Werewolves - Throughout the British Isles (Fantasy and Horror Classics)


Book Description

This vintage book contains a treatise on the subject of werewolves written by Montague Summers, exploring evidence for their existence found in British historical records, literature, and folklore. This fascinating volume is highly recommended for those with an interest in the supernatural and occult, and it is not to be missed by collectors of Summers' famous work. Augustus Montague Summers (1880 – 1948) was an English clergyman and author most famous for his studies on vampires, witches and werewolves—all of which he believed to be very much real. He also wrote the first English translation of the infamous 15th-century witch hunter's manual, the “Malleus Maleficarum”, in 1928. Other notable works by this author include: “A Popular History of Witchcraft” (1937), “Witchcraft and Black Magic” (1946), and “The Physical Phenomena of Mysticism” (1947). Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. We are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially-commissioned new biography of the author.




The Company of Wolves


Book Description

Co-written by Irish filmmaker Neil Jordan and British novelist Angela Carter, and based on several short stories from Carter's collection The Bloody Chamber, The Company of Wolves (1984) is a provocative reinvention of the fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood. Unraveling a feverish metaphor for the blossoming of a young girl's sexuality and her subsequent loss of innocence, the film entwines symbolism and metaphor with striking visuals and grisly effects. Released in the early 1980s, a time which produced several classic werewolf films (including An American Werewolf in London and The Howling), The Company of Wolves sets itself apart from the pack with its overtly literary roots, feminist stance, and art-house leanings. The film's narrative takes the form of a puzzle box, unfolding as dreams within dreams, and stories within stories, which lead further into the dark woods of the protagonist's psyche, as she finds herself on the cusp of womanhood. This Devil's Advocate explores all these aspects, as well as placing the film in the context of the careers of its creators and its position as an example of the "Female Gothic."




The Werewolf of Priory Grange


Book Description

The Werewolf of Priory Grange is the second in the Universal Library series of horror/comedy books inspired by classic films of the 1930s and 40s (and by Universal studios' abortive attempts to re-invent their classics for a modern audience - this is my version). The stories are set in the present day but with a classic feel, tongue in cheek delivery and many references to the original films and other horror movies for film fans to spot. Though it's probably better to read the books in order, this is a stand-alone story and you don't have to have read Book 1 (The Mummy's Quest) to enjoy it. On an isolated moor in the north of England stands the Priory Grange School, perhaps the most remote boarding school in Britain. From her arrival, along with her brother Oliver, Lisa Hobson (an average A-Level student with a love of gothic literature) finds the school a chilling and unfriendly place, made worse by a pack of bullies, led by the odious Larry Glendon. But there's more to this place, and more to the bullies, than meets the eye. When Lisa takes it upon herself to investigate the series of bloody deaths that have been occurring in the area, the truth proves more monstrous than she could have imagined, and more dangerous, as she falls foul of the White Wolf. Lisa is helped by a vengeful gypsy, a rakish member of the local gentry, and by a caretaker named Boris, who turns out to be the agent of the shadowy Universal organisation. Also by a dog called Moose. It turns out that the white wolf is only the tip of the iceberg. Beneath the surface is a plan far more devious than anything any of them could have imagined, one that may yet claim Oliver's life. And Lisa's. And that of anyone else who gets in the way.




Little Darlings


Book Description

A Refinery29 Best Summer Thriller · An Amazon Best Book of the Month The anxieties of motherhood take center stage in this “atmospheric and very creepy” debut psychological thriller that reinvents the changeling myth with the flair of Angela Carter (Guardian). Everyone says Lauren Tranter is exhausted, that she needs rest. And they’re right; with newborn twins, Morgan and Riley, she’s never been more tired in her life. But she knows what she saw: that night, in her hospital room, a woman tried to take her babies and replace them with her own...creatures. Yet when the police arrived, they saw no one. Everyone, from her doctor to her husband, thinks she’s imagining things. A month passes and one bright summer morning, the babies disappear from Lauren’s side in a park. When they’re found, something is different about them. The infants look like Morgan and Riley—to everyone else. But to Lauren, something is off. As everyone around her celebrates their return, Lauren begins to scream, These are not my babies. Determined to bring her true infant sons home, Lauren will risk the unthinkable. But if she’s wrong about what she saw...she’ll be making the biggest mistake of her life. Compulsive, creepy, and inspired by some of our darkest fairy tales, Little Darlings will have you checking—and rechecking—your own little ones. Just to be sure. Just to be safe. “Chilling story, beautiful prose.” —Clare Mackintosh, New York Times bestselling author of I Let You Go




The Land of the Green Man


Book Description

Beyond its housing estates and identikit high streets there is another Britain. This is the Britain of mist-drenched forests and unpredictable sea-frets: of wraith-like fog banks, druidic mistletoe and peculiar creatures that lurk, half-unseen, in the undergrowth, tantalising and teasing just at the periphery of human vision. How have the remarkably persistent folkloric traditions of the British Isles formed and been formed by the psyches of those who inhabit them? In this sparkling new history, Carolyne Larrington explores the diverse ways in which a myriad of fantastical beings has moulded the nation's cultural history. Fairies, elves and goblins here tread purposefully, sometimes malignly, over an eerie landscape that also conceals brownies, selkies, trows, knockers, boggarts, land-wights, Jack o'Lanterns, Barguests, the sinister Nuckleavee and Black Shuck: terrifying hell-hound of the Norfolk coast with eyes of burning coal. Ranging from Shetland to Jersey and from Ireland to East Anglia, while evoking the Wild Hunt, the ghostly bells of Lyonesse and the dread fenlands haunted by Grendel, this is a book that will captivate all those who long for the wild places: the mountains and chasms where giants lie in wait




Rotherweird


Book Description

'A book with special and dangerous properties' Hilary Mantel, bestselling author of Wolf Hall 'Enthralling' M.R. Carey, bestselling author of The Girl With All the Gifts 'An imaginative tour de force' The Times 1558: Twelve children, gifted far beyond their years, are banished by their Tudor queen to the town of Rotherweird. Some say they are the golden generation; some say the devil's spawn. But everyone knows they are something to be revered - and feared. Four and a half centuries on, cast adrift from the rest of England by Elizabeth I and still bound by its ancient laws, Rotherweird's independence is subject to one disturbing condition: nobody, but nobody, studies the town or its history. Then an Outsider arrives, a man of unparallelled wealth and power, enough to buy the whole of Rotherweird - deeply buried secrets and all . . . Welcome to Rotherweird. 'A remarkable achievement' Sunday Independent 'Compelling' Guardian




Gargoyles, Grotesques & Green Men


Book Description

The symbols and strange images that we find in our cemeteries, religious structures, banks and in our parks are the same symbols that have been part of the framework of the human psyche for thousands of years. While contemporary man may think that they are simply decorative manifestations of a by-gone era, they represent the fears, dreams, ideas, beliefs and struggles that humankind has endured since we began to walk upright. This book surveys many of these icons and will give a meaning for them both in the context of ancient history and folklore as well as a meaning that is suitable for our contemporary times. Illustrated with dozens of photographs, this book will be of interest to anyone interested in historic preservation, ancient symbolism, the Green Man and the universal application of imagery. Gary R. Varner has written numerous books on ancient traditions, folklore, the environment and contemporary issues. He is a member of the American Folklore Society and the Foundation for Mythological Studies.




A Marvellous Light


Book Description

An International Bestseller! Winner of the 2022 Romantic Novel Award in Fantasy! Locus Award Finalist! An Indie Next pick and LibraryReads pick—with four starred reviews! A Best of 2021 Pick for NPR | Amazon | Kobo | Barnes & Noble | Book Riot Red, White & Royal Blue meets Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell in debut author Freya Marske’s A Marvellous Light, featuring an Edwardian England full of magic, contracts, and conspiracies. Robin Blyth has more than enough bother in his life. He’s struggling to be a good older brother, a responsible employer, and the harried baronet of a seat gutted by his late parents’ excesses. When an administrative mistake sees him named the civil service liaison to a hidden magical society, he discovers what’s been operating beneath the unextraordinary reality he’s always known. Now Robin must contend with the beauty and danger of magic, an excruciating deadly curse, and the alarming visions of the future that come with it—not to mention Edwin Courcey, his cold and prickly counterpart in the magical bureaucracy, who clearly wishes Robin were anyone and anywhere else. Robin’s predecessor has disappeared, and the mystery of what happened to him reveals unsettling truths about the very oldest stories they’ve been told about the land they live on and what binds it. Thrown together and facing unexpected dangers, Robin and Edwin discover a plot that threatens every magician in the British Isles—and a secret that more than one person has already died to keep. The Last Binding Trilogy: A Marvellous Light A Restless Truth A Power Unbound At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.




Werewolf Histories


Book Description

Werewolf Histories is the first academic book in English to address European werewolf history and folklore from antiquity to the twentieth century. It covers the most important werewolf territories, ranging from Scandinavia to Germany, France and Italy, and from Croatia to Estonia.




Witchcraft and Black Magic


Book Description

This fascinating volume delves into the history of witchcraft and demonology. Witchcraft and Black Magic gives an extensive history of what Montague Summers deems to be Satanic practises. First published in 1946, this handbook gathers vivid detail from a wealth of sources and references that enhance its overview of black magic. Montague Summers’ research explores numerous court records, personal accounts, and classic works of literature, as well as taking evidence from the Bible. A devout Catholic, Summers writes about witchcraft in great detail, examining historic events, such as the Salem witch trials, with a close eye. The chapters in this chilling volume include: - What is Witchcraft? How Does One Become a Witch? - The Familiar, in Human Shape and Animal - Witchcraft at Cambridge and Oxford - The Origins of Witchcraft - The Library of Witches - The Magus (1801) of Francis Barrett - Sympathetic Magic Complete with an introduction to the folklore and history of witchcraft, Read & Co. Books has republished this classic guide to black magic in a brand new edition. A must-read for conspiracy theorists and those with an interest in the historical background of witchcraft.