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John William Polidori was born on 7th September 1795, in London, to Gaetano Polidori. In 1816 Dr Polidori was given the job of Byron’s personal physician and accompanied him on a trip through Europe. The publisher John Murray offered Polidori £500 to keep a diary of their travels. At the Villa Diodati, Byron’s rented villa at Lake Geneva in Switzerland, the pair met with Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Mary's stepsister, Claire Clairmont.

Dorothy Kathleen Broster was born on 2nd September 1877, at Devon Lodge in Grassendale Park, Garston, Liverpool. Her novels, mainly historical fiction, peaked in popularity with ‘The Flight of the Heron’, in 1925, a best-seller followed up by two sequels. As well as poetry and various articles, she also wrote several short stories, the best known of which is a classic of weird fiction ‘The Couching at the Door’, in which an artist appears to be haunted by a mysterious entity.

Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on 4th July 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, a town synonymous with the earlier Salem Witch Trials. It was instrumental in Hawthorne’s later use of American Gothic and dark romanticism in his writing. ‘Rapaccinni’s Daughter’ is a classic piece of literature from his pen. Set in Italy, it is an unsettling story of romance destroyed by science.

Isobel Violet Hunt was born on 28th September 1862, in Durham. As a young child her family moved to London and Hunt was brought up amongst the Pre-Raphaelite circle of artists. As a writer she was comfortable and talented enough to write across several forms, including short stories, novels, memoir, and biography. Her short story ‘The Coach’ is an excellent example of her black comedy writing. This cramped setting turns into a macabre tour de force delivering literary punch and emotional heft.

Uriah Derick D’Arcy seems to all intents to be a literary pseudonym. Why no-one would want to take ownership of this story from its first publication in 1819 has been the subject of several conjectures. The only settled agreement is that it was written by a man and from there the trail runs cold until it was reprinted in 1845 and attributed to Robert C. Sands. But modern opinion now suggests that the true author was his fellow Columbia graduate Richard Varick Dey, a theologian, who’s religious career caused him to distance himself from the creation of this remarkable story.

Algernon Blackwood was born on 14th March 1869 in Shooter’s Hill, South East London, to a religious middle-class family. His mother was a widowed Duchess and his father was a Post Office administrator. Blackwood was interested in the paranormal and the supernatural at an early age, and had a thirst for anything on Buddhism, other Oriental philosophies, mysticism and occultism. In his writings the weaving of the supernatural into his various works, from ghost stories and children’s stories to plays and long novels is clearly seen.

Vernon Lee was born Violet Paget on 4th October 1856 in Boulogne, France, to intellectual expatriate British parents. In common with several other very talented literary women of the day she felt it necessary to publish under a masculine pseudonym in order for her writing to be taken seriously. Her literary talents were extensive and she wrote a number of novels and plays. Perhaps her best remembered works are her haunting and powerful short stories exploring the supernatural. Lee has often received accolades for these and glowingly compared to other authors such as M R James.

It is World War II, and Britain faces increasing pressure and burden as the Nazis swarm across Europe. When the Duke de Richleau is asked to look into how Nazi U-boats know exactly where and when supply convoys in the Atlantic will be, he discovers that evil occult forces are at work. The duke discovers that a voodoo adept from Haiti is travelling on the astral plane to gain information regarding the convoys.

The great author of Vanity Fair and The Luck Of Barry Lyndon was born in India in 1811. At age 5 his father died and his mother sent him back to England. His education was of the best but he himself seemed unable to apply his talents to a rigorous work ethic. However, once he harnessed his talents the works flowed in novels, articles, short stories, sketches and lectures.

Richard Barham Middleton was born on the 28th October 1882 in Staines, Middlesex. His education was primarily at Cranbrook School in Kent before he began work as a clerk, in 1901, at the Royal Exchange Assurance Corporation in London. There he struggled with constraints and boundaries and by night he took to a bohemian lifestyle. As an author he is most remembered for his short ghost stories.

Louisa May Alcott was born on 29th November 1832 in Germantown, Pennsylvania. She is most definitely a writer of her own experiences. Her father was a transcendentalist, philosopher and educational experimenter who founded, Fruitlands, a utopian community. Well-loved for her classic ‘Little Women’ she was a superb writer in difficult times for any woman, a strong advocate of women’s issues, the anti-slavery movement, temperance and social reform.

Edward Harold Begbie was born 1871. He was primarily a journalist, poet and the author of several dozen books. His works also included studies of the Christian religion. He wrote numerous other books, including on political satire, comedy, fiction, science fiction, plays and poetry. His short stories are highly regarded.

Amyas Stafford Northcote was born in 1864 to an aristocratic family. His literary career was mainly centered on one book ‘In Ghostly Company’ which, at the time, were favourably compared to those of M R James. He died in 1923.

Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin was born on the 30th August 1797 in Somers Town, London. Her mother, the famous feminist philosopher, educator, and writer Mary Wollstonecraft died when Mary was only 11 days old and she was raised by her father. Her short stories, some based in Europe, tackle difficult situations and genres as well the obstacles that women were burdened with in society. Her editorship of her late husband’s poetry was also widely praised.

Jessie Douglas Kerruish was born in Seaton Carew, Hartlepool, County Durham in 1884. Her literary career got off to a very bright start in 1917 when she won the Hodder & Stoughton First Novel Prize for ‘Miss Haroun Al-Raschid’. Five years later came her seminal work ‘The Undying Monster’, which today is still regarded as a macabre werewolf classic. Throughout her career she contributed short stories to such popular periodicals as Novel, Lady's and Weekly Tale-Teller. One of the best was ‘The Wonderful Tune’ and whilst the title sounds light and airy her dark imagination riddles the narrative.

Louisa MacDonald was born in 1845, one of eleven children of part Scottish descent. Together with three of her sisters they were known as the ‘MacDonald sisters’ primarily because of their marriages to well-known men. Her writing career of novels, short stories and poetry is often overlooked, as was the case with so many women, yet her works reveal many talents and a gift for melding odd and weird circumstances into seemingly everyday life.

Richard Ellis-Roberts was born in 1879. In his literary career he was primarily a writer and translator and for short spells the literary editor of the New Statesman and Time and Tide. His short stories frequently investigate dark and malevolent forces. He died in 1953.

There is something about the number 3. The Ancient Greeks believed 3 was the perfect number, and in China 3 has always been a lucky number, and they know a thing or two. Whatever history and culture says WE think 3, a hat-trick of stories, is a great number to explore themes and literary avenues that classic authors were so adept at creating.

Edward Alexander Crowley was born on 12th October 1875 to wealthy parents in Royal Leamington Spa in Warwickshire. His literary works were both prolific and covered many topics. In the early part of his career he published many poetry books, even plays, before his darker and more forceful works came to dominate his output.

On the death of a cruel man, the terms of a secret are demanded from him to no avail. When the facts are finally revealed his true evil has changed everything.