Showing results by narrator "Peter McGiffen" in All Categories

From the spectre of Queen Victoria, to Mary Queen of Scots’s picky ghost, and from Henry VIII and the restless phantoms of his many wives, to Oliver Cromwell, who claimed to have conversed with the ghosts of Kings long gone, we are going to be exploring the haunted history of the Royal Family.

Historians describe great wars as the clash of armies, the strategies of generals, the choices of leaders. But history is also shaped by the smallest moments—the flick of a wrist, the turn of a head, a slight hesitation. A single moment, barely noticed, that cascades into something far greater. And the world changes forever.

What began as a dream slowly turned into a story to be shared. A story I would like to share with you.

In this gentle tale from the Before Your Dream series, a quiet English valley prepares for its most tender ritual. As dusk settles over the lavender fields, villagers step into the twilight carrying painted paper lanterns—each one a small wish, a remembrance, or a gratitude held carefully between their hands. One light becomes many, and soon the hills glow with an amber constellation that seems to breathe with the evening breeze.

Step into the stillness of evening, where every story glows like candlelight and each part hums with quiet wonder. Echoes Before Dreams gathers five poetic tales from the Before Your Dream series—stories written to slow the heart and carry you gently toward sleep.

When a solitary calligrapher discovers an invisible ink—one that cannot be seen, only sensed—he begins to write what the heart remembers. Each brushstroke draws out memories he never consciously chose, as if the ink knows what he cannot say aloud. The story unfolds gently, like breath in a candlelit room, where silence holds more truth than speech.

In a quiet valley lies a guesthouse without sharp edges or straight lines. Its walls curve, its halls murmur, and its rooms seem to remember something you have forgotten. The Room Without Corners is an atmospheric literary short story set in a mysterious inn where guests arrive without knowing why and leave lighter than when they came. A traveller steps inside, drawn by the warm glow of candlelight. The curved spaces lead them through moments of memory, comfort, and rediscovery.

Nearly 40 years after its beginnings, Pagans and magicians are still asking the question, or finding conflicting information online. Jaq D Hawkins was the first chaos magician to write of the history and elements of chaos magic for a widespread audience. Now, in this new volume, that history is expanded and the concepts, specialist terms, and culture associated with chaos magic are clarified for a new generation of magic users.

Paper Boats on the River of Time is a calming bedtime story for adults, part of the Before Your Dream series. Written with soft pacing and a meditative voice, the story invites you into a world beyond clocks and calendars, where memories sail without direction, held by the current and the quiet.

The poems of this book were written at very various times, one (“Wind over the Sea”) I believe even as early as 1910, but the order in which they are here given is not chronological beyond the fact that the third part contains only poems written after the outbreak of the war. Of these some were written in England (at Oxford in particular), some in Wales, and very many during a year in France from November 1915 to December 1916, which was broken by one leave in the middle of May.

London, 1943. The streets of Hounslow hide more than ration books and blackouts. A killer is working to a quiet rhythm of death, leaving behind bodies drained of blood and arranged with disturbing care. The press have their theories. The police have few leads. Theodore Nash doesn’t believe in monsters. He sees detail, intent, and the human mind behind every crime. A forensic consultant by trade, and a man more comfortable with puzzles than people, Theo has made a life of distance and control.

In this gentle anthology from the Before Your Dream series, five quiet, luminous tales invite listeners into realms where memory drifts like water, stories grow from moss and stone, and peace settles over the heart like evening light. Crafted for slow nights and soft minds, these stories offer a sanctuary of calm—each one a small lantern carried into the hush before sleep.

Have you ever heard a song on the radio and thought, "Did they say what I thought they just said" and then realized that they did and thought, "I can do better than that"? Then this is the book for you.

In the quiet hours before morning claims the sky, a train emerges from the mist—a train forgotten by maps, travelling only once a year along tracks wrapped in lavender and memory. The Train to Lavender Station is a gentle bedtime story for grown-ups, part of the Before Your Dream series. It offers a soft, meditative journey through grief, release, and quiet transformation.

This meditative, slow-paced story invites you to join a retired postmaster as he discovers a forgotten box of unsent letters in his attic. By lamplight and soft rain, he opens each envelope—unlocking tender stories of love, hope, and unspoken courage from decades past. Perfect for listeners seeking calming fiction, poetic prose, and a mindful literary escape.

Dive into the heart of human emotion with Rhythms of Rain: Verses of Love, Loss, and Liberation. This compelling anthology invites listeners on an enriching journey through the intricate labyrinth of love, longing, and the eternal pursuit of spiritual freedom. Crafted by poets who have savored life's sweetest joys and endured its bitterest sorrows, this collection resonates with the universal experiences that bind us all.

Beneath a twilight canopy where golden light filters through ancient branches, books grow on leaves nestled between moss-covered stones. Each story unfurls softly: a love letter never sent, a child’s footsteps captured in green memory, the hush of secrets carried in fern fronds. The forest itself is the archivist here — a living presence that tends to stories as patiently as it tends to roots, streams, and the slow breathing of the earth.

The Passport of Forgotten Places is a poetic literary short story for bedtime — part of the Before Your Dream series. In a quiet room where candlelight flickers against weathered books, a traveller discovers a passport unlike any other — one that bears stamps not of countries that are, but of places that exist only in memory’s gentle chambers.

When Henry Baker finds a small, super-shiny black pencil on his way to school, his life is changed forever....

In today's digital landscape, many organisations believe their security investments make them impervious to cyberattacks. Yet breaches continue to dominate headlines, leaving executives wondering: "How did this happen despite our compliance certificates and security tools?" Drawing from 19 years of frontline cybersecurity experience, Sandeep Jaryal reveals the critical blind spots that leave organisations vulnerable regardless of their security budgets.