Weird Fantasy

Two friends embark on a walking tour of northern France, but they encounter a strange fellow traveller who they struggle to shake off on their journey.

Amateur violinist and collector Herman Yorke is overjoyed when he is chosen to play first violin in the Amateur Orchestral Society. In the audience, however, he is distracted by a beautiful woman that is watching him. After several concerts, he decides to approach the woman, but Herman soon discovers that he is the only person who can see her.

One of the author’s earliest pieces of short horror fiction, ‘On the Embankment’ introduces us to London’s homeless population as they fight for space on seats to sleep each night. However, no matter how busy it is or desperate the sleepers are, there’s always one seat that is mysteriously left empty....

A postman encounters a strange letterbox in this spooky story. He’s never seen the occupants of the house, the windows and doors are shuttered and any letters posted through the mysterious letterbox disappear into a void of black. It isn’t long before the postman and the local community must investigate.

Henry Grimshaw prides himself on his dual personality. By night, he is a socialite and eligible bachelor; by day, he is a clothing factory tyrant, with fugitives working for him who he hands over to the authorities if they step out of line. When Cyrus Sabinette meets Grimshaw at a party, he initially wants in on the operation, but when Grimshaw refuses to be blackmailed, he devises a cunning plan to get back at the factory owner. Is he just a master of illusion, or can he conjure the dead?

A weird dream tips Henry Ian Darling into the Shadowlands. What has this to do with Brett? Ms. Peabody has a plan, but will Henry survive his quest?

Join Wallace Forbes as he encounters the enigmatic insomniac Alfred Kramer on a train journey like no other. Alfred, with his strange appearance and terrifying dreams, will take you on a mesmerizing ride through time and ancestors. Experience the suspense, excitement, and fear as Alfred unveils the secrets of his Kappa-ray device, allowing him to relive the experiences of his ancestors in his haunting dreams.

When Carstone visits his old friend, Brendan, one night, he is intrigued by the empty house next door, which is said to be haunted. Despite his host telling him many of the spooky tales that surround the old house, he accepts a dare to spend the night at The Gables, but his bravado soon falters....

Take Out & Other Stories: A Collection of Weird Fiction explores what happens to the human mind when one thing enters a life that cannot be explained a way with logic or reason. From a young boy's obsession with horror stories to a kitchen with a mind of its own, these five stories put the weird back in weird fiction.

"Die Sonne schien durch die Nabelschnüre hindurch und warf tausend lange Schatten auf das ewige Grasland. Seit ein paar Wochen waren sie dünn und ausgetrocknet, zuckten nur noch ab und zu. Als würde sterbendes Gewebe aus dem Himmel wachsen und nach der Erde greifen."Sie sind an diesen verlassenen Ort gekommen, weil sie dachten, hier hätten sie genug, um zu überleben. In diesem Niemandsland sind sie allein - da sind nur tausende Nabelschnüre, die aus dem Himmel wachsen und sie am Leben erhalten. Doch die guten Zeiten sind vorbei.

"Ich hatte davon gehört, dass es hier draußen einsam war. Aber hier waren wirklich nur wir, die Sterne und der Mond. Es war wichtig, was wir hier taten. Wir mussten es tun." Am Ende dieser Nacht wird seine Frau sterben. Das weiß er. Dennoch fährt er mit ihr zum Ort, an dem sie der Tod erwartet. Es ist richtig, das weiß er. Denn der Mond will seine Frau. Der Mond liebt sie.

William Wymark Jacobs (1863-1943) was an English author of short stories and novels. His most popular works in the early part of the last century were his humorous tales set around the docks of Wapping and in the taproom of the infamous Cauliflower tavern. 'The Rival Beauties' is one of the night watchman's most unlikely tales. He narrates the time when his ship came across a giant sea-serpent and they attempted to lure it with them to New York.