The Confession of Charles Linkworth | A Ghost Story by E. F. Benson | A Bitesized Audio Production
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ก.ย. 2024
- After witnessing and certifying a death by execution, a prison doctor has a series of strange experiences. A soul in torment seems to be trying to communicate with him, using the very latest in early twentieth century technology to make himself heard...
A new, original recording of a classic public domain text, read and performed by Simon Stanhope for Bitesized Audio.
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Edward Frederic Benson (1867-1940) is probably best remembered today for his social satires, the Mapp and Lucia stories. However in his lifetime he was perhaps more famous for his many "spook stories" (as he liked to call them) which he composed regularly for publication in periodicals - usually Hutchinson's or Pearson's magazines - from the mid 1890s through to the 1930s. He was a friend and contemporary of M. R. James, the most celebrated of 20th century ghost story authors, and was a member of the Chitchat Club, the Cambridge University literary society where James would read aloud his ghost stories to a select few. As a writer of ghost stories, E. F. Benson's own output includes an unusually wide and adventurous range of styles and themes, encompassing stories of vampires, homicidal spirits, monstrous creatures, as well as satires of charlatan mediums who became so fashionable in the 1920s.
The Confession of Charles Linkworth first appeared in the early 20th century weekly publication 'The Cavalier and the Scrap Book', on 13th January 1912. It was published in book form later that year in Benson's first collection of ghost stories, "The Room in the Tower and Other Stories'.
Recording © Bitesized Audio 2020.
It's wonderful that you have posted a delectable new collection for us over the last few weeks when it is particularly welcome. Atmospheric and superbly read as always. Many thanks!
Thank you Amanda, very kind - lovely to hear from you, I hope you are staying safe and well in these challenging times.
Always felt this was a story mean to be read aloud. Thank you for confirming my belief with a wonderful narration.
Excellent, thank you Angela!
Tysm for helping to make this time alil easier w/your excellent selections. I also appreciate your generous synopses & images. Very well done as always! God Bless you, one & all!
Thank you Teda R, glad to know that. Best wishes to you
I never heard this tale before and it is riveting. But it could have failed or been mediocre if not for this absolutely brilliant and expressive reading!
Really enjoyed this
On my second listen now
Thank you :)
That was a really good story. Thanks
Thank you loved it
No car chases, no sex, no blood & guts, no mayhem just plain old murder & confession, brilliant story & a great narration, many thanks 🙏
i guess it's kinda randomly asking but do anyone know a good site to stream new series online ?
@Brecken Briggs i use FlixZone. You can find it by googling =)
@Jorge Mateo definitely, have been watching on flixzone for since march myself :D
@Jorge Mateo Thank you, I went there and it seems like a nice service =) Appreciate it!
@Brecken Briggs you are welcome xD
Such a great story teller never miss a night at listening to them . What a narrator .
I have just discovered this channel. Wonderful stories and brilliantly read. Thank you!
Glad you found your way here! Thanks for listening and for your kind feedback
Another outstanding audio experience. Your talents are extraordinary!
I am returning to this story as part of my October mood program. I am struck once again how beautifully you convey the intense emotions of the participants in the story. Benson's father was Archbishop of Canterbury and I always thought it ironic that he wrote the chaplain as the fearful skeptic and the doctor, usually cast as the materialist, as the open minded and compassionate believer.
Surpassing the sum total of every reputedly frighting offering of every edition of every "creepypasta" TH-cam channel or podcast extant in the current wave of third rate drivel that tries to pass for horror writing and narration today.
Kudos!
Very kind of you to say so - thanks for listening, your feedback is very much appreciated
Thank you 😷
Great story. 👻👻👻👻
Great story with great narrator , thank you .
Thanks Sparky, appreciated
As always,nice to rest back and listen.Thank you☺️
Sir, I listened last night to the eagerly awaited story , and I was not disappointed ! Your reading and the story superb , moreover your habit of putting the picture of the author on each 'title page' 'piqued my curiosity so I have started to check on them and learn more about them , with much interest , so I am doubly grateful Many thanks and stay safe .
Wonderful, that's lovely to hear - thanks Bob
🔔📕🕯Many thanks , very enjoyable . 👌🏼
Wow, you really outdid yourself with Charles's voice! Chilling.
Ah, a favorite author read by an outstanding narrator. Thank you!
Very kind, thank you Nancy!
The stories you read best are the ones with many characters like this one (my favorite) and Warning to the Curious (my other favorite.) You do them all so well that it’s more like listening to a movie than a yt video. Hope there are many more to come, thank you!
Thank you Samantha, that's lovely to know! Yes, I do enjoy reading the different character voices. I've lots more stories still to do, so stay tuned! Thanks so much for your kind comments
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Thank you again so much. Hope I don't dream about this one.
Yes indeed. Sleep well....
Interesting, howeve I don't think what he did was so abominable. The mother-in-law was wicked.
Thanks Granny. An interesting point to debate. I'm not sure we learn enough about the mother to know how bad she really was, only that they argued. Also that it's actually his own mother rather than his mother-in-law may have tipped the scales against him in terms of public opinion...
It's so wonderful to listen to your stories at the end of the day. Thank you. Happy Holidays to you and yours! 🤗
Thanks Ann, and to you too!
That was the best ghost story I've heard thus far. Better than M.R.James in my humble opinion. Really engaging. 👍
Thanks Bob, glad you enjoyed it. More ghost stories are on the way, by various authors....
@@BitesizedAudio Thoroughly enjoying your output. 👍
I love your narration.
Thank you!
Absolutely one of my all-time favorites and you presented it so wonderfully!
Very well done. Astute my good man. Tres bien as well. Sorry, I wax philisophical at times. Ha.
Vous avez oublié l'accent, sinon c'est pas Français ...
I've always enjoyed the irony in this story: the clergyman who wants us all to talk to an invisible man who we can't see or hear, and who rose from the dead, but when a doctor comes to see him about an invisible man who... Terrific reading. The switch from one voice to another was seamless, and the atmosphere was as always wonderful. Thankyou!
I've just discovered your channel, great narration.
Thanks for listening, and welcome!
Best heard in the dark.
Thank you for this fascinating story. Rather an abominable crime, however perhaps an understandable one.
Exceptional writing by E F Benson brought to life.
I never tire of your performances Simon. Thank you for every one of them. 🤗🤗
Ahhh, my lovelies...the stuff of goosebumps. Thank you, thank you. Cheers from New Orleans..just in time for Hallowe'en..
Wonderful. Keep them coming!
Thanks Paul. Will do my best!
Wonderful, thankyou!
Now this a quality professional product worth listening too.
Only good thing about 2021 and computer technology, might as well indulge.
Thanks Bitesized Audio
I read this story as part of an anthology many years ago as a teenager, and I vividly recall that it gave me a sleepless night. Wonderful narration indeed.
Obviously, burying people in the back garden has been ever popular. I wonder how many people continue to lie quietly under their rockeries to this day. In this one, the pompous Chaplain could be Bensons father, the Archbishop of Truro.
Ooh a favourite ghost story writer, bedtime treat! Thanks, lovely readings. Have you ever tackled any Edith Nesbit stories? She is queen of creepy.
Thank you Dave. Yes, I have done a couple of Nesbits, 'Man-size in Marble' and 'John Charrington's Wedding' - both are available on the channel and in the Victorian Ghost Stories playlist. I have some more of her tales in mind for later this year. So many wonderful stories and authors to choose from...
Bitesized Audio Classics indeed! Thanks, I’d searched but missed those, I’ll find them now. I really love your channel, one of the best, thanks.
and a third time. I have no idea why I like this story, maybe it's because he wants forgiveness so very deeply and the doctor and the chaplain freely gave it to him. 🥀
Wonderful! Many thanks again.
Wonderful story and narration as aways.
Chitchat Club huh? MR James had some views that's all I'll say here & he chose the best of company looks like...good story this one. Though this is not an MR Janes story he left a mark & I have read a lot of bio on him & looks like I need to read up on the Chitchat members. The premise of this tale was set up early & the belief systems of the Doctor. That's all I'll say so as not to *spoil* it for anyone
Excellent
wow! just so well read. i think i enjoyed more on this second listen. :) 🌷🌱
Superb story , brilliantly read. Thank you! :)
Thanks Dominic
I have to say from the point of view of a Lutheran seminarian, that chaplain is not very good at his job.
All things considered, I think that can be called a happy ending, in its way anyway.
Beautifully read,thank you
Delectable. Your reading makes a medocre tale remarkable, Mr Stanhope. Loved it.
Kind of you to say so, thank you
that was a good one
Thanks for listening
This was absolutely marvelous. Held me spellbound. Wonderful narration--have subscribed. A true treat. Thank you!!
Excellent, thank you for subscribing! I hope you enjoy some of the other stories on the channel (more to come...)
Thank you maye
Mate
I thought this was well done, felt bad for the suffering of the ghost
Unfortunate that the spirit was unaware of the absolute invalidity of Anglican sacraments, including Confession.
Careful!! Your bias is showing.
All these Bite Sized tales are best listen in darkness.
Wonderful! 💖
Really good story, more please.
Thanks Julie. More are planned...
🙏🏽♥️🎩🇲🇽
Beautiful narration
Thank you. 👌💕
Brillante
Love... Thank you!
I say, ripping yarn, old chap. Top notch! 5 monocles out of 5
Dashed decent of you to say so Rheinhart. What ho and toodle pip!
@@BitesizedAudio 🎩🧐🌂👍
Simon, this is my second time listening to you superb presentation of this story. Once again, you have saved my sanity. Thank you.
That's a good un! Beautifully paced, delicately resolved. Wonderful rendering, as ever. Thank you.
What amanda said below - i can't say it any better :) one thing - i love the pictures and photos you use, especially at the end of this one. they give so much atmosphere. thank you :)
Thanks Alexa - yes, I do try to find suitable images for illustration, so really appreciate your feedback!
Marvelous.
This is almost science fiction, using as it does the very newest technology as an essential part of its plot. Lovely. A little glimpse into the utility and uncertainty associated with new trends.
Excellence!
I really enjoyed that story and the excellent narration as always
That was wonderful, I'm so happy they suggested your channel it's lovely!
Thanks for listening!
Excellent story, superlatively brought to life-a treat of a masterly union of author and narrator. Thank you.
Thanks Liz!
I have just recently discovered your channel. I am enjoying these stories tremendously! I love your reading voice.
Thank you Dodie, much appreciated!
Brilliant story and great narration , as usual !
Wonderful narration , really enjoyed it
Thanks for sharing.
Superb narration.
Story is ordinary though.
Appreciate your feedback, thank you. Out of interest, who are your favourite ghost story authors? Thanks for listening
@@BitesizedAudio no one in particular. I just randomly choose.
Any suggestions from your side?