Showing results by publisher "Spoken Realms" in Horror

In this tale, our narrator is deemed guilty of an unnamed crime and condemned to death by a tortuous method of which he can only imagine. In complete darkness in a room with only a large pit in the center and rats to keep him company, he soon realizes there is a large bladelike pendulum hanging above him, slowly getting closer to cutting through his chest.

In this unnerving Edgar Allen Poe tale, our narrator insists on his sanity after carefully calculating and committing the brutal murder of an old man because of his monstrous eye. He argues that it is quite sane to cut the body into pieces and hide it under the floorboards. Will our narrator's guilt be his undoing? To what extent will he go to defend his sanity?

Dracula's Guest and Other Weird Stories is a collection of shorter works on the strange and the macabre, first published in 1914, two years after Stoker's death. The title story "Dracula's Guest" is believed to be the deleted first chapter of Stoker's masterpiece, Dracula. The other nine stories like "The Squaw", "The Judge's House", and "The Burial of the Rats" rank very high among classic tales of horror.

Classic author H.G. Wells turns his attention to a mystery at sea and a litany of creatures that seemed bent on the destruction of human life. A short story that may leave you feeling the beach and ocean may not be as safe as you thought.

"Afterward" is a psychological ghost story of the Victorian era. This is no modern horror tale, but one that was very popular at a time when a shiver and some things to think about were what was expected of the horror genre. Wharton's beautiful prose, as read by professional actor Sara Morsey, will delight and thrill. Sit back and enjoy!

Some pictures tell a story, and a certain old print acquired by a collector proves to have a very dark tale to relate, and in a most uncanny fashion. A classic tale from the master of the English ghost story M. R. James. Originally written to read by the fireside to the members of the Chit Chat Club of Cambridge, this story was first published in James's first collection The Ghost Stories of an Antiquary in 1904. This telling comes with a short afterword which provides some notes and commentary on the text.

A gentleman enjoying the morning over the River Seine waves to a steamer, and the nightmare begins. He believes he may be going insane, but then he begins to feel there is an entity that he cannot see invading his mind and his home. The entity is perhaps an invader from another world. Guy de Maupassant's tale of classic horror will enthrall you.

It was a dark and starless night when a schooner becalmed in the Northern Pacific is a approached by a rowboat whose occupant although nonthreatening refuses to be seen. We find out who this hideous appearing creature is, and how he and his fiancée came to be marooned on an island inhabited by a strange fungus.

From Tales of Soldiers and Civilians - In the Midst of Life, this, the second tale of the "Civilians" section, takes us into the paranormal as the protagonist becomes a witness to a possible murder. But is it murder when an individual has such power over another individual as to cause their own death?

Skillfully narrated by voice actor Mark Turetsky, The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers is a classic in the field of the supernatural. The series of 10 short stories is named after a fictional play of the same name which induces madness in the minds of those that read it. The Yellow King and Carcosa were often alluded to in a popular TV series True Detective, where evil and madness are often a theme.

A young woman, Helen Leicester, becomes concerned about her brother Francis when he begins spending all of his time locked in his room studying. At first Francis insists that he is fine, but eventually admits that he is not feeling well and agrees to see the family physician. The doctor prescribes a medication - a white powder which is mixed with water - and Francis begins to feel better. However, this "cure" doesn't last very long and Francis begins exhibiting peculiar and disturbing behavior.

We all long to find a time when we can escape the daily grind and find a hideaway where we won’t be disturbed. We may have projects to complete or rest to enjoy, but the choice of that location is critical. Algernon Blackwood provides a short story of just such a man who is alone in a cottage on a Canadian island. He should have picked a better location, but then this memorable story wouldn’t exist.

Written in the summer of 1926, it was first published in Weird Tales, February 1928. It is the only story written by Lovecraft in which the extraterrestrial entity Cthulhu himself makes a major appearance. It is written in a documentary style, with three independent narratives linked together by the device of a narrator discovering notes left by a deceased relative.

An anthology of chilling, classic horror stories, including "The Tale-Tell Heart", "The Pit and the Pendulum", and "The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe; "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving; "The Hand", "Was it a Dream?", and "The Horla" by Guy de Maupassant; "The Red Room" by H.G. Wells; "Moon-Face" by Jack London; "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

Five years after the Rise of the Furies, the walking dead are dying out. Bites don't infect...but anyone who dies, turns. Skilled outdoorsman Tom Vanicek wants a future for the two children he's protected so fiercely through five years of living hell. When rumors reach them about reconstruction efforts in the decaying ruins of Columbus, Ohio, the family make the dangerous overland trek for the chance to begin again.

Prince Anryn of Ammar has spent his life striving to please his father, the legendary Lightning King. He studies, fences, burns witches at the stake. But when assassins strike, he is left wounded and alone in the mountains, wondering if his father ordered his death. There he meets Maertyn Blackfire, a cursed witch who has lived too long. In Anryn he sees what no one else dares: a curse like his own, trapping a woman’s soul in a man’s body. Bound by survival, Maertyn vows to protect the prince on a quest to uncover the would-be killer.

A man makes a deal with the devil. The devil can't give him immortality in return for his soul, but he can protect him from being killed as long as he wears his patent leather shoes. Robert Bloch's masterful storytelling shines through in this tale of greed and consequences. Discover the twisted repercussions of a Faustian bargain in "The Shoes," a must-listen audiobook for fans of classic horror fiction.

"Dark Vengeance" is a captivating novelette by Fritz Leiber published in "Suspense" in the Fall of 1951 featuring the iconic duo Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. Dive into the sinister world of Lankhmar, where malevolent birds besiege the city with a sinister agenda of plundering precious gems and trinkets from the town's noble women. These cunning avian thieves are not just after riches but pose a grave threat, wielding their sharp talons to inflict harm, even resorting to the gruesome act of plucking an eye from their victims.

Lean Times in Lankhmar, a gripping novella by Fritz Leiber Jr, follows the divergent paths of Faford and the Gray Mouser in the city of Lankhmar. The Gray Mouser becomes a Lieutenant for the city's top extortioner, dealing with the various religious sects on the Street of the Gods. Meanwhile, Fairford becomes an acolyte for the dottering apostle of the god, Issac of the Jug, setting the stage for a clash of interests between our two heroes. As the Issac of the Jug religion gains popularity and wealth, the Mouser is tasked with extracting funds from Fairford's mentor.

While the devil and his adventures and misadventures with corrupt humans require some traditional assumptions, Robert Silverberg presents one basic premise all his own, and a revelation you will not have encountered before.