H. G. Wells

Ranging from the macabre to the supernatural, the collection of stories found in Classic Tales of Horror contains some of the most influential horror and dark fiction books of all-time. Included in this classic horror anthology are: At the Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft The Lair of the White Worm by Bram Stoker Carmilla by J. Sheridan LeFanu The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe The Vampyre by John William Polidori A bit more about each book: At the Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft recounts the events of a disastrous expedition to the Antarctic continent in September 1930, as well as what was found there by a group of explorers led by the narrator, Dr. William Dyer of Miskatonic University. Throughout the tale, Dyer details a series of previously untold events in the hope of deterring another group of explorers who wish to return to the continent. Carmilla is a Gothic novella by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu and is one of the early works of vampire fiction, predating Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897) by 26 years. The story is narrated by a young woman preyed upon by a female vampire named Carmilla. The Lair of the White Worm by Bram Stoker is based on the legend of the Lambton Worm. The plot focuses on Adam Salton, originally from Australia, who is contacted by his great-uncle, Richard Salton, in 1860 Derbyshire for the purpose of establishing a relationship between these last two members of the family. His great-uncle wants to make Adam his heir. Adam travels to Richard Salton's house in Mercia, Lesser Hill, and quickly finds himself at the centre of mysterious and inexplicable occurrences. The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen relates the tragic events after the main character Clarke bears witness to a strange experiment performed by his friend, Dr. Raymond. The ultimate goal of the doctor is to open the mind of man so that he may experience the spiritual world, an experience he calls "seeing the great god Pan". He performs the experiment, which involves minor brain surgery, on a young woman named Mary. Years later, as the story unfolds, Clarke learns that mysterious happenings and disappearances are related to this experiment. The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (French: Notre-Dame de Paris, "Our Lady of Paris") is a French Romantic/Gothic novel by Victor Hugo, published in 1831. The original French title refers to Notre Dame Cathedral, on which the story is centered along with the tragic story of Quasimodo who has fallen in love with the beautiful gypsy Esmeralda. The Invisible Man is a science fiction novel by H. G. Wells that tells the story of Griffin, a scientist who has devoted himself to research into optics and invents a way to change a body's refractive index to that of air so that it neither absorbs nor reflects light and thus becomes invisible. Griffin successfully carries out this procedure on himself, but fails in his attempt to reverse it. An enthusiast of random and irresponsible violence, Griffin, as the invisible man, has become an iconic character in horror fiction. The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe follows Prince Prospero's attempts to avoid a dangerous plague, known as the Red Death, by hiding in his abbey. He, along with many other wealthy nobles, hosts a masquerade ball within seven rooms of the abbey. In the midst of their revelry, a mysterious figure disguised as a Red Death victim enters and makes his way through each of the rooms bringing death to Prospero's door. The Vampyre by John William Polidori tells the story of Aubrey, a young Englishman, who meets Lord Ruthven, a man of mysterious origins who has entered London society. Through their travels together, and the unfortunate events surrounding them, Aubrey gradually realizes Lord Ruthven is more than he seems. The Vampyre is often viewed as the progenitor of the romantic vampire genre of fantasy fict

The Wonderful Visit is an 1895 novel by H. G. Wells. With an angel-a creature of fantasy unlike a religious angel-as protagonist and taking place in contemporary England, the book could be classified as contemporary fantasy, although the genre was not recognised in Wells's time. The Wonderful Visit also has strong satirical themes, gently mocking customs and institutions of Victorian England as well as idealistic rebellion itself. Plot summary: The Wonderful Visit tells how an angel spends a little more than a week in southern England. He is at first mistaken for a bird because of his dazzling polychromatic plumage, for he is "neither the Angel of religious feeling nor the Angel of popular belief," but rather "the Angel of Italian art." As a result, he is hunted and shot in the wing by an amateur ornithologist, the Rev. K. Hilyer, the vicar of Siddermoton, and then taken in and cared for at the vicarage. The creature comes from "the Land of Dreams" (also the angel's term for our world), and while "charmingly affable," is "quite ignorant of the most elementary facts of civilisation." During his brief visit he grows increasingly dismayed by what he learns about the world in general and about life in Victorian England in particular. As he grows increasingly critical of local mores, he is eventually denounced as "a Socialist." The vicar, his host, meanwhile comes under attack by fellow clerics, neighbours, and even servants for harbouring a disreputable character (no one but the vicar believes he comes from another world, and people take to calling him "Mr. Angel"). The angel's one talent is his divine violin-playing, but he is discredited at a reception that Lady Hammergallow agrees to host when it is discovered that he cannot read music and confides to a sympathetic listener that he has taken an interest in the vicar's serving girl, Delia. Instead of healing, his wings begin to atrophy. The local physician, Dr. Crump, threatens to have him put in a prison or a madhouse. After the angel destroys some barbed wire on a local baronet's property, Sir John Gotch gives the vicar one week to send him away before he begins proceedings against him. The Rev. Mr. Hilyer is regretfully planning how he will take the angel to London and try to establish him there when two catastrophes abort the plan. First, the angel, who "had been breathing the poisonous air of this Struggle for Existence of ours for more than a week," beats Sir John Gotch with Gotch's own whip in a fury after the local landowner insolently orders him off his land. Distraught to think (mistakenly) that he has killed a man, he returns to the village to find the vicar's house in flames. Delia, the serving girl, has entered the burning building in an attempt to rescue the angel's violin: this extraordinary act comes as a revelation to the angel. "Then in a flash he saw it all, saw this grim little world of battle and cruelty, transfigured in a splendour that outshone the Angelic Land, suffused suddenly and insupportably glorious with the wonderful light of Love and Self-Sacrifice." The angel attempts to rescue Delia, someone seems to see "two figures with wings" flash up and vanish among the flames, and a strange music that "began and ended like the opening and shutting of a door" suggests that the angel has gone back to where he came from, accompanied by Delia. An epilogue reveals that "there is nothing beneath" the two white crosses in Siddermorton cemetery that bear the names of Thomas Angel and Delia Hardy, and that the vicar, who never recovered his aplomb after the angel's departure, died within a year of the fire..... Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 - 13 August 1946), usually referred to as H. G. Wells, was an English writer. He was prolific in many genres, writing dozens of novels, short stories, and works of social commentary, satire, biography, and autobiography, including even two books on war games. .....

Reproduction of the original: The Country of the Blind by H. G. Wells

A Short History of the World is a period-piece non-fictional historic work. The book was largely inspired by Wells's earlier 1919 work The Outline of History. It summarises the scientific knowledge of the time regarding the history of Earth and life and begins with its origins, goes on to explain the development of the Earth and life on Earth, reaching primitive thought and the development of humankind from the Cradle of Civilisation.

Reproduction of the original: Tono-Bungay by H. G. Wells

Reproduction of the original: Anticipations by H. G. Wells

Reproduction of the original: The History of Mr. Polly by H. G. Wells

Reproduction of the original: The Sea Lady by H. G. Wells

Select Conversations with an Uncle, published in 1895, was H. G. Wells's first literary publication in book form. It consists of reports of twelve conversations between a fictional witty uncle who has returned to London from South Africa with "a certain affluence," as well as two other conversations (one on aestheticism that takes place in a train, titled "A Misunderstood Artist," and another on physiognomy, titled "The Man with a Nose"). Odin's Library Classics is dedicated to bringing the world the best of humankind's literature from throughout the ages. Carefully selected, each work is unabridged from classic works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, or drama.

A collection of short stories: "The Crystal Egg", "The Star", "A Story of the Stone Age", "A Story of the Days to Come" & "The Man who could Work Miracles"

The Stolen Bacillus and Other Incidents by the English author H. G. Wells is a collection of fantasy and science fiction short stories. From the author of some of the worlds greatest tales including 'War of the worlds' and 'Time machine' comes this new edition of an old classic, a great addition to the collection. Any profits from the sale of this book will go towards the Freeriver Community project, a project that aims to promote peace and well-being in the world. To learn more about the Freeriver Community project please visit the website - www.freerivercommunity.com

H. G. Wells was an English author best known as a sci-fi writer, though he was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, and even writing text books and rules for war games. Together with Jules Verne and Hugo Gernsback, Wells has been referred to as "The Father of Science Fiction", and his best known works are The Invisible Man, The Time Machine, and The War of the Worlds.

The stranger came early in February, one wintry day, through a biting wind and a driving snow, the last snowfall of the year, over the down, walking as it seemed from Bramblehurst railway station, and carrying a little black portmanteau in his thickly gloved hand. He was wrapped up from head to foot, and the brim of his soft felt hat hid every inch of his face but the shiny tip of his nose; the snow had piled itself against his shoulders and chest, and added a white crest to the burden he carried. He staggered into the Coarch and Horses, more dead than alive as it seemed, and flung his portmanteau down. "A fire," he cried, "in the name of human charity A room and a fire " He stamped and shook the snow from off himself in the bar, and followed Mrs. Hall into her guest parlour to strike his bargain. And with that much introduction, that and a ready acquiescence to terms and a couple of sovereigns flung upon the table, he took up his quarters in the inn.

When four Martian spaceships land on Earth, masses of people flee the cities, hoping to escape from the hostile alien creatures sweeping across the countryside. With deadly heat-rays and giant fighting machine they want to conquer Earth and keep humans as their slaves. The War of the Worlds has thrilled countless readers since it was first published in 1891. (The story even caused widespread panic among a radio audience listening to a dramatization of the tale in 1938.) This gripping tale by a master storyteller will thrill new generations with its exciting accounts of interplanetary travel and cosmic warfare.

A troubled insomniac in 1890s England falls suddenly into a sleep-like trance, from which he does not awake for over two hundred years. During his centuries of slumber, however, investments are made that make him the richest and most powerful man on Earth. But when he comes out of his trance he is horrified to discover that the money accumulated in his name is being used to maintain a hierarchal society in which most are poor, and more than a third of all people are enslaved. Oppressed and uneducated, the masses cling desperately to one dream - that the sleeper will awake, and lead them all to freedom. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.