David Stuart Davies – författare

‘His body was pressed against the wall at the head of the bed, and the face was a mask of agonised horror and fruitless entreaty. But the eyes were already glazed in death, and before Francis could reach the bed the body had toppled over and lay inert and lifeless. Even as he looked, he heard a limping step go down the passage outside.’ E. F. Benson was a master of the ghost story and now all his rich, imaginative, spine-tingling and beautifully written tales are presented together in this bumper collection. The range and variety of these spooky narratives is far broader and more adventurous than those of any other writer of supernatural fiction. Within the covers of this volume you will encounter revengeful spectres, vampires, homicidal spirits, monstrous spectral worms and slugs and other entities of nameless dread. This is a classic collection that cannot fail to charm and chill.Stories include:The Room in the TowerThe Dust-CloudGavon’s EveThe Confession of Charles LinkworthAt Abdul Ali’s GraveThe Shootings Of AchnaleishHow Fear Departed from the Long GalleryCaterpillarsThe CatThe Bus-ConductorThe Man Who Went Too FarBetween the LightsOutside the DoorThe Terror by NightThe Other BedThe Thing in the HallThe House with the Brick-Kiln‘And the Dead Spake – ’The OutcastThe Horror-HornMachaonNegotium PerambulansAt the FarmhouseInscrutable DecreesThe GardenerMr Tilly’s SéanceMrs AmworthIn The TubeRoderick’s StoryReconciliationThe FaceSpinachBagnell TerraceA Tale of an Empty HouseNaboth’s VineyardExpiationHome, Sweet Home‘And No Bird Sings’The Corner HouseCorstophineThe TempleThe StepThe Bed by the WindowJames LampThe DanceThe Hanging of Alfred WadhamPiratesThe Wishing-WellThe Bath-ChairMonkeysChristopher Comes BackThe SanctuaryThursday EveningsThe Psychical Mallards

With an Introduction by David Stuart Davies.'In the great mirror opposite I saw myself, and right behind, another wicked fearful self, so like me my soul seemed to quiver within me, as though not knowing to which similitude of body it belonged'.Elizabeth Gaskell is better known today for her pioneering social novels such as Mary Barton (1848) but she also wrote some fascinating tales of the supernatural and the macabre, which are collected here in this volume. The real charm of this dark anthology is its variety. Unlike so many writers of this kind of material, Gaskell allows the story to fit the style rather than the other way around and as result there is a charming freshness to each tale.This remarkable author uses different voices, tones and topics to engage her readers and as you turn from one story to the next you cannot be quite sure what to expect.Tales include:The Old Nurse’s StoryThe Squire’s StoryThe Poor ClareLois the WitchThe Doom of the GriffithsThe Ghost in the Garden roomThe Grey WomanCurious, if TrueDisappearances

Prepare to have your blood chilled and your nerves tingled … This collection of eighteen short stories blurs the line between the real and unreal, and transports you to the misty world of the supernatural, where faceless phantoms linger and nothing is what it appears. What is the terrible secret of ‘The Doll’s House’? What horror lies behind ‘The Halloween Mask’? And why is a whitewashed cottage called ‘The Fly House’? David Stuart Davies, a modern master of the unsettling narrative, provides a feast of ghoulish, ghostly and gripping tales to keep you awake long after the lights are turned out.

A child’s body found in woodland. Parents torn apart by grief. But this is only the first victim in a series of apparently motiveless crimes. Detective Inspector Paul Snow, heading the enquiry, must discover the pattern and reveal the chilling truth as a cunning and violent murderer becomes desperate and even more unpredictable. Haunted by secrets of his own, the complex DI Snow races against the clock, following a murderous trail that leads all the way to a dark and shocking climax. Innocent Blood, set in Yorkshire in the 1980s, is the second in the gritty series featuring DI Paul Snow and maintains the high level of tension and dramatic surprises of the first, Brothers in Blood.

A spine-chilling anthology that celebrates the thrilling pleasure and rich literary legacy of horror writing.From the sinister imagination of Edgar Allan Poe to the supernatural suspense of H. G. Wells, this collection of stories explores a range of eerie experiences. There are hauntings, monsters and plenty of often inexplicable and always terrifying dramas.The classic masters of the genre are here; in Algernon Blackwood’s deeply unnerving ‘The Occupant in the Room’ a hotel room hides a terrifying secret. In Guy de Maupassant’s 'Vendetta’, a mother is bent on terrible revenge and in ‘The Treasure of Abbot Thomas’ M. R. James turns a treasure hunt into a nightmare.Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, cloth-bound, pocket-sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover.

Blend the wild and fevered Irish imagination with a wonderful facility for recounting a dark, compelling tale, add a dash of the supernatural, and you have a potent brew of spine-tingling tales. This anthology of the best ghost stories from Ireland and Irish writers includes contributions from such masters as Sheridan Le Fanu, Bram Stoker, Oscar Wilde, W. B. Yeats and Rosa Mulholland. Within these pages you will find strange accounts of haunted houses, death warnings from beyond the grave, and revengeful spirits, all guaranteed to stir the imagination and chill the blood.The haunting tales featured in this beautiful Macmillan Collector's Library edition of Irish Ghost Stories have been selected and introduced by David Stuart Davies.Designed to appeal to the booklover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure.

A gorgeous anthology to dip into and savour the rich literary heritage of Yorkshire, Britain’s largest county. Yorkshire is renowned for its landscapes: the magical wilderness of the moors and the dales, its cities built on industry and mining, and its varied coastline.All these places, as well as its people, have been portrayed and dramatized in literature through the centuries; by poets from Andrew Marvell to Simon Armitage, by novelists such as Dickens, Elizabeth Gaskell, Bram Stoker, and of course the Brontës, all of whom are represented here. Then there are novelists such as David Storey and Barry Hines, who wrote about working-class lives in the mining towns in the 1950s and 60s. And finally some favourite characters to enjoy, such as James Herriot and the Yorkshire Shepherdess.Yorkshire: A Literary Landscape is edited by David Stuart Davies.

A visit from the distraught Ronald Temple sets SHERLOCK HOLMES and Dr Watson on the hunt for a kidnapped child. With no ransom note and a sinister connection to the highest echelons of Victorian society, it becomes clear that it is no ordinary kidnapping, and soon the companions' lives are in danger. What is the child's true heritage? And what is the connection with the Whitechapel murders of a decade before?

With an Introduction and Notes by Martin Scofield, University of Kent at Canterbury.Henry James was arguably the greatest practitioner of what has been called the psychological ghost story. His stories explore the region which lies between the supernatural or straightforwardly marvellous and the darker areas of the human psyche. This edition includes all ten of his ghost stories, and as such is the fullest collection currently available.The stories range widely in tone and type. They include 'The Jolly Corner', a compelling story of psychological doubling; 'Owen Wingrave', which is also a subtle parable of military tradition; 'The Friends of the Friends', a strange story of uncanny love; and 'The Private Life', which finds a shrewd, high comedy in its ghostly theme.The volume also includes James's great novella The Turn of the Screw, perhaps the most ambiguous and disturbing ghost story ever written.Stories include:The Romance of Certain Old ClothesThe Ghostly RentalSir Edmund OrmeThe Private LifeOwen WingraveThe Friends of the FriendsThe Turn of the ScrewThe Real Right ThingThe Third PersonThe Jolly Corner

With an Introduction by John S. Whitley, University of Sussex.This collection of Poe's best stories contains all the terrifying and bewildering tales that characterise his work. As well as the Gothic horror of such famous stories as 'The Pit and the Pendulum', 'The Fall of the House of Usher', 'The Premature Burial' and 'The Tell-Tale Heart', all of Poe's Auguste Dupin stories are included.These are the first modern detective stories and include 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue', 'The Mystery of Marie Roget' and 'The Purloined Letter'.Contents:The Gold BugThe Facts in the Case of M. ValdemarMS. Found in a BottleA Descent into the MaelströmThe Murders in the Rue MorgueThe Mystery of Marie RogêtThe Purloined LetterThe Fall of the House of UsherThe Pit and the PendulumThe Premature BurialThe Black CatThe Masque of the Red DeathThe Cask of AmontilladoThe Oval PortraitThe Oblong BoxThe Tell-Tale HeartLigeiaLoss of BreathShadow – A ParableSilence – A FableThe Man of the CrowdSome Words with a Mummy

Horrific, horrendous, unspeakable, The Whitechapel Murderer, Jack the Ripper, stalked the streets of East London in 1888, slaughtering prostitutes and bewildering the police who were hunting him. They never succeeded in apprehending him, and to this day the mystery of his identity remains an enigma. But he did leave clues to his identity, and numerous theories have been entertained throughout the one hundred and twenty years since he held London's East End in his grip of terror.This book looks at the evidence left by the murderer and the reports and investigative papers which recorded the atrocities that the Ripper performed. It takes time to analyse the existing information and evaluate the letters sent to the police. It is the strongest and most powerful book ever written on the murders. It dispels a lot of myths attached to the Ripper, and eliminates a lot of the previously conjectured perpetrators, leaving only those who realistically could have been…Jack the Ripper.

Selected & Introduced by David Stuart Davies.Traumatised by ghost stories in her youth, Pulitzer Prize winning author Edith Wharton (1862 -1937) channelled her fear and obsession into creating a series of spine-tingling tales filled with spirits beyond the grave and other supernatural phenomena. While claiming not to believe in ghosts, paradoxically she did confess that she was frightened of them. Wharton imbues this potent irrational and imaginative fear into her ghostly fiction to great effect.In this unique collection of finely wrought tales Wharton demonstrates her mastery of the ghost story genre. Amongst the many supernatural treats within these pages you will encounter a married farmer bewitched by a dead girl; a ghostly bell which saves a woman's reputation; the weird spectral eyes which terrorise the midnight hours of an elderly aesthete; the haunted man who receives letters from his dead wife; and the frightening power of a doppelganger which foreshadows a terrible tragedy.Compelling, rich and strange, the ghost stories of Edith Wharton, like vintage wine, have matured and grown more potent with the passing years.Stories include:The Lady’s Maid’s BellThe EyesAfterwardKerfolThe Triumph of NightThe Duchess at PrayerMiss Mary PaskBewitchedThe Fulness of LifeMr JonesPomegranate SeedThe Looking GlassA JourneyAll Souls’A Bottle of Perrier

Selected and Introduced by David Stuart Davies.Short Stories from the Nineteenth Century is a wonderful collection of classic stories specially selected and introduced by David Stuart Davies. These are tales from the golden age of the great storytellers presenting evocative snapshots from that bygone era while at the same time providing engaging entertainment and stimulation for the modern reader.All emotions are catered for in the offerings by Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde, H.G.Wells, Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, Bram Stoker, Mrs Gaskell, O Henry, Anthony Trollope, Thomas Hardy, Wilkie Collins, Guy de Maupassant, Anton Chekhov, Charlotte Perkins Gillman and Charles Lamb. Through their words the rich pageant of yesterday springs to vibrant life. Each story has its own introduction and there is a set of informative notes. This volume is ideal reading for the student as well as those who relish a good tale well told.

Edited and with an Introduction by David Stuart Davies.‘Have you ever heard of the fascination of terror?’This is a unique collection of strange stories from the cunning pen of Wilkie Collins, author of The Woman in White and The Moonstone. The star attraction is the novella The Haunted Hotel, a clever combination of detective and ghost story set in Venice, a city of grim waterways, dark shadows and death. The action takes place in an ancient palazzo coverted into a modern hotel that houses a grisly secret. The supernatural horror, relentless pace, tight narrative, and a doomed countess characterise and distinguish this powerful tale.The other stories present equally disturbing scenarios, which include ghosts, corpses that move, family curses and perhaps the most unusual of all, the Devil's spectacles, which bring a clarity of vision that can lead to madness.Other Stories include:The Dream WomanMrs Zant and the GhostA Terribly Strange BedMiss Jéromette and the ClergymanThe Dead HandBlow Up with the Brig!Nine o’ClockThe Devil’s Spectacles

M.R. James is probably the finest ghost-story writer England has ever produced. These tales are not only classics of their genre, but are also superb examples of beautifully-paced understatement, convincing background and chilling terror.As well as the preface, there is a fascinating tail-piece by M.R. James, ‘Stories I Have Tried To Write’, which accompanies these thirty tales. Among them are ‘Casting the Runes’, ‘Oh, Whistle and I’ll come to you, My Lad’, ‘The Tractate Middoth’, ‘The Ash Tree’ and ‘Canon Alberic’s Scrapbook’‘There are some authors one wishes one had never read in order to have the joy of reading them for the first time. For me, M.R. James is one of these’. Ruth RendellStories include:Canon Alberic’s ScrapbookLost HeartsThe MezzotintThe Ash TreeNumber 13Count Magnus‘Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad’The Treasure of Abbot ThomasA School StoryThe Rose GardenThe Tractate MiddothCasting the RunesThe Stalls of BarchesterCathedralMartin’s CloseMr Humphreys and His InheritanceThe Residence at WhitminsterThe Diary of Mr PoynterAn Episode of Cathedral HistoryThe Story of a Disappearance and an AppearanceTwo DoctorsThe Haunted Dolls’ HouseThe Uncommon Prayer-BookA Neighbour’s LandmarkA View from a HillA Warning to the CuriousAn Evening’s EntertainmentThere was a Man Dwelt by a ChurchyardRatsAfter Dark in the Playing FieldsWailing WellStories I Have Tried to Write

Dracula: Introduction and Notes by Dr David Rogers, Kingston University.'There he lay looking as if youth had been half-renewed, for the white hair and moustache were changed to dark iron-grey, the cheeks were fuller, and the white skin seemed ruby-red underneath; the mouth was redder than ever, for on the lips were gouts of fresh blood, which trickled from the corners of the mouth and ran over the chin and neck. Even the deep, burning eyes seemed set amongst the swollen flesh, for the lids and pouches underneath were bloated. It seemed as if the whole awful creature were simply gorged with blood; he lay like a filthy leech, exhausted with his repletion.'Thus Bram Stoker, one of the greatest exponents of the supernatural narrative, describes the demonic subject of his chilling masterpiece Dracula, a truly iconic and unsettling tale of vampirism.Dracula's Guest & Other Stories: Edited and Introduced by David Stuart Davies.The above is followed with a rich collection of Stoker's macabre tales including Dracula's Guest (which was omitted from the final version of Dracula); a devilishly dangerous haunted room in The Judge's House; a fatalistic tragedy in The Burial of the Rats; a terror of revenge from beyond the grave in The Secret of Growing Gold, and a surprising twist in the tail in The Gypsy's Prophecy. Other strange and frightening episodes provide a feast of terror for those readers who like to be unnerved as well as entertained.

Fully revised Second Edition. With a new Introduction and Bibliography by Dick Collins.The exploits of Sweeney Todd, ‘The Demon Barber of Fleet Street’, have been recounted many times in plays, films and musicals, but the origins of the character largely were forgotten for many years. The String of Pearls - the original tale of Sweeney Todd, a classic of British horror - was first published as a weekly serial in 1846-7 by Edward Lloyd, the King of the Penny Dreadfuls. One of the earliest detective stories, it became an important source for Bram Stoker's Dracula, but it was after over 150 years of obscurity that it appeared first in book form in the Wordsworth edition published in 2005.The one great mystery that has surrounded the book is who the author was - or was it possibly the work of more than one man? In his new introduction to this fully revised second edition, Dick Collins, by means of detailed research of contemporary records, has established finally the identity of the creator of this legendary figure.So here is the original story of the terrifying owner of that famous London barber-shop, and the secret recipe for Mrs Lovett's delicious pies…

With an Introduction by M.J. Elliott.‘My eyes, perversely shaken open, gazed for an instant upon a sight which no human creature could even imagine without panic, fear and physical exhaustion…’A wax museum in London boasts a new exhibit, which no man has seen and remained sane… A businessman is trapped in a train carriage with a madman who claims to have created a new and efficient method of capital punishment… A doctor plans a horrible revenge, using as his murder weapon an insect believed capable of consuming the human soul… Within these pages, some of H P Lovecraft's more obscure works of horror and science fiction can be found, including several fantastic tales from his celebrated Cthulhu Mythos. No true Lovecraft aficionado dare be without this volume.Includes:The Green MeadowPoetry and the GodsThe Crawling ChaosThe Horror at Martin’s BeachImprisoned with the PharaohsTwo Black BottlesThe Thing in the MoonlightThe Last TestThe Curse of YigThe Electric ExecutionerThe MoundMedusa’s CoilThe TrapThe Man of StoneThe Horror in the MuseumWinged DeathOut of the AeonsThe Horror in the Burying-GroundTill A’ the SeasThe DisintermentThe Diary of Alonzo TyperWithin the Walls of EryxThe Night Ocean

Selected and Introduced by M J Elliott.‘They were removing the stones quietly, one by one, from the centuried wall. And then, as the breach became large enough, they came out into the laboratory in single file; led by a stalking thing with a beautiful head made of wax.’From the dark, mind-expanding imagination of H P Lovecraft, Wordsworth presents a third volume of tales penned by the greatest horror writer of the 20th Century. Here are some of Lovecraft’s weirdest flesh-creeping masterpieces, including Pickman's Model, The Shunned House, his famous serial Herbert West – Reanimator, and several classic tales from the Cthulhu Mythos, in which mankind is subjected to the unimaginable terrors known only to those who have read from the forbidden Necronomicon. Also included in this compelling collection are the complete Randolph Carter stories, chronicling his adventures in this world and the realm of his dreams, where he faces perils beyond comprehension.Includes:The Haunter of the DarkPolarisThe Doom That Came to SarnathThe Statement of Randolph CarterThe Cats of UltharCelephaïsThe Other GodsHerbert West – ReanimatorThe UnnamableThe Shunned HouseThe Horror at Red HookPickman’s ModelThe Silver KeyThe Strange High House in the MistThe Dream-Quest of Unknown KadathThe Colour Out of SpaceThe History of the NecronomiconFungi from YuggothThe Shadow Over InnsmouthThe Dreams in the Witch HouseThe Thing on the DoorstepThe Shadow out of TimeSupernatural Horror in Literature

‘The thing came abruptly and unannounced; a demon, rat-like, scurrying from pits remote and unimaginable, a hellish panting and stifled grunting, and then from that opening beneath the chimney a burst of multitudinous and leprous life - a loathsome night-spawned flood of organic corruption more devastatingly hideous than the blackest conjurations of mortal madness and morbidity.’ Only the expansive imagination of H.P. Lovecraft could conceive the delicious and spine-tingling horrors you will find within the pages of this unique collection. In addition to such classics as The Picture in the House, The Music of Erich Zann and The Rats in the Walls, this volume contains some fascinating rarities: examples of Lovecraft's earliest weird fiction and material unpublished during his lifetime.H.P. Lovecraft's creation of the Cthulhu Mythos has influenced many modern authors, and still remains at the forefront of supernatural literature.Includes:The Lurking FearThe Beast in the CaveThe AlchemistThe TombBeyond the Wall of SleepMemoryThe Transition of Juan RomeroThe White ShipThe Terrible Old ManFacts Concerning the Late Arthur Jermyn and His FamilyThe StreetThe TempleThe TreeFrom BeyondNyarlathotepThe Picture in the HouseEx OblivioneThe Quest of IranonThe Moon-BogThe OutsiderThe Music of Erich ZannHypnosAzathothWhat the Moon BringsThe Rats in the WallsHeIn the VaultCool AirThe DescendantThe Very Old FolkThe BookThe Evil Clergyman

Selected, Edited and Introduced by David Stuart Davies.The Best of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of twenty of the very best tales from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fifty-six short stories featuring the arch sleuth. Basing his selection around the author's own twelve personal favourites, David Stuart Davies has added a further eight sparkling stories to Conan Doyle's ‘Baker Street Dozen’, creating a unique volume which distils the pure essence of the world's most famous detective.Within these pages the reader will encounter the greatest collection of villains and the weirdest and most puzzling mysteries ever seen in print. And there at the centre, in a London swathed in eddies of fog and illuminated by gaslight, is to be found the remarkable character of Sherlock Holmes and his staunch companion, Doctor John H. Watson. Few will be able to resist this invitation to step aboard the waiting hansom cab and rattle off along cobbled streets into unimagined dangers and intrigues.

The sixth novel in the Detective Johnny (One Eye) Hawke series. Two laser-sharp detectives, two thought-provoking cases and two skilful plots.Featuring private investigator Johnny (One Eye) Hawke, and his one-time colleague in the police force Detective David Llewellyn. Llewellyn is investigating the chilling crimes of a top psychiatrist and his scheming patient who the doctor believes has knuckled under his authority. In the meantime, Hawke is on the case of a mysterious suicide in Edgware Road... soon discovered as not your average suicide.The guts and insight of the two investigators bring both cases to a head - though you won't even begin to see how until you have turned the last pages.You can also buy this book in an omnibus edition, Three British Mystery Novels

Three British Mystery Novels: detective, thriller, and (mild) horror set in Britain by British authors. Three great reads, for those who like to wrap their minds round unusual plots, presented as an e-book bundle.An ideal gift for mystery lovers.A Taste for Blood, set in and around London, by the late Sherlock Holmes expert David Stuart Davies.Ellipsis, set in London, a psychological thriller by Nikki Dudley.Lynnwood, by Thomas Brown, set in the New Forest, was listed for the 2014 People's Book Prize.Three great reads, for those who like to wrap their minds round unusual plots, presented as one omnibus print edition.All three titles are also available separately.

Classic Locked-Room Mysteries is a fascinating collection of ingenious mysteries which all pose the question 'howdunnit?'Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket-sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover.Locked-room mysteries reached their height of popularity in the Victorian and Edwardian eras; this collection, edited and introduced by David Stuart Davies, brings together stories from such masters of the genre as Edgar Allan Poe, Wilkie Collins, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and G. K. Chesterton. In each story the reader is invited to play detective and is presented with a challenge: can you solve the mystery before the solution is revealed?

Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson are holidaying on the English coast when they discover a mysterious corpse on the beach. Then they are viciously attacked, and when Watson comes to, he discovers that months have passed, and Holmes is not the man he remembers. What has happened to his friend? Does it have something to do with the legend of a devil worshiper, who seeks only to raise his master?