. In the midst of their revelry, a mysterious figure disguised as a Red Death victim enters and makes his way through each of the rooms. Prospero dies after confronting this stranger, whose 'costume' proves to contain nothing tangible inside it; the guests also die in turn. Poe's story follows many traditions of Gothic fiction and is often analyzed as an allegory about the inevitability of death, though some critics advise against an allegorical reading. Many different interpretations have been presented, as well as attempts to identify the true nature of the titular disease. The story was first published in May 1842 in Graham's Magazine and has since been adapted in many different forms, including a 1964 film starring Vincent Price. Additionally, it has been alluded to by other works in many types of media.

Edd Mcnair, Edgar Allan Poe (Author), Michael Troy (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Oval Portrait (Unabridged)

'The Oval Portrait' is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe involving the disturbing circumstances surrounding a portrait in a chateau. It is one of his shortest stories, filling only two pages in its initial publication in 1842. Plot summary: The tale begins with an injured narrator (the story offers no further explanation of his or her impairment) seeking refuge in an abandoned mansion in the Apennines. The narrator spends his or her time admiring the paintings that decorate the strangely shaped room and perusing a volume, found upon a pillow, that describes them. Upon moving the candle closer to the book, the narrator immediately discovers a before-unnoticed painting depicting the head and shoulders of a young girl. The picture inexplicably enthralls the narrator 'for an hour perhaps'. After steady reflection, he or she realizes that the painting's 'absolute life-likeliness' of expression is the captivating feature. The narrator eagerly consults the book for an explanation of the picture. The remainder of the story henceforth is a quote from this book - a story within a story. The book describes a tragic story involving a young maiden of 'the rarest beauty'. She loved and wedded an eccentric painter who cared more about his work than anything else in the world, including his wife. The painter eventually asked his wife to sit for him, and she obediently consented, sitting 'meekly for many weeks' in his turret chamber. The painter worked so diligently at his task that he did not recognize his wife's fading health, as she, being a loving wife, continually 'smiled on and still on, uncomplainingly'. As the painter neared the end of his work, he let no one enter the turret chamber and rarely took his eyes off the canvas, even to watch his wife. After 'many weeks had passed,' he finally finished his work. As he looked on the completed image, however, he felt appalled, as he exclaimed, 'This is indeed Life itself!' Thereafter, he turned suddenly to regard his bride and discovered that she had died.

Edd Mcnair, Edgar Allan Poe (Author), Michael Troy (Narrator)

Audiobook

Audiobooks Narrated by Michael Troy