It was written in 1891 and is included in Nesbit's 1893 anthology Grim Tales. The story's title character is a man who somehow always seems to get what he wants. John makes up his mind to marry May Forster, the prettiest young woman in the village. After John asks her to marry him several times, May finally agrees. John says that his love for May is so great that he would come back from the dead if that was what she wanted him to do. Two days before his wedding, John leaves to visit his seriously ill godfather. May begs him not to go because she has a feeling that something bad will happen. John reassures her that nothing will prevent him from arriving at his wedding on time.

    they had other plans... (note: very short story!)

    Being dead isn’t all it’s cracked up to be... Hank Merrick was a pretty unremarkable guy — until the world went and got itself destroyed. Unspeakable horrors now wander around ruined cities, claiming what little is left of the old world, and only the dead and forgotten are left to tell the tales. Freshly expired himself, Hank’s spirit begins a mysterious misadventure — finding purpose in the afterlife. Using guile, a bit of iron, and his shambling corpse companion named Maw, Hank sarcastically slogs through the nightmare landscape. Monsters leap out from every dark corner, while an unstoppable entity of evil slowly creeps across the earth, destroying everyone in its path. What’s a ghost gotta do to catch a break?

    These are just a few of the freighting stories contained inside. I invite you in to experience the hauntingly horrifying, the terrifyingly true and the unsettlingly unique texts within...

    The arcades, food stands, souvenir shops and tattoo parlors are boarded over for the winter but the bungalows tucked in the dunes are occupied by artists and transients looking for cheap rentals. She faces a long, cold, lonely winter but a bunch of old guys, that she calls The Geezers, begin regaling her with stories about the "old days" and about an ill-fated romance between the beautiful wife of a Boston mob boss and The Great Hercules, a sideshow strongman. She is also increasingly fascinated by an elusive roustabout who flirts with her and shows her the secret spaces in an old beachfront ballroom. As winter gets darker and deeper Layla's husband is both struggling with his writing and becoming suspicious of her behavior. What Layla doesn't know is that nothing is what it seems and her options are growing fewer every day. (Volume One of the Halcyon Beach Chronicles. Volume Two is Ghosts of a Lighthouse in Autumn.)

     Favorite Classic Fairy Tales Retold in Simple Language! Having raised three children and spent countless evenings and weekends with her 5 grandchildren and their neighboring little friends, Beatrice Wood knows exactly what it means to be a busy parent. She advises parents that no matter how busy they are at work or at home, they ought to spend a little quality time with their children every day. Reading a story to them for 5 or 10 minutes is a wonderful way to do this. In this Book Series you will find her personal collection of 32 famous fairy tales and stories from around the world, voted by her children and grandchildren to be the family’s most favorite. Fairy tales from the greatest storytellers that have ever been as well as folk tales and lesser-known stories from unknown authors. These family favorites were shortened and re-written in a simple language that kids will understand. Moreover, all 4 books of the collection have illustrations to keep children's attention. 4 Good Reasons to Buy this Book! This book contains some of the most favorite classic fairy tales which are: Shortened to 5-7 minutes in length, for the busy mom or dad’s convenience. Formatted for ease of use on your Kindle. Appropriate for ages from 6 to 12 and also very pleasantly readable for grownups! Rewritten in a simple and attractive style, but still containing words that will encourage your children’s vocabulary development. Contents: THE FISH AND THE RING RIQUET WITH THE TUFT (THE UGLY PRINCE) RUMPELSTILZCHEN THE BREMEN TOWN MUSICIANS THE FROG PRINCE THE ROSE TREE THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA THE GYPSY QUEEN Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ with illustrations! Buy Now with 1-Click! More Books in the Fairy Tales Collections 5 MINUTE BEDTIME STORIES FOR CHILDREN VOL.1 --> http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00W22Q7WO Contents: HOW THE OLD WOMAN GOT HER WISH THREE SILLIES THE MILLER, HIS SON AND THEIR DONKEY ARMADILLO’S SONG JACK HANNAFORD TIKKI TIKKI TEMBO LAZY JACK THE STORY WITHOUT AN END THE EMPEROR’S NEW CLOTHES WHAT WE PLANT, WE WILL EAT Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ <

    The stories are: The Beckoning Fair One, Phantas, Rooum, Benlian, Io, The Accident, The Cigarette Case, & Hic Jacket.Excerpt: ...off!" he ordered me. "I'll send for you again when I want you!" He thrust me out. "An asylum, Mr. Benlian," I thought as I crossed the yard, "is the place for you!" You see, I didn't know him then, and that he wasn't to be judged as an ordinary man is. Just you wait till you see.... And straight away, I found myself vowing that I'd have nothing more to do with him. I found myself resolving that, as if I were making up my mind not to smoke or drink-and (I don't know why) with a similar sense that I was depriving myself of something. But, somehow, I forgot, and within a month he'd been in several times to see me, and once or twice had fetched me in to see his statue. In two months I was in an extraordinary state of mind about him. I was familiar with him in a way, but at the same time I didn't know one scrap more about him. Because I'm a fool (oh, yes, I know quite well, now, what I am) you'll think I'm talking folly if I even begin to tell you what sort of a man he was. I don't mean just his knowledge (though I think he knew everything-sciences, languages, and all that) for it was far more than that. Somehow, when he was there, he had me all restless and uneasy; and when he wasn't there I was (there's only the one word for it) jealous-as jealous as if he'd been a girl! Even yet I can't make it out.... And he knew how unsettled he'd got me; and I'll tell you how I found that out. Straight out one night, when he was sitting up in my place, he asked me: "Do you like me, Pudgie?" (I forgot to say that I'd told him they used to call me Pudgie at home, because I was little and fat; it was odd, the number of things I told him that I wouldn't have told anybody else.) "Do you like me, Pudgie?" he said. As for my answer, I don't know how it spurted out. I was much more surprised than he was, for I really didn't intend it. It was for all the world as if somebody else was talking with my mouth. "I loathe and adore you!" it came; and then I looked round,...

    That's what Harriet and Arthur Bloomsbury think, but that comforting feeling is a fiction. Hiding among the stone walls, picturesque barns, and hay bales is a horror they can't imagine. It's deadly, impossible -- maybe even paranormal. This short story isn’t your average murder mystery, because this time, the threat isn’t quite so clear. Is it the serial killers hunting you? Your own paranoia? Or the very laws of nature? The suspense is free.

    A creak, almost too light to be heard…was it the shifting of an old house, or footsteps down the hallway? Breathe softly, and strain to hear through the silence. That breeze against your neck might be a draught, or an open window. Slip into the pages of SPINE and you’ll be persuaded to leave the lights on and door firmly bolted. From Steven Jenkins, bestselling author of FOURTEEN DAYS and BURN THE DEAD, this horror collection of eight stories go beyond the realm of terror to an entirely different kind of creepiness. Beneath innocent appearances lurk twisted minds and scary monsters, from soft scratches behind the wall, to the paranoia of walking through a crowd and knowing that every single eye is locked on you. In this world, voices lure lost souls to the cliff’s edge and illicit drugs offer glimpses of things few should see. Scientists tamper with the afterlife, and the strange happenings at a nursing home are not what they first seem. So don’t let that groan from the closet fool you. The monster is hiding right where you least expect it. “If you love scary campfire stories of ghosts, demonology, and all things that go bump in the night, then you’ll love this horror collection by author Steven Jenkins.” COLIN DAVIES – Director/Producer of BAFTA winning BBC’s The Coal-House.

    ​Something dark and evil dwells in the basement. It roams the house, surrounds and traps you; then feed on your fears and flesh. No child is safe from what lives…in The Basement.

    Forbidden love spans the ages to occupy Bloodlore House for ever after. The Barnes family move into an expansive old Tudor home, never imaging they could ever own such splendour. The family’s three children, Sam and Jane, and Bridget, the brooding, love-sick teenager have the uppermost third-floor room as their game room, and a local babysitter, Tess thrown in to the mix. This room comes with a sinister ambience, an irremovable wooden cross and a jammed window, but is there more lurking unseen in this otherwise empty old room? Nightmares, voices and inexplicable happenings change each family member in different ways, and the babysitter is not left unscathed. Who will win out, the ancient or the contemporary? This compelling debut from Tabatha Cross will have the hairs standing on the back of your neck.

    James to Neil Gaiman, H.H. Munro to Audrey Niffenegger herself, Ghostly reveals the evolution of the ghost story genre with tales going back to the eighteenth century and into the modern era, ranging across styles from Gothic Horror to Victorian, stories about haunting--haunted children, animals, houses. Every story is introduced by Audrey Niffenegger, an acclaimed master of the craft, with some words on its background and why she chose to include it. Audrey's own story is "A Secret Life With Cats."     Perfect for the classic and contemporary ghost story aficionado, this is a delightful volume, beautifully illustrated by Audrey, who is a graphic artist with great vision. Ghostly showcases the best of the best in the field, including Edith Wharton, P.G. Wodehouse, A.S. Byatt, Ray Bradbury, and so many more.

    Three little children, found abandoned in different parts of the country. Three wonderfully sweet and startlingly gifted children who won the hearts of the grown-ups who adopted them.But now all three children were gone. Had they run away or been stolen? Their foster parents had to find them to find out. And on a rescue search that led them across America and into a world-within-a-world ruled by a psychically terrifying envoy of evil, little did they realize that the young ones they loved so briefly were now the unwitting possessors of a deadly power to harm.

    The new tales, many of them published here for the first time, are written by today's top authors, and they bring a modern twist to the outstanding mix of intrigue that lurks in the furtive imagination of E.F. Benson, Henry James, Wilkie Collins, Washington Irving, Edith Wharton, Oscar Wilde, and so many more within this outstanding collection.

    Is this thing that haunts her nights a ghost or is it something worse? Jesse and Gail are just starting their paranormal investigations business. This first case should be easy and they can’t wait to get started. Their client is claiming a spirit is assaulting her. Touching her, hounding her and that she is never alone in her house.Gail isn’t convinced that this is a haunting. Tales of blue flying lights and whispers in the night make her think that Margie is imagining things. Especially when she learns what happened to her husband.Only Jesse has heard of such cases. Spirit orbs are well documented and cases of spiritual assault have been seen worldwide. He knows they can get very nasty, very fast. When they visit Margie's home it is not the normal haunted house but a quiet and light bungalow. Yet as soon as they enter they sense a strong and dark force.Something is lurking in this quiet suburb, terrorizing Margie, pushing her to the very edge of sanity.What does it want? Why is it here?Can this DarkMan be beaten or have they taken on more that they can handle? Scroll up now to find out in this exciting Haunted House novel by bestselling author Caroline Clark.This book is part of The Spirit Guide Series of books but each book is completely standalone and they can be read in any order.