Showing results by narrator "David Thorpe" in All Categories

Written in diary entries from a Polish scholar, this short story features a mysterious femme fatale, Medea, who is responsible for the deaths of five men, including her husbands. The scholar is soon cast under her spell from behind the grave.

From atop the choppy waves to the choking darkness of the abyss, the seas are full of mystery and rife with tales of inexplicable events and encounters with the unknown. In this anthology we see a thrilling spread of narratives: sailors are pitched against a nightmare from the depths, invisible to the naked eye, a German U-boat commander is tormented by an impossible transmission via Morse Code, a ship ensnares itself in the kelp of the Sargasso Sea and dooms a crew of mutineers, seemingly out of revenge for her lost captain.

When a broken effigy of Christ washes up on a beach in Flanders, it is displayed in the local church. Strange miracles start drawing people to the town to worship, but then these unexplainable events start to turn sinister.

Amateur violinist and collector Herman Yorke is overjoyed when he is chosen to play first violin in the Amateur Orchestral Society. In the audience, however, he is distracted by a beautiful woman that is watching him. After several concerts, he decides to approach the woman, but Herman soon discovers that he is the only person who can see her.

One of the author’s earliest pieces of short horror fiction, ‘On the Embankment’ introduces us to London’s homeless population as they fight for space on seats to sleep each night. However, no matter how busy it is or desperate the sleepers are, there’s always one seat that is mysteriously left empty....

Written just after the end of the First World War, ‘Kearney’ follows Lieutenant Belden who seems to be haunted by one of his men who died in a terrible accident....

A group of telegraphists are on the edge of their seats awaiting news of the prime minister who is dying. But a storm causes a power cut, and one of the men, Old Shayler, recalls a stormy night 15 years ago, where a man was killed, and not by the lightning....

Ernest Roydon is distressed by a mysterious apparition that appears around his house. What he initially thinks is a trick of the light soon starts taking on a more human form, until he’s too scared to stay in the house on his own and must enlist the help of a friend.

A postman encounters a strange letterbox in this spooky story. He’s never seen the occupants of the house, the windows and doors are shuttered and any letters posted through the mysterious letterbox disappear into a void of black. It isn’t long before the postman and the local community must investigate.

Henry Grimshaw prides himself on his dual personality. By night, he is a socialite and eligible bachelor; by day, he is a clothing factory tyrant, with fugitives working for him who he hands over to the authorities if they step out of line. When Cyrus Sabinette meets Grimshaw at a party, he initially wants in on the operation, but when Grimshaw refuses to be blackmailed, he devises a cunning plan to get back at the factory owner. Is he just a master of illusion, or can he conjure the dead?

Writer Cyril Glendinning is waiting for his big break. He is well reviewed by cultured newspapers, but he makes very little money. Then he is commissioned to write a novel for a big publisher, but before he is able to finish, disaster strikes. His wife, Gertrude, is left penniless and alone, until she is awoken one night by a mysterious clicking metallic sound....

Twins are supposed to be similar, but the Yeld brothers could not be more different and they detest each other. But then jealousy and rivalry bubble over when they both fall for Ivy Dene, and a deep-sea mission turns deadly.

A steam yacht is sailing the North Atlantic when they spot a mysterious light. Upon investigation, they discover a derelict cargo ship but when they board, superstitions soon turn to very real fears for the safety of the crew.

A response to all ships sunk in action during the war, James Francis Dwyer uses the supernatural to achieve his end in this short story, as an Australian sailor recalls his journey on a pearl schooner and his experience of a ghost ship.

The Sargasso Sea was a popular theme for writers in the early 20th century, and ‘Sargasso’ attempts to solve the mystery of a tramp steamer that mysteriously disappeared on its voyage between Cardiff and Trinidad. The steamer is discovered four years later, riding calmly on the waves with no apparent signs of damage, but what happened to her crew? Perhaps the diary of a journalist which is found on board will shed some light on this fateful vessel.

In the remote town of Firham-By-Sea, two holidaymakers are curious about the derelict Corner House and its mysterious owners. Upon investigation, they unveil the grim story of Mr and Mrs Labson.

‘The Bath-Chair’ tells the story of the Faraday siblings. Edmund is a shrewd businessman, priding himself on his impeccable health. His spinster sister, Alice, lives with him performing all domestic duties and despises him. When Edmund starts seeing a lame figure who looks startlingly like himself and his own health starts mysteriously declining, Alice revels in plotting his downfall.

Hester Ward is blessed with youth, health, beauty, a husband and two adorable children, but she is being tormented by a face in her dreams. It is hoped that a holiday by the coast will relieve her, but the face eventually manifests itself.

Set in the remote Yorkshire Valleys, the narrator in this story returns to the holiday home of his childhood. He has inherited the house from his uncle and has come to oversee the renovations with a friend. However, it soon becomes apparent the house is haunted by a ghost with an awful secret.

A positive spin on the supernatural, ‘Pirates’ sees ageing industrialist Peter Graham return to his former family home in Cornwall after more than 40 years. The ghosts of the house represent happy memories of his childhood.