Showing results by author "E.F.Benson" in All Categories

It’s Christmas in the Chandler household, and as the party gather around the fire, their host Everard recalls a ghostly tale from the previous Christmas in the misty forests of Scotland.

Bobby is an accomplished and charming pianist who has befriended a number of rich elderly widows and spinsters, each of which he refers to as 'aunt'. He already has his own Bechstein grand piano, plus another concert grand which was (touchingly but highly inconveniently) left to him by a late 'aunt'. Now various of his other 'aunts' are also keen to offload their grand pianos on him....

Six creepy horror stories of sinister, murderous and ghostly cats. 'The White Cat' by Hugh Walpole; 'The Cat' by E. F. Benson; 'The Cats of Ulthar' by H. P. Lovecraft; 'The Black Cat' by William James Wintle; 'The Grey Cat' by Barry Pain; 'The Black Cat' by Edgar Allan Poe.

A mesmerizing collection of 30 wonderful stories by great classic writers. 1. The Invisible Man by G. K. Chesterton 2. At the Farmhouse by E. F. Benson 3. The Parasite by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 4. The Watcher by the Threshold by John Buchan 5. Query by Seamark 6. The Man of the Night by Edgar Wallace 7. The Earl, the Warder and the Wayward Heiress by J. S. Fletcher 8. Afterward by Edith Wharton 9. The Murderer by Perceval Gibbon 10. The Idiot by Arnold Bennett 11. Oh Liberty by W. Pett Ridge

There is something about the number 3. The Ancient Greeks believed 3 was the perfect number, and in China 3 has always been a lucky number, and they know a thing or two. Most religions also have 3 this and 3 that and, of course, in these more modern times, three’s a crowd may be too many, except when it’s a ménage à trois. It seems good things usually come in threes. Whatever history and culture says WE think 3, a hat-trick of stories, is a great number to explore themes and literary avenues that classic authors were so adept at creating.

Keen to escape London to work on their respective music scores and novel, two cousins stumble across a rural holiday let that is well below their budget. But it soon proves too good to be true when something on the top landing starts spooking them and their staff.

The Horror Horn is set in the Swiss Alps and opens in the cosy lounge of a resort hotel, where a string ensemble strikes up with the sugary strains of Puccini. Our hero is further entertained to an unlikely yarn of savage sub-humans living near the Ungeheuerhorn, or Horror Horn, a forbidding mountain peak nearby. Next day, a skiing trip to St. Luigi in the next valley to lunch with a friend marks the start of an unexpectedly terrifying adventure. The Horror Horn is not a ghost story as such: the creatures in it are most definitely flesh and blood and they are hungry!

The Man Who Went Too Far: A Ghost Story by E. F. Benson opens one summer’s day in a beautiful, sequestered garden on the edge of the New Forest. A forty-something artist visits a friend to recuperate from a debilitating illness but is staggered to discover him looking remarkably young and oddly vibrant. He listens as this ‘boy’ explains his new found philosophy, expands on the delight he takes in the natural world all around him and describes the strangely haunting music he has begun to hear in the woods and among the reeds.

A gripping collection of classic stories in which the central figures are highly dangerous female characters - ranging from the creepy and unsettling to the utterly terrifying.

A grisly spirit turns travelling companion for an unwitting traveller on the top deck of a London bus one bleak winter’s night in this short story.

Brain surgeon Dr Francis Assheton is sceptical when one of his oldest friends holds a séance to show him ‘The Thing’ that has been appearing at his home. But when he witnesses it for himself and his friend then dies in mysterious circumstances, the doctor must recount his tale before it is too late.

Edward Frederic Benson (1867-1940) was an English novelist, biographer, memoirist, archaeologist, and short story writer, best known for his evocative and beautifully narrated ghost stories. Expiation is a real gem of a ghost story. Two old friends rent a lonely house in an idyllic but remote part of Cornwall. But within a short time of their arrival, they become aware of a mystery about the house.

The Essential Classics: Volume 3 brings together 5 of the greatest classics ever written, perfectly read by an esteemed cast including Lucy Scott, Kristin Atherton, Peter Noble, Robert G. Slade, and Olivia Dowd. Spanning British, German, and American literature, this collection includes stories of the high seas in Moby Dick, small town comedy in Queen Lucia, as well love, honour, and betrayal in Far From the Madding Crowd, and more.

Edward Frederic Benson (1867 - 1940) was an English novelist, biographer, memoirist, archaeologist and short story writer, best known as the true master of the gothic ghost story. "The Cat" is an odd story about a young man who suffers a severe shock reaction to the unexpected ending of his engagement. Initially he is thrown into a deep depression which lasts several months, but then all of a sudden something snaps in his brain and he undergoes a phenomenal transformation.

Fifty of the greatest classic horror stories ever written: 1. "The Beast with Five Fingers" by W. F. Harvey 2. "The Well" by W. W. Jacobs 3. "The Nightmare Room" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 4. "The End of a Show" by Barry Pain 5. "Bagnell Terrace" by E. F. Benson 6. "Fingers of a Hand" by H. D. Everett 7. "The Interruption" by W. W. Jacobs 8. "Gavon’s Eve" by E. F. Benson 9. "The Ring of Thoth" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 10. "Moon’s Gibbet" by Egerton Castle 11. "The Mystery of Sasassa Valley" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

1. "August Heat" by W. F. Harvey 2. "A Madman’s Manuscript" by Charles Dickens 3. "The Hair" by A. J. Alan 4. "My Favourite Murder" by Ambrose Bierce 5. "Cannibalism in the Cars" by Mark Twain 6. "Gabriel-Earnest" by Saki 7. "The Pistol Shot" by Alexander Pushkin 8. "The Mark of the Beast" by Rudyard Kipling 9. "At the Farmhouse" by E. F. Benson 10. "The Parasite" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 11. "The Murder of the Mandarin" by Arnold Bennett 12. "Moon’s Gibbet" by Egerton Castle 13. "Query" by Seamark

Hester Ward is blessed with youth, health, beauty, a husband and two adorable children, but she is being tormented by a face in her dreams. It is hoped that a holiday by the coast will relieve her, but the face eventually manifests itself.

‘The Bath-Chair’ tells the story of the Faraday siblings. Edmund is a shrewd businessman, priding himself on his impeccable health. His spinster sister, Alice, lives with him performing all domestic duties and despises him. When Edmund starts seeing a lame figure who looks startlingly like himself and his own health starts mysteriously declining, Alice revels in plotting his downfall.

When Philip Hope discovers that his wife, Sybil, is having an affair with his secretary, Julian, he takes great delight in thwarting their affections. Just as Philip dismisses his secretary, though, he falls from a cliff, and Julian doesn’t save him. Now free to be together, Sybil and Julian return to the place Philip died, but it becomes clear that Philip is not finished with them yet as he haunts their honeymoon.

A positive spin on the supernatural, ‘Pirates’ sees ageing industrialist Peter Graham return to his former family home in Cornwall after more than 40 years. The ghosts of the house represent happy memories of his childhood.