Mikhail Bulgakov to Gustave Flaubert

Read by Richard Mitchley, Lisa Bowerman, Elliot Fitzpatrick(Unabridged: 11:27mins)

Featuring stories by Mikhail Bulgakov, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Ivan Bunin, A M Burrage, Bernard Capes, Ion Luca Caragiale, Miguel de Cervantes & many more

Life is to be lived. Experiences gained, pleasures sampled. But, troublingly, when you are a classic author your thoughts sometimes lean towards darker thoughts. Within the space of a few paragraphs these literary masters shape a new world; more difficult experiences, darker pleasures. Life becomes uneasy, a queasy feeling, perhaps a repulsion here, a disgust there and very soon what was cosy, warm and comfortable becomes cold, painful, even horrific.

The talents of their pens now fall unsettlingly on your ears as one by one stories unfold, characters take hold and you, dear listener, are merely dragged along for a very malevolent ride.

01 - The Dark Masters - Volume 2 - An Introduction

02 - Morphine by Mikhail Bulgakov

03 - The Life of Dreams by Edward Bulwer-Lytton

04 - Gentle Breathing by Ivan Bunin

13 - The Waxworks by A M Burrage

06 - The Thing in the Forest by Bernard Capes

07 - The Devil's Horse by Ion Luca Caragiale

08 - The Force of Blood by Miguel de Cervantes

09 - Vanka by Anton Chekhov

10 - The Tattooed Leg by John Chilton

11 - The Dream Woman by Wilkie Collins

12 - The Horror of Abbot's Grange by Frederick Cowles

13 - A Dark Brown Dog by Stephen Crane

14 - The Screaming Skull by F Marion Crawford

15 - The Testament of Magdalen Blair - Part 1 by Aleister Crowley

16 - The Testament of Magdalen Blair - Part 2 by Aleister Crowley

17 - The Sumach by Ulric Daubeny

18 - The Apparition of Mrs Veal by Daniel Defoe

19 - A Madman's Manuscript by Charles Dickens

20 - The Striped Chest by Arthur Conan Doyle

21 - Tomato Sauce by Hanns Heinz Ewers

22 - Mateo Falcone by Prosper Merimee

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