The HorrorBabble Podcast

"The Thing in the Tree" is a short story by the little-known author, Harold Standish Corbin. The story first appeared in the February 1927 edition of Ghost Stories. "What influence could make a tree take on human characteristics?"

"Father's Vampire" is a short story by Alvin Taylor and Len J. Moffatt, first published in the May 1952 edition of Weird Tales Magazine. "Father collected things—but he wasn’t at all in a rut as to what he collected."

"In Terror of Laughing Clay" is the first of four stories concerning the fictional ghost hunter, Mark Shadow. Written by the Scottish author, Robert W. Sneddon, the story first appeared in the October 1926 edition of Ghost Stories. "No scientists experimenting ten thousand years could make a lump of potter's clay live—and yet——"

"The God with Four Arms" is a work of weird fiction by the English writer, H. T. W. Bousfield, first appearing in his 1939 anthology, The God with Four Arms and Other Stories. "A shady man, owed a small fortune, takes his frustrations out on a rare bronze idol, with sinister consequences."

"A Vignette" is the very last short story penned by British author, M. R. James. It tells of a haunted plantation, allegedly influenced by real events experienced by James as a boy.

"The Burned House" is a ghost story by Vincent O'Sullivan, first published in The Century Magazine in its October 1916 edition. In the story, a man recounts his eerie experience in a Lake District village where he witnessed a ghostly house fire and a hanging body, only to find no trace of them the next day.

"The Swooping Wind" is a short story by American author Wilford Allen, which first appeared in Weird Tales in December 1927. The tale focuses upon a scientist who has a strange connection to the winds.

"The Spectre of Rislip Abbey" is an 1899 ghost story by Dick Donovan, published in his TALES OF TERROR anthology. "Then I was still further amazed—I might almost say dumfounded—by seeing a hand, only a hand, slowly draw the panel into its place again."

"The Ordeal of Wooden-Face" is a rare tale by the American author, Hal K. Wells. The story first appeared in Weird Tales back in January 1932, and was described by the magazine as follows: “His dead eyes came to life when he saw the young American stagger into the bungalow like a specter out of the past.”

"The 19 Club" is a mystery story by the English writer, A. J. Alan, first published in Alan's 1932 anthology, A. J. Alan's Second Book. “He asked who we were and the people down below couldn’t tell him because they didn’t know—they said they had no information about us of any kind.”

"The Grinning Ghoul" is a short story by the American author, Robert Bloch. First appearing in Weird Tales back in June of 1936, the story was described as follows: "A story of stark horror in the subterranean depths beneath the tomb."

"Croatan" is a short story by Malcolm Ferguson. First published in Weird Tales in July 1948, Croatan concerns the disappearance of the Roanoke Colony. "Creatures summoned from outer eons, our masters by an eternity of time and progress."

The Lovecraft Vault: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Z8IjQ7GPxte6JIIMbs2Ua Bandcamp (work in progress): https://thelovecraftvault.bandcamp.com 

"The Worm" is a short story by the American writer, David H. Keller. The story was first published in the March 1929 edition of Amazing Stories. "The floor, cut through, disappeared into the Thing's maw and with it the red hot stove."

"The Dark Demon" is a Cthulhu Mythos story by Robert Bloch, first published in the November 1936 edition of Weird Tales. “The strange story of a man who communed too closely with things from beyond space.”

"The Phoenix on the Sword" is a Conan the Cimmerian novelette by Robert E. Howard, first published in the December 1932 edition of Weird Tales. "A soul-searing story of a fearsome monster spawned in darkness before the first man crawled out of the slimy sea."

"The Fisherman's Special" is a short story by the one-time Weird Tales author, H. L. Thomson. The story appeared in the August 1939 edition of the magazine. "I caught myself up short when I heard him say 'werewolves'."

"The Second Interment" is a short story by the American writer, Clark Ashton Smith. The story first appeared in the January 1933 edition of Strange Tales of Mystery and Terror, and concerns the terrible fate of an ailing figure by the name of Uther Magbane.

"Bitter Gold" is a short story by the little-known author B. C. Bridges. The story, which first appeared in Weird Tales in December 1931, was described as follows: “The old man and his wife needed money—a brief, grim tale of Siberia.”