Classics Literature Horror

Regarded as a major innovator in the art of the short story, Rudyard Kipling was one of the most popular writers of prose and poetry in the late 19th and 20th century and awarded the Noble Prize for Literature in 1907. Listen to one of his well-known works.

Groundbreaking for the time in which they were written, the vampire stories of the 1800s have inspired many modern writers. Enjoy the thrilling stories that originated the genre of vampire fiction.

"The Devil and Tom Walker" is a short story by Washington Irving, tackling the theme of making a deal with the devil. The greedy and easily-corruptible Tom sells his soul in exchange for power and riches, but soon regrets his foolish, though absolutely irreversible choice. A typical cautionary and moral tale, "The Devil and Tom Walker" is a central story in Irving’s fiction, emphasizing the problems of human condition, family issues, and decision making.

The Lifted Veil is a novella by George Eliot, first published in 1859. Quite unlike the realistic fiction for which Eliot is best known, The Lifted Veil explores themes of extrasensory perception, the essence of physical life, possible life after death, and the power of fate. This book has been carefully adapted into modern English to allow for easy listening. Enjoy!

London, 1885. Gabriel Utterson, a 17-year-old law clerk, has returned to London for the first time since his life—and that of his dearest friend, Henry Jekyll—was derailed by a scandal that led to his and Henry's expulsion from the London Medical School. Whispers about the true nature of Gabriel and Henry's relationship have followed the boys for two years, and now Gabriel has a chance to start again. But Gabriel doesn't want to move on, not without Henry. His friend has become distant and cold since the disastrous events of the prior spring, and now his letters have stopped altogether.

One morning, traveling salesman Gregor Samsa wakes from an anxious dream to discover that he has inexplicably changed into a monstrous insect. Nonetheless, life goes on, and poor Gregor is left to deal not only with the existential questions of who or what he now is but also with more mundane concerns: his job (which he fears he’ll lose), his loved ones (whom he fears he disgusts), and the daily indignities of everyday life (which continue apace). Soon, even those who sympathize with his bizarre predicament begin to lose their patience....

Amanda Walker is not a witch - yet. She's an artist, looking for work - unaware that someone has a desperate need for her, a dark plan that may require Amanda to enter death itself.If she is allowed to live long enough to make the choice.

Few ghost stories are as chilling as the ones written by Victorian writers. Featuring work by H.G. Wells, Edith Wharton, F.G. Loring and Florence Marryat, this second volume of eight enduring stories, some well-known, others less familiar, transport you to a cosy fireside to hear tales of disembodied voices, haunted objects and unknown entities lurking in the shadows cast by candlelight.

With no magic talent of her own, Anne de Vernase must take on her sister's magical legacy to unravel the secrets behind the dark sorcery besieging the royal city of Merona-and to uncover the truth behind her sister's death. For Portier de Savin-Duplais, failed student of magic, sorcery's decline into ambiguity and cheap illusion is but a culmination of life's bitter disappointments.

Cloîtrée dans une maison de campagne isolée et tenue à l'écart de toute activité par son mari médecin, une jeune mère dépressive après la naissance de leur enfant brave en secret l'interdiction qu'il lui pose d'écrire. Désœuvrée, elle sombre dans la fascination pour l'affreux papier peint de la chambre à coucher. Elle finit par y voir, en miroir, une femme séquestrée derrière les arabesques.

Arthur Conan Doyle, le créateur du personnage de "Sherlock Holmes", le détective privé par excellence, était un écrivain prolifique. Il s'est aussi attelé à l'écriture de nombreux romans, historiques ou policier. On découvre ici une autre facette de son talent : l'écriture de nouvelles fantastiques, d'anticipation et d'horreur.

The Doom That Came to Sarnath, written by H.P. Lovecraft in 1919 and first published in The Scot in 1920, is a haunting tale of arrogance, hubris, and cosmic retribution. Set in Lovecraft’s fictional dreamland, the story weaves a narrative of an ancient city’s rise and catastrophic fall, showcasing his talent for crafting rich, otherworldly settings imbued with mystery and terror.

There's a legend in this valley about a ghostly horseman that rides by night. There are many such legends and for schoolteacher Ichabod Crane the darkness of night holds a special fascination...and fear. For often there is truth in stories, especially ghost stories. And one fated night, Ichabod Crane will discover that the horseman of the legend is indeed... headless!

Vampire P.I. Jack Fleming is playing babysitter to Gabriel "Whitey" Kroun, a dangerously unstable mobster-and newly-created vampire-with deadly secrets to hide. As Jack tries to unravel the mystery surrounding Kroun's undead state, he gets caught between his charge's violent outbursts and some syndicate torpedoes looking to rub them both out, leaving him vulnerable to an even deadlier threat- the return of an old enemy desperate to unlock the secrets of Jack's vampire immortality.

The Turn of the Screw is an 1898 horror novella by Henry James which first appeared in serial format in Collier's Weekly. In October 1898, it was collected in The Two Magics, published by Macmillan in New York City and Heinemann in London.

The Hound of the Baskervilles is the third of the four crime novels by Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. Originally serialized in The Strand magazine from August 1901 to April 1902, it is set largely on Dartmoor in Devon in England’s West Country and tells the story of an attempted murder inspired by the legend of a fearsome, diabolical hound of supernatural origin. Holmes and Watson investigate the case. This was the first story that seemingly endeavored into the world of the supernatural, challenging Holmes’s idea of rational existence.

Inspired by a trip to a graveyard in Wales, the novella was originally not well received. The Great God Pan is now considered an excellent example of Gothic fiction, and has influenced such writers as Bram Stoker, H.P. Lovecraft, Stephen King, and Ray Bradbury.

For years, the mysterious Count Dracula has terrorized Transylvania from the shadows of his great gothic castle; but when his latest victim—John Harker—makes a daring escape, the ancient vampire may have finally met his match! Told through the perspective of multiple characters, including vampire-hunter Van Helsing, beautiful schoolteacher Mina Harker, and even the loathsome Count himself, the story of Dracula has never been so much fun for kids to listen to.

Before H.P. Lovecraft, Shirley Jackson, Stephen King and Anne Rice, Henry James wrote hair-raising stories that made horror a popular, sometimes controversial, widely-read literary form, and set the bar for all who followed. Stephen King considers James’ The Turn of The Screw one of the best horror novels ever penned.

Pubblicato nel 1886, Lo strano caso del Dr. Jekyll e Mr. Hyde, è considerato una pietra miliare della letteratura di tutti i tempi. Il capolavoro di Stevenson analizza l'eterna lotta tra il bene ed il male con una potenza drammatica che lo ha reso un’opera di portata universale. Il tema del “doppio” emerge prepotentemente dagli esperimenti del dott. Jekyll, il quale esplorando il lato oscuro di ogni essere umano, incontra il suo spaventoso alter ego: Mr. Hyde.