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The Vampyre and Other Short Gothic Tales

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The Vampyre and Other Short Gothic Tales

By: John Polidori, Arthur Conan Doyle, M. R. James, Ambrose Bierce, Rudyard Kipling, W. F. Harvey, Barry Pain
Narrated by: Barnaby Edwards
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Critically acclaimed audiobook reader Barnaby Edwards (Doctor Who, The Voyage of the Beagle, Space Danger) performs 11 tales of ghostly gothic spookiness.

From tales of vampyres and spirits to devil’s deals and ethereal coachmen. Short but oh so sweet, these 11 stories from some of the most lauded authors of the Gothic period prove that you need only a few pages to tell a truly terrifying tale.

Listing:

  • "The Vampyre" by John Polidori
  • "How It Happened" by Arthur Conan Doyle
  • "There Was a Man Dwelt by a Churchyard" by M.R. James
  • "One Summer Night" by Ambrose Bierce
  • "By Word of Mouth" by Rudyard Kipling
  • "The Clock" by W.F. Harvey
  • "A Deal with the Devil" by Bram Stoker
  • "The Wolves Of Cernogratz" by Saki
  • "Rose Rose" by Barry Pain
  • "The Last Stage Coachman" by Wilkie Collins
  • "On the Brighton Road" by Richard Middleton

Public Domain (P)2014 Spokenworld Audio & Ladbroke Audio Ltd Classics Scary
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Great performance by the narrator, fun stories but not all that scary. Still highly enjoyable.

Ye Olde Creepie Pastas

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I'm so glad I came across a) this anthology and b) this narrator, whose beautiful voice and flawless diction sets the gold standard for Gothic horror narration. I listen to and read a lot of short ghost/horror/Gothic fiction and rarely have the experience of finding a collection with more than the odd one or two I haven't heard before -the good ones all being widely anthologized. But this collection contained several I didn't recall having heard before, and I would have been willing to buy this book just to hear "The Clock" by W F Harvey, surely one of the most genuinely dread-inspiring short stories ever written. Anyone who is trying to avoid Cathy Dobson as a narrator has their work cut out for them when looking for Harvey's work as Dobson/Red Door Audiobooks (she seems to be the narrator for every one of their books. Hmmm) seem to have snapped them up, along with a ton of other out-of-copyright works and recorded them to the agony of listeners everywhere. As soon as I finished this, I re-played The Clock again, just for the delight and sheer horror of the blood-curdling description of what happens when - well, I had better not spoil it for you. But lock the door of the room you're in before you listen. Just in case.

A hidden diamond

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Not a bad listen for those fond of classic ghost and occult stories. Well read.

Pleasant

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