Classic Literature Dark

The Cats of Ulthar, written by H.P. Lovecraft in 1920, is a short yet striking tale that showcases his ability to blend dark fantasy with moral allegory. First published in Tryout in 1920, the story is a haunting meditation on justice, retribution, and the mystical bond between cats and the arcane. It occupies a unique place in Lovecraft’s body of work, weaving a fable-like narrative that retains the eerie undertones characteristic of his writing.

Much like Lin-Manuel Miranda did in Hamilton, the New York Times best-selling author David Elliott turns a classic on its head in form and approach, updating the timeless story of Theseus and the Minotaur for a new generation. A rough, rowdy, and darkly comedic young adult retelling in verse, Bull will have listeners reevaluating one of mythology's most infamous monsters.

This gripping tale takes place in the late 19th century and follows the protagonist, Mr. Hapley, a famous entomologist who becomes embroiled in an ongoing feud with Professor Pawkins a rival in his field. Hapley has a devasting retort to Professor Pawkins's most recent attack on him, but before he can deliver the ruinous blow, Pawkins dies leaving Haply ready for battle with no opponent. The physical Pawkins may be gone, but a mysterious moth that no one but Hapley can see or feel the presence of appears.

Written in 1905, this is Vernon Lee’s final genuinely weird tale, and it tells the 18th-century legend of Sister Benvenuta, a nun who wrote letters to a model of infant Christ. Whilst unexpectedly funny in places, this short story has dark undertones.

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.

Fifty-One Tales is a collection of fantasy short stories by Irish writer Lord Dunsany, a major influence on J. R. R. Tolkien, H. P. Lovecraft, Ursula K. Le Guin and others. Each story is a short vignette, a single moment of strangeness or horror in the face of death.

This was the book that launched a genre. Modern fantasy collections trace their lineage back to Lord Dunsany, and this was his first work that today's listeners would recognise in tone and settings.

When an American man discovers that he's the last descendant of the De la Poer family, he travels to England to take over their crumbling estate. Accompanied only by his cat, the man follows the incessant sound of rats to a dark place beneath the estate, unearthing horrible, dark, gruesome secrets about his ancestors and the type of activities they partook in. Taken by madness, the man falls into a dark pit of despair and commits unthinkable crimes. This jarring story from a renowned writer of horror fiction utilizes fear-inducing themes to entice its audience.

"The Outsider" is one of Lovecraft's earliest and creepiest stories. A man exists alone in a mysterious dark castle, with no memory of how or why he is there. One day he decides to climb the highest tower in the hope of seeing the sky...and in doing so briefly learns the terrible, ghastly, unbearable truth....

Aus der Tiefe des Pazifischen Ozeans ertönt infernalisches Gebrüll, das alles Menschliche verhöhnt. Die Welt, wie wir sie kennen, ist dem Untergang geweiht, denn Seine Zeit ist gekommen! Die Geschichte nimmt uns mit in die Zeit des Ersten Weltkriegs. Ein Matrose landet auf einem deutschen Kriegsschiff in Gefangenschaft. Es gelingt ihm, bei Nacht und Nebel mit einem Beiboot zu entkommen, ungewiss, ob Rettung wartet. Nach vielen Tagen auf offener See taucht unerwartet ein geheimnisvolles Eiland aus dem Meer auf und bringt eine schreckliche Wahrheit an die Oberfläche.

In this short story by bestselling author Myla Goldberg (originally published in Harper's magazine), an unemployed artist lands a freelance job that gives him a strange brand of influence over the population of a distant island nation and places him in an equally strange relationship with the...

El escritor Robert Blake (supuestamente Robert Bloch), se obsesiona con un chapitel de una iglesia maldita que ve desde su estudio. La gran iglesia fue escenario de ritos malévolos durante muchos años atrás. Ahora abandonada y medio en ruinas, es temida por la gente del pueblo. Atraido por el misterio de dicha iglesia, Robert Blake entra en ella y sube a la torre del chapitel. Lo que encontrará allí aclarará los temores de los vecinos y encontrara su propia muerte.

Christmas may come but once a year but evil, intrigue and malevolence are everyday events. Within this volume Christmas is a time when these dark forces form and coalesce to take life and liberty from people who may and who may not deserve the spin of its wheel. Some are merely evil, others have the beginnings of a conscience that displays itself in a dialogue with the devil, or perhaps only themselves. But, in this volume Christmas takes a ringside seat to the horrors of the human heart.

Edgar Poe est le maître incontesté du fantastique et une figure majeure du romantisme américain. Le fameux "Système du docteur Goudron et du professeur Plume" prouve aussi qu'il ne s'interdit pas l'humour noir ! En voyage dans le sud de la France, le narrateur se retrouve amené à visiter une bien étrange clinique psychiatrique, la maison de santé du docteur Maillard. On l'y entretient d'une toute nouvelle méthode mise au point pour traiter la folie, bien meilleure que la "douceur" préconisée dans les autres établissements.

A palm reader notifies Lord Arthur that murder is in his future. But not his murder - he’s the murderer. This really throws a wrench into his wedding plans, for Lord Arthur is soon to be married to the most beautiful lady in London. In fact he loves her so much, he decides to postpone the wedding until his business is done. Now, for a tasteful homicide....

De acuerdo con el relato, hace más de 10.000 años una raza de pastores colonizó las orillas del río Ai en una tierra llamada Mnar, formando las ciudades de Thraa, Ilarnek y Kadatheron (no confundir con Kadath), las cuales se erigieron como grandes proezas intelectuales y mercantiles. Deseando más tierra, un grupo de estas personas emigró a las orillas de un vasto y solitario lago en el corazón de Mnar, fundando la metrópoli de Sarnath creada a la orilla de un vasto lago, atraídos por un yacimiento de metales preciosos. Pero los colonos no estaban solos.

The TGSPGoSSP is a bit of a comedic acting troupe. Their 2-Part Trilogy mocks our beloved niches in genre fiction. All three books take the usual shots at the usual suspects, both fantasy and sci-fi. If you like dark, deadpan humor and satire such as Monty Python, this title might be your cup of tea.

"A Dark Brown Dog" is an unexpected Stephen Crane jewel. Crane is best known for three short stories, "The Open Boat", thought by many to be the best short story ever written; "The Blue Hotel"; and "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky". "A Dark Brown Dog" is the first cousin of Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, in being set in the rough, tough world of the New York Bowery of the late 19th century.

A young boy finds a homeless dog desperate for love and brings him into his home. What is frightening about Crane's take on this typical relationship, a boy and his dog, are the parallels between the young boy's treatment of the dog and his abusive, alcoholic father's treatment of those around him.

An unassuming woman wanders around the landscape of hell accompanied by a dammed priest and a '60s styles teenage demon activist. The trio is sometimes helped and sometimes hindered by a god-like being with dysfunctional split personalities. All You Can Eat contains the following episodes: