Spider Horror

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) is celebrated for his tales of the macabre and the supernatural. “The Cask of Amontillado” is one of his terrifying tales of premature burial. In it, the narrator, Montresor, has suffered from “insults and injuries” from his “friend” Fortunato and plans to murder him while he is drunk at the carnival by luring him to a wine tasting in the cellars of his palazzo. He chains him to the wall in a niche that he seals up with mortar, thus entombing him alive.

“The Thing Invisible” is a story featuring Thomas Carnacki, a detective who investigates cases of an occult or supernatural nature. It is one of five tales of Carnacki's ghost hunting exploits that first appeared serially in The Idler magazine in 1910 and were published together with one more as a collection Carnacki the Ghost-Finder in 1913. After a good dinner, Mr. Carnacki relates his experiences of ghost-finding to his limited circle of four friends whom he has summoned to his home in Chelsea.

M.R. James (1862-1936) was provost of King's College, Cambridge. and Eton College. He was a highly regarded scholar and academic in his time but today is remembered for his ghost stories which are considered among the finest in the genre. Here is one of them: "The Tractate Middoth".

M. R. James (1862-1936) was provost of King's College, Cambridge, and Eton College. He was a highly regarded scholar and academic in his time but today is remembered for his ghost stories, which are considered among the finest in the genre. Here is one of them: "The Ash Tree".

E.F. Benson (1867-1940) is probably best known today for his sparkling, comic Lucia novels. In his own day, it was his ghost stories that were his most popular works. "Mrs Amworth", with its theme of vampirism, exemplifies Benson's fine literary style and his ability to create the most frightening of supernatural and macabre tales.