Horror Sagas

In questo brevissimo resoconto Daniel Defoe fa luce su un caso misterioso, avvenuto nella parrocchia di St. Benet Fynk agli inizi del Settecento. Per non rovinare la lettura a chiunque si accinga ad immergersi nell’inquietante cronaca, è sufficiente citare gli ingredienti perfetti per questa storia del brivido: un apparente suicidio, l'inspiegabile comparsa di una persona dai contorni indefinibili e la presenza di ben due testimoni.

I figli di un nobiluomo si ritrovano loro malgrado a competere per la stessa ragazza. Tom, il maggiore, ne vorrebbe fare la propria amante; Jack, invece, amandola veramente, vorrebbe poterla sposare. Lo scontro rischia di finire in tragedia, quando i due fratelli decidono di ricorrere ad un duello risolutivo. La mattina in cui hanno deciso di incontrarsi per combattere, tuttavia, entrambi vivono un incontro che ha del paranormale, e che li convincerà a tornare a più miti consigli.

A prisoner arrives at a trial before the Spanish Inquisition and is condemned to death. Upon his conviction, he faints and finds himself in a horrendous cell to fight off death. Still, this prisoner is not giving up that easily and describes his horrendous circumstances to the last detail. "The Pit and the Pendulum" by Edgar Allan Poe is nothing short of grim until the very end.

What would you do if you were given a chance to correct the incorrigible? Everything is going well for the White family, but they are human beings after all, and like everybody else, they want money. When a friend of theirs comes to visit, he tells the most extraordinary tale, and leaves them in possession of a mummified monkey’s paw. What follows is a nightmarish ride through hell, starting with a simple, albeit greedy, wish.

B.J. Harrison visits Edgar Allan Poe's grim horror story, "The Cask of Amontillado". Montresor is a man who has been insulted, and he does not take this lightly. Seeking revenge on the person who slighted him, Fortunato, he sets out on a terrible mission to even the score. Yet what follows is far from fair, and Fortunato is far from prepared. "The Cask of Amontillado" is a dark short story by Edgar Allan Poe dating back to the 19th century.

Egaeus is a man who can get lost in matters with "nervous intensity of interest". He is about to marry his cousin Berenice, whose health is deteriorating until the only part the disease has not touched are her teeth. It is those teeth, which fill Egaeus' mind and continue to haunt him to a terrifying degree. "Berenice" by Edgar Allan Poe dates back to the 19th century and was considered shocking upon its publication. The horror short story has been adapted onto film, including the 1954 short film Bérénice. B. J.

Nel racconto "Il sacerdote e l’atto smarrito" - incluso in "The History and Reality of Apparitions" (1727) - Daniel Defoe riporta una vicenda narratagli dal Reverendo John Scott (1639-1695), da lui considerato una fonte attendibile. Un medico, contattato dal fantasma di un gentiluomo preoccupato per il nipote, si trova suo malgrado ad assistere quest'ultimo nel ritrovamento di un fondamentale atto di proprietà.

"Resoconto dell’apparizione della signora Veal", originariamente pubblicato come pamphlet anonimo nel 1706, è tradizionalmente attribuito a Daniel Defoe, che all'epoca era impegnato nella stesura di vari articoli, spesso a tema spiritista. La storia narrata - secondo alcuni ispirata ad un evento vissuto dallo stesso Defoe - prende le mosse dall'incontro fra due amiche di lunga data, la signora Bargrave e la signora Veal.

Launceston, 1665. Il Reverendo Ruddle, dopo aver pronunciato un toccante sermone al funerale del giovane John Elliot, è invitato da un nobiluomo a risolvere le turbe psichiche del figlio, convinto di essere perseguitato da una donna defunta. Inizialmente scettico, l'uomo dovrà poi ricredersi, di fronte alla visione, fatta in prima persona, del fantasma di Dorothy Dingle... Daniel Defoe, pur non considerandosi un credulone, riporta la storia così comi gli è stata raccontata, proponendo anche delle spiegazioni razionali.

Il giovane e ingenuo Thomas Dawson racconta ad un gentiluomo della presunta apparizione del Diavolo a cui avrebbe assistito. In questo brevissimo racconto, col ritmo estremamente incalzante di un dialogo diretto, Daniel Defoe mette in luce - non senza ironia - le contraddizioni alla base di simili resoconti, anticipando di ben due secoli e mezzo la moderna "psicologia dell’insolito".

"Schalken the Painter" is a ghost short story by Sheridan Le Fanu, taking place in the 17th-century Netherlands. An aspiring painter falls in love with his master’s niece but one day, a mysterious man comes to ask for the niece’s hand, and the master agrees. Yet the heartbroken painter can’t help but feel that is something totally wrong with this new suitor. This is a short story of about greedy family relations, and is a psychologically unnerving and ghastly tale that fans of horror fiction will definitely love. B. J.

"The Parenticide Club" features four short-stories about a family murder, as seen from the eye of its most innocent member, who just might be the murderer himself.

È quasi impossibile sfuggire vivi all'Inquisizione spagnola. Tuttavia, il narratore senza nome di Edgar Allan Poe, dopo aver subito innumerevoli torture sul corpo e sull'anima per mano dei suoi aguzzini, vede finalmente la luce in fondo al tunnel della sua sanità mentale. Nonostante la mancanza di elementi soprannaturali, "La fossa e il pendolo" (1842) ha goduto e influenzato diversi notevoli adattamenti cinematografici.

"Den gamla möbeln stod där också som hade den icke rubbats på ett halvt sekel. I översta nyckelhålet satt pjäsens enda nyckel, en tämligen stor och vacker tingest. På marmorplattan hade madame funnit prydligt anbringa två gräsliga porslinsvaser och en pendyl som icke gick." När han av misstag får den gamla sekretären levererad till sitt hem börjar konstiga saker att hända. Han vaknar mitt i natten med hårt bultande hjärta, i korridorerna hör han fotsteg, nycklar som vrids om och dörrar som öppnas, trots att han är ensam i huset ...

"The Thing in the Weeds" is a short story by William Hope Hodgson from his "Sargasso Sea Stories" in which he portrays a monster lurking in the darkest recesses of the unfathomable depths of the sea. An example of Lovecraft’s major principle of "fear of the unknown", the terror in this Hodgson story is a mysterious one, despite the fact that it haunts and kills the characters.

B.J. Harrison reads one of Edgar Allan Poe's classic short stories "The Masque of the Red Death". Prince Prospero and 1,000 other nobles have taken refuge at a castle-like abbey to escape the Red Death, a horrifying plague that has taken over the land at large. Yet horror finds them one night when Prospero holds a masquerade ball and a guest dressed up as the Red Death itself shows up. The chilling story by Edgar Allan Poe dating back to the 19th century is a Gothic horror tale to its very core, providing frights of the most unimaginable type.

"Her arms rested on a table beside her, and her head on her hands; but her face was turned full forward, and her eyes met those of the spectator bewilderingly." One day, a man who has recently enherited his aunt's house, discovers a portait of a woman in the attic. He brings it downstairs and becomes so infatuated by the woman it portrays that he prays she will come to life. By some mysterious power she does, and he learns that the two of them have a daunting history.

One of the most haunting short horror stories to date is told to us by B.J. Harrison. Our narrator is invited to visit his acquaintance Roderick, who lives in a remote house with his sister when strange things begin to happen. Neither of the siblings appears to be healthy, and the house itself also seems to have a life of its own. What exactly is taking place, and how much worse can it get? The short story by Edgar Allan Poe from the 19th century is a true gothic horror story and not for the faintest of hearts.

Is there anyone more associated with a raven than the writer Edgar Allan Poe, the master of the macabre? His famous poem "The Raven", published in 1845, presents us with a speaking bird and numerous mythological references. Edgar Allan Poe's poetry is known for its dark romanticism, gothic tones and anti-heroes. A selection of these classics is now brought to life for the listener's enjoyment by the versatile sounds of B.J. Harrison. A fair warning: not for the faint hearted or seekers of happy endings. B. J.

Winter Wedderburn is an amateur collector of orchids, spending his days peacefully with his housekeeper. One day he invites more adventure into his life and buys an unknown species of orchids brought from the Andaman Islands. Little does he know that purchasing this unusual plant will bring him more adventure than he could ever have dreamt of. "The Flowering of the Strange Orchid" is a short horror story by H.G. Wells from the late 19th century, providing the reader with a most unusual enemy.