There are five stories in this fine collection: "An Account of Some Strange disturbances in Aungier Street" by J S Le Fanu This is one of my favourite ghost stories and the best of the lot for causing the spine to tingle. Two students move into an old house that, although supposed to be unoccupied, is haunted by a former owner - a very terrifying old fellow who seems intent on doing them some unspeakable evil.
"That Damned Thing" by Ambrose Bierce A coroner and his court listen to the testimony of a journalist who witnessed a strange, violent attack on a terror-stricken woodsman who was mauled to death by a creature so well camouflaged that it couldn't be seen.
"The Moonlit Road" by Ambrose Bierce Three statements are read, giving three very different points of view of a murder and a haunting. They are given by: A son whose mother was murdered and whose father mysteriously disappeared; A dying man who has lost his memory but is haunted by disturbing images of jealousy and retribution; A ghostly woman, speaking through a medium, tells of the horrible way she met her end.
"The Upper Berth" by F Marion Crawford This one is wonderfully awful. A gent whose business requires him to sail the Atlantic regularly, recounts the shocking incident that caused him thereafter to avoid a ship that he used to particularly like. A dead mad man persists in occupying the upper berth in his cabin, opening the porthole, slamming doors and generally stinking up the place.
"To Let" by B M Croker In the hottest season in India, the British move up country to a cooler, mountain environment. Some new arrivals are reluctant to leave the husband to stew in the heat, until one of the children becomes ill. By the time they leave, there's little accommodation to be found in the cooler zone - just one very nice and astonishingly cheap bungalow.
Why doesn't anyone else want to stay there? They'll soon find out. Not only are the stories irresistibly ghastly, but the readers are all excellent. I can recommend this audiobook to anyone who enjoys traditional ghost storie
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