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Tales for a Stormy Night: A Pandora's Box of Classic Chillers
It's midnight. Turn out the lights, cuddle with your true love, and shiver to fright-meisters Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Louis Stevenson, and H. P. Lovecraft. Quicken your pulse with the elegant terror of Henry James, Edith Wharton, and Guy de Maupassant. Chortle at the black glee of H. H. Munro and Ambrose Bierce.
These fourteen tales, plays, and poems, gleaned from cultures around the world, range from wickedly comic to deathly serious, from New England reserve to Gallic passion. This volume of late-night listening is a witch's brew of readings and dramatizations seasoned tastefully, and--where appropriate--not so tastefully, with music and sound effects, under the direction of award-winning producer Yuri Rasovsky and his coven of twenty-odd--some very odd--performers.
Shut your eyes and give your mind a listen--if you dare.
These fourteen tales, plays, and poems, gleaned from cultures around the world, range from wickedly comic to deathly serious, from New England reserve to Gallic passion. This volume of late-night listening is a witch's brew of readings and dramatizations seasoned tastefully, and--where appropriate--not so tastefully, with music and sound effects, under the direction of award-winning producer Yuri Rasovsky and his coven of twenty-odd--some very odd--performers.
Shut your eyes and give your mind a listen--if you dare.
Audio CD
First published September 1, 2013
About the author
Various
1,364 followersVarious is the correct author for any book with multiple unknown authors, and is acceptable for books with multiple known authors, especially if not all are known or the list is very long (over 50).
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If an editor is known, however, Various is not necessary. List the name of the editor as the primary author (with role "editor"). Contributing authors' names follow it.
Note: WorldCat is an excellent resource for finding author information and contents of anthologies.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 9, 2024
The Ghostly Rental, by Henry James. A ghost who pays rent? 4 stars
The Terrible Old Man, by H.P. Lovecraft. A few burglars get more than they bargain for when they attempt to rob a weird old man. hated the narrator....overly dramatic, sounded like an ad read. 2 stars.
Tobermory, by H.H. Munro. A play, put on by several voice actors, about a cat who is taught to talk and is found to be a salacious gossip. nothing chilling here, but pretty funny. some of the dialogue was hard to catch. 3 stars.
Perfidy and Perfection, by Charlotte de Quincy. Also not a thriller. follows the correspondence between a womanizing con artist and a naïve young woman; the con is intent on getting her daddy's money, but the woman may not be as gullible as she seems...too vulgar for my tastes. 2 stars.
Something Lies Beyond the Scene, Dame Edith Sitwell. A poem set to such raucous music that i couldn't make out the words. 1 star.
Oil of Dog, by Ambrose Bierce. Nasty, honestly. everything about this story was just awful. 1 star.
Kerfol, by Edith Wharton. a young woman visits the house of Kerfol and finds it abandoned, except for several silent dogs. she soon learns that the house has a tragic history; a trial, a dead man, a lonely wife, and her murdered pets...4 stars.
The Fall of the House of Usher, by E.A. Poe. a classic, performed badly with background sound so loud it overwhelmed the narration. rating N/A.
Hoichi the Earless, by Lafcadio Hearn. Just recently read this story in the collection Tales of Japan. still good the second time around. 3 stars.
The Body Snatcher, by Robert Louis Stevenson. another classic; narration was fine, though some of the characters spoke with a Scottish accent and i had trouble deciphering that. 4 stars.
The Cask of Amontillado, by E.A. Poe. another audio drama rather than a straight narration. was alright until he starts burying the guy, then becomes very disorienting and unclear what's happening. not really a story i'd have pegged as audio drama material. 2 stars.
Bonche the Silent, by Isaac Leib Peretz. audio drama; about a man who was silent during all the sufferings of his short life, and who dies and faces the courts of heaven. not what i would call a "tale for a stormy night", but sort of interesting i guess. 2 stars.
Purgatory, by William Butler Yeats. a performed rendition of Yeats' poem. a little hard to follow. 3 stars.
The Horla, by Guy de Maupassant. a real audio book this time. written as the narrator's journal entries, the story follows the slow decline of a man's life as he is plagued by an invisible apparition he believes to be a Horla. really not bad, but my mind kept wandering while listening. 3 stars.
overall: would not recommend. performances were done poorly, most of the stories weren't what i'd consider "spooky" reading, and the ones that were would be better read elsewhere. 2 stars.
The Terrible Old Man, by H.P. Lovecraft. A few burglars get more than they bargain for when they attempt to rob a weird old man. hated the narrator....overly dramatic, sounded like an ad read. 2 stars.
Tobermory, by H.H. Munro. A play, put on by several voice actors, about a cat who is taught to talk and is found to be a salacious gossip. nothing chilling here, but pretty funny. some of the dialogue was hard to catch. 3 stars.
Perfidy and Perfection, by Charlotte de Quincy. Also not a thriller. follows the correspondence between a womanizing con artist and a naïve young woman; the con is intent on getting her daddy's money, but the woman may not be as gullible as she seems...too vulgar for my tastes. 2 stars.
Something Lies Beyond the Scene, Dame Edith Sitwell. A poem set to such raucous music that i couldn't make out the words. 1 star.
Oil of Dog, by Ambrose Bierce. Nasty, honestly. everything about this story was just awful. 1 star.
Kerfol, by Edith Wharton. a young woman visits the house of Kerfol and finds it abandoned, except for several silent dogs. she soon learns that the house has a tragic history; a trial, a dead man, a lonely wife, and her murdered pets...4 stars.
The Fall of the House of Usher, by E.A. Poe. a classic, performed badly with background sound so loud it overwhelmed the narration. rating N/A.
Hoichi the Earless, by Lafcadio Hearn. Just recently read this story in the collection Tales of Japan. still good the second time around. 3 stars.
The Body Snatcher, by Robert Louis Stevenson. another classic; narration was fine, though some of the characters spoke with a Scottish accent and i had trouble deciphering that. 4 stars.
The Cask of Amontillado, by E.A. Poe. another audio drama rather than a straight narration. was alright until he starts burying the guy, then becomes very disorienting and unclear what's happening. not really a story i'd have pegged as audio drama material. 2 stars.
Bonche the Silent, by Isaac Leib Peretz. audio drama; about a man who was silent during all the sufferings of his short life, and who dies and faces the courts of heaven. not what i would call a "tale for a stormy night", but sort of interesting i guess. 2 stars.
Purgatory, by William Butler Yeats. a performed rendition of Yeats' poem. a little hard to follow. 3 stars.
The Horla, by Guy de Maupassant. a real audio book this time. written as the narrator's journal entries, the story follows the slow decline of a man's life as he is plagued by an invisible apparition he believes to be a Horla. really not bad, but my mind kept wandering while listening. 3 stars.
overall: would not recommend. performances were done poorly, most of the stories weren't what i'd consider "spooky" reading, and the ones that were would be better read elsewhere. 2 stars.
April 3, 2021
Many of these stories are good and fortunately they are easy to find in other compilations. They are not narrated, they are performed. The performances are overacted and extreme at times. This was unlistenable.
October 27, 2024
The melodramatic audio performances ruined my enjoyment of most of these stories -- some of which I have long loved when I read them in print.
January 6, 2012
I don't normally listen to audio books because I think they are lazy. Reading without reading is like exercising without moving. It's useless and not as effective.
Having established that, my first (and last) audio book experience was not bad. There were a few good ones (the one that stood out most was The Ghostly Rental by Henry James.) However, the few good ones are brought down by some terrible ones. There are a few of those.
With a few exceptions, the recordings are pretty good.
Overall the audiobook is OK.
Having established that, my first (and last) audio book experience was not bad. There were a few good ones (the one that stood out most was The Ghostly Rental by Henry James.) However, the few good ones are brought down by some terrible ones. There are a few of those.
With a few exceptions, the recordings are pretty good.
Overall the audiobook is OK.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews