When your soul is parted from your body, what - or who - will you haunt?

And will that haunting come from a love that spans the boundary of life and death - or from a seething, unending hate?

Today’s story is The Dead Man’s Tale, by Willard E. Hawkins, and was originally published in Weird Tales’ inaugural issue in 1923 - making it a product of its time.

This episode also includes the first iteration of a new segment on the show, called Ask the Cryptic Consultant.

For content warnings, show notes, or to submit your own query for the Cryptic Consultant, visit samanthascathe.com .

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H. G. Wells is renowned for his science fiction tales - but he's not above a creepy, ghostly tale, and The Red Room is just that: a first-person account of what happens when you try to use skepticism as a shield against the unknown. But can skepticism - or even a gun - protect you from the dark?

The Red Room was first published in 1894 and is a product of its time. For show notes, content warnings, and the full text of the tale, visit SamanthaScathe.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thenightstories.substack.com

The letter X contains, within its simple shape, multitudes, for it stands for much in the mathematical arts - and sometimes, indeed, X marks the spot.

But could it stand for more? Could it have a darker meaning?

The Unknown Quantity by E. R. Punshon was first published in 1916 and is, like all our tales, a product of its time. For show notes, content warnings, and the full text of the tale, visit SamanthaScathe.com

Now we turn to a world of blood and mathematics....

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Today we round out the last of the Christmas Creepies series for the year with a tale of an eerie haunting, from the pen of Elizabeth Gaskell.

The Old Nurse’s Story was originally published in 1852 and is a product of its time. For content warnings, show notes, and the full text of the tale, visit SamanthaScathe.com .

Let Gaskell’s tale transport you to an isolated country manor in a cold, wintry Westmoreland - if you dare.

Tread carefully in the frozen months, my darklings. You never know what you may find in the fell…

The Night Stories: Tales of Madness, Woe and Terror from the Golden Age of Horror.

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The Christmas Creepies series continues with a tale of graveyards and goblins! Gravedigger Gabriel Grub simply yearns for peace away from the frolicking and merriment of Christmastime in the abbey town. But when he tries to take solace in digging a grave, his night takes a turn for the ghoulish.

Pour a mug of something black and curl up for a cozy tale of punishment and remorse.

This story originally appeared in 1836 and is, like all our tales, a product of its time. For show notes, content warnings, and the full text of the tale, visit samanthascathe.com

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This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thenightstories.substack.com

A tale of murder, ghosts, and Christmastime...

After the successful defense of the murderer John Turk by reason of insanity, the barrister’s secretary prepares to depart the dreary streets of London for a Christmastime of skiing in the Alps. But when his employer sends round a kit bag for him to pack, things take a turn for the eerie….

For content warnings, full text of the story, and more, visit SamanthaScathe.com

Special thanks to this week’s sponsors, Wake the Dead Coffee and Robertson’s Restrictive Waistcoats.

While this story was was first published in 1908 and thus falls into the public domain, this performance is ©2023, and all rights are reserved.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thenightstories.substack.com