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Classic Tales of Horror cover art

Classic Tales of Horror

By: Ambrose Bierce, Bram Stoker, Charles Dickens, Henry James, Daniel Defoe, Mary Shelley, W W Jacobs, H. P. Lovecraft
Narrated by: Michael Fenton Stevens, Sarah Douglas, Ben Onwukwe, John Waite
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Summary

Classic Tales Of Horror offers up fifteen slices of powerful story-telling from the world's great mystery & classic horror authors.

From Henry James and Ambrose Bierce to Bram Stoker and Charles Dickens.

The Man & The Snake by Ambrose Bierce, Man-Size In Marble by E Nesbitt, The Moonlit Road by Ambrose Bierce, The Mysterious Mansion by Honore De Balzac, The Judge's House by Bram Stoker, Lost Face by Jack London, by Charles Dickens, The Ghostly Rental by Henry James, The Phantom Coach by Amelia B Edwards, The Picture In The House by HP Lovecraft, True Relation Of The Apparition Of One Mrs Veal by Daniel Defoe, Transformation by Mary Shelley, The Monkey's Paw by WW Jacobs, William Wilson by Edgar Allan Poe, Canon Alberic's Scrapbook by M.R. James.

Read by John Waite (BBC Radio 4), Sarah Douglas (Superman I & II), Michael Fenton-Stevens (Spitting Image, KYTV, Hitchhiker's Guide) and Ben Onwukwe (London's Burning, Othello).

©2010 Spokenworld Audio/Ladbroke Audio Ltd (P)2010 Spokenworld Audio/Ladbroke Audio Ltd

What listeners say about Classic Tales of Horror

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

good narrators but intrusive announcer

classic stories combined with quality readers what's not to like?

answer an annoying announcer between the stories, whiny voice repetitive message and load music which ruins this as stories to fall asleep to.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Old favourites and a few new classics I hadn't heard

Most of the performances in this collection of horror short stories were very good. a little overdone sometimes though. The naration did bring the full horror to life. The worst story in the collection was by Daniel defoe. Beyond that there are some old favourites and some less well known especially to those not entirely familiar with the ghost genre. Iverall, a well put together collection in my opinion.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderfully read, wonderfully chosen

Eveery one of these tales is a masterpiece. And they are all extremely well produced, with a strong voice cast. I particularly looked forward to tales read by John Waite, and Sarah Douglas. Though everyone was great. I whole heartedly recommend this.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

classic stories, shame about some of the narration

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No - great collection of stories with something for everyone, but the quality of the narration varied wildly, and whoever edited it decided to stick in rather brash interludes of music between each one, followed every time by the same pre-recorded injuction to "Listen to our /other/ Classic Tales of Horror!" Like.....I already am...

tl;dr the narration and editorial choices detract from the stories' atmosphere. You'd be better off reading them or seeking out alternative audio versions.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I most enjoyed the characters populating Mary Shelley's 'Transformation' - they are so vividly drawn and somehow compellingly believable, even as they inhabit this intensely non-naturalistic, gothic morality-tale. It gives the story this dimension of psychological horror that feels extraordinarily mordern. Masterful stuff.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Some of these classic stories were delivered in such a dull, colourless manner that it drained them of their impact entirely. The reading of the James story was particularly poor, destroying the story's atmosphere entirely. Some sentences were even garbled or given an intonation that didn't properly render their meaning -- the overriding impression was that the narrator was unfamiliar with the story and hadn't even read it through before recording. Very poor.

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1 person found this helpful