Short Stories: After Dark Classics

The short stories of an assortment of horror masters have been collected on this audio compilation aimed at providing listeners with chills and thrills. The pioneers of the genre are well represented with classics like Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Black Cat,” W.W. Jacobs’s “The Monkey’s Paw,” Bram Stoker’s “Dracula’s Guest,” and Frederick Marryat’s “The Werewolf.” There are enough murderous contraptions, supernatural creatures, mysterious happenings, and creepy characters to raise hair on a bald man. The four narrators—Robin Bailey, Patrick Malahide, Richard Pasco, and Barbara Leigh-Hunt—begin with calm, factual recitations, quicken their pace as unnatural or evil forces appear, and raise their voices to crescendos of terror. While all the performers deliver gripping performances, Robin Bailey shines in his reading of “A Terribly Strange Bed” by Wilkie Collins, about a gambler whose winnings the house wants back at any cost. Listen with a nightlight on and save a few stories for Halloween. (Apr.)