Publisher: e-artnow
Colin is the supernatural novel by E.FBenson. It tells the story of the strikingly handsome, younger son of an aristocratic family whose history is interwoven with the legend of the first Colin Stanier, a shepherd, who sold his soul to the devil to seduce Queen Elizabeth I and become a wealthy proprietor.
"Dracula's Guest" follows an Englishman (whose name is never mentioned) on a visit to Munich before leaving for Transylvania. It is Walpurgis Night, and in spite of the hotelier's warning to not return late, the young man later leaves his carriage and wanders toward the direction of an abandoned "unholy" village. As the carriage departs with the frightened and superstitious driver, a tall and thin stranger scares the horses at the crest of a hill. After a few hours, as he reaches a desolate valley, it begins to snow; as a dark storm gathers intensity, the Englishman takes shelter in a grove of cypress and yew trees. The Englishman's location is soon illuminated by moonlight to be a cemetery, and he finds himself before a marble tomb with a large iron stake driven through the roof, the inscription reads: "Countess Dolingen of Gratz / in Styria / sought and found death / 1801". The Englishman is disturbed to be in such a place on such a night and as the storm breaks anew, he is forced by pelting hail to shelter in the doorway of the tomb. As he does so, the bronze door of the tomb opens under his weight and a flash of forked lightning shows the interior, revealing a "beautiful woman with rounded cheeks and red lips, seemingly sleeping on a bier". The force of the following thunder peal throws the Englishman from the doorway (experienced as "being grasped as by the hand of a giant") as another lightning bolt strikes the iron spike, destroying the tomb and the now screaming woman inside. The Englishman's troubles are not over, as he painfully regains his senses from the ordeal, he is repulsed by a feeling of loathing which he connects to a warm feeling in his chest and a licking at this throat. The Englishman summons the courage to peek through his eyelashes and discovers a gigantic wolf with flaming eyes is attending him.Show book
The Apocalypse is approaching. The Horsemen must be chosen. Alan thought all his questions were answered. He was wrong. Alan’s fate goes far deeper than anyone could ever imagine. The people Alan trusts are still holding something from him. But a voice promising answers is calling. It’s only when Alan realizes that he is to play a part in an ancient tradition of life and death that his true purpose is revealed.Show book
Arthur Conan Doyle was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on 22nd May 1859. His childhood was blighted by his father’s heavy drinking which for some years broke up the family. Fortunately, wealthy uncles were willing to support them by paying for education and clothing. He was accepted at the University of Edinburgh to study medicine and also began to write short stories the first, ‘The Haunted Grange of Goresthorpe’, was published in Blackwood’s Magazine. Despite several other stories and some articles in the British Medical Journal his medical studies took priority. When these finished he was appointed as Doctor on the Greenland whaler ‘Hope of Peterhead’ in 1880 and then, after graduation, as ship’s surgeon on the SS Mayumba on its voyage to West Africa. 1882 saw a move to Plymouth and his own independent practice. With few patients he resumed writing and completed his first novel, ‘The Mystery of Cloomber’, although most of his output was short stories based on his experiences at sea. He married Louisa Hawkins in 1885. However, two years later he met and fell in love with Jean Elizabeth Leckie, though they remained platonic out of respect for, and loyalty to, his wife. His literary career suddenly burst into life in November 1886 with ‘A Study In Scarlet’, the first of the fabulously successful Sherlock Holmes stories. With two children to support he now revisited his haphazard commercial arrangements and curtailed everything save for commissions from the Strand Magazine. As a sportsman he was remarkably proficient. He was goalkeeper for Portsmouth Association Football Club and played ten first-class cricket matches for the Marylebone Cricket Club as well as captain of the Crowborough Beacon Golf Club in East Sussex. In 1891 tired of writing Holmes stories, he began a series of historical novels and even went so far as to apparently kill off Holmes in a lethal brawl with his arch-nemesis Moriarty. Despite heavy and sustained criticism he continued to write in support of the Boer War, a fact he thought contributed to his knighthood in 1902. The following year to great relief and acclaim he brought Sherlock Holmes back from the dead in his first outing for a decade. Sadly, his wife Louisa died from TB in 1906 and, a year later, he at last married Jean. During the War and for several years after family deaths had left him depressed. In a search for solace and answers he alighted upon spiritualism and, such was his interest, that he wrote several books on the subject. On 7th July 1930 Conan Doyle was discovered in the hall of Windlesham Manor, his house in East Sussex, clutching his chest dying of a heart attack. He was 71.Show book
This content is an independent and unofficial summary created for informational and educational purposes only. It is not affiliated with, authorized, approved, licensed, or endorsed by the original author or publisher. All rights to the original work belong to its respective copyright holders. This summary is not intended to substitute the original book, but to offer a concise overview and interpretation of its main ideas. Step into the heart of dread with Cries in the Dark, an audiobook that plunges you into a world where every echo can be a warning—and every silence hides a scream. In this gripping audio experience, you’ll: Navigate moonlit corridors and abandoned streets as haunting whispers draw you ever deeper into mystery.Unravel chilling clues left behind by those who vanished without a trace, each revelation ratcheting up the suspense.Feel the pulse-quickening tension of unseen presence stalking your thoughts, its voice slipping through the shadows.Confront your deepest fears alongside resilient protagonists whose courage and desperation will keep you on the edge of your seat.Show book
A mad surrealist's art threatens to rip open the fabric of reality, in this twisted tale of eldritch horror and conspiracy, from the wildly popular world of Arkham Horror. Aspiring painter Alden Oakes is invited to join a mysterious art commune in Arkham: the New Colony. When celebrated Spanish surrealist Juan Hugo Balthazarr visits the colony, Alden and the other artists quickly fall under his charismatic spell. Balthazarr throws a string of decadent parties for Arkham's social elite, conjuring arcane illusions which blur the boundaries between nightmare and reality. Only slowly does Alden come to suspect that Balthazarr's mock rituals are intended to break through those walls and free what lies beyond. Alden must act, but it might already be too late to save himself, let alone Arkham.Show book
Rachel Bagwell's ghost has found justice. Bishop Biddle is dead.But for Emily Lyles, the night of his death is only the beginning. When the shock fades, she's left with a truth she can't unsee—she was raised in a cult, and its rot runs deeper in her family than she ever imagined.With Wanda's fierce loyalty and Kade's quiet strength at her side, Emily begins to investigate the decades-old disappearance of Rachel Bagwell, a teenage girl from her church. What starts as a search through rumors and forgotten letters soon stirs something restless in the shadows . . . something watching her.The closer she gets to the truth, the more the past presses in—through half-remembered nightmares, whispered warnings, and the ghost of a lingering presence too warm against her skin. The trail leads to a small blue house, a retired schoolteacher with a steel-trap memory, and a truth so dangerous it's been buried for thirty years.Now Emily must decide how much she's willing to lose to uncover what happened to Rachel— . . . and whether she can survive knowing the answer.Show book
