UNITED KINGDOM AUTHOR · FICTION
Michael Arlen
Also known as: Dikran Kouyoumdjian
An Armenian, born Dikran Kouyoumdjian in Bulgaria, Arlen became a popular writer in England in the '20s (Wikipedia, Tartarus). After coming to England to complete his education, Kouyoumdjian adopted the name Michael Arien following his decision to become a British citizen and pursue a literary career. Although Arlen published his first book at the early age of eighteen, it was not until eleven years later that he achieved real success with The Green Hat (1924). A fashionable series of best-selling society novels and short stories followed, perfectly capturing the hedonistic spirit of the times. Arlen eventually married into the English upper-class society he so often satirised and moved first to France and later to Hollywood to develop his career. Among his fictional works, Arlen wrote a number of supernatural pieces which demonstrate a variety of literary infuences ranging from Saki and Oscar Wilde to Arthur Machen. [Source: Shadows in the Attic: A Guide to British Supernatural Fiction 1820-1950, Neil Wilson (2000).] Michael J Arlen, who also appears in Open Library (here) is probably the son mentioned in the Wikipedia link.
IT WAS SUMMER, a hot day.
— from Ghost Stories, 1999
Most acclaimed
The Great Book of Thrillers
H2, Etc. / A.J. Alan -- The smell in the library / Michael Arlen -- The man in the bell / W.E. Aytoun -- The mysterious man / Honore de Balzac -- The folding doors / Marjorie Bowen -- The lady of Glenwith Grange / Wilkie Collins -- The new sun / J.S. Fletcher -- Hot water / Val Gielgud -- The island / L.P. Hartley -- Edward Randolph's portrait / Nathaniel Hawthorne -- The spectre bridegroom / Washington Irving -- [Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar]( / Edgar Allan Poe -- The tarn / Hugh Walpole -- The resurrectionist / Samuel Warren -- The blue room / Prosper Merimee -- The cafe of terror / E. Phillips Oppenheim -- The avenging chance / Anthony Berkeley -- A lesson in crime / G.D.H. and M. Cole -- Mr. Pemberton's commission / Freeman Wills Crofts -- Who killed Castelvetri? / Gilbert Frankau -- The aluminium dagger / R. Austin Freeman -- The Glyston slander / Herbert Jenkins -- Arsene Lupin in prison / Maurice Leblanc -- The Fenchurch street mystery / Baroness Orczy -- Peacock House / Eden Phillpotts -- The vanishing diamond / John Rhode -- Staley Fleming's hallucination / Ambrose Bierce -- The Italian's story / Catherine Crowe -- The ghost of Dorothy Dingley / Daniel Defoe -- To be taken with a grain of salt / Charles Dickens -- The phantom coach / Amelia B. Edwards -- Madam Crowl's ghost / J. Sheridan Le Fanu -- Black coffee / Jeffery Farnol -- The black ferry / John Galt -- The dreamland bride / Theophile Gautier -- The dilemma of Phadrig / Gerald Griffin -- Mary Burnet / James Hogg -- The three sisters / W.W. Jacobs -- The doctor's ghost / Norman Macleod. Mr. Kempe / Walter De La Mare -- The tapestried chamber / Sir Walter Scott -- The frontier guards / H. Russell Wakefield -- The red room / H.G. Wells -- The sphinx without a secret / Oscar Wilde -- The gardener / E.F. Benson -- A Spanish ghost story / Anon. --
Ghost Stories
1999
An exciting collection of tales from the twilight world of haunted houses and hair-raising spectres is contained in this spine-chilling anthology. Includes: THE RIDDLE | Walter de la Mare THE MONKEY'S PAW | W. W. Jacobs A TOUGH TUSSLE | Ambrose Bierce THROUGH THE DOOR (from The Phantom Roundabout and Other Ghostly Stories) | Ruth Ainsworth A PAIR OF HANDS | Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch MAN-SIZE IN MARBLE | E. Nesbit KROGER'S CHOICE | John Gordon MANY COLOURED GLASS (from Young Winter's Tales) | Lucy M. Boston THE CLOCK TOWER GHOST (from The Clock Tower Ghost) | Gene Kemp THE BROWN HAND | Sir Arthur Conan Doyle THE GORGE OF THE CHURELS | H. Russell Wakefield [THE TELL-TALE HEART]( | Edgar Allan Poe A KIND OF SWAN SONG | Helen Cresswell THE HAUNTED TRAILER | Robert Arthur THE STRANGER | Ambrose Bierce THE HAUNTED DOLL'S HOUSE | M. R. James THE [Landlady]( (from Kiss Kiss) | Roald Dahl BAD COMPANY | Walter de la Mare THE YELLOW CAT | Michael Joseph THE WOOING OF CHERRY BASNETT | Brian Alderson EXPIATION | E. F. Benson THE SHADOW-CAGE (from The Shadow-Cage and Other Tales of the Supernatural) | Philippa Pearce THE MORTAL | Oliver Onions TEA AND EMPATHY | Paul Dorrell LAURA | Saki THE RED ROOM | H. G. Wells THE WELL | W. W. Jacobs THE SWAN CHILD (from A Whisper in the Night) | Joan Aiken