Victorian Horror

In a warning against the fickleness of youth and love, a young artist makes a promise he has no real desire to keep and from which he discovers there is no escape... The Cold Embrace is taken from the second volume of the Victorian Anthologies "Horror" series, featuring short stories by classic writers of the spooky, the scary and the supernatural. Guaranteed to give you the shivers, each collection includes familiar and loved creepy tales as well as those less well-known. With music by Benedict Edwards.

Little might be thought of the purchase of a skeleton for use in a lab, but a prudent scientist would check its provenance - The departed wearer of those bones may yet have a score to settle. The Man of Science is taken from the second volume of the Victorian Anthologies "Horror" series, featuring short stories by classic writers of the spooky, the scary and the supernatural. Guaranteed to give you the shivers, each collection includes familiar and loved creepy tales as well as those less well-known. With music by Benedict Edwards.

The story takes place aboard a transatlantic ocean liner. A passenger named Brisbane is puzzled when the steward behaves oddly while taking his luggage to his stateroom, number 105. In the middle of the first night, Brisbane is further perplexed when his roommate suddenly leaps down from the upper berth and runs out of the cabin. In the morning, Brisbane learns that his roommate has gone overboard - and was the fourth consecutive occupant of the same upper berth to do so.

Young Earnest befriends another little boy on his family's weekly trips to church. But is he an imaginary friend conjured to amuse during long sermons, or is the little stone cherub something more? The Marble Child is taken from the second volume of the Victorian Anthologies "Horror" series, featuring short stories by classic writers of the spooky, the scary and the supernatural. Guaranteed to give you the shivers, each collection includes familiar and loved creepy tales as well as those less well-known. With music by Benedict Edwards.

In The Wedding Knell, Mrs. Dabney (a woman who married and was widowed twice) is going to be marrying Mr. Ellenwood, a 65 year old who had been attracted to Dabney in the past. When Mrs. Dabney enters the church for the wedding, the bell let out a deep knell, usually reserved for funerals. The bell continued to ring until the groom arrived. The groom arrived with a funeral precession, and claimed that Mrs. Dabney's youth was given to other husbands, and he was forced to live an unhappy life because he couldn't have her. Now that he was finally asked to marry her, there was nothing left for him but old age and death, so he stated "Let us be married; and then to our coffins!". Though shocked, she continued with the marriage, and they would let their love last for eternity.

Traumatised by dreams and visions about the unassuming chest under the window in her bedroom, Catherine Lestrange demands it be opened; but what is found inside has the power to change her future as well as her reveal her past. Catherine's Quest is taken from the second volume of the Victorian Anthologies "Horror" series, featuring short stories by classic writers of the spooky, the scary and the supernatural. Guaranteed to give you the shivers, each collection includes familiar and loved creepy tales as well as those less well-known. With music by Benedict Edwards.

In one of M.R. James' creepiest short stories, night of terror plays out with every glimpse at a static picture and the viewer is powerless to prevent a dark figure's progress. The Mezzotint is taken from the second volume of the Victorian Anthologies "Horror" series, featuring short stories by classic writers of the spooky, the scary and the supernatural. Guaranteed to give you the shivers, each collection includes familiar and loved creepy tales as well as those less well-known. With music by Benedict Edwards.

A Wicked Voice is the tale of a composer haunted by the music of the eighteenth century, and by the exquisite voice of a singer of that period who reputedly sang so beautifully his songs could (quite literally) kill with their beauty.

The story's protagonist and narrator is an unnamed woman whose husband, a doctor named John, makes her spend the summer in the country for her health. The woman, her baby, John, John's sister and some servants stay in a large rented house. John chooses a bedroom for himself and his wife, which is large and airy but otherwise quite unpleasant. The narrator takes an immediate dislike to the room's yellow wallpaper. She soon starts to see grotesque images in its pattern. After some time, the narrator becomes convinced that the wallpaper depicts a woman trapped behind a cage. The story's protagonist is confined to the house. She has to write in secret because she has been forbidden to do work of any kind. John, in his capacity as both a husband and a representative of the medical profession, is dismissive of her problems. John's treatment of his wife and patient means that her physical and mental health only got worse.

A female passenger travelling in a by rail is intrigued and increasingly frightened by one of her companions in the compartment. Entirely covered by a cloak, are their intentions nefarious, supernatural or entirely innocent? Under The Cloak is taken from the second volume of the Victorian Anthologies "Horror" series, featuring short stories by classic writers of the spooky, the scary and the supernatural. Guaranteed to give you the shivers, each collection includes familiar and loved creepy tales as well as those less well-known.

Aubrey, an orphaned young gentleman in possession of a large fortune, arrives in London for the season where he meets the mysterious Lord Ruthven. Aubrey befriends Lord Ruthven and upon discovering that Ruthven is planning a trip to Europe, decides to take his grand tour at the same time and travel with him. The longer Aubrey is with Ruthven the more he discovers about him. He decides to distance himself from Ruthven; but is he already too late to save all that he holds dear from the thirst of the vampire?

A well-known and often told tale of murder and grave robbing in Victorian Edinburgh, supposedly in the interests of science. With the desecration of the bodies, a worthy comeuppance follows. The Body Snatcher is taken from the second volume of the Victorian Anthologies "Horror" series, featuring short stories by classic writers of the spooky, the scary and the supernatural. Guaranteed to give you the shivers, each collection includes familiar and loved creepy tales as well as those less well-known. With music by Benedict Edwards.

The unnamed narrator of the story lives alone in a dark, ancient castle surrounded by a dense forest. He never sees sunlight, and he has no memory of human contact. One day, desperate to see the sun, the narrator decides to climb the ruined tower which is the only part of the castle taller than the trees. After the dangerous climb to the top room of the tower, the narrator is delighted to see the moon through a grating. Soon, however, he discovers the horrible truth behind his confinement.

A stay in Paris should be just the tonic for a distracted and insular German student. But it is the beginning of the French Revolution and the blood-stained guillotine is doing its grisly work every day. So when the student encounters a beautiful, distraught woman in need of comfort on its steps in the dead of night, he doesn't consider this meeting perhaps as strange as he should. The Adventure of the German Student is taken from the Victorian Anthologies series featuring short stories by classic writers of the spooky, the scary and the supernatural. Guaranteed to give you the shivers, each collection includes familiar and loved creepy tales as well as those less well-known. With music by Benedict Edwards.

Addressing the corpse of her husband, who has just been pronounced dead, a hysterical Mrs. Arne prays that "if there be a God in heaven, and if He ever answered a prayer, let Him ... give you back to me." Shortly afterward, an amazed doctor finds that the patient he had thought dead has somehow miraculously recovered. But as time goes by, it's clear that there is something unsettling about Edward Arne, something that frightens people, including his once-adoring wife. The Prayer is taken from the second volume of the Victorian Anthologies "Horror" series, featuring short stories by classic writers of the spooky, the scary and the supernatural. Guaranteed to give you the shivers, each collection includes familiar and loved creepy tales as well as those less well-known. With music by Benedict Edwards.