The HorrorBabble Podcast

First published in the May 1943 edition of Astounding Science-Fiction, Henry Kuttner's "Ghost" tells of an attempted exorcism at a centre of science in Antarctica. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Smith: An Episode in a Lodging-House" is a short story by Algernon Blackwood, appearing in his 1906 anthology, The Empty House and Other Ghost Stories. "There was something very strange about the man who lived on the floor above the doctor." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Decay" is a short story by the British author and conservationist, John Moore. The story was first collected in The Third Omnibus of Crime in 1934. "Walking between his larches today, Mr. Cotter recognized them all as old friends." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Law of the Hills" is a short story by the one-time Weird Tales author, Grace M. Campbell, first published in the August 1930 edition of the magazine. "A tragic, tender tale of the slim white shape that ran with a wolf-pack over the snow." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Thing in the Tree" is a short story by the little-known author, Harold Standish Corbin. The story first appeared in the February 1927 edition of Ghost Stories. "What influence could make a tree take on human characteristics?" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Father's Vampire" is a short story by Alvin Taylor and Len J. Moffatt, first published in the May 1952 edition of Weird Tales Magazine. "Father collected things—but he wasn’t at all in a rut as to what he collected." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"In Terror of Laughing Clay" is the first of four stories concerning the fictional ghost hunter, Mark Shadow. Written by the Scottish author, Robert W. Sneddon, the story first appeared in the October 1926 edition of Ghost Stories. "No scientists experimenting ten thousand years could make a lump of potter's clay live—and yet——" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The God with Four Arms" is a work of weird fiction by the English writer, H. T. W. Bousfield, first appearing in his 1939 anthology, The God with Four Arms and Other Stories. "A shady man, owed a small fortune, takes his frustrations out on a rare bronze idol, with sinister consequences." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"A Vignette" is the very last short story penned by British author, M. R. James. It tells of a haunted plantation, allegedly influenced by real events experienced by James as a boy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Burned House" is a ghost story by Vincent O'Sullivan, first published in The Century Magazine in its October 1916 edition. In the story, a man recounts his eerie experience in a Lake District village where he witnessed a ghostly house fire and a hanging body, only to find no trace of them the next day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Swooping Wind" is a short story by American author Wilford Allen, which first appeared in Weird Tales in December 1927. The tale focuses upon a scientist who has a strange connection to the winds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Spectre of Rislip Abbey" is an 1899 ghost story by Dick Donovan, published in his TALES OF TERROR anthology. "Then I was still further amazed—I might almost say dumfounded—by seeing a hand, only a hand, slowly draw the panel into its place again." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Ordeal of Wooden-Face" is a rare tale by the American author, Hal K. Wells. The story first appeared in Weird Tales back in January 1932, and was described by the magazine as follows: “His dead eyes came to life when he saw the young American stagger into the bungalow like a specter out of the past.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The 19 Club" is a mystery story by the English writer, A. J. Alan, first published in Alan's 1932 anthology, A. J. Alan's Second Book. “He asked who we were and the people down below couldn’t tell him because they didn’t know—they said they had no information about us of any kind.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Grinning Ghoul" is a short story by the American author, Robert Bloch. First appearing in Weird Tales back in June of 1936, the story was described as follows: "A story of stark horror in the subterranean depths beneath the tomb." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Croatan" is a short story by Malcolm Ferguson. First published in Weird Tales in July 1948, Croatan concerns the disappearance of the Roanoke Colony. "Creatures summoned from outer eons, our masters by an eternity of time and progress." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Worm" is a short story by the American writer, David H. Keller. The story was first published in the March 1929 edition of Amazing Stories. "The floor, cut through, disappeared into the Thing's maw and with it the red hot stove." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Dark Demon" is a Cthulhu Mythos story by Robert Bloch, first published in the November 1936 edition of Weird Tales. “The strange story of a man who communed too closely with things from beyond space.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Phoenix on the Sword" is a Conan the Cimmerian novelette by Robert E. Howard, first published in the December 1932 edition of Weird Tales. "A soul-searing story of a fearsome monster spawned in darkness before the first man crawled out of the slimy sea." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Fisherman's Special" is a short story by the one-time Weird Tales author, H. L. Thomson. The story appeared in the August 1939 edition of the magazine. "I caught myself up short when I heard him say 'werewolves'." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Second Interment" is a short story by the American writer, Clark Ashton Smith. The story first appeared in the January 1933 edition of Strange Tales of Mystery and Terror, and concerns the terrible fate of an ailing figure by the name of Uther Magbane. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Bitter Gold" is a short story by the little-known author B. C. Bridges. The story, which first appeared in Weird Tales in December 1931, was described as follows: “The old man and his wife needed money—a brief, grim tale of Siberia.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Decoy" is a short story by Algernon Blackwood and Wilfred Wilson, first published in the 1921 collection, The Wolves of God and Other Fey Stories. “John Burley sought to dispel the ugly superstition that clung to the unlovely house.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"By One, by Two, and By Three" is a short story by the British writer, Adrian Ross -- aka Stephen Hall (real name, Arthur Reed Ropes). The tale, which first appeared in the December 1887 edition of Temple Bar, concerns a curious character by the name of Angus Macbane, whose dislike of a wealthy uncle is expressed in the most unwholesome of ways. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Night and Silence" is a short story by the French author, Maurice Level. First appearing in Weird Tales in February 1932, the story was described as follows: “They seemed to personify Age, Night and Silence.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Dark Castle" is one of two short stories penned by the little-known author, Marion Brandon. First appearing in the September 1931 edition of Strange Tales of Mystery and Terror, the story was described as follows: “The spirit of Archenfels broods ominously over the two stranded travelers in the deserted castle.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Silver Bullet" is a short story by the American author, P. A. Whitney. First published in the February 1935 issue of Weird Tales Magazine, the story was described as follows: “An eldritch tale of horror, of a terrible adventure on Loon Mountain, and a talisman that was potent in the old days against witches and warlocks.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Out of the Sea" is a 1904 horror story by the English author, A. C. Benson. "It was a beast—a beast about the size of a goat. I never saw the like—yet I did not see it clear; I but felt the air blow, and caught a whiff of it—it was salt like the sea, but with a kind of dead smell behind." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Sorcerer's Jewel" is a Cthulhu Mythos story by Robert Bloch, first published in the February 1939 edition of Strange Stories, under the pseudonym, Tarleton Fiske. “Those forms were spawned in the nightmares and dreams of the Pit." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Dead Woman" is a short story by American author, David H. Keller, first published in the April 1934 edition of Fantasy Magazine. “Eerie and flesh-crawling revelations form this shocking kaleidoscope of a mind crying NOT GUILTY.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Graveyard Rats" is a short story by American author, Henry Kuttner. The tale, which first appeared in Weird Tales Magazine in March of 1936, tells of a cemetery caretaker, who, unfortunately, has been tasked with the extermination of a colony of monstrous rats. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The House That Remembered" is a short story by Jonathan Cruise, first published in The 27th Pan Book of Horror Stories in 1986. In the story, a young American couple inherit a decrepit country house in rural Ireland–a house with a questionable history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Lost" is a short story by the little-known author, Alice-Mary Schnirring. The story, which first appeared in Weird Tales in July 1943, takes place on the marshes, by the dark and forbidding Atlantic Ocean. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Terror by Night" is a short story by E. F. Benson, published in his 1912 collection, THE ROOM IN THE TOWER. “Some people call them ghosts, some conjuring tricks, and some nonsense.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"His Brother's Keeper" is a work of flash fiction by the author and military analyst, George Fielding Eliot. The story, which first appeared in Weird Tales in September 1931, tells of a not-so-typical case of jealousy between two brothers… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Guard in the Dark" is a short story by the American author, Allison V. Harding, first appearing in Weird Tales in its July 1944 edition. "There was a reason why the boy demanded toy soldiers, a reason to be found only in the treacherous dark." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Late Mourner" is a short story by Julius Long. It was given the following description when it first appeared in the March 1934 edition of Weird Tales: “John Sloan received a shock when he looked upon the face in the coffin…” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"No Eye-Witnesses" is a August 1932 Weird Tale by the American author, Henry S. Whitehead. "Everard Simon had a weird experience in Flatbush when his shoes were caked with blood and forest mold from the slaying of Jerry the Wolf." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Worms of the Earth" is a Bran Mak Morn story by Robert E. Howard. As described by Weird Tales in its November 1932 edition: "A grim, shuddery tale of the days when Roman legions ruled in Britain—a powerful story of Bran Mak Morn, king of the Picts, and a gruesome horror from the bowels of the earth." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Transition of Juan Romero" is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft, first published in Marginalia, a 1944 Arkham House collection. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Terror" is a horror short story by French author, Guy de Maupassant. The story tells of an individual who has taken the decision to marry due to an overbearing fear of loneliness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Theft of the Thirty-Nine Girdles" is a short story by Clark Ashton Smith that takes place in the fictional prehistoric setting of Hyperborea. The story, which is the second story to feature the character Satampra Zeiros, was first published under the title, THE POWDER OF HYPERBOREA, in the March 1958 edition of Saturn. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The House Party at Smoky Island" is a short story by Canadian author, L. M. Montgomery. The tale first appeared in Weird Tales Magazine in August 1935. The story revolves around an unusual house party in the wilds of central Ontario, in which ghost stories are exchanged. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Time-Fuse" is a short story by the English author, John Metcalfe. Published in the 1931 collection "Judas and Other Stories", tells of a séance hosted by a lady with a more than casual interest in spiritualism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Up Under the Roof" is a short story by American writer, Manly Wade Wellman, which first appeared in Weird Tales in October 1938. The tale tells of something stalking the space between the roof-peak and the ceiling, in an old, shabby house. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"A Tropical Horror" is a short story by William Hope Hodgson. First published in The Grand Magazine in its June 1905 edition, the tale tells of a ship attacked by a monstrous sea creature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"King of the Forgotten People" is a short story by Robert E. Howard, first appearing in Magazine of Horror in its Summer 1966 edition, incorrectly titled, VALLEY OF THE LOST. The story tells of Jim Brill, and his strange journey into the hidden city of Khor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Man of Stone" is a short story written by H. P. Lovecraft and Hazel Heald. Published in the October 1932 issue of Wonder Stories, it tells of two friends who go in search of several peculiarly life-like stone statues in the remote Adirondack Mountains of New York. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Demon of the Flower" is a short story by Clark Ashton Smith. First published in the December 1933 edition of Astounding Stories, the story tells of a desperate king's attempt to save his betrothed from an unusually macabre fate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Last of Mrs. DeBrugh" is a short story by the little-known author, H. Sivia. First appearing in the October 1937 edition of Weird Tales, the story was described as follows: "DeBrugh was dead, but he still regarded his promise as a sacred duty to be fulfilled." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices