Tag Archives: ghosts

The Malcanis Guarding the Fortress

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In Akershus Fortress in Oslo, Norway, there are rumours about something strange haunting the former castle. There is a legend of a ghost of a dog haunting the place, called the Malcanis, or Evil Dog as it means.

In medieval times it was a king’s castle were Akershus fortress in Oslo is today, looking out over the fjords. Under the building of the castle the workers bricked in a living dog. It was a relative normal custom in those days. According to them, they meant that it would bring good luck. Coincidentally, the custom was also meant to warn about accidents.

But when the castle was done around 1299 the “Malacanis” as they called it, “the evil dog” haunts the place, and seemed to be something else than an omen.

Read also: There are many ghost stories about dogs and cats haunting places. Check out The Story that Inspired The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Poltergeist of Greyfriars Kirkyard and The Black Cat of War.

The Dark Hallway

Among its first victims that would feel the wrath of the Malcanis was the commander at the fortress at the time. Around the year 1550 the hallway were the dog was bricked in collapsed.

Unrest crept into the guards at the fortress. “What about the Malcanis? It was right there the collapse happened”, they whispered among themselves when they were standing guard. Everyone knew about the legend about the poor dog that had been bricked up. And reports about people spotting the ghost there was plenty of.

The Ghost Under Jomrutårnet: The ghost of the Malcanis is said to be put to rest in the walls around the Virgin tower when it was bricked up there for good luck. Allegedly a tower difficult to penetrate and many thought it was because of the ghost dog.

A sound was heard in the hallway under the fortress and everyone feared that the castle was under attack. No one was brave enough to investigate the cause of the ruckus. Not even if the intruders was Swedish forces. The Malcanis put fear in the soldiers.

Read Also: This is not the only ghost thought to haunt Akershus Fortress. There is also rumours about the ghost of a former maid that are still lingering inside. Check out The Mantelgeist of the Fortress for the full ghost story.

In the end, commander Peder Hanssøn Litle walked down Mørkegangen (The dark hallway) himself, as the rest of the guards refused because of fear from the ghost dog. With a single torch he closed in on the fallen stones and started investigating the dark hallway and tried to get a sense of what had happened.

From the shadows he saw a dog, red-glowing eyes appeared with fangs and a chain around its neck. He got into a bloody fight with the ghost dog, that didn’t disappeared until Peder threw a torch right at it and it retreated back into the darkness. The commander came crawling out on all four, more dead than alive, stuttering only one word: The Malcanis!

The Bad Omen

The hero commander survived – but around a month later he died after being thrown off the horse. Unrelated perhaps, but rumours about his death started to circulate among the guards. Others that have seen the Malcanisen in the eyes suffered a similar fate, according to legends. Could it be that it was because of this the commander died? And if so, was seeing the dog then the warning or the curse?

Read Also: Check out all of the ghost stories from Norway

It was also spotted a ghost hound in 1550, then called Malcanisten in the same hallway under the Virgin Tower that was built at that time. After a soldier was killed by a horse in 1567 it is said it was observed several times under the same tower, and those who observe it, won’t live the year.

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«Spøkelseshunden er også blitt filmet nå» 

Horror Books to Look Forward to in the Fall

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The fall is perfect for some new horror. But it is also when the publishing houses are flooding the marked with books from all genre. And those writing horror might fall a bit behind because of this. But don’t despair. We at Moonmausoleum have found some great-looking titles we are really looking forward to hit the shelves in the fall.

Consensual Hex

By Amanda Harlowe

Publication date 06 Oct 2020

Witches have always been a tool and a trope to explore female empowerment, and also the more hidden side, female anger. This is also something the debut novel. And we are really looking forward to this revenge driven story.

Synopsis: When Lee, a first year at Smith, is raped under eerie circumstances during orientation week by an Amherst frat boy, she’s quickly disillusioned by her lack of recourse. As her trauma boils within her, Lee is selected for an exclusive seminar on Gender, Power, and Witchcraft, where she meets Luna (an alluring Brooklyn hipster), Gabi (who has a laundry list of phobias), and Charlotte (a waifish, chill international student). Granted a charter for a coven and suddenly in possession of real magic, the four girls are tasked by their aloof Professor with covertly retrieving a grimoire that an Amherst fraternity has gotten their hands on. But when the witches realize the frat brothers are using magic to commit and cover up sexual assault all over Northampton, their exploits escalate into vigilante justice. As Lee’s thirst for revenge on her rapist grows, things spiral out of control, pitting witch against witch as they must wrestle with how far one is willing to go to heal.

Order it here

Lovecraft Mythos New & Classic Collection

The collection of horror anthologies from Flame Tree Publishing are just the most beautiful things. They sparkle, looks great on the shelves and keeps the world filled with great horror content. This time, they do the Lovecraft universe accompanied with line illustration

Synopsis: Featuring new stories specially commissioned for the collection this offering of H.P. Lovecraft’s shared universe is a thrilling immersion into the world of Old Ones and the Elder Gods, an ancient race of terrifying beings. In Lovecraft’s vision we live in a deep, but fragile illusion, unable to comprehend the ancient beings, such as the Cthulhu who lies dead but dreaming in the submerged city of R’lyeh, waiting to rise then wreak havoc on our realm of existence.

Lovecraft used the mythos to create a background to his fiction, and challenged many writer companions to add their own stories. Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, Robert Bloch, Frank Belknap Long, Henry Kuttner were amongst the first but over the years many others such as Ramsey Campbell, Lin Carter and August Derleth added their voices to the many mythic cycles, developing themes and new fictional pathways for the town of Arkham, and the creatures Azathoth and Nyarlathotep.

The Lovecraft Mythos is fertile ground for any writer of supernatural, horror, fantasy and science fiction, so for this edition we opened our submissions for brand new stories, many published here for the first time, to continue expanding the shared universe.

Order it here

We Hear Voices

By Evie Green

Publication date 06 Oct 2020

We always love a good debut novel, and this one looks so promising! And strangely fitting for the times we’ve been through throughout the spring and the summer.

Synopsis: An eerie debut about a little boy who recovers from a mysterious pandemic and inherits an imaginary friend who makes him do violent things… Kids have imaginary friends. Rachel knows this. So when her young son, Billy, miraculously recovers from a horrible flu that has proven fatal for many, she thinks nothing of Delfy, his new invisible friend. After all, her family is healthy and that’s all that matters. But soon Delfy is telling Billy what to do, and the boy is acting up and lashing out in ways he never has before. As Delfy’s influence is growing stranger and more sinister by the day, and rising tensions threaten to tear Rachel’s family apart, she clings to one purpose: to protect her children at any cost–even from themselves. We Hear Voices is a gripping near-future horror novel that tests the fragility of family and the terrifying gray area between fear and love.

Order it here

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Imaginary Friend

By Stephen Chbosky

Publication date 13 Oct 2020

What is going on here? Stephen Chbosky, the author of Perks of being a wallflower is doing a horror genre book? It is too intriguing and surprising to not get excited. And when they publish it in October, you know they are going all in on this.

Synopsis: Kate Reese is a single mother fleeing an abusive relationship by starting over in a new town, with her young son Christopher. But Mill Grove, Pennsylvania, is not the safe place they thought it would be…

Their world begins to unravel after Christopher vanishes into the Mission Street Woods – where 50 years earlier an eerily similar disappearance occurred. When he emerges six days later, unharmed but not unchanged, he brings with him a secret: a voice only he can hear and a warning of tragedy to come.

Order it here


Ghost Stories : Classic Tales of Horror and Suspense

Publication date 12 Nov 2020

Again a collection, but this time, with ghosts! Giving ghost stories the time and place in the book industry is something we love, and this edition looks great, with ghost stories from some of our most famous writer. Both of horror, and those we didn’t know wrote it.

Synopsis: The ghost story has long been a staple of world literature, but many of the genre’s greatest tales have been forgotten, overshadowed in many cases by their authors’ bestselling work in other genres. In this spine-tingling anthology, little known stories from literary titans like Charles Dickens and Edith Wharton are collected alongside overlooked works from masters of horror fiction like Edgar Allan Poe and M. R. James.

Acclaimed anthologists Leslie S. Klinger (The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes) and Lisa Morton (Ghosts: A Haunted History) set these stories in historical context and trace the literary significance of ghosts in fiction over almost two hundred years-from a traditional English ballad first printed in 1724 through the Christmas-themed ghost stories of the Victorian era and up to the science fiction-tinged tales of the early twentieth century.

In bringing these masterful tales back from the dead, Ghost Stories will enlighten and frighten both longtime fans and new readers of the genre.

Including stories by:

Ambrose Bierce, Wilkie Collins, Charles Dickens, Olivia Howard Dunbar, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry James, M. R. James, Arthur Machen, Georgia Wood Pangborn, Mrs. J. H. Riddell, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, Edgar Allan Poe, Sir Walter Scott, Frank Stockton, Mark Twain, and Edith Wharton.

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5 Books About Monsters and their Legends

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The idea of the ‘other’ has always lurked around the corner in fiction. None more than monsters and creatures we can’t explain. What we fear are what we don’t know. And even though the only thing we use the phrases “being a monster” or “a monstrosity”, it is about humans, there are some comfort that there could exist other monsters, except for us.

Here we have compiled a list of some of the weird, great and scary monster books.

Kronos Rising

By Max Hawthorne

A series of several books that deals with prehistoric creatures and have been compared to Micheal Crichton Jurassic Park. Only this is in the deep sea and no one can hear you scream.

Synopsis: Steve refused to surrender. Even though he knew the creature was right behind him, he wouldn’t quit. He would make it. Just as that beacon of hope began to shine down upon him, the bright sun overhead vanished from view. Confused, he gazed wide-eyed as the daylight grew dim. Then he realized the ultimate horror: the creature had overtaken him, its jaws opened wide. He was in its mouth.

A coastal community faces the wrath of a prehistoric marine predator in Max Hawthorne’s heart-pounding new novel, Kronos Rising.

Devastated by his wife’s tragic drowning, Olympic hopeful Jake Braddock turns his back on fame and fortune and retreats to his childhood home of Paradise Cove, Florida. He accepts the job of town sheriff, hoping to find the solace he so desperately craves.

He finds anything but.

A series of horrifying deaths and disappearances send a flood of panic through the idyllic town. It is only after the ravaged carcass of a full-grown whale surfaces, however, that the real terror begins.

Soon Jake finds himself drawn into an ancient mystery – a mystery that ends with him adrift at sea, battling for survival against the deadliest predator the world has ever seen. It is a creature whose ancestors ruled the prehistoric seas. Now freed after eons of imprisonment, it has risen to reclaim the oceans of the world as its own.

And it’s hungry.

Read it here

Listen to it here (PS! The sequel)

Monster

By Frank Peretti

This author is perhaps most known for writing Christian fiction, but this books takes on the Bigfoot legend. But were it also is presented some views on evolution, mutation and natural selection.

Synopsis: Miles away from the hectic city, Reed and Rebecca hike into the beautiful Northwester woods. They are surrounded by gorgeous mountains, waterfalls, and hundreds of acres of unspoiled wilderness.

During their first night camping, an unearthly wail pierces the calm of the forest. Then something emerges from the dense woods. Everything that follows is a blur to Reed-except the unforgettable image of a huge creature carrying his wife into the darkness.

Enter into deep wilderness where the rules of civilization no longer apply. A world where strange shadows lurk. Where creatures long attributed to overactive imaginations and nightmares are the hunters . . . and people are the hunted.

Read it here

Listen to it here

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The Mothman Prophecies

By  John A. Keel

This is a particular weird one, as this is not fiction in the strictest sense. Or is it? Who is to tell, really? But it is written by a journalist, detailing the events of Point Pleasant in West Virginia in the late 60’s. The origin for the legend of the Mothman.

Read also: The Legend of the Mothman

Synopsis: West Virginia, 1966. For thirteen months the town of Point Pleasant is gripped by a real-life nightmare culminating in a tragedy that makes headlines around the world. Strange occurrences and sightings, including a bizarre winged apparition that becomes known as the Mothman, trouble this ordinary American community. Mysterious lights are seen moving across the sky. Domestic animals are found slaughtered and mutilated. And journalist John Keel, arriving to investigate the freakish events, soon finds himself an integral part of an eerie and unfathomable mystery.

Read it here

Listen to it here

Devolution

By Mark Brooks

From the author who gave us World War Z, now he delves into the myth, the legend and how to survive the Bigfoot legend.

Synopsis: As the ash and chaos from Mount Rainier’s eruption swirled and finally settled, the story of the Greenloop massacre has passed unnoticed, unexamined . . . until now.

But the journals of resident Kate Holland, recovered from the town’s bloody wreckage, capture a tale too harrowing – and too earth-shattering in its implications – to be forgotten.

In these pages, Max Brooks brings Kate’s extraordinary account to light for the first time, faithfully reproducing her words alongside his own extensive investigations into the massacre and the beasts behind it, once thought legendary but now known to be terrifyingly real.

Kate’s is a tale of unexpected strength and resilience, of humanity’s defiance in the face of a terrible predator’s gaze, and inevitably, of savagery and death.

Yet it is also far more than that.

Because if what Kate Holland saw in those days is real, then we must accept the impossible. We must accept that the creature known as Bigfoot walks among us – and that it is a beast of terrible strength and ferocity.

Part survival narrative, part bloody horror tale, part scientific journey into the boundaries between truth and fiction, this is a Bigfoot story as only Max Brooks could chronicle it – and like none you’ve ever read before.

Read it here

Listen to it here

The Monstrumologist

By Rick Yancey

This is a series for the YA fans out there. The series deals with more than one monster, like the Wendigo in the sequel as the book center around a group of people studying monsters.

Synopsis: These are the secrets I have kept. This is the trust I never betrayed. But he is dead now and has been for nearly ninety years, the one who gave me his trust, the one for whom I kept these secrets. The one who saved me . . . and the one who cursed me. So starts the diary of Will Henry, orphan and assistant to a doctor with a most unusual specialty: monster hunting. In the short time he has lived with the doctor, Will has grown accustomed to his late night callers and dangerous business. But when one visitor comes with the body of a young girl and the monster that was eating her, Will’s world is about to change forever. The doctor has discovered a baby Anthropophagus–a headless monster that feeds through a mouth in its chest–and it signals a growing number of Anthropophagi. Now, Will and the doctor must face the horror threatening to overtake and consume our world before it is too late. The Monstrumologist is the first stunning gothic adventure in a series that combines the spirit of HP Lovecraft with the storytelling ability of Rick Riorden.

Read it here

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Top 5 Paranormal Resource Sites

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When doing paranormal investigations, reading about the occult and other weird stuff, it is important that the information you spread is as accurate as possible. In the world of internet it is super hard to know by a glance what is and isn’t real. But thankfully the truth is most often just a couple of clicks away. So this is some of our favorite fact checking and inspirational sources when reading about the paranormal.

1. Paranormal database

I love this one, as it have this great calendar, marking the exact dates of hauntings in Great Britain. If you are looking for stuff elsewhere in the world, shame. Perhaps one day they will expand their project.. And I remembered when they first started and it was sort of, nothing. But look at it now!

About

“The Paranormal Database is a serious ongoing project to quantitatively document as many locations with paranormal / cryptozoological interest as possible, region by region, in EnglandScotlandWalesIreland and the Channel Islands. One hundred and three areas are currently covered, now totaling over 12,500 entries, with frequent additions and current stories continuously updated. This is not a ‘paranormal tourism’ site – many of these places are private, and as such, the owner’s privacy should be considered paramount.”

Link

2. Skeptical Inquirer

I love people doing their utmost to research. In the paranormal field, there are a lot of crazy claims. And although it’s important to not shut down anything out of the ordinary, it it almost more important to use common sense and critical thinking. This is were Skeptical Inquirer comes in.

About

“The mission of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry is to promote scientific inquiry, critical investigation, and the use of reason in examining controversial and extraordinary claims.”

Link

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3. Snopes

Is a meme claiming something? Is a crazy story going about in forums? As long as the internet exist, Snopes should exist. So before reposting something that is too insane to be true, head over to Snopes to check their fact checking for just that.

About

“When misinformation obscures the truth and readers don’t know what to trust, Snopes.com’s fact checking and original, investigative reporting lights the way to evidence-based and contextualized analysis. We always document our sources so readers are empowered to do independent research and make up their own minds.”

Link

4. Atlas Obscura

Another passion of mine is travelling! And Atlas Obscura was like the stars aligning. They are gathering the weirdest stuff on the planet and puts it in a travel book, genius. A lot of places they write about are either allegedly haunted or otherwise paranormal sites.

About

“We are a global community of explorers, who have together created a comprehensive database of the world’s most wondrous places and foods —21,193 of them contributed by our community so far, and more every day, from a secret apartment atop the Eiffel Tower to bridges built out of living roots, from a temple shaped like a chicken to an island ruled by cats, from a fruit that tastes like chocolate pudding to a spicy chutney made out of red ants.”

Link

5. Alchemy Website

When doing research, people are always referencing other people. Especially in the paranormal and occult field there are many references to alchemy, esoteric and other occult text. Therefore it is nice to turn to a site, curated by an academic researcher to read the first hand sources.

About

“The creator of the alchemy web site, Adam McLean, is a well known authority on and enthusiast for alchemical texts and symbolism, the editor and publisher of over 40 books on alchemical and Hermetic ideas.”

Link

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5 Works With Vampires Before Dracula

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So we all know Dracula. That old fella, the campy movies, the bone chilling books. It was a real table turner, and has this lingering precence in todays culture. And I mean, espeacially in todays culture. Vampires are so mainstream, the mainstream feels it’s too mainstream. So let’s give it to Stoker, he made all of us goths, emos, metal heads, and whatever subculture you subscribe to. Because Dracula is about subculture and about breaking free from your past, time, history and reinvent yourself. Well… In some readings at least. Bloodsucking toxic people is another one. But there was always something that preceded it, something that inspired the Magnum Opus. And here are some examples.

Carmilla

For all the snobby lesbian goths out there, yes, you are right, Carmilla was way ahead of Dracula. And by way ahead I mean by 26 years. It turned the vampire tropes to stone, set the stage and even the cultural analysis of it, yes, Irish vs British problem, I think of you. And so did probably Stoker and Sheridan Le Fanu, the author of the work, as they were both Irish in a time, the Irishmen really needed some literary boost.

Editions

If you want an edition to read that are more academic oriented, i recommend “Carmilla : A Critical Edition” that put weights on its Irish roots.

Because of its length, it is mostly published alone, but if you are interested in the whole short story edition it was originally a part of, In a Glass Darkley, there is also that possibility. But for the cover though, I feel disappointed. It is a bit… boring. The coolest I think, is this hardcover edition by Pushkin press.

Synopsis

But even this, even this wasn’t the so called O.G vampire. Carmilla in turn was most likely inspired by this unfinished poem called Christabel.

Carmilla is the story of a young girl, Laura meeting with the mysterious Carmilla. They live deep in the woods of Styria, in today’s Austria.

Apparently Stoker was working on a new story, set in Styria, Austria with a character called Count Wampyr. So at least he moved the story further east. There is this direct link, I feel, that can’t be ignored. And it isn’t mostly. But to those snobby lesbian goths out there: You go girls, spread the word.

Buy the hardcover here

Listen to it here (Both Rose Leslie (Ygritte in GOT) and David Tennant (ALL CAPS LEGEND) is narrating, check it out)

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The Vampyre

This is an interesting one. John William Polidori’s short story: The Vampyre has sadly been so left at the side. First, he didn’t get the credit he deserved, as it was published by mistake as Lord Byron’s work. Then he tragically ended his life too soon.

It is based on Lord Byron though. He wrote it on that infamous literary retreat with the Shelley’s, and among other works was the start of Frankenstein. Lord Byron also wrote a similar pice, called “A Fragment“. But even more of a fun fact. The whole idea, Polidori played with the idea that a scourned lover of Byron, Caroline, already had published. It is heavily influenced on her book Glenarvon, that is in essence a diss track of Byron. Damn, those friends!

Among gothic and horror fans alike, his work is well known and has its cannon in the genre, but it hasn’t quite reached the mainstream audience as Dracula and in some regards, Carmilla did.

Read it here

Listen to it here

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Varney the Vampire; or, the Feast for Blood

This is one that I long avoided, because I thought it was a comedy, and my small gothic heart couldn’t take the irony, and I found the name Varney a bit comical. Now I BTW love the vampire comedy and What We Do In The Shadows are my life, all versions, thank you very much!

But in fact, it any just seem like a satire because it in fact, installed many of the campy tropes that comes with gothic fiction and vampire fiction. But at the time, it was a Victorian era serialized gothic horror story variously attributed to James Malcolm Rymer and Thomas Peckett Prest. It first appeared in 1845–1847 as a series of weekly cheap pamphlets of the kind then known as “penny dreadful”, and we simply loves penny dreadful, so much so, that we included it in our merch, check it out here (shameless self promotion, but hey, goths need to eat too).

The author was paid by the typeset line so when the story was published in book form in 1847, it was of epic length: the original edition ran to 876 double-columned pages and 232 chapters. Altogether it totals nearly 667,000 words, and for those of you that ever tried Nanowrimo, you know what I talk about, this is legit a lot.

Read it here

Listen to this and some other not so well known vampire stories that should be heard, read and repeated to infinity here

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Thalaba the Destroyer

Where the main character Thalaba’s deceased beloved Oneiza turns into a vampire, although that occurrence is actually marginal to the story.

OK, but in all seriousness, I do read. Like, a lot. Might just seem like I just subscribe to a niche part of tumblr, but no, this is serious literature. Serious FORGOTTEN literature. Ah. I think I would have been more OK with it, if not the end product (read Dracula) didn’t become so influential and that they give whole subjects to at uni. Also, sorry for my informal tone in talking about these pieces of arts, as my academic is reserved for school and I love to shake that stiff old academic voice off. (my professor highly disapproves though = academic literate reject).

Thalaba the Destroyer is more of an epic-work as in ,literary epics, spanning over time, place, people. It was written by Robert Southey from the Romantic school, as in the literary Romantics. If he really was into romance, I have no way of telling. It is interesting because of the plot. The poem is a twelve-book work with irregular stanzas and lines that are not rhymed. The poem deals with Harun al-Rashid and a group of sorcerers at Domdaniel that live under the sea. It was foretold that Thalaba, a Muslim, would be God’s champion and conquer the sorcerers. Something a bit odd for a British christian guy in the early 1800s to write about, but nonetheless very interesting.

Read it here

Ninety Years Later

Why does it have to be British tough? It makes sense in the Victorian times, being so sexual represses, something we might read into modern day mormon vampire tales and deep south sexual repression?

But no, it doesn’t always have to be British. In fact, Eastern Europe is steep in vampire lore, literature and culture. Several of those books and the likes though is not translated. But they do exist. For example we have the Serbian story with the most famous Serbian vampire, Sava Savanović from a folklore-inspired novel Ninety Years Later, or as in this translation: After Ninety Years, by Milovan Glišić, first published in 1880.

Read it here

There are also German, like our emo friend Goethe that wrote the poem The bridge of Corinth. There are a lot of them. What is your favorite forgotten vampire story?

Any of this seem interesting for you? How about getting into the listening train of audio books. Now, get 50% off for the next 3 months. I’ve checked and I am now firmly sure these are the one that can offer most horror titles of the audio book platforms.

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5 Horror Movies Based on Books

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The creepy stuff on TV is often visual or sound based. Jump scares and scary costumes. It makes me wonder how on earth one can sustain the same type of scare in a book. But then I pick up one of these and I remember. The internal images in my head is pretty messed up as well.

In that regard, let’s have a look at the books that inspired some pretty iconic movies. The links provided are from Audible, and are affiliated links. That means I make a commission from each of the purchases coming off the links. And with that disclaimer out of the way, let’s look at the books and movies.

Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin

The movie has now gone on to be this iconic horror movie credited to director Roman Polanski. But did you know that it was originally a book published in 67, only a year before the movie came out. The writer Ira Levin is sort of an iconic figure about writing about seemingly perfect societies. He also wrote the Stepford Wives.

Summary
Rosemary Woodhouse and her struggling-actor husband, Guy, move into the Bramford, an old New York City apartment building with an ominous reputation and only elderly residents.
Neighbours Roman and Minnie Castavet soon come nosing around to welcome them; despite Rosemary’s reservations about their eccentricity and the weird noises that she keeps hearing, her husband starts spending time with them.
Shortly after Guy lands a plum Broadway role, Rosemary becomes pregnant, and the Castavets start taking a special interest in her welfare. As the sickened Rosemary becomes increasingly isolated, she begins to suspect that the Castavets’ circle is not what it seems.

Read it here (Intro by Chuck Palanhiuk, writer of Fight Club)

Listen to it here

30 Days of Night, Vol. 1 by Steve Niles

This was one of those movies that came out in 2007 that I never thought I would like, but then did, because… well, not sure, never mind that. But anyhow. Before it was a movie, it was a comic book published in 2002 by Steve Niles. Since then it has continued to live and grow. Now Audiable have this cool thing where they get a bunch of narrators together.

Summary
The isolated town of Barrow, Alaska, is plunged into darkness for a month each year when the sun sinks below the horizon. As the last rays of light fade, the town is attacked by a bloodthirsty gang of vampires bent on an uninterrupted orgy of destruction. Only Barrow’s husband-and-wife sheriff team stand between the survivors and certain destruction. By the time the sun rises, will they pay the ultimate price – or worse?

Read the graphic novel here

Listen to it here

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The Woman in Black by Susan Hill

For those who follows Moonmausoleum, knows our weak spot is the classic Gothic setting. The movies that have been made of this have been alright, as I am extremely biased and just love everything with that setting: a haunted house, stiff British people and scary kids in Victorian clothing. And this is what it promises, a classical ghost story. Susan Hill wrote the book back in 1983, but the story is set at the turn of the century.

Summary
As is so often the case with truly well-constructed fiction, this story contains all the exquisitely crafted detail and richness that film adaptations can struggle to encompass. Only enhanced by Paul Ansell’s thoughtful narration, this is Susan Hill at her best. Eel Marsh house stands alone, surveying the windswept salt marshes beyond Nine Lives Causeway. Once, Mrs Alice Drablow lived here as a recluse. Now, Arthur Kipps, a junior solicitor with a London firm, is summoned to attend her funeral, unaware of the tragic and terrible secrets which lie behind the house’s shuttered windows. It is not until he glimpses a young woman with a wasted face, dressed all in black, at the funeral, that a sense of profound unease begins to creep over him and take hold, a feeling deepened by the reluctance of the locals to talk about the woman in black or what happens whenever she is seen.

Read it here

Listen to it here

Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist

Do you know when you read a lot, one tends to become somewhat of a snob. This is what happened to me and in my stupid belief I had read everything worth reading and would never find something new I liked. But then, this came out, and it tipped the vampire genre on its head. Even the most snobbish Scandinavian literary critics that hates anything supernatural loved it. And so must you! And if you rather want to watch the movie, choose the Swedish one, as that one actually is pretty good as well.

Summary
Oskar and Eli. In very different ways, they were both victims. Which is why, against the odds, they became friends. And how they came to depend on one another, for life itself.
Oskar is a 12-year-old boy living with his mother on a dreary housing estate at the city’s edge. He dreams about his absentee father, gets bullied at school, and wets himself when he’s frightened. Eli is the young girl who moves in next door. She doesn’t go to school and never leaves the flat by day. She is a 200-year-old vampire, forever frozen in childhood, and condemned to live on a diet of fresh blood.

Read it here

Listen to it here

Bird Box by Josh Malerman

Yes Netflix, we have a lot to thank you for, but the movie version of Bird Box is not one. It’s not as it is bad, it is just… meh. And perhaps because it came out just because A Quiet Place came out and they were sort of similar. And by that, I mean very similar. But the book! The book is beautiful!

Summary
Most people ignored the outrageous reports on the news. But they became too frequent, they became too real. And soon, they began happening down the street. Then the Internet died. The television and radio went silent. The phones stopped ringing. And we couldn’t look outside anymore.
Malorie raises the children the only way she can; indoors. The house is quiet. The doors are locked, the curtains are closed, mattresses are nailed over the windows. They are out there. She might let them in. The children sleep in the bedroom across the hall. Soon she will have to wake them. Soon she will have to blindfold them. Today they must leave the house. Today they will risk everything.

Read it here

Listen to it here

Any of this seem interesting for you? How about getting into the listening train of audio books. Now, get 50% off for the next 3 months. I’ve checked and I am now firmly sure these are the one that can offer most horror titles of the audio book platforms.

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5 Haunted Attractions to Visit

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Perhaps this is not the greatest summer to travel, but as the borders are opening up, so do we as well move over greater distances than we have. Perhaps some of these places are even closer to you than you think? Here we have gathered some of the most haunted attractions around the world you can visit for a ticket.

Winchester Mystery House
San Jose, California

The Mystery House: Front view of the Winchester Mystery House/Ben Franske

This strange house, built upon the money, wealth and grief of the family fortune, the gun trade, this house is something else. Wind winding staircases going nowhere, doors leading to unknown destination and who know how much else secrets and hauntings the house holds.

Akershus Fortress
Oslo, Norway

By the Sea: Akershus Castle in Oslo, Norway/Pudelek (Marcin Szala)

The fortress was built in medieval times, withstanding plague, starvation from the cold winters and as a last stand during wars. It is also the location of several ghost the fortress has claimed as its own over the years. Smacked in the middle of the modern city of Oslo, it stands as a stark contrast of old and new, living and dead.

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Island of the Dolls, (La Isla de las Muñecas)
Mexico City, Mexico

Isla de las Muñecas: nearby the Xochimilco canals/Esparta Palma/wikicommons

If not for the ghost, go for the creepy decor. Allegedly a man found a dead girl and her doll. He started collecting dolls to appease the girls spirit. Now the island is full of them, hanging from trees, looking at all the tourists taking their holiday at this peculiar place. For around 200 pesos you can get a boat to take you there. On the island, there is also a bar. So, hey, holiday!

The Catacombs
Paris, France

Bones: Wall made of skulls, catacombs of Paris/Djtox/wikicommons

A final resting place for some, not so restful for others. The catacombs were created in 1786 and are 500 miles of an underground maze, built of bones of the dead. And for a ticket, you can walk them. It has been held several scary paranormal claims, and it will only probably be more of them.

The Tower
London, England

The Tower: This is a picture of the so called White Tower of the Tower of London/Dietmar Rabich, London, Tower of London, White Tower — 2016 — 4679, CC BY-SA 4.0

Yes, the tower, how many ghosts do you have captured? The fortress smacked in the busy streets of Londong have been a infamous spot for death and misery for over 900 years. It also holds some royal ghosts that never found peace, among them Anne Boleyn and Mary, Queen of Scots.

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The Lingering Presence of a Nazi Ghost at Skaugum

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In the bunkers at one of the Norwegian Royal Family’s residents, Skaugum, there is a rumor of the place being haunted. One of the ghost that haunts the place, is the former Nazi Reichskommissar from the war, Terboven.

Skaugum, Asker, Norway: 1945.

No one has flagged with the Norwegian flag in a long time since the German occupation five years earlier and only the nazi flag with the black swastika on the white disk was allowed. But it is all about to change as the allies are closing in on Berlin and the second world war is coming to an end.

High Ranking Nazi’s: Terboven (seated 2nd from right) with minister president Quisling, SS boss Himmler and von Falkenhorst in 1941. Foto: Deutsches Bundesarchiv

8th of May is approaching, the liberation day and the freeing of the nation are a couple of minutes from being announced. People are gathering in the the streets, ready to celebrate and start anew in a peace.

Read Also: Check out our entire collection of ghost stories from Norway.

But there are some the freedom is nearing its end however. The German Reichskommissar for the occupied Norwegian areas, Josef Terboven have an arrest order on his name and is one of the number one nazi officials the Norwegians are after.

Read More: Check out more ghost stories from the Second World War like The Black Cat of War

Terboven knows the war is over and that it will be showed no mercy from the allied forces, not from the people he spent five years at oppressing. He decided to end his life to avoid capture, but according to the rumours, his spirit never managed to escape.

The Reichskommissar in the Bunker

As Reichskommissar, Terboven was the one giving the orders that would send the people of the nation to the working and death camps. He was responsible for the imprisonment, executions- everything.

The Reichskommissar: Josef Terboven. Source: Riksarkivet (National Archives of Norway) @ Flickr Commons

When he took office in Norway it was he who brought death penalty back to a country that had made it unlawful. You could end up dead by leaving the country without permission, listen to illegal radio, taken with illegal newspapers and help war prisoners and refugees. He was by the end of the war, one of the most hated men in Norway.

Read Also: Check out more ghost stories involving nazis like Conn Barracks Ghosts of Nazi Soldiers and Bloody Nurses

All of this is hanging over his shoulders that day in May when people are celebrating. He sits in his bunker at Skaugum, a farm originally owned by the Royal Family outside of Oslo. He once barged in, chased the royal family away and started living there. Now, he himself is the one that is about to be chased away.

The bunker at Skaugum is only 200 meter from the main house the crown prince of Norway owns of and stays in today. There the next King and Queen of Norway lives together with their children.

On that day in 1945 Terboven realized that all hope for a German victory was out of question and hid in the bunker together with the last of the German officials left.

Wilhelm Redieß, the SS boss in the country had already killed himself by gun. “That was early, he beat me to it”, he commented on the suicide.

But Terboven would follow shortly and he had brought 50 kg of dynamite to his bunker at Skaugum and that is how he ended his days. He blew himself up to avoid being prosecuted for his crimes. At 23:30, he detonated the bomb exploded along with the body of Redieß.

The remaining crew of SS spent the rest of the dynamite the next day when Norwegian police came to burn it all down.

The Ghost in the Bunker

According to the legend, the bunker at Skaugum is also were Terboven will spend his eternity. For a long time after the war, it has been reports about activities that no one has been able to explain close to the bunker where nazi officers ended their days.

Early days of the Nazi Party: Josef Terboven rose quickly in the ranks, here with the national party: NSDAPs paramilitary street troops in 1926 in Germany. Foto: Deutsches Bundesarchiv

His Majesty The King’s Guard; the Royal Guards, a battalion of the Norwegian army are the ones guarding the Royal property and residents, including Skaugum today. And there is also from the soldiers the stories comes from.

They tell they have experience many strange things they believe to have a paranormal origin walking the empty places near the bunker at Skaugum. Strange tracks from or to the bunker is spotted for example by the forest surrounding the estate close to the fence. The soldiers have to patrol there and comes back with stories about strange sounds and apparitions, even during the day. Late at night close to the bunkers, the keep hearing the sound of voices and when they go to check it out, they find that they are alone. At least the only living thing there.

Skaugum Farm: The big farm has been the Norwegian residency for decades and even today the place is the home of the crown prince and princess. Right by the big house there is a bunker that is said to be haunted by the former Nazi officials that took over the place during the war.//Source: wikimedia

There are also placed calls from the outer guard post when no one is placed there to make them.

A common factor for all of this is that it is all happening right by the bunker Terboven blew himself up in. The royal guards working at Skaugum are of the opinion of that it is all contributed to Terboven and his ghost lingering in the bunker forever. He never got peace after his death and roams the property were the next royal heir of Norway resides.

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An Introduction to the Horror Classics

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And before you ask – no, I don’t look at Stephen King as a classic. Not yet. What I am talking about are these major players that started it all before they even knew what they were doing. They are not only scary fiction, but an examination of the human darkness before it was OK to talk about it in the open. They are sort of at a junction between classical literature and folklore. They helped to build the bridges of the mythology from our cultures and to the modern horror and scares in daily life. I only wish they could have seen how it impacted the culture, even for those not loving the horror genre. So this a small deep dive into the classics and why they are important.

Disclaimer – Oh look, it’s the affiliate ghost at out side. Yes, these links will take you to the works I’ve written about. If one chooses to purchase anything through these links, we will earn a small commission from it. The opinions are as always, our own. No let’s go!

Dracula

Let’s get the more obvious out of the picture first. But let me ask you; have you ever heard about Dracula? Do you know a lot about the work? But have you actually read it? Surprisingly many haven’t even if they have an extensive knowledge of the tale. That is how important Dracula has been for later literature and movies. And even, I would say, fashion, culture, language, and interest in the country of Romania. But all good, it is all good, we thank our Lord, Dracula for it. Although it wasn’t really the first modern vampire tale, not even the one that got the vampire genre popular, it was however the one that iconified it for future generation.

The importance of the Other – vampires are often depicted as foreigners, they are of a different race. Stoker himself was writing stuff about the invasion and threat to the British Empire. On a small funny not, he was Irish himself, as Sheridan LaFenu that wrote Carmilla. Was this perhaps something about not feeling as the rest, perhaps they themselves were feeling like an outsider? Surely we can see this is a thing that are still relevant, still as delicate and must sometimes be treated through these codes, the codes of vampires, and vampires as our self. We are them, they are us.

The Modern Version

Stoker spent seven years researching European folklore and drew from this when he wrote. It was not an instant bestseller and has meant more to the modern reader than those of Victorian times. Something that is very evident our culture.

Richard Matheson gave us a continuation of vampires as dangerous and the reason why mankind falls

Ann Rice with her books gave the vampires a heart that are very in now. And every time we think the vampire genre is played out, it continues to reinvent itself (read Let the Right one in)

Even what we consider the most silly spins on the vampire tropes (read Twilight), we can sense the important of it when looking at it as a metaphore for teenage angst for their own sexual drives and desires they feel will consume them.

Preface

Dracula comprises journal entries, letters, and telegrams written by the main characters. It begins with Jonathan Harker, a young English lawyer, as he travels to Transylvania. Harker plans to meet with Count Dracula, a client of his firm, in order to finalize a property transaction. When he arrives in Transylvania, the locals react with terror after he discloses his destination: Castle Dracula. Though this unsettles him slightly, he continues onward. The ominous howling of wolves rings through the air as he arrives at the castle.

Where to find it

Books

Luckily, this classic has been in circulation since it came out (me thinks) and it is translated into so many languages, formats and the likes. It is really to pick and choose what you like best. So for this, I have looked at the two things that decides what to go for. Price and cover.

If you care for the cheaper option, go for the Wordsworth Classic. Don’t worry. If you don’t collect the Wordsworth ones, Collins Classics also have one pretty cheap.

Buy here

If you are more of a collector you got to get to Barnes and Nobles Collectible Classics, Omnibus Edition. Its leather bound cover is just everyone’s dream for a grand library, filled with thick books that you just want to put on display. It also have a couple of other stories, including The Jewel of Seven Stars and The Lair of the White Worm. In also includes a dozen of Stoker’s short tales of the macabre, including “Dracula’s Guest,” a sidebar to his famous novel.

Buy here

Audio Books

There are a lot of Dracula audio books to listen to, and I mean, a lot. First, start off with two things, do you want to hear the full version or the short one. Because the long one is long, but then again, in an abridged version you will miss out on some details.

For the full version, I recommend the version were Alan Cumming is one of the narrators of several (there are a lot of character so be warned).

The abridged version is a bit altered, a bit cut, but I think overall they managed to keep it in the same feeling. Also, bonus point, In the abridged version, Tom Hiddelston is on of the narrators.

Listen to the full version here

Listen to the abridged version here

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Frankenstein

Sort of like Dracula, this has spun its own franchise it has no control over and a people knows a lot about it without ever having read a page of it. At least they think they know the story. I don’t know at how many accounts I’ve corrected when they call the monster for Frankenstein. Yes, I know, I’m that person, and I regret having open my mouth every time, but alas, it has become a reflex – sorry in advance.

What is it about monsters? What made a 19 year old girl write something so profoundly harrowing and deep beyond her years? We love reading about the underdog, but the underdog in fiction we always need to see evolve as a hero and come out on top. This is the way, but not the horror way. This is the only genre that can deal with the failing monster that tries to come out as a hero, but will ever remain as the villain. It is deeply uncomfortable reading the same tales if the monsters, vampires and ghosts were actual living human beings, the stories wouldn’t work because that meant we have to acknowledge something about ourselves, not everyone comes out as the hero, not all underdogs will win. The only way we accept this in horror is that is a thinly veil between us and them that makes us able to leave the moral high ground and preconceived notions at the door.

The Modern Version

Frankenstein is like made for modern area. Every bit of human enhancement, every bit of artificial intelligence, everything that makes us question what is a human, and who has the right to live and in that, what does that entail. That is a pretty powerful question I personally only think will take Frankenstein with its creature on a long journey.

Preface

Frankenstein is written in the form of a frame story that starts with Captain Robert Walton writing letters to his sister. It takes place at an unspecified time in the 18th century, as the letters’ dates are given as “17—”. In the story following the letters by Walton, the readers find that Victor Frankenstein creates a monster that brings tragedy to his life.

Where to find it

Books

If you are looking for a cheap paperback, they got it all over. Collins, Penguin, everyone. I personally collect the Collins ones because I like the size of them. Choose your favorite. If you look for a paperback, but want a more exiting cover, Barnes and Nobles got you covered with their slick Flexibound Collection. Check them out!

Buy it here

If however, you are after a hardcover to look nice in your bookshelve, there are also a bunch of them. I personally like the one from Penguin Classic Hardcover Collection. If you are starting to collect minimalism hardcover books, this is the series you want. Look how cute and creepy it is!

Buy it here

Audio Books

My personal favorite it the edition narrated by Derek Jacobi. Just listen to the sample of the audio and you will see exactly what I mean.

The abridged version is also pretty cool. The director and star of the movie Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Kenneth Branagh is the one doing the narration, and knows the story in and out, and it shows, or hears… whatever. That guy must really like Frankenstein.

Listen to the full version here

Listen to the abridged version here

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The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

What happens when complex human beings have to hide their true selves, their other side so to speak, the one not necessarily fun one to bring to dinner parties. This is what Robert Louis Stevenson explored when he wrote the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, or at least, that is what we were faced with when reading it.

The Modern Version

All psychological an character driven piece of fiction has certain elements to what makes a whole human, and how does it look if it’s split and let loose. What happens to a person too constrained, what happens to a person too careless.

Perhaps the on the nose and direct character from modern fiction must be the character of Hulk, constantly battling the darker side of himself, in a perhaps self inflicted happening because of his quest of perfection.

Preface

Gabriel John Utterson and his cousin Richard Enfield reach the door of a large house on their weekly walk. Enfield tells Utterson that months ago he saw a sinister-looking man named Edward Hyde trample a young girl after accidentally bumping into her. Enfield forced Hyde to pay £100 to avoid a scandal. Hyde brought them to this door and provided a cheque signed by a reputable gentleman (later revealed to be Doctor Henry Jekyll, a friend and client of Utterson). Utterson is disturbed because Jekyll recently changed his will to make Hyde the sole beneficiary. Utterson fears that Hyde is blackmailing Jekyll. When Utterson tries to discuss Hyde with Jekyll, Jekyll tells Utterson he can be rid of Hyde when he wants and for Utterson to drop the matter. And then the investigation starts.

Where to find it

Book

This is a pretty slim book, and easy to carry around. Me personally like when the classics use old photographs, even if it isn’t hundred percent accurate. Therefore I like this Penguin Classic paperback more than the others. It also includes some bonus stories like: The other stories in this volume also testify to Stevenson’s inventiveness within the Gothic tradition: ‘Olalla’, a tale of vampirism and tainted family blood, and ‘The Body Snatcher’, a gruesome fictionalisation of the exploits of the notorious Burke and Hare.

Buy it here

For the hardcover, I came upon this one right here. Have you ever seen something so beautiful! This edition only have like 100 copies, is cloth-bound book includes a Victorian inspired dust-jacket, and is my librarian wet dream.

Buy it here

Audio Book

The novella is not so long that it needs it’s own abridged version. This one her is narrated by Martin Jarvis. He started out in a career in film and television, but I think he has become particularly noted for his voice acting for radio and audio books. Or perhaps I listen too much, either way:

Listen to it here

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The Turn of the Screw

The story is a masterpiece for those interested in the unreliable narrator. Or is she? I- I don’t really know, but i gets me guessing. What do we know, and what is made up in our minds. How long can we only rely on our own mind when other tell us we’re crazy. It is a question about who we can trust and how far we can go for a job. Jesus, the life of a governess was a tough one.

It is also something about the children. They are cute, innocent and one wants to look after them. But still. There is something there… an eeriness that doesn’t go away. We can’t trust them, and at times, those kids scare us profoundly.

The Modern Version

In the century following its publication, The Turn of the Screw became a cornerstone text of academics who subscribed to New Criticism. The novella has had differing interpretations, often mutually exclusive. Many critics have tried to determine the exact nature of the evil hinted at by the story. However, others have argued that the brilliance of the novella results from its ability to create an intimate sense of confusion and suspense within the reader.

No a days it lives on in the little details. The creepy children, the big house in the dark. Television embraced it for instance with shows like Dark Shadows, the second season of Haunting of Hill House and a constant source for BBC dramas. Keep them coming.

Preface

On Christmas Eve, an unnamed narrator, along with some other unnamed characters, listens to Douglas, a friend, read a manuscript written by a former governess whom Douglas claims to have known and who is now dead. The manuscript tells the story of how the young governess is hired by a man who has become responsible for his young nephew and niece after the deaths of their parents. He lives mainly in London but also has a country house, Bly. He is uninterested in raising the children and she takes on the job. And creepiness ensues.

Where to find it

Book

So, one of the lesser known collection of classics are from Arcturus Publishing. Of some of the more gothic and horror genre classics, they have these cool graphic covers that i enjoy. Other titles they do are from Edgar Allan Poe, Lovefract, The Yellow Wallpaper and many others.

Buy it here

But the beauty of hardcover is back at it again. I mean, the color, the font, the cover and the idea of a limited edition is just the thing I wish dearly for in my heart. And you know it’s legit when the publisher calls themselves Royal Classics

Buy it here

Audio Book

I Personally like this performance with Emma Thomson and Richard Armitage in the introduction. Emma Thomson is such a well read in British literature and it really shows in her work that deals with the written word of a time long forgotten.

Listen to it here

The King in Yellow

I brought this on the list here, because I know of several becoming aware of the concept of The King in Yellow through True Detective’s first season, and I just saw it. So many years behind, but in my defense, I thought is was just a boring cop-show. But then everyone was like: what the fuck is the King in Yellow? And why is so many talking about it?

The King in Yellow is a book of short stories by the American writer Robert W. Chambers, first published by F. Tennyson Neely in 1895. It contains several weird stories easily categorized as supernatural

The Modern version

This is sort of an elusive one, that many doesn’t take the reference to. It is reference by many authors in books, movies, tv-series, but it is never really explained were it is from. Stephen King used it in Thinner, Edgar Allan Poe referenced it in The Masque of the Red Death and Lovecraft referenced it so much it became a part of the Cthulhu mythos and people often mistake Lovecraft as the sole creator.

List of Stories

The stories in the book are:

  1. “The Repairer of Reputations” – A weird story of egotism and paranoia which carries the imagery of the book’s title.
  2. “The Mask” – A dream story of art, love, and uncanny science.
  3. “In the Court of the Dragon” – A man is pursued by a sinister church organist who is after his soul.
  4. “The Yellow Sign” – An artist is troubled by a sinister churchyard watchman who resembles a coffin worm.
  5. “The Demoiselle d’Ys” – A ghost story
  6. “The Prophets’ Paradise” – A sequence of eerie prose poems that develop the style and theme of a quote from the fictional play The King in Yellow which introduces “The Mask”.
  7. “The Street of the Four Winds” – An atmospheric tale of an artist in Paris who is drawn to a neighbor’s room by a cat; the story ends with a macabre touch.
  8. “The Street of the First Shell” – A war story set in the Paris Siege of 1870.
  9. “The Street of Our Lady of the Fields” – Romantic American bohemians in Paris.
  10. “Rue Barrée” – Romantic American bohemians in Paris, with a discordant ending that playfully reflects some of the tone of the first story.

Where to find it

Book

There are many to choose from. For the paperback, Wordsworth Classics have one that is cheap, yellow and totally adequate. But my personal favorite is the graphic novel adaption, with really cool illustration by  I. N. J. Culbard it really brings new life into the old story.

Buy it here

For the Hardcover you also must chose between some cool content or a cool cover. For the best cover I think the edition from The Pushkin Press have a nice cover on it. Contains: ‘The Repairer of Reputations’, ‘The Mask’, ‘In the Court of the Dragon’, ‘The Yellow Sign’

Buy it here.

But there is also this one edition that have Lovecraft as the introduction piece from the Wildside Press that also includes some illustrations.

Buy it here

Audio Book

Horrorbabble have this great thing were they narrate lesser known horror stories. It is not often a thing that is prioritized so that little fact makes me happy. This is only one of the stories they have at audible, they have a bunch, check them out!

Listen to this and other here

Any of this seem interesting for you? How about getting into the listening train of audio books. Now, get 50% off for the next 3 months. I’ve checked and I am now firmly sure these are the one that can offer most horror titles of the audio book platforms.

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The Horror Summer Movie List

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Who said the Halloween feeling needed to be kept to the fall? There is something especially scary with the summer. The fact that creepy and horrendous stuff can happen on a bright, sunny day, on the beach and in the hot air, scares more than dark nights. And let us not forget about the deep, deep sea were the light never shines.

Midsommar

Released: 2019

Director: Ari Aster

Starring: Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, William Jackson Harper, Vilhelm Blomgren, Ellora Torchia, Archie Madekwe, Will Poulter

Love, love, love, love it! Although not as scary as the typical summer slasher films, this movie is just excellent in every aspect. It is hard to make the internal fright scary on the big screen, but when it’s done right, it is the most scary thing ever.

Synopsis: The grieving Dani have problems dealing with the death of her parents and sister, leaving Christian, the only one she feels close to. He has planned a trip to Sweden with his anthropologist friends for the summer and Dani tags along. And what they think is some drug loving, hippy Swedes has a much darker side to it, even during the midsommar period when the sun never sets.

I Know What You Did Last Summer

Released: 1997

Director: Jim Gillespie

Starring: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Freddie Prinze Jr., Johnny Galecki, Bridgette Wilson

This have been on antother list, but this movie is just the perfect example of the summer horror slasher movie flicks we used to get during the slow, hot, humid times. When school was out and you were too young to care about getting a job, caring about politics and the likes. Or am I the only one getting nostalgic about it? It also spun some crazy sequels and a…. well, a sidequel? I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998) and I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer. And rumours that Amazon is producing a series on the franchise have been spread on the web. Anyway, for a revisit to the urban legend inspired roller coaster of 90’s nostalgia, check it out.

Synopsis: On the Fourth of July 1996 a group of friends drive to the beach. While driving along a coastal byway, they accidentally hit a pedestrian. The group decides to dump the body in the water and never discuss what happened. But a year later something is attacking them, one by one, and they are soon forced to face their actions.

Us

us

Released: 2019

Director: Jordan Peele

Starring: Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Elisabeth Moss, Tim Heidecker

Another instant classic from Jordan Peele, Us, takes a vacation at the beach and spins it into this crazy slasher, comedy, thriller, supernatural, apocalyptic roller coaster. All basking in the summer sun and hot nights by the beach.

Synopsis: In 1986, a young girl named Adelaide goes on vacation with her parents to Santa Cruz. At the boardwalk, she wanders off and enters a funhouse, where she encounters a doppelgänger of herself in the hall of mirrors. Years later she goes on a holiday with her husband and children. She is haunted by the memory, but it is seemingly just a normal summer vacation. That is until the family of doppelgangers turns up at their door in red clothing.

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Piranha

Released: Original released in 1978, but a franchise of movies have been released throughout the years.

Director: Joe Dante (1978)

Starring: Bradford Dillman, Heather Menzies, Kevin McCarthy (The 1978)

What is it about the summer horror flicks that just seems to break all the rules. The lines are blurred, the clothes are off, and the blood is gushing. And why do we just love watching pretty and shallow people die horrendous deaths? With boobs and blood being equally important, this movie is truly for the hot days when your brain need to just rest.

Synopsis: The film tells the story of a river being infested by lethal, genetically altered piranha, threatening the lives of the local inhabitants and the visitors to a nearby summer resort. And really. That is the basic plot of the rest of the franchise as well. And boobs. So much boobs.

Jaws

Released: 1975

Director: Steven Spielberg

Starring: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton

No list without the master summer horror flick. This is one of those movies that will always stand the test of time, and will appear on any horror summer list. Read also our Summer Horror Reading List.

Synopsis: In the film, a man-eating great white shark attacks beach goers at a summer resort town, killing them, and killing tourism. This is prompting police chief Martin Brody to hunt it with the help of a marine biologist and a professional shark hunter on his boat. But when on the water, they are no longer protected by the safe havens of dry land. They are in shark territory now.

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The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Released: 1974

Director: Tobe Hooper

Starring: Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow, Gunnar Hansen

If you have seen this, like a thousand times, the summer is a good time to watch it another thousand times. If you still haven’t seen this horror classic, what are you waiting for? This is the summer to do so.

Synopsis: The film follows a group of friends who fall victim to a family of cannibals while on their way to visit an old homestead. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was banned in several countries, and numerous theaters stopped showing the film in response to complaints about its violence. It continues the story of Leatherface and his family with several sequels, prequels and remakes.

It Follows

Released: 2014

Director: David Robert Mitchell

Starring: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Daniel Zovatto, Jake Weary, Olivia Luccardi

The premise of the movie is more dream like than summer like. But the movie upholds some of the great summer vibes of beaches, summer dresses, bored days and a backyard pool.

Synopsis: The film follows a teenage girl named Jay, who is pursued by a supernatural entity after a sexual encounter. Like a transmitted haunting, she can only rid herself of by giving it to someone else. And it seems like nothing is able to stop it completely.

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Tourist Trap

Released: 1979

Director: David Schmoeller

Starring: Chuck Connors, Jocelyn Jones, Jon Van Ness, Robin Sherwood, Tanya Roberts, Dawn Jeffory, Keith McDermott

A group of friends on the road, the desert wind and the heated sun that goes along with it. Compile it with a crazy killing tourist attraction and we got ourselves a horror summer flick.

Synopsis: The film follows a group of young people who stumble upon a roadside museum housing mannequins that wield supernatural powers.

Friday the 13th

Released: 1980

Director: Sean S. Cunningham

Starring: Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Harry Crosby, Laurie Bartram, Mark Nelson, Jeannine Taylor, Robbi Morgan, Kevin Bacon

There is nothing new about making a franchise of successful slasher movies, but Friday the 13th really goes all inn. It is around twelve movies, it got its own TV series, its been written books and made video games. This is sort of like the

Synopsis: The franchise mainly focuses on the fictional character Jason Voorhees, who drowned as a boy at Camp Crystal Lake due to the negligence of the camp staff. Decades later, the lake is rumored to be “cursed” and is the setting for a series of mass murders.

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