Born in Cambridge, England in 1900, Frederick Cowles served as head librarian in Lancashire. He also wrote travelogues, as well as books about folklore, children’s books, and 61 short ghost stories, many of which were published in three collections of his work: THE HORROR OF ABBOT’S GRANGE, THE NIGHT WIND HOWLS and FEAR WALKS THE NIGHT. His stories are are often considered in the same vein as the works of M. R. James. Frederick died in 1949.
THE STORIES:
“Passenger From Crewe” (1936) – Set in December, this story begins when a man boards a train and is surprised to find another passenger has somehow slipped into his compartment without his knowledge. This ill-looking fellow passenger relates a tragic tale of something which happened on that train in the past. The real question is how he came by this information. You can listen to this story here for free: https://hypnogoria.blogspot.com/2020/12/from-great-library-of-dreams-24.html
“Room For One” (1936) – While walking through Cornwall in October, a writer injures his ankle near the coast and seeks out transportation to get him off his feet. He comes across a coach driven by a cowled man who says he has room for one more, but what he finds within is horrifying. You can listen here for free: https://www.hypnogoria.com/gl_roomforone.html
“Eyes For the Blind” (1936) – The specter of a horrible spirit attacks its victims by attempting to tear out their eyes. You can listen here for for free: https://horrorbabble.podbean.com/e/eyes-for-the-blind-by-frederick-cowles/
“Death In the Well” (1938) – A student takes the job of becoming a professor’s personal secretary after rescuing him from being attacked by a supernatural creature. The professor is a researcher of the occult and thinks he’s discovered the long lost resting spot of a powerful artifact of dark magic inside the tomb of a beheaded monk located inside an old well. They go there to find it but encounter something else as well. This story is strikingly similar to the M.R. James tale “The Treasure Of Abbott Thomas”. You can listen here for free: https://hypnogoria.blogspot.com/2019/03/great-library-of-dreams-58-death-in-well.html
“Wood Magic” (1938) – A psychic investigator tells the story of his encounter with a demonic wooded area which repeatedly draws women out to it before ultimately killing them. You can listen here for free: https://www.hypnogoria.com/gl_woodmagic.html
“The Cadaver of Bishop Louis” (1938) – The discovery, and subsequent desecration, of a memento mori in the form of the luridly sculpted cadaver of a deceased Priest leads to a horrific visitation. This is a strong eerie story. You can listen to a reading of it here: https://hypnogoria.blogspot.com/2024/09/from-great-library-of-dreams-116.html
“Punch and Judy” (1975) – A man who carts around his Punch and Judy props in a coffin-shaped crate tells a passerby of a horrible mistake he recently made while in a fit of anger and of the impossible thing that’s now hovering nearby.
“Lisheen” (1993) – A priest becomes entranced by a young girl named Lisheen who he takes in after the death of her mother. Lisheen is beautiful but is devoted to Satan, causing the priest to turn from his faith. You can listen here for free: https://www.hypnogoria.com/gl_lisheen.html
Article by Matt Cowan
Horror Delve 