Fear in the Blood: Tales from the Dark Lineages of the Weird

There was no sleep for him that night; he fancied he had seen the stone – which, as you know, was a couple of fields away – as large as life, as if it were on watch outside his window. 

The standing stones, stone circles, dolmens and burial sites of the British Isles still resonate with mystery of their primeval origins, enthralling our collective consciousness to this day. Rising up in the field of weird fiction, ancient stones and the rituals and dark forces they once witnessed have inspired a wicked branch of the genre by writers devoted to their eerie potential. 

Gathered in tribute to these relics of a lost age – and their pagan legacy of blood – are fifteen stories of haunted henges, Druidic vengeance and solid rock alive with bloodlust, by authors including Algernon Blackwood, Lisa Tuttle, Arthur Machen and Nigel Kneale. 

Publication date: 07/12/2023

Author: Edited by Katy Soar

Brand: British Library Publishing

Number of pages: 240

Binding: Paperback

Dimensions: 190 x 130mmThere was no sleep for him that night; he fancied he had seen the stone – which, as you know, was a couple of fields away – as large as life, as if it were on watch outside his window.

The standing stones, stone circles, dolmens and burial sites of the British Isles still resonate with mystery of their primeval origins, enthralling our collective consciousness to this day. Rising up in the field of weird fiction, ancient stones and the rituals and dark forces they once witnessed have inspired a wicked branch of the genre by writers devoted to their eerie potential.

Gathered in tribute to these relics of a lost age – and their pagan legacy of blood – are fifteen stories of haunted henges, Druidic vengeance and solid rock alive with bloodlust, by authors including Algernon Blackwood, Lisa Tuttle, Arthur Machen and Nigel Kneale.

Publication date: 07/12/2023

Author: Edited by Katy Soar

Brand: British Library Publishing

Number of pages: 240

Binding: Paperback

Dimensions: 190 x 130mm'Love will have its sacrifices. No sacrifice without blood. Let us go to sleep now.'

A prophecy threatens a volcanic upheaval for a star-crossed pair. A forbidden rite binds a dark arts dabbler to a phantom bride. A barstool chancer invites a devilish retribution on the dance floor.

Beckoning from this tome are twelve tales of dark romance and undying passions hailing from 1832 to 2022, marrying bewitching classics by Mary Shelley, Wilkie Collins and Angela Carter with twisting modern pieces by Nalo Hopkinson, Tracy Fahey and V. Castro - alongside the classic Gothic novella of sapphic vampire romance, Carmilla. Indulging in the strangest eddies of literary love, this new anthology bids you enter a doom-laden yet irresistibly seductive corner of the Weird.

Publication date: 25/01/2024

Author: Edited by Jo Parsons

Brand: British Library Publishing

Number of pages: 272

Binding: Paperback

Dimensions: 190 x 130mm

QtyTimothy followed, in his dream, and saw the ungainly, yet agile creature clamber in through the cat-flap… He could hear the flip-flop as it went up the stairs, and he woke himself, screaming, in a tangle of sheet and blanket.

On Sunday night the dream was even worse.

Through eighteen dark tales bubbling with the ghostly and the occult, Mike Ashley traces the phenomenon of families in which a talent for channelling the Weird passes down the generations, showcasing six lineages whose names echo through the halls of speculative fiction: Dickens, Hawthorne, Le Fanu, Pangborn, Marryat and Aiken.

With a story each from selected members of these families along with introductions on the history of their bloodlines, this collection explores unexpected connections and the strange influences that define us while offering a rare selection of chilling Weird fiction.

Publication date: 25/03/2024

Author: Edited by Mike Ashley

Brand: British Library Publishing

Number of pages: 336

Binding: Paperback

Dimensions: 190 x 130 mm