Alma Books The Whisperer in Darkness and Other Tales Лавкрафт Говард Филлипс

«Хребты безумия». Возможно, самая жуткая повесть Говарда Филлипса Лавкрафта. Её герои – команда учёных из Мискатоникского университета, изучающие покинутый город в Антарктике. Постепенно исследователи раскрывают его секреты, но один из них – древние создания, таящиеся под толщей льда и способные обречь человечество на неописуемо ужасное будущее • Также в данную книгу вошли два других произведения, крайне важные для канона Лавкрафта, – «Тень над Инсмутом» и «Тварь на пороге». Они наглядно демонстрируют, с каким мастерством классик жанра ужасов пугает своих читателей. Этот сборник – отличное введение в мир мифоса Ктулху • Именно творчеству Лавкрафта мы обязаны культовой настольной игрой «Ужас Аркхэма», фильмами «Дагон» и «Цвет из иных миров», книгой «Страна Лавкрафта» и снятым по ней одноимённым сериалом, а также множеством других знаковых образцов современной массовой культурой

Gilbert's libretti of the comic operas composed by Arthur Sullivan are hugely well known, and lines such as "let the punishment fit the crime" have entered the English lexicon - but his short stories also deserve to be rediscovered by the modern reader. This collection, carefully curated by the secretary of the W.S. Gilbert Society, brings together the best of these sharp, clever, comical tales - many of which are published here for the first time since their first appearance in ephemeral magazines - enriched with the author's own illustrations • The stories feature many of the powerful motifs so associated with his work - fairies, elixirs, magic - and a wide variety of characters - from burglars to barristers and shopkeepers to gentlemen. This volume is shot through with the observational wit which drove Gilbert and Sullivan's works to fame, and constitutes a hugely enjoyable companion for fans of the pair's theatrical oeuvre

This collection of Pushkin’s stories begins with ‘The Queen of Spades’, perhaps the most celebrated short story in Russian literature. The young Hermann, while watching some friends gambling, hears a rumour of how an officer’s grandmother is always able to predict the three winning cards in a game. He becomes obsessed with the woman and her seemingly mystical powers, and seeks to extract the secret from her at any cost • This volume, part of a new series of the complete works of Pushkin in English, also includes ‘Dubrovsky’, the story of a man’s desire to avenge himself after his land is unjustly taken from him by an aristocrat; ‘The Negro of Peter the Great’, a tale inspired by Pushkin’s maternal grandfather; and the unfinished story ‘Egyptian Nights’, a meditation on poetry and the poet

In love with the beautiful heiress Laura Fairlie, the impoverished art teacher Walter Hartright finds his romantic desires thwarted by her previous engagement to Sir Percival Glyde. But all is not as it seems with Sir Percival, as becomes clear when he arrives with his eccentric friend Count Fosco. The mystery and intrigue are further deepened by the ghostly appearances of a woman in white, apparently harbouring a secret that concerns Sir Percival’s past • A tale of love, madness, deceit and redemption, boasting sublime Gothic settings and pulse-quickening suspense, The Woman in White was the first best-selling Victorian sensation novel, sparking off a huge trend in the fiction of the time with its compulsive, fascinating narrative

This collection of lesser-known early short fiction - ranging from absurd humorous sketches to psychological dramas and tragic tales - demonstrates Anton Chekhov's mastery of the genre, with stories about marital infidelity, betrayal, deception and love in its various forms. Although varying m tone and purpose, what these tales have in common is a profound and subtle understanding of the human condition, in its farcical and melancholy aspects, couched in Chekhov's trademark minimalist style

When it is discovered that the reigning world chess champion, Mirko Czentovic, is on board a cruiser heading for Buenos Aires, a fellow passenger challenges him to a game. Czentovic easily defeats him, but during the rematch a mysterious Austrian, Dr B., intervenes and, to the surprise of everyone, helps the underdog obtain a draw. When, the next day, Dr B. confides in a compatriot travelling on the same ship and decides to reveal the harrowing secret behind his formidable chess knowledge, a chilling tale of imprisonment and psychological torment unfolds • Stefan Zweig’s last and most famous story, ‘A Game of Chess’ was written in exile in Brazil and explores its author’s anxieties about the situation in Europe following the rise of the Nazi regime

Depicting the adventures of Rat, Mole, Badger and the pretentious Mr Toad, The Wind in the Willows sees these four animals getting into all sorts of trouble as they wander along the river, through the Wild Wood and around the grand Toad Hall • Adapted for the stage by A.A. Milne as Toad of Toad Hall, and recreated for film and TV numerous times, Kenneth Grahame’s tale has been an essential part of every English child’s formative reading for over a century, with new generations of readers succumbing to its charm, wit and wonder • This edition contains extra material for young readers including a section on ‘Other Classic Anthropomorphic Stories’, a test yourself quiz and a glossary

All children dream of having a secret house where they can live on their own, far from any rules and regulations. But not all of them are as lucky as Aglaia, who lives at the top of a magical tree together with her friend Bianca and an incredible host of flying dogs, talking cats, carnivorous flowers and children who speak in verse • Inventively illustrated by Quentin Blake, Aglaia's adventures - and her battles with the gruff Signor Brullo and the woodmen who want to cut down the tree - are sure to enchant and inspire the imagination of every child

In the 1940s, Picasso wrote two plays in French: the first, Desire Caught by the Tail, was conceived during the German occupation of Paris and features a cast of grotesque allegorical characters such as the Onion, Silence or Fat Anxiety discussing the crucial wartime themes of hunger, cold and love; the second, The Four Little Girls, came about a few years after the end of the war on the French Riviera, and presents the stream-of-consciousness thoughts of four unnamed girls in a vegetable garden, revealing an unexpectedly evil aspect of childhood • These surreal compositions, which were meant to be read aloud rather than formally staged, are a testament to the great artist’s imaginative powers, and have been considered as forerunners to the theatre of the absurd of the 1950s, as exemplified by Beckett, Ionesco and Adamov

Set during the Pugachov rebellion against Catherine the Great, The Captain's Daughter was Pushkin's only completed novel and remains one of his most popular works. The inexperienced and impetuous young nobleman Pyotr Grinyev is sent on military service to a remote fortress, where he falls in love with Masha, Captain Mironov's daughter - but then the ruthless Cossack Pugachov lays siege to the stronghold, setting in motion a tragic train of events • This volume also contains another work by Pushkin on the same theme, A History of Pugachov, which presents an impartial, meticulously researched history of the revolt, but was regarded in aristocratic circles as subversive on its publication. Together, these two works provide a fascinating insight into the character of the peasant who tried to overthrow an empress, written with the clarity and insight of Russia's greatest poet

Тысячелетия назад нашей планетой правили Древние. С тех пор они только дремали. Но когда мощное морское землетрясение снова поднимает древний каменный город Р`Льйех на поверхность, Древние наконец пробуждаются… • "Шепчущий во тьме" объединяет оригинальные мифологические истории о Ктулху легендарного писателя ужасов Х.П. Лавкрафта. В этот том включены несколько ранних рассказов, а также классические "Зов Ктулху", "Данвичский ужас" и "В горах безумия" • Вооружитесь экземпляром легендарного "Некрономикона" Абдула Альхазреда и приготовьтесь встретиться лицом к лицу с ужасами, превосходящими самые смелые фантазии • Книга на английском языке • Millenia ago, the Old Ones ruled our planet. Since that time, they have but slumbered. But when a massive sea tremor brings the ancient stone city of R'lyeh to the surface once more, the Old Ones awaken at last… • The Whisperer in Darkness brings together the original Cthulhu Mythos stories of the legendary horror writer H

Большинство произведений Лавкрафта были самостоятельными рассказами, но книга "The Randolph Carter Tales" познакомит вас с героем, которому довелось пройти через целую череду ужасающих приключений. В настоящий сборник вошла повесть "Сомнамбулический поиск неведомого Кадафа", а также "Заявление Рэндольфа Картера", "Серебряный Ключ" и другие истории. Рэндольф Картер - центральный персонаж произведений Говарда Филипса Лавкрафта, которые можно отнести к числу самых зрелых и пронизанных философскими рассуждениями историй великого мастера ужасов • Книга на английском языке • Most of Lovecraft's tales were standalone and of the short fiction variety, but in the Randolph Carter Tales Lovecraft followed one character through a series of terrifying adventures