The Tell Tale Heart-A Classic Horror Story by Edgar Allan Poe
Halloween is the season of the macabre and one the greatest authors of dark frightening fiction was Edgar Allen Poe. You can cover the body. Hide the blood. Swear you’re sane. But you can’t silence the sound. Beneath the floorboards… something still beats.Considered to be the finest American Gothic writer of all time, Edgar Allen Poe loved to pen short stories. Of course, his best known tales are his darkest. This makes sense as Poe himself stated that he often suffered from bouts of depression and madness.A Survey. A Dream. A Better Ad?Somewhere out there is an ad you won’t hate.And this brief, slightly soul-sucking survey might help me find it.It’s optional. But I’d be forever grateful. Or at least for like, a week.http://bit.ly/litreadingclassicshortstories-surveyThanks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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The Hanging Stranger–a Retro Sci-Fi Horror Story by Philip K. Dick
This is one of those scary stories that sneaks up on you. It looks like just another day in small-town America, sometime around the early 1950s. But then, something is wrong. Something is hanging there. And what’s most unsettling isn’t the horror itself — it’s how calmly everyone else reacts.Philip K. Dick wrote The Hanging Stranger in 1953, and it remains one of his most chilling short stories. It’s about paranoia, conformity, and the terrifying idea that maybe you’re the only one who sees the truth.Philip K. Dick (1928–1982) was one of the most influential science fiction writers of the 20th century, famous for works like Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (which inspired Blade Runner), The Man in the High Castle, and Ubik. His stories often explore paranoia, alternate realities, and the fragile line between perception and truth.The Hanging Stranger was first published in 1953 in the pulp magazine Science Fiction Adventures. Under U.S. copyright law, any story published before 1964 had to have its copyright renewed in the 28th year after publication. If the renewal wasn’t filed, the work automatically fell into the public domain. The copyright for The Hanging Stranger was never renewed, so it is now freely available for adaptation and performance.A Survey. A Dream. A Better Ad?Somewhere out there is an ad you won’t hate.And this brief, slightly soul-sucking survey might help me find it.It’s optional. But I’d be forever grateful. Or at least for like, a week.http://bit.ly/litreadingclassicshortstories-surveyThanks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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The Haunted Mind–a Scary Season Story by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Since the dawn of our species, we have been bewildered by about that strange period of altered consciousness that occurs just before, during, and at the end of our daily slumber.Our next story expressively explores this activity that we all share and which still eludes understanding.This piece was more of an observational essay than a classic short story. Its author, Nathaniel Hawthorne was one of the young United States most brilliant fiction writers. Even today, his tales retain as much power as they had all most two centuries ago. His most famous novels were published at the dawn of the 1850s, “The Scarlet Letter” and “The House of the Seven Gables.” A Survey. A Dream. A Better Ad?Somewhere out there is an ad you won’t hate.And this brief, slightly soul-sucking survey might help me find it.It’s optional. But I’d be forever grateful. Or at least for like, a week.http://bit.ly/litreadingclassicshortstories-surveyThanks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Diary Of A Madman–a Classic Tale of Terror by Guy de Maupassant
In this truly chilling tale, we explore the darkest parts of the human mind - the hidden recesses where derangement resides.A word of caution: this tale is very dark and is not suitable for younger children. A Survey. A Dream. A Better Ad?Somewhere out there is an ad you won’t hate.And this brief, slightly soul-sucking survey might help me find it.It’s optional. But I’d be forever grateful. Or at least for like, a week.http://bit.ly/litreadingclassicshortstories-surveyThanks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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The Cats of Ulthar-a Classic Scary Story by H. P. Lovecraft
Every October, we creep into the scary season on Litreading, digging deep into the trove of classic horror tales from around the world. Some of the most frightening stories of all time were penned more than 100 years ago by authors like Mary Shelly and Edgar Allen Poe. One of the greats of the early 20th century was H.P. Lovecraft, and this is one of his earliest tales.In a distant land where shadows stretch long and justice is rarely served, one ancient law stands above all: no man may kill a cat. But this wasn’t always the case. Journey to Ulthar, where a dark tale unfolds—of orphaned grief, whispered spells, and the night when the cats rose up… and vanished into the mist with vengeance in their eyes.During H. P. Lovecraft’s short life (he died at age 46), he barely eked out an existence by ghostwriting and editing the work of others. Yet, as he struggled financially, he penned in obscurity what would soon be seen as some of the greatest gothic horror stories of all time.A Survey. A Dream. A Better Ad?Somewhere out there is an ad you won’t hate.And this brief, slightly soul-sucking survey might help me find it.It’s optional. But I’d be forever grateful. Or at least for like, a week.http://bit.ly/litreadingclassicshortstories-surveyThanks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Litreading brings classic short stories to life—expertly narrated with care, clarity, and just enough character to keep things lively. From Poe to Twain, Wolfe to Hemingway, each episode features a complete tale designed for immersive, thoughtful listening in a few minutes to an hour.In addition to timeless tales from the past, explore New Tales Told—a podcast of original short stories that echo the tone and texture of the classics, but are entirely new. Search New Tales Told wherever you get your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
New Zealand