In Episode 19 of Touch of the Gothic Whimsey, we descend into the oppressive stillness of a summer afternoon with W. F. Harvey’s unnerving classic, “August Heat.”

This tale of uncanny coincidence and creeping dread follows an artist who sketches a stranger’s likeness—only to discover that the man already seems bound to a violent fate. As the heat thickens and reality warps, the story unfolds with the quiet inevitability of prophecy.

Perfect for listeners who savor atmospheric horror, psychological tension, and the subtle terror of destiny closing in. This reading blends gothic nuance with the eerie simplicity that makes Harvey’s work unforgettable.

Continue your descent into Bram Stoker’s masterpiece with Dracula Part II. This episode follows Jonathan Harker’s desperate struggle within the castle and the widening shadow that begins to stretch toward England.

In Part II, listeners will encounter:

• Harker’s mounting terror and attempts at escape

• The Count’s calculated preparations for his journey

• The tightening web of dread that binds the novel’s early chapters

Atmospheric, faithful, and richly narrated—this installment deepens the horror and sets the stage for the Count’s arrival beyond Transylvania.

In this seventeenth episode of Touch of the Gothic Whimsey, we wander into the eerie quiet of rural Ireland through J. S. LeFanu’s strange and spectral tale, “The White Cat of Drumgunniol.”

This story blends domestic unease, folkloric superstition, and the subtle dread LeFanu mastered so well. A mysterious white cat appears at the threshold of a troubled household—an omen, a guardian, or something far more uncanny. As tensions rise and secrets coil beneath the surface, the creature’s presence becomes impossible to ignore.

Join me for a reading steeped in gothic atmosphere, hearth‑magic, and the lingering chill of things half‑seen. Perfect for listeners who crave folklore, ghostly ambiguity, and the soft rustle of the supernatural brushing against the everyday.

Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla remains one of the most haunting and intimate vampire tales ever written. In this episode of Touch of a Gothic Whimsey, the quiet seclusion of Styria becomes the stage for a slow, hypnotic intrusion of the uncanny.

This narration draws listeners into:

• The eerie bond between Laura and the enigmatic Carmilla

• The creeping dread beneath the story’s sensual charm

• Le Fanu’s masterful blend of folklore, fear, and forbidden desire

A foundational work of gothic vampirism—perfect for listeners who crave atmospheric horror with emotional depth.

This is part one of three, each Friday will get the next part. Begin your descent into Bram Stoker’s immortal masterpiece with Dracula Part I. This episode opens the gates to Transylvania, where Jonathan Harker’s journey becomes a slow, dreadful initiation into the realm of the undead.

In Part I, listeners will encounter:

• The foreboding isolation of Castle Dracula

• The Count’s unsettling hospitality and predatory charm

• The creeping dread that sets the tone for the entire novel

Ideal for listeners who crave classic gothic horror delivered with atmospheric narration and reverence for the original text.

Step into the shadowed world of Guy Boothby’s The Professor of Egyptology, where scholarship becomes fixation and ancient mysteries stir beneath the surface of modern life. This episode of Touch of a Gothic Whimsey guides listeners through a story steeped in relics, ritual, and the peril of seeking knowledge not meant for mortal hands.

You’ll hear:

• The professor’s descent into dangerous fascination

• The eerie atmosphere of forgotten tombs and whispered curses

• Themes of intellectual pride, forbidden lore, and supernatural consequence

Perfect for lovers of Edwardian occult fiction, academic gothic, and tales where curiosity becomes a haunting.

A young priest, sworn to purity and devotion, finds his fate entangled with the exquisite and otherworldly Clarimonde—a woman whose beauty seems to shimmer beyond mortal boundaries. In this haunting tale by Théophile Gautier, desire becomes a doorway, death becomes a veil, and the soul stands perilously between the sacred and the profane.

Tonight’s reading invites you into a world where moonlit chambers, whispered temptations, and spectral elegance converge. This is a story of longing that refuses to die, of a love that stretches across the threshold of the grave, and of a man who discovers that the heart’s deepest shadows are not so easily sanctified.

Settle in by the candlelight. Let the quiet hush of the night draw you into Gautier’s decadent, dream‑laden vision.This is Episode 12: Clarimonde.

Margery Lawrence’s The Man Who Came Back is a masterwork of spectral tension and emotional unease. In this episode, the boundary between life and death thins, allowing one soul to cross it with purpose—and with consequences.

This narration explores:

• A chilling return that defies natural law

• The lingering weight of unresolved bonds

• Lawrence’s signature blend of tenderness and terror

A perfect addition to your gothic archive: atmospheric, intimate, and unsettling in the way only Lawrence can be.

A haunting anthology of classic ghost and supernatural fiction from the masters of the genre — M.R. James, Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood, and Anatole Le Braz. Drift through eerie scrapbooks, wailing wells, and glowing lights in the woods across seven full stories, ending with crackling fire sounds for deep, restful sleep. Perfect for fans of Victorian and Edwardian gothic horror, atmospheric narration, and long-form ghost stories to fall asleep to.Stories & Timestamps • Notes on Stories I Have Written — M. R. James• The Wailing Well — M. R. James• The Neighbour’s Landmark — M. R. James• 01:26:00 Inmost Light — Arthur Machen• 02:27:00 The White People — Arthur Machen• 03:49:00 The Owl — Anatole Le Braz• 04:07:00 Canon Alberic’s Scrapbook — M. R. James• 04:48:00 The Man Whom the Trees Loved — Algernon Blackwood• 07:12:00 Crackling fire sounds for sleep

Two haunting Victorian ghost stories told in a soft‑dark, candlelit narration. The Ghost of Manibere Court by Louisa Grace Hutchinson follows a guest who discovers that her host’s wife is not merely eccentric, but dangerously unhinged—creeping through the house at night, draped in a sheet, searching for jewels that aren’t hers.

The Château de Kéronel, an Anonymous French Gothic tale, tells of a woman visiting Brittany with her sister’s family, only to witness a spectral funeral procession that foreshadows tragedy. What she sees outside the château becomes a chilling omen of the deaths to come.

Perfect for listeners who love Victorian ghost stories, French and English Gothic settings, and quiet supernatural dread delivered with clarity and hearth‑magic.