Classic Ghost Stories Podcast

Minuke by Nigel Kneale Nigel Kneale Nigel Kneale was born in Barrow in Furness in 1922, which was then part of Lancashire “North of the Sands”, and since 1974 part of the modern county of Cumbria. He died in 2006 in London.  Neale’s family came from the Isle of Man, which is clearly visible from the coast of Cumbria. I saw it yesterday but not today as it was too rainy. The family went back to the...

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu Le Fanu was an Irish writer born in Dublin in 1814 and who died in Dublin in 1873.  In his time he was the leading writer of ghost stories and macabre tales.  On the podcast, we have read out his masterwork, Carmilla, but Green Tea is an equally well-known story. He was judged by the master ghost story writer of a later generation, M R James as being absolutely first rank. ...

Only short, and not a ghost story. Imagine. This is my notes script. I did ramble off when reading from it. But it's just for you. The Story of An Hour It just shows how our life is completely transformed by seeing things from different perspectives. That is true both of the heroine, who dies, but also for us in this masterful tale with multiple twists. The first shock, that Bently Mallard is dead...

Nathaniel Hawthorne Hawthorne was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachussetts. He died in Plymouth New Hampshire. One of his ancestors was John Hathorne who was the only judge in the witch trials who never repented his involvement. His ancestors who came from England in 1630 were Puritans. It is thought that Hathorne added the -w- to his name to make it Hawthorne in his twenties in order to distance him...

Pickman's Model By H P Lovecraft This story was written in September 1926 and first published in the October 1927 edition of Weird Tales.  The narrator opens by disclosing that he is frightened to go underground, into the subway or even into a cellar. Then he explains why. It's to do with Pickman, an artist with an unsavoury reputation. There are hints that Pickman, whose ancestor was a witch, is...

Edgar Allen Poe Poe was an American writer born in 1809 in Boston who died aged only forty in Baltimore in 1849. He is one of the best-known American writers of his generation and famed all over the world for his Gothic and macabre tales.  This is the third of his stories we've done on The Classic Ghost Stories Podcast. Others are The Tell-Tale Heart and The Fall of the House of Usher The Black Ca...

His Beautiful Hands By Oscar Cook This will be the second of Oscar Cook's stories we have read, the first being Boomerang.  Boomerang is here It was danged hard to find a copy of His Beautiful Hands, but I succeeded. HBH is rated as one of the best horror stories in those inevitable lists that pop up on the Internet, almost certainly compiled by people who never read it because print copies of the...

Sarah Orne Jewett This episode is a real treat for me for a number of reasons. One is that this was my first commission! Susan Foust very kindly introduced me to this story and even paid me to read it out. Win-win-win. If you would like a commission, it would be remiss of me not to point out, you can get me to read any story under 10,000 words here. So back to Sarah Orne Jewett. She lived her life...

Mary Elizabeth Braddon Another accomplished woman novelist of the Victorian period. Mary Elizabeth Braddon was born in 1835 in London and died in Richmond, Surrey (now part of London) in 1915. She wrote more than eighty novels, one of which, Lady Audley's Secret , was a great success.  A number of her stories have supernatural themes, and she lived in the heyday of the ghost story so that is not s...

The Spider By Basil Copper @stuieburley on Twitter put me onto Basil Copper. He had recommended the Janissaries of Emilion. I'd never heard of Basil so I got a Kindle Edition of The Collected Macabre Tales of Basil Copper which includes that story. However, it is long. I may do it another time, but for this week I selected a shorter story. But it's a good one. Basil Copper was born in 1924 and liv...

Music Hath Charms By LTC Rolt Lionel Thomas Caswall Rolt, was an English writer born in 1910 and who died in 1974, therefore for us, he's a recent writer! He was a prolific writer who had an interest in engineering and that shows in this story in his description of the tunnels and the knowledge of ventilation shafts which are integral to the plot of the story.  In keeping with this love of enginee...

The Story of Salome by Amelia B Edwards We did  The Phantom Coach  by Amelia B Edwards as Episode 8, which seems a long time ago now. That was a splendidly written story too. To remind ourselves: Amelia Edwards was born in 1831 in London, England. As such she is one of the oldest writers we’ve read so far in this podcast. She died aged only 60 in Weston Supermare, a seaside resort in the west of E...

Yes, I’m loading up the podcasts so I can do nothing much over Christmas and New Year. You will hear me claim on this one that it’s New Year’s Day. I’m sorry for the deceit, but I was not gong to be sitting New Year’s day doing this. I have a family argument to go to. Richmal Crompton  Richmal Crompton was born in Bury, Lancashire in 1890 and died in Bromley, Kent in 1969, aged 78. She was the dau...

THE STORY OF A DISAPPEARANCE AND AN APPEARANCE By M R James The Story of a Disappearance and an Appearance is one of the few M R James stories actually set at Christmas. He was well-known for reading out his stories at Christmas, but few of them are actually set over the festive period. It was first published the June 4, 1913 issue of the Cambridge Review. It then appeared in his anthology A Thin...

A Christmas Carol Part 4: The Spirit Of Christmas Future & The End Of It The Ghost of Christmas Future is the scariest of the ghosts. No jovial sprite he! He's just a heap of black cloak and a pointing hand. At the end, the spirit's hand quivers kindly, but he gives Scrooge no answers. Scrooge, even unanswered, intuits that he will be okay if he mends his ways. I thought that the first scene with...

A Christmas Carol Part 3: The Spirit Of Christmas Present He brought a tear to my eye and halt to my throat, did Old Dickens in this episode. I think he was a man of great humanity who genuinely did care for those who were not as well-off as he was. The only slight caution I had was Old Topper chasing The Plump Sister and getting her in a corner. We inevitably all view behaviour through the lens o...

 Christmas Carol Part 2. The First Spirit. I am enjoying this story. It's a long time since I've read it, and I'd forgotten a lot of the detail. I do like Dickens's writing. His description of the Ghost of Christmas Past with its extinguisher (a candle-snuffer I think) and its sparkling belt. His description of the country lane they appear on on Christmas Day where young Scrooge is alone is wonder...

Yes, I didn’t record the whole chapter about Marley’s Ghost last time. An illustration got in the way, and… well, I maffed it up. So here’s the end of Chapter 1: Marley’s Ghost. Sorry! Tony   This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tonywalker.substack.com

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England in 1812. He died in Higham, Kent in 1879, aged only 58 and was buried at Poet's Corner, Westminster Abbey—a high honour indeed. Dickens's writing was very popular during his lifetime and he was recognised as a literary genius by the 20th Century. His first success was The Pickwick Papers in 1836, when he was 24....

You guys on Substack don’t have to wait. Here’s your episode two weeks early! S02E18 The Ghost Of Christmas Eve By J M Barrie James Matthew Barrie was born in Kirriemuir in Angus in North East Scotland in 1860. His father was a weaver. He was one of nine children, though two died before he was born and Barrie’s brother David died in an ice-skating accident the day before Barrie’s fourteenth birthd...

I bet you are sick of me sending you emails entitled: The Turn Of The Screw blah blah blah. Well it’s done. Finished. I’m bushed, but proud like a shy new dad. Anyway, no more emails about the Turn of the Screw. No more emails for a week I promise. Phew It's done! This is the final part of our reading of the The Turn Of The Screw novella. While, I'm pleased the job is done, the race is run and I c...

S02E16 The Turn Of The Screw Part 7 Forgive me not saying much in these show notes. We have one last part of The Turn Of The Screw after this. I hope to get it done within a few days. Download A Free Audiobook Of My Story The Dalston Vampire Start Music: " Some Come Back " by the Heartwood Institute, Check our their new release for Halloween, Witch Season. End Music: " A Drowning " by Dvoynik Buy...

We continue with Henry James's The Turn of the Screw . His language is getting easier. I think he's given up trying to impress me and is just getting on with the story. That is all good because the story is nifty. However, I do think Quint and Miss Jessel are unfairly maligned. Poor old Mrs Grose! She’s all over the shop! She doesn’t know what to think! I think I’m channeling The Mighty Boosh… Not...

Nothing much to say. Please share. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tonywalker.substack.com

The Turn Of The Screw Part 4, being chapters 9, 10 and 11. Minimal show notes this week as I plough on trying to record and edit this novella. Download A Free Audiobook Of My Story The Dalston Vampire Other Links Start Music: "Some Come Back" by the Heartwood Institute, Check our their new release for Halloween, Witch Season. End Music: " A Ghost Story " by Dvoynik Don't you love disturbing music?...