old stories

Christmas at Thompson Hall: Chapter 4, Mrs. Brown Does Escape

December 20, 2018 By Anthony Trollope in Serials Tags: christmas, Anthony Trollope, travel, classic fiction, old stories, public domain stories

It had been visible to Mrs. Brown from the first moment of her arrival on the ground floor that “something was the matter,” if we may be allowed to use such a phrase; and she felt all but convinced that this something had reference to her. She fancied that the people of the hotel were looking at her as she swallowed, or tried to swallow, her coffee. When her husband was paying the bill there was something disagreeable in the eye of the man who was taking the money. Her sufferings were very great, and no one sympathized with her. [Read More]

The Cask of Amontillado

October 22, 2018 By Edgar Allan Poe in Old Stories Tags: horror, old stories, ghost stories, public domain stories, Edgar Allan Poe

The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge. You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat. At length I would be avenged; this was a point definitely settled—but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved, precluded the idea of risk. I must not only punish, but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to [Read More]

An Arrest

October 19, 2018 By Ambrose Bierce in Old Stories Tags: public domain stories, horror, old stories, ghost stories, Ambrose Bierce

Having murdered his brother-in-law, Orrin Brower of Kentucky was a fugitive from justice. From the county jail where he had been confined to await his trial he had escaped by knocking down his jailer with an iron bar, robbing him of his keys and, opening the outer door, walking out into the night. The jailer being unarmed, Brower got no weapon with which to defend his recovered liberty. As soon as he was out of the town he had the folly to enter a forest; this was many years ago, when that region was wilder than it is now. Present [Read More]

The Fortunes of Sir Robert Ardagh

October 18, 2018 By Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu in Old Stories Tags: horror, old stories, ghost stories, public domain stories, Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu

In the south of Ireland, and on the borders of the county of Limerick, there lies a district of two or three miles in length, which is rendered interesting by the fact that it is one of the very few spots throughout this country in which some vestiges of aboriginal forests still remain. It has little or none of the lordly character of the American forest, for the axe has felled its oldest and its grandest trees; but in the close wood which survives live all the wild and pleasing peculiarities of nature: its complete irregularity, its vistas, in whose [Read More]

The Armless Man

October 17, 2018 By W.G. Litt in Old Stories Tags: horror, old stories, ghost stories, public domain stories, W.G. Litt

I first met Bob Masters in the hotel at a place called Fourteen Streams, not very far from Kimberley. I had for some months been trying to find gold or diamonds by digging holes in the veldt. But since this has little or nothing to do with the story, I pass by my mining adventures and come back to the hotel. I came to it very readily that afternoon, for I was very thirsty. Many of these older horror stories rely on the shock of the ghastly revelation for their emotional payoff. “The Armless Man” deploys its revelation to shock [Read More]

An Episode at the Cathedral

October 15, 2018 By M. R. James in Old Stories Tags: horror, old stories, ghost stories, public domain stories, M.R. James

There was once a learned gentleman who was deputed to examine and report upon the archives of the Cathedral of Southminster. The examination of these records demanded a very considerable expenditure of time: hence it became advisable for him to engage lodgings in the city: for though the Cathedral body were profuse in their offers of hospitality, Mr. Lake felt that he would prefer to be master of his day. This was recognized as reasonable. The Dean eventually wrote advising Mr. Lake, if he were not already suited, to communicate with Mr. Worby, the principal Verger, who occupied a house [Read More]

The Horla

October 12, 2018 By Guy De Maupassant in Old Stories Tags: horror, Guy de Maupassant, old stories, ghost stories, public domain stories

May 8th. What a lovely day! I have spent all the morning lying in the grass in front of my house, under the enormous plantain tree which covers it, and shades and shelters the whole of it. I like this part of the country and I am fond of living here because I am attached to it by deep roots, profound and delicate roots which attach a man to the soil on which his ancestors were born and died, which attach him to what people think and what they eat, to the usages as well as to the food, local [Read More]

The Damned Thing

October 11, 2018 By Ambrose Bierce in Old Stories Tags: Ambrose Bierce, free stories, public domain stories, horror, old stories, ghost stories

By the light of a tallow candle, which had been placed on one end of a rough table, a man was reading something written in a book. It was an old account book, greatly worn; and the writing was not, apparently, very legible, for the man sometimes held the page close to the flame of the candle to get a stronger light upon it. The shadow of the book would then throw into obscurity a half of the room, darkening a number of faces and figures; for besides the reader, eight other men were present. Seven of them sat against [Read More]

The Flayed Hand

October 9, 2018 By Guy De Maupassant in Old Stories Tags: horror, scary stories, Guy de Maupassant, old stories, ghosts

One evening about eight months ago I met with some college comrades at the lodgings of our friend Louis R. We drank punch and smoked, talked of literature and art, and made jokes like any other company of young men. Suddenly the door flew open, and one who had been my friend since boyhood burst in like a hurricane. Guy De Maupassant was a master of the short story whose subjects were usually taken from everyday life. This one is taken from everyday life and death. The copy here is from Twenty-Five Ghost Stories (Edited by W. Bob Holland), which is [Read More]