Classic Horror Fiction

This collection of 19 classic horror tales includes "The Brazilian Cat", by Arthur Conan Doyle, read by Paul Panting; "Eveline's Visitant" by Mary E. Braddon, read by Hayward Morse; "The Leopard Man's Story" by Jack London, read by Garrick Hagon; "The Eyes of the Panther" by Ambrose Bierce, read by Garrick Hagon; "The Voice in the Night" by William Hope Hodgson, read by Sean Barrett; and many more.

The unnamed narrator of the story lives alone in a dark, ancient castle surrounded by a dense forest. He never sees sunlight, and he has no memory of human contact. One day, desperate to see the sun, the narrator decides to climb the ruined tower which is the only part of the castle taller than the trees. After the dangerous climb to the top room of the tower, the narrator is delighted to see the moon through a grating. Soon, however, he discovers the horrible truth behind his confinement.

H. P. Lovecraft is arguably the most important horror writer of the 20th century. Culled from his 1927 essay "Supernatural Horror in Literature”, Lovecraft acknowledges those authors and stories that he feels are the very finest the horror field has to offer, including Washington Irving, Edgar Allan Poe, Henry James, Rudyard Kipling, Bram Stoker, Robert Louis Stevenson, Guy de Maupassant, Ambrose Bierce, and Arthur Conan Doyle. This chilling collection includes 20 works, each prefaced by Lovecraft's own opinions and insights in each author’s work.

When her eccentric aunt passes away, no-nonsense accountant Clare Cermac inherits more than just a small fortune. She receives the gift of communicating with ghosts. While Clare may not believe in spirits, it’s hard to overlook the shadowy talking dog appearing on her bed or spectral cowboys tipping their hats to her in the streets of Denver. And when she locks eyes with sexy - and living - Zach Slade, there’s certainly no ignoring him either.

Five fantastical tales from the mind of H. P. Lovecraft that center around a theme of illicit substances: some used to transcend the veil of reality, some used to keep one's sanity in check. All of the stories are quite psychedelic and unreal, quite mystical, and quite frightening.

Heart of Darkness tells of the conflicting drives of two men—Charles Marlow, the captain of a steamboat, and Mr. Kurtz, a mysterious figure who oversees a trading post in Africa. After an arduous journey, Marlow finally encounters Kurtz, and the men come to grips with their differences—and their similarities.

What happens when The Firm meets Anita Blake? You get the Halls of Power - our modern world, but twisted. Law, finance, the military, and politics are under the sway of long-lived vampires, werewolves, and the elven Alfar. Humans make the best of rule by “the Spooks”, and contend among themselves to affiliate with the powers-that-be, in order to avoid becoming their prey. Very loyal humans are rewarded with power over other women and men. Very lucky humans are selected to join the vampires.

A rare and strange story from a master of Victorian horror fiction, this enthralling tale of terror will send chills down the spine and thrill anyone who loves to be terrified.

One of Poe’s most famous stories and a masterpiece of psychological horror, 'The Tell-Tale Heart' is recounted by an unnamed narrator who insists he is not mad, but was driven to murder by his over-acute senses. To prove his sanity, he tells the listener how he conceived of the idea of killing the old man he lived with, how he went about it - and what happened afterwards....

A man and woman are sitting together on a rustic seat, talking. He is trying desperately to persuade her to marry him, but she is adamantly refusing. Finally, she tells him her real reason for refusing: she is insane. As he listens, she recounts the terrible tale behind her stark statement.

It was at a masked ball at the Palais Royal that my fatal quarrel with my first cousin André de Brissac began. The quarrel was about a woman. The women who followed the footsteps of Philip of Orleans were the causes of many such disputes; and there was scarcely one fair head in all that glittering throng which might not have seemed bedabbled with blood.

Out walking one winter morning, a traveller meets a priest in a black robe, hurrying towards the churchyard. As he scurries ahead, the traveller notices that despite his speed, he is lame, and wonders what can be behind his unexpected haste. The next day, he encounters the priest again, and invites him in for a meal. The priest eats ravenously, and when he has finished, begs his host to bar the doors at night and let no one in - and soon, the reason behind his dire warning becomes clear.

I met a man in the Strand one day that I knew very well - though I had not seen him for years. We walked together to Charing Cross, and there we shook hands and parted. Next morning - I learnt, for the first time, that the man had died six months before.

In a certain portion of a certain Australian Colony, two miners, when out prospecting in what was then, as now, one of the dreariest parts of the Island Continent, chanced upon a rich find. But before they could enjoy their riches, the field was declared abandoned, and the dead were left to take their last long sleep, undisturbed by the clank of windlass or the blow of pick.

A young, hard-up aristocrat decides to visit his wealthy relative in the hope of obtaining a loan. When he arrives at Greylands Court, he is warmly greeted by his cousin, but his hostess is strangely hostile. However, her husband urges the young man to pay no attention to her, and invites him to tour his menagerie. There he sees the star of his cousin’s collection: a sleek, black Brazilian puma.

C'est ici dans la fête, la farce et la mascarade qu'Edgar Allan Poe fait naître ses histoires.

Classic Tales Of Horror offers up fifteen slices of powerful story-telling from the world's great mystery & classic horror authors. From Henry James and Ambrose Bierce to Bram Stoker and Charles Dickens. Read by John Waite (BBC Radio 4), Sarah Douglas (Superman I & II), Michael Fenton-Stevens (Spitting Image, KYTV, Hitch-Hiker's Guide) and Ben Onwukwe (London's Burning, Othello).

Here is the most famous of all tales of vampirism and an enduring classic. Jonathan Harker's journeys to Transylvania and the discovers the un-dead Count Dracula. Upon his return to England, Professor Van Helsing joins the dark struggle to overcome the evil Count. Only with a pursuit back to Transylvainia can the battle between good and evil finally prove decisive.

Stephen Norman is to inherit her father’s vast fortune and estate. She seeks to ask Leonard Everard (a wastrel) to marry her, but only to prove that she can ask a man to marry her and defy 19th-century convention which says a man can only ask a woman to marry. This sets into motion a showdown between two old rivals for her hand in marriage, as Harold An Wolf (a gentleman) is in love with her. 

The author plots 24 hours in the lives of a group of disparate characters drawn together in a few hours of terrifying carnage.