Altri libri che potrebbero interessarti

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  One Autumn Night

  Maxim Gorky

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  It's a touching tale of a young man who finds himself without shelter or food on a cold "Autumn Night" in Moscow. The strong opening lines of the narrator set the stage nicely: "Once in the autumn I happened to be in a very unpleasant and inconvenient position. In the town where I had just arrived and where I knew not a soul, I found myself without a farthing in my pocket and without a night's lodging."Scavenging for something to eat around the "steamship wharves," he encounters another poor wretch, the young woman, Natasha, in similar circumstance if for different reasons. Together they scrounge a loaf of bread and take refuge from the elements (a bitterly cold, freezing rain) under an upside down skiff. Here he learns a little of her circumstances, including how her face came to be marked up, although he could probably already guess that. Her abusive husband has thrown her out, leaving her with a somewhat low opinion of the male of the species: "What wretches all you men are! I'd burn you all in an oven; I'd cut you in pieces. If any one of you was dying I'd spit in his mouth, and not pity him a bit. Mean skunks! You wheedle and wheedle, you wag your tails like cringing dogs, and we fools give ourselves up to you, and it's all up with us! Immediately you trample us underfoot… Miserable loafers."Famous Novels of the author Maxim Gorky: Goremyka Pavel, Published in English as Orphan Paul, Foma Gordeyev, Three of Them,  Also translated as Three Men, The Mother, The Life of a Useless Man,  A Confession, Okurov City, The Life of Matvei Kozhemyakin, The Artamonov Business, Life of Klim Samgin.

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  Vathek

  William Beckford

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  Written in 1786, this Oriental fantasy tells the story of a dissolute and debauched Caliph, Vathek. Having become obsessed with power and immortality, Vathek embarks on a journey to obtain supernatural powers, in pursuit of which he proves willing to renounce his religion and sacrifice both his children and his soul. We follow Vathek’s remarkable travels to the subterranean palace of Eblis, where his ultimate fate awaits him. Among the themes explored in Vathek are ambition, desire and the consequence of unbridled power. The novel influenced several later writers, including Poe and Lovecraft, and is given an exhilarating reading here by Jonathan Keeble.

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  Manon Lescaut

  Abbé Prévost

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  ‘The sweetness of her glance – or rather, my evil star already in its
  ascendant and drawing me to my ruin – did not allow me to hesitate
  for a moment...’ So begins the story of Manon Lescaut, a tale of
  passion and betrayal, of delinquency and misalliance, which moves
  from early 18th-century Paris – with its theatres, assemblies, and
  gaming-houses – via prison and deportation to a tragic denouement
  in the treeless wastes of Louisiana. It is one of the great love stories,
  and also one of the most enigmatic: how reliable a witness is Des
  Grieux, Manon’s lover, whose tale he narrates? Is Manon a thief and
  a whore, the image of love itself, or a thoroughly modern woman?
  Prévost is careful to leave the ambiguities unresolved, and to lay bare
  the disorders of passion.

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  The Phantom Rickshaw and Other...

  Rudyard Kipling

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  "Not every ghost haunts a castle; some haunt the open road in the midday sun."
  
  In this chilling collection, Rudyard Kipling proves that the bright sun of the Indian subcontinent can be just as terrifying as a dark English manor. The title story, The Phantom Rickshaw, follows Jack Pansay, a man haunted by the literal apparition of the woman he spurned—a ghost that only he can see, appearing in a yellow-paneled rickshaw amidst the fashionable crowds of Simla. From the claustrophobic nightmare of a "living graveyard" in The Strange Ride of Morrowbie Jukes to the eerie whispers of the supernatural in the barracks, Kipling explores the thin veil between reality and madness. These are not just ghost stories; they are psychological thrillers that examine guilt, isolation, and the uncanny friction between East and West.
  
  The Horror of the Mind: What makes Kipling's ghosts so effective is their ambiguity. Is Jack Pansay truly seeing a specter, or is he crumbling under the weight of his own moral failures? Kipling was a pioneer of the "psychological ghost," where the supernatural serves as a manifestation of a character's internal decay.
  
  The Strange Ride of Morrowbie Jukes: Often considered a precursor to modern "weird fiction," this standout story features a man trapped in a literal pit of the "living dead." It is a visceral, terrifying exploration of social collapse and the loss of reason that remains one of Kipling's most disturbing achievements.
  
  Why It Is a Must-Read: The Phantom Rickshaw offers a unique perspective on the Victorian ghost story. By transplanting gothic tropes into the vivid, dusty, and complex landscape of India, Kipling created a brand of horror that feels both exotic and intimately human. It is essential reading for fans of classic suspense and anyone interested in the darker side of the colonial imagination.
  
  Experience the ghosts of the Himalayas. Purchase "The Phantom Rickshaw and Other Ghost Stories" today.

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  Tales from the Twilight - The...

  Ambrose Bierce

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  Ambrose Bierce (1842–c.1914) was an American writer, journalist, and satirist known for his mordant wit and dark humor. Born in Meigs County, Ohio, he served in the Union Army during the Civil War, experiences that deeply influenced his later works. After the war, Bierce moved to San Francisco, where he became a prominent figure in literary circles. He contributed to newspapers and magazines with his sharp, often cynical prose. Bierce is best known for his short story collection "Tales of Soldiers and Civilians," particularly the story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," and his satirical dictionary, "The Devil's Dictionary." His later years were marked by travel to England and Mexico; his disappearance in Mexico around 1913 or 1914 remains one of literature's most famous mysteries. Bierce's legacy includes his contributions to the genres of horror and fantasy and his critical view of human nature. 
  Frank Marcopolos lives in Florida with his dog, Sparky. 
  The stories included here are: An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge; The Damned Thing; Staley Fleming's Hallucination; Parker Adderson, Philosopher; The Boarded Window; An Inhabitant of Carcosa; My Favorite Murder; The Middle Toe of the Right Foot; The Death of Halpin Frayser; One Summer Night; The Moonlit Road; A Psychological Shipwreck; Beyond the Wall; The Man and the Snake; and, A Bottomless Grave.

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  The Cricket on the Hearth The...

  Charles Dickens

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  The Cricket on the Heart is a novella by Charles Dickens, published by Bradbury and Evans, and released 20 December 1845. Dickens began writing the book in October 1845 and finished it by December. Like all of Dickens’s Christmas books, it was published in book form, not as a serial. Dickens described the novel as “quiet and domestic innocent and pretty.” It is subdivided into chapters called “Chirps”, similar to the “Quarters” of The Chimes or the “Staves” of A Christmas Carol. It is the third of Dickens’s five Christmas books, preceded by A Christmas Carol (1843) and The Chimes (1844), and followed by The Battle of Life (1846) and The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain (1848).

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