The Willows ♦ By Algernon Blackwood ♦ Supernatural Horror ♦ Full Audiobook

The Willows  ♦ By Algernon Blackwood ♦ Supernatural Horror ♦ Full Audiobook



Famous Modern Ghost Stories



Title:  The Willows



Author:  Algernon Blackwood



Genre(s): Horror & Supernatural Fiction



Language: English



Read By:  Ken Crooker



Librivox Recording



Two friends are midway on a canoe trip down the River Danube. Throughout the story, Blackwood personifies the surrounding environment —river, sun, wind— with powerful and ultimately threatening characteristics. Most ominous are the masses of dense, desultory, menacing willows, which "moved of their own will as though alive, and they touched, by some incalculable method, my own keen sense of the horrible."



Shortly after landing their canoe for the evening on a sandy island near Bratislava in the Dunajské luhy Protected Landscape Area of Austria-Hungary,[2] the narrator reflects on the river's potency, human qualities, and his own will:



Sleepy at first, but later developing violent desires as it became conscious of its deep soul, it rolled, like some huge fluid being, through all the countries we had passed, holding our little craft on its mighty shoulders, playing roughly with us sometimes, yet always friendly and well-meaning, till at length we had come inevitably to regard it as a Great Personage.



Blackwood also specifically characterizes the silvery, windblown willows as sinister:



And, apart quite from the elements, the willows connected themselves subtly with my malaise, attacking the mind insidiously somehow by reason of their vast numbers, and contriving in some way or other to represent to the imagination a new and mighty power, a power, moreover, not altogether friendly to us.



At one point, the two men see a traveler in his "flat-bottomed boat". However, the man appears to be warning them and ultimately crosses himself before hurtling forward on the river, out of sight. During the night, mysterious forces emerge from within the forest, including dark shapes which seem to trace the narrator's consciousness, tapping sounds outside their tent, shifting gong-like noises, bizarre shadows, and the appearance that the willows have changed location. In the morning, the two realize that one of their paddles is missing, a slit in the canoe needs repair, and some of their food has disappeared. A hint of distrust arises between them. The howling wind dies down on the second day, and a humming calm ensues. During the second night, the second man, the Swede, attempts to hurl himself into the river as a "sacrifice". However, he is saved by the narrator. The next morning, the Swede claims that the mysterious forces have found another sacrifice which may save them. They discover the corpse of a peasant lodged in roots near the shore. When they touch the body, a flurry of living presence seems to rise from it and disappear into the sky. Later, they see the body is pockmarked with funnel shapes similar to the ones viewed across the island's coastline during their experience. These are "Their awful mark!" the Swede says. The body is swept away, resembling an "otter" they thought had seen the previous day, and the story ends.



The precise nature of the mysterious entities in "The Willows" is unclear, and they appear at times malevolent or treacherous, while at times simply mystical and almost divine: "a new order of experience, and in the true sense of the word unearthly," and a world "where great things go on unceasingly...vast purposes...that deal directly with the soul, and not indirectly with mere expressions of the soul." These forces are often contrasted with the natural beauty of the area, itself a vigorous dynamic. Overall, the story suggests that the landscape is actually an intersection, a point of contact with a "fourth dimension" — "on the frontier of another world, an alien world, a world tenanted by willows only and the souls of willows." Summary By Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Willows_(story)



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The Old Die Rich ♦ By H. L. Gold ♦ Science Fiction ♦ Full Audiobook

The Old Die Rich ♦ By H. L. Gold ♦ Science Fiction ♦ Full Audiobook



Title:  The Old Die Rich



Author:  H. L. Gold



Genre(s): Science Fiction



Language: English



Read By:  Juli Carter



Librivox Recording



In 1950 H. L. Gold founded Galaxy Science Fiction magazine and was editor until 1961. Although he was responsible for a number of anthologies, this book is the only volume of his own science fiction and fantasy stories.

A collection of short stories concentrates more on inventiveness than science, forswears double talk for plot. A catatonic wife is really being indoctrinated by those from other worlds; a water gnome's curse proves inescapable; pioneers on a planet alter personalities to fit its needs; people die when a man repeats their name three times; an invisible being from another planet proves to be a satisfactory lover, etc. Accent on surprise and humor keeps this light.



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The Alchemist ♦ By H. P. Lovecraft ♦ (Horror) ♦ Full Audiobook

The Alchemist ♦ By H. P. Lovecraft ♦ (Horror) ♦ Full Audiobook



Title:  The Alchemist



Author:  H. P. Lovecraft



Genre(s): Horror & Supernatural Fiction, Short Stories



Language: English



Read By:  Phil Chenevert



Librivox Recording



More H. P. Lovecraft audiobooks found here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_FVJ7kWYJDj_AzWne2FNXApOVRIf2J9z



Plot:

The story is recounted by the protagonist, Count Antoine de C, in the first person. Hundreds of years ago, Antoine's noble ancestor was responsible for the death of a dark wizard, Michel Mauvais. The wizard's son, Charles le Sorcier, swore revenge on not only him but all his descendants, cursing them to die on reaching the age of 32.



The protagonist recounts how his ancestors all died in some mysterious way around the age of 32. The line has dwindled and the castle has been left to fall into disrepair, tower by tower. Finally, Antoine is the only one left, with one poor servant, Pierre, who raised him, and a tiny section of the castle with a single tower is still usable. Antoine has reached adulthood, and his 32nd year is approaching.



His servant eventually dies, leaving him completely alone, and he begins exploring the ruined parts of the castle. He finds a trapdoor in one of the oldest parts. Below, he discovers a passage with a locked door at the end. Just as he turns to leave, he hears a noise behind him and sees that the door is open and someone is standing in it. The man attempts to kill him but Antoine kills him first. His dying words reveal that he is none other than Charles, who actually managed to successfully fabricate the elixir of life, enabling him to personally fulfill the curse generation after generation. Summary by Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Alchemist_(short_story)



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Conan Beyond the Black River ♦ By Robert E. Howard ♦ Science Fiction ♦ F...

Conan Beyond the Black River ♦ By Robert E. Howard ♦ Science Fiction ♦ Full Audiobook



Title:  Conan Beyond the Black River



Author:  Robert E. HOWARD



Genre(s): Science Fiction, Fantasy, Conan The Barbarian



Language: English



Read By:  Phil Chenevert



Librivox Recording



The kingdom of Khauran is admittedly a small one, nestled between the vast desert and the plains, but it is blessed with an abundance of rich soil, hard working devoted inhabitants and much gold but most of all by a sweet young queen who is as wise and beneficent as she is beautiful. But then from out of nowhere, disaster strikes. A horrible witch (her evil twin sister) secretly replaces her and introduces devil worship, human sacrifice and other things too repulsive to mention. Conan, who was the captain of her guard is captured and crucified in the desert. From there the incomparable story telling skill of Robert E. Howard takes us on a spiral of exciting intrigue, battle, blood, demons, and final retribution. (summary by phil chenevert)



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The Worlds of If ♦ By Stanley G. Weinbaum ♦ Science Fiction ♦ Full Audio...

The Worlds of If ♦ By Stanley G. Weinbaum ♦ Science Fiction ♦ Full Audiobook



Title:  The Worlds of If



Author: Stanley G. Weinbaum



Genre(s): Science Fiction



Language: English



Read By: Gregg Margarite



Librivox Recording



Summary:

Stanley G. Weinbaum is best known for his short story “A Martian Odyssey” which has been influencing Science Fiction since it was first published in 1934. Weinbaum is considered the first writer to contrive an alien who thought as well as a human, but not like a human. A Martian Odyssey and its sequel are presented here as well as other Weinbaum gems including 3 stories featuring the egomaniacal physicist Haskel van Manderpootz and his former student, playboy Dixon Wells. (Summary by Gregg Margarite)



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The Hand ♦ By Guy de Maupassant ♦ Supernatural Horror ♦ Full Audiobook

The Hand ♦ By Guy de Maupassant ♦ Supernatural Horror ♦ Full Audiobook



Title:  The Hand



Author:  Guy de Maupassant



Genre(s): Horror & Supernatural Fiction



Language: English



Read By:  Tony Scheinman



Librivox Recording



The Weird Circle (1943-45) aired "The Hand" on December 19, 1943 as the 17th of its 78 episodes. Weird Circle was produced and transcribed in the New York City studios of RCA with enough scripts for two seasons. According to Golden Age Radio historian Karl Schadow: "There were a total of 78 episodes but these were produced in blocks of 13 after the initial group of 26 episodes. Thus, there were not two distinct 39-episode seasons [editor's note: as some websites proclaim]. There were no 'seasons' for The Weird Circle as it was a transcribed series. It was licensed to individual sponsors, stations and ad agencies but not networks." It was then licensed for syndication to markets across the country and in Canada, to air at a time of each station's choosing. Thus, it has been almost impossible to trace the very first-ever airing of any given episode (and many were re-aired into the 1950s). This particular episode aired from WGN in Chicago, one of the Mutual Broadcasting System's powerhouse stations. Weird Circle is considered a fine example of the paranormal and supernatural horror genres. Most of the radio scripts were adapted from the works of Poe, de Balzac, Wilkie Collins, Goethe, Hawthorne, Charlotte Bronte, Daniel DeFoe and many others.



"The Hand" is a short story by French author Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893, photo top right). It is a rewrite of his 1875 story "The Flayed Hand" (written under the pseudonym of Joseph Prunier) and was first published in the December 23, 1883 issue of the French magazine Le Gaulois. Taking place on the Mediterranean island of Corsica (located south of France and west of Italy), it tells the skin-crawling story of one Sir John Rowell, an Englishman, who enjoys showing visitors to his home his trophy room, especially a certain mummified hand chained to one of the room's walls. He explains that it belonged to his worst enemy and that it is still alive and as long as it remains so, so will he remain alive. Visitors scoff at his statement that the hand is still alive...until they see it begin to move, straining against the chain holding it to the wall. The story, mostly by brief hint and innuendo, slides in black magic and East Indian influences to help set the creepy atmosphere, and the fine acting brings it all home. A suitably scary tale well adapted to radio, "The Hand" is another of the many fine tales wrought by the troubled De Maupassant. In January of 1892 he tried to kill himself by cutting his throat and was institutionalized, where he died in July of the following year, presumably from the dementia/madness brought on by the syphilis he contracted as a youth. Summary by Dave Truesdale



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