Classic Ghost Stories

The Ghost of Jerry Bundler by W. W. Jacobs is Jacob's second most famous supernatural fiction short story after The Monkey's Paw. It's a Christmas Ghost story set in the bar of an old coaching inn in an English country town just a few days short of Christmas. A group of travellers find themselves having to stay over Christmas at the haunted inn and begin to entertain and ultimately terrify themselves.

A spooky little story for Christmas ghosts with a twist at the end that deserves its place on any podcast that reads out classic horror audiobooks.


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A Fall of Snow by James Turner is a beautifully written and poignant story about a childhood visit to his uncle and a mysterious happening that stayed with him for the rest of his life. The story is set in a large house at Christmas, which is situated in the English County of Suffolk. It is a tale about family, loss, love, and friendship, and it is told in Turner's trademark lyrical style. It is an excellent read for anyone who loves atmospheric stories that explore the human condition.

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The Magic Shop by H G Wells was published in 1903. "The Magic Shop" is a fantasy short story about a little English boy named Gip who wanted his father to take him into a magic shop they found while walking. They don't know that what they're about to see in the magic shop will permanently change both of their lives.

A whimsical story on a similar theme to a previous story we read out on The Classic Ghost Stories Podcast: The Door In The Wall. H G Wells is saying that there is a world of magic and wonder that is always present and can be seen with those who have innocent and wondering eyes and hearts. But our ability to see it gets duller as we get tied up with the necessities of modern living and so we may miss our chance at wonder. A perfect bedtime story.

A sweet and lovely audiobook story with only a tiny bit of horror and not much sci fi (science fiction)

#audiobook #magicshop #ToyShop #FullAudiobook #Fantasyfiction

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The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving is the classic Halloween story. It appears to be a ghost story, but is it?

It was published in 1819 and has some classic features of later horror stories and contemporary Gothic tropes.  

In summary, a hapless, awkward, greedy, and self-opinionated schoolmaster fancies he has a chance with the coquettish 18-year-old daughter of a local landowner. He wants to marry her as much for the monetary rewards and food as for her own charms. 

But this Ichabod Crane had to contend with a headless horseman in this earliest of spooky tales.

It's a book in itself, albeit a short one, and the tale is very well written by author Washington Irving, who injects wry humor and who clearly was a great observer of human character and failings. 

It was made into a scary movie by Tim Burton

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The Dead is is the last story, and the longest from James Joyce's 1914 short stories collection: Dubliners. It is longer than the rest, being more like a novella. It is considered one of the classics of Irish literature, and possibly the best literary short fiction in the English language.

Dubliners is a rich and generous story and though Joyce was considered a pioneer of modernist literature, with his 1922 novel Ulysses and especially with Finnegans Wake in 1939.

Joyce left Ireland in 1904 and lived abroad in Trieste, Switzerland and Paris and never really lived in Dublin again but his books and all his writing are set among the people and places he grew up amongst.

See a full analysis and summary here: https://www.ghostpod.org/2022/11/05/the-dead-by-james-joyce-analysis/

This audio book reading is by Tony Walker of The Classic Ghost Stories Podcast.  

It was made into a film in 1987, by John Huston starring Anjelica Huston and Donal McCann. 

Download my narrations of some stories at my Bandcamp site
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Visit the Website For Story Notes
https://www.ghostpod.org/2022/11/05/the-dead-by-james-joyce-analysis/

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The Company of Wolves by Angela Carter is a work of genius. There, I've said it.

The Company of Wolves by Angela Carter is a short story from her collection The Bloody Chamber published in 1979 that was made into the 1984 film called, surprisingly The Company of Wolves, by Neil Jordan and starring, amongst others, Angela Lansbury.

In summary, the story is a version of the Little Red Riding Hood folk story or fairy tale but with a modern, possibly feminist, certainly gothic twist. It's no secret that it involves werewolves, the threatening kind not the Kindle book kind, of which no more shall be mentioned. There is also a grandmother who gets eaten. A simmering of a young girl's sexual awakening underlies Angela Carter's story, but it's all done in the best possible taste (unlike the Kindle werewolf books of which I promised I would say nothing)

Here is a short analysis of The Company of Wolves.

The story begins by setting up the milieu: a peasant community in a north European forest that struggles to survive in the winter and has to guard itself against the common predators. Not only are there common predators but there are werewolves too which are the worst combination of the savage wolf and the savage man . The worst wolves are hairy on the inside.

The Little Red Riding Hood avatar, a cocky, spoiled young girl goes walking through the dangerous wood. She is savvy enough to carry a knife and keep to the path. Unlike in the myth of Little Red Riding Hood where the Huntsman and the Wolf are separate figures, in this story they are one. 

The girl is in the cusp of womanhood but still intact. Even so she has an interest in such things as kissing. She has a bet with the Huntsman about who will arrive first at Granny's cottage. If she loses she has to give him a kiss so she dawdles so that she will deliberately lose.

He is a hungry wolf and has already not been able to resist snacking on his pheasant. The old granny is no match for him. An old woman at the edge of death, she cannot seduce him so he eats her.

It is clear that his initial interest in all these women is culinary not sexual: he wants to eat them only.

Red Riding Hood arrives next. She soon guesses that this is the wolf and that he has eaten her granny and that she is in real danger of him doing the same to her.

I think Carter had three options here: 

1. Little Red Riding Hood as weak woman victim who has to be saved by a man. As someone writing feminist literature, it's not surprising Carter didn't choose this.
2. An all men are evil feminist version where the woman kills the wolf herself
3. Or far better ending she did choose. Our Little Red Riding Hood is brave and competent and she knows the power she has over werewolves, which is the power she has over the male part of the beast. She knew she was no one's meat and with her seduction, she charms the violence of the male through the realisation and use of her power as a woman. And so the beast is tamed through the Savage Wedding

In this vision, the best relationship between man and woman is one of partnership, and that violence has no place within their loving and physical relationship.

However, violence might be needed outside the home where it is proper to protect the people and the community.







#AngelaLansbury #NeilJordan #LittleRedRidingHood

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 Ray Bradbury wrote "The Witch Door" in 1995.

The main characters live in a dilapidated New England farmhouse. They've come to escape from the totalitarian Government and collapsing cities. 

One night, one night, they hear a hammering on the Witch Door in their house.

The witch door dates back to 1680 when people used it to hide witches from the Salme Witch Trials.

The noises grow louder and a woman bursts out of the tiny room behind the door and woman dashes out into the night.   Set in the future, The Witch Door is that mixes science fiction and dystopian futures with a witch thrown in to make the point.

A woman friend of theirs who is on the run from the Government, arrives and asks the to hide her.

They put her in the room beyond the Witch Door.


#fullaudiobook #books #bradbury #raybradbury #audiobook

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The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral by M R James was published in 1910. It is one of Montague Rhodes James's most famous and best loved, or most feared, stories. As often with M R James, these are not just comforting cuddly ghosts — the ghost cat is decidedly disturbing — but there is something scary and demonic about the stalls themselves.

Thanks to Gavin Critchley for sponsoring this Halloween 2022 episode of The Classic Ghost Stories Podcast. It's not the first he has sponsored but his kindness has allowed me to do this for all of you. Thank you, Gavin.

The stalls are the wooden seats in a cathedral where the clergy and other officials of the church sit.  Not for the first time either do I see something decidedly folk horror in James's work with reference to the old tree that was used for unspeakable old folk things being the substances of the stalls. 

The BBC did a well-loved ghost story for Christmas of The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral, but this is my audio book version for you.

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Happy Halloween! A disturbing and scary tale that will be performed live in Whitehaven this Halloween as part of our Eerie Cumbria programme.

I hope you will be suitably disturbed by it, even it you don't live in Whitehaven.

You can listen to my version of Dracula free on Bandcamp (you get to play each chapter 3 x before you have to pay a cent) if you need more Halloween vibes.

https://theclassicghoststoriespodcast.bandcamp.com/album/dracula-by-bram-stoker

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Sardonicus by Ray Russell is possibly the best Gothic horror story written in the 20th century.  Ray Russell's mastery of language elevates this piece of genre fiction into literature.  

Russell's reading of character and masterful portrayal of dark nuances are evident. It is such quality even though the author wrote it for Playboy magazine. This tale is perfect for Halloween, but it's captivating all year long. 
It features a castle with a strange master, a beautiful woman in trouble,  individuals, disfigurement, an isolated setting, and a perplexing plot that our protagonist must unravel. 
Ray Russell serves as a link between contemporary masters of the dark like Thomas Ligotti and classic goth favourites like Dracula. 

It was published in 1961 and adapted into the movie Mr Sardonicus the same year, showing that its quality was instantly recognised

Sadly, little this gothic masterpiece is little read now, but Sardonicus deserves to be resurrected!

#audiobook #freeaudiobooks #audiobooksfulllength #audiobooktube #booklover #audible

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