Clark Ashton Smith's "Symposium of the Gorgon," a masterful blend of satire and fantasy, made its debut in _Fantastic Universe Science Fiction_ in October 1958. Published relatively late in Smith's career, the story showcases his enduring talent for crafting bizarre and imaginative narratives, even as his output had begun to wane. The appearance in _Fantastic Universe_ introduced this darkly humorous tale to a new generation of pulp readers.
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52:09
The Red Room by H G Wells
In H.G. Wells's "The Red Room," a young man, confident in his rationality, seeks to debunk the supernatural in a reputedly haunted chamber. He is certain that his experience will be defined by logic and reason. But the air within the castle walls is heavy with unspoken dread, and as the candles dwindle, something shifts. Is it the room itself, or something within him, that begins to unravel?
"The Red Room" was first published in The Idler magazine in March of 1896. H.G. Wells (1866-1946), a visionary of science fiction and social commentary, explored the depths of human experience with unparalleled skill.
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1:07:20
The Book by Margaret Irwin
Late one fog-bound night, a man goes in search of a book to help him sleep. He finds a book he doesn’t remember. Did he inherit it?
It has no title. No author.
It’s written in Latin, in an unknown but legible hand.
And once he begins to read it, he can’t stop returning to it each night.
He was a happy family man. A little bored, but happy.
But what is he now?
Margaret Irwin’s *The Book* first appeared in *The London Mercury* in 1930—a quietly chilling study of possession, hidden knowledge, and the horrors that live on our own shelves.
⭐ Join my Patreon ⭐
https://patreon.com/barcud
Go here for a library of ad-free stories, a monthly members only story and early access to the regular stories I put out.
You can choose to have ghost stories only, or detective stories or classic literature, or all of them for either $5 or $10 a month.
Many hundreds of hours of stories. Who needs Audible?
Or, if you'd just like to make a one-off gesture of thanks for my work
https://buymeacoffee.com/10mn8sk
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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1:19:38
The Withered Heart by G G Pendarves
Beneath the brooding skies of Braun Fell, the Dewle family grapples with a dark inheritance, and John, a boyhood friend, is urgently summoned to help them navigate their dilemma. A lust for wealth consumes beautiful Jonquil, driving her to urge the use of questionable methods, while her husband, who would do anything to please her, is wary about such a path. So what will John advise? Join me as we unravel this tale of greed, forbidden knowledge, and the shadows that linger in the human heart.
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1:35:09
Huguenin's Wife by P M Shiel
What lives after love dies?
A man once full of charm and wit writes from a forgotten island—Delos, sacred to Apollo, now silent and desolate. He is bound by invisible chains, haunted by the soul of a wife who once tried to revive a long-dead mystery cult, drawing down ancient gods and transfiguring herself through ritual, art, and something far older than reason.
In a mansion of endless chambers lit by perfumed oil, something stirs. Something born of beauty, death, and myth. As memory decays and sanity loosens its grip, only a scarlet thread guides the living through a maze of visions, shadows, and flesh.
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A weekly podcast that reads out ghost stories, horror stories, and weird tales every week. Classic stories from the pens of the masters Occasionally, we feature living authors, but the majority are dead. Some perhaps are undead.
We go from cosy Edwardian ghost stories (E. F. Benson, Walter De La Mare) to Victorian supernatural mysteries (M. R. James, Elizabeth Gaskell, Bram Stoker, and Charles Dickens) to 20th-century Weird Tales (Robert Aickman, Fritz Lieber, Clark Ashton-Smith, and H. P. Lovecraft) and wander from the Gothic to the Odd, even to the Literary, and then back again.
Each episode is followed by Tony's take on the story, its author, its content and any literary considerations, which may be useful to students!
Netherlands