Showing results by author "Barry Pain" in All Categories

The short story is considered to be one of the most challenging genres because of the need for compact plotlines and the ability to conjure up atmosphere and character in a few sentences and to engage the reader instantly. This collection presents 66 of the greatest examples of the genre - many of them well known, some hidden literary treasures, all of them exquisite examples of the short story at its finest.

bibliophile's collection of wide ranging and masterful short stories, embracing both the subtle and the macabre, the whimsical and the downright frightful. Fifty captivating short stories which will keep listeners glued to their headsets.

Murder is that most heinous of crimes. But some murderers simply can’t get enough of it. Beneath the well-known monsters such as Lecter there lurk those other evil-doers who are the vivid confessions of our classic authors.

Barry Pain's parody takes a sharp knife to ASM Hutchinson's best selling novel 'If Winter Comes'.We follow the professional and marital decline of long suffering (and loving it), Luke Sharper, as his marriage to Mabel flounders while his love for Jona flourishes. It could only end in tears.....Or could it? ( Summary by Nigel Boydell )

Barry Eric Odell Pain (1864-1928) was an English journalist, poet, and writer. The Green Light is an iconic horror story describing graphically the rapid decline into psychosis of a man who has murdered his wife.

Barry Pain is today best known for his ghost and horror stories, but he could also write some excellent social satire. This series of three dialogues follows a life cycle: the subject of the first little play is the birth of a girl, in the second dialogue, two people discuss the marriage of mutual friends, and a death of a distant relative stands in the center of the third dialogue. - Summary by Carolin

Dive into Barry Pains witty parody that cleverly dissects ASM Hutchinsons acclaimed novel If Winter Comes. Join us as we navigate the tumultuous life of Luke Sharper, whose professional and marital woes take center stage. As his relationship with Mabel deteriorates, an unexpected romance with Jona blossoms, leading to a conclusion that promises to be anything but ordinary. Will it all end in heartbreak, or is there a twist in store? (Summary by Nigel Boydell)

Loss in any form seems to burden us with more weight than anything that can possibly be gained or learnt from. The loss of a person, a loved one, is often overwhelming. Lives so interwoven that the severing or loss of one life leaves the other weakened, unable to function for some time. Recovery comes in a myriad of forms but is usually debilitating, slow and, in the end, we are not as whole as we once were.It is a subject that authors return to again and again.

A pompous and pooterish city clerk with social pretensions relates anecdotes of suburban life in Edwardian England, as he and his patient and long-suffering wife, Eliza, deal with various crises and contretemps—including the vexed question of visiting cards; a malfunctioning music player; the mistreatment of the narrator’s hat; a mushroom (or toadstool) in the front garden; and the ongoing struggle to balance the household accounts …

Barry Eric Odell Pain was born at 3 Sydney Street in Cambridge, on 28th September 1864. He was one of 4 children. It is often said that Pain was discovered by Robert Louis Stevenson, who compared his work to that of Guy de Maupassant. It’s an apt comparison. Pain was also a master of disturbing prose but able to inject parody and light comedy into many of his works. A simple premise could in his hands suddenly expand into a world very real but somehow emotionally fraught and on the very edge of darkness as many of these short stories demonstrate.

Barry Pain was noted for his humorous tales of “Eliza” and her husband, but his tales of the weird and supernatural are equally noteworthy. This volume, More Tales in the Dark, contains eight of them.

Barry Eric Odell Pain (1864-1928) was an English journalist, poet, and writer best known for his ghost and horror stories. The Tree of Death is a haunting story with something of a fairy tale character to it....but a fairy tale that turns into a gruesome horror story as the narrative unfolds. A wealthy young man falls in love with a young girl in his village, but she does not return his love.

The Giraffe Problem tells the story of an evening at the Problem Club, a secret society of gentlemen in London who meet once a month in a private room above a restaurant, where one of the waiters is the admirable Leonard. Every month Leonard sets the members a problem or challenge. The one who is able to complete the feat successfully wins that month's share of the membership fees.

Barry Eric Odell Pain (1864-1928) was an English journalist, poet, and writer best known for his ghost and horror stories. "The Missing Years" is the haunting tale of Sylvia Hetheril, who goes out to post letters one day and fails to return. All enquiries and advertisements fail to trace her, and eventually her family are forced to abandon the search.

Barry Eric Odell Pain (1864-1928) was an English journalist, poet, and writer best known for his outstanding mystery and horror stories, often with a strange twist at the end. "A Considerable Murder" is the odd tale of a retired gentleman and his daughter who are suddenly imposed upon by an old, sick and highly cantankerous man...a former friend of their father and grandfather, who had helped them out in earlier years.

Barry Eric Odell Pain (1864-1928) was an English journalist, poet, and writer best known for his outstanding ghost and horror stories. 'The Grey Cat' is a supernatural story about a very peculiar and sinister cat which follows an explorer home from Central Africa to London. It bears an uncanny resemblance to an old carved jade statuette of a cat which the man purchased before his departure...the one which the antiquarian dealer had tried to buy back from him hours later for double the price paid....

Barry Eric Odell Pain (1864-1928) was an English journalist, poet, and writer best known for his ghost and horror stories. This Is All tells the story of Alexander Wyatt, who has a morbid fear of dying. Unfortunately Wyatt is ill with a heart condition, which, in combination with his paranoid anxiety and depression, threatens to become life threatening. His doctor prescribes a strict regime of early nights and no caffeine.

Barry Eric Odell Pain (1864-1928) was an English journalist, poet, and writer. The End of a Show is a poignant tale of a quack showman and seller of dubious stomach pills who carries out what he believes to be his first-ever act of kindness - an act which horrifies and saddens in equal measure.

Barry Eric Odell Pain (1864-1928) was an English journalist, poet, and writer best known for his ghost and horror stories. "The Magnet" is the uncanny story of a very unusual copycat mass murderer.

Barry Eric Odell Pain (1864-1928) was an English journalist, poet, and writer best known for his ghost and horror stories. Rose Rose is a hauntingly beautiful ghost story about an artist and his exquisite if somewhat unreliable model, Miss Rose Rose, who is sitting for his great painting of Aphrodite. Miss Rose Rose, on this occasion, is not as unreliable as expected....