Halloween 2018 is almost upon us, so to get you in the mood we have rounded up some newly published and reissued book releases to perfectly accompany the spooky Halloween festivities!

Illustrated by Corey Brickley | Edited and introduced by Ramsey Campbell

Three-quarter-bound in blocked cloth with a printed and spot-varnished front board | Set in Poliphilus | 272 pages | Frontispiece and 6 colour illustrations | Plain slipcase | 9½˝ x 6¼˝

Curated exclusively for The Folio Society by horror writer Ramsey Campbell, The Folio Book of Horror Stories is an exceptional new collection, bringing together a total of fifteen chilling and gruesome short tales from many of the most important and influential names in the genre.

Presented chronologically, the collection takes the reader on an unnerving and immersive journey through the evolution of horror writing, from the mid-19th century to the present day, beginning with one of Edgar Allan Poe’s most terrifying stories, The Fall of the House of Usher (1839).

Also including the likes of M. R. James’ Gilman Count Magnus (1904), Thomas Ligotti’s Vastarien (1987), and Stephen King’s 1408 (2002) – all brilliantly illustrated by Corey Brickley, and housed in an effective, blood-red slipcase – The Folio Book of Horror Stories is the perfect collection to sit down with this Halloween!

For more information, and to purchase your copy, please Click Here.

By Shirley Jackson

It has inspired what has been described as one of the most complete and effective horror series ever made, and now Shirley Jackson’s 1959 classic, The Haunting of Hill House, has now been republished in a new movie-tie in edition to support the Netflix series.

It is the story of four seekers who arrive at a notoriously unfriendly pile called Hill House: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of a “haunting”; Theodora, his lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a friendless, fragile young woman well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the future heir of Hill House. At first, their stay seems destined to be merely a spooky encounter with inexplicable phenomena. But Hill House is gathering its powers–and soon it will choose one of them to make its own.

Everyone loves a good haunted house tale, so why not sit back this Halloween and lose yourself in what is arguably the finest haunted house story ever written.

For more information, and to purchase your copy, please Click Here.

By Richard MacLean Smith

Since 2016, the bi-weekly podcast, Unexplained, has been captivating listeners with its examination of strange and mysterious real life events that continue to evade explanation.

Just in time for Halloween, creator Richard MacLean Smith has now released his first book inspired by the hit podcast, featuring ten new real-life events that test the limits of what we think we know.

From demonic possession in 1970’s Germany, Britain’s answer to Roswell and a strange case of reincarnation in Middlesbrough, each chapter explores the science, theory and philosophy behind each case as well as the seemingly impossible mystery itself, going much deeper than the podcast allows.

For more information, and to purchase your copy, please Click Here.

The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister’s Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine

By Lindsey Fitzharris

Shortlisted for both the 2018 Wellcome Book Prize and the 2018 Wolfson Prize, and winner of the 2018 PEN/E.O. Wilson Prize for Literary Science Writing, Lindsey Fitzharris’ fascinating new book explores the grisly and gruesome world of Victorian medicine and how the visionary British surgeon, Joseph Lister – a pioneer of antiseptic surgery – transformed a dangerous and harrowing practice in his quest to safely unite science and medicine.

In the age of agony, Victorian operating theatres were known as ‘gateways of death’, since half of those who underwent surgery didn’t survive the experience. This was an era when a broken leg could lead to amputation, when surgeons often lacked university degrees, and were still known to ransack cemeteries to find cadavers. While the discovery of anaesthesia somewhat lessened the misery for patients, ironically it led to more deaths, as surgeons took greater risks. In squalid, overcrowded hospitals, doctors remained baffled by the persistent infections that kept mortality rates stubbornly high.

At a time when surgery couldn’t have been more dangerous, an unlikely figure stepped forward: Joseph Lister, a young, melancholy Quaker surgeon. By making the audacious claim that germs were the source of all infection – and could be treated with antiseptics – he changed the history of medicine forever.

Many parts of Fitzharris’ incredibly detailed and vivid new book may well be a little too macabre and gruesome for some, though for those looking for a perfect non-fiction Halloween read, this is an absolute essential!

Fitzharris vividly recreates one of the most critical turning points in medical history; a time, as she states, “finally brought centuries of savagery, sawing and gangrene to an end.”

For more information, and to purchase your copy, please Click Here.

A House of Ghosts

By W. C. Ryan

Published earlier this month, W. C. Ryan’s atmospheric and hugely entertaining new novel is a brilliant take on the familiar haunted house mystery and the perfect accompaniment now the cold, wintery nights are beginning to draw in.

With echoes of Agatha Christie’s iconic mystery thriller, And Then There Were None, A House of Ghosts is a gripping, twisting and claustrophobic wartime thriller that unsettles and captivates in equal measure.

Winter 1917. As the First World War enters its most brutal phase, back home in England, everyone is seeking answers to the darkness that has seeped into their lives.

At Blackwater Abbey, on an island off the Devon coast, Lord Highmount has arranged a spiritualist gathering to contact his two sons who were lost in the conflict. But as his guests begin to arrive, it gradually becomes clear that each has something they would rather keep hidden. Then, when a storm descends on the island, the guests will find themselves trapped. Soon one of their number will die.

For Blackwater Abbey is haunted in more ways than one . . .

For more information, and to purchase your copy, please Click Here.