Showing results by publisher "Isis Publishing Ltd" in Science Fiction & Fantasy

Amateur violinist and collector Herman Yorke is overjoyed when he is chosen to play first violin in the Amateur Orchestral Society. In the audience, however, he is distracted by a beautiful woman that is watching him. After several concerts, he decides to approach the woman, but Herman soon discovers that he is the only person who can see her.

A traditional psychological ghost story, ‘A Phantom Lover’ tells the story of an artist who is commissioned to paint eccentric couple Mr and Mrs Oke of Okehurst. But the Okes have a dark family history, and the fateful events of two centuries previous come back to haunt them.

When a broken effigy of Christ washes up on a beach in Flanders, it is displayed in the local church. Strange miracles start drawing people to the town to worship, but then these unexplainable events start to turn sinister.

'When Spirits Steal’ features regular protagonists from Philippa Forest: businessman Peter Carwell and artist Wilton. Wilton recalls a holiday in Somerset where they encountered Mary, a young girl with a nervous disposition whose sleepwalking and vivid dreams lead Carwell to believe she is being possessed by a spirit.

When a Londoner retreats to the Cornish Coast for a break, he encounters a veiled woman. Could it be the ghost of intrepid explorer Miss Alice Trellings, who disappeared whilst staying at the hotel?

Inspired by a sketch of a poor woman driven to madness by artist Cecchino, wealthy Madame Krasinska attends a ball in fancy dress mocking the old woman. But after the ball, she is overcome by severe depression. Could the old woman be haunting her as punishment?

When Carstone visits his old friend, Brendan, one night, he is intrigued by the empty house next door, which is said to be haunted. Despite his host telling him many of the spooky tales that surround the old house, he accepts a dare to spend the night at The Gables, but his bravado soon falters....

Written in 1905, this is Vernon Lee’s final genuinely weird tale, and it tells the 18th-century legend of Sister Benvenuta, a nun who wrote letters to a model of infant Christ. Whilst unexpectedly funny in places, this short story has dark undertones.

‘A Wicked Voice’ reuses the theme of music from beyond the grave from Vernon Lee’s first ghost story, ‘Winthrop’s Adventure’. Here, young composer Magnus is writing an opera, determined to go against the conventions of his predecessors, but he soon finds himself haunted by a voice beyond the grave which overpowers him and stops him writing.

A group of telegraphists are on the edge of their seats awaiting news of the prime minister who is dying. But a storm causes a power cut, and one of the men, Old Shayler, recalls a stormy night 15 years ago, where a man was killed, and not by the lightning....

Two friends embark on a walking tour of northern France, but they encounter a strange fellow traveller who they struggle to shake off on their journey.

A postman encounters a strange letterbox in this spooky story. He’s never seen the occupants of the house, the windows and doors are shuttered and any letters posted through the mysterious letterbox disappear into a void of black. It isn’t long before the postman and the local community must investigate.

Phantom Death is an imaginative story about a painting that has perplexed crowds across Europe. The painting must be viewed in solitude and is presented in a dark room, draped in black silken rope. When the unnamed narrator views the painting for himself, though, he is interrupted by another, setting off an unexpected chain of events.

Ernest Roydon is distressed by a mysterious apparition that appears around his house. What he initially thinks is a trick of the light soon starts taking on a more human form, until he’s too scared to stay in the house on his own and must enlist the help of a friend.

One of the author’s earliest pieces of short horror fiction, ‘On the Embankment’ introduces us to London’s homeless population as they fight for space on seats to sleep each night. However, no matter how busy it is or desperate the sleepers are, there’s always one seat that is mysteriously left empty....

Written just after the end of the First World War, ‘Kearney’ follows Lieutenant Belden who seems to be haunted by one of his men who died in a terrible accident....

Henry Grimshaw prides himself on his dual personality. By night, he is a socialite and eligible bachelor; by day, he is a clothing factory tyrant, with fugitives working for him who he hands over to the authorities if they step out of line. When Cyrus Sabinette meets Grimshaw at a party, he initially wants in on the operation, but when Grimshaw refuses to be blackmailed, he devises a cunning plan to get back at the factory owner. Is he just a master of illusion, or can he conjure the dead?

Englishman Essart is enjoying his holiday in Portugal when he is enchanted by a mysterious fragrance. The scent makes him long for a woman, and he finds himself drawn into the trees in the hope of finding someone there.

The return of the veiled lady to Chilcote Priory fills Mrs Peterson with dread. The ghostly apparition was too rare for them to accept the house is haunted, and they had managed to brush it under the carpet, but when it scares their latest maid senseless, Mrs Peterson thinks the ghostly visitor has a message this time.

A response to all ships sunk in action during the war, James Francis Dwyer uses the supernatural to achieve his end in this short story, as an Australian sailor recalls his journey on a pearl schooner and his experience of a ghost ship.