The Black Mass,  1963 to 1970

After a lengthy and tiresome journey a visitor finally arrives at the ancient, seaside cathedral of All Hallows. He is astonished, not by the age, austerity, or solitude of the cathedral, but by the sense of abandonment. Although visiting hours have just ended, the Verger agrees to give the visitor a brief tour through the gathering evening gloom. Brief, because there are, oddly, places where the cathedral seems to repairing itself.

Based largely on the testimony of Sir Matthew Fell of Castringham Hall, Mrs Mothersole is convicted of witchcraft and hanged. He claims to have seen her at midnight, on three different occasions, gathering sprigs from the ash tree near his house. On each occasion Sir Matthew tried to capture her, but all he could see when he arrived at the garden was a hare running across the park in the direction of the village. Her last words, repeated more than once in an undertone were, "There will be guests at the Hall".

George and his wife are doing what they normally do in the evening—passively watching television—when George's foot falls asleep. He grunts and moans, boorishly bangs his foot on the ground, and hops up and down on it trying to wake it up. (George tends to exaggerate such things, much to the annoyance of his wife.) And then he loses all feeling in his foot and can't move it, as if it had been turned to stone! "A sleeping foot just doesn't go stiff!" he exclaims. "It does when it is very soundly asleep," his wife replies. She tries to comfort him as the atrophy spreads upward.

Note: possibly based on the short story "George" by John Anthony West, published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, June 1961, but I won't know for sure until I can find a copy and read the original. UPDATE: Listener Denny Lien has a copy and has confirmed that "Atrophy" is indeed based on "George".

Bartleby, a newly employed law copyist (scrivener), is extremely efficient, has a steady hand, a clear script, and is dedicated to his work. He seems a boon to his employer, except that he "prefers not" to do any work except copy law documents. His employer is quite taken aback and not sure how to handle him. Eventually, Bartleby "prefers not" to even copy documents and sits staring out the window at a brick wall, passively resisting all demands from the world around him.

Note: The title of Master in Chancery 'is one of the oldest institutions in Anglo-American law, the origin of which is lost in the Dark Ages... masters were appointed by the court and given authority to examine witnesses and prepare reports of their findings in the cause referred to them.' -- Magistrates of the Court of Chancery

A single, melancholy guitar sets the mood. A lonely wind fades in and out. A down-home voice begins a quiet narrative about two graves, an abandoned house, and the mystery of a boarded-up window. Murlock and his wife, Janice, had settled the place so long ago nobody remembers exactly when it was. She died shortly thereafter, but Murlock stayed and eked out a living through trapping. They lived in a small cabin—one door, one window. Now the door is gone, and nobody can remember a time when the window wasn't boarded up.

Note: for modern listeners, it will help to remember that this story takes place in a rural cabin circa 1830. A "window" in such a cabin, was merely a hole in the wall. There was no glass; there was no screen. To blunt the cold there would have been either shutters that opened outward or a set of hinged boards that opened inward. But during warm weather these could have been left open for months at a time.

In this excerpt from Kafka's story, a creature (man-like? mole-like?) has just finished sealing his underground burrow, his underground fortress to isolate and protect himself from all that is outside. But danger still exists. There is one small weakness in the construction that could be exploited by an enemy with uncommon abilities. This vulnerability gnaws at his mind, reminding him that he can never be truly safe from his countless enemies.

This story was originally published in The Travel Tales of Mr Joseph Jorkens, a series of tall tales told at a London adventurer's club by Mr Jorkens. Each tale typically began with a member of the club telling of an adventure. His memory jostled, Jorkens would then embark on a telling one of his adventures. In this adaptation, Jorkens is walking down the street when he is met by an old friend who enquires about the token Jorkens is idly caressing. Jorkens replies it is a charm against thirst, and that for a whiskey-and-soda he'll tell him the tragic tale.

Charon, a daemon of the underworld, has been ferrying souls across the river Styx for longer than he can remember. He doesn't smile; he doesn't weep. He just rows. Sometimes the gods send him hundreds of spirits, sometimes thousands. It is neither Charon's duty nor his wont to question why. The gods know best.

A surrealistic tale about a bitter doctor who must make an urgent house call to a patient 10 miles away during the middle of a blizzard. Full of incongruity and random events.

A frame story in which the tales of a mother and her child are both told. Sheriff Holker and Detective Jaralson, while setting a trap for a murderer in a graveyard, discover the corpse of a strangled hunter. Alternately, a tale of a mother's devoted love for her favorite child and what happens when that child grows up and leaves the nest.

A short story which follows the descent into madness of a middle-aged civil servant, Poprishchin, who yearns for the love of a high-ranking official's daughter, but despairs that she is outside his social class and will never notice him. Presented as a stream-of-consciousness dialogue between the servant and his alter ego.

At Florian's Café on the Piazza de San Marco in Venice, Italy, a stranger strikes up a conversation with another patron, in which he details a lifetime of frustration, disappointment, and disillusion.

Note: many of the lyrics of the popular 1969 song "Is That All There Is" are drawn from this story. Although written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, the song was later arranged by Randy Newman and became a #11 hit for Peggy Lee (#1 on the Adult Contemporary chart). The song includes 3 verses (house fire, circus, falling in love), followed by a summarizing verse and a conclusion (see below).

      Is That All There Is?

      I know what you must be saying to yourselves.
      If that's the way she feels about it why doesn't she just end it all?
      Oh, no. Not me. I'm not ready for that final disappointment.
      'Cause I know just as well as I'm standing here talking to you,
      When that final moment comes and I'm breathing my last breath,
      I'll be saying to myself,

      Is that all there is, is that all there is,
      If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing.
      Let's break out the booze and have a ball,
      If that's all there is.

      -- Ending, as sung by Peggy Lee

A man who considers himself ridiculous and for whom nothing in life matters decides to kill himself. He lights a candle, takes a revolver out of his desk drawer and... falls asleep and dreams. He is taken to another star far out in space where he finds a sister Earth which has evolved into a paradise. His despair, however, influences the paradise in unexpected ways, which in turn affects how he sees himself and his role in life.

King Karna-Vootra recounts the dream of his queen, Vava-Nyria, in this short, beautiful tale of life and death.

Constance Broddle and the Baroness, while at a hunting meet, become separated from the others and stumble across a stray hyena which, because she can't determine its sex, the Baroness decides to name Esmé. The three travel together for a short while, with the Baroness becoming increasingly exasperated at Esmé's complete lack of obedience.

Charles Snell, a poet, turns his back on the bourgeois world that is contaminating his poetry. He hides himself away in Bracy's Giant Emporium, emerging each evening to write his poetry in peace and quiet, unhampered by such mundane problems as trying to earn a living. Food, clothing, furniture? All are close at hand. What he doesn't count on, however, is that others may have had a similar idea and may not want their secret revealed.

Note: three earlier versions were produced for Escape [1947, 1948, 1949].

On a dark and stormy night, children gather around a large stone fireplace and listen to Granny tells ghostly tales, tales intended to scare the bejesus out of them and encourage adolescent obedience.

Based, more or less, on the Montague Rhodes James story.

A surrealistic, stream-of-consciousness montage of thoughts, fears, dreams, madness and despair, from a man who is being kept artificially alive. Written especially for The Black Mass.

A starving old tramp breaks into an abandoned house to escape a gathering storm. He discovers the house has been lived in fairly recently, but in a style 300 years out of date. Worried that he might disturb the inhabitants, he cautiously explores the ground floor, and becomes rather disturbed, himself, at what he finds.

A short, impressionistic tale of two ghosts who haunt a house, not with fear or hatred, but with love. They wander the house remembering their most treasured moments together.

The magicians, the deputy-magicians, and the great Arch-Wizard of the secret lamaserai, their chief cathedral of wizardry, have waited for centuries for their doom. It has arrived.

A man explains how, after committing the perfect murder and leaving absolutely no evidence linking himself to the crime, he finds himself in chains awaiting execution.

See also: The Tell-Tale Heart

Spencer Brydon returns to America after 33 years abroad to handle some family business—renovating an apartment house and looking in on his childhood home on the "jolly corner". Over the next fortnight, Brydon feels compelled to visit his old home frequently, sometimes in the company of his friend, Alice Staverton, sometimes not. Increasingly he has the feeling that the house might be haunted by the spectre of what he might have become had he stayed in America.

A young man working in his father's business writes a letter to his friend, absent these past three years in Russia, with news from home and an invitation to his wedding. Upon discussing the letter with his father, much is revealed about the recursive relationships between son-father, father-friend, and friend-son.

"Long long ago there was an Island that disappeared into the mists of the sea. Some say it never existed at all. Some say it was witchcraft that did it." -- Bay Area Radio Drama

A man struggles to climb the shear face of the Palace of Colquonhombros, pursued by sable apes that have been bred on the wall specifically to thwart such attempts. It is a dream brought on by eating lobster salad, but if the possibility of death is real, then the fear and pain are real, too, and must be dealt with.

An entirely new performance with sound design and original music composed by Ken Heller was later produced for the series Tales from the Shadows.

A 'people watcher' in a London coffee house eyes the throng of humanity rushing past the smoky bay window and finds his attention drawn to one man in particular. Suddenly, he is overcome by a craving to keep the man in sight and learn as much about him as he can. He races out of the coffee house and spends the rest of the night in pursuit.

Note: "The writer Henry James at first dismissed Poe's work, but later his interest grew. He based several of his own stories on Poe's originals; this one may be a source for his story 'The Private Life', in which an accomplished raconteur ceases to exist once he loses his listeners." -- Bay Area Radio Drama

A bored, well-to-do traveller books passage on a merchant ship ferrying cargo from Batavia [Jakarta] along the archipelago to the Sunda Islands. The ship is overcome by a supernatural storm which destroys everyone on-board except the narrator and one crew member. After that, the situation takes a turn for the worse.

The murder mystery of a devoted wife, Julia Hetman, told in three mini-tales from the perspectives of ghost Julia, her husband Joel, and their son Stephen. [In the book, the son's name is Joel Hetman, Jr.] None of the three know the entire story, but taking their tales together, the truth emerges.

A tale of madness told from the point of view of a timid man tormented by paranoia. The man tells of his lifelong persecution, of the derisive cruelty he has endured, of his mental collapse, and of his cure at the hands of Dr Fraser. He finds, however, that being cured requires a different type of endurance. While the old paranoia is gone, new challenges arise which must be overcome. This time, Dr Fraser might not be able to help.

Note: the following correction was sent to me by Denny Lien -- webmaster

This was first published in England in The [First] Pan Book of Horror in 1959. Most of the contents of the anthology were reprints (and are credited as such with previous publication info and copyright info etc. in my copy), but this one was apparently an original. (Mike Ashley's Supernatural Index also has it as an original in that 1959 anthology.)

Incidentally, The [First] Pan Book of Horror also contained reprints of "The Squaw" and of "Flies", so I suspect the radio people had a copy of it (there was a US, as well as a UK, edition). Stoker's "The Squaw" of course has been reprinted several times, but "Flies" had apparently appeared before only in two scarce UK hardback anthologies ed. C.C. Thompson: Grim Death in 1932 (where it was an original) and the reprint Not at Night Omnibus in 1937. After the Pan reprint, it also appeared in a common 1969 US pb, 11 Great Horror Stories, ed. Betty Owen, from Scholastic.

Anyway, 1959 is the date for the print version of Wykes' "Nightmare". -- Denny Lien

"Auntie" gives little Judith an interminable, guilt-ridden lecture about proper behaviour around the house and garden. Judy is orphaned and hideously deformed, but Auntie takes special care of her, spending hours each day doing anything she can for her little girl.

Boffer Bings has helped out with the family businesses for many years—procuring raw material for his father's business and discarding the waste from his mother's. One day, purely by accident, he discovers a way to merge the two businesses and inadvertently brings ruin upon them all.

A nervous, hen-pecked smoker is ordered by his wife to give a charity lecture on the harmfulness of tobacco, which he does. Except he never quite gets around to the subject, repeatedly digressing to his less-than-perfect relationship with his wife and children.

He grew up in an isolated castle, surrounded by an impenetrable forest, everything a uniform, dull grey. No sunshine. No moonlight. A single black tower extended through the trees into the unknown outer sky, but was partly ruined and could only be ascended by a nearly impossible climb up the sheer wall, stone by stone. At last, he resolves to scale the wall, thinking it best to glimpse the sky and perish, than to live without ever beholding day.

Signora Psyche Zenobia visits a Gothic cathedral in the city of Edina (Edinburgh) and feels an uncontrollable urge to ascend the clock tower and survey the city. Accompanied by Diana, her poodle, and Pompey, her dwarf Negro, Psyche climbs the seemingly endless stairway, contemplates it as a metaphor for human life, and eventually pops her head through a small opening in the clock face so she can appreciate the view.

Note: a later production of "A Predicament" was produced by Erik Bauersfeld at radio station KQED-FM with the same cast and additional technical production by Clay Grillo, with assistance by Wayne Wagner. It can be heard in the series Tales from the Shadows.

Major Philip Weaver, Indian Army, retired, gives an urgent talk before the Psychical Society proving, with absolute certainty, that the spirit does not die when the body dies.

See also: "The Case of Monsieur Valdemar" from The Weird Circle.

Delapoer returns to his ancestral home of Exham Priory, purchases the ruins from the current owner, and rebuilds the estate. (It was last inhabited by Delapoer's ancestor, the Eleventh Baron, Walter de la Poer.) During the renovation Delapoer discovers from the locals many disconcerting facts regarding his family history and the priory, but presses on. Later, while inhabiting the estate, Delapoer follows the sound of ghostly rats into the deepest levels and uncovers the horrifying truth about his family.

"It was the cruelty of the savages that struck him: "I dreamed about the House of the Fetish—the tortures—could anything more barbarous, more exciting be imagined?" Tongue-less and imprisoned in the salt, he awaits the coming of his master, the Sorcerer." -- Bay Area Radio Drama

Shiddah and her little boy, Kuziba, live safely underground with 9 yards of solid rock protecting them from the light and noise of the surface. They like it dark. They like it quiet. And most of all, they like it where there are no human beings—those evil mixtures of flesh, love, dung, and lust. Shiddah and Kuziba are demons, or, perhaps, spirits, whose lives change when a drill bit from above rips through their sanctuary and they must escape to the surface.

A series of six tales by Lord Dunsany.

• Lobster Salad
• Workman, The
• Charm Against Thirst, The
• How the Enemy Came upon Thlunrana
• Dream of King Karna-Vootra, The
• Charon

When Elias P. Hutcheson visits Nurnberg's famous Torture Tower to view an exhibit of the Iron Virgin, he inadvertently kills a small black kitten. The kitten's mother is not amused; in fact, she feels downright murderous. As Hutcheson walks from room to room, captivated by the torture devices, the cat stalks quietly, barely out of sight, appearing and disappearing, waiting... and waiting... and waiting.

A psychological tale of guilt. A servant becomes obsessed with his master's vulture eye and decides, calmly and deliberately, to murder the old man. When the police come to visit, he confidently invites them in, for he knows they will never find the body. As he sits chatting with the officers, however, he hears the heart of the corpse begin beating. It grows louder and louder.

One of the most popular horror stories ever told. I know of at least 20 different adaptations. See the Famous Authors page for a (partial) listing.

A man (Jorkens), seeking mystery and magic, stumbles upon marshland bordered by a willow forest. The witch that is haunting the willows comes forth and warns Jorkens "if there is a warning put on a place, it is for folks to heed the warning, not to go bothering those that have other things to do, with the Way, and the Why, and the Wherefore. A Warning's a Warning! And that's all there is to it." This seems to be what Jorkens is looking for. Or is it?

A short story about Futility with a broader meaning for us all. A workman falls to his death, and in the few seconds available to him, tries to carve his name on a scaffold pole falling with him.