219 - Charles Dickens's Scrooge is not the only character to encounter ghosts at Christmas time. The prolific Algernon Blackwood brings us this: ". . . he heard someone come up the stairs behind him . . . a stealthy footstep--the tread of somebody who did not wish to be seen."
218 - "The crops were in, and barn, buttery, and bin were overflowing with the harvest . . . Thanksgiving was at hand, and all must be in order for that time-honored day."
217- A heart-warming seasonal story . . . followed by a different perspective from the Smithsonian Institute
216 - "Its mouth gaped, exposing a fence of teeth like daggers."
215 - Mrs. Miller: "Your mother must be insane to let a child like you wander around at all hours of the night . . ." Miriam: "What difference does that make? Let me in. It's cold out here and . . ."
214 - This one has it all: a stormy night, a creepy old house, and a very angry ghost.
213 - From the acclaimed author of mystery and horror, two twisted tales about tots . . . From The Witch: "The little boy gasped and the mother turned around, her smile fading." From Charles: "Today Charles hit the teacher."
212 - Originally intended to be a ghost story, Roald Dahl read through this piece and felt he had not "brought it off." He changed the ending (so glad he did) and rendered this gruesome, non-supernatural twist.
211 - The conclusion: "After you spiked it through with that nail, it naturally forgot about other people and concentrated its attention on you (and) it CAN get in! We've forgotten. There's the fireplace in my bedroom!"
210 - You were promised: "He had just got to the top when the lights went out . . . and he heard the scuttling along the floor. . . About ten yards in front of him, crawling along . . . was . . ."
209 - Escort: (noun) a person, vehicle, or group accompanying another for protection. Ms. du Maurier provides you with the safety of an escort as you sail your way through her unnerving wartime tale.
208 - Honored repeatedly for her courageous writing, author Eudora Welty was never afraid to jump into the fray for the right cause. In this episode, though, the cause could only be pure (silly!) entertainment.
207 - The conclusion for our wunderkind: "Nothing mattered much except playing music as it must be played, bringing out the thing that must be in her . . . Once -- it was there -- for sure." And now?
206 - Wunderkind: a person who achieves great success at a young age. “That was what (her teacher) had called her when, at twelve, she first came to him,” and yet, it would take "more than cleverness" to make this man happy.
205 - They'd had a fight, he hadn't come home, and ". . . visions of him lying in a gutter or under a table, somehow horribly mangled, haunted her . . ." Find out what happened in another tale from the master humorist.
204 - From another Pulitzer Prize winner: "And at once he was seized with a conviction that his real reason for entering the drugstore was not to get a hot chocolate--not at all! He was going to steal something."
203 - "What can you do if . . . turning the corner of your own street, you are overcome, suddenly, by a feeling of bliss(?)" But will the day end that way?
202 - The house was supposed to be empty, but "I heard a noise. . . Whatever it was, was coming slowly down the corridor, scratching at the doors as it went."
201 - From the Victorian's best supernaturalist, "I turned to the next passenger and saw - oh God, how can I describe it! - I saw that he was . . ."
200 - You won't want to miss the gut wrenching, heartrending conclusion.
199 - Ms. O'Connor's story is "full of bull," the dangerous, horned kind!
198 - Another TWO for ONE episode and this time they are from Shirley Jackson. You're welcome!
Today you get TWO from ONE of the best, Ray Bradbury. Tuck in with that vivid imagination combined with that soothing, poetic style.
196 - Prison inmates: "Nobody here can run to catch Tico. He run the fastest." The response? "Shotguns run faster."
195 - From the most beloved author of this podcast, tuck in for a "dark, sexy" tale of "the wrong word at the wrong time."
194 - From an unpleasant man: a passion for art paints us a thoroughly-entertaining and prickly tale.
193 - The police asked . . . "if there was anyone who had a grudge against him. 'No one that I know of,' Walter said. Hmm . . .
192 - You will find yourself in those stacks of books. What will you do when you discover that incredibly famous woman in disguise?
191 - A wild dream? Or something more. This one makes all the lists!
190 - From one of your favorite authors, isolation and the dark side of young girls . . .
