Oscar Cook's guest appearances

Oscar Cook

Classic Ghost Stories

Silver Scream Queens

EnCrypted: The Classic Horror Podcast

Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Richard Middleton

Algernon Blackwood

Ambrose Bierce

Sir Andrew Caldecott

Erich Zann

Jonas Lie

Nigel Kneale

Shirley Jackson

Rosemary Timperley

Joseph Payne Brennan

Truman Capote

Evelyn Waugh

Gerald Durrell

Mr Jones

OwlTail

Boozy Warwick regales his friend with the macabre and gruesome tale of a concert violinist who keeps visiting his manicurist even though his hands are slowly rotting away.  This is an audio presentation of "His Beautful Hands" by Oscar Cook, read by Jasper L'Estrange for EnCrypted: The Classic Horror Podcast.  "His Beautiful Hands" was first published in 1931.   💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀   Please support my work Researching, reading, re-reading, recording, mixing, uploading,  promoting each of these short story audio presentations takes many hours  - possibly more than you'd imagine. You can say support me in the  following ways:    Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/encryptedpod One-off donation:    https://www.buymeacoffee.com/encryptedpod https://ko-fi.com/encryptedpodcast Get in touch!    I like to hear from listeners, so feel free to reach out to me on the  socials. If you want to discuss the show, talk business, or have any  ideas for stories you'd like to hear in future episodes, contact me:  encryptedpod@gmail.com     💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀   About the episode:   "His Beautiful Hands" by Oscar Cook.  First published in "At Dead of Night" (ed. Christine Campbell Thomson), published by Selwyn &amp;  Blount, 1931.       Credit where credit's due:   Incidental music:   Ominous by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4162-ominous License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license End music:  The Black Waltz by Scott Buckley | www.scottbuckley.com.au Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Sound effects: All sound effects sourced at Freesound.  The recording was created using Audacity and BandLab. Podcast hosted by Anchor.    💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀

Boozy Warwick regales his friend with the macabre and gruesome tale of a concert violinist who keeps visiting his manicurist even though his hands are slowly rotting away.  This is an audio presentation of "His Beautful Hands" by Oscar Cook, read by Jasper L'Estrange for EnCrypted: The Classic Horror Podcast.  "His Beautiful Hands" was first published in 1931.   💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀   Please support my work Researching, reading, re-reading, recording, mixing, uploading,  promoting each of these short story audio presentations takes many hours  - possibly more than you'd imagine. You can say support me in the  following ways:    Patreon: <a href="" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.patreon.com/encryptedpod</a> One-off donation:    <a href="" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.buymeacoffee.com/encryptedpod</a> <a href="" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://ko-fi.com/encryptedpodcast</a> Get in touch!    I like to hear from listeners, so feel free to reach out to me on the  socials. If you want to discuss the show, talk business, or have any  ideas for stories you'd like to hear in future episodes, contact me:  encryptedpod@gmail.com     💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀   About the episode:   "His Beautiful Hands" by Oscar Cook.  First published in "At Dead of Night" (ed. Christine Campbell Thomson), published by Selwyn &amp;  Blount, 1931.       Credit where credit's due:   Incidental music:   Ominous by Kevin MacLeod Link: <a href="" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4162-ominous</a> License: <a href="" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://filmmusic.io/standard-license</a> End music:  The Black Waltz by Scott Buckley | <a href="" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.scottbuckley.com.au</a> Music promoted by <a href="" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.chosic.com</a> Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) <a href="" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</a> Sound effects: All sound effects sourced at Freesound.  The recording was created using Audacity and BandLab. Podcast hosted by Anchor.    💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀

"His Beautiful Hands" by Oscar Cook

His Beautiful Hands by Oscar CookThis will be the second of Oscar Cook's stories we have read, the first being Boomerang. Boomerang is https://player.captivate.fm/episode/f7098556-f342-4667-b9f2-65424796b616 (here)It was danged hard to find a copy of His Beautiful Hands, but I succeeded. HBH is rated as one of the best horror stories in those inevitable lists that pop up on the Internet, almost certainly compiled by people who never read it because print copies of the anthologies it was in are either out of print or cost hundreds of cash units (dollars, pounds, euros, roubles, take your pick). Cook's work, I realise now, is characterised by graphic body horror rather than the supernatural so it is a horror story rather than a ghost story. He deliberately sets out to shock us, but shocks modern listeners most probably by accident.What I mean is that we have become inured to graphic horror, after all we have had The Saw and The Human Caterpillar (neither of which I've seen) and the horrid bit in Midsommer when the old folks jump off the cliff and are then finished off... but let's not go into that. Then he throws in a bit of incest. That's never nice and I think even modern listeners find that shocking. As an aside, I actually deplore the race for shock that you see in detective series on TV. Once theft was enough (if you go back far enough), then murder became a staple, then we had serial killers, serial rapists and now we have a regrettably frequent addition of paedophilia sometimes with incest thrown in. I prefer Miss Marple personally, and I'd say to the TV companies: don't pander after these most base shock-jock tactics, you're better than that. I saw the Dig on Netflix recently with Ralph Fiennes. How brilliant that was. And I like the Detectorists also. But back to Oscar Cook.Oscar Cook BiographyRichard Martin Oscar Cook was born in London in 1888 and died also in London in 1952. His father owned an athletic goods company and they were fairly well-off. He seems to have been brought up in Broxbourne just outside London and his first job was a clerk there but very shortly afterwards he went to make his fortune in a rubber planation in Borneo. Unfortunately he did not get on well and was sacked, but remained in Borneo and got another job in the British Colonial Service.He was an administrator of the British Empire and worked in North Borneo from 1911 until 1918 and then had District Officer posts. This was a position in the British Colonial Service and these administrators and often magistrate was at the heart of colonial administration in the British colonies.He was married in 1924 to Christine Campbell Thomson but got divorced in 1938.When he returned to England he wrote an autobiography of his time in Borneo and thereafter wrote supernatural stories, many of which appeared in various anthologies. This story appeared in the 2nd Pan Book of Horror. I used to read those books when I was a kid, which may explain a lot.Cook bought a controlling interest in a publishing company which produced a series of horror anthologies called Not at Night which ran to twelve books.His Beautiful HandsStarts like Boomerang I think with the device of the urbane Englishman in his club in the Far East. This fellow has few adventures and relies on his unsteady journalist friend Warwick to tell him the ghastly tales. He even warns us it is going to be horrible. And it is. As the story goes structurally, it's pretty neat. It has at least two twists, probably three: that the manicurist poisoned him so his fingers drop off (ideal revenge on a violinist); that she is his daughter; and that the child is his. It is gSupport the showVisit us here: www.ghostpod.orgBuy me a coffee if you're glad I do this: https://ko-fi.com/tonywalkerIf you really want to help me, become a Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/barcudMusic by The Heartwood Institute: https://bit.ly/somecomeback

His Beautiful Hands by Oscar CookThis will be the second of Oscar Cook's stories we have read, the first being Boomerang. Boomerang is <a href="https://player.captivate.fm/episode/f7098556-f342-4667-b9f2-65424796b616" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://player.captivate.fm/episode/f7098556-f342-4667-b9f2-65424796b616</a> (here)It was danged hard to find a copy of His Beautiful Hands, but I succeeded. HBH is rated as one of the best horror stories in those inevitable lists that pop up on the Internet, almost certainly compiled by people who never read it because print copies of the anthologies it was in are either out of print or cost hundreds of cash units (dollars, pounds, euros, roubles, take your pick). Cook's work, I realise now, is characterised by graphic body horror rather than the supernatural so it is a horror story rather than a ghost story. He deliberately sets out to shock us, but shocks modern listeners most probably by accident.What I mean is that we have become inured to graphic horror, after all we have had The Saw and The Human Caterpillar (neither of which I've seen) and the horrid bit in Midsommer when the old folks jump off the cliff and are then finished off... but let's not go into that. Then he throws in a bit of incest. That's never nice and I think even modern listeners find that shocking. As an aside, I actually deplore the race for shock that you see in detective series on TV. Once theft was enough (if you go back far enough), then murder became a staple, then we had serial killers, serial rapists and now we have a regrettably frequent addition of paedophilia sometimes with incest thrown in. I prefer Miss Marple personally, and I'd say to the TV companies: don't pander after these most base shock-jock tactics, you're better than that. I saw the Dig on Netflix recently with Ralph Fiennes. How brilliant that was. And I like the Detectorists also. But back to Oscar Cook.Oscar Cook BiographyRichard Martin Oscar Cook was born in London in 1888 and died also in London in 1952. His father owned an athletic goods company and they were fairly well-off. He seems to have been brought up in Broxbourne just outside London and his first job was a clerk there but very shortly afterwards he went to make his fortune in a rubber planation in Borneo. Unfortunately he did not get on well and was sacked, but remained in Borneo and got another job in the British Colonial Service.He was an administrator of the British Empire and worked in North Borneo from 1911 until 1918 and then had District Officer posts. This was a position in the British Colonial Service and these administrators and often magistrate was at the heart of colonial administration in the British colonies.He was married in 1924 to Christine Campbell Thomson but got divorced in 1938.When he returned to England he wrote an autobiography of his time in Borneo and thereafter wrote supernatural stories, many of which appeared in various anthologies. This story appeared in the 2nd Pan Book of Horror. I used to read those books when I was a kid, which may explain a lot.Cook bought a controlling interest in a publishing company which produced a series of horror anthologies called Not at Night which ran to twelve books.His Beautiful HandsStarts like Boomerang I think with the device of the urbane Englishman in his club in the Far East. This fellow has few adventures and relies on his unsteady journalist friend Warwick to tell him the ghastly tales. He even warns us it is going to be horrible. And it is. As the story goes structurally, it's pretty neat. It has at least two twists, probably three: that the manicurist poisoned him so his fingers drop off (ideal revenge on a violinist); that she is his daughter; and that the child is his. It is g<a href="https://www.patreon.com/barcud" rel="payment nofollow" target="_blank">Support the show</a>Visit us here: <a href="http://www.ghostpod.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.ghostpod.org</a> Buy me a coffee if you're glad I do this: <a href="https://ko-fi.com/tonywalker" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://ko-fi.com/tonywalker</a> If you really want to help me, become a Patreon: <a href="https://www.patreon.com/barcud" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.patreon.com/barcud</a> Music by The Heartwood Institute: <a href="https://bit.ly/somecomeback" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://bit.ly/somecomeback</a>

S02E30 His Beautiful Hands by Oscar Cook

Boomerang by Oscar CookFirst of all, this story was requested by Peter Denyer. To be fair he merely suggested it and I went and hunted it down, so I accept all responsiblity for the gruesomeness of it.Richard Martin Oscar Cook was born in London in 1888 and died also in London in 1952. His father owned an athletic goods company and they were fairly well-off. He seems to have been brought up in Broxbourne just outside London and his first job was a clerk there but very shortly afterwards he went to make his fortune in a rubber planation in Borneo. Unfortunately he did not get on well and was sacked, but remained in Borneo and got another job in the British Colonial Service.He was an administrator of the British Empire and worked in North Borneo from 1911 until 1918 and then had District Officer posts. This was a position in the British Colonial Service and these administrators and often magistrate was at the heart of colonial administration in the British colonies.He was married in 1924 to Christine Campbell Thomson but got divorced in 1938.When he returned to England he wrote an autobiography of his time in Borneo and thereafter wrote supernatural stories, many of which appeared in various anthologies. This story appeared in the 2nd Pan Book of Horror. I used to read those books when I was a kid, which may explain a lot.Cook bought a controlling interest in a publishing company which produced a series of horror anthologies called Not at Night which ran to twelve books.BoomerangBoomerang is usually used to refer to a weapon of wood made by the native people of Australia which reputedly returns to the person who throws it. This story Boomerang first appeared in an antholog in 1931 and was later dramatised for television as The Caterpillar broadcast in March 1972. Cook's most famous story is His Beautiful Hands which I may read at some point in the future. There are several mysteries about this story. Why is it called Boomerang?Why was it called The Caterpillar when filmed, because it's about an earwing, not a caterpillar.The story pushes the gruesome in a fairly predictable way. It's very linear and we have Warwick the narrator pausing to ramp up the tension and adding horrid detail after horrid detail. Firstly, there's an earwig that's really big. Then it eats wax, but best of all it likes human earwax. Then it goes in the ear, and it is going to eat its way right through to the other ear (a fearsome feat of navigation for the earwig, and why would it bother coming out?) And then ha ha! It's a female so it's going to lay eggs!!!! What horror.The other elements seem to come from the Boy's Own Stories of the later British Empire, but also seen in stories of the American West where men wrestle for hunting knives to fight over women who stand and watch, terrified but fascinated. They had some funny ideas about men and women in those days.There are clear traces of its time and period in the casual sexism towards women who always fall to flirting and never know the consequences of the games they play. They can be stolen by other men (presumably not by other women...) and they are prone to irrational actions. At least the narrator gains the moral high ground over Warwick in that he insists that Rhona must have a point of view.When I was a young man I had a girlfriend who's mother had been brought up on a tea plantation in Ceylon (as it was then). It gave me a glimpse into a vanished world of the British Empire and reading this story brough back whiffs of that world as told to me by my girlfriend's mum.You can watch The Caterpillar on Daily Motion https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xgo6g (here)SupporSupport the showVisit us here: www.ghostpod.orgBuy me a coffee if you're glad I do this: https://ko-fi.com/tonywalkerIf you really want to help me, become a Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/barcudMusic by The Heartwood Institute: https://bit.ly/somecomeback

Boomerang by Oscar CookFirst of all, this story was requested by Peter Denyer. To be fair he merely suggested it and I went and hunted it down, so I accept all responsiblity for the gruesomeness of it.Richard Martin Oscar Cook was born in London in 1888 and died also in London in 1952. His father owned an athletic goods company and they were fairly well-off. He seems to have been brought up in Broxbourne just outside London and his first job was a clerk there but very shortly afterwards he went to make his fortune in a rubber planation in Borneo. Unfortunately he did not get on well and was sacked, but remained in Borneo and got another job in the British Colonial Service.He was an administrator of the British Empire and worked in North Borneo from 1911 until 1918 and then had District Officer posts. This was a position in the British Colonial Service and these administrators and often magistrate was at the heart of colonial administration in the British colonies.He was married in 1924 to Christine Campbell Thomson but got divorced in 1938.When he returned to England he wrote an autobiography of his time in Borneo and thereafter wrote supernatural stories, many of which appeared in various anthologies. This story appeared in the 2nd Pan Book of Horror. I used to read those books when I was a kid, which may explain a lot.Cook bought a controlling interest in a publishing company which produced a series of horror anthologies called Not at Night which ran to twelve books.BoomerangBoomerang is usually used to refer to a weapon of wood made by the native people of Australia which reputedly returns to the person who throws it. This story Boomerang first appeared in an antholog in 1931 and was later dramatised for television as The Caterpillar broadcast in March 1972. Cook's most famous story is His Beautiful Hands which I may read at some point in the future. There are several mysteries about this story. Why is it called Boomerang?Why was it called The Caterpillar when filmed, because it's about an earwing, not a caterpillar.The story pushes the gruesome in a fairly predictable way. It's very linear and we have Warwick the narrator pausing to ramp up the tension and adding horrid detail after horrid detail. Firstly, there's an earwig that's really big. Then it eats wax, but best of all it likes human earwax. Then it goes in the ear, and it is going to eat its way right through to the other ear (a fearsome feat of navigation for the earwig, and why would it bother coming out?) And then ha ha! It's a female so it's going to lay eggs!!!! What horror.The other elements seem to come from the Boy's Own Stories of the later British Empire, but also seen in stories of the American West where men wrestle for hunting knives to fight over women who stand and watch, terrified but fascinated. They had some funny ideas about men and women in those days.There are clear traces of its time and period in the casual sexism towards women who always fall to flirting and never know the consequences of the games they play. They can be stolen by other men (presumably not by other women...) and they are prone to irrational actions. At least the narrator gains the moral high ground over Warwick in that he insists that Rhona must have a point of view.When I was a young man I had a girlfriend who's mother had been brought up on a tea plantation in Ceylon (as it was then). It gave me a glimpse into a vanished world of the British Empire and reading this story brough back whiffs of that world as told to me by my girlfriend's mum.You can watch The Caterpillar on Daily Motion <a href="https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xgo6g" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xgo6g</a> (here)Suppor<a href="https://www.patreon.com/barcud" rel="payment nofollow" target="_blank">Support the show</a>Visit us here: <a href="http://www.ghostpod.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.ghostpod.org</a> Buy me a coffee if you're glad I do this: <a href="https://ko-fi.com/tonywalker" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://ko-fi.com/tonywalker</a> If you really want to help me, become a Patreon: <a href="https://www.patreon.com/barcud" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.patreon.com/barcud</a> Music by The Heartwood Institute: <a href="https://bit.ly/somecomeback" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://bit.ly/somecomeback</a>

Episode 55 Boomerang by Oscar Cook

In this week's minisode, Stephanie reads Boomerang by Oscar Cook for your creepy pleasure. Have a story for us to read next week? Send them to us at silverscreamqueens.com!

In this week's minisode, Stephanie reads Boomerang by Oscar Cook for your creepy pleasure. Have a story for us to read next week? Send them to us at <a href="http://silverscreamqueens.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">silverscreamqueens.com</a>!