The Door in the Wall by H. G. Wells | Short Story Audiobook | The Door in the Wall Audiobook | Short Stories | The Door in the Wall | Audiobook | H. G. Wells | Classic Short Story | Classic Literature

In this deeply moving and unforgettable short story, a successful politician shares a strange and beautiful memory that has followed him since childhood. One day as a boy, he found a mysterious green door in a wall that opened into a magical world full of peace, joy, and wonder. But every time he tried to return to that world as an adult, something always pulled him away. Was it all just a dream or something far more real than the life he chose?

This haunting tale explores the conflict between imagination and responsibility, childhood wonder and adult ambition. A true classic by one of the greatest storytellers in English literature.

The story begins at (00:01:20)

Narrated by Elias Wrenford, edited and with graphics by Ranajit Kodag, Portals of Imagination. If you enjoy this content and would like to support my work, here are a few ways you can help (and get access to exclusive content):

• Occasional or one-off support via Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/portalsofimagination

• Monthly support on Patreon: https://patreon.com/portals_of_imagination

Timestamps:

00:00:00 Introduction

00:01:10 The Door in the Wall

00:26:23 Credits, thanks and further listening

About the author:

H. G. Wells (1866–1946) was one of the most influential writers of the modern era. Born in Bromley, England, he came from a working-class family and started his career in humble surroundings. After an early job as a draper's apprentice, Wells pursued his love of learning and eventually studied science in London under the famous biologist Thomas Henry Huxley. His early life experiences shaped many of his later works, especially his social novels.

Wells is best known for creating some of the most iconic science fiction stories ever written. His novels like The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, and The Invisible Man introduced bold new ideas and helped define a whole new genre. But Wells was also a passionate thinker and social critic who wrote about politics, class, education, and the future of humanity.

The Door in the Wall was first published in 1906 and later appeared in his collection The Country of the Blind and Other Stories. It is widely regarded as one of his most powerful short stories and continues to inspire readers with its timeless message about the choices we make and the dreams we leave behind.

Recording © Portals of Imagination 2025.

The Mezzotint | A Ghost Story by M. R. James | Full Audiobook | The Mezzotint By M R James | The Mezzotint Audiobook | M R James Ghost Stories Audiobook | Audiobook | Ghost Story | Mr James | Ghost Story Audiobook

"It was a rather indifferent mezzotint, and an indifferent mezzotint is, perhaps, the worst form of engraving known..." So begins The Mezzotint, one of M. R. James’s most quietly unnerving tales. When Mr. Williams, a curator at a Cambridge college museum, receives an unremarkable print from a local dealer, he expects little more than a dull pastoral scene. But as the image seems to shift with each viewing, revealing a sinister figure creeping through the grounds of an old house, it becomes clear that the mezzotint is not merely a work of art, but a ghostly window into the past.

The story begins at (00:01:09).

Narrated by Grant Mercer, edited and with graphics by Ranajit Kodag, Portals of Imagination. If you enjoy this content and would like to support my work, here are a few ways you can help (and get access to exclusive content):

• Occasional or one-off support via Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/portalsofimagination

• Monthly support on Patreon: https://patreon.com/portals_of_imagination

Timestamps:

(00:00:00) Introduction

(00:01:09) The Mezzotint

(00:26:23) Credits, thanks and further listening

About the author:

Montague Rhodes James (1862–1936) was born in Kent and spent much of his early life in Suffolk, a region that would later provide inspiration for many of his ghost stories. He studied at King’s College, Cambridge, and became one of Britain’s foremost medieval scholars, publishing widely on biblical apocrypha and antiquarian subjects. But it was his ghost stories, written initially to be read aloud to friends at Christmas, that would secure his lasting reputation.

James’s tales are often set in quiet academic settings, rural churches, or seaside inns, places where the veil between the past and present feels especially thin. His protagonists, often fellow scholars or antiquarians, stumble upon old objects or manuscripts that unlock something best left undisturbed. His stories are rarely sensational, but their understated style and creeping dread have influenced generations of horror writers.

The Mezzotint was first published in 1904 in the collection Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, though it was likely read aloud years earlier at gatherings of the Chit Chat Club, a literary society in Cambridge. A brief reference in the story to “Mr. Dennistoun” links it to James’s first published tale, Canon Alberic’s Scrapbook, suggesting a shared fictional world in which the artifacts of the past have a disturbing tendency to resurface.

James published four collections of ghost stories during his lifetime, including More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1911), A Thin Ghost and Others (1919), and A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories (1925). Though deeply rooted in Edwardian England, his work continues to be read and adapted more than a century later, especially around Christmas, the season he helped associate, once and for all, with ghosts.

Recording © Portals of Imagination 2025.