The HorrorBabble Podcast

"The Signal-Man" is a short story by Charles Dickens, first published as part of the Mugby Junction collection in the 1866 Christmas edition of All the Year Round. The tale tells of a railway signal-man who relates the details of a ghost that has been haunting him. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Screaming Skull" is a short story by American author, Francis Marion Crawford, first published in the magazine, Collier’s, in 1908. The story, told in first-person, tells of a curious, haunted skull, and of the teller’s possible link to it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" is "one of the most famous and frequently anthologized stories in American literature"; and was written by American Civil War soldier, wit, and writer Ambrose Bierce. Originally published by The San Francisco Examiner on July 13, 1890, it was first collected in Bierce's 1891 book Tales of Soldiers and Civilians. The story, which is set during the Civil War, is famous 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 considered an early example of experimentation with stream of consciousness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Vaults of Yoh-Vombis" is a short story by the American author, Clark Ashton Smith. In the story, which first appeared in Weird Tales in May 1932, a group of explorers on Mars venture into the subterranean passages of a long-abandoned city ... with unfortunate consequences Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In "Count Magnus", a traveler in Sweden stumbles upon the history of a mysterious and ominous figure. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Penned by American writer, Andre Alice Norton, "All Cats Are Gray" tells the story of Steena of the Spaceways, and her search for the derelict pleasure-ship, the Empress of Mars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Penned by American writer, Clark Ashton Smith, "The Dweller in the Gulf" tells of three earthmen exploring a mysterious cave system on Mars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Penned by Welsh writer, Arthur Machen, "The Shining Pyramid" tells of mysterious stones that begin to appear in unusual arrangements on the edge of a man's land. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"It Will Grow on You" is a short story by Donald Wandrei. A peculiar tale of body horror, the story first appeared in Esquire Magazine in its April 1942 edition. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Written by British writer, Edith Nesbit, The Ebony Frame is the story of a beautiful and curiously carved picture frame, imbued with a mysterious allure. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Empty House" is a ghost story by Algernon Blackwood. In the tale, a young man and his elderly aunt explore an abandoned house with a nefarious history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"A:B:O." is a short story by Walter de la Mare, written under the pen name, Walter Ramal. The story first appeared in The Cornhill Magazine in the late 1890s. It tells of the discovery and excavation of a strange, metallic chest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Written by American writer, Philip K. Dick in 1953, the tale tells of a boy who has befriended the native inhabitants of an alien planet conquered by human beings. But his relationship with the beetle-like creatures is about to be tested. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Demons of the Sea" is a short story by British author, William Hope Hodgson. The tale tells of ship’s terrifying encounter with something altogether monstrous, in the humid, sea mists. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Death of Halpin Frayser" is a short story by American author, Ambrose Bierce. The tale tells of a man, who, out in the wilderness, apparently dies at the hands of his deceased mother. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Caterpillars" is a short story by British author, E. F. Benson, from his 1912 collection, The Room in the Tower and Other Stories. The story tells of the Villa Cascana in Italy, in which a former guest recites a tale involving the truly terrible things he witnessed belonging to a certain room on a certain landing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"An Unnatural Feud" by British author, Norman Douglas, first appeared in The Cavalier in December 1908. The tale tells of a toxic relationship, between mother and son. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Hound" is a short story written by H. P. Lovecraft in September 1922 and published in the February 1924 issue of Weird Tales. It contains the first mention of Lovecraft's fictional text the Necronomicon. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"To Build a Fire" is a short story by American author Jack London. This is the 1908 version, an oft-cited example of the naturalist movement that portrays the conflict of man vs. nature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Catnip" is a short story by American author, Robert Bloch, first published by Weird Tales Magazine in March 1948. The story tells of a young boy, who accidentally burns down the house of an evil old woman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Yellow Wallpaper" is a short story by the American writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman, first published in January 1892 in The New England Magazine. It is regarded as an important early work of American feminist literature, illustrating attitudes in the 19th century toward women's health, both physical and mental. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"A Suspicious Gift" is a short story by Algernon Blackwood, included as part of his collection, 'The Empty House', first printed in 1906. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While investigating a Templar ruin for a colleague, a Cambridge professor stumbles upon a whistle bearing two unusual inscriptions. What should happen if he blows it? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Crawling Chaos" is a short story by American author, H. P. Lovecraft, based on a dream once described to him by fellow-author, Winifred V. Jackson, in which the consequences of dabbling with opium were experienced. It was first published in the 1943 collection, Beyond the Wall of Sleep. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Chickamauga" is a short story by American author, Ambrose Bierce. A child strays into the forest, only to become embroiled in something beyond his comprehension. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Thing From the Barrens" is a short story by the American author, Jim Kjelgaard. The tale, which first appeared in Weird Tales in September 1945, tells of a strange entity that made its way into a small town in Northern Canada. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Robert E. Howard's "The Horror from the Mound", first published in the May 1932 edition of Weird Tales Magazine, we learn of a screaming fear, let loose from bondage after having been buried for more than three hundred years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Carnacki, the Ghost-Finder" is a collection of occult detective short stories by English writer William Hope Hodgson. "The Gateway of the Monster" - In an ancient mansion, the bedroom known as the Grey Room was the site of a grisly murder generations ago. Carnacki is summoned to investigate a noisy spirit that tears off the bedclothes and slams the door(s). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Lurking Fear" is a horror short story by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. Written in November 1922, it was first published in the January through April 1923 issues of Home Brew. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Mandrakes" is a short story by American horror fiction writer Clark Ashton Smith, first published in the February 1933 issue of Weird Tales Magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Stranger at Dusk" is a short story by the little-known author, Malcolm Kenneth Murchie. The story, which first emerged in the November 1949 edition of Weird Tales, follows the plight of a small boy who is visited by a mysterious stranger in black. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Mr. Hyde—and Seek" by American author Malcolm Ferguson, is the second story to feature Thomas Chadwick, a character inspired by William Hope Hodgson’s paranormal investigator, Thomas Carnacki. The story, which appeared in the May 1950 edition of Weird Tales, concerns paranormal activity in a New England farmhouse. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"A Ghost" is a short story by French author, Guy de Maupassant. The tale tells of a suspected case of haunting in a remote, deserted chateau. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Specter Priestess of Wrightstone" is a rare weird tale by the little-known author, Herman F. Wright. The story, which first appeared in Weird Tales Magazine in January 1925, tells of a ghostly legend surrounding a haunted, English castle. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Red Room" is a short gothic story written by H. G. Wells in 1894. It was first published in the March 1896 edition of The Idler magazine. An unnamed protagonist chooses to spend the night in an allegedly haunted room in Lorraine Castle. He intends to disprove the legends surrounding it. Despite vague warnings from the three infirm custodians who reside in the castle, the narrator ascends to "the Red Room" to begin his night's vigil. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The House of Cards" by American author Malcolm Ferguson, introduces the character, Thomas Chadwick, inspired by William Hope Hodgson’s paranormal investigator, Thomas Carnacki. The story, which appeared in the September 1947 edition of Weird Tales, tells of a curious series of incidents revolving around a particular set of tarot cards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"The Dance of Death" is a short story by British writer, Algernon Blackwood. The story of a frail young man, who, despite warnings from his doctor, attends a dance, with inevitable consequences. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Two Black Bottles" is the result of a collaboration between H. P. Lovecraft and Wilfrid Branch Talman. It was first published in Weird Tales Magazine in August 1927. In the story, the narrator, Hoffman, recounts a trip into the Ramapo Mountains of New York, following the death of his uncle. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices