Uploaded March 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
Two classic tales by the Edwardian master of the macabre, Saki. See below for details and timestamps. Childhood rebellion against controlling and domineering "aunts" is something of a recurring theme in Saki's work, and 'Sredni Vashtar' and 'The Lumber Room' are two of the best-known examples. Note for returning listeners: these narrations have previously featured on the channel individually or as part of my first Saki anthology, but I've taken the opportunity while pairing these two favourites to remaster and re-edit the audio.
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:20 Sredni Vashtar
00:14:42 The Lumber Room
00:29:45 Credits, thanks and further listening
(Story teasers and more details below)
Narrated/performed by Simon Stanhope. If you enjoy this content and would like to help me keep creating, there are a few ways you can support me (and get access to previews and exclusive content):
* Occasional/one-off support via Buy Me a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/bitesizedaudio
* Monthly support on Patreon: patreon.com/bitesizedaudio
* Donate via PayPal: paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=HMMUWZ7URN26A
* Visit my Bandcamp page to hear more of my performances of classic stories, and you can purchase and download high quality audio files to listen offline: bitesizedaudio.bandcamp.com
* Become a Bitesized Audio Classics member on YouTube, from $1 / £1 / €1 per month:
youtube.com/c/BitesizedAudioClassics/join
Sredni Vashtar | 00:01:20
Sickly 10-year old Conradin lives under the "care" of his older cousin and guardian, Mrs De Ropp, his only escape a vivid imagination which transforms a neglected garden shed into a cathedral in which he worships at the shrine of a polecat-ferret... First printed in The Westminster Gazette on 28th May 1910, and subsequently included in Saki's 1911 collection 'The Chronicles of Clovis'.
The Lumber Room | 00:14:42
As punishment for bad behaviour at the breakfast table, Nicholas is excluded from a family outing as well as forbidden from playing in the gooseberry garden. But he soon manages to turn the situation to his advantage, allowing him to explore a hitherto forbidden room at the top of the house... This story was first printed in The Morning Post, exact date unknown, but circa 1912–13. It was subsequently republished in the 1914 compilation volume 'Beasts and Super-Beasts'.
About the author: Saki was the pen name of Hector Hugh Munro, one of the greatest masters of the short story form in English. He was born in 1870 in Burma, then part of British India, where his father was an Inspector General for the Imperial Police, but his life was affected by tragedy when he was just two years old: his mother Mary Munro was charged by a cow while visiting family back in England, and she died as a result of her injuries. Hector and his siblings were sent home to England, to live in Devon with his paternal grandmother and two maiden aunts. The aunts (Augusta and Charlotte) were apparently strict and austere and provided much material for future character studies in Saki's satires. After some 10 years or so, Hector eventually "escaped" to boarding school. In his early 20s he followed his father's footsteps and enrolled in the Indian Imperial Police, but was invalided home with fever after little over a year. Turning to writing to make his living, Munro began working as a journalist in the late 1890s. He wrote countless pieces for magazine and newspaper publication, and took up the pen name Saki around 1900. His always witty – and sometimes macabre – stories established his reputation as one of the greatest satirists of the Edwardian era.
Despite being officially over-age for military service, turning 44 at the end of 1914, he enlisted in World War I, turning down the offer of a commission and serving as an ordinary trooper in the 2nd King Edward’s Horse regiment. Tragically, he was killed by a sniper while sheltering in a shell hole during the Battle of the Ancre in November 1916. His last words were reported to be “Put that bloody cigarette out”. His resting place is unknown.
This recording © Bitesized Audio 2021–25
Two classic tales by the Edwardian master of the macabre, Saki. See below for details and timestamps. Childhood rebellion against controlling and domineering "aunts" is something of a recurring theme in Saki's work, and 'Sredni Vashtar' and 'The Lumber Room' are two of the best-known examples. Note for returning listeners: these narrations have previously featured on the channel individually or as part of my first Saki anthology, but I've taken the opportunity while pairing these two favourites to remaster and re-edit the audio.
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:20 Sredni Vashtar
00:14:42 The Lumber Room
00:29:45 Credits, thanks and further listening
(Story teasers and more details below)
Narrated/performed by Simon Stanhope. If you enjoy this content and would like to help me keep creating, there are a few ways you can support me (and get access to previews and exclusive content):
* Occasional/one-off support via Buy Me a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/bitesizedaudio
* Monthly support on Patreon: patreon.com/bitesizedaudio
* Donate via PayPal: paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=HMMUWZ7URN26A
* Visit my Bandcamp page to hear more of my performances of classic stories, and you can purchase and download high quality audio files to listen offline: bitesizedaudio.bandcamp.com
* Become a Bitesized Audio Classics member on YouTube, from $1 / £1 / €1 per month:
youtube.com/c/BitesizedAudioClassics/join
Sredni Vashtar | 00:01:20
Sickly 10-year old Conradin lives under the "care" of his older cousin and guardian, Mrs De Ropp, his only escape a vivid imagination which transforms a neglected garden shed into a cathedral in which he worships at the shrine of a polecat-ferret... First printed in The Westminster Gazette on 28th May 1910, and subsequently included in Saki's 1911 collection 'The Chronicles of Clovis'.
The Lumber Room | 00:14:42
As punishment for bad behaviour at the breakfast table, Nicholas is excluded from a family outing as well as forbidden from playing in the gooseberry garden. But he soon manages to turn the situation to his advantage, allowing him to explore a hitherto forbidden room at the top of the house... This story was first printed in The Morning Post, exact date unknown, but circa 1912–13. It was subsequently republished in the 1914 compilation volume 'Beasts and Super-Beasts'.
About the author: Saki was the pen name of Hector Hugh Munro, one of the greatest masters of the short story form in English. He was born in 1870 in Burma, then part of British India, where his father was an Inspector General for the Imperial Police, but his life was affected by tragedy when he was just two years old: his mother Mary Munro was charged by a cow while visiting family back in England, and she died as a result of her injuries. Hector and his siblings were sent home to England, to live in Devon with his paternal grandmother and two maiden aunts. The aunts (Augusta and Charlotte) were apparently strict and austere and provided much material for future character studies in Saki's satires. After some 10 years or so, Hector eventually "escaped" to boarding school. In his early 20s he followed his father's footsteps and enrolled in the Indian Imperial Police, but was invalided home with fever after little over a year. Turning to writing to make his living, Munro began working as a journalist in the late 1890s. He wrote countless pieces for magazine and newspaper publication, and took up the pen name Saki around 1900. His always witty – and sometimes macabre – stories established his reputation as one of the greatest satirists of the Edwardian era.
Despite being officially over-age for military service, turning 44 at the end of 1914, he enlisted in World War I, turning down the offer of a commission and serving as an ordinary trooper in the 2nd King Edward’s Horse regiment. Tragically, he was killed by a sniper while sheltering in a shell hole during the Battle of the Ancre in November 1916. His last words were reported to be “Put that bloody cigarette out”. His resting place is unknown.
This recording © Bitesized Audio 2021–25
