Publisher Description
Eight bestselling, award-winning writers return to the time-honored tradition of the seasonal ghost story in this spellbinding collection of new and original haunted tales.
Long before Charles Dickens and Henry James popularized the tradition of supernatural horror, the shadowy nights of winter have been a time for people to gather together by the flicker of candlelight and experience the intoxicating thrill of a spooky tale.
Now eight bestselling, award-winning authors—all of them master storytellers of the sinister and the macabre—bring the tradition to vivid life in a spellbinding new collection of original spine-tingling tales.
Taking you from the frosty fens of the English countryside, to the snow-covered grounds of a haunted estate, to a bustling London Christmas market, these mesmerizing stories will capture your imagination and serve as your indispensable companion to cold, dark nights. So curl up, light a candle, and fall under the ghostly spell of winters past . . .
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About the Authors
Andrew Michael Hurley lives in Lancashire, where he teaches English literature and creative writing. He has published two short-story collections. His first novel, The Loney, won the Costa First Book Award, was short-listed for the James Herbert Award, and was published in twenty territories.
Jess Kidd is an award-winning author with a PhD in creative writing from St. Mary’s University in London. She grew up as part of a large family from Ireland’s County Mayo and now lives in London with her daughter. Her first book, Himself, was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards.
Bridget Collins trained as an actor at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art after reading English at King’s College, Cambridge. She is the author of seven acclaimed books for young adults and has had two plays produced, one at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Born in Scotland, Elizabeth Macneal is a potter based in Limehouse, East London, working from a small studio at the bottom of her garden. She read English literature at Oxford University and completed the Creative Writing MA at UEA in 2017. She won the Caledonia Novel Award for her debut novel The Doll Factory.
Kiran Millwood Hargrave is a poet and novelist whose debut book for children, The Girl of Ink & Stars, won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and British Children’s Book of the Year. Her second book, The Island at the End of Everything, received three starred reviews and was named a best book of the year by Kirkus Reviews. Find her on Twitter @kiran_mh or kiranmillwoodhargrave.co.uk
Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875) was born in Odense, Denmark, the son of a poor shoemaker and a washerwoman. As a young teenager, he became quite well known in Odense as a reciter of drama and as a singer. When he was fourteen, he set off for the capital, Copenhagen, determined to become a national success on the stage. He failed miserably, but made some influential friends in the capital who got him into school to remedy his lack of proper education. In 1829 his first book was published. After that, books came out at regular intervals. His stories began to be translated into English as early as 1846. Since then, numerous editions, and more recently Hollywood songs and Disney cartoons, have helped to ensure the continuing popularity of the stories in the English-speaking world.
About the Narrators
Juliet Stevenson is a narrator who is recipient of the AudioFile Golden Voice Award. She has won the prestigious Audie Award and numerous Earphones Awards for her narrations. She is a British actress on stage and screen and notably a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. She has also appeared in popular films such as Bend It Like Beckham and Mona Lisa Smile. She was honored as a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. She received further recognition when she was nominated for several BAFTA Awards, and she earned an Olivier Award for her role in Death and the Maiden.
Gemma Whelan, an Earphones Award–winning narrator, is an English actress and comedian best known for playing Yara Greyjoy in Game of Thrones. She is also a singer and professional dancer specializing in jazz and tap and is a member of London’s Beaux Belles.
Rory Kinnear, an Earphones Award–winning narrator and a renowned theater actor, won the Evening Standard Award for Best Actor for his performances as Angelo in Measure for Measure and the title role in Hamlet, and he gained an Olivier Award for his portrayal of Sir Fopling Flutter in The Man of Mode. His TV credits include Count Arthur Strong, Lucan, Women in Love, and Black Mirror, and he played Bill Tanner in the Bond films Quantum of Solace and Skyfall.
Neil Hellegers grew up in New Jersey and attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a BA in theater arts and a minor in psychology before getting an MFA in acting from the Trinity Rep Conservatory in Providence, Rhode Island. He moved to New York City in 2003 and, since then, has made a career of theatrical performance, percussion, theater education, and audiobook narration. He currently lives in Brooklyn with his wife and son.