Book picks similar to
Last Request: A Victorian Gothic by Jeff Chapman
historical-fiction
horror
gothic
fiction
The Conception of Terror: Tales Inspired by M.R. James, Volume 1
M.R. JamesAlice Lowe - 2019
R. James.Casting the Runes, adapted by Stephen GallagherWhen academic Jo Harrington (Anna Maxwell Martin) is sent a paper—The Truth of Alchemy, by Anton Karswell—for peer review, she pulls no punches. Jo writes that the paper has no place in a serious academic publication and that Karswell is a half-bright fool. When the editor writes a rejection note to Karswell, he inadvertently includes Jo’s entire email. Occultist Karswell (Reece Shearsmith) doesn’t take kindly to criticism.On the tube home with her partner Edward Dunning (Tom Burke), Jo spots a poster with her name on it. It reads: "In memory of Joanne Harrington, MLitt, PhD, died September eighteenth, three days were allowed." Is there anything that Edward can do to save Jo from this curse?Lost Hearts, adapted by A. K. BenedictTeenager Stephanie Elliot (Rosa Coduri) is taken to Aswarby House to be fostered by Mrs. Bunch (Susan Jameson). Stephanie strikes up a friendship with Ben (Bill Milner), the adopted son of charismatic community leader Mr. Abney (Jeff Rawle). He tells her that Mr. Abney is a good man—he even took in a child refugee last year, but she stole from him and ran away. Stephanie is troubled by voices and visions of a dead girl clutching at her chest, and when Ben disappears she begins to suspect that all is not right in Aswarby House.The Treasure of Abbot-Thomas, adapted by Jonathan BarnesWhen former Somerton school pupil Greg Parsbury (Robert Bathurst) meets history teacher Mika Chantry (Pearl Mackie) at a memorial service for schoolmaster Sam Abbot-Thomas, he begs for her help. Greg has been sent a postcard by the estate of the mysterious and charismatic Abbot-Thomas. On it is a strange inscription in Latin, which he believes to be an inaugural clue in a treasure hunt much like the elaborate treasure hunts Abbot-Thomas used to set back in the 1970s. There were rumors that Abbot-Thomas possessed a hidden fortune, and Parsbury and Chantry set out to find it.A View from a Hill, adapted by Mark MorrisComedian and podcaster Paul Fanshawe (Andy Nyman) and his wife, Sarah (Alice Lowe), visit the Cotswolds on holiday, trying to rebuild their lives after the death of their young son, Archie. While out walking, they spot a beautiful abbey across the valley on Gallows Hill, but when they reach it, they find the building is little more than rubble. While Sarah explores, Paul records commentary for his podcast. Sarah thinks she hears children’s laughter, but there’s no one there. Later that night, she listens to the recording and hears a child’s voice whisper, "Mummy." Sarah is convinced that Archie is trying to reach them and wants to return to the ruins. But something far worse is waiting for them on Gallows Hill.
The Prospectors
Karen Russell - 2015
Novelette.“Perhaps the knowledge of one’s death, ceaselessly swallowed, is the very food you need to become a ghost.”
Great Classic Horror
Geraint Wyn Davies - 2009
Includes A Watcher by the Dead by Ambrose Bierce; The Body Snatchers by Robert Louis Stevenson; The Adventure of the German Student by Washington Irving; Dickon the Devil by J. Sheridan Le Fanu; The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe; and The Open Window by Saki.
Sherlock Holmes and the Adventures of the Greenbrier Ghost
Jonathan Maberry - 2011
Based on an actual 19th century legal case, join Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson as they journey to America to solve the Adventure of the Greenbriar Ghost!
Of Monsters and Madness
Jessica Verday - 2014
She is torn romantically between her father's assistants-one kind and proper, one mysterious and brooding-who share a dark secret and may have more to do with the violent events than they're letting on.
Ghost Stories 2
M.R. James - 2012
R. James."A Warning to the Curious" features a young man who excavates an ancient crown—but soon wishes he had let it stay buried. In "The Mezzotint," an engraving of a manor house reveals more than first meets the eye, while in "The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral", an archdeacon's journal reveals the strange circumstances that led to his death. The final story, "A Neighbour's Landmark", tells of a gentleman whose curiosity is piqued by a strange rhyme, leading him to take a walk through Betton Woods. Narrated by BAFTA and Emmy award–winning actor Sir Derek Jacobi (Cadfael, Gosford Park, Doctor Who), and with eerie, evocative music, these four haunting stories will thrill anyone who loves to be terrified.
The Old Man in the Corner
Emmuska Orczy - 1908
For devotees of Sherlock Holmes: ingenious, well-crafted stories by the author of The Scarlet Pimpernel.
The Haunting of the Desks: A Sparks & Bainbridge Short Story
Allison Montclair - 2021
The Twisted Ones
T. Kingfisher - 2019
After all, how bad could it be? Answer: pretty bad. Grandma was a hoarder, and her house is stuffed with useless rubbish. That would be horrific enough, but there’s more—Mouse stumbles across her step-grandfather’s journal, which at first seems to be filled with nonsensical rants…until Mouse encounters some of the terrifying things he described for herself. Alone in the woods with her dog, Mouse finds herself face to face with a series of impossible terrors—because sometimes the things that go bump in the night are real, and they’re looking for you. And if she doesn’t face them head on, she might not survive to tell the tale. From Hugo Award–winning author Ursula Vernon, writing as T. Kingfisher.
Humanity's Edge: The Complete Trilogy
Paul B. Kohler - 2018
Can civilization survive ... and escape from the Edge of Humanity?3 books & nearly 800 pages of non-stop zombie action that readers are calling "fresh" with "dollops of violence" to satisfy even the most discriminating post-apocalyptic fan. From an Amazon bestselling author.BOOK 1: Turn -- A town on the run ... The Crazed that wants their flesh. Will they make it out alive?When a meteorite crashes to earth it catapults a small Utopian town into an archaic nightmare. It's up to one man to protect them, not only from the flesh-eating monsters but also from the maniacal colonel who storms in, barking orders for immediate evacuation. Clay Dobbs is the small town sheriff about to, unknowingly, take on the end of the world. When the Crazed come for your flesh, how will you survive?BOOK 2: Detour -- Their escape was certain ... or so they thought. Their survival is, and forever will be, in question.With the nanite epidemic out of control, Clay leads his skeleton crew head first into the aftermath. The nightmare continues as he battles both the Crazed and the rouge, as well as his own inner demons. The once small town sheriff must find order where there is no law until he encounters his near equal at the end of the world. But, is she all that she seems? Will Clay unravel all the clues before it's too late?The road is a dark and chilling place. There is no time to rest if you want to survive.BOOK 3: Reversion -- At the end of the world ... never dismiss the unexpected. A surprise reunion. A forgotten friend. Long odds and determination reward Sheriff Clay Dobbs with a bit of what he wants most. But, he won't rest—he can't rest—not until he's dead. And he has no plans for that until he defeats the insane military General that has caused so much hardship. But, it's not as easy as he thinks, not when there's an even more neurotic psychopath standing in his way. Can Clay learn to control himself, and the undead around him?When the Crazed come for you, where will you hide?
Loup-Garou: The Beast of Harmony Falls
David Reuben - 2014
Helens wilderness is being haunted by a killer. Hikers, loggers, and local residents are dying in horrible, mysterious ways, and lawmen Bud O'Brien and Charlie Redtail are forced to think it just might be a monster ... maybe Bigfoot itself. Enter Cryptozoologist Dr. Ian McDermott, Ph.D., who struggles with his own personal demons as he uncovers the impossible and ugly truth behind it all - an evil more malevolent than anyone ever imagined. Loup-Garou is the first in the Ian McDermott, Paranormal Investigator series. Atmospheric, often beautiful, and always intensely scary investigations into what we were told as children were only myths and legends. The hunt is on.
Nightmare Alley
William Lindsay Gresham - 1946
Young Stan Carlisle is working as a carny, and he wonders how a man could fall so low. There’s no way in hell, he vows, that anything like that will ever happen to him.And since Stan is clever and ambitious and not without a useful streak of ruthlessness, soon enough he’s going places. Onstage he plays the mentalist with a cute assistant (before long his harried wife), then he graduates to full-blown spiritualist, catering to the needs of the rich and gullible in their well-upholstered homes. It looks like the world is Stan’s for the taking. At least for now.
The Wimbourne Book of Victorian Ghost Stories: Volume 1
Alastair GunnRhoda Broughton - 2016
Wimbourne Books presents the first in a series of rare or out-of-print ghost stories from Victorian authors. With an introduction by author Alastair Gunn, Volume 1 in the series spans the years 1852 to 1899 and includes stories from a wide range of female authors; English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh and American. Includes tales by Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Charlotte Riddell, Isabella Banks and Gertrude Atherton. Readers new to this genre will discover its pleasures; the Victorian quaintness, the sometimes shocking difference in social norms, the almost comical politeness and structured etiquette, the archaic and precise language, but mostly the Victorians’ skill at stoking our fears and trepidations, our insecurities and doubts. Even if you are already an aficionado of the ghostly tale there is much within these pages to interest you. Wait until the dark of the stormy night arrives, lock the doors, shutter the windows, light the fire, sit with your back to the wall and bury yourself in the Victorian macabre. Try not to let the creaking floorboards, the distant howl of a dog, the chill breeze that caresses the candle, the shadows in the far recesses of your room, disturb your concentration.
The Last Séance: Tales of the Supernatural
Agatha Christie - 2019
Fantastic psychic visions, specters looming in the shadows, encounters with deities, a man who switches bodies with a cat—be sure to keep the light on whilst reading these tales. The Last Séance gathers twenty stories, some featuring Christie’s beloved detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, in one haunting compendium that explores all things occult and paranormal, and is an essential omnibus for Christie fans.
Grim
Christine JohnsonShaun David Hutchinson - 2014
Inspired by classic fairy tales, but with a dark and sinister twist, Grim contains short stories from some of the best voices in young adult literature today: Ellen Hopkins Amanda Hocking Julie Kagawa Claudia Gray Rachel Hawkins Kimberly Derting Myra McEntire Malinda Lo Sarah Rees-Brennan Jackson Pearce Christine Johnson Jeri Smith Ready Shaun David Hutchinson Saundra Mitchell Sonia Gensler Tessa Gratton Jon Skrovon