A tale of botanical terror from HG Wells, concerning a highly unusual and indeed hostile rare plant!
Showing posts with label hg wells. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hg wells. Show all posts
Sunday, 11 August 2024
FROM THE GREAT LIBRARY OF DREAMS 114 - The Flowering of the Strange Orchid by HG Wells
Sunday, 11 February 2024
FROM THE GREAT LIBRARY OF DREAMS 101 - The Crystal Egg by HG Wells
In this show, we have a short tale by the great HG Wells, a science fiction mystery story that may, or may not, be a prequel to War of the Worlds!
Find all the podcasts in the HYPNOGORIA family here plus more articles on the weird and wonderful here-
Sunday, 28 March 2021
HYPNOGORIA 175 - The History of Universal Horror Part IV
The mid 1930s brings madness and mysteries galore! Universal explore the Secret of the Blue Room and The Secret of the Chateau, and introduce us to The Invisible Man and The Man Who Reclaimed His Head! Plus Karloff and Lugosi team up for the first time in another Poe adaption The Black Cat!
DIRECT DOWNLOAD - The History of Universal Horror Part IVHYPNOGORIA HOME DOMAIN - Full archive, RSS feed and other useful links
Friday, 8 May 2020
FROM THE GREAT LIBRARY OF DREAMS 002 - The Red Room by HG Wells
DIRECT DOWNLOAD - 002 - The Red Room by HG Wells
Find all the episodes From the Great Library of Dreams Podcast here -
More more great podcasts and articles visit Hypnogoria.com
Wednesday, 13 May 2015
GREAT GHOSTS OF THE SHELVES #9 - The 2nd Armada Ghost Book ed. Christine Bernard
The Armada Ghost Book had proved to be such a hit with readers that the following year editor Christine Bernard was called upon to assemble a second serving of spooky tales for younger readers. And hence in 1968, The 2nd Armada Ghost Book hit the shelves.
This second volume followed the template of the first quite faithfully, serving up a mixture of different sorts of ghostly tales. However this time round it resulted somewhat thinner book - not only in size but in content. Like the first we have two tales drawn from folklore from Sorche Nic Leodhas, another brace of tales from HG Wells, and in addition there are yet another two stories that are from the same author, a pair by William Croft Dickinson. The full contents are as follows -
The Ghost Who Didn't Want to be a Ghost by Sorche Nic Leodhas
The Keepers of the Wall by William Croft Dickinson
Fiddler, Play Fast, Play Faster by Ruth Sawyer
The Magic Shop by H G Wells
Mr Fox by Traditional
His Own Number by William Croft Dickinson
The Man Who Walked Widdershins Round the Kirk by Sorche Nic Leodhas
The Flowering of the Strange Orchid by H G Wells
The Uglie-Wuglies by Edith Nesbit
(As usual I have linked to my own audio readings of any of these tales)
Given that we have another chunk of folklore in the shape of the traditional old fireside tale Mr Fox, a variant on the Bluebeard story, and that the last story in the collection from E Nesbit is actually just an excerpt from her novel The Enchanted Castle, this collection feels a good deal less diverse than its illustrious predecessor. But furthermore this book is somewhat light on actual ghost stories - the Wells tales while entertaining don't exactly feature any hauntings, likewise the extract from Nesbit. Mr Fox though horrible is free of spectres, and while the tales from Leodhas and Ruth Sawyer do feature the supernatural, the ghosts and sprites from folklore are more fairy tale baddies than figures from nightmare. Thankfully William Croft Dickinson is on hand to deliver a fine eerie tale in the MR James tradition in the shape of The Keepers of the Wall and in a nice contrast, conjures some memorable unease with computers in His Own Number.
The 2nd Armada Ghost Book isn't a terrible anthology by any means, as all its tales are good. However it does lose marks for wandering away from proper ghost stories and having a limited pool of authors. So on one hand its a fun collection to tales to have but not one of the stronger outings in the Armada series. Tellingly the third volume of Ghost Books would see a new editor taking the helm...
Thursday, 5 March 2015
World Book Day - An Important Tome For Me
As it is World Book Day, I thought I'd share with you all one of my most beloved tomes. It's a book that used to be my grandfather's and I vividly remember as a young child, when visiting my grandparents, taking it off the shelf to sneak a peek at the evocative illustrations. And later when I was little older being thrilled by the line-up of famous writers in its contents, not to mnetion being intrigued by the Sealed Section at the back that contained the most terrifying tales.
This gorgeous thick leatherbound tome is The Mammoth Book of Thrillers, Ghosts & Mysteries, published in 1936 by Odhams. It was edited by Messrs. J. M. Parrish and John R. Crosslands, who selected a very fine array of tales and top notch authors as you will now see -
A. J. Alan – The Diver
Michael Arlen – The Ghoul Of Golders Green
Arnold Bennett – The Murder Of The Mandarin
J. D. Beresford – Powers Of The Air
Algernon Blackwood – Keeping His Promise
Gerald Bullett – Dearth’s Farm
G. K. Chesterton – The Hammer of God
Agatha Christie – The Blue Geranium
Joseph Conrad – The Secret Sharer
A. E. Coppard – The Tiger
Walter De La Mare – The Looking Glass
Guy De Maupassant – The Hostelry
Lord Dunsany – A Large Diamond
Jeffrey Farnol – The Cupboard
J. S. Fletcher – The Other Sense
Pamela Hansford Johnson – Ghost Of Honour
O. Henry – Roads Of Destiny
C. D. Heriot – The Trapdoor
C. F. Hoffman – Ben Blower’s Story
Tom Hood – The Shadow of A Shade
Aldous Huxley – The Dwarfs
Washington Irving – Guests From Gibbet Island
M. R. James – The Mezzotint
Jerome K. Jerome – The Dancing Partner
D. H. Lawrence – The Woman Who Rode Away
Somerset Maugham – Honolulu
Oliver Onions – Rooum
Barry Pain – The Green Light
Eden Phillpotts – The Iron Pineapple
J. B. Priestly – The Demon King
Alexander Pushkin – The Queen Of Spades
Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch – The Seventh Man
Saki – Laura
W. B. Seabrook – Goat-Cry, Girl-Cry
May Sinclair – The Mahatma’s Story
H. De Vere Stacpool – Deep In The Forest
R. L. Stevenson – The Island Of Voices
Edgar Wallace – Man Of The Night
Hugh Walpole – Major Wilbraham
H. G. Wells – The Inexperienced Ghost
Rebecca West – The Salt Of The Earth
Anon – A Tale Of A Gas-Light Ghost
The Inexperienced Ghost by HG Wells, illustrated by FG Moorsom
And in the tantalizing Sealed Section we had this selection of spinechillers -
E. F. Benson – The Confession Of Charles Linkworth
Ambrose Bierce – The Moonlit Road
L. P. Hartley – A Visitor From Down Under
W. H. Hodgson – The Voice In The Night
W. W. Jacobs – His Brother’s Keeper
Edgar Allen Poe – Berenice
A. E. D. Smith – The Coat
Bram Stoker – The Squaw
P. C. Wren – Presentiments
Keeping His Promise by Algernon Blackwood, illustrated by Lampitt
And backing up the excellent choice of stories were a fine roster of artists who delivered atmospheric and intriguing illustrations of the tales in gorgeous pen and ink.
The Mezzotint by MR James, illustrated by Clive Uptton
The volume was later reissued in a cheap paperback as Great Ghost Stories by Chancellor in 2005, with a handful of tales trimmed from it and sadly lacking the illustrations. Therefore I would recommend tracking down the original edition if you can.
This is a truly wonderful book. Obviously I have a huge personal connection to it, and I treasure it as a link to my grandfather who died when I was very young and hence never really knew. But more than that, this is truly a book made for book lovers - not only handsomely bound and lavishly illustrated, but packed with great tales by great writers, serving up a hearty mix of old favourites, undoubted classics and undiscovered gems. In its pages I discovered so many great tales and fantastic authors, indded to this day I'm still tracking down stories from authors contained within it. My granddad had this book on a shelf within reaching distance of his armchair by the fire, and today it lives in a similar position in my own home.
Monday, 22 December 2014
CHRISTMAS GHOST STORIES SECOND NIGHT: The Red Room by HG Wells
Welcome to our second ghost story for Christmas! Tonight Mr Jim Moon reads The Red Room by HG Wells, often claimed to be one of the most frightening tales ever written!
DIRECT DOWNLOAD: Christmas Ghost Stories Second Night: The Red Room
Find all the podcasts in the HYPNOGORIA family here -
HYPNOGORIA HOME DOMAIN - Full archive, RSS feed and other useful links
HYPNOGORIA on iTunes
HYPNOGORIA on STITCHER
 |
CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS |
Thursday, 19 June 2014
SFFAUDIO : The Moth by HG Wells
The SFFaudio Podcast #269 – The Moth by H.G. Wells; read by Peter Bishop. This is a complete and unabridged reading of the short story (24 minutes) followed by a discussion of it. Participants in the discussion include Jesse, Seth and Mr Jim Moon!
Monday, 9 December 2013
A QUARTER TO FEAR - A Hypnogoria Book of Uncanny Tales
Mr Jim Moon presents four classic tales of the uncanny from famous names in literature whom we don't normally associate with the weird and macabre. We have a tale of ghosts from Thomas Hardy, aerial monsters from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, marine horrors from HG Wells and macabre goings-on in a waxworks from E Nesbit. Each tale is accompanied by a commentary essay, footnotes and a full page illustration.
Available for Kindle and the Kindle App
UK - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00H4BVNK4
US - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H4BVNK4
CANADA - https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00H4BVNK4
AUSTRALIA - https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00H4BVNK4
And also available on as an Audiobook
Audiobook - http://hypnogoria.bandcamp.com/album/a-quarter-to-fear
Sunday, 20 May 2012
HYPNOBOBS 78 - HG Well's Martians
In something of a stop-gap episode, Mr Jim Moon rambles about the marvellous Martians of HG Wells and resurrects from the audio archives of the Great Library of the Dreams the infamous Mercury Theatre on the Air radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds masterminded by the legendary Orson Welles.
DIRECT DOWNLOAD - HG Well's Martians
Find all the podcasts in the HYPNOGORIA family here -
HYPNOGORIA HOME DOMAIN - Full archive, RSS feed and other useful links
HYPNOGORIA on iTunes
Friday, 6 April 2012
HYPNOBOBS 73 - Eggs & Orchids: Two Tales from Mr HG Wells
In a special eggisode, I mean, episode for Easter, Mr Jim Moon narrates two tales from that master of fantastic fiction, Mr HG Wells. First we have the account of The Flowering of the Strange Orchid, and this botanical horror is followed by the affair of The Crystal Egg.
DIRECT DOWNLOAD - Eggs & Orchids: Two Tales from Mr HG Wells
Find all the podcasts in the HYPNOGORIA family here -
HYPNOGORIA HOME DOMAIN - Full archive, RSS feed and other useful links
HYPNOGORIA on iTunes
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)