Tales from Sniper's Rest

Book Summary; George Birch, an undertaker for the New England town of Peck Valley, finds himself trapped in the vault where coffins are stored during winter for burial in the spring. Words I had to look up in order to read this book; - Bucolic; relating to the pleasant aspects of the countryside and country life. - Prosy; (especially of speech or writing) showing no imagination; commonplace or dul...

Book Summary; The story tells of a high-strung scientist named Crawford Tillinghast who has invented a machine that — partly by stimulating the pineal gland — allows its users to see the vast and terrible layers of reality that coexist with the world perceived by the five senses. Words I had to look up in order to read this book; - Remonstrances; a forcefully reproachful protest. - Apoplexy; uncon...

Book Summary; This is a tale told by a tenant of an old NYC brownstone, who wishes to explain to his listener why he loathes the touch of cool air. Words I had to look up in order to read this book; - Pince-nez; is a style of glasses, popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, that are supported without earpieces, by pinching the bridge of the nose. - Extirpation; the act of pulling up or...

Book Summary; This tale is in the form of a note left by a merchant mariner whose experiences in a lifeboat on the open sea have driven him to morphine-addiction and madness. Words I had to look up in order to read this book; - Homogeneity; the quality or state of being all the same or all of the same kind. - Eminence; a piece of rising ground. - Declivity; a downward slope. - Stygian; relating to...

Book Summary; A former intern and a worker of a mental hospital relates his experience with Joe Slater, an inmate who died at the facility a few weeks after being confined as a criminally insane murderer. Words I had to look up in order to read this book; - Terraqueous; consisting or formed of land and water. - Matutinal; of or occuring in the morning. - Emanations;(in various mystical traditions)...

Book Summary; A lighthouse keeper named Basil Elton engages upon a peculiar fantasy in which a robed, bearded man is piloting a mystical white ship which appears when the moon is full. Words I had to look up in order to read this book; - Barque; a sailing ship of three or more masts with the aftmost mast fore-and-aft rigged and the others square-rigged. - Argosies; a large merchant ship, originall...

Book Summary; At a gathering to decide the fate of Randolph Carter's estate (which has been held in trust since his disappearance) the mysterious Swami Chandraputra, who wears curious mittens and enveloping robes, tells Carter's acquaintances of his ultimate fate. Attributes; - Podcast Cover Photo by Photo by Ivan Aleksic on Unsplash - Profile Photo by Taton Moïse on Unsplash - Intro/Outro...

Book Summary; Randolph Carter discovers, at the age of 30, that he has gradually "lost the key to the gate of dreams." Words I had to look up in order to read this book; - Prosiness; commonplaceness as a consequence of being humdrum and not exciting. - Dyspeptic; having indigestion or a consequent air of irritable bad temper. - Chalcedony; is a cryptocrystalline form of silica, composed...

Book Summary; A Brooklyn police detective learns the dark secrets of the city's most dangerous neighborhood, where mysterious immigrants conspire with a crazed old occultist to satisfy their ancient god in nightmare caverns below the urban squalor. Words I had to look up in order to read this book; - Amalgam; A mixture or blend. - Physiognomies; a person's facial features or expression, es...

Book Summary; For many years the protagonist and his uncle, Dr. Elihu Whipple, have nurtured a fascination with an old, abandoned house on Benefit Street. Dr. Whipple has made extensive records tracking the mysterious, yet apparently coincidental sickness and death of many who have lived in the house for over one hundred years. Words I had to look up in order to read this book; - Inchoate; just be...

Book Summary; The story follows Antoine, a count who is last in line to die at the age of 32 due to a curse put on his family hundreds of years prior. His ancestor, being responsible for the death, brought about the curse, and Antoine was left to watch all his family, including his manservant, die an early death. Words I had to look up in order to read this book; - Machicolated; (in medieval forti...

Book Summary; The story is narrated by an unnamed seeker of strange horrors who is investigating the massacre of a community of some six dozen backwoods degenerates in an obscure region of the Catskills, a massacre which occurred during a particularly violent electrical storm and seems to have been perpetrated by an unidentified clawed beast. The narrator soon discovers that the most sinister lege...

Book Summary; The narrator, an unnamed surveyor from Boston, describes his attempts to uncover the secrets behind a shunned place referred to by the locals of the hills west of Arkham as the "blasted heath". Words I had to look up in order to read this book; - Chiaroscuro; is an Italian term which translates as light-dark, and refers to the balance and pattern of light and shade in a pai...

Book Summary; The Call of Cthulhu chronicles Francis Wayland Thurston as he goes through notes of his dead uncle and other accounts of a mysterious cult. The cult worships Cthulhu, a monstrous human, octopus, dragon hybrid that lives in the sunken corpse city of R'lyeh, who's dreams influence reality. Words I had to look up in order to read this book; - Theosophists; Theosophy is a religio...

Book Summary; As Dorian Gray sinks into a life of crime and gross sensuality, his body retains perfect youth and vigor while his recently painted portrait grows day by day into a hideous record of evil, which he must keep hidden from the world. Words I had to look up in order to read this book; - Ennui; a feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement....

Book Summary; As Dorian Gray sinks into a life of crime and gross sensuality, his body retains perfect youth and vigor while his recently painted portrait grows day by day into a hideous record of evil, which he must keep hidden from the world. Words I had to look up in order to read this book; - Ormolu; a gold-coloured alloy of copper, zinc, and tin used in decorating furniture and making ornamen...

Book Summary; As Dorian Gray sinks into a life of crime and gross sensuality, his body retains perfect youth and vigor while his recently painted portrait grows day by day into a hideous record of evil, which he must keep hidden from the world. Words I had to look up in order to read this book; - Ague; a fever or shivering fit. Attributes; - Podcast Cover Photo by Photo by Ivan Aleksic on Unsplash...

Book Summary; As Dorian Gray sinks into a life of crime and gross sensuality, his body retains perfect youth and vigor while his recently painted portrait grows day by day into a hideous record of evil, which he must keep hidden from the world. Words I had to look up in order to read this book; - Asceticism; severe self-discipline and avoiding of all forms of indulgence, typically for religious re...

Book Summary; As Dorian Gray sinks into a life of crime and gross sensuality, his body retains perfect youth and vigor while his recently painted portrait grows day by day into a hideous record of evil, which he must keep hidden from the world. Words I had to look up in order to read this book; - Ennui; a feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement....

Book Summary; As Dorian Gray sinks into a life of crime and gross sensuality, his body retains perfect youth and vigor while his recently painted portrait grows day by day into a hideous record of evil, which he must keep hidden from the world. Words I had to look up in order to read this book; - Anodyne; a painkilling drug or medicine. Attributes; - Podcast Cover Photo by Photo by Ivan Aleksic on...

Book Summary; As Dorian Gray sinks into a life of crime and gross sensuality, his body retains perfect youth and vigor while his recently painted portrait grows day by day into a hideous record of evil, which he must keep hidden from the world. Words I had to look up in order to read this book; - Bismuth-whitened; a powder used in stage makeup. - Querulously; always eager to complain. - Espial; an...

Book Summary; As Dorian Gray sinks into a life of crime and gross sensuality, his body retains perfect youth and vigor while his recently painted portrait grows day by day into a hideous record of evil, which he must keep hidden from the world. Words I had to look up in order to read this book; - Cheroot; a cigar with both ends open. - Collieries; a coal mine and the buildings and equipment associ...

Book Summary; As Dorian Gray sinks into a life of crime and gross sensuality, his body retains perfect youth and vigor while his recently painted portrait grows day by day into a hideous record of evil, which he must keep hidden from the world. Words I had to look up in order to read this book; - Précis; a summary or abstract of a text or speech. - Truculent; eager or quick to argue or fight; aggr...

Book Summary; The story of Professor Lidenbrock, his nephew, and a hired guide who, following the instructions of a medieval alchemist claiming to have found a passage to the center of the earth, travel deep into an Icelandic volcano. Words I had to look up in order to read this book; - Contrivance; the use of skill to create or bring about something, especially with a consequent effect of artific...

Book Summary; The story of Professor Lidenbrock, his nephew, and a hired guide who, following the instructions of a medieval alchemist claiming to have found a passage to the center of the earth, travel deep into an Icelandic volcano. Words I had to look up in order to read this book; - Garrulous; excessively talkative, especially on trivial matters. - Rhapsodical; extravagantly emotional. - Eulog...