Classic Tales of Ghosts and Vampires

By: Bram Stoker, Ambrose Bierce, Charles Dickens

Narrated by: Nigel Anthony, William Dufris, Liza Ross

Sixteen thrilling and chilling stories by some of the greatest writers of horror and the supernatural, including Bram Stoker, H.P. Lovecraft, Charles Dickens, Ambrose Bierce, R.L. Stevenson, Guy de Maupassant, and John Polidori, who is held to be the creator of the first vampire tale. An audio treat for Halloween or any other night when the moon is high, these stories are rich in imagination, humor, and characterization. Introduced by original music, they are narrated by eight award-winning actors, including Nigel Anthony, Sean Barrett, William Dufris, Liza Ross, and Stephen Thorne, and produced by Garrick Hagon and The Story Circle, the company that created the full cast version of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials.

This collection includes:

• "The Upper Berth" by F. Marion Crawford
• "Was it a Dream?" by Guy de Maupassant
• "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce
• "The Lost Ghost" by Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman
• "Man-Size in Marble" by E. Nesbit
• "Dracula's Guest" by Bram Stoker
• "Luella Miller" by Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman
• "The Phantom Coach" by Amelia B. Edwards
• "The Moonlit Road" by Ambrose Bierce
• "For the Blood Is the Life" by F. Marion Crawford
• "The Signalman" by Charles Dickens
• "The Shadow" by E. Nesbit
• "The Damned Thing" by Ambrose Bierce
• "The Bodysnatcher" by Robert Louis Stevenson
• "The Vampyre" by John Polidori
• "The Statement of Randolph Carter" by H.P. Lovecraft

Public Domain (P)2004 The Story Circle

Critic reviews

"One of the most imaginative and original audiobook collections that I've heard....A glance at the list of authors was enough to have me grabbing this one from the shelf....The music and sound effects intensify the atmosphere and the readers are both distinguished in their own right and well matched to the stories." (The Times [London])

Horror the way it's supposed to be! Well done!!

I was initially concerned because of the possiblitiy of music included in the narration, but thankfully, the music only sets the tone to wonderful, absolutely professional narration by some of the best narrators. This collection includes some of the best by the best horror writers, and is also narrated by the best narrators out there. William Dufris does an excellent job as always. All other narrators are equally notable. If you happen to also have Geraint Wyn Davies' narrations to compare, you will see that the narrator of Body Snatchers holds his own very well, which is no small feat with Geraint Wynn Davies. Great horror with equally great narration!!

Superb Audio Quality, Interesting Stories

I usually look for stories that can keep my interest but aren't so suspenseful that I can't fall asleep, and this fits the bill perfectly. The stories are told with dramatic flair and some spooky music, which I liked in this case. The stories are old-fashioned and somewhat victorian, very well-written and here, very well-spoken. Although the files are about 4 hours long each, at least they are broken into two seperate files.

Mostly good!

Most of these stories were excellent. A couple of duds and a couple of 'it's ok'. All of the narrators were excellent!

a must

by far, one of the best
book. many enjoyable stories to pass the time.
buy it.

Worth It

Great listening, I've played this audiobook over and over again. Narration is excellent and the stories selected here are superb. Just excellent.

Boring and dated

This is a review of Part I - it was so boring I didn't download Part II. The reader did a good job but these tales are so dated they just don't cut the mustard. Bram Stokers' was the best.

Not really what I expected

What disappointed you about Classic Tales of Ghosts and Vampires?

These pieces, during their respective periods, were probably "edge of your seat" reads. However they come across as a little dumbed down by today's standards.

What could the authors have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Not really anything to do with the authors, these were all brilliant authors of their time.

Have you listened to any of the narrators’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

The narrators on these did great jobs