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Bram Stoker Horror Stories
Dublin-born Bram Stoker lived in London, meeting other notable authors such as Arthur Conan Doyle and Oscar Wilde. Apart from the ground-breaking Dracula Stoker wrote supernatural horror short stories, many of which, including 'The Judge's House' and 'Dracula's Guest', are featured here with extracts from his longer works.
Complete works: The Chain of Destiny / The Invisible Giant / The Judge's House / Crooken Sands / Dracula's Guest / The Jewel of Seven Stars / The Gipsy Prophecy / The Squaw / The Man from Shorrox / A Dream of Red Hands / The Red Stockade / The Burial of the Rats / The Dualitists / The Crystal Cup / The Shadow Builder / The Castle of the King / A Star Trap / The Coming of Abel Behenna
Extracts: Dracula / The Lair of the White Worm / The Lady of the Shroud
Complete works: The Chain of Destiny / The Invisible Giant / The Judge's House / Crooken Sands / Dracula's Guest / The Jewel of Seven Stars / The Gipsy Prophecy / The Squaw / The Man from Shorrox / A Dream of Red Hands / The Red Stockade / The Burial of the Rats / The Dualitists / The Crystal Cup / The Shadow Builder / The Castle of the King / A Star Trap / The Coming of Abel Behenna
Extracts: Dracula / The Lair of the White Worm / The Lady of the Shroud
479 pages, Hardcover
First published March 25, 2018
42 people are currently reading
631 people want to read
About the author
Bram Stoker
2,655 books5,875 followersIrish-born Abraham Stoker, known as Bram, of Britain wrote the gothic horror novel
Dracula
(1897).
The feminist Charlotte Mathilda Blake Thornely Stoker at 15 Marino crescent, then as now called "the crescent," in Fairview, a coastal suburb of Dublin, Ireland, bore this third of seven children. The parents, members of church of Ireland, attended the parish church of Saint John the Baptist, located on Seafield road west in Clontarf with their baptized children.
Stoker, an invalid, started school at the age of seven years in 1854, when he made a complete and astounding recovery. Of this time, Stoker wrote, "I was naturally thoughtful, and the leisure of long illness gave opportunity for many thoughts which were fruitful according to their kind in later years."
After his recovery, he, a normal young man, even excelled as a university athlete at Trinity college, Dublin form 1864 to 1870 and graduated with honors in mathematics. He served as auditor of the college historical society and as president of the university philosophical society with his first paper on "Sensationalism in Fiction and Society."
In 1876, while employed as a civil servant in Dublin, Stoker wrote a non-fiction book (The Duties of Clerks of Petty Sessions in Ireland, published 1879) and theatre reviews for The Dublin Mail, a newspaper partly owned by fellow horror writer J. Sheridan Le Fanu. His interest in theatre led to a lifelong friendship with the English actor Henry Irving. He also wrote stories, and in 1872 "The Crystal Cup" was published by the London Society, followed by "The Chain of Destiny" in four parts in The Shamrock.
In 1878 Stoker married Florence Balcombe, a celebrated beauty whose former suitor was Oscar Wilde. The couple moved to London, where Stoker became business manager (at first as acting-manager) of Irving's Lyceum Theatre, a post he held for 27 years. The collaboration with Irving was very important for Stoker and through him he became involved in London's high society, where he met, among other notables, James McNeil Whistler, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In the course of Irving's tours, Stoker got the chance to travel around the world.
The Stokers had one son, Irving Noel, who was born on December 31, 1879.
People cremated the body of Bram Stoker and placed his ashes placed in a display urn at Golders green crematorium. After death of Irving Noel Stoker in 1961, people added his ashes to that urn. Despite the original plan to keep ashes of his parents together, after death, people scattered ashes of Florence Stoker at the gardens of rest.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bram_Stoker
The feminist Charlotte Mathilda Blake Thornely Stoker at 15 Marino crescent, then as now called "the crescent," in Fairview, a coastal suburb of Dublin, Ireland, bore this third of seven children. The parents, members of church of Ireland, attended the parish church of Saint John the Baptist, located on Seafield road west in Clontarf with their baptized children.
Stoker, an invalid, started school at the age of seven years in 1854, when he made a complete and astounding recovery. Of this time, Stoker wrote, "I was naturally thoughtful, and the leisure of long illness gave opportunity for many thoughts which were fruitful according to their kind in later years."
After his recovery, he, a normal young man, even excelled as a university athlete at Trinity college, Dublin form 1864 to 1870 and graduated with honors in mathematics. He served as auditor of the college historical society and as president of the university philosophical society with his first paper on "Sensationalism in Fiction and Society."
In 1876, while employed as a civil servant in Dublin, Stoker wrote a non-fiction book (The Duties of Clerks of Petty Sessions in Ireland, published 1879) and theatre reviews for The Dublin Mail, a newspaper partly owned by fellow horror writer J. Sheridan Le Fanu. His interest in theatre led to a lifelong friendship with the English actor Henry Irving. He also wrote stories, and in 1872 "The Crystal Cup" was published by the London Society, followed by "The Chain of Destiny" in four parts in The Shamrock.
In 1878 Stoker married Florence Balcombe, a celebrated beauty whose former suitor was Oscar Wilde. The couple moved to London, where Stoker became business manager (at first as acting-manager) of Irving's Lyceum Theatre, a post he held for 27 years. The collaboration with Irving was very important for Stoker and through him he became involved in London's high society, where he met, among other notables, James McNeil Whistler, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In the course of Irving's tours, Stoker got the chance to travel around the world.
The Stokers had one son, Irving Noel, who was born on December 31, 1879.
People cremated the body of Bram Stoker and placed his ashes placed in a display urn at Golders green crematorium. After death of Irving Noel Stoker in 1961, people added his ashes to that urn. Despite the original plan to keep ashes of his parents together, after death, people scattered ashes of Florence Stoker at the gardens of rest.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bram_Stoker
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
October 22, 2020
The stories are generally excellent. The publication, on the other hand, is terrible. This is one of those jobs where a small publisher has downloaded a bunch of text files from Project Gutenberg, selected and cut them, added a banal foreword or two, and then had the whole thing printed. The selections are strange: a few short stories, a couple of novellas, and then a number of incomplete slices out of larger novels. I don’t see much point in reading just chapters 3–5 of “The Lady of the Shroud,” but that is what I’m here offered. These sub-selections of portions of books make up the majority of the pages.
The short stories and novellas, however, are enjoyable. Stoker is an excellent writer: easy to read, with very vivid descriptions, appealing characters, and engrossing plots.
The short stories and novellas, however, are enjoyable. Stoker is an excellent writer: easy to read, with very vivid descriptions, appealing characters, and engrossing plots.
June 6, 2021
On the whole interesting read to get an idea of what gothic horror stories Stoker has written next to Dracula. However, something I could absolutely not enjoy was the amount of romantic subplots which were completely uninteresting because both parties mostly had the personality of a wet dishcloth. Given that a lot of stories spent WAY more time on the romance than the actual horror, this made it a difficult read for me sometimes. The stories are still interesting and can be appreciated for the time they were written in, but if I have to read one more time how two pasty Brits yearn for each other while there is absolutely nothing appealing in either of them, I will throw something out of the window.
February 17, 2024
Very happy to have finally read some more works of Bram Stoker. I love "Dracula," so reading more of his works seemed in order after all these years. However, Stoker really grabbed ahold of lightning with his most famous work - his other stories are minor efforts (at best) and are largely description-heavy snooze fests. They have glimmers of genius, but digging them out of the mire of exacting description is difficult. However, I am glad to have read them - and this is a really NICE edition of those stories.
"The Chain of Destiny," a surprisingly Christian horror story, with a vague evil, a curse, but where someone's caring got them through it.
"The Invisible Giant," a neat little story about a girl who could see a giant (a plague) stalking the land.
"The Judges House," which was quite effective - an old house filled with rats, scary-ass photos, a particularly fiendish rat, legends, a rope... and inescapable doom.
"Crooken Sands," which was about a man who decided to dress as he imagines a Highland Scott to dress when he moves to Scotland, where he is ridiculed by everyone - and is prophetically doomed to meet his doppelganger.
Re-read the familiar "Dracula's Guest" and the excerpted first few chapters of Dracula."
"The Gipsy Prophecy" which, like "The Jewel of Seven Stars" started out with a wonderful premise, was given lots of atmosphere, and then had a whimpering disappointment of an ending.
"The Secret of the Growing Gold" which was less interesting than the previous tale but had a much better ending. Basically it was the story of a man who murders his lover, but she gets a supernatural revenge.
"The Squaw." A man accidentally kills a kitten and is then pursued by the mama cat, who enacts her vengeance in a brutal fashion. The story is somewhat flawed in that the man put himself into a deadly position so the end was super easy to predict, but the story itself ended in a satisfyingly gory manner.
"A Dream of Red Hands." It was an interesting tale of a man suffering from guilt and nightmares, but who managed to atone for his sins.
"The Red Stockade" about a ship taking out a pirate nest. It was a pretty brutal tale of slaughter and death. The pirate nest was colored with human blood (thus the "red stockade"). It even includes alligators taking out the British sailors as they fought on terrain not familiar to them as the pirates held out for several waves of attacks. This was a seriously brutal story.
"Burial of the Rats" which was as fine and tense of a chase story as I have ever read. Of course, the language is stodgy and old-fashioned (which Bram Stoker is prone to, he wrote stodgily even for time when that was more or less the norm - he took it to an extreme, I think).
But it was a good short story... and there is a lot to be learned there by people wanting to write chase sequences."
"The Dualitists," a story about two horrid kids who play at "hacking," which means they find similar objects and crash them together until they are destroyed... they eventually move onto animals... but then they find baby twins... and they get away with it. No moral to this story. They just flat out get away with it.
"The Crystal Cup" which was about an artist who was imprisoned by a king to create works of art, so he created a crystal cup - and when the artist's beloved sings, the cup resonates and kills that king.
Clearly inspired by E. A. Poe, this story is actually somewhat boring and hard to digest.
"The Shadow Builder," which took me two days to read despite being like 8 pages long. It's dense and mostly uninteresting until one gets toward the end.
"The Castle of the King," wherein a poet dies to meet his dead love in the afterlife. Atmospheric and strange.
"A Star Trap," wherein a story-teller weaves a possibly true story about murder involving a locked star trap.
"The Coming of Abel Behenna," a fine story about two men who wanted the same woman, made a bet - and the one who lost destroyed the the one who won, but the evidence remained in a grim ending.
"The Chain of Destiny," a surprisingly Christian horror story, with a vague evil, a curse, but where someone's caring got them through it.
"The Invisible Giant," a neat little story about a girl who could see a giant (a plague) stalking the land.
"The Judges House," which was quite effective - an old house filled with rats, scary-ass photos, a particularly fiendish rat, legends, a rope... and inescapable doom.
"Crooken Sands," which was about a man who decided to dress as he imagines a Highland Scott to dress when he moves to Scotland, where he is ridiculed by everyone - and is prophetically doomed to meet his doppelganger.
Re-read the familiar "Dracula's Guest" and the excerpted first few chapters of Dracula."
"The Gipsy Prophecy" which, like "The Jewel of Seven Stars" started out with a wonderful premise, was given lots of atmosphere, and then had a whimpering disappointment of an ending.
"The Secret of the Growing Gold" which was less interesting than the previous tale but had a much better ending. Basically it was the story of a man who murders his lover, but she gets a supernatural revenge.
"The Squaw." A man accidentally kills a kitten and is then pursued by the mama cat, who enacts her vengeance in a brutal fashion. The story is somewhat flawed in that the man put himself into a deadly position so the end was super easy to predict, but the story itself ended in a satisfyingly gory manner.
"A Dream of Red Hands." It was an interesting tale of a man suffering from guilt and nightmares, but who managed to atone for his sins.
"The Red Stockade" about a ship taking out a pirate nest. It was a pretty brutal tale of slaughter and death. The pirate nest was colored with human blood (thus the "red stockade"). It even includes alligators taking out the British sailors as they fought on terrain not familiar to them as the pirates held out for several waves of attacks. This was a seriously brutal story.
"Burial of the Rats" which was as fine and tense of a chase story as I have ever read. Of course, the language is stodgy and old-fashioned (which Bram Stoker is prone to, he wrote stodgily even for time when that was more or less the norm - he took it to an extreme, I think).
But it was a good short story... and there is a lot to be learned there by people wanting to write chase sequences."
"The Dualitists," a story about two horrid kids who play at "hacking," which means they find similar objects and crash them together until they are destroyed... they eventually move onto animals... but then they find baby twins... and they get away with it. No moral to this story. They just flat out get away with it.
"The Crystal Cup" which was about an artist who was imprisoned by a king to create works of art, so he created a crystal cup - and when the artist's beloved sings, the cup resonates and kills that king.
Clearly inspired by E. A. Poe, this story is actually somewhat boring and hard to digest.
"The Shadow Builder," which took me two days to read despite being like 8 pages long. It's dense and mostly uninteresting until one gets toward the end.
"The Castle of the King," wherein a poet dies to meet his dead love in the afterlife. Atmospheric and strange.
"A Star Trap," wherein a story-teller weaves a possibly true story about murder involving a locked star trap.
"The Coming of Abel Behenna," a fine story about two men who wanted the same woman, made a bet - and the one who lost destroyed the the one who won, but the evidence remained in a grim ending.
June 9, 2019
Good afternoon horror fanatics and gothic ghouls!
Today I will be reviewing Gothic Fantasy: Bram Stoker, Horror Stories, published by Flame Tree Press earlier this year with a foreword by Dr. Catherine Wynne. I will be reviewing this specific collection as a whole, with details of how to purchase a copy after my review
Before I even opened this ambitious collection, I was in awe of the cover design; a black and navy backdrop with silver embellishments drawing your eye to the gargoyle guarding the stories within. The intricate details and the illustrations on the pages really tie this collection together, and the eerie patterns make this book a gorgeous addition to my bookshelf.
The foreword by Dr. Catherine Wynne puts a perfectly personal touch to the collection; describing Stoker's history, Wynne paints her own impression of him, whilst at the same time discusses the gothic writings included in this edition. On Wynne’s description, the reader is swept up into the world of the gothic, where Stoker doesn’t let you leave: "This anthology reveals a writer who should not be limited by the achievement of Dracula or by comparison to anyone else. His stories reveal that Bram Stoker was in his own right a master of the gruesome, the grotesque and the uncanny. Bram Stoker will haunt you", (Dr. Catherine Wynne, p. 6) The publishers note is also very charming, letting the reader know that all of Stoker’s works that are included in this collection are available to download for free from their website.
I am a HUGE fan of Stoker, of course the classic Dracula is etched in my mind from University, but I also enjoy reading his stories for pleasure. I am quite well acquainted with his other stories, such as ‘The Judge’s House’, a psychological horror leaving the reader guessing where the supernatural forces lie. Or even ‘A Star Trap’, which, if you’ve read my article on ‘How gothic is Bram Stoker?’, you will know I gave this a 10/10 on the gothic scale. However, all though I would call myself a Stoker-lover, there were some grizzly and spooky stories I hadn’t read of his, all to be found within the pages of this collection. For example, I hadn’t heard of ‘The Crystal Cup’, but the macabre and haunted undertones of the story make it not only memorable, but unnervingly fascinating. “I found at first that my hand has lost its cunning, and I was beginning to despair, when, like the memory of a dream, there came back in my ears and the strains of the old song”. (p. 374) Switching to ‘The Burial of Rats’, a long-loved story of mine, the twisted streets of Paris are the very essence of gothic literature, with curiosity leading the reader deeper into the Parisian slums, “In the midst of these huts was one of the strangest adaptations -I cannot say habitations- I had ever seen.” (p. 349)
Moving on from the short stories, no collection would be complete without including extracts from Stoker’s novels, such as Dracula, The Jewel of Seven Stars, and The Lady of the Shroud. Starting with Dracula, I am a great believer in extracts from novels being the first few chapters, not smack bang in the middle of the book. I think the publishers also felt this as the first four chapters are included in the collection, aka, Jonathan Harker’s journal and his arrival at Dracula’s castle. What better way to start a horror novel with some of the most terrifying and mind-boggling scenes of the entire book, meeting the Count and observing his strange behaviour, “He smiled, such a soft, smooth, diabolical smile that I knew there was some trick behind his smoothness” (p. 113). The Jewel of Seven Stars, which is my all-time favourite Stoker story, is also included in this collection (which I was very happy about!). Lesser known than Dracula, this story is full of death, curses, and evil, and was conducted during the Egyptomania phase in Victorian Britain, “Then, and then only, did the full horror of the whole thing burst upon me! There, in the full glare of the light, the whole material and sordid side of death seemed staringly real”. (p. 246) The Lady of the Shroud is the last story included in the book, with chapters three to five available. As previously mentioned, I believe that all excerpts should be from chapter 1 onwards, but I am willing to make an exception; as for me, the first two chapters of The lady of the Shroud are unnecessary and it only really gets going at chapter three! “I have waited till now – well into midday – before beginning to set down the details of the strange episode of last night.” (p. 420)
Throughout the collection, recommendations about other stories you may enjoy are listed, which I thought was a personal touch from the publisher, and also makes you wanting more Stokeresque stories! This assembly of stories is perfectly displayed and Flame Tree Press have really outdone themselves. They are known for producing gorgeous editions of collected works, such as H. P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe, yet I believe their Stoker collection of Gothic Fantasy is exceptionally outstanding. Thanks for reading my review! As always, I love to hear from you. The Gothic Bookworm
The foreword by Dr. Catherine Wynne puts a perfectly personal touch to the collection; describing Stoker's history, Wynne paints her own impression of him, whilst at the same time discusses the gothic writings included in this edition. On Wynne’s description, the reader is swept up into the world of the gothic, where Stoker doesn’t let you leave: "This anthology reveals a writer who should not be limited by the achievement of Dracula or by comparison to anyone else. His stories reveal that Bram Stoker was in his own right a master of the gruesome, the grotesque and the uncanny. Bram Stoker will haunt you", (Dr. Catherine Wynne, p. 6) The publishers note is also very charming, letting the reader know that all of Stoker’s works that are included in this collection are available to download for free from their website.
I am a HUGE fan of Stoker, of course the classic Dracula is etched in my mind from University, but I also enjoy reading his stories for pleasure. I am quite well acquainted with his other stories, such as ‘The Judge’s House’, a psychological horror leaving the reader guessing where the supernatural forces lie. Or even ‘A Star Trap’, which, if you’ve read my article on ‘How gothic is Bram Stoker?’, you will know I gave this a 10/10 on the gothic scale. However, all though I would call myself a Stoker-lover, there were some grizzly and spooky stories I hadn’t read of his, all to be found within the pages of this collection. For example, I hadn’t heard of ‘The Crystal Cup’, but the macabre and haunted undertones of the story make it not only memorable, but unnervingly fascinating. “I found at first that my hand has lost its cunning, and I was beginning to despair, when, like the memory of a dream, there came back in my ears and the strains of the old song”. (p. 374) Switching to ‘The Burial of Rats’, a long-loved story of mine, the twisted streets of Paris are the very essence of gothic literature, with curiosity leading the reader deeper into the Parisian slums, “In the midst of these huts was one of the strangest adaptations -I cannot say habitations- I had ever seen.” (p. 349)
Moving on from the short stories, no collection would be complete without including extracts from Stoker’s novels, such as Dracula, The Jewel of Seven Stars, and The Lady of the Shroud. Starting with Dracula, I am a great believer in extracts from novels being the first few chapters, not smack bang in the middle of the book. I think the publishers also felt this as the first four chapters are included in the collection, aka, Jonathan Harker’s journal and his arrival at Dracula’s castle. What better way to start a horror novel with some of the most terrifying and mind-boggling scenes of the entire book, meeting the Count and observing his strange behaviour, “He smiled, such a soft, smooth, diabolical smile that I knew there was some trick behind his smoothness” (p. 113). The Jewel of Seven Stars, which is my all-time favourite Stoker story, is also included in this collection (which I was very happy about!). Lesser known than Dracula, this story is full of death, curses, and evil, and was conducted during the Egyptomania phase in Victorian Britain, “Then, and then only, did the full horror of the whole thing burst upon me! There, in the full glare of the light, the whole material and sordid side of death seemed staringly real”. (p. 246) The Lady of the Shroud is the last story included in the book, with chapters three to five available. As previously mentioned, I believe that all excerpts should be from chapter 1 onwards, but I am willing to make an exception; as for me, the first two chapters of The lady of the Shroud are unnecessary and it only really gets going at chapter three! “I have waited till now – well into midday – before beginning to set down the details of the strange episode of last night.” (p. 420)
Throughout the collection, recommendations about other stories you may enjoy are listed, which I thought was a personal touch from the publisher, and also makes you wanting more Stokeresque stories! This assembly of stories is perfectly displayed and Flame Tree Press have really outdone themselves. They are known for producing gorgeous editions of collected works, such as H. P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe, yet I believe their Stoker collection of Gothic Fantasy is exceptionally outstanding. Thanks for reading my review! As always, I love to hear from you. The Gothic Bookworm
February 26, 2020
Good classic work, if you can look past the colonialism and racism and sexism of the time/tales.
September 30, 2024
Mind numbingly boring!! There were a few good short stories amongst too many not so good stories. I didn't finish the last several stories, couldn't do it. And some chapters put in of 3 of his novels. I skipped those, one was Dracula which I will read separately. I'll read the other two separately as well. This book I do not recommend.
February 8, 2021
The Invisible Giant is kinda scary as we are currently in a pandemic, I get subtle gay vibes from Dracula (name one straight vampire, I dare you, see its impossible), and The Judge's House and The Squaw were the only stories that I actually felt really scared reading.
July 28, 2024
I would have preferred the whole of The Lair of the White Worm and The Lady of the Shroud to excerpts. The Dracula excerpts were probably unnecessary since I would assume anyone reading would have already read it.
March 27, 2023
tbh skipped two cos why i am reading 4 chapters from the middle of the book like no.
April 5, 2024
An excellent compendium of Bram Stoker. Not every story has aged well, and there's certainly some themes/ideas that are not politically correct anymore; but, overall Stoker is a great horror writer.
Read
February 20, 2025I didn't read it all as it had random chapters from other books I'd read and some of the stories were pretty dry, will stick with Dracula!
August 24, 2025
An interesting collection of short stories. The Judges House was probably my favourite.
September 25, 2025
Intriguing and fast paste stories
July 2, 2020
Some fantastic stories like The Judge's House and novels like The Jewel of the Seven Stars. As with any collection there are some hits and misses but Bram Stoker has great stories beyond Dracula.
January 24, 2019
More misses than hits in this one. To be fair, I was familiar with Bram Stoker the way most people are ("The Judge's House", and of course, Dracula). Can't say the stories didn't have variety; some were set in medieval times, complete with Kings, while others were written for the author's contemporary period, focusing on ghosts and gypsies (the spelling on one story differs). Some were just a bit too abstract for me, and you also have random chapters of actual novels tossed in, that were great in theory (you can get a taste of the work before spending the money), bad in practice (they kind of messed up the flow of short story reading, and you can't judge a work by a few chapters... at least for me). If you read anthologies, best to have different authors touching on the same subject/genre, but if you do read an author specific collection, just know, they're not all going to be diamonds. Still, I can't be too mad, not for ten dollars, anyway. Here are my favorites:
-"The Chain of Destiny"
-"The Judge's House"
-"Dracula's Guest"
-"The Gipsy Prophecy" (Yes. That's how Gypsy is spelled here.)
-"A Dream of Red Hands"
-"The Red Stockade"
-"The Crystal Cup"
-"The Shadow Builder"
-"A Star Trap"
-"The Coming of Abel Behenna"
-"The Chain of Destiny"
-"The Judge's House"
-"Dracula's Guest"
-"The Gipsy Prophecy" (Yes. That's how Gypsy is spelled here.)
-"A Dream of Red Hands"
-"The Red Stockade"
-"The Crystal Cup"
-"The Shadow Builder"
-"A Star Trap"
-"The Coming of Abel Behenna"
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews