The Well Told Tale

This week, we continue with Alice's journey through the Looking Glass Land, where everything is backwards, or opposite, or just plain odd.  The theme of opposites seems to have been important for Lew…

 This week, we begin a new Tale in a familiar world - we return with Alice to Wonderland in 'Through The Looking Glass' by Lewis Carroll. Although the first book, 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' i…

This week, we have the dramatic final part of "The Picture of Dorian Gray".  Dorian's conscience has been starting to prick at him, but a more pressing danger awaits him.  James Vane, the brother of …

Last week, Dorian committed an act he cannot come back from - he murdered Basil in cold blood after showing him his portrait, the true face of his depravity. After all these years of degradation, doe…

Last week, Dorian locked away his portrait from prying eyes, and we learned of his indulgences over the years.  Free from the visible signs of his degradation, he is happy to indulge every vice and h…

Dorian is getting crueller by the day, and with every transgression depicting itself in the painted face of his portrait, Dorian has decided to store the canvas away where it can't be viewed accident…

Last week was a watershed moment for the innocence of Dorian's youth. His idealised love for Sybil Vane ended in terrible circumstances and now, Dorian's soul has been irrevocably changed. So too, ha…

This week, we return to Victorian London's seedy theatrical world to learn more about the relationship between Dorian Gray and young actress Sybil Vane. Dorian is keen to show Sybil and her sublime t…

Dorian has been enjoying living life away from its sheltered beginning.  Following Lord Henry's teachings, he has been going regularly to the theatre over the last several weeks and has met - and got…

Last week, we saw the completion of Basil's portrait of Dorian Gray. Lord Henry Wotton has taken the impressionable youth under his wing, much to Basil's dismay.  Lord Henry was taken with the pictur…

Last time, we met Lord Henry Wotton, a hedonistic aristocrat, and his friend Basil Hallward, an artist who is infatuated with his muse, Dorian Gray.  They discussed Dorian, a youth whose beauty has m…

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…

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' a…

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,…

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 …

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 …

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…

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…

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…

This week, we again bring you three Tales in one - three of Rudyard Kipling's 'Just So' stories. Kipling used to tell these fanciful origin stories to his daughter every night, and she would insist t…