The Pit and the Pendulum, by Edgar Allen Poe

Bram Stoker's first published story tells of an artist, torn from his lover and held captive in the palace of a king, forced to create a work of art for him in order to win his freedom at the forthcoming Feast of Beauty. Mr Spike's Bedtime Stories theme and incidental music composed by Graham Walmsley. Graham is the creator of role playing games including 'Cthulhu Dark' and 'Cosmic Dark' and you can find him on Substack at https://grahamwalmsley.substack.com/ and Twitter @grahamwalmsley If you are enjoying these tales, why not leave a review on your listening platform of choice.

Big game hunter Sanger Rainsford is stranded on an island in the Caribbean. There he meets the enigmatic General Zaroff who puts to him a most unusual proposition. Mr Spike's Bedtime Stories theme and incidental music composed by Graham Walmsley. Graham is the creator of role playing games including 'Cthulhu Dark' and 'Cosmic Dark' and you can find him on Substack at https://grahamwalmsley.substack.com/ and Twitter @grahamwalmsley If you are enjoying these tales, why not leave a review on your listening platform of choice.

In "For the Blood is the Life," the narrator is visited in Italy by a friend, a Scandinavian artist, and relates to him the strange tale behind a figure which can apparently be seen lying on top of a small mound on the hillside near his villa. Mr Spike's Bedtime Stories theme and incidental music composed by Graham Walmsley. Graham is the creator of role playing games including 'Cthulhu Dark' and 'Cosmic Dark' and you can find him on Substack at https://grahamwalmsley.substack.com/ and Twitter @grahamwalmsley If you are enjoying these tales, why not leave a review on your listening platform of choice.

An artist and his model are disturbed by unsettling dreams and the sight of a strange watchman at the church across from his studio. Soon after they find a mysterious book on the shelves in his library their lives take a tragic turn. Mr Spike's Bedtime Stories theme and incidental music composed by Graham Walmsley. Graham is the creator of role playing games including 'Cthulhu Dark' and 'Cosmic Dark' and you can find him on Substack at https://grahamwalmsley.substack.com/ and Twitter @grahamwalmsley If you are enjoying these tales, why not leave a review on your listening platform of choice.

In "The Wood of the Dead" an unnamed narrator describes how, after stopping at a country inn a during a country ramble, he encounters an enigmatic old man. After he learns from he inn-keeper’s daughter of the character's strange history and the connection between him and a nearby grove, he is party to a mysterious event. Mr Spike's Bedtime Stories theme and incidental music composed by Graham Walmsley. Graham is the creator of role playing games including 'Cthulhu Dark' and 'Cosmic Dark' and you can find him on Substack at https://grahamwalmsley.substack.com/ and Twitter @grahamwalmsley If you are enjoying these tales, why not leave a review on your listening platform of choice.

In 'Man-Size in Marble' two newly-weds rent a country cottage to escape the bustle of the city. At first they are very happy, but before long an ancient superstition regarding their house has strange and terrible repercussions. Mr Spike's Bedtime Stories theme and incidental music composed by Graham Walmsley. Graham is the creator of role playing games including 'Cthulhu Dark' and 'Cosmic Dark' and you can find him on Substack at https://grahamwalmsley.substack.com/ and Twitter @grahamwalmsley If you are enjoying these tales, why not leave a review on your listening platform of choice.

In "The Signal Man" our narrator relates the details of a chance encounter with a signal-man on a lonely stretch of railway and the tale he is told of a mysterious spectral figure that has repeatedly appeared there. Mr Spike's Bedtime Stories theme and incidental music composed by Graham Walmsley. Graham is the creator of the role playing game 'Cthulhu Dark' and you can find him on Substack at https://grahamwalmsley.substack.com/ and Twitter @grahamwalmsley If you are enjoying these tales, why not leave a review on your listening platform of choice.

An unnamed narrator tells of his imprisonment by the Inquisition and the subsequent torture which he undergoes at their hands. Mr Spike's Bedtime Stories theme and incidental music composed by Graham Walmsley. Graham is the creator of the role playing game 'Cthulhu Dark' and you can find him on Substack at https://grahamwalmsley.substack.com/ and Twitter @grahamwalmsley If you are enjoying these tales, why not leave a review on your listening platform of choice.

"Monkeys" concerns a respected and experimental surgeon who, after accompanying a friend to Egypt, becomes fascinated with a mummified corpse. For him this fascination leads a terrible conclusion. My thanks to Graham Walmsley for the marvellous opening and closing themes he has composed for the podcast. Graham is the creator of the role playing game 'Cthulhu Dark' and you can find him on Twitter @grahamwalmsley If you are enjoying these tales, why not leave a review on your listening platform of choice.

In an very special episode of the podcast I am joined by Scott Dorward of The Good Friends of Jackson Elias for a reading of Frank Belknap Long's classic mythos tale "The Hounds of Tindalos" The story tells of one Halpin Chalmers who, with the assistance of the narrator, conducts an experiment with a mysterious drug in order to view the depths of time and space. Unfortunately for him, his travels draw him to the attention of the dangerous entities which inhabit its strange and unearthly angles. You can find more of Scott and the Good Friends of Jackson Elias at https://www.blasphemoustomes.com My thanks to Graham Walmsley for the marvellous opening and closing themes he has composed for the podcast. Graham is the creator of the role playing game 'Cthulhu Dark' and you can find him on Twitter @grahamwalmsley If you are enjoying these tales, why not leave a review on your listening platform of choice.