Michael Ward
Peek into the mesmerizing imagination of C.S. Lewis with the world's leading authority on the beloved author.
With more than 100 million copies printed in forty-seven languages, The Chronicles of Narnia is one of the bestselling book series ever. Its enduring success is no accident, but rather the result of C.S. Lewis's extraordinary imaginative skill.
Few understand the full cosmological and theological depths of Lewis's world. In Christology,
...Though best known for his heartwarming holiday tales and sweeping social novels such as A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations, Charles Dickens was a prolific writer who was always willing to experiment with new styles. The chilling tales collected in Three Ghost Stories are a result of his brief but successful foray into the mystery and detective genres.
Lovers of classic children's literature will delight in The Story of the Treasure Seekers from noted British author E. Nesbit. This engaging tale about the plucky Bastable clan and their plan to improve their family's financial fortunes influenced many twentieth-century juvenile fiction writers, including C.S. Lewis.
If you consider yourself a fan of the horror genre, you need to add Arthur Machen's short novel The Great God Pan to your library. Cited by Stephen King and numerous other writers as one of the greatest horror stories ever published, this fantastical tale recounts the bizarre experiments conducted by mad scientist Dr. Raymond in an attempt to call forth a manifestation of the pagan god Pan. As is often the case, these unholy undertakings
...7) The Wendigo
Algernon Blackwood's The Wendigo tells the story of a camping trip in the Canadian wilderness that goes horribly wrong when the hunters become the hunted. Drawing on the mythical creature known as the Wendigo, this story is regarded by many critics to be one of the best horror tales of all time.
Oscar Wilde's The Happy Prince and Other Tales is a collection of stories for children each of which is so poignant and exquisite that they are as treasured by adults as they are by children. The stories included in this collection are The Happy Prince, The Nightingale and the Rose, The Selfish Giant, The Devoted Friend and The Remarkable Rocket.
The star of these stories is Father Brown, a character created by writer G. K. Chesterton. Based on a parish priest who was partially responsible for Chesterton's conversion to Catholicism in 1922, Brown is a stubby Catholic priest equipped with a large umbrella, a formless outfit and a sharp insight into the human nature. The stories included here are The Absence of Mr Glass, The Paradise of Thieves, The Duel of Dr Hirsch, The Man in the Passage,
...A Princess of Mars is the first in Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom series. This science fiction planetary romance, packed full of dangerous feats and swordplay, is set on a dying Mars. It went on to inspire some of the great imaginations, among them Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury and Carl Sagan. Civil War veteran John Carter is unexpectedly transported to Barsoom, the planet we call Mars, and finds with the weaker gravity that he has super-human
...American author H.P. Lovecraft was known for putting his own unique twist on classic horror themes. In the short story The Shunned House, Lovecraft molds the conventions of the haunted house tale to his own ends in a suspenseful account of an old dwelling whose very essence appears to infect those who live with its walls.
13) An Ideal Husband
Oscar Wilde's play An Ideal Husband is a comedy about politics, blackmail and corruption. The action takes place over three days in London, and it questions ideas of public and private honor. It is a play about the past catching up with one in the present.
In this supremely creepy story from horror master H.P. Lovecraft, an unspeakable horror is unleashed upon the quaint burg of Dunwich, Massachusetts in the form of a young boy named Wilbur Whateley, the son of a disfigured albino woman and a mysterious—and possibly demonic—father. Wilbur's birth ushers in a series of strange events in the town that only intensify as he grows older. Will the townspeople be able to contain this curse before
...Looking for some spooky stories to read on a camping trip, at a Halloween party, or at home with the family in front of a roaring fire? The works of medieval scholar M.R. James should fit the bill. James often said that he wrote his stories to be read aloud, so snuggle up and lose yourself in their slow-building suspense and lulling language.