Best of
Gothic

1956

Wildfire at Midnight


Mary Stewart - 1956
    She was standing as if frozen, her back to me, her hands up to her throat.Then she screamed, a high, tearing scream."The murderer. Oh my God, the murderer. . . ."She grabbed my arm and pointed to the bed, her lips shaking so much that she couldn't speak coherently.I stared down at the bed, while the slow goose flesh pricked up my spine.Lying on the coverlet was a doll, the kind of frivolous doll I had seen dozens of times.But this one was different.It was lying flat on its back on the bed, with its legs straight out and its hands crossed on its breast. The contents of an ash tray had been scattered over it, and a great red gash gleamed across its neck, where its throat was cut from ear to ear... A young crofter's daughter is cruelly and ritually murdered on the bleak Scottish mountainside. In the deceptively idyllic Camasunary Hotel nearby, the beautiful but troubled, Gianetta Brooke cannot seem to escape her pain or her past -- not even in the remote hotel on the Scottish Isle of Skye. When she discovers that her ex-husband has booked into the same hotel, the peaceful holiday for which she had hoped takes on quite another complexion.Very soon Gianetta finds herself tangled in a web of rising fear and suspicion. One of her fellow guests, however, is also hiding secrets... and a skill and penchant for murder. And now the killer only has eyes for Gianetta....

The Trembling Hills


Phyllis A. Whitney - 1956
    She now decides to follow her true love, Ritchie Temple, to San Francisco. But Sara could not know about the terrors that were in store for her.When lovely young Sara Jerome moves to San Francisco, she is filled with anticipation. Not only does the man she has loved since childhood live there, but her father, who left mysteriously so many years ago, came from San Francisco. She feels certain that now she will finally fulfill her dreams of marrying Ritchie Temple and finding out what happened to her father.But Sara has another dream as well, a terrifying nightmare that has haunted her all of her life. Once in San Francisco, it is clearer and more frightening than ever. What does it mean? And what does it have to do with the stormy night her father disappeared? The answers are waiting for her, as is true love, if she just knows where to look

Boy in Darkness and Other Stories


Mervyn Peake - 1956
    Disturbingly atmospheric, these stories are told with the force and simplicity of allegory. This special volume includes rare stories as well as some never-before-seen illustrations.

Boy in Darkness


Mervyn Peake - 1956
    But both realize he will be the perfect sacrifice for Lamb who has waited many years for a mortal on which to use his diabolical art.

Selected Writings of Edgar Allan Poe


Edgar Allan Poe - 1956
    Contains the most famous of Poe's works

The Witch and the Priest


Hilda Lewis - 1956
    Were they guilty? Was justice done? Did he do all he could to save their souls? The spirit of Joan Flower appears to him and tells him that she has been rejected by both Heaven and Hell and is condemned to wander the earth. She unfolds a story of horror, telling how she and her daughters became witches, participated in orgies at the witches' sabbath with the Devil himself, cast spells to kill and torment their enemies, and eventually faced trial and execution. As Samuel listens, he tries desperately to find some way to save the witch's soul. And the stakes are high: for as the witch tells her horrifying tale, Samuel realizes that hers is not the only soul in jeopardy, and if he fails, he may be joining her in Hell!Hilda Lewis (1896-1974), a prolific author of historical fiction, ranked The Witch and the Priest (1956), based on the real-life case of the Witches of Belvoir, as her own favourite among her many novels. In creating this masterpiece of historical fiction, Lewis conducted extensive research on the case and on early works of witchcraft and demonology, resulting in a novel that is both compulsively readable and historically accurate. This new edition is the first in more than 40 years and includes an introduction by bestselling historian and novelist Alison Weir, and the original jacket art by Evelyn Gibbs."Strange terror fills this tale of seventeenth-century witchcraft . . . horrific and written with much skill." - Daily Telegraph"The atmosphere of hatred, fear and bestial excitement is evoked with horrible fascination." - Birmingham Post"[O]rgies, spells, and rites . . . a tasty brew!" - Library Journal"This novel by Hilda Lewis is one of the best I have ever read about witchcraft." - Dennis Wheatley"All-out weirdness . . . The ghost of a witch and the parson who sent her up for trial and is now tormenting himself . . . crimes, orgies, and the Devil in person." - Illustrated London News

63: Dream Palace


James Purdy - 1956
    This original edition contains the novella 63: Dream Palace only.