Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
Alexander now leads a successful and upstanding life, but has a secret buried in his past which he dreads being exposed, so the arrival of a stranger in his office one afternoon may herald ruin. But who is the real blackmailer, and who is the real victim? A lesser-known short story by the celebrated 20th century "weird tales" author Algernon Blackwood. The story starts at 00:01:25
Narrated/performed by Simon Stanhope. If you enjoy this content and would like to help me keep creating, there are a few ways you can support me (and get access to exclusive content):
* Occasional/one-off support via Buy Me a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/bitesizedaudio
* Monthly support on Patreon: patreon.com/bitesizedaudio
* Donate via PayPal: paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=HMMUWZ7URN26A
* Visit my Bandcamp page to hear more of my performances of classic stories, and you can purchase and download high quality audio files to listen offline: bitesizedaudio.bandcamp.com
* Become a Bitesized Audio Classics member on YouTube, from $1 / £1 / €1 per month:
youtube.com/c/BitesizedAudioClassics/join
00:00:00 Teaser and Narrator's Introduction
00:01:25 The Blackmailers
00:27:48 Credits, thanks and further listening
For a selection of Victorian and Edwardian ghost stories by various authors, including Charles Dickens, Amelia Edwards, Edith Nesbit, H. G. Wells, and many more: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLi95qAoufCZISCGdeBUtYxynNFtZCeRrv
About the author: Algernon Blackwood (1869–1951) was an English author and journalist best remembered for his "weird tales" and ghost stories. He was born in Kent and went to school at Wellington College in Berkshire. In his youth he travelled widely, in particular in North America, and gained experience in a startling variety of professions, including hotel management and dairy farming in Canada, as well as newspaper journalism and violin teaching in New York City. He contributed short stories and other pieces of journalism to a number of publications on both sides of the Atlantic; his first short story, 'A Mysterious House' was published in The periodical 'Belgravia' in July 1889.
Blackwood settled back in the UK in the first decade of the 20th century and his first collection of supernatural fiction, 'The Empty House and Other Ghost Stories' was published in 1906. He went on to write many more, as well as 14 novels and a number of children's books. He also found success as a playwright, often as adaptor or co-author, most famously 'The Starlight Express' (1915), an adaptation of his own children's story with Violet Peam. His short ghost stories and novellas remain very highly regarded today: amongst the best-known are 'The Willows' (1907), 'The Wendigo' (1910), as well as a short series featuring the supernatural detective John Silence (1908).
'The Occupant of the Room' was first published in Nash’s Magazine in December 1909. It has been much anthologised ever since, including in Blackwood's own collections 'Day and Night Stories' (1917) and 'Strange Stories' (1929).
'The Blackmailers' first appeared in book form in the 1935 anthology 'My Grimmest Nightmare', edited by Cecil Madden (frequently misattributed to Lady Cynthia Asquith); however it began as a radio piece, originally broadcast on the BBC Empire Service on 11 July 1934, possibly read by Blackwood himself. This broadcast was part of a series entitled 'Nightmare', produced by Cecil Madden throughout 1934, also including works by popular contemporary authors such as Marjorie Bowen and Cynthia Asquith (whose story 'The Follower' was the opening entry of the series, hence the confusion sometimes attributing the whole volume to her).
Recording © Bitesized Audio 2026.
Alexander now leads a successful and upstanding life, but has a secret buried in his past which he dreads being exposed, so the arrival of a stranger in his office one afternoon may herald ruin. But who is the real blackmailer, and who is the real victim? A lesser-known short story by the celebrated 20th century "weird tales" author Algernon Blackwood. The story starts at 00:01:25
Narrated/performed by Simon Stanhope. If you enjoy this content and would like to help me keep creating, there are a few ways you can support me (and get access to exclusive content):
* Occasional/one-off support via Buy Me a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/bitesizedaudio
* Monthly support on Patreon: patreon.com/bitesizedaudio
* Donate via PayPal: paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=HMMUWZ7URN26A
* Visit my Bandcamp page to hear more of my performances of classic stories, and you can purchase and download high quality audio files to listen offline: bitesizedaudio.bandcamp.com
* Become a Bitesized Audio Classics member on YouTube, from $1 / £1 / €1 per month:
youtube.com/c/BitesizedAudioClassics/join
00:00:00 Teaser and Narrator's Introduction
00:01:25 The Blackmailers
00:27:48 Credits, thanks and further listening
For a selection of Victorian and Edwardian ghost stories by various authors, including Charles Dickens, Amelia Edwards, Edith Nesbit, H. G. Wells, and many more: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLi95qAoufCZISCGdeBUtYxynNFtZCeRrv
About the author: Algernon Blackwood (1869–1951) was an English author and journalist best remembered for his "weird tales" and ghost stories. He was born in Kent and went to school at Wellington College in Berkshire. In his youth he travelled widely, in particular in North America, and gained experience in a startling variety of professions, including hotel management and dairy farming in Canada, as well as newspaper journalism and violin teaching in New York City. He contributed short stories and other pieces of journalism to a number of publications on both sides of the Atlantic; his first short story, 'A Mysterious House' was published in The periodical 'Belgravia' in July 1889.
Blackwood settled back in the UK in the first decade of the 20th century and his first collection of supernatural fiction, 'The Empty House and Other Ghost Stories' was published in 1906. He went on to write many more, as well as 14 novels and a number of children's books. He also found success as a playwright, often as adaptor or co-author, most famously 'The Starlight Express' (1915), an adaptation of his own children's story with Violet Peam. His short ghost stories and novellas remain very highly regarded today: amongst the best-known are 'The Willows' (1907), 'The Wendigo' (1910), as well as a short series featuring the supernatural detective John Silence (1908).
'The Occupant of the Room' was first published in Nash’s Magazine in December 1909. It has been much anthologised ever since, including in Blackwood's own collections 'Day and Night Stories' (1917) and 'Strange Stories' (1929).
'The Blackmailers' first appeared in book form in the 1935 anthology 'My Grimmest Nightmare', edited by Cecil Madden (frequently misattributed to Lady Cynthia Asquith); however it began as a radio piece, originally broadcast on the BBC Empire Service on 11 July 1934, possibly read by Blackwood himself. This broadcast was part of a series entitled 'Nightmare', produced by Cecil Madden throughout 1934, also including works by popular contemporary authors such as Marjorie Bowen and Cynthia Asquith (whose story 'The Follower' was the opening entry of the series, hence the confusion sometimes attributing the whole volume to her).
Recording © Bitesized Audio 2026.
