Other books that might interest you

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  David Swan - From their pens to...

  Nathaniel Hawthorne

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  Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on 4th July 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, a town synonymous with the earlier Salem Witch Trials. It was instrumental in Hawthorne’s later use of American Gothic and dark romanticism in his writing. 
  He was a mere four years old when his father died and his mother took him and his two sisters to live with her family and then on to their own home in Raymond, Maine. The young Hawthorne had a passion for fiction and poetry and voraciously read the works of Ann Radcliffe, Henry Fielding and Lord Byron.  
  He was sent to college at his maternal uncle’s insistence. During these years he met and befriended Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and future U S president Franklin Pierce. These friendships were lifelong and to have a crucial impact on his writings and career.  
  At college Hawthorne had made attempts at writing short stories and essays but without opportunities to publish. It was only in 1828 that he finally published his novel ‘Franshawe’ to little success and so he began work as editor for the American Magazine of Useful and Entertaining Knowledge.  
  Hawthorne’s short stories were first published in magazines but in 1837 were collected and published as ‘Twice-Told Tales’. A steady literary career still did not come his way and so he worked in a good position at Salem’s port and married the love of his life Sophia Peabody. They moved to live in ‘The Old Manse’ at Concord, Massachusetts.   
  Finally. in 1850 came spectacular literary and commercial success with ‘The Scarlet Letter’ followed by ‘The House of the Seven Gables’ the following year.  
  In 1852, Hawthorne published a biography of presidential candidate Franklin Pierce. After Pierce’s victory he was appointed consul in Liverpool, a position that offered prestige, money and fame. At the end of this appointment he returned several times to Europe before settling in Massachusetts and resuming writing and publication. 
  During the early 1860’s his health declined and on 19th May 1864 during a trip to Plymouth, New Hampshire. He was 59 and was buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, Massachusetts.

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  The Angel of the Odd

  Edgar Allan Poe

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  "The Angel of the Odd" is a satirical short story by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1844 in The Columbian Lady's and Gentleman's Magazine.
  The story follows an unnamed narrator who reads a story about a man who died after accidentally sucking a needle down his throat while playing a game known as "puff the dart". He rages at the gullibility of humanity for believing such a hoax. He vows never to fall for such odd stories. Just then, a strange-looking creature made of a keg and wine bottles appears. The creature announces in a heavy accent that he is the Angel of the Odd — and that he is responsible for causing such strange events.

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  Grey Timothy or Pallard the Punter

  Edgar Wallace

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  Grey Timothy or Pallard the Punter by Edgar Wallace is offered here in a clean English digital edition prepared for fluent ebook reading. The work stands within classics and gives modern readers direct access to a public-domain classic with navigable structure and a restrained typographic presentation. The opening pages establish the book's atmosphere with this first movement: Brian Pallard wrote to his uncle: "Dear Uncle Peter, — Though I have never seen you, I have heard my father speak so highly of your many qualities that I am looking forward to seeing you and my cousins, on my visit to England. As you know, I was born in Kent, though everybody here regards me as Aust This edition is suited to readers who want a reliable, uncluttered version of the text for study, rediscovery, and sustained reading.

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  Revelations - A Classic...

  Katherine Mansfield

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  What if a single day could strip away every comforting illusion? In “Revelations” by Katherine Mansfield, a woman’s carefully constructed sense of self is quietly undone as she moves through a series of encounters that force her to confront truths she would rather avoid. Set against the routines of social obligation and polite interaction, the story follows an emotional shift that unfolds not through dramatic action, but through subtle perception and inward reckoning. As familiar roles begin to feel hollow, moments of discomfort accumulate, revealing the tension between appearance and inner reality. Mansfield exposes how moral certainty, self-image, and social performance can crumble when confronted with an unfiltered view of others - and of oneself. With psychological precision, “Revelations” explores self-deception, judgment, and the unsettling clarity of emotional awakening. Press play and step into a quietly devastating short story whose insight lingers long after the final moment.

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  Great God Pan — Ch 3 The:...

  ArthurMachen Machen

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  More classic horror narrations on Jonathan's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@JonathanDunneHorrorAudiobooks 
  Chapter 3: Description 
  The consequences of Dr. Raymond’s experiment deepen as Chapter 3 unfolds, drawing the reader further into a world where the boundaries of reality are unraveling. Strange occurrences ripple through London’s shadowed streets, and those touched by the experiment begin to exhibit signs of something both wondrous and terrifying. 
  Visions of an otherworldly presence grow clearer, hinting at a power ancient, malevolent, and beyond human comprehension. Fear and fascination intertwine as the experiment’s hidden horrors begin to manifest, challenging the mind and the senses. In this chapter, the line between the natural and the supernatural blurs even further, and the cost of forbidden knowledge becomes unmistakably real. 
  Narrated by bestselling horror author Jonathan Dunne, this chapter is part of Timeless Terrors No. 109, bringing Machen’s classic supernatural tale vividly to life, where curiosity can awaken forces that mortals are never meant to encounter.

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  Lost Face

  Jack London

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  A Russian sits bound in an Indian camp, watching his last companion die slowly, and offers his captors a bargain — a potion that makes a man's skin proof against any blade, and he will prove it on his own neck. Six more Northland stories follow. London had been an oyster pirate, a hobo and a Klondike prospector before he was twenty-four, and knew what cold does to men who bargain badly.

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