The Well Told Tale

We start the New Year with a new Tale from one of the English language's greatest writers, 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' by Oscar Wilde. Wilde produced many plays, poems and short stories in his illust...

12 Jan 202234min

This Christmas week, we have a charming story from one of the world's greatest writers, Leo Tolstoy, called 'Where Love Is, God Is'. Arguably best known for his epic novels such as 'War and Peace' an...

22 Dec 202132min

To celebrate our 100th episode, we asked our high tier Patrons to choose a poem, and they have selected Samuel Taylor Coleridge's masterwork "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." A Tale of life, death, ...

8 Dec 202132min

This week, we have a classic short story from W. W. Jacobs, the gothic horror classic "The Monkey's Paw." After its publication in 1902, it captured the public imagination, and was made into a film f...

1 Dec 202126min

Last week, we learned of the horrific backstory of our protagonist Nathaniel. Scarred by the death of his father in what would appear to be an accident involving the lawyer Coppelius, he has become c...

24 Nov 202142min

This week we bring you the start of the dark fairy tale, "The Sandman," by E. T. A. Hoffman, written originally in German in 1816. The original legend of the Sandman most likely began in Scandinavia,...

17 Nov 202156min

This week, still in the Halloween spirit, we bring you what is widely regarded as the first modern vampire Tale, a short story called 'The Vampyre' by John Polidori. It is notable as the second most ...

3 Nov 202147min

We return, this Halloween week, to the twisted imagination of one of our favourite writers here at The Well Told Tale, Edgar Allan Poe. Unlike many of his other gothic Tales, his focus in this short ...

27 Okt 202142min