Thanks Bob. It does indeed, I really appreciate the generous feedback, and I'm glad to know people enjoy the stories. Best wishes, I hope you're keeping well
@@BitesizedAudio ❤ Honestly, I don't know why the BBC don't give you a weekly slot on Radio. You bring such pleasure to people and clearly have a loyal fanbase. Tja! I'm just glad I discovered you. ❤
A story that draws you in. Excellent reading, and I thoroughly enjoyed the story. I looked on the map to find that there is indeed a Jewish cemetery on the Lido. Thank you!
"...and the shadow of the great bell tower slept, all across the square." Luvverly. Venice does lend itself to ghost stories so easily, and poetically in this case. Thank you for sharing this delightful story.
This story has hundreds of perfect sentences. Descriptive sentences that are utterly compelling! The genius of the reader is in the poise and timing of his delivery. The first joy of this story is the story. The second time round? The words. And delivery. Damn! As my Gramp would say, ‘a goodun!’
Finding these stories among all the dross cluttering youtube is a delight. I eagerly anticipate each new story. As always the narrators delivery of the text is excellent,, a joy to listen to. More please.
What an engrossing tale of unrequited love. So very sad that it made me tear up when I listened to his heartbreaking admission that he knew he would never see her again I this life. The narrator carried the tormented souls off so very well that it was that voice bemoaning his fate that caused me to feel his pain. Awesome video all way round. Thank you so much for this wonderful story.
I was about to listen to an audiobook of a silly love story ca. midnight instead of reading the old-fashioned way because my eyes were sore. And then suddenly, this was uploaded and I muttered to myself 'what perfect timing'. Thank you once again, Mr. Stanhope, for this new and terrific narration of another Amelia Edwards horror story. I miss Venice if my avatar will tell a clue and I adore horror, too. Admittedly, back then, I was more aware of her work as an Egyptologist after seeing her collection at a friend's school and at a museum in London. I had listened to your Phantom Coach narration for at least three times ever since it was uploaded. Thank you once more.
Yes indeed. And, having listened to it, I now know why the RU-vid algorithms welcomed me here this evening with an otherwise unaccountable choice of recommendation: a trailer for a film about the actor who played Tadzio in Visconti's dreadful film of 'Death in Venice', my least favourite of Thomas Mann's works (he was apparently disappointed with it himself), and so a subject of little interest to me. But there can, after all, be no ghost in Venice without a death in Venice preceding it - and Mann wasn't the first (or last) to have that idea...
The algorithms may have brought you to this channel - but the great Victorian/Edwardian ghost stories and mysteries and their perfect narration will keep you here and looking forward to the next one.
Thank you so very much . I remember as a child reading stories like this and frightening myself silly listening to the rain and wind outside of my grandmothers old farmhouse in England. Now in the heat and dust of drought on my farm in Australia they are a wonderful treat and so well read. You are doing a great service bringing these stories to us all.
That's lovely to know, especially as you're clearly a connoisseur of ghost stories! I'll keep digging for the overlooked gems (but I do like to do the odd well-known one too... after all, they're usually well-known for a reason!) Thanks as always for your support
Oh wow, this one really moved me. I've saved all your stories to my "watch later", and have been listening to them one after the other, so I didn't realize at first that this was one of the ghost stories. Because of this, I felt a shock when he discovered what the grave read, and felt for a moment as if I was mourning with him. What a very moving story. Thank you for reading it so well.
Another excellent job of story telling . You do justice to this wonderful story . I will enjoy listening to it agin and agin because of your narrative . Thank you and God Bless
Have finished listening to the story for the third time. Beautiful heartwrenching story narrated/ performed by one and only Simon Stanhope Sir. Every time the narration comes to an end I have tears in my eyes. The performance is so natural, life like. Great work! I have started going through all the stories all over again thanks to your magical performance. Warm regards
Wonderful performance Simon, yet again! Amelia B. Edwards is a favourite of mine, such a talented storyteller and you make her stories come alive. Thank you!
This is a champion of a ghost story. A soul in torment crying out for help. I heard this the night before I learnt of the tragic death of a very dear colleague due to COVID whom I’d been out of touch with for a couple of months. She had died about three days earlier. The panic and grief you brought to your voice when the hero realises Salome is indeed dead Was incredible. It’s as if you felt it. I did when I heard of my colleague death
I'm so sorry to hear about your colleague. My condolences on your loss. Thank you for taking the time to comment, and for your support. Best wishes to you
Thank you so much for choosing to share your talent. I enjoy my walks while listening to your excellent renditions of these classics. Thanks again - T.R.
What a powerful and fascinating story - and how superbly read! Impossible to talk about how interesting without spoilers, but the contrasts evoked by the Merchant of Venice references invite thinking about, and comparisons and contrasts with Dante and Beatrice also sprang to mind.
Very good story, which I never heard before. For perfection, I think I would have preferred for Ms Edwards to end the story after the reading of the letter. But there’s no doubt the real ending added a certain poignancy to this tale of unrequited love.
Thanks GradKat. I see what you mean, although I do think the story is well structured, in that the reader is ahead of the narrator at several points in the story, even early on when he first sees Salome, and then in that last section when he's in denial about what has happened (but surely he knows, deep down, although he can't admit it to himself). Very poignant, as you say.
Simon, I now have a dilemma in my life: You've introduced me to Amelia B. Edwards, who I now love. Her writing is original, believable and exciting. But now I'm torn between looking her up and reading everything at once, or waiting to hear it all in your voice!
Oh dear, I'm sorry to have contributed to your dilemma! Personally, I'd say go for it and read all her stories that you can get hold of. I'm sure I will do more, but I doubt I'll be able to cover her complete works in the near future! I do hope you enjoy anyway. I agree, she's certainly one of my favourites of the era and is unjustly overlooked compared to some of her contemporaries and the following generations of ghost story writers. Thanks Katie, all best wishes!
It's a delicious dilemme to have 😂. I'll go ahead and get a hold of her works, she's part of a fabulous genre. One thing I particularly like about her is the psychology of her characters. Everything is authentic. Noml mystery (thus far) is a simple matter if devil worship, or a faith in science alone at all costs to reason. She seems to play so well on the lone between perception, understanding and conviction. It makes for great fiction!
Much of your post makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. "Noml mystery", what does this mean? "Noml" is not even a word. "Is a simple matter if devil worship, or a faith in science alone at all costs to reason". Devil worship is superstitious nonsense and has nothing to do with the story. Adopting a scientific outlook DOES NOT adversely affect reason, it actually aids it with the benefits of greater knowledge and understanding.
One of the most breathtaking endings, final sentences to a story I can't recall ever hearing.. even though, like probably many of us, I had guessed the foregone concluded fact of it...when the writing and narration are nothing short of excellent, the actual journey is every bit as pleasurable, regardless.. You know where it is going, even so, the completely UNknown 'getting there of it' ensures that the listener is robbed of nothing~and of course there is always the merest of chances until you actually arrive at the ending, that you're wrong! I've not listened yet to even a third of your many uploaded stories and have already decided on my three favorites easily, one being a Loveday Brook, primarily because they are so immediately attention-grabbing and so satisfying throughout, with endings tied off in the neatest perfection, the Redhill Sisterhood, I think is the title, that I enjoyed front to back in one sitting, in other words I didn't fall asleep till it was done... is my most favorite so far. I almost don't dare hope that there are more of the Loveday stories, and in time you will record them! 💙 The Eight Mile Lock I saw, word for word, as if I were watching a film, and still find myself thinking about the unique vehicle described therein (don't wish to give away too much!)~yes, that one was an absolute corker and I believe I did comment on it. Your most recent upload, with Carlisle and Max Corrados also leaves me hoping for more, many more, from that particular pair to come, thus, The Tragedy in Brookbend Cottage, so far in any case, ranks as my third favorite of all the stories heard to date, although please understand I have enjoyed every single solitary story I have heard you read so faultlessly and, to use a trite phrase, utterly pitch perfect in each case for which there are no words to thank you properly. But.... thank you. I just simply do not want them to end~not EVER! Finally, I should like to ask you, which would be preferable, a coffee every so often, or whatever it is which is on offer on a monthly basis? I would just like to make more tangible my appreciation than just the occasional comment. Simon, again, my thanks and greatest appreciation. Your channel is a definite comfort and for me a wonderful and necessary diversion considering current events at the moment Please do have a lovely Sunday, (it is only 6:34 a.m. where I am⛅) Take good care, Deah (aka, Frenchblue8)
Thank you so much for your very kind comments, Deah. I'm so glad to know you enjoy the stories and it's always interesting to hear which ones are individual favourites. Yes, I've done three each of the Max Carrados and Loveday Brooke stories so far (you'll find them in the "Rivals of Sherlock Holmes" playlist) and will certainly do more. There are actually only seven Loveday stories in total, so I'll complete the series with another four. There are many more Max tales, although some of his are still in copyright in the USA which complicates matters as far as RU-vid is concerned. But I'll work my way through the public domain ones anyway. Thank you also for asking about contributions, I truly appreciate it. The main difference from my perspective is that all the coffee money comes direct to me, whereas with channel membership YT of course take a cut - but I'm grateful for any support, whichever method suits you better, really. Thank you so much! All best wishes
I mean this as a compliment. Has anyone ever told you that you sound a lot like the voice actor who did Mr. Peabody. He was always one of my favorites.
Thank you Holly. It has been mentioned before, I must confess.... I never saw the show but I believe the actor who did the voice was Edward Everett Horton
Well, I just realized what “fancy-free” means. I’m 70 years old and I always wondered how the state of being free could be described as “fancy”. You know, like “adorned with lace”, etc.? You read that phrase with just the right emphases and along with the context, you solved a great mystery for me. 😅 I love listening to you. Here’s a coffee!
I just came across another reading of this story ,and out of curiosity I started to listen . Now I can repeat my thoughts from 2 months ago ,without hesitation. You sir are perfection !
A saying I've heard since childhood: If you don't listen, you'll have to feel. This usually lead to a sore bottom at that time; as an adult, it gets more painful than that. This story proves it true, again.
Though admire this author, much; am---as a Jew, quietly chagrined when at 8:15 we hear, ..."....eager-eyed Shylock..." Yes, a hidden reminder of how in the most literary of British Popular tales in Victorian times; such a 'racially profiling'' a term could be so blithely used. And NOT, to underscore the 'Gentlemen's Agreement'' of scorn and distained tolerance for Jews in Victorian England. One only has to watch a few episodes of ''Downton Abbey'' to see and hear of how the Lady of the Manor had to sequester her Jewishness into a 'trunk, in the attic' lest it offend the Upper Crust. Note here as the initial infatuated man, retorts how he 'cares NOT' if his family and society cut-him-off, if he should so choose to take-up with a Jewess.....HAVE things so changed, in 100 or so years? LoL....
I'm pretty well bed bound but this has been partially compensated for the relentless discovery of the RU-vid content. This has been compounded by the dictionary of the variety of stories brilliantly narrated. Thanks RU-vid.
"The stuff that dreams are made of" is usually associated with John Huston's screen play of the Maltese Falcon. Ultimate source seems to be found in The Tempest.
I could easily see this happening. Perhaps that's why this story gets me so much. My uncle was a deacon in the church, and even though he had his funeral all planned out, and funeral plot paid for; when he fell down the stairs and was sent to ICU, they cremated him, kept the money he set aside for his funeral without even telling his own sister until afterwards. Just like the woman Salome, no prayers, no stone, no service. They wouldn't even consent to a memorial for him. So we rented a place, invited his coworkers and had a memorial of his life with anyone who wanted to getting up and sharing anecdotes, thanks, whatever they wanted. None of his children even showed. They cremated him in a cardboard box, kept all of the money, and would not even let his priest in to see him. People can be very greedy and cruel.
This channel re-connected me so to speak with my childhood, teenage and really I finally saw, a true romance with the ghost story- I hadn't read an anthology in years, the last one being those of Edith Wharton- I seek out and with the exception of perhaps 3 or 4 movies, am disappointed- Master Stanhope I humbly thank you. And for fans of his do check out two friends of this channel, Encrypted Horror Classics and Tony Walker's Classic Ghost Stories, both gents also pen their own spooky tales! Thank you so much for a Revival of Great Literature Spoken in Authentic Full English Words, Some, Multisyllabic and Requiring A Dictionary! Namaste and Sleep Well!
That was bomb shell usually that plot twist I already know it was coming not this time wow and what a sad story really he helped her spirit rest in peace. He should have known that she was not going to come back anymore and he gave her what she needed So she moved on but he couldn’t man how sad and lonely he ended up being what a excellent story and narration … I’m really starting to become a Amelia B. Edwards fan
beautiful story. thank you. your reading was very soulful. 🥀 but i am a bit disappointed that she became a christian, although in the story you feel her longing and wish. one does feel sorry for her papa though. it’s funny how involved one gets in a made up story.
Thanks Alexa, lovely to hear from you. Yes, I thought that aspect of the story was not really explained, though it's part of the plot. We're not given any reason or insight into her thinking, which is unfortunate. Glad to know you enjoyed the story
Yes indeed. I'm glad to know that because Bingo was exactly the literary reference I had in my mind when I read the story. With poor Salome in the role of Mabel, of course. Thanks Erin
@@BitesizedAudio James has his Golden Bowl--Wodehouse his Cow Creamer--Wodehouse wins. Adam Verver vs J. Washburn Stoker--Wodehouse wins. Maggie Verver vs Pauline Chuffnell nee Stoker--Wodehouse wins again. Jerome K. Jerome, Ernest Bramah and Edgar Wallace are others I like as well.
Simon's narration is first-class as always, but I find this writer's style strangely exhausting. I've read quite a lot of her work over the years, and always feel that she's delivering a lecture rather than telling a story. 🤔
@@nonatie8514 Wether I found the video to be good or bad is portrayed by me through the Thumbs up/down buttons. If I were to add anything else, the comment section would get my attention.
