Classic Horror Fiction

In a sleepy, little New England village stands a dark, weather-beaten, many-gabled house. This brooding mansion is haunted by a centuries-old curse that casts the shadow of ancestral sin upon the last four members of the distinctive Pyncheon family. Mysterious deaths threaten the living. Musty documents nestle behind hidden panels carrying the secret of the family’s salvation - or its downfall.

According to legend, the Pyncheon family has been cursed by their 17th century ancestor, Colonel Pyncheon, who stole the land from Matthew Maule. Maule was later put to death after being accused of witchcraft and the deed for the land could not be found. Now living in the New England mansion fraught with haunted miseries of the past, Hepzibah Pyncheon opens a small shop to pull herself from the poverty-striken curse she has lived under while her brother, Clifford, was serving a decades-long prison sentence for murder.

A portrait of Colonel Pyncheon looms over his family in the house of the seven gables - an ominous reminder of the curse he left behind over a century ago. The shadow still falls over the New England mansion's current residents, siblings Clifford and Hepzibah - unless they can expose the one secret that offers an escape from the hex. Set in seventeenth- and nineteenth-century Massachusetts, Nathaniel Hawthorne's gothic tale was inspired by the Salem Witch Trials and by a family home that still stands today.

Don Alvaro, a young but wise man, invokes Satan in a goetic-style magical ritual. Upon seeing the young Alvaro, Beelzebub falls in love with him and assumes the appearance of a beautiful young woman. In the journey that unfolds, Satan, disguised as a woman, tries to seduce Alvaro who rejects his advances lest he lose his precious virginity.

When local newspapers report strange things seen floating in rivers during a historic Vermont flood, Albert Wilmarth becomes embroiled in a controversy about the reality and significance of the sightings. However it isn’t until he receives communication from Henry Wentworth Akeley that he is offered the proof he requires.

Although Stoker did not invent the vampire, the novel's influence on the popularity of vampires has been singularly responsible for many theatrical, film and television interpretations since its publication. Required listening for any fan of the genre!

Algernon Blackwood, a journalist and broadcast narrator, was one of the most prolific writers of ghost stories in the history of the genre. The title story, "The Touch of Pan", explores the lingering presence of myth in everyday life. In "The Glamour of the Snow", Blackwood winds a tale about a man's infatuation with a supernatural winter beauty. In "The Attic", the ghost of an usurer haunts the old Chateaux and, on the anniversary of a young boy's death, the boy's cat brings the family together. "The Willows" follows two campers who are on a canoe trip down the Danube.

In una sera di tempesta del 1816, Lord Byron propone quasi per gioco agli amici riuniti nella sua villa in Svizzera di scrivere un racconto dell'orrore. Folgorata da una spaventosa visione notturna, Mary Shelley, allora diciannovenne, scrive "Frankenstein". Il romanzo, che narra la storia agghiacciante di uno scienziato dall'ambizione prometeica e della sua mostruosa e straziata creatura, ottiene un immediato successo. Per la sua forza di mito universale, è da allora uno dei grandi classici della letteratura.

The narrator travels through the nearby decrepit seaport of Innsmouth which is suggested as a cheaper and potentially interesting next leg of his journey. There he interacts with strange people and observes disturbing events that ultimately lead to horrifying and personal revelations. It forms part of the Cthulhu Mythos, using its motif of a malign undersea civilization. It references several shared elements of the Mythos, including place-names, mythical creatures and invocations.

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".

Welcome to Volume Five of one of the world's largest collections of high quality, classic horror short-story audiobooks. If you're at home, then get some logs ready and put on your most comfortable slippers, as we kick things off with Doug Bradley's well-researched introduction to the authors and stories featured in this volume....

When Woodsley, a young English painter, arrives in Barbados and finds no lodging available, he thinks himself fortunate to be invited to stay at Eltonsbrody, a mansion belonging to the eccentric widow Mrs Scaife. But behind the locked doors of the house’s disused rooms lurk terrible secrets, and soon strange and blood-curdling events begin to unfold. The tension builds towards a shocking and unforgettable conclusion, when the full horror of Eltonsbrody will be revealed.

Una misteriosa e affascinante fanciulla viene affidata dalla madre alle cure di Laura e del ricco padre, nel loro antico castello in Stiria, isolato e immerso in un paesaggio incantato. Tutti nel castello rimangono affascinati dalla straordinaria bellezza della giovane, ma le sue abitudini insolite e il comportamento enigmatico cominceranno presto a suscitare curiosità e inquietudine. I classici dell’orrore, riediti in chiave moderna e raccontati con musiche e suoni.

A novella by the American writer and poet Edgar Allan Poe. Its theme revolves around attempts to avoid a dangerous plague called the Red Death by the main protagonist, Prince Prospero.

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 author once worked as a dairy farmer in Canada, but returned to his home in Kent, near London, and became a broadcaster, journalist, novelist, and short story writer. He specialized in tales of the supernatural and was described as “Unquestioned master of weird atmosphere,” as he told of incredible adventures. He often used first person narrations, as you will hear … and, very likely feel an abnormal phantom presence. Come along … If you dare!

Cette nouvelle met en scène la première apparition du célèbre détective Auguste Dupin, le pionnier des détectives modernes. Un double meurtre a eu lieu à Paris. Deux femmes, une mère et sa fille, ont été retrouvées assassinées dans leur appartement de la rue Morgue. Les corps ont été affreusement mutilés, mais il n'y a aucun mobile apparent, aucune explication plausible. Les fenêtres sont bloquées de l'intérieur ; personne n'a pu s'enfuir par la porte, puisque les premiers témoins sont accourus dès qu'ils ont entendu les cris des victimes.

Unexplained events are happening at Oxford these days. Several students have been attacked at night by some strange form of wild animal. It can scale walls with cat-like agility. Its arms are as thin and as strong as steel bands. And there is one student who conducts midnight studies in his room with certain Egyptian artifacts. The most significant of which is a 6'7" tall mummy.

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. The six stories in Volume Two are: "The Ash Tree", "Martin's Close", "Lost Hearts", "The Tractate Middoth", "After Dark in the Playing Fields", and "Wailing Well".

"Le Diable Boiteux" d'Alain-René Lesage est un roman français classique publié pour la première fois en 1707. L'histoire suit le jeune étudiant Don Cléofas, guidé par un diable nommé Asmodée à travers les vices cachés et souvent comiques de Madrid. Asmodée, le « Diable Boitant », emmène Cléofas dans un voyage magique, révélant les secrets et les scandales des habitants de la ville.