Special - Christmas Ghost Stories: Phantoms

Hi! It's been awhile. Thanks for your patience. Today is a special episode and not the start of the next season, but a new season is coming in 2025. In Victorian England, they told ghost stories on Christmas. Today, we have three ghost stories from that era. The stories today were adapted by the Weisers from "The Old Portrait" by Hume Nisbet, "The Ghost's Summons" by Ada Buisson, and "Old Applejoy's Ghost" by Frank R. Stockton.  Links! Discord: https://myths.link/discord Twitter: https://x.com/fictionalpod Mastodon (might not be approved, yet): https://mstdn.social/@fictional  

Dr. Freddie Drummond is in a great position: a fulfilling job, a wonderful fiancée, and the respect of titans of industry. So...why is he going out at night, living a double life? Today's story was based on "South of the Slot" by Jack London.

Someday Henry Bemis is going to do it. Sometime he is going to go to that wonderful, glorious place and live the life of his dreams. The place? Well, the public library, of course. But...today is not that day. -- Today's episode was inspired by "Time Enough at Last" by Lynn Venable.

What happens when your nose leaves your face...and starts living a better life than you? Today's episode was adapted from the story "The Nose" by Nikolai Gogol. You can find the full text here. -- Looking for something else to listen to? Check out Best of the Worst! It used to be a segment on this show. Now it's a weekly mini-cast. https://www.nextpod.com/botw-subscribe

You receive a letter from an old friend. He isn't doing well. He invites you to visit him at his house. His house...that's eating him whole. Today's episode was inspired by "The Fall of the House of Usher" by Edgar Allan Poe.  

Two men, a servant and his master, take a drive on a snowy evening. The experience will forever alter both of their lives. Adapted from "Master and Man" by Leo Tolstoy. -- If it sounds like it would be your thing, check out Mitos y Leyendas, Myths and Legends in Spanish! https://myths.link/mitos  

It's the 2010s and nuclear war between the US and the Soviet Union has forced humanity into bunkers, scorching the planet and leaving only the Leadys, the semi-sentient robot fighters, to continue to wage the war above against other Leadys. The humans below, however, think that their Leadys might have other motives... -- Adapted from "The Defenders" by Philip K. Dick.

We learn which crime Sherlock Holmes thinks is the absolute worst...and it's not what you think it is. Also, the great detective tries his hand at crime himself. Once he crosses that line, will he be able to come back from it? -- Check out Best of the Worst! https://www.nextpod.com/botw  

A young woman working as a servant for a cruel countess falls in love with the man across the street. It seems like a fairy tale, but are there more sinister motivations at play? Adapted from " The Queen of Spades" by Alexander Pushkin

Sanger Rainsford, a big-game hunter, just wants to go home, but he finds himself on an island belonging to General Zaroff, a fellow hunter with twisted, unorthodox tastes. Sanger refuses to go along with Zaroff, but what will last longer, Sanger's adherence to his principles...or his life? Adapted by the Weisers from "The Most Dangerous Game" Read the original: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/O._Henry_Memorial_Award_Prize_Stories_of_1924/The_Most_Dangerous_Game -- Check out our other show, Scoundrel: History's Forgotten Villains, new this week! https://myths.link/scoundrel And if you haven't heard, we turned Best of the Worst into its own twice-weekly mini cast. Subscribe here: https://www.nextpod.com/botw-subscribe