Thurnley Abbey by Perceval Landon

In the darkness of a Mediterranean night, the Osiris slices through the waves, carrying with it a passenger burdened by a haunting tale. Alastair Colvin, a man with a shadowed past, reluctantly shares his story of Thurnley Abbey, a Gothic estate nestled in the heart of rural England.
Whispered to be cursed and haunted, the abbey's notoriety has spread far and wide, striking fear into the hearts of locals and curiosity in the minds of the brave. As Colvin's narrative unfolds, his listener is drawn into a world where the line between the living and the dead blurs, and the abbey's dark secrets threaten to consume all who dare to uncover them.
More show notes (with spoilers) here
tonywalker.craft.me/Sbfh2neVP...
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Music by The Heartwood Institute
[bit.ly/somecomeback]
00:00:00 Start
00:00:12 Thurnley Abbey by Perceval Landon
00:40:51 Commentary
00:59:21 End Music
#HauntedHouseStory
#EdwardianGhostStory
#ClassicGhostStory
#GothicHorror
#GhostStoryNarration
#HauntedAbbey
#ParanormalTale
#VintageHorror
#GhostlyEncounters
#SupernaturalStory
#PsychologicalHorror
#HorrorLiterature
#GhostsAndHauntings
#SpookyStory
#ThurnleyAbbey
#PercyLandon
#AudiobookNarration
#HorrorAudiobook
#HorrorStorytellingKZbin
#ClassicLiterature

[@markcreemore4915]

Oh, daaaamn!!! One of my top horror tales!! In 1968, when I was 9 years old, my parents set up an Easter egg hunt for me. Apart from chocolate- and fondant-filled eggs other presents were interspersed. One was an LP, Wheatfield Soul by the Guess Who (still an album I like a lot), and a collection of sci-fi stories. But it was the third present that really grabbed me by the short hairs and set my tastes for the rest of my life. A collection of horror stories that was later very highly regarded: More Tales to Tremble By. Great, great collection: Sredni Vashtar by Saki, The Red Lodge by H. R. Wakefield, Casting the Runes by M. R. James, and many others. Unforgettable, shiny cover! Of them all, Thurnley Abbey chilled me the most. For months after reading it I could not make myself peek at the foot of my bed after dark, and going to the bathroom to pee in the wee small hours was a heart-pounding ordeal. And we lived in a 100+ year old house then, too, filled with uncanny noises.

[@JennyLane8666]

Fully the coolest parents ever

[@aveg7899]

So glad to hear the dogs contribute their bit to the commentary 😀. Thank you.

[@ClassicGhost]

they are very naughty

[@aveg7899]

@ClassicGhost as all happy doggos should be. Mine was snoring loudly n woke up perplexed when she heard the barking 😄

[@Cat_festation]

Yes! I confess! I tried to get into the locked drawer today! 😂 Happy Friday/Saturday Tony!

[@ClassicGhost]

You too!!

[@kath976]

Hahaha!!! I always notice that particular line in the introduction and it peaks my curiosity … do you know what it’s from? Thank you !

[@Cat_festation]

@@kath976 I too am curious! Maybe a Father Brown or Agatha Christie?

[@kath976]

@@Cat_festation yes maybe a BBC radio theatre program, do you think? Thank you so much for responding! I’ll put it in the comments for Tony and see if he responds! Thank you again💗!

[@franken-pattern]

I'm so excited! Its a Friday night and Mr. Walker posts a good, long story! So wonderful 🎉

[@user-eo1cv1zm5s]

Same here .

[@evelanpatton]

Ditto!

[@soundsilence2604]

I want the phantom nun's side of the tale. Colvin didn't talk to her, he just dashed her to bits. 👻

[@ClassicGhost]

Fair point. He should have listened to her demands. They were probably quite reasonable.

[@cnkclark]

@@ClassicGhost I mean she came all the way up there to see him only to be viciously attacked. So uncouth.

[@alexiswilliamsinc]

😂😂😂

[@LilouViviKiani]

Don’t focus on what people don’t like. I LOVE your commentary. That’s great that you give your listeners options.

[@ClassicGhost]

Thank you, I will

[@amandine512]

@@ClassicGhostYes please ignore the people criticizing the podcast part of Classic Ghost Stories Podcast. I would suggest removing the word “hate” from your channel description as that’s a giveaway to new viewers that some people have criticized that aspect of your channel. Don’t give them the satisfaction. Ignore the haters and just know that you have the best channel on KZbin. Your amazing growth rate in such a short time is evidence of this.

[@cnkclark]

Very much this, this is a PODCAST after all and no one is forced to stay and listen to the commentary. I think your commentaries add a great conversational context and set your content apart in a distinct way. By all means keep it up!

[@stevecausey545]

Why does this keep coming up? Enough, please just carry on.forward any hate comments to me....

[@skeleczar]

Yeah, pretty sure the vast majority love the commentary! ❤

[@meese9140]

Oh I love this one 😂 Fight or flight this man chose FIGHT

[@pamelamazzella672]

Very enjoyable! Love your comments, and your precious dogs. Thanks 👏👏👏👏👏

[@lesleykaygosson315]

I have heard this story before but no one narrated it Properly the way you do it. Story ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Narration ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐❤️ Absolutely love your ramblings and always look forward to them. ❤

[@ClassicGhost]

Thank you so much 😀

[@alanhughs461]

Love a bit of sarcasm 👀😉

[@ClassicGhost]

Not me!

[@kaygee3994]

The babies aren’t annoying.. Poor lil Jasper😍😂😂

[@jptjoyce1]

Thanks!

[@ClassicGhost]

thank you very much

[@MrsJanLong]

Thank yiy fior that. another great story, well narrated! And hi to the dogs, nice to hear a guest appearance!

[@KayBacci]

A great story and a wonderful narration, Tony. Thank you. ❤ I enjoy your commentaries after the stories. I discovered where the line, 'You tried to get into the locked drawer today, didn't you?' came from. ('Psychomania' 1973.) What about the line, 'Everybody dies!' 🤔 Is that from a film, too? What is so terrifying about 'Thurnley Abbey' is that Colvin, for a few minutes, believes he has been the victim of a hoax. Then he discovers it was real! Great moment! 👍

[@tonymardon3710]

All lines from Psychomania I believe

[@Rynewulf]

Oh thats great, Ive been wandering where those lines were from for ages!

[@jenniferlane6720]

Thank you for offering a choice to listen or not listen to your comments after the story. It’s all about choice makes all the difference. Choice. Good storytelling, thanks for sharing your talents.

[@martiwilliams4592]

Just as enjoyable,Tony, also this time around--and " real life" invades. Dog Nico also wants to join in Doggy Squabbles this time, ears pricked up eager to go. As every well-brought up Catholic girl knows, it is extremely RUDE not to address a nun ( "a Penguin" in giggly schoolgirl terms) alive or dead! All that pent up energy! Don' t worry. A nun would probably say the same thing herself. Very entertaining. Thank you!!!

[@ClassicGhost]

doggy squabbles indeed. They are just like small children.

[@mrgeeization]

Oh! One of my favourites. Too excited to hear it get the Tony treatment.

[@Story-Voracious66]

You brought it to life Tony! Yes I think that I've heard it before, but you make it pleasurable to listen! And understand. Thank you Pup-Daddy. You made my weekend better with this wonderfully creepy story and some great tips on writing. I appreciate the effort. 👍💀

[@DenWell-SeedsOfChaos]

I loved the rage, the absolute loss of his control while decimating the thing of horror, the hideous, corporeal undead being that should not be. I wanted to help, I was immersed but angry for a different reason, I knew it wasn't a prank and I hated it.

[@sleethmitchell]

the charm of travel by rail and boat through distant lands has adventure to it that is independent of colonization. it is so seductive that ghost stories thrive BECAUSE they allude to the survival of the dark despite the invention of the light bulb.

[@amandine512]

I swear your voice gets better and better as time passes.

[@ClassicGhost]

I keep upgrading my microphone!

[@amandine512]

@@ClassicGhost the sound quality is fantastic. I wonder if that explains it all though. There’s a richness to your voice that wasn’t always there. Perhaps it was but the old mic didn’t pick it up? Either way it reinforces my belief that you are one of the top voice artists in the world.

[@ClassicGhost]

A better microphone really helps

[@amandine512]

@@ClassicGhost The mic only reveals the quality that’s present.

[@craigoliver8712]

​@@ClassicGhostAnd the fact you are a Northerner Tony

[@suecondon1685]

Oh excellent, I love this story.

[@stevecausey545]

This will be fun. Thanks Tony!

[@yesterdayitrained]

Tony! How did this not appear in my feed until today! Horrors indeed.

[@dukedoomASMR]

What a delightful scary story. Amazing

[@Scarter63]

Ohhh, man, I just felt chills down my spine, from just seeing the title, and imagining how Tony is going to read it! This is the best ghost story every written, IMO.

[@joanieann6179]

Another great ghost story! Thank you Tony. 😊

[@eleshasmith6064]

Always a brilliant job! ❤

[@donaldmccleary9015]

Great story and narration! This is a really interesting and neat story. That man does not mess around, does he! This is a hell of a story! Stories told on ships remind me of my time at sea and the long hours of the night far away from home. Never heard a story like this, though! Great job, my friend! Thanks! I have never heard this story before. I am very glad I tuned in.

[@ClassicGhost]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@TheCthulhu1]

Good one! And yes, you scared the pants off me with that technique in the story about the miner seeking his dead wife. 😱

[@ritamartin4782]

I thoroughly love your dogs! Thank you Tony 🙂!

[@ClassicGhost]

though they are a bit naughty

[@MaggieatPlay]

Excellent, Tony. Greatly enjoyed the story, the narration, and the ramble at the end. Thank you!

[@ClassicGhost]

My pleasure!

[@AndreaDingbatt]

WOOHOOOOO!! Thank you Tony, this is a Treat for me tonight!! I have been Very good this week,,,, so I definitely deserve This!! Tony yet again you rescue me from the misery of being stuck in bed, this time my knee decided to rebel, its a it is a right b*gger when the Mind is 17 years of age, but the body is, Ehem,~ a little further along the linear timeline.... Doctor suggests moving slower,,,,,thinking before I move,,, So,,, I suggested the GP should go and get stuffed!! >~ Chronic Pain doesnt improve anyones Temper!! ;0)X Namaste,/\, Andrea and Jasper. ....XxX...

[@amgroves76]

Wow that was genuinely scary. Enjoyed that very much thanks

[@ClassicGhost]

Very welcome

[@cnkclark]

It's interesting that in this story the ghastly specter doesn't DO much beyond exist and retrieve its chunk of bone. All of the horror is in how the author sells the sheer undoing of the three witnesses who teeter together on the raw edge of madness. And Tony's narration REALLY sells that desperate struggle for sanity. Cheers!

[@amgroves76]

@@cnkclark probably why I find it scary, I find psycholocal horror far more chilling than anything else and far more effective story wise.

[@erynlasgalen1949]

This, along with The Night Wire, is among the most terrifying of horror stories.

[@stardust949]

It's been ages since I've been able to listen to one of your story uploads the day it happens, yay! Totally enjoyed it, Tony---thanks. It's been a heavily moody Friday here in the States (where I'm at) with lots of rain and overcast. I took a long nap, woke groggy...and this story has helped. I think your dog's scrap during the ramble was pretty terrifying. I feel sorry for the Nun Ghost. 😔

[@leonaheraty3760]

Thank you Tony! 😊

[@maryeckel9682]

I loved hearing the dogs! Such a funny contrast to the wild thrills of the story. The poor nun.

[@skeleczar]

Hey pups! 😂😂😂 What cutie (Jasper antagonizing his sisters and then going to you for protection, I mean), and what lucky pups going for such long walks. It really is so lovely to hear you interacting with them and being so kind and appreciative of them, being such a good dog dad. I know of many dogs who don’t have such a great life or great parents, so it gives me such a lot of relief and joy whenever someone demonstrates love for their animals. ❤

[@ClassicGhost]

They are my darlings . yes, antagonising her then running to me !

[@cindyfuller2131]

Thank you. Good story.

[@ClassicGhost]

Thanks for listening

[@thurayya8905]

I love what he does in anger when he thinks it is prank. Whatever it is, it should be wary of HIM!

[@maryeckel9682]

Maybe getting mad and scary is the way to deal with ghosts!

[@terrilee6849]

24°C=75.2°F Great story and I love the cometary at the end as I learn more about the authors and the stories themselves!

[@ClassicGhost]

thanks for the conversion. I know there’s some complicated mathematical operation. Probably not that complicated - just for me.

[@terrilee6849]

@ClassicGhost I used a Google converter....life is just too short! I do have a serious question, though. I joined through patrion not the join botton. I think that may have been a mistake because I still can't watch members only conoent....such as some readings. Do you have any suggestions? I don't want to stop supporting you as it makes me feel proud, in a way, to be doing whatever small as it is, part I can do to help you . Hopefully, this makes some sense, and you can help me figure out what I did wrong. Thank you!

[@ClassicGhost]

you can get all the members stuff on www.patreon.com/barcud

[@user-db2fb1db1m]

💕 it Great writing ✍️, words , descriptions and Perfect Narration Wow , as if time traveling 🧳 on the train with them . This is good stuff - instant classic

[@rachelford8852]

Thank you. Thoroughly enjpyable as always x

[@ClassicGhost]

Glad you liked it

[@edewitt5706]

Your narration is brilliant!

[@ClassicGhost]

Aw thanks :) Very kind of you

[@Tom-vm2wh]

Just want to say I really like the commentary. Sometimes I enjoy it more than the story itself.

[@sandsmehra]

That was outstanding! 👏🏽👏🏽

[@ropeburnsrussell]

Ive heard several people read this, but of course you are the best. Jasper takes center stage!!

[@redshadowlady]

How have I missed this story?! Wow, you nailed it! 🎉

[@ClassicGhost]

Thanks!

[@gurepuli]

❤ man, this was just w oo w!

[@marisaera2353]

Thanks Tony. Very good story.

[@ClassicGhost]

Very welcome

[@durdanakhan224]

Aah! So cute!!

[@mariannwolf4889]

Thank you, I enjoy your commentaries.

[@ClassicGhost]

+@mariannwolf4889 thanks

[@barbiedahl]

Love your commentary, it adds to the experience. Ignore the haters.

[@ClassicGhost]

+@barbiedahl Thank you 🙏

[@markcreemore4915]

You saw The Neff's!!!! One of the greatest bands ever, and maybe the Greatest Goth Rock band.

[@ClassicGhost]

The greatest Gothic rock band absolutely. I nearly saw them at Whitby a couple of years ago and Halloween, but I was engaged doing storytelling the other side of the country.

[@lunablue745]

There are very few (to my knowledge) classic ghost stories where the protagonist chooses the "fight" response over "freeze and flight." That's what makes it prized to me. Reminds me of one Halloween there was a thunderous knock at the door. When I opened it, I was greeted by a horribly disfigured face and a person with knife in hand. I screamed for a few moments, then to my own surprise, I reached out, ripped the mask off and found it was none other than my aunt. That sight made me scream more!😅 Jasper, Jasper...be a lover not a fighter.❤😁

[@ClassicGhost]

He did for sure. Jasper's not much of a fighter really

[@lunablue745]

@@ClassicGhost I love the, as you once put it, "murderous noises" they make!😁🐶

[@cnkclark]

While I love the journey this story takes us on, I've always found it kind of funny that the protagonist is so sanity-rendingly terrified of a brittle skeleton that he was able to, as pro wrestler Steve Austin used to say, "Stomp a mudhole in its ass and Walk. It. Dry." 😂 I would think extreme violence would be pretty cathartic!

[@lunablue745]

@@cnkclark he really does kick some major skeleton ass!

[@michellebastiani6470]

I have a skull on my side of the bed 😂 Actually it's a picture on my wall. Love this story so much, been a few years since I heard it thx Tony 🖤✌️

[@furrypurry]

My birthday treat for tomorrow, thanks in advance x

[@teddydog6229]

You talked about the approaching dread. As best as I recall the very first fear I ever felt from fiction was the scene in Christmas Carol when all the bells in Scrooge’s house ring, the basement door crashes and the footsteps and chains slowly drag their way up the stairs. To this day I can’t read that scene or watch it in one of the old black and white film versions without feeling at least a memory of the deep shuddering chill it gave me as a child. Neither time or repetition has really dulled it much and it was every bit as good in this story. Whether you be some expert authority or not, your advice to milk the dread is excellent indeed. I always think fear is far more effective when it builds in increments. If it’s rushed then - if you’re lucky - what you get is shock which is a very different sensation. And shock, in addition to sometimes just being an annoyance, has a much shorter shelf life. It’s only going to work that once so why bother rereading it and savoring it if there’s really nothing to savor ? I can’t believe this is the first time I’ve ever come across this story but somehow it is. And I know I’ll always be glad to hear or read it again. And as always your reading is as good as it gets. You truly are an artist at storytelling and throw yourself fully into it, dragging us all kicking and screaming. Thank you for all your hard work and obvious delight in scaring the holy living sh-t out of us !

[@ClassicGhost]

I like distinction between shock and dread. that may appear on a ramble some time

[@ainemoroney9965]

Listen closely to this one 😉

[@ainemoroney9965]

My first, first comment 🎉😁

[@karearoto4294]

Thank you 💕

[@davidis7]

I really like the commentary.

[@ClassicGhost]

Thank you.

[@julierobinson3633]

Hastings is in Sussex. The border on the coast between Sussex and Kent is just past Rye and just before where Dungeness Point juts out. (Rye and Camber are in Sussex, Dungeness is Kent). It's my favourite part of the country down there.

[@Rynewulf]

It's an interesting note at the end, how most of us are caught up in the romance of having the money to go in extended mediterranean holidays, with time to read lots of books on famous ships and trains. It's probably not a bad thing, certainly no worse than going on holiday today and the only people I find who take political issue of that tend to be miserable, and most do divide between travelling for leisure and fun, vs travelling on behalf of a government to take over something. It reminds me of all the travelling in mystery stories like Poirot, there's always something happening on a Nile cruise or the Orient Express

[@kathleenwagner7444]

I like the commentaries. They're a treat for introverts: I get to hear somebody's ideas and reflections (and dogs!) without the attendant social anxiety. I like the purely immaterial ghost of the early type better than the more recent ooey-gooey kind of ghost, but I enjoyed this story. (While I'm thinking about it, I want to ask why, in the mult iple volumes of ghost stories my admired M. R. James wrote, there's hardly a single ghost? Plenty of animated dead, and one or two first-rate monsters, but apart from The Rose Garden and perhaps Mr. Humphrey's Inheritance, I don't remember any standard filmy-grey revenant spirits.) I suppose that's because the idea of the soul parted from the body after death meshes so well with Christian theology. There's something disagreeable about the bodily thrift of this creature's care to reclaim its scattered bones, though I admit I chuckled a bit at the thought of it sitting down with needle and thread to stitch together the shreds of its veil. This business of being sufficiently material to be detectable by touch cuts both ways. I felt just a little let down by the story's ending. I thought the windup of the events described would be that the apparition now followed Corwin (or Colvin?) around. Or perhaps we're intended to infer that it does so? I wonder. I'll tell you, though, what struck me most poignantly about the tale. It's Corwin's discomfort about making his request to the narrator to share his cabin, leading him to say "I'm a member of White's," to support his character for respectabllity. I felt quite overcome by the idea of a fear so shattering that it prompted me to make an admittedly fishy-sounding plea to a stranger. The shame of being driven by fear to put onesself in such an equivocal position simply adds the finishing stroke to the fear itself. Poor man!

[@motherpenn_7087]

You said on the frame story that its very of its time, and while that's true i think it's come back around. At least in the early 2010s with the explosion of creepypastas and stuff like nosleep had a massive resurgence of the reader being one extra step removed.

[@ClassicGhost]

tis very interesting. I haven’t been aware of that.

[@motherpenn_7087]

@ClassicGhost it's very internet brained and is split between webseries and forum posts, sometimes with a visual component. E.g. slenderman etc. But also older stuff like Ted the Caver. Sorta internet folklore, sorta found footage. It's probably linked closer to Blair Witch then older nested narratives, but there's probably some sorta connecting tissue there.

[@motherpenn_7087]

Forgot my point aside from here's a thing that exists. I just think it's a neat, I probably first noticed it while young in lovecraft, but it delights me whenever I find more stories like it. Thanks for the reading!

[@ClassicGhost]

@@motherpenn_7087 I like your thinking. write an essay post it on Medium and I’ll read it for sure

[@deadfamous8503]

Mr walker in da house 🎉

[@Bbergster]

Seeing a ghost would force me to reconsider my entire outlook of existence. Not going to put Tony on the spot, but I often wonder…. If he’s a ghost. 😂💚🐸

[@ClassicGhost]

I will be one day

[@kathleenwagner7444]

Who was Nat Paynter, and what was his vampire story? The author throws in the reference as if he could count on the reader's knowing something about it, or at any rate having heard the name. I'm not specially a fan of vampire literature (Stoker wrote the book, in my view), but I'm always interested in an author's mention of another author. I haven't found anything about it on the internet, except links to Thurnley Abbey.

[@LadyEng]

I love the dogs´ comments

[@ClassicGhost]

They're often more insightful than I am :)

[@dukedoomASMR]

I love when the ghosts are skeletal corpse like. Unfortunately most ghost stories have, as you say, a more psychological scare factor but not physical. Do you have any tips for more in this vein?

[@ClassicGhost]

You have to go to sort of 1950s-60s horror and then you get the physical monsters more.

[@SometimeDrummer]

I have to make brown bread ice cream now!🍨

[@ClassicGhost]

Grim

[@SometimeDrummer]

@@ClassicGhost ADHD. Misdirected attention event, hyper focus on the seemingly irrelevant. Brown bread ice cream surprisingly good with spice added.

[@ClassicGhost]

@@SometimeDrummer now you put it like that

[@amandine512]

Tony where can I find a list of your other channels?

[@ClassicGhost]

I have this one, detectives and sleep radio. Links at bottom of youtube channel page

[@amandine512]

@@ClassicGhost thanks.

[@missholly7534]

I'm relieved the nun got her skull back. Do you suppose she took her dust, as well? I'm thinking she did.

[@maryeckel9682]

She probably deposited it neatly in the rest of her skull.

[@ClassicGhost]

Swept it up with her little brush

[@Mr_Flerb]

It took me until about halfway through to be completely certain I’ve heard you - or at least, someone - read this story before and wasn’t simply experiencing deja vu, lol.

[@ClassicGhost]

it wasn’t me, but I guess other people have done it. In fact, I know.

[@Mr_Flerb]

@@ClassicGhost I discovered that when I went back through your videos in search of it! I must have heard it when I was scouring YT for such things, right before I found your podcast and thus needed search no further.

[@ClassicGhost]

@@Mr_Flerb :) Thanks

[@flapjackfae]

"Mangey Levantine." Lordy.

[@mijiyoon5575]

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[@ProleCenter]

Ni chlywais i erioed am yr un hon o'r blaen. Dw i'n edrych ymlaen ato.

[@ClassicGhost]

Gobeithio dy fod di wedi ei mwynhau

[@Rynewulf]

Yes Im all for dunking on the Byronesque! There should be no shame in technical writing, most of us werent born aristocrats idling away on aristocratic country estates and in exclusive salons

[@MsMak12356]

I don't get it.

[@meganmcnelis7136]

Hmm, so you like to mention personal interests in your stories, and you write often of presences approaching from outside the room. Is that something you've experienced? 👻💀🤔

[@ClassicGhost]

I used to lead ghost tours way back. Stopped in 2004 because I needed a proper job. Some odd experiences for sure.

[@meganmcnelis7136]

@@ClassicGhost Very cool! I keep meaning to listen to your haunted places podcast too.

[@joanthompson5606]

My first time listening to your channel...I subscribed instantly! Perfect voice for the classics! Love that you showcase well-known authors, thanks for your great work. 😊

[@ClassicGhost]

Welcome aboard!