Classic Ghost Stories (A CSA Word Recording)

Ghost stories have a timeless appeal for readers of all ages, and this audiobook collects 11 of the best ever written from the 19th and 20th centuries. Some of the authors here, like Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu and Guy de Maupassant, were masters of the spook story, while others, like Dickens, made occasional memorable forays into the genre. From Dracula author Bram Stoker comes "The Judge's House," a Victorian chiller dripping with atmosphere, foreboding—and rats. Rudyard Kipling's "My Own True Ghost Story" involves a game of billiards being played in a room that doesn't exist—or does it? F. Marion Crawford's "The Upper Berth" presents grisly doings in the cabin of a steamship and no doubt caused many a passenger to hesitate to take down his or her bed. Reader Richard Pasco renders the spectral mood of these stories with appropriate gravitas.

From AudioFile

This anthology of 11 mostly gothic, mostly British horror stories features works from such usual suspects as Le Fanu, Stoker, Dickens, Saki, and Poe. Every culture and many leading authors have mined the rich ore of this genre; the amazing variety of styles, moods, and themes is well represented here. Richard Pasco, veteran of the Old Vic, Royal Shakespeare, and National Theatre Companies, makes full use of his classical training and love of rousing tales to invigorate and "spookify" the selections. Apparently his readings are collected from various old and new sources, for the sound quality varies widely from one to the other. But there's nothing deficient in the quality of Pasco's narrations. They are uniformly outstanding. Y.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

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