Phantastic Stories with Gav Cross

Phantastic Stories 12: The Pond by Nigel Keale

A Phantastic horror story from the master, Nigel Kneale. The Pond! Join me next Tuesday at 9pm for anther Phantatstic Story. Come see the Haunted Book Club - Live! Details here. [https://linktr.ee/haunted_bookclub] Gav Thank you eejits [https://substack.com/profile/43705139-eejits], Claire Pitt [https://substack.com/profile/804662-claire-pitt], Jude Wilde [https://substack.com/profile/169764822-jude-wilde], Josie Ray [https://substack.com/profile/96339265-josie-ray], Rachael Prime [https://substack.com/profile/106115707-rachael-prime], and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app. Thanks for reading Gav Cross: Storyteller! This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gavcross.substack.com [https://gavcross.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Phantastic Stories 011: The Well by W.W. Jacobs Read by Gav Cross

William Wymark Jacobs - W.W. himself, will pop up here a lot… He holds a facination for me. Short story writer. Playwright. Fan of the supernatural. Writer of humour. East Ender. And the author of my very favourite Phantastic Story… And I like this one too. It has that great visual quality that means you could imagine Mark Gatis getting his hands on it and making a superb Christmas TV version. I hope you enjoy it - let me know what you think. It’s from this collection. Haunting Ghost Stories. Plainly aimed at what I suppose is now named as the YA market. (Is that a useful term? I don’t know…) And contains some gentle and twee lovelies like Through the Door: And then switches to Tell Tale Heart and The Red Room. I’ll be doing those… I think I've been reading short classic stories online for about five years now and I'm enjoying the discovery. There are so many! But what I enjoy most about them is talking about them and that's what's going to happen with. https://gavcross.substack.com/s/haunted-book-club [https://gavcross.substack.com/s/haunted-book-club] I will continue to pop up on a Monday and read a live story but I am also going to add recordings to the Haunted Book Club Feed. We will be starting on the 17th of Feb with The Signalman. A Dickens Classic for the get go? Why not? The Trailer for the Book Club is in all the places. John Reppion [https://substack.com/profile/20436514-john-reppion] and I would love it if you joined us. We will dust off a seat in the circle. Light a candle. And listen intently to what you think. https://linktr.ee/haunted_bookclub [https://linktr.ee/haunted_bookclub] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gavcross.substack.com [https://gavcross.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Phantastic Stories 010: The Birthright by Hilda Hughes Read by Gav Cross

Do you know who Hilda Hughes is? Genuinely. There doesn’t seem to be much biographical info about them but they have two stories in the 1934 collection: “A Century of Creepy Stories” I love books like these. They smell right! They smell like a collection of supernatural stories should smell like. Slightly mouldering… I think I've been reading short classic stories online for about five years now and I'm enjoying the discovery. There are so many! But what I enjoy most about them is talking about them and that's what's going to happen with. https://gavcross.substack.com/s/haunted-book-club [https://gavcross.substack.com/s/haunted-book-club] I will continue to pop up on a Monday and read a live story but I am also going to add recordings to the Haunted Book Club Feed. We will be starting on the 17th of Feb with The Signalman. A Dickens Classic for the get go? Why not? The Trailer for the Book Club is in all the places. John Reppion [https://substack.com/profile/20436514-john-reppion] and I would love it if you joined us. We will dust off a seat in the circle. Light a candle. And listen intently to what you think. https://linktr.ee/haunted_bookclub [https://linktr.ee/haunted_bookclub] This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gavcross.substack.com [https://gavcross.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Phantastic Stories 009: The Abbot's Inkwell by Rob Sanderson-Thomas Read by Gav Cross

There are 1000’s of places to read in great depth about the Christmas tradition of telling ghost stories. Luckily, this isn’t one of them. I’ll just tell you the story. Written for and performed live at “Ghost Stories for Christmas” at Norton Priory Museums and Gardens [https://www.nortonpriory.org/] in Runcorn, Halton.. Rob Sanderson-Thomas is the Chief Executive Officer for Norton Priory and a writer. This short story was written, especially for the evening and set in the hugely atmospheric space itself. You really should visit. Either in the glory of sale with its spoiled gardens and exposed archaeology or perhaps on the 29th of December where I will be performing my adaptation of “Gawain and the Green Knight” [https://norton-priory-museum-and-gardens.arttickets.org.uk/norton-priory-museum-and-gardens/sir-gawain-and-the-green-knight-68c88f7969ba9?_gl=1%2awczhff%2a_ga%2aMTQyNzA3MDk3NS4xNzQwMTQzNjM3%2a_ga_ST1XKY0300%2aczE3NTc5NzM4Njgkbzc4JGcxJHQxNzU3OTc1MjI2JGo2MCRsMCRoMA..]. A Medieval text, probably written in a Cheshire monastery to be performed between Christmas and New Year. To be performed between Christmas and New Year in what once was a Cheshire monastery. Merry Christmas… Gav Phantastic Stories https://gavcross.substack.com/s/phantastic-stories-with-gav-cross & Tell Me Your Story https://gavcross.substack.com/s/tell-me-your-story Will continue in the New Year. You can’t stop me. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gavcross.substack.com [https://gavcross.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Phantastic Stories 008: Jerry Bundler by W.W. Jacob’s Read by Gav Cross

Of course the most famous fantastic Story by WW Jacobs is “The Monkey’s Paw”. My love for that Story is inexhaustible but this story has a real charm. I was not surprised to hear it was converted into a play. It was like watching a black-and-white spooky film from the 1930s with those English character act faces across the cast. After this film there will be a Will Hay movie on BBC2. It is of course dramatic. It is of course melodramatic. I am of course both. What do you think? Gav November 2025 Thank you eejits [https://substack.com/profile/43705139-eejits], Kelly Williams [https://substack.com/profile/331706718-kelly-williams], and many others for tuning into my live video! Join me for my next live video in the app. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gavcross.substack.com [https://gavcross.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]