Showing results by author "Laura Purcell" in All Categories

Inspired by the work of Shirley Jackson and Susan Hill and set in a crumbling country mansion, The Silent Companions is an unsettling Victorian gothic ghost story that will send a shiver down the spine.... Newly married, newly widowed Elsie is sent to see out her pregnancy at her late husband's crumbling country estate, The Bridge. With her new servants resentful and the local villagers actively hostile, Elsie only has her husband's awkward cousin for company. Or so she thinks.

Winter, with its unsettling blend of the cosy and the sinister, has long been a popular time for gathering by the bright flame of a candle, or the warm crackling of a fire, and swapping stories of ghosts and strange happenings. Now eight best-selling, award-winning authors, master storytellers of the sinister and the macabre bring this time-honoured tradition to vivid life in a spellbinding collection of new and original haunted tales.

Belinda Bainbridge has spent her life in the shadow of her anxious mother, so when her father-in-law dies at The Bridge, his remote ancestral seat, she is secretly thrilled. His death means she, her husband Wilfred and their children can relocate and finally begin to create their own happy home together: born a merchant’s daughter, she will now be lady of the manor.

A Daphne du Maurier-esque chiller set on the mysterious Cornish coast from the author of The Silent Companions and The Corset. Consumption has ravaged Louise Pinecroft’s family, leaving her and her father alone and heartbroken. But Dr Pinecroft has plans for a revolutionary experiment: convinced that sea air will prove to be the cure his wife and children needed, he arranges to house a group of prisoners suffering from the same disease in the cliffs beneath his new Cornish home.

From Dickens's A Christmas Carol to the ghost stories of M.R. James, the tradition of a haunted tale at Christmas has flourished across the centuries. The twelve stories of The Winter Spirits are all centred around Christmas or Advent, boldly and playfully re-imagining a beloved tradition for a modern audience. Taking you from a haunted Tuscan villa to a remote Scottish island with a dark secret, and drawing inspiration from festive traditions from all around the globe, these vibrant haunted stories are your ultimate companion for frosty nights.

At The Mercury Theatre in London's West End, rumours are circulating of a curse. It is said that the lead actress Lilith has made a pact with Melpomene, the tragic muse of Greek mythology, to become the greatest actress to ever grace the stage. Suspicious of Lilith, the jealous wife of the theatre owner sends dresser Jenny to spy on her, and desperate for the money to help her family, Jenny agrees.

Silhouette artist Agnes is struggling to keep her business afloat. Still recovering from a serious illness herself, making enough money to support her elderly mother and her orphaned nephew Cedric has never been easy, but then one of her clients is murdered shortly after sitting for Agnes, and then another, and another...

Dorothea and Ruth. Ruth and Dorothea. Prison visitor and prisoner. Powerful and powerless. Dorothea Truelove is young, wealthy and beautiful. Ruth Butterham is young, poor and awaiting trial for murder. When Dorothea is asked to visit Ruth as part of her charitable works, she could not be more delighted. Her first encounter with a murderer will provide the perfect opportunity to explore Dorothea’s fascination with phrenology and test her theories that the shape of a person’s skull can cast a light on their darkest crimes.

Homeless Bodies and Other Stories is an original fiction podcast featuring audio-exclusive short stories from award-winning authors and Sunday Times best-sellers, inspired by objects & artefacts from Wellcome Collection's permanent exhibition, 'Medicine Man', in London.

Following a scandal at the Vauxhall pleasure gardens, Camille is sent to the woods to live with her reclusive godmother and her strange daughter, Lucy. Cast out from polite society, she must learn to live by her godmother’s strict rules. Camille has never met anyone quite like Lucy before, and as they grow closer and cross forbidden boundaries, strange things begin to happen. Mysterious deaths, claw marks raking the doors, and the nights are pierced by the howls of a creature that sounds almost . . . otherworldly.

A twisty Gothic historical fantasy by the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Silent Companions Tabitha would do anything to remain at her ancestral home of Reynard’s Hollow. So, while marrying her cousin Vincent isn’t an inspiring proposition, things could be worse. He doesn’t hold a...

Die Tradition, zur kalten Jahreszeit Spukgeschichten zu lesen, hat sich über die Jahrhunderte hinweg bewährt. Denn was gibt es Schöneres, als es sich an langen, dunklen Winterabenden bei Kerzenlicht mit Geistergeschichten gemütlich zu machen? In Wintergeister hauchen sechs hochgelobte Autor*innen und Expert*innen des unheimlichen Erzählens der Tradition des Schauermärchens neues Leben ein. Ein heimgesuchtes Herrenhaus, ein unheilvolles Theaterstück und eine Geisterbeschwörung zaubern eine wohlige Gänsehaut.

Quelque chose punit les habitants de la petite colonie de Roanoke... Prenez garde pauvre pécheurs. 1587, Caroline du Nord, Agnès a quitté l'Angleterre à contre cœur pour suivre Thomas, un homme d'église auquel elle est mariée, à Roanoke. Celui-ci espère une vie meilleure, mais il ne reste plus rien de la première colonie et Agnès craint que la seconde ne subisse le même sort devant le manque de ressources, la rigueur de l'hiver et la famine qui guette.

Einige Türen sind aus einem bestimmten Grund verschlossen... England, 1866: Als Elsie den reichen Erben Rupert Bainbridge heiratet, glaubt sie, nun ein Leben im Luxus vor sich zu haben. Doch nur wenige Wochen nach ihrer Hochzeit ist sie bereits verwitwet. Und dazu schwanger. Elsie bezieht das alte Landgut ihres verstorbenen Mannes. Da ihre neuen Diener ihr gegenüber äußerst reserviert sind, hat Elsie nur die ungeschickte Cousine ihres Mannes zur Gesellschaft. Zumindest glaubt sie das. Doch in ihrem neuen Zuhause existiert ein verschlossener Raum.

Camille wird zu ihrer Patentante und deren Tochter Lucy geschickt, die in einem kleinen Haus im Wald wohnen. Weit weg vom Komfort der Stadt muss sie sich nun den strengen Regeln ihrer Tante fügen. Camille hat noch nie zuvor jemanden wie Lucy getroffen, ein blasses, kränkliches Mädchen, das von Sternen träumt, aber den Wald nie verlassen hat. Als sich die beiden anfreunden, häufen sich unheimliche Ereignisse: Mysteriöse Tode, Kratzspuren an den Türen und in den Nächten hallt das schreckliche Heulen einer unbekannten Kreatur durch den Wald.

Every week join co-hosts Nadia and Laura as they tap into the minds of inspirational creatives to discover their collective wisdom while navigating their own creative rumblings.What is a creative rumble?A creative rumble is in you. It is a feeling. It starts as an inkling of ‘there must be something more’, ‘what happens when I try this?’. When the inkling grows to an awareness it becomes a hunger, that grows and strengthens.Hands begin to play and shape new materials, sounds and words. Mini problems are solved, new meals are created and served with a flourish, the garden begins to ...