Victorian Horror

Late one moonlit night, Walter Hartright encounters a solitary and terrified woman dressed all in white. He saves her from capture by her pursuers and determines to solve the mystery of her distress and terror. Inspired by an actual criminal case, this gripping tale of murder, intrigue, madness and mistaken identity has never been out of print since its publication and brought Collins great fame and success.

Arthur Conan Doyle was the greatest genre writer Britain has ever produced. Throughout a long writing career, he drew on his own medical background, his travels, and his increasing interest in spiritualism and the occult to produce a spectacular array of Gothic tales. Many of Doyle's writings are recognized as the very greatest tales of terror. They range from hauntings in the polar wasteland to evil surgeons and malevolent jungle landscapes. This collection brings together over 30 of Conan Doyle's best Gothic tales

Almost always when we think of Ghost Stories, we first think of those written by the Victorians. When you consider the depth of literary talent available over the extraordinary length of Queen Victoria’s reign, allied to the fascination with their all things spiritual on ‘the other side’, then perhaps it’s simply right place, right time. Whatever the reasons given or proffered the reality and known facts are that if you want a really good ghost story to bring that edge of chill, that foreboding of dread, then look no further than ‘The Victorian Ghost Story’ for your listening pleasure.

The story's protagonist and narrator is an unnamed woman whose husband, a doctor named John, makes her spend the summer in the country for her health. The woman, her baby, John, John's sister and some servants stay in a large rented house. John chooses a bedroom for himself and his wife which is large and airy but otherwise quite unpleasant. The narrator takes an immediate dislike to the room's yellow wallpaper. She soon starts to see grotesque images in its pattern. After some time, the narrator becomes convinced that the wallpaper depicts a woman trapped behind a cage.

Seventeen-year-old Audrey Rose Wadsworth was born a lord's daughter, with a life of wealth and privilege stretched out before her. But between the social teas and silk dress fittings, she leads a forbidden secret life. Against her stern father's wishes and society's expectations, Audrey often slips away to her uncle's laboratory to study the gruesome practice of forensic medicine. When her work on a string of savagely killed corpses drags Audrey into the investigation of a serial murderer, her search for answers brings her close to her own sheltered world.

Mary is the great-niece of Victor Frankenstein. She knows her uncle disappeared in mysterious circumstances in the Arctic but she doesn't know why or how. She and her husband are trying to make a name for themselves as paleontologists but, in 1850s' London, scientific success requires wealth and connections - neither of which they possess. But then Mary discovers some old family papers that allude to the truth behind her great-uncle's past, of his attempts to create a living being and the creature that ultimately killed him. Perhaps this idea will prove to be their salvation.

Almost always when we think of Ghost Stories, we first think of those written by the Victorians. If you want a really good ghost story to bring that edge of chill, that foreboding of dread, that feeling that in an empty house we are not quite alone and that sometimes the sharp, sheer shock of what just happened is upon us then look no further than ‘The Victorian Ghost Story’ for your reading and listening pleasure.

Almost always when we think of Ghost Stories, we first think of those written by the Victorians. Whatever the reasons given or proffered the reality and known facts are that if you want a really good ghost story to bring that edge of chill, that foreboding of dread, that feeling that in an empty house we are not quite alone and that sometimes the sharp, sheer shock of what just happened is upon us then look no further than ‘The Victorian Ghost Story’ for your listening pleasure.

Destitute and desperate, Catherine Weston accepts the summons from her childhood friend Madeline St. Aubyn to attend her at Cairncroft Abbey. Madeline's health is in a poor state, and she is terrified of her cousin Gabriel. But Gabriel has quite a different effect on Catherine, stirring longings and desires she believed long buried. Then a young woman is found dead, and Madeline's ravings point to a link between this horrific crime and Gabriel - and Catherine must decide if he is a man worthy of her love or a sinister stranger determined to make her his next victim.

Almost always when we think of Ghost Stories, we first think of those written by the Victorians. If you want a really good ghost story to bring that edge of chill, that foreboding of dread, that feeling that in an empty house we are not quite alone and that sometimes the sharp, sheer shock of what just happened is upon us then look no further than ‘The Victorian Ghost Story’ for your listening pleasure.

Whatever the reasons given or proffered the reality and known facts are that if you want a really good ghost story to bring that edge of chill, that foreboding of dread, that feeling that in an empty house we are not quite alone and that sometimes the sharp, sheer shock of what just happened is upon us then look no further than ‘The Victorian Ghost Story’ for your listening pleasure.

This collection of tales transports the listener to a time when staircases creaked in old manor houses, and a candle could be blown out by a gust of wind—or by a passing ghost. Penned by some of the greatest Victorian novelists and masters of the ghost story genre, each comes to life in this vivid rendition.

Few horror stories are as chilling as the ones written by Victorian writers. This collection of eight enduring stories, some well-known, others less familiar, carry you to all corners of the world where terrors lurk. Featuring work by H.P. Lovecraft, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Edgar Allan Poe and Vernon Lee, experience the skin-crawling undead, a pestilence that leaves no one unaffected, imagined horrors that emerge from disturbed minds and others that require no imagination at all....

Few ghost stories are as chilling as the ones written by Victorian writers. Featuring work by Jerome K. Jerome, Rhoda Broughton, R.L. Stevenson and Violet Hunt, this second collection of eight enduring horror stories, some well-known, others less familiar, transports you to a candlelit fireside to hear tales of cursed paintings, mysterious locked chests and the consequences of promises broken....

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.

A Wicked Voice is the tale of a composer haunted by the music of the 18th century and by the exquisite voice of a singer of that period who reputedly sang so beautifully his songs could (quite literally) kill with their beauty.

In one of M.R. James’ creepiest short stories, night of terror plays out with every glimpse at a static picture and the viewer is powerless to prevent a dark figure’s progress. 'The Mezzotint' is taken from the second volume of the Victorian Anthologies Horror series, featuring short stories by classic writers of the spooky, the scary and the supernatural. Guaranteed to give you the shivers, each collection includes familiar and loved creepy tales as well as those less well-known. With music by Benedict Edwards.

The unnamed narrator of the story lives alone in a dark, ancient castle surrounded by a dense forest. He never sees sunlight, and he has no memory of human contact. One day, desperate to see the sun, the narrator decides to climb the ruined tower which is the only part of the castle taller than the trees. After the dangerous climb to the top room of the tower, the narrator is delighted to see the moon through a grating. Soon, however, he discovers the horrible truth behind his confinement.

The story concerns the attempts by a prince and his followers to shield themselves from a terrible plague which is devastating the surrounding area and to carry on living lives of pleasure. Their attempts ultimately prove futile. The Red Death is the name of the infectious disease which causes people to die within 30 minutes. Those who are infected bleed profusely from their skin, especially their faces, before they die. Some six months after the arrival of Prince Prospero's guests, a masked ball is held for them.

In The Wedding Knell, Mrs Dabney (a woman who married and was widowed twice) is going to be marrying Mr Ellenwood, a 65-year-old who had been attracted to Dabney in the past. When Mrs. Dabney enters the church for the wedding, the bell let out a deep knell, usually reserved for funerals. The bell continued to ring until the groom arrived. The groom arrived with a funeral precession, and claimed that Mrs Dabney's youth was given to other husbands, and he was forced to live an unhappy life because he couldn't have her.