Classic Horror Fiction

"Io sono sempre l'invitta. Tu hai conosciuto sul mio corpo tutti i godimenti di cui ha sete il tuo desiderio senza fine; ed io mi vestirò delle menzogne che senza fine produrrà il tuo desiderio. (...) L'odore della mia pelle può dissolvere in te un mondo."

Dorian Gray, giovane e bellissimo dandy della società londinese del diciannovesimo secolo, plagiato e iniziato dall'amico esteta Lord Henry, esprime, contemplando un proprio ritratto, il desiderio di poter rimanere sempre giovane e bello. Per un terribile sortilegio è il dipinto a portare i segni dell'età che avanza e della decadenza umana e morale ...

Edgar Allan Poe est l'un des grands auteurs du XIXème siècle. Archétype de l'écrivain maudit, trop génial pour être compris, il a mis dans son œuvre la tristesse, la solitude et le désespoir qui caractérisent tous les incompris. Ses "Histoires Extraordinaires" ne dérogent pas à cette règle, ni d’ailleurs à son goût prononcé pour la découverte scientifique, comme en témoigne "La descente dans le Maelström", sujet du présent enregistrement.

After executing the perfect crime, a woman inherits an estate by poisoning its original owner and learns that we are sometimes our own worst enemy.

In a fog-wreathed London, the respected Dr Jekyll’s experiments on the dual nature of man unleash a brute that feels no moral restraint or remorse. Although excited by this freedom, Jekyll discovers that he is unable to control the power of his vicious alter ego and is faced with shameful discovery or ignominious death.

The name Edgar Allan Poe conjures up thoughts of hearts beating long after their owners are dead, of disease and plague amid wealth, and of love that extends beyond the grave. The richness of Poe's writing, however, includes much more than horror, loss, and death. Poe's stories teem with irony and black humor, in addition to plot twists and surprise endings.

Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus was written by the English author Mary Shelley. It recounts the tale of Victor Frankenstein, a scientist who creates a grotesque, living creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment. The first edition was published anonymously in 1818 when Shelley was only 20 years old. Her name finally appeared in the second edition, published in France in 1823. She was supposedly influenced by knowledge of alchemist experiments carried out by Johann Dippel in the Frankenstein Castle in Germany.

The Hunchback of Notre-Dame is a French Gothic novel by Victor Hugo, published in 1831. It focuses on the unfortunate story of Quasimodo, the Romani street dancer Esmeralda and Quasimodo's guardian, the Archdeacon Claude Frollo in 15th-century Paris.

With a wide range of themes and styles, ranging from traditional ghost stories to contes cruels, black humor, tales of dark fantasy and surreal nightmare, and perhaps the best story about a ventriloquist and his dummy ever written, there are stories here to suit the tastes of any connoisseur of horror and weird fiction.

1691, Salem, New England: la diciassettenne Lois Barclay sbarca dalla Redemption, il vascello che l'ha portata dal Vecchio al Nuovo Mondo. Dietro di sé, l'Inghilterra, il ricordo dei genitori e un amore; davanti a sé la famiglia dello zio che non ha mai visto e tante incognite. L'America che ci racconta Elizabeth Gaskell (Londra, 1810 - Alton, 1865) è quella della nuova frontiera, di un territorio ostile e selvaggio in cui i continui scontri con le tribù dei Nativi aumentano il senso di precarietà e vulnerabilità.

Nato a Boston nel 1809, Edgar Allan Poe è considerato l'inventore del genere letterario del terrore e del mistero, nonché iniziatore del genere poliziesco. Nei suoi quarant'anni di vita travagliata scrisse centinaia di racconti pubblicati su varie riviste e fu Charles Baudelaire, suo grande ammiratore, che lo fece conoscere al pubblico europeo e che lo definì "uomo dalle facoltà sovracute".

Publicada originariamente en 1818, La abadía de Northanger narra la historia de Catherine Morland, una joven ingenua aficionada a la lectura de novelas góticas. Invitada por los Tilney a pasar una temporada en su casa de campo, se dedicará a investigar tortuosos e imaginarios secretos de familia. Pero cuando finalmente todo se aclare y comprenda que la vida no es una novela, la inocente Catherine pondrá los pies en la tierra y encauzará su futuro según dictan las normas morales y sociales de la época.

M. R. James (1862-1936) was provost of King's College, Cambridge, and Eton College. He was a highly regarded scholar and academic in his time but today is remembered for his ghost stories, which are considered among the finest in the genre. Here is one of them: "Casting the Runes".

During a visit to her dying friend, a woman discovers to her horror that his family and his home are one. SonicMovies are premium audios with strong vocal performances enhanced by music and sound effects to such an extent they sound like movies, hence, SonicMovies.

Charles Dexter Ward is a young man from a prominent Rhode Island family who has disappeared from a mental asylum. He had been incarcerated during a prolonged period of insanity, during which he exhibited minor and inexplicable physiological changes. His empty cell is found to be very dusty. The bulk of the story concerns the investigation conducted by the Wards' family doctor, Marinus Bicknell Willett, in an attempt to discover the reason for Ward's madness and physiological changes.

Bram Stoker was an Irish author, and Dracula is his most famous book. Dracula was published in 1897. It was not the first vampire novel. For example, it draws on Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu, who at one time was Stoker's employer in Dublin. But Dracula is without doubt the most famous vampire novel. It is narrated here by Tony Walker, producer and narrator of The Classic Ghost Stories Podcast.

This volume starts with the famous M. R. James story of occult revenge, "Casting the Runes", about a slighted occultist out for murderous revenge using his diabolical black arts to achieve it. It was adapted into the equally chilling movie Night of the Demon in 1957. Next up is another famous classic, W. W. Jacobs' "The Monkeys Paw", a brilliantly written tale of greed and getting what you wish for. The third story is "Hop-Frog" by Edgar Allan Poe - a classic yarn about the grisly revenge conjured up by a mistreated court jester.

For a century Bram Stoker's Dracula has reigned supreme as the undisputed masterpiece of horror writing. We have all grown up under the shadow of the elegant Count, at once an attractive, brutal and erotic creature of the night. The gothic tale of Frankenstein and his construction of a human being which runs amok, has, with the help of numerous films, become one of the most vivid horror stories.

During a canoe trip on the Danube, two men are forced to stop on an island due to the current. What was supposed to be a peaceful temporary camping experience turns into a disturbing and supernatural ordeal: the willows covering the island seem to move and whisper in the wind, giving the impression of being alive; the presence of hostile and terrifying invisible entities is perceived, casting doubt on every capacity for rational thought.

Hours before his wedding, fifteen-year-old Conrad, heir to the house of Otranto, is crushed to death. His father, Manfred, Lord of Otranto, sees only one recourse to protect the family lineage. He will divorce his wife and marry the boy’s bride-to-be. Her wishes be damned. When the fearful and resistant Isabella takes flight, Manfred follows in mad pursuit. But it is he who must outrun a greater fear: a curse cast on his family generations ago.