British Horror Short Stories

A disgraced scholar. A silent village. And a bell that listens to the dark. Winter, 1888. Exiled by a professional scandal to the frozen coast of Wales, Alastair Finch has accepted a lonely commission: cataloging the library of the late, eccentric Baronet of Portmeirion. Trapped in the drafty Gatehouse Library by a relentless blizzard, Alastair finds his only company is the whistling wind and the rhythmic scratching of his own pen. Until he discovers the Vigil-Bell Log. Hidden among the archives, the leather-bound journal belonged to a missing bell-ringer who vanished on Christmas Eve five ...

Jasmine Taylor, a struggling young actress, responds to a job-ad offering the 'opportunity of a lifetime' for a female with 'hidden depths'. After a bizarre audition, she wakes to find herself a prisoner in a picturesque village. The village of Elldean seems timeless - peaceful and idyllic. However, the village hides a dark, terrifying secret - an ancient beast lives in the surrounding forest and, once a year, it emerges from its lair - to mate. The beast is huge and all in proportion - few women are capable of taking it on – and surviving - most are literally skewered to death. But if ...

"Matt Drabble is a name that will one day be as widely recognized as Stephen King & Dean Koontz" - READERS FAVORITE One ghost ship legend, one man's obsession, 10 tales of terror. 200 years ago The Damnation terrorised the Caribbean waters. Captained by an exiled British aristocrat Devereux Bonney who'd been banished form his homeland due to long held rumours about his violent dark appetites and occult beliefs. Ruling the ocean waves and evading the naval forces sent to sink him The Damnation brought about fear as her deeds grew into legend before she disappeared without trace. Willard ...

This volume contains all 22 of the fictional ghost stories previously published by H.E. Bulstrode between 2016 and 2022, although it omits his occult fiction. Drawing heavily upon British folklore, legend and history, these stories tap into a deep and shadowy past which seeps, sometimes erupts, into the present, whether that ‘present’ should be eleventh-century England, or today. These are ghost stories with a twist written in the ‘classic’ vein, which is to say that they contain not so much gore as a sense of the uncanny, often steeped in antiquarianism. Others possess a distinctly...

Some secrets are best left, buried deep within the earth… I am thrilled to put together this collection of creepy short stories set in different parts of the world!! Whether it is a small non-descript village in India, the magnificent monasteries in Tibet, the numerous alleys of Kathmandu, the terraced rice fields of Japan, or the Serengeti plains of Tanzania— the locations are as beautiful as the horrifying events which unravel in them! This volume contains 5 horror stories that will have you feverishly turning pages, wanting more— Whether it is a village which is terrorized by an ...

This omnibus brings together seven of H.E. Bulstrode’s ghost stories originally published between 2016 and 2018. These are: The Ghost of Scarside Beck A newly-wed Cumbrian vicar and his wife experience a night like none they could ever have foreseen. He may have answered his calling, but who, or what, is calling her? Old Crotchet The year is 1920, and it's Twelfth Night by the old reckoning. Festivities are about to commence at Hinton St Cuthbert Manor when something sinister stirs from its protracted dormancy, awakened, it would seem, by the arrival of two young guests. The old ways, ...

Moonlit graveyards, ravenous monsters, and deadly reflections in the mirror...some nightmares are so diabolically delicious, you never want them to end. And now they don’t have to. Scare Street brings you volumes one and two of Short Horror Stories in a single edition. Six macabre morsels of fear, brought together for your listening pleasure. And each tale packs enough spine-tingling chills to last a lifetime. The clock chimes midnight. Your heart pounds in your chest as you start to listen. You begin to wonder...can you survive long enough to see the next nightmare begin?

Four victims. One locked room. No way in. No way out. When Mr Gregory Winter agrees to spend a single night in a supposedly haunted shed for a hundred guineas, he’s desperate, in debt, and convinced it’s just a story. By morning, he’s dead—his throat slit, the door locked from the inside. Inspector Featherby is no stranger to murder. But this? This is something else. With each body found in the same chair, in the same impossible conditions, the case becomes a chilling puzzle with no solution. The only link between the victims: a gentleman named Noah Spencer—and a shed with a taste...

Beneath the familiar streets of the United Kingdom lies another world—one rarely seen, quietly feared, and never explained. Urban Legends: Short Stories from Mysterious UK Cities is a chilling collection of atmospheric tales drawn from Britain’s oldest cities and darkest corners. From fog-drenched alleys and abandoned underground tunnels to forgotten buildings that should not exist, each story explores what lingers after midnight—when history refuses to stay buried. These short stories blend folklore, modern urban myth, and psychological unease, capturing the eerie mood of cities like...

GOODREADS REVIEWER - "The story is great for anyone who likes a spooky cabin read! 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐" GOODREADS REVIEWER - "This is a phenomenal novella. If you're a fan of paranormal, preternatural and cult behaviour, look no further! 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐" He wanted to be alone… Then they arrived After discovering his wife’s infidelity, Sam Carter decides to escape from it all. He packs his bags and travels to a secluded cabin in the Scottish Highlands, surrounded by the tranquil Barswood Forest. His goal is to find peace among the crisp air and towering trees. However, Sam’s solitude ...

The Dead Boxes Archive is a chilling collection of short horror stories and horror novellas. Together for the first time in one volume, seven tales from the critically acclaimed Dead Boxes series. Dead Boxes are scary things. Wonderful and dreadful secrets hiding themselves in plain view. On the surface, they often appear to be ordinary, everyday objects. Items which are easily overlooked at first glance. Perhaps that’s just as well because the Dead Boxes are as far from ordinary and everyday as you can get. They hold miracle and mystery, horror and salvation, answers to questions best ...

Something ancient stirs beneath the soil... and it's hungry. Step beyond the veil of time with Dead Men Still Walk, a chilling collection of ten folk horror short stories rooted in forgotten rites, cursed bloodlines, and the dark mythologies of the Old World. These tales are where superstition meets survival, where twisted rural legends still breathe, and where the dead don’t rest — they wait. From moss-covered graveyards to fog-bound villages, from cursed forests to crumbling stone circles, this anthology will drag you deep into a world of haunting folklore, ancient pacts, and unspoken...

"A MUST READ FOR FANS OF MYSTERIES AND FOLK HORROR." - NP CUNNIFFE, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF "THE WEEJEE MAN". "...IT'S A WELL WRITTEN HORROR STORY WITH FANTASTIC CHARACTERS, BLOODY KILLS, AND I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT" - HORROR READS, 5 STAR AMAZON/GOODREADS REVIEW. "IT'S LIKE STEPHEN KING'S VERSION OF GREMLINS." - THE DANSE MACABRE While on a research expedition in the wilds of the Irish countryside, a team of archeologists are brutally murdered on an ancient druid henge. The bite marks found on the bodies by the forensic techs that gathered the crime scene evidence suggested that animals were ...

Four ghost stories from England’s historic shires present a heady brew of the Gothic, folk horror, historical fiction and satire. The Ghost of Scarside Beck A newly-wed Cumbrian vicar and his wife experience a night like none they could ever have foreseen. He may have answered his calling, but who, or what, is calling her? At Fall of Night A ghostly excursion into the Victorian Gothic; a tale of obsession, terror, and vengeance. Welcome to Wiltshire in the autumn of 1843. Monsieur Benoit Lavarnier, toast of the Parisian art world and a man of cultured accomplishments, finds himself ...

Step back into a land of plague, prophecy, and whispers that burn. In Ashes of the Sick, acclaimed horror writer Silas Toombs brings you ten terrifying folk horror short stories from the darkest corners of Old England—where disease isn’t always the deadliest curse. Meet plague doctors who walk with shadows, scarecrows who remember too much, spectral bellmen, witchfinders, and ancient spirits that dwell beneath stagnant waters. From fog-choked moors to crumbling cottages, each tale drips with historical dread, blending superstition and survival in an era ruled by faith, fear, and ...

"A MUST READ FOR FANS OF MYSTERIES AND FOLK HORROR." - NP CUNNIFFE, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF "THE WEEJEE MAN". "...IT'S A WELL WRITTEN HORROR STORY WITH FANTASTIC CHARACTERS, BLOODY KILLS, AND I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT" - HORROR READS, 5 STAR AMAZON/GOODREADS REVIEW. "IT'S LIKE STEPHEN KINGS VERSION OF GREMLINS" - THE DANSE MACABRE Detectives Ryan and O'Connell turn their investigative eyes toward the local garda of Enniskregg township. Tasked to protect and serve the township and its people, as the first to discover the brutalized bodies of the ill fated research team at the druid henge in the ...

"A MUST READ FOR FANS OF MYSTERIES AND FOLK HORROR." - NP CUNNIFFE, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF "THE WEEJEE MAN". "...IT'S A WELL WRITTEN HORROR STORY WITH FANTASTIC CHARACTERS, BLOODY KILLS, AND I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT" - HORROR READS, 5 STAR AMAZON/GOODREADS REVIEW. "IT'S LIKE STEPHEN KINGS VERSION OF GREMLINS" - THE DANSE MACABRE In the wake of the hellish night of blood, with a township now more single mindedly entrenched then ever in their efforts to hinder their investigation in order to keep the dark secrets of the township's history very much a secret shrouded in darkness, detectives Ryan ...

From the vaults of the British Library comes a new anthology celebrating the best works of forgotten, never-since-republished supernatural fiction from the early 20th century. Waiting within are malevolent spirits eager to possess the living and mysterious spectral guardians - a diverse host of phantoms exhumed from the rare pages of literary magazines and newspaper serials to thrill once more.

"A MUST READ FOR FANS OF MYSTERIES AND FOLK HORROR." - NP CUNNIFFE, BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF "THE WEEJEE MAN". "...IT'S A WELL WRITTEN HORROR STORY WITH FANTASTIC CHARACTERS, BLOODY KILLS, AND I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT" - HORROR READS, 5 STAR AMAZON/GOODREADS REVIEW. "IT'S LIKE STEPHEN KING'S VERSION OF GREMLINS." - THE DANSE MACABRE Entering the nightmarish crime scene at the druid henge in the wood outside of Enniskregg township, Detectives Siobhan Ryan and Seamus O'Connell are taken step by step through the blood soaked evidence connected to the murders of the archaeological research team by ...

Tormented spirits, fiendish demons, ravenous monsters...there's no end to the ghastly creatures that slither in the dark corners of your room. But have no fear, they just want to play a little game of hide and seek. And they want you to be their new playmate.... Scare Street brings you volumes seven and eight of Short Horror Stories in a single edition. Six terrifying tales of supernatural horror - brought together for your listening pleasure.