Short Horror

In this collection of classic ghost stories from Japan, beautiful princesses turn out to be frogs, paintings come alive, deadly spectral brides haunt the living and a samurai delivers the baby of a Shinto goddess with mystical help. Here are all the phantoms and ghouls of Japanese folklore: 'rokuro-kubi', whose heads separate from their bodies at night; 'jikininki', or flesh-eating goblins; and terrifying faceless 'mujina' who haunt lonely neighbourhoods.

The supernatural, the surreal, and the all-too real . . . Such tales of the dark and the unknown have always fascinated us, and modern authors carry on the disquieting traditions of the past while inventing imaginative new ways to unsettle us. Chosen from a wide variety of venues, these stories are as eclectic and varied as shadows.

Horror stalks the sideshow tents of the 40’s and runs a 70’s era dive bar steeped in murder… It preys from the frozen peaks of a small, 80’s Alaskan town and spills across the streets of modern-day New York City. From the Great Plains of Native America to war-torn North Korea and the cradle of civilization itself in ancient Mesopotamia, the Beast is out for blood but the werewolf hunter pursues and will not stop until the last drop of blood has fallen.

I wasn't always like this, you know - paranoid, temperamental, vindictive. I mean, sure, I've always been a bit....high strung. But, I never used to stalk my therapist patients. Or yell at them. Or hold them captive in my garage. No, all of that started after the incidents at Lonesome Woods Boarding School. And I'm not talking about the school shooter. This was something far more insidious - something....infectious. Like a cancerous disease that tore through the student body, rotting young hearts one by one.

A book so scary, you might want to listen to it with the lights on, and might just want to hide under the covers. But at all costs should not be heard alone! Some stories are pure fiction, yet some may be based on truth, and others could actually be true. This is for you, the listener, to decide. There are aliens, there are reapers, there are ghosts and there is a lot of death in this book. This book shows the twisted imagination of the author and is designed to, if nothing else, make you, the listener go wow and then listen to it again.

A small-town carpenter exterminates a nest of ravenous insects, only to find them building a new home deep within his flesh. A brilliant doctor’s medication unleashes supernatural vengeance upon a pair of remorseless killers. And a peaceful camping trip becomes a blood-soaked nightmare, when a local legend is unleashed….

Acclaimed throughout the underground horror world, J.R. Hamantaschen’s stories push the boundaries and refuse to conform to the usual conventions. A mix of nihilism, cosmic horror, and weird fiction, this collection is a must-read for anyone who craves the dark and disturbing.

Bubba’s back from Fairyland, and sometimes it feels like they shoulda just stayed there! Man, coming back to the real world sucks. Bubba and his whole team have been fired on account of going MIA for a year and a half (yeah, time moves differently in Fairyland - yay), and now they’ve got to…get jobs? Oh, this is going to go well.

Edgar Allen Poe is regarded as one of the greatest American writers and a pioneer of the horror genre, and this collection brings together some of his most celebrated tales. Themes of guilt, fear and revenge abound as the master of gothic horror transports audiences to mysterious worlds, carries them on dangerous sea voyages, and investigates gruesome murders. Exploring the hidden depths of the human mind, these are tales full of thrills and intrigue.

This follow-up volume to the bestselling Ghosts from the Library resurrects forgotten tales of the supernatural by some of the most accomplished mystery authors of all time. Close the windows. Draw the curtains. Just don’t let the lights go out…

She knew little of her past until one moonless night when a stranger asked for her hand in marriage. Learning the truth of who, what she was broke her mind and left her mate to retrieve the pieces of a broken shapeshifter.

The story tells the tale of an introverted academic who happens upon a strange whistle while exploring a cemetery on the East Anglian coast. When blown, the whistle unleashes a supernatural force that terrorises its discoverer. Montague Rhodes James was a noted British mediaeval scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918) and of Eton College (1918–1936). He is best remembered for his ghost stories which are widely regarded as among the finest in English literature.

The story of Paxton, an antiquarian and archaeologist who holidays in "Seaburgh" and inadvertently stumbles across one of the lost crowns of Anglia, which legendarily protect the country from invasion. Montague Rhodes James was a noted British mediaeval scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918) and of Eton College (1918–1936). He is best remembered for his ghost stories which are widely regarded as among the finest in English literature.

In his first collection of short fiction, New York Times best-selling author John Connolly offers a selection of dark, daring, and utterly haunting tales. Here are lost lovers and missing children, predatory demons, and vengeful ghosts.

Returning with his distinctive brand of unsettling fiction, J. R. Hamantaschen presents a new collection of unsettling and dark tales. These 11 stories refuse to shy away from the profound depths of human desperation and unyielding perseverance. Echoing the voices of weird fiction legends like Thomas Ligotti, H. P. Lovecraft, and Chuck Palahniuk, Hamantaschen’s narratives are a masterful blend of the uncanny and the profoundly insightful. Prepare for a journey that challenges the boundaries of dark fiction and leaves you questioning your sanity.

Edgar Allan Poe was a writer, poet, editor and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre, and is widely regarded as a central figure of Romanticism in the United States and of American literature. Poe was one of the country's earliest practitioners of the short story and considered to be the inventor of the detective fiction genre, as well as a significant contributor to the emerging genre of science fiction.

Zombies! Zombies! Zombies! is the darkest, the living-deadliest, scariest - and dare we say most tasteful - collection of zombie stories ever assembled. It's so good, it's a no-brainer. There is never a dull moment in the world of zombies. They are superstars of horror, and they are everywhere, storming the world of print and visual media. Their endless march will never be stopped. It's the Zombie Zeitgeist! Now, with his wide sweep of knowledge and keen eye for great storytelling, Otto Penzler offers a remarkable catalog of zombie literature.

These seventeen tales take listeners into the uniquely twisted mind of “one of Canada’s most promising new horror writers” (Publishers Weekly). From a live necrophilia show starring reanimated corpses to a confrontation between a security guard and inhuman squatters, from who can be found at an all-night laundromat to what lies in wait at the bottom of the sea, from undead addictions to all-consuming obsessions, Kissing Carrion is “a journey through some of the most beautifully rendered visions of darkness and death to be published this past year."

Another great book from Rusty Wilson, Bigfoot expert and storyteller. This is the third audiobook in Rusty's collection of Bigfoot Campfire stories, tales for both the Bigfoot believer and those who just enjoy a good story!

This audiobook is a compilation of three of Rusty's audiobooks ("Ten Intense Bigfoot Campfire Stories," "Six Short Bigfoot Campfire Stories," and "Hairy Trio of Bigfoot Campfire Stories").

“I was sick, sick unto death with that long agony,” begins one of the most famous tales from the master of the macabre, Edgar Allan Poe. Through the tortures of the Spanish Inquisition, we follow the straying mind of the unnamed prisoner in his quest for hope in a world of darkness and despair. This episode skyrocketed The Classic Tales Podcast to number 3 on iTunes’ Top 100 Podcasts chart.