A Terribly Strange Bed

A night of wild luck becomes a fight for breath in this nerve-tightening gothic chiller from Wilkie Collins. After breaking the bank at a seedy Palais Royal gambling den, young Englishman Faulkner is flattered, feted—and gently steered toward a room upstairs to sleep off his winnings. Lying wide awake, he realizes the four-poster’s canopy is descending—silently, inexorably—a murderous machine built to smother and rob its victim. What follows is a razor-taut escape into the moonlit street and a swift return with the police to unmask the house’s lethal secret. Chris Valasco’s narration amplifies the claustrophobic dread and breathless suspense, from the fevered whirl of the gaming table to the awful stillness beneath the sinking canopy. With crisp pacing, textured character voices, and cinematic tension, this performance delivers the full shock and dark delight of Collins’s tale. Perfect for fans of Poe, Victorian thrillers, and compact, white-knuckle listens, A Terribly Strange Bed is a masterclass in mounting terror and elegant storytelling.