Oke of Okehurst by Vernon Lee

[@JanetCaterina]

The description of the beautiful house with its exquisitely furnished rooms is as wonderful as the thrill of horror that runs through us when the poems of Christopher Lovelock are revealed

[@ClassicGhost]

Yes, let's all move in.

[@feralbluee]

so well written and read. very good writer who understands psychology, personality, how people interact, and how to keep the reader/listener in suspense. enjoyed your analysis - psychological or a real ghost 🌷🌱

[@DenWell-SeedsOfChaos]

I am so glad I saved this one for a rainy day, I have been through all of your videos on this channel from the first to the last and back again, but I set a few aside randomly and this was one of those. Today was NOT a good day and I needed this story, it was long and interesting and read by you. Thank you.

[@ClassicGhost]

It is a more subtle story than most

[@terryjaenke238]

This channel and horror babble are fantastic and top quality productions. Thankyou Tony.

[@ClassicGhost]

Thank you Terry. Ian Gordon rocks

[@stephenrose1343]

Violet Paget was a long time friend of the portrait painter John Singer Sargent. Which likely adds veracity to the description of long days, sequestered in a client's house, engaged in painting a portrait. Thank you for this story, I enjoyed it.

[@mansing]

Oh poor william, I almost shed tears for the poor good chap 😢

[@stardust949]

What a different time, when commissioned artists could just loll around the manse for 2 or 3 months, making sketches and living there for free! Very cool story and I loved the multiple ways it could be interpreted as you graciously point out in the comments. Thanks for your non-hurried and rich reading---quite lyrical.

[@Tipi_Dan]

Right. Art don't come cheap. Perqs like that degenerated into drinks at the bar in the Old West. Now they have dwindled further. Harbingers of decline.

[@genevievemurray7743]

I hope the artist was paid in advance. Free board and lodging is all very well but he’ll be leaving empty handed.

[@rosesweetcharlotte]

I felt like William and Alice were keeping him around longer just because they were both lonely and he was an easy buffer between them

[@mariameere5807]

I’m really glad that this is longer! Right up my street! My cup of tea et cetera! Really well written and really well read! Thank you for doing such an amazing job! This is one that I will definitely listen to A few times in the coming years! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

[@rameyzamora1018]

Truly Tony's work is creative artistry. Agreed - this effort will be savored again.

[@mariameere5807]

@@rameyzamora1018 The way the man describes this woman is amazing! It’s beautifully written! It’s very natural though, The author isn’t trying too hard to make it more poetic, that’s why you feel such ease and flow by listening to it! I could listen to it forever, and Tony’s voice does it justice! If you know some similar stories, or period dramas please let me know! Thanks for the reply! Have a nice day & week!☮️💜☯️ BTW, I love if there is a female character, if not at least a female author, And preferably British, even if it’s a British family living abroad! Thank you so much!

[@ClassicGhost]

it is long. I have just put up A Christmas Carol that will come out on 20th Dec. That's looooooong.

[@mariameere5807]

@@ClassicGhost you are really nice spoiling us Tony!!!

[@carolrios9216]

@@mariameere5807 Try The Beconing Fair One, read by Tony of course. Really long and very satisfactory.

[@offwiththefairiesforever2373]

I just fell for the building lol ! Its too beautiful !

[@christinesbetterknitting4533]

You are such an excellent reader -- I so appreciated the emphasis on the first syllable of "EX-quisite". So relaxing to hear it pronounced correctly. Thank you!

[@ClassicGhost]

You can thank my mother and step-dad for that

[@monicacall7532]

Finding your channel has been a serendipitous delight. I discovered the stories of MR James when I was very sick with Covid 3 years ago and was instantly hooked on scary stories. Psychological horror is so much scarier than buckets of blood and guts. Alfred Hitchcock often said that the human imagination can conjure scenes and feelings of unease and growing terror that the visual arts (film, photography, paintings and sketches, etc.) aren’t capable of doing. Bravo for your excellent choice of stories and your perfect reading voice. Count me as a fan. I’ll be sharing this channel with family and friends.

[@ClassicGhost]

Thank you very much Monica, and you are welcome. It's nice to hear such nice words

[@mlsg8]

Ditto the comments of Star Dust... Enthralling detailed descriptions by the author of the interior architecture and furnishings... Settings that actually change the way the painter originally thought, expected... Each character beautifully written, and i too loved the way you delivered every scene, the painter's interior dialogue, with a growing feeling we're being pulled in to something that's going to blindside us. Deserves another listening. Thank you so much.. I'm always hungry for the next course.

[@martiwilliams4592]

Love this just as much, all 2+ hrs. here 2 years later. Ditto, ditto, ditto, Tony. Masterful, elegant, vivid narration. Still don't like her much, even now after 2 years. Thank you, again!

[@kathleenboone4231]

Such a beautifully written story and made so much better read by Tony. You make everything you read so much better. I love your soothing voice. Thank you for your hard work.

[@suecondon1685]

I love Vernon Lee, such rich imagery in her beautiful prose. Your quiet narration is perfect.

[@ClassicGhost]

Thanks Sue.

[@xmaseveeve5259]

She was a dude.

[@dshe8637]

​@xmaseveeve5259 definitely a woman 😊

[@martiwilliams4592]

What a gripping ...haunted...ensnaring tale you tell! Glued to chair, listening spellbound for 2+ hours, even Dog Nico gives up on me when his Being Cute fails to get my attention. Masterful you are Tony; without fail, but this time you really make a superbe presentation. Exceeding yourself, if that can be possible. I am breathless right now. Thank you for all of your hard work.

[@ClassicGhost]

Thanks Marti. The long ones are hard work but I am planning The Portrait of Dorian Gray soon

[@martiwilliams4592]

@@ClassicGhost Thanks so much! Dorian Gray!!!!!

[@caryblack5985]

I really enjoyed your reading of this fascinating story. The ambiguity of it is also followed in the Henry James Story Turn Of The Screw. I would suggest acquiring a book by Montague Summers Supernatural Omnibus. It is a wonderful collection of both Ghost and Horror stories. The introduction i very learned and is quite insightful. It has been reprinted many times and is readily available online inexpensively . I think you would find other stories to narrate from the book. I would also like to hear you narrate some Sheridan Le Fanu. Thank you for your readings.

[@4444marla]

A fascinating story! It kept me involved the whole time, staging your story as it went. Your marvelous reading really was a huge part of this equation, albeit the writing is very good!

[@juliea.7292]

I listen to so many audible stories, this gentleman's voice is absolutely perfection. What beautiful pronunciation and clarity , he sets such a high bar for me now when I listen to others. Thank you for this channel. ❤🙏 I could listen to him " read the yellow pages, if they still have those around , and feel as if I am listening to Dickens.😂🤗

[@-Reagan]

This has been quite a long read! I very much enjoyed it, and so appreciate your dedication to it, with beautiful tone and evenness. The whole was done in lovely expressiveness! I would think you enjoyed reading to us almost as well as we enjoy being read to. Thank you! This was wonderful!

[@ClassicGhost]

You are right. I do like reading to you.

[@mariameere5807]

@@ClassicGhost Tony I love your generosity of spirit, I’ve been listening to a lot of your stories and I noticed that you used to use the sound effects in the past quite successfully! But you don’t need them because your voice is lovely and I really love your accent, you’re a British narrating accent and when you do other accents, I enjoy that too.

[@mariameere5807]

@@ClassicGhost I’m really, really looking forward to hearing the next story that you have written, I always know I’m going to enjoy it, even if there are no female characters!☮️💜☯️

[@ClassicGhost]

I moved away from the sound effects because people didn't really like them. I would love to do an audio drama though. I will write one.

[@mariameere5807]

@@ClassicGhost that sounds good!

[@RSEFX]

This is quite a mesmerizing story. Thank you for providing it and delivering it in such a perfect manner Based on the title alone I would never have stopped for 2 seconds to consider it worth a second glance (fortunately, I stumbled across it). I feel the title does the story disservice as it is much more interesting than the "book cover" would indicate. (Maybe it should have been been titled "PHANTOMS" or some such? Thanks again! good wishes.

[@ClassicGhost]

+@RSEFX Funnily enough I think it had another title: The Phantom Lover

[@captain2fat]

Excellent narration, Tony. Kind of gives one a sort of du Maurier "Rebecca" vibe. Appreciate your work!

[@cathyb7823]

Beautifully read. Thank you for sharing your talents.

[@maggiedaniels9562]

I have always loved this story. I imagine Tilda Swinton in the lead role, if this was ever filmed. Love your reading style.

[@brograb898]

Oh that’s good casting

[@vintagebrew1057]

My favourite story. Thank You so much, Tony!

[@iamlunalane]

Oooo this gave me chills! What a juicy ending 🥀

[@earthcat]

Good one! Well done!

[@Tipi_Dan]

Wow. Everything I like, well put together. And, I've never read this one--- so brand new. Thanks, Tony.

[@donaldmccleary9015]

Good story and narration! My ADD kicked in during the first 40 minutes, and I was not sure if I could finish it. Then, everything suddenly seemed to flow, and I realized what a great story this was. Your fantastic narration adds to this great story and makes it flow well Vernon Lee is a very interesting lady. She wrote some great works. Your talk about the characters is spot on. I, too, like and sympathize with the husband. Thanks!

[@d.deckert6634]

Love this story .. she was long possessed clearly, madness comes from it all, no priest, or doctor to aid in the story, hmmm .. nor heavenly spirit ... Much is absent as did many of the stories of these time frames. We love your work. Keep doing this. Thank you 🤗🤗🤗

[@ClassicGhost]

I love doing it so thank you for your support.

[@mrs.cracker4622]

Wonderful story and narration! Many thanks again.

[@genevievemurray7743]

I’m wondering if the resident artist was a catalyst to the spiraling events in that she had, from her perspective, a wider audience for her personal drama and Oke a sounding board for his paranoia. What would a resident curate of that period make on the situation and how different a story it would become then. A thought provoking take overall.

[@rosesweetcharlotte]

This is what I was thinking the whole time. It even sounds like the narrator was sort of downplaying their influence over the family.

[@GodOfPlague]

Spoiler: It seems Alice Oke may have been victim to the phrase those who live in the past have no future. She was so obsessed with her "past self" that it cost her own future, if not her own happiness as she seemed quite content. Her poor husband on the other hand not as much. It was an interesting tale thugh and your reading wonderfully brought me back to times long gone.

[@rosesweetcharlotte]

Sounded to me like she wasn't well to begin with, then the death of her child just pushed her over the edge. Plus, if the house was really haunted...

[@nancynickerson4341]

Very enjoyable, thank you!

[@ImCarolB]

That was one vicious, disturbed woman.

[@ClassicGhost]

I didn't like her

[@ImCarolB]

@@ClassicGhost You're kinder than I am! She's a monster.

[@mariameere5807]

I really like this one! Thank you so much!🌟

[@benitaager7567]

Excellent loved listening. Thank you

[@ClassicGhost]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@markheatherington8367]

Wonderful story and narration! Thank you

[@alisonaustin7299]

Did I just hear the hero say he was listening to Morrisey’s “Love is Enough?” 🙃

[@appalachianamerican7171]

Great story, and a superb reading Mr. Tony. I really prefer the longer ones. This one goes straight into my favorites. 👍

[@9digitNo]

To bad he couldn't finish that painting. Now I really really want to know what she looks like...

[@SmallWonda]

Very entertaining - Thank you

[@pisiata3651]

I start loving your voice more and more. This story was somehow ..how to say very deep, interesting but could really guess the end. On the other hand i understand love and wanting all to be well in a relationship, but couldn t him just take her out of that place, that house and go in a long holiday? Or just sell the house n move. Lol sorry i just try to fix their problems.

[@rosesweetcharlotte]

Selling the house was out of the question, but you're right, getting out of the place of her obsession needed to be done

[@ritamartin4782]

It appears that madness was a normal state of being throughout the 15th, 16th and right through to the 20th centuries! That explains a lot.

[@adammicahdouglas]

fantastic reading

[@roxanavasilakis9435]

Thank you so much 🌝🌷🎨

[@dshe8637]

The horror of the supernatural theme is matched, or even superceded by the psychological horror of the poor husband succumbing to the effects of his wife's narcissistic personality disorder. The narrator vacillates between allying himself between the two of them. The vagueness is very engaging. Edit: I've just got to your discussion now and you've put it very well

[@rosesweetcharlotte]

I felt bad for the husband, yes, but I couldn't help but feel bad for Alice. It sounds like she had never been well. Then she married a guy she didn't seem to love just because her family wanted her taken care of. And then she gets pregnant and loses the baby, after which she is left in relative isolation in a large house.

[@dshe8637]

@carlycrays2831 yes, that's one perspective. The horror for me is his position though.

[@PortmanRd]

Poor Mr Oke. He had his cake but was unable to eat it.

[@banterj]

Thanks! Big fan here…I enjoyed this one.

[@ClassicGhost]

thank you 🙏

[@smol9363]

Thank you. This is one of my course's primary readings (haven't finished it yet).

[@ClassicGhost]

It’s quite long :)

[@martiwilliams4592]

Just as ensnaring, gripping this time around with your superbe presentation. I don't like her much either. Thank you, again--all 2+ hours

[@stevewynnearts]

Sounding great

[@janetcw9808]

Good evening 🌃

[@ClassicGhost]

How do?

[@janetcw9808]

@@ClassicGhost All well, a tad breezy in SW Scotland, so probably similar for you, Keep Well and Cooried up Xxx

[@scathatch]

Horrible woman.

[@earndoggy]

So if these two had twins should they name them Okie and Dokie?

[@genevievemurray7743]

Too long. I fell asleep for an hour right in the middle and detected no progress. I was able to pick up the story thread easily. I believe that today we’d say the Oke’s were co-dependents in an unhappy and bereaved relationship. Living people are quite able to haunt each other.

[@PoffinFresh]

Excellent and engaging reading, althoughI my enjoyment of the story was dampened because I found every character insufferable.

[@tomsdottir]

Loved the story and what a fantastic atmospheric reading. Ultimately it's a tale of domestic violence though, being justified by the man observing it along the lines of, "She made him do it." Wealthy men used to get away with this all the time, but can you imagine a lawyer nowadays attempting to justify someone shooting and killing their wife on the basis that "she kept going on about some dead poet"? Actually you probably WOULD find people who'd stand up for such a murderer. And even today, they often go on to kill themselves and their children too. But the double standard still exists: if a woman had killed her husband for psychological cruelty, it wouldn't be "what a dreadful man" but rather, "why didn't she leave?" That's just one more reason I think that ghost stories shouldn't be set in a past period unless there's a really good reason to do so. The author risks missing unconscious embedded attitudes like these which add so much authenticity to the story. I have two siblings on the other side of the Atlantic, and we take turns every week picking a story to read and discuss the following week in a Zoom meeting. I'm going to recommend this story and your wonderful channel to them.

[@ClassicGhost]

Thank you. It's the word of mouth that spreads the news

[@scathatch]

The woman is particularly unempathetic, however you are correct in that she is constrained by the time and place in which she lives, as is the man. She is undoubtedly very cruel to her husband for whom she has no respect. Quite mad, whereas he is a obsessed with her as she is with Lovelock. If she could have been put work she may have been happier. I cant feel sorry for her.

[@applewagon253]

I found this story to be a wee bit… boring 🙊 but lovely narration as always

[@shadetreader]

Eat the rich.

[@ClassicGhost]

As Lemmy would say.

[@XthegreatwhyX]

Wow. What an entitled, elitist, and unlikeable protagonist.

[@rosesweetcharlotte]

I found both Bill and Alice to be unlikable in their own way, but the narrator just seemed to not want to admit that he was making an already tense situation worse. It sounded like he was taking advantage of two very unwell people, both while flirting with the wife and playing friend to the husband.

[@gabbimurphy687]

'God help me Ted, but I've a terribly dreary voice'. A little inflection wouldn't hurt. Not talking McGonagall, but seriously?

[@ClassicGhost]

Did you not hear that masterful 'oh oh, my wife...' at 09:30. I was really pleased with that. And there's a 'but' later one which isn't too shabby. Modesty forbids me from commenting on my wonderful "a terrible bother, isn't it, Oke?' a bit later. But people have swooned at that one, let me tell you. Anyway, you got this for nowt. What you moaning about? Or are you one of they trolls? Or is it moles...?

[@ClassicGhost]

You got it for nowt. Stop complaining;

[@David-Gerard]

Tony, your reply is hilarious! (the 1st one, i.e., but the 2nd is not without humor).