🎬 Experience the atmospheric visual edition of this tale by searching "Jonathan Dunne Horror" on YouTube.

Title: What Was It?
Series Name: Timeless Terrors
Series Entry: 167
Author: Fitz-James O'Brien
Narrator: Jonathan Dunne
Original Publication: 1859
Public Domain: Yes

Description:

First published in 1859, What Was It? by the Irish author Fitz-James O'Brien is widely regarded as one of the earliest invisible monster stories ever written.

When the residents of a New York boarding house encounter an unseen intruder, they find themselves confronting something that can be touched, restrained, and feared—but never seen. Blending suspense, mystery, and the supernatural, O'Brien creates a tale that still feels remarkably modern more than 160 years after its publication.

A pioneering work of weird fiction, What Was It? would go on to influence later classics such as The Horla by Guy de Maupassant and The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells. It remains one of the great overlooked gems of nineteenth-century horror.

This timeless classic is narrated by horror author Jonathan Dunne.

🎬 Experience the atmospheric visual edition of this tale by searching "Jonathan Dunne Horror" on YouTube.

🎬 Experience the atmospheric visual edition of this tale by searching "Jonathan Dunne Horror" on YouTube.

Title: Old Bugs

Series Name: Timeless Terrors

Series Entry: 163

Author: H. P. Lovecraft

Narrator: Jonathan Dunne

Original Publication: Written c. 1919 (published posthumously in 1959)

Public Domain: Yes

Description:

Old Bugs is a rare and unusual early story by H. P. Lovecraft that stands apart from the cosmic horrors for which he later became famous. Instead of ancient gods and forbidden knowledge, this tale presents a somber reflection on addiction, regret, and the devastating consequences of alcoholism.

The story follows a talented young man whose promising future is steadily destroyed by drink. Years later, he encounters a mysterious old alcoholic known only as "Old Bugs," whose grim warnings and tragic condition seem to embody the fate awaiting anyone who continues down the same path. As the narrative reaches its conclusion, Lovecraft delivers a poignant twist that transforms the story into a powerful cautionary tale.

Written during Lovecraft's early literary career, Old Bugs offers readers a fascinating glimpse into the development of one of horror's greatest authors. Although lacking the supernatural terrors of his later masterpieces, it demonstrates his gift for atmosphere, melancholy, and psychological unease while revealing a very different side of his imagination.

This rare public-domain classic is narrated by horror author Jonathan Dunne.

🎬 Experience the atmospheric visual edition of this tale by searching "Jonathan Dunne Horror" on YouTube.

🎬 Experience the atmospheric visual edition of this tale by searching “Jonathan Dunne Horror” on YouTube.

Title: The Red Fetish
Series Name: Timeless Terrors
Series Entry: 160
Author: Frank Belknap Long
Narrator: Jonathan Dunne
Original Publication: 1930
Public Domain: Yes

Description:
The Red Fetish is a strange, unsettling work of early weird fiction by Frank Belknap Long — a tale that moves between the absurd and the ominous, gradually tightening its grip as reality begins to feel unreliable.

What starts in familiar, almost mundane circumstances slowly bends into something more disquieting. As the narrative unfolds, the boundaries between perception and illusion begin to blur, and the reader is drawn into a chain of developments that feel increasingly difficult to rationalize. Each step forward deepens the sense that something fundamentally unstable is at work beneath the surface of events.

Long’s storytelling thrives on this gradual destabilization. Rather than relying on overt supernatural spectacle, the horror emerges from implication, suggestion, and the unsettling momentum of interpretation. A growing fixation takes hold—both within the story and in the reader’s mind—where curiosity itself becomes part of the tension.

The result is a narrative steeped in ambiguity, where meaning seems to shift as it is examined too closely. What initially appears bizarre or even trivial begins to carry a darker weight, suggesting possibilities that are more disturbing precisely because they are never fully confirmed.

Unlike traditional ghost or monster stories, The Red Fetish builds its unease through psychological pressure and conceptual uncertainty. The horror is not presented as something external and clearly defined, but as something that may be emerging from the way reality is perceived and interpreted. The final impression is one of lingering disquiet—an idea rather than an event, continuing to resonate after the story ends.

🎬 Experience the atmospheric visual edition of this tale by searching “Jonathan Dunne Horror” on YouTube.