Horror Step

"The Outsider" is one of most often published short stories by H. P. Lovecraft, and it has proven to be very popular with both readers and listeners. Lovecraft himself thought that he came near to Poe's style in this story (the first paragraphs are an echo of "Berenice" by E. A. Poe, and the inspiration of "The Masque of Red Death" is also pretty clear). This short story is probably the most elaborate story by Lovecraft, with echoes of his gurus and multifaceted references. The atmosphere is emphasized by actors' performances, music, and the graphics on the cover.

The Ghosts of Grand Central stories are interwoven with the dual themes of ghosts and the Grand Central Station Terminal. The stories vary in time period from the 1800s to the present, from pure imagination to historically based fiction. Some of the stories are humorous, some thought provoking, and some are frightening. Generally, the stories are short in length, the thought being that one might listen to this audiobook on a train, and that in transit concentration and time may be limited.

Stranded in the center of Grand Central Station, a pretentious nightmare of a woman who makes everyone else's life hell finds she has a first class compartment on a very special train....

A hauntingly handsome young British man, aspiring to model stardom, finds an escape from romantic and financial problems when a train conductor at Grand Central shares a hidden secret with him. What at first seems an amazing underground palace of mystery leads him to unexpected consequences. Later in the story, ghostly cocktails are toasted in the Campbell Apartment (another Grand Central secret).

Trapped between his real life and his dreams of being a creative writer Adam lives in quiet desperation, only on his daily commute on the train to Grand Central does he find he is able to escape in private world writing and imagination. His life as an accountant is an endless grey reality -- until one day as the train moves into the darkness of the tunnel.

In the mode of a story like the classic Twilight Zone television series: A young woman loses herself in the rush of Grand Central Station, waking up in a mysterious place with a bizarre history....

James, hoping to recover from a broken heart (broken by both girl and a boy), has taken off from college and rented a caretaker’s cottage in a cemetery on the edge of a small town, where he plans to work on his master’s thesis in what seems to be a setting of ideal quiet. But James’ sensitivity unexpectedly allows him to hear the voices of the various spirits who inhabit the cemetery along with him. He proceeds to change his thesis to "A History of American Gravestone Carvings" and designate himself the related task of writing down the stories of the ghosts he encounters.

Tom is a gay young artist struggling to find success in New York City. For Tom, a love life seems an impossibility. One day, his hope in romance revives when he encounters Cal - a charming stranger, but...it might be a problem that Cal was killed in the First World War - 100 years ago! Then again, death might be just the beginning - the beginning of romance!

I am a shadow. I live in the dark recesses of the darkest places in the tunnels of Grand Central Station, but I do not stay put there; I am free to pass into the light. I wander among the vast marble passages. Sometimes, I make myself as noticeable as possible. I have prevented muggings by casting an ominous shadow in front of the intended victims to warn them. I like to think of myself as an angel; a shadow angel.

After a blizzard in New York City, a huge snowman appears mysteriously outside of Grand Central Station and everyday seems to grow larger while also appearing at another door. What at first was funny becomes more and more menacing. Elsewhere in Grand Central, a man with an icy soul named Clinton Rudge fumes with anger at the cheerful holidaymakers filling the station. After making an evil wish, he vanishes....

Interwoven with the dual themes of ghosts and the Grand Central Station Terminal. The stories vary in time period from the 1800's to the present, from pure imagination to historically based fiction. Some of the stories are humorous, some thought provoking, and some are frightening. Generally the stories are short in length, with the thought being that one might listen to this audiobook on a train, and that in transit concentration and time may be limited.

Just outside Grand Central Station, a remarkable young shoeshine man finds his destiny and his dream: He was not afraid of the unfamiliar beast of winter. Jamal was often unafraid. For example, he leapt in front of a truck to save a baby in its stroller, and he even jumped down onto the cross-town shuttle train tracks to save a woman who had fallen down....

Little did he know his lovely misty city Saturday morning, was about to become a nightmare.... The young man dashed to the hall leading out to 42nd street, then cut a sharp right and jogged down and up the ramp past the Oyster Bar...the mist swirled after him, going over the bridge overpass, misting walkers in its path, those who had umbrellas opened them...it followed him as he pushed through the heaver doors to gain access to the marble stairs up to the offices on floors above. The thing swirled up the stairs after him like an amorphous polar bear...