Classics Literature Horror

In The Assignation, Edgar Allan Poe weaves a haunting tale of romantic despair, secrecy, and fatalism. Set against the melancholic backdrop of Venice, the story follows the mysterious interaction between a nobleman and a woman caught in an unspoken bond of passion and tragedy. With his signature Gothic elegance, Poe explores the depths of human emotion, capturing both beauty and despair in this compelling and tragic narrative.

On the day of his wedding, Conrad, heir to the house of Otranto, is killed in mysterious circumstances. His calculating father Manfred fears that his dynasty will now come to an end and determines to marry his son's bride himself - despite the fact he is already married. But a series of terrifying supernatural omens soon threaten this unlawful union, as the curse placed on Manfred's ancestor, who usurped the lawful prince of Otranto, begins to unfold.

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.

Classic horror stories from the 19th and early 20th centuries - annotated for modern listeners. This collection of stories and poems was originally selected with oral readability in mind, making this audiobook a sure-fire hit for listening to around the campfire at night, or to play for students - or for friends and family at Halloween get-togethers. For horror fans of all ages, these stories are guaranteed to intrigue, delight, and frighten!

Questo libro, di Edward Bulwer-Lytton, scritto nel 1842 tratta di esoterismo, ma è, al tempo stesso, un libro di avventura, e anche un romanzo storico, visto che si svolge nel 1791, tra l'Italia e la Francia, e che uno dei personaggi ritratti è Robespierre.Zanoni, il protagonista, è uno degli ultimi Rosa-Croce che si trova a fronteggiare il dilemma tra amore terreno e conoscenza dell’occulto.Ed è questo , un dilemma non da poco, che neanche l’amico Mejnour, altro Rosacroce, non riesce a sciogliere.

“Have you seen the Yellow Sign?” mumbles a cadaverous hearse driver with a soft, squishy head. He’s been skulking about Scott’s painting studio, where he and Tessie have been developing a tangled relationship between artist and model. But as this ever-present watchman resembling a coffin worm begins to distract Scott, his portrait of Tessie takes on a deathlike pallor. How can they forever rid themselves of this hearse stalker? And what precisely does he mean by a “Yellow Sign”?

This choice collection of spine tingling tales runs the gamut from slightly spooky to "I'm sleeping with all the lights on tonight!" A splendid grouping of tales from the pens of some of the great writers of the past. Enjoy these classic stories alone or with a friend, whenever your ears are free.

The Queen of Spades is decidedly one of Pushkin's gloomier tales. It inspired several movie adaptations and a magnificent opera by Tchaikovsky. Its determined, but misguided, protagonist stakes his life with dire consequences on a very old secret that might or might not even exist.

Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is perhaps the most famous ghost story of all. For nearly 200 years, this tale has singlehandedly extended the haunting season from autumn through winter, and ghost lovers everywhere are happy about that. Traditionally, A Christmas Carol is told and retold each year in every form from plays to movies and TV shows. But, originally, the tale was read aloud as folks sat by the hearth, drinking mulled cider or hot cocoa as they warmed their hands at the fireplace. Many of us first heard the tale as children.

A zealous aviator penetrates the highest strata of our atmosphere and discovers a groundbreaking new form of life. And yet he knows that this strange alien life form has claimed the lives of two aviators before him, and it may claim his own.

From the once-popular yet unfairly neglected Victorian writer Charlotte Riddell comes a pair of novels that cleverly upholster the familiar furniture of the haunted house story. In An Uninhabited House, the hauntings are seen through the perspective of the solicitors who hold the deed of the property. In Fairy Water, Riddell again subverts the expectations of the audience, suggesting a complex moral character for her haunting spirit.

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.

Hodgson’s finest short story is set at sea, where one dark, starless night a schooner is hailed by a voice from a nearby rowing boat. The passenger refuses to bring his craft alongside and insists that the crew put away their lantern. He has approached them to beg for food for his fiancée, who he has left behind upon an island, but dares not come any closer. The crew float a box of food to him, and with heartfelt thanks he rows away. But three hours later he returns....

At a party, the guests are discussing the Saint-Cloud mystery, which has been the talk of Paris for over a month. As they crowd round the judge in the case to hear his opinion, a woman remarks that the crime seemed so horrific, it verged on the supernatural. Not so, retorts the judge - and goes on to tell his listeners of a terrible affair he was once involved in where the uncanny did play a part…

"Here is a nice thing for a lady now - this hand-glass: fifteenth century; comes from a good collection, too; but I reserve the name of my customer, who was just like yourself, my dear sir, the nephew and sole heir of a remarkable collector." The dealer, while he thus ran on in his dry and biting voice, had stooped to take the object from its place; and, as he had done so, a shock had passed through Markheim.

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.

The Leopard Man, with his sad, dreamy eyes, seems oppressed by gloom. But all attempts to get his story out of him end in frustration: he seems to lack imagination. Until, finally, he reveals the tale of the lion-tamer and the man who hated him…