Embrace the darkness

Read by Ian Holm, Richard Mitchley, David Shaw-Parker(Unabridged: 04hrs 05mins)

Featuring stories by Marcel Schwob, Prosper Merimee, Charles Baudelaire, Gustave Flaubert, Guy De Maupassant & many more

An author’s talents may seem obvious and indisputable as they move words and ideas into gathered phrases and stories.

But where do these ideas and stories come from? A lonely thought that suddenly gathers form? An inspiration from a Muse? A suggestion from an everyday event?

Perhaps in the case of their darker, more malevolent stories, other forces are at work. They help to nourish single words into sentences and paragraphs that ease themselves from the shadows and are suddenly upon us in twisted revelation that may thrill, may disturb, but will always engage and help us explore the edge of darkness where some of the very best literature patiently lurks …. waiting …. for the likes of me and you.

01 - Stories From the Shadows - The French - An Introduction

02 - The Mouthless by Marcel Schwob

03 - Mateo Falcone by Prosper Merimee

04 - The Generous Gambler by Charles Baudelaire

05 - The Legend of Saint Julian the Hospitaller by Gustave Flaubert

06 - The Horla by Guy De Maupassant

07 - The Mass of Shadows by Anatole France

08 - La Grande Breteche by Honoré de Balzac

09 - The Spectral Hand by Jean Lorrain