Gothic Short Stories

There is something about the house next door, nearly torn asunder by flames, but inside, a baby's cry seems impossible. It seems only to come from a faded photograph of a doll. When it is taken from its home, it seems to change, on its own, and with it, change the lives of those around it for the worse.

La rovina della casa degli Usher (The Fall of the House of Usher) è un racconto del terrore scritto da Edgar Allan Poe. Il racconto venne pubblicato per la prima volta nel 1839 sul periodico The Graham's Lady and Gentleman's Magazine ed è anche conosciuto come "La caduta della casa degli Usher". Il narratore del racconto è l'esempio dell'uomo occidentale, scettico, dell'illuminista che crede nella logica e nella scienza, con la quale ha la pretesa di poter spiegare qualsiasi fenomeno del mondo sensibile.

Talvolta, per alcuni esseri umani, l'amore può diventare una malattia: una malattia insopportabile. Ma Poe vuol mettere in guardia costoro: "malattia, forse follia..." sembra dire, "...ma prima o poi, un'anima nera troverà la propria punizione !"

Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu (1814-1873) was an Irish writer of Gothic tales and mystery novels. He was the leading ghost-story writer of the 19th century and was central to the development of the genre in the Victorian era. Carmilla is Le Fanu's famous classic vampire story which has been filmed numerous times, including Vampyre (1932), Blood and Roses (1960), Crypt of Horror (1964), The Vampire Lovers (1970) and Carmilla (1999).

Il racconto di Poe ci porta in un paese perfetto dove l'ordine regna sovrano e le radici culturali sono ironicamente notevolissime.Nulla può andare storto in un contesto di perfezione del genere... a meno che il diavolo non ci metta lo zampino.

Pubblicato nel 1843 "Il cuore rivelatore" è forse uno dei racconti più famosi di E. A. Poe, considerato l'inventore del genere letterario del terrore e del mistero. Nella sua mania ossessiva per i dettagli, la voce narrante conduce l'ascoltatore nella ricostruzione di un delitto, senza mai sottolineare una sua presunta innocenza, quanto invece la sua perfetta salute mentale, nel tentativo disperato di negare la sua pazzia. Con estrema razionalità Poe scandaglia i luoghi più reconditi dell'animo umano alla ricerca dell'ombra, del mistero e del paradossale.

“The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether” is an Edgar Allan Poe short story that expertly blends his dark perspective with the comic. -This is the original story—only word order and difficult vocabulary have been updated. -End notes, interpretation, and discussion of major themes follow the text. -Biographical information on Edgar Allan Poe is included. -For other classic short stories in easy to understand updated English search for “Simplified for Modern Readers Series.”

Forbidden love in name baronial estate. An evil man dies with an evil smile upon his face believing his evil secret is going with him to the grave. And there it remains until the lovers creep into the crypt shortly after the stroke of midnight. An erie tale certain to creep you out and keep you in suspense.

Elizabeth Gaskell, famed author of Cranford, is cherished for her incise social observations and portrayals of the changing nature of English life through the Industrial Revolution of the Victorian era. In Cousin Phillis, Paul Manning has only recently left home to work on the railway line for the dashing Mr Holdsworth. Lodging with an Independent Minister on the outskirts of London, he becomes acquainted with his distant cousins, where he is delighted to meet his genial relations, and not least his cousin Phyllis

Marcus Wellington has it all—wealth, power, and success. But when he lays his eyes on Charlotte, a young and innocent waitress, he becomes obsessed with her. She consumes his every waking thought, and he has just the resources to get exactly what he wants. And what he wants is Charlotte.

I’ve been obsessed with her for as long as I can remember, but she’s way out of my league. She’s a rich girl, and I’m a man from the wrong side of the tracks. Add our age gap on top of that, and it’s a recipe for a love story gone wrong. But fate throws me a bone when I catch her stranded on the side of the road. She’s in trouble, but I’m just the kind of daddy who can rescue her.