Ringstones is a dark fantasy that takes place in a desolate English countryside at a remote manor called Ringstones after the local stone circle. Daphne Hazel becomes a summer governess to three children who seem unworldly and fay. In a manner reminiscent of Arthur Machen (The Great God Pan, The White People), the horror grows so subtly, you don't know it is on until it begins to creep up on yo slowly.
Ambrose Bierce's startling tale of a hanging at an old bridge during the Civil War. This is one of Bierce's most famous tales, made into a segment on The Twilight Zone.
"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" (1890) is a short story by the American writer and Civil War veteran Ambrose Bierce.Regarded as "one of the most famous and frequently anthologized stories in American literature", it was originally published by The San Francisco Examiner on July 13, 1890, and was first collected in Bierce's book Tales of Soldiers and Civilians (1891). The story, which is set during the American Civil War, is known for its irregular time sequence and twist ending. Bierce's abandonment of strict linear narration in favor of the internal mind of the protagonist is an early example of the stream of consciousness narrative mode.
Peyton Farquhar, a civilian and plantation owner, is being prepared for execution by hanging from an Alabama railroad bridge during the American Civil War. Six military men and a company of infantrymen are present, guarding the bridge and carrying out the sentence. Farquhar thinks of his wife and children and is then distracted by a noise that, to him, sounds like an unbearably loud clanging; it is actually the ticking of his watch. He considers the possibility of jumping off the bridge and swimming to safety if he can free his tied hands, but the soldiers drop him from the bridge before he can act on the idea.
In a flashback, Farquhar and his wife are relaxing at home one evening when a soldier rides up to the gate. Farquhar, a supporter of the Confederacy, learns from him that Union troops have seized the Owl Creek railroad bridge and repaired it. The soldier suggests that Farquhar might be able to burn the bridge down if he can slip past its guards. He then leaves, but doubles back after nightfall to return north the way he came. The soldier is actually a disguised Union scout who has lured Farquhar into a trap as any civilian caught interfering with the railroads will be hanged.
The story returns to the present, and the rope around Farquhar's neck breaks when he falls from the bridge into the creek. He frees his hands, pulls the noose away, and rises to the surface to begin his escape. His senses now greatly sharpened, he dives and swims downstream to avoid rifle and cannon fire. Once he is out of range, he leaves the creek to begin the journey to his home, 30 miles away. Farquhar walks all day long through a seemingly endless forest, and that night he begins to hallucinate, seeing strange constellations and hearing whispered voices in an unknown language. He travels on, urged by the thought of his wife and children despite the pains caused by his ordeal. The next morning, after having apparently fallen asleep while walking, he finds himself at the gate to his plantation.
Any further details would be a spoiler.
An outstanding whodunit starring Detective Kennedy.
Kennedy is a scientist detective at Columbia University similar to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Thorndyke. He uses his knowledge of chemistry and psychoanalysis to solve cases, and uses exotic (at the time) devices in his work such as lie detectors, gyroscopes, and portable seismographs
He first appeared in the December 1910 issue of Cosmopolitan, in "The Case of Helen Bond." He ultimately made 82 appearances in Cosmopolitan, the last coming in the August 1918 issue. Twelve stories were reprinted in the first collection, and this continued, but soon the stories were fixed up into a novel, and some were adaptations of movie serials.
He returned for many short stories in magazines as various as The Popular Magazine, Detective Story Magazine, Country Gentleman, Everybody's Magazine, and Flynn's, as well as in 26 novels. Through the 1920s, he became more of a typical detective. Craig Kennedy appeared in a number of 1930s pulp magazines, Complete Detective Novel Magazine, Dime Detective, Popular Detective, Weird Tales, and World Man Hunters, but many of these appear to be ghost-written as they lack the style and flavor of the teen-era Craig Kennedy stories. A series of six Craig Kennedy stories in early issues of Popular Detective are known to have been unsold novelettes rewritten by A. T. Locke.
The King in Yellow is a collection of short stories written by Robert W. Chambers and published in 1895. The stories could be categorized as early horror fiction or Victorian Gothic fiction, but the work also touches on mythology, fantasy, mystery, science fiction and romance. The first four stories in the collection involve an imaginary two-act play of the same title.
Wieland by Charles Brockden Brown
Wieland:
or, The Transformation: An American Tale, usually simply called
Wieland, is the first major work by Charles Brockden Brown. First
published in 1798, it distinguishes the true beginning of his career as a
writer. Wieland is the first – and most famous – American Gothic novel.
It has often been linked to Caleb Williams by William Godwin. Godwin's
influence is clear, but Brown's writing is unique in its style. Wieland
is often categorized under several subgenres other than gothic fiction,
including horror, psychological fiction and epistolary fiction. Set
sometime between the French and Indian War and the American
Revolutionary War, Wieland details the horrible events that befall Clara
Wieland and her brother Theodore's family. Clara and Theodore's father
was a German immigrant who founded his own religion; he came to America
just before the American Revolution with the conviction to spread his
religion to the indigenous people. When he fails at this task, he
believes he has also failed his deity. One night, as he worships in his
bare, reclusive temple, he seems to spontaneously combust, after which
his health rapidly deteriorates and he dies. His children inherit his
property, which is divided equally between them. Theodore marries their
childhood friend, Catharine Pleyel, and they have four children.
Soon, Theodore begins to hear voices and Catharine's brother, Henry
Pleyel, begins to hear them, too. Though at first doubtful of the voices
that the men claim to hear, Clara also begins to hear a strange voice.
The mysterious Carwin appears on the scene ( To continue would be a
spoiler!) .
"The Great God Pan" is a novella by Welsh writer Arthur Machen. A version of the story was published in the magazine The Whirlwind in 1890, and Machen revised and extended it for its book publication (together with another story, "The Inmost Light") in 1894. On publication it was widely denounced by the press as degenerate and horrific because of its decadent style and sexual content, although it has since garnered a reputation as a classic of horror. Machen’s story was only one of many at the time to focus on the Greek God Pan as a useful symbol for the power of nature and paganism. The title was possibly inspired by the poem "A Musical Instrument" published in 1862 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, in which the first line of every stanza ends "... the great god Pan."
Clarke agrees, somewhat unwillingly, to bear witness to a strange experiment performed by his friend, Dr. Raymond. The ultimate goal of the doctor is to open the mind of man so that he may experience the spiritual world, an experience he calls "seeing the great god Pan". He performs the experiment, which involves minor brain surgery, on a young woman named Mary. She awakens from the operation awed and terrified but quickly becomes "a hopeless idiot".
Years later, Clarke learns of a beautiful but sinister girl named Helen Vaughan, who is reported to have caused a series of mysterious happenings in her town. She spends much of her time in the woods near her house, where a young boy stumbles across her talking to a strange man one day; the boy becomes hysterical and later, after seeing a Roman statue of a satyr's head, becomes permanently feeble-minded. Helen also befriends a neighbour girl, Rachel, whom she leads several times into the woods. On one occasion Rachel returns home distraught; afterward, she returns to the woods and disappears forever.....That is all we can tell right now, it might be a spoiler.
Ringstones by Sarban Ringstones is a dark fantasy that takes place in a desolate English countryside at a remote manor called Ringston...
