Showing results by narrator "David Thorpe" in All Categories

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?

Writer Cyril Glendinning is waiting for his big break. He is well reviewed by cultured newspapers, but he makes very little money. Then he is commissioned to write a novel for a big publisher, but before he is able to finish, disaster strikes. His wife, Gertrude, is left penniless and alone, until she is awoken one night by a mysterious clicking metallic sound....

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.

Twins are supposed to be similar, but the Yeld brothers could not be more different and they detest each other. But then jealousy and rivalry bubble over when they both fall for Ivy Dene, and a deep-sea mission turns deadly.

A steam yacht is sailing the North Atlantic when they spot a mysterious light. Upon investigation, they discover a derelict cargo ship but when they board, superstitions soon turn to very real fears for the safety of the crew.

The Sargasso Sea was a popular theme for writers in the early 20th century, and ‘Sargasso’ attempts to solve the mystery of a tramp steamer that mysteriously disappeared on its voyage between Cardiff and Trinidad. The steamer is discovered four years later, riding calmly on the waves with no apparent signs of damage, but what happened to her crew? Perhaps the diary of a journalist which is found on board will shed some light on this fateful vessel.

Set in the remote Yorkshire Valleys, the narrator in this story returns to the holiday home of his childhood. He has inherited the house from his uncle and has come to oversee the renovations with a friend. However, it soon becomes apparent the house is haunted by a ghost with an awful secret.

Hester Ward is blessed with youth, health, beauty, a husband and two adorable children, but she is being tormented by a face in her dreams. It is hoped that a holiday by the coast will relieve her, but the face eventually manifests itself.

In the remote town of Firham-By-Sea, two holidaymakers are curious about the derelict Corner House and its mysterious owners. Upon investigation, they unveil the grim story of Mr and Mrs Labson.

‘The Bath-Chair’ tells the story of the Faraday siblings. Edmund is a shrewd businessman, priding himself on his impeccable health. His spinster sister, Alice, lives with him performing all domestic duties and despises him. When Edmund starts seeing a lame figure who looks startlingly like himself and his own health starts mysteriously declining, Alice revels in plotting his downfall.

Concerned for their recently widowed friend Harry, Vincent and Tom join him in Egypt for a boat trip along the Nile. Whilst the widower seems determined to forget his late wife, he recreates their honeymoon voyage, and their evening games of cards soon attract an unsettling presence.

A positive spin on the supernatural, ‘Pirates’ sees ageing industrialist Peter Graham return to his former family home in Cornwall after more than 40 years. The ghosts of the house represent happy memories of his childhood.

It’s Christmas in the Chandler household, and as the party gather around the fire, their host Everard recalls a ghostly tale from the previous Christmas in the misty forests of Scotland.

From the vaults of the British Library comes a new anthology celebrating the best works of forgotten, never-since-republished supernatural fiction from the early 20th century. Waiting within are malevolent spirits eager to possess the living and mysterious spectral guardians - a diverse host of phantoms exhumed from the rare pages of literary magazines and newspaper serials to thrill once more.

Known for his nautical themes, William Hope Hodgson begins this story with a small rowing boat in distress and its sailor regaling a tragic tale. This story differs from many in the botanical gothic genre in that it features sinister fungi, as opposed to the traditional vines, flowers or trees.

A dinner party ends with a sudden death, and it is up to Major Bob Seymour to get to the bottom of the mystery, using his knowledge of exotic flora.

A tragic past comes back to haunt the present in The Ash Tree. When Sir Richard Fell inherits Castringham Hall, it comes with a curse that has caused the mysterious deaths of the previous owners.