See part one here.
12. The Phantom ‘Rickshaw – Rudyard Kipling
A man breaks off an affair in order to marry another woman. He is haunted by the ghost of his spurned lover.
13. The Man and the Snake - Ambrose Bierce
A what the Hell just happened sort of story. A zoologist’s guest scoffs at old superstitions, but finds himself paralyzed by the stare of a snake. Bierce reads a bit like Mark Twain crossed with Edgar Allen Poe, but with a style all his own.
14. The Yellow Wall Paper – Charlotte Perkins Gilman
A woman confined to a rest cure by her husband descends into madness because all she is allowed to do is stare at the wallpaper.
15. The Great God Pan – Arthur Machen
A highly regarded piece of supernatural horror, a profound influence on H. P. Lovecraft. An occult experiment goes wrong, and years later a mysterious woman wreaks havoc on those involved.
16. The Seventh Man – Arthur Quiller-Couch
Six men are trying to survive the dark arctic winter after their shipwreck but are joined by the mysterious presence of a seventh.
17. The Monkey’s Paw – W. W. Jacobs
Beware of what you wish for. A strange object from the East has the ability to grant a certain number of wishes, but it takes you at your word precisely.
18. The Willows - Algernon Blackwood
The Danube was never so scary as it is here. Unsettling use of the natural landscape to convey menace.
19. Thurnley Abbey – Perceval Landon
A stranger explains why he is scared to sleep alone. There is also the matter of a broken promise, and a question unasked.
20. The Music on the Hill - Saki
H. H. Munro (Saki) is best known for his wicked humour. He also wrote several more serious pieces, generally exploring the futile attempts of civilization to impose order on primeval forces of nature and chaos. This one places an ancient god in the English countryside.
21. Casting the Runes - M. R. James
This one should keep peer reviewers up at night. An occult author casts a curse on those who negatively reviewed his work.
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