Gothic Short Stories

Haunted Castles is the definitive, complete collection of Ray Russell's masterful Gothic horror stories, including the famously terrifying novella trio of "Sardonicus", "Sanguinarius", and "Sagittarius", The characters that sprawl through Haunted Castles are frightful to the core: the heartless monster holding two lovers in limbo; the beautiful dame journeying down a damned road toward depravity (with the help of an evil gypsy); the man who must wear his fatal crimes on his face in the form of an awful smile.

Arthur Conan Doyle was the greatest genre writer Britain has ever produced. Throughout a long writing career, he drew on his own medical background, his travels, and his increasing interest in spiritualism and the occult to produce a spectacular array of Gothic tales. Many of Doyle's writings are recognized as the very greatest tales of terror. They range from hauntings in the polar wasteland to evil surgeons and malevolent jungle landscapes. This collection brings together over 30 of Conan Doyle's best Gothic tales

A ghostly presence in “The Lady’s Maid’s Bell” desires revenge against a tyrannical husband. In “Mr. Jones”, Lady Jane Lynke inherits an estate unexpectedly, and can’t make sense of how to manage the servants - especially since the caretaker has been dead for decades, but keeps giving orders. Meanwhile, in “Afterward”, a newly wealthy American couple moves into a large, isolated house in southern England complete with a ghost...and the mysteries surrounding the husband’s business are slowly uncovered.

Here 19 classic tales from masters of the genre. The collection comprises 'Schalken the Painter' by J. S. Lefanu; 'Sredni Vashtar' by Saki (H. H. Munro); 'The Room in the Tower' by E. F. Benson; 'Charles Ashmore's Trail' by Ambrose Bierce; 'The Mark of the Beast' by Rudyard Kipling; 'The Castle of Ratcliffe Cross' by J. Wadham; 'The Bead Necklace' by Alice Perrin; 'The Oval Portrait' by Edgar Allan Poe; 'The Leather Funnel' by Arthur Conan Doyle; 'Berenice' by Edgar Allan Poe; and many more.

Dare to enter Harmony House... if you can survive its curse. Nestled in the heart of Brooklyn, New York, Harmony House is a striking estate with an allure that draws people in—only to trap them in a web of terror. Five new owners have crossed its threshold, each unaware of the horrors waiting inside. What starts as a dream home quickly turns into a nightmare as they confront the malevolent spirits that haunt its halls. Each story reveals the twisted history of Harmony House through the eyes of its ill-fated residents. From terrifying apparitions to sinister forces that toy with the mind, ...

In this volume we examine Gothic short stories from the woman’s point of view. More usually in this genre the main examples are almost always given as male. Well, in this volume we prove that view needs severely testing. Here we explore works by classic women authors who, with the sheer breadth of their talents and narratives, can make mere men seem tame by comparison.

Not all ghosts linger in graveyards. Some wait in chairs, behind doors… listening. London, 1862. Desperate for work, Nicholas Bale takes a position reading aloud to an elderly recluse in a shadowy house on Greystone Lane. The task is simple: two hours a day, six days a week. The pay is generous. The employer, Mr Humphry Jones, is frail but polite. But something is wrong. The books are not ordinary volumes—they are ancient, filled with occult rites and forgotten names. The house hums with silence too deep for comfort. And as the days pass, Nicholas begins to question the nature of his ...

For "Vampire for Hire" fans everywhere and new readers alike! A massive heaping of 30 short stories spread over 700 pages, all set in the thrilling world of Samantha Moon, vampire private eye! Included within: 1. Teeth 2. Vampire Nights 3. Vampire Blues 4. Vampire Dreams 5. Halloween Moon 6. Vampire Gold 7. Blue Moon 8. Dark Side of the Moon 9. Vampire Requiem 10. Moon Love 11. Vampire Alley 12. Moon Musings 13. Moon Memories 14. Moon Quiz 15. Moon Beast 16. Vampire Widow 17. Moon Maze 18. Silver Hammer 19. When Sam Met Santa 20. One Swallow 21. Moon Reflections 22. Moon Bandits 23. Vampire...

Audible presents a special edition of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde narrated by Richard Armitage. With Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Richard Armitage tells the story of a conflicted man who seeks a remedy to free the monster inside him from the clutches of his conscience. Following his celebrated performance of David Copperfield, Armitage delivers another powerhouse performance as the narrator of this Gothic tale.

In a world of shadows, love defies every curse. In Victorian London, a dark, forbidden love unfolds in this spellbinding gothic romance retelling of Beauty and the Beast. When the enigmatic Lord Ravenwood—cursed, tormented, and haunted by betrayal—encounters the spirited Lavinia Ashcroft, their fates become irrevocably entwined. Bound by secrets and driven by a relentless desire to defy an enchanted curse, their union becomes a battleground between the man and the beast within him. As Ravenwood’s monstrous past threatens to consume him, Lavinia’s mystical gift reveals hidden truths ...

The Ultimate Gothic Horror Collection is a fully indexed collection of classic gothic stories, read by four Audie-winning narrators. Included here are stories by Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, Robert Louis Stevenson, Sheridan Le Fanu, Oscar Wilde and Edgar Allan Poe.

Something lingers in the Louisiana night—watching, waiting. Vengeance seeps through the swamps, and the past refuses to stay buried. In this chilling Southern Gothic horror anthology, author and screenwriter Nick Mendoza weaves three haunting tales of supernatural terror, psychological dread, and creeping folklore. These are stories of the cursed and the desperate—of those who seek answers in the dark, only to find something staring back. 🕯️ The Witch of Acadiana When his young son falls gravely ill under unexplainable circumstances, a skeptical father dismisses the whispers of an ...

Are you brave enough to enter a world where the line between reality and nightmare is impossibly thin? The Horror Files beckons you into a realm where legends stir from the past, and every corner hides a terror waiting to strike. This is no ordinary collection, it's a descent into darkness, where fear takes on many faces, and no secret stays buried for long. Ancient myths claw their way into the present. Unsolved mysteries evolve into chilling realities. Brutal horrors of today collide with the restless whispers of forgotten legends. With 18 heart-pounding stories, The Horror Files will ...

The vampire Nicolas has never cared for names. Women are pleasures to be sampled, fleeting distractions that satisfy his darker cravings—until the hunger returns. His appetites run deeper than mortal flesh can sate. When his old friend William, a dominant werewolf, arrives bearing a female gift, Nicolas expects another night of indulgence. Instead, he meets Jules—a woman who refuses to be commanded by vampire or wolf. Caught between immortals who embody decadence and sin, Jules won’t bow. And that defiance may awaken something neither predator anticipated. A dark paranormal short ...

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...

Anne is barely keeping it together. A frazzled ghostwriter and aspiring novelist, she juggles nine-year-old twins and a listless marriage from an overcrowded Manhattan apartment, spreading herself thinner each day. Just as Anne is about to give up on her dreams, she lands her biggest client yet: Melody Wells. Melody paints a picture of serenity and empowerment in the lavender haze of her visualization workshops—however, the one thing she can’t manifest are the pages her publisher is demanding for her new motivational book. Enter Anne.

Welcome to Bulgaria, my adopted country in the south east of Europe, a land of snow-blanketed mountains and sun-baked plains, deep pine forests and fragrant rose plantations, studded with remnants of past eras – ancient Thracian and Roman, medieval, Ottoman and Communist. Join me on a fictional journey to remote villages where you'll meet native Bulgarians, travellers and expatriates, demons and ghosts. I’ve blended my personal experiences with Bulgarian folklore and mythology, and let my imagination roam. All the events and characters are my inventions, yet they’re steeped in ...

John Glover reads a selection of unabridged short stories, including "The Lawnmower Man," from Stephen King's best-selling collection Night Shift...

A chilling inheritance. A pair of gloves. A deadly compulsion. London, 1847. Francis Letterby inherits £5,000—and a strange condition: he must wear a pair of gloves every evening. But the gloves don’t just fit—they control. As the bodies pile up, Francis must confront the sinister truth behind his uncle’s legacy… and his own.

Behind the white walls of Ashmere Hospital, something evil brews in the tea. Nurse Brenda Glenford is calm, capable, and quietly feared. Patients die under her care — not suddenly, but slowly, discreetly. A pendant from her aunt whispers of ancient duties, and Brenda listens. But when a professor uncovers her secret and a detective checks into the ward, Brenda’s careful order begins to crack. In this chilling psychological horror, the boundaries between healing and harm blur, and tea-time becomes a death sentence. The Killing Nurse is an entry in The Holloway Series, a dark exploration ...