The Top 10 Short Stories - Brtitish Gothic: The ten best gothic short stories of all time by British authors

Written by Arthur Machen, Margaret Oliphant, Algernon Blackwood and 7 more

Narrated by Robbie McNab, David Shaw-Parker and Tom McLean

Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart. A few pages can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere.

In this series we try to offer up tried and trusted ‘Top Tens’ across many different themes and authors. But any anthology will immediately throw up the questions – Why that story? Why that author?

The theme itself will form the boundaries for our stories which range from well-known classics, newly told, to stories that modern times have overlooked but perfectly exemplify the theme. Throughout the volume our authors whether of instant recognition or new to you are all leviathans of literature.

Some you may disagree with but they will get you thinking; about our choices and about those you would have made. If this volume takes you on a path to discover more of these miniature masterpieces then we have all gained something.

In this volume our authors present tales of dark, macabre, and disturbing deeds. From the pens of Robert Louis Stevenson, Arthur Machen, Amelia Edwards, Rhoda Broughton and many others come carefully crafted literary journeys designed to disrupt reality, jangle nerves and feed upon our souls.

1 - The Top 10 Short Stories - British Gothic - An Introduction

2 - Olalla - Part 1 by Robert Louis Stevenson

3 - Olalla - Part 2 by Robert Louis Stevenson

4 - The Tapestried Chamber by Walter Scott

5 - Count Magnus by M R James

6 - The Bishop of Hell by Marjorie Bowen

7 - The Vampire Maid by Hume Nisbet

8 - The Novel of the White Powder by Arthur Machen

9 - The Phantom Coach by Amelia Edwards

10 - The Monkey's Paw by W W Jacobs

11 - The Truth, the Whole Truth and Nothing But the Truth by Rhoda Broughton

12 - The Open Door - Part 1 by Margaret Oliphant

13 - The Open Door - Part 2 by Margaret Oliphant

• Language: English
• Publisher: The Copyright Group
• Release date: Nov 11, 2023
• ISBN: 9781835478325

Arthur Machen

Arthur Machen (1863-1947) was a Welsh mystic and author. Born Arthur Llewellyn Jones, he was raised in Monmouthshire in a prominent family of clergymen. He developed an early interest in alchemy and other occult matters, and obtained a classical education at Hereford Cathedral School. He moved to London, where he failed to gain admittance to medical school and soon focused on his literary interests. Working as a tutor, he wrote in the evening and published his first poem, “Eleusinia,” in 1881. A novel, The Anatomy of Tobacco (1884), soon followed, launching his career as a professional writer. Machen made a name for himself as a frequent contributor to London literary magazines and achieved his first major success with the 1894 novella The Great God Pan. Following his wife’s death from cancer in 1899, he briefly joined the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and began conducting research on Celtic Christianity, the legend of the Holy Grail, and the stories of King Arthur. In 1922, after a decade of working as a journalist for the Evening News, he published The Secret Glory—a story of the Grail—to popular and critical acclaim. This marked the highpoint of his career as a pioneering author of fantasy, horror, and supernatural fiction whose work has been admired and praised by William Butler Yeats, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Stephen King.