The Spectre Spiders (Cryptofiction Classics - Weird Tales of Strange Creatures)

Book excerpt: This early work by William J. Wintle was originally published in 1921 and we are now republishing it as part of our Cryptofiction Classics series. 'The Spectre Spiders' is a short story about a man whose life and dreams are plagued by spiders. He started writing in his thirties, and during the early part of the 20th century produced two much-circulated essays: “Life in Our New Century” (1901) and “Can You Explain It? True Stories of the Ghost World” (1903). Later, he turned to fiction, producing a number of well-remembered stories, including “The Red Rosary”, “When the Twilight Fell”, “The House on the Cliff”, “The Ghost at the Blue Dragon”, “The Spectre Spiders”, “The Footsteps on the Stairs”, “The Chamber of Doom”, “When Time Stood Still”, and “The Black Cat”. These and others were collected in a 1921 collection entitled Ghost Gleams. Wintle died in 1934, aged 73. The Cryptofiction Classics series contains a collection of wonderful stories from some of the greatest authors in the genre, including Ambrose Bierce, Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Jack London. From its roots in cryptozoology, this genre features bizarre, fantastical, and often terrifying tales of mythical and legendary creatures. Whether it be giant spiders, werewolves, lake monsters, or dinosaurs, the Cryptofiction Classics series offers a fantastic introduction to the world of weird creatures in fiction.