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Ghost Stories

Selected and Introduced by Mark Gatiss

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Ghost Stories

By: E F Benson, Mark Gatiss - introduction
Narrated by: Mark Gatiss
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Mark Gatiss (Sherlock, Doctor Who, Game of Thrones) reads chilling tales by the unsung master of the classic ghost story - E.F. Benson.

There's nothing sinister about a London bus. Nothing supernatural could occur on a busy train platform. There's nothing terrifying about a little caterpillar. And a telephone, what could be scary about that? Don't be frightened of the dark corners of your room. Don't be alarmed by a sudden, inexplicable chill. There's no need for a ticking clock, a limping footstep, or a knock at the door to start you trembling. There's nothing to be scared of. Nothing at all.

 Anthologies & Short Stories Classics Ghosts Horror Short Stories Haunted Scary Fiction Paranormal Fantasy
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Critic reviews

This collection, selected by that connoisseur of the eldritch, Mark Gatiss, contains enough nastiness to give you just the right kind of frisson for the time of year. (Nicholas Lezard)
Ghost Stories collects nine of his most gruesome stories… Impressively shocking. (Tim Martin)
Spooks galore in E.F. Benson’s nightmare-inducing stories. (Val Hennessy)
[A] master ghost story teller.
All stars
Most relevant

What did you like most about E.F. Benson's Ghost Stories?

Obviously with ghost stories of this type and from this period in time comparison to James is inevitable. Whilst James' stories are undoubtedly excellent they always struck me as strangely soul less, almost clinical in their execution. Benson' stories however overflow with personality, wit and charm whilst being genuinely eerie. Beautifully worded and superbly performed the only fault with this is that it is way, way too short.

Better than M.R. James

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...I gotta listen to Mark Gatiss reading stories till I die. Now if only Mr Gatiss or someone of his calibre would rescue for us those out of copyright stories we currently can't bear to listen to because they are in the Red Door Audio stable. All those wonderful tales by Ambrose Bierce, Arthur Conan Doyle, W F Harvey, Charlotte Riddell et al...

Fish gotta swim/Birds gotta fly...

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Loved the stories and the narration was perfect.
I would recommend this book to any lover of ghost stories.

Just brilliant

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The only negative thing that I can say about this audiobook is that it was, sadly, much too short.
Now that's out of the way, on to the positives. It's a good selection of some of E.F. Benson's creepy tales, enough to make the listener want to seek out more of his work. For me, one of the main sources of enjoyment was the skill of the narrator, Mark Gatiss. His pace, tone of voice and general delivery were masterful. If only all audiobooks were as well presented and read as this. His characters sounded different and believable, and the way that he delivered Benson's descriptions of things that just didn't seem quite right, or downright monstrous, on occasion, was superb. I've heard a few audiobooks where the narrator just didn't quite do the work justice, but am delighted to say that in this case, the pairing was flawless. If I could say one more thing about this, I would ask Audible to consider getting Mr Gatiss to narrate some more of Benson's work. This was one of my favourite listens in over ten years.

A chilling collection, masterully brought to life

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Mark Gatiss is a very good reader of these well-written, but slightly dated stories.

Well written stories well read

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