Alma Books After-Supper Ghost Stories Джером Джером Клапка

When the Americans Mr and Mrs Otis and their four children move into Canterville Chase, its previous occupant Lord Canterville warns them that the ghost of his ancestor still haunts the house. Their disbelief is soon shattered by the nightly sound of rattling chains in the hallways and the appearance of mysterious bloodstains in the living room. However, the ghost struggles to intimidate his new victims, as they counter his ghoulish behaviour with typically transatlantic pragmatism, offering lubricator for his chains and cleaning up the stains with detergent. As the spirit is deserted by his capacity to scare, Virginia, the Otises’ daughter, gets to know him and learns the tragic tale behind his sad fate • Sparkling with his trademark wit, this classic tale is one of Oscar Wilde’s finest stories and is presented here with three other comic mystery stories, ‘Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime’, ‘The Sphinx without a Secret’ and ‘The Model Millionaire’, all of which were first published together in 1891

A Hollywood hack who has fallen on hard times since the end of the Silent Era, Pat Hobby spends his time hanging out in the studio lot attempting to devise schemes – such as pressing his secretary for blackmail material against a studio executive – to get more work and earn on-screen credits. Oblivious to his own shortcomings and filled with feelings of self-importance, he embarks on a course towards ever-increasing humiliation, suffering setbacks on both the professional and romantic fronts • A vivid account of Hollywood and its politics and hierarchies, these stories – which draw from Fitzgerald’s own travails as a screenwriter – were first printed in Esquire, although they were written with a view to being published as a cohesive volume

«Тобермори» – заглавный рассказ сборника – считается одним из лучших произведений Саки. Один из гостей званого ужина решает представить остальным говорящего кота по кличке Тобермори. Кот начинает раскрывать все грязные тайны представителей высшего общества, заставляя их показать свое истинное лицо • В этот сборник вошли самые известные рассказы Саки, от первых литературных успехов вроде «Габриэля-Эрнеста», «Ягдташа» и «Хроник Кловиса», истории о молодом человеке с необычным чувством юмора, до более поздних шедевров – одновременно смешного и странного «Борова» и опубликованных посмертно «Игрушек мира». Творчество Саки охватывает самые разные темы, от реинкарнации до психологической войны, а характерное для его произведений остроумие успело очаровать несколько поколений читателей

Having moved into an abandoned haunted house, the narrator, undaunted by the warnings of the locals, invites a party of friends over; on Twelfth Night he and his guests gather together and relate the supernatural experiences they have had. The resulting ghost stories thrill, shock and amuse by turns • For this work, commissioned for his periodical All the Year Round, Dickens enlisted some of the era’s most famous writers, including Elizabeth Gaskell and Wilkie Collins, to collaborate with him on this Victorian supernatural classic • Contains: ‘The Mortals in the House’ by Charles Dickens, ‘The Ghost in the Clock Room’ by Heshb Stretton, ‘The Ghost in the Double Room’ by George Augustus Sala, ‘The Ghost in the Picture Room’ by Adelaide Anne Procter, ‘The Ghost in the Cupboard Room’ by Wilkie Collins, ‘The Ghost in Master B’s Room’ by Charles Dickens, ‘The Ghost in the Garden Room’ by Elizabeth Gaskell, ‘The Ghost in the Corner Room’ by Charles Dickens

"In the autumn month of September, eighteen hundred and fifty-seven… two idle apprentices, exhausted by the long, hot summer, and the long, hot work it had brought with it, ran away from their employer." • Under the pseudonyms of Francis Goodchild and Thomas Idle, Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins set off on a walking tour of the north-west of England, reporting back on their adventures for Dickens's magazine Household Words • A unique insight into the friendship of two of the towering figures of Victorian literature, and featuring a pair of chilling ghost stories from the leading exponents of the genre, The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices is a charming evocation of the adventures they experienced on their trip and the gently mocking nature of their relationship

Alma Classics edition of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer contains 3,000 notes and 30 pages extra material • "And specially from every shires ende • Of Engelond to Caunterbury they wende, • The hooly blisful martir for to seke, • That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke." • Assembling at the Tabard Inn in Southwark, a group of pilgrims begin their journey to Canterbury Cathedral. To entertain themselves on the long road, their host suggests that they regale each other with stories, with the teller of the best tale set to earn a free supper • The pilgrims correspond to all sections of medieval society, from the crusading knight to the drunken cook, and their tales span a range of genres, including the comic ribaldry and deception of 'The Miller's Tale' and the story of chivalry and courtly romance told by the Franklin

After the death of his father, the seventeen year old orphan David Balfour discovers the existence of an uncle, and sets off in search of him. His uncle Ebenzer is far from welcoming, however, and David, after barely escaping with his life, finds himself kidnapped and bound for America, where he is to be sold into slavery. Yet when the hot-headed Jacobite rebel Alan Breck Stewart comes on board, David soon finds himself thrust into a perilous adventure, and fleeing for his life across the Scottish Highlands • Inspired by real historical events, "Kidnapped" is an unforgettable and action-packed adventure story that has delighted and captivated readers for more than a century

After spending several years in a sanatorium recovering from an illness that caused him to lose his memory and ability to reason, Prince Myshkin arrives in St Petersburg and is at once confronted with the stark realities of life in the Russian capital - from greed, murder and nihilism to passion, vanity and love. Mocked for his childlike naivety yet valued for his openness and understanding, Prince Myshkin finds himself entangled with two women in a position he cannot bring himself to resolve. Dostoevsky, who wrote that in the character of Prince Myshkin he hoped to portray a wholly virtuous man, shows the workings of the human mind and our relationships with others in all their complex and contradictory nature. Populated by an unforgettable cast of characters, from the beautiful, self-destructive Nastasya Filippovna to the dangerously obsessed Rogozhin and the radical student Ippolit, The Idiot is one of Dostoevsky's most personal and intense works of fiction presented here in a new translation

After one of their own people repeatedly fails to live up to a pact with the Devil, a petty and morally bankrupt village community is plagued by a swarm of deadly black spiders. Using a complex narrative structure, Gotthelf's cautionary novella shrewdly dissects the iniquitous social dynamics of rural life • First published in 1842, The Black Spider displays its author's talent for dark satire and realism, as well as the visionary powers of his imagination

After a traumatic early childhood spent living in poverty in a Preston cellar, the suddenly orphaned George Silverman grows up convinced that he is at fault for all the misfortunes in his life. Hoodwinked by hypocritical clergymen and exploited by his employer, he finds himself forsaking love and facing professional ruin • One of Dickens’s very last writings, ‘George Silverman’s Explanation’ is a dark and psychologically insightful investigation of failure and guilt. This volume also includes two other lesser-known pieces of fiction by Dickens: the novella for children ‘Holiday Romance’ and the detective story ‘Hunted Down’

After the Lady Vain is shipwrecked, Edward Prendick is plucked from the waves by a passing ship and deposited on a remote island. Here he is the guest of Dr Moreau, whose notorious scientific methods had caused an uproar that left him with no choice but to flee London • Disquieted and appalled by the pained cries of suffering animals, Edward soon realizes that the Doctor is continuing and developing his depraved experiments, and that he too is in great danger • Shocking and suffused with contemporary fears regarding the morality of the latest advances in science and their possible implications for religion, The Island of Dr Moreau is both a ruthless social satire and an exploration of human nature

After an accident, Tess Durbeyfield, the daughter of impoverished peasants, decides to call on the aristocratic d’Urbervilles, as she believes that she is also descended from their ancient Norman lineage and that they can rescue her family from indigence. Unfortunately she is taken under the wing of the immoral libertine scion Alec d’Urberville, who seduces and scorns her. While she attempts to rebuild her life, she falls in love with the virtuous farmer Angel Clare and must find a way to defeat the demons of her past • Controversial when it was first published for challenging Victorian morals, Tess of the d’Urbervilles has become Thomas Hardy’s most popular novel, catching the imaginations of generations of readers with its high drama, endearing heroine and powerful evocations of the southern English countryside