Premium Short Stories Collection - Blackmailing, Crank, Spook & Classic Tales (Unabridged) (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. Edwardian Ghost Stories, Social Satire, and Tales of MenaceBy E. F. Benson
Length17h 22m
About this audiobook
This unabridged collection gathers E. F. Benson's short fiction across several of his most characteristic modes: tales of social malice, psychological eccentricity, supernatural disturbance, and polished Edwardian comedy. Whether treating blackmail, crankish obsession, or ghostly visitation, Benson writes with urbane precision, turning drawing rooms, seaside houses, and respectable households into theatres of anxiety and revelation. His prose belongs to the late Victorian and Edwardian tradition of the crafted tale, combining the social acuity of comedy of manners with the eerie restraint of classic supernatural fiction. Edward Frederic Benson (1867–1940), son of the Archbishop of Canterbury and a member of a notably literary family, was educated at Marlborough and King's College, Cambridge. His privileged yet observant position within upper-middle-class English society furnished him with a keen ear for snobbery, rivalry, and concealed cruelty. Best known for the Mapp and Lucia novels, he was also a prolific writer of ghost stories, memoirs, biographies, and popular fiction. Readers who value elegant prose, sharp social intelligence, and atmospheric storytelling will find this collection especially rewarding. It is an excellent introduction to Benson's range: witty, unsettling, and consistently attentive to the thin line between civility and menace.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- A comprehensive Introduction outlines these selected works' unifying features, themes, or stylistic evolutions.
- A Historical Context section situates the works in their broader era—social currents, cultural trends, and key events that underpin their creation.
- A concise Synopsis (Selection) offers an accessible overview of the included texts, helping readers navigate plotlines and main ideas without revealing critical twists.
- A unified Analysis examines recurring motifs and stylistic hallmarks across the collection, tying the stories together while spotlighting the different work's strengths.
- Reflection questions inspire deeper contemplation of the author's overarching message, inviting readers to draw connections among different texts and relate them to modern contexts.
- Lastly, our hand‐picked Memorable Quotes distill pivotal lines and turning points, serving as touchstones for the collection's central themes.
Audiobook details
GenreGeneral Fiction, Horror
Length17 hrs 22 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateAug 11, 2015
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Premium Short Stories Collection - Blackmailing, Crank, Spook & Classic Tales (Unabridged) (Annotated)
2Introduction
3Historical Context
4Synopsis (Selection)
5Premium Short Stories Collection - Blackmailing, Crank, Spook & Classic Tales (Unabridged)
Show all chaptersShow less
6The Room in the Tower, and Other Stories (pt. 1)
7The Room in the Tower, and Other Stories (pt. 2)
8The Room in the Tower, and Other Stories (pt. 3)
9The Room in the Tower, and Other Stories (pt. 4)
10The Countess of Lowndes Square, and Other Stories
11BLACKMAILING STORIES
12GENERAL STORIES
13CAT STORIES
14CRANK STORIES
15SPOOK STORIES
16Analysis
17Reflection
18Memorable Quotes
The Werewolf Blood Trail: Tales of Gore, Terror & HuntE. F. Benson, Marie de France, Alexandre Dumas Père, George W. M. Reynolds, Eugene Field, Émile Erckmann, Alexandre Chatrian, Rudyard Kipling, Robert E. Howard, Gladys Gordon Trenery, Clifford Ball, Clemence Housman, Caroline Taylor Stewart61h 23m$1.99 · $0.00
Paying Guests (Unabridged) (Annotated)E. F. Benson10h 22m3.9 (244)$2 · $0.00
Premium Short Stories Collection - Blackmailing, Crank, Spook & Classic Tales (Annotated)E. F. Benson17h 19m$2 · $0.00
Mrs. Ames (Annotated)E. F. Benson11h 4m$2 · $0.00
Paying Guests (A Satirical Novel) (Annotated)E. F. Benson10h 26m3.9 (243)$2 · $0.00
MAPP AND LUCIA (Annotated)E. F. Benson60h 38m4.3 (466)$2 · $0.00
DAVID BLAIZE TRILOGY - Complete Collection (Illustrated) (Annotated)E. F. Benson24h 27m4.5 (14)$2 · $0.00
Complete Short Stories of E. F. Benson: 70+ Classic, Ghost, Spook, Supernatural, Mystery and Other Tales (Annotated)E. F. Benson41h 46m4.4 (22)$2 · $0.00
MAKE WAY FOR LUCIA - Complete Mapp and Lucia Series (6 Novels & 2 Short Stories) (Annotated)E. F. Benson60h 39m4.5 (1.6K)$2 · $0.00
The Luck of the Vails (Annotated)E. F. Benson12h 34m4.3 (12)$2 · $0.00
E. F. Benson: Complete Short Stories Collection: 70+ Classic, Ghost, Spook, Supernatural, Mystery, Haunting and Other Tales (Annotated)E. F. Benson41h 46m$2 · $0.00
An Act in a Backwater (Annotated)E. F. Benson7h 21m$2 · $0.00
The Relentless City (Annotated)E. F. Benson10h 26m3.7 (11)$2 · $0.00
The Complete DODO TRILOGY: Dodo - A Detail of the Day, Dodo's Daughter & Dodo Wonders (Annotated)E. F. Benson27h 44m3.4 (103)$2 · $0.00
The Relentless City (Unabridged) (Annotated)E. F. Benson10h 26m3.7 (11)$2 · $0.00
The E. F. Benson Ultimate Collection (Annotated)E. F. Benson334h 30m$2 · $0.00
Spook Stories - Complete Collection: 25 Supernatural, Mystery, Ghost and Haunting Tales (Annotated)E. F. Benson16h 6m$2 · $0.00
MAPP AND LUCIA SERIES – Complete Make Way For Lucia Collection: 6 Novels & 2 Short Stories In One VolumeE. F. Benson60h 34m4.4 (1.4K)$1 · $0.00
E. F. Benson: Complete Short Stories Collection: 70+ Classic, Ghost, Spook, Supernatural, Mystery, Haunting and Other TalesE. F. Benson41h 37m4.4 (136)$1 · $0.00
WhistlerAnn Patchett10h 45m4.6 (4.6K)$29 · $0.00
Demon CopperheadBarbara Kingsolver21h 3m4.5 (949.4K)$46 · $0.00
To Kill a MockingbirdHarper Lee12h 18m4.5 (7.4M)$29 · $0.00
Remarkably Bright CreaturesShelby Van Pelt11h 17m4.4 (1.7M)$29 · $0.00
War LordBernard Cornwell13h 21m4.6 (33.1K)$33 · $0.00
The Great Gatsby: Original 1925 Edition (An F. Scott Fitzgerald Classic NovelFrancis Scott Fitzgerald4h 45m4.6 (9.3K)$18 · $0.00
Something Like LoveBeverly Jenkins10h 21m4.6 (2.7K)$29 · $0.00
Black History CollectionFrederick Douglass, Harriet Ann Jacobs, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois27h 9m4.6 (2.6K)$18 · $0.00
The Old Man and the Sea (Annotated)Ernest Hemingway4h 27m4.6 (1.4K)$2 · $0.00
White HotIlona Andrews13h 18m4.5 (136.9K)$5 · $0.00
The Ghost by the Billabong (The Matilda Saga, #5)Jackie French14h 58m4.6 (773)$33 · $0.00
Cast in BloodMichelle Sagara16h 35m4.6 (607)$33 · $0.00
The Captain Blood Trilogy (Annotated)Rafael Sabatini29h 20m4.6 (1K)$3 · $0.00
Ship of the Line (Annotated)Cecil Louis Troughton Smith11h 13m4.6 (1K)$2 · $0.00
The George Orwell CollectionGeorge Orwell24h 46m4.5 (14.4K)$12 · $0.00
Time RegainedMarcel Proust15h 38m4.5 (9.2K)$2 · $0.00
Driving ForceElle James4h 58m4.6 (407)$20 · $0.00
When God Calls the HeartBrian Bird, Michelle Cox3h 24m4.6 (439)$10 · $0.00
Five Little IndiansMichelle Good10h 34m4.5 (64.5K)$29 · $0.00
Lolth's WarriorR. A. Salvatore13h 20m4.6 (2.4K)$33 · $0.00
The Picture of Dorian Gray: The Uncensored 13 Chapter Version + The Revised 20 Chapter Version (Annotated)Oscar Wilde16h 12m4.5 (2.8K)$1.99 · $0.00
THE CTHULHU MYTHOS TALES (Annotated)H. P. Lovecraft22h 46m4.5 (16.9K)$2 · $0.00
The Undead PoolKim Harrison16h 13m4.4 (34.6K)$33 · $0.00
Glacier's EdgeR. A. Salvatore13h 44m4.5 (3.4K)$33 · $0.00
Good OmensNeil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett12h 33m4.4 (1.1M)$33 · $0.00
Dark of NightJonathan Maberry, Rachael Lavin4h 59m4.4 (3.8K)$20 · $0.00
The Renegade HunterLynsay Sands10h 7m4.4 (17.3K)$29 · $0.00
Lost GodsBrom14h 50m4.4 (18.5K)$33 · $0.00
The AccusedJana DeLeon6h 32m4.4 (3.9K)$12 · $0.00
Corpus HermeticumHermes Trismegistus3h 43m4.4 (8.6K)$7 · $0.00
LambChristopher Moore15h 22m4.3 (211.3K)$33 · $0.00
CARMILLA (Gothic Classic) (Annotated)Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu4h 2m4.4 (1K)$1.99 · $0.00
The ExorcistWilliam Peter Blatty12h 52m4.3 (285.9K)$8 · $0.00
Lost ValleyWalt Browning7h 47m4.3 (5.4K)$20 · $0.00
Twice TemptedJeaniene Frost8h 17m4.3 (54.8K)$26 · $0.00
1984George Orwell12h 18m4.3 (6M)$25 · $0.00
The Best Tales of Edgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan Poe5h 19m4.4 (2.2K)$1 · $0.00
Hollywood DeadRichard Kadrey9h 22m4.3 (5.5K)$29 · $0.00
Frankenstein (The Uncensored 1818 Edition) (Annotated)Mary Shelley9h 25m4.3 (1.7M)$3 · $0.00
The Collected Ghost StoriesM. R. James18h 30m4.3 (12.1K)$2 · $0.00
You may also like
The Empty House and Other Ghost StoriesAlgernon Blackwood5h 53m3.9 (2.1K)$20
World's Greatest Horror StoriesMark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe, M. R. James, F. Harvey, E. M. Delafield, H.P. Lovecraft, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Franz Kafka, Charles Dickens, William Hope Hodgson, Algernon Blackwood, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, J. Sheridan Le Fanu, Arthur Conan Doyle, Margaret Oliphant, Walter de la Mare, Achmed Abdullah, Eleanor Scott, Harriet Prescott Spofford, E. F. Benson, Fitz-James O'Brien, E. T. A. Hoffmann48h 43m4.2 (434)$35 · $0.00
Three Ghost StoriesCharles Dickens2h 10m3.9 (2.5K)Free
Casting the Runes, and Other Classic Stories of the SupernaturalM. R. James, W. W. Jacobs, Sheridan Le Fanu, F. Marion Crawford, Robert Hichens, various authors9h 23m4.3 (1.1K)$20
The Legend of Sleepy HollowWashington Irving1h 18m3.9 (197.6K)$7
Scary Stories Audio CollectionAlvin Schwartz3h 19m4.4 (131.9K)$18 · $0.00
The Ghost PiratesWiliiam Hope Hodgson4h 55m3.7 (2.3K)$10 · $0.00
Complete Short Stories of E. F. Benson: 70+ Classic, Ghost, Spook, Supernatural, Mystery and Other TalesE. F. Benson41h 37m4.1 (1.6K)$1 · $0.00
The Last SeanceAgatha Christie13h 3m4.0 (13.9K)$33 · $0.00
Can Such Things Be?Ambrose Bierce6h 35m3.9 (1.5K)$2.30
Premium Short Stories Collection - Blackmailing, Crank, Spook & Classic Tales (Annotated)E. F. Benson17h 19m$2 · $0.00
Spook Stories – Ultimate Collection: 25 Supernatural, Mystery, Ghost and Haunting Tales (Annotated)E.F. Benson16h 1m$2 · $0.00
Great Classic Ghost Storiesvarious authors7h 19m3.7 (357)$22
WiddershinsOliver Onions9h 12m3.8 (467)$1 · $0.00
Masterpieces of Mystery in Four Volumes: Ghost StoriesJoseph Lewis French6h 29m3.4 (65)$2.30
50 Ghost and Horror masterpieces you have to listen before you die, Vol. 1 (Golden Deer Classics)Honoré de Balzac, Ambrose Bierce, Algernon Blackwood, Arthur Conan Doyle, Charles Dickens, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Washington Irving, Henry James, Rudyard Kipling, H.P Lovecraft, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Edgar Allan Poe, Saki, Bram Stoker, H.G Wells23h 15m$4 · $0.00
Complete Short Stories of E. F. Benson: 70+ Classic, Ghost, Spook, Supernatural, Mystery and Other Tales (Annotated)E. F. Benson41h 46m4.4 (22)$2 · $0.00
The Evil ClergymanH. P. Lovecraft12m3.0 (1K)$2.30
THE PANIC ROOM: 30+ Ghost Tales by Sheridan Le FanuJoseph Sheridan Le Fanu40h 59m4.3 (30)$2 · $0.00
The Thing in the HallEdward Frederic Benson26m3.3 (37)$2 · $0.00