"Hither the Gods come not at any summons. The Nameless One has insulted them and is forever alone. Go not nigh, lest their vengeance wither you away!" The warning was inscribed on the entrance of the hidden tomb, forgotten for millennia in the sands of mystic Egypt. Then the archaeologists and grave robbers came in... read more »
As boys, Jimmie Tunstall was John Talbot's implacable foe, never ceasing to taunt, torment, and bully him. Years later, John is married and living in a small coastal town when he learns, much to his chagrin, that his old adversary has just moved to the same town. Before long the harassment begins anew until finally... read more »
With its strange, imaginative blend of horror, science fiction, romance and lyrical prose, Robert W. Chambers' The King in Yellow is a classic masterpiece of weird fiction. This series of vaguely connected stories is linked by the presence of a monstrous and suppressed book which brings fright, madness and spectral... read more »
The tale of Rupert Sent Leger, who has inherited huge amount of money under one condition: to keep it, he must help the people of the Blue Mountain gain their independence. Visited by a young and beautiful lady, he is in despair about whether she might be a vampire. Set in the early nineteenth century, Brams fiction... read more »
In a tale of ancient evil, Bram Stoker creates a world of lurking horrors and bizarre denizens: a demented mesmerist, hellbent on mentally crushing the girl he loves; a gigantic kite raised to rid the land of an unnatural infestation of birds, and which receives strange commands along its string; and all the while... read more »
Ichabod Crane, a schoolteacher, came to Tarry Town in the glen of Sleepy Hollow to ply his trade in educating young minds. He was a gullible and excitable fellow, often so terrified by locals' stories of ghosts that he would hurry through the woods on his way home, singing to keep from hysterics. Until late one... read more »
"I would rather be an angel than God!" is the very first sentence in Stoker's fiction "The Man". It presents his sentimental ideals at the same time conveying his philosophical thoughts. Children have been presented as beacon of light from whom the elders should learn about honesty and innocence. A horror tale is... read more »
Dealing mainly with the mysterious and the inexplicable, these stories lead the reader through the weird, uncharted borderland swayed by the psychic supernatural or invisible powers. Mystery, romance, and adventure abound in them. Contrasting with tales of this type are realistic tales of both the past and the... read more »
The Most Dangerous Game features as its main character a big-game hunter from New York, who becomes shipwrecked on an isolated island in the Caribbean, and is hunted by a Russian aristocrat. The story is an inversion of the big-game hunting safaris in Africa and South America that were fashionable among wealthy... read more »
In the years following the success of his novel Dracula, Bram Stoker took on an even more ambitious creative feat: combining mystery, romance, adventure, Gothic atmosphere, and supernatural elements in one gripping tale. The end result of this process of experimentation was The Mystery of the Sea. If you're a fan of... read more »
Often considered as Lovecrafts first Cthulhu Mythos story, The Nameless City is an ancient ruin located somewhere in the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula and is older than any human civilization. In ancient times, the city was built and inhabited by an unnamed race of reptiles with a body shaped like a cross between... read more »
The Phantom Rickshaw & Other Eerie Tales brings together four of Kipling's most-loved short stories. Each deals with events that can't quite be explained away, whether a traditional ghost story, a terrifyingly realistic nightmare or an sumptuous and lavish romance. Powerful, exotic and extravagant, these tales are... read more »
The Raven is noted for its musicality, stylized language and supernatural atmosphere, it tells of the mysterious visit of a talking raven to a distraught lover, tracing his slow descent into madness. This illustrated version contains detailed, masterly engravings by Gustave Dorés, from a 19th-century edition of The... read more »
A story of the shocking revelation that came to the twenty-first Baron Kralitz. Kuttner's contribution to Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos, a dark gothic tale, in which he introduces the lesser known diety; Iod. read more »
Rumours abound of sinister goings-on in the ancient Massachusetts seaport of Innsmouth. The once prosperous town, which has fallen into a state of decrepitude and decay, is a stopover destination for Robert Olmstead, a young historian on a tour of the region. Despite hearing ominous tales of the town and its... read more »
For many years the protagonist and his uncle, Dr. Elihu Whipple, have nurtured a fascination with an old, abandoned house on Benefit Street. Dr. Whipple has made extensive records tracking the mysterious, yet apparently coincidental sickness and death of many who have lived in the house for over one hundred years... read more »
Good and evil, right and wrong. Both are seen through the eyes of John Utterson, a lawyer and friend of the scientist Dr. Jekyll. After hearing the alarming account of the horrendous trampling of a small girl "like some damned juggernaut" by a violent man named Mr. Hyde, who also holds a connection to the lawyer’s... read more »
A story of two friends with quite different temperaments, in which one hates the other, though keeps it very well hidden. The story ends badly for both though it is how the final death happens which makes this a suitably weird story. read more »
Daniel Upton, the story's narrator, begins by telling that he has killed his best friend, Edward Derby, and that he hopes his account will prove that he is not a murderer... The Thing on the Doorstep is an important part of Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. read more »
The story starts conventionally enough with friends sharing ghost stories 'round the fire on Christmas Eve. One of the guests tells about a governess at a country house plagued by supernatural visitors. But in the hands of Henry James, the master of nuance, this little tale of terror is an exquisite gem of sexual... read more »
The story is told by Albert N. Wilmarth, an instructor of literature at Miskatonic University in Arkham. When local newspapers report strange things seen floating in rivers during a historic Vermont flood, Wilmarth becomes embroiled in a controversy about the reality and significance of the sightings, though he... read more »
Armand Gervase has it all. He is a famous artist, his paintings are hung in national galleries, and he is celebrated worldwide. His best-known painting, depicting an alluring Egyptian woman about to murder her lover, is known for its minute, historic detail, yet Armand has no experience with Egypt's ancient... read more »