Publisher: Benjamin
The Works of Montague Rhodes James A Thin Ghost and Others Ghost Stories of an Antiquary Masterpiece of Mystery in four volumes (GHOST STORIES) More Ghost Stories Old Testament Legends The Five Jars The Wanderings and Homes of Manuscripts
In this “deliciously spooky” Victorian Gothic, a woman’s past could be the death of her—if she can remember it (The New York Times Book Review). Confused and disoriented, Georgina Ferrars awakens in a small room in Tregannon House, a remote asylum in England, with no memory of the past few weeks. The doctor, Maynard Straker, tells her that she admitted herself under the name Lucy Ashton, then suffered a seizure. When she insists he has mistaken her for someone else, Dr. Straker sends a telegram to her uncle. The reply is chilling: Georgina Ferrars is safe at home with him in London. Suddenly her voluntary confinement becomes involuntary. Who is the woman in her uncle’s house? Which woman is the imposter? From a cliffside cottage on the Isle of Wight to the secret passages of the asylum, the perilous quest for answers draws Georgina only deeper into a web of hidden family ties on which her survival, and her sanity, depend. “Redolent with a sense of foreboding . . . A splendid read!” —Historical Novel Society, Editors’ Choice “Readers are guaranteed a thoroughly diverting time in Harwood’s not-to-be-trusted hands.” —The Independent “Harwood, master of creeping Victorian horror, does it again. . . . Twisted in every sense of the word.” —BooklistShow book
A short story from the British Library Tales of the Weird collection Glimpses of the Unknown. Amateur violinist and collector Herman Yorke is overjoyed when he is chosen to play first violin in the Amateur Orchestral Society. In the audience however he is distracted by a beautiful woman that is watching him. After several concerts he decides to approach the woman, but Herman soon discovers that he is the only person who can see her…Show book
Enjoy this short story by Mace Styx. He counted out the money for the payment of their order, and handed it to me. And then he pulled out another two hundred bucks, and showed it to me. He told me that he would give me a couple of hundred bucks if I deliver a package for them. If I do, the receiving end would also give me another two hundred when I arrive. In my head, I could not believe that I would easily receive that kind of money for just delivering a package. I knew that there was a catch... The other guy brought out a small ice box that was tightly sealed with layers and layers of tape around it. He placed it beside me, and the guy at the door waved the two hundred in front of my face, as if to persuade me. I stared at the package and wondered what could be inside of it, and why was it sealed so tightly like that. I extended my shaking hand and accepted the cash without thinking twice. I was broke. And there was money in front of me. I did what I did to stay alive. The potheads smiled and clapped their hands like a bunch of circus animals. It was probably something illegal, but I didn’t really mind. I needed the money, and that was all I cared about. They were probably too stoned to deliver the package themselves. That’s what I was convincing myself. He gave me the address and handed me a phone. I thought that these guys were way too trusting for someone that they just met. But then one of them mentioned that he saw me at the diner before. He was a regular customer there he said. So it would be easy for him to track me down if I hustle them. Given the situation, I just took the icebox and went ahead. I had no plans on hustling them. I just wanted to make some easy fats money.Show book
When Caitlin finally gets the chance to join her brother on a mission outside of the walls of the town she has been trapped inside all of her life, her entire reality is shaken. Enemies appear in the strangest of places. The zombie-like ”Mad” roam the forests. Vampires and werewolves from the fairy tales of her childhood become reality as Caitlin is forced to discover the truth of the Age of Madness and begin the fight for justice. Can Caitlin lead the charge on freedom and start the revolution that will change her world? Set within the wonder of the Kurtherian Gambit Universe, discover the chaos and insanity of the Age of Madness—a time when the world turned on its head and nothing is as it appears...Show book
Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffman was born on the 24th January 1776, the youngest of three children, in Königsberg, then in Prussia but now part of the Kaliningrad Russian enclave. His parents separated when he was two and for many years life was to be provincial and, despite his talents for the creative arts and the classics, much was passing him by. At 20 Hoffman obtained employment as a clerk and to the art that now surrounded him. Two years later he was in Berlin attempting a career as a composer with an operetta called ‘Die Maske’. His gift for drawing caricatures and sharing them often got him into trouble that was easier to avoid. The years of Napoleon ravaging Europe were bad for Hoffman; he moved often and took on works as varied as theatre management and music critic. In this his talents were now more evident. His works on Beethoven where highly regarded by the master himself. His literary breakthrough came in 1809, with ‘Ritter Gluck’, about a man who believes he has met the composer 20 years after his death. However the various jobs and the wars continued and plagued any career advancement despite his constant travel for opportunities, often through dangerous territories. In the wake of Napoleon’s defeat in 1814, Hoffmann returned to Berlin where his opera ‘Undine’ was performed by the Berlin Theatre. Life was now more settled and many of his most famous works were written at his time. From 1819, Hoffmann was struggling with both legal disputes and ill health. Alcohol abuse and syphilis were physically weakening him and from 1822 paralysis set in. His last works were dictated to his wife or to a secretary as all around him society descended into an anti-liberal agenda, stifling dissent with threats of legal action and even treason. The ailing Hoffman was among them. E T A Hoffmann died on the 25th June 1822 in Berlin of syphilis. He was 46.Show book
Written in his distinctively dazzling manner, Oscar Wilde's story of a fashionable young man who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty is the author's most popular work. The tale of Dorian Gray's moral disintegration caused a scandal when it first appeared in 1890, but though Wilde was attacked for the novel's corrupting influence, he responded that there is, in fact, "a terrible moral in Dorian Gray." Just a few years later, the book and the aesthetic/moral dilemma it presented became issues in the trials occasioned by Wilde's homosexual liaisons, which resulted in his imprisonment. Of Dorian Gray's relationship to autobiography, Wilde noted in a letter, "Basil Hallward is what I think I am: Lord Henry what the world thinks me: Dorian what I would like to be—in other ages, perhaps.Show book
